Back to Terra

Chapter 1

---

A rather crude, weatherworn, pieced together small pod docked up against the docking tube that extended from the space station. There weren't any visible lights or windows on the pod, just heat shielding material. In fact, the material had remained on the pod, even after the initial launch sequence, and that fact had surprised the designers of the craft, who happened to be onboard. A moment later, a single light on the space stations docking tube lit up, and a shell of metal extended around the small pod. Using vacuum forces within the station, the small pod was sucked up through the tube and a moment later, the pod was set down within a docking bay.

"Well, we finally got the shuttle to work!" a small figure spoke up, in his squealing voice. "I told you two to listen to me!" it yelled at the two figures still in the pilot seats. "Shut up, Data!" both said simultaneously, screaming at the little monkey 'bot, which fell back and down the hatchway the ladder was, dazed from the multiple voice yell as well as the fall. "Tron, how do your sensors read? Mine say that we're inside the station, and that the air is breathable." One of the voices said. The soft glow in the cockpit that was given off by the pod's monitors proved there to be enough light for them to see each other, as Roll looked over to the black haired girl.

"My instruments say that we can go on outside now. I don't have any reaverbots on the instruments, but who knows how they were designed while we're in space like this?" Tron said, and a click could be heard as she unbuckled herself from the seat. She blinked in surprise, as her feet remained on the floor of the craft. "Hey, there's gravity here!" she exclaimed.

Roll, Data, and Tron had been weightless for the past week or so, during the transit to the station. "Hey, you're right, Tron! Somehow, it's the same amount of gravity as on Earth!" Roll commented, as a click could be heard while she unbuckled from her seat.

Below the cockpit's deck, a dozen servbots readied the Mini Leopardo, which was specially designed for speed and armor, for use in a space station. With only enough room for Roll, Tron, Data, and two Servbots, the other Servbots would remain on the pod, to man the four turreted Vulcan guns that were upon the sides of the craft. "Miss Tron, Miss Roll, the Mini Leopardo is ready for use now." The high pitched, somewhat whiny voice said over the intercom. "Shall we go find Mega Man then, Tron?" Roll said, grinning in the soft light that lit up the cockpit. Tron simply nodded, her face set in a serious tone as she walked over to the ladder behind them.

----

"Yuna, there is a crude space pod which has just docked with the station," a small, nearly girlish voice said. Sure, she was around Mega Man's age, if a little shorter, but she was once, almost 5 months ago, the Mother unit of the entire space station, intent on destroying the population of the Carbons on the planet below. "Really, Sera? Well, I guess that means Mega Man was right all along. It sure took them long enough... I wonder if they even listened to Data as he explained the technology?" Yuna said, walking over to take the little girl's hand in her own. "Well, let's go get him, I'm certain we can find him in the Master's house," Sera replied, smiling sweetly. She'd almost completely gotten into the spirit of being a carbon, Yuna thought. "Such a change in her, it is rather remarkable," she said to herself, smiling as they walked from the Library, which had been repaired by some of the smaller Servitor 'bots after Sera's fighting against Mega Man. They walked down the winding hallways, looking around at the broken down machinery that had once been the Guardians of the library that Sera had placed in Mega Man's way to slow him down.

"You know, I'm going to miss this place," Sera said, looking around with wide eyes as she gazed about at the remains of the now dead, powerful reaverbots. The first one was the huge remains of the large Dinosaur-like reaverbot. Yuna just nodded slightly.

She had a facility sort of like this one, underneath the snow of Forbidden Island. Except, the reaverbots there were still under the control of her other Servitor Unit. The Servitor, while not as powerful as a Purifier unit or a Mother-class unit, was easily able to keep things under control there until she got back, she thought. "You know, Sera, one of these days we are going to have to duplicate our Servitors. It will be hard to get from place to place to keep the remnants of the ancient system from activating." Yuna commented, as they now went up an elevator.

"Don't worry too much about that, Yuna," Sera said, looking to her mentor in Carbon psychology and traditions. "I know a place that is still functioning on Terra that we can restore our Servitors at." Then, after the door ahead of them opened up, the two ladies found themselves inside the room that the third guardian had been in. Strangely enough, there wasn't any wreckage of the battle that had taken place here.

"Shouldn't there be something in this room?" Yuna asked Sera, and they both looked around. Not a single bit of excess machinery could be found anywhere, whether on the floor or on the walls. "Yes, there should have been... But then again, we haven't been out of the Library since Mega Man defeated me 5 months ago. After all, we have been busy thwarting the Ancient Systems attempts to come online since then."

