Chapter Text
Gear Fortress, like so many Wily Castles before it, was a smoking ruin, and even the smoke was starting to die down for good. The acrid fumes of whatever had exploded during Dr. Wily’s latest defeat wafted through the air and dispersed into nothingness, much like Wily’s ambitions.
How many such wreckages dotted the globe? Too many. Upwards of ten, and that wasn’t including the Wily Satellite, which had burnt up in the atmosphere and turned to a cloud of detritus so small as to be unrecognizable when it finally came to earth. Some still claimed it instead had drifted off into deep space, where it awaited a signal from the doctor to spring back into operation.
At Gear Fortress, however, the authorities had come and gone, finding nothing of particular import amongst the ruins.
Idiots.
They had no idea what to look for. Bass wasn’t sure if that could be chalked up more to the humans’ ineptitude, or to Wily’s genius. On second thought, that may have been giving Wily too much credit.
Light more than likely had the audacity to believe that he and his rival held the only two copies of it. That it couldn’t possibly be backed up anywhere, or that other prototypes existed.
Wily, in Bass’ opinion, was particularly short-sighted in his tendency to abandon the specifics of his schemes after one go. Kidnapped Cossacks? He couldn’t possibly. Evil Energy? Never heard of it. Roboenza? Old news. And yet, if his creator had gotten this far in preparing for a Double Gear revolution, Bass couldn’t help a suspicion in his circuits that he would find what he was looking for.
He tore through mounds of rubble with his bare hands, taking little heed of what he might damage. The doctor didn’t care about any of this stuff anyway, not now that he’d been forced to retreat and scheme again. Bass didn’t even know where he was holed up this time, and until he was called, he didn’t much care. Even if Wily did call him, he’d be sure to be extra slow in responding this time. That’s what the old coot got for not calling him and just equipping him with the Double Gear so he could finally turn that blue goody goody into scrap.
Bass took a centering breath—wholly for show, but it allowed him to slow his processors. It didn’t matter, he was going to set it right now, as soon as he got what he was looking for.
Beside him, Treble nosed through mountains of discarded wiring and nuts and bolts, occasionally pawing at the ground, but with no greater success than his master. “Keep looking,” Bass grunted as he shifted another mound of scrap. “It’s gotta be here somewhere.”
Trebble huffed a short affirmative bark and redoubled his efforts. They kept going for several minutes until Bass’ sensors alerted him to an incoming teleport signal.
“Treble! Hide! I’ll bet it’s the Mega Brat.” Faster than any normal animal could move, Treble bounded to the perimeter of the room and hid himself among the refuse. Bass likewise ducked behind a pile just as a telltale blue beam blinked in from the sky.
“I made it back to Gear Fortress, Dr. Light,” Mega Man announced into his communicator. Bass smirked, he loved it when he was right. Maybe now he could take his shot and get rid of him without the Double Gear. But just to make sure he knew what he was getting into, Bass quickly dialed into the frequency he knew Mega Man usually used for communications.
“Excellent, any signs of activity?” Dr. Light’s voice came just as Bass finished the adjustment.
“Not so far,” Mega Man said, his voice getting farther away to Bass’ native audio processors, but still coming in loud and clear over radio. “Looks about like it did when I left.”
“Good,” Dr. Light replied. “Then perhaps Dr. Wily hasn’t returned to scavenge anything yet. If there is another Double Gear, now is our best chance of finding it and securing it.”
So the titanium twerp was after the same thing he was. Well, it seemed he’d been wrong about Dr. Light’s assumptions. On the other hand, if Dr. Light thought it might be here, then really that just made it more obvious to Bass that he was right about it existing at all. Having heard enough, he switched back to his regular comm frequency. “Treble,” he said in a low voice. “We need to get him out of the way. We could try the direct approach, but I think subtlety might serve us better.” Treble sent an acknowledgement in the form of a low growl. “Make a distraction, but make sure he doesn’t see you,” Bass instructed. “Go, boy!”
