This was no mere supply convoy. A lone giant of a robot sat amidst the remains of what used to be a large group of transports. They are never this heavily guarded.
"What's on your mind sir?" A green and silver robot walked towards his commanding officer with a concerned look on his face.
"It should be obvious to you that there is something wrong here, Trace. What do you remember about the fight here?"
"Well, if there's anything I remember, it's that intelligence was a bit off this time around."
"Right, they had more escorts this time. Now, tell me, what does it usually mean when the supply routes are more closely watched?"
"So they need more supplies in the front lines, what of it?"
"Trace, this convoy wasn't headed for the front lines."
"Well, sir, we've been behind enemy lines for over two cycles now, they should know something is wrong and are probably just protecting what's left of their cargo transports," the green robot responded.
"That may very well be true, but these transports were full, and the fact that they were not headed for the front lines, but rather into one of the unknown regions, tells me only one thing."
Trace stared dumbfounded at his superior. "Sir, invasion? So soon after their previous campaign? They don't have the resources to spare, there must be another explanation for this."
"I certainly can't think of anything else, and even so, we cannot risk them gaining another system full of resources to use against us. We'll have to do what we can to stop them, even if that means blowing our cover." The large robot turned towards the rest of the small group of elite units and spoke to a smaller red unit off to the side. "Grid, shift through the rest of this rubble and see if any of their navigation instruments are in salvageable condition; I want to know exactly where they were going. Trace, you and Kael scout around and see if you can locate any more convoys. The rest of you find a place to hide and keep watch! I'm going to make contact with high command about this recent turn of events. Make sure that anything that enters the system doesn't have enough time to send out a warning signal, and don't interrupt me unless we all face extermination!
In the cold reaches of space where no sound could be heard, a resounding "Yes Sir!" was sent telepathically to the leader of the group, who promptly turned toward the largest piece of debris. Duo would need all the solitary quiet he could get to make such a lengthy telepathic link to high command.
***
"So, what do you think, Trace? Do you really think that they'd risk another invasion so soon?" the pale blue Kael asked his partner.
"Who knows. I've heard of them doing stupid things, but this takes the cake. Either the system in question is so primitive that it wouldn't take much to conquer it, or they've had this system under their control for who knows how long, and they're just now starting to use it. Makes you wonder why they sent the convoy through here anyway. They HAVE to know we're here by now. Anyway, I think there's something strange about this whole thing. The fact that we're sitting here out in the open doesn't make me feel any better either."
"Yeah, well, no use in complaining about it. I think the commander's right in the fact that we need to contact High Command about this. Something funny is going on around here, that's for sure. I just hope High Command gives us the 'go ahead' to take care of it."
"Well, don't be too eager to go for it, we really don't have any idea what we're dealing with right now," Trace said.
"I know perfectly well what we're dealing with. It's the same thing that we've been dealing with for the past… wait a minute, do you feel that?" Kael interrupted his thoughts and began to expand his sphere of awareness. Trace joined in and they combined their power to identify the strange feeling that had suddenly come over them.
"I feel it too it can't be more than a couple of klicks out…"
"Aw blast!" they both said at the same time.
"Quick, disable it!" Kael yelled at Trace. Trace quickly jetted toward the offending object as blue energy swirled around him and engulfed him. Trace smashed through the object a fraction of a second later, but the damage had already been done.
"No, I don't believe this! How did they get one of these things so far out into the Farspace quadrant!?"
"An intraspace spycomm." Kael said as he came up behind his green companion. "This looked like one of their newer models, it was interfering with our sensors, that's why we couldn't pick it up very well. For all we know, this thing was monitoring the whole battle from the time that convoy came out of the tachyon field. C'mon, we better get back to the rest of the crew and warn them, because the enemy will be here probably sooner than we think. Let's get going!"
In the quiet of deep space, two blue streaks sped as fast as they could back the way they had come.
