Chapter 7: Gone With The Wind

"A flyboy. I HATE flyboys. Ah well, it's target practice at least. We'll see if you're still so cocky after your wings have been clipped, bucko." -Advanced Robot Master Bass, assessing opponent Tengu Man

"So you didn't bring back the circuit plate this time… oh well, nobody can be right on every one when it comes to something like that." Dr. Light sighed. Mega Man nodded in agreement.

"If my intuition was THAT sharp, I'd be able to hit the weakness of every Robot Master ever time right off the bat. At least Proto Man was there to take out the real Tomahawk Man. He did succeed right?"

"Well, all the robots in the area have deactivated. I'd call that a yes." Dr. Cossack reported. "He hasn't called in himself to confirm it, to my daughter's irritation, but that's not really unexpected… you know what Blues is like."

"Oh, yes. That, I definitely know." Mega shook his head, smiling. "Sometimes I think he doesn't even know how to use a phone, and doesn't care enough to learn how. Oh well, we put up with him." He jumped off the workbench they had been using to repair him. "Everything feels fine, as usual."

"Yeah, well, don't thank us." Roll snorted. "For once it looks like you fought a blade user and came back without being completely sliced up. That was a pleasant surprise, let me tell you."

"I'll pass, thanks… nothing personal, sister dear, but you tend to go on and on… and on… given the opportunity. Especially when it comes to mine and Blues' character flaws." Mega chuckled. "Anyways. Even without Tomahawk Man's, I'm hoping the rebuilding of Beat's circuit plates is going well?"

"We're managing to put out one a day, even with Roll keeping us on a fairly slack work schedule." Dr. Light gave his robotic daughter a disapproving glance, which she returned full force.

"Don't look at me like that, dad. Kalinka's agreeing with me on this; we're NOT going to let you two nearly kill yourselves like you did with the Jet Armor every night. One circuit plate a day is a good enough pace."

"It'll be fine." Mega Man assured them, attempting to settle the arguing. "So then, how's Councilor Vinkus doing?" At that question, everybody else fell silent. The Blue Bomber winced. "Oh man… that bad, huh?"

"Well, not like you might think…" Dr. Light shook his head. "It's not the heart attack… he seemed to be recovering from that fine. It was more about what caused it… for the first time I can remember, Darwin truly did look… old. I believe the term commonly used is 'feeling his age'… although really, it was more like he was feeling an age far beyond his. He even admitted directly that he wished to return to the Council in order to keep the other members off of our backs."

"He's never said anything like that outright before." Mega shook his head slowly. "Man oh man, I don't like the sound of that."

"He's… considering retirement after this Rebellion, I think." Roll looked down. "He's never exactly been one of my favorite people, but still… seeing him like this… wasn't nice. To say the least."

"At least Trent seems to be doing better." Dr. Cossack sighed. "After we all visited Darwin, he returned to his hotel and promised not to do any more drinking. I think right now what he really wishes to do is find another way to aid you."

"Well, knowing Dr. Corbun, he'll figure something good out." Mega smiled. "Everything he's contributed so far has been a big help throughout the Rebellions. Oh, speaking of that… I trust you managed to install the Energy Balancer successfully?"

"Of course." Dr. Light confirmed. "I took a look at it myself as well… like most of Trent's contributions, I never would have thought of the idea. Dividing weapons energy intake… after this Rebellion is finished, Sergei, Trent and myself must confer. With that as well as Sergei's records of that 'M-Tank' you discovered in the Fifth, we may be able to create a new type of E-Tank; one that restores Weapons Energy. A W-Tank, I suppose we would call it."

"Now that's one heck of an idea." Mega nodded approvingly. "Even though if all goes well this will be the last Rebellion." He didn't bother adding that they had hoped for that during ALL of the previous Rebellions; they were all obviously thinking about that anyways.

"Yes, well, even so." Dr. Light coughed. "Regardless, E-Tanks are used by other robots aside from yourself in non-Rebellion matters. Perhaps someday the system behind the Variable Weapons will become more widespread as well, and the W-Tanks will be of use."

"Maybe, yeah." The Blue Bomber nodded. "It would be kind of a bummer if me and Blues were the only guys who ever used that system. There should be some kind of use for it that doesn't involve actual weapons and fighting. Well, I suppose I really should get going… the sooner I leave, the sooner Wind Man bites it, and I still want to dodge the UN's calls."

