Rockman Ga Taosenai

by GrimMoody

Everyone told Mega Man that he was the invincible robot. This last adventure in my Mega Man quintology tests everything the blue bomber knew about himself and his friends. With hard work and a lot of luck, they can save the future from the reploid wars. That is, if Proto Man can keep his darkest secret from his brother.

15. To Capture a Madman

Crystal Bot scrambled down those halls with all the scamper of a frightened rodent. Dub's orders were to take Roll through the open hatch of the communications lab down the hall, and that meant Crystal had to go a different direction to hopefully distract those chasing her from catching Roll. Unfortunately, this meant that she was wandering through caves and tunnels she didn't know. Epic Man hadn't exactly given her a tour.

Speaking of Epic Man, his growls were chasing her down through the tunnels of the cave. He wouldn't be far behind. Crystal Bot pulled out the laser gun Bass had given her, finally thankful for her training. She pushed her own lack of fighting ability to the back of her mind. Worrying wouldn't save her now. Figuring she might as well, Crystal Bot took a moment to jump into the air and cast crystal eye.

It was a lucky thing that she did. The four orbs all dispersed in different direction, but one of them caught a pair of watchful eyes, smacking the robot in the face. Two metal blades swooshed by her face and embedded themselves in the opposite cave wall. Crystal shuddered, stepping back. They were a mere two inches from being embedded in her eyes.

Crystal Bot didn't hang around to see what else was going on. Epic Man was getting closer, and she needed to hurry and find a way out.

Okay...so I'm lost. I can't rely on being able to find a way out. If I attack, I'm underskilled and outnumbered. ...I hate these odds.

Crystal Bot ran to the controls beside a pair of iron double doors. A quick dialing in of the password and the doors granted her an entrance. Inside this room was a large, rectangular bay, one that was larger than a small house. Given how the metal ceiling consisted of two long and probably retractible panels rather than the random downwards stone spikes of the rest of the cave-ish base, Crystal Bot guessed that this was some sort of enclosable landing bay for larger aircraft. It was currently empty, devoid of much of anything but a wall of computer stations on the left and an openable wall to the right.

Sheesh, what did Cain design this base for anyway?

That was as much thought as the girl-bot gave to that subject. She rushed around and get the door controls on the other side, frantically trying to get them shut behind her.

"Aaaugh!"

Crystal Bot thought she would die. Her systems screamed out in pain, and each program twisted around itself, warping functions that had nothing to do with its ordinary processes. Luckily, it was only a moment before they righted again, leaving a shaky Crystal Bot to wonder what had happened. Clutching her power core, Crystal swung her head around, trying to see what had happened. There was nothing around her, just the landing bay.

Never mind. I have to get that door!

Crystal Bot rushed over to the controls again, her fingers tapping at the panel with frantic speed. She had to get those doors closed if she wanted any chance of getting out of there. Much to her relief, it wasn't long before the doors once more began to close.

SNAP!

The ringing sound of a giant, midnight blue claw grabbing onto one of the rapidly closing doors made Crystal jump clear into the air. Epic Man grinned with monster eyes as he shoved the doors back into their open position.

"Oh no you don't!" Crystal Bot exclaimed, eyes narrowing as she snatched her laser gun from her dress. "You're not - aaaaah!"

This time she couldn't stop herself from falling to the floor, and her laser gun was lost somewhere amidst all the electrical, swirling confusion as all of her systems blinked off and on, getting everything wrong. It just wouldn't stop! The pain, the confusion, the programs working in the wrong way...if only she could think! With gladness she noticed that it was subsiding and her systems were righting themselves. They told her that she was lying on the floor. She opened her eyes. Her unhappy view was Epic Man's malicious face staring down at her. Only then did the girl-bot remember Epic Man's EMP attack.

"Does that hurt, Sweetie?" Epic Man knelt down beside her, his voice sizzling with scorn. "I certainly hope so. It's what you deserve for betraying the great Dr. Wily. What a fool you are. How can you be so close to the greatest mind in robotics and treat him that way?"

"You're...you're stupid!" Crystal Bot sputtered. "Dr. Wily doesn't like you! He just wants you to do as you're told!"

"I know." Epic Man said. "I don't mind at all. Robots are programmed to follow human orders, unfortunately. However, the good news is that I can follow my hero! He won't destroy us all, like that despicable Dr. Cain would. Why, I'll be a fine servant of a subdued Earth! And when Dr. Wily dies, I will have to listen to no one but myself! Until then, I'm following orders. It's time to shut you down now."

"No!" she screamed.

It was no good. As much as Crystal Bot tried to resist, her computeristic faults came into play. The Toad Man disease took full hold of her systems. This glitch was a flaw in battle A.I., that tried too hard to find the perfect response to any form of attack. Unfortunately, so many strategies and fighting arts were loaded into her CPU that all Crystal Bot could do was watch and tremble as Epic Man reached down for her neck.

I've got to resist! Crystal Bot bit her lip tightly, denting her dermal plating. I've got to respond...punch! Punch-punch-punch-punch-punch-punch-punch-PUNCH!"

Crystal Bot's hand shot out, rocketing right at Epic Man's face - where Epic Man's hand snapped up and caught it. She gasped, but couldn't snatch her hand away. The grinning enemy's fingers crushed her hand. She could hear the supports in her hand snapping; there was nothing either Crystal Bot or her little whimpers could do to stop him.

"Keep the head." Metal Man's dark voice was always unsettling. From the shadows he came, becoming visible as he approached. "Wily will want to see the CPU."

"Haha!" Signal Man's voice rang out, and Crystal knew it was him even though he came up from behind. "Aw, she didn't get any better since last time I saw her fight. I was hoping she might be more of a challenge this time."

"This little thing? Please." Epic Man snorted and turned to Metal Man. "If you want the head, you come and get it off. You're the resident expert on cutting."

Metal Man said nothing, but his eyes gleamed first at the flattery and next at the fearful Crystal Bot. Before she knew it, Signal and Epic Man had her arms, and Epic Man pulled out a metal blade. He spun it on his fingers, letting the deadly edge flicker in the light as it neared the terrified girl-bot.

Crystal squinched her eyes tightly shut. I...I'm going to die!

Blam, blam, blam!

The noise drew everyone's attention to the left. Huge, pink electrical orbs flew towards them, and the male robots scattered. Faster than you could read this sentence, they slammed into Crystal Bot. Her built-in orbs flashed a brilliant pink, and she could feel her energy level...rising?

"What the hell?"

"Shoot him!"

"Hurry up!"

Crystal Bot wasn't sure which of the enemies around her said what; the pink glow that hit her dazzled her eyes. It took several seconds for the brightness to fade, and all the while she could see robots fleeing the wrath of several more plasma pellets. As Crystal Bot blinked, she saw their source, and she could have wept with joy. Bass turning and dashing to her side was the most wonderful thing she'd seen in a long time.

"Forgot that my crystal powered boosters restore your energy, huh?" Crystal's dark hero tugged her to her feet. "Up you go."

"Forte-kun!" Crystal Bot squealed. "You came for me!"

"Focus, Sonata." Before she knew it, Bass stuffed her laser gun in her hands and got behind her. "You've got to cover my back."

"Yay!" Crystal Bot could hardly contain herself. "I get to fight with Forte-kun!"

"Get him!" Epic Man said. "Don't let them get away - oh crap!"

"Oh crap" is a pretty appropriate thing to say when you get smacked in the face by three red stars. Before Signal Man could get a chance to help either of his allies, he flew up to the ceiling and down again. His traffic light arms turned red, ready to put a time freeze on and stop his enemies - that is, until Wave Man fired off his harpoon and hit him right through the face. Metal Man's weapon was powerful, but it wasn't much good for protecting him from the swirling gyro blades that surrounded him.

"Just kill him already, Sandwich Boy." Bass finished off Metal Man with a barrage of his pellets. "Don't be fancy."

"You're one to talk!" Gyro Man's main propellor slowed down and he landed with a huff. "You can't fight without trying to look like you're in some kind of action movie."

"Stop it now." Wave Man said. "Don't argue. We aren't finished here! Where's Epic Man?"

No one knew. The six robots looked around only to find empty landing bay and silence. Just in case, Crystal Bot nervously edged closer to Bass.

"He's not going to attack six robots." Bass shoved her away with a roll of his eyes. "He's not that stupid."

"I thought I had him!" Star Man pounded a fist into his other palm. "I did have him cornered."

"Star Crush must not be his weakness." Gravity Man turned down to the girl-bot edging his way. He gave her head a good pat with his huge hand. "Alright, now to business. You've got a lot to explain, young lady."

Despite herself, Crystal Bot almost giggled. She liked being called a young lady. All the same, the way the others' looks were saturated with not particularly patient attitude as they looked at her, she figured it might be best to remain serious.

"I'm really sorry, everyone!" Sonata clutched her hands with desperate insistence. "I really didn't mean to betray you! I was almost kidnapped, and if I didn't do something both me and Roll were gonna get torn up and our brains examined. There wasn't anything I could do but pretend to betray you guys."

"I like that." Bass folded his arms. "You just happen to be in the exact situation that would let you use the plan that I said no to. And you just so happen to be ready to carry out your plan without getting permanently reprogrammed by Dr. Cain."

"Um...yes?"

The robot burst into laughter. Crystal Bot stomped her foot. "I am too telling the truth! I just...I just wanted to be ready for the plan just in case."

"Ha ha, well, you can't be too altered. With you, pouting means honesty." Wave Man went up to her and stuck a wire to her neck, and the other end was hooked up to a handheld computer. "Now let me scan you. We can't risk this being a trick."

"We don't have much time." Bass said. "Sonata, what's the quickest way to shut down Cain's power?"

"Oh, that's right, you don't know!" Crystal Bot turned to her boss so fast she nearly tugged the wire out of her neck. "Dr. Cain isn't the big bad guy anymore. Dr. Wily showed up late yesterday and took over everything with Team 2. He caught me...oh! And he caught Roll! Dub and her are somewhere in the base!"

