Author's Note: If you have not read the Prologue, I suggest you do so. It turns out that when I uploaded yesterday, my sleep-fogged brain put the first chapter up without putting in the Prologue. Oops.

Also: Don't be shy! Tell me what you think! It will help me become a better writer.

September 18, 2057

"Ah, it's so peaceful nowadays!" Rock smiled as he lazily lay down on a hilltop near the laboratory. "Especially now that Wily is no longer around to cause trouble."

Rock, as Mega Man, had finally defeated Wily in his ninth major attempt at world domination. Rock had cleaned up the latest batch of Robot Masters: Sonic Man, Tech Man, Mineral Man, Lock Man, Shock Man, Neuro Man, Lava Man, and Marine Man.

Afterwards, Skull Fortress had been completely obliterated by Mega Man, and Wily had gone missing, presumably dead as evident by the patches of red human blood that was found in his personal laboratory.

Rock had given up the identity of Mega Man, and had settled down to a peaceful life with his creator, Dr. Light, his sister, Roll, his friends, Auto and Eddie, and the pets, Rush, Tango, and Beat. Sometimes, even Blues would show up, although he still kept the identity of Proto Man. For several years now, Rock had been enjoying his peaceful days.

He rolled over on the grass so that he was facing the city below the hilltop. He smiled fondly at the city that he had been protecting for years. Rock was glad that everything was so calm nowadays.

That is, until he saw a strange blue light flash from the city. Jumping up, he stared at it. "What the...?" he stammered out. Then he heard screaming from the city. Rock hightailed it back to Dr. Light's laboratory. "DR. LIIIIIIIIIIGHT!" he screamed.

The elderly human ran out, panting. He looked at Rock. "I saw," he said grimly. Rock ran into the house and together they both studied the scans of the city. "According to the radar, it's Dr. Wily's robots..."

"What! I thought Wily was dead!" Rock protested.

Dr. Light shook his head. "I thought so too; so did Roll, Blues, and just about the entire world! But Wily's apparently still around. What's strange, however, are the robots he's using; Bass and Treble are nowhere in sight, and they are Metal Man, Wood Man, Air Man, Crash Man, Needle Man, Magnet Man, Hard Man, and Top Man."

Rock started. "O... kay... why would Wily be using Robot Masters from thirty years ago?"

Dr. Light shook his head. "I have absolutely no idea, though that blue light gave me some strange readings, unlike anything that I have seen before."

"Dr. Light! I'll suit up as Mega Man again and go after them!" Rock suggested.

"Suit up! Rock, you haven't fought for awhile! There's no telling what'll happen to you!" Dr. Light protested.

"Doctor, I must! Who else will save the city!" Rock argued back.

Dr. Light stood there, gazing at Rock's face for a few minutes. Finally, he gave a tiny nod. "Alright Rock... I'll let you suit up again."

Rock gazed down at the familiar suit of blue armor and sighed. Despite the fact he had requested that he re-suit in the armor, he still didn't want to go off and fight again. Especially Wily. But now, he had no choice. He had volunteered, and now he must live with the consequences.

He had no idea how large the consequences will turn out to be.

Rock – no, Mega Man – turned his head as he saw Dr. Light coming, Roll at his heels. The girl's face looked tired, worried, and scared at the same time, which was a pretty good feat. Dr. Light sat down and began to explain a few things to Rock.

"Rock, listen. Since you haven't fought in awhile, some of your skills will be rusty. Also, most of your abilities wore out from age and lack of use. It is possible that if you use some of the abilities you have left too much, it will cause them to overload and short-circuit. For example, if you overload your Buster, it could cause it to stop firing."

"Okay then..." Rock said. "I'm leaving!"

"Good luck, Rock!" Roll called, running up to her brother and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. Rock smiled at his creator, gave his little sister a quick hug, and teleported out of the house.

The city of Tokyo was nearly in ruins when Mega Man reached it. He stared in disbelief as the civilians raced past him, screaming. Mega Man stumbled through the crowd, trying not to injure any of the panicked humans. Once, a red-haired girl ran right into him and then latched onto him, begging him to save her. Mega Man had gently pulled her off of him and had sent her with the other civilians.

Judging from where the strange blue light had come from, Mega Man made his way towards what he believed was the center of the attack. He was right.

Standing in the middle of the city square was the insane scientist himself: Dr. Wily. His Robot Masters were standing nearby, which, Mega Man noticed, didn't look nearly as upgraded as they had when he had fought them last time. Dr. Wily himself also looked younger than Mega Man remembered. Near the group was one of Wily's trademark Skull Ships, which had a rather unusual looking device attacked to it.

"Ah, if it isn't Mega Man!" Wily smirked, grinning at the blue robot.

Mega Man didn't bother to hide his surprised look as he literally skidded to a halt. "Wily! But you're dead!" he protested.

Wily suddenly looked slightly unnerved, but the expression quickly disappeared from his face. He looked over Mega Man. "Silly boy!" he chastised. "It'd take more than that to kill me!" He gestured at the robots. "You know what to do! Keep him busy until I can prepare the machine!"

Now Mega Man was a bit curious. He wondered why Wily would rather prepare his machine instead of just commanding the Robot Masters to outright kill him. But he didn't have a chance to ponder the question anymore, as all eight Robot Masters attacked.

For awhile, Mega Man had no idea how long he fought Wily's Robot Masters. He dodged a Metal Blade, barely managed to avoid the spinning Top Man, and nearly collided with Magnet Man's Magnet Barrier. He continued rapid firing, as he had no time to charge.

"Almost done!" he heard Wily's voice shout from the Skull Ship. Mega Man felt a slight sinking feeling in his stomach as suddenly all of the Robot Masters stopped and circled around him. He knew they weren't out for his blood; Wily had told them exactly what to do, and it probably wasn't going to be pleasant for Mega Man.

"Wood Man! Now!" Wily suddenly shouted. Mega Man had nowhere to dodge as the huge Robot Master did a barrel roll on him, knocking the wind out of him. Mega Man dizzily sat up, trying to get his bearings, when he noticed all eight Robot Masters converging on him.

Mega Man started charging his Buster for the first time since he had resuited. If I fail now... I'm dead! Grimly, he waited until his Buster was at full charge. Then he fired.

An intense pain ripped through his arm as the fully charged blast left his arm cannon. Mega Man screamed as it felt like his arm had shattered. Then, just as suddenly as the pain had cone, it was gone. He looked in the direction the shot had gone. To his dismay, it had missed all eight Robot Masters and had ploughed into a building instead. Just my luck... he thought grimly. He readied himself to shoot again.

However, his Buster sputtered before dying completely. Mega Man stared at it in shock. "Aw crap." That was the last thing he said before he was struck by something behind him. Too tired to get up anymore, Mega Man crumpled to the ground, welcoming the oncoming blackness.

Well, that's Chapter 1! This might be the only multi-chapter fic that I actually finish (hopefully). Read and Review!