I'm back! And suffering from jet lag, unfortunately. However, I'm still putting this chapter up anyways, just for you guys. But I won't be writing anything new until I recover.
Chaoticbenevolence: I just reread your fic, and it was yours that I got Time Travel Theory Number 5 from! Sorry about that. You don't mind me using it, do you?
A door opened in the living quarters of the fortress with a small creaking sound, and a head poked out of it, looking around nervously. Satisfied, the head went back inside the room, completely opened the door, and stepped out. He looked around once again, and then shut the door quietly. He didn't bother to lock it. After glancing around yet again, the person took off down the hallway towards the main laboratory as fast and silently as he could.
Quint ducked behind a corner when he heard the noise of footsteps. Seconds later, he saw a small group of Mettool robots and Sniper Joes parading down the hallway, making sure that all things were safe. Sighing softly with relief, he snuck behind the Sniper Joes and Mettools and ran the other way. The green robot once again hid himself behind a pillar as he heard something behind him. However, the moment he stopped, the noise behind him stopped. Quint looked behind him. He couldn't see anything. Believing that it was just his nerves, he shook his head and continued to run down the hallway.
Quint actually had almost no idea where he was going, having not memorized the path around Skull Fortress yet. However, he seemed pretty sure that eventually he would find it. He could barely hear his metal boots hitting the floor, and was thankful that there was soft carpeting on the floors.
Finally, he found himself outside a door that said "Dr. Wily's Private Laboratory. All robots, keep out!" Quint was about to reach out and open the door when he suddenly felt something poke him on his back, causing him to jump a foot in the air.
"Gah!" he yelped rather loudly, surprised. His voice echoed against the walls of the fortress. Then he clapped his hands on his mouth and turned to face whatever had poked him.
"Saku?" a small, tentative voice said. It was Sakugarne, who was looking at his master very curiously. The pogo stick had woken up and seen Quint looking out the door, so after Quint left, Sakugarne took advantage of the door's automatic opening feature and followed his master out of the room.
Quint breathed heavily, hand over his mechanical 'heart' as he waited for it to stop pounding. "Sakugarne!" he whispered. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" Then he gazed at the little pogo stick, thinking. "Alright, you can come with me. But stay quiet!" Sakugarne made a small bounce in affirmation.
Reaching out, Quint took the handle of the door and quietly opened the door to Dr. Wily's private lab. Surprisingly, no alarm sounded as the two robots went in. "He's not careless, from what I know," Quint murmured to himself as he closed the door. Sakugarne glanced around the laboratory, interested. "Though he needs a little more security. So, if there's any extra information on me, it will be well-hidden. Now, where would Dr. Wily hide all of his private matters?"
The robot looked around, his gaze stopping at a computer. There was some sort of a screensaver on it that showed a three-dimensional skull floating around in a void of blackness. He saw a keyboard and mouse attached to the computer. He placed his hand on the mouse and shook it in order to get the screensaver off.
Moving the mouse around, he clicked on an icon that said, 'My Computer (of Evil)' and saw several different labels of icons. All of them were shaped like hard drives. The hard drives were labeled 'Robot Masters,' 'Do-Gooders,' 'Mechaniloids,' and 'Other Robots.' Quint didn't know which one to click, but after awhile, he clicked on 'Other Robots.' Inside this hard drive were several folders, each one being a robot's name. Near the end of the list of folders was one labeled 'Quint.' Heart hammering, Quint double-clicked on the file labeled with his name on it.
Another window popped up, this one containing textual information. Quint read through the information that the file told him. Most of it he already knew, such as his height, weight, support unit, and several others. What really interested him was the 'History' section. The 'History' section was much longer than it should have been for a day old robot.
"Stole Time Skimmer from Chronos Institute," Quint read out loud, but softly enough that Sakugarne did not hear him. "Used Time Skimmer to jump 30 years into the future. Captured Mega Man and brought him back. Wiped his memory and remodeled him into Quint. Made sure he wouldn't remember anything." He slumped back in the chair, mind reeling.
Wily told me to kill this person named 'Mega Man,' but I'm technically a futuristic version of him! So wouldn't I be killing myself? And why does Wily hate Mega Man so much, anyways? he thought to himself. "Well, there's only one way to find out!" He exited the file on him and went back to the place with the hard drive icons. He clicked on the 'Do-Gooders' section and saw several files. He moused-over several of them until he found one labeled 'Mega Man.' He double-clicked this file.
