Chapter 1: Bluesy Killer Horn
"Even now, I'm not really sure of the entire story behind Double. We suspect that he was created by Sigma to be a plant from the very beginning, and never had a life as a non-Maverick, but even if so, I cannot completely hate him. Even the knowledge that it was all a lie cannot erase the fact that I once called him friend." -Mega Man X, on the Maverick mole Double planted in the Maverick Hunters during the Repliforce Incident, AKA The Fourth Maverick Uprising
It was the middle of the afternoon, about three or four PM, in the city of Sydney, Australia. Around the outskirts of the continent's capital, wild animals ran freely, most notably the kangaroos. Several passersby frowned curiously at one of them in particular who was hopping around quickly. The object of their attention being a pair of oversized sunglasses perched squarely on the animal's snout. It paused after a while and bent over to grab a bite of vegetation. At which point, an angry hand snatched the sunglasses off of its face.
"THERE you are." The owner of the sunglasses growled, placing them back over his own eyes. "About damn time I caught you. What was up with that idea, huh? You think you're funny?" Grumpily, the kangaroo kicked out at him with one leg, capable of disemboweling a normal human. The sunglasses-wearer, however, dodged left nimbly and then leaped behind the kangaroo, pulling the startled animal into a headlock. "What's wrong? Humans not supposed to be able to do that?" He smiled at the kangaroo's frenzied expression. "Well, I'll give you a hint. I'm not human. Wait, why am I talking to you? You don't speak english, and while I know a lot of other languages, marsupial isn't one of them." He released the kangaroo and made a shooing motion. "Go on, beat it." The confused animal was only too glad to obey, hopping away from the short human-looking... THING... as fast as it could go. Blues Light, the first Robot Master ever to be created, sighed and watched it bound off.
Outwardly, he was a human boy of thirteen, fourteen, with scruffy black hair, wearing blue jeans and a red blazer over a slate-grey shirt. A yellow scarf flew in the breeze, and the oversized shades he valued so much concealed his eyes. Over his shoulder, he carried a pack. And yet, where he traveled, at least one person a day recognized him for who and what he was. Brother of Mega Man, oldest robotic sibling of the Light family, the hero known as Proto Man.
"And yet, a freakin' kangaroo steals my shades." Sighing, Blues walked on forward into the city ahead of him. Most of the city hadn't gotten off work yet, so the streets were relatively uncrowded. After a bit of searching, he soon found a sidewalk cyber-cafe. Combining internet access on computers with snacks and drinks, they had gradually spread to replace ordinary sidewalk cafes until now, where every place that sold coffee for its business had at least twenty monitors. "Here we go... might as well surf the 'net for a bit." He walked inside and raised both eyebrows in surprise.
"Hello, sir! May I take your order and assign you a computer?" The Robot Master behind the counter smiled cheerfully. It was one of the old Lighttech "Cut Man" models, a cartoony-looking humanoid with a pink-and-white color scheme. Noticably, the pair of giant scissor-blades that had given them their names were missing from this one's oversized head.
"Well, I'll take a comp, but unless you serve up a mean 10-W-40, I'll have to pass on the drinks... not even I've got systems advanced enough to handle food." The Cut Man blinked, then looked at him again, its eyes widening as it remembered newspapers and television broadcasts. Blues smiled a bit inwardly; normally he tried to keep his actual species hidden, but it wasn't often he met a lost "brother."
"You're... are you... Proto Man?"
"Blues Light, yeah." The Advanced Robot Master nodded. "Proto Man's just a name for the newsies to work with... like my brother Rock and 'Mega Man.' Our sister hasn't acquired a second name yet, but it's probably only a matter of time." The Cut Man laughed and punched a few numbers.
"Right then... it'll be three bucks an hour. Seat number 20." He smiled. "Wish I could talk with you for a bit... bet you've got some interesting stories to tell."
"Can you take your break any time soon?" Blues shrugged. "Normally I'm not the most sociable guy, but for a fellow Lighttech..."
"Break...?" The Cut Man blinked. "You know, I've never really taken a break before. Never really had a need, really... I'll check. Hey, boss, mind if I take a break?"
"WHAT!" A bellow as deep as a foghorn came from the back room. Another human, behind the counter, shook his head.
"NEVER MIND, AL!" He yelled. "I'VE GOT THIS!" Sighing, he turned to Blues and the Cut Man. "Al's a good boss, but he's as deaf as a post. Go ahead, Chopper... you've never taken one before even though you're entitled to. Just don't stay off for five hours or something, okay?"
"No problem, Larry. Thanks." The Cut Man nodded, following Blues to his computer station and sitting down at #21 next to him.
"Chopper, huh?" Blues inquired. "That the name they gave you?"
"Yeah. I kinda like it." Chopper shrugged. "Even if they removed my weapons system after the first Rebellion. I was one of the only ones who weren't reprogrammed by Dr. Wily... and even then, they were seriously considering deactivating me for a while. Most of us Lighttech models were. I'm lucky these guys are more robot-friendly than a lot of humans."
"You've got a point there." Blues nodded. "I'm practically a celebrity, and even I find it easier to just pretend to be a human kid most of the time. It's been hardest on you Lighttech models... even the Sennet ones don't have it as bad. I'd be surprised if there were more than a couple hundred of you left on the planet... all six types." Chopper nodded gloomily.
"Yeah... I met a Bomb Man once, and once I saw an Ice Man passing by outside, but that's it. And you, of course... boy, was I surprised when you walked in here. You look... different when you're not wearing your armor."
"I think that was the point." Blues nodded. "Nothing personal, but you guys were designed for mass production. Me, Rock and Roll, though... we were made to be one-of-a-kind. Dr. Light's really more of a father than a creator to us. We enjoy being able to pass for human when we're not fighting."
"Yeah..." Chopper nodded, suddenly remembering something. "Dr. Wily isn't back, is he? You're not around here for..."
"No, no." Blues laughed. "The Fifth Rebellion hasn't started yet. We're all waiting for it... we know it'll be coming soon. It's been two years, and Wily's still on the loose... he'll start something again before long. It's been driving us crazy waiting for it, to be honest... but so far, nothing."
"That's a relief." Chopper smiled. "I like this place... the city as well as this cafe. I wouldn't want anything to happen to it. So, if you don't mind asking... if you're not working against Wily, why ARE you here? Don't you live with your family?" Blues' smile dropped.
