It was nine o'clock, polls had officially closed, and the counting had begun. The crowd at Deacon's election party was now very drunk, including the human security officers who were supposed to be on duty. Throughout the packed auditorium, humans were cheering loudly, singing in a tone-deft roar to the music while swaying with their arms around each other and waving cardboard support signs.
Within the green room, Deacon sat in one of the leather chairs, his head bowed and hands steepled, only looking up to glance nervously at the scrawling news on the screen of a television in front of him.
Proto Man felt as on edge as Deacon. He was expecting Roll and Dr. Light to arrive at any minute. What was taking them so long? A preliminary scan of Mega Man's systems wouldn't be able to detect what was causing Mega Man's operating issues, forcing Dr. Light to run a full diagnostic. Had they found the scrambler chip? Or had something else come up during the scan, something that warranted prompt attention? Of course, that last thought was ridiculous. Proto Man knew Mega Man was fine.
Yet, Mega Man hadn't looked good when they had carried him to Dr. Light's car in a stretcher produced by Met…
Proto Man's communicator began flashing. Now what? he thought irritably. "Dr. Light's calling, I'll be just a second," he called to one of the human officers, who was red in the face and smiling in a silly manner, his hat lopsided.
This time, Proto Man took refuge in an empty administrators office nearby the green room, lit only by the glow of the bouncing graphic on the computer's screensaver from its row of cubicles. Proto Man closed the door behind him before accepting the transmission.
"Uh…hi Top Man. What's up? I'm kinda busy, everything okay at Skull Fortress?"
"Yeah, everything's fine." There was a pause. "…How's Elec Man?"
Caught off guard, Proto Man's middle gave a guilty squirm. He leaned back against the door to block anyone from coming in unexpectedly, then slid to the carpeted floor. "Honestly, I don't know. We got in a fight—" he broke off, shaking as the weight of the last few days began to crash down on him. "I wasn't thinking straight, and said something…really stupid. But even before that, he was down, didn't want to talk."
To Proto Man's surprise, Top Man sighed heavily. "I was afraid of that."
"What do you mean?"
"He was pretty freaked when he thought you had defected back in Hawaii, now you're pretending to be a good guy."
Proto Man's fist tightened. "Why worry about that?"
"Well, to quote him…because you're a Light. He's Syndicate."
"…That doesn't matter," Proto Man protested, bristling that Top Man had boldly called him 'a Light.'
"I know, but it matters to Elec Man. I think he's mad because you're sabotaging yourself, but I also think he's afraid of the day you wise up and become a hero for real," Top Man said delicately. "…Because of that, I think he's trying to push you away."
"Huh?"
There was a bit of hesitation on Top Man's end. "…You may be surprised to hear this, but Elec Man likes you. A lot."
"...What?"
Top Man sighed impatiently. "Just…if he means anything to you, tell him."
Proto Man fidgeted uncomfortably, resting his head back against the door. He felt dubious about Top Man's advice, Elec Man had seemed pretty angry. In fact, Proto Man was starting to feel the only one who wouldn't be mad at him by the end of this day was Dr. Wily.
Top Man seemed to be picking up on his thoughts. "How are you doing?"
"Fine, why wouldn't I be?" Proto Man responded airily. He absentmindedly picked at the yarns in the carpeting.
"It's just...you never talk about Dr. Light's lab much. If you need someone to talk to...you know, as a friend," Top Man added tentatively.
Top Man had posed this seemingly without judgement of the current scheme underway. Top Man was a younger brother, which reminded Proto Man of Mega Man, of whom Proto Man planted a scrambler chip on, which only made Proto Man feel guilty. Proto Man didn't want Top Man's advice on this situation too.
"Thanks, I appreciate it, but everything's fine," he lied, then said quickly, "Okay, gotta go, I'm running out of excuses to take suspicious phone calls," and promptly ended the transmission.
The thick walls of the auditorium's green room deadened the sounds of Deacon's enthusiastic supporters. The election was expected to be called in an hour. Win or lose, Deacon would return to the auditorium to make a speech, but in the meantime, Deacon was talking with Dr. Light (who had arrived at last, apologizing about traffic), his knuckles still white with nerves as he sipped from his plastic water bottle. Roll and Rush stood next to Dr. Light, looking somewhat bored, while Proto Man stood apart with the robo-security guards on the pretense that he would be the one to command them should anything threaten Deacon.
One of Deacon's idiot human security officers walked through the green room's door. He looked confused as he approached Proto Man.
"U-uh….excuse me, Proto Man. Do these people have proper clearance?" He pointed behind his shoulder to Cut Man and Guts Man who had accompanied him inside the room, each poorly disguised as security officers.
Finally. "No, but thanks for asking, buddy," Proto Man remarked. Then he lashed out at a robo-officer standing to him, firing it across the room. Guts Man brought his fist down on the another robo-officer, smashing its head straight into its armored torso as Proto Man took care of the other two robo-officers while the human officer stood back in shock.
Roll heard the sounds of blaster fire and turned slowly. "…I shoulda known it was too good to be true."
"Proto Man, what is going on here?!" demanded Deacon, striding forward.
"You're a politician, Deacon—you should be use to cut backs!" jeered Cut Man.
Rush crouched down, growling while bearing his teeth, and Roll raised her utility arm. But neither made a move—for Cut Man had grabbed Deacon roughly by the sleeve of his brown suit, while Guts Man held the human officer in front of himself like a shield.
"Power down, or I'll give Deacon a plasma shave," ordered Proto Man.
Rush whined. His eyes flickering to Dr. Light and Roll. Then he laid down with his head between his paws and powered off.
Proto Man looked over at Roll. "Sorry, Roll—" he began.
But Roll, heedless of the danger it put the humans in, had sprang at Proto Man, a chainsaw drawn from her utility arm. Proto Man countered swiftly. In one fluid motion, he had knocked Roll flat to the floor, disabled her utility arm, and was slapping a pair of robo-cuffs around her wrists (something he had been given while acting as chief of security). Roll looked shocked, as though she hadn't expected a real fight from him.
