Mega Man-The Missing Episodes-Season One

by SailorSaiyan93

Season 3 and onward. With Russians, Rivals, more Robot Masters, and the schemes of Wily becoming more dangerous, Mega Man must contend with all of these threats, all the while his moral compass is put to the test, and struggles to stand for justice, just as long as he doesn't lose what it truly means. Episode 7 underway! R&R, please!

36. Little Distractions Part 4

Note: Hello everyone! It's FINALLY here! I have a trip to Myrtle coming up soon, so I wanted to get this done before that comes. Though I'm wondering if maybe this format would work, as I'm still experimenting. The chapters would be longer, yet will take longer to come out. Or would you want it the other way around, or are you indifferent? I have to admit, I want to sort of get into doing more short, side things, such as one-shots and the like. Also, I noticed a few errors on my part in naming some things, such as the Skulker. I've heard it both ways, Skulker and Skull Carrier. I've even seen it spelt as 'Skullker'. If you know the for sure correct name and spelling, don't be afraid to say so! Anyhow, Thank you for your patience, and here's part 4 of episode 6!

Chapter 36-Little Distractions Part 4

Mega Man © of Capcom

He didn't know if it would've been better to be out there or in here, for from what Mega Man was seeing, as well as hearing, the chaos seemed to be determined to follow them, more specifically, him, wherever he went. The first thing that they had done was simple: barge in through the front door after disembarking (and rather haphazardly) and parking outside of the house, and head straight towards the lab. It would've been somewhat shocking and earning some reproach from him when Roll had quite literally kicked open the door, yet from the looks of the Robot Master she had set down on the operating table, frankly, Mega found he probably would've done the same thing (guilt about the improperness of it aside). From there, after what he had hoped to be a brief moment of relief from outside, if not just for the fact that relief would allow him to be patched up just enough to go out and fulfill what he should've been here for in the first place, what he was so easily deceived into leaving unprotected...no such luck.

"That's good! Keep him right there!" yet at the current moment, Oil Man was in more need of urgent care than he was.

Roll had essentially, whether it was due to the opportunity presenting itself or the urgency of getting the Robot Master in a better condition, took the reins and drove head on. The moment they had entered the lab, she went into the storage closet and began messily throwing out and knocking down whatever potential item she could that she deemed to be potentially beneficial in getting Oil Man back...together? None of them were too sure of what to call his current state, yet a good degree of his outer 'coat' had melted away, particularly on his facial regions. Yet down it came: adhesives of all kinds. Automotive repair, seam sealers, windshield and leak sealants, epoxies, rubber repairs, threadlockers, wear resistant, even more basic, rudimentary items such as super glue guns and duck tape. Anything and from the items littering the floor being the visual aid, at least nearly everything that could make things stick together was being added to the pile.

"Shouldn't we try linking him to the main computer in here if just to see his-" Quake Woman began to try and suggest; yet Roll cut her off.

"No time for that now! He's already going offline as it is!"

Mega Man was standing over the barely conscious Robot Master, he having apparently either lost his hearing or simply didn't have the strength to tell the two that they both were literally screaming into his audio unit (wherever those were, there weren't any to be seen). Even more reason to hurry. Though, even if it was selfishly, he wished to be getting out of here and to his duty as quick as possible, yet comparing the two, the azure robot knew well that Oil Man needed urgent care more. Whilst there appeared to be no evident damage to his core, his chest, though burnt, mostly intact, it far from comforted him. The head was the place were the seemed to be the most damage, and whilst his core would probably be all right; those vital systems in his CPU located there were at potential risk. Though the core in itself was what was needed for a machine to be able to essentially 'survive', other portions of them notwithstanding (Mega being more than knowledgeable of that), potential damage to the CPU was not exactly a good exchange either. Any alterations to that, and whilst yes, the machine could essentially be 'revived', there was no guarantee that they'd be as they were before. He himself had come dangerously close to that once, courtesy of a monorail and Guts Man's Super Arm...and even now, much of what happened afterwards were things that he didn't exactly want to ponder on.

Eddie had popped out an E-tank for the purpose of giving the android much needed energy, yet when poured into his mouth, most, if not all of it, simply spilt out to the floor through the gaping hole in his lower jaw.

"Lather this on him for me." Roll commanded, shoving a whole bucket of wear resistant into Quake Woman's arms, of which were damaged and crack in of themselves while she then proceeded to seize Mega Man's hands as he attempted to grab a tube of sealant. "You are getting yourself sealed up."

"What about Rush?" both Roll and Mega Man shifted their view towards Tempo, who was, while doing what she could with the now open bucket, messily slathering the contents all over Oil Man's burnt facial features. Of course, while it wasn't entirely directed towards her, the growing frustration made Roll's features contort into a furious glare directed right at the drill-bearing Robot Master, who in turn took the hint with a responding look of fright and went back to slathing.

Indeed, what ABOUT Rush? The poor dog was standing in the corner of the room and keeping quiet, yet it was clear that he wasn't in the best condition either, having taken a good burn from Fire Man's namesake as well. Though Wily was still here in New York, where he was really going, where he was wanting to go...he would need Rush definitely then. Unless the Number 2 Item had been mended, he not entirely sure of its status and with the time Light had been constructing the Mobile Suit...it only added yet another problem into an already hazardous mix, and though she would never say it, Roll couldn't mend both him and Rush on her own with Tempo trying to care for Oil Man. Not in the span of time needed to prevent Wily from creating even more destruction.

"I TOLD YOU TO HOLD HIS HEAD UP!" even if self-appointed, head nurse Roll said otherwise. She delivered her rather vocal command at Tempo, who had been in a position that essentially rendered her to be placing on whatever she was told onto the Robot Master's facial features, none of which seemed to be doing much.

Tempo herself wasn't in the best of conditions herself, Mega Man pondering as to whether or not the damage apparent on her outer shell would transfer to her more 'humanoid' form, yet given that she hadn't done so, that was a possibility.

"It's not working!" the pig tailed Robot Master stated in a panic, gesturing towards Oil Man's burnt portions on his face, the solvent not meshing with his face. While the portions where the black, oily substance coating him had been completely eradicated had stayed in place, those touching or lying atop of some that managed to stay attached to his face began to slip right off, as if the two didn't mesh together at all.

"What do you mean it's not working?!" Roll demanded, not as openly displaying it as Quake Woman, yet she too was startled by this development.

"Look!" the Robot Master gestured, the blonde housekeeper looking over and seeing for herself, the solvent beginning to come off and drip to the floor. "Why isn't it working? I thought you said that this would work!" why did she do this? She shouldn't have come...she knew she shouldn't have come, she shouldn't have come... What are we supposed to do!?"

"Try something else!" was all Roll could offer, her utility arm drawing out a hair dryer.

"Like what?!"

"I don't know! Try them all if you have to!"

"Eddie ready to give more energy-"

"It won't do any good if that hole isn't sealed up!"

Mega Man wanted to speak, wanted, NEEDED to say something to perhaps lessen the chaos that had been present, yes, but now, it was getting far too much for everyone. The very reason they were even here and in this state, especially Oil Man...it was that moment he found himself at a loss for words.

"Who are-ugh! Hey! Come back here!"

Though from the sound of it, he wouldn't even get the chance, as multiple pairs of footsteps could be heard drawing near the lab, one of which was behind and calling for them to stop.

"You can't enter there! You have no authorization to-"

"Badge gives it to me, ya oversized clock! Some of your screws must be loose, because there's no 'time' for either of us to be bickering!"

The identity of at least one of them didn't need any pondering at all. The entrance was thrust open, revealing the deduced, grizzled Gilbert Stern along with a rather irritable Time Man that had assumedly been shoved aside to allow entrance. Yet the third party, the one in Stern's current custody...frankly, neither of the two humans were exactly a welcome sight, given the circumstances.

"What are you doing here?" Roll inquired, then gesturing to the rather frazzled, and oddly dirt covered Kalinka. "With her?! We're kinda busy here!"

"I could be asking you all the same." Stern responded. "Why'd you all just come on over here? Didn't you see what was going on outside-"

"Oil Man?!" though the fact Time Man had pushed the older human out of the way in the same manner he had previously done to him was somewhat satisfying to the prototype, any sort of small bit of karma Stern received mattered not when his eyes saw who was atop of the operating table. "What's the meaning of this?!" he demanded, rushing forward and gazing down in horror at the fellow DLN. "Who was responsible for this?!"

"Look!" Roll was reaching her limit, even if said limit was just mere inches away, roughly ushering Stern into the lab, all the while dragging Time Man back away from the table, nearly throwing him right into Kalinka. "Wait outside or whatever, but if you're not going to help, then best thing is for you to stay out for awhile. But you!"

"What? H-Hey! Ow!" before Kalinka could even remark or demand that Roll cease her grip on her arm, she was dragged right in through the door.

"I've still got to dry Mega and Rush off, but get to helping Tempo on Oil Man-"

"What you're doing won't be any good." Time Man interrupted. "Those solvents won't do anything for him."

What? Oh, great, Roll thought, groaning. "There's only one thing that can help him be mended back to how he was before. Let me in and I'll show it to you."

From what he had seen, the chaos outside had just been more contained and transported to the inside of this room, and the one he had come to see was currently being dried off (albeit, forcibly as Mega Man attempted to get out of his sister's grasp several times for her to only push him down again) and judging from the cracks covering portions of his outer shell, would need some stitching up (or whatever the equivalent for a machine would be). But nevertheless, the azure robot was here now, and thus, the chance of all of this madness being put to a stop would be stronger than ever. Krantz's rescue would be stronger than ever...yet even then, it'd only for so long.

New York City

It had taken all three of them some time to even realize they stopped. Whilst at first, neither Light, Krantz, or Mayor Parson would think they'd ever become desensitized to the high velocity at which they were traveling, yet lo and behold, it was more of a shock to their systems when said, enforced, rate of travel came to an abrupt halt, the wheels on the Mobile Suit's heels screeching loudly to the point of almost deafening until they stopped as well. After what had felt to them a good few hours of nonstop madness with no rest and moment to stop, everything had become just that: still and silent.

From inside the suit, the tan, red haired woman was panting quite a bit, even if for the most part, her legs had been immobile, her arms having punched and smacked the inside of the piece of machinery to the point where she suspected she had probably bruised herself. Though she hadn't herself been moving, she was accumulating a good bit of sweat, her arm wiping away some newly formed droplets off of her forehead. 'Not the best time, I know...' she thought, the only thing coming out of her mount being long, deep exhales. 'But maybe putting a few fans in here wouldn't be that bad of an idea, Doc.'

It was then that she felt herself, or rather, her moving prison, begin to move again. All three prisoners were apprehensive, yet they found that the Mobile Suit was simply being made to turn around, as if the one dictating its movements had something to show them. Indeed, there was a sight to be seen, yet it was far from one that any of them wished to view: overturned cars, either thrown into walls of brick or through large displays of nearby establishments, though most appeared to simply be stacked atop of each other in a tangled, chaotic heap with no sense of order, metal so misshapen it was unlikely any of them would ever run again. Headlights were either completely torn from their original place and scattered all over the place, and essentially, anything that wasn't either hidden away in one of the areas behind a door or a small place in between buildings was fit to be torn asunder and reduced to a crippled, crumpled shell of what it once had been, whether it be vehicle, simple public decoration, or even something as simple as a hot dog stand. At this point, neither of them were too sure of how far they had exactly traveled, yet one thing was for sure: the surrounding public seemed to, and from the severe lack of any living soul in the area, it was likely that none of them would be making their way out anytime soon unless they had to or were already trapped underneath some of the damage lying about, the later possibility concerning them the most.

"Quite a mess you made down there, Ms. Krantz." Wily noted from above, the appropriately named Wily Machine 2 hovering out of reach, yet still above the area where his earthbound 'puppet' was stationed, hand still clutched tightly on the device that allowed him to control said 'puppet'. "Of course, it is a little unfair of me to put ALL of the blame on you. After all..." he sneered. "You just have to give the 'okay', Thomas, and all of this will be over!"

From inside the confines of the suit's insides, Krantz furrowed her brow and grit her teeth, her legs feeling, while not exactly as energized as they once hand, at least felt somewhat ready to begin another kicking frenzy at the hatch. What Wily was implying...honestly, she didn't know what to do, had she been in Light's position. Yes, whilst technically, she would have to put such an important piece of information and work above her life, at the moment; it wasn't her life at risk. Nor was it Light's, or probably even the Mayor's. Even if they haven't any as of yet, there had to be some people, someone at least that was heavily injured by all of this. Maybe even...

"Well?" the mad doctor from above asked again. "I'm waiting for an answer, Tommy boy!" Mayor Parson, even as unintentional as it was, shifted his gaze towards his fellow captive, whom held his head downward. He didn't know what Wily was referring to, let alone what the other robotics expert had to do with any of this, even in a way that wasn't negative. Yet the city, HIS city...and the people that probably already could've been hurt. His son had gone to see his dear friend today too, would he be at risk as well, for surely he'd be trying to take his friend outside after being confined to a bed for so long since her accident. "Fine then." Wily answered, taking Light's silence as declining to once again give into his demands. "Let's take another little trip around town." a few moments passed, yet the enthusiasm in his voice indicated that their proposed next destination was nowhere that any of them wished to go. "Maybe we could swing by the Brooklyn Bridge! Course, it's usually so flooded with traffic around this time...but that's not a problem! People DO float last time I checked!"

"WAIT!"

Parson and Krantz, as well as Wily directed their collective attention to who just cried out, his fists balled up and clenching to the point his knuckles began to mimic the color of his hair. Dr. Light still held his face downward, yet gone was the stalwart, unrelenting defiance that he had previously displayed towards the madman above. He knew well that the other two with him wouldn't like what he was going to do. Hell, they very well might hate him for it, Krantz's partner certainly wouldn't like it in the least, and perhaps, in a way, Kouin wouldn't either. Yet...yet too much had been done. "Fine. You...you win." Too much had been done, and too many people could've...no, there had to have been people who have been hurt because of this. Ultimately, it was better, in a way, which he be the one to deal with this than several other innocents that had nothing to do with this in the slightest. "Do you hear me? I'll go with you! I'll go with you to where you want to go, but please...just please, Albert, stop this. Please...please?"

He couldn't raise his head up to face the Mayor or Krantz, and he sure as hell couldn't face Albert at this time. Both of the two held hostage with the doctor couldn't believe what they had heard at first. The fact that Dr. Light was surrendering himself to the lunatic, that he was essentially giving himself up...now, truly, the only rescue they had now was that single, blue robot.

"Glad we've come to an understanding, old friend." of course, that in itself was far from a good thing per say, especially as the fact still remained that they were still in this madman's hands. "But if that's the case, you and I both know that we can't afford to be followed, so I'm going to have to provide a certain someone with a bit of entertainment to keep him busy!"

Light Residence-Laboratory

Inside Storage Room

For as much of a mess as the storage closet had been reduced to, Roll's hurried gathering not doing much for that (yet if anyone asked, this was the ONLY time when she was responsible for anything getting in such a state). Yet even still, it seemed that Time Man had more than enough of a good idea on where to go, having taken the lead of the trio and navigating through the strewn out clutter that had been knocked off the shelves. At the very least, nothing too large had been knocked over and mainly was situated near the front of the closet.

"You two just stay near the entrance." Time Man told the two following him. "It'll take too much time with you just fiddling around."

Quake Woman (or Tempo, yet given the form she was in, her actual designated name was what she confirmed to be the most 'appropriate') found herself somewhat befuddled, as if he was simply going to take that route, why did they even waste their time in following him? Neither she or the human girl beside her had even really began to traverse forward over the fallen items, and not to mention, from the looks of it, Time Man was having himself a bit of a slowdown getting over it as well. Nevertheless, she was more than content to not have to go any further, unlike the human, or that scowl on her features was simply from the other Robot Master's comment on them being a liability. She'd take it either way though, for something called a 'storage closet', it certainly appeared to be rather long and more than decently spacious. Spacious and dark, the lighting minimal at best, shadows seeming to almost be eating up the floor. Time Man himself was getting harder and harder to see the further in he went. Oddly enough, her creator's method of using the kiddie toy out in the yard seemed leagues better than taking another step in here, she soon averting her eyes from looking forward any longer.

"So, where are you from?" Perhaps that's why the human's voice startled her so, nearly jumping into a nearby shelf the moment she became aware of it. Of course, as soon as it happened, Quake Woman had realized what she had probably just done in making herself look so foolish, the blonde's green eyes wide in shock and a twinge of humor at how quickly she jumped.

Why did she even go in the first place?

"Yes?" she asked, alerting Kalinka she had heard her inquiry, yet still averted her eyes from her studying, judging gaze. The latter might've not been entirely accurate, yet the Robot Master knew the human would see eventually that something was up with her. She KNEW it. "You spoke, correct?"

"Yes...I did." Kalinka answered, brow rising at the android's response.

