I don't own Mega Man.
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Mega Man quietly opened the door.
What he saw before him was something he knew he would see eventually. It wasn't something that could be avoided or postponed. There was nothing he could do to prevent it, and that miserable fact tore him up on the inside.
Dr. Light was dying.
The hospital room was a very nice and comfortable place. It had a long window with a view of the city, and if the patient wanted to get closer to it, the controls on the bed could be used to direct the bed in that directions. There were plenty of comfortable looking chairs around, and the room itself was large and decorated sparsely with a pleasant, pale green and white color combination. While technology didn't ordinarily frighten Mega Man, the strange machines that were monitoring the doctor made him shiver.
"Dr. Light?"
The Doctor opened his eyes. Seeing Mega Man, he smiled, revealing just how many wrinkles he had built up in the years since he'd built his most famous robot. Though pale and weak, Thomas Light seemed fairly cheerful.
"Ah, Mega Man, I was wondering when you'd get here."
"I came as soon as I heard." Mega Man tried to smile. "Where's Roll?"
"She's downstairs, talking to a doctor. Really, Rock, it's not as bad as it seems."
"But...I heard you collapsed."
Dr. Light laughed a little. "I'm getting old, Mega Man, that's all. It happens to the best of us. I've been working too hard these past days, and if I had listened to Roll, maybe I wouldn't be here now. Don't be worried. The doctors here have been saying that I'll be able to come home in a few days, and then I'll just have to be careful about how much work I do. Though I'll definitely have to make sure X is stable first, then fufill that contract I had for Brooklyn Tech Inc., and then -"
"Don't even think about it, Dr. Light!" Roll scolded teasingly as she reentered the private room. "You know good and well that Auto can do all of that. Don't even think about work now. It's about time you learned to relax a little."
"I'm not dead yet, Roll." he winked. "But I guess you're right. It's about time I took that vacation I've been promising myself for the past thirty years."
Mega Man suddenly stood up. "I've...I've got to go check on...something. I heard that Bass is out there somewhere...I better make sure he's not causing any trouble. I'll be back later."
Saying a quick goodbye, Mega Man went out the door. Only when he was out of sight of the room did he allow his concern to show itself. He didn't even know if it was possible for robots to cry, but he knew it wanted to. It was almost impossible to see Dr. Light like this. Leaning against a wall, he wondered if maybe he should talk to one of the medical doctors and ask how long his creator had left to live.
He heard the heavy footsteps of a robot behind him, but he didn't have the heart to turn and look.
"Rock, what's wrong with you?" Roll said as she caught up to her brother, and this time her scolding was more serious. "We have to be cheerful for Dr. Light now more than ever. It'll only upset him to see you like this."
"How am I supposed to feel, Roll?" Mega Man said despondently. "I just...I wish it didn't have to be like this."
Roll sighed. "Humans age, Rock. It's what happens. There's nothing we can do to stop it."
"But that's the entire problem. If we start malfunctioning, we can be repaired. Dr. Light..."
Mega Man didn't finish his sentence. He just leaned against the wall, hopelessly staring at the floor.
"It's hard for me too." Roll replied sadly. "But all we can do for now is keep him comfortable. So please, try to be cheerful. Let him know that even after he's gone you're still going to be out there saving the world. He's really proud of you. Besides, in only thirty years, his mind in the computer will activate when X does. We'll see him again."
Mega Man smiled. "I know...but, well...I just hope the years go by fast."
-t-
It was a quiet day. Normally Monsteropolis was fairly crowded with tourists, being as this particular city was the birthplace of modern robotics, but this day was one of the rare days when tourism was low, and that was due to the upcoming cold days of winter. It would be a nice change for once, and it certainly was a fortunate turn of events for Dr. Wily. After all, the police were always a little more wary on the days with more tourists. Mega Man was more vigilant then as well. And while usually Dr. Wily preferred a terrified and screaming audience for his work, he knew that could wait for the time being. After all, his army had to be increased before the real terror could start.
And so, on an otherwise boring day, the sound of gleeful laugher from a crackled voice sounded in the cold air. That, and the sound of various gears grinding and screeching as five huge combat robots made their way up to the robot museum. Each one was as large as a house, and had more firepower than a division of the army.
"Ah, Ice Man," Dr. Wily said joyfully. "Isn't is so nice of the mayor to want to put all of my old creations all in the same place? It makes it so much more convenient to go and retrieve them later."
"Well, yeah." Ice Man replied. "But don't they keep all the CPUs elsewhere? Aren't we just going after a bunch of empty shells?"
"Tsk tsk. This is exactly why Elec Man is in charge of the six of you." Dr. Wily chortled as he pulled his coat more tightly around himself. "I've already discovered the location of the CPUs, and Guts Man, Elec Man, and Fire Man are recovering them now. And so we've got to make a presentation of this and distract the authorities so that they will be successful. Bomb Man, please do the honors."
"Ah, gladly." Bomb Man was always happiest when he could blow things up. He gleefully juggled a few of his smaller bombs. "Just leave it to me."
"And Cut Man, I'm sure you'd like to make sure that any security guards we encounter are...disinclined to interfere."
Cut Man laughed, snapping the large blades on his head for a reply. "I'll cut 'em down for size!"
"Alright, and Crystal Bot, would you please start things off for us?"
And even though her helmet covered most of her face, you could still see in Crystal Bot's eyes that she was very happy to be of service. And like Crystal Man, she had the distinctive crystal orbs implanted in her helmet, chest, shoulders, and boots. Her dress was a light cyan which came down to her knees and was covered by a hooded green cloak. Her auburn hair was just long enough to come below the edge of her helmet and rest on her shoulders.
