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!

37. Little Distractions Part 5

Note: Hello guys! Part 4 here, and before we start, a bit of a rundown on how I'm working out things for this particular story.

Or, I guess with what I'm doing now, stories.

Yes, I'm splitting this series of mine into separate stories, or 'seasons'. Why? Well, not saying that I don't like long stories, I do, yet if I go the route of putting everything in here, I'll be honest, we may be dealing with something that's around 300+ chapters long. Also, unless it's something epic, there will be no 10-parters for a LONG time (I need to go back and condense those).

Also, I feel that it'll help me in not getting too drained or tired in doing them, as I feel that working on something too long, like a chapter for instance or even a story for a couple of weeks, can really drain you, at least for me it does.

That's why I want to split it up for you guys, as I think it'll help me out too. Also, some things that I was going to put in this chapter I'm reserving for the next, as I think that while it would fit in here, it'd kinda ruin some of the surprises for next time and in the future.

With that said, hope you like!

Chapter 37: Little Distractions Part 5

Mega Man © of Capcom

The low, continuous hum that radiated through the flying machine was, despite the predicament he found himself thrown into, oddly soothing to his ears. Not to mention that, while it far from took the weight of what had just occurred off his shoulders, the old man found that even if he was in the hands of the one who caused all the destruction below, at least now there was a for certain chance that things could be made right.

Or at least, these ongoing disturbances and waves of mayhem could be put to a halt.

"So," after such a long period of the low hum being the only sound that soothed his ears, it took a moment or two for Light to even realize he was being addressed. "Tell me. Honestly now," the pilot of the namesake Wily Machine 2 continued, momentarily taking his attention away from the vast horizon of blue before him and to his captive 'friend'. "What do you think?"

Think? Think of what? What in the world was Wily even talking about?

"What that pudgy little munchkin had been trying to accomplish for months, maybe even years, here it is in front of your very eyes, Thomas. And in in the span of no more than three months."

Oh…that. And as if he wasn't making it obvious enough, an outstretched hand gestured towards the blue and golden colored Robot Master stationed in the ship with them. It was rather odd, if not a bit ironic. If not for some of those extra details and gold coloring, he would've bore a very striking resemblance to his own creation. The android in question, Flash Man, seemed to simply stay off in the corner and generally try to not draw any attention to himself unless it was necessary.

'If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was rather shy.' Thomas concluded. Indeed, for someone that Wily had just proclaimed as something of a monumental achievement, the Robot Master in questions appeared to not entirely be comfortable with being so abruptly put on spot.

"Well?" Wily spoke up again, his patience beginning to dwindle (as well as worry beginning to develop) due to having not received an answer. "I asked you a question, Thomas."

Even with him having asked for his input a second time, albeit said second time more of a demand than a request, the fellow scientist aboard the ship still remained silent.

"I'm not stopping this ship to just get an answer out of you." Wily snarled. In retrospect, perhaps such a response would've been expected with all he had been put through (even if most of it was his own fault for not agreeing when he had the chance), yet here, the fruits of his labor stood right in front of him! Wasn't that enough for him to see, let alone get SOMETHING of acknowledgement out of him?! "But I don't need to be told that 'he's' currently tailing us as we speak." No matter though. If that didn't get him to loosen his tongue, there was always 'that' option. "If you don't feel like answering me, I could perhaps let you see another demonstration of Flash Man's capabilities." His wrinkled hands tightly gripped the steer. "It'd probably take little else to send him crashing a good hundred or so feet below. And with those shoddy 'bandages' of his, it wouldn't take much to-"

"Is that it?" despite the fact he was interrupted, Wily found himself willing to look over that for the moment. Right now, he was more intrigued and dare he say, unbelievably excited, that he had managed to garner the other scientist to finally answer. Though what he responded with, to his disappointment, was far from what he was wishing for, let alone needed. "That's all you have to say? You…" Dr. Light paused, almost as if he were scrambling for words to even express what he was trying to convey. "Did you not SEE what just happened?! How many people are possibly, no, how many people are undeniably injured because of what's happened?! All of that damage done, and you're asking me about my opinion on how good this thing here looks?!"

Thing? The moment that particular word reached his audio units, Flash Man found himself…somewhat torn. While yes, he had seen the destruction down below in the city, yet aside from combating against the officer bots and he and Proto Man making off with one of their vehicles, most, if not everything else was contributed by Wily himself. And order from his creator that he was bound to obey; yet even so, the blue and golden DWN, throughout the ordeal, he found his processor being plagued with…troublesome signals. Signals were the best he could call them, feelings, well, he wasn't certain if addressing them as such would be entirely accurate. Still, they were present, and even more, had grown and increased in strength ever since Dr. Light had been taken aboard the Wily Machine 2.

'Dr. Kouin's friend. Whose research I was born from…'

The police force, Flash Man could at least understand, order aside. They were going to inevitably be a source of conflict in the future, so that was fine and good. Well…maybe not good, but…

"I didn't ask you about that, Thomas." Wily's response to Light's outburst momentarily brought him out of his thoughts, thankfully so. "And I'm not asking again. What do you think of him?"

Dr. Light, as if completely defeated, turned his attention to Flash Man once again. As his blue eyes scanned over his built, well developed, and rather polished form, Flash Man found himself actually growing rather uncomfortable under the scientist's gaze. It was brief, barely even that of a full second, yet when those blue, aged orbs of his came to focus on the android's shimmering, green irises, he found that it was enough to almost make his internal fluids turn to ice.

Maybe it was due to his own unfamiliarity with such things, his own 'birth' having not been too long ago as it was, yet to be seeing such sad, defeated eyes staring right back at him…

'Dr. Kouin's friend…his friend that he…that I hurt?'

"Does that even matter now?" Dr. Light finally responded, casting his eyes down to the floor. "What good would any of my input matter at this point? You've already made your objectives clear, and if I may be so bold, Albert, you don't seem to have any intention of changing your mind depending on any opinion I may or may not have."

Strangely enough, Dr. Wily, upon hearing that, remained silent. His focus was shifted back to watching the endless horizon ahead of him from the viewing panel, his knuckles nearly turning a ghostly, sickly white as his grip increased more and more. Flash Man, though for reasons he himself didn't entirely understand, found that Dr. Light's dismissal of him wasn't exactly directed at him, per say. Rather, it seemed to be more directed towards his own creator. Something of which, from his observations, he far from cared for.

As if what had just been said was an insult of immense magnitude.

"Are you blind?" he finally spoke, Light, at that moment, having never been more thankful that the old man had to take the pilot's seat. Then again, the Robot Master present with them could just as well take that role if he so chose. "Do you not SEE what's in front of your eyes, Thomas?! What I managed to do in just three months, compared to what Kouin couldn't even FATHOM of finishing in his lifetime?!"

Again with Kouin…why did he seem to be so important to this entire thing? Flash Man, disregarding these strange bits and pieces of thoughts that related to the scientist (at least he assumed as such), found that even despite his having heard no such thing about him, there was indeed something that composed of his inner components relating to him. Some piece or element that, even upon awakening, he could somehow detect. Something that couldn't, even with any trace of his name outside of mentions from Wily himself, be erased entirely. And even in those brief mentions, Flash Man found that it was as if Wily had to address his existence only because he was forced to. If not for explaining where a good portion of what even went into him came from, he probably would've left his name out entirely!

That in itself, Flash Man found, to his own growing confusion, to be rather insulting.

"Look at him, Thomas!" Wily spoke again, continuing on and once again, putting the spotlight on the Robot Master still lost in these strange musings. "Take a long, hard look at him, then to that worthless prototype!"

He was seeking acknowledgement of some kind. Some sort of recognition, whether it was positive or negative, Flash Man saw that his creator was demanding, almost desperate for some sort of reaction of anything from the scientist stationed in the ship with them.

"Compare them and tell me that that oaf's efforts and research couldn't have been better executed! Tell me which one of us is better! I read through his notes, he couldn't construct that barely finished Time Man without you doing the constructing! Not that your abilities are exactly a Godsend either, yet without even your semi-decent skills in that department, he would've NEVER been able to do ANYTHING with that machine!"

Yet despite all this, even resorting to insults to his own prowess, Light still remained silent. Something of which, Flash Man found himself actually bearing some guilt for. Though logically, he didn't exactly do anything against the doctor himself, yet his being here and being 'compared' to another, this Time Man, whoever he was…there was evident pain seen in the old man's features. Pain that he, intentional or not, was helping to increase, a fact that he found himself far from liking.

Though with all that said, who was he to protest against the one who gave him life?

"Still…it won't matter soon." Wily softly told his captive after another bout of silence, this actually managed to get something from Light, however.

Not a word, no, yet judging from his reaction, as well as his own, the Robot Master found the sudden shift in his creator's tone and demeanor to be rather unnerving. Perhaps that was just something else he had yet to grow accustomed to, yet such a drastic switch of extremes was indeed something Flash Man found odd, even for a human. Resemblances there were, yes, yet the CPU of the standard machine and brain of a standard human bore far more differences than expected, and those differences weren't just limited to that of controlling bodily functions (another factor that Flash Man found himself thankful for not having to worry about, the sheer thought of it revolting to him).

