"C'mon, you stupid hunk of rock, MOVE!"
Mega Man was at the top of the mound of debris, trying to dig his way out of the hall and back into Sigma's lab, but so far even his impressive robotic strength was failing him. It was amazing that he was able to get out from under the cave in before it all came down on top of him, truth be told, but now he was cut off from the action. And he hated being cut off from the action.
Mega Man strained against a particularly large boulder trying to get it to move. "MOVE, DANGIT!" he shouted in frustration and pulled even harder. He did finally manage to get the rock loose, but all that did was drop even more rocks and debris on top of him, cause him to lose balance, and fall backwards to land on his currently unprotected head.
The blue Bioroid got to his knees and rubbed the back of his head in an attempt to lighten the pain. "That hurt! Jeeze!" he shouted to no one in particular.
Mega Man got up and glared at the impertinent pile of rubble before him before letting his frustration loose with his Mega Buster. He fired shot after shot for a good minute before finally dropping to his knees. The wall showed some smoking scorch marks but that was it.
"Feeling better?" a voice asked from behind.
"Yeah, a little..." Mega Man replied before it dawned on him that he was supposed to be the only one awake in the room. He turned to see X propped up on his elbows giving him a look he couldn't quite read. "X! You're awake! How do you feel?" Rock asked as he ran over to his future self in order to help him stand.
"Like someone tried to break OUT of my head with a sledgehammer," X replied ruefully as he rubbed his sore forehead. Then he saw Mega Man clearly for the first time and did a double take. "Woah, Rock, what happened to you?" he had to ask.
Mega Man sighed. "It's kinda a long story, but it all boils down to Vile beat me up. So, are you gonna help me find a way out or what?"
X nodded and was about to reply when a metallic growl resonated from behind. The two blue robots slowly turned and found a robotic dog, somewhat similarly built to Treble, slowly stalking them. "Vanguarder!!" X gasped.
"So, Zero. I make you this offer one last time..." Sigma said conversationally.
"Right," Zero replied sarcastically. "Lemmie guess. 'Join the Mavericks, Zero. It's where you belong. Etcetera, etcetera."
Sigma frowned. "Well, yes. Look around you, Zero. I have all who could pose as a danger to me trapped. I could destroy any one of them with but a thought. This is the power I offer you. The power to be the best!"
Sigma could see the wheels turning in Zero's head, figuratively speaking, and decided to go in for the coup de grace. "The power..." he added in a whisper. "To rule!"
Zero shut off his Beam Saber.
Iris looked about ready to cry. "Zero, no..." she whispered to herself.
"Don't worry, Iris," Protoman whispered back to her. "He's bluffing. I'd bet my life on it." Which I pretty much am, make no mistake.
Zero began pacing as if in deep thought. "Y'know, Sigma. I have given this offer of yours a lot of thought. And it is very tempting I must admit, what with my origins and all..." Sigma couldn't keep an evil grin from crossing his face. Zero continued as if he hadn't seen. "And I've decided...that you can get bent!"
The attack took Sigma by surprise. Still, it was not for nothing that he was the greatest Hunter of his time. He miraculously managed to dodge Zero's lunging slash with not much more than a simple cut on his shoulder. "That, my friend," the larger Reploid growled as he lit his own Beam Saber. "Was a big mistake."
Zero shifted to his fighting stance. "You're the one who made the mistake, pally. Now let's end this!"
Sigma nodded. "Very well. If it's a battle you want, then a battle you shall have. I will even fight without my newfound powers. One hand behind my back, as they say."
"Whatever you say," Zero replied with a smirk.
So began the battle of the century.
Vanguarder, Sigma's personal pet, slowly approached the Blue Bombers, a low growl rising from his throat. "Man, this really bites!" Rock said.
"No," X replied, pointing at the dog. "He really bites. And hard, too."
"So, he wouldn't happen to be weak against heat based weapons, would he?" Mega Man asked, hoping his one Master Weapon could be of some help. Vanguarder spewed a cloud of flame from his mouth at the two heros, which was barely dodged. "I'll take that as a 'no,'" Mega Man muttered wryly.
Vanguarder lunged and its opponents leapt out of the way again. X tried to air-dash, but since he didn't have the proper equipment for it, all his dash thrusters did for him was send him face first to the floor. "X, you moron!" he admonished himself as he tried getting to his feet. Unfortunately, Vanguarder leapt on him pinning him.
