December 25th, 2005

   Roll smiled as the she felt the sun across her face.  Thousands of tiny micro sensors in her dermal layer relayed data to her CPU, registering warmth and light levels.  She allowed herself a second longer to enjoy the feeling before stepping out of the way, narrowly avoiding the huge boulder as it crashed into the ground where she had been standing.  The wind generated by the huge rock felt was sharper, colder, far more menacing.  She was not afraid of it of course, she was more than ready for what followed.  Guts Man charged at her, the hulking giant of a robot leveled his shoulder down at her, ready to crush her between him and the ground.  With what felt like no effort at all, Roll leaped into the air, more than three times her own height, and landed on Guts Man’s back before leaping gracefully off.  Of all the Robot Masters Roll had faced, Guts Man was by far the most predictable.  His simple programming didn’t leave much room for planning and strategy, so his attacks were unfailingly random and chaotic, but slow and easy to dodge.  Roll took the chance to enjoy the sight of the ocean before turning and leveling her weapon at her enraged opponent.  There was a slight hum as her mega buster built up power.  Guts Man was of course aware what this meant, and paused to look for cover.
   Big mistake, Roll though, before unleashing the fully charged shot at the doomed Robot Master.  If he had tried, he could have reached her before she was done charging, but that would have only resulted in him taking a weaker blast.  He would have survived it of course, but it would only have delayed the inevitable for a few more minutes.   Instead, the blast caught him in the right shoulder, tearing away bits of his armor and spinning him full circle.  By the time he was facing her gain, Roll's armor had changed from blue to green and she held a sharp metal disc in her hand.   Metal Man had tried failed to destroy her with the Metal Blades, but they would not fail to destroy Guts Man.
   “Are you done in there yet?” Came a nock at the door, “How long does it take to clean an empty room?”
   “Just a minute!”  Roll stammered as she dropped the disc.  She then muttered almost inaudibly “End training sequence.”
   Suddenly the beach faded away, along with Guts Man who was just inches away from pounding Roll. Unfazed, she walked over to the lone terminal by the entrance and tapped a few keys, deleting all the logs of her training battles.
   “There you go Rock, all clean!” She smiled as she exited, dragging her vacuum behind her.
   Her brother stared at her suspiciously but then smiled.  It was hard to believe that this simple tool using robot with such an innocent, youthful face was in fact the world renowned super hero, Mega Man who had saved the world from destruction and enslavement numerous times.  But to her, she was Rock Light, her brother who would always be there to protect her.  Maybe that's why she didn't want anyone to know about her time in the training room, she wanted him to have something to fight for.
   "Thanks, I don't know what we'd do without you!"  He laughed, it didn't sound the least bit patronizing, but it sure felt that way.
   Rock entered the holographic training room.  Just before the door slid shut, his armor materialized on him.  Roll knew all too well that that armor was not a hologram like hers.
   Maybe you're just afraid that you'll never be able to fight on level twelve like him, she thought.
   She sighed, knowing that sooner or later Dr. Wily would appear again with some new diabolical plot.   Naturally Mega Man would rush off on a new wild adventure to stop him, while she stayed behind and kept the place ready for his return.   If she was lucky, she might get to Rock’s job and assist Dr. Light in making some new weapon that Mega Man would use to battle Dr. Wily.  And then Mega Man would return and tell them all the great stories of his adventure, with plenty of “you shouda seen it”s  or “you shoulda been there”s!
   Suddenly Dr. Light’s voice came over the labs speakers, “Roll, can you come to my lab for a minute?”
   Great, she thought, Maybe he’ll get my mind off this!
   “Oh, and bring your mop!”  Dr. Light added.
   “Maybe not…” Roll sighed, as she headed to the supply cabinet.

