Body

"Requiem"

By Q.C. of {PpG}

This fic has been rated R for content.

1st draft completion date:

Final release date:

Current revision number: 1

disclaimer: First of all, the usual drill. I do not own the characters contained herein, Capcom Studios does. I wish I owned the characters, but I don't so I might as well not complain about it! Well let's just get this thing started!

Notice: This is not, I repeat NOT a "TMC Megaman" fic. I dropped that series a long time ago. This will be significantly less retarded and also a whole helluva lot more I.C. This story does, however, use some of my 3rd party characters from FD and TMC. Namely Jake "QC" Anderson, Sgt. Henry Thompson, Jamie Sanders (Unlike in TMC she's just Megaman's friend and he doesn't fuck her every two minutes), and a few others. And for future reference FD is my name for the set of characters/events that are in virtually all of my fics. Just letting you know. My FD list keeps growing, so at the time of this release I'll have posted a document that defines weather or not a fic qualifies to be a FD fic.

*******************

MEGAMAN: Hey! What am I doing here?

QC: I just rescued you from the TMC world.

MEGAMAN: Thank God for that! I was getting hives from that place...

ADMIRAL KELLEY: You're a robot! You CAN'T have hives! Well, we've got a job for you. Time to clear out another world!

MEGAMAN: Now wait one damn minute... **QC tosses him onto a bus labeled "ADF Boot Camp**

QC: Yippie ky yay motherfuckers, let's get this damn fic rolling!

hr

Thunder rolled in the distance as Dr. Light turned in for the evening. It had been a long day at the lab, and he needed his rest. The thunder clapped again, this time much closer. Somehow, it didn't sound right. It was lass of a clap, more of a crack. Then Dr. Light realized his mistake: it wasn't thunder, it was gunfire!!! He immediately grabbed the phone and just as quickly dialed 911. He put the handset up to his ear, and to his dismay he heard nothing!

"Hello dammit!!! Someone please answer!?!" He heard a heavy thump right outside the building. Then another, even louder thump... Then the wall came tumbling down! Three large figures were silhouetted against the copper glow of the sodium lights. The figures advanced forewords, one of them producing a net that crackled with energy... Just before he was overwhelmed, Dr. Light thought to himself "Dammit Mega, why did you have to be gone tonight???"

hr

"Requiem"

By QC of {PpG} Systems

Meanwhile miles from there MegaMan had no idea of what had just happened. This is because he was in his red 2042 Camero with three of his friends. He remained completely unawares to this situation as they pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot, got out, and walked into the store. Two of his friends, a guy and a girl that were rather obviously involved with each other in ways that couldn't be mentioned in polite company, left for another department, leaving him alone with Jamie Sanders, a very good looking blonde-haired girl. She was rather attracted to him, despite the fact that it was a hopeless attraction. In any case Megaman spoke up and asked her

"So, what do we need so we can hit the road before it starts raining?" She pondered that for a moment, despite the fact that they'd all decided that their priorities were beer (the legal drinking age in 2048 is 18), junk food, cigarettes, and Mountain Dew. They had picked up enough video games to keep them busy for hours, and the other couple was probably going to bed rather early. So they gathered up the junk food and pop, and met the rest of their group, who had gotten the beer and a box of condoms (Oh I wonder why... damn perverts!!!). They got in the rather long checkout line while Jamie picked up a carton of cigarettes and a couple packs of mint gum. Almost ten minutes later they finally checked out and managed to get into the car just seconds before it started pouring rain!!!

They took off down the highway for their fifth member's house, which was about 10 miles away. Jamie lit a cigarette and rolled the window down just enough for her to knock the ash out of the car and so the air wouldn't be pea-soup thick with smoke. Finally Megaman spoke up.

"Well, it's only 10:30..." he quickly looked back to confirm his suspicion, "and they're already making out!"

"Figures. I'm surprised they don't have kids yet. Well I guess we won't have to worry about them hogging the Playstation. Now where's the damn Mountain Dew?" Jamie said as she turned around and started feeling for the case. Her hand brushed the other girl's leg and she exclaimed

"Hey slut, get your damn hand off me!"

"I'm the slut?!? Unlike some people I know I've only ever had sex twice!" Jamie retorted.

"Why you... Just... Just forget it..." she said before going back to making out. Megaman, seeing that the little catfight was over continued.

