Chapter 3: Death

"Hey."

"What… happened? Where am I? Who… wait. You… I know you!"

"Yup. I'm surprised you recognize me. As for your questions… think back. It'll come to you. Almost everybody asks them, but it never takes long for them to figure it out."

"I… remember. Then I am…"

"Yup. Like me. I'm here to pick you up. Yeah, I know, you weren't exactly who I was expecting for my first job either, but it happens sometimes."

"…I see. So… where do we go?"

"For now? Nowhere. I'll show you the way eventually. But for now… we watch the results from this. At least we've got the best seats in the house."

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"All right, remember, we'll have to have perfect timing to do this." Rock told his brother as the Light family took their seats in the stadium. "The MOMENT old man Wily shows, we need to teleport our armor onto us, before Mr. X raises the EM barrier to keep him from escaping."

"Yeah, I know." Blues nodded. "You've got it easy, Phare… nobody would think anything's up when you wear your armor to this kind of show."

"That is because I do not regularly remove it." Pharaoh Man shrugged. "I and all my brothers possess the capability to do so, unlike most Robot Masters, but we see no need. Perhaps in years to come that shall change."

"You'd have to lose the stick first." Kalinka joked, and Pharaoh Man blinked.

"Stick?"

"Never mind, Pharaoh, you don't want to know." Dr. Cossack assured him while looking at his daughter disapprovingly. "Behave, Kalinka. And remember-"

"Yeah, get out of the line of fire when the bad guys come." Kalinka nodded. "You told me five hundred times, and that was AFTER the three of us spent hours getting you to let me come today." Her eyes darkened. "There's no way I'm missing seeing that old maniac get what's coming to him at last."

"I shall enjoy that as well." Dr. Cossack nodded grimly.

"I think we all will." Roll shook her head. "And this time, there's no way in hell he's ever getting out of the slammer again. I'll be willing to grant that the higher-ups would be stupid enough to fall for it twice, but not three times."

"And then we can all get over this, and go on with our lives." Rock shook his head. "No more Rebellions, no more fighting… no more deaths."

"Hey look, they're coming out." Blues noted laconically. "Show time should begin any moment." Indeed, the eight surviving Robot Masters were all walking out. Some of them looked peacefully calm… others were glaring threateningly at each other… or at the audience.

"Check out Yamato Man." Roll frowned. "He's giving you the eye, bro… like Tomahawk Man and Knight Man are to each other. Like Napalm Man did a few years back."

"Great. Another combat junkie who wants me to kick his butt. He probably actually intends to beat all the others and climb to the top so he can face me." Rock sighed. "Let's hope whatever action he sees today satisfies him."

"There's the committee… and Mr. X, too." Blues spotted the movement first once again. "Hm… I don't see Beat with them."

"Isn't that the point?" Rock reminded him. "A hidden guard, that won't tip Wily off. He's there… Beat's dependable."

"Excuse me." Mr. X coughed into a microphone, and the crowd fell silent, watching him expectantly, most of them thinking this day would be just like the others. "My friends, I would like to welcome you all here, to this stadium, on the fifth day of the First Annual World Robotics Tournament. I am sure you are all eager to get started with the action… but before our eight champions go about their business, I have a special guest to introduce. Somebody who was once a very close friend of mine… who traveled a long distance to be here today. Somebody who I am sure you all know." His eyebrows arched sardonically above the sunglasses. "Please allow me to introduce… Doctor Albert Wily. Come on up, Al."

"What!" Rock choked, as did most of the spectators.

"DON'T freak out! Watch, and get your armor on!" Blues growled. Rock nodded and summoned it as Mr. X pressed a button on the control panel before him. Two things happened simultaneously; first, an energy shield appeared around the box he shared with the stunned judges; and second, a hatch opened in the front of the box, and something emerged. A human body, impaled through both arms and legs on metal spears that were extending out, and with a plasma burn through the head. The body of Dr. Albert Wily… very, very dead.

"What is… this… supposed to be?" Dr. Light muttered, then yelled. "What kind of sick joke is this, X?"

