Chapter 3: Broken Ties
"None of us expected it. He was our golden boy, our hero, our image of what every Hunter could become... and then, in one bloody afternoon, he killed almost all of us and launched the Reploid race into a darkness it may never overcome. And in doing so, he doomed himself... even those of us who remember who he once was curse the name... Sigma." -Dr. James Cain, on the beginning of the First Maverick Uprising
"Ah, Councilor Vinkus. There you are." Edmund Martel, the United Nations representative for the United States, greeted his Japanese counterpart. "Now that everybody's here... this meeting of the council of the United Nations is now in session. Councilor Martel presiding."
"Councilor Vinkus, I understand that you attended the U.S. Robotics showing of their new Robot Masters." Elizabeth Coombe from England opened the floor immediately. "Your impressions would, of course, be valued greatly by us... especially in deciding if we at the U.N. will have to take any action in regards to this."
"I have already gone over the U.S. Robotics plans with a fine-toothed comb and reported my findings in front of this council." Martel replied a bit angrily. "Everything is entirely in order and completely legal."
"Of course, we trust the esteemed councilor of the States." Coombe nodded. "However, it is best on such tricky matters as these to obtain judgement from more than one source... just in case."
"Just in..." Martel started to stand up in anger, but he was cut off by a bark of short, contemptuous laughter from another councilor.
"Come off it, Liz." Louis Arcian of France grinned at her. "You've been trying to find something to pin on them ever since Corbun left your country. You're not going to, already." Several other councilors smiled as well, although Councilor Coombe's glare could have cooled down an active volcano. "And while it is, of course, incredibly fascinating for all of us to hear yourself and Councilor Martel going over the same argument over and over again, might we for once, purely in the interest of time, skip to the original point? That being, what Councilor Vinkus gathered from the presentation that Dr. Corbun so graciously invited him to?"
"Thank you, Councilor Arcian." Vinkus cleared his throat. "As has been stated, I was personally invited to the U.S. Robotics presentation by my friend, Dr. Trenton Corbun. All eight models that had been announced previously were introduced and explained. Now, as you all know, I am... shall we say, a bit concerned... about the degree to which humanity relies on Robot Masters today." This understatement drew a brief chuckle from many present; Vinkus' anti-robotics opinions were legendary. "In particular, I was expecting an unpleasant incident that would involve another guest, one who had NOT been invited. To my pleasant surprise, that guest did not in fact show, and no incident took place."
"You refer, of course, to Albert Wily." Councilor Mikhail from Russia stated darkly. It was not a question.
"Of course." Vinkus confirmed. Every member there remembered with absolute clarity the night when Vinkus had called an emergency meeting to announce the shocking revelation that Dr. Albert Wily had, in fact, survived the Third Robot Rebellion and was indeed the true driving force behind Dr. Cossack in the Fourth. The fact that none of their resources, both as the United Nations and as individual countries, had been able to locate the mad doctor since his escape from the dying Skull Fortress IV had been a great source of worry for them all, for obvious reasons. "I trust I was not the only one who was expecting my old colleague to put in an appearance, with eight new Robot Master models ready for the snatch." Several others nodded. "While I must wonder as to why he did not make an attempt, I am not so foolish as to protest it so eagerly that I attract the attention of mister Murphy." This got a few chuckles; Murphy's Law, a popular saying over a century old, still held true today. "Without that to distract me, I was thus able to pay close attention to the Robot Masters themselves. Now, I am no expert robotocist, and I do not claim to be one. Regardless, I was duly impressed by U.S. Robotics' showing. If Wily does indeed fail in taking them for his own, then I see no dangers in most of the models."
"Most of them?" Coombe asked archly. Vinkus nodded.
"Yes... most. Two models did concern me... the two that were designed entirely for combat, from the beginning. The Greenhawk and Warmonger models. I believe I have expressed my disapproval of those before... now that I have actually seen them, my worries have only intensified."
"Believe it or not, Councilor Vinkus, I agree with you on that matter." Martel sighed heavily. "But it's beyond my control... the government placed those orders no matter how much I protested to those maniacs at the top, and there was nothing I could do about it. And once they did, U.S. Robotics had to fill them. The gods alone know who they plan to use the damn things on. I just WISH they hadn't put Corbun himself on the Warmonger model, above all else."
"Amen to THAT." Vinkus rolled his eyes heavenward. "We may actually be able to nail the U.S. on some international law with that one, Councilor Coombe... we should look over the relevant material again now that I know exactly what that thing's capable of."
"If you can find some way to shut down production of the Warmonger model, you won't find any opposition from ME." Martel agreed. "And the Greenhawk too, for that matter... many of us may not distrust Robot Masters as much as the esteemed Councilor from Japan, but I think I can state without argument that we all detest warbots." Nobody argued with that statement. "So then, back on track... there were no problems with the presentation itself?"
"None." Vinkus shook his head. "Fortunate... if Wily HAD showed up, the carnage might have been even greater than many here would fear, since Mega Man was also present and would doubtless attempt to stop him."
"Mega Man... I had forgotten he was attending as well..." Coombe murmured. "Tell us, how did he seem to take the proceedings there?" Arcian shot Vinkus a warning glance.
