Blues cursed himself furiously. Idiot! He was right there! Blast it -- I should have -- He cut off suddenly. At least we know where it's headed, don't we?
Without another thought, he stepped into the open, causing the four standing there and their two animals to stare, shout, and aim weapons at him. Except one.
"Guys -- guys!" Flurry shouted. "Ease up, will you? That's the one who helped me out."
"Ease up, she says," growled one, hand clenching convulsively around his lightsaber.
Blues smiled faintly. It was actually growing light in the eastern sky, light enough for them to make out the expression. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I did."
"Well," another said dubiously, "what do you want?"
"Actually, it's more a matter of what you want," he replied. "I know where your little friend took off to, and I can take you straight there, if you like."
Flurry nodded slowly, but Zero broke in with a growl of, "Friend, huh? I'm gonna eviscerate the little bugger."
Blues tilted his head respectfully. "Sorry. I can't let you do that."
"And just why not?" Zero snapped.
"Yeah," X remarked quietly. "What do you care what we do to him?"
The red and grey robot grinned at him. "Well, I'd let you, but you've got to understand, as much as I'd like to, I can't." He propped his shield up on the ground in front of him and leaned on it lazily. "My little bro gets to take him out."
"Little bro?" Flurry questioned him.
"Rock," he explained. "You've -- um -- met him, I believe."
"Yeah," Tourian agreed.
Zero shifted impatiently, darting glances around at them all, and finally spoke up. "Can we stop the discussion here? Shouldn't we be going after that stupid machine?"
Blues picked up his shield and sauntered over to them, and Flurry noted with absent-minded pleasure that he was slightly shorter than her. He was grinning sardonically again. It seemed to be one of his favorite expressions.
"Yeah," he said drily, facing Zero, "but if we follow him now, we just might beat him to the fortress -- and that would hurt his feelings." He laughed heartily. "Not that his ego really matters that much to me, of course, but I need Wily to be busy with something if we're going to get into that fort unnoticed."
"But Wily's gonna be busy messing with Zephyr!" Flurry objected. "Can't we just catch up to him? I mean -- think what they could do to her!"
At this, Blues started laughing helplessly, and Flurry gazed at him with the distinct impression that she was being mocked. He finally stopped, dry amusement coloring his voice as he responded. "And what could he do that would be any worse than what you've already done?"
Flurry bristled, and X burst out laughing in agreement. Tourian nudged his arm warningly as Flurry stiffened and turned to him, and he stopped, still smiling like a total fool. Zero crossed his arms impatiently, glaring at them all. He'd already suggested once that they get moving, and they had dismissed him completely. Not that finding Zephyr was very high on his agenda at the moment. He was more interested in getting his hands on the little twerp that had swiped the machine.
"Can we please get on with this?" he demanded. "How far ahead do we want him to get?"
Blues turned to him again. "We can start now, if you insist." He walked past them, headed vaguely in the direction Zephyr had taken. "We ought to get there in an hour."
"An hour?" Zero threw his hands up in disbelief.
Flurry looked uncertain, but she agreed with Zero on that point -- if for different reasons. "Zephyr could be scrap by then," she pointed out, eyes worried.
Blues turned, and she could feel an irritated glare emanating from behind his visor. "Just trust me on this one, okay?" He turned back to the path. "At the rate your ship's going, an hour is more than enough time to get there."
"Rock!"
The door to Rock's room slammed violently open, and the robot sat up sharply in bed, rubbing his eyes. Kalinka stood in the doorway, fairly dancing with nervousness. "Oh, wake up, Rock!" she insisted. "Dr. Light wants to talk to you. It's very important!"
"I'm getting up," he grumbled. "Did it ever occur to you to knock on the door?"
She cocked her head, mouth quirking. "I did. Twice."
He opened one eye, glaring at her. "Oh, go away. Tell Doc I'll be there in a minute."
She laughed at him and shut the door, pounding down the hall calling Dr. Light's name. Rock checked his internal chronometer and started. It was six in the morning, a bit early for everyone to be up. But then, he thought wryly, Doc's been keeping weird hours anyway.
When he got out to what they generally called the living room, he found everyone awake, including his dog. Rush barked at him, wagging his tail insanely, and he scratched the animal behind his ears.
"What gives, guys?" Rock asked
Roll tossed her head, shifting her shoulders lazily. "You remember what Blues handed you last night?" she asked pleasantly. "That's what gives," she continued as he nodded.
"It has details of Wily's latest -- er -- project, so to speak," Light said softly. "It's far from completion, of course, but it could pose a great threat to mankind in the very near future."
"You want me to go take care of it?" The robot shrugged easily.
"Yes, but --" The scientist paused, rubbing his forehead.
"But what?"
"I need you to deal with this a little differently," he said, looking up into Rock's suddenly confused face. "Wily's work must not be destroyed. I need you to bring it back with you when you return." His face grew stern. "Wily's capture is not your primary objective on this mission. You must understand that."
Rock nodded, almost unwillingly. His fight against Wily had always taken top priority, and he hated to think about what could be so worrisome as to usurp that position. "So I shouldn't try to bring him in."
Light sighed. "Of course you should, Rock. But focus on getting his project out of his hands -- that is what worries me most." The scientist stood, walking over to a viewscreen and tapping a couple of keys on the console. "This is what you should look for," he said, as images of a cluttered and crowded laboratory sprang onto the screen. "The room is probably heavily secured, but I'm sure you can reach it."
"I understand."
"Then good luck," Light dismissed him. "And return safely."
Rock whistled to his dog, and the two warped away without another word. Roll glanced silently at the computer screen, shoulders slumping. Wily, she knew, was not going away anytime soon, but why should one of his crazy robots be so much of a danger?
Forte roared with laughter, feeling the machine bob and tremble with the wind it raised. It was an incredible device, probably with more possibilities than even he could think of. If this didn't earn him a little respect from Wily -- nothing would. And if I don't get some respect quick, I'm gonna dump the jerk on his butt. Let's see him cope without me around. Forte, naturally, failed to remember that Wily had coped without him quite nicely for years.
Gospel uttered his rumbling howl, rearing up and putting his front paws on the console. He really didn't understand what his master saw in this device -- all it did was make noise and kick up dirt.
"Listen up, mutt," Forte grinned, "This sucker's our ticket to the top -- get it? Once Wily sees it, we're on the road to wherever we want to be."
Gospel rumbled unpleasantly, and a holographic map suddenly sprang up in front of them. Forte stared for a moment, soaking it all in.
Wily's fortress was fast approaching.