Note: Thank you all for your support and patience with me!
Chapter 21: Time Stands Still Part 5
Mega Man © of Capcom
His grip on the handlebars tightened, the familiar sight of trees beneath him only having his processor assaulted with his earlier skirmish with Proto earlier. Throughout the period of him lifting the vehicle off the ground and allowing it become airborne, Mega Man couldn't comprehend what he had done wrong. He couldn't possibly try to maneuver the Plasma Jet through the thick greenery below, the wings would be ripped right off their hinges! Yet he couldn't have risked going too low either, lest the bottom would be too badly damaged and thus allow a possible weak spot or opening to form, thus putting them ALL in danger of plummeting to the ground. But in the end, Proto backed off! He stopped tailing them…
"That's it!" he hollered, realization finally dawning on him, all the while coupled with the nearly irresistible sensation to park the hovercraft and give himself a good round of kicks to his backside. "He flew off…and either…" his processor scrambled putting together any feasible possibilities, the only two coming to mind either being that he waited from afar and out of sight and followed, or, the seemingly more 'out there' option, yet the only one that seemed the most plausible, someone followed them on foot. But they dropped Oil Man off in Colorado first! To follow them from there all the way to California, there's no Robot Master that could keep up with a Plasma Jet propelling itself at speeds over five hundred knots…
"Oh God…" Mega Man would've slapped himself had he not been risking himself crashing. "Of course! God damn it!" hypocritical as it was to allow the language he was currently using to pass through his lips as if it were Roll, he knew well that it'd earn her a disapproving look from him, yet in the midst of the expansive, dark, bedazzled horizon above in complete isolation, he found his emotional input override every other section composing of his CPU.
Quick Man. Wily had Proto bring Quick Man along…the second he concluded that fact, everything else fell into place. "Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!" Mega Man was steadily growing more and more grateful for his solitude, at least it allowed him SOMETHING of a reprieve from the boiling frustration rising in his core. Yet with that followed another realization. "If Wily's at the Institute…oh no." Would he, however? Granted, he's never SEEN one such as the balding old psychopath be one to be above threatening to take lives, yet he himself had never, and to this day, rather grateful he hadn't, actually go THROUGH with the deed. But…Mega Man despised it, yet his logic center wouldn't allow him to discredit or ignore it. There was ALWAYS a but.
But what if, perhaps, THIS time was THE time? If so, then the azure robot could safely, yet grimly conclude that it wouldn't be the last, yet it would be the first. HIS first…
ZOOM!
If not for his helmet firmly rested against his head, Mega Man was actually rather thankful for the accessory's rather snug fit at the sudden, yet forceful whooshing from just above his head would've possibly been enough to dislodge it from its perch, let alone take his OWN head off along with it!
His eyes (though in retrospect, he found the term to be rather unfitting for a 'being' like himself) 'instinctively' looked upward, the telltale aircraft of the madman passing by above him at a rather dangerous speed. The fact that it was indeed traveling at such a velocity only cemented his fears further that Wily had gotten what he came for.
'Just another thing to add to your 'list of accomplishments' Mega!' he hung his head downward, yet he followed the craft nonetheless. 'Wait…Kouin! What if he…' Mega Man's eyes focused on the Skull Carrier, his brief halt in speed costing him a good amount of distance, it beginning to nearly fade out of his view. Immediately speeding up, his rush of panic to grow closer to it became mixed with the dreaded, yet predicted, lurching guilt. He hated it, utter and purely despised it, his very function dependent on the very preservation of human life! Yet if whom he suspected WAS in Wily's custody…his logic center, his mechanical, wired brain argued against what he wished to do. It would waste time; it would be disobeying Light's orders. Yes, he said to go to the Institute, yet only BECAUSE of whom Wily was after. He wouldn't have to go if he was already captured. Yet…if he WAS retrieved from the Institute…
His CPU felt as if it was being pulled apart! His heart…no, his core pleading with him to do one thing, yet his CPU compounding argument after argument against it, it was driving him to near insanity in only moments!
"I…I can't." he sighed finally, the pang his processor gave upon his disobedience rather painful. "I HAVE to see if he's alright."
'And if he is not? Your prerogative is to go and retrieve what Dr. Light had told you to. Time Man has been taken, most likely. Why else would the Skull Carrier be flying from the Institute's direction?'
"All the more reason that I have to go see if Dr. Kouin is alright! It's my very function, and the Three Laws support it!"
'What if the Laws, as well as your function's purpose is too late to be put into effect?'
He shuddered; actually shocked by the fact he physically DID shudder. 'As in you cannot fulfill either, because there is no longer a human life to preserve.'
The second those words echoed throughout his compact, crowded dome, his core's pleas ceased. Mega Man wished, hoped, very well PRAYED that is was not so…yet his heart…his core, he meant, cursing his inability to not get the two mixed up, protested against his processor no more.
Assuming that it was true, if there WAS no life to preserve, thus rendering his function and all three Laws ineffective…if this WAS that time, his FIRST time…
It had to be done.
He HAD to follow them now.
Mega Man sped forward, the skull embezzled aircraft only visible thanks to his enhanced sight. He wouldn't catch up to them, at least not for some time, yet the possibility he would be seen came to mind. He had gotten lucky the first time, yet the Blue Bomber was NOT one that, unlike his younger, far more hazard-defying sister, wished to tempt fate. Yet in his purposefully lagging race with the Skull Carrier, he noticed the rather thick, sea of overgrown flora beneath him, the hover jet he was currently stationed on far smaller than the Plasma Jet, and if he assumed correctly…far more maneuverable. If his lack of tact and failure to prevent this even from even happening was on his shoulders, then perhaps he would at least ease some of that weight with the forethought of implementing stealth…
Light Residence
From her place in the shadows, Roll viewed her creator at the large screen in the lab, his eyes never leaving it for once second. "Doc?" he turned to face her, his aged, bearded face despondent and utterly dismal. She then switched her attention back to the screen as she found herself unable to look upon her creator's features any longer, the small, blue dot slowly inching its way across the expansive map displayed already alerting her of what he was currently surveying.
"The hell?" she quirked her brow, actually rather surprised that Light didn't reprimand her for her current language, his attention currently focused on the two, blinking dots to the far right of the screen, the magenta and green colors signifying whom the computer was registering. "Wait, that's-"
"Yes. As of now, Time Man and Brain Bot are in Wily's custody."
Rush's blue eyes widened in horrifying realization, his 'master', his Mega Man was going into Wily's territory, and without him!?
"Wait a minute!" Roll exclaimed. "What about Dr. Kouin?! Is he okay?!"
Kouin…he knew that name only from Light's previous frantic calling of it from the earlier call, and while perhaps it was mainly due to him only able being to read the most basic of emotions, he himself unable to disguise his own emotions brought forth by his implemented stimuli receptors, yet he could instantly detect that his creator was far from believing anything pleasant had happened.
Roll allowed her eyes to travel to the ruby canine anxiously watching the slowly moving dot, she too then beginning to observe the screen. Though where she probably should've seen concern and desire for assurance, though she acknowledged those as well, Roll saw this event possibly opening something for her. An opportunity, perfectly in line and begging for her to snatch it up and take it. Mega Man was currently being forced to adjust to the initial plan…there was an empty spot ready to be taken. It was completely logical to take it…completely natural…completely everything that she had been waiting for.
