Roll sat a bench on one side of the laboratory, kicking her legs absent-mindedly as the wires hooked to her back gradually recharged her energy. On the far side of the room, Light worked silently at a console, hands shaking slightly.

LaLinde approached, asking, "Any luck?"

"I'm afraid not," he replied. "I can't seem to locate the final two. Perhaps Wily is jamming us somehow…"

LaLinde glanced briefly back at Roll. "…Are you alright?"

Light's fingers stopped. "I am a bit scared. That's making it rather hard to focus."

"She came back, Thomas."

"I know. But those moments when I couldn't reach her terrified me."

LaLinde nodded. "I can understand that."

He turned towards her. "Noele, I think I better follow your reasoning now. I never want to feel that kind of horror again. But, truthfully…even if I were to remove Roll's emotional programming, I think I'd feel it just the same. I can't simply go back to seeing her as a collection of parts now that I've seen her be so much more."

Quietly, LaLinde murmured, "Perhaps you have a point." Speaking up, she went on, "At the very least, will you consider making a change with future models? This sentimentality serves no purpose other than to destroy us, Thomas. It hinders their ability to perform and our ability to order them. If you weren't so attached, you wouldn't have tried to call her back when it turned out to be unnecessary."

"So, you think leaving her there was the right thing to do?"

"Yes."

"That was her decision, Noele. A decision she wouldn't have made if she was only programmed to follow orders. You agree with her judgment—are you still sure she doesn't need it?"

LaLinde fell silent at this.

Back across the lab, Tempo came up to Roll and examined her power connections, making some minor adjustments with a screwdriver. Roll asked, "Do you think they're mad at me?"

"Unknown," Tempo said. "Unable to process data type."

Roll looked over her shoulder. "…What do you think, Tempo? About me cutting off communication like that?"

"Termination of communication is unwise. Robots are meant to follow orders. You ignored a request and removed the possibility of receiving further orders. This is a defect."

"That's what I thought you'd say." Roll shook her head. "You never used to talk like that."

"Clarify. Are you referring to conversations held while I still possessed emotional programming?"

"Yes, and I know that's the reason why, but…look. Even if we have orders, I was also given my own judgment, and I can't just not listen to it. Maybe I won't always be right, but neither will Dr. Light or Dr. LaLinde. Should we have to risk ourselves entirely on someone else's judgment when we know it's not infallible?"

Meeting her gaze, Tempo said, "If we are programmed to, then yes."

Roll frowned. "Can't we be more than just programming, Tempo? Isn't that exactly why Robot Masters like us were made? We're designed to be as close to human as possible. If you aren't able to make your own decisions, then are you really fulfilling that design?"

Tempo paused in her work. As she processed this, trying to formulate a response, a high-pitched whine suddenly rang out, and the screen of Light's console turned to static. Roll disconnected herself and ran over as an image of Wily slowly came into focus.

"Well, haven't you lot been busy!" Wily said. "I'll give you some credit, Light: never in a million years did I think you'd be able to jury-rig a combat model out of a prototype housekeeper!"

"Wily," Light said, "put an end to this madness! The Robot Masters have suffered enough!"

"Suffered?! Nehahahaha! They're machines, Light! Were it even possible for them to suffer, who cares? They exist to follow orders! You should be thankful I've brought out their true potential, unencumbered by that petty gentleness you programmed them with!"

LaLinde shuddered at his words. Roll stepped forward, saying, "Thankful?! Why would we be thankful you're forcing my brothers to fight? You coward: you wouldn't even be able to cause trouble if you hadn't stolen the Robot Masters!"

"What?!" Wily shouted. "Why you…! Hrrg…allow me to prove you wrong!"

He hit a key, and data began to stream across the lower corner of the screen.

"I called because it's time for us to settle this futile battle! Come to these coordinates if you dare, Roll—once you see the genius designs packing my robot factory, then you'll realize you should never have questioned my brilliance!"

"Fine with me!" Roll said. "I'm more than ready for this to be over!"

"Excellent! I look forward to seeing you turned into a pile of scrap! Nehahahaha!"

The image vanished. Roll turned to Light, but hesitated. He set a hand on her head and looked hard at her.

"Roll," he said. "He's no doubt gone to great lengths to stack this in his favor. Going there will be far more dangerous than fighting Robot Masters out in the open."

