CB: A huge thank you to all of my reviewers! RandyPandy, Tatzu-zzmage, shadowneko003, starscreammega, … some person who signed T0, and Archaon! You all rock! Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman or any products of Capcom, I do own this storyline.

"Well I suppose it can be expected." Dr. Light sighed. "He may be able to help us while he is here."

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Blues asked.

"We have guest rooms. And the more people we have working on this, the more likely we will find an answer." Dr. Light replied.

"I doubt he will actually help us, he's just coming to make sure I don't do something." Dr. Wily said. "Though I don't know how he would stop me even if I planned to."

"What do you mean?" Blues asked.

"I mean he would have no means to stop me, he got out of the advanced robotics field years ago to make sure I wouldn't use him again."

"He may not officially work in the field anymore, but he is still considered to be the third greats roboticist the world has ever known, and if we can convince him of what you were really doing, I'm sure he would don the lab coat again." Dr. Light.

"He may become the fourth soon." Blues commented.

"Excuse me?"

"Kalinka has been catching up ever since she repaired all of the Robot Masters that were destroyed during the fourth attack. They all work in the fields they were meant to now." Blues explained.

"Remarkable, isn't she only seventeen?" Dr. Light asked.

"She is quite bright, regardless of her age, and been very talented since she was young." Blues replied.

"You seem to know quite a bit about her." Dr. Wily commented.

"I spend some time there every once in a while."

A door opening off to the side opening interrupted their conversation, and Forte stood in the doorway.

"Um, hey." He started uncertainly, still seeming nervous about approaching his one-time enemies. "Roll told me something about a pod?"

Roll waited outside for Forte with a broad smile on her face. She could hardly believe she had actually gotten him to come with her! She had actually believed he was going to stay in his room and mope. Forte was right earlier though, she could have just gotten Rock to go with her, but she felt a need as a friend to help him up some more. After all, with the exception of Gospel, Roll was fairly sure he didn't have any other friends, and while she knew the value of an animal companion, she knew sometimes a person just needs to talk to someone who can talk back.

The sound of the front door opening drew her from her thoughts, and she looked over to see Forte closing the door behind him. He wore a simple white t-shirt, with sand brown pants, nothing really remarkable on him except his purple hair. Yet, while it was an odd color, it seemed to fit him well. And while she tried to keep her attention on his face, she couldn't help but notice the rest of his body. The shirt was somewhat tight on him, sense he was taller than Blues, and it showed off his well-toned chest and arms. Overall he looked… hansom.

"Roll?" Forte asked, snapping her back to attention. "Are you all right?"

She was confused for a moment why he would ask such a question, until she noticed the heat on her cheeks. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Um, yeah, just dazed out there for a second."

"Okay…" Forte said in an uncertain tone. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go" She replied as she started leading the way.

For a while they walked in silence, Roll to embarrassed to speak, and Forte not really sure what to say.

"Roll?" He asked suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"I've been meaning to ask you something. You, Rock, and Blues all seem pretty tall for ten years old, and according to the old man, that's what you were all built as."

"Well yeah, dad wasn't going to make us stay ten forever, we all have upgraded bodies. Rock's and my own bodies are modeled around sixteen, Blues… well, we're not really sure how he gets upgraded since dad's never worked on him, but he seems to have the body of a twenty year old." Roll explained. "What age are you modeled after?"

"About seventeen." He replied, "Another thing I wanted to ask you was, why was Rock collecting all those bolts last time?"

"Oh, I would melt them down to make them into new parts." Roll explained, glad that they were talking instead of walking in an awkward silence.

"Why not just use the scrap from the robots he destroyed?"

"Because that would like a human cutting off a dead guys arm to use as his own." Roll said in disgust. "You've never done that have you?"

He looked off to the side, avoiding her gaze.

"Forte…?"

He sighed, "Look, on a battlefield you have to make do with what you can, there is no room for civility."

"Oh… sorry." Roll said in a soft voice.

"You have nothing to apologize for. I know what I've done, and I don't want anyone's pity for it." Forte spat.

"It's not pity." She said, "It's concern and sympathy from a friend."

"You don't have to be concerned about me." Forte retorted.

"You're right, I don't have to, but I do because I like you." Roll replied.

"What?" A stunned Forte asked.

Roll blushed once she realized what that sounded like. "No! I don't mean like that! I mean I mean I like you as a friend!" She quickly explained.

"Oh, well… thanks." Forte muttered while scratching the back of his head and looking off to the side.

Roll took some solace in the fact that he seemed as uncomfortable as her, but remained silent as to refrain from making things even more awkward.

"This is good, comrade. We shall see you in about a week." Dr. Cossack said.

"We'll be waiting, and tell Kalinka I said hi." Blues replied.

"Actually she just walked in, here let me go get her, Kalinka!" He called as he walked off screen. A few moments later a blond teenager, nearly a women, walked onscreen.

"Hey Bluesy!" She said with a broad smile, using a name she had come up with a few years back to playfully annoy him.

"Hey Kali." Blues replied with a smirk.

"You know it's been a while since you last visited." She said.

"I know, but I've been needed here. I Planned in visiting a few days ago, but then we were attacked and I decided that it would be for the best if the one who defeated the assailant were to stay around."

"What? An attack? Is everyone alright?" A distressed Kalinka asked.

