Chapter 5

Robot Master Attack

The streets of Megalopolis were bustling as usual. Bass couldn't help but be amused. After all, he was at the moment still considered public enemy #1 by the people at large, and here he was, right in the middle of them all without a single one of the people taking notice of him. Well, that wasn't exactly true, he was getting a couple of wide-eyed stares on account of the large wolf-dog he had at the end of his leash, but Bass would simply wave and give assurance that Treble was well-trained.

"Ah, this is the life," he thought to himself as his holographically disguised dog pulled hard on the leash. "No Wily, no orders, no worries."

The premonition of the night before had seemed a distant memory now, Bass was able to pass it off as mere paranoia. The sun was shining and he was finding himself surprised at just how much he enjoyed--well--enjoying himself. There was really never much time for that in the Skull Forts and Space Nodes and other such places he had lived in the past.

Bass found himself abruptly pulled out of his revere as a large ham-like hand settled itself on his shoulder. Before he fully registered the feeling, he found his world spin for a second, during which he heard a distant woman scream and the entire crowd around him noisily clear away. When it had stopped he found himself surrounded by twenty Robot Masters. Guts Man, who had roughly pulled Bass into the circle, cracked his knuckles.

"Well, well," Bass said in a confident-sounding voice. "Looks like you found me again. Gonna try and take me back to Wily, I guess?"

Snake Man, obviously the leader of the group once again, shook his head. "Ssssssorry old friend," he hissed. "We have other ordersssss thissssss time. You'll be going back to the Sssssspace Node again. But this time in piecessssss!"

Bass's eyes narrowed as he surveyed the scene. He was surrounded by twenty of Dr. Wily's most powerful Robot Masters, Snake Man being on of the least of them in terms of power. Not promising odds. True Bass was the best fighter out of the bunch, and he could most likely take out four or five Robot Masters on his own, but twenty was a bit much, even for him. "Well," he said cooly. "I guess that just leaves me one option, huh?"

He tapped a button in his hidden teleporter controls only to find that nothing happened. Snake Man chuckled as he showed him a metal sphere in his hand. "Not thissss time, I'm afraid. Assss you can ssssssee. We brought a blocker with us. If you want to esssscape, it will have to be outssssside of this ssssssscircle."

"Lemme pound 'im!" Guts Man burst out. "I owe him one fer last time!"

Something's wrong, here, Bass thought to himself. Robot Masters do make an impressive show at emotions and all, but there's something a little too real about these guys.

"By all meansssssss," Snake Man responded. "We all could do with a little play time now, couldn't we boysssss?"

The others chuckled as they closed the circle. Bass knew that his chances weren't good. He could easily fry them all with the alien energy, but he needed to be combined with Treble to use it. And though it only took a second or two to do it, he was sure that the Robot Masters weren't going to let him do that. Still, he was never one not to go down fighting. "All right then," he said in a casual tone. "That leaves me with just one thing to say."

"And what isssss that?" Snake Man asked.

Bass unhooked Treble's leash. "Treble...KILL!"

Treble surged forward at that command, his disguise disappearing in midair. The large wolf-dog latched onto Hard Man and began to tear into his metal armor. Bass activated his Armor Recall, and, armed in his black and gold armor once again, began to fire at all the surrounding foes. The Robot Masters fired their respective weapons back in a simultaneous attack (except for Hard Man, who was sill dealing with Treble). Bass was a skilled fighter, and managed to dodge their shots for quite a time, and he even took out a few of the Robot Masters, but a Thunder Beam took him in the back, sending him toppling.

"Ooh," he muttered. "Remind me to avoid that one..."

The remaining Robot Masters took advantage of Bass' momentary stun to attack again. A Shadow Blade took him in the side, as he was burned viciously by a Scorch Wheel and Fire Storm blast. Bass knew that there was simply too many foes for him to deal with. Still, he fought on, firing almost blindly as he couldn't see beyond the enemy fire. He turned just in time to see a rocketing fist barreling his way less than a second before impact. The blow nailed him in the face, sending him flying. His last thought before unconsciousness took over was "I guess Hard Man got Treb off...."

