Chapter 6: YEAR.010 DAY.028 TIME.15:34 \\ `snow fight'
- A/N: This is is the end of part two, there'll be a two week break before part three begins updating (2/18).
Sheral's eyes darted back and forth between the four of them. "Are… are you serious?"
"I promise it's okay," said Mega Man. "He's on our side now—"
"I'm not on your side!"
"—and my brother here will make sure he stays out of trouble."
Scowling, she grabbed Mega Man by the arm and led him away from the group, then whispered to him. "I just don't know, Rock. I'm already doing you a favor… and no offense, but the last time that guy was here, he—"
"—Attacked me, revealing my identity to everyone." He gave her a weak smile. "If I can forgive that, then you can give him a chance, right?"
She hemmed and hawed, glancing past him at the robot in question.
"Hey doofus," Bass called over to Mega Man, "tell her it's okay. My combat system is disabled 'cause I set that meter reader on fire."
The only thing that succeeded in was to make Sheral even more horrified.
"I… what? Wh-what do those things even have to do with each other?"
"It's a long story," Mega Man said to Sheral. "Or… actually, it's not. He's grounded."
"For… arson…?"
"Well. Yes. But I promise it'll be okay! Please?"
She stood there with the sort of nervous smile one gets when they don't want to be the bearer of bad news.
"Whatever," Bass said, sparing her from having to drag this out any further. "I didn't want to go to this stupid club anyway. And the name stinks!"
As he stormed out, Roll approached, placing a reassuring hand on Sheral's shoulder. "You made the right choice, believe me."
"I don't understand. What's wrong with 'Club Zero'?"
Mega Man was good with music production, especially composing pieces and audio mixing.
As a DJ, he was terrible.
It was hard to say where, exactly, things went wrong. He mostly played music for musicians, complex and designed to demonstrate the musician's skill, rather than the current popular dance hits. He wasn't good at reading the crowd, much less leading it, much less working it into a frenzy.
Break Man and Roll watched in amusement as their brother struggled, floundered, and ultimately drowned.
He left the turntables defeated.
"Maybe you'll do better next time," said Sheral, in an effort to be supportive and encouraging.
"Are you sure you want me back for a 'next time?"
"That was embarrassing to watch," Break Man said with a grin.
"It was hilarious." Roll threw her arm across his back. "You were really bad."
"Thanks, Roll."
"Anytime."
He would end up giving it one more shot, about a month later… and then that was the end of Mega Man's short lived, catastrophic DJ career.
Dr. Cossack was waiting for Kalinka at the monorail station. After warm greetings they headed to the hovercar, his arm around her shoulders.
"I have to apologize, Zolotse."
"For what?"
"Oh… for any time I may have called you difficult. Or even thought it."
She laughed. "Is that including the whole Fairoat Punk's concert fiasco?"
"Including that, yes."
"How about when I tried to secretly keep a pet guinea pig under my bed?"
"That too."
"When I threw your portable computer down the stairs? Or each and every hormone driven rage explosion?"
"Every last one."
"You're just looking back on those things with rose-tinted glasses."
"No. You were a good kid."
"I was, but sometimes even good kids are brats."
He chuckled. "As it turns out, I did not know the meaning of the word."
"That bad, huh? Look at the bright side, Pa… at least you're not bored."
"No, no I am not."
"What the heck!? What is this? Ugh!"
Absolutely horrified, Bass closed his eyes and grimaced.
"Kalinka, whatever you're doing, stop it."
She laughed. "It works on you, then? I wasn't sure it would—"
"Just stop. Stop." He opened his eyes for a second and then covered them with his hands. "It's terrible."
"Okay, alright already." She pulled the mask off, then held it out to him. "Look, it's just a mask, no big deal."
Taking it, he turned it over and examined it— clear with subtle facets— his scowl deepening. "No big deal for you, maybe. This thing is awful. It's garbage. Get rid of it."
"Let me guess, you don't like it."
"Don't like it? I hate it." He glared at her. "What do you even need an anti-facial recognition mask for, anyway? Did you get this just to mess with me?"
"No, of course not. Like I said, I wasn't even sure it would work on you."
