Note: If it seems like I'm neglecting my main work, I'll admit it's because July's been a bit of a rough month for me and I found I couldn't focus.

So, I decided to try and see if doing smaller projects until I could get back into the mood for my longer stuff.

I know I said Tempo will find out about Blues' core, but I still want to show her feelings as growing more complicated and torn, both before and after said knowledge is revealed.

Again, no problem with the ship itself, just how the comics seem to gloss over everything Blues has done. I know he's a darling of the fandom, and I believe he's one of the best-written characters, but that shouldn't translate to just allowing things to slide. It just seems that his status as a fan favorite can lead to overlooking his more toxic and self-destructive traits.

Granted, I see his lashing out as more of a temper tantrum than a lack of concern about whether or not he could've possibly hurt Tempo.

Speaking of, she's going to start being a little nicer after the events of this chapter.

Not Tonight Either

Quake Woman gazed at the robot accompanying her mother, face frozen in shock while her sister only winced at the sudden awkwardness of the situation.

"Mom," The brunette stated, although she was unsure of how to follow it up.

Silence fell over everyone again, Lalinde biting her lip as she glanced down at Blues, who was still looking at her eldest child. "Well, I take it you're having quite the…passionate discussion out here from what I heard."

Vesper Woman grinned awkwardly. "Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that."

Quake Woman averted her eyes momentarily, pondering whether she had gone and said something she shouldn't have. "So," she began, albeit without giving Blues much eye contact. "How did it go?"

Blues lowered his head, staring at the ground. He had come out here for this exact reason, yet now, he wondered whether or not it was even worth it. After all, it was clear that she didn't too highly of him. "It…went smoothly," he told her, surprising Lalinde.

"Blues?"

"My central processor was a little scrambled," he admitted. "But there was no serious damage. Just a little bit of a system shock."

The pigtailed digger nodded. "I apologize for my less-than-friendly response to your arrival," she answered. "My intention was not to hurt you, although, I suppose it doesn't make much difference if the damage is already done."

Blues bit his lip. "No, I guess not," he muttered. "Anyway, I…" he paused, concealed eyes still studying Quake Woman. "I'm…grateful that you let Dr. Lalinde see me. So," he paused again. "I…guess I'll leave you alone for now."

The human scientist was baffled by what she had just heard, Vesper Woman was also shocked at the other robot's response. "Blues," Lalinde protested. "Didn't you want to-"

"No, it's fine," the DLN interrupted. "It's…not important," he said. "Not right now, at least."

"Wait a minute, what do you mean leave?" Vesper Woman questioned. "You can't go! Not the way you are now!"

"No, it's fine," Light's creation assured the insect woman. "Besides, there's something I have to do, and I don't know how much time I have left to do it."

"What do you mean?" Quake Woman questioned. "Why do you not have much time?"

It was then that Blues froze as if he had realized he just misspoke. Lalinde grew concerned, suspecting where this would possibly lead to. "It…it's something that I need to do," he answered. "And I have to take care of it now."

"What is it?" Quake Woman pressed. "Why are you so reluctant to give any details?"

"Tempo, wait," Lalinde urged, but her eldest found her creator's words, surprisingly, not registering with her.

Rather, Blues' statements captured her attention, the burning heat from before slowly beginning to return. "Did something happen before you arrived here?" the green and violet Robot Master continued. "Did it?"

"Look, I'd explain if I could, but there's no time," Blues told her. "I have to go, otherwise-"

"Otherwise?"

He clenched his teeth. "Otherwise, someone could get seriously hurt."

Quake Woman raised a brow. "Your tone indicates that 'hurt' is a softer version of what you actually mean," she said. "What happened?"

"Look, I'm sorry, but there really is no time," Blues told her, beginning to step away, taking the helmet held by Dr. Lalinde. "I…might have to come back here. But, honestly, after that, you never have to deal with me again."

"Blues, wait-" Lalinde began, but the red and grey robot started walking away. "Blues!"

