Chapter IX - Return To Wily's Fortress
"So this is where I was built?" asked Zero as he jumped down the hole that led to Wil'ys lab.
"Yep. Sorry about the mess, it's from the fight me and X had," said Bass as he followed the red Hunter.
"I understand, it's because of some back-up program you had. Cain de- activated mine right before I joined the Hunters. So where were those schematics you were talking about?"
"There were on one of the desks. Somewhere around here. They should be intact because the only really damage done was to that terminal," said Bass as he indicated a lump of melted metal in one of the walls.
"That was a computer? Must have been one hell of a fight," said Zero when he looked at the remains of the console.
"Just look for the schematics," said Bass as he rumaged around through a pile of papers.
"I found one for MegaMan," said Zero, holding up a piece of paper. "What is this doing here?"
"Wily stole that. I was built to be Wily's own MegaMan. It would seem that you're based off of Light's work as well, take a look at this one," Bass said as he handed a sheet of paper to Zero. It was the paper with four Reploids on it. "The one on the end must be ProtoMan. He was considered to be MegaMan's brother. He had red and grey armor, like you do. Wily made most of his robots using stolen plans from Light, so finding this around the lab makes it all the more likely that you were ProtoMan, or at least based off of him."
"That could be a reason X trusts me more, but I don't have any old memory files."
"Then you were based off of him. You were built to destroy Light's Lab. ProtoMan must have been alive back then because he managed to defend the place long enough for Light to hide X's capsule. If you were the original ProtoMan, then Light would never had hidden X."
"How do you know all of this?" asked Zero.
"It's an educated guess," replied Bass while he picked up the final schematics of himself. "The similarities between you and ProtoMan are obvious, and from the journal entries we found here Wily had started building you before Light started on X. You would have been sent to kill Light while he was finishing X, so to have completed and hidden him meant someone was guarding the lab. That would be ProtoMan."
"It sounds like that makes sense, but when you think about it then all of us are related. X is the original, you're a different model of X, and I'm a recreation of X's brother."
"That makes one hell of a family reunion."
"We've been down here long enough, let's go back to the suface."
"I've got everything we need. My plans, your plans, and X's should be programmed into the capsule." Bass jumped out of the hole in the ceiling.
"Wait, what's that?" said Zero as he pointed to some light shining from one of the halls.
"What's what?" asked Bass, looking down from the hole. He noticed the light. "Could someone be in here?"
"Maybe, but who's authorized to be down here other than us."
"Only one way to find out." Bass jumped down from the ceiling and took off down the hallway. Soon he and Zero reached the source of the light. A skeleton wearing a tattered white lab coat was on the ground with a large hole in the ribs. A purple wolf lay on a table nearby. A light was shining on the wolf.
"Doctor Wily, I presume," said Bass as he looked at the skeleton. The coat had a W on the front pocket, and the hole in the ribs looked like it had been caused by a Buster shot.
"This place is fifty years old! How could a generator from back then last this long?" asked Zero.
"The power must have come back on when X jumpstarted the system last time we were here." Bass was looking at the skeleton on the ground. Zero raised his Z-Buster, intending to shoot Bass if he went maverick. Nothing happened, Bass just turned away from the skeleton and started to examine the robot wolf on the table. Zero lowered his buster and looked at the robot on the table as well. It seemed near completion, and an open capsule was nearby. Wily was apparently going to put this wolf inside of it to come out with Bass.
"Hey, doesn't that wolf look like the one from you memory file?" said Zero.
"Yeah, it does. We should take it back to Doctor Cain, he might be able to do something with it." Bass picked up the wolf and held it over his shoulder.
"Okay, fine," said Zero as he looked down at Wily's skeleton. "This place is creeping me out, especially that thing. Let's get out of here."
"So this is where I was built?" asked Zero as he jumped down the hole that led to Wil'ys lab.
"Yep. Sorry about the mess, it's from the fight me and X had," said Bass as he followed the red Hunter.
"I understand, it's because of some back-up program you had. Cain de- activated mine right before I joined the Hunters. So where were those schematics you were talking about?"
"There were on one of the desks. Somewhere around here. They should be intact because the only really damage done was to that terminal," said Bass as he indicated a lump of melted metal in one of the walls.
"That was a computer? Must have been one hell of a fight," said Zero when he looked at the remains of the console.
"Just look for the schematics," said Bass as he rumaged around through a pile of papers.
"I found one for MegaMan," said Zero, holding up a piece of paper. "What is this doing here?"
"Wily stole that. I was built to be Wily's own MegaMan. It would seem that you're based off of Light's work as well, take a look at this one," Bass said as he handed a sheet of paper to Zero. It was the paper with four Reploids on it. "The one on the end must be ProtoMan. He was considered to be MegaMan's brother. He had red and grey armor, like you do. Wily made most of his robots using stolen plans from Light, so finding this around the lab makes it all the more likely that you were ProtoMan, or at least based off of him."
"That could be a reason X trusts me more, but I don't have any old memory files."
"Then you were based off of him. You were built to destroy Light's Lab. ProtoMan must have been alive back then because he managed to defend the place long enough for Light to hide X's capsule. If you were the original ProtoMan, then Light would never had hidden X."
"How do you know all of this?" asked Zero.
"It's an educated guess," replied Bass while he picked up the final schematics of himself. "The similarities between you and ProtoMan are obvious, and from the journal entries we found here Wily had started building you before Light started on X. You would have been sent to kill Light while he was finishing X, so to have completed and hidden him meant someone was guarding the lab. That would be ProtoMan."
"It sounds like that makes sense, but when you think about it then all of us are related. X is the original, you're a different model of X, and I'm a recreation of X's brother."
"That makes one hell of a family reunion."
"We've been down here long enough, let's go back to the suface."
"I've got everything we need. My plans, your plans, and X's should be programmed into the capsule." Bass jumped out of the hole in the ceiling.
"Wait, what's that?" said Zero as he pointed to some light shining from one of the halls.
"What's what?" asked Bass, looking down from the hole. He noticed the light. "Could someone be in here?"
"Maybe, but who's authorized to be down here other than us."
"Only one way to find out." Bass jumped down from the ceiling and took off down the hallway. Soon he and Zero reached the source of the light. A skeleton wearing a tattered white lab coat was on the ground with a large hole in the ribs. A purple wolf lay on a table nearby. A light was shining on the wolf.
"Doctor Wily, I presume," said Bass as he looked at the skeleton. The coat had a W on the front pocket, and the hole in the ribs looked like it had been caused by a Buster shot.
"This place is fifty years old! How could a generator from back then last this long?" asked Zero.
"The power must have come back on when X jumpstarted the system last time we were here." Bass was looking at the skeleton on the ground. Zero raised his Z-Buster, intending to shoot Bass if he went maverick. Nothing happened, Bass just turned away from the skeleton and started to examine the robot wolf on the table. Zero lowered his buster and looked at the robot on the table as well. It seemed near completion, and an open capsule was nearby. Wily was apparently going to put this wolf inside of it to come out with Bass.
"Hey, doesn't that wolf look like the one from you memory file?" said Zero.
"Yeah, it does. We should take it back to Doctor Cain, he might be able to do something with it." Bass picked up the wolf and held it over his shoulder.
"Okay, fine," said Zero as he looked down at Wily's skeleton. "This place is creeping me out, especially that thing. Let's get out of here."