Bass felt weird, and he wasn't sure why. This had nothing to do with the wide piles of snow he had to traverse in order to figure out where Zero was. He and Treble had spread out across the snowscape, which thankfully had since settled from the snowstorm. There was nothing. For all the excitement over finding Cut, Sword, and Gemini Man, there was nothing else out there. His wide sweeper scanners had picked up nothing thus far, and any attempt to dig into the frozen tundra had proved as useless as bringing down a brick wall with a toothpick. If Cut Man had known where to find Zero, then he hadn't been close to it.

No, that wasn't what made things so weird for Bass. He knew he was getting closer to his goal, and he knew that soon he would be able to fight Zero. The real thing bothering him was Proto Man. Bass had never been friends with the secretive robot (Bass didn't bother to realize that he didn't really have that many friends at all), and his first memory of Blues was seeing him escape from Slash Man. The dark robot had hardly known him and was surprised that Blues had given him a self-righteous speech after King had been defeated. The red robot had snuck into Wily's fortress and destroyed plans for a second King, which was probably the only reason why Bass hadn't obeyed Wily and just offed Proto Man as he had been told. That and he wasn't feeling obedient to Wily at the time - who would after Wily attempted to kill them?

The snow was getting deeper, and Bass began to wish that he had some sort of fire weapon he would equip.

Stupid laws...

There was nothing to be done for it. Hot plasma worked pretty well, and besides that, the snow would leave plenty of tracks for him to trace. If this wasn't the area that Zero was in, then Bass planned on just grabbing Treble and doing another fly-over of the area. They'd be sure to find something in all that mess.

For the time being, Bass would be alone with his thoughts. Proto Man would be sure to show up at any point. For Bass' part, he wasn't particularly grateful that Proto Man had destroyed King II's plans. Forte would have done it himself if he had the chance. Nor did he care a thing about Proto Man's assistance at any point. Proto Man could go protect his stupid little brother for all he cared. He didn't need Proto Man's help. Only when Proto Man had shown up at the hospital to see Dr. Light before he died did Bass' opinion of him rise a little. Other than that, Blues was nothing more than a self-righteous, secretive, weak and annoying robot.

So why did he feel strange about arresting him? Despite everything, something about arresting Proto Man seemed plain wrong. Something about it felt off. Hadn't he saved lots of people? Fought against Team 10? Saved the daughter of Russia's greatest mind? Or was none of that good enough to make up for all Blues' sins? It was a question above what Bass knew.

Bass still didn't believe that Proto Man had killed anyone. It was too far out of character. Then again, Proto Man was far older than him, and Bass knew very little about Blues' early life. The dark robot, however, had seen Leila's testimony to the robotics ethics agency on the zip drive Reyes had given him. Bass had never been a good one to be comfortable with grief, and this was the absolute worst he had ever seen. He only barely managed to finish and hear what Leila had said: Proto Man confessed to killing her father, and she ran from him, immediately insisting on police presense. There it was, the brutal, devastating testimony.

Bass shook his head, growling a little as he kept on trudging through the drifts. He wished the search for Zero didn't have to be so careful. Passing by him on accident was Bass' worst nightmare, and he couldn't allow that to happen. The dark robot glanced upwards. He seemed to be in some wide depression in the land, one that looked like a giant bowl with all the snow around. His scans showed nothing, so he figured he would walk around it and find a more likely area for his "little brother" to be hidden.

" - Did you find him yet? - "

Bass stood still a moment, checking his sensors. He could hardly believe his scans: it was indeed Proto Man. He had to proceed cautiously. And that meant keeping Blues talking.

" - Not yet. I've got the area narrowed down, so I'll be surprised if I don't find him this week. - "

" - Not counting Wily-bot activity that may lead the way. - "

" - Yeah. - "

There was silence on the line for a minute. Bass wasn't sure what to say. Was Proto Man trying to help or trying to figure out what he knew? Only one way to find out.

