Chapter 12: Armed And Dangerous

"Yeah, I got the orders no problem. When they come here, I start burning things! Burning EVERYTHING! Until they're nothing but ashes, and then I'll burn the freaking ashes again! MAN, I love my job." -Robot Master Burner Man, during the King Robot Rebellion

"Check." Dr. Light informed his eldest son, moving his queen into position. Proto Man chuckled darkly.

"Not bad, dad… but I do believe that was a mistake." He moved a rook, and knocked the queen over with a clink of plastic. He continued chuckling as he removed it, then stopped as he saw his father's triumphant smirk.

"Wrong… THAT was the mistake. Checkmate." He moved a bishop into the space the rook had vacated. "Close, but you should have been watching the other pieces more closely."

"Damn." Proto Man admitted, scanning the board. "You got me… no way out. I'm rusty… been slipping since I haven't played in a while. I should have seen that a mile away."

"Well, there's only one way to fix that." Dr. Light smiled. "Care for another game?"

"In a minute." Proto stood and yawned. "Dark Man should be coming in soon, and there's something we need to do."

"Um… I'm already here, boss." Dark Man spoke, turning his chair around. "I came in ten minutes ago… you were so caught up in your game that you didn't notice me, and I didn't want to disturb you."

"Ho! Silly me!" Proto Man grinned and slapped his forehead. "You made the right call there, though. Family time isn't the sort of thing one interrupts unless he wants his arms… sorry, arm, singular… torn off."

"And I kind of like my arm where it is." Dark Man agreed. "Anyways, what did you want us to do?"

"Something very unpleasant." Proto Man sank down into his own chair with a sigh. Dark Man's eyes dimmed.

"You don't mean…"

"I'm afraid so." Proto confirmed. "Against my better judgment, we'd better call up Napalm Man one last time. I was surprised as hell to find out that that imbecile finally got his act together, but I'm not complaining."

"As I recall, your exact words were 'that brainless numbskull probably fluked into it by pure luck, running in my favor except for my brother's for once in my life.'" Wily remarked.

"Yeah, something like that." Proto shrugged. "I was feeling happy. I'm worried that if we interact with him in any way, that just might cause him to screw it up again and ruin this." Dark Man's eyes flashed in what might have been a blink.

"So why call him at all, then?"

"Because I want him to know Mega Man's coming." Proto Man sighed. "He is, you know. Might already be on his way, by this time. Napalm Man's the only one left instead of us, and he has no idea where we are… even IF Napalm hadn't done this, he'd be heading there. And I want him to at least know what's coming… he might not UNDERSTAND it, but at least we can tell him. Dial him up."

"If you say so, boss." Dark Man shrugged. The connection opened revealing an empty room. "…What the hell? He knows standard protocol is to always leave somebody… here…" He broke off suddenly.

"What?" Proto Man frowned.

"Two days ago." Dark Man growled. "I told him to take every one of his robots with flaming or explosive capabilities with him. That includes all his Warmongers… so he didn't leave anybody minding the store. There's nobody actually in the base who can talk."

"Oh, GODS." Proto Man sighed heavily. "So what do we do?"

"I've got some override codes that can get me control of one of the dumb robots." Dark Man decided. "I'll have one find him and tell him to get in here." They waited for several minutes in silence, the only noise being the tapping of Dark Man's hand on the keyboard, and then Napalm Man's face appeared onscreen.

"Uh… hello?"

"I… you… know what? Never mind." Proto Man shook his head despairingly. "It's not important."

"Oh, okay!" Napalm Man nodded. "Bye, then!" Before either of them could stop him, he cut the connection. Dark Man immediately moved to reestablish it while Proto Man muttered several curses in exotic languages (Greek, Hungarian and Swahili to be exact). "Um… hi? Thought you said…"

"Forget that. And DON'T kill this connection again, or I'LL kill YOU." Proto Man growled. "Let me just get this over with as soon as possible, so my brain can stop hurting. Mega Man is coming. He's coming for YOU."

