Deep in a huge storage room used only for storing forgotten junk, a familiar looking red-and-gray robot was fiddling with a small machine. He had just welded a part of it and was about to pick up another tool when an echoing bellow filled the room.

"PROTO MAN!"

The robot jumped, scattering his array of tools. Swearing, he ran top speed toward the bellow's origin. Skidding to a stop at a door, he quickly erased any sign of emotion from his face, and then walked through it. He didn't want Wily to know that he had gotten to him. "You bellowed?"

Wily glared at him. "Yes. I want you to take Cut Man und Guts Man to the city." Proto Man blinked behind his shades. "What in the world for?"

"To create a distraction, you idiot! Now get going!"

Proto Man was tempted to ask why he needed a distraction, because as far as he knew, Wily wasn't working on any hair-brained plan at the moment. But then, Wily never told him anything unless it was in the middle of a plan already in effect, and then he just said it just to gloat.

"Yes sir!" Proto Man said as he saluted sarcastically, spinning on his heels and tromping out the door with unnecessary exaggerations. He recalled in his very first "memories" that Wily had been surprised at his 'human' reactions to everything; then annoyed, finally he decided to ignore them. Proto Man had noticed both Mega Man and his annoying sister Roll seemed the same way. In fact, Dr. Light had gone out of his way to treat them like humans.

Not that Wily would ever do that for me, he thought with bitter anger. He had also noticed that although Wily's other bots seem alive, all of their personality was pre-programmed.

"Come on you lunk-heads," he snapped as he stormed past Guts Man and Cut Man.

"Where are we going?" Guts Man was confused.

Not a hard thing to do, thought Proto Man. He ground his teeth. "We're going into the city, to create a distraction, to attract my idiotic little brother and turn him into a pile of slag. Got it?"

Cut Man wheezed. "Heh, this is going to be fun. Right, Guts Man?"

"Right. Hey!" Guts Man said loudly, startling Proto Man out of his thoughts. "What's eating you, Proto Man?"

"Yeah, you're usually eager to smash Mega Dweeb," Cut Man put in.

Proto Man sighed. As usual, it had taken five minutes for Cut Man and Guts Man to notice he wasn't his usual self. "Shut up and concentrate on your mission."

They both shut up immediately, of course. Proto Man sighed again. Just once he wished someone would insist on knowing what was wrong with him. It'd be kinda nice to know someone cared…

# # #

"It would be nice if you would listen to some other kind of music, Roll," Mega Man commented lightly. "You know Dr. Light doesn't like that kind of music. Too…"

"Heavy metal?" suggested Roll. "Chill Mega. He gave me the money to buy it, didn't he?"

"Only after you bugged us about it for a month," Mega Man rolled his eyes and brushed his unruly brown hair out of his them. He was in civilian clothing, jeans and a blue t-shirt. He had taken his metal boots off and was wearing regular sneakers.

Roll was also wearing jeans, but since her boots were thinner and more human looking than Mega's, she had left them on. She was also wearing a pink sweater instead of a t-shirt to hide her arm appliance. The two robots had no real reason to disguise the fact that they were robots, but today they just felt like doing it. After all, it was nice to be treated like normal people.

"Where were we going to meet Dr. Light?" he asked.

"At the front entrance. Come on, he should be there by now," Roll responded, grabbing Mega Man's arm and yanking as she started to run toward the mall's entrance. "Okay, okay! You don't have to pull!"

# # #

"Now what?" Cut Man asked. The three Wily bots were standing in one of the million alleys of New York, their transport vehicle hidden nearby. Proto Man frowned as he looked around. Wily said to create a distraction, but he didn't say where or how long. I'm assuming it's to attract my little brother. Blast it, this would be a lot easier if Wily had told me why he needed one in the first place.

Something caught the corner of his eye. He smiled wickedly. "Well, boys, I think it's time we visited our local mall."

Cut Man followed his glance and smiled as well. "I wonder how much stuff we can blow sky high until your obnoxious little brother shows up?"

