I sure as hell don't own or am affiliated with Capcom or the Rockman (for the last time, Mega Man!) series of games. Be nice if I would, but I expect that's just wishful thinking.
---------------------------------------------------
The small door near the end of the hall swung noiselessly open, permitting a short character into the fourth-floor hallway. He stalked down the corridor as quietly as he possible could, his footsteps muffled by the thick green carpeting. He took special care when passing each of the many doors on either side, knowing that if he made one bad move on his journey down the long hallway any of his brothers could wake up and catch him. And if that decided to happen, he could say goodbye to any chance of ever leaving the Manor again.
He paused three-quarters of the way along. Putting down the backpack slung over one shoulder he scanned the gloom with bright but wary silver eyes. He waited for another moment and whirled, fists up and ready for a fight. However, the hall was empty except for the lampstand he had passed not long before. He ran one hand through his chestnut brown hair, flicking the shoulderblade-length ponytail bound tightly with a white ribbon in perplexion. Funny...I could've sworn there was somebody-
Suddenly a powerful arm wrapped itself around his neck from behind. He started to yell but a hand was already over his mouth. He tried to worm out of his captor's grip, but he was already fairly sure of just who was holding him and knew that, if he was right, there was no way on Earth he could break free.
"What in hell are you doing up this late? It's two-thirty in the morning!"
He tried his best to move his backpack in front of him so that his body was between it and the sightline of whoever had busted him. "I was-uh-I couldn't sleep."
The tall boy snorted. "There's no way you possibly could have fought as hard as you did this afternoon and not be tired. Get back to your room and don't let me see you out here again when you're supposed to be out on your bed."
"Uh...okay. G'night, Forte."
Forte grunted and let his five-foot-two kid brother loose, watching him walk quickly back towards him room. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something was wrong with his appearance. Forte looked the short boy up and down, trying to figure out what was so irregular with his appearance. Wait...since when did his right leg bulge out that far?
"Raiden! Why the hell have you got a pack?"
The robot Raiden paused for a moment and then took off for the end of the hall. His older brother swore and gave chase. But Raiden was smaller and could easily outrun the somewhat clumsy Forte, reaching the door to his quarters long before his bionic sibling. Instead of barging inside, though, he went right past it and headed for the picture window at the end of the corridor. In one swift movement he pulled open the large central pane and kicked out the screen, clambering onto the sill and flinging him out into the night, really hoping he would be able to hit the ground alive. He flew outwards for a second or two but a large hand grasped his ankle and he was reeled back in, smacking his nose as he discovered he was hanging flush with the wall sixty feet above the ground with only Forte separating him from a probable deactivation.
Raiden sighed, the coolant fluid rushing to his head. "Thanks. Dunno what possessed me to do that. You were expecting me to run away, right?"
He heard a chuckle from above. "You got it. Even Wily didn't think you would try something like this."
"That's what I thought." There was a short pause. "So, are you going to help me up or what?"
"Try again. You understand what you were built for, hm?"
Raiden frowned. Forte was working his way up to something. "I'm your helper in battle. I'm the speed and accuracy of the team."
"BZZT! Wrong!" Forte growled, shaking his younger brother back and forth. Raiden felt his stomach drop a notch. "You really don't get it, do you? You're not my assistant, you're my goddamn replacement. You're everything I'm not-quick, smart, loyal. Wily doesn't want me anymore; I'm too 'unstable'. I could backfire on him at any time. You're in the spotlight now, pal."
"What the heck are you-oh, hell, you wouldn't..."
Raiden was quite sure that Forte was grinning wildly. "Hell, I would. This is it, Ray. You and I both know you can't take hard impacts to the upper body-your core's too unprotected. But even if you do manage to live somehow, I'll send down a Charged Shot or six to help end the pain. Ready to die, l'il bro?"
How much power do I have left? Raiden wondered frantically. I was at half charge earlier when I was sparring with that Sniper Joe...my armor's not on, so I can't check the display...but...
Quicker than Forte could react, Raiden put his hands on the wall in front of his nose and pushed off as hard as he could. His modest strength sent his lithe frame flying up until he was perpendicular with Forte. Swiftly gathering what electricity he had left into his hands, he sent a blinding blast of ball lightning directly into his brother's eyes. Forte roared in fury and jumped back, covering his face with both hands.
Raiden suddenly found himself both free and plummeting towards the ground. With inhuman reflexes he reached out until he could graze the wall with his fingertips. Suddenly the second floor window shot up and he grabbed at it frantically, catching onto the bottom sill with one hand. He jerked to an abrupt stop, almost pulling his arms from his body, but at least he hadn't splattered on the far harder ground twenty feet below. He squared his feet on the wall, tensed his leg springs and kicked off, flipping backwards and landing gracefully, the shock absorbers in his ankles and knees doing their jobs quite nicely. He retrieved his pack full of clothes and Energy Tanks from where it had fallen while he had been dangling upside-down and glanced up at the fourth-floor window.
To his shock he was blasted off his feet by a Charged Shot.
Scrambling back up, he saw Forte standing like a black-armored monster with its blaster out, red eyes blazing evilly. He was still under the blinding effects of Raiden's ball lightning but was a decent shot anyway. On top of that, windows began to light up as the various Robot Masters Wily had taken the time to rebuild were aroused by the commotion. Knowing he didn't have much time before somebody figured out what was going on and turned on the security field designed to keep things both out and in, effectively trapping him inside the Manor grounds, he took off towards the road. The earth just behind him exploded in a shower of flying dirt and strings of plasma, lending him an extra boost of speed on his quest for the exit.
He heard the crackle of electricity as he reached the south tower that marked the edge of the security field, clearing it just as the red wall of pure energy sprang up around the Manor property. He sighed in relief, setting into a brisk pace down the dirt road; two seconds too late and he would have been either fried right through to his circuitry by Wily's newest piece of technology or, worse, locked on the Georgina Manor grounds with Forte. It would take them a few minutes to lower the barrier and by then he'd be at the pier, tucked away in some hard-to-reach corner, waiting for sunrise and the first ferry to the mainland.
Freedom. It was a wonderful word to somebody like Raiden who had been cooped up so long. For most of his life, which totalled up to a paltry eight months, he had been a gopher and a slave to the intentions of his older (and tougher) brothers, not to mention Albert Wily himself. Combat training hadn't gone well either; he was a passable fighter but Forte beat him every time, usually to the very brink of permanent deactivation. Raiden took his own orders now and only death could snatch that privilege away from him.
It was time for Raiden Wily, the Robot Master of Thunder, to make a name for himself.