Note: Added a bit of what was going to be in the fifth part to here, mainly to keep it from getting too overstuffed, but also to serve as a better segway to how the second volume/season/whatever I decide to call it begins. Thanks a lot to Chaos for the reviews, as they've really perked me up! I don't mean to sound ungrateful, yet it is somewhat disconcerting when you put work into something and no one seems to notice. Again, I do want this series to gain at least something of a following, but out of the work I put into it and how I've grown from when I first began this.

That said, here's part 4 and I hope you enjoy!

Too Many Times Part 4

Mega Man © of Capcom

"W-What?!" Mega Man shouted aloud, Eddy in turn widening his eyes in shock. "What...what are you talking about?"

"The permission has been granted to keep that piece of garbage Wily constructed functioning." Time Man spoke, clear venom in his voice. "Apparently, they see him as a 'continuation' of the Doctor's research. Why, I know not, but I'm not the head of this facility."

" What!?" Mega Man exclaimed. "But you're one of the doctor's creations. Why would they want to get rid of you?"

Time Man lowered his head. "I am a creation we can do as they please can they not?"

"When did they tell you this?"

"..."

"Time Man?"

" IfI may, sir, what of Dr. Wily?"

Dr. Light and Dr. Kobayashi grew silent at that. True, it would come up eventually, yet did Brainbot HAVE to be so forward with everything like that? True, Light DID program him with keen observation, yet all the same, discreteness wasn't one of those traits' strong points.

"Has there been any word of him? Any word at all?" Light questioned, Kobayashi shaking his head.

"None whatsoever. Yet unfortunately, if we know him well, he will show up again. He didn't just get up and escape from prison simply for him to be caught so easily. No, this...I could just be assuming things, yet given that the man up and had several things found in that fortress, and not to mention several hideouts outside of that, it wouldn't surprise me if he's had something along the lines of this planned for some time."

"And...do you think that this will lead to conflicts with not only us, but the WRA as well?"

"It'll have to." Kobayashi answered. "After all, Mega Man won't be the only one to try and keep the peace anymore. We shall pitch in as well. It's all about preparation."

"Something of which you need to work on." Brainbot mentioned, the human sighing.

"Yes, yes, I know." Kobayashi admitted. "Still, you must understand! This whole thing with my cousin wasn't exactly planned." he mentioned with a heavy sigh. "And not to mention, the company I work with is still wanting more input for me for their motion controls."

"Motion controls?" Dr. Light questioned.

"Well, yes. It's not exactly 'scientific' per say, but I work as a...video game designer, as well as a scientist."

"I'll admit, I'm not too much into video games." Light admitted. "Somewhat ironic, I admit, but I suppose I'm just too stuck in 'traditional ways'." he gave a light chuckle. Mega Man only usually got suckered into it via Roll's insistence, and how she could play those things for hours, he had no idea. Let alone keep her room in such a mess when everything else in the house was so clean. It irked him at first, but seeing as it was just one area of the house, he eventually got used to it. And besides, given her intense fear of roaches and bugs, it was unlikely that it would be kept TOO untidy. Still, it perplexed him as to why she didn't keep her own room tidy, but ultimately, there were more pressing matters at hand.

"Well, let's just say that I'm still a connoisseur. Been one since the 80s." Kobayashi admitted. "Yuuta, my son, is super into them too. Unfortunately, this sort of gets in the way of his homework. Akane, my daughter, doesn't get the appeal at all."

"Sounds like my two, but reversed." Light mentioned.

"Should we get the chance, I'd like for them to meet eventually."

"Sir?"

It was then that the green android looked to Kobayashi, nodding in agreement that something needed to be said. "About Time Man…again." the Japanese man interjected.

"Time Man?"

"...they haven't said." The Robot Master confessed. "Yet what other outcome would there be?"

Mega Man was left speechless. Still, he pondered what the violet, clock-based DLN had just said. "So, you're just assuming this when you don't even know what they're decision even is?"

"Mega right." Eddy told Time Man. "If they not say, how you sure?"

Time Man released one arm that was holding Eddy and held into the railing, grip tightening around it. "What other option is there?" He muttered. "That bastard chimera of both Wily's hands and Kouin's research is being kept here instead of being destroyed as it rightfully should be. It's skills...they managed to achieve what I could not…" he then grew silent, Mega and Eddy wracked with both tension and anticipation.

Finally, Mega could stand it no longer. "You...you wouldn't get scrapped. You...you're a vital part of what this place is about! Light made you and Oil Man for specific purposes! Hell, you've been hidden away to keep yourselves safe!"

Indeed, that part was true. Their conception began around the same time Brainbot's had been, the two becoming somewhat acquainted with the spectacled blabbermouth. He and Oil Man were directly fed TV broadcasts into his CPU for entertainment along with their programming before they were officially released into the world (which is probably where Oil Nan picked up his speech pattern). Really, the two were technically made together here. Given what had occurred with Light's other creations, their construction had mainly been at the Institute itself. It was only when they were to be finalized and licensed did they come to be in Light's lab. Aside from those short times, things of the outside world were near nonexistent.

