EPISODE 5: Brothers.
Based on the episode "Bro Bots", written by Evelyn Gabai.
The following takes place at the end of the second season of the Mega Man cartoon show.
November 20X2.
The War for Everlasting Peace has raged on for nineteen months, and it has been eight months since the peacekeeping robot known as Gamma was hijacked by Dr. Albert Wily, and later destroyed by Mega Man in what was one of the most frightening days in recent history.
In the months that have past since Gamma's destruction, Wily has been persistant in his quest for world domination, coming up with some of the most bizarre and dangerous plans and inventions his diseased mind could devise, but he has continued to fail thanks to the efforts of Mega Man, his sister Roll and Dr. Thomas Light, with some help from others along the way.
Not only has all of Dr. Wily's plans been foiled, but he is once again having complications with his trusted right hand robot ProtoMan, and the two have had several arguments following missions lately.
It appears that Dr. Wily's robot army could be on the verge of falling apart at the seams.
Meanwhile, the mid-term elections are about to take place in a matter of days, and a gubernatorial candidate named Mitchell Deacon is at the center of attention. Not only does he have the support of Dr. Light, but security is on high alert, because not only is Dr. Wily still a threat, but there is now a rogue element that nobody anticipated: the mysterious masked terror who calls himself "Mr. Black."
Mr. Black has been on his own quest to seek out as much information on his alleged 'targets' by any means necessary, using advanced and deadly equipment and weapons.
Nobody knows who he is, where he is, or when he will strike next. But, many believe he will show himself again this week in New York, possibly to target Mitchell Deacon, or perhaps Mega Man and Dr. Light.
Regardless of what happens, this next chapter in the story of the lives of all of the players involved will prove to be their hardest yet, physically as well as emotionally... especially for Mega Man himself.
Chapter 1: The Impossible Dream.
One week before Election Day.
Skull Fortress.
It appears to be an ordinary night here in the badlands... about as ordinary as it can be in this dark, scary hell hole. No mortal human being has the guts to come close to the perimiter of the frightening Skull Fortress, only the local wildlife like the coyotes and snakes do, because they have no clue who lives inside the skull-shaped tower of terror.
However, in a few mere seconds, something is about to take place that could very well change the balance of power in the ongoing war for everlasting peace for good.
Skull Fortress' alarms begin to blare and echo through the hollow badland skies and seconds later, the hangar bay doors located in the eye sockets of the large skull decoration on the front of the fortress open up and a lone Air Raider flies out, speeding away from this horrible place.
"Attention all robots!", shouts the voice of Dr. Wily on the loudspeakers, "Go after him! Make sure he doesn't get away! MOVE!"
The Air Raider flies past the Fortress' front gate and the outer defences begin to take aim on it, opening fire from the large array of blaster turrets mounted outside. The Air Raider flies low to avoid their fire. Obviously, this pilot knows the shortcomings of these defences very well.
Soon after, several Skullkers and flying craft follow this runaway Air Raider as it speeds away, but they were already too late to catch up. The Air Raider had successfully escaped the reach of Dr. Wily, for now at least.
The only question is, who is operating the Air Raider? Who would dare turn away from Dr. Albert Wily and escape by stealing one of his own vehicles?...
... ProtoMan, that's who.
"ProtoMan! I order you to return to Skull Fortress!", yells the voice of Dr. Wily on Proto's forearm communicator, "If you do not, I will hunt you down and bring you back myself!"
ProtoMan decides to press the button on his arm to terminate the call, blocking contact with his master... or former master, as it seems. Remaining silent, ProtoMan soars off into the darkness and into his new future.
Two days before Election Day.
New York City.
"Live, from the first station in New York to broadcast in Super-Definition, it's 7 Eyewitness News! With your anchors Kirk Trujillo and Trish Faulkenburg, Chief Meteorologist Topper Bernstein, and Exaire Lancaster with sports."