Sera responded, and shrugged. "Well, maybe Mega Man cleaned it all up then. It's not like he's had much to do here... other than to talk to us, that is."

They continued along their way, and soon found themselves in the room of the second guardian. The small pieces of the blob reaverbot were still lying around, though it was obvious that they had been picked and searched through. "How odd... the guardian has been dismantled more than it had when it was destroyed, Yuna," Sera said, walking over to the wreck. About half of its body had been taken apart, including the shell that kept its internal systems inside, though now the internal systems were now visible. "Mega Man has kept to himself much of the time now, the last few months... I wonder what he has been doing?" Both of the ladies shrugged, and continued on, toward the room of the very first guardian that had been set in Mega Man's way. The Bullfrog 'bot was nowhere to be found now. It had plenty of salvageable pieces, thanks to its huge frame, and even the spinning top blade machines that had circled the room were gone.

A few moments later, the two emerged at the Master's house, and both gasped in surprise as they saw Mega Man at the control panel for the main screen for the house. What was no longer there, however, was the screen itself. Instead, there was a vehicle for space travel, one that could land and take off under its own power. The entire house had been retrofitted, elongated in several directions to give clearance for the shuttle itself. There were hundreds of Refractors beside the stand that the vehicle was on- it was small, but could easily carry the three humanoids back down to Terra. A constant stream of plasma shots could be heard, as Mega Man worked on his creation. "I wish Roll were here, she would be a lot better at this than I am," he muttered, unaware of the two who had shown up behind him. In that instant, he blinked as he heard laughter, and he smiled. His voice had become much more masculine lately, which he preferred. So many had mistaken him for a girl, whether talking in person or over a phone or com-link, that it was beginning to get tiresome. Slowly, Mega Man turned around to face the two he had come to acknowledge as friends, though it was hard for him to accept Yuna as anyone but Roll's mother.

"Well, look who's decided to come out of the Library!"

he said, smiling to them both as he took off his helmet, to run fingers through his hair. He'd even gotten a bit of a haircut since the last time they'd seen each other, the two girls noticed. No longer spiky and unruly, it was now much more manageable, and never threatened to get into his eyesight. "What are you doing, Trigger? This is not a job for a First-class Purifier unit," Sera asked, winking as she reached the end of the sentence. "Maybe not, but I've gotten bored of waiting for Roll to come pick us up.

After all, it has been several months. She might not have had any luck getting supplies to build the shuttle plans you gave Data. I started on this two months ago, just in case we needed it." He held up a small data pad, which he had managed to create with the plans he'd had in mind, which had necessitated his demolishing the main monitor of the home. He even searched the Library's ancient texts, to find a type of shuttle that could take them in and out of space, from Terra to Elysium station easily. "Still, I'm at least a few months from finishing it..."

"You may not need to, Mega Man," Yuna spoke up, smiling. "According to the Station's internal sensor array, Roll may have found a way to get here after all! There's a Shuttle pod down below in the Docking Bay. We know that there's a total of 2 carbons, a dozen small 'bots, and even Data is there with them.

We couldn't quite tell, but..." Yuna broke off as a klaxon flared to life, informing the whole station to the fact there were intruders on the residential level. "Looks like Data led them here already. But, there's still those bird-like reaverbots outside, I hope they'll be okay..." Mega Man trailed off, and then got up, slipping his helmet back on as he went to the doorway. "I'll be right back, I'm going to make their traveling arrangements a little easier!" and with that, Mega Man headed out, his buster gun powered up with range and energy abilities at max, with the rapid fire and power wasn't quite as high as it should've been by now, probably. Turning from the doorway and heading around to the back of the house, he noticed a small tank getting attacked by two of the bird-type reaverbots.

----

"Data, if you're leading us the wrong way, I'm going to rearrange your circuits!" Tron exclaimed, even as she began firing the main cannon buster on the small tank. Roll, who was sitting below and ahead of her, was piloting the small vehicle as the turret turned quickly, as the cannon pelted out powerful plasma blasts at the oncoming 'mechs. "Tron, there are at least two more around here... We gotta get rid of these two fast, before the others notice us!"