"Because I've also been reading up on something quite interesting going on at the Institute. I think you may have heard of it. Something else that fat oaf was having you assist on?"

Flash Man still, even with the far from desirable environment surrounding him, said nothing. Even so, he observed Light's facial features began to contort and change, gone was the grief and despair of before, making way for what he could only process as a near impossible level of fear.

"Very interesting, those notes of his. That four-eyed chatterbox you scrounged up proved to be rather useful after all, in the long run."

"Wily, you wouldn't-"

"What did you think I came out here for? Just to show this one off for you?" Wily questioned, interrupting before Light could even answer. "Well, even though I did do that, it was only part of it. Phase one, if you will. Phase two…well…" his mouth parted, a gleaming, wide smile presenting itself as the ship continued on forward. Closer and closer to their destination. "If you were so involved in that 'grand masterpiece' of his, I doubt I need to explain much more. I'll just be able to pick up where he left off!"

Dr. Light's Lab

Finally, after all this waiting, soon, it would be time. True, while he himself couldn't exactly say he was certain when this day would come, but it appeared that from what he had seen and heard, what Time Man had been planning and preparing for had finally arrived.

He had to act fast, knowing well that this opportunity wouldn't come to him again. The fact that the lab was far less crowded than before would certainly help; yet still, he wasn't ready. Not just yet. He was wasting valuable time, he was more than aware (to his annoyance), yet had it been under any other circumstances, he would've been gone right when Mega Man's sister and those other machines had departed.

But until he was certain, until he was absolutely sure, he couldn't go. Not just yet.

---

Though it was practically dripping wet and coated in how many layers of soap, to her dismay, Kalinka's vest didn't seem to be getting any cleaner, that black spot having taken to absorbing itself to the point where removing it even slightly would be near impossible. She was still frustrated about it, not to mention still rather sore about the fact that one robot, Time Man she believed, had outright and tried to use it without her input or even asking!

And that wasn't all! Up to her forearms was black, thick goo that, to her also growing dismay, seemed to not react well to being washed off with water and soap, barely able to even get it off due to the density of the substance! Not that she would've had the inclination to do so under any other circumstances, Kalinka considered maybe raiding some of the drawers to maybe find a pair of gloves, at least something to cover her hands because the urge to wipe the beating sweat from her brow was becoming near impossible to resist. The last thing she wanted was to make the rest of her as black as her vest was now.

'Babushka's going to kill me for sure…' the possibilities of what could've transpired from Annina seeing this made the blonde girl shudder.

Still, when her eyes fell upon the stationary figure atop of the operating table with that little green robot, that deep-set frustration and irritation seemed to subside. Not entirely, but still, even if something she adored had been ruined (her grandmother's reaction withstanding), at least something of good came out of it. She had still wished to save the article of clothing, if not just because it was one of her favorites, yet given that it had served a good (even if somewhat improvised) purpose, thoughts of what would've happened had she not relinquished it made Kalinka begin to regret the decision less and less.

"How is he?"

To her embarrassment, the suddenness of the voice made the teen jump, she whirling around to see Time Man standing in the doorway of the lab, blue eyes situated on the still dormant Oil Man. Unknownst to her or the Robot Master himself, Eddy took note of those blue eyes, studying them and immediately detecting that compared to the usual, dull glaze of hopelessness and apathy that had been held over the last few months, they seemed to have gained a strange vigor. The energy dispenser would usually more than welcome such a thing, but this…this didn't sit right with him. He was planning something, something that Eddy wasn't sure he particularly liked.

"Oh, Oil Man?" Kalinka questioned, gesturing to the now coated machine on the table, cracked areas sealed up with solvent, and anything else coated with that black goop.

"Is there anyone else you can think of?"

The human furrowed her brow, folding her arms in discontentment. Even if she didn't hold anything against Oil Man (sort of impossible to as she had no idea he even existed up until now), the sooner she could get Time Man out of here, the better. "His systems, from last I checked, seemed to be in good condition. Everything that should be running is." Thank God she didn't cover that portion of his face before she plugged his AC adaptor into the lab's main computer. "Considering the amount of energy he drank, he should've been up some time ago."

"Indeed." Time Man agreed. "He's simply being lazy." Well, that eased some concerns at least. "Why Dr. Light decided to let him have such a trait baffles me, but that's not my concern." He then began to turn away, Kalinka, despite her dislike for the purple robot, began to protest.

"Hey, wait? You just come for that? You have nothing else to say?"

His lips began to part, yet shut themselves. There was no use in explaining it to her. She couldn't possibly understand what he was doing, let alone understand why. "I came for confirmation on his condition." He told her simply. "And I've received it. There's nothing else to it." And with that, he made his exit.

'Weird.' Kalinka thought. Though ultimately, she thought only that, not considering anything more about his departure.

This, however, wasn't the case for Eddy. Before she could even turn her head to see him hop off the stool beside Oil Man's table, the Russian girl only caught a brief glimpse of some small, green thing with no arms running out of the lab as if he were exerting himself to a speed he wasn't exactly designed to achieve.

"What the…hey!" she called out. "And where are YOU going?! Hey, come back here!" she began to go after the small robot, yet a low moan from behind stopped her in her tracks.

---

He was no longer in the water, that much he knew. And from the sensation of cool, almost unbearably cold air around him, he was most definitely not on fire. Even better. Yet still, why was it so cold? A brief search around his CPU presented him with the answer, his sensory input was apparently reset to where it'd be on level with that of human nerve endings. Though such a thing would only take place when his entire systems shut down, they in turn rebooting themselves to standard settings. Though standard settings never went that high, what was going on?

His optical units began to open themselves, the collection of transforming, unstable shapes and swirling colors putting a strain on his already disjointed head, yet a few moments more, the shapes and colors began to attach themselves to each other and form more familiar and plausible things. Many of which, seemed to highly resemble that of Dr. Light's lab, along with a blonde human he hadn't ever seen before.

Wait a minute…

"Oh good, you're awake." The young woman sighed, speaking English, yet voice heavily accented. Eastern Europe definitely, maybe Slavic. And from the looks of it, she was definitely NOT wearing the right kind of clothes for whatever she was doing, her hands up to near her elbows coated in black, goopy material. "It's about time too. Somebody was in here asking about you-"

"Oh man…" the dark colored, newly awakened machine groaned, placing one hand on the side of his head. "That was definitely NOT bitchin'." Of course, due to his more sensitive settings (reasons as to how they got that way still unknown), Oil Man then realized that the right side of his head, along with several other portions of him, felt rather…wet. "The hell?" he questioned, raising his hand to his face to further examine it. Then he turned his attention to the blonde. "You put this on me, babe?"

"Well, yes, but-ah!" Kalinka began, though she backed up when he gestured towards her, putting her palms up. "Back, please." She pleaded. "I get anything else ruined, I'm going to be in for it."

In for it? He had little idea what she was even talking about (let alone what a total stranger like her was even doing in his creator's lab), yet still, she seemed harmless for the most part. Being human certainly helped in that judgment. Of course, as bits and pieces of his memory began to click and link together, events coming back to him, the stranger's presence was the least of his questions at the moment.

"Where's Blue Dude?"

Kalinka quirked her brow. "Prasteete?"

"Where's Blue Dude?" he repeated. "Mega…" he was unable to finish, another groan interrupting his speech. "Hold on. Gotta adjust the sensory input."

Ah, that would explain the moaning, Kalinka thought. True, from what she saw on the computer, everything was in check, but she had set that particular setting up higher to see if there were any other problems when he reactivated. Perhaps something else was torn where she couldn't see, so the extra sensitivity would tell her immediately.

"If by 'Blue Dude'," she began, hearing the robot emit a giggle at how her accent apparently made those words sound humorous to him. "You mean Mega Man," another giggle. Why though, she didn't say that wrong! "He's gone over to deal with whatever that bastard Wily's got going on in some place in California."

California? Oil Man's re-calibrating of his sensory input ceased at that moment, a cold shiver running down his metallic spine.

"Everyone else, aside from one of Light's robots and a little green one, Eddy I think, left to try and keep-"

"Hold up." Oil Man interrupted. "Run that by me again, babe."

"What?"

"The part with Blue Dude going to California." Oil Man clarified, any and all semblance of humor completely gone from his voice. "Wouldn't happen to be someplace like an Institute, right?" Oddly specific, but yes, Kalinka nodded. "And you said that everyone but one of Doc's bots and Eddy are here?"

"Last time I was aware, yes." The human girl confessed. "Though, he, the one that's here, Time Man right?" Oil Man remained still for a few moments, yet still, after a bit, he nodded. "He came in to see how you were doing-"

"He came in?"

"Yes. Though he didn't stay, saying he-"

"And you just let him go?!" she couldn't have moved fast enough, Oil Man taking ahold of her arms as he jolted up and forward, the still wet, and definitely thick material used to patch his burnt areas up seeping into the white fabric of her sleeves.