" - I've been hearing a lot of rumors about you lately. - " Bass mentioned. " - They sound pretty bad. - "

It took Proto Man a minute to respond, but he did answer eventually. " - I know you've been assigned to look for me, Bass. - "

" - And if you come right where I am, you're really easy to find. I thought I'd find Zero first. What are you doing here, besides delaying me? - "

" - Is there anything that can get you to stop? You must have leaked out that information about Wily-bots in this region just to get me to show up here. - "

" - No, but I'm sure some REA guy did. If you know, why are you here? - "

" - ...I just...I just wanted to ask you not to tell Rock about me. - "

Did Proto Man really think that he could just ask him to do anything? Bass almost laughed, only he wasn't really in the mood for it. Nor was he really in the mood to spill the beans to Mega Man. Watching Mega Man learn something like that wouldn't be funny. It would just be annoying, and he didn't feel like putting up with something like that. Watching Leila's reaction to everything had been bad enough.

" - Eh, the ethics agent doesn't want me to say anything anyway. He thinks Rock would try to hide you or something. You don't mean to say that there's actually some truth to all the crap these idiots have been telling me? - "

Proto Man winced. He was a little surprised at Bass' sarcasm. It was actually nice to know that someone, if only the abrasive Forte, didn't believe in the accusations. It would be even nicer if...

Proto Man sighed and lowered his head. He had to focus. He only wanted to talk to Bass and get him to understand what was going on. The dark robot cared about being respected by the authorities, so even if Bass sympathized (Bass was capable of sympathy?) he would likely still arrest him and turn him over to the government. America wasn't even the only problem. How many countries had he spied on over the years? Stolen technology and information from? Half of Europe was furious at him.

Getting caught meant no end of trouble. So that was why he was standing with his back to a cliff, facing an outwards field of snow. Bass wouldn't be able to easily sneak up on him from that position, and since Proto Man had teleported in there would be no footprints to tell his tracker where he was.

" - There's no point in hiding it from you. I killed Richard Copenhagen. - "

There it was, out there in the air and completely unretractible. The windy air swooshed about, blowing at the snow and causing a bit of the freshest of it to drift a bit in the air. It was the only sound to be heard, as for a moment the airways were completely silent.

" - ...So, you're some impostor and not the real Proto Man, huh? - "

Proto Man was almost amused enough to think about smiling. " - I appreciate your faith in me, but that faith is misplaced. - "

" - Faith? Crap, I just didn't expect a Light-bot to kill people. - "

While usually Blues' wit was more of a contender versus Bass, but his heart wasn't in it. It was true that a Light-bot could hardly be expected to have the life that he'd had, with all of the dark secrets he refused to tell anyone. Roll constantly asked him questions when he saw her, innocently asking for stories and for details of what other countries are like. Of course the worst story had happened in his country of origin. And of course Bass would ask.

" - Hey, I've got to know. Why were you obeying Wily anyway? I was built by the guy and I never listened to him. - "

" - It's more complicated than you think. - " Proto Man began to feel a little stupid as he answered. " - When I left Dr. Light, I didn't know anything. I suppose I was then like Rock is now...naiive. Wily seemed more worldly and savvy than Dr. Light by comparison. I thought I could trust him. He did help with my power core. Over time I realized he was, well, as I would have put it then, 'just as bad as every other human'. I felt that robots were just a new weapon in the wars between humans. - "

Bass snorted. " - How come every time I talk to you I get the feeling you don't know anything about reality? - "

" - Because you're incapable of understanding other people's perspectives. - " Blues said, his voice tightening at the insult. " - Wily was a lot more patient and believable in those days. He only got more insane as the years passed. - "

" - Eh, okay, I'll buy that. So why were you helping him steal Gamma if he'd already tried to take over the world twice? - "

