Nuts and Bolts
Chapter 9
Authors' notes: We are dorks and didn't know how to end this well. Forgive us. *bow* Uhh.... yeah, it's got some technical errors, but we're not sure how to fix them and don't care enough to work it out.
Sorry for late posting. We suck. Enjoy the angst and review, please! We love reviews!
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Forte continued to scream and swear at the tall blonde robot as Rock retreated, enraged. "Forget him, I'm the one you want!!" Zero cocked his head to the side, staring back at him curiously, and he began to search the room for something slick. He needed to slow the robot down, he was just too fast, and Forte did not want to get caught on the end of that glowing blade. Whatever it was, it had cut through Blues' shield like a knife through warm butter. His only chance was to get the floor too slippery to run around, and attack from the air.
Zero slowly made his way toward the now silent Forte, whose eyes searched wildly for something. Why was he hesitating now, if he wanted to fight? Suddenly, the smaller bot turned and began firing into the wall rapidly, eyes narrowed. "What are you doing?" He growled, not really alarmed, simply suspicious. His supposed brother was up to something, and Zero doubted he was going to like it.
Forte continued to fire into the wall, frowning. Please let this work. When they had built this lab, the had built double layered walls, filled with some strange gel Dr. Light had developed, to help shield against any radiation which may occur when Zero attacked-they had prepared for almost everything-not wanting to contaminate anything outside the lab. It was extremely slippery and would work perfectly, if he could just bust through! Finally, he heard a loud creak, and the metal began to push out. "Now we're going to see who's really Wily's greatest creation." He grinned, kicking off from the ground, and fired one last time. He would get revenge for himself, and for Blues.
This angered the blonde. The little bastard had insulted him. He'd show him exactly who was stronger, and then he'd make him suffer before he died. Zero watched Forte take to the air, rolling his eyes. Did he honestly think that was going to give him any kind of advantage? Suddenly the wall gave way, and a thick, clear black substance poured lazily onto the floor, spreading out along it slowly. He watched as it coated his feet, then slid slowly along, eventually half covering that other boy he had just killed. He returned his gaze to his feet. Whatever it was, it wasn't corrosive. "What was that supposed to do? Harm me?" He grinned, then made a dash for him.
Forte grinned back, watching Zero lose his footing and nearly fall. "No. Just slow you down a little." With a smirk, he opened fire on the other Wily bot.
Rock ran on and on down hall after hall, breath ragged. He was now in the fourth level of the lab, the level where X resided. Bursting the doors open, he looked around for Dr. Light, surprised to find him not there. "Dr. Light!!" He yelled, wiping his eyes. Nothing. He must have retreated to the sleeping quarters on level 3. He'd probably run right past him. Turning to leave, he stopped suddenly, staring at X's capsule. Slowly, he made his way toward it, leaning over, and pressed his cheek against the cool glass.
"X... Please wake up..." He bit his lip and choked back sobs. "I'm scared..... I don't want to fail, but I don't think I can protect dad.... I don't think I can protect you... Please help me.....X.... Help me..." His words died in his throat and he collapsed against the capsule, sobbing loudly. Roll was dead, Rush was gone... Blues had died protecting him, soon to be followed by Gospel and Forte... They were all going to die, all because of the information he'd given Forte all that time ago.
Dr. Light sighed, standing in the doorway to the room. He didn't need to ask, he could see it in Rock's body language and hear it in his voice. They were on their own now.
Forte continued to rain shots down on Zero as he slowly circled Forte, picking his way carefully along the floor to avoid sliding or falling. His plan had worked perfectly, his enemy was practically immobilized, and his buster was slowly but steadily chipping away at that damn armor. Perhaps they were going to live after all. "Give up and deactivate, or I'll destroy you right here!" Forte ordered coldly. "I won't let you harm Rock."
Zero grinned. Ah. The boy. His brother had sentiments for him. This 'Rock' probably felt the same way. A weakness he could use against him. "I'll tell you what..." He purred, walking slowly toward Blues' still form. "If you come down from there right now, I'll let you go. I'll let the boy go. Hell, I'll even let this 'Light' character go. I just want Light's creation. The one like me. But... If you don't come down and surrender, then I'll kick your sorry ass, then I'll take you with me, and let the boy watch what I guarantee will be a very gruesome death, before killing him as well. I want someone to witness who's really the 'greatest'." Silence. Forte simply glared down at him. "Well?"
"Fuck you."
With a feral grin, Zero stepped onto Blues' mangled corpse, and used him to leap into the air, grabbing onto a support beam. Finally, something not slippery. If Forte wanted an aerial battle, that was fine by him. He didn't need to fly to take the boy down while airborne. "I'm going to hold true to my promise, you know." He laughed. "I'll let him watch you die, slowly. Then I'll kill everyone. I'll kill until there's nothing left!!" He roared with laughter, excited by the prospect of all that death, and began to leap from beam to beam, after Forte.
"FUCK!" Forte yelled, firing a few more shots and darting away. Shit, that was something he hadn't expected, he'd underestimated the 'bot. Shit. Well, he wasn't going to give Wily the satisfaction of-
He was hit in the back, hard, the entire mass of his opponent slamming him out of the air to crunch painfully against the ground, sliding on the slick black gel and thudding into the wall. He struggled, cursed, and suddenly felt very cold inside. He stopped moving. No, this...couldn't be happening, it wasn't real, he wasn't being picked up roughly by the grinning Zero and his arm didn't feel like it was about to fall off. He wouldn't fail, not when- Gospel merged out of his armor and he grunted. He stared into Zero's bemused face, hearing a chuckle from his opponent and a vicious growl from Gospel, a sick certainty rising in his gut that the dog was going to die, and then him, and then Rock. Fuck, why hadn't he just fucking surrendered?
