CHAPTER 32

-"SEARCH ORDERS FROM ERICK! 'GET THE ROBOT NAMED ZERO!'"-

RED CAT GANG's SECRET BASE – INSIDE ERICK'S DARK CHAMBER:

The cameras that Erick Genryusai had placed all over Nerima were no longer enough. He needed something that would truly act as his eyes and ears throughout Japan (and even the world if necessary!), so that the RED CATS and Wily's bots could focus more on getting the Phoenix Stone. A new plan began to formulate in Erick's head.

At first, he was thinking of contacting Bison and asking for the use of his Monitior Cyborgs (from Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie). But they were only good for collecting data; in actual combat, they were rather worthless.

Thus, Erick decided to create his own special spy robot. More than just a simple Monitior Cyborg, it would not only collect data, but it could also be used in combat as well. And best of all, it would be created from DVL Cells! With the Cells' ability to self-multiply, Erick could mass-produce as many of these spies as he needed and send them anywhere in the world.

Now, all he needed was the combat data to program it.

Fortunately, there happened to be those two warriors from the future, X and Zero. Erick could care less about X, but Zero intrigued him.

Why would Erick be interested in Zero?

Hmmm…this Zero seems to possess a power that's VERY similar to my Cells. I must investigate more on this. But for now, I'll settle for his battle data! Aloud, Erick summons Delia. "Delia."

From out of the shadows, Delia appears. "Yes, darling?"

"Summon Bass and Onekomaru. I want them to take along some of our soldiers and personally "welcome" our guests from the future. Make sure Onekomaru brings the "special" equipment as well."

"Right away, darling."

LATE AFTERNOON; IN THE WOODS OUTSIDE NERIMA:

X and Zero are standing outside a cave where they've just hid the time machine. They are discussing how to best go about their mission.

X asks Zero, "So where exactly should we begin our search?"

Zero considers that, then says, "Well, X, these Cells are kinda like the Sigma Virus, so they can't be seen or analyzed correctly like other data. We have to feel their evil energy. That's the only way to find them, and their creator "Deimos".

"I see... OK, let's do it."

"Right. We'll start by checking the area surrounding Nerima first, and…." Zero hears something moving. "Huh?"

X and Zero begin to hear noises of people moving in the forest around them. They start to back cautiously toward the cave. Suddenly there is heavy footfall behind them. They turn around and see that they are surrounded by soldiers!

"NI!" a RED CAT Soldier yells.

All around them, X and Zero see nothing but soldiers. They are extremely fierce and formidable, if rather silly, in appearance, wearing red Chinese-style military uniforms with ridiculous cat ears. All of them are "Ni-ing" fiercely. "NI! NI! NI!"

X asks, "Who are you?"

The soldier repliers, "We are all soldiers! NI!"

Zero blinks. "Ni"? I've never heard of such an army.

"We are all the same!"

X is confused. "No, really, who ARE you?

"We are the keepers of the holy words. NI ... PING! And Neee... OW!! You should just remember that!

"Oookay….I think you've already made your point!" a voice says, interrupting the RED CAT Soldier's speech.

"Lord Bass!" all of the RED CAT Soldiers gasp.

X and Zero look up to see another person standing on a large tree branch hanging above them. He is a robot wearing black armor and a helmet with large gold-trimmed fins on each side. Accompanying him is a fierce-looking, wolf-like creature with purple armor. It's Bass and Treble! Looking down at the large group below, Bass smiles evilly while Treble growls at X and Zero softly, yet loud enough to startle the two Hunters. "Grrrr….!!"

A little nervous, X points at Bass. "Now who's this guy?"

Zero says in reply, "I dunno, X; he must be the leader of this bunch of loonies." As he looks at Bass, he thinks, That's funny… where have I seen that guy before?

Bass address the Maverick Hunters with mock-cheerfulness, sarcasm obvious in his voice. "Well, well, what do we have here? Two guys, who DON'T look like they're from around here, AND they're hanging out in the forest. Looks to me like you two are up to something!"

Zero asks, "And who might YOU be?"

Bass snaps at Zero, "Feh! Who I am ain't your concern. So just zip it, "Girly-Boy"! Trust me, you DON'T wanna lose your little ponytail right now!" He calms down, then continues, "Ahem…Y'know, I'll bet you're wondering what we're doing here, right? Well, we're the "welcome wagon"! Surely you have those where you guys come from?"

