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Ecstasy of Blue
Chapter Five: Accidents
By: Bibly
Rock and Blues continued chatting even as they piled into the family van, taking their usual seats in the back. The somewhat depressing mood that had befallen the two earlier had lifted, leaving them both rather cheery and happy within each other’s presence.
"So the guy tried to grab for my shield and - oh man, you know how ticked I get if someone tries to take that thing away from me - so I punched him in the gut and ran off! He shoulda been glad I didn’t beat the crap out of him for that; damn Robot Masters," Blues stated with a lighthearted chuckle as he finished telling Rock another story from one of the many adventures he had while out on his own. He smirked as his younger brother stared at him with wide, admiring eyes.
Rock beamed with happiness when Blues had finished telling his tale. He loved his brother, there was no doubting that, and the stories he told when he came back from his ‘alone time’ made him love and admire him even more. "Wow, Blues! That sounded awesome!" he cheered as Dr. Light sped down the street. "Do you know what he did after that?"
"Well, from what I saw, he just kinda fell to the ground. His eyes were huge, too. Look in the mirror for a sec…" Reaching over to his brother as he gazed at the rear-view mirror, Blues placed his fingers on his eyelids gingerly and pushed slightly, making Rock’s eyes slightly bigger. "He looked kinda like that." Rock giggled in response. "It was hilarious; I couldn’t help but laugh at him."
"If that shield causes that much of a problem, maybe I shouldn’t have given it to you in the first place," Dr. Light added sarcastically, butting into their conversation.
Blues’ eyes widened at his remark. "Oh, hell no! That thing is like my best friend!" Everyone laughed at his reaction. They all knew he was going to react like that; it was the same way with both his scarf and his sunglasses as well. Blues continued to talk about his proto-shield throughout the rest of the ride home.
Walking up to Rock’s bed, Bass stared down at it, his mind racing. What am I doing in here? I’ve seen what it looks like, so why did I go inside? Slowly, he turned and sat on the bed, his eyes widening slightly as he came in contact with it. "It’s so…soft!" he shouted just as Treble parted from their fusion. "Treble, look at this!" Bass pushed down against the mattress, admiring its softness. "This is way better then the bed I’ve got! Here, come up here." Joining his master on the bed, Treble yelped lightly in surprise. Rock’s bed was indeed quite soft, much softer than Bass’ own bed. Circling in his spot slightly, the robotic dog laid down just as Bass himself laid back.
"Man, this is defiantly a comfy bed," Bass muttered, closing his eyes. As his mind wandered, his programming found an opening within his thoughts and began to torment him once again.
The time to kill Mega Man is coming, Bass.
Bass closed his eyes tightly as his program resurfaced. I already told you, I’m NOT going to kill him.
I am your programming, Bass. You can’t possibly fight me.
Just watch me.
If it was possible for his programming to laugh, he could have sworn that it would have laughed right there and then.
Try all you want and whatever you want. You may be able to ignore your programming for a small amount of time, but you can’t deny me. You won’t be able to ride on these petty emotions forever. You’ll slip one day, and when you do, you’ll be basking in the blood of your sworn enemy.
Bass rolled to his side, grabbing at his head. "Shut up! Just…shut UP!" he shouted, startling Treble. Treble began to lick at his face, wondering what could have possibly caused his master to yell out in such a painful way. Opening his eyes, the ebony bioroid peered at his dog with pain-filled eyes. "Treble…" He slowly reached out and scratched him behind the ears. "This is gonna be much harder than I originally thought, boy…"
"That sure was fun!" Rock shouted as he jumped out of the van and stretched. "Ice cream is muy delicioso," Blues added, slamming the car door behind him. Readjusting his scarf, he looked about the forest before stepping up to his brother. "Rock, is it just me, or is it really damn quiet out here?"
Rock shook his head, glancing about through narrowed eyes. "No…no, it’s not just you… Something is defiantly wrong here." An ear-piercing scream cut though the eerie silence that had befallen the forest. The two brothers raced to Roll’s side and stared at the sight before them. The door had been blown ajar from a large plasma blast and was now nothing more than a soldering hole. "Impossible!" As he stared at the door, a sudden thought came to mind: Bass. He was there, inside the house, probably looking for him so he could blast his head clear off his shoulders. Rock grew nervous. Please don’t let it be Bass… I don’t want to fight him, not now, not ever. PLEASE don’t let it be! He suddenly felt something bump into his shoulder. Turning to look at what it was, he spotted Blues in his red and gray armor, staring intently at his younger brother through his dark sunglasses.
Blues could tell by the worried look in Rock’s eyes that he didn’t want to step inside the house. He didn’t want to face Bass, fearing that his feelings for the Wily ‘bot would be blown to pieces. Walking to his side, Blues placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. A warm smile appeared on his lips. "Don’t worry your crazy little head," he whispered reassuringly. "This love story will be completed."
Rock continued to stare at him. He had begun to shake slightly, scared. "But what if it doesn’t have a happy ending?" he whispered shakily.
"Oh, it will have a happy ending, Rock. It will."