"Like you really need the caffeine. You smoke a pack and a half of Marlboro reds a day, isn't that enough stimulants?"

"Hey, it's not the caffeine I'm after! People do get thirsty, or can't you get that through your titanium head?" she said back, finally finding a can and opening it.

"Yeah, haven't you heard of water? It's a lot better for your kidneys. Oh well, like it really matters... You'll probably get lung cancer in thirty years anyway...."

"Oh just shut the hell up and worry about yourself for once!" she interrupted, sounding rather pissed. "I didn't join this party to get a health lecture! Now do you mind if I turn on the radio?"

"No. Go right ahead." he said. Jamie turned on the radio, and was just about to change the station when suddenly...

"We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you a special news report. There's been another robot attack in the east half of the city. We have no definite reports as-of-yet, but to our knowledge the Light robotics institute of the University of New York has been attacked. No reason..." the radio was drowned out as Megaman floored the gas, and the 350 cubic inch engine roared up to full power! The tires squealed on the wet pavement, and the car fishtailed around a corner, making a beeline for the lab.

"Dammit Rock what are you doing? Trying to get us killed?" demanded the guy in the back seat, the sudden turn forcing his head away from his girlfriend's and into the side wall!

"No! If you'd been listening to the radio you'd know! Now shut up and let me do my job!"

"This is gonna be a long night..." Jamie said as she took a long last drag off her cigarette before throwing it out the window, and almost immediately lighting another.

"Jamie, make yourself useful and put my helmet on my head." She grabbed the 25-pound titanium helmet and put it on Megaman's head, it's clamps immediately engaging with corresponding ones on his scalp. He rolled down his window all the way, took the wheel in his right hand, and began charging the plasma cannon mounted on his left forearm. Then he said "Bring it on Wily..."

They drove in and screeched to a halt directly in front of the lab. Megaman opened the door and jumped out, holding his left forearm with his right hand to help cope with the intense recoil of the cannon if he fired. He scanned the area. The lab had been devastated. The only movement he could even see was several Army troops securing the area. He let down his blaster, knowing it was too late. Jamie also got out of the car, but the couple didn't, they stayed in the back seat clutching each other's hands in fear. As Megaman and Jamie started walking foreward, a sergeant walked up to them and said to Jamie

"Sorry but this is a no-smoking area Mam. The ash could contaminate the evidence."

"Oh well." she said as she ground the cigarette butt into the mud. They continued forewards until they reached the command tent. Inside were several men, two of which stood out as they were the only ones wearing trench coats. He couldn't see either of their faces, but one had dark hair and the other was bald with badly discolored skin and some kind of straps connecting together on some kind of ring in the exact back. They both turned around to face Megaman and Jamie almost simultaneously. The dark-haired man didn't seem to have any unusual facial features, but the other was wearing a gas mask and had a glowing red right eye completely surrounded by shiny metal plate. He said

"Well Megaman it looks like there isn't too much left. There's no sign of Dr. Light any fucking where, but we found Roll under a pile of shit. Whatever that bastard did it really fucked this place up good!"

"Well General it looks like he attacked from several directions with..."

"Not now Admiral. Fuck the details, the important part is Wily has some new robot, and these motherfuckers are tougher than anything we've seen so far. And you're bitch-ass won't last ten seconds! Now wait one damned minute, is that bitch cleared?" he said pointing at Jamie, provoking an angry look on her face.

"Yes sir. She checks out, and is clear to hear anything you're gonna say in this briefing."

"Allright then. The point is that Wily has butt-fucked this country for the last time! I'm considering sending a contingent of marines armed with the latest model assault mechas, but then again that's what the fuck you were built for! Now Admiral tell him your fuckin' plan!"

"Yes sir! The idea is simple." he said, activating a small device on a box, projection a six-foot tall representation of Skull Fortress. "What we need to do is to break in here," he said, highlighting a small spot near the back of the tower, "and work your way to the command center here" now highlighting a small room near the center of the building. "The only problem is your favored attack method is a frontal charge, and that won't work. So QC here has pulled a string or two and has arranged for you to be trained in Fort Bragg where he learned to fight himself."

"Damn straight Admiral Kelley! Where'd you learn to fight? A bar in Pearl?"

"That's not very funny general..."

"Why, cuz it's fuckin' true? And you also learned to fight in Harlem when I threw my voice and yelled 'nigger' as loud as I could..."

