A/N: I had some spare time this weekend, so I bring you guys a super early update.
~Chapter 20~
"What's the matter, Bass?! You're awfully quiet!" The gang leader called up in his direction in a mocking tone.
The cloaked Navi said nothing for a few more moments, still glaring intently down at him.
"I'm not in the mood for your pathetic nonsense today, gnat!" He yelled, gritting his teeth and raising both of his arms from inside his cloak in a threatening gesture and gathering dark energy in both of his hands, "I said, let the delivery girl go."
But the gang leader simply smiled darkly at his demand.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Black Shadow!" He said, then broke into a loud laugh again, "And if you don't want her to get hurt, I suggest you-"
He suddenly stopped talking as he noticed Bass was gone.
Then, his eyes widened in terror, as the cloaked Navi suddenly appeared behind the NetNavi holding Lei. In a matter of seconds, Bass managed to transform his right hand into a large blade and slice the large NetNavi's head clean off, leaving all gang members around in a state of complete shock.
Losing her balance as the large hands grabbing her suddenly disintegrated, Lei fell to her knees. She processed what had just happened and turned her head to look up at the cloaked Navi behind her.
But Bass didn't return her gaze.
"Get out of here, you'll only distract me." He told her, his voice low but firm, and his red eyes fixed on his enemy. Then, he vanished from where he was to stand on the ground between her and the gang leader, who was still frozen in shock.
Lei said nothing as she turned her head to now stare at his back as he stood before her.
'He just saved me.. Again..' She thought to herself, her expression troubled.
"What the fuck are you waiting for?! Leave, now!" He suddenly yelled, breaking her out of her thoughts while making her flinch.
Lei quickly floated to her feet, then away from the place, fast.
She turned her head back and saw that in a matter of seconds, Bass was already fighting nearly every NetNavi present.
But something wasn't right.
She stopped as she turned fully around and hid behind the nearest pile of rocks.
Bass was fighting.. Different.. He was suddenly a lot slower than just a minute ago, as if..
Lei's blue eyes suddenly widened as his cloak moved to reveal his body.
His injuries from the fight with MegaMan, followed by these same gang members NetNavis haven't completely healed yet.
Her expression turned worried as she bit her lower lip.
'Bass.. I cant leave.. I'm sorry. I just can't.' She thought to herself, clenching her hands into fists.
She couldn't ever leave him behind. Not like that.. Not after knowing he's fighting while still recovering.
"You goddamn asshole!" The gang leader shouted, charging at him with a swift punch, only to miss him completely. Bass quickly took the opportunity and sliced the large, metal Navi's hand.
The leader yelled in pain as he crashed to the ground, holding his now quickly dissolving arm.
"Boss..!" The members all around them called in disbelief as they started charging at the cloaked Navi in anger.
Bass' expression turned dark.
"I'm through with this.. With all of you pieces of trash.. With everyone!" He yelled, then gathered a large amount of purple energy in both of his hands, and released dozens of dark energy wheels, successfully hitting nearly every NetNavi who came in his way, their bodies falling all around him, slowly dissolving into the air.
Bass landed in front of the leader still on the ground, his right hand shifting once again into a blade.
"It's time to spare the CyberWorld of your pathetic existence." He spat down at him, his red eyes showing no mercy. Then, with a swift movement he raised his arm and stabbed him, his scream fading with his body as he quickly dissolved into the air.
Still staring wide eyed at everything that was happening, Lei was in shock at how efficiently Bass dealt with the situation despite still suffering from his injuries. But her expression quickly shifted to a worried one as she watched the cloaked Navi suddenly drop to his knees, using his right hand to maintain his balance.
Bass wasn't in a good shape.
Realizing this fact, one of the few NetNavis who stayed behind suddenly charged at him, aiming his buster down at his direction.
Lei's blue eyes widened.
Painful memories of her own injuries suddenly shot through her mind. Her right leg and arm were already long healed, but the places where she got hit suddenly burned, reminding her of what it felt like to literally fade into nothing.
She knew that pain. And she knew she had to prevent it.
She just couldn't let him get hit by that shot.
Her body moved on it's own as she jumped out of her hiding place and flew fast in their direction, managing to successfully put herself between him and and the gang Navi in the air above him in time.
"STOP!" She yelled, looking up at the Navi holding his buster charged and ready, surprising him so much he held back his attack for a few moments.
Her blue eyes widened as she suddenly recognized who he was.
The NetNavi above her was the one Bass almost deleted when they first met. The one she urged to plug out so that he won't get hurt.
And she could tell from his expression that he remembered her as well.
