I've been obsessing over this chapter for so long that its not funny. And seeing as how I've rewritten it no less than six times, I've finally called it quits and am publishing it as is. -Sigh- I'm hopeless as a romance writer, I don't even know why I try anymore.
Anyways, this chapter contains my final rip for this fic. Cookie goes to whoever can tell me where Bobby came from. (Hint: Not a YGO rip)
Axn Girl, whoops, majorly stupid mistake on my part, I got Roll and Maylu mixed up. See previous chapter.
A. F. O. MegaMan, not in the way you're thinking.
B. D. Yugi, well, I didn't break him out of SciLab for no reason.
C. S. Omega, -watches you hit repaired body double-I take it you don't like?
Official HQ: Sharrian branch.
"Oh, come on Otis." A blond man spoke with a heavy accent was infecting his voice. "So you got beat once, it's not the end of the world."
"Get." The aforementioned brunette muttered as he refused to look at his companion, and kept his gaze trained on the computer screen in front of him. In his mind, Bobby was one of the most annoying people of the face of the earth… and if he didn't get away from his desk in the next four seconds, Otis was liable to wipe the floor with him.
"What am I? Your dog?" Bobby made a face, "The least you could do is actually acknowledge my presence when you insult me."
Otis shot his unwanted companion a look that clearly said, "Get lost, or else your life will come to an early end".
"I can take a hint, but you might want to beware of the coffee tomorrow." The blond called over his shoulder as he trudged away from the angered officer. "I might just be so upset at your insult that I'd mistake the sugar for Arsenic."
The brunette didn't even reply. The news report that had suddenly appeared on his monitor had suddenly seized his attention.
Otis read through it once, and then a second time just to be sure. On his third time through, a very slight, almost nonexistent, grin appeared on his face. This was just the kind opportunity he could take advantage of…
"DracoMan, inform the Chief that we'll be taking a leave of absence for the next two weeks and don't take no for an answer." The Officer stood, and picked up his P.E.T., "We've got some unfinished business to attend to."
"Yes, sir."
With those instructions given, Otis stepped away from his desk and strode out the door leaving the complex behind. No sooner had he left, than Bobby came back into the room.
As the blond strode through the room, he chanced to glance at Otis' empty workstation, and what he saw caused him to stop dead in his tracks. There, on Otis' computer monitor, was the report of MegaMan's Dark Soul infection, and the warning that he was now under the control of Nebula.
Now, Bobby wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he knew enough to put two and two together. Knowing that Otis had recently lost to Lan and MegaMan, and that he was not the type to take defeat well, plus the fact that Otis now knew that his former opponent had gone Dark Soul added up to one solution: Revenge.
Ordinarily, he'd have kept out of something like this, but he had never really like Otis anyway, and he knew that Laika was 'unofficially' friends with Lan, so he decided that there was only one thing to do. Inform Laika immediately.
The blond rushed away from the workstation and down the hallway to the office of his semi-good friend Laika.
"Knock, knock." The blond man strode right into the room without stopping.
Laika immediately looked up from his work, and glared at the newcomer. "Don't you ever knock?"
"I did." Bobby grinned back, laying on his accent heavily.
Laika was obviously groaning silently.
"And you can stop with the fake accent." The Sharrian Op folded his arms across his chest.
"Oh, come on now, I picked this thing up in the Outback." The blond shrugged maintaining his speech pattern, "You can't expect me to drop an accent just like that."
"You were only in Australia for a week, for a course in computer hacking."
"True, but I roughed it the entire time."
"It was a hotel."
"Yeah, but the room service was terrible, no doughnuts on the free breakfast, and they forget the mint on my pillow, in my mind that's downright barbaric."
Laika was visibly straining to keep his cool. Having his full of this discussion, he changed the subject.
"So did you come in here for a reason, or just to pester me?"
"Its about Otis." Bobby cut to the chase. "He knows that MegaMan just went DS. And I'm betting that he's going to go out for some payback."
Without a word, the Sharrian sat back down at his desk and proceeded to start keying commands into his computer.
"Thanks for wasting my time."
"But- aren't you going to do something? I mean, we can't just let Otis go out there and-"
"This discussion is closed." Laika shot the blond a very withering look. "Leave. Now."
"Alright, alright…"
The second that Bobby had left the office, Laika dropped his work and picked up his P.E.T. The next moment he was composing an e-mail… to a fairly good friend of his.
