The scene in which Evelyn Wray's character confronted Dracu-bot culminated into a fight, Evelyn Wray brandishing a short silver dagger etched with crucifixes, Dracu-bot a long-stemmed gilded candelabra.
Filming had to be halted a few times as Dr. Wily wanted to capture different angles, and both Evelyn Wray and Proto Man had to coach Dracu-bot on how to stage fight convincingly (Dracu-bot repeatedly confessing that he was worried he might hurt the star while Evelyn Wray insisted warmly that she had years of experience in stunt fighting)
Finally, they reached the end with Evelyn Wray's character cornered on a balcony while Dracu-bot advanced. All looked lost for her as the balcony began to shudder and quake beneath her, when Evelyn Wray suddenly seized a dead vine hanging from the roof and swung back into the tower past Dracu-bot as the balcony broke apart and tumbled down the side of the tower.
"Uh—!" Proto Man called out, too late to prevent anything from happening.
Dr. Wily yelled "Cut!" and both Dracu-bot and Gilliam applauded.
"It's okay, it was just a stunt balcony," Evelyn Wray told Proto Man airily, tossing her hair. "I do this thing all the time!"
The balcony collapsing hadn't been a planned stunt at all, but as Dr. Wily seemed satisfied with the shot and made no call to repeat it, Proto Man decided to let it go.
After finishing the scene, the Battontons began breaking down the set and whisking equipment off. Cut Man and Guts Man attempted to get Dr. Wily's attention as they left the tower to transition filming back to the laboratory, but Dr. Wily only lost his temper, forbidding them to interrupt until the film was finished.
Proto Man gave Cut Man and Guts Man a helpless shrug as he followed Dr. Wily into the laboratory, ignoring their glares.
Evelyn Wray was watching Proto Man with narrowed eyes, a small her face, then snapped her fingers suddenly. "I know why you look familiar! You're a Proton Man impersonator!"
A hot, prickly sense of humiliation washed over Proto Man as he remembered being mobbed by tourists on Broadcast Boulevard.
"I'm not an impersonator, I'm the original Proton Man—and it's Proto without an N!" he burst out angrily. Then, controlling himself, he added, "Is there a way to get them to stop, like, a restraining order or something?"
Evelyn Wray just laughed. "You've really made an impression on the world if people are willing to imitate you on the street just to earn a few bucks! Consider it flattering. Lighten up, kid!"
"That's usually my line," Proto Man muttered to himself.
While Evelyn Wray went on break, Proto Man joined Dr. Wily at a computer console that was connected to ten different video screens. Dr. Wily sat on a swivel chair before them, completely engrossed in reviewing the footage captured that night, presumably assembling it into a rough cut.
"So, uh, I didn't know how much you were into directing," Proto Man broke in a soft, tentative voice, for Dr. Wily's face was drawn in severe concentration.
To his surprise, Dr. Wily pushed away from the video monitors, his light blue eyes piercing. "Proto, I never told you about my childhood."
"I never asked," Proto Man replied bluntly, hoping this was the end to the conversation.
Dr. Wily gazed broodingly over the figure beneath the tarp.
"My parents didn't think my career choice was suitable," he said in a soft, flippant whisper, almost to himself. "That my ideas would never work, and I needed to grow up and act like an adult. They liked stupid, mundane events like golfing and boating."
He gave a hearty, disdainful sniff, his mustache twitching. "But I had deeper ambitions than their humdrum idea of a life. I saw inspiration where they couldn't. It was through movies that I realized my true calling. The Creeping Horror, The Walking Bog People, It Happened on a Tuesday, Revenge of the Atomatons, Piranha-Men from The Future, Attack of the Brain Master—" he began listing in the same sort of solemn whisper as though naming beloved heroes, his eyes distant.
"Aren't those all B-movies?" Proto Man responded before he could stop himself, smiling slightly.
Dr. Wily's eyes flashed superiorly. "Not so! Haven't you worked for me long enough to know what science can make possible? You are sounding exactly like those buffoons who call themselves critics! The pea-brained nitwits who mock anyone with any sort of imagination!"
"Hey, I meant no offense, Doc—"
Dr. Wily had drawn himself up self-righteously, his nostrils flaring. "Let them make fun of me…let them laugh! Nobody knows the genius I am! Ever since I was a little boy the other children never understood me! I never even had toys like the other kids…and now I'll build all the toys I want—robot toys! And I'll control them."
And Dr. Wily began laughing as he threw a switch, fresh currents of electricity blazing down the cords and into the veiled figure like veins of light, a wave of heat permeating the drafty room.
Proto Man waited until Dr. Wily's laughter died down. Despite the dancing light, the room felt still with decades of bitterness. Dr. Wily was glowering down at the figure. He had just divulged something very private to Proto Man, something Proto Man doubted any other being knew the full extent of.
"…You're unloading some deep shit on me Doc, I'm gonna have to charge a therapist fee," responded Proto Man lightly after a moment in an attempt to ease the tension. When Dr. Wily remained stone faced and pensive, he added, "…Is this the real reason why we're not trying to take over the world?"
Dr. Wily's face snapped toward him, his expression grim. "No, we are not trying to take over the world because you are too damaged," he said, prodding Proto Man's injured shoulder. "I will resume my life's work after I've finished your repairs. The movie is just to spread horror, a teaser to the true nightmare I have envisioned."
"I see," Proto Man said doubtfully. "But why vampires and werewolves and stuff?"
Dr. Wily gave a small sigh. "Well, one night while working on your repairs, I beheld the full moon and had this stroke of brilliance to create an army of Monster-bots to transform all of mankind into raging robo-beasts! Imagine, the great Dr. Light, turned into a mindless beast, destroys his own creation, Mega Man," he sneered as though quoting a headline from his minds eye and laughing with relish. Then he looked over at Proto Man, his face falling with another forlorn sigh. "Alas, it only works on robots."
Folding his arms behind his back, Dr. Wily turned away from Proto Man and crossed over to where Dracu-bot and Gilliam the Butler were waiting in a corner of the laboratory.
This wiped the smile off of Proto Man's face. He hurried to catch up with Dr. Wily. "Let me get this straight. You're telling me you built robots that can turn stuff into vampires and werewolves, and all we are doing with them is making a movie? Why don't you turn them loose in downtown New York and issue demands?"
