CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A Heated Encounter
The sounds of sirens wailed in the air, smoke curled from the tops and windows of buildings, and the cries of people and Reploids echoed through the streets. What would normally been a peaceful afternoon had turned into a hellish nightmare of fire and smoke. Inhabitants of nearby buildings fled in fear of being trapped, as their businesses and homes were set ablaze by the wind carrying the flames. The origin of these flames was the fire station, wedged between two larger skyscrapers; and the blaze had started thanks to an oddly shaped Reploid rampaging in the street.
Heat Man looked like he was having a bit too much fun, shooting off blast after blast at the haggard firefighters who were attempting to douse his handiwork with their hoses. Most of the emergency workers were reploids, fortunately, so no one had been hurt yet, but several fire trucks and a good portion of the firehouse was a smoldering wreck.
It was this scene that greeted the party as they arrived from hunter HQ's teleport room. Spotting the enemy, Bass wasted no time. "Hey, you!" he called, firing off a bolt of plasma. It struck Heat Man on his boxy armor and the robot master turned, eyes narrowed. Like the other robot masters they'd met so far, he looked more human-like than before, though his armor design had unfortunately not changed at all.
"He... looks like a cigarette lighter..." X said, raising an eyebrow.
"I do not!" Heat Man growled, glaring at the newcomers. "You want a taste of my Atomic Fire?"
"Atomic fire?" Zero asked. "Using nuclear energy to burn things down doesn't sound extremely intelligent to me..."
"...It's just a name, girly bot," Heat Man snapped.
The look in Zero's eyes instantly showed what a dangerous mistake he had made. "What'd you call me!"
Heat Man folded his arms. "Exactly what I said. You're nothing but a long-haired hippie-chick bot who thinks he's so much better than everyone else."
The others backed away slightly as Zero's face turned as red as his armor. "You. Will. Die," he said through gritted teeth, igniting his beam saber.
"Ooh, look at me, I'm a big scary red Reploid with an energy sword!" the robot master replied mockingly. "I'm going to kick Heat Man's butt! I'm angry and angsty and I die all the time!"
Zero's eyes were now narrowed to calculated slits. X looked like he wanted to try and calm his friend, but he was afraid to get close. "...How does he even know about that?" he asked.
Heat Man glanced towards Zero, now looking slightly worried. "...Sigma told me the best way to win a fight against you guys was insult Zero..."
"Sigma must not like you much, huh?" X asked casually.
"I'm beginning to think not."
"What'd you do to him?" Bass asked.
"I set his cape on fire accidentally..."
Zero's voice was deadly calm. "I'm going to kill you first, and then rip off Sigma's head and beat him to death with it."
X sighed. "We know, Zero, we know."
"I mean it!" Zero shouted. "I'm gonna do it this time!"
"Enough talk," Bass said, arming his buster. "Let's get rid of this Zippo-wannabe and go home!"
"I'll burn you to ashes!"
"That was a lame comeback," Bass jeered.
Heat Man growled. "Shut up and fight!"
"With pleasure," Zero returned, and lunged.
The quick saber blow struck Heat Man across the chest. Though the armor held, the energy sword left a noticeable mark. The robot master leapt away; using the flamethrowers mounted on his wrists, he sent a blast of fire toward Zero, which the Hunter hastily avoided.
The surrounding street was exactly the kind of arena Heat Man excelled in. With very little cover, his flamethrowers could spread over most of the battlefield, making them difficult to avoid. The only visible obstructions were several automobiles parked along the side of the street. However, if they were hit with a powerful enough blast of fire they could explode, much like the wrecked fire trucks littering the front of the station.
Rock fired a charged shot, but Heat Man simply stepped out of the way and reactivated his flamethrower jets. The Robot Master sprayed a line of flames across the street. Bass activated his boot thrusters to fling himself over the inferno while X dashed away to the side. The bright fire dissipated quickly, too hot to continue burning for long.
Bass switched to rapid fire when he landed and launched a volley of plasma at Heat Man. The low powered shots glanced off the yellow armor and fizzled against the walls of the buildings. Heat Man completely ignored the black robot's attack and turned his flamethrowers on Zero, who had been had been using his dash thrusters to spiral behind and attack. The red Hunter dodged the cone of flames with inches to spare, but the fire temporarily cut off the direct route to his enemy.