"This is no joke, friend Thomas." Mr. X smirked. "What you see with your own eyes… this is reality. The joke was the story I told you… a trap for Albert? I, of all people, had no need to trap him… he would do as I wished, and come to me when I asked him… as he has been doing for all these years." He smiled wider at the yells of astonishment this prompted. "Ha ha ha… stupid, stupid people. All of the common people are so incredibly stupid… did you all truly think a man like Wily could have done so much by himself? Did you ever consider how he PAID for it all? How he managed to acquire the materials to build not one, but FIVE Skull Fortresses? Not even the most underhanded black marketeer would deal with the man who brought robotic death upon this globe so often. No, the only way he could do it… was if he had somebody backing him. Somebody with money to spare."

"You buying this?" Blues growled.

"I don't know…" Rock shook his head, then frowned as his armor arrived. He adjusted his helmet, and then nodded, and Mega Man spoke. "He does make a point, but… after so many times…"

"Yeah… he'd just love to pull the same old song and dance again." His brother, Proto Man, agreed. "And yet… like you said, he has a point. Wily was never rich, and those Skull Fortresses were NOT built on the cheap…"

"My mad friend never questioned me… when I came to him and offered to fund his conquests, he gladly accepted. Never once thinking… realizing… that such acceptance made him only the second-in-command of his armies. I was the man at the top… the silent partner. But after five Rebellions… five failures…" Mr. X nodded at the corpse. "I grew tired of my front man botching the job. Five times… and he just kept on losing. And so… I disposed of him." He turned to grin at Mega Man. "What was it you said to him, friend Rock, after you so thoroughly defeated him for the last time at the end of the Fifth? Oh, yes… 'Rebellions are your curse. No one else's. I'll never believe another Rebellion is caused by somebody else… never again. Over my cold, dead body, Wily… or over yours.' Well, Rock… after I heard that, I just couldn't resist obliging you." The old man's grin grew, twisted sickly. "A little gift to my greatest enemy, Rock Light… Mega Man. Wish… granted."

"Uh…" Mega fell forward onto his knees, completely motionless, remembering. He HAD said that… said those words. He had only meant them as a bluff, a threat, but now… A ROBOT MUST NOT HARM, OR THROUGH INACTION CAUSE HARM TO COME, TO A HUMAN BEING. Those words blared across his vision, through his mind, in angry red. FIRST LAW… FIRST LAW… "Did… did I do… did I cause…"

"Snap out of it!" Proto Man yelled. "He's bullshitting you, bro! You heard him… he made the call to do that because Wily screwed up! Because you… oh, hell… no! Dammit, Rock! HE did that, not you! You are NOT responsible! Don't you go into mind freeze now… don't you dare! We NEED you Rock, now more than ever!" Slowly, Mega felt feeling return to his limbs, and the angry letters receded.

"I… I'm okay…"

"Ho ho ho… having trouble there, Rock?" Mr. X gloated, eyes focused on the robot boy's mental struggle. "I'm sorry… did I… say something?" Behind him, unnoticed, somebody else was approaching… Darwin Vinkus. Lunging, he grabbed the older man in a choke hold.

"Forget… somebody else… was in here?" The UN Councilor growled. "Flaw in your plans, my friend… concentrating too much on the robots, and leaving yourself open to a human attack-AH!" He stiffened up as the sound of a gunshot rang through the stadium, and then fell back, a hole in the chest of his suit. Mr. X calmly raised the handgun to his face and blew away the smoke, then glanced at the other judges.

"Actually, I was just waiting for you to do that… after all the time we spent together, friend Darwin, I DO know you rather well. Anybody else wish to try and be a hero… and end up a martyr? Or perhaps not…" He glanced down at Vinkus, who was breathing heavily and twitching. "Bulletproof vest… and plasma-deflective too, it looks like. My, my, you did come prepared today…" He turned away without finishing off the Councilor. "Do not try that again. Next time, it will be your head."

"Damn you…" Roll growled. "What the hell is this? Why are you doing this… why did you help Wily?"

