Wily sat back as he looked over his newly finished creation. It had taken a lot of work, but at last he was finished. He'd decided to not give this one a model number as he had most of his other robots. After all, given this one's role, he wasn't just some creation. He was probably the closest Albert would come to having...a son.
As that thought crossed his mind, he came to understand why Dr. Light had always treated Rock, Roll, and Protoman that way. Perhaps I should reconsider my relationship with Protoman, he thought to himself. "Awaken!" he ordered.
The yellow eyes opened and glowed, showing the robot had activated. He then stretched his arms over his head, yawning. "Morning, Pops," he stated, his tone bored as he scratched the back of his head with one hand and his belly with the other.
Albert blinked. He hadn't expected that form of address at all, and the behaviors were almost...human. "What is your primary mission?" he inquired, deciding to make sure everything settled right.
"You should know," the robot replied dismissively. "You programmed me."
"Yes," Albert agreed, "but I want you to confirm it so I know I did it right."
"Don't feel like it."
Wily's temper was quickly fraying. "That was an order!" he snapped out.
"Shove it in your freakishly large sideburns, it'd probably fit."
"How dare you defy me?!" Wily roared out.
"Cause you never programmed me to obey you. Just to be a good big brother to Vinyl. Now where is that filly? Isn't she here to meet me?"
Albert sighed. "She doesn't know I've been building you. Come on, I'll introduce you." He turned to go.
"How come you didn't tell her about me?" the robot asked as he followed along.
"Because I didn't want her slipping superweapons into your build," Wily replied. "You're a brother bot, not a battle bot."
"Despite having every martial art ever made condensed into a single unifying style. And what if I want a superweapon in my build?"
"You can put your views in the complaints box."
"And where's that?"
"In my freakishly large sideburns, along with your disobedience." Wily smirked at the rather personable bot he'd built.
The robot gave him a light punch on the arm. "Not bad, Pops. Not bad."
Chuckling, Wily stepped into the main room where Vinyl and Kalinka were watching Mega Man make his way through Dust Man's stage. "Vinyl, there's someone I want you to meet."
Curious, Vinyl poked her head over the back of the couch and gasped. The robot she saw had short hair, blue with silver stripes, combed back flat. His yellow eyes seemed to glow in his pale face, and violet stripes drew down across his face below his eyes. He stood at about the same height as Wily in his flats, and was clad in a grey shirt and black pants.
"Vinyl, this is Forte," Wily introduced happily. "He's going to be your big brother."
Squealing happily, Vinyl flung herself off the back of the sofa to snuggle into Forte's arms. Forte, for his part, promptly attacked her with noogies and belly raspberries, making her squeal and laugh even more.
Albert sat back, enjoying watching his children bond. He paused as he considered that thought, and a soft smile spread across his face.
"Look!" Kalinka called out. "Mega Man's made it to Dust Man!"
Forte held Vinyl in his lap as they all turned to watch.
As Mega Man entered the chamber, Dust Man shambled in. "Greetingth, Mega Man. The Marthter'th been expecting you."
"Then why not face me directly?" Mega Man asked. "Why send you all against me?"
"The Marthter hath hith reathonth," Dust Man replied. "Now, tho we may begin...walk thith way." Dust Man then proceeded to skip lightly around the room, raising his feet high with each step.
Mega Man stared at that for a time. "...pass," he replied at last. Switching to Ring Boomerang, he hurled the bladed ring, slicing the tubes on Dust Man's back.
"That hurt!" Dust Man complained. Turning, he tried to trigger his vacuum...only for it to short out as the hose flopped about. "Uh oh."
Mega Man shielded his face against the explosion.
Wily blinked. "...that was pathetic," he stated finally.
"Yeah...Daddy's not as good at combat bots as you are," Kalinka allowed.
"Mega Man never managed to beat me," Air Man added.
"Or Metal Man," Forte added.
At the mention of the name, Vinyl reared back on her hind legs with a startled whinny as lightning flashed outside. She promptly hid behind Air Man.
"We don't speak that name around Vinyl!" Crash Man hissed.
"But I'm her big brother," Forte indicated logically. "And according to the data Pops stuck in my head, big brothers are supposed to torment their little sisters a bit."
Albert began to regret using the internet to program Forte.
Over the course of the next hour, the group attempted to coax Vinyl back to calmness, only for Forte to say "Metal Man" every time it looked like she was calming down. Each time, she'd rear up, whinny, and lightning would flash outside.
"Stop doing that!" Wily finally snapped, as Vinyl ducked behind him again. "What possible reason could you have for tormenting her like this?"
"Showing her she has the power to make lightning strike," Forte replied as he chugged a soda.
"Eh?" Vinyl asked, popping her head back out.
"Watch the window," Forte explained. Once Vinyl was looking out the window, he said, "Metal Man!"
As Vinyl reared back and whinnied, she saw the lightning striking. "Again! Again!" she called out eagerly.
Turning, Forte smirked at Wily, who facepalmed.
"Ooh!" Kalinka called out. "Mega Man's about to fight Skull Man!"
