Author's Note - And now we will start the Plot Train, and get the plot going, which will obviously link into the 1st and 4th Game Robot Masters. Enjoy ;)

Chapter 4 - A Mission


Bubble Man's POV

I was running down the hall, turning around corners, breathing heavily as I raced towards the laboratory. Wily had just given out an order for all of us to go there, and I had been one of the last to be notified. Just when I was relaxing too! But, we are Wily's Robot Masters, after all, and we have our duties.

I saw the forms of Snake Man and Flash Man up ahead. They were also running down the hall, and as I caught up with them, they looked back at me, Snake grinning, Flash looking away in disgust, his usual demeanour.

"Any idea why Wily wants us?" I huffed, running alongside the green armoured Snake Man. He just looked at me and shook his head, before turning to Flash.

"You got any ideas, Baldy," Snake hissed out, Flash giving him a glare from the use of his old nickname. "You were Wily's right hand man, weren't you?"

"No, that was Quick Man," I jumped in, Snake looking at me, a malicious grin snaking it's way across his features. "Flash Man here was Quick Man's right hand man."

And then I felt myself freeze, and then I felt myself thrown against the wall. I could see Flash's eyes piercing through my defences, and I felt like he was staring into my soul. I could even see the shadows distorting around him as his rage grew. Gulping, I gave a weak smile.

"I. AM. NOT. QUICKMAN'S. RIGHT. HAND." And then he paused, grabbing me by my shoulder. I felt myself whirl around for a moment, before air rushed past me and I smashed into another wall. "MAN!?"

And then, as if in a flash, Flash Man had vanished, leaving me on the ground, in slight pain. Trying to move, I pushed myself into a sitting position, noticing Snake standing nearby. He looked guilty, and I assumed he had stayed out of the fight for a reason, so I just motioned for him to help, which he did.

"Thanks," I groaned, getting back onto my feet, before wobbling back for a moment, using my built in stabilizers to keep me up right.

"No problem. I would have helped, but he would have beaten up us both," Snake sighed, his eyes narrowing as he looked down the hallway. "C'mon, we still need to get to the lab."


Magnet Man's POV

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

That was all I could hear in my ears. The sound of my footing tapping on the floor nervously. I could feel the vibrations throughout my entire being, as I shuddered for a moment, standing in the laboratory full of machinery.

Almost all of us were here, the exceptions being Bubble and Snake. Flash had arrived a few moments before, a rather foul looking smug grin on his face, and I felt like punching him into the ground.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

The doors burst upon to see Snake walking in, supporting Bubble, who looked rather damaged. I only looked away in disgust, but not before seeing Flash Man's face light up in Bubble's pain. He was relishing it, and it was obvious he had caused the abuse.

But I kept my eyes on Wily, who was standing there, rolling his eyes at Bubble, as if it were just a silly playground fight. "Bubble, why do you act so weak? You are one of my creations," Wily barked, staring straight at Bubble as he said this, and I could see something pass through Bubble's eyes, an emotion that had once been unrecognisable to me.

But now, I could understand. I could feel it radiating off of Bubble, choking the poor bot from the inside and out. It was something that could not be dismissed, an emotion that caused all logic to be thrown out of the window.

Fear.

But why was Bubble afraid of Wily? Did something happen?

"Bubble, are you okay?" I asked, moving over to him, along with Heat, and he just silently nodded to us, keeping himself stood up for Wily.

"There is just no hope for you Bubble, is there," Wily remarked, turning away from Bubble to the rest of us, although I felt my hands clench slightly from the Doctor's cheap comment. Bubble was my brother, and I will not let my brother be hurt, and I'm sure the others felt the same way.

"Doctor, why are you taking out your annoyance on Bubble?" I blurted out, noting that every single Robot in the room turned towards me. My tapping was getting worse, god damn, reactions! "Y-You shouldn't make him fear you!"

Bubble gazed at me, understanding, masked by a guise of confusion, expressing itself to the world. I turned back to Wily, who seemed to be growing redder, in anger perhaps?