Bass wasn't overly concerned about his rival's sister, but losing her was a security risk. Letting her get captured by Dr. Wily, no less, was a severe blow to the dark robot's ego. Bass slowly bared his fangs at the thought of his old master, but his lips unbidden pulled into a grin. Now was the chance to take down the old man once and for all.

"What are we waiting for?" Gyro Man insisted. "Let's go get her!"

And off they went. Crystal Bot quickly put the hand-held computer in her hood to let it keep working as she led the others out. Much to Crystal Bot's annoyance, Algorhythm Man had thrown up his apparently very extensive anti-teleport, anti-communication field. However, it didn't stop her from tracking the narrow beam tracer she'd installed in Dub. As the team of robots went down the strangely empty cave halls, Crystal Bot found herself running beside her boss.

"Hey, Forte-kun," she said. "You didn't think I would ever really betray the best robot ever, huh?"

Bass was focusing on the task at hand, but he spared himself the time to wink in her direction, provoking from her a fit of giggles. He grinned. Not only did he have his technician back and the chance to defeat his old master, but now he was proven right, and Proto Man was wrong. Bass almost wished Blues was there so that he could gloat. Almost. If Proto Man was there, Bass grudgingly realized, then he would have to put up with him.

-t-

Dub was beyond lost. Dr. Cain's underground base was a maze to anyone unfamiliar, and Dub wasn't the smartest of mechaniloids. He had taken so many turns that he wasn't even sure how to get back to the main lab anymore - not that going back to Dr. Wily's location would help. For the moment, the cave halls of Cain had brought the spider-bot to a more or less round room of some sort (maybe it was supposed to be shaped like an octagon?), and in one wall was a lengthy landscape window outlooking the ocean. Dub tapped on the window with his claw. Nothing doing. It was at least three panels thick, robot-resistant to the highest degree. Moreover, it couldn't be opened; it wasn't designed to do so. Certainly, with considerable effort, it was possible to break through the window, but not nearly fast enough.

Oh yes, Dub knew he was being followed. He had watched the shadows, and he knew when one of them bore Shadow Man. Even while carrying Roll, Dub was a quicker robot, and light on his feet. He reckoned he had about two minutes, if he was lucky. The very first thing he did was set Roll down on the floor, holding her up in a more or less standing position with two of his claws. A third claw went to her mouth, and the fourth activated her.

Roll gasped as she woke. A fifth claw lifted up to Dub's face, one branch of it going up not unlike the symbol of shushing. Roll got the message, and Dub's claws pulled away from her. She had so many questions, but before she could ask even by comm, Dub was at least three feet higher. His legs extended out as far as they could go, and much to his relief they were long enough for him to be able to reach all of the walls. Understanding his mechaniloid code, Roll wasted no time and hurriedly sat down on his box-shaped body, letting him carry her as he shuffled up the walls.

In no time the clever Dub was up to the top, sprawled out and carefully keeping each limb secure on the walls. Roll had to duck as they neared the uneven cave ceiling, but the mechaniloid didn't go too far up to leave her smushed against it. That settled both robot silently waited and tried not to move.

They didn't have to wait long; Dub's assessment was correct. They didn't see him enter, but somehow, at the very same moment, Dub and Roll were both aware that Shadow Man was in the room. He left little impression in their vision, nothing more than a purple shadow even in the mild afternoon light still streaming through the panoramic window. Roll began to panic. She tried to calm down, fearing that somehow the ninja robot could detect even that. There didn't seem to be any way to get out of this room; had Shadow Man seen them enter it?

Whether he had or not didn't seem to matter. Roll wondered why she doubted him; of course Shadow Man would look up. And when he did, his eyes went directly through hers. That moment was frozen stiff as ice, and was the last thing Roll noticed before everything flung itself into disarray. She wasn't sure if Dub or Shadow Man had moved first, but either way, the air was filled with metal limbs and shadow blades, and Roll could see neither. A limb pulled her backwards and pulled her away from the brunt off the attack, flinging the dizzy girl-bot upside down.

Two chuck-chuck sounds echoed out just inches from Roll's head, two shadow blades blocked only by Dub's own body. A third blade whipped through Roll's hair, but more than that she wasn't able to see. Instead she finally slammed into the floor, whimpering and vainly thinking of the unsightly dent that was more than likely now in her nose.

It was a foolish way for her thoughts to go. Shadow Man was around her in a moment, as was one of Dub's legs. The thick metal arm wound tightly over her own arms, pinning them down. The mechaniloid weakly flung a claw over to free his caught limb, but Shadow Man was still faster. Roll could do little more than struggle as the ninja-bot circled the room once more, snapping another shadow blade full on at Dub's body and putting another round of the limb about the imprisoned girl. Shadow Man's aim was good; Dub didn't move again, but lay there exactly like the arachnid he was styled after: his legs crumpled up in a death as grim as only a spider could have.

Shadow Man seemed satisfied with his work. He relaxed slightly, not at all worried about the girl-bot in her makeshift bonds. Roll squinched her eyes, waiting for a shadow blade to get her in the neck. It didn't come. When she dared open her eyes, she found that Shadow Man was just walking towards her, stepping over one of Dub's arms.

"You...you're not going to kill me?"

"Hm?" Shadow Man glanced up at her, meeting her eyes in a very casual manner. "No. You're more useful to us unharmed."

If Shadow Man was trying to comfort her in some way, it didn't help. Roll tried to force the metal arm over her head and get free, but Shadow Man pulled on the arm - his grip was sure - and the girl-bot stumbled to a quick seated position. However calm Shadow Man was before, he roughly grabbed her shoulder and held it tightly. A whimper escaped Roll's lips, and she slumped, waiting for recapture.

"Damn!"

This was no mere curse. It was damnation itself. The black sound of his voice was a firm order to the deepest of pits, and the ground under Roll opened up, accepting the girl into its depths. All light disappeared; no window or lights from the nearest hall could reach through the black. Roll didn't need to breathe, but somehow she was being strangled as she fell, life itself left up and higher up above her. But Roll, no, she still continued to fall, mile after mile...

And then he was gone. Roll blinked, looking about her. She was still in that strange little round room with no apparent purpose, kneeling on the floor and gasping for breath. The rock walls were the same, and the landscape window was still there. Only Shadow Man was not. In her recovery Roll could only faintly hear footsteps coming toward her, and only the smallest part of her mind noticed that a set of these belonged to her now approaching brother.

"Roll!" he exclaimed, kneeling beside her and peeling away Dub's arm. "Are you alright?"

She blinked again, turning to the blue robot beside her. She wanted to smile, but her face lifted only a little. Her focus was taking its time returning, but soon enough she knew she was surrounded by Jewel Man and several members of Team 5. Finally the idea of "safe" settled into her CPU, and she began to feel a little better.

"I...I really don't like Shadow Man..." she said.

Mega Man winced, gently touching his sister's brow. "Yeah, he'll do that. Don't worry, it doesn't last. You'll be fine in a minute. Rest here a moment."

"As insensitive as this may be," Jewel Man's voice could hardly sound more sensitive or kind as he crouched on the other side of Roll. "But I'm going to need to scan you, dear."

"Please do!" Roll nodded with unnecessary emphasis. "The last thing I remember before coming to this room was being shut down so that Crystal Bot and Dr. Wily could reprogram me."

"Dr. Wily?" Napalm Man was shocked. "He's here?"

Roll looked up at the others. Now that her CPU was settled, she could see Napalm, Charge, and Stone Man. Everything made sense to her now. Shadow Man had detected them and run off. As powerful as he was, he couldn't beat her brother, much less her brother and four allies. Trying to remember what she was doing, Roll spoke and remembered her anger.

"Yes, he's here. He took over this base last night and he's forcing Dr. Cain to program viruses for him. A bunch of robot masters were making mechaniloids, and...and..." Here Roll quieted, hushing her voice as if to give the proper emphasis. "And Zero is here. He was in their lab...I think maybe the main one, when I last saw him."

"Good job, Roll." Rock smiled. "You poor thing. I'm sorry, I can't send you away now. Algorhythm-"

More footsteps coming down the hall. Mega Man stayed by his sister and charged his buster while the others scattered to the walls and readied their own weapons. Much to their relief, Bass was the one that ran up to them, followed by the rest of Team 5.

"Put that thing away before you hurt yourself." Bass growled at Rock.

"Crystal!" Jewel Man exclaimed, running to the girl-bot. "Please tell me you're alright!"

"I'm fine, Ahbohjee. Forte-kun took really good care of me! It's Roll I'm worried about...yay!" Crystal Bot approached her friend, fearfully eyeing the room for a moment. "I thought someone would get you for sure! But no, Grandpa was more angry at me. Poor Dub...he looks so terrible!"

Roll scowled, huddling closer to Rock. "You stay away from me!"

Crystal Bot started. "Oh no! Really, it's me this time. I'm sorry I said all of those mean things to you, Roll. I didn't mean them! I just had to lie and say that so Dr. Wily wouldn't think I was on your side. Don't look at me like that! It's only been like...I dunno, fifteen minutes since I deactivated you. Ha, you almost ruined everything. It was bad enough keeping me and Dub from being reprogrammed, but then I had to worry about you too!"

"Let me take a look here." Wave Man reached into Crystal Bot's hood and pulled out the handheld, still plugged into her neck. "Ah, yes, Crystal is running under normal operations. Besides, Roll, she was the one who sent us the signal to find this base. We're only here because of her."

Roll's face was still full of question, but she said nothing and just let Jewel Man set another handheld to her own neck. Crystal Bot bit her lip, but there wasn't anything she could do but let Jewel Man's scans prove that she hadn't done anything to Roll. She wanted to go and see what she could do about Dub, but Bass snatched her arm up.

"You've got the schematics for this base in your head, right? Give them to me so we can get going."

Mega Man rolled his eyes as Crystal Bot plugged her finger into the dark robot's neck. There was no need for Bass to say "we". Everyone knew how impatient he was to shoot something. Crystal Bot obediently loaded the information, only for Mega Man to approach her other arm.

