"So what you need is for Doc Light to find a way to send you guys back to the future, right?" Rock asked.
X nodded. "Yeah. We can't very well find Bass, since Wily's pretty good at hiding 'till he wants to be found, and we're not sure if he'd be able or willing to help us anyways." Zero clenched his fists for a moment at that last remark, but kept silent. "But Dr. Light wasisthe most brilliant man on the planet with regards to robotics and the like, so we thought that if anyone could help us, he can."
Rock nodded himself with a grin. "Got that right. The problem is, the Doc's at the other lab right now..."
"Other lab?" Zero asked with just a hint of surprise.
Rock's grin grew wider. "What, did you think he did all his work here? Most of it, he does, but he owns an international robotics firm as well, and some projects require too much specialized equipment for even Dr. Light to get on his own, so sometimes he heads over to LighTech's main lab in the city."
Iris shrugged. "Then I guess we're just going to have to pay LighTech a visit. Rock, would you be willing to...?"
"Say no more," Rock interrupted. "My car's all tuned up and ready to roll. I c'n get you to LighTech in no time. Just's long as it's understood, I get to drive."
The others laughed at Rock's possesiveness and agreed.
Dr. Wily was fuming. It had been a week since Bass had deserted him, and despite the fact that the evil scientist had a greater portion of the Robot Masters scouring the streets for him in holo-camo, they still hadn't turned him up. He turned and faced three of his returned Robot Mastersin their normal battle armor. They were Snake Man, Guts Man, and Elec Man. "You mean to tell me," Wily said in a flat voice, "that you actually found Bass, and you let him get AWAY!?!?"
The three robots before the raging doctor, unlike Bioroids like Rock or Bass, had no true emotions of their own, and as such felt no true fear or shame at Dr. Wily's words. But they were programmed to act like they did, so they shied away anyways. And though they had no feelings to hurt, they could sense that they had displeased their master, and wanted to make up for it. "It wasn't our fault," Elec Man said with a perfect imitation of nervousness in his voice. "The streets were crowded and..."
"SHUT UP!!!!" Dr. Wily screamed. "I don't want any excuses! Now you get down there and find that little black rat and bring him back up here or don't bother coming back at all! Understood?"
The three robots understood perfectly, and turned and ran from Dr. Wily's lab.
Dr. Wily sighed, looking around at his empty lab. Strange as it was, Dr. Wily was not only mad at Bass's apparent betrayal, but he actually missed the black robot, and he couldn't even explain why. Life was so much easier before I decided to build that robot, Wily thought to himself.
Dr. Wily stormed past his blue and yellow saucer on his way to his to his living quarters. He stopped though, when he could have sworn he heard a soft, but deep, chuckle emanate from the vehicle. Wily shook his head. I must be working too hard, he finally decided.
The three Reploids decided that Rock was perfectly justified in his pride in his car. It was certainly a beauty. They had now driven into the city proper and were maybe five minutes away from the LighTech building when a voice could be heard over the crowd. "There he is! Get 'im!" Rock turned and saw three Robot Masters running in his direction. Aw, nuts! Rock thought, but to his surprise, they ran right past his car, and began chasing a seemingly innocent teenager from the crowd.
"What the heck...?" X asked as he the others stared, stunned.
"I'm gonna help the kid out," Rock announced as he leapt from the car. "You guys, stay put!"
Anger flared in Zero's circuits. "Hey, we're just as good at fighting as you!"
X placed a hand on Zero's shoulder. "Calm down, buddy!" he admonished. "We're engangering the timeline enough as it is just being here. Who knows what'll happen if we reveal ourselves.
Zero looked at his best friend for a moment, then slumped in his seat. "Okay, I'll stay put. But that doesn't mean I have to like it..."
"I don't like it any more than you do," Iris said seriously. "But X's right. Rock and the other Bioroids are the only thinking robots there are right now. If the world at large found out about us, who knows what might happen."
