Interlude: Year Two, part 4.
October 20X2.
William R. Cochran's residence.
Arlington, Virginia.
The son of New York Governor George Cochran - and the former leader of the anti-robot group 'Humans Against Robots' - William Cochran sits at his computer and reads a news article about Dr. Thomas Light's college campus for all robots to learn progressively, like a human would, as well as interact with other robots.
As he reads the article and sees how successful the college is, William's face scrunches with disgust at the idea of robots being allowed to have their own college. "Give me a break!", he snits, "First he endorses Deacon, guaranteeing him my father's old job, now this!"
Just then, his doorbell rings, followed by a pound at the door.
William glazes his eyes and leaves the computer to answer the door, muttering, "Who the hell is it?"
William opens the door, only to see several Virginia State police officers and PoliceBots standing outside. He is speechless as the Lieutenant stands before him. "Mr. Cochran, we have a warrant to search your house," he says, sounding firm and direct.
William looks stunned at hearing this news. "What?"
"Mr. Cochran, I'm only going to tell you this once," the Lieutenant warns, "Step aside and let my officers search this house, or I will place you under arrest."
William takes a deep breath and sighs, not allowing his well documented anger to get the better of him. "Fine, go ahead, just get it over with."
"Well, good," says the Lieutenant, who waves his officers inside.
William can feel his anger boiling when he watches several Policebots enter his house. "There had better be a good reason why I'm allowing these abominations into my house," William says with am agitated tone in his voice.
"Mr. Cochran, you are a person of interest of an ongoing investigation," responds the Lieutenant.
"What investigation are you talking about?", William asks, sounding annoyed.
"We'll be the ones asking you questions when we get to the station."
William snaps, "So, you are arresting me?"
"We're taking you in for questioning. Come with me while my officers do their jobs."
William tries to supress his rage and finally submits, "Fine, I'll play along. Just tell me, what am I being accused of?"
"Your name has come up as a person of interest in a series of home invasions and physical assaults that have been taking place since April," replies the Lieutenant.
William's face then takes a very interesting look, like a mix of surprise, shock and maybe a little bit of fear. "What? ... you mean the guy who's hacking into people's minds?"
"Just come with us, Mr. Cochran."
"This is ridiculous!", William curses, raging that his name has come up in the 'Mr. Black' crime spree. "I'm innocent!"
"I would reccommend you calm yourself, Mr. Cochran. You would want one of my Policebots to to have to arrest you. Again," says the Lieutenant.
Again, William tries desperately to calm down. "... fine. I said I'll cooperate, and I am... but, if I find one thing missing or damage, I'll sue," William threatens as he leaves his house, reaching for his phone to call his lawyer.
Later that night.
William sits here in the interrogation room of the Arlington Police station. While he is not completely being treated like a criminal, he feels like one.
"Do the names Eugene Henson, Tom and Tina McIntyre or Andre Rozhenko mean anything to you, Mr. Cochran?", asks a detective.
Like a wiseass, William grins, "I didn't watch Jeopardy last night, so I wouldn't know that answer."
"You may not watch Jeopardy, but you certainly do keep up with the news, don't you?", replies the detective, "At least according to your computer, you do. The officers who searched your house say that according to your browser history, you've followed these people's home invasions since they began... as well as the ongoing events between Mega Man and Dr. Albert Wily."
"Yeah, it's kind of hard to ignore the ongoing warfare, what with so many people dying and all," William snits.
"I don't like your attitude, son, and I sugest you stiffle it!", sneers the detective, "And you need to answer my question... do you know who this Mr. Black character is?"
"No, are you kidding?", William answers, then asks, "Where's my lawyer?"
"We know that you were arrested last year by an officer in New York named Lynn Wersching," says the Detective.
William remembers his encounters with Lynn last year quite well and his mood begins to change. "Is she trying to accuse me of being this guy?"
The Detective steamrolls ahead, "And at the site of the Rozhenko Mansion, she found a piece of propaganda for your old anti-robots group. Mere days ago, she was threatened by this Mr. Black to give up classified information about the security detail for the campaign headquarters of Mitchell Deacon, and man who supports robot's rights. And if she didn't give up the information, her brother's life would be in jeopardy."
