Part III: The Hand That Feeds...
Bass flung another kick in Rock's direction, attempting to crack the blue robot's helmet, while Treble had pinned Roll to the ground and was trying to maul her face. Proto and Rush were trying to fight Bass off, and Tango was vainly striving to get Treble's attention away from Roll. Fliptop, meanwhile, had sought shelter behind a wall of concrete debris.
Flying high above the battlefield, Beat spotted Bass picking up a large metal rod which he planned to connect with the side of Rock's head. Going into a dive, the bird was able to pick up enough speed to break the sound barrier, flying close enough to Bass to emit a sonic boom with sufficient power to blast the rod to bits.
Jumping back as the rod shattered, Bass threw a series of profanities at the little robot, using his spray blaster to shoot Beat from the air. Just about the time that he was going to fricassee Rock's pet, Bass' arm was thrown off direction by an impact from a distinctive red shield. Turning to the side, he saw Proto, boomerang shield in hand, reconnecting the plate to his back.
"I won't let you get the turkey that easy," he said, smirk crossing his visored face. Bass put on an annoyed facade.
"What was the reason you went back to Light? I'm sure it had nothing to do with the perks."
"Why don't you shut your fat trap and fight!?" Proto yelled, leaping forward and firing off several shots with his arm cannon, striking Bass a few times in the chest.
"But insulting you's just so fun!" Bass whined, mocking him. "Yo! Treble! Red here wants a real fight! Let's give it to 'em!"
Rock and Proto's eyes went wide when Bass said that. Like Dr. Light's meld function between Rock and Rush, Bass and Treble had been equipped with a related capacity. The only difference, however, was that hardly any damage could be dealt the joint robot and it could unfairly project massive quantities on its opponents.
Leaping off Roll, Treble began bounding at Bass, metal plating beginning to separate. Light glowed from beneath the panels, exposing the wolf-like machine's internal generator.
"You've gotta stop him, guys!" Roll yelled, picking up a nearby piece of scrap metal and hurling it at Treble. The robot just kept running, unfazed.
"That's it, Treble. That's it," Bass said, armor glowing an equally eerie color. "Come to Papa."
"You sound like you're throwing craps in Vegas," Proto sneered, attempting to draw Bass' attention away from the mergeance. It didn't work.
Treble, completely engulfed with light, jumped and collided with Bass, disappearing into the black exterior of Bass' armor. Instantly, purple wings and huge amounts of energy emerged from the menace, along with purple bounding armor keeping the two completely together.
"Let's see you try and stop me now, Rock?" Bass challenged. "Or are you and Proto to chicken. Bokaw."
"Are you trying to get on my bad side Bass?" Rock replied, feigning posture.
"Bokaw. Bokaw," Bass continued, now flapping his arms to his sides, imitating a chicken.
Proto looked at Rock. "You know he's only doing that to get you mad at him, Rock. Why else would he do it?"
"Bokaw! Bokaw!" He was getting louder.
"Would somebody please shut him up?" Proto exasperated, turning once more in Bass' direction.
"That's it! I'm going in!" Rock yelled, plowing forward full speed. Not exactly expecting such an attack, Bass was caught off-guard when Rock tackled him to the ground.
"Get off me! You know, I have my doubts about you, Rock."
"Shut up!"
"Then get offa me!"
Sticking the edge of his blaster against Bass' side, Rock narrowed his eyes.
"In one move, I can take that look right off your face," Bass said, having felt the nozzle on his waist and observing Rock's expression.
"What?"
"Simple, really. If you fire that thing, the energy's just gonna plow right back into you. Your hand'll be gone, and then you'll really be defenseless. It's just too bad we didn't have some touching 'You're not my father!' dialogue before you lose your precious arm cannon."
Releasing Bass from the tackle, Rock aimed the cannon at the downed robot's face, point-blank.
"You have three seconds to get up before I fire."
Proto's eyes widened under his visor. Is he an idiot? You don't tell someone like Bass that! You don't even give him one second!
"One..."
"You don't have the heart, Rock."
"Two..."
"Now me, I have the bolts to do something like that, but you..."
"Three!"
"Don't!" Bass yelled, jumping into Rock's face and grabbing his helmet under the rim, bringing the blue defender's head down to collide with his black-armored knee. The dark-plated robot threw Rock aside, leaving him gasping for air like a fish while redirecting his gaze at Proto.
"And now, as our hero falls defeated, will the evil Bass also do away with the rest of the Light gang? Join us next week, same bat time, same bat channel," Bass said, using a taunting announcer's voice. Then, sobering himself, he began a slow walk toward the red robot.
"This is so goood! Light is gone! And soon, Bass and Rock will be too! Oh, and don't forget Proto, that double-crosser," Wily gleefully said to himself, clapping his hands like a seal and dancing around like a complete moron.