"Well... that's kind of hard to explain." He looked out a window. "Between the first few months of my life, and finding my family again during the Third Robot Rebellion, I spent years in the African Congo, lost there thanks to a teleporter accident. Thanks to that, I've acquired something of a wandering spirit. After three years staying with my family between the Third and Fourth Rebellions, I decided it was time to start moving again. Ever since then, I've been roaming the world. America, Europe, Asia, and now here... every so often, I drop by home to visit, or to the Cossacks in Russia... but most of the time, I just keep walking to the next place I haven't been." He smiled. "It's not the easiest of lives... I wouldn't recommend it to most people. But it's fun... and it's the only way I can really live."
"Wow." Chopper shook his head. "You're... different. Your personality... it's your own, isn't it? Not preprogrammed into you?"
"My personality... no, it isn't." Blues shook his head. "Some knowledge... some guidelines... and, of course, the Three Laws. But everything else... I developed on my own. Me, Rock, Roll... and one other guy, but I don't like talking about him... we're different, yeah."
"Advanced Robot Masters..." Chopper whispered. "You're like a link... you're what comes between us and... and humans."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far." Blues laughed. "I think there's still a few steps to go. But who knows? We're still growing... evolving, almost. And other Robot Masters can, too. Look at you. You probably think your entire mind is preprogrammed... but you're more advanced than any Cut Man I've ever seen. Almost more than any normal Robot Master, only excepting a guy I know in Russia." Chopper had grown silent. "You're changing, Chopper. Robot Masters who live long enough do that. Give you some more years, and who knows? You may be approaching our level. Even normal robots can change... there's a guy I know named Eddie who's about three levels below even the most basic of Robot Masters, and by hanging out with my family enough, he's started to develop the inklings of thought. And you're way more advanced than he is. We're not THAT different, bud... so don't sell yourself short."
"Me..." Chopper whispered. "Becoming more...?"
"Count on it." Blues assured him. "And hey... next time I come back here, I'll stop by... or just whenever you feel you're ready, look me up. Call my family... I'll tell them about you, and they'll be able to forward you my location."
"I will." Chopper promised. "I should probably get back to work now... but you've given me something to think about. Thank you." Rising, he went around to the back. Blues watched him, smiling obscurely, before turning to his computer.
Later that evening, Blues was walking down the streets of Sydney again. He had spent two hours at the cafe and then left, walking through the city and taking in the streets. Now he was looking for a place to go into stasis and recharge... the robot equivalent of sleeping. Normally, he would crash in a tree or on a bench, but he was feeling unusually good today after meeting Chopper.
"Maybe I'll splurge and get a motel room..." He muttered to himself, walking past a display of televisions in a shop window.
"...ly the latest case of human to robot violence, a crime which has plagued us even more since the invention of the Robot Masters ten years ago..."
"Huh?" Blues turned. "Robot violence again? Damn, some humans are..." He froze in disbelief at the image onscreen. He recognized one of the humans standing near the scene of the crime. It was Larry, from the cafe. "No... not..."
"The victim was a Lighttech Robot Master #DL003, more commonly known as a Cut Man." The reporter confirmed. "Named 'Chopper' by its owner, Alfred Malkovich, it worked at a cyber-cafe owned by him. It was completely disarmed after the First Robot Rebellion, and was thus completely defenseless. The attack was believed to have taken place in an alley behind the Mick Burger on 4th Street at eight PM, one hour ago..." Without listening further, Blues took off towards 4th Street, which he had walked down earlier. Three police cars were parked around the entrance to the alley, and cops were everywhere. As Blues tried to gain entrance, one young cop blocked his way.
"Hold on, kid! You can't just-" He stopped as an older cop dropped a hand on his shoulder.
"Let him pass, Phil." The older cop looked at Blues with recognition. "You're Proto Man, aren't you? Blues Light?"
"Yes, sir." Blues nodded. "The Cut Man... Chopper... he's a friend of mine. How... is he?" The cop's face fell.
"...I'm sorry, son. We got here too late. He's... destroyed." Eyes widening, Blues looked past him and wished he hadn't. Chopper's sad, crumpled body was lying in a puddle of oil and other robotic fluids. His entire form was battered and smashed, as if it had been hit repeatedly by blunt instruments. His head was even worse... nothing was recognizable in the crumpled lump of pink metal. There was no hope that any of its delicate inner workings had survived. Behind it, Blues saw a heavyset man wearing the uniform of the cafe, head against the wall as he beat on it with his fist, without a sound.
"He..." Blues shook his head. "He had his scissors removed... and he still had the Three Laws... he never stood a chance..."
"We know, son." The cop behind him nodded sadly. "From what his owner told us, Chopper was heading home from work ahead of him... he stayed with the man's family, at their house. His wife and kids... aren't going to take this very well, I'll bet... we haven't yet found the culprits, unfortunately..." Blues' optics narrowed behind his shades, examining the ground with a level of scrutiny beyond human eyes.
"They tried to wipe their weapons off..." He growled. "But they couldn't... not entirely. There's a faint trail of oil and coolant..." Before the cops could stop him, he ran off, following the trail across streets and through alleys. Before long, he heard voices ahead of him as he passed behind a warehouse.
"Heh... no pigs around. They'll never catch us... they're too busy cryin' over that tin can."
"Still can't believe they're doing that... thought cops were supposed to be tough." Another voice chimed in. "And they're sobbin' over a piece of shit like that while we get away?" After a pause, a third voice agreed.
"Ha... some asses are just like that. My old man ain't... he's an ass too, but at least he knows what robots are for. You should see 'em when the news starts talkin' about the Rebellions."
"Did you hear the way the dumb bastard screamed?" The first voice laughed. "Man... 'please don't hurt me, I don't want to die...' yeah, right. Robots don't die... they just get destroyed. All of 'em should be." The other voices laughed in agreement. Teeth gritted, Blues stepped around a corner and found himself face to face with the three of them. Street punks, by the looks of things... stupid, cruel youths out to compensate for something. They had baseball bats, and Blues could detect Chopper's oil on them.
"Huh?" One of them, the second voice, frowned. "Who the hell are you, kid? Get outta here before we beat the crap outta you, too!" Blues didn't respond; he simply let his right hand transform, changing into the barrel of a weapon. Another of the punks hefted his bat threateningly.
