At first, nothing appeared to happen, the night crept forward without Wily-related incident. Only astronomers noticed the change in the sky, though they insisted to themselves that their equipment must be malfunctioning. None of them could believe that the Moon appeared to be moving closer, and even if they had, none of them would have known what to make of this extraordinary yet terrible phenomena.

Yet the Moon was slowly drawing neared to the Earth as though lassoed, and strange, (seemingly) unconnected incidents began breaking out all across the country.

A lone couple strolled across an ocean-view esplanade that wound around Boston's harbor, admiring the moon, which seemed rounder and fuller than it ever had. They stopped in the middle of the esplanade, wrapping their arms around each other and gazing dreamily into each others eyes, when a large white-capped wave suddenly rose up over like an angry beast and crashed over them. The couple shrieked as they were knocked down to their backsides, drenched through to the skin in icy salt water. They fled fearfully down the esplanade lest another rogue wave pounce on them again. At the same time, tsunami sirens began sounding all down the coast, fishing boats speeding toward shore.

In Portland, the wind suddenly picked up, buffeting commuters heading home late from office jobs. A woman in a purple trench coat grabbed onto a streetlamp for support, her leather bag whipping violently behind her, while crumpled up newspapers and trash bins rolled through the street like tumbleweeds. Beside her, a man with a briefcase was ill-advisably walking against the wind, his frame bent forward but his feet sliding backward, until finally a sudden gust bowled him over. All around them, cars were stopping and people were quickly taking shelter in surrounding buildings.

A mixture of sleet and fine drizzle assaulted Denver, pedestrians walking around with umbrellas half closed like tents over themselves.

"I've never seen such rain this time of year!" a man complained as he ran to his car.

Mega Man, Roll, and Dr. Light were pacing the laboratory when they were startled by the sudden racket of dime sized hail bounced off the oblong windows and rolled down the egg-shaped structure.

"That's weird, this wasn't forecasted…" muttered Mega Man, looking up. Rush whimpered piteously at the noise and hid under a lab table.

Roll sprinted toward the laboratory door. "I better bring the convertible in…I hope I left the roof up," she said urgently as Met offered her a mop bucket as protection for her head.

During Mega Man's recent attempts to infiltrate Skull Fortress, Dark Man (who was as tech savvy as Elec Man) had taken over many of the computerized defenses from Elec Man's old room in the armory. This left Elec Man with much more time on his hands, which he spent sitting in one of the large windows of his personal quarters and reading through old research papers he had found in Dr. Wily's storage. The catalog was immense, written by scientists from all over the world and of every discipline imaginable (though one had to squint through Dr. Wily's petty annotations in order to read). Elec Man had read Dr. Light's thesis on robotics three times over while absentmindedly whirling a pen in his fingers, puzzled that Proto Man thought so little of his creator. At the same time, he could find no record Dr. Cossack, the chemist Proto Man liked so much.

There was a sharp tapping noise at Elec Man's elbow.

Elec Man looked up. Fat drops of rain pattered against the window, running down the glass in ragged streaks. Elec Man hastily put down the research paper he had been reading (a dull case study on lawn care drones by Professor Frederick Henson) and climbed out of the window, shivering involuntarily as he wrapped his arms around himself. Though Skull Fortress was weather tight, the windows as strong as those in jets, the sight of the running water still made him uneasy. Then he reminded himself of the circuits within his wrists that prevented him from completely short-circuiting through water damage.

Elec Man sighed, dropping his arms to his side as he watched clouds sweep over the stars and muddy washes flow down the badlands and into the canyon, spoiling what normally was a picturesque landscape like an oil painting drenched with turpentine. Grudgingly, the one silver lining of living in Skull Fortress was that rain was rare and fleeting in the desert. This flash flood would surely be over soon.

Brain Bot was dressed once again in a white lab coat and round oversized glasses which he had built to match his old ones. His armor and blaster were stowed away in a case. Dr. Cossack had forbidden him from using them unless there was dire need (or for top secret science experiments, of course) which Brain Bot had happily complied. He agreed with nearly everything Dr. Cossack said. He had even taken to mimicking his behavior, such as always organizing his tools in neat, precise lines or wearing a crisp olive green tie with his lab coat in the same fashion and color as Dr. Cossack.

Dr. Cossack noticed this as they were working late in his circular high-rise office in Citadel headquarters, and smiled ruefully. It was a quarter to midnight in Los Angeles, a black sky above the ocean outside the window, even the most dedicated of the other scientists had gone home for the night.

"You shouldn't be up this late," Dr. Cossack told Brain Bot as they sketched out in charcoal the plans for a new apparatuses to be used in Citadel. Sketching was Dr. Cossack's preferred way of ending a day, claiming it helped relive the pressure of all the thoughts and ideas building up in his head (and he had been very busy indeed lately, and was cross-hatching in harsh, deliberate strokes). The office was softly lit, just bright enough to see their work upon the drafting tables while still accentuating the domed ceiling with its projected night sky. "It's not good for advanced androids to establish irregular sleeping patterns, just as it would be unhealthy for humans to do the same."

