"This is great!" Bane glanced around in approval. There were Mega Man chibis, Mega Man balloons, Mega Man posters... "Wonderful!"

"Embarrassing." Rock muttered, glancing around uneasily. "There was never anything like this in our world."

"They never appreciated you." Bane said matter of factly. "All the effort you put into protecting them, and Dr. Light had to shield you from so many things..."

"What?" Rock gazed at him in confusion, and Bane flipped a hand, dismissing it.

"Just stuff. Look, Mega Man posters!" He grabbed Rock by the arm, almost dragging him to the booth manned by a pretty young girl. There were posters, alright... and far more. Tiny little Mega Man dolls, Proto Man dolls, even Roll, Rush and Beat dolls. Keychains, necklaces, even earrings. Plush chibi's. Bane picked up one of those, a big soft, goofy looking one. "Aren't these sweet!" Rock rubbed his forehead. Bane was in a playful mood, and Bane in a playful mood could mean big, big trouble. He could feel a migrane coming on.

"Bane? I'll just go look at the displays for a while, if that's okay." He finally said. He didn't want to leave Bane alone, but he just didn't feel like having a good time at a place that was dedicated to him... but wasn't. The whole concept was making him feel vaguely ill. Bane looked a little disappointed, but gazed at him carefully for a moment, then nodded, giving his arm a squeeze before letting go.

"Okay Rock. Meet you in the food area in about, oh, two hours?" Bane checked his watch. "Mega Man and Dr. Light should have just shown up then." Rock blinked, then swallowed heavily.

"Ah, right." At least this wasn't a mirror dimension as Bane had originally suggested... but it would be hard anyway. Rock finally shook his head, walking away, as Bane gazed after him.

Bane turned his attention back to the wares in the stall. Money meant little to him, it hadn't meant anything to Dr. Light except as fuel for his work, and Bass had just taken what he wanted. Bane spent it without much care for anything.

He quickly purchased a Megachibi with a smile. He liked having something to cuddle at night, and while he'd have preferred Rock, that was always hard to explain in the morning. He picked up a poster of Mega Man and Bass together, and then hesitated over a Roll doll. He didn't want it for himself... but it might make a nice gift for Rock, to remind him of his sister. Or perhaps not. It might remind him of who had killed her.

Bane finally decided to purchase it, and placed it in his pocket.

Finally, he went to meet Rock at the food area. He was carrying a giant slurpee, in addition to his chibi and poster. Rock was sitting forlornly at a small table, staring blankly away.

"Hey Rock!" Bane greeted him, grinning. Rock blinked, then turned to look at him.

"Oh, hi Bane... umm... what are you drinking?" Bane took a deep drink of the virulent yellow-green slush.

"Oh, a lemon-lime slurpee." He slurped up more of it. "Mmm, sour." Rock made a face.

"Ewww. Did Dr. Light like those, or did Bass?" Rock asked with honest curiosity. Bane thought about it for a moment, then shrugged.

"You know, I don't think either of them ever tried one. Your guess is as good as mine." He drank deeply again, then sighed. Rock tilted his head, an amused, ironic smile crossing his lips.

"And how many have you had so far?" He asked with a small chuckle. Bane shrugged again with a sheepish smile.

"This is my third." Bane grinned at Rock's pained expression. "Come on Rock, play along! Sugar rush." Rock smiled again, but shook his head.

"Someone has to be level-headed, Bane, and you won't do it, so..." Rock shrugged. "Here I am." Bane shook his head in mock reproach.

"Sometimes, Rock, you just have to have fun." Bane suddenly caught Rock's hand, holding it tightly, and his voice turned serious. "Don't wall yourself off, Rock. There's a time for work, and a time for play." Rock blinked, then looked away, faintly embarrassed.

"I know... you know I know, we play VR games all the time... it's just..." Rock waved, at a loss for words to explain his reservations, and Bane finally nodded.

"You don't like the idea of a place like this in your honor, even if its not you." Bane glanced around slowly. "It's healthier, though. Much healthier than our world." Rock looked at the scarred tabletop, unable to argue. "And... I need another slurpee." Bane frowned into his cup, which had been mysteriously and quickly emptied. "Hold onto my chibi and poster, would you?"

"Sure... unh... poster?" Rock's expression said he probably figured he'd rather not know, but Bane grinned and unfurled it. It was a pose with Mega Man on one side, Bass on the other, in front of a rippling, computer generated background.