"Didn't you hear Charlie, bitch? What is that, a popgun? Scram, or else... hey, what's wrong, Fred?" The third punk, who had been the first voice... was shaking.
"It's... it's..." He choked out. "Rocko, that's... he's PROTO MAN!"
"My reputation precedes me, I notice." Blues growled. The other two blinked, and the one named Charlie began shaking as well. Rocko, however, sneered dismissively.
"What, this little shit is Proto Man? No way."
"Way." Blues fired. On his arm was the Mark-1 Plasma Mega Buster, a weapon that fired bullets of deadly energy. It was also capable of charging and then firing a shot five times the size and power of an ordinary bullet. It was that charged shot that Blues used now. From his arm, a massive blast of blue energy larger than Blues' head screamed out over the three punks' heads, striking a wall behind them in a shower of scorched brick gravel that left a crater two feet wide. Rocko was no longer holding his bat; the three of them dropped to their knees.
"Sir... mister Proto Man, sir..." Fred whimpered. "Please... don't kill us! We didn't mean... we don't want to... it was an accident!"
"An accident." Blues growled, looming over them. "You beat him to death. You destroyed him beyond any hope of rebuilding him. You KILLED him, and you say it was an accident? How DARE you!" He began charging another shot, and the three punks moaned. "Let me tell you a little more about myself. Before I was Proto Man, my name was Break Man. And in the Third Robot Rebellion, I worked for WILY. That's right, I was a BAD GUY. Ah, I see by your increased shaking that you recognize the name. That's good. Back then, I fought Mega Man... my own brother. I tried to kill him, and several times I almost did. So..." His voice dropped to a whisper. "If I did that to him, my own brother... think to yourselves, what would I do... to guys like you?" At that point, he heard the screeching of tires behind him, and the slamming of doors... and then, the fierce pain of a lead slug hitting his Buster arm. The shot tore loose, barely missing the three punks and hitting a wall next to them. Two more bullets hit, striking his other arm and his back.
"That's ENOUGH, Phil!" A familiar voice roared. "Stand down!" Blues half turned to see the cops gathered behind him. The one with his gun raised was the young officer who had tried to keep him away from the murder scene.
"But, sarge!" Phil insisted. "You saw him! He was going to-"
"I KNOW what I SAW, Phil!" The older cop who had helped Blues yelled. "I won't ask again! STAND DOWN!" Reluctanly, Phil put his weapon away, and the older cop walked up to Blues. "Easy, son. You okay?" Blues winced.
"Yeah... hurts, but not nearly as much as a lot of the stuff I've seen in two Rebellions. I wasn't-"
"I know." The cop glared at the three punks. "They won't be harmed one bit, am I right? First Law and all that?" Blues relaxed.
"Yes, sir." The First Law was one of the three Laws of Robotics that were hardwired into nearly every robot, and the most severe, dictating that a robot may never harm a human being. Even in Blues and his siblings, breaking that Law would result in immediate mind freeze... death. The other two laws, which said that a robot was bound to preserve its own life and that a robot must obey a human's orders, were slightly less binding but still engraved into the brain. Rock was the only Robot Master yet to break the Second Law, and only the three Light children had broken the Third. Wily's robots, of course, had a perverted version of the three laws that changed their focus to Wily alone instead of all humans. And the murderous Advanced Robot Master known as Doc Man had shattered the Three Laws, but the rest of his mind had been broken along with them. Sighing, Blues turned his Buster back into a hand. "First Law, yeah... despite what some actions of mine in the Third might have people thinking, I have never harmed a human being, and I am still bound never to do so. All I did was scare the piss out of them." He sniffed the air. "Literally, it seems."
"That's good." The cop nodded. "Cuff 'em, boys, and get those bats. They're the evidence we need. Listen, son... even if you've seen worse, you should still get those wounds looked at."
"I know." Blues nodded back. "Don't worry, sir. I've know a guy who'll fix me up better than ever... if your boy Phil doesn't want to put me behind bars, I'll head on out there now."
"No problem." The cop frowned at Phil, who winced. "Going back home to your father?" Blues smiled and shook his head.
"Not quite, no... to another family. One I have very close ties with... and they live in Russia, not Japan."
"The Cossacks." The cop realized. "Good man, Sergei... shame about what they've been through. Well then, good luck... and I'm sorry about your friend. If it's any consolation, I'll do everything I can to make sure the judge throws the book at these scumbags." Blues didn't respond; he simply turned away, waved and then vanished in a stream of red light, teleporting away into the night sky.
"Wake up, Blues. The repairs are complete." The friendly voice of a young man spoke with a thick Russian accent. Blues slowly opened his eyes. Dr. Sergei Cossack, orange-haired, bearded, and wearing thin glasses, smiled at him. "Hello, my friend. How do you feel?"
"Like a new 'bot." Blues smiled, sitting up. He had teleported to Cossack's Castle, an ancient stone edifice in the Russian wilderness. Hereditary home of the Cossacks, it was now home to the doctor, his daughter and the eight Robot Masters he had created, rebuilt after their destruction in the Fourth Robot Rebellion and serving humanity once more. Blues ran a self-diagnostic and smiled. "All systems normal. You did a bang-up job, doc. Thanks. That's another one I owe you."
"I am eternally in your debt, my friend." Cossack demurred. "This is nothing compared to what you did for me... and for Kalinka. Speaking of which, she has been buzzing around like a honeybee, worrying about you. Ever since you appeared with three bullet wounds, she's been convinced you're on the verge of death. I had to send her to her room so I could operate freely on you."
"Well, tell her I'm up, then." Blues smiled. Cossack nodded, leaning over to a console in the wall.
"Skull Man, you may let Kalinka out now. Inform her that Blues is awake and wishes to see her."
"You made Skull Man guard her door?" Blues raised an eyebrow.
"It is the only way to make her stay there... she will refuse to stay put otherwise no matter what I do." Cossack sighed. "She is a marvel of disobedience... three times now, we have caught her trying to sneak out of the castle."
"Well, she can't stay cooped up here all her life." Blues told him. "Maybe you should take her out more."
"I know, I know." Cossack sighed. "I probably don't allow her nearly enough freedom... but I'm too worried, too concerned... too paranoid. After what Wily did for her, I can't help it... if anything ever harmed her again..." Blues nodded in sympathy as the doors opened and a four-foot-tall bundle of energy rushed through.
