Chapter Twenty One: Brother to Brother... Yours in Life and Death
Author's Notes: This chapter is a KLEENEX ALERT! By the way, the title is not my own creation... I am borrowing it from the movie First Knight. This is a long chapter... and thanks to Chaos no Mazoku who helped me write much of it! You rock, girl! So grab your box of tissues and read on... beginning from Blues's POV...
I was waiting for him when he returned... and what a sight he made! What the hell had he gotten himself into...
"ZERO!" I called out as he approached at top speed. "You said you'd wait! And NOW look at you, dirt bag!"
He revved the engine just before entering the hangar, then braked so hard I had to cover my ears from the high-pitched squeal of the overheated braking system... then a low thud sounded as the bike hit the ground... with its batteries dead no doubt... idiot...
"Quit being a damn showoff, Zero..." I muttered as he walked past me.
"Shut up, Blues..." he said, low and dangerous. "You don't want to mess with me right now."
I had to laugh. "The hell I don't... I mess with you all the time... but I believe last time you got touchy about your girlfriend."
"Shut UP..." he growled.
"No, I won't! You need someone to bust that oversized ego of yours! Damned if anyone else has the nerve to, you stupid hotheaded..."
SMACK... I went flying into the next room, hitting my head on the wall.
"You... low-life..." was all I could say against the intense pounding I was feeling in my head.
He strode towards me, and it was then that I truly saw the blood and bits of metal clinging to his armor, dyeing it all a strange striped brown and black color...
"What happened to you!?" I exclaimed in disbelief.
"I don't want to talk about it..."
I didn't hear him. "Hell... it looks like you went through a whole army and then some! You were just gonna go and get Bass's schematics... did you decide to lose your head and go kill somethin' while you were at it? Huh?"
"I SAID," he shouted, suddenly holding me up by my neck, "THAT I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT."
Was I gonna back off? Hell no. I knew I would get the answers if I pressed the right buttons... and it looks like the right codes were being sequenced through his thickheaded, titanium, pretty-boy skull.
"You lost it, didn't you Red?" I asked quietly, defying his furious gaze with one of my own cold, lifeless ones. "The virus took over again, didn't it... and you killed Bass. You slaughtered him, you monster... not even he deserves that kind of death..."
"SHUT UP!!!" he dropped me, drawing his saber. Then suddenly his voice dropped to a calm tone... and all features of emotion except for an expression of amusement faded from his face. "I wouldn't risk getting me angry right about now... but this time you've gone too far, PROTOMAN..."
That name... the name I had that defined me as a ruthless killer... that which I no longer was. But instead of betraying that hatred of my old self I sneered back at the red robot. "You wouldn't dare..."
"Oh really?" he asked absently. "And why not?"
"Because Sierra will hate you for hurting me," I responded deadpan, remembering that the same thing was what had set him off before.
"I see. What if I just walk away?"
"Then you'd be a coward. And it would be SO BAD for your image..." I baited. "Did the virus make you a half-witted chicken."
He considered me for a moment. "No, coward wouldn't be the precise word. Precocious, hesitant perhaps... but not 'coward.' I wouldn't be taunting me if I were you, Blues; it might be bad for your health."
To say the least I was perplexed by this calm exterior... and I was determined to get some answers from him whether he was playing or not. So I grinned. "Sure, whatever you say... Red Demon."
He laughed, much to my surprise. I had expected him to explode at the name, but instead his gave me a sneer of his own. "Why, thank you. It seems suitable."
"Why did you come back?" I suddenly blurted out. "To finish us all off?" I raised my new plasma cannon, assuring myself that it was adequate to protect myself, as well as the two humans, from him. Something was odd... I couldn't put my finger on it, but something told me that the virus was slowly taking over him... and he was a force to be reckoned with... maybe confronting him like this wasn't such a good idea...
"Oh, so you want to shoot me now, do you Blues?" Damn, now HE was taunting ME... talk about turning the tables... to hell with him...
"Shoot me if you will," he continued, switching off his blue-green blade. "I am not defending... we shall see who the coward TRULY is, now won't we..."
"Hah," I shot back. My muscles were tense, ready to jump into action... but I couldn't stay like that forever... "Like I would stoop to that level. You have to give me more credit than that, empty-headed fool."
He fluidly leaped backward, and I heard a light hum as his saber was reactivated. It was the only thing visible in the shadows now enveloping him... not even the crimson armor could be seen in that darkness. I could still hear his laughter, though muffled from the distance now between us.
"Empty, you say... should I be honored?"
"If you wish. I was referring to your brain circuits, or rather, lack thereof."
"I see." Damn, I could taste the amusement in his voice... it was so unnerving. "Well, if my head is empty, all the better for me... since you don't know where my control chip is."
I blinked. What did he mean by that? I had no time to think, however, as he rushed at me and I suddenly had an arm gripped around my neck. I sputtered, barely able to breathe let alone speak.
"Heh..." I managed to choke out. "A blast... to your face... is all I need... to send you crying, Pretty Boy..." I chuckled as I powered up my cannon...
"That wouldn't be a wise choice, my friend," he whispered in my ear as he tightened his hold on me. Growling in fury I flipped him over, hearing a loud clank of titanium armor against the steel floors. Well, didn't the tiling get a nice dent... but without stopping to admire my handiwork I kicked Zero's saber away with all my might from his hand. He grunted in pain as his knuckles began bleeding from the force of my blow, and I laughed.
Bad choice on my part. I was caught up enough in my small victory that I didn't see his leg jut out to catch my knees... I fell forward onto the tiling, just barely seeing the Red Demon roll for his saber and execute a straight-up leap... where he stopped in midair.
"Laugh at that, miserable wretch," I heard him spit in disgust from his new perch. Oh... that robot was really wanting a fight, wasn't he? I disregarded his little insult to fire a shot at him, aimed right at his face. He dodged with a cocky grin, but his eyes widened as the energy went straight at the target I had truly intended... the long, blond ponytail. A large part of it was hit, blackened, and began to smoke.
I couldn't help it. From my spot of the floor I began to laugh, rolling around and clutching my sides. "LOOKY LOOKY!!!" I yelled in between bouts of laughter. "RED'S HAIR... IS SIZZLING!!!"
He looked down at the blackened area, frowning. "I see, or rather... I smell," he amended with a look of disgust. "You REALLY didn't want to do that."
"Hey, you had the chance to dodge, you know!" A tear or two of amusement had welled, and I wiped them away roughly with a stupid grin plastered onto my face.
"Do you have any idea of what you are getting yourself into?" he asked me in a soft but very dangerous voice.
"Ooh... I'm so SCARED!" I mocked, raising my hands up as if in defeat. "Damn, I am TERRIFIED of the tall berserker!"
"Humph. You are a fool, Blues. Why would you want to defeat me so badly?"
All mockery, amusement and just plain poking fun faded. He finally asked... and now I could spell it out to him. "It's your fault... that I was almost killed by Bass. It's YOUR fault that Sierra is hurt now... and it's YOUR FAULT..." I paused, taking a breath so that I could scream the last accusation... "YOUR FAULT THAT ROCK IS DEAD, DAMMIT!"
Silence. He looked at me again with half-lidded eyes; almost sleepy he looked... but I knew better than to think like that. Zero himself was not one to anger... Zero with a virus created by Wily... gods... there was no telling.
"Are you finished?" he demanded of me calmly. "Because if you choose to carry on like this I'll be forced to do something neither of us will like."
"Oh, yeah?" I said, my body beginning to shudder in anger as I moved to a defensive position. Don't ask me why... but something told me to expect anything... "Well maybe its payback time... time for me to exact my revenge for Rock's death! It was your doing that kept me from knowing my own brother! YOU!"
