I'd like to point out that the second generation bioroids, the 'children', are at the oldest, equivalent to a six or seven-year-old human child. Would you let your first grader fight someone fully armed?

Well, they're a bit…mentally older than that, but emotionally? Their ability to understand how the world works? Their ability to reconcile that life just sucks? That's something learned, and not something they've had enough time to come to terms with.

And this is why they aren't fighting, among some other issues. Once they're older, though? Ehehe.

This is a collaboration between myself and Laryna6 and we don't own Rockman, though I do like doing fanart from time to time.

Bomb sighed. The child came running straight to him once his aunt and uncle spooked him, and now he was curled up next to him. Once Rock got inside, he'd send the child down with the others. For now, this was fine. They both needed it. The line with Fire was quiet, not that he minded. He did mind how the lines with the other four were dead. They were incapacitated, the news said, and would remain unconscious. At least they weren't dead. Probably. Yet.

At the very least, he had to ensure his own could survive.

He could sense every bomb lying in wait in that field. There were smaller colonies of nanites seeded throughout the building, serving as surveillance. Explosives inside was a bad idea, especially now that he wasn't alone here. Especially now that these children were here. Before, he may have rigged it to take himself and his brother down, but now?

At least Rock hadn't shot at Time. He had a clear shot to take the child out for several minutes, but he never raised his weapon. It may have given him hope that his brother could be reasoned with if not for the reality that all other negotiation attempts completely fell apart.

There was nothing to do but watch and wait.

Now that the child had gone, the bombs weren't being replaced anymore. It didn't take Rock long to figure that out.

Since one bomb exploding would sometimes set off others, it didn't take as many rolling cutters as he'd thought it would to clear out the rest of them.

He considered saying that he'd used up a lot of his metal and energy doing that, since then Roll would insist he wait long enough to be stuffed full of energy drinks and the mineral bars again, but this had just proven that they had to get this over with before anyone else got hurt. Before any more of the children decided to get involved. Then it wouldn't be four down, two to go, but... he wanted this to be over. Even if it was a little more dangerous this way.

He'd just have to avoid getting close, and no more of the rolling cutters once he was inside, he decided. Maybe Elec's ability might be useful again? He could try setting things off with it if there were more inside.

The trick was not bringing the edifice crashing down around him. He'd be in there, with Bomb and Bomb's babies. The children were upset already; the one they'd seen demonstrated that. Frightening them worse would be terrible.

But that was a risk that Bomb would be aware of, too. It might work to Rock's advantage if his abilities couldn't be controlled enough to use indoors. And how had that child been able to cart that bomb around without detonating it? It blew the second it hit the ground—there was no fuse to light, no switch to hit. How, for that matter, had the child escaped that? The humans didn't catch it, but Rock and Roll saw his ability, whatever it was, become active an instant before the flash from the bomb clouded their visual input. That child was an unknown variable, but Rock was certain his brother wouldn't have permitted him to come out and confront them. They were getting stronger, sharper. They were becoming their own people as their nanites interfaced with their brains. They'd be maturing mentally very quickly from here on out.

Thinking about that made him a little excited. He wanted to meet them like he wanted to meet his brothers. Just... not like this.

His first time talking to a second-generation bioroid, and the conversation started because he'd accidentally shot him?

They must think he was a real monster now.

The child certainly did. His father's soothing words and feelings were doing little to quell his anger. The reassurance wasn't going to change anything if it continued this way. He clutched at Bomb, shoulders shaking. He was caught between sorrow and anger. He'd never experienced anything this strong, let alone this negative, and it was almost crippling. He was afraid. It hurt in a way he'd never encountered. It made him angrier to think about, and blaming it all on Rock was convenient. Too convenient to be true, and that stray thought was an admonishment from his father. Bomb was right, though, if Time took the time to calm down and think about it. It wasn't fair to blame it all on him, even if he was the weapon humanity was using against them.

Before they'd arrived, Bomb mostly stayed down in the "nursery" with all the children, but now that they were here, he'd moved to a position that he hoped was safe enough not to hurt them even if the building came down. He'd inspected the blueprints, the materials, the structural integrity. His nanites fed him data on it all. Time was the most developed of them and though they wanted his attention too, his developing mind took priority, especially now that he was contending with feelings like anger, frustration, grief, and futility for the first time. He didn't want this child to be swallowed by grief. He wanted them all to have a good future. It was his job to ensure they could thrive. He wished he could do more.

Time's ability was a lucky one. This child could escape: there was no one that could stop him. He and Guts' children might end up the only ones left, except for Dr. Light's two. They would have to fend for themselves, and if Time was more focused on revenge than survival, Bomb knew that it would not go well for him.

