Road of the Warrior, Part Eight
Part Eight-Corruption

Doctor Cain was putting in yet another late night. It was hardly suprising, but this time it was different. He was trying to understand every detail of Doctor Light's weapons systems, seeing if it was possible to integrate them into his older designs. He could only assume it was possible.
Behind him, the door opened. He was alarmed at first, but then revealed to see the silhouette of Break Man. He smiled, and returned to the cannon.
"How did the assignment go?"
Break Man chuckled. "It was more than a little problem, but I took care of it. Got rid of that Sigma character that's been giving you so much trouble."
"Oh, that was just one host, Break Man. Sigma's true form is that of a computer virus. He can take over any machine he wants to."
"So I've heard." Break Man said. "What are you working on?"
"Some of Light's weapons systems." Cain replied. "And then there's this strange component. He obviously seperated it for some good reason, but I can't figure it out. Maybe you know something about it."
"Pentagon shaped computer board, right?"
"Yes, exactly!" Cain cried. "What is it?"
"Something very important. Oh, by the way," Break Man said, pulling off his helmet, "You have no idea how right you were about the Sigma virus."
Cain spun around to see Break Man's face. "Dear God..."
"Sorry, you'll have to finish that prayer later." Break Man said, then fired. Cain fell to the ground, looking at the robot in terror. Break Man walked over him and grabbed the circuits on the table. Just then, the lights came on.
"Break Man?" Roll asked, then gasped as she saw him standing on Cain's dead body.
"Suprise!" he said, then fired at her. She fell to the ground helplessly, to the laughter of Break Man. He turned to the security camera, then smiled.
"Let everyone know the Earth belongs to Break Man!"

"T-minus thirty seconds to launch and counting."
It was almost too easy. All Mega Man had to do was fire his cannon at the main reactor of the missle, and it would explode in the bay. He began to power up his cannon, readying his teleporter for only a second after the blast went off. Just then, another blast hit him, forcing him back. He looked up to see his clone. Most of the pseudo skin on the right side of his face was gone, revealing the circuits underneath.
"We have unfinished business, twin." he said.
"You're right," Mega Man replied, "We do."
The clone fired again, and Mega Man dodged. To his suprise, Treble was far more manueverable than Rush. He targeted his clone again, and flew towards him at top speed. Blasts from his cannon hit him, but he didn't care. Doctor Light could repair the damage. He flew into him, and the clone was sent flying backwards, and went through the wall. He fell into the same chasm Kalinka had fallen into, screaming all the way.
"T-minus ten seconds to launch."
"Now, to finish this..." Mega Man said, then paused in horror. His teleport system had been severely damaged-If he teleported away, there was no telling where he'd end up.
"Treble, can you teleport?" The panther replied yes. "Okay then, as soon as I give you the signal, get out of here. Don't worry about me."
Treble whimpered, but Mega knew he would obey. He targeted the main reactor of the missle again.
"T-minus five seconds and counting until launch."
Mega Man's arm powered up to full.
"Four."
He rechecked his aim again. He certainly wouldn't have another shot.
"Three."
The blast left his arm, and he commanded Treble to teleport. He did so and, robbed of his propulsion, Mega Man began to fall towards the ground.
"Two."
The blast hit its mark, and the reactor went off early, causing the missle to explode.
"One."
The ground was hurtling towards him, but the massive fireball seemed to be coming quickly as well. Mega Man closed his eyes, and thought of his family one last time. Images of Break Man, Roll, Rush, Tango, Light, and even Wily passed through his head. Then the fireball hit, and Mega Man's systems went offline.
"Zero."

Mega Man's systems immediately came to life. He jumped off of the table, and pointed his cannon at the person who had operated him.
"Alto." he said. "I should have known you wouldn't have kept out of this. Forgive my rudeness, but I find it hard to believe you got me out of that explosion out of the goodness of your heart."
"I hate to burst your bubble, Mega Man," Phaelin said with a grin, "But this is five hundred years after the fact. You didn't escape that explosion, but your body regenerated itself. I had to reintegrate your memory from a robot Doctor Light hastily created, called Mega Man X. His memory circuits are all in there. But enough chitchat, there's someone who wants to say hi."
With that, Treble leaped onto the table and started licking Mega Man's face.
"Hey, knock it off!" Mega Man said, "I'm glad to see you too, boy."
"While Treble's very excited," a voice said from behind, "That's not who Phaelin meant."
"Doctor Light?" Mega Man said, and spun around to see a blue holographic projection behind him.
"Yes. I was able to find a way to download my memory circuits into a computer. As well as Kalinka's, into Phaelin's systems. You see, Alto was never Wily's creation. She was mine, and I sent her into the past to make certain things happened as they should. There is much to explain Mega Man...but first, we should get Vector in here as well."
"Vector!" Phaelin yelled. "Mega Man's ready for his interview."
In the pathway, a blue and red robot with a humanoid face and blonde hair entered. In his hands was a computer pad.
"Sorry," Mega Man said, "But I'm not up for an interview."
"Hold on just a second!" Vector said. "I'm Vec..."
"Let me handle the introductions. This is the original Mega Man, and this," Phaelin said, turning to Vector Phi, "Is Bass."
Vector dropped his computer pad, and it broke on the hard floor of the lab. "Now this is going to take some explaining..."