"Blues! Are you okay?" Kalinka Cossack demanded. Now ten years old, the same age as Blues, Sergei's daughter bore no physical traces of her ordeal in the Fourth Robot Rebellion. Then, she had been kidnapped by Wily and kept in atrocious, near-fatal conditions in the bottom of his fourth Skull Fortress. Blues had rescued her and carried her, clinging to life, across the harsh winter wilderness for two weeks to her home. For Blues, it had formed a bond of permanent friendship with the two Cossacks even closer than that between Sergei and the other Lights, but Kalinka seemed to feel even stronger than him, and was always delighted to see him and worried when he was gone.
"I'm fine, Kalinka." Blues hopped off of the robotocist's workbench and stood next to her, barely taller than she was now. "It takes a lot more than a trigger-happy copper with three bullets to stop me."
"I was worried..." She admitted. "I always worry when you're hurt... I'm just glad you're fine..." She embraced him, and he made a small grunt of surprise. "Blues... you're not going to leave now, are you?"
"No... I don't think so." Blues shook his head. "I was visiting Australia, but I've kind of lost my taste for there right now."
"We saw what happened on the news." Cossack shook his head sadly. "A dreadful thing. He was... a friend?" Blues nodded somberly.
"A new one... and a good one. If that hadn't happened... he might have become... more." He brightened up. "Speaking of which... how are Pharaoh Man and the others? No problems since their rebuilding?" Kalinka made a face; aside from Blues, she had never liked robots after being maltreated and abused by some of Wily's.
"Quite good, actually." Cossack nodded. "Their minds are running with no problems... they haven't even come close to breaking the Three Laws ever since I reinstalled them. All eight of them are doing fine."
"They stink." Kalinka stuck her tongue out. "Dad always sets them to watching me... they don't let me do anything."
"We were talking about that before you came in here, actually." Blues looked back at Dr. Cossack. "I was telling him he should let you out more, wasn't I, doctor?"
"Yes, yes." Cossack agreed. "Perhaps I should."
"Oh, oh!" Kalinka squealed. "How about tomorrow? Can we go down to Moscow tomorrow, the three of us, now that Blues is here?"
"Tomorrow?" Cossack frowned. "Kalinka, I don't think-"
"Please, dad?" Kalinka begged. "Come on, please? Blues doesn't come by often enough... only every couple months. Now's the perfect time, before he leaves again... please?"
"She's got a point, Doc." Blues chimed in. "And I would like to see Moscow again. Come on, let's make a trip of it."
"Well, maybe..." Cossack said thoughtfully. "Although I still worry... not that I doubt your abilities, Blues, but..."
"What if Pharaoh Man came with us?" Blues added in a burst of inspiration. "As added protection? I don't think there's anything in the world that we couldn't take down between us."
"Pharaoh Man? No way!" Kalinka argued. "We don't need him! You can protect us both by yourself, Blues!"
"No, Blues has a point, Kalinka." Cossack decided. "Very well. We will go to Moscow tomorrow, but only if you will agree to let Pharaoh Man stick by you for your safety, Kalinka."
"Oh, fine." The young girl grumbled. "He's such a stiff, but all right. It's better than staying cooped up here." She stalked off, waving her hands in the air and muttering to herself.
"Heh... she's never met Roll, has she?" Blues inquired. Cossack shook his head.
"No... Thomas once, and of course Rock when he fought me, but not Roll yet."
"Probably a good thing." The Robot Master smirked. "They'd probably start fighting within five minutes, and within ten the room would be nothing more than a crater. How is dad, anyways? And the other old farts, for that matter?"
"Thomas is doing fine." Cossack smiled. "We are almost done with a new project of my design... a secret we are keeping even from Rock, Roll and the others. All that remains is for him to finish working on the last circuit plates." Blues shook his head in admiration.
"Sounds great, Doc... nothing keeps you down, looks like. I'm guessing this project is designed to help Rock in the Rebellions?" Cossack nodded. "Good. We'll probably need it the next time Wily shows his ugly mug."
"Wily, yes..." Cossack muttered. "Indeed, it cannot be too much longer before he returns... when he does, we shall be ready for him. Anyways... the others are doing fine as well. Darwin Vinkus is as cranky as ever... I do not think he truly approves of me, but we're staying civil to each other. Olivier-sorry, I meant Mr. X-is doing fine as well, although I don't see him as much as Vinkus. Trent, though, is the one who we're all truly watching right now."
"Doc Corbun?" Blues remembered. "He's working for U.S. Robotics now, isn't he?"
"Yes, after he finished tidying up Sennet's paperwork." Cossack nodded. "And U.S. Robotics is, in only a week, going to launch their own eight Robot Master designs at last."
"Whoa, now." Blues growled. "That could be a problem." U.S. Robotics, the third major competitor in the field of robotics in the past two decades, was also the third to launch lines of mass-produced Robot Masters. The other two, Lighttech and Sennet, had done so before, and both times their Robot Masters had been hijacked and reprogrammed to serve in the Robot Rebellions, events that had resulted in a major drop for Lighttech and bankruptcy for Sennet. "That's a disaster waiting to happen... Wily's sure to go for them."
"The Lights are ahead of you." Cossack assured him. "All of them will be attending the ceremony, and Rock will be ready to go at the drop of a hat. Myself and Kalinka will be attending as well, of course, as will Darwin and X."
"Good." Blues grunted. "So, how do they look? Your professional opinion?"
"Professional opinion..." Dr. Cossack mused. "Well... they range. Some of them, like their Starshine and Railroader models, just look silly."
"This from the man who worked for the company that made the Spinstrike models." Blues chuckled.
"Ouch... point." Cossack winced. "All right, all right. However, others... like the Crystallus and Warmonger models... look very nasty. I think those two were designed by Trent directly, which likely means they're the most powerful."
"He was head of Sennet for a reason... even if you were the real genius there, he was no slouch." Blues agreed. "I'll have to remember to be there too. What's the exact date of the unveiling?"
"February twenty-seventh." Cossack told him after a moment in thought. "In New York city, in the U.S."
"Right, then." The Robot Master commited it to memory. "New York city on February twenty-seventh it is, then. And let's just hope that if Wily makes his move, we'll be able to take him down fast."
"Hello, Blues. It is good to see you again." Blues looked up and smiled at the Robot Master who was addressing him. He was built to resemble an Egyptian pharaoh, with a goldenrod-and-black color scheme.
