NOTE TO READERS – Dragon is mine! You can't have him. Unless you ask
permission, that is. The same goes for Nall.
APOLOGY TO BOB AND GEORGE FORUM-GOERS – If I used you to fill the capsules, please don't get angry. And please don't bug me to say that you're not a Light-Bot, because I know most of you aren't
Chapter XV – Another Ally
Treble was barking. Bass, was thoroughly engrossed in the video game, which he later found was called "RockMan and Forte," though he couldn't understand where the names came from. He snapped out of his trance when Treble finally bit his elbow. He glared at Treble, then saved the game and shut down the program.
"What, is it, Treble," asked Bass as he rubbed his elbow. The wolf started jumping around, then dug in the sand. "What's that supposed to mean?" he said, then realized that for him to see Treble dig, then the water level must have dropped. "Oh, thanks boy. I probably would have missed the tide." He started to climb down into the lagoon, which drained though a hole in one of the walls, then walked over to the cavern entrance. Now that he could see is up close, Bass saw that it was in fact a man-made tunnel. It seemed to be an elevator shaft, though the elevator was nowhere to be found, and the shaft was full of water, as there was no place for it to drain.
Bass peered down the shaft. The bottom was too deep to see with the water interfering. He turned to Treble and said, "Stay up there," pointing at the edge of the lagoon where they had been before. "If I don't come back by the next low tide, call for help."
Treble tilted his head, then turned and jumped back to where they had been. Bass looked down the shaft, then jumped.
As he fell down the shaft, Bass set his Buster down to a flashlight. However, since his Buster was not meant to hold a steady charge, he ended up with a strobe light rather than a normal flashlight. 'Better that nothing, I guess,' thought Bass, as he continued down the shaft. He hit the bottom with a jolt. Looking up, Bass saw that the entrance was still within sight, so it would be possible to jump most of the way out and climb the rest. His light showed a corridor heading west, so he went the only possible direction.
Bass' mind wandered as he traversed down the corridor. He thought of the robot he encountered in the video game, King (I've got to look up that one), and of the bizarre relationship between himself, X, and Zero (If X is the father of all Reploids, than am I the uncle?), and last of all, of the current mission (Sigma. He's done so much harm to the world, how can I hope to defeat him single-handedly?). His worries stopped momentarily when he came to a door. A terminal next to it had the words "Enter Password" followed by a blinking line. Bass entered all manner of passwords, ranging from Apricot to Wily Wars. When none of them works, he kicked the terminal. The screen went out, then came back on with the message "Password: FUTURE Accepted"
The door opened.
Bass walked into an airlock. As the door closed behind him, the water drained out. When all of the water was clear, the inner door opened. Inside the room was a large number of capsules, and on a table was one that was glowing. Bass stepped up to the capsule, and a figure appeared in it.
"Welcome, X. Here I have . . . wait, Bass! What the hell are you doing here!"
"I was on my way to stop Sigma. What are you doing here, Light?"
"Sigma? So you are on X's side?"
"What other side would I be on?"
"Hmm. I suppose I might be able to help you. You know that you are based on MegaMan's designs, and upgraded using X's, correct?"
"Yes, I know that. What does it matter?"
"Since you are almost perfect copies of each other, the upgrade that I had intended to give to X will be compatible with your systems. But . . ."
"But what?"
"This is a Buster upgrade. There was a reason I said 'almost perfect'."
"So what's the problem? He has a Buster, I have a Buster, I don't see anything wrong."
"You were designed with a rapid fire Buster, as opposed to X and MegaMan, who could charge theirs."
"Can't you change it or something?"
"I could, but it would drastically weaken the original upgrade."
"Do it. The worst that could happen is that it won't be compatible."
"Fine," Light sighed as he flickered out for a few moments. The red blinking liht on the capsule seemed to turn orange, and Doctor Light reappeared. "If I've altered it correctly, then this upgrade will allow you to charge your F-Buster like a Mega-Buster. I'm not sure what effects it will have on your rapid fire abilities, so you should enter this capsule with that warning in mind."
Doctor Light disappeared again, leaving them empty capsule still glowing. Bass jumped into the capsule and felt a rush of energy go through him. There was pain as his Buster disassembled itself, then reformed with extra heat syncs and a pulsing line that seemed to flow down the outside of his arm, and spiderwebbed when it reached his Buster. The table that the capsule had been sitting on collapsed, and Bass stumbled out of it. Light reappeared.
"Take care with that weapon, Bass. If you charge it too much, it may overload your system. I have one more thing to help you in the coming battle. You see these pods?"
"Yeah," said Bass as he stepped towards one of them. A still figure seemed to be floating in it.
"Those are some of my other creations. There is enough power left here to revive one of them. Choose wisely, as it may be a while before the others can be woken."
Bass walked past all of them, and eventually stopped at a red one that looked different that the rest. "How about this one?"
