Dear. Lord. Senior year in high school, and I haven't even had enough time to finish a single chapter on any of my stories. Guess this is what being an adult is… Well, I can only hope that this gets finished before the end of my senior year – the chapter I mean, since there's no way I'd be able to finish the story with a decent ending. Well, here goes. The chocolate's on me this time!

Cold. He could feel it around him, but something told him that it wherever he was did not exist in reality. Slowly pushing himself up from the ground, Issen looked over himself with uncertain eyes. Large parts of his body were missing, and in place of the metal was a blue wire-frame that pulsated in an even rhythm. While this in itself was unnerving, his remaining armor had changed shape as well. Smooth, more human like arms and legs defined his extremities, and his torso was slimmer as well… He had been changed.

'…Strange. I don't remember anything like…'

The scenery was nothing more than a darkness that surrounded him. Reaching out, he tried to feel for any edges, but there was nothing. Then, as if he had walked off a ledge, he felt like he was falling. Wind rushed around him, slowing his decent as something began to fade into view. Thru the motion blurs, he was able to see a great mass of trees on what appeared to be a hillside floating in the darkness. For a moment, it seemed as if Issen would miss the island and keep falling, but the updraft that had been slowing him was also pushing him in the direction of the hillside, gently moving him to the seemingly safe haven. After a few more seconds of guided freefall, Issen's now slimmer boots impacted the soft ground, crushing the soft grass of a meadow beneath him.

'Where is this?' Issen idly wondered for a second, before cold logic took hold. '…I was in Tokyo until approximately fifty seconds ago. Location is currently unknown. It'd be best for me to scout around the area and look for any distinguishable landmarks…'

A noise startled him however, and the silver clad robot whirled to face whatever had caused it. There had been no activity on his sonar, and yet… a small boy with red hair and red irises was running toward him, tears streaming down his cheeks. As clueless as he was about humans and how they acted, he knew that crying and running had something to do with sadness, and the fact that the child had just fallen down and started bawling further only encouraged that notion. Figuring he might get a little information out of the child if he could calm him down, Issen slowly walked over to where they child had fallen. At the slight sound of the heavy boots, the youth sat up and looked around, the dark presence in the forest stopping only a few feet away from him. Staring wide-eyed at the seemingly broken warrior, the child let his mouth open slightly.

"…Hello…" Waving slightly, Issen tried his best to be friendly. Though he didn't know it, he was failing terribly since his smile looked like a sadistic grin. "What is your name?"

"S-sentou," the boy struggled to speak through his runny nose, "and who are you?"

Kneeling where he was, the robot nodded softly. "I am called Issen. If you don't mind telling me, why are you crying? Shouldn't you be with your parental units -- uh, Mother and Father?"

"M-m-mommy…" the child stuttered and rubbed away some of his tears, "they took her! Into the silver caves! Daddy went down there to fight Them, but he didn't come back… Y-you look like my daddy… Can you fight Them?"

'His parents are gone? I don't think that's normal for humans… Perhaps whoever the boy is referring to as "Them" took the mother away for a reason, and the father went to negotiate the release – albeit violently – of his wife … Does this really require my involvement?' Issen stood, walking toward the child. "How long ago did your father go into the cave?"

"Yesterday…"

'A whole day without his parents? Definitely not normal. I'd better investigate this.' He held out his hand, taking the child's pint-sized fingers and pulling him to his feet. "I'll help. Let's go to this 'Silver Cave' your Father went into. Can you guide me there?"

Sentou nodded, pulling on Issen's hand and rising up from the ground. The boy kept a solid grip on the tall robot's hand, and without further conversation he led him through the woods and to the opening of the cave. True to its name, the cave was completely silver in color, and looked more like a river of hardened metal instead of a natural formation of rock. With nothing on his sonar, Issen cycled thru the various vision modes available to him and found that, as far as the entrance was concerned, there was nothing waiting for them. Just to be on the safe side, Issen began charging his busters…

"This is it…" The still trebling boy pointed into the cave with his free hand, and Issen could feel his pulse racing in the other. For reasons unknown to the robot, the boy was deathly afraid of this place…

"I see. What can I expect out of the people who took your mother?"

"They… They're covered in silver, like you and this cave. Daddy was too, but he was nice… They also have swords like you do, but they're curved…" Kneeling, Sentou quietly traced a sickle shaped form in the ground, one with spikes protruding from the normally dull side. Vaguely, the taller of the two remember seeing something like it in the test areas in Sendai…

"Hm. I'll deal with them if we come across them. Just stay by my side."