"But you're human, and you're still up, Dr. Cossack," Brain Bot pointed out.

"I'm a bit of a night owl," Dr. Cossack said vaguely. "And Kalinka is staying over at a friend's. Citadel hours ended—" He glanced down at his digital wrist watch. "Oh shi—er, almost six hours ago."

"I want more involvement in all your work," Brain Bot said tentatively, for he knew Dr. Cossack often worked much later than he let on.

"You already help so much at Citadel. I am extremely grateful, you may have noticed how thin I am spread, but I could ask no more of you."

Brain Bot hesitated. "It's more than that—after what transpired, I don't want to spend my time exclusively as a lab assistant—I want to fight Wily, just like Mega Man."

Dr. Cossack gave Brain Bot a grave look over his glasses, turning over a large sheet in his drafting pad. "I know why you feel that way, and it's all my fault. I knew that man stalked Dr. Light's every move, and I should have been more careful. Everything that happened was a mistake. You weren't supposed to become a combat robot, especially not with the sort of power source you have…"

"I know, and I have no ambition be a fighter, my primary focus is still research and repair work," persisted Brain Bot earnestly, self-consciously laying a hand over his quintessence power core, "—But, I feel guilty staying out of it…and with Wily still a fugitive…" he trailed off. "I just want you to know, I'm with you through it all. I go home when you go home."

Dr. Cossack briefly laid a hand on Brain Bot's jet black hair (Brain Bot resisted the impulse to duck away, for though he wanted to have a serious conversation, Dr. Cossack's affection was sincere).

"I may be your creator, but so is Dr. Light," said Dr. Cossack as he began sketching out a rough outline on the new sheet of paper. "He'll want to know how you are doing, and I don't think he'd want you to lose sleep nor let your unplanned and illegal upgrade into a bomber-bot get you into trouble."

Brain Bot looked down at his charcoal sketch guiltily. Though he admittedly thought about his adventure crossing the United States constantly, he did not think of his co-creator much anymore. He knew even then he planned to commit himself fully as Dr. Cossack's assistant.

"Besides, I'm not so great," Dr. Cossack added with a small smile, seeming to pick up on Brain Bot's sentiments. "If you only knew what people sometimes call me."

"You mean the coarse slang term that begins with a 'B'?" Brain Bot asked hesitantly, unsure of Dr. Cossack's stance on swearing.

Dr. Cossack's smile vanished like milk curdling. "…Who have you heard say that?"

"Citadel's Innovation Team."

"The Innovation—!" Dr. Cossack rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Brain Bot suppressed a smile. Dr. Cossack was well liked by his employees.

The office suddenly shook, the charcoal sketches fluttering from the walls, tools on Dr. Cossack's desk rattling out of their perfect alignment. Brain Bot dropped his compressed charcoal stick to the ground the and stood protectively in front of Dr. Cossack, looking around warily.

"Just a tremor," Dr. Cossack said gently, giving Brain Bot's shoulder a squeeze. "They happen sometimes in California. You'll get used to them."

"Oh, right," said Brain Bot uncertainly.

The office shook again, this time for almost half a minute. Dr. Cossack frowned, but repeated, "Just a tremor. Let's take it as a sign and call it a night—I'd like to check on Kalinka."

With that, Dr. Cossack turned off the lights and ushered Brain Bot out of the office, both of them feeling instinctively that something was amiss.

It was nearly nine o'clock in the morning at the Robot International Police headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. Inspector Headley, Dr. Ramu, and Dr. Umlauf were standing in Inspector Headley's office with steaming cups of tea. The office was cheerfully cluttered with a collection of dye-cast toys, but Inspector Headley gazed scornfully out the window, watching a bluish-gray cloud roll over the Baltic Sea like a fleece blanket.

"It's so gloomy out. Just look at those clouds! The news predicted sunshine, ha! Looks more like a hurricane to me."

"We're too damn busy to enjoy sunshine on a work day, Hassan," Dr. Umlauf pointed out dryly, swishing around the contents of his porcelain tea cup with a sniff (he preferred espresso, but there was never any on hand at headquarters).

"True, Lucas, though I hate sending our officers into the field when the weather is like this. I know they don't mind, but it still never feels right somehow." Inspector Headley turned his back on the window as though it had insulted him, running a finger down his pencil mustache and taking a sip of tea. Then he smiled tentatively over at Dr. Ramu. "Randeep, it's been a couple months since you've joined R.I.P., hasn't it? How are you getting on?"

