Master Albert, the greatest scientist in the entire world, fell flat on his face.

Groaning, he picked himself up off of the transerver pad he had just tripped onto and dusted off the chestplate of Biometal Model A's armor, liberating from its surface the dirt particles left behind by countless Hunter boots. Model A's abilities are more difficult to keep under control than they look, he remarked to himself. Buckfire's rocket-propelled dashes especially need to be utilized with caution. Albert wasn't sure why he had been racing back to Hunters' Camp at his newfound top speed, but he dismissed it as sheer boredom and turned his attention to the transerver on which he was now standing. Upon activation, the all-purpose network terminal deposited 200 energy crystals' worth of currency—Albert's reward for helping to fend off a Maverick attack on the cargo train he was riding—into his bank account. Second on the transerver's order of business was notifying Albert of an incoming call from Legion HQ, which he answered immediately, having expected it to arrive at that precise moment. He had been on the other end of it last time, after all.

"So," began a gravelly voice from the transerver's speaker, "you're the one who submitted the mission report. I'm connecting your transerver to Legion's via a secure channel. The Biometal's Chosen One… a Mega Man, as they're called. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ashe." As the voice spoke, three faces flashed onto the display screen, each more bizarre than the last. The one in the center, whom the voice belonged to, was an imposing giant of a man with a wild red beard framing his stern expression. Albert recognized him as Master Thomas, the most well-known of the triumvirate known as the Sage Trinity. The man to his right was short and hunchbacked with a hooked nose, a long, drooping gray mustache, and a helmetlike visor covering his eyes: Master Mikhail. The third figure was tall, slender, and blue-haired, with a small elliptical red jewel on his forehead. This was Master Albert, Albert's counterpart in this alternate timeline; more accurately, it was a Reploid copy of Master Albert being controlled remotely by the original, who was hidden away in the Undersea Volcano base without the knowledge of the rest of the Trinity.

"It's a pleasure for me as well," Albert responded. "After all, speaking with the Sage Trinity themselves isn't exactly an everyday occurrence." Not anymore, at least, and I almost couldn't be more grateful for that.

"Nice to meet you, Mega Man," Mikhail chimed in. "It's been forever since we had someone like you working with us, y'know," he continued amusedly after a moment.

"Mikhail, please," Master Albert spoke up. "There's no point in bothering Ashe with matters long rendered irrelevant."

We were all wary of placing important tasks in the hands of a Mega Man when Grey showed up—except me, of course—considering the incidents in 246X, but I can't say I'm surprised that Mikhail was the only one tactless enough to express it.

"Word has it that you are quite a Hunter," Thomas interjected. "We'd like you to complete a few other missions for us before delivering the Biometal to Legion HQ."

"Just as a heads-up," Mikhail elaborated, "you'll be operating alone this time. Those Mavericks will stop at nothing to get their hands on your Biometal, so we're going to make sure to draw as little attention to you as possible. Keeping the number of men—er, women—to the minimum is the best way to do that, after all. Can we count on you, Ashe?"

"Of course," Albert reassured. "I'll be striding through the doors of Legion HQ before you know it."

"There's a crashed Raider airship not far from Hunters' Camp," Master Albert explained. "You should be able to scavenge parts from it that can be used to repair the damage to the Legion-bound cargo train. However, two other issues have come up that need to be resolved as soon as possible, so we're going to delay your expedition to the crash site until then."

"And these are issues that can't be resolved by your average Hunter squad?" Albert frustratedly inquired. They better not be the 'issues' I suspect they are.

"Oh, don't be so grumpy," Mikhail chuckled. "In all seriousness, though, these are large-scale and surprisingly well-coordinated Maverick outbreaks we're dealing with here. We're going to need a Mega Man like you to take care of things. Well, that or 20 heavily armed Nuage-class airships, but—"

"Your first objective lies in the experimental biomechanical city of Verdure, specifically the Tower of Verdure," Thomas cut off. "We're sending the location data to your Biometal's internal GPS now." An icon promptly began flashing on Model A's HUD, accompanied by a cheerful ding from a speaker on the inside of its helmet. The call was disconnected from the other end and the transerver powered down, leaving Albert glaring at an empty black screen.