Proto Man sighed. " - I was working for him before then. Mostly my part involved spying so that Wily could plan his schemes. I stopped believing in him when Team 2 was built, but...I didn't have anywhere else to go for maintenance...and for friendship. Wily must have though my work was worth stringing me along for. He would actually listen to my pathetic ranting. I thought I knew everything then. After the Gamma incident, he stopped pretending. He figured that because I would never be allowed to live in normal society that I was stuck working for him. If it weren't for Rock, then I would have believed him. Rock...there was I time when I thought he was nothing more than a gun - a tool for weak humans. He's much more than that. - "

Blues clammed up, assuming correctly that Bass didn't want to hear a story of brotherly love. Bass continued as if the topic hadn't been brought up. " - I assume Dr. Light put a 'killing humans is bad' program in your head when he built you. What changed your mind? - "

" - Let me make this clear, Bass. - " Proto Man's vocal actuators tightened. " - I always believed that killing was wrong. - "

" - Okay, then why did you do it? - "

" - I...I thought... - " he ran through all of the worthless reasons he had given himself those years ago to somehow make it all better. To his older eyes they seemed even more useless. He could only be honest. " - At the time, I wasn't a fan of...alright, I just plain despised humans. I didn't like the idea of one powerful robot like Gamma deciding the course of the world. With Dr. Wily stealing it, everyone would see how foolish it was to have such a powerful thing. I told Wily where Gamma was located, but I didn't expect Wily to send me after it. I actually thought I was doing the right thing by capturing Gamma. Richard...his job was to stop me... - "

Proto Man wouldn't go on. He had never liked being questioned, because with every question he was asked, he knew that the truth would come out and reveal exactly how stupid he had been. He always enjoyed being smarter and knowing more secrets. It was all in the effort to cover up all his earlier naiivety so that he would be knowledgable and never have to repeat his past sins.

In his ignorance he had shot Copenhagen. This was without the excuse that he had been reprogrammed by Wily, or that Richard was already badly injured and he was putting the human out of his misery, or that being killed by Hard or Shadow Man was worse, or even the pitiful excuse that Richard was going to kill him first. Oh no, he had gone in and shot the man just as Wily had told him, without any significant hesitation. All those pretentious things he used to believe in led him astray, and he had followed along with them just like a stupid donkey being led by a fool.

" - Okay, so you thought you were justified in shooting him because a world where Gamma exists would be bad. - " Bass finished for him. " - That sounds...sort of logical... - "

Proto Man sighed. It was every bit as stupid as Bass' sarcasm put it. " - I didn't want Richard to die. He...wasn't dead immediately. He could have lived...if only...I signalled an ambulance, but Shadow Man attacked it, and the emergency workers barely got out of there alive. Richard was found too late. I went to Dr. Wily to talk about it. All I wanted was for Wily to somehow say that it was worth it, that something genuinely good came out of everything that happened. I should have known he would only make it worse. Wily said things so horrible...after that, I knew I was being used...I was so foolish... - "

Proto Man stopped. That was enough. How in the world was Bass getting all of this out of him? Was he that desperate to be heard? Blues leaned more firmly against the cold rocks of the little cliff. He began to wonder why he had come.

Bass, however, wasn't finished. " - So why are you confessing after all this time? As long as no one scanned your CPU you could've gotten away with it. Or were you planning on being friends with Leila for a while and just hoping she would forgive you? - "

" - I wasn't going to tell her. Before my power core was fixed I expected to die as painfully as any robot can, just like I deserve. You would know this if you studied early robotics. My power core would slowly shut down, starting to render one system after another useless. Finally the core would rupture in three weaker places, creating a series of small explosions. - "

" - Ugh, don't tell me about that crap. Crystal Bot ranted about it for two weeks about how lame the explosions would be once she did the math. - " Bass hesitated, and when his voice returned it was more in control. " - Eh, I take it that once you decided to live you didn't have an excuse for not telling Leila. - "

Proto Man shuffled his feet. It was hard to go on. He thought it would be easier to tell this to Bass because Bass wasn't sensitive or a friend of his, but that only marginally helped. The real person he had to face was himself, and continually thinking of the matter was only getting more difficult. He forced himself to continue.