"I'll take those as well." he said. "I wish the comm was up and working, but for now it'll have to be a direct connection. We'll have to do this as quickly as possible."

"I got it, I got it." the girl-bot huffed, plugging into his port as well. "You pass this along."

"Right." Mega Man nodded, firmly ignoring Crystal's ever present contempt for him. "Wave Man, is it alright with you that I take the Team 5 members that were with me before? I want to get going to the main lab to capture Wily as soon as possible."

"That's acceptable." Wave Man agreed, taking Bass' place and receiving the schematics for himself. "Once your upload is complete, you may go."

"Right. I'll hurry and give the schematics to them." Mega Man unplugged from Crystal. "Who's next?"

"And while you idiots are going right for Dr. Wily." Bass said. "I'll go to his ship and stop him when he escapes from you, like he does every single time. He's predictable as hell. See you guys when I catch him."

With that, Bass zoomed off. Wave Man shook his head at the dark robot, and even Mega Man glared in his direction as Bass dashed down the caveish hall and disappeared around the corner. Crystal Bot, seeing the others, tried to suppress her giggle. As much as his bravery impressed her, she wasn't immune to peer pressure - especially when that peer pressure is a huge, dissapproving Gravity Man staring down at her.

"What a jerk!" Gyro Man scoffed. "We're supposed to cooperate here!"

"Don't mind him. We can't control Bass no matter what we do." Wave Man sighed and turned his finger into a zip drive. "Here. As soon as I give you this information, you follow him. Gravity Man and Star, we will go together and serve as backup. Try to stay together as much as possible, and by all means, destroy Algorhythm Man and get our teleportation back up."

"Amen to that." Gravity Man said. "His anti-teleportation field makes my gravity feel off!"

Star Man just nodded in compliance as he and Gravity Man uploaded the schematics from Crystal - Mega Man's upload was complete, and he delivered the information to Charge Man and Napalm Man. Wave unplugged from Gyro Man and sent him away, then turned to the girl-bot of the team.

"Crystal, you will come along with us." Wave Man said. "It might be better for you to join the others and see what you can learn at the main lab, but I would rather that you took steps to avoid coming into contact with Wily. Even if he is at the landing bay instead of the lab, he'll be too busy escaping to trouble you. It's easy enough to send you back to the lab once Wily is gone."

The tech-bot's first action was to look over at Jewel Man, and her lip stuck out pitifully. Jewel Man winced, but approached her calmly and put a hand on her shoulder. "He's right, sweetheart. You had better go with him. I've got to keep these fellows out of trouble. Don't worry, I've survived this long as a fighter-bot. As ineloquent as this is, well, I can do the job!"

"Haeng-oonuhl pimneedah, Abohjee!" Through with her downloads, Crystal Bot through her arms around him. "Good luck!"

As this exchange went on, Roll sat quietly - until she noticed that the body of Dub was moving. It still had three very nasty Shadow Blades deeply embedded into the rectangular block, and yet somehow the thing was wiggling. Roll gently lifted it, being especially careful to not let her hands touch those awful shurikens. As she lifted Dub, bird tweets flickered out in a thank you and Bruce the pipi flew out. The little brown bird circled around (making sure to fly much too nearer to Mega Man than the blue bomber would have liked) and landed on Crystal Bot's shoulder.

"Bruce!" Crystal Bot patted his head. "Aw, poor baby. You had to spend that entire time merged with Dub. Thanks for helping him, Roll!"

"No problem." Roll smiled at the little pipi. "He's so cute!"

"My group." Wave Man's voice took on a more commanding tone. "Let's go!"

The four robots charged out of the room, leaving Roll sitting alone at the ruin of Dub. That reminded Mega Man of a problem he hadn't yet considered. He never had to fight while Roll was with him, and what to do with the girl now left him puzzled and worried. It would never do to wait until Algorhythm Man was destroyed, even assuming they knew where he was. Heck, it was even a bad idea just to stand there, wasting time pondering about it.

Fortunately, he had help this time. Charge Man rolled up to Roll, kneeling down beside her. "Roll-chan, why don't you hide in my storage compartment? It's not comfy, but I've got really great armor. A bad guy would probably kill me first before he could get it open."

Roll looked over to her brother, and Mega Man nodded with relief. "It's the safest place you can be right now. I'd take Dub with us too, but I'm afraid that would take too much time. Let's get you in there!"

Charge Man opened the hatch on his back, and Rock lifted Roll into the compartment. It wasn't much, just more or less an open area in charge Man's train hunchback, about big enough to hold three Rolls (all very uncomfortable). Roll sat at an inward corner, settling herself and smoothing out the edges of her dress. She couldn't help but feel very undignified, but she nonetheless smiled and waved at her brother, sitting calmly as he shut the hatch and left her in darkness.

Mega Man felt a twinge of guilt, but there was no time to ponder this. Napalm Man was finished giving the schematics of the cave base to Jewel and Stone Man, and now all were ready to go. Without a word they dashed off. Mega Man ran down the hall, letting Jewel Man and Napalm Man take up the rear. Charge Man was ahead of them. As much as Mega Man prefered the robot bearing Roll to be in the middle, Charge Man was better at leading the way. Stone Man ran along beside him, and he nodded with confidence as he saw Rock look at him. Mega Man grinned. There was no way Wily would win this time.

And so the heroes ran. It was a few minutes before anything happened, but it happened, sure enough. Rock silently ordered everyone to remain still and listen. He and his allies could hear the sounds of the enemies ahead of them talking and laughing. It wasn't by any means casual talking, and Mega Man tensed as he heard it. These were the sounds of robots threatening, seething under their breath and whispering their greed for violence. Heavy footfalls stomped into the floor, and a crackling, squealing thing sounded, possibly some parody of mirth. A thick, rumbing roar followed soon after, as well as the loud crackling of electronic energy.

"Of course!" Mega Man gasped. "They know we're here. They're coming!"

One set of laughter, more kooky than the rest, became louder as its source approached. So too did the intense crackling. A metal beam suddenly appeared around the corner, placing its end on the floor. It bent in the middle, and as it pulled the body of its robot, everyone could see that it was the bug-eyed, clown-bot himself, Psycho Man.

"Hello to you, my dear good friends!" he said, pulling his two floating hands apart before him. "I'll have a ball! You'll meet your ends!"

Between his hands a glow of electricity grew as he spoke, and the very instant he finished his rhyme, this orb exploded in light. Once it cleared, the good guys found themselves surrounded by several robots. Hard Man and Grenade Man cut off the path behind them, and Heat Man was eyeing Napalm Man with raging glee. Ice Man, Chill Man, and Signal Man joined Psycho up front, blocking the way to the lab.

"Ice Man?" Mega Man's eyes widened. "Wait, weren't you killed?"

"Dr. Cain was nice enough to rebuild me after you and the traitors destroyed the last Wily Castle." said the only robot in the world cuter than Mega Man. Even the way his eyebrows narrowed into a grimacing smile was totally adorable. "I guess I'll pay back the favor by destroying you!"

"Dr. Cain isn't so bad!" Chill Man agreed, lifting a fist. "He saved me as well! Cain's a great man, too! Imagine how much less pollution would be in the world if all of the robots were eliminated!"

"If that's the way you feel about it, then I'll fight!" Mega Man readied his buster. "I won't let you cause any more damage to anyone, even robots!"

One plasma shot into Ice Man's face started the battle. It was hard going, as the hallways were far too narrow for a grand battle. Jewel Man made sure to always keep a good field of diamonds around himself; the field prevented enemy shots from passing him in the narrow cave. That, however, meant that he and Napalm Man had to face down Hard, Heat, and Grenade alone.

"Good job, boys!" the beer keg robot said, beating his huge metal belly. "Heat Man, you do the honors with Napalm."

"Hee, hee, my pleasure!" The lighter-bot replied. "Ahaha, you don't know how much I've wanted to destroy you, Napalm! You're just so...so flammable!"

Heat Man immediately lit up. As the flames rose around him, Napalm Man had to try his hardest not to back away. He stuck a long white finger out, pointing at his enemy in meek determination.

"I...I won't let you win!" he tried in vain to boast. "You're not going to get the better of me!"

The Wily-bots laughed loud, and Napalm slumped. It didn't always affect him too much, but he indeed had Toad Man disease. If someone got to close to him, an error in his battle AI would only let him fire his napalm bombs, not his torpedoes. This ordinarily wouldn't be too bad, but napalm was a flame based weapon: it wouldn't do near as much damage to Heat Man as he wanted.

"Be careful!" Jewel Man looked behind him quickly to make sure his back was clear, then faced front again. "Stay behind me!"

Jewel Man quickly jumped ahead, engaging his shield and sending his jewel pieces flying. Heat Man and Grenade Man backed off, but unfortunately Hard Man was fine. The diamonds bounced off his armor like pebbles, and he grinned.

Grenade Man too was happy, and he smiled big. "That felt great! And now it's your turn!"

Grenade Man flung a bomb at Jewel Man, who barely in time engaged the jewel shield before the bomb hit. Even then he wasn't spared all of the blast's impact. The grenade shattered the jewels of his shield, and he fell back to one knee, covered in carbon scoring. Hard Man shot out a fist, and it smacked into Jewel Man before he could get his next shield up.

"Oh no, you don't!" Napalm Man yelled.

Three torpedoes flung themselves at the baddies. Grenade Man took a hard hit (which he thoroughly enjoyed - especially the lovely damage on his armor and the exposing of his inner core), but Heat Man was too quick. Spinning into a powerful flame, he reappeared before Napalm Man, and the purple robot felt his internal glitches go to work. It was nothing but napalm bombs for him; Heat Man was just too close! In fact, he was getting closer, and his napalm workings-

"Crap!" Napalm finally realized what Heat Man was trying to do. "You better not!"

Oh, but he did. Heat Man fired off his flames at Napalm Man's bombs, causing them to explode with flame inside the very robot that carried them. Napalm Man cried out, but the fire was lit, and it would slowly burn its way down his napalm conduits, a vein of fire that would lead all the way to his core.