"What do you think? Something for the den?" He asked innocently, and Rock actually laughed.

"Give me that thing." Rock took the poster, rolled it up tightly, then gently bonked Bane over the head with it. Bane staggered as if he'd been hit by a pipe, grinning. "Go on, get your drink, dork. I'll be waiting." Bass laughed, and started off.

As he got his drink refilled... to the awe of the attendant... Bane glanced around. There was the pavilion where Mega Man and Light would...

"Already? Aren't they early?" He said to thin air. The two were already there, signing autographs and just generally chatting with their many fans. Bane pondered for a moment, sucking on his slurpee. Should he go back and get Rock first, or just join the line? But Rock wouldn't want to speak to himself, and Dr. Light.

Bane swallowed a mouthful of ice, then walked over to join the line.

~~...? Oh just a missle... missle?~~ Bane lifted his head at the descending whine just in time to see something crash into the pavilion. Almost immediately, he was buffetted by the terrified, fleeing crowd. But Bane was like a rock at the eye of the storm, unmoving and undisturbed. He watched with almost idle curiosity.

Several of the Robot Masters had arrived, along with Bass. From the screams behind him, he suspected at least one Robot Master was back there harassing the crowd. He suddenly turned around with a frown. Would Rock try to do something about it? They hadn't brought their helmets, thinking it might be too tempting to use them.

Bane's attention was quickly caught again by the sight of Mega Man squaring off against Bass. He couldn't hear the words from this distance, and walked closer, trying to hear. He was very curious.

"... And no one gets hurt!" He caught the tail end of what Bass was saying, and almost sighed, taking another deep drink. It was all so... typical. And a lie. He'd so enjoyed causing death and destruction.

He missed Mega Man's reply... it wasn't loud enough to carry... but heard Bass.

"HA! And what about HIM?" To Bane's surprise, Bass leaped directly at him. Bane still could have reacted... if he'd dropped his slurpee. But he'd just paid three dollars for the iced glop, and felt Bass' arm around his throat instead, an arm cannon pointed directly at his head. He looked at Mega Man, seeing his horrified expression.

"Let him go, Bass!" Mega Man called, and Bane did sigh now. It was all so... done. He'd lived through it all before, albiet on a different perspective. He didn't bother to struggle against Bass grip. Instead, he relaxed into it, leaning his head back so he could speak into Bass' ear.

"Yes, just do everything Wily wants like a good little puppet..." He murmured softly. "So desperate for approval. So pathetically eager for the kind words he gave you once..."

"Shut up." Bass snarled, attention still fixed on Mega Man... but it was wavering.

"But for all you try, you fail, and he can blame you but never himself. You hate him so, for the slaps and kicks and most of all calling you a worthless little failure..." Bane's eyes glazed over slightly. He wasn't twisting the knife on purpose anymore... it was something more dangerous. And a fine trembling had started in Bass body.

"Shut... up." The tone was deadly serious, and Bane had Bass attention... but he couldn't stop now. Memories had him in their grip.

"And how long will it be before you're replaced? His greatest creation, only until the next little shining bauble comes along... has he already started... has he made a copy of Mega Man to destroy him? Has he made King yet, to take your place? Oh but there will be more and someday he won't bother to fix you, and maybe he'll set one of the others to kill you to prove they are better than you... You've thought of all this, but you can't escape can't choose can't--"

"SHUT UP!!!" Mega Man started violently at Bass sudden scream, as he shoved the hostage violently forward... and Bane whirled like a snake, throwing the contents of his slurpee cup into Bass face.

It was followed by a vicious snap kick to the groin. If Bane had been human, that would only have broken his foot. As it was, Bass doubled over in agony... and reeled from a wicked follow up punch to the chin.

Common sense asserted itself through the battle madness for just long enough, and Bane suddenly sprinted away, passing by Mega Man.

"All yours!" Explosions behind him indicated they were taking him up on that... Bane skidded to a stop as soon as he felt safe...

And felt the chaos engendered by reaching that deeply into his Bass half start to reassert itself. At first, it was only a few spasms, but then twitches and jerks wracked his body as if he was having some strange, powerful seizure. He collapsed to his knees, fumbling helplessly at his clothing.

"..nnngh... pills... must... have... gghhh..." He found the bottle, and tried to open it, but his hands were shaking too violently. He could only fumble at it desperately...