William snaps, "That woman has hated my guts since she first saw me! She must have planted that pamhplet. I wasn't hiding anything in my house and your officers know it!"
"And don't you think it's a little bit of a coincidence that all of the people that were targeted were people who have been affiliated with Dr. Thomas Light or Dr. Albert Wily, two robotics scientists?"
"This is outrageous!", William freaks, "I want my lawyer in here now!"
The Detective has a feeling he's got William right where he wants him now, judging on his behavior. If he's guilty in any way, now is the time to catch him. "Maybe I should just ask you directly, then-"
"Dectective Maurer, Mr. Cochran's atterney is here. A man by the name of Larry Russo," says a tech in the other room behind the mirror window.
The Detective silently curses "Dammit!", knowing that it's too late to make any real progress in this interrogation. "Let him in."
The door opens and a man with slicked black hair wearing a fine italian three-piece suit enters the room. William looks relieved the instant he sees him.
"I came here as soon as I heard," Russo says, "Are these people treating you like a criminal?"
"I've been accused of committing the Mr. Black crimes," William says quietly.
With that, William's lawyer turns to face the Detective. "Listen very carefully, pal," Russo says, puffing his chest up and sticking his finger in the Detective's face, "If my client doesn't want to answer any of your questions anymore, he doesn't have to. Did you or your officers find any evidence linking him to the Mr. Black crimes?"
Detective Maurer bites back his growing anger. "Nothing you would consider rock hard."
"Then, you have no business badgering him the way you are. Now that I'm here, I suggest that we do things the right way - the legal way -, or else, I'll be placing your badge and all of your buddie's badges on my wall... and trust me, yours wouldn't be the first."
Later that night.
Without any concrete evidence that could link William to Mr. Black, and with his lawyer getting in the way of the invesigation, the police has let William go. But, they will definately continue to follow this case.
"Well, it looks like the innocent man walks free again," Russo says, smugly as he walks William to his car.
"Yeah," William deadpans as follows.
"These guys don't have a case against you," Russo assures, "To think you had anything to do with these Mr. Black crimes is preposterous. You don't like robots, big deal. They can't link you to him because of that. I think it's a conspiracy, just like you said."
William remains unusually silent as he gets in his lawyer's car. He feels that perhaps some drastic measures may need to be taken. And he knows exactly what those drastic measures would require.
Later that week.
Light University.
On this brisk autumn night, Roll is on the Light University campus taking a walk around the place along with Plum and the Cheerbot who helped her and Mega Man on the night Dr. Wily attacked the university and stole the gravitron beam.
Roll has been here at Dr. Light's university for nearly a month now. She has made some friends here and it feels very different to be able to take a walk outside without being mobbed by fans, but she has slowly become discouraged over the course of the past few days.
Plum has taken notice of Roll's demeanor lately and asks, "Roll? Are you feeling okay?"
"I don't know," Roll answers.
"You're not thinking about that jerk Top Man, are you?", Plum asks.
"No, he was a tool anyway," Roll mopes, "I'm just feeling homesick."
The other ladybots listen on as Roll continues, "I like this place, and I like being with you guys too, but I miss being with my family. There wasn't a day where I wasn't with them, and now, we're on opposite ends of the country. I miss them so much. I miss being able to go on missions with my brother too."
Plum puts her arm around Roll in a sisterly embrace. "Maybe you should talk with the dean. I'm sure he could make an arrangement for you. Dr. Light does own this place. I'm sure he misses you too."
Roll barely smiles. "Believe me, the fact that I'm stuck under this shield and not in danger has probably got both him and Mega sleeping easier at night... but, I know they miss me being home too. We talk every night."
Unbeknownst to Roll and her friends, far outside of the campus, they are being watched... not by Dr. Wily, or Top Man or any of the Robot Masters... not by a crazed fan either... but, by Mr. Black.
Using a pair of cybernoculars, Mr. Black maintains his sights on Roll specifically.
"I must admit, you're very pretty for a robot," Mr. Black says, "If there is anybody who can give me good information on Mega Man and Dr. Light, it's you... but, that wouldn't be very easy, would it?"
Mr. Black looks at all of the PoliceBots that are patrolling the place, both inside and out of the shield. There is no way anybody could get close to the campus. IThe only way he could get close to her is if she and her friends step outside of the shield.