"Fine, stay online for all I care," Proto Man told her, standing up while dusting his hands together. "But don't blame me if you don't like what you see."
Roll pulled herself into a sitting position, her face twisted in fury. "You're stupid asshole," she hissed, seeming to not care that Dr. Light was in earshot. "You better hope I never get my hands on you, because if I do, I'm going to tear off your blaster arm and strangle you with it!"
"Aw, gotta say I kinda missed that attitude."
Behind Roll, Dr. Light looked shattered. Proto Man could only shrug at him. In some ways, he felt nothing but relief that they would never have that conversation. He himself had closed off all emotions; whatever tie had existed between him and Dr. Light he was attempting to sever, once and for all.
Mega Man glided above the city, the ionic thrusters of the flight suit humming softly. The cold crisp air rushing against his face felt amazing. Sure, the piercing pain had struck again (causing him to fall earthward, smash headfirst through a wooden billboard, and almost crash into the restaurant of a skyscraper, the diners inside gaping at him in astonishment as he zoomed erratically upward just in time), but he could do this. All he needed to do was keep moving.
Sneaking into Deacon's election headquarters was suspiciously easy—a back door had been left wide open without guards. Mega Man slipped inside. He was in a dark hallway behind the auditorium. So far everything seemed normal—he could hear the muffled din of an excited crowd, like being just outside of a basketball game—but his bad feeling remained.
A gloating voice drifted down the hall. "Hoo hoo I do so enjoy having a captive audience!"
Dr. Wily! Mega Man thought, feeling a wave of both vindication and dread. I knew it.
"Soooo sorry to upstage you, Deacon!"
Dr. Wily's voice was coming from behind the door of the green room, which was cracked open. As his mad laughter rang through the hallway, Mega Man edged up to the doorframe with his back to wall. Cautiously, he peered inside.
The broken bodies of robo-officers littered the green room, the humans officers tied up with rope. Roll was kneeling on the floor, her hands behind on her back in handcuffs. Next to her, Rush laid powered down. Dr. Light and Deacon stood rigidly side by side, with Cut Man grasping Deacon's elbow a Rolling Cutter drawn, while Proto Man held a blaster to Deacon's back.
Dr. Wily stood in front of them all with his hands clasped behind his back, grinning wickedly. By his side, Guts Man was holding a metal container the size of a casket.
"Behold, the jewel that crowns my most magnificent plan to date," Dr. Wily announced imperiously, pressed a button on the side of the container. Its cover rolled smoothly downward into its base like a retracting screen. Dr. Light and Roll gave gasps of astonishment.
"What the?!" exclaimed Deacon. He was staring at himself, lying peacefully within the chamber on a bed of red velvet, his eyes closed as though asleep.
"He's the perfect political puppet who'll obey my every command!" crowed Dr. Wily euphorically.
Mega Man grimaced. A robot imposter? One thing was certain: Dr. Wily's claim that this was his most magnificent plan ever was questionable. Like most of his plans, it wasn't very original. And how long could a drone realistically impersonate a well known politician? Wouldn't mind control have been easier and more effective? And Dr. Wily had risked Proto Man as a double agent for something as stupid as this?
…And most infuriatingly of all, Proto Man had gone along with it?
"Your attention please!" buzzed the green room's monitors, projecting the voice of an announcer from on stage. "All votes are in! Mitchell Deacon is our new governor!"
A distant eruption of cheers rumbled through the building like rolling thunder. Deacon had broken into a sweat, looking far from happy at the news as he gazed at the robo-duplicate intended to take his place on stage.
Cut Man and Guts Man moved in closer. Dr. Light and Deacon raised their arms over their heads while glancing helplessly at each other.
Dr. Wily folded his arms in triumph, his eyes glittered in the shadows of his bushy brows as he looked at his captives. "Escort these losers to the city's—aha—my city's—Robot Tool and Assembly Factory."
Mega Man skidded into the room, infuriated. "It isn't over 'till it's over, Wily!"
He had forgotten about the mysterious aches in his head, but it came back to him full force in a blinding flash. The floor came rushing up as his legs gave out beneath him. He stopped his fall with his blaster arm, the Flight Suit's missile hitting the tiled floor with a click. His other hand had flown up to his helmet, clamped over his ear. It felt like a power drill was driving through his head.
"Arrgh…"
Proto Man sauntered over to Mega Man, his drawn blaster hanging casually at his side. He stopped, smirking snidely down at Mega Man. "Well, hello little brother! …Or should I say 'goodbye'?"
Mega Man narrowed his eyes at Proto Man. He was not surprised to see Proto Man smirking at him this way—this was normal. If Mega Man didn't do something soon, he would be captured like Roll. But Mega Man couldn't fight like this—not if he expected to win, at least. So Mega Man grabbed Proto Man by the arm and dragged him down as he kicked off from the floor, activating the ionic thrusters in the Flight Suit. Mega Man shot upward while Proto Man was slammed painfully onto his back with a grunt.
The drilling sensation had not quite subsided in Mega Man's head yet, and he almost immediately lost control of the Fight Suit. It didn't help that Proto Man had begun firing from the ground. Spinning to avoid the the blue plasma bolts flashing around the Flight Suit's white tapered wings, Mega Man veered toward a wall, reaching out to grab the metal rungs of a utility ladder that lead into the catwalks above.
Plasma fire continued to strike the wall on either side of Mega Man in little bursts as he climbed, until one shot hit him in the back of the Flight Suit, jostling him. The steel rung slipped from his fingers. Mega Man was falling backward—he could hear Proto Man's footsteps below rushing to intercept him like a hunter who had shot down a game fowl—but luckily the Flight Suit wasn't damaged. The thrusters on his feet kicked on, and Mega Man rocketed upward.
