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.

27. Goodbye, Dr Wily

Crystal Bot clapped her hands together, clasping them tightly and praying that everything was alright. She'd done all she could do, and now all there was left was to turn the switch, activate him, and hope he didn't explode. As good as the explosion was sure to be with Zero's power core, Crystal Bot preferred her boss to be alive and well. Bass had spent enough time laying in the quiet A.I. room, and it was time he woke up. Treble was already up, wagging his tail and barking at her to hurry up. Crystal Bot lovingly reached over to Bass' neck, pausing once to giggle over his peaceful face, then gently touched the activation switch.

Bass' eyes opened at once. Crystal Bot gritted her teeth for the growl that she just knew was coming. Only it didn't. Bass' first reaction was to smile, first at his internal scans and then at his technician. In a moment he was up, standing and playing with his buster, which he repeatedly activated and deactivated, enjoying the simple motion of it and pretending he was shooting at invisible enemies. Of course, he could only do this for a moment or two. Treble wanted attention, and he practically knocked Bass over. Forte joyfully wrestled his dog, not caring at all as his technician giggled at them both. Let her giggle when he felt this good!

"What the hell did you do to me?" Bass laughed. "I feel great! This is the best work you've ever done!"

Nothing was going to stop that girl from giggling. "Oh, I didn't do that much. I just replaced your power core with...dun dun dun...Zero's!"

"What?" Bass sat up, playfully shoving Treble aside so he could talk. "How did you convince the REA to let you do that?"

"Oh, you know me." she flipped her hand at him teasingly, before assuming her cute-ish airs. "I'm just a poor little girl-bot and my best friend in the whole world has a corrupted power core. Wouldn't it just break your heart to see a poor little girl-bot like me all alone? Oh cruel world!"

Crystal blinked her eyes for added affect. Bass guffawed, bending over double at his ridiculous technician. "Ahahaha! Crap, you can manipulate anyone on earth, you know that?"

"That's me!" she winked. "And you know what the best part is? They actually let me have all of Zero! They brought him to the lab and I got to see him inside and out! I mean, I had to let Auto hang around or else I'd get in trouble, and I did have to give him back, but I got a nice long look at him first! And now I have so many new ways to upgrade you! I figured you'd want to wake up while I worked on your next upgrades, so don't get too used to your current level of power, okay?"

"AHAHAHAHAA!" Bass roared, lifting his clenched claws gloriously. "This is excellent!"

"Oh, and by the way, Tim Reyes said the REA wants to see a demonstration of your power. He wants to be able to show it to his bosses."

"Sure, no problem at all!" Bass jumped up, switching his left hand into a buster again. "If they want a show, I'll make sure they get one! Haha! Y'know, Sonata, right now I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you."

Crystal Bot was instantly horrified, and the happiness vanished from her face as she squeaked, "Ewww! Don't say stuff like that! Humans say stuff like that, then they get married, and then they do bad stuff. Eeww ew ew ew!"

"Ugh, I was teasing." Bass grimaced. "Who told you about that kind of thing anyway?"

"Rock. I was trying to annoy as many people as possible with the whole 'where do babies come from' thing, but it backfired and he actually answered my question."

"Heh, better him than me."

"Urg. And now I hate him more than ever." Crystal Bot stopped, and her eyes suddenly softened. "Actually, that's not true. I really don't hate him at all."

Bass lifted an eyebrow. "What, really?"

She nodded, and her glowing smile reappeared. "He found my father. It turns out that Frantic Man was made from a backup copy of Crystal Man. I have to build him a new body, but that's not going to be too hard." A smile grew on the girl-bot's face, and she couldn't help jumping from her seat. "Everything's so wonderful now! I've got Forte-kun, and I've got my daddy back too! Yay!"

"Good for you." Bass patted her on the head, though even as he encouraged her he was only thinking of himself. Now that Crystal Man was back on Team 5, that meant his daughter wasn't one of the eight anymore, and there was no reason for her to rejoin the others. "Heh, once you're done with the Frantic Man body, install some battle A.I. in it so I can fight the guy. I've always wanted to. Fighting a guy with four robot master powers at once? Ha! Now that sounds like fun!"

"Okay!" she purred, all too eager to help. "That's no problem!"

"Alright, so how long have I been out of it?"

"Um, about four weeks..."

Bass shrugged her concern away. Four weeks wasn't as bad as four years. "Cool. So did I miss anything important?"

"Not really. We all gave testimonies to the REA about Proto Man so they can decide what to do with him, but they haven't said anything yet. They take so long to make decisions. You know how the government is. We'll probably be hearing about it soon. Oh, and um," Crystal Bot started rubbing her hands together. "I don't know if you care about this or not, but Dr. Wily is dead."

The room suddenly went cold. The smile fell from Bass' lips, leaving behind only a firm line. He blinked, looking into his technician's eyes. No, it wasn't a lie. Not a little fable to make him feel better about life. Bass didn't know what to say, or what to feel. Crystal Bot took his pause incorrectly; she immediately rushed from her chair to comfort him. She reached for his hand, but Bass snatched it away.

"Leave me alone." he snapped. "Just...just leave me alone."

Bass turned and left the room. With a sigh, Crystal Bot looked down at Treble. She patted his ears.

"You better go on after him, Trebby." she said quietly. "Make sure he's okay, alright?"

-t-

Rock was in his bedroom. That was sort of a misnomer, as unlike Roll he never saw fit to actually put a bed in there. But it was his all the same. You might call it a closet, if you looked at it, because that was basically what he used it for. The clothes he wore on occasion - mostly soccer uniforms and his tux - hung up in the actual closet with his smallest trinkets and a large collection of legos.

The rest of the room was generally more organized, because if he kept it clean Roll stayed out of it. The top part of the wall, running all around, was a little shelf that held some machine parts he tinkered with. He had a big trunk for his personal tools next to the closet in the wall farthest from the door. Under the window on the right he had a desk, which right at that moment was covered in a ton of baseball cards. Sports was definitely his thing, and his otherwise blue walls were more than half covered with soccer, football, and baseball posters.

In the middle of the floor, there was Nothing. This Nothing was very important, however, as it was the space that Mega Man used as he stretched out on the wooden floor and occupied himself with his latest hobby. Right now it was mostly clear, but a piece of miniature track reminded him that the last hobby had been trains. But now it was his Nothing again, and in that blank space the blue bomber now lay, helmetless and staring at the ceiling.

The room hadn't always looked that way. Years ago, it had looked completely different. No, the room had always been the same shape - there was less reason to renovated this room than the main labs - but there was a time when this room held a large wooden desk and several file cabinets. The window used to have little solar panels hanging on it to power little mechaniloids. Those little mechaniloids covered the floor like mice those years ago, causing Roll no end of trouble. Of course, Roll wasn't alway welcome in Dr. Wily's office.

Mega Man had a lot to think about. It was two days since Wily had died in the hospital, and Mega Man found himself thinking about the evil doctor constantly since then. It didn't feel right to mourn the man, but all the same Mega Man found himself with a strange, sad feeling lying on the bottom his stomach. He was grieved, no matter how weird that felt. He found himself missing the interesting little things Wily built in those days. Rock drew up a memory of a little clown Wily built. It was such a darling little thing that did all sorts of neat little tricks. Of course, years later the thing turned out to be the basis for Clown Man.

It had been so many years since Dr. Light and Dr. Wily worked together, in those happy days when Wily wasn't trying to take over the world. The very room that was now Rock's bedroom used to be Dr. Wily's office. Mega Man closed his eyes, recalling the images of those days. He smiled a bit. At first, the room had been impeccable. Wily never so much as sat foot in his office for all the work that occupied the doctors. Those times when he did were late at night, when Wily would stay up to frightening hours working on some blueprints. Roll would find him slumped in his chair in the morning, then give him a cheerful scolding about how unhealthy it was to stay up so late and work so hard.

Those days didn't last so long. Soon enough Wily was telling Roll to stay out of his office, accusing her of trying to steal his ideas and give them to Dr. Light for his use. Thus the file cabinets were soon full, paper began to grow in stacks that blocked the window, the carpet was a mess, and the place perpetually smelled of sweaty old man - Rock and Roll never noticed, but Dr. Light certainly did. That was when he invented his computerized smelling device so that Roll would know when to light scented candles. As much as Roll assured him that the smell of Wily was gone, Mega Man never found himself very sure.

And then the wars began. I don't want to think about them. Mega Man tucked his hands under his head, letting his drained eyes wander to the little ridges and crevices in the ceiling. I wonder why all ceilings look that way. Or at least the ones in houses, anyway.

Mega Man sighed. He didn't want to think about the ceilings either. He longed for the times when Albert Wily was able to set aside his personal goals and grievances and just be part of the team. Why didn't he realize that being a part of history means being apart of something greater than yourself? That being great comes from appreciating and blessing others?

Rock drew in a long breath, trying to summon up images of the past. The lab had been reconstructed and renovated so many times that it looked nothing like it originally did, thus going to the main lab to conjure up those days was useless. Staying in that room was better, as it had changed less. He could still see it as it was in those days.

I don't really need a bedroom... Rock thought. If Wily had come back to us, he could have this room again. We made the closet larger since the original days.

