MEGA MAN X: WHISPERS IN TIME
By Erico
CHAPTER SEVEN: FOR THE FUTURE
I was born in the still air of the vacuum of space, and my baby blanket was the sea of stars all around me. It sounds poetic, I know. Then again, seeing as it is the memory I have of my activation, I do look upon it more fondly than others. I had no parents, I had no place to call home. I just had a mission.
Translated into a term that you would be capable of understanding, my name is Duo.
I can't place exactly how old I am…However, with what rough estimates I have been able to make, I was brought into existence around the same time as Earth entered the Atomic Age…the late 1940's to early 1950's. That's the best I can do.
I did not know where I came from. I did not know who created me. I was just there. I was just Duo. And I had a mission.
My objective was to search the Galaxy for a particular energy source…one that resonated at an opposing frequency to my own power. My strength glowed bright blue. That of my enemies glowed purple. Once I had found such a purple source of energy, it was my purpose…my reason for existence…to then destroy it.
Eventually, I began to refer to this opposing force as "Evil Energy." Boredom, perhaps…But my directives were strong about the matter. No matter what I called it, it had to be destroyed. Occasionally, I was given a potent reminder why.
The Evil Energy had a destructive nature. Sentient, peaceful beings could not cope with it, yet those with dark intentions and evil wills seemed to make it thrive even more. Thus, you could say that those with good spirits could be harmed by its effects, and evil spirits only made it grow.
I had no idea in those early Decacycles that there might be others like me out there. Warriors that lived in the vacuum and breathed stardust. And then…suddenly, I did.
Duo was not one to be easily surprised by most events. Having existed in a frame of reality where stars exploded into dust, planets shifted and collapsed, and pulsars sent out wave after wave of radio energy, the unknown was simply a statement used to describe what he had not seen yet--not what he would never see.
But just like that, as he floated with his mind silently ticking in the beginnings of his rest cycle, an unfamiliar energy signature graced by his sensors.
His eyes went wide as he brought himself to full operational status, following the source…
It appeared in front of him, not exposed, hidden within the carrier.
The two looked at each other long and hard. Both large, both built to fight…both with one super-enlarged arm. The new one calmly lifted a hand and pointed at Duo, warbling over a short, line of sight transmission.
"Yobik Kurrzil??" Who are you? Duo blinked a few times…he could understand the stranger. More importantly, as they stood there and let their energies come to bear, they realized that they were similar.
Because both now glowed blue.
"I am Duo." The massive robot replied back, stunned by the newcomer. "But…How are you like me?"
"There are many like us." The newcomer replied. "I, for instance, am Nazyr."
"I thought I was alone."
"We all did. Until we met. Duo, I am happy to meet you…brother." Nazyr's voice gave off an inflection of joy, of sheer exuberant giddiness.
Likewise, Duo found that he felt a similar happiness seep through him. Because before, he had been alone. And now, he had found someone else like him.
"How many like us have you met?" He asked, extending his hand out and clasping it on Nazyr's larger arm. Unlike Duo, Nazyr's oversized arm was his right. Duo's was on the left.
"I have met six others…who traveled in a group. But they have met others…who have met others…as if we were scattered across the cosmos, we now find ourselves coming back together, drawn as the family that we are." Nazyr examined Duo for a long moment, then frowned. "You are relatively new, though…"
"New?"
"Inexperienced, fresh…untrained. You have yet to tap into the full power of your abilities!"
"And you would teach me how to grow better at this?" Nazyr nodded.
"Duo, forgive me for asking you this. It is a question I ask every new brother that I meet…do you know anything of the makers?" Duo thought long and hard about it, then shrugged.
"If you mean…the ones who made me…then no. I awoke in the middle of nowhere, with only my mission."
"Yes…the mission." Nazyr mumbled. He looked about them for a moment, then over to a nearby star, brighter than the rest. "Come, Duo. Let's move to that star over there and see if we can't find a planet. I would like my feet to be on solid ground before we say anything further."
Duo nodded, eager to please his new friend. They took off.
Not long after, they reached it…only to find it had one planet, a barren, rocky ball of a wasteland.
"This will do." Nazyr said calmly.
"There is so much I want to know…"
Nazyr assured Duo that whatever he could answer, he would.
"How long have you been active?" Nazyr asked, leaning back against a large rock to support himself. Duo remained standing, quietly thinking over the question before he reached an answer.
"About two Decacycles, I suppose. Probably more than that, but…"
"I know, it's hard to pin down an exact date." Nazyr finished reluctantly. "There are those of us that are more than thirty Decacycles old."
"Incredible!" Duo stammered. "And yet, our entire kind remains stymied about our origins?"
"Sadly so." Nazyr admitted, pulling up his enlarged right arm and laying it across his lap. "This is why we always ask newcomers. In the hopes that some day, we will come to understand why we have been left here with only our mission to guide us."
"And who are we? What do we call ourselves?" Duo questioned, finally sitting down cross legged on the barren red soil. Nazyr shrugged, a small sad smile on his face.
"This much I know. The name we chose for ourselves was suggested by our oldest warrior…A fifty Decacycle old female known as Marla."
"So who are we?" Duo pushed again. Nazyr's eyes seemed to grow dimmer as he spoke.
"We are…The Watchers." The elderly Nazyr stood up and looked at Duo. "For as long as we have lived, we have wandered. Silently watching the galaxy--and striking out whenever we find our enemy."
"The Evil Energy." Duo whispered, his eyes growing wide in spite of his newfound courage. Nazyr narrowed his own optics.
"So that's what you call it, eh? I suppose by now you've had your fair share of run-ins with it."
"I know the harm it can do." Duo said calmly.
"Indeed." Replied Nazyr. "So I can assume that you are familiar with the dispersal technique." Duo nodded. "I thought as much. But how do you fare with the more advanced tactics? Show me what you can do."
Duo thought over Nazyr's words for a long moment, then hovered up into the air, his narrow wings burning off green fire. With a powerful yell, he charged at a nearby boulder and slammed his large fist through it, crumbling it apart.
Nazyr, of course, wasn't impressed. He narrowed his eyes and folded his arms. "Is that the best you can do?" Duo blinked.
"I can do more?"
"Worlds more, brother. And I shall teach you. Because just like there are the Watchers, there are warriors who walk with the dark energies to feed them." Nazyr stood up and walked over to Duo, staring into his eyes. "The Carriers. And when you face them…and you will, Duo…you must be prepared. To win…or die." Duo nodded for a long moment, then stuck out his right hand.
Nazyr clasped it firmly with his own more massive right paw, then harrumphed.
"Most basic to your continued evolution is a firm understanding of your power source."
And that was how Duo met his mentor.
That was a stunning revelation for me. That there were others like me…
I wasn't alone…
My mission was to seek out the Evil Energy. Now I had been told that it was carried en masse by warriors known as The Carriers. My enemies. Nazyr was right, of course…his own abilities and knowledge far surpassed mine. And he was only a mediocre warrior of The Watchers. I had to improve. If there was any hope of me making an actual difference, I had to reach levels of skill and understanding far beyond where I stood then.
My strength came from the blue energy source within me. Embedded deep within my chest, it pulsed. Contained, self-sufficient…and yet I had not yet tapped into its full potential.
The two biggest hurdles for any Watcher to jump, Nazyr told me very early on, was learning how to align the body…and align the mind. Alignment of the body allowed a Watcher to harness the energy that gave them life as a destructive weapon. The energy source that powered me was the most powerful tool against the Evil Energy, as well as The Carriers. This was how I used the dispersal technique…merely calling forth enough of my own strength to counteract the negative energy, and forcing the two to react so that both flashed out of existence. My own strength would replenish, given enough time. Thus, I could never 'run empty', as one might say. I could only run dangerously low.
And for another Decacycle, that was exactly what Nazyr worked to prevent…through vigorous training to force my power to grow.
"Come on!" Nazyr grunted, hurling off a bolt of crackling power towards Duo. The larger blue and red armored figure narrowed his eyes at the shot, then boosted himself out of the way with his wing thrusters. Nazyr roared, hurling off a widespread barrage of shots aimed across the skies where Duo now flew.
"Oh, no you don't…" Duo growled, pulling his left hand to bear and clenching it into a tight fist. Blue light leapt into existence around his entire body, protecting him from the hail of Nazyr's power.
Unscathed, Duo emerged from the onslaught with a wide grin on his face. Nazyr narrowed his eyes.
"Good, you have defense down. But do you have the SPEED to take me?!" Nazyr's own wings expanded outwards from his thinner, yet taller frame, blasting him up into the sky to face Duo.
Both roared in fury as Nazyr approached. Duo caught him off guard with a perimeter ring of energy that exploded into a brilliant flash, forcing the elder Watcher to spin up and away from Duo.
Instinctively, Duo raised his massive left hand up and focused energy around his fingertips. Despite himself, Nazyr was forced to dodge, roll and spin through the air, all the while keeping his shield up at maximum strength.
"Oh, you get so predictable sometimes…" Duo chuckled, drawing his left arm back and clenching his hand into a fist. His eyes watched Nazyr spin away from the barrage, hovering right in the spot Duo had guessed he would.
Thus, a surprised Nazyr was unable to dodge away from Duo's blistering super-beam, fired as Duo launched his arm forth like a ramrod and punctuated the attack's release with a scream.
Nazyr's own energy shield crackled against the furious attack, then finally fell with a whine. The rest of the wave sent him sprawling to the ground, coughing on the dust kicked up by his collapse.
"Yield." Nazyr finished weakly, lifting his smaller left hand up into the air. Duo merely smiled and let his blue energy seep back into storage for regeneration, then walked over and helped his teacher to his feet.
"You're getting stronger, Duo." Nazyr said, taking in a deep breath. "And a lot more skilled in combat. I'm confident enough in your skills I'd put you up against a Carrier right now!"
"I can't help but think that you're holding the second part of that statement back." Duo said with a small smile, folding his arms as best as he could. Nazyr chuckled and waved a finger.
"I can't slip anything by you, can I? Yes, Duo. There is one concern I have." Nazyr sat down on the barren ground and sighed. "While you have trained your body to the utmost, what we have been unable to do for you is train your mind."
"In other words, my mentalic talents aren't as high as you'd like." Duo added quietly. Nazyr shrugged.
"That necessarily isn't a bad thing, Duo. Some Watchers are destined to be better fighters than seers, it's just how it is. Myself, for instance…I'm nowhere near as talented a warrior as you, but my mentalic abilities rank quite high."
"And mentalic abilities are important to us." Duo said. "With the skills of a warrior, you can face the menace of Evil Energy and the Carriers. But the talents of a seer is what allows Watchers to hunt the enemy down in the first place."
"Among other things." Nazyr sighed. He stared his large blank eyes at Duo and nodded. "So I shall still go with you, Duo. Some day, you will be able to face the void alone, take down hordes of Carriers, and walk with purpose, determination, and confidence. But until we can improve your mentalics…and we will…You still need me."
"I understand, Nazyr." Duo replied with a smile. "I don't exactly feel ready to go it alone anyhow." Nazyr harrumphed with an even bigger smile.
"Well, that statement's a breath of fresh air…at least your head won't get too big." Nazyr paused and re-examined his words, then shrugged sheepishly at Duo. "In the emotional sense, not the size of your crani…Aah, forget it."
It only took a Decacycle of full training with Nazyr for me to reach my level of skill. I could remember the extent of my abilities before I met Nazyr, and I shuddered every time I did. I was so inexperienced, so raw. If I had met even the weakest of Carriers, Nazyr affirmed, I would have been space dust.
Still, he was right. My mentalic talents weren't nearly as powerful as they should have been. Compared to his, even compared to others.
Aside from Nazyr, I'd never seen other Watchers. But change was coming. A very big one.
Duo snapped wide awake, his eyes blinking furiously as he sorted through the vision he'd had. Or at least…he thought it might be a vision.
"Nazyr." Duo called out, picking himself up to his feet and looking over twenty steps distant. Nazyr too was slowly pulling himself awake, his own eyes already narrowed and focused. "Nazyr, I…"
"Did you see something?" Nazyr asked. Duo nodded. So Nazyr was reading him…Still, the elderly Watcher had the good graces to stop there. Duo could tell when his mind was being looked at, and that icy hand pulled back quickly. "So what was it?"
"A giant orange sphere in the sea of stars…but located far beyond the core, in the very outskirts of the swirl." Nazyr nodded, folding his arms.
"So it's finally happened then…you've had a precognitive vision."
"A what?"
"An image of things that may come…yet may not. The future, Duo, is a hazy mist one cannot pierce clearly. Even the brightest of mentalic Watchers are hampered by that."
"So what good does it do me?" Duo asked, his voice growing angry. Nazyr grinned.
"That is where experience and practice shall aid you, Duo. Over time, you will learn to stare through that veil…not as clear as the horizon in the world before you, but well enough that the images there are more than mere ghosts. Enough so that you learn to separate the tiny specks of reality from the fog that clouds it…Enough so that you can surmise its meaning, and act on it."
"But what if I am wrong? What if the choice I make is a wrong one?" Duo pushed, suddenly fearful of the process that had happened within his mind. Nazyr stretched his massive right hand out and placed it on Duo's shoulder.
"If you just let it happen, Duo…you will always be right." Nazyr pulled his hand back and harrumphed. "Obviously, it has happened now. But what did you see?"
"A battle…" Duo said quietly. "A battle between Watchers…and Carriers."
"More than one?!" Nazyr asked sharply. Duo shut his eyes and nodded.
"And it's going to happen soon…"
"You know where?"
"Yes, but I said it would happen soon. It would have already been mostly over with by the time we got there." Duo affirmed sadly. Nazyr shook his head.
"That's of no consequence. Battles have been won because of the tide turning in the last half." The elderly Watcher emphasized adamantly. "We must go, Duo. I trust in your vision, but you must show us where to go." Duo powered up his green tinted thrusters and floated up into the sky, and Nazyr followed.
"I shall take us." Duo said clearly. Nazyr offered a reassuring grin of determination, and the two shot off like rockets, clearing the thin atmosphere and hurtling into space with their hearts to guide them.
As their locuses of blue light grew stronger and they sped up to unbelievable speeds, victim to the natures of physics, Duo could hear a resounding thought ride through his brain before everything vanished into light…and beyond.
I just hope we're not too late.
Astronomers on Earth had found an intriguing sight to their wandering telescopes during the Autumn months of 2081. Their attention was focused not on a far away cluster of random stars, or a pulsar, or even a bright gaseous cloud.
It was turned on Jupiter. For more than a week now, they had been treated to a dazzling display of fireworks in the solar system's largest planet's orbit. Blue and purple lights seemed to clash, collide, and hurl themselves to destruction against one another. During the night, even amateur astronomers could focus their smaller Magellans onto the gas giant and see it, and during the day when sunlight blotted out the heavenly show, live feeds from the sixteen year old Hubble Mark 2 orbital telescope delivered live feeds 24 hours a day for one of the clearest pictures of the action.
And yet for all the eyes that turned and watched, nobody could identify just what was causing the phenomenon. It wasn't any sort of asteroids streaking down, crashing into the giant's atmosphere and blasting out matter. No, the blue and purple lights moved under their own accord…from point to point, blinking and shifting beyond the expected attitudes of any natural spaceborne projectile. It even defied humanity's greatest rocketry. Whatever was at work wasn't natural…
However, interest slowly died in it. Aside from the limited rebirth of 'alien invader' hysteria, which had quelled itself in four days because people just didn't give a damn about anything but their own lives, the event continued on. With eyes watching faithfully, yet more turning away to other matters night after night.
Yet there were those who kept vigil. And it was those who were able to say with full confidence that when it had begun, there were at least thirty-seven individual blue lights around Jupiter…and forty-six purple ones.
If anybody on Earth had had the ability to peer beyond the range of a telescope and into the mystical boundaries of the unknown…the truth behind what was causing the spectacular 'Mystery lights of Jupiter'…
They would have reached for another sweater. Because the truth would have made them shiver in terror at the apocalyptic struggle less than a light week away.
The battle between the Watchers and their dreaded foes, the Carriers, had given both sides massive casualties. To a race that had no way of knowing their true population, it was a heavy loss to take. Only the oldest, the strongest of all the Watchers remained, with two Carriers bearing down on it.
Marla wheezed from her wounds, her energy supply fast draining from the extensive use she was putting it to. Her smaller right arm clutched down at the sparking open wound in her side, caused by a fateful piercing blast of negative Carrier energy that might have taken her life, if she hadn't been able to dodge it in time. Still, she had been harmed, despite all her efforts. Her massive black irises stood out clear in the optics of white, tiny pinpricks that stared out at a foe beyond comprehension.
"Damn you monsters…" She mumbled weakly, pulling the remainder of her main battle energy forth to enhance her shield. The blue light flared only momentarily before resuming its normal glow. Marla's heart fell…it seemed that they'd gotten the better of them.
The Carriers had come out of nowhere, swooping down on her pack of Watchers like raving bandits. Caught unawares, they had slowly been whittled down, despite their skills. It hadn't helped matters that there had been forty-six of them, and only thirty seven Watchers on hand.
The remains of Carriers and Watchers lay scattered in vast swaths of dust and debris around the great red and orange planet's orbit. Amazing as it seemed, the debris field from their battle had created a second ring around the planet, brighter and more visible than the natural one. And now only Marla and the two Carrier bandits remained to duke it out.
The Carriers looked at each other for a long moment, then turned to Marla and shot their hands out straight. A pair of massive purple shockwaves hurled themselves across the void, blowing through bits of debris like wind through ash as they made their way to Marla.
The Watcher shut her eyes tightly, keeping her field sustained. But she knew that it was too late. Their blasts would eliminate the final scraps of her main power…which meant a slow death as her body, crying out for power, was denied the thing that kept her alive.