" - I had an excuse. Leila's happiness. But Leila deserved to know. For her to go on blissfully unaware that she was friends with her father's murderer...and I would live unpunished...it's just not right. - " Proto Man let out a sharp breath. " - To see her when she knew the truth was the worst thing I will ever witness. I never realized what it was like for her...and I took that away...all this time I was the only thing even close to a father for her... - "

That was it. He was done. There was no way that Proto Man could possibly say any more. He shook, trembling as the memories renewed themselves and tormented him. To remember her expressions haunted him. Leila was all smiles as she ran up to him, then confusion took hold, slowly melting into despair as she realized what he was saying. The murder was no joke, and Proto Man knew he would never forget the way the blood drained from Leila's face once she knew what he had done. Proto Man couldn't apologize; Leila was screaming so loud that he could hardly speak at all even if he'd had the courage, and courage had fled from him.

In that instant all the friendship that once existed vanished. The fearful hate in Leila's eyes stung him even though it only lastest the shortest moment before Leila ran from him, desperately headed for her door. Proto Man found his voice then, but not his feet. He collapsed to his knees as his futile apologies followed her to the front steps. She didn't turn back to look at him, and the only reply he got was the slam of the door. The dark night closed in on Proto Man, and he knelt there for minutes. He could still hear her crying. Only when the police sirens could be heard in the distance did he disappear.

He knew about Leila's father. Proto Man had heard many things about him, how silly he was and how much he'd loved his family. Richard was the sort of fellow that could make anyone smile, and as the only child Leila was the spoiled daddy's girl. Their pictures together were sweet.

He could still hear her crying.

" - You still there? - "

Proto Man startled. That's right, he was in Russia now, talking to Bass. He wasn't in Monstropolis. The pain subsided a little as the darkness of night was replaced by a cheery morning sun bouncing off the snow. In fact, it was bright enough out to make him think well of his visor. He blinked out of the memory, pulling himself to the present day.

" - I'm here. - "

" - Look, you obviously know that what you did was wrong. So why the hell are you out here instead of turned in to the police? - "

" - Short answer? I panicked. - " Proto Man answered. " - Besides, someone has to watch out for Rock. I thought at first I could confess and things would be fine: Rock found the escaped Dr. Wily at the perfect time and stopped him from using Dr. Cain for whatever his next scheme would have been. I was beginning to think that Rock might be able to take care of himself, that he wouldn't need me protecting him anymore. Now that I'm hearing about Wily's robots looking for Zero and Dr. Cain is out again...I just...I can't let him face something like that alone. - "

" - One, Zero is my problem, not his, - " Forte growled. " - And two, there's always going to be some crap going on in the world that Rock needs to take care of. You've told the truth and now the government knows. You made the choice, and you're lying to yourself if you think that everyone's just going to forget about you now. The government doesn't cut killer robots any slack. You're better off helping yourself out and turning yourself in. If you're lucky, you'll get a memory wipe and live. If you're stupid, I ship your pieces to Monstropolis in a crate. - "

That didn't help Blues' temper any. His teeth gritted firmly together despite what little self-control gathered itself together to resist, and his anger rose up.

" - As if I couldn't teleport out of here right now and hide so that you would never find me. - " Proto Man snapped. " - Don't push your luck. I'm not a patient robot these days. - "

" - Alright, sorry! Chill out. Sheesh. - " Bass was clearly putting an effort into keeping himself under control. " - Don't go anywhere. You're lucky I know you, so don't throw away your one chance to make this easier than it has to be. - "

" - Easier? What does that mean? - "

" - It means that if you stay here I won't tell the news. I can probably get the feds not to say anything publicly about you, or at least try. No one will have to know about this that you don't want. - "