"Magnet Man, was I talking to you," He asked calmly.

"N-no," I replied, gulping.

"Then be quiet, or else," Wily growled, and I felt myself shudder in disgust. Was this man really Doctor Wily, the one who gave us our lives? He was so angry, so consumed by something I could not understand... Maybe one day...

But I fell silent, Bubble looking at me in fear as he clutched onto Heat for some sort of protection, like a child, somebody in need. "Now, Robot Masters, Bubble Man, Magnet Man," Wily stated, and I felt myself lose a part of me as he pushed me and Bubble aside. I was no longer a Robot Master in his eyes... But then what was I?

"I have a mission for you all. As you know, I need a diversion, an attack, so I can finish my final creation. I want you all to take an area of the city hostage. I don't care where, so long as there are lots of people."


Heat Man's POV

How could he say such things to Bubble!? I could feel the heat boiling up inside of me, a rage that wanted to just burst out and smash that man into the ground... But he was still my Creator, our creator, and he had that leverage over us.

"Take the place hostage and try to attract the Robot Masters from Light Labs to you, maybe get Proto Man and that Blue Bomber too, but make sure you get them there."

Wily then turned away from us, giving me a chance to look at Bubble some more. My brother seemed shaken, and I could see dents in his armour, where it looked like he had been thrown against something. I could tell who had injured him, by the air around Bubble. It was still heavy from the effects of a certain Flash Stopper, and I needed all of my self control to not swing at Flash Man.

"Heat Man, pay attention, squabble later," I heard Wily bark, and I turned back to see him holding a tray of icons with skulls pictured on them. "These are protocol overrides. They will override any commands from any robot, making them obedient to me, including the Light Robots, and even Mega Man and Proto Man. I want as many of them on our side by the time I give you all an exit to escape."

My brothers were nodding to this plan, but despite my programming, I was against this. Seeing how Wily just figuratively threw Magnet and Bubble aside, would the other Robot Masters want this? We had only just been re-activated, and I was already considering betrayal...

"I've even heard the Cossack Bots, or at least a few, will be there," Wily grinned, and I looked around to see most of the second generation robots looking up with surprised faces. I wonder why they were interested in these mystery bots... And then I remembered, they had met them before, while my generation had not.

"When are we going to start this mission?" I asked bitterly, gazing into Wily's worn eyes. He just stared at me for a moment, before stating, "Today. In an hour. Have fun preparing, and take a Protocol Override chip before you leave."

The mad doctor placed the chips on the table, turned away, and walked off, going through another door, leaving us sixteen Robot Masters in the lab. Quickly, I grabbed two chips, handing one to Bubble, before we left the room in a hurry.

Bubble was shaking as we made our way down the corridor, and I was about to fall over from the strain of holding him, when I felt the weight lighten slightly. Looking to my left, I saw Quick holding Bubble's other side.

"Heat, you know what happened with Bubble?" I heard Quick ask, but I just shook my head, looking at my green armoured brother, who was lazily looking at the floor. He was worn out, if anything.

"How could the Doctor be so uncaring?" I muttered aloud, before feeling Quick come to a stop. I looked up to see us back at our hallway leading to the rooms.

"People change Heat..." Quick sighed, putting a hand to his head, as if tired. "If Wily really cares about us, he'll come to his senses. For now though, get Bubble a few E-Tanks, make sure he's powered up for when we undergo our mission."

I nodded back at my brother, pulling Bubble up onto my back, before beginning the small walk to Bubble's room. I watched as Quick turned to leave, and then, he was gone, in a flash. I just sighed, pushing open Bubble's door, before sitting down against the wall, Bubble slumping onto me.

I hadn't even noticed he had fallen unconscious until I looked at his closed eyes behind his scuba mask... So weary, so hurt. Bubble had always been the distant brother. Since he could not walk on land during our first activation, he was always alone in the water. I remembered staying with him on those days...


