Chapter 2 – Abduction

After what seemed like hours – but was probably forty-five minutes at most – Rockman halted on top of an empty shop. He jumped to the ground outside it, and practically shoved Roll through the door. She stumbled inside, with Rockman giving her sharp pushes on her back to urge her forward. She caught a glimpse of an empty counter and bare shelves before a particularly harsh shove propelled her through another door into the back room.

This room was a flat grey colour, windowless and completely empty. Roll had barely an instant to look around before Rockman grabbed her arm and dragged her to the corner furthest from the door. He placed a hand on her shoulder and applied pressure, indicating she was to sit.

Roll did so, folding her legs so she sat in a crouch and titling her head up to look at him. She was surprised when he crouched down too, right in front of her. He leaned forward, staring at her intently. She leaned backwards slightly, uncomfortable with his close proximity. It seemed Rockman had lost all respect for personal space – did he have to invade hers constantly?

"Wh-what are you doing?" she breathed.

She got her answer when his hand shot out and grabbed her jaw, holding it between his thumb and forefinger. She put her hands to his shoulders to try and push him away – he just caught them both in his other hand and brought his knee across her legs to prevent her kicking out at him. Roll thrashed desperately and Rockman leaned against her, using his bodyweight to pin her helplessly to the wall. While they fought, he never once released her chin from his grasp.

Roll could feel her almost-forgotten fear coming back full force; there was something instinctively terrifying about being held down by someone stronger than you. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn't move an inch. Perhaps even scarier, Rockman's face was completely impassive. There was no hint of what he was thinking…or what he was going to do.

Rockman leaned in, and gently covered her lips with his own.

For a moment, Roll froze, all rational thought grinding to a halt as she tried to process what was happening.

'He kissed me! He's still kissing me!'

His lips moved across her cheek, kissing and licking her skin. Roll tried to drag her mind back to functioning level. She knew she wanted this, had wanted it for some time, but Rockman wasn't himself. Whatever had caused him to act this way was causing him to kiss her, and Roll knew what would happen to their friendship if 'the line' were crossed like this.

Roll wriggled beneath Rockman, trying to push him away. He made a tight noise of frustration and shoved her harder against the wall. An ice-cold jolt of fear shot through her. She was making it clear she didn't want this, but Rockman wasn't listening. Roll arched her back, but the position she was being held in meant she had no leverage to force him off her. She felt panic stir anew.

In response to her struggles, Rockman tightened his grip on her wrists and jaw, resting his full weight on her chest. Roll made a terrified, squeaking sound as he nibbled on her neck – she had to stop this before he went any further! If Rockman returned to himself and realised he'd forced her, he'd never forgive himself.

"Rock-" she started, before being cut off as he placed his lips on hers again.

Roll whimpered slightly, fighting the desire to give into the kiss. Rockman was making soft sounds of pleasure, almost moaning. His tongue ran across her bottom lip, and at first Roll wanted to deepen the kiss and give him what he – what they both – wanted.

But she knew she had to stop this. Rockman wasn't aware of what he was doing, not really. As much as it pained Roll to know it was only in this state that he would kiss her, she had to be the one to exert control.

Roll clenched her jaw and pressed her lips together, denying him access to her mouth. Rockman paused, pulling back and staring at her face. He looked puzzled, curious, as though he couldn't understand why she didn't want this.

"Rockman," she began again, keeping her voice low and controlled, "Please stop, I don't want this."

He bent to kiss her again. Again, Roll kept her lips clamped together as his tongue attempted to probe her mouth. Again he pulled back, still looking puzzled.

But Roll was determined. She would not give into him, not while he was like this. With Rockman, it was all or nothing. Though this may be her only kiss from him, she refused to participate willingly if he wasn't truly aware. If she ever kissed him, it would be with Rockman fully aware of what they were doing and of the consequences. It would not be like this.

"I don't want this," Roll enunciated clearly. "Please stop."

This time, when he kissed her again Roll detected a slight hesitation in his actions. She was getting through, she knew she was. To punctuate her point, Roll squirmed in his grip.

The hesitation disappeared, his grip becoming painfully tight as he ground his lips into hers. Roll let out a muffled cry of surprise and pain at the sudden attack, at the aggressiveness that was rising to the fore. She tried to twist away, but both her wrists were pressed to the left of her body, and with her right arm crossing her torso her body was effectively pinned. She fought the grip on her wrists and to her relief, one hand slipped free.

