Mega Man 5: Blood Among Brothers

by Magus523

Dr. Wily is still on the loose, and the Fifth Robot Rebellion is inevitable. But when it finally comes, its source is not Wily, but one whom Mega Man had thought he would never have to fight again... his own brother, Blues...

6. Chapter 5: Weighty Situation

Chapter 5: Weighty Situation

"Of course we realize the Dinosaur Tank is a danger. New technology always is. But risks must be taken in the name of progress. As long as intelligent humans are behind the controls, I am sure we will have no problems controlling this new weapon." -Global Defense Council Representative, explaining the Cornus Island Defense Mobile Dinosaur Tank

The first thing Mega Man saw as he awoke from stasis was a flash of red steel. The first thing he heard was a familiar, enthusiastic bark. And the first thing he felt was a canine tongue licking his face frantically.

"Rush!" Mega gasped as soon as he could. "Sit!" The robotic dog obediently complied. "Phew. Yeah, I'm glad to see you're okay too, boy."

"You are awake, I see." Dr. Cossack greeted him, following Rush into the room where the stasis capsules were located. "I repaired all your injuries from your battle with Star Man while you were asleep, although there did not seem to be anything life-threatening."

"Nope." Mega scratched Rush behind the ears. "There were some interesting developments on the force field technology you might want to ask Doc Corbun about for adapting into Skull Man, but he wasn't really that good. It's probably not worth hoping that the rest will be the same, though."

"Probably not." Roll agreed, sitting up from the capsule next to him. "And we can't count on Blues putting pinheads on all of the most important locales… most likely, the UN will send you up against one of the big boys soon." Mega shook his head.

"Just as long as it's not the Warmonger… he'd be Napalm Man now, I think. I do NOT want to fight that guy unless I'm sure I've got something that'll work well on him."

"Unfortunately, you might have to." Dr. Cossack predicted darkly. "He has set up shop in the treeborg forests of India, and if he burns that down, it will be a complete disaster for the oxygen producing capabilities of that region. The UN will know this."

"Great." Mega rolled his eyes. "Maybe they'll figure a couple of the others pose a greater threat."

"Luck hasn't exactly been on our side as of lately, bro." Roll reminded him.

"Yeah, I know." Mega Man nodded gloomily. "So, is Rush ready to go again?"

"Well…" Cossack shrugged. "I did my best. The Rush Coil works, but… it's different than usual. Demonstrate, Rush." The robotic dog obediently crouched. However, instead of the normal springboard activating on his back, the entire dog was propelled straight up as the coil instead popped out of his underside, launching him. Mega blinked in surprise.

"Huh. Well, that should work. There is something else, though. Is there any way you could give my Buster a little more oomph? That was the only problem I had with Star Man…"

"As a matter of fact, me and Thomas had indeed worked out some improvements for your Mega Buster." The Russian Doctor admitted. "It's not much, but it will increase your charged shot's power slightly. Do you want me to implement them now?"

"Probably best not to… the UN will be calling soon." Mega guessed. "Wait until I get back from my next trip, and put it in while I'm in stasis." As if to confirm his guess, further discussion was cut off by a cheerful voice that came from a wall speaker.

"Call for Mega Man."

"What did I tell you?" Mega hopped out of his capsule. Roll did the same. "Let's go say hi to them." However, it was not the councilors who they found conversing with the round orange Bright Man when they entered Cossack's lab, but instead a more friendly, familiar face.

"Dr. Corbun!" Roll smiled for the first time since her father's kidnapping. "I was wondering when you were going to call!"

"Roll, Rock, Sergei. Good to see you." Dr. Corbun smiled wearily. "I'm sorry, Roll… I would have called sooner, but there were many things I had to hash out with my superiors at U.S. Robotics, and I had to devote all of my attention to pounding my points through approximately five thousand feet of red tape." His smile vanished. "I am sorry for what has happened to your family… to Thomas. None of us had believed Blues, of all people, was capable of such a thing."

"None of us thought so either." Mega responded tonelessly. "Fortunately, it seems Blues wants to keep him alive and unhurt… for now. I was afraid he might use dad as a threat to make me stand down… still am, really."

"It's a possibility we must all consider." Dr. Corbun admitted. "But in the meantime, you will continue to destroy the Robot Masters, correct?" Mega nodded.