"Because, my dear… I have always believed that overwhelming power is the only way to achieve one's goals." Mr. X smirked. "All of you… you never found it suspicious that a man with a heart as black as mine could change to pure white? You knew my past… selling weapons in the Third World War. And yet… you believed me when I sold YOU my new image. The man who repented his entire life, who threw away his beliefs… and you bought it. So very nice of you. But now, like the weapons I sold at the time, that façade is obsolete… and so I have discarded it, along with my front man, and taken matters into my own hands." He nodded at the eight Robot Masters below, who all pointed their weapons at the crowd. "I could force a fight right now, but that would likely cause some of my servants here to be injured, or even destroyed… even with all the robotic guards here under my control, the UN soldiers will figure out something's wrong soon enough." He chuckled. "Oh, did I forget to mention? These eight are mine now, along with their doubles in the basement… the guards were all very observant for tampering from WILY, but when the esteemed backer of the Tournament wished to run a few 'last minute checkups'… well. Oh, yes, there are only eight in the basement… I have no use for the doubles of the useless trash already eliminated. They were thrown out yesterday." Mega thought back to the basement meeting the previous day, realizing now that there had only been eight sleeping Robot Masters down there.

"Blast it… I should have spotted that!"

"Easy, bro… just keep your eyes on the action. We can do the should have, could have, would have routine later." Roll frowned.

"Unlike Albert, I have little skill in robotics… one Robot Master of my own was all I was willing to risk." Mr. X continued. "For the others, I needed the best that the world's geniuses could build… aside from the top three, none of who would contribute, that is. And so I held this tournament… and it has proven quite successful. I have eight powerful Robot Masters at my command, ready to serve my cause… the Sixth Robot Rebellion. The final one… now that all illusions have been shed, it is time for the one grain of sand in the gears of my plans and myself to settle this once and for all." He pointed at Mega Man, still weak from the First Law's attack. "I have always known that you were the one thing Albert could not defeat… but you have always thought that HE was your true enemy. No more. Now, you know the truth… the reality behind the Robot Rebellions. All for me… to elevate me to the throne of the world." The billionaire spread his hands. "You wish to stop me, no doubt… fair enough. Come, then, as you always have… we shall do as we have always done. Take territories, eight of them, and wait for you to come and challenge us… now, the REAL Robotics Tournament begins. You, the champion of Robot Masters, facing eight challengers to your throne, one by one. Destroy them all, retain your title, and you will learn where the location of the TRUE final fortress is, the one I have been commanding Wily from all this time."

"If he's telling the truth… if he's had his own fortress ever since the First… it's got to be in one hell of a hiding spot." Proto Man frowned.

"A nine-round game of Robot Rebellion… finally, I can oversee it myself, after so much incompetence." Mr. X smirked. "Such fun it shall be. Such madness. Such chaos. Oh, before I leave… there is one more twist to add to this game." He dug into the pocket of his cloak with one hand and pulled out… circuit plates. Nine of them, circular ones, and to Mega Man's eyes… horribly familiar.

"Oh no… Beat…" He whispered.

"I forgot… X wanted him up there!" Proto Man snarled.

"A last request from friend Albert… revenge on the puny blue bird who caused him so much trouble at the end of the Fifth Robot Rebellion." Placing the circuit plates down on his control panel, Mr. X reached down behind it and hauled up the inert Beat by one wing, deactivated. "This gimmick worked so well in the last Rebellion… I just couldn't resist repeating it. But, as I said, it is a bit of a twist…" He dropped Beat and scooped up eight of the circuit plates, leaving one there next to him. "One to go to each contestant in this Rebellion Tournament… my eight servants, and one for yourself, Mega Man. But here is the thing… only the REAL fighters, the ones you see here, will hold the circuit plates. The doubles down below in the basement will not… and both of each Robot Master will be waiting for you in their territories. Oh, don't worry, this isn't a cheap trick to make them double-team you… they will be in separate locations, and linked so that when you defeat one, the other will shut down. At least… if you defeat the true one. But if you destroy the double, the real challenger will remain active… and if he detects you leaving the area without destroying him as well, he will smash the circuit plate he holds. You will have to choose the correct one, or suffer a penalty… either the loss of a plate, or fighting a second duel immediately without repairs. The choice will be yours, but no matter how lucky you are, you will have to face it sooner or later." Mr. X thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I believe that is all that needs to be said… well then, we shall depart to be about our business. You'll know where my servants are soon enough, I'm sure… until then, good luck!" He walked over to the edge of the box and reached down, grabbing Wily's lifeless head. "And now for real… let the World Robotics Tournament BEGIN! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" As the shield barrier around him dropped, he vanished in a teleporter beam along with the mangled corpse, and his Robot Masters did as well, followed by all of the robot guards. Only the spectators remained, staring up at the frozen UN council judges left behind in the box, almost accusingly… as if blaming them for what had occurred there that day.

