Chapter Twelve: Hero
Author's Note: This is continuing directly from the last chapter, in Rock/Mega Man's POV...
"Stop this!" she repeated. "I won't let you take Bass, or hurt any of my friends again!"
"You are in no position to threaten me, girl!" Wily shot back. "Just watch as I turn your own robot against you! Bass!" he turned to me with his thumb fingering a blue button. I saw the black robot's eyes widen in fear and anger, clenching his fists. It seemed as if he knew about the little black box, but never thought about it.
"Bass! I command you to kill Mega Man, and then the rest of them!" He pressed the button. Bass fell to the ground as his circuits shorted in and out. Then he became stone still, and suddenly jumped to his feet. His eyes glowed a gleaming red now, and as he turned to face me I knew I was in trouble.
"Snap out of it, Bass" I said quietly. My only response was a widening grin of madness. "Bass! Wily's trying to confuse you! He's the bad guy here!"
"ROCK!" Sierra yelled. "It won't work! I built that remote myself... nothing can stop Bass! Run!"
What else could I do? I hightailed it to the aircraft on jelly legs, cursing at myself for my weakness. I heard Bass powering up and tried to move faster, managing to get a few steps further before falling flat on my face. He fired, and in desperation I rolled sharply to the right. The blast missed me by only microns, searing the side of my blue helmet. The energy had passed so close to my power crystal that I felt it begin to melt and some of my internal systems begin to shut down.
"NOOO!!" Sierra screamed, breaking down into tears. My own heart broke as I barely registered her cries... I was going to let her down...
No... I couldn't let this stop me... I had friends to protect! Determined to make it I struggled to my feet as I heard Bass prepare to fire again. One step... then another... the aircraft was ten feet away... eight feet... now five...
BAM! I was hit... this time in the side. My mechanical blood flowed from the wound freely, even as I tried to stanch it by covering it with my gloved hand. The liquid dripped to the floor as I nearly keeled over in agony, but I had to go on... I was the only one that could get us home.
Just two steps away... I leaped into the cockpit with some spare reserve of energy left and powered up the systems. The craft shuddered and groaned as one engine was blasted to pieces, but I turned on the auxiliary boosters and hit the accelerators faster than anyone could say 'Sizzling circuits!'
"Rock!" Sierra exclaimed once I had turned on the autopilot. "Rock! Are you all right?"
Jeez... what a question... I was dying, and I knew it. I knew I probably wouldn't make it back to the lab... but I couldn't tell her that. I looked into her eyes, those sapphires that were lined with pain and suffering...
"I'll... be... okay..." I muttered, giving her a weak smile. "How's... Zero?"
"He's all right," she answered, a tear falling down her cheek. "He just needs some minor repairs... but, Rock... I'm so sorry..."
"For... what? What could you possibly... need to be... sorry for?" I was really struggling to keep an even voice; I refused to let myself deactivate now, even as a complete system failure was creeping closer ever second.
"For creating Bass! For getting abducted in the first place! For letting myself be controlled by Wily... God, I'm so sorry for it all... this is all my fault, Rock! Zero's hurt... you're..." her voice cracked, "... dying..."
"Hey..." I whispered, trying to comfort her. "Don't worry about me... it wasn't... your fault... 'Sides, I knew we wouldn't leave there unharmed... I got lucky..." I coughed, and as I brought my hand away from my mouth I saw more blood dotting my glove...
"Rock!" she sobbed. "No... this can't be happening... don't die..."
I didn't know what to do. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the lab approaching in the distance, but it was still so far... I reached over and took one of her hands in mine, trying to save my strength by not speaking. She raised her head to look me in the eye for the first time, and I saw through now-blackening vision her crystal tears flowing down her pale cheeks. She was about to speak again when I heard a groan from nearby.
Sierra jumped in surprise as she turned to see Zero stirring back into reality. 'Bout time the idiot woke up... I coughed again, turning away so that Sierra couldn't see. Luckily she was paying more attention to Zero at the moment, as it should be. Those two really belonged together...
"Uhh... my head..." he moaned, opening his green eyes at last.
"Zero? Zero?" Sierra was repeating, tears flowing even faster.
"Si... erra...?" he mumbled, trying to focus his gaze on her. "Is it really you...? Or am I still dreaming?"
"It's me..." she murmured, and suddenly hugged him tightly. I saw him wince in pain, but didn't show it in front of her. I laughed in my mind. Talk about mush... but who was I to object...
Then at the worst moment, I began involuntarily convulsing from internal power failure... my vision was failing... I couldn't breathe...
***
Author's Note: Sorry that these are so short! But there will be lots more coming, and I'll try to post them in groups of two or three...