Just then, a blistering blue ball slammed by her and hit the Carrier's waves head on, dispersing them. When the blue light died down, a large and glaring Watcher stood in its place…
"Who…" Marla began, falling into stunned shock. The Watcher turned around and smiled, saluting from its squarish helmeted head.
"The name is Duo…We've come to help."
"We?" Marla asked, still fazed and weak. Another blaze of blue settled beside her, and cleared to reveal a familiar face. "Nazyr!!" The lankier male Watcher nodded grimly and motioned to Duo.
"Duo is my trainee…He had the vision that brought us here."
"It's too late…" Marla said, her enthusiasm failing. "Thirty-six Watchers have already fallen…"
"Thirty-six?!" Nazyr whispered in horror. "Gods, how many were there?!"
"Forty-six of them…caught us by surprise." Marla replied weakly.
Duo's eyes remained focused ahead on the two Carriers. They exchanged glances at each other for a moment, then realized they were facing stronger odds now.
"They're still alive." Duo said through gritted teeth. He clenched his massive left hand up into a fist and summoned forth a handful of his blue energy. "You're way too weak to do any more good. Leave this to me and Nazyr."
"Cocky, isn't he?" Marla mumbled with a small smile. Nazyr patted Marla on the shoulder consolingly and glared at Duo.
"Behave yourself, Duo. This is Marla, the oldest of all the Watchers!" Duo lifted his head a bit, but still kept his eyes focused on the two troublemakers ahead of him.
"I've got plenty of questions I think only you can answer, Marla, but right now there are other things to worry about."
"I will help." Marla said firmly, holding onto Nazyr. Duo's mentor channeled some of his own power to Marla, recharging her enough that she could fly over beside Duo with Nazyr and form a triad barrier. "They are fast, young Watcher. Don't underestimate them."
The two Carriers charged at the group, flying straight through them and dispersing them in all directions. Nazyr and Duo were chased by one, while Marla had her hands full running from the blazing shots from the others.
"Damn, they're fast!" Nazyr cursed angrily, wincing as his shield crackled from the impact of a purple concussion round. Duo looked behind him, narrowing his eyes and following the pattern of bobbing and weaving the Carrier performed to avoid their return fire.
"Fast, sure. But they're also predictable." Duo muttered. Nazyr looked over oddly.
"Huh?"
"When I say go, fly straight up and shoot down at him!" Duo commanded. Nazyr thought over it for a moment, then nodded. Duo seemed to have a grip on what to do.
With the opening shout, Duo went low and Nazyr went up, turning about and firing bolt after bolt of blue light down at his pursuer.
Just as before, the Carrier dodged and curled through the hail of blows, in the exact same pattern. And that was when a grinning Duo, looking up from below the pair, released his charged superbolt with a large grin. "Gotcha!!"
Duo's blast caught the Carrier completely by surprise, hitting him dead on and without a chance to defend. In fact, it so stunned the Carrier that Nazyr was able to finally strike the fiend with his own energy bolts. Trapped between the two blistering attacks, the Carrier soon succumbed, howling out a final shrill whine of rage before exploding into pieces. His purple negative energy source began wisping away as it combined with the blue of the Watcher's fury, exploding into a brilliant white light before disappearing forever.
Nazyr drew beside Duo, his breathing heavy. The younger Watcher propped his eyes up in concern.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm old, Duo…Haven't had to run like that for a very long time." Duo shook his head in disbelief.
"If you had that much trouble with him, then Marla…" Duo caught himself short. "Oh no."
The two swiveled their heads about, craning their wandering eyes to try and focus on the bright specks of illumination that were Marla, the oldest of the Watchers, and the final Carrier.
And there they were, three clicks away…
Marla grunted in frustration, spinning away from another blistering beam of radiant purple light.
"Damn you, STOP SHOOTING AND TAKE ME FACE TO FACE!!" Marla finally cried out for all to hear.
Surprisingly, that's just what the Carrier did. He lowered his arm down and stopped his beam attacks, then ignited another shape for his energy…an elongated blade of pure negative power.
Marla turned about, her wing thrusters retrofiring as she pulled herself to a halt. Her eyes narrowed as she stared across the battleground to her foe, then clenched her left hand down and made a similar blade from her blue light.
"About time…now we'll see if you have the makings of a warrior, instead of a coward!" The Carrier, his skin a dark purple black, merely narrowed his set yellow eyes and charged.
Duo and Nazyr hit their own wing thrusters to maximum power, making their way to the battlefield as quickly as non-blink mode would allow…And yet they both knew that it could be over by the time they reached Marla and the Carrier.
Carrier and Watcher dueled like art in perpetual motion…blue and purple energy blades swinging and singing in synch with one another. Every thrust prompted a parry, ever parry a broad swipe to clear the distance between the duelists. Marla's eyes narrowed to crescents, and the Carrier's narrowed to mere slits.
Blinding light exploded every time their weapons collided, the more powerful strokes threatening to blind them. Yet they held on tightly to their weapons, and held on tighter to their concentration. The smallest slip-up would be fatal, for both warriors knew after only a few moments of crossing swords that they were evenly matched…professionals both, with an eye for killing. They could have fought at long range, using their respective energy sources to rally blast after blast in a climactic fireworks display. That was how most of their fallen comrades had done it…
But the eldest Watcher and the last Carrier of the bandit pack had gone beyond that now. This was a battle beyond mere survival…it now hinged on insanity, on rage, on grief for all that had died before.
"Marla!" Duo called out, watching on in alarm as the duelists' swords continued to clash in blast after blast of raging force. Nazyr's right arm stretched out and blocked Duo from charging in. Confused, the young Watcher turned to Nazyr, only to see Nazyr keep his gaze locked onto the duel.
"No, Duo…This is Marla's battle. We have to trust her to come through…"
However, the surviving Carrier had something that Marla didn't…something that assured him victory, no matter how skilled Marla was with her energy sword. His energy source still had a quarter of its strength, while Marla was running on fumes and what little Nazyr had donated to her.
Both fighters now spun in the void like crazed tops, their blades mere extensions of their inertia and will…
And then the Carrier roared, as best he could over the radio frequency that both Watcher and Carrier used, and swung his blade down with every last erg of his physical strength.
Marla brought her own sword up to bear, blocking his shot…but he pushed with so much fury, so much power, that Marla's weapon crackled and sputtered…and then died as her own force was depleted just by the act of repelling his attack.
His sword carried through, swinging a deep gash across her chest before pulling back and stabbing deep into her abdomen…into the core that kept her blue powers intact and supplied.
And only then did Marla scream…Because the Carrier had struck her weakest point.
Laughing with all the darkness that both fed and came from his power source, the Carrier pulled his blade out of Marla's now motionless form and kicked her in the direction of Duo and Nazyr.
It was Duo who caught her in midflight, held her close as her glazed and tired eyes turned to Nazyr.
"Marla, no…" Nazyr whispered in horror, peering down into her face.
"I'm sorry, Nazyr…I was too weak to handle him…" She said with a sad, defeated smile.
"Hold on, I'll transfer some more energy to you…" Nazyr began.
"No." Marla cut him off quickly. Her right hand slowly dragged itself up and pointed to the deep stab wound in her stomach. "Wouldn't…do anything…he got my core." Nazyr's face fell into grief, and Marla shook her head. "No, don't cry for me…You always were a basket case, Nazyr…"
"You can't die…" Nazyr said tearfully.
"We all die eventually, Nazyr." She said back. "We just don't know when…"
She tilted her face up and looked into Duo's saddened eyes.
"Duo…I'm sorry I won't be able to answer your questions…"
"I don't think even you could have answered them." Duo offered. Marla's eyes brightened for a moment.
"What…were you going to ask…about our origins?" Duo's eyes went wide. Marla shook her head. "You can discover the truth…if you look long enough. But right now, your concern is…the Carrier."
Marla's eyes closed shut, her body relaxed more…and her voice dropped to a whisper.
"Duo, you must defeat him…For the future…"
And then she died. Duo turned and looked at Nazyr, whose face was full of pain and grief.
"Why couldn't we save her?" Nazyr's face was like a block of ice, growing hotter from the inside and threatening to crumble.
"That bastard Carrier…hit her core. The center of her body that stored the power source all Watchers share. As soon as he did that, he made that core barren…never again able to channel in the blue energy Watchers live by."
"No…" Duo said in horror. He looked down at her…her slightly wrinkled face seemingly so peaceful in those final moments before death.
She had fought…and she had died trying. And now it was his turn.
"Duo." Nazyr said through clenched teeth. The young Watcher looked to his mentor, startled by the sudden rage that blossomed from its contours. "It's up to us now…we have to kill the last Carrier."
The purple Carrier stared across the ether of space at the two final Watchers, his arms folded across his chest and his power blazing slowly about him, curling like wisps of smoke about a flame.
Duo looked at the Carrier with dread, with terror…for he'd just seen how very real the danger was, how this skilled Carrier could end their lives just as easily as he'd done to Marla.
"Duo!" Nazyr barked angrily. Duo's eyes snapped and blinked back awake.
"Huh?"
"Wake up, Duo! This is no time to go getting shell shocked on me!" Nazyr growled. "Marla's dead, all right? Nothing can help that. But unless you get moving out of that catatonic state, there's going to be a lot more dead when this thing makes a run for it! And that long list includes both you and me!"
There was no time to say anything further. The Carrier had finally grown tired of waiting…smelling the scent of blood in the air he charged towards them, a massive purple scythe stretched in front of him, threatening to cut the final two Watchers to pieces.
Like before, Duo and Nazyr scattered. Only this time, it was Duo that was being chased, and not his mentor.
The final Carrier moved with unbelievable blistering speed…only by shifting his mass into a spherical fireball and flaming ahead, an attack Duo called the Meteor Crash, was he able to stay ahead of that swinging blade. Even then, Duo was gritting his teeth. Meteor Crash wasn't something he could sustain for long periods of time, and the chase was slowly wearing down his control.
"Nazyr! He's catching up to me!" Duo called out over his radio, knowing that Nazyr could hear him perfectly.
"Hold on! I'm coming in for an intercept!" Came the reassuring reply. Duo, using every last bit of his perceptive senses, was barely able to make out Nazyr's form approaching…moving at Meteor Crash speed hindered his directional abilities immensely, but it was the only thing sustaining him from death.
Nazyr's thinner form screamed in rage as he collided with the Carrier, blue blade arcing and screaming as it tore against the purple one. An exhausted Duo shut off his Meteor Crash and let his wing thrusters slow him down, turning about to stare back at the battle.
Nazyr was in no way as skilled a sword duelist as Marla had been. But the Carrier had ignored Nazyr and focused on Duo, so he was so off balance when Nazyr approached that Nazyr's blows came dangerously close, unsettling the collected calm that the entity of purple energy had kept with him since the skirmish had begun a week ago.
"I'm coming in!" Duo barked, holding in a concussion charge of power close to his fist. His wing thrusters grew ready for their sudden burst…
"NO!" Nazyr cried out. "This bastard is MINE!!" Yet as the fight continued, Nazyr's edge over the Carrier grew decidedly weaker. Still, he continued on, screaming and hacking and blocking and spinning…
"Nazyr, you're being a fool! You can't take him alone!!"
"Duo, this is the last order I'm going to give you. SHUT UP!!" Nazyr screamed, blasting his thrusters to swoop away from a dangerously close hack. A stunned Duo could only hover in space, watching as his mentor defied all logic and fought on anger alone. "I know, you think I've gone nuts…But I've got to do this myself, Duo!! This bastard killed my FRIENDS…Our FAMILY!!"
Nazyr's smaller arm extended down and fired a piercing beam of blue light at the pursuing Carrier, following it along its path. The Carrier dodged the beam by bobbing aside, and his guard was lowered just enough that Nazyr was able to slam his helmeted head into the Carrier's throat. The blow jarred the Carrier back, giving Nazyr enough time and enough space to swipe his sword along his foe's chest, at long last striking a serious blow.
The Carrier howled out angrily, clutching at his chest and backpedaling away from Nazyr, gasping, even in the vacuum of space, for air that would not come. The battle had taken it out of Nazyr, and it was showing.
Duo hovered there in the space above the massive red and orange planet, watching in amazement as despite everything, Nazyr triumphed over the Carrier. Damage had been done…And at long last the conflict they'd arrived too late at to save the lives of their Watcher brethren showed signs of ending.
"Nice shot, Nazyr!" Duo said excitedly. Nazyr turned halfway about and smiled at Duo, flashing a thumbs up as he let his blue sword sink back into nothingness.
"I'm getting way too old for this." Nazyr muttered.
And just as he had finished saying that…
A gigantic blast of purple energy hit him in the chest, encircling him with its might. Nazyr screamed in agonizing pain as it crawled along every inch of his body, burning, striking, biting…
With a single motion, the energy collapsed in on itself…
And Nazyr vanished in the implosion.
Duo, once again stunned in terror, turned his gaze over to where Nazyr had sent the Carrier sprawling with his wounds.
The Carrier was up again…and the flames licking around his body were angrier than ever before.
I was terrified. I can admit that, because that is precisely the emotion that was running through my head. The final Carrier was beyond anything we'd ever faced…
And now they were dead…
Fear. Then and there I experienced fear. Before I had met Nazyr, life had been so much simpler…I followed the code in my head, I sought out Evil Energy, and I destroyed it. Meeting Nazyr had drawn me into this conflict…
And now they were dead…
Of course, I know now that if I hadn't met him, I would have eventually died at the hands of even the weakest of Carriers. So in some small part, my life had been prolonged. But that didn't help them now…No, they were gone. I was at the opposite end of the spectrum, facing the deadliest of Carriers. Life does have a sense of humor. It shows itself right before you die. Of course, Nazyr and Marla hadn't been able to see it…
Because now they were dead.
The code pulsed inside of my mind, strengthening me, giving me even more power.
Directive Alpha: Seek out and destroy all sources of opposing energy. Rewritten(25:47): Opposing EnergyEvil Energy.
Fear could have destroyed me then. But tempered with my Directive…my only purpose for being alive…
It became a sword for my spirit.
So there you have it. You can treat fear two ways. You can let it consume you. Or you can consume it, let it strengthen you with purpose.
Duo stared to the resurrected Carrier, teeth clenched tightly as he pounded his fists together.
"It ends here, you monster…I WON'T LET YOU DO THIS AGAIN!!"
It might have been his imagination, but the purple skinned warrior may well have grinned back at him with a menacing stare. Duo's blue power sprung to life around him, a wellspring of intense and focused justice. The Carrier's own barrier of purple light leapt even larger, as if to intimidate the last surviving Watcher. The two stared at each other for the longest time…and then they snapped.
Hurling themselves at each other like wild cannonballs, Watcher and Carrier collided at breakneck speed. The Watcher's strength increased by the deep sense of purpose, they were at last evenly matched…
Blinding flashes of pure white light erupted wherever they connected, a deadly game of chicken that might well have claimed them both. It didn't matter to them…
In the final skirmish of the one week battle, finesse and style were thrown out the window. Everything was turned over to raw emotion, to endless fury, to pure mathematical statistics…
Whose power would last longer.
Clash after clash grew more focused, more intense. The first had been a tentative collision, a test. Now in the thirty-sixth unholy union of energy fields, the Carrier realized with grim and unfazing accuracy his own strength was depleting far more rapidly than the Watcher's. And that would not do.
They pulled back from one another after yet another crash, and there the Carrier took his chance, releasing a blistering beam of power towards his foe, containing a very sizeable portion of his power. His hopes were riding on this one, brilliant shot…and he'd never once missed in his entire life.
The blast struck true, the hazy purple energies coalescing tightly around the blue energy field sustained by the Watcher. The Watcher groaned in pain, refusing to give into the gnawing screams from deep within his belly. He remembered the pain and the purpose of those who had came before him…and once more tapping into a force more than that contained inside of his power core, he brought his massive left hand in front of his face and clenched it tightly, forcing his power to expand out and push back against the crushing might of the Evil Energy.
The wall that threatened to engulf him vanished away from the superior force his spirit willed into existence, and once more he was freed. Carrier and Watcher stared at each other for the longest time, each glaring at the other with a fury that went beyond logic.
They did not know each other. They only knew they were enemies, and that was enough. Enough to force the final, desperate clash.
Watcher and Carrier smashed together with all their remaining fury, causing a massive explosion of light that obliterated the scattered remains of their fallen comrades too close to the blast. And then all fell quiet…For now it was done.
The both of them remained unconscious, wholly and completely absent from the world…the blast had jarred them both in the same manner, hurling them away from the massive gaseous planet and towards the bright star that gave its rays of warmth and gravity.
A pale blue light still clung to the Watcher, but the Carrier was so drained he merely skidded along. Both were far too exhausted, too far gone to wake up on their own.
Thus, for weeks, the two unconscious warriors continued along in the avenue of space, creeping past the massive Asteroid Belt without harm and growing ever closer to the star, every passing moment bringing them closer to that bright star that pulled them in.
But something stood in the way of their path…an object of such mass that it drew them in, negated the sun's own gravitic draw, and brought them into a degrading orbit.
It was a planet…a bright blue planet with wispy, hazy white clouds. A gem in the sea of harshness. A planet its inhabitants called Earth.
Such a planet capable of supporting life also had an atmosphere, and still fast asleep in their deep comas, the Carrier and the Watcher were drawn down through it, the blistering heat threatening to claim them both.
But the Watcher's wispy blue energy field protected him…it was only the Carrier who fell victim to the burning hot temperatures of re-entry, every part of his body burning and bubbling and tearing itself apart…
Save for the one thing that could survive the immense heat…the crystal clear spherical power core that glimmered with his Evil Energy, and a pair of connecting power transfer tubes extending from it.
Thus, weeks after the mysterious lights of Jupiter had vanished, and the planet had claimed a Second nearly invisible ring about it, the inhabitants of Earth found themselves staring up into the sky, watching a pair of streaking plumes descend down upon the Earth…and strike somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
And that was how Duo ended up on Earth.
