Chapter 16: Light In The Darkness

"Open up! Interpol!" A gruff shout accompanied the banging on the door of Cossack's Castle. A moment later, the massive, ancient stone ground open, revealing a dozen men outside with guns drawn. On the other side of the door was a single man in a white labcoat, with no weapons, hands above his head. The leader of the officers stepped forward and calmly cuffed him.

"Doctor Sergei Cossack, you are under arrest. You know your rights?"

"I do." The Russian robotocist nodded wearily. The officer smiled.

"Very well. I'm Inspector Dex Dustan. I'm sorry about this, doctor, but rules are rules, even though we all know what really happened." The other men nodded. "All right, men, put your guns down. I assume that all robotic defenses have been deactivated, doc?"

"Each and every one." Cossack confirmed, and Dustan waved towards a helicopter behind him.
"Good. Hey, Mac! Get over here!" A moment later, a pair of paramedics marched up with an automated stretcher behind them. "Where's your daughter, Doc?"

"This way, please." Cossack turned and led them into the fortress. A few minutes in, he turned to an ordinary-looking wall and kicked a brick, revealing a secret passage. "This goes straight to my quarters. Kalinka is in there." Dustan nodded.

"All right. We'll take it from here." A few minutes later, they found her, lying on a rough mattress. "Miss Kalinka Cossack?" She groaned and stirred.

"Da..."

"We're here to bring you to the hospital." The paramedics lifted her onto the stretcher. She offered no resistance, slipping back into sleep almost immediately. Dustan shook his head sadly.

"Poor kid... I'd hate to see what she had to go through under that lunatic's control..." Sighing, he turned to go, then froze as he detected motion from a stasis capsule in the corner of a nearby room.

"What's all the racket going on here... geez, can't a guy get a decent nap any more? YOW!" A bullet ricocheted off the wall. "Okay, okay! Easy, officer! Look, I'm putting my hands up, see?" A pair of red-gloved appendages rose from the capsule, sure enough. Dustan didn't put his gun away.

"The doc said all robot defenses had been shut down..."

"And he was right." The voice from the stasis capsule chuckled. "I'm not a defense. My names Blues... Blues Light." The Interpol officer blinked and holstered his weapon immediately.

"Ahem! Sorry, sir... didn't know you were here." Blues didn't respond for a moment, then began laughing.

"Sir? Officer, I'm not a sir to anybody! I'm just a guy with a lot of bad luck." He groaned as he stepped out of the capsule. "Ah well, I've napped enough already. Officer, I assume you're here to pick up Cossack?"

"Yeah... he and his kid are headed for New Amsterdam. Him for detainment awaiting his trial, her for the hospital." Blues winced.

"Detainment?"

"They're moving the trial up as far as possible." Dustan assured him. "Don't worry. He'll be out of that courthouse before his daughter's out of the hospital."

"That's good to know, officer. Thanks. Nice to meet you, but I really should be getting back to my family." Waving one last time, Blues teleported away. Dustan watched the beam of light fly off, then harrumped and left.

It was one week since the destruction of Skull Fortress IV, and the trial of Dr. Sergei Cossack had just come to an end. Throngs of newsies were waiting outside the courthouse for the doctor himself to emerge. The door creaked open, and all of the people outside leaned forward. They blinked as a single, small brown robot walked out calmly and looked at them with wide eyes. A few of the reporters, who had tried to gain access to the Light domecile during the Third Robot Rebellion, knew what would happen next and prudently withdrew. The rest, however, simply stared as Eddie flipped his top and unleashed a barrage of high-velocity fruit. Amid much cursing and yelping, five other figures slipped out of a side door nearly unnoticed. Two adult human males and three of what appeared to be teenaged children, but were in fact Advanced Robot Masters.

"I can't believe they had the NERVE to slap ANYTHING on you!" Roll fumed. The expensive crimson dress she wore was matched by the color of her face. "After all you've gone through, all you've done, ANY decent person would know you'd had enough! But noooooooo! I HATE politicians!"

