OKeveryone, I've finally gotten to writing this story again and let me just say, sorry for the wait. Enjoy:
Mega Man Otherworldly Adventures chapter 14: Five O' Clock
Rock wakes up with his arms, legs and neck bound in chains as he hangs suspended in an opaque green sphere. He hears faint voices of men, probably some of Faulder's henchmen. Rock cannot tell where he is, all he remembers is watching Amy fly off; and then…well…
His train of thought is rudely dismembered by the sound of something opening, a garage maybe, coming from his left side. Rock attempts to turn, but is reminded of his confining predicament. The neon opaque sphere slowly starts to become transparent, and Rock makes out Faulder and Wily's figure through the glass. After a couple more spins on the dial that Wily holds, Rock makes out the room in which he is confined, only to find that it is not a room at all; it appears that he is in the hold of some sort of cargo area, almost like the back of a large semi. Rock shouts obscenities at Wily and Faulder, but they hold their hands up to their ears in derision. Faulder leans close to the glass and communicates with Rock in a very condescending tone.
"What is that boy? I can't hear you through the one way audio glass that Wily invented. This ensures that nobody is going to hear you scream atop the mountain tomorrow, no one except for Wily, who put a microphone in there just for that specific purpose." Faulder says smugly. Despite the comment, Rock continues to threaten Wily and Faulder, working very hard to prevent them from attacking his psyche. This time, he speaks clearly, with more composure.
"Wily I don't know what you're trying to do with me, but you will not get away with this. Do you hear me? He just told me you have a mike, and even if you don't, you can understand the next words that I'm going to mouth" Rock looks through Wily's eyes, piercing through the soulless blackness hidden beneath the seemingly harmless exterior.
"I- AM- MEGAMAN. AND - I- WILL- STOP- YOU." Rock mouthed without a single hint of doubt.
Deep within Wily's vacant eyes, a spark of fear ignites if not for a second; nevertheless, Rock could not deny the fact that his fear came forward. Wily scoffs his indicative half-laugh and bounds out of the room with Faulder at his side. Slowly, the translucent sphere turned opaque once again, and Rock was left in the unknown room with only his thoughts to keep him company.
As Wily and Faulder exit the back of the truck, Faulder moseys over to order around some of his men while Wily examines the computer to determine the time it will take to arrive at their specified location; the computer alerts him that it will take approximately seventeen minutes. The blinking clock on his wrist indicates that the time is 4:30 A.M; 30 minutes until departure. As he receives the thumbs-up from Faulder, he signals the armored men to all get into their respective positions. Wily climbs into his car and sits down, retrieving a lukewarm cup of coffee from the cup holder near the wheel. He leans his chair back and closes his eyes, putting the bittersweet beverage down after only one unsatisfying sip.
Wily despises Faulder, his single-mindedness, total indifference to his physical health or appearance, and his view on how the world revolves around him. This man does not know the value of hard work, Wily thinks as he stares at the roof of the borrowed vehicle, not like I do… Wily turns on the ignition and begins to make his way to the mountains without alerting Faulder, he could care less what that man thinks, he despises pretending to like him, pretending to be on the same side, but nevertheless, Wily needs him for his mission. It won't matter for much longer anyway… Wily thinks as he exits the industrial-sized company garage.
Meanwhile, from beyond the top of a tree on the other side of the highway, a pair of hypersensitive binocular eyes and a set of well-designed microphone ears are detecting every single movement and conversation made by Faulder, Wily, and their crew. Zero sees Wily drive off and then leaps of from the top of the tree. He freefalls for about 2 seconds and then shoots his arm forward to catch the trunk of the tree to prevent a potentially damaging fall. Leaves shoot out from beneath him as Zero lands with his feet firm on the ground, unscratched. Amy, Joey, Mikael, and Beauty are all startled awake by the sound of the crash, all mad that they had fallen asleep while Zero kept up his guard. Amy is slightly tired, but not much because of her extensive nap the night before, she bounces awake almost instantly. Zero is not at all tired, mainly because he has really no need to sleep.