Dr. Wily waved him off. "This is about striking an impression!"
"You'd make more money."
"Once the world sees what I'm capable of on film, money will no longer be of concern."
Proto Man decided to let it go. "You're the auteur," he said, still thinking Dr. Wily just really wanted to make this movie.
Dr. Wily nodded. "Besides, I told you if any of R.I.P. officers meddled, they'd be sorry," he snickered, wagging his finger.
"Dr. Wily is right!" Dracu-bot announced his his grand, carrying voice, straightening his cravat. "Just before my first scene I had slipped out for a bite and encountered a dashing robo-officer dressed quite handsomely in blue and gold armor, a spiked helmet, and a spear!"
Proto Man recognized the description instantly and wheeled toward Dracu-bot like a hunting dog training on a sent. "Enker? That bot Roll likes? He's here?"
"Yes but he is no longer of concern!" Dracu-bot said proudly. "He has now been enthralled into doing our bidding, whereby he shall now defend this castle and its lord, Dr. Wily, while I make my acting debut along side the talented Ms. Wray!"
"Don't be such a braggart, Dracu-bot," Gilliam murmured snidely. "You're not the only Monster-bot in this castle; you weren't even the first to turn an intruder."
"Shut up, Gilliam," Dracu-bot hissed back.
Ignoring this prattle, Proto Man demanded in a low deadly voice through clenched teeth, "Where is he?"
Mega Man found bounding through the forrest on all fours a bit faster than he would have on two legs, and was low enough to the ground to easily follow deer trails through the dense undergrowth, dead leaves making a soft carpet beneath his paws. Despite everything, Mega Man couldn't help but appreciate the tranquility at experiencing nature from this viewpoint. The barren trees were almost beautiful in their way, with earthy smells of bark and pine trees filling the night, the moonlight filtering innocently through the forked branches above and sparkling on frosty weeds. Still, he was anxious to get back to his original form as soon as possible and save the unwitting R.I.P. officers from whatever weird fate Dr. Wily had in store for them.
Ahead, he could see the main gate in the stone wall encircling Hampton Village. He slowed his gait as he approached the opening, thinking of how best to reach the inn Dr. Light was staying in, when a beam of light suddenly clicked on, shining directly into Mega Man's eyes.
It belonged to a flashlight, which was carried by one of the local humans who had been ambling home after a night in the pub in neighboring village. He gave a thin cry, edging away from Mega Man, his eyes bulging.
"Aaahh! Don't eat me!" the human begged, dropping the flashlight he had been carrying and edging away. Then he turned on the spot and hollering at the top of his lungs as he ran into the village. "Werewolf! Werewolf!"
Despite the early hour, his cry was echoed throughout the village. After being terrorized by Mummy-bot, the villagers had sat up with eager anticipation for a follow up event to take place in their normally boring home town. Mega Man could pick out the doors in the village slamming shut, while footsteps pounded against cobblestone. Then a pack of humans, shouting feverishly as though at a sports match, stormed toward him, hurling bricks and bits of trash at him while shouting, "Get the Werewolf!"
Mega Man fled back into the tangled undergrowth of the forest as a thrown bottle smashed against his armor, spattering his fur on his face with flecks of cider. Hiding beneath a mossy log, he watched the villagers scatter to look for him.
Putting Hampton Village on high alert was not part of the plan. Groaning dismally to himself, Mega Man waited tensely for the villagers to pass, counting each minute as a higher probability that he'd return to a castle full of savage wolf-bots as a clocktower tolled three-o clock.
Finally, after the last of the villagers' flashlights had disappeared into the forest and their shouts had become distant, Mega Man edged carefully from underneath the log, then scampered into the now deserted village.
Learning his lesson from how the villagers had reacted to his monster appearance, Mega Man decided he didn't want to give Dr. Light a bad shock or have an electro-neutralizer pulse gun drawn on him by bursting in unexpectedly. Surely Dr. Light had heard by now that there was a werewolf prowling the outskirts of the town—but how to let him know that the werewolf was actually he, Mega Man?
The answer came to him as he passed a small artist booth standing beneath a street light (presumably the artist left to join the mob chasing after the werewolf).
Mega Man carefully tore off a clean sheet of paper from the artist's sketchbook with his teeth, then settled down on the sidewalk to write a message to Dr. Light. This was difficult to accomplish as it was not easy grasping the thin strips of wood between his curling fangs nor seeing what he was writing over his long furry nose. Mega Man snapped several pencils in the attempt, but finally managed 'HELP I'M A WOLF' in scraggly letters of various sizes. Then, as delicately as he could, he gathered the paper within his jaws and hurried toward the inn.
Fortunately, the inn's front door was unlocked and could be pushed open with a gentle butt from Mega Man's head. The receptionist was busy on the phone as she animatedly recounted the night's events to a friend in Cornwall while absentmindedly knotting the inn phone's curly cord around her fingers. Mega Man edged carefully on his belly past the front desk, certain if she caught sight of him she'd shriek and start throwing guest ledgers at him. Then he climbed awkwardly up a wooden staircase to the second floor, accidentally marring the finish with his ungainly claws.
His shadow loomed imposingly in front of him as he crossed the creaking floorboards of the second floor corridor, but it appeared none of the residents were awake except for the room at the end, in which light was coming from under the door at the end of the hallway. Mega Man picked up the smell of freshly brewed tea leaves and could hear someone typing rapidly on a computer while a CD player played a piano sonata from Beethoven on the other side of the door.
Mega Man nosed the badly crumpled message under the door. Then he pawed gently at the door and whined in a good imitation of Rush (albeit his voice was much deeper).
The music stopped, there were footsteps, the rasping of a key, then the door creaked open a fraction of an inch, one of Dr. Light's dark eyes peering out suspiciously.
"Good heavens, Mega Man?"
Mega Man wagged his titanium-linked tail once, hanging his head and flattening his ears.
Dr. Light opened the door wider and crouched down, holding Mega Man's large shaggy head between his hands. "Oh dear, how dreadful! I had heard the commotion from outside my window, but never would have dreamed—this must be the work of Wily's inventions. You better come with me before any more of these silly villagers see you, I'll see if there is anything I can do."
Gravity Man, Knight Man, and Tornado Man had become lost while exploring Castle Cavendish. None of them were on high alert, however, for Enker had been keeping in contact and assured them that the castle was harmless and that he himself would soon find Time Man.
