Chapter Text
Bass had him at his end. He could’ve sworn he did.
Mega Man clutched his injured arm, breathing heavily as he stared Bass down.
Bass let out a loud cackle as he aimed his buster right at him, a sick, twisted grin on his face. Finally, after all of these years… after all of this time, he would be the one winning, and not the one on the ground, or injured to the point where he would have to forfeit the fight and teleport away.
The roles had been reserved, as they should’ve been from the start.
“It’s over, Mega Man! I win! Any last words before you become another piece of nonfunctional scrap metal?”
Mega Man’s face faltered for a split second. His eyebrows raised briefly as his eyes widened, but then he narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth.
He refused to say anything.
Now that was surprising.
“Really? Nothing? Like, absolutely nothing? I’m literally about to kill you right now, and you have nothing to say? Not even a ‘No Bass! Don’t do this! We’re not enemies!’” He said while raising his voice to an obnoxious pitch to mimic Mega Man’s. “Man, you really know how to kill the mood. Oh well! I’m still gonna enjoy this!”
Bass began charging his buster, and just as he was about to fire, it jammed like a gun.
“Wh-what the–?!” Bass gasped. He slapped his buster like how someone would hit a remote, hoping it would release the buster shot. If it didn’t release soon, there was a high risk that his buster could explode. “Are you kidding me?! Are you absolutely joking right now?! The one time I’m about to win, my buster stops working!”
“...Uhm, Bass?” Mega Man said.
“What?!” He hissed.
“I don’t think that’s the only issue you should be worried about…”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?! I got something else going on that you know about that I don’t?!” But then Bass raised his eyebrows as he realized something. “Did you do a scan on me?!”
Mega Man ignored his question and continued talking. “You’re on the verge of a shutdown… your systems are outdated. When was the last time you had an update?”
“What – I don’t know… like last month? I didn’t want to update this time because it seemed so… invasive. Wily normally does invasive updates, and I usually have to negotiate with him to fix it.”
Mega Man raised his eyebrows once more, then facepalmed. “Bass…”
“Yeah–? Ow!” Bass cried out as he felt his buster burning him. “What?!”
“That update was universal for all robot masters. Especially ones that specialize in combat. It was to fix a bug in our systems. That update was necessary.”
Bass gave Rock the thousand-yard stare as he felt his anger rise.
“...You gotta be kidding m–”
But then his world went black within an instant.
The last thing he heard was a loud bang ringing in his ears.
***
Bass slowly opened his eyes to a blinding light, and to the sound of talking and machinery around him. Once his eyes adjusted, he blinked for a few seconds, then sat up and looked around the area.
It only took him a few seconds to realize where he was.
He was in the Lights’ place, specifically the lab.
Just great, he thought to himself.
“...Thanks, Roll. I really don’t know what I would’ve done without you,” Mega Man said as Roll was working on his arm.
“No problem, Rock!” Roll replied, almost singing her words. “Just be more careful next time. This is the third time you’ve injured your arm this way!”
“I was being careful! It’s just… you know,” he replied as he turned around to look at Bass, only to jump and almost fall off the operating table, realizing he was awake.
Bass let out a loud snort. “There’s no way you just did that.”
Roll looked over to him as well, her eyes sparkling when she saw him. “Bass! You’re awake!” She exclaimed. She quickly finished working on her brother’s arm, then rushed over to Bass with an excited grin on her face. “How are you feeling? Are all of your systems functional?”
Bass felt his face heating up, with his lips curving up to a smile. But he broke eye contact with her and forced his face flat. “I’m fine. Everything’s good.”
“Oh! I’m glad!” She giggled. “You’re not in any pain, are you?”
He shook his head. “Nah, but I can’t feel my arm…”
Roll’s face went cold. “Oh… uhm — whatever you do, don’t look at your arm.”
“What? Why? What’s wrong with my ar–” Bass’ mouth shut tightly as he stared at…
He couldn’t even describe what it was.
His buster looked like it got curb-stomped, then ran over forty times exactly. It was flat as aluminum foil.
“...”
Bass could hear snorting from Mega Man across the room. He whipped his head around, a glare forming on his face. “What did I just hear?!”
Then the snorting turned into snickering.
A snarl formed on Bass’ face as he adjusted his view to look at Mega Man directly. “Keep laughing, and I’ll wipe that stupid grin off your face you blue bi–”
“Weren’t you just laughing at me earlier?” Mega Man retorted. “But let me guess, it’s only fair when you laugh at other people, right?”