A sudden voice from outside surprised them as it added, "Nothing good that's for sure!"
The three disguised Reploids turned in surprise and found themselves looking at a boy that appeared to be Rock, but wearing a leather jacket, fingerless gloves, and a visor-like pair of sunglasses. A yellow scarf fluttered in the wind from around his neck, betraying his true identity to those who knew him. "Hadrian!" X gasped. "What're you doing here?"
Hadrian Blues, known better to the world at large as Protoman, grinned at the Reploids. He seemed less surprised to see them than they were to see him. "I'm always around. More so than Rock even knows. Somebody has to keep an eye on him you know."
X chuckled a bit at that. With his recently recovered memories, he knew all about the mysterious ways of Hadrian. Iris interrupted any reply he might have made with, "If that's the case, why don't you help Rock out? He's outnumbered three to one."
Hadrian leaned lazily against Rock's car as he watched his little brother scramble up the fire escape of a nearby building and try to intercept the Robot Masters by leaping from rooftop to rooftop. "He's not as outnumbered as you might think, Iris," he relied. "And even if he was, it's only Guts Man, Snake Man, and Elec Man; generation one and three Robot Masters. He'll have no trouble with them, and I prefer to let him play the hero if I can at all help it."
Rock, meanwhile, took a running leap to clear the space between two more rooftops. As he did, he hit a cleverly concealed button on his wrist that caused his blue battle armorcomplete with a new helmet to replace the one he lost recentlyto appear around his body in a flash, effectively transforming his identity from Rock to Mega Man.
Mega Man outdistanced the chase slightly and situated himself on another fire escape in order to ambush the Robot Masters. Then he saw something that made him stop short for a second. Elec Man fired his Thunder Beam weapon at the fleeing human and hit him full in the back with the bolt of electricity. The kid fell to the ground for a second, but got up again and kept on running.
What IS this kid? Mega Man thought. The Thunder Beam was powerful enough to destroy Mega Man in just a few hits, so a human would have had no chance against it. Mega Man shrugged. Well, whatever he is, if Wily want's 'im, then I can't let him have 'im!
That decided, Mega Man leapt over the railing and landed a perfect flying kick into Guts Man's side, sending the much larger robot flying. Guts Man fell to the ground with a resounding bang! He climbed to his feet and wasn't inhibited despite the fair sized dent in his side. As a basic robot, he had no nerves and thus felt no real pain, though his systems could tell him how bad every sector of his body was. Guts Man charged at Mega Man and aimed a left hook at Mega Man's jaw. Mega Man ducked out of the way and hit Guts Man full on the chest with a fully charged Mega Buster shot, which knocked the larger robot down again. "Y'know, I think you're getting slow, Gutsy, and that's saying something," Mega Man laughed.
"Ssssstay out of thisssss, Mega Man!" Snake Man hissed. "Thisssss issss none of your concssssern!"
"Sorry, Snake," Mega Man replied. "Anytime you guys show up in this city is my concern, so you will have to deal with me wether you like it or not."
"Fine, then," Snake Man said. "Elec Man, take 'em out!"
"With pleasure," the black and red Robot Master replied as he fired off his Thunder Beam at Mega Man. Mega Man grabbed the blonde kid the Robot Masters had been chasing and dove out of the way. Of course, with the close vicinity they were in, it was inevitable that Mega Man would discover that the boy he was protecting was a robot. When they both crashed to the pavement, Mega Man got a clear look at the other robot's face, and did a double take. "Bass...?" he managed to sputter.
Bass nodded with a grin. "Yup, and you know, I'm getting real tired of running from these goons!"
Bass pushed Mega Man out of the way and hit his own Armor Recall, causing his black and gold armor to appear around him. The black Bioroid turned to his former comrades. "You want me, come and get me!"
