Chapter 10: Epilogue.
Three days later.
New York City.
A cerimony is being held on this bright sunny day to honor Mega Man and Dr. Light and a large group of people have come to witness this event. Humans and robots as far as the eye could see are here and overcrowded the New York City streets, even more than the annual New Year's ball dropping celebration. Even several members of the New York Police Department are here, many of which Mega Man saved just a mere few days ago in the financial district.
The President of the United States himself - President Keith Henry, an African-American man who is in the middle years of his second term in office - was holding this ceremony to honor Mega Man for his bravery and Dr. Light for creating their new hero. The Governor and Mayor of New York are also on hand for this celebration.
The Governor is a man named George Cochran, a tall, older man with silver hair who has a naturally intimidating look, but is really a gentle giant of a man.
Mayor Gary Hill is a man who was in his fifties with brown cropped hair and a moustasche. He's been the mayor for nearly a decade, but might be interested in running for Congress next year.
The Mayor and Governor of New York gave Dr. Light and his family the key to the city during the cerimony and thanked them for protecting New York from further attacks. But now, The President was speaking about Mega Man's bravery and Dr. Light's genius and afterwards, he awarded them.
"My fellow Americans," the President said, "It is an honor and a privilege to introduce you to Dr. Thomas Light and the robot warrior, Mega Man!"
A thunderous roar came from the crowd as Dr. Light and Mega Man stood up and waved to them. Roll and Rush are here along with Thomas and Mega and they also applaud both of them.
"For your exceptional bravery in the face of terrorism, and for saving an untold number of innocent lives," he said, "I hereby award you with these medals of valor and declare you as heroes!"
The crowd erupted as the President hung the first medal of valor around Dr. Light's neck and then the second around Mega Man's. The crowd erupted even louder when Mega Man was given his medal.
President Henry puts his hand up to try an quiet down the crowd. He had one more title to give Mega Man... "And to Mega Man specifically, should you accept it this title, I am hearby declaring you as the Defender of the Human Race!"
"Yes, sir, Mr. President!" Mega Man enthusiastically agrees, causign the crowd to erupt in cheers again.
After Thomas and Mega Man shook the President's hand, Mega approached the microphone and wanted to speak to the people. The crowd quieted, almost to complete silence.
"I just want to say a one thing," he said, "It is an honor to defend you! Thank You!"
The crowd cheered again for Mega Man, but the robot held his hand up and they quieted down, "By the way, Wily's goin' down!"
The citizens began cheering even louder at the promise of Albert Wily being brought to justice and began chanting Mega Man's name repeatedly as they embraced their hero.
The dawn of a new era has begun today... an era of reinvigorated hope in the face of terror. The human race now had a defender in Mega Man.
Later that night.
Dr. Wily's hideout.
Dr. Wily's hideout was slowly starting to become the fortress he desired it to be. The outer structure was now being reinforced with titanium armor and to top it all off, the front section of the fortress was shaped like a skull. Dr. Wily obviously liked skulls and wanted them everywhere.
He even wants to name the place Skull Fortress.
Dr. Wily has been holed up in his office workshop since he returned, leaving the user-controlled robots the task of repairing the Robot Masters, with ProtoMan supervising them.
On a lined blue notepad, Dr. Wily was drawing up preliminary plans for his next group of robots. He had already planed a robot named Air Man with a large fan in the middle of his chest and one named Crash Man. Crash Man's special power would be the ability to fire time bombs from both of his arms.
Currently, they both were just bluepronts, but soon they would be a reality. Right now, he was plotting another Robot Master.
The evening news was on by now and Bree Recotta was reporting on today's ceremony honoring Mega Man and Dr. Light, but the words coming out of the speaker were nothing but ambient background noise to him. Wily spit on the monitor in front of him once he saw their happy smiling faces... it made him sick.
Once again, his warped mind believed that Thomas Light had gotten one up on him again and stole the spotlight that was rightfully his, and he was now sharing it with his 'son' so that they could both enjoy laughing at him. Mega Man in particular has really earned the ire of Dr. Wily, and he was now becoming obsessed with trying to find a way to defeat him.
In Wily's mind, Mega Man poses a greater threat to his eventual world conquest than anyone else. Even Thomas Ligght.
"To beat Mega Man, we need to be faster," Wily talks to himself.
"Quick," said the whisper in his head.
"Yes... we must be... quicker!" Wily replies to the voice, scribbling the word 'quickness' on his pad.