"Er, I think it would be a better idea if you chose a different one."
"Why? I like this one,"
"Yes, well, that robot is not mine. It was built one of my colleagues, Doctor Cossack. Ran was revolutionary as far as weaponry went, but as for durability . . ."
"You mean he dies easily?"
"Yes, I suppose you could say that. He's also been programmed to be strongly opposed to capitalism, so it might not be a good idea to bring him into the world anyway."
"Cossack is a Russian name, right?"
"Yes."
Bass looked at the others. One was blue with a grey visor (the name plate said 'Phantom'), and another looked like a human with animal ears and a fluffy tail (this one says 'Opollo'). Yet another looked just like MegaMan, but his armor was purple and blue ('Dave'? What type of name is Dave?). Some tanks were larger than others, and the larger tanks held support units along with the robots.
Bass stopped at one more. Inside was a green and white robot. On the shoulder-pad was a picture of a dragon, and the helmet was shaped like the mythical beast's head. The chest was shaped similar to Bass', and at his waist was the hilt of a beam sword. His buster was also shaped like a dragon's head. The support unit next to him was shaped like, of all things, a dragon, though it was white with brown highlights rather than green. Not surprisingly, the name plate on this one read 'Dragon'.
"Doctor Light, I think we've found a winner."
"Oh, you've found Dragon! That was the last robot I finished, other than X, before I died."
"He seems like a good fighter."
"Yes, an excellent warrior. His personality matrix is based off of ProtoMan's, so he'll be calm during battles. Of course, he'll also want to sit on the sidelines, helping occasionally, but I'm sure he can be convinced to fight."
"Well, now that I've seen what else there is," declared Bass, as he glanced at the capsule labeled 'Dave' again, "I think that Dragon would be the best choice."
"I'll start the power transfer now. Goodbye, Bass."
Wires from Light's capsule started glowing, and pulsing currents of energy traveled up to a mess of wires on the ceiling, and eventually to the pod containing Dragon. The pod opened, and the eyes of the green robot slowly opened. "Who are you," said the robot, hopping out of the pod and putting his hand on his sword.
"I'm Bass, and I'm the one who activated you, with the help of the late Doctor Light?"
"You work with Light?"
"In a way, yes."
Dragon eyed Bass suspiciously, "Alright. I'll follow you for now. Come, Nall." The white dragon jumped out of the pod and landed on Dragon's shoulder. It yawned and stretched its feathery wings. Bass walked back into the airlock, with Dragon right behind him.
APOLOGY TO BOB AND GEORGE FORUM-GOERS – If I used you to fill the capsules, please don't get angry. And please don't bug me to say that you're not a Light-Bot, because I know most of you aren't
Chapter XV – Another Ally
Treble was barking. Bass, was thoroughly engrossed in the video game, which he later found was called "RockMan and Forte," though he couldn't understand where the names came from. He snapped out of his trance when Treble finally bit his elbow. He glared at Treble, then saved the game and shut down the program.
"What, is it, Treble," asked Bass as he rubbed his elbow. The wolf started jumping around, then dug in the sand. "What's that supposed to mean?" he said, then realized that for him to see Treble dig, then the water level must have dropped. "Oh, thanks boy. I probably would have missed the tide." He started to climb down into the lagoon, which drained though a hole in one of the walls, then walked over to the cavern entrance. Now that he could see is up close, Bass saw that it was in fact a man-made tunnel. It seemed to be an elevator shaft, though the elevator was nowhere to be found, and the shaft was full of water, as there was no place for it to drain.
Bass peered down the shaft. The bottom was too deep to see with the water interfering. He turned to Treble and said, "Stay up there," pointing at the edge of the lagoon where they had been before. "If I don't come back by the next low tide, call for help."
Treble tilted his head, then turned and jumped back to where they had been. Bass looked down the shaft, then jumped.
As he fell down the shaft, Bass set his Buster down to a flashlight. However, since his Buster was not meant to hold a steady charge, he ended up with a strobe light rather than a normal flashlight. 'Better that nothing, I guess,' thought Bass, as he continued down the shaft. He hit the bottom with a jolt. Looking up, Bass saw that the entrance was still within sight, so it would be possible to jump most of the way out and climb the rest. His light showed a corridor heading west, so he went the only possible direction.
Bass' mind wandered as he traversed down the corridor. He thought of the robot he encountered in the video game, King (I've got to look up that one), and of the bizarre relationship between himself, X, and Zero (If X is the father of all Reploids, than am I the uncle?), and last of all, of the current mission (Sigma. He's done so much harm to the world, how can I hope to defeat him single-handedly?). His worries stopped momentarily when he came to a door. A terminal next to it had the words "Enter Password" followed by a blinking line. Bass entered all manner of passwords, ranging from Apricot to Wily Wars. When none of them works, he kicked the terminal. The screen went out, then came back on with the message "Password: FUTURE Accepted"
The door opened.