"Yeah, it does! I don't process visual input the way you do. It's— that's basically its own little thing, that translates video into data I can use. This—" he flicked the mask with his free hand, "gives me an error. Do you have any idea what that's like!?"
Kalinka sighed. "Sorry. Good grief." She tilted her head slightly, curious. "How did you know it was me, then?"
"What, you think that's the only way can I recognize people?" He started counting off on his fingers. "Height, build, mannerisms, predictable clothing style, ambient sounds like breathing…"
"'Predictable clothing style'?" She made a grab for the mask. "Here, give it back."
He was reluctant to.
"Come on, I want to see if it works on Break Man."
Instantly the offense was forgotten, and Bass broke into a mischievous grin. "In that case I'm coming with you."
Crammed into tightly packed bleachers, Dr. Light had Mega Man on his right and Break Man on his left. Next to Mega Man were some of his old friends, who Thomas knew, and some teens that were introduced to him but whose names he couldn't remember. On the other side of Break Man were Bass and Dr. Cossack. They had the row pretty much to themselves, but it was a tight fit, and the bleachers weren't exactly comfortable to begin with.
The bad seating was soon forgotten as the match got underway. Small, round, and looking much like a robovacuum that someone soldered way too many spikes onto, Team Zolotse's battle 'bot faced its competitor: a similarly sized robot that resembled— well— a hopping Kerone.
"Somebody's ripping off Wily's designs," Break Man said, then reached across Dr. Light to give his brother a playful shove. "Let me know if you start having flashbacks."
Mega Man rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.
Roll spent the match racing up and down the platform around the arena, hollering and waving her arms around. Kalinka, on the other hand, was planted in one spot, spending as much time watching the battle as she did punching in new commands.
The spikes ended up being more useful than anyone expected, making it so that the pseudo-Kerone couldn't get too many physical blows in. It peppered the robovac with tiny fireballs and medium-grade laser blasts.
Dr. Cossack'd had to talk the girls out of equipping their 'bot with a plasma cannon, it was too dangerous for the small arena. It fired back with an equally mediocre laser, but since the pseudo-Kerone was constantly bouncing around, very few of its shots actually landed.
Giving up on the weapon, Kalinka went for sheer physical brutality, ordering the robovac 'bot to speed up and ram itself into the pseudo-Kerone. This was both a success and a disaster. Their competitor was impaled on the spikes, flailing but unable to free itself. It was also stuck with its little flamethrower just inches from the robovac's hull. A focused, steady flame heated up until it was burning blue, melting a hole right through to the internal hardware.
The little robovac, having fought valiantly and somewhat stupidly, died a quiet death. It had lasted a good seven minutes.
"You guys did great," Break Man said as Kalinka and Roll made their way to the bench, squeezing in between their friends and family. "Most teams don't last more than three minutes on their first battle. Really impressive, guys."
"Thank you," said Kalinka.
Roll said nothing. She was inconsolable.
"You're coming up on a year with Dr. Cossack. Pretty exciting, huh?"
He flashed Break Man a look of annoyance. "Who cares?"
He wasn't very excited, he was actually kind of stressed out about it. Because despite the fact that Dr. Cossack had been nothing but kind, and despite the fact he'd just invested a great deal into Bass…
…he also never officially made a decision on what to do with the Wily 'bot.
It was a silly thing to be worried about.
Bass didn't say anything, and neither did Dr. Cossack, and the anniversary of his first year there came and went uneventfully.
The first real snow of the season found Bass practically scrambling to get outside.
Dr. Cossack watched in amusement as the robot stood still, arms outstretched in front of him. It changed to concern when Bass turned to go back inside, crushed.
"What's wrong?" Dr. Cossack asked, but got no reply.
He slunk off to his room without a word. Dr. Cossack gave him some space and some time. A few hours later he went to check on him, stopping right inside the doorway. Bass was sprawled out on the floor.
"See, I knew it would make sense to put a bed in here."
"I don't need a bed, dummy," Bass said, exasperated.
"What's the matter? Would you like to talk about it?"
"No." He looked away. "I want to be alone right now."
