Part II – Tron Bonne's Revenge
Rock stood on the upper deck of the Flutter, looking out over the ocean. He was now wearing a pair of jean shorts with a green t-shirt, and was very relieved to get out of his digging suit after seven months. Roll, Gramps, and Matilda were still inside the Flutter. Yuna had just transferred herself back to her original body, allowing Matilda to awaken for the first time in ten years. This was no simple task, so Rock figured one less person in the room that she didn't know was better for her. Therefore, he was now on the deck of the ship. Yuna stayed in the room, as she could give the best explanation to Matilda about what had happened to her, while Sera had departed to who-knows-where. More and more time passed, giving Rock time to think about the questions that were bothering him. First was of course the continuing problem with what he was, exactly. Before he was found by Gramps 15 years earlier, he had been known as MegaMan Trigger, the greatest purifier unit ever known. He spent most of his time with The Master, the last remaining human, in Elysium. The Master observed the carbons and realized that they were able to feel the pain that the perfect environment of Elysium could not offer, so they also knew what true happiness was, in times when they were free of the pain. Motivated to see this first hand, The Master left Elysium for the first time in 3,000 years with Trigger by his side to observe the carbons. Once on Terra, he saw what he wanted to see and died shortly after. Before his death, he gave Trigger the order to destroy the Master System to keep the Carbon Reinitialization Program from doing its work. He also gave Trigger his genetic code, which would keep him from falling to the power of the System. Yuna opposed Trigger, as she was the mother unit of Terra, until she found out that he was doing what The Master ordered. Because of this she decided to remain neutral, forcing Sera to come to Terra to do her own dirty work. She began to seek out the four keys needed to unlock the Great Seal to the Library of Elysium, but Trigger wasn't about to let her do this. Without Elysium, Sera was weakened, and her and Trigger eventually damaged each other. Trigger rebooted his system, making him take the form of a child and forget his memory. Before this however, he had backed up his memory in Data, the mechanical monkey he had built. After the battle between Trigger and Sera, Yuna sealed both of them up. Trigger remained on Nino Island while Sera was kept on Forbidden Island. Eventually, Gramps found Trigger's seal on Nino Island and opened it, revealing a baby boy with a mechanical monkey. Gramps took the child and raised him with his granddaughter, whom was responsible for his name. Rock Volnutt. All of this was only recently remembered by Rock, right before he went to Elysium, in fact. All his life he figured he was like Roll, a carbon…or, human he had originally thought, as the carbons didn't actually KNOW they were carbons. But now he was having second thoughts. The only description he had been given was "Purifier Unit". What did this mean? Data would probably know…but did he want to know the answers?
"There you are." A familiar voice said from behind him. Rock turned around to see Roll approaching him. Roll stood next to Rock and stared out at the sea like he had been doing, and Rock did the same. "What're you doing up here?" Roll asked, now turning her attention to Rock.
"Oh…I figured you guys could use some time alone. It's probably easier on your mom to see less people she doesn't know, too." Rock explained. Roll chuckled a bit, still not used to hearing the word "Mom" in her conversations so often.
"Yeah…I guess you're right. It was difficult getting her to believe that I was her daughter. She had no idea that ten years passed." Roll said. "Yuna summed it up pretty well though, so she seems okay about it. I'm really glad to see her." Roll continued, now once again looking out at the sea. A small smile came across Rock's face, as he was always glad to see Roll happy. Rock had no parents, but it was never really difficult for him. He had Gramps and Roll after all, and had never even met people that would act as parents before them, so he had nothing to miss. This reminded Rock of the fact that he had no parents what so ever, causing questions to once again rush to his head. Rock let loose a sigh, which Roll noticed. "What's wrong?" Roll asked, noticing the sigh.
"It's weird." Rock said. He could tell this wasn't enough for Roll though, and decided to save her the trouble of forcing it out of him. "I've learned a lot about myself recently. Everything just kind of came crashing down…Who I am, where I came from…but there's one question that I still can't answer." Rock explained. This gave Roll a questioning look, so he continued. "WHAT I am." Rock said.
