Chapter 15: Bombastic Mayhem

"Two other Biometals!?" Caio cried. "Are you for real?!"

Inverse, the shadow beast, entered the same command center area that his mistress was in. It purred at the sight of her and hurried over, sinking into the floor as a pool of shadows and swam to her where it would reform back into its standard form. Folly, still with her frown on her face, would nevertheless rub the head of her pet with her hand.

Folly's shadow beast, Inverse, had entered the very command center she was in. Intimidating appearance aside, it purred delightfully at the sight of its master. It sunk into the floor and become but a shadowy puddle on the floor, swimming along it to reach her before it rematerialized into its physical form beside Folly.

"I am in fact 'for real', Caio." Folly stated, patting Inverse on the head where it would purr even louder. "Allow me to explain..."

Shortly after I toyed with Proto Boy and destroyed the last hideout where we had previously stationed ourselves at, I left satisfied...

However, in the outskirts of Chloe Forest, I managed to find two stragglers of the Graver company. They looked... Happy. Excited. Conniving. Curious, I had Inverse trail them closely with his shadow shifting abilities while I watched from afar. Through Inverse, I overheard something...irksome.

For starters, Vulcan was still out and about. I had hoped that Nero individual had taken him out, but sometimes I can't have nice things. I also learned that Vulcan plotted to use what remained of Graver and two of his Biometals to get payback on not only "the blue runt"- that's Mr. Hero, by the way- but me as well. Vulcan and his lackeys also appeared to have found out about Merrie Jane's involvement, someone who had... Well, she's not important currently.

Hearing all I needed, I had Inverse apprehend the two agents and I made my presence known with the intent to question them. Inverse had restrained these two buffoons with his shadowy tentacles that came from his back, holding them in the air and squeezing his tentacles around their arms and waists like thick nylon rope.

My Inverse truly was an eldritch abomination~ A lovely one at that~

"So, Graver hasn't quit, after all... Isn't that delightful~" I taunted them. Judging by the looks on their faces, they could easily pick up that my words were not genuine. They would have to be morons not to pick up on my obvious cues...

"Screw you, jester!" The annoying male Graver barked.

I frowned, not so much for his pathetic insult, mind you. No, I wanted to get to the bottom of things. I had overheard something crucial after all. It was time to get down to business.

"Now, now. You forget your place. Inverse?"

My eyes shifted to my loyal pet. He did not even need to look at me. He understood my intent clearly based on voice alone. Acting as I commanded, Inverse squeezed his grip on the male Graver, causing him to wail in pain. Under normal circumstances, curdling screams such as this would be unnerving for me... But I make exceptions towards scum like this one.

"That's enough." I spoke. Inverse ceased and loosened his grip to allow the Graver to at least breathe. No use talking to an inactive corpse, after all. "You all saw me as a child among adults, likely gossiping negatively behind my back. That's fine. I learned to control myself in the face of people like you who belittle and insult those such as myself. But even someone like me has limits. You'd be wise not to get me to my boiling point. I rarely get there, but even I'm uncertain what will happen if I do. Ever heard of the phrase or saying, 'I was so angry, I was seeing red'?"

"W-We get it, alright?!" The brutish female Graver whimpered, but I could tell she was as defiant as the male, if not more so. Perhaps she was more annoyed by my 'speeches', not that I could blame her. Getting under the skin of others is part of my role~

"Do you?" I asked challengingly. "We shall see."

I walked before them, hands behind my back as I calmly said the following, "I couldn't help overhear you both mention that your group has two Biometals. I don't know if your boss had informed you, but when we formed this tenuous partnership, my Master and I had made it explicitly clear that you tell us of everything in your inventory. The first thing your boss told me was that he was in possession of Biometal Model Gu. Ordinarily, that would be a very exceptional thing for him to do. He would've deserved a little treat for being a good boy. But to my utter dismay, he was in fact a very bad boy. He had omitted the knowledge of two other Biometals he had in his possession."

My eyebrows narrowed at the two of them, almost squinting. "I know this is the case because I overheard you two gossiping like irritating valley girls in high school about your Biometals; very important artifacts that were not brought to my attention in the very beginning. Care to tell me why your boss kept these two Biometals hidden from me?"

The female Graver was going to speak... "We-"

"Ah-ah-ah..." I waved my index finger with authority, cutting her off completely. "I can already hear it now. You're going to tell me to jump off a bridge or drop dead or something to that effect, yes?"

She had a look. A delightful look~ The 'I know I'm wrong and now I have to bite my tongue' look~

"May I remind you of your position? My trusted pet is eager to show you if you're in need of a refresher~"

"NO! NO NO NO!" The male Graver cried. "We'll talk! We'll talk!"

"No we won't! The boss will kill us!" The female blurted out. She immediately sucked her tongue back into her mouth as she had realized how badly she had blundered this.

"Yeah, and this shrimp will if we don't!" The male argued, not noticing his partner's grave error...

Grave... Error... An unintentional pun on my end, tee hee~

I, however, had smiled. One can make all the warnings they wish, but if they don't act on those warnings, then they're merely making empty threats. All bark but no bite, as the saying goes. I knew that these two had potential to squeal... Given time.

"One of you is willing, the other is defiant." I smirked devilishly. "In school, when one person messes up, everyone gets punished. They call this practice "collective punishment"."

