Both boys seemed too stunned to do much but gape at the orange Navi that had appeared before them.

Taking a step forward, Bass studied the other Navi. "Starry? Is that you? How did you escape?"

Starfire didn't seem too keen on answering Bass' questions though. "Well, well, isn't this a surprise. Here I was, thinking that you two had been deleted."

ProtoMan was bursting with joy at the sight of his lost partner. "That's what we thought about you Star! Oh, I can't tell you how…"

A blaster shot cut him off, and ProtoMan went sprawling in order to avoid the attack.

Bass whirled on his sister. "Starry, what was that all about! ProtoMan's your best- AH!"

Barely getting his aura up in time, Bass deflected a plasma shot that was directed at him.

"You see," Starfire still was aiming her blaster at both boys in turn, "ShadowMan told me that you two were deleted. I now see he was mistaken, and I'll have to do this myself."

Dodging a hail of fire, ProtoMan called out to Bass. "Bass! She's gone mad!"

Surprised by the ferocity of the attack, the Black Shadow was forced to hold his defensive position for the second time today. "Don't think I haven't noticed!"

"I'll handle her!" With lightning fast speed, ProtoMan charged into the plasma shots, drawing Muramasa as he went. "STAR!" The red Navi crashed into the orange one, pinning her to the wall, Muramasa grating against a Cyber Sword. "Star, I don't want to hurt you!" ProtoMan gasped, his face inches from Starfire's. "It's us, Bass and ProtoMan! Your- Aaagh!"

The blonde haired Navi had thrown ProtoMan down, and now stood over him. She said nothing, but raised her Cyber Sword in preparation for an overhead strike.

Closing his eyes tightly, the silver haired Navi brought Muramasa up to counter, but a voice cried out before anything happened.

"AIR BURST!"

Opening his eyes, ProtoMan saw Starfire frozen in agony, holes ripped in her where the Air Burst had hit. Then, in a shower of data, she was gone. Turning, ProtoMan could hardly believe it. "Bass! You just…. you…"

Bass closed his eyes, trying hard to stop the tears from flowing. "What I've done for her is a lot better than living a life of enslavement."

The red Navi just sat on the ground, clutching Muramasa like a child would cling to a stuffed animal or blanket. Star was gone…he couldn't seem to get the idea to sink in, but it resonated through his thoughts, torturing him from the inside.

Seeing the state his partner was in, Bass cleared his throat. "I think it's best if we stay here for a little while longer."

As the two sat, silence rang around the tunnel, making it awkward and eerie. At long last, Bass gathered the courage to speak. "She didn't call me Oniichan. That's how I knew she was being controlled. Starry would've wanted it this way, rather than be used as a tool for the darkness."

ProtoMan nodded numbly, looking as if he'd just gotten run over by a Mettaur and couldn't quite believe it had happened.

After another long silence, Bass glanced at ProtoMan. "You know, you still have to sing."

For the first time in almost a half hour, the red Navi spoke. "I don't have anything to play."

Giving a small smile, Bass produced an acoustic guitar from under his cloak. "Let it never be said that the Get Ability is a disadvantage." Glancing sheepishly at his partner, who was looking at the guitar, Bass shrugged. "I attacked a guy playing an acoustic guitar. What can I say?" Settling back, the black Navi stared at the other Navi. "Well, let's hear you."

Strumming, ProtoMan didn't seem to hear the other Navi, but became lost in the music almost. With a deep breath, he began to sing.

"Star woke up, 8 AM, graduation day. Got into a car, crashed along the way. And we arrived late to the wake, stole the urn while they looked away, and I took it to the beach because I knew you'd want it that way.

And we were standing on the hood of the car, singing out loud as the sun came up! And I know it wasn't right, but it felt so good, and your mother didn't mind, like I thought she would. And that REM song was playing in my mind…three and a half minuets, felt like a lifetime."

As ProtoMan moved into the next verse, his voice was filled with sorrow and longing, almost nostalgic.

"And you move like water…I could drown in you…and I fell so deep once, till you pulled me through. You said no one's ever allowed to be so proud, that they never reach out when they've given up!

And we were standing on the hood of the car, singing out loud as the sun came up! And I know it wasn't right, but it felt so good, and your mother didn't mind, like I thought she would. And that REM song was playing in my mind…three and a half minuets, felt like a lifetime.

Are you standing in the lights? Coming your hair again, or talking in rhyme? Are you standing in the lights?"

By the time the red Navi was finishing, his voice was seeping with anguish and sorrow.

"When I got home, I heard the phone your parents had arrived. Your dad set his jaw but your ma just smiled and sighed. But they left soon and I went to my room, played that disc that you'd given me. I close my eyes; I swear I can hear the sea.

And you were standing on the hood of the car, singing out loud as the sun came up! And I know it wasn't right, but it felt so good, and your mother didn't mind, like I thought she would. And that REM song was playing in my mind…three and a half minuets…

Three…and a half minuets…. Felt like a life time."

Handing back the guitar, silence rushed in to fill the absence of music. The emotion in ProtoMan's song had shocked the Black Shadow.

Standing, ProtoMan faced the stone archway, his voice hard and determined. "Let's go."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The song ProtoMan sang was Lifetime, by Better Than Ezra. I changed the first word of the song to match the situation; the first line is really "Allie woke up, 8 AM, graduation day…"

If you don't know the song Bass was singing right before they came across StoneMan, you deserve to be beaten to a pulp. Bass was singing Love Shack by the B-52's. Seriously, if you don't know that song, you really have not lived.