He hit the ground as Zero tossed him away in favor of sliding over to Gospel and slamming the whimpering dog against the wall, reaching and slowly pulling out the circuitry from Gospel's chest, tossing it idly over his shoulder. Oh yes, Forte realized, feeling strangely detached from everything as Zero grabbed him again and happily slid over to the doorway. He hadn't surrendered because that would have been a betrayal of Rock's trust. And that was what had gotten them here in the first place...
Zero swung his now-limp burden around, noting with pleasure the small grunts of pain. The small 'bot seemed to be in shock at the moment, but at least he'd put up a decent fight unlike the others. That small, innocent little boy - Rock, was it? - looked like he was no threat whatsoever. He sighed. "You know...it's almost a shame to have to kill you, bro." He glanced at his burden, into those blank, hating eyes. "You put up a better fight than anything else yet. Pity you don't have any common sense, or it might have been interesting to keep you alive."
They were on the third level of the lab, Forte noted, Zero's words drifting around him without making any impression. Rock and Dr. Light were probably in one of those rooms, and unless one of them talked, Zero would never find X. At least he'd slowed the bastard down....Dr. Light would have had time to do the final checkups on X.
A door opened and Zero smiled cheerfully at the old man in front of him. "Hey!" He said, and would have waved if his hands weren't full. "Have you seen a little blue guy named Rock around here?"
Instantly Rock stood before Dr. Light, shielding him. "W-What......" His question died away as he saw the package Zero held in his arms. "Forte!!" He cried, aiming his buster at Zero's head. "Give him back!! Don't hurt him, please!!" His eyes filled up with tears, and he shook. Forte was so limp, he had to be injured badly. He probably needed major repairs.
"Huh?" Zero looked from Rock to Forte and back. "You're concerned about him? That isn't good." He shrugged and set Forte down on his feet, keeping an arm wrapped tight around his waist, to keep him from sliding to the floor when his opponents' legs sooner or later gave out. Forte moaned softly in pain. "See, as much as I'd love to... ahh... honour your request, I have to punish him for not telling me where I could find this 'X' character I've been looking for." Reaching around, he found Forte's face and grasped his chin, tilting his head up slightly so he could make eye contact with Rock.
Rock stared at Forte, eyes brimmed with tears. "Please.... Zero... I'm begging you, don't kill him.. Please..." His mouth moved slowly, and he shook slightly. He waved to Dr. Light slowly behind his back, urging him to retreat into the next room. The man gave Forte a sad look, then sighed and left quietly.
Zero smiled at this, and stroked Forte's face gently, considering Rock's words. "You.... Would do anything for this boy?" Rock nodded slowly, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Anything, hmm?" He gave Rock the once up and down, then leaned down, smiling at Rock with an almost friendly air. "Well, Rock.. you seem like a really nice little guy. So I'll make you a deal... I won't kill your friend- hell, I won't kill the two of you either, if you tell me where I can find X."
"My brother..?" Rock whispered, eyes wide. He looked from Zero to Forte, who's head was lolling slightly. He had to be in so much pain. Rock was torn, and he looked to Forte for help. "I..... you want X..?"
Forte growled lowly, and forced his eyes to focus. "Rock.... Don't you dare... If you tell him... then everyone's death has been pointless!!" His legs gave up completely, and he now hung in Zero's grip limply. "Don't do it!" He heard a small sob from Rock, and his tone softened greatly.
"Rock..." He looked up at him, smiling gently. "I'm glad I got to know you... I never had a friend before you. You changed me, and I'm a better person now because of you." A few stray tears ran down his face, and he forced himself to smile wider. "I've never.. Belonged anywhere until I met you. Don't tell him.. Don't let everyone's sacrifice into a waste. Make me proud."
Zero smiled, patting Forte's head gently. "That was really nice, you know that?" He smiled down at Rock. "Now, if you'll just tell me where X is, you two can get back to.... Well, whatever it is you do..." He smiled sweetly- until Rock shook his head no. Damn. He shouldn't have let the violet streaked boy talk. Ah well. This would just be more fun. "Alright. Have it your way. Say goodbye, then."
Rock's eyes widened as Zero gripped onto Forte's throat. "NOOOO!!!!!" He threw himself at them, grabbing onto Forte quickly. There was a horrible ripping sound, accompanied by loud shrieks from Forte. Suddenly his anguished cries died out, and the horrible ripping sound ceased. Rock suddenly found himself hot, and soaking wet- he was covered in some hot sticky substance, running down his head, his body... He looked at his hands. Oh god... it was blood... He clung to Forte tighter, whose body gave no resistance at all, caving in as he squeezed it, and he sobbed. "No...... Nooo......"
Suddenly a hand gripped his chin firmly, and forced him to look up. "Don't cry... Here, give him a kiss goodbye." Rock screamed even louder. Zero's hand was still gripping onto Forte's head, but the only thing from there down was the broken frame of Forte's spine, and a few sparking wires and chips dangling from it. His scream was silenced as Zero pressed Forte's lips against Rock's mouth. He kicked Zero hard, still screaming, and stumbled away quickly, scrambling to his feet. "Now it's your turn.. Or the old man's. Your choice."