X could feel its metallic breath against his cheek as he squeezed his eyes closed. Then, he heard a pained "Yipe!" as the dog seemed to be violently tossed from his back. X opened his eyes to see Mega Man pointing his arm cannon at the beast with smoke wafting from the tip. "Back off, Fido!" he snapped.
Vanguarder roared and leapt at Mega Man, who stood his ground. "Rock, are you nuts!?" X asked. "MOVE!"
Still Mega Man stood. At the last second, he brought his fist up into the attacking dog's jaw. He felt a satisfying crunch as the dog flew backward and landed in a heap. "Well, I guess the old fashioned way still works," he said with a grin as he dusted off his hands. Vanguarder stumbled to its feet and shook its head, ready to attack again. "Maybe not," Rock noted with a smirk. He casually formed an arm cannon and shot the dog point-blank in the head. This time, it didn't get up. "So, whaddya say we find a way outta here?" he asked X.
"Why don't we?" X replied before his form was hidden by a blinding flash of light. When it died down, he was once again in his white "X4" armor.
Mega Man's eyes widened slightly. "One of these days you're gonna have to tell me how you do that." He remarked with a grin.
X grinned himself. "You'll find out when you're older."
The battle was amazing. There are simply no words to describe it. Sigma would attack, Zero would block, then counter. Neither one gaining any true advantage. Neither one giving any quarter, or asking for any. The floor was stained black from the fluids leaking from the various wounds from the two combatants. Still they fought on.
Still, Zero knew he would eventually lose. He was a lot smaller than Sigma, and was simply not built to take the same amount of damage his opponent could. He was beginning to wear out. Bass realized this and was barely able to bite back a growl of frustration.
He's going to lose, you know.
"Not you again! Go away!"
Hey, wherever you go, I'll be there. I'm part of you after all.
"Shut up!"
You know what you have to do.
Bass sighed. Yes, he knew what he had to do. Still, that didn't mean he had to like it. But if he didn't do something soon, his younger brother would die. "Life just sucks," he commented to himself before closing his eyes. He totally ignored the battle in front of him, as he turned his conciousness inward. He was now destroying the barriers. The mental blocks he erected long ago to hide the inner core of goodness inside. A core that Wily couldn't have known about, else he would have had Bass reprogrammed long ago. It was difficult: the walls were thick and solid. But the further he went, the easier it became.
"It's no use!" Iris cried in despair. "Sigma's wearing Zero down. He's going to lose."
Protoman was staring up at Bass, pinned several feet above himself and the female Reploid. "Don't be so sure, babe," he commented, seeing the look of concentration on the black Bioroid's face. "I think the calvary's about to arrive."
With a wordless cry, Bass answered Protoman in the affirmative. His arms and legs shot out, and a sphere of blue energy erupted from his body, expanding every microsecond. As the energy passed over Protoman and Iris, their bonds disappeared, sending the two of them crashing to the floor. When the energy reached the cave-in where Mega Man and X were trapped, the rocks all exploded outward. The entire process took about two seconds, and when it was over and the light had died, nothing in the room seemed to have been touched, except for the cave-in area. X and Mega Man peeked their heads out of the opening with shocked looks on their faces. "What the sam-hill happened here?!" X asked.
Mega Man shook his head. "I'm not sure, but I'm thinkin' Bass had something to do with it. Look!" Rock pointed in Bass's direction.
Bass slowly lowered himself to the ground, his body alight with blue flame. Wordlessly, Bass pointed an arm cannon at the stunned Sigma and shot a blast that knocked his Beam Saber right out of his hand. With a second shot, the weapon was destroyed completely.
Sigma grinned. "Well, it seems that this will be an interesting fight after all!" With that, Sigma ignited his body with violet flames and streaked toward Bass. When the two met, they engaged in a lightning fast fight that none of the others could follow. X and Mega Man gathered with Protoman, Iris, and Zero and the best they could do was watch in amazement.
"Kinda like watching that Dragonball Z cartoon, ain't it?" Protoman asked.
"DBZ isn't a cartoon, Proto," Mega Man corrected absently. "It's an anime." At that point Bass got slammed through a wall next to the group. He came out unharmed and still flaming. With a growl he dove straight for Sigma again. "But you're pretty much right."
X saw the look on Mega Man's face. "What is it, Rock?"