It was a silly thought, and the more he thought about it, the more he promised himself that he would never speak this thought aloud. He was too naiive, too kind-hearted, just like everybody always told him. But he was also practical, which no one said even in whispers. He was the cute little blue bomber, who shot stuff during war and then faded from the public attention span until the next fight. Rock frowned, wanting to spit. He was much more than a fighting robot. He was an intelligent, hard-working, lab-bot - that was several years out of date because he had to protect Monstropolis instead of studying up on technology.

Mega Man groaned and ran a hand through his fluffy hair. If Wily had been good, then he would be the perfectly happy robot living in Light Laboratories. He wouldn't have to be just "the great blue bomber" and be remembered as nothing more than a gun.

What am I thinking? That's such a selfish thought. How can I think only of myself? There's much more to it than that. If Dr. Wily had only stayed with us, Monstropolis wouldn't have been destroyed so many times. The world would have been so much safer. I worked so hard to save everyone, but I couldn't save everyone...if only Wily had chosen good. So many of the dead would be alive now. And Proto Man would be here.

Mega Man squinched his eyes tightly shut, fighting back his sadness. So much had gone wrong. So much of what he'd wanted in life was now out of his reach. As much as his good nature told himself to think of the positive, he couldn't fight the sadness. He knew inwardly it was wrong to complain; he had his lab, his sister, Auto, and so much else good in his life. And yet how good could his life had been - and many others also - if Wily had only made the right choice?

The robot could only wonder. Instead of trying, though, he found himself wondering if he had missed something. Was Wily always headed for evil? Was there something he could have done to make Wily choose the right thing? To test this, Mega Man set up an old memory. It was his oldest memory of Dr. Wily, the very day that the two of them met.

Mega Man happy sauntered into the main lab - he was far too happy for a plain walk. He wandered into the lab, giggling to himself. Dr. Light had to go out to a meeting that day, but he wasn't alone. Dr. Light's partner was in the lab today, and Rock was going to meet him for the first time. Rock liked meeting new people, so he eager opened the doors to the main lab.

Normally the long hall with its eight repair tables stretched out across the back wall was more organized. Obviously though, Roll hadn't been in the room in a long time. Mechanical parts lay about the room, and countless bolts and screws littered the tile. That tile had once been white, but both doctors had spilled so much oil and grease and whatnot all over the floor that white was hardly a proper description any longer. At least the long telescreen on the other wall seemed clear, and the consoles/counterspace beneath it were cleared out. Not so much as a drink was next to any of the sensitive keyboards.

"Hmmm-hmm-hmm...hmmm hmm!" Mega Man merrily hummed. "Oh?"

There he was, the new doctor that was helping build his friends! Mega Man boldly went up to the grey-headed older man. The human stood over the fourth repair table, the one that held the not yet complete Guts Man. The wrinkled face of the doctor lifted as Mega Man approached, though he seemed a little...confused? Upset? Hungry? Mega Man wished he was better at telling faces.

"Hi there!" Mega Man stuck out his hand. "You must be Dr. Albert Wily! My creator told me all about you! I'm Rock! I'm your technical assistant! Well, yours and Dr. Light's."

Wily didn't shake Rock's hand, and Mega Man found himself confused. Is that a look of anger? No...too weak. Maybe it was that long word, um, yeah, disgruntled! I like that word. Disgruntled, disgruntled, disgruntled!

"I already know that." Wily scoffed. "I helped build you."

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Mega Man giggled. "Dr. Light had to redo my memory complex yesterday, but I'm all ready to go now! So what can I do to help you, Dr. Wily? You're the boss!"

Wily smiled at this statement, and Rock did too. He knew what a happy face was. "Well, you can get me a cup of coffee. I need to be bright and awake so that I can finish these arms for Guts Man. He'll be able to lift two tons when I'm through with him!"

That's weird. Rock thought. Roll's usually the one that does stuff like get coffee. Oh, but she's not here right now, she went to the store. I don't mind.

"Okay, sure!" Rock chirped merrily. "I'll be right back! Oh, sugar or creamer?"

"No, boy, no! Just bring it black!"

Mega Man snorted. He didn't recognize it at the time, but now it was unbearably obvious Wily couldn't stand him. That first day Wily had him running around like a gopher. It didn't matter that Rock could install arms or armor. Wily didn't seem to want to give him anything serious to do. He wanted all the work for himself. Mega Man politely tried to bring this up (oh, he was ever so polite), but that got only yelling and a screaming order to get out. Mega Man felt like blushing as he remembered what he did next: go huddle in a back corner of Dr. Light's "library" and wait until his real creator got home.

Dr. Light switched on the lights for his document-stuffed library, quite blithe as he entered the room and promptly crammed more blueprints into the already overstuffed shelves. One he kept to himself and thudded onto his desk. the only thing in the room not covered in a million papers - it was more like a half-million. But as Dr. Light went around to sit, he noticed his creation huddling in the corner, staring up with wide, pitiful eyes.

"Rock?" Light got down to better speak to his creation. "What are you doing there?"

"It's Dr. Wily..." Rock snuffled, breathing hard as he tried to speak. "He was mean...he said I'm a dumb robot, and he...he doesn't need me getting in his way. And he said a bunch of bad words too. He doesn't like me."

The pouting robot hunched down, but his innocent eyes still looked to his master for some explanation. Dr. Light sighed.

"Please forgive him, Rock. Dr. Wily isn't used to working with robots. No one is. You're a new innovation. He's a stubborn old man, Rock, and you're just going to have to show him that you're a hard worker and he'll accept you."

Dr. Light became thoughtful at this point, and the way his eyes sank back Rock knew he was thinking about sad times. Rock didn't like that look. He was very grateful when it passed and Dr. Light continued.

"There are many who will have a hard time accepting you, Rock, and I didn't want to hide it from you. I had hoped Wily...but none of that now. I'll talk to him, then next time you come on duty you can help me the whole time. Once he sees how skilled you are, he'll become your friends. Real friendship takes time."

"Really?" when Dr. Light smiled, it made Rock very happy. He sat up straight. "I'll do it, Dr. Light! I'll work really hard and be super nice and then Dr. Wily will be my friend!"

"That's a good boy." Dr. Light said. "Now come on. I want you to get started on him some mechaniloids for the mining company. I'll talk to Dr. Wily while you're doing that."

"Yes, Dr. Light!" Rock began to stand up. "Thanks, I feel better now."

"Rock?"

Mega Man lifted his head from its resting spot and saw that Roll was at the door. "Oh hey, come on in."

The girl-bot entered and went over to the wall at Rock's right, kicking the piece of train track aside. She leaned against the wall, relaxing and letting her legs stretch out in front of her. She set her hands in her lap, then poked at her brother with her toe.

"Hey, stop that." Mega Man teased, swatting away her foot. "So what brings you to the Mega Room?"

"Guh, I told you not to call it that..."

They both chuckled. Not for long, though. Like the way an open door brings in the cold on a winter day, Roll had brought with herself a stiff wind of solemnity. And the room was pretty solemn enough already, the way Rock was thinking.

"I wanted to check on you." Roll said. "You've been in here for four hours."

"Yeah, I'm still taking some time off." Mega Man said. "I deserve it, don't I? I don't feel like doing anything today."

"Bass is awake. I thought about telling you to say hi to him, but he went off by himself. He knows about Wily. I can't imagine how weird he must feel. Think you should talk to him?"

"No, he won't want me bothering him." Mega Man stared at the roof. "I'm really glad he's back in order though. I don't know what I would've done if the REA hadn't let him have the power core."

"What have you been doing in here all day?" Roll asked. "Aren't you bored?"

"Bored? No. Not really. I want to do something, but everytime I try...well, I started setting up my old trains, but I didn't want to do that. I don't want to draw cartoons, or read up on the next programming language, or look at crime reports to see what I need to do next. I just want to sit and think, so that's what I've been doing."

Roll let her head slump to the side as she shook it. "I can imagine why."

"I was just thinking about how things were when he was here." Mega Man had no need to say who that "he" was. "When I first met him. It didn't go well."

"I can imagine." Roll repeated, the dark tones of her words making her voice quiet. "I think I met him a little earlier than you. Heh. The very first thing he said to me was 'make sure you get two percent milk, not that nasty skim'."

Mega Man managed a chortle at that. "He was pretty insistent. He wasn't all bad though. He helped me learn how to make foot engines. And there was even a time or two when I thought Wily actually appreciated me. When me, him, and Dr. Light finished Bomb Man, it felt like a real achievement. We were really partners. And then that horrible reporter came and called Wily the lab assistant. I never told anyone this, but I was so jealous that the reporter called Wily the lab assistant instead of me. I tried to tell Wily, but by then he didn't care." Mega Man sighed and sat up. "I think that really was the turning point. That one interview was what started everything. Maybe if it hadn't happened...well, I don't know."

"Wily was always evil." Roll leaned her head on her knees. "It wasn't that interview, and it wasn't the Nobel Peace Prize. It was him. He had the capacity for evil, and he followed through on it. It's nobody's fault but his own."

Mega Man bit his lip. If talking to her would do any good, then he would, but she was caught up in her own darkness. Did Wily do something to her? It puzzled him that Roll could be so harsh, even to Wily. For the moment though, he just scooted over beside Roll and put an arm around her.

