And here we have Chapter 5! Sorry it's way late!!! @_@ The boys go shopping! A terrible tragedy befalls the family, and Christmastime comes and goes with a horrible price. A side note: Zennies, the money of all Rockman games. One Zenny is equal to one U.S. dollar; also, in Japan, there's no taxes! Yay! So there's no sales tax, either.
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Chapter 5 - Sleep In Heavenly Peace

After Rock stood up for me, he and I became very close. We sat down and talked about...well, just each other. I had never taken the time to actually know my little brother, and I figured I owed it to him. It certainly took guts to stand up to Father like that when he was that angry.

As for Father, he had become more open and friendly towards the rest of us androids. Probably didn't want his precious little Rock to be pissed at him.

Rock and I spent four glorious years together, acting as brothers do. I'd do something wrong and blame it on Rock, Rock would rebuke and re-blame it on me, then I'd re-re-blame it on him, and so on and so on. Quite fun times, those were.

Aside from fighting a lot of the time, Rock and I shared a deep brotherly bond. A lot of you humans argue that we're just androids, so we can't be true brothers, let alone share a bond. I will tell you this right now, zealots - you are so wrong it's not even funny. Just because we're not the humans you are doesn't mean anything - we were created by the same man, after all, and I'll be damned and deactivated before I ever renounce Rock, Elec, Roll, or any of the other Light Droids as my brothers and sister.

"Blues! Do you know what?"

"No. What, Rock?"

"It's almost Christmas!!!"

"Rock...it's July."

"And???"

"...and so Christmas isn't for another six months."

"So? Now's the best time to go Christmas Shopping!! There's no lines, and no waiting, and no humans to flatten you while they try and get the most popular toys for their kids! Remember when that happened last year?"

"Yes, Rock, I remem-"

"I was out cold for hours!!! It must have taken Dr. Light an awfully long time to repair me...human feet are dangerous weapons! Were you worries about me, Blues?"

"Ye-"

"Did you think that I wasn't gonna make it???"

"What? Don't be sil-"

A gasp, and wide eyes that would put a baby deer to shame. "Did you think that I was gonna die?????"

"What?! No, Rock, how could you even thi-"

"I mean, it must have been pretty scary, me not waking up and all (Trying to get words in; impossible as this kid talks about eighty miles an hour nonstop). I mean, sheesh, you must have been real worried sick, huh? Like almost crying and stuff. Or maybe you were crying!! Wow, I haven't seen you cry in a while, Blues, that must have been something, huh? (Getting annoyed now, still trying to get words in; why can't he just friggin' slow down?) Did I have footprints and stuff all over me? I mean, those people just pulverized me! It was pretty bad, I remember. Know what's cool? Dogs! They're so smart; wish I had a dog. I saw one on TV today and it saved this little boy! I was so happy! (That would be Lassie, Rock. Thought only, because actually getting the sentence in was damn impossible.) Cats are pretty neat, too, but dogs are better. I saw a frog today and it hopped on Roll and made her scream! I laughed!! So what d'you want for Christmas?"

It was so totally random that it actually stunned me into silence; I even had my mouth open ready to say something, too.

"What...do I want for...Christmas...?"

Wow, the first coherent sentence that I was able to squeeze in all day. Too bad it didn't last very long.

"Yeah, Christmas, it's almost here! I wanna do the shopping now 'cause I don't wanna get trampled again like last year, y'know?"

Exasperated. God dammit. "Yes, Rock, I know. And I really don't care what you get me; in fact, I don't want anything for Christmas."

"Huh? Christmas? Blues, you're still thinking about Christmas? I already know what I'm getting you, I thought about it while you had your mouth all open a little while ago."

"A little while...? Rock, that was only thirty seconds ago!"

"Wow...that's a long time, huh? Hey, why'd ya fall?"

I've just fallen anime style right on the floor. Ow. Whoop, better get up before Little Bro thinks I fractured my titanium alloy skull or ruptured my nonexistent spleen; I've seen that look in his eyes before. It's the "Get-Up-You-Fool-Before-He-Starts-Crying Look." I get up and brush myself off. No problem.

"I'm okay. Don't start crying, or Father'll think I hurt you purposely or something stupid like that."

"Oh...anyway, maybe I'll take Roll to the mall with me today! No, I shouldn't 'cause I wanna get her present...actually I shouldn't bring anybody with me. But I don't wanna go alone........."