Mega Man didn't look away from the battle. He didn't seem to have heard X, as his answer seemed to be spoken more to himself then to any of the others. "Weird that he's flaming blue. That was the color of the flames when Duo did that trick." The others took a closer look at the battle. Sure enough, Bass was glowing blue and Sigma was glowing violet.
After about a minute of the fight, Sigma and Bass separated. Both were sporting some new wounds, but none of them seemed to be too life threatening. However, Bass was breathing heavily and clutching his chest with one hand. Iris noticed first. "Hey, what's up with Bass?"
"Whaddya mean Iris?" Zero asked.
"Well, look at him. He hasn't taken nearly enough of a beating to be acting that way. I should know. I've worked at the Reploid Repair Bay at Repliforce before."
Protoman narrowed his eyes behind his visor. "Know what? I think you're right!"
Mega Man's eyes widened as he remembered the E-Tank Bass had to take after his fight with Vile, even though Vile had only managed to hit him once. "Oh, crap!" The others turned to look at him in surprise. "Bass's systems aren't built to use the alien energy to this scale. If they had been, he'd've been able to do so before now! It's probably eating up his insides right now!"
Sigma seemed to have realized this as well. He fired a blast of energy at Bass, who used his energy to create a shield around himself. The shot was deflected harmlessly, but still bas cried out in pain. "It's over Bass," Sigma said, victory clear in his voice. "I win. It's only a matter of time before you destroy yourself."
"Not...before...I destroy...you....scumbag!" Bass panted.
Meanwhile, a plan was forming in Protoman's head. The clearer the idea became the more he was sure it would work. "Hey, guys," he called out. "I have a plan." The group of Reploids and Bioroid turned to him to see what he had up his sleeve. "Sigma's totally focused on fighting Bass. He probably hasn't had to fight more than two opponents at once for a long time. I think we can use that to our advantage..."
Meanwhile, the battle was in full swing again. Sigma landed a nasty punch on Bass that sent the Bioroid skidding along the ground. Sigma was about to finish the fight with a large blast, when he was hit in the side by twin bolts of plasma. He turned in surprise to see Mega Man and X waving and making faces at him. "Hey, Sigma!" Mega Man called out. "I heard your mother was the Y2K bug!"
"Yeah," X agreed. "No wonder you couldn't win a war to save your life. What with a non-event like that in your lineage!"
"Why you insolent...!"
Sigma was cut off as Iris landed a flying kick to his side. The attack took him by so much surprise that he took the full brunt of the blow and it sent him flying to one side. Protoman was waiting for him and delivered a powerful uppercut that sent Sigma reeling backwards. The next thing Sigma knew, Zero's Beam Saber had blossomed from his shoulder. The large green Reploid screamed in pain as Zero tore the blade from his opponent's side.
Bass saw this as his chance to attack, and charged at Sigma. Without even realizing how he knew its location, Bass drove his hand in Sigma's chest and withdrew the core of Evil Energy. He crushed it to dust. With a scream of rage, pain, and defiance, Sigma exploded in an eruption that threw both Zero and Bass several feet in opposite directions. Bass landed on his back and didn't get up again. The blue flame was gone and he was having trouble breathing, but he was still alive. The others were a little worse for wear, but nothing too serious.
"Well," X remarked as he glanced over the battlefield. "I guess that's it."
"Not so fast," came a chillingly familiar voice over the PA system. Everyone turned to one of the few good computer monitors left to see a wire-frame model of Sigma's face leering at them. "I still have one more trick up my sleeve. Doppler created a new strain of the Maverick Virus for me. Once I release it, it will only be a matter of time before all Reploids on the earth become Maverick. Also, I've set this base to self destruct. Both events will happen in exactly fifteen minutes. Have a nice day." Sigma's laughter echoed over the speakers for a moment until they broke off.
Zero began swearing some of the most imaginative curses he could as he began typing furiously on the keyboard in front of him.
Mega Man had a confused look on his face. "What's up with that? Why would he even set a time limit for either?"
X was looking over Zero's shoulder in order to help him navigate when neccesary. "The Chess game, remember? Zero and I are good enough computer hackers that we can find and eliminate the virus, but it would take us about fifteen minutes to do so. And this base is so huge, that the nearest path to the surface would take the same amount of time to navigate at a full run."
Protoman got the message. "Siggy wants to see if these Pogs are willing to sacrifice themselves for a chance at the Checkmate!"