Mega Man had been stumbling alone in the yarn maze for some time (quite without progress, though at least the feeling of evil energy stirring in his power core had faded to a background murmur) when suddenly he heard voices. He crept cautiously down a yarn tunnel toward them—then almost collided with Jewel Man and Proto Man at an expansive intersection.
Jewel Man caught sight of Mega Man, skidded to a halt, then promptly hid behind a giant twist of puce and mint green yarn (but not before Mega Man got a swift glimpse of the Citadel-branded quintessence case Jewel Man was carrying).
Proto Man had not been so quick. "Uh…wrong turn," he said stupidly, backing away from Mega Man.
"You're okay!" Mega Man couldn't help but shout joyfully.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"…You looked…"
"Like I said—never better."
Proto Man's head swiveled from side to side. Mega Man could tell Proto Man was searching for a quick escape from this conversation, and added hastily, "Proto, please, can we talk? Or fight? Preferably the former?"
"Uh…"
"Proto, don't go, I know you've been avoiding us—you won't even fight Roll and I anymore! I know you're probably busy doing whatever it is you like to do when you're not helping Wily with a weird scheme, but, every once in a while I would like to hang out. I—I just want to spend time with you, as brothers," Mega Man blurted out.
"S-stop…"
But Mega Man continued mercilessly. "You know…to just do normal family stuff, like go to a movie, hang out at the mall, play video games, and…and…why is he here?" he asked irritably, giving Elec Man (who had appeared in the shadows behind Proto Man) a cold look.
For a fraction of a second (though Mega Man was sure it must have been his imagination) Elec Man looked hurt, and more than a bit flustered for intruding on an emotionally charged moment between Mega Man and Proto Man—but the next instant his face was a blank slate. Mega Man had fought against Elec Man many times, but never really spoken to him (nor did he like him very much)—yet he sensed a closeness between Elec Man and Proto Man, one he had first noticed at Skull Fortress while disguised as Brain Bot—thick as thieves, he supposed. A cold stab of jealousy momentarily pierced him—
"Aha! There you are!" boomed Knitter's voice behind them.
Mega Man and Proto Man jumped. Proto Man looked uncomfortably at Mega Man for a second longer before darting down a leftward tunnel after Elec Man, choosing the easy excuse to avoid Mega Man once again. Mega Man took one of the nearer tunnels to the right—but heard heavy scuffling on the yarn floor closely behind him. Worse yet, Mega Man shortly found himself at a dead-end, the multicolor walls of which were too dense to even attempt squeezing through. Cornered, Mega Man slowly turned around.
Knitter's strange new look was certainly disconcerting. He was several feet taller—Mega Man's eyes flickered nervously from his needle arms to his glowing button eyes to his knitted armor.
"So, the great Mega Man, Dr. Wily's biggest nemesis! Ha, you don't look so intimidating now!" chortled the Knitter as he advanced on Mega Man.
Not knowing what else to do, Mega Man fired desperately at Knitter, but as he predicted, the golden plasma bolts didn't even so much as singe the garter knit stitching that now comprised Knitter's body.
"Doesn't even hurt! My turn!"
The Knitter pounced. Throwing his arms over his head for protection, Mega Man closed his eyes tight, braced to get stabbed over and over again. But there was no pain. Quite the opposite. For a moment, he heard the rapid clicking of needles as an odd tickling sensation overtook his blaster arm followed by a fuzzy lightness. Unnerved, Mega Man risked opening one eye, then let out a horrified shout.
From the elbow down, his blaster arm had become an oversized woolen mitten.
Knitter loomed over Mega Man, his glowing button eyes like happy crescents, and let out a squeaky cackle. "I think it's much improved! Try stealing our powers now!"
Shit, I won't be much help with this! Mega Man thought as he weakly flexed his mitten hand. He couldn't copy weapons, form a blaster, nor punch effectively—the new arm didn't even have bones.
"Don't worry, Mega! I won't hurt you—" said Knitter brightly, as though reading his thoughts. "I think my new boss wants you to become more like me!"
"Wh-what?" stammered Mega Man, startled. "Your boss? You mean Lotos?"
"Um, not sure what his name is, now hold still"
Mega Man winced again, the loud clicking of needles ringing in his ears—and a second later his other gauntlet had become a matching knitted mitten. "S-stop!"
Knitter giggled, then paused, scratching the back of his head with a needle. His button eyes looked doubtfully upon Mega Man's arms. "Duh…though on second thought, maybe this isn't what he meant…"
A sudden rage overtook Mega Man. How dare a pathetic weakling like Knitter make a mockery of him? He'd show him, somehow—
Mega Man blinked, the rage vanishing. What had gotten into him?
Knitter was no longer paying attention to Mega Man, his gaze turned back down the tunnel. "Anyway, that takes care of you! Now for the rest of them…"
"Wait, don't!" Mega Man called uselessly—but Knitter had already backed out of the dead end, turned down another tunnel, and was gone. Mega Man balled his woolen mitts into woolen fists. "Damn!"
When Proto Man had followed Elec Man, he had thought perhaps Knitter would give chase, but after running for several moments the yarn maze became still. He slowed to a halt and gazed backward.
"Chh, Mega will be alright, right?" he asked Elec Man, trying to sound offhand. "It's just Needle Man, after all..."
Elec Man said nothing, and there was an awkward silence, neither of them really wanting to talk about what had just happened, especially not the conversation with Mega Man...
"Alright, where'd the rest of those bots go?" Proto Man said crossly. "They didn't get lost again already, did they?"
"Who cares," said Elec Man. "I told them to stick with us, it was for their own good."
"I'm still here," said Jewel Man, appearing dutifully with the quintessence case in hand.
"You could get lost," said Proto Man.
"Ha. Right you are. Um. Not to harp on this, but perhaps Mega Girl—"
"I thought I told you to zip it about Mega Girl," interrupted Proto Man, glad for a target to be frustrated at as he rounded on Jewel Man.
Again, Proto Man had never heard of a 'Mega Girl' before, but he could only assume Jewel Man meant Roll (perhaps there was a misconception out there that Roll was called 'Mega Girl,' after 'Mega Man'). Primal rage bubbled within him anytime he thought of a Robot Master mingling in any way with his little sister, and he scowled dangerously at Jewel Man.
"Uh, okay!" Jewel Man agreed helplessly. "I just thought she could h-help against Knitter—but whatever you think is best!"
"Good," said Proto Man, though he didn't think it was good. He wanted to beat someone up, his hands clenched into fists.
"Proto Man, stop terrorizing my personal assistant. Jewel Man, stop cowering," broke in Elec Man impatiently. "Let's keep moving. There's got to be a way out somewhere…"
After parting with Punk, Roll had continued searching desperately for Mega Man and Mega Girl (though careful to keep her voice down as to not attract the Knitter again) She had just paused at an expansive intersection with numerous branches, wondering which way she hadn't tried yet, when she felt something soft and wooly rest on her shoulder.
"Ack! Oh Mega, it's just you! You're okay! I—yikes."
"Don't ask," Mega Man said with a heavy sigh, dropping his woolen mitts to his side.
"Knitter did that to ya, huh? Hey, it'll be alright—you've been through worse, right?" said Roll bracingly.
Mega Man wasn't sure how he'd rank this in his misadventures. He supposed it was better than being trapped in Snake Man's body and being taken for a criminal, but only just…
"Like, this place is a major workout," puffed a voice nearby. "I can totally skip rock climbing and step aerobics for the rest of this month."
Mega Man and Roll whirled. "Mega Girl!"
"Oh hi!"
Mega Girl was pushing her way through a curtain of teal and pebble gray yarn.