The other side of the fight was no less dramatic. Stone Man did his best to fight the icy robots, but staying warm wasn't easy. Chill Man froze him in place, and only through firing his powerful stone shot could he get out of it, assuming Ice Man didn't shoot him first. Charge Man was too fast to freeze, but that didn't stop Chill Man from laying his spikes on the floor right in the way of the train-bot.

"Argh, it's so slippery! Let's see how you like coal!"

Charge Man fired off his coal buster at Chill Man trying to distract him. Chill Man was quicker. No sooner had Charge Man fired off the shots than Chill fired his own, freezing the coal and leaving it as nothing but a frosty chunk of stone.

"Not fair!"

Mega Man jumped behind the complaining orange-bot, ducking in to cover his back from Psycho Man's psycho pulse. "Ice and Chill Man are the two most powerful ice robots! You can't fight them with fire!"

"Rock, you gotta leave!" Stone Man jumped over two more ice blades from Ice Man. "The longer this takes, the more likely Wily will get out of here!"

"No, no, blue boy, you cannot go!" Psycho Man's glowing orb collar began to glow even brighter, turning a poisonous green. "You're lots of fun, and it's my show!"

Argh, I've got to do something!

Mega Man's thoughts raced, and he searched his mind for a solution. It hit him, finally, just the same time that the psycho pulse did. Mega Man collapsed to the ground, but he was ready. Taking a risk, he dequipped his super armor and engaged the epic win. His powerful buster charged the weapon, then let loose his weapon's full power at the insane clown robot.

"Aaaww, my beautiful arms!"

It's a subjective matter of whether or not Psycho Man's arms were in any way beautiful (by which I mean to say they were not, unless you're an electrical engineer), but in any case Psycho Man had the right to complain. These two limbs fell off and dropped to the ground, and Psycho Man himself fell right off his skinny pole legs. Down he went in a heap.

"Go now!" Charge Man exclaimed. "Run for it! We'll catch up!"

"Thank you, everyone!" Mega Man shouted back.

"Where do you think you're going?" Chill Man exclaimed, jumping into the air. "Chill out!"

Chill Man flung a spray of his ice powers at the ground, trying to catch Mega Man before he slid away. He hit the wrong person. Mega Man got away scot-free, and his farthest reaching icicle hit Napalm Man instead. He froze into a blue icicle, staying that way until Stone Man managed to escape the wrath of the Team 1 cold-bot and smack his purple companion in the head.

"Whooo hooo!" Napalm Man lifted a now neither burning nor freezing arm into the air. "Thanks, friend! Wait, my hands...I can't engage them, my poor hands!"

Indeed the things were melted off. His entire forearms were black, and he wouldn't be firing bombs or converting to normal hands again. That only made Napalm Man angrier. Pinching Heat Man between his melted arms (holding the flaming heat guy certainly didn't help), Napalm Man flung him straight at Grenade Man. Grenade Man only had time to cry out "what bliss!" before he and Heat Man exploded.

Mega Man heard only noises. He didn't flinch. He had to keep running, and keep going. If he didn't catch Wily, then these sorts of incidents would only happen again. The brave hero was going to make sure, once and for all, that they stopped.

You've got to be as tired of this as I am, Wily. I'm not going to let you do this to me anymore!

-t-

Things weren't very eventful for the other half of Team 5 thus far. Bass was still too far ahead of them, but they caught up to Gyro Man. Their flyer-bot was caught up in a long hallway, trying to shoot through waves of Dr. Cain's blue electronic mechaniloids. They were little more than large metal balls with spikes on the top and bottom, but they way they crowded the air and sent waves of electricity sizzling up and down the spikes, they were really beginning to prove a challenge for Gyro Man alone.

Wave Man didn't need to give any orders. Crystal Bot shot out her crystal eye (which fortunately all went down towards the baddies and somehow missed Gyro) and Gravity Man fired his pellets.

"Hold your fire and stay away from the mechaniloids!" Wave Man ordered. "Gyro Man, retreat to our position. Star Man, you know what to do."

And he did. The very second that Gyro Man ducked in behind him, Star Man lifted his buster into the air. Instantly asteroids streaked down the hallway, clearing out several of the blue things. However, Star Man didn't have Toad Man's range, and there were still plenty more coming.

"Keep going forward!" Wave Man said. "Clear our way, Star Man!"

And so they charged, running through the hallway. Star Man managed to destroy the elec balls in front of them, but as they passed hallways fresh waves of the annoying mechaniloids appeared. Crystal Bot fired her laser down her side of the hall, and Gyro Man protected from the right. Many of the mechaniloids found themselves impaled by Wave Man's harpoons, and Gyro Man made sure none followed too close. It wasn't long before the group found a heavily encoded set of double doors. That was the end of the hall.

"We're getting closer!" Crystal Bot said, heading for the door and letting the others watch her back. "We have to go through the library here. This is the quickest way to get to the nearest hangar. There's more than one in this place, and I don't know which one Wily will use to escape, but there's a chance we're headed the right way! I've just got to work on these doors..."

"Let me open them." Star Man raised his arms to attack. "With my asteroids, I can break through the door-"

"No, silly space monkey!" Crystal Bot went past him and hooked into the keypad to the left of the door. "Let me hack. It won't take long. If we can get to the other side I can recode the doors to keep these guys from getting through. They don't exactly have arms or anything to get in and change it back themselves...and done! Go-go!"

The robots hastily went on through the door, Wave Man holding up the rear and sweeping away the mechaniloids that tried to get them. Finally, he jumped back behind the metal panels himself. Crystal Bot shut them behind him, encoding the door securely. That left the group in the rather nice library, very odd in a cave. Stalactites hung down from the immense ceiling, decorating the large number of bookshelves and nice green sofas in a strange, but not unhomey sort of way. Very nice metal standing lamps on each side of the sofas served as reading light.

"That was way too easy!" Gyro Man complained. "Isn't there anyone who can put up a real challenge?"

"I'm no genie, but I'll grant that wish!"

The group of good guys jumped each in every direction as all of them tried to evade the elec beam running towards them. Luckily for Star Man, it hit his shield and not him.

"Elec Man!" Crystal Bot's eyes immediately narrowed. "You stupid meanie-butt!"

"Charming as always, you Team 5 loser." The masked robot retorted, folding his arms. "We'll teach you some manners!"

By the "we" he obviously meant his Wily companions. Wood Man was there, looking as threatening as a robot made of wood was able. Nitro Man, a considerably more intimidating robot, rolled in beside him and turned back into human form, honking his horn in excitement. Solar Man was the most impressive of the bunch, and the fire coming out of his head burned a cheery bright color with a suprisingly nice smell coming off. Wood Man eyed him and edged away.

"Bubble Man?" Gravity Man blinked. "What are you doing out of the water?"

"I can fight on land, you know!" Bubble Man insisted. "I'm quite good."

"Um...are you sure?"

"Shut up!"

Elec Man turned to his fighters. "Well? What are you waiting for? Let's get them!"

The fight ensued, with Wave Man starting things off. His powerful water waves blew back Nitro Man, and Solar Man had to keep his head up if he wanted to save his flame. Gravity Man at once jumped to the ceiling, then jumped downwards, pulling Elec Man up to the roof.

"I'll take care of him!" Gravity Man growled, pointing at the stalactites. "You won't get away with insulting Team 5!"

That left Elec Man to figure out how in the world he was going to fight when he was constantly going up and down. A scared Crystal Bot tried to fight Wood Man with her laser, but his leaf shield blocked it.

"Not fair! How are leaves supposed to block laser? That's dumb!"

Wood Man wasn't concerned about fair. He neared her with a nasty grin, summoning his leaves. Fortunately, Star Man was keeping an eye on her, and he always wanted to fight Wood Man, shield-bot to shield-bot. He started running towards Wood Man, charging ahead. Leaves were summoned, and began to fall around them. At one touch, they took out the star crash and left Star Man open.

"Ha!" Wood Man scoffed. "I've got the strongest shield!"

To prove his point, Wood Man shot it off at Star Man. The space robot leaped over it gracefully, aiming his buster.

"And I've got a real gun."

Wood Man's mental circuit boards found themselves with a nice big hole in them. Getting an asteroid to the face will do that to you (if you are a robot, naturally - the human reaction is a bit too messy to describe). Wave Man was starting to make progress at weakening Nitro Man, and Crystal Bot managed to cover him and keep Solar Man at bay.

Bass hadn't fought the mechaniloids. The dark robot had dashed ahead of them, unknowingly activating them on the way to the nearest hangar. Bass didn't think about Wave Man or the others. He was going to keep going and make sure that Wily was stopped, and that meant checking on the five different hangars that Dr. Cain had in his base. Forte scowled to himself; he refused to believe that Mega Man could actually capture Wily. How many times had the mad doctor alluded the blue bomber in their history so far? Bass was going to destroy the Skull Capsule, and that was that.

I wonder if Dr. Cain has any good books. Nah, he probably likes crap like that Rand broad. Bass too had passed through the library. Alright, so I turn right up here and the hall opens out. Then it's a left-

"So you're finally here! Come on around. I've been waiting for you a long time!"

Bass stopped. He did a quick echo check, and figured out that the voice was coming from in front of him, past the corner. He readied his double busters. As he went right around the bend, he saw that the schematics in his head were correct. The hall did open up. Of course, the schematics didn't warn him that Algorhythm Man would be there waiting for him, hovering about in the middle of the air.

Bass looked around for more enemy robots. He saw none. "Eh, this'll be easy."

"Is that what you really think, Bass?" Algorhythm Man asked haughtily, his grin just ever slightly too big to properly convey intimidation. He was too eager. "I'm ready for you this time. You're on my home turf!"

"Yeah, your home turf that was taken over by Wily." Bass readied his buster. "Honestly, what makes you think you can beat me? The first time I saw you I threw you down the side of a mountain. The next time you couldn't do much. Do you really think that you can beat me? Hell, I don't even get why you care so much."

