Author's Note: It may seem odd that I'm already posting the another chapter so soon, but I actually started this chapter right after I finished the first draft of the prologue. So while I was editing and changing ideas in the prologue, I was writing the first draft of this. This chapter was quite hard because I was writing this from scratch. I did gain some inspiration from the opening stage in Powered Up and the opening stage in Mega Man 7 though. You Legends fan probably figured out that Paprika was loosely based on the dog with the same name that chased Tron. You should be expecting a lot of Legends references and characters. You should also expect two certain characters to show up. Anyway, let's begin.
Arc One: The Beginning of the Blue Bomber
Mega Man RockRemix - Chapter One: Vs. Paprika; Mega Man's First Battle
Mega Man was in The Heart of Monsteropolis City. Usually teenagers would be walking with shopping bags in their hand or talking to their friends as business workers went to jobs or getting a bite to eat. Now fire and fallen debris filled the streets as people ran away for their life. Mega Man's visualizers scanned the area to see if anyone was trapped in a building. His visors caught something far away from him. It was a girl around his age, maybe a year younger, carrying boxes. She had long hair with fringes not as wild as his in the front. She wore a vest and a suit similar to his. He noticed a skull marking by her collar bone. He also noticed writing on right upper arm. He zoomed in and took a closer look. As he did so, he gained some basic information about her.
"DBN-002: Tron Bonne is an assistant robot created by Dr. Bonne. Based on the model of DLN-001: Rock Trigger, she helps build other robots or Special Weapons. Good point: determined and loyal to her family. Bad point: short-tempered and a sore loser. She likes building machines and dislikes dogs." He muttered the information to himself.
His scanner also caught the dog robot making its way to her. He also decided to get its basic information.
"Paprika is the prototype of Friender, a dog-like robot who act as the protector of Titanium Park. It was stored away due to its tendency to burn anything that moves. Good point: great instinct. Bad point: burns anything. It likes battery biscuits and dislikes water."
He looked at the smoke coming from miles away. He was breathing heavily. He knew this was going to happen, but seeing all of the destruction in person made him tighten his hands into fist and his teeth to grind.
"Why have you done this, Wily? Why have you gone mad with anger and pride? Dear god, why?" Rock whispered to himself with anger as tears fell down his metal cheeks covered by seemingly human skin.
He pressed other side of his helmet and his visualizers went back in. He quickly wiped the tears from his eyes. He had to be a hero now, he couldn't turn back. Rock pressed the button again and his visors shielded his eyes. His feet were glued to the ground. This burning city would forever be stuck in memory. It was a static noise that snapped him back to reality.
"Rock . . . I mean Mega Man, can you hear me?" The voice shrieked. Both the static and the shrieking almost hurt his ears.
"Barely. Transmission is static. I'll try fixing it on my end.
He couldn't recognize the voice at first. He took off his helmet and looked for where ever the transmitter was. He saw that behind the right red circle was the transmitter. He fiddled with it and placed the helmet back on his head.
"Try talking now."
"Mega Man, is everything going smoothly?"
That voice hit him right in the chest. It was Roll. He could hear chatting from the others in the background.
"So far. Shouldn't you be helping Grandpa with something like building machines? I don't want to affect anyone else. This is something I must clean up myself."
"First of all, your grandpa gave me the position of your Navigator. Second of all, we are all here to help. We care about you and are very important to every one of us. I'll be here to give you advice, develop new weapons for you, and the like."
"Okay then. So can you tell me more about my armor and weaponry?"
"There's not much to say about the armor, it's pretty basic for the most part. On the other hand, I have quite a few things to say about your weapons. I developed your helmet with a safety helmet, and it protects your head from extra damage. Inside both of your forearms are copy chips which allow you to copy the Robot Master's special weapons and parts of their physical appearance. You probably noticed that your forearm and gloves are not connected. Neither is arm or forearm. The reason for this is to switch out weapons. You can replace the forearms with equipment like the Drill Arm or the Splash Bombs. Your hands go inside your forearm and change various special weapons like your default weapon, the Mega Buster. Your Mega Buster is solar powered, meaning that you can never run out of Weapon. Your shoes can be replaced or attach different foot parts like Jet Skates. I will upgrade your armor and weapons when needed. Your turtleneck can act as a face plate, so pull it up when you need it. That's all you need to know as of now."
"Thanks, Roll. I appreciate your help a lot."
"No problem. I also built in a map inside your visualizers. I also have a map in front of me just in case."
"Really? That's pretty useful actually."
"You also know about the database I built in, right?"
"Yeah. I've used it already. I'm not sure how you come up with such useful tool, but you've really outdone yourself."
"Anything for a close friend of mine."
He smiled to himself and replied, "Thanks for being by my side."
"I'm glad to be by your side. I feel at ease talking to you, hearing that you're safe."
"I'm glad too. I better get to Paprika now. I'll talk to you soon."
"Okay. Just give me a call when you need help or need someone to talk to."
"Okay." He turned off the transmitter and looked at the rest of city.
His visualizer spotted a hovering figure by Paprika.
"It's Dr. Wily! He must be waiting for me. I'll get his database later, but now I must stop his plans."
He raced to the place where the smoke was coming from.
While Mega Man was making his way to Paprika, Tron was walking faster as the city became covered in hell's fire. Unknowingly to her, the demon and his hound were drawing closer to her.