"Yes, it was his fault." Rock said. "It was his choice. He could have been so much more. Wily had the potential to be something great, something that would actually benefit the world. He had friendship with Dr. Light, a place in these labs, all the grant money he would ever need, and his own intelligence. Wily threw all that away for the sake of his ego. It was the dumbest choice he ever made, and almost everything he's ever done had to be destroyed. That, Roll, is the saddest story I know."

Roll looked up at her brother, surprised to see that he wanted to cry.

-t-

The sun shone brightly on the California hillside, giving warmth and energy to the crisp, green grass and the fluttering dandelions. This was the landscape of at least two acres: bright, hilly, and full of life. Even the little bugs crawled out of their homes with extra merriness, glad for another sunshiney day. Or else that was how he saw it from his position at the top of the tallest hill. To him, the dandelions weren't weeds. They were nice little spots of yellow, dotted everywhere and surrounding him in a sea of the happiest color in existence. Considering that he was the happiest robot in existence, it was entirely appropriate.

Proto Man sat there in the grass, wiggling his feet for happiness. Instead of on his head, his helmet rested on the grass beside him. Somehow the sun felt warmer when it was on his metaloid skin. He didn't want to hide his face anymore. He didn't have any reason to. This was the way Dr. Light created him, and he wanted to be that way again. Never before in his life did he feel so free and so clean. His shame was gone.

Also, so were the charges. The Robotic Ethics Agency were government officials, but they weren't completely stupid. How could someone like Proto Man be condemned? True, he had done so many wrong things. But all of it was eclipsed by his good deeds, how he'd helped Mega Man save the earth, disrupted sex trafficking rings, and even provided the government with information about international threats. One of the REA agents even found out during the proceedings that Proto Man had indirectly rescued his son two years ago.

With so much on his side, Proto Man really shouldn't have been so surprised that the President noticed. And yet Proto Man recalled with bliss his surprise when the public announcement was made: Proto Man was to be pardoned for the majority of his charges. Not much was said about the specifics (for which Blues was very thankful), but it was now all over the news that his pardon had gone through. Other countries had heard about it, and right away Japan pardoned him completely. Proto Man wasn't at all shocked. Japan had always liked him, and very few non-corrupted Japanese officials ever bothered to try and find him - and that was usually to ask him to do something about a yakuza.

Of course, it wasn't all dandelions and sunshine for Proto Man, happy as he was. The pardon was not full; he still had consequences ahead of him. Proto Man didn't mind that so much. After all, he wasn't the most trusted robot on the planet, and he would have to rebuild that lost trust. It was only natural. Proto Man swatted his hand in the air as if to wipe away the concern.

It doesn't matter. I can face anything now! Proto Man wiggled his feet again with delight, not caring how uncharacteristic and just plain silly it was. Heh, I bet it was 'Uncle Harry' that told the President about me. He never gave the President a moment's rest, I'll bet!

It was like a holiday to Proto Man, or perhaps he'd never really had a holiday before. Minor holidays were nothing to him, he never bothered about his birthday, and Christmas...well, he'd never been with his family on Christmas. Maybe it was for that reason he felt this way for the very first time. Like it was Christmas Eve, and the day itself was only just out of reach. Blues gazed happily over the hills. He was taking the more scenic route to Light Laboratories, reveling in the distance. Christmas Day was not a time, it was a place just over the next few hills before him, right past the forest he could just barely see over the hilly horizon. The government was going to let him see his family.

But first things first. Proto Man was simply enjoying this moment too much to just get on with it. He could teleport home any time he wanted, and he wanted to calm down a little first, as well as enjoy this marvelous day.

Home... he mused, staring into that beautiful distance. I'm going home...

For the moment, he wasn't. Instead he engaged his radio receiver. He wanted to hear the news. His pardon was still going about on the radio, and the last time he checked, the King of England had just asked Parliament to pardon Proto Man for the crimes done in their country. While Blues had no doubts he would be (he hadn't done very much evil in Britain during those bad years), he still tuned his receiver to the news channels anyway, eagerly awaiting the news. Maybe he'd hear about another country pardoning him. Now that America and Japan had, it was all dominoes from there.

" - ...All very happy to hear that, Pat. - " said a male radio announcer. " - We can only imagine how our blue bomber must feel this week. First his greatest enemy dies, and now his brother is officially pardoned... - "

WHAT? Proto Man exclaimed inwardly. Outwardly he only gave a gasp barely loud enough to be heard by the anthill at his foot. 'His greatest enemy'...dead?

Blues only knew of one person who could be called Mega Man's greatest enemy, and Proto Man immediately searched the internet for more information. It was true. Dr. Albert Wily, born 19XX, had died of heart failure and a slew of other problems in 20XX. He'd been dead for two whole days. Proto Man sat there in the grass, stunned. And then he laughed. He laughed so loud it echoed over the hills.

This was wonderful news, the proverbial cherry on his happiness sundae. As much as Proto Man knew it was wrong to be glad of a person's death, but to him Wily wasn't a person. It wasn't a matter of Wily being too bad to be considered human. Wily had been to him the embodiment of evil. Wily was the doorman for the Wrong Door, not only opening it for Proto Man, but tripping him as he passed through it, only for Blues to fall down the metaphorical flight of stairs on the other side. Blues couldn't blame Dr. Wily for his own sins, but Wily had been there all the same, saying with deviously clever words all the things that would make Blues his unwitting pawn. Those horrid words were so effective that Wily never bothered to reprogram Proto Man, even though the doctor had a lot of chances to do it. Even from day one, Wily always seemed to twist and manipulate Proto Man's feelings. The man truly was a genius of evil.

Proto Man huddled in the alley, behind the dumpster. He shook, trying to make his body stabilize itself. It refused to get back into line, no matter what he did to control his regulator. One moment he would have barely enough power to remain conscious, and the next moment it was running so hard he thought he was going to explode.

Proto Man pushed himself against the brick wall, wishing that he'd stayed at Dr. Light's lab like he was told. He should have at least waited until Dr. Light found a way to fix his power core before running away. Blues sucked in a breath and tried to calculate how much time he had left until his power core burned out and if he could make it all the way back to Dr. Light's lab. As much as the thought of going back there pained him, he knew he couldn't go on like this.

Just as the runaway robot resolved to go back home, his power core shot steeply downwards. His stabilizers failed, and he slipped to the ground with a loud bang. Proto Man could hardly hear the sound of it, and he definitely couldn't hear the quiet shufflings of...something, as that something came nearer. A long shadow interrupted the streetlight drifting into the alley. Proto Man, shaking, could barely look up as he saw a human approaching him.

"Stay away from me...please. It's not safe...not safe..."

What seemed like an instant later, Proto Man found himself in a completely different location. He was in some sort of basement, and not a very neat one. The table on which he lay was just that: an ordinary wooden kitchen table, nothing so sophisticated as the repair tables that Dr. Light had in his lab. There were lots of machine parts around him, and like always, Blues didn't know what they were. There were also some magazines scattered on the floor, but he avoided looking at them. The old couch and messy desk only barely registered in Proto Man's mind. All he wanted was to get out of there. Oh, the stairs were on the far wall-

"Ah, so you're awake."

"Augh!" Proto Man cried out, rolling off the table.

He saw so much of the room to his right that he forgot to look left. And left was where the human stood, the same one as before. Proto Man jumped up, ready to bolt if something bad happened. The human didn't appear too frightening, though. He was just an older guy, with admittedly wild and scruffy hair that stuck out to the left and right. The human calmly stood there with his hands in his lab coat pockets, inspecting the robot with curious but casual eyes.

"Don't you feel much better now?" the human said in his thick, Austrian accent. "I set up your power core properly, and it's running on nuclear power now. Don't worry, I have better labs than this. I am a genius, for you information. I just wanted to complete you in the privacy of my own home."

"I know that voice." Proto Man said slowly. "You're Dr. Wily, that guy that Dr. Light was talking to on the phone."

"Ah, that must mean you're Blues. I always thought that was a strange name."

Proto Man didn't know how to answer, so he just nodded.

"So you are feeling better?"

Proto Man nodded again.

"Good." Wily stepped out from behind the table. "It's not a permanent fix, I'm afraid, but it should hold you for a long time."

The robot stepped back as the doctor got closer, holding his hands out in front of him. "Please don't make me go back to Dr. Light. I don't want to."

"Make you? You're a robot and I'm a weak, unarmed human." Wily laughed. "How am I supposed to make you do anything?"

"...I don't know..."

"Exactly! Now tell me, why exactly don't you want to go back to Thomas' lab?"

Proto Man thought it was a bit disrespectful of Wily to refer to Dr. Light by his first name, but then he remembered that the two were friends. "Um, well, he never stands up for me. These government people come in, and they boss me around. I don't want to listen to them anymore." Blues' voice grew more confident as he went on. "I'm tired of being stuck in that stupid lab all the time. I want to go where I want and do what I want! Only I can't with my power core the way it is."

He wished that Wily would stop laughing his crazy laugh. It was getting on his nerves.

"Of course you can! I've set up your power core the right way. You'll have years of exploring before you start having problems again, and by then I'll have figured out something permanent. I am a genius, you know!"

"So...you're not going to tell Dr. Light on me?"

"No, why would I do that?"

"Well, I heard on the phone that you're going to be working at the lab with him. Don't you have to tell him?"