"Going for the flyboy next, huh?" Roll shrugged. "Well, that works as well as any of the others, I guess."

"Yeah. He doesn't look so bad compared to some of the others, so I should be able to bring him down without too many Master Weapons. Let's just hope I guess right this time when it comes to picking the one who has the Circuit Plate… messing up once is okay, but if I make a habit of it… well, I'd better not." Mega sighed. "I'm off, then… wish me luck."

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Not even bothering to acknowledge Mr. X's blabbering this time, Mega Man set off into the airport Wind Man had set up shop in immediately. At the entrance, a pair of robotic pandas grinned at him and began lobbing overhead shots from their maws. Dodging them, he destroyed one only to be hit by a straight shot from the other. Growling, he took that one out as well. "Change of arc… I shouldn't have been caught by something like that. Got to be more careful… maybe it's been too long since I had a real challenge. I might be getting cocky." He shook his head. "Focus, boy; get the job done first, then worry about yourself later, remember?" Entering the main building, he climbed up a level to find a small room with massive fans embedded in the floor, strong enough to lift even his metal body into the air. His surprise at this was cut off by an explosion that launched him from the fan back onto normal floor. Shaking his head, to clear out the stars, he glared at the mortar-launching cannon barrel mounted on a similar propeller that floated up and down, changing its level. "Cute trick… shame it'll only work once." Rising back into the air, he fired one well-timed charged shot to obliterate the cannon, then continued up onto the building's roof. Many parts of it had been removed, leaving gaping holes doubtless filled with something unpleasant at the bottom; to make matters worse, low-slung, spiked and armored Gabyool robots patrolled the areas of roof remaining. Plasma-deflective all over their small frames, Gabyools were, like Metools, a common sight in Rebellions simply because of how annoying their complete immunity to Mega's main weapon made them. However, another Master weapon always managed to do the job… the question was, did he have one that could yet.

"Might as well find out." The Blue Bomber shrugged, lobbing a Silver Tomahawk at the closest Gabyool. The flying blade whizzed towards the foe and bounced off without even scratching it, and Mega Man groaned. A wave of the Blizzard Attack, however, froze it solid. "Bingo. That'll do it." He continued on, freezing every Gabyool he saw until the enemy robots stopped coming. Instead, they were replaced by a much, much larger gap, with small, unsafe-looking hovering platforms providing a "bridge" across. Mega assessed them for a moment before shaking his head. "Uh-UH. Not by myself. Oh, Rush…" With the Jet Armor on, crossing was a much more feasible proposition; when the platforms dropped out from under him, as he expected, he simply rocketed over to the next and made sure to clear it while the jet's power recharged. Reaching the other side, he re-entered the inside of the building and dropped down a few floors until he was back on ground level.

"Ugh. I hate when they give me the run-around." After a few more annoying panda-bots, he emerged out on an enclosed airfield. Two identical weather towers loomed before him with ladders leading up to their tops, recently installed. "So… one of these. Man, I'd better get it right this time…" After a short internal debate, he chose the one on the left and climbed to the top. A segment of wall with a metal shutter in it had been dropped on top of the tower directly before the ladder-top. "Okay, that's just a LITTLE too much. Sheesh." Shaking his head, Mega walked through it and looked up as the stout orange Robot Master he had come to kill flew down. As usual, Mr. X began ranting and as usual, Mega ignored it.

"Why hello there, Mega Man." Wind Man greeted him, apparently ignoring his master as well. "So nice of you to pay me a visit."

"A visit's not exactly what I had in mind, I've gotta tell you…" Mega smiled sarcastically, charging his buster. "Unless you'd be willing to shut down your armies and come with me to the local lockup? I've always kind of wanted to do that, you know… be a nice change of pace."

"I imagine this would get a bit repetitive after all these times." Wind Man agreed, then shook his head. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid I can't oblige."

"Shame. Might as well get started, then…" Mega fired, but Wind Man blasted off with much more speed than one would expect from his squat shape, rising straight up before launching forward in a perfect line. Braking on a dime, he then plunged downward onto his hapless foe-who was already sliding away and firing another charged shot behind him.