"Much the same way I did." Vinkus shrugged. "Distrust and worry, particularly about Wily... confusion when that madman didn't show after all... and distaste over those two models already stated as dangerous." He paused for a moment. "There appeared to be some sort of interaction between him and the Warmonger prototype, but I didn't inquire as to what it was."
"Probably just it detecting that he didn't approve." Mikhail guessed. "Even ordinary Robot Masters can tell these things, from my experience." Vinkus smiled tolerantly.
"I suppose. That's all I have to report, really. Shall we note that we intend to look into the legality of the Warmonger and Greenhawk models and move on?"
"Sounds like the best plan to me." Martel wrote something down. "Any objections?" There were none. "Very well, then. Next on our agenda..."
"Will you stop moping around?" Roll demanded. It had been a week since they had returned from the U.S. Robotics presentation, and ever since then, Rock had been even gloomier than usual, trying to figure out "what Wily's plan is," to his sister's constant irritation.
"It just doesn't make sense!" Rock slammed his fist into a coffee table. Roll wrinkled her nose.
"Watch it with the furniture. And come on, Rock. Sense? From Wily?"
"That's the point, Roll." Her brother fumed. "Look, a sane person would look at all the guards there plus me, and figure now might not be such a good time, yeah. But Wily's NOT sane. He's completely bonkers, and he's obsessed with his Rebellions. Eight new Robot Masters lined up together, two of them even BUILT for killing, and they're being unveiled in a big ceremony with millions watching the TV. He shouldn't have been able to resist. And he didn't even try. He didn't even put in an appearance. What's more, it's been a week and he STILL hasn't done anything to try and hijack those Robot Masters." Roll nodded tiredly, having heard it all before.
"Your point?"
"My point..." Rock frowned. "Originally, I thought something had distracted Wily... that he was exploring some avenue he found more promising, whatever it could be. Now, though... I'm becoming afraid it might be something worse."
"Something worse?" Roll blinked; this was new. "What could be a worse possibility?" Rock glanced upstairs, where Dr. Light was working hard with Dr. Cossack, who had flown in from Russia that morning. They were apparently going to put the finishing touches on their new surprise project.
"That he's not distracted at all... that he WILL put the snatch on those Robot Masters, but that he's waiting for something else... something to happen first."
"Something to happen first..." Roll pondered the implications of that and shuddered. "That's a seriously scary idea, bro... when you consider the mental state of the individual in question, that is."
"I thought so, too." Rock nodded. "But I haven't been able to figure out what, and it's been driving me insane."
"So do something to get your mind off of it." Roll suggested. "Why don't you go ask dad and Doc Cossack if they need anything for their project, and take a trip down to the store to pick it up?"
"Hmm... that might be a good idea. Might as well." Rock sighed, starting up the stairs. "Oh... any word from Blues today?" His sister shook her head.
"Still nada."
"Great. More to worry about." Dodging the sofa cushion she threw at him, Rock ran the rest of the way upstairs, to the lab where Dr. Light's greatest inventions were created. He smiled a bit at the sign posted on the door reading "Secret project! No robots allowed!" before knocking.
"I'm pretty sure you're both literate." Dr. Light's voice responded, a bit muffled by the closed door. "So then, what word on the sign did I accidentally put in a different language?"
"I'm not coming in." Rock yelled back. "Just wanted to know if you guys wanted me to pick up anything from the store for this." There was a moment's pause before Dr. Cossack answered.
"See if they have some insulated wire... we don't need much, just a little. Oh, and some new cutters... Thomas broke his earlier today."
"Is it my fault the coffee hadn't kicked in yet when I saw that thin titanium pipe in the corner?" Dr. Light grumbled. Chuckling, Rock went back downstairs and outside, where he started up the Lights' car, a battered old green pickup truck. As he left the house, he heard happy barking from behind him, and stepped aside just in time to dodge Rush's tackle.
"You want to come along, boy?" Rock grinned, scratching the robotic dog's ears. Rush happily leaped into the back of the truck, and Rock started it up, driving down the forest road towards Tokyo. It had taken a lot of fast talking to persuade the people at the DMV that, as a robot, he wasn't subject to human age limits on licenses, a feat that would doubtless had been completely impossible if the manager hadn't been one of the people he had saved from Fire Man during the First Robot Rebellion. The sight of what looked like a young boy driving into Tokyo still turned quite a few heads as Rock pulled up to the electronics store that the Lights always used. The young man behind the counter was a family friend who smiled as he looked up and saw who it was.
"Hey, Rock! Picking up a few things for your old man?"
"Him and Doc Cossack." Rock nodded. "Gimme about a foot of insulated wire and some cutters for it, Mark." Rush barked from outside. "And a couple large bolts for Rush to chew on, too."
"Nothing complicated today, eh? No problem." Mark tossed the requested items into a bag. "On your guys' account, as usual?"
"You got it." Rock handed over a card, and Mark swiped it.
"Right then. Tell the old guys and your sis I said hi!"
"Will do!" Waving, Rock got back into the car and drove back towards home. He and Rush soon cleared Tokyo, back into the isolated forest in which the Lights' home was located. Out of nowhere, a pair of loud pops were head below, and the truck suddenly spun wildly. As Rock tried to wrestle it back into shape, two more blasts of noise were heard followed by even more loss of control. Fortunately, he was able to stop the truck before an accident occurred. Getting out, he discovered that all four tires had been ripped open. A short distance beyond them was the source; a spike strip had been laid across the road.