"Of course."
Dr. Cossack hesitated as he left, lingering briefly in the hallway.
He was surprised when Bass dropped in at dinner, taking a seat and propping his chin in his hand as if nothing had happened.
"They don't feel like anything. Just cold, that's it. Individually, they're too light to make any distinct tactile sensation. It's kind of like how little flakes of ash don't feel like anything either."
"Ah," said Dr. Cossack, as if he had any clue what was going on. "The snow?"
"Yeah. Snowflakes. Wily said they melt from your body heat, so that they felt like 'rain without the impact'… and that I could tell him if…" Glaring at the table top, he then sneered. "You know what? I don't want to talk about this anymore."
"No problem." He gave Bass a questioning look. "When did you have ash falling on you?" There had been no battles since the rebuild to explain that, and after the meter reader incident he was a little worried about the answer.
"Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies."
"At least tell me it wasn't illegal."
"Nah."
He wasn't sure if that meant 'no, I won't tell you', 'no, it wasn't illegal', or 'no, it wasn't legal'. Ultimately, Dr. Cossack decided not to press.
"Dr. Light invited us over, if you're interested. We can go tomorrow."
Bass gave a noncommittal shrug.
It started innocently, a friendly low-stakes snowball fight.
Naturally, things escalated. Soon it was an aggressive, cutthroat free-for-all. A battle to the death, every 'bot for themself.
Dr. Cossack learned the hard way when he stepped outside to watch, only to be pelted with snowballs from every direction. Turning around to flee back into the lab, one smacked him right in the face, and when he looked up was shocked to find Roll leering down from her perch on the rooftop.
"Roll?" He asked, swiping a fistful of snow off of his glasses. This delay cost him, as another snowball struck the back of his head. Not bothering to look to see who'd launched that attack, he pressed the door button and rushed back inside.
"No mercy! No surrender!" Roll shouted triumphantly.
"Desperta ferro!" Break Man responded with his own battle cry, having snuck up onto the roof behind her, taking advantage of the fact that she was focused on the hapless Dr. Cossack.
"Eaugh!"
Her anguished wail could be heard even in the lab.
The good two and a half feet of snow was impressive for anyone, but to robots who were all four and a half feet or under, it proved a unique challenge. Despite being buried more than halfway, they fought relentlessly and valiantly.
Dr. Cossack finished cleaning himself up, peeled off his heavy coat, and struggled out of his winter boots. By the time he'd returned to the rec room, Dr. Light had disappeared.
After wandering around for a bit, he found him in the kitchen.
It was a disaster area. Cocoa powder and sugar everywhere. Dr. Light looked decidedly sheepish.
"Roll handled these things for so many years— she still does, for the most part, but… oh, you'd think I could manage something as simple as hot chocolate!"
Laughing, Dr. Cossack stepped in, and Dr. Light was more than happy to let him take over.
Before long they were back in the rec room and enjoying their cocoa.
"I've never been one to celebrate holidays," Dr. Light said. "But every year it seems like things have settled into a nice routine, and I… I don't know. Maybe I'm just getting sentimental."
"Instead of traditional holidays, you should start your own."
"Such as?"
"Such as… the anniversary of Dr. Wily's demise, may he rot in peace."
Dr. Light choked on his drink. "You're not serious!"
"No, no, of course not." Dr. Cossack gave him an amused look. "Bass would never forgive me."
He said it in a way that indicated that was the one and only reason. He had a lot more bad blood with Wily than Dr. Cossack did, but he'd also had a far more complicated relationship with him, as well. As much as it had been a relief, Dr. Light was never happy about it.
"How about… the day you completed your robots? The day Mega Man became alive? The day Break Man found his way back?" Mikhail had decided not to make a fuss over the anniversary of Break Man hauling the unconscious Bass into his lab, and now sort of regretted it, so these things were weighing on his mind.
"Hmmm." He glanced at the mug in his hands. "The schnapps are a nice touch."
"Thank you."
