Chapter 6
Wily's second fortress still stood. That may have been a good sign, but until they had gone inside, no one knew whether or not it had been visited by their newfound enemy. However, the station appeared to be unharmed, and on full alert as Wily, Mega Man and the rest of the robot masters entered the fortress.
"We need to get to the central computer and extract its hard drive." Wily said.
"All right, just make sure we stop by and pick up some wayward robot masters while we're at it." Mega Man tried subtly reminding Wily of his promise to Dr. Light.
"Yes, Mega Man, I gave my word, and that's not always something that I go back on." If Mega Man hadn't known any better, Wily might have sounded hurt.
"This place is awfully quiet Wily, why do I feel uneasy?" Mega Man asked.
"It's because you never go through these halls without being swamped by my defense systems, you think that I would program them to start randomly firing in the presence of their creator? How dumb do you think I am, Mega Man?"
I don't think you're dumb at all Wily, you're too smart for your own good, and the good of everyone else on the planet. Mega Man couldn't help but think. Well, at least walking though the fortress was a lot easier than fighting through it, he had to admit. It was true, the place was a lot quieter than Mega Man was used to, but he still couldn't get past that strange sense of uneasiness.
A laser beam lanced down on the group of eight from above and barely missed searing off one of Wily's feet. His robot masters immediately surrounded him, intent on protecting Wily from harm. They all glanced up at their attacker as another beam caught Magnet Man in the chest, scorching his armor. Mega Man and Tomahawk Man returned fire but the attacker was too well concealed and both attacks missed. After about a minute of trying to bring the attacker out into the open, or get into a position where they could successfully attack him, they were ready simply to move on. The attacker just didn't want to come out. They sat underneath the sniper, outside his line of sight and thought about what to do next when there was a large explosion and the body of the attacker was flung over their heads, impacting onto the opposite wall across the hallway. A round, yellow head appeared over the ledge.
"Everyone OK down there?" Bomb Man asked the group.
"Bomb Man," Wily's tone wasn't pleased, "Get down here and tell me what's going on?"
Bomb Man jumped off the ledge and did a double take as he spotted Mega Man. "But, Dr. Wily, isn't he…"
"I'm well aware that my arch-nemesis is standing within three feet of me unrestrained, I will explain later, but first I want to hear your story. Why was that thing prowling my fortress?"
"We've actually found a few of them," Bomb Man replied. "I'm not sure where they came from, but Elec Man was able to tell us what happened, and he says that these things are part of the group that seems to have totaled one of your battle labs. Spark Man, Ice Man and I have been scouring the area, while the rest of them are guarding the sensitive areas of the lab."
"Who's at the main central computer complex?" Wily asked.
"Elec Man took that area. He remembered that there was some sort of information about these things stored there, and that you might want it if you showed up." Bomb Man replied.
Wily grunted. "It's about time one of my robot masters began to show some of the intelligence that I gave you." He heard Mega Man groan behind him but ignored it. "Radio Elec Man, have him find that data if he can and have it ready for me to take when I get there. I don't want to risk uploading the data to Light. For all I know, these things have the technology to intercept my transmission and clear my files at the same time if I create an open channel. I'll take it to Thomas myself, so Mega Man," he turned to his nemesis, "if I don't make it out of here, neither does the data, got it?!"
Mega Man could only roll his eyes in response. Bomb Man looked confused. Throughout the entire conversation, he had been running a series of scans on Dr. Wily to make sure he was indeed the right person. Every scan came out positive, so instead, he turned to Crash Man.
Crash Man noticed his colleague's confused look. "It's a long story, I'll let Wily tell you on his own." Wily had already moved ahead towards the main computer complex. The robot masters ran to catch up, Mega Man trailed behind, not looking very happy.
The trip was uneventful. Elec Man had called the rest of the masters into the computer lab, knowing that Wily would not wish to remain here much longer, being that the strange enemy already knew where it was. Most of the robot masters joined Wily's group, also perplexed at the presence of Mega Man, but had to settle for the fact that Wily didn't have time to explain. The robot master's chatted with each other in a way that Mega Man never thought possible.