"Eh," Wily shrugged. "Call it an experiment in artificial intelligence. How is Dr. Light supposed to know how well you work if he doesn't give you the chance to make choices on your own? Just don't tell him I let you go, and both of us will stay out of trouble. He might lecture me for two straight hours if you went back and told on me." Suddenly, Wily frowned, narrowing his eyes to peer suspiciously at the mechanical person. "Just my luck, you're exactly that kind of robot that would tell on me, aren't you?"

"I am not!" he insisted, remembering the sort of lectures that he too got from Dr. Light. "I would never tattle!"

"Hahaha! Now that's good of you!" Wily slapped him on the back, gently enough against the metal person. "I should have known that you're a trustworthy fellow! Here, let me show you something."

Wily went over to the table, pulling out from under it something that Proto Man hadn't noticed before. It was his own helmet, repainted and fitted with a visor. Wily plopped this atop Proto Man's head and then got out a grey cloth, long and thin.

"Oops, my mistake." Wily said, removing the helmet again and setting it on the table. "I should put on the mask first. Hold still. Once I wrap this around your face, no one will recognise you, and you can do as you want without Dr. Light finding you. Alright, and now the helmet again."

Once the helmet was again in place, Wily stepped back and inspected his work with a satisfactory hum. "That should work. Now go on, explore the world! Have a little fun for once. And if you don't mind, stop by to see me once in a while and tell me how things are going. I spend too much of my time in labs these days to look at the world too often. Come by and tell an old man some good stories, alright?"

"Okay." Proto Man said, feeling a lot better about this venture. "But I don't have any money to do anything."

"Ha, that's alright." Wily said. "Use your wits to earn your way. This should get you started."

Wily pulled out of his pocket a few crisp twenties, and placed them in Proto Man's hand. The robot smiled at him, but of course Wily couldn't see that through his mask.

"Thanks a lot, Dr. Wily." Proto Man said. "I will come back to talk to you...but...I don't have to talk to Dr. Light, do I?"

"Not if you don't want to." Wily reassured him, leading him to the steps that led out of the basement and into the wide world. "Now go on! Have a good time, and try not to get into too much trouble."

"I won't!"

Proto Man shuddered. He hoped that Wily's speech was the sort that could fool anybody, and that he wasn't dumb for falling for it. After all, Wily had helped him out. Who wouldn't listen? Those subtle words did much damage without Blues realizing it for a long time. They pretty much were all to say, "hey, it's you and me against Dr. Light, that awful man". It put a wedge between Blues and his creator for years, and the wedge even lasted well beyond the days when Proto Man actually believed any of the words that came out of Dr. Wily's mouth.

And, in fact, Proto Man did visit Wily occasionally those years ago, before Wily's official change to evil. He did tell Wily stories of the rest of the world, just as the old man had asked. Now that Proto Man's mind was experienced enough to understand humans, he understood all too well that Wily faked enthusiasm in Proto Man's pathetic stories. They weren't much more than "I helped a guy jump his car" or "people in Texas dress funny" so why would Wily be interested?

When Wily told him that those six rebellious robots of Team 1 had gone crazy on their own because of Dr. Light's faulty programming, Proto Man bought it. He bought that Wily had been framed for this and thrown into prison unjustly. After all, most humans weren't nice, he believed. Later on, Proto Man also bought that Wily's next eight robots were meant to keep Dr. Light's robots in line, only Dr. Light had Mega Man destroy them out of jealousy. After all, if Dr. Light's first six had gone insane, nothing stopped his later robots from doing the same. Actually, it was at that point that Proto Man began to have doubts in Dr. Wily. Those nice, precious doubts, each one more valuable than a diamond. If only he'd listened to them.

From the dark and the distance Proto Man had watched his younger brother, despising him as a shallow "hero of good" who wasn't programmed to do more than shoot at whoever Dr. Light named. The occasions when he saw Roll were even worse. That poor robot housekeeper, slave to Dr. Light. From time to time Proto Man would think of liberating her, only to believe that she would just run right back to Light because of her programming. If only he heeded his doubts! If Dr. Light programmed him to be kind enough to want to liberate his sister, then surely his siblings were programmed to be nice as well. It was only logical, and didn't he pride himself on his logic?

Then Team 3 was made. At this point, Proto Man felt pretty sure Wily wasn't entirely truthful. After all, if Dr. Light framed him or destroyed his robots from jealousy, why in the world would Wily partner up with him? Of course the little red robot had to go and ask his "friend" why he was doing this. Wily, at the time, claimed that it was Dr. Light's idea to create Gamma, and that he partnered up with Dr. Light to be able to stop Light from having one huge robot with which to threaten the world.

Proto Man bought it. As much as he hated himself for this, he actually believed Wily. Should he have known better? Yes. Did that stop him from "helping" when Dr. Wily asked for his assistance? No. No, no no. And then he became guilty of the worst crime a robot could commit, all because he believed a foolish old man. That same night, as Wily and Team 3 planned for their scheme in the third Skull Castle, Proto Man dared to ask Wily the question that weighed on his mind ever since.

Proto Man entered the chamber. It was huge - Blues often wondered how Wily built his castles so quickly. In any case, this vast room contained very little. It was an empty, circular area (far too vast to simply be a "room"), three floors high, with a balcony on the second floor and a few movable balconies on the third so that Gamma could be engineered properly. Yes, that ugly, gargantuan machine was there, with its large arms and two drill spikes sticking out of its head. Proto Man dared to sneer at it as he walked by.

"Air Man," Wily said to his fan-bot, as he and the rest of Team 3 gathered on the second floor balcony, discussing their plans. "You need to get to the sky fortress. Your mechaniloid army awaits you in room 3B of this castle. Can you secure it by nine in the morning?"

"I sure can." Air Man spun his fan for effect. "Count on me!"

"Ah, there you are." Wily poked his head over the others, directing his comment at the approaching Proto Man. "Get over here. I need your help."

Proto Man paused a moment, not answering the doctor. He rubbed his arm with uncertainty, coming only close enough to just barely enter the circle of robot masters. As hesistant as he was, he figured he might as well say what he had to say. At least Dr. Wily was paying attention to him for once.

"Um, Dr. Wily, I have a question."

"Yes, what is it?" Wily's voice got impatient. "Hurry it up."

"Well, I was just wondering." Proto Man began to feel more and more uncomfortable. Wily's glare was bad enough, but now the members of Team 3 stared at him. "Is all this really worth it? Will capturing Gamma really make the earth a safer place? I mean, I thought we were going to destroy him-"

The entire group burst into laughter, and much to Blues' horror that meant Wily as well. He stared at the scientist, his mouth hanging open. That only made the laughing worse. Needle Man and Magnet Man had to hold each other up, they were laughing so hard.

"Ah haw haw, haw haw!" boomed Hard Man. "What a little baby! Going through all that trouble only to destroy Gamma? Haw, haw!"

"Isn't it about time you stopped fooling yourself, Proto Man?" Wily said, a little disdainfully. "Destroy a powerful weapon like Gamma? Phah! He's the key to conquering the earth! I need him for my plans."

Proto Man felt as if he were choking. He backed away a couple of steps. "But wait, you said-"

"Lies. All lies." Wily glared, the deceptive softness gone from his face. "And naiive little Proto Man actually bought it. Don't be stupid. You've been stupid enough already. I'm going to take over the world, and you're going to help me do it, just like the times you helped me before."

"No!" Blues insisted. "No, I'm not!"

"Oh, then what are you going to do? Turn me in to the police? What about when they find out that you were the one who helped us get Light's security codes for Gamma? What if they found out that you were the one that provided me with what I needed to fight Dr. Light those other two times? Don't forget. You've been my spy since day one. It's about time you realized that."

"Plus," Shadow Man added, smugly folding his arms. The normally emotionless robot seemed to enjoy tormenting Proto Man just as much as his master. "He killed a security guard."

"What?" Wily lifted an eyebrow, starting to get amused. His confident, hateful sneer settled on his victim. He had Blues right where he wanted him. "Well then, there's no turning back for you now, Proto Man. Do you really think Dr. Light is going to let you come home after you murdered someone? No, he'll turn you over to the police to be turned into scrap metal, just like you deserve. You're not his little blue hero. He doesn't need you. Dr. Light would be ashamed of you if he knew. It's not as if you're a good robot. You're a wanted criminal now, like it or not."

Proto Man started to shake. "I...I'll run away!"

"Do that then. But who's going to repair you when you get hurt? When you need your oil changed? Nobody. You're a spy and a murderer now, and so I'm the only one that will ever help you. Now get over here and do as you're told."

Proto Man ran out of the door, Team 3's laughter chasing him as he went. He overheard Shadow Man behind him, asking if he needed to catch their runaway. Wily said no, but by that point Blues was too far out of the door to hear anything else. He didn't care. Proto Man ran as fast as his legs could carry him through the hallways, pitfalls, and mechaniloids scattered about the castle.

Proto Man didn't notice any of them. He kept running and running, until finally he was outside of the Skull Castle and into the night air of the high mountain where the castle loomed over the innocent countryside. That countryside went unnoticed by the robot. Not knowing what else to do, Proto Man glitched. The emotional strain was too much on his power regulator, and he made himself sit in the dead grass, leaning against the wall of that terrible place. All the same, he just couldn't stop the glitching.

I'm a murderer... he sobbed. Dr. Light must be so ashamed of me...I should never have run away! I'm just so stupid! Why do I always do the wrong thing?