"Quite well I think," replied Dr. Ramu sincerely, a golden R.I.P. lapel pin sitting next to his International Institute of Archeology lapel pin on his lab coat. He and Dr. Umlauf had decided to spread the responsibilities of being R.I.P.'s chief roboticist, which allowed them time to still pursue their own personal scientific pursuits—Dr. Umlauf in the entertainment business, Dr. Ramu in Xenology. "I'm happy to be with all my Robot Masters, and working with Duo and Ra Thor has been a dream come true. There's just one thing that's been puzzling me. Duo and Ra Thor's former roboticist, Dr. Mikhail Cossack—may I ask why he resigned his position at R.I.P.?"

"That's right! You don't know," exclaimed Inspector Headley, smacking his forehead. His face, which had once been cross at the weather, crashed earthward. "That was years ago, but we may as well fill you in since you are helping to fulfill his former role."

With a sudden sobriety, Inspector Headley sank down into a winged leather chair, setting his tea and saucer upon his desk with a light clink. Dr. Ramu felt as though he should do the same. Dr. Umlauf remained standing, but he too set down his tea on a side table and crossed his arms tensely, as though bracing himself to dredge up something unpleasant, his gruff, goateed face becoming uncharacteristically solemn and distant.

"You may have heard that years before the formation of R.I.P., over in Russia, Duo and Ra Thor became the first 'robot police' ever," began Inspector Headley. "It created an international sensation. Robo-crime was spreading throughout the world, and Duo and Ra Thor were incredible—and secretly assisting them every step of the way, the rising roboticist Mikhail Cossack."

"We now know ze credit goes to zeir alien technology rather zan Mikhail's skill in robotics," Dr. Umlauf interjected with a ghost of a smile.

Inspector Headley returned the smile with a sad nod. "According to the official record, Lucas, Mikhail is the creator of Duo and Ra Thor, though even that is classified information. Regardless, every criminal seemed to know that Duo and Ra Thor were linked to Mikhail, and they hated him for it. Mikhail was constantly getting death threats, finding booby traps in his personal possessions, being stalked by hitman—

"Neither Lucas nor I have ever been targeted like that," Inspector Headley interrupted himself hastily at this point, shooting Dr. Ramu a concerned look, "—And if your position at R.I.P. ever makes you feel the least bit in danger, let us know straight away and we'll increase your protections." He sighed. "But Mikhail was a magnet for trouble. It got unsafe for him to be in Russia without a guard, for he had put so many mobsters behind bars that he couldn't go an inch without running into one of their friends. Mikhail didn't care, he was ruthless against crime, always hated bullies. Instead of backing down, he went on to help me found the Robot International Police. But that's when tragedy struck. You're well aware of course that ever since the beginning, the protocol for every R.I.P. officer is to never under any circumstance harm a human."

"Of course," Dr. Ramu agreed, frowning.

Inspector Headley nodded, then continued. "R.I.P. was just getting started. We were poised to make a significant arrest, toppling the kingpin from a major mob that had grown so powerful and well connected, it seemed all but impossible to stop. It was the perfect test of mettle for our new police force. But the arrest went horribly wrong. A fight broke out, one of their henchmen became injured, then later died in a hospital."

"Likely ze mob killed zeir own man to prevent him from ratting out zeir leader," Dr. Umlauf hissed through clenched teeth, punching the wall softly.

"It could never be proven, but I saw the henchmen the night of the arrest, and he wasn't hurt that badly," chimed in Inspector Headley, his hands balling into fists. "He had a bandage over one eye, but oh how he leered at me through the other. As a former detective, I can't help but feel in my bones it was a set up from the beginning designed to hurt Mikhail, and they succeeded, for the death was attributed back to the officer who conducted the arrest—a Robot Master that Mikhail had helped create."

"Ze only Robot Master Mikhail helped create," put in Dr. Umlauf gloomily.

Inspector Headley closed his eyes. "The mobsters claimed foul play, and they were fully backed up by their allies in politics. There was nothing to be done about it—believe me, we tried everything. But the case against the mobsters was thrown out, and in accordance to international law, the officer had to be destroyed for causing the death of a human, even if unintentionally. Of course, laws are being changed for that type of situation, but far too late to save that poor Robot Master's life…"

Inspector Headley paused for a moment, as though the words had become stuck to his mouth as he became caught up in the memory. Out of the corner of his eye, Dr. Ramu noticed Dr. Umlauf was shaking with both anger and sorrow. When Inspector Headley continued, his voice was quavering.

"The officer took his fate bravely enough. He was utterly disgraced, of course…though I daresay not sorry for standing up against the mob. He was such a good officer. Never broke a rule, always kind, even in his last days…"

At this, Inspector Headley took out a handkerchief and hurriedly dabbed his eyes. Dr. Umlauf was rubbing his own eyes underneath his wayfarer glasses, mumbling curses and regrets to himself in French. Dr. Ramu looked down at his hands solemnly, feeling sorry for the long departed Robot Master.