What had just happened might be a good thing. He wouldn't think he was untouchable anymore.

"I don't think that that baby is going to come out again," That was Roll, after about fifteen relatively quiet minutes, save Rock tearing up the rest of the bomb field. "I don't think our brother is going to let him come out again." If the baby stayed out of the way, he wouldn't have to be hurt again, even if it had been an accident. She was still worried, though. His wound was healing so slowly, was he sick? He may be younger than they thought, with very little experience with healing himself. Or was it that their nutrients were spread so thin that it was all his nanites could do? If they were rationing, if there were a lot of them, and they had to split it thin to go between everyone…How many bodies were in the morgue before the takeover?

"Well," Rock said, since the bombs were clear. He really couldn't delay any longer. "Roll, you should probably get back, just in case." In case he set something off.

Roll nodded and walked back over to where Dr. Light and the other humans were. It was further than was probably necessary, and they were behind a blast shelter on top of it, but better safe than sorry. She took the doctor's hand and stood next to him, close. All eyes were on Rock, now.

Even though he was pretty sure the path was clear, Rock still ran as fast as he could.

It somehow made him even more nervous when he reached the door without any more explosions.

It wasn't even locked. Well, it made sense that it wouldn't be barricaded, not when the other bioroid had been coming out to replace the bombs, but still. He could have locked it behind him.

Not that a lock would have stopped Rock, of course, but he realized that maybe locking important doors was a human habit, or one that he and Roll had picked up after being reminded enough times.

At the very least, a lock meant, "Stay out, you're not allowed in here," but if it wasn't enough to stop who was coming in, putting it up seemed superfluous. Why break a perfectly good door?

This hospital was quiet, like the others. There were incendiaries structured into the walls in all the halls but one. Some of them were visible, like visual cues, but the rest were picked up by Rock's scans. He realized that some of the nanite clusters didn't seem to be engineered to blow anything up at all. Were those sensor arrays for his brother to monitor the building with? Or…had the child placed them? He had no idea how that child's ability worked. He would have no idea what to expect from any traps set by him.

In all the other hospitals, he'd called out, hoping they would listen, but his brother obviously knew he was here. Was there any point to it? No, he still had to try, he had to, he just had no idea what to say. Except, "I really am sorry I hurt him. I hope we can still be friends, when this is over. I mean, you are my brother."

He actually responded right away, over the intercom. It was his brother's voice, sounding much older than that child. He sounded tired and almost resigned. "Come down the unseeded hallway, straight ahead." The mic cut out there and Rock was left alone in the building once again.

"I don't want to fight you, I hope you know that. Or do you hate us too?" Rock wondered. "Because we didn't do anything? We didn't know, but that doesn't make it any better. If I'd tried harder to get permission to go visit you," even though contact might have messed up the he testing, due to the data exchange, "then this wouldn't have happened."

The intercom remained silent. He was left with no choice but to meet his brother face-to-face, even if it meant they'd have to fight.

He was supposed to be Dr. Light's lab assistant, right? Maybe if he'd provided better data or, or something, if he'd been a little better at what he was made for, then his brothers wouldn't have suffered like that. If they were going to be angry at Dr. Light, then they should be angry with him as well, he decided, and straightened a little.

Once Rock gained entrance, Bomb managed to convince the child to leave his side and now he waited alone in the room at the end of the hall. It seemed like some sort of medical storage room, lined with cabinets filled with supplies and other things. He was leaning against one of the cabinets, arms folded across his chest. He was portly compared to the other five hospital bioroids, though that allowed him to store more materials for crafting the explosives. His yellow and orange armor covered every inch of skin—his eyes were all that could be seen of his body.

Rock stepped forward, noting his surroundings but keeping his eyes on Bomb's. "I'm sorry. Not just for capturing the others. It would be pretty hypocritical of me to apologize for that, when I keep doing that. But for not doing anything when they were hurting you before, and for hurting you now. I think... I do think this is the best thing to do." He was going to believe in Dr. Light, because he'd realized something.

Dr. Light had seemed so wise and infallible: he was their creator. Shouldn't he have known this was going on, shouldn't he have stopped it? Except Bomb hadn't been able to keep that child from being in danger.

Rock hadn't done anything for his brothers.

This was his fault too, and he would do anything to make it right. So he believed that Dr. Light felt the same way. He did, Rock knew it, even without scanning him.

So.

Cut's weapon was out. The air here might be humid enough for Ice's. Guts' might be too dangerous: what if there were explosive materials inside Bomb's body, and they got crushed and set off somehow?

Rock readied himself to activate Elec's even as he waited for Bomb's reply.