X thinks, Could they have figured out we're from the future? It can't be! How would they have known?

"Anyway, we heard you were coming, so we decided to throw a party, and YOU're our guests of honor, if you catch my drift…"

Zero catches on. "Hmm…sounds like fun, but we'll pass, OK?"

A RED CAT Soldier yells angrily at Zero, "NI!"

"WHOA! Hey, simmer down buddy!

Bass chuckles at the scene, then resumes, "And now, we come to "the big question": What are YOU doing here?"

Always the pacifist, X tries to reason with the soldiers. "Please, uh, "Strange Guys Who Say Ni!"... We're just tourists visiting Japan, and…"

Bass groans, "Tourists? Yeah, right! Whaddya take us for!?" I can't believe I'm gonna do this, but…Out loud, he yells, "NI!"

The RED CATS start Ni-ing! "NI! NI! NI!"

X jumps back, startled, and covers his ears. "Oh! OW! HEY! Stop it!"

The RED CATS chant louder, with feeling! "NI! NI! NI!"

As he covers his ears from all that "Ni-ing"; Zero thinks, These weird soldiers and this technique of theirs, yelling "NI!" at us…what kind of attack is that? These guys must be masters of psychological warfare, or they're just lazy and lifted it from some old movie! Exasperated, he can't take it anymore. "Yeesh! Enough already! That's annoying!"

Bass motions for everyone to cease "Ni-ing". "OK, that's enough, fellas." Then, to X and Zero, he threatens, "Now, you'd better tell us what you're doing here, or we'll say "Ni!" again!"

RED CAT Soldier #102 fervently yells, "NI!"

"SHADDUP!" Bass roars; the poor frightened solider does as he's told! Once more to X and Zero, he asks, "Think fast, guys! What's it gonna be?"

X turns to Zero, whispers, "Okay, we have a quick decision to make. Do we fight or surrender?"

Zero whispers back, without hesitation, "We fight, of course!"

"Why, Zero? We have no chance of winning against such odds."

Zero snorts, "To give up now, before our mission has even begun, would be ridiculous. Besides, they'll only capture us if we lose. They wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to find us, if they intended to kill us. And, call it a hunch, but I think these guys are working for "you-know-who"."

"We can't let them capture us, Zero. We're our world's only hope!"

Zero nods, "Okay." Out loud, to Bass and the RED CATS, he then says, "We choose the third option."

Bass says with anticipation, "And that would be…?"

"To fight you!"

Bass grins knowingly. "Feh! Figures you'd say that. You hero-types are SO predictable. Don't say we didn't give you a chance, 'cause now it's too late! You're not gonna leave these woods ... alive!" To the soldiers, he orders, "GET 'EM!"

At that point, the RED CAT Soldiers charge at X and Zero. Switching to his X-Buster, X powers up enough energy for TWO charged shots! He aims his X-Buster and yells…

"DOUBLE BUSTER!"

X fires a charged shot at the enemies. Then with his left hand (!), he takes the leftover energy and punches forward throwing another blast! The two shots spiral toward the RED CATS until they become one large blast! It strikes, throwing the soldiers back hard! OUCH!

"UWAAAAHHH!!!" the RED CAT Soldiers shriek as they're hit.

"Whew!" X turns to check on his partner. "How're you doing over there, Zero?"

Zero levels his right arm at the soldiers and it changes into his Z-Buster. From it, he starts launching rapid-fire energy spheres into the troopers. The spheres explode like grenades, sending more RED CAT Soldiers flying in every direction.

"Me? Great, just great! These guys aren't too tough, but man, they're persistent!" Zero fires off another round of Z-Buster shots.

Now that they've cleared a space between them and their enemies, X and Zero switch from their Busters and draw out their Z-Sabers. The remaining RED CATS press their attack. Using their Sabers, they fight defensively, deflecting their enemies' weapons. Although the RED CAT Soldiers are strong fighters, they're no match for X and Zero and soon the battle turns in their favor.

A few yards away from the scene, was an ordinary-looking van, well, except for the radar dish mounted on top of it. Furthermore, the dish had a strange crystal orb attached to it…. I wonder what it's for?