"On the guard, are we?" he quipped as he noted my change of stance.
"What's it to you?" I snapped. "My only problem is that I have to hold back... I can't mess you up too bad... because at least I still have respect for Sierra!"
"What's it to me?" I heard him muse quietly. Laughter soon followed... chilling enough to make me shudder involuntarily... damn him.
"What's it to me?" he repeated. "Simply, my dear Blues... absolutely nothing."
"I figured as much," I growled in response. How could he just hang there in midair (and hell if I knew how he was doing that!) and say all of this? Did he really have no care at all for anything but himself.
"You never did care about anything, did you Zero?" I asked of him, tensing. "Not even her!"
At last I received a response... he narrowed his eyes to the smallest of slits as he raised his sword again, but did not yet activate it. His emerald eyes seemed to glow with inner light, but I dared not let my fear of him show.
"I think it would be best to leave Sierra out of this, 'Protoman'."
"Really now? And why not? Then I won't mention that ugly red mark on your face... the result of her SLAP... it serves you right, you stuck up piece of junkyard scrap!"
"I respect her... for doing what she felt was necessary..." the red 'bot stated, barely loud enough for me to hear. Then his gaze met mine again, and I saw a strange hunger in them that was even more frightening than his laugh had been. "But come now... had I wished to talk, I would have gone to a coffee shop."
"Hey, it takes two to tango, Red," I joked, the leer pulling at my lips again. "... and two to argue. It's your fault as much as mine."
He laughed again... how could the sound become even more sinister?! I felt the cold sweat against my scalp, matting my reddish-brown hair to it. I ran a hand through the locks absently, wishing for my helmet. My steel green-grey eyes were widening slightly at Zero's enigmatic behavior... I had no idea what would come next.
"'Two to tango', is it? My, Blues, your naivete amazes me! Either that, or you have a sensational talent for ignoring the obvious..."
"Ooh... I'm hurt," I drawled sarcastically. "Think what you want, but I am not as naïve as you present YOURSELF to be..."
"Oh, but the problem is, Blues..." he countered without missing a beat, "I'm not sure of what to think. Do I even bother to worry about Sierra? I mean, obviously, I must have some human feeling for her...but will it ever matter, Blues? After all, we are only robots...and she is a human... Think on that for a moment."
Okay, this was getting VERY confusing for me... so what DID he think about her? Hence I voiced my inquiry. "So you deny loving her?"
"Nothing can deny love, but something can quite easily deny life."
I did not hear this almost silent statement at first, for I was immersed in my own musings of fury. "I don't believe this... and to think I had supported the two of you being together!" Then his words sank in. "Life? How would you know anything about life, Zero? Are we talking about your dreamworld of a life or reality? You think you've experienced true life?"
"Do you believe that YOU have?" he shot back impatiently.
"Yeah, I DO." He had to get me going... "You live in a bubble, coddled and surrounded by those who care! You don't understand how horrible it really is for those like us... you can't possibly comprehend the way we are shunned by humans... and do you know why??
"It's because if this place. Doctor Light and Sierra accept you... for who you are; not because you're a robot. And you know what, Zero? They're not gonna live forever... and THEN you'll see what life really is."
His face goes blank. "No Blues... they don't accept me... us. They see me as a robot... a humanoid one like Rock once was... but nothing more." He raised a fist to look at it, clenched it tightly. "One wrong move... and I could hurt her... or you, even..."
"Heh..." I muttered loudly. "'Bout time you figured that one out, Red... and look what trouble and pain you have already caused! Why didn't you go after her... when she went chasing me? Why, dammit?"
I saw now that he was struggling with himself... Something was happening now... I could see it.
"Do you think it would have been different," he began, "Had I been the one to bring her back? Think about it... And maybe then it'll get into your thick head..."
"Look... all I know is how I feel about her, all right?" What the... was I actually going to admit this? To HIM? I must have been losing my mind... but it was too late; there was no turning back now. "She freed me... showed me a life I never could have dreamed of having."
He let out a short sigh... was that pain I saw in his eyes now? His helmet shielded most of his facial reactions from me... but still I could see that something was happening... though I had yet to discover what that was...
"Freedom... is something that I can never have, Blues."
"Don't you get it? You have freedom now! You always had it!"
"Don't I get it..." his eyes closed, as if to shut the world out. He turned his head slightly away from me, blond ponytail flowing behind him.
"Yeah, that's what I want to know," I pressed, my frustration growing with every passing moment. I clenched my fists within their red gloves, my muscles tensing from under my grey armor. "Any other robot is a slave to humanity... as I was to Wily. We are the only ones who are free! And I cherish that... greatly..."
He laughed again, startling me. "I AM STILL A SLAVE TO THAT BASTARD WILY!" he yelled at me. "You SAW what Bass did to me! I hurt you... and dammit I THOUGHT IT WAS FUN! I... I... WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME???"
"It WASN"T YOUR FAULT!" I screamed back, happy to let out my tension. "I don't give a damn about it! It was the virus! But we can fix that! The Doc can--"
But Zero had jumped again, now into the rafters of the room, and there is a soft clunk as his boots hit the catwalks.
"You say that now..." I barely registered his voice from his far-away position... "But what will you say when I finally let it all go? Will you forgive so easily..."
What was all this? What nonsense crud was he spouting now? "It doesn't matter if I forgive you or not!" I shouted.
The sound of his laughter came again, this time not cold and blood freezing... but a sad, mournful one. "Go on and hate me... I know you already do."
Hate? Did I hate him? I thought on that a moment... no. I didn't... the only one I was truly capable of hating was Dr. Wily.
"Perhaps," I said at last. "But it's for Sierra's sake that I give you a chance. Zero, all that really matters is how you handle your own suffering..."
I thought I heard a snort. "How I handle it... hah. Oh, and don't worry... this isn't for you."
Unsure of his meaning I power up my cannon, ready to let loose a powerful shot of plasma at him. I hear him fire, and suddenly a large piece of the ceiling above came hurtling down at me. I release the powered plasma, shattering the huge metal shard to pieces... but some are still large enough to cut into me, the momentum of their fall making the slice through my armor easy.
"Dammit..." I curse.
"Like I said, wasn't for you," he called down. He jumped through the hole in the roof fluidly, catlike. "Do you feel any better now?"
"You think you're all that!" I shouted, a bit on edge because of the close call. "You're a fool, Zero! I don't care what happens to me... but as long as you're controlled by that virus, so help me I will protect Sierra from you!"
"So you say... I'll be going now... follow if you choose, Blues, but it would be best to leave well enough alone... you can't stop me from what I plan to do."
I had to say I was relieved to hear this... I'd had enough of all this. "Fine then! Go already! But if you ever come back, I'll be waiting... and I will kill you." The cruelty on my tongue grew... "... and when you return, Sierra will watch me dispose of you, by my side."
"How do you know that I'll return? How do you know that I will be able to?" he paused, and thought I couldn't see him I know he felt the sting of my biting words... I hadn't meant to be so thoughtless...
"She'd be glad to see me die," he concluded. "I know it."
Okay, he was getting plain ridiculous now. "You'd kill HER just by letting her see you like this, Zero!" I screamed, my emotions taking control of me, "But you don't care, DO YOU?"
For the longest time he didn't respond, and as I backed into a place where I could better see him I saw him mutter countless things under his breath. He was curling himself into a ball, and the blue sparks I knew to associate with the virus began to glimmer to life as they coursed up and down his armored form.
"You... should leave now, Blues..." he was saying softly. "...while you still can..."
What was I to say to that? The Red Demon actually appeared to be AFRAID! Of what... I couldn't be sure. Himself, perhaps? Maybe... it would make sense. But I couldn't just leave him there... it was easy to see that the virus was tightening its hold around him, and I had to get him help, fast.
