Chapter 13: Night Terrors
Blues groans as he wakes. He fell asleep halfway sitting up propped against an angular surface and surprise surprise... It wasn't comfortable. He laboriously gets up and stretches the kinks out of his side before heading out of the subway station. Looks like he ended up slightly in the west side of town... Which is good. This is part of the primary robotics district. The stores around here stock E-packs. ...if he can come up with the money to buy one. All of his cash is in his box back at his...
Room... At Light's place... Ugh
He'll just have to earn some more money. There are always odd jobs that need doing. Blues checks around some local street posts first, mentally photographing the flyers that offer opportunities for cash-Lost dogs with reward for return, job opening at local supermarket involving manual labor. Looking for cash? Pawn your unwanted items at Joe's haberdashery. After that he finds the local public works office and fills out a form before being handed an over the shoulder waste bin and a grabbing tool. The city pays $1 per bucket of litter picked up.
Blues puts his helmet in one of the public lockers, locking it up tight by twining a thick metal wire through the loop that no regular human will want to fool with, and then he puts on a "public works" cap to hide his hair and heads out to do some work. If he is lucky he'll find a lost pet or some goods people have thrown away that are worth pawning. And afterwards he might check out that opening in the supermarket, but he would rather avoid strenuous manual labor jobs while he is so low on energy.
Elecman wakes up to a silent house. It's bizarre. He was never the first to wake up back with Wily and everyone else. No one could possibly wake up before Quickman, and it was hard for some bots to stay asleep once he was up. Not wanting to lie in bed any more than he needs do, he sits up and stretches before heading back to the fridge where he'd seen Protoman grab an e-tank. He takes one for himself. He's gonna need the energy today. He has an entire city to search for one stubborn bot.
8:00 - Blues takes the subway (getting plenty of trash at the station alone) and heads downtown to the older southern district. He goes straight to the "ghetto" area. Being a robot there is little for him to fear, but there is a lot of crap lying around to be picked up. He gets three bucket-fulls easily in the next hour. That's $3. E-packs cost about $4.50 apiece.
9:05- someone has a couch dragged out to the street for disposal. The seat cushions are ripped to shreds and the whole thing is stained and smells of must, but the frame has potential... But in the end he doesn't have the means to fix it up and especially not to transport it. He has to give it up as a loss and move on.
9:30- He spots a dog roaming around down the street but it doesn't come when he calls and it is too far away to make out if it has a collar. It looks very thin and it's obviously scrounging for scraps. Might just be feral. Sad, but if he goes out of his way to catch it and take it to the pound it will probably end up being put down anyway. And he doesn't know anyone who would want a dog. He leaves it and moves on.
10:00- He has filled up another bucket and found an old man walking along the side of the street doing the same thing he's doing. Blues waves to him and promises he'll leave this area alone if the guy needs the money but the man shakes his head and tells him he'd enjoy the company. The two take opposite sides of the street and talk as they work-the man explaining that he currently lives beneath the underpass a few blocks down from here but he grew up in a city on the other side of the country. He just got to this place recently.
Blues gives him a rundown of all the best places to stay, rattling off the names of all the nearest shelters and charity kitchens and the thrift stores and whatnot. He offers to write it down but the old man says it's alright he wouldn't be able to read it anyhow.
11:30- The two part ways. Blues has 6 cans now-almost enough to afford two E-packs. That's when he spots the cat.
11:45- He saw this cat on a flyer months ago. He remembers because it had a very distinctive face-heart shaped black spot on nose, an irregular pattern something like a diamond on its flank, three black socked paws and one white. White spot on the tip of its tail. There is no mistaking it, this is the cat. When he tries to call for it though, it runs.
He chases.
Eventually he watches as it dips its way underneath an abandoned house through a ventilation grate underneath. Gotcha.
When he crawls underneath he finds an extra few surprises. He wonders if he'll be rewarded or punished for bringing them all back?
12:45- Blues takes the cat and all of its five kittens back to the address he remembered from that flyer, thanking his photographic memory. It may have been given to him so he could memorize and review battle techniques to improve his own combat prowess, but it has so many better applications and conveniences it creates.
Blues knocks on the door and is met with a screaming woman.
"OH MY POOR BABY!"
Before he can protest he is dragged inside and gets the full sob story. The poor lady was on vacation for a week and when she returned her cat was gone. Hit the road. She realized her cat door had been left open (who even has a cat door?) and knew the "baby" must have gotten outside and gotten lost so she'd put those fliers out. She'd all but given up hope.
"Well it looks like Ms. Cat at least had some fun while she was out on the town". Blues remarks. The woman looks at him, aghast.
She gives him a stern tongue lashing for the next 30 minutes to reprimand for his crudeness (Blues starts to sympathize with the cat for running away) but in the end she goes back to cooing over her precious returned pet and the five little kittens that came back with it. They all get offered food and milk (Blues is the only one to decline) and the bot begins to lose hope that he will be rewarded for his deed. He gets up to head for the door so not to waste more time but she does finally stop him as he's on his way out and hands him-dun dun dun DUUUUN- a whole hundred dollar bill. Suddenly he is rich.
When Elecman is ready to take to the streets, he tries to think of a plan. A place to start looking. Where would Protoman want to hide out? Light had mentioned open recharge stations available to robots like himself. It seems like a logical place to start. However, he can't quite remember where the doctor had said they were. Considering the robot masters typically did most of their traveling via the sewers, he isn't exactly familiar with a layout of this city. He tries to find a map and spots one at a bus stop. When he approaches, the people waiting there quickly flee. Well. Looks like his reputation as Wily's bot still precedes him without Light to calm everyone down. Oh well. It doesn't matter right now. He looks closely at the map, scanning for any indication of the location of these recharge stations.
1:30- Blues heads straight back to the public works building to turn his bags in. That's 9 bags, so he has $109.
He loses it at an astounding pace.
2:00- He buys 4 E-packs for himself. $109-$18 = $91
2:15- There's an old lady back at the subway station who doesn't have any shoes. He swings by a thrift store and buys her some, as well as a hot meal. $91-$10 = $81
2:40- He drops by the hospital to say hi, discovers a collection jar for donations for a boy whose family can't afford the surgery he needs, and there goes another fourty dollars. $41 left. Ethyl frowns at him. She needs to stop putting these out where he can see them. The only thing she can do to keep him from giving away everything he has is by matching his donations every time he makes them, so as soon as he does it she makes sure he sees as $40 of her own go into the donation jar.
At this point he goes to enjoy one E-pack at the library while he reads. He frowned at Rock about the giving tree book, but he is arguably just as bad. Sacrificing what little cash he has for others. Sacrificing years of his life back when his power core was even less stable to help out people in danger. He is a mess.
When Elecman finds his way to the cluster of recharge station, he quickly realizes that Protoman is not here. Already he is out of ideas. He groans in frustration. He doesn't know this city of Protoman himself nearly well enough to know where to look. He...might have to get some help and try again. There is one person who knows Protoman much better than he does who can offer him some advice. He makes his way back to the apartment, thankfully able to remember the way back, and returns to find the family eating breakfast. Well...most of them are eating. Megaman seems to just be moving the food around on his plate. Jeez...the kid is a wreck without Protoman.