***
Nothing was going to get through this blockade. Bomb Man's blast had thoroughly sealed the room, and cyborgs lined the other side of the entrance, waiting to stop anything that tried to get through. The force that they had assembled was large enough to take out an entire squadron of enemy robots. Surely these few obsolete robots had no chance of getting through. They waited in anticipation, but there was one thing that they had not counted on. Around the corner, a small explosion was heard. Three of the cyborgs went to investigate. As they turned the corner, the lead cyborg stepped in a large puddle of yellow ooze that lay on the floor. A small metal sphere rested in the middle of the pool.
What… What is this? he said, speaking in the language of his masters.
Looks like a cooling vent blew, oh well, no concern of ours, let's get back to the blockade. The cyborgs turned around, and as they started to walk off, they noticed that the strange ooze had suddenly dried up beneath their feet. As they turned around they realized that the ooze was no longer lying in a puddle on the floor. All three cyborgs took a step back and their eyes widened. The last thing they knew was a tremendous amount of fear in their hearts. It was a new and yet, a somewhat familiar feeling.
***
The screams of the fallen Cyborgs echoed down the corridor. Immediately the entire blockade of enemy cyborgs rushed to the location of the sound, and were soon confronted by the large bulk of the giant Yellow Devil that filled the hallway. Without wasting a second the entire group opened fire upon the monstrosity that blocked their exit but their weapons passed harmlessly through the yellow substance that made up the body of the beast. The Yellow Devil responded by hurling itself at its opponents in pieces. Without any cover, most of the lesser cyborgs were wiped out in the first pass. The others renewed their actions in a futile attempt to counterattack, but the Devil simply picked up the nearest cyborg and threw him through the blocked doorway, immediately freeing the prisoners trapped inside. Without a moment's hesitation a black ball was thrown into the middle of the largest group of enemies as Bomb Man burst through the doorway and started attacking. The rest of the robots followed suit and the battle was over within two minutes. Deactivated cyborg bodies lined the hallway, and the small group of fighters once again took off down the hallway in an attempt to get out of Wily's fortress. The Yellow Devil oozed along the ground behind them.
"You know, I ought to learn how they shut down your security systems Wily, it'd certainly make getting to you that much simpler." Mega Man said as they ran down the endless stream of hallways. Mega Man heard Wily grumble something under his breath, but decided not to press the matter. They still needed to find a way out of this place.
"Ya know," Bomb Man spoke up, "I'm actually surprised that we haven't lost anyone yet."
"I'm actually surprised that we haven't lost any of you three." Mega Man gestured towards the three robot masters with an amused look on his face.
"Hey!" Crystal Man said. "You know, just cause YOU'VE got the ability to absorb weapons doesn't mean that we're all pansies."
Mega Man grinned inwardly, yup, he thought, making fun of robot masters is gonna be a lot more interesting from now on. Dr. Wily really put his heart into that programming, too bad it's not gonna change anything. "Alright Wily, where are we now?" the blue bomber asked his nemesis.
"We're on the second floor. There should be a means of climbing down somewhere in the next few hallways. After that we should try for the hanger so we can at least have some sort of transport at our disposal."
"Why bother? We'll just teleport once we get out the door, it's much quicker."
"You don't seem to recall that my barriers have a much longer distance than that Mega Man, and I'd rather not have to run that distance!"
"Yeah, but don't you think they'd be guarding the hanger? It seems the most obvious place."
"We'll worry about that when we get there, for now, keep moving and just shut up for once!" Wily was obviously agitated.
Mega Man rolled his eyes. Same old Wily, he thought. Only willing to save to world so he can take it for himself, isn't that ironic. Oh well, if he tries again, I'll just have to stop him.
"Ah, there it is! Wily said, and started toward another hallway that looked like a staircase, but as soon as he could see around the corner, his face fell. "Not again," he murmured.
The other came up behind it to see for themselves what had happened, and they noticed immediately. The entire stairwell was caved in.
"What are they trying to do?" Spark Man said, "Just trap us? They sure don't want us leaving, that's for certain."
"Well, this won't keep us down, there's got to be another way." Mega Man turned to Wily, "Is there?"
