"This is messed up. I'm all for being evil, but this is just overkill"
-Bowser

"Rock! You seriously can't believe Bass!" Dr. Light argued "He must have attacked Proto himself and is trying to pin the crime on me!"

"Then why did Bass point at you?!" Rock shouted, trying to understand what was going on.

"Proto told me everything…" Bass spoke "I found him in Dr. Light's closet. When I broke in, I was worried that Rush possibly attacking me. When I made my way to his dog bed, I noticed that he was shut off. He did growl at me when I turned him on, but when I told him I was looking for Blues, he led me to the body."

"So t-that's why Rush didn't g-greet us last night…" Roll realized.

Bass shrugged "I guess…Roll, get an E-tank from the kitchen? It will help Blues tell us what went down."

Roll began to leave the room, but Dr. Light grabbed her wrist.

"Roll…you don't really b-believe that I could do this…do you?"

"I don't want to b-believe that you could do such a thing, but I have been s-surprised by h-humanity before" she replied as she broke out of Dr. Light's grip to make her way into the kitchen.

"Tom…" Dr. Wily spoke "Why would you do this to Blues?"

"He attacked me!" Dr. Light shouted "S-something in him had gone wrong!"

"I would believe that if it wasn't for the fact that you didn't tell Rock about this!" Dr. Wily shouted "Why did you keep this a secret from him?!"

"I didn't want to s-shock him…" Dr. Light retorted.

"Then why did you turn Rush off?!" Rock shouted "Why would you try to completely hide Blues from me?! You know that I've been meaning to talk to him!"

Roll ran back from the kitchen and made her way to Blues to pour the E-tank into his mouth. The liquid dribbled a little down his lips but he soon began to regain his energy.

"Blues…" Roll began, shuddering out of confusion "Tell us w-what happened."

"I went to Dr. Light's y-yesterday around six o'clock" Proto Man began, his voice weary from his lack of power and stuttering due to his injuries "I wanted to talk to him about s-something I felt inside me that h-happened a few days ago. I also n-needed some E for m-myself. When I k-knocked on the door, I was s-surprised to find that Dr. Light was there with his l-luggage strewn about the entryway. He led me inside and took me to his lab and asked me what I wanted a-analyzed. I t-told him my concerns and he began to open my chest up. He began using s-soldering irons and electrical i-implements in me, when I suddenly felt a great pain in my chest. He was t-trying to ruin my interior."

Mega Man's eyes flared as he looked at Dr. Light.

"I g-grabbed a sharp object off the work table in an effort to r-retaliate but all I did was cut his hand. After that, I b-blacked. The next thing I remembered was waking up in a closet with Bass feeding me an E-tank and Rush licking my hand. He then dragged me to one of Dr. Light's vehicles, hot-wired it, and then took me here."

"Dr. L-Light?" Rock stuttered "Why w-would you do such a thing?"

"You heard what he said!" Dr. Light shouted "He just c-confessed in attacking me when I was fixing him!"

"We can all see the internal damage that you did to Proto, Tom" Dr. Wily spoke, unimpressed by the excuses "Your alibi is falling apart…"

"W-wait a minute!" Roll exclaimed "I am w-willing to believe that you were worried if Proto Man was attacking you… b-but why did you arrive home at a time e-earlier than you told us?"

"I…I…I" Dr. Light stuttered. He tried to come up with an explanation but the words failed to come out of his mouth. As he mumbled, Rhythm's attention focused on Blues and he tried to reach for him. He looked like his eyes were about to water.

F-father?

"Huh?" Blues mumbled "Y-you t-talking to me?"

Y-yes… d-don't you remember?

"Father?!" Roll asked aloud, catching the attention of Dr. Wily.

"Father?! Roll, what are you talking about?!" Dr. Wily asked.

Roll picked up Rhythm's tablet and handed it to Dr. Wily.

"Bass," Dr. Wily spoke "Bring Proto Man here…"

Bass stared at Dr. Wily as he picked up Blues and took him over to the work table. Rhythm's hand reached out and grabbed Blues's red hand.

D-Dad… d-don't you r-r-remember me?

"I-I….I don't know what you're t-talking about…I don't know you… w-we've never m-met before."

O-Of course you k-know me! You're m-my father! If I couldn't r-remember your face, I-I'd still be able to r-recognize you. You m-made me. I was to be y-your son. You took me to the M-Modern Mansion, r-remember?

"I…I don't know y-you… w-we've never met"

Bass then peeked into Rhythm and prodded into his chest with his finger to look at his memory bank. He got good look again at the inscription on it.

THE PROTOMETHEUS'S PROMETHEUS

"The PROTOmetheus's Prometheus" Bass stated "The prototype's creation. Proto Man made Rhythm. But if you made Rhythm, why didn't you recognize him when I showed him to you those nights ago?"

Mega Man turned to Bass. "YOU MET WITH P-PROTO MAN AND DIDN'T TELL ME?!"