"Dammit! I thought you said you wouldn't say anything about that!!!"

"What's gotten into them?" Jamie observed out loud.

"I sure as Hell don't know. And it isn't our problem, so don't worry about it..."

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT YOU LITTLE FAGGOT?!?" QC yelled, grabbing Megaman by the neck and hurling him down onto a box like he was a rag doll... More like a 350-pound titanium doll!

"Ummm... nothing!"

"Okay, that's better. I expect to see you at Fort Bragg by 0800 tomorrow! Now get the fuck out before I throw you and your skinny-assed girlfriend out!"

"Allright already!" they left. He proceeded to drop Jamie and the two lovebirds off at their houses before filling his gas tank and starting the extremely long drive to North Carolina...

****************

Long hours passed, and finally he arrived at Fort Bragg. He drove up to the MP at the gate, who immediately cleared him. He parked the car, got out, and walked up to the command bunker. Inside, General QC was waiting for him.

"Good morning motherfucker! You ready to kick ass and chew bubblegum?"

"I guess. Don't tell me that I'll have to shoot at people..."

"Yes and no... Yes you do have to shoot at fuckin' people, but you're using a high fuckin' velocity paintball gun. They're using live ammunition, so you can have a fuckin' reason to fight!" QC explained.

"Allright. Just one thing, what should I call you?" Megaman asked, rather stupidly.

"Well, this area's secured, so just call me by my real name. Major General Jake 'QC' Anderson."

"Allright General Anderson. Now when do we start so we can get it over with?" Megaman never did really enjoy fighting, but his initial body configuration had made him the ideal unit for the reconfiguration to make Mega Man. After all, he was the final model of the "Proto-Man" experimental robot series.

"We can start right the fuck now. First on the live fire course is the trench simulation." he said, leading Megaman out a door and into a dug-up field that was splattered with blood and covered with bullet holes. "Now run your bitch-ass off and get to the opposite side!"

"Allright." The second he jumped into the first trench the gunners on the other side of the course started firing at him with M60 machine guns! He dodged, rolled, and jumped his way through the trenches, finally crossing the goal line. Anderson looked him over and said

"Pretty damn good... for a rookie! Got a couple hits, good thing your armor can deflect a 762... This next one is a lot meaner..." He lead Megaman onto the next course. It was a similar maze of trenches, but this one was complete with barbed wire, thorn bushes, rats, and land mines! Curiously there was a rifle target sitting about five feet to the left of the door.

"What's the target for General?"

"Demonstration..." He heard a sharp whistling sound, then the target blew over in a cloud of dust. A second later a sharp CRACK sound echoed through the air. Anderson bent over and picked up the target. There was a half-inch hole drilled almost dead center!

"Holy!!!"

"That's the opposition. A sniper with a .50 fucking caliber rifle! And that can punch through your armor and KILL you, so don't fuck up!"

"All right, I'll charge him and dodge when he fires." He definitely had no idea of what he was doing, as Anderson's next response reassured.

"Go ahead and rush that sniper head on! He'll blast you before you get within a mile of him! It works much better to sneak up behind him and say what John McClaine would say 'Yippie Ky Yay Mother Fucker' and shoot him in the back! Now get out there and fight dammit and I'll see ya on the other side." He walked through another door, leaving Megaman alone at the far end of the killing field. The sniper's perch was obvious, a tower a mile and a half away. He suddenly realized how dangerous his position was, and dove into the cover. As he jumped he heard a sharp PING noise. When he checked himself he noticed that there was a rather deep and ragged scratch across his helmet! Had he not moved it would've hit him right between the eyes!!! He began sneaking around, crawling through the wire and underbrush, having a couple more close encounters with the 750-grain bullets. Finally he arrived at the tower. He scaled it from behind, trying to be as silent as possible, and as soon as he was on the platform he did as Anderson instructed...

"Yippie ky yay mother fucker!" right as he fired a couple red paint balls into the sniper's back! "Oh crap! Did I actually say that or just think it?"

"You sure as shit said it! This is just too damn easy for you, I guess you're a better fighter than I thought. So fuck you and get the Hell of my base! And pick up my goody box on the way out." Anderson ordered. Megaman complied, picking up the box labeled "Anderson's Goody Box, take me home!!!" and followed the instructions. He started driving back, wasting more gasoline as he started his trip back the same day as he arrived.