Suddenly, the doors to the lab flew open and the silhouette of Zero appeared from the cold rain outside. Lightning crashed behind him, adding to the robot's already ominous mien as he strolled into the room.
"So, did you get rid of Dr. Light for me?" Wily asked eagerly. "And what about Bass?"
Zero looked in Wily's direction. "Dr. Light has been terminated. That is all."
Wily became furious. "You were supposed to destroy all of them!"
It was only then that Wily noticed the weird gleam coming from Zero's eyes. Of course, that was probably because it had just manifested itself there.
Zero grasped either side of his head and began convulsing as though he were in pain.
"You...you did this to me," he managed while looking up from his doubled-over position, voice back to normal. He raised his blaster.
Wily held his hands up. "Remember Zero, I'm your creator. You can't kill me. You can't break the-"
Wily was cut off as a single beam of energy lanced his chest. Looking up, he saw Zero's blaster glowing.
"I will correct your mistake."
Zero stood up straight, seemingly having regained his posture, although the program was not running anymore. Several more beams erupted from the robot's arm cannon, flying in slow motion through the air as Wily watched, coming inches closer every second, knowing that it was useless to fight now. The first one hit, plowing another deep hole in the chest of the scientist, and spilling blood and on the ground below. The second, third, fourth...then the tenth, eleventh, twelfth. Wily could barely hold himself against the table. He had one arm locked on the terminal, and the rest of his body was on the ground, holed like Swiss cheese. There was blood everywhere, but it wasn't really something that concerned him that much. One of his own creations had turned on him, and now he was dying. There was only one thing he could do...
Slamming his hand down on a receptacle, Wily felt a surge of electricity flow through his body.
"You will never get rid of me, Zero. I promise you that," Wily said, struggling to breathe.
"Shut up," Zero replied, firing one last brutal shot to Wily's head. The lifeless corpse that was all that remained of Wily fell to the ground, never to hurt anyone again.
Zero looked down at his creator, and at that moment, something happened within his brain. A small electric surge ran through him, making him feel infinitely powerful, but at the same time, reactivating the injected program. The only difference was that it had a slightly different agenda.
Lightning flashed once more as the red hunter exited the laboratory. On the outside, he used his blaster to weld some graffiti into the side of the building: Dr. Albert Wily's secret laboratory. Just wait 'til you get a load of this!
That's sufficient, I guess.
Resuming his stride, the robot ran off into the night.
Bass flung another kick in Rock's direction, attempting to crack the blue robot's helmet, while Treble had pinned Roll to the ground and was trying to maul her face. Proto and Rush were trying to fight Bass off, and Tango was vainly striving to get Treble's attention away from Roll. Fliptop, meanwhile, had sought shelter behind a wall of concrete debris.
Flying high above the battlefield, Beat spotted Bass picking up a large metal rod which he planned to connect with the side of Rock's head. Going into a dive, the bird was able to pick up enough speed to break the sound barrier, flying close enough to Bass to emit a sonic boom with sufficient power to blast the rod to bits.
Jumping back as the rod shattered, Bass threw a series of profanities at the little robot, using his spray blaster to shoot Beat from the air. Just about the time that he was going to fricassee Rock's pet, Bass' arm was thrown off direction by an impact from a distinctive red shield. Turning to the side, he saw Proto, boomerang shield in hand, reconnecting the plate to his back.
"I won't let you get the turkey that easy," he said, smirk crossing his visored face. Bass put on an annoyed facade.
"What was the reason you went back to Light? I'm sure it had nothing to do with the perks."
"Why don't you shut your fat trap and fight!?" Proto yelled, leaping forward and firing off several shots with his arm cannon, striking Bass a few times in the chest.
"But insulting you's just so fun!" Bass whined, mocking him. "Yo! Treble! Red here wants a real fight! Let's give it to 'em!"
Rock and Proto's eyes went wide when Bass said that. Like Dr. Light's meld function between Rock and Rush, Bass and Treble had been equipped with a related capacity. The only difference, however, was that hardly any damage could be dealt the joint robot and it could unfairly project massive quantities on its opponents.
Leaping off Roll, Treble began bounding at Bass, metal plating beginning to separate. Light glowed from beneath the panels, exposing the wolf-like machine's internal generator.
"You've gotta stop him, guys!" Roll yelled, picking up a nearby piece of scrap metal and hurling it at Treble. The robot just kept running, unfazed.
"That's it, Treble. That's it," Bass said, armor glowing an equally eerie color. "Come to Papa."
"You sound like you're throwing craps in Vegas," Proto sneered, attempting to draw Bass' attention away from the mergeance. It didn't work.
Treble, completely engulfed with light, jumped and collided with Bass, disappearing into the black exterior of Bass' armor. Instantly, purple wings and huge amounts of energy emerged from the menace, along with purple bounding armor keeping the two completely together.
