I've been meaning to write a Mega Man fanfiction for a while now. In fact, I toyed with possible story ideas for close to a decade. And since the people at Capcom seem content to sit back and bury all their long-running franchises, it falls to the true fans (those of us in our 30s, who played their games on the NES and SNES) to remind people that there was a time when the company actually made great games, rather than just DLC gimmicks based on nostalgia for the 80s and 90s as Capcom gradually implodes as a business.

With that in mind, Mega Man 1-7 are "hard" continuity. As for the date of the story, I added 60 years to the release date of the first game (1987), and the 9 years between the released 1 and 7. Also, the Game Boy Games are also in continuity, as well as a good deal of the Archie Comics content.

MEGA MAN:
"LOVE IS ELECTRIC"

Part 01

Time: 2047 (Two years After Wily's Escape from Prison)...
Location: Wily's current fortress, exact coordinates unknown...

Roll sighed, as she sat down in the spartan metal chair, smoothing out the red fabric of her knee-length dress as she did her best to get comfortable. She hitched one leg over the over, folding her arms across her chest as she focused her gaze on the only other occupant in the room.

The housekeeping robot had been in the middle of her daily routine, when Bass had appeared above her in his Booster Mode to scoop her and fly off in a burst of jet fire. Roll knew she should have been more upset at being kidnapped, but given that her abductor appeared just as annoyed with the situation as she was mitigated her anger to a degree. As as the well as the fact that he showed far more concern when it came to handling than was normally expected of a kidnapper.

She checked her black and white high-cut jacket and green hair ribbon, making sure her ensemble was in order, before crossing her arms. She could discern mild annoyance in the sleekly built robot that was presently serving in the role of her jailor. Bass leaned against the far wall, arms folded- in a mirror of her own pose- doing his best to look anywhere but at her.

The blonde female robot could tell that her captor was on edge, likely frustrated with the fact that he'd been sidelined from battle to keep watch over her, while other bots were likely preparing to engage her brother once again. Her years spent as the sole female in a distinctly male household had provided her with some insight in deciphering the moods of men.

"You know, Bass," Roll began, drawing his crimson gaze to her blue eyes. "I really don't understand your fixation with my brother." She observed teasingly, flashing him a little sly smile.

Bass didn't respond as expected, rather, he silently turned his gaze away from her in irritation, and her smile promptly faltered. "Bass..." She began. "I know that Wily designed you based off of my brother's schematics, to serve as a countermeasure to Mega Man." Role observed. "You're always talking about how you're better than Rock, and how you're going to defeat him and finally prove it..."

She paused, choosing her next words. "But if you really are superior... Then why are you taking orders from Doctor Wily of all people?" Roll continued pointedly. "How many years now has this been going on, and you're still going to stand here and tell me that it makes any kind of sense?" She asked, to his growing annoyance. "Or... Do you really just hate Rock that much?"

"Maybe you haven't been keeping score of things, dollface," Bass began. "But your brother and me are fighting on different sides." He continued angrily. "This isn't a tea party going on out there, this is war. Mega Man is a Light Bot, and I'm a Wily Bot, what do you expect from me?"

She cast her gaze downward. "What about me, Bass?" Annoyance filtering into her voice. "Despite my outward design, I am a Light Robot, the same as my brother... Would you destroy me too simply as a matter of principle?"

At this, he turned to her, his eyes wide and an expression of surprise on his face, seemingly unprepared for even the suggestion of such an idea. To his credit, Bass was quick to compose himself, though there was still an edge in the way that he was now looking at her.

"What do you want me to say?" He began. "Doctor Wily built me to destroy Mega Man, shouldn't that be enough of an answer for you?" Bass added curtly.

"No, it's not! And it shouldn't be for you either!" Roll fired back at him, much more forcefully then she had intended, or even thought herself capable of. And judging from the look on his face, she guessed that he was just as taken aback by the intensity of her outburst as she was.

Bass advanced toward her. "What the hell do you want from me?" He demanded, towering over her by several inches as he peered into her blue eyes.

Roll stood up, meeting his gaze and not backing down. "A real answer!" She exclaimed. "What do you want, Bass? Well?!" The blonde-haired robot continued. "Because I refuse to believe all your posturing and anger is all there is to you." She finished defiantly.

The previous intensity vanished from him, only to be replaced with an audible fatigue in both his tone and posture as her looked at her. "What do you and brother do at the lab when he's not fighting?"

"W-what?" Roll asked, surprised with the sudden shift in the conversation.

"How do you fill the time between Doctor Wily's attacks?" He asked.

"Well, I..." She hesitated. "I do the housekeeping and help Doctor Light in the lab- mainly, by making sure that he eats regularly and doesn't overwork himself." Roll replied. "Aside from that... I've taken up knitting recently, and tending to the vegetable garden I started."

Bass smiled at her. "Hmm, sounds nice..." He remarked thoughtfully, which only served to unnerve her as he looked into her eyes. "Do you know what happens around here, when the Doctor isn't busy working on whatever his latest plan happens to be?" He asked, not waiting for her to respond. "He storms around, bitching to everyone in earshot about how he could have been defeated yet again... And telling me how much of a disappointment I am for failing to defeat your brother."

Roll looked up into his eyes for a while, something flickering in his scarlet orbs. She brushed a hand through her soft blonde locks and shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Bass... I never really thought about what it must have been like for you, or to see things for your perspective."

...o.o.o...

Mega Man, clad in his iconic blue armor, soared across the horizon- on his faithful support unit and pet, the robotic dog Rush, presently in 'jet' mode. He spotted the highest point of what he instantly knew to be the latest iteration of Wily's Base. Not that it would have been difficult, given the garish skull motif that Wily always incorporated into his architecture.