The robot wasn't so sure how long he sat out there like that, dwelling in his horrible thoughts and glitching away at the pain of it all. The glitches subsided as he got his regulator functioning properly, but still he sat there, numb to the world and uncertain of everything. He forced down the tormenting emotions, making them be silent and bother him no more. He needed to think, and for once he wanted to do this without his stupid emotions getting in the way.

After a while - a long one, it seemed - Spark Man peeped his head out the door.

"Hello? Proto Man?"

Proto Man sniffed, not objecting as the orange electricity-bot came and sat down beside him. Spark Man sat there silently, patiently saying nothing. To Proto Man, this meant a lot. After a moment, he felt comfortable enough to speak.

"I really did kill him." Proto Man said. "I don't even know who it was. Just some security guy doing his job. He never did anybody any harm. I wish...I wish I hadn't done it."

Spark Man seemed to understand. He put an electrode rod on Proto Man's shoulder, hoping it came across as friendly.

"We all have masters to follow." he said softly. "And some of us are less lucky than others."

"But I had a choice." Proto Man looked up at him. "I could have stayed with Dr. Light. Then I wouldn't be in this mess right now."

"I don't know what to tell you." Spark Man sighed. "We're all trapped in this now, no matter what we were before. I used to power up the Gamma project before, you know. I'm the one that destroyed the electric systems at the storage facility. That's how Wily got into it in the first place. I'm guilty too. I don't know if that makes you feel better, but you're not alone."

Strangely enough, that did make Proto Man feel better. Marginally. It didn't erase the fact that someone was dead because of him. Proto Man felt more sick than ever. Why had he trusted Wily? Wily was a simple human, just like those annoying government people, Renold Davis and Harry Briggs. Just like Dr. Light. When hadn't a human betrayed him?

"Spark Man, do we have some way out of this?" Proto Man found himself asking. "Isn't there any way to escape?"

"Not alive." Spark Man shook his head. "We'll be scrapped."

"...Oh."

The two robots sat in silence. After a moment, Spark Man shifted uncomfortably. "Hey, um, Wily sent me out here to get you. He wants you to follow Mega Man and track what he does. I can tell him that you ran off."

Proto Man looked up at the dark night sky, and with a deep sigh, he spoke again.

"Where would I go?"

With that, the two robots got up from the ground, neither of them in too much of a rush. Spark Man stared at Proto Man uncertainly, but the latter did nothing. He only followed Proto Man back into the Skull Castle.

He gave up.

Hey wait, why was Proto Man shuddering? Why did he hold his arms tightly like that, as if there was no one in the world he could trust? It was now, not several years ago. And now was not the worst night of his life. It wasn't even a night at all. It was a bright daytime, where the wind blew through the dandelions, making each one shake their blossomed heads at him for being silly enough to think of the extinct past. Didn't the sun shine down on him, and not the moon's futile light? He was pardoned, and free!

Blues laughed. The sting of his past was gone. Proto Man felt like a growing blade of grass that absorbed the sun's rays and rejoiced in it. He fell back into the soft, unmowed grass around him, trying to absorb as much of the sun as possible. Proto Man felt a bright warmth filling him. Albert Wily was gone! His guilt was gone! Let no one accuse him any longer or try to shame him! Before he knew it, Blues was laughing. And he shook, shaking so hard from happiness.

Blues settled down a moment later, happily lounging away. It occured to him that as wonderful as it was for his crimes to be pardoned, and how liberating it was that his accuser was dead, both things would mean nothing without one last thing. Proto Man wasn't one much to care about listening to the government, and Wily's words could live beyond him if the didn't have the one thing in the world that could silence those insistent accusations.

Proto Man's eyes opened. He was activated, and before he could fully register what was around him, several grey-sleeved arms were pulling at him, forcing him to his feet. Proto Man got up as he was bidden, too confused to resist, and without so much as an explanation (but with much murmuring) the REA men and robots hustled Blues through the endless barren passageways made only the more eerie by the orange-ish flourescent lights.

"What's going on?" Blues asked.

"It's time for you to go." a guard answered, too distracted by the rush of the crowd to answer properly. "We're almost out."

Utterly confused, the Light-bot could only wonder if this meant he was going off to be deleted or if the REA guards wanted him to escape. Whichever motive it was, Proto Man couldn't resist them. The many arms and firearms of the guards would see to that. Strangely enough, though guns hung at the hips of the guards, not one pointed at Blues. It seemed all the more likely they wanted him to escape.

"I can't leave." Proto Man protested. "I have to face justice."

"You already have." The same guard as before answered him, this time taking a moment to actually look at Proto Man, and even to smile. "Justice has spoken."

The guards pulled Proto Man though the outer doors of Sacremento's REA headquarters - Proto Man recognised it almost immediately. As the guards departed from him and cleared from view, he recognised more than just his location. There in front of him was the last person he ever expected to see: Leila Copenhagen. She stood there quietly in the street beside a grinning Harry Briggs.

Leila's anger was gone. Instead it was replaced by a sadness...sort of. Her eyes, filled with gentleness, widened with uncomfortable concern as Proto Man was brought to her. Even more to Proto Man's surprise, the guards around him left. They didn't stay to watch him. Blues barely noticed this. All he saw was Leila, and in that instant he knew that something had gone from her.

"Let me be the first to congratulate you." Briggs said, never comfortable being ignored. Proto Man didn't look at the man, but he could hear the grin in his voice. "You've got your pardon."

"Wait, what?"

"I spoke to the judge." Leila explained, wringing her hands but otherwise showing only determination. "I told them everything you've ever done for me. I told them not to press charges."

"But...why?"

Proto Man could hardly believe what he was hearing, but sure enough, it was happening. As Leila continued, she pulled the yellow scarf - his yellow scarf - out of her purse and began to tie it around the robot's neck.

"Because I know who you are." she said. "You've always been there for me and Mom since the beginning. You were there so long that I know you're weren't doing it just out of guilt. You cared about us. Besides, what would Mega Man do without you?"

Leila finished adjusting the scarf, and with one final tug she lowered her hands. He was surprised to see tears in her eyes as she stepped back.

"I'm still not sure how I feel about this. I feel pretty weird about...being your friend again. All I know is, a world where you don't show up and save the day is wrong."

The girl struggled to speak, and the tears were pouring down. Proto Man hadn't cried in years, but somehow the urge to succumb to glitching crept up on him nonetheless. Still, Leila struggled onward, and Proto Man could only listen and wait.

"I forgive you."

There it was. The three simple words that could reduce everything Albert Wily ever said to ashes. It was the only thing Proto Man had ever wanted to hear, and now his most daring dream had come true. He was forgiven; he was free. All those years of struggling with guilt were over, and he never again had to face his inner demons. Somehow, happy as he was, Proto Man found himself wanting to cry. A stray thought reminded him of his creator. For so long that horrible crime kept him separated from his father. Dr. Light had never known Blues' past, and now the robot realized that Dr. Light never wanted to know. All the scientist wanted was his son to come home. Now it was all over, and there was nothing between the loner robot and his creator.

"Oh, Father..."

Proto Man cried. He glitched his heart out, for the first time able to mourn the loss of his father. His emotions were no longer locked away without a key. Such weeping didn't hurt him. It was cleansing to finally let it go. Proto Man didn't know how long he cried, but as the glitching finally ceased, Proto Man was still happy. He wriggled his feet in the grass like a merry child.

A question popped up in his mind, and his hand went to his helmet laying beside him. His helmet had served him well over the years, hiding both him from the world and the world from him. As good as he felt, Proto Man was still iffy about the government knowing what he looked like. He touched his face uncertainly.

Oh, what the heck. Blues grinned. I'm not going to change it. This is the way my father designed me.

Still, he glanced down at his helmet. He didn't need to hide anymore, but so much of the public knew him by his helmet. It was iconic. But, at the end of the day, he didn't need it anymore. He found himself not even wanting to wear it. He would, though. His public demanded it.

For now, Proto Man lay back in the grass, letting all thoughts drain away as he enjoyed his newfound freedom.

-t-

It was dark. Very dark. It didn't matter that sunlight shone merrily through the blinds. To Bass it was as dark as night, and he only glared at the impudent sunlight for intruding. It seemed to want to shine down right into his little hiding spot behind Dr. Light's desk. That was where Bass sat on the floor, so no one could see him if they entered. Treble lay beside him, silent and still, letting Bass unconsciously rub at his ears.

Forte was back in the "library" again. It was the only place that he could really be alone with his thoughts. It was more or less an excuse for Dr. Light's office when he had been alive, but since then Rock and Roll rarely went inside it. For now the finally organized shelves of blueprints, notes, and other paper whatnot were as close to having Dr. Light around as was possible. This aura of Light eased Bass' discomfort only somewhat.

Discomfort was definitely the correct word for how Bass felt. He couldn't get comfortable. While he had only a robotic set vibration detectors and not a real sense of touch, somehow he just couldn't relax. Bass scooted closer against the desk. It didn't work. After a minute of fidgeting, he gave up, slouching against the desk and giving Treble one final rub across the ears before letting his hand fall.

His creator was dead. The robot numbly thought of this, trying to reconcile it in his head. Somehow it didn't seem possible. Bass had spent so much time avoiding Wily that he couldn't really tell the difference between Wily being alive or dead. Only now he knew he would never see his creator again. This thought stirred no reaction; Bass was completely numb. He waited a moment, expecting to have some sort of emotion about it. Nothing came. Only an empty raw feeling lay inside him.