"Where are those Mets? I told them to be back with the rest of the supplies Mother. . . Dr. Bonne needed. They're so incompetent! The only thing they are good for is fighting and even then, they are still weak. I should build better robots. I should just forget them and bring the remaining supplies back. I just wish that I was built with jets in my boots."
The red circles on her sole created distant sounds that echoed through the almost empty city. She frozen and dropped to the ground. The boxes fell down with her and slipped from her hands. She clutched her chest and felt her solar core growing weaker as the thick smoke clouds shielded the sun. She was growling and saw a figure on a hovercraft.
"You must be Tron Bonne, one of Dr. Bonne's creations. I'm quite pleased and surprised at the fine creations you've made such as these Mets."
Little, spherical robots emerged from the shadows. The black and yellow creatures glared at their creator. She noticed the construction helmets they now wore.
"What have you done with my kids, I mean robots?!"
"I reprogrammed them to serve me. I'm their master now! I'll make a deal with you. If you join me in my conquest for the world, you'll remain unharmed and create whatever you like without the care in my new world. If you don't, my robots will turn you into scrap metal."
"Take over the world? You must be off your rocker, old man! I have much more important things in my life."
"I gave you a chance and you turned it down. Mets, Paprika! Attack her!"
A figure walked through the flames. Its golden, glowing eyes locked on Tron's olive green ones. Her eyes met with a dog-like robot with large fangs and sharp teeth. It was drooling oil. Her image reflected off the the robot's claws. Her eyes shrunk and sweat beamed down her forehead. She was breathing heavily. The monster was reflected in her eyes.
"There's your new chew toy, Paprika. Now fetch! Wahahahah!"
Tron grabbed the blaster gun from its case and began to shoot the Mets first. They dug into the ground, with their helmets only showing. Her shots bounced off the Mets' helmets.
"Great! Now I have to play some waiting game. Just great!" She yelled and pulled her hair.
The Mets were still on the ground, waiting for the perfect chance. Tron tapped one foot and twirled the blaster in her hand. Her foot tapped the ground faster each second.
"Pop out already!"
They still remained in the ground.
"That's it!"
With the blaster still her hand. She ran up at her full speed towards the Mets. As she did so, the Meta popped up and began to shoot out three pellets from their mouth. She moved out the pellets' path and leaped of the ground with much force. She aimed her blaster at them and began to shoot at rapid speed to fast for the naked eye. Her own pellets pierced the metal of each Met and popped out of the other side. She landed on her two feet as the Mets fell down and exploded. Her hair was blowing. He glared at the mad doctor and snarled at him. She aimed her blaster at him still in his hovercraft.
"Don't you know that harming a human is against the first law of robotics?"
"I don't follow the law of robotics. I was based on DLN-001: Rock Trigger, whoever he is."
"So you have free will? Interesting. I will admit, your battling skills are not bad. Not bad at all. I'm quite impressed actually. Where did you learned them from?" He stroked his mustache.
"My older brother is the second-in-command of Repliforce, the government of Monsteropolis. The General is the husband of my creator."
"I heard of your brother and your father. Quite a skilled warriors. Too bad they aren't here to see you fail! Paprika, now!"
Paprika's tail and mouth began to charge up the fuel inside. Scanning its target, Paprika shoot the flames out at her. She ran away from the flames and slide past the dog robot. She aimed her blaster and shot at its shoulder. Her shot made it, but the robot wasn't fazed by it. It turned around and charged at her with fangs buried in fire. As it was about to chomp down, she jumped up and held its jaws down. She sat on the dog's back and shot it neck a few times. The dog simply shrugged it off and threw her off. A bit of her suit tore off, and she gained a couple of bruises. She shot at one of the legs, but it didn't do anything. Dr. Wily was laughing like a manic now.
"Why aren't my pellets doing any damage to it? I can't give up now and wait for someone to save me. I have to be strong for my family," she muttered softly to herself.
She had to think of something quickly. She knew she had to wear it down and distract it in the meantime.
Mega Man was getting closer to his destination. The blue sky was leaving him behind as he came closer. He hasn't run into anything yet, but he knew something was coming up. He just didn't know what. He pressed the button on his hip and his briefs appeared. He needed all the protection he can get. He was now walking slowly. He was scanning the whole area. His steps were hardly making a sound. His left hand turned into his Mega Buster. He pointed it at every direction. He turned on his transmitter.
"Roll, are you picking up anything?"
"There are some enemies up ahead. I'm not sure what they are, but you better be careful!"
"I will." He spoke in his most calm and soothing tone.
He walked ahead with caution. His eyes were wide open. He checked his map to see what was to come.
"Mega Man, look out!"
He turned around and saw something yellow glowing.
"Bang!"
A row of pellets was coming right at him. He quickly turned off his map and jumped out of the way. He landed on the ground on his twos. He looked his opponent. It was some kind of green robot around his height. Its helmet was covering its whole face. It had a black visualizer similar to his own. He could see a single red dot glowing through the visualizer. One of its hands was a black buster. The other hand was holding a white and green shield. The robot held its shield in front of it shortly after each pellet missed him.
"Mega Man, what are you fighting?"
"Let me get the data."
He scanned the green robot.
"Sniper Joes are military robots based off of DLN-000: Blues Break. They have no free will or emotions. They often carry a shield due to their bodies being weak," Mega Man responded.