"…I've been thinking about all this because the Fillmores invited me to their family Harvest Season feast. I didn't go— I don't think they would've been comfortable with Mega Man or Break Man tagging along. Roll probably wouldn't be an issue, but it didn't seem fair to take her and not her brothers. But part of me feels like I should have, even if it was by myself…"
"I'm sorry, the Fillmores?"
"Ah. Ingrid's extended family."
"Ingrid Wily?"
"Yes." Dr. Light chuckled nervously. "I kept up with her all these years— usually just a com call every now and then, although I try to make it out for her birthday if I can. This past year or so, some of her grandchildren have started reconnecting. They appreciate that I was there for her when they weren't."
Dr. Cossack stared into his cup, lost in thought. "I had no idea. More to the point, I don't think that one," he jerked his head sharply in the general direction of the front door, indicating Bass, "knows about any of it either."
Actually, it was worse than that.
He was a lot more attentive (or nosy, depending who you asked) than Dr. Wily, but he was also understanding and approachable. As they'd fallen into a comfortable routine, Bass became more open with him. Which is why Dr. Cossack knew he regularly visited Oma Wily. He'd already complained about the fact that Oma refused to talk about her 'real' family, and that the pictures of people he didn't know were showing up alongside his. The best Dr. Cossack had been able to do was reassure him that his picture was still there, and that the returning family did not mean he would be pushed away.
"Well, I…" Dr. Light hesitated. "I don't feel it's my place, if she doesn't want to share." He took a quick sip of the spiked cocoa and shook his head. "I like Ingrid, but he needs to be careful. She's better at acting right in order to get what she wants, but… oh, how do I say this? Wily didn't get his cruel streak from Frederick."
They fell into a silent lull, each contemplating this.
Then there was a loud, heavy thump from the ceiling— the battle outside must have been heating up— and both scientists startled.
Dr. Light set down his mug, rocking back and forth to get the momentum to get up from the couch. He headed into the laboratory proper and called Mega Man on the com.
"Hello Dr. Light!"
In the background they could hear shrieks of joy and cries of dismay.
"Death to the opposition!" Bass shouted from a distance, and that was followed by a wet muffled 'fwump' as he nailed Mega Man's helmet with a well-aimed snowball.
"Hey! Quit it! I'm on the com with Dr. Light!"
"No rules!"
"No rules!" This time from Break Man. Seconds later he screamed. "Agh! Roll how could you!?"
"No rules!" Roll said in agreement.
"About that. Please stay off the roof, I'm not sure how well it can withstand all this horsing around."
"One rule!" Mega Man was panting, and they could make out the sound of snow crunching as he laboriously made his way closer to the others, and the swish as he waved his free hand over his head. "Dr. Light says stay off the roof!"
"Awww!"
"No problem, Dr. Light," he said into the com. "I'll make sure they comply." Then, in a deep, menacing tone, he jokingly added, "One way or another."
The call cut off, and Dr. Light heaved a sigh.
Outside, Mega Man and Break Man had started wrestling with each other when a massive 'snowboulder' came flying towards them. Under normal circumstances they could've dodged it, but in the waist-high snow they were doomed.
The fact that Bass had packed a snowball almost as large as himself was not surprising. The fact it stayed in one piece even when launched into the air, that was a surprise. As they struggled out from under the heap of snow, Mega Man instinctively gave Break Man a hand, hauling him to his feet. They exchanged a look, an unspoken agreement formed between them. Then they split up.
Since Mega Man was the strongest of the four, he took on Bass, jumping down from a tree branch onto the unsuspecting Wily 'bot. He managed to pin him long enough for Break Man to come charging in, carrying their own comically large 'snowboulder' over his head. At the last possible second Mega Man let go and flipped back into the tree, as Break Man took a running leap and dunked it.
But alliances are short lived in a free-for-all, and not ten minutes later Mega Man had teamed up with Bass against Break Man and Roll.
- A/N: Sheral, Club Zero © Mandi Paugh
- The snow scene is a call back to the snowstorm prologue of 'Things Trivial and Cherished', which is still my favorite scene in this series. The snowball fight was inspired by Sura's incredible fanart (her tumblr account is 's-uranet' and you can find this under the tag "secret-santa-2017"). I've been looking forward to posting these two scenes for a while. :)