"It was awful during the sentencing trials," Inspector Headley resumed when he had steadied himself. "Mikhail was never the same. I believe that is why he gave up on creating robots, for he once planned a whole line of them for R.I.P. (he had commissions lined up from all over the world!). But after the sentencing, Mikhail lost heart, for what good is setting up a police force if innocent robots must be destroyed to uphold the law, while gangsters find loopholes to run free? He resigned shortly after the officer's sentence was carried out and moved to America to start a new career as a chemist, and who can blame him? I wouldn't have dared talk Mikhail round, he became so cynical and paranoid. I think the pressure had caught up to him at last, and he worried about Kalinka's safety (as I would have been for my own daughters). It was always family first for him. Well, that's the long and short of it," Inspector Headley finished at last. He seemed exhausted, their tea, untouched, had gone cold.

"How horrible," murmured Dr. Ramu. "I couldn't imagine how I'd feel if anything like that ever happened to one of my robots."

"Nor mine," agreed Dr. Umlauf.

Inspector Headley sniffed heartily, his eyes downcast at though looking through a long tunnel.

They were all startled by a loud thump at the window, like a giant invisible hand trying to push the entire pane inside the room.

Inspector Headley jumped to his feet, the sorrow on his face snapping to alertness."What the deuce?"

They hastily backed away from the window, which was being assaulted by a sudden gale. Outside, the sky had become as dark as night. They could see the citizens of Copenhagen flee into buildings, the masts of sail boats thrashing in the canals as the dark cloud over the sea began to twist like a giant, upside down whirlpool.

"Holy shit, is it a hurricane?" muttered Dr. Umlauf, recalling Inspector Headley's previous offhand comment.

"In the Baltic Sea?" questioned Dr. Ramu, his brows raised.

Titanium footsteps pounded down the hall outside.

"Inspector Headley!" cried Knight Man as he burst into the office, looking completely flustered, his armor clanking like steel cutlery. "You have to come quick!"

"I know, there's a terrible storm outside, not to worry, Officer Knight Man—we'll all take cover at once," said Inspector Headley calmly. "Copenhagen will weather it out, you'll see."

Knight Man shook his head noisily. "It's not just storming here, it's storming world wide! Ra Thor is asking for you in the command center!"

The hail had given way to a violent thunderstorm, forks of lightning visible through the oblong windows. Roll was furious, for the windshield of the arrowhead convertible had been smashed. Mega Man coaxed Rush out from under the lab table with a titanium chew toy and the (hopefully true) promise that the hail was over.

Dr. Light had been monitoring Galaxy Man's transmissions to the Emergency Satellite Scanner and was now sitting a stool in front of his supercomputer, his face slowly draining of its color. "I'm picking up distress signals from all over the world!" he called over to them. "Galaxy Man has reported that sudden storms are occurring all over the globe, and are slowly escalating at a rate unnatural to their climates."

Mega Man walked over to the supercomputer and frowned up at the four CRT screens above, each broadcasting the severe weather from different news stations. "Have you found out where all this stuff is coming from?"

Dr. Light looked up at him. "I have indeed…the Moon!"

"The Moon?" Mega Man repeated, blinking.

"Yes, it seems to be falling toward the Earth!" explained Dr. Light. He pushed his stool back and crossed over to the Emergency Satellite Scanner. "The closer the Moon gets, its gravity will cause bigger and bigger storms! Tidal waves! Earthquakes!"

"Don't tell me…Wily's behind it, right?"

"Right," Dr. Light replied darkly. "I've detected a gravitronic beam coming from Skull Fortress aimed at the Moon."

"How can Wily be so smart and yet so dumb at the same time?" complained Roll.

Dr. Light could only shake his head."I haven't figured out how he's done it, and we don't have much time."

"Looks like we better pay a visit to Wily's 'Skull Fortress,'" Mega Man said to Roll and Rush, though he didn't relish heading out into this storm. He could tell Rush didn't either, for he flattened his ears with a small whine.

Proto Man had taken a break from observing the Gravitron and was pacing the halls of Skull Fortress restlessly. Truthfully, it was eerie watching the miles between Earth and the Moon countdown on Dr. Wily's computer while feeling the first low rumblings of tremors rise up through the floor…

"Proto Man, why is it raining?"

Proto Man looked up as Elec Man stalked up to him. "Well, you know, sometimes it happens. Important part of the ecosystem, actually," he replied, his voice a little high.

"Not this much, I'd notice," Elec Man responded crossly. "What's Wily doing now?"

"So, get this—you're going to think this is dumb," laughed Proto Man (again his voice sounding both unnaturally high and hearty), "Wily built this machine that pulls the Moon out of its orbit down toward Earth."

"…Won't that end all life on the planet?"

"No, I think it'll just knock down a couple of famous landmarks, that kind of thing."

