Everyone but Dr. Wily was interested in hearing about the second dream experience. Cut Man and Guts Man recounted boastfully how they had bullied the Chief of Police as though this were something real they had managed outside the dream. Neither of them seemed to have noticed that Chief Fibes had mistaken them for Syndicate henchmen, a fact that Proto Man decided to keep to himself.
Their destination lay about an hour north of the city, but Proto Man cut that time in half by taking off-road shortcuts. When they finally reached the outskirts of the compound, he drove up to a super steel gate large enough for trucks to transport space shuttles through, and they all got out.
A tall, chainlink fence surrounded the Space Research Center. The shadowy silhouettes of giant satellite dishes loomed out of the night sky, and bright floodlights lit the ground. They could hear voices and light activity echoing from the launch pad.
Dr. Wily strode up to the gate's keypad and punched in the string of numbers from Mayor Hill's fax. Proto Man waited at his side, carrying a small device that looked like an open suitcase filled with circuitry, a small parabolic antenna attached to the bottom of its lid.
"This is all too easy, thanks to the mayor's security code," Dr. Wily sneered to them as he punched in the string of numbers from Mayor Hill's fax. "All my hard work and genius is about to pay off!" He made a sweeping bow as the door slid open, his hands swinging grandly.
Proto Man somewhat doubted they had needed the Mayor Hill's security code to get into the Space Research Center, which was only guarded by humans and lousy robo-drones, but did not say this aloud. Dr. Wily gave him a piercing look and pointed importantly toward the shuttle launch.
"Get this portable dream transmitter into the cargo bay of that rocket."
"No problemo, Doc."
Dr. Wily nodded to him, then climbed back into the van the Robot Masters turned to follow. Proto Man scanned the Space Research Center grounds, then caught Elec Man's attention before he followed Dr. Wily back into the van, waving him over. "C'mon, I'm gunna need Smith's help."
Elec Man didn't complain much as he and Proto Man disguised themselves as human technicians and snuck into the Space Research Center (Proto Man kept him in a good mood by keeping his mouth shut and following his directions). These were the parts of Dr. Wily's missions that Elec Man understood: hacking through security clearances, disabling cameras and other surveillance technology, bluffing their way onto the rocket, then planting the dream machine without either the real technicians or astronauts noticing—they had accomplished all of this and returned back to the spot where Dr. Wily was waiting for them within ten minutes.
They went behind the van to change out of their disguises.
"…What's a dream like?" Elec Man asked out of the blue, shrugging out of the gray jumpsuit he had been wearing over his armor.
This was an odd question for Elec Man to ask. Though Elec Man was much more human than most Robot Masters, he never showed interest in human behavior like dreaming.
"Just a bunch of random images that barely make any sense when you're awake. Hard to describe," said Proto Man. He tossed the cap and shades he had been wearing on top of his own jumpsuit, which was lying in a heap on the ground, then put on his helmet. "I could talk to Wily about upgrading you to sleep if you want."
"No thanks," Elec Man said quickly, replacing his own helmet. "It's a waste of time for a robot. You should consider upgrading to not need sleep."
"I've considered. By the way, I noticed the security commander's name is 'Smith,' just like your bespectacled alter ego. Any relation?" Proto Man teased.
"Of course not," Elec Man replied sniffily as though the thought of him having relations were ridiculous.
They climbed back into the van. Dr. Wily was delighted with their timing; they were now ahead of schedule.
They drove off through the surrounding woods and into a deep mountainside cave—one of the last remaining tunnels left over from Dr. Wily's Tunneling Machine the year before. The Skulker was parked in back.
"All we have to do now is wait for the morning watch," remarked Cut Man as he, Guts Man, Bomb Man, and Elec Man began unloading the van. Dr. Wily sat down at the dream machine's computer, raising the parabolic antennae on the van's roof.
"Hey, what if my bro shows up?" Proto Man asked hopefully.
"Ohhh…we'll be ready for the blue dweeb," said Dr. Wily, punching in a sequence of commands. "I'm sending you into the security commander's dreams."
Dr. Wily seemed to think this was a good compromise of giving Proto Man something to do without actually having him fight Mega Man. While Proto Man didn't agree, he couldn't help but be curious about entering a dream. Cut Man and Guts Man seemed to really enjoy it.
He looked over at the dream machine. "How much control do you have over these dreams?"
"Very little." Dr. Wily waved a hand at the dream machine's complicated computer readout of overlapping jagged lines. "What I see here are the dreamer's emotions and relative brain activity. I can cause them to have a nightmare, making them feel powerless and easier to control, but it is the dreamer's subconscious that paints and controls their dream. In the Mayor's dream, Cut Man and Guts Man took on the form of his parents, and in the Police Chief's dream, they became frightening robots, unlike their usual blundering selves. Those forms were projected upon them by the dreamer's subconscious. However, I can influence the form that the transported robot takes upon entering the dream instead of letting the dream take over."
At this last remark, Dr. Wily grinned wickedly, every tooth gleaming in the dull glow from the computer display. "Nightmares are fed on feelings of intense guilt, dread, or anger. I know for certain Paul Smith was part of the defense force that opposed us when your traitorous brother helped invade Washington D.C. For his dream, you will appear as Mega Man…you can take it from there."
Security Commander Paul Smith lay on a military-style metal twin bed with freshly laundered sheets and wool blanks, snoring loudly. He lived in a log cabin on the Space Research Center's property. The single-room living space was orderly, sparse, and modest, with a laser rifle leaned against the wall under a window (its safety on), a shelf full of history books and biographies (and some of his favorite mystery novels), a large communications radio on his nightstand, and a pair of sturdy rubber boots at his bedside.
A glowing violet fleck zoomed through the window, circled his bed twice, then dove toward his temple. His snores were interrupted as he shook his head as though a bothersome firefly had just landed on it.
Proto Man was floating in infinite sky—an infinite sky at sunset, surrounding him completely like a globe. It was both impossible yet strikingly beautiful. Stars winked up from a sea of midnight blues below him, golds and fuchsias streaked together like a vibrant watercolor painting above him, A blend of tangerine orange, bright pink, and deep scarlet swirled together behind him, and dark purple clouds partially covered a brilliant red sun ahead of him.
This was fantastic. A cool wind pushed around Proto Man, whipping up his scarf. There was something familiar about this place, he was sure he had a dream like it before. He always liked flying in dreams.
Unfortunately, he couldn't waste time enjoying this sensation, he needed to find the security commander. Despite the lack of ground, he could feel an ominous rumbling reverberate through his titanium skeleton like an earth tremor preceding a volcanic eruption. It seemed to be coming from a nearby cloud. Without really thinking about it, Proto Man soared into it.
At first, cloudy purple mist enveloped him, completely obscuring his vision with darkness. But then he began to feel a flat plain solidify beneath his feet, and shapes slowly came into focus around him.
He seemed to be in an endless room—Proto Man could see no walls, only a tiled floor below and the steel rafters of a metal roof far above, like that of a warehouse or hangar. The purplish mist covered every edge in the distance. All around him, stacks of computer equipment rose in tall, dark columns glittering with rows of indicator lights. It was almost like looking at a city full of skyscrapers at night—if skyscrapers were built in a topsy-turvy manner using stories of different sizes and all rotated a different way.
