What? The boy's mind echoed, his voice still trying to find its place, his confused expression giving off more than enough information for the Servbot to piece together. He hadn't the slightest idea why, but somehow, a wave of relief overcame him at the sight of the little robot's face, even though he was convinced that he had never physically seen anything or anyone for as far as he could remember... maybe, that was indeed the reason for it after all. Yet try as he might, he couldn't just dismiss the thought as his fragmented memories, traces of scenes and events that were clearly not his, saw this charred yellow man as something more. "I... who..."

"You're awake!" Four exclaimed, trying his best to help his family's nemesis turned friend into a sitting position as he eagerly waited for miss Tron and the others to rescue them, unaware of the fact that they were currently sitting in the middle of a small crater. But even though he was practically covered head to toe in the after-effects of the explosion, nothing was going to ruin his mood today. After all, Megaman was back! At least the Servbot thought he was Megaman… Four definitely did not remember his armor being weathered and grey. "It's okay, let everything sink in! Falling here all the way from Elysium must have really hurt your head!"

"Elysium," The boy repeated, his cracking voice giving way to a coughing fit as he was not used to speaking yet… or basically anything else for that matter. Even the feeling of his lungs expanding as he breathed in was foreign to him. But that word… Elysium. A flood of scenes entered his vulnerable mind at the slightest mention of it, more so than anything at the moment. An armored hand instinctively reached up to massage the pallid skin on his forehead as he tried his best to 'let everything sink in', as the little robot said.

"Wow, those three months must've been hard… even your eyes have changed color!" The Servbot muttered, obviously shocked at the difference between the person in front of him and the Megaman he knew from three months ago. His hair was much longer now, but it was not as messy as he had remembered… his armor was also cracked in some places, but then again having stayed in Elysium for so long was probably the reason. His skin also looked quite different; in fact, it was so pale it seemed like he'd come down with something… once again, he might have just caught it in Elysium. But those eyes… "Megaman, are you okay?"

The boy's head snapped towards Four so quickly that the latter almost flinched. Megaman, his mind repeated what the robot said… and no more than a split second later, his head was bombarded by a new set of memories, most of which were still broken, but not as unintelligible. The Bonnes… Juno… it took a few moments for him to regain his composure, and by then, his voice had become a little more tolerable. "Serv… bot?"

"Y-yeah! It's me, number Four," The Servbot stated excitedly, allowing himself a sigh of relief. For a while there, he was beginning to think that Trigger had amnesia; nothing to worry about now. If he remembered the Servbot brothers, then it was highly likely for him to recall everything else. "Phew, had me worried there… miss Tron's going to be so glad to see you okay."

"Miss Tron… huh…" The boy replied, finding it easier to use his strained vocal chords by the second. The name rang a bell, but his head was currently overflowing with so many new thoughts and memories that he hardly noticed. Inevitably his eyes began to glaze over as the confused boy struggled to maintain order and pick off the certain pieces of information he found particularly important… like his name, for one. "Ray..."

"What was that?"

"My… my name," The boy drew a sharp breath as he attempted to prop himself up on both arms, steadying himself for the next great test—standing. "is Ray."

Hope...

Despair...

Charity...

Greed...

Power...

Love.

This is ROCKMAN DASH, FUTURE'S PATH!

Chapter two; 'Questions' -- "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

"Well, it sure feels nice to be decent again! Thanks Roll."

"You're welcome Megaman," Roll smiled mirthfully, looking her best friend over one more time. Oddly enough, the Sulphur Bottom's head chef had spotted Megaman's black suit inside one of his unused pots, which he was more than happy enough to hand over to the young girl without any need for an explanation. Fortunately, Roll also managed to procure the armor for his torso, as well as his buster cannon and the parts of his leg armor not very far from where he had first appeared. Since it wasn't complete, the black suit alone would do for now. "you haven't been eating very well up there, have you…?"

Trigger looked surprised for a second, before smiling sheepishly. The only source of sustenance he ever had in Elysium was what Sera gave him every two days. It wasn't exactly filling, but it kept him from going hungry… and he believed her when she said that it would be enough. For the life of him, he didn't know how Roll saw through his well nourished body, somehow being able to tell that he was absolutely starving for real food. But then again, she always knew better… "I can't ever hide anything from you, can I?"