Roll frowns slightly when Elecman enters, but continues to eat her eggs in silence. Only Light offers a smile when Elecman comes back in. "Good morning. You were up early. Would you like some breakfast?"
"Ah...no thank you, I had a tank when I got up. Um...I just wanted to ask Megaman about something..." The boy lifts his head. "Hm? What about?"
He tries to maintain a stoic expression. "Um...do you have any idea where I could find Protoman?"
Rock stares at him for a moment. "You're looking for him? Why? I can do that myself."
Elecman shuffles. "No, um...I want to talk to him myself, but...I don't know him like you do. I don't know where he'd want to go in this city, so...I thought you could point me in the right direction."
Rock sits, considering if he should let the bot be responsible for trying to convince his brother to come home. "...try the library. I can give you directions."
In just a few more minutes, Elecman ventures back out with a map to guide him to the same library Protoman had taken Rock to the day before.
Blues works his way through the second e-pack, leaving him with just two but he has enough money (for now) to buy more if he needs, so he is not worried. He should probably go out and try to work some more this afternoon... But for now he just wants to rest and relax. There is a television in the library that plays the local news so he watches that. Eventually the headline "mad scientist still in questioning" pops up. So Wily is still under wraps, hm? But shortly following that headline is "mysterious theft plagues city." Apparently for the past two days there has been a rise in local theft with items such as tools, pipes, wood, e-packs, and other assorted equipment being taken. The thefts are "mysterious" because even though the places had security cameras, nothing was caught on film and there were no fingerprints or other signs of evidence on the scenes. It's the "e-packs" stolen that gets Protoman's attention. He would bet his life on that being Shadowman's work. The other robot masters are out there somewhere and it is surprising that none of them have surfaced yet. He suspects that is Shadow's doing as well. Perhaps he is calling the shots now.
People give Elecman a wide berth as he enters the library. Hm...this is where Protoman spends his free time? It seems so unlike him.
Blues notes a slight commotion near the entrance and turns his head to see-...oh boy. He quickly looks back at his book and hopes that if he ignores it, it will go away.
! It's too late. Elecman would recognize that crop of hair anywhere.
Protoman groans. He sees him coming out of his peripheral vision. "...what do you want?"
Elecman takes a hesitant seat on the weird squishy round chair across from Protoman and takes a deep breath. "I want...to apologize." He keeps from meeting Blues's eyes.
"…. Oh. Alright." Blues says, monotone. He flips a page in his book. "...That all?"
"I...well..." Somehow he was expecting more, but he's not sure more what exactly. "I um...I was wrong to taunt you...in both senses. Because what I said was completely inaccurate. I'm certain those people-that kid especially-need you way more than you need them. I saw them this morning and...jeez. It was so...depressing."
Elecman gets slightly more of a reaction out of this. Blues's mouth turns down slightly in a frown. "They were upset huh..." He turns another page. "...they need to get over me. Clean break is probably best."
"I don't know if they can."
Blues flares up. "Why are you really here, huh? You don't care about them. And you don't care about me. What's in this talk for you?"
"I don't...I don't know. There isn't anything in it for me. I don't think I care about them, but...but I can't stand the thought of going back there and telling them I couldn't fix what I messed up. I can already imagine the way the kid will look, and it's...it's making me feel sick. And the doctor...the thought of facing him after I ruined everything...I-I can't imagine it. I don't know if this is all because of losing Wily's programming or some kind of power he has or what, but...when I messed up with Wily I hardly cared. But Light...when he talked to me, I...I never felt like more of a failure in my life. Is that...is that normal? Is there something wrong with me? Did the doctor do something to me? Because I don't know if I can handle this. If I can't be successful in this mission, I don't know if I'll be able to go back there either." He stares at Blues desperately. There is definitely a pleading note to his voice.
Protoman balks, surprised at this behavior. This isn't the Elecman he expects. It certainly isn't the one he was prepared to deal with. "M...mission? He ordered you to come after me?"
"Wh-...no no he didn't. He asked me that since what I said drove you away...that I should try to make it right...it just feels like a mission to me."
He sees the black and yellow bot tremble and reaches out to him without thinking, placing a hand on Elecman's shoulder. "Calm down... I um... I don't think he reprogrammed a new obedience coding into you... But if he did... We'll go back and I'll pin him down until he gets rid of it."
"Huh...? You...you think that's what's going on?"
Blues watches the emotions flash across Elecman's face. They were never so visible before. "I don't think he changed anything, no. It sounds like you just... care." Never something he expected to say. The word feels foreign on his own lips when applied to Elecman. Now he feels small inside for the things he was going to say to tear this bot down. He had believed Elecman came here with an agenda of his own... But it sounds like he's really doing it for the doctor and the kid...
Elecman groans, putting his head in his hands. "I don't like it...it was easier not to care..."
Blues snorts. "No kidding."
"The other bots would never let me live this down if they knew I was here about ready to beg to you...the only reason I found you was cuz of the kid. I...had to ask for his help."
Blues realizes he still has a hand on Elecman's shoulder and moves it away. "I... Fine you've twisted my arm. If... If it'll keep you from gutting yourself with your own gears I'll go back. But don't think I'm doing this because you're a sad sack. I'm just going to make sure Light didn't tamper with anything he shouldn't have. After that it's your problem."
"Okay...okay I can live with that. Thank you." Elecman breathes a sigh of relief.
Blues doesn't say much after that, avoiding any more uncomfortable conversation. He checks out his latest library book and they hop on the bus together. He tries to sit quietly on the bus with Elecman but it's hard... He fidgets as the silence hangs between them like a charge. Finally he can't stand it. He opens his mouth.
"You um... You can have my room. I don't need it."
"Huh? You don't...want it?"
"...don't need. I don't plan to stay there in the long term."
Elecman's face falls. "Because of what I said?"
"... What does it matter?"
"I'll at least feel a little better if it's your fault they're sad and not mine." Elecman mutters.
"Ugh..." Blues socks him in the arm. "At least even if you are emotional you're still selfishly emotional." He knows how to deal with that at least.
Elecman huffs and rubs his arm. "I'm starting to feel bad for Megaman now."
Blues frowns as he thinks about a good excuse to leave. One that is not "living with you makes me feel horribly uncomfortable." "Dumb kid. He doesn't know what's good for him. Roll seems to have a bit more sense. Maybe she can fix him up eventually."
"Well you're not wrong. You should have seen him the day he first came to challenge each of us. Do you have any idea what we did to him?"
"No... What DID you do?"
"To put it bluntly, we fucked him up. "
Blues's expression darkens with a mixture of uncertainty and hostility.
"But he just kept on going forward." Elec continues.
"Woah woah woah woah, you fucked him up how?" Blues has mental images he absolutely just does not want
"W-well we were ordered to stop him from reaching Wily! By any means necessary." Elecman shoots back defensively.
Blues quiets and goes back to looking out of his window.
Elecman doesn't get any more comfortable. Even without the two of them talking, people stare. Particularly at him. Do they all recognize him, or do they just see how much he sticks out in a crowd of humans?
