-> Jazz Forte <- By Emily Kelley Mega Man took off in the direction of Jazz's voice. He didn't have to go far, because Bass and Treble came jetting down the hall with her in tow. "Well, Mega Man! Lose something?" Bass mocked, carrying Jazz under one arm and trying to keep her from breaking loose with the other. "Put her down!" demanded Mega Man. "Yeah, put me down!" Jazz echoed. "So make me!" scoffed Bass. "You can't shoot me, or you might hit her." Mega Man realized this even before Bass said it. "You can't shoot me, or Jazz'll get away," he pointed out. Jazz gave him the angriest, most exasperated look Mega Man had ever seen. "Oh, shut up! Why'd you say that?! He might've actually tried to shoot you and dropped me if you had kept your trap shut!" she exclaimed. It occurred to Mega Man that she might be madder at him than at Bass now. "Jazz's her name, huh? You know, I think I've seen her somewhere... Oh, that's right, on the news. Missing, if I remember correctly. Well, you might as well go tell Dr. Light that she's seriously missing now. Later, Mega Man!" Bass, Treble, and their very unwilling captive teleported away. "Oh, great," mumbled Mega Man, sinking to the floor. If he knew Dr. Wily, he'd try to reprogram Jazz. Could she fight it long enough? Mega Man hoped so. He sighed again. The sound of police sirens caught his ears, and he teleported back to Dr. Light's lab with the bad news. Mega Man and all related characters are copyright Capcom. Mega Man: The Series is copyright Mandi Paugh. Jazz is copyright Emily Kelley (me). All previously copyrighted characters, stories, etc. remain in the possession of their owners. As always, I hope you enjoy reading this. Remember, though, that even though I am spelling master, I can still make mistakes in spelling and other things, so this story, like the others, is in permanently unfinished form. Chapter One Day One Jazz sat on the comfortable couch in the living room of Mega Man's former house, reading a book with Tango the robotic attack cat sitting on her lap and purring in a flawless imitation of contentment. She absentmindedly stroked the cat as she read. She was completely absorbed in this book: entertained, challenged, fascinated, and intrigued. Jazz was reading a college-level algebra book. It was easy. Math had never been one of her higher points, but ever since she became a living machine, it was a breeze. In fact, before her accidental transformation she usually flunked it along with most other classes. No more of that, though; Jazz had a computerized mind and a photographic memory, and she intended to use them. Outside the door, unbeknowst to Jazz, Mega Man stood on the step, nervously rehearsing in his head. That was hardly his style. No, she didn't know, and it was Dr. Light's idea. he decided, and knocked anyway. Jazz answered it. "Hi Mega Man, what's up?" "Hey Jazz. Uh, well, you know how the Tricentennial Fair's going on?" "Yyyeeeaaaahhh..." answered Jazz, stretching the word. "And there're a lot of good movies at the Cinemaplex tonight?" "Uh huh..." "And, um, you know how they have all those dance clubs downtown?" His grammar slipped for a moment. "Well, yeah, does this have a point or are you the entertainment guide?" Jazz prompted. Mega Man paused and prepared himself for the worst. "You wanna go somewhere tonight?" "Sure!" exclaimed Jazz cheerfully. Mega Man stopped holding his breath. "Sounds like a lot of fun. When do we leave?" Mega Man looked up at the sky. "Let's say at sunset, okay? I'll come over here and knock. Be ready to go." "No problem," said Jazz with a grin. "See you at sunset, then." "Yeah," grinned Mega Man in return, and left. Jazz ran to her room excitedly. Sunset wasn't too long, so she'd have to hurry a little. She washed her hair in the sink, although it didn't really need it, dried it, brushed it, and found a magenta hairband to put it in. She pulled her hair into a high ponytail. Next she had to pick her clothes. Two realizations struck her at once: she and Mega Man were going on a date of sorts, and she didn't have anything to wear. Well, they'd have enough time to drop by the Mega Mall and get some really cool stuff for both of them, plus there was a lot to do there. That would be no problem. She settled for her usual clothes: a tee-shirt and a pair of loose shorts. Having figured that out, she looked in the mirror and carefully studied her reflection. Jazz thought. She didn't have time for anything drastic, so she did the only other thing she knew how to do with her hair: she grabbed another magenta scrunchie and made pigtails. The day she became a bioroid she had had her hair in pigtails. They were actually rather cute on her small frame. Next she quickly grabbed some blush and used just a tiny bit on her cheeks. A trace of sparkly silver eyeshadow, enough to add a hint of silver but not enough to look ridiculous, and a little magenta lipstick finished the effect. Jazz checked the weather report. 'Tonight: clear, high 75, low 67, very low humidity, slight breeze.' That sounded good. One can't buy things without money, of course, and now Jazz wondered what she would do about that. She didn't get far with the thought, though, because another knock at the door caused her to forget it entirely and run to answer. "Hi!" said Mega Man when Jazz opened the front door. He was wearing blue jean shorts and a red tee-shirt. "Ready to go?" "Yeah, let's hit the road," answered Jazz. She closed and locked the door behind her, and quickly noticed that Mega Man had borrowed a hoverbike from Dr. Light. "Cool," she gasped. "It's just a standard model," said Mega Man. "I've never actually gotten to ride one," Jazz said with a small smile. "You ask to use it, didn't you?" "Of course I did!" exclaimed Mega Man, acting offended. "I also asked to use this credit card." That remark earned him a sharp look from Jazz. "Honestly, I really did ask, I promise," he said, putting up his hands in mock surrender. "Dr. Light knows we'll be gone, so he gave us a credit card with five hundred dollars to use." That fixed the money problem. Of course they'd need money to buy tickets and play games on the midway, and Dr. Light was not one to forget something like that. This was going to be a perfect night. The two robots climbed onto the hoverbike with Mega Man in the front. "Hey, what about our names?" he asked. "Well, Katie's fine by me, but I don't know about Rock," laughed Jazz. "We can say it's a nickname, if anybody asks. Is that okay?" "No problem," answered Mega Man, and inserted the keycard. "Where to first, " "How about the Mega Mall, " she joked back. "Okey dokey, " answered Mega Man. "Hang on." He gunned the ignition, and Jazz hardly had time to grab his shoulders before the hoverbike took off. They streaked down the road a few inches above the air and soon arrived in the parking lot of the Mega Mall. Mega Man and Jazz parked and checked the map in one of the elevator lobbies. "Let's go here first," suggested Jazz, pointing to the largest and most expensive clothing store in the mall. "Why there?" Mega Man wanted to know. "I thought we could pick up some cool new clothes before we do anything else," she said. "You know, blend in a little more. Anyway, I always wanted to shop there." Mega Man didn't argue, so they took the elevator up to the clothing store and split up. Mega Man wandered between the racks in the mens' section, not sure what he was looking for or if anything there would actually fit him, when he happened to find a white sleeveless shirt. He almost passed it, but then something caught his eye. It was a button-down shirt in all shades of blue. An idea struck him. He picked out the white shirt and the blue one, and soon found a pair of khaki shorts. He took the ensemble to the dressing room and tried it on. A little loose, perhaps, but that seemed to be the style. Pleased with his selection, he took it to the counter and waiter for Jazz. Meanwhile, she was debating in the junior section. she thought. Finally she picked the purple and magenta halter top over the tee-shirt, and took it along with her black and white camoflauge shorts to the dressing room. Amazingly enough, the two looked rather good together on her petite frame. Her outfit was perfect, so she took it to the counter and Mega Man paid for both with his credit card. They found the restrooms and changed into their new clothes, then met in the lobby. "Hey, nice choice, " complimented Jazz teasingly. "You don't look half bad yourself, " returned Mega Man. "Want to try some of the VR games?" "Yeah!" exclaimed Jazz, so they went to the virtual reality arcade. First they raced each other in a hoverbike racing game, which Mega Man won, and then engaged in a dogfight with a jet simulator. Jazz won that game. Next they tried a first-person shooter, then went back to the hoverbike racing until the arcade closed. It was dark outside now. "Any movies you want to see?" asked Mega Man. "You pick this one," answered Jazz. They rode downtown on the hoverbike. The movie Mega Man chose wasn't the one Jazz was hoping he'd choose, but it was still a good one. "I'll have to buy that when it comes out," Jazz said. "Yeah, the special effects were great," agreed Mega Man. "Now what? Do we hit the fair or something else?" wondered Jazz. "Let's go to the fair last," Mega Man suggested. "It's open until sunrise, and we still have hours to go." "I know of a really cool dance club downtown," said Jazz. "I think it's called Club Zero. Ever heard of it?" "Yeah," replied Mega Man. He had even been there once, with Sheral. That was while Jazz was gone. He wasn't sure he wanted to run into Sheral with Jazz. And what if the people at the club remembered what he looked like? Well, if they did, he'd probably be kicked out. Last time he and Bass made a mess of the place. "Something wrong?" Jazz asked. "Huh? No, why?" Jazz shrugged. "You got quiet all of a sudden. Hey, there's another one I know of, if you don't want to go to Club Zero. I used to--" She cut off, almost saying 'I used to sneak out there at night.' She was in the same dilemna as Mega Man now, although she didn't know it. Her sudden silence clued him in. "I think," he said, "that we just might have a similar problem." "I think," echoed Jazz. "Okay, so we both have a little bit of a rep. Let's just go somewhere we've never been." They jumped back on the hoverbike and Mega Man started it. Jazz pointed the way, and within minutes the two were cruising into the parking lot of a new club. The neon signs in front brightly declared it as Club Cloud 9. Even outside the door, Mega Man could hear the music. He led the way in and paid the cover charge with his credit card. The inside of this particular club reminded him of Club Zero a little, but most clubs probably followed some general design. Dry ice fog floated along the floor, refracting the light of the lit tiles. Multicolored spotlights danced in time to the music. Speakers placed along the front and back walls provided the music, and two sets of metal bleachers on the front wall gave non-dancers a good vantage point to watch the action. Tables lined the right wall, and a robotic DJ in the corner kept the party going. Mega Man hung back, but Jazz pulled him along by the hand. "Come on, let's find out what's up tonight," she urged. She dragged him effortlessly across one corner of the slick dance floor to a blackboard. Reading it, she exclaimed, "Hey Me--uh, Rock! Tonight's the dance contest. Let's join! Or are you a wallflower?" "No I am a wallflower," grinned Mega Man, turning the tables and pulling Jazz with him to the dance floor. "We gotta practice for the contest, right?" The minutes practically flew by as they set the dance floor on fire. Mega Man could tell this wasn't Jazz's first time dancing with someone, but he had danced before too. The banks of speakers lining the front and back walls never stopped playing their loud, driving music. Somehow Mega Man forgot that he was a living machine. For that short amount of time, he was Rock, an average teenage boy, and Jazz was Katie, an average teenage girl. "Okay everybody! Are you ready?!" shouted the robot DJ. "Yeah!" the crowd yelled back. "What was that?" asked the DJ playfully. "" "I can't heeeeaaar you..." "" roared the dancers as loud as possible, even louder than the music. "It's time for the First Annual Dance Contest! Tonight and tonight only, on this beeeeyouuutiful Saturday night, we're gonna rock this club! Now here're the rules: number one! You dance in boy-girl couples. Number two, leaving the dance floor isn't allowed. You leave, you lose! Number three, the judge's decisions are final, and arguing will get you swiftly and forcefully propelled on to the outside sidewalk, so don't do that! Everyone not in the contest clear the floor, please! The last couple left is the winner. Ladies and gentleman, start your engines!" Another dance tune, this one even faster and more intense than the others, blared out of the speakers. People scrambled excitedly to and from the tables and bleachers. "Five!" counted the DJ. "Four!" Some of the crowd joined in. "Three!" The people at one table held up three fingers. "Two!" Mega Man and Jazz yelled. "One!" A long pause followed. "GO!" The contest was on. Mega Man got so caught up in the action he forgot about everything except Jazz, the music, and himself. The judges picked couples off the floor about one per minute. A few finally had to leave on their own. Neither robot noticed. Completely into the moment, carried and pushed by the beat and lights, the two swirled and danced through the low-lying fog illuminated by the glowing floor tiles. They didn't even realize they were the last people left on the dance floor. As if by telepathic agreement, perfectly in time to the music, Mega Man dropped down on one knee, put down his head, and threw up his arms with his hands open facing upwards. From directly behind him Jazz jumped high into the air, executed a perfect double front flip, and fell, with her arms out to the sides and her legs pointing straight back, directly over Mega Man's head. He caught her without raising his head on the last downbeat of the music. The crowd jumped up and cheered wildly. Whistles, yells, and overwhelming clapping filled the air. Only when the music finally faded did they simultaneously look up at the audience and smile, absorbing the applause. Mega Man tossed Jazz gently to his left, and she landed in the same position as him. Then they stood up together and bowed. "Amazing!" exclaimed the DJ over the ruckus. "In all my years of being a DJ, I've never seen anyone like these two kids! Let's give it up for them, yeah!" Although it seemed to Mega Man the crowd of people were so enthusiastic already that they wouldn't have anything left to give up, they still did. "Come on up here! Let's have a few words from the winners, how 'bout it?" prompted the robo-DJ. Mega Man and Jazz did, pulling each other toward the DJ's seat at the stereo control equipment. "You two really kicked out there! Let's hear your names." He pointed the microphone at Mega Man first. "I'm Rock," he said. "And I'm Katie," Jazz said when it was her turn. "Let's hear it for Rock and Katie, people!" exclaimed the DJ, and the crowd started cheering again. "Hey, how many times can he get these people to clap, anyway?" Mega Man asked Jazz quietly. "Probably as many times as he wants," she shrugged. 