Note: Want to get the Mega Man-themed stuff updated first before anything else as those are my main works, so here's another before I'm onto other projects!
Discovery
"You know," the blue android wheezed, dodging yet another blow sent in his direction by his opponent. "For a guy made out of bones, you're holding up rather well!" Despite his lack of lungs, he was beginning to feel a little heated and winded, the Robot Master before him still continuing to give him trouble.
Aside from his Skull Barrier, there wasn't too much Mega Man himself would consider special about Dr. Cossack's supposed newest creation, yet apparently, the Russian scientist had decided to go bare bones in apparel in order to implement endurance and a rather sharp sense of precision.
Indeed, there was no way this guy was programmed by Wily, something that gave the Blue Bomber pause. Yet, still, even if this particular robot was of Dr. Cossack, something about all of this just still didn't feel entirely right.
WHACK!
Just when he believed the other to be drawing out his own buster, Mega Man drew out his own weapon, yet found himself overwhelmed with a flurry of screaming skulls dosed in flames flying right for him, their intense vapor and smoke allowing his adversary to come in with a right-wing hook, sending the Blue Bomber off his feet and flying to the side, bouncing off the floor for a brief few moments until he came to a stop. He began to try and rise, yet a boot placed on his chest prevented him from rising.
"And you would hold up better if you kept that tongue of yours from going wild," Skull Man mentioned, glancing down at Mega Man with piercing red optics. "But I suppose quips are a natural part of your programming to fit the hero motif?"
"I actually happen to like them, thank you very much," the Blue Bomber retorted. "But I acknowledge not everyone is a fan."
Skull Man narrowed his eyes. "You know," he began. "I thought you the more disciplined of the two," he said. "Yet you're just as foolhardy and reckless as your elder sibling."
Mega Man, despite the pressure being applied to his chest, glanced up at his aggressor. "Y-You know Proto Man?"
Skull Man huffed. "Only in passing," he answered. "And I speak of him because I wish to," he clarified. "Despite your opposing views and sides, you two could serve was rather stark reflections of each other."
The azure android appeared to wrinkle his nose upon hearing this. "Yeah, even if there are some physical likenesses, I prefer to not emulate him, thanks."
"You don't think highly of him then?" the Robot Master questioned.
"That's putting it mildly," Mega Man answered. "It's like I said in one of our more recent bouts," he then paused. "He's bad to the bone."
Regardless of how the phrase itself perhaps applied to himself, Skull Man paid it no mind, continuing with his inquiry. "And yet, he's your brother, yes?" he asked.
Mega Man didn't respond this time.
"Hm. Well, regardless," Skull Man continued, his opponent wincing in pain as he continued to apply greater force to the Blue Bomber's chest plates. "Unfortunately, for you, he has no part in any of this."
"...not initially."
Wait, that voice…it couldn't be…?!
Turning his head along with Skull Man, Mega, and the skeletal-based fighting machine witnessed a familiar figure dressed in red, gray, and yellow via his signature scarf standing a short distance away, that tell-tale grin the only feature discernible on his mostly concealed face.
"Proto Man?!" Mega Man called out, Skull Man pressing his boot back down when the blue robot attempted to rise.
"Nice to see you too, bro," the red Robot Master greeted. "Work up a bit of a sweat on the previous guys to work up for me?"
"You idiot!" Skull Man suddenly roared in fury, ruby optics seemingly blazing with raging fire. "You can't be here! Your presence will ruin everything!"
"Wait a minute," Mega Man said to himself, still on the ground, yet thankfully not as subdued due to his aggressor's distraction. "If you're here, then that settles it! Wily's GOT to be involved somehow!"
The Cossack bot clenched his fists, optics practically burning with abject anger. "You moron!" he bellowed, thrusting an accusatory finger in Proto Man's direction. "Don't you have any concern for how this will affect the plan?! How it may affect Dr. Cossack or The Child?!"
"The Child?" Mega Man asked, Skull Man realizing, to his horror, that his grilling of the Blue Bomber's brother led to some secrets being revealed. "So, there IS someone else involved," the azure defender pondered aloud. "And this whole thing is also linked to a hostage situation Wily's also got going on, isn't it?"
Skull Man didn't answer, yet he sent a look Mega's way that indicated he wanted the other to shut their trap for a moment or two, lest he direct his near-exploding anger in the wrong direction. Swiftly abandoning his focus on Mega Man, the recently-built DCN glowered in Proto Man's direction, the red jerk appearing rather pleased with himself.