Rock's eyes widened. Dr. Light! He had to protect him. He shot Zero a few times, then turned on his heel and ran away quickly, heading in the direction he'd sent the doctor in.
Zero rolled his eyes, tossing the head over his shoulder and walking slowly in the direction Rock was headed. Nobody ever listened to the rational guy, no, they had to scream and fight and get all emotional and shit. All he wanted was to kill X and they just weren't cooperating. He sighed. Guess he'd have to kill Rock, then Dr. Light, or vice-versa. The order didn't particularly matter to him, so long as one or the other told him where to find his next and hopefully best opponent. This was getting tedious.
Rock whimpered, slamming doors behind him as he went deeper into the lab. He had to protect Dr. Light...he had to. Panting, trying desperately not to cry, he quietly closed the door to the brightly-lit room, staring with watery eyes up at his father. He sniffled. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I couldn't...that is, I..." He trailed off. "I don't want you to die!" He blurted, clinging desperately to the pure white coat Light wore, burying his face in it and refusing to sob. A warm hand pressed gently against his back.
"It was bound to happen someday, Rock...maybe in a different way, but eventually I would have died anyway." He shushed the small boy. "Don't tell him about X, Rock. No matter what he does, alright?" A small, tight nod. "Good boy, Rock. You've made me proud." There were footsteps in the hallway, and they could hear Zero humming something loudly, tune unrecognizable. Rock pulled away from his father, leading him further back in the room, and prepared to make his stand.
The door opened with a bang, and Zero strode in a couple of steps, stopping when Rock fired a shot at his face. "Jeez, calm down." He rolled his eyes. "I just want to know one damn thing, and I've told you again and again that I'll leave you alone if you do, but nooo, you have to keep on trying to kill me." He looked down at Rock, smiling. "Nice little pet you have here, old man. Is this X guy anything like him?" Silence. Rock rushed Zero angrily, only to be picked up and flung across the room. He hit the wall with a satisfying thud. "Oh, come on.....if you don't start talking I'm going to have to start hurting things. And I think you don't want that."
Rock struggled up. "You're not going to kill X!" He fired another shot, then groaned as Zero dashed over and crushed his buster.
"Now, now, you shouldn't do that." Zero grinned. "Someone could get hurt." He let the crushed arm drop, watching the tears spring up in Rock's eyes as he swung a small fist at him. He caught it and swung Rock against the wall, watching as the tiny 'bot crumpled to the ground. It was kind of cute how the kid tried to stand up for his daddy. Speaking of which... "Oh yes. You. Light, is it?" He turned around with a smile, sheathing his saber. He wouldn't need it. "You're...not going to tell me anything, are you? Protecting your son, I guess." A shrug. "Nice sentiment, and it's really annoying. So..." He grinned. "I'm going to crush your bones and kick your fucking head in."
Rock jolted out of the black nothingness when he heard the first scream, and something warm and wet splattered on his face. He didn't look up, he was afraid to look up, and he began to sob when he heard the soft moan coming from Dr. Light. He couldn't do anything, he couldn't save his father.... He struggled to sit up, turning around. Oh God. "No, no...nonononono.." He muttered, eyes wide and tears wet on his cheeks. "NO! DAD!"
Zero must have crushed half the bones in his body. The man was white, shaking, and his coat had turned a horrible shade of red in places. "No....." He whimpered. The doctor wasn't dead- not yet. There was no way he was going to survive, however, even if Rock DID stop this now. "Zero!!! Don't kill my dad please!!" He pleaded, struggling slowly onto his hands and knees.
Zero turned his head in Rock's direction slowly. "Ah.. You're awake. Good. Things were starting to get boring." With a smile, Zero let Light drop to the floor, hardly getting a scream out of him. Yep. His playtoy was done for. "You know." he mumbled, swinging his leg back and giving Light's head a good kick- decimating the man's skull. He paused momentarily to shake the man's brains off his foot. Where was he?
"You have been a really disappointing lot. Not one of you proved to be a challenge. You're all pathetic. The only one who proved to be even remotely interesting was my brother." With a small smile, Zero lifted Dr. Light's body up by the arm, flinging him over to Rock. "Oh, there's your father. I hope you don't mind that I got impatient with you and killed him first. You all seem to be in such a hurry to die."
Rock bashed his chin on the floor with a slight whimper, Dr. Light's corpse was heavy, and had knocked him down when it hit him. "We've been planning for this for a long time... I'm not scared to die anymore. If you're going to do it, get it over with.. But listen to me... Forte.. your brother.. He was a really bad person for a long time. He was mean, and he hurt people... we had to fight a lot, and I had to keep hurting him to stop him from making a mistake he'd regret."
Zero had stopped, and was listening to him. Zero was listening. With a small sigh, he continued. This was his last chance. He rested his chin on the metal and smiled weakly. Everything hurt. "I know you feel like you have to do these terrible things.. But you don't. You can become a better person... You don't have to be mean just because you were programmed that way. You're special, Zero. You can do whatever you want. You can think for yourself."
Zero stared down at him, expressionless. Then slowly a warm smile spread across his face, as he thought those words over. "So.... I can decide my own fate?" He asked finally, pondering over this. "I can do whatever I want... anything..." Turning, he walked away from Rock, stopping and leaning on a lab table. "Anything at all... I'm free." His smile widened, turning into that grin again as he picked the heavy lab table up. "Good. I want to kill you." Smirking, he threw the table at Rock, laughing as it crushed him and he shrieked.