From that reaction, one could've assumed she had just inquired her about some potential, deep, dark secret that had to be kept hidden away at all times. Yet what sort of sense would that make, machines wouldn't have any need for secrets. They were machines! This was a fact that she had known all her life, both from her own Papa's work and the pages of all those manuals he possessed. Yet this pig tailed robot's reaction, trying to divert attention from herself...Kalinka felt that 'fact' somewhat...while not exactly challenged, but...something about it wasn't as certain.

'Especially with that scarf wearing bot'

Yet that wouldn't be allowed to come. Not now. He...he only brought frustration whenever he showed up, whether in person or in her head.

"Where are you from?" the Russian repeated. "Or, who's your creator, if you need specifics."

"Oh, my creator!" Quake Woman exclaimed, pondering as to why she didn't understand as such before. What else could 'where are you from' mean? Well, aside from several other possibilities, yet wording aside, if it would get her to not continue studying her as if she were suspicious (she knew. She didn't know how, but the human knew. She HAD to know from that look she was giving), then by all means, she would answer. "Doctor Noelle LaLinde." though she didn't ask for it, just in case she would..."DLN-001, referred to as Tempo but official title is Quake Woman."

Doctor Noelle LaLinde...LaLinde?! "Did you say LaLinde?!" Kalinka exclaimed, having gotten right up in the android's befuddled yet somewhat startled face at the rate the human moved at the mere mention of her creator's name.

"Yes?" Quake Woman answered, the fact she was making it evident the girl was getting too close for her comfort seeming to either not matter or go completely over her head. "There's a reason that this...'excites' you?" Was that the right term? Frankly, the girl looked almost completely ecstatic.

"Papa knows her!" Kalinka answered, still far too close for the android's liking. "She's met Papa before!"

"Papa? As in a father?" the pig tailed Robot Master questioned. For someone the blonde Russian's age (mid teens, she assumed, perhaps bordering into older), she would've expected more mature language from her. It sounded so juvenile.

"Well, of course! What else would it mean?" Kalinka retorted. The robot still quirked her brows at her, this sense of referring to a parental figure as something like 'Papa' or 'Mama' not exactly able to be swallowed. It seemed to denote the amount of respect that they were required in her eyes. Though Kalinka had just made up her mind that this particular android was just being weird. "Anyway, surely your creator, your Mama, told you about him! Mikhail Cossack?"

Mikhail Cossack...that name, it didn't appear in any of the recent records in her memory bank, yet the ones that she had been given access to...the days before..."Yes. I register that the name is indeed recorded. Though I have no image to pair it up with, at least not in the sense I ever met him face to face."

Yet the answer she was given, "No." it set the unshakable certainty reaching its peak into a state of questioning and above all, pure shock. "Yet from you referring to him as 'Papa'," Quake Woman still couldn't wrap her mind around such informal language being used for a 'creator'. "You are saying that you are a child of his?"

"What else would I be?!" the human answered, exasperated. If it weren't for the fact that she didn't appear to be the type to do so, Kalinka would've assumed that she was intentionally doing this to irritate her. "Kalinka!" she stated, placing a hand on her chest. "Kalinka Tatiana Cossack! His one and only dóchenka!"

Dóchenka? Quake Woman needed no indication that the word held origin in the girl's native land, yet the term of endearment seemed to indicate that it was more than just a girl remarking to a simple relation. It spoke of something far deeper, something that the Robot Master found herself somewhat unable to entirely grasp at that moment, and the sparse moments she did, she pushed them aside, not wishing to explore further. Yet what this 'Kalinka' had stated about being Cossack's child, "I..." she only had one answer she could give. "There's no record of you anywhere."

From his position, all the way in the back of the small (yet large for a storage) space, Time Man held little idea of what those two were going on about, yet all the same, it was not his concern nor did he have any care to know. Compared to the real reason he was in here, paying attention to their idle chatter would really be a waste of time. Both his and Oil Man's. Against the most northern wall, at the very end of the space, the Robot Master felt along the smooth surface, the lighting not exactly the greatest, and what he was looking for not the largest of objects either.

CLICK!

Nevertheless, he found it, the panel stationed on the far left, just where a small section of the wall began to push outwards as if it were a drawer, sitting in the small containment being what he had sought. Just as Dr. Light had told him and his fellow prototype in case the latter would need such a thing during their concealed development. Of course, technically, HE was considered complete and ready to be put to work. Whilst Time Man on the other hand…

His silence was a stark contrast, however, to the near frantic girl going out on the female Robot Master, whilst not intending to seem overly aggressive, Quake Woman found the blonde to be getting a little too much to handle, finally having enough and holding her off to keep her from getting closer. "What are you talking about?!" she continued to ask though. "What do you mean there's no record of me!"

"Exactly as I said." Quake Woman explained, yet AGAIN. Did this human simply have selective hearing or something of the like? "There's no record of you, past or present, in my memory bank." Kalinka was about to speak again. "And no. Mother-" wait, she didn't mean to say that. Nor did she mean to slight traces of anger that tried to seep into her features. "Dr. LaLinde, I mean, never mentioned anything about Cossack ever having a child."

Her pushing against the robot's extended hands keeping her away immediately ceased, Kalinka swearing that the moment those words reached her ears, it was very possible that her heart had stopped. Never mentioned anything about Cossack ever having a child...what?! She moved her lips up and down, tongue moving back and forth, curling to try and form words, yet none came. Even more, just as she began to be able to form sound again-

"Here"

Both Quake Woman and Kalinka directed their attention towards the source of the voice, Time Man having returned from his voyage to the back of the storage closet (though it was certainly larger than any closet the Robot Master had seen, Kalinka though only judged it was a bit bigger than the one she previously owned), holding out two containers that, while seemed to resemble ordinary tins, seemed to be filled to the brim with some strange, dark substance.

"Take these over to the table and begin placing it on Oil Man where he's damaged." the prototype ordered, placing one container in the grasp of each of the two with him. Quake Woman had no problem, yet Kalinka could've sworn her arm was about to come off the moment she was handed the container.

"What IS this?" Kalinka groaned, attempting to keep it up, thinking that perhaps she could simply hand it over to the robot beside her.

"It's essentially what he's made up of." Time Man declared. "To an extent. A special type of oil-based substance that also runs through his dispenser. And," he turned his attention to Quake Woman. "Unlike that solvent, it's the only thing that's going to do any good for him."

"Not exactly." Kalinka added. "In case you're unaware, he's got more than a few wires hanging out of places, and probably will need those-"

"Then do it if you're so inclined to." Time Man shot back. "But for now, that's not the most important thing. He can go on for a bit with some of them disconnected, yet that hole in his head needs to be sealed up to make sure that the contents of Eddie's E tanks will be able to get to where they need to go."

Outside Storage Closet

"So, let's go over this again." as much as Mega Man had wished to inquisitively ask 'again?', and Roll herself would've done it for him had she not been currently busy, both of them kept their mouths sealed shut. "You went to the Refinery," Stern began, recounting the events that lead to where they all were now. "They attacked you guys, but Oil Man over there got burnt real bad, so in his best interest, you brought him back here for repairs on him and yourselves, right?"

The Blue Bomber nodded, a pull from Roll at his side reminding him though that her demands of 'little movement' were to be met. "Yes, sir."

"But that also means that the place is still at the mercy of those three?"

It would've been a useless gesture, yet at that moment, Mega Man found that he wished he could actually swallow, the act of wishing to out of anxiousness at what he would have to say next only making the desire stronger. "...technically speaking...yes."

Unfortunately, it would've gotten out to Gilbert Stern one way or another, the grizzled, older man throwing up his arms, completely exasperated. "Oh, lovely. Absolutely freakin' lovely!"

Turning his back, the pony-tailed blonde took the opportunity, using her now free hands to openly flip the human off. Mega Man immediately put her hands down, his eyes wide and head frantically shaking 'no, no, no!', yet this just earned him a flick on the head. "I told you to keep still!" she grabbed the only roll of tape left. "I'm not done yet."

"I'm the 'big' brother here." the azure robot mumbled. "I should be telling YOU that giving a government agent the bird is a very, VERY big 'no-no'." he mumbled, yet that was all he did. He knew well that even if she heard him, or maybe she did given the look she gave, yet all the same, she didn't care.

It wasn't that he couldn't share in her frustration, far from it, if anything, as much as he was containing himself (something of which he envied Roll for being able to not care about such things at the moment), he was the most frustrated person (or bot) here. Even if being here wasn't exactly a retreat, more of a recoup for the damage already suffered, he wanted just the smallest bit of peace so that he could get back out and make this all right.

'Sort of a recoup for you failing today. And the day Shadow Man came in your home, and the day you failed to save Dr. Kouin-'

STOP! He cut the train of thought instantly, lest he give in to the scream developing in his vocal box. He...yes. He failed. He failed then, and today, but...but now he would be able to get back up and do something about it! Though it was not exactly the most professional of jobs and the press for time meant improvisation, Roll was doing a good enough job with 'repairs'. After drying his and Rush's cracked areas where water had seeped in (poor Rush having a gaping hole), she began wrapping, or more appropriately, 'semi-mummifying' them with rolls of duct tape. The Blue Bomber's chest plate (over his left shoulder), his right arm above where his buster nozzle would pop out, his upper left thigh, and around his right ankle, were wrapped in layers of silvery tape. Rush had been dealt with before his sister started with him, he perhaps having more layers on him than he did, yet given that Roll was having to cover up a literal hole in him, it was more than warranted. Even more, Time Man, Quake Woman, and Kalinka had made their exit with containers of some strange substance, making their way over to the operating table, Eddie eagerly awaiting their arrival, Oil Man still and silent as he had been before.

Agent Stern was still off to the side, back turned and grumbling about this entire predicament.

"What they were there to collect was what I still don't get." It was somewhat selfish on his part, he knew, yet Mega Man found his mouth opening and beginning to address the human that was giving every signal he could to show he wasn't interested in talking. He had to say something though, if just to slightly compensate for his earlier failure. It seemed that this very information was what got his attention.

"Like what, exactly?" Stern questioned, one thick brow rising.

"Things like kerosene, rocket fuel, things that seem to be more specific than simply collecting anything and everything."

"Old bastard's multi-tasking today, it looks like. Well, you were there." the human agent stated. "You have any theories as to what the hell any of that's going to be used for?"

It was just an assumption, not entirely unwarranted, but still, it was just an assumption. Yet at that moment, his memory bank was bringing up the particular incident that came before the entire fiasco involved with this damned suit being made (even if it was still just a prototype), that night when he, Brain Bot, and Time Man were wandering around in the bowels of that skull adorned fortress. What those three at the refinery were there to collect (and probably were now, thanks to his inability, he told himself) and that thing releasing that large blast of fire at them, which would've surely incinerated all of them had it not been for Rush's intervention...Mega Man just found that those two things somehow seemed to 'click'. Though when relaying this to Gilbert Stern, he made it clear that it was just an assumption, as whilst both he and Agent Krantz were aware of what he reported on seeing after successfully rescuing the two robots, no such theory as to what it was had been made aside from just some 'huge deadly new Wily machine'.

"So, basically, you think that they might be getting stuff or whatever for that 'thing' living in the crackpot's basement?" Stern questioned, the blue robot in turn nodding. "Okay, great. We've got ONE possibility, even if it's like you said, an assumption. But you never really said what that 'thing' even was. That'd kinda be more than a little helpful in this especially."

Roll was about to open her mouth, yet Mega Man intercepted. Whatever she was probably going to say, even as much as perhaps he wanted to, it would've only made things worse. "In all fairness, sir, neither of us had the chance as we were running for our lives and one was certainly not in the best of conditions."

"He's getting around to doing something with it NOW." Stern added. "You said that thing breathed fire or whatever, so it's obvious it's yet ANOTHER sort of weaponized machine, which means it SOMETHING else that we might have to keep our eyes out for!" ultimately, he found that he couldn't find it in himself to go on, slapping the palm of his hand on his head. "Day's gone to hell in a hand basket, and it's not even over yet." Yet for all his complaining...there was something he could do now. Better yet, there was something that Mega Man could do now. "But at least that damned suit can be stopped."

It wasn't probably the best course of action, yet Roll herself stopped her bandaging upon hearing that, she and Mega Man now completely transfixed on Stern. "An officer, one of the robots, he said something about a switch or disc, or whatever being put on the suit and this is what's allowing Wily to control it."

This...this was perfect. No, truly, this was perfect! This was what he needed! All of it made sense now! He KNEW that it shouldn't have ever been moved! He KNEW it!

"Look, before you go on with a 'I told you so' spiel, would it be too much to ask for it to wait until AFTER Krantz and the Mayor are at least safe?" what was he doing, bargaining to get out of something so small? It wasn't as if he had any control over where that thing went! Nevertheless, ultimately, Stern himself was far guiltier than Mega Man was in this. Especially now that he had just inadvertently put his own partner in danger. "But...I mean it when I say that...I am sorry. Sorry about not...taking your concerns into account." oh yes, he was more than sorry. Both to him, and...he couldn't speak anymore, the brittleness becoming too evident, he eventually having to turn away from the two pairs of eyes gazing upon him.

Roll, while respecting her brother's wishes in not possibly making the tension rise anymore, released him to at least get away from the human male, lest she get to the point where she wouldn't care anymore and let loose all the things that were begging to fall from her mouth. Mega Man was thankful for finally being released from her 'care', yet given she now directed her attention to Oil Man along with the majority of the lab's current occupants, he was essentially left alone with Gilbert. Left alone with the second biggest reminder of his failure, the first being in critical condition, with no way to escape. Yet at the very least, it would be all right soon...he would see to that. He had to.

'Ah, there!' Quake Woman, even with her drills not being as up to keep, her own body displaying cracks and though she couldn't entirely tell, she knew well that water had seeped into her cracks. She KNEW it, it felt wet, no matter how much she attempted to try and concentrate on opening the container of oil at Time Man's command, and she had no intention of disobeying him. Yet eventually, she put her additional body parts to good use, getting the container open and prying off the surprisingly thick lid, now trying to get it off of her drill with her left, available hand.

Roll lifted the canister onto a stool stationed near the table, yet her eyes looked towards Tempo. "You're going to need some too." she said, though the drill-bearing robot began to give her a puzzled expression.

"I thought you said you were out of tape though." it wasn't as if she wasn't willing to be repaired though. Far from it, selfish as it was. Yes, it would come later afterward, yet if she could get the evidence off of her before her creator...she paused.

"Well, yeah, we don't." Roll admitted, she accepting that perhaps she MAY have gone a bit overboard in her 'dressings' on her brother and dog. "But at least the solvents will work on you well. Course unlike Mega and Rush, you're just going to have to wait an hour or two for it to set in." in fact, that was the whole point for the tape dressings to begin with, as she began with attempting to put solvent on Mega's 'wounds', yet that particular fact would probably be a deterring factor, thus the added 'protection'. "We've still got more of that, hold on a sec."

"It's not-" before she could get anything else out, the blonde had gone into the darkened storage closet, the Robot Master not wishing to go in there again. Yet still, "You don't understand." she realized that covering the evidence wouldn't be enough. She still wouldn't be able to head back to the hotel...and given LaLinde's connections with Light...she realized that she was doomed the moment she gave into this damned urge. This stupid, damned urge to...she was drawing the attention of the human and prototype, quickly excusing herself to the opposite corner of the room.

"What's wrong with her?" Kalinka questioned, watching the seemingly unsettled Quake Woman go off. Time Man simply made no comment of it, as he didn't know either, yet given that the one in front of them was more heavily injured than the other, it was an obvious choice of whom was his bigger concern. "And what's she doing here anyway? She said she belonged to Dr. LaLinde."

"And?" Time Man inquired, honestly, what use was this observation now?

"So, how and why is she here? Why did she go to the refinery or wherever she was before?"

"That, I'm unaware." the purple prototype confessed. "Yet right now, what matters is getting this," he gestured to the solvent dripping off of Oil Man's inner wiring and exposed exoskeleton. "Off of him." it wasn't as if Kalinka agreed, that substance on him doing little good in repairing any damage, if this robot's assessment about the black substance being the only thing the darker skinned machine would accept was correct, yet that said, why was he eyeing her red (and expensive) vest in such a way?

In the two separate fields of events that were going on at the same time, even with him being the only one with him at that moment, Mega Man noticed well the overwhelming concern and worry perpetuating throughout Stern's entire being.

"Is she alright though?" it slipped out, he didn't mean for it to, yet the question had already come and reached Stern's ears, the 'she' in question being none other than his partner.

Surprisingly enough, the trench coat wearing man didn't simply turn away from Mega Man, nor did he angrily shout back for him to keep to his own business. Maybe it was just due to the circumstances being right or the old geezer didn't feel like being tough at that moment, yet then and there, he found himself being honest with the blue android. "From what I assume." he answered, for truly, he wasn't sure. "If your creator's handiwork is anything to go by, then Roslyn's probably the most protected out of all three of them." that was good, Mega Man thought. That wasn't the end, for what would surely come next would probably render his current thought near pointless, yet if he could focus himself on the former, "Even then, that probably won't last forever." the FORMER, he reiterated again, then perhaps he could channel that into the bravado he needed. That he would have to possess in order to do anything of value, especially for what Wily's REAL goal was.