'He' was a bit of a misnomer, but the robot had a masculine voice so it made the most sense. "You won our First Annual Dance Contest! How's it feel?" "Great!" answered Mega Man and Jazz simultaneously. "I have to ask: how'd you plan that last move?" "We didn't," admitted Jazz, "it just happened I guess." The DJ laughed. "'Just happened I guess!' It's a mystery! Well, you won the trophy, the tee-shirts, the prize money, and the respect of everyone in this room. Congradulations!" "Hey, thanks," grinned Mega Man. "How about a speech?" asked the DJ, handing him the microphone before he could answer. "Um, I'd like to thank, um, everybody. Hey, Katie and I have to go now or we won't have any time at the fair. 'Bye now," he said. Jazz took the microphone, and just before she handed it back to the DJ, she said: "See you later!" With that, the two robots threaded their way through the crowd, who insisted on shaking hands with them and giving them high-fives, and left Club Cloud 9. They sped across town to the fairgrounds, illuminated by the lights on the rides. Mega Man paid at the gate and the two immediately made their way to the midway. "Hi, how much are wrist bands?" Mega Man asked the person inside the ticket booth. "Tonight's couples night," she answered pleasantly, glancing from Mega Man to Jazz. "All the rides you can stomach for only fifteen dollars, if you two are together." "Sounds like fun," grinned Mega Man. "We'll take it." The ticket-seller snapped two neon pink bracelets onto their wrists and scanned ten dollars off Mega Man's credit card. The two bioroids ran into the swirl of lights and noise together. "What are we gonna ride first?" Jazz asked. "Doesn't matter, we'll ride everything eventually!" exclaimed Mega Man happily. He couldn't remember when he'd had such a great time. "Let's just ride whatever's closest." "That's the carousel," Jazz pointed out. "Are you sure you want to ride the fun little merry-go-round, " "Oh yes please, " Mega Man replied with the same amount of silly enthusiasm. So they showed their wristbands and hopped on two side-by-side horses. The theme of the fair was the future, and this carousel fit. It had elements of old-fashioned carousels mixed with a futuristic art style, which meant lots of shining metal. The horses actually used anti-gravity components to go up and down. Mega Man and Jazz held onto the reins as their horses 'galloped' around to the music. The next ride they rode was the Pinwheel, a dizzying piece of work made of enclosed cars arranged along the outside of a circle that spun very quickly on its edge. A little wobbly but none the worse for wear, they got off and ran as straight a line as possible to a huge roller coaster called the Red Rocket. After that, they had to take a break or else run into something. As soon as they regained their balance (twenty seconds), they made their way across the midway, riding every ride, playing and winning every game, absorbing every sight and sound. Finally, Mega Man and Jazz rode the last ride on the midway: the ferris wheel. In fact, they passed it earlier, but they decided to save it for last. As the two stood in line, Jazz glanced over her shoulder. She jerked her head forward and said to Mega Man, very quietly, "Don't turn around." Mega Man didn't understand why, but he didn't ask questions. Almost as soon as Jazz spoke, a group of rowdy teenagers about her age got into line behind them. One of them, a tall boy with blond hair and a sleeveless vest, pulled Jazz's pigtails. "Hey Kay-tee-enne! Izzat you?" he teased rudely. "You've been reported missing for a long time, ya know? That's some disappearing act!" Jazz spun around and tried to smack him. "Gary, you jerk, leave me alone or..." She trailed off. "Or what? You'll threaten me to death?" His group snickered. Jazz stepped into the gondola, ignoring Gary and dragging Mega Man with her. "Don't worry about him, he's just an idiot," she said, once they were in the air. "I heard that, Kay-tee-enne!" shouted Gary from the gondola below them. "Shut up!" she returned. "What's his problem?" asked Mega Man so that Gary couldn't hear him. Jazz shrugged angrily. "Who knows." Mega Man's curiosity was piqued, though. "You know him?" "Yeah, unfortunately," said Jazz. "I used to..." She trailed off again. "There's that 'I used to' thing again," pointed out Mega Man. "Guess we both have some stories to tell, huh?" "Huh," Jazz answered. "Look, if you don't interrupt or ask questions until I'm done, I'll tell you my story. But you have to promise, and you have to promise you won't hold it against me." "I promise," said Mega Man solemnly, and Jazz started her life story. "My parents both died when I was two, but I remember my mom. She wasn't short at all, in fact she was tall and pretty. My dad was a little mean, but he tried really hard to be nice. Then they died in a car accident while I was at a babysitter's house. I didn't understand what had happened, I was such a little kid. My aunts and uncles took care of me for a while, but they finally had to put me up for adoption when I was four." She stopped and swallowed. Mega Man realized. But Jazz couldn't cry. "I never got any taller since then. When I was five a doctor said I had a genetic disorder, so that's why I'm so short. That's not all, though. I found out later that I'd never be able to have kids, and my health would eventually degenerate until I died. Remember in Dr. Light's lab when I was so excited about becoming a living machine? It was as close to a cure as I could ever get. "Anyway, I was so unhappy in the orphanage. When I was ten I met Laciy. She was a rebel and I was a loner. We made a perfect pair. Now comes the part that's hard for me to admit, because it was a terrible judgement on my behalf and I don't want it to change the way you think about me, okay?" Mega Man silently nodded. "Okay. We got into stealing stuff from other people. Nothing big, just a few dollars here and there, but that still doesn't make it right. We didn't even need it. It was just for the thrill of the hunt. Laciy knew Gary, and it wasn't long until I fell into his crowd with everyone else. Sure, it was dangerous, and wrong, but I just felt like nobody cared enough about me to make sure I didn't make bad friends. "Remember when I mentioned another dance club? We used to all hang out there nearly every night. Sneaking out was so easy, but the danger of being caught made it fun. Laciy and Gary were my best pals. In fact, Gary and I were somewhat of an item once. That's probably why he's so brave about bugging me now. We skipped school, snuck around at night, and stole money to get into the club. "The authorities got wind of the dance club and separated us for a while. Laciy and I both lived in the orphanage, so we couldn't be very far apart, but Gary and his friends went to juvenile hall. That's when I took a step back and saw what a mess I was making of myself. I got out of my rut, stopped stealing and lying, and made an honest effort in school. I thought Laciy would laugh at me for being weak, but she didn't. In fact, we tried hard to improve not only ourselves, but also each other. Together we had enough strength to break our old habits and get a good hold on life. "I still got in fights, though. I have a fighting streak somewhere in my character, and I haven't lost a single fight yet. Not even in the Mushroom World." Jazz referred to her unbelievable adventure of a few weeks ago with a slight grin. "I got super-introspective, and went for long walks alone in the woods. I said before I was a loner, and although I like people, I really value my time by myself. On one of my walks, I ran into Dr. Wily, and I think you know the story from there." She paused and finished simply, "I'm done." Mega Man thought it over for a moment. "I guess I owe you my life's story, now, don't I?" he said with a thoughtful smile. He leaned back against his seat in the gondola, and started, going all the way from when he was activated to now, even filling in for the few months Jazz had been in the Mushroom World and its different temporal structure. He had to leave out a few things he couldn't remember, but still, it was a long story. "You were human?" exclaimed Jazz incredulously yet quietly. Mega Man started to answer, but the ferris wheel ground to a stop. It wasn't time to get off, either; the lights were all off, and they were at the very top. "Kay-tee-enne, you broke it!" Gary hollered boldly from the next gondola. "Why does he keep calling you 'Kay-tee-enne,' anyway?" Mega Man asked. "My full name's Katienne, and he's making fun of it," Jazz said ruefully. "Like I said, he's a " She yelled the last word loudly enough for Gary to hear very well. "Them's fightin' words!" Gary taunted back. "Let's you and me take this outside!" His friends laughed mercilessly. "Oh, I'd love to," said Jazz, standing up and forming an arm cannon. Immediately Mega Man was blocking her view. "What do you think you're doing?!" he demanded. "Nothing!" replied Jazz angrily. "You can't shoot him, you'd more likely than not kill him!" hissed Mega Man under his breath. "I know that!" huffed Jazz and sat back down, tracing her left-hand fingers around her purple arm cannon. It matched her top exactly. Mega Man sighed, almost exasperatedly, and sat down too. "Don't scare me like that. You're more dangerous than you think. If you actually put your mind to getting rid of Gary, you could probably do it easily." Jazz fumed for a little while, and then asked, "Why's the ferris wheel not working?" "I don't know," said Mega Man. "Probably someone hit the power switch." He looked out over the midway, and promptly noticed that a lot of the rides were without power. "That's weird," he mused. "Maybe a blown fuse?" Jazz slid next to him and scanned the midway. Faint shouts reached her ears. They sounded angry, but within moments took on a tone of fear. From her high perch she could see citizens running for the exits. "Something's wrong here," she said, worried. "Hang on and I'll see what it is," Mega Man replied, standing up and jumping to the next lowest gondola. "What do you mean, see what it is? Wait for me!" cried Jazz, following him. "Not this again," moaned Mega Man. "Don't make me make you stay up there." Jazz planted her hands firmly on her hips in exactly the same pose she used when she insisted on coming with Mega Man to Dr. Wily's Skull Fortress. "And just how are you gonna do that? You never know when you might need a helping hand." "And it might just be a power outage," shot back Mega Man, more out of a sense of duty than anything else. "That doesn't account for the panicked people. Trust me." It was an ironic phrase, Mega Man knew, but he finally put up his hands in mock surrender and led the way from gondola to gondola until they reached the ground. Of course, the people occupying some of the gondolas were surprised to see what appeared to be two kids fearlessly jumping ten feet at a time, but that wasn't important. They landed just as an electrically fried carnival robot landed at their feet with a dull, metallic 'clong.' "Freaky," commented Jazz. Mega Man followed the direction the robot came from with his eyes, and much to his dismay, he saw a familiar robot with electrodes for arms destroying a carnival ride. Spark Man put both electrodes to its metal frame and charged it with electricity. The lights glowed brightly and exploded. He didn't notice the two 'kids' standing about fifty feet away in the shadow of the ferris wheel. "Is that a Robot Master?" asked Jazz. "Yeah," answered Mega Man. "Why don't you watch and see if you learn anything?" He recalled his fighting uniform and stepped out of the darkness. "Hey Spark Man, I didn't know you liked carnival rides!" he quipped. "I'm here on business!" returned Spark Man, touching both electrodes to his head for a moment. Mega Man had to move quickly to dodge the electrical sphere he threw. The little blue bomber fired off a few shots, hitting Spark Man and causing him to drop something. Jazz, meanwhile, snuck around the shadowed edge of the empty game booths. She inched closer to the fight, eyeing the odd contraption Spark Man dropped. When she got within ten feet of the gizmo, she lunged straight through the battle, picking up the device in one hand and jumping first Spark Man's electrodes and then a shot from Mega Man intended for the Robot Master. "Hey!" they both exclaimed, surprised and irritated. "Hey yourself," Jazz shot back at them both. She stowed the device safely under a pile of cheap stuffed animals and paused a moment. "Men and their stupid war games," she muttered to herself, hitting her uniform recall. She charged her arm cannon and jumped into the fray. "So you're Spark Man? ...You don't look so tough," concluded Jazz, sending her shot plowing into him. "Wimp." She dodged a lunge. thought Mega Man, holding his fire. Jazz and Spark Man were close enough that he might hit either one of them. "So what's a robot like you doing in a place like this?" teased Jazz, getting off a quick shot. She leapt back as Spark Man fired another electrical sphere. She had no experience, though, and the edge of it nicked her shoulder. "Just picking up something," answered Spark Man smugly. Mega Man fired at him while Jazz recovered. "'Something'?" echoed Jazz. "Now where'd it--there it is." Spark Man leapt to the pile of toys and fished out the device. It hung by a looped wire from one of his electrodes. "I've got what I came for. Goodbye, Mega Man!" He teleported away. Mega Man watched after him. "He got away!" he said in frusteration. "I wonder what was so important that he'd crash the fair for it?" asked Jazz offhandedly. "I don't know," wondered Mega Man. He looked around, and noticed the growing crowd of people behind him and Jazz. "I think we're about to get some publicity," he said quietly, nudging her with his elbow. Jazz risked a glance over her shoulder. "What, them? Who said they could come? See you back at the lab." She teleported away in a flash of purple light. The crowd chattered nervously about Mega Man, Spark Man, the stolen device, and the mysterious purple stranger. "Who's she?" "Maybe she's a robot." "I thought Dr. Light stopped making humanoid robots." "Hey, what if Dr. Wily built her?" Mega Man heard their questions. he thought, and, taking a page from Break Man, disappeared behind the rows of game booths. Avoiding the crowd so that they couldn't follow him, he dodged from shadow to shadow. Spark Man's trail of destruction wasn't hard to follow. Destroyed lights and janitorial robots led the way to the TechnoDome, a huge exhibit displaying the latest in technological advances. Police blocked the doors, so he climbed a tree and hopped in through a top window. Since the outside of the building was so well guarded, no one thought to post guards inside. Mega Man was still cautious, though. He followed the broken exhibits to the main display. A mural depicting scientific advances in MegaLand served as background to a pedestal, which once held a glass display case. Now, however, the glass dome was shattered on the floor, and the main attraction was nowhere to be seen. As Mega Man read the signs that told about the exhibit, he glanced up at the mural. One of the pictures was of him. he said to himself. He learned that the device Spark Man had made off with was a temporal disruptor, similar to the effect Jazz had described of going to the Mushroom World for roughly a week and coming back four months