Mega Man had no clue what Mega Girl had been talking to herself about, but nevertheless was relieved to find her as he and Roll ran up to her.
"There you are," said Roll, "We've been looking all over for ya!"
"Needle Man's infected, and there's been another alien energy outbreak," chimed in Mega Man.
'Yeah, weird," said Mega Girl simply, glancing around.
Mega Man gave Mega Girl a long look. Maybe it was just a west coast thing, but her attitude seemed unnecessarily flippant again…
Mega Girl looked down at Mega Man's woolen mitts. "Ew, creepy!" she remarked, wrinkling her nose and sticking out her tongue. Then she quickly checked herself. "Uh, don't worry! It'll go back to normal once I use the Sun Crystal on that Pin Man guy," she added, hastily patting Mega Man awkwardly on the shoulder.
"…Needle Man."
"Whatever. They look cozy at least?"
Again, Mega Man stared at Mega Girl, lost for words. He half wanted to retort (easy for her to say, Knitter hadn't given her a pair of mittens!), but then caught himself. Mega Girl was talking to him like—well, an older sister—even though she couldn't be much older than a few months (the first time they had seen her was during Hellrazor's attack on Los Angeles).
Roll had turned her back on them in the pretense of looking down the other tunnels, though Mega Man could tell she was again shaking with silent laughter.
"Never mind that now, we're glad you're here," he said gruffly, self-consciously hiding his mitts behind his back. "You think your Sun Crystal's justice energy is enough to stop all this evil energy madness, right?"
"Yeah, for sure, just like with Punk and Jewel Man."
"…Right," said Mega Man, again thinking her tone lacked the proper concern for the dire situation they were in, but deciding to let it go. He joined Roll, who was peering down the various yarn tunnels, which yawned around them in many directions. "Now, if we can just find Knitter, then you can do your thing—"
Mega Man glanced back at Mega Girl, then started—Mega Girl was gone; behind them was a solid wall of yarn that had most certainly not been there a second earlier.
"…What just happened?!"
"I dunno, it's not a normal maze! Damn it, I've been looking for her for over an hour," muttered Roll, kicking the wall. "The only good news is I don't think Knitter knows his way around his own maze either!"
This posed a very serious problem. "But…if we keep losing Mega Girl, how are we going to stop Knitter and get out?" asked Mega Man bleakly.
Footsteps were approaching down one of the tunnels. They turned hopefully, but it wasn't Mega Girl, but Cut Man and Guts Man who came trudging out.
"Look! There's less of them now!" shouted Guts Man. "Let's gang up on them before they gang up on us!"
"Yeah, and looks like Knitter's already given Mega Man some stitches, eh-heh eh-heh!" jeered Cut Man.
"What happened to your hands, Mega Man? You look like you're baking a cake, ha!"
"Oh no! I think I see a loose thread—here, catch!"
Mega Man hastily dropped flat as a Rolling Cutter sliced over his head.
"That's low! Take this!" snarled Roll, firing back with a circular saw. "…Better watch out for Rolling Cutters if you want to keep your mittens, I'll handle these bots," she advised Mega Man over her shoulder.
So began a two-on-one fight, which soon became a four-on-one fight when Magnet Man and Ring Man joined (though they mostly watched), while Mega Man reluctantly lingered off to the side.
But Mega Man was beginning to have his own problems. Due to the surrounding chaos, he hadn't noticed the fuzzy, tickling sensation climbing up his arms at first, but when he finally looked down at them, he was confronted by a startling image. The light blue titanium skin was changing into wooly yarn and knitting itself into a simple stocking stitch, the pattern already an inch past where his elbows used to be. His arms were becoming cylindrical and floppy, the inner wiring and circuitry fluffing up into cottony stuffing—a most peculiar feeling indeed.
A chill ran down Mega Man's neck. "Sh-shit," he muttered. He was becoming a live knit doll like Knitter. In fact, he could already feel the tickling sensation starting up in his toes…
Mega Man glanced back over at Roll, who was doing well, but unfairly outnumbered. Then he saw something that would make this situation even worse. The glowing button eyes of Knitter had appeared at the dark end of one of the nearby tunnels. He must have heard the sounds of fighting and come running, and if Knitter reached the intersection, he'd find them and go after Roll…Mega Man would have to act fast if he wanted to help her, but how without even a blaster to fight?
He grabbed a loose end of yarn from the floor. Yes, he could use this as a trip wire. He dragged it over to the tunnel opening. It was difficult, the yarn rope feeling surprisingly heavier than it ought to have, but he just managed. Mega Man hid, waiting until he heard the heavy scuffling of Knitter, then at the right second, pulled the yarn taught.
The trip wire worked. Knitter went flying past the intersection and landed head-first into the opposite yarn wall where he quickly became tangled up.
"Hey, who put that yarn there?" came his muffled voice as he thrashed around. Mega Man stayed very still, hidden behind a clump of yarn. "Oh, maybe I did, ha! Now where is everyone?"
It sounded as though Knitter was pushing himself forward through the yarn wall into a different area. Mega Man waited until he heard Knitter run off in completely the wrong direction, then let out a sigh of relief and stepped back out into the open.
"Ha, gotcha, you big stupid—w-whoa!"
Mega Man teetered on the spot, then fell backward with a soft flop, his legs becoming wobbly knit doll legs. He struggled for a moment to get up, but the half of his body that was still titanium now felt impossibly heavy, and he was unable to budge any more than a turtle on its back.
"…Uh, Roll? …Help!"
"Whoa!" exclaimed Roll, hurrying over to him after blasting Cut Man and Guts Man back with her toaster cannon. She grabbed Mega Man by the shoulders and dragged him away from the battle and into a shallow recess in a nearby yarn tunnel, out of the way of being trodden on.
"There, uh, don't worry, this is only temporary—just like 'Curator' and the jewelry stuff, right? —And I'll be back soon!" she promised him before running back into the fray.
Sighing, Mega Man lay helplessly on his back, staring up at the colorful yarn canopy above, the fluffing, ticking sensation still spreading up his body at an alarming rate.
While searching for Mega Girl, Punk had been covering as many yarn tunnels as possible when he thought he heard the distant sounds of a battle. He sped toward the noise, then almost rolled straight into Knitter, the surprise of which startled him into unfolding from his spiked ball form.
"Wait! Don't go! I don't want to hurt you!" Knitter called, reaching out as Punk turned to run.
Against his better judgment, Punk hesitated. "…You don't?"
"No! You see, it was your creator, Dr. Rose, who taught me to knit!"
"…Really?"
"Yeah! She did an emergency repair job for me once while I was rogue! She was a great lady. Promised not to tell the police or nobody about me!"
"Yeah, she was cool like that…" Punk trailed off, starting to feel guilty. He had never liked Needle Man very much, but knew Dr. Rose wouldn't have wanted Punk to treat Needle Man badly just because he was annoying. Perhaps he should suck up his aversion of Needle Man and try to reach out…
Knitter had other plans. "…However! I can't let you roll around helping anyone neither. Sorry!"
With a wave of Knitter's needle arms, Punk found himself sinking into the yarn floor like quicksand.
"Wait, uh, buddy—let's talk some more—" said Punk, trying a last-ditch effort to stall, ropes of yarn snagging fast to the spikes of his armor.
"Don't worry, I'll come back for ya later, Hellrazor—you like to be called Hellrazor, right?—then we can talk and talk and talk and talk! I'm so glad we're buddies now—We'll have so much fun together!"
"No—!"
But soon Punk was buried six feet under in yarn, and his muffled screams could barely be heard by anyone.
"Hmmmm. Hope I don't forget where this place is…" Knitter muttered to himself. He knitted an afghan over the spot to mark it. "There! Now…gotta go!"