The boy nodded, still grasping Issen's hand for dear life. Activating the light in his helmet, the silver and black warrior led the child into the cave, one blade at the ready and busters fully charged. For a time, there was nothing except for the smooth tunnel surrounding them. Eventually however, the seemingly molten silver transformed into computers, routers, switches and a dozen other technological devices. All in all, it reminded Issen of the activation chamber he had awoken in…

"This place is… strange. Have you been here before Sentou?"

The boy shook his head, innocent eyes wide in the dark chambers. "Father said to stay away when it first appeared. Then they came out, and they took mommy…"

Issen raised one of his eyebrows. "This cave appeared?"

"Indeed it did, brother." The electrical whirr of a buster, a sonar ping, then blurred motion as Issen grabbed Sentou and dodged several bolts of energy. Amazingly, the motion didn't damage Sentou in the least… "Well done. You avoided our first attack, Issen."

Slipping the child behind him, Issen turned to face his opponent with a determined glare. His face melted into surprise when two of himself were waiting for him, their eyes fastened on Sentou. "…Who are you?"

"We are Kousen, meaning War. To our American and English masters, we are Silver. Call us by either name, but we will still have the child no matter what you do…"

Without waiting, Issen shunted his buster energy into his boost system, dashing at the twins with blades outstretched. Just as quickly, the copies dashed forward and revealed their own sickle shaped blades to block Issen's, pushing back with double the strength. Kousen and Silver's blades tore thru the silver warrior's own as his image faded, a phantom disappearing only to be replaced with a Flash bang Grenade. Just as one of the twins began to kick the distraction away, Issen's blade appeared from the darkness and took an arm. Its owner hardly noticed as the appendage dropped to the ground with a clang. Both machines turned, each jamming a blade through Issen's shoulder blades, the squeal of steel being cut filling the air with a horrible shriek.

WARNING! BUSTER SYSTEM DISABLED. ELEMENT SYSTEM DAMAGED. CORE SYSTEMS DAMAGED. CURRENT ENERGY LEVEL IS FORTY-ONE PERCENT. EXTRACTION FROM COMBAT AREA RECOMMENDED.

Issen screamed out loud as a strange sensation flooded his system. It wasn't something that he had ever felt before, no matter how hard he had been hit by his enemies. It was pain, something only humans experienced. Impossible for a being such as him to feel, yet the sensation coursed through Issen none the less.

"Oh…?" The twins wore a mirrored face of surprise at the strangled howl that Issen had unleashed, confusion weighing heavy on their brows. "…Could this be the Final System data?"

"…Final …S-system…!" Issen grit his teeth and willed the morbid feeling away, his own blades suddenly swinging back to their holding position. He seemed to go limp for a second, but raised his hands with a fury that had never been seen in his normally calm face. In the same rising motion, his blades snapped up and through the twin's bodies with an earth shattering yell that almost matched the sound of their bodies being torn apart. At that instant, the entities known as Kousen shuddered before dissolving into a million pieces, their blades still stuck in Issen's shoulders like curved metal wings. "…haa…"

Slowly, the silver machine fell to the floor, his metal fingers digging into the steel plates below as he tried to cope with the pain that coursed through him. Sentou, who was still been waiting where Issen had left him, began crying vehemently as he ran toward Issen with arms outstretched.

"Mister Issen! Are you okay! Please, be okay!"

With a non-committal grunt, Issen pushed himself off the ground and looked into the boy's eyes. "If I can acquire repairs, all should be well. In the mean time, we should move forward… Are there any others?"

"I-I only saw those two…"

"Good. Then we probably won't have to worry about much…" Getting to his feet, Issen looked at his wounds and winced. The blades had gone all the way through his body, and it was a wonder his neck hydraulics were working. Pointing himself towards the remainder of the cave, Issen took Sentou's hand to reassure him before leading the boy deeper into the labyrinth…

'MegaMan, it shouldn't be much farther now! The warehouse that Issen's signal is coming from is just around the corner, and it looks like the other machines in the area have gone silent!'

"Thanks Roll! That should make things a lot easier!"