"Easy, Roll." Dr. Thomas Light attempted to calm his robotic daughter. The elderly robtocist looked aurprisingly natural in a suit, the only thing besides a lab coat and brown slacks he had worn in years. "You have to remember, these people aren't as close to the situation as we are... and I hate to say it, but..."

"But I did technically commit many of those crimes, yes." Dr. Sergei Cossack nodded, also in his best suit, looking for all the world like an ordinary handsome gentleman from the northeast. "Despite the fact that Wily was controlling me, the law did remain clear. I should consider myself fortunate that I got off as lightly as I did, all things considered. Those men inside did know the truth of matters."

"And community service isn't that bad, doc!" Blues smiled cheerfully. Despite repeated and very loud objections from his sister, the elder robot had insisted on wearing his shades and yellow scarf along with his own suit to the courthouse, drawing more than one strange glance from onlookers. "Especially working with us! Of course, there may be the occasional hazard to life and limb, but hey, them's the breaks!"

"And what would those be, my friend?" Cossack replied, looking amused. Blues shrugged.

"Oh, you know... tripping over Eddie and falling down a staircase, having Rush mistake your leg for a side of beef, being within a ten-mile radius of Roll if her favorite shows on the TV are cancelled... gack!" He choked as his sister calmly yanked on his scarf. "You see? Violent girl under normal circumstances, even worse when she gets angry! Take my advice. If she starts cursing at high velocity, get out of the house and run for the car as fast as possible."

"Truer words were never spoken." Rock laughed. As usual, now that the Rebellion had passed, he bore no traces of its effects, and seemed to be no more than a normal boy his age, happy to enjoy life. "Speaking of little girls, how's Kalinka doing?"

"Much improved." Cossack smiled. "I plan to go visit her once Interpol lets me go." He glanced over his shoulder at the two plainclothes officers who followed him at a respectful distance without a word. "Did any of you, by any chance, catch the specifics of that?"

"I did." Blues nodded. "I always keep my eyes and ears open. Right now, we have to head for the airport; there's a plane there that'll take us to Tokyo. From there, it's a train ride to near our place. As soon as you enter the lab, you're a free man, although I hope that you'll at least look around and take a meal with dad before you hop back here."

"Of course." Cossack nodded. "I would be honored. And I believe I still have to meet Rush. Oh, here comes Eddie." They all looked behind them as the little brown suitcase robot came trotting up.

"Beep beep!"

"Took care of those newsies, Ed?" Rock smiled and patted Eddie on the head. "You always were good at that."

"Heh... you'll have to tell me more about that later on... this was the first time I've seen Eddie deal with newsies. Looked great, though." Blues smiled. Dr. Cossack frowned as a sudden thought came to him.

"Blues... speaking of explaining things. I hate to turn the subject to such a thing, but... you never did tell us what went on with you and Skull Fortress exactly, did you." Rock's face darkened, but he nodded.

"Yeah... I do want to know what happened there. Well, bro?"

"Weeeeeeell..." Blues looked at the sky. "When I first found the place, both me and Wily were amazed to see each other. Fortunately, though, he never actually found out about how I switched sides at the end of the Third Rebellion; he thought all the stuff I had done in Skull Fortress there was merely incompetence. And he didn't know I had been with the family, either... seems he didn't bother actually keeping up on us over the three years since the Third. Turns out, by the way, that that was another robotic fake who was controlling Gamma, bro. The real Wily escaped Skull Fortress on the original Melee Moth the moment it all went down. It was fairly easy for me to place myself back in a position there, and I immediately started making plans for helping Rock. I didn't know about Kalinka at this time, you realize; all I knew was that Wily was making you take the flak for his work, doc. So during an 'accidental' power outage, I jacked that second Melee Moth, flew it down near your place, and hid it nearby. At the time, I was thinking that if Rock got ahead of me and attacked your place, I could use the Moth to catch him and explain things. When I got back to Skull Fortress, I found out about Kalinka. Then... well, to put it bluntly... I was stupid and impulsive." Blues scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Obviously, I should have brought the Moth back and used it to fly Kalinka away. But I didn't; I got so fired up that I broke in and brought her out right away before I could think thing through. Then it was too late; I couldn't leave her alone long enough to bring the Moth, or the robots would get her. I called myself a lot of names during that time over that, I can assure you." He sighed. "I ended up having to fight each and every one of Sennet's Robot Masters eventually. Not fun. And you all know what happened once we reached the castle."