I snapped my fingers and two of my portals appeared beneath their dangling feet.

"So, I will see you both in detention... Perhaps then you'll comply~ See you soooon~"

I grinned and looked at Inverse with a nod. Our eyes met and just like before, he knew what I intended to happen. He immediately retracts his tentacles into his shadowy body, dropping the two Gravers into my portals.

What happened next? Well...

"...I interrogated them in our aircraft that we used to get here in the first place." Folly continued her tale. "Despite some defiance, I got all I could from them. It turns out that the three Biometals they had, Model Gu and the other two mystery Biometals, were sold to Vulcan a few years ago by someone we know. Fate truly is interesting, isn't it? Anyway, those two Biometals are currently with their Biomatches, with Vulcan having applied the same brainwash program I had given Models Fi, Ic, and El... Except it's somewhat sloppy like how they did with Model Gu. I'll admit that I'm impressed that Vulcan was able to do that without my expertise, but he's still a bumbling oaf of a man who thought he could one up someone such as I."

"If there's two Mega Men out there, then-" Sempronio was cut off by Folly.

"-Mr. Hero and his friends will deal with them." Folly intervened. "Just as they have with the others. History repeats itself in lovely ways~ Still though, I'll also admit that I'm a little worried they'll think I lied to them about not having any more Biometals."

"Why do you care?" Caio asked. "We're the bad guys, aren't we?"

"I prefer "antagonist", but that's neither here nor there. The point is, I don't like lying..." She tearfully pouted with Inverse whimpering. The other three on the Comms could detect that she wasn't really pouting.

"...Uh-huh." Caio replied sarcastically.

"Mr. Hero might be upset with me the next time we meet because of this... But oh well~! He's upset with me for a lot of things, so there's no use crying over one blunder on my end. In any case, I sent the captive Graver agents to the police. They're no longer useful to me, so they can join their friends in the cells. As for Vulcan..."

"Yes?" Sempronio asked expectantly.

"...Since you're so worried about him, work with Caio and Tizio and keep an eye out for anything strange on the island." Folly ordered. "Inform me when something comes up."

"Understood." Sempronio says. After a bit of silence, he talks again. "Look at that. Found something already."

Folly looked flabbergasted. "...You're... joking, right? I thought I was the jester here..."

"I'm detecting Maverick activity in what the island's residents call "Lysander Woods"." Sempronio explained. "The map shows that the Mavericks are all converged on a single point, moving southeast as if they were migrating."

"...Could be actual migrating Mavericks. They do that, y'know?" Caio replied.

"Not on this island, they don't." Folly countered. "This island has Mavericks, sure, but much like most of the world, they are like wild animals. They stick outside of the cities and rarely enter them. Even the underground ruins are surprisingly scarce. Our attacks have shown the people the largest number of Mavericks they've seen on this island yet, and they come from an outside source. No, what you're describing to me is a controlled event. An army moving towards something... As for what that something is..."

"I can check it out if you want." Caio suggested.

"I appreciate that. Tell either me or Sempronio what you find." Folly ordered.

"Roger dodger!" Caio turned off his comms as he took off from where he once was.

"This could be Graver..." Folly surmised, thinking firmly on the situation. "We've secured our new hideout, gentlemen. That objective is complete. For now, you do as I've asked of you. In the meantime, I must do some investigating of my own..."

She summons a portal before her and smirks.

"Depending on today's events, I might be able to move the script along much faster than anticipated~"

She enters the portal with Inverse following right behind her. The portal closes right behind them. And the rest is silence.

Merrie Jane was in Luna Town at a local cafe, drinking some coffee... with a lot of vanilla cream... So she was drinking more vanilla coffee cream than actual coffee, honestly...

She was on a tablet device, using her index finger to scroll along the screen.

"Vulcan was after the mayor..." She thought in her mind. Her tablet screen displayed a website that went into Selena Island's history... Or at least, some of it. She investigated Mayor Radman, someone who was mayor of not only Kairos City but Luna Town as well despite the gap between the two areas. Odd but not completely out of place... They were still guarded by walls that protect them from Mavericks, as expected of Innerpeace areas. Still, she wanted to find information on this mayor. "What is so important about him that Vulcan would target him? ...And not do a very good job at it too..."

Her search on the internet proved to be quite fruitless... She couldn't even find the previous mayor. Information on this island was surprisingly scarce and it kind of annoyed her...

She sighed and finished her cup of coffee. She'd toss it in the recycle bin and leave the cafe with her tablet in her handbag. "Whatever... I gotta keep moving. Lay low... Maybe I can find the Guardians... and that boy..."

The town was very quiet and...home-y. Fitting for an island as quaint as this and yet the island had a metropolis akin to other cities she's seen throughout the healing world. She could see how people would be completely fine living here without too much fear from the Mavericks found outside of their Innerpeace locales...

...But she didn't come to this island for a vacation.

As she walked from the cafe with her belongings and thought about the state of Selena Island, Merrie proceeded to her newly planned destination as normal as everyone else in this area.

Everyone but an orange-clad hooded individual who had come around the corner of the cafe with a cup of coffee of his own. He intended to take a sip, though seeing this formal dressed young girl caught his brown colored eyes. His eyes squint at her familiar clothing and hair.

