A/N- Was last chapter a flop or what? LoL.. It was like, suddenly, everyone stopped reviewing. @.@;;;; Did it seriously suck or something? I can't know without feedback. ah well. In any case, last chapter, tho I left things open, in case I want to do a sequel sometime.. *Pfft* Honestly, I don't like this fic. x_X;;; Anyway, I have a few short cutesy X and Zero fics in mind. Anyone want to see them? R&R, guys, positive or negative. And thanks for reading. How the hell you guys managed to sit through so many chapters of crap is beyond me. You have my respect. lol.
Fin
The sun rose. As it always does. Damned sun. Rock pressed closer to Forte, kissing his collarbone gently, a blush finding it's way to his cheeks. Out in the sunlight, in a clearing deep within a forest he didn't know, he was suddenly and painfully aware of his nakedness. How Forte had managed to walk about freely as such for so long was beyond his comprehension. Slowly, he pulled away from Forte's still form, taking a step back and pulling on his shorts and t-shirt he had been wearing before his armor.
He settled back down next to Forte, rubbing his shoulder gently as he slept. 'So beautiful.. And wild.' he thought, toying with a wisp of lavender hair. Bold Forte, who had woken him several times during the night for more, pleading, begging, and demanding all at once with those lusting eyes...
'What now?' He thought, trailing his lips over one of the violet streaks that marked Forte's cheeks, kissing it softly. It's twin rested on the grass, cradling his face. ' Are we friends? ... More? Or bitter rivals who just lost control...?' He hugged him shakily, trying to avoid that train of thoughts. 'Forte's right. Don't think about it.'
A strong hand stroked his face gently, and the hug was returned. "... rock..."
He looked up, into Forte's icy gaze, and smiled slightly. ".. Morning, Forte." He sighed sweetly.
Forte stared back at Rock, a sleepy smile slowly finding itself through that cold steely look.
Silence passed between them, as Rock pondered over whether or not to ask Forte what was on his mind. If he said no... If he... "Forte, I... uh..." He took a deep breath. "Can we talk?" He whispered.
Forte nodded slightly, stroking his bangs gently. " I guess."
He closed his eyes, bracing himself. "Do you love me?" He demanded. He opened them slowly, glancing at Forte. He seemed taken aback, and his cheeks set aflame under Rock's scrutinizing stare.
"Rock... I...."
Rock blinked. Forte looked so torn. Why was this so hard for him?! He set a hand on Forte's shoulder softly.
"Forte?" He asked, frightened. Forte looked ready to cry, something he'd never done in front of him before. "Forte, what's going-" He was cut off abruptly by Forte's lips, which captured his in a kiss so strong his lips nearly bruised, and his teeth cut into them slightly, leaving a bloody taste in his mouth Forte's tongue quickly washed away. He closed his eyes and mind, accepting the desperate, passionate kiss.
Forte drew back, slightly, stretching over to Rock's ear, and whispered something into it. Rock's eyes widened at it, and filled with tears. Forte's face hardened, and he called on his armor. "Sorry, Rock." He mumbled, taking aim with his buster.
'He wouldn't.... He couldn't!!'
Four shots, each one meeting their mark with frightening precision. Rock screamed in pain, both arms and legs destroyed, leaving him helpless. "Forte?!"
Forte ignored him, pulling his chest plate off and clamping it down on Rock.
"Take care of Gospel. This should allow you to join with him. "
"Forte!!!! Don't!!!" Rock screamed desperately.
"Relax. Light will repair you. I just need you out of the way." Forte ignored Rock's screams and protests, instead opening his communicator. "Blues. This is Forte. I've just scrapped Rock. You might want to come pick up the pieces." He turned to Rock. "It's all over, Rock. Just one loose end to tie up, and it's all over. You can finally rest." He grinned darkly, teeth bared, and disappeared.
"FORTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Forte walked numbly through Skull Fortress, dead to everything. This was it. Turning sharply down a corridor, he walked into Wily's lab. "It's over, Wily." He growled, coming to stand face to face with him, staring him down.
Wily blinked wildly at him, surprised. "Forte? You're still alive?" He turned back to his console, typing madly. "You were gone so long I'd figured you'd been destroyed." He pushed the chair back, getting out of it. "There, done! Forte, I've done it! My revenge! Deep beneath this fortress lies my blonde angel of death! Come ..." He trailed off, staring wide eyed down the end of Forte's buster. "What are you doing..?"