"Or course there's another way! I just don't quite feel like running all the way to the other side of the fortress to get there!"
Mega Man walked over to the rubble and gave it a few pushes to test its durability. "Seems pretty solid, but I think we can get through."
"Too late! We've got company!" Crystal Man, acting rear guard, cried out, "And it looks like they've got quite the platoon, you'd better get that devil up and running doc, cause they mean business this time!" The group turned around and prepared for a fight while the yellow remained on the ground.
"Doc, why's it just sitting there?" Bomb Man asked."
"I'm not controlling it anymore, it acts on its own artificial intelligence after it's been activated, I don't know what it's doing! Anyway, we don't have time to figure that out! Bomb Man, set a few time bombs for our approaching guests. Spark Man and Crystal Man, you two charge your weapons, and Mega Man…"
"I know perfectly well what to do Wily, I've been at this just as long as you have."
Unfortunately, Dr. Wily thought, but he left it unsaid and powered up his plasma chain-gun. Whatever these thing were, they would not take him down easily!
The first six that rounded the corner were immediately blown apart by the bombs that Bomb Man had so expertly placed, but there were many more, and they soon flooded the hallway. Wily noticed that they distinctly kept away from the yellow goo on the floor, but the moment it started moving, half the group began to fire on it.
"Huh, look at that, I guess these guys learn fast." Mega Man had also noticed their reaction. "Still, they don't know its weakness yet, and that's a good thing… waitaminute, what's it doing Wily? Running away?!" Mega Man watched as the ooze began to flow away from the battlefield, behind the cyborgs. After taking a lot of fire, it strangely hardened it surface ever so slightly so that it appeared as if it was taking damage when hit. The first cyborg to hit the devil in this state seemed to think that he had found a weak point, and immediately all the others joined in, firing at that exact same spot.
"Wow, they DO learn fast!" Crystal Man exclaimed, throwing another Crystal Eye into a cyborg and effectively knocking it onto its back.
"Wily," Mega Man was strangely curious, "What is that thing doing?"
"It doesn't matter, it's taking fire off us, and that's what we need right now." Wily proceeded to eliminate another opponent with a plasma storm from his revolving cannons.
When the other cyborgs had begun to fire on the devil, it allowed its texture to soften again, seemingly melting away. The cyborgs, thinking their foe was defeated at last, turned from the ooze on the ground and began attacking the others again. If they could have done so, they would have realized that they had just made a big mistake. As soon as all the attention was diverted from the Yellow Devil, it immediately formed into its body and launched itself into the large group of attackers. What happened next was unlike anything Mega Man had seen one of these creations do before as it engaged the cyborgs in melee combat, grabbing cyborgs two at a time and hurling them towards their companions, or using them to block attacks from the other cyborgs. It used its feet to stomp and its hands to crush, killing half the group in less than a minute. The enemy completely forgot about the party and turned their entire attention towards the monster running rampant through their ranks. Mega Man stood absolutely stunned at what he saw, he simply could not believe his eyes. The battle lasted less than five minutes, the devil held one cyborg in each hand, smashing them together with incredible force while firing with its plasma cannon at the last cyborg. However, the cyborg quickly jumped out of the way and did the first thing that crossed whatever part of its mind it had left, targeting the object that had just shot at it.
"Quick, kill him before he fires!" Wily screamed but it was too late. The cyborg fired moments before a charged Mega Buster shot, a charged Spark Shot, a Crystal Eye and a hail of plasma ripped into its side, tearing it apart. However, the damaged was already done. The cyborg's shot was true, hitting the Yellow Devil directly in its eye, forcing it to close and return to its liquid state. The cyborg was alive just long enough to process this information, and then it knew nothing more.
***
Protoman waited on the ledge overlooking a large countryside. He'd been there for nearly half an hour, waiting. He knew he wouldn't have to wait too much longer though. He would show up, Protoman knew, he would come sooner or later. Ten minutes later, the one in question did in fact come, as a gold beam of light descended near the location. Calmly, Protoman strapped his shield to his back and proceeded towards the place where the beam touched down. It was time to have a chat with someone, and Protoman knew that convincing that someone to join the cause was not going to be easy. The red bioroid took a deep breath and started walking.