"Yeah, yeah, you do the driving, I'll do the blasting, Roll!" Tron yelled down, still blasting away at both of the reaverbots. "What the heck kinda armor do these things have? I'm blasting and I'm blasting, and they're still trying to ram us!" Suddenly, one of them was destroyed, by fire other than their own. "Hey, wait a minute! The other two reaverbots are gone now, and there's only this one! There's only one person we know who could do that so quickly!" Roll exclaimed, getting so excited that she rammed into the bird-type reaverbot, knocking it back with a huge dent in its armor. "Gotcha!" Tron yelled, blasting away at the dazed reaverbot until it blew up. Then, Roll turned the tank toward the large building she saw in the clearing, and both Tron and Roll's faces paled. One of the Servbots, who were in the small ports above the treads, carrying bomb launchers, noticed a very familiar figure running toward them. He wasn't the only one to notice the figure, though.

"MEGA MAN!" Roll and Tron both yelled, and stopped the tank. Both got scrambled out as fast as they could, getting stuck in the small hatch for a second before squeezing out, and they ran over to Mega Man, whose face had paled as he saw the two girls running toward him, dust flying from their feet. "Uh-oh..." he whispered, suddenly getting tackled by them both, his helmet flying off as both girls hugged him. "Ack!" he managed, his armor beginning to buckle against the pressure their arms combined were exerting on him.

Then, all of a sudden, both girls looked up to him, their eyes cold-looking and as empathic as stone.

"Don't you ever do this to me again, Mega Man! If you ever do this again, we'll finish you off ourselves!"

both Tron and Roll exclaimed, while a surprised Mega Man tried to escape from their clutches, even as both began to cry in joy.

----

"How odd. Both the girl that Trigger travels with and the girl who attacked Trigger are happy to see him again. And yet, both yelled at him, and both are now crying," Sera said, looking to the three who were on the grounds. Data was dancing above on the top of the tank, while the Servbots were dancing in their little ports in the tank. "I think I may never understand all of these Carbon's emotions, Yuna." She said, looking up to the older looking Mother unit. "Sera, with enough time, you too may have friends, and possibly people who care about you," Yuna replied, smiling as she saw her Carbon host's daughter out there on the field with Mega Man and Tron.

"Still... I have to wait until we get back to Terra before I can give Roll's mother back to her..." Yuna mused, smiling brightly at the two humans and one cyborg on the ground ahead of them. "Come on Sera, I think we should introduce ourselves," Yuna said, taking Sera's hand into hers before pulling her on over to the three figures on the ground. Sera tilted her head to the side as she looked to them, her green hair falling to the side as well. Such odd behavior, she thought. Perhaps, someday, I will understand it.

----

"Rock, if you ever, and I mean ever, do this sort of thing again, I'm going to triple the upgrade rates!"

Roll said, crying onto his right shoulder as Tron blinked, sniffling as her crying stopped for a second.

"Rock? Who are you talking about, Roll?" Tron asked, looking over to her partner in designing the shuttle and shuttle pod. Mega Man laughed gently, putting an arm around both girls. Unknown to him, Yuna and Sera had come within hearing distance as he began to speak.

"My given name, Tron, after getting found by Gramps, was Rock. Then Roll came up with a middle name for me afterwards and I guess it kinda stuck. Nowadays, everyone calls me Mega Man, or, as I've heard Teasel call me, Blue Boy."

Roll and Tron laughed at that, and both began crying on his shoulder gently. "Mega Man, I hope you can forgive us for taking so long. Data wasn't any help at all!" both Roll and Tron wailed. A loud, resounding Eeeeeeeek! Sound was heard, which made everyone look around quickly. Data danced over quickly, face red from anger as he began squeaking like crazy. "That's a lie Mega Man! They wouldn't listen to me! I..."

Both girls looked back over their shoulders and they glared at Data. "SHUT UP YOU STUPID LITTLE MONKEY!"

both girls yelled, and from the sonic blast of their voices combined propelled Data back against the Mini Leopardo, which had taken so much damage that it blew up immediately. "Oh no!" the two Servbots within the tank exclaimed, even as their burnt carcasses got knocked out of the tank. Data could be seen rolling around the two knocked out Kobuns, burnt as well.

"Woah..." Mega Man, Sera, and Yuna all sweated as they saw that happen. Tron and Roll both blinked in surprise and then began to laugh a bit as they stood up. Mega Man just crawled backwards from the two girls, who, after a few seconds, began laughing almost maniacally.

"Ok... Well, I guess it's time to get going now..." Mega Man said, moving to stand up, looking back to see Yuna and Sera close by. "Tron, Roll, you both know Yuna... this is Sera," he said, looking back to the girls.

Stunned at the announcement that they weren't alone, Tron and Roll turned back to look at the two. Roll immediately got teary eyed as she saw her long lost Mother... even if she already knew that Yuna was in control of her mind and body. Tron, however, got an immediate, different emotion altogether. Her face went completely red, her pupils narrowed, and steam began to rise from her body.