"Yes, it will," Elec Man overrode Proto Man coldly, his eyes narrowing into slits. "Every costal city will become submerged. Tidal waves will surge across entire countries, scouring everything in their path. The Moon's increased gravitational force will split apart Earth's crust and internal temperatures will increase exponentially, turning what's left of the planet into a molten wasteland. The ocean will vaporize, organic life will be long gone, and the remaining mechanical life that wasn't melted into slag will soon be flattened by seventy million metric tons of lunar rock rolling across earth's surface—that is, if the Moon has not first broken apart into continent-sized shrapnel."

"Uh…"

Proto Man had hoped Elec Man would make snarky, disparaging comments about how Dr. Wily's schemes never worked. Laying the facts out so bleakly left a cold, unsettling feeling in his circuits.

"Don't play dumb. Your creator gave you an electronic brain capable of keeping up, Light." Elec Man's eyes swept swiftly over Proto Man, taking in every small tell. "Waiting for Mega Man to save the day, or are you going to do it?"

These rebukes caused a rise in Proto Man, helping him come back to himself. "Seriously Elec Man, don't worry about it! Wily's just a little down—but everything will be fine, he'll quit when the humans give up and name him leader," he restated airily, though the feeling in his circuits would not go away. "In the meantime, why don't you and all the other Robot Masters go take cover, you're not needed on duty, the weather's doing our job for us."

Not liking the look in Elec Man's eyes, Proto Man quickly hurried off to rejoin Dr. Wily.

Inspector Headley, Dr. Ramu, and Dr. Umlauf had followed Knight Man to R.I.P.'s circular command center. There, Ra Thor debriefed Inspector Headley of the sudden outbreak of storms engulfing Earth while the R.I.P. Robot Masters currently posted at headquarters listened nervously. The wind still howled outside, though it was deadened by the thick reinforced walls.

"Oh how dreadful. I know it's not related to global robo-crime, but we simply have to help out," Inspector Headley resolved. "We'll postpone all cases and assist wherever we're needed."

"The U.N. has already emergency response crews to protect against major damage," Ra Thor informed him. "Still, this is a bad situation."

Inspector Headley nodded. "I haven't seen international mayhem like this since Dr. Wily attacked the Moon!"

There was a long pause.

"Say…you don't reckon?" spoke up Gravity Man, tapping his chin.

"I do now," muttered Inspector Headley darkly. "Though I don't suppose we have any hope of getting leads on how he is doing this? Weather control satellites or flying storm nanobots, perhaps?"

"I'll begin researching the case at once," Dr. Ramu offered, grinning. He then added privately to Inspector Headley, Dr. Umlauf, and Ra Thor, "I've made my life's work studying aliens, after that mad science is a piece of cake."

Dr. Wily's auxiliary laboratory shook at intervals while the storm raged outside. Trickling water flowing over rocks now echoed throughout Skull Fortress, the lights flickering, the Gravitron humming steadily. The Robot Masters were tense, eyeing the walls suspiciously, each privately wondering how much they could take before they came crashing down upon them.

Dr. Wily paid none of these alarming portends any heed. "Yesss….my gravitron beam is working perfectly! The Earth and the Moon are all mine!" he shouted over the sounds of rock cracking outside.

"Earthquakes are starting up, Doc! Time to move into the underground shelter," Proto Man advised, for Skull Fortress was balanced on a canyon.

"Yess, just as soon as—" An alarm began beeping from Dr. Wily's computer, breaking his concentration. "What?! An intruder?"

Proto Man frowned. "I'll check it out," he volunteered, determined to put thoughts of the world ending out of his mind. It was just a little storm, after all. Besides, fighting always put him in a good mood.

To cut down on flight time, Mega Man and Roll had taken Dr. Light's hoverjet. They landed within five miles of Skull Fortress and disembarked, Mega Man jumping aboard Rush's jet, Roll riding her skycycle.

Heavy rain slapped into their faces. For once in his life, Mega Man considered lowering the visor on his helmet. Roll had donned a biker helmet, which was the same vanilla color of her titanium jumpsuit with matching crimson stripes and a purple tinted visor, her ponytail tucked inside. They had fastened a pair of goggles over Rush's head, which Rush wore with the same dignified misery of a real dog forced into a silly costume.

So far, thanks to the storm, they remained undetected by Dr. Wily's defenses—they even made it through the holo-grid to Skull Fortress's perimeter and straight up to the front entrance.

They flew cautiously over the horned skull façade to the domed roof at the base of the tallest tower. Both Mega Man and Rush landed and lay flat to the curved surface, careful not to move too suddenly for the surface was as slick as ice with water, rain pouring down on them as though coming out of a sprinkler. Roll hovered next to them.

"There it is, Roll, the gravitron beam!" Mega Man called as loud as he dared above the wind, pointing to a thin violet beam issuing from the roof like a strip of neon. Squinting up into the rain, they could just make out the Moon shining weakly through the storm clouds. "But how do we stop it?"

But before they could devise a plan to break through the super steel walls, their luck gave out. A small door had opened from the tower above them, and a dark swarm poured out unfettered by the storm, a building undertone of squeaking and flapping ripstop wings heading straight toward them.