So now he was in the dream. Proto Man looked down at his hands—which were still red. Dr. Wily's disguise hadn't worked. But then he spotted his reflection on the glassy surface of a computer display, only it wasn't his reflection, it was Mega Man's. Proto Man looked back down at his armor, which had changed blue, his scarf had disappeared, and his communicator style had changed to two extruding buttons. Weird.
Proto Man looked back up at his reflection and quashed an automatic impulse to lower Mega Man's visor. Mega Man never wore his down. Still, something had been off about the reflection; Mega Man's blue eyes had lacked the warm brightness Proto Man usually saw on Mega Man's face.
Proto Man could hear movement up ahead. Commander Smith was roaming from tower to tower as though performing an inspection, murmuring to himself and making notes on a clipboard with the air of someone whose joy in life was self-discipline and a regulated daily routine. He looked much like he did outside the dream: he was in his middle ages, bald, had square shoulders, a strong chin, a powerfully built body, and wore a crisp uniform decorated with military ribbons.
Commander Smith started as Proto Man approached. "Mega Man? Wh…what do you want?"
Proto Man smiled at him. "I'm going to destroy this research center, just for the fun of it," he said in Mega Man's voice.
"N-no! No, you can't do that!" stammered Commander Smith, dropping his clipboard, which phased soundlessly through the floor like a ghost.
"Just try and stop me!"
Proto Man gave a line of computer towers a shove. They toppled one by one like dominos with thunderous clunks forever on into the distance. Then Proto Man began firing at some of the shorter towers, Mega Man's golden plasma bursting the equipment like gray boxy balloons. Other towers began to glow with a warm neon red light, like the heating coil of an oven. The temperature in the room rose, and buttons, dials, and knobs began melting off their instruments. A clock face slid down a pyramid of equipment, cascading smoothly over each edge as though made of slippery rubber.
Commander Smith watched the destruction in horror, frantically attempting to scoop the melted computer controls off the floor with his fingers and reattach them to the equipment. When this failed, he turned on Proto Man, his eyes narrowed to slits. "I will, I'll stop you, I'll-I'll destroy you on sight!"
"Stop….Mega Man…destroy…Mega Man…" Commander Smith growled into his pillow, a fist clenching his sheets into a knot. He rolled over and jerked upright with a snort, his eyes half open, but remained sound asleep as he rubbed his head. "Destroy…Mega Man…"
He reached for the communicator at his beside and switched on its receiver.
An alarm rang across the Space Research Center. Throughout the security compound, reserve troops were jumping blearily out of their beds.
"What's happening? Is it Wily?" asked a private, sliding into his uniform.
"No, Mega Man!" replied his bunkmate as he tugged on his boots.
"What?"
Outside, gray and teal clad robo-soldiers with canary yellow visors marched toward the Research Center's perimeter as Commander Smith's voice boomed over the loudspeakers.
"This is the security commander! Destroy Mega Man on sight! Repeat, destroy Mega Man! Destroy Mega Man! Destroy Mega Man!"
"Is this some kind of…drill?" one of the privates asked a sergeant uncertainly as Commander Smith continued to intone 'Destroy Mega Man' over and over again.
"Beats me," replied the sergeant as he waved the robo-soldiers into position. "Don't forget what happened in Washington D.C.!"
A corporal pointed up to the sky. "Lookout, here he comes!"
Mega Man headed toward the Space Research Center alone on Rush's jet. Roll stayed back to help Dr. Light with a device to foil Dr. Wily's dream machine, though she reassured Mega Man she'd catch up as soon as she was done. In the meantime, Mega Man would hold off Dr. Wily's robots for as long as he could.
The eastern horizon was beginning to turn a rosy hue by the time Mega Man reached his destination. The Space Research Center lay below, a giant rectangle of concrete with short gray buildings. It was much smaller than the space facility that Mega Man had visited in Florida last year, and the rocket that stood on its jet burners at its heart, the Agamemnon, was not nearly as big or expensive as the Icarus.
Mega Man felt a sinking sensation somewhere in his chest as he noticed the sound of an alarm drifting upward. "C'mon, boy, something tells me we have no time to lose!" he urged Rush.
Rush glided downward, skimming over the top of the chain linked fence surrounding the Space Research Center, then came to a stop midair as a troop of robo-soldiers rushed up to meet them.
"We have to see your security commander right away, it's urgent!" Mega Man called down to them.
But the robo-soldiers didn't respond. They had taken a defensive formation, their laser rifles pointed up at him.
"Destroy Mega Man!" commanded a mustached sergeant from behind them.
"What the…?" Mega Man exclaimed as Rush rocketed back into the sky, laser blasts flashing all around them. What were they shooting at him for?
There was no time for this. Mega Man leaped off Rush, landing on the frostbitten ground with a clang, and held up his hands over his head.
The robo-soldiers surrounded him immediately, their laser rifles pointed at his chest, but they held their fire.
"Mega Man, you're under arrest!" barked the sergeant.
Rush landed next to Mega Man, bearing his teeth ferociously at the robo-soldiers.
"I've gotta let them arrest me, boy. I don't wanna harm any humans," Mega Man told him somberly.
Rush stopped growling and gave a soft, confused whine, hanging his head in submission.
Mega Man knew the feeling. He let one of the human privates click a pair of handcuffs around his wrists as a jeep drove up to them. A robo-soldier nudged him toward the back seat with the butt of its laser rifle.
Something was definitely up, but since Mega Man had peacefully surrendered, the security forces looked willing to postpone the 'destroy' part of their orders.
At least I might get to see the security commander, Mega Man thought wryly as he stepped into the jeep, Rush scrambling in behind him, —or slip away while their guard's down. He peered around covertly. Many of the soldiers were returning to their duties, some scratching their heads at him before being told off by their superiors for slacking off.
Bomb Man crawled army style out of a frosty bush, carefully attached a sticky bomb to the bumper of the car, then crawled quickly away again.
The jeep took off down one of the concrete lanes that wrapped around the outskirts of the research center. The driver, a human corporal, was as stiff faced as the robo-soldier in the passenger seat. Neither of them had said a word to Mega Man.
Mega Man eyed them both, wondering if he should try making a break for it now, then froze, listening. Somewhere behind him, he could make out a small steady beep that seemed to be coming from the jeep. It sounded vaguely reminiscent of something, like a countdown on a timer…
"Do you hear what I hear boy?" he whispered. Rush sniffed the air, then growled, his ears flattening. This confirmed Mega Man's worst suspicion.
Mega Man lunged for the steering wheel, knocking the robo-drone out over the passenger side. "Pull over!"
"You're not making this easy on yourself, Mega Man!" growled the corporal, wrestling for control of the steering wheel, but Mega Man was much stronger. He knocked the human out as well (who fell safely in a trained tumble) then pointed the car toward a ditch before he and Rush bailed themselves.
A second later, the jeep blew apart, its tires scattering.
"Bomb Man almost got us that time!" said Mega Man, breaking through his handcuffs as though they were made of paper links.
