Tempo watched LaLinde type away, her console connected by a great web of wires to a contraption set up on a nearby workbench. It started out resembling a box, but as LaLinde typed, it unfolded, shifted, extended, shrank—it transformed again and again, until it jerked to a stop and, with a smoking burst of sparks, began to melt.

"Darn!" LaLinde said, smacking the console. "There's so many things to balance: the reinforcement, the bonding agent, the power amplifier..."

A chime caught her attention. "Noelle?" came Dr. Light's voice. "Are you there?"

"Oh, Thomas. Yes, I'm listening."

"I have good news and bad news. Roll managed to defeat the Robot Masters we detected, but now Cossack has sent out a second batch of them."

LaLinde rubbed her temples. "I had a feeling it wouldn't be quite so easy…"

"Is Roll okay?" Tempo asked.

"She's a bit banged up, but we're repairing her right now," Light said. "How are things on your end?"

"About as you'd expect," LaLinde said, staring at the pile of slag that was once a semi-functional machine. "How much longer do you think it'll take for Auto to finish pinpointing Cossack's position?"

"It shouldn't be long now—a day at most, I'd wager."

"Hm. Well, we'll keep trying. If we manage a breakthrough, we'll let you know immediately."

"I know if anyone can do it, it's you, Noelle. Take care."

LaLinde sighed. As she began to pick apart the wiring, she said, "These are useless now. Tempo, could you grab another crate of wires from the warehouse? I should have this just about cleaned up by the time you get back."

"Got it."

The exterior of LaLinde Laboratories was covered in all manner of greenery, making it look more like a garden than a lab. When she had just about reached the warehouse, Tempo spotted movement in the nearby bushes. Upon closer inspection, she found a Robot Master with a honeycomb-shaped body pulling weeds, a half dozen or so bumblebees lazily orbiting him.

"There we are, little ones! That should keep your favorite flowers safe and sound." He looked up as Tempo drew closer. "Oh, hey sis! How's you and mom's science project coming along?"

"Not well," Tempo said. "I'm really doubting our chances of getting it working in time to help Roll."

"Aw, too bad. But, Roll knows what she's doing. I'm sure she'll pull through."

Tempo's gaze turned skyward, watching the clouds drift by. "How can we be sure, Hornet Man? We can't plan for everything. What if one of these new Robot Masters is able to get the better of her, and something terrible happens?"

Hornet Man cocked his head. "...How long has this been bothering you?"

Tempo looked back at the ground. "For a while now. Roll's definitely incredible—her bravery has really inspired me. But...bravery isn't enough on its own."

"She's got more than that," Hornet Man said, picking up a watering can. "She's got the determination and power to back it up, right?"

Tempo watched her brother in silence for a moment. "But she has to face it all herself."

Hornet Man chuckled. "What about Rush?"

"Rush does make a difference, but still. Even if it helped me endure it, being brave isn't what healed me. I was only able to get to where I am now because of you and mom. You've both done everything you can to support me, and to help shoulder the burden any way you can. We're able to offer Roll some support, but…"

Hornet Man turned to look at her. "You aren't convinced it's enough to make a real difference."

Tempo crouched, examining a row of flowers. "I'm not. She's still out there fighting by herself, again and again. That's her real burden, and I think it's affecting her more than she admits...maybe even more than she realizes."

One of Hornet Man's bees drew near. Tempo held out her finger, letting it land, and then gently brought it to one of the flowers.

"If things stay the way they are...I'm scared of what might happen to her. How she might change. Lately she just looks so disillusioned all the time, forcing a smile for everyone else's sake. But I've learned that to really smile...you also have to be able to cry when you need to. Emotions are a package deal—and no matter how awful they can feel sometimes, we need them. Roll will only make herself miserable if she keeps her heart totally closed off like this."

Hornet Man knelt beside Tempo, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Okay. So. How are you going to get her to open her heart?"

Tempo thought for a very long time. Before her, more bees began to join their companion on the flowers. Finally, she said, "I can think of one way. But I don't know if Mom will agree."