"Battontons!" cried Mega Man.

But these weren't the usual battontons Dr. Wily used for spying—these were armored attack battontons, as large as flying bowling balls and with suction mouths that could spit lasers (which they did liberally—it was as if a second, much closer thunderstorm had coalesced above them). Mega Man rolled onto his back, firing while desperately trying not to slide off the roof and into the deep canyon below. Roll had flown away, attempting to pull some of the swarm off. Rush lunged at battontons if they flew too close, biting off their wings.

They were so busy fighting off the unending swarm that they were too late to notice the Quick Boomerang slice through the rain until it had hit Rush, knocking him off Skull Fortress and straight into the canyon.

"Rush!" Mega Man shouted.

The Quick Boomerang returned to the red gloved hand of its owner.

"Got yer mutt, heh heh now it's your turn!" jeered Quick Man. He, Proto Man, Guts Man and Dark Man had quietly sidled out onto the flat top of the roof with their backs to the tower.

"You are trespassing, little brother," chimed in Proto Man, firing down at Mega Man.

Mega Man leaped out of the way, attempting to land on his feet while firing back, but slipped instead, both missing and falling backward. He began sliding helplessly down the roof when suddenly black cables snaked around him as Dark Man caught him with an electromagnetic net. Mega Man pushed vainly against the snare, but the electromagnetic energy paralyzed his circuits as the net tightened.

"Trapped!" he couldn't help but hiss.

This was horribly familiar. It didn't help that Dark Man, who's spherical face was incapable of any sort of expression other than calm stoicism, was gazing indifferently over his raised blaster as though catching bomber-robots in nets were commonplace and easy—after all, this was the fourth time he had managed to do it.

Proto Man, meanwhile, smirked. "Yep! Just like the rat you are!"

Both Cut Man and Shadow Man had elected to stay behind with Dr. Wily instead of fighting Mega Man in the storm.

"Those earthquakes are getting stronger!" Cut Man cried, pressing a button on the Gravitron's platform while the auxiliary laboratory trembled around them. The platform descended slowly through the floor into a lattice tunnel of super steel beams while he, Dr. Wily, and Shadow Man rode it like an elevator.

"Stop your robot whining! My underground shelter can withstand anything!" snapped Dr. Wily. "We'll be perfectly safe…unlike Mega Man!"

Privately, Shadow Man was beginning to having doubts. He had thought it would be great fun to heckle Centum by pretending to work for Dr. Wily (after all, old habits die hard). But though he was delivering on his threat to incite chaos (as usual), he had to admit destroying the Earth wasn't exactly what he had in mind!

Mega Man didn't like the thought of being taken prisoner again. The best he could expect by was to watch the world end from within a cell—worst case, Dr. Wily would make sure whatever other death traps Skull Fortress contained would finish Mega Man off for good this time.

Feeling his energy ebb away, he peered through the holes in the electromagnetic net at Proto Man, trying to discern what was going on behind the visor. "This scheme is bad, Proto Man—real bad. Worse than any other scheme Wily has ever come up with. You've got to talk him out of this, for everyone's sake."

"Don't know what to tell ya, Mega," Proto Man responded with a lazy smile. "The humans have to surrender first. Everyone knows the drill. If you don't like it, then you should have joined us sooner…then maybe you could have talked Wily out of this. You could've even helped us plan the schemes. You have all the potential to have a great criminal mind, if you'd only nurture it—"

"Even for your criminal mind, I don't know how you pretend to find this scheme any fun," Mega Man cut in as a tremor shook the roof beneath their feet. "No action, no fighting, no standoffs—it could very well be Wily's last scheme ever, but not in the way he intends it—"

"C'mon c'mon c'mon already I'm bored this is taking forever," Quick Man interrupted, arms crossed and shivering as rain trickled down the long golden 'V' on his helmet. Though he'd never admit it, he did not like the talk of impending doom. "Let's drop the dweeb into the canyon and go back inside already!"

Guts Man liked this suggestion, his small blue eyes sparkling maliciously as he called down to Mega Man, "In about ten seconds, we're gunna have to call you 'Splat Man!' Ahahahah!"

Dark Man's head rotated toward Proto Man, waiting for his assent before releasing the net.

"Hey, what the…?!" Quick Man uttered.

Roll had dive-bombed through the cloud of battontons with her skycycle, firing a circular saw from her utility arm through the ends of the net. Mega Man slid promptly off the roof, falling several stories until Rush, who had been hovering out of sight below, intercepted him. They jetted up to join Roll, gaining distance from the roof. They had no other choice—battontons were chasing them, plasma bolts were streaking past them, Quick Boomerangs were arcing around them in near misses, and orbs of electromagnetic energy were exploding about like fiberoptic flowers blooming in the night.