He heard shouting behind him, and they took off, racing for the nearest hiding place they could find. Then Mega Man heard the sound he had been dreading most of all, and stopped in his tracks, Rush's ears perking up. They looked up and saw the Agamemnon blast off into the morning sky, the ground rumbling in its wake.
"We're too late, Rush," murmured Mega Man. He paused, thinking. "I can still get to the security commander and have him warn the space crew."
Mega Man snuck toward command center, carefully avoiding all robo-soldier patrols, who were still on high alert looking for him.
He found Commander Smith alone in the control room. He was watching the rocket leave Earth's atmosphere from one of the overhead monitors, looking very undignified in an undershirt and boxer shorts, but glanced up at the sound of the door sliding open.
"Mega Man!" Commander Smith exclaimed, reaching for an alarm on the computer console.
Mega Man darted between Commander Smith and the computer console. "Commander, wait!" he yelled, grabbing Commander Smith by his wrists and pulling him away from the computer. "It's me, Mega Man! Why did you order your forces to attack me?"
Commander Smith shook his head, snapping out of the daze, and Mega Man released him. "I…I dreamed that you were going to destroy the center…it was so real."
"That wasn't me!" said Mega Man in aggravation. "It's a Dr. Wily plot!"
Commander Smith was looking at Mega Man suspiciously, the dream still obviously lingering in his mind. Mega Man looked back at him thoughtfully. Security Commander Paul Smith…now why did that name sound familiar?
Then he remembered with a pang of shame.
"Um…Commander, you weren't at Washington D.C. back in July of last year…were you?" he asked tentatively.
Commander Smith responded with stony silence as he opened a storage locker and put on a spare work coat. It appeared he hadn't quite forgiven Mega Man for his part in Dr. Wily's attack on Washington D.C.
Guiltily, Mega Man realized he hadn't thought about that in a long time, as though it was part of a different life. He felt like he had matured a great deal as a hero since then, though he realized not everyone in the world would know this. The official story went that Dr. Wily had temporarily reprogrammed him, but there was still some lingering mistrust. In fact, it had been Senator King who had helped save his reputation with the public.
Shoving this out of his mind, Mega Man plowed on with the mission. "We have to warn the space crew not to go to sleep!"
Commander Smith turned toward the computer console. Thankfully, he seemed willing to put his distrust aside for the moment to focus on the crisis at hand. "I-I can't! They're passing through a radiation belt! All communication is blacked out."
"Shit." Mega Man lifted up his communicator and called Dr. Light. "Wily put one of his dream machines on the rocket!" he blurted out immediately. Commander Smith hovered over him as he talked, still looking bewildered.
"Is he trying to get control of the space crew?" Mega Man heard Roll ask Dr. Light.
"Precisely, though I very much doubt the rocket is still heading to Space Station 1," Dr. Light said grimly. "I believe it is now headed to Space Station 1's smaller predecessor, the Phobetor, which is currently unoccupied."
"An easy target for the sleeping space crew," said Mega Man.
"But why?" asked Roll.
"After studying Dr. Wily's first dream machine, I found its biggest flaw is its range," explained Dr. Light, "That is, the machine must be close by its target before it can be used to enter dreams. To rectify this shortcoming, I fear Wily is planning to use his second dream machine to turn the Phobetor into a dream satellite."
Dr. Light paused to let this information sink in. "The dream machine on earth will act as a gateway into a dream, but the dream satellite will amplify its reach. Dr. Wily will effectively be able to teleport his robots into any sleeping human's dream anywhere, including Space Station 1, without ever physically leaving Skull Fortress."
"Just what we need, a way for Dr. Wily to visit us while we're sleeping," murmured Mega Man.
"It's much worse than that," said Dr. Light. "The second machine can also link dreamer's minds together, therefore allowing him to target dozens, possibly even hundreds of people with the same shared nightmare."
This was beginning to make Mega Man's head hurt, but he trusted Dr. Light to know what he was talking about. He pictured being trapped with the World's leaders in his worst nightmare now ruled by Dr. Wily's robots. Meanwhile, those left awake would have to deal with the consequences of dreamers enacting Dr. Wily's orders.
"Going into space is never easy," said Mega Man finally. "Can we get the Robot International Police to help like we did last time on Space Station 1?"
"Yeah, this should be a cinch for them, they don't even need to fight any of Dr. Wily's robots!" put in Roll.
"I'm afraid not," said Dr. Light. "The Phobetor is American, and R.I.P. has no jurisdiction on American property. They would either President Lemming's permission or just cause to board. But even with R.I.P.'s aid, it will take time to form and execute a plan to dismantle the dream satellite without harming the astronauts. By then, I calculate Dr. Wily will have been in operation for several hours."
"And Dr. Wily can cause a lot of mayhem in a few hours," muttered Mega Man.
"What are we gunna do, Dr. Light?" asked Roll.
"What Wily least expects, stop his plan from within the dream."
Mega Man blinked at this, but Dr. Light continued on.
"Thanks to the pictures Rush took and Roll's help, I've been able to build a pairing device for Dr. Wily's dream machine. Mega Man, I'm sending Roll with my dream machine."
"Mega, I'll get us into the space crew's dreams with Wily's bots faster than you can say 'sweet dreams,'" said Roll.
"You better hurry," said Mega Man. "And Dr. Light? I know I don't need to say this, but whatever you do, don't go to sleep until we give the all clear!"
Shuttle Captain Carroll and his co-pilot Baum were the only two astronauts aboard the Agamemnon. They were in charge of transporting supplies to Space Station 1. They made this routine voyage every four months or so, and neither one of them were too concerned about the temporary blackout in communication. After leaving Earth's orbit, Carroll switched to autopilot, leaning back in his chair to talk to Baum.
Unknown to them, a sleeping gas, timed to release once autopilot was initiated, began mixing into the oxygen intake of their space suits. Within seconds they both nodded off peacefully in their chairs.
Guts Man moved the dream machine outside the van to hook into the Skullker's backup generator.
Dr. Wily checked his watch. "The astronauts will be asleep by now," he muttered to the robots. "It's time to transport you into their shared dream."
He opened a picture of the Phobetor space station on the dream machine's computer monitor. Unlike the golden donut shape of Space Station 1, which could play host to a colony of humans, the Phobetor was small and could only house three at a time. It formed a square with four chambers connected by boxy tunnels, a set of solar panel 'wings' at two of its corners.
"Your next task will be to coerce the astronauts into this space station," Dr. Wily instructed. "Once the dream machine is aboard, I will begin my last act and create nightmares the world will never forget." He laughed wickedly.
Cut Man and Guts Man stepped forward importantly and took their places in front of the dream machine. With a small shrug (and a nod from Dr. Wily), Proto Man joined them.
Dr. Wily glared pointedly at Bomb Man and Elec Man.
"What, us too?" asked Bomb Man, gesturing at himself and Elec Man.
"Yes, you too, I have no use for you out here."
Bomb Man and Elec Man joined Proto Man, Cut Man, and Guts Man at dream machine's electrode arms (Cut Man Guts Man shuffled together at the same arm to make room). Bomb Man looked down at his arm with doubt uncertainty, Elec Man with a shadow of mingled scorn and trepidation. Dr. Wily powered up the dream machine, then with a flash, they were all gone.