"You'll have to do better than Gyro Man's moves if you want to beat me." Mega Man shook his head.
"So it seems… how about this, then?" Wind Man crouched, and the massive fans on his shoulders began revving, producing a suction that pulled Mega Man towards him. As he neared, Wind Man launched a sucker punch, then howled as a sharp blade tore past him with Mega Man attached.

"The same goes for Magnet Man." The Blue Bomber informed him, readying the Silver Tomahawk he held for another strike. "These things are meant to be thrown, but they're not too bad as hand-to-hand either, are they?"

"Actually…" Wind Man turned and stretched, displaying the wound on his arm-just a tiny scratch. "That didn't hurt anywhere near as much as I thought it did."

"Damn… oh well, it was worth a shot." Chucking the Tomahawk, Mega tried the Blizzard Attack. Wind Man went airborne again and flew through it harmlessly, chuckling.

"A light snow, but nothing I'm not used to up here!" He landed again, and again Mega dodged it.

"I told you already, Gyro Man's move won't-" He broke off as he saw Wind Man aiming his right arm. Oh right… he can launch propeller blades too. Well, I've dealt with that-what! Too late, he saw that the arm didn't have one launcher port-it had TWO. Twirling around each other, the pair of razor-sharp propeller blades flew at him, and despite his last-second twisting, Mega was unable to dodge them both-as a matter of fact, his contortions only carried him into both paths, getting him a cut on his right arm and left leg.

"How's that for an original move?" Wind Man inquired, beaming.

"Not bad." Mega grunted, firing another charged shot that hit him head-on. "How's that?"

"It hurts." Wind Man admitted. "But I can handle it." He began pulling Mega in again, and the Blue Bomber braced for the close-range fighting. However, after only a few seconds the squat orange Robot Master suddenly stopped the pull and threw out his arm. "Let's see you take more of these, though!" Again, Mega Man was sliced by both blades, but this time, he was able to return fire immediately.

"Let's see who lasts longer, then…" Mega suggested. No longer smiling, Wind Man silently flew up and stomped down again. As usual, Mega Man slid out, but this time as soon as he stopped, he repeated the move-and Wind Man's propeller blades flew over his head, harmlessly. The charged shot he fired back, on the other hand, was a direct hit, and Wind Man stumbled back.

"What…"

"Or not." Mega shook his head. "Seems I've gotten around that move of yours too… maybe not all the time, but enough to bring you down first. So unless you've got a fourth trick, this looks like a foregone conclusion to me."

"Perhaps." Wind Man frowned. "But I cannot give in, regardless… let's keep at it!"

"If you insist." Mega charged another shot. "I'll make it as quick as possible… I always try to from now on." He charged forward as Wind Man began pulling him in, dropping into a slide the moment he saw the arm move. "See… there's a guy I did the opposite to once, and I owe him enough to not do the same to anybody else." Rising, he fired straight into the enemy's face. "Give him my regards if you see him once we're done here."

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"Excuse me, sir." One of the two guards at the front entrance of the large building stepped forward. "I'm afraid we're closed during the duration of… of the Rebellion. Government orders."

"I have authorization." The visitor coughed and pulled a signed paper out of his trench coat. "The good Councilor is a friend of mine." The guard looked over the names and signature, and his eyes widened.

"Dr. Corbun, sir! Didn't recognize you!" He saluted sharply. "Of course you can go inside… after all, you helped… uh… build it…" His voice trailed off as he realized who the British doctor had helped.

"Real smooth, Lance." The other guard snorted, unlocking the door. "Go on in, doc… we'll make sure nobody bothers you."

"Thanks, fellas." Trent Corbun walked into the darkened building and looked around. "Power should be on, but I don't really feel like it… the windows are enough. I'm sure you guys, won't mind, eh?" He chuckled lightly as he looked around at the dozens of motionless, deactivated Robot Masters standing in various poses under glass bubbles, side by side down the walls of the massive entrance hall. "The Mr. X Robot Museum… still looking as sharp as ever, even if it's down right now. Wonder if they'll change the name once this is done with…"

Built during the Fifth Robot Rebellion, only a few years ago, the Robot Museum had been an idea of Mr. X's for several years before. When the United Nations had begun passing anti-robot legislature in response to the supposed Rebellion led by Blues, Mr. X had decided to speed up its construction and finish it immediately, a project with which Dr. Corbun had been all too glad to help with. At the time, it had been a spectacular achievement and one that had stopped the surge of anti-robotics sentiment dead in its tracks. Now… with Mr. X's recent moves, the Museum had been shut down and heavily inspected multiple times in case something there held some connection to the current Rebellion. Even after that had turned up blank, the Museum hadn't been reopened, and there was no word yet as to what is ultimate fate would be. Darwin Vinkus would do his best to keep the building intact, but with the way the council's members had been acting over recent years… there was only so much one man could do under conditions like those, after all.