"Mega…Man…?" Napalm Man muttered. Strangely, his voice sounded different… as if he was actually thinking about what they had said. "He's… coming here now?"

"That's right." Dark Man nodded patiently. "Good, Napalm Man. Mega Man is coming to fight you."

"You… don't say." Something gleamed in Napalm Man's eyes. "Well, it's about time. Any idea on how long until he arrives?"

"Uh…" Proto Man glanced at Dark Man, who shrugged. "Not exactly, but it should be no more than a couple hours."

"I see." Napalm Man grunted. "Well then, with your permission, I'll pull the army off tree detail and reorganize them into a proper defensive lineup. The fire's going anyways… it doesn't really need us any more to spread."

"Okay…" Dark Man shrugged. "If you say so."

"All right then." Napalm Man nodded his torso forward. "Leave everything to me, masters… I'll send you his remains in an ashtray."

"You… feeling okay, Napalm?" Proto Man inquired cautiously.

"Never better." Napalm Man chuckled darkly. "Looks like I get my shot after all… I'll be in touch, masters." The screen went black, leaving the two Advanced Robot Masters staring at it.

"What… the HELL… was THAT?" Proto Man wondered. Slowly, Dark Man's eyes began glowing.

"I think… I think that was Napalm Man's brain turning 'on', boss."

"Really…" Proto Man's teeth bared in a manic grin. "Well, what do you know. I didn't think he HAD one." He stood. "For some reason, I'm feeling good. I know that breaks the tradition following calls with Napalm Man but I can't help it. I'm feeling lucky, too, for that matter… so how about that game of chess, pop? Ha ha ha ha ha…"

"Morning, Roll." Mega Man smiled as he sat up. "Hope the repairs weren't too bad… it didn't seem like Crystal Man gave me THAT hard a time…"

"No, they weren't." Roll agreed, face grim. Her brother frowned.

"What is it, Roll?"

"You'd better come see this." She turned and walked away. Mega blinked, shrugged and followed her.

"Same deal as yesterday, but she doesn't look very happy now… did the UN strike back at Corbun and X?" As they reached the living room, Roll grabbed the television's remote and flipped it on. Instantly, the Blue Bomber knew what had gotten his sister in such a mood. On the screen… trees were burning. Many, many trees.

"How long has this been going on?" Mega growled.

"Pretty much the instant you left yesterday." Roll shook her head. "It was a freak blunder of timing… not ten minutes later, the UN called back to ask if you had left for Crystal Man's already. When they found out you had, Martel used some words not even I know."

"Unsurprising." Mega shook his head in disbelief. "He finally did it… Napalm Man finally got his act together. Do they say how much of the forest has been lost?"

"20 already, and another 20 even if firefighters could get in there right now… which they can't." Roll told him. "It's bad, bro. Real bad. He's got his entire army working on it… and that includes all those Warmongers. They're completely obliterating that forest… Doc Corbun sure wasn't joking around when he made those."

"Apparently not." Mega turned away. "Is Cossack in the lab?"

"Last time I checked, yeah." Roll nodded. "Why?"

"Need to give him something I found to analyze… as well as the circuit plate." The Blue Bomber explained as he left the living room. "Then I'm gone… I can't wait for the UN to call on this case. This time, I already know what they're going to order me to do, so they won't get bent out of shape. Napalm Man's going DOWN… fast and hard."

"Don't get cocky." Roll reminded him. "Those things are monstrosities… even you won't be able to take one down easy." Mega nodded.

"I don't expect to… I meant that as a necessity, not as a boast. I NEED to kill him ASAP, to prevent the forest from being completely obliterated." He walked into the lab and tossed the M-Tank at the surprised Dr. Cossack. "Here you go, Doc. Can you analyze this for me?"

"An… M-Tank?" Dr. Cossack blinked, looking it over. "Curious indeed… where did you find this?"