Roll couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness at that. There he was, floating in Elysium, half starved… and she pretty much couldn't do anything about it. The young mechanic had to admit though, his blissful reaction to what she just said lifted her spirits more than she could have ever thought possible. "…I picked up a couple of recipes when you were gone just for this very occasion, so don't you worry Megaman. As soon as we get back to the Flutter, I'm going to fix you up so many sweets that you won't know where to start. I hope you like mango!"

"Hah, well you know I like anything you feed me." Trigger snickered, earning an embarrassed smile from the blonde girl. Usually it was Megaman who cooked the food, since most of the time Roll was too busy (that's what she told him anyway). But he always looked forward to the times she would go out of her way to bake him something… even more so after a hard day's dig. In fact he found himself wondering how he managed to keep himself in one piece long after the communicator had worn off, and the boy could no longer hear her gentle voice. "So! Shall we?"

Roll giggled, taking Megaman's hand. "We shall… to Gramps!"

Just as they were about to leave, Roll's portable phone began to ring. Glancing apologetically to Trigger, who didn't seem to mind very much at all, she fished for the aforementioned gadget in her pocket and brought the phone out for the both of them to see.

"Oh, it's Gramps."

"Do you want me to let him know now?" Roll asked her best friend, who shook his head after thinking it over for a brief moment. She supposed if she were in Megaman's shoes, she probably wouldn't have either. It'd be interesting to see the look on Gramps' face when he sees him in person first. Her grandfather had also called her several minutes ago, right in the middle of her search for the boy's lost armor to let her know that the beam originated from space. Opting to let her best friend decide, she told Gramps nothing about him then as well. Smiling back at Megaman—an expression that had been pretty much glued to her face for the past half-hour—Roll activated the speaker and answered the call. "Yes Gramps? Oh… I'm just resting my legs in one of the guest rooms. I'll be back in a bit… huh? Yes, I know that mister Von Bleucher's going to be the one giving us the supplies… oh, no Gramps, you have it all wrong…"

"What's going on?" Trigger whispered quietly, but she simply shook her head and grinned at him, a shade of pink covering her cheeks.

"Well uhm, it's sort of complicated… yes, the tape as well, you'll see when I get back. Okay, bye Gramps... please apologize to mister Von Bleucher for me too." Roll let out a small sigh as she put the phone back in her pocket, unable to hide the self conscious look on her face. "I suppose it 'is' pretty silly to be walking around the ship, just taking things and bringing them here. No wonder the ones that saw me let Gramps know."

"If that was the case, you should have told him I was here then…" Trigger said in a hushed tone, feeling somewhat guilty… after all, it was his armor she was hauling around. He also knew that it wasn't too big a deal, since all would be forgiven when the pair finally got around to seeing them. Of course, that still didn't stop him from feeling guilty; he always was. "they thought you were just taking random things from the Sulphur-Bottom huh?"

"Yes… but it's really nothing to worry about." Roll dismissed the topic, feeling a little odd nevertheless. Gramps had probably thought she was rummaging for supplies on her own… but that was ridiculous. Then again, she hadn't really been herself lately. He'd never admit it, but her grandfather was actually just as worried about Megaman as he was with her, and right now Gramps truly didn't know what to expect. "No point in keeping those two waiting right? Let's go Megaman."

"Yep."

"By the way, I found this really good recipe for mashed sweet potato I think you'll really like—wait… where's Data by the way?" Trigger suddenly stopped walking, and Roll looked back to see him making a pretty good impression of a dying gold fish. "…Why isn't he with you?"

"I uh… well…"

o-----

"Miss Trooon!" The youngest Servbot wailed, frantically tripping on almost any uneven ground his little feet ran over. He practically screamed all the way from the roof of the three story workshop—it couldn't even be called a building—up to Tron's room in the first floor, where she was waiting impatiently for Roll to call. As for the Germainschaft, Teisel had flown it to Calbania island with Bon Bonne and some of the Servbots in order to salvage as well as purchase some extra materials needed to refurnish their humble flying home, leaving Tron to continue work on the rocket she and Roll were working on to bring Megaman back from space. "Miss TROOOOOON—"

"WHAT!"

