Anonymous: It may SEEM like I just throw Bass in there, and then have him get his butt kicked all the way to Timbuktu, but there's a reason for his seemingly random appearances. What it is, though, you will not know for a while. As for your suggestion...I appreciate my readers giving their own ideas(and the ones that I use I always relinquish full credit for), but sorry, not this one.
???: You caught it, huh? Good!
Chapter 23
"Dusk?!", Lan and Geo both yelled out in disbelief.
The ninja acknowledged them with a nod, then turned his attention to Bass. The evil navi let out a guffaw, "Dusk? The assassin, Dusk? You're helping these two?"
"Yes. I am."
"Why?"
"Because I was paid to.", With that simple statement, Dusk drew his swords, and attacked.
It was over before it started. Bass sidestepped the Ninja, and then ran him through with his Dark Arm Blade. Dusk crumpled to the floor, unconcious. The Evil Navi smirked, "Fool."
Lan and Geo looked at the prone figure on the floor. The future Megaman said, "Ohhhh, crap."
Lan couldn't find any disagreement in him. Bass looked at the two of them, "You're next."
"Lan! Get the synchro chip!", Megaman said.
"Right! Good idea.", Lan said, reaching for said chip. Only to find it missing, "Hey, where is it?!"
"You don't have it?!", Megaman shouted in exasperation.
"Uh, Lan?", Geo said, tentatively.
"What?", Lan said, looking over to his friend.
"Bass is holding it.", Omega-Xis finished.
Indeed, the second-most-powerful navi in the Undernet was tossing Lan's Synchro Chip up and down in one hand. "H-how did you get that?!", Lan yelled.
"Wouldn't you like to know."
"Yes, I would!"
"Well, I'm not telling you. I've no reason to."
"No reason...? That sounds like some sort-of lame excuse an author would invent just because he can't come up with a reason for it himself, but still wants to make things harder for the protagonists!!"
Damn, he's on to me!! Err, I mean, Bass just shrugged, irritating Lan further, "Grrrr. Geo, can you and Omega-Xis fuse and give him a beating for me?"
"You bet!", Geo said.
"We can't." Omega-Xis said sullenly.
"What? Why?"
"Something's weird about this dimensional area. It's disruting my EM-Waves."
"What? Why does this happen now? What's different about this dimensional area that wasn't present in the others we've been in so far?"
"I'm not sure."
"Lan was right. This almost does seem like the work of some diabolical author."
Crap!! Uh, I mean, Bass laughed, "Hahaha! Face it, you two are so dead."
Lan and Geo looked at each other, then simultaneously yelled, "Ohhhhh, CRAP!!"
Bass approached them, enjoying the sense of total victory he was feeling. Then, in a total Deus Ex Machina moment, Dusk stabbed Bass from behind, saying, "You should have finished me off when you had the chance."
"Aggggh!", Bass hissed in pain. The sword had cut through an important piece of data in his body, "I'll be back!!", He claimed, logging out.
"Are you two alright?", Dusk asked, approaching the two preteens.
"Summa cum Laude with that stab.", Geo said, his panic beginning to ebb away.
"Thanks."
"So...", Lan started, "Who paid you to help us?"
"Chaud Blaze. Well, he didn't pay me to help you, per se. He paid me to help out with everything that's been going on recently."
"Oh. Anyway, can you help me find my Synchro Chip?", He asked. He turned around...and stepped on the chip he was supposed to be looking for in the first place, breaking it into pieces, "AHHHHHH! CURSE YOU, AUTHOR!!"
Dusk leaned in close to Geo, "Author?"
"Lan's convinced that there's some guy that's making all these bad things happen to us. I wouldn't be too worried, he'll be back to normal soon."
"Riiight.", Dusk said, silently vowing to keep a wary eye on Lan from now on.
Author's note: Well, as promised, here's the next chapter! I want to thank everyone who patiently waited for this. Also, on a side note, if you like Super Smash Bros., I put a poll on "Favorite Newcomer" on my profile, so if you could take a moment?