"Why won't you turn on!" Proto Man struggled with the pull cord of the gas-powered generator. It sputtered a bit, giving a few kicks, before finally chugging to life. Giving a sigh, he slumped down next to the generator, pulled a small cord out of its slot in his leg, and plugged it in, allowing the power to flow from the generator into him. It wasn't as good as an E-can, but at least it was something.
It had now been about two weeks since he had left Light Labs, and he had spent that time primarily searching for shelter and energy. Things were hard. Admittedly, he had expected it to be hard, but there were only so many places to hide. In the last four days alone, he had jumped from barn to abandoned garage to house he thought was abandoned that in fact was just set for fumigation. He'd only barely made it out before the bug bomb fumes messed with his core processor functioning.
He was now settling into the connected shed next to said house. He'd bought the gasoline from a nearby gas station with what money he could get doing odd jobs. Things were rough, but he'd make it. Somehow.
Settling down, he closed his eyes, making a mental note to himself to only rest until the generator ran out of gas. Then he'd move along and continue his search for more permanent shelter.
He awoke the next morning to a scream. "Ahhh! A vagrant!"
He was only just able to register what was happening when he was smacked in the back of the head with a broom. The blow was hard enough that it knocked his sunglasses off and into a corner of the shed.
Apparently, the owner of the house had come back to the shed to get something out of it and had found him asleep inside. She had also started beating him with a broom.
He quickly snatched up his sunglasses and shoved them back on, slung his bag of supplies onto his back, and took off running. Thankfully, his assailant seemed more intent on chasing him off than beating him, as he could hear her verbal assault grow fainter behind him before a final "And stay out!" as he leapt the fence.
Proto Man was careful not to run for too far, lest he burn up what little energy he had gained from sleep and the generator. Once he was a safe distance away, he slowed his pace and considered his options. "Well, that place was a bust," he muttered to himself. "Drat. And that was the last of my gas money, too. I'll have to charge in public next time." He wasn't looking forward to that.
Thankfully, it was a bright autumn morning in Silicon City, so quite a few people were out and about, wandering here and there. That made it both pleasant to walk around and provided an amount of anonymity to the young bot, as he was wearing his street clothes rather than his armor.
As he passed through Central Circuit, the heart of the city, several of the large television screens gracing the nearby buildings flashed on. "Breaking report!" Plum, the perky girl-bot reporter announced. "Dr. Wily defeated in Hoover Dam energy plot! Silicon City hero Mega Man is responsible for stopping the mad doctor and his bad-bots from draining all the energy from the dam for their own nefarious schemes! Wily escaped capture once again, but for now, his plans are all washed up!" On screen, Mega Man, or Rock, as was his proper name, gave an embarrassed wave as a crowd of reporters stood around him.
A cheer went out from the crowd in the streets. To say Silicon City was proud of its local hero would be the understatement of the year. No matter how many times the little bot saved the day, his hometown never seemed to lose interest.
Inwardly, a surge of pride swelled in Proto Man. "Good job out there, little bro," he muttered quietly. "At least one of us is having some amount of luck."
A part of him was frustrated he couldn't have done anything to help, or at least use Wily's distractions to get into his base. Wily had his schematics from years earlier, when the mad doctor had converted him into the villainous Break Man. He'd recovered from that, but he needed those schematics to figure out what had happened to him. Not to mention, Proto Man would have loved to have been a help with Mega Man settling the score with Wily.
Of course, there wasn't much he could do unless he found a place where he could rest and store energy. Public outlets were a help, but they charged slowly, and it would be hours before he was anything near fully charged. By then, he'd have been chased off for loitering.
"How does Batman make this loner thing look so easy?" he asked aloud to no one in particular. "Oh, right. He's a billionaire. Silly me."
Suddenly, he heard a commotion going on. There was shouting at a nearby construction site, and the human workers were running away. As they raced past, he grabbed one by the shoulder. "Hey, what's going on?"
"Get outta here, kid!" the man shouted at him. "Wily bots are attacking the construction site!" He then tore loose and continued running.
"Wily bots?" Proto Man repeated, turning the info over in his mind. "Must be an off-guard." Wily rarely took all of his own bots on missions. Brainwashed bots, such as Break Man had been, were never allowed out of the Skull fortress by themselves, but purely made Wily bots were often allowed to come and go, usually to amuse themselves by making trouble somewhere.
Proto Man glanced at his pack. "I can spare a little energy, just for this."
It had been an ordinary construction day for Cut Man, Guts Man, and Oil Man as they assisted in the construction of a new office building. They had been sent by Dr. Light to help the workers keep everything under control.