Rock screamed for all he was worth. Christ, the corner of the table was INSIDE him, it had impaled him. He sobbed softly, choking occasionally on his own blood as his systems began to back up. He was smothering. Opening his eyes slowly, he stared up dully, seeing Zero looming over him menacingly.
"Where's X? Since you're going to die anyway, you may as well tell me." Silence. Rock couldn't have answered even if he'd wanted to at this point. "Come on... I'll be nice and make your end quick." When Rock didn't answer, Zero sighed and sat down on the desk, listening to Rock's pathetic whimpers and other strangled sounds as the boy was slowly crushed beneath him. He couldn't think. that damn question kept popping up within his systems, asking him to open some program.
((Bls.exe))
He continued to ignore it. He was functioning fine, what did he need it for? Suddenly his eyes widened. Blueprints, perhaps? If they were blueprints, then he could find this X guy for sure! It would make sense for Wily to give him blueprints of this place. He'd known Light, and obviously hadn't gotten along with the man.
He stared down at Rock, watching as the blood slowly trickled out of the corner of the boy's mouth. "This was boring..." He sighed, about to open the application popping up in the back of his mind. "But there's some program bothering me right now, and maybe when I run it I'll get some idea of where your precious brother is." He grinned, loving the terrified look on Rock's face as those bright eyes slid closed, and the body's breathing began to slow.
Rock whimpered....Dr. Light.... Oh god. They were all dead. And he'd never...meet X.
His systems shut down.
Zero yawned. "Well, that's over with. Now...." He let the program run. As the virus in his programming was opened, Zero stared into nothing for a full minute, then his eyes closed and he collapsed backwards, sliding off the desk and onto the floor. Shit shit shit, what was happening to his processes, he couldn't move, thought grew more difficult, he couldn't go into hibernation now-!
The lab was very quiet and very empty.
--------------------- ((Many years later)) ---------------------
He.....was bored. There was nobody to fight...there were no women to hit on at the immediate moment...the day had just generally sucked....and he'd had one of those scary-as-fuck dreams again. Zero scowled at his coffee. Stupid fucking dreams. No truth behind them and they still made him sick to his stomach and want to throttle himself. He took a sip, leaning way back in his chair, and tried not to think about his hands coated in all that damn blood... he shuddered slightly, concentrating instead on the silence of the empty lounge. Maybe he'd go get some food later. They'd had sushi of all things in the mess hall. He hated sushi...
"Excuse me...sir?"
Zero blinked, but didn't turn around. "Yeah?"
"Well... See... I'm kind of new here... and I'm lost. I was wondering if you could help me find my way?" A not entirely unattractive young male – he was kind of hot, actually... - sat down beside him, resting his cheeks in his hands. "I've already circled you four times." He smiled gently, and Zero found himself unable to ignore him longer. "I'd really appreciate it." He handed his information over to Zero, who skimmed through it. Hm. The guy was in his unit. Typical; Send the one with no sense of direction Zero's way.
"You're in my unit." He stated blandly, memory of his dream still fresh in mind. "Come on. I'll take you to your quarters, and then I'll give you a quick tour so we don't have to do this again." The boy seemed to shrink at his words, and he gave him a friendly push. "I'm Zero, your field commander. What's your name?" He got a smile in return for his question, the smaller reploid happy to have someone to talk with.
"My name's X!" He stated happily. "Nice to meet you!"
Zero stared at him. X? As in Rockman X? The father of all reploids... Zero found himself wondering vaguely if this was him. He didn't want to seem rude, or nosy, however, so he kept himself from asking. It was his own business, really. For the next few weeks, his name was going to be 'rookie' anyway. "X, hm? As in Sex?" He laughed, seeing X slowly begin to turn red. "Hey, if we line up three of you, we have a porno!" He pushed further.
"E.... Excuse me?!" X exclaimed, cheeks flaming. Who was this guy? What kind of a commander talked to a unit member like that after knowing him for all of three minutes?? He smiled softly, however. There was something... comforting about his presence, and soon he found himself relaxed and joking with his new friend.
----------------- Years later.... -----------------
Dynamo weeded his way through underground chambers, one after another. He was on a mission for Cain, and damn the old fart had better pay him well. He made a face as he stepped in something black and oily, then paused, seeing a broken robot lying in the pool of it. After a careful inspection of both it and another robot some 30 feet away, he deemed them useless and moved on.
And so it went on, room after room, finding more and more junk, until finally he happened upon a little robot which seemed to have sustained relatively little damage. "I am so getting triple my rate for this!" He exclaimed cheerily, and he pulled the small boy-in serious need of repair- out from under the lab table. Throwing him over his back- He was already broken anyway- he made his way toward the surface, eager to get back to his favourite pastime of tormenting X and Zero. The boy looked a little like X; he bet his tormentee would get a kick out of that. Maybe he could forget Cain altogether and sell him to X to keep as a pet. As if the little bastard would give him money for such a rare commodity. Poor Dynamo was so unappreciated.
Ah well, he could dwell on this later. Time to bring the little guy home.
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Ending Author's Notes: Yes, that's the end. Yeah, there is a sequel, but we were really fucked up in the head and, uh..... Dynamo/Rock. XD;;; Kill us, please. o.o; You really don't wanna see that fic. *nods*
Hope you enjoyed! Review because we worked hard on this and reviews make happy!