We see Kirk and Trish seated at the anchor desk as they begin the newscast.
"This Tuesday is Election Day, and candidate Mitchell Deacon is rallying citzens to get out and vote for him today," says Trujillo.
"Following the galla event held by candidate Cliff Barnes last night to rally voters, Mitchell Deacon has arranged for an all-out parade," Faulkenburg adds, "We now go to our own Bree Recotta, who is live on the parade route in Manhattan with a live update."
We now see Bree Recotta standing on a sidewalk as the parade goes on behind her, with confetti falling and hundreds upon hundreds of citzens standing on the sidewalks, clamoring to get a view of candidate Mitchell Deacon.
"Thank you, Kirk and Trish. In just two days, the first major elections will be held since the rise of Dr. Albert Wily, but despite the lingering threat of another attack, the citizens of the state of New York are not affraid to come out and show support for their candidates, especially the supporters of Mitchell Deacon that have shown up here today. Deacon appears to be the more popular of the two gubernatorial candidates, and some political experts have said that it's not a matter of if he will win, but rather when he will win. We shall see on Tuesday."
"Now, Bree, if I'm not mistaken, this parade was co-organized by Dr. Thomas Light, one of Mitchell Deacon's supporters, is that right?", asks Faulkenburg back at the studio.
"That's right, Dr. Light has provided quite a few robotic attractions to this parade rally, including something very special when Mitchell Deacon himself arrives, which should be any minute. Reportedly, we will see a massive robot-sized version of Deacon following him down the street. Of course, Dr. Light endorsed Deacon months ago, which drew the ire of some of the more unfortunate members of the media," Bree says, making a veiled reference to unpopular commentator Dick Furguson's constant slamming of Dr. Light and Mega Man.
Bree hears a sudden cheer from the supports behind her and looks over her shoulder. "In fact, here is Mitchell Deacon now," she says as her cameraman zooms in and we see a clear view of Mitchell Deacon himself in a convertable, waving to his supporters.
A breeze that passes through and it doesn't even move his flat black hair or his thick moustache. One thing is for sure, he's not about to win the election based on his looks.
The "other star" of the parade is behind Deacon's car... and it happens to be a giant robot replica of Mitchell Deacon, which stands roughly 50 feet tall.
He looks just like the real Mitchell Deacon, complete with the same tragically un-hip hair style... except for one thing. The robot version only has three big fingers on each of it's hands instead of four.
The reason for this is to comply with the law that states that all robots must have at least one physical trait that clearly shows that they are a robot and not human.
But, still... it does look kind of silly with three cartoon fingers.
"And there is the Deacon robot right behind him. I've got to admit, aside from the three fingers, it looks just like him," quips Kirk Trujillo.
"He's like the Amazing Collosal Deacon," Faulkenburg adds.
"To be honest, I've had enough of giant robots for one lifetime, thank you," Bree says, making a reference to her terrifying night onboard the peacekeeping robot Gamma earlier this year.
High above the scene of the parade, a special group of people and robots are watching the proceedings from their hotel room.
Mega Man's sister Roll is standing by the window, looking down at the parade with Rush nearby while Mega Man himself is sitting further back with Dr. Thomas Light.
With them is the current Governor of New York, George Cochran, who has been an ally of Mega Man's since the war began and will be leaving office when his term ends in January.
"The people sure do love your robot parade, Dr. Light!", Roll says, then giggles, "even if your Deacon robot only has three fingers."
"Judging by the turnout, it looks like Mr. Deacon is gonna slam dunk the election this week," says Mega Man, "Even the city's top brass turned out to support him."
"You made the right choice endorsing Mitch, Dr. Light. He's is probably the best candidate this city has seen in a while," says the current Governor, supporting his friend.
"Come now, George, you've done a great job here", adds Dr. Light.
"Well, that's what they tell me, at least," the current Governor replies with a joke.