"Exactly. I've already taken out Star Man, and now I'm waiting for the UN to decide which one I should hit next."

"Aha…" Corbun's smile returned, and his eyes grew sly. "Darwin told me about that. With that in mind, I believe I have a few interesting things to tell you about your enemies."

"Oh?" Roll raised an eyebrow. "Good news?"

"Some of it." Dr. Corbun grinned. "First, you can comfortably relax about the Warmonger… Napalm Man… and wait as long as you want before taking him out. He's no threat to the world at all." All of them blinked a few times at that. "Oh, I know, the treeborg forest. But here's the thing, fellas. The Warmonger was designed exclusively for war. For fighting. The top brass instructed me to develop him for that in every way, sacrificing other aspects that are normally integral to Robot Masters." Slowly, Mega Man grinned as well.

"Are you saying…"
"That's right!" Dr. Corbun cackled. "One of the things we sacrificed was intellectual power and programming. In other words, he's as stupid as a stump! All that we put into his brain had to do with fighting… he knows absolutely nothing else! I'll bet at this moment, he's probably still trying to figure out how to give his robot minions orders, or maybe whether trees really DO burn."

"Wouldn't he just blast one to find out?" Roll wondered.

"The idea would never even occur to him of firing on something that's not fighting him." Dr. Corbun shook his head. "It's simply not in his programming. I think our enemy commanders are going to be in for some very nasty surprises fairly soon. It'll take him months to get anything done. He's the complete opposite of you two… and of that bright fellow you built, Sergei. He's quite good… he could probably pass the Turing test, although that hasn't been used in decades."

"Thank you." The Russian doctor inclined his head.

"Well, that's one headache gone." Mega smiled. "I was starting to worry about that. I assume that red tape you referenced was getting your bosses to agree to you telling us classified information on that?" Corbun coughed, looking uncomfortable.

"Well… actually, they only approved of me telling the U.N., which I did already. But they'll probably never find out about this call, and even if they do, I'm going to retire soon anyways." His face grew grim once more. "I also told the U.N. something about a different one… something that's NOT good news."

"One of them's more a threat than we think?" Roll guessed.

"Exactly. That lab in the U.S… Gravity Man. The Turntable model was actually designed using technology developed in that lab… developed for military purposes. Like the Greenhawk and Warmonger models, the Turntable would use its powers for combat. It doesn't, in fact, reverse gravity… it actually applies a force stronger than gravity's own force to shove the target upwards. If Blues gets the data from that lab, he might be able to build a weapon using that technology on a much larger scale. And I suspect that many other experimental weapons were being tested there as well that we weren't told about. All of this, of course, was not released to the general public."

"Of course." Mega nodded grimly. "So you think I should go after Gravity Man second?"

"I recommend it in the highest possible terms." The British Doctor confirmed. "I just hope the U.N. agrees with me. And with that in mind, before they call, I have something else. Do you remember how I first met you?"

"That would be…" Mega thought back. "At the beginning of the Third… you called to send the data on the Slide Technique from Shadow Man." Slowly, he smiled. "Do you, by any chance, have something along those lines?"

"Indeed I do, my friend." Corbun grinned. "I'll teleport it in right away." A streak of light came through the ceiling and materialized as a green metal canister. Inside, protected by padded wrapping, was a microchip. "It's mostly a utility, but it can also be used as a weapon… fire it at a wall, and it will attach, creating a platform for you to stand on."

"Almost like my old Item-3." Mega realized as he absorbed the chip's contents with Weapons Copy. "Super Arrow, eh? Nice. Thanks, Doc… that's another one I owe you."

"Another call coming in." Bright Man interrupted.

"That's probably the UN." Mega Man guessed. "Sorry, but we'll have to let you go now, doc. Thanks again for the info and the Arrow."

"Any time. I'll call again if I come up with anything else that could help." Dr. Corbun waved goodbye, and the screen went blank momentarily before lighting up again, showing the council chamber.

"Greetings, Mega Man… all of you." Councilor Martel smiled. "Are you ready for another mission?"

"Any time." Mega nodded. "Where am I going?"