later. With it, an area of time could be sped up or slowed down. A group called Dyne Labs had designed and built it to be used for scientific experiments that either went too slow or too fast, but its potential for being used wrongly was so great that they disabled their only prototype. It was complete except for the shift generator, the part of it that actually changed time. The rest was there. "So that's it," said Mega Man, whistling softly. "Why someone didn't think of that before they built it is beyond me." He couldn't track Spark Man, and after all, Dr. Wily didn't have the shift generator, so he teleported back to Dr. Light's lab. Chapter Two Mega Man found Jazz in her regular clothes, draped quietly over the back of a chair, contemplating a blank screen. She looked up when he came into the darkened lab. "Sorry about the Spark Man thing," Mega Man said, taking a seat at the next computer, which was off. "Wasn't your fault," she said quietly. "I wasn't much help, was I?" "Neither was I," objected Mega Man. "I guess Dr. Wily told him to just get that thing and leave. By the way, it was a temporal disruptor. Dr. Wily can't use it without some thing called the shift generator, so don't worry." "Still, that was right after I said I'd never lost a fight." "Are you kidding? Spark Man ran away. We won by default." Jazz blinked, noticing his use of the word 'we.' "Sorry I skipped out of there so fast after the fight," she said. "I don't feel ready for being famous." "I'll admit, you did confuse them quite a bit," Mega Man said with a small grin. "A few thought Dr. Wily built you, some thought Dr. Light built you, and most of them didn't have any idea. I think you've started some rumors. Rumors and disappearing acts. Reminds me of someone else I know, huh?" "Yeah," sighed Jazz without enthusiasm. Mega Man leaned forward. "Something wrong, Jazz?" She shrugged. "Not really. I feel like I should've stopped Spark Man, though. But almost as soon as I jumped in, he jolted me." She looked up, the sparkle back in her eyes. "Can you teach me how to fight? I want to help. I mean, I can do all these things you can do, just not as well because I don't have all your experience. What do you say?" "Why not? It can't hurt anything. Besides, if Dr. Wily goes after the shift generator, which I bet he will, two of us might do a better job of stopping him than one could. We'll start tomorrow." "Thanks, Mega Man," said Jazz, standing up with a smile that could outshine the sun. "Good night, then." "Yeah, you too," said Mega Man. Day Two The next morning Mega Man got up and turned on the newsbeam. "Last night, one of Dr. Wily's Robot Masters stole the main exhibit of the MegaLand Tricentennial Fair, a device called the temporal disruptor, which was originally supposed to be used in scientific experiments. Mega Man and a mysterious purple robot showed up to stop Spark Man, but he got away with the temporal disruptor. However, without its main component, it is unusable." An ameteur photo of the fight appeared in the upper-left corner of the screen, behind the newscaster. "Who is this new robot, though? This photograph is his or her first appearance. The rumors are already circulating, especially due to the fact that when compared to a picture of the long-missing girl, Katienne Lilleth, they had a match percentage of 97.4. However, until more is learned about this mysterious magenta maurader, we will report only the facts." Mega Man switched off the screen with a worried look. "Oh this is really mega great. How are we supposed to explain what happened without creating a media circus?" he said to no one in particular. "Not that anyone would believe it." He walked leisurely to the lab with his hands in his pockets. "Hi, Dr. Light," he said cheerily. "Did you see the news?" "Yes, I did," answered Dr. Light. "It had to happen on your night, didn't it?" "Just my luck," grinned Mega Man ruefully. "And I know about Jazz being missing," continued the scientist. "This could be a difficult situation. I could even get in trouble for not reporting finding her. I'm not entirely sure what to do." "You're farther than me then. I have absolutely no idea what to do. Say, I told Jazz I'd give her some battle training. Sorry to leave so soon, but she's probably waiting. See you later, Dr. Light," said Mega Man, making a quick exit. "Goodbye, Mega Man," answered Dr. Light. A knock on the door woke up Jazz. Mumbling, she buried her head under the pillow and fell back asleep. The irritating noise just wouldn't quit. A memory percolated through the sludginess of Jazz's sleepy mind, and she suddenly sat up very straight and awake. "Oh my gosh I'm supposed to meet Mega Man today and that's probably him now!" she exclaimed for no specific reason. "" she yelled down the hall as she recalled her fighting uniform and stampeded through the house, stepping on Tango's tail. "Meeeeow!" he shrieked, adding to the noise. Jazz tore through the living room, hurdling the couch and coffee table, and practically ripped the door off its hinges as she opened it. "" she yelled. "What are you, crazy?!" exclaimed Mega Man teasingly, also in his uniform. "solutely!" replied Jazz. "Where to?" "The Palace of Power, where else?" They both teleported there but appeared in different rooms. "Okay, we're fixing that," said Jazz when they found each other. Mega Man showed her the way to the courtyard. "It's the latest craze in games," he said, picking up a vest and gun. "Laser tag!" "Laser tag? Cool!" They equipped themselves with a laser suit and laser gun and Mega Man explained the rules. "We'll start on different ends of the Palace. All you do is shoot the other person to drain their energy. Whoever loses all their energy first loses. For now, there's no way to refill your energy. You get two minutes to pick a direction and run. Then when the gun beeps, time's up and your shots will register. When you get hit, you have three seconds of invincibility. That's all there is to it. Oh, and the N-Team's still in the Palace, so watch where you're running. Go!" Mega Man and Jazz took off in different directions. They were fairly far apart when their lasers beeped, and it took four tense minutes of sneaking around for them to find one another. "Well there you are," remarked Jazz, firing a pop shot at Mega Man. It missed by a mile. "Never stand still," noted Mega Man. One of his shots hit Jazz. She returned with a rapid spray of shots, none of which actually connected. "Always aim!" he suggested. As the mock fight proceeded, Mega Man continued to give Jazz vital hints. "Keep your eye on your target! Don't panic! Remember to dodge! Jumping is allowed! Everybody has a weakness, so find it and use it against them! Sometimes shooting isn't the best attack! Don't give up!" "Shut up!" exclaimed Jazz, frusterated, as a very loud pinging from her laser gun signaled that her energy was out. "Okay, I see what you're doing," said Mega Man. "What you need is some target practice first. I think-- wait a second. What's up, Dr. Light?" Jazz thought maybe Mega Man had lost it, but then she remembered that his communicator was in his helmet where most other people couldn't hear it. "Dyne Labs is under attack," reported Dr. Light. "It looks like Dr. Wily's doing. He's probably after the shift generator. I've opened a warp to there." "I'm already there," said Mega Man, ditching his laser tag gear and teleporting back to the lab. "Wait for me," protested Jazz, following him. Dr. Light was waiting for them in the lab. "Watch out, okay?" he reminded Mega Man. "Don't I always?" responded Mega Man, jumping through the warp. "We'll be back," Jazz reassured the scientist, trailing the blue bomber. They emerged in the wrecked lobby. A whimpering sound coming from under a loose pile of rubble immediately caught Mega Man's ear, and he threw aside the junk, uncovering a lab-coated scientist covered in dust. "Are you okay?" Mega Man asked him, concerned. "I-I think so," stuttered the man. He was thin and tall, with an unkempt mop of orange hair and big, round-lensed glasses. "Thanks for the help. Hey, you're Mega Man!" "What's going on here?" Mega Man asked. "I don't know, the ceiling caved in and I missed all the action," admitted the scientist. "I think we're being attacked. Probably for the shift generator." He chuckled. "But they won't find it!" "What do you mean?" pressed Mega Man. "Sorry, I can't tell anybody," shrugged the scientist. "Top secret and all. But I can tell you that it's in the last place you'll think of." "Then you'd better get out of here," said Mega Man. "It's a wonder the ceiling didn't crush you, and it's not going to get any safer." "Thanks again," the scientist said, making tracks outside. "I'll find the shift generator, and you make sure everybody gets out of the building," Mega Man ordered. This time Jazz didn't argue. They split up. Mega Man carefully picked his way through the wreckage, making sure nobody was trapped underneath. A deep rumbling behind the wall to his left caught his attention, and he threw up one arm just in time to block a barrage of building material. A particularly large chunk knocked him across the narrow hall, and he landed at the edge of a rubble pile, covered in dust and half-buried in junk. Mega Man looked up just in time to see Bass zip overhead, morphed with Treble. Fortunately, he didn't see Mega Man through the gray dust concealing the tell-tale blue of his fighting uniform. noted Mega Man. He pried himself loose from the remains of the wall and hopped through the hole Bass left. Meanwhile, in one of the laboratory rooms, Jazz found another scientist hiding under a table. She wore another lab coat, and had straight black hair. When she saw Jazz, she let loose a shrill scream. "Shhh, I'm here to help," Jazz said in a soothing tone. "Mega Man's here. What happened?" The woman looked up, her face streaked with dirt. "A robot broke in and demanded the shift generator but Robert said he couldn't have it and..." The scientist trailed off, too shaken to continue. "It'll be all right," Jazz said. "Where's Robert?" The scientist motioned aimlessly. "He's... I don't know... The other robot..." Tears streamed down her face. "Are you hurt? I'll help you outside." Jazz steadied the dark-haired scientist and supported her as they slowly navigated the rubble-strewn hall to the lobby and then outside. "Patricia!" the mop-headed scientist exclaimed as he recognized her. "Jack!" she replied, collapsing into Jack's arms. "The police ought to get here soon," said Jazz. "See if you two can's find some place to sit and wait, all right?" She turned around and went back into the building, retracing her steps to the wrecked lab where she found Patricia. She didn't find anyone else in the room, so she went back into the hall. Meanwhile, Mega Man searched the laboratory Bass had just come out of. He found three frightened scientists huddled together under a table. "What happened?" he asked. Although he already knew the general story, he wanted to get as many specific details as possible. "The other robot came in and said he was looking for the shift generator," one answered, a blonde woman with her long hair pulled back. "So Robert said he couldn't have it," stammered another. She had blue eyes and wavy brown hair. "And then the robot picked up Robert and they both teleported away," the last scientist finished. Her hair was short and red. "I don't know where they went, really!" "That's okay, I'll find them," said Mega Man. He escorted them out through a nearby emergency exit and continued his search. Jazz stumbled over another chunk of what used to be the ceiling and looked around. This room was full of electrical wires, most likely from the lighting system. she thought. Carefully stepping over the wires strewn across the floor, she looked around the room. "Anybody in here?" she asked quietly. "Over here," someone answered. "I'm fine, but I can't get out without being electrocuted." Jazz pinpointed the source of the voice. A dust-covered scientist stood in the corner, surrounded by the sparking wires. He shrugged sheepishly. "I guess I picked a lousy place to hide, huh?" "Oh, I don't know," said Jazz, picking her way towards the man. "If you're not hurt, then it must've been a good one. So what happened here?" "Lemme see... Okay, I was working on one of my projects, and then this robot barges in and says something like "Hand over the shift generator!". So I said "I don't even know where it is.". And then he shoots out the whole ceiling. Yeah, that's not very believable, but that's what happened. How are you going to get me across these wires, anyway?" Jazz didn't even hesitate. She picked up the scientist like a sack of potatoes and started carrying him back to the door. "That's one way to do it," he commented, amused. Jazz set him down outside the electric room. "Be careful on the way out," she advised. "I'd take you there myself, but if anyone's seriously hurt then there's no time to lose." "I'll be just fine," the scientist said. "Thanks for the 'lift,' Miss..." "Jazz," said Jazz, filling in her new name. "Just Jazz." "Jazz," the scientist repeated. "Thanks a lot." "It's my job," she said, a little ironically. Mega Man paused a moment. What exactly had happened? If he had the entire story, he could better guess where the shift generator was hidden. Clonk! Something ran into his foot. He looked down and found a little four-wheeled lab robot. It backed up, and vacuumed the floor around Mega Man's right foot. "Now just what are you doing?" Mega Man asked, not expecting a reply. "I am cleaning the laboratory," the robot answered. "You talk?" "Yes," beeped the cleaning robot. Mega Man thought a moment. "What's your name?" "I am called Clocker." So it was a robot of few words. "What happened here?" Clocker whirred, clicked, and scooped up a few chunks of junk with five extendable arms. "This room was severely damaged by an unidentified robot approximately ten minutes ago." "Did the robot say anything?" Humming mechanically, Clocker righted a trash can with three more arms and dropped the useless building materials into it. "No." Exasperated, Mega Man said, "Do you always talk this little?" "Yes." Clocker wheeled around and two retractable vacuum hoses popped out of it. It started to clean the floor again. thought Mega Man. "You're no help," he said, and started to walk out of the room. "I am only a cleaning robot," said Clocker. A storm of clicks, beeps, and whirs filled the room as Mega Man left. Jazz pulled at the door, but the pile of rubble in front of it kept it shut. She tried again, this time getting the door open a few inches. It occurred to her that she wasn't as strong as Mega Man. She was, however, smaller, and she managed to squeeze through. "Sure is dark in here," she said. Jazz hit the light switch, but the lights stayed off. Maybe the power to this room was out. "Hello, anybody home?" "I'm over here," somebody answered. "I can't get the emergency exit open." Jazz used her shoulder to shove the door open a little more to let some light through. "Maybe I can help." She crossed the room using what little light there was, and found the emergency exit. "Where'd you go? I can't see you." "Right here," said a male voice just to Jazz's left. "Who're you?" "I'm Jazz," Jazz answered. "Stand back and I'll see what I can do." She grabbed a large piece of the wreckage blocking the door and lifted it. Soon the entire pile was