With growls, he crushes his cup, spilling hot coffee all over his hand and to the ground below. He cared not for the pain, tossing the crushed cup over his shoulder. Reaching into his hoodie's pocket, he pulled out a small artifact which emitted a bright light that surrounded his very being.

This light did not go unnoticed, as everyone, including Merrie, turned to the source. The individual had armored up.

He wore a yellow helmet with a massive metal orange mohawk design on top of the helmet. For his mouth, it almost looked like he had a big chicken beak for a mouth, akin to that of cartoon bird characters with the ability to grin or grimace. He wore orange chest armor resembling that of a big jacket resembling what most citizens of this new world wore. He had a pure black body beneath his chest armor, almost in a spherical shape and he wore orange shoulder plates. He had orange arms and legs. He also wore yellow gauntlets and yellow boots, but he wore orange fingerless gloves and orange tips for his boots. His chest armor included a black collar with white stubs. This punkish design would be shared with his gauntlet's wrists as well.

He grimaced angrily with his brown eyes changing to a yellow glowing color.

"I FOUND YOU!" He suddenly shouts, holding out his right hand. In that hand, a black sphere materializes and lands right on his hand. The sphere had a fuse attached and it was lit.

With a loud grunt, he tossed the bomb directly towards Merrie Jane.

"EEK!" She screamed. She immediately made a run for it the moment she saw that he had materialized the bomb.

She escaped the explosion that followed, enveloping the spot where she once was at and causing a crater. This sudden attack caused a frenzy and people in the area began to flee immediately.

The megamerged individual growled and stomped his feet.

"THAT'S IT! RUN AWAY! YOU'RE STILL GOING TO GET BLOWN TO BITS!" He shouted and chased after her, materializing more bombs to chuck at her, causing more explosions as property was getting destroyed, and people were getting blown away from the resulting shockwaves.

Merrie ran as fast as she could, not sure how long she'd be able to escape the power of those bombs he was throwing at her.

"Why me!?" She cried fearfully, hugging her handbag to her chest.

Six minutes after the mysterious Chosen One caused hysteria in Luna Town, Rokku, having just wrapped up his fight with another Chosen One named Coupure, arrived at the now empty town. He had arrived at the Guardian Outpost nearby thanks to Aimer's portable transerver and came to the site with a Guardian via truck. There, he met up with fellow Guardian, Candice.

"Candice!" Rokku cried, hopping out of the truck, and rushing towards her. "Do you know what happened!?"

She turned to the younger boy and looked down at him. "Oh, it's you! Perfect timing! We got reports of a crazy Maverick chucking bombs everywhere!"

"Is everyone alright?" He asked.

"Surprisingly? Yeah." She replied, rubbing her chin. "Outside of some very minor injuries, no one's been seriously hurt... Though I gotta tell you, I'm hearing reports that this so-called 'Maverick' was after someone specifically. Between you and me, I think he's a armored guy like you."

Rokku frowned. "Who was he chasing...?"

Another Guardian came by. "Hey there, Mega Man. I got some statements from some people. They think this guy was chasing this girl."

The Guardian scratched his head, reviewing the notes he's taken. "She looked like a teenager...? Wore a business suit with a skirt...? Had multicolored hair-"

"That sounds like Merrie Jane!" Rokku cried. "She might be in trouble! Those guys at Gravers were looking for her last time we checked on her!"

He looked at Candice. "Do you know where they went?"

Just as he asked this question, a massive explosion erupted far away from where they were. Gauging by the sound and distance of the explosion, it looked to be just outside of the town.

"...Try over there...?" Candice shakily pointed at the direction of the last heard explosion.

Without delay, Rokku ran towards the source of the explosion.

Nervously, he constantly muttered, "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy..."

Rokku went outside of the barriers of Luna Town. As Luna Town was a Innerpeace area, they had barriers to protect them from the Mavericks found outside, usually referred to as the Outlands. Given Selena Island's quaint nature, people did not generally regard many places as the "Outlands", mostly designating that to the rocky regions and Chloe Forest. Angelica Plains, where Rokku met Aimer and Model M among other people, is generally not referred to as an Outlands area. This is akin to the likes of Area A and Area B in Cinq Ville being referred to as Innerpeace despite being outside of Areas C and D.

Right outside of Luna Town, there was an abandoned building; one of the few abandoned locales on the island. Rokku knew exactly what this place was. He's never been around there as he's been often warned away, but he's seen it from afar at times.

It was the Daedal Mill; a steel mill which was used to build machinery. It was believed to be a remnant of the previous inhabitants of this island and was kept intact for cultural significance. Apparently.

"WHERE ARE YOUUU!? COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARRREEE!"

Regardless, Rokku figured that this Chosen One was here judging by the shouting he could faintly hear. He could see a piece of the building blown off, likely caused by the initial explosion he witnessed with Candice and the other Guardian.

"This happened so close to home..." He thought. "I hope my parents were safe..."

He shook his head to put those thoughts away. Right now, he had a job to do.

"Rokku, I hate to say it but..." Model M began, earning his partner's attention. "Candice was talking about an "armored guy like you" chucking bombs. ...We've fought against five of my old friends... Guts, Fire, Ice, Elec, and Cut... I think this is Bomb... And he's very likely the last one..."

"I see..." Rokku gulped. "Alright, let's do this one more time then. We'll save him like the rest of your friends, Model M."

