Chapter II - Friend Or Foe
"Hello Zero, X," said Bass as he nodded to both of them, "I'm Bass. Dr. Cain has told me all about you. You're confrontations with this robot, Sigma, are incredible, to say the least."
"Seems friendly enough, but can he fight?" X questioned as he examined the new Hunter.
In the blink of an eye Bass was behind X with his buster pointed at X's head. Zero drew his Z-Saber and Bass backed off. "Do you think I can fight?" he asked them.
"You just surprised me, that's all. When we get into the training room, then you'll see why I'm a unit leader."
"Before you go," Dr. Cain interrupted, "I want you to know something. His buster seems to have been built differently than either of yours. This 'F- Buster' cannot charge. Instead it seems that it fires normal charges at an astonishing rate. Bass here can also use his propulsion enhancements to jump while in mid-air."
"Enough talk," said Zero, "Let's go to the battle simulator."
The battle simulator is a device in which a Reploid's conscious mind is temporarily uploaded so as to be able to fight and sustain extreme amounts of damage without going off-line. X and Zero had used it countless times to battle each other, but it was Bass's first time in it.
"This is so weird," he said while examining himself. "So you said that this machine scans your body schematics and records them for later use?"
"Yes," X replied in an annoyed tone of voice. Something about this Reploid made him feel uncomfortable.
"So if I die, I'll just wake up outside of the machine?"
"Yes"
"So when do we start fighting?"
"When Zero activates it from outside."
The lights suddenly turned on. They were in a very large room, at least an acre across, and were on opposite sides of the room. X immediately took the offensive and jumped high into the air while charging his X-Buster and fired a huge blast of plasma at Bass. Bass dashed to the right to avoid the blast and jumped into the air too, except at the peak of his jump he kicked the air and flew even higher. He came down with his F-Buster blazing. X was amazed at the fire rate of his opponent's weapon, and in his moment standing in silent awe a barrage of projectiles hit him, causing a fair amount of damage. X slid out of the line of fire. Bass landed and looked around to see where X had gone. He heard a strong humming and turned around to see X's cannon aimed right at himself. A sphere of burning plasma engulfed Bass's body and the next moment he was back in Hunter H.Q.
"Good job for a first battle," Zero complemented.
X opened his eyes and was outside of the simulator looking at Bass and Zero. "That was pretty good, but you need to try to keep an eye on whomever you're fighting with. Not doing so can have devastating results, as you just found out," he informed Bass.
"Thanks for the tip. I'll remember that."
Zero was just looking at Bass. "You look familiar," he observed.
"I don't know why I would. I only just met you," Bass said.
"Well, all this may be well and good for the two of you, but I think we should be getting back to Dr. Cain to tell him about the outcome," X told them.
"So, why exactly are we here."
"Because Dr. Cain said he wanted me to see the place I was found."
Bass had been sent to examine the site where his capsule had been found. There were no accurate maps of the area, but there were rumors that there was a lab here at the same time that Dr. Light was alive. X had been told to go along as well to make sure nothing happened to Bass.
All of a sudden the ground crumbled beneath X and he fell down to what seemed like the remnants of the lab that was rumored to be here. Bass looked down from the top of the hole.
"X, are you okay"
"Yeah. Come down here and get a look at this."
"Okay."
Bass jumped down as well and looked around.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"I don't know. Let's look around for anything that Dr. Cain can use," X suggested.
X went over to a computer terminal to see if it was still working while Bass shuffled through some papers on a desk.
"This stuff has to be at least 50 years old. Look at the date on this."
X came over and read the top line of the paper Bass was holding, "July 9, 2086."
"Look at this one. Hey isn't this Zero?" Bass held up what appeared to be plans for four seperate reploids. Zero and Bass were in the middle, with a schematic of the original MegaMan next to Bass and some reploid with a visor and scarf next to Zero. "No wonder he said I looked familiar, It seems we were built by the same guy. But I didn't know Zero was built when you were, did you?"
X was just staring at the system schematics. "No, I didn't. I'm going to check that terminal over there again." He walked back to the old computer in the wall.
Bass followed him and saw that X had connected his fusion generator to the computer so it would have power. The monitor flickered on and X started looking in the database.
"It's a wonder all this stuff is still working at all," he said.
The screen went to a picture of an old man about the same age as Dr. Light was when he died. The man in the picture had spiky hair that stuck out on both sides of his head and had a large bald spot. The scientist in the picture had a matching moustache.
"It seems this lab belonged to a 'Dr. Wily', who appears to be your run-of- the-mill mad scientist. Were you and Zero really built by this guy?" asked X as he turned to look at Bass.
Bass was just staring at the image of Dr. Wily. The next moment a large 'W' flashed in the crystal on Bass's head and he jumped back and started shooting at X.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!?!" X yelled as he slid out of the way. The F-Buster shots destroyed the computer just after it had ejected a disk with the contents of the hard drive.
"Stop it!" X screamed at him. When no response came from Bass, he charged up his X-Buster and jumped out of the lab. The moment Bass jumped out of the lab, X shot him with Crystal Hunter, which he got from his second battle with Sigma. Bass froze in an instant and X took him back to Hunter H.Q. to be examined.