"Indeed." Dr. Light began smoking a pipe, watching the rings float up into the air. "Well, all that's in the past now... the Fourth Robot Rebellion is over and done with, thank whatever gods there are."

"But its effects aren't gone quite yet... are they?" Rock asked the younger human directly. Cossack shook his head grimly.

"I'm afraid not. Wily left his mark on all of us... and I still remember everything very clearly. I fear I shall not know peace until that madman lies dead in his grave, no matter how much time passes."

"None of us blame you for that... we feel the same way." Roll smiled warmly. "Don't worry, doctor... at least you have friends towards that goal, right?"

"Indeed." Cossack nodded, a smile coming to his own face as well. "Indeed I... we... do."

"So, what's your first project going to be?" Rock asked more cheerfully than he felt, changing the subject.

"The restoration of my Robot Masters, of course." The Russian robotocist replied. "Their remains were all collected by the United Nations... as soon as they are returned to me, I will begin rebuilding them as they were meant to be, with the Laws of Robotics firmly in place and the goal to serve mankind."

"That shouldn't be too much of a change for some of them." Rock noted. "I could tell there was something off about them, but I never was sure what. Now, of course, it's obvious. It'll be good to be able to see them as friends too." He glanced forward. "Ah, here's the airport."

"Eh... actually, I think I'll just teleport." Blues said, a little too quickly. "I don't feel like a plane ride just now." Roll immediately fixed him with a glare.

"All right, bro. What are you up to?"

"Up to? Up to?" The elder robot protested innocently. "Why with the accusations, Roll? Why must I be 'up to' something? Don't you trust me?"

"I KNOW you, brother mine." Roll smirked. "Give. What are you hiding?" Blues sighed and began walking away slowly, face resigned.

"Well... all right. I'll tell you..." He suddenly grinned. "When you get home! See ya, sis!" Roll released a fiery oath as he teleported away, and Cossack raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Such language."

"Youth of today, my friend." Dr. Light laughed, leading him towards the airport with the remaining robots behind them. "Youth of today. Roll's really quite fair-tongued compared to what I've heard on the streets..."

"Did you HAVE to ride on top of the train?" Roll asked her brother as the Lights and Cossack walked down the forest path.

"Yes, actually. Well, here we are." Rock announced grandiously as they arrived in front of the Light domecile. "It's not exactly an ancient castle, but we call it home." Aside from an altercation with Eddie and a drunken tourist in baggage claim, the trip had been uneventful. Dr. Cossack looked at the house in front of him appraisingly.

"Hmm... I like it. I see you prefer to be out away from the big city as well... good call."

"Yeah, city life gives me a rash." Roll joked. "Really, it's better this way... we're not exactly normal people, so living on a street with neighbors several feet away would be pretty disastrous." Cossack raised an eyebrow.

"So I see... what's with that tree with a hole in it?" Rock laughed.

"I think Blues did that when he was first testing the Mega Buster... but you see our point. A tree is one thing, but blasting holes in other people's houses... not good. Plus, we like it out here." He looked up into the forest leaves happily. "A lot of these are treeborgs, but oh well. The atmosphere is the same." The Russian robotocist nodded.

"I noticed."

"Well, let's not stand here in the road all day." Dr. Light smiled and unlocked the front door. "Come on in, please."

"Bluesy, you got some explaining to do!" Roll called into the house as she walked in. No response. "Hmph... playing silent, is he? Well, I'll find him..." She stalked up the stairs. The other three watched her go, then simultaneously shrugged.

"Women." Rock rolled his eyes. "Robot or human... they're all the same."

"Amen to that..." Dr. Light nodded. "Anyways. I'll put on a pot of tea while you show Sergei the lab, Rock." The robot boy nodded and led his guest up the stairs.