"A Sniper Joe! They're extremely dangerous, especially with their shields. If you know there pattern, they will be easier to deal with. You should try to find an opening."
"That means that I should wait for it to put down its shield and shoot me. That way I can get its body exposed and shoot it with my Mega Buster."
"Exactly! You're very clever, Mega Man."
"You give me too much credit, Roll."
"And you deserve that credit."
"Yeah, yeah." He shrugged it off and focused his attention on the Sniper Joe.
The Sniper Joe still had its shield blocking its body. Mega Man's Mega Buster was down, but it was still out. The Sniper Joe moved its shield out of its way and began to charge its shot. Mega Man began to shoot his yellow pellets at the robot. Though it couldn't emote, he could see the great pain he gave to the Sniper Joe. The Sniper Joe released out a huge, blazing pellet. It was too big for him to jump over.
"Mega Man! I forgot to mention that you have a shield built in your right arm. Use it!"
He brought his right arm close to his face. From his wrist popped out a green shield created from some kind of energy. The shield reflected the shot. The shot was now heading straight for the Sniper Joe. Based on its instants, it held its own shield in front of it. Mega Man was still holding up his shield. It was now a game of ping pong. The two kept holding their shields up. As the shot kept hitting Mega Man's shield, the more it would crack.
"Your shield wouldn't hold up forever. It will eventually break, and you wouldn't be able to use it for a little bit."
Sweat was beaming down his face. One eye was closed. His shield was at its breaking point. He had to make this count. As the shot raced towards him, he aimed his Mega Buster at the Sniper Joe. When the shot hit his shield, the impact moved him back. With his shield still protecting him, he forcefully pushed the shot back to the Sniper Joe. The shot shattered the Sniper Joe's shield. When his own shield broke, Mega Man released his pellets. Each of them shot through the robot as if bullets were going through glass. The robot bent down and collapsed. Mega Man walked up to it and touched its shoulder.
"I'm sorry for having to kill you. You fought well, soldier. If only you weren't reprogrammed."
He got back up and scanned the area. His visualizer spotted nothing. He continued to walk the broken path. The only sounds he could hear were soft, muffled cries coming from his transmitter.
"Is everything okay?" He asked in a gentle voice.
"I almost got you kill! If I didn't tell remember about the shield, you be scrap metal. I haven't finished making an extra bodies yet."
"You're being too hard on yourself. You just forgot a minor thing. That's all. Besides, you were the one who told me to get out of the way when the Sniper Joe was aiming its buster at me. You were the one that gave me the idea of shooting it when its shield was down. Cheer up, alright?"
"Alright." He could her voice getting clearer and more joyful. He smiled to himself.
"Can I talk to my parents and Grandpa quickly?"
"Sure."
He waited for a few seconds before he could hear his family.
"We're so proud and scared for you, Rock." Dr. Benjamin Light was crying a little.
"You remind me so much of a younger Glyde and especially of a younger version of her. I'm so happy you're my son, Rock." Dr. Volnutt was also crying softly.
"Mom, Dad, I love you guys so much."
Dr. Light budged in and stated, "I'm sending the Water Hose Cannon for you. This will put out the flames in the city, but your appearance won't change. When you do so, the thick smoke clouds will disappear, and you'll be able beat Paprika."
"Thanks, Grandpa."
"You're very welcome. Now, Mega Man, fight for everlasting peace!"
"I will!"
He could now hear the shuffling of the adults passing Roll's transmitter back to her.
"I'm back now. Now let's go save some lives!"
"Right on it! Now lets rock and roll!"
"Ha ha ha, very funny." She pretended to laugh, but she smiled to herself and rolled her eyes.
"Sorry. It was just that the opportunity was just there."
The two chuckled a little and then went back to their normal positions. He rushed to Paprika.
Underneath Monsteropolis Bank was some kind of lair filled with screens showing every place in the city. A short, fat man sat in a chair with his grey, lifeless eyes fixed at the blue boy jumping and shooting enemies as he navigated his way through the debris. He jumped on crumbled builds and over pits in the city. He avoided the spikes all set up by one certain scientist. The man's grey, robotic hands held onto the handles of the seat so hard that his knuckles would be white. He wore a menacing grin that went ear to ear.
"So this robot is called Mega Man? He's nothing but a boy in a power suit! I'll call Dr. Wily about this and see what he has to say."
The man grabbed his PET and called Dr. Wily. The PET buzzed a few times before he picked up.
"Who is this?"
"It's me, Lexington Loath."
"Ah yes, Mr. Loath! Is this about me paying my interest? I told you that I would pay it after all of this is over."
"No. It's about some kid in blue and cyan armor trying to ruin your operation."
"WHAT?"
"His name is Mega Man Trigger, but most people just call him Mega Man. He has some kind of arm cannon and other toys he can equip to. He's destroying your robots."
"Wait a second, they call him Trigger?"
"Yeah, why did you ask?"
Memories of Rock's first unveiling for the very first time raced in his mind. He had more hair back then. He also was a much happier man. Dr. Light, Dr. Hikari, and Dr. Volnutt were checking Rock and his systems while he was setting up the stage. He remember that worry filled his heart as he wasn't sure why the two cared so much about this new robot. Dr. Wily picked up his small, broken robot when he was done fixing up the stage. Once everything was ready, the speech began. Dr. Hikari and Dr. Volnutt was especially eager for a reason he now knows. Dr. Light, Dr. Hikari, and Dr. Volnutt took the sheet off of the robot. At the time and most of his life after that day, the robot wore a cyan suit, blue metallic boots, blue gloves that looked like gauntlets, cyan fabric attached to his gloves and boots, and blue brief armor. He still had those sky blue eyes and chestnut brown hair with those fringes. The robot stared at the shocked audience. The robot waved to the audience.