"Lying around Crystal Man's." Mega explained. "I don't know what it is, but it's probably powerful."

"Undoubtedly." Cossack agreed. "I will look it over. Did you recover the circuit plate as well?"

"Yeah." Mega handed it to him. "Right then, I'm-"

"Incoming call." Dive Man interrupted.

"Tell the UN Council I'm already gone… no time to waste." Mega prepared himself for warping.

"It is not the Council." Dive Man continued. "It is Dr. Corbun." At that, Mega hesitated; likely, the doctor was calling to give some advice on his prize Robot Master… advice he might need.

"All right." He sighed.

"Put him through." Cossack ordered Dive Man, who nodded and did so.

"Rock! Roll, Sergei! I saw the news!" Dr. Corbun greeted them excitedly. "I suppose even a robot with that inferior a brain would get the idea eventually. I presume you're about to leave and combat Napalm Man?"

"That I am." Mega confirmed.

"Well, be careful." Corbun warned him. "I know I told you the Warmonger brains are idiotic when it comes to most tasks, but that's because everything there is devoted to fighting… in that one field, they're top-notch! As soon as Napalm Man realizes you're coming, his brain will start working again, in overdrive! Whatever you do, DON'T assume you'll be dealing with a fool."

"Got it." Mega nodded. "What about weaknesses? Does he have any of those that you can key me in on…"

"Well…" Corbun winced. "Not as such… no. My orders were to do everything I could to avoid those. Elemental damage won't do much to him, his hull won't be overly damaged by explosions, blades or heavy impacts, and don't even THINK of trying anything close-range." He frowned. "If there's any sort of weakness at all, it will be in his head, not a body. The intellectual flaws will be below the surface, but they'll still exist. Find a way to exploit them."

"Understood." Mega smiled briefly. "By the way… how's the Robot Museum going?"

"Excellent." Corbun beamed. "We're selling tickets by the bucket-load here… once we recoup our expenses, we think we're going to start some type of pro-robot charity. X doesn't need the money by a long shot, and I'll be living quite happily on what US paid me for these projects for quite a while. Vinkus has been coming by every day… on the surface, he's all moans and groans about how much trouble we're going to get into for this, but I think he secretly kind of likes it. Who knows with him any more. At least the UN Council hasn't shut us down… and if they haven't by now, I doubt that they're going to."

"It seems doubtful." Cossack agreed. "Congratulations to both of you for pulling it off."

"Dad's going to be thrilled when we get him back." Roll chuckled. "He'll be going every day for a week, at least… maybe a month. It'll be like a little kid going to Disney World on a sugar rush." Mega winced and covered his forehead.

"Oy vey… she's right. It'll be the 2074 Robotics Convention all over again. I assume you remember THAT."

"Oh, yes." Corbun laughed. "Who do you think it was that finally put the sedative in his drink so you could take him home?"

"Should have figured." Mega laughed. "Well, good luck… I need to get going and stop that fire."

"Right." Corbun nodded. "Be careful."

As Mega Man arrived from his teleport, he immediately tensed up and looked around warily. Seeing lush greenery waving in the breeze, he relaxed; the fire had not spread to this area. Yet. Looking up, he saw that the sky was a sickly, burning orange. "Can't say I approve of the color." Even though it was not visible, he knew that the awesome destructive force of the blaze created by the Warmongers was beyond even his power to halt. All he could do was take out Napalm Man; he could not eliminate the monster the enemy Robot Master had created. Only fire control crews sent in by the UN could do that… and those could only come once he had done his job. Mega was jolted from his thoughts by the sudden sight of a furious orange mass rushing at him. A robotic tiger, pouncing at him. Instinctively, he brought up his Buster and fired the charged shot he had been unconsciously holding in, and the metal beast died with a whimper. Mega wiped his brow, even though he did not sweat; that had been close. Continuing forward, he encountered more of the tigers, along with newly-erected spike pits that the felines threatened to slam him into.

