"Many that live deserve death, and some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement"
-Gandalf the Grey The Lord of the Rings
After turning on the music for Rhythm and Blues, Roll made her way to the living room to join the others. When she entered, she saw Dr. Light sitting in a single seat while facing the rest on the opposite facing couch. Roll refused to look at him as she sat on the left seat of the couch as Mega Man glared at Dr. Light and Dr. Wily sat between the two and rested his chin on his fist.
"Well then Tom," Dr. Wily spoke in a self satisfied tone "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Nothing that he can say can change how I feel about him" Mega Man interjected.
Dr. Light looked at the three shamefully, keeping silent as he looked at the creations he saw as his own children and Dr. Wily smirking over he had the upper hand.
"Wipe that smirk off your face Albert" Dr. Light spat "You haven't won. This doesn't change anything that you've done either!"
"Then what are we g-going to do?!" Roll shouted "Dr. Light is responsible for killing Rhythm!"
"But Dr. Light is still responsible for us!" Rock replied "If he is jailed, then we get deactivated! Even though we didn't do anything relating to his crime, we'd still be seen as accessories and untrustworthy!"
"So we'd just have to let Dr. Light walk?! We'd have to move on as if he didn't do what he did to Rhythm?!"
"Yes Roll" Dr. Wily spoke "That seems to be the case…If we told the authorities about what happened, Bass and I would have to give our testimonials. Since we're are already wanted criminals, we would be arrested."
"And that's on top of both you and me being deactivated" Mega Man added.
"Well what are we going to do then?!" Roll shouted, tears forming in her eyes. "We can't just let Dr. Light get s-scott free for this! He should be p-punished for what he did to poor little Rhythm!"
Roll rested her face in her hands as she cried, and Mega Man reached around Dr. Wily to comfort his sister.
"Well then, if he can't be punished without the rest of us taking the fall…" Wily began "I would like to think that Tom's shame and guilt would be a massive burden to him. It would be a permanent scar on his soul, much like the damage that Dr. Light left on his victim…he will brood on the fact that this past moment of villainy has gotten out of the bag."
"And thats going to be sufficient?!" Rock shouted.
"It's a consolation prize, but it's the best we're going to get" Wily spoke as he got off of the couch "Rock, you work on fixing Blues. I'll work on Rhythm. Roll, you go check on 'Tantrum Man' in his room."
Rock and Roll nodded and got out off of the couch and left to where Dr. Wily told them to go.
"And Tom," Dr. Wily added as he began to leave "You stay here and think about how serious this all is. After the stunt you tried to pull earlier, I'm not letting you even touch Rhythm."
Dr. Wily made his way to the doorway, but got up and grabbed his shoulder.
"You know Albert" Dr. Light began "Your crimes have been on a grander scale."
"True," Dr. Wily said with a smirk "but while I've failed in my evil deeds, you have actually been successful in your sole crime and have gotten away with it. What is the greater of the two evils?"
Dr. Wily chuckled evilly as he left Dr. Light in the living room to dwell upon his guilt.
Mega Man had already began work on repairing Blues and Roll made her way to the door of Bass's bedroom. She gave the metal door a few knocks.
"Hemmmfo?"
"Bass? It's Roll, can I come in?"
"Ymmf…you mmff come inff."
Roll slid the metal door open and saw that Bass was lying face first into his bed. His voice was muffled by a pillow he was lying on.
Roll sighed sighed "What is it Bass?"
"I wmmfed Dmff Lmff tmf suffmff…"
Not wanting to deal with Bass's bratty behavior, Roll flipped Bass face up on the bed.
"What did you say?"
"I said that I wanted Dr. Light to suffer" Bass groaned.
Roll nodded "I can understand that…but we can't punish Dr. Light without the rest of us becoming part of the collateral damage."
"I know, I know, I know…" Bass grumbled "It's just that…I wanted to avenge Rhythm…I wanted to be his hero."
"I could tell that by how you reacted" Roll spoke as he sat on the edge of Bass's bed.
Bass sat up and then leaned against Roll "So…now that we've found out that Rhythm is Blues's son, whats going to happen next?"
"I don't think it'd be wise for him to stay with at our place, Blues's place, nor here… It'd be dangerous for him if he was with Blues if one considers his line of work. But then again, knowing what you do isn't the best influence either."
