Welcome one and all to Mega Man Legacy, a 3-part epic tale that will fill the gaps between the different series' and give closure to the fates of our favorite blue bombers in all their incarnations - including the red one! I started this project once before, several years ago, but I was young and naive, and didn't know how to write well. I was also lazy (we'll see how much that has changed). But, here I am again, hoping to do it right this time.
The whole project is technically seen from the point of view of Mega Man Trigger from Mega Man Legends, and is a lead-up to my own version of what Mega Man Legends 3 would have been, though he will only pop up once in a while. This first part, The Tale of Rock, is about the classic Mega Man, AKA Rock, and also X, and you'll see why very shortly into the story. X and Zero get their own part in The Rise of Omega, and the ZX characters have the spotlight in The Hope of Light. This is a huge project that has been rolling around in my head for quite some time, and I'm ready to try again. So with that, I hope you enjoy. Adios!
*This is a nonprofit fanwork. The Mega Man franchise, it's characters, and all its elements are copyrighted by Capcom.*
PROLOGUE
Trigger...Trigger...Can you hear me?
Mega Man, can you hear me? Please wake up...
It's time...time to realize your destiny.
Mega Man…
"...uhh..."
"...Mega Man? Is that you?"
"...mmm...Data?"
"Mega Man, Mega Man! You're finally awake!"
"I...I can't move..."
"Don't worry, Mega Man, I'm coming!"
The little white-and-brown monkey quickly scurried over to his friend. He jumped onto the boy's face, and suddenly began rapidly shaking his head, trying to arouse him from his comatose state. "Wake up, Mega Man! This is important!" the monkey pleaded. Mega Man complied as best as he could, and shook his head, tossing Data off in the process. He opened his eyes, revealing two lively green irises. He observed everything in his field of view.
His analysis: white. An expanse of white. Complete white, everywhere. As far as the eye could see, there were no familiar sights anywhere near to them. They were gone. But where?
He tried to lift himself up. As soon as he rose halfway, an excruciating pain struck right through him. He groaned loudly, and dropped back onto the ground. Data immediately worried. "Mega Man!" he cried. He rushed to his aid once again. He put his paws on Mega's arm in an effort to comfort him. "Are you alright? What happened?"
"I..." Mega thought, "I don't know. I remember talking to you, and Yuna, and then…I just blacked out. I think that last battle really did a number on me. Where are we?"
"We are in the Stasis Room on Elysium. We're kinda stuck here for the time being, so until we get a rescue team to come after us, or I can find us a way back down to Terra, we'll have to stay here and get you healed up. You took some heavy damage from that fight with Sera. It'll take a while for it to completely repair, perhaps up to a year."
"A year?!" Mega repeated.
Data slowly nodded his head sadly. "Maybe two, give or take..."
Mega closed his eyes. "Man, two years...here...away from everyone. Away from Roll..." He sighed. He imagined Roll and himself strolling through Noah's Park together, enjoying a picnic in the afternoon, watching the sunset afterward, his hand over hers..."Data?" he asked.
"Yeah, Mega Man?"
He opened his eyes again. "Do you believe…in love?"
"Of course I do, Mega Man! Why would you ask a silly question like that right now?"
Mega stared at the sky. "I was just wondering...maybe...when all this is over, and we're back home again..."
"Mega Man..."
"Hmm? What is it, Data?"
Data's expression grew dour. "Mega Man, there's something you should know..."
Mega lifted his head just enough to glance at him. "Know...what?"
"Well, actually..." Data admitted as he pulled himself onto Mega's chest plate, "there are a lot of things you should know. Need to know, in fact."
Mega gave Data a quizzical look. "Really? Like what?"
"Your memories."
"My…memories?"
"Well, not exactly your memories." He waddled away from Mega. "The memories of those before you...the other Mega Men. The ones who carried the blue armor and buster before you. They battled the wily forces of evil, faced against maverick rebellions, repelled darkness, and transformed the world into a place where peace could exist. They are your moral and spiritual ancestors. And now, you must take on the mantle yourself, so that you can fight for great justice just like they did." Data flashed Mega Man a smile.
"So, these Mega Men..." Mega said as he painfully sat up, "…how can they help me become more powerful?"
"Oh, not just more powerful, Mega Man, but wiser and braver, too." He jumped up and down excitedly. "You can become more than what you thought you ever would be!" He giggled.
"But…I don't understand." Mega rubbed his head. "What's going to happen?"
"To put it as simply as possible, you're going to have all the skills, knowledge, and hopes of your predecessors downloaded into your brain, so that you can access them at will. With this, you will be able to stop the Elder System, and save the world."
"Well…" Mega was still unsure, but he trusted Data. "If you say it'll help, then I believe you." He became more confident. "Let's do this, Data."
"Yes," Data nodded softly in agreement, "it is time." Data shut his eyes for a moment in focus, and a small disc slid out of an unknown compartment in the front of his body. The disc itself was completely transparent, but upon closer inspection, one would be able to see trillions, perhaps quadrillions of tiny motion pictures integrated all over the interior of the disc. These were the memories of the original Mega Man and his 'brother' X. Data hopped off his chest and came around to the back of his head. "Now, this is going to be a bit of a ride for you, Mega Man," Data warned, "so I'm letting you know ahead of time. I also want you to know that I'll be linking into your consciousness so that I can guide you through your memories. You know, to make it less confusing. Do you want to do this, Mega Man?"
Mega pondered for a moment. "Will I regret it?" he asked honestly.
"The only thing you could ever regret from having you memories back," Data reassured, "is remembering the wrong choices you made in the past. But if you do take your memories, then perhaps we can finally finish the fight once and for all."
"Alright." He closed his eyes, and let out a big sigh. "Let's go." Data nodded, and hopped behind Mega. He parted some of Mega's hair on the back of his neck, revealing a small disc slot. When he loaded the disc in, Mega instantly went into a system reboot, which caused his body to enter a comatose state, much like the time he was being repaired on the Sulphur Bottom. Data removed the ball from the end of his tail, uncovering a five-pronged plug. He located an outlet for transferring data right above the slot, the same outlet he had used to download Mega's data before. He plugged his tail in, and transferred his consciousness into Mega's soul.
As he bypassed the firewalls and security gates, one thought was running through Data's mind:
I hope this will work...the fate of the world depends on time in which Trigger will rediscover his legacy. And we're going to need all the time we can get. I just hope his ancestors will show him the way.
Doctor Light, don't let us down. Help us reach the peace that you always longed for. Show us the way through your sons, through those known as "Mega Man." Please...show us the light.