Roll placed her hand on Rockman's chest and shoved, not trying to hurt him, just trying to get through to him. The instant she did it she knew she shouldn't have. Rockman's response was to yank her away from the wall. Roll didn't wait to see what he'd do next; she took her opportunity and threw her weight against him.

Caught off balance, Rockman went down with Roll on top of him. The fall forced him to release her, but Roll didn't even have a moment to collect herself before the blue navi twisted them both so that she was underneath him.

Roll let out a cry of sheer surprise – he moved so fast! – and tried to throw him off her. Rockman moved to straddle her hips as he caught her flailing hands and slammed them to the ground above her head, using one hand to hold them in place. His other hand gripped her jaw again, holding her still for another rough kiss as she strained against him.

Gone was the earlier hesitation and uncertainty. Now he was rough, brutal and violent. His fingers dug into the hollows of her cheeks, forcing her lips apart. He stabbed his tongue into her mouth and deepened the kiss. Roll made a small sound of distress, garbled by his lips.

Rockman leant his body down to cover hers, his weight pressing her flat to the floor. Unable to move, Roll tensed beneath him and tried to force him upward. Realising she was tiring rapidly, Roll tried to kick out at him and he sat back on her legs. She was so exhausted from her fight that even now, relieved of his weight; she couldn't summon enough energy to push him off her.

No matter how much she struggled, his grip only tightened. Her chest constricted with fear. How could she stop him? He was so much stronger than her, he had her pinned…and she didn't have a hope. Despair began to slither into her heart. She couldn't stop him; Rockman was going to do whatever he wanted with her. What would he think when he came to himself?

But wait! He had hurt her before, when she was trying to escape. He had stopped when she stopped fighting him. And he had seemed to listen when she talked to him. Was that the solution – don't fight him and he'll listen to you?

When he pulled back to kiss his way along her neck, Roll tried again, her voice high with fear. "Rockman, please stop."

He paused, then continued to nip and suck at her skin. But he had definitely paused.

"Rockman, I don't want this. I want you to stop." She had calmed her voice somewhat, and was trying for an even tone.

This time, he stopped, raising his head to look into her face.

"Please, don't do this to me." To us.

He gazed into her eyes then pressed his lips to hers, more gently this time, as though she were made of glass and would shatter beneath him. It was like he was trying to determine whether she really wanted this or not. The kiss was soft and tender – a lover's kiss – and Roll forced herself not to respond, though her heart ached to.

"Please, stop," she repeated when he drew back.

Finally, he released his hold on her and stood.

"Th-thanks," Roll murmured, now feeling weak with relief. He had listened to her, he had actually listened to her!

But she became alarmed again when he opened the door, looked around briefly, and strode out.

"Rock, where are you going?" she called, standing slowly.

He glanced back at her, and shut the door behind him. Puzzled, Roll started across the room, but had barely taken two steps when she paused. A loud, scraping sound came from the other side of the door, as something large and probably heavy was dragged across the floor. The sound lasted for only a few seconds, then silence reigned once more.

'Oh, don't tell me,' Roll thought as she reached the door. She had a feeling she knew what that sound had meant.

She turned the handle and pushed. The door opened a hairs breadth before it stopped short, contacting something heavy and solid. She shoved it hard, but it simply rebounded off whatever was in front of it and nearly hit her in the face. Roll backed away and took several deep breaths. She ran full-tilt towards the door, turning at the last second to use her shoulder as a battering ram.

She hit hard, and felt the secondary impact from the barrier behind it, as though she had driven her arm into a brick wall. Pain shot along her arm, and – even worse – it felt like her effort had been for nothing. She didn't think the door had budged. She backed away, rubbing her shoulder, and tried to open the door again. No change. She wasn't strong enough to move whatever was blocking the doorway.

Roll slid down the wall to rest on the floor again, shaking her head in bewilderment. 'Just as I suspected, Rockman shoved something in front of the door to keep me in here. But why? He drags me across Internet City, is careful to make sure I can't get away from him, only to leave me in an abandoned shop. Why does he want me here so desperately?'