Meanwhile hundreds of miles away Wily paced back and forth, trying to decide his next move. He had a map of the United States laid out on a table with various machine parts laid out on strategic locations such as the Pentagon, Groom Lake, and New York. It so happened that the one on New York had a big fat red "X" drawn through it. He paused briefly to look over at Dr. Light who was asleep in an unusually small cage for a man of his size. He resumed his pacing, now and then considering moving a part from one point to another.

"Yes, I will conquer zem all. Ze American military is incompetent. They don't stand a chance against me..."

"Sure Wily..." Protoman said, openly voicing his lack of confidence in Wily as he walked into the room with a 12-pack of Pepsi, which he proceeded to set each of the cans on a rail at the far end of the room.

"Vhat? Do you question ME?!?"

"Oh no Wily..." he said, then whispered to himself "You stupid son-of..."

"Vell at least zat is taken care of. I have proven my vast superiority over ze Americans with my new 'Raptorman' robot. My next target is Washington DC... Once there Raptorman vill demonstrate it's true abilities... By taking out ze President!"

"Yeah, sure..." Protoman replied, taking aim at one of the cans. He then fired his blaster, firing a bright blue beam and knocking him back a good eight and a half inches! Needless to say the can and the two closest ones were disintegrated! The boom woke Light with a start, causing him to hit his head on one of the steel bars...

"Ouch! Wily, how long are you going to hold me here?"

"As long as I vant! I have you so they won't dare to nuke me, and I have a little surprise waiting for Megaman when he arrives..."

"Great... I do hope he'll be Allright...

Finally Megaman pulled into the parking lot of the eastmost marina on Long Island. He then pried open the goody box that QC had given to him, and gasped at what was inside... It contained a million dollars in cash and several EMP grenades. He thought "Sweet! Now not only can I get to the island, but I have something new to try on Wily!" With a fraction of the money he bought a small boat, and immediately started towards the island...

Less than an hour later he could see the island, and began preparing to sneak in and screw over Wily's plan. But he had forgotten this very useful thingy called RADAR. He had already been detected and Wily's bots were lining up to stop him! A few minutes later the boat bottomed out and came to a halt ten feet from the shore. He jumped out, blaster armed and ready to fight...

"Well brother, I must say nice boat!" Protoman mocked.

"Really? I like my blaster better!" he said, then took aim and started firing, the bright yellow beam from his cannon lighting up the area. The enemies started returning fire, and the array of weapons flying through the area was incredible. Hell, it was comparable to the weapons exhibit at the Smithsonian!!! But despite their immense number Megaman was slowly winning! Less than a minute later all the bots except for Megaman and Protoman were smoldering heaps of metal on the muddy ground!

"Damn! You're getting better Brother!"

"I know! And you're next!" As Megaman began to aim, a huge shadow form began to become visible from behind Protoman! Soon the form began to pick up details... It appeared to be an American assault mecha, but much smaller. This one seemed to be about 50 feet tall. But big or small Megaman knew he was no match for it!

"Meet Raptorman! Wily's most powerful and second best 'bot! Still wanna fight?"

"Ummm... I'm outta here!" Megaman said as he turned and ran, dropping a small object on the way. His boat took off into the night. Protoman walked up to the object, then realized what it was. A hand grenade! But by then it was too late, as the grenade exploded in a blinding white flash, sending out a massive electromagnetic pulse that temporarily shorted out Protoman and gave him one FUCK of a headache!!!

Due to winds and currents the trip back took somewhat longer than the trip to, and thus Megaman arrived at the marina about an hour and a half later. Standing on the dock was the Admiral from before. Megaman pulled up to that dock and immediately said "Will you please tell me what that thing out there was?!?"

"Well, I have a theory, but it's almost certainly correct. The DODT has been working on a small 'toy' for C-Division to 'play' with. The only thing is that this 'toy' is a 50-foot battle suit meant for urban assault! Well in any case our prototype went missing about a month ago, and I have a pretty good guess who grabbed it."

"Wily. Should've known! He could never build something like that!"

"Well we need you to help us. Get the prototype out of Wily's hands, preferably intact. If not, than blow the fuck out of it! Until next time..." he said, pressing a small button on his belt 'o tricks "Admiral Kelley out!" he said, disappearing in a flash.