Then, he sees several PoliceBots approaching the trio, while two others walk ahead of them.
"No. Don't you tell me they've spotted me, dammit," he hisses, as one of the PoliceBots points outside, in his direction.
Realizing that he's been spotted, Mr. Black wastes no time sticking around and runs away.
On the campus, several PoliceBot untit are rounding up the students and are on high alert after sighting Mr. Black outside.
"Attention students," says PoliceBot MT-81, "Please allow us to take you to a campus safezone."
"Why?", Roll asks.
"There is a possible security threat, Miss Light. Follow us," orders MT-81.
Roll, Plum and the Cheerbot are ushered away. But, Roll looks outside and sees more PoliceBots deactivating the shield and running outside with weapons drawn.
"Safest place in the world for a robot to be, huh?", Roll groans, noting that thisis the second security threat in one month. The first being the Wily attack, and now this.
Mr. Black shouts into his wrist, "Engine on! Open Door!"
His black sedan automatically ignites the engine and opens the driver's side door.
Before he dives in, the masked terror pulls a pulse concussion grenade from his trenchcoat and hurls it in the direction of the approaching PoliceBots.
The grenade lands near their feet and goes off, knocking the PoliceBots to the ground, but not damaging them. Instead, their circuits are momentarilly scrambled.
And like that, Mr. Black speeds off into the night, escaping trouble once again. A scene as noticable as this one will draw even more unwanted attention. Perhaps it is time to lay low and wait until the best possible time to complete his mission... Election Day.
While he doesn't have as much information as he would have liked, it is the best possible course of action.
Mr. Black knows he could get caught and pay for the crimes he has committed, but tonight is not that night.
The next week.
Dr. Light's lab.
Following the difficult process of being apart from eachother (and the security threat last week,) Roll has returned home to the lab to finish her semester here.
Mega Man enters the lab and sees that his sister is seated at the main computer console doing her schoolwork asignment.
Roll heard her brother's footsteps as he entered the lab and gives him a smile. "Hey, Mega."
"Working on Dr. Light's computer is one major advantage to taking your courses at home," Mega jokes.
"Sure is," Roll replies, "If only Brain Bot was still here, things would be easier... even though he'd be tearing apart the computer to make it run one second faster."
Roll sighs as she turns away from her work. "But, I can't help but think I let Dr. Light down when I left his university. I know he wanted to see how we all would interact with eachother, but I missed it here so much, I couldn't think straight... has he said anything?"
"You haven't let Dr. Light down at all, sis," Mega says, "We wanted you home just as bad as you did... in fact, you didn't drop out. Dr. Light made the call to get you back here."
"He did?", Roll asks, surprised at this news.
"Yeah... and that security scare a few weeks ago helped him make that decision a lot easier," Mega continues.
"That makes me feel better. But, I still feel bad about it, though," Roll sighs.
"I'll tell you what. After you're done with your assignment for the night, I'll take you to see that Kung-Fu movie that opened last week," Mega says, offering to take Roll to a showing of The Last Dragon starring Kung-Tai Ted.
"Really?", Roll peeps.
"Sure thing," Mega confirms.
"Cool! I'll be done at 6:00, then we can go," Roll smiles, "Thanks, Mega."
"Anytime, sis," Mega replies.
Later That Night.
Mega Man, Roll and Rush exit the movie theater after the late showing of the movie is over.
"What a great movie!", Roll says.
"I know you love action movies, so I knew you'd like this one," Mega says.
"Did you see how fast Kung Tai Ted was punching those guys?", Roll says.
Mega glazes his eyes, "Yeah... through the power of editing, anything's possible."
"No way. That was really him, it had to be," Roll counters, before changing the subject, "Hey... are you okay?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I don't know. You look a little distant," Roll explains.
Mega Replies, "I've got a lot on my mind. Not just Wily, but now there's this Mr. Black person running around."
"I wouldn't worry about him too much. I heard he was running scared when the campus security spotted him," Roll jabs.
"But, he got away... and he's been targeting people who we know since he's shown up. Professor Henson, Tina and her dad, Officer Wersching... I have a bad feeling he was going to come after you that night if he hadn't been caught."