"Lab's in here." He flipped on the lights as they entered the room. "This is where dad and the rest of us work on... well... things, for lack of a better word."

"I see..." Cossack surveyed the surroundings. "What's that large machine over there? Looks like a stasis capsule... but not quite."

"No, we've all got those in our own rooms." Rock shook his head. "That's our Upgrade Capsule... it's used to implement design changes in us. Works on Robot Masters, Advanced RMs, and just plain robots like Eddie. I've used it many a time."

"I see." Cossack nodded. Suddenly, from down the hall, there was a horrendously loud screech followed by a crash. Rock and Cossack stared at each other for a moment before bolting towards the source of the noise, Dr. Light's study. Inside, they found Roll, swearing sulferously as she continued to kick the desk she had knocked over. In one hand she held a crumped ball of paper. Blues was nowhere to be seen.

"Um... sis? What's the problem?" Without looking at him, Roll threw the paper at her brother, then proceeded to pick up the chair that normally went with the desk and smash it against the wall. Wide-eyed, Rock and Cossack unfolded the paper and read what was written on it.

Hey, everybody.

I'm sorry, but there's no easy way to say this. So I'll just have to be straight and come out with it. By the time you arrive... I will no longer be here. I'll be gone again. That's right... I'm leaving. Heading off into the sunset once more, traveling the world wherever the will and the wind takes me. You might ask why... in fact, you almost definately will. But I can't really give you a definite answer, because you see, I'm not too sure myself. I don't know. It's just... a feeling, I suppose would be the best way to describe it. Don't get me wrong. I love this place, and I love all you guys. These past three years... they were the happiest time in my entire life. Just being here... being the older brother in the family... made me happier than you can ever imagine. But... I can't do that forever. Maybe something changed during those two weeks I spent with Kalinka in the snow... or maybe it was lying buried all the time. I'm not sure myself. But it's come out, one way or another. And I can't deny it. I have to leave... have to wander again. Just go my own way, I don't care where. Just journey... see the world in its purest form. I don't know if you can understand what I'm talking about... but I hope you can. Maybe then you'll know why I'm not here anymore. But don't worry. I'm not gone forever... some day, I will come back. You have my promise on that, family dear. I'll send postcards, every so often, too. And presents! Can't forget the presents! Heh... don't think that your brother... your son... has disappeared... he's just taking a leave of abscence. I'll keep in touch... stop in for a visit after a while, although I'm not giving you any specifics on that. And you'd BETTER believe I'll be helping you out again the next time Wily raises his ugly head, Rock. Until then, it's been real, everybody. Signing off,

Blues

"Well... that cuts straight to the point." Cossack observed as he watched Roll knock over a bookcase, still spouting curses like a drunken sailor. "I'm afraid your sister doesn't appear to be taking it too well, though."

"I'm not surprised." Rock sighed. "Let's just stay out of her way... trust me." The two of them left the room, shutting the door behind them-none too soon, apparently, as something heavy hit it almost right after, causing Rock to wince.

"WHAT is all the racket?" Dr. Light asked, annoyed, as he walked up the stairs. "It sounds like there's an inept construction worker with a wrecking ball up here!" Cossack silently handed him the note, and he read it, eyebrows lifting several times. "Oh. Oh, my. Roll is in there, I take it."

"Yeah. She was mildly annoyed by our brother's sudden departure." Rock said dryly. As soon as it had started, the noise from the study suddenly stopped. Dr. Light smiled and dropped the note.

"Well, she seems to have calmed down now." He walked in.

"No, I wouldn't..." Both Rock and Cossack tried to stop the elederly robotocist, but he had already entered. A moment later, he ran back out, wild-eyes, with Roll's vocabulary scorching the air around him. "So... I take it she hasn't calmed down?"

"She's done breaking the furniture." Dr. Light reported. "I think she's ready to start on people."

"Is it always like this around here?" Cossack asked. Rock nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much."

The Robot Rebellions would continue. Wily was still out there. But for the moment... in the brief time of peace between wars... for better or for worse, life had returned to normal for the Lights.