When they finally reached the main lab, all the robot masters were there, except for Spark Man, who claimed that he was tracking one of the infiltrators. It was a formidable sight. Along with Wily's original group, Ice Man, Freeze Man, Guts Man, Fire Man, Electric Man, Bomb Man, Slash Man, and Cut Man were also present. Mega Man had to admit that he was glad he wasn't fighting Wily right now, or he'd have bitten off more than he could chew right now.
Wily walked up to Elec Man, who held out a black diskette in his hand. "Give me that!" Wily yelled curtly, snatching the disk out of Elec Man's hand. Wily shoved the diskette into the computer and brought up the data files. "Good, everything's here, now we need to get this to Light's lab. Alright everyone, let's get moving. Clear a path towards the teleportation chamber, I'll join you as soon as I set the correct coordinates from the computer. We have to use the chamber because it will mean that we have a better chance of getting to where we are going. Personal teleporation is too risky at this point. Mega Man, you and Bomb Man will stay here in case someone decides to infiltrate my lab while my back is to the door. The rest of you, move out!"
The robot masters hastily fled the room, except, of course the one specified by Wily. Mega Man stayed also, wondering why Wily had chosen him to remain behind as well.
***
...it's a strange situation my friend, but I'm afraid that we alone are not enough to stem this tide. Do you think you could help?" Dr. Light was explaining the situation to an old friend of his via a direct laser-link connection.
"I think I could led a helping hand, though I always imagined that I'd be using them against Wily when the time was right. It looks like I'll have to activate them now though, I only hope that my new programming is correctly installed."
Dr. Light couldn't help but notice the comment about programming, considering Wily's recent "upgrades", new programming wasn't exactly something that he wanted to hear, but he trusted his friend, and decided not to comment. "Alright, I'll see you in a few days then. Until then, keep your security on full alert, and don't take any chances. Goodbye, my friend."
"Goodbye Thomas, and take care of yourself and that creation of yours. Until we meet again." The connection then disconnected.
"Who was that, father?" A blonde haired girl rounded the corner of her father's laboratory with a quizzical look on her face.
Nathaniel G. Cossack, the famous Russian scientist who some said rivaled even Dr. Light as a robotics expert, turned towards his daughter. "It was just my good friend, Dr. Light, Kalinka. It seems a strange situation has come up, and my presence is required in America."
"Is it Wily again? Will that man ever leave the people of this planet alone?"
"Strangely enough, the disturbance is not Wily's doing this time. Still, I'll need my creations, I'm going to the lab now to activate them." Kalinka's expression fell slightly. "Is something wrong my dear?" her father asked.
"It's nothing, father. It's just that they... bring back old memories," Kalinka said.
"You can't change the past, Kalinka, but I can assure you, that incident will never repeat itself."
"I know, father." Kalinka tried to change the subject, "This must be a serious situation indeed if you need your creations."
"I'm not exactly sure of the seriousness of the situation, but I am sure that we will be able to overcome it. I need to go now, to begin the startup sequence." Dr. Cossack walked towards the basement entrance and typed in his passcode. Once inside, he turned to a small console and pressed a few buttons. Nearby, in eight small programming capsules, eight newly reconstructed robot masters began to wake up.
***
Back in Wily's fortress, everything seemed to have gone wrong. Seemingly knowing what Wily was doing, the enemy had launched an all out attack, attempting to keep vital information from getting to wherever it was headed. The main cyborg assault force hadn't yet reached the base, but those that had infiltrated it earlier were now showing their face. Three had already been annihilated at the teleport chambers, apparently trying to eliminate any chance of escape for those trapped inside. Still, there weren't enough of them to overpower the gang of robot masters stationed within the room. Mega Man, however, was having a bit less success.