"I know," Roll said. "But Dr Light, I have to go! We can't afford to just sit around, and we haven't been able to find Fire Man or Ice Man—this is our only chance to stop Wily! I promise I'll be careful…I promise I won't cut communication again. Please, let me do this!"

Light looked to LaLinde, but she turned away—toward Tempo. Scanning over the coordinates, he said, "It will take a few minutes to prepare the transport…make sure you're prepared."

Roll smiled. "Thank you, Dr. Light! Don't worry: I'll definitely put an end to Wily's plans and come home safe!"

The coordinates sent Roll to a small, barren island, where armored metal walls could be seen bulging from the rocky crags like parasitic growths. Roll advanced cautiously, buster armed, and scanned for an entrance.

"I'm picking up several hostiles closing in!" Dr. Light said. "Although, it looks like our instruments can't penetrate the fortress walls…"

Roll jumped around a corner and fired. A dozen or so small, cricket-like robots met her, one of them immediately taken out by her shot. As she readied a Hyper Bomb, a sound from above caught her attention: a flock of hemisphere-shaped robots with fast-spinning propellers descended, firing weak shots in her direction. Roll tossed the bomb and jumped clear. Most of the crickets were destroyed in the blast, and she kept an eye on the remaining few as she launched a Rolling Cutter at the drones. The projectile sliced the propellers off several of them, dropping them to the rocky ground with enough force to render them inoperable. She next used a Thunder Beam, the wide spray of voltage wiping out nearly all of the surviving opposition, but she could see more moving in to replace them already.

"I'm going to get nowhere fast like this," Roll said.

She bounded forward, weaving her way through the oncoming forces and only shooting down what she absolutely needed to. As she drew closer to the factory, she spotted mounted artillery, nearly taking a direct hit from one, but she kept moving forward until she laid eyes on a door. A second later, however, something dropped down from above: a large robot with a round body and single eye atop a single leg. She came to a halt as it hopped forward. After watching it for a few seconds, she sprang into action, sliding beneath the giant sentry just as it jumped; not wasting any time, she activated Super Arm and ripped the door off its hinges, throwing it back at the jumping robot to knock it onto its side.

"Dr. Light," she said as she headed inside, "can you still hear me?"

"Yes, for now," came the garbled reply. "But there's a good chance we'll lose contact before much longer. Just…be careful, Roll."

Roll's footsteps echoed around her as she ran through the vast metallic hallway, the path lined with dozens of robots in various stages of assembly and sporadic beds of spikes. A few active robots came to meet her, but she dealt with them all easily. A bit too easily, she thought.

"Dr. Light?"

There was no reply.

"That was fast…"

There was a burst of orange light. Diving aside, she narrowly avoided a fireball. She tried to stand, but a blast of ice came next, so she kept herself pressed against the floor. Looking up, she spotted two figures up ahead: one was short, clad in a blue coat trimmed with white fur, while the other was tall and covered in red and silver armor, with cannons for hands and an ever-burning flame atop his head.

"So this is where you've been!" Roll said, finally back on her feet. "Ice Man, Fire Man, I don't want to hurt you! Just let me through so I can stop Dr. Wily and—"

More elemental blasts came her way. As she evaded, Ice Man said, "I think not! I've been stationed to guard this factory, meaning you'll be frozen in place here for the rest of eternity!"

"Roll!" called Fire Man. "It's time to see which one of us truly has justice on their side! Don't hold anything back!"

Ice Man rolled his eyes, muttering, "Why are you encouraging her? Get a move on, hothead!"

Roll jumped behind one of the taller inactive robots, letting it shield her for the moment. Fire Man continued attacking, keeping her pinned down; she caught a glimpse of Ice Man moving in and, thinking fast, began to climb up the large machine she was using as cover. Ice Man leapt forward and shot an icicle only to hit empty air. He spotted Roll just as she took aim at him, stumbling back but ultimately being sent flying by a Thunder Beam. Roll started to climb down, but then Fire Man appeared from the other side of the robot, surprising her and knocking her to the floor with his next shot.

"Took your eyes off me, didn't you?" Fire Man said. "Guess I have to prove myself as a worthy opponent!"

