Dr. Wily never let prison bother him. Or he tried not to. It really wasn't so bad. Being a criminal mastermind, he always found ways to get extra blankets, keep people from wanting to fight him, and steer clear of the stranger convicts. To them he was an enigma, someone with far greater criminal success than they. He had nearly conquered the world ten times. What was a common bank robber or murderer to him? So long as Wily stayed away from the weight room, his power was never questioned. Best of all, with his age he didn't have to worry about dropping the soap.

And he was certainly never out of cigarettes. That morning he enjoyed a puff out with several of his closest (most manipulatible) convict friends out on top of the prison, where large barbed wire fences lined the edge of the large, rectangular roof. It was a lovely morning, and not even the several watchtowers that stuck out from the corners of the prison marred the beautiful view of the desert area. Several prisoners were on the roof, and many others were in the outer courtyard to enjoy the morning. Afternoons got warm in the area, but being still April, it wouldn't be too bad that day. Next month it would be another story.

For now, Albert would smoke. Several of his robots hadn't been found by the authorities, and surely they would be thinking of a way to get him out of prison. The prison guards liked to put him on the roof rather than out in the courtyard to make it harder for him to escape, but really all this did was make him more visible to his flying robots. He looked up often, pretending to keep an eye out on the towers. Really he was looking for Shade Man or someone else with wings or his Skull Capsule to come and get him. Usually he enjoyed being in prison as a break, but this time he was a little more impatient. He had a specific scheme in mind, and if he could only get it started, then the whole world would tremble again at the name of Albert A. Wily.

Of course, another prisoner had been the wrench in his plan. He frowned through the cigarette smoke at another prisoner that made his way out of the roof's door on the far side of their perch - most prisoners liked to stay as far away as they could from the stairway down back to their "home". Better to stay up there on the hard cement and breathe the fresh air as if they were free than back into the dank cells again. The same was certainly true of Nikola Cain.

Prison wasn't as fun for Dr. Cain. His pale, skinny cheeks had only grown all the more thin, and his scraggly beard on the edge of grey was no more than a scraggly spot sticking out of his chin. He hadn't completely recovered from his encounter with faulty instant death spike engineering, but he was getting there, and he bore his position in life the best that he could.

Wily only scowled with contempt, leading his prisoner compatriots to do the same. Nikola ignored them. He had to hold on to as much dignity as he could. He just strolled on by, going over to the barbed wire and giving the nearest guard tower a good look. He even turned back and grinned as Wily walked up.

"It's such a nice day out." Dr. Cain said with only the slightest touch of sarcasm. "I do like the prison system. On the outside any two people could be as different as rich and poor, powerful and weak. In here, it's all the same. It doesn't matter what you were on the outside."

"Idiot." Wily muttered. "You're completely wrong. In here there's just as much a divide. You and I are very different. I have a nice stay in the prison, and you're lucky if Big Eddie doesn't punch you in the back of the head today."

"If you say so." Not even Albert's commentary was enough to get Nikola down. Staring outwards for a moment, he suddenly turned his easy grin towards the greater mad scientist. "You must like it here in prison. You're so popular. It's quite the retirement home for you, old man."

"It'll be the retirement home you have to look forward to." Wily snapped. "By the time they let you out you'll be halfway dead and headed for the hospital to die. Me, on the other hand, soon enough my robots will come and spring me out." Suddenly getting an idea, Wily changed his tone, catching himself. "You do have a lot of time left on your term, don't you? Heh, why don't you just work for me? I can have my robots get you out of here, then we can really make the world pay for what they've done to us."

Dr. Cain smiled pleasantly, even giving a slight laugh. "No thanks. You never really understood what I was trying to accomplish. I wasn't going to make the world pay. I wanted them to see the error of their ways, and how robotics has taken over their lives. Work makes the man, but robots take over too much these days. Ha, and I would never play second fiddle to one of the men most responsible for creating human dependancy on machines. Hell, you even got me to build robots."

Albert stiffened his shoulders, forcing a smile and pretending that he was the one in control of the conversation. "Suit yourself! Just remember when my robots come that you could have been free. Enjoy your sentence, Cain."

Nikola laughed quietly, his relaxed grin growing along with his amusement. He just shook his head, disbelieving everything Wily said.