The machine didn't heed her words, slipping on his helmet and vanishing in a brief flash of red light, leaving the human scientist and her two creations alone. It was then that Quake Woman realized her creator and sister's eyes were on her.

Lab

"So, what you're saying is that I should just accept his remorseful claim?" Quake Woman argued.

"I'm saying that it seems you don't even believe that he could even be remorseful!"

After Blues had departed, the digger retreated into the house with Vesper Woman following her, trying to get her attention. It wasn't long afterward that the fluttering android had tracked her down and entered the code to gain access to the laboratory. Lalinde had finally gotten to the lab and opened the door, seeing her two daughters engaged in what was steadily becoming a heated debate, immediately regretting simply letting Light's son leave without saying what he wanted to. So far, neither she nor Vesper Woman had even gotten the chance to deliver what she had found during the procedure with Blues.

"He was perfectly behaved throughout the entire procedure, and he kept wanting to tell you that he's sorry your first official meeting wasn't that good." Vesper Woman said.

"So you're all right with how that turned out?" Quake Woman questioned.

"No, I'm not," Vesper Woman responded. "Yes, lashing out at you and Mom wasn't a good thing to do, but you're not even going to entertain the possibility that he may just want to make up for the trouble he's caused?"

"And so what if he does?" the other LMN countered. "He made it clear that he didn't need or want anyone's forgiveness, so I don't see the point in continuing this further."

The yellow and black android sighed. "Do you really not care if he means what he says? If he's really trying to make things right?" she asked. "Besides, Mega Man said that Blues was the one that rescued him from the ruins of Wily's Castle."

"So he could have someone to keep battling against?"

Vesper was beginning to grow frustrated with her sibling. "You don't know the whole story about what he's been through."

"I know that his life hasn't been kind," Quake Woman retorted. "But am I supposed to push it all aside because he feels guilt now? What amends has he made? What have been his acts of repentance? What good does his remorse do now? Can it bring Light Labs to how it was before? Can it undo the accidents and damage caused during the blackout?"

Vesper Woman was silent for a moment. "I…wasn't aware Blues did all that," she admitted. "Still, you're not even interested in why he came here? Why he wanted to talk to you?"

"He came here for something, I know that," the pigtailed digger answered. "But…my less-than-composed reaction resulted in him staying in the lab to make sure his cerebral components weren't damaged," she then furrowed her brow. "Regarding him wanting to speak with me…I fail to see why I should care."

Lalinde was taken aback by her daughter's response. "Tempo…"

"If he came here because it was urgent," Quake Woman paused. Indeed, even now, she was questioning whether or not the perceived scenario was what she would exactly do. "Then he can have it taken care of, although he should go back to Dr. Light and those that want some sort of relationship with him."

Vesper Woman's eyes widened. "So, you're saying you want nothing to do with him at all?" she asked. "Like, not even as a friend?"

It was then that Quake Woman felt the heat rise further. While it hadn't entirely dissipated, it began to simmer down when Blues departed, yet Vesper Woman's talk of the DLN's proclaimed guilt and wish to make amends served to only make her more resentful toward the red and grey machine.

His expression of seeking forgiveness triggered everything that Dr. Lalinde's first creation had been keeping inside since that fateful night. "HE WILL BE NO ONE TO ME! NOT EVER! IT'D BE BETTER IF HE JUST WENT OFF AND DISAPPEARED!"

"Tempo!" Dr. Lalinde scolded, trying to reign the android in before she grew even more angry. True, her current behavior clearly demonstrated her emotional receptors were functioning properly, yet, at the moment, there seemed to be a lack of willingness to receive what the other side was trying to say.

"What's wrong with saying that?! It's the truth!" Quake Woman argued with her creator, catching the woman off guard. "He has no place in our lives, nor does he deserve one! If he wants a friend, then he can go to Rock or someone else that actually cares!" She stifled a hitch in her throat. "He doesn't get to pull what he did and believe we can all just forget about everything."