"Hi. My name is DLN-001: Rock Trigger, but you can just call me Rock or Trigger."
That amazed Dr. Wily. A robot that didn't need to be told to introduce himself or had someone else introduce him? That was so unknown to him.
"You're probably wondering why I'm so strange. You see, my A.I. chip is really different."
Rock opened his chest up and took out his A.I. chip still connected to the wires. It was a mostly basic being small and green. Instead of lighter green lines, there were blue and red lines. In the middle of the chip was a double helix.
"Inside my chip is what you humans call DNA. My DNA is from a boy named Rockefeller Lan Light who died from Heart Beat Disorder or HBD. This DNA gives me free will."
The audience looked at each other with wide eyes and open mouths. Whispering arose.
"I know that you're probably shock or even scared, but I'll assure you that I don't eat flesh or use my free will to harm humans. I was created to help my family build better robots and assist them in the lab. I want to make this world a better place. I can even prove it to you."
Rock leaped down from the stage and grabbed the broken robot Dr. Wily's hands. Both of his hands changed into tools. In no time, the robot was fixed and woke up in Dr. Wily's arms. The audience calmed down and started cheering a little
"Please don't thank me yet. I've barely done anything. I promise you that my family will make a bright future for all of us."
The audience was now praising him. Rock couldn't help but smile shyly. A faint red covered his cheeks. Rock walked backstage as his family took over. That's when Dr. Wily walked over to the blue and cyan robot.
"Rock Trigger, thank you for fixing my robot, but why did you do it?"
"You seemed concerned about it, so I fixed it."
"You can read my feelings? The only robot who could do that was Blues."
"My special chip also gives me human emotion. My older brother could feel emotion due to a glitch in his programming."
"Interesting. I have another question. Why is your name Rock Trigger?"
"Rock comes from the musical genre and a shortening of my human name. Trigger comes from the fact that I'm going trigger the new age of robotics."
"Very typical of your family to give you a meaningful name."
"That reminds me, what's your name?"
"My name is Dr. Albert W. Wily, the one and only."
"Dr. Wily? I've heard of you from Grandpa. It's nice to meet you!" Rock shoot the doctor's hand and that was the start of a new friendship.
"Rock Trigger. . ."
"Dr. Wily, did you say something?"
"No! What did the robot look like besides wearing blue and cyan armor?"
"He wore a suit with a black body, cyan sleeves, and cyan legs underneath his armor. He also wore a black faceplate with a blue section on it, cyan shoulder guards, white knee pads, black hair with blue tips, a helmet the same color as his armor, white sections with a red circle, a strange symbol inside of the circles, and a red visualizer connecting to his helmet."
"Oh. Well then, stop Mega Man by any means! I don't want that rat ruining my plans!"
"I'm already on it."
"Good. I'll talk to you later, Mr. Loath."
Lex was the first to hang up. He pulled the white cuffs of his purple suit and pressed a button.
"Glyde, come here with my niece!"
From the shadow merged two figures. One was a tall, handsome young man with very light brown hair and thin, brown lines running down his cheeks. His brown and white chest plate with gold trims sparkled in the light. On his chest plate was two yellow triangles and one red rhombus against a black and orange background. He had white armor covering his arms and brown shoulder pads with gold trimming. His forearms were covered in brown and gold trim armor. Grey plates with red gems were attached to his black gloves. In his left hand was a rose so in bloom. He wore brown, metal briefs with a white piece on it. His thighs were covered in brown armor with gold trims and patches of dark brown. White pads protected his knees. He had metallic, brown boots with patches of dark brown, white soles, and a white piece on top of the shoe part. Underneath his armor was a black suit. White pieces of metal were where human ears would be. His red eyes gazed at Lex. Next to him was a girl in her early to mid teens. Her blonde hair was tied back in pigtail braids. Her black vest was as dark as night itself. Her shirt underneath was newly painted white. Her skirt was a red rose. Her black eyes first rested on Glyde, then they locked on her uncle.
"How may I serve you, Mr. Loath?" Glyde bowed slightly.
"You see, there's a robot running around in blue armor. I want you to make short work of him to keep Dr. Wily's plan intact. His name is Mega Man Trigger, but he's mostly called Mega Man."
"Trigger? Why do I feel like I heard of that name before?"
"Is something the matter, Glyde?"
"No. I'll do as you wish, Mr. Loath. However, I can't right now because I'm currently helping Miss Yai with her violin lessons. I will send in my Birdbots in the meanwhile."
"Once you are done with that, you must stop Mega Man."
"Understood."
Glyde and Yai walked off to her room. The Birdbots passed the two with weapons and papers in their winged hands. Yai turned her head to meet Glyde's eyes.
"Why are you helping Uncle Lex? I know that since he took us in, you had to serve him. It's that you're helping Uncle Lex and Dr. Wily take over the world."
"I will admit, I don't want to help Mr. Loath or Dr. Wily at all. The only reason I'm helping them is because I fear that you'll get harm by Mr. Loath or Dr. Wily. I live to serve you and only you. I promise that I will figure something out." He bent down and kissed the top of her gentle hand.