"Move away, delivery girl!" He demanded, his buster still aimed at her direction, "I mean it!"
Lei's expression turned determined as her strong gaze didn't waver.
She won't ever move. Never.
Bass gritted his teeth as he suddenly rose to his feet and grabbed the female Navi's waist, easily throwing her over his left shoulder with a swift movement, making her cry in surprise and pure confusion as he used his left hand to hold her down firmly so that she won't move. He then quickly raised his free hand at the gang member in the air and fired a small, but fast energy shot at his direction, using this to distract him as he took the opportunity to fly away from the place fast, with Lei still in his grip.
"Bass! Put me down!" She cried upside down, her long hair falling down at his feet and both her arms trapped under his strong one as he held her fixed in place.
'What in the world is he thinking..?!' She thought to herself, utterly confused at his actions.
But the cloaked Navi didn't answer her, and only picked up his speed in an unknown direction, until he suddenly lowered himself to the ground at a rocky area Lei had never seen before, far from where they had just been.
As soon as the soles of his shoes came in contact with the ground below him, he quickly put the struggling girl back down at her feet.
Lifting her puzzled gaze to him, she opened her mouth to say something, but his expression made all of the words escape from her mouth.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Bass suddenly yelled at her, causing Lei to step back a bit.
He was angry. Really, really angry.
He stepped closer to her, making her flinch, his red eyes glaring daggers, and his intense stare pinning her down.
She had never, ever seen him this angry before.
"Do you really think that I need your help?" He asked with malice in his voice, his red eyes staring into her blue ones so intently, it made her shiver, "I am UnderNet's most feared NetNavi. I have won against and killed most fools who even dared to bother me, and I have suffered far worse injuries than that damned, pitiful attack that trash of a Navi was about to fire at me, and survived."
Lei said nothing and only stared up at him with a pained expression.
"I endured hell alone and I'm still standing. Why the fuck did you think I would even need your help to begin with?!" His voice was loud and his expression furious.
She swallowed hard, then breathed deep.
"I'm sorry.. But I just couldn't let that hit you-" She didn't even manage to finish her sentence before he cut into her words;
"Are you a complete idiot? I already told you, that attack would have been nothing for me." He narrowed his eyes at her, "Or are you acting based on a different motive entirely?"
Lei's brow furrowed.
"What are you talking about..?" She asked.
He stepped even closer to her, causing her to retreat one last time, as her back hit against the rocky wall behind her.
She was trapped.
"Don't play dumb with me." He said, his voice low and his smile dark, "You're pitying me."
Lei's blue eyes widened at his words.
She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
'Pitying..?' She ran them through her mind again, '..Why would he even think that..?'
Her expression turned sad.
"I'm not pitying you." She said with a soft, quiet voice, her pleading blue eyes fixed on him.
Bass gritted his teeth and growled, as his red eyes widened in anger.
"Then why?! Why did you do it? Why do you bother with me? Telling me you're 'curious' about me, trying to understand me, Getting close to me..! What is the purpose of all that you're doing?!"
He was so close now, she could feel his breath on her face.
"I was fine on my own! I didn't need all these useless thoughts.. This pathetic dependency.. this pitiful desire..! All turning me into a goddamn fool..!"
She kept quiet, not breaking his eye contact for even a second.
"Answer me!" He demanded, his voice was so loud he was practically yelling, and his intense red eyes boring into her.
Lei knew why.
She knew exactly why she bothered with him, why she couldn't get his expression out of her head, why she hugged him, why she worried for his sake, why she risked her life to save him.. And why he was simply so important to her.
The tension was impossibly thick, and Bass was standing so close, there was literally no other way out for her.
She blinked, still staring up at him, as she felt the blush quickly spread through her face.
Then, Lei finally opened her mouth;
"I love you-"
Barely even letting her finish her words, Bass quickly closed the small gap between them, crashing his mouth down onto hers, while wrapping both of his arms firmly around her waist and upper back.
Lei moved her hands up to his chest on both sides of his scarred Navi symbol, grabbing onto his cloak and gently burying her fingers into it, as she closed her eyes and returned his kiss.
It felt as if Bass was pouring his entire self into it - rough and forceful, yet incredibly passionate. As if he had just discovered something completely new that he couldn't get enough of. She could feel his strong grip tighten around her as he pulled her closer against him, forcing her to tilt her head so he could deepen the kiss even more. It made her dizzy and weak at her knees, yet she also felt something she had never did before;
As if they were now somehow finally connected.