"You don't get it?" Algorhythm Man exclaimed. "How could you possibly not understand? My master crafted an excellent plan to destroy Monstropolis, defeat Mega Man, and eliminate robots for good! If it weren't for you, he would have succeeded!"

"Echelon Man was created to stop Mega Man, right?" Bass was tempted to roll his eyes. "Rock kicked his tail. Cain's plan couldn't have been that good. The guy doesn't know what he's doing."

"Oh, shut up, shut up!" the orange robot almost screamed. "You're just a pathetic excuse for a hero! I will fight you and strike you down here and now! I will not let you humiliate my master any longer! I am the stronger robot, and you are just an outdated, fin-headed scrap of junk! I'll defeat you and prove it! Now, fight me! Or are you too afraid?"

As much as Bass wanted to fight, he paused, sickened. He had heard similar words before, and only now did it occur to him where: from his own mouth. For years he fought Mega Man again and again, never even thinking about giving up despite the fact that he'd lost every single time. Neither stolen technology, evil energy, nor whatever difficult fight Mega Man had had previously changed the outcome of the rivalry. Now Bass realized that he never thought about how pathetic that looked. Seeing the frustrated and uncomparably weak Algorhythm Man made everything perfectly clear. Algorhythm Man was a complete weakling, and an idiot to boot. Bass almost grew naseous. Had Rock thought the same thing about him? Was Bass just another loud mouthed enemy that Mega Man (shudder!) felt sorry for?

Bass definitely was feeling sick to his stomach. This question had been on the edge of his mind for years, but only now did he see it. He told himself that he was much more powerful than Algorhythm Man, and certainly more powerful than Rock, but the more he thought about it, the more pathetic he felt. Mega Man had shown him mercy time and time again. Bass thought he was fast enough to get away before being destroyed, but Mega Man had never chased him. As much as Bass told himself this had more to do with Mega wanting to destroy Wily and stop whatever scheme the madman was planning first, the excuse just seemed hollow.

"Here you are! Sneaking ahead of everyone just to stop Wily yourself, just like the glory-hog you are, huh? You're not the only one that can fight!"

Grumpy Bass glared back at Gyro Man, the room's newest arrival. As much as he wanted to say something vicious to the robot flying overhead, Algorhythm Man beat him to the punch.

"You stay out of this, you pathetic green fool!" Algorhythm hissed, his neon colors growing a little brighter. "Go down that right side hallway if you want to stop Dr. Wily so bad. Arrest him for all I care! Just mind your own business or wait your turn!"

"Wow, I'm supposed to be intimidated by you?" Gyro Man snapped, folding his arms. "You can't talk that way. Don't you remember the first person to defeat you? It was Proto Man, the oldest robot in existence. He was even suffering from power core problems."

"He distracted me," Algorhythm really did scream this time as he pointed accusingly at Bass. "By blowing up my master's home! What was I supposed to do?"

"Great excuse, loser." Gyro Man snorted. "You still got defeated by a guy with a malfunctioning core."

Bass listened to this with mild impatience. He was thinking a lot more clearly now that his anger was starting to dissipate. The nearest hangar bay where the Skull Capsule might be was to the left, but Algorhythm Man had said to go right to find Wily. Was Al telling the truth? Bass glanced up at him, his face fouler for the subject he looked at. If Algorhythm Man was this pissed at him for...now what had he done again? Well, whatever it was, the neon-bot was probably equally bitter at Dr. Wily. Surely taking over Dr. Cain's base was at least as bad as whatever Algorhythm accused him of.

Hell, Wily better not have escaped while I was talking to these idiots. Bass though. Hm. When I was fighting Rock, what's the number one thing he could have done to piss me off?

Bass knew exactly what that was. He involuntarily gritted his teeth, forcing himself to go on. He yelled up at Gyro Man.

"Hey Sandwich Boy. Hurry up and kill this guy so we can get the teleporters working."

"What, really?" Gyro Man said, genuinely surprised. "You don't want to fight him?"

"Nah, he sucks. Just hurry up, already."

"Wait, where are you going?" Algorhythm Man's glowing panels glowed faster. "Come back here! You're my rival, you have to fight me! Fish! Fish...Bass! BASS!"

Bass didn't even look at him. Thankfully Gyro Man attacked, ending Algorhythm Man's annoying yells and beginning an even noiser fight. Forte grinned to himself, gambling and betting on the right hallway. He compared this to the scematics in his head, he noted that there was another hangar in that direction, further away from his current location. It was worth a shot. Besides, Gyro Man would destroy Algorhythm Man soon (Bass didn't doubt Gyro could do it - Algorythm Man was hardly a worthy opponent, he thought) and then he would be able to teleport away if he was wrong.

-t-

As all of this was going on, Mega Man sped for the lab. He knew where to go in the vast cave base, but getting in there was proving difficult. Besides the tellies in the way, hacking into the lab door gave him trouble. Dr. Cain wasn't like Wily; each room of his base wasn't a death trap where he was allowed right inside in the hopes that something there would destroy him.

Mega Man almost panicked. It had been so long since he had been a lab assistant that his knowledge of security systems was outdated. He simply didn't understand what was going on with it anymore. Fortunately, Auto certainly did, and the hacking programs installed in Mega Man seemed to do the trick. The metal doors slid to the side, allowing him entrance.

The place was a mess. Scattered tellie parts lay all over tables and along the floor, especially at the far side of the room. Tools were scattered as well, and much of the computers were smashed in. At the larger computer panel lay Dr. Cain, sprawled out on the floor under a computer chair with a little blood trailing down the side of his ear.

"Oh no! Dr. Cain!"

Mega Man was quick to rush to his side. He lifted the chair and tossed it aside, then winced, wishing he could call Roll. Still, he was a model that could detect vibrations, and it was fairly easy to see that Cain was still breathing. Whoever did this to him was in a hurry, not trying to kill him but get him out of the way. Rock tried to remember the first aid Roll taught him. The best thing to do in this case was to make sure not to move Dr. Cain, just in case of spinal damage, and try to contact some assistance from the outside. Mega Man went to the nearest unsmashed monitor, hoping that the base had some sort of land line for emergencies.

"Come on, come on!" Mega Man whispered. "Please work!"

It did. The monitor blinked to life. At once Mega Man's merry reaction face melted away into horror. It didn't take a computer geek to tell that numbers going backwards down to zero was not a good omen.

"A self-destruct function? On the base?" Mega Man frantically started typing at the computer. "Gah! It won't let me through! I don't know how to shut this down!"

That didn't stop Mega Man from trying. He focused his computer mind on doing as many calculations as possible, trying to figure out what the emergency shut down passcode was. He typed in possibility after possiblity, but nothing worked.

And I can't tell the others to get out of here! They couldn't get out of here even if I warned them! Mega Man angrily smacked at the console. They're all in danger!

Mega Man wished then with more strength than he had yet before that he was a lab robot again. Auto would know how to shut it down or at least slow it down, but not him. Not Mega Man, the fighter robot, the "great hero". That hero was helpless before the face of advanced technology.

The sound of gasping alerted Mega Man that Dr. Cain was waking up. He rolled over onto his back, trying to speak.

"Try not to move, doctor." Mega Man's fingers typed with greater speed. "I've got to shut down the self-destruct function on your base. What's the password? Did Wily change it?"

"What are you talking about?" Dr. Cain moaned as he slowly pulled himself up to his feet. "I don't have that on my base. I'm not stupid. What good would blowing up my life's work do?"

Mega Man paused, his hands still hanging above the keyboard. "Wait, then what's this?"

Dr. Cain pushed Mega Man aside lightly, still feeling odd as he leaned over the keyboard. He rubbed his aching head and pushed a few buttons before answering.

"This looks like a mask program." Cain said, still rubbing his skull. "It's just there to make you think that the base is going to blow up. When the timer gets to zero it just starts over again, and it always says 'incorrect password' no matter what you type into it."

Mega Man felt a little stupid, and his spirits sank. He did know about mask programs. They were just a cheap trick to scare the unwary. His lip turned down as his expression soured. For the moment, he just sighed and pulled Cain's hand away from his head. From the way it was bleeding, Mega Man guessed that Dr. Cain's head needed to be left alone. He pulled up the nearby chair and let the scientist wearily plop into it.

"Ah, thank you." An exhausted Dr. Cain complied with Rock's silent order, and left his hands on his lap. "Don't feel too bad. You're just a robot. Mask programs would even fool humans. Don't expect too much of yourself."

While normally Mega Man wasn't a proud robot, he did feel a twinge of ego here. After all, he had saved the world ten times, and Monstropolis more so. What right did Dr. Cain have to imply he was stupid? But Rock let it go. He wasn't like Bass; he could ignore casual insults. Besides, he felt a little sorry for Dr. Cain, anyway. He wasn't entirely sure Dr. Cain was fully aware of his surroundings. The human blinked a lot, his voice little more than a dull moan when he did bother to speak. Cain was totally worn out, and from his limp shoulders and careless slumping over the arms of the chair, it was pretty clear he wouldn't be resisting.

Mega Man had left the doors open, so he knew right away when Charge Man, Napalm, Jewel, and Stone Man entered the room. Stone Man looked cracked - the chill had done him no good - and Charge and Jewel looked roughed up, but Napalm Man's burned arms were by far the worst of it.

"Charge Man." Mega Man said. "Let Roll out of your compartment. She needs to take a look at Dr. Cain."

"Right!"

Charge Man turned and lowered, popping open the back panel of his train back. Out came Roll, disheveled and showing off a new, poofy, and rather ugly hairstyle. Stone Man helped her step down to the floor. Roll quickly ran a hair through her blonde locks, wincing. She didn't have to see it to guess how it looked.

"I'm glad I'm not human." she said, straighting out her dress. "If I were then I would be sick!"

"Um, sorry, Roll!"

"It's okay, Charge Man. I know how battles can be." She pushed his panel back into place and patted him on the back. "It was the safest place for me, anyway. Okay, now where's my patient?"