" - That won't stop Leila from talking. - " Proto Man tried to restore his natural calm, but it wasn't working. He sighed. " - Besides, I don't really care that much about my reputation with the public. The only person I'm worried about is Rock. Even if no one knew that the government had me destroyed, Rock would stop at nothing to find out why I stopped appearing. There's nothing I can do that in the end will stop him from finding out what I've done. - "

" - Okay. So you have to control the information. How do you want him to find out? Do you want to be the one to tell him? - "

" - NO! - "

The very thought of being there to see Mega Man's eyes as he lost faith in his older brother would be to hard for Proto Man. He couldn't bear the thought of witnessing his brother's pain. He wanted to only be good in his brother's mind. It would kill him if Mega Man knew what sort of robot his brother once was. The very idea threw his emotions out of what little sync they had recovered.

" - Then who do you want to tell him? No way in hell I'm telling him. I can get my ethics agent to do it. He knows Rock. - "

" - I...I don't want him to find out at all... - "

Proto Man's words faded away. Now that it came down to it, he had been planning all along to die with Mega Man thinking well of him. Let all the world be corrupt and terrible, but Proto Man wanted to be the one thing in this world for innocent Mega Man to believe was good and righteous. Rock had to know that his brother hadn't always held the best morals, but that never really connected in his mind. All the days of Proto Man's past might as well be fairy tales for all Rock was concerned. If Proto Man died before his brother knew the truth about him, then not only would he not see or hear of Mega Man's reaction, but the death would make it easier; people generally think of the dead in kinder terms.

More than that, Proto Man didn't want his brother defending him. The naiive bomber would certainly do so, regardless of the fact that Blues did deserve punishment. Proto Man didn't like being helped. He didn't want his brother involved in his drama; he was there to support Mega Man and be the hero for him, not the other way around. That brought new worries into his mind.

" - I can't do this, Bass. Not yet. - " Proto Man finally spoke. " - I need more time...I have to know that Rock will be able to handle fighting without my guidance. - "

" - Didn't you just say that Rock finding Wily in the hospital was proof enough? - "

" - I'm not so sure now. I can't leave Rock until Zero is dead, and I just heard that Wily robot masters broke Dr. Cain out of prison and not Dr. Wily. This is exactly the situation where Rock needs me, especially now that Dr. Light is gone. You know how much the doctor's help meant to him. Fighting alone is not something Rock should have to do. - "

Proto Man waited patiently. Surely mentioning Dr. Light's name would help his cause. Bass had to know that Dr. Light was especially helpful in explaining to Mega Man exactly which human emotions made the twisted Wily do what he did. He also knew of the soft spot Bass had for the doctor, and manipulating that would be easy. Proto Man sighed. It was hard to think of Dr. Light in familial terms, even now. Especially now.

" - Eh. I'm feeling nice today. - " Bass answered. " - Those feds can wait a bit before I bring you in. It won't hurt anyone. You get one week to figure out how to make yourself feel better and then you turn yourself in. - "

" - What? One week? What am I supposed to do in a week? - "

" - You heard me. Seven days. Today counts as one. - "

" - That's not long enough! There's no telling how long it will take to find out what Dr. Cain has done. You do realize that if you let me go now you'll have no other chance to find me again, right? I've been hiding from authorities all my life. I can manage one more person. ...Bass? Still there? - "

There was no response. Proto Man abruptly cut himself off, freezing in place. What a fool he had been; any robot with sense would have started tracking Proto Man immediately after the conversation had begun. No wonder Forte had been trying hard to keep his sarcasm and ill temper in check. Their topic of conversation had been so emotionally charged for Blues that it distracted him from his normal awareness. The whole thing had been a trap from the first. Since when was Bass so diplomatic? Proto Man wasted no time scolding himself over it. He had to focus if he was going to get out of there.

Too late. A bit of snow fell from the top of the rocky wall Proto Man was leaning against. Looking up showed him only the snow that hung off the edge of the cliff, but if Bass was there, one good shot would prevent Proto Man from being able to teleport. Proto Man engaged his zoom feature, squinting behind his visor. There it was, sticking out as a black spot against the grey sky.

