Chapter 10

Aboard The Phantom

"Wily's gotta be running out of androids." Scott said, in awe, as he and Tracy watched the televised execution of two of his officers.

Megaman was looking worse for wear, but still had the wherewithal to overcome the ambush. "The cocky prick even winked." Tracy said, half disgusted, but half relieved. As much as she hated to side with Light's new creation, he was their ticket to an easy overthrow.

"You feel that?" Scott asked, grinning. "We're almost there."

Tracy nodded, "Given Alex can get the job done." She replied. "We should move into position now, they've disabled my hack box."

"The first annual 'Bonne Stakeout'." He said, walking out of the main quarters toward the equipment locker. Tracy reached up and touched his arm.

"We gotta be realistic about this, Scott." She told him seriously. "We may not walk out of there with Wily. Hell we might not walk out of there." She added. "I just want you to know, it was worth it either way."

Scott could tell she was serious, he gave her a subtle nod. "Yeah, it was." He said.

Outside The White House Perimeter

It had been a long wait, for any kind of movement by Light. Scott was beginning to wonder if he had lost his nerve. Wouldn't be a surprise. "Anything?" Tracy had asked him, after returning from dinner.

"No, but the sun will be setting soon. We can expect them in about an hour or two." He told her.

"I'm sure they will be expecting them too." Tracy added.

"I just hope they put together a good strategy. Guts and Wily aren't nimrods, the less time they give them to plan, the better." Protoman said.

Two hours later, the sun had gone down and Scott scanned the block with his night vision. The small group of commandos were silent, he would give them that, but the electronic scanners confirmed that one of the men was an android. Megaman, in the flesh, so to speak. He never expected to see Alex Light playing the hero, the feeling was surreal. "Tron, they're here." He said, over his shoulder.

The explosion on the West wing of the building took him by surprise. "Miller is rushing the West Wing." Tron said, looking through her magnifying scanner. "They're drawing security away from Wily. It's smart but you gotta think if he'll fall for it."

"Doubtful." Protoman said, lowering his visor and walking toward the exit. "I'm gonna get a closer look, stay here."

"Wait, what the hell are you doing?!" Tron half-shouted. "If anyone sees you we're fucked. You won't get within yards of Wily if he's caught."

"I need to assure that they succeed if we stand any chance at snatching him." Scott said, leaving before she could reply.

The soldiers waited, in formation by the East wing, with Megaman taking lead. Protoman and Rush carefully approached the adjacent side of the building. Rush slowly raised along the wall, while his companion stood on his back, preparing to fire on any sentry that awaited on the roof. The handful of sniper droids were stopped in their tracks, as a flurry of fusion discs removed their heads.

Proto ran along the rooftop to the main skylight. Looking in, he could make out his 'old friend', General Guts, marching quickly behind Wily toward the stairwell. They we right there, ten feet or so below, Protoman raised his arm cannon, readying a crash bomb for the back of Gutsman's head. The explosive fired wildly into the air, as the building shook to it's foundation, beneath his feet.

"Proto!" Tron said over comms. "Alex just went into the building! What's the situation?"

He dusted himself off, getting back to his feet. Wily and Guts were nowhere to be seen now, he shook his head. "He's gonna get a rude awakening if he is going where I think he is." Scott told her. It was like deja-vu. Alex would meet the same fate Scott had years ago, and more than likely been left for dead as well. The hallway was soon filled with hundreds of security bots, forcing Scott to take an alternate approach. Snatching a wire from one of the transmission boxes, he wrapped it around a corner post along the edge. He rappelled down, kicking in a window and sparking his EMP. The ceiling mounted turrets spun wildly, as he ran through, ejecting his staff.

In the upstairs ballroom he encountered a small garrison of security bots, standing on full alert. "I don't have time for this shit." He muttered, shaking his head. He raised his left arm, firing a crash bomb square into the chest of the front and center. Pushing the droid back magnetically, the explosion eliminated the majority of his opposition. He weaved through the remaining ranks, twirling his staff, knocking them about. Switching to his nunchucks, Proto made quick work before a shot was even fired.

The gearbots that followed behind the group was met with equal aggression. Scott made a forward leap, kicking the first two in the chest, while firing two quick bolts through their skulls. The others turned to return fire, but Protoman was a blur, and the enemies were in pieces before they even registered it.

Below him, in the silent room, he could hear fighting. It wasn't "battle rabble", he could discern the difference. This was an angry brawl. He enhanced the sound and followed the crashes across the room. Just as he blew the wall out to the balcony, he looked over, just in time to see Alex sliding across the floor below in a heap.

"I hate being rushed, but your friends seem to be more persistent than I gave them credit for." He heard from below. His eyes grew wide, realizing who Megaman was up against.

In a frenzy, Protoman dashed back into the ballroom, scanning the structure. By his calculations Gutsman should be stepping underneath it in seconds. He quickly fired ten crash bombs to each of the framework's weak spots and dove for cover. The blast was immense, and the structural collapse had knocked him clean off his feet and tumbling down the rubble to the floor. Raising his head, Scott found him staring into the face of Megaman. The android didn't react, so it was apparent he was offline. Proto picked himself up, hoping he hadn't accidentally killed their meal ticket to the Atlas. After a moment of beating himself up, he decided to take it upon himself to go pick up the King.

Protoman crossed the hall in his tattered nanosuit, entering the bunker's stairwell when he heard the shuffling of debris behind him. In the blink of an eye, he was behind the door as Megaman came rushing through, leaping down the stairs by the flight. His instincts and anger demanded he follow and claim what was rightfully his, but his sister was in his ear to defuse that thought.

"Proto!" She shouted over comms.

"I'm inches away, Tron!" He replied agitatedly.

"Scott, get the fuck out of there, now!" She cut him off. "Miller and about three hundred Light commandos are entering the east wing!"

Scott cursed, angrily, to himself as he made a run at astronomical speeds, back to The Phantom.

"We can't stay here." Tron said, not looking back as he entered. She was in a flurry, firing up the controls while maintaining stealth.

"I almost had him." Scott told her calmly, removing his helmet. "Where are we gonna go now?"

"This place has become a lot more active than we had anticipated. Everyone's here." She answered. Tron looked over her shoulder, grinning. "We're going back to Boston to wait for our former employer."

Scott began to chuckle quietly. "You are a genius, little sis."

She lifted The Phantom from the ground, silently. "Like taking candy from a baby." Tron said with a sly smile on her face, as the morning sky came up to meet her. Over the horizon, Light Tower.

Note from author: If you haven't done so already, you can follow The Bonnes' hunt for Atlas in Megaman 2. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for the future. :-)