"I WANTED TO RESPECT PROTO MAN'S REQUESTS, ALRIGHT?!" Bass shouted.

Suddenly, Dr. Wily left the lab and dashed to his office.

"HEY! Where you going?!" Bass shouted.

The group heard the sounds of Dr. Wily rummaging around before he returned with a flash drive attached to a ball chain.

"What's that?" Bass asked.

"It's part of Proto's memories" Dr. Wily explained as he detached the drive from the chain "Years ago, sometime after I was first defeated by Mega Man, I happened to find Proto Man nearly dead in the outskirts between Olive and the city. I took him in converted his solar power system into a nuclear one, and began to turn him into Break Man. In an attempt to make him more subservient, I removed most of his memories. I saved that information in this flash drive for all these years."

"Have you ever looked at the i-information?" Roll asked.

Dr. Wily shook his head "No. If memories are removed from a robot, only the robot of origin can read the data. He then inserted the USB into Proto Man's chest, causing the robot's eyes to light up. His body arched and a rush of energy flowed through his body.

"AHHH!"

A spark came from Proto's open chest, his body went limp as before but was still alive.

D-daddy? D-do you r-remember?

Proto Man began to rub his head "I…I…remember. My core was weak…I feared it would break down and that I would die. I made a robot… and treated him like a son. He was built to c-continue my legacy…A legacy of free will and opportunity."

He began to shudder as the chain of memories started to click together.

"I remember t-the Modern Mansion. I-I wanted to s-show my son off…I-I wanted t-to show that I was proud n-not only of what I m-made, b-but of who my son became. H-he was meant to be a model for robots to b-become in the future. W-we separated. I-I let him roam free on his own to e-explore the mansion. W-when I went to look for him…h-he had vanished. E-everyone I asked d-didn't know where he was. I-I checked everywhere, from the servant's quarters down to the basement…. T-the next morning…I put up missing posters. I-I tried the police but t-they refused to even look for lost robots…I-I listened to the news and visited the m-mansion night after night, hoping for a sign of m-my little boy bot…T-the days turned into weeks, a-and then the weeks began turning into months…I-I k-kept hoping…I-I wanted some sign that would tell me t-that he would return. T-the situation wore down my core… I-I knew my time was short… I began wandering t-the wasteland between the home I raised Rhythm in, Olive, and the city. I became nomadic… and one night, one dark and quiet night, I gave up my hunt for my l-lost boy…w-when I collapsed into the mud."

Rock, Roll, Bass, Rhythm, and even Dr. Wily all stared in shock as Blues recited his previously lost memories.

"Do you remember anything after that?" Dr. Wily asked. Blues slowly nodded "I remember being turned back on. Something new was in me, but I felt like I had just been turned on for the very first time" He then turned to Wily "You called me Break Man…"

"Break Man" Mega Man echoed.

"Proto…" Bass began "At the Mansion, do you remember who was there?"

"I do… Heather was there. She had a keen interest in Rhythm when the two met…she told me that she wanted to m-make a robot just like him. So was Dr. Cossack, but he never met Rhythm."

"Bass," Rock started to speak "Was Dr. Light there when you were at the Modern Mansion that fateful day?"

Proto took a deep breath and then slowly nodded "Yes. Dr. Light was there…"

All eyes turned to Dr. Light, who had hung his head in shame and guilt in the corner Bass walked up to him.

"Dr. Light… you wanted Rhythm to start over, so he could forget...forget the crimes that you did to him, forget any connection he had withy ou. Cutting Rhythm's sound sensors was not a mistake then, wasn't it?! You wanted to erase the last shred of evidence!" Rock shouted. "You were trying to kill him, weren't you?!"

Dr. Light ashamedly nodded.

"Dr. Light…" Bass began, speaking in a stern tone "Did you kill Rhythm? Did you kill the son of Proto Man all those years ago?"

Dr. Light let out a deep sigh "I d-didn't kill him…"

"The evidence is against you Tom…" Dr. Wily groaned "Even I own up to my villainy."

"I said I d-didn't kill him!" Dr. Light shouted, his voice trembling "but I did leave Rhythm…to die."

Rhythm felt a shiver through his system and closed his eyes as the words stung his memory banks.

"Dad…" Rock began, unsure of how to feel "How did you do it…w-why did you do it?!"

Dr. Light took a deep breath. "When Proto Man was originally made he ran off before his core could be stabilized, a problem that Dr. Wily eventually solved. At some point before I built Mega Man, I went to a convention at the Modern Mansion and saw that Proto Man was there, and I also saw Rhythm."

"How did you find out the two were c-connected?" Roll asked as she walked to Rock and held his hand.

"Heather approached them at first. She was enamored by the two and was also impressed that Proto was able to fix his own flaws and improve on his creator's work. I grew jealous… seeing Heather adore Proto and Rhythm made me feel like I was belittled…there was also the fact that back then I wasn't as respectful to machines as I am now."