The dream machine aboard the Agamemnon's cargo bay lit up, a small violet flicker of light generating at the small parabolic dish at its top, then zooming toward the cockpit of the shuttle. It paused between the two sleeping astronauts, splitting like an amoeba, before vanishing into their temples.
Now adept at dream logic, Guts Man and Cut Man lead the way through a poison green mist into a wide plain of purple sand dotted with sharp bluish-green crystal formations sticking out of the ground like shards of thick glass. A stone castle sat on a dune in its center. Cut Man and Guts Man beckoned them toward one of the crystals, and they gathered around to check out their dream reflections.
…Not that there was much need for this, they were all nearly identical in this dream.
They had become shrouded in burgundy robes belted by a loose black cord, a pointed cowl covering their heads. Each robe had an embattled-edged trim of a different color: Proto Man's was red, Cut Man's white, Guts Man's yellow, Bomb Man's orange, and Elec Man's was black. This was useful for telling each other apart, as their faces were completely shadowed except for the gleam of the Robot Master's eyes or the soft reflection from Proto Man's visor.
"Looks like we're some kind of magic user," murmured Cut Man.
"That might make things interesting," said Proto Man.
Elec Man was not impressed. He kept rolling up the oversized sleeves, which stubbornly fell back over his hands each time. "This is asinine," he complained. His pale eyes glared at Proto Man from the shadow of his hood as though this were Proto Man's fault.
"You asked what a dream was like," pointed out Proto Man, "And your alternative was hanging out with Wily in a cave for an hour."
Bomb Man was scratching his head. "So you have a dream like this, like, every night?" he asked Proto Man.
"…No."
"I guess I'm kinda confused. I always thought when humans went to sleep; their minds did things like logging the day's memories into an archive or something. This is weird. We're in a purple dessert, there are two red suns, the sky is green, and there is a castle."
"Makes more sense then the last dream I was in," remarked Proto Man. "We're in space-medieval-adventure-land. You know, just like your typical roleplaying video game. The astronauts must play Dungeons and Space Lizards or Star Wizard Quest or something, though the castle reminds me of Fright Island."
"Like where?" Elec Man asked.
"Fright Island. You know, in Fun World. Oh, never mind…forgot you said you didn't want to know about that."
Cut Man and Guts Man had already trudged up the sandy dune to the castle.
"Hurry up, the astronauts are in here!" Guts Man called bossily from the drawbridge.
"I must be dreaming too if Cut Man and Guts Man are heading this mission," snickered Proto Man to Bomb Man and Elec Man.
The inside of the castle was a twisting labyrinth of endless corridors and railed staircases that went in all directions (including upside-down) but lead nowhere. The air felt stuffy and recycled, like that on an airplane. Mounted Erlenmeyer flasks filled with glowing liquids lit the walls of iridescent bricks. They headed toward a distant murmur that sounded like the muffled countdown from the launchpad, though they couldn't make out the numbers.
They found the astronauts in a lower dungeon littered with broken crystals and splintered wooden planks. Carroll and Baum were wearing ragged peasant clothes, their hands bound together with rusty manacles.
"We gotta get out of here!" said Baum urgently, his eyes traveling up the long chains hanging down from the dark shadows of a faraway ceiling that couldn't be seen and might not even exist.
"But…w-w-where is here?" stammered Carroll, looking up at the dungeon's windows, which (though on interior walls) showed a black void. Occasionally, empty space suits drifted eerily by, their bodies flat, but their mirrored visors turned toward them as though looking through the bars at them.
They caught sight of the robed figures approaching them and started, their manacles clinking.
"You are in the castle of Lord Wily," said Proto Man. "And you will do as we command, or else."
Proto Man lifted his arm and a bolt of light shot out of his sleeve at them. The astronauts flinched, and there was an explosion of smoke. When it cleared, a pair of giant hissing serpents were coiled around them, one green with orange stripes, the other a black diamondback.
"We'll do whatever you say!" stammered Carroll as the diamondback bared three-inch long fangs and snapped at his face. Baum was making muffled whimpers as his serpent tightened its grip.
"Of course you will…" said Proto Man smoothly, "…You are our space slaves now."
There was some truth to this: Dr. Wily planned to keep the astronauts dreaming with sleep gas for as long as he controlled the dream satellite.
Dr. Wily waited eagerly at the dream machine's computer console, watching the read out from the astronaut's combined dream zig-zag across the screen. He had detailed siege plans outlined in a bundle of papers lying next to him, lists of critical targets and objectives. But a part of himself couldn't wait to use the dream satellite to torment Light with a dream about failing all his college exams, losing his doctorate, and being forced to sell celebrity gossip magazine subscriptions at a telemarketing agency. He checked his watch again.
Not long after, the space crew sent him a message on the communicator Proto Man and Elec Man had planted in the cargo hold. They had docked with the Phobetor and were unloading.
"Exxxcellent!" Dr. Wily said aloud, spinning in his chair. "My portable dream machine is now aboard the space station!"
It wouldn't be long now until he could activate his dream satellite.
Roll arrived at the base a half hour after Mega Man's call, Dr. Light's dream machine tied to the back of the skycycle. They set up it up inside the security center with Commander Smith's help. It was clear he had no idea what they were up to. He kept shooting the dream machine skeptical looks, but kept any questions he had to himself.
Mega Man himself wasn't completely certain what they were doing. He stood in front of one of the dream machine's metal arms (which looked awfully like a large electrode), feeling impatient yet stupid at the same time.
"Hit it, Roll! They've already got a head start on us!" he said.
"You'll have to start it up for us, commander," said Roll to Commander Smith. "It's all ready to go, just hit the red button over there." She pointed to the machine's computer.
"After we leave, shut this machine down. We want to come out of the dream as the same exit point as the Bad-bots," said Mega Man.
"And we want none of the Bad-bots trying to escape here!" said Roll.
Commander Smith nodded as Roll took her place next to Mega Man.
"Nervous about this?" Mega Man asked her.
Roll shrugged. "Dad said it's safe."
The electrode arms lit up, and a fork of violet light lashed out at them. The world turned white, a weightless feeling overtaking them as their bodies dematerialized.
A moment later, the blinding whiteness vanished from Mega Man's vision. He was suspended peacefully in what appeared to be an endless sea, perfectly teal, perfectly cool, perfectly still. Mega Man felt calmness sweep over him. He always liked the feeling of floating in water. He began making slow revolutions, looking around, unsure what to do. There seemed to be no up or down here. He wasn't even sure what direction the light was coming from, each direction seemed to end in the exact same shade of teal mist.
He could see Rush next to him, bobbing upside down like a jellyfish, and Roll, her blonde ponytail drifting about her face in a cloud. She was looking around too, but then pointed up toward a faint circle of light rippling above them, like the reflection of a full moon on a lake. They swam toward it. As they drew closer, the water seemed to grow darker, then—
Solid ground rushed up under their feet, thrusting them up through the surface. They stumbled, disoriented, and blinked at their new surroundings.