"Also," Stern began, Mega Man not expecting him to continue. "You should know, though even I can't give you much. One of those three, the ones here, the new guy, there's something..." he paused, struggling to find the appropriate terms to use, yet even the most basic seemed to not do the job. "I don't know exactly, but when Light and the Mayor...and Roslyn were taken, the new robot, he did...something weird."

"Describe 'weird'." Mega Man urged.

"It's...aw hell, it's a little more 'weird' than the other guys you've had to deal with have done. It was like everything was moving one second, the next...it was like time skipped a few minutes or something, because next thing I knew, those police bots were scrapped and the car they were in didn't fare much better." he was doing himself little good in getting riled up again, yet the frustration was building in the simple fact that he couldn't really accurately convey the potential danger that their, Roslyn's only hope had when it came to this particular machine, yet how could he convey it?

Indeed, Mega Man found himself wishing for more, needing more, yet at the moment, just as his and Rush's repairs had been, he would simply have to go with what he had available. Speaking of which, the blue robot directed his attention to the small crowd that had gathered around the operating table, the small crowd that had gathered gazing rather intently, even Rush joining them, despite his own injuries. Poor thing would have to be sent out soon again soon. Yet given from the look on Stern's face...that 'soon' would probably have to be now.

"What are you doing?! STOP THAT, NOW!" the accented voice alerted the both of them, yet the human male inwardly groaned. NOW what was that stuck up brat complaining about? From what was being seen, Time Man had a hold of Kalinka's red vest, dragging it (and in turn, her) forward and inching it closer to the exposed side of Oil Man's damaged face, essentially intending to remove the still wet solvent with the article of clothing.

"What does it look like I'm doing?!" Time Man shot back, the human girl struggling far more than he deemed necessary over such a trivial thing like a piece of cloth. "I'm using this to plug the hole up!"

"Not with my clothes, you're not!" the curly haired blonde retorted, now beginning to strengthen her struggles, not that it would do much against someone constructed with a titanium outer shell. "If you want me to get it off, then get me a rag!"

"I don't know where one is!"

"How do you not know where one is!? You're one of Light's robots, aren't you?! You LIVE here, don't you?!" it was in that moment Kalinka noticed something. It was small, yet the steely eyes of Time Man began to shift, gaining some semblance of emotion in them. Though she was mainly distracted by the fact this caused him to release her vest (of which she was happy about, lest she have to get even more physical, yet that wouldn't do much), some element in his general demeanor of unrelenting drive had changed.

After some uncomfortably silent moments, the violet colored robot found it in himself to answer. For her sake, he had hoped that she was simply speaking out of pure, stupid ignorance. "I lived here in a sense, yes." Time Man managed to get out, finding himself oddly, shamefully, beginning to have difficulty in even speaking. "But it was mostly in containment. Same with Oil Man." and from the look on Kalinka's face, she was pondering as to why such a change had occurred, her lips beginning to open, surely to question him. Something of which he would put a stop to. "I would think that you would relate to an extent, though empathy isn't exactly a trait held amongst machines." it was somewhat cruel, yes, yet if it would allow him to keep his distance...then so be it. "You certainly don't sound like you're a native to the city, let alone the country."

For one that held such a young voice, the Russian's tone grew incredibly low and hostile, commanding the android to "Mind your own business." through grinding, seething teeth. Who did he think he was, speaking as if he knew anything about her? She didn't even know what she had said to gain such a cold reaction from him. Even more, what did he even know about the red, knit vest that she wore that he dared to try and use as a rag?! Did he know that this was one of the few things that she had packed out of her things to bring with her to this place from her home? One of her favorites...and something that her Papa always liked to see her in, always remembering how he proclaimed she looked best in red. Even if she had other articles of red clothing, this...this one was-

"Heh." both Time Man and Kalinka ceased their stare down, the sound that caught their attention, surprisingly enough, coming from the one that had been completely silent since he was first brought here. "Heh...heh, heh, heh..." yes, there was no mistaking it; it was Oil Man making these noises. Even more, he began to try and make out words from the sound of it. Slurred and indistinguishable as they were, still, it was clear that he was attempting to talk.

"What's going on?" Gilbert Stern questioned, Mega Man's attention drawn to the now semi-vocal Robot Master on the operating table, and soon, the human agent's own focus transitioned to the same source. Roll had emerged from the closet and heard him as well, Rush quirking his head in puzzlement before inching forward as well. Even Quake Woman, who had seen fit to go into the far corner of the room, while not wishing to completely remove herself from this space, also found herself steadily being drawn towards the small gathering forming around Oil Man.

"Yo..." Oil Man slowly said, speech slurred to a point where, if not for the state he was in, it'd almost be comical.

"Yo..." Oil Man slowly said, speech slurred to a point where, if not for the state he was in, it'd almost be comical. "Yo...hey..."

"Yes?" Time Man asked, not even sure if he was trying to communicate with him, yet he all the same made sure that at the very least, perhaps Oil Man would know he was present. "Yes, what is it? Are you conscious?"

"Y-Yo, Doc...what'cha got there?" The small crowd was then aware that it was not Time Man he was referring to, yet Dr. Light himself wasn't present. Whilst the majority of them were befuddled as to what he was saying or even why, Roll knew where this was heading, her own brother as well indicating that he was familiar with this phenomenon as well. "A...A TV, huh? You think we...get bored in here?" Oil Man continued to speak, albeit not entirely coherent.

"What's going on?" Stern questioned, everyone else seeming to have some semblance of what was going on but him. "Why's he saying stuff like that?"

"I did this once." the Blue Bomber found those words spilling from his lips. Not entirely of his own volition, yet more akin to an unconscious, automatic action. "A couple of years ago. At the airport. There..." he found himself biting down hard on his lip. Though Roll and Eddie were the actual witnesses to such a thing, he remembered the sensation. "There was an attack, and...a monorail landed atop of me. Then..." he found himself biting down hard on his lip. Though Roll and Eddie were the actual witnesses to such a thing, he remembered the sensation. "There was an attack, and...a monorail landed atop of me. Then..." then...frankly, even now, Mega Man didn't know how to describe what happened then. There were voices. Voices everywhere, voices belonging to his creator, sister...everyone, and yet...he was trapped. Unable to move and unable to react. He was reliving those moments, the time before this blue sheen was affixed to his very skin, yet even so, he wasn't able to either delve further or pull himself out of such a state. Aware of where he was, where he was supposed to be, but he couldn't quite get there due to the damage caused to his body.

"Is tick-tock taking another trip?" the dark skinned android clumsily emitted from what was left of his lips. "That four eyes...Kouin...you always send him over there. When do I get to go somewhere?" Time Man couldn't stop himself from shaking at that comment, both from the particular name used for him and the fact that he of all people were used for it. If it weren't for the fact that it was the buffoon being the one to use it and his current condition, the prototype would've probably been unable to restrain himself from putting him in an even worse state than he was currently in. "That balding crackpot don't scare me...I wanna see the other guys around here. Saw a blonde around here...ponytail...she was hot..."

"Hurry." Mega Man said, though not to anyone in particular. "Hurry! Get him some energy or something!"

"What's the problem?" Stern asked. Granted, the robot's mindless talking was somewhat off putting to him as well, yet the Blue Bomber acted as if this was an indicator of something horrible.

"He needs to get himself back online or at least repair what's been damaged! He might not ever be the same again if he isn't..." in his case, he was fortunate that Dr. Light had been the one to be at the helm of his operation, that dark, secluded space only being a temporary visit, yet Oil Man...dare he say, he was in a far worse state than he had been in that particular point of time.

"The hell you talking about? It's not like he's going to suffer brain death or something!" true, very true. Yet for Stern's observation, Mega Man only had to look to the android that, while having come closer to see what was happening, still kept her distance. If Oil Man didn't get something, whether it be energy or something, ANYTHING to help him, even if he wouldn't be at risk in the same sense a human would, he might not be as he was when he re-awoke. From the look of it as well, Quake Woman seemed to be aware of this possibility as well, she soon having to remove herself from the scene taking place and go back to the corner she had previously secluded herself in.

Time Man tightened his grip on the Russian girl's vest, not as if he was making an aggressive motion for her to relinquish it, yet more or less out of shock and fear, he then directing his sights to the small, energy dispenser that only gazed back with wide, empathetic, yet just as worried and fear filled eyes. At that moment, Kalinka was at a standstill, the fact the prototype's eyes turned to her then, silently questioning on what she was going to do. Of course, she didn't understand why he was doing such, as he seemed well intent to take her clothing from her. Oil Man moaned again...oh, damn it all, she thought. It wasn't as if she WASN'T willing to get the solvent off of him, most of it having already gone to the floor in a clear, gooey heap, yet the main intention of using her vest, which would only be a secondary function. It was to be used to plug up the hole so that at least some of the contents of the E-tanks would get to where they needed to go. Yet...yet this wasn't JUST a vest! It was something she had brought with her, one of the few things she could take with her! She didn't want to...her train of thought was seized by another groan, Time Man's grip becoming stronger.

She...she didn't want to. She didn't want to have something that she possessed from the time before she was forced from her home, before the phone call that told her that her Papa wouldn't be joining her or Babushka. Yet...even with those sentiments, those self-serving yet strong attachments..."You'd do good to let go." she couldn't deny that her conscience, even with the battling self-interest, alerted her that someone needed it more. "I can't take this off if your hand's in the way." He didn't believe her, and from everyone else's expression, no one else seemed to either. Yet...here she was doing it: taking off her thick, red vest, and promptly shoving it in the open space in the side of Oil Man's burnt lower jaw.

Time Man wasted no time, Eddie, as if on cue, popped out a freshly filled E-tank that the prototype caught, opening it and pouring the contents down the stationary Robot Master's throat, the vest, while not keeping the entirety of the contents from leaking out, it at least absorbed it well enough so that a decent blockade was created, thus allowing the majority of the energy to travel down.

Well, since that was taken care of. "You ready?" Stern asked, a firm hand being placed on Mega Man's 'taped up' shoulder.

Now that this was taken care of, Oil Man's recovery having finally, officially begun, the Blue Bomber nodded, though the relief on his facial structure wasn't exactly to be interpreted as confidence in what he was going to have to step into. "I'll get the hovercraft running!" and that right there was something else that he wasn't looking forward to dealing with. It was something that Roll herself sensed as well, beating him to making the first remark. "Need I remind you that there are two Robot Masters and our favorite asshole running around along with that suit, all under the command of our favorite, BIGGER asshole that are all going to be gunning for you?"

"Exactly." wait, what? Mega Man was actually AGREEING with her? Yet just as she was about to declare this as a victory for herself, "Which is why Agent Stern here has agreed to give both me and Rush a ride." he had to go and crush it.

"It's not my car." Stern admitted. "And it's probably not going to be in the best of shape when this whole thing's done. But I'm only going to be taking you close ENOUGH. No further."

"No problem with that." Mega Man answered. "I probably wouldn't allow you anyway."

"So you'll allow him, but not me?" Roll questioned, disappointment now transitioning into anger.

"Roll, you know why-" he found himself losing composure, having to bite down as while he knew well she wouldn't take this well, he really, REALLY didn't want, let alone need this right now. "You said it yourself: three robots, one Mobile Suit, AND Dr. Wily. What makes you think I'd want to put you, ANY of you here in that?"

"All the more reason that YOU shouldn't go out there alone! And no, having Rush with you doesn't count!"

"Roll..."

She wished to continue, she wished to keep pressing and pushing her case, fighting against him until he could at least allow her to do something, ANYTHING. "At least..." even if she knew that, like always, she wasn't going to convince him. "At least let me get you there. I can go faster than he can. The hovercraft flew me across the entire country to get to you just now! Plus, I can get you closer to wherever you think is best to land, and-"

"I'm not having you jump in." the blue armored robot firmly stated. "And don't tell me you won't. I know you better than that." he hated doing this, contrary to whatever she was thinking, he truly HATED having to go through this routine. Yet, though he felt tremendously guilty for the thought, it gave his case more than enough merit. "Besides, I'm not the only one that was injured in that fiasco." Roll's next words were immediately reduced to silence, her blue eyes, almost forcibly, looking back to the still stationary, yet now recovering (at least on the path to) Oil Man, and Quake Woman still stationed in the corner of the lab. What, let alone, why she was there was any one of their guesses, yet if Time Man and Kalinka, along with Eddie were going to be busy with one bot, the other wouldn't have anyone to mend to her damage. "And what if you run out of materials? You've already used up nearly all of the duct tape. Plus, given the state the city's probably in, and with those three running around, I doubt that you could just 'walk' somewhere and pick it up, they'll need you here." The jumpsuit wearing homemaker couldn't form an argument, at least one that perhaps he would be able to somewhat accept, not that he would ever admit it to her, it was simply the way he was. Her 'have-to-be-the-hero' brother. Yet as much as she loathed it, just allowing him to go out in this mess while she just sat her and did nothing...she had to swallow that no matter how strong she wished to do something, there were others that would probably need her here.

There was nothing else Roll could do but regrettably, begrudgingly, relent and accept defeat. "Fine." she answered, through grit teeth. "I...I won't. I'll get them fixed up."

He was surprised, flabbergasted even. The guilt was horrible, yet even then, Mega Man regretted nothing when it came to making sure that his sister and the rest of the lab's current occupants were out of harm's way. Yet still, if he didn't press it, "And?" he knew she'd use it as a justification to try something else. Indeed, from the look of shock on her face, he had known her too well.

"And...and I won't get involved with you and Wily. Whatever you two end up doing, I...I won't step foot in it."

"Promise me?"

"Yeah, yeah, promise." she sighed. "It'll just be you two going at it."

He was making her unhappy, hurting her in some way, unintentional, as it was, yet despite that, Mega Man was more than thankful that at least his sister was being understanding in this situation. "Thank you, Roll. Take care of them for me." he continued, silently alerting to an impatient and anxious Stern that he was nearly finished. "Especially Oil Man. And Time Man. And Dr. Cossack's daughter...and..."

"And?"

"...and Eddie." seriously, was she going to make him do this? Now?

"Are you done NOW?"

He couldn't wait anymore. Even with his sister's smirk, attempting to gain the last word in this and in turn, some small victory in embarrassing him. "You know what to do." he simply stated, Agent Stern making his way out of the lab's entrance, Mega Man and his equally bandaged up, red canine following suit.

'Looks like I know YOU too well, bro.' the pony-tailed blonde thought with satisfaction, needing some sort of relief from the wound in having to admit a loss to him in promising not to get involved. Besides, when he came back, she needed something to prod and tease him with. 'If he comes back-' no, not if. WHEN.

She hadn't even been aware she was being approached until she felt a hand place itself on her forearm, turning her around until she saw the homemaker gazing at her, blue eyes peering into her own, green ones. "Alright." she told Quake Woman, beginning to look her over. "Let's see what's up with you."

Oh, repairs. Of course. By all means, of course she could do that. Not that it would do her much good. How long had it been since her creator went out? Let alone, while it would be some time, she'd eventually return. Return to find her and find out what she had done, she would somehow, and then...then she'd...

"And Eddie." hm? "Yeah, SURE. Look out for Eddie." Roll chuckled to herself. "I know who you were thinking about."

"Thinking about what?" the pig-tailed Robot Master inquired, puzzled. "It sounded like he said 'and Eddie'."

"Eh, it's nothing." the Blue Bomber's sister brushed her question off, going back to examining her. 'Course unlucky for you, her head's as thick as the rocks she digs up for a living.'

Refinery, Washington

The Skulker inched closer and closer, until one of the large containments, a massive, white tank that housed one of the precious materials they were seeking, was directly in front of them. "Alright. Position is set."

"What are you waiting for then? Let 'em down!" Heat Man scowled. Given that HE was the one driving the aircraft (let alone the only one with the guaranteed ability to do so), he was technically the one in command. Nevertheless, Crash Man's exclamation was what he was planning to do anyhow, pressing a button on the ship's control panel, of which would activate the device needed to gather the kerosene from the storage tank.

While yes, Heat Man was willing to admit it looked somewhat ridiculous (something of which he didn't share with Crash Man because he KNEW that the drill bearing buffoon would retort with some sort of remark regarding his own appearance), it was going to get them what they needed, and the creator of both him and the red buffoon would be pleased, so there were little complaints. Out of the bottom portion of the ship, a long, hose like device snaked its way out, the nozzle of said device thick and silvery, with four holes in the fitting's front. The tube shot forward at the storage tank, latching itself into the side and locking itself in place so that if by some chance, it were unlatched, it would not be an easy task. The four holes then had smaller objects beginning to protrude from them resembling tiny drills, the drills spinning rapidly and slowly, yet surely, tearing and working through the thick metal layers of the tank. They worked and worked their way through, Heat Man watching the control panel with large eyes until...CLICK! The sound that resounded throughout the ship alerted them all that the device had broken through! Flipping a switch, the tube's secondary, and perhaps most important function would be activated. A large force of suction traveled through the small, confined space, pulling the once trapped liquid in the tank up through the tunnel. Golden brown fluid traveled outwards from the tank, through the tube, right back to the ship. Or at least, to the smaller containers stationed with them on the Skulker, for where the tube had made its exit, a hole where its contents would be expelled, a capsule was screwed onto the small spot where it had exited, a tight latch that was once closed opened up, the golden liquid flowing and filling the clear capsule until it was filled to the brim with the stuff. That portion of the job had fallen to Crash Man, the bottom of the capsule-like container closing shut to keep the contents from spilling out, and with the confirmation that the liquid still being fed through the tube wouldn't simply rush right in, he removed the capsule with a few harsh twists, and handing it to Fire Man in the back, his job in turn making sure that the contents stayed where they belonged.