"You... You weren't alone up here! We couldn't get to you for 6 months and after all that time, you were here with two girls? I can't believe this! What did you two do with Mega Man while we weren't here? Spill it, or I'm going to kick both your cans off of this station as fast I can!" she screamed, eyes closed as all the humans fell back in surprise, holding their ears. Shattering sounds could be heard as well, when the dura-glass windows broke from the sheer tone of her voice. Tron suddenly stopped screaming, eyes returned to normal as she gasped, and then fainted.

"Tron!" Mega Man exclaimed, and then ran over to her quickly as she fell onto the ground, easing her down to the soft, artificial turf that was the ancient backyard of the Master's house.

Sera watched the happenings, wondering what had just happened to Tron. "Yuna, what happened to that Carbon?

Was she deactivated?" she asked her friend, to which Yuna laughed a little bit before answering. "Sera, humans are not deactivated like our Servitors or Reaver units. She simply fainted, that's all. After a moment or two, she'll be awake." Yuna said, before walking over to Roll, and taking her to the side to talk to her. In the meantime, Tron began to stir. "I have such a headache..." she moaned, shaking her head lightly, before wincing at that movement.

"Miss Tron! Are you alright?" the two Servbots, who just woke up, asked, running over to where Mega Man had eased her to the ground, and was now kneeling over her. "Hey, Tron, take it easy..." he said, smiling down to the fallen, raven-haired girl. "Fine." She replied, in a rather flat sounding voice that made Mega Man sigh and stand up, looking around slowly. Tron slowly sat up, with the help of her little Kobuns, and grinned slightly, as she saw Mega Man with his back turned to her. "Now!" she whispered, and the Kobun to her right nodded, before slipping a small chip onto the back of Mega Man's left leg.

"Huh? Did you say something Tron?" Mega Man asked, turning back to her as she stood up, and the Kobun that was next to his leg got knocked to the side. "Oh, sorry about that..." The Servbot got up and shook his head at Mega Man. "It's okay, Mr. Mega Man" was the response, as the small, yellow-headed robot went back to Tron's side. "Well, I guess we better get going back to your guys' ship now..." he said as he looked to Tron, who simply shook her head. "Sorry, Mega Man, but our ship needed the refractors that were in the Leopardo we brought up here... We don't have enough energy reserves to get back down to Terra now." She said, sighing softly.

"Hmm... Well then, I think we can still get back down there actually, Tron. We just need to finish my project!" Mega Man exclaimed, grinning as he started running back toward the house. Tron watched him for a second before shrugging, and running after him. In turn, the two Servbots also broke into a run after her, and then Data, who had just recovered, ran after them. Roll, who then looked over Yuna's shoulder as she heard them running, took off after them. Yuna sighed, and shook her head as she smiled, walking after them with a hand on her hip. "Come on, Sera. I think we better go help finish up Mega Man's shuttle."

Reaching the door, Mega Man looked behind him as the entire group came up to him. Pressing the crystal-like button, the sliding doors slid open easily, and smiled, motioning for them all to go inside. "Welcome, to the Master's home. According to my old databanks, this is where the person in charge of the Eden systems lived, thousands of years ago. Sorry for the mess..." he said, and they all laughed, including Sera, as the two carbons, 3 small robots, and the two former "Mother"

class units walked into the main room of the house.

Roll and Tron, who had moved to the front of the group, gasped in surprise as they came up to the shuttle. "Woah..."

"Mega Man... You did this?" Roll asked, without turning to look at him, even as she looked over the shuttlecraft. At around 180ft in length, with what seemed to be three decks tall or at least 30ft tall, the shuttle looked to be large enough to carry everything that had been brought up with Tron and Roll. "Yeah... It was a pain, too, since I'm not as good with machinery as you two are, but after 2 months, I've gotten a few parts of the shuttle up and running... I could use some help, though." He responded, and with simple jump, managed to clear the entire group, turning in midair to land in front of both Tron and Roll, facing them both. "Now that you two are here, I think we can finish this thing... within a week, I'll bet." At that, Roll and Tron nodded, and then grinned, looking over to the diagram that had been laid out upon the hull of the craft.