A headfin.

Crap...

The spot that had once been so handy for evading capture had become a prison. Running outwards and away from the cliff wall meant that he was running into the open where Bass could see him, and if he stayed there too long than surely Bass would find the opportunity to fire. He couldn't fire back and have a good chance of hitting Bass, not with being at the base of the cliff. Blues had to risk a teleport. Gearing up the coordinates for an escape, Proto Man prepared his way out. Initiating...

The plasma pellets were quicker. They dashed into Proto Man, breaking up his teleportation field and forcing him out from the wall. He had to get out of the line of fire; even as Forte dropped to his level he fired his annoying blasts. Blues pulled out his shield and blocked the onslaught. Letting his buster charge as the pellets hit, Proto Man rolled to the right to get out of the way, diving into the snow. Before the powder settled he let loose the charge, hitting Bass directly in the face.

A growl told Proto Man that he wasn't through yet; another wave of plasma shots headed his way, and Bass plowed through the snow as he dashed across. As Proto Man barricaded himself from the oncoming shots, he wondered if he was forgetting something. Before he had the time to remember his shield flew from his arm and fell uselessly away.

He can shoot shielding off! How could I forget something like that?

That didn't mean that Proto Man lost too much of his advantage. Even as he scolded himself in his thoughts, he blocked two punches from Bass. Not for nothing had Proto Man survived obsolete for several years; he jumped clear out of Bass' reach and overhead, chased by fire but not caught.

Also, not for nothing was Bass the second most powerful robot in the world. He dashed to where Proto Man would land, ready for him. Proto Man took a blow to the chest, and he fell back into the snow. Before he knew it, Bass had him by the neck, holding him in his ever tightening grip. Bass' grin was foul and boastful as Blues sputtered. There was little point in further struggling. Proto Man knew he was caught. He stopped trying to pull Bass' hands away and slumped. He was headed for the Robotics Ethics Agency, his inevitable fate.

"See? You're not so hard to catch." Bass said with smug confidence, lowering Proto Man's feet back to the ground and letting go as he spoke. "One week is what you get. You can turn yourself in to me or directly to the feds. I don't really care which as long as it's done."

Proto Man glowered. If the situation had been more fair, Bass would know better than describe him as easy to catch. "And if I don't?"

Forte smugly folded his arms. "Then I go out and tell every reporter I can find what you did. Think about what happens then. Everyone finding out exactly what kind of robot you are, blaring on every channel. It'll be all over the internet, the papers, and everything in every country in the world. What will Kalinka think when she finds out?"

Proto Man shuddered, lowering his head. "Bass...please..."

"Roll barely knew you. I wonder if she'll only cry for half a year? I heard she's been depressed lately."

"You can stop now."

"And what about your dear little brother? Poor little dweeb Rock has to find out that his big brother that he looks up to and saved him a million times is a cold blooded killer. Try to imagine his eyes as he watches the news and sees you on there being taken away by the feds. On every channel, over and over again without being able to get away from it..."

"Bass!" Blues' voice cracked. "Please...stop!"

Proto Man couldn't stop shuddering. So much had happened to him over the past couple of days that he struggled to hold it together. As much as he hated losing control, he still shook, unable to look at Bass in the eye.

"I'll turn myself in." Proto Man barely spoke up loud enough for Bass to hear. "Just stop talking about it."

"Good." Bass gruffly continued. "Now stay the hell out of Russia. I'm going to kill Zero so you can relax about that and go babysit Rock. Remember what I said. I'm risking my stupid career for this so you better be grateful."

"I am." Proto Man's voice was as icy as his surroundings. "Thank you so much."

"Shut up. I've got better things to do than talk to a stupid emo kid like you."

Bass started walking away. He sent a quick transmission to Treble to get the dog's position and see if he had found anything. Treble replied that he hadn't found anything yet, but was making progress through the suspected area. He gave his coordinates to his master so that Bass could get back to the search and pick up where he left off.