He landed heavily inside the frame of an open window, breathing laboriously. Hesitating, Mega Man looked back into the room, then nearly regretted it as he saw Proto Man's raised blaster arm flash rapidly. He jumped outside just in time as a final round of plasma fire pounded against the window frame, blasting out large chunks of brick and plaster.
Proto Man lowered his blaster and was about to chase after Mega Man when Dr. Wily laid a hand on his arm.
"He's getting away!" Proto Man protested over his shoulder.
"Forget Mega Man!" replied Dr. Wily, releasing Proto Man's arm. "Thanks to my scrambler chip, his crime fighting days are history."
Proto Man looked back at Dr. Wily, then up at the battered window, frowning. In the background, they could still hear cheering—the drone was doing well in the auditorium in front of the hammered crowd.
"Alright, time to get moving," he muttered, turning toward Deacon.
"Now hold on just a moment," protested Deacon, backing away from Cut Man despite the Rolling Cutter pointing toward his jugular. "I've just been elected New York's governor. It's my duty to protect its people, and there's no way I'm going to let you trick New York with a robo-clone of me—"
Swiftly, Proto Man rushed forward and hit Deacon over the head. Deacon let out a small oof as he fell heavily to the green room floor.
"Sorry, didn't want that to get old," muttered Proto Man over Deacon's unconscious body.
Roll let out an angry snarl.
"Proto—" Dr. Light began, looking aghast.
"Gag them," cut in Dr. Wily, grinning smugly as Cut Man and Guts Man closed in.
While perching on the corner of the rooftop, Mega Man waited tensely, his eyes glued to the street below. Like before, sitting still helped the pain die down again in his head. Fireworks boomed overhead, proclaiming Deacon's victory. No one had yet realized that something was off.
As a small consolation, Mega Man realized the shots Proto Man had aimed at him hadn't been meant to destroy him. Mega Man couldn't help but be reminded of the time, shortly before becoming Mega Man, Proto Man had fired warning shots after Mega Man and Roll as they escaped from Skull Fortress.
He heard titanium footsteps below, and tensed. Cut Man was shoving Dr. Light and Roll inside one of Deacon's campaign vans. Guts Man loaded Rush and Deacon (who appeared to have been knocked out) in with them. Then Dr. Wily and Proto Man climbed into the front of the van and it sped off down the nearly deserted street, its tires screeching as it turned a sharp corner around Deacon's headquarters.
His circuits still aching, Mega Man leaped off the building, intending to fly after them—then gave a sharp cry as he unexpectedly tumbled downward a three stories before the ionic thrusters finally kicked on, propelling him forward,
I can't take a chance on working this flying suit to work right, he thought regretfully, his eyes on the van ahead. I'll have to hitch a ride…
Proto Man craned his head to look back through the van's rear window. There, amidst the bright city lights, he could see a triangular shadow, trailing behind them like a kite. He watched as it swooped down on the van like a hawk. Proto Man faced forward as the van's roof made a soft thump.
"What was that?" muttered Dr. Wily without taking his eyes off the road as he sped around a taxi.
"Beats me."
Dr. Wily pounded a fist against the dashboard. "Stupid piece of junk."
Proto Man said nothing as he smirked to himself.
Mega Man lay flat on the van's roof, firmly ignoring the throbs of pain lancing through his helmet at regular intervals. Though he got a few startled glances from onlookers in tourbusses, the journey was smooth as the van zig-zagged toward the outskirts of the city, where a large plant with towering smoke stacks stood. He waited, then just as the van passed under the overhang of a parking garage, he jumped up into the rafters, landing on a crossbeam as wide as a walking trail.
Now to find out what Wily's up to.
He unclipped the Flight Suit and laid it in a neat stack to collect later, then crawled along the rafter to the walls of the parking garage, alert to sounds—but the van had gone off to another floor, otherwise he seemed to be alone.
Roll, Dr. Light, Deacon, and Rush were taken down into the basement of the plant, where they were locked inside a musty storage room filled with dust-covered filing boxes, Roll bound in chains, while Deacon and Dr. Light were tied up with rope.
Deacon began to stir.
"Mitchell, are you alright? Don't strain yourself," cautioned Dr. Light.
"I'm okay. Suffered worse goose eggs losing boxing matches with my cousins back while I was growing up," Deacon mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. His brown suit was rumpled from the bumpy ride in the back of the van, and he looked crestfallen. "What happened to Proto Man? Did…did Wily get to him?"
"Something like that," muttered Roll darkly. She was looking over at Dr. Light, who had barely spoken since their capture, looking heart broken. As an unintended consequence of her scheme to trick Proto Man into liking being a hero, Dr. Light had gotten his hopes up only for them to be smashed again. Roll wanted to talk to him about Proto Man, but that would be unwise with Deacon around. Instead, she pictured what she'd like to do to make Proto Man pay.
She tested the robo-cuffs. They were made of super steel—too strong to break, too tight for her to transform her utility arm into a tool. However, now that Dr. Wily had graciously lead them to their base of operations and left them unguarded, she could focus on escaping.
She groped around on the floor until she found a paperclip, then began working at picking the lock of the robo-cuffs.
Proto Man really was stupid.
While Cut Man and Guts Man were securing their prisoners downstairs, Proto Man and Dr. Wily were climbing upstairs. Dr. Wily had a spring in his step and was humming dementedly to himself, but Proto Man felt weighted down. Not caring if it broke Dr. Wily's mood, he relayed to Dr. Wily what King had said about the Robot International Police gaining jurisdiction within American borders.
To Proto Man's surprise, Dr. Wily only rolled his eyes. "Oh, you heard about that, did you? Don't you realize that my plans will take care of that little problem?" He gave a dark chuckle. "With the government under my control, I will control who its allies are. As my influence spreads, perhaps R.I.P. will fall under my control too, and I shall put them to more destructive uses."
"Okay, but if this plan doesn't work—"
Dr. Wily shrugged this off too as they strode side by side down a narrow hallway lit by long tube lights. "My plan will work, but even after that, once I finish my next brilliant project—R.I.P. will be outclassed," he whispered confidentially, a grin stretching across his face.