"Well, okay!" Dr. Cain managed. "I'll remember that."

"Ah, good, because here come my robots now!"

Wily pointed out into the distance to his left, and sure enough, several specimen of the Wily numbers readily appeared. Centaur Man was freezing the robots employed by the prison, and Blade Man beside him slashed his way through, leading the way for he and Centaur Man to enter the jailhouse. Prisoners shouted from the other side of the roof, and Wily went over to go and see more of his robots on the opposite side of the building. Slash Man thrashed all opposing him. He was being covered by Spark Man, who sent large orbs of electricity out at the guard towers. Knight Man and Yamato Man came from a third direction, and they fought back to back against security.

Once he noticed all of these, Wily didn't look for long. His gaze only went one direction: up. All of the fighting below didn't mean a thing, not to Wily. It was only a distraction so that he could reach his beloved Skull Capsule, the blue and grey flying saucer that had gotten out of more jams than he could remember. It was there, only it wasn't the only blue thing in the sky.

"Come on, Rush!" Mega Man exclaimed. "Keep an eye on Wily! The robot masters won't go anywhere without him!"

"Gah! Curse you, Mega Man!" Wily shook a fist in the direction of the blue bomber and Rush jet. "You'll never stop me from escaping! Not with the human guards in danger!"

"That's why I've got back up!" Rock shouted back. " - Team 5! Teleport! - "

" - Napalm Man, on the way! - "

" - Charge Man, coming through! - "

" - Stone Man is here! - "

" - Gyro Man, coming in on your position, Rock. - "

The fight immediately switched. Wily's robots no longer had the advantage. Napalm Man shot his torpedoes at Centaur Man, enabling the security robots to shake off his stun technique and start taking down Blade Man. On his side of things, Slash Man couldn't enjoy slashing at the guards in his way, as it was just so hard to swipe at the stones that made up Stone Man. He found himself surrounded by all the bricks around himself.

"Raaugh!" Slash Man roared. "This guy is a pain! Spark Man, get him!"

"I'm trying..." Spark Man waved his arm spikes around, nervously trying to get a shot in. "I can't hit him without hitting you!"

Things weren't looking all that great for the Team 6 warriors either. Yamato Man shot his spear tips at Charge Man, but every time he did Charge Man just got out of the way. Somehow, every time Knight Man wanted to throw his mace, the orange Team 5 robot knew to turn red and shoot coal.

"You'll die if you interfere, Mega Man!"

Cloud Man appeared from behind the Skull Capsule, which floated in the air safely out of weapons range of the Light-bot. Unfortunately for the bomber, Cloud Man's range was greater than his. Storms of electricity formed around him, and the guards on the roof quickly started ushering in the prisoners. It wasn't long before the lightning zapped down, slamming right into Rock only just after his ultimate armor had equipped.

"I've got it!"

Gyro Man flew in, shooting his mini-propellers out at Cloud Man. The two began to fight it out, and Gyro Man was hard pressed to dodge the storms of electricity that ran through the air. However, the green robot was determined to prove himself.

"You're not going to take Wily anywhere!"

"Oh yeah, traitor?" Cloud Man lifted his hands again. "I can do whatever I want, including kill you!"

With the many robot masters fighting each other, Mega Man was able to recover. His ultra armor had done a good job of saving him from the lightning itself, but he could only cringe at the damage done when he slammed into the top of the prison. Mega Man was up on his feet again in time to hear Gyro Man challenge the Team 7 electrical robot, so he let the robot masters duke it out, hoping that Napalm Man didn't set anything important on fire.

Fortunately, Wily hadn't gotten far. One of the prison guards had him by the arms, and despite the tenacious man's wild clobbering, the guard managed to hold on and direct him toward the stairs. Other prisoners were hurrying down, but still some stayed up to try and watch the interesting fight around them. The guards were going to have a hard time getting all of the men to

"Please sir," Mega Man approached. "Let me have Dr. Wily. I have orders to take him to another maximum security prison."

"Right." the heavily armored man nodded. "I'll bring him to solitary confinement until you're done up here."

"Thanks! Rush, you stay with Wily and guard him."

"Keep your stupid dog away from me!" Wily cringed, trying to get away from the little red robot dog. He kicked at Rush, but the brave dog just growled sternly, barking at him with a doggy lecture.