Bomb actually smiled. He looked Rock over, appraisingly. "You apologized earlier for hitting my child. I want to thank you. For not killing him…and in a way, for hitting him in the first place." They hated violence, hated it, but that realization, that he was not infallible, that despite his ability, he could still be hurt…Time needed that. That was a lesson that Bomb had been unable to give. Unwilling to give.

"You believe what you are doing is right. I've been monitoring you since you set foot in Elec's place. We all have. I believe that protecting these children is my right." His duty. "Your intentions are meaningless when you're not the one making the decision whether they live or die. There is a lot of pain in the world and humans are not ones to leave well enough alone. Some will want to, some will want to move on, move forward. But forgiving humans…humans who are understanding, humans who are willing to work together do not make it to the top of the hierarchy." Not when clawing your way to the top meant making sure all competition was eliminated. Not when staying at the top meant more than everyone below you.

Rock wanted to say that was wrong, but honestly, he didn't know enough about the world. And, "It's not wrong, to want to protect people, but as long as people are fighting, no one is safe. I don't like this, I don't like having to hurt my brothers, but if this is the only way to make the fighting stop so people can calm down, then I will." Elec and the others weren't being killed, so, surely... Once it was over, this could be fixed. Not until then. "So..." His armor changed color and he raised his hands, channeling the electricity.

Bomb didn't exactly sag; his posture remained the same, but something inside of him gave way. He was saddened to see it come to this. He held a hand out and a bomb appeared in his palm. By now, they would all be safe underground. That place was fortified, reinforced. They'd worked hard to see that it'd withstand.

Wait, time out? "Um... You are armored against your own bombs, right? I don't want to accidentally..."

He bounced the bomb in his hand, his expression flickering from exasperation to amusement. "You should have asked that before arming your weapon. Heads up!" He lobbed the bomb straight at Rock, smirking all the while.

Rock frowned, diving to the side. He should appreciate the warning, but he still had found himself wanting to tell Bomb that it was a bad idea to warn him. Rock wasn't as fast as his child, but he was still fast, and Bomb should have known that their kind could move faster than humans.

Even as he wondered at himself, he sent the lightning arcing towards Bomb, who blocked it with a hand.

Stunned, Rock realized that Bomb was wearing gloves, really big gloves that looked like rubber, and boots...

"You won't be able to use Elec's weapon against either of us."

Bomb rushed forward then, faster than Rock would have expected and materialized another bomb in his hand. He wasn't so fast as Rock, but the nice thing about explosions was that they tended to hit whatever was in the vicinity. The wall behind Rock was blown out already from the first bomb, and glass littered the floor, along with singed bits of paper and other things.

He bit his lip to keep himself from crying out, not because he didn't want to admit he'd been wounded but so that Bomb would worry less.

Rock noted that he really was getting better at healing, huh. Still not as good as Roll, though.

Bomb didn't give him any quarter: perhaps if he gave this child a sound enough beating, he'd retreat? He knew when he'd hit Rock, there was no way he hadn't, and it made his stomach turn, but he couldn't let Rock through him. He owed it to those children to give them a real chance at survival. Not just his, but Fire's as well. There was no other way.

He had to keep in mind that even though Rock's body was that of a human child, he had been able to think for almost twice as long as the rest of them.

Rock had more experience fighting than him by this point, too. Taking down the previous four counted for something. Bomb summoned another explosive and threw it, aiming it a bit off from where Rock was standing. He'd get caught in the blast, but at least its nexus wouldn't contain part of his body. Bomb was torn between not hurting Rock, only getting him to leave, and making the most out of his explosions. The building could only take so much damage. He only had so many chances.

Rock managed to hit him as he paused to throw - he felt his side numb a little, the nanites disrupted. Trying to put him to sleep: it seemed like such a human weapon, except they put animals to sleep, too.

He winced and staggered for a moment—the numbness wasn't going away. A wave of agitation swept through him: he needed more time! He summoned another bomb (thank goodness Rock hadn't shot his throwing arm!) and lobbed it at Rock, his aim far more exact than before.

Once again, Rock got him when he paused to aim. This time, he threw himself to the side, armor smooth enough that he could potentially slide along the ground. It didn't quite work, but it got him mostly clear and he was able to fire again, even if he only managed to clip Bomb's foot.

Bomb was getting frustrated. His left side and right foot were numb now—it wasn't even balanced! He growled and shifted his weight (was the numbness spreading?), then materialized another bomb. The room was decimated by now and his bombs did a considerable job enlarging it. There was broken glass and twisted bits of metal strewn all over the floor and everything was smoking. He only had a couple more chances. Fewer, maybe, now that Rock had gotten some shots in.