Anyway, a RED CAT Soldier is behind the wheel of the van. Seated behind him at an array of computers, recording devices, and monitoring equipment is Onekomaru! The crafty feline was using the van's concealed cameras, sensors, and that strange radar-mounted crystal orb (!) to record visual data on the battle and collect information on X and Zero to send back to Erick.

Onekomaru has just witnessed X and Zero beating the soldiers, and needless to say, he's shocked! "ACK! They just took out our guys like they were nothin'!" He picks up a handset radio and calls Erick. "Onekomaru to Lord Erick! Hope you're watchin', 'cause we got big trouble here!"

Erick's voice responds over the radio: Relax, Onekomaru. You just keep collecting data on Zero. I'll have Bass deal with X.

Onekomaru gulps, "I'm really getting' a bad feeling about this... I wonder why Lord Erick wants to know so much about this guy?"

Hey! Less talking, more filming, got it?

"ACK! Yes, sir!"

MEANWHILE, INSIDE ERICK'S DARK CHAMBER:

Erick is sitting on his throne, watching the battle on a large screen. He's munching on some popcorn. What does he think he's watching, a TV show?

Erick thinks, pleasantly entertained, Good show! It's everything live TV should be! Entertaining, yes…but also quite educational.

He then presses a button on the throne. Several video screens appear in thin air, displaying all sorts of data on Megaman X and Zero…especially Zero.

Onekomaru's special monitoring equipment is recording such delicious data! Zero is just as strong as I hoped he'd be. But this X… he's not someone we should underestimate. He could pose problems for us. And when they're fighting as a team like this, our forces can't stand up to them. So, then… Let's kick things up a notch.Erick then gets on the radio and calls… "Bass! Call in the second attack wave! Divide and conquer! NOW!"

AND NOW, BACK TO THE BATTLE:

Bass has answered Erick's call on his communicator. "Roger, Erick." He then yells to the soldiers, "Second attack wave, move NOW!"

You would think at this point, X and Zero would be faring well, seeing as they managed to beat down most of the RED CATS. But wouldn't you know it more soldiers have arrived! They join up with the remainder of the first attack wave and then rush the two Hunters. They are being steadily pushed back. Yet X and Zero continue to fight back, taking down the enemy with their impressive fighting skills.

Watching from that large tree branch, Bass frowns. These two robots, whoever they are, are making complete fools out of his troops. He decides he'd better get involved before things get out of hand. "Divide and conquer", Erick says…. Phooey! I'm gonna take down that "Girly-Boy" robot myself!

Just then Bass hears Erick's voice inside his head. Bass!

Bass grimaces, "ACK! Erick! Again with your mind-reading tricks!?"

Look, Bass, this is all a part of my plan. Let the troops handle Zero. If you really want to fight so badly, why don't you go play with his friend instead?

"But…! Oh, fine!"

Bass pulls out a small bomb and tosses it into the battlefield. Upon landing, it explodes, releasing a thick cloud of smoke. There was so much smoke so that neither X, Zero, or their enemies could see each other. Bass waits until the smoke begins to clear before making his next move; as it does, he can see the familiar form of X emerge…

Down below, X coughs from all that smoke. It's still thick in some areas, but he can barely make out the silhouettes of those weird soldiers. Yet something is amiss. Where is Zero?

"Cough, cough…!" X looks around. "Zero! Zero, where are you!"

But before he can search for his friend, a loud cry pierces the sky catching his attention.

"YO! Blue Boy! You're going nowhere! I've got you now! Let's play, shall we?" Bass leaps into the air. "GYAAAHHH!!"

Bass doesn't waste any time. He wants to snuff out this cheap Megaman look-alike and do it quickly, so he can go play with that other guy, the one called Zero. He dives in fast and hard, straight at X. X leaps up and Bass crash-lands into the ground with earth-shaking force. He'd been so confident that X wouldn't be able to get out of the way that he had fully committed himself to his diving charge from the sky. Consequently he landed so hard that he actually bounced off and crumbled to the ground. His vision swims and he has to shake off the impact, even as he stares stupidly at his surroundings in a vaguely accusatory fashion. Then he looks up. X, clinging from one of the trees, waves down at him.

Bass yells at X as he staggers to his feet, "What do you think you're doing?"

Megaman X answers, "Staying away from YOU, that's what!"