"Hey, no way," I responded at last. "I can still help you."
"Help me? Hah like you would--"
"Shut up and listen, dammit!" I snapped. I had to calm him down, keep him in a stable state of mind as long as I possibly could...
"Fine," he murmured, and I sighed in relief. I thought at first he would attack or run off... either option was just as bad as the other.
"Look..." I began. "I can still get you to Doctor Light before it completely takes control... there's time to use what free will you have left now."
"...no... my will doesn't last against this thing... any resistance feeds it... even now I begin to fade. I may give in willingly and be deactivated until a cure is found... but by then it may be too late. There's so much imbalance Blues... and I must be the one to remedy it."
"Turn yourself off, Zero! I know that you still can... do it for her... because I know you wouldn't do it for me..." I smirked, and I sensed that he was amused as well. Good... he still had some control left.
Then I heard a quiet sigh. "Blues... for you... Rock... Sierra...it doesn't matter who... it's for everyone that I do this." He looked down at me... I felt those pure green eyes and felt the turmoil within them. "Blues... please tell her not to cry... she needs you now."
"What are you..." Then it dawned on me. "Oh my-- ZERO! You can't be serious! Don't do this!!!"
He didn't seem to hear me as he stepped out of my view... the increasing intensity of blue sparks the only thing I could see above me now.
"Treat her well, Blues... okay? Promise me that."
"ZERO!" I screamed. But he gave me no response. "DON'T DO THIS! YOU'LL KILL US ALL IF YOU LEAVE! THE VIRUS... GODDAMN IT! DON'T LEAVE! You're..."
Then it hit me... as much as I'd cared for Rock as a brother... I had been feeling the same way with Zero... the rivalries, the fights... everything. "You're the only friend I had..."
"I won't..."
My head snapped back up, my eyes straining for any trace of him on the roof.
"...can't you see, Blues?" he insisted. "I can't risk infecting you... a friend... hah... some friend I ever made..."
"What do you mean?!"
"I killed Rock... nearly destroyed you... who almost killed the one..." he choked, "the one we both love? I can't stay... no one needs me here... not even I need me."
"Yes we do!" I yelled, not caring how much emotion I was now betraying to him. I knew what he wanted to do... and hell if I was gonna let him! I couldn't let him leave... not like this, when everyone needed him. "Don't you see... you will kill her... kill Sierra... when she knows!
"I don't care if I get infected! Doctor Light is even now racing to find a cure for it! Have faith in him!"
"I don't want to hurt anyone else, Blues..." I could barely hear him now... he was losing it as I heard his voice scratching... "I have to do this... can't you understand that?"
"NO I DON'T! YOU'RE BEING STUPID!"
"No... stupid would be denial. If I accept my fate... she'll understand..."
"She won't! I know that... and you should too! Sierra could never love me... when it's you that she wants to be with! You don't GET IT!"
"Give it time..." he assured. "She doesn't know what she wants right now... and what's there to get..." he paused, "Here... keep this. I won't be... needing it anymore... please use it well..."
A flash of teal light, and the saber I knew so well fell through the hole above me, right at my feet. Why was he... unless...
"I don't want it, dammit!" I said defiantly. "It's yours! Has that virus wiped out your memories?!"
"No longer mine, Blues..." he sighed again. "I give it to you. My memories... they can't help me now... only to keep me going on this path... they'll save whatever soul I have... whatever kind of soul a robot CAN have... you understand..."
"Get your sorry ass back down here, Zero!" There was no way I was going to listen to any more... I could feel the hot tears collecting in my eyes... "I'm taking you back to Doctor Light! I won't listen to any more of this crap!"
"Just try to get me, Blues," he taunted, the sound of his voice growing ever weaker. "Did you actually think... I'd just... give up? I'd never do that to you guys... I'll leave the favor... heh... to you..."
"What? I don't--"
"Dammit, just get up here already!" he shouted, startling me. I fall silent, nodding even though he couldn't see it. Crouching down, I braced myself while reaching for the fallen sword, then leaped!... into the rafters. The hole was right above me, and I felt the heavy humidity of the outside air as I climbed out into it.
"I'm here," I announced, still looking for him in the shadows.
"I... I know..."
At last I saw the source of his voice... he was half-sitting, half- laying on the roof, staring out into the stars that had begun to cloud over in an approaching storm. For a moment I look with him. Was it all an omen? Finally he turned in grim regard to my arrival, pulling his knees close to his chest as he closed his eyes in an attempt to hide from that which was ailing him...
"Do it now..." he murmured. "Please... get it over with... she... she'll thank you for it... I'll make sure of that..."
He couldn't be serious! He was delusional! How the HELL did he get the nerve to ask me... to...
"I can't!" I cried out, clutching the saber in one hand. "You can't make me..."
"How... ironic..." he was laughing now... a leer crossing his pained features. His crimson helmet was slightly at an angle, his blond hair moving to disarray in the growing winds. "Didn't you want to... do away with me before? I told you... that I had reserved the favor... for you... and now you refuse it..."
"STOP THIS!" I shouted. The tears were falling freely now... twin rivulets down a face that had never known this kind of emotion before... for I had been a heartless skeleton of bolts and hardware... "Please Zero... you're being stupid again! I don't have... I don't have any reason to do this! And don't you DARE think of giving me one!"
He met my gaze as I deactivated the teal blade, and I saw the anger at me for doing so. But I refused... I couldn't bring myself to do it.
"Don't do this to me..." I pleaded. "I never want to hurt anyone again... I don't care if I wanted to kill you before... that was then... and I was wrong then! Do you hear me?! Wrong!!! Because I know now... that even at that time... deep within the coldest region of my heart I always knew... that you were my brother... just as much as Rock ever was."
He seemed surprised... or so it seemed from his sharp intake of breath and widening eyes. "Your... brother?" But then it looked like something within him snapped, and a dark look pulled at his face... the leer was returning. "Brother," he repeated, in mock amusement. "How very... touching... heh heh..."
My eyes narrowed. No... not now... Damn Wily and his virus... "Zero..." I warned. "Hold on... you can beat this! You taught me a new kind of strength, Zero... one I'd never known before I'd met you and Rock... so don't give up! Show me that strength... don't taint Rock's memory like this! He'd want you to beat this thing... the same as I do!"
"Strong?" he abruptly stopped laughing to give me a look so terribly evil I froze in place... I couldn't even breathe... "You want to see me... strong?"
His snarl was petrifying... "Zero... don't do this... just hold on... please, brother!"
"'Don't do it, Zero,'" he taunted while laughing again... I shuddered... "'Brother'... you didn't listen to me before... I warned you to end it... I WARNED YOU! Must I end it all... myself?" Now his voice broke as he rose to his feet, struggling to step towards me... I stood my ground, growling low in my throat while desperately trying to think of a way to keep him sane...
"Don't do it, brother... think of Sierra... you're what kept us all hoping... that we'd beat Wily! I know some part of you is still there... fighting that virus! Snap out of it, Zero!"
He tossed his head back and cackled at the swift-approaching clouds... I could hear the thunder rolling in the distance as an echo to the horrid laughter...
"I'm not like you!" he announced coldly, glaring. "I already said this... they need YOU... but I'm not like you... I'm very different, and people are afraid of change, Blues. Do you want them to be scared?"
At that comment I finally found my wits, as well as my voice. "I should be the one asking YOU that... look at yourself, Zero! At what you're thinking!"
"I told you to end this!" he repeated, clenching his fists and attempting to look away. "And you DIDN'T! Why can't you!?"
"Because I know you better than that! We're the same... created from the same plans and parts... we're brothers through and through!"