The scientist bit her lip, sensing that there was more going on than just viewing Blues as a general menace.

"Tempo, it's a little more complicated than that," Lalinde told her child, but the pigtailed digger kept on going. "He came here because-"

"Things were progressing just fine before he came along and ruined everything! True, things weren't going perfectly, but there was progress! I had just started to try and understand how to move past what's happened, and then he…" her breath hitched, her green eyes closing. She was losing control. "I gave him a chance. I was willing to listen to what he had to ask and answer his questions," she began to tremble slightly. "And his answer was nothing but uncontrolled rage and violence."

It was then that Vesper Woman noticed her sister's shoulders stiffening as if she were desperately trying to contain herself. She was about to speak, but the other Robot Master uttered one last sentence.

"Even if it was violence toward me."

The robot's creator was surprised by what she had just heard. "Toward you?"

Quake Woman said no more, cursing the fact that she was slowly unraveling against her will. "The samples are all accounted for," she told Dr. Lalinde. "I shall see to it that they're placed in storage until they're needed."

Before either Lalinde or Vesper Woman could plead, protest, or even make a sound argument for the pigtailed Robot Master to stay, she exited the lab as soon as she made her announcement, running down the hall as she tried to put as much distance between her and her family.

What was going on? She had never experienced such a complex, painful, crushing sense of doubt, fear, and confusion. And uniting all of those things was a veil of defensive anger and refusal to even acknowledge any form of repentance Blues could've presented.

It was as if he had triggered something within her, a switch had been activated and it would not shut off. She couldn't shut it off, even if she wanted to. The only salvation she had was focusing her mind on her work, but only that could take her so far.

Then it would be back to how it was before. Just her, alone, with her thoughts.

Thoughts of him, thoughts she didn't want. she didn't want to think of him. She didn't want to know him, talk to him, or have anything to do with him. She didn't want anything that even made her think of DLN 000.

In fact, at that moment, she wished she had never known he existed.

That Night

After her work was done, she immediately went straight to her room, shut the door, and transformed out of her armor and into her civilian clothes. Then, she took off her shoes and leaped into her bed, pulling the sheets over her head, as if she were trying to block out the world around her. No one had tried to talk to her for the rest of the day aside from checking in on how she was doing, but there was no other talk besides that.

And there was especially no talk of him.

Eventually, the LMN found her systems growing tired and her central processor alerting her that her scheduled bedtime had long since passed. Yet sleep didn't come easily to her as of late. She actually tried her best to stay awake. Her internal structure and hard drive could take functioning for days without a rest, but a sleep schedule was something mandated in the house. Something Vesper Woman had discovered and very adamantly protested against.

But Dr. Lalinde's words were final.

Tempo herself didn't argue, but that didn't necessarily translate to her being comfortable allowing herself to slip into unconsciousness. On the contrary, if she had her way, she would keep going until her body forced her to recharge and her systems to cool down. And when that happened, her CPU began to construct and piece together images and scenarios that were taken from fragments of assorted memories.

And, it seemed, no matter how hard her subconscious tried to suppress it, that night always came back to her.

The night he came.

There she was, once again, in her living room, on the couch, backed up against the wall as Break Man thrust his fist into the wall, the portrait of Dr. Light shattering and the surface behind it surrendering to the robot's superior strength. Then, as before, her mother entered the picture to put a stop to things before it could escalate any quicker.

Only, this time, Blues didn't respond to her words.

Instead, he answered her with a sharp slap to the face that sent the woman to the ground, her head bouncing off the floor before she went still and limp.

"Mom!" Tempo rose from the couch, the same fear that had been rising before now at its peak. Blues then turned his attention to her. She backed away from the couch, trying to put as much distance between her and the other robot as possible. "N-No…"

"It's too bad," the red and grey android spoke. "I tried to get you to see reason, but you're just too stuck believing the lie that things will go back to how they were before," he drew closer. "But they never will. Nothing will ever be as it was, not for either of us."