Bass folded his arms tightly, angry at his own indifference. His lip rose into a sneer. Hell, I should be happy! After all, Wily was an old bastard. All he ever did was mock me and build junk robots. How the hell am I supposed to be sad? He just built team after team of pathetic losers, letting them fight for him when I was right there! He could have just asked me! He didn't have to kick me out of his castle every time! But no, he just had to go build those losers. They could get destroyed by Rock just like that - here Bass snapped his fingers in the air - and I actually put up a decent fight, but no, I'm the one that gets punished and made fun of and never gets a decent upgrade!

Bass tried to punch the rolling chair, but it just undramatically fell over with the blow. He was forced to violently elbow the desk behind him to satisfy his rage. After a moment he paused, fearing someone might have heard him.

Oh hell, who cares?

The robot elbowed the desk one last time for good measure, denting a drawer in the process. Whining, Treble lifted his head onto Bass' leg. Bass sighed. Treble never liked it when he got angry. With an annoyed sigh, Bass half-heartedly patted his dog twice and no more. He wasn't in the mood to be comforting. Trouble was, he wasn't sure what he was in the mood for. He knew he needed to deal with his sadness somehow. But how?

Wait, what? Bass startled. I'm sad? Why the hell am I sad? I don't have a reason to be. Wily was a jerk and he deserves to be dead. Screw him. I don't give a crap about him!

That was a lie, and he knew it. Bass so very much wanted it to be true. He didn't want to care about Wily. He didn't want that crusty old maniac affecting him one way or the other. After all, he was the great and strong Bass, and what did a simple frail human matter to the great and strong Bass? More than Bass wanted to admit, that's for sure. He forced himself to sit up straight and think. He forced his emotions and thoughts to focus properly on the matter. Now, was he sad that Wily was dead?

The effort didn't pay off. He wasn't sure what he felt. Just...off. He was sad, though, and there was no denying it. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He had plenty to be happy about. He had his dog, his technician, and Zero's power core. That last blessing was even enough to make his deep frown turn into a nice smile for about two seconds. That smile went away. Wily was dead, and he didn't want to smile. As much as he wanted to add Wily's dead to his list of good things that happened to him, he couldn't.

Screw this. I am not going to sit here and mourn that man! He doesn't deserve it.

All the same, Bass found himself wanting to glitch. It wasn't so strange a thought. After all, here he was sitting against the desk, just like he had been when Dr. Light died. Bass let his thoughts drift off to the nicer scientist - it was much more relaxing to think of Dr. Light rather than his own creator. Bass pulled up a knee and rested his head on it. He could only wonder what it had been like to be raised by Dr. Light. Rock was lucky. Dr. Light probably told him kind things every day. They got to work together on science projects, and Bass was sure that Dr. Light and Rock even went out into the yard and played catch. Rock was always Dr. Light's son, so of course they would do something so stereotypical.

Bass thought of his own "childhood" and cringed. There were very few times when simply speaking to Dr. Wily didn't illicit a sharp remark. Thinking very hard, Bass tried to think if he and Dr. Wily had ever had a nice moment together. One where there was no fighting, and maybe Wily even said something nice. Bass could only think of once. It was just a small moment, a very long time ago.

The robot activated. Forte/Bass, Special Wily Number 001, blinked his eyes. He became immediately aware of his surroundings: he was sitting on a little stool, within some sort of small, enclosed space. This got no reaction out of the robot. His mind informed him that this was an enclosed automated machine. Bass stood to his feet, and the wall before him - which wasn't a wall at all - lifted up to allow him access to the outside.

The outside was unremarkable. From the way his footsteps echoed on the tile floor, Bass knew that the place must have been a large and relatively empty room, perhaps a warehouse. Simply looking around didn't do much good. The lights, what little of them there were, were all very dim and allowed only the slightest of shadows be visible.

Bass looked down. The automated machine gave a little light, and he could see his immediate surroundings. There at his feet lay a large, purple wolf, which immediately got up and wagged its tail. Bass accessed his mental database, then smiled as the correct file was found. This was SWN-002, Treble the wolf. His doggy assistant. A new experience activated in Bass' head. It was his emotions programming, and this emotion was happiness.

Bass snapped around, the first of the other robot gripped tightly in his own. Oh yes, Bass knew he'd been there all along, silently waiting for Bass to be distracted. Forte's computer mind recalled that this thing was called a Sniper Joe, though this particular model seemed to be without his traditional gun and shield. A reprogrammed martial arts combatant, perhaps.

The dark robot gave no more thought to the thing. His hand crushed the Joe's. Though it might be said that the Joe gave a good fight, one questions how good that fight is when he ended up as nothing more than a robotic carcass against the floor. This one was replaced by three more, likewise unarmed but not harmless. Bass defeated them all. One took a roundhouse kick to the face, severing his neck from this shoulders. The second fell by a firm punch into the power core, and the third, while trying to save the second, fell prey to the purple wolf.

After that, the room lit up, but not with lights. It was with the massive flooding of plasma bullet after plasma bullet. Bass jumped into the air and jumped once more, converting his hands into mighty plasma busters that returned fire with a vengeance. The purple rain falling from his powerful weapon began the process of eliminating the source of the enemy bullets: more Sniper Joes, this time properly armed and shielded. One by one each stream of weapons fire was silenced - not counting the assistance of the wolf, who seemed every bit as interested as his master in destroying the mechaniloids. Soon enough, it was only the two of them and a lot of green rubble.

For more Joes jumped out of the shadows, this time armed with swords instead. Bass displayed his fangs in a merry, dastardly grin and pulled his busters back into hands. Shooting them would just be too easy. This "mercy" allowed each of the Sniper Joes perhaps another twenty seconds of life. Soon enough, however, each of the four lay at Bass' feet, their own swords through them.

A light switched on. Bass looked up at the wall, now realizing exactly how high the ceiling was: at least two stories. And there light streamed down, from the second story. An upper room was in the wall, partitioned away from the fighting compound by a protective layer of glass. Behind that glass was an aged man with amazingly wild hair sticking out in opposite directions. The wrinkled creature gazed down at Bass with a wicked smile, stroking his chin with delight. And as he stared, the human began to laugh. This was by no means an ordinary laugh. This powerful, booming sound filled the air, growing louder with each passing second.

The dark robot looked up at the human, and a smile grew on his face as well. He let the wicked laughter of his creator wash over him and give him power. In that moment, without anything being said, Bass knew it that he was destined for great and mighty things.

Eventually though, the laugher did fade out, but not the old man's smile. He pushed a button on a console that Bass couldn't see. With a short whine, the intercom system activated.

"Welcome to life, Bass." said Dr. Albert Wily. "Make me proud."

And that was it. That was the only good moment the two had ever had together. Oh sure, Wily had a couple of encouraging words for him before sending him out the door to go trick Mega Man, but not too much. The mission at hand had already been programmed into Bass' mind, so there wasn't the need for explanation. That, and Wily was in a hurry to punish Mega Man for arresting him. Then it was nothing but disappointments and fights ever since. Wily was disappointed in Bass' lack of victories, and Bass was just plain disappointed in Wily. He didn't know then what a good creator was like, but he knew it couldn't be like Wily.

Bass smiled a little to himself, and his left hand wandered back to Treble's ears. The dark robot's thoughts went to Dr. Light. Now he was a good master, even if he was a little strange and treated robots like real human children.

Maybe that's what made him so cool. Bass thought. Because he treats robots like real people. Huh.

Then, strangely enough, Bass understood. He felt sad because he knew that was the way Dr. Light would want him to feel. He was a good guy now, and even though he only had a short time to be discipled by the good scientist, Bass did know that it was wrong to celebrate death. Forte could almost hear Light's voice in his head, telling him that Wily could have been very great and very beneficial to the world, only Wily's selfishness outwitted his sensibilities and reduced him to a petty villain.

"That's right." Bass told Treble. "I feel sorry for him. I mean, he's so darn pathetic. He was supposed to be a great genius, but everyone hates him now. Yeah. Why not feel sorry for a loser like him?" Bass paused a moment, getting lost in his thoughts. Only for a moment, though. "Y'know Treb, there's no way in hell that Wily is my dad. He may have created me, but he's not my father. He's just some bastard that put me together. If I'm anything today, it's because of Dr. Light. He's my real father."

If anyone else beside Treble had been in the room, Bass would feel unbelievably awkward. As it was, only the kind eyes of his wolf looked back at him. The dog nuzzled him, happily pawing at his master. Bass gave Treble a good rub.

"Heh, you're right, Treb. I'm too dang mopey. I don't need to be. He's not worth it. Good boy."

Bass pulled his arms around his dog, giving him a firm hug before getting up. He stretched out, determined to be happy. Who cared if Wily was dead? Not Bass! Or so the robot assured himself. He was going to get up, have a good day and...

He paused. What exactly was he going to do? He didn't have a job anymore, now that Zero was defeated. Forte groaned to think of Russia; he still legally belonged to the Cossacks. With any luck, the Russian government would decide that since Zero was gone they didn't want Bass back in their country. He was fine with that, but of course he was still restricted from plenty of other countries. Russia's size provided Bass lots of places to explore with only one country's approval to worry about. As much as he wanted to go to Japan, their landmass was considerably smaller.