"We need a robot that's quicker than everyone else!" Albert whispered.
ProtoMan opens the door to the workshop and enters without knocking again, only to see Wily seated in his swivel chair atop a mound of crumpled-up papers.
"You should learn to knock!" Wily says.
"Yeah, whatever," ProtoMan says, ignoring Albert, "Cut Man and GutsMan are fixed, ElecMan's coming along good but it'll take time to fix the others."
Wily turns around his chair to face ProtoMan. There was something that was bothering him when it came to Proto, and he figured he had best deal with it now.
"Come here, ProtoMan," he said.
ProtoMan approaches his master who was now standing atop his mound of discarded robot plans, but still expecting him to get angry with him again.
"I should never have yelled at you like I did the other day," Wily says, not apologizing, but admitting he shouldn't have done it.
ProtoMan stood and listened as Wily continued, "You, my boy, are my finest robot. Hell, Thomas probably ripped-off my design for you and put it all into that stupid kid of his!"
He continues, "Your brother Rock, or Mega Man, or whatever the hell his name is, just had an extra ace up his sleeve we didn't see coming... But, next time, We will be the ones with the aces!"
"Enlighten me," Proto asserts.
"I'm already working on a new group of robots to join us," Wily responds, "They will help us crush Mega Man!"
"Actually, Doc," ProtoMan says, "I would still like to turn him to our side."
A puzzled Wily asked, "Why?"
"He's my brother, that's why," Proto replied, "I want him here. And if we can't turn him willingly, then we'll think of other methods. We could try to capture him, re-program him, frame him-"
"And, if we can't do that?" Wily interrupts.
"... then, we's have no choice but to destroy him. But, if it comes to that, do me a favor..." ProtoMan says, pointing his finger to Wily, "None of the other robots destroys him but me. He's my responsiblity. Is that okay with you?"
Wily thought for a moment. He wanted to destroy Mega Man himself, but he was confident ProtoMan could do it.
"Very well," he answered, "Either way, Mega Man will join us or be removed from this world once and for all!... and I... I..."
Wily stepped away and turned from ProtoMan...
He held his arms straight up in the air, threw his head back and shouted loudly with a howling cackle in his voice, "I WILL TAKE OVER THE WORLD!"
That Evening.
Dr. Light's lab.
The sun is setting in New York. The sky is a gorgeous palette of orange, pink, yellow and blue. Mega Man is standing atop of Dr. Light's lab with his helmet off. His bushy brown hair shifts slightly as a light breeze comes though. Mega likes standing up here, this spot is like a meditation place for him. He can overlook the city on the horizon and clear his mind alone without any distractions.
As Mega Man looks upon the New York City skyline up ahead, he realizes that he must take his newfound responsibility very seriously. He knows that Dr. Wily will be back... and his brother ProtoMan will be with him. Mega also thinks about his brother...
He wonders how the innocent, lonely robot he saw in Dr. Light's video could be the same robot he fought a few days ago. Deep down inside, Mega wants ProtoMan on the good side, so that Dr. Light can re-program all of Wily's garbage out of his systems.
He hopes that maybe one day - maybe soon - they can be a complete family. But, right now, they are not, and Mega has a job to do. If ProtoMan is on the wrong side, Mega Man won't let that get in the way of justice... no matter how much it hurts him.
He hears the door leading to the roof open and looks to see Dr. Light heading his way.
Thomas stood next to his robotic son and they gazed at the beautiful skyline together.
"You know," Mega said, "This is only the beginning".
"I know, son." Dr. Light replied, "But, we'll get through this together."
Mega turned to face Thomas. "I'm sorry I didn't get my brother back," Mega regretted.
"That's alright. There will be another time," Light assures, "We'll get Blues back home one day. And Wily will be stopped... For now, though, I'd like you to come back inside," Thomas said, "and... have a word with your sister."
"What's wrong with Roll?" Mega asks, sounding worried.
"Nothing, really. It's..." Thomas paused, "Well, you better hear it for yourself."
Just a minute later.
Back inside.
"We'll make a great team!" Roll says with a smile on her face.
"No way!" Mega refuses his sister's proposal.
"Come on, Mega!" Roll peeps, "It'll be great! Me, Rush and Mega Man!"
As time went on since their activation, Mega Man and Roll began to blossom. Their personalities were becoming more defined and the siblings have learned a lot thus far. Roll's confidence was given a boost when she saw her brother become the hero he is today. Now, she wanted to join him and be his sidekick.
