Chapter 3
Invasion of the Pirates
The interior of the car understandably looked disused, but the refractor appeared to be still in good condition, because the lights worked.
"Kinda Spartan, ain't it?" said Data, pawing at a set of bunk beds on one wall.
"I'll get to work on fixing this car up," said Roll.
"What about the mine parts kit?" said Rock.
"Oh, right," she said, taking the box. "Just gimme a second ... Hmm, there's the equipment ..."
Roll soon got it to work, and eventually she stood up with what appeared to Rock to be a blue baldric with small disks in its pockets. "There," she said. "It's ready. I call them 'splash mines.' Just drop them in front of an enemy, and -- BOOM! Instant crunchy fried Reaverbot."
Rock chuckled. "You sure know how to work with machines."
Roll beamed. "Yeah, I know," she said. "Just remember -- there's a limited number of mines, so make sure you use them sparingly."
"I will," said Rock.
"Good," said Roll. "I'll get to work on fixing this car up. I'll be able to help you out, and maybe spot for you, if I can get it running again."
"Thanks," said Rock.
As the two of them stepped out of the car, the police officer who had been at the crash site approached. "Ah, there you are," he said. "I've been looking for you so I could give you this -- your citizen's card."
Rock took it. "Thanks," he said.
"You're welcome," said the officer. "Now you'll be able to use the city gates." He looked uncomfortable for a moment. "Of course, there are some gates that can't be opened, but ..."
"Why's that?" asked Rock.
"Pirates," was the reply. "We've received information that indicates there are some headed this way, so as a precaution, we're evacuating the civilians and locking the gates."
"Pirates!?" exclaimed Roll. "Um ... our grandfather is still inside the city ... Will he be all right?"
The officer looked even more uncomfortable and was obviously trying not to show it. "Well, I'm sure he's heard the announcements about the pirates ... If I see him, I'll make sure he gets to a safe place ... If you'll excuse me ..." He hurried off.
Roll and Rock exchanged a glance. "I'm worried," said Roll. "I hope Gramps is okay."
"Me too," said Rock. "I'll go look for him -- you wait here."
"Okay, Rock," said Roll. "You be careful."
"I will!" said Roll.
Jim, Osh, and Bensley were standing near the north end of Apple Market. "I'm tellin' ya," said Jim. "That girl looks suspicious, all right!"
Bensley nodded vigorously. "She hasta be a pirate -- she said she was looking for treasure!"
"Hey, lotsa people do," said Jim. "But I bet that's it. She's a pirate, or my name ain't Jim Hannigan."
"No one's gonna believe us," said Osh. "You think we oughta tell someone or are we gonna get her ourselves?"
"Company!" said Bensley.
The trio turned and saw Rock walking towards him. Osh cursed. "It's that blue guy again!"
"C'mon, let's go!" said Jim. They ran off in different directions, and Rock passed them by with barely a glance.
Rock entered the downtown area of Kattelox Town. The first thing that caught his attention was a young woman wearing a pink dress, a dark blue jacket, and an odd-looking hairstyle. She was talking to three small robots, her tone of voice that of a mother talking to her children ...
"OK, got it?" she said. "Once the decision's made, there's no turning back! All three of you know the plan?"
"Right!" said the robots. "We understand!"
The one on the left added, "We'll do our best, Miss Tron! You can count on us as your first three Servbots to get the key to the treasure!"
"Good!" said the girl. "Now, go on, you guys!"
The three robots ran off, and then the girl suddenly noticed Rock. She looked startled for a moment, and then snapped, "What're YOU staring at??" Before he could respond, she stomped off in a huff.
Rock shrugged and started to cross the street. He hadn't seen the car coming, and only by throwing himself forward at the last moment did he avoid getting hit.
"Hey!" said a man who had been standing nearby. "Are you all right?"
"I think so," said Rock, getting to his feet. "Yeah, I'm okay."
"Good," said the man. "I know everyone's afraid and wants to get away, but they should be more careful when they drive. You better watch out, too, and make sure you don't get run over."
"I will," said Rock. "Say ... Do you know how to get to the city hall?"
The man pointed. "Northern area," he said. "Right through the door in the north wall of downtown. You can't miss it."
Rock thanked him and started off. This time, he was careful to look both ways before crossing the street.
As he entered the north area, he saw the girl in the pink dress again. "You again??" she said. "You've been following me around all day, haven't you!?"
"Um, no, I haven't," said Rock.
The girl snorted. "Sorry, but I don't have time to play with you," she growled. "Just stay out of my way, okay?"
Rock considered this. "Uh, okay," he said, and decided his best course of action would be to simply walk away.
He neared city hall, and saw that it was guarded by two police officers. "Excuse me," he said. "I'm looking for Professor Barrell Caskett ..."
"Professor Barrell?" said the officer. "Yes, he's here. He's in a meeting with the mayor -- please wait one minute."
Rock didn't have long to wait; the officer came back very quickly. "Thank you for waiting," he said. "Go on in ..."
Paprika, in addition to being cute, was also a rather intelligent dog. Not only could he perform various tricks on command, he could tell the difference between a Good Person and a Bad Person. Jim was Not Very Nice, but Paprika knew him and his cronies well enough to know when to trust them and when not to.
