Dr. Light was working in his office late one night. He had heard of Mega Man being defeated by this new robot last night and he wasn't taking any chances. He armed himself with a gun he used during the Hard Age, something he wished he would never have to use again, and placed the Mega Key he always kept in his pocket in a safe. He wasn't going to let anyone steal this. Suddenly, he heard a knocking on the door. Gun at the ready, he steadily opened the door. Only to find a familiar red armored cyborg standing on his welcome mat.

"You have your gun ready," Zero pointed out. "That's a good thing."

"Zero? What are you doing here?"

"I'm your new bodyguard."

"Wait. What?"

"Yeah," the red cyborg said. "This is my punishment for fighting the robot who beat Mega Man against my mother's wishes." He pushed Dr. Light out of the way and sat down on the couch. "Comfy."

"Now, see here," Dr. Light said. "You can't just barge into my house unannounced and sit down in that couch like it's your own!"

"Well, apparently, Mom thinks I should stay here and watch your butt. Says she believes that mystery robot might be after something of yours."

"First of all, there's nothing in my lab that robot could possibly want. Secondly," he said with a sigh. "I think we should discuss your mother. I know who she is."

Zero gave him a confused look. "Hmm? What do you mean?"

"I know who your mother is," Dr. Light said sitting down. "I saw you getting dragged into a van by Ciel."

"Who? And what are you talking about?"

"You mean you don't remember? It was the day you exploded spontaneously."

"I think your brain is addled, because I did not - crud, I did. That was the day Mega Man thought it was a good idea to go around hypnotizing people. That was just a failsafe. In the event my mother cannot fight any form of mind control, I explode." Dr. Light was shocked when he heard that. "I had that same look, Light, when I found out. Especially after I complained to her. Now it just electrocutes me."

Dr. Light was aghast. "How could Ciel do this to her own son?!"

"Uh...Ciel isn't my mother's name. And it didn't hurt really."

"Don't lie to me. I know for a fact that Ciel is in Silicon City!" Zero hadn't seen Dr. Light this angry before. "And I know what she did to those people in the Hard Times! What she did to create the humanoids!"

"The what?"

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion coming from the living room. "Don't need me, huh?" Zero asked rhetorically.

(!)

Lord Obsidian smashed the door to the Light House down and walked into the living room. His eyes focused on one door: the door to the lab. He placed two bombs on it, then pressed the trigger. They exploded, but nothing happened. He figured as much. Suddenly, the sound of a gun cocking grabbed his attention.

"I don't know why you're here," Zero said, pointing the smoking gun at him. "But you've come at the worst time. I see you've got your arms back, too."

Lord Obsidian glared at him. "Zero."

"Whatever your problem is with me," Mega Man said, suddenly bursting into the room. "It has nothing to do with the Light family! Get out."

"Choosing humans over your own kind again?" Obsidian asked rhetorically. "How pathe- ARGH!" A green sword impaled him in the chest then was yanked out. Behind him was Zero, Z Saber in hand.

"Your fight is with me, 'Lord' Obsidian."

Obsidian growled at him. Then both fighters heard footsteps. They turned to see Suna and Rush run into the room. "You aren't the only one with a bag of tricks, Zero!" Obsidian yelled as he fired his gun at the girl. But before the bullet could reach her, it was blocked by a blue laser. But neither Mega Man nor Zero fired it. It was fired by Dr. Light and he was aiming his own gun at Obsidian. "You'll leave these premises if you know what's good for you!"

"And you, Dr. Light," Obsidian said. "If you know what's good for your family, you'll hand over the Mega Key."

That surprised Light. "How do you know about the Key?!"

"'Mega Key'?" asked Mega Man.

Obsidian fired the gun at him, forcing him to take cover. The rest of the Light family did the same while the robot was distracted. At that moment, Zero kicked the gun out of his hand and tried to cut him with the sword, but he dodged every blow. "What's this 'Mega Key' that this guy wants, doc?" Zero called out.

Obsidian grabbed his hand and lifted him up into the air. "Tell him, doctor," he called out. "Tell him how you use it to enslave robots!"

Mega Man turned to Dr. Light. "I would never use it to enslave robots," he shouted. Then he explained to Mega Man, Suna and Zero, "When working on malfunctioning robots, I use the Mega Key to access their programming. It gives the user total control. And in the wrong hands -"

"Your hands are the wrong hands, human," Obsidian shouted and he tossed Zero into a wall. Mega Man got a little closer to the mad robot, but hid behind an upturned table when Obsidian fired shots at him.