"Right." Model M agreed. "Just be careful. This person he chose sounds like he's wilder than Bomb Man normally is..."

Agreeing with his Biometal, Rokku walked cautiously into the massive hole in front of the building which is where that blown off piece used to be. His metallic feet didn't do him too many favors, but the boy certainly made the attempt to tiptoe around.

This mill was dark and dank. Very dank. Like, danker than dank. Not to mention kinda spooky. And hearing this Chosen One shouting his lungs off was not helping. He was lucky that he was refraining from throwing any more of his bombs now.

"Mega Man...!" A girl whispered, making Rokku jump, though he had enough control to not scream.

He shakily turned to see Merrie Jane on her knees, hugging his waist. The sight made the boy flustered.

"Oh! Merrie...!" Rokku whispered, the blush on his cheeks quickly disappearing as fast as it appeared. "Are you okay...?"

"Y-Yes... I hid behind those barrels when that lunatic chased me down..." Merrie explained, shivering violently and it wasn't because of the cold atmosphere in the mill. Rokku looked behind Merrie and saw three barrels which she must've hid behind. "He walked right past but it's only a matter of time before he finds me...! Y-Y-You have to help me! I-I think he wants to-"

"COME ON OUT!"

Merrie gasped and looked directly at where the voice came from. Judging from the source of the voice, Rokku guessed he was about 20 meters ahead and about a floor level or two above that spot. It was difficult to gauge with him shouting his lungs off though.

Rokku frowned, but he noticed that he no longer had arms wrapped around his waist. Alarmed, he looked around only to find Merrie had retreated back to the barrels, hugging her knees close to her face and shivering some more.

Having bombs chucked at you can be a frightful experience. Even after all Rokku's been through, something like that certainly would frighten him too.

Rokku sighed and walked over to her.

"Don't you worry, Merrie Jane." Rokku told her with his hands on his knees (and still whispering as not to alert the loose cannon upstairs). "You must've been really scared this whole time with the Gravers and Maverick attacks... But I'm here now."

She looked up at him, witnessing a big earnest smile on his face. It looked so...pure. It admittedly left her stunned to see an armored individual like him with a smile like that.

"I'm gonna stop this guy, and then we can get you to the Guardians so they can help." He leaned back up, equipping his Mega-Buster. A new smile came on his face. A determined one. "You should wait outside. I don't know what he's going to do so I'm gonna hurry up and finish this."

"...Thank you, Mega Man." Merrie smiled softly and nodded her head. "If I may say one more thing before I go?"

Rokku tilted his head, waiting for her to say something.

"...You really should come up with a unique name for yourself~" She smiled. After she got up, she ran towards the way she and Rokku came, shouting out, "You finish this, okay!?"

After seeing her get out of sight, Rokku turned to face the direction of the main area of the mill. His smile had completely vanished. He hoped he could handle this...

Walking ahead, he stood in the center of the main area, surrounded by stairs, support beams, broken tables, numerous broken windows, and all that. This one area was big enough for fighting... But who knows if it'll come to that.

"HEY! BOMBER MAN!" Rokku shouted.

He allowed his voice to echo throughout the building. He was bound to get the guy's attention.

"MY NAME IS MEGA MAN!" He continued. "I'M HERE TO-"

Rokku's voice stopped when he heard a loud CLANG! noise. He immediately turned around, arm on his Buster as he looked to see an orange-clad individual resting his boot on the guard railings with his right arm lying on top of his leg. Though he appeared to have a beak-like mouth, he had a big pearly white grin as he stared down at Rokku.

"Yo man..." The guy spoke softly, but loud enough for his voice to reach the guy beneath him. "I heard you took out Coupure."

"T...That's right." Rokku confirmed. He could barely tell due to how his megamerged state looked, but he appeared to be around his age, maybe about a year older.

"Righteous...!" The guy grinned, tilting his chin up. "I also heard how you took out some other Mega Men just like me on the island. You must be pretty strong to pull off those kinds of feats!"

"...Maybe." Rokku sighed before looking back at him again. "I don't know what your deal is, or why you were after Merrie, but she's not here anymore. Right now, it's you and me and our Biometals."

"Hell to the yeah!" The guy jumped from the railings and landed a couple of meters away from Rokku, shocking the guy from his shouting and sudden landing. His grin persisted though. "It IS just you and I and our Biometals! My mission was to get that girl for being a snitch, but I don't give a crap about her anymore! I get to have a head bangin' party with you!"

Rokku held out his hands. "Hold on now! The other five I fought, AND their Biometals, were brainwashed! The Biometal you have is... a friend of my own Biometal...! I don't wanna fight you, I just wanna help you and your Biometal..."

"You wanna help me? Then put up your dukes!" The guy grinned, materializing a bomb and slamming it down on the ground. Rokku flinched, expecting the bomb to explode, but it didn't. The guy then slammed his right foot on the bomb, but again, it did not explode. "The fuse is lit, and ready or not, it's GONNA explode!"

The blue hero sighed again, this time out of annoyance. He couldn't tell if his opponent's stubborn attitude was standard or if it was a side effect of his brainwashing. He had the yellow glowing eyes to prove that he was in fact brainwashed like the last five. He had to be patient with him. He was a victim like the others. He had to remind himself of that.