"Gods, Blues... this isn't change... this is EVIL..." I heard the real Red Demon saying... now he was having trouble standing on both feet... that's it... fight it...
"I know it is... but Wily..."
"THEN END IT!" he screeched. "KILLING WILY WON'T HELP ME NOW!"
"It's not me that has control of this! YOU do! End it yourself! Come back with me to Doctor Light..."
Suddenly he slumped, falling back onto the rooftop limply. "...fine..." Turning, he fixed his gaze on me again, and instantly was flying through the air. He knocked me over, grabbing his saber as he went. I got up quickly, looking around for him... a few feet away, clutching his weapon as if it were the only thing that kept him alive. He turned the blade on... grinning again...
"I love this sound... the complacent hum... it's almost soothing and serene at a time such as this..." he glanced over at me, as if he were just noticing my presence. "Oh... I'm sorry... did I scare you, Blues...?"
I clenched my fists at my sides in realization that every moment he was slipping further away from himself. "You have never scared me," I retorted, "...and you never will..."
"... it's just like I said..." he continued as if he hadn't heard me. "You don't need me... and neither does anyone else..."
"What are you--"
I halted mid-sentence... for his gaze had raised to meet mine... and I saw the anger... the rage... the pain... the hurt... Then there was a glint of silver, and my eyes widened as they dropped to the Z-Saber... now pointed at Zero's midsection...
The hilt was pressed firmly against his stomach. My gaze flew to his emerald one, now settling to a calm state... He smiled... not the evil leer he had worn just a moment ago... but one of reassurance... then his finger flicked against the silver handle...
...then a ear-shattering shriek as the teal blade shot on through armor... flesh and bone...
"NOOOO!!!" I screamed, falling forward in my cursed attempts to run to him... "ZERO!"
Blood was pouring from his wound... but he had never screamed... never let out a cry of the agony I saw plainly in his ever-expressive eyes... my own vision had long clouded over... now all I could see was a misty red form that was now my dying brother... NO! It couldn't end like this! I DIDN'T WANT TO LOSE ANOTHER BROTHER, DAMMIT!
I sobbed nonstop now... as my hands hurried to try and stanch the bleeding... he opened his eyes again...
"Blues..."
I didn't listen... I had to help him... I had to save him!!!!
"Blues..." he repeated... "I'm... sorry... but she needed this... you needed this..."
His blood wouldn't stop flowing... now the fluid was seeping onto the roof... staining it... I was mad with desperation.... "No no no... I won't let you die! I WON'T! DOCTOR LIGHT! DOCTOR LIGHT!" I said over and over again... though my logical mind told me that he couldn't hear me up here... I didn't care... he was drifting away... my only other brother... he was sacrificing himself... just as Rock had done... my two brave little brothers... and I was alone... the coward that I was...
He laughed at me, and to my horror flecks of blood erupted from his mouth as his choked words did... "He can't... help me now, Blues... I took care... of that... my control chip... I said it wasn't in my helmet..."
My movements stopped as the truth sank in... "YOU IDIOT!" I screamed at his stilling form. The rivulets cascade from my face and onto his marred armor already stained with the lifeblood of other robots that he'd killed... but none of that mattered now...
"...the chip's long gone... dissolved..." he laughed again. "I'm sorry... brother..."
"Tell me how to fix it!" I pleaded, shaking him despite his fatal wound. "TELL ME! You can't die! I won't let you!"
"There's nothing you can do, bro... I'm sorry..."
"You call me that now..." I cry, covering my face despite the dripping fluids covering them... I no longer cared... for I knew I had been too late... "Why must you call me your brother now?!" I cursed him for doing this to me... WHY!? I asked any deity that robots had... why must I be tortured so? Why must all that I care for suffer?
"Because in death... all are brothers..." Zero answered me grimly. "I've not much more... time left Blues... AHHHHH!" Small flickers, then large jolts of electricity jump over his form... and into the wound...
"HANG ON ZERO!" I screamed again... hopelessly pleading against the inevitable... "PLEASE.... Why are you killing me... WHY? Am I destined... am I fated to be alone forever?! And to watch everyone I love be killed off before my eyes?! Answer me, ZERO!"
With one hand he reached to remove his helmet, carelessly allowing his long blond hair free to dip in his spilled blood... "Blues... deactivation... can be reversed... Light is talented... enough to rebuild me... you asked me to have... faith in him... Don't you see?"
"But your body will be an empty shell with no soul!" I argued.
"Give it time..."
"But it won't be you! IT WON'T!"
Just then lightning cracked above us... highlighting the entire area in stark black and white... Thunder shook the lab as an earthquake would, and on cue the rains began... cold, gray rain that came in heavy droplets that pricked my skin like thousands of needles driving towards my already broken heart...
"Blues..." he murmured above the fall of water... he reached behind his neck, wincing as he removed two small chips from an access port... "...take these...they're my memory chips..."
"No..." I put my hands up, afraid to touch the fragile circuits. "I can't... you'll die..."
"It's irrelevant...to those such as ourselves... we can be rebuilt... reprogrammed... Dr. Light can reverse it all..."
"I don't care anymore! If you do this... I'll... I'll kill myself! I'll self-destruct and take the chips with me! Don't think I won't do it, Zero! Do you even care about that, dammit?! DO YOU?"
"Of course... I care... Blues... but...had I not done this... who could have stopped me... while I was... controlled... by the virus? You? Sierra? Bass? Don't go and destroy yourself, brother... Sierra would... fall apart... she'd die... and humans can't ever come back... once they're gone... you must know that..."
"BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER! She won't care about me... she never has... it's only been you... all that she thought about..."
"Blues... please listen..."
"...all she ever cared about..."
"BLUES."
I shut up then... but my emotions couldn't stop... would the tears ever stop? No... never...
"Listen to me, Blues... she'll read the files... on the chips... everything's there... memory... personality... I was sure to backup everything..."
"But..." I protested weakly. "You can't back-up love. That's something only you can have... it won't be the same... I know, and she'll know that!"
"...Tell her, Blues... tell her I did it for Rock... and she'll do it..."
"How DAREYOU!" I exclaimed, and he jumped from the sudden volume of my voice. My body began shuddering, not just from the freezing rain but from the fury now filling my heart. "HOW CAN YOU MENITION ROCK NOW! He died a HERO! How can you dishonor him like this?!"
"Yes... he died a hero... as he should have... while I am a coward..."
"YES!" I agreed wholeheartedly! "YOU ARE A COWARD!" I looked at him... and was shocked at how old he looked now... the lines of pain engraved upon youthful features were not meant for him to have... how could he have done this to himself? And despite it all, he smiled blankly.
"Yes... I wanted that... just don't forget me... please, brother..." his eyes dim to a dull black... but I could barely see for he had closed them to the smallest slits... "Be sure to tell her... that I died a coward... you tried to stop me... don't you see? You're the hero... Blues... you got what you finally wanted..."
"NO!" I shouted. "I never wanted this! I wanted a brother... someone to keep me from being alone! I don't want Sierra... she's yours... and always will be!"
"I..."
"ZERO!"
"Please... tell... her...Blues..."
"ZERO!!!!"
"I...I'll miss you... both..."
"DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE IN THIS WORLD! ZERO! DON'T DIE! I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE!"
But it was too late... with a final smile of reassuring farewell... his eyes closed forever... and his form fell limp beneath the rain and thunder... even his blood stopped flowing... I cradled his body close to my own, sobbing into the shell that once contained the soul of my last brother...
"NOOO!!!!!!" I cry out, screaming to the heavens. "NOOOOOO!!!!!"