"I said get OUT!" Mega Man screamed as he let his opposition have another shot to the chest. There were only two of them, but he had already had to take a few hits for the doctor working at the console. Luckily, they seemed to be some sort of Bio-stun bolt, and they didn't seem to phase him much. Of course, they began to use the real weaponry soon enough. Jump, dodge, jump, dodge... this is all too familiar, Mega Man thought to himself as he fought with one of the enemies. The infiltrator didn't seem to be built for direct combat, so its primary weapon systems were light, but all of them were focused on Mega Man.
...which is why it didn't see the bowling-ball shaped object rolling towards it until it was too late.
The attacker was blown into several different pieces. Bomb Man walked over to Mega Man brushing his hands off, "That's why I always enjoyed working with explosives. They just seem to get the job done."
Mega Man noticed that the other attacker had already been dispatched in a similar manner, and withheld a comment of his own, not wanting to start another argument. Instead, he turned towards Dr. Wily, still busy at the controls of the teleporter. "Any chance with the co-ords, doc?"
"Not if everyone sits there and stares at me! Get back to the doorway and stand guard!"
Sheesh, it's amazing that man hasn't had an ulcer yet, Mega Man resumed his "guard" position and waited some more. After a bit, Wily finally turned from the console.
"There," he said, "That should bring us down somewhere near Light's lab." Wily keyed his communicator. "This is Dr. Wily to all robot masters. Coordinates are set, go ahead and start warping through, make sure that you're in the right place before proceeding."
"Uh, doc?" It was Shadow Man. "Are you sure that's such a good idea? Leaving you behind and all?"
"Just go, Shadow Man. I'll probably be there before you're even finished warping through. Now no more questions!" Dr. Wily angrily turned off his comm unit. Well, let's get going," he said to Mega Man and Bomb Man.
"Sure Doc, no problem." Bomb Man turned towards the doorway.
"Not that way, Bomb Man," Dr. Wily explained. "I have my own way of getting around my fortress from here. You think I like jumping across spike pits and battling motion cannons?" Wily pulled a remote out of his pocket and pointed it towards a seemingly blank wall. The wall panel slid open, revealing some sort of elevator-like pod. Mega Man couldn't help but take notice of this as he stepped into it, realizing that it would make his usual fortress treks that much easier to complete. Wily turned towards Mega Man.
"Don't even think about it. As soon as I detect you anywhere near the fortress, these things become so tightly locked down that not even I can use them without inserting precise instructions into the main computer, which is the last place you have to get to anyway."
Blast, but it's still something to keep in mind, Mega Man thought. They were soon brought to the teleportation chambers. When they stepped out of the wall, only Magnet Man and Crystal Man were still in the room.
"Dr. Wily, you're finally here! C'mon, let's get you out of here before it's too late!" Crystal Man was almost frantic.
They act as if they actually cared about him. Mega Man thought. This feels like some sort of an old Twilight Zone episode. Magnet Man was currently in the machine, and a whine began to build around the room as it powered up to take him back to Dr. Light's laboratory. Just as his figure began to dismantle itself, another blue bolt lanced into the teleportation pod. The resulting explosion sent Wily and Crystal Man to the ground. Mega Man had been standing further back with Bomb Man, but they saw the bottom half of Magnet Man that hadn't had the chance to teleport out drop to the floor like scrap metal. Everyone turned towards the doorway, where another of the cyborgs stood, weapons posed and ready. The two left standing readied there weapons and prepared to attack.
"Stop!" Wily's scream surprised the two and they turned towards him, suddenly noticing the small red dot on his forehead.
"Oh, great." Mega Man mumbled.
"You are all to come with me if you wish your creator to survive," the cyborg said. Mega Man could only laugh at the comment.
"My creator, good one. This guy WISHES he could make something like me."
The cyborg seemed confused. "Why do you fight to protect this human, then, if he is not the one who made you? Do not try to fool me, and even if he is not your creator, you still wish that he remain alive, do you not?" Mega Man wasn't quite sure how to answer that one.