"Fine. We'll do it your way." Rokku groaned with one hand on his hip while his Buster-equipped arm dangles. "But if we're gonna do this, can I at least get your name?"

"...Heh." He chuckled to himself after a bit of awkward silence. After shaking his head with the laughter, he looked at Rokku with a big grin. His left hand held out a sign of the horns gesture. "Detona's the name, blowing things up is my game!"

The Chosen One known as Detona suddenly kicked his bomb at Rokku with a psychotic cackle. Rokku immediately dove out of the way, rolling back to his feet after escaping the following explosion.

"It was worth a try, Rokku." Model M told him.

"Don't worry, Model M. I'll wrap this up like with Coupure." He told his partner. "What can you tell me about Bomber Man?"

"His name is just "Bomb Man", by the way..." Model M told him as his partner jumped away from two bombs. Rokku returned fire with his Mega Buster, though he missed as Detona jumped to the railing and threw more bombs. "His main attack is the Hyper Bombs he's been using. It was mostly used for destroying abandoned buildings... Like the one we're in."

Rokku heard the horror set in Model M's tone. He was right to get Merrie Jane out of the building. He really DID have to finish him quick like with Coupure before this bomb throwing lunatic caved them all in with his explosions.

"Okay, okay, tell me something else, quick!" Rokku cried.

"Right! Um, Bomb Man was weak to Fire Storm!" Model M shouted. "But if you're going to use it, aim for Detona. I don't want to create a chain reaction!"

"Got it!" Rokku shouted.

He hopped on a table, using it as a steppingstone to jump backwards towards the stairs and avoid another Hyper Bomb explosion.

"You done talking to your Biometal!? COME ON! THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A PARTY, NOT A WALK IN THE PARK!" Detona shouted, throwing three Hyper Bombs back-to-back.

Rokku jumped to the wall above and used it to bounce off and avoid the explosions. He hurled straight towards Detona, Fire Storm equipped and released it right at his chest.

"!" Detona was directly hit by the fire blast, pushing him back. However, he just smirked and laughed.

Rokku landed on the railings, crouched down and balancing himself on the thin rail with just his two feet as well as his left hand gripping onto the bar.

"That's more like it!" Detona shouted.

With his tone of voice and his psychotic look, Rokku couldn't tell if he was angry or not. It didn't matter, for Rokku witnessed the guy hop in the air and slam his bomb on the ground as if he were a football player celebrating over a touchdown. Unlike the last time he did something like this, the Hyper Bomb exploded. Rokku had no time to react to what had just happened as when Detona made the bomb explode, he was hurled towards Rokku like a cannon ball, even holding himself in a ball formation and tackling Rokku back to the ground floor.

"You're gonna have to do better than that, dude!" Detona warned him with a twitchy left eye and psycho grin as he casually tossed another Hyper Bomb up and down on his hand.

Detona had his foot firmly on Rokku's chest after knocking him down. Rokku, thinking quickly, aimed his Buster at the bomb Detona was toying with and shot another Fire Storm directly at the bomb despite what Model M advised.

"HRGH!"

When Rokku used his Fire Storm, he not only releases a fire blast, but a fire shield briefly surrounds his body. This causes Detona to jump in the air from his foot suddenly getting superheated like that.

"YEOWCH!"

But the pain would not stop. Once Rokku's Fire Storm hit the bomb Detona was tossing, the bomb exploded, sending Detona flying and hitting a nearby metal support beam and causing a dent to be made. If he weren't a Mega Man, that'd cause a concussion or even death. Rokku wouldn't worry about that right now. Detona was already getting back up and he had to be prepared.

The explosion could've been a lot worse, and he certainly took some damage from the bomb he shot at due to the explosion being so close.

"Sorry, Model M." Rokku apologized. "I know you told me not to but-"

"-I understand." He intercepted. "If you had hit Detona instead, he would have dropped the bomb directly on you. Bomb Man was-IS a demolition's expert, so he can control when the bomb detonates and the power of said bomb. Detona, being Bomb Man's successor, would've definitely detonated the bomb when he dropped it."

Rokku gulped. His partner understood clearly. Still, the fight's not over yet.

"Are you finished yet?" Rokku asked his opponent.

"AS IF!" Detona shouted, his eyes getting even more psychotic. He started chucking a lot of Hyper Bombs.

The boy's eyes widened at the volume of bombs being sent his way. Left or right, up or down, he would not be able to escape the explosion. Taking a gamble, Rokku readied his feet before he took off in a dash and leapt. His jump allowed him to go right in the middle, evading contact from any of the Hyper Bombs, but the large explosion sent him flying directly towards Detona.

The bomber did not expect this outcome, but boy was he happy about it. Materializing another Hyper Bomb, he then gave an underhanded throw right when Rokku was in his face, forcing a bomb into his chest and sending him flying towards the ceiling.

"AAAGH!"

Mega Man or not, an explosion like that HURT. Rokku practically wanted to faint while he was falling back down to the ground. But he couldn't lose. He can't lose. Not again.

Just as Detona was prepared to chuck two bombs towards the falling Rokku, the boy equipped the Rolling Cutter for his two hands. When the bombs were chucked, Rokku had thrown two blades directly at them, cleaving the bombs in two each. The bombs did not detonate and just harmlessly fell to the ground with Rokku who hand landed on his hand and knee just as harmlessly.

