"Family is designed with blood, but forged with friendships"

-Heather Kijin

Dr. Wily eventually finished off his bottle of wine and stumbled into his bedroom to fall asleep. Rhythm and Bass remained in the living room and the two finished up their E-tanks.

S-so I'm going to be s-staying here for a while?

Bass shook his head "Nope, not tonight. Let's gather your things up, I'll take you to my hideout."

Bass then got out of the sofa and Rhythm followed him into the lab. Rhythm's walkman was on the workbench along with a bunch of tapes.

"Alright, I gotta go to the junk room to get a bag for all this." Bass spoke before he turned to Rhythm "Hey bro, where's your cane?"

Rhythm shrugged, and Bass shrugged back as he made his way to the junk room. Rhythm sat alone in the lab on the stool that Dr. Light sat in earlier. As he waited, he noticed a metal flap with the words "Pull Up" written on it. Curious, Rhythm lifted up the flap and noticed a key pad underneath it along with a optical scanner.

He then noticed that there was a recessed part of the wall that was uneven with the rest of the lab. Rhythm stood and made his way up to the recessed wall and placed his ear against it in hopes of hearing something.

While the noise was already muffled by the rain that was falling outside, Rhythm did hear something behind the wall. A soft pumping, similar to a heart beat.

"Rhythm?!" Bass shouted, startling Rhythm.

AHH! I-I'm sorry b-bro! I was just-

"Easy! Easy! Easy!" Bass spoke in a comforting tone as he approached and hugged Rhythm "Don't be scared."

S-sorry…I just n-noticed the panel and I-

"It's the keypad for Wily's private lab…" Bass explained.

H-his p-private lab?

Bass nodded "Yes, I was built in there but he's changed the passcode and added the optical scanner. I can't get in."

Oh… what's i-inside?

Bass shrugged "I have no idea… probably some project that he doesn't want anyone to know about…"

Bass sat Rhythm onto the work table and put a bunch of tapes in a large bag made of tarp material. He also found a newer wooden cane and gave it to Rhythm.

"I'll bring the rest of your music over another time, let's go."

Rhythm nodded and hopped off the table to follow his brother to the front door. The rain had really began to pour, so Bass rushed to the trunk of his car and tossed the tapes into the backseat before he returned to pick Rhythm up and place him in the passenger's seat.

"At least it'll cure some of your cabin fever" Bass joked.

Rhythm smiled as Bass turned on the engine of his car and began driving through the rainstorm. As they traveled, Rhythm reached into the backseat and picked out a tape to put into the car's player.

"Ooh you make me live
Whatever this world can give to me
It's you you're all I see
Ooh you make me live now honey
Ooh you make me live"

After about twenty minutes of hovering through the air, Rhythm could make out the faint shape of a small rectangle located in the middle of nowhere. As the vehicle descended, Rhythm saw that it was a small house that had a detached garage alongside it.

I-Is that your h-hideout?

Bass nodded "Yep, not the classiest place but it's better than Dr. Dumbass's home."

The car landed in front of the front door, and Bass rushed in to grab an umbrella from inside to keep Rhythm dry. He assisted Rhythm inside and sat him on his desk chair.

The place was like a studio apartment. Upon entering, the door to the bathroom was on the immediate right. On the immediate left was a closet that also had the washer and dryer inside. Passing through the small hallway had the kitchen rested up against the wall where the bathroom was. It was a full kitchen and had a small dining counter. A desk was next to the closet, built into the wall and had a PC and a large TV attached to the wall and faced the couch.

"I hope you don't mind sleeping on the fold out" Bass spoke as he folded out the sofa into a queen bed "The sheets are in my room, follow me."

The door to Bass's room was parallel to the front door, practically lining up perfectly. There was also a window that was blocked by folding blinds which allowed for the two areas to be completely private if desired.

Rhythm followed Bass inside and saw his closet and dresser in the bedroom. The bed was king sized, and the farthest wall had a curtain that covered up the window that led to the patio. On the doors of the closet were wanted posters of Bass and a copy of his blueprint.

As Rhythm entered, he heard the breathing of a beastly creature inside the room.

I-Is that T-Treble I hear?

Out of Rhythm's view was a dog bed, in which a purple wolf robot got up and hopped on to the bed. Treble starred at Rhythm with his red eyes and tilted his head in confusion.

"Easy boy…" Bass spoke as he patted Treble's head "Rhythm here is a friend…he'll be staying with us for a while."

Treble stepped forward and sniffed Rhythm before licking his hand. In gratitude, Rhythm scratched behind Treble's ear which made the robo-wolf wag his tail.

Bass chuckled "You two will get along fine…"

Treble nodded, but then growled a bit at Bass.

"Right, I've been gone for a while…I'll feed you."

Treble let out a light bark and followed Bass and Rhythm back into the living space. Rhythm began preparing the sheets and pillows for bed as Bass opened up a can of E before opening the divider and the curtain to the patio.

Bass undressed out of his armor as Rhythm began to crawl into the sofa bed.

T-Thank you Bass.

"For…for what exactly?" Bass asked as he removed his shoulder pads.

For e-everything… if it wasn't for you, I'd never find my f-father, find out who k-killed me, nor find a b-brother…y-you're my hero.

Bass smiled as he walked over to Rhythm and planted a soft kiss on Rhythm's forehead.

"You're my hero too…you've saved this scoundrel from living a wasteful life."

Bass finished undressing, laid down in his bed, and then turned off the lights in the hide out.

"Good night Rhythm."

Good n-night Bass. Sweet d-dreams.

As the two fell asleep, a lone figure watched the two from outside of Bass's hideout. The figure adjusted his yellow scarf as he admired the two.

"Heh, you two really do treat each other like brothers" He said with a smile. "Good night Bass, good night Rhythm, and sweet dreams… my Fortunato."

It was a dark and stormy night. The lightning struck in repeated intervals and helped a phoenix rise from the ashes and unearth the hidden capabilities of those he encountered, and transformed the beliefs that were once held so tightly.

In pace requiescat.

The End.