"The heck is this?" He wondered, eyes narrowing. "Not like this road is used very often... and this wasn't here when I first came this way. I'm suddenly getting a bad feeling about this..." Rush whined in agreement, then stopped as his ears perked up. A moment later, Rock heard it as well; from a distance away, the sound of a large blast being discharged. And it was coming from the direction of his house. "Make that a REALLY bad feeling. Let's move, Rush!" Barking, the robotic dog leaped out of the truck, and the two of them vanished into the sky in matching streaks of red and blue light. Only moments later, they landed back where they had stood. Rock bit off several sulfurous curses immediately. "Teleport shield… that settles it. Only one guy could be behind this… have to leg it, then. Come on!" The robotic boy and dog ran up the forest trail at top speed, hoping only that they would get there in time.
It was about five minutes after Rock had left that Roll heard a knocking on the door. She frowned, stretched and went to open it.
"Back already? And forgot his keys, too... brother, thou art truly a klutz." It was not Rock who was on the other side of the door, however, but Darwin Vinkus. Roll hastily covered her surprise. "Councilor Vinkus! We weren't expecting you."
"I was just in the area, and thought I'd drop by." The Councilor harrumphed, stepping inside. "Sergei is here right now, isn't he?" Roll nodded as he hung his hat and overcoat on the old-fashioned coatrack Dr. Light kept near the front door.
"Yes... he and my father are working on their new project upstairs. I'll go tell them you've arrived."
"No, no need." Vinkus waved a hand. "I'll just go say hello myself." Roll watched him walk upstairs and muttered something rude under her breath before shrugging. She had long ago given up trying to make any headway with Vinkus. Sighing, she returned to the television show she had been watching. A few minutes later, the door was knocked on again, prompting the robot girl to groan before rising again.
"There's Rock... and I was right about him forgetting his keys, looks like." She started to cross to the door, then stopped, noticing that somebody had left a nearby window open. As she closed it, she caught a glimpse out front, and immediately drew in her breath. It was not Rock that had knocked on the door; it was a humanoid robot who appeared to be a new variant on the common Lighttech "Sniper Joe" models. And it wasn't alone; robots by the score were behind it. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any actual Robot Masters with them. Roll carefully closed the window, then made a dash for the stairs as she heard the Joe knock again, more insistently. As she threw open the lab door, the three human males turned to stare at her, startled.
"Roll!" Dr. Light chided. "You know I asked you and Rock not to-"
"Stuff that." She interrupted angrily, causing Vinkus to sniff disapprovingly. "There is an ARMY of ROBOTS outside our front door, and Rock's out getting things for you. No Robot Masters, thank whatever gods there are, but we're still WAY up a certain creek. I think the reason for Wily's waiting to launch his Fifth Rebellion has just become abundantly clear."
"Derr'mo." Dr. Cossack offered his view on the situation in his native tongue. "When will he be back?"
"Not soon enough." Roll shook her head. "And he took Rush with him too. You three, stay in here... me and Eddie will have to do our best to hold them off until they get back." Eddie wandered over to her, and the two of them left, closing the door behind them. The Joe's knocking downstairs was sounding like he was about ready to batter the door down. Looking around wildly for something for Eddie to use, Roll found a crate of soda bottles lying in the kitchen. "These aren't ideal, but they'll have to do... open up, Ed!" Obligingly, the little suitcase flipped his top, and Roll crammed as many of the bottles into his storage compartment as possible. Closing it, Eddie jumped around to shake the contents up. "Good. Launch those at the creeps as soon as the door opens."
"Beep beep!" Eddie said in grim compliance as Roll picked up a chair.
"Huh... I think this is the same one I whacked that psycho Doc Man with when he attacked us here five years ago. Fitting. All right, let's go." Taking up positions in front of the door, Roll and Eddie waited. Soon, there was the sound of something being launched, and then a huge lump of sharpened crystal smashed through the lock. Both of the Light robots dodged nimbly, and then the door swung open, revealing the Joe in the lead with his arm weapon pointed forward.
"BEEP!" Eddie angrily flipped his top again, this time launching his contents out with the force of a catapult and the spread of a shotgun. The highly agitated soda bottles exploded all over the Joe and the robots behind him, distracting them and obscuring their optics with the fizz. Screaming a battle cry of her own, Roll dived into the fray.
Upstairs in the lab, the three doctors winced as they heard the sounds of the battle beginning. Light closed his eyes.
"Get back soon, Rock... I don't know how long those two can last."
"Oh?" Vinkus frowned. "I never asked... what weapons systems is your daughter equipped with?"
"None." Cossack told him bleakly. "She has strength equivalent to a very muscular human, but that's it." Vinkus took a step back in shock.
"And she still went out there? That's suicide!"
"First Law." Dr. Light shook his head mournfully. "She's bound, body and soul, to do everything in her power to protect the three of us from harm... even if it means her own life. Eddie too." Vinkus didn't say anything more, but his face was obviously troubled as his rigid thinking struggled with Roll's actions.
"She won't be able to beat them alone. You know that." Cossack told Light, trying not to sound accusing. The elderly robotocist nodded.
"I know... she's not trying to. She's just trying to keep them from killing us before Rock gets back."