Mega Man gnashed at his jaw, holding his arms down at his side uselessly…He'd arrived on this island to track down some spaceborne debris that had recently crashed…debris that, Dr. Light had told him, had a powerful energy signature.
In the process, the Blue Bomber had discovered that this remote island, not listed on any map, had a reason for being unlisted. It was artificial. And it was Wily's.
This was where the mad scientist had been keeping himself these last few months since the Seventh Robot Rebellion. And Rock remembered how that one had ended…
I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago, Wily!!
No…you can't…you're a robot, you can't hurt me!!
I am MORE than a mere robot…
Pushed further into rage than ever before, it had been just him and Wily in the lowest sub sub-basement of the newest Skull Castle. The endless night had been Rock's only company as he pushed deeper and deeper into its bowels, a stormy brew bubbling about on the outside with its own agenda. Back then, in the early summer months of 2181, Mega Man had once more been forced to take up arms, take up the never-ceasing mission to end Wily's maniacal schemes. Six months of rest had not been enough.
Rock was getting tired. He'd been fighting off Wily's cronies and Wily's War Machines for more than ten years now. Ten long years, in which he'd seen friends die in this madness, in which he had lost his simplistic outlook on life…In which eventually he'd reached a precipice, farther and higher than any other, and with far more wide reaching consequences.
His Buster had been staring straight into the wide, horror filled eyes of Wily. Never before had Rock ever gone that far, to fire at Wily when he wasn't in one of his warcraft…But as the klaxons wailed and the 7th Skull Castle began to shake itself apart in self-destruction, Wily's psychotic nightmares finally sprung to life.
I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago!!
He would have broken the First Law in doing so. And logically, defying the first law…
A robot must never harm, or through inaction allow harm to come to a human being
Should have caused his mind to shut down. Even thinking about it should have caused him immense pain.
But that trauma, that built-in self-destruct feature of his brain had not activated that night. His rage against Wily and his madness and all the horror he'd caused had reached the boiling point…and the teakettle had whistled loud and hard.
His mind remained free, remained unharmed and unchecked by the First Law. In fact, its absence was so severe that Rock even forgot about it. In that rash, split second, as his Buster whined and built up a charge for a supershot, he could have well fired…and his brain wouldn't have made a peep about it.
A pile of debris had fallen on Wily then, trapping him in a cage which he could not escape. It was that act which stopped Rock.
The surprise of debris falling down on top of Wily and all around them jarred Mega Man back to his senses. Then he realized how very absent the Laws were from his system at that moment…
His emotions had overpowered EVERYTHING. He could have killed Wily in that state of mind…
No…
He'd stumbled back, and lowered his Buster, just as Bass and Treble warped in out of nowhere and rescued Wily. Bass had given Rock a sneering taunt before vanishing…And Mega Man had warped away from that deathtrap not long after.
He remembered that long walk home…thinking of all that had happened, and how close, how very close he had come that night to crossing the threshold. It frightened him so terribly…
In my quest to stop Wily…I have become a monster myself.
Thus, for the last few months, Mega Man had done his best to push away all emotions, to focus only on the mission and deny that part of him which made him feel human. If only so he could not…could not even conceive of killing Wily. Of killing any human.
And now that nightmare had returned. This was Wily's island, and whatever had crashed…had been taken by Wily. From what Mega'd been able to see of it, it resembled a glass sphere with a deep glowing purple light within, and a pair of straggling tubes off the sides.
And now he was flying off in his saucer, laughing his crazed head off and leaving Rock with a pile of charred robotic remains behind him, and a crater in front. Rush stood at his side, gently nudging the Mega Ball around with his nose and whining a bit.
"Nothing we can do about him now, boy." Mega Man said quietly. He looked behind him to the rubble of the island's guardian, a massive shelled robot that he'd quickly disposed of. "And nothing around here left to worry about destroying." Rush nodded his head in agreement, and the Blue Bomber stepped up to the ridge of the crater.
"What the…?" He said, now surprised. There was something left in the crater… "Hey, Rush! Take a look at this!" The red armored robotic mutt bounded up beside Mega Man, and stared down with a scrutinizing gaze. Whatever was left…was big, humanoid, and had a pair of green metallic wings on its back.
"Rush, this is…some kind of robot!" Mega Man exclaimed, still stating the obvious.
Just then, Rush barked to warn Mega of an incoming transmission, then opened up a compartment in his back and brought out the holographic projector.
"…an! Mega Man!!" It was of course, a pale image of Doctor Light that appeared, calling through Rush's transponder to see how Rock was doing.
Mega Man stared down at the cumbersome blue and red armored robot, lying motionless and seemingly inactive with its tiny green wings.
Doctor Light was the world's foremost authority on robots in the entire world. But Mega didn't know how even he'd deal with this.
Three and a half days later, Mega Man returned to Doctor Light's laboratory, fresh from his victory against Tengu Man in California. But held close to him was four small, grenade sized spheres of durable plastics. The quirky thing about them was that they had come from the most recent batch of Robot Masters Wily had left for Mega Man to deal with.
"These?" Light mused, rubbing at his temple as he looked down at the readouts of all four of them, carefully stored in a vacuum sealed scanning cylinder. "These are energy sources…Although I've never seen anything like them on Earth." He shook his head quickly. "Powerful energy sources…something this powerful must not fall into the hands of Dr. Wily!"
The Blue Bomber took his helmet off and brushed at his wild black mane of hair.
"Too late for that, dad." Light looked up to his youngest son with surprised eyes. "I found this bunch in Wily's four newest Robot Masters. And the color…When I confronted him on that island, he made off with a sphere that resembled these. Only it was a lot bigger. I'd bet anything he just transferred the energy from that large sphere into these smaller ones and stuck them in his robots."
"Oh, that's just great…" Light mumbled, jerking into spasms as he hacked up a wad of phlegm. Mega frowned.
"Doc, you know that your pipe smoking isn't healthy for you."
"I know, I know." Light sighed. "It isn't helping my lifespan any…but the way I see it, all that radiation I exposed myself to during the Wars of 2040 didn't help much either. Still, let's focus on the problem at hand. Wily never does these things in just four…there's ALWAYS eight. Which means that there's four more Robot Masters running around powered by this energy--not to mention Wily himself."
"Yeah, but they haven't exactly sent out invitations yet. How do I find him?" Mega grumbled.
"We may be able to track their energy emissions in the radar room." Light offered hopefully. He turned around and looked at the giant robot lying on the table. "Besides, this fellow isn't going to be leaving anytime soon." Mega Man and Dr. Light walked out of the laboratory adjoined to his house, mumbling between themselves about whatever else came to mind. The lights shut off upon sensing that Light and Mega had both left, shrouding the room in darkness.
Save for the glimmering pale light that emanated from the energy spheres Mega Man had brought back.
Alive.
I was alive. Despite that climactic battle, despite how very weary and exhausted it had made me, I was alive. My mind went active as my eyelids slid up, letting my eyes blink back into focus as I let my surroundings sink in. As if to confirm that I wasn't dreaming, I held up my left hand and stared at it, then clenched it tightly.
My eyesight adapted quickly to the darkness…I soon realized I wasn't out in space anymore. No, this resembled…I didn't know what it resembled. I'd never seen anything like it. I just knew I hadn't crashed here.
But then something caught my eye…A glowing ovoid mirror set in a box frame…
And standing beside it in a cylinder was the one thing my life was dedicated to destroying.
Evil Energy.
Four tiny spheres full of it…and as I held that cylinder in the palm of my hand, my frightened eyes realized why I was staring at it. It frightened me. It meant I had failed Nazyr…Failed Marla…failed all the Watchers.
"He…He still lives…" Shaking in fear and anger, I clenched my massive hand into a fist, crushing the cylinder and destroying the tiny remnants of Evil Energy.
I could sense an unnaturally large portion of it somewhere beyond…yet close. There were weaker signals as well, but those could be ignored for the time being. I had to destroy the main source!!
Thus, with a scream of purpose I willed myself to the winds of fate and let my power take over, drawing me near to that source, blasting through everything in my path that stood in my way.
In power, I was strong. Strong enough to reach stalemate with the first, and deadliest Carrier I'd ever run across. Strong enough now to finish what untold hordes of Watchers had started before me. Strong enough to rid the Galaxy of another source of Evil Energy.
But my mentalics remained as pathetic as ever…And now, there was no Nazyr left to guide me.
I was alone.
I must have gone halfway around the world…I knew I was on a world because once I was airborne I see the curvature of the horizon, the bright sky and atmosphere above, and even more impressively…life.
Across high mountains of blinding white reflected light, something Nazyr had once called "Snow and Ice", across barren plains that resembled the planet we'd spent most of our training at, and bodies of water that seemed endless…a lush, diverse world full of promise and hope…
And poisoned by the stark presence of Evil Energy.
Eventually, I got close enough to it I could pick up a more precise bead. Somewhere down below the deserts lay the place where it grew.
It was getting stronger too…feeding. Evil Energy could grow and expand, if it remained in the presence of a being with a dark mind long enough. And at its rate of growth that I could sense even at this distance, it had fallen into the hands of a very dark mind. I'd seen a Carrier in action…yet all of its anger, its hatred was mimicked, forced…artificial. The Evil Energy was tainted with the thoughts of the person in control of it, and those thoughts frightened me.
I had to get down there…
Nazyr…Marla…and all the others had died so this menace might be quelled.
And it still lived. IT STILL LIVED.
There was no one I could turn to for help…I was alone in this mission, in a place I did not know, on a world whose path I could not interfere with…
I turned my thoughts aside and skimmed down to the surface, blasting my way through the side of the structure with flashing orange yellow lights.
The Evil Energy was somewhere beneath it.
I hadn't gotten too far when I heard footsteps approach from behind me. And then I met him.
Mega Man slipped through the hissing gateway and emerged onto the other side, finding himself in a large, rectangular sized room all too familiar to him. Many was the time he'd fought in a room like this, sometimes with enemies that took up 3/4 of it up by their bulk.
The robot blinked his eyes a few times and stared over through the slight darkness to the lumbering figure standing with his back turned to the Blue Bomber.
Finally, the larger robot turned, staring at Mega Man with large, white gaping eyes. Every part of him looked crafted for battle, every part of him…
Spoke of great ability resting underneath that metal skin. Mega Man's first thought was that it might be another robot of Doctor Wily's. It wouldn't be the first time that the sometimes gullible Blue Bomber had brought home an ailing warrior, only to have that same victim blast their way out of the building. Still, there was something different in the giant blue and red robot's eyes…something deeper than Bass's scorn and ego. A tiny spark set in his eye's glint that hinted at a purpose, and a firm jaw that silently marked his dedication to it.
"You are…Who are you?!" Mega Man demanded, taking a step forward. He didn't shift a hand into a Buster quite yet, unsure about the newcomer.
The massive robot glared at Mega Man for a long moment, then finally spoke up, through a complex process of deep-mind translation circuits.
"Don't try to stop me from completing my mission!!" He raged. Mega Man took a few steps back, then shook his head and formed a Buster.
"You aren't going anywhere until I get some answers." Rock stated flatly.
"You have no idea who you're facing, do you?" The alien robot quipped tersely. Mega Man shook his head with a wan smile and let his Buster's whine fill the room.
"That question's mutual, John Doe Binary."
"Then prepare to die." Mega Man's adversary snapped, hovering up into the air on a bright pillar of blue light, then clenching his fists tightly together and screaming as a brief burst of the same color shot out from every pore of his body. Mega Man merely relaxed his body, letting his instincts take over.
Neither gave the other any space…The gigantic robot tried to flash around the room in a blur of blue, like some sort of a giant cannonball. Rock merely slid his way underneath the strikes that came too close for comfort, his eyes watching the angled trajectory his opponent bounced around on, and placing a shot whenever the massive robot stopped to rebuild steam.
Likewise, the helmeted, mis-proportioned warrior treated Mega Man in the same way, watching and waiting for the tiny blue armored fool to fire his shot--in either laser or fireball form--and then jumped over it, turning about to unload a concussion blast where he hoped the gunman was standing.
Slowly, it began to dawn on them both that they were fighting an experienced opponent who by purpose was holding back. And that was when, after jumping over another of Mega Man's supershots, the behemoth landed and discovered much to his surprise that his mentalic abilities had once more clicked themselves on.
He saw into the mind of his opponent…not too much, just enough that he saw this one fought for a righteous cause as well, despite the confusion and torment in his emotions. And that was enough to make him stop the attack.
"I sense a strong sense of justice in you…" He muttered, lowering his arm down and letting his blue aura quietly draw itself back into him. "Who are you?" Now truly intrigued, he found that his mentalics slipped back away, leaving him blind once more.
His opponent lowered his own weapon as well, yet was denied the chance to answer the question. An unfamiliar four tone whistle rang through the room, only moments before a blistering red and gray beam shot down from above and formed yet another short statured warrior, only this one had a deep visor covering his eyes and a yellow scarf dangling out from behind him…among other differences.
"Mega Man!" The newcomer called out.
"Protoman!" Mega replied, somewhat relieved to find the presence of his older brother in the room as well.
The alien robot examined the two of them for a long moment, quietly absorbing their names into his memory before deciding that one, he didn't exactly feel too talkative at the moment, and two, he'd wasted enough time and that Evil Energy wasn't getting any weaker. So before the other two could react, he surrounded himself in his bluish power and blasted through yet another wall, descending down the shaft it covered like a bloodhound to a fox.
Calmly, he realized that the energy emissions he was sensing was coming from a gigantic structure of some sort lying over an undiscovered pocket of molten rock that spat off fumes. A place like this would be harmful to most life, Duo noted. Also, he didn't get too far without noticing the gigantic sentry…and even though it too was tainted by the Evil Energy, it was far from his main focus. He merely chose to fly low and avoid being spotted by the superstrong creature.
With a roar, he came to a hovering halt in the thick hot air and fired off a beam of light towards the structure.
It dispersed hundreds of feet away from it, broken apart by shimmering lights that only then appeared--and vanished just as quickly.
"Terrific." Duo grumbled. He hovered there, thinking of a way to get inside…
His mentalics kicked in again, and suddenly he saw how, as his perspective shifted above the planet and formed a map of sorts…a square where he was now, and four circle oddly placed around it.
Effectively, this bases' barrier was being fed from four power locations nearby. And until those were dismantled, not even he could break through it.
His mentalics faded away again, allowing Duo to hear the painful screams of someone nearby. And Duo knew who it was, too, as he blasted off to track its location.
It was that same blue warrior who he'd dueled with not long ago…a blue warrior the red one had referred to as 'Mega Man'…
Robots could most definitely feel pain…and right now, Mega Man was wishing desperately he could shut off that particular function of his neural relays. Electrical energy arced and burned through him, causing him to convulse in every manner and fashion, unable to escape because of the same tightly clenched fist of the Fortress guardian that was trying to kill him in the first place. His screams were endless, pained cries that echoed about the massive underground chamber for the sick pleasure of that Bastard Wily's ears.
And thankfully, it stopped…only twenty seconds away from when Rock's systems would have gone critical and shut him down permanently. Thankful once again for close calls that always leapt to his aid, the Blue Bomber yelled with a grunt and broke free of the terrible vise grip holding him. As he cluttered to the ground, he tore off towards the section of the cave wall that held his mutt.
"Rush…are you okay?" The robotic dog ruffed weakly, then opened his fluttering eyes in confirmation. Rock turned around, seeing two things nearby. One, the hand of the Fortress guardian that had held him so close to death, only now sliced clean off of its user…
And a flash of blue light as the mysterious robot appeared beside him, eyes staring ahead towards the lumbering threat drawing nearer to its wary prey.
"Who are you?" Mega Man repeated. Finally, the newcomer turned his gaze to Rock and answered that very question.
"My name is Duo. I was born for the sole purpose of seeking out and destroying negative energies in the Universe."
The thuds of the Fortress guardian drew nearer, and Mega Man held Rush closer, realizing how very damaged his mutt was, despite the dog's unfailing attitude.
"Well Duo, I'm Mega Man…And obviously you're not one of Wily's cronies then." He looked up to the lumbering figure approaching them. "But right now, we don't have the time to discuss this…"
Both fighters jumped for their lives, just as the robot's other fist connected with the ground where they had stood moments before. Before Mega could shift Rush's weight and ready his Mega Buster, his new associate Duo had already leapt onto the attack.
With power and speed that stunned even Mega Man, Duo's left, super huge arm ignited in blue flames, just as he swung it down and threw the energy like a sort of slicing blade. The effect was immediate as half of the guardian's face was carved off and began to fall to the ground.
Before the first piece of the robot had even hit the ground, Duo had landed in a crouching position and exploded upwards into the chest of the robot in a blaze of blue, emerging beyond the robot's back with something clenched in his hand.
Badly damaged, and unknown to Rock, now lacking its energy source, the behemoth fell victim to gravity and collapsed backwards into the lava pits. Duo landed beside Mega Man, a glowing purple light held in his palm.
"You're incredible…if you'd fought like that with me, I might have…"
"And if you'd fought with your spirit instead of just your body, I'd be in trouble as well." Duo corrected. Mega finally took notice of the object in Duo's palm.
"Hey, that looks like one of the things I gave to Doctor Light!"
"This is what your people would call, 'Evil Energy.'" Duo explained calmly, even though his anger boiled up fresh. "It seeks out evil minds, and grows stronger by them, reproducing itself and spreading to cause even more devastation. With such growth, it could take over this whole planet in a matter of days…I must STOP IT!" He exclaimed, punctuating his sentence by clenching his hand into a fist and disposing the Evil Energy into vapors and harmless particles.
He turned about and stared across the sea of lava between them and the giant structure.
"I can sense the original Evil Energy inside of that building, but…" He lifted his left hand up and fired off another beam of blue to prove his point. Once more, the field crackled and dispersed his shot. "That barrier prevents me from getting to it."