"I know you're anxious to get to Legion and learn about your past and all," Model A said, "but the Sage Trinity are technically our clients, so we should probably do what they say. That, and they might not want to cough up their records of you if you don't do them a few favors first."

"I suppose you're right, Model A," Albert decided, internally preparing himself for another session of high-energy Maverick-busting. "Let's get going, shall we?"


"She seems nice enough," Mikhail considered, "if a bit impatient. Then again, though, what did we expect from someone so young and blunt with her words?"

"Glass houses, Mikhail," Thomas countered. "Besides, as blunt as she may be, she seemed intelligent and perceptive far beyond her years."

"Tu quoque fallacy, Thomas," Master Albert pointed out. "You are correct, though, that she was 'far beyond her years' in certain respects." Perhaps a bit too far…


I have to say, Albert grumbled to himself, that this whole 'lone hero against an army' thing has gotten very old very fast. It was bad enough that the Mavericks had hacked the tower's security system and locked Albert in without any hope of outside assistance, but that didn't even hold a candle to being assaulted by electricity-shooting mechanical flower-turrets, having an unpleasant encounter with a massive rogue spider Mechaniloid, and undertaking a perilous climb up the outside of the tower while dodging fire from a mobile laser battalion. Albert's auto-targeting homing-shot buster had made the ordeal far more manageable, but it was nevertheless a significant step up in difficulty from his defense of the cargo train. If your goal was to impart upon me sympathy for the plight of the Mega Man, cruel fate, then consider yourself successful.

Albert was nearly certain that his goal lay just beyond the surveillance room he was now emerging into, partially because he recalled stationing the commander of the Verdure operation there in his own timeline. Albert was more certain still of that commander's identity, and he was proven right when he stepped through the surveillance room's second door and came face-to-face with Rospark the Floroid, the melodramatic metallic flower himself. 'Face-to-back-side' may have been a more appropriate expression, however, as Rospark appeared oblivious to Albert's presence, his attention entirely focused on a cowering beige-armored man in the corner of the vine-encrusted room.

"For a Raider to make it this far is quite something…" Rospark mused. "I'm very impressed with you. Accept my thorny embrace and allow your soul to be scattered like petals on the breeze!" He wheeled himself closer to the man as best he could with the limited mobility of his bulb-like form.

"S-stay away from me!" the Raider shivered, clearly in no condition to fight back.

"Oh, don't be frightened of the end," Rospark cooed. "The energy of your body and mind will live on as the fuel of a new—AARGH!" The photosynthetic Pseudoroid spun his conical head around one hundred and eighty degrees to determine the cause of the searing pain he had just felt on his back. What he saw was a clean, sizzling circular puncture in his armor about the diameter of a grapefruit, accompanied by what appeared to be a teenage girl in black and red armor standing at the far end of the room with one of her busters raised and smoking.

"You…!" Rospark fumed. "A Mega Man, here? And a girl, no less?! But I'm busy! Just wait right there. I'll get to you when I finish ripping this man's soul out." He turned around once more, only to discover that the Raider had taken advantage of the interruption and slipped out of the door behind him.

"Now look what you've done," Rospark groaned. "You've let my sacrifice get awa—OUCH!" Wheeling around for a third time, he glared furiously at Albert, who responded with a sigh and a look of boredom more than anything else.

"That's not very sportsmanlike, you know!" Rospark spluttered. "Shooting me in the back twice! What nerve!"

"I don't have the time or energy to worry about sportsmanship," Albert retaliated. "My task here is simply to get you out of the way as quickly as possible."

"You've uttered your last ignorant taunt, little girl!" Rospark growled. Coiling two of his vinelike tendrils around a pole hanging from the ceiling, he elevated himself a good five feet off of the ground and sprung his bulb form open with a dramatic flourish, revealing the slender pink humanoid hidden inside. "I do believe I've found my next sacrifice to Biometal Model W."