"What did you see Zero?" Amy asks boldly, gaining a hidden acknowledgement of respect from Zero.
"Wily has just left, and it looks like they're getting ready to leave right about now."
Zero sits down on the floor and signals everyone to gather around him. He points to Joey, Mikael, and Beauty as a group.
"You three," Zero begins, "There is a large container within the thick of the facility, behind many squadrons of guards, that is where all of the girls are." He allows the words to be absorbed by the team and continues his explanation. "The container's contents are unknown to the guards, judging by the conversations had between them and Faulder. I need you guys to distract the guards for long enough to free the girls. Once you do, I need you to call the police, try to make your voices sound older. After hearing conversations between the men, about 70% of them have children of their own. There is about a 50% percent chance that once they find out that the container is filled with young children, they will cooperate willingly with the police. Any questions?" Zero finishes, inspecting the three children that he intends to entrust this very important mission to.
Mikael raises his hand and Zero responds with a stern "What?"
"What if the guards don't cooperate and decide to attack us instead?" Mikael asks, prompting wide eyes from both Joey and Beauty. They all turn to Zero who, in response, puts a patronizing hand on Mikael's shoulder and says "Good luck" with slight nod.
While Mikael is paralyzed with this threat fresh in his mind, Zero continues to speak of the strategy. "Amy and I will have to work together and infiltrate the vehicles, I could not tell for sure which one, but I'm positive that Rock is in one of three large trucks that will be headed toward the Pelé Mountain hiking area. The best time to strike would be while they are on the highway, this way; only a fraction of the guards would be able to attack at a time."
"ME?" Amy says with an indication of disbelief. 'But I can't jump on to a moving truck! And when I get there, I'm only going to get in the way…" she finishes sadly.
"I know that." Zero says matter-of-factly, prompting a little laugh/ huff of aggravation from Amy. As Zero continued however, thing became unmistakably clear.
"That's why I fixed up this." Zero says, he walks over to a bush and pulls up a tarp. Under the tarp are the pieces of Amy's power armor, but they are perfectly repaired. In addition, the suit features an addition that Amy does not seem to remember, a Buster.
"Is this a…"
"Yes." Zero says, finishing Amy's question. "It's actually mine, but I modified it so that you could wear it as a weapon. I figure that you would need one of these if you were to fight alongside me."
"But Zero," Amy says with a little resistance in her voice. "I can't take your Buster, what are you going to attack with?" Zero simply laughs and pulls out his Z-saber.
"This." Zero answers.
"Hold up," Joey says, prompting a large sigh from the majority of the group. Joey simply ignores them and continues to voice his concerns. "Amy's brave, sure, she might even the one of the bravest people here, I'll give her that, but can her body really take all of that? I mean, Beauty's nurse friend said that she's malnourished, right? Isn't she a little too, well… weak?"
Nobody gets angry at Joey, his words are completely justified. Amy does seem a little too small for this mission, and anybody else would agree. But not only is it important for Amy to attempt the mission, she is the only one who can accompany Zero. The others have no experience with the armor, and they never had Rock tell them about how it works. And not only does she need to go, more than anything, she wants to go. She stands up and faces Joey, taking his hands up in hers. She looks into his eyes and smiles of all things, telling him that everything is going to be okay, thanking him that she cares so much about her.
"I know you're worried," Amy continues, "But I have to do this, just like you saved me, I have to save him; he's my best friend." Amy kisses him on the check and pats him on the back toward the direction of his group. Zero then orders for Amy to put her new and improved armor on, and for the three campers to begin formulating a strategy.
After about 10 minutes, Zero alerts everyone that the trucks have finally departed, that they are ready to put their plans into motion. With the help of Amy, Joey and his team, Team Alpha, as they agreed upon, have formulated their plan. When Amy and Zero are ready, the two teams go their separate ways, Amy giving the thumbs-up to Team Alpha, Beauty giving the thumbs-up to Team Droid.
As they leave, Joey looks back one last time, at the shine of Amy's soft golden hair. He touches his cheek where Amy had kissed him and mouths a silent "good luck" to her as the teams depart to what could be the last mission they will ever attempt.