"You're definitely not from around here, are you?" Mega Man asked, one eyebrow raised.
"You're right, I'm not." Duo said back. "But why does that matter?"
"Because one of the things I should do with you once we find the time is explain the whole situation here on planet Earth, Duo. Especially the events surrounding the person inside that Tower. His name's Wily. Just remember that."
"There is darkness surrounded with that name." Duo said darkly. He shook his head. "The barrier is drawing power from locations around this area. Until those locations are visited and the energies cut off, I cannot gain entry."
"Hey, going in there is as much my problem as it is yours." Mega Man interrupted firmly. "So if there's anything I can do to help out, just name it."
"I appreciate it…Mega Man." Duo said. "I will leave it up to you to visit these locations and deal with the barrier's energy sources. Meanwhile, I will scour the rest of this planet for the other sources of Evil Energy that remain."
"Roger!" Mega Man chirped. Never one for small talk, Duo shot off in his usual blaze of blue. Mega Man charged on back the way he'd came, Rush clicking at his heels. The both of them had their work cut out for them now.
Duo and Mega Man met back at Wily Tower not more than two days later.
"I assume your mission was a success?" Mega Man asked, folding his arms. Duo nodded darkly.
"The last remnants of Evil Energy flow through this place…and they have grown stronger." Once again, Duo remembered how his comrades had died to end this plight…and how it all rested on him. And his eyes turned to the figure beside him, Mega Man, who was only as big as his left forearm. This one fought with as much dedication as he did…if not more.
Testing the barrier again, he fired off another beam of blue energy. This time, he was pleasantly surprised when it passed through and hit a tiny robotic bird sentry that wandered too close to the powerful shot.
"I finished my half of this as well. Now it's time for the traditional infiltrate the Fortress." Mega Man grumbled. Duo turned to him.
"You have done this before, Mega Man?"
"Seven times before. And it never gets any easier." The Blue Bomber offered. "Still, I can tell you how this goes. I try to infiltrate my way through the back door, the underways…And it's always worked. Sure, he's figured out that's what I always do and so he has traps and guardians and junk like that…But it's a far cry better than trying to attack his bases head on and face all the missile batteries and crap he's obsessed with."
"You forget, though…I do not function like you." Duo added. He stared at the base. "I shall distract the main forces while you sneak in."
"If you think that's going to help me any, you'd be wrong…" Duo's eyes burned at his comrade.
"Realize something right now, Mega Man. I do things my way, and I get results. Now let me do what I can. He might well try a change of tactics, this…Wily person." Mega Man shrugged.
"I won't stop you. I'm just warning you this gets crazy."
"A battle between 40 or so Carriers and Watchers gets crazy. This is relatively easy."
"Whassat? Carriers and Watchers? Who are they?" Mega Man asked, utterly confused. Duo shook his head.
"I shall explain…when our mission here is finished." Duo leapt up into the air and hovered for a moment, looking down at Mega. "You fight with great determination, Mega Man. I hope to see you again when we cross paths with Wily." With that, he shot off towards the aerial forces about the outer perimeter of Wily Tower. Mega Man clicked his tongue in amazement.
"The guy's either nuts…or damned good at his job." He was favoring the latter option as he kicked a box full of machine parts off of its sliding board and jumped onto it, triggering a downwards skid. Slowly at first, but then picking up speed, Mega Man held his arms in tight for balance as he 'shredded' his way towards Wily's newest Fortress.
A few smoke blowers and Spin-Bombers made their presence known to him…but Mega Man knew that most of Wily's attention was diverted to the crazy fool flying around in the air, blasting his way through hordes of sentries unlucky enough to be in his path.
He jumped off a ramp and went airborne, seeing the rest of his skittish path flying out before him. Anxious, he took a moment to look up to the growing conflagration overhead…
And could only whistle in stunned amazement as a bright blue blur surrounded itself with hundreds upon hundreds of smoky explosions.
Duo grunted as another swarm of sentries vanished from sight in a sweeping wave of his arms.
"Just how many mindless automatons does one madman need?!" He swore angrily. Still, even though he hadn't been able to pierce through yet and make his way to infiltrating the Tower, his efforts had distracted the main security force enough that his temporary associate Mega Man had been able to break in.
Of course, that had been almost an hour and a half ago, by this planet's time standard… It gave Duo pause as to just how efficient this Mega Man was. If he'd been in there, this would all be done with…
A low rumble suddenly disrupted Duo's mindset, and he put his energy shield on high to allow himself to stare at the noise's source.
It was of course, Wily Tower. Only now the very top portion of the structure, spire included was rising from the rest of the Fortress and climbing…not like a bullet, but rapidly enough Duo knew the move was intentional.
Much to his surprise, the floating portion of Wily Tower continued to climb, going up and up and up with no pause…
And then finally, after going up for almost a mile, with Duo following behind at an easily matched speed, the vertical tunnel's end crested open and bright sunshine stared down at them all.
Duo covered his eyes to allow them to adjust to the light, then stared to the Tower and the tunnel they'd just left. It closed behind them, once more as innocent a part of the landscape as any other.
His mentalics kicked in then, as he questioned just why this Wily would need to build a part of his base that was able to go on separately…granting him a vision of destruction that chilled him deeply.
The Tower's spire, firing off invisible rays of death, melting cars and vaporizing innocents, its concussion missiles and guns blasting entire city blocks to rubble…its robot armies flooding the populace, making the streets bleed red…
"No…" Duo groaned, thankful that the vision left him as quickly as the rest of his unpredictable mentalic abilities. Now at last, he knew why Mega Man pursued this Wily with as much grim determination as he did to Evil Energy. Because each was a threat that destroyed and maimed and murdered without remorse.
And it would take both him and Mega Man to stop Wily, now joined with the Evil Energy in a horrific union of darkness. Duo noticed that the robotic sentries were gone, no longer pursuing him. They were probably assigned to guard the structure's lower half…
And so he did the only thing he could. Knowing full well that Mega Man's life might depend on his aid, he charged in with every inch of his body charged by blue. The pathetic energy field, not nearly as strong as the Tower's original, was easily smashed through…as was the metallic hull that held the untold horrors within.
And as he hurled closer and closer to the highest level of the Tower, smashing through floors and ceilings and walls without a care or worry, he realized how very close this encounter was going to be. Already, he could hear Mega Man's strained cries of agonized rage, and Wily's insane laughter. And he knew it was Wily's as he heard it.
It was the most evil sound he'd ever heard.
"It's just gnawing at you, isn't it??" Wily sneered, staring out through the cockpit window of his newest Wilymachine down at his helpless foe.
Mega Man grunted and strained, yowling like an animal as the paralyzing spherical blast Wily had fired at him earlier on still held him down. And he could tell, just by how it felt that it was different…stronger…serving to weaken him as well as keep him restrained. Which meant it had to be a shot composed of that Evil Energy Duo was pursuing.
"It's always been like this, hasn't it?" Wily snickered darkly. Whether it was you or me, one of us was always on the losing end of a battle. Only now that fate has fallen to you!!"
"You're just as pathetic as ever, Wily!" Mega Man snapped back. "Don't you get it?! If I wanted to, I could have KILLED YOU. Ten times over!!"
"And for all your boasting, you never have…" Wily said dourly. "And I won't grant you that chance, Rock! This battle has been going on for more than a decade now, and at long last I have the power to put an end to you once and for all!"
"What, your new Evil Energy??" Mega Man grunted, managing to twitch the tip of his left foot underneath the paralyzing rays.
"I have more plans in me than you could ever hope to conquer, Rock…and some day, you will FAIL." He said it confidently, like a person holding the winning hand. "But those plans might never come to bloom. For now I have you right where I want you…in my GUNSIGHTS!!"
A helpless Mega Man could only stare in defeat at the massive barrel apparatus strapped underneath Wily's newest craft. Slowly, it began to power up until it shone in full glory of purple madness…
And just as the beam fired, a massive figure blitzed in front of Rock and charged the beam head on, screaming in full rage as blue clashed against purple.
"Wha…whaaaat?!" Wily screamed in surprise. Mega Man at long last snapped out of the paralyzing blast and got to a defensive stance.
"Duo!!" Mega Man cried. "Get out of the way, that thing's unstoppable!!"
"NO!" Duo roared, grunting as the force threatened to push him back. "It's NOT unstoppable…just DEADLY!!"
He erupted in further blue light, and then succeeded in charging the beam to its source and bodyslamming both the cannon and Wily's warcraft away. The cannon exploded in a flash of light…
But a wounded Duo and an intact Wilymachine still remained.
"Curse that robot!!" Wily snapped, glaring at the both of them. Mega Man ran next to Duo and helped to support the lumbering figure.
"Duo, are you all right?" Mega Man asked quickly. Duo barely managed to shake his head.
"That attack…took a lot out of me, Mega Man. I can't move…"
"Thanks to you, I have lost my super beam cannon!" Wily screamed. He stopped halfway through, then smiled darkly. "But just as well…now I can take the both of you out in a single blow!!"
Or rather…he would have, had a familiar four tone whistle not made its presence known.
Protoman shot down from above, coming seemingly from nowhere. He turned to Mega Man with a grim stare.
"I'll get this big fella outta here, Mega Man."
"Thanks, Protoman!!" Rock called back. Protoman lay a single hand on Mega's temporary ally and pushed a button on the back of his plasmaburst proof shield…warping them both to safety.
And then it was just Rock and Wily.
"You will not escape me as easily, Rock." Wily spat. Mega Man turned up and held his Buster by his side, letting Wily hear the whine of it charging. His eyes burned like cold fire as he stared at his nemesis for seconds on end.
"I'm not running, Wily." He said in steely determination.
"Then you will die." Wily cackled. Mega Man merely shook his head.
He'd heard that one before.
Duo and Protoman could do little more than remain on the outside. One too badly drained of power to assist, and the other deigning to protect him, they stood in the wasteland and watched as Wily's spire continued to hover in the air, its master too caught up in the battle with Mega Man to fly it off anywhere.
"Your planet has much barren wasteland…" Duo muttered, eager to break the stony silence.
"Yep. And the funny part is that humans caused it." Protoman growled back. Duo turned to him, an eyebrow upraised.
"Humans?" Protoman turned to Duo, a disbelieving smirk on his face.
"What, you can't tell the difference?"
"Are you a human?" Protoman snorted.
"I consider that an insult, bub. Nope, I'm a robot, the same as you and Rock. Wily is a human. So is the guy who created Rock and me, Doctor Light. And that's just two of the countless billions left on this globe." Duo shook his head in amazement.
"By your standards, I am a…a robot." Duo shrugged. "Well, I guess I've been called worse things."
"And what do you call yourself?"
"I am a Watcher." Duo replied simply. He turned around. "But you mentioned that this place, like so many other ones on your planet, was caused by humans."
"Yeah. I take it you're not from this neck of the woods, right?" Protoman asked. "I checked up with Light…said that you probably came from that pair of meteorites that crashed recently." Duo shrugged. "Anyhow, Duo, yes. The funny thing about humans is they're so damned unpredictable. Some live to cause destruction and violence, and some live to create peace and life and harmony. About 40 years ago, back during the time period Historians like to call the Wars of 2040, the entire planet of humans finally just blew up. Populations and tensions had been rising unbelievably, and all the efforts of everyone to try and stop it from happening failed. In the end, humanity ended up losing control, falling victim to their dark impulses. The end result is that the wars that lasted for almost an entire decade ended up causing untold ecological damage. These wastelands for instance, like this one, were actually massive battlegrounds. In some places, nuclear devices were used."
"A weapon of mass destruction?" Duo asked, unfamiliar with the term the red ands gray robot had used. Protoman nodded darkly.
"Precisely. Now this particular wasteland exists in what is known here on Earth as the Middle East. This place had tensions, racial and religious strains that stretched back THOUSANDS of years. This was one of the places that used nuclear weapons."
"And it's empty…because life can't live here."
"Yeah." Protoman said quietly. "It was bad before the wars, when it was just desert. The reason this place got hit was that it was a major source of humanity's primary energy source--fossil fuels."
"I take it there was a shortage that might have triggered the crisis."
"It didn't help matters." Protoman said tersely. "Nowadays, humanity's learned from its mistakes from the most part. They either make their gasoline and diesel fuels from natural organic sources like plants, or they use other sources. Wind, solar, and in some places, even fission and most recently fusion."
"What are you powered by?"
"A microfusion tank." Protoman said simply. He looked to Duo. "So what's your energy source?" Duo replied by summoning a weak blue field around his right hand. Protoman whistled in amazement.
"Nice trick…but what's it called?"
"Good Energy, I suppose." Duo said. He looked to the Tower. "Mega Man's nemesis, this Wily…found a large supply of Evil Energy from my enemy's carcass. If there was that much left of it. It's my job to get rid of it all."
"You feeling any better now?" Protoman asked. Duo nodded.
"My power replenishes itself over time."
It was then that Wily Spire, the floating part of his Fortress began to tremble and shudder in midair before their very eyes. With a sudden speed that barely acted within the laws of physics, the superstructure plummeted downwards and crashed against the ground. Some parts of the Spire exploded, having critical portions to them. The various Fusion reactors about the Spire had powered down…otherwise the explosion would have been more dramatic, taking the whole thing with it in a mushroom-like cloud…that usually ended up in the shape of a macabre death head.
And somewhere in that mess of rubble was Mega Man.
Protoman and Duo could only watch helplessly as a fitful Wily flew off, laughing insanely in yet another one of his saucer-like craft.
The red and gray robot turned to Duo, his face grim.
"Well, I hope your power supply's come back, friend. It's too late to snag Wily…so we have to get Mega Man out of there before anything else bad happens."
Protoman spoke with a certain aloofness to the situation about him, but the observant Duo noted silently he was hiding a lot more of his dread than he wanted to show.
Cautiously, slowly, the two started walking towards Wily Spire in all its collapsed ruin. They just hoped they'd find something worth saving.
My mentalics would always be like this. Until I found a Watcher more skilled at the mental arts than I was, that would be their only level of power.
However, the one mentalic ability I had complete control over was my ability to sense Evil Energy. It was this skill I used to direct my search. I could see Protoman somewhere off behind me, sifting through every piece of rubble he could find.
But he didn't have mentalics…He couldn't just search out something by the impression of its energies, could he??
And yet, for a brief moment I wondered if even my energy scanner was wrong. For while Protoman searched in the remains of Wily Spire, my guided instincts were leading me AWAY from it…to nothingness. To more wasteland.
And then I stopped doubting myself. Because there he was. Lying flat on his back, one arm stretched perpendicular to his body and one laid across his stomach.
And then as I stood over him, I realized with a falling heart why I'd been able to find him.
This is not good…he's become infected by the Evil Energy…
I knew the symptoms and the causes of this phenomenon all too well. A person of a strong, just mind grows weak…and that is when, like a parasite, the Evil Energy latches onto them. Left alone long enough, they will eventually be killed by it. Because Evil Energy destroys forces of the opposite nature.
Forces like me…and forces like Mega Man.
But for him, there was hope. He hadn't been afflicted with it long…mere minutes, by Earth's time standard.
With a mighty roar, I ignited my oversized fist and brought it down. But not to slice him apart…
I stopped it short, pressing lightly against his body…seeking to draw the Evil Energy out to a stronger power opposite of its nature. That was how I cleansed things of Evil Energy.
But something happened as I continued to pull the last remnants of Evil Energy on Earth from his body…
My mentalics…kicking in again…
It was there I saw all the pain in Mega Man's…Rock's…mind.
How he'd been fighting for more than a decade against impossible odds, never once giving up…putting his own life at risk to save the lives of others, even simple minded creatures…And how very tired of the battles he was, how close he'd come to crossing the edge of his sanity.
Pity. That is what I felt for him then. But he was strong. As strong minded as I was, although probably more.
My mentalics shut off again, leaving me back outside of his mind, simply pulling the last remnants of Evil Energy free. With a conscious thought, I fed my own power to it, shrinking it down and down, until at last it vanished forever.
When I'd found him, Mega Man had looked on the verge of death. Now, he would live.
"With your help…this planet will survive." I said to his sleeping form with a smile. And although he was not awake, a calm placidness fell over him then.
And then Protoman showed up. I left him to take Mega Man home, having my own objectives to see to.
Space was what called me now. The continued fight. And for now, at least…I could leave the battle on Earth to Mega Man.
So Duo had thought, at least…Having no visions of where to go in the galaxy, the sole survivor of the massive battle over Jupiter consoled himself to cleanup detail.
By Earth people's standards, his kind…the Watchers, and more than likely the Carriers as well, were robots. An artificial form of life, Duo was led to understand, constructed solely to serve their creators.
Hardly a thought that makes me feel cheerful about what I'm doing, he thought as he clumped another mass of Carrier remains and threw them into the gas giant. Leftover Evil Energy he destroyed, using leftover Watcher Energy. Their bodies, the part that could alter humanity's course the most if found, he discarded by letting Jupiter claim them. It was a macabre act, but the danger to humanity's natural development was too great for Duo to ignore. It was as integral a duty as was eliminating Evil Energy.
He kept Marla's body around last. It hadn't been hard to spot, one of the few that had remained relatively intact from the struggle. She still was dead, gone beyond his ability to pull her back to the living world.
"Marla…The heroes of Earth, Mega Man and Protoman…They said I was a robot." Duo spoke softly, his back turned to her free-floating corpse. "And to Earthpeople, the only reason that robots were made was to be servants."
He turned to her. "Is that what we are, Marla?? Servants?" She still was silent, and Duo knew she couldn't talk.
"I just don't know anymore, Marla…it was simpler before, when it was just me and Nazyr and the promise of battle with the Carriers. I didn't have these doubts about my existence, about my creators before. And now I do."
Mournfully, Duo pushed Marla's body towards Jupiter, sending her into a degrading orbit that would eventually disintegrate her form forever. It was the only fitting thing he could offer her.