Though the shock wore off pretty fast, she becoming aware that what she had been trying to prevent had taken place, Kalinka pushing back against Oil Man's chest (that too coated, yet so were her hands). Thankfully, he took notice of what he had just done as well and promptly let her go. "What's the problem?!" she asked, though her tone mainly due to how her undershirt was now equally ruined. "You were still inactive at the time, and I didn't know what else could've been torn or burnt through, so I set your sensory-"

"No, you don't get it!" the DLN interrupted, voice almost frantic, a far cry from his usual demeanor. "You got to find Time Man!" he told, no, pleaded with her. "You got to find him!"

"Why? What's going on?"

"I get it. I do, but he can't go there! He can't just up and leave! Those guys Wily's got are gonna-"

Oil Man's words immediately died, and whatever inquiry or question Kalinka was wishing to ask never got to exit, a strange sound coming to be heard by both of them. It was low, they both taking notice of it mainly due to the lab and the rest of the house being relatively silent. Yet it was clear: something, somewhere, was taking off.

What it was, Kalinka had no idea, yet Oil Man knew the sound well. It wasn't one of the hovercrafts, it was larger. In fact, it sounded just like the small Plasma Jet that dropped him off at his last job in Colorado.

His throat, sore, yet more than usable, wanted to cry out for the fellow DLN to stop. To, ironic as it was, coming from him and what he had just done, think about what he was doing. Yet ultimately, Oil Man resigned to remain silent. There was nothing that could've been done now; neither he nor the human girl would've been fast enough to reach him in time. Besides, by the time both of them had come to the realization that something, somewhere, was taking off, it had just left, the sound of a working engine and thrusters all but disappearing.

Ground Level, New York City

The vehicle was still in decent shape, especially compared to how many times he had nearly driven it straight into a wall of debris or other cars littering the roads, yet even with that said, Proto Man found himself not wanting to return to the passenger seat and carry on. Not yet.

Not now that he had seen it.

Ironic honestly, nearly everything else surrounding the simple thing either being toppled over, thrown a good few feet away, or even shattered and destroyed completely, yet here it was, stationed in front of him and worn, but mostly intact.

He could even pinpoint where he was sitting. On the right…with Mega on the left. And that dim-witted dog of his lapping and licking at both of them, actually, dare he say, enjoying each other's presence. The scarf-wearing android wasn't there for idle chat, of course, said purpose being placed on the Blue Bomber when he wasn't looking.

Proto Man had noticed the seemingly inconspicuous bench before, yes, yet he didn't have any intention of actually coming to it. At least not until Wily gave him a call. 'Bring Flash Man at these coordinates!' he ordered, at the time, thankful that he didn't have to look at it for more than a few moments. Though as the frantic, old man droned on, the red and grey colored robot found his musings turning to that piece of public property he recognized, yet deemed unimportant. 'All at that Institute are to be witness to what I've managed to achieve!'

'Yeah. Achieve from someone ELSE'S work.' Proto Man inwardly sneered, though remembering the scientist's threat of prying into his memory banks, he dare not allow such a thing to be heard openly. Though even now, his memory banks were not doing him any favors.

Especially after that little stunt of his when he saw her…

Flash Man was delivered at said location, Proto Man actually surprised that he wasn't allowed to go with them. Not that he particularly wished to or anything, he in fact having grown to far prefer being OUT of the company of that balding lunatic. And while the reasoning behind his staying here made sense to a degree, he and Quick Man keeping the authorities at bay here to keep them from potentially going after him whilst he was still in the city's limits, Wily's 'right-hand bot' found himself actually preferring the environment inside the Wily Machine 2 than the city around him.

At least, what was left of this particular part of it.

That in itself was maybe an exaggeration, he told himself. Yes, he had gone through the streets of this particular section with the Mobile Suit, there being more than enough evidence around to decipher that, yet…yet at least as far as he could see, no one was around. No one gravely injured, or maybe even…

'She nearly was. You saw it. She would've been plastered to the road.'

Proto found himself biting his lip, the sight of that young woman…no, no. He knew her name more than well enough by now. True, he didn't see anybody else around where he was, yet as he drove back, compelled in ways he couldn't understand, to the spot where the bench sat, the image of her wide-eyed, terrified face continued to present itself again and again despite his several attempts to force it out. It was then that he found himself realizing, as well as admitting to himself, that yes, while he didn't see anyone else out in the open…that didn't necessarily mean maybe some others weren't as fortunate.

'Every rat you see, there's fifty you don't…' something that perhaps Wily would agree with, though more on the level that each and every potential individual affected by this was just as valuable as one of those disease ridden rodents. Maybe even a bit less.

When Proto Man had gotten to the bench, his memory bank, as if purposefully taunting him, played back that particular event that occurred here with Mega Man and Rush. How offended he had become when he expressed distrust in him still (even if said distrust was warranted in the end, no thanks to him), how the whole election going on at the time was another bid for Wily to gain something he wanted like a petty child (even if he contributed to it). And most of all, even as he sat there, telling the azure, cautious, yet oddly receptive machine all he was directed to say, anything to detract suspicion from himself or Wily's latest ploy…even if all of it was nothing more than a farce…

'I always wanted you for a brother.'

Well…it started out like that, at least. And if it had ended differently, then Proto Man wouldn't have even been here in the midst of this collection of ruin, a true demonstration of the man he had followed in the end…all that was left intact being that one, damned bench.

With an unsteady, red hand, Proto Man traced the lining of the backrest, working his way down towards the most right end of the seat's section, his section, on the right (even if from the angle he was looking, it appeared to be the left). Taking a quick moment to glance around, in case anyone, especially Quick Man or Police Bot was around to see, the scarf-wearing machine allowed himself to recline back against the backrest of the bench, taking the same position as that particular day.

Though with what he was viewing and taking in around him, it was pretty much a fact at this point that Mega Man wouldn't be coming back for a good few hours. Though, assuming this wasn't going to be the 'day' Wily was hoping for. Proto Man, despite himself, found himself actually hoping not. At least not before he gave that blue dope one final chance…one final chance to maybe see…see if maybe, just to confirm, that he hadn't made a mistake that day in stabbing him in the back.

'What are you upset about? You said it yourself that you were ready to do it!' that old bastard's voice echoed through his dome, he expressing what he thought of Proto's sudden bout of brooding after the incident occurred. 'You know as well as I do that it would've made no difference in the end at all. You've done too much as it is with me. They'd scrap you for sure.' Then, to solidify his point, Wily had finished with one, simple, yet poignant statement. 'But I wouldn't.'

No…even with all the shit he's given him, without regard before, Wily had kept his promise.

'Dr. Light threw you away, didn't he? What use does he as your creator have compared to the one who decided to build you up?'

That said, all things considered, Proto Man still found that the reciting of those words spoken to him multiple times still didn't ease the sudden onslaught of loathing that came with seeing the destruction around him. Destruction that, while Wily caused it, it wasn't as if he did anything to stop it. Not to say that such things weren't new to the prototype, far from it. He and Mega had been players in the midst of this little spat between Light and Wily for…three years, maybe? Granted, technically, they were in said 'third' year, and that had yet to officially wrap up, yet even so, none of this was particularly unfamiliar to him.

'You went way too far with this, Doc. None of this was even necessary. None of it.'

It wasn't the craziest thing he had done, not by a long shot. Giant drills digging under the city, letting a bunch of animatronic dinosaurs wreck havoc, hell, there was even one time where Wily had even gone and set up a place on a remote island with a condo that grew legs, and all of it to simply lure his brother there and drag him into the ocean! There was something involving a giant squid somewhere in that, yet at the moment, such things were regarded as having little importance (not to mention a good touch of ridiculousness). Yet here…if he simply wished to take Dr. Light, then he could've done so at any time! Better yet, he could've simply had Flash Man display that power he had spent all those months implementing into him, and poof! Light would've been hauled up in the Wily Machine 2, no problem!

Before, he would've paid it no mind. Wily called each and every shot, stupid or ludicrous as it was. What worth did his voice have as a machine? Yet regarding each and every one of those instances that happened before…before both he and Mega Man met with each other here, one the very bench he sat himself on. Before any of that…

'I always wanted you for a brother.'

"Ugh!" he groaned in frustration, the palm of his hand clasping at the dome of his helmet, his once straightened digits steadily curling until his hand transformed into a clenched fist. "Why?" he muttered under his breath, voice devoid of any actual anger, just frustration with a hint of grief that managed to seep in. "Why now?"

It didn't matter anymore! Wily's order, his decision, his betrayal of his brother's trust…it was all done and over with. So why now? Why now did these troublesome sensations plague him? Better yet, why had they done so over the span of time since then? Why not right after? Wouldn't that have made far more sense?! Even his logic components couldn't make a damn bit of sense about it!