"Well… due to some new information that has been revealed to us…" Martel glanced at Vinkus once before continuing. "We have decided that the highest threat at the moment is the research and development lab in the United States. The information there must not be allowed to be used by Blues. With luck, Gravity Man has not yet transmitted much of it too him. Destroy him before he can."

"Can do." Mega nodded laconically. "Don't worry, Councilors; I've got it covered. I'll be off, then."

The military laboratory looked, of course, rather unremarkable; a plain, squat gray building, perfectly square and ordinary. The fact that it was the only building within ten miles would raise some eyebrows, of course, as would the total lack of windows. Aside from the garage, the only way in or out was the front door, which Mega Man's teleport landed him right in front of.

"Hm… looks like this one's got a teleport shield up. Looks like I won't be able to just land where I want and make my way from there like I did on Project SKYLIGHT… as usual. Not that I'd want to without being able to see where I was teleporting. From the outside on in it is, then." Teleport shields were another defense measure customary to Rebellions; electromagnetic barriers erected around key points kept teleporting robots from passing through. Once on the inside, one could of course teleport anywhere inside the shield, but Mega usually chose not to, since he could easily pop back into existence directly above a pit of spikes or underneath a two-thousand-pound security 'bot. He did, however, carry a beacon for Rush and Eddie to use as a destination point. Walking through the invisible shield easily, he blasted the door down, then stepped aside in case of return fire. None came. Looking carefully, he saw that the lobby was empty. Still being careful, he slowly proceeded into the facility and down a promising-looking hall. As he passed a strange device that appeared to involve a gigantic magnet in a sealed tube, he saw the first sentry robot. Before it could even move, he blasted it. "Well, they know I'm here now." He proceeded down the hall, noting a strange sign on the wall with arrow-shaped light pointing both up and down. The ones pointing down were the only ones lit. "Huh. Wonder what that's about." Walking down a set of stairs to a lower level, he saw a small spike pit ahead. Running forward, he readied himself to hurdle it… but before he could, he was suddenly lifted into the air by a completely alien power.

"What the hell! Oof!" Yelling, he slammed into the ceiling and stayed there, glued to it as if by gravity. "Is he… no, no Robot Masters in sight. Then what…" He snapped his fingers as he stood up. "Doc Corbun said they were developing the reverse gravity system here. Gravity Man's hooked it up to parts of the entire building." Checking the walls, he confirmed a suspicion; he was now standing in front of lit "up" arrows, which extended over to the other side of the pit. Shrugging, he crossed. When he reached more lit "down" arrows, gravity returned and he landed back down. "This could get irritating… but I have to go through it, I suppose. On with the show." Wiping out some more robots, he soon switched gravitational alignment again. This time, he had to walk up the underside of a staircase to reach the first floor again, dodging several heavy automated chain maces the size of a deer and walking robots whose spike-topped heads would suddenly pop up to try and spear him. At the end of a hall was an empty elevator shaft, with an arrow sign pointing down inside. "This smells like a trap… but I don't really have an option. Wish I had one of those 'you are here' signs like I did on SKYLIGHT." Shrugging, he jumped inside and fell immediately. Several stories passed, and then he could see the bottom… lined with spikes.

"Aw, NO!" Twisting in the air, he managed to land on the edge of the floor outside the shaft. "WAY too close…" Fortunately, the next hall was simple enough; the pop-up floor cannons were easily spotted and taken out. And then he saw what was blocking the hallway further on, and groaned. It was another one of the gigantic purple humanoids of the same type that he had fought outside his home, when Proto Man's forces had attacked. Taking it out would doubtless take some time and a few hits. "Not what I want, thanks… let's try something out." Bringing up a submenu for his current weapons systems in the corner of his eye, Mega selected Dr. Corbun's Super Arrow. Aiming carefully at the behemoth's face, he fired once. What flew out from his Buster was an arrow that looked as if it had been launched from a bow, save for the front end; instead of an arrowhead, it had a lump of white goo. The reason for that was explained as it impacted the enemy robot's head. Instantly, the goo spread and solidified, covering the monster's face and anchoring the arrow as solidly as if it had been designed that way in the factory. Blinded, the giant robot bellowed and charged. As the massive 'bot lumbered forward, Mega crouched, then slid between its legs. Before it could turn, he was off, running down the hall too fast for it to follow.