Proto Man stepped out into plain sight, crossing the busy street and heading straight for the mall. Cut Man and Guts Man followed. Cars swerved to avoid them, smashing into each other.

One hit Guts Man head on, turning everything up to the windshield into scrap. Guts Man simply walked on; all three of them ignored the chaos around them. People screamed and ran as they calmly walked through the parking lot, blasting, cutting or smashing cars in their way. When they reached the mall's entrance, a familiar looking man darted by Proto Man's line of vision, making him pause for a minute. Who the—

The entrance doors suddenly burst open, revealing Mega Man and his sister Roll in normal clothes.

"What the—Proto Man!" cried Mega.

"Cut Man and Guts Man too!" Roll gasped.

"Duh," Proto Man sneered. 'You have such talent at stating the obvious, little bro." He leveled his plasma cannon at his brother's chest. Now he recognized that man. It was Dr. Light, the creator who was almost as annoying as his creations.

Mega Man jumped to the side, reaching inside his shirt and clicking a hidden button. With a flash he was wearing his armor, boots and all. Roll also leaped out of Proto Man's way, clicking her own hidden button on her arm, revealing her normal red-and-yellow suit, red boots and her interchangeable left arm.

She found herself confronted by Cut Man, who jeered at her. "What are you going to do now, circuit-twerp?"

Mega Man had a similar problem. He was busy with Guts Man, dodging the cars Guts Man was throwing at him. Proto Man just leaned against a nearby car, watching. Guts Man and Cut Man could take care of his stupid siblings. That's what they were there for, after all.

# # #

Cursing, Proto Man weaved in-and-out of the parking lot cars, trying to lose his brother, who was hot on his tail. How could this happen? How could Guts Man and Cut Man just leave him there all alone! It was three against two, and Roll didn't even have a plasma weapon, for crying out loud!

It had started out well enough. Guts Man had Mega Dork pined into a corner, all out of running room, Mega Man's best advantage over Guts Man. Roll was hiding behind a car that was getting a lot smaller fast, thanks to Cut Man.

And then—it had all happened so fast! Roll turned her arm into a blower and had buried Cut Man under his own scrap. Mega Man had somehow gotten the best of Guts Man—Proto Man hadn't even seen how that happened—and had welded a garbage can to Guts Man's head, who immediately tore most of it off, only to freeze as all three of the robots received a message from Wily in their internal communicators. "Cut Man, Guts Man, Proto Man, retreat immediately. I have what I want."

Cut Man and Guts Man ran toward the transport vehicle. Proto Man tried to follow, but was tripped by Mega, who pounced on him and covered his mouth.

He knows Cut Man and Guts Man won't come back unless I tell them to! Proto Man thought in panic. Rearing his arm back, he slugged Mega Man hard, knocking the breath out of him as well as off him.

"NO!" he cried racing toward the vehicle. If only—no! It was too late. Cut Man and Guts Man were already out of hearing range. Within minutes they were gone, leaving only a cloud of smoke behind. And now Proto Man was desperately trying to lose his younger brother.

He twirled around suddenly, firing a fully charged plasma blast at the car next to Mega Man. Mega was thrown through the windshield of another car, his sister and the civilian onlookers momentarily blinded. When they regained their sight, Proto Man had vanished, and Mega Man was brushing glass off his shoulders, glaring at the stop where he had seen Proto Man last.

"Oh, he got away," cried Roll in disappointment as she joined her brother. Dr. Light walked up to them. "What matters is that you and everyone here is alright. Although I wonder what they wanted here?"

Mega Man frowned. "I have a feeling we'll find out," he said grimly. "Blast it! I almost had him!"

Roll clasped his shoulder lightly. "Relax Mega. You did your best." Behind them, the crowd started to cheer as Dr. Light placed his hands on both their shoulders and all three started to walk back to the mall.

Proto Man hid in an alley next to mall, chest heaving. So close! he thought. Another half inch and he would have gotten me! My little brother is getting better at this.