With a roar of indignation, Bass leaps up at him. The thrusters in his feet are powerful enough to carry him within reach ...except the agile blue robot has already vaulted out of the way, somersaulting to another tree opposite the one he hung from earlier. He clings there for a moment and then drops to the ground.

RED CAT Soldier #000 yells, "Lord Bass!"

Bass angrily responds, "HELLO! I'm a little BUSY right now!"

"Forgive me, my lord, but the other one is missing. He must have eluded us in the confusion!"

Great! Zero managed to escape! Megaman X thinks.

Bass sharply scolds, "Well, what are you standing around for? Rally our forces and find him you idiot! Don't let him get away, or Erick will have your heads!"

RED CAT Soldier #000 fearfully obeys, "Y-yes, Lord Bass, at once!" He then rallies the troops. "Men! Spread out, and…AAAKKK!!"

The soldier drops to the ground, dead. The other RED CATS draw back in fear!

Bass asks, "HEY! Who did that!?" He, X, and the soldiers look around in every direction.

"Where are you looking? I'm right here!"

Only a few feet away from the slain soldier, there's a brief flash of light, and Zero appears! He's in a striking lunge pose, his Z-Saber fully extended. He'd used the age-old Ninja techniques of stealth to sneak up and attack without being seen, taking out the RED CAT Soldier with a single slash of his saber. Quick. Deadly. Efficient. What else would you expect from the commander of Maverick Hunters' Special Unit 0, the "Shinobi Unit"?

X rejoices. "Zero!"

Zero runs over to join X. "Hey, X! Miss me?"

Bass yells at the RED CATS, "Idiots! Don't just stand there while he's dying!"

Just then, RED CAT Soldier #000 wakes up! "But… I'm not dead!"

The other RED CAT Soldiers can be heard saying, "Oh! He's okay! It's a miracle! What a relief!"

Bass sweatdrops. "Err… well… uh… Don't just stand there while he's mortally wounded!"

"I think he's getting better!" RED CAT Soldier #001 says as he tries to revive his slain comrade.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: OK, I THINK everybody knows what's gonna happen next, so…]

Bass, visibly annoyed by this running gag, charges up his Buster and shoots the soldier!

"ARGH!" RED CAT Soldier #000 dies.

The other RED CAT Soldiers mourn over their comrade, "OH! HE'S DIED!"

X and Zero, however, are shocked. Bass has just killed one of his own men!

Bass, having dealt with the disposable soldier, continues, "Now, then…as I was saying, don't just stand there! Get Zero NOW!"

And so, the RED CAT Soldiers attack Zero, vowing revenge for their fallen comrade! X is about to help him, but Bass stands in his way again!

"HEY! We're not through playing! Fight ME!" Bass fires his Buster at X. X fires back with a charged X-Buster shot. The two blasts cancel each other out.

X wonders, shouting, "Hey! Why must I fight you?"

"SHADDUP! After I defeat you, I'm going after your pal! You just gonna stand there and let me beat the crap outta you or are you gonna fight!" Bass fires another blast.

X dodges it. "Stop it! There's no need to fight! All it does is cause more pain!"

"Yeah! To YOU!" This guy sounds way too much like Megaman! If there's one thing that I hate more than Megaman, it's a stupid Megaman-wannabe! I am SO going to enjoy this!

Bass raises his Buster, and yells, "SPEED BUSTER!!"

Using his Buster arm like a machine gun, Bass attacks X with rapid-fire shots, continuously firing at him leaving no chance for X to counterattack. X's armor absorbs most of the damage from the shots. He doesn't know how long he can hold out, and he's getting a bit tired of Bass already, so…

"That's enough!!" X lets off a charged blast, knocking Bass back so hard that it sends him crashing into another tree! OUCH!

Stunned, hurt, Bass groans, "Uuugghh…. I felt that. Huh?"

Bass looks up to see X standing over him, his Z-Saber pointed right at him, ready to strike!

Clearly upset, Megaman X wants answers! "All right, Bass! Playtime's over! Who are you working for!?"

Bass sneers, "Feh! Think I'll open up and sing like a bird to you? Even if you beat me, and that's a BIG if, the RED CAT GANG's plans won't be thwarted by the likes of you!"

RED CAT GANG? Could "Deimos" be the ringleader? If that's true, then Bass might know where to find him and the source of the Cells! Out loud, X presses Bass for more information, "And would these plans of yours involve the Cells?"