"What project? The thing under the tarp?" asked Proto Man, careful to mask his skepticism. He didn't appreciate that Dr. Wily was not taking this seriously.
"Proto, you are so on edge! It isn't like you," Dr. Wily said soothingly. He was looking Proto Man over critically. "You have not been sleeping. But of course you haven't, you are back at that horrible lab. I remember when you used to fall asleep at the desk back in my first laboratory when you were supposed to be digitizing my notes."
"Yeah, you used to hate that," Proto Man reminded him, though a part of him also reminisced of when he had first begun worked for Dr. Wily, back before Rock and Roll had been built. Things had been less complicated back then…
Dr. Wily patted him on the back. "Stop worrying. Take a chill pill as you like to say."
"I've never said that!" Proto Man responded, indignant.
"Whatever. Just sit back and enjoy the show. You've earned it. You will feel better once this is over."
"Yeah," muttered Proto Man, mollified.
While Dr. Wily headed into the security room (where Proto Man was sure he would soon to discover Mega Man sneaking around) Proto Man excused himself to go check on the Robot Masters. Before the rest of the night unraveled, there was something he needed to take care of.
Elec Man was in the office next to the security room. Earlier, he had hacked into and disabled all of the security systems for the plant, allowing them free access to everything. Now he was looking out at the New York skyline, the dazzling rows of lights stretching up to a deep blue sky.
"Nice view," Proto Man commented softly as he stepped into the office.
Elec Man gave a small jerk. His eyes made fleeting eye contact with Proto Man, then looked away again, face blank.
"Hey, uh," Proto Man began nervously, walking up to Elec Man's side. "I wanted to talk—but if you're not in the mood, I can go away."
Elec Man looked at Proto Man, held him piercingly in his gaze for a moment, then gave a minute shrug.
"I shouldn't have said that thing about Light when I know you hate Wily—" began Proto Man.
"It's fine, you don't have to apologize," Elec Man interrupted evenly. "I know how you feel about Dr. Light's laboratory. You weren't trying to be malicious."
"It's no excuse. I was caught up in my own problems," Proto Man responded earnestly. "Forced family time and all that. I really like working for Wily and committing crimes, obviously—but I don't take your help for granted."
Proto Man paused. He looked out the window, searching for words, his gaze lingering on the red flashing light of a jet gliding over the city.
"Elec Man…just…I don't know how you feel about this, but you're like family to me too. Maybe not like brothers…" he trailed off, searching Elec Man's blank face. Elec Man had gone still. Defining the relationship any further felt dangerous.
There was a subtle shift in Elec Man's eyes. He seemed caught off guard. "D-don't be stupid. You have a chance to be with the Lights. If you get too tangled up with crime, that option might go away. I'm just a gangster, I'm not worth associating with."
"Are you kidding me? I'm the one not worth associating with!"
There was some truth this. Reluctantly, Elec Man smiled.
"Besides, everything you did as a gangster, that wasn't your fault, it's Centum's," Proto Man continued.
"I don't regret following Centum's orders," Elec Man retorted loyally.
"Yeah, okay, I'm trying to pin the bad stuff on Centum but you are ruining the moment," Proto Man grumbled. Then, in a serious yet weary undertone, he added, "…I know me and your dad don't get along, but…" He was thinking back to his conversation with Dr. Cossack, and swallowed. "I don't even get along with my own dad."
The word was awkward and unnatural for him, and he struggled to articulate it as though a large lump of lead stuck in his throat. Admitting Dr. Light was his father felt like defeat, giving into something Centum had wanted him to acknowledge all along. Yet, while talking to Centum's son, it was something he could do.
Elec Man seemed to get weight of this confession. "You are such an idiot," he said, smiling.
"Yeah, I am," Proto Man agreed, spirits lifting. "Shit, that all was hard," he muttered, looking back out at the dazzling skyline. He wanted to stick his head into a furnace. But he felt Elec Man and him were back on the same side at least, making it worth it.
"It hasn't been so bad lately. I've got Top Man, and, and—" Elec Man added tentatively before cutting himself off, also looking out the window. "I was just...my emotions were a little…thanks for saying that."
"Totally my fault. You're smart, cool, loyal. The only person I be myself around, even though you're judgy." Proto Man couldn't help but smile at last point.
Yet neither Proto Man nor Elec Man liked discussing feelings, and this was getting to be too much for Elec Man.
"Okay, shut up. You're being too sentimental. I said it's fine, you don't have to say all those things," he snapped, sounding faintly embarrassed. "You sound like you've been talking to Top Man," he added, rolling his eyes sardonically. Then, when Proto Man went silent, he grew tense. "…What did Top Man say?"
"Nothing, he's just worried about you," Proto Man said hastily, trying very hard to quash back a retort about 'being too sentimental'. He felt answering more honestly would be hazardous for Top Man (Elec Man was already muttering something that sounded like 'I'm going to kill him' under his breath).' He began to edge toward the door.
"Light? This doesn't change anything," Elec Man said aloud, stopping him short.
"Yeah, wouldn't have it any other way," Proto Man grinned, then lowered his voice to a near whisper. "Ya know, I'll never retire from crime, but if I did—like if Wily accidentally blows himself up with one of his inventions—I'd find a way for you to get out too. I bet something could be worked out somehow." As he said this, Proto Man winced a little. These last few days had proved, if nothing else, that he hated the idea of being a good guy—but to make the notion more palatable, he said, "Maybe with someone other than Light."
Perhaps Proto Man shouldn't have added that last part, for Elec Man's eyes narrowed. "Who?"
"No one, just speaking hypothetically."
"…Who?" Elec Man repeated, unconvinced. "If you are talking about Cossack—"
"Would you look at the time!" Proto Man announced, pretending to check a non-existent watch and backing away toward the door. "Gotta go stab my brother in the back. …Again."