"We Watchers were scattered to the stars, Marla…I only hope I do the right thing by scattering your atoms." And then Marla too faded from view.
Sadly, Duo hovered off to the way he'd come from, towards a smaller reddish planet he'd seen beyond Earth and before the massive ring of rocks that separated the gas giants from the crust planets.
There's so much I don't know…that I might have known, had Marla lived…
Jupiter's unnatural second ring was gone now, cleaned up by Duo's efforts. He was tired, he was confused, and he didn't know what he was supposed to do. With everything else in doubt about his own role, it was all too easy to succumb to the forces of his energy and blast off in a blaze of speed, trapped somewhere between life and death as all was given over to his strength for rapid transport.
"Just what do I do now, Nazyr…" He whispered, seeking the consoling presence of a voice now forever silenced.
"Just what do I do now…"
When all you have is questions, it becomes a lot harder to be content, to move on.
All Watchers were robots by Earth standards…artificial life built to serve.
And if we were built to serve, the purpose of that service was all too clear.
Seek out and destroy Evil Energy and its Carriers.
I knew this now. How even though my role was necessary, how it was just…I had been enslaved into its stead. Had I been given a choice? No. And still, I had no inklings of the far deeper questions that rattled inside of my mind.
Just who made us?? And what caused that action??
It was something that Marla might have known…were she still alive. She had been the oldest of the Watchers, the most knowledgeable about everything. Nazyr hadn't had the answers. I hadn't. But Marla might have.
If we were mere servants…if Carriers served the same role…then how far back did this struggle go?? Were we created, perhaps, by some organic intelligent life to fight a continuing war between them? A centuries old dispute that saw the rise of Carriers and Watchers to do the battling…
And what if they were gone now, these 'Creators'…What if, in the end their own lifespans were shorter than ours, like a human's lifespan?? They might all be dead…but us, their instruments of conflict still remained. Ever aging, yet ageless. We measured time in Decacycles…a measurement which came out to about ten of Earth's years roughly.
And what if…
May mercy grant me peace…
What if at long last, the climactic battle over the red and orange gas giant in Earth's solar system had been the final strike?? What if there was no more Carriers, no more Watchers left??
What if…I was alone…
And then, somehow I knew I wasn't. I stretched out with my deep troubled mind, looking for the presence of Evil Energy. And I could see it nowhere within my range.
It was gone. So what of me, then?? Was my mission over? My Creators, if they existed or ever did, never thought that far ahead. I had no Directive as to what I should do after the Evil Energy was gone.
But what I could see was Earth. A glimmering gem of hope after so much tragedy. And somewhere on it was Mega Man, still fighting, still living.
That's when I decided something. My own quest, my own purpose had been thrown into doubt for now. I would leave for Earth, return to that odd world with all its enigmas. I would find Mega Man…
And perhaps then…I might be able to call a place 'home'.
Bass, or Forte as he was sometimes called, was a creature of habit at times. One of the things he often did was try to face Mega Man, in his ever continuing quest to defeat his arch-rival and be the best. So that meant that once more, minus Treble, he was marching from the countryside that surrounded Tokyo towards Doctor Light's laboratory.
More like dashing. Today, he thought with all of his vengeance, would be the day that HE came out on top…not Mega Man. So dead set on that thought was he that he didn't even notice a strange figure dropping from the sky…until it landed fifteen feet in front of him.
Tall, with red and blue armor and a spike blade on his right shoulder, not to mention his squarish helmeted head and oversized left arm, it was an imposing figure that caused Bass to stop dead in his tracks.
"Excuse me." The robot said, in flawless Japanese. "I was looking for a friend of mine. Could you direct me towards the residence of Mega Man?"
Bass mulled over the comment for a moment, then glared arrows into him.
"I could, but it'd be easier to just go there." He said flippantly. "As luck would have it friend, I'm on my way there right now. Mega Man and I need to have a little talk." The robot absorbed the comment and nodded.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Duo. And you are…"
"The name's Bass. Some call me Forte." Bass replied. "Although if you need to talk to the guy, I suggest you get moving now. Because when I'm through with him, he won't be doing much of anything."
That finally tripped something in Duo's mind. With narrowed eyes, he crossed his arms.
"So you wish to cause harm to Rock, eh?" Bass laughed.
"Well, I sure as Hell ain't bringing him flowers, bub!"
"I'm afraid I cannot allow that to happen." Duo said quietly. Now Bass's rage was focused on him.
"If you don't wanna get slagged buster, I suggest you hightail it outta here. I'm not letting anything stand in my way."
"Your threats are meaningless." Duo said calmly. "I will not allow harm to come to Mega Man, and if that means I must stop you by force, so be it."
Bass's right arm morphed into an ovoid gun of some sort. Duo recognized the design immediately…it was like Mega Man's weapon.
"You just try." Bass snarled.
Duo blinked at the figure for a few moments, then shrugged.
"Is that the best you can do?" Bass swore at the oversized robot and unleashed a multishot blast from his gun, hoping to overpower it.
All Duo did in response was to sweep his left arm in front of him, creating a blinding swath of blue light that absorbed the plasma with nary a second thought. For insult to injury, he blew the wave towards Bass, knocking the fool head over heels with the reeling blow.
Bass tried to no avail to clear the stars from his eyes…of course, that didn't help him when Duo hoisted him up by the scruff of his neck and bored his deep eyes into the ebony armored robot.
"Now then. I suggest you tell me which way leads to Mega Man's house."
"You're…that shining blue robot…" Bass groaned, realization sinking in from the reports Wily had given him after the 8th Robot Rebellion. "The one that took Wily's cannon out…"
Duo sighed. "Look, are you going to tell me which way to start walking or do I need to rough you up even more?"
Weakly, Bass pointed down the road.
"Can't miss it…lives on the very outskirts, in a house with a sort of ovoid structure attached to it." Duo's frown vanished a bit.
"Thank you." He dropped Bass to the ground, paying little heed to how the stunned robot collapsed. Bass glared daggers at Duo's back, but knew better than to try anything. This guy was just too much for him…probably too much for even Mega Man. But he wouldn't forget the insult.
"Now then, why don't you run along home, Bass? I don't want to be bothered when I meet with your arch-rival."
"Go truck yerself." Bass grumbled, using a different word than the automotive one. Duo turned about.
"Pardon?" Bass shook his head and warped off before Duo could get a response. The Watcher shook his head and continued walking. "Strange people…"
A half-hour later, by Earth time, Duo drew close enough to the house of Bass's description. Of course, he recognized it. It was the same house he'd blasted the ceiling out of when he'd first awoken on Earth. He'd have to apologize for that…
There were people sitting out on the porch of the structure, seeming to lounge about with the bright sun casting fair rays upon them. That was one thing Duo noticed right away…how the sky was. Clear, almost as blue as his energy, not a cloud in the sky, and not humid. Perfect.
He saw how they took notice of his approach. Finally, one came running, a familiar red dog running beside him.
"Duo!!" The figure called out happily. Duo frowned and waited for the figure to draw close. It was short, with shorts and a T-Shirt. Blue eyes against raven black hair. "Duo, when did you make it back??"
"Do I know you?" Duo said warily to the little boy. The adolescent seemed taken aback by the comment and frowned.
"What, you can't recognize me? I'm Mega Man!" Now Duo was stunned. As proof, the figure shimmered for a moment and reappeared in the familiar blue armor. "See?" Duo nodded slowly, and Mega Man let his armor disappear in favor of his more casual garb again. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again, Duo. What caused you to come back?"
"I had nowhere else to go." Duo said simply. The two started walking back towards the house, and the others came out as well. An old plump man with white hair all over his face, a petite and attractive female with blue eyes and blond hair, and another raven haired figure…only this one wore very large sunglasses.
"Hey guys, this is Duo!!" Mega Man said happily. The one in the glasses grunted.
"We've met before." Duo scrutinized the figure for a moment, then nodded.
"You would have to be Protoman."
"Please, around here I'm Blues." The character said, a raspy grin coming to his face. Mega Man pointed to the older man.
"And Duo, this is my creator. This is a human, and his name is Thomas Light. It could be said that he's the father of modern robotics!"
"Well…I suppose so." Light admitted sheepishly, extending out his right hand and letting Duo shake it. "Although I dealt more with mind processes. Before Wily went berserk, he was the half of our team that worked on the physical bodies. Now I deal with Cossack a bit more."
"Cossack??" Duo asked. Light nodded.
"Just another human in the field of robotics whose heart is in the right place. I would love another chance to study your workings, Duo…You're technology from parts unknown!"
"Sir, I can not let you do that in good conscience." Duo stated firmly. "This planet's technological development must continue at its own pace, without my interference." Light's face went crestfallen for a moment, but he nodded, understanding Duo's reasoning. "Still, I would also like to apologize for the damage to your roof." Light blinked a few times before the realization set in and he shook his head.
"No, it was an easy fix. You're forgiven, Duo…you saved my son's life."
"But…Mega Man is a robot." Duo argued, looking at Light in confusion. "He is not your biological progeny. How can you call him your son?"
"Because he, and his brother, and his sister…they're all I have." Light replied easily, although with a hint of sadness. "You must understand, Duo. Some things cross the boundaries of silicon and skin. He may be a robot, but I made him…I cared for him, and I still do. Just as I care for Roll and Blues, Rock is no different. It doesn't matter…they're my family." Duo nodded quietly, then turned to Roll.
"How do you do, miss…Roll?"
"Yeah, you got the name right." She said easily, performing a slight curtsy. "I've heard a lot of good things about you."
"There is one question I have for you all." Duo interrupted. "Do you know anybody by the name of Bass?"
The group outside of Light's house looked at one another for several long moments, then Mega Man nodded.
"He's a robot created by Wily…we first met up with him last year during the 7th Robot Rebellion, and he's nothing but bad news with a severe chip on his shoulder. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing of great importance." Duo said calmly. "I met him on the way here…he was dead set on seeking you out for a battle, I'm afraid. Luckily, I convinced him that that option might not be the wisest one."
"Bass doesn't exactly change his mind that easily." Blues muttered. "I don't exactly agree with my brother about how dangerous he is to us, but I can vouch for his stubbornness. If you stopped him from coming, you'd have to fight him."
"I did." Duo affirmed. Blues lifted up his glasses and stared with his squinted deep blue eyes to the larger robot.
"And you came out without any battle damage?"
"The fight lasted less than ten seconds." Duo continued. "There was little opportunity for him to cause any, and he isn't as skilled as Mega Man. Not with that little rapid-fire number."
"He still carries that??" Mega Man mused. Duo made a grunting noise, and Mega elaborated. "Not long ago, I had the rare opportunity to team up with Bass to deal with another robot of Wily's that had gone crazy." Blue put his glasses back on, and Mega Man smirked. "My brother doesn't like to talk about that much. He ended up getting sliced in half once at the beginning of the King Incident."
Blues harrumphed and turned his back on the posse.
"So what are you doing back here?" Mega Man asked more seriously now. Duo looked at him.
"There is no Evil Energy present anywhere in the galaxy within my sight, Mega Man. And seeing as I had nothing better to do, I was wondering…" Duo fidgeted, rubbing his massive toe in the dirt. "I was wondering if I might be allowed to stay with you and your family for a while."
"Sure you can!" Light said happily. "But if I may ask, why?" Duo smiled then, a very small one.
"Well…I just wanted to explore this concept of 'home'…"
"Mega Man!!" Sergei Cossack called out with a bellowing laugh. "What brings you and your clan to my humble abode?"
In a visit to the Siberian Citadel, that like any other was completely unexpected, Mega Man, accompanied by Blues and Duo marched into the inner sanctum without difficulty. Ever since Wily had lost interest in Cossack as a patsy and his aged castle, this place had grown quieter. Aside from the continual tinkering of the middle aged Cossack, so much younger than Light, it might also be called a tomb.
"Well, this big guy here is a new friend of ours." Mega Man said simply. "He goes by the name of Duo, and gave me a big helping hand in the last Robot Rebellion."
Cossack scratched at his light brown hair and peered over the rim of his glasses at the gargantuan robot.
"Well, Duo, you certainly are an imposing presence." Sergei Cossack spoke, of course, in Russian. Mega and Blues had no difficulty interpreting the language and speaking it fluently, thanks to their multi-lingual translation programs Light had developed for them. Duo however, had to take a few moments for the guttural phonetics to sink in before he caught on.
"It is how I was born." Duo said haltingly. Cossack laughed uproariously for a few moments and shook his head.
"Well, we certainly can't change that much now, can we?" Cossack replied, switching over to Japanese. Relieved, Duo picked up instantly.
"I'm afraid we cannot. And thank you for speaking in Mega Man's native tongue." Cossack waved his hand easily and motioned them into the dark interior of the heart of the Fourth Ring.
"Obviously, you aren't one of Tom's creations, Duo. Otherwise, you'd have his multi-lingual translation programs." Duo frowned.
"Sir?"
"Multi-lingual translation program." Mega added for the newcomer. "My dad also favors himself a bit of a language freak…can speak almost any language without an accent. Cossack's native tongue is a language called Russian."
"If Dr. Light hadn't gone into the field of robotics, I could easily have seen him instead go into the field of communication and networking." Cossack said with a small smile. "He is just that brilliant a man. Imagine, Duo…how different this world would be if Light had chosen a different path."
"Or if a different one had been chosen for him…" Duo mused softly, trying to stop his mentalics from awakening and giving him another vision. "So you are one of Dr. Light's allies against Wily, as it were?"
"Da', Duo." Cossack muttered, slipping back into Russian for a brief moment as his anger flared. "I hate Wily a great deal, and it is because of that I work so hard for Mega Man's benefit."
"His most successful projects was helping to upgrade my Mega Buster and building Beat." Mega added. Protoman kept silent, merely watching the scene from behind his glasses. Almost as if, if one were to fathom it, storing the memory for the years to come.
"Father, who are our guests?" Came a new voice. Duo recognized it as being a feminine one…a very young female.
The figure that strolled into their midst was a vision of beauty almost ready to blossom. Brilliant snow blond hair and striking eyes, with a figure that most supermodels would kill for.
"Aah, Kalinka!" Cossack called out cheerily. He turned to Duo as the teenaged girl bounded beside her father. "Duo, this is Kalinka, my very precious offspring." Duo examined her for a moment and then said something after blinking a few times.
"Is Kalinka a robot?"
"WHAT?!" Kalinka sputtered indignantly. Mega Man drew in a sharp breath, and Blues merely cracked a half smile.
"Oh, that's funny…" Blues said quietly. Duo shook his head.
"I do not mean to offend you, miss. But I have also met Miss Roll, and the two of you share enough resemblances, especially a lack of structural blemishes and defects, that I would inquire if you are an artificial being."
"I'm ORGANIC, you…" Kalinka fumed. She shut her mouth before a curse could come to mind thankfully.
"Eehh…" Blues finally interceded. He walked next to Kalinka and put an arm on her shoulder. "Duo, why don't you go with Mega Man and Cossack and meet the rest of the guys in this joint? I'll go with Kalinka for now."
"Your planet has seen much turmoil in a very brief amount of time." Duo said calmly, walking beside Cossack as he received the guided tour. Cossack nodded slowly, looking to Mega Man with a knowing smile.
"That much is evident all too quickly, Duo. A person just needs to look at me, or Light, or Mega Man to discover that. We almost destroyed ourselves forty years ago. But we didn't. Instead, humanity rebuilt itself, rebuilt the world. We created Treeborgs, cleaned up what pollution we could, switched over to organic diesels and solar and fusion, and brought on the advent of robotics."
"It could be said that it's due to the Wars of 2040 that robots today exist." Mega Man said wryly. "That's something that causes me to think real long and hard about how fortunate I am to be alive. If things had gone differently back then, I might not even be around."
"So what did humanity learn from this great conflict?" Duo posed.
"War is stupid in the first place, but nothing can stop that destructive nature." Mega Man growled. "What humanity learned was how NOT to destroy everything while they were doing it.
"An ancient text on Earth known as the Bible had a story in it that humanity had grown evil, and was punished for it. The world was flooded, and everyone died. Save for a man by the name of Noah and all the creatures and his family on a wooden ark he'd built to ride the waves of danger." Cossack added. "It's said that is where the first rainbow was seen…a sign by man's deity that he would never do such an act of terror again."
"Nope." Mega Man affirmed. "The hidden message in that promise is, God never promised HUMANITY wouldn't do something like that."
"And what relevance does this have?" Duo asked unabashedly.
"At the beginning of the Reconstruction after the Wars, a group of scientists worldwide came together to solve all the problems that erupted from that conflict. They called themselves 'The Second Rainbow'…and like the rainbow before, it was a symbolic promise. Only this time, it was a promise that humanity wouldn't cause such devastation ever again." Cossack continued.
"Both my father and Wily were in that organization." Mega Man chirped. Duo turned.
"I take it this…Second Rainbow no longer exists?"
"Da." Cossack replied. "Internal tensions caused the group to fall apart. Of course, by then it was 2067. So it didn't matter much, because they had already done a substantial amount of work, including the full advent of Treeborgs a decade ago."
"What caused the tensions?" Duo asked.
"Properly enough…it was us." Came a new voice. Duo and Mega froze for a moment as another figure calmly walked into the dim light of the Fourth Ring hallway. Goldenrod and gray all over, with a facemask covering all but his eyes. A decorative turban lay atop his head, still goldenrod. "Robots are what caused the inner tensions of the Second Rainbow."
"Duo, this is one of my favorite creations, Pharaoh Man. Pharaoh Man, this is Duo, Mega Man's friend."
Duo towered over Cossack's Robot Master, yet the robot showed no signs of being intimidated. Still, he did bow to the lumbering warrior.