"Yes, until next time. But what should I do in the mean time..."

*****************

Wily sat in his chair with a cold, angry stare on his face. "Vell Protoman, it looks like we won, but only in part..."

"What do you mean? We're still here, aren't we?"

"Megaman escaped!!! He was supposed to be destroyed!"

"He say your new robot and ran like a little kid! I guess he's not my little brother for nothing!"

"Yes, but we need a more attractive bait to keep him here long enough to destroy him. Ze hostage is the problem. We need a better hostage..."

"But Wily, Dr. Light is the best hostage we can get! He MADE Megaman after all!"

"Yes, but that's not the point... Ze best hostages are close friends or family members. Preferably females. Add a dangerous situation and Pouf! They'll do anything to get zem back!"

"I see the point... And I know just the perfect hostage..."

*****************

Jamie was in the kitchen when the phone rang. She picked it up and answered "Hello?"

"Jamie! Wily's after you, get out now! I'll be there to pick you up in ten minutes." Megaman's voice said.

"Great... Well, I guess I'll see you soon..." she said before hanging up.

"Right..." This time the voice wasn't Megaman's... It had been Protoman all along, mimicking Megaman's voice! Unfortunately for her, Jamie didn't have a clue...

Jamie sat down on the same park bench she always waited at when Megaman was due to pick her up. It was kind of chilly out, so she was wearing a jacket and scarf. She then pulled out her cigarettes and lighter, and set them down with the lighter on the left side. Then she proceeded to adjust the scarf to better keep out the cold when down the street she heard a snap. She looked, and while he was still distracted a hand shot out of the bushes behind her and grabbed the still unopened pack and replaced it with an identical looking one...

"Hmmm. Must just be the wind." she muttered. She reached to grab the pack and lighter, but the lighter had mysteriously moved to the right side. Had she just forgotten which side it was on, or what? It was probably nothing, so she proceeded to open the pack and light the first cigarette she pulled out. Almost immediately something didn't seem right. The taste was wrong somehow... Then it really hit. Her lips began to get numb, and a sudden wave of dizziness shot through her head. She shook it off and looked at the cigarette... there were several tiny holes all along the shaft, and a slight bluish discoloration of the filter...

"Shit!" she exclaimed as she threw it away, but it was already too late. Another much fiercer wave hit her and she fell unconscious. Protoman almost immediately jumped out of the bushes and scooped her up and said

"You really shouldn't smoke... It could be bad for your health!!!"

******************

With the lab being destroyed, Megaman had nowhere to spend the night, so he decided to go over to Jamie's house and see if he could stay there. He parked his car in the overnight lot, entered the apartment building, and went up to her family's apartment. He knocked on the door and it immediately flew open and a man practically yelled

"Jamie! Wait a second?!? Where did you and her go, and where is she?"

"What? You mean Jamie's not here? What do you mean 'me and her?' I don't know what you're talking about!" Megaman said.

"You called her and she left about six hours ago, and we haven't heard from her since."

"Wait a second, I never called... Protoman! Damn! It must've been Protoman mimicking my voice!"

"You mean..." the man said.

"Protoman must've kidnapped her! That son-of-a-Yugo! First it's the Doc, then it's my best friend... Who's next, Admiral Kelley?"

"Who? Just tell me one thing Megaman, can you get my daughter back safely?"

"Sure thing. Oh boy is Wily gonna pay for this one...

***************

Back at Skull Fortress Protoman had crammed Jamie into another ridiculously small cage and put it right next to Dr. Light's. Wily, who was eyeing them and trying to decide how to best lure in Megaman (and privately thinking to himself some sick Fetish fantasy with Jamie). They were quietly talking to each other, trying to formulate an escape plan, and Wily finally got sick of it. So he took a gallon steel pail, put several small holes in the bottom, and filled it with a pound or so of chopped Marijuana leaves. He placed this bucket between the two cages, threw in a couple pieces of burning charcoal, and then threw a tarp over the cages. In a matter of minutes the air under that tarp was as thick as London fog with smoke, and the prisoners were obviously stoned off their asses! Wily sighed in relief, and said

"Now that we've got ze hostages, Megaman will come to us. I vant him DESTROYED!!! No excuses this time Protoman!"

"Sure boss... Sure.

