Megaman - Monday, June 05, 2000, 7:51 PM
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***Here's the scene. It's in the Command Center, the hunters are just coming back from a battle where surprisingly no one got hurt, with the exception of rock, who was hit point blank by Vile Cannon, and vanished. It is currently unknown if he was captured, or is missing, or dead, or something else all together.***
ACTION!!!
Twila Peterson is sitting within her seat playing monitor as per usual when the other Hunters are called out into the field. She blinks once, then twice as one by one her friends return from the field. With widened eyes she slowly stands from her seatm eyeing the first individual she sees, tossing down her headset carelessly to the console. "Just what in the heck *happened* out there?!" she blurts in a mixture of both anger and confusion...and yes, fear.
Dr. Pavel Cossack eyes are watering as he pulls off his combat helmet His face is caked in blood. His body saggng, his left leg limp. "You don't vant to know!" he growls as he storms off into the chair. His mind is racing. What the heck went wrong out there. "Ve should have vent back for him! You stupid fools left him for dead out there!"
Zero just happens to be one of the first that she sees, unfortunately, and he's about 16 times less pleased than she is. First thing that happens is his helmet is flung across the room, connecting against the wall with a loud thump before it hits the floor. Next, he turns and lets the wall have it with swing it two, resulting in a several resounding 'whams'. His face is contorted in a feral rage not commonly seen even in his typical bouts of the sort. In fact, to even answer Twila, he sends off a stream of curses before slamming his fist into the wall, yet again, and just letting it hold there as he catches his breath, "...."
Blues walks into the room calmly, as if nothing's the matter at all, the scarf around his neck swaying slightly with his motion. The large shield fastened to his back shifts slightly as well, particularly when he crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the doorjamb, studying the other occupants of the room with a totally blank face, his thoughts and emotions concealed by the shades shielding his eyes. He listens to the frustrated, panicky exclamations in a silence that's so complete, you almost forget he's there. Until he speaks, his voice calm and toneless, seeming to hold no traces of concern at all. "Nobody left anyone for dead. Rock has this annoying little habit of showing up alive and better than ever when you try to kill him. At least, that's what I hear. Right, Zero?" He adds that last with a sidelong glance at the berserker, obviously meant as a jibe, which is perhaps the only indication that he's even bothered by Rock's absence at all.
Cossack's reaction doesn't help much, and Zero's reaction helps even less, and Blues' helps even less than Zero's. "Well?" Twila demands suddenly. But this time, other than pure anger there's also a twinge of fear laden within her voice. Perhaps the doctor was right. It may be better if she not know. But that doesn't change that she *needs* to know. She tosses a glare towards the android, feeling his inconsideration rather acutely. "And don't pull that 'I don't care' Blues. I know you're just as concerned as we are. Not what happened out there?"
Dr. Pavel Cossack says, "He's dead! Ve all saw it! That blast vas too much! Even for him! His inter circuits begins to bubble and pop as the extreme force and heat of the energy tears into his chest eating away raw at his armor! He's dead!""
"For the love of God!" snaps Zero as he turns and practically roars at Cossack, "Don't you give a damn that Twila's standing /right there/?" He clenches a fist, still sneering, but turns his attention to Blues who, all things considering, didn't just say the wisest thing. "And just what the hell do you mean by that, Blues? Are you implying that I go off and try to kill Rock, or maybe I let this happen?" He slams his fist against the wall parallel to him, causing a loud 'clang' to ring through the Command Center. His eyes burn with an emerald flame as he speaks, "This is all /your/ fault in the first place! If you'd been there sooner, we could've overtaken Vile!" His voice is trembling now, faltering. If he weren't so angry, he'd likely be in tears.