"Rhythm will be fine under my watch Roll…" Bass said with a chuckle "I'm glad to let you know that he's not going to stay here tonight. I'll take him to my hideout. I'll keep him there until a more permanent residence is found for him. He should see the city."
Just then, the sound of footsteps approached Bass's bedroom door, it was Blues.
"Roll? Blues?" He began "What are you two doing?"
"Nothing!" The two spoke simultaneously.
"How do you feel Blues?" Bass asked.
"I feel better than I woke up this morning."
"Well you were sabotaged" Bass commented.
"That's true…We're still working on repairing Rhythm, care to help us?"
Bass and Roll nodded and followed Blues into the workshop to finish repairing Rhythm. Dr. Wily dropped out of repairing him to check on Dr. Light, allowing for Blues better access to repairing his son.
D-Daddy?
"Yes my son?"
I-I r-remember you telling me that you wanted to take me to the city after you showed me off at the M-Modern Mansion. W-will we be able to do that now?
"Of course Rhythm" Blues spoke as he kissed his son's forehead "With you back in my life, we can begin again."
The rest of the repairs finished with little consequence. After running Rhythm through final tests, he was back on his own two feet. He still had to walk with a cane but it was a small price to pay to stay alive.
S-so… i-is it now time to say g-goodbye?
Rock and Roll slowly nodded.
"It is Rhythm" Roll answered "But we'll see each other again. I promise."
"I promise as well" Rock spoke as he gave Rhythm a firm hug.
G-goodbye Rock, I-I can't wait to see you again.
"I can't wait either" Rock answered.
Rhythm then turned to Roll and gave her a hug.
Goodbye Roll, I-I'll miss you too.
"Don't worry, I'm not going away for good…"
Blues then shook Rock's, Roll's, and Bass's hands "Thank you… if it wasn't for you two and Bass, I would have never seen Rhythm again."
"Any time Blues," Rock replied "When you get the chance, send me a message. I'd love to talk."
"Of course Rock, I'd be happy to help."
Bass then stepped forward and extended his hand to Rock.
"Will this be the end of you trying to kill me?" Rock asked as he shook Bass's hand.
Bass chuckled "I don't know, but I would like to think that it might."
Bass then turned to Roll, and gave her a tight hug.
"Ooof!" Roll squeaked "Bass! Not so tight!"
Bass eased off "Sorry Roll, it's…it's just that you're sweet as sugar…"
Roll rolled her eyes and exited the fortress with Rock following her. They got into Rock's car (which was borrowed earlier by Bass) and began to leave Wily's fortress. Dr. Light was already in his car, sitting alone by himself and followed Rock and Roll back home.
Bass, Rhythm and Blues then made their way to the living room, where Dr. Wily was already sitting in his chair.
"Kind of a hectic day, wasn't it guys?" Bass asked as he sat on the right of the couch. Blues sat on the left, and Rhythm sat in the middle.
Y-yeah…it was h-hectic for everyone involved.
"How do you feel son?" Blues asked as he rubbed Rhythm's hair.
I-I feel a bit t-tired…
"I'll get us some E-tanks then" Bass spoke as he got up.
"Hey Bass," Wily began "Could you get me a particular bottle of wine?"
Bass groaned "Which bottle do you want…?"
"The one that says 'To be consumed in the celebration of my victory'. It's an Amontillado with a red tag on it." Wily explained "Bring a corkscrew too."
Bass grumbled as he went to the kitchen to grab a six pack of E, the bottle of wine, a glass, and a cork screw. He thoughtlessly placed the implements on the table by Wily's chair and tossed Rhythm and Blues an E-tank each.
Wily opened up the wine bottle and poured himself a glass "To victory" he toasted.
"To new friends" Bass toasted.
"To reunited families" Proto Man toasted.
To the u-unknown p-possibilities, and may the best of our p-pasts be the worst of our f-futures.
"To your room" Mega Man coldly spoke.
Mega Man, Roll and Dr. Light had just returned home. Roll was fixing Mega Man's car from the hot-wiring that Bass did earlier. Dr. Light's luggage still strewn in the hallway and Rush was whimpering in the corner. Mega Man was still trying to come to terms to the fact that his own father was capable of the things he did to Rhythm. Dr. Light sat on the bed while Mega Man closed the door.
"Mega Man…" Dr. Light began, his eyes beginning to water "I-I'm sorry."
"Sorry? SORRY?! Can you truly be sorry after what you did to Rhythm and Blues?! What can you say to excuse you for your crimes!"
