Wily's War, Epilogue: Maybe

The world had spun around for Mega Man. He felt a bad pain all through his back when he was blasted and it resonated through the rest of his body, then he blacked out.

Mega has awakened, but he doesn't want to open his eyes. He feels so weak, so tired, that everything feels heavy, even his eyelids. As he remains with his eyelids closed, he noticed that everything sounded so calm around him, sounding nothing like the wretched hive that was Skull Fortress. The gentle hum of the computers around him sounded familiar

Mega Man opens his eyes for the first time since this afternoon when he was struck by ProtoMan. His eyes adjust to the light in the room for a few moments, but once they were adjusted, he knew right away that he was back home, because he recognizes the metal walls of Dr. Light's lab. He sees the face of his sister Roll to his right. She had her hands clasped together, praying, and looks worried. But, then her eyes widen and she smiles, unclasping her hands.

"He's awake, Dr. Light!", Roll says, sounding very relieved.

Mega then sees Dr. Light's face to his left.

"Rest easy, Mega," he says, placing a hand on his left arm, "you sustained some bad damage, but you'll be in top shape by tommorrow."

"What about Rush?", Mega asks, sounding tired.

"Don't worry, he'll be just fine. The poor boy just won't be doing any flying for a little while," Thomas answers.

Rush was on a nearby worktable that could easily be moved because it has wheels on the legs. Roll was able to bring Rush over to Mega's side. Rush also looked beat, but his mood perked up a bit when he saw Mega Man.

Mega barely smiles. "Hey, boy," he says, "We've been through a lot this week, haven't we?"

Rush groans in agreement with him, resting his head on the table as Mega pets him.

"... What about Wily?", Mega Man asks.

Thomas is not able to hide the disapointment when he answers, "There was no trace of him at the scene. The authorites were too late."

Mega closes his eyes and lets out a sigh. It bothers him knowing that Wily is still at large. All of that hard work battleing almost all of Wily's robot army... gone, just like that.

"It's okay, Mega," Roll adds, "You did your best."

"Indeed," Thomas adds, "And I'm sure you'll get Albert again, and soon."

"... It was ProtoMan," Mega says, "It had to be him."

Everybody remains silent for a moment, knowing that the only reason why Albert Wily is not sitting in jail right now is because of ProtoMan.

Skull Fortress.

Dr. Wily is asleep in his quarters at Skull Fortress. He sustained a concussion from the fall he took being rescued.

Somebody nearby watches over him, actually careing.
How anybody could care about this sick man is beyond comprehension. Who in their right mind would have any remote sense of compassion for him?

... ProtoMan, that's who.

ProtoMan watches Wily at rest. He's been standing there for a while now. He didn't want to leave. ProtoMan may be programmed to be a bad guy, but something drove him to bring Dr. Wily back alive. Myabe it was whatever that feeling was that made him not destroy Mega Man when they first did battle with eachother last month.
Proto can be a harsh critic of Wily sometimes, and Wily can also be harsh on him and he knows that Wily is a wicked, rotten old man... but deep down, Proto cares for him. He probably wouldn't admit it to anybody, but he does. ProtoMan views Dr. Wily as a father figure... he's the closest thing to a parent that he has.

As ProtoMan muses over how this whole week has gone, he spots a rough sketch of what looks like a new Robot Master nearby. Proto picks it up and studies it, noticing that this new robot is really Air Man, but with a much more intimidating look, complete with an actual human-like face and a much bigger chest fan.
The note from Wily reads "Air Man, New Chassis."
Proto is surprised that Wily went along with his idea of totally overhauling Air Man. Maybe Wily is starting to view Proto as more than just his best fighter. Proto would certainly like that, but here is just one thing Proto would like more than anything, especially after what happened today... he wants Mega Man to be here with him as an ally.
ProtoMan is not about to give up on turning him to his side, no way. Ever since he returned to the fortress, ProtoMan has been cussing himself out for not dragging Mega Man back here to be reprogrammed. With Mega Man and ProtoMan on the same side, this war would have been over.

But, maybe Mega Man and ProtoMan can be a team... or brothers... someday...

... maybe.

Vick-Tek Corporate Headquarters.

Sitting behind his sleek desk in his office overlooking much of New York is Marcus Vickers, a man who wasted money from his own personal fortune developing worthless robots over the course of the past two weeks. However, for a man as rich as him, it was just a drop in the hat.

He reads the New York daily paper, which reads in big letters on the front cover, SO CLOSE!, referring to Mega Man almost apprehending Dr. Wily yesterday.

"... he should have gotten him," Vickers says, as he looks over the article.

"Yes, he should've, sir," Erikson says, agreeing as always.

"I mean, I know he's good, but... he should have put Wily in jail! ... that bothers me."