"Guess that just leaves only one of us." She stated, knowing well that if this was going to work, she had to move fast. "C'mon, Rush!" the dog turned his attention from the screen to her, instantly registering what she was implying. "We got a lot of ground to cover to-"
"Assuming that you ARE going anywhere, Roll?"
'DAMN!' the blonde stopped in her tracks, neither her nor Light taking notice that Rush had already exited the lab. She turned to face her creator, knowing well what she'd see. Indeed, the stern, disapproving glower was present, and as always, he did NOT disappoint in unnerving her whenever he put it on display. "Mega's not here, so there's no one else that's available to fly over to the Institute-"
"I just received a call from Agent Krantz. They're already out on international business with Dr. Cossack, but the federal government is making their way there as discretely as possible."
Roll didn't enjoy it; she didn't like it in the slightest, yet whenever these moments came up between them, the same, boiling anger followed. She knew he didn't mean it. She knew Mega Man never meant it. Yet they hadn't just assured her that she wasn't needed…wasn't useful…couldn't do anything and therefore, was useless-
No!
They wouldn't intend for that! They COULDN'T! "And how long is it going to take for them to get there!? You're already a household name, so what's the problem with me just going over just a few states to see if Dr. Kouin's alright?!"
"Because I'm not for certain if that's what Wily is waiting for any of us to do!" Light retorted. "Assuming that he DID possibly leave someone there to ambush Mega should he indeed go to the Institute, his chances to deal with such a ambush are far higher then one who isn't equipped with the capabilities to defend themselves."
Upon seeing the twinge of hurt run across her features, the elderly man knew he had made a poor choice in words.
"Look, I may not have a blaster, but I would think that you of all people would know that I'm far from-"
She stopped, her tongue no longer moving, yet her throat more than ready to speak. Yet neither she nor Dr. Light continued due the growing audibility of what sounded like thrusters beginning to take off. No words were shared, yet both father and hand-crafted daughter made a silent agreement to bolt out of the lab, she gaining a far larger head start, yet both eventually made it to the front of the large, white house. Even though they had technically caught him, it made no difference, for as soon as the door was thrust open, the red armored, robotic canine had propelled himself into the air, thick, cloudy streams left in his wake.
There was nothing.
He was aware that he was indeed still functional, the sensations of touch and feeling of surfaces against his own body registering, however muddled and dulled they were. Yet even still, that was the only thing that Time Man could register.
His body, despite the sense of touch slowly regaining its initial inputs, could tell that he was on his back, whatever light motions he could make all he could manage as a thick, unforgiving barrier held down his limbs, his head and fingers being the only things he could move freely.
"Is he up yet?" he heard, the voice muffled and his audio reception compromised, yet it apparently was one of the senses along with touch to be fully returning to him.
A sudden tap to his face startled him lightly, another voice answering the one that had previously asked. "He's steadily regaining his senses. It shouldn't be too long now."
"I'm rather surprised that it's taking this long." He knew that voice from anywhere. Brain Bot was here too?! "Though perhaps that's to be assumed, considering that in most of his external shell and internal workings are comprised of rather conductive materials-"
"QUIET!"
Well, they seemed to be rather closely knit. Only now realizing that his eyelids were closed due to the dulled sense of touch, Time Man steadily allowed his eyes to open, the horizon before him a clouded, melting blur of colors, yet as he kept them open, the blotches began to take concrete shapes, along with the rest of his environment.
What met his fully functioning sight was not what the violet Robot Master would consider pleasing, not in the slightest. From the looks of it, both he and Brain Bot were strapped down with heavy, seemingly inescapable metal bars atop flat, operating tables of sorts, both the quick-paced and electricity wielding robot standing over, seemingly observing them. The room they both were in rather compact and small. If not for him being above such trivial things, Time Man very well would've likened his current location to a claustrophobic's nightmare. Above him on the walls and just about scattered everywhere were scrap and spare parts of machines. Mismatched arms and legs, hands, feet, both the typical thick build and humanoid variation lined all around them. Whether they were indeed just spare parts or, though he berated himself for even allowing such an illogical thing to pass through his mind, 'trophies', he could at least conclude that this, wherever he and his green armored companion were, was NOT someplace that he particularly cared for in the slightest.
"Where…" Time Man slurred, growling lightly in frustration at his speech having not yet fully returned to him. "Where is this?"
Both Quick and Elec Man exchanged humored glances before looking back towards the bound Time Man.
"Consider this your 'new home' of sorts…" Quick Man chuckled darkly.
"New…home?" even though he knew it was fruitless; the lighter built android couldn't help but begin to struggle against his restraints. "What are you talking about? No place such as THIS would I ever consider anywhere CLOSE to being a home!"
In retrospect, Time Man felt that ultimately, he should've known better than to even bother engaging with his two captors as he was clearly in the more submissive position, even if not by his own will, yet he couldn't deny that along with his burning confusion and continuous mental reminders to keep his growing panic restrained and unseen, he was curious.
"Of course it's not." The black, masked Robot Master casually shrugged. "Not yet. Yet seeing as you've yet to be …" he paused for a brief moment. " 'Changed for the better', yet in time, The Doctor will see to it that your perception is adjusted." He ceased talking to allow a low chuckle to escape his throat, yet as the two robots' captured prey kept studying their features, something arose from within Time Man, quite literally lifted from his vastly available, yet still supplied memory bank.
"You…" he abruptly stated, his gaze fixed on Elec Man. "I've…I've seen you."
"Seen you?" Quick Man looked towards the aforementioned Robot Master quizzically. "Yeah, no way. Absolutely NO way you got there before I did."
"As much as I detest having to add to your already unbearable and far too inflated perception of yourself, I unfortunately have to agree with your sentiment." Elec Man replied, a curt smile tracing his lips for a moment upon the ruby Robot Master narrowing his gaze in irritation. The electricity wielder faced the one who was addressing him. "I certainly don't remember you, and nothing in the memory banks that are accessible to me have one trace of your existence. So really, how CAN you have seen me at all aside from our skirmish not too long ago?"
The smaller, violet colored Robot Master however, was not convinced, nor was he discouraged. There was no mistake it, even if he and his loud mouthed companion were hidden behind closed doors since he could remember, he had SEEN this android before. Wait…of course! "What's your serial number?"
Elec Man's seamless, seemingly unbreakable composure seemed to be 'cracking' upon Time Man's request reaching his audio receptors. "I…" he uneasily began, he not wishing to admit so (especially in front of that damned speedster of all people), yet he found himself growing alarmed. "I beg your pardon?"
"Your serial number." Time Man repeated. "What is it?"
"Serial number, the hell kind of question is THAT?" Quick Man scoffed. "I'd think that given what that old coot named you, you should at least know better than to waste time on such a laughable question…" he would've continued, if not for him noticing at that moment his 'surging' companion (to his dismay) steadily becoming more and more tense. "Hey, what's up with you?"
"Nothing!" the other Robot Master snapped, "Mind your own business!" he couldn't understand it. It was a simple question; he possibly could've even having already answered it! Yet for reasons that he himself couldn't grasp, nor was he sure that it would be a wise action to, he felt…threatened by it. As if something within his hardwiring was being assaulted and attacked by such a simple inquiry.