"Well, that was handy." Mega smiled. "Got to remember to thank Doc Corbun again for that one." By the time he reached a point that he had to stop and examine, the giant robot was far behind him. The point being an area where the gravity shifted multiple times over a series of deadly pits, deep drops with spikes at the bottom set in both ceiling and floor. And to make matters worse, Mega Man saw the glint of another circuit plate, taped to the wall arrow sign high above on pit. He would have to grab it in midchange and still manage to land safely. Taking a deep breath, he made the first leap. Fortunately, for once luck was on his side, and he made it across with no trouble, even snagging the plate. As he was about to go on, he heard a metal thud behind him and turned. The giant humanoid robot had followed him all the way, and was now leaping into the gravity change zone. Unfortunately for it, its weight was too much for the system to handle, and the massive 'bot fell onto the spikes below. Shaking his head, Mega turned and went on. Several more gravity changes and security robots remained in his path, but the worst was behind him, and he conquered them without any problems. Finally, walking on the ceiling again, he saw the familiar metal shutters below. Dropping to the ground, he absently blew away the last security cannon that popped up behind him as he walked inside. He immediately switched back to the ceiling.

"Okay… why that was necessary, I'll never know." Shrugging, he walked in through the second shutter, charging a shot in preparation for the battle ahead.

"Dark Man, what the HELL is going on here?" Proto Man demanded as he stormed into the command center of his fortress. Dr. Light watched as his subordinate turned around in his chair, face expressionless as always.

"Well… Star Man lost, boss. He's dead. It happens."

"I'm not talking about THAT, you idiot." Proto snapped. "I knew about Star Man's death hours ago. Kind of obvious when something like Project SKYLIGHT drops out of our control. I'm talking about Napalm Man."

"Napalm Man?" Dark Man swiveled around to check the screens. "It doesn't look like he's done anything to me, boss."

"That's exactly my point, Dark." Proto Man growled, sitting down next to him. "He HASN'T done anything. Nada. Zero. Zip. Zilch. NOTHING since he took control of the India treeborg forest. He hasn't started on his mission yet."

"I… uh… kinda told you about that alrea-oh, never mind." Dark Man sighed. "Looks like his army's at rest, boss. You want I should ring him up?"

"Oh, yes." Proto Man growled. "I want to have a little talk with the pride of U.S. Robotics." A moment passed, and then Dr. Light could see Napalm Man's face appear on a monitor.

"Uh… is that you, master?" The warbot's voice was a deep bass. "I didn't know you would call me…"

"Obviously." Proto Man snarled. "And I shouldn't have HAD to. Unfortunately, I did. Mind explaining to me just WHY you haven't started on your job yet? The job I specifically assigned to you upon your taking the Treeborg forest?"

"Job…" Napalm Man's eyes dimmed. "Oh yeah… burn all the trees." Proto Man nodded testily.

"Bingo. So, inform me. Why haven't you started yet?" The warbot's eyes dimmed again, this time in confusion.

"Uh… I don't know how, boss."

"Don't know…" Proto Man looked on the verge of exploding. "You blast the trees, nitwit! Just blow them up!"

"Oh, okay!" Napalm Man's eyes brightened again. "I know how to blast things, all right! Say, when will Mega Man be here?"

"I don't know, Napalm Man." Proto Man told him levelly, with an astonishing amount of self control. "But I'll bet if you get started on that right away, it'll make him come sooner. Why don't you?"

"All right!" Napalm Man saluted. "I'll do that then, boss! I want to blast Mega Man most of all!" He turned and zoomed off on his wheeled feet… leaving the communication on. Sighing, Dark Man killed it.

"And to think we once thought he held such promise."

"That was before we actually got to know him." Proto Man shrugged. "When we just saw him on show at Sennet's, we thought he'd be the best one there… a perfect, bloodthirsty killing machine with the best weapons and armor of the batch and a psychopath's mind to go with them. Instead, we got the mind of a two-year-old." He shrugged. "Looks like our best hopes for little brother meeting more than his match are the mean greens."

"Crystal Man and Gyro Man, you mean?" Dark Man guessed. Proto Man nodded.

"Yeah. They're the most powerful aside from Napalm, and far more intelligent." He smiled slightly. "Which of them do you think is better?" Dark Man shrugged.