Thoughts like these distracted Bass from noticing his walk back to the laboratory. He arrived there to find Auto still running around like a maniac trying to get the robots that volunteered to fight Zero back into good condition. Dub helped also, mainly by stacking all the replacement armors and circuitry in little piles by each robot master. Bass sneered at the fallen forms of Quick Man and Top Man as he passed by their repair tables, but otherwise gave them no mind. Of course Mega Man would keep his promise to let them go free. It surprised Bass that the REA didn't veto this.

In any case, he headed back to the A.I. lab where Crystal Bot had repaired him. His technician was still there, but otherwise the scene was entirely shocking. Crystal Bot's work was scattered all over the repair table, mainly consisting of sketches and blueprints for a new Crystal Man, and also plans to add battle A.I to Frantic Man. Bruce saw fit to collect her multifarious papers to keep them organized, having to flit about very quickly to keep up with it all. None of this was the cause of the shock. That was the sheer volume of the work, and also the way Crystal Bot merrily sang along (not very well) to some chirpy Korean pop as she took notes and sketched.

Bass pulled up an extra chair beside her and glanced at some of the Frantic Man work as if he understood it. Treble found himself a spot under the repair table and lay down. Crystal Bot smiled warmly at the dog, but was more hesistant as she addressed Bass.

"Oh, hey Forte-kun. How are you feeling?"

Bass was tempted to roll his eyes. Crystal Bot was doing it again - waiting to see what he thought and then trying to figure out the best way to react. He hated it when she did that. She was much less annoying when she just had opinions of her own. He didn't want her to be "sensitive" about his creator dying, despite the fact his disappearance gave her a pretty logical reason to do so.

There's nothing for her to be 'sensitive' about. he muttered inwardly before speaking aloud. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Oh, good." Crystal Bot, happy as ever, went back to her work.

"Hey Sonata," Bass lifted an eyebrow. "What's with you?"

She didn't lift her eyes from her work. "What do you mean?"

"Wily's dead and you're not freaking out about it. I figured you'd be huddling under the table glitching yourself to death or something."

"No, not at all." Crystal Bot put down her papers and turned to him. "Hey, I really owe you an apology, Forte-kun. Back when Dr. Light was all...old and stuff, I was being really rude and silly. I should have been there more for Dr. Light. I was so scared about it, but really, it's not so bad. I was there for Wily's death, and it was really kinda boring. One minute he was breathing, and the next he wasn't. That's not scary at all!"

"Wait, what? You were there?" Bass was incredulous. "How did that happen?"

"Well...I just felt so bad for him." Crystal got a little nervous. "And I had nothing to do because I had to wait for the REA to approve me to recieve Zero's parts to fix you. I felt like I might as well go. It wasn't technically worth it. Dr. Wily was mostly asleep, and when he was awake he wasn't really there. Just sort of daydreaming or something. He would talk and talk, but all jumbly. I couldn't understand it. A couple of weeks later he just died. He lasted pretty long for someone in his state, though. The nurses were expecting him to die the first night I went over there."

Bass didn't know about medical science, but somehow all those symptoms didn't really seem to fit a mere heart problem. Of course, with someone like Wily there was no telling what was wrong with him. "So, um, any last words?"

"Not really..." Crystal grunted a moment, searching through her memory database to check. She shook her head. "Mostly it was a bunch of gibberish. He was only sort of conscious those last two days. He was awake the day before that. We talked a little bit about Team 5, and then he asked me if Zero was defeated. I told him yes, and he got all quiet. The last thing he ever really said was, 'Of course he is. Bass always finds a way to ruin my plans. Figures.' After that, he fell asleep. He never said anything that made sense after that, so I guess those have to count technically as his last words."

Crystal Bot sniffed, staring a bit at the work before her. "Um...Forte? Can we not talk about this anymore? I know you don't like Dr. Wily, but it still makes me a little sad to think about him being gone. Some parts are coming today in the mail for me to fix Crystal Man, and I don't want to be sad when I'm working on my daddy."

"Um. Okay."

Crystal smiled at him shyly before turning back to her computer. "Thanks for understanding, Forte-kun."

The girl-bot didn't notice (or acted like she didn't notice) the weird look on Bass' face. It was a little inscrutable. The dark robot was stunned, and as much as he didn't want to show it, he still wasn't any good at containing his emotions. His muscles tightened as he tried to force away the look, but soon enough Crystal Bot was focused on her own things.

"Of course he is. Bass always finds a way to ruin my plans. Figures."

Bass fought hard not to glitch. He didn't realize how emotional these few words would make him. Wily, in his own demented way, believed in Bass. His words were proof: he didn't say anthing about Mega Man killing Zero, laying the credit to that soley at his own creation's feet. Wily himself genuinely thought that his wayward robot, that the "biggest mistake I ever made", was the one who would destroy his masterpiece Zero in the end.

For once, Bass thought he might actually glitch. His creator believed in him, and that thought alone erased more hate from Bass' heart than he ever suspected. Now the haunting, evil figure in his mind really could shrink, and shrink he did. Wily went from horrible monster all the way down to an annoying idiot, laughable in his goofy selfishness. Bass grinned wide. He wanted to laugh. It was the last laugh, after all, and he had it.

Hell, I just might miss the old man. Bass grinned wide. After all, who's as hilarious as Wily? He built Spring Man, an idiot built entirely out of slinkies! Who knows what other crap he'll think of next? Something stupid, probably.

Treble rubbed against Bass' leg, barking up at him with a wagging tail. Bass smiled. He wasn't going to get tired of petting Treble any time soon. He hadn't spent any time in the past four weeks with his dog, and he had to make up lost time. After a minute though, he did stop.

"Hey Sonata," Bass turned back to his technician. "What did they do with Wily's body?"

"Oh, that." Crystal Bot looked up from her papers and shivered. As much as she claimed she wasn't afraid of death anymore, Bass swore she went pale as she thought of a dead body. "He's in the morgue right now. They figure since I've been the one taking care of Wily that I get to decide what happens to it. I'm not really sure."

The girl-bot looked up with hopeful eyes at her boss. Normally this might have annoyed Bass, but today he couldn't blame her.

"I'll think of somewhere to put him." Bass said. "It has to really fit, though."

"Roll said I should put him in the robot museum so that people would come to Monstropolis to see it." Crystal Bot added. "Sort of like Che Guevara's grave. There's a whole little town that's main economy is tourists coming to see Guevara's grave. It makes sense to do something like that, because that way Wily can sort of pay back the damage he did to Monstropolis."

"Eh..." Bass tapped his chin. "No, I don't like it. That would be too weird. Besides, he's in real Hell, so why does he need to be in robot Hell too?"

"You know, Forte, I don't think the robot museum is half as bad as you say it is."

"Whatever. I'm still not sticking Wily in there. Give me some time to think about it, and we'll bury him there."

"Are we gonna have a funeral?"

Bass leaned back in his chair with disgust. "Crap, I have to organize that too? Ugh...how do you have a funeral for somebody everyone hates?"

"Kulsseyo." Crystal Bot fidgeted in her chair. "Y'know, Forte, I did say I was busy..."

"You're being a complete wimp, you mean." Bass snorted. "Fine, leave me to figure this out by myself. You're still selling your crystals to pay for whatever I decide."

"Okay, okay. Now shoo!" Crystal Bot waved him off. "Go take Treble for a walk! I gave you a new power core, so you have to be nice to me!"

"Yes, ma'am."

Bass rolled his eyes as he got up from his chair. He glanced down at Treble, and it really did look like the wolf wanted to go out on a walk. Bass shrugged. Why not take the dog out? He had a lot to figure out.

\\\\\\

Author's Notes:

- I seriously hope you guy enjoy this chapter. I worked really hard to make it something nice. I had a rough draft of it written up, but ended up rewriting most of that. I feel so inspired now! This story is going to have a really good ending.

- In case you're wondering, Proto Man's memory up there is what Spark Man offered to the REA as testimony in the previous chapter, though naturally from Spark Man's perspective instead.

- Kulsseyo means "I dunno" in korean.

Character profile!

=====Dr. Albert Alexander Wily

"Of course I'm going to take over the world!"

Good point: A genius

Bad point: Selfish

Likes: Old timey radio

Dislikes: Normal people

Now, if ever at the end of one of my stories you actually suspected that that was going to be the last story in the series, then I'm ashamed of you. I'm really going to do this series and not do a character profile on Dr. Wily? That should have been your first hint that things were going to continue. But, as the series is drawing to a close and Wily is now officially dead, why not get to his backstory?

Albert Wily is an immigrant from Austria and thus has maintained his foreign accent despite being in California since he was ten. Now, a lot of biographers about Wily maintained that it was his mother's death when he was two that damaged Albert somehow and made him evil. This always angered him over the years, because he insists that his childhood was always happy. He doesn't like the "grew up depressed" stereotype. Claudia Wily was a good woman, however, and it can only be guessed what would have happened to Albert had she lived.

Meanwhile it was up to the widower father, Francis Wily, to raise the boy, his only child. Now, Francis knew even when Albert was very young that he was just too smart. Albert could read at age three, spell complex words at four, and was always pulling apart his toys to see how they worked. Francis was always impressed that his son got out of that todder "put everything in your mouth" stage very quickly. He was able to buy complex robot toys for his son without worrying about the boy hurting himself.

