"Any last words?" the dark one grinned evilly, pressing down harder and harder on our hero's chest, his eyes glowing like rubies. The reploid groaned, weak and cracked from damage; he attempted to push his rival's foot off his chest plate, but to no avail. He was weak, tired and unable to move. He was so close to shutting down, his vision was turning to pure static.
"Y...yes..." he managed to choke out, oil dripping from his mouth down to the floor. The Maverick leaned his head closer to the reploid's, still keeping him crushed under pressure.
"Tell me then, Megaman..." he grinned, baring his large fangs. The reploid calmly, but weakly placed a hand on his overlord's leg, looking up into his eyes and faintly smiling. The dark one flinched, then growled, pointing his megabuster towards his head. "Tell me, damn it!" he shouted into the weak Maverick Hunter's face. X couldn't help but chuckle, then replied with a smirk,
"You've always been a hot head... one who needs to get his way, but... I don't blame you... You were built and programmed this way... it's not by choice," he looked to the side, seeing the remains of a few fellow reploids, "You were made as a war machine... a killer... An evil mastermind..." Bass couldn't help but smirk, feeling slightly proud from the reploid's words. Megaman laughed, closing his eyes. "And... that's what I've always liked about you... you never give up on the one dream you have... even if it's bad... You always follow your heart... even if that means the end of me, and you never give in to pressure or wounds..." The Maverick slowly lowered his weapon, in slight surprise from the hunter's words.
"Wh...what the hell are you talking about, X?..." he growled, clenching his fists angrily, then punched him intensely in the side of his face. "TELL ME!!!" he screamed, grabbing Megaman's neck, gripping tightly and leaning into his face. The android just continued to smile... as if nothing bad was happening to him at all.
"I've always admired how you work... How you move... how you fight..." he paused for a moment to grin slightly. "Heh... you never back down... you always push and push and push... That's why I admire you..." The corrupted robot growled again, blushing very faintly, not used to such kind words from his rival of all things... Why was this pathetic reploid's words making him experience these new feelings? It wasn't hate... anger... frustration... It was guilt. Seeing how weak his double was now, he released his foot off of him and backed away slightly, still keeping his megabuster out, in case. The hunter slowly sat up, sparks flying from open wires and cracks in his armor. Oil dripped from his mouth still, taking a moment to wipe it, leaving a black stain on his snow white gloves.
"...I could still kill you in an instant, reploid..." he snarled, his eyes glowing bright again, showing no fear. But deep inside... he was scared. He didn't want to let him go, or to see him this hurt. Megaman smiled again, then weakly stood up, his legs shaking.
"I know you could, Bass..." he said softly, approaching the dark one slowly. Bass kept his guard up, eyeing every step he took and every small movement he made. Gentle breaths escaped the Maverick's mouth, taking small gulps every now and then. X stood straight in front of him, looking into his eyes. Bass' cheeks flushed a slight pink for a moment, shaking his head, still watching his enemy. The blue android groaned, collapsing onto the black robot master. He quickly reacted, catching the hunter, not knowing what to do with him. He bit his lip, somewhat nervous.
"X...?" he softly called out, looking down at his weak copy. "Megaman... stand up..." he sighed, helping the reploid back to his feet, then turning away. "I...I'll take my leave now... consider this a warning, hero..." he growled, beginning to walk off.
"...Bass.." he said shakingly, stumbling closer towards his rival, before hugging him from behind. The Maverick's eyes widened, turning to look down at Megaman. He was in utter shock to see his rival... hugging him tightly, and... crying... "I..I..." he choked out, gasping for air from his lungs being pressed on, and also from the crying.
"You what, damn it?!" he snarled, about to slap him roughly.
"I... I... l...love you...." he said, before collapsing to the ground. The Maverick's eyes widened fully, dropping to his knees, shaking his rival and calling out his name.
The Maverick groaned, picking up his counterpart carefully. X weighed quite a lot, due to his upgrades, but Bass did his best to hold him tightly. He began to walk towards the city, looking for a repair ward. Bass was unfamiliar to this town, as he had only come to defeat X by tracking where he was stationed.
"Damn it... where the hell is a repair ward?" Bass groaned, gripping his rival tightly, making sure not to slip due to oil spills. His eyes widened as he saw a very large abandoned building, actually looking quite familiar to him. His mind strained to remember, shaking it off and walking towards the tower. "Familiar... damn familiar..." he said, scoping the place out. He decided that he should look in, that maybe there could be some help for his rival... for what was he without him? Just the world's best reploid, and that's all. No one to go against.
Bass cautiously entered the building.
Hints of past robotic experiments, oil, trash and debris scattered the broken tiles of the large room. His eyes strained still, thinking of where he had seen this before... he decided not to let it get to him, and to continue on his search. The dark one walked cautiously upstairs, then peeked his head in to see a large laboratory, surrounded with old tools, wrenches, unused capsules, and even a few energy drink cans. The Maverick couldn't help but chuckle at the horrible condition that the room was left in. He walked Megaman towards a resting capsule, placing him gently in it and sealing it shut. He looked over to a control pad, turning the machine on, sharpening his eyes to watch the condition of X.