It was then that, to his dismay, Heat Man heard the drill wielding Robot Master chuckling to himself. "What is it NOW?" he groaned.

"Just noticed something." Crash Man answered. "The stuff we're getting...it kinda looks like human piss." he chuckled, as if this realization was worthy of a humored response.

Though they still were rather large in comparison to the others, Heat Man's large, childlike eyes narrowed, his eyelids coming down and making him resemble a fed up, worn out parent that had essentially given up and let whatever idiotic thing their child was doing continue as there was no point in stopping it. Ironic, given such sentiments matched what he felt for his fellow DWN perfectly.

"Hmm..." he heard the visor bearing Robot Master, rolling his large, green eyes, though due to their size, it appeared as if they were rolling around in a fishbowl. "Let me guess: you're bored." Heat Man answered before Crash Man could even say anything.

"No, not really. It's just..." the other DWN shrugged. "We just royally kicked the blue dweeb's ass, which was awesome, but we did all of that just to suck this piss-like stuff through a hose? Little anticlimactic, isn't it?"

"Be grateful that Mega Man DID retreat." Heat Man lectured. "Dr. Wily's counting on us to bring as much as we can back to the fortress." though it wasn't something that he would ever be willing to say in potential hearing range of the human scientist, given from what history had shown, it was still a potential possibility. "And given that Mega Man's probably already onto what he's really trying to do, this will save all of us from being torn up and thrown in the scrap heap." he sighed. "Plus, he'll at least be able to fuel that stupid thing in the basement. Maybe it'll finally stop making noise at night."

"Sounds like you've got it all figured out." Crash Man smirked, making his way towards the shorter, more cubic shaped android. "Bet you feel REAL smart and all grown up, don't you?"

He should've expected such, especially given how inappropriate of a time it was, yet the moment he felt the taller Robot Master wrap one arm around his upper half and one drilling lightly nudging the top half of his outer shell, Heat Man just about near lost his place at the controls.

"You idiot, stop!" he commanded, even if it was useless. "I'm trying to-GAH! You ALWAYS do this when it's in the middle of something super important!"

Around this time, Fire Man would've been coming from his position at the back, near the other empty capsules and broke the two up (though it was mainly Crash Man's fault) and lecture of how wasting time playing these stupid games was a disgrace...at least he would've, had he not himself been lamenting on his apparent guilt of being a disgrace himself. Facing the back wall, head leaning against the flattened surface, the fire wielding android had long since extinguished the flame that burnt atop of his head, yet that far from stopped the continuous and dare he say, consuming thoughts and pondering that simply would not leave his processor or any other component of his CPU alone.

The reason for this...even that simple question seemed to befuddle and confound him.

The mission, the objective, thus far, was for the most part, a success. They had found what they were looking for, where it was located, and now, to the victors, the spoils. Dr. Wily's orders were being fulfilled and so far, Crash Man's antics had served as the only interruption. Well, aside from Mega Man coming, yet that was to be expected. Counted on even, he remembering Wily's directions clearly.

'While this doesn't give you three an excuse to fail in getting what I asked, you are to not begin gathering what I need until that blue dweeb is at the very least, kept busy with you for a time.'

It was also then, he remembered, that Heat Man began to speak up. 'But Doctor,' he paused for a moment, a look of displeasure tracing the old man's features. 'Not saying that the task is too much for us, goodness no. But, you do realize that, and I'm sure you have, dear Doctor, that two of us are what would be considered a major hazard at such a place, and while Crash Man may not be in the same line as me and Fire Man...well, given his namesake bombs-'

'That's the point.' he answered. 'Don't you see? Mega Man will come, yes, yet eventually, what will happen in the city will reach him, and thus, he'll have to come. Which hopefully will leave you three, given you can survive that long without him blasting you all, to gather what I asked for. Then...'

'Then, Dr. Wily?'

'I shouldn't need to explain. The three of you are being sent to a refinery with combustible, flammable substances all around you. Think about it.'

That was all the needed, and then, they were sent one way whilst he went another with Proto Man, Quick Man, and that new robot that Fire Man didn't get the name of. Whilst the details of what was currently occurring in New York City were limited to them, for their assignment, they were going through with it a rather okay pace.

'So...why aren't the Flames of Justice happy with me?'

That sentiment...hell, the 'Flames of Justice' themselves, they didn't originate in a recent time. Yet whenever he attempted to try and dive into that portion of his functioning time, time before he was brought into Wily's service...there was a knowledge of it, brief pieces that he could pick out and see, yet that was as far as he could go. There was a barrier of sorts that sent him back every time he remembered such a time, a blockade that sent him back from delving too far into his memory bank, almost as if he wasn't allowed to focus and study them for too long a time. As if they would perhaps 'trigger' something within him.

'Makes me…' these times weren't the most common, especially given that the blue dweeb or his stupid pet were the ones they were having to deal with (maybe even that blonde that always seemed to be asking for trouble in tagging along), yet when it did rear its head, the puzzlement, the...conflict, as one could say, the reaction was the same. 'Make me...mad.'

Even then, simply 'mad' was an understatement. In those states, according to those that had seen him, he was outright terrifying. In fact, it seemed that ever since the 'blockade' of sorts had been put into place, his guide, the Flames of Justice seeming to be conditioned and forced to go in one direction, as he was, seemed to need more exertion, needed to release and get out more energy to subdue this frustration that seemed to always dwell inside him. Needing to vent, to set himself free, if just for a few moments. That darkly colored robot, Oil Man, he came to, albeit, unintentionally, his outlet for releasing said frustration. It was more than a little odd though. Had he not intervened, Fire Man would've more than taken care of the blue pest as he was supposed to, as the Flames of Justice (and Wily) commanded him. If he didn't start talking and asking those damn questions. He had pushed too far for his own good and in turn, he simply got what was coming to him.

'You're experiencing guilt.' Guilt? Guilt for what- 'Guilt for attacking a fellow DLN. Even more, one that would do little to no damage to you.'

What? Fire Man felt as if everything constructing his CPU and everything in between was being tangled this way and that, strained and stretched to the point where it was becoming painful. Guilt...yes, he could recognize that, yet...yet why? Mega Man was a DLN, yet it didn't mean anything! It wasn't allowed to mean anything! He was an enemy of Wily and therefore, an enemy of the Flames of Justice! He was to be eradicated so that his interference in Wily's plans to do away with the evils of the world would come to fruition! That was what his mind was telling him, screaming at him, drowning out everything else!

Yet...and yet there was still…

'Better yet, why does the label 'DLN' not register with you? Because it's not allowed to. You can't acknowledge what you were intended for initially because Wily-' he should've stopped right there, knowing well what was coming, yet before he could, the blockade that had been put in stopped the train of thought for him. A sudden, yet strong, searing pain traveled through Fire man's dome, the entirety of what composed of his CPU feeling as if it were going through every sensation of burning, stinging, shocked for the briefest, yet most painful of moments before he was released, he unable to do much more than lower his head to rest in his arms.

"Yo, what's up with you?" and this action apparently managed to get the attention of someone aboard with him, Crash Man having abandoned his task of aggravating Heat Man to inspect the sudden sullen Fire Man.

This temporary reprieve from the drill bearing robot's torment also managed to gain Heat Man's attention, as well as puzzlement. "Hm?" he gazed at the two, the Skulker currently floating in the same position, so he was free to do things other than pay attention to directing the ship. "Are you...still with us Fire Man?"

"Hmm, o-oh!" the flame topped (who was currently left unlit due to safety precautions inside, as well as the flammability of the fluid they were collecting) Robot Master was brought out of this state. The blockade set in place had also helped in this matter. "Yeah. Sure thing."

"Sorry, but not really buying it." Crash Man confessed, yet this (at least in his mind) attempt to reach out was brushed off.

"Get back to your job, small-fry." the fire wielding bot growled. "We're not here to ask stupid questions."

"Hey, whatever you want, guy." Crash Man answered, holding up his hands/drills, admitting defeat (or at least in his mind, simply holding the issue to talk about later whenever Fire Man wasn't around).

"Exactly, you understand some of my plight." Heat Man told the fellow fire user. "Doesn't know when to stop and concentrate." ah, he saw it. Crash Man was about to retort, yet the older Robot Master cut in. "There's still a good deal to collect, so make yourselves useful and get that capsule off and set up the next empty one."

"What about the one that's already full-"

"What do you think?! Just put it to the side! Your processor's working fine last I heard! Use it!" as the bottom seal of the capsule was shut tight, the hose still stayed in place, Heat Man momentarily shutting off the suction. "Make sure it's sealed properly too! We'll all be in trouble if even a drop of this spills out."

"Oh please." Crash Man scoffed, twisting the capsule off of the placement where the hose's contents would feed into the next, empty container. "We'd be fine."

"We would, but one thing happens to the Skulker, we're ALL going to pay for it."

Yes, pay for it they would...in more ways than one. The several, motionless forms of security bots littering the grounds was more than an indication that there was no stopping them.

Exactly what he wished for them to think.

From afar, a pair of large, turquoise eyes were keeping watch on the skull embezzled aircraft and the tank that it was currently draining of its contents, stationed in a thick patch of shrubbery. It was then that he felt a small vibration go through his left audio unit, the concealed Robot Master answering the incoming message, his creator's voice being received.

"Are you there?" the voice questioned, the android nodding to himself.

"The Tesoro Anacortes Refinery. Yes, I am."

"Ah, excellent." the voice congratulated. "Though, I'd expect no less from you."

"As you shouldn't." he answered. "I told you that I would be arriving as soon as possible without delay. Any less would condemn me as a liar, something I am clearly not."

Light chuckling was heard on the other line. "Yes, of course." though whilst the comment was dead serious, the human appeared to see it as something worth laughing at, yet before the robot could comment on this, his creator spoke again. "What's the situation now?"

"Wily's main ship is present, and from the looks of it, most of the security's been taken out. At least those they could harm." his blue eyes trailed towards the hose stuck in the side of the container. "There's an appendage that's been fed from the underside of the ship, something of which they're using to drain the energy from the tank, no doubt." the relaying of these details, details that made him all the more anxious to go out and put an end to this act of petty theft fueled his frustrations more, for whilst he was more than capable of doing so, he was also just as capable of having the entire refinery being lit aflame by his own actions, unintentional as the result would be.

"The fire department's been notified?" the human asked.

"Yes. Along with the local law enforcement, but even they can already do so much." his creation answered solemnly. To have to simply sit and wait whilst a crime was taking place right in front of his very eyes, oh, it was nearly enough to almost make him go mad! 'Restrain yourself!' his mind commanded, he lowering his weapon, the corner of it glimmering in the sunlight above. 'Do not sabotage this because of mad drive. Do not forget those that you're entrusted to protect later as well.'

"Do as you see best, and assist the human forces should they need it. I trust you. Out."

With that, the weapon was lowered, though it still remained out of its holding place. Indeed, while given that if he severed the hose now, how many liters of what was left would be freely released from the tube, allowing whomever saw fit to do so ignite the fluid, and given from the already abundant oil littering the grounds from the non-operational security bots, he'd be setting up for the entire place to potentially go up in flames. So, ultimately, there was nothing more he could do than sit and observe.

Sit, observe, and when the time was right, act.

New York City, New York

Outside of the Light Residence

To be fair, regarding the still ongoing pleas and demands (or pleas disguised as such) from Ripot, Plum wasn't exactly in the best of places. True, while there was certainly nothing dangerous around the Light abode, yet given that she came here rather than going back to the studio to deliver her footage was somewhat concerning to the smaller, flying machine.

"They're going to want what we got, you know!" Ripot continued to tell the pink haired camerawoman. "I mean, yeah there wasn't any order to head back right away, but still, they're probably going to be expecting us because we begged to have this job!"

"You think I don't know that, munchkin?" Plum questioned, Ripot's large eyes narrowing in anger, though there was probably nothing in the world that could possibly make him appear intimidating in the slightest. "And we WILL. Never said we weren't. Besides, those guys had us commissioned to be made in the first place, what sense would it make?" her bare fingers traced the lining of the large camera's lenses, her green eyes focusing on that, then to the large home she and the smaller, green reporter stood in front of. "And yeah, I'm wanting to get credit for this too. But if the blue boy's back and getting himself fixed up-"

"Assuming he's still even here." Ripot interjected.

"And if he's not, then that's going to be YOUR job." Plum sneered.

Though truthfully, she hoped that such wouldn't be the case. Because yes, while indeed, she at first pondered on taking this footage straight to the studio and presenting it, thus earning her a spot as someone more than the higher ups could just use as a spare weather woman and tech support, but the reporter realized that while that perhaps would happen, that might've been one of the last things she'd get to do. Okay, perhaps that was a bit of an exaggeration, but still, regardless of the scoop she had gotten (and it was taking all she had to not just go off with it), if Mega Man was going to have to eventually face off against that robot, and she already predicted that would be the case, then showing this to him was of the utmost importance.

Only thing was, would he even be here to see it?

Inside of Light's Lab

Even if it meant that she was still stuck here and in turn, leaving him going out on his own to take out whatever threat that balding crackpot would try to throw at him, more likely than not being outnumbered from what she heard, Roll ultimately had to swallow that perhaps her brother had a point. Hell, perhaps he was right completely, as much as the thought damaged her pride as well as going against her mindset entirely. It killed her that she even allowed him to go out there, then she sort of laughed at that thought, she was beginning to emulate his own worrywart tendencies. In this case, even if it still tore at her very core to have to do it, Roll could see Mega's logic in leaving her here, as he wasn't the only one that needed tending to.

Tempo, or more appropriately, Quake Woman, had been taken care of to the best of Roll's ability (which was a damn fine job if she was unconvinced). The areas that had been cracked were coated with solvent and it would be another hour or so, yet the deliverance of that news seemed to be far from what she wanted to exactly hear. For the moment, Roll focused on the other individuals currently occupying the lab, as pondering why if she was in such a need to make it look like nothing happened, then for what reason did she even put herself out there to begin with? At least whenever she did it, her general attitude was consistent.

'Weird.'

Though as bizarre as the Robot Master came off to her...at least she seemed to be all right, for the most part. Yet thankfully, and more importantly, Oil Man was at least stable now, or getting very near to it. Though it was something that Roll didn't think would be done (she herself admitted that she would've clocked Time Man if he even tried that with her clothes), the Russian teen's vest was stuffed in the side of the stationary android's head, allowing the energy from all of the discarded E-tanks on the floor, courtesy of Eddy, to go down and fuel his systems. Something of which she was NOT picking up later. Any messes made from Doc's work was one thing, but messes that OTHER people made in HER house, that was THEIR responsibility, not hers.

Time Man was there observing the process, he and Kalinka alternating between opening up cans and pouring it down Oil Man's throat, this going on until Eddy plopped down onto his small rear. "Eddy gotta take a break." he huffed. "Make more cans, but need an hour or two."

The clock themed prototype's usual firm, distant gaze, to the energy dispenser's surprise, actually softened to a degree. Just a degree, as Kalinka didn't even seem to take notice of this, yet still, there was a hint of concern of the smaller robot possibly being overworked. "Fine then." he replied. "Do so if you need to. Now..." going over to where the compacted, red cloth was sticking out, the purple automaton reached in and steadily pulled the now very stained article of clothing out from its place, handing it to Kalinka, who simply held onto it with her thumb and pointer, keeping the dripping thing far from her white shirt. "That's outlived its usefulness here. Do what you wish with it."

"...Spasibo." Kalinka thanked, though it was clear that she was anything but, her eyes searching for someplace to put it, ideally a sink so that perhaps she could at least TRY to rinse it out. "Your consideration truly knows no bounds." ah, bingo. She excused herself and made her way there, all the while a string of foreign, venom laced cursed emitted from her lips under her breath. Then again, she DID agree to allow her clothing to be used, albeit somewhat forcefully, so she bore the responsibility of explaining to her Babushka of how exactly it came to be in such a state. If she would even get the chance to do so, that is. If she had the forethought, she would've taken Beat with her, at least he perhaps could've at least flown the old woman out of potential harm's way.