"DL…" Elec Man began, cursing his wavering voice that did NOT suit one of his caliber in the slightest. "DLN…"
'It's been so long …'
"DLN…00…"
'So long since I've heard his voice…'
"DLN-008." He finally managed to utter, the smaller, almost child-like features of the violet colored android displaying amazement, yet almost satisfaction.
"I knew it." Though his movements were inhibited, Time Man lifted his upper half as much as possible, managing to get his head up off the table he was strapped to. "You're one of Light's creations as well."
Elec Man's eyes widened, his hand clawing at his core. "And…" he stammered, biting his lip. "And that matters how?"
"In the sense of what you are even doing here."
"I…" he struggled, this gnawing, penetrating sensation…it was near unbearable! What was this and why did it feel as if he were being torn apart?! "It…it is…"
'I'm not here freely…'
"It doesn't…matter…to you."
'We're being held here…all six of us…' he knew not what it was, yet this continuous, intrusive voice invading his mind felt almost familiar. Completely familiar. If he had to describe it, it almost felt like it was an aspect of him that had been forgotten, or, to his puzzlement, forcibly sealed away.
"QUICK MAN! ELEC MAN!"
Both androids swiftly turned their heads towards the direction of the demanding voice, Elec Man finding himself registering relief in his processor as it gave him a reprieve from the captured Time Man's questioning.
"Bring that green blabbermouth in here!" the spectacle-wearing robot immediately seized in panic. "I'm wishing to 'explore' HIS head first…"
As if on cue, the red armored android took the table holding Brain Bot down, his accelerators immediately being put to work as he rushed the lime colored robot out of the small chamber, Elec Man only giving Time Man one final, disturbed gaze before finding that even looking at him was causing his CPU even more disturbance, shaking off (or at least trying to) the last invading thought piercing through his core.
'We are ALL prisoners…'
Though he estimated it was possibly around not even more than a couple of seconds, yet Brain Bot found himself being wheeled into what he recognized as the same chamber he had been held in the first instance he found himself in the mad doctor's clutches, several scattered, yet rather sizable indents and cracks in the walls lining the entire room. The only available source of light being the large screen of which his captor stood in front of, one sleeve having been rolled up and it presently being scratched by the other arm's nails.
"Dr. Wily…" Quick Man called, the aforementioned human ceasing his current work on his arm, Brain Bot taking notice to how worn down the old man's skin was, the scabs that had apparently just formed were once again being forcibly torn from their places. "The first one's ready for you."
His continuously moving nails ceased their actions, he pulling the ivory sleeve of his lab coat over the damaged skin and turning his head slightly to acknowledge all three machines. "So he is." He muttered, both Quick and Elec Man continuing to stand in attendance. "Well, what are you standing there for? Go keep watch over the other so he doesn't potentially escape!" Upon hearing the slight satisfaction in his voice die, both Robot Masters quickly went to return to their posts, Quick Man of course berating and mocking Elec Man of his inferior speed.
Wily allowed himself to fully turn around, baggy, worn, yet still visibly blue irises meeting synthetically colored, permanently glassy, green ones. "It's been far too long since I've had you pay a visit." He chuckled lightly, the spectacle wearing robot remaining silent. "Oh, what's wrong? Usually bots in this situation are usually more than ready to spout out some trivial crap about how I'll apparently never get away with this, or some other tripe." The balding man scoffed. "Go ahead if you must, but I've heard it. It bores me."
"There's no reason for me to even state such a thing." Brain Bot answered, his voice direct, yet not bearing much authority. "Infuriating the one that has the advantage is rather the most foolhardy option I have at the moment."
"Ah, finally! Someone gets it!" he threw up his arms in declaration. "I'll give that damn fool Thomas this: he spared no expense in tuning your logic center to perfection."
"Although…" Brain Bot began again. "If that's the case, then basing my current situation along with your…'track record' as I'll put it, then it's bound to be more than likely that whatever you're wishing to do with either me or Time Man's bound to be intercepted by-"
CRACK!
The green android's reply, or rather, his thinly disguised retort, was swiftly cut to a halt upon a loud impact near him was heard, he then seeing that Wily had just permitted himself to add to the already large number of indents in the walls. Though indeed Brain Bot himself suspected that Wily was no doubt responsible for the damage, he didn't even think for a moment that the old man had been making them with his own body, his already aged state defiantly not the best stage for his body to be performing such things. Upon the elderly man taking his wrinkled fist from the newest indention, his suspicions were confirmed upon seeing that upon his knuckles trickled freshly released blood.
"Of COURSE Mega Man's going to come. AND he more likely than not WILL be taking back at least ONE of you with him, leaving one of you here for me as a prize for 'trying'."
"With all due…'respect'…" Brain Bot found himself sneering. "I highly doubt that one such as he would simply just 'leave' a fellow creation here-"
"Oh? Then what do you make of one of the two that had you brought to me?" a crude smirk traced his lips upon seeing the supposedly 'walking supercomputer' struggling for anything to say on the Blue Bomber's behalf. "Though…I shouldn't perhaps put ALL the blame on him. After all, one can't be rescued if they're more than willing to slice your head off."
It was in that moment that the wild haired man had directed his attention away from his captive, something about what he had just said seemingly triggering something in the recesses of his mind. "Speaking of which…" he then pulled what appeared to be a black, worn down walkie-talkie or communicator of some kind, his thumb pressing down on the top button. "Proto Man! Do you read?!"
"Loud and clear, Doc. Though being you, it's impossible NOT to."
"Consider yourself fortunate your elsewhere, boy." He growled in a hostile manner. "Where are you now?" he paused briefly, just accounting for what he had just asked. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Just-"
"Then why even ask?"
"JUST go and release Cut Man from the 'Adjustment Chamber', and if he's still not fully…'together', then report back to me."
There was a particular period of silence between the two, the unseen, scarf-wearing robot seeming to be muttering something intangible underneath hearing range for the man, Brain Bot only able to catch a handful of words due to the worn state of the device.
"…sure thing, Doc." Proto Man finally answered, yet judging by his tone, he was NOT at all happy. If anything, Brain Bot concluded that there was NO semblance of sarcasm anywhere. If anything, it was the closet he had possibly ever heard to unbridled loathing.
Wily slipped the device back into his lab coat, directing his attention back towards the trapped, green android. "As I was saying, I'm well aware that Mega Man will come for at least one of you. Yet surprisingly…he's not the one I'm too concerned about."
This…this had to be a mistake. An error in this human's already bug ridden programming, Brain Bot told himself, yet it was only followed with the reminder that humans didn't HAVE installed programs, at least not in the manner familiar to him.
"No. I'm more interested in that titular 'Brain' of yours." Wily explained, making his way to one of the empty, operating tables pushed to the western corner of the room, seizing an unseen tool from the silver slab. Upon turning and walking back to his captive subject, only then did Brain Bot begin making attempts to struggle out of his restraints. "Oh, really? Calm yourself." He commanded, rolling his eyes, eyeing the small, yet still very functional drill he held in his palm. "I'm not planning on doing any too drastic. I don't want too much damage done to your memory core." He pressed the top button on the drill, the winding, long piece of silver beginning to spin, inching ever closer to the side of the spectacled bot's dome. "Not YET anyway…"
Time Man knew well that squirming and thrusting however much of his body that he could manage upward against his bonds was fruitless, let alone a waste of energy, and above all else, time. Nevertheless, he immediately concluded that upon awakening to the sick macabre décor surrounding him that the sooner he was taken from this place, the better.