Francis saved up enough money to go to America, and found a job in Monstropolis as a repairman. Albert, who was ten at this point, loved this. He was frequently allowed to be in the shop, and due to his inventive nature, was able to impress the boss and earn some odd jobs. Now, Francis had always known that his son was far smarter than him, and he encouraged this as much as possible. He told his son to save his money, because there was no way Francis could pay his way through college. Albert always appreciated his father's advice, and frequently in life he made much of his father.

And so the teen years passed. Like Dr. Light, Wily was the sort of person that didn't really feel the need for romantic companionship. Besides his father constantly telling him "we don't need any women to watch out for us", he felt his life's work was too important. He spent those years earning money to go to Monstropolis University. He even faked an ID so that he could get a job at fourteen instead of sixteen, an error which caused biographers to often cite him as two years older than his real age. Many are still confused about it.

Albert was always careful with his money, and generally only spent some when he needed new shoes or wanted to build something to impress his intended college. However, right as Wily graduated from high school, his father had a sudden stroke and simply dropped dead one day without any warning. After sorting through his father's paperwork, Albert discovered that his father was ridiculously in debt. It was so bad that not only were all of Albert's substantial college savings drained away, but caused him to have to work a full year of two jobs just to pay it all back.

Wily never fully forgave his father, and during that year developed his first real bitterness. His father preached to him so much about being responsible, and yet left a legacy of trouble. Wily even got angry at his mother for being dead, believing that had she lived that none of this would have happened. His dreams were dashed, and he found himself wondering what life would hand him.

However, one night he was stocking shelves at the grocery store, only to run into one of his high school science teachers. This teacher was so upset at what happened to Albert that he began writing letters to some people he knew at Monstropolis University. Thus Wily ended up getting the scholarship that Dr. Light had refused. It was a full scholarship, including boarding, food, books, and classes for all four years, as well as an option for a further scholarship if he desired a higher degree. Wily couldn't have been happier, and felt for once that someone was treating him the way that he deserved.

He met Thomas Light very soon during his freshman year. The friendship was at once a big relief to Albert, as not even his father understood him like Thomas. With most people Wily felt he had to overexplain himself. But with Light, he found himself able to have a real conversation about complex things and Light would pick it right up. Needless to say, the both of them were hell on the teachers, and they soon found themselves teaching advanced mechanics. Of course, over time Wily began to feel weird about the relationship. He found that he sort of liked having to explain things to others; it made him feel smart. He liked being the only genius in a room full of normal people. Now that Thomas was around, he had to share the spotlight.

At the time it wasn't such a big deal to him. Dr. Light had to work his way through college at a car parts factory, and when his boss heard that Wily was as smart as Light, he told Thomas to offer Albert a job. Albert took it, figuring he might as well have some pocket money. It turned out that his boss hired the both of them to try and steal the ideas they naturally came up with. Light at that stage in his life was a little shy about pushing for his rights, but Wily wasn't, and he caught Mr. Henderson right in the act of trying to copy one of Dr. Light's sketches made during a break concerning automobile efficiency. Wily pitched a fit about suing him, and Henderson backed off. Dr. Light found out about this ten years later.

Wily's jealously slowly grew as time went on. It never got to a particularly sharp level at that point (until graduation), but even still he was grateful that Azuma Ayumu, a recent temporary immigrant from Japan, showed up. He knew that Thomas was every bit as work focused as he was, but all the same he hoped something could work out to distract Thomas so that he could surpass his rival. It wasn't with kind motives that he joined mutual friends in tricking the two into their first "date". This effort appeared worthless for a time, and Wily gradutated Salutitarian to Light's Valedictorian.

While they were both offered the job of being the permanent Advanced Mechanics teachers, Wily let Light take this and began pursuing his own line of technology. He struggled some at first, but was able to earn enough money to become comfortable about two years after graduation. He attended Dr. Light's wedding as the best man, praising in secret his luck that Ayumu would prove to be a distraction after all, even if for a short time. He mourned when she died, though for the wrong reasons.

I say all that, but Wily wasn't a complete jerk during his young to middle aged years. The things he built then he honestly wanted to use to help society. He managed to make some money, but always felt like his bosses were cheating him and preventing him from becoming famous. He did manage to get a contract for a column in three science magazines, which he wrote for many years. He also wrote some technical books, but these were generally only read by fellow scientists. Wily didn't care too much for "writing for the uneducated".

During this time Wily did marry. As much as he felt like he didn't need a companion, he started getting curious. And he wanted someone to keep his house straight. A woman named Hanna Fitzgerald seemed to fit the bill, and she was the closest anyone he knew ever came to being as smart as he or Dr. Light. Hanna married him because she figured they would have smart children. That hope, however, was dashed by a medical problem, and she couldn't have them. Albert was fine with this, mainly because he wasn't sure if he wanted kids anyway. Hanna, however, wasn't. She didn't like having Albert gone all the time at work, leaving her to do whatever. She either wanted to be involved in his life, or gone. After several bitter arguments and one last year of marriage, she settled for the latter. They divorced, leaving Wily to lament that his father was correct in his opinions about women.

In case you're wondering, Hanna went on to remarry and have children by in-vitro. She basically lived happily ever after, but never liked talking about her marriage to Wily. She often denied the marriage when her friends asked about it - "No, no, his name was Alvin Wily, and of course he's no relation to Albert even though they have the same last name. You see, my husband's family changed their name three generations ago..."

As Wily turned fifty, he found himself annoyed. He was doing well enough, but he didn't have a "career" in scientific mechanics. He just had a series of jobs with a few inventions in between. Dr. Light, on the other hand, was renown for his work in robotics. Though at that point Dr. Light didn't have much to show for it yet, Light at least knew what his life's work was. Wily, pressuring himself to do the same, screwed up his finances. He didn't have that imaginative spark to narrow his mechanical field into something he really felt passionate about. As he often put it himself, "I am so talented I can do anything, and there's too much to choose from". Wily's best efforts went into deep sea exploring, but he often rushed this work, and it showed. Ironically, he was more successful at this when he was an evil villain, in the forms of Bubble Man, Wave Man, and all the other water robots he built.

And so when he, in a rare streak of humility, called Dr. Light with the intention of borrowing money. he found himself offered a job before he could even ask. While he didn't want to work under Dr. Light, Wily figured it was a good way to keep his eye on his old friend. However, as he one night was taking a walk in Monstropolis, he came across Proto Man, who suffered from his power core trouble. Wily brought him to his makeshift lab and more or less set him straight, getting the chance to study Light's work in depth. Wily wasn't antagonistic to Dr. Light at this point, but he ended up just letting Proto Man go because he wanted to see what would happen if one of Light's robots were set loose on humanity. He figured something embarrassing would happen and then Proto Man would be sent back to the lab or just destroyed.

After this never happened and Proto Man remained on the loose, Wily did feel a little guilty. He didn't think it was worth it to say anything, though, and Dr. Light never found out. This guilt began a real rift between the two scientists, even though Dr. Light didn't know the full reasoning behind it. Thomas did have a clue at that point about Wily's true feelings, but he always tried to be accomodating to Dr. Wily. Needless to say, this didn't work. Wily grew increasingly jealous of Thomas. This came to a head when Light won the Nobel Peace Prize. Finally Wily's attitudes grew intolerable, and Light attempted to come up with some way of seperating Wily from Light Laboratories in a way that would at least salve the egotistical man. Wily found out about these plans, stole the six robot masters, and thus was it all begun.

Wily stayed relatively sane at the beginning, and some of his earliest robots, such as Metal Man, Crystal Man, and Star Man's first draft, were meant to push the boundaries of what a robot can do and thus outdo Dr. Light "legitimately". As time progressed, and especially after his arrest at the end of MM6, the quality went down. Even Wily began to notice when the evil energy didn't do much for Team 8. Wily began a series of robots that would kick butt, but these, along with two Team 8 robots and Cold Man (not Wily's creation) rebelled with King. For years there was a pause as Wily began to calm down and reassess. He made a couple attempts at restoring his robot masters (Mega Man: the Power Fighters) but not too much came of this. All along Wily began building Zero and changing his scheme. No longer would he force the world to obey him or acknowledge his genius: he was going to devastate it.

In the original timeline, this worked, particularly because nobody believed Wily was capable of taking even his aims seriously. Wily's scheme to make money (MM9) didn't seem to be much besides a goof, though even Mega Man pricked up his ears when roboenza showed up on the scheme. A new smattering of anti-virus programs showed up on the scene, seemingly ended the ability of Wily to spread his computer viruses. Wily caused some mild trouble until he was ready to hatch his worst plan yet, and took every precaution to ensure that he would be remembered as the father of the robots rather than Dr. Light.

In this timeline, his plans of course did not work. Wily has no descendants, and any family has is distant, in Europe, and generally in denial about his relation. One of his cousins did write a book about Wily, whom he had met as a child. This biography was generally sensationalist and not particularly acurate. It was written for the cousin to gain money and to distance Wily from his family - it wasn't their fault he was a madman. Wily himself read it, and he thought it was funny.

Crystal Bot is the only person who isn't afraid to call Wily a relative. She genuinely considers herself Wily's granddaughter, though Crystal Man is not likely to feel the same way.

So yeah, now Wily's dead. D-E-D redneck dead. Care to say a few words on his behalf?