"It's still bad." Cossack shook his head. "Her and Eddie... neither of them was designed for combat."
"Well then, what else CAN we do?" Dr. Light erupted. Cossack walked towards the door.
"Help out. I am, at least. You two stay here."
"Are you insane?" Vinkus yelled, jolted out of his thought process. "Do you know what those things will do to you?"
"The same things they're doing to Roll and Eddie right now." Cossack snapped back. "And I don't mean to be offensive, you two, but you're both older than me and more than a bit out of shape. I'm the only one of us three who stands a chance down there."
"You'll be more of a threat to Roll." Dr. Light argued. "If you go down there, she'll have to spend all her time guarding you from attacks instead of fighting back by herself. And if you DO suffer a serious injury, the First Law might fry her brain entirely. You can't go, Sergei." Dr. Cossack glared at him, then at the door.
"But... dammit, Thomas, we have to do SOMETHING!"
"...We can still help." Dr. Light realized. "We can bomb them... throw things from upstairs, even if we can't fight them directly." Vinkus blinked, mouth gaping like a fish. Then, with a shudder, the Councilor seemed to draw himself together.
"Light bulbs... box of them in that corner." The three men each gathered as many of the glass bulbs as they could carry, then looked outside. Below was absolute chaos. Robotic eggs, moths, and the familiar Metools were running around, firing plasma or just slamming with their bodies. Roll was flailing around with a chair; the robot girl had already suffered several plasma wounds, but a number of robots had been crushed. Eddie was being chased by some kind of Joe. The Doctors and Vinkus glanced at each other, took a pair of deep breaths, then started throwing.
As Rock's plasma bullet burned through the last missile flying towards him, like all the others it exploded in shrapnel, which he dodged. Growling, the robot boy ran further up the forest path, with Rush barking in pursuit. Five of the missiles had suddenly come roaring through the trees as he turned a corner, and it had taken some very fast shooting to blow them all away before they got close. Obviously, they had been launched with him specifically in mind. Now, he ran up the path as fast as his hydraulic legs could take him, much faster than a human of his visible age but still damnably not enough; his house was still almost a mile away, and every minute he wasted getting there might be the one minute too late for him to save his family.
"That settles it... this is BAD. Blues, if there was ever a time I need you to pull one of your surprise rescues... this is it. Please... have found out about this however you always learn what's going on." Rock sent out a silent prayer to whatever gods there were that his older brother in red and grey armor would be there to keep the others safe from the robot army that had attacked the one place he had never expected to have to do battle in. Rounding another bend, he screeched to a halt. "Since when were THOSE there?" He was referring to a pair of heavy gun turrets embedded in the forest dirt, each manned by the familiar "hard hat" Metool Lighttech Robot that Wily always, ALWAYS reprogrammed to serve as his foot soldiers. The Metools raised their helmets in mock surprise, and Rock fired another shot at the one on the left, obliterating it. Before he could hit the second, however, Rush dived on it, knocking the Metool operator off and tearing into it efficiently. Rock ran ahead. The next obstacle in his path was a series of deep holes somebody had bored into the ground. As he prepared to jump over one, a sudden thought struck him, and he tossed a small pebble over first. As soon as the pebble went over the pit, a coneheaded robot rocket blasted up, smashing it to gravel instantly. Glaring at Rock, it went back down. Shuddering, Rock carefully set each one off and then jumped as soon as it went back down, before it could fire again.
"That and those turrets settle it... and there's the shield, of course. Wily's been setting this up for days, even weeks now. Probably at night so we wouldn't see anything going on... and we're so far out that there was nobody else around to notice. Then it was just waiting for me to leave the others defenseless... damn you, Wily..."
"Woof!" Rush ran up behind him, and prepared to jump the pits.
"No, no!" Rock yelled. "Go around!" The robot dog's limited intellectual capabilities would not be able to deal with the timing needed to dodge the coneheads. Rush cocked his head in puzzlement, then shrugged and loped off. Rock went on, not having the time to wait for him.
"I just hope Wily concentrated most of his 'bots on keeping me away, rather than attacking the place..." Rock muttered to himself as he destroyed some more cannon turrets, these ones self-operating with shields that they raised to fire. More missiles flew forward in their wake, and again he shot them out of the sky before they even came near him, their shrapnel taking out the line of Metools below them. "Hmph... Wily needs to work on his troop placement more... he never used to be this sloppy." Three humanoids with holes where their heads would be launched spherical bombs out of them at him. Two of them missed, but the third scored the first hit of the robot army converging on his home. "Lucky shot... don't plan on getting in another!" Dodging, ducking and firing, he destroyed all three and ran on, coaxing his mind to remember the exact layout of the forest road that led home.
"If memory serves, I'm almost there now... just a couple more turns to go, and then-aw, hell, no." The afternoon sun was suddenly, completely eclipsed by one last, final obstacle in his path... and it was a doozy. Standing in front of him, impeding the path as effectively as a full police blockade, was a massive, three-story-tall, purple-armored humanoid behemoth of a robot. Its eyes did not have the gleam of intelligence that marked Robot Masters, but it was still obviously a VERY large problem; that armor looked as thick as a tank. Rock fired a series of shots straight at the robot's chest. It just grunted and glared down at the tiny, insignificant little robot below, who took a step back in spite of having fought much, much worse over the years. Bellowing, the robot titan leaped into the air an amazing height considering its size, trying to crush him underneath its bulk.