"Tell her anyway." Hornet Man grabbed both of Tempo's shoulders now, looking straight into her eyes. "Listen...I can't guarantee Mom will understand, but if anything does happen to Roll, you'll regret keeping quiet. And that regret will eat away at you, make you close off your own heart again. I don't want to see that happen to you, Tempo, so please: be honest about how you feel. Fight for Roll's happiness, sure, but don't forget to fight for your own too."

Tempo stared at him for a moment. Then, with a nod, she said, "Thank you."

She headed back to the lab; Hornet Man sighed and got back to his feet. A bee landed on his arm. Chuckling to it, he said, "Me, I need a little more time to build up my nerve..."

Blues ducked behind a tree as the robot he was following came to a stop. The snowy forest was almost eerily quiet—the crunching of snow beneath his feet had nearly given him away—and, after taking a look around, the robot moved aside some brush to reveal a trap door. He disappeared into it, and Blues waited a few moments before going over for a better look.

Hard to say what's beyond this point. Still, I didn't come all this way for nothing.

Blues armed his laser cannon. Keeping his shield high, he quickly threw open the door and leapt down, trying to survey his surroundings as swiftly as possible but finding the interior too dark to determine much of anything. Carefully, he took a single step. The lights flashed on, his visor the only thing protecting him from being blinded. The chamber was smaller than he had hoped, maybe one-eighth the size of a football field; scrap metal lay heaped against the walls, and a door with an electronic lock waited on the far side of the room. Immediately before it stood his target.

"Heh heh, glad you could make it!" the strange robot said. "I've been real eager to meet you, Bre...well, what should I call you? Hah hah hah!"

Blues shuddered. The machine's voice sounded like a dozen speaking at once, each with their own intonation and speed—it almost made him seasick to listen. Setting that aside, he said, "Seems I need to work on my stealth. You already know me, so why don't you introduce yourself?"

"I'm a failed prototype just like you. RKN-000, Doc Robot."

"RKN, huh? Who made you?"

Doc chuckled. "Take a guess."

"Hmph. I thought so. This does go beyond Cossack after all."

Taking a few steps forward, Doc said, "You're a smart guy, Break Man. But not a healthy one, from what I hear. Why are you out risking your well-being like this? Tell you what: I've got some connections. If I put in a good word for you, you could get one nice recharge, no strings attached. How about it?"

Blues smirked. "Hm. You really don't want me finding out what's behind that door, do you? Now I have to know."

Doc crossed his arms. "...Is that your final answer?"

Blues made his point with his laser cannon. Doc leapt aside and extended one hand, summoning a Metal Blade to it.

"What a shame."

Blues blocked the projectile with his shield, which let Doc close in and grab it. He ripped the shield away in an instant, shocking Blues into backing off, and then began shooting Needle Cannon spikes. Blues evaded and shot Doc in the leg before reclaiming his shield.

That's definitely a Variable Weapons System. I can't be sure which weapons he's got, so I'll have to stay on my toes.

A Hyper Bomb bounced harmlessly off Blues's shield, but before he could think of countering, Doc used Air Shooter to send the explosive skidding right past him just as its fuse ran out. After rolling with the blast, Blues leaned to one side as he came up to avoid being decapitated by another Metal Blade. Doc fired a Gemini Laser and protected himself with a Leaf Shield, laughing as he watched Blues carefully weave around the ricocheting beam. The instant the laser faded, Doc fired a Magnet Missile to keep Blues off-balance, finally hitting him with a Hard Knuckle that slammed him into the wall.

"You're losing your touch!" Doc said. "Guess I shoulda known defectives like us have a shorter shelf life!"

Blues raised his shield. Defective...is he really? The VWS seems to be working just fine. He must have some weakness I haven't picked up on yet. What could it be...

He lowered his stance as he blocked a Thunder Beam. He fired back as fast as he could, but Doc jumped out of the way and used Bubble Lead, forcing Blues to make his own leap over the low attack. A string of Shadow Blades met him, but he endured the pain—landing, he rushed at Doc with his shield, and when the other robot batted it away, he thrust his cannon forward and seared a hole in the side of his torso. Shrieking, Doc sent him flying back with Top Spin.