It made no sense. None at all, and yet, afterward, during that bout of absence Wily took…when he had taken Dr. Cossack…when he saw that blonde, curly haired girl weeping over her little bird's wings being stripped from him and overhearing on what he planned to do with her…

"Oh, well that's a sight."

What the?! 'Damn!' Proto immediately shot up from his place on the bench, hand slipping into his forearm and buster cannon coming out in its place. Yet just as he was about to take aim, he paused. That voice…

"I didn't think the bad guys were allowed to have coffee breaks." From atop of a overturned trunk and leaping down, a very familiar, blonde android came charging towards him, he noticing a second following suit, albeit at a far slower pace, actually trying to lower herself safely down the truck's frame (being it laid on its side).

Still, that didn't exactly dissuade her from responding in confusion to her assumed partner's jest. "Coffee? We don't drink…never mind."

Frankly, given he was going over past events and occurrences not but a few moments ago, Proto Man perhaps should've expected this. Mega Man might've not been here, yet wherever he was, or at least something relating to the trouble Wily caused, a certain ponytailed housekeeper was never far behind. Annoying as she could get, the oldest of the three DLNs (as much as he loathed to acknowledge it at times) couldn't help but find some sort of amusement in the youngest's continuous insistence on sticking herself in situations where she was clearly not as capable as she either actually believed herself to be, or simply wished to be. Wily probably, as ironic as it was, had been blessed in not getting around to reprogramming Roll. If anything, she'd probably even give Proto himself hell, more than she already did.

Yet at the moment, this wasn't one of those situations. Right now, he hadn't even been planning on her finding him, let alone her even being in New York to begin with. If she was willing to trek all the way to Siberia, God only knew where else she'd go. The bench…it had seemingly drained any semblance of motivation he had to live on today.

The second robot that had been with his sister, to his surprise, was definitely someone he was not expecting to see here, let alone even in the same state. Quake Woman had eventually made her way over the truck and joined Roll by her side, though comparing the Robot Master to his sister, it was evident that she had gotten herself some 'patchwork', cracks all along and down her legs and forearms, sealed up with some sort of substance, yet still visible.

It was only then that Proto Man had been reminded that visiting Light's demonstration wasn't the only thing Wily had put on his to do list. The refinery…was it still pretty much intact, or had those three dealt with it as the old man hoped they would when their task was complete? How, let alone what the pigtailed android was doing there wasn't his main concern, yet the damage she clearly sustained from…something that must've happened somewhere…it was a baseless assumption, but maybe, perhaps, Mega Man was damaged in a similar manner? Then, was he even-

"Of course," Roll spoke up again, cracking her knuckles together, something of which brought a look of mild disgust from Quake Woman. "I hope you've got room to make for me!"

A Distance Away

Surprising that he was standing still, out in the open, considering he was still technically still being perused. Though wherever the small squadron of vehicles had gone or gotten stuck, the red Robot Master held no idea, even if he was standing at what seemed to be an open section of crossroads. And frankly, he was somewhat wishing that they would find him. He had no intention of getting caught, having made that apparent already, yet at least it would allow him to do something.

Quick Man tapped his foot against the torn, cracked pavement beneath, fingers drumming on his folded arms as his azure eyes searched for some sign, ANYTHING that indicated he could at least have something to occupy his time with.

Unfortunately, it seemed that wouldn't come.

'Damn Wily.' He inwardly cursed.

Bad enough that he had, whether intentionally or not, blocked a good degree of roads, making navigation and overall travel for everyone, his own creation included, yet here he had gone and left him behind! He, the proclaimed pride of the entire Second Line! And that wasn't even something he attributed to himself (at least not entirely), Wily proclaimed such when he was born! And now that same man had gone and left him here to continue fending against the authorities?!

Even more, he was traveling to that same place HE himself had been sent to stake out! Traveling all that way from Colorado to California on foot…why, if it weren't for his contribution, Wily probably would've never even found out where the Chronos Institute even was, let alone that there WAS such a thing! But no, his talents, as well as his tracking down and assisting in the capture of those two DLNs (Elec Man unfortunately there to steal some of the glory from him, damned rust bucket) were not even taken into consideration!

This wasn't even a small slight against him, this was an outright insult! 'Oh, but of course, that oh so impressive and new machine got to tag along with him! Even if he's little more than, what, a newborn?!' indeed, that baffled Quick Man more than anything. What could that piece of shiny scrap metal (no matter how he shined, at this point, he was little more than that to him) do that he couldn't?!

Now here he was, stuck in this now quiet and practically abandoned part of the city with him not even able to carry out his given order! Not unless the authorities somehow managed to climb over all that his creator sent into the street. He couldn't even leave and go to the Institute himself, despite a strong inclination to. Wily made clear (or rather Proto relayed to him as he had dropped of Flash Man) that if either of them left unless absolutely necessary (and that in itself was subjective), there would be utter hell to pay.

'Lucky you aren't here, Doc. Otherwise I'd give you a bit of hell of my own-' the red and golden android ceased his inner cursing of his creator, his relaxed posture stiffening.

Someone was here.

"Hey!" even more; they had just up and revealed themselves like an idiot!

Whirling around, the Robot Master came to see a pink haired robot rushing towards him from the East, what appeared to be skates of some kind carrying her forward at a rather high velocity, he actually taken back by this realization. Just a little, however. It took her little time to reach him, Quick Man somewhat befuddled, yet interested in whom this fellow machine was, let alone what business she had with him.

"You look like you're in a hurry." He began, the pink haired, rather athletically dressed robot giving a light scoff.

"And you look like you've just made yourself a sitting duck." She answered back. "You and your other buddies are in a LOT of trouble, you know."

Now it was his turn to scoff. "That's far from news. My creator doesn't have the best of track records as it is. " he observed his newest, unexpected company closer. "Though you look at least mildly intelligent, so I guess that's far from news to you either."

"Nope." His company answered. "And I'm a reporter, so at least your creator always provides us with something to show."

A reporter, she said? Hmm, yes. Quick Man, upon analyzing some brief clips via his memory bank, this robot here DID strike a cord of familiarity with him, even if he had just seen her in passing.

"Ah." She responded, seeing the traces of realization emerge on his features. Far from the time to be doing this, yes, yet if she had just snagged onto something like this, she wasn't going to waste it. "Fan of my work, I take it?"

"Work?" he questioned, she not even realizing what she just allowed him to do. "Ah, yes, work!" her face lit up. "You were in the back, right? Mopping up the floors while the cameraman told you to get out of the shot?"

Any and all traces of elation immediately died right then and there. "Yeah, well…." She struggled, attempting to make a fitting comeback. How dare he insinuate that she was the janitor of all things! True, yes, she had taken over the duty sometimes, but still! "Well, you're going to wish you had that luxury when the cops bust your ass!"

"Mopping floors is a luxury for you? Good God, I pity you."

"Shut up!" the female android roared, seething.

At first, Quick Man wasn't exactly welcoming of this new arrival, yet after that, he didn't care. In fact, this was proving to be rather amusing and entertaining for him, just what he needed to curb the horrid mixture or rage and boredom he was subjected to.

"What's your name, reporter?" he questioned. He had just come up with another method to pass the time. Besides, aligned with the authorities or not, she had pretty much made herself clear that she was willing to go at him. In fact, when she arrived, it seemed as if she were deliberately seeking him out.

"Plum." She answered, placing her hands on her hips. "Reporter, camerawoman, just about anything else, I'm the whole package."

"Oh really?" the Robot Master was about to add in a quip of whether or not that package included 'janitorial work', yet at the moment, he had something else in mind. "And I take it those skates of yours are built to allow high-speed travel?"

"No duh." Plum answered, rolling her eyes, yet it was then that she noticed a slight bend in the red android's legs. "Hey, no. You're not-"

"Oh, I am." He answered. "I may not know what you're doing here, let alone why you decided to try and seek me out, but considering your talk about the police, staying here with you for much longer is far from something I'd care to do." And as he had hoped she would, the reporter bent her legs in a similar position, ready to take off at a moment's notice. Perfect. "Though you're welcome to try and make me stay. Assuming you can even keep up with me."

With that, before she could even take on his challenge or decline, a blur of pure red was all that Plums, green eyes managed to catch. It hadn't left her sights just yet, but it, no, he was making a left turn, intending to lose her. Fine with her, she thought, the wheels of her skates beginning to rev and turn. After all, these things could serve her more than to just get quickly passing shots!

Current 'McNeil' Residence

Something was wrong. No, not just wrong, tremendously amiss. Beat could understand, even if he didn't entirely like it, that Annina had told him to stay put and 'guard the apartment' (as if it were said to not make him feel as left out, like he was some child), yet after an hour had passed, he had begun to grow restless.

Said restlessness began to give way to irritation, the want and need to spread and flap his newer and far improved wings out growing stronger and stronger as time passed. It didn't matter that Dr. Cossack had been the one to give him wings in the first place, after being fitted with these, he would NEVER go back!