Rock quickly realized that in order for Zero to get close, he would have to draw Heat Man's attention. He glanced over at Blues, who gave a swift nod. The brothers released their charged shots in tandem. Heat Man, still focused on Zero, was hit by both blasts. He staggered backwards and his flamethrowers shot up into the air as his arms flailed skyward. Fire rained down around him, missing his enemies but starting a few more fires in the buildings.
"Great… I think it's time to stop messing around," Bass muttered, halting his rapid fire attack. Zero closed in on Heat Man and swung his saber in a deadly arc, and Bass used the robot master's distraction to his advantage. His orange trim quickly shifted to a bright yellow. He pointed his buster at Heat Man, but waited for Zero to be forced away by Heat Man's flamethrowers before he pulled the trigger.
A bolt of lightning sprang from Bass's gun and rocketed toward Heat Man. The blast connected and sent dozens of tiny bolts of lightning dancing around the robot master's armor. He grimaced in pain and anger while the Thunder Beam coursed through his systems.
"Thunder Beam?" Rock demanded, darting away from a retaliatory flamethrower blast and moving to Bass's side. "When did you get that?"
"Don't you remember? When I grabbed Elec Man! That was half of the plan, rocks for brains," Bass replied, firing a plasma burst. The blast missed, and Heat Man looked relieved he was able to dive out of the way in time.
"And you didn't share?"
"Rocky, worry about that later," Blues cut into the conversation, while firing another charged blast at the attacking Robot Master. "Concentrate on the battle!"
Heat Man spun around and turned his flamethrowers on X, and then turned to the right to spray Bass as well. The black robot was unable to avoid the cone of fire in time, but instead turned his back to it. The fire scorched his armor and made his internal temperature rise alarmingly fast. Ignoring the warning messages sounding in his mind and moving quickly, Bass dashed and double jumped away, gaining as much lateral distance as he could from the flamethrowers. He escaped with only mild energy drain, and his armor was still holding, even if it was now searing to the touch.
X counterattacked with a charged shot. The blast rocked him back, but it didn't stop the Robot Master completely.
"All right, enough games." Heat Man folded his arms, and stood upright. "Get ready!" As soon as he finished the sentence, his body lit aflame completely. As a giant fireball, he launched himself toward Mega Man and Proto Man, striking Rock and sending him flying into a parked car. The vehicle crumbled beneath the impact, and jolts of pain shot through Rock's body as he landed. The front of his armor was burned, but he stood up a moment later.
Pain coursed through his back and in his legs, but he had experienced far worse injuries in combat before. Though the attack certainly hurt, his auto-repair was already working to fix the injuries. He watched as Heat Man bounced off one of the buildings and barreled towards Blues. The red robot was fast enough to leap over Heat Man, but it did nothing to stop him from bouncing off the wall of the burning firehouse and heading straight for X.
X fired his weapon at the fireball to try to stop it, but the plasma blast simply glanced off into the sky, unable to pierce the flame shield. X's eyes widened as Heat Man drew closer, and he winced, bracing for impact.
But the impact didn't come. Zero leapt in front of his friend, and with a vicious vertical swing of his Z-Saber, knocked Heat Man to the ground. The fire around him quickly dissipated, and when the robot master became visible again, there was a large, obvious gash on his armor. He rose shakily to his knees.
"Ugh... extinguished..." Heat Man said, kneeling on the pavement with smoke rising from all over his armor, sparks flying and coolant leaking from the fresh Z-Saber wound.
Zero stood over him with his saber pointing at his throat. The fight appeared to have calmed his temper, and he seemed almost cheerful. "Heh, how does it feel to be beaten up by a 'girly bot'?"
"Rather humiliating," Heat Man replied.
"Good."
"What is Wily doing, Heat Man?" Rock asked, stepping closer to the fallen robot master. Touching the side of the boxy armor, he allowed his systems to absorb the weapons data for Atomic Fire.
"You honestly expect me to tell you?" Heat Man snapped, trying to pull away from Rock. Zero moved his saber closer.
"I was hoping you would..."
Heat Man rolled his eyes. "...Man, you're dumb. Anyway... time to run!" He sent a blast of fire towards Zero and Rock, who were too close to dodge. In the instant they was distracted, Heat Man leapt to his feet and sped off with surprising agility to beyond the firehouse's teleport jamming field. "See you chumps later!" he called, and vanished.