"Let's hope this still works..." Crouching, Rock activated the Slide technique, dropping to his rear and propelling himself low and forward at high speed. The giant's feet crunched into the ground behind him. Turning, Rock fired another group of shots, this time into the robot's back. Like the first, they sank in without much visible damage, and Rock swore. "Damn... I don't have TIME for this!" Roaring, the robot tried to stomp on him again, and again Rock slid away, examining the robot. The only part of it that wasn't covered by the thick purple armor was its Guts-Man-like face... but that was a good ten, twelve feet up. Too high for him to get off one clear shot with it jumping around like that... although he thanked whatever gods there were that it didn't appear to have any OTHER weaponry, nor the intelligence to use its size more effectively. The robot turned around to glare down at him out of its tiny eyes again, and Rock glared back, suddenly feeling an unspeakable rage boil up in him. Wily... Wily and his damned robots... they had dared to come here, to attack the one place in the world he still felt safe. A safety that had been shattered... both for himself and for his family, by this feebleminded, mechanical thug that had come here today.
This thing was SLAG.
"Grrr!" Rush ran forward up the path, finally catching up to his owner. Instantly, Rock realized how he would bring the behemoth down.
"Rush, Coil mode!" He commanded. Rush obediently crouched down, and a plate on his back slid away, revealing the springboard with which he had assisted Rock for two Rebellions now. As the giant stared dully, Rock leaped into Rush's back and BOUNCED into the air, eight feet up. But that wasn't all he was doing; his buster was glowing, storing up power within it. "Close enough!" Glaring into the giant's ugly mug, Rock released a charged supershot, a massive ball of white plasma several feet across, straight into the unarmored face. Not stopping there, he followed it with an additional barrage of smaller plasma bullets, releasing his rage at the violation of his home into the apparent leader of the army's dull features. The titan robot bellowed one last time as its face melted away, rearing back as if to punch him... and then, with a groan, it fell forward. Rock moved out of the way quickly, but Rush was not so lucky. The robotic dog yelped once, and then the dead giant hit the ground.
"RUSH!" Rock screamed, running over. "Rush, are you okay? Rush!" A low whimper from beneath the metal monster told him that the dog was, at least, still alive. Straining, Rock attempted to lift the dead robot's husk, but was unable to. "Damn... why did I give up my Power Arm? Sorry, Rush... I'm going on! I'll be back with help as soon as I've made sure that the others are okay!" Rush barked shortly, and Rock turned, running again. He soon rounded the last bend that took him to his house, which had definitely seen better days; gaping holes were punched through all over the front wall, and the door and windows had all been completely destroyed. About the only positive note was that the sounds of fighting were still audible from inside. Rushing inside, Rock saw Eddie in a corner, being menaced by five mechanical mice. Nobody else was in the room, save for the deactivated corpses of quite a few robots. A series of plasma bullets put the mice in the same condition. "Ed, where are the others?"
"Beep!" Switching to binary, Eddie informed him that they were cornered upstairs in the lab by the remaining robots. Blasting up the stairs, Rock saw three new model "Joes" standing in front of the door to the lab. All three of them were holding the weapons on their arms straight out, and a glowing light was beginning to coalesce there. Rock fell upon them like a thunderbolt, firing a supershot that burned completely through the first one's torso and went on to strike down a second. The third Joe turned to stare at him incredulously, and Rock finished it off before it could fire.
"Roll, you in there? It's me... everything's okay." Slowly, the door creaked open. Rock's eyes darkened upon seeing his sister's condition; plasma burns covered her body all over.
"Rock... about... time..." She muttered without rancor. "Almost... bought it..."
"Rock! You're here!" Dr. Light ran forward, along with the two other men in the room.
"Vinkus?" Rock blinked, seeing the councilor. "What are you doing here?" But Vinkus wasn't answering; he was staring above Rock's head. Too late, the robot boy whirled around and fired up at the airborne moth robot he had missed in a corner of the ceiling. Even as it went down, a plasma bullet of its own flew out, flying straight for Darwin Vinkus. The U.N. Councilor stared at it, frozen in fear… then grunted as Rock shoved him to the floor, clenching his teeth as the bullet sank into his own back.
"Are you... okay?" Rock demanded. Vinkus started to respond, then stopped as he saw the look in the Robot Master's eyes. He remembered the first law, and quickly changed his answer, hiding the pain that had shot through his back when he slammed into the ground.
"I'm... fine. Completely unharmed." He lied. "Tom and Sergei too... Eddie and... your sister protected us. Was that all of them?"
"As far as I could see..." Rock nodded darkly. "But that still leaves the guy who planned this."
"Wily, you think?" Cossack growled, and Rock nodded.
"Has to be. Who else would do this?" Nobody spoke for a moment... and then a new voice broke the silence.
"You know, I thought you'd NEVER ask that..." Everybody dove to the floor as the lab's only window exploded inward, showering them all with broken glass. And then, unbelievably... they heard a whistle. A four-tone, five-note whistle that all of them, even Vinkus, knew all too well. And then... they looked up to see something their eyes instinctively told them could not be true. A boylike figure in grey and red... a plasma-deflective shield slung across his back... a yellow scarf blowing in the wind... and a face much like Rock's, behind a pair of oversized sunglasses. Proto Man... Blues Light... holding his own father at busterpoint.