"These were put together intentionally to maximize the threat… and in a hurry." The Blue Bomber realized. "Guess that confirms what Dr. Corbun told me… this is no idiot I'm going up against. Not any more." He jumped down into a cavern tunnel and blew away the tiger waiting for him there in one motion. "But I'm no idiot either." Dropping down further, he saw a line of Metool-operated cannon turrets, the same ones that had been installed outside his home a week ago. "Heavy artillery… of course." Like the spikes, they looked as if they had been moved to their current positions only recently. Moving from one to another, Mega systematically destroyed them. As he neared the last one, he suddenly saw something behind it. "Eh…?" And then it drew closer, and his eyes widened. It was a huge, flat, saw-toothed circle drill boring down on him, and the Meturret in its way was ground into scrap instantaneously. "OH, HELL!" It filled the entire tunnel; there was no room to dodge. All he could do was fight back. Mega fired a charged shot, praying that the drill's armor was not as thick as it looked. It wasn't, but the danger wasn't over; the monstrous drill exploded in shrapnel, and Mega winced as he was struck in the shoulder and knee.

"Ow… got to watch out for those." He winced. "That won't be the last… but that was a neat trick. The Meturrets were just a distraction." As he predicted, several more drills came down the tunnel towards him when he continued on. Now, he made sure to blast them when they were a safe distance away, and at the end of the tunnel he found a ladder taking him up higher. He started to go on, then paused; on some inner instinct, he turned back around. The wall behind him looked as if it had been repaired recently. "Another change in the last couple hours… what do I do, then? It could be a trap, but if it's not… I'll risk it." He unleashed the Gravity Hold, tearing the loose wall stones away, and revealing an E-Tank. "Awesome… he tried to hide this. He should have destroyed it… he won't be needing it, and it'll just contribute to his master's downfall. Mistake on his part." The next section contained underground waterfalls; thin streams of water poured down from below onto ledges protruding from the wall before rushing downward into the darkness of a massive pit. Wary of robots hiding in the water, Mega used the Power Stone before jumping to each ledge. He was progressing along, thinking he had outsmarted Napalm Man once again, when he heard the whirring of a propeller blade and paled.

"No… he got ME again!" It was a small helicopter pod, barely large enough for one man-or in this case, one robot, a purple-clad Sniper Joe-but it had a gun turret below the windshield, and that was enough. Jumping to a ledge that did not have a waterfall, Mega signaled Rush hurriedly. As the robotic dog teleported in, the Copter Joe began firing, and Mega took several small plasma bullets before he could jump onto Rush's back in Jet mode. Once he was in the air, he was able to triumph over the Joe, but the damage had been done, both physically and mentally. "Damn… I can't let him keep getting me like this." Wary of more Copter Joes, he piloted Rush the rest of the way to the cavern's exit, engaging two more before he made it. As he dismissed Rush, however, another teleportation beam streaked down and formed into Eddie, who happily gave him a large capsule of energy.

"Beep!"

"The guys back home thought I'd be needing this, huh?" Mega smiled as he absorbed it. "Well, they were right. I'm back up to full now, though. Thanks, Ed."

"Beep beep!" Eddie left again, and Mega continued on. The next obstacle, unlike the previous ones, was brutally simple; not one, but two of the big, red gorilla-like robots that Charge Man had used as a bodyguard sat angrily on the far side of a spike pit. And they both had missile launchers in their chests. Homing missile launchers. And to complete the tableau, the ninth and final circuit plate was taped to the ground between them. Hopping across some stepping stones that Napalm Man had thoughtfully provided, Mega blasted each missile as it approached.