"Damn, pathetic waste of flesh…" he snarled, finding at least some semblance of gratitude for his current solitude. Did that balding crackpot TRULY believe that the purple armored android was his to take freely? To use to his benefit and utilize for his own needs? "He has NO idea of what a revolution my very existence is, yet all he could probably manage to use it for is just more of whatever insanity has graced itself into his warped brain!" he huffed proudly, allowing himself to at least revel in that fact amidst his current predicament. " Moronic flesh bag…"
Yet even if the aged human was indeed a 'moronic flesh bag', that same 'flesh bag' was still the one keeping him against his will. Time Man put any sense of attempting to break from his restraints, knowing that he couldn't do it; rather, he decided it would be far more beneficial to put his energy into the construction of a possibility to escape.
Of course, then brought forth yet another taxing dilemma: how?
Dr. Light did not build him with the intention of using him for any violent means, nor did he posses any qualities that could be substituted for a defensive measure, unlike that perplexingly familiar electricity wielding robot. His frame, whilst displaying the basic, bipedal structure of whom made him, was far more slim and demure than the other machines he had seen that occupied this place, even (to his already growing distaste for him) Oil Man held more sizable girth than he. Usage of built in weapons was out, usage of his own strength was out, leaving him with…nothing. If he didn't declare it such a childish display as well as an utter waste of energy and time, Time Man wished nothing more than to succumb to his urges of throwing a screaming, anger-fueled fit. Was there really NOTHING he could do for himself? Unfortunately for him, his CPU declared not, thus leaving the last, and most dreaded option left: both he and Brain Bot would have to be rescued. The prospect of rescue was not what enraged him so (though he would've taken the opportunity to free himself the very second he awakened if he was able); it was the unavoidable prospect of just WHO would undoubtedly being coming to their rescue.
The blue one. The one who he had just realized existed alongside him all this time. The one that invaded his very being and saw EVERYTHING.
"Okay, up you go."
His fury at the forced acceptance of needing assistance, HIS assistance was suddenly put to the side, Time Man registering a new voice that he had never heard before.
"You can at least walk, right?"
"Some…somewhat." Scratch that. Make that two. "Ah! He…he mainly focused more on my mid-section."
Footsteps could be heard, two new figures coming into Time Man's line of sight from the small opening of the door of the room. Though the small amount of space compromised his sight, he could at least identify that one was bearing what appeared to be scissors atop his head whilst the other bore a more conventional helmet, albeit with shades obscuring his eyes. The scissors wielding both was slumped over and moving slowly, clutching his sides and apparently in a large amount of pain…or possibly trauma.
"Speaking of which, how is it?" the shade wearing android questioned the other.
"I…" the scissor-headed one steadily began to let go of his sides. "I'm not sure. Ever since last night it…" he paused briefly a panicked wheeze escaping. "It feels so…heavy…" to both his and Time Man's discovery, he had made a huge mistake as in only just a few brief moments, everything from the torso up began to slide back, a multitude of bunched wires and cables winding together in a tangled cobweb threatening to spill outwards, their owner desperately trying to keep them from escaping all the while the other robot was supporting him by keeping him upright.
"Yeah, it's a no-go, Cut." The other robot groaned, steadily escorting the one he was supporting back to wherever they had just come from.
"No!" the scissor-wielding bot cried out, trying to shake himself from his supporter's hold. "No! I'm not going back in there! I just got out! No! Don't make me go back!"
Go back? Time Man hadn't the slightest idea of neither what he was talking about nor why the return to such a place would bring forth so much panic.
"Okay, okay! We don't HAVE to go back! Just…" the shaded robot sighed, looking in the most north direction. "Let's just get you to my room. Your torso might be loose, but you aren't leaking, so that's at least SOME good news."
With that, from what little he could see, Time Man saw both androids walking back the direction he assumed they had just came from, the sound of doors opening signaled to him that they were about to board an elevator. Though he found what he had just witnessed rather drawing and consuming of his attention, it also birthed forth a plethora of compounding questions, he cursing himself for his processor latching onto what he had just seen. After all, it wasn't as if there wasn't ALREADY enough on his mind to begin with! Yet as soon as he had just began to begin another mental tantrum, he heard the doors once again, this time opening themselves. Someone had just come onto the floor he was currently trapped on. Yet…who?
He was answered with the door being opened, briefly letting in the minimal amount of light from the overhead lights in the hallway in before the one who had just entered shut the door behind him.
"Just could NOT help yourself, could you?" he heard a voice groan lightly, Time Man's large, blue eyes taking in the shade-wearing robot he had seen just moments ago standing over him, the details now far more visible, notably the yellow scarf he kept wrapped around his neck.
"So…" his visitor began, hidden eyes scanning over the smaller build android. "I heard that your one of the 'new guys'."
"New guys?" Time Man questioned, Proto displaying a light smirk.
"Did I stutter?" he crassly replied, finding the rising anger apparent on the captive's face a befitting mixture of both pathetic yet oddly adorable. "Freaking Light's just like the old, crazed loon." He mused. "Just can't help but keep popping out more and more of them…"
"Whatever you're talking about, I'm not sure, nor do I think I would be interested in learning of, yet if you're under the impression that I'm a recent creation, then you have a poor grasp of your own naivety."
The violet Robot Master only grew more enraged as his observer's smirk widened. "Oooh, aren't WE just the most adorable little smartass? Although…" he then made his way to the empty space beside Time Man, resting one hand on the table whilst his other was positioned on his hip. "I'm actually glad I decided to come by. What do you exactly mean by you're NOT a recent creation?"
Time Man huffed. "Exactly as I said, I was made a good time ago."
Now he was getting curious. "When?"
"Does it matter?"
It was brief, only mere seconds, yet the smaller built android caught a crack in the scarf wearing robot's seemingly unbreakable, 'cool' demeanor. "Not really." He admitted. "But seeing as YOU'RE THE hostage here and while I'm not the one holding you here, I'm STILL liable to making demands, and if need be…" he gestured toward the surrounding pieces of machinery surrounding them. "…threats."
Time Man, despite his former declarations that such a thing was a waste, he couldn't help but begin to squirm. "You…" he stammered, cursing himself and his own CPU for forcing the sensation of fear upon him. "You'll be in far worse trouble than I if you dare lay one HAND on me!"
"You can live without an arm or a leg. Hell, if it's anything to you, you'll still be kicking without your head." His current captive froze, his synthetic tongue not daring to retort or make any semblance of an insult. "So let me ask you again: When were you built?"
'Damn you.' Time Man inwardly spat, at least being able to pride himself in not letting it slip through his lips. "Exact date is classified, yet I can tell you that it is in the year 200X, soon after the period Dr. Thomas Light had created the two house-droids, Rock and Roll, and the first original six Robot Masters of the 'Light Line'-" his monotone, disinterested telling of his creation was halted by a sudden jostle of his table, the shaded android having apparently been the culprit, his fingers tightly grasping the sides with a clawed, tense hold.