"It's no good while they know we're here! We need to fall back!" Mega Man called to Roll as he detangled himself from the net.

"I know, but I don't want to!" she growled, taking one last potshot at Guts Man with her pneumatic ball shooter, knocking him down like a wooden target at a carnival game. Then Roll turned her skycyle about-face from Skull Fortress. "Alright, let's go!"

Mega Man and Rush did the same, Mega Man hollering over his shoulder, "I'll be back, brother!"

He and Roll sped off, jeers and Guts Man's angry yells following them while rain pierced them through like falling icicles.

"What do you mean he escaped?" Dr. Wily asked in a low, deadly whisper as Proto Man and the Robot Masters returned to him. They were several floors deeper within Skull Fortress, the shaking somewhat less.

"As in 'got away,' 'vamoosed,' 'departed,' 'beat feet—'" Proto Man began instantly, his scarf dripping onto the floor.

"I know what the word means!" Dr. Wily snapped. "Ugh, remind me to reprogram all of you when this is over." He stooped over the control panel of the Gravitron. "Bah! Mega Man is of no consequence! He can't stop me now, and, without my tachyon capacitor, even Dr. Light is powerless to stop me! The moon is coming closer and the world is falling apart, hoo hoo! —And only I will be able to put it back together!"

Dr. Wily laughed while the Moon continued to grow brighter and larger, the storm clouds surrounding the Earth growing darker and thicker.

News spread that the unusual weather gripping the Earth was Dr. Wily's doing and was bound to get worse, so humans took cover within designated Dr. Wily-proof shelters. Most countries had ordered all available robot drones that could be of assistance to help minimize damage, from erecting barriers against flooding to putting out fires started by storms.

Despite this effort, there were still some losses. A tidal wave yanked a yacht from its gangway. Planks of old shacks in the country were blow away like dandelion seeds. Worst yet, a tornado was wending its way through the streets of New York City, picking up abandoned cars and hurtling them like bombs. Luckily, none of the buildings were struck, but many of the cars were thrown into the Hudson River.

Tengu Man, Wind Man, Cloud Man, and Tornado Man were busy taming various windstorms. The rest of the Robot Masters were leading search and rescue missions. They all felt an impending sense of helplessness and futility, for they were all programmed to fight robot criminals, not large scale disasters that would eventually overwhelm Earth.

"What are our options?" Inspector Headley asked as he paced R.I.P.'s command center. On the grounds outside, flower beds that had looked so lovely all spring were being torn out by their roots and carried away by the wind.

"Well, the storms won't stop until the Moon stops falling," Dr. Ramu said calmly but gravely (it hadn't taken him long to pinpoint the weather on the Moon). "Not even the Robot Masters will be able to help out for much longer, there are too few of them and the storms will scale exponentially. Using the same technology I used in Gravity Man, I could attempt to devise a method to repel the Moon, but that may take too long. The other option, of course, is to find Wily and stop this madness at the source."

"America will not like that," responded Inspector Headley grimly, for the United States refused to allow R.I.P. officers within its borders.

Dr. Ramu only shrugged in a 'can't-be-helped' way. "We'll have to convince them to make a temporary exception—otherwise, laws and political agreements will soon cease to matter."

Mega Man and Roll returned once again from Skull Fortress with the sinking feeling of being so close yet so far from accomplishing anything. Though it was now morning in New York, the sky was still dark. Wind had picked up around the laboratory, broken branches slapping against the windows while the walls creaked. Dr. Light had been hard at work finding a solution to restore the Moon back to its correct orbit. Unfortunately, he too had hit a snag.

"This is a Gravitron," he began, gesturing at a large machine that nearly touched the ceiling of his side laboratory. "Colossal Laboratory was developing it as a defense against cataclysmic collisions with celestial bodies, such as the asteroid that may have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. I'm certain Dr. Wily used the equipment he stole from Colossal Laboratory to create his own Gravitron, and with it produced the gravitronic beam that is pulling the Moon toward Earth." Dr. Light sighed, looking down at the computer console in defeat. "We need to create our own gravitronic beam to stop the Moon from falling any closer, but I can't get this Gravitron working without controlling the tachyon particle stream!"

"And there's no known way to do that!" said Mega Man, recalling some of Dr. Light's articles on physics.

"Correct, I had some theories, but that's all!"

"Well Dr. Wily sure has figured out how to do it!" said Roll, watching news footage from one of the monitors of waves slapping crashing against a port in South Carolina as marine drones hurried to secure the boats.

A violent tremor rocked the laboratory like a boat, causing them all to stagger clumsily while loose binders clattered off shelves. Then the power cut out, leaving them in total darkness pierced only by lighting flashing outside.

"We don't have much time," muttered Dr. Light when the room became still again, the lights coming back on as they switched to the laboratory's backup generator. He strode over to a computer and began booting it up. "I built a tachyon capacitor in my youth…I never knew if it'd work, but I might still have some old research files…"

Mega Man and Roll gathered around Dr. Light as he connected to his data archives. While Dr. Light was tabbing through files, Mega Man noticed the thumbnail for a video with two vaguely familiar men in white lab coats.