Dr. Cain was actually a bit surprised that Roll didn't mind helping him. She went right up to him, casually looking him over and cringing at the sight of his head. Cain widened his eyebrows, but after an initial reluctance just gave in and scooted up a bit in the chair, letting Roll get a clear look. She pulled a nice frilly handkerchief out of her pocket and patted at some of the blood.

"This looks ugly." Roll said as she carefully wiped a bit from his ear. "But it's not really that bad. Minor concussion though. We'll have to bring you to a hospital as soon as it's safe to leave."

"Right, I guess that will be fine." Cain sighed. "I'm not going anywhere now, that's for sure."

"You're going to be under arrest." Mega Man warned. "As much as I feel sorry for you, I'm not going to let you go. Your next stop after the hospital is prison."

"That's fine." Cain blinked, still a bit out of it. He took in a deep breath, closing his eyes. "I suppose it's just as well. Better than being Dr. Wily's slave. I won't try to break out again, I promise that. I'm done. This means I'll have to give up on freeing society from you metal fellows. I suppose it won't work so well if no one else feels the same way I do."

"I'm really glad you're saying that." Roll said, her voice taking on its typical lecture tone with the full output of her extended finger. Rock smiled at it, thankfully it was aimed at someone besides him. "Don't you ever do any sort of scheme like that again! A lot of people's lives can be changed by one person's attitude, so you better watch yourself and behave from now on! My brother's got his eye on you!"

Dr. Cain, though his injury made him far more agreeable, frowned at this. "Ow. Don't you boss me, metal girl. If you're going to tell me something, tell me this: what was that you said earlier about programming viruses for Wily? How did you know his plan? And why were you saying all that nonsense about Gemini Man?"

Mega Man pricked up his ears. Roll hadn't told him anything. Equally curious, he walked closer to Roll. She startled as he approached, almost jumping. Trying not to look into her brother's eyes, she steered her gaze over to Cain - let him think she was weird, not Rock.

"I...um, Proto Man was investigating around." Roll explained. She tried to look calm as she spoke. "ArmorCore Anti-virus looked a little weird to him, so he wanted to check it out. He didn't actually find anything yet, or if he did, I'm not sure. I just guessed that Dr. Wily had something to do with it. I said it in front of him to see if I was right."

Mega Man looked at her strangely. "Proto Man didn't tell me about that."

Roll's innocent eyes turned to her brother, and she shrugged. "Well, he only told me because I asked. He wasn't sure there was anything to make of it, yet."

"Well, there must certainly be something to make of it now." Cain snorted. "Wily couldn't make a poker face to save his life. What you said really struck a nerve."

"We'll talk about this later, hopefully with Proto Man around." Mega Man eyed the scientist with distrust. "Right now we've got to focus on the task at hand. I sure hope Bass and everyone else found the the Wily capsule. It's clear Wily's been gone from this laboratory for a while. Napalm Man, are you okay?"

"My poor hands..." the purple robot sighed. "I just hope they can be repaired. I'm burnt up pretty bad, Rock. I can still fire torpedoes, but I don't know how good I'll be for fighting."

"It's okay. You stay here. Charge Man and Stone Man, you also stay with Roll and Dr. Cain. Have him get the masking program off the computer and show you what he was doing on his computer before we got here. Jewel Man, we'll try to make it to the others, if we can. Wait, I'm getting a transmission!"

" - Hey Mega, I just destroyed Algorhythm Man. - " Gyro Man's voice sounded over the line. " - Teleportation is back up! - "

"Great!" Mega Man exclaimed. "Did everyone hear that?"

" - We did! - " Wave Man was equally excited. " - Let's get to those ships and cut off the escape! - "

"I'll go first." Rock said to Jewel Man. "I'll teleport around and try to find which hangar has the Skull Capsule. Be just a minute!"

The first try was lucky. Mega Man landed in what turned out to be the right landing bay. Aside from two gold and green hover jets (obviously Dr. Cain's vessels), the blue bomber was rewarded with the Skull Capsule, the top hatch open as Crash and Quick Man lifted a limp Zero inside. However, Mega Man's teleport was not silent, and everyone froze at the sight of him. Well, for about a millisecond, anyway.

"It's Mega Man!" Quick Man threw Zero's legs into the capsule and jumped down to the floor. "Let's get him!"

"Be careful with my robot!" Wily yelled.

No one paid much mind. Even as the red-faced scientist screamed, several more robots popped out from nowhere. Quick Man was quick, but Bullet Man made the first hit. He swooped down against Mega Man, slamming him into a wall. Two boomerangs shot out, one of which caught Mega Man across the helmet before embedding into the wall.

"Crash Bomb!" The corresponding Team 2 robot cheered, not realizing Bullet Man was still in the way. Thinking fast, Mega Man kicked Bullet Man in the chest - the crash bomb hit him in the back. By the time the smoke cleared, Rock was well out of harm's way - other than having to jump over several orange tops, that is.

"Someone kill him already!"

There was no need for Wily to give this order. Alreadly Flash and Frantic Man were headed for the blue bomber. A hurtling fully charged blast slammed right into Flash Man before the bright stopper was unleashed. That, however, left Mega Man open to the shooting clown arm heading right for him. Frantic Man snatched him up by the neck, slamming him twice to the ground.

Boy do I feel ridiculous... Mega Man activated his comm. " - Everyone! Meet at my coordinates! - "

Mega Man equipped the power bullet, firing away at Frantic Man. He couldn't see the hit, but the clown arm whipped away from his neck, much to his relief. That left Rock surrounded by Crash, Bullet, Quick, Flash, and even Top Man - probably a recovered victim of Dr. Cain's reprogramming. Not for long was the hero surrounded. Several teleport lines streaked down from the cave ceiling, and one by one Rocks' allies appeared. The black and gold teleport beam was the first.

"How the hell did you get here before me?" Bass thundered at Mega Man.

Mega Man didn't have time to answer. Quick Man was after him, and even with Gyro Man's help he was proving hart to hit. Star Man and Wave Man stated to take advantage of Crash Man, but with a sudden flash everything stopped. Only Jewel Man's late appeareance saved the good guys - his jewels shattered though Flash Man's shimmering armor and put an end to the bright stopper. Though not fast enough to save Star Man. A lighting black streak lammed right into his head, piercing directly into his forehead.

"Star Man!" Crystal Bot cried out.

Gravity Man said nothing, but he knew what he had to do. Spotting Sight Man idinging among the Cain aircraft, he activated his gravity powers, slamming Sight Man against the stalactities. Wave Man's harpoon snagged Bullet Man as Wave Man covered his team member's back. Bullet Man was not pleased. Ripping the harpoon out of his armor, Bullet Man jumped into the air and swept the room with his lasers, throwing out a triple shot at Wave Man for good measure. Beore he knew it, he was being showered with a rain of upwards plasma pellets. He turned to find himself face to face with a double-jumping Forte. That was the end of him.

As smug Bass landed confidently, grinnning as the pieces of burning Bullet Man decorated the air and floor around him. This merriment was interrupted by someone else's. Crystal Bot's. For no reason her boss could think of, CB was dancing with Top Man as the latter hummed a fine waltz.

"Sonata...what the hell?"

Top Man led his partner near Bass, smirking as he twirled the giggleing girl-bot around. Sonata stuck her tongue out at him.

"Top Man is nice." she replied cooly. "And since you were a meanie back at the ball, I wanna dance with him."

"He didn't dance with you?" Top Man gave her another spin. "Of course not. He's just trying to cover up the fact that he's a clumsy oaf on the dance floor and isn't good at anything not involving guns. He couldn't stand to make a fool of himself."

If stray shots from Crash Man didn't distract him, Bass would have face palmed - or at least shot Top Man to death. As he went after the Team 2 robot, he yelled over his shoulder. "Just kill the guy before Jewel Man sees you."

"Aw, that's right. Ahbohjee wouldn't like this." Crystal Bot pouted with a good dose of lower lip.

Top Man laughed, not at all dismayed. "Well, yes, we are enemies. We really should be fighting. It's just too bad isn't it?"

"Sure is!"

Crystal Bot flashed with a blink of her orbs. He was too close; he found the shiny blue crystal she generaled firmly embedded in his chest. As he plunked to the ground, Crystal Bot clapped, squeaky with satisfactory glee.

"So I can create a crystal if someone's in the way. Yay!"

There was little time for musings. Espeically not for Mega Man. It was always so tedious to fight Crash Man, especially since the touch robot wasn't vulnerable to either of Rock's Cain powers. Still he defeated Crash Man just in time to see a new offensive.

"Tellies!" Mega shouted above the din. "Heads up everybody."

These mechaniloids were not tough, but there were plenty of them: the robots had done their work well. Weapons went out, aiming at the tellies and blasting them away...and yet their numbers only grew the stronger. Mega Man fired off his shots, not bothering to charge them (and finding himself a little jealous of Bass)

Ther's just too many of tehse guys! And they really are pretty distracting..."

Not quite distracting enough. In an instant Mega Man hopped around and fired a half-charged shot at Sight Man, saved from Gravity Man's wrath by the mechaniloids.

"Good try, but I'm too used to fighting Shadow Man." Mega Man charged this buster.

"Maybe I can't sneak up on you..." Sight Man brought his cannon to his shoulder. "So let's see how good your armor really is!"

Sight Man fired of three of his maddening shots. They wizzed by Mega Man's head, whilsting like gallows birds as they passed by. A fouth slammed into Mega Man's chest, ripping off a plat of shoulder armor as it deactivated his charge. This didn't stop Rock from sliding in, kicking out Sight Man's cannon and beginning an intense fistfight. Not even a blow straight to the chin could topple our blue hero, and it wasn't long before he kicked Sight Man back. Equipping the power bullet again, he fired it point blank.