Roll fired a Rolling Cutter as she recovered. Flames orbited Fire Man, melting the projectile as soon as it made contact. She dodged another fireball, carefully considering her options, when she heard a shout from behind.

"Not so fast!" Ice Man said. Having given himself away, Roll was easily able to dodge his next ice blast: it flew right at Fire Man only to be intercepted by the flames, barely slowing him down.

I guess that won't work this time, she thought.

Roll slid clear of the elemental crossfire her enemies launched at her, stopping just short of a bed of spikes. Ice Man hit her before she could get away, freezing her momentarily; turning to Fire Man, he pointed, and then stood there expectantly. Fire Man waited until Roll was free before resuming his attack.

"You idiot!" Ice Man said. "You had the perfect chance to end her!"

"It wouldn't have been sporting," Fire Man said. "Besides, this fight has only just begun!"

"Sporting?! Why you absolute—"

A Thunder Beam came their way, only narrowly missing. Roll, now in a less dangerous position, fired once more to force her foes to scatter, and then turned to throw a Hyper Bomb at Fire Man. It made contact with his flame barrier, exploding instantly and stunning him. Ice Man saw an opening, but Roll anticipated him, sliding clear of the blast and retaliating with a Rolling Cutter that caught him off-guard. He growled in frustration.

"Sporting, hmph!" Ice Man said, cold air exuding from him. "If that's what you want, then I've got a sport for you to try! Ice skating!"

With a swing of his arms, a huge swath of the floor was flash frozen. Roll took extra care in dodging, sure to stay away from the icy patch, but her options dwindled as Ice Man continued coating the floor whenever he had the chance.

"Hey, aren't you going overboard?" Fire Man asked.

"Shut up!" Ice Man said. "Just make yourself useful already!"

Briefly hesitating, Fire Man raised his cannons. Now with even more shots incoming, her running space still shrinking, Roll decided to fall back a bit, disappearing behind a line of incomplete robots to buy some time. Both of her foes moved in.

"You're finished, Roll!" Ice Man called. "Give up now and we'll make it as painless as possible!"

A Hyper Bomb went off. Spinning around, Ice Man saw the legs of an especially massive robot still shuddering from the explosion, and Roll jumping up behind it, Super Arm engaged.

"What are you…"

She punched the robot with all her might. The unsteady legs buckled, and its momentum carried it forward, its shadow reaching over Ice Man and Fire Man. They scrambled in opposite directions, but Ice Man realized too late he was heading for a part of the floor he had previously frozen. While he was equipped for such conditions, it still took him an extra moment to find his footing, and it was a moment he didn't have. The great machine fell right on top of him with a loud crash.

"Ice Man!" Fire Man said. "Are you still functioning?"

A tense silence followed. The robot shifted a bit, and sure enough, Ice Man crawled out from under it, badly damaged but still finding a way to get himself upright.

"Ah, good," Fire Man said. "Now, where is Roll?"

A Thunder Beam suddenly surged through Ice Man. He screamed as the current totally fried his remaining circuits, and then went silent, collapsing limply. Roll hurriedly rushed forward to set a hand on him as Fire Man processed what had happened.

"You…you villain!" Fire Man yelled. "Have you no honor?!"

Roll turned blue and white. Testing her new weapon with a few shots, she said, "I already gave you a chance to surrender! This has gone on way too long, Fire Man! The sooner this is over, the sooner we can rebuild all of you, and things will go back to normal!"

Flames danced around him, melting the ice shots. "You truly believe things will simply go back to normal? Events this momentous cannot simply be put away!"

Two spiraling blasts of fire shot from his cannons. Roll leapt out of the way, preparing a Hyper Bomb. "What are you talking about?"

Fire Man dodged the explosive, saying, "I see. You've focused so much on fixing the present that the only future you can imagine is drawn from the past! Someone like you is unfit to carry the torch of justice!"

Roll shook her head. "I don't understand what you're saying!"

Simply giving a yell, Fire Man charged in with cannons blazing. Roll retaliated with a Thunder Beam, severely restricting his space; while he was focused on dodging, she managed to land a hit with the Ice Slasher, causing Fire Man's body to lock up temporarily and the flame atop his head to go out for just a moment. He paused to heat himself back up, and Roll used that time to move in. Having learned his timing, and no longer needing to split her attention, Roll was able to continue pelting Fire Man with ice, forcing him back. Eventually he feinted, trying to surprise her. The blast caught Roll on the shoulder, but she pressed ahead, this time using the Super Arm to deliver a punch that sent Fire Man sliding back along the ice that still coated the floor.