Proto Man, Elec Man, and Jewel Man had just exited a yarn tunnel into a larger, hollowed-out area of the maze when they stumbled upon Cut Man, Guts Man, Magnet Man, and Ring Man fighting Roll in an expansive intersection—the same intersection they had ran into Mega Man earlier.
Amidst the battle, Roll glared over at Proto Man. He felt just as unhappy to see her (suspecting Mega Man and another lecture would be close by) and even unhappier to see Knitter rush suddenly out of another yarn tunnel as they all happened to converge in the same room. Everyone froze, looking toward Knitter.
"Finally! There you all are!" exclaimed Knitter.
"How do we keep going in circles?!" Proto Man demanded aloud incredulously.
"Like my maze?" Knitter asked brightly, enjoying the attention. "It's so tough even I can't solve it!"
"Alright, you win or whatever, okay?" growled Proto Man, waving a hand dismissively, "—Now let us out so we can all go back to Skull Fortress!"
"No! I like it here, and I like having you as my prisoners! It's a fun change! Now, what shall I do with you…" Knitter mused, tapping his needles together as he regarded Proto Man, his button eyes flashing yellow. "I know!"
He began turning on the spot with his arms outstretched, firing without aiming a volley of spear-sized needles that flew with deadly force in a circle around him, forcing everyone to duck.
"Hey, knock it off you jerk, you trying to kill somebody?" shouted Roll after a needle cut the sleeve of her titanium jumpsuit as though it were paper.
"Um…yes! Yes I am—" mocked Knitter, coming to a stop. "—Namely that red titanium poser you call a brother!"
"Damn, I think he's serious!" Roll shouted over to Proto Man.
"I'm more worried about anyone standing next to me—his aim sucks!"
"Well I say it's time to cut the 'Knitter' to shreds!" shouted Cut Man, emboldened by his success at using Rolling Cutter to cut through maze obstacles and bully Mega Man, and by Knitter's poorly executed attack.
"Yeah, and I'm gunna smash what's left over," joined in Guts Man with similar bravado.
This was a big misstep. Neither Rolling Cutter nor Super Arm could hurt Knitter, and Knitter was upon them in a blur of flashing needles while giggling madly. They gave a short startled cry, both unraveling into a loose coil of multicolor titanium yarn.
Proto Man, who had been half tempted to also charge in, stopped short. "Holy shit! Are they dead?!"
"We agreed last time they were expendable. They got too close," Elec Man reminded Proto Man swiftly.
"…What's this about bots being expendable?" demanded Ring Man, glaring shrewdly from Proto Man to Elec Man through narrowed eyes.
Proto Man ignored Ring Man. "Alright, Knitter's powers are getting freaky! Run!"
Everyone fled into the yarn tunnels, abandoning the tangled remains of Cut Man and Guts Man while Knitter continued to giggle.
"…Well where'd they go?" Kalinka had exclaimed indignantly when she found herself suddenly and inexplicably alone again in the yarn maze, Roll and Mega Man nowhere to be seen. "Hmmph! Guess we'll have to work on our team skills of 'staying together', won't we?"
She continued on, though it was becoming increasingly dull as she had already been at it for hours without so much of a sight of either Pin Man or Proto Man. What if she missed out on all the action?
"Elec Man? …Elec Man?" Proto Man hissed while trying to keep his voice down.
He had lost Knitter, but had no idea where Elec Man, Roll, nor anyone else had went. Though he could still hear shouting and Knitter's giggling, every way he turned led impossibly to more connecting tunnels and turns, none of which led back to where he had come from as the maze became eerily quiet again. Confused, Proto Man paused, turning around on the spot. He might not care too much what happened to the other Robot Masters (or even the quintessence at this point), but feared finding a coil of yellow or black yarn somewhere on the ground—but no, both Roll and Elec Man were too clever for that. Besides, Knitter had wanted to keep Elec Man alive for some reason, he had to be okay—
Someone stepped out of a tunnel next to him. "—Oh! Hi again!"
It was the pink robot from earlier. Again, Proto Man glanced at her curiously, and hesitated. "Hey."
"So, uh, what brings you here?" she asked, twisting a pigtail around her finger.
Proto Man jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Apparently fighting the idiot responsible for this maze."
She beamed at him. "Me too!"
"Looks like we're allies," said Proto Man, smiling back. "By the way, didn't catch your name earlier?"
"It's Mega Girl."
"Mega Girl?" Proto Man started, looking more closely at her. "Oh, so you're Mega Girl." This wasn't Roll at all, but a completely different robot…
"You've heard of me?" Mega Girl looked extremely pleased, and added casually, "Then I suppose you've heard about how I put an end to the schemes of the poor misguided robots who called themselves 'Hellrazor' and 'Curator'—no biggie—"
"You were the one who stopped Hellrazor and Curator? ...That's impressive."
"Yes, I suppose it is," said Mega Girl smugly, but then returned to acting bashful as she looked up at him. "—But probably nothing compared to what you've done. I…I really admire your work, you know. You're kinda like a role model to me."
"Really?" asked Proto Man, again noting how her visor reminded him of his own and beginning to feel very, very flattered.
Mega Girl nodded. "Yes, I…It's really nice to meet you, Proto Man."
"Well, it's really nice to meet you too, Mega Girl," Proto Man responded with gentle sincerity.
A giant green yarn ball came tumbling down the tunnel toward them.
"Watch out!" said Proto Man, jumping aside and gently pulling her behind him.
"Oh no, I'm so scared!" said Mega Girl dramatically, sliding closer to Proto Man as the yarn ball rolled past. It thudded into a wall, paused, then came rolling toward them again.
"Stay there—I got this."
Kalinka watched as Proto Man darted down a yarn tunnel and around a corner, the yarn ball crashing after him.
"Wait! Don't leave just yet! I have something to ask you about!" she called after him in vain, for as she ran down the tunnel and turned a corner, he had mysteriously vanished again. Shoot! She really needed to ask him about his justice energy! Still, she couldn't help but twirl on the spot, hugging herself.
O.M.G. Is this for real? He's sooooo cute, and so heroic! I'm going to die…
Elec Man had been searching all over for Proto Man, steeling himself to find a pile of red, gray, and yellow yarn somewhere, and was therefore relieved but annoyed to instead find Proto Man in a giddy semi-distracted state in one of the tunnels, where he was talking to an unknown robot in pink armor.
Elec Man hung back for a moment, staring at the pink robot. She seemed…familiar. Somehow, she reminded him of Kali Cossack—same height, her pigtails the same hair color, he even caught a slight whiff of the same cloying perfume—but that would be ridiculous. He was quite certain Kali Cossack was human, not a robot. Still, his mind was now subconsciously linking the two, and thoughts of Kali Cossack brought back both the inexplicable primal rage and a cold panic from earlier, filling him with confusion.
"What the—there you are, stop goofing around!" he snapped when he finally rejoined Proto Man after Proto Man had saved the pink robot from a giant yarn ball (somehow the maze had shifted again and there was no sign of the pink robot)
"Whoa, I wasn't—are you okay?" Proto Man asked, almost laughing.
This made Elec Man angrier—though he still didn't understand why he was quite so angry in the first place. "Let's just get out here."
"That's what we're trying to—just chill, okay? We'll regroup with the others—if they're still alive." Proto Man looked back down the tunnels. "Where did…?"
Elec Man suspected Proto Man was searching for the pink robot.
"Let's go," Elec Man repeated impatiently, pointing to a tunnel leading in a different direction.
Just then, the Knitter sprang through a loose curtain of yarn, catching them both off guard.