"Crystal Man."

"Thought you'd say that." Proto grinned, stretching. "Me, I prefer Gyro Man."

"That's just because he takes after you." Dark Man snorted.

"Oh, and Crystal Man doesn't take after you?" Proto Man retorted. "Anyways, where's Mega Man right now? Has he gone after another of our boys yet?" Dark Man checked the screens.

"Yup. Gravity Man." Proto Man slapped his face.

"Figures. Has Grav sent the information from that facility to here yet?"

"Nope." Dark shook his head. "Should I get him on the horn?" Proto Man thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.

"Naw… Grav's the kind of 'bot who'll call us if he needs to. When it's ready, he'll send it immediately, and not a moment before. Let's just hope he gets it off before Mega Man gets him, eh. Why don't you go do something elsewhere in the base, Dark? I'm bored of talking to you, and I can stay here in case Grav calls." Dark Man stood, bowed and left the room. Swiveling around in his chair, Proto Man regarded his imprisoned father.

"How you doing there, dad?"

"Tolerable." Dr. Light shrugged. "It's not pleasant by any means, but noticeably better than Albert's."

"Yeah, well, that was intentional." Proto shrugged. "It's nothing personal, dad… you're human, that's all. I can't make any exceptions, not even for you… if you think about it, I'm sure you'll see why. That doesn't mean I have to mistreat you like that scum, though… you're just about the best humanity offers, as opposed to him." Dr. Wily was silent, ignoring the insults. "Still… we had some good times, didn't we?" His voice changed, becoming almost wistful. "You created me… the teleporter accident… then the Third Rebellion." He frowned. "Break Man… that was me, wasn't it?"

"Yes…" Dr. Light agreed cautiously. "You were Break Man… we didn't know it was you, and you wore that mask to keep anybody from knowing your identity."

"Right, right…" Proto Man continued. "And… I fought Mega, didn't I? It's… it's kind of fuzzy…" Dr. Light debated answering, but decided for it.

"Yes. Albert here tricked you… lied to you so you'd work for him. You never won, of course, and eventually, you figured it out in time to help Rock with some of the later Robot Masters, as well as Wily and Doc Man."

"Doc Man…" Proto Man slowly nodded. "Yeah… yeah. I helped…" His expression twisted, turned bitter. "Boy, was I ever stupid. Helping out? With saving humans? Hah. I was fighting for the wrong side. Not that fighting for Wily was much better."

"So which side SHOULD you have been on, then?" Wily muttered derisively. "Doc Man's, maybe?"

"YOU shut up." Proto Man walked over and kicked the insane doctor through his cell bars, prompting a grunt of pain. "Man, now I'm in a bad mood. I'm going to go do something else. You stay put, monkeys… I'll find Dark Man and have him come back here to keep an eye on you." Standing, he walked away muttering to himself darkly, leaving Dr. Light alone with the again-silent Dr. Wily.

"Whoa!" Mega Man stumbled as he fell through the second metal shutter, dropping to the ceiling. As he did, another Robot Master fell in the opposite direction. Landing on the floor, he looked up at his enemy.

"Greetings, Mega Man." Gravity Man said tonelessly. "You are here to kill me, of course."

"Of course." Mega agreed. "Now that we've gotten that established, would you care for a little more meaningless banter or shall we get started?"

"Banter is unnecessary. Let's go." Gravity Man smiled wickedly, and suddenly he was rising to the ceiling at the same time as Mega Man was falling to the floor. He landed on his face with a painful grunt, then snarled as plasma bullets began hitting him. Rolling to the side, he scrambled to his feet and hurled a charged blast towards Gravity Man. For a moment, the enemy Robot Master was frozen in the path of the blast… and then he smiled, and once again the room shifted. He fell to the floor, dodging the shot, and Mega Man slammed into the ceiling. This time, he was able to avoid most of the follow-up plasma shots, but a couple still found him.

"Damn… that's not going to work forever!"

"Perhaps…" Gravity Man agreed coolly, running forward. "But it will work long enough to terminate you." Standing straight below Mega, he suddenly rose up. As Mega fell, they passed by each other, and Gravity Man kicked the surprised hero in the chest. Mega slammed into the wall bounced off and hit the floor hard. Gravity Man smirked and fired down once again… only to be hit full on by a charged blast.