"Please, Fire Man," Roll said. "Give up now, or I'll have to destroy you!"

Despite his momentum waning, Fire Man still couldn't quite find his balance. "Never! Justice battles until the very end! And it never loses to…ah!"

The ice carried him to the edge of a spike-filled pit. He had slowed enough that he did not immediately fall in, but he wobbled there precariously. Roll prepared to offer to help him. When he launched a fireball at her, she sighed, and hurled a Hyper Bomb back. Fire Man blocked it with flames, but the explosion still threw him off, and he tumbled onto the spikes.

Very slowly, Roll made her way over. She stooped and reached out, barely able to grab hold of him to download his weapon data; she wanted to at least pull him out, but there was no way for her to do so without falling in herself. Letting go, Roll returned to the center of the hallway and continued forward.

Things will go back to normal…won't they? Dr. Light can rebuild all the Robot Masters, and they can follow their original programming. The only reason this is happening is because of Dr. Wily—once I stop him, then nothing will be standing in the way!

Roll stopped before an enormous door made of silver metal. With a hydraulic hiss, it slowly began to rise.

Everything will be normal again…definitely…

The room beyond was poorly lit, but the way her footsteps echoed indicated it was rather spacious. At the center of the floor was Wily, sitting in his grounded saucer, tapping his fingers as he glared at the approaching robot. She came to a halt a few paces before him.

"It's over, Dr. Wily!" Roll said. "You're coming with me!"

Wily's fingers fell still. Leaning back, he said, "I think not! I have absolutely no intention of resting until my grand designs have been fully realized!"

"Can't you see what you're doing is wrong? Stealing innocent robots, reprogramming them to hurt innocent people—what are you really going to gain from this?"

"Recognition! Acknowledgement! I've tried to put my skills to work for the 'benefit of humanity', and what have I to show for it? Nothing! At least now, people know not to take me so lightly! Far better to be a danger known 'round the world than to labor selflessly in obscurity!"

Roll scowled at him. "…At least you're happy, then. Enjoy your fame in prison."

A grin cracked Wily's face. "Oh, I won't be going to jail, little robot. You may have destroyed all of my Robot Masters…but I'm not done yet!"

He pressed a button and the room began to shake. The saucer closed up, and the floor split in two, slowly retracting to either side to reveal the room was far larger than it seemed. Attached to the bottom of the saucer was a massive machine made of golden metal, a propeller on its back and a large pipe running along the front, centered on a red cannon. Roll jumped down to the floor and took aim at the craft.

"I see now I was wrong to rely on Light's flawed work!" came Wily's voice. "Even enhanced by my genius, it can only achieve so much. So! Instead, I will destroy you with a contraption entirely of my own design!"

Roll opened fire, but her shots had no effect. As she began to charge energy instead, the great machine's cannon shifted position, launching an enormous orb of white light upward. Almost as soon as it was launched, it fell to the floor. Watching in confusion, Roll was right next to it when it bounced, unable to pull away fast enough to avoid being knocked down by the searing-hot energy. Wily laughed and fired another shot.

"Finally, my victory is at hand! Prepare for destruction, accursed, feeble little robot!"

Carefully dodging, Roll launched her charged shot, doing some damage but not much. "You don't care about robots at all, do you? Why dedicate your life to studying something you don't love?"

Wily scoffed. "You really are one of Light's. The potential of robotics is vast, and I seek to explore that potential to its fullest! But the sappy, sentimental way Light goes about it will never yield truly worthwhile results!"

Roll threw a Hyper Bomb. It seemed to work a little better than the charged shot, but Wily just kept attacking.

"And even if I did reprogram the Robot Masters, you were the one who destroyed them! Should anyone be blamed for causing them suffering, it should be you!"

She gritted her teeth. Blasting the craft with a Thunder Beam, she shouted, "No! This is all your doing, Wily! I'm not proud of what I had to do, but I know I'm not the one to blame for us being in this situation!"

Wily simply grunted, keeping up his assault. Roll tried the Ice Slasher next, temporarily freezing chunks of the pipe, but the ice melted near-instantly when the cannon next fired.