Blues shifts his gaze to Twila for a moment, perhaps glaring at her behind the cover of his shades, or perhaps merely considering her thoughtfully. His face gives no hint to which of the two it is, however, as he shifts and pushes off of the wall, uncrossing his arms. "Hrmph." He knows that the woman is right, but he's as much incapable of admitting it to himself as he is in expressing his current state of mind to the others. Clear evidence that being raised by Wily doesn't do much for your social interaction skills. He shakes his head slightly, reaching up to flick the edge of his scarf away as he turns his back on the others in the room, listening to Zero's tirade and letting it roll off him like water off of a duck's back. That's what it seems like, anyway, despite the twinges of anxiety Zero's words cause deep inside of him. He shrugs them off, speaking back over his shoulder coldly, "If I'd been there, you'd have only gotten in the way, and the results probably would have been the same. Don't make excuses to cover your own weakness. What happened tonight happened because YOU can't cut it. You know it, I know it, and Lord knows, Rock knows it." He stops for a moment, the hand that's holding onto the edge of the scarf and hidden from view of the room clenching into a fist tightly, before continuing. "But you're wrong. Rock is still alive out there, and I'm going to find him. I'll correct the mistakes brought on by your weakness."
Twila immediately falls silent. If at all possible the young woman's eye's widen even more as the news hits way too close. Her features noticeably ashen and she suddenly feels weak within the knees. Rock...dead? No...it can't be possible can it? But, he said "may be dead"...meaning it's not known for certain.
Twila tosses a ice-cold glare towards Cossack, staring at him just as if he had deeply wounded her...which is what he exactly did. Almost an eternity later she snaps out of whatever daze she's in and buries her head within her hands. "Stop it! Both all you!" "I don't care who's at fault! We've got to work together to find him...as a team. And this isn't helping." She pauses then looks pleadingly towards the others.
[OOC] Pluto smites Cossack for making Twi cry. Twice!
Dr. Pavel Cossack says, "She had a right to know! She was his finacee for pete's sakes! Ve have an obligation to acknowledge the truth and get on with it! Ve MUST get on vith it!""
"...My....My .... WHAT?!" comes the trembling voice of Zero who, with mouth agape, can only stare at Blues in disbelief. Did he just /say/ that?! Slowly, however, this disbelief is channeled into hatred; rage. He raises a hand, that trembling just as badly as the rest of him, and it's slowly clenched into a fist, "......." With a shout that can only be described as a roar bellowed from deep within the very depths of Hell, Zero draws his saber and lunges toward Blues.
SHHHNNNNKKK!
It's plunged deep into the wall, mere inches from Blues' head. This way, his own emerald green eyes can peer into those hidden behind Blues' visor. Though, in a rather sudden move, Zero's forearm is suddenly formed into his Buster and pointed directly at Rock's brother from this stance, "....Don't ever.../Ever/ doubt my loyalty to Rock, you heartless bastard! You're his brother - The 'almighty hero from afar'. For once, this is your failure, Blues. I was there -- Cossack was there, we all tried our damn best to get to him, but you could have - YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED THIS!" As he shouts, his buster almost seems to begin charging, but it never does. Instead, he rips the saber free and starts to walk away from him in a silent fury of 'controlled' rage, "...."
A tear courses down the girl's cheek, burning her skin with it's salinity as she's immediately silenced while watching the display. Her voice, trembling and low, eyes towards all those within the room along with her. "None of this is helping. Blues wants to blame Zero, Zero wants to blame Blues, Cossacks' given Rock up for dead already. If any of you have any sense at all you'd stop fighting about who did what and realize *none* of that matters right about now -- not if we're going to find Rock *alive*!" At the last she pointedly shoots a glare at Cossack before shifting her gaze once more. "You want to work alone, Blues? Then work alone. But for once it would be nice if you though of someone else other than yourself."
Dr. Pavel Cossack grumbles "Even *IF* he's alive. I vish he vas dead! IF he is alive, then...they have a hostage and they can do vhatever they vant vithout us being in their vay. Because if ve do.." he leaves alone not wanting to say what he does but he can't stop. He saw him! He saw the blast tearing into his body. Finally he feels that blood that has trickling from his head and begins to wipe it away. "So now, the big question vho is in charge?"