Vickers folds the newspaper and continues, "I still think we need to make a robot warrior of our own... one that doesn't vomit mustard and taze itself."

"We are in the process of hiring a new Research and Development team as we speak, sir," Erikson updates.

Vickers rubs his hands together as he continues, "Our old R&D team had never built a robot before... we need somebody who knows what they're doing. Thomas Light and Dr. Wily aren't the only robotics scientists out there in this world. There are others... there was one guy in Russia, but I can't remember his name though."

"I'll look him personally, sir," Erikson adds.

"Good, Scott. Once we hire some robotics scientists who know what the hell they're doing, it's smooth sailing from there... In the meantime, I think we can salavge VickBot 9000."
Vickers continues with enthusiasm, "I've been in negotiations with concert promoters... and I think we're going to take him out on tour! Just visualize it, Scott... VickBot 9000: The Dancing Machine!"

"Sounds good, sir," Erikson nods and puts on a smile, just going along with his boss.

"We'll sell out arenas all over the world! We'll even make 2-foot-tall replicas to sell to the kids during the holiday season. The merchandising rights alone will make us millions! More than enough to cover the costs fot this robot warrior project. Creating our own robot warrior is going to be a challenge, though... but, I've never backed down from a challenge in my whole life!"

Vickers gets up and looks out his large window and looks upon the New York skyline as the sun begins to set, causing the sky to look orange.

"Vick-Tek will have it's own robot warrior one day," he says with a grin, "and who knows... he might even be better than Mega Man... just maybe."

A few nights later.
High atop a skyscraper in New York City.

Mega Man stands alone on the roof of a tall skyscraper without his helmet. His brown hair moves when a breeze flows through. He can see that the repairing process over at the Empire State Building has already begun.
Luckily, the governor really appriciates Mega Man and Dr. Light and decided graciously that he will cover the cost of repairs.

Roll walks up to the roof and joins him.

"You okay, Mega?", she asks as she appraoches her brother.

"Yeah, how have you been since the other night?", Mega asks.

"Great," she replies, "... did you really mean what you said?"

"About what?", Mega asks.

"About me helping you," Roll answers, "You said I saved you."

Mega smiles. "Yeah, it's true."

"So... does this mean I can be your partner?", Roll asks with a big smile.

Mega Man looks a little hesitant to let her get involved in something like this, especially after what happed to the of them in the past few days. Mega Man finally replies, "Roll... I'll think about it."

"But, there's a chance, right?", Roll asks.

"Um... I guess?", Mega replies, unsure of his response.

"Thank you so much, Mega!", Roll says happily, hugging her brother tightly and kicking her right leg back, "You're the greatest!"

"Um... thanks!", Mega says, "Why don't you go back inside with Dr. Light and the Governor?"

"Okay. When are you coming in?", Roll asks, still with that smile on her face.

"In a few minutes", Mega answers.

Roll walks back down the stairwell and back inside with an extra spring in her step.

"I hope you know what your doing, sis", Mega says to himself.

As Mega Man looks back in front of him, at the New York City skyline under the cover of night, he thinks about his brother ProtoMan and wonders why he did what he did.
He saved ProtoMan's life and he repays him by blasting both him and his dog Rush, leaving them for dead and recovering Wily.
Mega Man hasn't forgotten that moment in time where Proto, who usually sounded confident, was scared and accepted his hand to help him...
Mega also thinks about that fact that this city and every city Wily plans on attacking is still in danger because he got away.

This battle for everlasting peace is still going on because of it. Actually, it's not a battle anymore... it's war. And it's a war that is going to keep getting uglier and uglier until there is a winner.

But, while Wily is still at large and free to continue on his crucade of destruction, Mega Man is still here too. And as long as he is here, he will keep fighting Wily and ProtoMan until they are defeated.
It won't be easy fighting ProtoMan again, though.

"Why, brother?...", Mega says, as if he was asking ProtoMan, "Why did you do this?"

Unfortunatly, Mega Man doesn't have his answer, and he probably won't get one for a while.

Mega Man wishes that ProtoMan was on the side of good, like he was meant to be. He wishes that his family could be a complete one, and not torn apart by a madman.

Maybe one day, that dream will come true... maybe.

But, until then... the war is on.

Author's notes:

Wily's War the episode is done, but the war itself continues in... well... I haven't thought of a good name for episode 3 yet, so let's just call it "Episode 3" for now.
Much like last time, there wil be an interlude chapter between episodes to bridge the gap. Episode 3 itself will arrive soon after.
Again thank you to all of my reviewers! (BlackRussian, lalalei, Kuraselache, DestinyZX and Dragolord09) Your feedback is much appreciated.

Also, another Mega Man 2 reference: The scene where Mega Man stands atop the skyscraper is based on the title screen of Mega Man 2.
I wonder who that robotics scientist in Russia is ;)

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