Forte narrowed his eyes, scowling. "I'm ending it. Everything. For Rock..."
Rock lay limply on his back, waiting. The waiting... It was pure hell. 'Blues...Where are you?!' He thought desperately. Every minute that passed, the situation grew more bleak and hopeless. Forte. He couldn't lose him. Not now.
But there was nothing he could do.
Except wait.
For what seemed like forever.
"What?!" Wily roared, infuriated. "You little traitor!!!" He backed up slowly, as Forte charged his weapon, backing into his console, feeling around behind him for something on the keypad.
"I'm tired of being your puppet!!!" Forte shouted, pressing his buster into Wily's forehead. "I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired of killing, and I'm TIRED. OF. YOU!!!" His buster was fully charged now, but he didn't fire it.
Wily was feeling desperately around behind him, trying to find a small red key in the corner of his console. Damnit! Why had he put it so far back?! How could he, of all people, have been so careless? 'Because you trusted him..'
"N-now Forte, hold on a minute... You're sick. Your new chip must be broken. Your emotions are out of control. Let me fix you.." He pleaded with the ebony bioroid, all the time trying to find that one key.
"Damnit, I don't need to be fixed!" Forte shouted, closing in the distance between them, eyes burning with that all too familiar hatred. "You damned old man.... You tricked me into thinking I had free will... Control over what I did... I had nothing... NOTHING!!!!!!" He screamed, enraged. "I don't want to fight anymore! I want to leave, with Rock!! And there's only one way to do that, isn't there?"
Rock turned his head slowly toward the footsteps he heard, head swimming. He was so dizzy. The pain, the loss of his vital fluids.... His eyes began to go blank, he was going into stasis mode..... No!! He had to stay focused. He had to get to Forte before-
He stared at Blues' boots quietly. Slowly, he forced himself to glance upward, met by Blues' dark visor. " ... Blues.. Help me up. We've got to..." He shook his head dizzily.
"Don't worry, Rock.. I'm here to take you home." Blues sighed, lifting Rock up carefully.
"... no... no!" Rock forced out, eyes wild. "we've got... to get to wily's lab... forte... he... we've got to get there..." He whispered.
Blues frowned, but nodded slightly, expression unreadable beneath the visor. "Alright."
Wily stared Forte down, finger poised over the red button he'd been searching for. A simple touch of the button, and Forte's main system would shut down- permanently. Every program in his main CPU would be deleted, vital parts would explode. He didn't press it, however. Not yet. "Forte... I'm going to ask you once only. Get on the repair table, so I can fix you."
Forte drew his arm back a little, taking aim. "Like hell I will!" He sighed. He should have known Wily wouldn't give in so easily. "I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to leave!" He stood, arm shaking slightly. Damned programming. Or was it him? 'I can't kill him... He's been like my sick, twisted father..' He thought, shaking his head slightly.
He closed his eyes then opened them again, wildness run out of them. "Damned old man..."
Wily sighed, leaning back, heart strained again. "That's better.." He sighed. "Now, get on the table so-"
"Wily!!!" Blues exclaimed, appearing in a red beam, Rock resting in his arms, eyes clouded over. His eyes enlarged behind his visor, shocked at the sight he was met with. Wily cowering against a huge console, Forte standing before him, ready to take him out. Just what was going on?!
Wily stumbled back, hearing Blues shout his name, and his eyes bulged, as he stumbled, hand pushing the red button he'd kept under his fingers down. "Shit!"
Forte cried out in agony, programs starting to erase, parts blowing, and his charged shot fired, right at Wily. The shot missed him, by inches. He gasped. The shot had missed, but it had frightened him. Badly. The pain in his chest exploded, and he grabbed at it. ' ... I've still won. I've gotten my revenge.' His eyes closed, he slumped to the ground....
And died.
The infamous Dr. Wily, who had, for years, tormented Rock, Dr. Light... the world, died. Not by some apocalyptic force, but a simple heart attack. After all, he was still only human.
Rock stared, horrified, at Wily and Forte, face ashen. He wanted to scream, to cry, anything. But he couldn't. He seemed only capable of staring.