Time Man still leaned over the still dormant, but for the time being, stable Oil Man, the incoherent mumbling and slurred speech having since gone. While those were good signs, as well as that by now, thanks to Eddy and to an extent, that blonde human's vest, he had more than enough energy to power his systems. Even so, the prototype was not entirely convinced, looking over towards the laboratory's main computer. "You." he motioned to Kalinka, who had found a rather deep, yet still available sink to place the stained vest in, yet was interrupted in allowing the thing to soak. "Come. You're still needed."

"What for?" the human girl questioned, then looking to the large computer he was gesturing to. "Ah, yes. I knew that."

"No you didn't." Time Man duly noted, much to her annoyance. "Assist me in getting him over to the main computer. Now that he's stable, assumedly, we can looks at his system's true status from there."

Well, she had to give him this; at least he wasn't unclear about anything. Horridly cold and harsh, but still, she wasn't exactly expecting him to be super nice either when she saw him. Yet at least the human girl knew that her sentiments regarding the prototype were at least consistent and clear cut. At least he wasn't STILL making her ponder and question as to why a certain, scarf wearing individual had apparently by some miraculous feat managed to save her from being crushed to death via an oncoming vehicle.

"Hello?" Time Man's voices pierced through Kalinka's thoughts, bringing her back the present. "I don't have to repeat myself to you, do I?"

"No, I heard you clearly the first time." she answered, more or less due to how she was far from willing to disclose what she was thinking to him.

"Good. Now help me wheel him over there." Time Man commanded. "And don't doddle."

Well, from what Roll could tell, those two were getting along fine. If by fine, one was badgering the other with orders while the other was more than ready to give them a piece of their mind. Even still, as she observed, of all bots that Time Man actually seemed somewhat kind to was Eddy, the little, green, energy dispenser still making good of his break as he sat on the stool where the operating table used to be. Even more, Oil Man seemed to be fine now, at least they would be able to confirm that, Time Man taking charge in hooking him up to the computer via the extendable cord located in the neck (due to him not bearing any visible audio units where that particular cord along with several other portions of their extendable wires were usually located) and navigating to where Oil Man's schematic and detailed layout could be displayed. While those two were in the midst of doing that task, Roll's blue eyes fell back on the other robot that had previously in need of repairs.

Quake Woman was alerted that someone was approaching her, turning her head and coming to see Roll towering above her. While she didn't appear to be coming at her in an aggressive manner, her expression spoke volumes in the fact that she had a good few questions to ask. "How do you feel?"

"What?"

"How do you feel?" Roll reiterated, apparently having caught her in a rather deep session of thought. "Like, has the solvent been put in all the right places? Are there some areas where you still feel a little wet?"

Oh, those types of questions. All right, that was something she could answer. "Sensation wise, everything feels as if its been readily dried and properly covered. Although..." she paused before continuing, but even then, what was about to say seemed to be thrown out completely, Roll only getting a "Nothing. Forget that part. It's not possible anyway." while, perhaps it was, making the solvent dry faster, yet the instructions clearly stated that it would take an hour or so for it to dry and perhaps too much added heat would simply revert it back to a less solid state and she'd be back to where she started-

"Why are you so anxious to get back?"

She froze. She should've seen it coming. "What?"

"What's up with you?" Roll continued on. "From the way you came in and the fact you came out of there on fire, you must've been in at least the semi-right mood to fight."

Fight? What? "No." Quake Woman shook her head adamantly. "That's not it. That's not what I'm made for."

Roll quirked one, blonde brow. "You're not making any sense." truly, she wasn't. She didn't simply just waltz into the refinery for no reason, and she sure as hell didn't seem to take that whole 'not made for this' too seriously when she went in. "So you went in there, not because you were wanting to take some of those dicks on, while personally, I wouldn't have blamed you in the slightest, yet something must've been important enough for you to try it."

Something perhaps wasn't the best way to phrase it. Something perhaps was what was driving Quake Woman to even think of going there in the first place, yet it was at first to just see if there was a possibility in maybe alerting the authorities, if they hadn't already, which they probably had, rendering her useless. Yet perhaps she could've even escorted Oil Man back to the hotel room that she and Dr. LaLinde were currently staying in, yet that too was a failure, he having made his way inside the building before she could even bring the idea up. She would've left right then and there. She SHOULD'VE left then and there. Hell, she shouldn't have gone at all, and just settled to making sure the authorities had been alerted of the incident, yet that dog...that persistent little dog. Though she knew well that she was simply looking for someone to blame, even if she was more than aware that she was essentially, fully responsible the moment she took her first step there, yet the fact that she knew 'he' was there and potentially in danger.

The one that had been assigned to look after and be with her for only one day, yet even still, he was also the one that had saved her life. Delivered her to her creator when she was losing a vast amount of fluids and had suffered a heavy amount of damage and allowed her to become who she was before her...tampering.

"Hello? You listening to me?"

There was more than just simply him going on in her life, especially seeing as this was only the second time she had been in a longer period of contact with him, yet the fact remained that she had been bothered by the fact that she owed him her very life and until she returned the favor somehow, even if just in a small manner, then this dissatisfaction, this restlessness would probably still continue to prod and pick at her core.

'Of course what would that matter now? You screwed yourself over and now she'll HAVE to go back in and make adjustments now.'

"Hey, are you still there? I'm talking to-"

RING!

No, there was no mistaking it, even if Roll herself at first believed it to be such. Not in the sense that her audio units located in her synthetic ears were mishearing anything, but the simple fact that who in the world would be coming here to Dr. Light's lab at a time like this?

RING!

Now it wasn't only just Roll that was pondering such a thing, everyone present in the lab was now wondering whom exactly would be coming here.

RING! RING! RING! RING!

Well, that someone was quite determined to be let inside or at least acknowledged, Roll noticing all the eyes falling upon her, she rolling her eyes and letting out an exasperated sigh as she made her exit out of the lab. Whoever this was certainly had nothing in the way of basic manners! Not that they probably had any sort of idea of what was even going on in the walls of her home, yet she far from cared. Something as simple as not repeatedly ringing the doorbell was common knowledge, so either this guy was either an absolute idiot or being an intentional annoyance. Whichever one it was, they had better be ready for Roll was placing her hand on the knob, ready to swing it open and give the clown behind it a piece of her mind.

"We ALL hear you!" she began, making good on her promise and thrusting open the door. "Do you have ANY idea of how busy it is in..." it was somewhat disappointing, all that mental preparation she went through, yet as soon as she saw what, or who, was in front of her, her fury transitioned to that of confusion and a twinge of embarrassment. "...here?" Though still, Roll would swear up and down that with what was going on, she was in the right.

One of the two 'who's' that awaited her on the other side was a green eyed, pink haired robot with a yellow, upper portion that seemed to be serving as a chassis of sorts from the ivory color around her neck connecting to it, the lower half a matching, yet more striking red. What appeared to be black shorts (or they could've been part of her, given how tight they looked to Roll) and knee pads rested on her legs, with larger, red boots of sorts with wheels on either side of them being visible, Roll being reminded of her own brother's 'attire', so to speak. She wore a cap with a square section that served as front panel of the cap, bearing two, silver rings in it, her right audio unit bearing some sort of elongated antennae of sorts with a small, black mic protruding out from the bottom. Those weren't exactly the best indicators, yet the large camera in her possession told Roll that she had some connection with the local media at the very least. The one cowering behind her back and hiding from her view (at least attempting to), she couldn't tell, but seeing as he was with this obvious reporter, he probably had something to do with her being here too.

"I know this is REALLY sudden and sorry about that..." the pink haired robot apologized, yet from the darting of her eyes from left to right, it was obvious that she was searching for something, or more accurately, someone. "But word is that Mega Man was seen flying in the direction of this place, and-"

"He's not here." Roll answered, cutting the now obvious reporter off. "And we're not in the mood for any questions." yet as she began to shut the door, the reporter had stuck her leg out and blocked it with her boot. 'They're getting more persistent these days.' Roll inwardly lamented. 'Just about as bad as cockroaches.'

"What do you mean he's not here?!" she began to exclaim, Roll pondering as to whether or not she had just ruined her chances of getting some big 'scoop'. In that case, she'd take that over allowing another prying annoyance hassling her sibling, especially now. "Oh shit. Shit, shit!" the pink haired robot cursed before turning her attention back to the blonde still attempting to shut her out. "No, wait! This is important! Wily's got a new robot out there and-"

"It's not about that!" the reporter shouted, the smaller green android that was hiding behind her back finally stepping in and assisting her against the housekeeper refusing to let them in. He bore some similar traits to his more humanoid company, a mic and same antennae like appendage sticking upward from one audio unit, yet his eyes were far larger and wide, actually being two 'whites' connected at the center. He was mainly garbed in greens and reds, he keeping himself airborne from two small propellers attached to his exaggerated, white shoulders that pointed outward, he having to angle himself in such a way where the whirling propellers wouldn't possibly catch on something. "I'm not here on some sort of business!" the pink haired reporter stated, having gained a mild upper hand over Roll due to the intervention of the smaller robot. "I got him here!" she declared, lifting up the camera for Roll to see.

Yeah, she saw it, more than saw it as the reporter had essentially shoved it through the open space and right into Roll's face. She was persistent and from the looks of it, not willing to leave, even with her outright trying to shut her out, so her initial conclusion about her being here was beginning to crumble. "It's something that's probably going to help Mega Man out!" that was all she needed to hear in order for the housekeeper to open the door. "Ow..." the reporter moaned, she not expecting that a wood door would actually be able to hurt at all, even if it was sort of being forced against her foot. "Anyway...yeah. I got that guy here. And..."

The only reason Roll had stopped her attempts to shut her out was due to her claiming that what she held in that thing would help her brother, yet now that she had ceased in keeping her from entering, she was beginning to consider whether or not she had just made a mistake.

"Look, it's hard to explain, okay!" the reporter groaned. "But it COULD be important!"

She still wasn't entirely convinced, yet from her desperation; especially in even trying to stay after she had been alerted Mega Man wasn't even present here...Roll sighed and stepped to the side. "Then get in here and show me."

Downtown

He dared not state it, as to do so would mean both an inaccurate conclusion and that his hopes would be viable to be shattered by the little blue pest that was surely coming. It was difficult, Albert Wily admitted to himself, the very fact that after all of this laying low and going though all the trouble of making that damned chip to put on some hapless bucket of bolts the police department produced, for all of his effort, it was going to all come into play now. All of his trouble would come to be rewarded. Even more, Thomas Light had actually agreed to go with him! He dared not say it, at least not out loud, but now, it this very moment, he could've sworn that today was actually something of a good day to him. Today was very close to being near perfect.

Near, as it would only be complete if that blue pest were present and taken care of. "Where IS he?" the pilot of his self-titled Machine 2 pondered aloud. He had everything and everyone, at least those that mattered to a degree, in his hand, yet he refused to go. Not yet, not until 'he' came to see his victory with his own, blue eyes.

Roslyn Krantz couldn't exactly say she was in the greatest of spirits. For frankly, even for somebody who had taken it upon herself to be the mellower of the walking epitome of a crotchety old man that was Gilbert Stern, she'd be more than willing to be in his company when he was in the midst of his even more ill-tempered episodes. At least then, there was only the risk of one or two people at the least getting hurt, ego wise. Rather ironic, considering that he wasn't even here now and behind here laid a path of wreckage and destruction that not even he could match up to at his worst. From her small view to the outside world from inside her confined prison, she couldn't see any signs of human life, both either running around to find shelter or incapacitated underneath an overturned vehicle, yet this didn't exactly ease her concerns. All of that charging through here like mad at the speed of what she could only assume was near sixty miles per hour, maybe even more, couldn't have left everyone she saw passing by unharmed.

'Or alive for that matter.' a grim thought, yes, but still a potential reality that would perhaps have to be faced.

Such a fact was taking up the majority of her concerns, yet even still, she couldn't help but gaze at the scientist in her grip. At least, from what she could see, Dr. Light and the Mayor were alright, yet the poor doctor looked as if there was no point to where he could go any lower. He had his eyes cast down to the ground, not even making light struggles or adjustments to his current position as the Mayor was. In all honesty, it appeared as if that he had actually just given up. Not just to Wily's terms, but to everything in general. It was, to an extent, somewhat selfish, yet the mechanical apparatus Krantz was stationed in had been the result of a failure to protect a place hidden away from public knowledge, but it held research so secret that this very machine was developed so that not just the robots, but humans themselves would be better armed against potential forces such as Wily. Yet now...as all of them gazed upon the ruin that surrounded them, it was clear that what had been made to protect and defend had been malformed into a weapon of destruction.

All courtesy of Dr. Light himself, intentions not withstanding. Either way, he was to blame for this, at least in his mind. It'd only be fitting that he pays for it in some form or another.

It was then that all four of them became aware of the sound of something approaching. Something airborne and moving at a considerable velocity. Childish as it was, both Roslyn and Mayor Parson found themselves bridled with anticipation. It was coming; the end of this horrid ordeal was about to come to an end! With the sudden flash of blue incoming along with the familiar voice cutting through the tense, still silence, a collective sigh of relief was shared between the both of them.

There they were. This was it, the moment he had been preparing for. "Looking for me?!" the Blue Bomber hollered in Wily's direction, Rush giving an aggressive bark to follow and buster at the ready. While he certainly couldn't aim for the pilot dead ahead, at least not intentionally, the option of taking out some of the aircraft's engines were definitely an option he was considering. Anything to make up for him being so foolish in even allowing this to happen at all.

"Ah, there you are." Wily greeted, to Mega Man's surprise, rather courteously. "Though..." his eyes scanned the azure android and his airborne dog, particularly the 'wrappings' that he later realized were tape. "It looks like you've been in a bit of a scrape."

Averting his blue eyes, as well as his face for a moment to conceal the guilt seeping through his features, he settled for attempting to cover them with anger. The very least he could do is begin with a bit of intimidation to make himself appear confident. "Sorry to keep you waiting." Mega Man growled, his buster not moving in the slightest. "Though I'm sure you of all people would know as to WHY I was delayed in the first place." he then gestured towards the now idle Mobile Suit. "I know that you're controlling the suit with a disc you implanted on it! Break it off, and I won't have to destroy anymore of your 'precious equipment'!"

The balding old man piloting the aircraft simply nodded. No one was really caring for how eerily calm Wily was behaving at the moment. "Frankly, I'm impressed with you." and now he was spouting out talk that made no sense. What in the world was going on with him? A small bark from Rush alerted his owner that there was something amiss here. "No, truly. I am." the scientist stationed in the namesake Machine 2 assured. "Even with whatever sort of damage that you endured from the little skirmish at the refinery, you still come to face me. That haphazard fixer-upper is even more evidence of your dedication."

Well, at least he needed worry about potential weakness being shown, for all he was able to display was his own bafflement at the old man's odd brand of compliments. Yet there was a hint of something else underneath his words, expected of Wily, yes, as he surely had something up his sleeve. The only question was what, let alone if Mega Man could aptly prepare himself for it. 'You better.' his conscience reprimanded. 'All of this running around you've had been doing when you SHOULD'VE been here doing what you're supposed to do! And your poor creator's put up with, along with all these people, you had BETTER get this right!'

"Of course..." Wily began again, unseen to Mega Man or anyone else, his hand that held the controls that maneuvered the Mobile Suit according to his will, adjusted itself to allow his thumb to press down on one large, red button. Stranded, yes, but all that mattered was that it'd keep that blue pest off his back for a decent amount of time at the very least. "I'm not exactly what your focus should be at the moment!"

It was then that Roslyn Krantz realized that she, along with Mayor Parson, had failed to truly appreciate the still calm that they had been permitted to bask in for a brief time. True, while the long, claw like appendage that popped out of the Wily Machine 2's underside was alarming, even more so when it snatched Dr. Light up out of the suit's claws, she not even realizing that the grip on him had been severely loosened in comparison to the public official adjacent to him. The moment he saw his creator being whisked up into the ship via the claw, Mega Man set Rush to dash forward and take out the engines of the ship, or at least, that was his initial plan before he heard both the Mayor and Krantz release a pair of horrified screams. From below, he had just been quick enough to catch it, yet from above, Mega Man and Rush saw the Mobile Suit barreling straight forward down the road that they had already traveled, yet at a speed that was, from Light's protesting cries, was far from the safest setting. In fact, from the looks of it, as the Brooklyn Bridge wasn't but a few miles away, a large body of water surely was to indicate the end of the suit's, and more importantly, Krantz's and the Mayor's journey.

Wily didn't need to question as to what the robot would do, seeing as the dog he was riding atop of was already zooming off in the same direction they were going. Even more importantly, Mega Man wasn't stopping him, even with the shame-ridden hesitance in his features. Odd, to a degree, Wily thought. Such a range of expressions for a machine. Perhaps he should've praised the one who made him rather than the creation itself, as much as the thought only frustrated him more. Not due to it being Thomas...well, partially, yet that would be taken care of soon. Now that the blue pest was off doing his so called 'job', all he had to do was go and pay one of his bots a visit. Then...THEN Thomas would see. Yes, THEN he would truly understand! He and all those at the Chronos Institute...they would all understand, and not to mention...there were going to be little changes made seeing that portly four eyes was out of the picture!