"Dr. Light would never take advantage of us!" He paused. "Would he?" There were a lot of things his father did not reveal and if he kept something like this "Mega Key" a secret, who knows what else he was hiding?

"Siding with humans again, traitor?" Obsidian asked as he turned his right hand into a flail. "Perhaps he's already used the Key. On YOU!" He swung the flail, forcing Mega Man to run, but it also left him vulnerable. Obsidian fired the gun at him, blasting him into a wall.

"I felt that one," Mega Mini groaned. Then he saw Mega Man's vitals were dropping dangerously low.

"Enough," Lord Obsidian shouted. "I'm leaving with the key and there's nothing you zeroes can do about it! No pun intended," he added as he blocked Zero's gun's lasers. Then he grabbed Zero by the head, lifted him up into the air and slammed his body on his knee. Zero let out an agonizing scream. "Heh. Too bad you aren't fully robotic. You could have recovered from that." He tossed Zero's body aside then began firing his guns at the lab's doors.

While he was preoccupied, Mega Man carried Zero over to where the Light family was hiding. Dr. Light turned to his family. "If we're going to stop this monster, we have to work as a team."

Mega Man agreed. "I'm not a traitor and I know neither are you."

While Mega Man went off to fight Lord Obsidian, Rush ran to grab Suna's drone controls and give it to her.

"It's deja vu all over again," the mad robot shouted. "Except this time, there's no one to save you!" Mega Man charged at him, but he swatted him aside and into Dr. Light.

"You gotta slow down," Mega Mini shouted. "You're still not at 100 percent!"

"You two are no match for me," Obsidian shouted, pointing his gun at at them. All of a sudden, the gun exploded in his hand, taking some of his fingers with it.

"But us four are!" Suna shouted as she controlled the drone to slam into his head. He fired at it, but it quickly dodged and swiped the gun out of his hand.

"Clever girl," he commended. "But not clever enough. Machines are my world." All of a sudden, the Sunacopter pointed the gun at her! Zero instantly knew it was under his control now somehow. Before it could fire the gun, Zero sliced it in half.

"This is your last chance, Obsidian," he shouted, pointing his sword at him. "Leave now, or die!"

"No...I will never die. But you, you're still human!" He pointed the gun at Zero. But then, he had another idea. He instead fired at Mega Man, only to have the dog take the full blunt and fall down, unconscious.

"RUSH!" Dr. Light and Suna called out. Mega Man ran to his side. Zero, meanwhile, began to attack Lord Obsidian with his sword. "You're losing and you take it out on an innocent dog?!" he shouted. "You have no honor, monster!"

"I'm a monster? What about you," Lord Obsidian shouted as he blocked every attack. "You take the lives of robots and humans! You have done things far worse than I!" He found an opening and fired the gun point blank into Zero's chest. Zero was sent flying into a wall and fell flat on his face, but he didn't get up this time.

"ZERO!" shouted Mega Man. He ran to his side, but it was too late. Zero's eyes had dimmed and when Dr. Light checked for a pulse, he found nothing. Lord Obsidian laughed at the scene. "You're actually concerned about him? Why? He was a freak of nature and was against everything you stand for. There is no room for compassion in war," he said. "And I promise you, Mega Man, war is here!" He pointed his gun at him. "Give up! Hand over the key or your beloved humans are -" BANG! "ARGH!" He dropped the gun when a laser shot his hand clean off.

"Attacking someone when they are down," a woman's voice said. "How low have you sunk?" Everyone turned to find a woman with long blonde hair tied in a pony tail and wearing pink and red armor standing on an upturned couch. In her hand was a gun. Hers was a face everyone recognized.

"Enzo's mother?" gasped Suna and Mega Man.

"Ciel!" Dr. Light exclaimed. "What are you-"

"My son is in peril. What kind of mother would I be if I left him to die?"

Mega Man and Suna turned to Zero and it clicked. "Zero is Enzo?" asked Suna.

"You again," Lord Obsidian said as he reattached his hand. "I should have known. Only you can make a monster as ugly as this." He gestured to Zero's body. "You want to know the real villain of this story, Mega Man? Look no further! She made others just like her 'son'!"

"What are you talking about?" the Blue Bomber asked.

"Ask Dr. Light, why don't you. He'll tell you." He got a laser to the face courtesy of Ciel.