"And would have been a big mistake," Roll grins, erecting her hands and fingers like she was preparing to chop him like the guys in movie.
Mega presses on, "Officer Wersching said he wanted to know the security detail for Mr. Deacon's headquarters... I've got a bad feeling about Election Day."
Just then, a car speeds past them and the other moviegoers, surprisingly driven by the Mayor.
"Did you just see who I thought we saw?", Roll asks.
"That was the Mayor! And it looked like his eyes were closed," Mega answers, seeing that he did see what Roll saw, "Come on, let's make sure he doesn't get himself hurt."
Rush transforms into jet mode and Mega and Roll take off after the Mayor... but, little do they know, they were about to enter battle with Wily's army again.
"Can't we just have one night a enjoyment without having something really wierd happen?", Roll groans.
The events of the cartoon episode "Mega Dreams" take place.
The next week. Two weeks before Election Day.
Cossack Family Citadel
Dr. Mikhail Cossack is busy programming the A.I. on his latest robot in the basement level of his large citadel. Mikhail has a vinyl record of classical music playing on a vintage phonograph player while he works, a trait similar to that of Dr. Thomas Light, however Light uses modern technology to listen to his music.
Once Mikhail is finished programming, he checks his phone system and sees that he has recieved another call from the Vick-Tek corporation about working on a project with the company.
Their calls have become less frequent than they were last year, but they still desperately want to work with him... and he has considered working with them. Ever since the Gamma hijacking, Cossack has had second thoughts about colaborating with them.
After rubbing his sandy blonde beard, Cossack decides that maybe it's time to entertain their offer. "Perhaps it is meant to be," Mikhail says in Russian as he calls the Vick-Tek number back.
After a few rings, there is an answer... "Scott Erickson, Vice President, Vick-Tek. With who am I speaking?"
"Greetings, Mr. Erikson," Dr. Cossack says, now speaking in English, "This is Dr. Mikhail Cossack, the scientist you've been wishing to work with since last year."
"Dr. Cossack?... oh, wow!", Erikson exclaims, "It is such a pleasure to not speak with your people. Er- I mean, to speak with you, sir."
"I am well aware that the Vick-Tek organization wants to secure my services to develop a robot for you," Mikhail continues, "The repeated calls you have made to my headquarters illustrate that. I wish to inform you that I am interested in hearing your offer."
After a period of stunned silence on the phone, Erikson peeps, "Really?... Er-, I mean, absoulutely, Dr. Cossack. We would be most interested in discussing our project with you."
"I must inform you that I will not be availible to speak with you until November, and it will have to be via teleconference. But, I will make sure that a date is set-up where we can talk. My people will contact you later with a date and time."
"Well, okay, then! Thank you, Dr. Cossack. Mr. Vickers will be very happy to hear this news. We'll talk to you in November."
"Very well. Goodbye," Mikhail says, terminating the call... he then says to himself, "What a schmuck."
Vick-Tek Corporate Headquarters.
New York City.
Erickson enters Marcus Vickers' office without even informing him, catching Vickers by surprise.
"Scott?", he asks.
"Mr. Vickers. I have great news!", Erickson giddily says, "Are you sitting down?"
Vickers - who clearly is already sitting down - looks at Scott dumbfounded. "Um... I think so."
"Sir... we've got Cossack!", Erikson elates.
Marcus' eyes widen. "What?"
"Well, we don't really 'have him' have him yet, but we've got a meeting arranged with him," Erikson corrects himself, "He says he's interested in speaking with us! Next month!"
Vickers is speachless as his face slowly turns into the most elated and joyful face that can possibly be imagined with his eyes widening and his smile going from ear to ear, showing all of his teeth.
Vickers stands up and raises his fists in the air, victoriously cheering, "Yes!"
Vickers runs out from behind his desk and vigorously hugs his Vice President, nearly squeezing the air out of him. "We're gonna get him!" Marcus cheers as he performs cartwheels all around his office as he laughs with joy.
Finally, it appears his Robot Warrior project has one more real chance to become a reality. And if they get Dr. Cossack onboard, it will not be a failure.
Late that month.
Coopersville, New York.