Suddenly opening his eyes and realizing what he was doing, Bass abruptly broke the kiss and pulled away from Lei all at once, then quickly turned his back at her.
Catching her breath, The female Navi slowly opened her blue eyes as she stared at him with a puzzled expression.
"You need to go.." He suddenly said between breaths, still facing away from her, "Go back to NetCity.. and never come back here." His voice was firm and demanding.
Confused, Lei kept silent.
Why wasn't he looking at her..?
She slowly stepped forward until she was right behind him. She waited for him to turn around, yet the cloaked Navi still wouldn't look at her direction.
'What's with him?' She thought to herself as she desperately tried to get a clear look of his face.
Unfortunately for Lei, Bass quickly lifted both of his arms to cover it.
"Don't look at me!" He suddenly raised his voice, making her flinch with surprise.
Moving to stand right in front of the cloaked Navi, Lei simply stared up at him she noticed him tightening his arms around himself, leaving no spaces for her to see anything through them.
But the more he covered from her the more interested she got.
She couldn't ignore the strong urge. She didn't even want to. She had to see his expression.
Moving her own arms up, Lei gently grabbed his large hands with both of her small ones and slowly lowered them to reveal his face.
Gritting his teeth down at her, Bass was completely red, and his expression was pure frustration at the discomfort of the situation he was in. Yet surprisingly, he didn't struggle.
Lei stared up at him for a few moments and blinked as she felt her own face quickly get equally flushed.
Neither of them spoke for the longest time.
Then, still without saying a word, she slowly moved Bass' arms away to hover at both of her sides, as she lifted her hands to gently cup his face in her palms, making him flinch at her touch.
"I love you, Bass." She whispered to him as she moved up, closing the small gap between them and kissing him again and again, soft and short kisses, one after the other, each making his knees weaker and weaker, causing him to step backwards, until eventually his legs completely gave up on him, making him fall down against the rocky wall behind him into a sitting position, causing the female Navi to lose her balance together with him.
Lei stopped as she moved back a bit, now sitting on the ground in front of him with her knees bent and legs to one side, her hands resting in her lap.
Breathing heavy and completely flushed red, both Navis simply stared at each other in silence for a good minute.
"Why.. Did you even.. Come here..?" He suddenly asked, still catching his breath.
Lei stared at him for a few moments.
"I wanted.. to see you.." She answered.
Bass narrowed his eyes at the girl sitting in front of him and took a few more moments to settle his breathing.
"Your pathetic friend told me to stay away from you." He said.
Lei went silent at his words for a while as her brow furrowed.
"Dean only meant well.. You didn't have to attack him." She said, crossing her arms at the cloaked Navi.
His mouth broke into a mocking smile.
"Hmph." He started, his expression turning displeased, "That fool was lucky that I didn't kill him."
The female Navi simply stared at him, her mouth forming a small pout.
She figured Bass probably wouldn't admit the fact that he may have gone overboard, and her expression softened.
"Besides," She started, lowering her hands back to rest on her lap, "There's no way I'd ever want to stop seeing you."
They only stared at each other for a few more moments.
Suddenly noticing it was already late, Lei reached for her communication device, only to be reminded that the small thing did not exist anymore, causing her hand to stop mid-way.
She blinked.
'Oh, right.' She thought to herself, remembering that she was now basically completely cut from anything and anyone.
Confused, Bass only stared at her actions in silence.
Noticing his expression, Lei smiled.
"Those guys just now destroyed my communication device, so it's just you and me now." She explained.
The cloaked Navi kept silent for a few more moments, then shifted his red eyes away from her.
"I'll take you back." He suddenly said.
Lei pondered his offer for a while.
'I haven't slept at all last night, and after everything that's happened I'm too tired to even move anymore..' She thought to herself.
"Maybe I'll just stay here with you for the night." She answered, causing his red eyes to widen and turn back at her direction all at once.
Lei giggled at his reaction.
"Would that be okay?" She asked, her large blue eyes fixed on him.
Bass quickly buried the lower part of his face behind his cloak.
'This girl will be the end of me..' He thought to himself, feeling the blush once again quickly cover his whole face.
A/N: Fluff overload! ^^
This is probably one of my favorite chapters, (For obvious reasons) but also because I just love writing angsty Bass, and big build ups in general, especially characters backed into a corner, making it impossible for them to get away without spilling the beans. *Evil laugh*
Plus Bass totally obliterated some bad guys and that's always fun to write.
Only 1 more chapter to go! Can't believe we're practically done with this story. (With 3,500 views I'm totally okay with it.)
I hope you've enjoyed this chapter ;) Please review! ^^