"Mega Man, shut up, let me handle this," Wily interjected. "Why do you want us to come with you?"
"I am not one to ask. I simply obey. I will not speak further, you will come with me now."
"Ah, but you never said please." The voice came from behind the cyborg, who didn't even have the time to turn around before millions of megavolts of electricity coursed through its body. The cyborg dropped to the floor, obviously dead. Spark Man lowered his electric probe-arms he had used to charge the cyborg full of electricity. "Naughty, Naughty, we mustn't point our weapons at the good doctor. It's the first thing we're programmed not to do, didn't you know that?" Spark Man mocked the dead cyborg.
"Spark Man, it's about time you got here! Where on earth have you been!?" Wily was furious.
"I've been tracking that one for a long time now, Dr. Wily. Thank you for finding him for me. Might I ask why Mega Man is sitting here without his blaster pointed at your face?" Wily winced at the reminder of his near death experience at the end of his seventh attempt at world domination, when Mega Man had almost ended the entire war right there. If it hadn't been for Bass...
"Never mind that!" Wily turned towards the now disabled teleport pod. It looked rather hopeless.
"I don't think we're going to be using that anytime soon." Mega Man said. "Any other bright ideas, Wily?"
"No, the rest of the cyborg army is too close for me to have time to program one of the other machines. We would never get out in time. We'll have to use your teleporter, Mega Man." Wily said.
"Great, who knows where we'll end up. Alright, come on, all of you. With the teleport barriers down, it shouldn't be too bad." Mega Man noticed Wily's face suddenly go blank. He stared at the doctor with half-raised eyebrows. "Don't tell me, you didn't lower the barriers, did you?"
Dr. Wily could only inwardly curse at himself for the lack of insight. The teleport barriers were designed to keep anyone from simply teleporting into any of his fortresses, which is why Mega Man usually had to fight his way through them for such a long way. The main drawback was, nothing could escape through those barriers as well, unless a pre-programmed command was sent from the main computer. It was hopeless to try.
Mega Man got his answer without even having to hear it. "So, I guess we're going to have to fight our way outside so we can do it from there. Alright, let's get moving. We might as well try to get as far as we can before the majority of those things get here. Get back in the tube, we'll use your transportation, Wily." The three robot masters, the one that was more than a robot, and the human climbed back into the elevator, but as Wily began to fiddle with the controls, he let out another curse.
"They must have hit the main power generator! The system's not responding!" Wily was starting to sound frantic.
"What does that mean, Wily? Why are the lights still on then?" Mega Man asked.
"Essential systems: Lights, fire control, plumbing, and the main computer to name a few, are connected to a secondary generator. But all the security systems are no longer operational, which means we are now, officially, trapped."
"Wait, this might be a good thing, with the barriers no longer powered, we'll be able to get out now!" Mega Man exclaimed excitedly.
"No good," Wily said. "Do you think I would like you warping in while my security systems are gone? The barrier is also on the secondary generator. It is still operational."
"So, then we're back to the 'fighting our way to the outside' bit?" Mega Man asked.
Wily nodded, "Unless you want to try for the main computer, but we're actually closer to getting outside from here.
"Alright, then let's get going quick! We've probably only got a few minutes before they decide to level this place with us in it!" Crystal Man interjected.
"Wait just a minute," Wily said. He pulled out another control and pressed the button. A loud hum could be heard throughout the room until a powered suit suddenly appeared within the room. Wily began to climb into it. "I don't feel like going into the middle of a war zone unprepared."
Mega Man stared in shock. "How did that get here, I thought you said the barriers are still up!"
"They are," Wily said, but this is a different system. It works underneath the barrier, and is not affected by it."
"Well, then why don't we use the system to warp to the exit!"
"We can't do that. The system requires a fixed signal from its destination, in this case, the remote I held in my hand. Also, organic flesh cannot use the system without serious results, and if I'm not going, neither are you. Alright, this should give me enough protection to make it outside, not lets not waste any more time chatting, I want to get out of here as quickly as possible."