gone, and Jazz pushed the emergency exit open. "Thanks," said the scientist, and went outside. Mega Man leaned on a wall and sighed. "This is getting nowhere," he said. "I wonder if the police are here yet. Might as well keep looking." He hadn't taken but three steps when a scream made him stop in his tracks. It sounded like Jazz. Mega Man took off in the direction of Jazz's voice. He didn't have to go far, because Bass and Treble came jetting down the hall with her in tow. "Well, Mega Man! Lose something?" Bass mocked, carrying Jazz under one arm and trying to keep her from breaking loose with the other. "Put her down!" demanded Mega Man. "Yeah, put me down!" Jazz echoed. "So make me!" scoffed Bass. "You can't shoot me, or you might hit her." Mega Man realized this even before Bass said it. "You can't shoot me, or Jazz'll get away," he pointed out. Jazz gave him the angriest, most exasperated look Mega Man had ever seen. "Oh, shut up! Why'd you say that?! He might've actually tried to shoot you and dropped me if you had kept your trap shut!" she exclaimed. It occurred to Mega Man that she might be madder at him than at Bass now. "Jazz's her name, huh? You know, I think I've seen her somewhere... Oh, that's right, on the news. Missing, if I remember correctly. Well, you might as well go tell Dr. Light that she's seriously missing now. Later, Mega Man!" Bass, Treble, and their very unwilling captive teleported away. "Oh, great," mumbled Mega Man, sinking to the floor. If he knew Dr. Wily, he'd try to reprogram Jazz. Could she fight it long enough? Mega Man hoped so. He sighed again. The sound of police sirens caught his ears, and he teleported back to Dr. Light's lab with the bad news. Chapter Three "So the shift generator's somewhere where nobody can find it, Jazz was 'botnapped, and a scientist named Robert is gone too." Dr. Light neatly summed up the day's events in one sentence. "That's about the size of it." Mega Man sighed. "I know what you're thinking, and I don't like it either. We can only hope that Jazz will be able to resist Dr. Wily's programming. I should've installed an anti-reprogramming chip in her system." Mega Man sat silently for a second, and said, "I don't think she can, in the end. Even I couldn't, not really. And I don't want to have to fight a friend, not even if she's working for Dr. Wily." "I understand what you're saying, but it's getting late. Why don't we worry about it in the morning?" "You're probably right, but if I can sleep that'll be a miracle in itself." Day Three "Ow. Cut it out. Ow ow ow ow ow--" "Shut up already," spat Dr. Wily. "I already blocked your pain sensors. What more do you want?" "How about you stop tinkering with my arm? It already worked when you started. I'll bet I can't even move it when you finish. That'll be some real help, won't it?" Jazz rather resented herself for getting caught so easily, and secretly swore to at least give her captor a very hard time. Dr. Wily kept up with his tinkering for a while, ignoring her remark. "Hey, did you know you're bald? Have you ever thought of getting hair transplants or something?" If she couldn't escape, Jazz could at least cause Dr. Wily second thoughts about kidnapping her. "I don't care if I'm bald, it's less trouble," grumbled Dr. Wily. "Do you think I have time to brush any more hair than I have?" "What are you talking about?" scoffed Jazz. "It looks like you never brush what you've got! OOOOOooooh-OUCH!! Be more careful!" "I'd just like to hit you over the head with something heavy and get it over with," Dr. Wily hissed. "Now " "Okay, fine, be antisocial. You old sociopath, it's no wonder you're so evil, you don't have anything better to do. Now will you just quit your idiotic fiddling and leave my arm alone?" "Sure," Dr. Wily grinned evilly, and walked away, leaving Jazz lying quite immobile on a lab table with her right arm half-disassembled. She waited a moment. "Hey, that's not what I meant," she whined plaintively. "Don't be such a wiseguy. Come back here! Hey, this room is really creepy without someone to irritate. Now fix my arm, " "Stop babbling and I might!" snapped Dr. Wily. He sat back down and started remodeling her arm again. Jazz actually shut up for about a minute. "What are you doing, anyway?" "That's the first intelligent thing I've heard out of you yet. If you must know, I'm doubling your strength and modifying your arm cannons. They'll be able to rapid-fire and charge faster and stronger when I'm done. And I'll get done when you stop talking and sit still." "I can't move at all," Jazz reminded him. "You know, whatever happens, I'll still hate you for this." "Likewise, I'm sure," sulked Dr. Wily. "Oops." "'Oops?!' What 'oops?!' What did you do?! You'd better not mess up!" "I didn't, I just wanted to scare you." He typed a command into a laptop linked to a card inserted in Jazz's shoulder, tinkered with her right arm a little more, and finally reattached her titanium skin. "Almost done." "Almost? What's there left to do? You already messed with both my arms and legs. What else do I have you could modify?" "Your mind," he said, and hit Enter. For a few seconds, a migraine the size of the Mega Mall shot through her head. Then the world thankfully blacked out. Mega Man watched the news with little interest until a segment on Jazz came on. "I wonder what's up now," he thought out loud. "More news on the missing girl, Katienne Lilleth. A girl resembling her won the First Annual Dance Contest. She called herself 'Katie,' and her dance partner, 'Rock,' mentioned something about going to the fair, where Spark Man stole the main component of a time-altering device. Could there be a connection between 'Katie,' the mysterious purple robot that so closely resembles her, and the missing Katienne Lilleth? Time will only tell." "The news is too smart," remarked Mega Man coldly. "They'll start making up stories for sure now." "I suppose right now wouldn't be the time to try to explain what actually happened to the public," added Dr. Light. "That wouldn't look very good," agreed Mega Man. "The media would take it out of proportion. It would only seem like you were trying to exploit the story." "That's for sure," agreed Dr. Light solemnly. Mega Man sat silently for a while, watching the rest of the news without really seeing it. He felt more than partly responsible for Jazz's abduction. He should never have let her out of his sight. Their task seemed like a simple search-and-rescue mission, which normally would've been good practice but took a terrible turn. He sat up suddenly with an idea. "May I go to Dr. Wily's fortress and search for Jazz?" Dr. Light was startled by his creation's quick change of mood. "I wonder if that's such a good idea," he replied. "What do you mean by that?" "Dr. Wily could very easily get his hands on the shift generator if you're busy with something else." Mega Man hadn't thought of that. He dropped back into silence for a while longer. "Maybe the N-Team can look for it," he suggested hopefully. "Well, what have we here?" chided a familiar voice. A red and white robot slipped through the door. Break Man glanced at the newsbeam, and then at the scientist and his little brother. "Too bad you don't already have the entire temporal disruptor. Sounds like you need all the time you can get." "Break Man! You're just in time to get drafted," quipped Mega Man darkly. The red robot shrugged nonchalantly. "I was about to volunteer, if you must know the truth. So, fill me in. There's only so much one can get from watching the news, and most of it's wrong anyway." He took a seat in an empty chair. "Jazz is missing, Dr. Wily made off with the temporal disruptor, the shift generator's hidden somewhere, and a scientist from Dyne Labs is being held hostage," explained Mega Man simply. "And I want to go rescue Jazz and the scientist, but that leaves the shift generator out. But if I go after the generator, then Jazz and the scientist are in trouble. So I'm stuck." "How hard can it be to find a shift thingamajig?" Break Man asked. "Bass and I couldn't," replied Mega Man. Break Man held out one hand. "Whoa. What's Bass got to do with this?" "I don't know that either. It's a mystery. You'd be perfect." Mega Man thought Break Man arched one eyebrow at him, although he couldn't actually see the action through the latter's dark visor. "'Perfect?' Just what do you mean by that?" he asked in his cocky manner. "Well, you know all about mysteries 'cause you are one, right?" Now Mega Man was sure his twin was giving him The Look. "Yeah, whatever you say. But I'll be happy to help out no matter what you call me. Just point me in the right direction and I'm there." Mega Man considered, a thoughtful frown crossing his forehead. "I'd really rather go after Jazz and the scientist myself. You don't mind finding the shift generator, do you?" Break Man shook his head. "Then Dyne Laboratories would be a good place to start." "Gotcha," Break Man said. "I'll have it before you can say 'I wish I was a salami.'" He grinned again. "But I'd never say that," objected Mega Man. "Gives me plenty of time, doesn't it, then?" With that, Break Man strode out the door and disappeared. A throbbing headache behind her eyes met Jazz when she returned to consciousness. she thought. She tried to sit up and found she could finally move again. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so stiff or achy. "Well, you're up soon," Dr. Wily greeted her from a computer nearby. "Kiss off, old man," Jazz calmly told him. "What did you do to me?" Wily turned his chair around. "That's a long story. The short version would be that I've crossed a few circuits and switched a few variables to change a few of your opinions on some important things." "What's the long version?" "Not telling," the scientist cackled. Jazz formed an arm cannon. She found that it now had several shining gold triangles around the elbow. "I'll blow off your head if you don't," she warned, plagued by the troubling feeling that she was lying through her teeth and couldn't have done it even she wanted to. "I don't think you will," Dr. Wily stated simply, calling her bluff. "I thought you might get ideas like that, so I've inserted several lines of programming to prevent you from hurting me yourself or letting me be hurt." One of the rules of robotics, twisted around to Dr. Wily's definition. She could injure any human Jazz slowly lowered her cannon, glaring through her transparent blue visor all the while. The idea that her free will could be overridden by anyone with a laptop enraged her, much to her surprise. Shouldn't she be afraid?... "Heh heh heh, much better than any of my own creations. However did you get to be like you are, though? I've never seen internal schematics like yours, except for Mega Man's and Proto Man's. Explain it for me." Jazz was about to tell Dr. Wily something unusually hateful, but luckily (or not, depending on one's point of view), Bass entered the lab at that moment, followed by his robo-wolf Treble. "Save it for later, I want you to meet someone," Dr. Wily told Jazz. "This is Bass, my finest creation." "Yo," Bass said, holding out his hand to shake. Jazz sniffed arrogantly. "You're the jerk that dragged me here. I've had about enough contact with you for now." "Man, your attitude's worse than mine. Dr. W., do I really have to work with her? She hates me." "It's nothing too personal, she hates pretty much everyone now. I made sure of it." Dr. Wily turned to Jazz. "Shake his hand, for Pete's sake." Jazz narrowed her eyes and shook Bass's white hand. "I don't bite," Bass admonished. "But he does." Treble looked up, wagging his metal tail a little. "Yeah, whatever. So what am I supposed to do?" Jazz asked, completely brushing off Bass's attempt at being halfway friendly. "You are going to find the shift generator for the temporal disruptor. If we had it, imagine what we could do. We could speed up our own time and do anything we wanted before anybody else could even react." Jazz looked disinterestedly in another direction. "Don't care. I just want to blow something up. Like maybe you or him." She nodded very slightly at Bass. A timy fraction of her mind screamed out against her urge to destroy. "Huh. Well, hold off on that and maybe we'll have a match sometime," Bass suggested. "'Til then, we're partners. Like it or not." The tone of his voice hinted that he wasn't too keen on the idea of teaming up either. "Yeah, whatever, let's just finish this thing and get it over with," Jazz remarked flippantly. "Not so fast," Dr. Wily stopped her. "These things take time..." Chapter Four Break Man slipped past the off-limits signs and barricades surrounding the Dyne Labs property. He wore street clothes just in case he was caught, but of course he could still recall his uniform whenever necessary. The main lab had been cleaned up but signs of the destruction of a day ago were still apparent. The lab was still empty, thankfully, and the electricity seemed to be off so no security systems would be active. Break Man mused, Of course, he had made it without a problem. Maybe Dyne Labs needed to rethink their security policies. The dark, dusty hallways echoed the red robot's footsteps. he wondered. Well, firstly he'd never keep such an easily-misused thing around, and secondly if he did he'd just carry it with him. He stopped, thinking about it. A whirring, whistling sound interrupted his thoughts. His hand hovered near his recall button. The sound seemed close, just around the corner... A small robot on wheels, sporting several vacuum tubes, rounded the corner. It sucked up whatever dust was within reach. It came up against a large piece of debris, sprouted a few robotic arms, and tried to pick up the concrete chunk. As soon as it lifted it high enough off the ground, the heavy weight counterbalanced it and the hapless robot tipped over forward, its wheels spinning uselessly in the air. Break Man laughed despite himself. "You need any help with that, shorty?" he asked, not expecting an answer. Much to his surprise, he received one. "Assistance may be required," it replied. "Weight of debris is 10.259 kilos. Own weight is 7.21 kilos. Transportation of materials weighing more than 6.1134 kilos is difficult to accomplish." Break Man arched his eyebrows in surprise. "I can see that. I'll take it. You tell me where to put it." he thought. But then again, maybe it could help locate the shift generator. Whir click beep beep beep. "The nearest usable solid waste receptacle will suffice," the little robot replied mechanically. "A trash can?" "Affirmative." Break Man picked up the piece of concrete and dumped it on top of a pile of smaller pieces of building materials filling the nearest trash can a little ways down the hall. The cleaning robot made its way steadily down the hall, doing what it could to tidy up the wreckage. "So," Break Man asked it, "you have a name?" "I am called Clocker." "Why?" Click click click. "Reason for title is unknown." "Well then," Break Man said to nobody in particular. "Where's the shift generator?" "Information: confidential." "So you know?" the red robot asked, excited to find a lead so soon. "Affirmative." "But you can't tell me?" Beep beep, click whir clickclick. "Affirmative." "Why?" "Information: confidential." Break Man's brow creased in concentration. "Uh... What would you do if I picked you up and took you out of the lab? Just a hypothetical." "Programmed course of