"Are you ever going to run for President, Mr. Cochran?", asks Mega Man.
"Ah... so you've heard the rumors too, eh?", The Governor replies, "Well, I might as well tell you the truth. I've been considering my options," Cochran answers.
"George, if you don't mind me asking... whatever happened to your son?", Thomas asks.
That is a difficult question. "Things did not end very well between us. He doesn't want to change his ways. We haven't spoken in over a year," he answers, not divulging further into the subject of his son William, noted robot racist. In fact, the Governor has heard a very bothersome rumor about him recently that is unsettling. The rumor being that his name was somehow tied to the ongoing series of crimes involving this 'Mr. Black' character... or that perhaps, William might be him. William's recent questioning by the Virginia Police has only added more fuel to that rumor.
"I know what it's like to be on bad terms with a son... not Mega Man, certainly, but ProtoMan," Thomas says, "I certainly hope that one day he can see the error of-"
"Look!", Roll gasps, pointing outside.
Mega Man gets up and looks out of the window and down at the streets below to see some of the floats in the parade fall apart to reveal Skull Tanks and Dr. Wily's robots emerging from them, including GutsMan, Cut Man, Snake Man, Shadow Man, Drill Man and Ring Man.
The innocent bystanders on the sidewalks start fleeing as Wily's robots launch another terror attack. The Secret Service agents who had been assigned to give extra protection to the candidates this year start rushing to the scene.
Cut Man pulls the rolling cutters off of his head and flings them towards the giant robotic replica of Mitchell Deacon. The sheers slice through the neck of the tall drone, causing it's it's head falls off and sending sparks shooting out of it.
The hulking GutsMan catches Robo Deacon's decapitated head in his massive hands and then effortlessly throws it up ahead towards the real Deacon's motorcade.
Robo Deacon's head crashes a few short feet short of the real Deacon's convertable, blocking their path to escape. Deacon freaks when he sees the severed head of his robotic doppleganger blocking his car.
"Not enough time to take the stairs," Mega Man says, activating his blaster, "everyone, stand back."
Roll and Rush step away from the window and Mega Man aims his plasma canon at it... but, before he can blast it out, he looks over at Dr. Light for approval.
"Don't worry, Mega," Thomas says, "Windows can be replaced."
"The bill's on me", the Governor adds.
Mega Man doesn't hesitate any further, shooting the window, burning a hole clean through it. It was the quickest way possible.
Rush dashes aheads and leaps through the hole, transforming into jet-mode. Mega runs towards the hole and jumps through, landing on Rush's back.
Roll tries following him, but they are already too far. "Hey!", she calls, "Wait for... me?" Roll grunts, running out of the hotel swuite to get to her SkyCycle. "He never waits for me!", she complains on her way out.
Amidst the carnage and panic, Mega Man and Rush zoom down towards Mitchell Deacon's car to get the candidate out of danger.
"Mr. Deacon!", Mega calls, "Climb on Rush and he'll get you out of here."
Mega Man steps off of Rush and picks the candidate up and places him on Rush, who has now transformed into a slightly different flying craft with handle bars, similar to Roll's SkyCycle.
"Just remember two things, sir", Mega advises, "Hang on tight and don't look down."
"I owe you one, Mega Maaaaaaaaaan!", Deacon says, as Rush jets away with him, causing he voice to trail off.
"Nice try, ya', little blue punk!", says GutsMan, accompanied by CutMan, Snake Man, Ring Man, Drill Man and Shadow Man behind him, "But now it's the five of us against just one 'a you!"
"Uh, GutsMan," Cut Man tries to whisper, "There's six of us here."
GutsMan looks behind himself to see his other five cohorts. "One... two... t'ree..., " he counts to himself. "What're you trying to pull on me ya' little runt?", he bellows to Mega Man, "There's five of us here!"
"There's six of us!," Cut man argues.
"Five!", GutsMan booms, now turning to Cut Man.