Authors' notes: We are dorks and didn't know how to end this well. Forgive us. *bow* Uhh.... yeah, it's got some technical errors, but we're not sure how to fix them and don't care enough to work it out.
Sorry for late posting. We suck. Enjoy the angst and review, please! We love reviews!
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Forte continued to scream and swear at the tall blonde robot as Rock retreated, enraged. "Forget him, I'm the one you want!!" Zero cocked his head to the side, staring back at him curiously, and he began to search the room for something slick. He needed to slow the robot down, he was just too fast, and Forte did not want to get caught on the end of that glowing blade. Whatever it was, it had cut through Blues' shield like a knife through warm butter. His only chance was to get the floor too slippery to run around, and attack from the air.
Zero slowly made his way toward the now silent Forte, whose eyes searched wildly for something. Why was he hesitating now, if he wanted to fight? Suddenly, the smaller bot turned and began firing into the wall rapidly, eyes narrowed. "What are you doing?" He growled, not really alarmed, simply suspicious. His supposed brother was up to something, and Zero doubted he was going to like it.
Forte continued to fire into the wall, frowning. Please let this work. When they had built this lab, the had built double layered walls, filled with some strange gel Dr. Light had developed, to help shield against any radiation which may occur when Zero attacked-they had prepared for almost everything-not wanting to contaminate anything outside the lab. It was extremely slippery and would work perfectly, if he could just bust through! Finally, he heard a loud creak, and the metal began to push out. "Now we're going to see who's really Wily's greatest creation." He grinned, kicking off from the ground, and fired one last time. He would get revenge for himself, and for Blues.
This angered the blonde. The little bastard had insulted him. He'd show him exactly who was stronger, and then he'd make him suffer before he died. Zero watched Forte take to the air, rolling his eyes. Did he honestly think that was going to give him any kind of advantage? Suddenly the wall gave way, and a thick, clear black substance poured lazily onto the floor, spreading out along it slowly. He watched as it coated his feet, then slid slowly along, eventually half covering that other boy he had just killed. He returned his gaze to his feet. Whatever it was, it wasn't corrosive. "What was that supposed to do? Harm me?" He grinned, then made a dash for him.
Forte grinned back, watching Zero lose his footing and nearly fall. "No. Just slow you down a little." With a smirk, he opened fire on the other Wily bot.
Rock ran on and on down hall after hall, breath ragged. He was now in the fourth level of the lab, the level where X resided. Bursting the doors open, he looked around for Dr. Light, surprised to find him not there. "Dr. Light!!" He yelled, wiping his eyes. Nothing. He must have retreated to the sleeping quarters on level 3. He'd probably run right past him. Turning to leave, he stopped suddenly, staring at X's capsule. Slowly, he made his way toward it, leaning over, and pressed his cheek against the cool glass.
"X... Please wake up..." He bit his lip and choked back sobs. "I'm scared..... I don't want to fail, but I don't think I can protect dad.... I don't think I can protect you... Please help me.....X.... Help me..." His words died in his throat and he collapsed against the capsule, sobbing loudly. Roll was dead, Rush was gone... Blues had died protecting him, soon to be followed by Gospel and Forte... They were all going to die, all because of the information he'd given Forte all that time ago.
Dr. Light sighed, standing in the doorway to the room. He didn't need to ask, he could see it in Rock's body language and hear it in his voice. They were on their own now.
Forte continued to rain shots down on Zero as he slowly circled Forte, picking his way carefully along the floor to avoid sliding or falling. His plan had worked perfectly, his enemy was practically immobilized, and his buster was slowly but steadily chipping away at that damn armor. Perhaps they were going to live after all. "Give up and deactivate, or I'll destroy you right here!" Forte ordered coldly. "I won't let you harm Rock."
Zero grinned. Ah. The boy. His brother had sentiments for him. This 'Rock' probably felt the same way. A weakness he could use against him. "I'll tell you what..." He purred, walking slowly toward Blues' still form. "If you come down from there right now, I'll let you go. I'll let the boy go. Hell, I'll even let this 'Light' character go. I just want Light's creation. The one like me. But... If you don't come down and surrender, then I'll kick your sorry ass, then I'll take you with me, and let the boy watch what I guarantee will be a very gruesome death, before killing him as well. I want someone to witness who's really the 'greatest'." Silence. Forte simply glared down at him. "Well?"
"Fuck you."
With a feral grin, Zero stepped onto Blues' mangled corpse, and used him to leap into the air, grabbing onto a support beam. Finally, something not slippery. If Forte wanted an aerial battle, that was fine by him. He didn't need to fly to take the boy down while airborne. "I'm going to hold true to my promise, you know." He laughed. "I'll let him watch you die, slowly. Then I'll kill everyone. I'll kill until there's nothing left!!" He roared with laughter, excited by the prospect of all that death, and began to leap from beam to beam, after Forte.
"FUCK!" Forte yelled, firing a few more shots and darting away. Shit, that was something he hadn't expected, he'd underestimated the 'bot. Shit. Well, he wasn't going to give Wily the satisfaction of-
He was hit in the back, hard, the entire mass of his opponent slamming him out of the air to crunch painfully against the ground, sliding on the slick black gel and thudding into the wall. He struggled, cursed, and suddenly felt very cold inside. He stopped moving. No, this...couldn't be happening, it wasn't real, he wasn't being picked up roughly by the grinning Zero and his arm didn't feel like it was about to fall off. He wouldn't fail, not when- Gospel merged out of his armor and he grunted. He stared into Zero's bemused face, hearing a chuckle from his opponent and a vicious growl from Gospel, a sick certainty rising in his gut that the dog was going to die, and then him, and then Rock. Fuck, why hadn't he just fucking surrendered?