"Ow… got you that time!" Mega growled, painfully rising to his feet. "Didn't even have to look… knew you'd stand there and keep firing!"

"Unlikely." Gravity Man disagreed. "I believe that was what the humans refer to as a 'lucky shot.' It shall not happen twice."

"I wouldn't bet the farm on that one, buddy!" Mega turned and ran across the room, away from him. Gravity Man frowned, then shrugged, switching gravity again. This time, however, as they fell, Mega Man fired. The charged shot hit Gravity Man square in the chest and knocked him flat on his rear.

"What? But… how?" He stammered. Mega snorted.

"Isn't it obvious? I figured out the timing on your switch, and fired at an appropriate time and angle."

"Well, then…" Gravity Man growled. "We'll have to keep you off your guard, then!" Crouching, he sprang forward in a sudden horizontal leap that carried him halfway across the room to stand under Mega Man. Instantly, he switched gravity, preparing to lash out with another physical attack at the blue… no, orange… hero. He frowned, realizing something was wrong but not knowing what… and then, pain. Screaming, he hit the ceiling. "What…" Opening his eyes, he saw Mega Man standing below him, covered in a globe of shimmering orange energy, patterned in stars. "Weapons Copy… Star Man's power?"

"The Star Crash." Mega confirmed. "And you've got nothing that can stop it, or protect you from it. I will take your power as well, once you are destroyed." Gravity Man's eyes narrowed, and he fired a plasma shot. It bounced off the plasma barrier harmlessly. Mega Man continued talking as if nothing had happened. "Now, then. Talk. What are Blues' plans? What are he and this Dark Man going to do? And for that matter, who is Dark Man? You're going to tell me everything, my friend."

"Heh. How… illogical." Gravity Man smiled a little. "You actually believe I will talk… haven't you realized that it's against my programming? Second Law… I must not betray Master Proto Man."
"Is that so…" Mega shook his head. "Well, I have Laws too. And I've broken the Third and Second. So that's no real defense."

"Perhaps…" Gravity Man stood and bowed. "But even if I could… I would not choose to. You have defeated me, Mega Man… logically, defeat means death. So it shall be." Mega Man watched emotionlessly as the Robot Master fired his plasma cannon into his own face multiple times, twitching on the floor until finally all movement ceased. Once he was sure Gravity Man was dead, he walked over and took the Weapons Chip containing the Gravity Hold. It was but a moment's work at the controls before he disabled the teleport shield and sent a command to shut down all the robots; by this time he had grown used to such things. Finding Gravity Man's report on what he had discovered at the facility took slightly longer, but he did it.

"Good… looks like he wasn't finished and didn't send it." He immediately deleted it. "Well, looks like there's nothing more for me here… might as well get back to Cossack's, then."

"Hey, doc." Roll greeted Cossack as the Russian doctor emerged from his lab, tired but smiling. "I assume things went well?"

"Quite well, indeed." Dr. Cossack nodded. "I have all the files and parts necessary to upgrade Rock's Mega Buster… and by my calculations, it should increase the charged shot's power by 20." Roll whistled.

"Not bad at all, doc. That should definitely help."

"I hope so." Cossack ran a hand through his hair. "As hard as I try, I'll always be third best… next to your father and that madman Wily, my talents don't mean all that much."

"They're all we have now, doc." The robot girl reminded him. "Rock knows you can do the job… and so do the rest of us. You'll be just fine."

"I hope so…" Cossack smiled again. "Oh… I forgot to ask Mega… did he tell you if he had retrieved the circuit plate from Star Man?"

"Nope… but he probably did." Roll assured him. "Mega's good with stuff like that… remember back in your Rebellion? He managed to grab both Energen Crystals needed to restore Rush's extra abilities, plus both the Wire and Balloon utilities you invented."

"True." Cossack admitted. "Whatever happened to those, by the way?"

"In our computer's data banks, just like all the Master Weapons." Roll explained. "After every Rebellion, Rock retires all his abilities… says he doesn't feel right carrying around the abilities of dead Robot Masters longer than that. It's tactically unsound, but I kind of understand." She made a face. "The ones from the Third were donated by Blues, though, since Rock blew all of his out destroying Gamma." Dr. Cossack frowned, concerned.