"Huh...sneaky. But not good enough!"

A familiar sensation came over Blues. Recognizing it as Time Stopper, he feigned being affected by the weapon until Doc fired an Ice Slasher, dodging and striking back with his cannon.

"What?!"

"I may not be able to use it myself any more," Blues said, "but I was still modified to be immune to that weapon. Surprised you didn't know that."

Doc gripped his buster and growled. "Well, I ain't exactly short on options."

In rapid succession he fired a Rolling Cutter, Quick Boomerang, and Magnet Missile. It wasn't easy, but Blues was able to dodge all three. With so little space in which to do so, however, Doc had the chance to stick a Crash Bomber to his shield in the process. Blues managed to stay on his feet as the explosion shook him, but that's when Doc charged forward cloaked in flames, using Blues's own shield to pin him to the wall.

"You're an idiot for following me out here, Break Man," Doc said. "What was your goal, anyway?"

Blues pushed back to keep the shield from crushing him, only just succeeding. "Heh...hard to say. I'm pretty used to doing things with no real goal in mind. Gotta find some way to pass the time."

Doc sneered through the opening in the shield. "You shouldn't have stuck your nose where it didn't belong! Now your time's up!"

Blues smirked. "It's been up for a while."

He activated his laser cannon, part of the beam making it through the shield's opening and blowing out Doc's eye. The robot stumbled back, wailing in his chorus of voices, giving Blues enough time to get on his feet. He activated his cannon again, sweeping the beam in pursuit of Doc. Running out of room fast, Doc tossed a Hyper Bomb into the middle of the beam, the makeshift smokescreen giving him a chance to stun Blues with Spark Shock.

"Alright, I'm mad now!" Doc said as he aimed the weapons on his back. "I'll melt you down!"

A torrent of fire flooded the room. Blues did his best to endure the tide, but soon his shield grew too hot to keep hold of. When he could bear it no longer, he dropped the shield and slid to the side. A Metal Blade sliced across his chest. He reeled, and a Hard Knuckle slammed him into the wall. Doc assaulted him with Bubble Lead as he hit the floor, soaking him to amplify the effect of the following Ice Slasher, before finally unleashing a Thunder Beam that left Blues lying still.

"Heh heh...that's more like it." Doc slowly walked forward, fiddling with the settings on his buster. "It was always gonna end this way, you know. Whatever weapon ammo you had left after fighting Roll couldn't have lasted very long, meanwhile I was built specifically to push the limits of what the VWS is capable of!"

He stopped next to Blues's discarded shield, kicking it up and grabbing it. Blues began to stir.

"But I'll give you credit: you're not quite as fragile as I was led to believe." He came even closer, aiming his buster at Blues's open chest wound. "Not quite."

Feeling around, Blues's fingers wrapped around one of the pieces of scrap littering the floor. With nothing else, he swung it forward as he pushed himself up—Doc's Crash Bomb stuck fast to the end of the fragmented sheet of metal, detonating when it made contact with him. Doc took the brunt of the explosion, but Blues still shuddered terribly. Seeing that Doc had dropped his shield, he scooped it up quickly, and then hid behind it to try to catch his breath.

That must be it...which means…

Doc yelled. "Just stay down already! You stupid, rotten, good-for-nothing defective!"

Even hotter flames spilled from Doc's weapons this time, and with the help of Top Spin he molded them into a fiery whirlwind that rampaged across the chamber. Blues stood his ground.

That just leaves one question...which of us will give out first?

Doc fired off a Gemini Laser, and that was when Blues sprang into action. Charging forward, he bashed his still-searing shield into his foe, then spun and used its edge to damage his arm joint. The Gemini Laser forced them both to move apart. Forming another Leaf Shield, Doc held his injured arm and glared at Blues.

"How much more is this going to take?" Doc asked.

Blues grinned. "How much more do you have to give?"

Doc's remaining eye widened.

"I knew it. If you wanted to scare me by saying you were made to push the limits of the VWS, you shouldn't have also told me you were defective."