As Mega Man slid into the chamber, Skull Man turned to face him. "So, you are here," he growled, his breath echoing. "Dr. Light has taught you well...but you are not a hero yet."
Mega Man frowned, charging his buster. "I think you underestimate me," he explained.
Skull Man deployed his skull barrier. "And you underestimate the power of the Dark Side."
Frowning, Mega Man opened fire, but his charged shot - and every other weapon in his possession - bounced off the Skull Shield. "...so...are you going to come out of there?" he asked.
"There is no need," Skull Man replied. "I have redesigned this chamber to emit low levels of radiation that will slowly leech a power core dry. As long as I am within my shield, I can't be hurt by it, as it will be kept at bay. You, however..."
Mega Man nodded. "Then I'll just have to Flush the pollutants out of the environment." Switching weapons, he fired up a Rain Flush. The acidic rain sucked up the radiation as it fell.
"Grrk!" Skull Man gasped out, clutching at his chest as his shield failed. "Didn't...expect an...attack like that. Overloaded...my shield...too much...to deflect..." Looking up, he saw Mega Man leveling his buster at him. "...well done, young hero..."
"I see what you mean, Kalinka," Forte muttered as they watched Skull Man explode.
Huh...I was expecting Bass...oh well
Ranma 1/2 adoption fiction now please!
6624830 Forte's probably gonna turn into Bass, seems right given 'Rock' Man was turned into 'Mega' Man
6624830
What 6624862 said. Idea borrowed from webcomic "Two Evil Scientists", where Forte was Bass' 'civilian' identity.
If Forte is Ranma then this could get good. Makes me wonder how Vinyl will handle him.
6624868 Yay! I was right for once
6624830 Forte is Bass' name in Japan, just like Gospel is Treble's.
Tats iv'e been wondering...
are you gonna make a story with Lyra?
And if so are you gonna use human obsessed Lyra, or martial artist Lyra? Or maybe combine them?
6624830 I believe Forte is the original Japanese Name for Bass
6624830
Forte is the original name for Bass. His name was changed for the American version for some reason.
*ahem* BLUCHER! *smirk*
Another enjoyable chapter. And there's no need to face hoof man, Ranma is an awesome personality to give to Forte/Bass. I can't wait to see more of him.
Ranma Saotome, best big brother ever(?). At least it wasn't Ryoga, he can't find anything right. So far from what I recall anyways.
You should...you really should
Considering Forte's name, you could say Tats...
DROPPED THE BASS!!!!
I'm so sorry.
6624859 That would be very confusing for whatever pone is adopted. I betting Bon-Bon would fit right in. Something about her just screams 'deadpan snarker' that would belong very well in the Ranma 1/2 story.
Her falling into the cursed girl well would probably involve some sarcastic hand waving and some potential Lyra moments.
6625089
Sounds more like Sugarcoat.
Metal Man come back! Fear him if you dare!
6625096 Bon-Bon is a secret agent. Your point is now invalid. Yes, I'm aware this doesn't make sense. No I don't care. Bon-Bon is just best pone.
I'm sorry, I've spent far too much time on /mlp/.
Nice chapter, I really liked it and I thought it was cool that vinyl could control thunder.
Ps. Can you update more frequently please? I could help if you want in any way I can just to speed up the process for the next chapter.
I'll bet that Vinyl will install a bass cannon in Forte's systems...
6624868 *Puts down minigun* Good
6625137
And how, pray tell, can I update more frequently than two chapters a day?
This story gets updated once every three days (not counting Saturday, which is my day off). So do the five other stories I'm simultaneously writing, and updating as the chapters are finished.
How do I go faster than that?
6625207 oops sorry.I didn't realize how many chapters you were doing at once.
After playing Undertale, I expected a different personality for Skull Man.
Damn me and my freakishly high standards.
I just thought of a scene where we get the REAL Bass:
*Wily puts on the final pieces for Forte's Armor*
W: There we go! Now we just need a name for you?
F: What's wrong with Forte?
W: It sounds... plain, almost. We need a name that's catchier.
*Vinyl enters the room with headphones, dancing and singing with her eyes closed, not even seeing them*
V: ♫Because you know I'm all about that bass, 'Bout that bass, no treble. I'm all about that bass, 'Bout that bass, no treble. I'm all about that bass, 'Bout that bass, no treble. I'm all about that bass.♫
*Both stare as she stops and realizes what she's doing, staring back with an awkward smile*
F: I actually like that name.
W: Of course you would. What's next, you want to name your power source from your new name?
*Forte and Vinyl look at him with a smile*
W: ... Damn. That's as stupid as the Tranfromer's 'Transformium'.
V: Bassnium!
F: That's my little sis!
W: For goodness sake!!!
6625276
My friend wanted me to use that personality as well, but I didn't want to make Skull Man into a joke character.
Was sorely tempted, however.
Luckily not here
I will never be able to look cannon Bass/Forte in the face again without laughing and picturing this.
Honestly, I'm a little disappointed, I wanted a bit more of a fight for this one Robot Master since Skull Man is pretty awesome and going down in one shot doesn't seem to do him justice when he was designed for combat.