"Bass..." Proto Man spoke up once more. His control had returned, and he was going to accomplish what he had set out to do when he got to Russia. "You make sure that Zero is dead."

The dark robot turned back, glaring at Blues. "Just what did you think I was out here doing?"

"I'm serious. Don't try to fight him just to prove you can do it. Just kill him when you've got the chance. The world doesn't need to be threatened just because you wanted a challenge. You're supposed to be a good guy now, and if that means anything then your first priority is to keep people safe."

"You're seriously telling me what to do now?" Bass shook his head, giving Proto Man a glare through his narrow eyes. "You really never quit. Anything else, oh righteous oracle?"

Proto Man was about to answer in the negative and add in a sour remark, but he paused a moment. There was one more thing. It wasn't advice, but it was the answer to Bass' earlier question. If Blues could have this, then he could be calmer about the future. He regretted not thinking about it before, but now it was settled.

"Yes. There's a man I used to know before I left Dr. Light's lab a long time ago. His name is Harry Briggs. He's one of the senators for California. Have him tell Rock afterwards."

There was no need for Proto Man to mention what he meant by afterwards. Bass nodded. Bass had never met Harry, but he could remember the name. If he was going to be nice enough to let Proto Man have another week, he might as well go through with this.

"Eh, sure. I'll find him." Bass shrugged. "After I get Zero. Now if you'll excuse me."

And Bass abruptly walked off. He was tired of dealing with other people's business, he wanted to deal with his own. Only the slightest of twipps told him that Proto Man had teleported out; his teleporter was much quieter than most robots'. It didn't occur immediately to Bass that this might be the last time he ever spoke to Proto Man. Once it did, he shrugged it off. He had nothing to say to Proto Man, other than "shut up and get out of my way". Perhaps a "stop wasting my time" or two. Let others be sentimental. Bass had a job to do.

For now, he brought all of his attention back to Zero. His scanners were still on, detecting. The area Proto Man had hidden was a place that Bass had already searched, but it didn't hurt to be extra careful if he had to go there again anyway. There was nothing, just like last time, so Bass teleported back to where he had been before Proto Man had interrupted.

For the next blissful ten minutes, there was nothing in his mind but the crunching of the snow, the constant scans of the frozen underground, occasional pings from Treble, and listening to the whispers of the quiet wind. There were mountains up ahead, and Bass began to suspect that Zero was hidden among them. Mountains had caves, and caves were far easier places to hide a robot than buried in the hard, frozen ground. This far north in Russia there would be little chance that Wily had been able to hide Zero in spring.

" - Um, Forte-kun, why did you let Proto Man go? - "

Bass' expression was perfect in its immense frustration and anger, a grotesque grimace that was only flawed in the sense that it had no audience to see it. He was tempted not to answer her, but he got the feeling that this was one of those times when Crystal Bot needed to learn her limits. Besides, if she found out the truth about Proto Man, that would only be another annoyance to him.

" - Please tell me you weren't listening in... - "

" - I wasn't, but Mr. Reyes did. He's been here at the lab for half an hour. He won't tell me anything, but he's really really mad at you for not capturing Proto-kun. He says he's gonna tell his bosses. - "

And again came that desire to scream. Bass gritted his teeth even further. Why was his ethics agent in the lab? He didn't need constant supervision. Because the conversation with Proto Man had all been by transmission and mostly likely Proto Man wouldn't be able to understand Bass' more heavily encoded frequencies, any government with the right technology could have listened in. At that point, Bass decided that he didn't care anymore. He didn't want to deal with Proto Man or Proto Man related situations.