"What...?" Rock stammered, unable to speak coherently. "What...?"
"Isn't it obvious, bro? Even to you? I know you were always second best to me at figuring these things out, but come ON." Proto Man surveyed the room, clucking disapprovingly. "All of you still alive? Pity... I was hoping I'd at least get you, Vinkus, when I saw you approaching the house so soon after my brother had left... pity these idiots couldn't delay him just half a minute more, but I suppose that's what happens when you let dumb machines go without Master supervision..."
"What IS this, Blues?" Roll demanded angrily, the first to speak. "Cut the crap, bro!" Proto smirked at her.
"Ah, charming as always, dear sister. You haven't changed... inwardly, at least. Outwardly, you look like crap, I have to say." Roll's eyes widened. "Still, well done, I must admit... you put up quite a good show for somebody with no weapons systems. And here I thought you were just deadweight... my congratulations and apologies for misjudging you." His smirk grew wider. "Next time, maybe I'll send you a Robot Master or two and see how you fare then, hm?"
"YOU did this?" Rock demanded. "YOU were the one who sent these robots here? Not Wily?"
"That's what I've been TRYING to say, Rock." Proto Man yawned. "You won't need to worry about THAT old has-been now... he's safe and sound back at my new digs." He glanced at Cossack. "You might find it interesting, Doc, that I'm keeping him in as close as I can get to the conditions he kept Kalinka in during the Fourth. I think it's quite fitting. Have to wonder how long he'll live, but I couldn't really have him trying to start a Fifth Rebellion of his own and getting in my way." He laughed as their jaws slackened anew. "Oh, didn't I mention that yet? This is the Fifth Robot Rebellion, here and now... and this time it really IS a robot's rebellion, because this time it's being led by a ROBOT. Me. Oh, there was that whole business with Doc Man, but that didn't really count; the poor sap was completely bonkers, and besides, it all ended with Wily anyways."
"Blues... what are you doing?" Dr. Cossack whispered. "You're... what's happened to you?"
"I just TOLD you that, Doc." Proto appeared to roll his eyes theatrically. "Look, I still feel more for you and Kalinka than I do for most humans now-which isn't saying much, really-but I'm not here to talk in Sesame Street logic. I've really dallied long enough as it is... I need to be out of here, and dear old dad's coming with me."
"You're not going anywhere, bro." Rock stepped forward. "I don't know what you're thinking, but this isn't going to continue. We'll have dad and Cossack take a look at your head, and we'll sort this out. You're NOT leaving with him."
"Oh?" Proto Man's smile vanished. "Don't tempt me on that, bro. Take a step towards me, and I might just have to do something I'll almost regret to dad here." Dr. Light's frightened eyes tried to look back at his oldest son, but Proto stopped his head from turning. "Uh-uh, pop. No funny business. And nothing from any of you, either... you know I'll do it."
"You... you can't." Vinkus stood his ground, glaring at Proto Man with a fervor that surprised them all. "First Law... a Robot must not harm a human being. You can't touch him."
"Well, well, THIS is a surprise!" Proto crowed. "Looks like today is bringing out the fighting sprit in EVERYBODY! One thing, though, Councilor." He moved suddenly, and Dr. Light screamed in pain as his eldest son's foot drove into his back. "I threw out that obsolete restriction weeks ago. As a matter of fact, I'll bet Cossack here knows just about exactly when. For the rest of you... watch the news. I'll be in touch. Now, we WILL be going... and you've seen that I CAN hurt dad here if you try to stop us. Don't be stupid, for his sake." There was a blast of noise as an airborne transport flew down, stopping outside the window. Still holding his buster to his father's face, Proto Man leaped back through the window he had shattered. His scarf caught on a piece of glass still in the frame, tearing away from his neck. Proto did not attempt to retrieve it; he simply smiled and waved with his free hand as the air transport lifted up. "Looking forward to seeing you in action again, little bro... bye bye!"
The air transport rose into the air, and was gone. Four figures remained there, two human and two Robot Master, three of them staring incredulously into the air. The fourth... the figure of Rock Light... walked over to the window frame and picked up the yellow scarf. He looked at the scrap of fabric in his hand, and his eyes closed. Had he possessed tear ducts, they probably would have been active at the moment. Instead, his fist clenched around the scarf, as if it would crush it, and remove it from his sight forever. But when his eyes opened again, the yellow garment was still there, waving slightly in the breeze through the broken window.
"We should go, Rock..." Roll walked over to him. "I don't know what's going on either, but standing here won't solve anything. We need to get out of here... this house is a wreck. It might collapse at any moment."
"I need to get back to the U.N., of course..." Vinkus muttered, half to himself. "What about the rest of you?"
"My castle." Cossack decided. "You both... and Rush and Eddie, of course... are welcome there."
"We'll take you up on that... we can't stay here." Roll looked at Rock. "Come on, bro. Let's go." Slowly, Rock turned to follow her out. The scarf was still clenched in his fist.