"What do you mean?" Roll asked. It was true; Rock had amazing skills that no normal 15-year-old boy would possess. His math and reading skills weren't exactly the best, but in combat he was unmatched. Roll hadn't seen everything that Rock had seen in the last seven months, but she did know that Rock somehow kept memories inside of Data…as if they were computer data or something. Rock didn't know an easy way to explain it, so he decided to say what came to his head whenever he thought about it. He lifted his hand from the railing he was holding onto and looked at it.
"I mean…I look like everyone else. I eat, I sleep…" Rock said, noticing a mosquito on his arm and flicking it off. "I bleed…but my life before this one…I know I was MegaMan Trigger. I was a Purifier Unit for the Master System, one of the best. After battling Sera, I rebooted, causing me to forget everything and once again become a child." Rock said. Roll had no idea of how to answer this, as she was still absorbing it herself. Finally, Rock dropped his hands into his pockets. "Part of me just wants to forget about it and accept what I am now. But it's just too difficult to leave alone. What if I can't do things that I want to do?" Rock asked.
"Like what?" Roll asked, seeing no way that she could help Rock but wanting to try anyway. This was the most difficult part to explain. What really bothered Rock was his biological structure. How was it similar to that of the carbons? Did his body work the same way? He was a 15-year-old boy, and he had the same issues with the opposite sex as any other boy of his age would. This meant, like any other 15-year-old boy, he was extremely embarrassed to talk about them.
"Is it okay for me to…love someone?" He said, with the last part being extremely quick and silent. Roll understood it however and a small grin came across her face.
"Is that what you're worried about?" She asked, thinking she had it figured out. "Well, there's only one way to find out." Roll said, putting her arm on Rock's shoulder. At this moment what she had said, done, and the look on Rock's face came together causing her to blush a fine shade of red and back up a few steps. "I mean! Okay, that came out really wrong!" Roll said, still blushing profusely. This lightened Rock's mood and made him laugh, causing him to forget about his troubles momentarily.
"Yeah, you're right. No point moping about it." Rock said. "Maybe you should get back to your mom now? She's probably wondering where you went." He added. Roll agreed, still embarrassed about what she had said.
"Yeah…But you have to go with me!" Roll said. Rock agreed and the two of them went back into the ship. Yuna was now waiting outside of Roll's room, where they had let Matilda awaken.
"Glad to have your body back?" Rock said to Yuna while passing by her.
"Yep! I forgot how it felt to be in a body as young as this one." Yuna said, and then left the two alone as they stepped into Roll's room. Matilda was sitting on Roll's bed with Gramps, whom had his arm around her shoulder. Matilda still looked confused, but was happy to see Roll as she came back in.
"Found him!" Roll said, letting Rock step out in front of her. Not sure of what to say, Rock scratched his head for a second and let out a simple hello.
"I'm Rock" he said, and then held out his hand for a handshake, seeing nothing else to do in the situation. Matilda shook his hand carefully, causing another laugh to come from Roll. "Um, I'm glad to see you're alright. We've been looking for you for a long time." Rock said, realizing he knew nothing about the person he had spent almost his entire life searching for.
"You were looking for me too?" Matilda asked Rock. Rock was surprised, as he figured that Gramps or Roll would have mentioned him. Then again, he had left the room to begin with so she didn't have to worry about him existing until she had some time to think.
"Yeah, pretty much ever since I was old enough to dig." Rock explained, scratching the back of his head again. For as long as Rock was old enough to go on digs, he was searching for a hint at the whereabouts of Roll's parents or the mother lode. Only now did it strike him as strange that he never thought about his own parents. Of course, there was a chance he didn't even have parents, so it probably was for the better.
"Well, thank you. I'm sorry; it's just really confusing for me right now." Matilda said, still leaning against Gramps.
