It's a Miserable Life
He'd never really paid attention to humans' inane festivities before. Wily certainly didn't give them any thought. They were always background noise, a pointless distraction that was on the periphery of his world. One of a million things that Bass was aware of but knew nothing about.
A passing comment from Break Man was all it took. Like flicking on a switch, suddenly he saw it everywhere: the lights, the banners and lawn ornaments, the flash and pomp.
Holidays seemed to make everyone lose their mind. They flocked to stores and dressed up in ridiculous costumes and apparently forgot every last one of their traffic laws. Bass watched all of this from a rooftop. He was supposed to be lying in wait for Mega Man, but was distracted by the antics of the people below. (As well as his constant com chats asking why they were doing one thing or another.)
Mega Man very nearly sprang the trap anyway, spotting Bass at the last second before leaping onto the same roof. He stopped and waited, watching Bass watching the people on the city street. Wondering just what it was that had caught his attention, Mega Man headed to the edge of the neighboring roof he was on, and looked around for anything of interest.
The street was unremarkable. Hovercars zipping up and down the block. Pedestrians tromping through the gray slush that collected on the sidewalks, arms weighed down with shopping bags. Obnoxious holiday music blaring from the stores.
He spent a good minute scanning the area before he realized it was the unremarkable scene itself that the Wily 'bot was so mesmerized by. Mega Man laughed quietly and went on his way.
Later that day Bass got an ear full from Dr. Wily. He insisted that Mega Man hadn't shown up, because there was no way he would've just missed him like that.
The argument dragged, and they traded all their standard insults and accusations, but neither of them really had their heart in it so things didn't heat up. Eventually Wily got sick of fighting, and dropped the issue. He tried to shoo Bass away.
"Hang on, I wanted ask—"
"And I wanted Mega Man locked away in a cage, but we can't always get what we want, can we?"
That just fired Bass up again, and the argument picked up right where it left off.
A few days later he pinged Break Man and met him at one of the many fortress ruins.
"People get all dressed up and some of them wear costumes for their stupid holiday. I've seen it."
"Okay…" Heaven only knows where this was going.
"I could do that."
There was a questioning tone in his voice— Bass was looking for a confirmation.
Break Man thought it over. Or, to be more accurate, he thought over how to let him down gently and avoid the inevitable backlash.
"That's not a bad idea." He was being sincere this time. 'But you're not ready,' was his unspoken thought. "What did you have in mind?"
Bass hadn't planned it out that far.
"Crowds are a pain," Break Man said, casually as he could. 'Even in disguise, people might recognize you, because last week you threw my brother clear through a grocery store and blew up a self-serve car wash. Your face has been all over the netnews and buddy your look ain't subtle.' "Besides, didn't you mention something about the movies?"
He hadn't, but this way Break Man could spin it like it'd been Bass's idea all along.
"I guess…?"
"Let's do that. Way less of a hassle." 'And no one's going to notice your distinct features in a dark theater.'
He wasn't thrilled with this, having been hung up on the idea of going out in public, and daresay possibly even mingling with the crowds. But thankfully, he had enough sense to know that this was something he couldn't pull off without Break Man's support.
They made future arrangements and went their separate ways.
He should have left it at that, but Bass was not exactly known for letting things lie. He tracked down Wily, who was busy, working hard on a large puzzle. 'Recreation', if you could call it that (Bass certainly didn't.)
"Wily. About Alvistide—"
"No."
"But—"
"No."
"You don't even know what I was going to say!"
"Look." Wily pointed at his own face. "Read my lips: N. O."
"Wily—"
"No."
Bass growled and huffed and, more importantly, he left… which was all Wily wanted in the first place. It was the greatest Alvis Day gift of them all: peace and quiet.
- A/N: Surprise!
- This is out of chronological order. I'm going to leave it here for a week or two and then move it to... somewhere around chapter 15 probably.