After climbing down from the rafters, Mega Man had snuck into a side door that lead inside the Robot Tool and Assembly Plant. The corridors were plated in steel, and took many sharp angles with windowless doors off to either side. Mega Man felt like he was in an industrial maze of sorts—he crept quietly, still listening earnestly. Though it was after-hours, the plant seemed abandoned.
Within a few minutes, Mega Man heard footsteps. Fearing it could be one of Dr. Wily's robots on patrol, he ducked down a branching hallway flattened himself against its wall, waiting for whoever it was to pass by. The footsteps grew louder, but they sounded like the leather soles of shoes, not titanium boots—then finally, walking straight past Mega Man with his hands stuffed in his pockets, was Dr. Light!
Huh?! Mega Man thought as he watched Dr. Light's white lab coat whisk around the corner of the perpendicular hallway. Mega Man was confused—last he had seen Dr. Light, he had been Dr. Wily's captive, but now Dr. Light seemed to be roaming the halls of this plant freely without a concern in the world on his face. What was going on?
Mega Man leaned cautiously out into the hallway. "Dr. Light! Wait up!" he called in a hushed tone.
Dr. Light did not respond, but continued to walk around another turn in the hallway. Mega Man blinked.
He followed Dr. Light stealthily through a mint green door that slid sideways apart like a supermarket entrance. It had lead into a long rectangular room as vast as a gymnasium. A gigantic disc-shaped skylight was installed the ceiling, rows of observation windows lined its second story, while the steel-paneled walls were inset with blinking computer equipment. The dingy light gave it the ominous impression of being inside an alien space craft, and this effect was not helped by the rows of mysterious green doors that lined either side of the room.
Dr. Light strode up to the first door on the left and pressed a button on the wall. The door slid up, revealing an empty chamber no larger than a clothes closet. Dr. Light stepped inside, turned around, then the door slid quietly down.
Frowning, Mega Man crossed slowly over to the door Dr. Light had used and reopened it.
The door slid back up. Dr. Light stood still as a mannequin, his face blank, his eyes gazing into nothingness. Mega Man studied him for a moment, realizing it was a drone with a animatronic mask, not dissimilar to the Deacon drone or even Dr. Petto. Another robotic fake.
There were three more chambers along the wall. Mega Man quickly opened them all, revealing drones disguised as the New York State Police Chief, the Fire Chief, and Senator Wolfe. Mega Man looked over the duplicates, his frown deepening. So that's Wily's plan…he's going to take over the city by replacing all the leaders with his robot fakes!
The entrance to the room slid open, startling Mega Man.
"You like my little scheme, Mega Man?" leered Dr. Wily as he stepped through the doorway, Cut Man, Guts Man, and Proto Man at his side. "Too bad there's nothing you can do about it!"
Dr. Wily cackled as Mega Man glanced over his shoulder. To Mega Man's display, Elec Man and the other two Robot Masters who had attacked the museum had entered through the the opposite door. He was trapped between them, but Mega Man felt defiant. "We'll see about that, Wily!"
But the sudden pain struck again, worse than ever, as though his head were being cleaved in half. Mega Man sunk helplessly to his knees, clutching his helmet.
Soft footsteps approached. "Wily had me plant a chip on you. It's designed to scramble your circuits—" murmured Proto Man, crouching next to Mega Man, "Buuut—I can remove it…if you join forces with me."
Mega Man gritted his teeth. …Proto Man had placed a scrambler chip on him? That explained the suspicious meeting in the park. How incredibly low. Dimly, Mega Man sensed what was going on Proto Man's head—from when he had first planted the chip up until now.
As the pain still sliced relentlessly through his head, Mega Man pulled himself laboriously up, while cracking one eye open. He glared piercingly into Proto Man's visor. He knew this would be the last time Proto Man ever asked to join sides, and answered vehemently, "Never!"
Proto Man looked at him for a moment, face unreadable, then shrugged. "Whatever you say, Mega."
A swift blast of plasma sent Mega Man hurtling across the room to slam into one of the chamber doors before falling onto the steel floor. By now, the pain in Mega Man's head had reached a pitch that nearly drove him senseless. He couldn't get up. He felt like he was floating. His circuits were burning up like red hot bits of metal in a forge.
Proto Man smirked down for a moment, but the smirk quickly turned into a frown as he turned his back on Mega Man and walked out of the room, the sliding door whooshing open and closed.
Dr. Wily took Proto Man's place. "Awwwww, you hurt Proto Man's feelings!" he sang out, his eyes glinting maliciously, "—But not half as much as my bots are going to hurt you! Elec Man, Heat Man, Needle Man—smash him!"
He waved a hand lazily at Elec Man, then Dr. Wily headed after Proto Man with Guts Man and Cut Man trailing close behind. Elec Man's eyes lingered the door they had exited through for a moment, then, without warning, a dazzling string of electricity arched from his finger tips toward Mega Man before either Heat Man or Needle Man had moved.
Mega Man cried out, rolling over to his back as the Thunder Beam cycled through him. It was uncomfortable, Mega Man experienced a painful pins and needles sensation all over his body as his energy slowly ticked away, but the Thunder Beam didn't have the searing pain as it usually did. Instead, it was having a strange lulling effect on him, deadening the senses that were previously on fire from the scrambler chip, beckoning him into the darkness—
"Elec Man, how long's this going to take?" complained Heat Man, scowling down at Mega Man.
"Let me at 'im, I'll turn him into blue swiss cheese!" offered Needle Man, eagerly swinging his blaster arms.
Elec Man ignored them. Mega Man had never liked Elec Man—but as his eyelids became heavy, he wondered if the low-powered Thunder Beam was Elec Man's way of acting in mercy, something a self-aware pawn would do (And perhaps, that's exactly what Elec Man was to Dr. Wily).
Then, just as Mega Man systems were about to crash, his eyes falling closed, the Thunder Beam cut off. Someone fell to the floor in a clatter of metal.
"Leave my brother alone you stuck up creep!"
He heard several loud bangs, Needle Man's terrified shout, a whoosh of fire, something that sounded like scrap metal being dropped in a giant blender, several more loud bangs, then everything went quiet.