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With an exhausted sigh, Lan trudged up the last of the steps to the jet. He'd spent the entire night alone, too overwhelmed by his actions to face his friends, but now he was exhausted. And he had no place else to go but back to the Blaze jet.
He didn't really look forward to facing Maylu of Chaud, especially Chaud…
Inside the lounge of the plane, unaware of his brown-haired companion's whereabouts, Chaud prepared himself for the coming talk with Maylu. He hated to bring up a subject like this at the present time, but he didn't have a choice.
Gathering his nerve, the double-haired boy turned to the blind Maylu. It was now or never.
"Maylu, I have a question to ask you."
With another sigh of regret, Lan keyed in his access code to open the door of the plane. A split second later, the system had recognized the password and opened the doors for him.
The brunette entered the plane, and began the long walk that would take him through the kitchen, lounge, and hallway to his bunk. He desperately hoped that no one would come across his path. But then again, he was too exhausted to really care right now.
"What's that?" The redheaded girl turned in his general direction.
"I hate to bring this up, after all that's happened… but I can't delay this any longer. I know that my father hates what I'm doing, but I'm going to go through with it anyway."
"Why would he?" Maylu interrupted her companion.
"Because he's a heartless, cynic." Chaud spat the words out before he could stop himself; he wasn't on the greatest of terms with his dad. "He hasn't cared about me since… never mind. Maylu, I-"
For once in his life, Lan had absolutely no temptation to stop and raid the fridge as he trudged through the kitchen.
"But… Chaud…" Maylu wasn't fighting to keep herself in check. She'd never guessed that the Official had cared this much for her… it was almost too good to be true. "Why would you go against your dad's wishes?"
"Because… because I get the feeling that my mother would approve." The Official closed his eyes, trying to avoid the memory surfacing in his mind. "Even if HE doesn't."
"Your mother? I don't think we've met…"
"She- she's dead." A solitary tear slipped away from the boy's closed eyes, dripping down his face.
"I'm sorry."
"She died, of HBD." Chaud finally felt safe enough to open his eyes without fear of crying.
A small sound caught Lan's attention as he prepared to enter the lounge.
"But I know she'd like you, and that she'd approve of this." Chaud shook off his painful past. Hiding his raw emotions behind his mask of smug unconcern, his voice became careful and controlled. "So, do I have your answer?"
"Don't try to hide from me." Maylu chided her companion, "I can see right through you."
For a long moment, all was still as the two sat in silence. The redheaded girl was struggling to make up her mind over this matter. Was it worth putting more tension between Chaud and his father? If she went through with this, there was a very real possibility that she'd get caught in the middle.
But then again, Chaud had gone to great lengths for her. And just the thoughts that he'd care enough to do this…
Finally, Maylu's hidden desire won out over her cold logic.
"Chaud, of course I will!"
Lan opened up the doorway to the lounge, and stopped in his tracks as he took inthe scene before him.
Maylu and Chaud were in the lounge… and the redheaded girl had her arms wrapped around the visibly embarrassed double-haired boy.
The brunette stared for what seemed like eons, desperately hoping that this wasn't real, that he was just so tired that he was hallucinating. But it wasn't so; this was all very real…
"Lan!" Chaud's face went white as he hurriedly freed himself. "We were worried about you!"
"Yeah, sure." Too emotionally exhausted to deal with the scene before him, the brunette stormed past the couple. "Don't let me interrupt."
"Lan, wait!" The sightless Maylu called after him; of course Lan would show up at the worst possible moment… "This isn't what it looks like!"
No answer came in reply, just the sounds of Lan's retreating footsteps.
"Wait!" The redhead shouted again, "Lan, let me explain!"
No direct reply came, instead the sounds of a metal door slamming shut echoed through the hallway, signaling that the brunette had no desire to talk about it.
Before anyone could react, Chaud's P.E.T. beeped, alerting him to an incoming E-mail.
Leaving Maylu to herself, the Official retrieved his terminal, and then scanned over the entry.
"That was Raoul, Famous just contacted him saying that KendoMan and MegaMan have been spotted heading for YumLand's Netspace. If we want to catch up to them there, we'd better leave now."
"You go do that," Too preoccupied with her troubles to fully comprehend that statement, Maylu nodded in reply. "I'll go talk to Lan."
With deliberate steps, the blind girl began the all too short walk to Lan's cabin. This was one job she did not look forward to.
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Next: Ambush!