"WHAT!? THAT'S NOT RIGHT! WHERE'S THE KABOOM!?" Detona cried.

"What!?" Model M shouted with Detona. He was shocked by what had just transpired. "You just cut the Hyper Bombs with your Rolling Cutter... And they didn't explode!"

"Lucky me...!" Rokku grinned and materialized two more Rolling Cutters before crossing his arms across his chest. "Game's over, Detona! I win!"

Detona's eye twitched again. His whole body jerked over that form of arrogance on display. "D-Don't get so cocky, kid! Like you said, you just got lucky! But I'm a gambler too! Wanna see if you can survive more of my bombs!?"

Detona proceeded to throw more Hyper Bombs at Rokku, but the boy used his two Rolling Cutters to cleave the bombs in half just like he did before. Once again, the bombs did not detonate, falling to the ground.

Rokku smirked at Detona who just got more enraged. He honestly looked like he was going to detonate like his Hyper Bombs... Although Rokku did not wanna cut him in half to see if he would be a dud like those Hyper Bombs he cleaved. The thought...grossed him out.

Detona suddenly burst out laughing again. "HAHAHA! You're a fun guy, Mega Man! But the party's not over yet, so don't run off! I got some big boom-booms ready! I'll show you!"

Extending his hands out, Detona materialized a single Hyper Bomb. But then he'd spread his hands out further and that one bomb would...grow...and grow...and grow...!... Until finally, the Hyper Bomb had grown to be the size of an 8-9 foot tall beach ball...!

"WHA-?!" Rokku's jaw practically dropped. Any confidence he had just vanished at the sight of this massive Hyper Bomb. Could he even cleave it with his Rolling Cutter? Should he? He knew that the explosion was going to be massive...! Maybe he could survive it, but the building?

He already regretted being cocky towards him. The only reason his Rolling Cutter idea worked was because he took a risk, wanting to make use of his newly acquired weapon with some of his other weapons getting low on Weapon Energy.

"Don't cry now!" Detona shouted before he chucked the bomb at Rokku.

However, just as he threw the massive Hyper Bomb, Rokku grits his teeth and takes yet another gamble. With the two Rolling Cutters he had in his hands, he threw them both at the Hyper Bomb. The two blades cleaved the big bomb in four, but unlike the past bombs, this one exploded.

The resulting explosion sent Detona and Rokku flying in opposite directions, but the explosion was closer to the latter. Detona bounced off the floor, groaning in pain before he firmly landed on his stomach, face on the ground. Rokku, on the other hand, was sent towards the wall by the decimated stairs caused by Detona earlier. Rokku groaned as well, being briefly stuck to the wall before he finally peeled off and fell to the ground.

After lying there for a bit, Rokku slowly raised his head with one eye barely opened. The explosion caused a small cave-in due to some destruction of the upper floor and its railings, blocking him from seeing Detona on the other side.

Rokku grimaced as he forced himself on his feet. Although he was blessed to not go through a total cave-in from this run-down steel mill, he was still worried about the bomber.

"D-Detona...!" Rokku shouted as he materialized his Super Arm weapon. "Detona, can you hear me!? Are you alright!?"

Rokku then reeled back his fist before he punched the debris that split the two apart, recreating the path to the opposing Chosen One. That mighty punch paved the way to him easily. He could see Detona struggling to pick himself up before he stumbled and fell on his rear end against the wall. He laughed to himself as his eyes were half open. His eyes were no longer yellow and glowing, but brown.

Rokku smiled weakly. Detona was liberated. Just like Alphonse, Keegan, Jack, Raiden, and Coupure. Model M's friends were going to be A-OK. Rokku may not know about Model M's buddies...let alone Model M himself, but he still felt accomplished.

"He looks to be okay..." Rokku cheered weakly. A green sphere of energy came from Detona's body and absorbed itself into Rokku. Just like with the other five Mega Men, Rokku had just absorbed the Special Weapon from Detona's Biometal, the Hyper Bomb. It was interesting that this energy sphere was green, not at all matching the color of Detona's armor which in itself was similar to Alphonse's armor with Model Gu...and even Raiden with Model El to an extent.

Just as Rokku was going to walk over to the liberated Chosen One, Rokku suddenly heard a roar akin to that of a bobcat's but...distorted. This sound made Rokku stand completely still, his blood frozen and his eyes widened. Detona also heard that, but unlike Rokku who looked horrified, he looked confused.

Rokku slowly turned around to see a familiar figure on the other side of the railing where Detona made his entrance. It was a feline like creature made of shadows... The shadow beast, Inverse.

"Reooowrrr..." The shadow beast snarled at Rokku before it sank into the ground, slithering along the floor before it met the walls, slithering along that until it got down to the ground level Rokku was on. After that, it rose from the ground, reforming its physical shape and roared at Rokku.

"You again...!" Rokku growled and turned around, Buster at the ready.

However, although Rokku's Buster was ready, he himself was not. Inverse was much quicker than Rokku anticipated, moving like a wild cat, and slashing at Rokku's left leg, forcing Rokku on his knee.

"AGH!"

Inverse then hissed as two tentacles rose from its back and ensnared themselves around Rokku's arms and waist. He struggled, but he couldn't fight back with him being weakened from fighting Coupure and especially Detona.