Refinery, Washington

Whilst the tank that was being drained wasn't entirely emptied, at least not to the absolute, very last drop, it would far from be able to fill up even a quarter of one of the many capsules that was stored on the Skulker, of which, a good portion of them were already filled to the brim with kerosene. Heat Man pondered, perhaps they technically COULD fill one more...yet that'd leave it not even half full, which would really be a waste of a capsule that could've been filled up completely with some other desired substance. At least, he supposed that's what Wily's reaction would've been like, orders followed an all, there still might be an issue.

'Something.' the boxy Robot Master internally growled. 'Always something.'

"Yo! Matches!"

'ALWAYS...' rolling his large, green eyes, the irises going around as if they were in a fishbowl, the affectionately nicknamed 'Matches' (of which he HATED) turned to face the one who called him. "Those are sealed properly then, I take it?"

"Yep!" Crash Man answered, giving Heat Man a mock salute, as if he had just accomplished some sort of important task. Granted, he and Fire Man had, yet the gesture was simply to further irritate the pilot. "Tight as that box is one your tush."

Oh, if he could only see it himself at the moment! If he could, Heat Man would've been seething red, yet all he was succeeding in doing was making himself look like a young child that was itching to throw the biggest tantrum in its short life. "My outer shell isn't tight on my...ugh!"

"Yeah, they're sealed up good. Why are you even asking?"

Now was his chance. "I thought that answer would be obvious, given that I was put on this mission mainly because I would be the only one to pilot the ship." a low blow? Perhaps, yet with all that Crash Man simply adored to put him through, Heat Man allowed himself this one moment. Of course, the reaction was expected, the drill and namesake bomb wielding android glowered back. "This storage tank is nearly empty as it is, so there's no reason to stay at this one."

"...I don't NEED to be able to drive the ship, Matches." Crash Man hissed. "At least I'm more able than Lady Liberty here." as unfair as it was to take it out on one that hadn't even said anything to him, the visored Robot Master didn't really care, needing to get this building rage out somehow, whether it was at someone else's expense or not. Besides, if there was someone that held an even more versatile and exaggerated array of expressions than Heat Man, it was the DLN himself. Yet surprisingly...Fire Man held no reaction to give. Not a word of protest or cry of how 'those are fightin' words, partner' exited his concealed mouth. Nothing. He simply only stared blankly at the golden liquid in the capsules aboard the ship, though what was so fascinating about said liquid, Crash Man didn't know. "Hey, did ya hear me?" he repeated. "I said, at least I'm more able than Lady Liberty-"

SNAP!

There was no movement, no whatsoever. The ship did not shake from the sudden force that assaulted the long hose outside, ready to be detached and pulled back up to drain another tank, yet the suddenness of what had just gone by alerted all aboard that they were no longer alone. Before the action could've been done, before Heat Man could've even pressed the right buttons and maneuvered said appendage up back into the Skulker, a white, hot flash of something flew past his large eyes. In those brief seconds, thought it was at first dismissed, he thought that the flash was in fact a weapon of some kind. A small axe, or more appropriately, a tomahawk. Whichever it was, it had done its duty as the section that connected the hose to the portion that vacuumed in and tore through the tank's outer surface was severed, the drill-like attachment staying stuck in place whilst the rest of the apparatus was sent dragging itself along the pavement below, dangling loosely and unmoving as if it were a serpent with its head removed.

"The hell?!" Crash Man exclaimed, rushing over towards the front of the ship, green eyes along with Heat Man's scouring for whatever, let alone whoever had just severed the head off of what would allow them to gather more energy.

Fire Man, whilst startled, found that his mind was still somewhat trapped in the thought patterns it had been stuck with for the past good hour or so. Nevertheless, if this were indeed a supposed, new threat, then the Flames of Justice would have to be obliged. 'It's a foreign threat. Not...not one of them. That's fine then. That's fine...right?'

"Pitiable." a disembodied voice began to speak, and from the direction it was coming, it alerted all three aboard that it was also most likely the owner of whatever had sliced through the Skulker's hose. "All of this carnage for the task of petty theft?" said voice in itself was distinctly male, perhaps of even lower age, at least from what the vocals were indicating. Whoever had thrown that weapon was in no way human. Low and husky, ironically enough, bringing a strange image of smoldering, burning wood and the smoke that emitted from the consumed remains of dead trees. Not malicious, yet more than willing, and perhaps able, to chop off each of their heads with that tomahawk of his. "Indeed, Albert Wily has no conception of what true use any of you could be utilized for."

"If you're going to be throwing weapons at us, then come out to where we can see you!" Heat Man ordered. "This isn't exactly OUR ship, you know."

"And this isn't YOUR fuel." the voice answered back, firm and full of conviction. Yet, he did as he was asked, and swiftly made his way out of the foliage surrounding the refinery, right into the line of sight of the Skulker, or more appropriately, the three stationed inside.

The images of burning wood and smoke were found to be more fitting than the three Robot Masters initially believed, at first mistaking the figure down below them for a genuine, Native American man. At least at first, it soon becoming clear that with the tomahawk poking out of his right forearm, he was indeed the one who had thrown it, thus, he was in turn, not human in the slightest. He bore a long war bonnet of red feathers and green and yellow headpiece that attached to an triangular, orange section lined with gold that came to his forehead, two more orange pieces positioned beside it and adjacent to each other. Long, cylinder like pieces of metal of bright blue with orange rims hung down from his sandy colored audio units, they bearing orange colored orbs inside that resembled the sections on his head. A majority of his armor, pronounced shoulders, upper chest, lower portions of his forearms, and boots was a deep blue, what wasn't being a light, sandy brown, the chest piece adorned with three, orange spheres. Around his waist rested, oddly enough, an article of clothing, a cloth decorated in patterns of colors already present on his exterior, plastered on a deep, burning red.

Yet what the figure seemed to be presenting the most, aside from his weapon and more ethnic attire was the optics that looked dead at the three up above. Amidst the deep, bronze colored skin and red facial markings that mimicked stripes, the native robot's large, deep blue, yet focused and piercing eyes bore down on each and every one of the Robot Masters above, as if he were attempting to stare into their very selves. And to Fire Man's own growing discomfort, those eyes seemed to shift and mainly keep themselves on him.

Indeed, he himself knew not entirely why he found himself so focused on that particular machine, yet nevertheless, there was some element that intrigued him. Some element that he felt was 'buried'.

"Yeah, it's not exactly OUR fuel," Crash Man interjected, more than a little angry that his and everyone else's (Fire Man notwithstanding) good mood was ruined by this native looking intruder. "It's technically Dr. Wily's fuel now!" raising his drills for display, he glowered down at the android that had just ruined the ship's means to acquire said fuel. "You have some problem with that, Chief?"

The azure robot quirked a thick, dark brow. "Chief? No, I am no such thing. Chief would imply that I have some authority over this area. Let alone my being here." the native looking robot stated. "I'm here at the behest of one who simply wishes to not see this senseless destruction continue elsewhere. The one you're working for has done more than enough already."

Surprisingly enough, Heat and Fire Man found Crash Man going silent, gazing down at the newfound opposition to their mission, he too making his point clear as he lifted up his still drawn tomahawk for them to view. Neither of them held any intention for leaving, yet neither were willing to back down from their position and claim over this area and its contents either.

"Oh, hell with this."

Heat Man was about to question as to what in the world the drill bearing android was thinking, the sound of the Skulker's main entryway being thrust open catching both him and Fire Man's attention. Another oddity, as even with perhaps his greater difficulty in opening said entry, the DWN would've almost thought that his younger numbered kin was doing what the DLN should've been doing at that time. Letting out a light huff as he made contact with the ground below, 'Chief' in turn gazing just as intently back, holding his weapon up for the android to clearly see.

"Y'know," Crash Man began, the silence becoming more than a little much, not to mention boring for his tastes. "Maybe this is a good thing." as if to add emphasis, as well as intimidation on his part, he began scraping his silver, finely sharpened drills against each other. "The blue dweeb was a bit anticlimactic, and don't tell Matches up there, but I was hoping for just a little more. Doc tends to hype things up and all."

Perhaps he was getting himself pumped; yet the native android inwardly shook his head. Indeed, it was a pity.

"So, what's your name, Chief?"

Such a great, great pity.

Yet all the same, lamenting on the robot's creator and his utter lack of forethought of what could truly be done with his prowess was not what he was sent here for. He simply nodded, lowering his position to where his knees were bent to allow for a quicker reaction in case he needed to lower himself-

"Eh, hell with it. Time talking can be used for better things!"

CLANG!

How appropriate as well, seeing as the red android wasted no time in making a mad dash for his facial region, the tomahawk protruding from his right forearm making contact with the drill as he lowered himself downward to avoid its range. He couldn't stay here long, at least not as long as his opponent was hoping for, at least. Enough to at least exert this now present rage he had caused; yet this was merely just one stop that he had to make and even then, a twinge of chagrin assaulting his core upon thinking such a thing, it was not of the utmost, highest importance. Noticing that this native based machine wasn't as thrilled or pumped for this engagement in combat, his features remaining practically as unmoving as stone, it only added to Crash Man's need to go wild. The reaction was based on nothing logical, let alone anything that bore any relation to the intruder aside from the fact he was even here, yet the DWN saw it as nothing short of an insult. Here he had been willing to allow this guy to tangle with him, willing to give him some form of acknowledgement despite interrupting and jeopardizing their task, and he was going to respond with this supposed disinterest?!

This brief moment of distraction, however, would serve in the angered machine's favor, the Native American based android soon finding himself staring dead ahead at two, far smoother objects stationed in the forearms of Crash Man, having replaced his drills. Those objects, of course, being the very namesake explosives that he just realized were heading straight for him.

New York, Light Residence

This was the fourth time that Plum had replayed the gathered footage for the blonde housekeeper, both of them and Ripot, as well with the rest of the lab's current occupants watching intently, or as best they could from whichever distance they were at. The scene played back the same as it had been when the camerawoman had captured it, the new robot that Wily had brought along stepped into the scene with the gathered up vehicles and Police Bots, then a bright, flashing light began to emit from somewhere inside of his internal body, then it poured outward from various panels that opened up on various portions and limbs. Yet as the light engulfed the camera's line of sight, the time passing hadn't been long at all, if not little more than a second, yet when the flash was gone, so was most of the opposition faced.

"Are you SURE that's all you got?" Roll questioned, frustration having already seeped into her voice.

"Aside from that red guy running by and getting the other guys' going after him." by the look she was presented with, this wasn't exactly a desired answer. "Look, I told you. I only got as much as I could, what do you want?"

"Look, I'm not saying you didn't do a good job or anything," the pony-tailed blonde clarified, thought truthfully, the quality could've rivaled that of theater productions and it still wouldn't have made a difference in the dilemma. "But this doesn't exactly help us in any way. I mean," she paused, motioning to Plum to rewind the footage again. Doing so, Roll paused the moment this new Robot Master was again on display. "What in the world happened there between when this," she let the footage play, the same scene as before being shown. "And this here? How did he manage to get all those cops at once?"

"That." all three were turned to see that, of all people, Time Man had finally abandoned Oil Man's side, Eddie standing by him and looking up, presenting concern for the violet prototype, though to as best his ability as his exaggerated facial features were allowed. Time Man himself didn't appear to be in the best of shape either, though a far cry from Oil Man's still improving condition. Frankly, to Roll, Plum, or Ripot's knowledge, he looked as if he had just witnessed something terrible, eyes wide and mouth hanging agape, struggling to even speak. "Play that again." though finally, he found his voice, gesturing towards the camera and the small flip screen attached that relayed its contents.

"Why?" Roll questioned. "Hey, what's wrong-"

"Play it." Time Man simply stated again. No one really held any idea of what to think, yet played again it was, the Robot Master's already tense state steadily shifting into one of absolute panic. "This...this is..."

"What? What is it?"

"His notes...this was in his..." upon that phrase exiting his lips, the prototype realized that perhaps he had already spoken too much. "I...I can't confirm anything. At least not yet."

What was wrong with him? Better yet, why was he choosing to be so evasive NOW of all times? "You know something about this, don't you?" Roll insinuated. "What is it?"

"It was his work. It was supposed to be his masterpiece. The entire Institute's masterpiece. But..." if he wasn't in front of her right now, the blonde would've assumed she had simply been talking to some sort of poorly made doppelganger of Time Man. His behavior, so fidgety and panicked, not to mention now so emotional. It was a completely alien sight for those present that had at least the most familiarity with him, and even then, that wasn't much.

"But what? If you know something, you better talk."

"It was something that he wanted to keep concealed until it was ready to present!" Time Man retorted, as if the housekeeper had just asked him to do something terrible. "He wanted so badly to be there to present it himself! His and his fellow scientists work...even if it was mostly his work, he was willing to give the credit to the entirety of the Institute..." it was pathetic, really. Pathetic and not to mention, a perfect example of wasting precious, valuable time. He didn't understand why he was hesitating so much in even revealing this to them, especially when such information perhaps could shed some light on what they, and Mega Man himself would surely deal with. Before it was never a problem, he himself never understanding why keeping such a thing in secrecy was tied to the so-called 'pride' of the building and its inhabitants. The pride of that stout, little Asian man with those round, little glasses. Time Man believed he understood now...the worst time to understand.

"It okay." a light pressure on his right calf brought the timekeeping (and semi-controlling) robot's attention below him, Eddy reclining his large, green head against the Robot Master. What was he doing? Was he...actually trying to comfort him? "Time not do anything wrong in telling." the energy dispenser encouraged. "Hard...and Eddy not understand all of it. But it helps other people. Help Mega."

It was a common occurrence, several questions assaulting his CPU all at once. Hell, the fact that they could have such a thing and answer and/or conjure up solutions to said questions or problems, yet Time Man found his dome repeating mainly one, particularly relating to the far smaller machine that had just stumbled upon him in the storage closet one day. Why was he doing, let alone thinking that it was his role to try and remedy him? Better yet, why was he so willing to bestow him such words, encouraging the Robot Master to divulge one of his co-creator's largest secrets? He even admitted to not entirely understanding the situation regarding that, yet still, his focus was what potential benefit it would provide, perhaps even to himself.

Ultimately, Time Man had to swallow the fact that he was right. The little, green thing was absolutely correct. Logic dictated this for him as well, yet before he found himself able to speak, a small murmur escaped his lips before anything else. "Forgive me..."

"What?"

"It's still in development." Time Man finally began, Roll and Plum, as well as the entire lab now having his attention, albeit those outside of this small circle, such as Kalinka and Quake Woman were mainly listening in from a distance. "And it may take even more time to complete, yet that robot...it resembles a particular experiment that Dr. Kouin was wishing to conduct."

"What kind of experiment?" Roll pressed further. Finally, they were getting somewhere, though the direction of whether it'd be in their favor or not was still uncertain.

"Dr. Light...a few of his colleagues developed a time machine once, yes?" she in turn nodded. "It was some time ago from what I'm aware, me and Oil Man still being kept from being as open as we are now. But now, at the Institute..." Time Man paused for a moment, yet forced himself to continue. "They're testing such a concept again. A more advanced model compared to what was made before." for those still there, he had to remind himself. Even with the guilt, it was for them. "They call it, the 'Time Skimmer'."

Refinery, Washington

His signature tomahawk would take care of the first that barreled his way, said weapon shooting forward and slicing through the incoming Crash Bomb down its center, stopping its journey midway and the separated halves bouncing off of the assault below. Yet the second, to the native android's horror, could not be stopped in time, lest he wish for it to plant itself right in his core. Ducking to the side was his only option, the act of self-preservation was instant and a responsive one, yet not without consequence.

BOOM!

That in itself more than relevant when the bomb made its mark on its now unintended target.

"You still want to dance some more, Chief?" Crash Man sneered, loading up two more namesake explosives in his red forearms. "I've got plenty more."

His blue optics gazing back at the area that had just been hit, it was somewhat relieving, if not somewhat selfishly so, that the damage wasn't as bad as it potentially could've been. Still though, from the explosion and the leaked out fluids from the security bots all around, a small, yet soon to maybe spread set of flames had begun to blaze and gain traction, something of which the pilot of the Skulker above took notice of immediately. Though this was beginning to make the ship back off from the area, it was far from the method that the invader wished it had been. Yet just for a bit longer, he reminded himself. Just for a little bit more, and the department would arrive soon to take care of this. Until then, he mused, readying himself as Crash Man seemed more than ready and able to fire off again, he would have to keep this walking fire hazard at bay. Preferably, as the sound of the bombs detaching themselves met his audio receptors, with his aim having improved compared to the previous instance in dealing with the set of explosives.

"Damn." Heat Man hissed. "Should've known to not let him set foot out of here." Well, not allow him to leap out was perhaps the more appropriate expression.