"So you resolved to get rid of Rhythm?" Dr. Wily asked.

Dr. Light nodded "Yes, I did…"

"How did y-you do it?" Proto asked "H-how did you kill Rhythm?"

"It began when I found an opportunity to remove Rhythm from public view" Dr. Light began, his voice without pride nor warmth. "At some point, you allowed Rhythm to explore by himself and that's when I caught up to him. I introduced myself and we went to the gymnasium and I asked him to show his strengths, like using his arm cannon. After about an hour, he had used up most of his energy and I took him down to the cellar to prepare what was intended to be his final resting place."

Rhythm rattled a bit as Dr. Light recollection made the images of the event flash in his mind.

"Using tools I found in the basement I pried into his system and began to sabotage his components, I even tore one of his arms off. I then put his body into an unfinished fireplace and used bricks and mortar that were in the basement to seal him away for good."

D-do you r-remember a-anything about me? D-did I say a-anything?

"You pleaded for Proto as I hurt you. You shouted and screamed before I disabled your voice box. Before that however, you spoke of ideas that were radical back then. You said that robots should be able think for themselves and that robots and humans should live in harmony and not have one rule over the other. Your mental independence was greater than that of Proto Man's."

Dr. Light then covered his hands with his face. Mega Man and Roll just stared at Dr. Light in fear.

"Is this…" Rock began "Is this the real you?"

"I've changed!" Dr. Light shouted "I'm not the same man I was back then! I've helped the world! I've made you and Roll! I've worked to help improve human-robot relations!"

"But you still killed Rhythm!" Bass shouted "All your good deeds don't hide the fact that you did this to Rhythm! You may have repented but apologizing won't fix the damage you have done to him! He will never be the same because of you! Did you try to disable Proto Man to hide what you did?"

"Yes! Yes I did! When Mega Man told me about the robot you found, I realized that the skeleton that I locked away so long ago had gotten out of the closet. And when I found out that Rock and Roll were working with you, I was worried that they had changed for the worse."

"But can't you see that things have changed for the better?!" Bass shouted "If it wasn't for Rhythm, neither Mega Man nor you would be able to work together with me and Dr. Wily. If it wasn't for Rhythm, we wouldn't have realized the pointlessness of some of our desires. If it wasn't for Rhythm, I would still be a self centered prick!"

"At least you admit it" Dr. Wily jabbed.

Bass groaned and returned to berating Dr. Light

"Dr. Light, if you hadn't killed Rhythm all those years ago, you might not have had the feuds you have had with Dr. Wily! The world for robots and humans could possibly be better than they are now!"

"Well in that case, if Rhythm wasn't killed, you might have never existed!" Dr. Light retorted, which silenced Bass "If I didn't kill Rhythm; you, Rock, and Roll might have possibly not existed!"

Bass then turned to Rhythm "Bro! Listen to me! Dr. Light murdered you! He's the reason you are like you are now What do you think of him?! Do you hate him? Do you despise him?"

Rhythm's lips quivered as his tablet tried to form his response.

I-I hate that he did w-what he did to me. I hate that he t-thought of me as n-nothing more than a m-machine. B-but I don't hate him…I-I don't fear him…n-nothing in my s-system can make me h-hate Dr. Light. B-but I will n-never f-forgive what he did to me…

Bass slammed the worktable and stormed off into his room to let out his angered emotions.

"Rhythm, why don't you hate Dr. Light?" Dr. Wily asked in confusion "Even after all that he's done you… can't hate him?"

Rhythm touched the gem in his chest.

The part of me that w-would hate him… is m-missing.

The room became silent, save for Bass's aggravated and incoherent rants in the other room.

I have a q-question.

"*sniff* W-What is it Rhythm?" Roll asked as she wiped away a tear.

Why d-do you keep c-calling my dad P-Proto Man? The name d-doesn't match the face I remember.

"Proto Man was originally known as Blues" Dr. Light explained "That's the name he was built with."

Yes…B-Blues...that was dad's name.

Rhythm then got up off of the table and hugged Blues.

D-daddy…

"S-son" Proto Man spoke as he hugged Rhythm. They cried as they embraced, their tears falling onto the floor.

"Rock?"

"Yes Blues?"

"Could y-you let us be for a bit? I-I want to be alone with him for a bit."

Mega Man nodded and began to leave the room with Roll, Dr. Light, and Dr. Wily.

R-Roll?

Roll paused "Yes Rhythm?"

C-could you put a new CD on b-before you leave?

Roll nodded and made her way to the CD selection and put a new disc in the player. She pressed shuffle and then play before she left the room to let the father and son reunite in private.

"I'll tip my hat to the new constitution

Take a bow for the new revolution

Smile and grin at the change all around

pickup my guitar and play

just like yesterday and I'll get on my knees and pray

we don't get fooled again"