A new look. The Ultimate Attack. The Super-Über-Kawaii [Cute]-Watery-Puppydog-Eyes-Please-Do-This-For-Me-Because-You're-My-Big-Brother-Who-Loves-Me Look!!! The worst enemy of older brothers everywhere; it is still a mystery to this very day why older sisters aren't affected by it. Maybe it's because females know to expect this behavior and can adapt appropriately. Must be part of the Mother Complex.

"Groan... Aw, come on, Rock, you know I hate shopping..."

The SUKWPEPDTFMBYMBBWLM Look increased 100 fold. It is no use. I cannot resist its evil charms. I am defeated.

"Sigh... Okay, okay...come on, let's go."

"YATTA!!! [All right! or I did it!] Arigatou, onii-chan!!! [Thank you, Big Brother!!!]"

I get a big hug, which makes me crack a smile. If I can get a hug out of it, I guess it's not too bad. I ruffle Rock's hair.

"Yeah, yeah, don't mention it. Now let's go, or else the mall's gonna close."

"Okay...wait, lemme tell Dr. Light where we're goin'." A deep intake of breath. Oh, shit...

"Um...no, wait, Rock, maybe it'd be better if y-"

"DR. LIIIIIIIGHT!!!!"

OW!!! Ow, ow, ow, ow!!! That kid's got a voice like a fricken' microphone!

"Whaaat? Rock, are you calling me?" The man is absolutely deaf, even with The Screamer at full power. I hold my ears, ready for the next sonic blast.

"YEAH! ME AN' BLUES ARE GOIN' TO THE MALL, OKAY?"

"The where?" Jesus... I start to think that maybe the old coot makes my ears bleed on purpose.

"MALL!!! THE MALL!!"

"Ball? What ball?" I can now hear the definite grin in his voice; yep, I was right - he loves to torture me like this. He knows it pisses me off to no end. We have formed a strange bond, the two of us. One in which one enjoys pissing the other off. Oh, well, it's better than no bond, I guess.

"MALL!!! MALL!!! SHOPPING MALL!!!"

Father decides that he's had enough fun. "Ohhhh....the mall!! Well, why didn't you say so? Okay, have fun and be careful, you two!"

Growl, mutter, gripe, complain.

"OKAY!!! Hey, Blues, are you okay?"

Mutter, mutter "...jackass...", snarl, mutter.

"Um...okay. I guess you an' Dr. Light are playing that game again, huh? That's not a very fun or nice game, y'know. But anyway, let's get going!"

Thank you, God. "I'm in. Meetcha there, slowpoke!" I warp out just as I hear, "HEY!! I am not!!!"

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We get to the mall, which is surprisingly not crowded on a Saturday afternoon. Rock has money that is just burning a hole right through his pocket. The first store we hit is the toy store, Rock's most favorite store in the entire known universe. I think Rock must have been programmed with something that tells him what the perfect gift for any given person is, because he heads right over to the model toy section; Guts has had his eye on some action figures from some kind of show from back in the day.

"Ne, Blues...isn't Di-Gi Charat that real old show Guts likes?"

"That's the one. Do you need me to show you which ones he's been wanting?"

"No...I'm good. He showed me which ones he wanted before." He scooped up a few of the figures and moved on. "Oooh! Look at this!"

"TinkerToys?"

"Yeah! Dontcha think Dr. Light would love 'em?"

"Um...why don't you get him something more...conventional, Rock."

"Conventional? What's that mean?"

"You know, conventional - like a tie or a watch or something." Rock made a face.

"But that's so boring!!" he exclaimed. "B'sides, Dr. Light loves to build stuff! Now he can build it and play with it!"

That's Rock for you. Always thinking and acting like a child. But so innocent...I remember well those days, those days before Rock was transformed into a fighting android.

.............

Ah, the good old days.

After Rock paid for his presents, we made our way to the game store. Xavier had been pining for Playstation15 for months now. I wanted to get it for him, so we went in. While I was busy locating the stupid system, Rock was wandering around, gazing at all the merchandise. He came running up to me all in a frenzy.

"BLUES!!! Look!!! Looklooklook!!!"

"Ack!! Rock! What is it?"

He held up an older-than-dirt copy of a video game - it was still a CD, for crying out loud.

"Wow, where'd you find that old thing, Rock? In the dumpster?"

"Nope! I found it over there!" He pointed to a large wall of antique games and systems. This reminded of something. While Xavier loved video games, his father loved them even more. Uncle Albert had nearly every system that was ever created, even the ones from long ago, like the Dreamcast and even the Playstation1 and 2s and X-Box. Yes, he had them all...all, that is, except one. It had eluded him for years upon years, and he wanted it like no other.