Really, it was too much for any robot, and moreover Sight Man's defenses were neither top-notch or in perfect condition. The ant-bot shattered, limbs flying. Mega Man didn't enjoy violence, but even if he did he couldn't watch Sight Man's demise: he was interrupted by a quieter noise but one far more recognisable: the slow groaning of the Skull Capsule as it began to close.

"Wily's getting away!" Mega Man charged to the capsule. "Bass!"

"Coming!" Bass growled, dashing in. "Get under there and kill the propulsion engines!"

Mega Man tried to go for the capsule and stop the closing procedure (he'd rather face Wily and try to do as little damage to the human as possible), but as Wily's rapidly wriggling eyebrows told him, he had no time. As the blue half steadily lowered onto the grey, Mega Man could feel his heart sink. Wily laughed loudly before making an equally loud demand. Out of the capsule a magnificent teal blur hit Mega Man, smacking him against the floor. All that filled rock's eyes was teeth, claws, and a pair of eyes that'd bite you like a viper. He could barely push off the frantic paw in time to see that it was Demi, Cain's (and apparently now Wily's) miniature robot assistant.

Mega Man Tossed the little guy aside, trying to fire down at the bottom of the iconic shop, now firmly closed. Anticipating more tiny claws coming up from behind, Mega Man fired back a few rounds. Only as he finally turned to look did he see the sheer number of tellies coming out against him. How many of these things did Wily have the chance to produce?

"I need back up!" Rock yelled.

"Right behind you!" Gravity Man sent Demi flying up in the air. "I'll cover you, but power doesn't work on tellies."

"Rock, you under there yet, or what?" Bass snarled from the top of the capsule. "Nothing up here makes it stop!"

Times like these Mega Man really wished that Bass could slide. But with no more complaint that a quick grunt, Mega Man slight right under the Skull Capsule, firing away.

Inside the thing, Wily's laugh bounced around the metal walls of the vessel as he worked the controls. The six flat screen monitors hanging above the buttons and levers displayed the outside world, and Wily hadn't missed Mega Man's attempt at stopping him.

"Buahaha!' Wily couldn't stop laughing. "Fool! Mega Man went right under my thrusters! All I have to do is lift off, and phwoom! Mega Man is fried! Buahahaha...wait, why isn't this working? What did Cain do to my ship?"

Wily slapped the console, forcing his wrinkled hands against a bare part of the panel with a whap! Wily reached to his right. Over there would be the panel hiding the manual emergency thruster. It was meant to lift up the ship come hell or high water. His hands knew the passcode for the security panel without consuling his brain, so it came as quite a surprise when his hand didn't make it there. It was neither hell nor high water opposing him, as turning revealed. It was instead Proto Man, and now the red and grey robot had Wily securely by the wrist.

The grinning stealth-bot plopped his feet right atop the controls, sitting in the extra chair like he owed the place. And he wouldn't stop smirking! But even this enfuriating face didn't distract Wily from the reality of the situation for long: Proto Man's thick legs had no affect on the machine, even though they rested on important buttons, nothing happened. The capsule controls were blocked.

"No!" Wily screamed (which was really annoying in that confined space). "You can't do this, you stupid robot!"

Proto Man said nothing. He simply reached over to a horizontal lever at his waist with his free hand. Sliding it to the right, Proto Man released the lock, and slowly the upper half once again gently headed for a higher position. This lifted just in him for Wily to see an burning spurt of plasma explode from underneath them, rocking the ship.

"My fuel lines!" Wily wasn't going to stop his screaming yet. "Stop destroying my Skull Capsule!"

"Relax." Proto Man felt a little cocky as he stepped on the rim of the ship. The panel was open enough, so he tugged Wily upwards as he lifted to his full, though not particularly impressive height. "It's not like it was going anywhere anyway."

"Proto Man?" Bass spat as he jumped off the top half. "How the hell did you get here? And before me and Rock? What the hell?"

"Simple." Mr. Cocky Man replied, dragging the mad scientist along with him on his mission to gloat. "I'm Proto Man. Now here you are. I'll let you hold on to him until the police come."

As much as Proto Man enjoyed the look on Bass' face, he knew it was a good strategy to shove Wily toward the one person most guaranteed to not let the old man out of his sight. That done (and Bass still glaring), Proto Man contently patted the side of the now blackened Skull Capsule, reaching under it for his brother, who was only the more dirty for the wear.

"Hey Rock, we got him."

"Oh good." Mega Man let his brother pull him to his feet. "Well, the engine is definitely done for. I shot up the fuel lines, and there isn't much left of the propulsion thrusters. No one's going to be flying this thing again."

Things were settling down. Most of the tellies were cleared out. . Gyro Man landed back on the ground, satisfied that the others could finish off the stragglers. The propellor-bot went past the winged Cain ship to go and find Star Man. They hadn't had time to check him over and make sure that he was able to be repaired, so he would wanted to make sure the space-bot was okay.

And to think there was a time when I couldn't stand my team. Gyro Man chuckled. This good guy thing really is getting to me.

The chuckle died in his throat as he approached the fallen. Kneeling at Star Man's body was Frantic Man. His long clown arm was picking over Star Man's armor, particularly at the hole in his cranium. He had already removed what remained of Star Man's helmet (the Team 5 bot had some nice brown hair) and was attempting to remove his forehead panel. Instantly Gyro Man's blade shooter was out, and his growl alerted Frantic Man.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Gyro Man was firm. "Get away from him! Now!"

Frantic Man was still a moment, with one hand frozen over Star Man's head. He dropped his hand slowly, staring at the threatening Gyro Man in his usual, expressionless way. Then he got to his feet, not saying so much as a "bleep" or a "zzt". He just stared at Gyro Man a moment longer. With that, he disappeared into the air, an ugly, multicolored beam shooting up in the air.

"Darn!" Gyro Man exclaimed. "I should've shot him! Gravity Man! Get over here and check on Star! I think Frantic Man messed with his head!"

Gravity Man hurried over, and Mega Man watched the scene, hoping for the best. However, his noisy captive wasn't going to let his attention stray for long.

"My beautiful capsule!" Wily tugged uselessly against Bass' grip. "You'll pay for this, Mega Man!"

"Yes, yes, just like every other time." Mega Man's smile was cute no matter how dirty it was. He shook his head with a chuckling sigh. "Really, Dr. Wily, this is beneath you. There's no need to threaten us. We've been going at this too long, and we should be frank with one another. No needless posturing. Hey Blues, you wouldn't have an extra rag, would you?"

"Sorry, Bro."

"Well, it's not my fault then." Mega Man grinned. "I'll have to go home like this, and Roll will just have to deal with it."

Blues chuckled. "At least wipe your feet at the door."

All this infuriated Wily. How dare they talk about something so trivial, when he, the master criminal, was caught? Didn't they fear him? Hate him? Something?

"Fools!" Wily pulled against Bass with surprising force - namely enough force to produce a snarky grin from his turncoat creation.

"Chill out, Old Man." Bass spoke with almost a mild affection. The casual feelings in the air were catching. "Just relax."

"I most certainly will not! Shadow Man! My servants! Come to me and free me!"

There was no response. Instead, Wily found himself beginning to be surrounded by his enemies. Except for Gravity Man, who remained down by Star Man's side, Jewel Man and Team 5 all found themselves gathering around Dr. Wily. Each of them curiously neared the former master, uncertain of what to do. The three main heroes were relaxed, so they tried to do the same. Wave Man was the boldest of the oncomers, and he approached Bass with a confident nod: mission accomplished.

And it was accomplished. Not so much as a tellie popped up to defend the madman. The servants that had manufactured these for him were all gone, both his robots and the ones he forced into service (though Mega Man honestly wondered how loyal Cain robots could be to Wily).

"Got him?" Gyro Man asked, still in a rush of ego. "Hey, and we've even got Zero! This is great!"

"Our work isn't done yet." Wave Man said. "I contacted the authorities. We still have to inspect this place and try to determine if any danger still remains in this building."

"I'm dangerous!" Wily shrieked. "You can't underestimate me! I always have a way...a way..."

Wily started to shake. Bass grasped him even tighter, not for one moment letting Wily try to give him the slip. The others were less suspicious, and as Forte tried to lift his creator up, he noticed how wide everyone's eyes were. Confused, Bass still held on. Again, Wily melted downwards, still wheezing and trying to speak. No words came out, probably thankfully. The others could see what was going on better. Wily's face was red and furious only a moment ago, and now he was pale. Each wrinkle seemed deeper than before, and what faded color remained in his eyes disappeared.

"I'll...I'll get a chair..." Gyro Man spluttered, backing away with his head swinging back and forth in the search. "There's no chair in here!"

"Teleport to the main lab!" Wave Man ordered, moving by Wily to get a better look. "Get a chair from there."

"And bring Roll with you!" Mega Man added.

"Right!"

Gyro Man teleported out, leaving the rest of the haunted souls. Team 5 was affected the most. They were good guys, and yet they were looking at their creator gasp for breath like the air was being sucked away. Wave Man could disguise his confusion easily, but Gravity Man couldn't. The maroon robot left Star Man to see what was going on, only to find that his emotion had created a forcefield he couldn't pass. Crystal Bot trembled, unable to move from the spot her feet were planted. Jewel Man walked up behind her, and upon noticing him she grabbed his arm for support.

Of all the robots, only Jewel Man remained contemptful enough to sneer at the weakened human, and strangely enough that counted Bass. The black and gold robot felt very weird about all of this. He finally let Wily get down on the ground (making him stand was like balancing a wet noodle on its end) but still kept him in a sitting position.

"I don't get it." Bass finally said. "He's faking this...right?"

Bass knew nothing about health, but even he was beginning to get the feeling that something wasn't right. If nothing else, Mega Man's face was a clue. The blue bomber had seen lots of Wily tricks, and he'd been tricked before. As much as he felt like Wily could be fooling him again...it just didn't seem like it. Whatever was going on in that shaking body of his, Wily grew more foul as Mega Man approached, and he spat. The saliva spray didn't reach more than Rock's feet.

"Behave." Bass ordered, gently hitting (tapping, really) Wily on the arm. "And sit still."