Inverse roared as it used its tentacles to slam Rokku around like a doll, slamming him into the wall, then floor, the floor again before throwing Rokku against the wall. He bounced off the wall with a grunt and fell to the ground.

Rokku struggled to get back up after that, his body wobbling and shaking violently. Above his head, a bright white light would cast over him and his entire body would levitate above the ground, forcing him to yelp from shock. He looked around, finding his arms bonded to his sides with the possibility of moving those arms being impossible despite there being nothing physically binding him. There were bright hoop-like energy beams emitting from a device hovering above him, likely being the cause of his capture.

"W-What the- W-W-What's going on!?" Rokku cried as he tried struggling, whimpering over the sudden entrapment. His breathing grew rapid, his struggle intensified, his desire to be free of this device's hold on his body was his top priority. Everything else was noise as his desire overlapped it all.

Nearly everything else, that is.

"You've fought so hard, Mr. Hero~ "

Rokku's eyes shot open as far as they could. His heavy breaths still present, his eyes darted behind him to where the voice originated from. He could not see her, but that voice was all too familiar.

"Or would you prefer... Rokku~?"

Rokku began struggling further which forced a giggle from the girl behind him.

"LET ME GO!"

"Do not struggle." She advised with a devious smile. "I had hoped to give you more time to rest before I resumed the show, but unfortunately, the timetable has moved up."

"Y-You...!"

"Rokku, I apologize, but I'm going to need to take you and your Biometal~" She said, tilting her head to the side.

When she tilted her head, she witnessed a warrior in red rushing in on the scene. She knew that warrior as well as Rokku knew her. The surprise was unexpected, but not unwelcomed.

"ROKKU!" Vaude shouted, rushing past Detona.

"You are too late, Proto Boy." The girl sneered. "Mega Man is mine~"

As if on cue, a pink-purple portal materialized beneath Rokku's feet. The device containing the blue boy quickly lowered with a snap of the girl's fingers. Rokku screamed as he fell in the portal, trying to outstretch his hand to grab something to prevent the fall. Unfortunately, his struggle proved fruitless, and he disappeared from Vaude's sight completely.

The portal closed instantly.

Vaude stopped and materialized his Proto-Buster, pointing the arm cannon at the girl. "WHERE DID YOU TAKE HIM!?"

"Believe me, you'll know~ "

Without so much as lifting a finger, another portal appeared beneath her own feet, and she instantly sank beneath it. Inverse melted to the floor and scurried after its master, following her to the portal.

Vaude released a Proto Strike, but the shot missed his mark as the two disappeared just as Rokku did.

"Dammit..." Vaude cursed. He stood there in silence, panting in frustration. "The kid should've told me from the get-go...!"

He then stood still, thinking about what could've been if Rokku told him about the Luna Town incident so that he could help. His frustration grew as he turned to Detona and angrily marched right over to him.

"Hey! Where did that garbage girl go!? What is she after!?" Vaude demanded. If not for Detona's condition, he'd just grab him by his armor's collar and pin him to the wall.

Detona just looked confused. "Hey man, how should I know...? I just got some sense knocked into me... Ughhhh..."

Vaude groaned.

"He must've been liberated like the rest." Model PM surmised. "That Biometal he's using is based on Bomb Man. Let's take him to the Guardians. Give Aimer the Biometal for the restoration process. Assess the situation-"

"-And get a game plan going, already ahead of you, Blues..." Vaude sighed. He then grabbed Detona's hand and forced him up.

"Hey, hey! Watch it!"

"Get up...!" Vaude spat. He wrapped his arm around his shoulder as much as he could. Detona was shorter than him. "Stay merged or whatever injuries you got is gonna worsen. I'm taking you in."

"I'm telling you, I don't know anything about that girl...!" Detona groaned. "...Well, except for one thing..."

Vaude looked at him as they walked out of Daedal Mill.

"What happened!? Detona's signal just dropped!"

Inside of a secluded and small dark room, there was a big, large man with a metal arm with subordinates at his beck and call. This man was Vulcan and he was with... Well, what agents of Graver he had left. With most of them incarcerated or out in the wild, he had to make do with what he had after that one Mega Man tore through his army, completely ruining his attack...

Oh, he wanted to get his hands around his neck as badly as he wanted to get that blue brat's neck, but fortunately for those two, there was someone else higher on his vengeance list.

One of the Gravers looked back at Detona and shrugged. "I think that blue Mega Man just took him out..."

"CRAP!" Vulcan slammed his fist on the chair he sat on. "First that idiot Coupure, and now Detona!? I worked way too hard on the mind control program on those Biometals just for them to lose it to that Mega Man runt!"

"What about Jess and Jam?" Vulcan asked. "I haven't heard from them since our last hideout got destroyed the other night...!"

"Still no word from them, sir." Another Graver replied.

"Dammiiiitt..." Vulcan grabbed his head. "...These Biometal using idiots are making us look like chumps... Just like that Vaude guy! We need an edge, fellas! I want to be done with them!"

"I bet you do~"

Vulcan suddenly shrieked in his chair as a feminine voice echoed throughout the room. He recognized that voice. He frantically looked around for the source, but he couldn't see her.

"AAA-"

He looked over in front of him to see one of his subordinates drop down to the ground... But she never came back up. Then another subordinate would drop. And then the next. And the next. And the next.