Author's Note: A chapter or two more and Part One will be complete. Please don't kill me... but DO review!!!! ~Sierra Omega~
Author's Notes: This chapter is a KLEENEX ALERT! By the way, the title is not my own creation... I am borrowing it from the movie First Knight. This is a long chapter... and thanks to Chaos no Mazoku who helped me write much of it! You rock, girl! So grab your box of tissues and read on... beginning from Blues's POV...
I was waiting for him when he returned... and what a sight he made! What the hell had he gotten himself into...
"ZERO!" I called out as he approached at top speed. "You said you'd wait! And NOW look at you, dirt bag!"
He revved the engine just before entering the hangar, then braked so hard I had to cover my ears from the high-pitched squeal of the overheated braking system... then a low thud sounded as the bike hit the ground... with its batteries dead no doubt... idiot...
"Quit being a damn showoff, Zero..." I muttered as he walked past me.
"Shut up, Blues..." he said, low and dangerous. "You don't want to mess with me right now."
I had to laugh. "The hell I don't... I mess with you all the time... but I believe last time you got touchy about your girlfriend."
"Shut UP..." he growled.
"No, I won't! You need someone to bust that oversized ego of yours! Damned if anyone else has the nerve to, you stupid hotheaded..."
SMACK... I went flying into the next room, hitting my head on the wall.
"You... low-life..." was all I could say against the intense pounding I was feeling in my head.
He strode towards me, and it was then that I truly saw the blood and bits of metal clinging to his armor, dyeing it all a strange striped brown and black color...
"What happened to you!?" I exclaimed in disbelief.
"I don't want to talk about it..."
I didn't hear him. "Hell... it looks like you went through a whole army and then some! You were just gonna go and get Bass's schematics... did you decide to lose your head and go kill somethin' while you were at it? Huh?"
"I SAID," he shouted, suddenly holding me up by my neck, "THAT I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT."
Was I gonna back off? Hell no. I knew I would get the answers if I pressed the right buttons... and it looks like the right codes were being sequenced through his thickheaded, titanium, pretty-boy skull.
"You lost it, didn't you Red?" I asked quietly, defying his furious gaze with one of my own cold, lifeless ones. "The virus took over again, didn't it... and you killed Bass. You slaughtered him, you monster... not even he deserves that kind of death..."
"SHUT UP!!!" he dropped me, drawing his saber. Then suddenly his voice dropped to a calm tone... and all features of emotion except for an expression of amusement faded from his face. "I wouldn't risk getting me angry right about now... but this time you've gone too far, PROTOMAN..."
That name... the name I had that defined me as a ruthless killer... that which I no longer was. But instead of betraying that hatred of my old self I sneered back at the red robot. "You wouldn't dare..."
"Oh really?" he asked absently. "And why not?"
"Because Sierra will hate you for hurting me," I responded deadpan, remembering that the same thing was what had set him off before.
"I see. What if I just walk away?"
"Then you'd be a coward. And it would be SO BAD for your image..." I baited. "Did the virus make you a half-witted chicken."
He considered me for a moment. "No, coward wouldn't be the precise word. Precocious, hesitant perhaps... but not 'coward.' I wouldn't be taunting me if I were you, Blues; it might be bad for your health."
To say the least I was perplexed by this calm exterior... and I was determined to get some answers from him whether he was playing or not. So I grinned. "Sure, whatever you say... Red Demon."
He laughed, much to my surprise. I had expected him to explode at the name, but instead his gave me a sneer of his own. "Why, thank you. It seems suitable."
"Why did you come back?" I suddenly blurted out. "To finish us all off?" I raised my new plasma cannon, assuring myself that it was adequate to protect myself, as well as the two humans, from him. Something was odd... I couldn't put my finger on it, but something told me that the virus was slowly taking over him... and he was a force to be reckoned with... maybe confronting him like this wasn't such a good idea...
"Oh, so you want to shoot me now, do you Blues?" Damn, now HE was taunting ME... talk about turning the tables... to hell with him...
"Shoot me if you will," he continued, switching off his blue-green blade. "I am not defending... we shall see who the coward TRULY is, now won't we..."
"Hah," I shot back. My muscles were tense, ready to jump into action... but I couldn't stay like that forever... "Like I would stoop to that level. You have to give me more credit than that, empty-headed fool."
He fluidly leaped backward, and I heard a light hum as his saber was reactivated. It was the only thing visible in the shadows now enveloping him... not even the crimson armor could be seen in that darkness. I could still hear his laughter, though muffled from the distance now between us.
"Empty, you say... should I be honored?"
"If you wish. I was referring to your brain circuits, or rather, lack thereof."
"I see." Damn, I could taste the amusement in his voice... it was so unnerving. "Well, if my head is empty, all the better for me... since you don't know where my control chip is."
I blinked. What did he mean by that? I had no time to think, however, as he rushed at me and I suddenly had an arm gripped around my neck. I sputtered, barely able to breathe let alone speak.
"Heh..." I managed to choke out. "A blast... to your face... is all I need... to send you crying, Pretty Boy..." I chuckled as I powered up my cannon...
"That wouldn't be a wise choice, my friend," he whispered in my ear as he tightened his hold on me. Growling in fury I flipped him over, hearing a loud clank of titanium armor against the steel floors. Well, didn't the tiling get a nice dent... but without stopping to admire my handiwork I kicked Zero's saber away with all my might from his hand. He grunted in pain as his knuckles began bleeding from the force of my blow, and I laughed.
Bad choice on my part. I was caught up enough in my small victory that I didn't see his leg jut out to catch my knees... I fell forward onto the tiling, just barely seeing the Red Demon roll for his saber and execute a straight-up leap... where he stopped in midair.
"Laugh at that, miserable wretch," I heard him spit in disgust from his new perch. Oh... that robot was really wanting a fight, wasn't he? I disregarded his little insult to fire a shot at him, aimed right at his face. He dodged with a cocky grin, but his eyes widened as the energy went straight at the target I had truly intended... the long, blond ponytail. A large part of it was hit, blackened, and began to smoke.
I couldn't help it. From my spot of the floor I began to laugh, rolling around and clutching my sides. "LOOKY LOOKY!!!" I yelled in between bouts of laughter. "RED'S HAIR... IS SIZZLING!!!"
He looked down at the blackened area, frowning. "I see, or rather... I smell," he amended with a look of disgust. "You REALLY didn't want to do that."
"Hey, you had the chance to dodge, you know!" A tear or two of amusement had welled, and I wiped them away roughly with a stupid grin plastered onto my face.
"Do you have any idea of what you are getting yourself into?" he asked me in a soft but very dangerous voice.
"Ooh... I'm so SCARED!" I mocked, raising my hands up as if in defeat. "Damn, I am TERRIFIED of the tall berserker!"
"Humph. You are a fool, Blues. Why would you want to defeat me so badly?"
All mockery, amusement and just plain poking fun faded. He finally asked... and now I could spell it out to him. "It's your fault... that I was almost killed by Bass. It's YOUR fault that Sierra is hurt now... and it's YOUR FAULT..." I paused, taking a breath so that I could scream the last accusation... "YOUR FAULT THAT ROCK IS DEAD, DAMMIT!"
Silence. He looked at me again with half-lidded eyes; almost sleepy he looked... but I knew better than to think like that. Zero himself was not one to anger... Zero with a virus created by Wily... gods... there was no telling.
"Are you finished?" he demanded of me calmly. "Because if you choose to carry on like this I'll be forced to do something neither of us will like."
"Oh, yeah?" I said, my body beginning to shudder in anger as I moved to a defensive position. Don't ask me why... but something told me to expect anything... "Well maybe its payback time... time for me to exact my revenge for Rock's death! It was your doing that kept me from knowing my own brother! YOU!"