Gravity Man was wandering across an overgrown courtyard containing a dead weeping willow, a shallow pond filled with algae and cattails, and a wide assortment of early weeds shooting up just in time for spring.
"Reminds me of a witch's garden," Gravity Man mused to himself, smiling.
As Gravity Man turned on the spot admiring the courtyard, he did not notice a muddy green robot with gills, a rubbery face, and webbed fingers rise out of the pond, watching him with sideways blinking eyes. Then, after catching it out of the corner of his eye, Gravity Man was too late to react as the Creature-bot spat a stream of sludge, completely drenching him in a wave of gooey slime.
For a brief moment, Gravity Man thought he had been splattered in an extremely corrosive acid, for it felt like his circuits were dissolving into a pool as he sank rapidly toward the ground. Yet there was no pain and the strange sensation soon faded, leaving Gravity Man crouched on the ground in a neckless egg-shaped body with long thin legs and stubby arms ending in webbed feet. In surprise, he tried to shout, but instead his throat expanded like a balloon.
Ribbit!
With a satisfied ssshhhhhiiishhh noise through its needle-like teeth, the Creature-bot sank back into the murky pond in a stream of bubbles.
Not far off, Knight Man was inspecting a collection of armor of a headless knight mounted on a battle horse, wondering what century it could possibly have come from, when the knight's ax fell silently forward.
Knight Man's head fell from his shoulders and hit the floor with a clang and rolled across the flagstones until it bumped against a wall. Despite being completely severed from its power core, Knight Man' head remained powered on while an echoing laugh issued from the collection of armor. The horse part of it reared upward, then took off with a clattering of hooves down a corridor.
"Hey! …Hey!" Knight Man called after it as his body wandered off into the castle, its arms outstretched before it.
Gravity Man, hearing the disturbance, hopped over to Knight Man's side and croaked in commiseration. Both of them were extremely confused, and either of them were sure who had it worse.
Tornado Man never saw what happened to Gravity Man nor Knight Man. He had wandered off on his own into a graveyard, which seemed creepy and gloomy enough when bodies began clawing their way out of the earth. They belonged to a horde of decrepit robots, most of which were missing limbs—or had eyeballs dangling out of their sockets and lower jaw hinges hanging on by a singular screw—their armor rusted through and exposed wires sparking.
Groaning ominously, the robots shambled toward Tornado Man.
"Uh….Gravity Man? Knight Man? Enker? Can someone help in the graveyard?" he called into his communicator. No one responded. Tornado Man shifted his footing hastily as more hands popped out of the earth and began groping for his ankles. "Just me against an army of disgusting scrap-bots? Typical," he grumbled, raising his blaster arm.
Dr. Light lead Mega Man to a large curved-roof shed he was temporarily borrowing from the village as a makeshift laboratory.
"This is truly strange, your entire titanium framework has completely restructured itself as a robo-wolf!" remarked Dr. Light said as he looked through the diagnostics of Mega Man's systems.
Mega Man was crouched upon an old saw dust covered work bench, his head between his clawed paws. Dr. Light had opened the diamond-shaped front panel on his helmet to run a cable from Mega Man' electronic brain to his computer, thereby allowing Mega Man to communicate.
How is this possible? Mega Man transmitted in scrawling text across a green screen.
Dr. Light had to think about this for a full moment, a hand stroking his beard as he mulled over the diagnostics. "It appears Wily has found a way to exploit the transitory morphic array components in your system."
Mega Man sat up and cocked his head at Dr. Light, looking puzzled.
"That is to say, technology that allows a robot to alter part or all of their form temporarily," Dr. Light explained quickly, turning to face Mega Man. "—Like what Rush uses to transform into different vehicle modes, what you have in your plasma cannon to copy weapons, and what I believe Roll uses in her utility arm. It's quite common. In fact, you will find these so called 'morpher' components in most specialized robots, especially Robot Masters. But I've never seen an outside influence force a target to morph into a completely different form, such as a robo-wolf in your case."
Lotos did something like this. You don't think Wily's still meddling with alien stuff again, do you?
"It's possible, or was perhaps inspired by it. I'm afraid Wily does not observe ethical bounds while pursing his mad science experiments."
Mega Man let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a growl, a puff of saw dust flying off the work bench. But how do Time Man and myself change back?
Dr. Light gestured woefully at his limited equipment. "Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do here in this shed to reverse this. Your form is being controlled remotely by the original Wolf-bot, however the destruction of the monster-bots will also reverse the hold they have on you and release you from your monster state."
Just like in the movies. If that's all it takes, then I better get moving. Time Man is still on the loose, and who knows who else he's bitten by now. And if Dr. Wily unleashes these 'monster-bots' on the world—
"—It will be chaos," Dr. Light finished before Mega Man's thought had fully scrawled across the screen. "But you must be careful, Mega Man. As a robo-wolf, you are far less powerful."
I know. Thanks for the help. Looks like I need to find another way to sneak into the castle. I may be stuck this way for now, but maybe I can use this form as my advantage.
He shook off the wires connected to his head, then leaped to the shed's muddy floor. Dr. Light slid open the door for him, and he pounded back toward into forest, this time careful to skirt around any villagers on the hunt for werewolves.
Enker was experiencing the most bizarre night of his career.
Time Man was trapped in the body of the beast, he had been reprogrammed as a vampiric servant of Dr. Wily, he had been hunting his own officers, Proto Man was currently lecturing him about dating a bot he was no longer interested in, meanwhile thoughts of tenderly unwrapping Proto Man's scarf, biting his neck, and sucking out his energy kept invading Enker's mind.
"I respect her ability to make her own choices," Proto Man stated in a low voice, torch light flashing off his visor, his face twisted angrily and only inches away from Enker's own, "—But if you try to do anything skeevy like hypnosis or anything—"
They were in the castle kitchen where Enker had finally tracked down the robo-wolf that was once Time Man. Time Man sat curled at his feet, his head between his paws as Enker scratched him consolingly behind his ears.
It was difficult to keep his eyes on Proto Man's visor, which forced Enker to look at his own off-putting reflection with ghostly skin and sunken eyes. Instead, Enker's eyes kept drifting down to Proto Man's jugulars, the gentle flow of plasma coursing through it driving all other thoughts out of Enker's mind.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Proto Man asked in irritation, finally taking a pause in his rant to notice Enker's divided attention.