Blues takes notice of his prolonged discomfort and riddles out the source. Even though the next stop doesn't put them quite at the university yet, Protoman drags Elecman off of the bus so they can walk the rest of the way. "...you shouldn't let them get to you like that."
"Easy for you to say. You got the chance to reinvent yourself. "
"What and you don't? You get to be whoever you want now... That's what you were aiming for right?"
"Yeah well...not everyone else is going to see that so quickly. "
"Well... You've got plenty of time. None of us get to where we want to go overnight... Just try to enjoy the ride."
"Whatever you say..." Elecman keeps rubbing his shoulder thoughtlessly, still sounding dubious.
They finally arrive back at the apartment building and walk inside. Blues hears steps rushing down the stairs and it isn't a moment later before Rock is squeezing his neck.
Elecman has to jump out of the way. The bot grimaces. Bleh. Emotions.
"Blues I'm so sorry!" Rock says as he nuzzles his brother.
Blues sighs. "Let's not talk about that now. You'll make Elec sick."
"Elecman!" Before the electric robot can stop him, he is getting a hug too. "You did it! You brought him back! Thank you thank you!" Elecman doesn't hug back...but there is the tiniest smile on his face.
Blues keeps walking upstairs, interested in finding his box, his shield, and... The reason his neck has been feeling wrong for the past 24 hours.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Rock breaks away from Blues and Elec to rush to his sister's room. "Roll, is his scarf ready?"
Blues pokes his head back in their apartment cautiously but is pulled into a hug by the doctor regardless. "Urf!"
Light swings him from side to side in the bear hug of an embrace. "Welcome home, son."
Blues looks blue. "S...sure whatever you say..."
Elecman smirks, not knowing he is also in danger of being hugged. Sure enough when he is within the critical proximity an arm flashes out and he is snatched into the fray to be crushed against Blues.
"Oof!" He squnches up his face but blushes as well. They both groan as the doctor swings them around but before anyone can grow sick he puts the two down. "I'm glad you both returned safely... Are either of you hungry? We've just had lunch but I can make more. Oh Blues... Are you ready for the repairs to your shoulder?"
Protoman shrugs. "I uh... I suppose..."
"Oh um...s-sure, thank you..." Elec stammers.
Rock and Roll suddenly run up to them, with Iceman behind. "Blues look, look what Roll did!" The boy proudly gestures to his sister, who presents a yellow scarf-spotless, dry, and softer than ever.
"Ah..." Blues's mouth opens in surprise. He carefully takes it from Roll. It looks... It looks like it did the day he first got it.
"I... I tried my best to keep it soft." Roll averts her eyes, rubbing her foot shyly against the carpet.
"N-no you did... Great... It's like brand new..." Now it is his turn to look away shyly. "Th...thanks..."
Light fixes Elecman up with some food before stealing his son away to the lab to fix him up. When they get outside the sky is quickly darkening with clouds. Thunderheads loom in the distance. It looks like the poor weather from last night is making resurgence. Meanwhile Roll invites Elecman over to play a boardgame. "You can take over daddy's spot since he's gone! We realized that for the first time we had enough people to play this game so Rock got it out... It's called "Chinese checkers"
"Huh? I um...I'm not familiar." Elecman takes a seat beside them.
"It's pretty fun." Says Iceman. "Takes a lot of strategy."
"It's easy! You move diagonally and you have to jump the dots over each other. You wanna move all your pieces to the other side before someone else does.
"Moving dots takes strategy? Maybe to someone not meant to follow battle plans."
"Oh!" Rock perks. "But there are rules to how you can move!"
Roll nods. And then she gets an uncharacteristically devious smirk on her lips. "And if you boys want, we can make it interesting now that dad's gone."
All of the boys' eyebrows raise, some with interest others with concern. "Interesting how?" asks Elecman.
Roll's grin widens. "Are any of you familiar with the concept of strip poker?"
All of the boys look at each other and shake their head.
Roll grins wider. "Well it works like this..."
Light inspects the damage his son has incurred with concern. "This is rather odd... You say Shadow man slashed at you with a knife, correct?" Blues nods. "Why?"
"It just looks too jagged to be a clean cut... And it is rusting a bit at the edges... The steel you are made with shouldn't corrode like this..."
Blues frowns. "Maybe it was coated with something that made it acidic?"
"Perhaps... Is it painful at all?"
"No... It ached for a while initially but there's no pain now.
Light hums. That, at least, is good. "I'll take a sample from it to study and see if I can figure out why it looks so odd... In the meantime I'll knock you out and make the re-"
"No knocking me out."
Light frowns. He was afraid of that. "Oh very well..."
Round one is over with Rock as the loser. "Take it off!" Roll starts chanting as she bangs her fists on the ground. Ice man joins in her chorus. "Take it off! TAKE IT OFF!"
They whoop as Rock removes his helmet.
He just gives them an unimpressed look. "Big deal. You see my hair now. What are you gonna do when you lose, Roll? You don't have a helmet.
She grins. "Who says I'm gonna lose? Now let's play again."
Blues flinches every now and then as he is patched up. Some of his shoulder plating has to be removed and replaced and the long and short of it is that it is not fun. "Are we close to being done yet?"
"Almost!" Light assures.
Elecman blinks. "Wait. I don't exactly have much that can be taken off. Just my mask."
"And I just have my coat." Iceman adds.
Roll still keeps smiling. "Oh we'll figure something out."
They all pick their cards back up. "Ah well. I doubt I'll need to even take my mask off."
As round 2 finishes, Ice man frowns. "Take it off! Take it off!"
Iceman huffs, left with no choice but to take off his hood. Oh well...he pulls it down, revealing a head covered with blue hair.
"Oooh~" Roll trills, stroking her hand through it.
He tenses up, face quickly reddening.
"What lovely hair you have~" She sighs pleasantly. "Alright... I wanna see what Elecman's looks like next!" She gets that devious grin. Roll cracks her knuckles just as Blues comes in the door.
"Keep dreaming, little girl. My head shall remain a secret." Elecman crosses his arms haughtily.
"It's pretty ordinary." Blues remarks. "His hair is black." He almost immediately gets a book thrown at him.
"GRAAAAH! Protoman!" Roll growls. "SPOILER ALERT!"
"Yeah, Protoman, way to ruin the whole fun of me winning." Elec shoots him a nasty look.
"Excuse me, YOU winning? Not a chance." The girl fires back.
Iceman just snickers. He already knew that anyway.
Protoman picks up the book and puts it back on a shelf before heading into his room to kick back.
"Blues, you wanna play with us?" Rock calls. "We're playing strip poker."
"Oooh yes! He has to play!" Elecman grins. "If he loses, we might finally get to see his eyes!"
"No thanks."
"Chicken." Says Iceman.
"Popsicle."
Iceman pouts while Elecman waves his hand. "Bah. Leave him to sit alone in his room. We'll have all the fun ourselves."
Blues is more than happy to leave them to their "fun" while he goes to sort through his possessions and put the forty dollars he earned today in his money pouch, adding it to his existing $20.
Everyone in the other room turns their attention back to the game.