"On the guard, are we?" he quipped as he noted my change of stance.
"What's it to you?" I snapped. "My only problem is that I have to hold back... I can't mess you up too bad... because at least I still have respect for Sierra!"
"What's it to me?" I heard him muse quietly. Laughter soon followed... chilling enough to make me shudder involuntarily... damn him.
"What's it to me?" he repeated. "Simply, my dear Blues... absolutely nothing."
"I figured as much," I growled in response. How could he just hang there in midair (and hell if I knew how he was doing that!) and say all of this? Did he really have no care at all for anything but himself.
"You never did care about anything, did you Zero?" I asked of him, tensing. "Not even her!"
At last I received a response... he narrowed his eyes to the smallest of slits as he raised his sword again, but did not yet activate it. His emerald eyes seemed to glow with inner light, but I dared not let my fear of him show.
"I think it would be best to leave Sierra out of this, 'Protoman'."
"Really now? And why not? Then I won't mention that ugly red mark on your face... the result of her SLAP... it serves you right, you stuck up piece of junkyard scrap!"
"I respect her... for doing what she felt was necessary..." the red 'bot stated, barely loud enough for me to hear. Then his gaze met mine again, and I saw a strange hunger in them that was even more frightening than his laugh had been. "But come now... had I wished to talk, I would have gone to a coffee shop."
"Hey, it takes two to tango, Red," I joked, the leer pulling at my lips again. "... and two to argue. It's your fault as much as mine."
He laughed again... how could the sound become even more sinister?! I felt the cold sweat against my scalp, matting my reddish-brown hair to it. I ran a hand through the locks absently, wishing for my helmet. My steel green-grey eyes were widening slightly at Zero's enigmatic behavior... I had no idea what would come next.
"'Two to tango', is it? My, Blues, your naivete amazes me! Either that, or you have a sensational talent for ignoring the obvious..."
"Ooh... I'm hurt," I drawled sarcastically. "Think what you want, but I am not as naïve as you present YOURSELF to be..."
"Oh, but the problem is, Blues..." he countered without missing a beat, "I'm not sure of what to think. Do I even bother to worry about Sierra? I mean, obviously, I must have some human feeling for her...but will it ever matter, Blues? After all, we are only robots...and she is a human... Think on that for a moment."
Okay, this was getting VERY confusing for me... so what DID he think about her? Hence I voiced my inquiry. "So you deny loving her?"
"Nothing can deny love, but something can quite easily deny life."
I did not hear this almost silent statement at first, for I was immersed in my own musings of fury. "I don't believe this... and to think I had supported the two of you being together!" Then his words sank in. "Life? How would you know anything about life, Zero? Are we talking about your dreamworld of a life or reality? You think you've experienced true life?"
"Do you believe that YOU have?" he shot back impatiently.
"Yeah, I DO." He had to get me going... "You live in a bubble, coddled and surrounded by those who care! You don't understand how horrible it really is for those like us... you can't possibly comprehend the way we are shunned by humans... and do you know why??
"It's because if this place. Doctor Light and Sierra accept you... for who you are; not because you're a robot. And you know what, Zero? They're not gonna live forever... and THEN you'll see what life really is."
His face goes blank. "No Blues... they don't accept me... us. They see me as a robot... a humanoid one like Rock once was... but nothing more." He raised a fist to look at it, clenched it tightly. "One wrong move... and I could hurt her... or you, even..."
"Heh..." I muttered loudly. "'Bout time you figured that one out, Red... and look what trouble and pain you have already caused! Why didn't you go after her... when she went chasing me? Why, dammit?"
I saw now that he was struggling with himself... Something was happening now... I could see it.
"Do you think it would have been different," he began, "Had I been the one to bring her back? Think about it... And maybe then it'll get into your thick head..."
"Look... all I know is how I feel about her, all right?" What the... was I actually going to admit this? To HIM? I must have been losing my mind... but it was too late; there was no turning back now. "She freed me... showed me a life I never could have dreamed of having."
He let out a short sigh... was that pain I saw in his eyes now? His helmet shielded most of his facial reactions from me... but still I could see that something was happening... though I had yet to discover what that was...
"Freedom... is something that I can never have, Blues."
"Don't you get it? You have freedom now! You always had it!"
"Don't I get it..." his eyes closed, as if to shut the world out. He turned his head slightly away from me, blond ponytail flowing behind him.
"Yeah, that's what I want to know," I pressed, my frustration growing with every passing moment. I clenched my fists within their red gloves, my muscles tensing from under my grey armor. "Any other robot is a slave to humanity... as I was to Wily. We are the only ones who are free! And I cherish that... greatly..."
He laughed again, startling me. "I AM STILL A SLAVE TO THAT BASTARD WILY!" he yelled at me. "You SAW what Bass did to me! I hurt you... and dammit I THOUGHT IT WAS FUN! I... I... WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME???"
"It WASN"T YOUR FAULT!" I screamed back, happy to let out my tension. "I don't give a damn about it! It was the virus! But we can fix that! The Doc can--"
But Zero had jumped again, now into the rafters of the room, and there is a soft clunk as his boots hit the catwalks.
"You say that now..." I barely registered his voice from his far-away position... "But what will you say when I finally let it all go? Will you forgive so easily..."
What was all this? What nonsense crud was he spouting now? "It doesn't matter if I forgive you or not!" I shouted.
The sound of his laughter came again, this time not cold and blood freezing... but a sad, mournful one. "Go on and hate me... I know you already do."
Hate? Did I hate him? I thought on that a moment... no. I didn't... the only one I was truly capable of hating was Dr. Wily.
"Perhaps," I said at last. "But it's for Sierra's sake that I give you a chance. Zero, all that really matters is how you handle your own suffering..."
I thought I heard a snort. "How I handle it... hah. Oh, and don't worry... this isn't for you."
Unsure of his meaning I power up my cannon, ready to let loose a powerful shot of plasma at him. I hear him fire, and suddenly a large piece of the ceiling above came hurtling down at me. I release the powered plasma, shattering the huge metal shard to pieces... but some are still large enough to cut into me, the momentum of their fall making the slice through my armor easy.
"Dammit..." I curse.
"Like I said, wasn't for you," he called down. He jumped through the hole in the roof fluidly, catlike. "Do you feel any better now?"
"You think you're all that!" I shouted, a bit on edge because of the close call. "You're a fool, Zero! I don't care what happens to me... but as long as you're controlled by that virus, so help me I will protect Sierra from you!"
"So you say... I'll be going now... follow if you choose, Blues, but it would be best to leave well enough alone... you can't stop me from what I plan to do."
I had to say I was relieved to hear this... I'd had enough of all this. "Fine then! Go already! But if you ever come back, I'll be waiting... and I will kill you." The cruelty on my tongue grew... "... and when you return, Sierra will watch me dispose of you, by my side."
"How do you know that I'll return? How do you know that I will be able to?" he paused, and thought I couldn't see him I know he felt the sting of my biting words... I hadn't meant to be so thoughtless...
"She'd be glad to see me die," he concluded. "I know it."
Okay, he was getting plain ridiculous now. "You'd kill HER just by letting her see you like this, Zero!" I screamed, my emotions taking control of me, "But you don't care, DO YOU?"
For the longest time he didn't respond, and as I backed into a place where I could better see him I saw him mutter countless things under his breath. He was curling himself into a ball, and the blue sparks I knew to associate with the virus began to glimmer to life as they coursed up and down his armored form.
"You... should leave now, Blues..." he was saying softly. "...while you still can..."
What was I to say to that? The Red Demon actually appeared to be AFRAID! Of what... I couldn't be sure. Himself, perhaps? Maybe... it would make sense. But I couldn't just leave him there... it was easy to see that the virus was tightening its hold around him, and I had to get him help, fast.