Mega Man opened his eyes. Dr. Light, Roll, and Rush were crouched anxiously around him. Behind them, Elec Man, Heat Man, and Needle Man were lying in a sparking heap.
"Mega!" cried Roll, shaking his shoulder. Rush was pawing at his arm.
Mega Man was mustering all of his energy together to remain conscious. The pain from the scrambler chip had returned full force, like a giant hammering a red-hot railroad spike into his titanium skull as he peered blearily up at Dr. Light. "Proto Man planted a scrambler chip on me. That's the cause of all my problems."
With a frown, Dr. Light gently tilted Mega Man's head to the side. "Now that I know what to look for," he murmured, his fingers feeling lightly around the side of Mega Man's helmet, "Removing it should be…a snap!"
With a small clicking noise, Dr. Light broke something off the inside of Mega Man's ear receptor ring. Instantly, the splitting pain in Mega Man's head cleared. It was a night and day difference. Mega Man sat up, feeling that, despite being recently hit by a Thunder Beam, he could do a backflip.
"That's much better!"
Dr. Light smiled wanly, though his face looked completely drained and exhausted. "That's good to hear, for unfortunately, we will still need to drive Wily out of this plant." he handed Mega Man an energy can. "Take this."
Deacon had been standing by the door, watching it anxiously as though reinforcements would burst in soon. "We better hurry—we can't let that maniac go any further with his crazy plan!"
"Roger, we'll take out the trash later," said Roll, giving Elec Man, Heat Man, and Needle Man a dirty look.
Dr. Light nodded, stood up, then headed toward one of the green inset chambers.
Roll lingered at Mega Man's side a little longer. "I'm sorry I didn't take your concerns about Proto Man seriously," she said, smiling sheepishly at him. She cast a sly, surreptitious look at Dr. Light. "Ya know, I won't tell Dad if you wanted to plant that scrambler chip on him—"
Mega Man grinned. "No thanks, I got a better idea."
After leaving Mega Man behind, Dr. Wily, Proto Man, Cut Man, and Guts Man headed up to one of the plant's conference rooms—a sad little space with swivel chairs, threadbare carpets, a water cooler, and a screen projector. Red diagrams and charts lined the walls in a grid. Dr. Wily had been going over their mission orders—thankfully, it appeared they were at the last step of his world domination scheme. The idea was to quietly kidnap all government heads and replace them with robot duplicates, turning laws to Dr. Wily's favor and as he secured a strong hold in politics. In this way, the world would gradually fall under Dr. Wily's rule.
"Nooowww…to lure the mayor, the police chief, and the other top officials to the plant so I can replace them with their robot doubles," murmured Dr. Wily. He sat at the head of the long conference table, his fists clenched in front of him—though thoughts of Mega Man being tortured by a Thunder Beam had put him in a good mood. Cut Man, Guts Man, and Bright Man stood at his side.
"I'll go get our robot governor to make the call," put in Guts Man importantly, puffing out his chest.
A strange noise began to reverberate around the room, something that belonged in zoo rather than the deserted robot manufacturing plant. They all froze, looking around in confusion.
Proto Man was sitting on the edge of the table, his back to Dr. Wily and completely disengaged in the planning as he kicked his legs idly, but he straightened at the sound, adjusting the ear receptors on his helmet as he listened. "It's coming from the duplicate storage chamber!"
Dr. Wily's mood had gone from gleeful to furious like a kettle suddenly boiling over. "Don't just stand there!" he screeched, glaring at Cut Man, Guts Man, and Bright Man. "We've got to see what it is!"
They sped off toward from the conference room, the Robot Masters leading the way while Proto Man and Dr. Wily followed. When they reached the storage chamber, they found that all of the robot duplicates Dr. Wily had created had become active, and were roaming around the vast warehouse, aimlessly slamming into walls or each other like wind up toys completely unaware of boundaries in their paths.
"They've gone crazy! But how…?" Dr. Wily demanded, his light blue eyes popping as his head swiveled from side to side, surveying the erratic drones.
Then they all spotted Dr. Light, who was standing next to the round figure of the drone impersonating the Fire Chief. Dr. Light waved cheerfully at them. "I did a little reprogramming on your robot toys, Wily! It was simple, haha, watch!"
Dr. Light opened an access panel on the Fire Chief duplicate's chest and removed a large chip which apparently was integral to the drone's guidance system. Once removed, the drone began grunting, then bolted off, slamming into a large silo.
"Now all your robot doubles are useless!"
Dr. Wily's eyes narrowed to slits as his face became brick red, a vein pulsing fiercely in his forehead. "Nooooo! How did you escape?!" he shrieked. Then his eyes locked onto Mega Man and Roll, who had emerged from behind a stack of storage crates to stand next to Dr. Light. "Mega Man," he spat. Then he turned to his robots. "DESTROY HIM!"
They could not have picked a more ominous place in the plant for their fight. The large room was filled with skeletal, unfinished drones, towering vats of bubbling unknown chemicals, and human-shaped molds for a robo-drone's synthetic skin which looked like spike-less iron maidens.
Cut Man, Guts Man, and Bright Man charged with warlike bellows.
"Let's get 'em!" Mega Man told Roll and Rush as Dr. Light took cover with Deacon behind the storage crates.
Rush pounced at Guts Man with enough speed to take him by surprise and knock him over. Bright Man used Flash Stopper, which blinded everyone, then grabbed Roll by the back of her jumpsuit and lifted her over his head.
"Let me go you dim bulb!" Mega Man heard Roll holler.
There was a sound of smashing glass, and the blinding light disappeared. Bright Man cried out, his eyes popping and unfocused. The top of his head a mess of exposed circuitry, and he fell backward with a crash.
"Not very 'bright,' are ya?" Roll said smugly after she landed lightly on the floor, winking at Bright Man as she transformed her utility arm from a small hatchet back into a hand.
"This one's for you, Mega dweeb!" shouted Cut Man, firing at Mega Man.