Here everything was going according to plan, he being the responsible and forward thinking head of this operation and in turn, earning at least some inkling of respect from those like that immature drill wielding bot and in turn, Wily himself, but nooooo! That trigger happy idiot just HAD to go and get his fix because actually managing to send Mega Man himself off wasn't good enough! Nevertheless, his rising of the ship wasn't indicative of him leaving Crash Man, as tempting as the act was at that moment. Yet a fire had been started already by one of his bombs, and whilst the ship was still a good distance away from it, the rattling of the kerosene filled capsules in the back was more than a motivator to get as high up as possible.

Besides, with what was coming next, he needed to get as far as possible, yet still in range of being able to pick up that annoying red bucket of bolts.

Down below, the secondary placeholders in place of the namesake bombs took their positions yet again, Crash Man wasting no time in rushing forward and thrusting a spinning drill directly at his core. This in turn was recounted with a block with the now returned tomahawk and a swift kick forward to his aggressor's midsection, sending the DWN back a few feet, almost nearly sending him falling to the ground. Though surprisingly, at least to him, the other android didn't make a move on him in this brief moment of weakness. Hell, if he wanted to, and he was indeed considering it, he could've very well charged at him and begun the swinging matches yet again if he so chose to.

"What?" Crash Man finally asked, the high he had been on since the explosion he caused beginning to faze out, especially with this painted face, feather headed bozo giving him that look. "Well, don't just stand there! You got to say something, then say it, dammit! You're driving me up a wall!"

It was perhaps a useless thing to do in hindsight, as neither of them could exactly 'leave' unless the conditions were right (the Wily bot with his orders, and his with his own), yet still, the tan skinned, blue eyes machine was not one that simply wished to tear through and stamp out any sort of opposition. Contrary to the preconceived notion that his outward appearance gave, such savagery did not speak of him as it did not speak of his creator or his people. Yet with that said, it far from meant that he was simply going to allow Crash Man or any other of the machines under Wily's command to potentially do even more damage. "You keep insisting on pursuing a fight with me." and besides, the more time he could give to the human forces that were coming, the better. "Yet the means to rob this place of its minerals is taken from you. What business do you still have here?"

The DWN only quirked one, dark brow. "Business?"

"Even one such as yourself can clearly see that orders or not, there's no fulfilling it now. So you can leave intact while you have the chance."

Though the conversation taking place below was out of range for the two above to hear, said predicament was taken into consideration...along with another step of the plan. Or rather, what was to be done if things should not go in their or Wily's favor.

Something of which Fire Man was aware of and had gone to the entryway of the Skulker to survey the area, searching for where to potentially begin the spark that would lead to the great, encompassing flame that would overtake all of refinery.

'If you cannot obtain all the fuel you can before interference comes...' Wily's words to the three were clear, reflecting on them as they were directed before they set out with his ship. '...then give the fire department some overtime at the very least.'

From the looks of things, it appeared to be turning in that direction. Crash Man might have to make a run for it, yet he was fast enough, at least according to Heat Man. Positioning his right forearm outward, the familiar heat began to develop from within, his top gaining a light flickering that had to be restrained due to his body still being inside, yet that wouldn't exactly matter. Where he was aiming would do well with just a little bit of fire.

'DLN...'

The tank that was drained of kerosene, or at least enough of it would serve as the perfect place to begin. Robbed of a majority of its contents, yes, yet it never took much for a grease fire to overtake an entire house, did it?

'I am...DLN-007. Fire Man.'

Crash Man was still battling it out with that Native American looking bot. If he were lucky, he'd get that stupid headdress of his set aflame too. That'd REALLY teach him a thing or two! Interfering and interrupting their work...their task for Dr. Wily. And...and the Flames of Justice. He couldn't forget that.

'Made...for waste management. And...'

"What are you doing?!" the far more cubic shaped Robot Master questioned, completely baffled as to why the other fire wielder had just allowed his namesake powers to be activated, yet seemed to just simply stand there and point one of his flame throwers out the open door.

He wasn't even sure of what were happening, his processor and everything else that was stored in his dome felt as if it were on literal fire! What was taking so long, better yet, why was he hesitating at all of allowing the stored flame to be allowed its deserved freedom?! That damned intruder went against Wily! Went against the Flames of Justice! He deserves to burn along with this entire area for all he cared! And yet...and yet...

'I have hurt a fellow DLN!'

"GAH!" the vertigo was immediate, yet thankfully so, as Fire Man forced himself back, ungracefully falling to the other side of the ship.

He was out of danger of potentially falling out, yet the door was still open. Something of which Heat Man glared at him for, yet after a few moments of silence and he in turn not moving from that spot, the pilot grumbled and temporarily abandoned the controls, sealing up the entry way yet again.

"The hell was that?!" the wide eyed android inquired, his hand meaning to slap the side of his head in shock, yet instead only met his outer yellow shell. "I thought you were going to do it!?" the 'it' in question being the worse case scenario if it should come. "Wily's going to have my ass, hell, ALL of our asses if this doesn't..." he shouldn't, Heat Man told himself. He REALLY shouldn't, it being a disservice to the strong, no nonsense bravado he was wishing to exert and display; yet his large, green eyes couldn't deny that the robot in front of him was not behaving like himself. The flame atop of his head had gone out, thankfully for the energy that they did manage to collect, yet Fire Man appeared as if he had just gotten almost every portion of energy drained from him, slumped over and one arm up to allow his forehead to recline on the stump. Granted, the other Robot Master didn't appear to be in the best of moods after Mega Man was forced to retreat, yet the DWN didn't get much of a chance to pay attention as his priorities were set on the task at hand. Now, he could truly see that Fire Man was nothing short of an absolute wreck, completely and utterly deprived of anything and everything that composed of his appropriately attributed hotheaded nature. "Hey, are..." he himself felt odd in even asking this. Especially given they weren't even of the same line, let alone the same creator for that matter, even if such a thing was taken care of long ago. "Are you okay?"

It took him a few moments for the dejected looking machine to even register he was being spoken to, not even lifting up his head to acknowledge Heat Man's presence. Though finally, after what seemed like forever, an answer came to the other Robot Master's question, albeit in a tone and volume far from Fire Man's characteristic go-getting enthusiasm. "...fine. I...I'm fine."

It was far from the truth, the other fire wielder could tell as much, yet he didn't even get the chance to prod further as Fire Man immediately left the spot he slumped over in, retreating towards the back where the capsules rested. A far smaller space, given the kerosene filled containers were nearly overtaking the ship as it was (how they were supposed to fit the other units of energy in the ship was something that Wily apparently didn't account for, lest he actually expect them to drop off the units and then come back), yet it seemed that he resigned himself to keeping out of direct contact from anyone else.

"You don't seem okay-"

"It's his job now." Fire Man cut him off, ready to explain as if he were expecting such from Heat Man. "Crash Man...stupid kid's taken it upon himself to carry that part out now."

His job...his job to wreck havoc and destroy...why was there this sickeningly tight compression in his core when he stated such a thing? Better yet, why did the same sensation plague him when he took upon himself to do just that?! Even the intruder was a target Fire Man found himself unable to fire at plagued him with this! It was preposterous, absolutely absurd, yet he could've sworn that for a moment, for just the briefest of seconds, that he saw that oil based robot in his place about to be lit aflame, any sort of concentration on his assignment gone as the screams he made filled his head.

Of course, none of this dawned on Crash Man at the moment, having assumed that the job of blowing this place up sky high would fall on either Fire or Heat Man, the latter oh-so-graciously thinking that he would either set something off too soon or would somehow find some other way to botch it up! Little kiss-ass, what did he know? Besides, here he was doing the hard stuff in keeping this Indian looking guy off of them while THEY could get the ship out of range! Swinging to the right, then the left, each and every blow bringing him closer and closer to his opponent that seemed to simply not even throw anything at him! A quick uppercut resulted in the other robot having to hold his whirling appendage off with his weapon, yet even then, it was as if he wasn't even fighting him! He was treating it more akin to a simple (albeit intense and potentially life threatening) spar than an actual fight!

And frankly, he had grown tired of being insulted and wanted to give this guy a piece of his mind! Or even better, a piece of him.

Switching out his drills for the Crash Bombs once again, Crash Man didn't waste any time in jokes or taunts, having delved far past that as the fun factor had worn off, releasing them immediately from their places. The painted face, Native American machine was dreading this, yet all the same, knowing that the explosives would eventually be released again. This time, however, given the previous tactic with his signature tomahawk managed to account for one, he was wishing to experiment with something else. As the bombs flew forward, particularly at the drained tank that still bore the smallest amount of kerosene inside, the feathers atop of his head rose up and a clutch of three detached themselves from their source, flying forward towards the airborne bombs. Simply one of them lodging themselves in wasn't enough, yet another stabbing through the explosive, then another, and the bomb began to lose traction, its direction changed and left with nowhere to go but to release itself into the ground. The second was shortening its distance, growing closer and closer until-

WHACK!

Perhaps it was would be difficult to watch two at once with his weapon, yet one would do just fine. The tomahawk sliced through the Crash Bomb, as it was mere yards away from hitting its intended target, the split halves resulting in an explosion, of course, yet thankfully, the blast was far enough away to not catch on whatever hadn't been taken.

His opponent was about to unleash yet another round, yet in the distance, both the intruder's and the DWN's audio receptors caught the faint, yet incoming vibration of helicopters drawing nearer and nearer. Also, the small, hazy blotches of red that seemed to be the source of the incoming noise indicated that they belonged to a certain department specialized in taking care of potentially out of control fires. Green eyes gazed towards the one that had ruined what was supposed to be a successful haul, then back to the approaching choppers. The shifting back and forth went on for a while longer, yet ultimately, Crash Man's decision had been made, even with the utmost regret and disappointment. This was an even worse buzz kill than being able to send that blue dweeb off so easily!

"HEY, GUYS!" and to make matters worse, was Matches actually going off without him?! "WAIT FOR ME!"

It took as much discipline and reserve he had to not allow himself to go on after the Wily bot. True, it wouldn't be against his creator's wishes to a degree, as he, along with his two companions were responsible for the refinery being in the state it was currently in.

"Can you hear me?"

Though as the choppers drew closer and closer, the painted face android push pursuing Crash Man aside. Besides, this wasn't the true aim of that machine's creator, so going after him or any of them for that matter would be a useless exertion in comparison. Better to allow them to have what they've managed to steal rather than what lay in the lower chambers of that Institute.

"Indeed I do." he responded, the voice of his creator emitting from his audio unit. "There's been some energy taken as well as a fire started." he reported. "But the fire department's on their way as we speak."

"Ah, I see." he grimaced at the disappointment in his creator's voice. "It's alright. Don't burden yourself with it." yet still, he comforted him, knowing well how the native robot would take it. "Such things can't be helped at times."

Perhaps, and ultimately, yes. He had to admit that was an indisputable fact. It did little to ease his own dismay that perhaps he could've done more, let alone better to prevent any damage at all, yet all the same, compared to what could've been, he should've been grateful. Still...even with the department coming and more than capable...there was still the inclination, the want to stay and assist however possible.

"They'll take care of everything here. You're needed out in California."

"...understood. I will arrive as swiftly as possible."

"Of course." the owner of the voice had to leave soon, yet he had just a few more parting words yet to go. "Oh, and when 'he' should come, not that I doubt you wouldn't be accommodating, I would prefer that we, or at least those present would introduce ourselves to him and Dr. Light. When the time comes, that is."

The call was ended, leaving his hearing to become completely consumed with the incoming support from above. Even more, the sounds of sirens were more than enough to confirm that every necessary force that would be needed here would be arriving, thus leaving his presence here unnecessary. Which ultimately, was what mattered. His want to stay versus his need to think forward and begin trekking to where he was commanded to be.

In the end, there was little debate, given that there was also little time. For as much as he felt it was his duty, his very reason for his creation to aid and help those that would tend to the damage done here, this bout of senseless destruction would be nothing compared to what would possibly be wrought if Wily managed to get his hands on the Institute's project.

New York, Light Residence

She held not much of an understanding of what was being discussed, let alone why it was being kept so secret and hushed, yet from the amount of importance and emphasis that the violet Robot Master was putting on this particular 'Kouin' individual and his work, Kalinka didn't need to be told twice that it was something pretty crucial. She was somewhat envious of the fact that she was being left out, even Quake Woman, of whom was 'pretending' to not listen in and keep to herself was clearly sneaking in bits and pieces of the conversation, moving only the slightest bit closer and closer so she wouldn't be noticed.

Yet as the conversation regarding Dr. Kouin and from what she could gather, Dr. Light himself, continued, she couldn't help but wonder to herself, 'Why didn't Papa do work with something like this? He could surely make it marvelous.' no discredit to Dr. Light was meant, after all, who else allowed for her Beat to rest while her relocation was going on, yet her conviction was still set on her father. Instinctively, childishly even, if Kalinka had to name the most brilliant mind in today's modern era, there was no contest as to who it would be. It was odd, she found, how this span of time away from him, away from her home...it sweetened even being forced to stay in that house with very, very few and rare instances where she could go out with him somewhere. Though Kalinka wasn't about to ever badmouth him, and heaven help any fool that did, yet she found that since the forced departure to this country and with her own surname taken away (McNeil of all things, really), she never exactly liked being stuck in that house, forced to stay and interact with only Beat. Yet then, at least she was sure he was coming back.

Of course, it was when the copper wiring had hit her finger was she brought back to reality, having to momentarily retrieve it and see that she had just gone and stuck herself on one of Oil Man's damaged cables hanging out of the side of his face. She had put putting on that black goo for later, reminding Time Man that there was no use, and dare she say, a 'waste of time' to put it on him only for Dr. Light to then have to remove it again. Then that pompous little jerk went on about how he apparently didn't 'trust' someone like her messing with them, even outright telling her that he wasn't willing to risk her 'toying' with his fellow robot, as if she'd break him just by touching him! "I might not know you at all." Kalinka spoke to the still dormant, yet improving Oil Man. "And it might be true that you're a loudmouth, but right now, your company is MUCH preferred over your mudak friend there."

Further ahead, in the heart of where this vital information was being relayed, one amongst the Robot Master's current audience had a question or two. "So, let me get this straight." Plum began, lightly tapping the display screen. "What he's done here...whatever it was, it resembles something that your creator-"

"He's not." it wasn't as if Time Man was lying, Kouin hadn't been his creator. "I mean, he wasn't." yet still, to put him out of the picture entirely, especially when it came to his development getting this far...unacceptable. "I'm still registered as a DLN, yet Dr. Kouin and his research contributed heavily to my design, as well as me even having moved past simply being a piece of metal with nothing of value to contribute." Even more, it would almost be outright sacrilege. Of course, if the robot captured on the footage was any indication, maybe such an act had already been done. "My design was considered for the Time Skimmer at points, but for now, I can only slow its passage. Not stop it completely. Even more so, control which direction it goes in."

Turning away as he said this, Eddy was the only one that managed to see the twisted expression of loathing that etched itself on his normally stony features. Loathing not for those he had to deliver this to, no, this appeared to be directed at his own person.

"But this DOES look like something he was considering right?" Plum continued to prod, even with Time Man's evident discomfort. Reporter's drive wasn't exactly known for its courtesy at times. "Like, he was going to try using whatever he just did at the demonstration, right? Right?"

It wasn't exactly an answer that told them much of anything, yet Time Man simply nodded. Frankly, Roll was convinced that she had everything she needed, and not mention, more than enough of a case to permit her to go through with what she was planning. "We've got to get this to Mega somehow."

"What?" the exclamation came not from one of formed 'inner circle', yet an outsider listener. Quake Woman finally made it known that she had been listening in the entire time, something of which Time Man was not exactly pleased with given his look of disapproval. "But..." what was she doing? Why did she just so foolishly expose herself like that? "But he said that we're to stay here and to not get involved in that." hypocritical, yes, as if she held any right to be on a moral high ground (let alone why it bothered her so much), yet Mega Man's instructions were clear.

"And I'm not." Roll answered. Even if he wasn't present, it seemed to now be a bit of a natural inclination for her to assume that she'd have some sort of opposition when it came to her doing this. "I'm not getting involved with whatever Wily and him are doing." as if to further make her intentions clear, she lifted up her utility arm as if to proudly display it. "I'm just going to go and get involved with the other guys Wily's sent running around here."

"Not at this rate." Plum interjected. "He's sent out that one red guy. Name escapes me, but he's got like a 'V' on his head and I think his main thing is running-"

"Quick Man?"

"Huh. Pretty obvious now that I think about it." the reporter reflected. "Either way, there's no way you're going to catch up to that guy. Not with those." she gestured towards her red boots. "Though...I need to get down to the station anyway to deliver what I've got. I could maybe give you a lift." with what, Roll was about to ask, yet a small click down below from her boots indicated what her mode of transportation would be.

Yet still, that left her with one problem..."Hey." Roll called out, the blonde Russian not realizing at first that it was she that was being spoken to. "Kalinka, right? Beat wouldn't happen to be available, would he?"