"Shut up!" the doctor managed a rough growl.

The green and white teleportation beam of Gyro Man, accompanied by the red and white of Roll, hit the ground. As ordered, Gyro Man had a chair, and Bass and Wave Man quickly got Wily up on it. The rest of the robots immediately cleared the way, allowing Roll a straight path to Dr. Wily.

"Well?" Gyro Man asked. "What's wrong with him? Is he faking this?"

Roll said nothing. All Gyro Man had told her when he brought her there was that it was an emergency; only now did she see that it was none of ther than Albert Wiily that was in medical danger. And so she stood. Wily didn't look up at her. Whatever was going on with him, it was getting worse. He could no longer do as much as grimace at the robots around him, and his chest struggled to pull in air. He couldn't do more than look up at his feet. And still Roll stood there.

Her eyes flitted to Gyro Man, dark as a bat. "No. He's not faking. He appears to have something wrong with his heart."

"Well, then get over here and do something." Bass snapped. "He's dying, and good guys help, apparently."

Mega Man paused. He hardly noticed as his eyes narrowed. As much as he wanted to insist that his sister act, he noticed something in her - not that it was particularly difficult to see. Hate was scribbled all over her face, and the more she stared at the scientist, the more it grew, like black marker on every gentle feature. When Roll faced him, Mega Man almost recoiled. She knew without him saying anything that Rock wanted her to help. And she despised him for it. But finally she eased up, and with darkness in her voice she answered Bass.

"I don't care."

Emphasizing her point, Roll snapped around, walking away and stunning everyone in the process. Mega Man immediately marched after her, grabbing her arm even as she tried to load in teleport coordinates for the lab. Roll at first refused to look at him, but as Mega Man tugged her more forcefully she rewarded his effort with a nasty stare, her eyes stabbing at his.

" - Roll, - " Mega Man was angry, but he was sure to encode his transmission. " - I know better than you what Wily's done, but- - "

"No you don't!" Roll screamed aloud, trying to rip her arm out of his grasp. "You don't have any clue what this man did to the future! You don't even have the slightest clue of what he's capable of? He's tried to kill us again and again, and every time you stop him he only tries again! Why should we help him? Why don't we just let him die already? What good does it do to let him live another day?"

If the room grew any more tense, then a black hole would form, surely dooming the earth into whatever fate black holes bring upon their captives. Not all of this came from Roll. Mega Man stared back at her, saying volumes with only his face, and yet it all could be summed up in one simple way: I'm ashamed and disappointed in you. Roll sputtered at his glare. What was it about the blue bomber that made you want him to think well of you? Roll had seen it happen to others, and now it was happening to her. Already her resolve was waning

"I can't do it." Roll spoke first as if this would keep him from besting her stubborn pride. How could he look at her that way? "Not after all he's done."

Mega Man's expression didn't change. He stood there a moment, letting his anger have its affect. Then he spoke.

"Help him."

That was all he said. That was all he needed to say. Already Roll could feel her heart inside her weakening, and her mad sorrow started welling up.

"Fine!" she sputtered. "I'll just go over there and make sure the guy that always persistently tries to take over the world lives to doom the day again, because I'm a stupid good guy and that's what we do!"

Roll turned away, thankful to not be looking at Mega Man's face anymore. As much as the others stared, they weren't nearly as bad as him.

" - Stop. - "

The housekeeper turned and glared at her brother, not quite daring to look him in the eye. " - What? - "

" - I know very well what Wily is capable of. - " Mega Man said. His resolve did not waver at all, and his disappointed face would break anyone's heart. " - In my opinion, the worst thing he's ever done was to bring out this kind of bitterness in you. - "

For a moment, the hatred in her face left it, and she was a girl again, free but sad. She started to shake, but after a moment simply turned around and went for the mad scientist to see what she could do. Bass moved away as she approached, entirely weirded out. Roll glared at him. It was glare she definitely got back in return, but it made Bass go away and that was what counted. Wave Man, however, was far more helpful. He ordered his team members to leave (especially Crystal Bot - she was starting to cry) and to make sure that the lab was safe. He himself helped Roll, making no comment whatsoever on her outburst.

It wasn't fair for her, Mega Man knew as he watched his sister. It wasn't fair for anyone. But what Mega Man was determined that they would not do is let a weakened old man convulse to death while they stood beside him and watched.

"Hey, where's Proto Man?" Gyro Man asked. "How long has he been gone?"

Mega Man blinked, looking around the hangar. His brother didn't seem to be anywhere, not guarding the Skull Capsule or standing somewhere near Cain's ugly hoverjets. In the end, Rock just shrugged.

"I don't know." he said. "Hey, help me get Zero out of that ship."

\\\\\\\\

Author's Notes:

- Yeah, it's probably a good idea to read this story last rather than let it be the first of mine you read. Anyway, check out Okkusenman, particularly chapters 5 and 9 for the explanation of why Bass' busters are the way they are..

- Meh, I don't feel like translating the korean in this chapter. I'll let you guess what it means. Put it in a review and I'll tell you if you're right.

- Even Proto Man's got to get a little ego going sometimes. Bass brings out a lot of attitude in him.

- Black holes compress everything they suck in to a really small density, right?

- Alright, guys, I really owe you an apology. It's been weeks since I last updated, and I've been meaning to be more or less constant. I'm really sorry. It's just that, I've been getting really burned out, and now finally I feel like I can continue with this and be really happy about it, like I was at first. Honestly, it was getting hard for me at a point. Now though, I feel really good about this, and I want to be done at the end of the year. I feel like I can do this.

But yeah, no matter what my excuse was, this chapter was dang hard to edit. I rewrote almost all of this madness, and I didn't have an easy time then. There was just so much to decide in battle scenes, and I wanted to do them at least a little convincingly. It's a little easier here than a real battle, as I've seen the video games and I'm not particularly interested in real fighting (except karate and such, but I don't know anything about them either).

In any case, I'm sorry. I'm going to say that I'll update now only when I feel like I can, and not say anything more specific than that. The irony here is that I'll probably be updating more often that way.

Character Profiles!

=====Top Man

"You spin me right round, baby!"

Good point: Wheel greasing (Good at making necessary arrangements)

Bad point: Storytelling (Luck pusher)

Likes: Ice skating

Dislikes: Bad dancers

I love Top Man. Always did. I always thought it was cute to play around with the Top Spin after Mega Man got it - it was like ballet. I included the Japanese info in parenthesis, because I really like both sets of data for him. It gives him good depth that's really funny.

Anyway, Top Man was created by Dr. Wily and Dr. Light when they were both working on Gamma. Top Man was more Dr. Light's work; the good doctor wanted Top Man to entertain children. Wily always objected to this, saying that it would be better if they engineered their eight robots to search for resources to power Gamma. Dr. Light still wanted his robot to have a purpose directly beneficial to man, but he relented and allowed Dr. Wily to upgrade the Team 3 robots for resource gathering.

Top Man, however, recieved the least of Dr. Wily's attention. Top Man was fine with that. He always preferred being around people and entertaining them, and while he admits being bad is something of a guilty pleasure for him, he loves to make people happy more than anything else. Besides showing off. Wily reprogrammed him along with the others, but even then never really gave him much attention - he preferred robots like Shadow Man and Needle Man. Top Man wasn't good enough to warrant lots of work from Wily, nor was he disobedient enough to require reprogramming. This helped Top Man develop something of an independent nature.

After the Team 3 scheme, Shadow Man broke his team out of storage before they could be placed in the new robot museum. Dr. Wily was away in Russia forcing Cossack to do his bidding, and while he was gone Top Man finalized his spinning greenhouse in what would become Wily fortress number 5. This greenhouse produced plants that would become energy pellets once processed, and even though Wily was really bitter from the failure of his last scheme, this cheered him considerably. The main reason Top Man was never trapped in the robot museum until just after MM10 was that Wily was never willing to risk losing his source of energy pellets.

Top Man was destroyed by Bass during the events of Okkusenman, but has since become restored by Dr. Cain. Cain regretted building him - he wanted servants, not gardners, which he considered should be human. Top Man was abandoned at the secret cave base for the past year, which he hated. For his own amusement, he grew a garden in an emptier room with what sunlight went through the window. Cain was tempted to tear it up, but he didn't have enough time.

So yeah, Top Man gets killed by Crystal Bot. She'll repair him, though. She thinks he's funny, and he was always nice to her when they both served Wily, as she was one of the few people that could put up with him telling a story for long.

=====Grenade Man

"Gha ha ha! Time for the party!"

Good point: Good bomber

Bad point: Blind fool

Likes: Stimulant

Dislikes: Rational robots

Most of the time Wily is drunk while musing over what robots to create next, and even he admits he was extra drunk this time. That, however, didn't stop him from enjoying the madness of Grenade Man, one of his Team 8 creations. Before the evil energy fell, he designed this robot to be made out of cheaper parts that explode in a wave of shrapnel. Grenade Man can be rebuilt over and over again very cheaply, and frequently had to be. Between the end of his scheme and the events of Okkusenman, he was in and out of the robot museum. At one point he was actually left inside the robot museum, and Wily used a copy of his memory to build an alternate Grenade Man - who was destroyed not too long later.

For a time, Grenade Man was forgotten, but Wily went ahead and sprung him out of jail during the events of Okkusenman. Shortly thereafter, Grenade Man proved to be one of the robots virus-invaded by Cain, and was destroyed by Elec Man. Wily didn't bother rebuilding him right away, and ended up arrested before he had the chance. Sight Man recovered Grenade Man's very simplistic plans and built a third edition of him for Dr. Cain, and that version is what fights in this chapter. Unfortunately for him, he's headed for the robot museum.

Throughout his lifetime of ups and downs, Grenade Man has remained more or less optimistic, as fun for him is easy to come by. He has few friends, and even Burner Man is nervous around him (Grenade Man, however, would love it if Burner Man attacked him). Team 8 was kind to him, however, and he was good friends with everyone in it (more or less because they were insane), with the exception of Tengu Man.