Chapter Eleven
Protoman groaned and rubbed his head. He blinked blearily and realized he was lying on a lab table.
Confused, he looked around, and saw he was in Dr. Wily's portable lab.
"Wha..."
"Finally," grumbled Wily. "You're awake."
"Dr. Wily? What're you doing here? Where's my brother?" he asked, jumping off the table.
Wily waved an impatient hand. "He wandered off somewhere. Now help me modify this controller, I want to—"
Proto was already gone.
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"There you are!"
Rock turned his head as he heard Proto walk towards him. "Hi, big brother," he said softly, aimlessly trailing a pattern into the dirt with his feet. Proto sat down next to him, and Rock sighed.
"Proto…I wanted to ask…"
"About Roll?"
"…Yeah. She wasn't…I thought she'd be…more…"
"Evil?" Proto said in a wry tone.
"Yeah, but she was—nice…Proto, why did she keep calling me Mega Man?"
The abrupt change of subject caught Proto by surprise.
"Ah…probably because you look just like him."
"I look just like him? But…who is he?"
"Ah…he's…another warrior 'bot like Roll. Light built him once we disappeared. He…based Mega Man off of your plans, so she thought you were him."
"Oh." Rock absentmindedly rubbed his left arm. Proto gave him a curious look.
"What's wrong with your arm? Did those idiots screw with your circuitry again? Don't worry, you won't see them around for a while…"
"No, it wasn't them…Proto, what's going on?! First Roll attacks me, and—and she thinks I'm this Mega Man person, and then my arm transforms—"
"Transforms?!"
"Yeah—my hand pulled itself in, and—it was like my arm turned into a gun! It…it really hurt…"
"A—A gun?" Proto's voice became strained. "When did it transform?"
"When—when Drill Man attacked me, it transformed. And then when Roll attacked me."
"I…I see."
Rock rubbed his arm again. "I'm so confused, Proto! I don't understand what's going on!"
Proto didn't answer.