"Let's see you try and stop me now, Rock?" Bass challenged. "Or are you and Proto to chicken. Bokaw."
"Are you trying to get on my bad side Bass?" Rock replied, feigning posture.
"Bokaw. Bokaw," Bass continued, now flapping his arms to his sides, imitating a chicken.
Proto looked at Rock. "You know he's only doing that to get you mad at him, Rock. Why else would he do it?"
"Bokaw! Bokaw!" He was getting louder.
"Would somebody please shut him up?" Proto exasperated, turning once more in Bass' direction.
"That's it! I'm going in!" Rock yelled, plowing forward full speed. Not exactly expecting such an attack, Bass was caught off-guard when Rock tackled him to the ground.
"Get off me! You know, I have my doubts about you, Rock."
"Shut up!"
"Then get offa me!"
Sticking the edge of his blaster against Bass' side, Rock narrowed his eyes.
"In one move, I can take that look right off your face," Bass said, having felt the nozzle on his waist and observing Rock's expression.
"What?"
"Simple, really. If you fire that thing, the energy's just gonna plow right back into you. Your hand'll be gone, and then you'll really be defenseless. It's just too bad we didn't have some touching 'You're not my father!' dialogue before you lose your precious arm cannon."
Releasing Bass from the tackle, Rock aimed the cannon at the downed robot's face, point-blank.
"You have three seconds to get up before I fire."
Proto's eyes widened under his visor. Is he an idiot? You don't tell someone like Bass that! You don't even give him one second!
"One..."
"You don't have the heart, Rock."
"Two..."
"Now me, I have the bolts to do something like that, but you..."
"Three!"
"Don't!" Bass yelled, jumping into Rock's face and grabbing his helmet under the rim, bringing the blue defender's head down to collide with his black-armored knee. The dark-plated robot threw Rock aside, leaving him gasping for air like a fish while redirecting his gaze at Proto.
"And now, as our hero falls defeated, will the evil Bass also do away with the rest of the Light gang? Join us next week, same bat time, same bat channel," Bass said, using a taunting announcer's voice. Then, sobering himself, he began a slow walk toward the red robot.
"This is so goood! Light is gone! And soon, Bass and Rock will be too! Oh, and don't forget Proto, that double-crosser," Wily gleefully said to himself, clapping his hands like a seal and dancing around like a complete moron.
Suddenly, the doors to the lab flew open and the silhouette of Zero appeared from the cold rain outside. Lightning crashed behind him, adding to the robot's already ominous mien as he strolled into the room.
"So, did you get rid of Dr. Light for me?" Wily asked eagerly. "And what about Bass?"
Zero looked in Wily's direction. "Dr. Light has been terminated. That is all."
Wily became furious. "You were supposed to destroy all of them!"
It was only then that Wily noticed the weird gleam coming from Zero's eyes. Of course, that was probably because it had just manifested itself there.
Zero grasped either side of his head and began convulsing as though he were in pain.
"You...you did this to me," he managed while looking up from his doubled-over position, voice back to normal. He raised his blaster.
Wily held his hands up. "Remember Zero, I'm your creator. You can't kill me. You can't break the-"
Wily was cut off as a single beam of energy lanced his chest. Looking up, he saw Zero's blaster glowing.
"I will correct your mistake."
Zero stood up straight, seemingly having regained his posture, although the program was not running anymore. Several more beams erupted from the robot's arm cannon, flying in slow motion through the air as Wily watched, coming inches closer every second, knowing that it was useless to fight now. The first one hit, plowing another deep hole in the chest of the scientist, and spilling blood and on the ground below. The second, third, fourth...then the tenth, eleventh, twelfth. Wily could barely hold himself against the table. He had one arm locked on the terminal, and the rest of his body was on the ground, holed like Swiss cheese. There was blood everywhere, but it wasn't really something that concerned him that much. One of his own creations had turned on him, and now he was dying. There was only one thing he could do...
Slamming his hand down on a receptacle, Wily felt a surge of electricity flow through his body.
"You will never get rid of me, Zero. I promise you that," Wily said, struggling to breathe.
"Shut up," Zero replied, firing one last brutal shot to Wily's head. The lifeless corpse that was all that remained of Wily fell to the ground, never to hurt anyone again.
Zero looked down at his creator, and at that moment, something happened within his brain. A small electric surge ran through him, making him feel infinitely powerful, but at the same time, reactivating the injected program. The only difference was that it had a slightly different agenda.
Lightning flashed once more as the red hunter exited the laboratory. On the outside, he used his blaster to weld some graffiti into the side of the building: Dr. Albert Wily's secret laboratory. Just wait 'til you get a load of this!
That's sufficient, I guess.
Resuming his stride, the robot ran off into the night.