MegaMan NT Warrior (Rockman) Fan Fiction ❯ Midnight! ❯ Prolouge ( Chapter 1 )

Prologue:

An old man was silhouetted against a gray, stormy sky. His shape was distorted by various metal limbs and bent from age, but still he worked desperately, tugging aside old debris and shoveling dirt and dust away with his bare hands, working to uncover the treasure that lay there. His breathing, already ragged and shallow from his tired lungs, grew quicker and even shallower, and sweat began to run down his wrinkled cheeks. Finally, his labors were rewarded. An old, tarnished black capsule rose out from the ruins. The old man began to quietly chuckle to himself, seeing that all of its indicator lights were green.

"All is notlost!" he said happily, clapping his gnarled hands together. After the old man entered a password, the door to the capsule unlocked with an audible click, and he inserted his fingers into a gap between the glass and the metal siding of the capsule, throwing back the door, his quiet mirth growing louder until his frail guffawing rang out over the Tower ruins.

After a minute, his lungs gave out, and the laughter turned to a violent, rasping cough. Another minute passed, and when the elder had recovered enough air, he made a mental note to build a new set of lungs for himself. His original ones just weren't cutting it.

" Wake up, Bass…" whispered the old scientist, tone becoming louder with every syllable, " Wake up and fulfill your duty to the one who gave you life! Wake up! YOUR MASTER HAS RETURNED!!"

If one lived, it was possible that the others, the ones built after his greatest, to do all of the dirty work, still lived as well. Dr. Wily stumbled around the ruin, bellowing at Bass to help him, trying to locate his second and third reploids. Bass remained silent, for once, and ignored his creator's pleas. The sun began to set, and ruddy light spilled over the ruins of Wily's Tower. Bass watched the stars appear as the sky darkened, thinking instead of speaking. Thinking of the reason that he'd been sleeping for the past years. The red robot. The Maverick.

Dr. Wily gave up on yelling at Bass. It took up way too much energy, and he needed all he had to find Midnight and Artemis. Some of the Tower's rooms still stood, and with an almighty, desperate tugging that sent violent shivers though his frail body, the doors became unstuck and Wily was able to look inside. Of course, his robots weren't in any of the rooms, because that would be too easy for him, the evil scientist thought angrily.

" Bass!" he snapped, hoarse voice carrying across the ruin easily, despite the speaker's poor health, "Help me you ungrateful wretch! It will soon be too dark to search!"

"Why?" Bass asked lazily. His red eyes gleamed in the poor light, and the dark colors of his armor were fading into the darkness, making the robot's outline fuzzier than even Wily's poor vision should see it, " Why, Doctor? Give me one good reason why I should help the siblings of the one who killed me?"

" Because Iwish it!" Wily straightened as best he could glaring at Bass's glowing eyes, the only bit of him that he could still see. Bass glared back, sending more tremors through the old scientist's spine. The eyes were deep and blood red, chilling and dark despite the flashing.

"Why should I help you?" Ever stubborn, Bass turned, kicking debris out of his path. He began to walk away, slowly, because he knew that Wily was in no shape to pursue. He had his own agenda to accomplish, and the first thing on this agenda was finding Mega Man and Doctor Light. He didn't need Wily anymore, eventually, once Wily found and restored his Mavericks, he would have no need for Bass and do away with him. And there was no use. Wily was a loser. Bass had too much pride to work for a loser geezer like he whose plans always failed. He was going to join the winning side. Bass was a winner, not a loser. And if being a joiner didn't work out well (which it probably wouldn't) he'd just vigilante. Either way, he'd get plenty of chances to fight, which was all he cared about.

But he did wonder why it had taken him so long to figure this out. Whatever. One day, though, he woulddefeat Mega Man and prove himself to be the strongest robot. For now, though, he wanted revenge on Wily for making him look like a fool.

Nobody made Bass look like a fool.

Nobody.

Wily sighed forlornly, watching Bass leave. Oh well. Two seconds later he was over it, after all he only needed Bass to help him dig. And anyway, he thought that he'd found what he was looking for. Another capsule, red, was poking out through the rubble. Again Wily dug with fervor until the sweat poured down his face and his breath was short. Presently, he had to stop and rest, with the capsule only halfway clear of the debris. Wily cursed his age, plopping down on an empty crate near his capsule. The sun was almost down, and he knew that he'd never finish before the darkness was complete. He stood, hoping no one would come along in the dark, and made his melancholy way over to one of the still standing rooms, going inside and pulling the door to behind him. In here, he would wait for the sun to rise and then complete his job. And then…

Then he would arise again. Once again, his name would inspire fear in the hearts of humans and reploids alike. Once again he would rule over an elite army of robot warriors, once again Dr. Light and Mega Man would tremble, kneeling in the shadow of his greatest creation.

Zero.

The original Maverick. Wily still had the virus program. He also had a brilliant plan. All he needed were people to help him, and for Zero to awaken from that false identity those Hunters had given him.

Leaning against the wall of the room, Wily's eyes began to droop. He slipped into the black void of sleep, dreaming violent dreams of world conquest and terror…. Planning even in those dreams how he would finally bring his nemesis Dr. Light to his knees. A misshapen grin cut through the wrinkled folds of Wily's face as he slept. Someday soon…