Chapter 2: The Trek Out

Disclaimer: I do not own Mega Man or Bass.

Despite Dr. Light's trust in Bass keeping his part of the bargain, most of the coalition forces in the base were cautious and immediately against the idea of having Bass join them. It wasn't his previous alliance against Dr. Wiley, that was easily ruled out by the many times that Bass had betrayed Wiley or went against his creator. That was the main problem that everyone had with Bass, he was self serving and only worked for himself, caring only about getting stronger. Despite these drawbacks that Roll would often see in him, she could tell that he had his own sense of right and wrong, even if he kept up his loner image. Bass wasn't evil, he was just not good at the same time, he was a middle ground robot with a heart that was slowly being eaten up by jealousy and envy, but there was still a bit of light in the gloom and despair. Or at least that was what Roll saw in him, which wasn't that much different from Rock's thoughts on him, he just had a less romantic approach to him.

"I hope you're not as useless as you were when we last met," said Bass as he walked off, remembering that when he was fighting King alongside Mega Man she had served as a comm. Operator, giving bits of information to them.

"I was adjusted to combat for your information," retorted Roll with her puffed cheeks that she had gotten from a puffer fish, or that was what Rock said whenever he teased her. "I can hold my own in a fight. Besides, you're going to need me unless you like searching through the lab and probably overlooking that item that you're supposed to get."

"Fine, just don't slow me down or get captured," said Bass as he walked to the teleportation room that would put him close to the lab, but due to the kinks caused by jamming, they couldn't be teleported straight to the lab.

"This one of the most annoying things I ever did," muttered Bass as he stepped on the circle and waited for Roll to step on there as well before they were teleported away into god knows where.

"So I am hearing from you mouth, that you came running back after Bass just blew those little blades of yours," asked the large robot with gold armor and sterling silver boots that had a shine to them. His helmet had a crescent on it that was held up by two golden posts and his armor was centered on a small x that glowed slightly every few seconds. "I thought you were a might warrior who fought Megaman himself, but now you're telling me that you can't defeat a simple defective robot of Wiley's. He's been fighting too long to be at full power and I doubt he could have found a research station in the mean time."

"He was Wiley's second best creation, his first being Lord Adonus," replied the cowering Metal Man as he tried backing up from the towering robot, but he found himself lifted up. "Please, Golden Man, don't scrap me! I'll get it right this time, just give me another chance!"

"Fine but this is your last chance and you had better at least die honorably of your going to wish you did," threatened the robot named Golden Man.

"Yes sir!"

Bass took a minute to look around the quiet and calm of the barren wasteland that he was now standing in, a place that had once been a bustling city alive with people. The only part of that city was a place where humans were put on to act their normal lives while under the control of the ruthless Adonus. He could imagine that it was hard containing a bunch of tired and scared humans in one area, but he would worry about it when he had the chance, right now he had other things on his mind like getting that upgrade that Dr. Light had planned for him. Beside him was the helper robot that they had sent along, Roll, the sister of his greatest enemy, Mega Man. It was odd that for once she was helping him out, but then again, he was helping Dr. Light out, the enemy of his creator forming an alliance with him.

It was very odd and strange, but Bass had broken ties with Dr. Wiley a long time ago when he started putting most of his focus on his new invention and sent Bass on missions just to appease him. Bass had no problems with destroying his own creator, it would be the kindest thing he had ever done for that failure of a scientist and it would only make sure that he could stop looking over his back. The biggest mistake Wiley ever made with Bass was giving him a survival chip that made sure that he would always seek survival over anything else in the situation of combat and it left the choice of deeming a situation a combat situation to Bass. Naturally, Bass had seen all of interactions with Wiley as one big combat situation and so he was able to justify doing anything to Wiley, even turning him into nothing more than a vegetable, a fate worse than death.

"How far from the lab are we," asked Bass as he looked around and then sent Treble out to scout ahead so he wouldn't be caught by surprise, he hated that most of all.

"From the land formations around here I calculate five kilometers," replied Roll as she lugged around her five pound buster rifle, the weapon feeling as light as a small baby to her.

"That's bad, hell, that's a damn travesty right now when we have to travel over five kilometers out in the open on a battle field," cursed Bass as he leaned against the rubble that was providing cover for the north position. "Alright, I want you to run across the clearing, this will help me see if there is any body from the north."

"So you want me to just rush into danger," asked Roll, a bit pissed at Bass's admitting that she was basically nothing more to him than an expendable object.

"Right now it's not as dangerous since they don't know we're here yet and when they do know we're here it will be too late because you'll be on the other side and I'll fire at all the ones who fire at you."

"Okay, but you better be right," said Roll as she crouched down into a position for running and as soon as Bass started to tell her to go she was off like a rabbit at a dog track.

A few shots hit the ground right near where she had been before and it was too her surprise that Bass immediately, without hesitation, shot and destroyed all of the robots that had been shooting. Taking cover from the other lines of fire that had lit up in response, Roll blindly fired into the fray, hoping that she would hit something, but instead of getting what she wanted, which was an end to the shooting, she only received more retaliation fire. With the each shot came another hole into the rubble that she had taken cover behind and she waited for a pause in between firing, running out of the rubble until the pause came while taking her time to let out a burst or two at the offending robots. Before she could reach her new cover, however, two metal blades whizzed right past her ace and destroyed what was left of safe cover.

"Just where do you think you're going there, little missy," asked the same arrogant voice that had accosted her before when she and Dr. Light had escaped from the wreckage of the aircraft.

"Metal Man, get out of my way," said Roll as she aimed her rifle at the robot and bit down the urge to curse as two robots got in front of Metal Man. "Coward, hiding behind your own subordinates."

"I'm sorry if you can't get anyone loyal enough to do that, but if you join me then I'll be loyal to you," replied Metal Man as he prepared to throw another metal blade when the two robots in front of him were both destroyed in a single shot. "Damn you, this time I'm going to cut your limbs off!"

"I'd love to see a third rate Robot Master such as yourself try anything of that type," said Bass, unaffected by the anger that was radiating out of the voice of the robot. "Weak ones like you can only be brave when you have back up units with you, but right now you have no one to back you up and without them you've just lost the balls to face me."

"To hell with you, Bass," shouted Metal Man as he threw two metal disks at Bass who just simply jumped over them and then pointed his own weapon at the robot. "You know, I've already copied that ability of yours. Let's see how you handle a taste of your own weapon."

To say that Bass beat Metal Man would have been an understatement to that simple fact that Bass massacred Metal Man in the most heinous way possible. He shot out the same metal disks that were Metal Man's specialty and before Metal Man could react to it, his limbs were cut off by the metal disks leaving him little more than a worthless piece of metal. All of his sensory systems were registering the damage on such a scale that it could be interpreted as pain with the same intensity as a human would feel. Bass then used his buster to destroy the spare limbs that were lying on the ground, noting each one as he blew it apart.

"Some never learn and are doomed to make the mistakes that will ruin their lives," said Bass as he walked away from the robot without even turning back to look at him. "You never learned and so now you are doomed with the consequences that have been received by you."

"Please, either you end it or I die with shame," begged Metal Man, for the first time fearing that what the Robot Master before him held in his hands, wasn't the mercy of destruction, but the agonizing punishment of life in his current condition. Metal Man couldn't stand it.

"Fine then," was Bass's reply and then he blew a hole in Metal's Mans chest, ripping through the main terminals and killing Metal Man.