He hit the ground as Zero tossed him away in favor of sliding over to Gospel and slamming the whimpering dog against the wall, reaching and slowly pulling out the circuitry from Gospel's chest, tossing it idly over his shoulder. Oh yes, Forte realized, feeling strangely detached from everything as Zero grabbed him again and happily slid over to the doorway. He hadn't surrendered because that would have been a betrayal of Rock's trust. And that was what had gotten them here in the first place...
Zero swung his now-limp burden around, noting with pleasure the small grunts of pain. The small 'bot seemed to be in shock at the moment, but at least he'd put up a decent fight unlike the others. That small, innocent little boy - Rock, was it? - looked like he was no threat whatsoever. He sighed. "You know...it's almost a shame to have to kill you, bro." He glanced at his burden, into those blank, hating eyes. "You put up a better fight than anything else yet. Pity you don't have any common sense, or it might have been interesting to keep you alive."
They were on the third level of the lab, Forte noted, Zero's words drifting around him without making any impression. Rock and Dr. Light were probably in one of those rooms, and unless one of them talked, Zero would never find X. At least he'd slowed the bastard down....Dr. Light would have had time to do the final checkups on X.
A door opened and Zero smiled cheerfully at the old man in front of him. "Hey!" He said, and would have waved if his hands weren't full. "Have you seen a little blue guy named Rock around here?"
Instantly Rock stood before Dr. Light, shielding him. "W-What......" His question died away as he saw the package Zero held in his arms. "Forte!!" He cried, aiming his buster at Zero's head. "Give him back!! Don't hurt him, please!!" His eyes filled up with tears, and he shook. Forte was so limp, he had to be injured badly. He probably needed major repairs.
"Huh?" Zero looked from Rock to Forte and back. "You're concerned about him? That isn't good." He shrugged and set Forte down on his feet, keeping an arm wrapped tight around his waist, to keep him from sliding to the floor when his opponents' legs sooner or later gave out. Forte moaned softly in pain. "See, as much as I'd love to... ahh... honour your request, I have to punish him for not telling me where I could find this 'X' character I've been looking for." Reaching around, he found Forte's face and grasped his chin, tilting his head up slightly so he could make eye contact with Rock.
Rock stared at Forte, eyes brimmed with tears. "Please.... Zero... I'm begging you, don't kill him.. Please..." His mouth moved slowly, and he shook slightly. He waved to Dr. Light slowly behind his back, urging him to retreat into the next room. The man gave Forte a sad look, then sighed and left quietly.
Zero smiled at this, and stroked Forte's face gently, considering Rock's words. "You.... Would do anything for this boy?" Rock nodded slowly, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Anything, hmm?" He gave Rock the once up and down, then leaned down, smiling at Rock with an almost friendly air. "Well, Rock.. you seem like a really nice little guy. So I'll make you a deal... I won't kill your friend- hell, I won't kill the two of you either, if you tell me where I can find X."
"My brother..?" Rock whispered, eyes wide. He looked from Zero to Forte, who's head was lolling slightly. He had to be in so much pain. Rock was torn, and he looked to Forte for help. "I..... you want X..?"
Forte growled lowly, and forced his eyes to focus. "Rock.... Don't you dare... If you tell him... then everyone's death has been pointless!!" His legs gave up completely, and he now hung in Zero's grip limply. "Don't do it!" He heard a small sob from Rock, and his tone softened greatly.
"Rock..." He looked up at him, smiling gently. "I'm glad I got to know you... I never had a friend before you. You changed me, and I'm a better person now because of you." A few stray tears ran down his face, and he forced himself to smile wider. "I've never.. Belonged anywhere until I met you. Don't tell him.. Don't let everyone's sacrifice into a waste. Make me proud."
Zero smiled, patting Forte's head gently. "That was really nice, you know that?" He smiled down at Rock. "Now, if you'll just tell me where X is, you two can get back to.... Well, whatever it is you do..." He smiled sweetly- until Rock shook his head no. Damn. He shouldn't have let the violet streaked boy talk. Ah well. This would just be more fun. "Alright. Have it your way. Say goodbye, then."
Rock's eyes widened as Zero gripped onto Forte's throat. "NOOOO!!!!!" He threw himself at them, grabbing onto Forte quickly. There was a horrible ripping sound, accompanied by loud shrieks from Forte. Suddenly his anguished cries died out, and the horrible ripping sound ceased. Rock suddenly found himself hot, and soaking wet- he was covered in some hot sticky substance, running down his head, his body... He looked at his hands. Oh god... it was blood... He clung to Forte tighter, whose body gave no resistance at all, caving in as he squeezed it, and he sobbed. "No...... Nooo......"
Suddenly a hand gripped his chin firmly, and forced him to look up. "Don't cry... Here, give him a kiss goodbye." Rock screamed even louder. Zero's hand was still gripping onto Forte's head, but the only thing from there down was the broken frame of Forte's spine, and a few sparking wires and chips dangling from it. His scream was silenced as Zero pressed Forte's lips against Rock's mouth. He kicked Zero hard, still screaming, and stumbled away quickly, scrambling to his feet. "Now it's your turn.. Or the old man's. Your choice."