Oh, why, oh WHY didn't she at least leave the door cracked open a little bit for him? "No such luck. Babushka has me keep him inside when we're out, otherwise he somehow get in some accident." she was about to add 'and I get blamed for it because he's my bird', yet at that moment, she'd take getting in trouble with her grandmother again. At least that'd confirm she was okay.

Well that put a bit of a damper in her initial plan. Of course, Roll then remembered that Plum didn't arrive at her home on her own, and if she saw right, that little green guy had himself something that'd compensate well enough for wings. "Yeah, so..." she began, biting her lip as she remembered she had tried to quite literally shut the two out. "About earlier...you wouldn't mind me borrowing this guy for a bit, do you?"

Borrow Ripot? Plum was about to ask further, yet quickly picked onto what the ponytailed blonde was implying. Honestly, it wasn't too bad of a plan, and besides, she perhaps could be lucky enough to score even MORE footage to show the station so she'd hopefully not be chided so harshly for being late.

"Borrow? Lady, I'm not some wind up toy you can just take on a joyride whenever you want-"

"Oh, relax, you." Plum assured. "It's just a little detour you've got to go down, nothing more. Besides, it'll get you AND me brownie points for sure."

"You really shouldn't." just as they were about to make their exit, once again, it seemed that the pigtailed Robot Master had to interject. Her words wouldn't do anything to change their, especially Roll's, minds. Yet what came next, "Besides, you're not..." unintentional as it may have been, she had no idea what nerve she had just struck.

"Not what?" Roll immediately questioned, Quake Woman adding this to the already long list of regrets for the day. "Not what?" she repeated, demanding an answer.

"Well..." she was in for it now. If not by Dr. LaLinde, then Mega Man's own sister. "Not to imply you're incapable. Yet taking on not one, but two of Wily's robots at once, are you sure you can? Your function might-"

"If we're going that route, then your function certainly didn't include you going over to the refinery, did it? But you went anyway."

"It..." she was right. She was one hundred percent right. "It was to simply see if I could contact the authorities! At least a first!" they probably already had been, it evident that Roll saw through her excuse. "And it's not as if I would've rushed inside as he instructed me and Oil Man to stay outside-"

"You know what, it doesn't matter right now. Neither me, or Mega has time for this." that certainly got a reaction out of her, she seeming to respond rather strongly the moment his name was heard. Let alone the fact that she was contributing nothing useful or helpful to him. "Maybe the guys here want some extra company, so do what you want." Roll turned away. "But if you're going to be so half-hearted and indecisive about it, then it'd be best for his sake that you DO stay put."

True to her word, Roll made her exit from the lab quick, Plum and Ripot not entirely sure what this thing between them, let alone a refinery had to do with anything, yet nevertheless, followed the housekeeping robot out, leaving the lab's current occupants at only five. Yet while some awkward silence followed, everyone eventually went back to resuming what they were doing before, Time Man going over to oversee Kalinka's replacing and removing the burnt through sections of wires whilst Eddy stood on standby just in case. Yet for Quake Woman, there was nothing but those few words Roll had just spoken to her.

Half-hearted? Was she? Who was she to make such a statement? What did she know? Hell, did Roll even know of what she had even risked to just even attempt to try and see whether or not he was indeed all right?! She...she didn't mean to step in and try to attack those Robot Masters! She just saw that he was in potential danger, so she just acted accordingly! She had to! He had saved her life! She knew it wasn't a good idea, not in the slightest, yet...yet given the history of Light's other robots, if it weren't for him being by her side, she very well might not even be here. Or worse, be amongst those that were taking to trying to steal the refinery's resources. Even now, he had saved her, this time from her own stupidity, and what had she done for him? What had she done for the one who she now owed her life to twice?

Quake Woman couldn't understand any of it, yet this urge, this strange...ache...it wouldn't leave unless she paid her debt to Mega Man. And she had, through her own fault, had just jeopardized her chances of keeping what had been restored to her memory bank along with everything else, maybe. Yet with that in mind...if that would be the case...then what was stopping her, truly? 'God, what's wrong with me?'

Outside of the lab and at the front door, Roll turned to Plum once again, far from backing out from her decision, yet direction wise...she maybe needed some tips. "Where were they last seen?"

"The red guy's been all over, at least I'd assume so." Plum admitted. "Though the hotbed of action was not far from the Brooklyn Bridge last I heard. Or at least that's where most of the screams seemed to be coming from."

"Good a place to start as any." indeed, the sooner that bastard was stopped, the better.

Just as they were about to leave, however, Roll felt someone seize her shoulder. Yet upon turning around, her blue orbs coming to face green ones, she wasn't sure if she was seeing who was right before her at first. Quake Woman spoke no words, eyes uncomfortably shifting back and forth and uncertainty still present in her, yet upon her stepping out with them when Roll and Plum exited the house, it was more than clear that the party of three had become a party of four. The housekeeper still wasn't too sure about it, let alone why she seemed to be so inconsistent, yet for now, any sort of assistance was for the best. Besides, the little green guy had a long way to ground to cover if her brother and Wily already left.

New York City

This was just the beginning. True, while this act wasn't the main feat that would truly redeem him for all of his ill thought and misdirected foolishness today, yet it was a start. It was far from easy, allowing Dr. Light to be taken, let alone with that lunatic of all people, yet Mega Man was confident that at the very least, he didn't want him dead. Not yet, anyway. No, he still needed him for whatever he was after in that facility in California, yet that still meant that his time was borrowed, both for himself, and his creator.

"HURRY!"

Also for the two he was currently chasing at the moment. Rush was pushing as hard as he could, his thrusters releasing more and more intense flames outside of their ends, the heat burning up inside as well as the lack of protection his underside had now was beginning to get to him. Mega Man continuously apologized to the poor thing in his mind; he was doing the best he could, truly. Yet he had to go faster! Just a little more! The streets that the object of their pursuit was traveling down were, thanks to its previous rampages, mostly cleared and everything in its way thrown to the side. Though perhaps a spare car or debris would've been beneficial in rescuing the two humans as not just a few more yards ahead was the Brooklyn Bridge.

Or more appropriately, the twelve meter deep East River. Forty straight feet from bottom to top.

Though Rush wasn't right in light with the Mobile Suit, he had to risk it, especially with what Wily's intention was now. "Forgive me, boy, but I've got just one more job for you." bless that dog, Rush simply yipped in agreement, despite the strain he was already going through. "Okay, get ready to catch him!"

The Mayor felt a sudden force thrust itself upon the suit, particularly the arm, he sighing in relief if he could as his savior had just landed atop of the Mobile Suit and drawn his telltale buster with the for sure intention of freeing him from this ongoing nightmare. The task in itself was yet another risk that the Blue Bomber was taking, his arm having to make the smallest amount of adjustments and be positioned at the right angle, something of which wasn't the easiest given that the ride wasn't exactly smooth. Yet if he didn't hold his weapon right, to where there was no chance that plasma could be making contact with the Mayor, then it his programming would've taken over, sensing a potential violation of the First Law, not even allowing the smallest amount to come out.

'Come on...' Mega Man inwardly groaned, though at this moment, he was practically begging. 'Come on!' The Mayor and Krantz were mere feet from going straight in!

It wasn't as if he didn't wish to tear his creator's work apart either! The Mobile Suit was a project that sprung forth from the fact he couldn't protect someone, that no one could essentially help someone properly...it was supposed to help others like Kouin and even the woman currently trapped inside to be safe and able to defend herself! And now, here he had to destroy it. All of that work and effort, all of that time and energy...

BOOM!

It was then that Mayor Parson became more than aware that instead of going forward, he was instead going backwards, the metallic holder of his fellow abductee along with Mega Man going right past him, realizing only in the brief seconds he was still in the air that he, along with the very arm once attached from it had been disconnected from the rest of it. Though he had finally achieved freedom, safety perhaps wasn't included, as the only place he had to go was the ground below, something of which would not be kind to his lower half when he landed, especially since he was still caught in suit's claw.

"Gotcha!" goofy and 'Scooby-Doo-esque' sounding as it was, Mayor Parson couldn't have been more thankful to hear that voice, his journey stopped as he felt the back of his blazer being seized and his entire form being lifted upward, body being pulled out from the claw's grip, apparently having gone slack from being detached from the source.

Landing on the ground with a hard THUD, Rush steadily began to lower his human catch down to the ground, the Mayor, however, not really even able to stand as the sensation of a flat surface underneath him had begun to become alien to him. Hell, frankly everything aside from fear was alien to him at the moment! He didn't know whether to allow the moisture in his ducts to flow freely or burst out laughing from whatever this strange sensation was doing to him!

Though, to both his and Rush's dismay, any sort of celebration couldn't happen yet, as a loud splash met their ears.

---

Whatever energy she had now was being exerted to the max, the water overcoming the small view she had to the outside world, the city disappearing as she felt herself sink lower and lower in her metal prison. Roslyn Krantz knew that it was probably fruitless, yet now; she was simply acting on pure instinct. Kicking wildly and thrashing around the small sitting area of the Mobile Suit, she was really beginning to regret on bringing her gun as she could at least shoot the window out and climb her way out!

On the backside of the suit, Mega Man was at a standstill, as it seemed that perhaps he would have to take that route as well. If he would even be allowed to do so, that is. True, he wouldn't be aiming for Agent Krantz, yet his systems would potentially register that in shooting through the viewpoint, he would still, even if unintentionally, be endangering her in trying to save her. Yet what more could he do? There was still a slim chance he could get her out, albeit with great difficulty and fighting with his 'what if's in nearing the Law's restrictions just enough, but not exactly crossing it. Yet he'd truly be disobeying the First Law if he were to simply let her drown, despite the fact that he himself that couldn't harm her directly. The water would drown her, yet to the azure machine, logic components be damned, he'd be the one to allow such a thing.

It was then that he noticed it. So small and nestled just below the shoulder of the suit, or rather, the shoulder that was attached to the arm he had just blasted off. Just below where the hub of the left arm was, a small, silvery little disc, Mega Man not sure as to what it was at first, yet from the faint, small glows it was emitting...yes. Yes, this was it. This was the disc! He was sure of it!

He had to act quickly, the heaviness of the prototype making both him and the trapped human inside sink further and further down, and to his dismay, the little thing was attached far better than he initially suspected. Though the water, oddly enough, proved to be a helpful element as well, as the surrounding liquid began to wear down the adhesive attached to the bottom of the device. And eventually, with one, strong dig and pull, the disc popped off and rested between his fingers.

The sound of a hatch opening up startled him at first, yet seeing Agent Krantz swim out from the now open 'chest' compartment, Mega Man's relief immediately overtook his initial fear. Without another second's hesitation, and now free, both he and the human woman made their way upward towards the surface, the Blue Bomber having to force himself to not look back at Light's months of work falling further and further down below.

---

Gilbert Stern knew what he had said earlier, only bringing the Blue Bomber as close as safely possible, then he'd have to take care of the rest. As much as he hated it, outright loathed it, this was far out of his hands now. That sentiment was more than known to him now, and as he was more than aware, if the Chief, let alone any of the Police Bots here were tossed aside like a bunch of rag dolls, then what chance did he have? This and more was reflected and outright agreed upon by the older man, and yet the moment he managed to catch the Mobile Suit zooming by like mad from a few miles away, he couldn't stop himself from potentially damaging the Chief's vehicle anymore than it already had been.

It was far from easy, damn near impossible at times, yet from afar, down the clutter filled roads, he managed to follow the suit, and in turn, his partner, yet the further and further ahead they both went, Stern became more and more aware of where they were going. Mega Man managed to save the Mayor along with his dog, yet the last he saw of that blue bot and his partner was the two of them tearing through the borders between the road and the water and diving right in.

Thrusting open the door of the car, Gilbert Stern didn't think he had run so fast before in his life, not since that brief time he considered track back in high school. Yet for who he had just seen go in the river, he'd be running and running until his femur snapped if it managed to get him closer to see if she was indeed alright. When he arrived, to his horror, all he got to see was the fading, stilling ripples that indicated he was more than just slightly too late.

As the ripples began to fade away, his brown eyes grew wider and wider, forehead becoming coated with cold, dripping sweat as he searched for something, ANYTHING that indicated that maybe Roslyn was all right. That Mega Man somehow, in someway, managed to get her out from that thing. Yet as the moments ticked back, Stern's composure was beginning to fade, he retaining it and his general demeanor for as long as he could, yet now, if this...if she were to be...

Then the water's surface broke.

From the once still and serene layer of bluish green below, a blue armored humanoid along with a dark skinned woman with red hair shattered it, the woman taking in more than a good few breathes in as if she was once sure she'd be trapped below until she had no more oxygen to intake. The curved area that rested between them and the pavement that formed the road wasn't the easier to climb, especially given that both of them were soaked, yet to Krantz's surprise, she felt a slightly callused, aged hand take hers and immediately drag her wet form upwards, assisting her in climbing over the small border and into a tight embrace.

Mega Man eventually made his way over the border as well, and despite the fact that he held no need for oxygen, he couldn't help but allow his lips to release a long, exhausted sigh. Oh, his task was far from done, yet for now, at least in the main event occurring here was taken care of.

Mega! Mega!" Rush called, immediately leaping up and thrusting his paws against his master's blue, built chest, tongue slurping up and down as he tried to get a few good licks on the cheek.

Frankly, Stern was left completely speechless. Looking to Mega Man, then to the younger woman that he held as if she were his child, his throat was rendered completely dry, yet his eyes, surprisingly enough, were growing incredibly moist. Roslyn was somewhat surprised upon the older man, he quite literally burying his face in her neck, yet from the light mumbles she caught, it sounded that Gilbert Stern was actually apologizing. Legitimately apologizing to her. 'I'm sorry' being whispered over and over again in hushed, soft whispers. Even more, she felt small pricks of droplets meeting her still wet, yet far more chilled flesh.

Mayor Parson more than empathized with the government agent, yet his eyes caught something small being held in Mega Man's fingers. "What's that?"

"This here," the Blue Bomber began, holding it up for them all to see. "Is what Wily used to go on his little rampage with you two and Dr. Light." he was reluctant to intrude onto Stern and Krantz's reunion, yet the tan woman urged him to hand it to her, the android placing the small, silvery device in her palm.

"The suit...it was stored outside of your home after Shadow Man managed to break in, right?" as she said this, through this crippling bout of emotion, Stern slowly, yet steadily began to construct and piece together a scenario with what he had known so far. What the Police Bot told him and the Chief, the suggestion made the night prior to the DWN entering in...indeed, it was true. Sometimes, though he hated to admit it, the robot WAS completely justified in all of his paranoia.

"I...Ros, I'm sorry, but I need to go." Stern finally spoke, voice having returned to normal and breaking away from Krantz, though careful as to not dislodge the disc from her hand. "I need to show this to the Chief, NOW."

The Chief of Police? "Well, where is he now?" Mayor Parson questioned.

"We found a guy trapped underneath a car or truck, can't exactly remember...hell with it. Point is, he and the robot with us took the guy to the hospital. I can give him a call and we can meet up-"

"Good idea. Then when the Police Department gets a hold of this, maybe the general idea of the suit can be saved and adjustments can be made so that simply hijacking its systems doesn't happen again-"

"We, what do you mean we?" Stern questioned, yet it took little time for his mind to get what Roslyn was implying. "No way. You're and the Mayor are getting dropped off somewhere safe and secure and preferably, far away from here-"

"Gil, I'm soaking wet. My legs aren't broken." she interrupted. "And since the volunteering session is over, I can resume my 'full time' job." it was clear that this was the last thing he wanted, especially after coming so close to nearly losing her, yet still, she pressed further. "I want that bastard's actions to come to light just as much as you do. Both in his direct sabotage and how many thousands of dollars in property damage." that in itself was putting it lightly. For all the people she saw fleeing in terror and ducking in corners, there was probably just as, if not maybe more that couldn't get out of the way in time.

The sound of thrusters jerked her away from her pondering as she and everyone else came to see the wet and tape covered Mega Man once again atop of an equally covered Rush, lifting up higher and higher until they came to a small stop above them. "Just a bit more, boy." he softly assured his canine transport, then directing his attention to the humans down below. "You can take care of things here for now, right?" the azure android questioned.

Stern began to protest, yet Roslyn answered in his place. "Sure! You go on! We've got it from here!"

It wasn't exactly the truth, at least not entirely. Yet she seemed to understand as well that this was not where the real fight was. Let alone where the one responsible for all of this had been.

Nodding in thanks, she in turn out of approval, Mega Man gazed intently forward, Rush's thrusters kicking up and before any of his observers below knew it, and he took off into the skies. The threat here had been taken care of, losses notwithstanding, yet now, he had a good two-thousand-four-hundred-forty-one miles to cover, and unlike his detour to Siberia, he didn't have a for sure limit on time.

Note: Yes, finally! I do hope that this will compensate good enough for the long absence. I was working on this, really! Well, that and some other stories, yet I was working on this one! I thank you all for being so patient with me, understanding, and putting up with my bull, and I hope that I kept your interests up for next time!

Also, please alert me of any errors, formatting mistakes, and/or anything else you see that you'd like to address! Thank you!