The other robot clenched his teeth, watching Blues circle around him.

"All those weapons, but how many uses do they each have? One or two? Three if you're lucky? Whatever the exact number started at, I bet it's getting dangerously close to zero now."

With a grunt, Doc aimed his buster. "It'll be enough!"

His Leaf Shield flew off first, nicking Blues's own shield but doing no more. A Rolling Cutter and a Quick Boomerang moved to flank him, forcing him to slide out of the way and into a huge gust of wind. Blues managed to shrug off the Air Shooter, being sure to keep his wits about him, and narrowly dodged a Spark Shock. A Quick Boomerang came at Blues, but he batted it away and pierced Doc's hip with his laser. Doc dropped to the floor; he tried to fire a weapon, any weapon, but nothing more came from his busters.

"No!" he shouted. "I can't lose, not to such a useless reject! This isn't—"

Blues pushed his cannon into Doc's face. "It's over. Now, are you going to give up your boss or not?"

"Hmph...think your pops would be proud of you offing random robots?"

"Like I ca—"

Doc swung for his head. Blues fired before he connected. After taking a moment to relax somewhat, he slung his shield across his back and turned to the locked door.

"Now. What is it you were so keen to hide?"

Once again, Roll intercepted the Robot Masters just outside the city. She could only see two: a gold one with an ornate ancient Egyptian headdress, and another with black and white armor carved into a skeletal likeness. The former stood tall with his arms crossed, nodding once as she drew near.

"At last, you arrive," he said. "I am Pharaoh Man, leader of the Doctor Cossack Numbers. This is my second in command, Skull Man."

The other robot stayed in Pharaoh Man's shadow, diligently watching Roll's every move.

"You have no hope of winning this battle. Surrender now, and I will grant you a swift and painless end."

Roll said, "So you can do whatever you want to this town? No way. Why don't you surrender before I have to hurt you?"

Pharaoh Man snorted. "Insolent whelp. Fine: if you desire to pass painfully, then I shall grant your wish."

Roll opened fire with her buster to see how he would react. Skull Man leapt forward to intercept the shots, wrapping himself in a small vortex of spectral skulls that protected him from all harm. Before Roll could switch to another weapon, the ground next to her split open; amidst the spray of rocks jumped another Robot Master, this one wearing orange armor and sporting drill bits atop his helmet and at the ends of both arms. Knocking her back, he spread his arms and laughed.

"Watch out below!" he said. "I'm Drill Man! One wrong step and I'll skewer you!"

He jabbed with one drill. Roll equipped Quake Drill and parried his strike, the sonic vibrations of her weapon stunning him for a moment. After blasting him away with Dust Crusher, Roll turned to realize Pharaoh Man had one hand held above his head, and above that, a bright ball of fire was rapidly expanding. She equipped Rain Flush, but Skull Man took aim with his buster. Roll was kept busy dodging until Pharaoh Man was ready: he hurled the fireball at her, forcing her to tumble out of the way, and Drill Man just narrowly missed her as he resurfaced again. Roll was forced to the edge of a nearby lake, carefully keeping balance on the bank, and activated a Rain Flush to send Drill Man tunneling back underground. Skull Man again protected Pharaoh Man.

Turning to Rush, Roll said, "Get ready, boy. I'll move in while you listen for Drill Man—bark when you hear him coming."

Rush nodded, pressing his ear against the ground. As the acid rain began to stop, Roll opened fire and ran forward, probing for some sort of weakness in Skull Man's shield while being sure to listen for Rush. Instead of a bark, however, she heard a yelp and a small explosion. Roll spun around to see another Robot Master rising from the lake, keeping his submarine-like body half-submerged as he continued firing missiles at Rush.

"Rush!"

She moved to double back, but Drill Man appeared to knock her into Pharaoh Man's range. Rather than one large fireball, he began to throw several smaller ones, keeping Roll on the move.

"You missed her, Dive Man!" Drill Man said. "Pick up the pace next time!"