He opened her door and said, "Ladies first."
"You're such a gentleman."
"My creator made me like that. You can thank her when we see her again."
The two smiled at each other and walked in together. They began to practice the violin, hoping that they can forget about the chaos outside.
Fire devoured the city. At least it was earlier. Mega Man was putting out the fires with his Water Hose Cannon. He was quick about it. The blue sky was showing itself again as he won the war with the smoke. He jumped up the fallen building and picked up some ammo for his Water Hose Cannon. He looked at the second gauge that would appear every time he equipped with a special weapon. A baby blue light filled the whole gauge. He smiled and sighed softly to himself. He equipped back to his Mega Buster.
"RRRRAAWRRRR!" A roar came from the other side of the silver, steel gate with a giant "W" painted on it a few inches away from him.
Mega Man walked closer to the gate and stopped in front of it. The gate slowly opened for him, only to find a second gate standing a few more inches away. He walked closer to it, but he stopped halfway and checked his visualizers for his status.
"Mega Buster is all full. Water Hose Cannon is full. My life gauge his full. I have zero extra bodies. I'm all set!"
He was about to walk up to the other gate, but he remember something. He fiddled with the sections of his helmet.
("Roll will get a heart attack from just worrying about me. It's best if she doesn't know what going on. I should at least tell her that I'm here first.")
"Roll, I'm in front of the gate to Paprika. Don't worry about me. I got this handled. I want you to help Grandpa with what he's working on."
"But Mega Man-"
"I just want you to relax a little. I'm going to be fine."
Roll sighed and replied, "Good luck. I just hope you return safe."
"I will."
He turned off the transmitter and walked up to the second gate, and it opened up. His vision was glowing red with a warning being sounded in his ears. When that over, what met his eyes was Paprika growling at him, Dr. Wily laughing, and Tron still shooting the beast to no effect. He could now see that her vest was black with a white collar, and her suit was dark brown. Her forearms and legs were covered in pink armor. Her hair was the same shade as her creator. Metal was now exposed on her face. Her suit had huge tears in her suit, revealing metal. She was on her knees. There were also burnt marks on her body. Everyone turned to take a closer look at the blue hero.
"It's you! You're the blue pest ruining my plans! I don't have time to fool around with you, but you can play with Paprika over here."
Dr. Wily's hovercraft closed its top. He flew to somewhere he wouldn't be seen, but still watch the battle at hand. Mega Man ran up to Tron and bent down on his knee. He lends her his hand, but she slapped it.
"Why are you here and what do what from me?"
"Your creator sent me to help you."
"Help? I don't need any help. This is my fight and my fight alone!"
"Your injuries say otherwise."
"These are not injuries! They're my badges of honor!"
"Please, I just want to help you and get you somewhere safe."
She simply growled at the blue boy. As they continued to argue, Paprika was charging up its fire breath and aiming at her. The strange charging noise made the two turn around. He took a quick glance at her and got closer. He picked her up and carried her bridal style. He jump up in the air just when it released the fires from its mouth. She looked below and saw the fire burning below. She then turned her gaze to him. Her stomach was now tingling. Her cheeks glowed a light pink. She closed her eyes and shook her hand. One of Mega Man's hands turned into a Mega Buster and started to shoot Paprika, trying to see what would damage it and hit that weak point. The fire burnt out as he was being pulled down by gravity. They were on the ground where the fire was when she opened her eyes. He looked her at her now.
"I guess I should thank you. You saved my life."
"You're welcome, Tron." He scratched the back of his neck and began to shoot the dog robot again.
"You know my name?"
"Dr. Bonne told me."
"What's your name? I never got it."
"My name is Mega Man. Mega Man Trigger."
"That's an interesting name."
"It's my superhero name. I'll explain later."
"Are you-" Mega Man grabbed wrist and pulled her towards him as three fireballs headed towards their way.
"Don't mention it here! Hey, can you do a quick favor for me? I want you to distract Paprika with your attacks while I come up with a strategy." He let go of her wrist and checked for any more injuries she might of have gotten.
She nodded and jumped onto a fallen building to use a platform. She continued to shoot the fiery mutt. As she did that, he analyzed the beast.
"Its gauge is full, and its main attack is called Flaming Breath. It doesn't have a special weapon chip I could copy though. Wait a second, it dislikes water from what the database stated. I have the Water Hose Cannon. I now must find an opening," he muttered to himself.
He looked at Tron to see how she was doing. She was leaping off the crumbled building as if they were platforms and shooting Paprika. It barked at her and shot out fire at her. He then set his sight on the dog. He scanned its body. A beep sound came from his helmet when he looked at the chest. He zoomed in closer and saw that inside of its chest was fire forming.
("Bingo!")
He whistled. Paprika turned around and barked at him. It rushed towards him. He swiped his claws at him. Part of of his helmet broke, revealing some of his hair. Some metal from his face was exposed. He closed his right eye as substance very similar to blood dripped down. He placed his hand over the injured. His other eye shrunk to the point of almost not being able to tell if he had either a pupil or iris. His took his hand off his face and saw that it was completely covered in the substance now.
"I should be more careful. I should use my shield to counter that attack," Rock muttered quietly.
