The young Spotter set to work, placing the coffee grounds and the water in the coffee maker located on a cabinet in the living room, and turning it on. Everyone in the room was fast asleep: the Mother units dozed peacefully on their hide-a-bed, while the Servitors lay completely still and silent on their cots. No one moved or made any sound. The silent peace of the room quelled Roll's excitement a little bit, but not very much.
The coffee percolated, coming to a perk with a soft *blip-blip* sound. Roll set out some cups, cream, and sugar, then turned to head toward the kitchen-and nearly bumped into Jiji, who was standing directly behind her. Roll barely suppressed a cry of surprise at his sudden appearance, and took a moment to calm her jumping nerves down.
"Oh! You're awake!" she stammered. "I...I didn't hear you moving around. Did I wake you? I'm sorry!"
"Quite all right." the Servitor unit assured her. "This unit detected your movements, and was awakened. As it has reached full energy levels, it is content to remain activated."
"Ok, then. Say, um, it'll be a few more hours until we reach our destination. If you need something to do, then I could use some help in the kitchen, if you'd like."
Jiji hesitated, then turned to look over toward Sera, who was still asleep. Roll interpreted this gesture almost right away.
"She'll be fine," the young Spotter told him. "There's no danger to her here."
After another brief pause, Jiji eventually came to a decision. "Thank you, but this unit would rather resume its duties of guarding Mistress Sera."
"If you say so," Roll shrugged. "Well, anyway, I planned on making omelets this morning and...whoa!"
She was interrupted by MegaMan's entrance into the living room. Nothing remarkable about that in and of itself, of course, except that sleeping with his helmet on had apparently had a rather unfortunate effect on the young Digger's hair. Roll was not entirely successful at repressing her amusement at the spiky mess on her friend's head.
"Um, good morning. Sleep well?" she asked amid barely-restrained giggles.
"No!" MegaMan grumbled irritably. "Teasel sounds like a broken chainsaw when he sleeps, and I had to put my helmet on to block out the noise. Even then I got like three hours' worth of sleep last night. And yes, I know my hair looks funny." He reached for a cup and the coffee maker, and started to pour himself some. It took several tries, and a few steaming puddles on the carpet, before he managed to properly align the spout and the mug.
"MegaMan Trigger? Are you functioning properly?" Jiji asked worriedly. "If you are incapacitated in any way, then perhaps you should wait until you are fully operational before attempting to enter the ruins."
"It's alright, Jiji." Roll explained as she finished cleaning up the mess on the carpet. "He's fine. He's always like this in the mornings. Well, better get to work on those omelets! Excuse me!" She headed for the kitchen, while the Servitor turned and headed to where Sera was still sleeping to watch over her.
***
Fifteen minutes later, MegaMan made the morning wake-up call, much to the dismay of the Bonnes. Teasel approached him in the hallway just outside the living room, Tron directly behind him.
"Why do we have to get up at six in the morning, anyway?" the pirate demanded. "On the Geselschaft, we usually don't get started until ten or eleven!"
"Well, we need to get going as soon as possible," MegaMan protested. "We're planning on hitting all three stations in one day, and we're going to need time to get everyone to where they need to be."
"One day?!" Teasel shrieked. "Why one day? How do you expect to pull that off, huh?"
"Terra's being torn apart!" MegaMan nearly yelled. "We don't have time to take things slowly!"
"Fine, fine." the older man grumbled. "So...what's for breakfast?"
"Roll's making omelets." MegaMan answered.
"With curry?"
"If you want it."
"How long does it take?"
"Oh, about twenty minutes."
"Hmmph! On the Geselschaft, it only takes five minutes!"
"This isn't the Geselschaft, Teasel! This is the Flutter! And while on board the Flutter, I'm afraid you're going to have to go by our rules and stuff."
"Why?"
MegaMan couldn't believe his ears! Why was Teasel being so irrational all of a sudden?
"Because it's our ship!" the young Digger admonished, realizing, too late, that Teasel had been setting him up.
"You're ship, huh?" the green-armored pirate repeated, grinning broadly. "Well, now, that can be altered!" He turned toward the living room, shouting, "Ok everyone! NOW!"
Nothing. Frowning, Teasel tried again.
"NOW!" he shouted, louder this time. By this time, MegaMan was looking at him suspiciously, as was Jiji, watching the encounter from the open living room door nearby. He moved closer to Sera, keeping an eye on the pirate.