The only one in the room now as Vulcan, who got up from his chair, and whipped into his holster on his right to pull out a Shotgun looking Buster-firearm. "COME ON OUT! I AIN'T SCARED OF YOU!"

"I know you aren't." The voice continued. "But I would sit back down if I were you."

A portal appeared in the ceiling above and three individuals dropped down. A Sniper Joe, a Batton, and Mettaur.

"Room is secured, mistress." Sempronio voiced. "Target acquired."

"I know that, Sempronio. But thank you for the double confirmation. Inverse~?"

Beside Vulcan on the wall to his right, a pair of red glowing eyes opened. The puddle of shadows on that wall slithered to the ground and reformed to its physical form. It stared Vulcan down, making the big man's heart drop.

On Vulcan's left, a portal appeared, and the Jester Mega Man marched out, arms behind her back as she calmly stared him down.

"Hello there. I missed you at the incursion the other day~" Folly greeted.

"T-Tch..." Vulcan's trigger arm twitched. He wanted to shoot, but... He was outnumbered. One of them was a Mega Man and the other was... He had no idea WHAT Inverse was.

"I will admit, I somehow did not expect you and your minions to take refuge in the place you helped construct for me." Folly smirked, holding out her right hand to playfully, and mockingly, examine her fingers. "Genuinely, you have my praise for surprising me like that."

"...You snatched my crew up like some horror movie monster, but you kept me around... Why? Dramatic effect?" Vulcan shouted.

"You're the leader. Duh-doy~" Folly teased. "You made the mistake of going up against me at this stage of the show... You told me about Model Gu, and yet you refrained from telling me about Model Cu and Model Bb. That's not good business etiquette, you know."

She materialized a pinkish plate-like platform for her to sit on, crossing her leg on top of the other.

"Merrie Jane has played her role beautifully. And yet you could not." Folly smirked. "You've also been a constant pain to be around... It's bad enough that I found out you hid Biometals behind my back, but then you sent one of your Mega Men after Mr. Hero's allies in the most pathetic manner possible and THEN you sent your other Mega Man after Merrie Jane... Also in a pathetic manner, might I add. I only rank the former attack as most pathetic due to how formidable the latter was, for the record."

"You're gonna kill me, right?" Vulcan growled. "Then shut up and get it over with!"

"Really?" Folly frowned, staring at him in annoyance. "You're wishing for death? ...Admittedly, I'm not too fond of that. But as much as I hate you, killing you would be a waste and go against my master's new plan... However..."

Before Folly could finish, Vulcan suddenly whips out his shotgun and is about to aim it at Folly, but she snaps her fingers the moment his arm moved. Suddenly, three tentacles from Inverse's back appears, sharpens, and stabs Vulcan's two hands and Vulcan's left leg.

"AAAAAAAGHHHHH!"

Vulcan was forced back to on the chair, Inverse's tentacles keeping him down.

"That wasn't very smart, now was it?" Folly told him, having an uncaring look on her face. "I also didn't finish."

She got up off her platform which vanished instantly. She then slammed her foot down on the chair, right between his legs. A big toothy grin flashed on her face.

"Look at you, Vulcan." She began. "You were a pathetic man before you met my master. You were pathetic before you met me. You were pathetic back in the Empire City. And here you are, still pathetic. Nothing has changed with you. Listen closely. I want this in your tiny brain. You were but cannon fodder. Whatever plans you had for that jolly old mayor meant very little to me."

Vulcan breathed through his teeth, grunting and squirming from the constant pain Inverse delivered onto him.

"My plans were very simple; Survey and collect. You were to simply be good muscle and keep any would be intruders off our backs. In return, we would help you with your stupid little vendetta. But the existence of the Blue Bomber changed things... And your own actions against me only made things worse. That is simply unacceptable."

She leaned back, her smile disappearing as she looked disgusted with him next. "Finding you was too easy. I may have praised you for hiding in plain sight like this, but knowing how I found you... Well, I already said you were a pathetic man, yes? It's almost as if you WANTED to be found."

Her smile returned as a portal materialized right beneath Vulcan and yet he did not sink immediately. No, the portal was slowly rising from bottom to top. The big man could feel himself entering through as he breathed heavily and rapidly from the pain and terror of the new locale he was being forced into.

"But rejoice." Folly clasped her hands together, stepping back. "You'll be spared from my wrath. After all, you did help my master so long ago. A life for a life, as you know. Besides, like I said..."

She sneered once again. "Killing you would go against my master's new plan... And he most certainly has plans for you and your crew. All of Graver will exist to give my master strength. You should be fortunate to serve such a lovely purpose~"

And with that, Vulcan was swallowed entirely by Folly's portal with Inverse retracting his tentacles as the portal elevated.

The room was silent before Folly turned to face the Trouble Trio.

"Well, Sempronio? Are you at ease now?" Folly teased. "That idiot bruiser is written out of the script for the time being~"

"...I am. Thank you." Sempronio answered, lowering his Buster.

"So, what now~?" Caio asked eagerly. "What now, boss lady~?"

"What now?" Folly parroted. "Now, we start the festivities. We'll start the party... A party where all are welcomed to join~"

Folly stood in front of the Trouble Trio, intertwining her fingers together.

"We have some playtime to spare~ So let's play~"