***************

Dr. Light sighed in frustration. He was working feverishly on developing a way to send X, Zero, and Iris home. It was proving not to be easy. He was able to come up with a way that could theoretically work, if they could get the right amount of power. The only thing Dr. Light could think of that could produce the amounts required was the Alien Energy. Now, Dr. Light, Rock, X, and Zero were sitting in front of Dr. Light's mainframe computer, attempting to find some kind of substitute, with no success. "Why can't we just find Bass and get him to help us?" Zero asked in annoyance.

"Don't you think I've tried?" Rock responded testily. "He's like Hadrian: when he doesn't want to be found, he won't be found."

A cry from another room pulled his attention from the mass of data in front of him. "Rock!"

"What is it Roll?" Rock asked as his sister ran in from the study.

The look on his sister's face told him that this was something serious. "It's Bass."

***************



"Oh, crud."

"Tell me about it," X said in response to Rock's statement.

They were watching the news on the holovision. A reporter was standing in the middle of a ruined street. Behind her was a whole mess of Robot Masters, firing on an unmistakable figure. And he was losing. "It's unknown why Dr. Wily would send his Robot Masters to hunt down his second-in-command," she was saying to her worldwide audience. "Or what he would be doing in downtown Megalopolis, but two things are clear. One, we are now in the middle of a war zone, and two, Bass is getting worked over!"

"I'm going after him!" Zero said.

"NO!" Rock yelled. "I'm going after him! We have no idea what your presence here will do to affect the future, but we can't allow you to be seen!"

Zero practically snarled. "He's my brother, Rock! If anyone his gonna go save him..."

"I know how you feel, Zero. Believe me, I do. I have a brother, too, remember? Don't worry, I'll get him out of there, and he will be in one piece." With that, he hit his Armor Recall and teleported away in a stream of blue light.

Zero screamed a curse as loud as he could and stomped out of the room in a huff. "Zero!" Iris cried as she ran after him. X was left staring at the newscast, muttering to himself, unaware that Dr. Light and Roll were listening. "Something's not right," he muttered. "This isn't Dr. Wily's style. It seems more like...but it can't be him...can it?"

**************



Mega Man landed a short distance from the fight. He quickly took a mental count of the Robot Masters and shook his head in shock. There were now more than twice the number of R.M.'s than Wily used in his usual schemes. And they were all together at once. Not good. Not good at all.

Mega Man was interrupted by a whine. He turned to find Treble lying on his side. The Blue Bomber knelt to console the wounded robo dog. "Hey, Treb, it's me, Rock. Don't worry. I'll get him out of there safe and sound."

"Not without a plan, you won't."

Mega Man turned at the sudden voice behind him. Standing there with a smirk on his face, was a red and grey armored robot with a visor hiding most of his face and a yellow scarf flapping in the breeze. Mega Man grinned. "I was wondering when you'd show up Protoman."

The Red Raider grinned at the intentional use and emphasis on the name. "Well, it looked like you needed help, so here I am."

Mega Man was all serious again. "So what's the plan?"

"Three things. We hit hard, we hit fast, then we leave."

Mega Man shook his head. "But what about the Robot Masters?"

Protoman grinned. "Leave them to me."

*************



The Robot Masters were closing in on their downed target when the roar of an engine distracted them. Less than a second later, Cut Man was bowled over by a blue and red streak with heavy duty tires. Mega Man had decided that the Rush Cycle would be the best means of a quick attack, and so far it seemed to be working. Whoever he didn't run over he'd pelt with shots from his plasma cannon, as well as the rocket launcher in Rush's mouth. He managed to take the Robot Masters by enough surprise that they didn't start firing at him until he scooped Bass up and had him flung over Rush. By that time it was too late. Mega Man teleported away, with his prize in tow.

Snake Man was seething. "Fine!" he said. "If thatssss the way he wantsss it...Robot Massssstersssss! Desssstroy everything! Get him back here, now!"

"I don't think so!" a new voice said from behind Snake Man. All the Robot Masters turned to see Protoman standing in the midst of the group, a detonator in one hand. He took just a moment to grin at the robots before pressing the button. The ground erupted from the explosions caused by the bombs Protoman had set during the chaos. Some of the more heavily damaged Robot Masters exploded right along with them, while the others were heavily damaged by the blast. The survivors realized that they lost and teleported away to lick their wounds.

Protoman was the only robot left on the decimated battleground. He was quickly approached by the reporter and her news crew. "Protoman! Protoman! Can you give us any information on just what happened here?"

Protoman grinned. "No comment." Then he disappeared in a flash of red.