"Don't waste your breath. Mega Man, you deal with him. I'll take care of my son."

Mega Man, though confused, nodded. "Mini, new move time!"

"But, Boss, we never perfected it!"

"We got no choice. Let's do this for Rush and Zero!"

"Cross your bolts and hang tight! You got the green light!"

Ciel watched the battle as she tended to her son. It seemed Mega Man found a way to swap Robot Master schematics within seconds. He switched from Fire Man to Ice Man to Elec Man and used their attacks to send Lord Obsidian into a corner. "Impressive."

"Why, Ciel," Dr. Light said with a hint of venom. "Why did you come back?"

"I came for my son," she said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a cube-shaped device. "I always look out for my family." She placed the cube in Zero's hole. Suna watched with amazement as the cube began to close up the wound. Not even a scar was left. Zero shot up with a gasp and panted heavily. "Good evening, son." He quickly turned to face her.

"Mom? What are you-"

"You died. I saved you. You're welcome. Now, I believe you have a fight to finish."

Zero nodded.

(!)

Mega Man continued to battle Lord Obsidian, but now his opponent could see the pattern. He can only use three Robot Master schematics at a time, and Lord Obsidian was beginning to counter all three of them. He was quick to adapt and ready to use Mega Man's attacks against him, but what he didn't count on was someone coming back from the dead. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and looked down to see a green laser sword sticking out. The sword was pulled out of his chest and he fell onto his hands and knees. That's when Zero walked in front of him.

"WHAT?! How? I killed you!" That's when he remembered. "Of course. It was Ciel. She did it."

"My mother does work wonders, doesn't she?" Zero raised the sword and prepared to slice his opponent's head in half, but was stopped by Mega Man.

"It's over," he said. "He's beaten."

"Weak willed," Lord Obsidian coughed. "You care about these people too much."

"Caring about these people is what makes me strong," Mega Man said. "Together, nothing can stop us."

"Teamwork. Hmm, perhaps I'll give it a try."

At that moment, there was a loud whirring sound. Something landed between Zero and Mega Man and Lord Obsidian. It was a smaller robot resembling Lord Obsidian but without the mustache and its color was black and yellow. Dr. Light gasped when he saw him. At that moment, Lord Obsidian dropped a smoke bomb and disappeared along with the smaller robot.

Mega Man looked around, but found nothing. "What was -" A whimper made him remember something. "Rush!" He ran over to his side and patted his head. Rush weakly looked up at him. "Is there anything we can do to help him?" the Blue Bombe asked.

"There is," Ciel said, taking out another of those strange cubes. "This will help."

"No!" Dr. Light suddenly went on defense. "I won't have you tamper with my creations - Ooh!" He was kicked in the groin and fell to his knees. Ciel walked over to the dog. Suna tried to block her but was pushed aside by Zero. Mega Man tried to attack her, but suddenly felt weak.

"That Quick Switch Mode took a lot out of you, Chief," Mega Mini warned.

"Get...get away from him," Mega Man said weakly.

Ciel knelt before Rush and placed the cube on him. Instantly, the cube was absorbed into his body. Rush felt weird. Then, he started to feel stronger. All his injuries were gone. He got up, shook himself and ran over to his owner. Mega Man hugged him tight. "What was that," he asked.

"A gift. So you don't turn out like him," she gestured to Dr. Light. "Let's go, son." Zero nodded and walked with her out the door.

"Wait," Suna called out. "What was it that Dr. Light doesn't want us to know about? What are the humanoids?" But Ciel pressed a button on her gauntlet and both she and Zero disappeared in a flash of light. "Instantaneous teleportation?"

(!)

"Is he ready?" Aki asked the next morning.

Suna and Dr. Light smiled and motioned someone to come over. It was Rush. "He's been thoroughly checked," Dr. Light said. "No sign of malware or viruses. Plus, he's got a bonus."

"Bonus?"

Rush barked, then in a flash of light, he was wearing red armor and a matching helmet.

"What?! That is so cool! But how?"

"I happen to know an excellent doctor of robotics," Suna said with pride. Dr. Light smiled.

"Coolest dog ever!"

(!)

Meanwhile, back in his lair, Lord Obsidian groaned in pain as his repairs took place. "She's back. I always knew she would be back. I will have her. I will destroy her!"

His son, just watched. "What is it about Ciel that's so horrible."

"Later. Now leave, I have to finish repairs."

The smaller robot let out a groan of frustration before leaving.