Roll grins as she moves another of her pieces across the board, managing to find a path that skips her almost all the way from one end to another. "I can't wait to see your pretty face~"
"While my face is pretty, it's simply too gorgeous to be seen by ordinary eyes like yours." Elec sneers back. It is so on.
Iceman prickles with jealousy at first, but then he smirks. "So what does that makes Protoman's eyes then~?"
Roll chuckles. "Yeah~ Ice man has a point!" She rests her chin in her hands
"Wh...now hold on-"
"Is that a blush I see?" Iceman laughs. "Elecman and Protoman, sitting in a tree!"
"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
The two laugh at Elecman's flustered appearance. "He's blushing harder! We got him! Someone has a crush on Bluuueees~"
"Ugh no I do not!" Elecman whines and covers his face with his hands. Even Rock can't help but giggle.
Blues pokes his head out of the room to see what the commotion's about. "Did I hear my name?"
"N-no!" Elecman quickly stammers. Rock gives an equally suspicious "Nnnoooooooo"
Blues quirks an eyebrow. "If I don't want to know, don't tell me."
He goes back inside.
Elecman glares at all of them.
"Heheh...sorry" Rock giggles. "Let's get back to playing."
Yet another good move by Roll, but she is starting to look concerned... A few of her pieces are stranded...
The boys all grin. It looks like her victory streak is about to end.
If Roll could sweat she would be doing it now... But outwardly she remains composed... And she looks through her options carefully.
Finally she makes a move that doesn't look too good... At least not until Elecman realizes that he is cut off.
She grins again as his expression falls. "You could save yourself the embarrassment and get it over now if you like~"
"Nnnggh..."
Rock begins quietly chanting "Take it off. Take it off."
Roll and Ice man join him. "Take it off. Take it off."
"Uuuuuuuugggghh."
Blues peeks his head back out of the room and smiles. "You might as well get it over with."
"Hey! I thought you didn't want to play! You can't look if you're not playing!" Elecman huffs.
Iceman smirks. "Not like it matters. He's already seen you before, remember? Cuz he's special enough for you to show him your face~"
Blues rolls his eyes and moves back out. "Fine. Not looking."
Elecman keeps pouting… but takes a deep breath...and then slowly pulls his mask down from his face.
Thunder crashes outside. Oh boy. Spring storms round 2.
"What perfect timing. Thunder crashes as Elecman reveals his hideous face." Iceman snickers.
"Excuse you!" Elecman pouts. "I am gorgeous! See?"
Roll's eyes widen. "Oooh you are pretty cute~"
Rain begins to pelt the roof above them and Roll gasps. "Eek! Daddy's in the lab without an umbrella! I'll go take him one."
She grabs one and hurries out to Light.
The boys are suddenly left alone. Iceman is giving Elecman such a pout. He smirks. "Jealous~? Too bad your true love knows who the better looking one is."
Iceman turns beet red. "Y-you shut up!"
Rock snickers at the two of them. "I dunno I think both of you look good! Our dad made us all pretty handsome in our own way!"
He smiles and swings his feet back and forth like a happy idiot while both masters give him looks. Such a nerd.
Elecman hums to himself after a few more moments. "So how's the rest of this game gonna go? Iceman and I are exposing all that we can already."
Rock shrugs. "I dunno what Roll had in mind. She didn't explain to me how we were supposed to strip more... And frankly I'm not sure I want to. I think I'm just gonna go-"
-BOOM-
-CRASH-
"ACK!"
The thunder explodes overhead first, followed swiftly by the sound of shattering glass from Blues's room and the bot's muffled yelp.
"-check...on...Blues." Megaman finished his thought as he hurries to his brother's room.
"Blues?!" Rock calls as he comes to the doorway. "Are you okay? I heard something break!"
Blues groans as he picks up pieces of glass off the floor. "Fine... I'm fine. Just got surprised is all... Accidentally broke the flower vase while I was moving it..."
There's a small puddle on the floor and some stray flowers.
Rock sighs in relief. "Ah...good. Glad it was nothing serious. Too bad about the vase though. Roll and I can get the stuff to sweep up the pieces."
"Nah don't bother I've got it..." Blues says. He continues picking the pieces up by hand and nearly jumps out of his skin when lightning flashes in the nearby window again.
Rock takes a step forward. "You okay?"
"..." Blues sighs. It was being dishonest about it that caused the whole mess yesterday wasn't it? "No." He answers, not meeting Rock's eyes. His brother immediately kneels beside him. "What's wrong?"
"Look, I'll talk to you about it in a moment... But I'm going to finish cleaning this first."
He starts back to getting things back in order and vacuuming the glass out of the carpet before he leaves his room and heads to Rock's leaving Iceman and Elecman to wonder what is up as he passes through.
Rock waits patiently and follows him when he is ready.
Iceman calls to the blue bot, "Hey are we gonna keep playing or what?"
"Nah I think I'm done for the night... You and Elecman can if you want to, though?"
The orange light of dusk doesn't penetrate the thick clouds covering the sky in all directions.
Blues is sunk into Rock's bed when he enters, his helmet lying on the floor not far away. He looks very, very tired...
Rock takes the spot next to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. He doesn't ask anything. He just waits for Blues to be ready to start talking himself.
Blues sighs hard. "I um... I might need to stay in here tonight... If it's okay. I'll try not to be a bother, but if I stay in my room, I'll keep Elecman awake. If you can wait 'til everyone else goes to bed, I can move to the couch after, but I would really rather not have anyone else find out... That I'm a coward."
"I just... Have a bit of a problem with thunder and lightning."
"Oh...is that all? That doesn't make you a coward." Rock says as he rubs his hand to Blues's back.
Blues blinks twice in surprise. "Oh... You um... You don't think... That's weird? Or dumb?"
"Nope. That's a relatively common fear, actually."
He frowns at the patting. Figures Rock would be indulgent of him... His brother really is an air head... Elecman's criticism from the other day rings true. Here he is barking up Megaman's tree for help...
...but he can't really help it right now. He is far too tired after last night's fiasco and desperately needs some shut-eye, so he lies down.
"And don't worry. I won't make you sleep on the couch." Rock flops backward into the mattress. "I like sharing my bed with you. …If you wanna talk about weird or dumb, how about the fact I actually prefer not sleeping alone? Even I know that is babyish..."
Blues still looks conflicted. If anything that just makes him feel more like he is taking advantage of Rock. Preying off of his desire for companionship like a leech. "I well... Thanks..." He manages weakly. His eyelids droop. The sound of rain is actually relaxing against the window... If only there weren't any-
Lightning flashes and he covers his ears, tensing up in preparation for the inevitable crash of thunder.
Rock frowns when he senses his brother's discomfort. He wants to help, but he is not sure what kind of help Blues wants. Would he appreciate a hug? To hear him talking so he could listen to that instead of the thunder? Or would it all just annoy him and make him feel like he is being treated special again?
There is some flinching from Blues whenever there is a particularly loud bang or flash, but other than that he stays quiet and tries to sleep... Then he notices Rock is watching. "Er... A... Aren't you going to sleep too?"