"Uh…" Number Forty slowly, cautiously opened his eyes to find that he was already in front of his aggravated creator, who looked like she had definitely seen better days. For a few seconds the little Servbot had forgotten what exactly he was supposed to say, having been scared stiff... but it was only for a moment, due to the urgency of the situation. "Number Four, he… potato, eye spy… he…"

"Forty, you're not making any sense! Pull yourself together or so help me—"

"IaskedFourtoplaywithmeandwewereplayingeyespyandhewashitbythesunandbeforeheflewawayhe toldmetocallyou!!!"

Tron twitched. "W-what? What happened to Four?"

"Hit by the sun and flew away!"

"The sun?!"

"I'm not sure it was orange!"

"What do you mean by 'he flew away'?!"

"He was hit and he flew away!"

"Hit by what exactly?!"

"The sun!"

"Stop screaming Forty!"

"I CAN'T!"

"WHY NOT?!"

"I'M SCARED!"

"…Okay, okay just calm down," Tron sighed, lifting the frightened Servbot so that she could have a better look at him. His eyes were moistening up and his mouth was quivering; more than enough to make the pirate girl feel guilty. Sure she would yell at them and in some rare occasions even kick them in the butt… but that was only if they screwed up really bad. Forty hadn't done anything wrong. Well, at least not yet. Nevertheless, the youngest Servbot wasn't the type to lie, and Tron was beginning to get worried about number Four. "so tell me. Which way did he fly off to?"

Forty quickly pointed to the direction where he had last seen his brother, which was northwest; he really wasn't too adept when it came to memorizing certain terms, but it was good enough of for Tron.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes…"

"Hm, all right then." The tired girl put Forty down, her eyes darting to and fro for any other Servbot who might be able to help. Unfortunately, Tron already knew that she'd given a strict set of chores for nearly all of them, the exceptions being number Four, Seven, Sixteen, Thirty-Eight, and of course number Forty, as well as the Servbots who accompanied Teisel to Calbania Island (for obvious reasons). She needed them with her because sometime before noon, the Casketts were supposed to arrive with the parts and supplies, and she could have used a couple of errand boys just in case… oh well. Convenience was once again thrown out the window. "Did Teisel take the spare Gustaff when he went to Calbania?"

The Servbot shook his head, having finally calmed himself enough to stop pouting. "No miss Tron, I saw number Eighteen cleaning it outside before I went to play with number Four."

"Good, I want you to head out with number Seven in the Gustaff, and show him where Four is, okay? I'm really busy right now so I can't tag along, but go ahead and dispatch one of the old Finkels—I'll monitor you two from there. Remember, I'm counting on you."

"…Roger!" Forty exclaimed, the Servbot's rarely seen determined and responsible side showing as he quickly marched out of his creator's sight, more than eager to perform the appointed task. "Oh Number SEVEEEN…!"

Tron waited for several seconds before allowing one final sigh to escape her lips, almost collapsing on her less than comfortable chair as she let all of the recent events race through the overworked recesses of her mind. It wasn't like these past few months have been a total waste… failure after failure aside, the rocket's potential was beginning to show incredible promise. In fact Tron prided herself at having been able to develop stabilizers that rivaled that of the Sulphur-Bottom, in something less than a quarter of its size. Sure, she had to send her Servbots to infiltrate the flying behemoth and steal Bleucher's blueprints in order to find out what exactly kept the pressure from bombing, but that was only a technicality really. Indeed, things were going well… and yet it was probably the reason why she felt so uneasy in the first place. With everything proceeding so smoothly this time around, what if it still didn't work? If worse ever came to worst… unless a couple of technological breakthroughs just happened to fall from the sky for the next couple of days, Megaman would probably be stuck in Elysium for a very, very long time. But all things considered, this wasn't the last chance they had to bring home… it sure felt like it though.

A year ago, Tron wouldn't have even dreamed of getting so worked up over some… some boy. And to make matters worse, that particular boy was the main reason she and her family were almost too poor to be pirates. Oh, that and he was also the reason why every living being in Terra was still alive right now. She can't love him, she can't hate him. Life just wasn't fair.