At the moment, Jim was telling Paprika something. Paprika didn't understand many words, but he knew the phrase "go find" and knew that "pirate" meant a Bad Person. So apparently, Jim wanted him to find a Bad Person. Paprika decided that this was one of the times when he could trust Jim, so he decided to go find this "pirate."
It took a while, but Paprika eventually made his way to the northern area.
Rock entered the mayor's office, and saw Barrell chatting with the mayor. It didn't seem as formal as he had expected.
"Hey, Rock!" exclaimed Barrell. "Come to check up on me, eh? Here, let me introduce you to Amelia Halvorsen -- the mayor of the island!"
Amelia was a pleasant woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties. "Nice to meet you," she said. "I'm an old I'm an old friend of Professor Barrell's -- I worked as his assistant for a while while I was in school."
Barrell cackled. "It's a small world, isn't it?" he said. "I didn't expect to see you again when you went into politics ..."
Amelia smiled, then switched to a more serious expression. "To tell you the truth, we've gotten reports that some pirates are headed this way," she said. "I was asking the Professor if he might have any idea what they're after, but I'll bet anything they're after the legendary treasure supposedly buried on this island."
"You know," said Rock, "that's the third time I've heard someone mention treasure on the island."
"There are a lot of stories about the treasure, but no one knows exactly what it is," said Amelia. "I thought maybe you might know something about it, Professor."
Barrell scratched his chin. "I've been in the digging business a long time, but I haven't been able to find out anything about this island's treausre except legends and myths," he said.
"Yes, but they do have one common thread, don't they?" said Amelia. "The legend says if the seals are broken, a terrible disaster will occur. Even if it's only a legend, as mayor of this island I can't ignore anything that might threaten it."
Barrell shrugged and said, "Look, Rock, I'll be here for a while talking with Amelia, so why don't you go back and keep an eye on Roll -- tell her not to worry about me, okay?"
"Okay," said Rock. "See you later."
Rock heard a yell as he left the building: it was the voice of the girl in pink.
"Help!" she screamed. "It's a dog!"
Rock wondered what that was all about, so he decided to go over and investigate. He then saw her being chased by Paprika, who was very enthusiastically barking.
"What ... What did I ever do to you??" she gasped, rushing towards the door leading to the downtown area. She made it and rushed through, but Paprika also managed to slip by.
Rock scratched his head. He knew that some people were afraid of dogs, but this seemed to be overdoing it. He was going in that direction anyway, so he followed them to the downtown area.
He then stifled a chuckle at the sight of the girl, halfway up a lamppost, Paprika barking at her from below.
"What're YOU staring at??" she yelled, trying pathetically to sound aggressive. "I'm not a circus clown or something! Go on! Get out of here!"
Rock ignored this barrage of misguided insults and squatted down next to the growling Paprika. "Hey," he said. "Cut it out. Don't you know you can't treat girls that way?"
Paprika barked at him; didn't this boy know this was a Bad Person he was dealing with?
Rock jumped slightly, startled. "Hey! Hold on!" he said. "Down, boy! Down!"
Paprika arrived at the conclusion that this boy was a Good Person who probably couldn't tell the difference between someone who was Good or Bad, and trotted away in a huff.
"Are you all right?" Rock said to the girl.
She slid down the pole, a look of confusion on her face. She stood up and looked like she was about to say something, but then glared at him. "You...you just mind your own business!" she snapped, and ran away.
Rock sighed. Some people were just like that ...
Meanwhile, Osh, Bensley, and Jim were talking to a police officer. "She's come here to check things out, I'm sure of it!" Osh was saying.
"You don't believe us, do you??" said Bensley.
"That girl was a pirate?" said the officer. "Right. Didn't your mothers ever tell you not to lie?"
"But it's true!" said Jim. "My dog Paprika found her--"
"I knew he wouldn't believe us," muttered Osh.
"Right," said the officer. "In any event, I assume you knew that all civilians are supposed to evacuate this area because of the threat of real pirates. Now, come on, let's go."
They turned to leave, and then several boxy airships, much like the one that had been parked outside the city, flew overhead.
"So where's Gramps?" said Roll, back near the spotter's car.
"He's talking with the mayor," said Rock. "He knew her a while back..."
"I guess he'll be okay then," said Roll. "By the way, did you see those wierd-looking ships that just flew past here?"
"Yeah," said Rock. "I've never seen ones like that before ... I wonder whose they are?"
Data chomped on some potato chips. "If that emblem on the front wasn't a 'dead' giveaway, I suppose there's no use tryin' to tell ya."
"What'd he say?" said Roll. Rock translated.
"Data," said Rock, "do you know something we don't?"
"Yeah," Data replied mischeviously. "The blindingly obvious. They're pirates, MegaMan!!"
"Pirates!?" exclaimed Rock.
Suddenly, they heard several explosions coming from the direction of the city.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Roll. "They're attacking the city! Gramps is still in there! I gotta make sure he's all right!" She dashed towards the city.
"Tactically brilliant, ain't she?" said Data, emptying the chips into his mouth.
"Roll!" yelled Rock, running after her.
"Oh, well," muttered Data to himself. "Looks like behaving with some sense is up to me."