"You're out of your gourd, Sis!" Mega said.
"I've even made some of my own enhancements!" she says, ignoring her brother, "Look!"
Roll's left hand entered her utility arm and her vacuum accessory now appeared. The vacuum was now super-powered and could sweep-up a small projectile in mid-air if necessary. But, it was a little too powerful for Rush. The robocanine was pulled in Roll's direction and his snout got caught in her vacuum.
"Oh, no! I'm sorry, Rush!" Roll regretfully apologized, "I guess I haven't worked out all of the kinks yet."
Rush pulled his face out of Roll's vacuum and shook his head ruefully
"But, now I can help you against Wily's robots, Mega!" Roll continues, her big smile returning, "Isn't that great?"
"Roll..." Mega begins.
"Please?" Roll sweetly pleads, interrupting her brother.
Mega Man places his hands on Roll's shoulders. "Roll, I've seen what these robots of Wily's can do. I've felt the kind of punishment they can dish out. It's too dangerous for you. Don't get me wrong," Mega points out, "I'd love to have you out there with me. But, I'm afraid you'll get yourself hurt. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you."
"Why, that's it!" Dr. Light delightedly said out of nowhere, snapping his fingers, "I should have known sooner."
"What, Dr. Light?" Mega asked.
"Just a few days ago," Thomas began, "you both said you had an emotion, a feeling that you only felt when you were around each other or me."
"Do you know what it is?" Roll asked.
"Of course... that feeling you have is called love..." Dr. Light said, then paused when he realized that his robotic children love him as much as he loves them. "Love means that you treasure someone", Light says, "Like right now, Roll. The only reason your brother doesn't want you to join him in battle is because he doesn't want you to get hurt. That's because he loves you."
Roll understands why Mega feels that way, even though she still wants to join him, she can see his viewpoint now... she'll still try to convince him later, though.
"And that is why you volunteered to be rebuilt, Mega," Thomas added, "You love this world."
Mega nods, a strand of his brown hair hanging in his eyes.
"And I love you both, so much!" Thomas says, proudly smileing, "I just never knew how to say it until right now."
Mega Man wraps his arm around Dr. Light and Roll gives him a hug.
"We love you too, Doct-... Dad!", Mega Man says, full of pride.
"We love you, Dr. Light!" Roll repeats.
"Re Rove Rou!" Rush speaks, wagging his tail.
Mega Man, Roll and Dr. Light look at Rush, Stunned to hear that their dog just spoke.
"You might want to adjust Rush's vocabulary program, Doc," Mega suggests.
The family begins laughing and Mega Man picks Rush up in his arms as the robo dog gives him another lick in his face.
Mega Man, Roll, Dr. Light and their dog Rush have a long, tough road ahead for them in their struggle versus Dr. Wily. But, together, bound by love, they can pull through. And this is a truly happy family that loves one another.
But, they will need all the help the can get... for the Battle for Everlasting Peace has begun... and there must be a winner.
Author's Notes:
Yes, I said I would never have Rush speak like Scooby-Doo unless I felt it was absolutely necessary... yet, he spoke here. And for that, I sincerely apologize. Don't worry, folks, Rush is not going to be speaking like Scooby in this series again, most likely.
So, that's it. Episode 1 of my own retelling of the Ruby Spears Mega Man series is finally complete. But, it's only the beginning. As you saw, episode two is next, and I am making this an all new tale, not basing it on any existing episode of the show... but, you Mega Man video game fans probably noticed what I have in mind! (Get the Bubble Lead ready! And don't run out!)
Before I begin posting episode 2, I will be posting an "interlude" chapter, to help set it up, and I plan on doing this with all episodes I write.
I just want to thank the many, many readers who have read this story, but most especially BlackRussian, lalalei and Kuraselache, who have have helped me so much with their reviews. There were times I seriously thought about bailing out of this series, but their encouaging and helpful reviews kept the fire for this series burning! You all have helped me make one of my dreams come true: I am writing the Mega Man stories that I've always dreamed of writing and people seem to like it. I am very grateful. Thank you!
Please feel free to leave a review or a comments. I greatly appriciate it. Also if you caught any typos or serious continuity errors, plase PM me.
(BTW, Keys to the City are worthless. New York really should have given them a better gift than that.)
The "Mayor Hill" name for the mayor character is used with permission from BlackRussian.