He looked up and saw that Paprika was charging its breath again. That moment allowed him to quickly equip his Water Hose Cannon and shoot the beast. Each water bullet shot the beast, pushed it back a little, and made it glow white for a few seconds. Its mouth was glowing red and yellow, and Paprika released its Flaming Breath. He jumped over it and waited for the fire to vanish. When it did, he landed on the ground and waited for it to attack him. The beast shot three fireballs at him. He jumped over the one closest to him and made sure he didn't touch the others. He shot the chest again. The beast let out a cry. It swiped its claws at him.
"I'm not going to fall for that trick again!"
Mega Man placed his hand in front of his face. His shield came out and protected him from the attack. The attack created small sparks and left huge claw marks. It shot out three fireballs again, each one hitting the shield and shattering it. With his shield broken, he ran behind the beast and shot its left eye. It turned around and charged its Flaming Breath. He shot its chest again. It shot out its breath, only to have Mega Man jump over it and shoot the chest again with the bullets made out of crystal clear water. Paprika was now limping. Mega Man looked at Tron, who was watching the battle unfold.
"Let's finish this together!"
She nodded and whistled at the dog. It turned around.
"Let's play." She shot its weakened chest a few times.
Paprika howled and moaned. Mega Man jumped to the platform she was on and shot Hell's hound for the final time. It let out a loud howl and collapsed to the ground with sparks flying from its broken chest. Mega Man unarmed himself and walked up to it. He bent down and touched its head.
"I'm sorry. If I could of have just fixed you, you would have been a great guard dog. You might of even had a family." He got up, still looking at the fallen machine.
He felt something touching his soldier. He turned around and saw her.
"Not bad, Mega Man. You're almost as good as my brother."
"You weren't half bad either."
"Well-"
"Sister! Are you okay?" A few figures walked towards the two.
The first three figures were standard robots with seemingly human appearances. They wore uniforms similar to basic soldiers in the military. The fourth figure was much, much taller. He had long, white hair tied back in a ponytail and bright, ruby red eyes. He wore a long, black coat with many badges, a skull mark on it, and silver armor on some areas. He had white shoulder pads that looked like the skulls the Bonnes wore. His shoulder pads also connected his teal cape to his coat. His green forearm armor and green, metallic boots were spotless. Green armor covered his black pants. His left hand was covered in green, metallic gloves. His right hand was thick, red, and had three silver fingers. His chin and part of his sides were covered in red armor. Silver sections covered his ears. He wore a colonel's cap. He was now standing in front of them.
"You must be Teisel! It's an honor to meet you." Mega Man saluted and awed at him.
"You're half correct. Teisel is my civilian form. We're as different as day and night. I'm not Teisel. I'm the brave warrior who fights for justice. I am Colonel."
"Then it's a honor to meet you, Colonel."
"Did you help my sister, blue boy?"
"Yeah. Your creator sent me to help her."
"I own you one. What's your name?"
"I'm Mega Man Trigger, but you can just call me Mega Man. I'm here to stop Dr. Wily's evil plan."
"Mega Man? Come and talk with me more at Repliforce's headquarters later."
"Yes, Colonel."
Colonel turned to his sister. She ran up to him and hugged him with tears flowing down like a waterfall.
"Big brother! That mutt was so scary. It had the sharpest teeth and the most monstrous eyes. I tried to be brave for our family, but it was so hard. I was afraid that I would die and-"
"It's all over now. Cry as much as you like."
She was a fountain overflowing, drowning in her own tears. Mega Man looked at the scene and smiled at the siblings.
"Colonel, please take her back to Light Labs. Dr. Bonne is waiting for you there, and my family will help her. I'll meet up with you two."
Colonel nodded and carried his sister on his shoulders back to the lab. He continued to look at the siblings and smile at them. His smile faded as he heard footsteps and a tune being whistled.
"It seems that I'm late."
He turned around and met a humanoid robot very similar to him. He looked around sixteen or seventeen, unlike Mega Man who appeared to be fourteen. He had a low, bushy, white ponytail with red tips. He wore a red helmet with a white trim pointing upwards, black visualizers similar to shades, a red face plate coming out of each side of the jaw guards, and white sections with green circles over his ears. His left hand was a red sword with a red aura. His turned his blade into a hand. He pressed the button on one of the circles and took off his helmet with his hands. He had long fringes that were neater and shorter than Mega Man's. His hair color was now light brown, and he wore a pair of black shades covering his eyes. His eyebrows were also light brown and bushy. He had silver pieces of metal where his ears would be. The left side of his face was covered by silver metal. His yellow scarf was blowing in the wind. He wore a black suit, a grey jacket, grey pants, and a red belt. His forearms were covered in red armor similar to gauntlets, and his metallic boots were red with white tips and red soles. Red one pads were attached to his boots. His right hand had a red gun attached to his gauntlet, and it had a grey muzzle with yellow squares. Attached to the gauntlets were brown gloves with black fingertips and red pieces of metal that had a black and white "B"-like symbol on them. Mega Man could see that the black body caused a break between his clothes and the gauntlets. He looked down at the blue and cyan hero.
"I'm impressed with your skills, Rock Trigger. I would of have helped you, but you already took care of that robot. Sad to see robots with no way to express their emotion, no free will. It makes me sick to see humans treat robots as just machines."
"How do you know my name? Who are you?"
"Don't you recognize me, Rock Trigger? I'm not surprised. I had a name, but I refuse to be called that. I don't even have the right to be called by my real name. Just call me Break Man."