"That little..." Zero seethed, while making sure his armor was all right. It was scorched, but intact. "Good thing my hair's fireproof..."
"That's the third of Sigma's goons we've seen..." X said, lowering his buster. "I wonder if that's the last of them."
"...No. There are always more," Blues replied.
"Eight, to be precise," Rock added.
X sighed. "That seems to be a general theme... Let me call Alia and see if there are any further developments."
"Nice excuse," Zero said, smirking.
"Shut up, Zero."
Blues chuckled softly. Bass gave him a sideways glance. "What're you laughing about?"
"Nothing," the older robot replied. "Don't worry about it, Bass."
Bass folded his arms. "I'm always out of the loop. Do you guys not trust me or something?"
"No, not really," Blues replied.
Bass opened his mouth, then closed it again, glaring at Blues. Rock was startled to see the black robot looked almost... hurt.
"Blues, that wasn't nice!" he cried. "Apologize to him!"
"I don't need an apology," Bass said curtly. "If Proto Man here wants to be more of a jerk than me, he's welcome to. He better not expect me to pull him out of a scrape later."
"Okay, children, break it up," X said, stepping between the two feuding robots.
"Don't take that tone with me, X," Bass seethed. "You're no better than I am."
"I didn't say I was," X replied patiently. "There's just no point in standing here and bickering when we're all on the same side!"
"Heh, typical X logic," said Zero, smiling slightly. "Though I do have to agree this time. Bass, Proto Man... quit your arguing. Bass, quit being a jerk to everyone, and Proto Man, stop being a smart aleck just to piss off Bass."
"...Fine," Blues said, rather unconvincingly. Bass just grunted.
"...Um... I got Atomic Fire..." Rock said tentatively.
"Whoop-de-freakin'-do," Bass replied.
"Bass..." X sighed.
"Okay," said Zero, taking Bass by one arm and Blues by the other, and beginning to walk back to the edge of the jamming field. "Everyone, back to base before we all bite each other's heads off."
"Don't you mean rip each other's heads off and beat each other to death with them?" Blues quipped.
"...March! On the double! Now!"
------
"Good work, all of you," Signas said, as the group arrived back. They had found the general and Alia in his office, discussing intelligence reports from units deployed in South America.
X saluted. "Any more signs of Maverick activity, sir?"
"None yet," Alia replied, closing her datapad. She looked up at the holographic window, which showed red dusk creeping over the city. "It's getting late, too. You guys should take it easy for a while."
"We can finish our Monopoly game!" Zero said happily.
X sighed. "Are you making them play that thing? Axl only gave it to me as a joke!"
"But it's fun!"
"Of course you think it's fun, it involves you figuratively killing large numbers of Mavericks."
"C'mon, X," Zero said, taking the blue Hunter's arm and leading him from the room. "We're not too far in yet, you can join us."
"...and I'm assuming you're using the X token again?"
"Of course!" Zero replied, grinning. "It annoys you!"
"Sometimes I really wonder how your mind works, Zero," X said, as the group boarded the elevator. "Then I remember that it doesn't."
"...Hey!"
------
The small apartment was bathed in the glow of the sunset from the holographic window and the dull murmur of the television set. The monopoly game was spread out on the floor behind the couch, bank notes and property cards littering the carpet.
Rock and Blues knelt on opposite corners of the board, fighting over the ownership of a property. On his own side, X leaned against the back of the couch and flipped through the rulebook, though he knew official word would do nothing to solve the argument. Bass, who hadn't taken part in the game in the first place, sat on the couch trying his best to look disinterested. Zero was raiding the refrigerator.
"Ugh, X, don't you have anything besides this disgusting fruit stuff?" the blonde reploid asked, making a face and tossing a can over his shoulder.
X narrowly managed to catch the flying object before it slammed into the Monopoly board. "Hey! Don't do that! And it's not disgusting."
"It has no carbonation," Zero replied, sticking his head further into the appliance. "It's like colored water."
"You should actually try it sometime before you write it off," X said, rolling his eyes and opening the can.
Zero pulled his head out and closed the refrigerator door. "No thanks, I need something with more kick." He turned to look at Rock and Blues, who were still squabbling.
"I should get Boardwalk 'cause it's blue, like me!"
"'Maverick Hunter HQ', you mean. And X is blue too, you know."
"...I was blue first!"
"I'm gonna go find a vending machine," said Zero, heading for the door. "I'll be back in a bit."