action is immediate notification of security guards on duty." So if Break Man tried to take Clocker and hack into its data banks, it would bring down every single guard outside the lab down on him. What a fix. "What's your programmed course of action for attempted hacking?" "Immediate notification of security guards on duty, plus notification of police and designated personnel employed by Dyne Labs, Inc." So an on-site attempt would be even worse. "Can I pick you up?" "Short-range transportation is acceptable. Leaving laboratory grounds is forbidden without proper clearance codes." Break Man was beginning to feel the first pangs of frustration. Here was the information he needed, but he couldn't get to it without being caught. If he had been a computers expert, not a repair robot, maybe he could've done it, but he had neither the proper knowledge nor the proper equipment. So much for hacking into the little cleaning robot. Most likely damaging it would alert the guards too. He brushed his unruly blue-black hair out of his eyes and thought some more. Suddenly, a thought struck him. "Are there any other cleaning robots around Dyne Labs?" Click, click, whirwhirwhirwhir beep. "One other cleaning robot is in the service of Dyne Labs, Inc." "Tell me about it." "Cleaning robot's designation is Tocker. Physical attributes are similar to own. Last reported in north wing, lab 57." Clocker rolled around Break Man's feet, picking up scraps of stone and depositing them in a storage compartment within itself. Break Man felt he was now onto something. "Last reported? Is it missing?" "Whereabouts of unit, designation: Tocker are unknown. Presumed damaged or destroyed. No other data on unit, designation: Tocker's location are known." A wry smile spread across Break Man's face. If Tocker was too damaged to alert anyone if it was tampered with, he'd be free to search for information all he liked. "Thanks, Clocker. You've been a great help." Break Man dashed away, leaving Clocker with its reply: "I am only a cleaning robot..." Mega Man sighed in relief. That last jump had been too close. He had been crossing a series of platforms hovering in the air; however, they deactivated almost as soon as he stepped on them, forcing him to jump to the next or land on a bed of electrified spikes. The last platform dropped him so fast he could hardly react, and ended up clinging precariously to a pipe sticking out from the wall of the pit, his feet dangling way too close to the spikes for comfort. The blue bomber took stock of himself. His energy levels were all right for now; he wasn't really tired or damaged. Mostly he was worried about Jazz. He knew all too well what it was like to be reprogrammed. He would never wish it on a sentient being, especially Jazz. She was born a human, not created a robot. And even as a living machine she was never classified as a warrior robot. He shouldn't have let her get involved with Dr. Wily. Mega Man reminded himself, dodging the shots a stray Met fired at him. The thought nagged at him, though, that he could've found some way to protect her better. Mega Man eliminated the Met without thinking about it, too occupied by his worries to pay close attention to the battles he fought. Jazz gasped in agony. Her knees buckled, and she began to fall to the ground. Bass caught her. "You okay?" he asked. "Don't touch me," Jazz hissed, shaking him off despite the burning sensation throughout her body. "I'm fine." "If you say so," shrugged Bass, unconvinced. He crossed his arms and began to whistle. "Where should we start looking?" "Anywhere, I guess. I don't see why Wily's so obsessed over this shift generator thing. It sounds like a dumb idea to me. I heard once that some of his Robot Masters can already manipulate time." Bass nodded, the black and gold wings on his helmet reflecting the dim light. "That's true, but they're limited to freezing time in a small area. The temporal disruptor can control to what degree time is slowed and in what range. It's like the difference between black and white and shades of gray." "Huh, that's different," Jazz mused. Bass looked up. "You forgot to insult me." "Oh, sorry, you're an idiot," Jazz spat sarcastically. "Heh heh." "Shut up," she started to say. Suddenly, another painful spasm ripped though her body. With a cry of shock she dropped to the floor on her hands and knees. Everywhere Dr. Wily had implanted enhancements burned as if her body was trying to destroy itself. She heard Bass call her name, and she passed into unconsciousness again. Break Man stared at the heap of rubble. It figured, he thought, that the other cleaning robot -- Tocker -- would be somewhere in here. Needle in a haystack. How would he ever find it buried under a mess like this? "Tocker? Hey, Tocker," he softly called, feeling somewhat silly. Click... His ears immediately picked up the faint sound. Of course, that could also be the wreckage of the building settling. "Are you under there somewhere?" Clickclick, beep... Concrete and steel don't beep. The little janitorial drone was under there somewhere, probably trying to vacuum a rock. Break Man pushed off a piece of the collapsed ceiling. Click beep whirwhirwhir, he must be pretty close. "Hey, Tocker, where are you?" Whirwhir, click beep, "I---zzzzzrt-loca--zzzzzrt---" it answered as best as it could. Break Man homed in on the source of the static and clicking and kept digging through the rubble. CLICKCLICKGRRRRRWHIRGRRRRR POW! A flash of light and sparks marked the destruction of the little cleaning robot, probably shorted out from activating a heavily damaged circuit. Break Man paused a moment, almost feeling sorry for it even though it had no independant thoughts or emotions of its own. Silly, he told himself. It was just a cleaning robot. Throwing aside a flat sheet of concrete, he finally found Tocker's scorched shell. Most of the damage was away from its central circuitry, so there was some hope of retrieving the data on the shift generator. He picked it up, marveling at its lightness. He quickly examined it, determined that it was still salvageable, and grinned to himself. Break Man tucked Tocker under his arm and carefully made his way back to where he came in, careful not to trip in the dark corridors. As he rounded a corner, he met Clocker again. He didn't think that the cleaning drone would react to his carrying Tocker, but it did. "Unit Tocker may not be removed from premises. Alarm will sound," it warned, click beep beep beep. "Err, I'm going to take it to a lab and repair it," he fibbed. Clocker whirred violently. "State clearance codes!" it demanded. "Clearance codes? But I'm not taking it off-premises," Break Man protested. "Only authorized repairs may be performed. State clearance codes!" Click beep. A small laser popped out of the mess of vacuum hoses and arms surrounding Clocker and fired a warning shot that singed Break Man's sleeve. "Cut that out, the future of MegaLand depends on me taking Tocker," said the red robot, starting to get frustrated again. Clocker's style of taking care of things was infuriating. "Clearance codes are required. Alarm will sound in three--" "No, really--" "Two--" Break Man knew better than to try to reason further with the mindless little robot, having been one himself once. He spun around and ran. "One--" He had left his shield just outside the exit. If he could just make it and activate the transporter, he'd be home free. A hot stinging sensation on his left shoulder told him Clocker was following him and firing. The tiny short-range laser it carried wasn't a problem, but the guards outside would surely be better armed. The light of day shone at the end of the hall. Break Man pushed himself to get there before the guards did. He dove out the door and rolled to a stop by his shield, carefully cradling Tocker's deactivated form with his own body. Break Man looked up. A group of robotic sentries surrounded him, weapons pointed and ready. Faster than he could think, his hand shot up and hit a random transporter button on his shield, and he disappeared in a flash of red light. Mega Man pushed deeper into the Skull Fortress, knowing that Dr. Wily, his captive scientist, and Jazz would most likely be hidden behind the most dangerous defenses. The blue bomber fought harder than he had in a long time. He literally plowed through swarms of attacking robots, picking up what energy he could and making up for what he lost with determination. Nothing seemed to faze him, neither bottomless pits nor spikes nor hordes of enemies. After what seemed like an eternity of fighting, he came up against a sliding gate and passed through without stopping. He found himself in a vast, dark room full of platforms that floated back and forth. "Mega simple," remarked Mega Man. He jumped to the first platform. A mighty roaring sound filled the room, and a wall of wind hit him, nearly toppling him off the platform. He barely regained his balance, estimated how much force it would take to make it to the next moving platform, and jumped. Much to his surprise, just as he pushed off the wind died down. Mega Man realized too late that he would overshoot the platform and plummet to whatever was at the bottom of the pit. At the last possible second, the wind kicked up again, enabling him to barely land on the far edge of the platform. He teetered precariously for a moment. So the wind changed speed. Mega Man waited to see if it followed any kind of definite pattern. As near as he could tell, it was completely random. he thought wryly. Since the winds weren't predictable, the best the titanium titan could do was to wait until they changed and then jump as quickly as possible before they changed again. It took a while, since the platforms floated nearer and further from each other, and he had several close calls that left him hanging tenuously off of edges, but he finally made it across. The thought crossed his mind that if Dr. Wily had bothered to place any robots in the room, Mega Man might not have made it. Of course, he wasn't going to point this out to the mad scientist. Mega Man went through another sliding gate into a pitch-black room. The gate slammed shut behind him. He strained to see in the darkness, but in a moment the lights flipped on. His first reaction was relief that he could see, and his second was to charge his Mega Buster and begin firing because what he saw was at least twenty vicious-looking robots staring back at him. "I'm thinking we're too late," remarked Bass offhandedly, watching the crowd of guards mill around the Dyne Labs building from high atop a nearby broadcast tower. "You don't say," nodded Jazz. "Should've guessed they'd find something. Could just be that they tripped an alarm and didn't get the shift generator, ya know." She looked up at the sky. The two robots, one black, one magenta, clung to the steel frame. Jazz's pigtails fluttered in the breeze. "I don't see either one down there, though. Mega Man or Break Man, I mean." "I knew that." Jazz had cut down considerably on the number of insults she dished out to Bass, since he wasn't as bad to be around as she had expected. If she didn't think about who he really was, she could almost like him. Almost. His lack of care for humanity scared what fragments of her mind she could still call her own, though. A sharp pain lanced up her left leg. She made no sign of it, aside from a narrowing of her green eyes. "Bass... Can you feel pain?" Jazz suddenly asked. "Heh. What makes you ask that?" "Just wondering," Jazz replied. A contemplative look crossed Bass's purple-slashed face. "I can detect damage to my body and systems. That's usually about it." "Usually?" Red eyes stared into the distance. "Sometimes, just for brief instants, I think I can actually feel things like pain. I don't know how to handle it. You do, don't you? And you have emotions?" "Yeah, but I'm used to dealing with them because I was a human once. I was born with them." "You really are a living machine, then. That's interesting," Bass said. "Yeah, but I'm happier this way. My future as a human was pretty bleak. Although my future as a bioroid's looking down right about now too." Bass shrugged. "It'll probably get better, one way or the other. The few advantages of working for Dr. W. are that you have access to all the spare parts you could ever dream of, and you're never bored." Jazz looked up, intrigued. "You dream of " she asked, and began laughing. A semi-embarassed look crossed Bass's face. "Ahh, well," he stammered. "So can you actually dream?" continued Jazz. "Er, eh, not about spare parts, exactly..." "I dream about ice cream sometimes. Big, giant heaps of ice cream and cake and cookies, and I can eat all I want. It's great!" She spread her hands out to indicate just how much junk food she dreamed of. "Makes me miss being human a little. I don't know what would happen if I tried to do that in real life now." "There was this one time I drea--" Bass started, and stopped. "Nevermind." "Oh, come on, I wanna know," prodded Jazz. "Tell me tell me tell me." Bass sighed. "All right... So I was standing on this cliff. It must've been really high up, since there were a lot of clouds over the edge and I couldn't see the ground. And Dr. Wily appears, except he's wearing this big red dress, and he asks me if the dress makes him look fat. I told him it kinda did, and he got mad and pulled out a bazooka from his back pocket except he didn't have a back pocket. Then he fired and all these exploding bananas came out of the bazooka and blew up the cliff and I fell and landed in somebody's swimming pool. All the Robot Masters were having a cookout or something, and Wood Man offered me a hamburger. I told him I couldn't eat, so instead we played chess on a park bench that turned into a rocket ship made of construction paper and -- what's so funny?" Jazz was laughing so hard her sides ached and she almost couldn't breathe. "That's got to be one of the most ridiculous dreams I've ever heard! Were there any spare parts in it?" Bass scowled. "That was a different -- whoops." Jazz laughed even harder. "I can't believe Mr. Big Tough Cool Guy Bass has such crazy dreams! I thought you'd dream about world domination or something." "Eh, that would be Dr. W.'s thing. I guess I'm all about proving I'm better than Mega Man by defeating him." The black robot looked up into the sky. "What would you do if you did destroy him?" Jazz wanted to know. Bass shrugged. "I never thought about it." "You should do papier-maché!" Jazz suddenly cracked up again. "I bet you could make all kinds of stuff. Like rocket ships!" "And spare parts!" Bass added, laughing with her. They both laughed until they would've had tears in their eyes had they been human. "Man, we're crazy," Bass finally admitted breathlessly. "It's a good thing nobody can hear us or I might lose my rep." He chuckled a little more and finished with a long sigh. "Some evil villains we are." Jazz grinned cheerfully. "Just tell Mega Man your dream and he'll laugh himself into defeat," she suggested playfully. "But really, what do you think you would do if you won?" "Anything, I guess. Probably ditch Dr. W." Jazz was fairly shocked. "But he's your creator! Like your dad or something, right?" "My dad? I can hardly think of him like that. He treats me like any of his Robot Masters, for the most part. Sometimes he'll actually protect me, but that's only been once or twice. He's nothing like a father to