Chapter 4: The Prodigal Son
Protoman groans softly as he slowly comes to, feeling like a can of nails that's been kicked around the parking lot one too many times. He reaches up to touch the fabric of his scarf for comfort, but it isn't there. That's right... He lost it the other day... Back when he was taken to Light's apartment. That means… it's probably buried under several tons of rubble now.
A pang shoots through Blues that leaves him feeling heavy. That scarf… that scarf was really important to him. And his other items… his camera, his marble, his blueprints…. Now all he has to his name is his shield, his helmet, and his shades.
... What happened exactly? All he remembers is the building collapsing and...
Someone whispers off to his side. "Daddy... He's waking up."
Protoman's gun is out and aimed on the source in an instant.
Roll yelps and flinches, shaking in her seat when he aims at her. "Hey!" Rock shouts before going so far as to shove Protoman's arm away from her direction. "You leave her alone!"
Protoman growls and knocks Megaman back, turning his aim on the blue bot instead, creating another standoff. The doctor quietly and making no sudden moves positions himself in front of his daughter as they stare each other off. "Easy my children, easy... Rock, Roll, be still now. Blues? Now Blues please..." He speaks in a soothing voice, "please calm down... There is no need for that... No one will hurt you here..."
The mere sight of the doctor sets Protoman trembling with a mixture of fear and anger. Light has been rooting around in him again!? But the emotional display of placing himself in front of his "daughter" who would be in less danger from taking the blast than a human gives him pause. He begins analyzing every motion Light makes, trying to decipher attempts at manipulation and figure out what he's after. Slowly... His weapon lowers.
"My things... Give them back." He doesn't really expect them to have them, but he growls the demand anyway.
Rock seems surprised. "How did you know we-..." He lowers his head. "I... I didn't think you'd go back...I'm sorry for taking them...b-but I just wanted to keep them safe until I...found you again..." He grabs the box and stands back in front of Protoman again. "Everything's here. We even developed the pictures you took. They're all in an envelope here." For some reason, he's still holding the box to his chest. "I wanted to keep these in your room for you...b-but Dr. Light knew they'd be safer in his safe. G-good thing...otherwise these might have been..." The boy's head falls forward, and he sniffles.
"..."
Blues stares at him uncomprehending for several moments. The pictures... Safe...
"My...room?"
"Th-there was a room near our bedrooms that was always closed off...Dr. Light told us there wasn't anything for us in it, so it was best we stay out...Then, after I met you and learned who you were...He let me see inside. It was a bedroom...the one he said you used to sleep in...
"...you're wrong." Protoman quiets. "My room was destroyed in the fire years ago... The whole lab burned. There was nothing left. It wasn't even that building." He glares at Light. "Just more lies and manipulation from a wicked old man."
Rock frowns sourly. "Why does it matter?! The point is he had a room for you, neat and ready for the day you'd come home!" Rock really begins sobbing now, too devastated to care that his older brother is seeing him now. His helmet is off, making his disheveled brown hair clear-nearly the same shade as Protoman's. He wipes his arm over his eyes. "Why did you do it?! All we wanted was to take care of you and bring you home, and now none of us have one to go back to! Neither do all of those people! They all lost their homes, and it's all your fault!"
Poor Light looks like he's been stabbed in the heart by everything that is transpiring in front of him, his words stolen.
Protoman too is shaken by the sight of the blue bot reduced to tears. This isn't the Megaman that he thought he knew and demonized in his head... It's an upset kid without a place to call home. The next round of stinging words he has prepared fall from his tongue an leave him feeling numb, as though he's been poisoned by his own venom.
It is his fault... He gave Wily what he needed to spite this old man, and he did... He didn't consider the other lives that would be affected...
No... No he did think about them didn't he... He knew this might happen to innocents... And he hardened his heart to it.
Now he feels truly low.
Light finally acts, taking Rock into his arms. "Shh... It will be okay, son... We will make a new home... The most important thing is that no lives were lost... The rest can be rebuilt."
Though he continues crying, Rock turns away from Protoman and into the arms of his father.
When Roll joins their embrace, Blues is left sitting alone watching them. He quietly gets up and exits the room, not even grabbing the box of his belongings. It just doesn't feel right to see that. It's like the day he came back all over again...
When he gets out into the hallway away from prying eyes he slumps against the wall. A sob grips his chest.
Rock isn't sure how much time passes, but at some point he finally calms down enough to open his wet eyes back up only to realize that Protoman has disappeared. "Blues! Dad, he-..."
"It's alright... His things are still here... I don't believe my wayward son has ventured far..."
Light pets his Rock's head and places a kiss upon it. "Everything will be okay... We will make a new place to call home… I promise you."
Rock sniffles. "O-okay..."
Roll hugs and kisses her brother and father too before motioning to Rock. "Let's go look for him."
Rock nods.
They walk out into the hallway. Protoman is just a short distance down the way, leaning against a wall as he sits on the ground staring at nothing.
"B-...Blues...?"
"...No one's called me that in a long time."
"Dr. Light calls you it all the time..."
"... " Protoman looks sick at the mention of his name.
"Blues...you have to believe us... He loves you..."
There it is. Another stab to the heart. "That's hard to believe. He moved on pretty quickly when I was gone."
"That's not true! He searched and searched for you, but he never found you...and eventually he thought you had..."
"Well... He didn't search long enough... If he had held out a little longer... I forgave him once... I tried to come home to tell him so...