"Made you around the same time…" he muttered, Time Man's already growing tension increasing at his voice, what he had just demanded to be answered having driven him to seemingly boiling rage. "Made you and kept you hidden…but of COURSE he wasted his energy on you and them…" He turned away for a moment, his fists balling up and his entire body seemingly vibrating with anger. "Didn't even give one THOUGHT about the ones 'HE' broke into…changed them completely. No, just made more to take their place…that damned son of a bitch…" yet in the midst of his offset tirade, the robot currently strapped to the table was forced onto his mind, the smaller, slimmer, helpless robot. Looking back to him, he was then reminded of why he had even bothered to walk in here. Yes, the newfound knowledge of how long he had existed infuriated him no less, yet that wasn't the reason why he came.
"So…" he began, his speech somewhat rattled and irritable, yet he forced himself to become as neutral as he could make it. "I don't think I even asked your name yet."
His subject of observation narrowed his gaze. "No. No, I don't think you have. But given how your recent display of anger over what I know not, it does bring into question your level of programmed maturity, so I'll spare you the complications of my registered serial number." He curtly huffed. "Time Man."
"Proto Man. And I'd love NOTHING more than to wring your little, scrawny neck for that…" he sneered, leering over him. "But I didn't come here to hurt you."
If not for Time Man allowing himself to blurt out the first thing to rise to his tongue, he would've surely assumed that he possibly would've been rendered speechless. "Excuse me?"
"Believe or not…" Proto Man sighed, the last of his anger having been released. "I'm going to try and help you."
The signs that he was nearing his desired location were becoming more and more evident. The landscape had essentially become completely devoid of any semblance of plant life, and the twists and turns were more than enough of a hassle than what he was wishing to deal with at the moment.
'If I recall...and I do.' Mega Man thought to himself. 'One of Wily's caves was stationed somewhere in the Grand Canyon area.' which incident that was, he couldn't exactly concentrate on right now, though, the closed in spaces between the ancient, stone walls at the forefront of his mind. All the same, this was the direction they had gone in. God forbid he actual up and bump into something-
BOOM!
What the?!
What did he hit?!
Quite literally being thrown off of his bike, the cerulean android looked up to see nothing but the thin, yet still open space before him...and yet, upon thrust his hand outward, he came to feel something solid.
What in the world?
His eyes looked around, just then noticing a small section in the wall next to him. Something of which opened and a red module of sorts rested in the center.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP-BZZZT!
Of which began blaring out a series of near deafening beeps (even if such a thing was impossible for him, hearing it was far from pleasant) that was surely an alarm of some kind. Taking quick action, the Blue Bomber lived up to his name and 'bombed' the module with a plasma shot that had shot through the glass cover and the circuit board that lay underneath it.
Well...that was taken care of. But in the world was-
Something began rumbling. And it was to his amazement that he saw it.
The 'invisible' wall began moving. Or, Mega Man assumed it was moving. For in the distance, something lay 'behind' it.
A towering, massive structure lay before him, clearly a good few stories, nestled right out in the open seemingly for all to see. Though that was not what drew his attention. No. For while he had never seen this place in all his functioning life...the skull embezzled on the front indicated well whom this place, as well as this area belonged to.
So close...it had been THIS close?! What was surely, at least from what he assumed, Wily's main base of operations?!
How...how could he not have...
'Indeed. In plain sight.'
Or...perhaps not.
Yet such things would have to come later. Two hostages were stationed in there, at least he had hoped. And now, now he could finally remedy this entire situation!
Though in truth, the very fact the Blue Bomber was striding forward to the massive structure only meant that he had failed.
The fact that there were laser sensors scanning along the dried, cracked ground didn't surprise him. In fact, he himself had been wondering IF Wily would've possibly got the forethought to even have a security system aside from just planting whatever hulking monstrosity he cooked up or stole outside of the door to attack anything that was coming. Though it was at that moment that Mega Man felt that perhaps his pondering of the crazed scientist consideration of tightened security was too soon as before lay one taxing dilemma.
The laser sensors displayed themselves as a medium sized, white, segmented circle trailing along the ground. At first, he thought that it would be a simple matter to evade the couple of circles trailing around the fortress, yet that was before the sudden appearance of another segmented circle, this one green in color and it partially invading the empty space of the first circle on the side. Then not long after that, a third circle of red took place at the other side. The laser sensors had made two sets of the intertwining circles, they slowly inching over the entire area, soon crossing each other before going back to their original position upon registering that nothing had been detected.
He could give Wily this. Subtle, he was not, yet the man knew how to program in a security system.
Inside the Fortress
"Excuse me?"
Proto huffed. "You heard what I said. Just tell the Doc that you're willing to join him and become part of his little regime or whatever he calls it." He then gestured towards Time Man's temple. "You get to keep what's up here, and if your nerd compadre isn't too stubborn or sees reason, he'll hopefully do the same and the both of you get off the hook. So…" Proto Man folded his arms. "What's the verdict?"
Time Man's expression didn't change, he still looking upon him with the same, flabbergasted stupor he had received upon his onlooker proposing the proposition to him.
"Verdict?" he shook his head, exasperated. "Verdict?" his dumbfounded phase was not long lasting however, his brow quickly furrowing and eyes burning with fury, yet he couldn't stop the small grin curling on his lips. "MY verdict is that either your CPU is in serious need of inspection for a possible virus, or you truly ARE that stupid." With that, he swiftly turned his head away. "Do you expect me to overlook the fact that your creator is the one that ordered my and Brain Bot's capture, and not to mention using one of MY creator's robots to assault us and take us both against our will-"
A harsh shake to the table he was strapped put Time Man's rebuttal to a stop, a red hand quickly seizing him by the chin and unforgivingly turning his head to face its owner. Though his eyes were hidden from view, the violet Robot Master needn't to see them to sense that his inquirer was beyond furious.
"Let's get ONE thing out of the way." Proto Man growled through clenching teeth. "I am NOT, in ANY way, a creation of that balding crackpot."
"Not a…" Time Man's animosity lessened, even if only just a small amount. "Then…are you-"
"If we're going to have to get THAT out of the way then…yeah." He admitted, with a good amount of reluctance. "DLN-001, if you want the specifics."
"Then…then you are not only the first of his line." Time Man's eyes widened in encompassing, frightening awe. "You are the first of us. Of ALL of us…"
"Huh. Yeah." Proto Man shrugged. "Yeah, guess I am."
"Yet if that's the case…then…" Time Man couldn't comprehend the dilemma that was drawn up due to his visitor's confession. "Then what in the world are you doing here?!"
He couldn't see it, yet given how his mouth unhinged for just a moment before he swiftly turned his back to him to conceal his facial features from view, apparently what Time Man had just questioned had delved into something both unknown and far deeper than originally suspected.
"That's no business of yours…" he simply stated, voice completely devoid of any humor or semblance of sarcasm.
A few long, drawn out moments of silence passed, yet eventually however, Proto Man turned his attention back to the bound android.
"Look kid, and I say kid because you already look like one and if we're getting technical, I'm WAY older than you." he began, Time Man's brow creasing at the unwanted title bestowed on him. "But when I offered you to join Wily, it's NOT for the reason you think. Frankly, if you were in any position other than the one you're in now, I could care less about you, let alone who had you in their possession in the first place-"
"Then, if I may be so frank, quit wasting your and my time, and just outright say what that supposed reason is!"