Mega Man waited, then with careful aim, kicked the Rolling Cutter back toward Cut Man. "Right back at ya, Cut Man!"
With a cry of fear, Cut Man ducked. The Rolling Cutter whizzed over his head, then cut through a thick cable on the wall, which began thrashing back and forth like a garden hose spewing sparks everywhere.
Nearby, Rush was bobbing around Guts Man, nipping at his armor, while Guts Man swung wildly at him like an angry gorilla. With each miss, Guts Man grew more and more enraged, until finally he swung out at Rush so hard that his fist slammed into one of the vats.
Unfortunately, the vat was not built to withstand the concussive force of a direct hit from Super Arm. It groaned ominously, teetering from side to side, its contents thundering around like an above-ground swimming pool in an earthquake. Everyone stopped what they were doing, their heads snapping toward the horrifying noise. Slowly, the vat broke from its foundation and tipped over, crushing one of the molds as it fell with a deafening boom.
Bubbling chemical rushed out like water from a giant upended bucket. Whatever was in the vat was extremely flammable, for as it hit the sparking cable, it ignited in a great whoosh. Red flames began spreading across the floor like an angry tide, the steel plating heating up. It was like being trapped in a cathedral-like oven. Mega Man noted with dismay that the sprinkler system was faulty as acrid smoke began to cloud the ceiling.
It was too much for the Robot Masters. Cut Man and Guts Man hoisted Bright Man's body onto their shoulders like a canoe and began pelting with Dr. Wily toward the room they had left Elec Man, Needle Man, and Heat Man in as more flames leaped up like geysers of fire. Roll was hurrying toward an emergency exit with Dr. Light, Deacon, and Rush; Dr. Light and Deacon both had their sleeves covering their faces to protect themselves from the smoke.
This left Mega Man and Proto Man alone. Yet, they were both bomber robots, highly resistant to fire, so they stood apart, regarding each other from a distance.
"So…after everything I said at the park…" Mega Man murmured.
Proto Man grinned, opening his arms, acting completely unabashed. "I'm not like you. I'm not good."
Mega Man said nothing, staring at him. Second story windows on the left side of the warehouse were breaking as black smoke poured out into the night. The erratic drones had caught fire, and were blundering around like strange specters of flame before falling down into heaps on the floor.
"Don't say any bullshit like 'I don't won't to fight,'" Proto Man said finally in a stiff voice, dropping his arms.
"Oh no, I'll fight you," Mega Man responded crisply.
"Alright then." Proto Man smiled, relaxing slightly as he rolled a shoulder and shifting his stance with one foot forward. "Let's can the plasma cannons, Mega. I wanna take you down myself!"
Mega Man mirrored his stance. "C'mon and try it!"
They took slow steps toward each other, then charged—their outstretched hands catching each other by the necks. Proto Man shifted his grip to grab Mega Man by the shoulder and fling him into the wall of another vat. It made a loud clang (Mega Man's vision temporary going white from impact) but did not spill over.
Mega Man managed to recover quickly enough to avoid a flying kick from Proto Man. They wove in and out of the flames, Proto Man striking out in furious punches and devastating strikes, while Mega Man relied on steady counters and every other fighting trick he could think of to stand his own.
As they battled for a minute like this at a near stalemate, the unfinished robo-drones, beginning to melt, cascaded to the ground like a fallen house of cards, causing them both to leap back.
They were on opposite sides of the room again, each standing on a steel crate, separated by a pool of flames smoldering into a lava-like carpet.
"How is your scarf managing not to burn up?" Mega Man called over.
"It's a good scarf."
Mega Man intended to take advantage of the momentary breather. "If things are that bad at home, you should talk about it, Proto," he resumed gently.
"Nothing to talk about. It was all fake, Mega," responded Proto Man in a loud, brash voice, but his clenched fists trembled. "There's no point."
"Of course there's a point."
Proto Man shook his head. "I have everything I ever wanted at Skull Fortress."
"That's not true."
Proto Man's entire body was trembling now, his face lowered and shadowed as he gazed across the flames at Mega Man. "You once told me you were going to get in the way of the life I wanted because I was the reason you couldn't be a lab assistant."
"That's right."
Proto Man gritted his teeth, his balled fists raising to chest height in a threatening manor. He crouched as though poised to spring.
"…But your real issue isn't with me, it's with Dad," Mega Man continued calmly.
Proto Man looked cornered.
"What do you want me to say, Mega?" he burst out finally. "I hated it at Light's lab. I didn't ask to pretend to be human, to grow up as his little pet science experiment." Proto Man's voice broke slightly, but he was determined. "Wily and I are partners," he added more strongly, then, "Why can't you get that it's better this way?"
Mega Man said nothing.
"I wish you'd never been constructed!" Proto Man spat, then in one bound, he leaped over the fire at Mega Man and resumed the attack.
It was unlike any other fight they had ever had. Proto Man had retreated so far into himself, his emotion so detached and shut down, that it seemed impossible to reach him anymore. At that moment, Proto Man was in peak form, reclaiming his often credited title as the world's most powerful robot. He became a shadow moving in a wild, unpredictable blur as he ricochet back and forth between walls and vats while striking Mega Man in a series of rush attacks, his visor glinting red in the firelight.
Gradually, Mega Man realized he couldn't keep up. It was like fighting a demon of apathy and bitterness. He did his best to block the strikes hitting him on all sides as Proto Man kicked him around the burning room—but Mega Man was stricken airborne so often that he felt like a ping pong ball being bounced over and over again (or what Roll called 'being juggled' in a fighting video game)…
Finally, Proto Man let Mega Man fell with a slam to the ground. Mega Man staggered to his feet, panting laboriously, feeling dizzy and disoriented. Proto Man had taken a pause from his relentless assault, rolling his shoulder lazily while bouncing from foot to foot, smirking at Mega Man.
"Heh. You're slipping, Mega. And here I thought you'd been practicing to get as good as me."