With that, Mega Man turned and considered his next move. It would probably be for the best to help Gyro Man, since the lookout towers were already down, leaving him with no help against Cloud Man. The guards were doing a good job of hauling away the prisoners inside (he could hear the intercoms telling everyone to head for the basements), and so he figured that the main worry was making sure that the Skull Capsule didn't get away.

Surprisingly, it wasn't even trying. In fact, the blue and grey vessel was headed downwards, going closer to the top of the prison. Rock prepared to fire his charged shot, wondering if the capsule had some kind of weapons. The propulsion system appeared to work beneath the ship, so that was where Mega Man aimed. He fired off his most powerful burst of energy at the thing. The impact nearly shot the capsule out of control, but it still managed to keep upright.

Without warning, the capsule opened. Out came the tackiest robot Mega Man had ever seen. Shade Man's wings lowered Air Man's torso and random limbs from other robot masters to Mega Man's level. Before Mega Man could fire, the robot nimbly flung and extended its right arm - Clown Man's right arm - over at Mega Man. The bomber jumped out of the way. The arm extended past him, slamming into the door just as Wily was about to be hauled through it.

"Ha, ha! Good job...er...whoever you are!" Wily laughed as he shot an elbow up at the guard's nose and kicked at Rush again. "Now let's get going!"

It wasn't that simple. Mega Man wasn't the world's robot champion for nothing. The schizoid robot took several blasts to the chest, knocking it back. This didn't stop it from shooting Mega Man right back with his left arm, Fire Man's. Three red flames slammed into Mega Man's armor, damaging his internal wiring and taking his charge down. Rock only just managed to stay on his feet

Urgh! I'm going to have to get closer to fight this guy, but Clown Man's arm...I really hope he can't do thunder claw...wait...

The robot didn't yell out "thunder claw!" the same way Clown Man used to, but the computerish squeals that came from Turbo Man's head were three sylables in the exact same pattern as the outcry. Realizing at the last moment that this was an advantage, Mega Man jumped upward into the air and out of reach of the metal hands that reached out from the cement under him. He landed just behind the baddie and let loose a plasma shot.

The strange robot collapsed, but he was by no means down. Clown Man's arm smacked at Mega Man, and this allowed the stranger time to get up and finally use those propellor blades in his chest. Mega Man flew backwards, doing his best to dodge the tornadoes shooting out at him.

"Frantic Man!" Our little hero recognised this as Yamato Man's voice. "Let's go!"

Mega Man looked up to see that the Skull Capsule was departing, and had already made it a long distance out into the sky. The schizoid robot, apparently Frantic Man, dove off the edge of the building, letting his large, purple wings carry him off and away. The galloping hooves of Centaur Man could be heard in the distance, and the sounds of fighting began to quiet down.

All wasn't lost. Mega Man turned just in time to see an angry and red-faced mad scientist with steam nearly pouring out of his ears. Dr. Wily's hands balled up into tight fists, and he lifted one in the direction of the capsule.

"You forgot me, you idiots!" Wily screamed. "Get back down here!"

"Whoo, that was close! I'm going to have to come up with a better strategy for fighting Frantic Man."

Mega Man got to his feet and headed for Wily, glancing around as he did. The prison workers seemed to have everything well under control as far as prisoners went. Names rattled off as the guards ordered all prisoners still on the roof (thankfully none of them had been hurt in the fight) to line up. Mega Man stared at each one as they went in single file in front of the door. He didn't recognise any of them. It ocurred to him that Dr. Nikola Cain was kept at the same prison. For now Mega Man just went to the guards holding his oldest enemy.

"You've had your fun, doctor. It's time for you to be transferred. Rush, convert to jet mode."

"Roof, roof!"

"I am not going anywhere with you." Wily let all of his disgust pour out of his bitter voice, and he shoved a finger at Rock. "You stopped my escape!"

"I know, and I have the feeling I'm going to be doing so again." Mega Man folded his arms. "So why don't you just give up and tell me exactly what you're planning now? It'll save all of us a lot of trouble."

"PLANS? How can I have any plans when my robots forgot about me?"