"I'm having a very lovely fantasy of biting your neck," Enker admitted bluntly.
"Huh?"
"I can't help it. Vampire programming. Normally I wouldn't consider without a dinner invitation at least."
"Don't change the subject!" Proto Man snapped. "And I'm warning you, if you even look at Roll the wrong way—"
"Your concern is misplaced. I'd never willingly participate in such abhorrent behavior, and I'm reprogrammed to obey your orders anyway," Enker responded wearily. "Though I must say, it's strange for the right hand of Dr. Wily to have such 'protective programming' over another creator's robot, if that is in fact your situation."
"I'm her older brother, I'm just looking out for her," Proto Man protested hotly. "Mind your own business anyway or I'll ask Wily to reformat you when we're back at Skull Fortress."
"Proto Man…" Enker began in a soft, subdued voice, "If you're taking us back to Skull Fortress, can you return us to our normal forms?"
"'Us?'"
Proto Man's head tilted toward the robo-wolf on the stone floor. "That thing used to be a Robot Master? Yetch, bad luck."
The robo-wolf made a soft growl.
"Time Man, right?" Proto Man identified. "I'll see what I can do, but I'm still trying to talk the Doc off this Halloween kick."
Enker looked Proto Man squarely in the visor. "If we can't be returned to normal…can I at least be a werewolf too?"
"You want to be a robo-wolf like him?" Proto Man asked skeptically.
"Sure. It would only be fair," Enker said in a casual voice. "I tried asking him to bite me but he won't do it."
Proto Man scrutinized Enker. Enker had said this all very casually, as though dooming himself to be a robotic beast were no more big a deal than exchanging a first class ticket for coach so that he could travel with a friend.
"You're alright, Enker," he said finally. This lasted for a beat, before Proto Man instantly resumed his original subject, still unsatisfied. "But, if you were interested in my sister—"
Roll had lost sight of Enker while tracking him through the castle. Nevertheless, her new vampire abilities had certain advantages as she sped from room to room in bat form searching in a quarter of the time it would have taken on foot. Still, she could not locate him, and was about to give it up to go find Mega Man when she heard familiar muffled voices and noticed flickering torch light from the kitchen within a lower floor of the castle.
Transforming back into vampire form, she stalked silently toward the kitchen door, which stood ajar. Then, drawing a butterfly net from her utility arm in case Enker attempted to fly away again, she quickly turned the corner.
Standing very close together on the other end of the room were Proto Man and Enker, Proto Man's face only a hands-width apart from Enker's, a longing look in Enker's eyes as he gazed at Proto Man's neck—
"What the hell!" Roll stammered before she could stop herself, dropping her utility arm. "You…and Proto Man? How? When? —It doesn't matter," she backtracked quickly, edging back toward the door.
Proto Man's head snapped toward Roll, his mouth falling open, clearly taking in her change in skin tone and pointed fangs, then lunged at Enker, grabbing him with both hands by the neck and slamming him against the wall. Ancient cups and plates rattled out of their shelves and fell to the floor with ringing smashes.
"You bit her?! You son of a bitch!"
"It's okay, nothing happened, he just bit me on the wrist, don't hurt him!" Roll called quickly, darting forward to intervene.
She grabbed Proto Man by the left shoulder. Though she had only been intending to pull them apart, Proto Man gave a sharp gasp of pain, his hand shooting toward his blaster arm as though he had been burned, then tripped backward into a heap of empty wine casks, freeing Enker.
But Enker was in no condition to appreciate help from Roll. He made a spitting noise like an angry cobra, meanwhile Time Man had risen to his feet and was growling thunderously like a chainsaw revving up.
Having expected something like this to happen, Roll lunged at Enker, who evaded her easily by once again transforming into a blue and gold bat.
Roll too transformed into a bat as Time Man's jaws slammed shut where her ankle had been moments before. Then she dive bombed Enker, the two of them biting and scratching at each other as Time Man prowled below, watching her through his red eyes, until finally Roll was able to delivery a finishing bite on Enker's right wing, syphoning enough energy to render him flightless.
Using her talons, she grabbed Enker quickly by his other wing as Time Man lunged, her wing tip just barely brushed Time Man's curved fangs (which to her were now as large as digging trowels) as she narrowly avoided being bitten in half.
Holding on tightly to Enker, Roll shot toward the old kitchen fireplace and up through an old narrow chimney rising through the castle wall. Layers of cobwebs clung to her wings and ears like ragged robes as the climbed, the sounds of Time Man's angry snarls echoing behind her.
Proto Man, slightly dazed from pain, pushed himself up from the splintered remains of the wine casks. Time Man backed out of the fireplace, shook the soot from his armor, then pointed his toothy snout at Proto Man.
"The sooner I can get you back to normal, the better, officer, your time-freeze technique would be really useful right now," muttered Proto Man, still nursing his injured shoulder. "But in the meantime, find the intruders and bring them back to Wily!"
Time Man made a short grunt as though to acknowledge the command, then bolted silently toward the flagstone steps leading out of the kitchen.
Using Dino-Tar from her utility arm, Roll glued Enker to an inside wall of a bell tower.
Enker made another spitting noise, his teeth bared as he pulled against the red gooey adhesive. He attempted transforming into a bat, but was no more successful at escaping than a fly trapped on fly paper. Giving up, he resumed his vampire form with its grim, waxy expression.
His eyes roved the corners of the bell tower. "Where's Time Man?"
"I didn't get him," Roll said bracingly. "Look, just…hang tight. I'll come back for you soon, but first I gotta figure out how to get us back to normal, and to do that, I gotta go after Proto Man, and I gotta warn ya I'm not planning on going easy on him."
"Honestly, I'm not too fussed about what happens to him, he's a bit of a melodramatic nutter," Enker replied shortly.
Roll blinked at Enker, itching with curiosity and also feeling inexplicably irritated, but, deciding it was not her business, she turned on her heel and stepped out of the bell tower, transforming back into a bat.
Once back in the forest, Mega Man threw his head back and let out a loud howl which echoed across the cold earth. Then he lifted an ear, straining to listen.
For a moment, he could hear nothing but the creaking of trees, then not too far off, he heard an answering howl.