Tempo parted her lips, green eyes on her mother's unconscious form, unsure of whether or not to go and see if she was too badly hurt. But Blues…no, Break Man blocked her path. And, given how he seemed to be approaching her, it appeared he had no intention of letting her go anywhere.

"I guess that means I'll have to show you myself."

"What?" Tempo questioned, her arm then being seized in the other robot's grip, his hold tight and constricting.

"You're coming with me."

With the utterance of those words, Tempo realized the true magnitude of the danger she was now in, what she had so foolishly put herself in, believing that maybe there was some sort of potential for a dialogue with Dr. Light's runaway creation. Break Man's body began to glow red, Tempo realized what he was about to do. But, at the last moment, she managed to wrangle herself from his hold, running toward her mother to try and escape with her. Unfortunately, Break Man cut her off and made a grab for her again. Tempo dodged it and stumbled over the opposite of him, the two staring each other down.

Only it was clear that one of them was far more suited and used to fighting.

"Do you really plan to challenge me?" Break Man questioned, voice almost taunting.

Tempo swallowed hard, that blasted visor keeping his eyes hidden from her, eyes that surely viewed her as prey. "I…I won't just let you take me." she stammered, trying to appear at least somewhat defiant in front of her aggressor.

His helmet concealed his face, but she heard a light chuckle emit from him as if he were amused by the terror she was presenting before him. "You know, Crash Man might be similarly built, yet Wily says that he's a little too much on the wild side," she swore that he was smirking at her. "You, on the other hand, have a work ethic that he would find very useful."

"No!" Tempo protested. "You can't! I won't let you!"

"Then do it," Break Man told her. "Try and stop me."

The brunette, long-haired robot stood in place, trembling, uncertain of what to do. The first instinct to try and find help was out of the question, as her parent had been incapacitated, and, even if Tempo could reach a phone or call someone, who was to say they'd get there in time? There was no other way, she realized with horror. She had to face him. She had to fight him.

With a gulp, the robot shifted into the form suited for her duties as a Robot Master. Despite the presence of protective armor, Quake Woman didn't feel confident in the slightest. Her green eyes stared at Break Man, overcome with silence and with fearful, unsure optics.

It was then that he made his move, rushing toward her at a speed she wasn't prepared for. It was only by sheer luck that the female android managed to dodge Break Man's attempt to seize her again by mere inches, the other robot still continuing to make aggressive movements on her, all the while she tried to put as much distance between him and her as she could, although that varied in success.

"You're going to have to do more than just avoid me," Break Man told her. "You have those drills, put them to use."

Drills? Yes, her drills. But they weren't intended for combat purposes, they were for tearing through stone and minerals! Nevertheless, it seemed she had no choice but to make use of them as weapons for the time being. Taking the renegade robot's advice, Quake Woman produced two silver, sharpened tools that began whirling at a high speed, the Robot Master positioning them in front of her in an effort to keep Break Man from getting closer. He seemed unaffected by her strategy and still moved toward her. Quake Woman, in an act of desperation, thrust the whirling instruments situated in her forearms in his direction, but the robot moved out of the way and took her by the arm. She struggled in his grip, but, to her surprise, he released her, letting her fall to the floor. Quickly getting back on her feet, the pigtailed digger then saw Break Man produce a drill of his own, her ability scanned and copied, now ready to be made use of by her attacker.

He raised his newfound weapon, the thickened, dense tool spinning as if Break Man were holding a sword. Quake Woman bit her lip hard, yet nevertheless, brought her own drills up to show, keeping them in front of her face for some sort of extra protection. He then made a dash forward, his arm performing a slashing motion. The drill on his hand clashed against Quake Woman's the sickening sound of metal grinding against each other echoing throughout the house as he continued to try and break her defenses, the green Robot Master not so much fighting Break Man as she was blocking his blows.