On a speeding train carrying the priceless and one of a kind Onyx Sphere (also nicknamed the Black Pearl,) Roll is one of the very few lines of defence standing between the sphere and any potential hostiles. Dr. Wily has already made several attempts to steal the priceless sphere, which would undoubtedly pay for any project he could possible dream of... including making his own version of Gamma, if he wished.
The job of our heroes was to ensure that the sphere would be taken to a secure location so that Dr. Wily could never get his hands on it, but obviously, Wily learned about the sphere and has diligently tried to take it before it gets to it's destination.
To make this mission even more challenging (and bizzare,) Dr. Wily has found a way to corrupt the programming of CPU-based children's toys to make them all do his bidding.
Joining Roll on the car with the sphere is Dr. Light and Dr. Connery Jones, an expert on rare artifacts. Dr. Jones thinks the Onyx Sphere belongs in a museum, but given the circumstances, he relented.
Things are already looking bad, as Mega Man and Rush had left to fend off a Skullker, which turned out to be a trap (ending up in a cave flooded with bombs.)
Now, Wily's robots and his living toys have arrived and are onboard the train to steal the sphere.
"Just stay behind me, both of you," Roll says, awaiting Wily's bots to break in the car any minute.
"No, Roll. It's too dangerous," Thomas begs.
"If there was ever a time I don't want to hear those words, it's right now," Roll argues.
Then, a buzzing sound is heard cutting through the door and one of Cut Man's scissor blades can be seen carving through. Seconds later, the door is kicked away revealing ProtoMan, Cut Man and GutsMan and a group of little dolls coming through.
Roll switches her utility arm to vacuum mode and hits 'reverse', pelting the hostiles with debris and causing most of them to lose their balance.
GutsMan uses his strength to stay on his feet and walks forward, crushing a soldier doll along the way. Roll tries to amplify the power to the utility arm, but by then, GutsMan grabs her with his big hands, pinning her arm to her side.
"Let her go!", Dr. Light yells.
"Okay, if you say so," GutsMan says, before picking Roll up off the floor and preparing to throw her out of a window, "Time to get rid 'a you, ya' little rodent!"
"Don't do it, GutsMan," ProtoMan says as he steps over to the Onyx Sphere, picking it up while it is still sealed in the plexiglass case, "I wouldn't want my sister to get hurt."
"I'm not your sister!", Roll spits.
"Why shouldn't I squash her?", GutsMan argues.
"'Cause I'm ordering you not to do it, you idiot!", ProtoMan snaps.
"I think you're starting to overstep your authority, ProtoMan," Cut Man says, his wheezing voice becoming angry.
"Oh, really? Well, don't see Wily anywhere around here, do you?", ProtoMan scoffs, "Besides, the reason why we're about to succeed is because I'm in charge and not him."
Cut Man's and GutsMan's eyes grow wide, shocked to hear this coming from ProtoMan, Dr. Wily's right hand robot, "Dr. Wily's not going to be happy with you."
"I'm tellin'," GutsMan warns.
"Whoopie. See if I care," Proto waves off, until Mega Man crashes through the windshield with Rush.
"Drop it!", Mega barks, "You're not taking that sphere, and you're not hurting anybody on this train, especially my sister. So put 'em both down. Now!"
"Okay, you asked for her," GutsMan answers, tossing Roll towards Mega Man. Mega catches her, but they both hit the floor.
ProtoMan climbs out a windsheild on the car's other side, ready to take the sphere back to Dr. Wily. "I expect my brother and sister to still be alive when I get back," he says as he climbs out.
"Don't worry, we will be!", Mega Man says, blasting GutsMan and Cut Man and running after his brother.
"What about these blasted toys?", Dr. Jones asks.
"I'll take care of 'em," Roll answers.
"No, wait," Dr. Light interrupts, "I think have discovered how to reprogram them again."
Dr. Light aims a remote at the approaching dolls and presses the center button, emitting a signal that instantly causes the toys to freeze and slump onto the floor. One dolly says, "Ma-Ma" as she returns to her normal self.
Everybody lets out a collective sigh of relief.
On top of the train, ProtoMan awaits the Skullker to fly itself towards him so he can instruct the autoflight control to send the sphere back to Skull Fortress.
Then, Proto hears the sound of metallic footsteps coming behind him, so he looks behind to see Mega Man just as he tackles him. The train makes a turn as Mega Man slams into his brother, throwing both of them off the roof and plunging down into a raging waterfall down below.