"Hey, no way," I responded at last. "I can still help you."
"Help me? Hah like you would--"
"Shut up and listen, dammit!" I snapped. I had to calm him down, keep him in a stable state of mind as long as I possibly could...
"Fine," he murmured, and I sighed in relief. I thought at first he would attack or run off... either option was just as bad as the other.
"Look..." I began. "I can still get you to Doctor Light before it completely takes control... there's time to use what free will you have left now."
"...no... my will doesn't last against this thing... any resistance feeds it... even now I begin to fade. I may give in willingly and be deactivated until a cure is found... but by then it may be too late. There's so much imbalance Blues... and I must be the one to remedy it."
"Turn yourself off, Zero! I know that you still can... do it for her... because I know you wouldn't do it for me..." I smirked, and I sensed that he was amused as well. Good... he still had some control left.
Then I heard a quiet sigh. "Blues... for you... Rock... Sierra...it doesn't matter who... it's for everyone that I do this." He looked down at me... I felt those pure green eyes and felt the turmoil within them. "Blues... please tell her not to cry... she needs you now."
"What are you..." Then it dawned on me. "Oh my-- ZERO! You can't be serious! Don't do this!!!"
He didn't seem to hear me as he stepped out of my view... the increasing intensity of blue sparks the only thing I could see above me now.
"Treat her well, Blues... okay? Promise me that."
"ZERO!" I screamed. But he gave me no response. "DON'T DO THIS! YOU'LL KILL US ALL IF YOU LEAVE! THE VIRUS... GODDAMN IT! DON'T LEAVE! You're..."
Then it hit me... as much as I'd cared for Rock as a brother... I had been feeling the same way with Zero... the rivalries, the fights... everything. "You're the only friend I had..."
"I won't..."
My head snapped back up, my eyes straining for any trace of him on the roof.
"...can't you see, Blues?" he insisted. "I can't risk infecting you... a friend... hah... some friend I ever made..."
"What do you mean?!"
"I killed Rock... nearly destroyed you... who almost killed the one..." he choked, "the one we both love? I can't stay... no one needs me here... not even I need me."
"Yes we do!" I yelled, not caring how much emotion I was now betraying to him. I knew what he wanted to do... and hell if I was gonna let him! I couldn't let him leave... not like this, when everyone needed him. "Don't you see... you will kill her... kill Sierra... when she knows!
"I don't care if I get infected! Doctor Light is even now racing to find a cure for it! Have faith in him!"
"I don't want to hurt anyone else, Blues..." I could barely hear him now... he was losing it as I heard his voice scratching... "I have to do this... can't you understand that?"
"NO I DON'T! YOU'RE BEING STUPID!"
"No... stupid would be denial. If I accept my fate... she'll understand..."
"She won't! I know that... and you should too! Sierra could never love me... when it's you that she wants to be with! You don't GET IT!"
"Give it time..." he assured. "She doesn't know what she wants right now... and what's there to get..." he paused, "Here... keep this. I won't be... needing it anymore... please use it well..."
A flash of teal light, and the saber I knew so well fell through the hole above me, right at my feet. Why was he... unless...
"I don't want it, dammit!" I said defiantly. "It's yours! Has that virus wiped out your memories?!"
"No longer mine, Blues..." he sighed again. "I give it to you. My memories... they can't help me now... only to keep me going on this path... they'll save whatever soul I have... whatever kind of soul a robot CAN have... you understand..."
"Get your sorry ass back down here, Zero!" There was no way I was going to listen to any more... I could feel the hot tears collecting in my eyes... "I'm taking you back to Doctor Light! I won't listen to any more of this crap!"
"Just try to get me, Blues," he taunted, the sound of his voice growing ever weaker. "Did you actually think... I'd just... give up? I'd never do that to you guys... I'll leave the favor... heh... to you..."
"What? I don't--"
"Dammit, just get up here already!" he shouted, startling me. I fall silent, nodding even though he couldn't see it. Crouching down, I braced myself while reaching for the fallen sword, then leaped!... into the rafters. The hole was right above me, and I felt the heavy humidity of the outside air as I climbed out into it.
"I'm here," I announced, still looking for him in the shadows.
"I... I know..."
At last I saw the source of his voice... he was half-sitting, half- laying on the roof, staring out into the stars that had begun to cloud over in an approaching storm. For a moment I look with him. Was it all an omen? Finally he turned in grim regard to my arrival, pulling his knees close to his chest as he closed his eyes in an attempt to hide from that which was ailing him...
"Do it now..." he murmured. "Please... get it over with... she... she'll thank you for it... I'll make sure of that..."
He couldn't be serious! He was delusional! How the HELL did he get the nerve to ask me... to...
"I can't!" I cried out, clutching the saber in one hand. "You can't make me..."
"How... ironic..." he was laughing now... a leer crossing his pained features. His crimson helmet was slightly at an angle, his blond hair moving to disarray in the growing winds. "Didn't you want to... do away with me before? I told you... that I had reserved the favor... for you... and now you refuse it..."
"STOP THIS!" I shouted. The tears were falling freely now... twin rivulets down a face that had never known this kind of emotion before... for I had been a heartless skeleton of bolts and hardware... "Please Zero... you're being stupid again! I don't have... I don't have any reason to do this! And don't you DARE think of giving me one!"
He met my gaze as I deactivated the teal blade, and I saw the anger at me for doing so. But I refused... I couldn't bring myself to do it.
"Don't do this to me..." I pleaded. "I never want to hurt anyone again... I don't care if I wanted to kill you before... that was then... and I was wrong then! Do you hear me?! Wrong!!! Because I know now... that even at that time... deep within the coldest region of my heart I always knew... that you were my brother... just as much as Rock ever was."
He seemed surprised... or so it seemed from his sharp intake of breath and widening eyes. "Your... brother?" But then it looked like something within him snapped, and a dark look pulled at his face... the leer was returning. "Brother," he repeated, in mock amusement. "How very... touching... heh heh..."
My eyes narrowed. No... not now... Damn Wily and his virus... "Zero..." I warned. "Hold on... you can beat this! You taught me a new kind of strength, Zero... one I'd never known before I'd met you and Rock... so don't give up! Show me that strength... don't taint Rock's memory like this! He'd want you to beat this thing... the same as I do!"
"Strong?" he abruptly stopped laughing to give me a look so terribly evil I froze in place... I couldn't even breathe... "You want to see me... strong?"
His snarl was petrifying... "Zero... don't do this... just hold on... please, brother!"
"'Don't do it, Zero,'" he taunted while laughing again... I shuddered... "'Brother'... you didn't listen to me before... I warned you to end it... I WARNED YOU! Must I end it all... myself?" Now his voice broke as he rose to his feet, struggling to step towards me... I stood my ground, growling low in my throat while desperately trying to think of a way to keep him sane...
"Don't do it, brother... think of Sierra... you're what kept us all hoping... that we'd beat Wily! I know some part of you is still there... fighting that virus! Snap out of it, Zero!"
He tossed his head back and cackled at the swift-approaching clouds... I could hear the thunder rolling in the distance as an echo to the horrid laughter...
"I'm not like you!" he announced coldly, glaring. "I already said this... they need YOU... but I'm not like you... I'm very different, and people are afraid of change, Blues. Do you want them to be scared?"
At that comment I finally found my wits, as well as my voice. "I should be the one asking YOU that... look at yourself, Zero! At what you're thinking!"
"I told you to end this!" he repeated, clenching his fists and attempting to look away. "And you DIDN'T! Why can't you!?"
"Because I know you better than that! We're the same... created from the same plans and parts... we're brothers through and through!"