Yet as even more time passed, an hour turning into two, Beat found himself beginning to grow curious. Curious and more than a little worried. What could possibly be taking Annina and Kalinka so long? True, seeing the prim and proper (or at least she liked to think she was) girl on her knees and covered in plaster was something he was kind of curious in seeing. In fact, that run they both had through the forest behind their house was one of the few times he believed he had ever seen her get something of hers dirty. The situation in which she caused the damage in the bathroom wasn't something he found humorous at all, and while her grandmother probably would've insisted she cover up the holes herself, he thought his beak might make for at least a decent enough shovel for the plaster. Just as long as she could wash it off him.

Though, when he finally flew to the window and looked down, the sight of overturned cars and broken objects ranging from mailboxes to light posts littering the streets, as well as a thin layer of glass shards seemingly spread out everywhere confirmed that indeed, something was tremendously, enormously amiss.

He held no idea what had happened, let alone what had caused such damage, yet Beat's processor immediately turned to one prevalent issue that had steadily been growing and festering over the span of time from when they first left the apartment. But…but what would he do?! Where were they? Had they taken shelter, or were they maybe off somewhere else in a hospital getting stitched up? Or…or maybe underneath one of the…

His decision had been made, his main function being tapped into, as well as the very reason he had even been made. He had to get out of here; he had to get outside, yet how? All the windows were shut, and the only other access point outside was that of…oh, of course!

As much as he wished to simply zoom forward and smash through the glass, his owner's Babushka had made it clear to him that he wasn't allowed to cause a ruckus while they were gone, and unfortunately for him, Annina was registered as one of few that he had to obey with no questions. Yet he couldn't just stay in here! Yes, he had found a potential way out…

"Beat…beat…beat!"

He was having trouble even getting the damned thing in his mouth!

His beak bit down on the small, rectangular hitch that served as a lock to the screen door to the apartment's balcony, trying to pull it upward to allow him access in pulling the door open, but he was simply having trouble keeping it in place! He bit, and snapped, and pecked, until finally, after God knew how many attempts, the robotic, blue bird found himself successful in flipping the lock.

His small, yellow talons dealt with the next task, they grasping against the door's handle and with as much strength he could muster, began to pull back. How Kalinka or her grandmother managed to do such a thing so easily escaped him, perhaps the simple fact they had a sturdy place on the ground was the main factor, yet still, such a thing couldn't deter him! He had to get out! He had to get out and see if they were all right!

And just as his process in unlocking the door had been, eventually, the blue bird found success, albeit on a smaller scale. He had opened the door, yet only just enough. It was a tight squeeze, his round, stout form struggling to fit through the opening, his wings, despite his previously stated admiration of them, not exactly helping in the matter either.

"Beat…BEAT!"

POP!

It was only when he realized that the ground was getting closer and closer did he begin flapping his wings, bringing himself up higher and higher, feeling the fresh wind underneath. Finally, he was free, Beat inwardly declared. Though now, where was he to look?

He wasn't told exactly where it was, yet from what he had heard, the department store they were going to wasn't too far from the apartment complex. And from where he was, it'd certainly (at least, he hoped so) be an easy enough find.

With no where else he believed he could go, and with the only lead he had, Beat dove down and with a small push forward from the thruster on his backside, he traveled ever forward.

Previous Location

From underneath his shades, the red helmeted machine quirked one, dark brow. "What are you even talking about?"

"You know good and well what, you prick!" Roll shouted, whatever sort of teasing she would usually be in the mood for immediately thrown out the window. If she had blood to further show it, it would've perfectly echoed how furious she truly was. "You think that you and Wily can just cause all of this and get away with it?! What you and your 'friends' did to Mega back at the refinery?!"

Those wounds then…if Roll's current companion was in that state, then what of-

"Though none of that's going to matter soon." The blonde continued, pointing directly at Proto Man. "Because today, I'm going to make sure you pay it back, and in full!"

He wasn't afraid of her, no, he wouldn't dare allow that. Yet even so, he could honestly say that he certainly wasn't used to seeing his sister so…angry. No, that wasn't strong enough. At that moment, she was near the purest example of wrath. Buster or not, hell, any sort of weapons or not, she still seemed undeterred by such things and was mere moments from lunging at him and doing whatever she felt would bring the most satisfaction.

So, in turn, he went on the defensive, more than thankful that the dark shades concealed much of his upper facial features. At least that gave the impression he didn't care, something that, at the moment, he needed to prepare himself. "Talking pretty big there, aren't you?" he snidely remarked, not allowing his eyes to look back at that damned bench. "But in case you haven't heard, I'm not exactly alone here."

"We know." Another voice spoke, Quake Woman gaining his and Roll's attention. "That's why we've got another to take care of your ally that's running amuck-"

"Quake, hush!" Roll suddenly snapped, followed by her performing a rather emotive 'shhh!'. "He's not supposed to know that!"

"What? Why not? I thought that's what we agreed on! Plum was to-"

"Yeah, but we don't tell them that! We've got to get the drop on them first!"

"Are you done?" both female androids were brought from the argument about to begin back to the one they had been seeking, of whom, oddly enough, seemed to be rather disinterested in either of them. "Because if so, I sort of don't really have much of a reason to sit here and listen to you two chitter-"

"Oh, no you don't!" Roll hollered, raising her utility arm. "I might not be able to put a ball of plasma through your dome, but I can at least fry your circuits enough so you're carted off when the police get here!"

Quake Woman wasn't exactly prepared for such a thing. While yes, there was more than a good enough possibility of physical confrontation, and she had come out here with said knowledge, as well as the current condition of her body.

Yet the debt had yet to be paid. She…she owed him this. Then maybe…

Very well. Her hands sank into her green forearms, two, silvery drills taking their places. "Just a forewarning," she told the blonde next to her. "I am NOT exactly built for this."

"Yeah, I kind of got that."

Well…yes, oh course she would. She DID patch her up after all. "Yet if you maybe weaken him enough, I could at the least restrain him."

Roll nodded. "Fine with me. Besides, I've been itching to kick his ass for a good while now."

If it wouldn't have looked bad on his part, Proto Man would've allowed his hand to slap itself right on his helmet again in frustration and annoyance. She was serious. She was REALLY wanting to do this, and NOW? If it had been in any other circumstance, in any other time, definitely before this when was dealing with all of this picking and prodding at his core…any other time before he saw that damned bench, maybe…

'I always wanted you for a-'

"Fine." He responded, lack of enthusiasm notwithstanding. He was annoyed with her pushing this on him; he was going to damn well show it. Besides, contrary to whatever she might've thought, all of this was the Doc's doing, and his energy was still more than charged. Especially given the period of time that passed from when he last used Flash Man's acquired ability. That was definitely going to come in handy later. "You want to dance, sis?" he brought his still drawn buster up for display, a light breeze passing through the area lightly causing his scarf to wave and dance behind him. "Cool with me. I think I can squeeze you in just fine!"

California, Outside of Chronos Institute

Somewhat ironic, the toned, wild haired soldier mused as his eyes kept a steady, unwavering gaze upwards at the blue skies of the so-called 'Golden State'. Here, he and the rest of his fellow troops were here, armed and ready (and his case, eager to make use of those weapons), waiting for whatever sign would come to signal the beginning of the inevitable skirmish. Guns a blazing, tearing through those walking rust buckets and the insane bastard that led them all…all in the midst of this quiet, picturesque forest nestled in the elevated countryside.

He wouldn't proclaim it aloud, but if he was asked, Xander Payne would honestly tell his inquirer of how simply waiting here and doing nothing was there REAL battle taking place.

It had been obvious since the head of the Institute behind him had been declared deceased that, at least sometime in the distant future, his trigger-happy visitor would be paying his facility another visit. And while they weren't kept waiting out here for three months since that event took place, the local government had alerted the Army Reserve and Department of Defense that they were to go and prepare at a moment's notice. The news about the refinery in Washington, as well as the following incident involving the runaway Mobile Suit prototype in New York made said state government, as well as Xander's department more than a little concerned. At the very least, he could credit Wily with being pretty transparent in whatever bat-shit crazy scheme he had up his sleeve.

'I'll give Light this.' He thought. 'Not a bad idea giving us a better option to defend ourselves. In fact, it should've been done sooner.'

So now, here he and the rest of his troops were, sitting out here and simply waiting for any sign of the old bastard to pop up. He and the rest of the men part of this operation, along with a couple of tanks in case heavy firepower would be needed, were airlifted there and put into position. Now it all just boiled down to a simple waiting game. And waiting, and waiting, and waiting…

He dare not leave his post, especially if he was still wishing to be promoted to specialist, or even better, corporal, yet that far from translated to the middle-aged, wild-haired man simply resigning to standing there and doing nothing.

Taking the MG 43 over his shoulder and bringing it to his front, the smoothness of the barrel jacket chilling and soothing against the slightly thick skin of his fingertips, they not as calloused as the rest of his hands, yet still bore a evident amount of toughening to them.