"Pharaoh Man. How have you been doing? The last time I saw you was right after you and the others were reactivated, right?"
"Affirmative." Pharaoh Man confirmed. "We are all... happy, I suppose... to be returned to our normal selves once more. We did not like having to threaten humans for Albert Wily... insofar as we can emulate human emotion, that is."
"I didn't really either, back in the Third, come to think of it." Blues scratched the back of his head. :"Well, I'm glad that you're all doing fine now."
"As are we, my friend." Pharaoh Man gave one of his rare smiles. Of Cossack's eight Robot Masters, he was the most advanced, both physically and mentally, but yet he was still leaps and bounds behind the Advanced Robot Masters, and rarely showed any emotion at all. And yet... he had his moments. "Even the damage dealt to Ring Man's mind by the hard light testing at the laboratory he was forced to capture has been repaired flawlessly. As the humans or you might say... we are in flip-top shape."
"That's 'tip-top', Pharaoh Man." Blues chortled. "'Flip-top' is what my dad renamed Eddie as after Doc Corbun spiked the punch bowl at the party following the dropping of all charges against YOUR dad-well, no, I suppose you'd call him your creator."
"Creator... dad..." Pharaoh Man shrugged. "With Robot Masters... is there really that much of a difference?" Behind his shades, Blues' eyes narrowed.
"No... I suppose there isn't. Very good, Pharaoh Man." The gold-and-black Robot Master shrugged again.
"It was simply a logical analysis."
"I suppose." Blues shrugged. "Still. Not bad at all, even if it was just logic. Most Robot Masters wouldn't even be capable of that level of thinking."
"I believe all of my brothers would be able to make that connection." Pharaoh Man argued, then paused. "Well... maybe not Dive Man." Blues had to laugh at that.
"True... he never was the brightest bulb around... whoops, better not let Bright Man hear me making cracks like that. Anyways, how about your combat abilities? Have you tested those since you were rebuilt?"
"We have." Pharaoh Man confirmed. "A large number of warbots remained in the Citadel. Some are being used as guards around the outer perimeters, and some are used by us to maintain our abilities. We are all as capable as we were before the Rebellion; not quite a match for yourself and Mega Man, but enough to handle just about anything less than that."
"Good." Blues smiled. "Has Dr. Cossack told you about what we'll be doing tomorrow?" Pharaoh Man inclined his head.
"Yes. I will be ready to safeguard mistress Kalinka at all times." He turned his head around. "Speaking of which, I believe she is approaching at this moment."
"Here you are, Blues!" Kalinka greeted him as she ran in. As soon as she saw Pharaoh Man, however, her smile faded. "Oh... you're here too. Don't you have something better you should be doing?"
"I suppose so. By your leave." Bowing to both of them, Pharaoh Man turned and walked away. Kalinka watched him go silently, and Blues sighed.
"Do you really hate them that much, Kalinka?"
"What?" The human girl blinked, nonplussed.
"The Robot Masters here." Blues explained. "Pharaoh Man and the others... do you truly despise them?"
"Well... no, not really." Kalinka admitted. "I don't hate them, I just... don't like them. They never let me do anything... my dad always makes them keep me under lock and key. And they're just so... well... robotic. Not like you, Blues."
"They may surprise you in that regard one day..." The Robot Master chuckled, returning his attention to the computer screen he had been focusing on before Pharaoh Man had entered. Kalinka peered over his shoulder, curious.
"Whatcha doing?"
"Writing an e-mail home." Blues explained. "Normally I send postcards, but I don't think there's a gift shop in this place, so..."
"To your father and siblings?" Kalinka asked. He nodded. "I've never met them... well, there was that time with Mega Man at the end of the Fourth, but not aside from that." She frowned at a sudden thought. "Him and Roll... they're robots, aren't they? Are they like you?"
"Yeah." Blues continued typing as he spoke. "In some ways, Rock's probably even more advanced than I am. Roll, not so much, but she's got enough attitude to make up for it." Kalinka remained silent again, then spoke up suddenly.
"Could I... meet them some time? All of them?" Blues smiled at her.
"Of course. Tell you what. Next time I decide to go back home for a visit, I'll call here first, and your dad can bring you down to Tokyo. I'll introduce you to all of them... Dad and Rock and Roll... oh, and Rush and Eddie, of course."
"Those names do sounds vaguely familiar..." Kalinka thought, then shrugged. "Can't place them..."
"Rush is the dog." Blues explained. "He's a robot, but you can't tell it by the way he behaves. If he knocks you over, don't get excited; he'll just want to lick your face. A lot. Eddie, now... he's a suitcase, basically. A walking storage robot. Not much personality, but he's friendly enough, and handy a lot of the time. And then there's that secret project... has your dad told you anything about that, by any chance?"
"Not a thing." Kalinka shook her head. "Our dads are keeping it absolutely hush-hush between them... I don't think even Pharaoh Man and the others know anything about it."
"Figures." Blues sighed. "Oh well, we'll find out about it when they're done with it, I guess."
"Yeah..." Kalinka agreed, glancing at the e-mail he was typing up.
Hey, everybody.
You've probably seen the news by now, if it's reached as far as Tokyo, which I don't doubt. Just wanted to let you know I'm okay. After the incident, I shacked up at Cossack's; that's where I am right now. It was an ugly little incident, but there's nothing to be done about it now, so I'm cool. I'm hurt that you didn't tell me about this new secret project though, dad. Wounded, struck to the quick, absolutely petrified. Next time I come by, Kalinka'll probably come with her father so I can introduce you all, so try to refrain from causing any grossly visible structural damage until after then, Rock. Just thought I'd give you all a heads up. See yas around.
Blues
"Aaand, send." Blues fired off the e-mail. "Right then, was there anything else... oh, yeah..." He brought up a search engine.
"Human to robot violence?" Kalinka read. "Isn't that how you got those wounds?"
"Yeah..." Blues shook his head sadly. "And that's nothing compared to the other guy. He was a robot with no weapons systems at all... no way of protecting himself. He was killed."
"Oh, Blues..." Kalinka whispered in horror. "When I was saying those things about Pharaoh Man and the others..."
"No, it's okay." Blues assured her. "You're not a robot killer... you said you didn't hate them, and I know you'd never try to hurt even robots you didn't know. Some people, though... humanity has its dark side, even as robots do."