"He probably expects me to get eager for the plate, fight them here and get knocked off… that or try to pick them off from a distance, eventually missing a missile." The Blue Bomber smirked. "Nothing doing." Bending over, he unleashed the Water Wave. The robots were heavy, but not heavy enough, and the sudden blast of liquid force beneath them launched them forward onto the spikes. Humming a little ditty, Mega picked up the plate and went on. Ahead of him was a large metal building. "That'll be his base… about time, too." They would be expecting him to come in through the front. Instead, looking around the back, Mega found a hatch that led into the basement. Dropping in, his eyes widened; there was a series of large missiles heading right for his face, and he recognized them as the sort that exploded in shrapnel no matter what hit them, or what they hit. Only the Star Crash saved him from a damage that would have taken him back down to where he had been before Eddie's energy capsule. "Damn… maybe he WAS expecting this. Or he has enough robots that he could heavily guard both ways." Shaking his head, he walked past what appeared to be a hangar full of parked tanks. "Wow… he has THOSE? No wonder he burned so much of the forest so fast… question is, why didn't he send his Warmongers out to use them against me?" He thought for a moment. "Maybe… he figured I might be able to take out the driver. I certainly did with Star Man and Wave Man's heavy vehicles. And if I did on one of THESE, then I'd be able to drive it, and use it against this base. That'd do it." He shook his head. "Enough thinking about that… Napalm Man's still up ahead." Looking forward, he saw a giant purple humanoid that only served to further strengthen that line of thought. And like the big reds before it, it stood near a spike pit. Shaking his head, the Blue Bomber equipped the Charge Kick and started forward.

Some robots never learned.

"Ah, Mister Vinkus." Elizabeth Coombe smiled. "We are happy that you could join us… even if it's twenty minutes late."

"Skip it, Councilor Coombe." Vinkus muttered. "I was just doing as the United Nations asked me to."

"Ahem… now that we're all here…" Martel coughed. "I hereby call this meeting to order. I believe the subject that occupied Councilor Vinkus is our latest issue. Tell us, then, how goes your surveillance, Councilor?"

"Same as yesterday." Vinkus shrugged. "It's exactly what it seems to be… just a big museum show. None of the robots have violent tendencies; most of them have had anything even resembling a weapon removed. The people love it; they're still flocking in by the truckload. It's hard to tell whether there's more of the tourists or the natives, since there's so many of both."

"What about Corbun and Xanthos?" Louis Arcian inquired. "How are they behaving?"

"That would be DOCTOR Corbun and MISTER X to you, Councilor." Vinkus reminded him coldly. Arcian scowled, but did not argue. "As to your question, they're both happy as clams… not that a clam can ever actually be happy. They're the center of media attention, and they're both loving it… and, of course, they're helping out their friends."

"Of course." Martel nodded in agreement. "So, you would not judge the Robot Museum to be a threat?" Vinkus snorted.

"A threat? Only to our dignity, ladies and gentlemen. It was made to give robots some good PR, and that's what it's done. I imagine once this Rebellion's over, its popularity will begin to fade, and within a few years it'll just be another tourist trap, and some of us won't even remember it."

"Very well." Martel shuffled some papers. "Onto the next order of business, then. You were not here at the time, Councilor Vinkus, but earlier today the rest of us made contact with Dr. Cossack's citadel. I'm sure you can guess what the purpose of our call was."

"Napalm Man." Vinkus rolled his eyes. "Obviously. And we thought letting the Robot Museum be built was a ghastly blunder. We send Mega Man off to one place, and not five minutes later, the OTHER one explodes in flames. Literally. What a disaster. So, you called to tell him to go there?"

"Indeed." Martel confirmed. "However, upon calling we discovered that we were too late. Mega Man had anticipated our order and departed already. For the second time, he left of his own accord, without waiting for our command. The question before the council is, should any action be taken against Rock Light for this, and if so what?"

"He should be punished, of course." Arcian responded instantly. "This is not the first, but the second time he has taken matters into his own hands… placed his own judgment above the council's. This simply cannot be allowed. He must be disciplined for it."

"How did I know you were going to say that, Councilor Arcian?" Coombe rolled her eyes. "Of course, it's completely out of the question."