"Get out!" he shouted. "There's nothing here for you!"
"Wrong, bone-head," Proto remarked, gesturing to the blue robot held on the ground via Skull Man's boot. "He's here, and I want a fight."
"Proto Man…" Mega Man groaned, still trying to get out from underneath Skull Man's force. While it was rather validating to know that, indeed, Wily WAS involved in all of this, the fact remained that, now, he also knew that there was someone most likely in danger.
"Out of the question!" Skull Man bellowed back, indignant that his battle had been so rudely interrupted. "Leave! Go back to your post before your absence is noticed!" he ordered. "Mega Man is scheduled to duel me, and he shall duel me, and ME alone! You are not a part of this!"
The scarf-wearing robot smirked. "You're new, so maybe you don't know this," he said, taking a few steps forward. "It's the same I told the Doc. I'll do what you say," he then drew out his buster, energy already beginning to fester and develop from within. "When I want to."
Observation Deck
Skull Man received a blast right to the chest, the red gem in the center of his external ribcage shocked with a fresh amount of plasma energy and other electrons, sending him back and off from Mega Man, the fighting machine taken off guard by both Proto Man's maneuver and sudden appearance.
"Roll" brought her hand to her mouth, gasping in shock at the display of cruelty. Yet her disbelief had quickly given way to anger. And, even more, determination. Her "blue" eyes scanned the control panel before her, eyeing several buttons and modules that she frankly had no idea how to operate. Yet, ultimately, she set out to discover how. If that balding old coot could work this thing, then so could she!
"Then…" she muttered to herself. "Then I get to see Papa again."
Skull Man's Chamber
"Skull Man!" Mega Man called out, rising to his feet and going over to the slightly injured Robot Master.
"I'll take my thank you now, if you don't mind."
The Blue Bomber turned to see a nonchalant Proto Man approaching, a confident grin plastered on his features. Mega Man instantly returned the look with a livid scowl. "You had no reason to do that!" He shouted. "If you want me, then leave him out of it!"
"Oh, relax, that was nothing," the Red Bomber in turn scoffed. So self-righteous, he thought. "He was built to withstand way more than a little knock to the chest."
Skull Man rose to a sitting position, his rib cage still somewhat feeling the effects of the direct shot, but, otherwise, he found that the damage was minimal at best. Still, what he lacked in external harm, he made up for in now boiling rage.
"You underhanded, backstabbing cheat-Gah!" The Robot Master hissed, yet when he tried to get to a standing position, he found himself forced to the ground yet again, feeling as if his joints were locked up, rendering him unable to move without an electric sensation running through his entire body.
Wait, electric…
"Like Elec Man's newest little feature?" Proto Man coyly questioned. "It's new and still has unpredictable results, but so far, I'd say it's doing well."
"I brought her to you so she would be safe! Not so that you could interfere with what has been planned!" Skull Man snarled, wanting nothing more than to lunge forward and choke the other robot until his neck was little more than a crushed tin can.
"And she is!" Proto Man answered, then he turned to Mega Man. "I took the liberty of having our sis give this here a few finishing touches," he said, giving his scarf a small flip with his hand. "Darned brat tore it in half, so consider the fact she's not out in the snow somewhere my act of mercy." He added, centering his concealed eyes on the downed Skull Man.
"Wait, Roll's here too?!" Mega inquired aloud. "Where is she?! What did you do to her?!"
"Oh, she's fine!" Proto assured his younger sibling. "She's just being kept higher up than the brat," he answered. "Although her red-haired friend is still sneaking around somewhere down there…" he then redirected the subject. "But none of that's your concern right now, little brother," he said. "At the moment, your battle is with me."
Mega Man narrowed his brows, glancing at the still semi-paralyzed Skull Man on the floor, then to the ground itself, finding that, to his dismay, he had been put into a corner. "…it seems I have no choice." He ultimately sighed, drawing out his buster once again.
Proto smirked. "Did we ever?"
Silence fell in between the two of them, the other waiting to see if his brother would make the first move. Mega's features awash with frustration while Proto's displayed utmost contentment, as if this very scene was what everything was supposed to be. Where they truly belonged.
Where he truly belonged.
Fighting with his brother.