Still...he remained unconvinced. "They have a model that can better accommodate what they need. No more research done."

"You know that isn't true." Mega replied. "Ok, yes. Wily's made a version of what's been documented here. But why does that mean you'll simply be tossed to the curb?"

"Because...because!" Time Man argued. True, if he had to be honest, he found he couldn't exactly conjure an appropriate answer, yet...yet he had known! He had just known!

"Because why?" Mega continued to pry.

"Can you not tell when you're not wanted?!" the DLN snapped, causing the Blue Bomber to back away a bit. "You believe that your input has any weight in this situation? Well, you're sorely mistaken!" he snarled. "I've seen the looks that they give me whenever I go down the halls! I hear their whispers, their murmurs. Of how the 'other bot' is actually able to do what I cannot! What they struggled with for so long in how to harness! They now don't need to work on me anymore! They don't have to do anymore research or try new tactics on a broken, unable to be finished model! There's one that's new AND functioning perfectly right for them! And who cares whether or not it was made by the same one that took out the very one who built this place?! Progress has been made! It doesn't matter how! All that matters…" the violet android's ranting stopped, he gripped the railing so hard that it was beginning to surrender to his superior force. "I heard it said once that I was perfect." Time Man stammered out. "It was told...that I was the first of my kind. And that….that I would herald in a new breed of machine that could not only control the flow of time, yet also be the catalyst for others that would not only progress what we have been researching, but also in what we can achieve for machines everywhere."

Mega Man and Eddy were silent, nothing but the light breeze outside serving as the only source of sound for what felt like an eternity.

"Timey…" Eddy began, looking up at the taller android.

"It all turned out to be a lie."

With that, Time Man turned away and walked back inside. "Time Man, wait!" Mega Man called out, yet his pleas were unheeded, Time Man continuing off with Eddy in tow, the green energy dispenser not fighting his grip. If anything, there was nowhere that he felt he should be then with the Robot Master at this very moment.

Station

"So, what's the news, Johnson?" another Latino man questioned, the bearded man, Johnson, rubbed his chin.

"Around the same lines that Mike guy said." Johnson kept holding his chin, giving light scratches to the underside of his lip. "Says that their lives were being threatened, thus, they had to comply with him in order to protect themselves, and in that Theo's case, their family."

A small period of silence filled the room. "That sounds like a fat load, Johnson."

"Waiting for some honesty today, Jack." the bearded man chuckled. "This whole situation isn't just that. As Jeff Goldblum once said, one BIG pile of shit." the two men laughed at that, Johnson finally getting some reprieve from the, in his own words' total nonsense that he had to deal with for the past couple of hours.

"Who do they think they're kidding?" Jack inquired, going over to get themselves both water. "Everyone saw them last night. Hell, from what I heard from some people, the guy that has their truck go over the edge and into the river, some people think he MEANT to kill himself!"

"And your evidence for this is? Mega Man himself said that he came out of the bonds of the seat belt rather compliantly. Or that could've been because he was still in shock of diving head first into the water."

"Doesn't account for all the craziness that he and the rest of these three stooges told us." Jack replied, taking a sip out of his cup. "What I'm wondering is how the parts of that suit were found perfectly intact despite everything. You'd think that they would have some sort of dent on them or something."

"Nah, that thing would need a bazooka to take it down-" Johnson began.

"Or a plasma blast." Jack interjected.

"I'd still go with the bazooka. That whole thing was a hot mess." Johnson resumed where he had left off. "Still, that brings to question: what did those guys want with it? It was to be shipped to a scrapyard in just a few days from what I heard."

"Yeah, from what you heard." Jack told his fellow member of the force. "It must've been longer than that to get everything licensed."

"And that guy WANTED to go head first in the lake. From what you heard."

"Touche." Jack huffed, taking another sip. "Back on subject, if the Mobile Suit was what they were after, then, taking out the scrapyard option, what do you think they were going to do with it?"

"Maybe sell it?" Johnson suggested. "Think: something of Light's on the black market. To some, I guess it'd be more valuable than any organs or snuff you can get to some people."

"People like Wily." both men went silent for some time after that. The possibility...it hadn't come up, but now that it was out in the open…

"...he could use something like that." Johnson admitted. "Be perfect for him too."

"Yeah, it'd be perfect for some other laser or flying machine, or whatever he does with his crazy shit."

"Froze my daughter's school one." Johnson said. "She and her friends were ok, mind you, and so was everyone else in the school. The ice mainly formed a barrier around it instead of freezing them all alive. But because of that, the exits and entrances were blocked out, so there was no hope of escape."

"I heard about that." Jack replied. "They managed to rectify it all, but some of the kids and teachers in there began to suffer hypothermia. Small fires were started using clothes, books, whatever they could find."

"Theo says that Chelsea was currently suspended during that time. Though he says she was super pissed she missed it." the bearded man said. "But, back on the subject, again," Jack stated then. "If Wily somehow DOES have a connection in all this, why didn't he use his robots for that?" Jonhson asked. "Surely, if it was him that was behind this, we'd at least see Cut or Guts Man involved somehow."