"I found Rock when he was a baby, and I've raised him with Roll ever since." Gramps explained. "He's an amazing boy; been digging since he was ten years old." He added, causing Rock to blush a bit. "Roll's been his spotter and I've finally gotten a few years to relax!" Gramps said, hoping to get Matilda in a better mood but failing. Being severely injured, laying in the snow and then awakening 10 years later took a toll on the mind that even Gramps' cheesy sense of humor couldn't heal.
"Well, I'll start working on dinner." Roll said, then walked over to her mother and gave her a hug. "I really hope you'll eat with us, Mom." She said to Matilda, and then began to walk out of the room. Rock noticed a strange smile on her face, assuming she was still happy to be able to use the word "mom" so much. He decided he would help Roll with dinner, as it was extremely awkward trying to think of something to say to Matilda. Once she was adjusted to the new timeframe, he'd probably have an easier time talking to her so the plan was to pass the time as quickly as possible until then. On the way to the kitchen Rock noticed that Yuna had disappeared. Rock looked around at everything he had missed for so long, and the things that had changed. During the seven-month period a servbot had gone into the Flutter, not realizing it wasn't the Gesselschaft II until he was down in the living room. At this point the robot had a panic attack, which involved destroying the couch, table and bookcase that were in the room. "Tron said she punished it pretty badly…" Roll had explained earlier when they first boarded the ship. "But the next day I saw a servbot with what looked like a gold star pinned on it, and I'm pretty sure it was the same one." Rock reached the kitchen and Roll was already there. He caught her by surprise, and she leaned over the counter trying to hide what she had, but it was too late.
"Wait…that's….that!" Rock said, ecstatically. Roll leaned back to reveal everything. The cheese, the tomato sauce, the crust, and…the pepperoni! "I'm not worthy." Rock said, staring at his favorite meal in its pre-cooked state.
"Well, I wanted it to be a surprise, but you might as well help now." Roll said. Once they had finished the ship she had taken the time to go out and gather the cheese, and the ever so elusive pepperoni so Rock could have his favorite meal once he got back. Rock began to slice the pepperoni as Roll worked on grating the cheese. "Rock, I'm sorry." Roll blurted out. Rock looked at her confused; as he couldn't think of anything Roll had done to him that she'd need to apologize for.
"Sorry?" Rock asked, wondering where this was coming from. Making someone a pizza didn't usually involve apologizing.
"Well, you said it yourself. You helped me look for my mom and dad and the Mother Lode ever since you started digging. I never even thought about your own parents. I've just, been really selfish and I'm sorry about it." Roll said, still grating cheese but slower than normal. Rock simply smiled a bit, and thought about what he heard. It did seem a little selfish, but he never exactly thought about his own parents either.
"Don't worry about it." Rock said, as he didn't want to either. Thinking of whether or not he had parents brought back questions about what he was. He was a Purifier Unit, so he had to be some sort of machine. Yet he could bleed, eat, and pretty much do anything that a human would. Then why couldn't he just be human? Why did these stupid things have to come upon him so suddenly? He just wanted to be a normal human being like everyone else. He now felt different from everyone around him. What if everyone found out what he really was? Would they cast him aside? "Augh!" Rock shouted, as he cut himself with the knife he was chopping with. Thinking about these things made him angry, as he felt that he was being cheated. He never asked to be a purifier unit…had he? He had no idea what he did before his system was rebooted, turning him into a baby once more. Perhaps MegaMan Trigger had been the first to volunteer to be a purifier, if that was how it worked. Roll was now looking at Rock's finger, seeing how bad the cut was. The cut meant nothing to Rock, as these questions were more important to him at the time. Didn't finding Roll's parents and the Mother Lode mean the end of everyone's troubles? If anything, the events in his head were more chaotic than before.
