Chapter One: Origins
Mega Man checked his energy gauge. "Twelve units remaining" he thought to himself. He had just finished a battle with Tengu Man, from which he barely arose as the victor. It was the fifth time Mega Man had had to destroy the robot, and the task did not get any easier with experience. "Dr. Light," spoke the blue bomber, "I've just taken Tengu Man down. Has the last of Wily's shield dissipated?"
"Yes, Mega Man." The good Dr. Light continued, "It is as I suspected. The energy of the robot masters you've just defeated was powering the shield which kept me from beaming you in to Wily's lair. I can send you there now, if you'd like."
"I don't think that's a great idea, Doc. I lost a lot of energy in the fight. I couldn't figure out what Tengu Man was weak against, and he seemed stronger than ever this time. I need a little recharge."
"Understandable. I'm lowering our shield for a few moments. Teleport yourself in as soon as possible."
With that, Mega Man activated the teleporter on his arm and reappeared almost instantly back in the lab of his creator, Dr. Light. Dr. Light quickly raised the shield and greeted his creation before going back to tinkering with a new invention of his. Mega Man tried to rest and recover, doing his best to ignore Auto, who was pestering him for bolts. The events of the past week had been tiring. Dr. Wily had attacked again, rehashing the same plan he had used so many times before. Create 8 new robots, send them to conquer some key areas, and take over the world. Usually this would at least give Mega Man a chance to obtain and try out new weapons, but Wily seemed to have lost all of his creativity. The last time he had tried to take over the world, only six of his robots had even been original creations, and this time all of Wily's robots were retrofits of old models. Tengu Man, Shade Man, Gravity Man, Heat Man, Flash Man, Shadow Man, Bomb Man, and Saturn were Mega Man's enemies this time.
It only took Mega Man a few days to take care of these robots. After all, he had fought them all before, at least twice each. This was the sixth time he had fought some version of Heat Man! Wily could hardly be blamed for running out of ideas, however. Wily had had over eighty robot masters under his control in his long war against Mega Man and the planet. It frustrated Mega Man to think that this had all occurred due to one unfortunate lab accident. Dr. Wily hadn't always been evil. He had been a leader in the scientific community, and a humble one at that.
Dr. Wily always dreamed of a world with robots and humans working side by side, helping each other evolve to the next level. His college friend, Dr. Light, had always dreamed of a world with connectivity for every citizen, with a large internet based technology revolution and advanced artificial intelligences helping humans from computer consoles. When both scientists had presented the cases for their projects to the world governing power, Dr. Wily's plan was chosen by the committee, but to his surprise, they wanted Dr. Light to lead the project, combining his advanced AI with Wily's robotics. A normal man would have been petty and jealous, having his own project given to his rival, but Dr. Wily was understanding, and did his best throughout the years to share his knowledge of robotics with Dr. Light, while Light shared his advanced AI knowledge with Wily.
The accident occurred one fateful night while Light and Wily were working diligently to complete their finest creation, Break Man, who was to be the first fully functioning humanoid robot with realistic intelligence and self-awareness. Also known as Proto Man, the red and gray robot was to be the prototype for a line of similar robots, designed to serve as anything from lab assistants to butlers or babysitters. The robot was ready to be shown the next day, but Light and Wily, being the perfectionists they were, stayed in the lab late to try and tweak the specifications a bit. A small steam pipe burst, and Dr. Light shoved Wily out of the way, getting a nasty steam burn on his hand for his trouble. Wily promised to finish up work, and insisted that Dr. Light go see a medical doctor and have a good night's rest. No one is entirely certain what happened that night, but in a large explosion, Proto Man was lost, presumably destroyed, and something happened to Wily that...changed him.
Wily began to act differently from that point. While helping build Proto Man's replacements, Rock and Roll, Wily also insisted on building more robots, each with specific destructive powers. Dr. Light reluctantly helped him while Dr. Wily insisted on the practical uses of each of his designs. "My Ice man is not meant to be a weapon," he would say, "but his Ice Slasher is a necessity in self defense in the dangerous arctic circle. Don't you see, Dr. Light? Ice Man is an explorer! And Bomb Man is designed to use his Bombs to clear out mines, and for legitimate demolition purposes! His programming would prevent him from ever blowing up something he wasn't supposed to!"
Dr. Light believed him mainly because he wanted to believe him, and helped him build his six destructive robots. One day Dr. Wily came to Dr. Light and made a proposal. If they worked together, Wily proposed that they could rule the world. Their robots could not be stopped. Wily promised more robots in the future, to grant them a hold on the world and immense personal power. When Light refused and refuted the evil doctor's plans, Wily took action himself. He stole the six master robots of Fire Man, Bomb Man, Guts Man, Cut Man, Ice Man, and Elec Man, attempting to take over the world and leaving behind the weak, incomplete Rock and Roll. Dr. Light took action and did the best he could to convert Rock into a powerful fighting machine. To Light's honest surprise, Rock was successful in staving off the robot attack, mainly due to his weapon copy ability, a last minute idea that the good Doctor had added on. Rock became known to the world as Mega Man, and the rest is history. Mega Man fought off Wily countless times since, becoming a true living machine along the way, finding his brother Break Man, gaining new and more powerful abilities, and facing his greatest rival, Bass.
Mega Man recounted these events while he slept, and silently wondered to himself "What if Wily was hit by that steam burst and Dr. Light stayed behind to work on Break Man?" With that chilling thought, he awoke, his energy recharged.
"Dr. Light" chimed Mega Man. "I'm ready to take on Wily."