"Out of the question?" Arcian sputtered.

"That's correct." Coombe nodded. "For one, this is NOT exactly the same as the previous incident. In Casablanca, Mega Man went there contrary to our interests, and acted against those. Here and now, he simply anticipated out order-we WERE going to send him after Napalm Man-and went as soon as he was ready, in order to prevent more damage from occurring. If any of us here can fault honestly fault him for THAT, let him speak." Nobody did. "Secondly, in case you had forgotten, we still need Mega Man. Napalm Man will be dealt with, that is a surety. But afterwards, two more will remain… the two most dangerous. Mega Man's own brother, Proto Man, and his flunky, Dark Man. And if they're following type, they will have a fortress… one guarded by at least twice as many robots as their conquered territories. UN armies could not successfully deal with the Skull Fortresses, and they will not be able to deal with this one as well. We don't even know where it IS, and if we do something to his brother, I doubt Proto Man will reveal it to us."

"Wouldn't that make him happy?" Councilor Salguerdo, of Brazil, disagreed. "They ARE enemies, after all."

"We're not dealing with a rational mind here." Martel reminded him. "Proto Man seems obsessed with having his younger brother be the one who fights him… who may stop him. He's made several errors in tactics and given several things away that he would not have had it been us directly combating him. I stand by Councilor Commbe; Mega Man should not be penalized for this. Shall we take it to a vote?" There were a few angry mutterings, Arcian's foremost among them, but none of the Councilors spoke openly. "Very well. Continuing on that note… I do believe there is something having to do with this Rebellion-to be specific, Napalm Man-that we CAN deal with ourselves."

"The fires." Vinkus guessed.

"Correct." Martel nodded. "I would like to move that, immediately following Mega Man's defeat of Napalm Man, we move all of our disaster prevention teams into the area and have them focus on putting out the fires. Even if all of Napalm Man's forces are shut down, the blaze will remain; and unless it is dealt with, it will destroy the entire forest. It is simply too big for any natural means to deal with; our only blessing is that it is in the treeborg forest, not any inhabited area. But that blessing is also a curse; if we do not do this, and do it fast, our planet's oxygen-producing capabilities will be crippled. Proto Man's goal there will have been accomplished. Are there any objections to this course of action?" This time, not even Arcian disagreed in the slightest. "Very good. At this moment, I call for a ten-minute recess." As the Councilors stood, Arcian caught Vinkus' eye.

"Could I have a moment, Darwin?"

"Perhaps later, Louis." Vinkus replied coolly. "There are a few things in my home I must attend to… I was unable to do so earlier on account of having to rush to this meeting from my position at the Robot Museum. I'm sure we can talk another time." Moving away, he left the meeting room. Scowling furiously, Arcian followed suit as well. Martel watched this all with a knowing smirk, then shrugged and did so as well, leaving the room for the moment empty.

"My turn at last." Napalm Man was standing at the far end of the command chamber, facing Mega Man. He had obviously been waiting there for his arrival. "Do you know how long I've waited for this moment?"

"About…" Mega Man thought for a moment. "Wait. Is that total waiting, or waiting while you knew what two plus two equaled?"

"You're about as funny as a train wreck." Napalm Man growled, then burst out laughing. "HAWHAWHAWHAWHAW! Except I DO find train wrecks funny!"

"I'll bet your buddy Charge Man appreciated that." Mega remarked dryly.

"Who cares about him?" Napalm Man spread his arms. "He was a piker. All of them were. Gyro Man was the only one of the lot who was built to fight."

"I brought him down regardless, just like the others." Mega reminded him. "And I myself wasn't a fighting robot from the beginning. So much for your hypothesis."

"Flukes happen." Napalm Man shrugged. "And eventually, they always lose out to the real thing. Enough chattering, already. I've been looking forward to this fight. Don't disappoint me!"