Megaman sped off back to Skull Fortress, but this time in a World War 2-style landing craft filled with 20 or so Navy SEALS and Admiral Kelley as their commander. Over an hour passed and finally the boat landed. The ramp lowered and the SEALS charged out and dug in as fast as possible. Megaman and the Admiral hid behind a ridge as the craft pulled out to wait a mile or so offshore.

"Damn Admiral, are you certain this is such a good idea?"

"The SEALs are a distraction so we can sneak in the back and cause some real damage. If you have a better idea I'm open to suggestions."

"Well if the 'doc and Jamie weren't in there I can think of plenty... I guess you're right."

Several minutes passed before anything happened... But when it did they all immediately wished it hadn't... Twenty attack robots jumped practically out of nowhere and started shooting at the SEALs!!! They of course fired back, but their M4 rifles did precious little against the robot's armor. Megaman and the Admiral both stood up and fired their weapons, with much better results. Megaman's blaster shots exploded with enough force to crush the enemy robot's armor, and the Admiral's pulse rifle could punch through their armor! All seemed to be going well, when suddenly and to everyone's complete surprise Protoman landed directly behind the Admiral and grabbed him, putting his blaster to the Admiral's head!!!

"Put your blaster down Brother or this man gets it!"

"Kelley!!!"

"Fuckin 'A, man! I never expected this!" he said before Protoman wrenched the pulse rifle out of the Admiral's hand.

"Nice toy..." Protoman said, pointing it at Megaman and the SEALs just as the landing craft got back and lowered it's ramp. "Get in your boat and leave! Do it now and he may live!" Megaman and the SEALs had no choice but to comply. They quietly got back in the landing craft, it's ramp went back up, and it started backing up...

"Get on your knees!" Protoman commanded, forcing Admiral Kelley down, and pointing his plasma cannon at the back of his head... "Mind if I try out your toy gun? Don't mind if I do..." He raised the rifle, and to the Admiral's horror fired a long burst at the landing craft! He heard several loud death screams, followed by a terrific BOOM and a greenish white flash!

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

"Damn! We can't just leave him, we need to go back and get the Admiral!" the SEAL commander said.

"We can't! They'll kill him!" another SEAL said.

"I'm on his side. We'll go about ten miles out, then I and just I go back..." Megaman started to say, but was interrupted by several dozen bright blue bolts of energy tearing through

the landing craft, several of the SEALs, and his own gut! His eyes widened and a fraction of a second later his guts exploded with a horrible explosion, tearing out almost half his gut and shredding the three SEALs that were right next to him! He collapsed to the ground, and staring up at the starry sky, surrounded by blood and his own plasma and oil and as his vision pixelated and faded out said

"Damn... I've failed. I'm sorry..."

Some time later (he had no idea how much so) Megaman finally regained consciousness. He was in a world of silence and total darkness, except for a small blinking rectangle near the upper left corner of his perception. He tried to call out, but nothing happened. An eternity seemed to pass, and finally the blinking rectangle was replaced with a single line of text:

[root@rockman root]#

He realized this was his command prompt, something he hadn't seen since his last maintenance two months ago! Then it finally hit him, he hadn't died when he was hit by the energy blast, he had merely been disabled. Finally the silence was broken...

"Sir, we've managed to initialize his audio interface!"

"Good, try to get the video lines open. Megaman, can you hear me?"

"Yes... Where am I?" he shakily said.

"You're in a DODT lab... We've managed to repair the worst of your damage, but we still have a long ways to go."

"Allright... How long was I out?"

"At least 48 hours. Be glad for bdflush, otherwise you'd be suffering from robotic amnesia. Your system came back up and started right where it left off. It's your mechanicals we're having problems with..." he said. Suddenly he could see again, very pixellated at first, but after several seconds it was back to normal. He tried to move, but without success.

"I can see, but I'm still paralyzed... What's wrong?"

"As far as we can tell it's a problem with your primary servo system. That explosion knocked out all your lower body systems, and it's EMP fried your central hub. Fortunately it's standard gigabit Ethernet, so all we have to do is find a replacement and your upper body will be active again... But..."

"But what?" Megaman said with a fear that didn't make sense to him.

"We don't fully understand your systems, so without Dr. Light's help we have no hope of repairing your power supply. Our best mockup isn't half of Light's."

"So that was my reactor exploding? Damn, is everyone else allright?"