"I um...y-yeah sorry..." Rock stammers and quickly flips over to stop bothering Blues with his staring.
"..." Blues stares at his inert form in contemplation. It is in these quiet, bashful spells that he feels fondest of this kid. The thoughtfulness of the actions and mannerisms are not lost on his brother. Rock has this way of being is so endearing without trying. Maybe because he is not trying. Partly because it is warm and partly to mess with him, Blues nuzzles his face into Rock's back between his shoulder blades.
The younger boy's eyes shoot open in surprise. But after a moment, Rock sighs and his body relaxes into the embrace.
Protoman can hear the gentle murmur of his core through Rock's back... And it's rather nice... Relax... Relax... Go... To sleep... ...*CRASH*
Blues jolts again and groans.
"Blues... Is there anything I can do?
"... I... I dunno... I'm afraid I am going to keep you awake with my nonsense..."
Seeing how concerned his brother still looks turned back towards him he sighs again, feeling the need to explain himself further. "I... I'm not fond of lightning, but it's not the danger part that gets me really. I-it's the-"
He gulps as another flash lights up the window.
"The element of surprise."
"Ah...I see… Not fond of surprises. I'll keep that it mind."
Blues still looks unsatisfied. Being cagey about it will just give him more of the wrong idea. "I feel like a loaded spring trap... No matter how much I try to get myself to calm down I still... I still just jolt when it comes... I just... It feels almost like it is programmed in... I was designed for combat. I was made to have quick reactions to sudden, unpredictable threats, so..."
"Oh...I guess that makes sense. " Rock nods simply.
The eldest bot scratches his forehead, frustrated and still not satisfied. In reality there are other factors that play into his aversion as well. A photographic memory was not the only "gift" his militaristic design left him with. He knew as early as the first time he went out on the town with his creator that he was more sensitive to the light. When you are built to be able to see easily in the dark, the light of day can be blinding. There is a reason that he constantly wears shades and a visor on top of them. Additionally, and he has only guessed at it, not having any point of reference for what the others experience, but Blues has always suspected that he has sharper hearing as well. That he doesn't mind so much. It is nice to have keen hearing. …at least until relative silence is broken by a loud clatter.
Blues lays back down and nestles his face back against his brothers back. At the very least, it helps block out the lightning.
Eventually he wraps his arms around his brother's waist and pulls him close.
"Mmm..."
Rock sighs again, gladly soaking in Blues's warmth.
There is still the occasional flinch from Blues, and with no end to the storm in sight he doesn't do much better, but it is a relief to have Rock nearby and slowly he manages to sink into a more restful if not totally asleep state.
Only when Blues goes still does Rock allow himself to relax as well.
Blues keeps clinging close to Rock's warm, comfortable body deep into the night until the storm finally stops... And then he truly shuts down and begins getting the rest he needs. By morning his face is cuddled into Rock's hair and he is smiling pleasantly in his sleep.
Rock has an equally pleasant night's sleep thanks to a nice dream he has about all of them-Light, himself, Roll, Blues, Iceman, and Elecman-going out to dinner as a family. The people there are excited to see every one of them. After a few people ask for autographs or pictures, they're left to enjoy themselves. Everyone's meal is delicious, and Blues is happy to eat his plate. They all end up sharing each of their dishes so everyone gets to try a bit of everything. And at the end, their waiter gives them all a free dish of ice cream as a way of saying thanks to their city's heroes.
As if sensing the cloyingly sweet direction of his brother's dreams, Protoman eventually pulls his head away from Megaman's and tilts up to the ceiling as he starts blinking awake. "Mmm..."
There is an even bigger smile on Rock's face as he sleeps on. With Blues no against his back, the boy rolls over on it.
As Blues comes to, he watches his brother's adorable happy face. It causes the red bot's cheeks to heat. Damn Light for making this one so precious.
Eventually Rock's eyes shift before blinking open. His smile remains. "Mm...morning, Blues."
Blues tilts down over him hesitantly... And places a kiss on Rock's precious forehead. "Mornin'." He drawls.
Rock squeaks and covers his red face.
Blues chuckles softly.
He eventually moves his hands again to peek back at his bed companion. "So um...you wanna see if breakfast is ready?"
Blues nods and gets up, stretching and yawning. He hides his messy hair under his helmet before proceeding out into the living room area.
When they get to the kitchen, Elecman is already up and drinking a can of fuel. "Morning, Elecman. You're up early." The robot master nods. "Gotta be." He grins. "Today's my second day of work at the plant."
"Oho?"
"You seem excited." Says Rock with a smile.
"I am." Elecman answers. "The work is very exciting itself, and I'm sure I must be winning the respect of the humans there already."
Light is beaming as he walks out to greet his sons and offer them breakfast-cinnamon rolls again. Blues's eyes widen and he snatches one. The doctor chuckles at his enthusiasm. "Glad to see everyone's awake."
Roll and Iceman are wandering out too at the smell of food. "I have something exciting to tell everyone... "
Roll scooches up and claims a cinnamon roll of her own. "What's that daddy?"
The doctor grins and puffs his chest out a bit. "I just got off the phone with the contractor who's making our new home... And he informed me that the construction crew was breaking ground today!"
Rock and Roll gasp and grin at each other. "They've started building our new house?" Rock asks. "When do they think it'll be ready?"
"The contractor gave me a guarantee of two weeks tops, but he said he imagined it would be done in closer to one. John has the fastest and most coordinated construction bots in town. If you kids want we can take a drive out to see the location today."
"Yeah yeah that'd be great!"
"I think everyone will like it... It's just outside the main part of the city around Scienta cape. It's up on the cliffs within walking distance of the city observatory. We'll have a lovely view of the ocean from our kitchen and a stunning view of the city from our living room!"
The kids gasp in awe again. "If we live near the ocean, does that mean we can go to the beach?" asks Rock.
Light nods. "We have one practically in our backyard! You just have to go down the hill and there it is."
The children squeal in excitement. Even Blues looks interested. He eyes Rock's reaction and smiles. It's good that they'll have a real home again after he wrecked their last one...
"Blues, you gotta come with us to see it so you'll know where it is!" Rock tugs on his arm urgently, clearly already worried about the possibility that they might get separated and not know how to find each other.
"Alright alright. I already know the observatory, but I'll come."
"Yaaaayyy!"
Blues takes a cautious first bite of his very first cinnamon roll Oh god. It's really good... He continues on with tiny nibbles, savoring each sweet, spicy, buttery, and gooey bite.
Rock giggles. "You would like cinnamon rolls best."
Blues looks at him... grins... and flicks his tongue at the cinnamon roll teasingly.
Rock snorts and sticks his tongue out back at him. Iceman then perks. "Oh! When we get back, we gotta finish our game!"
Roll pounds her fists on the table. "YEAH!"
"I left the board with all the pieces where they were," says Elecman. "So long as nothing was tampered with, we should be able to pick up where we left off."
"Elecman would you like to come to see the new lab too?" Light asks. "If you like we can wait 'til after you've finished work today."
"Ah...sure, alright. My shift shouldn't end too late today. I ought to know where your new lab is located too."