For several heart-stopping minutes he read over the file that was supposedly about 'himself.' Sakugarne glanced over his master's shoulder every once in awhile to see what was so interesting. However, the pogo-stick couldn't read, so it eventually grew bored and bounced off to look at the rest of the laboratory. Then he stopped when he heard he master make a strange noise.
"Saku?" it asked Quint, concerned. Quint stood up, exited all of the windows on the computer, and let out a soft sob. He reached out and hugged the pogo-stick tightly.
"Oh Sakugarne..." he whispered. "I'm not who we think I am!" He continued to hug the pogo stick. Sakugarne didn't exactly understand what the green robot meant, but it had obviously upset him and he tried to offer comfort.
"Saku..." it whispered in a comforting tone. For awhile, the two just stood there, hugging each other. Then Quint stepped back and checked his internal chronometer for the time. After all, he didn't want Wily to catch him in his private laboratory!
"4:46 AM? Uh oh, we'd better split!" he whispered to Sakugarne. Quickly, the two exited the lab and dashed back to Quint's room. Quint breathed a sigh of relief once they were safely back inside his room. "That was close... it wouldn't have been good for Wily to catch us... especially if he found out WHY I had gone there..."
"Sakugarne?" Sakugarne asked, curious as to what Quint was talking about. Quint sighed.
"Well, you're the only one I really know," he told the mechaniloid. "Do you promise not to tell anybody?"
"Saku!" it nodded in affirmation. Quint sighed again.
"Okay then, here's what I found out..."
Proto Man had left Dr. Light's laboratory late at night after explaining to his little brother about time travel. He had talked to him, in order to make sure that Mega Man knew about the several theories of time travel and didn't exactly mess time up once he had recovered the Time Skimmer. The red robot didn't exactly know what to do, although he would never admit it; time travel was a very confusing subject, and even he, Proto Man, got confused.
He wondered whether he should try to sneak into Skull Fortress, like he had several times before. Maybe he himself would be able to recover the Time Skimmer. Then he snorted. How would he be able to recover the Time Skimmer? Wily probably had the thing well-guarded. And who knows how he's messed up time with it. However, either way, he at least decided to break in and see whether he could at least get any information from skulking around. So, employing his stealth skills, Proto Man approached Skull Fortress.
He glanced around, making sure that he wouldn't accidentally step into any traps. He walked towards the entrance. Noticing the Sniper Joe patrol, he ducked behind a boulder as the green robot looked around for any trouble makers. The Sniper Joe turned back around once it was satisfied, and that was when Proto Man struck. With one charge shot, he shorted out the Sniper Joe. The red robot reached out, grabbed the Sniper Joe, and threw it behind the boulder after making sure it couldn't recover. Then he dashed through the entrance that the Sniper Joe had been guarding.
Proto Man was surprised when nothing else attacked him. "Maybe Wily's defense system isn't online?" he murmured to himself. As much as he would have loved to cause some damage and annoy Wily at the same time, it wouldn't work since Skull Fortress was a maze and he had no idea where to start. The defense system would always be on a direct path to the laboratory, but since it wasn't online, Proto Man would have to make do with information gathering.
He made his way through the Skull Fortress, hiding whenever he saw a robot. He was skilled at this; after all, he had before broken into Wily's fortress, rescued Kalinka Cossack, and had gotten them both out alive without any major problems. Alone, it should be easier for him. He stopped when he heard a small voice behind a closed door.
"Do you promise not to tell anybody?" the voice asked. It sounded vaguely familiar. Proto Man wracked his mind to put a name to the voice, but it didn't come to him.
"Saku!" another voice said. Proto Man didn't know what 'Saku' meant, but obviously the other person did.
Proto Man was curious; he had no qualms about eavesdropping, having had to eavesdrop on other people his entire life, so he hid himself in the shadows near the door and listened to the strange robot (who was apparently named 'Quint') as it explained everything to the other. Now, the information startled the red robot slightly. One: this guy was claiming to have been brought by the Time Skimmer. Two: 'Quint' wasn't really his real name. Three: He was Mega Man from the future.
But there was something strange about him... he didn't act as childish or naïve as the Mega Man he knew... then again, he was from the future. Maybe he had grown up, somehow. Either way, Proto Man was even more determined to make sure that Mega Man didn't accidentally destroy the Time Skimmer when he recovered it.
I know Quint acts a little strange in this chapter, but really, how would YOU feel if you found out what he did? Anyways, I'd love to see what you thought of this!