Quake Woman had been built for durability due to her line of work and places she would be summoned requiring digging into the planet's surface, but she was no fighter. It wasn't until Dr. Wily had first stolen Light's robots that fighting machines were even heard of when Rock had to undergo the procedure to become the very thing his creator had wished to never create. A machine built for destruction and with the sole motivation to cause harm. And that machine stood here in her own home, trying to break her down to where she was weak enough to have his way with her.

"AHH!"

It was then that Quake Woman became aware of a sudden, flaring pain in her side, her eyes looking down to the right to see that Break Man had managed to lay a hit on her, the side of her hip torn open and exposing her internal components, slashed wires and cables sparking and releasing electrical charges now that there was nothing to keep it contained. The damage wasn't serious or crippling, but the fact it had happened to her further confirmed the peril she was in.

He made a move again, the other robot raising her arms to protect herself, yet instead of going upward, the red and grey machine slashed at her stomach, the more elastic, flexible part of herself more easily torn through than her lower half. She released a scream, though whether it was more from actual pain or sheer terror, she wasn't sure, nor did she have time to ponder the answer.

She wasn't even given the chance to try and defend herself next, as Quake Woman felt a powerful punch to her torn, open gut, sending her heeling over and to her knees. She then felt one of her pigtails being grabbed and pulled, forcibly lifting her up and on her feet again, all the while she shouted and protested, trying to wrangle the brown fibers from the other robot's red hand. She then felt sent back, hitting a bookcase a short distance away and falling to the floor, the piece of furniture falling over and crushing her underneath. It was nowhere near enough to actually damage her outer form, yet it served as the perfect method to keep her from moving too much, especially since she was already injured. Break Man stood above her, staring down, but she sensed that her predicament gave him a sick sense of satisfaction.

"Pretty pathetic display," he said. "But Wily can maybe program a few moves into you." he then reached down for her.

Quake Woman struggled when he grabbed her, yet when he dragged her out from underneath the bookcase, she began kicking and squirming, trying to dislodge herself from the other robot's grasp. Her resistance was met with a hard kick to her back and sent her on her face, and before she could lift herself up, she felt a boot place itself on her back, keeping her in place as a red arm grabbed her by the hair not covered up by her helmet, forcibly lifting her up to look at Break Man.

"Or, then again, maybe you'd just end up getting in the way," he said, Quake Woman's internal wiring growing cold.

"W-What do you mean?" she asked, feeling somewhat foolish for what was ultimately a foolish question. Yet her present fear made standard thinking extremely difficult. Especially when, as she came to realize, perhaps she was staring death right in the face.

"You're already friends with Mega Man, so who's to say that you won't assist him against us?" Break Man said, Quake Woman then noticed something drawing closer in the corner of her eye.

Break Man's buster.

"W-Wait," the other robot began, struggling again, only for her aggressor to strengthen his grip. "Wait!"

"You could've experienced true freedom and independence," the red and grey machine told her, building up energy within his weapon, the other android feeling the heat from the concentrated plasma warming her cheeks. "Instead, it looks like you're no better than scrap."

"Wait, don't!" Quake Woman cried out, feeling developing tears stinging the corners of her optics. "Blues, don't! Please, don't!"

"Goodbye."

"NO!"

She heard him release what he had built up in the firearm attached to his person, white, hot light consumed her vision as she was suddenly aware that her artificial flesh and body felt as if it were burning. She couldn't contain the scream that had sought freedom the second Break Man had punched the wall and the last lingering thoughts of regret and fear for those that would be left to face his wrath. Her mother, Dr. Light, Rock, and Roll…and then, perhaps everyone else.

Then, she knew no more.

Note: Kind of a dark note to end on, but I wanted to show how Tempo's perception of Blues has affected her, and how it'll affect their relationship going forward.

Both are traumatized individuals, but I wanted to show that both have their issues with not only themselves but each other and that it's something that'll have to be discussed later on.

Granted, Tempo will start to be nicer to Blues soon, but she's not going to just open up to him entirely. That's something he's going to have to earn.

Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear your input!