They seemed to have suddenly transported into the lowest level of an old castle made of iridescent bricks. Ankle deep water flooded the floor.
They all looked down through the water, trying to figure out whether the solid stone floor had risen out of the depths of the endless sea, or if the endless sea had drained down into the stone floor, but then they noticed that the reflections on the water didn't belong to them.
"What—" Mega Man began.
He didn't have a chance to finish. The reflections seemed to bounce out of the water onto them, and he, Roll, and Rush became mirror images of the strange figures in the water. It was a disconcerting feeling.
Roll started. "Whoa, what just happened?"
"Not sure…I think we now see ourselves the way the dreamers will see us," said Mega Man uncertainly, "—Though don't expect anything to make complete sense in a dream."
Mega Man looked like a cross between a knight and a Roman gladiator, with golden armor, plated pteruges around his waist, and a lance in one of his hands. He ran a hand through his helmet's plume, feeling the coarse bristles that stuck out of it like a broom head. A slotted visor kept falling over his eyes.
Roll grinned Mega Man's appearance. She had twin floor length braids, wore fur-trimmed leather armor with a horned helmet that looked vaguely alien in origin. She looked down at the large double-bladed battle ax and spiked buckler she was now carrying. "Cool!"
But Rush had changed the most. He had become an enormous robo-charger with golden armor (matching Mega Man's) and a midnight blue caparison embroidered with stars. Rush whinnied, inspecting his long slender legs and their bucket-sized hooves, then clopped around in circles trying to look at his long, swishing tail, splashing a great deal of water everywhere. It was the most undignified Mega Man had ever seen a horse act.
"It's okay boy, it's not real, it's just a dream," said Mega Man, catching Rush's bridle and patting his long neck reassuringly.
But Rush didn't seem too bothered by his temporary change in species. He gave Mega Man's face a huge, horsely lick.
"That a boy," said Mega Man. He and Roll climbed onto his back. "Ready Rush?"
Rush let out a nicker, which Mega Man supposed was his way of saying yes, then broke into a very clumsy, dog-like trot.
The drum of hooves echoed through the dungeon.
"What's that?" Cut Man asked sharply, looking away from the astronauts, who were huddled in the center of the dungeon, the serpents squeezing them slowly.
Proto Man shrugged. "Part of the dream, right?" he answered, unperturbed.
Crack.
A wall burst open behind them. A golden charger dashed into the dungeon, a lance-bearing knight and an ax-wielding warrior riding on its back.
"Think again, Proto Man!" said the knight as he and the warrior slid off the charger's back. The knight pushed up his visor and bowed at them. "Sir Mega Man to you!"
Proto Man sighed. "What a dweeb." He was beginning to see Dr. Wily's dream plot from Elec Man's perspective. He didn't bother asking how Mega Man and Roll had gotten here, because he didn't care.
Mega Man threw his lance at the serpents binding the astronauts. The lance grazed across both of them, and the serpents disintegrated in a flash of golden light, leaving a glowing number 50 in both of their places.
Another lance appeared in Mega Man's hand, causing him to start in surprise.
"Roll, I think we have magic here!" he called over excitedly.
"Why wouldn't we? It's a dream!" she replied, swinging her battle ax in circles. Elec Man and Bomb Man were edging away, looking toward Proto Man for his lead.
Rush bounded noisily to the astronauts, his tongue lolling out as he panted. The astronauts clambered aboard, and Rush bounded off again.
"Not so fast!" said Proto Man, swinging his sleeve toward them. The floor suddenly shifted, and Rush's hooves sunk into it like quicksand. He let out a high-pitched whinny as he sank down to his saddle, the astronauts falling off.
Guts Man towered over Mega Man, raising a large broadsword that had appeared in his hand over his head. "I'm gonna send you to dreamland for good, Mega dweeb!"
Before he could bring it down, Mega Man threw his second lance at the sword. They collied, exploding into smoke, then a scaly green dragon appeared, flapping its leathery wings. It took one look at Guts Man then vomited fire, setting his robes alight. The dragon disappeared in a golden shimmer as the flames raced up Guts Man's robes, completely incinerating them—but there was no sign of Guts Man's body beneath them. Instead, a glowing 1000 floated in his place.
"Oh, um, whoops," said Mega Man, looking at the spot where Guts Man had been. What happened when they got destroyed here? Were they kicked out of the dream…or worse?
His question was answered immediately. There was a flash of light, and Guts Man's robed figure reappeared in the center of the dungeon, fuming indignantly.
"That was a lousy trick!" he growled at Mega Man.
"Umm...what just happened?" asked Bomb Man.
"We can't die in dreams," explained Proto Man simply.
"Oh." Bomb Man paused. "…This place is really weird!"
The astronauts were paying rapt attention to the unfolding chaos, watching the newcomers while rubbing their eyes. "Mega Man?" Baum asked, looking at him.
Mega Man's dream form momentarily shifted from the knight to match his real form (though perhaps a little taller) Realizing what was happening, he called to them desperately. "You're dreaming, wake up!"
"They can't, we mixed sleeping gas in their oxygen tanks," said Proto Man. "Don't worry, it'll wear off…when Wily feels like it," he added with a smirk. "Cut Man, Guts Man! Get the prisoners out of here! And make sure they finish their job!"
Cut Man and Guts Man herded the astronauts further into the dungeon, leaving Proto Man, Elec Man, and Bomb Man to fight Mega Man and Roll.
Mega Man was getting the hang of the dream. He threw a lance at Elec Man's feet, a hole appeared underneath him, and Elec Man fell through, leaving behind a 500. Then Mega Man felt a sharp tug around his ankles. Thorny vines were creeping up his body. He looked over his shoulder, noticing Proto Man was pointing his sleeve at him, then raised his lance at the ceiling. The chains began clinking around, one grabbing Proto Man around the waist and throwing him against the wall. Proto Man made a sweeping gesture at the floor, and rocks began shooting up like tombstones, tripping up Roll and Mega Man.
Elec Man had reappeared and was trying to shoot lighting at Mega Man and Roll, but sometimes instead of lighting, he shot columns of fire, frigid blasts of ice, fireworks shaped like stars and moons, and once a sparkling rainbow beam.
Roll was completely comfortable with her dream weapons. She swung her battle ax at Proto Man and used her buckler to deflect Elec Man's attacks back at him. She played more video games than Mega Man and was wracking up more points as she cut through the Bad-bots, who'd vanish in a puff of smoke, then reappear a few moments later in flash of light.
Rush had sunk so deep into the floor that only his neck stuck out. He snapped with his large rectangular teeth and growled at the Bad-bots, which sounded a bit like a car cranking up in his current form.
Bomb Man just watched everyone, scratching his head. "I don't know how to do this," he muttered to himself. He looked down at his sleeve-covered hand in deep concentration. When nothing happened, he said, "I want a bomb," out loud. A club sandwich appeared in my hand. "No, that's not what I want! Booommmmb." The sandwich was replaced with a sneaker. "I don't get it. I really don't."
"Sometimes the harder you want something in a dream, the harder it is to get it!" Proto Man called over as he dodged glowing green crescents shooting from Roll's battle ax. "Try something else!"