"Doctor Cossack, I wished to inform you that Toad Man has finished his patrol of the water treatment facility, with all processes in the green." Cossack nodded, and then Pharaoh Man turned around and walked off. Cossack and his party didn't move for a bit, so Duo took a very serious mental note when Pharaoh Man turned around and looked at him, and him alone, for a very long moment before continuing to walk off.
"There is something that seems off about Pharaoh Man." Duo said hesitantly. Cossack nodded.
"I wondered if you might notice that. The reason is simple, Duo. He isn't as advanced as Mega Man is. For all purposes, Mega Man represents the highest form of artificial intelligence present in the world today."
And yet all things change, Duo noted silently. Shuddering for a moment, he realized he had no clue why that particular sentence had leapt into his mind. Only the future could tell.
"Something Pharaoh Man neglected to mention in his answer was the specific robot that was brought into play during the breakup of the Second Rainbow." Mega Man added, eager to start the original conversation. "Know who that was?" Duo thought about it for a moment, then spoke up.
"Protoman?" Cossack's eyes glimmered.
"You were right, Mega Man. Your friend is of a sharp wit." Mega Man shrugged.
"Still Duo, asking if Kalinka was a robot…I hope Protoman manages to smooth out those wrinkles quickly."
"Why did he go with her?"
"He saved her life once." Cossack said sadly. "She harbors a great deal of positive feelings for him." He shook his head and walked on. "As do I…"
"You have to give Duo some leeway and a bucketload of understanding, Kalinka." Protoman said with a sigh. "He's different than any of us robots here on Earth."
"I don't think it should matter that he's from outer space!" Kalinka fumed, running a hand through her curls of blond hair and then straightening her T-shirt. "Thinking that I'm a robot…"
"Before he met you, the only other female he'd seen on Earth was Roll." Blues said easily. "She's what humans would call more than minimally attractive, and she's a robot…so obviously seeing you, it's logical that same thought would run through her mind. Face it, Kalinka, you're a knockout. There's no way he couldn't think that."
Despite herself, Kalinka blushed at Protoman's comment.
"Oh, hush." She finally mumbled, nervously tucking her hands into her jeans. "I'm not even sixteen yet." Blues sighed, keeping pace with the adolescent girl as they slowly walked down the hall.
"So how have you been doing, Kalinka?" Blues questioned, pushing past the subject of Duo for the moment. The organic offspring of Sergei Cossack shrugged lightly.
"Going to school, and that's about it. Papa's always too busy with some thing or another, and the robots have their own objectives." She spat the last part of the sentence out, and despite his usual collected calm, Protoman winced. His shield seemed to bounce a little harder against his back as they continued along.
"What is it you have against robots, Kalinka?"
"It was robots that kidnapped me and held me hostage so my father would be forced to work for Wily. It was robots that have taken my father away from me since then, given me so many times to wonder if he loves me anymore or not. It is robots that participate in Rebellion after Rebellion."
"And it was a robot that saved you from dying." Protoman reminded her gently. Kalinka's fire died somewhat at that.
"Yes, but…"
"But what, Kalinka??" Protoman interrupted bitterly. "But I'm different? But I'm beyond them?? But I'm more than a robot??" The girl fell silent.
"Kalinka, you have to understand. You can't hate robots, because robots can't hate YOU. We're bound by the Three Laws. We can't cause you harm. Only Wily's could, because their Three Laws were altered to his whims. Perhaps there are some days you think that life would be so much better if there weren't robots." Blues lowered his glasses and looked into her eyes. "Kalinka…Are you telling me that there are times you would think how much better it would be if I wasn't around?"
Kalinka bowed her head low and shook it.
"I don't 'hate' robots…There's just times I don't know whether to feel angry or distraught, Protoman. Sometimes I feel that papa cares more for those Robot Masters in the lower levels of the Citadel than he does for me."
"You feel like you're being replaced, in other words." Blues finished. The look on Kalinka's face made it all too clear Blues had hit the nail on the head. He shrugged and pushed his sunglasses back up. "For what it's worth, Kalinka, I know exactly how you feel. Do you think it was easy for me to come back and find out I'd been replaced by Mega Man? But I hadn't, Kalinka. Nobody could replace me. Not even Mega Man. I was unique, I was my own person. In the same way, you're your own person. Cossack may pay more attention to them at times, but you must never doubt that he loves you any less now than he did the very first day he held you in his arms, gently cradling you to sleep with a lullaby."
It was silent as they continued to walk along. Kalinka made the first move, a slow smile creeping to her face.
"You always know exactly what to say, Protoman. I'd be less than honest if I said I didn't love having you around."
"Aah, s'my job to worry about you." Blues said lightly. "So…you'll give Duo a little more understanding from now on?"
"For you, Protoman…Anything." Kalinka said shyly. The two stopped at a crossroads in the maze of corridors, and Kalinka swiveled about and kissed the red and gray armored robot on the cheek before he could stop her. Giggling, she ran off down the hall, while a befuddled Protoman rubbed at the area of synthskin she'd disturbed.
Finally, he harrumphed and cracked a smile. Yes, there was nobody like Kalinka. He'd saved her from her imprisonment years ago. And she was still thanking him for it. Checking his long yellow scarf, he took off along a different section of hallway towards Mega Man and their friend Duo, whistling a very old song as he went.
"Thank heaven…for little girls."
I met them all over the next three years. I discovered all of Earth's history, and realized how true Mega Man and the others were when they mentioned with saddening accuracy humanity's bloody past.
Conflicts before had erupted because of religious differences. Because of economical differences. Because of the color of their skin and their beliefs. Because of mistrust, because of minor squabbles that got out of hand, because of vendettas that went back generations before the starters. Humanity, it seemed, might resemble a barbaric race bent on its own destruction, if viewed from a mere historical standpoint. Time and time again, they had brought themselves to the brink of extinction. And the last time…the Wars of 2040, as they were known…had been their wake-up call.
So much of humanity seemed bent on causing nothing but pain and chaos…and then I realized how very lucky I was to have come here now, during a time when the only major crisis and force of darkness upon the planet was the wild haired madman known as Wily.
But I couldn't shrug them off that easily. There were parts of mankind worth keeping. Song…art…expression, and the belief that all human beings were equal. They had created gargantuan structures for a variety of reasons. They had gone to the moon, even…had thought about going to Mars for a while, but Earth's internal conflicts had gotten in the way. There was love. Faithfulness. Marriage. And the joys of a family. Earth had these, and it was for these reasons…those that stood in direct opposition to the darkness that I realized how very precious Earth was.
There was something about Earth that kept me drawn in. And slowly, it began to dawn on me. I was a being who had wandered aimlessly on a mission that seemingly would never end. And now, after countless Decacycles, I had found a place where I might settle down. With others like me. With robots.
There were some that still mistrusted robots…but it was a minor problem. Robots were bound by the Three Laws, were not a force to be feared. Not if they weren't affiliated with Wily. It was a fragile peace, but it was one that existed by Mega Man's sacrifices.
Yes, sacrifices. There were times in those three years my mentalics brought themselves online of their own accord, and it was then that I saw, time and time again, the struggles at work within him. But I could not speak for him. Only Mega Man could speak of that, and he never has.
And then, like a souffle left alone for far too long…like a balloon baked in the sun and stabbed with a needle…
This myriad world, this place of moderate sanctity left us all. And it demanded a heavy toll for its eviction.
How did it begin…It was the portion of the year 2085 that humans called 'August'…Was it the 7th??
By then, I had become familiar with all the major players in the world. By then, I knew Bass all too well. But I certainly didn't expect him to show up on our doorstep that afternoon out of the blue. With his dog Treble bounding beside him, the ebony armored warrior managed to get his message across without either side firing a shot.
Wily was dead…After everything that had happened, after the countless struggles he and Mega Man had been brought into…He was dead. What Bass told us next was what chilled us the most, and the damage done to both him and his dog emphasized it clearly enough.
The madman hadn't died of that flaw in his brain…the one caused all those years ago by the same warp transport experiment gone awry that had sent Protoman wandering for years. No, he hadn't died of natural causes.
One of his own creations had killed him. It wasn't like King, it was worse than King…
I could see his face all too clearly from Bass's tortured memories, thanks to yet another unexpected appearance of my mentalics.
Blood red armor everywhere…a jagged 'Z' across his shoulder joint, a long flowing braid of yellow behind him. And that stare…that stare on his face, combined with the maddening glint in his eye. It spoke of emptiness, yet betrayed something deeper within that screamed a sentient mind was present.
And all that I knew just from Bass's memories.
It was then that the bombshell grew larger. The Seventh Robot Rebellion, the one that had happened previous to my arrival on Earth for the first time, had a side effect that had never been made public. During Bass's escape from Light's lab, he stole several plans and schematics. One of them was for a fusion upgrade designed for Rush and Mega Man, but which was instead redesigned for Bass and Treble. But the far more dangerous one…
Had been for a new robot. A robot which would be called "Mega Man X".
Wily's Demon had been created by virtually replicating X's plans. But somewhere along the line, something had to have gone wrong. Because Wily's Demon went and offed his master.
We had to start somewhere. That's how we all arrived in a hidden underground room of Light's lab…built for the sole purpose of hiding X from the world as Light slowly brought him into existence.
I was different from all the others in that room then.
But then, I'd always been different…foreign, alien. It didn't matter to them. They'd found something else to feel segregated against.
X represented the next step…perhaps the final step in the boundary between man and machine. As we looked down at his peaceful face, his jet black hair, and the overall appearance of Mega Man if he'd been made to look a few years older, they saw that.
Mentalics…Nazyr told me long ago they were a Watcher's blessing. But where I was, I saw only a curse. As I looked at X, my mentalics went active again. Only this time, I didn't see true images.
They watched with physical eyes. They saw an X of the present. And somehow, my vision tried to grant me a picture of X in the future. But it couldn't. I wasn't strong enough, wasn't capable of controlling it enough. It appeared as a haze, a low lying fog that blanketed everything, drowned out the specifics. And thus, I could see nothing.
For once, I was blind as they were. And that is perhaps why I decided to stay.
I knew the stakes at risk. The Demon was headed to Light's lab, to destroy Mega Man and Mega Man X both. Wily and every last Robot Master about him had fallen at the Demon's hands. A true killer had been unleashed upon the world, and it was coming here.
For once, I was no better off than them. For once, I realized that perhaps there were some missions that went beyond my directives. If this crisis was of no consequence, then I should have easily been able to pierce that hazy veil and see the results. But there were greater forces at work here, forces that would guide the path of all who lived on the blue and green bauble called Earth.
In effect, history was being made. And I was blind to it. It was because of this I would quest…
To be there when it happened. To help.
Perhaps…to even change what might come about.
"You've gotta be the screwiest character I've run across." Blues mumbled to Duo. They sat outside on the porch of Light's house, watching the sun set and turn the sky shades of pink. Blues had set Bass in Light's lab for repairs under the guidance of Roll, and now found himself with a chance to speak with the massive robot. Alone, after a great deal of time with the most puzzling enigma to ever grace their presence.
"One thing I have taken note of about most people is how they react to the battle yet to come." Duo said quietly, laying his large arm across his lap. Blues grunted.
"See, there's one of those things that makes you different." Duo looked up with a half smile and shrugged. Blues sighed and set his shield beside him. "What's your view on this X?"
"My own view will naturally contrast with any of yours. I have different experiences, a different viewpoint…"
"And different abilities." Blues said nonchalantly. He looked at Duo. "I know that Light's inspiration for X didn't come when you showed up and he had to recharge you. He'd already had that figured out and the plans made months ago. But what I've never been able to answer about you is…"
"What?" Duo pushed, sensing Blues' hesitation. The prototype eventually continued.
"Just how advanced you are." Blues chuckled softly. "Hell, Light never did take you all the way apart, never did see what made you tick. He has too much respect for robots to just pull a stunt like that. You might be mentally less advanced than me and Mega Man. You might be at the same level as us. Or, even…"
"My brain functioning might be at the same level as X's?" Duo answered. Blues paused and finally shrugged in acknowledgement.
"Yeah, even that." Duo sighed and turned to face the falling sun in the West.
"I couldn't tell you. All I do know is that I am more than a mindless drone. Aside from that, I could not tell you how advanced I am."
"Are you limited by directives of some sort?"
"Yes."
"What do the directives say?"
"I have only one: Seek out and destroy all traces of Evil Energy present in the Universe." Protoman blinked and stared at him.
"Is that it? There's nothing telling you not to harm others, to accept all orders, to preserve your life?"
"No." Duo said after a brief pause. "Whoever…whatever made me must have thought that that would be the only life I knew. Pursuing that mission."
"Are you telling me you're breaking your sole Directive?" Blues asked in amazement. Duo mulled over it, then nodded.
"In a sense…" He began unsteadily. "If I were to follow my Directive in the strictest sense, I would have left Earth and never returned after the 8th Robot Rebellion."
"So what allowed you to break free from that?"
"I made a decision to come back." Duo said flatly. "If this is what you mean by, 'going against your programming', then I suppose…that is just what I did. I sensed no Evil Energy anywhere I looked. I had nowhere left to go to. Returning to Earth…was the only sensible option."
"Just what do you hope to accomplish here?" Protoman asked quickly, peering at Duo through his ever-present visor.
The gargantuan proportioned alien robot heaved his shoulders only once.
"I suppose…I wish to help you."
"That's what's keeping you here now. What made you come back in the first place?" Protoman pushed. For once, Duo didn't have an exact answer.
"You know of my mentalics, correct?" He began quietly. Blues nodded. "It…was a very long time ago when I crossed paths with another like me. His name was Nazyr. Protoman, I wasn't the only one of my kind out there. They called themselves the Watchers, their only objective to continually stand guard against the presence of Evil Energy. A Watcher's mentalics is his flashlight, his map…what he uses to wander the galaxy, to find the danger, and to erase it."
"And your own 'mentalics' aren't up to snuff, is that what you're saying?" Blues harrumphed. Duo nodded sadly.
"Yes. Nazyr…died before he could complete my training. I was told by Nazyr, told by the others that it was then up to me to solve the crisis. For the Future."
"And all this is some sort of break from that?"
"It is a learning experience." Duo corrected. He looked at the smaller, yet deadly warrior with a smile. "There is much that can be learned from you and your planet."
Blues got up and shook his head.
"I think that the learning is going to end very soon. It's going to take everything we've got to put a stop to this thing tomorrow. If he was able to slug through more than fifty Robot Masters like tissue paper…" Unconsciously, Protoman shivered a bit in fear. "Hey, did you see where Mega Man went?"
"From the look on his face, it seemed as if he had some thinking to do." Duo replied. "We all have thinking to do." He added in a sotto voice.
Blues whistled a bit, then slung his shield back up over his shoulder and stood up.
"Well, I guess I'd better go look for the blue freak. No sense in any of us getting too worn out before tomorrow." Just as he finished his sentence, Protoman gasped out and dropped to one knee.
"Are you all right?" Duo asked in concern. Protoman trembled for a few more moments, then stood up and shook it off as if nothing had happened.
"It's nothing I haven't seen before." He said wearily. "I'll talk to you later." Before Duo could reply, Protoman vanished in a blip of light.
With nothing better to do, Duo brought his thrusters online and hovered up to the deck atop the house's lower roof. Seeing that there were no chairs large enough to accommodate him, he decided to hover there for a while, silently watching the stars, begging and pleading with his mentalics to behave for once…to show him what he so desperately needed to discover.
And yet the only soothing presence that came wasn't an answer.
It was Roll.
Duo opened his eyes and looked over to the terrace doorway from where he hovered, his massive beady optics blinking a few times before he identified the figure.
"Good evening, Roll."
"Hi, Duo." Roll replied mutedly, walking out and sitting on a foldout lawn chair. She focused her blue eyes on him and lifted an eyebrow. "Why're you hovering like that?"
Duo took a moment to peer behind him and the blue jets of repulsorthrust coming from his tiny, angular wings.
"I'm too large to sit down." He offered simply. "Your chairs can't accommodate my larger sized body."
"Hmm." Roll replied quietly. She shut her eyes for a moment, and then looked up to the twinkling stars above. "Duo…just where do you come from?"
Duo thought about it for a long moment, then pointed to the sky.
"Somewhere in that sea of stars." Came his answer. Roll frowned.
"What kind of answer is that?"
"An honest one." The alien robot admitted. "I don't remember anything about who created me, or where I came from. All I knew from the moment of my activation was that I was adrift in the void of space…and my sole mission in life was to seek out the destructive energy…"
"The kind that fell to Earth during the 8th Robot Rebellion, right?" Roll asked. Duo nodded.
"That would be correct, madam." Duo extended his massive left arm out and peered into his palm. "Perhaps that is why I postpone my mission…because never having known what a home is…I come to you and Mega Man and the rest of you for an example."
"Just another wandering spirit…" Roll mused sadly. "Mega Man X…What do you think of him?"
Duo's massive eyes opened and shut a few times before he spoke.
"He is Doctor Light's newest creation. In him I see a gentle peace…one that was never given to you."
"That's because he's more human." Roll spat out. "Now he's the only thing Light's concerned about…"
"How can you say that in good conscience??" Duo muttered, narrowing his eyes and staring into Roll's face. Roll fell silent as she locked gazes with him. "After all he told you, after all he explained about why he made you the way you are, and why you are his only daughter…"
"You're reading my mind." Roll said shakily. Duo nodded.
"It's not a talent I've learned to actively control, but it makes its presence known at times. Limited precognition…and mind reading." He sighed and turned about in the air. "Roll, a lot of things are being thrown into question tonight. I can feel the imbalance in the air, seeping into every pore of this house…But the one thing you cannot doubt, you must not doubt is your father's love for you and your older brothers. He could never replace you. X could never replace you. X may well be the future…but this is the present, Roll. And that remains solid."
"I see." Roll acquiesced quietly. "It's amazing, this talent you have…it's like you always know what to say, when to say it…"
"It's just something I live with." Duo shrugged again. "I do not know the full extent of my own intelligence, I must admit…I might be more advanced than even Mega Man X will be…then again, I might be less advanced than you."