me, really." "That's so sad," Jazz said. "I've always thought it would be great to have some kind of family, even if it was just a creator." Bass looked back to Jazz. "You don't have any family? None at all?" Jazz shook her head. "Some temporary family, in another world. That's all. My parents died a long time ago." The black robot was silent for some time. "What about Dr. Light and Mega Man? Didn't you live with them?" He knew he was treading on dangerous territory talking about his archenemies with Jazz. Jazz shrugged. "They're the closest thing I've had in years. For some reason, I hate them now. It's Wily's programming, isn't it?" Bass nodded. "I hate him too." "I can understand. If I wasn't built by Dr. W., I'd probably feel that way too. But I can't bring myself to hate the old man, for whatever reason." They both remained quiet for several minutes as the warm wind blew past and the bright sun shone down. The view of the city was actually quite nice from this height. Suddenly, Jazz broke the silence. "Spare parts," she snickered, suppressing another silly laughing fit. Bass grinned widely. "I should take a picture of you doing that so people will actually believe it," giggled Jazz. "So why'd Wily build you instead of just another Robot Master?" "Well, Dr. W. built Treble and me to counter Mega Man and Rush. He tried to model me after Mega Man's schematics, since for all he's done Dr. W. hasn't been able to shut down Mega Man yet. So he assumed that his systems and programming must've been superior to that of a normal robot and created me. And, if I do say so myself," he added, "I think I'm more superior than most." Jazz went back to watching the guards mill around Dyne Labs, although the action had died down considerably in the past half-hour. "Are you alive like Mega Man is, since you're modeled after him?" A sly smile crossed Bass's face. "Maybe." The disassembled pieces of Tocker the cleaning robot cluttered Dr. Light's lab table. A data card, slightly blackened on one end, sat plugged into a computer while the snowy-haired scientist searched for any information on the shift generator. Break Man watched, leaning on a nearby piece of equipment. "Well," Dr. Light started, swiveling around in his chair, "I think I've found it, but it's encrypted." "Can't you crack it?" asked Break Man. Dr. Light sighed. "Usually, but they've encoded it using a complex matrix equation, and without the original matrix there's virtually no way to unscramble it. Left to luck, it could take years to crack and that's just not possible now." "If we actually had the entire temporal disruptor we could just speed up the computer," the red robot suggested unhelpfully. "'Course, if we had the entire thing, we'd by default have the shift generator, so we wouldn't need a code to find it--ah, nevermind, this is getting nowhere fast." "Perhaps one of the scientists at the lab would be able to help, then," Dr. Light pondered. "I had hoped we could secretly find and lock away the shift generator, but that doesn't seem like an option now. I'll call one of Dyne Labs's officials and ask them about it." Dr. Light quickly proceeded to punch up a comlink to the main office of Dyne Labs. "Dyne Labs Incorporated, how may we help you?" the robotic receptionist answered. Dr. Light thought. "I need to speak with someone with high security clearance," the good doctor quickly explained. "It's about the recent robbery of the temporal disruptor." "I'll direct you to Vice President Halloway," said the receptionist. The screen flickered momentarily, and a very professional-looking middle-aged woman's face appeared. "Vice President Nicole Halloway, what can I do for -- oh, Dr. Light! To what do I owe the honor of your call?" she asked. "Nothing good, I'm afraid," Dr. Light answered. "I hate to be so abrupt, but I need to know where the shift generator to the temporal disruptor is. I'm afraid Dr. Wily is after it even as we speak." V.P. Halloway put up her hands. "I'm sorry, even Dyne Labs Inc.'s President Richards doesn't know. Dr. Robert Sandford was really the only person who knew anything about where the shift generator is, and he's in Dr. Wily's custody." "The kidnapped scientist," mused Dr. Light, stroking his white beard. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you, Doctor," the vice president apologized. "It's all right, I understand. I hope next time I call I'll have some good news for you," Dr. Light said, and closed the comlink. He turned to Break Man again, a definitely worried look on his aged face. "Wily's got Jazz, Dr. Sandford, and the temporal disruptor's main component," he said concernedly. "It would seem he has most of the cards now." "You still have an ace up your sleeve with me," Break Man reassured his creator. "Why don't you start up a de-encryption program just in case and I'll keep on looking overnight?" "All right," Dr. Light agreed reluctantly. "Although I probably won't even be able to think about sleep at a time like this." Chapter Five Day Four "It's nothing," Dr. Wily concluded, studying Jazz's scan. "I don't see a thing wrong with you and I can't think why there would be." "But wherever I've been modified hurts," the magenta maurader complained. "You're just adjusting," the frazzle-haired scientist snapped. "Now stop whining about every little thing and keep looking for the shift generator." "But I'm tired too! I haven't slept in a whole day," whined Jazz. Dr. Wily snorted exasperatingly and rolled his eyes. "You're a " he reminded her sharply, "what do you want with sleep?" "To be in bed doing it," Jazz replied. "I'm a ya cranky old man, get it through your hairless skull, I need sleep too. Especially when has been digging through my innards and sending me running around the city more times in a day than most taxis do." Bass stood out in the hall listening to the two argue. Treble crouched at his feet, ears back against his head. "Yeah, I'd do the same thing too if I could, boy," Bass told his robotic dog. "They're both pretty bad. It'd be funny if I wasn't stuck listening to it all day. Dr. W. should really take her a little more seriously, though, don't you think?" Treble whimpered. Jazz stormed out of the lab. "Crabby old coot," she tossed back over her shoulder. "Whiney little brat!" came the reply. Bass and Jazz began to walk down the hall. "What's your problem with him?" the black and gold robot asked. Treble followed close behind them. "Well, aside from than the fact that he implanted all kinds of junk parts all throughout me, reprogrammed my mind, is making me do his dirty work, stuck me with you, and now won't listen when I tell him whatever he's done to my body is causing problems, nothing other than he's so mean all the time I can't stand it," Jazz fumed. "Eh," she started, becoming just a little less angry, "I guess you're what I least dislike about all this." "Considering what Dr. W. did to your emotions, that's some compliment," Bass pointed out, somewhat cheerfully. "Guess you could say that. I'm about ready to go find that shift generator just to shut Wily up. Let's start looking around the north end of--" She sharply sucked in her breath, wavering. She nearly fell, but Bass caught her again. "Th-thanks," she gasped, regaining control over herself. "There's something wrong with me, I know it," Jazz said, almost despairingly. "I think so, too," agreed Bass. "Maybe when we get back I'll run a scan myself. I wonder just how truthful he's being." "Wily telling the truth? Don't bet on it," Jazz said through gritted teeth. Break Man sorted through the facts in his head, sleepy but determined to figure out where the shift generator was. He didn't have much to go at all. The only thing he knew for sure was that Tocker and Clocker knew where it was, but the information couldn't be taken from either without the proper codes. Mega Man had said that a scientist told him it was in the last place he'd think to look. That wasn't a lot of help, either. He went over everything Clocker had said. A random idea struck the red robot. He began to walk back to the lab, and gradually broke into a run. Break Man quickly gathered up all of Tocker's parts and dumped them rather unceremoniously onto one of Dr. Light's scales. 4.87 kilos. Where was the missing weight? Break Man was sure Tocker wasn't missing any parts, and it was supposedly identical to Clocker. Apparently Tocker had 2.44 kilos less weight than Clocker. Perhaps Clocker had been carrying a lot of scrap material. However, Break Man felt he had the first real lead the entire time he'd been searching. He threw on some dark clothes, all the better to sneak around in, and grabbed his shield. With the press of a button he teleported back to Dyne Labs. He quickly made it past the guards again. he thought, The now-familiar clicks, whirs, and beeps of Clocker's activities alerted him to the cleaning robot's location. "You have it, don't you?" Break Man accused the metallic bush, almost playfully. "This whole time I've been running around, you've been carrying the shift generator." Click beep. "Information: confidential." "Not anymore, shorty," Break Man said, palming his secret weapon. he thought to himself wryly. Beep beep whir buzz. "Alarm will sound in three--" Break Man drew a small, shiny device, little more than a flat piece of metal with a battery on the other side. He thumbed a button and threw it at Clocker. It stuck, the electromagnetic force so powerful that Clocker immediately shorted out. "No it won't," said Break Man, drawing a tool and disassembling the little janitorial drone. He carefully removed plates and circuit boards. he thought. His deft fingers soon found a cylinder, connecting wires not hooked to anything. Its smooth sides bore a large Dyne Laboratories, Inc. logo. "Success," Break Man cheered. Two flashes of purple light behind him interrupted his self-gratitude. "For us, maybe," Bass's mocking voice rang. Break Man spun around, recalling his battle uniform as he did. What he saw was only mildly surprising. "Jazz? What are you--" She cut him off with a supercharged shot, sending him smashing against the back wall. Jazz, moving with abnormal speed, caught the shift generator before it could even hit the ground. "Well, we got it. Does this mean Dr. Wily will let me get some sleep?" "Maybe just to stop your whining," shrugged Bass. "Sorry to have to do this to you. Sort of sorry, anyway. See ya around, Breaky," he said, tossing a rather flippant two-fingered salute before the two of them teleported off. Break Man picked himself up from against the wall. He ached in several places, both from Jazz's shot and also from the impact. "Poor Jazz..." he said, very softly. "Nobody deserves your situation. Well, Mega Man, if it comes down to you against her, I'm not so sure I can really help." With that he teleported away, too. Jazz leaned heavily on the lab table, red spots flickering before her eyes. "Wonderful!" Dr. Wily gloated, holding the shift generator up to the light. Bass cleared his throat. "Y'know, Dr. W., she's not looking so good right about now. Don't you think you ought to do something about it?" Dr. Wily did something remarkably like sneering but not quite. "Why Bass, I didn't know you cared about other people," he scoffed. " other people are complete morons," shot back Bass. The tone of his voice suggested that he thought 'Dr. W.' was possibly one of the bigger morons, but also that he held Jazz in high regard. "What reason do you have to worry about her? She's just getting in your way like everyone else, right?" "She's the one who suggested tracking Break Man to find the shift generator. That's more than you've done the entire time." Bass, having a free-enough will of his own, could (and often did) disagree with his creator and even act against Dr. Wily's orders. If something suited Bass, he generally did it. "What are you getting at?" asked Dr. Wily. Bass stopped short of saying something. "Out of my way, Wily." Dropping his creator's nickname, he pushed the gray-haired scientist out of the way and pulled a large scanner across the room. He quickly and efficiently arranged it and Jazz and began to run a scan. The results were not very reassuring. "Wily, you fool, look what your implants have done. Her body's rejecting them." Dark, corrosive lines crisscrossed Jazz's internal processes. "She'll probably die if you don't remove them within a few hours." Bass's diagnosis made Jazz visibly shudder. "I will?" she weakly repeated. "Here, hold these," Dr. Wily said, handing her two bare ends of wires. She complied, too drained to argue. He flipped a lever, and a wave of bright, warm heat poured across Jazz, numbing out all of her pain. She slipped very quickly into a deep sleep. The last thing she could remember hearing was Bass's voice again, the words lost to her but the meaning perfectly clear. Mega Man climbed. He was worn-out from fighting all night, but his fierce determination kept him moving. He had to be getting close. The Skull Fortress was never huge before, since getting the needed materials on short notice couldn't be easy. Mostly it looped around within itself. The blue bomber pulled himself onto the top ledge, prepared for almost any robot Wily could throw at him. Mega Man found himself strangely disappointed to see just another gate in the wall. he mused. He checked his energy levels, found that they were near full, and ventured bravely through the heavy gate. It opened at his touch, as they so often did, and dropped down behind him, leaving him in a pitch-black room. he thought. A very, very familiar voice killed that idea. "There...you are." An arc of purple energy shone through the darkness, followed by another one. A slender, glowing form slowly rose from the floor into a standing position. In a bright flash the lights turned on. "" cried Mega Man. She stood almost like a marionette puppet, her motions betraying the great pain and weakness she must've felt. Magenta bolts of energy raced across her body. At this point, only Dr. Wily's supercharged energy feed kept her moving. "Heh, heh. Where were you? I was...waiting..." She spoke very slowly, almost as if possessed. Mega Man dashed forward. "Are you alright? What has Dr. Wily done to you?" Jazz lifted a hand, transformed it into an arm cannon, and fired a devastating shot without even charging. Mega Man was literally thrown across the room, skidding to a stop on his back. He suddenly noticed that the temporal disruptor device was hardwired directly to Jazz's right arm. "Jazz! Fight his programming! I know that's what's making you fight me!" She stared at him with a blank look of unfocused rage in her eyes. "I don't have long enough left to do anything but kill you, and probably myself..." Lights along the temporal disruptor lit. Jazz fired a blue shockwave from her Jazz Buster, wavering dangerously with the effort. Mega Man watched in horror as Jazz walked deliberately up to him, his own movements so slowed that he couldn't even speak a word. The magenta maurader began to charge her cannon. He searched frantically for a sign of recognition in her green eyes, but they stared as if she were already dead. Mega Man closed his own eyes. Bright purple light flashed. "Jazz, stop!" Mega Man slowly realized he was still alive. Opening his eyes as quickly as he could under the temporal disruptor's influence, he was amazed to see Bass standing between Jazz and himself. "Snap out of it! Mega Man and Dr. Light are the