"What are you trying to do?" MegaMan asked suspiciously, wishing that he had a weapon on him.
"Er, um, just a minute," Teasel stammered, and turned his back to consult a hand-held walkie-talkie. Tron grinned, trying her best at a we're-not-up-to-anything expression.
"You idiots! Didn't you hear the signal?" the green-armored pirate hissed into his walkie-talkie. Only the sounds of Servbot snoring floated out.
"C'mon, you guys!" Tron added. "Remember last night? When we planned this out?" Meanwhile, MegaMan flexed his fists, in case he had to fight the pirates by hand.
"Look, I'm only gonna say this one more time!" Teasel shouted out in a rush, obviously nervous. "NOOOOWW!"
Apparently, that had the desired effect. Shrill battle cries echoed throughout the ship.
"Wha...?" Before MegaMan could do anything, the Bonnes suddenly sprang into motion. The Servbots, which only moments before were snoozing peacefully, jumped up and began terrorizing everyone with skull-marked bombs. They dragged the Mother units out of bed, dumped Gaga out of his cot, and held them all at bay with bombs. Live explosives flew through the air, sometimes blowing mid-flight. About seven leaped onto Jiji all at once; the Servitor unit fought back determinedly, before one or two of the little bots grabbed onto his long hair, dragging him down and out of sight. Three of the little robots headed for the kitchen; sounds of chopping and frying inside were interrupted by a shout of surprise as the trio ran in screaming, tossing bombs, then slamming the door shut behind them. Muffled explosions went off in the sealed-off kitchen, and whitish smoke drifted from under the door.
Bon Bonne, meanwhile, leapt up from his crib, and tossed Data across the room. The little robotic monkey barely had time to emit a startled "ee-EEEEK!" before slamming into the wall. Bon quickly scrambled through the melee, out of the living room, slammed the door behind him, and leaned up against it to barricade it, brandishing his weapons and uttering a triumphant "Babuuu!"
Teasel let loose one of his trademark cackles, while MegaMan looked on helplessly.
"Well, that's that!" the pirate exclaimed, heading for the bridge. "Toodles!"
MegaMan started to follow...but Tron stood in front of him, leveling a laser pistol at his chest.
"Going somewhere?" she asked sweetly. The ex-Purifier, had no choice but to back down. Then, he saw the painfully familiar metal whip clutched in Tron's other hand. Now she uncoiled it, the thong twitching and gleaming like a steel serpent. Tron raised the weapon above her head, a sadistic smile forming on her lips.
"Now..." she said silkily. "Let's pick up where we left off, shall we?"
MegaMan's heart sank to his boots.
***
Teasel Bonne burst onto the bridge, startling Barrel Casket, who was steering the ship.
"Can I help you?" the retired Digger asked. Teasel gave a nonverbal reply in the form of a rough shove to the side, where a few Slingshot Servbots leveled their weapons at Barrel's face. The elderly man made no attempt to resist.
Teasel grabbed the wheel, giggling madly. Despite the little delay-and with MegaMan so close to foiling it before it could begin-everything was now running smoothly. He picked up the mike near the wheel, turned it on, and made a shipwide announcement:
"Attention, everyone aboard the Flutter. The Bonnes are now in control of this ship! From now on, we're doing things OUR way! First order of business: no more of this getting up at the break of dawn! Here on outward, we all sleep until ten! Second order business: curry rice three meals a day!"
He was interrupted by sounds of disgust coming in from all over the ship. Frowning, Teasel continued,
"Third order of business: we will convert one of the storage rooms into a torture room for anyone who's foolish enough to go against us!"
At this point, Yuna's voice floated through the speaker, "If he thinks we're actually going to go through with this nonsense...!"
"...and that Yuna chick will have the honor of being the one to test it!" Teasel interrupted her. "Servbots! Begin construction on the torture room immediately, and start Yuna's punishment as soon as even one implement is ready!"
The Servbots complied, and apparently they were fast workers, because Yuna's cries of pain echoed through the ship almost immediately.
"Ow! OW! Stop that!" she shrieked. "Ow! That's enough! OUCH! Uh oh! GAGA! Don't do anyth...NO! STOP!"