"Fine then." He leaned in closer, hand taking the smaller build robot by the chin and keeping his grip firm enough that he couldn't escape it, yet not to the point where he would register pain. "Believe it or not, this isn't one of those 'join the bad guys' cause it's destiny, or it's more fun, or whatever bullshit, clichéd reason you can conjure up in your processor. You're not going to like what I'm about to tell you, kid, but there's no use in avoiding it now."
"A…avoiding…what?"
The scarfed android paused for a moment, a heavy sigh escaping him. "If my brother doesn't get here soon…you and four-eyes aren't probably ever getting out of here. At least, not as the same person you were when you came in."
Though he found it such an odd and almost utterly disgusting sentiment, Proto Man found himself actually WISHING that he had just left after Time Man had turned him down the first time. Let him find out for himself, he initially concluded, it'd be the same either way. Yet upon finding his hidden eyes gazing upon the strapped down Robot Master, he realized that this was the first time he had ever BEEN in this position, especially with one of 'his' pieces of work. Although…the spare moments where his younger sibling was at their mercy, he found himself only repeating himself to Mega Man, his answer always being the same in turn. Yet him…this robot before him…he was no Blue Bomber. He COULDN'T get out of this, at least not by his own power, of which Proto Man himself was uncertain of, though given his namesake, he could've been wrong. At least, he kept trying to convince himself of that.
"Do you know WHY Elec Man didn't seem to register anything when you asked him to acknowledge his creator? He knows only because it's in his memory banks, yet that's as far as Light's influence goes. Wily's made sure of that." Damn, why was this suddenly so difficult?! He had decided that he was going to go through with this, yet already, he found himself loosing grip on his own composure. "He doesn't acknowledge Light because he CAN'T. None of them can. Not Cut Man, not Guts Man, NONE of them. I don't know how they were, or what they acted like before the 'transition', but all I know is that Light did NOT program who they are now into their hard drives. Hell, I don't know if you can even CALL them 'them' anymore. They're just shells of what they were…whatever qualities Wily didn't deem 'needed' or 'wanted' locked away, inaccessible to them along with any previous attachments."
"You…" Time Man stammered. "You mean to tell me…that…they were-"
"No." Proto interrupted. "No, they weren't 'reprogrammed'. Reprogrammed doesn't involve invading and completely desecrating someone's mind against their will and turning them into literal weapons that are only held back by the Three Laws, yet even THOSE have loopholes that Wily's figured out. No, what he did to them…and hell, even Cossack's robots when they suddenly went 'missing'…it's not reprogramming. Not even close."
Time Man couldn't understand it, the entire situation that he had currently found himself unable to escape from growing even more complex and, to his dismay, unnerving and heightening his desire for rescue.
"Why…" he began, finding it odd that amidst the horrible comprehension his mind was now plagued with, he could still have enough energy to give to his tongue. "Why are you telling me all of this?! Is this just so you can get some disgusting satisfaction out of-"
"Not even close kid." Proto Man interrupted. "There's three options that you currently have, one of which is what you better be getting on your knees and praying for, though whether or not the concerns of a walking hulk of metal are even taken into consideration is debatable."
"And those options are?"
"Well, for one: either Mega Man bursts in and does his regular shtick of stopping Wily in whatever insanity he's cooked up, and you and Mr. Super-Nerd get out of here and move on with your lives until Wily maybe tries to snag you up again." He absolutely hated how the younger robot's features began to emit a small, hopeful look. If past results were anything to speak of, then the regular occurrence was more often than not ever ending in a positive manner.
"Two: you and he are going to get your CPUs cracked into and basically undergo a forced lobotomy and be no different than the six others and Cossack's bots. Or, there's three…" he leaned in closer. "You take my advice and join up willingly, thus avoiding any of that nasty stuff previously mentioned."
Time Man held no response. Frankly, he couldn't conjure up anything to say back, whether proper or casual. This 'Proto Man'…a creation of Light's, yet he was stationed here along with the other six members of his creator's 'officially released' Robot Masters. Robot Masters that he had just informed were no longer in the same frame of mind as before…
"If they were reprogramed to serve Wily, then what good is listening to you going to do me?" Time Man questioned. "If anything, perhaps YOU'RE just telling me this because he just programmed you no different to bend to his whim along with the others-"
"Shut your God damn mouth." The scarfed android coldly ordered, voice not louder in volume, yet the venom dripping from his tone signified that what the violet Robot Master had just said more than just angered him. " Wily made some adjustments to my body, yes, but let's get one thing, and one thing clear, you little shit." He growled, Time Man's curtness steadily diminishing as his hidden eyes continued to stare him down. "My mind is my own. You hear me? MINE. I'm here, yeah, but even then, I will be DAMNED if he EVER cracks into my processor. I didn't get a choice when I was reworked and upgraded, even if to a small degree, yet if you don't take my advice, you're not ever going to get to make a choice of your own reasoning ever again. Not as you anyway."
Before any other words could be exchanged between them, the familiar sound of the landing elevator came to them, Proto Man seeing this as his cue to make his exit, turning back to face Time Man for, while he was somewhat hopeful that he would be accepting of his words, he had hoped that it would be the last time he ever saw him, at least for some time.
"I'm not telling you this just because I'm technically one of the 'bad guys', kid. Believe it or not, I'm actually trying to save your ass."
With that, he made his exit, the spare amount of light temporarily blinding Time Man, until he then became aware of a tall shadow standing in front of him, blocking the light from meeting his optics.
Elec Man looked down at his catch (HIS, not Quick Man's as that irksome collection of scrap was not the one to bring him down), his arms folded and bearing Time Man a small, curt smirk, his teeth peering from the corner of his mouth as the smaller robot was failing miserably to contain his encompassing dread.
"I don't think I need to tell you why I'm here." The black and red armored android told him, a firm grip on the end of the table confirming his fears, yet found it odd that the robot had soon grabbed ahold of the small, red dial atop his head, two sizable pieces of Styrofoam being tied to it on either side with a single, yet durable rubber band. "Yet in keeping with the general manners of formalities, the Doctor wishes to see you. Now."
His vision having been forced to gazing upward, Time Man knew not what to exactly expect upon feeling his table being wheeled to position his form in an upright position by his electric wielding escort, his already large eyes had to do a double take to safely confirm that what he was seeing was indeed real.
His captor, the balding human was gazing upon the large screen of the massive computer in the room, seemingly in a state of uncontained awe at the number of plans and blueprints popping up in several windows, the source of them all positioned to the right of the machine.
Brain Bot was strapped down and positioned upward similar to him, yet apparently being the one 'feeding' the computer the onslaught of information being currently delivered, yet the process was obviously not a pleasant one, the straps being the only thing that kept him in place as his body continuously shuddered and shook, trembling as if he were receiving a multitude of electrical shocks, one right after the other.
"Doctor?" Elec Man broke Wily's feverish delight at what he was seeing, he steadily calming down, yet he didn't turn around to acknowledge the Robot Master. "As requested…"
"Ah, yes. Thank you." he dully replied, as if he were annoyed that he had to be pulled away from observing the screen. "You're excused."