Flicking open a switch on her desk, one of several monitors that littered her makeshift room hummed to life—the lack of order being due to Teisel rushing the very complex process of moving technology from one place to another… he was just lucky that all of it still worked, otherwise, she would have had his fat head. At first the monitor showed static, which was understandable. It was connected via frequency to the Finkel's internal camera, and it simply meant that the machine hadn't been activated yet. Subconsciously, there was a nagging voice at the back of her head wondering if Four really had been hit by an orange blob. Only Number Forty knew for sure, because she never found the time or a reason to install any kind of radar during their stay in this relatively peaceful place. Also, the Germainschaft was usually docked outside the workshop and its tracking systems were just fine, so why bother? It was a pretty silly coincidence though, that one of the only times she could've used their flagship's radar was the same day Teisel flew off to Calbania.

More like a stupid coincidence, Tron thought to herself, albeit a little less annoyed than she thought she would be. At the very least, this would be a good way to kill time, at least until the Casketts arrived. Wonder what blondie's doing right now…

o-----

"My boy! Is that really you?!" The old digger said incredulously for what seemed to be the hundredth time, having trapped his adopted grandson in a bone crushing bear hug, squeezing him like there was no tomorrow. "Megaman, my boy!"

"Y-yes Gramps, it's me…" Megaman gasped, caught between both the moment and Barrel's tight grip as he tried his best not to cry—whether it was out of joy, or pain. Truth be told, the boy missed his family so much that really didn't mind the fact that he couldn't breathe, happily letting his ecstatic grandfather crush him for as long as he liked.

Roll couldn't help but shed a few tears herself, as she hardly if ever saw Gramps in such an emotional state. He was usually so passive and calm in these situations, but this time, she couldn't blame him… this was a special moment for all of them. Even the Professor's old friend was moved at the sight of their little family reunion. "I think we should celebrate!"

"That's a splendid idea Roll." Von Bleucher said, his mind already going to work on what kind of celebration they should have. This was Megaman after all; the great savior of Terra. This was not going to be any ordinary party, that much was certain. In mere seconds he had already decided on the food, the layout, the music, as well as what kind of fireworks worked best in this altitude. Now, all he needed was time to send out the invitations and order the materials and caterer's needed to make it happen. "About a week from now, we will hold a grand gala to commemorate Megaman's safe return from space. How does that sound?"

The boy in question's eyes widened at that. A party? For him? This was the last thing he would have expected… or maybe it was just the last thing he wanted. Either way, he would be far too embarrassed to attend a celebration that was all for him--especially since mister Von Bleucher was the host. That would mean every well-known name in Terra would attend it. But thinking about it now, he supposed it wasn't that bad… he did want to see how the mayor of Kattelox was doing, as well as some of his old friends there, and little baby Megaman; he should be around one and a half by now. "Uhm, that sounds great and all… but, a party for me? That's a little too much don't you think?"

"Hah! Nonsense!" Von Bleucher laughed, having already planned to continue on with the celebration whether or not the boy agreed to it. He was being far too modest to know what was good for him, anyway. This was exactly what he needed, a little taste of what it was like to be a celebrity! And the fact that Megaman genuinely deserved this more than anybody didn't hurt either. If there was one thing Von Bleucher had learned about life it was that things were always better sooner rather than later, and this was no exception. "Terra's greatest hero deserves a hero's celebration, after all! But since this is your first time, I promise, nothing too overwhelming. Perhaps, just a five minute speech will do."

"S-speech…?" The boy muttered, his stomach beginning to make knots.

"Don't worry Megaman, I'll be right beside you all the way. A digger's no good without a spotter, right?" Roll smiled reassuringly, which was more than enough to calm her best friend down. Von Bleucher's idea wasn't exactly what the blonde girl had in mind, but she figured it was just as good, if not better. Megaman had always deserved something like this. She wanted him to feel that they weren't taking him for granted, even though she knew that wasn't what he was thinking at all. Either way, he had always deserved better than what he had now… "It'll turn out great."

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that Vener knows best… but I would have to agree with him on this one Megaman," Barrel nodded, a little surprised at Von Bleucher's sudden eagerness to repay his grandson's efforts. But given the situation, it simply wasn't enough to grow suspicious of his old friend. Perhaps, he really did want to thank him in the grandest way possible. It wasn't like he was incapable of selflessness every now and then. Barrel had assumed after years of careful observation that it was probably just a little more difficult for him to do so. Probably. "I'm just sorry we hadn't done this sooner."