It was an odd point. Usually Wily's robots were generally as fanatic as he, so how could they leave him behind? It just made no sense. Mega Man let the prison guards try to settle the mad scientist down (Lord knew he wasn't any good at it), as he took a look around. Most of the prisoners had made it below and off of the roof, but a few lingered. A some of them spoke to each other, some stared at the bomber with wonder, and others, amused, just watched the guards below as they scattered about trying to restore the sanctity of the prison.

The bomber got a sinking feeling. " - Team 5, report in. How are things? - "

" - I've got Knight Man! - " Charge Man said. " - Yamato Man got away. I'd come up there, but I'm rounding up some stray prisoners. Be right up. - "

Stone Man did teleport, and his orange teleport beam landed just next to Mega Man. He stood up, letting his stones waver and adjust properly into place. Teleporting was always weird for him. A purple teleport beam hit the ceiling beside him as he spoke in his deep, goofy voice.

"I got Spark Man. I thought I had Slash Man but I can't find where his body is. I think he may have escaped."

"I know Centaur Man made it out." Napalm Man sighed. "Blade Man is really irritating. It's really hard to shoot a close range fighter. Sorry, Rock."

"It's okay, Wily didn't escape." Mega Man pointed over at the guards holding him. "So I'd say it's a successful mission. We'll have to bring the defeated robots back to my lab, but first everyone is going to come with me to transfer Dr. Wily to the other facility, right?"

"Okay." Stone Man said. "We'll make sure he stays caught."

Napalm Man glanced over at his old master, feeling a little guilty. It didn't help that the bushy-haired scientist was glaring at him in shame. Napalm Man forced himself to turn away and focus. Charge Man's teleport beam and Gyro Man's flight downwards helped distract him.

"Well..." an injured Gyro Man proudly clung to his nearly torn off arm. "It was a hard fight, but I got Cloud Man. I think I got some coordinates on where the Skull Capsule might have gone, but I'm not sure. That weird guy got away on it."

"His name is Frantic Man." Mega Man said. "Or that's what Yamato Man called him. Sorry I couldn't help you up there."

"It's alright. I'll be fine." Gyro Man only seemed to revel in each of his scorch marks, dents and glitches. "We fighters can't complain about a few scratches."

Mega Man smiled. He appreciated that Gyro Man was trying as hard as he could to be a good guy. "Okay, so we'll try and settle things here first before we leave. Charge Man, you and Napalm gather up the fallen robot Masters. Stone Man, go to the warden and ask what you can do to make sure the prisoners are all accounted for. Gyro Man, teleport back to the lab and tell them what happened. Have them do something about your arm before you come with us on the escort mission." Mega Man knew that excluding the green flyer would only hurt his confidence. "And I'll - "

All of a sudden, Mega Man and allies froze.

" - Hey Hank, you got Cain up there? - " A human voice called out over the radio attached to another guard's belt. " - He's nowhere to be found down here. - "

The guards and Dr Wily too all froze just the same. Wily's face was taught and bitter as the armed men around him took the opportunity to pull his arms behind his back - he was very much a wiry man, and now that he had gotten over the initial shock, he was struggling to get free all the worse.

"Hey look!" One of the larger prisoners pointed upwards. "That flying saucer is still up there!"

All gazes went to the sky, where indeed one could barely see the grey speck against the few clouds. One moment later, a burst of sparks expanded in the air, and the giant gold letters that formed were perfectly visible even in the daytime. They read "SO SORRY WILY", floating there for several seconds as the Skull Capsule departed out of sight.

"I'm going to kill him!" Wily screamed, instantly turning his pasty skin a deep and furious red. "Cain, you're going to pay for this!"

The guard named Hank sighed. "Get him out of here. He needs to cool off."

"Yeah, I kinda don't blame him."

The others began pushing him to the door, opening it and hustling the scientist through. The sooner they got Wily inside the sooner that the furious screaming would stop. All of the prisoners sighed with relief as the wild-haired Wily disappeared out of sight. Mega Man was far from relieved. He got his sensors tracking, and his teeth set his edge as he stared up.

"So what do we do now?" Gyro Man asked. "Where do we start?"