"Will they still be all right, after the attack?"

"Yeah, the computer was one of the only things that WASN'T damaged." Roll nodded. "It's with the rest of the stuff that was brought here. We just haven't unpacked it."

"All right, then." Dr. Cossack nodded. "Kalinka's asleep, and it's time I was too."
"Go ahead." Roll flopped down on a couch. "I'll watch some TV before hitting the stasis capsule, if you don't mind."

"Feel free. Night, then." Cossack retired, and Roll flipped through channels. She paused for a moment on some obscure cartoon dubbed from Norwegian involving a bear in butler's garb chasing a small child with strange all-blue eyes, but kept going.

"Blues probably would have kept watching that just to see what it was about." She muttered absently. "If he hadn't snapped, that is…"

"He HASN'T snapped." A voice behind her insisted angrily. Roll turned her head to see Kalinka Cossack in her nightgown, glaring knives.

"I thought your father said you were in bed."

"I couldn't sleep." Kalinka explained. "I kept thinking about… what's going on. The Rebellion."

"Yeah…" Roll sighed. "I know. My brother's really done it this time." Instantly, she knew she had said the wrong thing as Kalinka's eyes hardened, but it was too late.

"It's NOT your brother." She growled. "It's not him. It's another trick. It has to be."

"You weren't there." Roll told her. "You didn't see him grab dad… see him whistle that tune, and make his threats. It was him."

"No… no, it can't have been!" Kalinka's voice grew more frenzied. "How can you? You're his own SISTER… how can you say that? Believe that about him?"

"Because there's no other choice!" Roll yelled back, her own temper rising. "I SAW him, Kalinka! His voice, his mannerisms, his sense of humor, his scarf that he dropped, his whistle, they were all BLUES! They were all HIM, Kalinka, and denying that isn't helping the world ANY!"

"You're lying!" Kalinka shrieked. "You're wrong! Blues would NEVER do this! You're WRONG, Roll!" Struggling to keep herself from crying, the Russian girl turned and stormed off, leaving Roll feeling slightly foolish in front of the television.

"Well, it's good to get to know you better too, missy." Roll muttered, turning back to the screen. "Hope we didn't disturb the Doc with all that… what is this? Professional moose wrestling? Yugh." She changed a few channels again, then stopped upon seeing a familiar face. "Hey, it's that one UN guy, Martel… and there's Vinkus!" Martel appeared to be in mid-speech.
"…Result of the dangers now shown by the Fifth Robot Rebellion, we at the UN shall be imposing new regulations upon the world in regards to the production and ownership of Robot Masters."

"Oh, no, here it comes." Roll moaned. "Vinkus has been making progress here, I see…" Strangely, however, the Japanese Councilor's face was looking somewhat uncertain as Martel continued.

"Firstly, for the duration of the Fifth Robot Rebellion and potentially afterward, all production of new Robot Masters, both corporate and private, is ordered to cease. No more Robot Masters will be built for the time being. Secondly, all owners of Robot Masters currently existing will be required by law to register them with their respective governments, and to bring said Robot Master or Masters in for testing to detect potentially dangerous programming errors."

"Programming errors?" Roll snorted. "Dangerous Robot Masters are caused by complete reprogrammings. Programming errors don't make a robot dangerous!"

"More regulations may be issued in time." Martel concluded. "These are not meant to encourage anti-robot feelings, or to discriminate against the nonhuman members of our society. They are simply to protect us, all of us, from a threat that endangers us all. Until Proto Man and all of his armies have been dealt with, these measures are necessary. We would like to remind everybody to give your deepest support to Mega Man, also a Robot Master, who is currently campaigning to end the danger posed by his older brother and the other renegade Robot Masters, as he has done in similar occasions four times past. That is all, and thank you." Roll frowned and shut the television off as the reporter began delivering her own opinion on what the UN council had just said.

"Rock's not going to be happy to hear this…" She predicted. "Oh well, at least they're still a good ways away from the stage of killing Robot Masters en masse. Rock might even be able to end this before we get to any witch hunting… if he takes out Blues, I doubt even Vinkus would have the nerve to push for it afterwards." But despite what she said… inwardly, Roll doubted that it would be so.