"Roll, Gramps… Mister Von Bleucher. Thank you." Trigger beamed a happy smile, his vision getting blurrier as he subconsciously lifted the back of his hand to wipe the would-be tears that were beginning to form in his eyes. He always knew they cared… he would just never ever get used to this kind of affection, because it triggers certain emotions that he had no idea how to keep at bay. "It'd be an honor…"

"Excellent, it's settled then." Vener let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, softening up to the young digger's reaction. Perhaps being too modest wasn't such a bad thing after all… that doesn't change anything, though. First thing next week, Megaman was going to have a crash course run on life in the A-list side. He could only hope that the boy was up to it. "Oh, that reminds me Barrel. Are the parts and supplies still needed?"

"Hmmm, what do you think Roll?" The old Professor looked thoughtful for a moment, before switching his gaze to his grand-daughter, who pretty much had the same look. He regretted the fact that he would have even suspected Roll of just taking things in the Sulphur Bottom without permission… who would've known that she was actually searching for his grandson's armor! He wouldn't have been able to guess that in a million years. He felt so bad about it that he didn't even bother to ask her why she'd taken one of the security tapes. "Do you think it's still important to finish the rocket?"

"Yes Gramps, I do… I really think we're onto something here. Who knows, the rocket may actually make it to space this time! And besides, Data's still up there so…"

"Oh, you mean Data isn't with you Megaman?" The person in question shook his head sheepishly, and Barrel smiled knowingly. "Well, I don't think we need worry about him… doesn't he just pop in out of nowhere sometimes?"

"Now that you mention it Gramps… yeah, he does do that! In fact I didn't see him in Elysium the first week or so. I thought he was in Terra."

"Wait a minute… you're right!" Roll's jaw dropped as she distinctly recalled Data being with them when they first started building the rocket. The thought just probably slipped her mind as the months began to pile up… she had also gotten used to the little monkey disappearing from time to time. Suddenly, Roll felt a heavy weight being lifted from her chest as she realized that they might not need to pick Data up from space after all. "Maybe he does have a means of getting back here by himself. Still, it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Indeed; I'll have the supplies, as well as the remaining pieces of Megaman's armor loaded up to the Flutter right away." Von Bleucher nodded, more than a little curious as to the latest performance of Roll and the Bonne girl's prototype rocket. Being the restless explorer he was, a successful trip to space opened an infinite amount of possibilities that, simply put, he wouldn't miss the world for. "And if the rocket does indeed prove to be successful, then you as well as those pirates will have ushered a new era… and we will have yet another reason to celebrate next week. Of course you'll have to prepare a speech yourself, hah!"

"A… speech? Me?" Roll muttered, suddenly feeling very much like a hypocrite. She was all for it when Megaman had to do one, but now… "I don't know…"

"Come on Roll, since when have we ever let each other down? A spotter's no good without a digger, right?" Trigger smiled a reassuring smile himself, and Roll couldn't help but let out a giggle as the tables turned. There was always a digger, and there was always a spotter. Never one or the other, but both acting together in perfect harmony. "I guess we'll always be partners in everything!"

And Roll, being a very smart and knowledgeable girl, began glowing beet red, resulting in Trigger staring quizzically at her, dumb-founded and wondering what exactly it was that made her react that way. He was dense as always… nevertheless, it didn't make her feel any less happy that he said that—or any less embarrassed. It was actually very cute that he… oh boy, now really wasn't the time for this. "Megaman…"

"Well, I suppose we'll be off, Vener. We have a lot of catching up to do, as you can tell." Barrel chuckled, finally being able to breathe easy after so many weeks of hopeless days and restless nights… In fact he didn't know whether he should spend time with Megaman, or take a week long nap first. The former was the obvious choice, sure… but a long nap sure seemed tempting for an old, weathered man like him. Back in his younger years, he'd stay awake for three whole days at a time, whether it was doing research on discovering new ruins or traversing through them, he never prioritized sleep. Now, he was forced to take them whenever and wherever he could get them, otherwise, he'd doze off every hour of every day… "All right you two, let's go home."

"Okay Gramps… thank you mister Von Bleucher, for everything." Trigger turned to face Vener, bowing politely, and the aging man nodded in reply, a soft smile on his face. After Roll had said her goodbyes as well, the three headed out of his office via the newly installed metal door, hissing closed as they left.