"All Cain's known haunts." Mega Man said, turning to his allies. "Ask his family, ask old cohorts, anything we can do. The Skull Capsule is so hard to scan for that I'm not sure if it's worth it - we're better off calling for NASA to check the satellites. If he was able to plan this escape out then he'll put his plan into action soon. We'll have to make sure that Monstropolis is ready. Don't give up. We're going to find him."

Mega Man stood there in his trademark pose: one arm over his heart, and an optimistic look outward. He looked friggin' precious. However, he had chosen his fellow fighters well. Stone Man lifted both fights in the air in a terrifying pose. Charge Man lifted a fist of his own upwards, and Gyro Man was likewise determined. Nothing ever got Napalm Man down for too long either.

"Yeah, we've got this!" Napalm Man exclaimed with both bomb shooters in the air. "Cain won't know what hit him!"

-t-

Dr. Nikola Cain was not a robotics technician. He was an excellent programmer, and any one of his viruses was at least ten times as potent as any other violent program roaming around on the internet. That, however, did not stop him from having a dark grudge against robots and technology. Too many humans lived lives dependant on this machines, expecting robots to do what they would not.

Cain created his eight robot masters, expecting them to teach the world a thing or two about robotic dependancy - namely that it was wrong. Epic Man was his strongest robot master, deadly with torpedoes and EMP waves. Algorthym Man was a clever trickster who could plant viruses on unsuspecting creations of other scientists. Echelon Man's echelon heatshock was a terrifyingly powerful weapon, and Emit Man's defensive shields and flying blade bombs made him a tough combatant. Psycho Man had powerful electric shocks, as well as a little clown mech that his arms could turn into at will. Bullet Man was never short on ammunition and anger, and Sight Man was a stealthy and powerful ninja-bot (despite the fact he looked like a giant metal ant).

The last and definitely the least of these was Signal Man. Dr. Cain essentially threw him together because he wanted to round out the number of robot masters he had created. Signal Man, unlike the others, had no area of expertise. He was a fighter of mediocre offense and laughable defense, built out of old car engines and traffic lights. His parts were so random he looked like he'd been playing around with Dust Man's trash compactor.

Out of all Dr. Cain's robot masters, he had been the first to fall. Crystal Bot encountered this robot at the very beginning of Dr. Cain's scheme, and after a short fight Bass intervened and finished him off. While his power had been stolen by Bass, Signal Man's body was never afterwards touched. With the arrival of Mega Man, no one had ever bothered to check and make sure Signal Man was utterly destroyed. And so, shortly after everyone had departed, Signal Man's body was carried off by his robot master siblings and repaired. Signal Man didn't fight the good guys again. His next roles in the scheme were background, bit parts. All of his siblings were destroyed and his creator was arrested, leaving Signal Man abandoned and alone.

This didn't bother him. In fact, he was quite grateful. Total loyalty to his master urged him on, and he knew that one day he would find a way to free his master from prison. That day wouldn't take long to come. In fact, only a month after his master was apprehended, Signal Man found the resources to rebuild an army for Dr. Cain. In the past months he made real progress. That was why he was in the old fortress. It was an old Wily castle, one that had been long ago built, destroyed, searched, and abandoned.

Surprisingly, most of the walls had survived. The roof of the castle was long gone, and the structure had the decrepit appearance of being able to fall over at any time. The metal structure groaned in the wind, and it felt as if one could hear the rust scraping and eating into the old beast of a structure.

It was the perfect place for Signal Man to hide. The awkward robot seemed right at home in the junky structure; the only part of his body that didn't make him seem like a pile of walking metal garbage was his light up face, with red eyes, a yellow nose, and green teeth. Even the face didn't help that much. What really made Signal Man look impressive was what he had done with the place. As it was, he had set up his operations the former large-lab, a place originally meant for building the larger mechaniloids Wily had invented for his sixth misadventure.

Now it had become a laboratory for Signal Man. Skeletal structures for seven more robots were lined against the wall, one of them very similar to a metal ant. Six piles of armor that were sorted out by color lay strewn out on the floor in front of each metal man. Signal Man gleefully lay the seventh armor in front of the last, then clapped his hands with a loud, ringing smack.

"My brothers will be complete soon." he merrily exclaimed. "It's a good thing the police don't know of that chip in my master's brain. It makes things that much easier to recieve the plans for rebuilding them. Using what's left of my master's secret bank accounts and the nice little area here, I'll have his army up and running again! It's even handier that my master sent me a brand new virus to use at my leisure! Isn't this quite amusing, Frantic Man?"