Then the Wily bots showed up. There were seven of them at once: Slash Man, Hard Man, Heat Man, Turbo Man, Junk Man, Air Man, and Grenade Man. They attacked the site, wreaking havoc and destroying everything. The three Light bots did what they could to let the humans get away, but they were outnumbered and outmatched. At the very least, they were able to let the humans get away, but they were now surrounded on all sides.
"Well, well, well," Junk Man taunted. "Look what we have here: three of old man Light's little pets, all on their little lonesome."
"Yeah," Heat Man agreed. "And with no Mega Man around to save them."
"Look here," Oil Man said, adjusting the scarf he always wore over his face. "We might not be Mega Men, but that doesn't mean we're about to lie down and let you roll over us!"
"Yeah!" Cut Man added. "You'd better cut out that behavior before we cut it out for you!" He conveniently ignored the glares Guts Man and Oil Man shot him over those puns.
"Oooh, you hear that?" Hard Man smirked. "They think they can take us on. What do you say, Heat Man?"
"I say we HEAT THINGS UP!" Heat Man charged up before firing a stream of fire at the three Light bots.
Guts Man pushed ahead, forcing himself between the attack and his two smaller friends. "Get back! I'll-urgh!" He was blasted back by a shot from Grenade Man, the explosive causing a dent in his armor.
"Hey! Cut that out!" Cut Man blasted off several rolling cutters at Grenade Man, Slash Man, and Junk Man. Two of the blows landed, causing a small bit of damage against the foe, but Junk Man was able to reflect the ones at him using his shield of rubble.
"You're gonna pay for that!" Slash Man called, and he raced forward...only to hit an oil slick laid down by Oil Man. He ended sliding head first into Grenade Man, taking both bots out of commission.
"That's two down!" Cut Man cheered, but his declaration was premature. Before he could spin around, Hard Man caught him, wrapping one arm around the smaller bot's body and pinning his arms down. Using the other hand, he pinched the scissors closed.
"I've got ya, little buddy!" Guts Man called out, and he tried to jump to help Cut Man. Before he could reach him, however, a burst gale caught him up, carrying the hefty bot up into the sky.
"No, I've got you!" Air Man taunted.
Oil Man tried to rush up to help his friend, only for Junk Man and Turbo Man to slam a barrel down over him. He attempted to squeeze through the cracks in the barrel, only for Heat Man to set a fire around the openings. He gave a cruel grin as Oil Man let out a cry of pain before seeping back into the barrel.
"So," Turbo Man asked. "Which one do we scrap first?"
Before anyone could answer, a whistle appeared to come out of nowhere. Fourteen sweet yet melancholy notes hung in the air, and no one dared move. The Wily bots looked around in confusion, while the Light bots grew even more anxious than they had been before.
Before anyone could make a move, a grey streak moved up, landing a hard blow to Air Man, knocking him on his back and causing Guts Man to land on him. In almost the same movement, the figure let out a blast at the barrel, shattering it to allow Oil Man to escape. During this distraction, Guts Man had recovered enough to charge Hard Man, forcing the Wily bot to release Cut Man.
"You know," the newcomer said with a smirk, "seven on three isn't fair odds. I'd say I like four on four better."
"Break Man?!" Heat Man exclaimed. "What the heck! You're on our side!"
"Last time I checked, I wasn't broken anymore. You can call me Proto Man!" Proto Man swept his scarf over one shoulder and holsted his blaster.
"Blues?" Guts Man asked. "Is that you?"
Proto Man shrugged. "More or less. I'm not sure if Blues fits me now. Please, call Proto Man."
"I'm liking the new threads, man," Oil Man complimented. "A good scarf is always the way to go."
"Uh, guys," Cut Man called out. "I don't think they're going to cut us any slack." He pointed to the four remaining Wily bots, who had recovered enough from their shock to regroup.
"Alright," Proto Man called out. "I'll take on Turbo Man. Cut Man, keep Heat Man away from Oil Man. Oil Man, see if you can't deal with Hard Man. Guts Man, can you get through Junk Man's shields?"
"Just watch me." Gut's Man charged, effortlessly knocking aside the rubble that acted as Junk Man's shield to land a hard blow on the large bot's torso.
At the same time, Cut Man launched several rolling cutters at Heat Man. Heat Man tried to blast them down, but the fire only heated the blades up, causing melting as well as cuts as they landed.