"Surprise!" he shouted exuberantly as he lunged at Elec Man with the same alarming quickness of a jumping spider, his needles descending upon Elec Man's arm in a frightful blur.
"No!" shouted Proto Man, remembering Cut Man and Guts Man. Hardly knowing what he was doing, he dived toward them, forgetting plasma power was no good against alien energy, his blaster pointed at Knitter—
A bright cyan flash exploded into Proto Man's vision, and Proto Man knew no more.
Mega Man's eyes were closed as he waited for Roll to come back. He was trying to pretend this was all just a very strange dream—that Dr. Wily was not close to getting teleportation technology, that they were not trapped in a paranormal yarn maze, that they were not at the mercy of one the most incompetent Robot Masters ever, and that he was not feeling unusually fuzzy. It was several long minutes however before he heard the slight rustle of yarn again.
Mega Man opened his eyes. Upside down, he caught a glimpse of Jewel Man creeping nearby with the quintessence case in hand.
"Hey you! Jewel Man!" Mega Man called angrily.
Jewel Man started, looked down, then recoiled. "I, uh, oh dear…" he said in a slightly high-pitched voice, as though he had just seen something he wished he could unsee. To Mega Man's great agitation, Jewel Man promptly turned on his heel and hastened away. He needed to get Roll's attention, fast.
"ROLL! JEWEL MAN HAS THE QUINMmph–TEMmph–mmmph…mmph? mmmmmph! …mmm…m…ph."
…Mega Man's lips had knitted seamlessly together. He would have liked to shout some more about this latest development, but this was quite impossible as he no longer had a mouth, nor any internal apparatus conducive to producing sound. Instead, Mega Man lifted his mitts, feeling only the round featureless face of a knit doll, then rubbed his eyes. Though his vision was normal, he felt wide flat discs, for they had become giant buttons like Knitter's.
There was a small silver lining to all of this. Now that he had fully become a knit doll, Mega Man realized he was able to stand up again—albeit in a wobbly, bowlegged fashion, his body made only of soft round shapes and a bit top-heavy. It would have to do—he had to get the quintessence back! Mega Man began to run, slightly irritated at how slow his hotdog-shaped legs carried his bean-shaped body, for Jewel Man was fast.
Jewel Man must have heard the frenzied scuffling patter of woolen feet, for he looked over his shoulder, caught sight of Mega Man following, and broke out into a frightened sprint. Though Mega Man could still see the white of Jewel Man's armor shining in the hazy darkness of the tunnel ahead, to his dismay, Mega Man realized he was going to lose him—
Ring Man and Magnet Man suddenly leaped out of an adjoining tunnel in front of Mega Man, barring his way. Mega Man only managed to scramble to a stop in time, backpedaling his woolen arms like windmills.
"Whoa, sick! Check out Mega Man."
"Weird."
A mischievous glint entered Ring Man's eyes."Heh…should we, like, unravel him?"
Uh-oh. Realizing just how vulnerable he had become, Mega Man wobbled backward, unable to even shout for help, all thoughts of chasing down Jewel Man evaporating.
Magnet Man gave Mega Man a long, flat look. "…Nah."
"You're right…too much work," said Ring Man. "Not like he can do anything to us anyway."
This, unfortunately, appeared accurate. Though Mega Man attempted to charge valiantly past them, with one hand Ring Man pushed him back as easily as—well, a knit doll. They laughed as Mega Man tripped over his wobbly legs and fell backward in a tangled heap.
When they were done laughing, Ring Man tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Dude, like, if we ever get out of here, we should take him back to Skull Fortress like this, then Wily will be off our backs forever about going on his stupid missions!"
Magnet Man arched a tufty gray eyebrow, and they both crouched over Mega Man.
"HEY! Leave him alone you losers!"
Roll had come bursting out of a yarn wall, a chainsaw ready. Snickering, Ring Man and Magnet Man retreated down the direction Jewel Man had went and vanished into the purple haze.
"Can't talk anymore, huh?" sighed Roll sympathetically, helping Mega Man untangle himself and looking him over. "Count yourself lucky—I don't even wanna tell ya what just happened to Cut Man and Guts Man, and I think Knitter wants to kill Proto (though who doesn't?). Guess I better keep you with me from now on, eh 'Raggedy Rock'? C'mon! Those scardey-bots are going to regret messing with us!"
Mega Man would have loved to retort to being called 'Raggedy Rock', or at the very least tell Roll that Jewel Man had the stolen quintessence on him—but unfortunately he could not make a sound as Roll took him by the mitt and dragged him along after her, his knit legs struggling to keep up.
Proto Man opened his eyes with a low groan, his plasma core feeling uncomfortable and prickly.
"Well, your little trick hurt Knitter, and he's very angry, but I got us out of there," Elec Man said stiffly from his side. "Don't do that again, I really thought you wouldn't wake up this time…"
"I'm not doing the blue light special on purpose, and you're welcome, by the way!" grumbled Proto Man, climbing gingerly to his feet. They were standing in the bend of a small U-shaped tunnel. "…What's wrong with your arm?"
"I'm not hurt," said Elec Man quickly, who was clutching the arm Knitter had attacked out of sight.
"Then why are you hiding it like that? Let me see—"
Proto Man grabbed Elec Man's arm and pulled it toward him. There was a red patch of fuzzy knitted yarn where Knitter's needles had struck him, which appeared to be woven into his titanium skin in a pattern of minute zigzags.
"…What the hell is that?"
"What does it look like?" Elec Man said quietly.
"Elec Man…it's spreading…"
"I know."
"…Shit…"
"Um. There's more. While you were saving me, Knitter accidentally got you too."
"Huh?" Proto Man looked down, realizing with an unpleasant thrill that he had a similar patch of gray waffle knit spreading across his side. "Aahh! Waffle knit again?! …I'm really going to kill him—"
"That may get increasingly difficult."
"Don't worry, we're going to get out this…somehow," Proto Man replied, thinking of Mega Girl. "We're better off than Cut Man and Guts Man at least!"
"Yes, things could be worse."
"…We're turning into knit dolls, stop saying things could be worse!" implored Proto Man irritably.
Knitter staggered aimlessly through his maze, angrily darning the place in his armor that had been singed. That stupid punk Proto Man had done something, and it had hurt! Well, Proto Man and Elec Man wouldn't be a problem anymore—though if Knitter saw Proto Man again, he'd unravel him for good…
He had just finished fixing his knit armor when he happened upon someone else who had insulted him—Ring Man, who had come running out of a tunnel with Magnet Man and Jewel Man, all three nearly crashing into each other in an immediate halt.
"You guys keep escaping! Darn it!" complained Knitter, trying out a new catchphrase. Everyone cringed. "—I need more power! Euurrrrgh!"
Knitter crouched low again, his button eyes screwed up in concentration. A second pair of knitting needle arms sprouted from his sides.
"This is great! Four arms are better than two! I can knit TWICE as fast now! In fact, better make it six! Euuurrrgh!"
…Knitter was beginning to resemble a giant knitted spider. He didn't seem to care, however, as he laughed triumphantly.
"Eh…it's kinda an improvement, actually," remarked Ring Man to Magnet Man, who shrugged. Jewel Man looked squeamish.
With his six arms, Knitter began knitting long, multicolor tubes. Sock puppets the size of sleeping bags began falling into the ground in clashing patterns that ranged from stripes to flowers to polkadots to fuzzy ducklings. After landing, they surged forward in lurching movement like giant googly-eyed leaches.
"Bet you'll think twice of making fun of my knitting now!" jeered Knitter, pointing at Ring Man, who became trapped in a corner by the sock puppets.