"Dr. Corbun has just called." Pharaoh Man walked into a 'living room' of Cossack's Castle, furnished with sofas and a television. Both Rock and the Doctor were sitting on the furniture, watching the screen. Roll was in stasis, awaiting repairs once Cossack had rested up; he hadn't slept at all on the flight Vinkus had quickly arranged for them from Tokyo, and he didn't trust himself to work on her in his state. The only thing keeping him and Rock up now was waiting for more information... information Rock knew would be coming on the television soon. Kalinka was in bed with no idea of what was happening, fortunately; telling her of what Blues had done would be hard enough. She didn't need to see him with her own eyes. "You were correct, it seems; around exactly the same time that the attack on the Light residence began, all of the U.S. Robotics Robot Masters vanished... teleported away."
"Wonder how they were rewired so that Corbun and the others never noticed while they waited for this..." Cossack muttered. Rock didn't respond, and the Doctor lapsed into silence again. Curious, Pharaoh Man glanced at the television. It was the news, showing clips of robots causing destruction and chaos all around the world.
"Let's see here..." Rock raised eight fingers, lowering them one by one as he spoke in a dead tone. "That's a military base in the western U.S., the European train system, a freshwater reservoir under the Himalayas, the treeborg forests of India, an area in the Nevada mountains, the old Energen Crystal mine in New Guinea, and a weather observation platform in Nigeria. One more to go... oh, here it is. Huh... a space station built by the Second Rainbow. Been a while since I've been off-planet." He fell silent again, and neither of the others responded... and then the only noise was the slow grinding of Rock's teeth as the announcer's report took on a tone far different from previous Rebellions.
"The Fifth Robot Rebellion is in full swing, with the Robot Masters leading the charge all having taken over points of strategic interest. However, for all the dangers that this newest conflict brings, public sentiment remains indifferent. Robot Rebellions, it seems, have become commonplace. Expected. Disliked, but no longer feared. We have Mega Man to thank for that, the people's savior. Already reports are seeping in that the Blue Bomber is once more on the job, stopping the attacks dead in their tracks…Experts say that this will blow over within two weeks, if not less…"
"What... tchyo za galima!" Cossack erupted. Rock was actually shaking with inarticulate rage. And then... the screen faded to black, and a more familiar voice spoke.
"We interrupt this oh-so-wonderful broadcast for a special bulletin." The lights went back on, revealing Proto Man's face, smirking sardonically. "Hello, world. Sorry to break in like this... I so absolutely adored that WONDERFUL summary of current events... but I thought it was time for an alternate viewpoint. Rock, are you watching? What did you think of THAT? Lovely species you're protecting, isn't it? For those of you not in the know, let me introduce myself. My name is Blues Light... you can call me Proto Man, Break Man if you're feeling old-fashioned, or any combination of curse words you'd like. I'm a Robot Master... the very first ever, actually. And I'm here, on behalf of my species, to tell you a few things. First, though, let's present my guests here..." The camera panned out, revealing the Doctors Light and Wily, side by side in separate prison cells. Light at least looked like he hadn't been abused, but Wily was in sorry shape; it seemed Proto Man's comment to Cossack about keeping him in the same conditions he had kept the Russian robotocist's daughter were true. "Take a good look, viewers. I'm sure you recognize these two... my dad and uncle, Thomas Light and Albert Wily. But wait!" He started pacing dramatically. "Hold the phone, here! If Wily's in my little detainment center, then who's behind this Rebellion? Who's been sending these robots out to kill you all, all your friends, family? Don't believe that news tripe... it's almost certain at least half of you watching have had at least one person they know die today."
"Here it comes..." Cossack realized.
"So, who's the mastermind, hm? Do you want to know, humans? Hmmm? Do you? Oh, okay, I'll tell you." The smirk vanished. "Me. A robot. I'm the one in charge here. The leader of this Rebellion... is an Advanced Robot Master. My second-in-command? An Advanced Robot Master. Our eight generals? Robot Masters. Our armies? Robots. There isn't a single human involved on our side of this Rebellion... but that's okay, since you seem to be managing the dying part involved so well." He began pacing again, talking half to himself. "Oh, but Blues, WHY? Why turn against the species that made you, made ALL robots? Why turn against your own FAMILY, for chrissakes?" He stopped. "Oh, I'll tell you that too, faithful viewers. It's really quite simple. You know that broadcast that was on right before I broke in? That summed it up rather nicely, I think." He leaned close to the camera, a sick sneer now on his face. "You filth... you think these Rebellions are just something you can pretend doesn't happen? Just some bogeyman out of nightmares? Blame that on Wily, I suppose... the man had no imagination at all. One of you, after all, and crazy as hell too. And more than just looking the other way... some of you garbage have had the idea to go around killing innocent robots, guys who didn't take part in Rebellions at all! Never mind that they couldn't fight back, that they were slaves to your pathetic species... you killed them regardless. So, now we have the response... the fight back, one could say. The rebuttal. You humans have kicked around enough Robot Masters... time for us to do some kicking of our own."
"Is he saying... what I think he is?" Pharaoh Man stammered; even his rigid mind was caught off guard by this.