Author's Note: This is continuing directly from the last chapter, in Rock/Mega Man's POV...
"Stop this!" she repeated. "I won't let you take Bass, or hurt any of my friends again!"
"You are in no position to threaten me, girl!" Wily shot back. "Just watch as I turn your own robot against you! Bass!" he turned to me with his thumb fingering a blue button. I saw the black robot's eyes widen in fear and anger, clenching his fists. It seemed as if he knew about the little black box, but never thought about it.
"Bass! I command you to kill Mega Man, and then the rest of them!" He pressed the button. Bass fell to the ground as his circuits shorted in and out. Then he became stone still, and suddenly jumped to his feet. His eyes glowed a gleaming red now, and as he turned to face me I knew I was in trouble.
"Snap out of it, Bass" I said quietly. My only response was a widening grin of madness. "Bass! Wily's trying to confuse you! He's the bad guy here!"
"ROCK!" Sierra yelled. "It won't work! I built that remote myself... nothing can stop Bass! Run!"
What else could I do? I hightailed it to the aircraft on jelly legs, cursing at myself for my weakness. I heard Bass powering up and tried to move faster, managing to get a few steps further before falling flat on my face. He fired, and in desperation I rolled sharply to the right. The blast missed me by only microns, searing the side of my blue helmet. The energy had passed so close to my power crystal that I felt it begin to melt and some of my internal systems begin to shut down.
"NOOO!!" Sierra screamed, breaking down into tears. My own heart broke as I barely registered her cries... I was going to let her down...
No... I couldn't let this stop me... I had friends to protect! Determined to make it I struggled to my feet as I heard Bass prepare to fire again. One step... then another... the aircraft was ten feet away... eight feet... now five...
BAM! I was hit... this time in the side. My mechanical blood flowed from the wound freely, even as I tried to stanch it by covering it with my gloved hand. The liquid dripped to the floor as I nearly keeled over in agony, but I had to go on... I was the only one that could get us home.
Just two steps away... I leaped into the cockpit with some spare reserve of energy left and powered up the systems. The craft shuddered and groaned as one engine was blasted to pieces, but I turned on the auxiliary boosters and hit the accelerators faster than anyone could say 'Sizzling circuits!'
"Rock!" Sierra exclaimed once I had turned on the autopilot. "Rock! Are you all right?"
Jeez... what a question... I was dying, and I knew it. I knew I probably wouldn't make it back to the lab... but I couldn't tell her that. I looked into her eyes, those sapphires that were lined with pain and suffering...
"I'll... be... okay..." I muttered, giving her a weak smile. "How's... Zero?"
"He's all right," she answered, a tear falling down her cheek. "He just needs some minor repairs... but, Rock... I'm so sorry..."
"For... what? What could you possibly... need to be... sorry for?" I was really struggling to keep an even voice; I refused to let myself deactivate now, even as a complete system failure was creeping closer ever second.
"For creating Bass! For getting abducted in the first place! For letting myself be controlled by Wily... God, I'm so sorry for it all... this is all my fault, Rock! Zero's hurt... you're..." her voice cracked, "... dying..."
"Hey..." I whispered, trying to comfort her. "Don't worry about me... it wasn't... your fault... 'Sides, I knew we wouldn't leave there unharmed... I got lucky..." I coughed, and as I brought my hand away from my mouth I saw more blood dotting my glove...
"Rock!" she sobbed. "No... this can't be happening... don't die..."
I didn't know what to do. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the lab approaching in the distance, but it was still so far... I reached over and took one of her hands in mine, trying to save my strength by not speaking. She raised her head to look me in the eye for the first time, and I saw through now-blackening vision her crystal tears flowing down her pale cheeks. She was about to speak again when I heard a groan from nearby.
Sierra jumped in surprise as she turned to see Zero stirring back into reality. 'Bout time the idiot woke up... I coughed again, turning away so that Sierra couldn't see. Luckily she was paying more attention to Zero at the moment, as it should be. Those two really belonged together...
"Uhh... my head..." he moaned, opening his green eyes at last.
"Zero? Zero?" Sierra was repeating, tears flowing even faster.
"Si... erra...?" he mumbled, trying to focus his gaze on her. "Is it really you...? Or am I still dreaming?"
"It's me..." she murmured, and suddenly hugged him tightly. I saw him wince in pain, but didn't show it in front of her. I laughed in my mind. Talk about mush... but who was I to object...
Then at the worst moment, I began involuntarily convulsing from internal power failure... my vision was failing... I couldn't breathe...
***
Author's Note: Sorry that these are so short! But there will be lots more coming, and I'll try to post them in groups of two or three...