"Okay, how about some dynamite," said Bomb Man to his hand. The sneaker became a flopping tuna fish. "Whatever."
He chucked the tuna fish across the room. It hit Mega Man on his golden shoulder pauldrons and exploded, completely decimated him. A red YOU LOSE! in pixelated letters flashed above the smoking ring where Mega Man had been.
"Holy shit!" cried Bomb Man.
A second later, there was a flash of light as Mega Man reappeared, looking disoriented. "What just happened?"
"You were hit by an exploding fish! Pay attention, will ya?" called Roll, slashing Bomb Man in half across the diagonal, winning another thousand points.
Mega Man had to admit…this was kinda fun. Nothing hurt and there were no real consequences. Still, they weren't getting anywhere. He had to try for the astronauts again. But Proto Man and the others wouldn't let him near…unless…
As Roll created an earthquake by slamming the butt of her battle ax into the floor, causing Proto Man, Elec Man, and Bomb Man to lose their footing, Mega Man hid behind a pillar, closing his eyes and concentrating very hard. When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at an identical duplicate of his dream form.
"Distract them while I go help the astronauts," he whispered to the other knight.
The duplicate nodded at him. Mega Man waited for him to engage the other fighters, then snuck into the other dungeon.
The adjoining dungeon was a mirror of the first. The astronauts were huddled in its center, a ball and chain shackled to their ankles, cobbling together a twisted hunk of machinery using hammers and nails. This didn't make much sense, but Mega Man had a nasty feeling that their real-life counterparts were making something outside the dream that did.
Meanwhile, Cut Man and Guts Man were busy tormenting them to make them work faster. Cut Man had his robed arms stretched out to either side while jeweled daggers danced through the air above as though on strings. Occasionally, the daggers dived down and gave the astronauts a sharp jab in the back. Guts Man was throwing chunks of prismatic bricks at them. Though the bricks couldn't actually hurt the astronauts, they still yelped in panic each time one exploded nearby.
As Mega Man approached, both Cut Man and Guts Man's hooded faces snapped toward him.
"Mega Man!" Guts Man boomed.
"Let's cut this short, Mega Man!" said Cut Man, directing a bunch of daggers to swoop down on him like magpies.
Mega Man slid under all of the daggers, getting as close to the astronauts as possible.
"Hey! It's me again, Mega Man!" he called to the astronauts. "Listen to me, none of this is real, you're dreaming!"
The astronauts were rubbing their eyes again, looking at Mega Man as though they suddenly recognized him. Mega Man felt his dream form switch appearance to match his actual form again.
"This is a…dream?" murmured Carroll. He dropped his hammer, giving it a confused look, then reached a hand out tentatively to one of the floating daggers. At his touch, it exploded into mist. A moment of clarity passed between Carroll and Baum.
"It is a dream! We're dreaming!" said Baum excitedly.
"Noooo!" shouted Cut Man in agitation. "Get back to work or I'll slice you into space dust!"
Cut Man raised his arm, and the floating daggers shot toward Mega Man and the astronauts like spears, but Baum raised his own arm and the daggers vanished in small poofs.
Cut Man took a step back, swinging his arms around wildly like windmills. "What's happening? I can't make more blades!" he whined.
Guts Man was struggling to lift a boulder on the floor. It remained stubbornly grounded as if bolted by some force even he couldn't break. "What's happening?" he bellowed angrily. "We're supposed to be in control here!"
"Not anymore! This is our dream!" said Baum triumphantly.
The astronauts advanced on them, the shackles melting away from their ankles. Cut Man and Guts Man staggered backward, tripping on the hems of their robes.
Carroll pointed at them. "—And in our dream, you're nothing but space slugs."
A bolt of light shot from his finger. Cut Man and Guts Man shouted in fear, shielding themselves with their arms as the bolt hit them and exploded in a cloud of smoke. Their cries cut off abruptly. When the smoke cleared, two extremely slimy blobs the size of sea cows wriggled in their spot. One was half orange, half white, the other yellow with a tortoiseshell pattern of red and black spots on its back. A pair of eyestalks rose slowly out of their front ends, blinking in shock.
"Nice one!" said Mega Man, giving them a thumbs up. "That'll teach them for invading people's dreams. Now I gotta ask you to do something—and you gotta do it in the real world, not here—go to the cargo bay. Destroy the little flashing machine there, hurry!"
The astronauts' eyes momentarily glazed over. "I think I know exactly what you mean," murmured Carroll.
"Keep an eye on these two, I'll get the rest!" said Mega Man, resuming the form of the knight and turning toward a staircase. "Oh, and make sure they can't change back!" he added as the slugs' eyestalks swiveled toward him. "Keep dreaming that they're stuck like that forever!"
The slugs' shapeless heads stretched out at Mega Man as he ran past, straining to get at him, but they could only ooze forward in agonizingly slow inches. The yellow slug made a squelchy lurch as though trying to lunge, but was only successful at budging an extra inch. It would take them hours to slide across the room. Mega Man was pretty sure if they could still talk, they'd be yelling at him.
Mega Man returned to the main dungeon just in time to watch Bomb Man destroy his duplicate with an exploding rubber duck. He hastily leaped back into the fray, pretending to have just regenerated. Proto Man and Elec Man were busy fighting Roll, and Bomb Man was still so hopelessly confused that Mega Man felt confident no one had noticed he had left.
Elec Man shot a miniature tornado at Roll, who countered with a sweep of her ax, cutting it in half (50 points). Bomb Man was now throwing exploding porcelain bric-a-brac at Mega Man and Roll while still muttering to himself, "I don't get this, I really don't."
"Hey Proto Man!" Mega Man called, ducking a figurine of a fat cherub.
Proto Man broke off fighting Roll to turn his attention to Mega Man. Mega Man threw his lance at him, but Proto Man dodged, running up a flight of stairs. Mega Man followed close behind when suddenly the stairs became transparent, as though made of dust and sunbeams, and they toppled through.
It was impossible to tell how far they fell, though when they bounced off a stone floor that was springy like a mattress, Mega Man felt they were at least a couple floors down from the main dungeon.
"Nice trick, looks like it's just you and me again, Mega," said Proto Man.
But Mega Man hadn't made the stairs disappear; the dream was becoming unstable. He didn't want to draw Proto Man's attention to this, however. The more time Proto Man wasted fighting him here, the better. He hoped the astronauts were almost finished…
Mega Man threw his lance at Proto Man, but Proto Man fired his blue bolt at it. It exploded like a grenade, raining down fiery comets that Mega Man evaded by darting back and forth. He threw his next lance into the floor. Gravity shifted, and they tumbled down on to the wall.
"When Doc gets his dream satellite going, I'll be sure to visit you in your nightmares, little brother," taunted Proto Man as he stood up, brushing off his robe. The fiery comets were now raining sideways well above their heads.
"You're already in my nightmares," said Mega Man.
Proto Man stiffened, his visor glinting from under the hood. Mega Man knew that his words probably hurt his feelings, but they were true.
They were both worn out and running out of ideas on how to attack each other. Proto Man upped the anti.