Ring Man gazed at the weird assortment of knits and shrugged. "No I'm definitely still going to make fun of you after this. Maybe more than ever."
"Oh yeah? Just you wait—I could knit you into a pot holder after my sock puppets are done with ya!"
"You make pot holders too? Heh heh, what a dork!"
Ring Man would likely have experienced a fate similar to Cut Man and Guts Man (or at the very least been eaten by Knitter's sock puppets) had not Jewel Man stepped forward. He made an impressive sweeping gesture with one arm, activating the new shielding weapon Dr. Wily had equipped him with: Jewel Satellite. Four gemstones began whirling in a circle mid-air. They were of a brilliant cut shape, and made of the same diamond-hard substance Dr; Wily had used for Crystal Man's Crystal Eye.
It was somewhat effective in holding the sock puppets at bay—if only as a distraction. The sock puppets watched the pretty floating gemstones, their heads winding in circles until they became all twisted up and dizzy, while Jewel Man pulled Ring Man back toward Magnet Man.
"It's like I told you, Pierce—you run your mouth too much. Gets you into trouble," Jewel Man chided.
"Hey! You got my back, just like I got yours!" said Ring Man happily. "I knew you liked us! But look at you, Pink Panther—you're actually fighting! This is great! You can get Magnet Man and I out of future scrapes!"
…Jewel Man looked like he was already regretting saving Ring Man, but they fled together from Knitter and his monster sock puppets anyway.
White-capped waves winked beneath a cheerful afternoon sky outside the westward-facing window of Dr. Cossack's office, a night sky projected overhead on the domed ceiling. Dr. Cossack was bent over his work at his desk, a deep crease in his square forehead, looking quite like he did not want to be disturbed.
Therefore, Shadow Man approached cautiously, announcing his presence with a small 'a-hem.'
"How did you get in here? Citadel's security is without equal," asked Dr. Cossack without looking up.
"Ninja, remember?" Shadow Man reminded Dr. Cossack impatiently. Then he gave a short, would-be-carefree laugh, as though about to tell a funny story. "I've made a huuuge mistake."
Dr. Cossack looked up at Shadow Man over his half-rim glasses. "Really? Whatever can you mean?" he asked dryly.
"Uh. I stole dangerous teleportation technology from a Citadel laboratory, then sold it to a mad scientist? Now there's an evil alien supercomputer after me."
"…I know. The first part, at least. But I don't understand why you came to me for help, I certainly don't owe you any favors."
Shadow Man fell prostrate to the polished floor. "I will work freelance for you—for the low low price of fifty million dollars a minute, or the equivalent in gold coins—I'm creating a money bin swimming pool in my den—"
Dr. Cossack sighed, then said, "Or, counterproposal: imagine the surprise and delight Inspector Headley will have when I hand you over to the Robot International Police, already programmed to be obedient and humble, eager to right the wrongs you have committed worldwide from this day forward."
Instantly, Shadow Man sprang to his feet, an eye twitching. "Shut it, human! As if a pitiful earthling could reprogram a mighty ninja warrior like me!"
"'Earthling'? So you admit to being an alien," said Dr. Cossack, leaning back against his chair as he regarded Shadow Man. He didn't sound surprised, merely amused.
"…I admit to nothing!"
"Look, I don't have time for nonsense, nor do I want a ninja in my office—"
"Wait! Listen! I'm s-scared…"
This behavior was completely atypical of Shadow Man. Dr. Cossack arched a brow. "Scared? What are you scared of?" he asked quietly.
"The evil alien supercomputer I just told you about! He may be watching us even now—or not. He is kind of lazy for an all-powerful cosmic being—but that's the problem! You never know—"
Shadow Man glared suspiciously at all the shadows within Dr. Cossack's office, a Shadow Blade appearing in his hand.
Dr. Cossack watched this dramatic display for a moment, unimpressed. "My my, is the great Shadow Man, the one who has eluded the R.I.P. all these years, afraid of his own shadow?"
"Pff, no! But this alien is the real deal."
"I can only imagine you are referring to the alien entity who posed as 'Lotos' and caused complete chaos in New York City a year ago? And what do you expect me to do about that?"
"I—dunno, you're smart? You'll figure out something," Shadow Man said offhandedly. Then he looked expectantly at Dr. Cossack. "So, do we have a deal?"
Something circular skidded across the floor, and a purple forcefield bubbled around Shadow Man.
"What is this? Some sort of pathetic trap?" laughed Shadow Man, gazing around at the purple forcefield and tentatively touching it.
A coat stand that had stood innocuously beside Dr. Cossack's desk disappeared as Quint deactivated the holomorpher he had been using to disguise himself.
"Actually, that is an invention of mine! I call it a 'quintessence snare'! Extremely effective for capturing alien targets. I surmised you'd try to contact Dr. Cossack—and I was correct!"
"Oh, very clever, now watch as I easily escape your stupid little toy." Frowning, Shadow Man began to pound forcefully against the forcefield. He then stabbed at it with a Shadow Blade, and even tried vanishing with a smoke bomb, but the quintessence forcefield remained strong, and he remained trapped. His eyes widened in surprise. "What the—?! L-let me go!"
Quint strode across the room with his arms behind his back, and leaned forward to peer at Shadow Man with academic curiosity. "Fascinating. I don't think you possess evil energy…nor do I think you have stardroid energy or justice energy…"
Shadow Man did not like this at all. He tried to move away from Quint, but there was nowhere to go within the small confines of the forcefield. Whatever Shadow Man was, he was not strong enough to break out of a quintessence snare.
"I thought you might find him interesting," said Dr. Cossack, his eyes twinkling as he took a sip of coffee.
"Indeed! I can take it from here, Dr. Cossack," said Quint at last, straightening up.
"Thank you. Unfortunately, I have to take a call soon—more trouble with the power plant—really, construction should have wrapped last year," sighed Dr. Cossack wearily. "But never mind. Everything alright?"
"Oh yes, everything is under control now! I'm working with Mega Man and Roll to stop Dr. Wily's robots from causing trouble outside of town."
"Hmph. Well that shouldn't be too difficult, Wily's an idiot after all. In the meantime, make sure our ninja friend is comfortable…perhaps somewhere bright, shadows seem to frighten him."
Shadow Man stared at Dr. Cossack in utter disbelief. "What the—Don't hand me off to one of your little brats! This is serious, Cossack, serious! Way more important than some stupid power plant! Fine, fine, I promise never to steal anything from you again!"
"Oh, I know you won't."
"…You lousy bastard! You can't do this! I'm a Robot Master, not a lab specimen!"
Dr. Cossack merely gave Shadow Man a small wave.
"Wait! WAIT! …Wait. I prepared a haiku—"
"No. Quint, please, I have to get on a call."
Dr. Cossack's office blurred into long vertical streaks as Quint teleported himself and Shadow Man down to his laboratory,
"Okay, I admit, that was kinda gangster," Shadow Man couldn't help but grumble to himself.
Quint transferred Shadow Man to a more permanent holding cell—a sort of quintessence force field tube, around four feet in diameter.
"Now, as you may have observed, there was an unfortunate evil alien energy outbreak back at the storage facility you and Dr. Wily's robots were attempting to rob earlier," Quint told Shadow Man.
Shadow Man glared back with folded arms. "Fat chance I will help against that, now release me from this humiliating prison before I get angry."
"I predicted you would say that, but your immediate assistance is unnecessary, I only want to borrow your weapon—as it is alien technology, it should be just the thing to fight the Knitter, and our systems should be compatible…"
Quint typed a quick command on the keypad outside the quintessence holding tube, and a small hole appeared in the forcefield, allowing him to quickly reach through and copy Shadow Man's weapon.