"Wily..." Kalinka remembered, shivering from a buried memory.
"Yeah... he's the one who's really to blame for everything that happened to you. And he's not the only one... I imagine there a lot of humans out there who would deny robots, any robots, even the right to exist." He frowned. "There's a guy who hangs out with our dad... name of Darwin Vinkus. He leans that way as well... doesn't like robots, doesn't trust them. He's on the United Nations, and he can be counted on to vote against robots in any issue that comes up involving them. But to my knowledge, he hasn't yet actually killed any himself... so maybe there's still hope for him." His eyes widened at the results of his search. "Holy..."
"What is it?" Kalinka read the screen quickly. "Hundreds... thousands of matches found?"
"Lighttech... and Sennet both..." Blues read down the list, shaking his head in disbelief. "And even some attacks on the U.S. Robotics factories by terrorist organizations... I thought those had all been stamped out by now."
"I recognize some of these." Kalinka told him. "They were my jailers... but I didn't know there were more of those kinds!"
"Those kinds were made by Sennet Robotics... they were mass-produced." Blues explained numbly, unable to wrench his eyes away from the terrible list. "These ones here, owned by civilians, had nothing to do with Wily or the Rebellions... they were never reprogrammed, never turned to evil. And they were killed because their brothers were used as pawns by Wily and Doc Man... and nothing more. Humans decided that that alone justified their deaths... too many humans, too many deaths. I thought there would be some, maybe a lot, but this... I never expected this many. And these are just the known cases, the ones that made the news... there's probably at least this many again that nobody ever found a trace of..." Kalinka wrenched her gaze away, unable to continue looking.
"I'm sorry, Blues."
"For what?" He turned and gave her a sad, forced smile. "It's not your fault... you didn't force humanity to create people like this. I don't blame myself for every human death ever caused by Robot Masters, so why should you do the opposite?" He closed the browser window. "That's enough of that. Come on... let's get to stasis for me and sleep for you. We've got a big day ahead tomorrow."
"Ah, Moscow." Dr. Cossack took a deep breath. He began coughing. "Ah, city air. I had almost forgotten how different it was... such a shame that I could not do so completely."
"There does indeed seem to be a much greater amount of smog and other pollutants in the air here than in the castle." Pharaoh Man noted. "And yet, there are more than a thousand times as many humans here than in the castle to breath the air. Homo sapiens confuses me sometimes."
"Kinda makes you glad we're not part of the species, eh, Pharaoh?" Blues joked.
"Speak for yourself. Whee!" Laughing, Kalinka led the way into the city, away from the hovertransport they had taken from the castle. Soon, they were just four more tourists in the crowds, Pharaoh Man the only one sticking out in any way. Enough time had passed since the last Rebellion that Cossack was no longer a household face. Blues was hard to recognize in his civilian garb, and Kalinka had never been featured in the spotlight much anyways. As for Pharaoh Man... by common agreement, he wore a suit and a hat that concealed most of him, and only those who got a close look at him could tell that he was a Robot Master, let alone identify him.
"Hey..." Blues paused at one point after several hours. "That place... I recognize it now. I had almost forgotten about it..."
"A tailor's?" Cossack raised a curious eyebrow. "What did you want from here, Blues?"
"The last time I was here in Moscow, I placed a special order at this place." Blues explained, walking in. "It should be ready by now." Curious, Cossack and Kalinka followed him. A fussy-looking clerk peered down at them through half-moon glasses an inch thick before speaking in Russian.
"Excuse me... may I help you with something?"
"Yeah, I placed an order here about three months ago." Blues responded flawlessly in the same language. The clerk glanced at Cossack.
"Sir, would you please inform your son that we tend not to hold on to orders that have been overdue for over a month?"
"He's not my father, and I'm the one who made that order." Blues growled. "It's under Blues Light." The clerk sceptically glanced at his computer. His eyes widened.
"Blues Light? Forgive me, sir! We have it here!" Walking around back, he quickly returned with a wrapped and ribboned box. Blues paid him, then smilingly handed the box to Kalinka.
"Here you go... I had this made for you. I think you'll like it." Unable to wait, Kalinka immediately tore into the wrapping. She stopped, frozen, as she saw what was inside. A banana-yellow scarf, exactly like the one Blues always wore. Before he could speak again, she launched into him with a bonecrushing hug.
"Oh, Blues, it's beautiful! Thank you!"
"Thanks... recieved." He gasped. "Just don't... crush my... microfusion... generator." Kalinka released him and picked up the scarf, wrapping it around her neck immediately.
"Very pretty, daughter mine." Cossack congratulated her. "What do you think, Pharaoh Man? Pharaoh Man?" They all looked around, but the egypt-themed Robot Master was nowhere to be seen. "Damn... I TOLD him to stick by Kalinka at all times! Where is he?"
"Probably in trouble." Blues guessed angrily. "Pharaoh wouldn't just shirk us for no reason. Come on!" He ran outside, with the two humans following him. Scanning the street, he quickly spotted the problem. Pharaoh Man was in an alley across the street, being menaced the same way Chopper had probably been. Again, it was three human males, these ones older than the punks in Sidney. Two of them carried bottles in brown paper bags, and the third was hefting a sawn-off billiard cue.
"You sure this is him?" One of the bottle-holders asked the cue wielder, who was apparently the leader. "Robots all look alike, ya know..."
"No, this is him." The leader insisted. "There was only one ever made of this guy... this is Pharaoh Man!"
"Why are you impeding my directives?" Pharaoh Man asked. "I bear you no malice."
"Ha! Don't make us laugh!" The other bottle carrier took a swig. "We know who you are! You were in the Rebellion! The fourth one!"
"I was under the control of Albert Wily at that time." Pharaoh Man pleaded. "I am now reprogrammed. I could not hurt a human even if I wanted to."
"Really? Well, it sucks to be you then, don't it?" The leader chuckled without a trace of humor. "My sister was one of the people you held hostage in Cairo. You nearly killed her, robot... and for that, you're dead!" He swung out and smashed Pharaoh Man into a wall with his cue. As he raised it to strike again, a whistled tune caught his attention.
"Leave him alone." Blues commanded. "Or I'll hurt you." The two bottle holders stared at the Mega Buster on his arm and took a step back, but the leader held his ground defiantly.