"Suit yourself," said X, sighing. "I'll keep them under control."
Zero walked out of the room, leaving behind the sounds of the feuding siblings.
"Yeah, and I was red first. And you took those properties."
"...I turn red when I use robot master powers!"
Bass sighed, switched off the television, and threw down the remote. He rose from the couch and started for the door, stepping over Zero's mountain of bank notes.
"Where're you going?" X asked, as the black robot entered the corridor.
"Somewhere away from those idiots," he said. "Have fun."
The door slid shut before X could reply. Rock and Blues remained oblivious.
"You're not getting the card. Deal with it."
"You're just mean! How can you be so mean to your little brother?"
"...Hey, don't give me the sad eyes! That's cheating!"
X sighed, raising the rulebook to cover his face. It was going to be a long night...
---
Bass walked along the corridor with absolutely no idea where he was headed. It was probably not a smart idea to be wandering the halls of Maverick Hunter Headquarters, but at the moment, he didn't really care. Anything was better than staying with the Light-bots. Another few minutes and Bass might've done something drastic, like shoot something. Or someone. That would certainly shut them up...
Bass kicked the wall in frustration, then leaned his forehead against it, fighting down the wave of anger. Mega Man is on my side, he chanted to himself softly, as the emotion subsided. Fighting him now would compromise my goals. I can't let that happen, no matter how much I hate him. No matter what your programming says, old man. I won't let you stop me from getting my revenge on you.
Bass was a violent person, he admitted that freely. He did not like Mega Man. He was determined to destroy him in combat. But some detached part of him knew that some, perhaps even most of that had been sparked or directly caused by his programming. And that programming was not happy with Bass's current situation. He'd been fighting his own mind ever since he'd left Wily's employ. Not the loyalty programming so much... Bass didn't think that Wily had done a great job installing that, as he'd never had an issue with disobeying the doctor. It was his own innate aggression that bothered him now. While he didn't care for Mega Man, he was dependent on the Lights for his survival. He couldn't allow his own head to ruin his chance for revenge on Wily.
That was proving to be difficult, however. Wily-bots were created to fight, to destroy Mega Man and the Light family. Having a truce and working alongside one went against everything in their nature. They were built to be perfect killers.
Bass froze. Killers... he thought, a spark of memory leaping from a forgotten corner of his mind. Blueprints for a perfect killer... a robot with long hair... "a girly bot"...
The black robot's head snapped up, his eyes narrowing. Pushing away from the wall, he took off down the hallway.
It was time he had a chat with Zero.
------
Cut Man sat on a large crate, grumbling as he polished his scissors. Those idiots had put a scratch on them. They'd never be the same... Across the room. Heat Man stood sulkily, putting minor repairs on his armor.
"Jeez, you two look run down," Elec Man said, slipping into the room. He was still slightly ragged looking, but he'd repaired his injuries and patched his uniform. He vaulted onto Cut Man's pile of crates, settling down cross-legged beside the other Robot Master.
"That no-good lying bald bastard made me lose the fight," Heat Man growled, as he dusted the last traces of ash from his armor.
Elec formed a tiny ball of electricity and let it dance over his fingertips like a toy. "You bought that insulting Zero thing?"
"Obviously, intelligence isn't your strong suit," said Cut Man. He glanced at his reflection in his cut blades. Satisfied that they were mirror bright, he reattached them to his head.
"Says the one with scissors growing out of his skull," Heat Man muttered.
"Whoa, relax, both of you," said Elec, grabbing Cut's arm as he started to reach for his scissors to toss at his brother. "I'd rather not have to scrape either of you off a wall."
"The only thing that's going to be scraping is my scissors through his limbs," said Cut Man.
"That didn't even make sense..."
"Whatever," Cut Man grumbled, but dropped his hands. "Heat isn't worth the energy to fight, anyway."
"...Oh yeah! Well... you've got scissors on your head!" Heat retorted.
Elec smirked. "He does have you there, Cut."
Cut Man rolled his eyes. "Heat Man, for someone who managed to provoke Maverick Hunter Zero into a blind rage, I thought you'd be able to come up with better insults..."
"...You're still a scissor head." Heat Man glared at Cut, who matched his burning gaze.
"All right you two, cool it," said Elec Man, deciding it was time for an intervention again.
"Is that an insult!" Heat demanded. "It's not funny!"