And when I got there who should I spy but you two... Bouncing baby boy and girl...
Even if I could still believe that he cared about me... He'll get over that attachment pretty quickly once I'm gone again."
"So you do plan on leaving..."
"Of course. You should too. And just wait... if anything ever happens to you two? I'm sure Hip, Hop, and Pop will take your place."
Rock flinches. "….If anything happened to us... I wouldn't want him to be alone."
Footsteps clack up to Blues's side. Protoman is surprised when a blow meets his cheek. He holds the spot in shock while Roll stands over him.
"You stop that!" she yells.
"Roll?! What are you...?!" Rock cries in surprise, running to her side to keep her from striking their brother again.
"No! He needs to stop! Daddy wouldn't ever replace us he... He loves us, Rock! H-he would never..."
Tears leak freely down her face.
"Roll..." Rock goes to kneel beside his sister and hold her.
From the room the doctor listens and stares at the wall ahead. Shame and pain fill his own heart at the revelation. Blues... He tried to come back...
Rock looks between Blues and Roll, unsure what to do or say.
Protoman, finding himself surrounded by crying people again, gets up and walks away once more, this time going back to the lab only to meet the doctor in the doorway.
Tears stream down the old man's grief-stricken face and once more neither of them knows what to say.
When Rock hears the older man, he turns back to see Light crying, and the sight seems to make him lose his composure all over again.
"... I can't ever trust you." Blues mumbles to his creator
"No... " Light sniffles. "No, perhaps not..."
"I'm not going to stay."
"It's... It's up to you, Blues... But there will always be a place waiting for you here."
Protoman shakes his head.
"You need to just forget about me."
Light breaks, wrapping his arms around his stiff-shouldered prodigal son. He cries into Blues's shoulder.
"No... I'm afraid I can't..."
The old doctor sobs against him for several minutes, holding the frame of his oldest close and missing the tear that rolls down Blues's cheek.
Watching the doctor hug his older brother fills Rock with emotion. He quickly decides to pull Roll to her feet and leads her to join the two of them. Despite everything...all the suffering Blues has caused them...he doesn't hesitate to wrap his arms around the bot that will always be his big brother.
Blues grits his teeth as so many confusing emotions shoot through his heart. Pain... Loss... Anger... Regret...
It finally becomes too much for him to bear.
After the emotional hug breaks up Protoman is left standing amidst the other three, not at all sure what to do now. Frozen to the spot. Roll looks at her daddy, concerned. "Did we break him?"
Rock stands on his tiptoes to wave a hand in front of Protoman's visor.
That does the trick. The other robot assumes a pout before swatting his hand away and jumping deftly away from them.
"Hmph. Don't talk about me like I'm not here."
Rock gulps. "Sorry...um... ...can I ask you something?"
"..."
"Where did you get that marble?"
Blues grits his teeth, his eyebrows furrowing angrily. "None of your business! Now give it back."
Megaman sighs sadly and holds out the whole box.
Blues snatches it and shuffles inside to make sure everything's there. That's when he notices the envelope of photos. His eyes shift side to side. Then he turns his back on the others to look through them. He had always meant to develop these himself one day but never had the money.
"..."
"..."
Shit now he's going to cry again.
"Blues...?"
Protoman stashes the photos back quickly and starts heading out the door with his things.
"Protoman?" Roll calls
"W-wait!" Rock immediately chases after him.
The older bot rounds on him when he realizes he's rig followed, his mouth a hard line. "What!?"
Rock skids to a stop, his eyes wide and afraid. "I...I just wanted to tell you..."
Blues unbristles a little bit. "….what..."
"...you're a good drawer." Rock's eyes flash bashfully to the side.
"..."
Protoman walks up to his little brother
...and kicks him in the knee.
"Who said you could look through my stuff? That's private." He scorns
Megaman yelps and holds his knee. "Nngh...I-I'm sorry...I didn't know it was secret..."
Rather than leave him at that, Blues puts Megaman into a choke hold and noogies him into submission. "Don't mess with other people's things."
"Ack!"
"Okay okay Protoman I'm sorry lemme go!" Rock yelps, twisting in his grip as his hair is disheveled.
Say it. "I won't ever mess with Protoman's things again without his permission."
"Weeeeeh…. I won't ever mess with Protoman's things without his permission!"
His older brother releases him.
Rock scowls. "Meanie."
"Dumb kid."
He picks his box back up and heads for the exit.
"..."
Light comes back out into the hall. "Ack... B...blues wait... Your core..."
Protoman groans. Every time he tries to leave...
"No"
"Please at least let me try to find a way to do it without harming you..."
"No."
"But-"
"N. O."
Megaman frowns.
The poor old doctor shlumps, clearly upset. "Oh... Alright if you insist but... Could you at least pay an old man a visit every now and then? I worry..."
"..."
Blues pauses, thinking over this one.
"...maybe"
Rock grins. "Yeah! That'd be great!"
"I said I might visit him, not that I might visit you."
"But we live together."
Blues sticks his tongue out at Megaman and starts leaving again.
Light just sighs, relieved. It's not the relationship he hoped to mend... But it's a start.
Rock pouts but he gives a wave goodbye before he's gone.
"Ah... That's the first time I've embraced him in... My... It must have been about five years."
"Really?!"
The doctor nods, a smile growing on his lips. It is definitely a start.