"I really did a number on him..." he sighed, sitting in a nearby chair, crossing his arms and leaning back. He smirked a bit, closing his eyes. "Of course I did... I'm the most powerful reploid to ever exist!..." he paused to look at the hero in his chamber. "...Right?.." he sighed, closing them again to think.
A few moments later, his eyes shot open as he stood up, snarling and baring his fangs, balling his fists angrily. He had come to his conclusion.
"Megaman X is an upgrade to my form... a much more powerful one..." he frowned, pursing his lips just slightly. "So... doesn't that mean he's stronger than me...?" he said, squinting to look at his rival. "...Yes... so why didn't he... fight me like he was supposed to?..." his eyes darted to the side, seeing a manual titled "Project X". He grabbed the book, opening it quickly, flipping through the pages. He stopped at a diagram of X's mechanics, as his eyes widened. His face flushed red, as his eyes drooped a bit. He then slowly smirked, studying his rival's components. "Mmmmm..." he grinned, eyeing him up and down. "Very... very nice..." he shook his head, closing the book, his eyes wide. "T-the hell am I saying?..."
He quickly retreated back to his chair, sitting down anxiously. He set the book on a working table to the side, then crossed his arms and closed his eyes again, waiting for X.
About twelve hours passed before an alarm went off. Bass' eye shot open, snorting and sitting up straight. He was confused for a moment as to where he was, then had his memories flood back to him. He sighed, standing up and turning the machine off. He slowly walked towards X's pod, opening it to see Megaman, his eyes still closed, but he looked much more revived. Forte picked the weak reploid up again, setting him on the work table next to the book. Flipping the book open again, he read up for a few moments, then groaned.
"Manual override to system... so I have to fix him? Great..." He set the book down, still open, reaching over and grabbing a few tools. He cocked his eyebrow, slightly worried himself. "Do I actually remember how to do this?..." he sighed, then began to work on his rival. He mumbled to himself, switching tools every now and then. "Why the hell am I even helping this stupid robot? I mean sure, I still need a rival, but hell I can find another one any day! Maybe even Protoman..." he sighed, stopping his work and looking down. "Then again... I do have quite fond memories of this brat..." he smiled a bit, still lost in thought. "I remember first meeting him, back when he was still his weaker self... So small, I towered over him... and yet... how funny, that I still do..." he faintly blushed, closing his eyes. "You were so tiny and helpless... I honestly thought nothing more of you than a small child..." he sighed, resting his head on his hands. "Then... you truly showed me your power, didn't you?..." he looked up at the offline reploid, shaking his head and continuing to work.
After a few hours of straining, re-wiring, welding and hacking, he finally managed to get him looking good as new. Bass sighed, feeling behind at his neck, and turning the reploid on.
"Come on... Come on..." he chanted.
Megaman's eyes shot open, his eyes still slightly dull. He was very slowly booting up. Bass was slightly worried. The sign of a reploid taking a very long while to boot up... was always a very worrying sign. It typically meant that they were corrupted... or worse... they had a virus. The Maverick actually backed away, aiming his megabuster at him in caution. X's eyes turned a dull reddish brown color, as the classic shine in his eyes returned. Megaman turned his head to look at Forte, his eyes returning to their normal green. He groaned, falling to his knees, holding his head tightly. He yelled out, closing his eyes shut, small sparks flying. The dark one sighed, knowing he had done some slight malfunction in the reploid. He got on one knee and looked at his rival carefully.
"What hurts?" he said calmly, not taking his eyes off of his counterpart. X strained to look up, glaring intensely at Bass as he tackled him to the ground, pinning him. Forte was caught off guard, his eyes wide, squirming to get free. The hero aimed his megabuster at his rival, his eyes sharpening darkly. Bass was honestly terrified, never seeing his enemy act this way before. He kept it very secret that he was scared, however. He only kept a smirk, staring intensely into the hunter's eyes... almost piercingly.
X let his guard down, frowning a bit. He stood off of him, putting his megabuster away. He glared, then walked downstairs, ignoring the Maverick. Bass followed him, sighing deeply. He grabbed his arm, glaring at him.
"You need to rest," he growled, keeping a tight grip. X just stared at him angrily, gritting his teeth. His eyes sharpened, attempting to shake his rival off. The dark reploid shook his head, dragging him back into the repair ward and slamming him into his resting chamber again. He sealed it, walking to the control panel.
"How... how did you find Dr. Light's lab!?" X snarled, thrashing to get out of his chamber. Bass' eyes shot open, as he backed up a bit. He knew it was damn familiar! The Maverick walked towards Rockman, opening his capsule.
"I found it by coincidence, reploid. I didn't even realize that this was... His lab... until now. Now I see why it's in debris... My work..." he couldn't help but smirk a bit. X growled, grabbing Forte by the throat and leaning him close to him.
"Dare mention Dr. Light in vein agan, so help me, I will personally have your motherboard fried!" The Maverick easily shook his enemy off, then leaning his head in close.
"And if you don't sleep... I'll have to knock you out cold... got me?" he smirked evilly. He leaned his head in gently, bracing everything he had and giving him a very small and gentle kiss on his lips. "Now sleep..." he said with slightly flushed cheeks. Megaman stared at him, his cheeks slightly red as his capsule was closed.