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"What a mess." Proto Man shook his head, staring out over the coliseum, now empty of all civilians. As soon as they had been freed, the UN judges had called for soldiers who had cleared all the spectators out and began sweeping the now-useless coliseum for anything left behind that could be of use. So far, they were coming up with squat; every single one of the robots had vanished, along with any trace of Mr. X's control. Even the computer banks had been returned to a fresh state. With its purpose served, the arena was now nothing more than an empty shell… dead and discarded. Looking over it with his family and the Cossacks, the red-and-grey-armored Robot Master sighed disgustedly. "At least they stopped questioning us already. Sheesh. Like we'd actually be able to tell them anything."

"Yeah." Mega Man agreed quietly. "Really, at this point, it doesn't matter if it's a lie or not… not until the end. Right now… all we know is that it happened again. Yet again, even we… we, who were supposed to be the only defense against these Rebellions… were taken completely off guard. The enemy got us again… and there shall be another Rebellion. We… I… I failed at stopping it. All I can do is bring it to an end as quickly as possible."

"Enough, bro." Roll frowned. "Beating yourself up over it won't help one bit. What's done is done; focus on the future. Like you said, ending it as soon as possible. What are our plans?"

"The usual, I guess." Mega shrugged. "Go back home, wait until he makes his move and grabs eight places… then choose one to move on, and proceed from there. Not much else we CAN do, really."

"I'll have to disagree with you on that, son of mine." Dr. Light shook his head. "There is something we… me and Sergei at least… CAN do. Two things, actually. We can start rebuilding Beat's circuit plates… and we can attempt to upgrade Rush once again."

"Hey, that's right…" Kalinka remembered. "Last time with Beat, you said you couldn't recreate the plates by yourself, dad… but with Dr. Light here now…"

"Indeed." Dr. Cossack agreed. "We can remake them, so that you shall not have to play that silly game of Mr. X's entirely. Unfortunately, the plates ARE quite difficult to make, so it will take time… but if you do succeed in bringing some back, then Beat will be back in action soon enough."

"That's great…" Mega frowned. "But there's one thing Mr. X didn't mention. If I choose the 'wrong one' and fight the copy, then yeah, I can leave without absolutely needing the circuit plate… but that'll still leave the real guy there. He said the copies would shut down if I beat the real one, but not vice versa… he'll still be on the loose."

"Forgetting somebody?" Proto Man smirked. "Leave that to me, bro… since he's just as fixated on you as Wily was, the bad guys will probably torch the plates if they see me coming at them, but I can remove them from the picture at least."

"Thanks, bro." Mega nodded. "That's another one I… hey, wait." He blinked. "Dad… you said you're upgrading Rush again?"

"Correct." Dr. Light nodded. "Me and Sergei have been discussing this for some time… in the unfortunate event of a sixth Rebellion, we decided that it would be far too large a risk to rely on getting lucky and obtaining Energen Crystals for his Jet and Marine forms once again… especially since in the Fifth, there was no black Energen Crystal for the Marine mode to be found."

"So we have some ideas as to new forms for Rush… abilities that will not require Energen Crystals to power." Dr. Cossack explained. "Like the circuit plates, they will take time to produce, however… but we shall get it done, do not worry."

"Man… with both of those on the plate, you two will be working in severe overtime." Roll shook her head. "I'll help out as much as I can as lab assistant, but it'll still be a major haul."

"Would… another set of hands help at all?" Kalinka asked, a little hesitantly. "I don't know anything about robotics like any of you, but if there's anything… I want to help in any way I can."

"Kalinka…" Dr. Cossack murmured.