Is this the only weapon he has? He's channeling a lot of heat through it…

An idea struck her. Roll's clothes turned orange and yellow as she equipped Fire Storm, and then she hurled a series of fireballs directly at the cannon. Wily thought nothing of it and attempted to fire. However, the temperature of the barrel had skyrocketed from Roll's attack, and when even more superheated energy moved to build up within it, it proved too much. The artillery exploded in a fiery display, blowing off huge pieces of the machine in the process. From the now-exposed cockpit, Wily glared down at Roll, growling as he mashed the controls.

"No, no!" he shouted. "I will not lose to Light again! I refuse!"

The remains of the cannon flared to life, spitting out a random spread of unfocused energy. Roll braced herself as the attack flew by; spotting exposed wiring, she switched to Rolling Cutter and aimed carefully, and soon the craft began to buck and veer wildly.

"You say you want to explore robots' potential," Roll said, "but you threw away Dr. Light's way of bringing it out. You won't ever understand us if you think like that!"

Energy continued to fly out from the machine. Roll hit it with a Thunder Beam, and its engine began to sputter.

"I hope Dr. Light finds a way to get through to you, Dr. Wily! But either way, you won't be able to hurt anyone else!"

She lobbed a Hyper Bomb, blowing off an entire side of the machine. It started to fall, and Wily, giving a furious shout, angled it in Roll's direction. She engaged the Super Arm and dug in her heels. Swinging at just the right time, she punched the incoming craft, causing it to crumple and tear to pieces, ultimately crashing around her with a thunderous noise. She paused a moment and surveyed the sparking heap, and then let out a sigh of relief.

She trudged over towards the cockpit, buster armed and ready. Wily pulled himself from the wreckage with a groan, dusting off his lab coat as he examined his injuries; spotting Roll, he recoiled, and then hastily looked over his shoulder.

"Alright…" Roll said. "Anything else? Or can we go?"

Wily continued to look about, muttering to himself under his breath. "This wasn't supposed to…I'm not…I'm not sure what I should do now…do I…?"

Before Roll could inquire further, her communicator came back to life. Light said, "Testing…Roll, can you hear me? Hello?"

"Dr. Light?" she replied. "You're back! Yes, I can hear you just fine."

"Ah, finally! What's your status?"

"I'm okay. Fire Man and Ice Man were waiting, but I defeated them, and I've got Dr. Wily right here. I'm just about to—"

A strange whistle filled the air, and Wily's entire body froze. Roll surveyed the room to locate the source of the sound, and became aware of a new figure standing off in the corner: a humanoid form clad in red and gray armor, face obscured by a visored helmet, and a yellow scarf tied around his neck.

"Who are you?" Roll asked. She didn't raise her buster, but she didn't disarm it.

He stared at her silently. When he turned to Wily, the old man jumped, scurrying back and saying, "I-I did what you asked! All of it! It's not my fault she managed to stop me, Break Man!"

"Roll?" Light asked. "What's going on? Who is Wily talking to?"

Break Man turned back to Roll. She couldn't see his eyes, but she could feel the contempt of his gaze just the same. Eventually, he turned, stepping into the shadows and teleporting away. Wily collapsed with a loud sigh.

"Finally…" he said. "Maybe now he'll leave me alone…"

"What's going on?" Roll asked. "How do you know that guy—who is he?"

Sitting up, Wily replied, "I'm, uh, not entirely sure. He just showed up one day, threatening to kill me if I didn't do what he asked. For whatever reason, he wanted me to reprogram Thomas's Robot Masters, let them run amok, and claim responsibility for it."

Roll squinted at him. "Hold on: you mean this was all an act? Everything was Break Man's idea?"

"That's right!" Wily said, edging forward. "Thomas and I may not see eye to eye, but I'd never resort to something like this! I was just so afraid…a helpless old man like me can't possibly defend himself against a robot that dangerous!"

"I see," Light said. "That explains it, then."

"Hold on a second, Thomas," LaLinde said. "Should we really believe him just like that? He hardly seemed to be acting when he barged in here."

"I'm not so sure either," Roll said. "Why would Break Man wait to show up until now if this was what he wanted?"