Teasel switched off the mike, giggling happily to himself. This was so perfect! The Flutter was finally his to control! And no one was in any position to stop him! Humming a merry tune to himself, the pirate took the wheel and began steering the tiny ship in a direction of his choosing.
***
SNNAP!
MegaMan gasped in pain as the metal whip lashed across his chest. Yuna's cries floated out of the living room, echoing his own agony. The former Purifier unit was kneeling in front of Tron, trying to think of a way out of this, while his tormentor grinned happily, snapping the whip again and again, carrying out her long-sought-after vengeance at long last.
"And this is for taking my MegaMan 3 cartridge!" Tron shrieked, snapping the whip across MegaMan Volnutt's face.
SNNAP!
"And this is for taking MegaMan 4!"
SNNAAP!
"MegaMan 5!"
SNNAP!
"And finally, MegaMan 6!"
SNNAP!
The door to the living room shuddered suddenly, as though a hurricane were slamming against it. Bon leaned against it even harder, trying to keep whatever was happening restrained.
MegaMan's mind raced through a number of solutions, while the shuddering living room door kept Tron distracted. Finally, he decided on one.
"You know, Tron, the more you hurt me with that whip, the less I like you," MegaMan said, then immediately winced. That was a terrible opening line! It worked, though. Tron stopped, mid-strike, the whip dangling from her clenched fist, and her green eyes filled with wonderment.
"The less you...you mean...you really like me?" she asked. Rock could hear the excited, hopeful tremble in her voice.
"Well, yeah." he continued. "I think you're kinda cute."
"Really?"
"Well sure. And you're really smart, too." All the time, MegaMan was thinking, [Man, I hate to trick her like this! But if it gets me out of this, then I guess I have to go through with it.] He looked into her emerald green eyes, and decided, [Then again, it's not as if I'm telling a complete lie. She is smart, and kinda pretty...too bad she's a pirate.]
"You mean it?" Tron asked, and by this time, her cheeks were slightly reddened.
"Well, maybe not that smart." MegaMan amended. Before his nemesis could respond, the young Digger leapt forward, grabbing her wrists in attempt to take both the gun and the whip. They struggled briefly, but MegaMan eventually won, taking both weapons.
"You...you tricked me!" Tron shrieked. "You lying, dirty, cheating, sneak! Men! Arrgghh!" Tears shone in her eyes, and MegaMan felt a fresh pang of guilt.
"Well, it wasn't all a lie." he explained truthfully, before turning and heading toward the ladder. Tron regathered herself and ran after him, the two racing down the hall. Fortunately, MegaMan got there first, slammed the door on Tron, and locked it.
Teasel whirled around at the sudden intrusion, to see MegaMan standing there, Tron's laser gun held in his hand. The air pirate reacted immediately.
"After him, boys!" he ordered, firing a beacon bomb from a handheld launcher. Right away, MegaMan was tackled by four Servbots, and all went down in a tangle.
The blue-clad Digger cried out in panic as the little robots pounded him with their teeny pinchers, kicked him, and tried to choke him. He tried to pull them off, but they clung to him like stubborn burrs. Growling in frustration, MegaMan climbed back to his feet, only to be pulled down again.
"That's it! That's the ticket!" Teasel exulted. "Looks like the Bonnes win this time, Blue Boy! Uwahahaha-" His laugh was cut short when Barrel-who was forgotten when the Servbots went after MegaMan-jumped the air pirate, knocking him to the floor. The Servbots immediately forgot their task, and ran over to their fallen master, asking if he was alright. MegaMan took this opportunity to break free and scramble over to the wheel, regaining control of the Flutter. He grabbed the mike, and spoke into it:
"Ok, everyone. Everything's back under our control. We're back on course to the original coordinates, and the Flutter's controls are being extra-heavily secured from now on, just in case."
Almost immediately, the shrill voices of numerous Servbots responded, "We surrender!!!" and Bon's despondent, "Baaabu!" echoed through the speakers.
That done, MegaMan turned to leave, and check up on everyone. As he left, he instructed Barrel, "Keep an eye on these guys, ok?" and handed him the laser gun.
"Don't worry about a thing," the professor responded.
As the young Digger headed out the door, Tron trudged in, glaring.
"I told you it wouldn't work!" she scolded her older brother. Teasel only hung his head.