"Hello Zero, X," said Bass as he nodded to both of them, "I'm Bass. Dr. Cain has told me all about you. You're confrontations with this robot, Sigma, are incredible, to say the least."
"Seems friendly enough, but can he fight?" X questioned as he examined the new Hunter.
In the blink of an eye Bass was behind X with his buster pointed at X's head. Zero drew his Z-Saber and Bass backed off. "Do you think I can fight?" he asked them.
"You just surprised me, that's all. When we get into the training room, then you'll see why I'm a unit leader."
"Before you go," Dr. Cain interrupted, "I want you to know something. His buster seems to have been built differently than either of yours. This 'F- Buster' cannot charge. Instead it seems that it fires normal charges at an astonishing rate. Bass here can also use his propulsion enhancements to jump while in mid-air."
"Enough talk," said Zero, "Let's go to the battle simulator."
The battle simulator is a device in which a Reploid's conscious mind is temporarily uploaded so as to be able to fight and sustain extreme amounts of damage without going off-line. X and Zero had used it countless times to battle each other, but it was Bass's first time in it.
"This is so weird," he said while examining himself. "So you said that this machine scans your body schematics and records them for later use?"
"Yes," X replied in an annoyed tone of voice. Something about this Reploid made him feel uncomfortable.
"So if I die, I'll just wake up outside of the machine?"
"Yes"
"So when do we start fighting?"
"When Zero activates it from outside."
The lights suddenly turned on. They were in a very large room, at least an acre across, and were on opposite sides of the room. X immediately took the offensive and jumped high into the air while charging his X-Buster and fired a huge blast of plasma at Bass. Bass dashed to the right to avoid the blast and jumped into the air too, except at the peak of his jump he kicked the air and flew even higher. He came down with his F-Buster blazing. X was amazed at the fire rate of his opponent's weapon, and in his moment standing in silent awe a barrage of projectiles hit him, causing a fair amount of damage. X slid out of the line of fire. Bass landed and looked around to see where X had gone. He heard a strong humming and turned around to see X's cannon aimed right at himself. A sphere of burning plasma engulfed Bass's body and the next moment he was back in Hunter H.Q.
"Good job for a first battle," Zero complemented.
X opened his eyes and was outside of the simulator looking at Bass and Zero. "That was pretty good, but you need to try to keep an eye on whomever you're fighting with. Not doing so can have devastating results, as you just found out," he informed Bass.
"Thanks for the tip. I'll remember that."
Zero was just looking at Bass. "You look familiar," he observed.
"I don't know why I would. I only just met you," Bass said.
"Well, all this may be well and good for the two of you, but I think we should be getting back to Dr. Cain to tell him about the outcome," X told them.
"So, why exactly are we here."
"Because Dr. Cain said he wanted me to see the place I was found."
Bass had been sent to examine the site where his capsule had been found. There were no accurate maps of the area, but there were rumors that there was a lab here at the same time that Dr. Light was alive. X had been told to go along as well to make sure nothing happened to Bass.
All of a sudden the ground crumbled beneath X and he fell down to what seemed like the remnants of the lab that was rumored to be here. Bass looked down from the top of the hole.
"X, are you okay"
"Yeah. Come down here and get a look at this."
"Okay."
Bass jumped down as well and looked around.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"I don't know. Let's look around for anything that Dr. Cain can use," X suggested.
X went over to a computer terminal to see if it was still working while Bass shuffled through some papers on a desk.
"This stuff has to be at least 50 years old. Look at the date on this."
X came over and read the top line of the paper Bass was holding, "July 9, 2086."
"Look at this one. Hey isn't this Zero?" Bass held up what appeared to be plans for four seperate reploids. Zero and Bass were in the middle, with a schematic of the original MegaMan next to Bass and some reploid with a visor and scarf next to Zero. "No wonder he said I looked familiar, It seems we were built by the same guy. But I didn't know Zero was built when you were, did you?"
X was just staring at the system schematics. "No, I didn't. I'm going to check that terminal over there again." He walked back to the old computer in the wall.
Bass followed him and saw that X had connected his fusion generator to the computer so it would have power. The monitor flickered on and X started looking in the database.
"It's a wonder all this stuff is still working at all," he said.
The screen went to a picture of an old man about the same age as Dr. Light was when he died. The man in the picture had spiky hair that stuck out on both sides of his head and had a large bald spot. The scientist in the picture had a matching moustache.
"It seems this lab belonged to a 'Dr. Wily', who appears to be your run-of- the-mill mad scientist. Were you and Zero really built by this guy?" asked X as he turned to look at Bass.
Bass was just staring at the image of Dr. Wily. The next moment a large 'W' flashed in the crystal on Bass's head and he jumped back and started shooting at X.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!?!" X yelled as he slid out of the way. The F-Buster shots destroyed the computer just after it had ejected a disk with the contents of the hard drive.
"Stop it!" X screamed at him. When no response came from Bass, he charged up his X-Buster and jumped out of the lab. The moment Bass jumped out of the lab, X shot him with Crystal Hunter, which he got from his second battle with Sigma. Bass froze in an instant and X took him back to Hunter H.Q. to be examined.