"Maybe he actually found some people just as batshit as he is?"

"Maybe…" Johnson admitted. "But still…"

"Still what?" Jack asked.

"I don't know." Johnson answered back. "I'm not really sure of anything at the moment." as of now, the two most probable possibilities were being checked off and analyzed with the keenness and precision akin to a bird of prey. True, given he hacked the Mobile Suit (and used one of the Police Force's officer bots to do it), stealing the thing would be exactly what he'd do if given the chance. But still, there were some elements that didn't match up. And these people...he didn't know, but there was something about them that just struck him as odd. They were in and trying to cover for something, he knew, but...he got the feeling that this didn't involve machines of any kind.

In fact, from what he had gotten from the three, they didn't exactly seem to be fans of them at all.

Now, all there was, was to prove it.

"So, what's next?" Jack questioned, Jonhson in turn sighing.

"Search warrants I guess." he answered. "Though, get this, they're willing to give in anything that we ask of them."

"Really?" the bearded man's partner questioned, clearly befuddled and bewildered.

"Yep. Willing to turn in cell phones, let us check phone records, everything. It's like these people are TRYING to convince us that they have nothing to hide."

Jack was silent for a moment. "Did that Mike guy agree too?"

Johnson nodded, lip tightening. "All of them." his grip tightened on his cup, the styrofoam just about to surrender to his force. "This...this whole thing is total bullshit. All of it."

"Just my two cents, but it sounds like they were ALL in on it."

"Exactly." Johnson agreed, sipping the last of his water before he allowed himself to crush the cup, droplets streaming down his fingers. "That woman up and did the entire waterworks and quite literally threw herself atop of me."

"Ooooh." Jack queried his brow.

"Married man." Johnson reminded him.

"Hey, it just comes with the job." Jack said, getting him a look. "Kidding! Kidding!" he answered, waving his hands to signify he wasn't wishing for any bodily harm. Though, the most that would be given to him would probably be just a small knock on the head. "Still, they couldn't have covered themselves THAT well."

True, Johnson admitted. Yes, cases remained cold for some years, but if anything, modern technology made getting away with things far more difficult. Still...suffice to say, life, uh, found a way. It always did, whether they liked it or not.

Only thing was...why did they do it in the first place? Sure...Wily was always an option, but there was still the lingering doubt that he had nothing to do with this.

Chronos Institute

Given that maybe they had only been led to one specific room and weren't exactly free to walk around as they pleased, she didn't exactly realize just how large this place was. And while she may or may not have been free to roam around, it wasn't as if she couldn't just be called up and told to get her ass to the door. Besides, what use was there simply waiting around while the 'men' were talking. Not that she complained or anything. Let them talk, Roll thought. It gave her free time to do as she pleased. And that is exactly what she did, walking down the hall with her arms folded and put behind her head, the red, robotic dog walking alongside her.

"Big place! Ruff!" Rush observed, looking all around.

"You said it." Roll chuckled. True, the hallway contained little more than a series of seemingly endless doors, but being able to look in each of them at least gave something of an idea as to what this place truly held.

Some held little, yet others appeared to have gear or some unfinished product inside of them. What they were for, neither housekeeper nor dog were exactly sure, yet given that there was little else to do, what better way to pass the time then to take a little look themselves? Opening the door to room 3-J, the blonde android looked at the collection of bits and parts littered on one of the work tables, blueprints rolled up halfway and hanging off one of the edges of other tables and smudges littering the paper they were printed on. Suffice to say, the room was a wreck. It reminded her of her own creator's workspace whenever he was involved in a project of his. The sight of it made her cringe a bit. Still, despite her function, she, along with Rush and Mega, were forbidden to touch anything in here unless permission was granted. And seeing as the only 'thing' around here was Time Man himself, then that really didn't leave her a lot of options.

'But,' Roll thought. 'He said nothing about looking at stuff. Besides, they're the ones that left the door unlocked.'

She drew closer to one of the tables, it having some strange, spherical instrument of sorts atop of it, though what drew her eye were the multitude of what appeared to be small mirrors of sorts all over the sphere. It was segmented in several places and, if Roll had to be honest, it looked like some sort of smaller disco ball. Yet the way that the mirrors shimmered in the light from outside of the afternoon sun, she couldn't help but ponder. And then remember.

If she didn't know any better, those mirrors reminded her of what she had seen on the camera that one reporter showed them when-

"Hm?" Rush's ears stood up, his blue eyes darted towards the door, and immediately began barking.

"Rush! Geez, you scared the crap out of me!" Roll sighed. "What's up with you?"

"Roll!" the dog then said, lightly pulling at her pants leg with his teeth. "Somebody there! Somebody there!"

"What? What are you-" it was then that, indeed, she caught something as well.

It was quick, and had she not lifted her head up at the right time, she would've missed it. Yet indeed, outside of the room, through the small viewing glass, a figure had indeed been watching them. And now, they had made their escape.

Note: Just one more part left. I'll admit, it is somewhat exciting, as now, I feel that I'm truly ready to start another one, unlike last time. Here's hoping it goes well, and I hope to see you later!