" - I've got more important crap to deal with, so you tell Reyes that if he wants to talk to me then he can get his butt out here and talk to me. I'm not about to let Zero get activated just because of stupid Proto Man! - "

" - Um...well, I'm talking to you through a narrow beam transmission, so he can't hear this. How about I just tell him that your comm is shut off now? - "

" - Whatever involves him leaving me alone. - "

Bass cut off the transmission. He figured that this would prove to be trouble for him later on, but he just didn't care. If he brought back Zero's head then perhaps the REA would shut up. He would bring back Blues' next if the loner robot didn't keep his word.

Blues hadn't gone that far when he teleported. He stood out of Bass' scanning range, but he was still knee deep in the northern Russian snows. Most people weren't aware of exactly how far Proto Man's transmission recievers reached to pick up signals. He wasn't quite able to make out the converstation between Bass and Crystal Bot, but it was easy to guess she was telling her grumpy boss about the presense of Tim Reyes at Dr. Cossack's lab.

That indeed meant that Reyes had been listening, just as Proto Man knew he would. Robots had no right to a trial. Their CPUs were scanned and they were judged on that alone. Proto Man was never confident that those scans showed exactly what robots felt about their lives, so he decided that he would get creative to make sure the government knew his side of the story.

Proto Man sighed. As much as he wanted to make sure Zero was dead, staying in Russia would only aggravate Bass, and that was something he of all people could not risk doing. He stomped his feet in the cold snow, shaking off what accumulated on his armor. He looked up at the bright grey sky, letting the height bring on its unreal dizzying sensation. It wouldn't storm again soon. Hopefully that meant ideal conditions for Bass to find his target.

I better leave...I want to see as much as I can of my family before this week is over...

\\\\\

Author's Notes:

- One of the problems with writing a fanfiction is deciding what all powers the three fighter-bots have. In the games they switch a lot. For the record, Bass can shoot off shields like he can in MM10, Proto Man can charge his buster a little like he did in MM7, and Mega Man can both charge and slide.

Character profiles!

Agent Tim Fernando Reyes
"I'm doing the best that I can."
Good point: organized
Bad point: too serious
Likes: doing paperwork
Dislikes: troublesome people

Tim is a fairly steady guy, most of the time. He's very sensible and knows how to talk to people in a way that gets him what he wants. He's very smart. Reyes' family came to America in the late 19XX from Mexico, but they were legal immigrants. Reyes grew up always wanting to do something with robots, but given his diplomatic mind and hatred of math, he ended up working for the Robotics Ethics Agency. He likes it, especially since he often got to work with his favorite robot Mega Man.

Tim is definitely a workaholic because of his job, to the point where his collegues call him a robot. This never prevented him from marrying Rita Jones, a woman six years younger than him and works in a different department of the REA. They don't have any children yet.

Senator Harry Samuel Briggs
"Well, hi there! I sure hope you're having a fantastic day!"
Good point: friendly
Bad point: boisterous
Likes: making conversation
Dislikes: stiff people

Harry is the oldest of four siblings, the rest of which are all girls. As the son of his family, his humorous father expected much from him. Harry didn't disappoint, and managed his way through college. Due to his love of talking, it was clear even from a young age that Harry was going to be going into politics. He got started off in the REA when it was a brand new agency of the government, one formed when Dr. Light began presenting serious details of his new robot Proto Man and similated intelligence. Even from the beginning, Harry was fond of Proto Man and treated him like a child (which gained him no points from the robot). He was very disappointed when Proto Man disappeared and was assumed to be dead (and very happy when he found out this was wrong).

After that, Harry was married, and has since had three children, two boys and a girl. However, his job became more and more time consuming as he gained more political experience, and now that he is a Senator, his wife is beginning to wonder how this marriage is going to work out. Harry's aloof humor and inability to take his wife's concerns seriously doesn't help any.

To explain his dislike, Briggs always expects people to be as wild and hyper as him. It disappoints him when people just try to ignore him or humor him. He likes people that either keep up with him or disagree with him the best, especially if they are witty.

Briggs always remains cheerful through thick and thin, and on the surface nothing appears to get him down. He is a heavy smoker.