"Well, that felt nice." Vener muttered to himself, amused at the fact that he hadn't felt anything even remotely close to this in a long, long time. Going against his usually very frank nature, he decided against telling them about the third beam right now, opting to let the Casketts enjoy at least a day or two without having to worry about anything. That should be enough time for the Sulphur Bottom to head towards its coordinates. If it functioned similar to the beam that sent Megaman here, then it was possible that more 'visitors' from Elysium or space and what not had come to Terra.

But that wasn't anything new, he supposed… unbelievably enough, much weirder things have happened.

"Captain, set a course for the last heat signature's precise location... and do you think an eight layer cake mixed with rum is something teenagers would like?"

o-----

"So what you're trying to tell me… is you aren't Megaman?" The Servbot murmured, now feeling a little bit beside himself. Miss Tron had done an excellent job managing the data compression and uploads into their chips, allowing the Servbots' unpredictable minds to almost mimic the mental performance of a young human being, but this was just too much… "You're a different person…?"

"Yes… m-maybe. I don't know," The boy known as Ray shook his head, realizing now that the remaining fragments in his head had pretty much stopped moving, no matter how hard he tried to remember. He could recall some events that happened during Megaman's stay in Terra… if it even was the guy's memories. He wasn't sure if he even knew the blue armored boy. The only things right now that he was convinced were true was his name, and that Ray's instincts were practically screaming at him that he and the boy whom he shared memories with were two completely different people. But even so… he didn't know if he could believe himself when it came to that. "I'm sorry, your guess is as good as mine…"

The Servbot pouted, still terribly confused, as the two slowly headed towards the direction of his pirate family's temporary base of operations. Just as Number Four was about to ask another one of his questions, Ray's knees buckled under the weight as he exhaustedly began to fall face first to the grass… fortunately, his arms shot forward and stopped him cold, preventing any serious injury. Before he was even able to catch his breath the little Servbot was already kneeling beside him, a look of worry on his face. "Are you okay?"

"I…" Ray gasped, finding himself staring at the oddly familiar weapon on the ground, which he had obviously dropped when his arms stopped him from falling all the way through. It was beside the boy when Number Four woke him, and the Servbot had mentioned during their conversation that it looked like Megaman's gun… that, and he had no idea how it worked. Sighing softly, Ray made himself more comfortable as he seated himself on the grass, unable to walk anymore. "Sorry… can we rest here, for a while? It's just I… I don't think I've ever used my legs before."

"Oh, okay." Number Four agreed, taking his makeshift seat next to the tired boy. After around ten seconds or so, the Servbot began to hum instinctively, partly because he couldn't whistle at all. As the thoughtful silence accumulated into two full minutes, Four snuck a glance toward Ray, who looked to be just staring at the horizon. Thankfully, it was still at least three hours before lunchtime, so the sun was still not as hot or bright. He could feel a calm breeze gently letting itself known, unable to help but smile as the grass danced happily on the ground. And for the billionth time, Number Four inwardly thanked his creator for putting the time and effort into giving him the ability to sense such things.

At least another minute would pass before either of them said anything.

"Beautiful."

"What was that?" The Servbot asked, glancing back towards the armored boy who was looking at the sky, a forlorn expression on his face. Number Four simply put two and two together, and pretty soon he found himself staring at the endless blue as well. "Oh… you've never seen the sky, have you?"

"No. I have some memories of it but I… everything is beautiful." Ray couldn't find the words to explain, his undivided attention focused on the sky and the clouds, the mountains and trees, his mind far too busy taking in the sight to do anything. The memories he had didn't belong to him… which explained why it felt so unbelievable, to look at the world with his own eyes. He was just too disoriented to have noticed it earlier… in fact, he couldn't seem to remember much of what had happened before all of this. It was strange, because he felt that he knew so much more back then, even though he practically didn't exist… oh well. As far as he was concerned none of it mattered at the moment… so long as he could wake up and see this every morning, then the other details weren't important at all. A wistful smile graced his features as he curled up and hugged his knees, fully content to stay here as long as he possibly could. "Everything."