He turned to the other robot present, a horrifying mish-mash of villainous robots originally made by Dr. Albert Wily. The chest was Air Man's, with the propellor blade still in place. Out of the back jutted Shade Man's wings. The legs were not immediately recognisable, but if one were to ask Signal Man, he would reply that they were Sheep Man's - a robot would need lightweight legs to make up for Air Man's heavy body and still be able to fly. One arm was clearly Fire Man's, and the other was Clown Man's. In short, eww.

Topping everything off was Turbo Man's head. This left him without expressions, so if he was either agreeing or disagreeing with Signal Man, there would be no way for someone watching to be able to tell. Even if you were listening, you would still remain confused. His speech was not in words, but an electrical code. All that was audible were some humming, twirping click sounds. Whatever he had said, apparently it amused Signal Man.

The Cain-bot grinned at his construction. "Haha! So docile now, aren't you? Quite compliant. The master will be pleased, and we'll be able to carry out his plans soon. He'll be so proud once he gets here! I'm so glad he went to the hotel to clean up first. We have more time to get ready! Now help me install this armor. I'll need you to fix up Epic Man first, then Echelon Man. I've got fun of my own to make this lab more suitable! See to it that you hurry, and be sure to do a good job. Master would not like it if you slacked, and any funny business will fry your brain."

The threat didn't seem to affect Frantic Man any, one way or another. He merely walked away to obey his order. The decrepit state of the repair tables forced him to settle down on the floor. Frantic Man pulled one of the skeletal frames down to the dirty tiles and began sorting the pieces of the midnight blue armor that Epic Man wore. Signal Man watched his slave's careful and dedicated work with eager glee.

Rubbing his hands together one final time, Signal Man promptly headed for the huge gap in the wall that used to be a door. He wasn't worried that Frantic Man would betray him or try to harm his brothers. Each bit of the odd and mismatched robot's CPU was protected and double protected from that tricky little thing called free will. Frantic Man was nothing more than an obedient little assistant for the tackiest of the Cain creations.

-t-

Proto Man didn't like this idea. He was never comfortable removing his helmet and scarf. That was the trouble of wearing a disguise all the time: it only works if no one is familiar with it. That and going without proved a better disguise. He did it only very occasionally, and usually only in front of people that didn't know him well as Proto Man.

There were plenty of such people in the Robotics Ethics Agency. Proto Man had spied on the place several times already, but he had never actually gone far within the building. It was actually very nice, or so implied the dark crimson carpets with antique trim, the large halls lit by chandelliers, and the various humans going about their business in professional attire.

Blues hated the Agency. Usually the only robots in there were cleaner mechaniloids, little robots that did little more than dust, vacuum, or make coffee. Over the years Proto Man had gained a tolerance for the status of robots, but it still made him uncomfortable to dodge the little 'bots that busily cleaned up someone's coffee stain on the floor.

He glanced at a window in a door. That hall led to the filing station, but Proto Man concentrated on his own reflection. He had to make sure that he looked like a normal, brave robot soul rather than a guilty one. The Light-bot was very practiced in manipulating his expressions, but it was always good to keep up the work. This was one of his riskier plans, and if anything went wrong here, then it wasn't likely he would make it out. As fancy as the REA building was, the place had the best security imaginable. It was as if all new technologies went first to this agency.

And so the robot walked forward. The halls in the place were very organized, so it wasn't hard for someone like Proto Man to find his way around. It wasn't long before he was standing before the robotics status secretary. The prim and proper woman was still speaking into her headset, but she nodded pleasantly at Proto Man to indicate she would be with him soon. Blues returned the nod, patiently standing there with his hands together. No one who looked at him would be able to tell that he felt anything but patient.

"Hi there." the elegant brunette pulled up the microphone on her headset just enough to speak to Proto Man. "Name and serial number, please."

"I'm Break Man, RLN-024." Blues said (he had made up the number a long time ago). "I'm one of the robots assigned to find Dr. Nikola Cain, and I'm here to receive my mission report."

