This chapter couldn't make up it's mind on what it wanted to be lol. The beginning was a very late addition and originally Mega Man was going to stop some criminals or something. I like the finished version and I hope you will as well.

itanimulli: I'm so glad you like my story so far. Your kind review pushed me to keep working and I'm sad it took me this long. I actually have written other Mega Man stories if you care to check out my profile page here on . My dream (one of many) is to write my way through the whole classic Mega Man series one day. A tall order but a fun one when I can stay on task.

Chapter 2: Mega Man Joins the Fire Brigade

"Come on Jimmy! Hit it out of the park!" shouted Rock Light, otherwise known as Mega Man. Today he was in street clothes watching a group of local kids playing baseball.

Jimmy flashed Rock a quick smile before returning his concentration to batting. The pitch was thrown and Jimmy swung. It wasn't a homerun but it did make it into the outfield. Jimmy ran as did Russell on second base. He reached third right as a player on the other team picked up the ball. Russell made a split second decision and made a break for home plate. Many were shouting for him to stay put but Rock wasn't among them.

"You can make it! Slide for it!"

The ball was in the air, the catcher's mitt was ready to receive it; it was going to be a very close call. Russell hit the dirt and slide into home plate right as the ball was caught and brought down for an out. There was a tense moment while the ref pondered the situation before calling out "Safe!"

The crowd went wild and Rock shouted his praise along with the rest. "That was awesome Russell, great job!"

Soon the game was over and everyone one was mingling to discuss the game. All the kids wanted to talk to Rock at least once. "You're so cool" Russell was saying

"You are too. That slide was really impressive."

"Maybe I could teach it to you and you could use it when saving the world!"

"Well I hope that the world won't need saving again anytime soon. However, Doctor Light has been doing some upgrades. Among other things, I'm a bit more flexible now so who knows?"

"Yeah it would be so cool! Anyway, I need to get going."

"Actually, I think I'll be heading home myself. See you guys later!"

The kids waved Rock off and he turned toward Light Labs with a smile. He strolled through the park and emerged into the city in short order. He especially enjoyed today because it was becoming harder to take leisurely strolls without being mobbed. Bringing down Dr. Wily twice had made him very famous and reporters and fans alike enjoyed tracking him down. Still he loved hanging out with the kids and somehow the fandom wasn't as bad coming from them.

"Then again, I'm built to be like a child so maybe I'm biased" he said with a chuckle

He was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of screams and sirens. His happy mood instantly evaporated when he looked towards the noise and spied a large cloud of black smoke several streets over. Rock ran with all haste to the source of the smoke and discovered an apartment building in a towering blaze.

"What happened?" he asked a nearby fire fighter

"We're not sure. It all happened so quickly and it being an older building just makes it worse."

"Is anyone still inside?"

"We don't think so but it's getting too dangerous to check.

"Too dangerous for a human perhaps but not for me!" He closed his eyes and activated one of his recent upgrades. His body was engulfed in a blue glow and his street clothes were swapped out for his armor and helmet. "Mega Man is on the job."

Before anyone could say another word, he had run right through the flames and into the building. The front hall was a mine field of fire and debris while the air was almost black with smoke. This building was coming down fast and so he'd have to be even faster. He leapt over a pile of burning wood and ran down the first floor main corridor calling out for survivors. As he opened a door to check an apartment, the entire door frame collapsed on top of him. He screamed as he brushed flaming pieces of apartment off of him.

"I'm glad no one saw that. Fire Man and Heat Man I can apparently handle but a little debris…anyway got to keep moving."

\

He made sure there was no one on the first floor and returned to the main hall. The stairs were blocked by debris and he had to work cautiously to clear a path. It was nerve-racking because the whole building could collapse at any time and he had to take it slow. Finally a path was opened and he ran to the next floor. He was very quick but very thorough as he checked every room that wasn't already destroyed. Soon he was on the top floor where only a few apartments remained accessible.

Mega Man gazed around through the haze of heat and smoke. He had to be sure there were no more people to be rescued before pulling out. He thought he heard a cry from down the corridor but simultaneously heard a loud creaking from above. He looked up to see a flaming roof beam come dislodged directly above him. On instinct, he raised his buster and blasted the beam to ash and splinters. He was safe for the moment it was a sign he had to get a move on.

He heard the call again and ran. He approached a closed door with lots of smoke pouring through the cracks around it. "Hello? Is anyone in there?"

"Yes" a weak voice called out "We're" the voice coughed and went on "we're trapped. The ceiling…" more coughing drowned out the rest of the sentence.