"Don't worry, I'll return after I take care of the mess you created…I have much to study!" Quint said excitedly.
"S-study?" stammered Shadow Man. "No—!"
Like Dr. Cossack, Quint gave Shadow Man a small wave, then teleported off in a stream of green light.
Shadow Man watched him go in horror. "What is this feeling? It's not triumph…could it be…defeat? I'm…trapped? Impossible! I'm a ninja! He's just…some nerdy brat!"
But try as he might, Shadow Man still could not break free of the quintessence holding tube—especially now that he was weaponless.
Still holding Mega Man by the mitt, Roll had half-dragged him through countless tunnels, made numerous turns, and ran into what felt like endless dead ends. She was annoyed, but determined.
"Well they've gotta be around here somewhere!" she exclaimed at what felt like the hundredth identical intersection.
Unable to talk, Mega Man flailed an arm desperately at Roll to get her attention, then pointed down one of the tunnels.
"What? No, we already tried that way, Mega—Oh! Quint!"
"Ah! Hello, Roll! I have just returned from my laboratory," Quint greeted brightly as he came running up to them. He seemed too excited and distracted to register Mega Man's drastic change in appearance other than a quick absentminded, "Fascinating!"
"…You left?!"
"Yes, but I came back! Though I daresay it's getting difficult, it would be prudent to end this soon, lest—well, anyway, I have procured something that should make our task at hand much easier!"
Quint held up what was unmistakably a Shadow Blade.
"Shadow Man? No way—"
"Yes way!" tittered Quint, "And as a bonus, my laboratory is now entertaining the most interesting house guest! But first thing's first—we must defeat Knitter and restore him to normal."
"But…Robot Master weapons aren't useful against alien energy, right?" said Roll doubtfully, looking back at Mega Man (who could only shrug back). They certainly hadn't helped much this far.
"Ah, but Shadow Man is a very unusual Robot Master…watch!"
Quint threw the Shadow Blade into a yarn wall. It created a clean hole—through it, they could see a long clear tunnel that connected to many, many tunnels, as though the Shadow Blade had created a nexus in the wall.
"Only alien energy can fight alien energy…" murmured Roll, squeezing Mega Man's mitt (Mega Man wished she wouldn't, her grip was already making a dent in his stuffing). "Quint, you're a genius!"
"Well, only so much as Dr. Light and Dr. Cossack programmed me to be," said Quint humbly.
A most peculiar scuffling noise was coming down the tunnel behind them.
Quint and Roll whirled, Roll stepping protectively in front of Mega Man, but it was only two giant knit beanbag toys. One was a yellow stegosaurus, with a red knit ridge and nubby black spots on its arched back; the other an orange narwhal, with white and gray chevron stripes and a white tail fin. They had little black beads for eyes, and both the narwhal's horn and the spikes on the stegosaurs's tail were made of sharp knitting needles.
"Knitter's creations?" mused Quint, scanning the knit beanbag animals with his visor.
"At least they're not those creepy sock puppets again!" shuddered Roll, for she and Mega Man had encountered a few in the maze (much to their disgust).
The stegosaurus scampered forward on stubby legs, attempting to flail its spiked tail at them in an uncoordinated spin, while the narwhal was flopping forward in a worm-like fashion using its knitted flippers and tail, straining to get at them with its horn. They were much too clumsy to be intimidating and kept crashing into the walls and each other, as though not used to their bodies.
"Awww, they're so cute!" cooed Roll as the pair toppled over each other in a confused bunch.
Mega Man peered closely at the knit beanbag animals. They were cute, though somehow familiar…
"Yes, and both appear harmless—but better dispose of them to be on the safe side," replied Quint, taking aim with Shadow Blade.
"Right!" Roll drew a flamethrower.
Mega Man sprang in front of Roll and Quint, waving his arms frantically, stopping them from firing just in time.
"Goodness, you seem in earnest," said Quint, looking at Mega Man in surprise.
"Yeah, what are ya so worked up for?" asked Roll.
Mega Man remained stubbornly in the way, shaking his head. Behind him, he could hear the soft crunching of beany stuffing; the stegosaurus and narwhal were scrambling away again in fright, evidently changing their minds about attacking.
"Very well, I suppose I better conserve energy for Knitter anyway," said Quint, dropping his blaster.
"C'mon, let's go!" said Roll, grabbing Mega Man by the mitt again.
Mega Man cast one last fleeting down the tunnel, making sure the knit animals had gotten away, knowing Cut Man and Guts Man were unlikely to ever thank him for saving their lives. That had been close! He had to agree with what Quint said earlier—the sooner this was all over, the better…
Using Shade Blade upon the yarn walls made navigating the maze much easier.
"I believe in most circumstances the 'Shadow Blade' is mostly just a weapon," Quint was droning on to Mega Man and Roll. "However, Shadow Man is able to traverse in the most inscrutable ways, and so it appears (within the confines of Knitter's maze) the Shadow Blade is allowing us to traverse in a similar method. It is almost as if it knows where we want to go, like teleportation but different—"
"We get the picture!" interrupted Roll before Quint could dive into more boring monologue that attempted to break down Shadow Man's alien abilities into logic, still tugging Mega Man along behind her.
Quint was undeterred. "Why I predict, with Shadow Blade, we should find Knitter in no ti—"
Quint was cut off, for with small twangs, a long rope of yarn snagged around their arms and legs, and they found themselves strung up in the middle of an intersection.
"—Oh dear! We need to circumvent this obstacle if we are to continue, that is to say, we must untangle ourselves—"
"I know what 'circumvent' means!" snapped Roll.
"Sounded like you were looking for me, and here I am!" cried Knitter, pushing his way out of a tunnel entrance in an unsettling jumble of knitting needle limbs, like a spider climbing out of a hole. "You fell for my cat's cradle trap! I made that hours ago and have been waiting all day for someone to spring it!"
"You only made one? This guy really is an idiot!" grumbled Roll. Still, they were stuck fast—exactly the last place they wanted to be while Knitter and his knitting needles were in range.
"Hey! They you are!" cried a shrill voice behind them. "Where were you guys?"
Mega Girl came running out of the opening Shadow Blade had made, hands on her hips.
"Aha! I haven't seen you here yet—" Knitter called over to her. "—Like my maze? I'm the Knitter," he added in a fiendish voice.
"The Knitter?" Mega Girl repeated in astonishment.
"Yes, the Knitter! …Why is everyone having such a hard time getting that?" demanded Knitter.
Mega Girl shrugged. "Knitting's fine for some, but I prefer crochet. More patterns and like way faster."
"WHAT?!" shrieked the Knitter. "…How could you say something like that?! I can't crochet, I have needle arms!"
"Um…before you make him too angry, could you help us out?" Quint hissed hesitantly to Mega Girl.
"How? Knitter's right there! Unless you got an idea for a distraction—" Roll began doubtfully, but Mega Girl was already calling over to the Knitter.
"Hey Knitter! How many stitches do you know?"
"Ooo ooo ooo, I know lots!" said Knitter enthusiastically, and began ticking them off on his knitting needles, his button eyes narrowed in deep concentration."Let's see…there's the purl stitch, the garter stitch, the stockinette stitch…the rib stitch, the reverse rib stitch, the broken rib stitch, the beaded rib stitch…the hurdle stitch, that one's nice…the purl ridge stitch, that one's nice too…the basketweave stitch, that one makes nice throws…the purse stitch, that makes nice beach totes…"
"See? Not even hard," said Mega Girl, hurrying to free Mega Man, Roll, and Quint while Knitter continued to list knit stitches. "…What have you guys been doing? Besides falling for silly traps or getting turned into knit dolls?" she asked with sudden severity as they huddled together, glaring at Mega Man in particular.