Slipping a hand underneath his scarf, he pulled out a small device with a view screen. He was too close to Mega Man to try and contact Dr. Wily—besides, Wily would probable laugh at him and tell him to find his own way home—and there were too many people around for him to slip away unnoticed. Today was definitely not his day. He flipped through images on the screen until he found what he was looking for and pushed a button.

Suddenly in a flash of red he was clothed in sneakers, black jeans, a red t-shirt and his normal scarf.

Proto Man ran a hand through his hair. Unlike his nerdy brother, he preferred to keep his hair neat. He studied his reflection in a nearby puddle and cursed softly. Despite having neat hair, he looked exactly like his brother, which bugged him extremely. He wasn't exactly sure why it bothered his so much, but it was one of the reasons why he rarely took his helmet off. He stood up and walked toward one of the mall's back doors. Upon reaching it he hesitated, putting his hand on his scarf. If he wore it inside the mall, it would look a little out of place.

Besides, what if someone recognized it? His hand tightened, clutching the scarf. He wasn't going to take it off. Nobody could make him do it. Not even himself.

With that firmly set in his mind, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. Placing them over his eyes, he walked through the door determinedly.

"Dr. Light, did you get everything you need?" asked Roll. They had just finished talking to mall's manager, as well as the police. They had roped off the damaged cars and snooped around a bit, but they could find nothing. The three robots had vanished. Amazingly enough, they had kept the mall open despite the damage. But then, as Roll had pointed out, this was New York. The stores would still be open if a giant tsunami was about to hit, for crying out loud.

Dr. Light frowned. "No, actually I haven't found that last component I was looking for. I'll tell you what. You two go home and keep Rush company, I'm sure he's running around in circles without you."

"Which is why we left him home," interjected Mega Man.

"Indeed. I'll stay here and find that component I'm looking for; it's a fairly common one and I can probably find it right here in the mall."

"But what if Wily's creepy bots show up again?" protested Roll.

Dr. Light smiled at her concern. "Don't worry. I'm sure after the beating you gave them they won't dare show their faces here again. Besides, I won't be long and if you're at the lab anyone can instantly contact you if Wily shows up again. Go on now."

He smiled as he gently pushed them toward the doors, ignoring their protests. They finally gave up and waved goodbye, Roll already chattering about her new CD. Dr. Light smiled fondly at them; then turned his attention to the task ahead. Now where can I find that store?

# # #

Proto Man desperately tried to ignore to swelling panic in his chest. There were cops everywhere! He finally ducked into a store and leaned against the wall, trying to stop his panicky breathing. If he had a heart, it would be pounding away.

A loud voice suddenly startled him. "Hey kid! Haven't I seen you before?"

"W-what?" Proto Man gulped. If the store manager recognized him… The guy studied him for a minute as Proto Man tried not to look guilty. "Oh wait, never mind. The other kid was wearing blue. Besides, he had a sister that was really interested in heavy metal. What's your name?"

"Pro-um, uh," he stammered. Idiot! You almost told him your real name! The man grunted. "Pro? Funny name." He commented.

"It's a nickname. My real name is Peter"—ah, what the heck— "Toman." Proto Man held his breath. The man grunted again; then turned around. When he turned back Pro or whatever-his-name-was was gone.

Proto Man darted out of the music store, even more panicky than when he went in. He started sprinting weaving in-and-out of people like he had done with the cars earlier. He couldn't take this anymore. He had to get out! He glanced over his shoulder at another cop when—

Dr. Light paused in front of the store he had been looking for. "Ah, here it is." Suddenly a teenaged boy crashed into him, knocking both of them off balance. In what seemed like slow motion they both fell backward, away from each other. Dr. Light's hand shot out trying to stop his fall. It grabbed the yellow scarf around the boy's neck. The scarf slid off in Dr. Light's hand as he hit the ground softly. Because of his angle he didn't hit the ground as hard as the boy did and recovered sooner.

"Are you all—" he gasped. The fall had knocked the sunglasses off the boy's face, who was staring at Dr. Light in horror, clutching his neck oddly. Mega Man? No, Mega Man had been wearing blue—

"Proto Man!" he yelled. The nearby policemen heard his cry and came running. Proto Man swore, shot Dr. Light a look of hatred and took off quickly, disappearing into the crowd, police hot on his heels.