"That's more bad news. The initial explosion killed three SEALs, the resulting fire and radiation killed almost half of the ones that survived the initial attack. I hate to say it but Wily really fucked us up this time..."

"Great... Do you have any good news?"

"Well, we just got your new Ethernet hub... we're hooking it up now." he said as another technician handed him a small plastic box. He inserted it into Megaman's chest and connected the 24 cables into it. A flurry of signals shot across Megaman's field-of-view, ending with "All upper body systems restored" before his command prompt plain disappeared. He flexed his left hand, then with both arms pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Thank you. Now just get my legs working and I'll rip Wily a new one!"

"Not without my help you won't!" a familiar voice said. Anderson walked into the room, M2 in-hand, and a pissed look on his masked face.

"General! Boy am I glad to see you..."

"That mother fucker kidnapped the wrong Admiral! Wanna go help me get those hostages back and fuck Wily over for good?

"Yes sir I do! As soon as they get me working again!"

"I have full fucking confidence in these men... You'll be done by day's end!

******************

Sure enough by the end of the day the DODT team had finished adding the new interface lines and Megaman could move again. His reactor had been replaced, and his armor repaired (not the right color, doc could fix this later). He and the General went to the DODT's private airstrip and got in a Black Hawk Helicopter labeled "DODT 1." Within minutes they were airborne and en route to Skull Fortress. The General reached under the seat and pulled out a bottle of Coca-Cola and said

"I never go into battle without first taking a drink for luck..." He peeled up his mask just enough for him to get the bottle up to his lips and chug down the contents before replacing the mask and continuing the flight to the fortress. Finally the fortress came into view... "Megaman, take the controls for a minute..."

"Yes sir, but how do you plan to get past Raptorman? If he was built by the Admiral's people a .50 won't touch him!" Anderson reached for his backpack and from the bottom right corner pulled out the end of a .50 caliber ammo belt, which he fed into the bottom feeder of his M2. He set that across his lap, then reached behind His seat, prodded for several seconds, then finally pulled his hand back holding a huge gun!

"With this, a Phased Pulse Generator. Oh this fucker can level the fortress if I let it charge long enough! And I plan to take down that toy with this one!" the General explained.

"And you're gonna use that INSIDE the fortress too?"

"No, that's what my Browning is for! You'll see soon enough. Land the chopper right there." QC said, pointing at the very spot that Megaman had been when the Admiral was captured. Megaman landed the helicopter, jumped out, and waited for the General to do the same. He stepped out, the Browning on his back and holding the PPG. They started walking towards the fortress, but were stopped by a sudden thumping sound...

The robot walked out from behind a concrete wall and started firing it's guns on Megaman and the General! Megaman, in his damaged condition, jumped down behind yet another sand dune and waited. QC, on the other hand, pulled and held the trigger on the PPG... Instead of firing a stream of shots it started making a loud howling sound, and it's muzzle began emitting a blue light! He pointed it at the huge robot and said...

"Open wide mother fucker!" as he released the trigger! A bright white beam shot out of the cannon and ripped through the robot's outer armor, only to explode on the inside!!! The robot staggered and suddenly exploded with the force of a 2,000 pound bomb, throwing QC back on his ass!

"Holy! What's in that thing?" Megaman exclaimed.

"Not much, but it sure does the trick!" he walked back to the chopper and placed the cannon back on it's rack, then took the M2 off his shoulder and said "Let's go free us some prisoners!

****************

"He did WHAT?!?" Wily screamed.

"I told you Raptorman is down! Destroyed by one shot from whatever that was! We need to get outta here!" Protoman said, grabbing Wily by the arm and running headlong towards the skullger.

"But ze hostages!"

"Forget your damn hostages! We need to go back to our friends now!" Protoman replied, throwing Wily into the copilot's seat of the skullger before hopping in himself and closing the dome cockpit. He fired up the engines and took off through a hole in the roof...

"General it's Wily's Skullger!" Megaman exclaimed.

"I see it... And I'm gonna fuckin' waste it..." He raised his heavy machine-gun and placed the skullger right in the crosshairs of the huge gun's sights... "Yippie ky yay, mother fucker!" He fired a quick five-shot burst...

--PING!!!

"We're hit!"

"I know Wily, shut up! We can still make it to Russia!"

"But if he fires again we're done for!" he said, looking at the status board.

"Just ignore it! I've got it!"

"Well he's fuckin' gone... Fuck him, we have some prisoners to rescue."