"Ah, yes..." The young lady searched around her papers, indicating that she knew nothing. Anyone with the proper list would be able to tell that "Break Man" wasn't assigned to anything. "You need to go to room 124, right down the hall there."

She pointed to the hall beyond her desk, where the hallway branched to the left. Blues nodded again as the woman went back to her work. She believed him, just like any of the other humans Proto Man came across. It had been years since the last person suspected that Break Man wasn't exactly who he said he was. But that was done, so Proto Man just passed by the desk and turned left. The room wasn't hard to find, and the foggy glass in this door bore the name Officer Clancy Robbins, a name Proto Man knew from several documents he had stolen over the years. Robbins was due for retirement in two years.

Break Man opened the door to find an older man sitting at a desk, quite absorbed in the paperwork and electronic data pad before him. His wrinkled hand brushed back the remnants of his balding white hair, and he tapped the cluster of papers in his hands on the surface of the desk to make sure they were in order. Only then did he notice that there was a robot in his office.

"Oh? Did someone send you to me?"

"Actually, I'm here for the search assignment against Dr. Cain." Proto Man replied. "I was ordered on the search."

"A bit late for that, aren't you? All the other robots are on their way checking the various leads."

"I had to finish up an assignment in Finland." Proto Man replied simply. "It took a little longer than expected."

The older man nodded, glancing down at his data pad for a moment. Proto Man found himself thinking the words "don't check the robotic assignments list" over and over again, as if by wishing he could somehow command the human to subconciously forget about it. But for whatever reason, Mr. Robbins didn't check. He just handed Proto Man a small disc. Proto Man inserted it into his neck, discovering that it was all the specific data pertaining to the escape and to the schemes of Dr. Cain.

"With a record like this," Proto Man said. "I would be surprised if Cain picked anywhere besides Monstropolis to strike."

Clancy nodded. "Yeah, a lot of people feel that way, but we're keeping an eye out for Japan just in case. Monstropolis may be the capital of robotics, but the Japanese aren't that far behind. Cain's anti-robotic notions...well, he's a little unpredictable at this point. All the other robots have their assignments by now, so I'm going to have to send you off to do some scans of the areas around Monstropolis. People have been known to have all kinds of computer hideouts in that region, so just make sure none of them are Cain's. Any action in Monstropolis, and you head straight there, alright?"

"Got it."

Proto Man copied the disc's contents onto his CPU, then handed the disc back to the human. He considered actually doing the mission for the agency this time, as it couldn't hurt to take a look. The work would take his mind off of other things that he needed the distraction from, and any chance he had to help Mega Man he would take. For now his work was done: he had the data he needed to figure out the situation and find a way to best help his brother. Proto Man turned to leave.

Only one thing I need to check on now...Zero...

The door to the office opened, and without so much as a knock a tall Irish man with black hair (only the slightest hints of grey showed) sauntered into the room and made his salutations.

"Hey, Clance. You've got that data for me, right? If you want that bill you like so much to pass in the Senate, then I'm sure you do! Oh hey, you've got a robot here, I see. What's your name, champ?"

It took every bit of Proto Man's will power to keep from screaming in frustration right then and there. Things had gone off without so much as a hitch, and in came Senator Harry Briggs, the one man still alive that would actually recognise Proto Man without his helmet on. Briggs' cheeky grin almost made it perfectly clear that he already knew Proto Man's name, and was jolly well pleased that he did. Robbins didn't seem to notice or else to care about the proud smile, so once Proto Man had recovered himself (it took only seconds and showed nothing on his face) he answered the politician with a just barely polite and definitely firm tone.

"I'm Break Man."

"Break Man? Glad to meet you!" Harry snatched up his hand and shook it firmly. "The name is Harry Briggs. I'm sure I've never seen you around here before! Nope! Definitely not! I suppose these guys keep you busy."

"Yes, very busy." Proto Man was curt as he pulled his hand out of the Senator's. "And I'm afraid that means I have to go now. Don't let me keep you from your business with Officer Robbins. Good afternoon."

Blues' mild show of contempt only further amused Briggs. "Ha ha, get going, then! Goodbye! So Clancy, what've you got for me that can convince 99 cranky politicians to increase federal funding for the space programs?"