While his companions were getting in close for their fights, Oil Man dodged skillfully around Hard Man, who could only grasp uselessly. Oil Man was made up of nanobots keeping oil particles together, meaning Hard Man couldn't get a good blow in, no matter how hard he tried. "Hold still, you pest!" he bellowed as yet another blow missed.
"What do you mean?" Oil Man asked. "I'm barely moving." Hard Man let out another cry of anger before slipping on an oil slick and skidding into Junk Man, ending Guts Man's duel as well.
Proto Man, meanwhile, was doing his best to keep out of reach of Turbo Man. He knew if he got hit by the scorch wheel, he'd be in trouble, especially at his low energy. However, Proto Man was no easy target, and he let loose with volley after volley from his proto blaster as he jumped. As he maneuvered, he caught sight of something that gave him an idea.
"Get back here, traitor!" Turbo Man bellowed.
"Traitor?" Proto Man gave a smirk. "Is that the best you've got? I can insult me better than that!" He leapt again, shooting off another volley as he did. "For instance, 'look here, you glorified hand-me-down!' Or, even better, 'what are you, a Mega Man Zero?'"
Turbo Man gave a shout and attempted to catch Proto Man as he landed from one of his jumps, only for Proto Man to pivot out of the way and give Turbo Man a shove, sending him down an oil slick and right into Heat Man, causing both Wily bots to burst into a fireball. Proto Man gave a shrug. "What can I say? Everyone's a critic."
With Slash Man and Grenade Man having taken each other out, and Air Man thoroughly flattened, the Wily bots were sent off into a retreat. Now having a moment of peace, the victorious Light bots regrouped.
"Did'ja see them turn tail!" Cut Man exclaimed. "They didn't stand a chance once the odds were evened out."
Guts Man nodded in agreement. "Sure was a good thing you got here when you did, Blues. You really saved our afterburners."
The three turned to Proto Man and were surprised to see the state he was in. For all his banter during the fight, it was clear he wasn't doing too well. He was leaning against a wall, one hand pressed flat against the wall to steady himself, while panting heavily as his coolant system went into overdrive to cool him down.
"Hey, dude," Cut Man said, approaching Proto Man and putting a hand on his arm. "You alright?"
"I'm fine. Just low on energy." Proto Man gave an unconvincing thumbs up. "Just need to sit by a power outlet for a while."
"Power outlet?" Oil Man looked incredulous. "You've been using that outdated method to recharge? When's the last time you had an e-tank?"
"How long's it been since I left?" Proto Man asked in response. "Just about three days after that. Scrapper rats got the rest."
"Maybe you should come home with us." Guts Man reached out to help support Proto Man.
The offer was quickly refused. "No. I can't go back."
"Why not?" Cut Man tilted his head, knocked his scissors against the wall, then tilted the other way to avoid another collision. "Dude, you're running on fumes. You need e-tanks."
"If you're worried about your dad, it's OK," Guts Man added. "He's not mad."
"It's not that." Proto Man started to move back the direction he came. "There's something I need to do. Alone. Father might not be mad, but there's no way he'd let me do it. He'd say it's too dangerous."
"And what would that dangerous mission be?" Oil Man asked, cutting off Proto Man's path of exit.
"Break into the Skull Fortress."
A silent chill passed through the listening Light bots. For that moment, Guts Man and Oil Man were lost for words. Cut Man, however…
"Okay, okay, you did us a big favor saving us back there," he started, "so, please, don't take this the wrong way. ARE YOU CRACKED IN THE HEADCASE?!"
"You can't go there!" Guts Man exclaimed. He gripped Proto Man's shoulders, both to stabilize him as well as to give the air of urgency. "You just got out of that rust pit! If you go back there, Wily will...will…" Unable to bring himself to say the words, Guts Man burst into tears and hugged Proto Man, slightly squishing the shorter bot.
"I appreciate your concern, big guy, but it'll be fine." Proto Man did his best to pat Guts Man's arm, despite his own arms being pinned to his sides before the large bot set him down. "I don't plan on getting caught."
"You never plan on getting caught," Oil Man stated, "but it happens anyway. Then he gets in your head and…" He paused, unable to verbalize what they all felt. "Well, you know what that's like."
"Of course I know." Proto Man took a deep breath now that he was able to again. "That's why I have to go. Wily...changed me. In more ways than I know. Father did his best to fix me, but still...I don't feel like me, and I don't know why." His face hardened slightly. "Wily has my schematics, from before, during, and after him turning me into Break Man. I need to get those if I'm ever going to figure out what's going on with me."