'Then again,' she considered, 'Maybe it's not the location, just the fact that he's keeping me somewhere I can't escape from. But again, why? He hasn't actually tried to hurt me, hasn't given any indication he's going to, so what does he want me here for?'

Roll mulled it over in her head for a while, before accepting that the only one who could answer her questions was Rockman. And not only was he elsewhere, she doubted he would tell her anything in his current state. But until he told her, she couldn't even begin to guess his motives.

Roll sighed, and tried to make herself comfortable on the bare floor. She stretched out her legs, and wondered idly when Rockman would be back and where he had gone.

"Roll!" Iceman called loudly, "ROOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL!"

Glyde shook his head sadly. "Don't waste your energy Iceman. Even if Miss Roll has remained unharmed, it is unlikely Rockman will allow her to escape from him or call out to us."

"What does he want with her?" the smaller navi wondered, "I mean, you don't think he's hurt her, do you?"

"Rockman's motives in abducting Miss Roll are known only to Megaman," Glyde replied, avoiding the second question entirely. Rockman was far stronger than Roll, and whatever had happened to him had rendered him violent and unpredictable. Whatever Rockman was going to do – or had already done – to the female navi probably wasn't good.

"But Rockman wouldn't hurt Roll," Iceman insisted, "I mean, forget raising a hand, he'd never raise a finger against her."

"We must remember that, whatever has happened to him, Rockman is clearly not in his right mind," Glyde interrupted, trying to keep Iceman on track – it would do no good to wander into the territory of what Rockman would or would not do. "It is true that the Rockman we know would do anything to keep Miss Roll from being hurt, but we must accept that his way of thinking has somehow been altered – after all, the Rockman we know would never fire on us. Almost as important as locating him is to discover what has caused him to behave this way. There were no obvious outward causes that would explain such a radical reversal of his normal personality."

"He was like a completely different navi." Iceman mused, shaking his head.

"Indeed," Glyde nodded, "Since he headed in this direction, and since he does not seem to be thinking clearly in his current state of mind, it is safe to assume that his destination – whatever that may be – is in this direction. I doubt the Rockman who attacked us would think of diversions, or of covering his trail."

"Yeah, he didn't seem to be thinking too much, I mean – wait!" Iceman exclaimed suddenly, whirling to face Glyde full on. "Someone should tell Netto…and Meiru!"

Glyde's eyes widened as realization struck. "Yes, they should be made aware of the circumstances as soon as possible!"

He and Iceman looked at each other.

"I will go," Glyde volunteered, "I believe this situation will require all the delicacy at my disposal"

"I'll tell Gutsman and Tohru," Iceman added, and jogged away from Glyde, calling over his shoulder, "Tell Meiru and Netto before you tell Yaito!"

Glyde nodded once, then headed for Netto's homepage, dreading the coming conversation. At least he wouldn't need to deliver such grim news twice, by this time Meiru would probably be at his house, attempting to help him study.

As he travelled, dark thought struck him, 'If Rockman has truly harmed Miss Roll, even if he is restored to normal, will he ever be able to forgive himself?'

Rockman leapt from building to building at a speed that most navis would never have dreamed of achieving. He knew he was being followed, that was why he had left her. He could still see her, crouched on the floor, green eyes wide as she stared up at him.

He hadn't wanted to leave her, but he could feel something in his mind, something trying to take control. He was sure it was connected to whatever was following him, and was determined to stop it. He would now give into the strange impulse that urged him to destroy, now that she was safe.

They were drawing closer. He spun on his heel and fired, a feral grin sliding over his face at the resulting explosion. Through the smoke, five silhouettes could be seen. When the area cleared, Rockman saw what they were. They were hovering, bright red hawks with glowing blue eyes, their wings fanning slowly.

For a moment, both parties simply stared at each other. Then all hell broke loose. All five birds dived at once, grabbing at his arms and legs. Rockman shook them off with ease and let loose five blasts.

Two birds weren't quick enough and were deleted in the space of seconds. The remaining three hung back, now more wary. When they came at him again, it was with a touch more strategy. Two went for his arms, and the other for his face.

This time, Rockman let off a barrage worthy of a machine-gun, peppering the air with blasts of energy. Two more birds were down, and the last tried to latch onto his face but he dodged just in time, feeling claws scrape his cheek. He turned and fired for the last time.

Now there were no hawks left.