"We can sort out the details later," Light said. "Either way, we can't simply leave Albert there. Bring him back with you, Roll—we can decide what to do from there."

"Alright, doctor."

Roll held out her hand. Smiling, Wily said, "Oh, yes, I'll come back with you! And thank you, Roll: I'm glad someone was able to put a stop this madness."

"Sure," Roll said as Wily took her hand. "My pleasure."

"…and, you know the rest," Wily finished.

Standing outside Wily's cell, Light stroked his beard, muttering, "Break Man, is it? I wonder…"

Behind him, LaLinde and their prototypes were also gathered, each deciding for themselves how much of the story they believed. Wily said, "I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused. At first I was only doing the minimum, thinking that'd be enough, but Break Man caught on…I had no choice but to go all out."

"So," LaLinde said, "you didn't actually mean what you said about robots? That they only exist to follow orders, and their pain doesn't matter?"

"No, of course not! I just said the most heartless things I could think of, to be more convincing."

She glanced back at Tempo, who stood perfectly still. Next to her, Rock said, "Dr. Light, you know him best. What do you think?"

Wily looked up at Light sheepishly as the doctor thought. With a solemn nod, Light finally said, "We've always had our differences…but you deserve a chance to prove yourself, Albert."

Wily smiled. "Thank you, Thomas. You won't regret it!"

"Further, if Break Man is still out there, then it's likely we'll be hearing from him again. We need to be prepared, and having your expertise on our side will go a long way towards that end."

"Oh, of course! I have a few ideas already—things I thought of to counter Break Man but never got the chance to build. We should get started as soon as we can."

"Indeed. I'll see what I can do to get you out of there. For now, get some rest, Albert: I imagine you've been under quite a bit of pressure as of late."

Wily nodded, laying down on his bed as the others left. Once outside, Rock said, "What do we do now, doctor?"

Light put his hands in his pockets. "We've got plenty of work ahead of us. In addition to helping Albert, I want to get the Robot Masters repaired quickly. Noele, would you be able to lend me a hand?"

LaLinde thought for a moment. Pulling Tempo close, she said, "Yes, but…there's something else I need to take care of first."

"…Oh. I see! Yes, of course!"

Light then turned to Roll, who brought up the rear of the group. Her eyes were fixed on the ground, and her movements were short and somewhat sluggish.

"Roll? Are you alright?"

She looked up suddenly. "Huh? Oh, yes, I'm fine."

Light waited.

"…I just…was really hoping that things would go back to normal once this was all over. But now that we know about Break Man, it looks like…we're going to have to fight him, too."

The doctor walked over and knelt next to her, setting his hands on her shoulders. "Yes, we will. But you've done enough, Roll. This time, we'll have a chance to be ready, meaning we won't need to put this burden on your shoulders. You don't have to fight anymore."

Roll looked up at him, silent at first. "…I want to stop, but…I don't think I should. Now that I know I can help, it'd feel wrong to sit by and do nothing."

"Hm…I understand. At the very least, you can afford to put it out of your mind for now. We're not sure what form the next battle may take, or what Albert and I will have ready to deal with it. You don't have to decide today, my dear."

Slowly, she nodded. "Okay."

"And Roll?"

"Yes?"

Light hugged her. "I'm so proud of you."

"H-Huh?"

"I know this has been hard on you, but despite that, you achieved everything you set out to do. The world is safe because of you. The Robot Masters are going to return to their rightful places, all because of what you did. I'm sorry that you had to be put into this situation…but I'm so proud of the way you've persevered."

A smile came to Roll's face. She leaned into Light's shoulder and let out a long sigh, relaxing for what felt like the first time in years.

"Let's go home. Things may not be exactly the same, but we can still put this event behind us."

Pulling away, Roll nodded. "Right. Let's go!"

As they headed on their way, Roll felt largely relieved thanks to the doctor's words. Still, a background process continued running, contemplating the possibility that her days of fighting had only just begun.

Notes:

-And there we are! This particular arc didn't change much, but things will build upon each other from here on out. Hard to say when exactly I'll have the second arc done: being back in college has taken a good amount of my time and energy, I have other ongoing fics to continue, and I still have to finish Shooting Star Sonia in particular, but I'll be sure to keep working on SFR while all that's going on! I hope you enjoyed this first piece of the story, and with luck I'll see you again soon!