My game-crazed uncle wanted a lesser-known system - he wanted a WonderSwan. Those things were damn near impossible to find, even when they were first created way back when. But Uncle Albert wanted one like life. It was actually kind of sad, really. But since he wanted it so bad, I decided to, come hell or high water, find and purchase a WonderSwan for my uncle.

The wall was filled with old systems and games, so I decided to check it out. And wouldn't you know if there wasn't one left. Just one, which I had to dig and search for as it was; I'm sure you all know how that is - you have to dig and dig for the one you really want. After I unearthed the thing, I took both it and the PS15 to the register. The salesclerk actually gave me this weird look when I placed the WonderSwan on the counter.

"Dude...huh, what the heck is that thing?"

"It's a WonderSwan," I muttered, not really wanting to talk.

"Oh...huh, mmkay. There's, huh, no price on this thing, so huh, I'm gonna just give it to you for, huh, 50 Zennies. And the PS15's, huh, 300 Zennies, 'kay?"

"Sure."

"Mmkay, that'll be 350 Zennies, huh. (Wacko...)"

"Let's go...Rock..."

Rock was not standing where I had left him. Ohhh....shit.

He certainly couldn't have gone too far...could he? I decided not to take any chances, and bolted out of the store as soon as the weird guy gave me my change back. As I fled from the store, I could hear the store manager or whoever yell "HIGSBY!!!" at the weird salesclerk; must have realized that his clerk had just sold the last WonderSwan ever for 50 Zennies. [Author's Note: Not the Higsby from Rockman EXE (Battle Network); most likely his grandfather or something. :P]

Rock, where the hell are you? He was no where in sight. I decided to check the mall directory; maybe I could guess where he went by looking at the stores. I checked on the floor that we were currently on - there wasn't much here except department stores, the game store, and...the pet store. Of course! Rock would be there - he had said how much he wanted a dog, so he was probably there looking at them. I bolted.

I proved to be right - there was my little brother, totally surrounded by all these different dogs, laughing his head off as they all licked his face. I couldn't help but smile - it was a very cute little scene, as strange as that sounds coming from me. But we still had lots of shopping to do. I went over to the giant puppy mass.

"Hey, Rock! C'mon, we've gotta get going - we still have a lot more shopping to do! Ikimashou! Hayaku! [Let's go! Quickly!]" I carefully picked my way through the puppies until I finally reached Rock - he certainly was having the time of his life. Some of the dogs were jumping up and trying to lick my face, which a few of them almost achieved due to my short stature. I don't really like dogs; me, I'm more of a cat person.

"Bleah...oi, Rock! Come on!"

"Awww...do I hafta, Blues?" I gave him a stern look.

"Ima! [Now!]"

"Awww...well, okay." He slowly got up and gathered his things. But I noticed that he had an extra bag with him.

"Ne, otouto-chan...? [Hey, little brother...?]"

"Hai? [Yes?]"

"Ano...what's in that other bag there?"

"Aaah-ha!! Aah...nandemonai, nandemonai!! [nothing, nothing!!] Don't worry about it, 'kay?"

I smiled to myself. It must be what he's getting me for Christmas. But I decided to play dumb, just this once.

"Hmmm...well, okay, I won't ask you about it. Now come on - we still need to finish shopping!"

"But, Blues, I though you didn't like shopping?"

"I don't, that's why I want to finish. We'll get home quicker."

"Oh...okay, then! Let's go!"

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It's funny how quickly the weather can change on you. When Rock and I first arrived at the mall, the sun was shining, a blue sky. But when we were finished, we were surprised to discover it had started raining - hard. It was raining so bad that a lot of roads were closed due to the flooding; you could barely see an inch in front of your own face. Not a problem for us droids, because we could warp home and back...but it was a problem for the humans, especially the ones at the mall. They couldn't get home because of the closed off roads.

We were just getting ready to warp back home when all of a sudden sirens started blaring. We both looked up at the same time a police unit was racing toward a particularly bad section of the road - it was terribly flooded there. Even worse, the section that was flooded the most was a bridge that overlooked a river, the deepest one in the city. The scene was just close enough for us to see what was going on, but too far to actually see the persons involved in whatever had happened.

From what I could see, a large portion of the bridge's railing was completely gone. There were big, black streaks on the bridge; it looked as if someone had skid.

"Wow...it looks like there was a really bad accident, Blues!" breathed Rock. He was right. I finally concluded what had happened: someone was driving on the bridge, skid due to the rain and leaves that had come from the large sakura [cherry blossom] tree, and...well, went over the edge, taking a part of the railing with them. They never would have survived a sixty-foot fall, especially at that force, and trapped in their car to boot.