I watched with interest as Bubble swam up to meet me through the water. I could feel myself trembling slightly, I mean, I did have a fear of water, but Bubble looked so lonely. "Hey Bubble," I shakily grinned, watching as he popped up out of the surface.

"H-Hey Heat..." He nervously stammered, and I looked at him goofily. Every time I came to visit, he would always stutter at me, and I just laughed until he threw Bubble Leads at me. I mean, I know he was shy for the most part, but it was still pretty funny.

"C'mon, I'll help you up," I grinned, grabbing Bubble's arms, before yanking him up onto the edge of the shallow pool he resided in. This was the only way he could even feel land, by sitting on the edge, letting the water splash his flippers.

"You know, o-one day you c-could learn to swim," Bubble quietly mumbled, giving a shaky smile as he said it, and I just looked at him in mock confusion.

"Wha- me, swimming? We went over this Bubble," I frowned, looking back at the water, while trembling for a moment. "I-I wasn't built for the water. I don't belong in there."

I saw Bubble's eyes lower for a moment, and he looked down to the water at his flippers, not bothering to look me in the eyes. Then he looked up, glared into my eyes and stated, "You know, I'm making an effort to get on land for you Heat!"

I looked down in embarrassment and guilt. I know, he really had been trying to socialize more with us, but I really had not been trying... Had I? "B-But-"

"No 'Buts' Heat! I know you are afraid, but are you going to conquer your fear by sitting there like a baby!" Bubble was staring right at me. "NO! So I'm going to help you!"

And then, with a quick movement, I felt myself slip forwards into the water. I waited, expecting to feel water rushing through my system, threatening to shut me down, and my eyes were closed shut in fear.

"Heat... Open your eyes," I heard Bubble whisper. How could I hear him? I was underwater... "Open your eyes Heat! Please!"

And shakily, I opened my eyes, feeling, not the water around me, but solid ground... No, not ground. It was too squishy. Looking around, Bubble was sitting next to me still, grinning slightly, as if waiting for me to realize something.

Looking down, left and right, I could see a dark blue abyss, seaweed, sand, the shimmering light of the water, surrounding me, and a few fish swam past my side, making me jump slightly.

"Woah Heat, no sudden movements okay," Bubble panicked, grabbing my shoulder to make me focus. I looked at him, fear etched across my face, but he just gave me a reassuring look, before motioning to the world around us, and then I came to a very surprising realisation.

"Bubble... Are we inside a -"

"Giant Bubble. Yep," Bubble grinned happily. "I thought it would help if you could see the world from my eyes, and you can like this, without having to get soaking wet."

Looking to my side in wonder, I watched as the school of fish swam by, some a radiant orange, others a vibrant purple. Their scales shimmered in the water, and a slight rainbow pattern shimmered onto the face of the bubble.

"Wow... It's beautiful," I gasped. "I never knew this place was so... Awesome! I don't get why you would want to leave it!"

Bubble looked at me, although I could not tell if he was sad, or happy, or a mixture of both. But what I could see, was that he had something to say. "Well... I want to be like you guys... It gets so lonely here, just the fish, and all you can see is a dark blue, nothing else..."

I looked into Bubble's eyes, and I could see confusion behind them. I felt myself move towards Bubble, placing a hand on his back. "And only you visit me Heat... None of the others. They come for a few minutes, pretend to have fun and leave. I'm just forgotten here, left to rot..."

"Bubble..."


That was the last conversation Bubble and I had before we were sent to defeat Mega Man... How could I have forgotten about that for so long? So... Was Bubble feeling lonely again? I pulled him closer to me for a moment, and I felt something dripping from my eyes.

Raising a hand to my face, I pulled back to see droplets of liquid... Water... I was crying.


Author's Note -

So as you can tell, Bubble/Heat are like, the main Robot Master POVs and will probably appear the most. I hope their character development is going well, and I REALLY HOPE SOMEBODY REVIEWS. I would love one review, with some feedback of course, just so I know people want to see more.