Back in his dark chamber, Erick perks up at X's mention of the Cells.

Hmm…now how would he know about my creation? This is quite intriguing. Let's watch!

But before X gets his answer, Treble leaps at him headfirst, knocking him down with a head butt!

Bass praises his pet wolf. "Good boy, Treble!"

"Owww….." Megaman X is moaning gets up, feeling woozy, trying to pull himself together.

Bass laughs, "Curious, aren't you? Well then… TREBLE! LET'S BOOST!!"

"AWOOOOOH!!" Treble howls.

Jumping into the air, a white light envelopes the two of them, and once it subsides, only one of them is standing. It's Bass, who now has wings on his back and whose gold trim has taken a purple hue. He'd just used his "Gospel Boost" technique where he and Treble combine their powers and Treble turns into a suit of power armor for Bass.

"If you wanna know the truth so bad, then beat it out of me!"

A RED CAT Soldier, number 004, who was nearby, sees Bass. "Lord Bass! Catch!" He tosses a sword to Bass.

Bass leaps up and catches the sword in midair. Upon landing, he charges up energy in his hands as if he's about to fire a Buster Shot. But instead of changing his right arm to Buster mode, Bass pulls the sword out of its sheath and grasps it in both hands, filling it with the stored energy. The blade begins to glow with an eerie purple light as if it were a kind of Z-Saber!

Bass smiles wickedly. "Heh heh heh! Now that's more like it! Here I come! YAAAHHHH!!" He charges at X, swinging his Buster-charged sword.

"If this is what you want, then let's go!" X charges toward Bass.

They charge, and fly past each other with purple and green flashes as they swing their respective weapons. As X stops, he drops to his knee still clutching his Z-Saber. Bass turns with a sneer. "Ha! You're NO match for ME! TAKE THIS!"

He charges up a blast and lets it rip, striking X, flinging him across the forest, to collide with a large tree. He collapses, apparently dazed.

Zero sees X getting whomped by Bass. "X! NO!"

Bass yells back, "Oh, don't worry! After I'm done with him, you're next!"

"X! Hang on buddy! I'm coming! HYAH!"

But Zero couldn't come to X's aid, for he's still dealing with the RED CAT Soldiers. He steps back, dodging one attacker lunging at him. Effortlessly, Zero takes him out with a punch, causing the soldier to land hard on the ground. Zero leaps up, catching hold of a tree branch above. Two more soldiers collide beneath him, knocking themselves out. As they sink to the floor, Zero jumps down to face the rest of his opponents.

"C'mon! Is that the best you can do!?"

The remaining soldiers were not about to make the same mistakes their companions did, respecting Zero's skills. Weapons flashed from their clothes; some wielding swords, some spears, others knives, and the rest carrying staffs. They point them angrily at Zero.

Zero sarcastically says, "Oooh. I'm so scared. NOT!"

He starts inching back to get some fighting room, but the troops spread out cutting him off. The tension builds, Zero's eyes shifting between each of them, and then they attack.

Drawing his Z-Saber, the ring of metal sounds as Zero blocks a blow from a sword-wielding RED CAT Soldier. The soldier turns with a sweep, but his target ducks, rolling across the ground. Zero springs up kicking one of the soldiers while striking swiftly at the other with a fist to the arm. Their cries fill the air; Zero's planting several more body blows disabling the swordsman.

The hiss of a blade catches his ears and he goes prone as a knife imbeds itself into the tree trunk where his head would have been. Another soldier charges with weapon upraised ready to do him harm. There's no time for Zero to prepare a blow so he shoots to his feet tackling him around the waist. Together they pitchback and forth in a violent struggle. The scuffle is short lived though, for Zero thrusts his Saber into his opponent, the green blade sticking out the soldier's back. His eyes cross and he lets out a groan falling off to one side, dead. Zero pulls his weapon out of the dead man's body.

Zero regards his slain foe. "Hmph, poor fool. Such is the fate of those who side with Deimos." He turns to the rest of his would-be attackers. "Who's next?"

The soldiers continue to advance on Zero. He smiles and dashes in to take them out like he has been. Despite the odds, one man (or in this case, one Reploid) against an army, the battle continues.

TO BE CONTINUED…