Mega Man didn't think this was fair—becoming a live knit doll was even less fun than it sounded—and he began gesturing with his arms in emphatic if silent protest.
Mega Girl patted him soothingly on his woolen shoulder, the light force making his knitted legs buckle. "Oh, you poor thing, you're probably frightened. Don't worry! We'll fix this soon!"
"Alright, so you're here, and the Knitter is over there," said Roll, glancing over her shoulder at Knitter (who was elaborating on the pros and cons of double woven rib stitches), "—So hurry up and use the Sun Crystal so Mega Man and the rest of this can go back to normal!"
Mega Girl shook her head. "It won't work, he's gotten so powerful—he has six arms, which means he can knit three times as fast as a normal knitter—we need to weaken him up first!"
"Actually, I thought of that already," spoke up Quint. "I have acquired Shadow Man's weapon—" (Quint briefly explained about how he had become equipped with Shadow Blade) "—If I can get in close, I can weaken him, then you can restore Needle Man to normal!"
At this point, Knitter happened to glance up from the recounting on his knitting needles, noticing that his captive audience had not only escaped, but were no longer even paying attention. "Hey! I haven't even told you about all the stitches yet! Come back here! There's more! Here, I'll just show ya!"
Knitter's knitting arms began flashing and clicking together, and a multicolor cascade of giant sock puppets fell to the ground and began writing toward them. Around him, the maze was changing again—they were gathered in what looked like the same expansive intersection from earlier, though it had gotten larger, more of a wide open underground lair, with a domed ceiling and strands of yarn hanging everywhere like stringy roots, Knitter and his sock puppets at its center.
"Ew, creepy! Better stay back, Mega—" muttered Roll, "I know you'll want to help, but you're just too squishy right now—sorry, but it's true!" She added, poking Mega Man in his pudgy belly, which caused him to totter off balance. She then scooted him behind her, ignoring his indignant, mute protests.
There came a problem with their plan—though Quint began throwing Shadow Blades toward Knitter, who was within range, they fell quite short of their target, as Knitter was able to jump now with alarming speed.
"…You know how to use that thing, right?" asked Roll, watching Quint with a furrowed brow.
"…The theory, yes. You see, my primary focus is lab work, not fighting, and I've never copied a weapon before—"
"You ought to be training with Punk, he offered!" scolded Mega Girl. "…Say, where is Punk? I hope he's alright!"
Another Shadow Blade missed Knitter and flew off, cutting down a yarn wall and revealing Ring Man, Magnet Man, and Jewel Man, who had been creeping nearby.
Mega Man flailed his cylindrical arms to get Roll's attention again, hopping up and down, then pointed a mitt at Jewel Man just before the trio took cover again.
"What?" muttered Roll distractedly, looking away from the sock puppets to where Mega Man was pointing. "Oh, got it! Don't worry, he won't get away!"
Meanwhile, Mega Girl was dodging around the sock puppets while gazing critically back at the group, taking in Punk's ominous absence, Quint's lackluster performance with Shadow Blade, and Mega Man's wobbly condition with a sigh.
"Our team needs work," she muttered to Roll.
"Yeah," Roll agreed.
To herself, Mega Girl wondered where Proto Man could be—probably off somewhere valiantly risking his life—so brave—but oh, she wished he was here!
By this time, Proto Man and Elec Man had fully transformed into knit dolls. Using their bodies as natural camouflage, they were hidden amongst the yarn—neither wanting to be seen in this embarrassing state, nor to miss what was going on. As such, they had gotten quite close to the battle with Knitter undetected.
Elec Man turned his round head toward Proto Man, his knit doll face with a knitted yellow mask and blue button eyes even harder to read than Elec Man's worst poker face.
He gave Proto Man a small wave. Proto Man waved back.
From the distance, Proto Man watched Mega Girl closely. Was she really the key to undoing all of this?
Elec Man was watching Proto Man, not understanding Proto Man's interest in the pink robot, and growing increasingly suspicious.
Despite Quint's failure to hit Knitter, the Shadow Blades cut easily through the sock puppets, soon littering the floor with multi-color shreds.
"Ack! My babies!" cried Knitter. "Darn it! I'll fix you!"
Knitter sprang upon Quint before he could escape—there was a grizzly clicking of needles—then Knitter leaped away, revealing that Quint had been reknitted as a large beanbag cactus toy with bead eyes, round oversized glasses, and short knitting needle spines.
"There! Now you can be one of my minions," said Knitter, nodding.
"Crap, Quuiiint…" groaned Mega Girl, watching the knit cactus hop sheepishly away from Knitter rather than act as a minion.
"We still have a chance! Look!" Roll grabbed a fallen Shadow Blade from the ground.
Knitter was still enraged about the fallen sock puppets, his entire form ablaze in purple flames. Thus far, he had been unsuccessful at capturing either Roll or Mega Girl. "Darn it all! Alright, you asked for it—no more Mr. Nice Knitter!"
He began firing off spear-sized needles from his top in all directions like a sprinkler, forcing everyone to take cover and making it impossible for anyone to get close to him, or for Roll to throw the Shadow Blade.
"What do we do?" Mega Girl called over to Roll and Mega Man, who were crouched behind a thicket of yarn on the opposite side of Knitter.
"Maybe he'll get tired?" Roll called back without much hope.
An idea sprang into Mega Man's head. He would have laughed aloud at the simplicity of it, but of course, he still could not, so instead he wobbled toward Knitter as fast as his woolen legs would carry him.
Seeing what he was about to do, Roll lunged to catch him by the arm, but missed.
"No, Mega! Don't try to be a hero—you'll get hit!" she shouted anxiously after him.
True, several knitting needles sank into Mega Man's body, but as he was now made entirely of yarn and stuffing, this didn't really hurt (even when one sailed right between his button eyes and out the back of his head). He didn't feel especially heroic either—in fact, Mega Man had to ignore how silly he likely looked as he leaped onto Knitter's back, wrapped his woolen arms around Knitter's head, and covered Knitter's button eyes with his woolen mitts.
Knitter jerked. "What the—Hey, is that you Mega? I said I wouldn't hurt you, so get off of me! Get off of me right now before I knit you into a big blue pin cushion! Then you won't be able to do anything but sit there and look stupid!"
Knitter was attempting to stab at Mega Man with his six knitting needle arms, but was unable to reach his own back. Meanwhile Mega Man clung on, his own body flopping and twisting wildly about as Knitter raged on.
The ploy worked, Knitter was so distracted by Mega Man that he had stopped firing needles everywhere. Roll took her chance to run up close for an easy shot. The Shadow Blade sunk into Knitter's midsection, tearing a large gash through the knitted armor.
Mega Man let go and hastily wobbled away, but Knitter was no longer paying attention to him as he burst into angry purple flames and let out an ear-splitting shriek.
"YOU TORE MY ARMOR! HOW DARE YOU!? NOW I'M GOING TO HAVE TO PUT AN UGLY DARN IN IT! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS! I'LL—I'LL—whoa," The flames went out around Knitter. He stood very still, his button eyes blinking rapidly as he looked dazedly around. "I feel funny. Like 'ha ha' funny. Look at all of the pretty colors!" He gave a squeaky gasp, touching the points of his needle arms to where his mouth would have been if he had a mouth. "It's like a rainbow maze!"
"Um, like what's going on?" said Kalinka, wrinkling her nose as she peered out at Knitter.
"The blade is coated in some sort of substance that can cause hallucinations in robots," Roll called over. "—Quint told me. Now's your chance to restore Needle Man back to normal!"