"You're Proto Man, aren't you, bub?" He realized. "Well, hate to break it to you, but that's not going to work. I know about the Three Laws. Like this trash, you can't hurt us."
"Want to bet?" Blues bluffed, charging a shot. The leader smirked and threw out his chest.
"Yeah, I do, matter of fact. Go on, shoot me! Hell, just skim me! Graze my arm with a tiny shot or something! I dare ya!" Blues gritted his teeth and fired... barely missing the man, who laughed. "Didn't feel a thing! You're nothin', loser!" He swung his cue again, sending Blues sprawling. Growling, the Robot Master tried to rise, only to be smashed back down. Regaining their confidence, the other two stepped up as well. "Come on, you tin can... can't you even get-huh?" He glanced up as a sixth figure entered the brawl.
"Get off of him!" Dr. Cossack yelled, barreling at the leader in a shoulder charge. However, one of the bottle holders intercepted him, and they rolled along the ground, grappling fiercely. The other bottle holder began kicking Pharaoh Man, preventing him from rising, while the leader continued to hammer on Blues.
"Cossack, too! This is our lucky day! Don't let him get away!" He yelled at his buddy. "We'll take care of all three for good here! OOF!" He stopped laying into Blues, stumbling as Kalinka struck the backs of his legs with an ancient, rusted tire iron she had grabbed out of a dumpster.
"Stop that! Leave Blues... leave my family alone! AAH!" She screamed as the man viciously backhanded her away. Blues' eyes lit up with fury, and he raised his Buster again... but the blaring red words appeared across his vision, locking his movements.
A ROBOT MUST NOT HARM A HUMAN BEING. Cursing inwardly, Blues struggled to move as he saw the enraged leader slap Kalinka again.
"Brat! Stay out of this or we'll kill you too-huh?" The cue-wielding man froze as he heard a bellow of pure animal rage. Upon seeing his daughter harmed, Sergei Cossack had risen to his feet and bodily lifted the astonished thug he had been fighting before hurling him into the one that had been harrassing Pharaoh Man. With another yell, he charged at the cue wielder, who raised his weapon in startled defense. It did him no good; Cossack ducked under the swing and delivered a blockbuster right hook into the man's gut. The cue slipped from his hand as he doubled over. Like the first, Cossack picked him up and threw him into his friends. Leaving all three in a groaning heap, the Russian doctor bent over his daughter.
"Kalinka! Kalinka!"
"Daddy..." She cried. "It hurts... Blues, where are you..."
"I'm... here." Blues got to his feet and walked over to her. "Kalinka... I'm sorry. We'll get you back to a hospital in no time."
"Not a hospital... back to the Castle." Cossack shook his head. "After the Fourth Rebellion, I stocked up... we have enough medical equipment to treat an army there." He picked Kalinka up, then glanced at Blues sympathetically. "First Law?"
"Yeah." The Robot Master nodded, walking over to Pharaoh Man and helping him to his feet. "When that guy hurt her, I pointed my Buster at him... and I froze up. Core module kicked in and locked my functions. I couldn't move. You okay, Pharaoh?"
"I'll be fine after a repair job... after mistress Kalinka is seen to." Pharaoh Man answered. "We are lucky that you were here, doctor... otherwise, we would have doubtless both been destroyed."
"I wouldn't go that far." Blues disagreed. "It's still daylight out... look at all those spectators." Indeed, there was a large cluster of pedestrians around the mouth of the alley. "The police would have gotten here before we were destroyed. Speaking of which, they'll be arriving at any moment now, so if we want to get Kalinka back to the castle as fast as possible, we should probably get moving."
"Yes, indeed. Let's go." Cossack, carrying Kalinka, led the two Robot Masters out, leaving the three thugs lying back in the alley. The crowds parted for them without a word, closing after them, as they made their way back to the waiting hovertransport that would return them to the safety of the castle.
"All right, Blues. You're good to go." Cossack stood up wearily. Blues stood as well, testing all his limbs.
"Everything's working. Bang-up job, Doc." He glanced over at Pharaoh Man, who was lying in a nearby stasis pod. "You going to fix him up next?"
"Yes... I cannot rest until I have done all I can for all three of you." Cossack nodded, moving over to begin work on his Robot Master. Blues nodded, working out a crick in his neck.
"Speaking of which, how's Kalinka doing? Please tell me there's nothing broken..."
"Fortunately, no." Cossack shook his head. "Just a lot of bruises. Toad Man aided me, and we bandaged her up. She'll be completely healed within a week."
"That's good. Is she asleep, then?" The Robot Master asked. Cossack started to reply, then stopped, remembering something.
"Ye... well, perhaps not. She told me that she would not go to sleep until you came to see her... and she knew you were all right as well."
"Sounds like her." Blues grunted. "She's stubborn as heck at times like these. I'll go check on her, then." Cossack waved a hand absently in agreement, already deep into his work on Pharaoh Man, as the Robot Master left.
"Blues..." Kalinka greeted him the moment the door to her room opened. She was buried under several layers of blankets, only her head peeking out... along with the scarf he had given her, still being worn. A television at the other end of the room was showing the news.
"Hey. Your dad told me you wouldn't go to sleep until I stopped by." Blues sat down on the edge of the huge feather bed. "And we couldn't have that, now could we? You need to rest and heal up." He frowned. "That was a silly thing you did, getting involved in the fight like that. You shouldn't have. Even if it was what made your dad go berserk and whup all three of those guys."
"I know..." The young girl agreed. "But I couldn't just stand there and watch you get beaten up, Blues."
"...Kalinka, let me explain." The Robot Master clenched his fist, looking away. "You know about the Three Laws of Robotics... and that I've already broken the Third, 'A robot must obey a human being unless doing so contradicts the first or second law.' I haven't yet broken the Second, 'A robot must act to preserve its own existence unless doing so contradicts the first law,' but my brother has, so I could probably pull it off in a neccessary situation. The First Law, though... 'A robot must not harm a human being...' that one's absolute." He looked back at Kalinka, face grave. "Back there, Kalinka... when those three thugs attacked you... there was no way I could do anything to stop you. If you get in fights with other humans, I will be completely unable to help. So will Pharaoh Man, and all the other Robot Masters here. Your dad was the only one who could fight back... we couldn't, and no matter what happens to, we'll never be able to against humans."