Proto Man hurried out of the room, his hatred for Briggs only growing worse as he speedily went for the nearest exit. Briggs had been one of the federal agents assigned to keep an eye on Dr. Light's projects around the time that Proto Man was first built. Ever since, Harry had felt himself to be some sort of uncle or distant relative, despite the fact that Proto Man had never liked him, not even in the robot's earlier, naiive days. But surely even Harry had heard what he had done.

He shifted his fingers, hearing a crackle. Glancing down, Blues saw that he was holding a slip of paper folded a couple of times. Refusing to give into his curiousity too soon, Proto Man stealthily headed for the roof of the building before opening it up and taking a look.

"Proto Man -

Don't trust Bass.

He's been assigned to capture you.

Sincerely,

Your Uncle Harry."

Proto Man crumpled up the paper in his fist, and his lips were just as crumpled with disgust. Was this Briggs' idea of being sneaky? Even worse was the notion of someone he knew actually having a clue to what his past really had been like. And of course the authorities wouldn't know his side of the issue.

Do I really have a side? Proto Man thought dully. This must mean Harry knows...it doesn't seem to bother him at all.

Blues had never cared about Briggs' opinion, and he wasn't going to start. On the other hand, it felt a little strange for Bass to know. As much as he felt himself as a protector of his brother, Proto Man had at times helped Bass in similar ways. Now whatever image of Proto Man Bass had in his mind was surely shattered. Proto Man wasn't sure how comfortable he was with Bass knowing. He thought with dread how terrible it would be if the dark robot decided he was going to share all of this with Mega Man.

Looks like I won't be doing that assignment after all. Bass might know, but he doesn't understand...

The loner robot rechecked the data he had gained. Part of it detailed the activity of Wily-bots in Russia, namely their brief appearance and mysterious destruction. Proto Man briefly let it cross his mind that Robbins or someone had left that information on the disc on purpose, as if to lure him to where Bass could catch him. That would make Harry's appearance in a place he didn't work a little more understandible.

It doesn't matter anyway. I have to know that Zero is being dealt with. Now that Mega Man has to handle Dr. Cain, I can't just leave this to Bass. Proto Man managed a bit of a smile, just the slightest hint. Thanks, Harry.

\\\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- I'd like to point out that Dr. Cain is 44 right at this point in time. His family's hair always got grey early.

Character profiles!

=====Shade Man

"You are history!"
Good point: Dandy
Bad point: Lazy employees
Like: Tomato juice
Dislike: Garlic toast

Japanese CD data:

Good point: Dandy
Bad point: Always with microphone
Like: Tomato juice
Dislike: Garlic

Shade Man is Dr. Wily's favorite Team 7 robot. Wily was always a little disappointed with Team 7. Because he was arrested before 4 of the robots were done, he felt like Team 7 could have been stronger than they were. Shade Man he was definitely pleased with, and unlike the other three robots that you fight after the first four, he was actually complete at the time of MM7. When Wily was arrested, Shade Man had been found and was reprogrammed by the authorities to become the host of a haunted house at a carnival. Wily recaptured him during MM7.

Shade Man is debonair, a great servant to Wily, and just a generally creepy guy. Creepy in a good way. Shade Man can be very nice at times, and prefers being a good host to being evil sometimes. He ran the best darn haunted house there was in Monstropolis. Secretly he always wanted to return to doing that, but over the years he just ended up haunting Skull Castles. During MM10 he was captured and put into the robot museum, where he stayed until the events of Okkusenman. And now he's a part of Frantic Man. Yeah. Poor guy.

=====Slash Man

"Claw me, and I'll claw thee."
Good point: Lean and wild
Bad point: Sticky-fingered
Like: Vegetables
Dislike: Nail-clipper

Japanese CD data:

Good point: Quick at work
Bad point: Super wild

Slash Man is a violent robot, and was one of the tougher of MM7. Wily liked him alright, but Slash Man didn't get the chance to rampage as much as he wanted because he was finished late. As a result, post MM7 he ended up going on a rampage to destroy to his heart's content. Needless to say, he didn't get to do very much before he was caught and shoved into the museum. He spent the entire time from then on until Okkusenman in the robot museum, and after that he barely got to do anything before the last Wily castle was destroyed. He was badly injured by Mega Man at that point, but was still able to get away. Apparently now he decided he wanted to fight with prison guards...