The bot suddenly blinks, realizing something, and his eyes look away. "Um...I'm sorry about the last one..." His voice is suddenly quite small. Iceman then remembers his part in that destruction too, and he offers a nervous apology of his own.
Blues blinks. It takes him an extra second before he understands just what they're apologizing for, and then he feels really low. Because after all… even though they were complicit in the destruction, he's the one that set the events in motion that ultimately led there. He's the one most at fault.
He looks at the floor before muttering a quiet apology of his own.
"Aww...it's okay. We forgive you, right?" Rock looks to his family.
Light nods. "All is well that ends well... While losing our old home was unfortunate, the events that have transpired since would not have taken place had it not happened... I lost a house but was reunited with three of my sons. That is a blessing in disguise if ever I've seen one."
Rock grins. "Yeah! And now we get to have a brand new house with a beach in the backyard!"
But Roll frowns, averting her eyes. She can't say she's quite as ready to forgive... She loved their old house... And she lost a lot of things that were important to her...
She realizes that by now everyone is staring at her, waiting , and sighs.
"I... I'll try to forgive you... But you've gotta promise NEVER to do that again, okay?"
Iceman frowns. "I-I promise!"
"Y-yeah, uh, me too..." Elecman fumbles nervously. But it's not them that her eyes are really trained on.
Blues composes his face into an impassive mask. "...I won't ask you to forgive me if you can't... But I truly am sorry, Roll... And I..." Okay maybe he doesn't look totally impassive anymore. The remorse he feels goes deep. Every day he spends in the good graces of these people, he realizes more and more just what a low-down, rotten thing it was. "…I'll try to do whatever I can do to make it up to you."
She perks a bit, not expecting that from Protoman. "I... Okay..."
Unable to help it, the girl flushes just a bit. His earnest expression caught her off-guard.
Iceman can't help but prickle a tiny bit with jealousy when he notices.
################################
The first few hours Elecman spends at the electrical plant on his first official day of work is filled with boring and forgettable training videos, safety protocols, and company policies. After that he begins his day treated as a rookie.
"AY bot! Get over here and set some of these couplings! Then head to the warehouse once you're done and pick up the boxes of resistors they set out and move them to station 9. Move it!"
Elecman sighs, but he gives a firm salute. "Yes sir!" It's a shame. This day doesn't look like it'll be nearly as exciting as when he first arrived.
After the morning rush settles down the plant grows quiet as workers file into the cafeteria to enjoy lunch with each other. A few of the robots filter in and out as they grab fuel for themselves.
Elecman only needs to watch for a few moments before he falls into pattern with the rest of the bots. He goes to grab his own can and find a spot to sit amongst them. It hasn't been a terribly fun day, but he's starting at the bottom of this plant's hierarchy. Surely if he proves himself he can be given more exciting tasks and, more importantly, more respect. Some of the men here don't treat him much better than Wily did. When he had the doctor's programming, it made him not mind being treated as a subservient drone at times. Now, though, he can't help but be bothered by it. But there's nothing he can do about it without risking being fired on day one.
The drones Elecman finds himself sitting around are sadly not much good for conversation. They all drink their fuel quickly and leave. Figures. These are not robots built with complex personalities or "souls" like he and the masters have. He nurses the rest of his fuel grumpily while they filter in and out around him. He doesn't even have any good sociable company during his downtime.
One of the plant workers notices Elecman lingering and sipping on his fuel and calls him out on it. "Aye! What's the holdup? Finish that off and get back to work."
Elecman groans to himself. Ugh. So much for a break. It hasn't even been a full 20 minutes. He quickly swallows the fuel and his anger, crushes and disposes of the can, and follows the drones back to his position before he can risk losing his temper.
The day continues in much the same way. Elecman is ignored and avoided for the most part unless someone needs him for something, then he's addressed curtly and shortly, like his co-workers are word misers. Most of the time he doesn't even get complete sentences.
"On the ladder."
"Finished?"
"Not like that."
"Hurry it up."
"Five more of those."
"To the 2nd station."
"Move it."
Everyone deals with him like he's invisible until he's needed, and then he's treated like a dog.
At least until a little later when someone notices him passing through the hall. They nudge their friend and point.
"Hey Benny there it is, see? I told you. We just got it in today. Same one that took over that hospital."
"Ugh... And they really think it's safe?"
"Apparently that Doctor Light stripped out the malicious code. Supposedly it's harmless now."
As Elecman passes through the narrow hallway the first guy knocks on his head.
"See?" He uses the lack of retaliation to prove his point. "I hear it's good with focusing output charge though. They're going to use it in the new reactor once they've insulated the silo."
"Aaaah."
"Hey!" Elecman glares and steps aside from the man. "Excuse you!"
Benny laughs. "Ahaha! You made it angry."
His friend laughs too, grabbing the top of Elecman's head and tussling it around. "I always heard that Light Labs tried to make these things lifelike. "The more human the better user interface" or something like that. Hey there guy, my name is JO! J. O. Jo! Can you say that? Say... Jo!"
"..." Elecman pauses for one moment, and the next he swats away the man's hand. "Don't touch me, Jo."
"Hey now cut that out you little fucker, haven't you ever heard of the first law of robotics?" He growls, kicking Elecman to the ground.
"Careful what you say," Benny warns. "Those things are always recording you. Whatever you say could end up back in Mr. Miller's hands."
"Bah" Jo says. "I'm not worried, Miller knows I've got a mouth."
"It's probably just programmed to keep you from tampering with it." Benny says. "Experimental tech and all that. Light labs wouldn't want any trade secrets getting out. Seriously, leave it alone. If we go messing up our prototype robot they'll cut out automated resource budgeting and we'll be stuck with the old mets for ANOTHER five years."
"Psh. All the better if it keeps these fucks from stealing our jobs. Did you hear? Another five people from our sector let go just this week. I'm telling you every time we get one of these things it's another hard worker's neck on the chopping block."
Though the kick is enough to send Elecman to the ground, he gets back to his feet in moments. "My apologies, Jo. I did not think you were so fragile to be harmed by such a gesture." He keeps his bright blue eyes narrowed in a glare. "I think I need to teach you my name next. It's Elecman. Not 'drone'. Not 'fucker'. E-L-E-C-M-A-N. Can you that say that?" He shakes his head with a look of contempt, getting cocky now in his anger. "And by the way, in regards to those firings, that's how you keep a machine running. When working parts become old and obsolete, they need to be replaced by newer and better ones."
Both Benny and Jo are very obviously shocked by the remarks from Elecman. They clearly didn't expect anything like this out of him. By the time he finishes his rant both of their mouths are hanging open.
Elecman flashes them a smirk next. "Now then...if you both are finished wasting my time, I have work to return to."
Neither of them stop him as he walks off, but they break into murmurs as he leaves.
What the hell was that?
Neither of them has any idea.
The rest of the day continues with much of the same harassments. There's very little of the fun things from the first day that Elecman gets to do and by the time five o'clock rolls around he is quite ready to leave.
When he begins seeing other workers starting to file out, he is ecstatic to follow suit. He prepares to clock out and leave before he has to spend a moment longer around these barbarians.