After a moment, Roll and Tron looked to each other, grinned, and in a mad dash for the tools in the large box, rammed into each other. At that, they both fell to the ground in a heap. "Hey, watch where you're going! I nearly fell on a micro-cellular torch!" Tron exclaimed, pushing Roll off of her, and in response, Roll pushed back. "Well, sorry, Tron! You know that when genius is..." she began, and then blinked, seeing Tron get angry, her face turning red suddenly. "Hey, now, take it easy..." Roll said, even as she backed away slowly from the enraged teenager.

"What were you gonna say about mechanical geniuses, Roll?" Tron yelled, before getting to her feet for an instant, just before launching herself at Roll as she yelled, "I'm a better mechanic than you are! Admit it!" Both girls began rolling on the floor, and a bit of dust would've flown up if the place hadn't already been cleaned as they began to fight. The others in the room simply sighed as they watched this. Mega Man turned back to the Servbots, and smiled. "Hey, you two go get your friends... I'm pretty sure that Tron brought more of you with her, right?" The Kobuns nodded in agreement, and went out to get the ten others that were left at the pod, even as the fight continued.

"Come on then, let's get to work... who knows how long those two will be at it." Yuna said, as she grabbed some gear from the large pile nearby. Sera and Rock nodded in agreement, and soon all three of them were at work on the shuttle, even as Tron and Roll continued to duke it out. The Kobuns returned shortly, carrying extra tools and refractors, and they all set 'em down before running over to try and separate the girls, to no avail.

----

A week later...

A refractor fell into place in one of the many refractor ports. It was a large purple refractor, and it was easily set into place by blue, gloved hands. As it went into place, the other refractors in the sequence (eleven in all) glowed softly, as their power became fuel for the rocket. Mega Man looked up and stretched a little bit. His gaze went along the fuselage he was standing upon, to the several Kobuns playing ball on the top of the shuttle. One of them actually fell off, and hit the metallic floor with a resounding thud. That thud brought another's attention to the Kobun, and an angry looking person popped her head out of a window at the bridge. "Number 15, get back to work! It's not play time! If I have to tell you one more time, I'm going to put you through the new torture chamber I have planned!" Tron yelled, and the Kobun scrambled to its feet and ran for his life, back to the shuttle to start working again.

"That's the eighth time today," he said to himself, and he shook his head, smiling softly, and then laughing a bit. It was at times like these when he asked himself how he got a sense of humor. After all, a purifier unit, though partly organic, is mostly pre programmed. Was it some kind of masking program, put into place after his initial battle with Sera, he asked himself. Or, was it something I picked up from Roll, Gramps, and others? "Oh well," he whispered, and shrugs slightly, before picking up the welding tool once again. What's the point of thinking of it when the answer probably won't be known?

With that, the sheet of Reaver metal was set into place over the now completed set of Refractor crystals. A flash of light, and Mega Man could be seen with a visor on his helmet as the laser welder emitted its nearly invisible beam of light, which welded the metal into place. Standing up, Mega Man looked over the large thruster assembly. It had taken two dozen refractors in two sets of twelve to provide enough estimated power to get this thing through the atmosphere, both up and out as well as down and into it. There were half a dozen thrusters, which had necessitated 12 dozen refractors to be installed. "I'm just glad I'm done installing them." He said to himself, and smiled.

Roll's voice suddenly came over his com-link. "Mega Man, I've finished installing the refractors here. Are you done too?" she asked. She had been busy in the engine room, as well as the bridge, the elevators, and lots of other places, installing smaller or even larger refractors. The main computer room, constructed by the ex-mother units Sera and Yuna, was now completely functioning. There were several Servbots in the main part of the shuttle, setting up the last of the crew rooms for use. There were even removable beds that the Servbots could use, in several of the rooms.

Mega Man had his own room, which he shared only with Data. Roll and Tron would be forced to share a room as well, which had been padded all around in case of a fight that got started. The room was also sound proofed, in case of the same thing, when the others were trying to get sleep. Sera and Yuna would share quarters as well, but fortunately, they tended to be much more relaxed and mild than the younger girls.

"Yeah Roll, I just finished up out here. I'm coming in to help now." He said, and walked carefully along the fuselage and to the top hatch of the shuttle, which had been left open. The Kobuns got out of his way- each one of 'em had been blasted, tackled, kicked, or otherwise knocked out of the way one way or the other by this blue-armor clad kid. Mega Man descended into the Shuttle, to the first deck before stepping away from the ladder, and then headed for the nearest room, where two human figures could be seen working away.

Suddenly, lightning sparked across the room even as a yellow-faced Kobun went flying through the room, and into another small room. The door closed behind the small android, and on it was the stenciled word 'bathroom.' Sera and Yuna just looked at each other, and laughed softly at that incident. Mega Man, however, scratched his head slightly, before shaking it. "So, how's the shuttle coming, along, Sera? Yuna?"