"I don't intend to!" Mega Man and Napalm Man fired simultaneously. From the former, a charged blast; from the latter, a missile launched out of his forehead turret. They met head-on and exploded, and Mega prepared for another attack… even as he saw the second missile blast forward. Startled, he slid forward and stood up straight into the third. Napalm Man had predicted his actions, and fired three missiles one after the other without even looking. Mega went down, and through the smoke, saw a figure rushing at him. Napalm Man, blasting forward far faster than the Blue Bomber had thought possible. Before he could get to his feet, his enemy hit him, running him over like a vehicle and continuing on, only to turn and raise his arms. Mega's eyes widened; he knew what that meant. From the launcher that replaced both his hands, two projectiles were tossed loosely out; orange cylinders that tapered to blunt cones on either end. Hitting the ground, they bounced towards the fleeing hero, then exploded. Mega was far enough away to avoid the actual impact, or the deadly napalm stored inside, but the explosion's force still knocked him back down.

"I told you already, don't compare me to those scrubs!" Napalm Man yelled. "I'm a one-robot army! You're up against the WAR MACHINE now, Mega Man!" He seemed to hunch back on his knees, then rushed forward again. This time, Mega saw him coming and slid away, and even as the enemy robot raised his arms again, he got to his feet and fired back. Napalm Man grunted, but did not falter, and fired the Napalm Bombs in a higher arc, soaring towards the Blue Bomber, who slid away again, this time not even being damaged. Napalm Man, undaunted, began firing missiles again, and Mega was forced to continue sliding over and over again to stay away. He circled Napalm Man, who kept firing missiles (thank whatever gods there were the missiles weren't homing), spiraling inward. By the time the enemy Robot Master noticed what was happening, it was too late; Mega had switched to the Charge Kick, and came in low at his enemy's legs. The Kick hit, and Napalm Man toppled back, but as he did, he lashed out with one arm and slammed Mega Man away into a wall.

"Ow… damn." Mega got back up as his adversary did as well. Doc Corbun SAID not to try close-range tactics… my fault for not listening. He's not as strong as a Guts Man or a Hard Man, but I do NOT want to go near him again, all the same. Choosing another weapon, he hurled a Gyro Blade. Napalm Man completely ignored it, launching another pair of Napalm Bombs into the air, and as he scrambled away, Mega saw that the blade did not penetrate deeply. "Geez, what did they MAKE your armor out of?"

"Wouldn't you like to know!" Napalm Man chuckled, hunching back again.

He's gonna start speeding around like a damned motorbike again! Mega realized. How can he do that? Maybe if I look at his feet… A glance as he ran answered the question. On the bottom of Napalm Man's metal boots were treads… like on a tank, except Napalm Man for all his weight was much lighter than those terrible engines of destruction, and could skid along on the treads instead of just slowly rolling. Aha… maybe if I hit him there… It was dangerous to stop, but he had no choice. Selecting the Water Wave, he whirled around to face Napalm Man and activated it. The enemy Robot Master's eyes narrowed, and he rushed forward towards what he saw as a helpless target. Gotcha! But even as the geyser erupted, Mega's triumph turned to shock. Napalm Man had jumped, anticipating the attack. And more than that, he had used his forward momentum to carry him at least ten feet forward horizontally, slamming straight into Mega Man and knocking him down. Desperately, Mega activated the Star Crash, but the Napalm Bombs' explosion tore it apart, and the burning weapon contained inside splashed over his frame. "AAAAAH!"

"Feeling the burn, Blue Bomber?" Napalm Man laughed as Mega Man desperately scrambled away, forcing his limbs to move through the searing pain. Chuckling, Napalm Man gave chase once more.

