Flip Side
Disclaimer:
I do not own the 1994 Mega Man cartoon, or any of the games.
They belong to Capcom and Ruby/Spears.
Gone Awry
Roll watched worriedly as Dr. Light worked frantically on Mega Man. The Wily bots had really done a number on him and it would take a while before he could have him working again. Dr. Wily had gotten downright dangerous now that he had so many robots under his command and was becoming a bigger threat everyday. Their last mission to stop him had nearly gotten Mega Man trashed permanently.
Dr. Light turned and gave a tired, but reassuring smile to her.
"He'll be alright Roll, don't you worry."
"Yeah." She murmured.
"Dr. Light, someone still needs to find out what that creep and his goon bots are up too and I'm volunteering!"
Dr. Light opened his mouth to protest but than stopped. Roll may not have been as good in battle as Mega Man, but she was excellent at information-gathering and was every bit as headstrong as Rock and…he thought regretfully, Blues.
"It sounds like you have something in mind." He said.
She nodded. "It'll be dangerous, but it's the best way to do it."
He frowned when he heard her plan, but he had to admit it was a good one.
"Alright. I think I have some devices that can help you, although reactivating the reboot program will have to be timed carefully. Are you sure about this?" He asked.
"It needs to be done." She said.
The determination that gleamed in her blue eyes sometimes made Dr. Light forget that these were highly advanced, independently thinking droids.
"But we need to make it seem real."
There was regret and worry in her voice as she looked down at her partially crushed, partially fried brother. She was afraid that he'd never be the same again and Elec Man and Guts Man would pay.
He caught onto her thoughts and shifted uncomfortably. The idea of deceiving his son made him very uneasy, but he could see the wisdom in it. He rubbed his back and inserted a chip that would restore Roll exactly as she was, made a copy of that and typed in a code that would activate only on his command. Next he added a well-hidden espionage program, cleverly designed as a back-up memory chip so that she could record everything and transmit data back to the lab instantly.
When she was ready he hugged her tightly. Regretting the fact that he spent less time with them as a father than he should.
"Be careful." He said.
"Don't worry, I will." And sped off into the night.
Dr. Light turned back to Mega Man and continued his work, he was anxious yes, but Roll had proven herself capable many times over. She could do this, he had confidence in her.
She flew for half the night, eyes trained on the ground for any of Wily's bots. Then she found one of them. Guts Man.
"Hey you big robo jerk! Your gonna pay for what you did to Mega!"
Guts Man turned around. "Aww. Upset that we kicked his butt? Well boo hoo!" He said as Roll leaped down. Roll kicked him, but the big bot caught her leg and threw her into the wall.
Roll shook her head and charged foolishly but was easily outmatched. He held her in his arms as Elec Man sauntered up.
"Let go of me!" She yelled, thrashing wildly.
A very unwelcome popped into her head. What if Wily ordered him to trash her instead of reprogram her?
As if on cue, Dr. Wily called.
"Elec Man, Guts Man, report."
"We caught the little blue twerp's sister." Guts Man chuckled. "You want me to turn her into scrap metal?" He asked, arms tightening around her. Roll gasped as she felt her torso begin to press inward.
Dr. Wily was silent for a minute.
"No. Disable her and bring her to me intact, I have something in mind for Mega Man's troublesome sister. Star Man and Cut Man will be picking you up shortly." He burst into his usual deranged laughter, which used to be a constant running joke between them, but now it sounded darker, more confident, there was something wrong with it. Before Roll could place exactly what was wrong with it, Elec Man fried her circuits just enough to shut her down.
They waited under the streetlamp.
Elec Man leaned against the pole while Guts Man peered up and down the empty street.
"Well where are they?" He asked. He didn't feel like being caught by Mega Man while he held his sister unconscious over his shoulder.
"Relax, Dr. Wily said they'll be here soon."
Twenty minutes passed and Guts Man was beginning to get on his partner's nerves. Elec Man opened his mouth to snap at him when the car pulled up.