"Kind of makes my own problems seem less important." The female robot said with a small smile. She stood up and moved over beside the hovering Duo, who finally descended onto the deck and shut his thrusters off.
"Duo, you can see things we can't."
"That is correct, essentially." He offered with a shrug. Roll looked up at him.
"What's going to happen? Tomorrow, when Wily's Demon comes for X…comes for us…What will happen?"
Duo shut his eyes then, as if engrossed in deep thought. He finally opened them and spoke.
"There will be a battle." Roll was looking tensed now.
"Is that all you can see?"
"That is all I wish to see." The alien robot said sadly. He shook his head and looked out to the stars. "Roll, there is something I want you to realize from our talk."
"What's that?" The alien robot shrugged his shoulders, gaze still locked onto the sky.
"All my life…I have done nothing but fight. For a righteous cause, yes, but…Until I met you and your family, I did not know that life could offer more. I had to come to grips with myself then, the same as what you must do now. I lived cycle to cycle, never knowing when I would die. The next battle could be in a mere blink of an eye, or megacycles away…I just never knew, Roll. Orphaned, with only my mission as a guide, I could have easily gone awry. But I found out something then. Do you know what that was?"
Light's daughter was silent, indicating she didn't. Duo continued.
"Life becomes precious to you then. When you don't know how long you'll be able to live it, every breath of air is a joy to be treasured. For all my precognition, my psychic abilities, my talents to peer into the future, the greatest lesson I learned was that the only time you ever needed to focus on was the present. To enjoy it, to live it…to be able to look back and say "I lived"…And so what if death comes? If you have lived your life, done all you can, you have nothing to worry about, no loose ends."
Duo tapped his right, more normally proportioned arm against his side.
"Now do you see why I choose not to bother myself with what will come tomorrow?"
"Yes." Roll replied mutedly. "But I don't think I could handle…losing my family." Roll looked up at him. "I'm not the warrior that my brothers are. I'm not as strong as them."
"They would fare no better if it was you who fell at the Demon's hands." Duo said. Roll nodded, then looked out to the stars, following Duo's own gaze.
"You don't bother yourself with our future. But what of X? What of X's future? He hasn't even lived…"
"X's future…" Duo mumbled, his eyes growing darker. "It's a haze…a dream I can't recall to active memory. Yes, I worry about his future."
"What do you know about it?" Roll asked. Duo turned his face down and smiled at her.
"Tonight…nothing. But tomorrow…" He shrugged, as if to say 'maybe'. "Right now, you should head back down to the lab. You left a promise with Bass you would be there when he woke up." Roll chuckled a bit.
"I guess I did…" She waved a final goodbye, then walked back down into the house.
Duo once more lifted himself up into the air, then folded his arms as best he could. Once again, his eyes grew dark as his vision went out of focus…
"For once, I can't see…" He whispered to the wind. "X, I don't know what the future will bring. There is a cloud, a barrier that blocks my sight…"
A barrier that we will pass by tomorrow.
I never had to deal with uncertainty at the level that I did that night. My mentalics always granted me somewhat of a vision as to what would happen…How long, how deep and how helpful that vision was had always been beyond me, but it had always existed in some form or another.
It was like having an arm cut off from me. A talent I'd relied on since Nazyr showed me how to interpret it had been made useless. It made me question many things that night. All of us had doubts in our minds then. An unbelievable enemy was just beyond the horizon, and he would be coming. Roll and Mega Man and perhaps even Blues had their doubts about X. And Light…X was his idea in the first place. I was thankful that my mentalics would not allow me to see inside the pained workings of his mind. That sort of guilt…to ponder if you were creating a monster…
Robots didn't sleep. They had stasis. But that didn't stop Duo from dreaming. Lying on the roof of Light's house, his body immobile, his systems recharging, he found himself wandering through the ether of spaces' void…
And staring at two very haunting, familiar faces.
"You've aged well, Duo." Nazyr echoed, his face an ashen shade. Perhaps it was because he was dead. In any case, it was a vision during Duo's rest. Just now…it came when he needed one the most.
"One might say he's well preserved." Came the wizened voice of Marla, through cynical eyes. "Of course, when you shirk off your duties like that, it's to be expected."
Duo suddenly realized that in this vision, the two were not meant to be sources of comfort.
"What do you mean, shirk off my duties?!" Duo demanded. "You told me to stop the Evil Energy, for the future!! I did that! All the final remnants that landed on Earth and scattered about its solar system have been removed!"
"And of the worlds beyond?" Nazyr asked. "Duo, our mission as Watchers is to always wander the Universe, searching for Evil Energy and eliminating it."
"That is what we were PROGRAMMED to do." Duo rasped back. "Nazyr, Marla, I never did find out who the makers were. And perhaps you never did. But I understand this. As far as I could see by the mission's end, there was NO Evil Energy anywhere…"
"As far as you could see." Marla said bitterly. "So, what? You just assumed that there was none left?"
"I KNOW that there is none left." Duo said confidently. "I fervently believe…that final battle we all took part in might well have been the closing act. The last struggle for domination. And we won."
"None of us won." Nazyr replied sadly. "In the end, both sides were wiped out. It was only you and that final Carrier who were left."
"He was destroyed, and so was his energy." Duo said. "And I believe…I believe that he was it. I can't sense Evil Energy anywhere in the Universe anymore, Nazyr. As far as I know…my mission is over."
The two ghosts hovered there, looking at each other for a long moment.
"So what now?" Duo motioned quickly. "It's over. The battle you spent your lives fighting in is done. The Evil Energy is gone from the Universe. Nazyr, Marla…It's done with."
"Then so are we." Marla sighed. She shook her head. "All the Directive ever said was to eliminate that energy. To eliminate the Carriers that spread it. If that mission has been achieved…"
"What, Marla?" Duo mumbled. "You think just because your initial objective is complete, that that's all there is to it? That your life is suddenly exempt from worth?"
"For all purposes, it is." Nazyr spoke up. "Duo, our only role anywhere was to stop the spread of Evil Energy."
"That's what it was." Duo answered. He looked at them now with a smiling face. "But when the mission's over with, you have to move on. I had to move on. And you know what?? I did."
"You've been on Earth ever since then." Marla added.
"There are people here…who are like us." Duo continued. "Warriors who fought long and hard against a crazed enemy force for the good of all. But I've learned from them…I've learned to live." Duo floated about the ghosts, more confident now. At long last, exorcising the final vestiges of his doubts about remaining on Earth, instead of returning to space and his endless quest.
"When their battle is done, they return home. They enjoy life. They continually remind themselves how precious it is, why they fight. I never saw that before."
"And yet your spirit still speaks with doubt." Marla mouthed. "What pains you??"
"My mentalics…I never did develop them as well as I would have liked. And now, they have failed me."
"You see haze where you want to see answers." Nazyr surmised. Duo's mentor shook his head. "I don't recall that ever happening."
"I do." Marla picked up darkly. She faced Duo, her eyes narrowed with worry. "Duo, no matter how trained a Watcher is with mentalics, there are certain things they cannot see…."
"Why??"
"You might describe it as a barrier, Duo. A barrier you cannot pierce…because what comes will happen, and until it does, you cannot see it. Some things are meant not to be forseen."
"In other words…??"
"If you see a haze…then what comes is crucial. It must happen…for it beckons the coming of a new age." Marla finished quietly. She looked at him one final time and nodded slowly. "Our time grows short, Duo. Try your hardest in whatever follows beyond the haze of fate…And remember. The answers you sought long ago still remain in the stars. The makers are waiting…whenever you are ready."
And then they were gone.
A stunned Duo awoke before the sun had even had its coffee, still on the roof of Light's house. The dream held fresh in his mind.
If you see a haze…then what comes is crucial. It must happen…for it beckons the coming of a new age..
And yet for all his pain, he still did not know what would come.
A struggle…but who would win?
Below him, Blues, Rush, Mega Man, Bass, Treble, and Doctor Light massed together for a final pep talk.
A chill ran through Duo.
"It begins now. Fate itself now lies at the helm…" He whispered. Below him, he heard Roll's quiet voice.
"Come back alive…"
And Duo shivered again.
How much did I hate the forces that were at work? Enough to move mountains.
The first encounter with the Demon had taken heavy casualties. Of the five that left, only two returned. Mega Man and Treble.
Bass, Rush, and Protoman had fallen in battle, the first having blown himself to bits in a suicidal Buster overload, and the last two atomized beyond any ability of reconstruction. The loss hit us all hard. It was the worst on Roll and Light, though. Roll especially was damaged by the news. Was she angry enough then to change? She forced herself into our thinning ranks, demanding to take part in the battle against the Demon. Perhaps she'd just snapped. Or maybe it was a fire within her that had been waiting years to erupt, and at long last she became like her brothers. A warrior.
The dream of Marla and Nazyr had suggested that everything that came to pass was meant to, in some bizarre fashion…That somehow, it was already written in fate.
That didn't make the loss any easier…it didn't make that dull ache in my chest any easier to live with.
Visions…DAMN THEM!! How long had I tried to live my life by them, to follow the code of the Watchers?? And in the end, where had it gotten me?? I had lost Nazyr. I had lost Marla. And now I was losing everyone on Earth I gave a damn about.
One age must make way for another…
Somehow, that thought rang to my mind then. Was that what this was? Fate's way of 'weeding out' the monolithic figures of the age of robots? To make room for what?
I still could not peer beyond that hazy veil even then. My mentalics ran dry, refusing me even a look into that far off cloud that last night had loomed far nearer than it had in the afternoon…
Like storm fronts. One pushed the other, each eager to place itself in the skies and force the other past the horizon.
This isn't how it's supposed to happen…My visions are supposed to allow me to see things, to change them…I didn't want to lose Protoman. Even Bass should not have died today!!
Destiny? Fate? Up until then, I thought them words as mere excuses offered by someone who failed to change.
But as we waited for the coming of the Demon over that ridge…
I wasn't so sure anymore.
We must have looked a sight if anyone had been around to see the Demon approaching, and us spread here and there. What we had was determination, rage, concentrated anger and deadly focus.
All of us were prepared to stop this creature dead in his tracks…but as he drew nearer, with his blood red armor and that sickening smile, that long flowing blond hair and dried blood spattered all over him, that focus began to wane.
Right then, my mentalics were more blind than ever, so warped I could not even see what the others were thinking. But was that the worst thing that could happen…?? With so many doubts of my own that weighed upon me, the added weight of all of theirs would only have hindered me further.
"He truly is a Demon…" I muttered in shock. The struggle with Bass and Protoman had effectively smashed his frontal chest armor into uselessness, giving us a weak point to aim for. And yet the Demon kept walking towards us, seemingly unaffected by the grievous wound. And through it all, I noted with bitter distaste that while the deadliest battle ever unfolded upon the ranks of Mega Man and his allies, the sky above remained cloudless and pure, as if in some twisted way it was a time of celebration, of uproarious cheer. "Bass's description was accurate indeed…"
"He's like a juggernaut." Mega Man growled, pulling up his Mega Buster and charging it to his maximum strength shot. "You can't hurt him with the small stuff…you just can't…"
"Roger that!" Auto called out, pulling back on the trigger of his high impact weapon and blasting off a missile that flew on, the recoil jarring the heavyset robot despite his steady footing. Mega Man turned about in surprise to watch the missile streak by and hurl itself towards the Demon. I did as well…Auto's reaction was both rash and dangerous…for it had broken that badly needed focus of ours only further.
"No, Auto!! We have to fight him TOGETHER!" Mega Man screamed in frustration. By then it was too late…
The shot had been dead on, and the Demon knew it. He halted dead in his tracks and lifted his arms up from their easy swinging gait, seemingly welcoming the missile to him like a mother beckons a child.
The explosion was tremendous, smashing out shockwaves that caused even MY footing to quaver for the smallest of moments. Flames and smoke that broiled the air about the Demon slowly died away, and we all waited…had Auto's shot worked?
No…
Curses, how invincible had Wily MADE THIS THING?! As if he was so unholy that even Hell itself could not invite him in, the Demon emerged from the maelstrom with his arms outstretched over his only wound, grinning with that same sickening stare.
"Oh, that's BOLTSHIFT!!" Auto muttered angrily, a modified malediction he used sparingly. "What kind of monster IS this thing?! That was high grade explosive!"
None of us offered him an answer. The Demon kept walking towards us, but as his sights fell onto Mega Man, it slowly faded away. Perhaps he recognized Mega Man, the only warrior of the original three that had survived his wrath. It had been Mega Man who had been forced to run from that conflict, so that Bass and Protoman might sacrifice themselves for a greater cause.
"Yes, we've met before…" Mega Man growled at the Demon, not caring if the madman could understand him or not. "BUT YOU WON'T GET PAST ME!!"
The Demon blinked for a moment…and then we took our chance. Duo, Mega Man, and myself unleashed our attacks in complete synch…Auto's concussion missile, Mega Man's Buster supershot, and my own blazing blue beam of energy meant to strike him down.
But there was a mind in that cranium of the Demon. Enough of one that he registered all three attacks, and had more than enough time to react to them all as if milliseconds were an eternity…
He swung his arm up and cleaved through Mega Man's Buster blast as a human might deflect a water balloon. To my own attack, that unbelievably powerful blast of Watcher energy, he merely swerved to the side, his boots belching the fires of Hephaestus. But more than that, he 'dashed', as it were until he was right in front of the Blue Bomber. With speed none of us could match as we were, the Demon hurled Mega Man clear off the ground and into Auto's approaching missile.
The explosion was just as loud as before…only this time, its fury was more effective. Mega Man's armor was no match for Auto's high grade explosive, and he fell stunned to the ground, his lightweight body suit bleeding green hydraulic fluid from all the rips and tears.
No, Roll…Don't do it!!
With fury engaged by her brother's sudden injuries, Light's only daughter rushed forth, Eddie and Beat in tow and flying ahead of her. The Demon disposed of the two small helpers with a pair of plasma blasts from his newly formed Buster.
GET OUT OF THE WAY!! Not only was Roll thrusting herself directly into the path of the Demon's attention, and into his murderous hands, her position also prevented Auto and me from lining up our own attacks…and neither one of us could move fast enough to get clear of Roll's path to react to the Demon again. So that meant, as horrible as it sounded…
She was doomed…
"WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE?!" We heard her shout. Her Buster came ablaze, and firing at near point blank range, not even the Demon could react fast enough to stop two plasma bolts from sinking into his wound. Damaged, he stumbled back and held a hand close over his wound, glaring at Roll with all his fury. In an act of defiance, he kicked Mega Man clear of his way and to me, where the damaged Blue Bomber rolled to a slow halt with a groan.
And then it was over…
In a mere blink of time, the Demon smashed forth and loomed over her, then slammed his entire fist through her torso.
"ROLLLLLLL!!" Mega Man screamed, finally coming back to his senses.
It was too late…Damn us all, it was too late…
The Demon raised her limp form up so he could stare into her eyes. The two locked gazes for the briefest of moments, and it seemed as though Roll had tried to whisper something…The Demon sneered and flung her up into the air. Once more, his Buster morphed to life.
And once more, that horrendous weapon of death exploded in plasma fire. It followed Roll up into the air, an angel ascending into heaven trailed by a bright bolt of light…
One fell into the other, and then both were gone in a flash.
Mega Man had been on his feet and rushing towards them when the Demon had thrown Roll up into the air and blown her into atoms.
No…Mega Man, I'm so sorry…
Even though I was behind him, could not see his face, instinctively I knew what shock, what pain was running across it then. For once…not that many years ago, I had been him. That look of sudden, ungrievable grief across his eyes had been mine.
The ground gave way to his feet as he skidded to a sudden halt. His arms hung loose at his sides, and he looked weak enough a mere gust of wind could blow him over.
For once, I knew how they felt without using my mentalics. Because four years ago by Earth time, I had been Mega Man…and Roll…had been Nazyr.
It was as if something snapped in him then…just as I had snapped then. When grief failed you, when the time to mourn could not come…that raw emotion found other ways to vent itself.
Bloodshed.
"WIIIIIILYYYYYY!!" Mega Man screamed, clenching his fists tightly and swinging them up above his head.
The Demon paused and turned to Mega Man, grinning sickly once more.
"Oh, God…" I murmured.
Mega Man, you can't fight him alone…I know how berserk you are right now, but you can't…None of us can!! Remember what you said earlier!! We have to work together!!
I had lost Protoman. I had lost Nazyr. I had lost Marla. I had lost Roll and Rush and Eddie and Beat…
I would NOT lose Mega Man as well. It had to stop now.
IT HAS TO STOP!!
I pulled my blue aura up around me and exploded forth towards the conflict…But too little too late.
The Demon drew down his Buster until it was pointed at Mega Man. And Mega Man pointed his own Buster straight back at the Demon.
Auto remained on the roof of the house, the chaos having stunned him into inaction. But I had no time to do that.
NO TIME…
"NOOOOO!!" I screamed. The Demon and Mega Man's Buster shots were intense, blazing in every direction. I was thrown backwards by the force of the Demon's stray shots…even my own immense energy suffered from the intensity of the plasma bolts.
There was something more than mere electricity driving those two then. It wasn't Evil Energy, and it wasn't Watcher energy.
As I collapsed onto one knee, gasping as my power systems tried to catch up with the demand of my failing energy shield, I saw the birth of an energy beyond even my own limits.
It came from Mega Man then.
It was the power of a soul.
The two collapsed then…enemies to the death, pushed to their limits. And in the end…neither side proved to be all that much stronger…
How many had fallen…just so that this one Demon would be stopped?
Mega Man fell backwards, at last resigning himself to his fate. His dull eyes slowly began to shut…and the body of blue that fell to the ground was cold.