Mega Man and ProtoMan keep their grip on the case with the Onyx Sphere and struggle to rip it out of eachother's hands as they are carried away by the water.
Both brothers hear the loud roar of the edge of the waterfall as they fast approach it. Thinking fast, Mega Man uses both of his feet to kick ProtoMan in the chest, ripping him away from the sphere and letting the water carry him away.
"Mega! Grab on!", Roll shouts, arriving to the scene with Rush, who has produced a handlebar underneath his stomach.
Mega Man grabs Rush with one hand, carrying the sphere in the other and is whisked away, saving the sphere from falling into Wily's hands.
Mega Man, Roll and Rush head back to the train to return the sphere. But, they are not riding off into the sunset... in fact, the toughest challenges lie ahead in the coming months.
Later that Night.
Skull Fotress.
Dr. Wily waits impatiently outside the hangar bay for the Skullker to return. Everything had gone so well in the past two days, it looked like the Onyx Sphere would finally be his and he could fund whatever project he wanted... and then, the mission was a failure in a matter of seconds.
To say Albert is angry right now would be the biggest understatement of all-time.
Finally the Skullker arrives and Wily storms inside the hangar bay, as all of the Robot Masters gather around to witness the big explosion about to take place.
As soon as Wily sees ProtoMan stepping out of the back door of the shuttle, Albert lets loose. "How the hell did you lose it?", he shouts, referring to the sphere.
"Gee, where do I start?", ProtoMan replies, "First you put your faith in kids toys more than us! Second, those bombs of yours were supposed to incapacitate Mega Man. And instead of using a ton of weak bombs, you used a few that would have killed him."
"This is my quest for world domination, and I'll do things the way I see fit!", Wily snaps, "And it was your job to get me that sphere!"
"Yeah, yeah. I've heard it before. It's all the robots' fault and not yours because you're the genius. You have any more pearls of wisdom, oh wicked one?"
With his rage soaring through the roof, Wily yells, "GET OUT OF MY FACE!"
As ProtoMan blows Wily off and walks away, Cut Man and GutsMan step out of the Skullker, but are not spared the wrath of Wily.
"And the same goes for you! Get to work on something!" Albert yells.
Cut Man pleads, "But, Dr. Wily, ProtoMan was-"
"I SAID GET OUT!", Wily shrieks
As the bumbling duo runs away, Dr. Wily remains and stews in his anger.
Things are only getting more difficult for the mad doctor. In the past six months, he has thrown everything he has at Mega Man and his family, but they continue to survive and defeat him.
To make things even more difficult, Mitchell Deacon is the heavy favorite to win the election in New York, which could make missions taking place in that area even more tricky.
With nearly one week left until Election Day, Dr. Wily knows that he needs to come up with the perfect plan, one that will rid him of Mega Man, Thomas Light, their whole family, Mitchell Deacon and anybody who can challenge him in his quest to overtake the world...
but, how?...
November 20X2. One week before Election Day.
WNYC-7 Studios.
Manhattan, New York.
Mega Man and Roll are being interviewed by Bree Recotta for a piece that will air tonight on the evening news. Bree has asked them quite a few questions already and the interview has gone very well, allowing both Mega and Roll to speak their minds about how things are going in the world. They even discussed Bree's frightening experience onboard Gamma, which Recotta is glad is well behind her now.
And then, Bree poses this interesting question to them...
"As we conclude our time together, I have to ask you, if there was one thing you could make possible, aside from stopping Dr. Wily and bringing him to justice, what would it be?", Bree asks.
After taking a few seconds to gather the emotional strength, Roll answers, "I would bring my little buddy Doc back. I miss him every day."
Mega Man then gives his answer, "Aside from bringing Doc back. I would find a way to bring my brother back to the good side."
Roll listens intently as Mega continues, "I never got to know him when he was good, Dr. Wily stole him and programmed all of his garbage into his sytems. To be honest, I wish he would come to his senses and turn his back on Dr. Wily... "
"Do you think there's a chance he could be saved?", Bree asks.
Mega takes a moment to think about that question, then replies, "... everybody tells me I'm the most optimistic robot in the world, but, after all of this time... I don't think it's ever going to happen, not without stopping Wily first."