Rock's eyes widened. Dr. Light! He had to protect him. He shot Zero a few times, then turned on his heel and ran away quickly, heading in the direction he'd sent the doctor in.
Zero rolled his eyes, tossing the head over his shoulder and walking slowly in the direction Rock was headed. Nobody ever listened to the rational guy, no, they had to scream and fight and get all emotional and shit. All he wanted was to kill X and they just weren't cooperating. He sighed. Guess he'd have to kill Rock, then Dr. Light, or vice-versa. The order didn't particularly matter to him, so long as one or the other told him where to find his next and hopefully best opponent. This was getting tedious.
Rock whimpered, slamming doors behind him as he went deeper into the lab. He had to protect Dr. Light...he had to. Panting, trying desperately not to cry, he quietly closed the door to the brightly-lit room, staring with watery eyes up at his father. He sniffled. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I couldn't...that is, I..." He trailed off. "I don't want you to die!" He blurted, clinging desperately to the pure white coat Light wore, burying his face in it and refusing to sob. A warm hand pressed gently against his back.
"It was bound to happen someday, Rock...maybe in a different way, but eventually I would have died anyway." He shushed the small boy. "Don't tell him about X, Rock. No matter what he does, alright?" A small, tight nod. "Good boy, Rock. You've made me proud." There were footsteps in the hallway, and they could hear Zero humming something loudly, tune unrecognizable. Rock pulled away from his father, leading him further back in the room, and prepared to make his stand.
The door opened with a bang, and Zero strode in a couple of steps, stopping when Rock fired a shot at his face. "Jeez, calm down." He rolled his eyes. "I just want to know one damn thing, and I've told you again and again that I'll leave you alone if you do, but nooo, you have to keep on trying to kill me." He looked down at Rock, smiling. "Nice little pet you have here, old man. Is this X guy anything like him?" Silence. Rock rushed Zero angrily, only to be picked up and flung across the room. He hit the wall with a satisfying thud. "Oh, come on.....if you don't start talking I'm going to have to start hurting things. And I think you don't want that."
Rock struggled up. "You're not going to kill X!" He fired another shot, then groaned as Zero dashed over and crushed his buster.
"Now, now, you shouldn't do that." Zero grinned. "Someone could get hurt." He let the crushed arm drop, watching the tears spring up in Rock's eyes as he swung a small fist at him. He caught it and swung Rock against the wall, watching as the tiny 'bot crumpled to the ground. It was kind of cute how the kid tried to stand up for his daddy. Speaking of which... "Oh yes. You. Light, is it?" He turned around with a smile, sheathing his saber. He wouldn't need it. "You're...not going to tell me anything, are you? Protecting your son, I guess." A shrug. "Nice sentiment, and it's really annoying. So..." He grinned. "I'm going to crush your bones and kick your fucking head in."
Rock jolted out of the black nothingness when he heard the first scream, and something warm and wet splattered on his face. He didn't look up, he was afraid to look up, and he began to sob when he heard the soft moan coming from Dr. Light. He couldn't do anything, he couldn't save his father.... He struggled to sit up, turning around. Oh God. "No, no...nonononono.." He muttered, eyes wide and tears wet on his cheeks. "NO! DAD!"
Zero must have crushed half the bones in his body. The man was white, shaking, and his coat had turned a horrible shade of red in places. "No....." He whimpered. The doctor wasn't dead- not yet. There was no way he was going to survive, however, even if Rock DID stop this now. "Zero!!! Don't kill my dad please!!" He pleaded, struggling slowly onto his hands and knees.
Zero turned his head in Rock's direction slowly. "Ah.. You're awake. Good. Things were starting to get boring." With a smile, Zero let Light drop to the floor, hardly getting a scream out of him. Yep. His playtoy was done for. "You know." he mumbled, swinging his leg back and giving Light's head a good kick- decimating the man's skull. He paused momentarily to shake the man's brains off his foot. Where was he?
"You have been a really disappointing lot. Not one of you proved to be a challenge. You're all pathetic. The only one who proved to be even remotely interesting was my brother." With a small smile, Zero lifted Dr. Light's body up by the arm, flinging him over to Rock. "Oh, there's your father. I hope you don't mind that I got impatient with you and killed him first. You all seem to be in such a hurry to die."
Rock bashed his chin on the floor with a slight whimper, Dr. Light's corpse was heavy, and had knocked him down when it hit him. "We've been planning for this for a long time... I'm not scared to die anymore. If you're going to do it, get it over with.. But listen to me... Forte.. your brother.. He was a really bad person for a long time. He was mean, and he hurt people... we had to fight a lot, and I had to keep hurting him to stop him from making a mistake he'd regret."
Zero had stopped, and was listening to him. Zero was listening. With a small sigh, he continued. This was his last chance. He rested his chin on the metal and smiled weakly. Everything hurt. "I know you feel like you have to do these terrible things.. But you don't. You can become a better person... You don't have to be mean just because you were programmed that way. You're special, Zero. You can do whatever you want. You can think for yourself."
Zero stared down at him, expressionless. Then slowly a warm smile spread across his face, as he thought those words over. "So.... I can decide my own fate?" He asked finally, pondering over this. "I can do whatever I want... anything..." Turning, he walked away from Rock, stopping and leaning on a lab table. "Anything at all... I'm free." His smile widened, turning into that grin again as he picked the heavy lab table up. "Good. I want to kill you." Smirking, he threw the table at Rock, laughing as it crushed him and he shrieked.