His pulsar pulse picking up nervously, Mega Man waited, staring into the gloom. After several tense minutes, a pair of shining red eyes appeared, drawing steadily nearer, then a black furry snout with gleaming teeth materialized out of the darkness as Time Man stalked toward him.
Mega Man resisted the temptation to recoil at the appearance or think how easily Time Man's claws could rip him to shreds.
Apparently Time Man was thinking the same thing about Mega Man, for his nostrils flared as he sniffed air, apparently trying to determine whether or not this was a trap. Then he lowered his head and gave a threatening snarl, as though to imitate I'm in charge.
Mega Man had no wish to dispute this at the moment. Communicating was as difficult as ever, but he made an attempt anyway, hoping Time Man would believe that Mega Man was now loyal to Dr. Wily and would like nothing better than to join his master.
Again, Time Man seemed to be trying to see if this was a trap, his red eyes searing Mega Man like flaming coals. But he turned around, his tail lashing behind him, and padded off to the castle with a low growl.
Mega Man followed, careful to remain a few paces behind Time Man as he sensed Time Man might snap at him if he tried to walk beside him. They swam the icy moat to a small section of the castle wall that had caved in, squeezing through the gaps of the crumpled bricks into an earthy cellar.
With Time Man as a guide, navigating through the castle was no longer a problem. They crossed a ballroom, a library, a gallery, through several hidden staircases and concealed doorways behind tapestries, and wound through several twisting corridors.
As they drew near to what Mega Man thought must be the heart of the castle on the second floor, Time Man suddenly rounded on him and gave another sharp growl, intending Mega Man to go no further.
Mega Man looked at the room ahead. On the opposite wall a heavy arched door stood ajar, flashing light and the loud drone of humming electricity issuing from the gap. On either side of the door stood Cut Man and Guts Man, who looked surly and were engrossed in a conversation about how bored they were and how long it would take before Dr. Wily would let them back in. Neither had noticed Time Man nor Mega Man.
Time Man padded through the opening in the door, perhaps to fetch Dr. Wily. Cut Man and Guts Man parted way, giving him a respectful berth as their eyes fixed nervously on his jaws.
Mega Man hesitated to follow. He knew Dr. Wily must be beyond that door with whatever was generating the electricity, but Cut Man and Guts Man's presence presented a complication, as Cut Man and Guts Man had already seen Mega Man and knew he was not under Dr. Wily's control. Then Mega Man felt his lips twitch around his fangs into something like a smirk and stalked within the shadows toward them.
"Ow! Something bit me!" Cut Man whined, jumping bolt right and backing away from the door.
Guts Man whirled, his fists raised like a boxer, than caught sight of Mega Man, taking a step backwards in fear. "It's Mega Man! Shoot him!" he yelled at Cut Man, his voice trembling.
"I can't my—rrr—rrr—hands! They arrre-rrrrr—stuck!" Cut Man stammered as his fingers fused together into robo-canine paws, his already prominent ears fanning out into large triangles.
Guts Man backed away, his mouth falling open in horror as Cut Man doubled up, a line of circular cutters sprouting down his back like a mane, but he couldn't escape as Mega Man sank his fangs into the thick titanium armor around Guts Man's shin.
"Hey—ugh—get back here-rrrrrr!" Guts Man growled thickly, synthetic fur spreading across his face. "Rrrrrrr….Uh oh…."
The transformation swept over them in a chorus of squeaks as their titanium bent and contorted, Cut Man's whines and Guts Man's bellows becoming wolfish howls. Mega Man took one last glance at Cut Man (whose large ears, bulging eyes, and short hinged muzzle made his face look like an orange Boston terrier) and Guts Man (who was hunched over like a bow-legged bulldog with a lower jaw similar to a backhoe shovel) before kicking the door shut with his hind paws, confident they wouldn't be any better at dealing with doorknobs than him.
He found himself in a sort of laboratory buzzing so loudly with dazzling electricity it was almost like being in a giant bee hive. He quickly spotted Dr. Wily and Proto Man, who were standing on either side a prone finger draped in a canvas tarp.
"What's all this racket? I told those two idiots to keep quiet!" growled Dr. Wily, glaring at the door. Then he did a small jump. "Uh? Mega Man! A wolf-bot?"
To Mega Man's surprise, Dr Wily seemed disappointed.
"Holy shit," commented Proto Man.
Dr. Wily glanced over at Proto Man, his expression changing into a dark grin. "It's a hideous transformation, isn't it, Proto?" he whispered silkily. "Do not be ashamed if you must avert your eyes, it must be shocking to see your brother this way."
Proto Man merely shrugged his right shoulder. "Not really. Something like this always happens to him. It's fitting Wolf-bot got to him first, he's about as dumb as a dog."
Mega Man had to repress a growl. As dumb as a…!?
"…Can he understand us when he's like that?" Proto Man asked suspiciously, frowning down at Mega Man.
"No," said Dr. Wily wickedly. "He's doomed to live out his days as a monster-bot in mind and body, forever haunting this castle."
But Proto Man wasn't convinced. "Are you sure he's gone fully werewolf? He was an advanced android, after all."
Mega Man wondered why Proto Man was holding back from attacking. Though it might be reasonable to assume Proto Man was wary of getting bitten himself, Mega Man noticed a strange scent around Proto Man—something beneath the smell of dessert sand, aviation fuel, and mountain spring fabric softener (Proto Man must have washed his scarf recently). He wasn't sure how he knew this, but Mega Man was quite positive Proto Man was badly damaged around his left shoulder…in fact, Proto Man's plasma cannon was currently disabled.
Filing away this fact for later, Mega Man scanned the rest of the room. Time Man was laying down protectively next to Dr. Wily, his violet tail curled around his paws. Evelyn Wray was sitting straight backed on a stool with her eyes closed as a pair of battontons touched up her makeup with a powder brush, a third perched on her shoulder. Next to her stood a broad-shouldered robot with fangs who was busy running a lint roller over his velvet cape.
That must be Dracu-bot, the original vampire monster-bot…but where is Wolf-bot? Mega Man wondered. He could see no other robot in the room apart from a snide butler who was watching him with curled lip.
Wait a minute…
With a short growl, Mega Man pounced at the butler, knocking him to the castle floor.