The masked android nodded before turning away and walking off, Time Man only able to look on in abject bewilderment and growing fury. 'What are you doing?' he silently hollered. 'One of your creator's own innovations is being forcibly pried into! Do something!' it was a useless gesture to audibly declare this, both in that he knew that he might possible make the situation worse, and apparently the information that Proto Man had given him was indeed a reality. Even if he DID register his unspoken words, he wouldn't heed them, he couldn't.
"Stop fighting it." He heard Wily command, his suspicions regarding Brain Bot's current state being proven correct. He then turned to face him. "Ah, so nice of you to finally join us." He greeted, the bond Robot Master finally allowing his rage to present itself on his features.
"You hacked him…" he brazenly stated, eyes noting the familiarity of the windows' content. "You hacked him to access Dr. Kouin's work…"
"Obviously." Wily replied, matter-of-factly. "Though the initial plan was just to get myself you, or at the very least, one of you two. I'll give old Tom credit at keeping you both hidden for so long." He took the android by the chin, turning his head in several directions and angles to gaze at one of his newly acquired 'prizes'. "If not for today, I probably wouldn't have even known either of you existed." He then gazed towards the green android forcibly feeding the computer. "You three are practically your own special little group. The 'Three Wonders' would fit you perfectly." Brain Bot had finally been forced to cease his futile resistance, his shaking having stopped and his body going limp, yet he was still very much active, his glassy, saddened eyes weakly turning to Time Man as if projecting a silent apology for what he was currently doing.
"Well, two of us are in your current possession." Time Man dully noted, twisting his head in such a way that the old man's hold was immediately dislodged from his chin. "Now what?"
"Now what?" Wily repeated, his denial for further exploration having seemingly not affected him in the least. "Oh, now…" his hand suddenly undid the straps over Time Man's chest and upper abdomen, he confused, yet now becoming increasingly uneasy. What could he possibly be doing if he needed to remove some of the very things that kept him down? "Dr. Kouin's notes seem to indicate that both he and Tom have been working on you for some time…" Wily told his captive, wheeling a table covered in various tools lying on a ragged, dirty old rag, most of which appeared to be dangerously sharp. "Yet Kouin appears to have been working on something else solo."
Time Man's internal wiring froze. No…he…he couldn't possibly mean…"But one thing at a time." The scientist sighed, his wide, blue eyes scanning the open, visible, and completely vulnerable upper body, his intentions finally being made clear upon his subject seeing a sharpened, glistening instrument being raised to his stomach, its serrated edges soon becoming a single, whirling blur as it inched ever closer. "Let's get a closer look at what makes you 'tick'."
Outside
Wait…of course!
Mega Man looked to his buster. While yes, he hadn't exactly used that energy he had 'given' to him by one of the robots he was currently attempting to rescue, yet as the continuously patrolling, moving circles along the ground presented a far riskier scenario than just the arbitrary Big Eyes…perhaps now would be the best time, if any, to use it.
Yet with that revelation, another perplexing issue dawned on him: did he even HAVE enough energy to spare? If so, then how would he use such a thing? It was an understatement to say that what he had seen the smaller built android do with his namesake was far different and complex than merely tossing a pair of twin blades in a circular pattern before they returned to him, or simply propelling a concentrated blast of liquid nitrogen or balls of fire forward.
It was a risky maneuver that ultimately demanded that he do at least the most minimal amount of experimenting to even begin taking the first step.
"Well, no time like the present…" he found the gesture to be completely unprofessional and, though he found himself somewhat ashamed of it, something that his sister wouldn't hesitate to do, yet he chuckled at his comment.
Raising his buster, he positioned his placement would be at some nearby boulders that had taken root there quite literally, dried plants and withering ivy tracing over their smooth surface.
'And no, sis. 'Plasma Power' is NOT lame.'
Inside
He attempted not to panic, nor give his captor even the slightest amount of satisfaction, yet at the moment, Time Man was rather thankful for the madman dulling his sensory reception, otherwise he would've no doubt been currently screaming in both unconfined terror AND painful agony. When the saw neared his midsection, he knew that inevitably, he was going to literally be delved into, his outer layer of thinner metal being removed to allow access to inner workings after tackling his metallic external oblique. Whilst the process of being 'opened' and examined was nothing of a new experience for Time Man, given how long both Light and Kouin contributed during his construction, yet the fact that this obviously unhinged, unstable individual was going to be the one partaking in that act had made he completely terrified of what he considered to be such a rudimentary action.
"All right then…" Wily proclaimed, the entire section of the outer shell from the pectorals down to the mid stomach was stripped from the Robot Master's body, the slab of metal dropping to the ground and kicked to the side as if it were a mere piece of scrap. "I take it that given by your demeanor, this isn't anything too unusual for you." the old human observed, Time Man currently putting whatever amount of strength he held that hadn't been eaten away by his growing fear to work in keeping it as hidden as possible.
"It's not." He simply responded, not willing to divulge anything more, yet he was completely caught off guard upon feeling something, or someone rather dry, wrinkled, and chilled begin to…touch him?
Turning his head as downward as he could manage, his theory was indeed proven correct: his exposed, silvery external oblique was being examined rather closely by his captor, Wily tracing his aged, calloused appendages over the individual sections of where his outer shell had been removed. The thick, yet far softer flesh pressing up against the unwavering 'muscular structure' of titanium, tracing along the dip in between both of Time Man's pectorals and where the two raised sections ended, the old man then going to examine the robot's evidently small, but still visible abdominal enhancements, his subject twisting and struggling against his touch.
If he wasn't kept restrained, Time Man would have little to no problem using his still superior strength to push the intrusive scientist off, at least with enough force to not cause injury. His sense of 'touch' having been severely inhibited, he was only aware that he was being 'felt' by the sensation of pressure on his inner shell, yet only just aware that something was present and unable to conclude if it was either pleasurable or painful. Though neither, he had no trouble making up his mind that he was FAR from enjoying his current 'examination', mainly if not entirely due to Wily's own reactions to having access to his deeper, more hidden regions. The prodding and poking of his digits were not the same as either Light's or Kouin's. All three were soft and thorough, taking their subject's sensory perception into consideration even if he was technically numb, yet Wily…it seemed as if he was doing so out of some…odd fascination.
"Perfect." Time Man heard him mumble under his breath, his hands feeling and tracing his opened region akin to how one would've possibly treated a porcelain doll, as if he were afraid that too much pressure would cause him to crack. "Perfectly perpendicular…" Wily mused, examining Time Man's pectorals, his eyes lighting up upon the small amount of light reflecting off of their broad surfaces. "Not one crease or dent were one may be…" he openly declared, the robot taking note of a twinge of anger that came to his worn face, only to leave in just a few moments. It wasn't of malice towards him or anyone he could see, rather, Wily appeared almost…envious. Almost as if he himself was possibly jealous of what he, a machine, had just 'given' to him from his very conception.
He didn't dig any further in the odd surge of emotion he just witnessed, nor did he intend to. This was far more than enough. "Keep…" he began to mutter, still enormously uncomfortable at the continually prodding, prying fingers. "Keep your hands to yourself."