Bass walked into an airlock. As the door closed behind him, the water drained out. When all of the water was clear, the inner door opened. Inside the room was a large number of capsules, and on a table was one that was glowing. Bass stepped up to the capsule, and a figure appeared in it.
"Welcome, X. Here I have . . . wait, Bass! What the hell are you doing here!"
"I was on my way to stop Sigma. What are you doing here, Light?"
"Sigma? So you are on X's side?"
"What other side would I be on?"
"Hmm. I suppose I might be able to help you. You know that you are based on MegaMan's designs, and upgraded using X's, correct?"
"Yes, I know that. What does it matter?"
"Since you are almost perfect copies of each other, the upgrade that I had intended to give to X will be compatible with your systems. But . . ."
"But what?"
"This is a Buster upgrade. There was a reason I said 'almost perfect'."
"So what's the problem? He has a Buster, I have a Buster, I don't see anything wrong."
"You were designed with a rapid fire Buster, as opposed to X and MegaMan, who could charge theirs."
"Can't you change it or something?"
"I could, but it would drastically weaken the original upgrade."
"Do it. The worst that could happen is that it won't be compatible."
"Fine," Light sighed as he flickered out for a few moments. The red blinking liht on the capsule seemed to turn orange, and Doctor Light reappeared. "If I've altered it correctly, then this upgrade will allow you to charge your F-Buster like a Mega-Buster. I'm not sure what effects it will have on your rapid fire abilities, so you should enter this capsule with that warning in mind."
Doctor Light disappeared again, leaving them empty capsule still glowing. Bass jumped into the capsule and felt a rush of energy go through him. There was pain as his Buster disassembled itself, then reformed with extra heat syncs and a pulsing line that seemed to flow down the outside of his arm, and spiderwebbed when it reached his Buster. The table that the capsule had been sitting on collapsed, and Bass stumbled out of it. Light reappeared.
"Take care with that weapon, Bass. If you charge it too much, it may overload your system. I have one more thing to help you in the coming battle. You see these pods?"
"Yeah," said Bass as he stepped towards one of them. A still figure seemed to be floating in it.
"Those are some of my other creations. There is enough power left here to revive one of them. Choose wisely, as it may be a while before the others can be woken."
Bass walked past all of them, and eventually stopped at a red one that looked different that the rest. "How about this one?"
"Er, I think it would be a better idea if you chose a different one."
"Why? I like this one,"
"Yes, well, that robot is not mine. It was built one of my colleagues, Doctor Cossack. Ran was revolutionary as far as weaponry went, but as for durability . . ."
"You mean he dies easily?"
"Yes, I suppose you could say that. He's also been programmed to be strongly opposed to capitalism, so it might not be a good idea to bring him into the world anyway."
"Cossack is a Russian name, right?"
"Yes."
Bass looked at the others. One was blue with a grey visor (the name plate said 'Phantom'), and another looked like a human with animal ears and a fluffy tail (this one says 'Opollo'). Yet another looked just like MegaMan, but his armor was purple and blue ('Dave'? What type of name is Dave?). Some tanks were larger than others, and the larger tanks held support units along with the robots.
Bass stopped at one more. Inside was a green and white robot. On the shoulder-pad was a picture of a dragon, and the helmet was shaped like the mythical beast's head. The chest was shaped similar to Bass', and at his waist was the hilt of a beam sword. His buster was also shaped like a dragon's head. The support unit next to him was shaped like, of all things, a dragon, though it was white with brown highlights rather than green. Not surprisingly, the name plate on this one read 'Dragon'.
"Doctor Light, I think we've found a winner."
"Oh, you've found Dragon! That was the last robot I finished, other than X, before I died."
"He seems like a good fighter."
"Yes, an excellent warrior. His personality matrix is based off of ProtoMan's, so he'll be calm during battles. Of course, he'll also want to sit on the sidelines, helping occasionally, but I'm sure he can be convinced to fight."
"Well, now that I've seen what else there is," declared Bass, as he glanced at the capsule labeled 'Dave' again, "I think that Dragon would be the best choice."
"I'll start the power transfer now. Goodbye, Bass."
Wires from Light's capsule started glowing, and pulsing currents of energy traveled up to a mess of wires on the ceiling, and eventually to the pod containing Dragon. The pod opened, and the eyes of the green robot slowly opened. "Who are you," said the robot, hopping out of the pod and putting his hand on his sword.
"I'm Bass, and I'm the one who activated you, with the help of the late Doctor Light?"
"You work with Light?"
"In a way, yes."
Dragon eyed Bass suspiciously, "Alright. I'll follow you for now. Come, Nall." The white dragon jumped out of the pod and landed on Dragon's shoulder. It yawned and stretched its feathery wings. Bass walked back into the airlock, with Dragon right behind him.