"Wait a second . . . is it really you?" Rock realized that Break Man had the same facial features as the man he saw during his grandfather's speech. The length of his hair threw him off, but hearing that whistle and his voice finally connected the dots. Rock understood why he seemed familiar.
"I'll talk to you more some other time." Break Man began to walk away.
"Wait!" Mega Man ran, but it was already too late. Break Man was gone.
Mega Man looked at the rest of the city. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not, but he looked at his hands and saw a red scarf that was tattered at the end. He placed it on his injury. He smiled and walked back to the lab.
He was standing in front of Light Labs now. He opened the door and was greeted by Roll's hug and his family's praising. Tears rolled down her cheek, but he wiped them off and whispered that he was okay repeatedly. Roll broke the embrace and led Mega Man inside the lab. Dr. Bonne walked in with Colonel and Tron by her side. Mega Man looked them and gave them a little wave. Colonel walked up to the door and gazed at everyone.
"I must go now. Father and the rest of Repliforce needs me. I will be expecting to see you later, Mega Man."
"Yeah."
He walked out of the door and shut it. Dr. Bonne glanced at her daughter and then looked at the rest.
"She's good as new. I've even gave her the ability to turn her hand into a buster."
Her hand transformed into a buster similar to Mega Man's. She changed it back to a hand. She walked up to Mega Man and Roll.
"How do you feel?" Mega Man asked.
"I feel great actually. You're really something else, Mega Man."
"I was originally designed to be a helper robot. I actually never introduced my real self to you."
He pressed both buttons on the side of his helmet. He took of his helmet, revealing his chestnut brown hair with all of his fringes out and his sky blue eyes to her.
"My name is DLN-001: Rock Trigger, but you can call me Rock or Trigger."
"You're Rock Trigger?"
"Yeah."
"You're different from what I expected. I thought you would look older and act more snobbish."
"Why would you think that?"
"You were the first true Robot Master."
"Are you disappointed with me?"
"You are better than what I expected."
Tron now looked at Roll.
"I heard that you are DLN-002: Roll. Are you like his little sister or something?"
"No. Rock and I are just best friends. I'm Dr. Thomas Light's assistant. I also have DNA implanted in my A.I. like Rock. My father is Dr. Cossack."
"The same one who helped build my big brother?"
"That's the one."
The two began to chat. As they did, Dr. Hikari and Dr. Volnutt called their son over. Rock walked over and looked up at them.
"Where did you get that scarf, and why are you wearing it over your eye?" Dr. Volnutt asked.
"I found it on the ground. Don't worry, I cleaned it off first," Rock lied.
He took off the scarf and showed them his injury. They gasped and took him to the basement. They fixed his injury that luckily didn't leave a scar..
"Tell us what happened," Dr. Hikari commanded with concern in his tone.
He told them exactly what happen except his encounter with Break Man. The three afterwards joked and laughed. Unknowingly to them, a girl around Rock's age with short, green hair and dark skin watched the happy family from the rooftop. Her emotionless, red eyes glared at them. Her arms seemed to be wrapped in bandages. She wore a beige suit with black legs and red markings. Her forearms and legs were covered in beige armor. She wore a beige poncho. Her exposed shoulders had strange, yellow, circular markings. She snarled at the sight and clutched her hands into fist.
"Rock Trigger, I can't believe that simple helper robot always got more attention, more praise than me, a moon exploration robot whose special weapon has the ultimate power, the Shining Laser. Was it that he can express human emotion without the having to imitate it from a human or was it the fact that he was one of her birth sons? Trigger, we will fight in the evening three days from now. Don't disappoint me or die on me." She walked away from the image she considered cringe worthy.
On the other side of the rooftop, Break Man watched the family and smiled at them.
"It's great that all of them are happy together. I remember the time I was being held in all of their embraces, and the time people called me a hero. I see the limitless potential in my little brother. It almost makes me regretful for leaving them behind, but I learned and saw all things of different wonders and terrors when I ran away. Every single day is an adventure, yet it would feel nice to settle down with my family. Would I really lose my free will if I got my core fixed? It doesn't matter now. That's was in the past. My parents and my grandfather were going to turn me an emotionless, mindless servant. I would rather die free than live the rest of my life as a mindless machine. Good luck, Rock." Break Man walked off, whistling a tune he made up long ago back when he was living in Light Labs.
Inside the building, the family finally departed and did their own thing. Dr. Hikari went to help his dad, Dr. Volnutt discussed about Special Weapons and Battle Chips with Dr. Bonne, and Rock changed into his cyan suit with blue boots, blue gloves, and blue briefs. He also wore his varsity jacket over his suit. The robot went outside to recharge for the battles ahead of him.
Inside of a factory that looked like a castle, Dr. Wily paced back and forth as he pulled his hair. Foam was coming out of his mouth. There were red circles in his eyes. His grandson watched him from his chair and chuckled. After a while, he looked his comic again.
"I can't believe that blue boy destroyed Paprika and my other robots in the city!"
"And I can't believe that a weakling defeated those robots. Though to be fair, you are a bigger weakling than this Mega Man. You're crazier and more cowardly too." Forte looked at Dr. Wily again.
"Bastian Forte Wily, how dare you disrespect me!"