"Gods, Blues... this isn't change... this is EVIL..." I heard the real Red Demon saying... now he was having trouble standing on both feet... that's it... fight it...
"I know it is... but Wily..."
"THEN END IT!" he screeched. "KILLING WILY WON'T HELP ME NOW!"
"It's not me that has control of this! YOU do! End it yourself! Come back with me to Doctor Light..."
Suddenly he slumped, falling back onto the rooftop limply. "...fine..." Turning, he fixed his gaze on me again, and instantly was flying through the air. He knocked me over, grabbing his saber as he went. I got up quickly, looking around for him... a few feet away, clutching his weapon as if it were the only thing that kept him alive. He turned the blade on... grinning again...
"I love this sound... the complacent hum... it's almost soothing and serene at a time such as this..." he glanced over at me, as if he were just noticing my presence. "Oh... I'm sorry... did I scare you, Blues...?"
I clenched my fists at my sides in realization that every moment he was slipping further away from himself. "You have never scared me," I retorted, "...and you never will..."
"... it's just like I said..." he continued as if he hadn't heard me. "You don't need me... and neither does anyone else..."
"What are you--"
I halted mid-sentence... for his gaze had raised to meet mine... and I saw the anger... the rage... the pain... the hurt... Then there was a glint of silver, and my eyes widened as they dropped to the Z-Saber... now pointed at Zero's midsection...
The hilt was pressed firmly against his stomach. My gaze flew to his emerald one, now settling to a calm state... He smiled... not the evil leer he had worn just a moment ago... but one of reassurance... then his finger flicked against the silver handle...
...then a ear-shattering shriek as the teal blade shot on through armor... flesh and bone...
"NOOOO!!!" I screamed, falling forward in my cursed attempts to run to him... "ZERO!"
Blood was pouring from his wound... but he had never screamed... never let out a cry of the agony I saw plainly in his ever-expressive eyes... my own vision had long clouded over... now all I could see was a misty red form that was now my dying brother... NO! It couldn't end like this! I DIDN'T WANT TO LOSE ANOTHER BROTHER, DAMMIT!
I sobbed nonstop now... as my hands hurried to try and stanch the bleeding... he opened his eyes again...
"Blues..."
I didn't listen... I had to help him... I had to save him!!!!
"Blues..." he repeated... "I'm... sorry... but she needed this... you needed this..."
His blood wouldn't stop flowing... now the fluid was seeping onto the roof... staining it... I was mad with desperation.... "No no no... I won't let you die! I WON'T! DOCTOR LIGHT! DOCTOR LIGHT!" I said over and over again... though my logical mind told me that he couldn't hear me up here... I didn't care... he was drifting away... my only other brother... he was sacrificing himself... just as Rock had done... my two brave little brothers... and I was alone... the coward that I was...
He laughed at me, and to my horror flecks of blood erupted from his mouth as his choked words did... "He can't... help me now, Blues... I took care... of that... my control chip... I said it wasn't in my helmet..."
My movements stopped as the truth sank in... "YOU IDIOT!" I screamed at his stilling form. The rivulets cascade from my face and onto his marred armor already stained with the lifeblood of other robots that he'd killed... but none of that mattered now...
"...the chip's long gone... dissolved..." he laughed again. "I'm sorry... brother..."
"Tell me how to fix it!" I pleaded, shaking him despite his fatal wound. "TELL ME! You can't die! I won't let you!"
"There's nothing you can do, bro... I'm sorry..."
"You call me that now..." I cry, covering my face despite the dripping fluids covering them... I no longer cared... for I knew I had been too late... "Why must you call me your brother now?!" I cursed him for doing this to me... WHY!? I asked any deity that robots had... why must I be tortured so? Why must all that I care for suffer?
"Because in death... all are brothers..." Zero answered me grimly. "I've not much more... time left Blues... AHHHHH!" Small flickers, then large jolts of electricity jump over his form... and into the wound...
"HANG ON ZERO!" I screamed again... hopelessly pleading against the inevitable... "PLEASE.... Why are you killing me... WHY? Am I destined... am I fated to be alone forever?! And to watch everyone I love be killed off before my eyes?! Answer me, ZERO!"
With one hand he reached to remove his helmet, carelessly allowing his long blond hair free to dip in his spilled blood... "Blues... deactivation... can be reversed... Light is talented... enough to rebuild me... you asked me to have... faith in him... Don't you see?"
"But your body will be an empty shell with no soul!" I argued.
"Give it time..."
"But it won't be you! IT WON'T!"
Just then lightning cracked above us... highlighting the entire area in stark black and white... Thunder shook the lab as an earthquake would, and on cue the rains began... cold, gray rain that came in heavy droplets that pricked my skin like thousands of needles driving towards my already broken heart...
"Blues..." he murmured above the fall of water... he reached behind his neck, wincing as he removed two small chips from an access port... "...take these...they're my memory chips..."
"No..." I put my hands up, afraid to touch the fragile circuits. "I can't... you'll die..."
"It's irrelevant...to those such as ourselves... we can be rebuilt... reprogrammed... Dr. Light can reverse it all..."
"I don't care anymore! If you do this... I'll... I'll kill myself! I'll self-destruct and take the chips with me! Don't think I won't do it, Zero! Do you even care about that, dammit?! DO YOU?"
"Of course... I care... Blues... but...had I not done this... who could have stopped me... while I was... controlled... by the virus? You? Sierra? Bass? Don't go and destroy yourself, brother... Sierra would... fall apart... she'd die... and humans can't ever come back... once they're gone... you must know that..."
"BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER! She won't care about me... she never has... it's only been you... all that she thought about..."
"Blues... please listen..."
"...all she ever cared about..."
"BLUES."
I shut up then... but my emotions couldn't stop... would the tears ever stop? No... never...
"Listen to me, Blues... she'll read the files... on the chips... everything's there... memory... personality... I was sure to backup everything..."
"But..." I protested weakly. "You can't back-up love. That's something only you can have... it won't be the same... I know, and she'll know that!"
"...Tell her, Blues... tell her I did it for Rock... and she'll do it..."
"How DAREYOU!" I exclaimed, and he jumped from the sudden volume of my voice. My body began shuddering, not just from the freezing rain but from the fury now filling my heart. "HOW CAN YOU MENITION ROCK NOW! He died a HERO! How can you dishonor him like this?!"
"Yes... he died a hero... as he should have... while I am a coward..."
"YES!" I agreed wholeheartedly! "YOU ARE A COWARD!" I looked at him... and was shocked at how old he looked now... the lines of pain engraved upon youthful features were not meant for him to have... how could he have done this to himself? And despite it all, he smiled blankly.
"Yes... I wanted that... just don't forget me... please, brother..." his eyes dim to a dull black... but I could barely see for he had closed them to the smallest slits... "Be sure to tell her... that I died a coward... you tried to stop me... don't you see? You're the hero... Blues... you got what you finally wanted..."
"NO!" I shouted. "I never wanted this! I wanted a brother... someone to keep me from being alone! I don't want Sierra... she's yours... and always will be!"
"I..."
"ZERO!"
"Please... tell... her...Blues..."
"ZERO!!!!"
"I...I'll miss you... both..."
"DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE IN THIS WORLD! ZERO! DON'T DIE! I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE!"
But it was too late... with a final smile of reassuring farewell... his eyes closed forever... and his form fell limp beneath the rain and thunder... even his blood stopped flowing... I cradled his body close to my own, sobbing into the shell that once contained the soul of my last brother...
"NOOO!!!!!!" I cry out, screaming to the heavens. "NOOOOOO!!!!!"
Author's Note: A chapter or two more and Part One will be complete. Please don't kill me... but DO review!!!! ~Sierra Omega~