"Six!", yells Cut Man, along with the other Robot Masters.
"FIVE!", GutsMan yells.
"Gutsy's right," Mega Man says, "There's only five of you."
"No there's not!", Cut Man yells back.
"There is now!", Mega replies with a grin, blasting Shadow Man square in the chest, knocking him flat out.
"Get him!", snaps GutsMan. Cut Man, Snake Man, Ring Man and Drill Man began fireing their weapons and Mega leaps out of the way. Mega Man fires a blast at Ring Man, taking him out of this fight too, evening up the odds to 4-on-1.
GutsMan grabs the now abandoned convertable Deacon was riding in earlier and throws it at Mega Man. The car explodes when it crashes on the ground, sending Mega Man flying backwards from the force of the blast.
Drill Man steps up and prepares to fire a drill bomb at the hero. "I'm going to get you now, Mega Man!" he says, "Dr. Wily is going to be so proud of me! I won't have to be made fun of by all of these other Robot Masters anymore."
"Don't count on it, Rustbucket!", says a very familiar voice... the voice of... ProtoMan?
Drill Man gets blasted in the back by the Red Raider himself, who has literally leaped onto the scene and all of the Robot Masters are in shock.
"ProtoMan!," Cut Man whines in shock, "What are you doing- AAAAHHH!"
ProtoMan grabs him and hurls him towards one of the parade floats. "What does it look like I'm doing, bolthead?", he grins.
Snake Man runs towards Proto, who falls flat on his back and kicks him with both of his feet. Cut Man then rushes towards Proto, but gets blasted in the chest by the Red Raider, who throws Snake Man towards Cut Man's body, sending them crashing into eachother.
"Why you slimey, double-crossin', scarf-wearin', turncoat!", GutsMan shouts, swinging - and missing - huge haymakers at ProtoMan. A WHOOSH sound can be heard with every swing the large robot takes, "I'm gunna smack you around like you're a punchin' bag, ProtoGeek!"
Mega Man watches on in stunned silence. Ever since he's known his older brother, ProtoMan has been one of the bad guys, nearly destroying Mega himself on several occasions. Now, here he is actually fighting against Wily's robots instead of with them. And Proto isn't hitting them with weak stun blasts, he's fighting them with full force.
"What's wrong with this picture?", Mega says to himself.
ProtoMan continues evading GutsMan's fists. "Come on, lugnut! That all you've got?", Proto goads, "You can't even hit the broad side of a mountain!"
"That's it, you traitor! I'm not gunna miss this time!", Gutsy roars, as he rears back his right fist, ready to deck ProtoMan.
But, ProtoMan fires downward at a fire hydrant right below GutsMan. The strong flow of water nails him in his square jaw, but doesn't knock him off his large feet. Mega Man takes atvanage of this and fires a few shots at GutsMan. ProtoMan joins in, firing shot after shot, until the large robot runs away.
Mega Man stomps on a sewer lid, kicking it up in the air. He catches it and flings it at GutsMan's legs like a frisbie. The sewer lid clips the back of GutsMan's legs and knocks him down.
ProtoMan runs towards one of the helium animal balloons in the street and jumps up, grabbing onto the rope holding it down. "Hey, Little Brother," he calls, "Follow my lead."
Mega Man just stares back. "This can't really be happening," he says to himself again.
"Come on! What are you standing around for?", Proto hollars.
Mega finally snaps to it and grabs onto another nearby balloon. The robotic brothers tie the balloons to the remains of the damaged float where Cut Man and Snake Man are now.
Shadow Man - still dazed from being blasted earlier - tries to blindside Mega Man, but Mega spots him and tosses him into the pile.
ProtoMan rips the plasma cell out of the skull tank and drags Drill Man to the float, which by now is actually starting to float. ProtoMan tosses the plasma cell from the tank with the other Wily bots.
