Oh my gosh, I actually got a review from Josh Breeding (well who claims to be Josh Breeding). This is a bit exciting for me, as you can guess XD well I hope you're enjoying the story, whether or not you actually are Josh! This is the latest chapter, and it's short, but I do like it. I hope you do too.

this story is inspired by Megaman (which I finally played! :D), by Capcom, and by The Megas. I make no claim to the characters whatsoever.

-Cara Lea

Chapter 2

The white blocks shone in the city lights that struck it. It emanated a sort of presence of it's own, the building catching the eye of passerby as easily as a glowing neon sign that screamed, "Notice me!" The black rooftop was hard to catch against the starless black night, making the building seem endless, and ongoing, as though it were taller than the buildings around it. During the day, it was just an ordinary white building, standing out only to those who knew its night face.

To me, it could have been any other building on the block. Much of them had the same, come hither look to them, and I was not impressed. And to be honest, I was paying more attention to the guardbots standing outside the building. They looked almost like my brother Flashman, in a way. They had the same round features, and round weapons, though it was obvious that their weapons were not at all like Flashman's. Their glossy paint was silhouetted against the bright background of the building. As we approached, I caught a glint of silver, and snorted to myself. These were guardbots in a sense. They had the right character and weaponry, but I could see just how weaker they were compared to me. It was almost funny how Kazue would be depending on them to save her should Bulge and the others return for her. They couldn't do too much damage compared to a robot like me.

Kazue lead me up to them. "Hi Pillar, Brass." She nodded to them both. "This is Metalman. He has some images I need you to see."

"Is something wrong, Ms. Himura?" one of the bots asked. I tilted my head. Their names were too strange for me to actually think of them with those identities. I decided to call them Bot 1 and Bot 2.

She tilted her head and looked at me. "I was attacked by a group of men. They must be regulars. They saw me and knew me from here. If it hadn't had been for Metalman here, I would have been in much worse shape by now." I doubted that any of the idiots surrounding me could see my teeth bared through the helmet. How can she call me a hero? By this point in my whole creation, I wanted nothing more than to end her stupid race's existence.

Bot 1 was nodding. "Come with me please, Miss. I'll file your report and take a statement." Something about the way Kazue didn't argue bothered me as I watched her go. I ground my hands into fists in frustration, turning to face Bot 2 before me.

"Good evening, sir," he said politely to me. "Ms. Hiruma says you have some images for us. I would like to be able to copy them, so we can send them in along with our report."

I growled low in my throat as I spoke. "How do you expect to do that?"

He was too kind for my taste. I'll shoot him one day. If he's with them he's against us. I'm sure Wily wouldn't mind... "I'm going to need to see your memory card." That one statement cut through all my thoughts.

"What?"

He continued with a sinister smile, his unwavering kindness now frightening to me. "I can look into your memory card and save the image into my processor. It would be a quick and simple process."

I turned away from the scene without so much as a flinch. "No way. Not in any robot hell would I ever let you do that." I felt a sort of disappointment, so I pushed myself onward to march away purposefully. "Poke around in somebody else's brain."

"Please sir. We need that file to back up our report."

I ignored him, an eerie chill settling over me as he spoke. He was still too polite for my taste. Just shoot him! Nobody would care!

I stopped as a thought struck me. Kazue would. She would very much care if I shot one of her guardbots. As I hesitated, the very girl in on my mind reappeared. "Oh you're leaving?" she inquired as she approached. I looked into her deep blue, worried eyes and sighed in defeat. I didn't allow myself to argue internally. That would have been too much of a diversion. I needed all my concentration to stop myself from walking away right then and there. I knelt down in front of Bot 2 and glared up at him as I removed the hard plating on the back of my head.

I don't remember much from the actual process itself. A side effect of having my memory chip taken out, I guess. But my internal chronometer was working, and I knew it didn't take long. Before even five minutes had gone by, they had given me my memory chip back.

The looks on the faces of the bots as I stood afterward irked me. I had given them my memories, everything that I held dear, and they somehow found it humorous. There was a hint of amusement in their faces, and a trace of it in their voices only another robot like myself could pick up on. "Thank you for your time, sir."

Kazue smiled at me and rubbed her arm self-consciously. I blinked at her, preserving this moment as we said our goodbyes. "Well," she started the end. "I would thank you, but I hear that you don't like that very much. So I'm just gonna say that I'm glad you agreed to come."

I nodded. "Whatever."

She smiled shyly, shifting her weight on her feet for a moment. I sensed the briefest hesitations in her, as if there was something that wasn't being said. Humans are way too confusing. I have got to get home and get looked at. She didn't wait any longer. "Guess I'll see you around, maybe?"

I stared at her and said nothing. Of course we wouldn't be seeing each other again. I would never return to this hell-hole again, unless it was to destroy it. The gleeful/hopeful expression on her face faded a little in my silence. She nodded slowly, inhaling through her nose before she spoke again. "Well, I guess this is it. Goodbye Metalman."

"Goodbye Kazue," I said in as gentle a voice I could pull off. The slight distress I saw in her eyes was still disturbing to me, for whatever reason I couldn't fathom. "I hope things work out here, with those guys I mean."

Kazue nodded and looked at me for a long moment. Then she gave an awkward wave/nod thing and spun toward the building. I watched in awed silence as the darkness of the white building swallowed her.

The moment she was gone, I felt as if a sort of bond dropped to the floor. I no longer had any purpose for being here. I should go. I told myself. I need to get looked at, remember? Glitches. That was it. That's why I had been acting funny all night. Glitches.

I turned away from the building and began to pace in the direction I had come from. Something must really have been wrong with me, because I was a little disoriented. I paused as I considered the direction I should be heading and turned to face it. "Metalman!" called a voice behind me. I froze as Bot 2 approached me. "Sir, wait, I wish to talk to you."

I sighed and shook my head. "What do you want?"

He seemed most awkward as he spoke. "Well, it's just that Ms. Hiruma seemed to really like you. She said you saved her from an attack. And I couldn't help but notice that you are a combat bot-"

"Get to the point!" I snapped. Too tired to wait for answers, and a little concerned with my mental health, I had become impatient with the guardbot.

Stamping his foot, throwing his shoulders back and glaring at me, his optics read with the passion of his command, he ordered me, "I want you to stay away from here. Leave Kazue alone. She's a nice girl, and the last thing she needs is a brute like you to come along and mess with her head."

I almost laughed. Did this pathetic creature mean to stand up for Kazue against me? To give him credit, he was being more assertive than before. The old traces of politeness had abandoned him in his reverie. To any normal bot, he could be frightening. But me, I knew better than to be afraid of a little bug like him. Still, I couldn't completely suppress the chuckle. "Oh, don't you worry about that. I'm in no rush to return her anytime soon."