"I'm just stating the true, Gramps. That blue boy didn't even defeat Paprika by himself. It was that girl, Tron, who helped him. She's quite strong, but she has no idea how to use all that power."
"Why don't you just help me?"
"Because taking over the world is the dumbest idea ever. How can you even watch over the whole world?"
"It's not dumb! I will no longer be in Thomas's shadow, and I will be the most loved scientist when the world is mine."
Forte rolled his eyes at his grandpa.
"Then explain how you decided to implanted my DNA from my previous life as Bastian Forte Wily into my A.I. chip. Let me answer that for you. You didn't think of that idea yourself. You only came up with the idea after you met Rock Trigger."
"Shut up, Forte! That's the only instance where I took someone else's idea."
"Whatever." Forte looked back at his comic.
Dr. Wily continued to pace around the room. He was stroking his mustache with one hand. The other hand was tight in a fist that left his knuckle a ghostly white color. Suddenly, an idea sparked in Dr. Wily's head. He cracked an evil smile that showed his fangs off. He turned to Forte and pointed at him.
"Forte, I want you to help me build my own super fighting robot!"
"I got an better idea. For you to get off my back and stop complaining about Mega Man to me, I want you to change me into a fighting machine! I'm not doing this to help you take over world. I just want to smash Mega Man like an annoying fly."
"That is a brilliant idea! Let's start right away!" Forte got up and followed Dr. Wily to the lab inside of the castle.
Dr. Wily's grin became even bigger than before. His laughter echoed through each hall and room. Forte glared at his grandpa and rolled his eyes. He crossed his arms and released a heavy sigh. Seeing his grandpa laugh so hard made him laugh out loud too. When they got to the lab, Forte shut himself off for the operation. Dr. Wily placed a hand on his chest.
"Watch out, Mega Man! I will crush you in a loud crunch and become the greatest leader on this planet. My greatest creation will make sure of that!"
He laughed harder than before, and started to work on Forte's new form. He couldn't stop smiling until he remembered something. Forte calling him out for using Rock as base repeated in his head. The memories of Rock played in his head. A single tear rolled down his cheek.
"Rock, please forgive me," he whispered softly to himself and wiped the tear away. He went back to work.
A few hours later, Forte's battle form was complete. He woke up and moved around to get use to his new armor. Dr. Wily, in the meantime, was grabbing a mirror. He came back a couple of minutes later with it in his hands. He placed it in front of Forte. The robot marveled at the every single aspect of it. The chest plate was pitch black with gold trims, a blue gem in the center, a line going across the plate, and a black gorget protecting most of his neck. His suit was a greyish black color with purple lines. His arms and thighs were protected by grey armor. His forearms were secured by the black, gauntlet-like armor of his gloves with gold trims. His clawed hands were covered by white leather with a gold piece of metal on them. His boots were black with gold trimming and had white shoes that were pointed, unlike Mega Man's round and blue shoes of his boots. He wore grey shoulder guards and black with gold trim shoulder plates. His knee pads connected to his boots were black. On his hip was a piece of black and gold metal. He pressed it and each side connected to each other, forming black briefs with gold trims. His black helmet was similar to the helmet of Mega Man, but his helmet had two, yellow dorsal fins that spilt off at the bottom to show off smaller fins instead of the cyan ridge, blue circles within a white section, and black jaw guards. He had a blue gem where Mega Man had his cyan square. He pressed one circle and his chin was now guarded by black armor. He pressed the other one and a pair of purple visualizers dropped down. He noticed that from his eyes and running down his cheeks were purple lines. He also noticed that his eyes had thicker black lines and the highlights in his eyes were gone. With his slasher smile in place, Forte looked like a person with psychopathy, a mad man. He pressed the section that created his chin armor and the black metal went back into his helmet.
"What do you think of your new design, Forte?"
"I love it! I feel so much more powerful! Now where is that blue pest?"
"I haven't been able to track him down, but when I do, I'll send you to finish him off."
"Perfect! In the meanwhile, how about you give me a code name so that nobody knows my real identity."
"Good idea. I'm thinking either Evil Mega Man or Dark Mega Man."
"NO! I don't want to share the same name as that weakling!
"How about Baroque or Bass?"
"I prefer Bass over Baroque. Hear me out, Mega Man. I, Bass Dark, will destroy you and show you that I'm the most powerful Robot Master in the history."
Dr. Wily smiled at his grandson and the two began to laugh like maniacs. They settled down and planned out their next move. All that they needed to do now was wait for Mega Man to appear for their chance to strike. It was the true beginning of the fight between Mega Man and the DLN Robot Master line.
Author's Notes: There isn't much else to say about this chapter. Pro . . . I mean Break Man's design was mainly based on his classic incarnation, EXE, and Barrett from the cancelled Mega Man Legends 3 with hints of his other expies in his design. I decided to give Break Man lighter clothes in order to contrast with Mega Man's heavy armor. That doesn't mean won't get his own armor, but this is his main combat outfit. His helmet is based on the helmet of the Classic series. I was going to add the scene with Dr. Wily and Forte/Bass in the beginning of the second chapter, but I decided to add it in this chapter instead because I wanted Forte to show up again. The design of Bass's armor was based on Classic and EXE with hints the scrapped Evil Rockman from Mega Man Legends. Bass's helmet is mainly based on EXE with a hint of Evil Rockman 2. Also, can you guess who that mysterious girl is? Stay tuned for the next chapter.