"Whoo! I've done it!!!"
The cry echoed across the hallway of Dr. Light's laboratory. Megaman looked up, before he started running into the lab, trying to figure out what Dr. Light had "done." Roll was running, obviously for the same reasons. Rush joined the two, probably more for fun than any real reason. X soon caught up, running just to run with the group.
Megaman and Roll skidded across the lab to where Light sat, doing a funny little dance with his arms. Megaman blinked. X laughed.
"What did you do, Dr. Light?" he asked. Light jumped up. "I've done the impossible!! I've made a program that lets robots age!!!"
Roll blinked. "But Robots weren't meant to age, Dr. Light," she informed him. Dr. Light smiled. "Ah, I know, but it'll help on a project I'm working on. You see, it's not a permanent aging. Maybe ten years or so, if not less. It allows them to grow. It's not a programming thing."
"But we're inorganic," Roll responded. "Is that why you're exited?"
Light nodded. "It's the most brillant thing!!" He started dancing again. Megaman quietly watched, thinking of what this would mean for him. Usally, Light would ask Megaman if he wanted to try something new... good or bad. This would allow him to grow taller, look older.... but it would have some downsides. For instance, he'd have to buy new clothes. A new uniform.
"Hah. That's a pretty useless thing, Light."
The group turned to Protoman, who was standing in a corner. Megaman wondered how long he'd been watching. There was no way to tell.
Light flushed, but held his tongue. Protoman continued. "Who'd want to have a robot that grows? Gets taller? Looks older?"
Light smiled. "Actually, the robot doesn't grow much in size. It's more of a hidden aging factor. For exapmle, their hair grows out like a humans, but a human who has reached their destined size."
Protoman laughed. "Riiiiiight. Well, I promise I won't buy this." He gave a whistle, then teleported off, to who knows where.
"He bugs me," X said, then scratched the top of Rush's head. "He's always so… so…."
"Dark," Roll concluded for him.
Megaman had decided to take a walk, to think about the chip. It was pretty useless, as Protoman said- the robots were inorganic creatures. But the hair thing could have some advantages. He could cut his hair, or it could grow out. He could get taller and stop being considered a fourth grader, or a young kid. He'd be more believable when he told the security guard that he needed to stop Wily.
A sudden scream made him turn around. A woman screamed as a man ran off with her child. Megaman instantly warped into his uniform and chased after the man.
The man was quite fast for a human. He spun into empty warehouses, twisted into back alleyways, and melted into the shadows. Megaman could barely follow his lead, until the man stopped at the entrance to a wherehouse and pointed the gun at the child's head.
"I'll kill her! Stay away!" The child began to cry. Megaman took a step forward.
The child cried harder. "Run away! Run Away! They want to kill you, Megaman!" Her eyes suddenly surged a blue. Her tears became forgotten, and Megaman stepped back from horror. A pair of eyes watched him from above, cold and unmoving. He didn't see them. He was staring at the man who pulled out a gun. It wasn't any gun he knew; it was twice the size, like a cliché laser gun.
The child's eyes grew black, as if it had been no more than a robot. A cold chill went up his spine, and he turned to run to Dr. Light's lab. He could only pray they hadn't harmed them, either.
The gun fired, and Megaman was aware of a sharp fuzziness slamming into his spine. He shut down automatically; he simply fell over. The man grinned and he pulled out another gun. He shot the child, who turned out to be nothing other than a robot. The figure from up above stood, and then dropped down.
"He is all right?" the figure asked coldly. When the man nodded, she picked up Megaman and teleported off with him. The man grinned. Now he would get his reward…
"Roll!" Dr. Light shouted. "Where's Megaman?" The continuing of the beatings and firings of the force field continued. The lights were gone so the force field could hold. Roll shrugged, and Tango and Beat came in, with X following them.
X was one of Dr. Light's newest creations- he could think, feel, and make decisions for himself. As Megaman was still around, Dr. Light had no problem leaving X to grow up as any other child would, with a growing understanding and a growing conscious. As of right now, X acted a lot like a preschooler.
Rush barked, and Roll was the first to spot the helmet Rush had hanging over his head. The room was deathly quiet.
"Is he gone?" X asked quietly. "Is Meggy gone?" His face turned a deeper sad than what preschoolers know; it was a deep sadness that echoes through the land, a sadness that never ends.
Rush gave a nod. The force field broke right at that instant, and X spun around, angry. His X-buster was ready and his eyes were angry. He started to yell in anger and dashed toward the door, with Tango and Rush following.
"X, stop." Dr. Light's voice was cold. "Quickly, X. Follow me." X did so, but his head hung low. Roll, Tango, Rush, and Beat all stood their ground. Roll even transformed her arm cannon- something she had never done. A familiar whistle greeted them as Protoman stood beside them. They stared as the door barged through, awaiting their fate.