GutsMan runs towards the float, shouting, "Hey! Wait for me!", jumping on the floating float and escaping the battle, thinking that he's safe. But, GutsMan couldn't be further from the truth.
As the float floats higher and floats away, ProtoMan wraps his right arm around his brother and says, "I don't know about you, bro, but I'd like to see some fireworks... courtesy of that little plasma cell I ripped out of the tank."
Proto aims his blaster at the floating float and fires. The shot hits the cell, creating a bright green explosion, sending Wily's robots falling down to the pavement below, landing elsewhere in Manhattan.
"Well, that takes care of them," Proto smirks, "Those must've been some really strong balloons to carry all of that metal up there."
Mega shoves his older brother's arm off of him and faces him. "You've got some big time explaining to do," Mega says, "I've been fighting you for two years, now, all of a sudden... this?"
Proto shrugs, "Yeah... I know it must pretty shocking."
"That's an unerstatement," Mega mutters.
Proto continues, "It's been pretty shocking for me too. Let's just say I've had enough of my former leader, Dr. Albert Denthead Wily."
Dr. Light, Roll, Rush and Mitchell Deacon approach the brothers. While Secret Service Agents check on Deacon's condition, Thomas, Roll and Rush look at the sight of ProtoMan and Mega Man standing together for the first time, and they're not fighting.
"ProtoMan," Thomas says, "... you've returned!"
"... yeah, it sure looks that way," Proto answers with a sideways smile.
"You said you had enough of Wily. What happened?", asks Mega Man.
"The less said about him the better. He's ancient history, that's all I've gotta say," Proto scoffs.
"ProtoMan is built from the same plans as you and your sister," Light says, "Maybe it took some time for his moral code to kick in."
"Yeah... maybe," Mega replies, unable to hid ethe skepticisim in his voice..
"So, can we end this fighting now put all of this behind us?", ProtoMan asks his creator and brother.
"It's about time we did," Thomas says, "In fact, we'll let you stay at the lab... on a trail basis," he clarifies, "You do have a lot to make up for."
"I know I do," Proto says, "And to be quite honest, I'm just as nervous about this as you guys are, but I'll do it."
"I guess you're on the team now, ProtoMan," Roll says, half smiling but still weary.
"Thanks, sis!" Proto smiles, giving her a thumbs up.
Usually, Roll would snap that she's not Proto's 'sis', but given this extraordinary circumstance, she can't bring herself to say that anymore. "You're welcome, I guess... big brother," she replies.
Everybody is all smiles about this incredible development, even Roll, who doesn't quite know what to make of this either, can't help but react. But, Mega doesn't know how to react to this. Deep down, he wants this, and has wanted it for a long time, and he knows ProtoMan has too, but he doesn't know if it's too good to be true.
Mega Man could hear the odd, unsure tone in Roll's voice as she replied to their older brother. The same feeling is going through Mega's mind right now.
Ever since he's been alive, ProtoMan has been the enemy, fighting him at every chance... now, he's finally allowing himself to be their brother.
For Mega, this is surreal... maybe even unreal. The timing of this sudden change of events does seem to be a very big convenient coincidence, just one week after Mega's interview with Bree Recotta aired, and two days before Election Day.
But, Mega Man and Dr. Light had been informed that there was some suspicious activity at Skull Fortress last week involving a flying craft fleeing the fortress and never returning. Maybe it was ProtoMan... maybe this impossible dream is a reality.
Mitchell Deacon approaches the heroes. "Excuse me," he says, "I want to thank you both for saving my life here today... even you, ProtoMan."
Deacon extends his hand to ProtoMan, who shakes it. "My pleasure, Mr. Deacon. By the way, uh... sorry about your giant robot."
Mega Man watches ProtoMan shake Mitchell Deacon's hand, still having difficulty wrapping his mind around this. Nearby, he can hear the sound of all of the citizens returning to the scene and cheering at the sight before them.