Dr. Light, stunned, stared down at the yellow scarf in his hands. Proto Man was here all along?

# # #

Four hours later, Proto Man stood in front of Wily, in full armor (except for his scarf), head bowed in shame as Wily laughed at him. "All those close calls, all those narrow escapes, und you bumped into Dr. Light! Und to top it all off, you lost your scarf in the process!" Wily jeered, collapsing in his chair with laughter.

Proto Man clenched his fists. Dr. Light had his scarf.

"Well, now that I have what I need—"

Dr. Light's lab is located on the edge of the city.

"—Now, you, Cut Man, Guts Man, Elecman—"

No doubt that's where he has my scarf.

"—as soon as the blue dweeb shows up, you—"

I'm getting my scarf back.

"—this is my best plan ever!"

I'M GETTING MY SCARF BACK!

"What?" Wily snapped.

Proto Man realized he had said that last part out loud. "I'm getting my scarf back." He said calmly, turning his back on Wily.

"Where do you think you're going!" cried Dr. Wily.

Proto Man paused. "Out."

"Oh no you're not," Wily tried to grab Proto Man by his scarf, only to realize it wasn't there. Cursing, he grabbed him by his shoulder instead. "You are staying right here, or else," he threatened.

Proto Man spun around. "You think you can threaten me, Wily?" he growled. "Well guess what? I don't care. I don't care what you say, I don't care what you do. I don't care, period. I'm going to get my scarf back. I wouldn't suggest trying to stop me."

Wily rocked back on his heels, stunned. How dare Proto Man talk to him like this! After all Wily had done for him, too!

By the time Wily had gathered back his senses, Proto Man was gone. Wily started to call Guts Man and Cut Man to stop Proto Man, when something hit him. He had never seen Proto Man so angry. If he just let him go…

Wily started cackling evilly. Proto Man was determined to get his scarf back, or die trying. And Mega Man wasn't about let him go without a fight. This was going to be interesting…

Proto Man stomped out of Skull Castle, passing several surprised looking Robot Masters, getting angrier by the minute. Today had been one of the worse days he ever had. First Wily woke him up by having Stone Man tip his cot over, dumping him on the floor. Then Wily got mad when he found some of his old, cast off tools on a small battered work table. Wily took the tools, although most of them had been broken and had been in the garbage dump when Proto Man had found them. Then Wily forced him to go on the stupid mission and now this!

It's my scarf! It's the only thing I really own. Dr. Light has no right to take it from me. No one does! Proto Man headed determinedly toward Dr. Light's lab, the sun setting slowly on the horizon.

Dr. Light sat in a chair by one of the lab's windows, watching the setting sun. He had Proto Man's scarf on his lap, and was fingering it absentmindedly. Mega Man walked into the room silently, then stopped right behind Dr. Light, who was so lost in thought Mega was reluctant to bother him.

Finally, he cleared his throat. "Um, Dr. Light?"

Dr. Light jumped; then turned with a teasing smile on his face. "Mega Man," he scolded. "You shouldn't sneak up on me like that."

Mega smiled sheepishly; then glanced down at the scarf in Dr. Light's hands. "What… what are you going to do with Proto Man's scarf?"

Dr. Light sighed and picked his words carefully. "I don't know, Mega Man. It rightfully belongs to Proto Man, after all."

"But—" Mega started to protest.

"I know he is one of the bad guys and all," interrupted Dr. Light, glancing at Mega sharply. "But you must try to think of what life must be like for Proto Man. Wily is a harsh master, and he doesn't have someone like you or Roll to soften the daily blows life gives out. This scarf is probable his only possession. If it was your only possession, your only connection to… who you are, wouldn't you want it back?"

Mega Man sighed. "I guess so. But how are we going to give it back to him?" Dr. Light looked back out the window. "I have a feeling… he'll come to us."