"But your brother..." Kalinka remembered. "He fought Wily... and my father, right?"
"Not directly, no." Blues shook his head. "They were using warmachines... every time. He destroyed those warmachines, but he never once injured their bodies... if he had, he wouldn't be here now. Even watching two humans fight each other can set off alarm bells... and if it gets to the level where one is in danger of permanent injury or death, we have to act to save their life, even if they're our enemy." Kalinka gasped, suddenly remembering.
"Like when my father and Wily fought."
"Like then, yes." The Robot Master confirmed. "When your father gained the upper hand, and started choking Wily to death, we had to intervene... even though the scum deserved it twenty times over, we had to save his life. A good thing, as it turns out... Wily pulled out a matter teleporter, and if we hadn't seperated them, your dad would have been caught in the backlash, and his brain would have been scrambled as bad as Wily's. Failing to prevent that would probably have killed me and Rock then and there."
"So..." Kalinka realized. "If I fight a human... I'm putting both of us at risk?"
"That's right. And any other robots around." Blues sighed heavily. "And it sucks, to be honest. Those scumbags were the worst humanity has to offer... the lowest dregs of society, barely above even Wily. And yet, even to save your life, I couldn't do anything to stop them. If it had been just us and Pharaoh Man, and your dad hadn't been there... then if you had kept fighting, they probably would have killed you... and me and Pharaoh Man would be locked down by our own minds, forced to watch helplessly as you died and then die ourselves for failing to prevent that, even though it was the First Law itself that blocked us from doing so. Just because those three thugs were technically of the species homo sapiens. It's stupid, it's contradictory, it's a crock... but it's burned permanently into my brain, and there's nothing I can do. One of the drawback of being made out of metal instead of flesh and bone." He smiled sadly.
"All right... Blues." The human girl smiled back. "I won't get in any more fights with humans anymore."
"That's my girl." Blues grinned. "Glad to see something's going right. The last few days have been pretty bad... first the incident in Sydney, then finding out just how many cases of these things there are, and then it happening again to us... yeesh. But now's not the time to dwell on such unpleasant things. As I believe I've said before, you need to rest and recover. Now, let's shut this television off so you can get some sleep, huh?" He glanced at the screen... and for the second time in only a few days, froze upon seeing what was displayed there.
"The perpetrators were three natives of Sydney, all teenagers. Frederick Comma, 17, Rocko Tritus, 16, and Charlie Nibbs, 16, were all released today on bail. Their trial for the crime of human-to-robot violence is set for a week, and the defense is extremely confident. It appears as if the boys will be getting off with only a slap on the wrist, if anything at all..." On the television, the three punks who had killed Chopper were walking away from a courthouse accompanied by what appeared to be their parents. All three were smiling and waving cockily.
"..." Blues stood as if frozen. Kalinka stared at him, as the Robot Master's skin paled, becoming an ashen grey.
"Blues? Blues, please! Say something!"
"A... slap on the wrist..." Blues muttered to himself. "If... anything at... all. A slap on the wrist, if anything at all... released on bail... a slap on the wrist..." Kalinka's hand came out from beneath the blankets and reached for him. As it did, Blues' head snapped around so quickly that his prized sunglasses went flying over. Kalinka retracted her hand in fright. In his exposed eyes... was a complete and total lack of emotion. No sadness, no anger, no frustration... nothing. Absolutely nothing. Silently, he picked the sunglasses up and replaced them on his nose, then turned away, jaw clenching and unclenching. After a few moments, the human girl spoke again.
"Blues... I'm sorry..."
"I'm... sorry too, Kalinka." Blues stood up. "I'm afraid... I'm going to have to cut this visit short. Tell your dad and the others I apologize for not saying goodbye to them... I need to leave now, right away, before anything else happens."
"Where?" Kalinka asked. "Where are you going?"
"I'm... not sure." Blues still refused to look at her again. "Away. Just... away. I need some time alone... some time to think. I feel like my head's unraveling, like everything's coming loose and spilling out into the world... leaving nothing behind. I just need some time by myself to figure things out, where nobody else can find me and I can't find anybody." The human girl closed her eyes for a moment of willpower, then opened them again.
"Will you be okay?"
"I think so, yeah." He nodded. "This is just a rough patch... I've had them before. Don't worry about me... just concentrate on getting better. I'll see you again in a few months."
"All right. I'll tell my father and the others you left." She promised. Blues turned his head just enough so that she could see he was smiling.
"Excellent. I'll see you later, then. And hey... I'm glad you like the scarf." Whistling his trademark tune, he teleported away, vanishing through the roof in a streak of light.
Whether as Break Man, Proto Man or just as himself, Blues had never believed in showing strong emotions outwardly. Any distractions like that would have gotten him killed back in the jungles, and he had never broken the habit. There was no need to scream his feelings for the world to see; those who knew him well enough would see past the calm, confident smirk. Thus, even as he was cooly bidding Kalinka farewell... his robotic mind was a seething mass of confusion, disappointment and rage.
It had nothing to do with right or wrong... if such things could be said to exist beyond personal beliefs. It was all down to whether somebody was a human or a robot. Granted, the Robot Masters were still not on the same level of intelligence as humans... but even if they were, Blues reasoned bitterly, their treatment would probably not be much better. Second-class, tolerated but with no rights, nothing to protect them. Even he was helpless against the cold, hard fact. A robot could not harm a human being... but a human being could harm a robot. A human could harm as many robots as it wanted to... but a robot could not harm a single human being. Even Wily's Robot Masters had only been able to commit their atrocities because he, another human, had reprogrammed them. By themselves, robots had nothing. A robot could never fight back against a human... no robot had ever done so. No robot... but one...
YEEAAA HAA HA HA HA...
The laugh exploded into Blues' memory like a bomb, as he remembered the robot who HAD. He had only heard that laugh a few times himself, far less than his brother; as Break Man, he had only played a small part in the violent running battle near the end of the Third Robot Rebellion. But he remembered the laugh, and the horrific shell of a Robot Master it belonged to. Doc Man. He had gone insane, his mind of circuitry and transistors literally, physically twisted and broken, only functioning at all by a dark miracle. And yet... one of the things missing from the maniac's mind had been the Laws. His mind, shattered as it was, had been free until his death, the only Robot Master to be truly so. The only one.
A robot could not harm a human being...
...Could he?
And if he did... would his sanity be the price?