***
Downstairs, Bon had left his post and gone into the living room when MegaMan arrived to check on everyone. The baby bot was standing in the corner next to Data, who had his back turned to Bon, and was hunched over in anger. Bon's guilty sounding "Babubabubabu!" and Data's angry, "OOKIKII!" gave the impression of a ruined friendship trying to be mended.
Both Sera and Yuna were unharmed, each restraining a Servbot. Jiji stood nearby, clutching a squirming, kicking Servbot by the back of the neck in each hand, and standing on a third one. Most of the other Servbots were huddled in the farthest corner, their large eyes even larger with fright, and MegaMan immediately saw why.
Gaga was a huge, silver Reaverbot dragon, squeezed rather uncomfortably against the northeast corner of the living room. Several of the little robots were trapped in his huge mandibles; others were pinned beneath his forepaws; he clutched a few more in each taloned back paw; even more were wound up in the coils of his tail.
"HELP! HELP! MISS TRON! THE REAVERBOT'S EATING MEEEE!" one of the Servbots between the great jaws screeched. After pausing a few minutes to take in this bizarre sight, MegaMan turned and peeked into the kitchen. Inside was an equally strange scene: Roll standing in the middle of the room, with a badly dented frying pan in one hand and three unconscious Servbots crumpled at her feet. Scrambled eggs, peppers, onions, and pimentos coated everything in the kitchen, including its occupants.
"Um, everything all right in here?" MegaMan asked slowly.
"Everything's under control." Roll said, smiling a bit lopsidedly. A chunk of pimento slid out of her bangs onto the floor.
"Nobody hurt?" her friend asked.
"I don't think so." Roll answered. "Um, breakfast might be a little late."
"That's ok." her friend answered, then turned to leave, but not before grabbing the unconscious Servbots and dragging them out with him.
MegaMan took one last glance at the kitchen, to make sure everything was as well as Roll said it was. The Spotter had retrieved another frying pan, and was cracking eggs into a bowl, but not before giving him a quick I-told-you-so glance. MegaMan smiled nervously at his friend, then turned to leave. Out in the living room, things had more or less settled down, except for Tron. She was banging a fist against Gaga's muzzle, demanding that he release her Servbots. He reluctantly complied, stating on no uncertain terms that he would not hesitate to harm the little robots if they ever threatened Yuna again.
Sera and Yuna were putting the cots and hideabed up for the day, folding the latter back into a couch. Jiji, who was helping them, dragged several blankets to the closet nearby, grumbling, "We gave up life on Elysium for *this*?"
***
An hour or so later, everyone was ready to go. Each of the three groups took a Drache, leaving Barrel to keep an eye on the Flutter. The Gustav III had been retrieved from the shores of Calbania Island and repaired, and two extra sets of Roll's Spotting equipment were constructed for the Mother units and set up in the Draches. Unfortunately, the Bonnes' hijacking attempt had raised tensions between the pirate family and the others, and trust had been shattered.
One sign of the heightened mistrust was Roll's change in behavior toward Tron. The young Spotter would glare at her rival, and watch her every move, as though expecting her to go for a weapon any moment. This did not go unnoticed by Tron, who kept her distance from Roll, and scowled back. Not for the first time, MegaMan began to question the decision to pair them up, but last night's planning session had turned up no alternatives.
Another incident occurred about the same time with Teasel. The air pirate was climbing into his team's Drache behind Yuna and Bon, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Gaga standing there.
"Yuna will return to the Flutter unharmed," the Servitor stated.
"Yeah, of course she will." Teasel responded, and tried to enter the ship, but Gaga interrupted him again.
"This unit has misgivings toward your claims, Mr. Bonne." Yuna's guardian said coldly, narrowing his eyes. "Especially since she was chosen to be the first for your torture room."
"Look, it won't happen again, alright?" Teasel growled impatiently. "I said I was sorry! Yuna won't be hurt, I promise! Besides, Bon and I will be down in the ruins, away from Yuna. She'll be fine!"
Gaga nodded, although his facial expression remained hard, then turned to join Roll and Tron. Teasel sighed shakily to calm himself-he had seen what the Servitor unit was capable of, and did NOT want to be on the receiving end-and climbed into the Drache.
***
Moments later, three Draches launched from the Flutter, each heading
in a separate direction, with the hopes of stopping the chaos that now
reigned on their planet below. And so began the Battle for Terra!