Mega Man and Bass: Frenemy Mine

Drawing Conclusions!

Dr. Light's Lab: 10:00 a.m.

There were familiar noises around Mega Man as he awoke.

"MEGA MAN, YOU'RE ALIVE!"

Thank goodness!"

Dr. Light and Roll were staring at him from above. He was on an operating table.

"How...?"

"We rushed to the site as soon as we could," Roll answered. "We could barely get by all of the firefighters and police over there!"

He looked for Proto Man as best he could but to no avail.

"Where's Proto Man?"

The scientist spoke up this time. "He had me fix him before you woke up. He wanted to leave as soon as possible, it seems..."

"Why would he do that?"

"Maybe he didn't want you to see him so... vulnerable."

That made sense, actually. Something else came to mind.

"What about Dr. Wily?"

"He escaped at some point. He was nowhere to be found at the scene nor was his body found. He's no doubt concocting his next scheme."

Unbelievable. It seemed that he certainly would never change.

"Joshua is in the local burn unit, screaming his lungs out with his parents while they work out what to do with him. Strangely enough, all of his medical bills have been paid in full without any known payer..."

"Who could have done that?"

The Doctor smiled longingly. "I'd like to think that even after all this time, Albert isn't completely heartless..."

Mega Man would have to think that over. He just couldn't fathom his archenemy doing a genuinely good deed without some hidden strings attached.

"What about Bass?"

"He's gone," Dr. Light sighed. "He hasn't been seen all day."

It was then that Rock decided to air a question that had been bugging him for a while.

"Dr. Light? Am I destined to be enemies with everything that Wily makes?"

There was a pain in the old man's sigh. "I suppose that Blues told you such. I personally don't believe that. If the Robot Masters can be put to good uses, so can any other robot. I long for the day to come when you or any robot of mine would make friends with one of Wily's robots. Robots aren't designed evil, after all." He changed the subject. "By the way, guess who's back from an upgrade!"

Rush didn't wait for a formal announcement before practically pouncing on his owner. Laughter filled the whole lab and house as the tired group worked to peel Rush off of him.

Wily's Lab...

Wily worked furiously to reprogram Bass. He would have to scheme well to wash away the stench of his last not-so-evil deed.

"That boy better not say that I never did anything for him..." He glared at the unconscious robot in his tank. "And you're never making friends with anything of Thomas's. Wily is the enemy of Light. Plain and simple."

Both men's words would prove prophetic just a hundred years later, when their greatest inventions would continue the fight... The fight for everlasting peace that would continue for hundreds of years.

But those are "Mega Man Legends" for another day...

A little later, at a nearby hospital...

Roy and Martha Wily didn't know what to think as they awaited news in the waiting room about their badly burned son. Anger was one emotion they felt. Grief was another. But who to be angry at?

A call came to the woman, Martha. It was him.

"You can thank me later for paying for your son."

"I'll make you pay, all right!" The woman screeched, frail as she was. "You sent my son down this path, and now he's almost dead because of you!"

"Is that any way to talk to your father, Martha?"

"You're absolutely nothing to me! Now get off of this phone and never contact us again or... or... I'll..."

"You'll what?"

Roy grabbed the phone. "We'll destroy you and everything you've built ourselves."

A twisted chuckle came from the other end. "Yeah, right!"

The woman looked at the man. A silent decision was made.

"You will regret this call. We'll make sure of it."

The man hung up and broke down in tears. The wife followed suit.

Revenge would be theirs...

END

Happy 30th Birthday, Mega Man!