Elec Man shot another Thunder Beam at Bass, which was dodged. Bass then ran straight at the Robot Master before he had a chance to recharge his weapon. He grabbed the other black armored robot by the forearm, and with a mighty swing, sent him flying into Snake Man. Guts Man tried to catch Bass in a bear hug, but Bass spun around and drove his fist into the Robot Master's chest. He pulled out a mess of wires and circuitry, causing Guts Man to collapse in a heap. Bass turned to the other two Robot Masters. "Continue this fight, and you will end up like him," he said conversationally as he pointed to the lifeless Guts Man.
Though normally a Robot Master would fight to the "death," they realized that they weren't going to do Dr. Wily any good if they got themselves destroyed, so they ran. Bass dusted off his hands when he realized that there was quite a crowd gathered around him, most of them yelling angrily at him. Before he knew it, a blue arm wrapped itself around his neck. "Don't worry, I got 'im!" Mega Man's voice called out to the people from behind Bass.
"What're you doing!" Bass hissed at Mega Man.
"Just play along," Mega Man whispered back. Mega Man discreetly held his right forearm out into Bass's view, and a small panel slid up on its underside, revealing Mega Man's teleporter controls. "It's all set, just kinda 'accidentally' hit it," Mega Man explained.
Bass suddenly understood. "You won't get me that easily," he said loudly for the crowds benefit. Then, he wrapped his fingers around Mega Man's wrist and hit the button. Both robots disappeared in a blue beam of light.
The two Bioroids landed on a rooftop not far from where the battle took place. As soon as they landed, Bass tore himself from Mega Man's grip. "Y'know, nobody asked for your help," he said, though a small smile began to play on his lips.
Mega Man smiled too. "Well, nobody asked you to play such a convincing human in distress that needed to be saving either."
Bass's grin grew wider. "Bite me."
Mega Man's did, too. "No thanks."
The two robots stood there, grinning at each other for a moment more, then Bass turned his back to the blue robot. "Well, anyways," he said, somewhat awkwardly. "Thanks."
Mega Man shrugged. "No problem. So why would Wily send his goons after you of all people?"
Bass turned back to Mega Man. "Simple. I defected." Mega Man blinked. Bass chuckled. "It's been about a week, actually. I've just been able to avoid them better before now."
Mega Man stood there for a moment more, then finally asked. "So if you've been away from Wily all this time, why hadn't you come to the lab? Roll misses you."
Bass lowered his head in shame. "I know. And I miss her, too. It's just...I can't explain it! I just can't go over there. Just not yet." Bass turned to Mega Man and looked imploringly into his eyes. "Look, I just need some time alone for now. I guess, to just get used to living without having a creator to take orders from. Could you just give me that? Please?"
Mega Man thought about that. He then realized that if he had left Dr. Light for whatever reason, he'd have to have some time to adjust himself. Mega Man nodded. "Sure. And I won't tell Roll that I've seen you around, either. No use in getting her even more teary-eyed than she already is."
Bass nodded. "Thanks," he said an instant before teleporting away.
Mega Man watched as the beam of violet energy seemed to shoot off into the stratosphere before disappearing. Then he slapped himself on the forehead. "Rock, you doof! You forgot to tell 'im about X and the others!"
Mega Man heard a chuckling sound behind him and turned to see the source. It was Hadrian. Mega Man frowned. "So, how long have you known?" He wouldn't have put it past his brother to have known about the defection all along and not tell him. That was the way Hadrian was.
Hadrian shrugged. "About a day, now. I kinda bumped into him yesterday. And I didn't tell you for the same reason you aren't gonna tell Roll."
Mega Man stopped short. He hadn't thought about it like that. "Well, point taken. Still..."
Hadrian slapped his younger brother in the back. "Don't worry so much. He'll come around. When he's ready, he'll come around. After all, I did, didn't I?"
Mega Man grinned. "Well, the jury's still out on that one. You are a bit of a weirdo,
still." Mega Man ducked a playful punch thrown at him by Hadrian. "Well, lets get back to the
others before Zero destroys my car!"