Note: This and the next chapters are reposts from the other edition that I have decided to move here due to not enough traction on that one.

2nd part here. Sorry for the brief note, but having a bit of difficulty regarding commissions on DA. Here's hoping for some better luck.

Chapter 2-Strange Changes Part 2

Mega Man © of Capcom

"All that contain his work will be accounted for."

He could scarcely believe it when he heard the man, his co-creator's own cousin say such a thing.

"All of them."

"All of them…" he repeated to himself. All…including THAT one.

That blue and gold collection of scrap metal. That walking plagiarized, bastardized version of his creator…no, co-creator's years of effort and work. Years that would no longer be able to be added on thanks to the waste of flesh and blood whose hands crafted that thing.

And the so called 'intelligent' contributors and continuers of their head's work were willing to actually keep it? The whole issue regarding whether or not they held the 'rights' to was of no importance to the prototype, for whether the Institute held such privileges would have no influence in his conclusion. To Time Man, this was nothing short of one of the most grievous, insulting things to have occurred since the stout, Asian man's…'passing'.

"Flaws…" he hissed to himself. Oh yes, of course. Why ELSE would they even think to keep that walking tin can? "Flaws he couldn't get past…" if he had been able, he very well would've barred that human from the premises in a heartbeat. He cared not if the man was related to Kouin by blood! He DARE say such a thing about his work?!

About him!?

He…he was wrong. They were all wrong.

Time Man steadied himself in the small, empty room, desks unoccupied and the sun setting over the thick, dense collection of towering greenery that surrounded the building.

'Patience.' He heard the man's voice echo in his CPU. 'Have patience with them. For while Light and I are too novices in a being such as you, those here are even more so.'

"Patience…" Time Man sighed, leaning back against the window, the vibrant orange light contrasting greatly with his violet and magenta form.

'So be aware that, upon seeing you, they may not entirely understand, let alone truly comprehend what you are capable of. Let alone what you WILL be able to do, in, well, time.'

He echoed the light chuckle that came from Kouin upon saying that. Patience…y-yes. They…they just don't understand. The humans here…they were so overtaken by the murderer's product that they had forgotten that they had no need for one such as him, let alone anything that belonged to that madman. It was just like Kouin said.

They just needed some patience. Yes, that was it.

Have patience…and then, they would see.

They didn't need this 'Flash Man'. They already had a piece of Kouin's work right here. So…that whole legality issue wouldn't matter anyway. They would have no need for him.

Yes, that was it. He just needed to be patient with them. Then…then they'd see.

They would see. And then…things would go back…or at least, somewhat go back to the way it should've been.

Somewhat.

WRA-American HQ

Gone.

Completely gone.

The prospect of Wily not being there was frankly a possibility, yet for Raoul Olson and Tomahawk Man, as well as Mega Man and the entire platoon that had come to the fortress, what was seen, or rather, what wasn't still continued to baffle them all.

Empty.

The entire building was empty.

Not a single machine functioning, let alone any of the numerous Robot Masters in sight.

The situation was clear: Wily and his machines were gone. Yet the 'what', let alone the 'who' wasn't what everyone was wanting answered.

"Do you think they actually managed to tread out on foot?" Mega Man questioned. His time here had to be short, especially if Wily was still on the loose, even more if he AND his robots were as well. Though given he was technically a member of this small (just two at the moment) team, he only felt it necessary that he attend the meeting.

Somewhat odd in a way. He never though that he'd ever actually be involved in a 'team' per say. Not like this. In a sense, it felt rather…nice.

"At the moment, it seems like it's the only possibility available to us." Tomahawk Man stated, though it was clear he was far from comfortable with his answer. "Which means that, assuming he WAS there, then he and the rest of those machines would have to scale the cliffside or take that concealed entrance behind the fortress the human soldiers found. I don't believe I need to clarify which option was taken." He rose a hand to his chin. "Even then, that'd also mean that a good hundred-mile or so trek through the area would have to be taken. And I doubt you saw any sources of water anywhere, right?"