Bass didn’t wait for acknowledgement from Treble before he switched back over to eavesdropping. As quietly as he could, he peered out from behind his hiding place to get visual on Mega Man. He was walking away from Bass’ hiding place, far enough away that he probably wouldn’t hear if Bass was careful and got closer. As soon as he took a step however, Bass realized he’d nearly made a fatal error: Mega Man had called Rush out.
Rush immediately perked up, just missing Bass as he retreated back behind his pile. “What is it, boy?” Mega Man asked. Rush scanned the area, but seeing nothing amiss, turned his attention back where it had been. “Heh, you’re jumpy today, Rush. There’s nothing to be afraid of here. Not anymore. And even if there is, we can handle it together!”
Bass mimed gagging. Sentimental, schmaltzy, saccharine little dweeb.
“You said the authorities had already come here, Dr. Light?” Mega Man asked as he resumed his search.
“That’s right,” Dr. Light confirmed.
Mega Man’s confusion was evident, even though Bass couldn’t see his face. “Then…why are we so sure that there may be another Double Gear here? Wouldn’t they have found it?”
“To be blunt, Rock, they wouldn’t know what they were looking for,” Dr. Light said grimly. Again, Bass just loved it when he was right. “I won’t rest easy over this until you and I confirm for ourselves. A Double Gear laying about in the open is a recipe for disaster.”
“Fair enough, I suppose,” Mega Man sighed. “Any luck, Rush?”
Rush had been pawing at one particular spot with increasing focus. As he picked up speed, Mega Man ran over. “What’d you find, boy?”
Rush dug and dug and finally worked his robotic snout into the ground and unearthed…a set of dentures. Bass fought the urge to laugh. Wily didn’t have dentures…did he? He’d have to torment the old fart about it later.
Mega Man laughed awkwardly. “Heh, uh…not exactly what we’re looking for, Rush.”
Rush whined in response, and Bass could see his head drooping. “But good try though! You’re a good dog!” Mega Man hastily added. Based on Rush’s panting, Bass guessed the addendum had cheered Rush up.
“Come on, Treble, now or never…” Bass muttered. He needed the kid and his mutt out of his hair if he was going to really go through the place. Almost as if on cue, a distant explosion caught the attention of both Mega Man and Rush.
“Mega Man! The scanner is showing unusual activity on the other side of the fortress! Investigate immediately!”
“On it, doctor!” A moment later, Mega Man and Rush had blinked away in a teleport beam, leaving Bass alone at last.
“Took you long enough,” Bass grumbled over his comm. Treble teleported to his side an instant later, giving Bass an offended look. “Yeah, yeah, come on. Let’s get back to searching.”
He’d been expecting Mega Man, but what was Bass doing here? Well, he’d never been one to be too naïve, he knew in his core that Bass was after the same thing he was.
That would complicate matters.
He didn’t want Mega Man to know he was there, and he certainly didn’t want Bass to know he was there, so it seemed for now, all he could do was observe in silence. He smirked. Bass hadn’t bothered to make sure he was alone before beginning his search like he had. That kind of short-sightedness—inherited from Wily, no doubt—was why he never would beat Mega Man. However, as foolish as he thought Bass was, he couldn’t truly judge him too harshly.
After all, Proto Man had once been just like him.
He too had once been blind to all else save proving his worth by besting Mega Man. But the prototype Robot Master had grown beyond such simple needs. He was sure it was in Bass’ power to grow beyond them as well, but whether he actually would, Proto Man couldn’t say. Although if Bass managed to find the Double Gear, that would change the equation significantly.
He followed Bass and Treble as silently as he could, well out of range of either of their auditory processors. It wouldn’t do to blow the secrecy of the endeavor now.
He’d searched the place himself, and found nothing. That didn’t rule out Bass knowing something he didn’t though. So what then? Proto Man pondered the next few steps this could take. If Bass found the Double Gear, was Proto Man a match for him to take it from him?
Well, it wasn’t exactly like he had anything to lose if not.
Bass’s search had taken him and Treble down a forgotten corridor of the fortress, away from the main lab. Proto Man frowned; the main lab was the most likely place Wily would have kept any Double Gears for experimentation. As he thought however, Bass’s path made more sense. The main lab was also where the final battle had happened, so perhaps any chance of finding anything intact was well away from there.