"Hey, Dr. Wily, this one's not under my control!" exclaimed the butler. As he said this, he gave a growl far more powerful than Mega Man's own, his stiff gray face becoming brown and furry as it stretched into a vicious maw, his smooth hair becoming jagged spikes as clawed hands grappled with Mega Man.
Without thinking, Mega Man bit down hard on the transforming Wolf-bot's neck, tearing easily through the vital circuitry within.
Wolf-bot gave a sharp howl, his limbs twitching against the floor as sparks issued from his throat.
"Tell…Ms. Wray…it was an honor…to act with her…" he whispered weakly, his tongue lolling out as the light died from his eyes.
Meanwhile, Mega Man felt like a stretched rubber band snapping back into shape. His teeth, ears, and nose shrank to normal size, his paws returned to being hands and feet, his legs lengthened back to their original proportions, and his fur and tail vanished.
Mega Man spat the wires out of his mouth. "Ugh, I can't believe I did that!" he muttered, flexing his jaw, which felt sore, but feeling much relieved to hear his normal human voice instead of a hoarse growl.
He stood up, then staggered as his knees wobbled beneath him, falling back against a computer counsel for support. It appeared his transformation back into an android had sapped all of his energy, leaving him with nothing left for his plasma cannon.
"So what's the scheme this time, Wily?" Mega Man demanded.
Proto Man just smirked carelessly. "Bro, you wouldn't believe me even if I told you."
"Mega Man! You are ruining my film!" Dr. Wily screeched, his face turning purple.
"What?" Mega Man looked at Proto Man with raised brows, hoping for an explanation.
"He's making a monster film."
"…What?"
Dr. Wily calmed himself.
"Well, now that you've found my secret lab, let's see how you match up against this monster-bot, blue dweeb!"
Dr. Wily crossed over to a computer terminal and pulled down a large lever. At once, the electricity cut off, plunging the room into semi-darkness, the large spherical power generators on the ceiling whining down.
"Behold, Franken-bot, the most powerful robot in the world!"
Dr. Wily grabbed a corner of the tarp and threw into the ground in a swish of canvas. Underneath lay a gigantic titanium monster-bot, taller than Guts Man, bearing a heavy set jaw, thick eyebrows drawn low over golden eyes, and twin bolts on either side of his head. With an unintelligible moan like a giant and very angry baby waking up, Franken-bot stirred, tearing easily through the iron chains binding him to the table as though they were paper. His feet thudded heavily as he stepped off the operating table and to the floor.
Evelyn Wray oooed. "Mmmm, how impressive!"
The top of Franken-bot's head began to rotate like a turret, a miniature nozzle of a gun on each side, and a second later he opened fire—a purple beam striking Mega Man and knocking him backward into a pair of cylindrical power generators, which fell upon him with a crash and began sparking.
"So much for Mega Man!" Dr. Wily crowed triumphantly. Behind him, Proto Man had crossed his arms, looking annoyed. "Now, for my epic finale! Franken-bot carries off Evelyn Wray and destroys London!"
At this cue, Franken-bot lumbered clumsily over to Evelyn Wray, knocking over lab equipment with his gorilla-like arms. Stopping short in front of her, he gave a stiff bow and made a soft burbling noise. With a delicate spin, Evelyn Wray did a stage swoon as he swept her off her feet as gently as though she were a bird he was careful not to crush.
Evelyn Wray winked at Proto Man as Franken-bot tramped past. "The ending is a real tear jerker!"
"I've been crying all night, you just can't tell because of the visor."
"You're funny!" she laughed, then closing her eyes she craned her head backward, the back of her hand on her forehead.
Sweeping his cape impressively over the lower half of his face, Dracu-bot followed them with Proto Man and Dr. Wily close behind as the sparking power generators burst into flame and the laboratory began to shake.
Dragging himself to his feet again, Mega Man walked gingerly over to Time Man and was pleased to see he too was an android again, though, like Mega Man, Time Man was rubbing his jaws as though suffering a toothache and looking completely drained.
"Glad to see you back to normal," Mega Man said, helping him to his feet.
"You too. Being monster-bots doesn't suit us I'm afraid, though at least you were a friendly one...sorry about biting you, by the way," Time Man added, closing his aqua eyes and shaking his head as though to clear it.
"You remember?"
"Unfortunately." Time Man walked over to the tarp to wipe off the bottoms of his gloved hands, which were black from running around all night on the dirty floors of the castle. "I have no energy left to fight…how are we going to stop Franken-bot? We must destroy Dracu-bot as well, he's bitten Enker—"
"Let's just concentrate on getting out of here first before this broken down lab falls apart," Mega Man said soothingly as plumes of dust rained down from the ceiling.
They both froze. Something was heading straight for them; the pattering sound of something with four titanium legs was echoing down the stone corridor that branched off the back of the lab. Fearing another Wolf-bot might be loose in the castle, Mega Man and Time Man exchanged nervous glances, but a second later Rush came bounding through the back entrance, carrying a long golden spear in his mouth. He dropped it at Time Man's feet then sat back on his haunches, wagging his feet and giving a happy bark.
"That's Enker's barrier spear…" Time Man murmured worriedly, looking over at Mega Man.
Roll came skidding into the laboratory a second later.
"Ha, there you are! And you're normal again!" Roll greeted joyfully, giving Mega Man a hug and smiling brightly.
Mega Man took in her fangs, startled. "…What happened to you? Have you become a vampire?"
"Yeah, Enker bit me—but nothing else happened!" she added, for both Mega Man and Time Man's eyebrows had shot upward. "And then I found him with—never mind. Anyway, I trapped Enker up in the bell tower to keep him out of trouble while we figure out a way to get rid of his vampirism."
"Good news, all you need to do is destroy Dracu-bot and both you and Enker will return to normal," said Mega Man.
Roll hesitated. "Actually, I've been thinking, it might be cool to stay a vampire and transform into a bat whenever I want. Daylight is over rated anyway."
Time Man frowned at her. "What about Enker?"
"Oh, right," answered Roll sheepishly. "Fine, I'll take care of fang-face before he turns anyone else. Well, it was cool being a vampire while it lasted anyway…"
Mega Man shook his head ruefully at Roll as Time Man collected Enker's spear from the floor. Together, they stumbled out of the laboratory entrance as computer equipment began sparking and the roof caved in.