only people that can save your life now. If you kill him, you will have killed yourself!" A flicker of life crossed Jazz's frozen face. "...Bass? Don't you want him dead?" "Yes, but...but not at the expense of your life," he pleaded. "Break Man once told me I needed something to fight for... I've been fighting for you! Didn't you see? I hoped if we had the shift generator Dr. W. would reverse the modifications he did to your system, but he won't and I can't do it myself or I would. Mega Man," Bass said, turning around, "I need you and Dr. Light to save her..." Mega Man tried to speak. He moved as if suspended in a nearly solid gel, so slowly that he almost seemed not to move at all. Bass quickly realized what was going on and flipped a switch on the temporal disruptor on Jazz's arm while she was still too confused to fight back. "I'm really going to regret that later," sighed Bass ironically. "Dr. W.'s hostage is in the next room, by the way, and the teleportation barriers are down for a few minutes courtesy of me. Still can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered to himself, lifting a finger to his teleporter button. Both Jazz and Mega Man watched him incredulously. He stopped as if suddenly recalling something important. "Jazz... Please try to remember me as family..." With a flash of purple light Bass was gone. Jazz looked from where the black robot had been to Mega Man, trying to tell the blue bomber something she couldn't find the words for. Instead, her green eyes closed and she collapsed. This time, Mega Man caught her. Break Man teleported in. "I feel like I just missed something here," he noted. The heavy silence was almost oppressing. "So I guess you don't need any help after all?" "Bass took care of it," Mega Man said. His twin brother held up his hands. "Whoa, Bass again? But he just stole the shift generator from me," the red robot protested. "Somebody's gonna have to do some explaining later." "Dr. Sandford's in the next room," Mega Man said, nodding toward the gate. "Can do, Mega Man," Break Man assured him. "Better get Jazz to the lab." "See ya there." Mega Man carefully held Jazz's limp form with one hand and activated his transporter with the other. Chapter Six Day Five "It's times like this," Mega Man sighed cheerlessly, "that make me wish that I was a salami." "Come again?" asked Dr. Light, looking up. Mega Man sighed again. "Nothing." A long pause, then: "How's she doing?" "Alive." The white-bearded scientist very carefully removed a foreign enhancement, already corroded and damaged beyond use by Jazz's own body. He carefully reconnected wires and circuit boards. "Dr. Wily wasn't going to repair Jazz, I think. He was using her as a one-shot chance to get rid of you." "That's inhuman." Mega Man fell deep into thought, not necessarily about Dr. Wily. He couldn't understand Bass's last words to Jazz. Why would the black robot say something like that? Why would he want to fight for Jazz? For that matter, why would he even care at all? Bass care? Mega Man found himself believing that there was more to Bass than met the eye. Obviously he cared enough about Jazz to allow her, Mega Man, and Wily's hostage to escape. Bass himself had taken down the barriers. thought Mega Man, glancing at Jazz's barely-alive shape on the lab table, Dr. Light continued to work as quickly as he could, knowing that Jazz's hold on life grew weaker by the moment. So many modifications. Dr. Wily had put everything he could muster into making Jazz the ultimate weapon against Mega Man. "Perhaps Dr. Wily was using your feelings for her against you," Dr. Light said as if he had read Mega Man's thoughts. "He knew you wouldn't hurt her. I guess he didn't count on one of his own creations interfering." "I didn't expect it either," agreed Mega Man. "I thought I was done for." Dr. Light whistled softly. "I can't believe some of the things Wily did to her. This wiring job is so bad I'm amazed Jazz didn't just drop when he did it. You bioroids are constantly amazing me." The doctor deftly began to disconnect the temporal disruptor from Jazz's arm. "I don't think he intended for her to live very long anyway. She would've broken free from his programming sooner or later, and as enhanced as she was, that would've been a total disaster for Dr. Wily." Jazz stirred, eyelids fluttering. Mega Man was immediately by her side. "Bass?" she weakly asked. The blue bomber shook his head. "It's me, Mega Man. You're home now." "Oh," Jazz said quietly, and slipped back into unconsciousness. Mega Man watched for a while as Dr. Light worked, occasionally handing him whatever tools he needed. Finally the good doctor sat back and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. "That's all of Wily's implants. Whatever other repairs need to be done are all up to her healing processes now. I'll keep her on an energy feed and let her rest." "I'll stay," Mega Man volunteered. Dr. Light nodded, knowing that even though his living creation needed some rest himself he wouldn't sleep until Jazz recovered. "Call me if anything comes up, all right?" "I will." With that, Mega Man was alone in the lab. Or so he thought. A voice made him turn around. "I heard you say it," Break Man chided him, leaning on a wall where he hadn't been a moment before. "You said you wished you were a salami." "They lead such an easy life," shrugged Mega Man. "And then they get eaten." "Well, true." They both remained quiet for a while. Then Break Man spoke. "She'll recover, right?" "We're hoping so. There's nothing else we can do for her." Jazz very slowly became aware of a humming sound. something in the back of her mind told her. She felt the warmth of energy flowing into her systems and decided she must be connected to the lab's generators. Jazz wondered, giving it a try. For an instant she thought she had failed, then realized the lab was dark and it was night. Aided immensely by the energy feed, she slowly sat up, her head spinning. "Hello? Anybody awake?" she asked. Mega Man's head shot up. "You're all right!" he exclaimed happily, running to her table. "I was afraid you were never going to wake up." "I was that bad?" Her eyes widened. Mega Man nodded solemnly. "You should get some more sleep," he said. "I'll save all my questions for tomorrow." "That would be good," Jazz yawned, laying down and falling asleep on the hard table without a problem. Mega Man finally went to bed and slept too. Day Six Jazz awoke bright and early, feeling lightheaded from the constant energy flow but very refreshed. She disconnected the wires and hopped off the table dizzily. Roll entered the lab. "Hi!" Jazz chirped merrily. "Nice to see you up," Roll beamed. "I'll go get Dr. Light." "No, that's all right, let him sleep. He deserves it." Jazz stretched. "I'm sure he'll wake up on his own soon enough. I think I'll watch the news." She switched on the lab's newsbeam. "A recent string of strange events have left city residents concerned. First, the temporal disruptor was stolen by one of Dr. Wily's robots the same night as 'Katie' won the dance contest and the mysterious magenta girl robot appeared at the fair. The next-day destruction of Dyne Laboratories left the city's business sector in an uproar over possible subsequent attacks. Twice the building's guards were called, once for the theft of a cleaning robot and again for the theft of the shift generator to the temporal disruptor. "Later activities around Dr. Wily's Skull Fortress were reported, as well as sightings of another of Wily's robots with the unknown purple robot. The resemblence between this new female robot and the missing Katienne Lilleth have authorities scratching their heads. Could the 'magenta maurader,' as she has come to be called, and Katienne Lilleth be connected somehow? And what of the temporal disruptor? Again, we will report any news on these subjects as soon as it breaks." Jazz stared into the screen, numbed by the broadcast. There was no way around it; she'd have to somehow announce that she wasn't missing at all, that she was alive and (mostly) well and also a bioroid. And what was more, she would have to do it without getting Dr. Light into some kind of trouble for not having reported her. Would anybody actually believe what had happened? "Ah, you're up," Dr. Light said from behind her, coming into the lab. "You could watch that in a more comfortable room if you like." "They're running reports on me," Jazz stated simply. The scientist nodded. "I've seen them over the past few days. I'm not sure what to do. There aren't exactly laws on what to do when a human becomes a living machine, you know. It hasn't been an issue before." "It's not so much that I'm worried about. I'm wondering how to make them believe I'm really me at all. If I can get them to believe I'm Katienne Lilleth, the rest should be easy." "True," agreed Dr. Light. "I'm trying to think who I might speak with about this. There has to be someone -- I know, I'll call the mayor. He and I are on good terms. I'm sure he'll have some advice." Dr. Light quickly opened a comlink to the mayor's office. "Good morning, Dr. Light," the mayor greeted him. "What's the news?" "Firstly, the temporal disruptor's safely in my possession," the doctor started. "Even more importantly, I have a hypothetical question for you. Let's say a human is somehow turned into a living machine. How would one go about proving that the bioroid is actually the person themselves and not a robotic replica?" The mayor seemed puzzled by Dr. Light's question. Finally it dawned on him. "This isn't hypothetical, is it." He waited a long time, carefully thinking the situation through. "Well... I suppose you could have their identity certified by a group of people that knew the person very well. The human mind contains way too much information to be manually transferred to a robotic clone. But since it's never happened before, there's no legislation on the topic. You'd be setting a precedent. After the person was suitably identified, they'd fall under the Free Will section of the Humanoid Robot Act. But the road there would be long and difficult, considering the implications of a human becoming a robot. So you actually have a documented case?" Dr. Light nodded. "I have the strangest notion it's the new warrior robot in town," the mayor continued. "But I'm probably way off the mark... No?" The look in Dr. Light's blue eyes said otherwise. "This's going to be a tough one, especially since she's already been missing for several months. Although her case is so different now that I'm not sure at all what will come of it. Well, I'll call an emergency council at the City Hall for noon today, if you're not busy then. Be ready to present your case, and please bring the girl if you can." "I'll definitely do that," Dr. Light agreed. "Thanks for your help, Mayor." He closed the comlink. "Guess we'd better get ready, Jazz. There's nothing we can really do other than state our case and let the system work it out." "Yeah." Jazz's gaze wondered around the room and settled on herself. "Yow, I'm still in my battle uniform. What am I going to I don't have any clothes for this occasion, do you? This is so too strange to wear to a meeting or whatever. They'll think I'm there to blow them up." Roll tugged Jazz's arm. "I have a dress suit that should fit you," the blonde robot offered helpfully. Jazz followed her back into the living section of the lab just as Mega Man walked in. "So she's fully recovered?" he asked hopefully. "I haven't been able to run any more scans yet, but she seems fine now," Dr. Light nodded. "We've got a meeting to go to at noon about her. I'm not at all sure how it'll go, but I'm sure your sitting in couldn't hurt. Would you like to come along?" Mega Man nodded vigorously. "Of course I would! I'll get ready now." Noon came, and Dr. Light and company met it in the City Hall, waiting for the council to begin. Lawmakers, reporters, and city officials from several neighboring cities settled into their respective places. The mayor presided over the whole meeting. Jazz sat in her chair, nervously fiddling with the edge of her suitcoat. She had never seen so many important people in one place, especially since they were all here for her. Mega Man's reassuring smile kept her from bolting out of the room. He wore his battle uniform so that he would be easily recognized. His blue helmet sat on the table in front of him. "This emergency assembly will now come to order," the mayor announced. Robotic cameras clicked eagerly over the shuffle of paperwork and people sitting down. "Dr. Light has already explained to me what this is all about, but for the benefit of all attending, would you mind explaining again?" The good doctor stood to address the assmebly. "Some months ago, a girl whose name you are most likely familiar with, Katienne Lilleth, stole a dangerous weapon from Dr. Wily. She ran for refuge at my laboratory. However, the force field was up, and her passing through transformed her into a living machine. Even I don't know exactly how this happened. Jazz, as she now calls herself, proved helpful in the battle against Dr. Wily and even against other evils in another world apart from ours. Unfortunately, Dr. Wily stole first the temporal disruptor and then Jazz herself. She was reprogrammed, something which I assure you will never happen again after I install an anti-reprogramming chip. Eventually we rescued both her and the entire temporal disruptor. The disruptor has been returned to its rightful owner, and Jazz is petitioning to be recognized as a free robot under the Free Will section of the Humanoid Robot Act." Questions started immediately. "How can we be sure she's the real Katienne Lilleth?" someone asked. "I'm sorry, Dr. Light, but this is very far-fetched." "I understand," Dr. Light nodded, "you have every right to be skeptical. I would like to remind you, though, that Mega Man is also a living machine with free will. He was formerly a non-living robot. From that standpoint, I'd think giving life to a previously inanimate object would be much more drastic than changing an already-existing life. As for proving if she's the real Katienne, I propose that she be interviewed by an appointed board of trustworthy people that know her well to determine if she is or is not the same Katienne they know." A wave of mixed approval rippled through the assembly. The mayor of a nearby city stood up. "With all due respect, how can we be absolutely certain she can never be reprogrammed?" "No offense taken. Regardless of how this council turns out, I plan to install an anti-reprogramming chip in Jazz. If I may use Mega Man as an example again, he's been reprogrammed before too, and is now impervious to such tinkering. Jazz is no more dangerous than he is." Mega Man and Jazz exchanged a look that nobody else saw. They both knew she could've very well killed him, but that was while she was superenhanced. "Any more questions?" asked the mayor. "Can anybody else be turned into a living machine?" a reporter asked. Dr. Light knew he was now on very tricky ground. Depending on how he answered, there might be an epidemic of people throwing themselves into force fields. "I can't in all honesty answer no," he said reluctantly. "The chances of it happening again, though, are almost infinitely small. The odds are better for you to be eaten by a wild rhinocerous in the Mega Mall than for you to become a bioroid by falling through a force