“Ha! Look at this, boy, I don’t think Mega Man ever even came this way.”
That sounded promising. Proto Man picked up his pace slightly, keeping an eye out for any stray sentries, and keeping in mind he still had to keep quiet. Thankfully there wasn’t so much as a Met or Telly. Bass had stopped halfway down another side corridor and was punching in a security code, opening a hidden door.
A crackle of static alerted Proto Man to an incoming communication in the vicinity. That could only mean one thing. He quickly scrolled through his range, pinpointing the frequency in milliseconds.
“Bass! What in the world are you doing at Gear Fortress?” Dr. Wily’s voice screeched over the channel.
“Cram it, gramps,” Bass snarled. “I’m doing what you should have done in the first place.”
“Oh-ho! Did a Double Gear prototype survive? Excellent! You’re to bring it to me at once!”
“Not likely, doc.” Bass said, and Proto Man could practically hear the smirk on his face. “I think it’s been way too long since I’ve seen any action, and what’s worse, you had no right to keep this from me.”
“Don’t talk to me about rights, Forte,” Wily scoffed, pointedly using the name he’d given Bass before the robot had chosen his own. “I’m your creator! You do as I will!”
“Yeah, and if you’re too dumb to see the simplest solution to rubbing out that blue pest, I’ll just have to take matters into my own hands!”
“Don’t even think about it, Forte! I’m sending you coordinates to the new base. Join me there at once! That’s an order!”
“What is it gonna take to get it through that bald skull of yours?” Bass cackled. “I ain’t listening to you if it slows me down!” And with that, the communication was cut off. Proto Man had been closing in on the door during this conversation. It was now or never. Dispensing with stealth, he jogged the last few paces to the door, and promptly aimed his buster at Bass’s back.
“Drop it,” he said calmly. Treble growled, but made no move without Bass’s say-so.
Bass’s reaction was subdued, all things considered, he merely laughed. “Well, if it isn’t the prodigal robot. What happened, run out of cliffs to brood over?”
“I’ve got one penciled in for later today,” Proto Man calmly quipped back. “But first, I need that.”
Bass turned around, a genuine expression of surprise on his face. “How do you even know about this?”
“Doesn’t matter how I know, all that matters is that you’re going to give it to me.” A millisecond later, Proto Man tilted his head to the side to narrowly dodge the blast Bass had fired at him.
“I’m not the biggest fan of being told what to do,” Bass said. “Especially not by outmoded prototypes who haven’t got a clue who they’re dealing with.”
“Nevertheless, I’m not leaving without the Double Gear,” Proto Man said stoically. “I know you’ve got a vendetta to settle, and truthfully that’s your own business. But that thing may be my only chance for survival.”
Proto Man could practically see the gears turning in Bass’ head. “Wait…don’t tell me. You don’t think that it can serve as replacement for that core of yours, do you?” Bass laughed. Proto Man could feel his synthetic lips tightening, but he tried not to betray too much surprise that Bass apparently knew about his condition. “Didn’t you know? The main reason that drip of a dad of yours opposed the Double Gear research was because it overloads robot systems. This thing isn’t going to save you, it’ll probably do you in!”
No, that couldn’t be. Proto Man could feel himself starting to struggle not to show outward emotion. It wasn’t enough, Bass could clearly tell he’d struck a nerve.
“So really, I’m doing you a favor by not letting you have this.”
“You don’t know the first thing about my systems,” Proto Man said defiantly. “If you’re so sure it’ll kill me, why not test that theory?”
Bass looked at Proto Man like he’d removed his RAM. “Because if you go exploding, you’ll destroy the Double Gear with you, imbecile!”
He was wrong. He had to be. This had to be his ticket to living. He charged his buster and took aim. Bass was too quick. In a single moment, he’d raised the Double Gear high, and it vanished as it integrated into his systems. Energy crackled around Bass’ body. Proto Man steeled himself, ready for a fight.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Bass cheered as he reveled in his newfound might. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” He shot a fully charged shot Proto Man’s way with nary a second of buildup.
Proto Man returned fire, pelting him with pellets in an attempt to cover his move to a more advantageous position where he could properly charge his own buster. The spot where he’d been standing only a second ago was scorched as Bass fired at it with no more regard than a fly.