"Oh, Trigger!" Sera said, jumping a bit as she looks back to see Mega Man, with a startled look on her face. Yuna just smiled and stepped toward him. "Mega Man, the computers are up and running. The shuttle is airtight, and almost all the systems are completely ready. We'll have to test the thrusters in the Shuttle bay, though, or else we may destroy the Master's house by accident." She said, and then gestured all around them. "I haven't seen a shuttle like this for ages... I still can't believe that it's taking the combined effort of Humans, Androids, ex-mother units turned organic, and a single Purifier unit to create this!

Its unheard of!" Mega Man nodded in agreement, and grinned. "I'm just glad I got some help on this thing.

If Roll and Tron hadn't gotten here, it might've taken another couple years to finish this project!"

Sera, Yuna, and Mega Man all laughed lightly at that, and smiled. "According to the calculations I've made, Trigger, at your old rate of putting this shuttle together," she began. "Allowing for testing of systems and sub-systems, the engines and thrusters, the creation of all the computers, the bridge, lavatories, living quarters," and so on the list went, for a few minutes, until Sera came to the part that actually held Mega man and Yuna's interest. "It would have taken you about eight years, ten months, sixteen days,

5 hours, and thirty-seven and a half minutes. Give or take a few explosions." Mega Man just rolled his eyes, and shook his head in amazement. "How long did you spend working on that answer, Sera?" Mega Man asked, and Sera blinked in surprise at that unexpected question. "I... I don't know, Trigger."

----

Elsewhere on the ship...

"Okay you guys, you know what to do! Now, you guys go and get that pod ready! We're going to be ready for take-off soon!" Tron said, into her short-range com-link that she had built to keep in touch with her Kobuns. They might goof off a lot, but I certainly would trade them for any of Glyde's Birdbots, she thought to herself, and grinned. There were a lot of new ideas she'd gotten since coming to Elysium, like creating a few powered suits for her Kobuns, that they could wear into battle against Reaverbots or even Mega Man again. Of course, we have to get to Terra first, she told herself, and she grinned, finishing up with installing the last remnants of the Bridge's screens, windows, and computer systems. "There, finished!"

'Now, all that's left', she thought, 'is to get back to Terra and activate the chip!' Tron's eyes closed, and she was whisked away to the Gesellchaft II, which was partly completed when Mega Man had been stuck on this space station. She hated leaving a project half-done, but getting Mega Man back was much more important to her than any reconstructed aircraft, even if it was their family's. Her mind, however, didn't dwell on those thoughts for long, because soon, her imagination took over, taking her to the re-constructed Torture room she was going to build there. The whips, chains, fire traps, and so much more were there... but to her, they were all secondary to her prize which was tied with titanium lined rope to the central pillar of the room- Mega Man! She opened her eyes, and smiled, unconsciously wiping at the small amount of drool that had escaped her lips, even as she licked them, and then got back to work.

----

Roll was almost completely covered with grease by this point. She'd been working on the engines, the installation of moving parts that required some fine-tuning, a few dozen refractors, and several Easily Accessible Refractor Ports, which could replace Refractors that were empty or broken within a moment or two. These redundant systems sure make it a lot easier to work with, she thought. Won't have to worry about losing power... won't have to worry about parts breaking down in the middle of doing something, she told herself. She closed her eyes, and her mind drifted back to the nearly 2,000 different launches of unsuccessful rockets before Roll and Tron finally got it right. She sighed softly, and then reached over to a washcloth nearby, and wiped her darkened face with it. Most of the grease came right off with that one swipe, and she grinned, thinking of the perfect place to dispose the rag when she got the chance...

"Mega Man?" she asked, tucking the rag into a pocket of her overall's as she stepped out of the engine room. She quickly turned around and closed the refractor storage locker, and then placed the key into a magnetic holder near the locker, so that it didn't float away when in space. Then, she went through the door and into the cargo bay, which was filled with odds and ends- hulls of non-functional reaverbots, plenty of smaller refractors of high quality (and price). Tron had been right about one thing, and Roll hated to admit it- the rockets had all cost a lot of zenny, so it was a good idea to bring back as much as they could to pay for their expenditures. Roll, after seeing that all the cargo containers were magnetically clamped down, nodded, and then walked over to the ladder leading to the second deck, and kept climbing, up to the first. Soon, she was face to face with Mega Man, and she smiled.