E-Tank, E-Tank, gotta use an E-Tank! Mega thought desperately as he pulled out one of the life-giving canisters and downed its contents. His internal operations energy was refilled, but the pain did not stop; the napalm was still on him. What haven't I tried… my newest weapon, of course. I haven't used it once… I completely forgot about it! Probably because it doesn't seem like it'd do much good… I mean, crystals? Against THIS behemoth? But what the hell! Switching to the Crystal Eye, he fired it automatically, then cursed; he hadn't even been facing in the right direction. A wasted shot… or perhaps not. As the large crystal orb hit the wall, it did not shatter; instead, it splattered apart into four smaller orbs. Like Crystal Man's version, they began bouncing off the walls at high speed. After fighting their original user, Mega knew how to avoid them, but the same could not be said of the bulky Napalm Man.

"What… hey! Get off!" He waved an appendage at a Crystal Eye, to no avail. "What the hell are THESE? You think these gnats can stop me? Come here, you…" Growling, he swatted at one, then yelled. "OW!" Facing away, Mega smiled. The intellectual flaws will still exist below the surface… find a way to exploit them.

"Try again! Second time's the charm!" He fired another Crystal Eye, and once again it shattered.

"You lousy… get back here!" Napalm Man yelled, giving chase. "I'm gonna grind you into the floor!"

"That's if you can catch me!" Mega called back, firing as he ran. Behind him, he heard Napalm Man grunt and growl as the tiny Crystal Eyes slammed into him, over and over, like a swarm of furious bees.

"I'll blow you apart!" The furious Robot Master bellowed, halting and firing his head missiles. Shrugging, Mega Man turned and dodged them, continuing his Crystal Eye barrage as he did.

"An overpowering direct attack is threatening, indeed… but it leaves you vulnerable to indirect attacks. The Gravity Hold and the Power Stone wouldn't work on you… you're too heavy for the former, and the latter doesn't have enough uses to penetrate your armor. And you've already shown you can anticipate the timing of the Water Wave… but this, I get four shots to one use, and your big, clunky frame can't avoid it."

"SHUT UP!" Napalm Man screamed. "This'll show you!" He raised his arms and launched two Napalm Bombs… but before they got more than a foot away, a Crystal Eye slammed into one. Its explosion also set off its companion, and their flaming contents spilled back over their master. The napalm itself did not damage Napalm Man much-Doctor Corbun had shown better foresight than that-but the shock of having his own weapon turned against him paralyzed the mighty war machine, and Mega Man acted, firing a charged shot into his face. Slowly, Napalm Man teetered, and then the last of the Crystal Eyes zinged right between his shoulders, and he fell forward like a toppled tree.

"Well?" Mega Man asked as he approached. "Did that fight match up to your expectations?"

"…More than." Napalm Man's eyes were glazing over with death, but they were not angry. "Thought I… had you… but you… beat me. It was… worth it. All of it… was worth it."

"No." Mega Man shook his head. "It wasn't worth the deaths. It wasn't worth the damage to the forest. It wasn't worth the Rebellion. If all you wanted was to have me kill you… well, no, if you had just asked me I would have refused. But all THIS… wasn't necessary."

"…Perhaps." Napalm Man shrugged. "But what… choice did I have? My mind… not its own. Reprogrammed… by the master. By Dark Man. Me… more than any others… he took care to lock… my mind in stone. Couldn't… disobey him. Had to… listen. Wasn't very… good at it… but had to… anyways." He paused. "Don't even… remember before… that. Who… built me? Do you… know?"

"Yes." Mega Man nodded. "Dr. Corbun. He's… a very good friend of mine. I'll… tell him that… for the purposes you were built for, you were a success."

"For war…" Napalm Man closed his eyes. "I wonder… what I would have been like… had I been built… for another purpose. Don't mind… just wondering… what it'd be… like…" His voice trailed off, and his eyes did not open.

"…And we thought him stupid." Mega Man muttered. "Robot Masters… even the most limited among them… can wonder. He thought… he had an original thought, that wasn't in his programming. He wasn't very good at it, but he did. And… he was happy." Shaking his head, the Blue Bomber took the Napalm Bomb from his fallen foe, then shut down all the robots in the area. He glanced once more at Napalm Man's body, then teleported away, his thoughts confused.