Nice intro of Forte, though if he keeps purposefully frightening Vinyl with Metal Man's name I suggest Proto Man 'have a talk' with him and rip him a very painful new A-hole.
6625304 I think Wily would have a melt down after the opening lyrics.
give him ranma's curse so he goes from brother to sister when spashed with water
i mean not for nothing tatsurou i love your stories (in the middle of the deadpool one right now) but i'm kinda sad you went with bass"s Japanese name i kinda this bass sounds more bad ass then forte but that might just be me. keep up the great stories tough:)
Truthfully, I was expecting Bass to act like Abridged Android 17. Didn't expect Ranma Saotome
... *inhale* *exhale* And so the beginning of a new start begins.
... You know, I never understood why people always prefer his Japanese name to his English name. Was it because of Mega Man 8? I bet it was. I've always been more partial to Bass because of the Battle Network series (Just take a look at this fight. Pure. Badass... Ba---ss)... oh, whoops, I got off-topic. So yeah, you managed to exceed my expectations of Bass' character, so thank you for that.
You know, it's funny, the second he said "Pops", I was like "... Is that Ranma Saotome?" To actually see the author make a reference to him in the Author's note? THAT'S TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!! Despite what some people I say, I actually liked him, even if his inaction gives him a lot of grief in his life. Who knows, maybe every time he beats Mega Man, Roll comes out of nowhere and says "Forte you JERK!!!" and launches him into the air despite not being designed for combat (Other than in Powered Up or the crossover titles)... come to think of it, where'd she go? I haven't seen her since near the beginning of this story.
So this is what it means to not take something seriously... it's nice. It's like I'm still taking it seriously, except there aren't any wedges within a hundred-mile radius. Well, see you some other time.
6625650
Actually, I took a page from "Two Evil Scientists", one of my favorite - now defunct - webcomics.
Forte is his 'civilian' name, much as Mega Man's is 'Rock'. Bass will be the name he uses when he gets his combat upgrades.
6625314 yet you did. I expected a Vader clone to do better.
6625699
I couldn't think of how to make that happen. No beam sabers in Mega Man.
6625707 still an epic blaster fight.
6625314 Really? I think it would have had some great potential.
{Skull Man: it's a beautiful day outside.
Mega Man: Yeah, it is, isn't it?
Skull Man: flowers are blooming, birds are singing...
Mega Man: Yup, and there isn't a cloud in the sky.
Skull Man: on days like these, kids like you...
Mega Man: *sigh* I know that might be how I am mentally, but I'm still a- holy crap what's going on?! There's lasers and bones everywhere!!!
Skull Man: should be burning in hell.
Mega Man: Wh-... wh-... how did yo-?
Skull Man: geeettttttt dunked on!!!
Mega Man: AHHHHH!... How am I still alive?
*Your pursuit to uphold your ideals fills you with determination*
Mega Man: Huh, neat. Well, time to finish this.
9999999
Skull Man:... huh, i guess that's it then... i'm going to cossack's... pharaoh man, you want anything? *deactivates*}
Oh, you were talking about Papyrus... Oh well.
6625714
...god damn it! I really should have made him sans! That would have been perfect!
6625717 MWAHAHAHAHA!!! FEEL THE POWER OF THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX!!!...
And I noticed you didn't answer my earlier question about Roll... interesting...
6625664
aaaand now im sad again. i should really pop back over to see how things are on Smack Jeeves, but in any case, i wonder when Forte's gonna want to punch that blue prick in his blue prickish face.
6625739
Roll has no roll in the story, really.
6625791 ... Mh.... Mr... Muh... Wuh... jibrsh!!!!!...
(Calm down, F14M3RZ. It doesn't entirely matter if a sister-figure [who's had a large impact on the series as a whole, as the many incarnations resembling her can attest to] doesn't have some level of importance. Besides that, she'd probably make the plot even more complex than it already is [she'd probably go along with the whole conspiracy if she ever found out, and that would give Mega Man a bigger headache once he finds out... if that ever happens]. Just smile, wave, or do whatever the heck it is you do in situations like this, and move on... no matter how ridiculous it is.)
Ah, is that so? Oh well, that's kind of a shame, but it's not like she m-mattered much in the first place, right?... Excuse me for a sec, I need to find a rock to hide underneath so no one will see me cry. But you didn't hear that from me.
6625832
Oh, she does matter as far as Mega Man's story. But this is about Vinyl's story, with Wily. Mega Man's story is tangential at best to that.
6625839 You mean the canon Mega Man series, or as far as this Mega Man's POV goes?
6625845
This Mega Man's POV.
The focus of the story is Vinyl. From Vinyl, we get Wily. From Wily, the Robot Masters. From the Robot Masters, we get Mega Man. From Mega Man is Roll.
That's four points of separation from Vinyl to get to Roll. So she won't be involved that much.
6625863 Ah, OK.
6625707 Except for prototyping the one Zero has.
6625791 Role! Roll has no role! Sorry, major peeve of mine.
6625886
Was a deliberate play on words.