“Come on out, Proto Man, it’s all over!” Bass gloated. “I’m gonna scrap you one way or another, so why prolong the inevitable?”
Proto Man closed his eyes and slowed his processors for a microsecond, trying to get his head together. A Big Bang Strike would almost certainly rip him in half again, while probably not doing anything to Bass in this state. But he couldn’t just do nothing. He charged his buster, willing himself to think of a weak point he could exploit. Chest was too heavily armored, joints in the arms and legs were too small to hit reliably…wait, those ridiculous head finds on his helmet.
“Prooooooto Maaaaaaan, come out and plaaaaaaaaayyyyyy,” Bass taunted, shooting more spots at random. Well if he was trying to creep Proto Man out, it wasn’t a terrible attempt. Still, it was now or never.
“Tag, you’re it,” Proto Man said as he shot at one of Bass’ fins. The shot spun Bass around, knocking him off balance. Proto Man didn’t wait for Bass to fall, much less orient himself. He closed the distance between them and tackled Bass to the ground, putting all his weight on the other robot’s back.
“Get off me, you clod!” Bass raged as he struggled like a bass flopping on the deck of a boat.
Proto Man grunted as he struggled to keep Bass under control. “Not. Until. I. Get. This!” In a random instant, Bass’ flailing managed to put himself in the perfect position for Proto Man to grab onto his arm. A blinding glow briefly knocked both robots’ visual sensors offline. Proto Man cried out as his systems surged with a sudden influx of power. An explosion of energy separated the two robots.
Seconds dragged for hours. But soon enough, Bass’ visuals came back online. He’d really gone and done it. The moron had blown himself up. That’s what he would see once this smoke cleared, Bass was sure of that.
Instead, as the smoke cleared, Bass could make out a crackling mass of energy on the other side of the room. Proto Man stood, struggling to contain his newfound power.
“No!” Bass snarled. “What did you do?!”
“I used the Copy Chip to copy the Double Gear,” Proto Man said calmly, as though his body wasn’t coming apart at the seams. “Now we both have what we want.”
“That shouldn’t be possible!” Bass snapped. “The Double Gear is no Robot Master ability! It’s a highly sophisticated output system designed to integrate with robots on the most basic level!”
“Yet here we are,” Proto Man smirked. “Aren’t you just dying to know how?”
“I’ll kill you!” Bass screamed as he fired another volley of shots at Proto Man. But Proto Man vanished. Bass frantically scanned the room. A two-tone whistle and tap on the shoulder got his attention.
“Hiya,” Proto Man said, unbearably cocky as he aimed his buster at Bass’ head from directly behind him. Bass ground his artificial teeth. He’d forgotten about the Speed Gear, but Proto Man had not. Well, two could play at that game.
“Speed up!” Bass cried as he shifted gears. The world began to move in slow motion, with the frustrating exception of Proto Man. Still, he was fast enough to dodge Proto Man’s own shots. And each one was throwing Proto Man’s arm wildly out of control more and more with each shot. After one particularly big shot dodged, Bass could see smoke coming from Proto Man’s shoulder rather than his buster.
He’d been right: this thing was tearing Proto Man apart.
“You’re overloading,” Bass gloated. “I told you that you couldn’t handle all this power!”
“We’ll see!” Proto Man shouted defiantly. Simultaneously, Bass and Proto Man fired charged shots at each other, plasma fizzling and crackling as the shots canceled each other out. Bass followed up and closed the distance between them, then switched back to Power Gear and sucker punched Proto Man so hard he lifted off the ground. Proto Man’s head rolled dizzily, as he waved his arm in the air trying to find a target to aim at. More plasma shots fired at random, not coming anywhere close to hitting Bass.
“This is just sad,” Bass laughed as he approached Proto Man’s prone form. “Give it up. You can’t—”
One final shot came within millimeters of Bass’ helmet. With an electric crackle, Proto Man’s body finally gave out.
“Heh, what a fool,” Bass said. He bended over and picked up Proto Man’s body. “Come on, Treble. Time to rub it in.”