"I don't see you doing much better!" Dive Man said. "Maybe if you took the time to—"

Rush jumped at him mid-sentence, clawing him in the face before latching his jaws onto the large robot's shoulder. Pharaoh Man turned to look. Spotting an opening, Roll launched a Ring Boomerang—Skull Man tried to intercept, but the thin projectile slipped between the cracks in his barrier and knocked him back into Pharaoh Man. Roll blasted them both with Dust Crusher before sprinting at Drill Man, knocking him back with one charge shot before stunning Dive Man with another.

"You okay, boy?" Roll said as Rush bounded to her side. "I'm so sorry…"

Picking himself up, Drill Man said, "Well, what were you expecting? If you don't want him to get hurt, don't bring him to a fight!"

Roll clenched her teeth. Blinding Drill Man with Flash Stopper, she ran at him and unleashed a point-blank Dust Crusher. She whirled to see Dive Man firing at her. Rush quickly closed in, using his coil to launch her out of harm's way, and then flew up to catch her and circle around. Pharaoh Man was on his feet now, resuming his earlier volley. Roll summoned another Acid Rain to render the fiery projectiles useless. Rush swerved hard to one side to avoid more of Dive Man's missiles, but Drill Man shot one of his drills in the direction he had moved—it rocketed up and struck Rush head-on, sending him into a spiral.

"Hah hah, serves you right!" Drill Man said, already heading back underground.

Roll was fuming. Dropping down, she took a set of missiles that had targeted Rush, and landed right on Dive Man's shoulders. Pressing her buster right against his head, she used a Dust Crusher to blast him back and let the recoil launch her onto the shore. She then switched to Quake Drill and kept the weapon pressed against the ground as she ran.

"There you are!" she said.

Drill Man emerged a moment later. Spinning just in time, Roll evaded his attack and countered, stabbing the Quake Drill right through Drill Man's face. He shouted, but fell silent as the weapon's vibrations shattered his main processor. Roll scowled down at his deactivated body as she copied his weapon.

"Serves you right."

She spotted Rush stabilizing not far away. Roll took off in that direction, keeping one eye on the water while the other watched Pharaoh Man as he took aim once more. There was enough distance between them that dodging the fireballs was easy; she managed to make it to Rush's side just as Dive Man resurfaced. Equipping Ring Boomerang, she sent a flurry of shots at the aquatic Robot Master as he charged towards her. The rings did minimal damage to his armored body, letting him continue forward without flinching. Just as he reached the edge of the lake, he fired two Dive Missiles that detonated on the ground in front of Roll, creating a cloud of debris that hid him from view. A second later, he shot out of the cloud and tackled Roll.

"I see you're every bit as merciless as we've heard," Dive Man said as Roll flew backward. "If this is what the prototype is like, then I guess it makes sense Robot Masters are forced to fight."

Roll picked herself up and immediately fired a Drill Bomb. The rocket-powered drill managed to pierce Dive Man's armor, leaving a gash in his side before exploding. "So this is my fault? Fine! I don't care—just drop dead!"

Dive Man prepared to attack, but Roll interrupted him with a Flash Stopper. She fired more Drill Bombs, the explosions knocking him back and forth, steadily tearing away his armor. Out of the corner of her eye, Roll noticed Pharaoh Man and Skull Man drawing closer. Keeping them at bay with a Rain Flush, she closed in on Dive Man and fired one more Drill Bomb, the weapon ripping his processor right out of his body. Roll wasted no time in copying his Dive Missile.

"Come on, Rush."

When Rush didn't respond, she turned to find him staring at her from a distance. His ears were pulled back, and he kept his head low, crouching slightly. Roll went still.

"...Rush? It's okay, I—"

One of Pharaoh Man's blasts struck her in the back. Roll whirled, ready to strike back, but stopped herself.

"Please," she said, "can't we stop now? Isn't this enough?"

Pharaoh Man said nothing at first. Skull Man whispered something to him, and then he began charging another attack. "We will not yield. I shan't fail Dr. Cossack."