"It should be alright. I'll go get you a bandage." Roll said while leaving the room. Rock said nothing, still thinking. The other problem now popped back into his head. Did Roll really love him? Did she even know what she was in love with? Before he had left for Elysium Rock had done something he regretted, looking in Roll's diary. In it he saw the latest entry, marked "SECRET!" which said that after the incident with Geetz she had realized just how much she loved him. This could mean several things, but it was confusing all the same. Roll was now in the bathroom looking for a bandage in the cabinet behind the mirror. She had missed another chance to say what she wanted to say. Every time the chance came, she seemed to not want to say anything anymore, and yet when she was waiting for the next chance it was all Roll could think about. How could life get so confusing on such short notice? A third person was asking this question as well, although she was angrier about it. Tron Bonne was lying in her bed, still in her pajamas. Ever since the embarrassment she suffered at Elysium, she hadn't left her bedroom. Servbot torturing was becoming more and more common however, as she could easily spread her influence around the Gesselchaft II without actually having to be there. Teisel paced back and forth outside of Tron's room, trying to think of a way to cheer up his sister. As Tron wouldn't tell Teisel what was wrong; things were difficult for him.
"That stupid little Blondie." Tron said to herself, thinking of brand new ways to end Roll's life. Why had the hatch malfunctioned at that moment? "Just my luck." Tron thought to herself, realizing that the hatch was the first thing that had ever gone wrong with the Gustaff.
"Tron…Do you want anything to eat? Bon and I have to get going and…" Teisel started to say before he was interrupted.
"I'm FINE!" Tron shouted, still not wanting to talk to anyone. Teisel knew that this conversation wouldn't go anywhere and decided to leave. He and Bon had to be back at the department store. Usually they'd move the Gesselshaft there, but bringing Tron closer to people wasn't the best move and so Teisel and Bon took a Drache to their destination. Once her brothers were out of the ship, Tron decided to leave her room and walk around. Every one of her servbots greeted her more nicely than ever, praying that they wouldn't be the next to be tortured. After a few minutes of mindless wandering Tron was in front of Teisel's room. This is when the idea suddenly popped into her head. Teisel had kept a list of contacts from their "previous business," pirates, crooks, mercenaries and the like. Getting rid of Roll by herself would obviously upset Rock, but getting someone else to…how could it go wrong? Within seconds Tron had the door open and was searching through Teisel's messy desk. After a long search, she found a Rolodex under a pile of month old papers. Over and over Tron flipped through the Rolodex, looking for a name that she might recognize. After she made her decision, Tron took the information from the Rolodex and hurried back to her room. If she was going to open up video communication, she wasn't going to be looking like she hadn't been out of bed for days.
The name Tron had found was Shawn Vysner. Shawn's activities were talked about in the shadows, and anyone with a bounty on their head trembled in fear of his involvement. No one who talked of him was sure of his appearance or anything about him for that matter. Shawn kept himself a secret, and was never seen unless he was doing his job. "Evil", "dangerous", "merciless" were all words used to describe him. On the streets it was said that he would kill his own son for the right price. This was exactly the person Tron wanted to go after Roll, someone who would get the job done quickly and allow her freedom to what she desired. She didn't exactly want to kill Roll, but with Rock on her side not just any person would do. Unfortunately for Tron, Shawn Vysner was dead.
Shawn Vysner Jr. on the other hand, was alive and living well. Ever since his father's death he had the fortune he had built up to use at his disposal. Shawn never used his father's money for himself, besides for necessary things such supplies of course, as he felt the money was earned wrongfully due to his father's line of work. At the age of 8 Shawn Vysner Sr. decided to introduce his son to the business by bringing him along for a job. What Shawn had seen scarred him for life, and he promised never to follow his father's line of work. Therefore, when Shawn Sr. had finally met his end to a trap while seeking out a digger in a ruin, Shawn Jr. was relieved to finally be rid of the father he hated. Of course, this also meant he was living alone as his mother had died shortly after his birth. He now was sitting on top of a large pile of cash that probably wouldn't be going anywhere, either. Shawn stood at 5'8'', with blue eyes and long black hair that hung down the back of his head, but extended out above his forehead. His usual attire was a pair of black jeans, with a white T-shirt. Over his shirt he wore a black vest. He was now 16 years old and enjoying living alone. The ship Shawn lived in was called the Ostealgia. It was a large vessel, colored with blue and yellow paint on the outside and large enough for two people to live onboard with their separate rooms. Shawn now sat in the bridge reclined in a rolling black chair with his feet up on a table. It was looking to be another boring day for him, until a girls' face appeared on the monitor behind him.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Tron asked over the communicator, only seeing the back of a chair in front of her. The voice surprised Shawn, as he was used to dead silence aboard the ship. Turning around, he saw the beautiful face of a 15-year-old girl, causing him to be even more surprised. Surprised enough to fall out of his chair.
