“Mmmmff! Mmm mmm mfpffff!” Bass rolled his eyes, holding the girl tighter. She was turning out to be something of a handful… or rather, armful. It would have been pleasant if she hadn’t been struggling so much. Fortunately, she hadn’t tried to bite him yet. It probably hadn’t occurred to her.

“Stop that!” He hissed at her as she tried to stomp on his foot. “I’m not going to hurt you, you twit!” So saying, he kicked open a door and shoved her through. She fell in a heap at his feet, and bounced up, glaring at him.

“You bastard!” She growled, green eyes blazing. “I should kill you!” Bass smiled in amusement. She was alone and unarmed in the middle of skull fortress, and saying that. She had spunk, all right.

“And ruin all the things we might share? What a shame…” He replied sarcastically. Aria came close to blowing a fuse.

“I don’t want to share anything with you except a plasma bolt! You scummy cretin!” She screamed at him. He flinched at the volume.

“Quiet!” He replied sharply. “Wily doesn’t know you’re here, but if you keep that up he’ll find out. Then we’ll both be in trouble!” Aria glared at him, but lowered her voice.“And what do you want?” She hissed. Bass raised an eyebrow.

“Just a chat. How would you like to join us? Being bad is fun.” He smiled at her, and Treble whined, pushing his head under her hand for a pet. She stared at Bass in shock.“You kill my family, and you ask me that?” Aria whispered, face pale. “How dare you…!” Bass slapped a hand across her mouth.

“Shhh! I didn’t mean to kill the doctor, that just happened. As for the rest of it, it wasn’t me, if you’ll recall.”

“You still work for Wily, and he’s responsible! I won’t help you!” Aria replied hotly, eyes sparking. Bass shrugged.

“Well, I kinda figured, but I thought I would give you the choice.” He turned around. Aria stared.

“You’re letting me go?” She asked in disbelief. Bass grinned evilly, and Treble barked.

“Actually, no.” And he whirled, blindingly fast, catching her chin in a perfect punch. Aria fell to the ground, her eyes crossing from the impact. Treble whined, not very pleased, and she felt a warm wetness as he licked her face. Then she heard Bass walking up to her.

“Now we’re even for that kick.” His voice sounded far away. “And once Wily has reprogrammed you a bit, you’ll feel differently about all of this…” Aria felt him lift her, and pain shot through her head. Before she knew it, she had slipped into unconsciousness…

“Aria?” Mega Man glanced around, suddenly realizing she was gone. Ice Man lay in several places around him. “Damn! Where could she be…?” He gnawed his lip worriedly, and decided to contact Dr. Light.

“Doc?” The picture was fuzzy, but identifiable.

“Mega Man! Have you found her?” Dr. Light asked.

“For a moment, but she disappeared when I fought Ice Man. Can you locate her for me?” Dr. Light fiddled with a few controls.“It should be easy, Tiffany always used the same frequency… ah!” Dr. Light blinked. “She’s right in the middle of Skull fortress! Wily must mean to reprogram her! Hurry, Mega Man!” Mega gasped. Reprogramming was high on his list of nightmares.“I’m on it!” And he spun, dashing through the corridors towards the heart of Skull fortress…

Continue to Chapter 7 of Aria
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