Heh… Uh, hi again… No, this story isn't dead… I've just… ARG! NO MORE EXCUSES! I WILL FINISH THIS! DARN ME TO HECK FOR OVERBURDENING MYSELF!

Review replies:

Dragon Man 180: Oh don't worry. Issen's going to find Wily sooner or later, and it won't be a happy meeting...

The Nitpick: ...Yeah. I had no idea about the exchange rate at the time... Let's just say Issen automatically translated the amount into US dollars...? Besides, the amount is changing all the time. Therefore, I'd technically never be right.

NeoMatrixV2: Sorry about the wait. Hopefully this won't disappoint, even though it's kinda short...

Appearing on a stone path, Issen took in his surroundings. The path was old, overgrown with weeds and moss. Up ahead, however, the path had been cleaned, as if someone was cleaning it only to a certain point. Shrugging it off as mere human laziness, Issen began walking toward the cleared section of the path. Night was falling now, and to the east the stars were beginning to appear in the sky. The steady beat of his boots against age old stone barely broke the silence that filled the air, his senses on high alert now that darkness was beginning to surround him. There were people up ahead, or so his heat-vision told him. One appeared to be a female, while two others were male. One of the males was a child, but all were currently sleeping. Sneaking into the shrine and acquiring some supplies would be easy.

"Clock start at nine thirty-eight P.M., Japanese time."

There was an almost complete silence even as Issen brought himself a full run. With a graceful leap, the machine landed with only a muffled thump on the opposite side of the fence that surrounded the compound. A quick visual sweep of the area confirmed that not a single sentient or animal had been awakened by the red headed robot's entry. A silent creep into the shrine's pantry revealed several well deserved energy capsules, replenishing the depleted hero's reserves within moments.

ENERGY LEVELS AT SIXTY-FOUR PERCENT OF MAXIMUM. TELEPORTATION MODULE IS EIGHTY PRECENT CHARGED.

'Good. At least I can fight with some confidence now. Time is now ten forty P.M. Objective achieved. Now I've just got to get off the property before anyone notices that I was here…'

Sliding out of the house was just as easy as getting in. No one had been awakened, and no one had been injured. Once more on the outside of the fence, Issen decided to go higher up the mountain that the shrine called home. It only took him a few minutes to reach the peak, which had a slight mist creeping over it. The moisture quickly receded as he heated his body, clearing the slight fog and revealing an amazing view of the sea beyond it. Heated breath spilt from his mouth as he breathed, appearing as white wisps of mist before disappearing into nothingness. This struck him suddenly, bringing on new thoughts in the still night.

'Like myself. I will eventually be destroyed or break down from natural causes. Just like the humans will… Am I really saving them, even though they will eventually disappear anyway? Is it worth it? … Maybe it is. We all interact with each other, and by interacting we affect each other in different ways. If I hadn't saved that girl in Russia, she wouldn't have interacted with her parents, friends, or anyone else. I guess… in that way, it's worth being active. Yes, it is worth saving these lives. And they are worth the effort to avenge them, as well.'

Far, far away, Issen could see waves crashing against the shoreline. Clouds dotting the horizon, moonlight casting a soft blue-green light on them in the darkness. Stars, millions of them dotting the black sky, caught his attention. Stoic, he breathed out again, raising his blood red eyes to the sky as his crimson hair fell away from his face.

"So many… And yet, I'm alone, as it was meant to be."

TELEPORTATION MODULE IS FULLY CHARGED.

Issen disappeared. Just below him, a young woman frowned. Soft blue hair cascaded down her shoulders, curving around her body as it tried to obey the law of gravity. Unfortunately, the hair didn't cover the wicked looking scar on her neck…

"…You aren't alone, Issen Kaze…"

There was a moment of silence when Issen appeared on the main teleportation platform in Dr. Light's lab. Several robots were milling about, but all of their routine activities stopped with his arrival. A female type with blonde hair slowly backed away, rightly fearing the intruder. The robotic dog by her side growled protectively, sinking low and preparing to pounce on the intruder at a moments notice. Other than the dog's growl and the hum of computers, there wasn't a sound to be heard inside the complex. Everything was perfect for that second, mainly because Roll Light had not screamed and slammed her hand on an alarm switch, but Issen felt compelled to speak. …How unfortunate…

"Is this Dr. Light's lab?"