"The capacity to do wrong is a human trait" Dr. Light replied "Humans oppresses that trait for the benefit of society…I have no excuse for what I did…there is just nothing else to say."
Mega Man stood there in shock, he knew where he heard those words.
"I failed to oppress my feelings when I harmed Rhythm that day…" Dr. Light continued "To answer the question you asked earlier, being the possibility that you might turn against me… would I still be proud of you considering the good you did in the past? Yes, I would still be proud of you. The fact that you turned against me in a way that saved rather than harmed makes me even more proud of you."
Mega Man sighed "Who's to say that I didn't harm you? Who's to say that this didn't harm any of us?"
Dr. Light let out a halfhearted chuckle "I deserved it, even Bass knew that I deserved it."
Mega Man let out a small smirk "Well… that's some comfort. But you do know that I'll never see you the same way again. It'll take a while for you to regain my trust."
"I know Rock, I know. From now on I will always trust you and your judgement, always and forever."
Mega Man turned to Dr. Light and gave him a firm hug.
"T-Thank you father."
"You're welcome my son" Dr. Light spoke. He then sat on the side of his bed "…Now tell me my son, what do you want to know?"
Mega Man sat on the edge of the bed and began to converse with Dr. Light. Roll was now leaning against the door, eavesdropping on the conversation with Rush.
Bass and Rhythm were still relaxing in the living room as the sun began to set. Proto Man and Dr. Wily had relocated themselves to the workshop, the scientist still enjoying his wine.
"It's funny" Proto Man spoke and he patted the work table "It's from this very room that you brought me from the brink of ruin, and you did the same to my son on this very table."
"It's also funny that both of your memories were compromised at some point as well."
Blues frowned "That's true…but I'm glad that I finally have it all back."
"Well to be perfectly honest…when I found you, your design helped me design Bass."
"Really?" Blues wondered "Rhythm's design is based off of my own. He just doesn't have the flaws of my core."
"I know, but about that…" Wily began "How did you solve that problem?"
Blues put his E-tank down on the work table "Soon after I left my creator…A meteor struck outside the small home I set up for myself. It landed between the city and the town of Olive. It glowed blue and seemed to have nuclear properties. The radiation could be concentrated for energy output and prevented from irradiating humans. It became Rhythm's core, it's in the middle of his chest."
"Strange… did this ever glow purple or green?" Wily asked.
"At times, yes. I could never determine why. Some time after it was installed, Rhythm was able to crack a sliver out of and gave it to me. He hoped that it would help me stabilize my own core.
"Did it?"
Blues touched his own chest "You found me, you gave me my nuclear system…I don't know if it did anything… but if I had to guess, it could be the reason it pulsed the evening of that violent thunderstorm."
"The storm that resurrected Rhythm" Dr. Wily stated.
"It would seem so…" Blues responded as he finished up his E-tank and threw it into it into the recycling "I should go now…It's a long trek back to my place. I'd better say goodbye to Rhythm."
Blues left the lab and returned to the living room. Bass and Rhythm were still sitting in the couch.
"Hello Bass, hello Rhythm."
H-Hi d-daddy. What's up?
Blues ran his fingers through Rhythm's hair "I have to go now…"
G-go? W-why must you go?
Blues frowned "It's late and it'll take a while to get back to my place."
Rhythm frowned and looked at his father with puppy-bot eyes.
C-can I go with you? P-please?
Blues frowned as well "I'm sorry son…not tonight. But I'll take you to my place very soon. Don't you worry. And besides, you'll be able to see your brother's place tonight."
Bass chuckled and rubbed Rhythm's shoulder, but the pale bot still frowned.
Ok…b-but can I have a hug and a kiss before you go?
Blues smiled and picked Rhythm up from out of the couch seat. He gave Rhythm a firm hug and a kiss on the cheek. "
"It's great to have you back my son…"
It's great to have you back d-daddy! I can't wait to see you a-again!
Blues smiled and nodded as he put Rhythm down and began to leave the living room.
"Hey Blues" Bass began.
"Yes Bass?"
"Stay safe, I don't want either of you losing each other again…"
Blues chuckled and then left the living room and made his way to the door of the fortress. A heavy rain began to fall and lighting struck the fortress, making a mighty crash.
"All this time, he was just resting. Waiting for a new life to come."
And with that final comment, Blues vanished into the night.