Mega Man shook his head. Indeed, the Native's assessment was correct, it was nearly next to impossible for Wily to had made the trip. Both to the fortress, and THEN make off with not only himself, but the fifty-plus Robot Masters he had dwelling with him. True, if he disregarded that part, it was potentially possible that the old man COULD'VE made the journey. He couldn't have walked the entire way, probably relying on some of the lackeys with him to carry his worn form. Assuming he did any walking at all. And even more, surely he had some previsions or basic needs met upon residing there, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility for him to at least have some source of food or water with him.

Still, all if just seemed too coincidental. If not incredibly lucky on the madman's part.

"Of course," Olson suddenly spoke up, adjusting his spectacles. "There may be the possibility he ISN'T." Both machines turned to Tomahawk's creator, quite baffled at his suggestion. "Well, think of it. True, Dr. Wily isn't exactly known for his sense of subtly, let alone one that can't help to let SOMEONE in on whatever grand plan he has concocted up. And since his disappearance, things have been rather quiet. Not one mention, while it is a…'Wily-ish' thing to probably do, you having more experience with his tendencies than either of us," he gestured to Mega. "Surely even he could see that going to a place such as his fortress wouldn't be the best decision. Especially given that you knew of its location."

"Hence the extra security that nobody could bypass." The Blue Bomber noted.

What the head of the state's Historical Society said was very true. "Olson," still, there was some doubt. "If I may," Tomahawk began, his own fears coming out to the open after keeping such a stony expression throughout the entire thing. "If he wouldn't be there, then where would he go? There are options, yet none that I'm aware of that can house both him and all his machines."

"No." both Olson and his creation turned to Mega Man, his blue eyes wide in realization. "No, there isn't a space big enough." He then turned to the both of them. "But he might not need that."

California

His fingers grazed over the smooth surface now stationed on his face, small sigh escaping his lips. It wasn't his first choice, let alone a choice he even considered. Not after how the fine folks at the hospital informed him of the procedure in which they would have to perform to make it fully operational.

'It's be quite extensive.' That nurse, Farfalla he remembered her being called, told him prior. 'And aside from monitoring your levels, I can't partake in the actual surgery itself.'

"Then what good are you as a nurse?" he murmured to himself. Indeed, what good was she, let alone any of the mechanical droids walking around if they couldn't perform such things? What good were the machines that came at the crash site where his own niece suffered that accident? They had to wait nearly an hour until they could get her out.

Funny, in a sense, considering she was the one that ultimately twisted his arm enough to have him agree to it. And in comparison, to Chelsea's, his was of far less work. Still, even after it was done, what was lost having been 'restored' in a sense, Xander Payne found that things didn't feel quite…right.

Everything should've been back to normal…and yet something was missing. Something had changed. And whatever it was, it was more than just the loss of a portion of himself.

His musing was cut short by the sound of his room's door opening, the brunette, green eyed nurse-bot entering.

"Hello, Mr. Payne." Farfalla greeted. "How are you doing?"

Xander simply nodded. Even if the surgery was a few days ago, he swore that they must've pumped him up with horse tranquilizers or the like. And though it wasn't as big of a loss, he didn't exactly care for the fact they had to shave half of his head in order to perform it.

"The technology is still in its infancy, but in comparison to your niece's operation, yours was far less dangerous. The implant merely needed to be placed on the visual cortex as opposed to the primary motor cortex. If anything, I'm surprised that the doctors managed to pull it off."

'Yeah.' The soldier thought to himself. 'And buckets of bolts like yourselves didn't do a damn thing to help her NOT loose pieces of herself.' She kept looking at him with that smile. It was surely meant as a comforting gesture, yet it just registered as condescending to him. 'Like you couldn't do anything for me aside give me a 'how do you do?''

"Anyway, should you need me,"

'And I won't.'

"Just ring me up. See you later, Mr. Payne." With that, Farfalla left the room.

Xander simply turned his face away from the door and to the window, the world outside just beyond reach. He would surely be discharged in a short time, and once he shaved the rest of his head, he could surely go back to serving his country.

A country that couldn't do shit to protect a single building for a group of machines in the single digits. He held no resentment towards his fellow men. How could he? They did all they could. 'It just wasn't enough.' A low sigh escaped him. 'Us…the government, the state, Light…' nothing they had done was enough.