The blue bomber was running at full tilt as he rounded the corner, passing several deactivated Sniper Joes as his boots scraped against the cement below. Without slowing down, MegaMan charged his buster and fired a fully powered blast at the warehouse's gate. It melted away under the hero's assault, a hole twice his size replacing the once whole metal. He leapt through it with little regard for his own safety, but what he saw thoroughly surprised him…

"Roll, I found Issen and the units that captured him, but…"

'What's wrong MegaMan?'

"Have Auto meet me at the teleporter. Issen needs some heavy repairs."

Lying beside Issen's disabled form were the twin bodies of Kousen, a single blade from each of their arms stabbing through his shoulders and into the ground beneath. Just from their lifeless positions, MegaMan could tell that they had been neutralized. The cables connected to Issen's head were a dead giveaway as to the how and why.

The cave came to an abrupt end, leading out to a small ledge where a woman was waiting. Sentou cried out for joy at the sight of her, running as fast as his little legs would carry him into her embrace. Issen stopped and observed their reunion from a distance, watching the blue haired woman and her child hug happily before the child finally pointed him out while tugging at her kimono.

"Issen… I see you finally woke up." The young woman smiled sweetly at him as she stood. "I'm happy that we can finally talk face to face now."

"…I haven't met you before. How is it that--"

"You have used me every day of your active life. I am you're energy source Issen, though I haven't reached my full potential just yet." She smiled and stepped closer to him, placing a soft hand on his face. "You haven't either as a result, but we should save that conversation for another time. Roll and Auto have finished repairing you, though they've made some changes to your framework. It's time to come alive."

She stepped forward embracing him with gentle arms. A blinding light overcame him…

"For now, just know you aren't alone… You never have been."

His eyes opened to a set of high intensity lights that overwhelmed him for a good minute. Eventually, his eyes adjusted to their intensity, and he sat up.

"…Issen? How do you feel."

"…I'm not alone…" Issen whispered softly. He snapped to attention suddenly, turning to Roll's pensive gaze with a quizzical look. "I am feeling fine, though it appears you have made some changes to my body."

The blades that the Kousen twins had stabbed him with had been merged into his body, the blades sticking out of his back like sliver wings.

"Yeah, it was actually better to leave them in. Taking them out would have caused more damage," she explained, "and Auto managed to put an energy tank in each of the blades while we merged them into your system. Now you won't have to worry about taking so much damage anymore!"

"Good to hear." Issen nodded as he slid his legs off the table. He hopped off as the blades on his back accidentally sliced through the steel operating table, unknowingly segmenting the furniture into three pieces. As they clattered to the ground, Issen turned and saw what he had unknowingly done. "…Though it appears it will take some getting used to."

Roll shook her head sadly. "You're telling me…! Just don't turn around whenever I'm close to you, okay?"

Blinking his blood hued eyes, Issen smiled. "Understood."

"Alrighty! Now come on, Dr. Light wants to see you!"

The two walked at a brisk pace through Dr. Light's lab, passing dozen of projects that were far beyond Issen's current comprehension. When they arrived in the area where the good doctor made repairs to his machinations, Issen found himself in the midst of a rescue mission.

"So, you think I might be able to save ProtoMan?"

Dr. Light nodded sagely as he pointed toward a schematic of the robot in question. "ProtoMan's system is based upon a crude form of fusion, as I stated earlier. Your own system is based upon continually drawing power from other sources and changing it to be compatible with your own, so there will be no danger to you."

Issen studied the digital representation of ProtoMan's body, looking at every detail he could find before turning back to Dr. Light. "I see. At the same time I'm drawing energy from his systems, you will be pumping in a new form of energy that won't degrade his systems."

"Yes, that's the general idea. We have already prepared for the operation, so if you would please…"

The silver clad robot shook his head. "There's no need to ask Doctor. ProtoMan has been a valuable ally to me, and I need to repay the favor." Walking toward ProtoMan's unmoving form, Issen placed a hand on the red and gray machine's chest. "Whenever you're ready."

MegaMan, Roll, Rush and Auto watched from a distance as Dr. Light and Issen went to work, siphoning out the bad blood as it were and replacing it with pure fusion. It was a painstakingly slow process, lasting long into the night as doctor and warrior matched the rates of give and take. ProtoMan would live.

Reviews would be great, though I know you all have probably gone on with your lives. Heck, it's almost been a year since I updated this, or any of my other fictions. Well, I'm still not done with this, and I refuse to stop. This, along with all of my other stories, shall continue.