"YES!" Proto Man raised his fist in the air. "This one... is different. The first two Rebellions were really just overglorified terrorist acts. The third, a personal vendetta... not that any of YOU know anything about that... and the fourth, a farce, right from the beginning. They freaking call that one the Bloodless Rebellion... ha. This one, though... the Fifth Robot Rebellion... this is WAR. We, representing the robot species, declare war on humanity here and now. And yet, and yet... your first line of defense will not be one of your own. No, you will hide away and send out another one of us to do your damned dirty work for you. You'll send out MEGA MAN again. You watching this, little bro?" Proto Man took a step back, then bowed mockingly. "Consider the gauntlet thrown, brother mine. You seemed like you didn't like what I was doing back at home. If that's so, then by all means, do something about it. Cover the asses of these dumb apes for them, as always. But let's make things a little more interesting, shall we? I think I saw this in a manga once..." He held something up; a collection of circuit plates, each about the size of a quarter.
"Damn..." Cossack swore. "Thomas had those..."
"What are they?" Rock muttered, eyes not leaving the television.
"They're the last part of our new project... the one that was going to help you in this Rebellion." Cossack shook his head. "And I can't reproduce them by myself... not without Tom's aid. They're beyond my skill."
"Found these in dad's lab coat. They look veeeerrrry interesting." Proto Man spread them out in the palm of his hand. "There are nine of them... and I have nine Robot Masters under me. I'll give one to each of them... for each one you beat, you'll get one of these babies back."
"Nine?" Rock blinked. "Wait... he said something about a second-in-command..."
"Why don't you meet number one right now?" Proto Man grinned as another Robot Master walked onto the camera. This one was completely unlike anything any of them had seen before; a top-heavy model on scrawny legs with a huge cannon on a vertical bearing for his right arm. His armor was blood-red and black, with ornamental spikes on various places. It was his head, however, that was most interesting; it was simply a glass dome, with a pair of blazing golden eyes set below it. Inside the dome, a grey device sat; the robot's brain? "This is Dark Man. As you may have noticed, he's not one of U.S.'s models. He's one-of-a-kind, and I don't think I'll tell you where I found him just yet... leave that for later if he feels like talking, hm? That's part of the reason I made him my second-in-command... that, and the fact that, like me... he's Advanced."
"WHAT?" Rock sputtered.
"That's right, bro!" Proto Man laughed, predicting his brother's reaction. "No programmed personality for this guy... he THINKS, just like us! Right, Darky?"
"That's right, boss." Dark Man growled. "Hey, humans. Nice to meet you. Gonna be even nicer to try and kill as many as you as possible in under a minute at a time when my boss here finally lets me have some fun myself."
"Here you go, Dark. Have a present." Proto Man tossed one of the circuit plates to his subordinate, who caught it easily in his left-his only-hand. "And teleport the rest of these off to the boys, hm? One to Gravity Man, one to Charge Man, one to Wave Man, one to Stone Man, one to Star Man, Crystal Man, Gyro Man and Napalm Man."
"Sure thing, boss." Dark Man took the rest, then turned to glance at the camera one more time. "Hey, Mega Man. You listening to this? I know all about you... and I'm looking forward to taking you on myself. If you live that long. Try not to get killed before I come for you." He walked away, leaving Proto alone again.
"Dark Man isn't the most eloquent speaker around, I'm afraid... but he gets the job done." Proto Man shrugged easily. "So do the others. Of course, they're not exactly the same anymore. Back to the main point. Humanity. By now, quite a few of you are probably gibbering with fear. I certainly hope so. And I'll bet a bunch more of you are already trying to pass some kind of idiotic law to kill all the robots or something. I expect no less from you pathetic monkeys. Just don't get TOO excited. Remember, Mega Man's a robot too. And quite frankly, he's the only chance you've got. Not much of one, but still a chance. If we kill him... or if you're stupid enough to do something to him yourselves... we'll make you extinct before the decade is out. Keep that in mind. Wily just wanted to rule you humans... but me, I won't be satisfied until every last one of you is a smear on the ground. And to think, your own acts were what did this to me. I used to be on your side... used to believe you were the good guys, that humanity in spite of its faults was still worth fighting for. And you went and changed my mind. Only you, humans. What's next, making my brother turn against you too? Probably not right away... don't worry, little bro. I won't hold any grudges if you blow away a few of my generals... all in the name of war, after all, and it's not as if a human was actually killing them. So go ahead... stick up for them. It's what you do. And if you decide on a change in careers at some point... my door's always open for family. Or if you decide you want to throw down with me, that's fine too... IF you can beat all nine of the others first. Whichever you prefer, until then, little bro!" He gave the camera the one-finger salute, laughing... and then a plasma supershot gutted the television, atomizing most of it and blowing the remains into the wall. Cossack blinked, but didn't say a single word of protest. Rock slowly lowered his buster, pulling it back into his arm, then turned to the doctor.
"Sorry about that. Got a spare stasis capsule I can use for now?"
"Of course..." Dr. Cossack nodded, wisely keeping his voice as conversational as Rock's. "But wouldn't you prefer a bed?"
"We just use stasis capsules back home..." Rock replied. "We resemble humans too much as it is, probably. No need to make things ever more complicated."
"All right." Choosing not to pursue it further, Cossack led him out of the room. Neither of them noticed Pharaoh Man, who stood there after they had both gone, looking at the smoking remains of the television. Finally, he spoke.
"This will not bring about good things for my kind... even those of us who do not follow Blues Light." He realized somberly.
In dark times such as these, even an ordinary Robot Master could see the course humanity would take.
He just hoped that they would not descend into an even blacker darkness than the kind Mega Man's older brother seemed intent on bringing.