"About time." He grumbled, tossing Roll in the back unceremoniously.
"Hey! Who's the babe?" Asked Star Man, twisting around to get a good look at Roll.
"It's Mega Man's annoying sister you idiot." Cut Man snapped.
"Why'd she come after us?" Guts Man wondered. "You don't think the little blue dweeb got destroyed do ya?"
"By you two dumb bots? Not a chance!" Star Man snorted.
Cut Man privately agreed with him, but kept his mouth shut.
"Since when did you did you ever do better you little punk?" Guts Man growled.
"Oh shut up!" Said Elec Man, who was tired of the bickering.
"Let's just get her back to Dr. Wily's lab before she snaps out of it."
The car released its wings and took off into the sky like a jet towards home.
Proto Man and Shadow Man were there to greet them when they got back.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't my baby sister." He jeered. "Wily's got some big plans for you."
"When doesn't Wily have big plans?" Shadow Man grumbled.
He had never been fond of Proto Man or of Dr. Wily's plans. There were two many loopholes and Proto Man's ego and wanna-be-bad-boy-attitude always got in the way, but Dr. Wily refused to listen to what he had to say, especially concerning Proto Man and so he had stopped saying anything at all and simply let things take their course.
Proto Man ignored him as he took Roll from Guts Man.
"Well if we can't have Mega Man on our side, at least I can have my sister-in-battle."
Shadow Man looked intrigued, perhaps Dr. Wily was finally onto something good here. Mega Man would have a difficult time harming his sister. Maybe this time he'd help make sure things ran more smoothly from the background.
Proto Man walked into the lab and deposited Roll on the table. Dr. Wily waited impatiently, he agreed with Proto Man. It may not be as good as converting Mega Man, but his former partner cared about his robot creations deeply and this would knock him down a few pegs. Cracking his knuckles Dr. Wily went to work, allowing her just enough to think independently, but making sure she would be obedient to his-hello? What was this?
He had his new computer run scans on the chips. A program for espionage cleverly disguised as a standard memory chip? So that was their game was it? Well it might have worked if Dr. Wily hadn't programmed a few of the chips himself inside Dr. Light's robots. This meant that there had to be a copy of Roll's programming somewhere. Ah. There it was, he hacked the codes, making sure that it looked as though nothing had been tampered with until he gave his word.
Wouldn't he be surprised to find out that his plan had backfired? He laughed again, mind whirling with new designs, riding the wave of madness that drove his visions for the new robot. He couldn't wait to see the look on their faces when he unveiled her in battle.
Mega Man woke up a few days later to bright sunlight streaming through his windows.
"Ohh. I feel like I got run over by a freight train." He groaned.
"Mega Man! Thank goodness you're awake!" Dr. Light said, but he looked tired and somber.
Rush barked happily and licked his face.
Mega Man frowned, something was missing…no! Someone was missing!
"Where's Roll?" He asked.
Something was very wrong here. Roll was always there to greet him after he'd gotten repairs done.
Dr. Wily frowned, he really didn't want to lie, but for now it would be better if Mega truly believed that she had been captured by Dr. Wily's forces. He only hoped he could forgive them both for the deception.
"I'm afraid she's been captured by Dr. Wily's robots."
"What? We've got to rescue her!" He cried, leaping out of bed.
"Not yet. We need time to locate her. As soon as I have the exact coordinates we'll go after her."
"Ok." He said trustingly.
Mega Man looked so downhearted that again, Dr. Light was struck at how human they were, despite all evidence pointing otherwise. Hopefully they would have Roll back within the week and perhaps keep Dr. Wily behind bars for good.
For nearly a week Dr. Wily worked on Roll, carefully reprogramming her to his liking. She would still have her bravery, intelligence, resourcefulness and mulishness. In short, she would still be Roll. That would make his triumph and his revenge so much sweeter. He got rid of that ridiculous programming she used as a weapon and replaced it with very special weaponry. Oh yes. She would be one a kind. He would make sure of that.
And for nearly a week, Dr. Light and Mega Man scoured the globe frantically, searching for Roll's whereabouts.