Although, there was still the offer he had yet to give his younger sibling, something he always did before one of their skirmishes. Yet, just as his lips parted to deliver the prepared speech of how things would be better if Mega just saw reason and came over to his side,
"Pzzzt! H-Hel…o?"
The intercom activated, a voice echoing throughout the entire room. Although, unlike before, it was not Cossack's. Nor was it Wily's.
"Hey! Pzzt! Can any-ne hear me?!"
And it definitely wasn't Roll's.
Mines
"Why then?" Beat questioned. "Why can't you go and maybe get Roll out of this jam too?"
"Because she is ultimately not part of the objective," Natsenka replied, frustrated at the bird's consistent prying. "It's unfortunate, but my orders are to acquire Kalinka Cossack, and then leave. Roll has no place in the programmed agenda."
"But Lady can't leave Roll behind!" Eddie argued, walking alongside the tan-skinned, red-haired agent. "Eddie thought Lady was Roll's friend!"
Rush was about to add to his fellow robot's statement, yet paused upon hearing the faint sound of what appeared to be two voices conversing with each other. True, it was somewhat muffled due to the mine's walls, yet there was no mistaking that one of the voices was surely female.
It wasn't long after this discovery that Rush also then discovered a small hole in the wall that allowed visual access to the tunnel next to them.
"Whatever she is or isn't to me is irrelevant," Natsenka responded to Eddie, folding her arms. "My superior's orders are clear and concise: the mission must be completed, and the subject of interest must be delivered to protective forces once acquired," she then paused, biting her lip. "Neither Roll, nor either of you were meant to ever come here."
"But…but Roll saved Lady's life," Eddie weakly protested, looking down at the ground. "And…and Roll likes Lady."
Natsenka glanced down, uncertain of how to respond.
"Don't bother, Eddie," Beat inserted himself in the conversation. "She's with our dear government," he said, landing atop of the energy dispenser's dome. "Anything outside of what they tell her to do is out of the question," he continued. "She can't do anything that actually requires higher-level programming."
The agent found a lump in her throat metaphorically developing upon hearing that, yet she herself wasn't entirely sure why. Nonetheless, after a few moments, she scoffed.
"Go look for her if you wish, I'm certainly not going to stop you," Natsenka told the bird. "But my mission must be completed to the letter, whether you like it or not."
She turned to leave, a heartbroken Eddie and indignant Beat looking on, yet the sound of approaching footsteps drew all their attention. Drawing her pistol out, Natsenka and the others found none other than a red robotic canine prancing toward them, seemingly pleased with himself.
"Round rer!" Rush cried out with an excited yip. "Round rer!"
Beat was puzzled, Eddie too not entirely understanding. "Mind running that by me again, boy?" He asked the dog, who nodded in response.
"Rai round rer!" Rush repeated. "Round Rarinka!"
"Rarinka?" Beat repeated, uncertain as to what exactly the dog was trying to say. Then, after a short few moments, he was able to put the pieces together. "Oh! You mean…?!"
It now too dawned on Nastenka as to what the dog meant to convey. "You saw Kalinka Cossack?" She asked, the dog once again nodding in response. "Where?"
"Where? Where?! Ha ha!"
A cackling squawk drew everyone to turn their heads, optics focused on the black bird with a sizable fan-tail that seemed to take amusement in the sudden burst of hope they had come across.
"Where where is," Reggae declared. "Is NOWHERE for you!"
Skull Man's Chamber
"Ah, finally! It's working!" The voice on the intercom cheered, pleased they had succeeded in maintaining control over the system. "Hey, you!" They then shouted, all three robots hearing them, yet their words were directed toward another. "How dare you fire at Skull Man!"
Proto Man stammered, completely taken aback by what, no, who he was hearing. "N-No way…"
Mega, on the other hand, began to wonder. "Excuse me," he began. "Would the name Dr. Cossack mean anything to you?"
"Yes, he's my Papa!" the voice answered.
Papa? Little girl…now it all made sense. "You must be Kalinka then!" the Blue Bomber exclaimed.
"But…but how did…" Proto continued to stammer, clearly baffled. "How did you…?"
"What's wrong, Proto Man?" Skull Man questioned, still on the ground, yet his vocal components were still functioning just fine. "I thought you said that it was your sister that had repaired your scarf."
