January 16th, 2006

   For the split second that the robot had locked eyes with Mega Man, he had been able to tell that it was different from all of Wily’s other robots.
   “Zero!”  Bass said.  Mega Man could have swore there was just a hint of fear in his voice.
   “Roll, get Dr. Light out of here!”  Mega Man said.
   “But…” She protested.
   “Just get out of here!” Bass commanded, “Mega Man doesn’t need you here to distract him!”
   “Don’t worry,” Dr. Wily laughed, “Zero will hunt you down when he’s finished with the rest of them!”
   “Good luck Mega Man.”  Roll sighed, before leaving with Dr. Light.
   Bass didn’t hesitate and opened fire on the robot, his bass buster firing a steady stream of plasma bullets.  Zero leaped over the stream of bullets landing between Mega Man and Bass.
   “Fool!”  Bass declared, “You can’t take us on from both sides!”
   No he’s not!  Mega Man thought, but it was too late.  Bass opened fire again, but Zero just sidestepped the attack, sending the bullets straight towards Mega Man.
   Mega Man dropped to ground, narrowly avoiding the shots.
   “We don’t have time to play around Mega Man,” Bass commanded.  “Just blast this guy!”
   From his prone position, Mega Man raised his Buster and fired the charged blast he’d been saving.  Zero didn’t dodge; he just held up his own arm cannon and fired.  The blast didn’t just cancel Mega Man’s shot; it actually absorbed it and continued back to Mega Man.  It would have vaporized him too, had Rush not grabbed him and flew him out of the way in his rocket mode.
   “Thanks Rush!”  Mega Man said, patting him on the head.
   “Save the mushy stuff and concentrate on Zero!”  Bass yelled, not letting up on his buster.  “Treble, let’s do it!”
   Treble leaped onto his partners back, transforming before the two connected.  When connected to Treble, Bass received the added ability of flight, plus the bonus of enhanced strength and firepower.
   Why is he going all out so early in the battle?  Mega Man wondered. Could he really be that afraid of Zero?
   Mega Man wasn’t about to wait for the answer.  Zero’s attention seemed to be on Bass, which left him open to Mega Man’s attack.   He fired three shots at Zero, they were uncharged, but all three hit him square in the back, knocking Zero on his face.
   “Good shot Mega Man!”  Rush cheered, but Mega Man didn’t hear.
   His attention was focused on where the shots had hit.  They had done little more than scorch his paint, barley even making a dent.
   Zero slowly got to his feet, and turned to Mega Man.
   “What an underhanded sneak attack,” Wily laughed,  “Mega Man, I thought I knew you better than that!”
   “Obviously you don’t know me well enough!”  Bass snarled.
   Zero just had time to turn his attention to Bass, before he unleashed his arm cannon on Zero.  A large wide stream of energy collided with Zero with enough power to crack the floor, dropping him into the basement.
   Slowly, Mega Man and Bass walked towards the hole that Zero had fallen through, there weapons ready incase Zero had actually survived.
   Suddenly there was a crack as something busted through the floor behind them.
   “Help!”  Rush yelped as Mega Man and Bass spun around.
   There was Zero, his knee jabbed into Rush’s back pinning him to the ground.  He wasn’t undamaged, there were cracks in his armor and parts of his under suit and hair were burned off.  Still, he didn’t actually seem wounded.
   “I’m growing tired of this!”  Zero said coldly. “Now loose the weapon or loose you dog!”
   “Don’t do it Mega Man.” Bass whispered to him.  “He’ll destroy Rush anyways!”
   Mega Man sighed.  It didn’t matter; he couldn’t let Rush go without at least attempting to save him.  He lowered his buster.
   “You are weak, Mega Man!”  Bass muttered.
   “So are you!”  Zero laughed, leveling his arm cannon and firing at Bass.
   “Bass!” Mega Man gasped, turning to look at his fallen rival.
   “Don’t…” Was all Bass could reply before Mega Man realized his mistake.   A second shot from Zero caught him in the back, knocking him onto his stomach.  His damage indicators blaring that control of anything below his waist had been disabled.
   “So that’s all it takes to defeat the mighty Mega Man and Bass,” Zero laughed. “One shot each and they’re helpless.”
   From behind him, Mega Man heard a loud tearing of metal cut off by a yelp.
   “Rush…” He whispered, knowing it would soon be over.
   “You haven’t won yet!” Bass laughed.  “I still have one more trick that I’ve been saving for Mega Man!”
   “You’re not really planning on using THAT, are you?”  Dr. Wily asked.
   “I’ll take all of you down with me, GOODBYE DR.WILY!!!”
   There was a long silent pause.
   “Just kidding,” Dr. Wily said at last.  “I wasn’t about to let you use your self destruct on me, so I removed it.”
   “Game over.” Zero replied before closing in to finish his job.