"Whoa, whoa," Elec said, raising his hands, but allowing the tiny electric ball he'd been playing with to grow and crackle over his palms. "Don't let your fiery personality get the better of you, or you'll be in for an unpleasant jolt of reality."
"Your puns vex me," Cut grumbled.
"You're just jealous of my razor-sharp wit, Cut," Elec replied, grinning.
"Don't push me, Elec. You know as well as I do I could whip you in a fight."
Elec Man shrugged. "Probably. But that's not what we should be worried about..."
His sentence was cut off as footsteps sounded in the corridor. Sigma entered the room, looking very grumpy.
"All right, listen up, you scrap heaps," he boomed, looking across the room to where Cut Man and Elec Man sat on the pile of crates. "You're all lucky I don't turn you into slag right now because of your failures."
"Sigma! Your 'advice' almost got me killed!" Heat Man accused.
"But unfortunately it didn't."
"...You'll regret that one day." Heat Man glowered at Sigma. "You'll see."
Sigma laughed, not a pleasant sound. "You are a funny little cigarette lighter, aren't you? A worm like you could never hope to beat me. Be thankful Dr. Wily has given me specific orders not to terminate any of you... yet."
Elec Man folded his arms, eyes narrowing behind his mask. "So why is the high-and-mighty Sigma deigning to visit us lowly inferior robots?"
"I'll ignore your forked vocal unit, spark plug," Sigma replied. "How could you idiots possibly lose to X and his ilk?"
"All of us were fought five on one," Cut Man reasoned. "I hardly think we had a tactical chance."
Elec gave the shadow of a smile. "And according to what I've heard, you don't find it too simple to beat X, either, even when he is by himself."
"Rest assured, little robots," Sigma growled, staring up at the robot masters perched on their boxes, "once your usefulness has ended, I will recycle each and every one of you myself. But enough of this foolishness! Dr. Wily, Vile, and myself are going to the future to gather weapons. You three are not to leave the Skull Fortress under any circumstances."
Elec frowned. "...You're just going to blindly hop into the future and hope things turn out all right?"
"These are Dr. Wily's instructions," Sigma intoned. "You are not to question them."
"Right, don't question the almighty Human Man." Heat Man said. "Yeah, good luck with that whole future thing."
Sigma glared at the boxy robot master. "I sense sarcasm, but I have no more time to waste with you inferior beings. Don't deactivate yourselves before we return." He turned on his heel and, cape billowing behind him, left the room.
"I hate him so much," Cut Man growled, as soon as the bald Maverick commander was out of earshot.
"Just ignore him," Heat Man said, shaking his head. "He can't do anything to us."
"I'm not so sure..." Cut replied softly.
Elec raised an eyebrow that was lost beneath his mask. "What do you mean?"
"Well..." The red and white robot master hesitated. "...It's something Bass said when we were fighting..."
"Bass?" Heat Man scoffed. "He's a traitor to Wily's cause. Why pay attention to anything he told you?"
"That's just it." Cut shook his head. "He said he's not a traitor — or wasn't. He said he only left because Wily tried to kill him."
Elec stared at his brother. "...What?" he said. Cut just nodded solemnly.
"Wily would do that?" Heat asked, looking bewildered. "If Bass was loyal... why would he..."
Cut shrugged miserably. "Would you really put it past him?"
"...No," said Elec, in a low tone. "I would not. I would not at all."
Heat Man looked at him questioningly. "Elec? What..."
The yellow robot master closed his eyes. "...That isn't right. For him to treat Bass like that. For him to..."
"But what are we supposed to do about it?" Cut asked, throwing up his arms in frustration. "Wily's our creator. We have to listen to him."
"...Actually..." said Elec, very softly. He looked around the room, then hopped off the crate and beckoned the other two to draw closer. They hesitated, but followed. "I've been thinking about something lately."
"What do you mean?" asked Heat Man.
Elec Man put one hand on each of their shoulders, and began speaking in a low tone. "The doctor's mistake was upgrading us with parts from the future... turning us into Reploids."
"...So?" Cut asked.
"So, reploids, dear brothers... aren't bound by the three laws."
"...What?"
Heat Man looked awed. "You really think...?"
"We could do it," Elec affirmed. "You can feel it as well as I can. Nothing is binding us..."
"But Elec, what you're suggesting..." Cut looked fearful. "It could get us all killed!"