"Well, I think we're ready! As soon as Tron finishes with the bridge, we can finally get back home!" she said, and with that, she walked back to the ladder, and started to climb back down to the second deck. She stopped about halfway, and looked over her shoulder to Mega Man, Sera, and Yuna who were watching her. "If you need me, I'll be in my room, okay?" she said, just before disappearing. Roll couldn't help but to laugh to herself as she pulled the grease-filled cloth from her overalls, and she entered the small room. The beds were actually inside the walls, the openings of which could be closed if they wanted. 'Thankfully,' Roll thought, 'I'm already over my claustrophobia.' The two upper decks had artificial gravity, which they hoped would hold until they breached Terra's atmosphere.

There were magnetic nameplates above the small openings for each bed. On the left was Roll's, and on the right, was Tron's. Giggling all the while, Roll reached in under Tron's pillow, and slipped the cloth underneath. The grease would dry before Tron realized what was there, she knew, but by morning, with any luck, Tron's whole face would be covered by it anyway!

----

The Next Day...

A deep, long yawn was heard as she woke up early.

Being careful not to sit up too much in bed, for the ceiling was low, she stretched carefully. Slipping out of the little cubicle, unaware of the cloth that was sitting upon her pillow, she walked out in her pink and black pajamas, rubbing her eyes with one ungloved hand. Somewhat grumpy, she tried to remember the dream she was having... 'Oh yes,' she thought. 'That same dream again... The one with Mega Man tied up in the torture room...' She nearly began to drool right there, simply at the remnants of her dream... Whip in hand... Mega Man stuck at a post... That one Kobun up in the booth urging Tron on... "What the? I'll have to deal with that one when we get back..." she mutters to herself.

Grinning to herself silently, she walked out of the room slowly, gently closing the door behind her as she went toward the bathroom. 'Everyone else is asleep,'

she thought to herself. 'Now's a good time to check on it," she thought, and smiled, as she took out the small device from her pocket. It was green and dark gray, stylized after Teasel's body armor, but it had a much more important purpose. Well, to her, at least.

On it was a small button, as well as a dim, green light, which was already lit. Nodding to herself, she put the device away as she reached the bathroom, and in she went. Flipping on the light, she sleepily looked to the mirror. Her eyes went open in complete horror at what she saw there. Her face was completely covered with grease! Her mind racing, she came up with the obvious answer to her unasked question. A loud, ear piercing scream echoed throughout the ship... and a soft giggle, unheard of by anyone else, came from the only sound proofed room in the shuttle.

----

"I swear, Roll, I'm going to get you for that!" Tron yelled, almost screaming, as she flipped the switches in the Bridge. Roll simply laughed and did the same on her side of the consoles. Two pilot seats forward, three to the back, a pile of Kobuns in their room with their feet now magnetized which made them stick to the metal floor, and the Shuttle's first launch was now ready. The ship had been christened as "the Egress,"

and, with a simple push of button from Mega Man Trigger, also known to his surrogate family as Rock, the shuttle descended on the huge elevator. Tron was almost cursing the entire way, mumbling under her breath as she tried to come up with ways to get back at her now rival, but was comforted by the fact that she'd have the last laugh. Her eyes glazed over and her mind wandered back to that favorite daydream of hers, in the Torture room...

"Hey, wake up Tron, we have a shuttle to launch here!"

Roll exclaimed, and Tron snapped out of it, once again unconsciously wiping the drool away from her chin as the pre-start thrusters were thundering into existence. "All systems are ready. Thrusters are at maximum power. Refractor power is at 93% and holding.

Bay doors are opening." Sera said, looking out the forward view-port as she pushed the button that opened the bay doors. Yuna and Mega Man, also in the three rear seats along with Sera, as well as Roll and Tron, all looked ahead of them, as huge metal doors opened, parting vertically to allow them access to the outside void.

"3..." Roll began, and grinned slightly, looking over to Tron, who returned the glance. "2..." Tron continued, as both girls put a hand on the throttle that was set between them on the console. "1..." they both said together, and Mega Man couldn't help but to grin, chiming in with them on that number. "Blast off!" All five yelled, as Tron and Roll pushed the throttle forward. The thrusters behind them roared into active life, nearly drowning out the high pitched yells of "Hurray!" and one even higher pitched "Eeeek!" as the shuttle shot forward. With Roll's expert maneuvering, they easily passed through the open bay doors, and before them, was the awe-inspiring view of the planet below. Dawn was just dawning to the eastern part of the world, and a collective gasp was heard... even from Sera, whose mouth opened in surprise at the sheer beauty of the moment. "I wish we had a video camera... Roll said softly, and Tron had to agree. "Me too... but, we can come up again some other time... for now, home is the target." Roll looked over to Tron at that, and Tron looked to Roll as well. They nodded at the same time, and then turned their attention to the planet that is so large in front of their eyes.