Rock screamed for all he was worth. Christ, the corner of the table was INSIDE him, it had impaled him. He sobbed softly, choking occasionally on his own blood as his systems began to back up. He was smothering. Opening his eyes slowly, he stared up dully, seeing Zero looming over him menacingly.
"Where's X? Since you're going to die anyway, you may as well tell me." Silence. Rock couldn't have answered even if he'd wanted to at this point. "Come on... I'll be nice and make your end quick." When Rock didn't answer, Zero sighed and sat down on the desk, listening to Rock's pathetic whimpers and other strangled sounds as the boy was slowly crushed beneath him. He couldn't think. that damn question kept popping up within his systems, asking him to open some program.
((Bls.exe))
He continued to ignore it. He was functioning fine, what did he need it for? Suddenly his eyes widened. Blueprints, perhaps? If they were blueprints, then he could find this X guy for sure! It would make sense for Wily to give him blueprints of this place. He'd known Light, and obviously hadn't gotten along with the man.
He stared down at Rock, watching as the blood slowly trickled out of the corner of the boy's mouth. "This was boring..." He sighed, about to open the application popping up in the back of his mind. "But there's some program bothering me right now, and maybe when I run it I'll get some idea of where your precious brother is." He grinned, loving the terrified look on Rock's face as those bright eyes slid closed, and the body's breathing began to slow.
Rock whimpered....Dr. Light.... Oh god. They were all dead. And he'd never...meet X.
His systems shut down.
Zero yawned. "Well, that's over with. Now...." He let the program run. As the virus in his programming was opened, Zero stared into nothing for a full minute, then his eyes closed and he collapsed backwards, sliding off the desk and onto the floor. Shit shit shit, what was happening to his processes, he couldn't move, thought grew more difficult, he couldn't go into hibernation now-!
The lab was very quiet and very empty.
--------------------- ((Many years later)) ---------------------
He.....was bored. There was nobody to fight...there were no women to hit on at the immediate moment...the day had just generally sucked....and he'd had one of those scary-as-fuck dreams again. Zero scowled at his coffee. Stupid fucking dreams. No truth behind them and they still made him sick to his stomach and want to throttle himself. He took a sip, leaning way back in his chair, and tried not to think about his hands coated in all that damn blood... he shuddered slightly, concentrating instead on the silence of the empty lounge. Maybe he'd go get some food later. They'd had sushi of all things in the mess hall. He hated sushi...
"Excuse me...sir?"
Zero blinked, but didn't turn around. "Yeah?"
"Well... See... I'm kind of new here... and I'm lost. I was wondering if you could help me find my way?" A not entirely unattractive young male – he was kind of hot, actually... - sat down beside him, resting his cheeks in his hands. "I've already circled you four times." He smiled gently, and Zero found himself unable to ignore him longer. "I'd really appreciate it." He handed his information over to Zero, who skimmed through it. Hm. The guy was in his unit. Typical; Send the one with no sense of direction Zero's way.
"You're in my unit." He stated blandly, memory of his dream still fresh in mind. "Come on. I'll take you to your quarters, and then I'll give you a quick tour so we don't have to do this again." The boy seemed to shrink at his words, and he gave him a friendly push. "I'm Zero, your field commander. What's your name?" He got a smile in return for his question, the smaller reploid happy to have someone to talk with.
"My name's X!" He stated happily. "Nice to meet you!"
Zero stared at him. X? As in Rockman X? The father of all reploids... Zero found himself wondering vaguely if this was him. He didn't want to seem rude, or nosy, however, so he kept himself from asking. It was his own business, really. For the next few weeks, his name was going to be 'rookie' anyway. "X, hm? As in Sex?" He laughed, seeing X slowly begin to turn red. "Hey, if we line up three of you, we have a porno!" He pushed further.
"E.... Excuse me?!" X exclaimed, cheeks flaming. Who was this guy? What kind of a commander talked to a unit member like that after knowing him for all of three minutes?? He smiled softly, however. There was something... comforting about his presence, and soon he found himself relaxed and joking with his new friend.
----------------- Years later.... -----------------
Dynamo weeded his way through underground chambers, one after another. He was on a mission for Cain, and damn the old fart had better pay him well. He made a face as he stepped in something black and oily, then paused, seeing a broken robot lying in the pool of it. After a careful inspection of both it and another robot some 30 feet away, he deemed them useless and moved on.
And so it went on, room after room, finding more and more junk, until finally he happened upon a little robot which seemed to have sustained relatively little damage. "I am so getting triple my rate for this!" He exclaimed cheerily, and he pulled the small boy-in serious need of repair- out from under the lab table. Throwing him over his back- He was already broken anyway- he made his way toward the surface, eager to get back to his favourite pastime of tormenting X and Zero. The boy looked a little like X; he bet his tormentee would get a kick out of that. Maybe he could forget Cain altogether and sell him to X to keep as a pet. As if the little bastard would give him money for such a rare commodity. Poor Dynamo was so unappreciated.
Ah well, he could dwell on this later. Time to bring the little guy home.
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Ending Author's Notes: Yes, that's the end. Yeah, there is a sequel, but we were really fucked up in the head and, uh..... Dynamo/Rock. XD;;; Kill us, please. o.o; You really don't wanna see that fic. *nods*
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