field." "What exactly is a bioroid?" Mega Man stood. "I'll try to answer this one," he offered. "I'm physically still a robot, made of metal and circuits. My schematics are more complicated than a normal robot's, though, especially in that I can heal like a living being. I have emotions, free will, and a conscience. I'm emotionally like any of you. I can be happy or sad or angry, just like anybody else. I can sleep and dream like a human. Basically, I have a human soul and a robotic body." He sat back down nervously, feeling pleased with his definition. "And Katien--Jazz is like you?" Now Jazz stood up. "I am," she stated affirmatively. "And I've never been happier, despite all that I've gone through." A hand in the back raised. "Can you prove to us that you're really a robot, right here and now?" Jazz looked to Dr. Light. "Can I recall my uniform for them?" The doctor nodded, so Jazz pressed the button affixed to her belt. In a violet flash, she was clad in her purple-and-magenta fighting uniform. A loud murmur went through the audience. "I promise I won't fire," Jazz said, and changed one arm into an arm cannon. When she was sure everyone had sufficiently seen what she had done, she changed it back into her normal arm. Removing her blue-visored helmet, she sat back down at her seat. The mayor stood. "All right, order, everyone," he commanded. The room immediately quieted. "Let's recess and discuss what our options are. We'll meet again at two-thirty sharp. Dismissed." A swarm of reporters immediately descended upon Jazz, asking all kinds of questions. Dr. Light brushed them off. "If you wanted to ask us anything, you should've done so during the session," he admonished. "Make room and let us through." Luckily, Break Man, wearing his full uniform, came in and cut a wide path through the crowd with his presence. "Thought you might need some help getting out," he teased. "But I don't like all these people staring at me so hurry, okay?" The three robots and one human got into a hovervan and drove away. "We made quite a commotion," Dr. Light noted amusedly. "I think the council listened to us, though. Your presence probably helped a lot, Mega Man." "I had hoped they'd listen if I was there. After saving their city so many times, you'd think that people would give me some credit." Jazz stared out the window. "Hey, if this doesn't turn out very well, I'll go save the city and then we can ask again. Too bad most people don't understand parallel universes or I'd tell them about the Mushroom World." They arrived back at the lab. As they were parking, a tall girl with a lot of piercings and tattoos and almost-shaved hair ran up to the van. "Katie!" she shouted. Jazz's eyes lit up. "Laciy!" She threw open the door and jumped out while the van was still moving, running towards the girl. "I'm so glad you came by!" Laciy took a step back, Jazz's uniform startling her. "Is it really you?" she asked. "Of course it is! Here, we'll do the secret handshake." The two friends very rapidly did a complex handshake. Laciy grinned uncontrollably. "It you!" She pulled Jazz up in an enormous hug and nearly dropped her. "Hey, you're..." "I know," Jazz nodded excitedly. "Isn't it cool? Now I can do this!" Jazz picked Laciy up effortlessly, holding her friend above her head. "Yo! You're really strong!" Laciy exclaimed. "Where have you been all this time? Everyone's been looking for you. Gary said he saw you at the fair but of course nobody believed him." "I at the fair," Jazz replied. "And the next day when Dyne Labs was attacked, Dr. Wily kidnapped me. I've had all sorts of crazy stuff happen to me in the past week or so. And before that I went to the Mushroom World--" "Is that an amusement park or something?" Laciy interrupted. "It's a parallel universe! You'd never believe some of the stuff there. I still have problems believing it. I met this turtle who--" Dr. Light cleared his throat. The two girls looked up. "I really hate having to cut this short, but I think you should save your stories for whatever interviews they'll want you to do, Jazz," he said. "All right, Dr. Light," agreed Jazz quickly. "Hey, that rhymed." Laciy stared wide-eyed at the doctor. "You're Doctor Light? Oh wow. Thanks for taking such good care of Katie for me," Laciy thanked him. "I should get going, they'll be serving lunch soon. I'll be at the assembly later, so look for me, all right?" With that, Laciy dashed away. Jazz watched her go. "Lunch," she said. "If they put me back into the orphanage, what would I do about lunch?" "This assembly will come to order," the mayor proclaimed. "The council of officials appointed to Katienne Lilleth's case has come to a decision. Per Doctor Light's suggestion, a committee has been appointed and legally sworn in to determine whether or not the robotic Katienne Lilleth present is, in fact, the missing girl. The members of the committee are as follows: Laciy Silvers, Katienne's closest peer friend; Mrs. Ellerby, her legal guardian; Dr. Martin, a licensed psychiatrist; and Mr. Anderson, her social worker. Each will have up to one hour to interview Ms. Lilleth and make their decision. If by unanimous vote Katienne is determined to be genuine, she will be permitted to take the Free Will Test under the jurisdiction of the Humanoid Robot Act. If not, she will still be able to take the test; however, she will not legally be recognized as Katienne Lilleth. This assembly is adjourned to begin the interviews." The reporters were obviously disappointed that the meeting was so short, but Jazz couldn't be happier. She was ready to start proving herself. The interviews would be conducted in a monitored room to prevent foul play on either part. First up was Mrs. Ellerby, Jazz's guardian at the orphanage. The interview went tensely at first. Mrs. Ellerby didn't seem to be sure just how to act around Jazz anymore since she had disappeared. They both became more comfortable, though, and ended up talking about Jazz's old room, belongings, activities, and favorite things. Finally the hour ended. "I'm sure it's you," Mrs. Ellerby smiled, placing a hand on Jazz's shoulder and not flinching at its metallic hardness. "I can't begin to tell you how glad I am that you're all right." With that, her foster mother left. After a ten-minute break, Jazz went to talk with Dr. Martin. He was the only one of the four that Jazz didn't know; his goal was to make sure Jazz was perfectly sane and telling the truth. After a series of questions, Dr. Martin nodded. "You seem to be doing very well mentally and emotionally," he stated. "A little confused over some aspects of your new life, but facing the challenge beautifully. Good luck in the future, Ms. Lilleth." Jazz took that to mean that she had passed another test. Two down, two to go. She had another ten-minute break in between this interview and the next, during which she had very little to do since she wasn't allowed to speak with anyone. Luckily, the next test with Laciy came early since her tall friend was ready to go any time. They met with another bear hug and Jazz eagerly picked up where they left off before, talking about the Mushroom Kingdom and reminiscing about all the troubles and triumphs they had shared. Laciy listened eagerly to Jazz's stories. The two girls were obviously old friends, knowing all of each other's secrets, even down to who they secretly liked as children. The hour ran out all too soon. They parted with another hug and a promise to visit sometime. Lastly Jazz was interviewed by Mr. Anderson. Being her social worker, he had worked with her extensively in the past, especially about her run-ins with the law. He mainly asked her about all the details of her orphanage, friends, and all the problems she had had. Jazz didn't really like it, but she understood that only the real Jazz would know her flaws as well as her good points. Mr. Anderson also finished in less time than expected. "Nobody but the original Katie would know all that," he decided firmly. "Stay out of trouble in the future, okay?" "I learned my lesson a long time ago," Jazz reminded him. "Thanks, Mr. Anderson." He picked up his notepad. "Good luck," the middle-aged man told her, and left. Katie was now finally allowed to talk to Mega Man and Dr. Light. They met her at the end of the hallway. "How'd you do?" the blue bomber immediately asked her. "It's all good," she beamed. "I can't wait for them to announce it. I'm sure they're sure it's me." They went back to the assembly hall and waited. Jazz couldn't seem to sit still, her hyperness kicking back in. After what seemed like hours to the magenta maurader, the council reconvened with its results. "This assembly will now come to order, please," announced the mayor. A hush fell over the crowd like a thick blanket. "The vote is in. By a unanimous decision, the committee has decided that the Katienne Lilleth attending is the Katienne Lilleth reported missing four months ago." Jazz was within a fraction of an inch of jumping out of her seat and cheering, but Dr. Light's hand on her shoulder kept her from making a fool out of herself. "Ms. Lilleth is now allowed to take the Free Will test if she so desires. Either way, as a robot she is not bound by any law to stay at the orphanage except by mutual consent. Assembly adjourned." Cheers actually broke out among the reporters and onlookers. Jazz turned and saw Laciy and a group of her old friends standing and clapping. Even Gary was there, applauding and beaming with the rest of them. But what caught her eye most was a tall, stocky figure sporting a black suit edged in gold with a blue necktie. His fine brown hair fell just above his shoulders, almost but not quite hiding his red eyes and the triangular purple slashes on his cheeks. He stood in a shadowy corner of the room, apart from everyone else, clapping for Jazz. Their eyes locked for a moment, and then he was gone. "What's the matter, Jazz?" Mega Man asked, noticing her distracted look. She turned to look at him, started to say something, stopped, started again, and stopped again. "Do you know if Bass can change out of his fighting uniform?" she asked him. "I hardly know anything about him, much less that," Mega Man shrugged. "Why do you ask?" Jazz looked back up. "Just wondering, I guess..." she trailed off. Outside City Hall, they very slowly made their way down the steps, bogged down by the ever-present media. Jazz hardly noticed the questions they asked. Had Bass really come all this way just to watch the proceedings? Somehow Jazz found herself believing he would do something like that. The mayor pushed through the throng towards them. "Dr. Light! Ms. Lilleth! Mega Man! I'm glad I caught you before you left. I wanted to know if Ms. Lilleth wanted to take the Free Will test now." Dr. Light began to answer, but Jazz beat him to it. "Please, call me Jazz, Mr. Mayor. I'll definitely want to take the test, but can I do it tomorrow? I'm dead tired and I just want to spend the rest of the day doing nothing." The mayor repeated what she said as if partially stunned. "Definitely want to take the... But you're dead tired?" He laughed. "You're as amazing as Mega Man, you know that? Certainly you can take it tomorrow, or any time you want. Just call ahead an hour and we'll arrange it for you. Congratulations and good luck, all of you," the mayor wished them as they climbed into Dr. Light's van for the third time that day. The three of them got back to the lab. "Feels great to be home," Jazz smiled. "Sure does," Break Man greeted them. "Congrats, Jazz. Say, you wouldn't believe what I saw at the assembly. Or maybe I should say who I saw." Mega Man blinked. "You were there?" "I might believe you," Jazz said. "So who'd you see?" "Just for a second, I thought I saw Bass, but he was dressed in normal clothing. I could be wrong, I only saw him out of the corner of my eye, but I could've sworn whoever I saw had his eyes and purple marks." Mega Man looked from Break Man to Jazz. "That's why you asked me if..." Break Man put a hand to his head. "Okay, out with it, what's Bass's whole role in this thing? He keeps popping up with no apparent explanation and I think you know why. Spill the beans, already." Jazz sighed, crossed her arms behind her head, and walked across the lab. "Ahh, you'd never believe it," she whistled. Break Man turned her own phrase on her. "I might believe it." "You... once told him he needed something to fight for, right?..." Jazz said hesitantly, and walked out of the lab. Break Man and Mega Man exchanged a look. "So he was..." started Break Man. Mega Man simply nodded, slowly. "Yeah." Chapter Seven -- Epilogue Day Six Jazz did, in fact, take the Free Will test the next day. She found that she had a strange fear of not passing, but she passed with flying colors. No sooner did Jazz, Mega Man, and Dr. Light return home to the lab but the doorbell rang. "I wonder who that might be," Dr. Light mused, checking a perimeter camera. There didn't seem to be anybody at the door, though. "I'll go check," Jazz volunteered. She raced through the lab and living quarters to the front door, throwing it open and looking around. "Hello? Anybody out there?" she asked. The singing of birds and the cool fall breeze were the only answers. Mildly disappointed, Jazz glanced down and noticed a cardboard box, hastily taped shut and with the words 'To Jazz' scribbled on the top. She knelt down, picked it up, and gave it a soft shake. Whatever was inside responded with a rattle. "Huh," she said, bringing it to the lab and setting it on a table. Dr. Light, Mega Man, and Roll crowded around. "You wanna scan that first to make sure it won't blow up?" asked Mega Man warily. "That's cheating," Jazz scolded. "I don't think it's a bomb, and scanning it would ruin the surprise." She sliced through the tape with a fingernail and dug through the packing. Finally her hands closed around something rough and elongated. Jazz pulled the object out. "It's..." she gasped. "A papier-maché rocket?" Roll asked quizzically. "Why would someone send you something like that? It's not even very good." The rocket, painted black and gold, had several jagged edges and pieces of construction paper sticking up. "Oh, look at that," grinned Jazz, reaching back into the box. She pulled out two small models made of spare parts, one purple and magenta and the other black and gold. "But that looks just like Bass," Mega Man objected. "And you. And they're really not all that great either. They look like someone just threw them together with whatever spare parts were lying around and painted them." Jazz held her two figures defensively. "That's what he did," she pouted. "They're pretty good for a first attempt, though, right?" Mega Man clapped a hand to his forehead and laughed. "Bass is a warrior robot, not a tool user. Why would he want to -- ahh, nevermind, I think I already get it. Maybe we're really all the same when it comes down to it?" "'All the spare parts you could ever dream of,'" quoted Jazz and began laughing helplessly. Finally she caught her breath. "I think you're right," she said to Mega Man. "You're all family to me, even Bass. I'm sure I couldn't be any happier than to know all of you." Outside the lab, a figure dressed in black sat in a tree, watching the scene unfold through a window. His brown hair fluttered in the wind as a small smile played across his purple-slashed face. Red eyes sparkled, purple light flashed, and he disappeared. * * *