The Skullker had been moved outside to the scraggly lawn of Castle Cavendish while Dr. Wily, Proto Man, Cut Man, and Guts Man rode a purple disc-shaped hover platform, Cut Man bent over the eyepiece of a movie camera as Franken-bot marched before him under the full moon.
"Yes, yes, yes, that's it! Excellent, Ms. Wray! Very dramatic!" praised Dr. Wily, his voice carrying across the grounds. "Okay, Cut Man, move in closer…"
Mega Man and Time Man hovered above on Rushjet as Roll flapped beside them in bat form.
"Since I have no weapon, I'll save Evelyn Wray while you two fight off the rest," said Mega Man.
Both Time Man and Roll agreed to this plan, and as soon as Rush landed, Mega Man darted forward.
But Dr. Wily caught sight of them. With a frustrated growl, he ordered Cut Man and Guts Man to attack.
Cut Man and Guts Man leaped down from the hover platform, both panting exhaustedly and extremely cross.
"Mega Man! You're going to pay for what you did to us!" thundered Guts Man flexing his fists.
"I'm cutting you out of this movie!" joined in Cut Man, his eyes furious slits.
Roll transformed back into an android and landed in front of Cut Man and Guts Man, hissing fiercely and displaying her fangs.
"Ack! She's turned into some kind of snake woman!" cried Cut Man hysterically as he and Guts Man stepped back, trembling.
"I'm a vampire, don't you idiots know anything?" demanded Roll, her eyes flashing. "Now scram before I drain every last bar of energy from your bodies!"
Cut Man and Guts Man shouted in fright, then ran off toward the castle in panic as she gave chase.
His way unobstructed again, Mega Man rushed toward Franken-bot, lifted Evelyn Wray from his arms, and whisked her away into the forest.
Evelyn Wray gave Mega Man a started look as he put her down on a stump.
"You'll be safe here, just stay out of sight while we fight Wily," he told her before hurrying off again to rejoin the fight.
He was just in time to see a black bat dropped from the sky, and in a flash of red light Dracu-bot appeared before Time Man.
"Perhaps you did not like to being a werewolf," mused Dracu-bot, looking Time Man over. "Which is of course understandable as werewolves are most uncivilized (may Wolf-bot rest in peace). But may I entreat you to becoming a vampire like myself? Then you may join the owner of that spear!"
As he said this, Dracu-bot's eyes flashed in a mesmerizing way. Time Man suddenly found it hard to concentrate. He lifted a hand to his forehead, his other hand lowering the barrier spear—
A pointed end of a wooden stake burst suddenly out of Dracu-bot's brocade waistcoat, breaking his hypnotic hold over Time Man.
"La revedere, Doamnă Wray!" Dracu-bot cried into the sky, raising his hands. "I have been slain. Parting is such sweet sorrow. May all your nights be black as a raven's wing, and may the moon shine like—"
Dracu-bot never finished his simile. He twitched for a second, then his head and limbs fell slack, his face blank as his body slid to the ground. Behind him stood Roll, who had caught up to them after chasing off Cut Man and Guts Man.
Roll felt the points of her canines which were no longer fangs, her cheeks resuming their usual rosy hue. "Guess it worked, I'm no longer a vampire," she sighed.
Responding to Dracu-bot's destruction, a cloud of battontons engulfed Roll while squeaking angrily, their suction-cup mouths pinching her skin painfully as they bit her and tore at her hair.
While Roll was busy fending off the small robots pelting her like tennis balls fired out of a cannon, Mega Man, Time Man, and Rush circled Franken-bot.
Franken-bot had not liked the change of events at all. As soon as Evelyn Wray left his arms, he began to roar like an enraged bull, the turret on his head whirring furiously as he rocked from side to side, looking for her. Purple lasers were being fired in all directions, blasting the outer walls of the castle, drawing charred lines in the ground, and demolishing nearby boulders, one shot nearly hitting Dr. Wily's hover platform.
"Watch where you're shooting, you nincompoop!" Dr. Wily shouted as he swerved out of the way, his hands steadying the camera while Proto Man held onto a guard rail.
Mega Man was doing his best to help Rush keep Franken-bot's attention divided, yet one of the lasers still caught Rush, sending him flying into the moat. Another one would have hit Time Man, but swinging the barrier spear deftly Time Man reflected the laser back at Franken-bot.
The blast was devastating to Franken-bot's unarmored body. His joints sparked ominously and he fell backward onto the ground with a crash like a tree falling.
There was a beat in which Mega Man and Time Man waited tensely, then Evelyn Wray came rushing out of the forest and fell to her knees at Franken-bot's side, her black cloak pooling gracefully around her.
Franken-bot's head swiveled toward her. "You come back," he uttered in a stiff, halting voice.
"Of course I came back. I couldn't let them…" she trailed off and embraced them. "Oh this is all my fault. If only I'd gotten here sooner—"
"At least Franken-bot see you one…last…time…"
His voice trailed off and his head rolled to the last of his circuits whirred to a stop.
"No, no! Please! Please! Please don't leave me! I love you!" Evelyn Wray whispered in a quaking voice, then she collapsed into the his vest of steel plate and brass buttons and began to sob.
For a moment, both Mega Man and Time Man were lost for words.
"But…we had to destroy the Monster-bots…" Mega Man said finally, feeling crestfallen.
"How tragic…" added Time Man, looking stricken.
"I dunno, this ending seems derivative of something to me," yawned Roll, who was using a baseball bat to strike battontons into a distant field.
Suddenly, Evelyn Wray stood up and faced them, wiping the tears from her face in a business-like way. "What do you think? Stunning ending, huh?" she asked, smiling radiantly. "Just promise me one thing that you won't spoil it before everyone gets a chance to see it in theaters!"
Mega Man and Time Man blinked at her.
Above, Dr. Wily, the last of his Monster-bots defeated, gave an enraged screech from the hover platform. "You've wrecked all my shots, you meddling eyesores! How dare you interfere!"
Time Man pointed Enker's barrier spear at Dr. Wily and shouted, "Albert W. Wily, you are once under arrest for illegally trespassing, reprogramming officers of the Robot International Police, and the practice of mad science upon said officers!"
Dr. Wily harrumphed. "Next time keep your meddling noses out of my business if you'd like to keep them the way they are!" he fired back.