"Hey…what's that?" Mega Man asked curiously, a smile spreading across his face.

"Why that's me!" Dr. Light answered excitedly, his eyes lighting up. "—And Dr. Wily!"

"Wow! I didn't know you were ever that young Dr. Light!" Roll couldn't help but smirk as she leaned forward for a better look.

Dr. Light chuckled, not offended in the least by the remark. "Yes, well, these must be archive tapes from when we were in college. I forgot Dr. Wily used to record many of our work sessions (I personally think it more useful to keep a hand written journal). It's starting to come back to me me, this was shortly after I built my tachyon capacitor…"

He opened the video file and played it at full screen.

The computer equipment within the recording looked very strange to Mega Man and Roll, with controls similar to knobs and buttons on kitchen appliances, the convex screens smaller than notebook paper. Old magnetic tape storage devices the size of refrigerators lined the walls, the tape reels whirling in circles like giant music cassettes.

Dr. Light and Dr. Wily stood together in front of the camera. Though much younger, it was not their earlier college years—Mega Man guessed they must have been in their late twenties or early thirties, perhaps during grad school.

Dr. Light—then just Tom—was good looking, his hair shorter and jet black, his dark eyes always bright and smiling, his build stocky. But his mustache (which may have been in style at the time) and the neat coif of his hair were premature signs of the comfort-over-style grandfatherly look he would eventually adopt.

Dr. Wily—then Albert—by contrast, looked even stranger at this age. His face (without its mustache) was all sharp angles and his mane of wild umber hair had a severe window's peak, his hairline already receding away from his intense light blue eyes. The eccentric look would have passed for a moody piano virtuoso or even an arthouse movie director—but instead, Albert was dressed in a teal button down and a white lab coat, his eyes fixed greedily on the lantern-shaped device in Tom's hands.

"Do you realize this tachyon capacitor we—I mean, you invented could change the world?" Albert asked, his flattering voice like an oil slick.

"Perhaps. We'll have to see what our experiments show us," said Tom evenly, oblivious that Albert had almost taken co-credit for his work. "I'll set up the testing equipment, and we can begin in the morning."

"Sure, okay! Heh heh…I'll take a few final readings," Albert replied innocently. He began making a show of twisting knobs on one of the machines while making notations on a clipboard and 'hmm'-ing to himself as Tom placed the tachyon capacitor on a work bench and headed out the laboratory door.

Both Roll and Mega Man frowned, knowing exactly where this was going.

Sure enough, as soon as Tom was gone, Albert dove toward Tom's research computer.

"This is mine, and mine alone! I want it! I deserve it!" Albert whispered feverishly to himself as he copied the files onto a floppy disk. Smirking, he purged all research from the computer, sliding the floppy disk into his inside pocket with a surreptitious glance around the empty laboratory. Then, tucking the tachyon capacitor under his arm, he crept out of the door.

The recording cut to the next day. Tom and Albert were walking through the laboratory door together, Tom flicking on a light. Both of them started.

"What happened?" stammered Tom, his face fallen as he dashed over to the workbench the tachyon capacitor had been sitting on.

"We were, uh, burglarized! The experimental tachyon capacitor! I-It's gone, hoo-hoo!" Albert responded in an overly-energetic way, rushing over to Tom's computer. "And-and-and the computer records too!"

Tom bowed his head over the empty workbench, clenching his fist. "All that work, gone! Such a shame!"

"Oh well, it was only experimental," Albert consoled swiftly. "I don't think it would have worked, uh, anyway."

Tom looked over at Albert, his expression softening. "Perhaps you're right. We'll go on to better things, right?" he said, rallying.

"Riiiiggght!" breathed Albert, a smile twisting across his pointed features.

The recording ended there.

"Wily stole all your research data!" exclaimed Mega Man, outraged.

"And after all these years…he used it to build his Gravitron!" Dr. Light murmured sadly. "I had forgotten about all of this, it happened so long ago—I always suspected one of the fraternities had taken the tachyon capacitor as a prank, they were always doing things like that—unless it was always Wily all along," he added with a flash of revelation.

"He was a creep even way back then!" said Roll, raising a fist.

"…I cant believe Wily recorded himself in the act then just left it on Dr. Light's computer," Mega Man added after a moment of reflection.

Dr. Light brushed this aside, for the laboratory was shaking again. "Without the research data, I can't build a new tachyon capacitor! And without it, my Gravitron won't work!"

"But Wily's does—" growled Mega Man. "C'mon Rush, let's pay another visit to Dr. Wily's Skull Fortress! We got close last time, and these storms aren't getting better. I'm going to try one more time with the Stealth Glider…this might be our best chance yet to break in!"

To be continued…