Later.
After the interview is over, Mega Man and Roll leave the studio and prepare to go back home. But, Roll can't help but ask her brother a question of her own.
"Mega, why do you even want ProtoMan back home anyway? After everything he's done to us, especially to you."
"Because I know there's still some good left in him. There has to be," Mega answers, "And he's still our brother."
"He's no brother of mine," Roll huffs, as she gets on her SkyCycle, "If you want to claim him, fine by me. But, I want nothing to do with him."
Mega Man only shakes his head at Roll's stubborness when it comes to ProtoMan. He can't believe how she can so easily shut him out when she knows that he was not always like this.
Maybe she feels this way because of Doc being taken from them, but that was Wily who did that, not ProtoMan.
Even though she doesn't feel the same way about their brother as he does, Mega does know that there is somebody at home who does understand.
"Let's go home, Rush," Mega says as Roll takes off.
Later that night.
Dr. Light's lab.
The interview with Mega Man and Roll aired on channel 7 earlier tonight, However, As everybody was watching it, Mega Man quietly snuck off to his usual haunt, the roof of the lab compound.
Soon after, Dr. Light followed him there to speak with him.
"Are you alright, Rock?", Thomas asks
"I just got nervous when that last part came on," Mega admits, referring his wish for ProtoMan to be good again.
"I understand," Thomas replies, putting his hand on Mega's shoulder, "That must have been very hard for you."
"... you have no idea," Mega sighs, taking his eyes off of the city skyline and looking down at his feet.
"Well, at least you let it out. Don't you feel better?", Thomas asks.
"I don't know, Dr. Light," Mega answers.
"Everything will sort itself out one day, Rock, one way or another," Thomas says, offering his son some support.
Like Mega Man, Thomas also wants ProtoMan to return home so that he can be away from Wily's influence. And one day, hopefully, that dream will become a reality and ProtoMan will come home...
but, they have no idea how close that day is.
Skull Fortress.
Dr. Wily has intercepted the broadcast of Mega Man and Roll's interview with Bree Recotta, and as he watches it, the smile on his face goes from ear to ear.
"I would find a way to bring my brother back to the good side. I never got to know him when he was good, Dr. Wily stole him and programmed all of his garbage into his sytems. To be honest, I wish he would come to his senses and turn his back on Dr. Wily.", Mega Man says in the video.
"Do you think there's a chance he could be saved?"
"... everybody tells me I'm the most optimistic robot in the world, but, after all of this time... I don't think it's ever going to happen, not without stopping Wily first."
"Is that so, Mega Man?", he says to the image of the Blue Bomber on the screen, "You want your big brother back? Well, maybe it's time for a homecoming!"
Albert laughs as he grabs his communicator to summon ProtoMan. "Proto, meet me in the Command Center... we have some business to discuss, my boy! I have just devised the plan for our next mission... and you are going to want to learn all about it. You are the focal point!"
Author's Notes:
I almost wrote the entire interview with Mega and Roll and it would have been it's own chapter, but I decided to only show the last piece for the pace of the narration. Maybe one day I will get around to writing all of it and posting it somehow.
And fans of internet reviewers will know that "Kung Tai Ted" is a reference to The Cinema Snob.
The line in the narration about Mega riding off into the sunset was a reference to the very last shot of the very last episode of the Ruby-Spears cartoons, "Crime of the Century", where Mega and Rush ride off into the sunset.
I also removed the Mayor from that scenes from that episode because I felt a mayor was ill-suited to be there (I mean, he was elected by a democray to be a mayor, not a added layer of security for a damn sphere.) Besides, in my timeline the current Mayor's term hasn't completed yet.
Instead, I added a character who was a reference to Indiana Jones (He has a PHD and he thinks the sphere belongs in a museum.)
Please remember to leave a review or a comment. Coming up next is Episode 5, which will be based on the events of the classic episode "Bro Bots"...
speaking of Episode 5, I have some great news for you. When I took a break from posting after Episode 4, I never took that much of a break. Instead, I have been working on both the interlude and Episode 5. As you read this, I am already preparing the first chapter for publishing.
Therefore, the wait for Episode 5 will be a little bit shorter than usual... in fact, Episode 5 will debut this weekend!