Rock's small size and smaller feet (the rubber boots certainly didn't help reduce Bomb's friction) meant that he was much faster. It surprised him a little to notice that Bomb slowed down when he made his bombs—Rock would have thought he'd have plenty of practice by now. Still, it was another time when he wouldn't be moving much, so it was safe to shoot him.

Bomb's movements were also slowed by the numbing sensation spreading through his body. Part of him would almost rather Light sent Rock in just with weapons rather than with something to knock them out. He didn't trust the doctor, didn't trust him not to alter their programming, to trap them inside their minds, unable to display emotion, unable to express themselves. He'd known when they arrived that he would, most likely, be defeated. That those children would be left unguarded. That the humans would claim them missing. "Missing", indeed.

That thought enraged him and he pushed forward with a sudden burst of speed, moving to stand almost on top of Rock, another bomb materializing in his palm. If he took Rock out here, if he knocked him out for long enough, maybe it'd be long enough for Fire to get his children out of there. It was too late for Bomb here, now.

Rock couldn't help crying out when the bomb slammed into his back and sent him falling to the ground, nanites scrambling to repair the gap in his armor with his mineral level so comparatively low. He hoped that Bomb would have that same mercy the others had, and at least let him get to his feet, but the more Rock fought, the more his brothers watched him fight, the more everything changed.

Hearing Rock's pain that way startled Bomb and he hesitated for just a moment. It wasn't right, the way this one kept getting hurt, over and over, and the humans kept sending him in. It was sick. But if he didn't fight this one, if he didn't do everything he could to win, even if it was too late for him…there were his children to think about. And Fire's children. They could not defend themselves. They were not prepared to fend for themselves. It made him sick, just thinking of how hard their lives were going to be. Even if he didn't want to hurt this brother, even if this brother didn't want to hurt him…not fighting was enabling his children's deaths.

He couldn't allow that.

He lobbed another bomb down at Rock, grimacing and almost flinching. It was visibly difficult for him to do.

Rock found himself apologizing again, as he managed to roll clear. Mostly. His back stung, and he wanted to prioritize healing it over everything else, but he had to focus. He wasn't sure what he was apologizing for. It might even be for getting hurt. If only he could strengthen his armor.

Ice used his ability to make a shield, not for himself but for the building, the room where the children were.

Still rolling, Rock shot almost blindly behind him, hoping he hit Bomb's legs.

Fortunately for Rock, Bomb hadn't moved since he threw that last bomb; it was getting increasingly difficult to, so he was where Rock's systems calculated. The shot hit his other leg and he staggered and dropped to his knees. He grit his teeth, but did not cry out in pain. For the same reason Rock tried not to earlier. His mineral reserves were low after generating all the bombs placed outside, and his remaining nanites were quickly being put to sleep. He couldn't feel the entire bottom half of his body. Idly, he wondered if this was a sensation the original owner of his body ever experienced. He hoped not. He looked up to Rock and instead of Time's anger and rejection, there was…acceptance. Not trust, or even hope, just the knowledge that there was nothing that could divert them from this. They were going to collide no matter what anyone did. He didn't blame Rock for it any more than he blamed himself.

Or any less.

"We're keeping everyone together," Rock told him. "I promise they'll all be there when you wake up." All his brothers, and their sister. Unless Rock killed Fire. Or Dr. Light couldn't get permission to wake them up again. Still, he would do his best, so he promised, and carefully fired.

Time was running down the halls as quickly as he could. He knew his uncle—the one fighting for the humans—wouldn't hear him from the room he fought his father. He'd watched the whole thing. His stomach turned, he wanted to help, but what could he do now? His father had forbidden him to come anywhere near there, he'd only have gotten in the way. The concept of striking now, while Rock was weakened, never even crossed his innocent mind.

Right now, he had only one concern: his siblings. He had to help them, he had to try to get them out. He knew he didn't have long, and father told him to save himself. His ability could be useful, but he couldn't use it on more than himself. He hadn't figured out how, he hadn't had enough time with it. He had to slow down a bit as he neared; he'd begun shaking when he realized he didn't know what to tell them. He couldn't leave without saying good-bye, but at the same time, how could he leave at all? Wasn't that a betrayal to them, even if his father told him to save himself, that he was the only one who could escape? His heart was pounding and his eyes were dilated when he finally reached the door. Status indicators showed elevated stress hormones, heart rate, blood pressure. Classic signs of human stress. He felt nauseous. He opened the door.

And nearly jumped out of his skin. His eyes widened and he looked genuinely surprised. Then relief flooded him so abruptly that he started crying, even as serotonin flooded his system, that and other feel-good chemicals, a reassurance that everything would be alright.

He wouldn't have to worry.