Disclaimer: Aeroman, Olera, Quad, Silvara and Delta belong to me. All other characters belong to Capcom.
Chapter 11: Stars and Shrapnel
During those few days of rest, Bass gave Treble the most attention he'd ever received in his robotic life. He spent long hours petting the dog under the starry sky in the woods, the scent of lilacs and carnations leaving the two Wily-bots feeling relaxed and contented. Things were right with the world, and Bass was never happier to have Treble back as he was now.
"It's such a beautiful night, don't you think?" Roll asked, her fingers laced with Bass', leaning close as she whispered in his ear.
Bass nodded in agreement, petting Treble with his free hand. The sky was so clear, the half moon glowing so bright, it would be a shame if city lights interfered. Treble let out a sigh, tucking his head down on his great forepaws, his eyelids slightly closed.
"Remember the first time we met out here?" Bass asked after a moment, averting his ruby eyes to look into Roll's blue ones.
"Yeah," Roll giggled, "what a day. You were so stubborn, you didn't want us to help you."
"I had my reasons," Bass said in mock defense, puffing up his chest, "and besides, I self generate."
Roll shook her head, amusement playing across her face. "You wouldn't admit you needed help if your arm was bleeding 90 per cent of you fluid! Oh, wait...it was!" she burst into giggles, Bass staring at her, a wry smile upon his face.
"Oh, think it's funny now, do you?" he replied in a mock tone, tackling her to the ground. Treble began to yip playfully, joining in as Bass began tickling Roll mercilessly. He licked her face, causing her to sputter amongst her laughter.
"Noooooooo! Please! Ha ha ha ha!!! Okay, okay! I give up!" she cried, tears in her eyes as Bass' fingers drummed across her midsection. He stopped, grinning in triumph as he helped her to her feet.
"That will teach you to make fun of me." He chuckled, holding her in a gentle embrace. They stared into one another's eyes for a moment, then began to kiss passionately, eyes closed, synthetic hearts racing. Treble let out a soft whine, interrupting the moment. Bass and Roll looked at one another, and laughed.
"Okay, okay, boy. You win." Bass said, giving the dog a quick pat on the head. He re-laced his fingers through Roll's, and both stared at the sky, the stars shining in their eyes.
I'm so glad he's happy again, thought Roll, glancing over at the gold and black robot affectionately, for awhile there, I felt like there was nothing I could do to ease his pain. But now, with Treble back in his life, and everything almost back on track, anything is possible. The three robots soon set off towards the Light laboratory, towards home.
"Bass! I'm so glad you guys are back," Megaman greeted as Bass, Roll, and Treble entered the control room, "Here, take a look at this." With a few taps on the computer board, a scene opened up before them on the screen. It showed the city, buildings up in smoke, traffic jams, vehicles flipped, everything demolished and people helter-skelter as the ran in fear. A figure in red and silver armour appeared on the screen, wielding a green saber.
"Zero has attacked the city, he's put everything up in flames searching for you."
"I don't think that's what he's doing," Bass shook his head in protest, "he can easily find me with his tracking system. I think he's trying to flush me out into the open, though."
"Who's Zero?" Roll asked in confusion, looking from both Bass to her brother.
"Zero is a reploid," Megaman began to explain, "a more human-like robot who can determine right from wrong and has emotions beyond his programming."
"Sounds a lot like us. I fail to see the difference...but wait a minute! When did you run into this guy? And how come neither of you told me?" Roll demanded, hands on her hips.
"Well, we thought to at first, but we decided against it...after all, things DID quiet down for quite some time. We thought he gave up or something." Bass explained, synthetic perspiration forming on the back of his head.
Roll glared at both of them accusingly, Megaman finally retorting, "Hey, Aeroman and the others didn't tell you either, don't just look at us! We didn't tell them to keep quiet."
Roll only shook her head, resigning. "Okay, so how long until he destroys the whole city?" she asked.
"Not gonna happen. Megaman, get your brothers and sisters," Bass ordered, "it's time to make Zero just what his number identifies."
Bass fused with Treble, Mega following suit with Rush as his brothers and sisters powered up their own thrusters. They rushed into the city, immediately spotting the perpetrator among the shrapnel and havoc.
"Stop right there, Zero," Bass snarled, "or prepare to be turned into a smoking pile of scrap."
"Smoking," Zero quipped, "what a nasty habit. I guess I'm gonna have to show you how it's done!" without so much as a warning, he pulled out his saber and charged at Bass, simultaneously shooting at him with his left arm that switched into a cannon. Bass dodged, and began firing purple laser shots at him, twice as powerful as his regular blaster shots due to the power he got from Treble and from their new upgrades. He sent his fist slamming into the reploids' jaw, a perfect uppercut that sent Zero flying into a stack of garbage pails. Zero recovered, an angry grimace upon his face. He swiped at Bass with the saber, narrowly missing him. Bass tackled him to the ground, sending punch after punch into his face, Zero attempting to block the attack. Finally he got his fist free and wailed Bass in the eye, the ebony warrior caught by surprise as he reeled and cascaded into the side of a building, brick shrapnel raining all around him.
"Bass, are you alright?" Aeroman called, charging up his blaster with extreme intensity.
Bass nodded in reply, then charged at Zero again, sending a right-roundhouse into his gut. Zero doubled over, and that's when Aeroman fired. The shot didn't do a lot of damage, but it took a chunk out of the reploid's armour. He turned around fiercely, his eyes glowing with such malice that I gave Aeroman the chills. He shot at the black robot with the galaxy eyes, Aeroman dodging just in time, Silvara shooting at Zero in an attempt to cover her brothers' escape. Delta then swept low, Olera right behind her as they shot round after round, both ramming into him at half speed. Zero let out a groan, the two sisters taking flight, dents in their armour, scratches on their faces.
"Enough playing around, time to end this!" Zero snarled, charging p his cannon menacingly. He let it go, the blast so bright Megaman had to shield his eyes. The last thing the blue bomber heard was "Look out!" and everything faded to black...
Author's Note: I know it is somewhat short, but I'm becoming tired right now, I just hope people like this chapter as much as the last one...chapter 12 will be action-packed...I'm not sure if it will be the last...I'm trying to prolong the fanfic..I don't really want it to end...;)
