Author's Note:

Hey there! I would first like to thank you for reading the prologue to my story "Metal Dance". It means a great deal that I have readers. But I must be honest about a few things. First off, The name Metal Dance...I got it from a song by my favorite band: The Megas. It's not mine and I make no claim to it. Second- and this is hard for me to say -I haven't actually played Mega Man. I get sick from playing video games, actually. I read the manga and listened to The Megas. Don't get me wrong, I like the game, but that does not mean I've played it. Consequently, I know very little about the game itself. So this is a kind-of game-verse/manga-verse book. Sorry bout that. :( I hope you enjoy it anyway! Thanks again for reading.

-Cara Lea

oh and...well I won't really have a lot of time in the coming months...so if it isn't updated quite as often that's because I don't have time to update it. I apologize in advance.

Prologue:

There was a distant, very annoying sound that was gradually growing louder. This is the first thing I noticed upon waking. It was a high-pitched beeping sound that came from...came from where? I struggled vainly to open my eyes and see what I would have to kill to end that noise, but I found it was very difficult to move. In fact, I didn't feel like I could move my limbs at all.

But that noise! It was louder still, and I didn't think my poor audio receptors would be able to handle much more of it. I felt my arm twitch and almost let relief squash me. I still had arms.

"He's moving!" someone very near my head shouted. "Dr. Wily, come quick!"

Their loud squalling along with the annoying beeping was what ultimately made me move. I opened my eyes and instantly regretted it. A bright light hit my optics, bright as the sun on any sunny day. I groaned as my optics re-adjusted to the new light. Moving was becoming easier. With a grunt of effort, I sat up and looked around me.

Seven others stood in the room, stillness settled on them like they were pictures. I shook myself vigorously and took each one in. Quickman in the back, his large yellow chevron pointing at me; Crashman sitting, his head bowed, face covered in shadows; Flashman leaning casually against a wall and eyeing me purposefully; Heatman glaring at me with narrowed eyes; Bubbleman sitting on a chair staring up at the ceiling with a smirk; Airman, glossy blue and yellow plating reflecting the light painfully back at my aching head as he stared at me balefully; and last of all Dr. Wily himself, staring at me with an undisguised mix of worry and hatred.

My memory was sluggish, slow compared to normal on the length of time it took me to comprehend these faces. After a moment of awkward silence, and spoke, surprising myself with how my voice rasped so crashingly to what I should sound like. Or thought I should sound like. "What's going on? Where am I? Where's Woodman?"

Dr. Wily answered me quickly, "You're in the lab, getting repairs after a vicious fight with Megaman. You were seriously injured- almost lost completely! Woodman set out to challenge him as soon as word of your demise came through."

"My demise?" I blurted. What was going on here?

"Yes...it seems you were not as strong as we predicted, to have been thwarted by a mere household robot." There were snickers around the room. I bristled inwardly, but didn't openly challenge him. I was still sluggish and I didn't know what was going on. I didn't fail to notice, however, that Crashman and Flashman were not laughing. "It is no matter," continued the doctor. "You are here now, and there is work to be done. Flashman will fill you in on recent events and make sure you're up to date. Be ready in about 2 hours to set out."

I wanted to ask where we were going to be going, but I couldn't. They filed out of the room- still snickering -before I had time.

All but Flashman had gone. He stood in the back corner, head down. His face was blank, as though he were processing what he would say. I stood up and paced toward him, wobbling unsteadily on my glossy red legs. I felt like I was wading through deep sand.

"I don't have all day Flashman," I growled when I reached him. The time limit Dr. Wily had set was on the forefront of my mind, and was my top priority. Little flashes of memory were coming back to me now. I could still see the face of a child under a blue helmet in the fire of- the memory cut off there. Had I really fought and lost to a child? "Tell me what's going on so we can carry out Wily's orders."

A smirk played about his unnaturally serious face. "I can see you have recovered your attitude a bit."

I growled low in my throat. "Just tell me what's going on!" I snapped.

Flashman sighed then leaned forward. "It's just like Dr. Wily said," he snipped right back. "You fought against Megaman like ordered and lost. Pathetic, really."

I could tell- though I'm not sure how -that there was something he wasn't telling me. "So that's it?" I asked, choosing those words carefully. "That's all that happened? That's not a lot to tell."

Flashman shook his head, his eyes becoming distressed. "I suppose not. Dr. Wily said..." he trailed off, voice and eyes going blank again as he fell into his thoughts once more. I was becoming impatient. I knew that there was more to the story than Flashman was saying. He was too serious to be telling the whole truth, and I wanted to know why he wouldn't tell me the rest. I took a threatening step forward, and Flashman looked at me again. When he spoke, it was a hoarse whisper that actually scared me. "Your memory chip wasn't damaged in battle, Metalman. Wily had your memory wiped. He ordered us not to say anything but..." He looked away as I froze in shock. "But I think you deserve to know," he finished. He looked at me, trying to judge what I was thinking I guess. All he would see was my blank face though. I was shocked. I didn't know what to think, or what to feel. What had they deleted forever from me? And why?

"What?" I finally stammered. Flashman shook his head.

"I can't tell it to you properly, Metalman. I'll have to show you." He abruptly grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the table to lay down on. He produced a tiny chip seemingly out of nowhere as words spilled rapidly from his large mouth. "I'm gonna put this in the back of your head, so that you may see it. You probably won't be able to finish it before we leave. I'll give you as much time as I can but there's only so much I can do."

I steadied myself. "I don't understand. What's going on? Why would Wily have my memory erased?"

Flashman's answer didn't come immediately. He just continued to look thoughtful. I laid back on the table and he put his hand behind my head, chip at the ready. "You'll understand in a little bit, Metalman." And he slapped his hand against the back of my head, chip inserting into my memory input and flooding my already tired soul with information I had dearly missed.