Nothing got to the root of the problem.

The root of the problem.

The root…

Her words echoed in his mind. 'The root of the problem is them.'

His hand reached for the inside of his pillow, he pulling out a folded up piece of paper. Upon opening it up, he saw a phone number listed.

'When you're able to get out of here,' the red-haired woman Theo brought with him. As if either he wanted her to see him, or she made the decision herself. Whichever it was, contact had been made as if intended. 'Should you be interested, call this number.' His eye…his 'eyes' glanced down at it. 'I think you could use a bit of a pep talk.'

A sneaking suspicion told him that wasn't all she wished to tell him.

A Few Days Later

Skull Fotress

It was perhaps expected that they would be back here. Despite their discovery, the Skull Fortress had still garnered a good amount of interest. Particularly if Wily and his machines had so foolishly decided to come back.

That said, the other possibility of him being in one of his smaller, more scattered hideouts amongst the state also was taken into consideration. Of which was the reason Mega Man wasn't currently with him. Yet if what he said was to be believed, and there was little reason to, then the supposed 'safety' that many of the human soldiers with him labeled the fortress as was little more than a farce.

"You ready to enter?" his audio unit crackered, he in turn adjusting the frequency to allow for a clearer reception.

"Affirmative." Tomahawk Man confirmed.

"Well, go on then."

The Robot Master nodded, despite there being no one around to see him. The small space he and Mega Man had created was still there, so entry was of no concern of his.

That would come later. Lower.

Hidden Location

"He should be out of the hospital in a few days." The smaller man stated. The room was smaller than last time, mainly due to the fact that this particular meeting had to be in his apartment, which of course meant that both time and volume would have to be kept to a minimum.

"That's good to hear." The woman stated. "Do you think he kept the paper I gave?"

"No reason he would get rid of it." he confessed. "I don't exactly know what you told him."

"Enough." She confirmed, the larger man present and hearing each bit of the exchange. "And perhaps it's too soon to hear, but he seemed receptive."

"Not enough to potentially endanger us all, I hope." The larger man questioned, she in turn whirling around to face him.

"Of course not!" she protested. "What do you take me for?"

"I take you for someone that could potentially jeopardize all that we've worked for up until now!" he yelled, the smaller man coming in between them.

"Hey, hey! Not here!" he begged. "My-"

"Dad?" a voice said from the other side of the door, muffled.

"Great." He went to the door. "Yeah, Chelsea?"

"Someone in there with you?"

"Uh…no." he paused. "Well, yeah. Just Simone and a…friend."

"Oh." She simply stated, as if not interested in hearing anymore. "I'm off to see Bobby, Ramone, and Janet at the park."

"Ok, take care then!" he hurriedly told her, silence meeting him in place of an immediate answer.

"…sure. Bye." The sound of steps grew more and more distant, though the confirmation of their safety came with the sound of the door closing.

"Ok," he then turned to the two other people present with him. "I'm telling you, everything's still a go. I promise." He promised. "I'll get access to where that suit's located, and we can simply go from there. Everything's fine."

The larger of the two men still had his arms crossed, all of them concealed by the heavy shadows of the small bedroom. "You're certain?"

"Positive."

He then turned to the woman. "And you?"

"Relax." She huffed. "I gave him my number. It's not like our place even HAS a number to call. And should he call, I mention nothing unless he wants to discuss further." She then gestured to the smaller man standing in between them. "And as to if I'm sure, reference what he said."

The larger man was silent, turning from the both, gaze seemingly fixed on the blinded windows. He remained as such for quite a while. Far too long for the woman's liking.

"Well?"

Silence.

"Well?" she repeated, still receiving nothing. "Come on, give me something!"

After a few moments, she believed she would still receive nothing. "…morrow."

"Huh?"

"We get the details tomorrow." He finally stated. "Then…we go from there."

Skull Fortress

Well, this was quite the predicament.

Ironic in a sense, considering that he held access to the entirety of the fortress in itself, but the one place he was attempting to infiltrate, he found it near inaccessible. The elevator was completely inactive, and even then, he could find no other entrance to the desired location in the building. If anything, it was as if Wily had made so such a place was near impossible to reach. Near only, as he himself must've been able to go there, judging from Mega Man's report.