'Lightweight…' Xander thought, tracing over the weapon's features, his fingers caressing and running down along the darkly colored barrel 'Smooth, yet perfectly constructed and simple to use. Truly deserving of the name, 'Perfect' Killer'.' And if he was fortunately enough, when the time came, this baby here would be doing the exact kind of killing that'd finally do everyone in the country, hell, around the world some good.

Perhaps it was good that the weapon was held at such an awkward angle, as the hand that had placed itself on his shoulder would've received far more than just facing the butt of the weapon being thrust dangerously close to his face. Thankfully for him though, the flatter, wider portion of the MG 43 didn't get that far, as its holder pulled it back, realizing whom it was.

"Dumbass." Payne hissed, yet mainly due to how foolish his new company's approach was, especially with what he was holding. "You looking to get yourself a accidental lobotomy?"

The one who had just come up to greet him simply smirked, his white teeth contrasting greatly with his darkened skin. "Yeah, I'd like to see that." He chuckled. "Course, I'd assume your definition of a lobotomy would simply be blowing their heads off."

Xander quirked his thick brow in confusion. "Isn't that what it is?"

"No, man." The dark skinned soldier shook his head. "You could probably do something similar with that baby there," he gestured towards the machine gun, finger trailing along the barrel. "But from what I remember daddy telling me from his days in medical school, lobotomies were when doctors went and drilled into your skull and took out anything that they thought to be causing whatever issue the poor bastard had."

Even for someone such as himself, Xander found such a practice rather disgusting. "They REALLY did that? God." Of course, with that, came a particular experience that occurred not but a month ago. Ironically enough, far from a place or situation such as this, and visiting a family member of all things.

"Yep." His comrade agreed. "Course, things like that aren't allowed anymore. Daddy told me that the practice was outlawed entirely in seventies. Kind of funny, considering that the Soviets were the ones to outlaw it before us in the fifties. Even those guys could see how simply cutting into somebody's skull and screwing around with pieces of the brain doesn't really do much good."

"Tell that to the doctors in New York, Ian." The lighter skinned soldier responded, this sparking a question that his fellow first-class private had been meaning to ask for a while.

"Oh, that reminds me." He began. "How's your niece doing?"

"Chelsea? Oh, she's fine. Just fine." Xander answered. "Just visited her not too long ago."

"Pretty nasty accident she had, right?" Ian questioned, trying his best not to offend, yet at the same time, from what little he knew of it, whatever had happened was far from something she was simply going to walk away from. Literally.

"Oh yeah, it was bad." Payne answered, a low grumble emitting from his throat. So bad in fact, that the so called 'helpers' sent out to check up on the wreck that occurred couldn't even move in time so that her arm and leg could've been saved. Even if it did little good to lay the blame on the paramedics, at least the human ones, he had held firm to the belief that more could've been done. 'If they can't even be willing to at least slice off a limb when its absolutely needed, then what's the point of even having machines in such fields?'

Granted, there was more to it than just that, as even with his niece's case considered, yet still, his stance on it still stood. The Laws, though he himself didn't entirely know all about them, protected her from them going and simply hacking away at her trapped limbs, though from his own conclusions, why they didn't simply pull apart the vehicles to release her was anyone's guess.

Probably due to some other sort of regulation hardwired into them, he supposed, but still, Xander Payne saw the entire incident as something that, even with Chelsea's own carelessness and inability to get out of the way in time, never had to happen if the proper measures had been taken. And to make matters even better, Theo, his brother and Chelsea's father, up and signed up for this new type of 'procedure'! Now not only was she out of a leg and an arm, she had to get the sides of her head shaved to allow the doctors (human of course, the mechanical variety there unable to do the procedure) to cut to her brain and insert some sort of sensor in there!

In the posterior parietal cortex, he believed they called it. Somewhere near one of the ears. 'Speaking of lobotomies…' he thought. 'It's not exactly the same, but they are technically going in and putting in something new.' From what he understood (which was just about as much as Theo did, perhaps even less), it'd be able to assist in transmitting brain waves and signals to the artificial limbs and allow for smoother, more natural movement, as if she had never even had those particular limbs sawn off in the first place.

At first, frustrations with what had happened before aside, Xander found he was at least thankful that his niece would be getting her mobility back. Yet still, his frustrations persisted. Not just with how it could've been prevented, at least in his mind, but also in that the entire Law System regarding robots just seemed like a massive, big contradiction.

Chelsea's arm and leg couldn't be saved because the robots that arrived there couldn't either move the vehicles out of the way by pulling them apart, or better yet, saw off the trapped limbs themselves due to even the slightest potential of breaking the first of these Laws. Yet guys like the one that was probably going to pay this little place a visit sometime later (or sooner, which Xander found most likely) somehow found a way to where his collection of walking tin cans could essentially blow whatever up, just as long as they hadn't 'directly' harmed anybody. From what he observed, as long as they didn't up and aim their weapons as someone with the intention to fire at them (or in his case during his visit, throwing a bomb filled with glitter and party streamers through the window), then it was fine then. After all, it wasn't them themselves that harmed or potentially injured anybody, oh no, it was the crumbling building or shards of whatever had been reduced to splinters flying everywhere that were to blame. At least that's what he assumed from how it rarely stopped whatever insane bull their balding crackpot of an 'overlord' commanded of them.

From the way he saw it, even with the laws in place, protection wasn't always guaranteed, yet neither was their ability to utilize these machines. So either way, there were losses when Xander felt that there really shouldn't have been. Not at the level the country, or hell, even the entire world was now. It was almost as if they were stuck right in the middle, unable, or maybe unwilling, to move in any direction because of what could lay on either side.

'But if you sit around waiting, nothing's going to get done at all.'

Ian's hand came to grip on his shoulder yet again, though in this case, he was more than thankful for it. "Look alive, buddy!" Ian exclaimed, readying his own weapon, the beginnings of a skirmish sounding out throughout the open area. "Looks like the cavalry's here!"

---

The fact that he was stationed here again wasn't what entirely irked him. Hell, as far as he was concerned, there was none amongst any of those inferior, outdated fuel burners that would've been able to execute the first infiltration of this place. In fact, Quick Man was probably bound to screw up somewhere had he not been sent to tag along. After all, had HE not been the one that ultimately brought that prototype to his knees! It was all these factors that held Elec Man in a seemingly endless state of befuddlement.

"Hope you don't mind if we 'cut' in!" He had been sent to tag along on his first mission regarding this place, and aside from that blue pest recapturing their quarry; he (and begrudgingly, Quick Man) had been successful. "We…can do that now, right?" so why, why in the name of Wily did he think that sending these two along with him was in any way, a good idea?

"Is there any OTHER reason I would've said 'now'?" the black, red, and golden Robot Master scoffed, twitching his fingers to activate his namesake power. "They sure aren't going to allow me to waltz right in, that's for sure."

"Yeah, probably not." Guts Man agreed, until what had just been said fully fed its way through his processor. "Hey, why do YOU get to go in?!"

"When did you think that you ever could?" Elec Man groaned. Honestly, he could've sworn that his battery was being drained at this very moment by just speaking to this simpleton! "There's a small platoon out here protecting the Institute. Three of us to fend them off and destroy their equipment before Dr. Wily arrives. And even then, do you really think that'll stop them from going after us once the area IS secure?"

He'd give Cut Man some credit at least (not much, but certainly more than Guts Man), as it seemed that he at least got what he was saying.

"Not to mention," Elec Man concluded, blue, spastic sparks traveling from and between his electrified digits. "Someone's going to have to be able to contend with Mega Man when he arrives as well."

And as if on cue, their opposition had begun firing.

While the firepower being used against them was far from anything they had faced before from the standard pistol or whatever else issued by the police department, all three Robot Masters held them only a little bit above that. Yes, the bullets were far larger and definitely more durable, even managing to create a good few dents in whatever area they managed to strike.

Whether it be due to its close proximity or the fact that, despite its sharpness, it wasn't as protected as the rest of him, the moment a bullet had struck the stainless, reflective surface of his Rolling Cutter, Cut Man quickly directed his attention to who had dared strike it, or at least in the same general direction. Whilst he wasn't the most apt at dodging the hails of lead that were shot his way, his chest being rendered particularly dented and scratched, they were still no blasts of plasma.

What he was apt at, however, was making use of the giant pair of handle-less scissors affixed to his head. So despite the barrage continuously being sent his way, Cut Man reached up to his head and removed his trademark weapon. And with one, precisely timed swing, sent the duel blades flying forward. The soldiers backed up, any semblance of the Three Laws and their restrictions disappearing as the sight of the Rolling Cutter drew ever closer.

SLASH!

Lucky for them, the blade didn't slice through their necks, but rather, through their barrels. The pull of the trigger either did absolutely nothing or caused the weapon to misfire, as the bullets that had once continually assaulted him were rendered near useless as they tumbled to the ground.

Guts Man frankly didn't have much of a problem compared to Cut Man, if not for the simple fact his thicker, more densely compact form was barely affected by the barrage being aimed at him. And he certainly didn't need any timed aiming to dispatch of the humans desperately trying to combat against him. One had come up, a dark skinned man that had come to aid his comrades from the back, and thrust his weapon right in the crook of the Robot Master's neck. The blast was far from kind to his ears, yet still, given that the close proximity made the larger android take a few steps back was still regarded as something of a remarkable feat.