"Hey... Where do you think you're going?"
"I...Isn't it the end of my shift?"
"Shift?" Elecman's boss gives him an odd look. "I thought Light was giving you to us... Did he order you to return back at the end of the humans' work day?"
About that time Elecman notices the mets and other drones are still milling around at work.
"I uh...Not ordered, no, but...He never said anything about being given. Perhaps because he knows better than to think of me as a possession to be handed off."
The man gives him a funny look. "Well... You do that then. I haven't got any more directives for you right now anyway. Have him contact me, though, so we can work out exactly what the conditions of you working here are."
The man gives Elecman his contact information and sends him off.
Elecman nods, and with that, he walks out of the building as quickly as he can.
Light is outside waiting to pick him up. He drove over to congratulate his son on his first OFFICIAL day of work. "Hello! How was it? Did you do anything fun today?"
The frown on Elecman's face tells half of it. He keeps quiet until he seats himself in the passenger seat. "Ugh! How INFURIATING!"
The doctor's face falls slack from excitement to anxious worry. "That bad? Whatever happened?"
Light places a hand on his shoulder as he seats himself. "They had me do grunt's work! I wouldn't have minded that so much but what got me is the way they treated me! Oh, you should have seen it! They talked to me like a mindless drone! One of them kicked me when I dared to stand up for myself!
"Oh... Oh my... My poor boy I'm so sorry..." The kind doctor frowns down at him, deeply troubled by the news. It went so well yesterday… But perhaps he got too optimistic himself.
Elecman huffs. "Oh...by the way. One of them wanted you to call him." He holds out the card he received earlier.
Light leans over to get him a hug. "I'll have a talk with Mr. Miller about the conditions you are working in, alright? I won't let you continue to be harassed... Have no fear. I'm just sorry you had to endure harassment today..."
"They thought you were giving me to them. Can you believe it?" But he also searches the doctor's eyes worriedly. He… he isn't just to be handed over, is he?
Light's frown deepens. "That... Is not at all the case."
"Yeah well… They had better shape up tomorrow." He replies, untensing a little. That's a relief. "Well...let's go home and see this new place, hm?"
Light nods and drives back to the university where they pick everyone else up. With Iceman sitting in the middle of the front seat they manage to fit everyone and then it is off to the cape. The construction crews are already there and well on their way with laying foundation. Blues is the first out of the car, ready to get away from everyone else. He stares with interest as the work going on. "Huh... Surprising... It's going to be pretty big, huh?"
Rather than a house, the size of the foundation suggests a mansion.
"Whoooooaaaahhhh!" The kids are astounded. "It's HUGE!"
Roll tracks around it, scoping it out. "EEK! I see the beach at the bottom of the cliff!"
"Oh oh oh can we go see Dad?" Rock is bouncing.
"Of course! I'll be here having a word with Mr. Bradford. Just look out for each other!"
"We will!" Rock takes hold of Roll's hand, and they start towards the shore, being careful not to slip.
Protoman watches them go and just generally takes in the view. There is a very nice vantage of the city from this overlook. It is out across the bay. The stars are just beginning to come out as the sun fades in the distance, painting a fantastic array of colors across the ocean sky.
Hm... Rather than join them on the beach, he decides to head up to the observatory farther up around the curving road that winds around the cape's hill.
No one seems to notice when Protoman doesn't follow them down to the sand. While Iceman and Elecman hang back, Rock and Roll go near the water's edge. "Wow...it's so pretty, isn't it?"
Roll nods excitedly. "EEK! Tide pools! I wonder if there are sea critters in them?" She hurries over to look inside of one and sure enough it's teeming with life. There are urchins, starfish, hermit crabs, minnows, and even an octopus in one.
Rock immediately follows her to start looking in himself. He gasps at all of the sea creatures he finds. "Look at all these! It's like being at the aquarium."
"I know! And the beach! And the zoo! We're gonna have so much fun here! We can invite all of our friends like Pharohman, Kalinka, and Tempo over and have beach parties!" She giggles in her excitement. "Icy help me build a sand castle!"
"Oh man yes they'll love a beach party!" Rock pumps his fists, already seeing the beach towels, umbrellas, and tiki torches in his mind's eye.
Iceman perks and comes to join Roll. "Sand castle?" He tilts his head curiously. Even Elecman eventually comes to see what has Rock so excited.
Meanwhile, Blues reaches the observatory. He's worried at first when he realizes no one is there, but the doors are unlocked. Huh. He peeks his head in for a look around. There are apparently no staff, it is just open to public use. The more he takes it in, the more dated he realizes that it is. The floors are dusty. Large cobwebs hang in the corners of the room. The sound of his footsteps echo loud in the central dome, and through some narrow gap—perhaps a broken window somewhere, or a breach in the thin metal-plated dome walls, the ocean breeze whispers inside and emits a spectral moan as it swirls through the rotunda. Up above is a network of iron-grated catwalks and stairs leading up to the large telescope above, but he doesn't feel like making the climb now. There's another door leading to a room adjoining this central chamber. When Blues wanders inside, he is surprised to discover a small theater. The ceiling overhead is also domed, albeit much lower and smaller than the other room. What he finds makes him gasp quietly with surprise. As his eyes adjust to the dim lighting, he realizes that projected overhead are stars to mimic the night sky. A seemingly perfect model of the heavens. He quickly picks out some familiar constellations among the twinkling bright points overhead. As he watches, the stars dance slowly above in their mysterious eternal spiral. Though there is no air conditioning, it is cool. However, there must be power somewhere in the building besides the projector. There is faint instrumental music playing to give the majestic view a certain ambiance...
Blues quickly decides he likes this. He walks down an aisle and picks a row of fold down chairs. Moving some arms up, he fashions himself a rough bed out of them and lays down as he gazes at the constellations above. This feels like somewhere where he could comfortably fall asleep. It's such a surprise to have such a nice spot all to himself.
He muses how this could be. Knowing Mega City, there is probably a newer, nicer observatory somewhere in the middle of town. And besides… star projectors like this one are children's toys you could buy in any superstore. Not many must feel the need to trek all the way out here for the sight. Given the signs of age he's seen, it's probably quite old…
Old… distant… dirty… obsolete. Makes sense.
Their loss, his gain.
Blues keeps watching the stars until the persistent calm makes him forget himself and lures him to sleep.
As Rock teaches Elecman about all of the different animals in the tide pools, Iceman does his best to help Roll make an impressive castle. He's not as good sculpting sand as he would be with ice or snow, but he manages.
Roll is very encouraging regardless. "Eek that's so good! Now it just needs a flag on top!"
She looks around to see what she could fashion into one but doesn't manage to come up with anything.
"Hmmm..." Iceman goes to look around at some stuff washed up on the shore. He finds a stick small enough to stick in the castle without breaking it, but what to use as the flag...Then he spots some seaweed to wrap around and have hanging from the end. It's not exactly a great flag, but it should work nicely. He comes back and holds the new flag out to Roll. "Would you like to do the honors, Queen Roll?"
Roll gasps and blushes at first, but quickly puts on a queenly, regal air. "Why thank you my beloved subject. You have served your queen well."