"That's...really a shame," I said, lowering my gaze.

"Do...do you think that they're..." Rock trailed off, unable to finish. He loves humans so much; it hurts him to see one hurt...let alone dead. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, Rock. I...I doubt they made it, whoever they were." Rock sniffled, and buried his face into my chest.

"Hey...c'mon now, Rock...why don't we go home, and you can start your wrapping? And maybe Mother can make us some hot chocolate or something." (No, we don't need to eat or drink being androids of course, but hot chocolate made by Mother was always a great treat, even in the summer. She always made the best hot chocolate.)

"OK, Blues," Rock finally said. "Let's go home." He warped out. I took one last look at the terrible scene, shook my head, and warped out as well.



There was no car in the driveway when I arrived. The door was open, letting in rain. Rock was standing in the doorway, the bags he had dropped at his feet. Father was there, hugging him close. And all of a sudden, I had the worst feeling in the world.

I ran from the end of the driveway, where I had warped in, all the way to the front steps, literally sliding to a stop in the rain. Had I a need to breathe, I probably would have been out of breath as well.

"Father!" I gasped. "What..." But I stopped short, for I happened to look inside of the house as I stopped at the steps. Uncle Albert was there, on his knees, his face buried in his hands. He was making the most awful wailing I have ever heard in my entire activation. It was haunted, sorrowful...I hoped to never hear something as morose as it again. And the only thing he kept repeating over and over again was...

"They're dead...dead....they're dead!!!"

Dead...? Dead... de-oh, my God....

I pushed past Rock and Father, who I noticed was weeping, and ran to Uncle Albert. I knelt down before him and took him by the shoulders.

"U-uncle Albert! Uncle Albert!!" I shook him gently, but he wouldn't respond; he just kept repeating the same thing over and over again. And then...

"Blues." I looked up; it was Xavier. Astonished, I stared at him - he never called me Blues...only Zero. Uncle Albert had looked up, too. His gaze...frightened me. He glared at Xavier.

"You...get out of my sight." Xavier was taken aback.

"Wh-what...?"

"I SAID GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" thundered Uncle Albert, causing me to fall backward onto my rear, and Xavier to jump back, eyes wide and frightened.

"B-but...Papa..."

Uncle Albert's eyes blazed. "'Papa'? I will kill you!! GET OUT!" Xavier backed away, fresh tears spilling down his cheeks. He took off upstairs.

"X...! Uncle Albert....how could you say such a thing?!" His terrible gaze fell upon me...and he grinned.

"Y-you're...you insane!!" I gasped. And with this, he let out a laugh as I have never heard.

"Maybe...maybe I am! Ha, ha ha!!! Ha ha ha!!! AAAAAAAAAH HA HA HA HA!!!!" I shrunk back, terrified. Never had my Uncle Albert, who was usually so caring, kind, and compassionate, act in such a way. As he laughed like the madman he had just become, Father and Rock turned and gaped at him.

"Albert...?" said Father cautiously, wiping his eyes with his handkerchief.

"Albert? Oh, no, Light. Albert has left the building - permanently! Say hello............to Dr. Wily!!!" More insane laughter. "You'd better watch yourself, Light!! Watch yourself....and those ridiculous robots of yours!" He got to his feet, gave me one last terrifying gaze, and then fled out the door, laughing into the evening rain. We all just stared after him; it was the only thing we could do.

"Father..." I said as I approached him and Rock. Father turned, still astonished.

"Yes...what is it...Blues?"

"What...exactly happened? What caused Uncle Albert to go insane?"

Father choked up then. It was obviously hurting him. He squeezed his eyes shut, and I noticed fresh tears fall from his eyes.

"Blues...your mother and Aunt Sarah are...well, they were in a....car accident. On the bridge, near the mall where you were. They were going shopping, too. They're...they're dead, Blues...dead...!!" And with that, he collapsed into a terrible weeping spell, muttering my mother's name over and over again. Now I understood. Not only had Uncle Albert lost his wife...but he had lost his little sister as well. I looked over at Rock, and thought about what it might be like to lose him. I immediately snuffed the thought from my mind. And Xavier...what had caused his father to blatantly disown his own son like that?

Then I remembered something......something I had noticed about Xavier the very first day I was activated for the first time....

This was the son of Albert and Sarah. He resembled his mother very much.

So that was why. It pained Uncle Albert immensely to look upon X...because he was reminded of his now-dead wife.

Uncle Albert...
Aunt Sarah...
Mother...


Dead...they're all dead...