Number Four simply nodded in agreement, perhaps understanding the boy's situation a little too well… he and his brothers were like that during the first week of their lives too. They'd spend most of their time gawking at absolutely anything that looked interesting—it used to drive miss Tron mad. But from what he had learned from Ray, it was almost like he knew about these things before he even came here… like he was barred from seeing any of it. At least in their case they had no idea what any of it actually was, so probably half the reason miss Tron got so frustrated was all the questions she had to repeat at least forty times each. Staring quietly at Ray, Four couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He had probably waited a very long time to see the sky... "And now, you get to see all of this everyday!"

Ray blinked, a surprised look on his face, before smiling happily at the little Servbot, feeling much better about things. "I hope so... but if I'm not Megaman, doesn't that mean I can't go back with you…?"

"Oh… no, of course not! It's perfectly okay… I think." Number Four's expression instantly changed from relaxed to helpless, wondering how he was going to explain to miss Tron that Ray wasn't Megaman. But he couldn't just abandon him… Ray was his friend! She'd understand… but then again, they were struggling with money lately, so he might have to leave anyway, even if she does agree to let him stay. Not to mention, Master Teisel was very protective of miss Tron and master Bon when it came to strangers… "But you have some of Megaman's memories… you even have his armor! That has to count for something right?"

"No, that's okay. I wouldn't want to impose…" The boy shook his head, his vocabulary becoming more expansive by the minute. Necessities in the world of Terra, like food and water, as well as showers and waste disposal were slowly but surely embedding itself into his mind and becoming part of his nature as a whole, almost like he'd been living his life normally the entire time—likely the result of having the memories of someone who did. But at the same time, he felt that his real memories were buried somewhere… and that it was helping him, one way or the other. "Besides, if I'm here, then that must mean he's here too right?"

"B-but you can barely stand!" Number Four whined, his eyes beginning to fog. He may have been more mature than most of the other Servbots, but he was a Servbot nonetheless. It simply meant he didn't have as many tantrums as most of his other brothers. "And you have nowhere else to go… at least stay with us until you get better."

"I guess you have a point there…" Ray attempted in vain to comb his tangled hair by running his armored fingers through it, unsure of how to react to Number Four's kindness. As he was about to thank him once again for his hospitality, his ear caught the sound of something strange, a whipping noise, getting louder and louder by the second. As his eyes instinctively darted to follow the sound, he spotted a little orange machine making its way towards them. "What's that?"

"Hmmm…" Number Four blocked the glare of the sun with his robotic little hand and squinted his eyes in an effort to see what exactly it was Ray spotted. Eventually he did, and his face lit up instantly. "It's the Finkel! Miss Tron's flying camera! Oh, the Gustaff's right behind it too!"

"Finkel? Gustaff …?" Nope, it didn't ring a bell at all. Dismissing the thought as irrelevant, he noticed the Servbot begin to wave frantically, and soon enough, the so-called Finkel was just a few feet away.

It flew erratically for a few more seconds before winding up beside the two, hovering a few inches up and down as its green eyes flickered brightly for a split second. They then heard an audible click and some static from the flying camera as Tron's voice boomed from the speakers. "Number Four, there you are! You're filthy--what happened?"

"It's a long story miss Tron…"

"Uhm I uh… hello."

"Who's that with you—huh?" The Finkel was dead silent for the next few seconds as a very loud crashing noise and a yelp of pain could be heard from the flying machine. "Ow! Jeez!—Oh my gosh! Megaman?! You look terrible! Did you catch a cold?! What did those two do to you up there?!"

"W-well…" Ray's eyes widened.

"It's a really long story miss Tron…"

o----------

A/N: Some inconsistencies you might have noticed during the story, I'll try to explain here…

#1, Gatz is alive?! – Yuna was bluffing! xD

#2, Roll named Megaman Megaman, not Barrel! – Barrel's a little senile, so I suppose his thoughts can be a little… different (I'm just making up for the fact that I completely forgot, if you still haven't noticed…).

#3, Data's supposed ta be in Terra with them! Whyz he in Elysium, rawr! – The little monkey's hiding a lot of secrets… and yeah, I already explained it in the story, so if you're still asking me this then you got bored and stopped reading early into chapter 3 . .

What's going to happen next? I suppose only I care, mwahahaha! 'Til next time!