If it wasn't for the lack of movement, let alone the lack of a present "mouth" in a sense for the skeleton-based Robot Master, the red and gray machine swore that the other android would've been smiling at him.
Still, that left him with one question. "But wait, if you're here," he said. "Then that means the you down there is actually…!"
Mine
Swooping down, Reggae greeted the group with an open beak shooting down small but compact pellets of plasma from his throat, forcing everyone to scatter away from their current position to avoid the shots. Flying overhead, the bird gave everyone a momentary reprieve, albeit forcibly, as he wasn't about to waste his ammo. Still, upon seizing this chance, Natsenka quickly got into position and fired her pistol, aiming for the black bird's wings in an attempt to ground him. Unfortunately, the blasted squawker seemed to sense this was her tactic and kept maneuvering back and forth, out of the way of her line of fire and creating a series of random patterns.
Cursing internally, Natsenka saw that Reggae was about to come down once again, yet just as he opened his beak, a blue blur shot up from below, slamming into the black robotic bird's stomach, sending him flying into the ceiling and choking on the pellets gathering in his elongated throat.
"Take Eddie and go!" Beat told Natsenka as he and Rush got side by side as Reggae was beginning to recover. "We'll take care of the Dodo here!"
Eddie began to shake his head. "No! Eddie no wanna leave!" He protested, yet he was swiftly scooped up in Natsenka's arms, the red-haired agent glancing at the blue avian unit and red canine.
Beat looked back. "You've got a mission, don't you?" He asked.
Natsenka said nothing and, after a few more moments of silence, she left with Eddie, leaving Beat and Rush to now face a recovering Reggae.
Skull Man's Chamber
It was then that he noticed a detail missed in the rush to get to his brother, Proto Man taking the end of his yellow scarf and spotting an oddity among the aged fabric fibers: a small drop of red that had begun to turn a dull brown, the size a perfect fit for a small droplet to come out of a fingertip. And, now that he thought about it, "Roll" seemed a little less coordinated with that needle and thread.
Mega Man continued to watch on, the speaker then directing her attention to him. "So, in a sense, we finally meet, Mega Man," she greeted. "From what I've heard, it seems you've also heard of me."
The Blue Bomber nodded. "Guess I wasn't supposed to, but it looks like Wily hasn't improved at managing to keep secrets after all this time," he said. "I take you're Kalinka Cossack?"
"The one and only!" She responded with a considerable amount of pride. "And I should expect that you would see through this ruse! My Papa is nothing like what your country or Dr. Light thinks he is!"
The azure android bit his lip, and recent memories of his battle with Ring Man came back to him. As well as the others. "Then you were the one that they all…" he never experienced such before, yet he found a strange sense of guilt sweeping over him the longer he heard the human's voice.
"Mega Man," Kalinka began. "I know the conditions my father has placed before you, but I ask that you please not harm Skull Man any further," she implored. "I may not know him well, let alone for long, but I wouldn't have gotten this far if not for him. So, please," the blonde begged. "Don't hurt him anymore."
The Blue Bomber glanced at the downed Skull Man, who, in turn, appeared completely baffled by the young woman's request to his opponent. "C-Child…" he stammered. "But…but…"
"Relax, I don't plan on hurting him anytime soon," Mega Man assured Kalinka, then giving a look over toward Proto Man. "And I'll make sure he won't be giving Skully a hard time either."
"...don't call me that." Skull Man muttered.
"Better yet," Mega Man thought. "Maybe YOU could tell us where Dr. Cossack is currently being kept!" he questioned accusingly, thrusting a pointed finger in Proto Man's direction.
Realizing that he was still stuck in a shocked stupor, the red and grey machine quickly collected himself and dropped the dumbfounded state he was formerly caught in. "The joke's on you, little bro, I've got no idea where Wily's sent that guy."
"You lie!" Kalinka shouted over the intercom. "You know where he is! Or, at least you know someone who does!" she declared. "So, as you Americans say, spill the beans now, or get someone who knows the beans to spill them for you! Where is my Papa?!"
She was about to continue when she then felt a hand on her shoulder, twisting her body around to where she nearly lost her balance due to the heaviness of the metal boots she wore. "Roll" found herself face to face with a balding elderly man dressed in a lab coat and pink shirt with a distinctive red tie and a considerable amount of body spray to mask the fact that he probably hadn't showered in some time.
Note: Alert me of any errors I may have missed! Thank you!