"I told Father I was going to figure out what's going on with me," he continued, "but I left that detail out. I guarantee, if he found out, he'd never let me go outside again." He gave a dry laugh. "Rock would probably help him."
"Well, yeah." Guts Man still looked distressed. "Because they care about you."
"Dude, listen." Cut Man sighed and placed a hand on Proto Man's arm. "If anyone has any idea of what you went through, it's us. He went rummaging through our heads and made us do things we're ashamed of, too. But it gets better, really."
"You just gotta let people help," Guts Man added.
Proto Man stayed silent for a while, before sighing. "Look, I hear what you're saying, and I understand you're scared for me. I'll be fine. It's better that I go alone, anyway. The less people I put in danger with me, the better."
"We're not getting through to you, huh?" Oil Man asked.
Proto Man shrugged. "Not even a little."
"Alright then, we've got no choice. Come with me." Oil Man turned, motioning for the others to follow."
"I already said I'm not going back to Light Labs," Proto Man insisted.
Oil Man laughed. "Then it's a good thing we're not going to Light Labs. We're going to help you."
"Wait a minute, cut the tapes." Cut Man rushed between the other two bots. "Who said we're helping him hand himself over to Wily?"
"Look," Oil Man replied, "he's not going to give in. Remember when the Doc tried to convince Rock to stop the hero biz? Remember how well that turned out."
"Rock kept disappearing for hours at a time," Guts Man answered.
"Exactly," Oil Man gave a nod. "These Light Bros are stubborn. Maybe suicidally so. We're not getting through. So maybe it'd be better to help him with a place to lay low and recharge when he's not trying to bust open a hive of scum and villainy."
Cut Man and Guts Man stayed silent, but admitted that he had a point. Finally, Cut Man sighed. "Fine. We'll help. But we don't have to like it."
"No one said you had to." Proto Man gave a small smile before turning to Oil Man. "Where did you have in mind?"
"How on earth did you know about this?!" Cut Man exclaimed. The four bots had wandered out of Silicon City and into the forest that surrounded the metropolitan. They were now standing in front of the largest treehouse they had ever seen, strung up between four massive trees. The house itself was about the size of a vacation cabin, and had been disguised by cloaking wires strung around it. It was clearly not a kids' treehouse, being fully made and appearing to have heating, plumbing, and electric lights.
"Remember that oil pipe that burst a couple weeks back?" Oil Man asked. "I found this place after cleaning that up. Kept it to myself because, seriously, this is the coolest thing I've ever seen."
"You sure no one's here?" Proto Man asked. He'd changed back into his street clothes, and adjusted his sunglasses as he stared up at his potential shelter.
Oil Man nodded. "Yup, place was covered in a layer of dust when I got here. Go on in, we'll be right behind you."
Not seeing any reason not to, Proto Man climbed up the ladder/stairs combo that went up to the door. The structure swung a little as he touched it, but it seemed stable enough. Heading up, he entered in and got a look around.
It was a small but livable building, with a human kitchen and living room visible as soon as you entered. There was also a hallway, which he supposed led to the bathroom and bedroom. He flicked a switch, and the lights came on, revealing both that the place was still working, and the thick layer of dust on most of the furniture.
"Whoa, nice," Guts Man stated as he peered in. He was carrying a crate of e-tanks with him, which he placed on the kitchen counter.
"It's okay," Cut Man commented. "A little too...woodsy for my taste, but I'm not the one staying here. What do you think, Proto?"
Proto Man gave a small smile. "It's great." He sat down at the piano in the living room and tested out the keys. They plinked, a little out of tune, but nothing that wasn't easy to fix. He opened up the back and set to tuning the wires. "I think I'll like it here."
"You play?" Guts Man asked.
"Yeah, learned it when I was new." Proto Man finished tuning the piano. "Father used to have one, and a bunch of other instruments. Never told me why, but it gave me something to do."
"Can you play now?" Guts Man added, growing more and more excited.
"Don't get him started," Oil Man called over. "Once he starts a karaoke session, it'll be hours before he stops."
"I'm not that bad," Guts Man protested.
Proto Man laughed, feeling a little lighter than he had in awhile. "Well, it's not like I'm doing anything any time soon," he said, grabbing an e-tank before taking a place at the piano. "What'll it be?"
They went on like this until after the sun went down. Enjoying the quiet of the area and the music, the three Light bots took turns at renditions while Proto Man accompanied on piano. It was more fun than he'd had in years, and he somewhat wished life would go on like this forever.
He was enjoying himself so much that he didn't notice the figure peering in the window, who looked on in intent interest before disappearing back into the dark of night.