Chapter 9
The Phantom
Tracy's vision was fading, as she looked her assailant in the eyes. They burned with hatred. Scott was right. Were her last thoughts, as she drifted away.
The butt of the baton, caught him square in the temple, causing Zero to stumble back, dropping the girl. In the split millisecond of distraction, Protoman quick-dashed into his chest, catching his sister, before she hit the floor. Zero moved to retaliate, but there was a blur, and the Bonnes were feet away.
Protoman yanked the handle beside the android, magnetically, causing a pair of reinforced glass panels to drop, separating the back corner of the room, from the lab. Zero found himself detaching from the ship, in the emergency escape pod, falling to the earth below.
Protoman was on his knees, holding Tracy's body, as he tapped her face rapidly. "No, no, no, no. C'mon Tron! Wake up!" He panicked. She lay lifeless and pale. He grunted as he pounded on her chest, hopelessly. "No!" He screamed in her face, as people began to gather, looking on. "You can't go, now! I still need you!" He continued pumping on her chest. "Wake up!" He yelled.
The sharp inhale was music to his ears, as she gasped for air. He hugged her, lifting her from the floor, as the people cheered. "I'm sorry, Tron." He whispered, in her ear. "This is my fault."
"It's okay," She replied, winded, "you were right, Scott. He killed Megaman."
He let her go, as she caught her breath. "What went wrong?" He asked.
She shook her head, "Somehow, he knew everything you were doing, in the cockpit. But he didn't even have his helmet on." She replied, baffled.
Scott was confused. Then he looked to her shirt. "Speaking of which," he began, "I told you to get his helmet off, not take him on an X-rated adventure, in the Engineering Bay!"
She rolled her eyes, "Jesus, Scott. I'm not a kid anymore. You wanted him distracted, it worked."
"And what if everything had gone smoothly?" He asked. "It's three more hours, to Syracuse."
"Look, Scott. I didn't actually think he was a homicidal psychopath. I was humoring you! And yes, spending these passed couple of months, packed into this ship, I was starting to like him!"
Scott scoffed, "Win-win, right?"
"Don't be a dick." She responded, storming out.
He looked over, to the picture tacked up on the work table. She was eight, he was twelve, they were pretending to choke each other, with their tongues hanging out, clownishly. He began to feel like an alpha-class asshole. They had been fighting for their lives, since she was sixteen. And at nineteen, she was left to survive, on her own. Since then, she had dedicated her life, to bringing him back, and ultimately, working to achieve his dream. And here he was, scolding her for, once again, helping him, but making a decision for her own wanting.
He walked into the cockpit, to apologize, when he saw Light and Tron, frantically conversing. She looked over to him, as Light ran to the controls. "Scott, it's Alex! We just got a burst transmission, from the Smithsonian. He's alive!"
The Smithsonian
Megaman had just enough strength, to dig out Gutsman's core chip, with a shard of broken propeller. He laid down, next to the severed quarter of the body, ready to go into standby. His head was swimming, then his eyes snapped open. Maverick! He thought.
He fumbled his way to the metal storage chest, praying that his gear was inside. The helmet was, Guts must have intended to keep it as a trophy. He fell to the floor, as he put it over his head.
"I hope someone gets this, in time. But we are compromised. Maverick is not an ally, get away from him as soon as possible! Do not engage! He has the Atlas. Run!" He transmitted. His body had taken too much damage, causing his system to shut off.
When Tracy, Protoman, and Light had entered the exhibit, they saw the damaged Megaman, half-naked, on the floor. He was littered with holes and missing pieces of flesh. His face was bloody and split in several places. Tracy gasped, at the sight, as Proto tapped her shoulder, pointing across the room. In a pond of blood, lied two pieces of Gutsman.
"You've gotta be shitting me." She whispered.
"He killed the General," Protoman added, in awe, "in his underwear."
"Under normal circumstances, this would be cause for celebration." Dr. Light said, reaching to lift Megaman, "But it appears, we have only severed one head if the serpent. The other won't prove so easy."
They rolled the android, back to the ship, taking him into Tracy's Repair Bay. It would take days to undo the damage that Guts had inflicted.
Tracy and Light sat, looking at the holo displays, "So, we should assume that everything in our system is compromised." Stated Dr. Light.
Tracy put her hands over her face, "We've got a lot of cleaning to do, don't we?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
Light sighed, "We're going to have to strip the system, down to core functioning." He said, "Including the gear. He's had access to the Internal Android Functioning System. And proved to us, that he can control it."
"we're back at square one." Tracy said, defeated, "And what if he still has access, after all of this?"
Light shook his head, "He shouldn't. The Atlas was only designed for machines linked to Wily's network. And even with the total control that he has, he still needs to be linked to an outside system. You remember how willing he was to be hooked to our servers?"
She nodded, slowly, "Worth a shot, right?" She added. She tapped a few keys, and let out a sigh, "Fuck it." she said, pressing the final confirmation, as the files disappeared.
Somewhere In Virginia
The pod flipped and spun, through the wooded area, throwing Zero around, like a ragdoll. He tried to use magnetism, to steady himself, but as powerful as he was, he simply had no control over gravity. Protoman had made sure not to activate the pod controls, before throwing the switch. He would make sure to personally thank him for that.
He scanned to find the nearest officer. He would need a ride across the country. There was no need to pursue getting the humans back, chances were they were in the wind, by now. And his former friends were smart enough to wipe their servers, after his departure. It was of no concern to him, they would more than likely come for him, and he could finish the job, on his own terms.
He reached out to his General, but got no response. This slightly concerned him, Guts may have had his hands full, at the moment. He would try again, later. Zero began walking west.