Chapter 4 is up! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! (Velgma, chaoticbenevolence, Archaon, and ColonelPhantom)

Also: I am keeping track of times when the story bounces from one time period to another. It won't happen very often as the story progresses, mind you, since it becomes more obvious which universe they are currently in.

Quint spent the rest of the week with the little mechaniloid he named Sakugarne. He had found schematics for the little robot on a computer in Dr. Wily's lab (which he had snuck into and accessed without permission from the scientist himself).

According to the schematics, Sakugarne was meant to be a device that could lift people (or robots) to higher heights that they cannot reach by having the pogo-stick bounce. Quint just shook his head at the thought of Sakugarne-type robots bouncing up and down all day. Not for the first time, he thought that Wily must have a screw loose.

So Quint began his own modifications to Sakugarne. The little robot needed some sort of self-defense, and Quint didn't want his only friend to be destroyed. So he placed the schematics on the ground, shut off Sakugarne, and added some things.

"Hmm, what do you need...?" he muttered to himself. He changed the typical pogo-stick like base of Sakugarne to a sharp, pointy, drill-shaped base. He made it so that it could penetrate the ground if done hard enough, but not on regular walking / bouncing.

Also, he removed the metal casing of Sakugarne and replaced it an unbreakable Titanium X alloy that Wily had also gotten from somewhere. When Quint had asked, Wily had snapped at him to go do something else and mind his own business, which had confused the poor robot even further. The Titanium X alloy also blocked plasma shots. Too bad that Quint couldn't use the modification on himself, since he somehow subconsciously knew that Mega Man used plasma to attack.

He whistled a random tune while he worked. After awhile, he stopped back and admired his own handiwork. He was hit with a sudden realization that he was able to use all those tools and materials without any training whatsoever, and it frightened him slightly. He shrugged the thought off and put away the tools and spare materials he had used. Then he reactivated Sakugarne.

"Saku?" the pogo-stick asked. It bounced around a bit, testing its new base. "Saku!" It bounced around happily.

"Glad you like it," Quint said, smiling and patting the pogo-stick.

"What was that?" a voice came from outside. Quint nearly facefaulted as he remembered that he had opened one of the storerooms to E-Tanks and modified Sakugarne there. He also recalled that he had never asked permission to modify the robot. The door to the storeroom opened and a certain somebody with a lab coat and wild gray hair walked in.

"Quint?" Wily asked, looking at him with a slight frown on his face. "Why are you in here with that mechaniloid?"

"Saku?" said the mechaniloid.

"I... uh..." Quint shifted from one foot to the other, aware of Wily glaring at him. "I... wanted to keep him..."

For a few minutes both human and robot stared at each other. Sakugarne kept glancing from one to the other, confused as to what was going on. Finally, it couldn't handle the silence anymore. "Saku?" it said in a tentative voice.

That appeared to snap both of them out of it. "Well, no Robot Master has been allowed a companion, and I don't plan to start it anytime soon." Quint's face dropped as Wily said this. Was he being forced to give Sakugarne up? "However... you aren't exactly a Robot Master. I will allow you to keep that mechaniloid on one condition: you are fully responsible for it. Don't come wailing to me if it's broken. Understand?"

"Perfectly," Quint said, fighting to keep his voice neutral. Inside, he felt like doing a victory dance.

"Good," Wily said. He started to walk out. When he reached the door, he paused and glanced back at him. "But if you get one rebellious thought you and it are scrap."

All that statement did was puzzle Quint. "Now why the heck would I rebel against Dr. Wily?" he muttered, not realizing the irony in his words. Then he shrugged. "Oh well."

September 25, 2057

Dr. Light was frantic. It had been a week since Wily and his robots had simply disappeared from Tokyo. Even more disturbing was that Mega Man had disappeared with them. After trying for awhile to locate the little blue robot, he gave up.

Not knowing what he was going to do, he had Roll bring him another cup of coffee to help keep him awake incase Mega Man returned and needed repairs. The female robot protested against Dr. Light staying up late.

"You are an old man, Father, not nearly as fit as you were thirty years ago," she protested as she brought him the cup of strong black coffee. "You need your rest. Allow me to watch for Mega Man. I will be able to help him just fine."

Dr. Light smiled tiredly at her and took the coffee, but refused to get up from the chair. "No Roll. While I don't doubt that you are capable, I would rather stay up and watch for Mega Man myself."

Roll walked back to the living room, sighing; was there no convincing him? She sat down on the couch and placed her head in her hands. Just then, a five-note whistle split the air. She looked up as another robot teleported in. "Proto Man!" she gasped.

Indeed, the first intelligent robot ever created, Proto Man, had decided to show up for the first time in months. However, Roll clearly knew that this was no social call. Proto Man's mouth was a thin line, the only sign that he knew that something was terribly wrong.

"I heard that little bro went missing," he said, sitting down next to Roll. The girl sat there, no longer wondering how her oldest brother knew these things. How he knew this time was fairly obvious; most of the population that had fled Tokyo swore they saw a flash of strange rainbow light before Wily appeared and right before Wily (and Mega Man) had disappeared.

"There was something odd, though," Roll sighed. "He was using technology from over thirty years ago. And it seems suspicious that he didn't destroy anything until Mega Man went there. It was almost as if he had a trap laid out for him..." It was taking all her self-control to not break down in tears.

Proto Man sat there silently, listening to his sister. Finally, he stood up. "Is Father in the lab or sleeping?"

"In the lab," Roll said, frowning. "No matter what I say, he won't go to sleep and allow me to keep watch."

"He's just worried," Proto Man said, starting to walk towards the direction of the lab. Roll got up and followed him. When they walked in, both robots noticed Dr. Light slumped in his chair, an exhausted expression on his face and the coffee cup in his left hand. He took a sip of the coffee and placed the cup down.

"Where could he be...?" Dr. Light moaned. "He has to be somewhere!"

"So what are we going to do, wait until some sign of Mega Man shows up?" Roll said, her expression downtrodden.

"Nothing more we can do," Proto Man said grimly. "All we can do is hope that the public catches sight of him one day and act upon that."

The poor Light family! Anyways, this is the end of Chapter 4. Stay tuned for Chapter 5!