"For the time being, though, it remains a place of solace." Dr. Corbun sighed, slumping down on a conveniently placed bench. "I can't keep bothering those guys… they've got more important things to do than mollycoddle a clown like me." At least he hadn't gotten drunk again, the British robotocist congratulated himself half-mockingly; that was something, anyways, especially after the near brush with horrible automotive death he had heard Rock and Roll talking about as he dozed on their couch. The memories of that night were all a blur, and nobody had mentioned it to him afterward, but that worried discussion through the sleepy fog stuck in his mind, too real to be a hallucination. Ever since, he had avoided alcohol like the plague; like most practicing robotocists, he intended to keep caffeine his only addiction, the only exception he could bring to mind at the moment being Thomas Light's pipe smoking.

"Really, though… the booze isn't the worst of my problems right now." Dr. Corbun shook his head. "You didn't come here to just to tell yourself you don't really need the bottle, old boy." No, the real source of his mental issues at the moment wasn't a chemical… it was a person. Mr. X, one of his closest friends, the billionaire he had met during the Third Robot Rebellion; both of them joining the Gamma Team and contributing everything they could to bring the Ultimate Peacekeeping Robot to completion. Gamma had failed, but the surviving four members of the team discounting Albert Wily had maintained the friendship that had grown during that brief alliance for years to come. And now the Sixth had happened… and one of Dr. Corbun's best friends was either a lying, treacherous madman himself or horribly dead. Although he had been the most self-effacing of the four, Mr. X's departure had shook them to the core and prompted changes that could not be undone. Trenton Corbun's depression and near-fatal moment of weakness… Darwin Vinkus' heart attack, and considered retirement… only Thomas Light remained at full capacity, working feverishly along with his assistant Sergei Cossack to aid Rock in the Rebellion. Dr. Corbun shook his head, realizing what was truly bothering him, what had brought him here.

"They've both been working as much as Roll will let them, doing all sorts of things to help out… and what have I done? One Energy Balancer… and I sure screwed THAT one up." He chuckled bitterly. "Oh yes, and allowed yet ANOTHER one of my Robot Master designs to be reprogrammed by the enemy. Can't forget that. Let's face it, old boy… you're outclassed, plain and simple. With both Tom and Sergei on the job, a second-rate hack like yourself just isn't needed for something this important any more." It was like Mr. X had been the bottom card in the stack… with him violently pulled out, the others were all scattering, flying away and apart. The truth of the matter was, Dr. Corbun's life no longer consisted of much that was important to him. After Sennet Robotics had been massacred, he had taken a job at US Robotics, one of his former competitors… but then when he had realized that the head man hadn't forgotten their past and was unwilling to keep that out of the workplace, Dr. Corbun had resigned in disgust. He, like the Doctors Light and Cossack, was independently wealthy enough to retire if he felt like it… he had only sought the US Robotics job out of boredom and a need to apply his skills. Skills which were outclassed in every way by the people he was now spending time with… visiting, half a world away from his actual home. He had his wife, of course, but she still had a career and a life of her own… he couldn't spend all his time bothering her, or their grown daughters. If he drifted away from the Lights and Cossacks, and his reluctant friend Vinkus… then did Dr. Trenton Corbun have anything else to do with his life at all?

"What should I do now…" The British Robotocist murmured, then lunged to his feet and slammed into a random Robot Master in the hall. Pressing his face against the glass bubble over it, he practically screamed. "TELL ME! Answer me! What should I do now!" The waxen, lifeless replica statue of Doc Man-who Trent had never seen actually seen in his original form-grinned silently back, unable to reply. It happened to be one of the few in the Hall of Robot Masters that wasn't an actual, potentially working duplicate, but such a distinction was beyond Dr. Corbun's mental facilities at the moment. Falling away from the glass, he fell back onto his bench and buried his head in his hands. "God… what CAN I do now…"

No matter how long he waited, the legions of Robot Masters who surrounded him had no answer for him.