Disclaimer: …You should know.
Random Rant: Oh-ho! Another chapter! I've really gotta stop losing interest in this story. _ I hit like…these points where I just stop working on this thing, and then I'll suddenly be like "WHOO! VELVET RAIN!!!" and I'll start working on it. I've also got numerous other ideas in my head, like the sequel to this lil' series (I guess people liked "Ecstasy of Blue" and this one. How that's possible, I'll never know), a RockxBlues story, another RockxForte/Bass which AIN'T a one shot, and numerous others. ::sighs and falls over:: Anyway…enjoy. ^^;;; N' sorry these past few chapters have been so short! ::begs for forgiveness:: ;_; The last chapter will be long, though! Honest!

Velvet Rain
Chapter Nine: Why?
By: Bibly

Tenguman felt his circuits suddenly begin to function again. He moaned slightly, running a hand through his brown hair, then rubbing his face roughly. Opening his eyes slowly, he realized that he was lying in Wily's lab. What the…? BASS! "Bass, you fucking bastard, where are you?!" he screamed, jumping to the ground. Spotting his offender at the end of the table, Tenguman grabbed the shorter bioroid by his throat and lifted him off the ground. "What the fuck did you shoot me for, dumb ass?!" Bass stared at him. Normally, no matter what Bass did, it never fazed Tenguman, but those eyes…they were almost…dead.

"He shot at you, Tenguman?" Wily's voice called from behind him.

"Yeah he did!" Tenguman replied, still glaring at the bioroid in his hand.

Wily thought about this for a moment, but thought nothing of it. "…I see. Bass?"

Bass turned his head to look at him, seemingly unfazed by the fact the circuits in his neck were slowly being crushed in the iron-tight grip. "Yes, master?"

"Master?" Tenguman repeated. "Wha –"

"Attack."

Without hesitation, Bass kicked Tenguman in the gut, giving him enough time to slip free, pick him up, and slam him over his knee, knocking on his back. As Tenguman screamed out in pain, confusion, and anger, Bass rammed his hand through Tenguman's chest, pulling out all of his vital circuits and chips, crushing them without thinking. He stared at Wily.

Wily chuckled in amusement despite witnessing the death of one of his 'sons'. "Very good, Bass! Excellently done! And quick, too! I don't believe you'll need to stick around here any longer, so go and kill Mega Man!"

With a bow, Bass exited the room.

~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~

"Why did it have to happen, Blues? Why?" Rock questioned as Blues rocked them both back and forth, clinging onto his older brother's shirt as if it were for dear life.

"Thinks happen, Rock. Obstacles get thrown in the way of true happiness all the time. But you have to work around them. You have to stay strong and know that you'll succeed before you can attain true happiness," Blues replied as he placed his chin on the top of Rock's head. "This'll all work out in the end, don't you worry about it."

Silence lingered between the two for a while, neither of them knowing what to say. "…But…what if it doesn't?" the younger of the Light son's asked softly.

"Don't think that way! It'll work out somehow!"

"…I hope so, Blues. I really do…"

Blues sighed. Rock had hit such a mental low and such a deep state of depression that the poor boy was clinging onto him as if he was afraid that he'd leave him as well. He rubbed Rock's shoulder again.

"…Blues? I wanted to ask you earlier, but…you know…um…how did you…get here? I mean, how did you know something was going on?"

"Dad apparently placed a tracker on my armor quite some time ago just to see where I went off to when I left to go out on my own. I didn't really care, since it's not like he bothered me or anything. Anyway, it seems as though dad had the ability to call me if something should arise, and, when that something did, I dunno what he pressed or whatever, but I knew I was needed back home and I came back as quickly as I could."

"…Oh."

A loud crash suddenly interrupted the moment as someone dashed through the pile of rubble, causing massive amounts of it to go flying into the air and across the room. Rock and Blues stood suddenly, calling forth their armors onto their bodies in order to protect themselves. "The hell is going on?!" Blues shouted loudly, trying to see through the smoke. "Who is it now?! Rock, can you see anything?! …Rock!!" Blues looked over at his brother, only to find him staring wide-eyed ahead of them. He followed his gaze to find the source of his attention: Bass stood before them, his teeth bared and his body hunched over as if he was fit to kill.

"…Bass?! BASS! Bass, you've come back!" Rock shouted happily, tears flowing freely down his cheeks once again. He began to run towards him.

"Rock, DON'T!" Blues shouted, bolting after him.

As Rock got closer and closer to the one he had lost, he noticed that the sparkle that was once present in his eyes was gone. "…Bass? What's wrong?"

Bass roared loudly, baring his fangs at the older bioroid before lunging at him, buster cannon powered up and pointed directly at Rock's chest.