` "Don't say anything else! I'm coming in." The door was jammed so he kicked in down. A black cloud of smoke poured out but Mega Man's robotic eyes adjusted well. Part of the ceiling had indeed collapsed leaving a barrier of flaming wood dividing the room. He heard more coughing, weaker this time, and realized he had to hurry. Remembering the game, he backed up and ran toward the debris. He dropped to the floor and slid like a baseball player through a gap in the wood.

"Wow that actually worked. Where are you?"

"We're in the bedroom!"

He ran to the back of the apartment and saw a coughing man and an unconscious little boy. "Help him first please."

"I'm getting you both out of here!" He slung the boy over his shoulder and asked his father "Can you walk?"

"Yeah I think so"

"Then let's go! We have to be quick"

He used his free hand to blast through the debris in the living room and the pair ran through the resulting gap. They heard a rumbling of collapsing wood behind them but didn't turn to see exactly what happened. Mega Man showed the best path to take through the wreckage and the man did his best to stay in his footsteps. Mega Man suddenly fell right through the weakened floor.

"No!" the father screamed

"It's ok" Mega Man had managed to grab the edge with a free hand "I need you to take him"

The man pulled his unconscious child from Mega Man's shoulder and cradled him in his arms. Mega Man pulled himself up and rolled out of the way as the floor started to give way again. Finally he and the father found a stronger patch of floor but there was now a large gap in their path.

"This place is *cough* coming *cough cough* down."

"We're going to make it!"

Mega Man was searching frantically and suddenly spied what he was looking for: a fallen roof beam. He grabbed the large piece of wood and dragged it swiftly to the gap and bridged it.

"Cross quickly!"

"Is it *cough* safe?"

"It's safer than waiting to be burned up. Let's go!"

They ran across and down the stairs while the building continued to collapse. There was a terrible crash as the final flight of stairs completely collapsed. There was no way down to the ground level.

"The fire escape was destroyed by fire. That's kind of messed up" Mega Man said

"What are we going to do?"

"This!" Mega Man replied as he blasted the wall next to them and created an opening to the outside world. "We're not that far from the ground, we can jump."

"Jump!"

"Look there's a dumpster we can jump to. It's the only chance at this point."

"Ok. Here goes nothing"

Mega Man let the man go first and smiled when he landed on the dumpster lid, a little wobbly but safe. Mega Man jumped directly to the ground and took the child from his arms so he could climb down. Together they ran down the alley and away from the inferno behind them. After traversing a safe distance, the duo turned towards the street and emerged in sight of the rescue workers and assembled crowds.

The man seemed at the end of his strength and collapsed to the ground. Fortunately, a medical crew was already on the way. "Is he alright?"

"I think so Mega Man" one of the medics replied "They both took in a lot of smoke but it looks like they'll pull through."

"I certainly hope so"

The man coughed and opened his eyes "Thank you Mega Man" he said weakly but sincerely "Todd and I owe you our lives."

"I'm just glad I was in time."

"So am I"

He was just now becoming aware of the cameras in his face and the reporters firing their questions "How did you come across the fire?" "Were there any casualties?" "Can you tell us what happened in there?" "Does your involvement imply enemy robots started the blaze?" "What about Dr. Wily?" "Was it a trap for you?" "Are you working for the fire department now?" "How about the police?"

"Everyone please; not even my brain can listen to all those questions at once. I have no idea how this fire started. I was originally at a baseball game in the park. I saw the smoke and came to offer my help. I met no other robots in there, just a man and his son who were somehow missed by the fire department but I do not blame them in the least. Things were getting intense in there. I'm just glad to have been able to help. That's all I ever do, be it a foiling a grand world conquering scheme or stopping a connivance store robbery. I help where I can. Now if you don't mind, I'm going home."

More questions were asked but most of the crowd was kind enough to part and let him through. He shifted back into his street clothes and hit the streets. Eventually he was walking up the path to Light Labs and feeling very glad to be home. Roll met him at the door and attacked him with a feather duster.

"I saw the news report. It's awesome that you were able to help but you could be more considerate of tracking soot on my clean floors!"

"Sorry. It slipped my mind."

"Boys" she said in frustration "Always getting so dirty."

Before he could respond, Dr. Light came running. "There you two are. Cut Man has just contacted us from his rainforest job."

"Cool" Rock said

"No not cool. I think you'll want to hear what he has to say although I have a feeling everyone will know soon enough."