"Hey, Mega Man!" shouts a nearby photographer, "Can we take a picture for the late edition?"
"Huh?", Mega replies, lost in his thoughts.
"Come on, bro," ProtoMan says, "Let's do it!"
"Oh... okay, sure", Mega says.
ProtoMan and Mega Man stand next to each other. Mega just barely forces out a sheepish smile.
"If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it," Bree Recotta reports, "ProtoMan has turned on Dr. Wily and has reunited with his brother Mega Man... just like he always wanted."
Later that day.
Skull Fortress.
Dr. Wily has just heard the news that ProtoMan has shown his face after escaping Skull Fortress, and he has turned on him and returned to his bitter enemy Dr. Thomas Light... Albert is not taking it very well.
"HE DID WHAAAAAAT?", yells Dr. Wily, going thermonuclear upon hearing that ProtoMan turned against him.
"That's what Cut Man said... or mumbled when we rescued them, Dr. Wily, "says a panic stricken ElecMan, "And, it's all over the television newscasts now."
Wily walks away from ElecMan and folds his arms, seething in rage. "ElecMan... if you don't want a piece of equipment to accidentally hit you when I react, I suggest you leave this room, now!" Wily says, sounding like something inside in twisted mind is starting to boil over.
"Y-yes, sir!", ElecMan stammers as he quickly leaves the room.
Albert just stands there in his command center with his arms folded, staring at the images all over the monitors in the room, showing a sight that makes him sick to his stomach... the sight of ProtoMan standing alongside Mega Man.
Outside the command center room, ElecMan walk into a group of especially angered Robot Masters: Metal Man, Skull Man, Hard Man. All of which have never gotten along with ProtoMan.
"Is it true?", asks the raspy Metal Man, "Has that coward ProtoMan betrayed us and joined his hero brother?"
"Yes, it is true," ElecMan confirms, "And Dr. Wily... he's, uh... I'd stay away from him for a little while."
"We're not gonna let him get away with this!", Hard Man declares, balling his massive fists, "The first chance we get, we'll rip his turncoat read-end apart!"
Skull Man nods in agreement as Metal Man adds, "I've been waiting for the chance to spill ProtoMan's blood... and ElecMan, I know you have too, especially after how he treated you when you first arrived here."
"Yeah, I do want to fry him... I've always wanted to fry him!" ElecMan muses, "That cocky little smrik of his and the stupid yellow scarf, walking around like he owns this place, and his insistance on not destroying Mega Man! I've always hated his circuits! But, I could never do anything about it, because Wily would throw a fit."
"Now, you have your chance... we all have our chance. ProtoMan has enjoyed mocking us, but he will mock no more!", Metal Man says as his red eyes flash with evil intentions.
"Right. The next time Dr. Wily sends Robot Masters out on a mission, it's going to be the four of us who goes after ProtoMan," ElecMan proclaims.
"Sounds like a good plan to me!", Hard Man agrees.
"We will tear his body limb from limb and present his head to Dr. Wily as a trophy!", Metal Man rasps, clinching his fists.
Even though ProtoMan has apparently turned to the side of good, he is still a wanted robot. Not by the authorities, but this time by Dr. Wily and the Robot Masters.
Author's Notes:
You're probably wondering why I changed the title from "Bro Bots" to "Brothers." I think "Brothers" just sounds better. Also, this isn't quite the same as Bro Bots... I mean, for the most part it is, but there are differences, like the new spin put on things with the episode's new opening with Proto leaving Skull Fortress.
I decided to change up some pieces of dialogue too, because the original dialogue on the episode just wasn't working for me. I almost removed the scene with the Robot Masters being carried away by the parade balloons, but having them all just run away seemed lame. So, I added Proto's quip about how strong those balloons must have been (which is something I thought to myself.)
I'm convinced the Evelyn Raye character from "Night of the Living Monster Bots" was named after the writer of "Bro Bots."
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