Though, he could hardly expect Wily to try to obfuscate his presence from either Mega Man or the rest of the world. Given the scale and frequency of the Doctor's attacks, a massive base of operations would be needed in order to properly oversee the deployment and movement of his forces. Combined with the fact that Wily was the only person possessing both the madness and dedication to keep launching these attacks meant that he was the only real suspect whenever robots started wreaking havoc.

He heard a beep from the built-in communicator in his helmet, alerting him to the familiar sound of his older brother's voice as Proto Man came through the line. "Rock, what's you're status?" He asked calmly in a voice that was of slightly deeper register than his own.

"I'm making good time," Mega Man began. "I haven't encountered any resistance so far... Though I've got a positive on Wily's fortress in the distance." He explained. "What about you, Blues, how are things going on your end- what's the city like?" He inquired.

"Strange." Proto Man replied after a moment. "Something's not right in all of this... The forces Wily sent turned out to be pretty minimal." He revealed. "Nowhere close to what would be needed just to take the city, let alone the region... I'm certain now that this was always just a diversion."

Mega Man nodded. "I thought so too, but a diversion for what?"

"We'll find out soon enough, one way or the other." Proto Man answered. "I'm heading out to join you, but it'll take me a little while to get there." He informed him. "In the meantime, watch your back, I've already got a bad feeling about this whole thing." He cautioned. "And the last thing I need right now is you getting scrapped while I wasn't there to back you up... Roll would never forgive either us."

Mega Man couldn't help but chuckle at this. "Don't worry, my main concern is getting Roll safely out of there, so I don't plan on taking any unnecessary risks while I'm in there."

...o.o.o...

Silence had fallen between the two of them...

After a moment, Roll brought a hand up to cup the side of his face, as something mysterious crackled between them. He stiffened slightly at the unfamiliar contact, but made no move to withdraw from her touch or to brush away her hand. "Wily may have originally built you with the purpose to destroy my brother... But it's possible to exceed your original programming." Roll added softly, never breaking her eye-contact with him. "I was built as Rock's sister, to take care of the lab... But I evolved beyond those parameters, I made choice- to become something more."

"Something more..." He murmurs back, as his larger armored hand moves to cover her smaller, delicate one with his. "And you think it's really just that easy? That I just make a choice, and I'm free?"

She shook her head. "No, of course not." Roll answered honestly. "But it is a start."

His eyes closed... Wondering how long had he been putting up with the Doctor's crap? As much as Bass hated his own inability to best Mega Man in battle and prove himself as the superior bot, he also resented Doctor Wily for imposing the desire on him- for making it a priority of his core directive, and thereby robbing him of the ability to chose for himself...

The sound of alarms going off filled the room, snapping back of them back to reality. Bass looked over to the nearest flashing light, then back to her with a smirk. "Sorry, but it sounds like we'll have to save the rest of this conversation for another time."

"My brother?" Roll asked, more out of curiosity than relief.

He nodded. "It was just a matter of time before he reached the fortress' outer parameter..." Bass replied calmly, before glancing to his buster. "Believe me, I've taken part in enough of these that I could pretty much do the whole routine in idle mode." He quipped. "Still, orders are orders... I guess."

...o.o.o...

Not long after breaching the inner parameter, Mega Man had blasted his way though the main entryway of the large skull-themed fortress. He disengaged Rush from jet-mode, beaming the robot dog away for the moment as he set out on foot down the large corridor.

Aside from the built in defenses and basic security drones, Mega Man had yet to encounter much in the way of resistance as he continued deeper into the fortress. Still, he knew from experience not to let his guard down when it came to dealing with Wily. While the mad scientists was predictable in his ways, it didn't make him any less dangerous- especially, when fighting him on his own 'turf' as it were.

He reached a large open room with a high ceiling, just in time for a pair of heavy automated doors to slide shut behind him with a metallic groan. Mega Man skidded to a halt, looking up as a hatch opened up above him, and the familiar figure of Bass gracefully dropped to the ground.

"I knew it was just a matter of time before you came looking for your sister." Bass remarked, his voice low and measured as he addressed his rival.

"Where is she?!" Mega Man demanded angrily.

Bass chuckled languidly. "Don't worry, loser, blondy's doing just fine." He replied. "But if you want to get her back, then you'll have to go through me first." The robot declared, as he then summoned Treble to merge with him- boosting his battle power considerably.

Mega Man took a step back, charging his mega-buster to full power. Bass fired up the jets and started to glide toward him. As this was happening, both of them failed to notice as a spherical device a bit larger than a beach ball dropped down through the same hatch that Bass had entered through...

The Wily bot continued his advance, preparing to fire, at the same time as Mega Man held up his own arm-cannon to let off a blast of his own. But before anything could happen, the spherical device moved behind Bass and unleashed a burst of energy at him- electrocuting Bass. He cried out in shock and pain, while the same disruptive energy arced out from his body to strike Mega Man.

The same pained wracked Mega Man, sending him flying at the heavy doors behind him and bouncing onto the floor, at the same time as Bass went crashing to the ground. Mega Man's whole body convulsed and he felt his power levels dropping as his diagnostic system registered faults throughout him. And his opponent was fairing any better. The layer of purple armoring that represented Treble vanished, leaving Bass alone on the floor, experiencing the same agony.

The violet crystal on Bass' chest plate flashed, signaling a fault in his systems, though he was coherent enough to realize that something was very wrong with him, even without his diagnostic system warning him of this. He tried to move, but the surprise attack had left him prone on the mettle floor...

To Be Continued...