***
Bass reformed and dropped to his knees, slightly out of breath. After his run in with Mega Man and Shadow Man, he had decided to warp back to Wily's main fortress to put some truth to what had been said. In retrospect, he thought to himself, it probably wasn't the best thing to do to warp myself right into the middle of the fortress. And here I thought that I was speaking to a false imitation of Shadow Man.
"Always the skeptic, huh Bass? I already know where you've been."
Bass whirled around as he prepared to shoot at whatever it was that had produced the voice. He lessened his guard when he saw Protoman walking out of a nearby cluster of trees, but not by much. "Well, if it isn't the betrayer to the cause," Bass said in a mocking tone. "You're lucky I didn't decide to shoot first and ask question later, otherwise you'd be vapor by now."
"You couldn't hit me if your life depended on it."
"Maybe not, but I bet I can when it's your life that does."
"You're hardly in a condition to fight Bass. I'd hate to have to embarrass you once again. It looks like you've taken enough of a bruised ego for today. Let me guess, you just didn't believe what Shadow Man had said, and as a result, you warped yourself into the middle of a demolished fortress crawling with cyborgs."
"You know, you're a lot smarter than you look."
Protoman shrugged, "I like to keep my true abilities hidden until they're needed. "
"I guess that answers the question as to why you look so dumb," Bass couldn't keep himself from saying it.
"Yeah, well, that's my excuse, what's yours? Your recent impulsiveness hasn't really given a good testament of your brains ya know."
Bass began to feel his anger rising. "You get more annoying every time I see you."
"You've been annoying since day one, but I manage to put up with it for Mega Man's sake. Besides, I always enjoy watching your reactions when you're beaten by Mega Man. If I were to kill you outright, I'd loose a good source of laughs," Protoman said in his patented indifferent tone.
"Watch your mouth Protoman! You couldn't even beat King!"
"Both of you couldn't have beaten him if I hadn't intervened. Besides, you never even fought him, Mega Man beat you to it. Once again Bass, you had proved to the world that your still just second best!"
Bass was fully angry now, and his only response was to fire at Protoman, who pulled out his shield and blocked the shot with one smooth motion. With a cry Bass lunged at Protoman, but forgot to take in account his recent injuries. Protoman jumped to the side as Bass stumbled past, adding insult to injury by whacking back of the robot's head as he went by. Bass fell face first to the floor, and Protoman stood over him, aiming his buster at the felled robot.
"As I said before, Bass, you are in no condition to fight me. As of right now, there's a new enemy to us all, and as much as I'd hate to admit it, we're gonna need your help."
"Why should I help you and your freak of a brother!"
"You fought with him before, why should now be any different?"
"I only fought alongside him to prove I was superior," Bass gave a slight grin, "This would be to protect the world, that's just not in my character."
"What about Wily?" Protoman tried a different strategy. "If you lose Wily, who's gonna wield your butt back in place the next time Mega Man blows it off?"
"Wily made me more than even he realizes. I don't need him."
"Then maybe this could be your big chance to prove you're Mega Man's superior."
Bass scoffed and climbed back to his feet, "I'll prove I'm superior when I beat him."
"I told you once that Mega Man fights so well because of the people he protects. If you challenge him with this threat hanging over the world he'll beat you without a second thought. Until this problem is stopped, you won't have a chance." Protoman tossed Bass an energy capsule, "Go to Wily's second fortress, Wily is trapped there with a few robot masters and he carries information that could possibly stop this unknown enemy. You're just gonna hafta put up with us for a bit, Bass, and I'll try to talk Mega Man into putting up with you. He just might if you act real nice." Protoman smirked.
"Oh, shut up," Bass grumbled, but the red raider had already warped away to parts unknown. Bass broke open the energy capsule and absorbed the contents. Feeling much better, Bass set his own coordinates to Wily's second fortress and disappeared in his own gold flash.