Chapter Three – Changes

After a few hours of slaving away over repair, Dr. Light came out of the robotics lab. Roll, Auto, and the six other robots instantly shot up around the good doctor, and started all talking at once.

"Is Rock gonna be okay?"

"He's dead isn't he? WHY!"

"Brother, please be okay!"

"Lil' bro isn't dead, right?"

"Guts Man like chicken!"

"My neck hurts."

"I am hungry!"

"Rock's gonna pull through, right dad?"

Dr. Light sighed. "Look, I need time to repair him. Could you all please just---"

Crash!

Roll cried out, "What was that!" The six robot masters (along with Roll) ran off to the source of the noise all at once, and were quite surprised at what they found.

Forte stood up shakily, next to a badly damaged Gospel. Cut, Elec, Guts, Bomb, Fire, and Ice robots jumped up front ready to attack the intruder. Forte muttered weakly, "Ugh, wait…As much as I can't stand you…I need help…That damn Zero robot…help Gospel, p-please…" Forte fell into inactivity, his systems shutting down to reserve power.

Roll caught Forte as he fell, of course being dragged with him. "Call Dr. Light! I think we might need some help!"

Blues stood on a tall rock cliff, overlooking a beautiful meadow with a small lake set in the center. "Its sights like this that make life worth living." He held his helmet in his right arm against his hip. Soft brown hair flowing in the breeze, Blues tried to enjoy the moment as his scarf flapped behind him peacefully.

The wondrous miracle of life was all around him, small animals were taking a drink with their young, as the fish swam peacefully through the meadow. The sun shined softly on the lake, making it shimmer beautifully in the distance. Blues let out a sigh of happiness as he took in the wonderful sight, his light blue eyes shimmering with the water. "No activity from Wily, no one to save…Man, I've needed a break like this for a long time!" Blues laughed lightly.

His scarf flapped rapidly in the wind as he stood, his lips curling into a soft smile as he watched all the animals tend to their young and generally enjoy life undisturbed. He always loved to see these kinds of days: No Wily, no robot masters, nothing. The best days…

Crash!

Sadly, the best days never last.

"No, you can't! Don't hurt them, please!" The man yelled at Slash Man, who was about to slice down some trees. "Ah, what do you care? They're just trees, who gives a damn?" Just as the Robot Master started to wind back his claws to cut the tree, he was met by a nice helping of plasma to the face. A soft whistling tune blew through the air, as Slash Man recognized it immediately. Blues jumped down a few feet away from him, buster cannon pointed right at him. "Slash Man, I thought you liked nature! Tsk, cutting down the forest, for shame…" Slash growled, pointing his claws at Blues. "I'm only doing what the doc told me to do, so shut it, Bluesy!" Blues ran out at Slash, and grabbing his shield, plowed through the robot master, sending him flying up into the air. As the Robot Master hit the ground behind him, Blues muttered, "Don't ever call me Bluesy again."

Slash flipped to his feet, roaring, "Cheap shot! Try fighting head on this time!" That being said, Slash shot out toward Blues, wrenching his claws out toward his chest. As if predicting his movement, Blues crouched under the Robot Master, his buster-cannon humming with a charge of energy. As the beast-like Robot Master soared over him, Blues aimed his buster cannon toward Slash's gut, and fired a fully charged sphere of energy into him. Slash was sent flying high into the air, yelling out in both pain and surprise as the shot sent him flying. After around ten seconds, the Robot Master fell to the ground on its chest, face plowed into the dirt. Grumbling, Slash looked up from the dirt, right into the barrel of Blues' arm cannon. Blues smirked, and spoke in his usual calm voice, "Now, either you get out of here, or you're going back to Wily in pieces." Grumbling, Slash got up to his feet, jumping into the trees, and left, bounding from branch to branch.

Watching the Robot Master run away, Blues chuckled softly to himself, turning toward the spot where a man stood earlier, now vacant. Blues guessed that he ran off. Shrugging, Blues jumped back into a tree, laying back on one of the stronger branches, taking time to think to himself. What is Wily planning now? Every time I turn around he's doing some stupid thing…Maybe I should go check… After a moment, Blues shook his head. "Nah. Rock always is able to handle whatever Wily throws at him. I don't think my little brother needs my help all the time!" Chuckling to himself, he laid his head back against the tree, allowing himself to relax.

"Forte…Repairs are complete, please wake up."

Forte opened his eyes, flinching slightly as the light glared into his eyes. Sitting up, Forte rubbed the top of his helmet. "Ugh…What happened?..." He looked to his right, seeing Roll's face staring at him. "Gah! What the hell?" Forte practically fell off of the repair table. Roll giggled, calling out, "Dad, Forte's awake!" She looked back to Forte, smiling. "Are you alright?" Forte nodded, as he thought back to what happened. Forte closed his eyes, thinking back to what had happened. Zero, Wily…being handed his first defeat…and…

"Gospel! Where, where is he!" Roll's expression turned into a sorrowful one, as she motioned to a bed across the lab. Looking there, Forte's eyes grew wide. Running over to the table, he got to his support unit's side. Gospel's systems were in critical conditions, the robotic wolf was like a dying dog, rasping for breath. Roll walked over next to Forte, who held his head up against the wolf's, whispering as she came close, "I'm sorry, but we couldn't do anything for him…" Forte failed to reply. Roll wondered what was wrong, looking to Forte's face; her eyes growing wide at what she saw.

Forte, the blood-thirsty Wily Bot…was…crying. "Gospel…no…don't die, Gospel…you have to pull through. I don't want to lose you…" Gospel whined pathetically, trying to comfort his master; his own systems failing while he did. "You can't die here…What will I do without you at my side, my loyal companion?" Gospel pushed his head up against Forte's, trying to stay close as though to be comforted. Forte stared at the wolf, and tears fell from his cheeks, as he held the robot close. Gospel, held close to his master, closed his eyes finally, his systems powering down. Noticing Gospel's sudden silence, Forte looked to his support unit, eyes wide and shimmering with tears. "Gospel?" Forte grasped Gospel's paw, hoping that his companion would answer. "G-Gospel!" Tears poured from Forte's eyes, as he wrapped his arms tight around the wolf's torso, crying out, "Gospel! No, I don't want to lose you!" Forte closed his eyes tight, screaming out: "GOSPEL!"