January 1st, 2006

   “Would you two get out of here!” Dr. Light yelled as Roll neared the lab.  Suddenly the automatic doors slid open and Rush the dog scrambled out, closely followed by Tango the cat.   Tango took a swiped his metal claws at Rush, who narrowly avoided them and hurried to hide behind Roll while barking at his would be attacker.
   Any unsuspecting human would just here a series of dog, but Roll was more than familiar with the clever language pattern that Dr. Light had programmed into his robotic pets, “I’m sorry Tango, I just wanted to see if you wanted to play!”
   “Play!”  Tango hissed, “I had was in the middle of a great catnap before you blundered in!  And then you get me kicked out of the lab!”
   “You were the one who swiped at me!  I didn’t know those chemicals were back there!”
   “Oh would you two knock it off!”  Roll demanded, and then turning to Rush “Rock’s in the training room, why don’t you go and play with him there!”  She turned back to Tango, “and I guess you’ll just have to find someplace else to sleep!”
   “Nya!” Rush said sticking his tongue out before turning and running towards the training room.
    “Yeesh!”  Tango sighed.   “And that’s the guy who Mega Man takes into battle with him.  Who’d think a mutt like that could ever save the world!”
    “Well I’m sure Mega Man would be happy to take you if you wanted,”   Roll explained as she headed into the lab, dragger her mop bucket with her.
    “Nah, I’ve got better things to do,”  Tango purred as he hopped up onto the window ledge, curling up in the same spot he’d just been kicked out of minutes earlier.  “Besides, those two can handle things on their own.”
   Roll looked over at Dr. Light who was studying Tango suspiciously.  He must have decided that the cat was no danger without Rush because he smiled before turning to Roll and saying.  “Thanks for coming, those two just wasted about seven hundred dollars worth of stasis fluid!”
   Dr. Light was always very complimentative.  Unfortunately Roll had heard his thanks so many times that they were beginning to loose all meaning.
   “No problem Dr. Light, what else do I have to do?”  Roll laughed, even though it wasn’t a joke.
   For a second Dr. Light showed a hint of concern, but it quickly turned to a smile, followed by a laugh.
   “I really do appreciate this,”  he said, heading back to his lab table.
   Roll put her mop into her new task.  When she lifted it out, the clear blue gel slid back onto the floor, merging into one bead.  The reached out and touched the head of the mop, but she didn’t need the moisture sensors in her hands to know what shoe would find.
   Completely dry!  She sighed to herself.  It didn’t absorb a thing!  This stuff is completely frictionless, I should have brought a shovel!
   “Would you hand me that magna-wrench?”  Dr. Light asked.
   “Here you go!”  Auto replied.
   “How’s the new robot coming?”  Roll asked, deciding to take a quick break from her frustrating work.
   “Won’t be long now!”  Dr. Light smiled.   “We’re almost done with the new body, but I still want to take a while to troubleshoot the new AI again.”
   “Well why don’t you do that now?”  Auto Suggested, “I can finish this guy much faster on my own anyways!”  The green robot smiled, the multi tool on his right hand shifting between it many various functions.
    “I don’t think so Auto.  The plans are very detailed, and I don’t want to see any of you’re little ‘improvisations’ inside this fellow.”
   Dr. Light and Roll’s eyes met, both thinking of the time Auto had tried to improve their toaster.  Roll still felt nervous whenever she made Dr. Light a sandwich.
   “Besides, I don’t plan on bringing him on line for quite some time anyways.”   Dr. Light said, uncharacteristically seriously as he turned his attention back to his tools.
   “But why?”  Auto stammered, somewhat surprised.  “What are you waiting for?”
   Dr. Light was silent for a few minutes, but he finally responded.  “I’m just waiting for an old friend to retire first.”

   Miles away, Dr. Light’s “friend” looked down upon his own similar creation.  Unlike his old colleague, he had no intentions of waiting.