A few hours later, Dr. Light's prediction came true. Standing just outside of the light, Proto Man studied the lab coldly. It was protected by titanium all the way through, making it impossible to blast through. Plus, with an array of shields, automatic guns and disablers, it was impossible for an attack by mass forces to invade. But a single determined (or crazy) person might have a slim chance to make it passed the safeguards.

Proto Man stepped into the light.

The automatic alarm sounded as Roll raced into the center lab room, Mega Man and Rush hot on her heels. Roll brought up the security picture. "It's Proto Man!" she cried, then giggled. "He sure looks funny without his scarf!"

"This is no laughing matter, Roll." Mega Man frowned at her. "Is he alone?"

Roll quickly tapped on the console in front of her. "Why… yes," she said, sounding surprised.

Dr. Light appeared behind them in his normal clothes. He sighed. "He's here."

Proto Man paused at the lab's main door, thinking. So far the defense system hadn't attacked him. That probable meant his little brother was on the job, which meant if he wanted his scarf back, he would have to fight for it. Proto Man's fist tightened.

Suddenly the door burst open, revealing Roll. "Hey creep! Where's your master?" she taunted. "Oh wait. I see you're missing something. I wonder what it could be?"

In an instant, Proto Man had Roll by the collar of her suit. He lifted her off the ground an inch, careful not to hurt her, although he wasn't sure why.

Roll squeaked and cried, "p-putt me d-down!"

"Where is it, girl," he growled. "Where's MY SCARF!"

"Put her down!" roared Mega Man, tackling Proto Man, causing him to drop Roll with a crash. Entangled, they rolled out onto the lab's front yard. Proto Man gripped his brother by the neck.

He's really trying to kill me! Mega thought in a panic, swinging his fist up and slugging Proto Man in the face, knocking him off. He jumped on him, trying to hold him down, but Proto Man recovered quickly. Rush ran top speed toward the battle, only to skid to a stop. Mega Man and Proto Man were locked in a mortal wrestling match, one gaining ground only to be slugged by the other.

Roll stared at them in horror. "Stop it!" she pleaded.

Dr. Light raced to the scene, holding the scarf in one hand. "Stop this RIGHT NOW!" he bellowed.

The brothers separated and rolled a little away from each other, both of them breathing heavily. Mega stared at Dr. Light in shock. He had never heard Light use that tone of voice before.

Dr. Light walked over to Proto Man. He crouched and held out Proto Man's scarf to him. Proto Man merely stared at it.

"I believe this is what you were searching for?" he inquired.

Proto Man nodded slowly.

Dr. Light smiled. "It's okay. You can take it. It does belong to you, after all. I apologize for taking from you."

Proto Man just stared at Dr. Light. Not only was he giving Proto Man his scarf back, he had apologized for taking it in the first place! Proto Man felt something well up in the back of throat. It was a feeling he had only felt a few times before, when life had been particularly bad.

Without another word, Proto Man snatched his scarf out of Dr. Light's hand and fled. He didn't realize that he was crying until he was halfway to Skull Fortress…

Dr. Light stood there. Roll helped Mega off the ground and they walked over to Light, one on each side. Without a word, Dr. Light hugged them close, still staring at the space where Proto Man disappeared.

THE END

Notes:

So yes, I am Atreyu452, this is probably the very first thing I ever wrote, and it's not, uh, that great. BUT with some gentle encouragement (which may have been trolling), I decided to re-upload it again with some light editing. Yes, I still think of a 25-year-old children's cartoon show way too much. Sue me.

I didn't think it fair to make any major changes, as people remember the story being a certain way, even if I don't agree with some of the characterization anymore (Wily especially), and never gave the Robot Masters their due (seriously, younger me, Cut Man doesn't make one bad pun?)

I simply cannot explain some of the choices I made. Why would Proto Man have a device that switches between outfits? Why would he put up with Wily if Wily was such a jerk? Can you tell how into Beast Wars I was when I wrote this? (Because I certainly can.)

Again, I've decided to cut young Atreyu some slack, he was going through some stuff. Feel free to make any judgement you'd like, and GO READ BLACKRUSSIAN'S MEGA MAN RECUT, it's really, really good.