He was waiting for Mega Man to strike, to fight back. Mega Man took a step toward Proto Man, then stumbled. He raised a shaking hand toward his helmet, his face contorting. "Something's wrong, I—"
Mega Man gave a sharp cry, then fell forward, catching himself with his hands. The steel floor seared his palms like a hot sidewalk.
Proto Man sneered, but looked confused. "Alright, get up…unless you're chickening out."
Mega Man lifted his hands to grab his helmet tightly, as though his head was about to erupt. "That chip…" he uttered weakly, "It must have—had a—virus in it." Mega Man shuttered, crumpling into himself.
Proto Man hadn't lowered his fists, yet he looked unnerved. "…What?"
"There's—something—in my head—my systems—critical failures—" Mega Man cried out again, then completely collapsed.
Doubt appeared to have set into Proto Man as he hurried over, skidding to his knees next to Mega Man. He looked Mega Man over, hesitated, then one arm slid behind Mega Man's back to lift him partially from the scorching floor.
"I—I think it's destroying me," Mega Man choked out, his eyes half lidded as he gazed up at Proto Man. "Everything's going dark…"
Proto Man started, then shook his head. "No. That wasn't the plan," he said firmly. "Wily would have told me if the chip did this. I-I wouldn't have killed you like this."
With his free hand, Proto Man tore off his helmet and threw it aside, then looked down at Mega Man with his exposed eyes as if to prove he meant it. Mega Man had only seen Proto's amber eyes once before—they had looked dead, void of emotion—yet right now, they were fully alive and present, filled with panic and shock.
"J-just hang on, we'll get help."
Mega Man smiled softly as he looked up into Proto's grief-stricken face. "I…think it's too late…"
"No it's not. Stay with me…"
"You really are the world's best fighter." Still smiling, Mega Man's eyes drifted close.
"Hey, c'mon, Mega, stay awake." Proto begged, cradling him closer.
Sections of the ceiling were raining down around them, but it seemed as distant and unimportant as falling leaves. Proto gave Mega Man a soft shake, his hand squeezing one of Mega Man's almost painfully. "Mega—Mega!"
But Mega Man didn't stir.
"Hey…" Proto tried again, his voice gentle but desperate, "What you said in the park…I want to try that. To have a 'real brother relationship,' or whatever—weird word choice, by the way—but I mean it…just don't go…"
He pulled Mega Man into a tight hug, burying his head into Mega Man's shoulder while shaking violently, his hair brushing against Mega Man's cheek. "Rock, please…I'm sorry," he whispered nearly inaudibly in Mega Man's ear.
The corner of Mega Man's mouth twitched. "No one's called me that in awhile…" he murmured. He laid a hand consolingly on Proto's arm, then copied his weapon.
Disarmed, Proto sprang apart from Mega Man with raised fists. "What the—hey! You lying little faker!" he yelled angrily, but his true emotions were betrayed as an uncontrollable grin spread across his face.
"I owed you for planting a scrambler chip on me," Mega Man told him smugly, still crouched on the floor, though his posture had straightened. "Now we're even."
The flames burned in a steady circle around then. Proto was shaking his head, still smiling. "I can't believe you lied…"
"Learned from the best," replied Mega Man, smiling back.
Then the unexpected happened: the sprinkler system kicked on. Cold water began raining from ceiling, dousing the flames and beating against their armor.
Proto lowered his arms to his side, his amber eyes regarding Mega Man keenly. "Sorry it ended this way after all this time." He gave the same flippant shrug he had given back when he had revealed the location of the scrambler chip, then sighed. "We're done."
Mega Man looked seriously at Proto. "Are you kidding me? We are not done. I'm never giving up on you."
"You just don't get it. Mega, I just betrayed you and everyone. Made myself a bigger enemy than before—"
"No, you don't get it. I knew you were going to pull this crap. But you're still my brother. Family first."
The sprinkler systems had cut off. Proto stared at Mega Man, his hands trembling almost imperceptibly. "…Heh."
Mega Man looked into back into Proto's eyes, glad Proto wasn't hiding behind a visor for once and feeling connected with him in a way he had never had before. They both sensed their rivalry had shifted permanently into something different.
Then Proto looked up, his lips parted slightly. Mega Man followed his gaze up to the still-intact canopy window in the ceiling. He realized for for the first time that the Skullker was hovering just above the roof, the soft hum of the large propeller rattling the glass. Dr. Wily was waiting for Proto.
Proto retrieved his helmet and dusted off his scarf. He glanced back at Mega Man and smiled. "Until next time, bro!"
He began climbing up a dangling chain (a remnant of some sort of pulley system that had been destroyed in the fire), its links clinking softly in the silence, before pulling himself up to stand on a steel beam just below the glossy canopy window. There, he hung back for a moment, staring down at Mega Man, who had watched him go in silence without moving. Proto's face was impossible to read—whether from distance or because of the mirrored visor, Mega Man could never tell.
But then the moment passed. Proto leaped through the canopy window to the open cockpit of the Skullker, large shards of glass falling to the floor. Then the Skullker took off, once again fading into the darkness.
On the next season of Mega Man Recut…
Space…time…reality…justice…chaos…an ancient threat from the stars threatens to break the foundations world in ways even Dr. Wily wouldn't dream of…yet Dr. Wily hasn't given up on taking over the world just yet! Proto Man grapples with nature of good while Mega Man grapples with the nature of evil, meanwhile Roll makes new friends from unusual places. New episodes, new heroes, new powers, same ol' shenanigans…tune in next time for Mega Man Recut: Season 3!
A/N:
Next season will feature the fan favorite Rockman/Mega Man characters of Bass, Tango, and Kalinka (oh my). Technically, Kali's already been in this, but like, even more so.
That's it for Season 2, and the last of all the canon episodes (except for Mega X) Thank you to all my readers for sticking with this crazy fic! It will probably only get crazier from here on out, so, uh, you've been warned.
THANKS FOR READING, SEE YOU NEXT SEASON