"Congratulations," Albert replied, and then unloaded a third charge shot directly at the Pseudoroid's chest. Rospark dodged by swinging around to the other side of his pole, but the shot reflected off of the wall behind him and sliced one of his armored petals off. Rospark responded by slicing his spiked arm through the air in front of him, releasing electrified thorns as it swung. Albert dashed through a gap in the wave of thorns and hooked himself firmly around a pole neighboring Rospark's, attempting to climb it, but Rospark's other arm lashed out and sent a powerful electric current tearing through the metal of the pole, causing Albert to tumble off onto the ground and clutch his hands and feet in pain. Standing up with considerable effort, Albert unholstered his homing-shot buster, raised it towards Rospark, and launched a trio of energy bolts aimed at his head, chest, and pelvic region. The first hit its mark and caused one of Rospark's electronic eyes to begin flickering like a broken lightbulb, but the other two were deflected in the ensuing arm-flailing. Once he regained his composure, Rospark charged and swung both arms at once, unleashing a set of significantly larger thorns that crackled from the massive electrical charges they possessed. A carefully executed dash on Albert's part allowed him to avoid a direct hit, but Rospark again managed to outwit him. Two oppositely charged thorns landed close enough to Albert's after-dash position to cancel out each other's charges through the conductive parts of Albert's armor, sending him crumpling to the floor in agony.

"Foolish girl!" Rospark chuckled. "You never had even a smidge of a chance to begin with, and now you'll wilt under the elegant flash of my lightning!" Sparks began to leap back and forth between Rospark's facial and pelvic horns, creating a sizzling sphere of pure current centered over his chest. After a couple of seconds, Rospark dramatically thrust his arms forward as the sphere expanded into a mighty electrical laser beam. There was an explosion and a sound like thunder as the blast struck an object, and when the dust cleared, Rospark saw… nothing.

"What? Where'd she go?" Rospark anxiously yelped, his good eye's focus flashing around wildly in search of his target's remains. "Did I completely incinerate her? Am I really that powerful?!"

"I wouldn't be so sure," Albert's voice answered from behind the Pseudoroid. Rospark whipped around once more, only to be greeted with a rocket-propelled kick to the midsection as Albert took full advantage of the A-Trans data obtained from the fallen Buckfire. The impact was enough to tear the already damaged Rospark off of his pole, leaving one of his climbing tendrils behind, and send him crashing to the ground. Unable to retract into his more heavily armored bulb form, Rospark could only watch helplessly as Albert built up a charge in his right-hand buster and, with one foot on the Pseudoroid's chest, unleashed it at point-blank range into his face. His CPU's circuits fused together beyond repair, Rospark couldn't even utter a defiant last monologue as his ruined hull erupted into flames.

"Boy, am I glad that's over with," Model A commented as Albert extended his hand and absorbed Rospark's remaining DNA. A-Trans data on Rospark the Floroid acquired. Data compatibility estimate: 69%.

"Agreed, Model A," Albert responded. "Besides, now that Rospark's hold on the security system has been broken, we should have little difficulty getting out of here." He strode through the door opposite the one he had entered from and emerged into a second foliage-choked room, this one lacking poles and containing instead an extremely frightened Raider. Amidst the vines lay an irregularly shaped white-and-gold machine about the size of a car with a single pinkish-red orb in the center, but neither Albert nor Model A noticed it immediately.

"Y-you're one of the gang who attacked our airship, aren't you?!" the Raider accused, turning around to face Albert and leveling his gun at him. "Stay away!"

"Should we attempt to reason with him?" Albert consulted Model A.

"It's no use," Model A sighed. "He's in a total panic."

"Get out… get out of here!" demanded the visibly shaking Raider. "I-I don't want to shoot you!" No sooner had that last word left his mouth than the orb on the white-and-gold machine began to flash. The Raider crumpled to his knees, clutching his chest and wailing in pain, before collapsing on the ground dead several seconds later. His body disintegrated into a strange purple energy, which the machine promptly vacuumed up.