"Dude." Shawn said to himself, coming to realize what was above him. One of Shawn's major characteristics was his obsession with women, which usually did him more harm than good. Now, he was lying on the floor as a result of it.
"EXCUSE ME, do you mind getting off the floor so I can speak with you?" Tron shouted, causing Shawn to realize where he was. As Shawn stood up he patted his hair down and straightened his clothes, making himself presentable to his next target. "Are you Shawn Vysner?" Tron asked once she had Shawn's attention. Shawn looked at the screen with Tron's face; surprised that someone would be asking for him.
"Yeah, I am. What's up?" Shawn asked, excited about the situation. It wasn't everyday that a beautiful young girl showed up, let alone asked for him specifically.
"I have a job for you. I'm sending the coordinates of my ship now. If you're interested in work, come see me. I'd like to discuss this particular job in person." Tron explained, and then quickly shut off communication. The control panel next to Shawn was now beeping, as Tron's coordinates appeared on another monitor. A job? She had to be mistaken; Shawn didn't do any work. Then, it hit him. She had asked for Shawn Vysner. Did she know his father was dead? She couldn't. Either way, he now had the location of where this girl was, and an excuse to go see her. How could he possibly say no?
"Then it's settled!" Shawn said to himself. Sitting in the pilot seat of the Ostealgia, he powered the engines and took off towards Tron's location. It would be a long flight, but one that was well worth it.
"Now we just wait for him to show up, and Blondie gets taken care of for us!" Tron explained to Servbot 12, whom was now standing next to her.
"That's such a wonderful plan Miss Tron!" The servbot said, excitedly. Actually, Servbot 12 was afraid of a visitor coming to the ship, but he didn't want to risk punishment from Tron and decided to pretend he was excited. As hours passed the servbots prepared the ship for their visitor, cleaning whatever needed to be cleaned and preparing food. Several of the servbots were confused, since Tron was now speaking of "getting rid of" the person they had helped to build a spacecraft, but again the thought of the torture room kept these thoughts silent. After three hours of smooth flight, Shawn finally sighted the Gesselschaft II and flew up next to it. The blue ship was much smaller than the Gesselschaft II, so it was easily able to get close to it. After stabilizing the ship, Shawn made his way to the top of the deck. Two servbots were now on top of the Gesselschaft II, activating a small footbridge that stretched out horizontally until it touched the Ostealgia and stopped. After checking the bridge, Shawn hopped over the railing of his ship and walked over to the Gesslschaft II, being nicely greeted by two servbots. Shawn entered the ship, with the servbots that greeted him leading him through the hallways until he entered a small room. In the center was a small table with food setup on it. On both ends of the table were empty sofas, and Shawn was seated in one of them.
"Miss Tron will be with you in one moment!" One of the servbots said, and then both left the room. Shawn stretched out his arms across the top of the sofa and crossed his legs, looking around the room. There were several paintings on the wall of various people. One of them looked like an older version of the girl he had talked to, and from this Shawn figured they were pictures of family. Shawn began to wonder if these other people were onboard the ship, and wondered if what he was doing was a bad idea.