"Some knight you are…" he said snidely. "I've always thought you fought more like a caveman." Proto Man pointed his sleeve at him.
At his words, Mega Man felt his shoulders hunch as his form bulked up, heavy brows pushed down over his eyes, his mouth bowed out like an ape, and his hair grew into a thick mane down his back. The lance transformed into a crude spear.
Real mature, Mega Man thought, looking down at the patches of fur that had developed on the back of his hands. Well, since Proto Man started it—
"Me can play that game too," Mega Man grunted in a gruff voice that muddled the grammar he had been intending to say, throwing his spear. "You act like kid, you be kid."
The spear hit Proto Man in the chest. His cloak unraveled into a ball of string, revealing Proto Man underneath it, but Proto Man began to shrink. His scarf vanished, and his armor was now too big for him, especially his helmet.
Proto Man clutched his helmet and withdrew from Mega Man as though injured, moving off the offensive.
Mega Man wasn't expecting this much of a reaction to his simple jab— after all, they'd all been manipulating the dream in impossible ways since they got here. Then dawning comprehension hit him: he had accidentally tapped into one of Proto Man's own nightmares.
Interesting. "You no like being treated like kid?" he asked as the spear reappeared in his hand.
"No, I don't," said Proto Man. His voice had become youthful, but it still retained a deadly bite.
Proto Man had backed up against a wall. But it wasn't the iridescent brick of the castle. It was smooth and white, and slightly convex. Mega Man recognized it immediately—it was part of the walls from Dr. Light's laboratory. Proto Man reached out a hand behind him to touch it.
"How are you doing this?" he asked with a small quaver.
"I'm not," said Mega Man in his normal voice. He could feel the caveman shape fading from his dream form, but he wasn't becoming the knight again, he was becoming himself. "I think your subconscious is creeping into the dream, Proto."
More walls from Dr. Light's lab were springing up around them. A crack had split down Proto Man's visor. He held onto his helmet more tightly.
Mega Man took a step closer. "So this is one of your nightmares, being trapped at Dr. Light's lab, helpless as a kid…" he said slowly.
He wondered why Proto Man didn't dispel the nightmare. But Proto Man seemed unable to fight back against his own nightmare. All his concentration seemed focused on keeping his visor together, which was now cracking up like an eggshell.
Mega Man took another step toward him. If he could just talk Proto Man through this… "But in a way, you are a kid," he pointed out. "We both are, we're Dr. Light's children."
"No I'm not," Proto Man said coldly. "I'm a robot."
He was making a valiant effort to hold his visor together, but it was now completely shattered, black pieces crumbling down, about to break apart—
A robed figure suddenly darted between them. Elec Man had tracked them down.
"No, wait—" called Mega Man, reaching out.
Too late. Bolts of black electricity shot out from Elec Man's sleeves, and Proto Man disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Elec Man received -1000000 points above his head for friendly fire. As payback for his interference, Mega Man shot Elec Man in the back, and Elec Man exploded into a golden 1000.
"You are definitely my least favorite Robot Master," Mega Man quipped good-naturedly to himself.
A second later there was a flash of light as Proto Man reappeared in his normal-sized body, looking shaken and feeling his visor tentatively. He turned on Mega Man, the laboratory walls crumbling around them as though made of salt.
"Sorry, brother, but you're not getting that deep into my subconscious today," he said in a low, menacing voice.
He lunged, tackling Mega Man, and the two wrestled on the ground, rolling over and over, Proto Man going for his neck, Mega Man trying to hold him back.
Then, something happened—Mega Man experienced a strange swooping jolt, like missing a stair or tripping. Proto Man must have felt it too, for they both jerked at the same time.
It had suddenly gotten a lot darker. They were lying on a cool, smooth floor in the middle of a large cave. It took Mega Man a second to realize what had happened.
The astronauts had done it! The dream aboard the Phobetor was destroyed!
The readout on Dr. Wily's computer cut to static.
"I can't tell what's going on!" Dr. Wily shouted, standing up. He whirled around as the dream machine behind him shook violently, glowing like the center of a black light, spitting out the bodies of all of the robots in violet flashes. "Nooooooo!"
Proto Man was looking around, disoriented, for he hadn't known that Mega Man had gotten through to the astronauts. Mega Man took advantage of this momentary distraction to kick Proto Man across the cave.
"I don't think you'll be playing Sandman anymore, Wily!" Mega Man called as he blasted at the rocky ceiling, dislodging several large boulders, which fell on the dream machine and Dr. Wily's van, smashing them to bits.
Seeing years of work destroyed, Dr. Wily entered flight mode. "Hold him off while I escape!" he shrieked, shooting toward the Skullker like a squirrel retreating to the safety of its nest.
"Think again, Doc!" snarled Proto Man. He waved at the Robot Masters. "Go with Wily!"
The Robot Masters obeyed. Cut Man and Guts Man seemed to be of the same mind as Dr. Wily, the experience of their dream forms forcibly turning into giant slugs still fresh in their minds. They were patting down their armor frantically as they ran, making sure they had returned completely normal. Bomb Man followed them, looking just as confused as he did in the dream ("But we have them outnumbered!" he croaked). Elec Man and Proto Man hung back a moment longer to cover their escape before leaping into the open back of the Skullker. Mega Man caught Proto Man giving him an extremely ugly look just before the Skullker shot out of the mouth of the cave.
"So long, Wily…and sweet dreams!" he called after them, waving.
Mega Man and Roll reported back to Dr. Light, checked in at the Space Research Center to make sure everything was under control, then returned to the laboratory, heartily recounting their adventure in the dream along the way (Roll found 'Cut Slug and Guts Slug' to be particularly hilarious.)
"…But why did you have the astronauts turn all the Bad-bots into slugs?" she asked as they landed in the front yard. "I bet Proto Man would have made a really slimy one."
"I didn't think of it," said Mega Man, opening the front door. "Besides, I wasn't sure how long the astronauts could hold their lucid state. Destroying the dream transmitter was more important."
"I suppose…" sighed Roll.
Privately, Mega Man thought what he had witnessed to be far more interesting, though he had omitted the part about Proto Man's nightmare in his account to Roll.
Dr. Light was waiting for them. He had dark circles under his eyes, but he was smiling. He had been in contact with the Space Research Center taking care of loose ends.
"Once communication cleared, Space Station 1 launched one of their emergency medical shuttles to rescue the astronauts on the Phoebetor," Dr. Light informed them happily. "They're awake now, and as you can imagine have just had the strangest dream!"
"But what if Dr. Wily builds another dream machine?" asked Mega Man, pulling off his helmet and setting it on the table. Met beeped a greeting and handed Mega Man and Roll energy cans with her retractable arms.
Dr. Light chuckled. "He unwisely gave us the tool to block his robots from entering dreams ever again. Using the schematics the parts from the machine he created, a new and improved dream satellite will now target and disable any future dream waves he creates. Now that we can counter Wily's dream machine, I don't think he'll try any more nightmare games. Commander Smith is taking care of it all now, which means we can all rest easy and go to bed."
This was good news. They hadn't slept for over a day, and the sun was high in the sky.