Roll screamed and hit the alarm moments before Rush pounced onthe red haired robot. Thankfully, Issen's poncho took the brunt of the assault before a blue hand pulled the robotic dog back. "Down Rush! Down!"

A little stunned by the assault, Issen was hesitant to sit up, since the red guardian known as Rush had already taken a dislike to him and there was a sixty percent chance that he would attack again. "…Can I get up now?..."

A buster arm replaced the dog. If ever there was a more potent 'No' reply in Issen's life, he couldn't remember it."Not just yet. I'd like you to answer a few questions first. Who are you?"

Issen recognized the voice. It belonged to the second Light-Bot ever created… MegaMan. "My name is Issen."

"Issen? Well, what are you doing here?"

"ProtoMan informed me that I could, as he put it, hang out here until more trouble shows up. He said that he and Auto would be waiting for me."

Although he was still lying down, his ears clearly heard the female-type sharply inhaling in shock. "You knew ProtoMan?"

"He has contacted me on several occasions. And why did you say 'knew' instead of 'know'? Has something happened?"

"…You can sit up now."

Issen did so as the buster moved out of his face. MegaMan was walking out of the room, something clearly wrong by the look on his face. Roll was casting worried glances at both of them, but didn't move. Obviously, something had happened, and it didn't look good.

"Um…" Roll faltered, a questioning glance on her face. "…You said that Auto would meet you. Why did you need to see him?"

"I have sustained combat damage. As of right now I cannot use my armor, though most of my weapon systems are intact."

Roll smiled, realizing what must have happened. "Oh. Okay. Come right this way, I know where we can get you repaired."

Standing, Issen quickly matcher her pace as they walked through Dr. Light's lab.

Upon a table sat the first semi-sentient robot in existence. ProtoMan, though he didn't look it, had suffered a terrible amount of damage. Scanning arrays circled around him, recording every area that had been affected and trying to determine the cause. Dr. Light already knew the cause however. Sitting at a control station, he waited until the scan had been completed before shutting down the system. The readouts told him everything he already knew. Heavily, he set his face into his palms.

"How's he doing?"

The doctor lifted his face from his hands, turning his attention the lab assistant turned hero. "…I'm sorry MegaMan. I should have told you earlier, but your brother had an error. I… I guess he was too proud to accept my help. He thought he could control it, but I knew he would eventually start to break down. ProtoMan's energy systems are degrading even as we speak… I can repair the damage, but…"

MegaMan nodded. Just by looking at the scans, he could already see that the problem was impossible to repair. "Just a few days ago, we could have saved him, but now…"

"The problem isn't the energy system itself, but the energy being used. It's such a crude form of fusion that it began breaking down his body the instant we started it. If we try to stop the flow, his system will crash and be unrecoverable. We can't turn off the power because it would surge his system and burn his Hard Drive, which would have the same consequence. …It's hopeless…"

The blue bomber turned his head, looking at his creator. "Did he know about it?"

"Of course he did. His damage readouts showed him every day how much time he had left until a critical shutdown occurred, but he ignored it."

"No one lives forever, Doc." ProtoMan turned his head, looking at them through his visor. "No offense Rock, but even you won't functioning for eternity. Your Micro-Fusion fuel tank will eventually break down. Eventually, every one of us will break down."

"ProtoMan…" Thomas Light stared at his son, who should have been completely disabled at the moment.

"I know, it sounds cold, but it's the truth… The New Model is promising doc, but it's still a variable."

The old doctor smiled at that. "Yes, I know. In mathematics, X is a variable that can stand for anything. I'm glad that you see his unlimited potential… As my first creation, I know you know the importance of him…"

"Yeah, he's the son you never had. But… it also works the other way doc. He's going to choose his own path. We don't know which way he'll go… If you're going to throw caution to the wind and still set him up, at least have a failsafe in place."

"I do. The thirty years of testing should be more than enough to ensure his stability."

"And if it isn't?"