Blues doesn't smirk for once, although there might be the slightest hint on one on his face if you studied it closely enough (assuming you could see around the saber and the Buster in his face). He just returns Zero's gaze levelly, a brow arched behind those shades of his in a 'Do you feel better now?' manner. He waits until Zero walks away, not even bothering to raise his weapons or play any of the customary games, yet another subtle indication of how deeply he's bothered by tonight's events. He turns his head towards Cossack, shaking it after only a brief glance at him. "For someone's who's supposedly a genius, you're not too bright." He shakes his head again ruefully, and actually smirks, despite the seriousness of the situation, as he lets his gaze return to Twila. "First of all, you're right. We shouldn't be arguing over this. Because not only is it a complete and total waste of my time, but I could be out finding Rock. Not that it's that difficult anyways, since I already have a general idea of where he is. I just thought I'd let you know before I dragged him back here. Now you can't call me inconsiderate." He turns on his heels, and heads for the door, although slowly, since he's expecting questions or continued appeals to the decent person that's supposedly inside him, who actually is inside him although he'd never admit it to anyone.
Zero doesn't bother asking or saying anything to Blues. Instead, he goes to the wall, leans against it and folds his arms. His night of uncontrollable rage is apparently over and solemness has set in. The full effect of Rock's missing is beginning to hit him. Wave after wave of emotion collide -- A tear. An actual tear forms at the corner of his eye and the Berserker quickly closes both of them, trying to drown it out, "...I am." That's all he says to Cossack, "I'm his best friend - And the XO.. I'll take over...Until we get him back, and we /will/ get him back." He just leaves it all at that.
Twila Peterson turns her back on Blues, knowing full well that any pleas that may have been offered towards him would have fallen on deaf ears. Drawing in a pained sigh she casts a glance back towards the scarlet clad reploid as he assumes his role of leadership and tries to hold her own emotions in check as much as she can...although so far she hasn't been too successful. She turns to stare pointedly at Blues back before finally, in a force of will, she heads back over towards her terminal and sets back on her headset. "I'll...keep trying to raise him..." she promises, perhaps to no one in particular.
Dr. Pavel Cossack shakes his head and gets up slowly. "You people! Stop holding onto petty dreams? The Man, and Yes I DID say man" looks at Twila, "is dead! Respect him and honor him. But don't hold onto faint hopes. All in all our first priority is making the Mavs PAY!" he growls his nails digging into his palms as they become fists. "You are the strongest, bravest dedicated fighters out there? Ve need to end these Terrorists regime once and for all!"
Blues stops slightly, tilting his head as he feels Twila's eyes drilling into his back, and grimaces since he's facing away from the room. He turns halfway to glance at her, stopping to eye Cossack in icy disdain. "Will you shut up already? Rock's not dead." He brings his hand up to detach a small device from the wrist of his non-buster gauntlet, eyeing Twila slightly uncomfortably and avoiding her eyes behind his shades. Fortunately, there aren't too many people who know him well enough to recognize him fidgeting when they see it, especially since he hardly even shifts. He tosses the device towards Zero, with a quip. "Catch, Blonde Jovi. You might want to at least hold off on 'making the Mavs pay' long enough to follow that signal back to wherever they're holding Rock." He shakes his head in disgust after tossing the device, heading for the door again and muttering something like, "... -nk a genius would have the common sense...plant...simple tracing device..."
Dr. Pavel Cossack grumbles. "I have vork to do." he mutters grabbing his things and going into the repair bay.
Twila Peterson taps more forcefully than she would have on the console trying desperately to ignore the Doctor as well as the fear his words brings. However, she cannot. Slamming her hand down hard against the steel surface, and instantly regretting it only moments later, she testily informs the Doctor, "Rock and I made promises to one another. And one of them was neither of us were ever to die a liar."
Zero catches it with a snap of the hand, shifting it to peer, "...." He glances over to Rock's brother, but says nothing. He can't /find/ it in him to say anything. After all, it's Blues. Thus, he simply nods and looks to the others while he stands. "...Twila... Get me all of the Hunters, On-Duty or otherwise. We have work to do.."
When she's distracted by the exchange between Zero and the android she dips her chin, already opening up the link to the broadband. "On it..."
Blues doesn't even so much as glance over his shoulder, striding right out the door with the trailing end of his scarf flapping behind him. He walks out without saying another word, not expecting or even *wanting* any thanks as he heads off to continue his own agenda. After all, it *is* Blues... what do you expect?
CUT!!!