Trap

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Jake sat there blankly and said, “Wow. How is that for irony.” He grabbed Wes' bag of Cheesy-Woozies and grabbed a large handful. “He actually said it wouldn't be the end of the world, and then the Maverick mess. If I recall, didn't Lt. Wiley take credit for the Wiley Virus under the name Bass? I think they look really similar.” Zero nodded. “Pretty dead on for a guess. Yeah. Wiley is Bass. Ironically, it's also a program that the late Dr. Wiley transmitted around the world. It attacks the psyche and creates an alternate persona. When it started to affect me, I found out it was actually the virus that corrupted the original Bass by creating subliminal conditioning from a sentient virus with the exact same persona as that whack-job.”

“It's a two step virus.” he continued. “While Wiley persuades you, the persona Bass takes over the neural net. You become Bass and while the Wiley A.I. Pulls the strings. Rock has been infected by it the longest. We decided to find answers, and that meant finding Bass...”

Neo Arcadia, February 8, 3000

Zero looked at Roll and asked, “How's your leg, love?” The female looked at him and laughed, saying, “I'm okay, dear. I fall into abandoned WMD bunkers all the time. You really have to stop worrying about me so much.” Zero sighed. “I guess you're right. How's Axel? He's been acting strange since we put his logic core back in after scheduled maintenance. What the bloody hell was that thing on the table?” Rock called from the distance, “Getting stranger! I think he's actually acting another ten years than last week! I can't make heads or tails out of what this thingy is and...” Rock let out a loud grunt as he fell face first into a pile of metal. Roll looked at her brother and yelled, “Sweet Matrix! Rock! Are you alright?!?” The blue clad warrior muttered, “I am, but this glowing canister is stuck to the scrap and not looking like it's about to move anytime soon.”

Roll limped over to to her brother and looked at the canister and the sheet. She made several attempts to free it, she muttered, “Oh, Slag.” The two warriors looked at her stunned. She groaned. “Grow up you two. I'm a big girl now. You weren't expecting me to say phooey forever, were you?” Axel laughed and said teasingly, “Only kids say phooey! I know! I am one!” Zero sighed and muttered, “This behavior is starting to creep me out. I mean, yeah, I kind of think of him as a son to me... but they're supposed to get younger, not the other way around.” Axel looked at Roll with an unnervingly innocent face, saying, “Did you find out what it is? It glows. Oh! I know! Is it some kind oh whacky nightlight? Can I keep it?”

Roll looked at Axel and said, “Sit down, sweetie. I need to talk to pops and Uncle Rock, Okay?” They walked a few paces away from the oddly behaving team member and she said, “Found out the problem. It's not like he's trying to annoy us as a child, but...” She turned to Axel and sighed. “But because he actually is a child. That canister was some kind of magnet, and it's completely reverted is maturity level to it's basic status. Even though he's seventeen years old in Reploid terms, his core was reset back to the age he was commissioned at. It should reverse itself on it's own, but I don't know how long that is going to take, if at all.” Rock stood there disturbed. “Anyone else finding this convenient?”

The others looked at him puzzled. “Well,” he explained, “Think about it. Roll falls down an open bunker hatch that has been unused since it was created, Zero and I lost our Buster abilities and this magnet looking strangely like a container of core-ballast is put on the maintenance table. This is just too convenient.” A voice came from behind them, “So, you finally figured it out. For legendary Maverick hunters, you sure don't figure things out easily.”

Rock looked at the man in the trench coat and hissed, “Bass.” The defect laughed. “One and the same.” Zero looked at hm and demanded, “What the Slag do you want?” Bass smiled and said, “Well, I just thought you might four might want to play a little game. Any takers?” Roll snapped, “We want nothing to do with your sick plans!” Bass let out a small sigh. “Well, that's just too bad. You see, we're all playing it right now. And I will not accept poor attitude while I'm trying to entertain.” He snapped his hand up in front of Roll's face and a glowing orb appeared. Rock snapped his arm up and yelled, “SLAG! GO INTO BUSTER MODE! SLAG!!!”

Zero stood motionless as Bass smiled in his direction. “Three foes, One shot.” With that, a powerful blast incinerated Roll in a bright flash. Zero fell to his knees and Rock charged at the Traitor, but he vanished before the warrior could do anything.

Wes shook the bag his snack was in while looking inside, saying, “So the man without emotion felt fear for the first time and witnesses the murder of his lover as a result and the In-law puts the blame on your head.” Jake nodded. “He lost his sister once and was powerless to do anything about it. I never wanted to feel that kind of fear, but I did. That very day, I felt the exact same way he did. But Rock lost his sister twice, and this time, the person who had the ability to do anything about it simply stood there and watched.”

Jake raised his hand and said, “Uh, not to go pointing fingers, but let's try to keep things in a little bit of perspective. Lets keep in mind the fact he was pointing his arm at this Bass guy trying to shot him with an inoperable battle feature. Doesn't sound like he was playing with a full deck at the moment either.” Zero was about to comment when one of the HQ personnel put down a crate, muttering, “Why the Hell it this produce crate so damned heavy?” The man's question was answered as the crate exploded, killing him immediately. A silver Maverick with wings hovered above of the smoke, a large chaingun in hand.

“Glideman,” Zero gasped. He turned to the soldiers and barked, “Code Red! Mavericks have breached the perimeter! Full Evac, STAT!” Glideman aimed his weapon at the Hunter and opened fire, hitting him with more bullets then he was designed to handle. Zero slumped to the ground in extreme pain. Axel slowly sat up, muttering, “Huh? What's going on?” He looked at Zero, completely immobilized with pain. The youth's expression took a sudden change. Jake and Wes stood there unnerved by his temperament. He slowly got to his feet and demanded in an unusually clam voice, “Get him out of here.”

Jake was about to say something when the teen said, “You two are Lode Runner Officers. You are to assist in evacuating all injured personnel from Hunter HQ. You will start with Zero, and then locate any more that may be on base. That is your duty. Now move out!” Jake and Wes looked at each other momentarily and barked, “Affirmative, Sir!!!” They then rushed Zero out of the room. Axel said in a quiet voice, “Hang in there, pops. Uncle Zero is going to need you more than you might think.”

He then stared directly at Glideman, grabbed his buster pistols and smirked. “Hey, Glide. If you know what's good for you, you'll do the smart thing and disappear quietly.” Glideman let out an amused chuckle. “And what should happen if I refuse, child? Going to cry to mommy?” The image of Roll's played through his head in a loop. He suddenly opened his eyes, long fins digitizing outward on his back. “Dude, You just crossed the line.” The now finished fins let out energy, causing him lift off the ground.

“I tried to warn you,” he sneered. “Now I'm going to do something...” He flew at Glideman with unprecedented speed, yelling, “you're really gonna regret later!!!”