Dr. Light paused. It took him a few seconds, but eventually he gathered his words. "Then… we'll need a back-up… "

ProtoMan smirked from his reclined position, nodding to the aging doctor. "I think Issen might be able to handle that, which is exactly why I brought him here. Something about him is different from every other robot in existence… Maybe even X, but I can't be sure. He does display some Type-Two qualities. With a little upgrading, I think he might be able to stand a chance against X."

MegaMan stepped forward however. "But there's still Wily's unit. His Two-Type… Bass said that the specs looked pathetic by his standards, but that doesn't mean we're in the clear."

"Right you are, Rock, but here's the thing. I discovered something interesting about Issen's construction. Several parts that were never identified by the military were used in his construction. Also, the benefactor behind his construction is still unknown… Ever since Dr. Cossack dove into his systems, I thought the readouts looked vaguely similar a certain someone's code…"

Dr. Light was intrigued. He leaned over the console with extreme interest. "And whose code did it look like?"

"Why, my dear doctor, none other than your own…"

"Well, it looks like your doing a lot better Issen. Your energy levels are at ninety-eight percent of their maximum and I've finally been able to restore power to your armor systems."

Roll light hovered over her console, watching carefully as Auto tinkered around with Issen's internal parts. Issen himself was in a Reserve Mode, awake, but unable to do anything but blink. A few small warning lights were going on in Issen's head, but he tried his hardest to ignore them. His attention was immediately shifted to the massive green mechanic when he 'whistled'.

"Well Issen, you certainly have some nice parts in here! Top of the line merchandise as far as the optical lens can see. Couple of things I don't recognize, but we should be able to identify them in just a few minutes."

As much as he wanted to tell Auto to find the nearest building and jump off of it from any height that would permanently damage his processor, he held his place and refused to exit the Reserve mode.

"Maybe you shouldn't pry into Issen's personal life Auto. We've got to get this finished for the night anyway. You know how bad our electrical bills have been lately with X's construction."

"Aw, but they look so cool! Just five minutes Roll, please?"

"No Auto. Besides, I've finished things on my end. Issen, as soon as Auto finishes closing you up, you're free to move around." Having the ability to say thank-you would have been nice, but once more Issen restrained himself. "You know, for being a combat type, you're kinda cute with your helmet off…"

"And I'm not?"

Roll's expression went flat. "You don't have hair, Auto."

"And it's a good thing too. Your outer shell is not suited to interpersonal relationships." Having noticed that all of his body had finally been closed up, Issen raised himself up and activated his armor. Auto yelped as the streamlined robot cut through the air with one of his blades. "Thank-you for the repairs, Miss Roll."

"No problem Issen. Just remember to be safe in everything you do, so I won't have to see you damaged anymore!"

She smiled warmly, winking at him. In the back of his mind, something in Issen's mind said that the motion was too realistic to be pre-programmed… His mind would have pondered on this matter, but something… Something was wrong… Something inside of him, and it was spreading. "…Miss Roll, Auto, did anything strange come up during the operation…?"

Auto quirked his eyebrows. "Uh, no… nothing except those weird parts in you. Why Issen? Is something wrong?"

"I don't know… My systems just…Uh!" Without warning, his knees buckled. Luckily, he managed to get one of his blades down and into a crutch like position before he completely fell down. "That's what it was! There's a fourth sonar signature in the room! Cloaked!"

"What!" Roll stepped backwards, toward the doorway to the rest of the lab. Unfortunately, it slammed closed right behind her. Auto reached out for an alarm switch, but it exploded without an apparentcause before he could press it. "W-who's there! Show yourself!"

No one did however. Issen felt pieces of his body slowly cutting themselves off from the main system, exiling his control over himself… Something invisible grabbed him, pulling the silver robot up off the ground and stowing him on what felt like a shoulder before running at a wall. Something detonated, blowing it open and revealing Tokyo City to Issen's eyes for the first time. It was beautiful … and then he knew no more.

… Gomen. This took forever to get out. And I made it a cliff-hanger too! Well, the time I took off was well spent however. I have a rough feel of where I want to go now. Before, I was just winging it, but I think I know where Issen is headed now. Please review!