"What just happened?" Model A cried out in fear. "How did that thing do that?!" His response was a pair of teleports finishing on the far side of the room, out of which emerged two humanoid men. One appeared to be in his late teens, with sharp features and elegant green robes that made it clear he was on the wealthier end of the socioeconomic spectrum. He carried a golden sword. The other, while less well-groomed, gave off an air of near-mechanical ruthlessness with his purple ninja garb and tattered red scarf tied around the lower half of his face. A triangular red jewel on his forehead marked him as a Reploid. Both men wore expressions of contempt as they wordlessly sized Albert up.

"Total and utter defeat," the green-robed one mused after a few seconds. "That man, unable to endure the terror, fell victim to Model W."

"Model W?" Model A questioned. "That humongous thing is a Biometal?"

I should have remembered there'd be one here, Albert silently reprimanded himself.

"Biometal Model W," the ninja emotionlessly droned. "A Biometal constructed from an ancient weapon. Primary functions include matter disintegration, sentience parasitism, and an unknown fusion protocol."

"Just take it and go," Albert sighed. "There's no need to give us a lecture on it."

The green-robed man stared at Albert for a moment, then turned to his partner. "Siarnaq, are you hearing this? She didn't even bother to ask who we are."

"An unusual behavioral response," Siarnaq agreed. "There is a high probability that she is already knowledgeable in this area."

"…well, are you?" Model A asked Albert after a minute.

"Not particularly," Albert lied, "but I suspect that you two are Mega Men as well, what with teleporting in uninvited in order to get your hands on a Biometal like this."

"Your conclusions are correct," the green-robed man verified in an intentionally menacing tone. His eyes flashed red, and in a fraction of a second his robes were replaced with streamlined green armor with a pair of wings each on the helmet and upper back. Siarnaq instantly followed suit, his garb morphing into purple-and-gray armor with an elongated helmet that entirely obscured his face. Only his scarf remained to identify him as the green Mega Man's emotionless cohort.

"I, Aeolus, the Model H Mega Man, will be retrieving this Model W," the green Mega Man decreed. "You may pursue us, if you wish, but I doubt you'll get very far. If you manage to defeat the other Mega Men… perhaps. However—"

"Operational time limit exceeded," Siarnaq nagged.

Aeolus merely groaned and raised his sword, now transformed into a magenta energy blade. The Model W embedded in the vines evaporated into purple streaks of light, and Aeolus and Siarnaq began teleports of their own soon after, leaving Albert and Model A alone in the dimly lit artificial jungle.

"Are you sure letting those two get away with the Model W was a good idea?" Model A concernedly questioned. "Just thinking about that life-draining thing happening to more people gives me the shivers."

"They won't have any good opportunities to use it," Albert reassured. "Trust me."


"Albert, you sneaky bastard. I should've known you would pull something like this."

"You mean that girl is…?"

"That's right, Pandora. Our 'father'—"

*Click.*

"—strength. You're Biometal Model A. You want me to focus and yell "Megamerge!" as loud as I can. Got it."

"How did you know what I was going to say?"

*Click.*

MODEL W HUMANOID LIFEFORM SCAN RECORDS. DATE: 7/20/25XX. LOCATION: Tower of Verdure, Area V. SCAN INITIATOR: Master Albert.

LIFEFORM TYPE: Human, 43% robotic by mass. GENDER: Male. BIOLOGICAL AGE: 3XX. ACTIVE TRANSFORMATION PROTOCOLS: Megamerge (Model A), A-Trans Level 2. CHOSEN ONE DNA MATCH: 100%.

*Click.*

"What's that you're looking at, Albert?" Mikhail interrupted. "Another one of those Cinqville Shake videos?"

"I would appreciate it if you would resolve to control your curiosity more tightly in the future," Master Albert replied, "but no. I tend not to concern myself with such trivial matters."

"My apologies," Mikhail chuckled, shaking his head.

The evidence is decisive. No other reasonable conclusion can be made. Naturally, to resolve this issue, I must… intervene.