His neck hadn't been penetrated; yet Guts Man definitely felt some of the hitching connecting his lower jaw to the rest of his face receive some damage. In fact, as he attempted to test it, he found that the right side was basically locked in place, so only the left side would even lower, and that in itself was only by a slight margin.

'That cocky little…'

If that wasn't bad enough, that damned sack of flesh actually found the act hilarious! Oh, he would get a surprise; he'd get SUCH a surprise! Guts Man wasted no time in lunging forward, his large hand taking hold of the very weapon that had caused his current injury. The soldier in turn wasted no time in trying to get his only means of defense back, wrestling it back and forth and even trying to kick at the robot's legs in an attempt to make him release it. Though, ultimately, when he had first grabbed ahold of it, the man in uniform knew well that there was nothing he could do.

A harsh yank to the left brought the soldier off of his feet and sent him flying a few feet to the side, his form landing on the grass with a solid thud. The other soldiers, seeing that one of their own had been thrown to the side like a ragdoll immediately reacted with firing yet again, though each found themselves meeting his fate. Guts Man took hold of each and every one of their guns with a simple, tight grip, and if they refused to release them, he'd simply release 'them' from it, men sent back this way and that, sent to the ground and left defenseless.

And as if to add insult to injury, once some of them had begun to recollect themselves, this seemed to be the cue he needed to then promptly smash and completely destroy each and every one of their weapons right in front of them.

The unfortunate few that had realized the looming shadow from above got out of the way just moments before the weight of the ship would've surely crushed them. Not that it would've mattered much to the one piloting.

Wily Machine 2 had made its landing, the thrusters of the ship blowing away however hundreds of blades of grass as they continued to go on. The pilot and creator of the airship thrusting open the door and hopping straight out in glee, some who observed his exit likening it to that of a giddy child that was just about to receive some heavily coveted sweet or the newest brand of toy. Yet that wasn't what caught the disarmed soldiers off guard. The fact that Dr. Light himself was aboard the ship brought a good few to question if what they were even seeing was actually happening. Granted, it was obvious that the other scientist had no such desire to even be here in the slightest, yet the reason to him having assumedly been taken by Wily at all raised quite a number of questions.

Essentially being escorted (albeit at the behest of his creator) by Flash Man, Dr. Light needn't look from the ground to know where they were. Though there was also the fact that they were currently surrounded. Perhaps, maybe even if it was just a slight chance, this disaster could've been prevented-

"Flash Man!" Wily called out, the large, shimmering DWN (and by Dr. Light's sentiments, surprisingly gentle) turning his attention to his creator.

At least, that was until he caught sight of the massive structure before them all.

Not once had he seen this place before. Yes, he knew well what it was, let alone that he was made solely for the eventual task of going there, yet upon actually realizing where he truly was, surveying and taking in the towering building nestled in the midst of this densely packed, yet tranquil forest…frankly, to his surprise, he had almost lost himself in the sensations that assaulted his core and CPU.

He was born in the laboratory of the Skull Fortress. He awoke on that table, able to identify himself as a DWN. DWN-014 to be precise. A late, but still proud addition to the second line of Robot Masters. His purpose was to come here, and his technology, his very inner being was due to his creator implementing and toying around in different ways of what the head of this place had been trying to do for quite a while.

'Or…should it be called stealing?'

This was his purpose. What he was born for, and what laid in wait for him inside would require his presence, and yet even still, even as he stood right here, just mere feet away from the entrance-

"Flash Man!"

What was he doing? His creator had given him an order, and it flew right over his head! "Yes, sir?" he questioned.

Dr. Wily was more than a little puzzled by what had just happened, outright growing infuriated with how close he had come, and here this thing, his key inside and testament to his superior abilities was off daydreaming?! Nevertheless, he was most certainly needed now. Guts and Cut Man, at least from what he could see of the sliced up and shattered weapons all around, had taken care of any potential risk of a bullet being put through his head, the small group of human defenses was still far from completely helpless. As much as he wasn't exactly proud of it, age was definitely not kind to him over the past three years. In fact, it'd probably only take a couple of these men to knock him to the ground and render everything he had been working towards all for naught in mere moments.

"These silly little men are going to try and stop me." Luckily for him, "They're going to try and take away the very reason you were even made." He knew what to say to make almost any machine tick. "Are you wanting to let that happen?"

And just as he expected, for a brief moment, Flash Man's green eyes widened, the fear being presented just the answer the old man wanted.

"Then show these men what you are capable of!"

Up Above

It was coming.

Just above the tops of the evergreens, the Blue Bomber could see the two reflective panels stationed on the highest section of the building. Perfect. Even more, despite the damage done to them both, as well as the quick fix-up job that they ultimately had to settle with, Rush seemed to be in top condition, or at least seemed to be. Indeed, since they had taken off and traveled all this way in such a short span of time, his thrusters were definitely going to need a rest after all this was over with. Yet still, despite all that (not to mention the gaping hole in his underside covered up with tape), the robotic canine kept going.

'Good boy.' It somewhat pained him to put him through it, given the plethora of what could occur with the damage he received, but Mega found that Rush seemed to not even be focused on such things.

Though what had come to be seen next, despite neither of them having any hope of preparing for it, served to have the already hurried journey go even faster.

It was brief, no more than a second or two from Mega Man's estimations, yet still, there was no missing it, despite the short duration it lasted. A white, hot flash of light appeared to engulf the entirety of the Institute, both the azure android and his robotic canine abruptly coming to a stop at the very sight of it. Yet just as quickly as it came, it went. And after a few, still, silent moments, both concluded that whatever it had been, it was gone now.

Not that Mega Man believed such a thing should've been brushed off, he already tying the flash to something of Wily's doing, but at the moment, what could he or Rush do?

Any time lost would count against them, and in this case especially, time was definitely NOT of the essence. And frankly, the sooner he had gotten to know this new creation of Wily's the better, if not just for the sake of getting a better chance on how to take it down.

Thus, with no other direction to go but forward, and certainly unable and unwilling to turn back after coming such a distance, Rush sped along, Mega Man's equally blue eyes centered on the towering structure drawing ever and ever closer. He wouldn't be doing anything other than that, Mega Man had made that much clear (much to the dog's protests), and compared to what he was probably heading into, those trees were all he could hope for in shielding his beloved companion from any more damage.

Chronos Institute, Ground Level

Everything was still.

When Elec Man had realized that, as his optics adjusted and were able to see clearly again, there were quite a number of changes in the surrounding environment that occurred. One, the Wily Machine 2 was still here, yes, but Wily, Light (his creator), and that other robot seemed to be nowhere in sight. Two, it seemed that he was far from the only one to be affected by whatever that strange flash was. From the human soldiers to Guts and Cut Man, everyone held the same sentiment that they had absolutely no idea of what had just occurred. It was as if everything had stopped, frozen entirely, yet that couldn't be the case, as the three missing would've been here.

'That robot…' Elec Man pondered, finally beginning to understand. 'Of course! This place's specialty! He must've-'

"He's here!" Cut Man's shout cut this realization short, the electricity wielding Robot Master looking upward and seeing that indeed, their arguably most important company had arrived.

Not wasting a moment, Elec clasped his hands together, pulling them apart to reveal a small, yet high-powered collection of his own electrical output. And thrusting his hands upward, the blue colored Thunder Beam was propelled at the incoming machine aboard his flying dog.

Mega Man, not wasting a moment as well, took this time to ready himself and survey the small area of contained chaos below. Rush had been just quick enough to duck under the Thunder Beam, though instead of continuing downward, he swerved to the side. The Blue Bombers aboard his flattened back leapt off, landing on the fertile, soft grass below, not but a few feet from the Wily Machine 2.

The three present took immediate notice, Elec Man smirking at the lines of tape wrapped around portions of his outer shell. They were all judging him, even the humans, yet that was fine. Soon, it'd all be fine.

From the looks of it, he was facing the same dilemma that had been present at the refinery. Three against one, though thankfully, he didn't have to worry about his hide getting burnt yet again. Even better, albeit somewhat self-serving in nature, he was alone. Able to finally make up for the massive failure that he had just come from, and even better, no one around to have to look out for or keep out of the line of fire-

PEW!

If he had been only a few more inches to the right, the long, violet beam would've taken his audio unit clean off.

And if that wasn't enough, the one who had fired said beam apparently saw fit to present himself, a flash of violet ducked out of the thicket surrounding the area and slammed its weight into Cut Man, a large, makeshift weapon of sorts latched onto the figure's arm pushed directly in the Robot Master's abdomen.

Yet that wasn't what truly caught Mega Man and the other three machines by surprise. No, that part was reserved for of whom was in possession of said weapon, his identity mainly being further cemented by the small, green energy dispenser that rode on his shoulders.

"Time Man?!"