“Yeah.”
Mega Man face-palmed again and shook his head. “I don’t even know what to say anymore…”
“So maybe you should keep quiet instead of wasting your breath,” Bass remarked.
“Or maybe you both could be quiet…?” Roll interjected, and the room briefly fell silent. “Thanks.”
“...Are you done fixing my arm?” Rock asked.
Roll nodded her head. “Yes, you can go.”
“Great!” Mega Man grinned as he got up from the table. “Thanks again, Roll! I’ll make dinner tonight!”
“You don’t have to do that, Rock. I got it.”
“But you always do it! It’s been weeks since the last time I made something! I still have my original function, you know.”
“Hmm, fine,” she conceded. “You can do it.”
“Like I need your permission,” he sneered.
Roll playfully rolled her eyes. “Whatever Rock!”
Mega Man stuck his tongue out, then ran out of the lab. Then it was just the two of them.
Just Bass and Roll.
“Sooo…” Roll began. “About your arm–”
“I – I don’t need help. I don’t need you fixing it, I got it. No – wait a second, how did I even get here in the first place?!” Bass questioned.
“Rock brought you here,” she answered. “You passed out after one of your vital systems malfunctioned, which was around the time your arm exploded. That’s what the analysis said.”
“...Huh,” Bass muttered. “Weird…” But then a frown formed on his face. “Wait a minute – that blue loser brought me here?! Is he serious?! And how?! I thought he was just about dead! I could’ve sworn I–”
“What? You wanted him to just leave you out there? If I were you, I would be grateful that he was kind enough to get you repaired.”
“Yeah, well – okay, first of all, you’re not me. Second, your brother and I are enemies. Got that? Enemies aren’t supposed to help each other.”
A smirk formed on Roll’s face. “Oh really? Then what about the time when you, Proto Man, and Mega Man all worked together to–”
“That was a one-time incident!” Bass snapped. “It didn’t – and it still doesn’t mean a thing!”
“What about when King–”
“I mainly did that all by myself! They just shot a few bots here and there. I did all the hard work!”
“Okay, but what about all the times when I’ve helped repair you before? Hm?”
“Well – we’re not – we’re not really enemies. You just keep getting in the way of me fighting him. I don’t like fighting you. I don’t want to fight you. It’s not my function to defeat you. Besides, you’re too swee– annoying.”
“Aww, Bass! I don’t like fighting you, either! I’m glad we’re on the same page!” She smiled, her cheeks turning a slight pink. “But I don’t think you and Mega Man are enemies as you claim to be. Your rivalry’s more one-sided than anything.”
“We are enemies, and it’s not one-sided. End of discussion. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
“Whatever you say, Bass,” Roll mumbled. “But you’re right. We’re getting off-topic. Let’s talk about your arm,” she said as she sat down at the edge of the table. She gently lifted Bass’ broken arm and held it, despite his quiet protests. “It’s severely damaged.”
Bass let out a fake gasp. “Oh my gosh! No freaking way! It’s almost like I didn’t realize that from the start! Nah, I thought it was still functioning and everything, though. My bad, I guess.”
“Be quiet and let me talk,” Roll huffed. “It’s going to take me at least a couple of days to fix it, unlike Rock’s arm. I went ahead and updated your systems while you were out, as I noticed they were outdated. I think Rock told me that when he brought you here… But you’re lucky the explosion only happened in your arm, and that it was the only thing damaged. This could’ve been a lot worse.”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute–” Bass started. “I gotta stay here, for at least two days?!”
“That’s what it looks like.”
Bass let out a loud groan and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Are you kidding me…?”
“On the bright side, you get to hang out with me!”
Bass’ face turned bright red as he slowly looked up at Roll, who had the most innocent look on her face. “What did you just say…?”
He knew what she said. He just wanted verbal confirmation.
“Nothing!” She smiled, then started to walk off to a different part of the lab.
“Hey – where are you going?” Bass shouted.
“To get some tools for your arm,” Roll answered.
“Wait a second – won’t Light freak out if he sees me in here?!”
After a few seconds of silence, Roll came back carrying a large array of items stacked up in her hands. She threw the pile down on a table near Bass, grabbed one that Bass couldn’t recognize, and went over to him.
“Dr. Light’s not here right now. He’s on a business trip, but he should be back next week!”
“Huh… Okay.”
Bass sat in silence as Roll began to work on his arm.
This was going to be an interesting few days…