January 8th, 2006

   Bass stared through the window into the study of Dr. Light’s lab.   Dr. Light and one of his robots were watching TV as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
   Bass’s black armor was almost invisible in the darkness, but the golden trim would easily give him away if anyone bothered to look in his direction.  That suited Bass just fine, he had no intentions of hiding.
   “Why would Wily have you attack Dr. Light’s lab directly?”  Treble growled.
   The wolf-like robot wasn’t much of a talker, Bass new that if Treble felt the need to voice his opinions, he must really be concerned.
   “You mean why did he wait so long to come up with this plan?”  Bass replied.  “For once he’s not bothering with those pathetic Robot Masters of his and just sending in his biggest gun.”
   Treble looked like he was about to say something, but instead he remained silent.  He didn’t need to say it he knew that Bass was thinking the same thing.  Wily was finally done with the two of them.
   Wily had merely assumed that Bass would be obedient when he designed him, but it was his own fault for Bass’s disloyalty.  He had designed Bass to be the most powerful robot in existence, and that made all of Dr. Wily’s other robots rivals.  On several occasions Bass had proved that he was leagues beyond any of them.
   Only Mega Man came close to matching him in terms of power and fighting ability.  Sure Mega Man had defeated him in the past, but that was meaningless since he’d failed to finish Bass off.  It was that weakness that had Bass convinced that he would one day defeat Mega Man, and he would have no hesitation in finishing him off.
   That of course, was the reason that Wily had kept Bass around.  It was also the reason that Bass kept Wily around, after all, he needed someone to repair him when he was done battling Mega Man.
   But that was over now.  Dr. Wily had finally finished his new robot, and he seemed to believe could defeat Bass, if he ordered it to.  He would of course, and though Bass was confident that he could defeat it, but there would be no one to repair the damage he would be likely to receive.
   So this was his final chance.  This time he would destroy Mega Man, and when he was done he would deal with the new threat as well.  Then, he would walk up to that frizzy haired excuse for a scientist and activate his self-destruct sequence.
   He chuckled to himself sadistically, realizing that he would actually be helping Mega Man save the world.  That didn’t matter though, he didn’t care what happened to the world.
   “Let’s do this.”  He said, raising his bass buster.
   A rapid-fire stream of energy pulses cut through the wall like tissue paper, making a new entrance.  There were no defending robots, no spike traps, no auto guns.  This was not one of Dr. Wily’s fortresses, it was made of bricks, wood, and drywall.   It wasn’t undefended of course, there was probably a silent alarm that was summoning the lab’s protector.
   The female robot jumped to her feet turned to face their attacker.
   “What are you doing here, Bass?”  She asked, putting herself between Dr. Light and Bass, as if she thought her body would actually be enough to shield her creator from Bass’s weapon.
   “You mean it isn’t obvious?”  Bass laughed as he lowered his weapon.  “I’m here for Mega Man!”
   He walked up to the girl, Roll if he remembered correctly, and swatted her out of the way.   Not even pausing to watch her fall, he walked up to Dr. Light and grabbed him by the collar of his lab coat.
   “I’m guessing he’s already on his way,” Bass said, holding the heavy set scientist in the air with one hand, “But if not I suggest you get him here now.”
   “He’ll just have to wait his turn!”  Roll yelled, delivering a kick to Bass’s back, below the armor.  Bass didn’t even flinch.
   Bass turned his head to face roll, but Treble was already on her.  She let out a scream of pain as the wolf-bot grabbed her ankle in his jaws and dragged her away.  She kicked at his head with her free foot, but her boots just clanged noisily off the purple armor surrounding Treble’s head.
   “Let them go, Bass!”  A familiar voice shouted from the entrance to the study.  “I’m the one you want!”
   “You’re right, Mega Man!”  Bass laughed as he dropped Dr. Light to the ground.  “You heard him Treble.”
   Treble released Roll and turned to growl at Rush, who stood at Mega Man’s side.  Roll crawled to Dr. Light and helped him to his feet, despite her injured leg.
   “You’ve done some low things, Bass,” Mega Man said angrily, “But you’ve never attacked my family to get to me!”
   Bass briefly thought about the time he pretended to by Mega Man’s ally and stole some components from Dr. Light before trashing the lab, but he decided not to correct Mega Man.
   “Hey, I’m just following orders,” Bass replied sarcastically, “Dr. Wily was the one who wanted me to come here and destroy you!”
   “Actually, I wanted you to help Mega Man!”  Dr. Wily laughed, stepping through the hole that bass had made.
   Everyone turned and stared at Dr. Wily.  Usually he never went anywhere without riding in some giant war machine, but this time he stood before them seemingly undefended.
   “What did you say?”  Bass snarled.    “Help me what?”  Mega Man asked, skeptically.
   “Help you survive!”  Wily laughed.
   A new robot walked in, dressed in red and white armor with a long yellow ponytail.  He surveyed the room, locking eyes with everyone for a split second each.  Finally his gaze fell on Bass, and just from his stare he realized just how lethal this new opponent was.
   All bass could do was speak the name of Dr. Wily’s Ultimate creation, “Zero!”

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.