"Calm down Kali, the first time was more of a malfunction than an actual attack. The second one wasn't actually an attack on, but we have a theory that it did happen to catch our attention." Blues explained. "No one has been injured.

She exhaled a breath she had been holding in. "Good. Now then, what was it that dad was talking about us going over to you guys?"

"Listen, Albert has switched sides again, and Mikhail wants to make sure that he doesn't try anything."

"Oh, I never expected him to switch sides, at least not this soon." Kalinka said, sounding only partially surprised.

"I know, none of the others expected it, in fact, he only came over here to help because Dr. Light asked him to."

"Oh… You know that dad's out of the room, right?"

"Yes, and?"

She stayed silent for a moment while rocking back and forth on her heels. "…I'll be expecting a reply when we get there you know."

Blues sighed, "I know."

"Good, see you soon." She said as the screen turned off.

Blues remembered what the question had been, though she hadn't really asked anything.

He stood upon a hillock not very far away from the Cossack compound. Blues didn't know why he felt like he had to leave so soon, he had only been there a couple weeks, he just had a foreboding feeling that he was needed elsewhere. A great change would soon befall the world, but the red and gray android had no clue what it could be. Like many of the problems in the world though, he planned to remain an outside player.

The sound of snow crunching behind him drew him from his thoughts. He turned around to see Kalinka, dressed in her usual red full body coat, standing a few yards away with her hands behind her back. Parts of her shoulder length blond hair were white with snow, as she opted to come out without her hat.

"Hey Bluesy." She said, using a pet name she had come up with a few years prior, nearly a year after Dr. Wily had kidnapped her.

Hen they had first met, Kalinka had seemed scares, and greatly put off by his usually cold demeanor during those times when he was to guard her. She had warmed up to him considerably though after he had rescued her when Rock had entered the complex.

Blues had personally brought Kalinka back to Mikhail, and in his gratitude, he had given his newest invention, Beat, to the Light family in thanks for saving his daughter.

Shortly after that warm reunion, Mikhail had been called forward by the International Robotics Committee. He had pleaded to Blues to take care of his daughter until he got back, or if they imprisoned him, to find someone who could take care of her. Blues had accepted, and a few days later, he was off to face his crimes.

Kalinka dearly loved her father, and to say she was nervous about what they might do to him would have been an understatement. The first day, all she had done was cry, and the next few days hadn't been much better.

By the fourth day, Blues had felt the need to try and cheer her up. He tried taking her on a walk, hoping the fresh air might help her feel a little more comfortable. It took awhile, but Blues had finally been able to get her out of her depressed state of mind for a moment when he asked if she wanted to play in the snow. He had never been much for playing games, but he felt he should make an exception just this once. The first thing she did was start a snowball fight with him which ended with him allowing her to tackle him to the ground, and she had been giggling all the while.

A few days later, Mikhail came back, absolved of his crimes. He had said he believed it was because they knew he had been blackmailed, but even then Blues had his doubts. He found out later that Mikhail had gotten off the hook because Dr. Wily himself had pleaded in his favor.

Ever since that day Blues had often visited them during different times of the year. He had watched as Kalinka grew older, became closer to her and Mikhail, they were actually a couple of the few people he would consider friends. Oddly enough, Kalinka started a snowball fight with him every time he showed up.

"What are you doing out here? She asked, bringing him back to reality.

"Nothing." He replied simply.

"Blues I know you better than that." She said with a smile. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing important."

"Oh." She said with a smirk, and from the twitch her arms made, Blues knew what was about to happen. "Calm down, I don't have anything behind my back." She told him as she slowly pulled her arms from behind her back to show her empty black-gloved hands.

He relaxed and turned his attention back towards the sky.

"It's in my pocket."

He quickly turned his head back to her, only to have a snowball make contact with his visor. He quickly wiped it off, and found Kalinka was no longer standing in front of him. He did a quick scan of the field, trying to guess her next move. Blues ducked to dodge an incoming snowball from his right side, and quickly pulled off his shield and swept a large pile of snow to the right. He quickly scooped up as much snow as he could, and dived as closely to her direction as he could relative to her last throw. Catching her in his sights, he quickly hurled the snowball at her, it connected, and she fell to the ground.

He quickly walked over to her to see if she was alright, and was quickly tackled by her, and like that day five years, he let her win. In fact, the only reason the first snowball made contact was because he let it. Her face was mere inches way from his as they lay there.

"Alright, you won, mind getting off now?" Blues asked.

"In a moment." She said. He was confused for a moment, until her head quickly tilted to the side and her head fell the rest of the way, letting her lips rest on his for but a moment. "See you soon." She said quietly as she stood up, and walked off without giving an explanation.

"What are we going to do?" Thomas asked. "If they were to attack again, I'm not sure that Rock, Blues, and Forte combined will be able to take them on if they attack in bulk, and we can't reactivate X this early, not until we have fixed the problem that the X-strain has created."

"What do you think we should do?" Albert replied, "Create another version of X, that's what. Now, I'm thinking something in red."

CB: All right, sorry I haven't updated recently, but I haven't been able to access my computer much. Luckily, I think the length of this chapter, slightly, makes up for it. Also, sorry if Blues seems a little OOC, but we all have times when we are a little out of character when we are with good friends.