"Firing maneuvering thrusters... now!" Tron said, and they all felt the shuttle begin to roll onto its belly toward the planet. "Firing main thrusters, now!" Roll said, as they then began to drop into the space between outer space and the atmosphere itself. Tron quickly corrected for a slight over-maneuvering, bringing the shuttle into a perfect angle for returning to their mother planet. Soon, after around forty-five minutes, they could all feel the temperature begin to rise and the hue around the front view-port turn to a hotter red color as the atmosphere began to be breached.

----

Meanwhile, on the ground, at the united launch site, 7 hours later...

Teasel, Gramps, and Von Muller waited indoors, where the Servbots had set up shop as an indoor cafeteria as of late. Sure, a few of the Kobuns were still working on the new Gesellchaft, and Teasel had heard rumors about Tron's room and 'special project' being completed, but nothing major had been completely finished yet. At least it was on a remote island, which was now being used as their base. Bomb was there too, to keep an eye on things and make sure that the base remained guarded. Teasel sighed, and then looked up into the blue sky, taking a sip from his coffee as he watched a flock of gulls suddenly fly away. His enhanced hearing abilities, granted by cybernetics, began to detect and aircraft of some sort coming closer to this island.

"Is anyone expecting company?" he asked, and for once, the pitch of his voice remained relatively calm.

Barrel and Muller shook their heads to the pirate in response, and went back to drinking their coffee.

Teasel shook his head, and set the cup of coffee to the side, on the table, before going outside. To his surprise though, as he looked in the direction the sound was coming from, the airship was much closer than he originally thought. "I've never seen something like that before," he said to himself, this time, his pitch ranging from normal to annoyed, and then to a slight twinge of fear as he watched the dark gray aircraft descend, and finally land down upon the ground, on landing struts. A large cargo hatch opened along the belly of the ship, and the dozen Kobuns that had gone with Tron ran out, jumping, playing, and laughing. Teasel smiled, and yelled, "Hey you guys, they're back! They made it!" and then he took off running for the opened hatch, to go check on his little sister. "Tron! Tron! Come on out, you had me so worried!"

"I'm coming!" she laughed, and ran out of the bay door, and jumped into her big brother's arms to give him a big hug. "See, a pirate isn't that easy to get rid of! We still have to get rich, right!" she said, almost in tears as she looked to Teasel, who then set her down, and then kneeled beside her. The Servbots surrounded them, including the dozen who had left with her, and they all said, "Welcome back, Miss Tron!"

Tron could only smile, and laugh, and when Teasel whispered to her, she nodded. "Yep, everything's ready, Teasel. Oh, shhh... Here he comes."

----

Mega Man was the next one out, looking none the worse for wear. As soon as he stepped on the ground, however, he fell to the soft grass. Blackness washed over his eyes, as he slowly felt his strength leave him. "Wha, what's happening to me?" he whispered, even as he felt himself get picked up and then carried as his captor ran somewhere. Mega Man could hear many footsteps around him, and he recognized those soft footfalls as the Servbot's, which meant the somewhat lighter ones were Tron's, and Teasel's. Warm breath tickled his ear as he listened to someone whisper to him. "Well now, Mega Man... now you're mine!" Tron said, and then threw back her head and laughed, the foot falls growing louder as metal was heard beneath them.

"Mega Man! Stop them, they've got Mega Man!" a voice cried out, and that was the last Mega Man heard of Roll's voice just then, as the metal door slid shut close by, and engines revved up. He recognized the sound, however, from battles he had fought on Kattlelox Island. 'A Drache,' he thought to himself, and he slowly opened his eyes. There were half a dozen Servbots surrounding him, and then he tried to back away, but couldn't, as he fell down. His arms were tied up in some kind of rope, he realized, and when he next looked up, he saw Tron looking down on him.

"Just you wait, Mega Man! I have so many things planned for us, I just don't know where to start!" she laughed, and then she grabbed both ends of a strangely metallic whip, drawing it taut as a snap was easily audible. Her maniacal laughter filled the Drache, and the air around them as Mega Man closed his eyes to get some rest... and to pray that Roll and Gramps could save him. Save him before any of the teenage pirate's plans could come into fruition, he hoped.

But that... is another story.

---