It was late one night when Roll awakened, she felt strange. She thought, staring at her newly armored body through the lighter visor on her helmet.
She did a quick scan on herself, relieved to find that the espionage chip was still in tact and that her rebooting command was in place.
Then Dr. Wily walked in and the words scum bag was on her lips, but she was unable to say it. His robots could argue with him to an extent, but blatant disrespect was obviously a no-no. She was also disturbed to realize that she had no real desire to trash him, Proto Man or the lab.
"Welcome to our side, little sister." Said Proto Man offering her a hand.
Roll was only mildly disturbed to find herself reaching out for that hand.
Just what had Wily done to her? No. Stop! She had agreed to do this. It wasn't just about making them pay, it was about helping put Wily out of business for good! Wasn't it? She suddenly didn't have much of an urge to do that either.
Proto spun her around to face a mirror and Roll could only gape at her reflection.
The helmet covering her head was a dark shade of pink, stylishly lined with silver, a visor with a built-in cross hairs and night vision covered her eyes, yet it still let her long, blonde hair flow out behind her.
The armor surrounding her body was the same color as the helmet and it was very feminine, accentuating her curves and her long legs, yet it held a dangerous allure that reminded her of the chic, femme fatales she sometimes watched on TV. A set of razor sharp, butterfly wings with built in jet repulsors extended from her back.
She wondered if she could convince Dr. Light to let her keep all this after they figured out Wily's plans and bagged him. She totally deserved a new look after this and it would help her be more efficient in battle.
"Do you like it? I designed it myself." Proto Man asked with the same arrogant smirk on his face that had made her wish she could punch him in the past, but now only mild annoyance remained where sharp dislike once was.
Roll was soon to learn that no matter what she or the other bots thought about Proto Man, he was to be respected.
She shot him a sharp look that said she didn't believe him.
"The doc may have done all your programming sis, but I know how to make evil look good." He said.
She looked again, there was a definite resemblance to Proto Man's armor, but it had its own unique flair that she really, really liked and she had to admit he did make it look good. She'd just never admit it out loud.
"Enough bragging. We strike in two days time. Make sure she knows what's expected of her Proto Man."
Proto whistled a little tune as he led her out of the lab. He knew exactly what Dr. Wily meant.
It was late that night that Dr. Light received his first transmission from Roll.
His fingers flew over the keyboard as he analyzed it. He was very relieved to know that she was safe. As concern for her had been eating at him for the last five days. He wished he could see her to confirm it and he wondered what changes had been made to her.
Well, if the information he was receiving was correct, he'd find out soon enough. He thought as he ran his fingers through his silvery hair. Now it was time to break the news to Mega. He could only hope that Roll's plan would go off without a hitch for all their sakes.
"Mega Man. I have information of Roll's whereabouts."
"Where is she? Is she alright?" He asked. Blue eyes searching his eagerly.
"Roll has been reprogrammed by Dr. Wily."
"Oh no! This is terrible! I've got to do something!"
Mega Man was taken aback by this unexpected news, his worst fears had involved his sister being crushed into scrap metal, or melted down out of spite, but he hadn't thought that Wily would attempt to reprogram her again. After all, the crazed scientist seldom tried the same trick twice.
"I also have information about what Dr. Wily's up too which will let us hit two birds with one stone." And then we can bring Roll safely back home and turn the tables on him. He thought.
"This is where they'll be headed in two days." He said, pointing at the map. "We can intercept them here and I've already warned the president of the impending danger."
"Do you think she'll be ok?" He asked.
Dr. Light couldn't say anything either way.
He had never seen Dr. Light look so haggard, so…old. It was like he'd aged ten years since he'd first woken up.
"Don't worry, I promise I'll bring her back safely." Mega Man said.
"I have no doubt in my mind about that."
Another small lie. Dr. Light wasn't sure just how much her reprogramming had changed her. He could have had her memory wiped completely for all he knew. If Mega and Roll were forced to fight…heaven help them.