Act III: The Daughter of Light
In the slaughter that ensues when Megaman abandons the people to Wiley's robots, Dr. Light rescues a severely injured girl. He takes her back to his workshop. Working day and night, implanting artificial organs in her, artificial limbs, he is able to save her life (Roll).
Years pass. Light is a broken man, broken by the loss of two sons. He seems content to spend the remainder of his life helping the few people he can. By healing others, he has regained the name The Good Doctor. He no longer dreams of saving mankind.
Roll confronts Light, telling him she still has faith in Megaman, or a hero that can save the city. Light tells her she is a fool, that 'all of your heroes are gone and the blood is on his hands' (Hold Back the Night). The argument grows heated. Light forbids Roll from ever entering his workshop again. But Roll sneaks back in the dead of night; she dons Megaman's old helmet, which still rests on a bench in Light's workshop, and sets off on a quest to find the missing hero. A half-mechanical dog follows her, a stray that Light has recently saved (Rush).
After several escapades, including a bar-fight and a fight with Sniper Joes, Roll and Rush are taken in by a ragtag biker gang. They call themselves the Protomen, and commit petty acts of resistance against Wiley's robots. After recounting some of their feats (which Roll is unimpressed by), they offer her a position in their gang (You Can Be a Protowoman, Maybe). Roll refuses, saying she won't stop searching until she's found Megaman. The bikers tell Roll about a ghost that's been spotted at the edge of the city and offer to take her there.
The site is near where the last battle with Wiley took place. The bikers lose nerve and hesitate at the edge of the field. Roll is afraid too, remembering the time she nearly lost her life to Dr. Wiley's robots. But Rush runs forward, and she figures, 'if a stupid dog can do it, then so can I'. As she walks onto the old battlefield, a thick fog envelops them.
Roll encounters a lone figure in the middle of the battlefield. Rush seems to recognize him, running up to him and barking happily. He doesn't react. He stands atop a pile of old twisted metal, back to her, perhaps surveying the city. After asking him many questions (Are You My Brother?) and receiving no response, Roll attacks the mysterious figure.
The man fends off her attacks, silently and seemingly without effort. But when he notices her helmet, he becomes angry, telling her 'she has no right to carry this burden'. Rolls snaps back that she's doing it because no one else can, and she will gladly relinquish the helmet to its rightful owner if he can take it. After this, the figure redoubles his attacks, and is able to easily defeat Roll.
Moonlight pierces through the clouds. Roll is able to recognize the mysterious figure as Megaman, the Man Machine she saw fight on this field so many years ago. She pleads with him to come back, to fight again, saying the 'city needs you now' (echoing Emily perhaps). She says she still believes in him. Megaman is pissed, saying things like the city took his brother from him and the people do not deserve to be saved because they are worthless, because they will not stand up for themselves. Roll asks him if that is what his brother Protoman believed. She asks him to remember Protoman's last words. Megaman mockingly repeats the words of the crowd at the end of Act I, 'he could not save himself, how could he save us?'
There is a long silence (an actual pause in the track). Roll gets to her feet.
Roll says something like, 'Protoman wasn't able to save himself precisely because he tried to save the people. He threw everything he had into that fight, heart, mind, and soul, and in the end even sacrificed his own life. Which is more than you ever did.'
She takes off Megaman's helmet and hurls it away. She says Megaman's words make her realize the city doesn't need a hero like him, and the city doesn't need a hero at all. She says she realizes that she can't count on anybody to save her.
She flees. Rush stays behind with Megaman.
Back in the city, Roll tries to incite the people to rebellion. But they are jeering, mocking, saying if two perfect machines failed to overthrow Wiley in the past, how could a little girl succeed? Others are afraid and hiss at her to stop talking. Just as Dr. Wiley's robots show up to break up the rally, the Protomen arrive in full force. With their usual methods, they are able to destroy all of the anti-riot machines. Emboldened by this victory, Roll and the Protomen and the mob move toward Wiley's fortress...
Meanwhile, twenty stories above the city, Dr. Light lies on his deathbed. The strain of losing his daughter, along with everything else, has proven too much to bear. The excitement going on below has left him alone. He lies silently. Perhaps reflecting on his life. Perhaps thinking nothing at all. The door creaks open and Rush rushes in, bounding onto the Good Doctor's bed and excitedly licking his face. Light calls to the figure waiting in the hall to come in...
Note. Might turn this into an actual story later. If people care. Thanks for reading.