He hurled a single large fireball at Roll. Shooting a Dive Missile, she was able to cancel out the attack, and after glancing back at Rush she moved in. Skull Man opened fire as soon as she was within his range. She got as close as she could while still evading shots, returning fire when she could but being repeatedly foiled by Skull Man's barrier. Pharaoh Man soon had another charged fireball for her, but as he threw it she fired a Dust Crusher—a shot from Skull Man grazed her in the process but it wasn't enough to stop her. The bomb detonated on contact with the ball of flame, the force of the resulting burst of shrapnel finally separating Pharaoh Man and Skull Man. Roll quickly fired a Drill Bomb at Skull Man, pinning his arm to the ground without detonating it, and then turned to Pharaoh Man.

"Why are you so set on this?" Roll asked. "Is Cossack's ego that important to you?"

Pharaoh Man triggered his weapon and swung his arm, executing a flaming swipe that knocked Roll back. "Ego has nothing to do with it! You have no idea what's at stake!"

Roll faked left, then fired a Dive Missile right, sending Pharaoh Man sprawling. "Are you going to tell me?"

Pharaoh Man came up on one knee. He paused a moment, then grunted. "I cannot."

Roll slid back as heat burst from the ground around Pharaoh Man. The other robot lunged at her, but Roll stopped him dead in his tracks with Flash Stopper. Pharaoh Man stumbled back cursing. Roll equipped Drill Bomb and took aim, preparing to fire when something slammed into her back. She sprang up to see Skull Man, minus one arm—the appendage still lay where she had pinned it.

Really?!

She slid out of the way, betting that Pharaoh Man had recovered by now. He had. His next attack headed straight for Skull Man, but the skeletal robot summoned his barrier and took no damage. Roll took the time this afforded her to equip Ring Boomerang and begin emptying its ammunition. The projectiles circumvented the shield and sliced Skull Man to bits, and by the time Pharaoh Man punched her away it was already too late.

"Even Skull Man…" he murmured. "You even defeated Skull Man...but I won't give up!"

Roll raised her arms. Pharaoh Man shielded his eyes, anticipating a Flash Stopper, but she instead used Rain Flush. The downpour hurt them both, but Pharaoh Man took a moment to react, and Roll used that moment to get to Skull Man and copy his weapon. Pharaoh Man's attempt to stop her was ineffective against the barrier she summoned.

"For her sake…!"

Pharaoh Man put both hands forward, charging a massive ball of fire. Being so familiar with how the Skull Barrier worked, he knew exactly when it would run out, and that was the exact moment he fired. The attack was so large he couldn't even see Roll, not until she came sliding out to his side and blinded him with a Flash Stopper. A half-dozen Dive Missiles sent him to the ground, and a Drill Bomb pinned him there. Grabbing the drill, he began to pry it free, but the bomb detonated before he could.

After copying Pharaoh Man's weapon, Roll disarmed her buster and turned to Rush. The dog was still keeping his distance. She knelt, saying, "It's okay, Rush. I'm sorry I scared you like that. I'm okay now."

Rush slowly walked over to her. Roll gently set her hand on his head, and after a few seconds he came close enough that she could hug him.

"I'm so sorry, Rush."

When they separated, Roll ran a hand over her face and took a deep breath. She surveyed the battlefield one last time as she activated her communicator.

"I'm all done here, Dr. Light."

"I'm glad to hear it," Light said. "Auto's just finished tracking down Dr. Cossack's base, and I've yet to receive any additional transmissions. The end of this ordeal is in sight."

Roll wished she could feel relieved by that, but she couldn't. She couldn't feel anything. "That's good. I'm ready to head back now."

Notes:

-Merry Christmas, here's some suffering!

-Initially I was going to have Blues fight Doc Robot multiple times, first using the Special Weapons from Mega Man 1, then from 2, and finally 3; but after some more thought I reorganized the arc and cut it down to just one fight where Doc has ALL the weapons. As for his new serial number...I kinda just wanted to add/streamline Robot Master serial numbers, and this particular one was chosen to denote the experimental phase of a certain project. If you don't recognize it, don't worry: the next phase launches very soon…

-Fight 3-3, the final part of this arc, will be posted 12/31!