"The visitor is ready, Miss Tron!" Servbot 27 said to Tron, who was in the next room. Tron had been practicing what to say to Shawn ever since she sent the message. This was the first time she had ever hired someone like this, making her unsure of what to expect. Thinking she was going to be talking to an experienced mercenary didn't help matters either. After going through what she needed to say with herself once more, Tron made her way through the large wooden door that separated the rooms and sat down in the sofa opposite of Shawn. Seeing Tron in person made Shawn even more nervous.
"I'm glad you came. I'm Tron Bonne. Shall we get down to business?" Tron asked Shawn, who wasn't quite sure of what to say.
"Erm…yeah, sure. That sounds great." Shawn said, taking some food from the plate in front of him to hide his nervousness. He knew he had heard the name Bonne somewhere, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"There's a certain person that has gotten on my nerves a bit too much. I need her…taken care of." Tron explained. At the sound of this, Shawn began to get nervous. He now knew without a doubt that she thought he was his father. Of course, talking with this girl (who had in the last three hours become the girl of his dreams) was something he didn't want to end, so he allowed her to continue. "The girl won't be a problem herself, but the man she's with is what I need assistance with." Tron said. Shawn sat in silence, trying not to make eye contact with Tron but instead made the appearance that he was thinking.
"Oh god, this isn't good. I can't do this! I'm not anything like my father was, what he did was wrong…But oh man, she's just…she's so…" Shawn thought to himself, still making it appear that he was listening to Tron.
"This is the girl I need you to get rid of." Tron said, placing a picture of Roll from a newspaper article that she had just so happened to be caught in before Shawn. Rock always thought it was unfair that the newspapers left out Roll in almost every article ever made about him. Roll didn't seem to have much objection about it though, so nothing was ever said of it. As Shawn looked at the picture, he was amazed again. He thought he recognized the picture, but figured he was mistaken. The important thing was if he did this, he'd be meeting up with another beautiful girl. This had to be the luckiest day of his life. "This is the man with her." Tron said and then put a picture of Rock, which was the other half of the picture with Roll in it, in front of Shawn. Seeing the picture of Rock surprised Shawn, as he now realized what he was dealing this.
"This…this is!" Shawn said, almost getting out of his seat. Shawn had seen the newspapers that told of Rock's fights against a band of pirates and other threats. Finally it came crashing down on him as he realized that Tron herself must be a pirate.
"Yes, he's quite famous." Tron said. She was surprised she had kept a serious face during all of this, as nervous as she was. It was going much better than she had planned, since Shawn wasn't talking too much. "His name is Rock Volnutt, I'm sure you've heard of him. He'll give you trouble, but he must be left alive. Do whatever you want with the girl." Tron said. Shawn was surprised at this, as according to the newspapers it was Rock who always foiled the Bonne's plans. Shawn knew better than to question a pirate though, so he once again relaxed and nodded along with Tron. "Well? What do you think?" Tron asked. The time for Shawn to make his decision had arrived. He could say no now, and go back to his normal life of sitting alone on the Ostealgia. Or he could say yes and gain the favor of the girl he had been in love with for an entire three hours, along with meeting yet another pretty face. Of course, he'd have to "get rid" of the second girl, but he didn't worry about that at the moment.
"Yeah, I'll do it." Shawn said. Tron was overwhelmed with happiness, but did her best not to look too immature in front of Shawn.
"Excellent. Will you need any supplies?" Tron asked. Shawn quickly shook his head. The Ostealgia was still equipped with everything his father had used when he was alive, and Shawn knew how to use every piece of it. "Alright, good. From this point on, we don't know each other. Once you have everything…taken care of, contact me." Tron said. Shawn stood up slowly and made his way out of the ship, once again lead by two servbots. Once back in the Ostealgia, Shawn sat back in the pilot's seat and began thinking about what he had just agreed to do. Tron herself was also doing some thinking, wondering how she had just gotten away with what she had planned. Was getting rid of Roll for good really the way to do this? Tron felt somewhat guilty, but thinking about the happiness her and Rock would have with her out of the way overwrote it. Tron was also excited about the fact that she had just hired a mercenary without discussing payment once.