Then he blanched and dropped the movie camera to the ground as Time Man hurtled the spear. It hit the bottom of the hover platform, which careened off course, dumping Proto Man and Dr. Wily into a slushy pond.
Time Man darted forward to intercept Dr. Wily, but Dr. Wily stood up and whipped out the Reprogramming Raygun out of his sopping wet lab coat and pointed it at Time Man.
"I know you have no energy left to fire your miserable Time Slow this time! Come closer so I can put you to good use as an obedient soldier in my robot army!"
Time Man scowled at Dr. Wily, forced to keep his distance lest he come into range of the Reprogramming Raygun. Dr. Wily grinned toothily back, then splashed off toward the Skullker.
Proto Man would have followed but instead gave a sharp hiss as he was jerked backward—Mega Man had caught him and was holding his arm twisted behind his back.
"Ha! Thought so! I could smell you were damaged when I was a wolf-bot!" Mega Man said in his ear.
"Umm…what?" Proto Man got out through clenched teeth.
"Wolf-ish instincts, or something," Mega Man explained, keeping his grip tight while Proto Man squirmed in discomfort. "So what happened? You're always boasting about how tough you are…who on earth did you lose a fight to?"
"No one you want to get to know, trust me."
"No offense, but any enemy of yours is probably an ally of mine, Proto Man."
Ahead, Cut Man and Guts Man were sprinting toward the Skullker, waving their arms desperately as Roll and Rush chased them, meanwhile Time Man had retrieved Enker's spear and was cleaning on the grass.
"Looks like you have some broken titanium supports," Mega Man continued, pulling Proto Man away from the Skullker and toward the forest. "That happened to Roll last year when she fought Air Man. Takes awhile to fix, huh? Sorry to take advantage of your current injury, but I've had a looong night, and you really should have a doctor look at that shoulder…"
"That's what Wily's for," stated Proto Man, reaching into his scarf. He withdrew something small and silvery, and a second later Mega Man experienced a sharp blinding pain that propelled him backward into a clump of dead grass.
"Mini Thunder Beam, in case of emergency," said Proto Man, stowing the chalk-sized device back into his scarf. "Guess that's a wrap…for now."
Proto Man darted off, a red blur in the misty twilight, leaping safely into the back of the Skullker with Cut Man and Guts Man before either Roll or Time Man could intercept them. The Skullker promptly rose from the castle grounds, kicking off a cloud of dust and disappearing into the lightening sky.
Roll, Rush, and Time Man joined Mega Man at the edge of the woods.
"Looks like we stoped Dr. Wily from storming England with his monster-bots," Roll announced smugly.
"I think we only know the half of it," said Mega Man, catching sight of the discarded movie camera lying on the ground.
After Dr. Wily had fled, Roll, Mega Man, and Time Man spent the remainder of the night sweeping through Castle Cavendish to destroy the remainder of Dr. Wily's works, freeing Enker from the bell tower and Gravity Man and Knight Man from their misfortunes.
Tornado Man was found next to a heap of wriggling robot limbs. When he was told about what had happened to the rest of the R.I.P. officers that night and how close he himself had been to becoming a Zombie-bot, he only laughed and thought they were having him on.
When it became time for the R.I.P. officers to return to their headquarters, Time Man thanked Mega Man again for rescuing them from being stuck as robo-wolves, and joked that every adventure they had been on together had involved the moon somehow.
Roll and Enker parted ways rather awkwardly.
Enker first thanked Roll for trapping him up in the tower and from further disgrace while acting as a vampire. Then, eyeing Time Man out of the corner of his eye as though asking for help, Enker had rattled off that he thought Roll was a nice bot, but he'd rather date someone he'd known for awhile, that neither of them would be happy with a long distance relationship, and that he hoped they'd remain friends.
Roll seemed to sincerely agree with him on all these points, but she also had a frustrated look about her a though she'd like to punch him about something unrelated but was holding herself back with great dignity.
The next day, Evelyn Wray invited Mega Man, Roll, and Dr. Light to a private theater in London owned by Dr. Umlauf and used to pre-screen movies.
Evelyn Wray and Dr. Umlauf greeted each other with two brief pecks on the cheek (Dr. Umlauf's wife was the executive producer for the Acme Network in America) then they settled down in the red leather seats to watch the rough-cut of Dr. Wily's movie.
"Well, it had a beginning, middle, and end," said Mega Man in the moment of silence after the last scene cut to black.
"That's actually…good?" added Roll, looking over at him with raised brows.
"Yeah, horror's not my thing, but I think I'd actually watch that again," said Mega Man. "Who'd a thought, Wily, a film director. It's a shame he went into world domination instead of making movies."
"He did take a lot of film electives in college," put in Dr. Light thoughtfully. "Very entertaining, Ms. Wray," he added.
Evelyn Wray twisted around from her seat in the front row to face them. "We'll have to add a few scenes to make it feature length," she said matter-of-factly. "Night of the Living Monster Bots: Directed by Dr. Wily, staring and produced by Evelyn Wray. It'll be a smash hit, those special effects were unbelievable."
"Those weren't special effects," Mega Man informed her.
"Mmmm how interesting!" said Evelyn Wray, as though not really paying attention.
Dr. Umlauf tapped Mega Man's shoulder. "Zee monster-bots' bodies have been recovered from zee castle. I am taking zem back to R.I.P. headquarters so Dr. Ramu and I can analyze their technology," he told him. "We must make sure zat bastard Wily cannot do somezing like zis again."
"Good idea," said Mega Man gratefully.
Dr. Umlauf nodded. "Afterwards, I will remove zeir weapons, reprogram zem, zen Evelyn can take zee lot back wiz her to Hollywood."
Mega Man frowned at this news. "…What? Why?"
Dr. Umlauf shrugged. "She wants to make a sequel with zem, or a spin-off series. She zought zey were all very sweet, and I do no want zem. Bullshit transforming technology aside, I think zey are built cheaply, but perhaps zey shall make okay television robots."
"It figures," Mega Man sighed. "Though I personally (this movie aside) would be okay if I never saw a monster-bot again."
Next time on Mega Man Recut…
Dr. Light finally unveils his secret project and tasks Mega Man and Roll to safeguard the new robot on a journey to a secret research facility in California. Proto Man and a team of Robot Masters attempt to steal the robot for Skull Fortress, but they face steep competition when the Syndicate also shows interest...tune in next time for Brain Bots!