---

Xander Payne didn't need much to know that essentially, he and the rest of his fellow soldiers were screwed. That had been more or less confirmed by the time the robot with the scissors on his head sliced through their guns as if they were paper. Though when he had seen Ian thrown as he tried to reclaim his gun from the big one (of which he gave a shot he couldn't be more proud of), he had nearly allowed himself to charge.

"At ease, Private!" His Sergeant, though, was the only one that kept him from going. "Do you WANT that baby of yours to get snapped in half?!"

The soldier clutched his gun tightly, teeth grinding. "They hurt Ian." He growled. "And whatever that new bot Wily hauled out just went off with Dr. Light and we couldn't do anything about it!"

"Ian is fine." Another fellow Private assured, tone far more mellow than either Xander's or his Sergeant's. "He's tough, you know that. But if you go out there now, you're going to lose the only thing that has even a slight chance of helping him."

"…I know that." Payne confessed. "Still-"

"Don't forget." The Sergeant interjected. "The guys in there might nearly all be gone, but there are still a handful left."

Indeed, the moment that the attack on the refinery in Washington came to light, the alert had been high, though since the building had been visited the first time, the alert hadn't really been low for some time. It was only the report of the Mobile Suit going haywire that allowed them to gather up as many of the personal as they could. Could, not all, unfortunately. The second chopper had yet to come just yet, and thus, some were still here. One of which had apparently been the cousin of the head of this place. Kobayashi was his name, he thought.

Regardless, the fact that they were still here still meant that they were in danger, and one like Wily certainly wasn't above holding one of them hostage to get ahold of whatever sort of technology they cooked up. And if he saw fit to tear through the building to get it, he had the means to do that too. After all, it wouldn't be the machines that hurt anybody, the crumbling building that was falling apart would.

"And like it or not, they need you ready to protect them in the only way you can."

He wanted to argue, to find some sort of point he was missing. Yet ultimately, Payne found himself stuck. There was not much else that they could do other than that. They, the ones sent to protect against these damned machines held no power to stop them, and in turn, had to leave it to another.

---

What was he doing here? No, seriously, what in the hell was he doing here?! Time Man…he was supposed to be back at the house! What the hell was that thing he had on his arm?! And Eddy, what the hell was Eddy of all bots doing here!?

Any and all questions that flooded the Blue Bomber's processor found themselves unanswered as Time Man's rather uncharacteristic attack on Cut Man was cut short, he apparently, in this strange frenzy, forgot to account for Guts Man being present as well.

Drawing out his buster, Mega Man immediately began firing, the first plasma pellet striking the construction bot square in his dislocated jaw. It was fortunately enough to draw his attention off of the far less equipped prototype, yet still, he wasn't out of danger yet. Rushing over and still firing, Mega Man slid in and struck Cut Man's shin with his boot, taking this secondary distraction and grabbing Time Man's wrist with the intent to at least get him and Eddy to go off into the towering collection of trees.

Yet to his surprise, and not to mention dismay, the one he had just rescued had wrangled out of his grasp and began to make a mad dash for the entrance of the Institute, Eddy barely able to keep himself atop his shoulders. Mega Man began pursuing him, yet was blocked by a particularly irritable duo that didn't take kindly to being shot at, Guts Man attempting to adjust his jaw.

"Mega!" Eddy called out, yet Time Man didn't stop. He couldn't, not that he was finally here.

'I'm sorry.' He didn't dare look back, lest the sight of his savior, both then and now, in trouble force him to go back. He would be fine. He had to be, despite the fact that he didn't look to be in the best of shapes at the moment. And now was facing the same two that surely would've torn him apart. He shouldn't be here; Time Man didn't need to be told. He was practically setting himself up to be destroyed by either one of these completed machines. And yet…it was for him. 'I…I have to do this.' It was all for him. 'I have to make sure that at the very least, he can't take something else of his.'

And he would. He was just nearly there. So close-

ZAP!

Just not close enough.

---

It wasn't as if he were completely discounting what his Sergeant said, yet what Xander was seeing was a far cry from what he was expecting. The purple and little green guy, he could care less. Yet when the one they had been waiting for, the one that was the best chance they had to be able to set all this right was now backing up from a pair of scissors…no. No, he couldn't stand for it. He wouldn't!

"Private, what are you doing?!" the Sergeant hollered, Payne cocking his gun. "Don't you dare-"

"I'm done waiting, sir!" he hollered back, boots tearing up the grass as he began to charge forward. "Any of you want to join me, fine! But as for me, I'm not going to sit around and wait for someone else to do what we should've been doing a long time ago!"

---

He suspected that the moment they saw the improvised sealing of his wounds (or as Cut Man called them, mummy wraps), they'd also be compelled to see what was underneath, even if it meant slicing through or ripping through them right into his more vulnerable parts concealed below the cracks. These two would be a good warm up to what was to come. If anything, dare he say it, Mega Man was actually grateful for the preparation.

He'd be even more thankful though, if he could at least get Cut Man to stop swinging his Blade Cutter around to see what Elec Man had done to Time-

"Heads up, blue pipsqueak!" thankfully, this opportunity was provided via rolling out of the way of Guts Man's massive fists, the close impact jostling him a bit. And while he was having to scramble to his feet, at least he could get a better aim at the far more competent and dangerous of the three out here.

From the looks of it, Time Man and Eddy were still functioning, thank God. Yet still, the fact that it was Elec Man of all Robot Masters currently antagonizing them only further drove him to want to at least rush them out into the woods for safety. Maybe Rush would appreciate the company.

"You're not getting away that easy!" of course, that'd all have to wait until these two were taken care of.

Speaking of the robots in question, the other three brawling behind them, Time Man dared not allow this arrogant piece of junk's smirk get a rise out of him. He was judging him, he knew it. "Quite a surprise to find that you would return." Elec Man chuckled, even more so at the signs of anger creeping up on the little green runt's face. "Here I would've thought that you had been tossed out by now."

It was tempting. It was so goddamn tempting to take the weapon attached to his arm and give this bastard a good, hard swing, yet the sensation of a small pair of legs on his shoulders put that option to rest. He knew the consequences of coming here already, yet Eddy…Eddy wasn't exactly expected. Nor was he involved.

And he wanted to make that clear. "Don't." Time Man commanded, glaring daggers at the slightly taller and more darkly colored Robot Master. "He's not for you."

"Assuming I even wanted him in the first place." Elec Man scoffed, his sky blue eyes falling to the hastily made weapon attached to his left forearm, with tape of all things! "Though I'd hate to admit it, the runt's certainly looking better than this thing." He lightly touched it, Time Man pulling away. "Did you make this little piece of garbage yourself?"

"Not going to answer me?" Elec Man questioned, still receiving no answer. Just as well, silence was golden, after all. "Well then," besides, given that the little brat had dared aim that old, dirty thing at him, it provided him with a chance to test a newly conceived theory of his. "Maybe we can see if it's as 'resilient' to my delicate touch as you are!"

'No!' Mega Man shook his head, having heard enough and frankly, had grown tired of dealing with the two familiar stooges that refused to let him be. Sliding underneath Guts Man's legs, the Blue Bomber immediately rose his buster, ready to aim at the electricity wielding robot if he dared so much as lay a hand on the prototype, let alone Eddy!

"Say goodnight, asshole!"

Though he never got the chance to shoot. Didn't have to, even if he wished he would've. Yet before he knew it, as if something even crazier couldn't happen today, one of the soldiers stationed around here was outright charging his way towards the entrance of the building! Even more, he was firing directly at the two robots not but a few feet away, completely disregarding the fact that only one of them had come with the intention to cause harm!

If he had fired in that split second, perhaps then, it wouldn't have had to happen. It was a complete, freak accident, not one of them able to prevent it, and when they realized what had indeed happened, it was too late.

Xander Payne's sudden entrance, let alone his charging towards the two of them gave both Time and Elec Man (and Eddy) more than a little bit of a start. Just enough, that was, to have the electricity already surging through the DLN's fingertips to strike the makeshift, shoddily crafted blaster Time Man had constructed right in the weapon's generator. It's rather old, very fragile generator.

Xander immediately became aware that whatever that robot had done to that gun or whatever it was would probably lead to nothing good occurring, let alone to someone made of flesh and blood. Yet by the time he realized this, saw the sparks flying out and the violet light seeping through the cracks of the plastered together bits and pieces of the buster's outer shell…he also realized that he had just come a mere few inches away from it.

Note: I don't want to spoil anything, but if anyone here is familiar with Xander Payne, I don't think I need to explain that he's probably not going to particularly like the results of what happens when you get too close to an explosion. Particularly one generated by electricity.

As said before, I had some things I was going to add here, but I thought it could've ruined the reveal that Time Man had come, so it'll be a little bit of a flashback scene in the next one. Plus, another certain 'someone' is coming that'll tie into the next 'season' much more, aka, Mega Man 6 based stuff!

Anyhow, thank you guys so much for your patience and dealing with my strange habits! I hope I please you with this!