Whatever was down there, it couldn't have just constructed itself on its own.

A sense of trepidation began creeping into him, he in turn brandishing his namesake weapon as he continued his search. There had to be some form of entrance into this place, at the very least, this thought persisting as he walked along the flooring, his footsteps echoing throughout what seemed to be the entire building.

Wait.

He stepped back, having passed over one particular tile. Tapping his foot on said tile, as well as stepping back and walking over it yet again, Tomahawk Man was sure that his audio receptors did not deceive him. This one sounded different in comparison to the others. Stepping on it again, he registered that this tile sounded as if it held no foundation underneath it. As if it were…hollow.

Bringing his tomahawk down, the Robot Master found that nothing underneath met the sharpened metal. He brought it down again, dragging it along until he met the tile's end, and though it took some effort, he lifted one half of the tile up to see, as he expected, a shaft leading to places unknown.

"I've found an entry point." Tomahawk Man told his human comrades outside via com-link.

"Where was it?" his audio receptor answered back.

"I had to do some digging…so to speak." His turquoise eyes fell on the hole, the already darkened corridor not doing any favors in lighting the tunnel that seemingly went straight down, let alone to probably an abyss of nothing but black. "But I have access." He drew closer. "I'm going in." he stood over the edge. True, he said such, yet the execution would perhaps be a little slower than initially intended.

All he had in terms of preparation was the Blue Bomber's own testimony, and even then, it was vague and far from one he had time to fully get the details of.

Though now, what other way was there but forward?

Stepping just a little bit closer, and allowing himself to finally end the near painful suspense, he dove in.

…

His landing wasn't exactly his most graceful, stumbling a bit upon finally meeting solid ground. Still, he was here and intact.

For now. No, he couldn't allow such things to enter his processor. Nothing or no one had yet to be engaged. And should it be the terrible beast that his newly found comrade had spoken of…then so be it.

His optics adjusted to the intense darkness to the point the Robot Master assumed they were about to push just how far they could go. Yet at least he could now see.

A series of low, murmured growls echoed throughout the room.

This chamber was immense in size, and from the looks of it, quite barren. Save for a bevy of scraps, odds and ends, and various articles of rusted, unusable bits and pieces of metal. Perhaps was used to be unfinished, unusable products Wily had discarded and sent down here. 'Or maybe some of…them.'

Shaking the thought off, Tomahawk Man continued on and on. This place was enormous, and he was beginning to believe that, even if what Mega Man had saw was impressive in size, it was completely dwarfed by the sheer mass in what was perhaps its resting place…

He stopped.

"Tomahawk, come in."

Silence.

"Tomahawk Man, come in!"

Still Silence.

"Don't tell me you're- "

"No, no. I'm fine." He finally answered, to the relief of those outside. "Although…" he paused, looking up to the ceiling. "You may wish to lend me a rather sturdy rope."

"Yeah, yeah. But what is it?" his audio receptor crackled. "You find anything."

"…oh yes."

It was faint. Barely audible, yet the source of the previously undiscovered, low growls had finally been found. And he dare not move, lest it be roused.

He found something all right. He just hoped that 'it' wouldn't be able to find him.

What was before him was what appeared to be a long-necked, silvery, reptilian-esque creature sprawled out before him, as if in slumber or in the throughs of malnutrition taking its toll. It was clearly unfinished, he surely looking at what was little more than the first inner layer of metal that covered the internal wiring and skeletal structure. Hell, its optics bore no eyelids or anything resembling such! The eyeballs were apparently turned 'off' as if they were bulbs controlled via a switch on the wall.

"What is it?" his audio unit crackled yet again, Tomahawk in turn lowering the volume.

"I'd refrain from talking too loud." He softly stated, albeit with enough firmness in his voice.

"Sorry." The human soldier apologized. "But…really, what is it? What did you find?"

The Native based machine looked again upon the silvery beast before him, lips tightening as it became more and more clear at what this meant. As well as what he would perhaps have to do.

Note: Again, sorry for the brief notes. Please read and review, as that's the best way to encourage updates!