He was dead…
The Demon fell forwards, one ragged and torn hand held against the now gaping and sparking wound in his chest. What the others had done…had allowed Mega Man to finish it.
I had failed them…In the end, I could do nothing…nothing at all to stop this atrocity…
"No…" I groaned, running to Mega Man's side and shaking him. "Mega Man…please…answer me…"
The eyes stayed shut, the smile was now forever gone…
He was dead…Mega Man…the one who showed me how to live, what life was…Dead…
I trembled then. The grief returned. The pain returned. That dull ache that made you weak, yet contradicted itself, made your fury all the stronger…
With a roar, I drew to my feet. Blue Watcher energy seeped off of every pore, and in a blaze I stood beside the Demon.
He looked up at me then…his eyes dull and glazed, that spark of madness gone. Now all was left was the pain…and the quiet acceptance of defeat.
Too much…it had cost too much…
"DAMN YOU!!" I shouted…My left hand arced up, blazing with blue fire as it had done so many times before. He lay there, on his knees and on one hand, watching me.
And then, he too faded…but unlike Mega Man, into mere stasis.
He lived…he lived when so many others had DIED…He had taken them all away, he had taken them in cold blood…
In that moment, I was ready to destroy him. My fist swung down, flickering trails of light dancing behind it. It would all end…this madness in red would end now. By my hand, this Demon would perish. This chaos would cease. The fallen would be avenged…
Fate…
Something stopped me only inches away from slicing him in two…It returned to me then, fully, completely…
My mentalics…The haze was gone, my Watcher's foresight had returned…
And it was what I saw then…
Explosions, a glowing sunset that faded into oblivion and left a starry night in its wake. A sleepless night for some…
It was a summer night, somehow familiar, yet at the same time so foreign. It seemed to be near to a sort of factory area, with wire gating and lights…
Sitting atop a massive cliff, where suddenly a large chunk of it was missing. Missing, because it now floated in the sky, a massive monolith of supremacy. It was looming farther and farther away by the moment, quietly soaring upwards until nothing on the ground would be able to reach it.
Duo looked down at himself…everything else was clear, it was only himself that seemed hazy now…
The skies parted, granting two beams of light entry to the danger that would approach…
One red, and one blue. Out of them formed two figures.
The DEMON…THE DEMON!! But…
Gone was that glint of barely controlled malice and madness in his eyes. Replaced instead was the dull shimmer of intelligence, of rationality at work. And the figure that stared beside him…
Small, somewhat more frail…yet with a hidden force in the curves of his face, like a pitbull just waiting to be released from his chain.
"Fine place for a massacre." The smaller one said calmly, looking up to the structure. "God…That's Sigma's Fortress, all right, but…"
"I get the picture." The Demon frowned, folding his arms.
His voice…the same, yet calmer. More collected. "Looks like Sigma gave it an upgrade somewhere along the line."
"We have to be careful, Zero." The small blue figure mouthed. Almost all of his body seemed covered in brilliant white armor with gold highlights, yet parts of it still revealed the blue nature underneath.
The one in blue…familiar. And the Demon's name is…Zero??
"WAIT!!" Duo called out, stretching his arm. Neither warrior offered a sign that they had seen him, much less heard him.
"No SHIT we gotta be careful, X." Zero muttered tersely. "We're the last two surviving Hunters. That isn't good odds to start with, but if we don't play our cards right, then we're stuck in the deep end with no liferaft."
"So what's the plan?" X muttered.
X…It's X…MEGA MAN X…But then, that would mean…but how can he…and the Demon…partners…
"How can this be…"
"X, we have to move fast. That thing's only getting farther and farther away, so here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna blow my way through everything that stands in my way, and then I'll find some way to get you on board. While I'm keeping the main defensive forces busy, it'll be up to you to sneak in somehow. If fate keeps frowning the way she has…" Zero shook his head.
"You'll make it through, Zero." X reassured the Demon, clasping a hand on Zero's shoulder. The gleam in his eyes spoke of confidence, of trust…of friendship.
"I was more worried about you." Zero replied with a quick grin. "Funny how it's come down to this…Former leader of the Maverick Hunters is now Maverick, and who gets to stop him?? A mistrusted under-troop now made team leader and a blue pacifist who's realized over the past two weeks he can shoot straight."
"We'll stop him, Zero." X mouthed firmly. "For the Future…we have to."
Zero nodded one final time, then blasted off, his boots still flaming the same belches of Hell Duo remembered facing…
X…and the Dem…no, Zero…Wherever this was, they were partners. They were allies.
They were friends.
"It…It can't be…" Duo mumbled, crashing to one knee in disbelief, his emotions swirling around in his head, slowly driving him closer and closer to exhaustion.
And then it struck him. Why suddenly, his mentalics had kicked in. Why when at the most critical moment, a vision had appeared to stop him from delivering the final blow and avenging blood for blood. It was what Marla had said to him, in that dream the night before…
"If you see a haze…then what comes is crucial. It must happen…for it beckons the coming of a new age."
The haze was gone now. The storm front had passed…
A new age…
An age where Mega Man X existed. Where the Demon existed…only then as Zero. Where the two were friends.
A Watcher's visions are a probable guideline. They're not always accurate depictions of what will be…But rather, a vision meant to direct his actions. For the Future.
"No…" Duo croaked, covering his face with his hands.
If this is the future…Then…
Were the deaths of Mega Man, of Protoman and Bass and Roll and…
Were they supposed to be??
What was meant to happen? Why all the pain??
And then, as Duo came to his feet again and watched X fade into the distance…into the trials of another age, a darker age…he realized something.
One era had ended. The era of robots.
Duo's mentalic haze had vanished…because another was beginning. The age of X.
Often, Duo had asked…What should I do now??
For once, as he slowly faded away from that vision and back to reality, he knew.
When Duo blinked and came to again, he found that Auto and Light stood nearby.
The losses continued to weigh on Duo's mind.
Protoman…Bass…Roll, Treble, Beat, Rush, Eddie…And even Mega Man…
All so that the Demon could be stopped. So that X might live.
"Damn you…" Light whispered in tears, holding a shaking gun down on the motionless Demon's frame. Duo turned about, his face still full of disbelief.
"No." He mouthed quietly. "This one's future…is important to Mega Man X's."
Light could scarcely believe what Duo was saying.
"We can't let him live…he doesn't deserve to live!! HE KILLED MY FAMILY!!"
With tenderness that mirrored his newfound resolve, Duo gripped Light's magpistol and removed it from the traumatized robotologists' grip. Free of the weapon, Light succumbed to gravity and slumped to the ground.
"We cannot kill him." Duo said again, more confidently this time. "In the future, Doctor Light…" He shook his head. "No, it is not my place to tell you. But the Demon must live. HE MUST LIVE."
Light looked up at him, his brown eyes misty with grief.
"Why?" He choked out. "Why should Wily's bastard live when all my family has been murdered?" And Duo, now confident in his mentalics…in his decision…in the road ahead, no matter how craggy it was, had but one answer. The only answer.
"For The Future."
Duo reached down and held the Demon in his arms, as if cradling a child. The Demon was tall, only a quarter meter short of Duo's height. He shut his eyes for a moment, then nodded as the Demon's thoughts rang into him.
"Yes…time to take this one home." He opened his eyes and looked down at Light sadly. "I know your pain, Doctor Light. I know you may find it hard to believe…but I also have felt this tragic a loss before. I will return once I have sent the Demon back to where he came. Then…perhaps then I will have some answers for you."
Duo's blue aura enveloped both him and his unconscious passenger…in a flash, they were gone. Warped out.
Gone back to the place where it all began.
Wily's Final Fortress was as silent as a tomb. The Demon had left nothing but destruction in his wake, and every last defensive mechanism was offline.
In the grand chamber, Duo found what he was looking for. Sadly, he saw the bodies of all the fallen Robot Masters. Some were torn and shredded beyond recognition, others looked hauntingly alive…yet all were gone and dead.
And in a far off corner lay the crumpled, beaten and blood covered body of Wily. Even then, a day later, the stench of decay was growing strong.
"Heaven forgive you for what you have done." Duo said to the Demon. The crimson maniac gave no reply, too far gone and too badly damaged to even awaken.
Duo made his way over the gigantic graveyard to a blazing red capsule. It was here…
"Here is where it begins." Duo announced. His voice echoed about the chamber, empty, its lights slowly flickering into powersave mode. "The Demon was born here…And now I put him back to rest."
Gently, Duo placed the Demon back in the capsule from whence he had come. It reacted to his presence, shutting itself and flooding the interior with glowing restorative liquid. Shocked, Duo looked down to the monitor panel by a keypad.
Extensive damage acquired. A deep stasis period of no less than thirty two years is required. (Chance of repair completion date inaccuracy: 73)
The capsule glowed…then fell silent. Quietly, it continued its work. Long, arduous work.
The Demon had been stopped. But the cost had been high.
Gingerly, Duo turned back around and hovered some distance away from the capsule before speaking again, turning to face the clear pod's lid full of luminescent liquids.
"I hope my vision was right…Zero…"
And then there was nothing left to be done. Not here. In another blaze of blue, Duo left.
Now it was time who held control over this place. Not Wily.
Perhaps Light had been given a chance to calm down…then again, perhaps Auto had given his creator a sedative. Either way, Light lay in his house, crumpled in his easy chair, his face ashen, his stature hunched and his spirit crushed.
"The Demon sleeps." Duo said again, hoping Light would understand him this time. "His capsule claimed him…and he will sleep for no less than thirty two years. If not more."
"Thirty two years…" Light whispered. Auto stood beside him, gently stroking the Doctor's hair.
"It will be all right, Doctor Light."
"How can it be all right?!" Light moaned, shaking his head. "My family is DEAD…All killed…"
"Not all of your family." Duo interrupted. Light turned his beaten eyes to Duo, who looked back with radiant calm.
"You still have Mega Man X."
"Wily's Demon was based off of plans of X." Light quivered despondently. "What's to stop X from going berserk, the same as Wily's creation?"
"His legacy. His brothers and sister. His father." Duo answered simply. He looked to Light. "I wish I could have done more…In the end, I proved to be little help, if any…"
"You saved Mega Man once." Light said. He looked to the giant robot. "Not even Jesus resurrected a person twice." He choked out a short sob and shook his head. "It's still…too painful…"
Duo nodded, wishing he could console Light more. In the end, though…all he could give Light was enough incentive to continue on.
"You must live on, Doctor Light. For X's sake." Light looked to the laboratory beyond the doorway. "Your family fought…so that he might live. Don't dishonor their sacrifice now. Only you can help X now. Only you can show him the way."
"I'm tired, Duo." Light added sadly, trying to stop further tears from coming. "It's all ended like this…"
"It hasn't ended." Duo said firmly. He shook his head. "Nay…it's only begun." Duo got up and bowed to the Doctor. "This path is yours to travel now…I cannot interfere with it any longer."
"Where will you go?"
"Hopefully…where I came from." Duo replied. "There are so many unanswered questions of my own I still have yet to see to…"
"Can I do anything for you before you go?" Light asked, more out of misplaced and inappropriate courtesy than genuine concern. Duo thought long and hard…thought of his own doubts, of that vision…
"I would like a copy of X's plans." He finally answered. Light looked at him again, and his eyes seemed to die a little more in that moment.
But the Doctor nodded.
That was the last interaction Duo had with any of the people that surrounded Mega Man…and the age that they lived in.
I must have sounded like I'd gone off the deep end then…Light, for all his genius, was still human. Still bound by emotions so more powerful than the ones I could ever hope to exclaim.
The plans for Mega Man X were safe inside one of Duo's compartments in his arm, stored on a memory chip small enough to fit. He had left Earth, just as he had come. In a blaze of blue, an enigma to the last. A player who spent more time on the sidelines, watching the game carry through than actually participate in it.
In the end, perhaps that was how it was meant to be. This tragedy, this bloody end to the age of robots, to the era of Mega Man, would have carried itself out without me. By the time I arrived on Earth, X's schematics were already in Wily's hands. His visions, his dreams of building Zero…those were already set. I learned more from this world, from this time…than I learned anywhere else. Through Nazyr and through Marla, I learned how to fight. Through Mega Man and his family and friends…I learned how to live.
And now they were all gone. Even Light and Auto…Duo had wandered the heavens for two years, and when he'd finally decided to come back and see how the frail human representative and his world was faring, he discovered to his dismay that where Tokyo had stood…
Was now nothing but magma-covered wasteland.
So that was it. It was finally over with…Earth was a planet of action, of change. As though the ground itself acted to finalize the defiant passing of Mega Man's era, it had plowed over everything. Light's laboratory now lay under rubble.
This is not my place. This is not my time. So Duo had said a prayer once more for all who had fallen, and left Earth. It was November 2087 when Duo said his last goodbyes.
But the age of X…the age of Zero…is still coming. My mentalics can see it clearly now. Even though Light is dead, even though his house, his laboratory, his last son is buried…there will come a day when he sees the light of day. And even Zero…The Demon, as he was known by the age of Mega Man, will awaken. I see it now. For once, my mentalics respond to me…not to the situation.
Duo hovered in the void of space, quietly staring down at the planet Jupiter, and at something else as well…
It was about half his size, a monument of metal set to orbit the planet Jupiter for its entire life. Powered by a small portion of his Watcher energy, it would sustain itself for another 5000 years of Earth's time. It would send no signals, offer no SOS. It would merely soar the skies above Jupiter, forever waiting. Sadly, Duo remembered how he'd set it up two years ago…and looked down at the engraved plate on its side, forever shimmering as brightly as it had then, never to be oxidized, to be rusted.
For the Fallen Warriors, For The Ages and Eras That Fade From Memory
Marla, Nazyr, and the endless war between Watchers and Carriers
Ended 2081, Earth standard year A.D.
For the inhabitants of Earth who fought for peace because no others would…
Mega Man, Protoman, Bass, Roll, Rush, Treble, Auto, Doctor Light…
August 8th, 2085 and October 2087.
For The Future…
Mega Man X and Zero…The final surviving sons of Doctor Light and Doctor Wily.
Let there come an age where there is no conflict, no source of grief. Let the Wars of bloodshed at last be over.
-In Memoriam, Duo.
The last Watcher, August 17th, 2085.
Perhaps some day, the inhabitants of Earth would finally reach to the stars, learn how all their endless conflicts brought nothing but grief. Perhaps some day, they would come to Jupiter. And find this monument. But until then, it would remain. Always waiting.
Is this the hope of a silent guardian…or a fool whose age has left him behind??
Quietly, Duo reached down to the compartment in his arm and opened it, pulling out the memory chip that held the very schematics of Mega Man X that had started it all.
It began with this. The plans for a new generation.
And somehow, Duo knew it would not end with that either. He put the memory chip back, then plucked out an object the same size. Folded in several directions, crinkled and worn. But still intact.
It was a photograph. It had been taken years ago…before the battle with the Demon in 2085. There was Roll, and Mega Man, and Protoman, and Rush, and Beat and Eddie and Doctor Light…and then at the corner of the group, on what would be the right side from the perspective inside that photograph, was Duo himself. His arms folded, a small smile gracing the lines of his face. Bass was not in that photo, and neither was Treble. But they were as distinct a part of Duo's memories as anyone else.
It was all he had left to remember them by now. For they were all dead.
Perhaps there is something more to be done.
Yes, Duo had told Doctor Light he trusted him, trusted the creator of Mega Man to do as well with Mega Man X.
But…For all my confidence in my mentalic vision…what if I was wrong??
What if X, like the Demon, would go berserk? What if the legacy of the Blue Bomber began and ended with the original?
Perhaps there is something more to be done.
Duo nodded as he looked down at the photograph one last time, then folded it up and set it beside the memory chip.
He stared at the two in his arm compartment for the longest time, just sitting there. Relics. The age he saw…might come differently. Duo was stronger now, he carried the memory of a legacy left to only him and X. But doubts could still plague him.
Especially now that there was no one left. No one left to guide X into his life…so many years distant.
Perhaps there is something more to be done.
Duo nodded as he shut his arm compartment and brought his Watcher energy forth. Slowly, he prepared himself for the long jump into oblivion, into the unknown. One way or another, he would do something. And why, he asked himself??
"For the Future."
So that was it. The age of the Watchers had ended. The age of the Carriers had ended as well.
The age of Mega Man was gone…and the era of Mega Man X had yet to begin.
And of I? I, a wanderer who had been lucky enough to see the most wondrous of ages on a planet so filled with both hope and doubt? I still had my own mission. No longer was it to destroy Evil Energy. That objective, for all purposes…was achieved.
Directive Beta(Added 53:71): Ensure the coming age of Earth.
Directive Delta(Added 53:71.2): Seek out the makers.
Was I like X?? In effect, I had programmed myself with new directives. Just as he would program himself with his own personality.
But I didn't belong. Earth was theirs now.
Still, there was always something else to be done. I had saved the Demon from destruction. For the Future. I had seen how Mega Man and all those with him had sacrificed their lives for X…For The Future.
All this talk of the future…
The Future is a mysterious thing. Amorphous, unclear, details can change as quickly as an eye blinks. For all that my Watcher mentalics could offer, they could never allow me to be 100 sure of anything. Because everything changed.
There would come a day…a day when at last I would have fulfilled every last task I could think of. Where I could finally push back the memories of Earth, and let it tend to its own affairs. There would come a day where Directive Beta was achieved.
And then at long last…
Then what, Duo?? What would you do then? Seek out the makers, tend to your own affairs?
Perhaps. The future isn't written yet. My actions, the actions taken by Mega Man and all those on Earth are just that. Quietly, slowly, we influence how things will be. And we can only hope for the best.
In the end, it almost doesn't matter what I do. The core of the next age comes in a blue package. With a young face, with open eyes. It is in X's hands now. Perhaps I can leave him something to aid him, perhaps not…
X, all I have left to me is memories and doubts. So, as you said in my last vision…
For The Future. It is left to you to lead the way.