At her master's command, Crystal Bot wordlessly pulled out her guitar, the crystal axe, from seemingly nowhere, and began to strum away. Loud heavy metal music poured out of the five giant robots, signalling for Bomb Man to begin and blow away the nearest wall of the robot museum. Cut Man and Ice Man charged at the surrounding buildings to create as much of a commotion as possible, and dozens of Wily's smaller, less intelligent robots began to cut into the displays of the museum and retrieve all of the robot masters therein. Dr. Wily grinned despite the cold (and despite the fact that he really didn't like heavy metal that much) and laughed, enjoying the screams and shouts that were beginning to sound out around them.
"Crystal Bot."
"Yes, Dad?" she responded contentedly as she continued to play.
Wily grinned again. She was the only one that called him "Dad", and it surprised him how much he liked it. "I am going to go back to the base. When they are finished loading the robot masters into the five Armoroids, have them convert into their aircraft form and get to the base as secretly as they can. See that they finish here quickly, and make sure that Elec Man and his group are successful."
"Will do!" Crystal Bot replied in cute, quirky tone. "I've already signalled for the Skull Capsule to come and pick you up."
And with perfect theatrical timing, Wily's small, grey-and-blue vessel landed nearby and opened for him. And as he stepped inside, Wily noticed from the corner of his eye that Mega Man was flying in on his dog Rush, then decided that it was the perfect time for a meniacal laugh and the customary wiggling of the eyebrows as the Skull Capsule closed.
"It's too late, Mega Man..."
Mega Man didn't notice the Skull Capsule, as he was too distracted by the robot masters below him. He flew in low, and with a few shots managed to stop Ice Man from turning a security guard into a popsicle.
"Alright, what are you up to?" Mega Man demanded.
"I could tell you..." Cut Man spoke up. "Or I could CUT you!"
His blades zoomed in towards the hero, but Rush flew low to the ground to dodge them. "Always with the one liners, Cut Man? If you spent half as much time trying to learn to fight as you did trying to not sound lame, you might actually be a challenge!"
Crystal Bot watched the ensuing battle as she finished her song, feeling a little left out. She wasn't a fighter, but a technician. Also, her weapons were merely the slow homing shot that could be easily dodged by someone with Mega Man's skill, and her crystal eye was horrible to aim, and more likely to hit her allies rather than her enemy. It would do no good to try and help the others.
"Oh well." she thought to herself. "The Armoroids will be finished soon. I'd better check on Elec Man."
-t-
Roll walked quietly down the street, shopping for a few things for Dr. Light. There was a store down the street that sold the sort of hummus that he liked, and she knew that more natural foods would be better for him anyway. Sighing, she pulled the strap of her handbag more securely around her shoulder. Feeling a little forlorn, she kicked at a pebble in the street as she walked by. She was so preoccupied by her thoughts that she didn't at first notice that she was being watched.
"Hey you! Aren't you cold? You should really be wearing a coat out here. It's easily like forty-five degrees."
Roll looked behind her to see a cyan and green clad robot girl following her. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"All you're wearing is that red dress, and it doesn't have any sleeves." The girl-bot said as she caught up. "Won't you get sick?"
Things like this happened to Roll all the time, and it almost brought a small smile to her face that it had happened again. "Oh, I'm not really a human. I'm a robot. My name's Roll."
"Ah, that would explain it. I'm Crystal Bot, by the way."
"Nice to meet you. Hm...I don't remember Dr. Light designing you."
Crystal Bot laughed. "Doesn't he have assistant designers? Besides, he can't be running around designing every single robot out there. Everyone wants one of us nowadays."
Roll nodded. "I tell you, it's getting to where we're all mass produced. I'm not sure that I like it, but there aren't a lot of people that can program like Dr. Light." Unconsciously, Roll let out an automatic sigh. "Poor Dr. Light..."
"Oh, what's wrong with him? He's not hurt, is he?"
Roll wondered a moment if she should tell Crystal Bot. "Well...I guess it was going to be in the news anyway. Dr. Light's health is a little precarious right now, and he's in the hospital. But he'll be out in a short while...hopefully."
Crystal Bot's eyes widened. "Is that so? Will he be okay?"
"Well, he's getting older... The doctors...I don't really want to talk about it."
Her new friend seemed to understand. "That's okay. Gosh, I hope he feels better soon. I feel a little indebted to him for all his hard work in robotics."
"A lot of robots are sure to feel that way." Roll replied. "Hey, what are you doing now? I'm doing some shopping for Dr. Light so he'll be happier during his stay in the hospital. Want to help?"
Crystal Bot was clearly astonished. "Wow, I'd really love to, but I'm in the middle of a chore now. But let's definitely hang out in the future, okay? Wow, I can't believe I've met a celebrity!"
Roll blushed. "I'm not that famous. It's all because of Mega Man anyway. I'll see you later!"
"Bye now!"
As Roll continued with her errands, Crystal Bot mused over the situation with a giggle.
"Roll sure is a nice robot, but way too trusting. For all she knows, I might be a Wily-bot!"
/
Notes:
- Okay, it's probably not the best thing I've ever written, but seeing as I've got other things on my plate right at this moment this project is mostly a stream-of-conciousness thing. Though I do hope you like the ideas behind it. The best plot is yet to come.
- Just fyi, all of the robots here know both Japanese and English, and they are aware of both their Japanese and English names (like Rockman vs Megaman).