"It's too bad he decided to exploit this technology for nightmares and crime," yawned Mega Man as he and Roll headed upstairs. "With some modification, this could have had many useful applications in medicine and psychology."
"Or the leisure market," pointed out Roll. "You could literally sell dream vacations. Hell, I might not even mind if Wily's bots showed up if I get to beat them up like I did in the Space Crew's dream!"
"I hope I don't have any dreams tonight," said Mega Man. "I'm too tired!"
After returning to Skull Fortress, Dr. Wily whisked off to his laboratory to think of a new scheme. He hadn't foreseen a scenario in which the dreamer realized they were dreaming and turned their dream against his robots. That knowledge alone nullified his dream plans. What was the point of sending his robots into dreams if the dreamers just turned them into paperclips or dust bunnies? He commented aloud to Proto Man that the dream machine needed 'further research,' which Proto Man took to mean he was giving up on it.
Both Cut Man and Guts Man were extremely disgruntled. Though they had not really transformed into giant slugs, the feelings of lying flat to the dungeon floor on a slimy belly—a spineless mass with no arms, legs, or any way to communicate—worming around in painstaking fingerbreadth-sized movements—dripping with mucus, completely defenseless—had been real enough to ward them off from ever willingly entering a dream again.
Bomb Man returned to the armory and described his night to Crash Man, Drill Man, and Stone Man, who were as just as confused as he was about dreams, but were none the less interested in a full account of the events.
Proto Man sought out Elec Man, who went back to his office to update Skull Fortress's security protocols once again to block Dr. Light's Searcher-bots. Elec Man didn't look up as Proto Man entered. He seemed to be expecting him.
"Hey, uh…thanks back there," Proto Man began awkwardly, closing the door behind him. "It was getting a little out of hand. One of my nightmares—it doesn't matter—" he appended in an attempt to backpedal.
"I noticed," Elec Man cut him off curtly, but then added just as swiftly, "We don't have to discuss it, I really couldn't care."
Proto Man was extremely gratefully that this was Elec Man's view. He wanted to thank Elec Man, but more importantly, he wanted to impart that the nightmare should never be brought up again. His experience in the dream with Mega Man had ended in painful humiliation. If Elec Man hadn't interrupted while he had—
"…It was pretty obvious what was going on," Elec Man added lazily. Proto Man winced internally. "It really shouldn't matter to you that much if your brother sees what you look like."
"Easy for you to say, we can't all be as good looking as you," he deflected in mock humility.
"Don't be an ass." Elec Man looked over the top of his computer briefly, narrowing his eyes coldly at Proto Man. "I figured something idiotic like that would happen as soon as you and Mega Man disappeared together. He is your biggest weakness."
"You sound like Wily."
"'Even a broken clock is right twice a day.'"
Proto Man said nothing to this. Something else was bothering him.
"I can't believe your gang paid off the Chief of Police," he said.
"It's smarter than what you and Wily do."
Proto Man didn't argue. He had something he wanted to get off his chest, and a short list of people he could talk to about it. He clenched his fist, thinking. Elec Man looked up at the noise, from Proto Man's fist, then to his face.
"…What's up?" Elec Man asked in a departure from his usual uptight, nasally manner of speaking.
"About your creator…Centum…the guy who wants to 'recruit' me…"
"What about it?"
"I think he knows who built me, or he at least suspects…"
"Probably. It's not a mystery to anyone with a brain."
Proto Man bristled at this. Sometimes it was hard to have a conversation with Elec Man without wanting to blast him. "Yeah, well, I was thinking, if Centum really wanted to get at me…" he trailed off, not wanting to complete the sentence.
Elec Man stopped working and leaned back in his chair to look at him directly, seeming to understand what Proto Man was getting at. His expression was impossible to read.
"What do you care? You and Wily cause the Lights harm and anguish all the time."
"That's different."
"The Lights aren't the Syndicate's type of target," Elec Man continued seriously. "They're law-abiding citizens, and they aren't interfering with the Syndicate."
"But this isn't about the Lights, it's about me."
Now that Proto Man had said it aloud, it sounded a hundred times worse. He felt the weight build up in his chest and a faint buzzing in his ears.
Elec Man continued to stare at him, completely still. "If you are really concerned, you could retire from crime…go back to where you came from, or something…"
"Not that again. I'll tell Wily you've been trying to talk me into becoming a good guy," Proto Man answered in a warning tone.
"I'm not," Elec Man said quietly, nettled by Proto Man pulling rank and insinuating he was being disobedient when, of course, Elec Man couldn't be disobedient. "I know you won't listen. You wanted my opinion, so I gave it to you. Do what you want, but if you quit working for Wily and returned to Light, then they will stop harassing you, I'm positive."
Proto Man calmed down, regretting snapping at Elec Man. "And why is that? Some sort of criminal code?"
"I don't know."
"Sometimes I wish you remembered more."
"Me too," said Elec Man coldly.
"So you think they'll go after the Lights too, right?" asked Proto Man.
"I really don't know," persisted Elec Man in a frustratingly even tone.
Proto Man ignored him. "But I can't go back there," he blurted out. "You don't know what it's like to be on the other side, working in a lab…it's boring, it's life-sucking, it's degrading, it's repressive, it's suffocating, it's—"
He had run out of adjectives in his aggravation.
"Actually, I don't think I'd mind," said Elec Man quietly with a very small, very indifferent shrug. "…But it's not an option for me."
Elec Man was referring to his past crimes for the Syndicate, which would guarantee him an order for destruction. Proto Man's anger died down. He hadn't really meant to say any of that out loud.
Elec Man looked at his visor hard without blinking. "Why doesn't where I come from bother you?" He was cagey, as though trying to keep his motives for asking concealed.
"You mean being a criminal robot who is connected to a gang with an extremely nasty reputation?" put in Proto Man. "Can't say it's ever bothered me…I may not be a gangster, but I'm no hero either. And I doubt you'd really like being one of the good guys," he added with light-hearted skepticism. "You'd lose your temper as soon as they did something stupid, and you'd want to solve problems with mob tactics if it were more efficient. Being good sucks, trust me."
Proto Man stiffened. He was being more candid about his past than he usually was, and hurried on, "Either way, Wily's taking over the world so you won't have to worry about it—I know you hate working for Wily, but if we let you go, you'd come back to fry us. I know how mobsters work."
The stillness on Elec Man's face broke as the corner of his mouth twitched as though he were imaging it. "Letting me go would be pretty stupid…but then again you suck at being a criminal."
"Not according to the police. They'd do anything to take me down, apparently."
Proto Man decided to leave it there. Elec Man had already turned back to his computer, and Proto Man wanted to unwind after what had unexpectedly ended up being a very mentally taxing mission.
"You want the door open, or closed?"
"Doesn't matter."
Resolving to take the fastest jet in the hanger out for a few hours, Proto Man left Elec Man's office, leaving the door ajar behind him.
Next time on Mega Man Recut…
It's lights out for New York City as Dr. Wily unleashes a monster of an invention that steals energy. Mega Man struggles to find a weak-point while racing across a city and avoiding Wily's forces, meanwhile Roll runs into familiar faces and is let in on an unpleasant family secret…tune in next time for Robo-Spider!