She takes the flag and raises the banner on top of her lovely castle. "There! Finito!"
As the sun sinks lower the doctor eventually calls his children back from higher on the hill.
They all turn to the sound of his voice and obediently file back up the hill to stand before him.
"Dr. Light, Roll and I made a sand castle, you should see!"
"And Rock showed me all these animals that I only got to see on TV before!" Elecman chimes in.
"Oh? Why that's wonderful! And we will all get to see them much more once we move in." He beams. This was a good idea. He's glad he splurged a bit and went for this location.
It is very near dusk now. Many of the human construction workers are moving back to their vehicles to leave as Light gathers his own group. "Time to go kids. Hm... Where did Blues go?"
###########################
When Blues awakens next it's not because he was nudged, rocked, rolled, or shocked... But chilled.
He jumps awake shivering. "Ack! ICEMAN WHAT THE HELL!?"
The icy bot snickers. "It's time to leave, and that's for wandering off without telling us and making us worried. But once I saw this place I knew it'd be the sort of place you'd want to look at."
The others are standing a short distance away. Instead of looking at Blues, though, their heads are turned upward, watching the same starlit display that captured Blues's attention originally.
Blues flushes, embarrassed that he was caught sleeping. At least no one seems to be paying attention to him now. He flicks Ice man's hood off as revenge and gets up.
Iceman sticks his tongue at him before going to join the others. Rock smiles at his brother. "This is a really neat place, Blues. We should all visit it next time."
"Eh." His brother shrugs.
He heads out the door while they continue oogling the stars. So much for a private place to nap... It has potential though. Maybe some nights he can come out here to sleep and be close to the Light household.
Rock blinks, smile faltering in the face of Blues's apathetic response. "Um...we found some tide pools by the water. They had little fish and crabs and sea urchins, and we even found an octopus in one of them!"
"Oh?" Blues does sound vaguely interested in that.
"Uhuh! It was pretty small. It looks like it could fit in my hand. I tried to hold it, but it squished itself behind a rock."
Blues chuckles. "It hid itself behind you huh?"
Rock snickers in spite of how terrible the joke is. "Yeah, it did."
Iceman suddenly catches up to Blues's other side. "But you know what me and Roll did? We made a big pretty sand castle."
"Oh? No wonder your hood was so gritty."
"Ack," Iceman jumps a little. "Ugh. Yeah...I'm gonna have to wash out the sand from my frame. But that's what happens when you build. You gotta get a little messy."
Blues jumps into the car where Elecman is already waiting. Once everyone's loaded up and headed back to their home, Protoman speaks.
"I would be grateful if you could drop me out when we reach the city. I can find my own way from there."
"Drop you out?" Light asks. "You mean you aren't coming back home with us? Please don't tell me you mean to sleep elsewhere tonight... You have a place with us, Protoman."
"I don't plan to sleep, no. I have errands to run tonight."
Light frowns, not liking the idea of his son skulking around in the dark city... But says no more. If he tries to force Blues to stay close, then Blues will just run farther away from him. "As you wish... Do you have any preference of where I should leave you?"
"Subway would be good."
Both Rock and Elecman look to Blues curiously, but they quickly realize they should follow the doctor's lead and not ask. Rock still can't help but worry, however. He's not planning on traveling outside of the city is he?
Protoman gets off at the subway and waves to the Light family. "Later." He really does have errands to run tonight... so without any ado he grabs a newspaper and heads down into the subway station to catch a train.
For a while he just rides... there are televisions on the train that stay on the news channels and he double tasks, looking through all the local tabloids and crime reports along with catching the key stories. Finally a pattern begins to emerge. Hardware stores. Hobby shops. Fuel depots. All places where you can get tools and e-packs. No traces. No footage. No prints. Just clean get in, get out, steal targeted items operations. About seven in total.
Blues goes through a catalog of all similar stores that fit that profile located throughout the city. He eventually decides to stay away from central Mega city. None of the crimes have been there. Too visible, he bets. All the attacks were on the fringes... most on the west side but some east and south... no northern city attacks. Again an area of high visibility and night life. He'll keep away from there. So... that leaves him with another 14 most probable places for attacks... most of them on the west side. He hopes his luck is good tonight.
He gets off the Mega West Limited and takes to the skies, traveling across rooftops while he tunes into the police radio using his built in comm...
He takes a seat on top of a high riser surveying the city below... takes out an e-pack that he bought nearby... and sips on it as he waits. The crescent moon rises slowly to prominence in the sky... Everything is quiet and peaceful... on the surface.
But Blues knows better than to trust the city for its surface appearance. It's a little after 2:00 when he hears the report of a suspicious figure in a trench coat. Odd... it's fairly warm out. He moves towards the area where the report originated. It's 2:30 when he spots the suspicious figure walking down the sidewalk. Very odd... they're short too... About his size...
He watches as they pace slowly up and down the sidewalk in front of an electronics store. Bingo. Blues moves closer from above, sticking to the shadows of his rooftop. His eyes never leave the individual. They are too far away to get a good look out, and it's so dark. The street light is busted out.
The protobot hesitates. He could move in now and take them by surprise… But they seem to be waiting on something or someone. He wants to know who or what.
And so he waits with them.
2:45 - They light a cigarette.
3:00 - They put it out and crush it under their heel.
Protoman lingers, tense and on bated breath until they move into the alley by the store. Finally something is happening. He gives it until he hears the burglar alarm before he moves in.
What happens next he is not prepared for.
Everything is a blur. The moment he enters through the sheared brick wall that leads into the store, there is a flash of bright light. Blues lifts his shield reflexively and feels something metallic glance off of it. He charges forward with a battle cry but something bashes back.
There's a grunt.
And then, a scream. But not his attacker's. There are two here. And by the sound of it one of them just got badly hurt.
It's too dark to see, but Blues thinks he knows who he is dealing with, and it puts him more on his guard. He slides to the side and avoids getting locked into a corner as he raises his arm cannon to fire. The shot rings out and blasts the ceiling, sending sparks flying everywhere.
There.
A shadow at the corner of the room. Blues points his blaster, preparing to fire again but just as he does something sinks into his arm.
"GAH!"
He aims back in the direction the knife was thrown from just in time to see the other shadow disappearing into the alley. He gives chase, firing off shots as the figure disappears into the night. It's no use though. By the time he gets back outside of the building, there's no sign of them.
He groans as he pulls a kunai out of his arm just above the elbow. No doubt... It's Shadow's work.
Remembering that there is still someone else in the building he rushes back inside.
"SURRENDER! I have you-..."
Protoman drops the weapon he has trained on the other figure that he almost fired on before. He approaches cautiously, his shield half raised. When his eyes adjust and he realizes what he is seeing, he pauses.
"...Why?"
This doesn't make sense...
The other robot's shadowy form lays limp in the corner, unconscious or deactivated one. But not by his own doing.
Hearing distant sirens that quickly grow closer, Blues picks up the figure and slings them over his shoulder, heading outside. He had best get out of here before he has to deal with the police. Then he can try to make some sense of the bizarre confrontation and his new captive.
END OF CHAPTER
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