Blues, however, had the sense to bend down, checking Wily's pulse. " .... He's dead." He turned quickly, looking at Forte. "Forte too."
Rock gripped Blues slightly, and let out a choked sob, before his eyes went blank, and he went into temporary shutdown.
Blues sighed, watching Forte still jolt occasionally, as chips and parts of him under his synthetic flesh melted and exploded. He glanced from Forte to Rock and back, then bent down, tearing open Forte's chest cavity, and pulled something out. "... This won't do you any good now.. So I think I'll just borrow it... Sorry." He blinked, noticing something else in his chest cavity. A chip he had never seen before. He snatched it out quickly, seconds before it went, too.
Turning away from the entire mess, he walked a few steps, then teleported away.
6 Weeks Later...
Rock sat in a computer chair, in Dr. Light's lab, leaning back against the console. Before him, on an examination table, lay one of Dr. Light's latest pet projects. An extremely human looking robot, a foot or so taller than him, which could have passed off as a relative of his, were they human. Light had named him "Ya-something-". He couldn't be bothered to remember. He couldn't be bothered to do much, since Forte had left. With a slight sigh, he looked down at the blank notebook laying in front of him. A gift, from Blues. He had, of course, told Blues everything.
"Write it down, Rock. Let it out. You'll be able to clear your mind, and conscience, plus you'll be able to stop worrying. You'll never forget him, no matter what, if it's written down."
Rock stared at the paper. And stared. What was there to write? Forte was gone. He wasn't coming back. 'I miss you...' He thought, sadly. Reaching over to a nearby desk, he grabbed a pen. It seemed a good a place as any to start. With a small sigh, he began to write.
I miss him. Forte. I never thought that our first night together would be our last. But it was. He's gone, for good. We buried him, Blues and myself. We couldn't let him rot in that Robot Museum, with the others.
I'm jealous of him, knowing it was our only night together, and me oblivious. There was so much more I wanted to tell him... To do. He knew, and I didn't. He never told me. That was unfair of him, but I'll forgive him. I've always forgiven him, even though I haven't always understood him, or his ways.
Because I loved him.
I don't doubt that he loved me too. I know he did. He told me. The last time I saw him, before Wily destroyed him. He kissed me, and whispered in my ear:
Rock paused, hesitating. The memories flooded back, almost too much for him.
"Write it down, Rock. Let it out."
He stroked the pen across the page, finishing his entry. Snapping the book shut, he walked over to a nearby capsule, something Light planned on using for that 'reploid' of his. Why he would want to store it away for so long was beyond him, but it didn't matter, not really. He pulled at the cushioning near the feet, pulling it up slightly, and tucked the notebook behind it, carefully. There.
Walking back over to the unactivated robot, he opened up it's chest cavity, staring at it. After a minute or so of careful study, he found what he was looking for. The new robot had been fitted with a memory chip, holding bits and pieces of his and his 'family's' lives. Something for it to remember them, via dreams. He sighed. Doing this could get him in a lot of trouble. Not to mention it really wasn't right. With a shaky hand, he pulled it out, staring at it.
Then he destroyed it. Steadying his hand slightly, he slipped in a different chip, almost identical in appearance, then closed the chest cavity again.
'Forte... I may not have understood you, but I won't forget you. You'll never be forgotten. I've seen to that. He'll dream about you, your memories... One day. Maybe he'll understand you.
"Thanks, Blues.." He whispered. Blues had managed to pull free Forte's memory chip before it was destroyed. Along with a different one.. He stared at it silently. Forte's personality chip. Clutching it close, he turned, and exited Light's lab.
"Gospel... Rush." He whispered, and his now two faithful companions trailed behind him silently as he crept out of the house. Everyone was asleep. He stood in the doorframe of Light's lab, donned in black jeans and a deep blue t-shirt, plus Forte's chest plate, staring out into the night.
He sighed, and Forte's final words came back to him once more.
"Rock... I love you. But sometimes it's just not enough. I'm sorry you couldn't save me."
'Forte.. You were right... Sometimes it just isn't enough. I couldn't save you, my own lover... I don't want to save anyone else... I don't want to be Rockman anymore.'
Closing his eyes, he stepped out into the night, Gospel and Rush padding behind him.
And with those steps, Rockman died, leaving only Rock.
~Fin
by nik
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