Smiling softly at his brother’s faith in Bass’ supposed feelings for the little Blue Bomber, Rock felt something click within him and was suddenly surrounded by a pale light. His blue armor quickly appeared on him, and upon taking a deep breath, he gazed at Blues one last time - receiving an encouraging smile - before slowly walking through the door, peering about cautiously. He heard Dr. Light and Roll asking Blues what they had been whispering about, and as he listened to their quick footsteps heading towards safety, Rock knew that Blues was informing them of the recent occurrences that they weren’t aware of. He didn’t care, though. They needed to know. He wasn’t even sure why he didn’t tell them to begin with. But it didn’t matter now. All that mattered now was that Bass was inside their home, and Rock was determined to learn the truth about Bass’ feelings and know if it was truly as he felt it was: one sided.
Rock continued to look around the family room - clearly surprised that it was in perfect condition and not torn apart in bought of rage - until a soft whimpering brought him to the side of his faithful red mutt. "Rush!" he shouted as he collapsed on his knees at his side. Rock’s shout must have been louder than he had thought, as he heard a sudden creak. The creak was familiar to him. It could have come from only one place… My room! Dashing from Rush’s side down the hall to his room, Rock pressed himself against the wall before bounding before the door, buster cannon already aimed at his head via force of habit. Bass stood his ground with Treble before him, the dog’s teeth bared in protection. Treble knew Bass’ feelings for the azure bioroid that stood before them, but even so, at the very sight of danger, Treble was ready and willing to fight for his master’s survival. Damn it, I need to know! I want to know! But look at how he’s staring at me…he hates me, damn it!
"Who the fuck just tripped me?!" he shouted, jumping to his feet and whirling around. Rush, panting and still damaged, slowly got to his feet, knocked to the ground by the force of the blow. Grinning madly, Bass aimed his buster at the dog. "Time to die, lil’ doggy."
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"NO!" Rock shouted as he burst from the smoking hole, straight at the black armored bioroid. Taking a swift kick at his midsection, he watched as Bass jumped into the air, avoiding the blow without a problem. Great, this is just great. Dashing to where Bass had landed, the two engaged in a fist fight, blows landing here and there on both of them, but neither of them completely taken aback by any of the blows. This definatly isn’t how I wanted this to go. Rock slammed to the ground when Bass’ fist connected with his cheek. Rolling out of the way just before he was able to get his head blasted with plasma, he got to his feet and turned about, blocking a kick to the face and retaliating with a swift punch to Bass’ gut. But I knew it. Rock watched as he stumbled back before releasing a storm of plasma blasts upon him. He hates me.
~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~
"Fuck!" Bass yelled at the top of his lungs. He blocked as much as he possibly could, but was still singed by much of the blast. Sliding to the side, he charged his buster as much as he possibly could before releasing the ball, a large grin on his face when he noticed Rock wasn’t even paying attention. Much to his dismay, Rock managed to take a large step to the side just before it slammed into him, but instead of hitting him, it hit someone else. A loud scream suddenly filled the night sky. It was soon accompanied by someone shouting, "Roll!"
"Roll?" Bass questioned, suddenly taken aback. I wasn’t fighting a ‘Roll.’ I was fighting him! Mega Man! As he glared at Rock, who had dashed into the forest despite their ongoing battle, Bass’ emotions resurfaced. Mega Man? …Rock…? He shook his head and stared down at his hands. What am I doing? I don’t want to kill him!
Yes you do.
No I don’t!
Don’t deny it.
I’m not denying it! I’m stating the truth!
You’re denying it.
Bass grabbed at his head, recoiling in mental anguish. "Stop it, God damn it! Just fucking STOP IT!" A loud scream escaped from his mouth as he tossed his head back and fell to his knees just before he disappeared into the night sky in a beam of golden light.
~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~
"Roll! Roll, what happened?! Where did he hit you?!" Rock shouted in a panic. He ran as fast as he could to where Roll lay on the ground, her arm torn completely off her body in the blow. Blues and Dr. Light were knelt at her side, Blues speaking to her as Dr. Light inspected which of the main circuits had been destroyed. "Oh my God…Roll!" Rock knelt next to her, gazing into her pain-filled face. "Roll, I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!"
"I’m afraid she can’t hear you, Rock," Dr. Light answered softly. "Her circuits froze upon the blast. I need you to get Bass away from the house so I can repair her as quickly as possible!"
Bass… Rock closed his eyes tightly. He did this… He did this to Roll… "Bass, you’re making this harder and harder on me…!" Rock shouted as he broke away from his family and ran back to where the man all his love and yet all his anger was directed to. But although he was filled with anger and his good judgment had seemingly disappeared, he was completely taken aback by what he had returned to. Bass was stumbling back, grasping at his head as he screamed before finally falling to his knees and disappearing into the night sky, soon followed by Treble. "Get back here! This isn’t over yet!"
~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~
Bass struggled to keep on his feet as he landed a few miles away from the Light compound, his hands still grasping at his head. "Stop it, stop it!" he shouted repeatedly as he slammed his head against a nearby tree, keeping it there as he ground his teeth together. But the programming wouldn’t stop. It was stronger than ever now. Now that his emotions were fighting the best they could against his programming, the pain of his mental state was unbearable. "I said STOP IT!" he yelled one last time. He couldn’t take it anymore. It was all too much.
When is all of this going to just fucking stop?!
When you kill him.
A sudden blast echoed into the sky, causing his programming - as well as his emotions - to become jumbled. His pain-filled face suddenly relaxed as his hands slowly slipped from his head. His body landed with a thud on the soft green grass as Rock stood behind him, gasping for air while smoke swirled from the end of his buster cannon.