Upon hearing this, Wily had ceased his 'examination', yet he didn't remove his hands from their positions, at least not before giving Time Man a deeply-set, disapproving glare. "I'm afraid that's not going to be possible." He curtly stated, he then going to retrieve another table to wheel over, this one however completely barren and serving as the placeholder for absolutely nothing, all the while muttering to himself of why he didn't bring it around when he brought the tools. "I haven't even gotten to your 'juicy' stuff." Time Man grew confused, yet his uncertainty was short lived as he heard the familiar buzzing of the hand-held saw begin to rev up again, the scientist's intentions now crystal clear. "Well, it WOULD be your 'juicy' stuff, if you were human…"
Since allowing himself to briefly go into sleep mode, both from seeing no use in keeping up resistance plus the continual drain being put on him as he had to continually feed the computer the contents in his memory core against his will, Brain Bot didn't know what to expect upon a shrill, piercing scream rousing him from his nearly comatose state, yet what met his eyes certainly gave his exhausted core quite a fright.
Time Man had not been moved from his place, the straps that hadn't been undone still keeping him firmly in place, yet those details were miniscule compared to what drew the weakened, but still functioning super computer.
It was a fruitless, completely useless effort, he knew, yet despite himself and his views on such things, Time Man couldn't help what was currently spilling from his vocals.
Wily was indeed correct, if he WAS constructed of organic material, then what the doctor had just gotten to would be his 'juicy' stuff.
From his pectorals down to his mid-stomach was opened up, the plethora of bundled, constricting wires coiling around his now visible endoskeleton to his glowing, spherical core nestled in the middle of his open chest cavity. Nothing was hidden from view, both he and Wily seeing everything that was inside the active and still awake Robot Master.
"Well, you've got quite an interesting design!" the old man complimented, though he was obviously far from bearing any semblance of good intentions. "Let's get ourselves a closer look…"
It was only then that Time Man learned what the empty table was for, he soon feeling the older man's arms digging into his abdomen, fistfuls of loose, bundled wires being lifted out and placed on the flat surface, the cords stretching from their origin to their new placement, Time Man unable to keep his pained moans from escaping. He felt no pain, yet the sensation of literally being emptied from the inside out was far from pleasant, his CPU signaling and blaring out warnings that his most central areas were at risk, his core nearly being touched or accidentally bumped by the scientist's feverishly grabbing, constricting hands.
Outside
He was at a loss.
The second Mega Man had unleashed the dormant weapon held up inside his systems, though he knew that this was far from the appropriate time to do so, it was both an incredibly eye opening discovering, yet also an event that befuddled his circuits. The power didn't emit from his buster, yet seemingly rather his very core, a multitude of violet, pulsating waves going outward and affecting the entire area from where he stood to at the very least, the outer walls of the Skull Fortress. He knew not what just happened as the use of a weapon had never occurred in such a way, yet from doing small, light movements, he concluded that his predictions were indeed correct: the laser guides were still moving, but at a far slower, and far more avoidable pace.
Seeing no further reason to keep waiting, Mega Man dashed forward towards the towering building, the laser's circle markers easily being dealt with in just a few, quick hops whenever another circle had decided to appear. Mega Man was more than pleased with the effects of one of Light's newly unveiled robots, yet upon reaching his desired destination, the effects of the unleashed 'Time Slow' had just began to waver, and if the meter on his buster was any indication, he had just wasted around fourteen units of energy from that bout alone.
'If need be…' he mused, azure eyes brightening as he began to trek further into the entrance of the structure. 'Hope he doesn't mind letting me borrow another few rounds.'
He found one factor odd however: he had already assumed that as the waves of energy seemingly emitted from his center, there was no need to worry about aim, yet during the spreading of the waves, he heard an odd sound going off during his usage of the Robot Master's ability: a continuous, reverberating vibration of sorts…ironically, almost likening it to the sound of an alarm clock.
Inside
"Hm…odd" Time Man didn't bother even acknowledging Wily's outward pondering, the constant straining of his bloodless entrails not being in their proper location far too much of a distraction from attempting to possibly make the scientist's visual study of his core more difficult, yet given his current state, what was there that he could do? "You're certainly functionable, yet…" the balding man looked in closer, his subject of study's core bearing a striking resemblance to the inner workings of, of all things, an old alarm clock. Yes, the components were far less primitive, two large spheres resting by his core instead of a collection of winding gears, yet it still resembled a clock.
"Yet…what?" the Robot Master moaned through grit teeth.
Wily moved away from his subject to survey if his 'download' had been completed. "To put it bluntly, you seem incomplete."
"In…Incomplete?! INCOMPLETE!?" Time Man found himself bellowing despite his fleeting energy, his straining against straps. "AND WHO ARE YOU TO DECLARE SUCH A THING AS FACT?! DID YOU HAVE ANY HAND IN MY CONCEPTION OR CONSTRUCTION?!"
If it were any other given time, he would've been mad. Hell, he would've been outright furious, yet what Albert Wily had just been presented with in searching through the last of the information sapped from Brain Bot's processor had solidified his hypothesis and already provided him with all the leverage he needed.
"Oh, is that so?" he mockingly inquired. "Then why does it list here in the Institute's files that the desired goal is to use you to research time travel, one of the sub points listed here being the apparent 'stopping' of said time?"
"That…that's…I…I'm not-"
"Yet from what I heard from both Elec and Quick Man, you only managed to seemingly 'slow' the semblance of time down."
He stammered, he began to form words…yet nothing came of it. His face contorted into one that had meant to display complete and utter loathing for the human, his furrowed brow and hung head appearing far more akin to one that had been stabbed in the heart. "It's…I'm just not ready yet." He finally managed to choke out. "Kouin…he…he told me it would take time. That…that I was a revolutionary product of this era…so…it would be slow…"
"Oh, don't get yourself so upset. In fact…" it was then that Time Man felt himself being moved to a horizontal position, the cords outside his body having to twist and bend to go along with the movements of the table, his body shuddering in response. Above him, Wily held what appeared to be a small drill of some kind, he holding it just above Time Man's vulnerable dome. "By the time I'm done with you and your friend over there, you'll be achieving status far greater than anything Light or Kouin could provide for you! It's literally an offer you can't refuse."
That energy that he had been saving was starting to be used now, Time Man's struggles becoming more frantic and violent, yet the continual pull of his displaced innards made the process all the more strenuous and difficult. "I…" he growled. "I don't fear you…"
He refused to be intimidated by this bastard, this individual that had stolen him from his home and his potential completion! Yet he didn't receive the reaction that he had hoped for. Wily didn't glower, nor did he give any semblance of rage. No, instead, he presented the Robot Master with a small, self-assured, poised smile.
"No, of course not." He stated, matter-of-factly. "Of course you wouldn't be afraid. Your precious Mega Man wasn't afraid when I nearly drilled my way into him and that blonde bitch of a sister he has." The drill began to inch closer. "Light's original six that came before you or your dark colored friend? They weren't afraid either." Closer… "Dr. Cossack's robots as they were brought to me weren't afraid. So no. Of course not, you're not afraid." Whatever amount of space between them had been closed off, the tip of the instrument's sharpened end now resting up against the android's violet dome. "Not just yet…"
"I hope you forgive me for disagreeing with your announcement…"
All three, both captive robots and human seized up upon the young, yet unyielding voice of a young male echoed through the room, its owner soon stepping into the small amount of available light, bright reflections catching on his armored, azure body. "But the only one here that has any need to be afraid is you!"
Note: Okay! Almost over with!