"We would be happy to have you aid us, Kalinka." Dr. Light smiled. "Somebody else to help will reduce the time significantly…" He glanced at Dr. Cossack. "And before you say no, Sergei, keep in mind that considering what happened last time, the UN as well as our local government will both likely be putting heavy guard around our house. The lab will be untouchable… she won't be in any danger."

"…All right." Dr. Cossack smiled. "Thank you, Kalinka."

"Yeah…" Proto Man grinned at her. "Just a warning… everybody in this family is crazy." He dodged Roll's fist. "Case in point."

"I'll manage." Kalinka smiled back. "Whatever I can do to help, Blues."

"Well, we might as well get out of here." Mega Man sighed, looking around the arena one more time. "There's nothing left for us in this place." The others nodded, and they all turned towards the exit, doing their best to ignore the UN troops running around everywhere. Fortunately, they were instantly recognizable and thus managed to get past them all, even the ones around the proximity, without any trouble. As they headed towards the parking lot, Pharaoh Man coughed.

"Excuse me… Dr. Corbun appears to be waiting for us." He pointed to the only car still in the lot that wasn't a military van aside from Dr. Light's battered green pickup and Dr. Cossack's rental. As they approached, they did indeed see Dr. Corbun leaning against the sport car's side, face haggard.

"Hey, fellas." He greeted them. "Was wondering when you would come on out here… I just wanted to let you know a couple things. First off, Darwin's going to be okay… that bullet only bruised him, thanks to the vest he had on. He'll be out of the hospital later today."

"Good." Dr. Light sighed. "I will confess I was worried, even with his safeguard… he's not getting any younger than the rest of us."

"Yes…" Dr. Corbun sighed. "The other thing… isn't quite so good. I… was preparing for this. Well, something almost like this, anyways… don't get me wrong, I was hoping for the trap to work, but in case it didn't… well, I was working on something to help you out, Rock." Dr. Light and Dr. Cossack glanced at each other.

"We had similar plans in motion." The Russian robotocist admitted. "It is nothing to be ashamed of…"

"Yes, well… the thing is, I actually had a working prototype finished." Dr. Corbun explained. "But I told X and Vinkus about it one night over poker… and then yesterday, X asked if he could take a look at it. I said yes, and… he still has it."

"Don't blame yourself." Roll told him quickly. "None of us saw this coming… none of us COULD."

"Yeah." Mega Man agreed. "Thank you… what was it?"

"An Energy Balancer." Dr. Corbun explained. "It works with the Variable Weapons System… keeps a constant reading on your Master Weapons energy, and when you grab a refill for weapons energy, it allocates it among them based on which ones are closest to empty."

"Well, now… that would be very useful." Proto Man whistled, then smiled. "But none of them have a Variable Weapons System to our knowledge, right?" Dr. Corbun shook his head.

"Well, no."

"Then he won't have any use for it himself… but he's too canny to just destroy it out of spite." Proto Man guessed. "He'll hang onto it… and I'll be able to find out where. I'll get it back, doc, don't you worry… that kind of thing is my specialty."

"Yeah, he'll manage." Mega Man assured the British robotocist. "Thanks, doc."

"Yes, well… anything I can do." Dr. Corbun smiled wearily, then let it drop. "Well, good luck to you… I'm off, then."

"Get some sleep, Trent." Dr. Light told him quietly. "I'm sorry about what happened with X too, but we can't change that now… we can only move on."

"I suppose so." Dr. Corbun got into his car. "Sleep, huh… I figure so. Might need some bourbon to help me with it, but I'll manage… see you around, fellas." He drove away, heading back to his hotel.

"I didn't like the sound of that." Roll shook her head. "Think he'll be okay?"

"He's just… not liking this. A lot." Proto Man explained. "I'm surprised dad's holding up this well, and Vinkus probably will probably be pretty depressed too."

"X was a good friend of all of us… or so it seemed." Dr. Light sighed. "Trent will be fine… he's tough. He just needs time. Unfortunately, that is something we ourselves do not have… let's get back home and get to work."

"Yeah." Mega Man nodded grimly. "He said this was the last Rebellion… the last time. That's the one thing he was right about. Let's make it happen."