"Oh, are you alright... oh my!" Bane gasped, hearing that gentle, familiar voice... too familiar. A new wave of twitches assaulted him as arms slid around him. "Are you alright?" He focused on the face... his own face... so near... no... not him...

"Dr... Light...?" He managed to whisper, trembling violently. "My... pills... I need... three... pills..." He finally lost his grip on the bottle... but Dr. Light caught it and quickly unscrewed it, pressing the pills to his lips.

It took three times before he managed to dry swallow them, but the effect was quick. In less than a minute, his tremors had eased, turning into smaller spasms, then disappearing entirely.

Bane held his head in one hand, feeling the mental quivers running through his psychie slowly settle. He finally looked up, meeting Dr. Light's concerned gaze.

"Sorry... that happens sometimes." He managed to say. After an attack, he always felt distant, floating... and had a vile headache. It made thinking difficult. "Dr. Light... I've been wanting to meet you."

"Later..." Bane followed Dr. Lights worried gaze. The explosions had almost stopped, and...

A sudden burst of swearing attracted their attention to one side. Rock walked out of the dust, practically carrying his own cloud of debrise with him. His jacket had been ripped badly in three places, one of the arms almost jerked off entirely. His hair was standing up in an untidy, frazzled looking mess, and he just generally looked very pissy. The effect was enhanced by the scars on his cheek, and the grisly burden he was dragging along by one foot.

"I wondered if you would get involved." Bane commented as his gaze lingered on what was left of Elec-man. Rock just glared, at him or possibly the world, and threw Elec-man's corpse forward like a piece of trash. "And my, you are testy."

"Oh shut up." Rock said grumpily, shooting Dr. Light a very quick look. The good Doctor was staring at Elec-man's condition in shock. Rock hadn't pulled any punches, and Bane had noticed a troubling trend towards greater violence since Rock had realized how terribly corrupt their government was. It looked like he'd ripped Elec-man apart by hand, with brutal violence.

"No offense, Rock, but what did he do to you? You usually don't bitch slap people like that." Bane said, crossing his arms and regarding the mess with no real expression. Rock grumbled, then ran his hand through his hair with a sigh.

"He was going to open fire on a teacher and a bunch of kids. I stopped him just in time... so, unh, what happened with you?" He gave Dr. Light another quick glance. The Doctor was gazing at them, openly analyzing them... not surprisingly, perhaps. Rock at least was certainly a robot, he knew that now... and he was carefully checking one of Bane's pills that had been dropped...

"Oh, I just said some stuff to Bass." Bane said lightly. Rock's eyes widened, and he winced.

"Said stuff? Oh Bane... on a scale of one to ten, how much is he going to want your head on a pike?" Rock asked plaintively, and Bane grinned.

"A full ten, I'd say. Ah, I think they finished." There was a suspicious lack of explosions. The thought was borne out a moment later, when Mega Man skidded to a stop beside Dr. Light. Rock swallowed hard, and looked away.

"Dr. Light! Are you okay?" Mega asked in concern. He was looking more the worse for wear, but not critically so. Dr. Light looked up from the green, gel pill he'd been examining.

"Yes... yes, I'm fine." But the frown he turned on Bane and Rock was puzzled, and wary. "Who are you? And who made you?" Mega Man blinked, looking at the two of them. Rock and Bane suddenly looked at each other.

They hadn't anticipated being unmasked as robots so quickly, and didn't really have anything prepared for it. Bane finally shrugged.

"Beats me. As for who made buddy here, that'd be me." Bane clapped a hand to Rock's back, making him smile just a bit. "I just wanted to meet you... I've got some robot designs and crap I thought you might be able to help me with? It's my only talent, really, but damn hard without a degree or anything." Bane extended a diskette, which Dr. Light accepted cautiously. Wannabee's often tried to give him such things... but this was a special case.

"Bane... can we go home now?" Rock asked, suddenly sounded very wearied. Bane shot him a glance. He wasn't looking too well...

"Sure Rock. E-mail me, Dr. Light, please!" Bane slipped an arm around Rock's shoulder, helping him a bit. That Rock didn't pull away indicated there was a pretty fair injury, hidden somewhere... they could take care of it, back at the motorhome...

Bane could feel the curious gazes of Mega Man and Dr. Light on their backs as they walked away, and he hoped Dr. Light would e-mail him. If not... he wasn't sure what he'd do...