"Good." Megaman led Anderson into the bowels of the fortress, with surprisingly no resistance! As soon as they entered the main chamber they were greeted by a bluish haze rising from a tarp over three cages! Anderson walked over and pulled the tarp off, under it was a smoking bucket and cages containing the Doc, Jamie, and Admiral Kelley. Megaman and Anderson had no problems removing the locks, and Megaman slung the Doc and Jamie over his shoulders, and Anderson the Admiral over his. They walked them back out to the chopper (and fresh air) before trying to awaken them... The Admiral was the first to answer...

"Fuckin'A Wiley ain't such a bad guy...let's just shoot his dick off and let him be."

"Fuckdamn Kelley you're more stoned than I thought! Remember what he did to those SEALs..." QC replied, before being cut off by the Admiral...

"In that case rip his fuckin head off and shove it back up his ass!" Kelley barked, suddenly snapping out of the high! Jamie awoke next.

"Ooooohhhhh... I haven't gotten stoned in a long time... I forgot how much it SUCKS!" she said groggily.

"Don't worry. Your head will clear up before long." Megaman answered. Several minutes later Light woke up.

"Where am I?"

"Skull Fortress. We just rescued you" Megaman said.

"Your armor? What happened?"

"I got hit by a bullet from a pulse rifle. I'll need repairs, but I'll be fine."

"Well now that we're all in good fucking condition may I suggest that we get the hell outta here!" QC said, hopping back in the pilot's seat. Admiral Kelley stumbled up to the copilot's seat, then he realized that he'd left something important behind..."

"My rifle? Where is it?"

"Don't worry. I got your things..." QC answered, handing the Admiral his pulse rifle and Jamie her purse. He then proceeded to take off and make a beeline for Long Island...

*****************

The Next Day...

Everything had gone back to more or less normal. Jamie had been returned to her family, and with the help of the DODT Dr. Light had repaired Megaman to his previous condition. Admiral Kelley resumed his position in the DODT and almost immediately proceeded to try to find the flaw in his strategy that led to his capture!

That very night Megaman had reorganized the party that he and his friends were having the night that this whole ordeal started. It was about one in the morning, the love birds had gone to bed and the dorm owner was on the Playstation. Megaman and Jamie walked out to the front porch of the dorm. Finally she said

"Thanks again for saving my life..."

"Really, it was nothing..." he replied.

"Don't say that, you make it sound as if I wasn't important." she replied, while lighting a cigarette.

"No, I mean it was nothing! QC did all the work! I just carried you and the Doc out."

"Well thanks anyway... I didn't like the way that old man was eyeing me... I mean I may not be a virgin, but the very thought of him makes me shudder!"

"I doubt if you were in any danger, but I guess I understand. If you ever feel threatened just give me a call. I'm here for you."

"Thanks." she said, looking up at the starry sky. They were far enough from the city center that it was actually visible. "The sky is beautiful isn't it?"

"I guess it is. I'm sorry but I don't have much appreciation for things like that."

"Well I guess that's just the way it is..." she replied, looking at the stars and smoking her cigarette while privately thinking to herself. "There's just one thing I've forgotten..."

"What's that?" Megaman asked, and before he knew what was going on Jamie kissed him briefly on the lips! "What's that all about?"

"Well, you're the hero I guess, and the hero always gets to kiss the girl... it's a sort of a tradition I guess, and far be it for me to break a tradition!" she laughed.

"Yes, far be it..." he trailed off.

"Hey I bet I could beat you in a game of Demon Hunters!"

"Not a chance little girl!"

"You wanna bet?" she said, throwing away the cigarette and running back into the dorm.

"You don't have a prayer!" he said while in hot pursuit...

****************

Meanwhile over the Atlantic Wily and Protoman weren't having such a good time... The wounded Skullger just wasn't very intent on staying airborne!

"Dammit Wily can't you ever do ANYTHING right?"

"Shut up Protoman! I'm trying to think..."

"About what? How you can screw up next time?"

"Why you little..." he said, going at Protoman's throat!

"Don't even do this Wily..."

The End...

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is my attempt at a good quality Megaman fic, and while it's a good fic I don't think I did that good a job at IC... But then again there is very little to base the characters on... I'll do this again, but I'll be writing a NGE fic or two between now and again... Well see ya on the other side. -QC