"Do you really want to continue like this?" the yellow robot master asked. "Listening to whatever he and that bald maniac say, waiting to be thrown away when we're no longer useful?"
Cut looked at the floor. "...No."
"But what do we do?" Heat asked. "Just leave?"
Elec shook his head. "No. He'd just track us down and destroy us, like he would have done Bass. We've got to think this through, take it slow... and cover our tracks."
Cut nodded. "You're right."
"What about the others?" Heat asked, uncertainly. "Should we tell them?"
Elec paused. "...We'll see," he replied. "I hope they'll see things the same way we have, but..."
"We should tread carefully," Cut finished. "We can tell them when we feel it's safe."
Elec nodded. "It will be some time before Wily realizes the error he has made, and by then... hopefully, it will be far too late."
"Come on, you two," Cut said. He nudged his brothers toward the door. "Let's find someplace to start planning."
-------
Zero scowled at his opponent. He had tolerated this behavior for too long. Now was the time for action.
"Bloody thing," he muttered, kicking the soda machine. Its structure was used to the abuse of reploids, however, and his metal boot did not even make a dent. "Always eats my coins..."
He kicked it a few more times, and finally, with a reluctant pop, the can shot from the machine. Zero caught it. "There we go," he sighed, looking at the soda. It was too shaken to risk opening now. He gave the machine another malevolent glare.
"...Zero."
The crimson hunter turned at the sound of his name. Another person entered the break room, with familiar black armor and head fins.
"Hey, Bass," said Zero, smiling at him. "You decided to get out of there for a bit too, huh?"
"Yeah..."
The conversation died away. Finally, Zero walked to the couch and sat down. "Is there a reason you're here, or do you just enjoy awkward pauses?" he asked, opening the soda. It fizzed a bit but fortunately didn't explode.
"Uh... listen," Bass said. "Zero, I need to ask you something."
"Sure, what is it?" Zero asked. He pointed at the cushion beside him. "Come and sit." Bass did so, perching rigidly on the edge of the couch. Zero raised an eyebrow at the black robot's odd behavior. "What's the matter, kid?"
"Zero... who built you?"
Zero froze with the soda can halfway to his mouth. "...What kinda question is that?"
"One I'd like answered," said Bass.
Zero refused to meet his eyes. "I...don't know," he said.
"...You're lying."
Zero put the soda down on the table.
"You know who it was," Bass continued. "And you're afraid to say it."
Zero stared at his boots. "...How'd you know?" he whispered.
"...He showed me a few things, once," Bass replied. "Heat Man's comments made me remember what I said when I saw them."
"Huh?"
"...A girly bot, Zero."
Zero's head shot up. "Hey, I—"
"I don't mean it now, Zero," Bass assured him. "But you wanted to know."
Zero closed his eyes. "...Please don't tell him," he said at last, almost inaudibly.
"Who?" Bass asked.
"X."
"I won't," Bass affirmed. "But... why?"
The reploid's eyes were still closed. "If I was really... and I'm not saying I was..." He opened his eyes and stared blankly at a spot on the floor. "...Then probably the only reason..."
"...Zero...?"
Zero rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his head into his hands. "X is my best friend, damn it!" he said, his voice slightly muffled. "I couldn't bear it if he knew the only reason I was built was to... was to..."
"Destroy him?" Bass asked, with a small chuckle. Zero didn't answer. "X wouldn't care. I doubt his opinion of you would change. And it's not like you're going to go through with it."
The hunter was silent for a moment. "Yeah. I suppose you're right..." he eventually agreed.
"I am," said Bass. He tugged on Zero's ponytail, forcing the reploid to sit up. "Now quit feeling sorry for yourself. You're a lot stronger than that and you know it."
"...You're absolutely right," Zero said, sounding slightly more confident. "X already knows my creator didn't have noble intentions in mind... knowing exactly what those were won't change anything."
Bass smiled. "See? I can say some sensible things now and then." He stood up. "We'd better get back to the others, though. They need you to finish that Monopoly game."
Zero rose as well. "...Bass?"
"Huh?"
Zero hesitated momentarily, but pressed on. "Thank you... big brother."
Bass gave him an awkward smile. "...You're welcome, little brother." He turned away and started walking from the room. "Now... let's not speak of this again."
Zero picked up the soda and followed. "Agreed. It's too weird."