"Right!" responded Kalinka. Though she had hoped to see Proto Man use his justice energy, unfortunately, he didn't seem to be in the area, and this opportunity couldn't be wasted. She aimed her wrist-mounted mini-blaster at Knitter, charging up a shimmering ball of cyan light.
Knitter continued to laugh stupidly, waving his needle arms around in circles like batons as he received a full blast of justice energy—then his six arms went ridged as a spider that had been suddenly electrified, and there was a bright flash of light.
The yarn maze dissolved into a thick purple haze. When it cleared, Kalinka found herself standing outside in a quiet back alley, the plain storage facility standing unremarkably beside her. Everything looked as it had before—though the sun was significantly lower in the sky, casting a warm golden glow on the surrounding rooftops and deep blue shadows into the streets.
Needle Man looked down at his arms—he was back to only two, and was likewise completely the same as he had been before becoming possessed by evil energy. "What the? Aw man…"
Best of all, Proto Man had mysteriously appeared in the alley with them. "Hey, nice work, Mega Girl," he said, giving her the thumb up.
Kalinka's heart pounded excitedly. Proto Man was here! And he was complimenting her again~ This could not be happening, it could NOT. She could die! But first, she had a job to do, even cute boys would have to wait…
"You're evil-doing days are over, Pin Man!" cried Kalinka, striking a pose. "Time for you to give yourself up!"
"Heh. Cute," murmured Proto Man to himself as he stood back to watch.
"That's not my name!" fumed Needle Man. "It's Knitter! —I mean Needle Man! —I mean Knitter! —I mean—d'oh! Let's just forget the whole thing, I'm outta here!"
Throwing his blaster arms up over his head, Needle Man scampered the opposite way down the alley, his boots clanking heavily.
"Hey, get back here!" Kalinka shouted after him. "You're supposed to surrender!"
She was about to pursue Needle Man when suddenly she found her path blocked by a California State Police robo-officer with a familiar '100' serial number on his badge. He had stepped silently out from behind the loading dock steps as if he had been lying in wait.
"Stop right there, Mega Girl!" barked Prime-Double-Zero, holding up a hand. Though it would have been impossible for him to miss Needle Man running by, he had not paid the fleeing Robot Master any mind.
"Ack! Not now! Things were going so well!" Kalinka hissed to herself. She looked desperately over at Proto Man. "I-it's not what it looks like—!" Though she didn't like the police, she didn't want Proto Man to think she was a criminal!
"It's alright Mega Girl, you don't have to explain yourself to me!" said Proto Man lightly, stepping towards them. "You go on ahead—I'll smooth things over with Mr. Officer."
…He was too cool. "Thanks!" Kalinka told Proto Man, flashing a grateful smile and a small wave before hastily departing the scene.
"Wait!" Prime-Double-Zero called after Mega Girl, but found his path blocked by Proto Man.
"Say…aren't you that robo-officer I fought on the train with the black pearl? The one who fights like a Robot Master?" Proto Man asked curiously.
Prime-Double-Zero didn't answer. He lifted his heavy rotary-style blaster at Proto Man. "How do you know Mega Girl?" he demanded, sounding confused, his eyes wide beneath his peaked cap.
"Let's just say I like to keep an eye out for her," said Proto Man in a low, friendly voice, "—And that includes trashing nosey busy-bots like you!"
Proto Man rushed forward. Prime-Double-Zero attempted to outmaneuver him with a feint, but Proto Man remembered his tricky fighting style, and had not only copied Prime-Double-Zero's weapon, but in short order had blasted him through the upper story window of a building a block over.
Far from caring about the police, Elec Man had been watching Proto Man from an alcove with folded arms, his mood remaining sour despite the fact that they were back to normal. "Who was that pink robot, and why are you smiling like that?"
Proto Man turned eagerly toward him. "Elec Man, I have big news!"
Elec Man's face fell. "W-what? he asked in a small, apprehensive voice, his eyes flickering unconsciously toward where the pink robot had went and back.
Proto Man hadn't noticed Elec Man's reaction. "That was Mega Girl! Get this—I have a new little sister."
Elec Man blinked, his apprehension vanishing. "…What?"
"I know! Light must have built another advanced android. She's so different from Roll, I bet they fight a lot," Proto Man chuckled affectionately.
"A sister?" Elec Man repeated skeptically. "I suppose it's possible…" he added doubtfully.
"Yeah, and she seemed to actually like me—not that this changes anything between me and the Lights, of course—" said Proto Man happily (still completely oblivious to Elec Man's lukewarm reaction to his big news).
…That at least was evident in Elec Man's opinion. Proto Man seemed too excited about the prospect of a new little sibling to consider that Mega Girl was quite unlikely to be related to him at all. First Kali Cossack, now this Mega Girl? Not that it mattered…Elec Man's circuits twisted and squirmed again, like wood shavings shriveling in the embers of a fire.
Proto Man poked Elec Man playfully on the shoulder. "Hey, what's been eating you lately? You seem kinda tense."
"Nothing."
"If you say so, but you know you can tell me anything," said Proto Man, flashing Elec Man a disarming, dimpled smile.
All thoughts of Mega Girl, the Cossacks, and even his fears about evil energy were driven from Elec Man mind. He looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed. "It's really nothing. Sorry."
"Don't apologize, just let it all out if you have to!" laughed Proto Man, his spirits high. "C'mon, let's get out of this dump. If we hurry, we can take a jet out for a ride by nightfall—supposed to be clear skies tonight."
Proto Man strode off from the Citadel storage facility while whistling to himself.
Mega Man, Roll, and the rest of the Robot Masters had reappeared in front of the Citadel storage facility. Everyone was a bit disoriented, especially those who had been directly affected by Knitter's powers.
"Oh thank god," breathed Mega Man, looking down at his normal hands and wiggling his fingers.
"Er…and that is that!" said Ring Man, shrugging at Magnet Man. "Let's split!"
"Hey, don't forget about us!" said Cut Man as he and Guts Man clambered woozily to their feet.
"Um, we thought you were dead?"
"And I was the one ta finish ya!" called Needle Man proudly as he came skidding around a corner and ran up to them.
No one was pleased to see Needle Man, especially not his own teammates. Needle Man seemed to have no idea how unpopular he was making himself. Still, no one had it in them to resume the fight, and the Robot Masters scattered like ants into the surrounding alleyways.
"Aw, c'mon guys, don't leave me behind!" cried Needle Man as he lagged after them.
There was no way to capture them all, even if Mega Man and Roll hadn't been so worn out from the battle against Knitter. Instead, they focused on Jewel Man, who was still carrying the Citadel-branded case with the quintessence.
"Okay, I'm done chasing you dummies around," growled Roll, leveling a whirling diamond-bladed circular saw with Jewel Man's face. "Drop it or I'll start making my own jewelry, starting with you!"
Jewel Man flinched, holding up his hands. "I give up. Please don't hurt me—here!"
He placed the case on the concrete and kicked it forward.
Roll and Mega Man quickly ran forward to intercept the case. "Much prefer him like this—" Roll snickered to Mega Man along the way. "Can't believe he's the same bot who caused so much trouble as 'Curator'!"
"Don't celebrate yet…" Mega Man popped open the case, which was empty.
"Son of a—don't tell me I just fell for the oldest trick in the book! Hey!" Roll whirled, ready to actually fire the circular saw this time, but Jewel Man had already vanished.
"Jewel thief, remember?" said Mega Man.
At that moment, Mega Girl came skipping up to them, beaming widely. "We did it! We stopped the evil energy outbreak!"
"…But failed to stop Wily from getting access to quintessence and the ability to teleport…" Mega Man pointed out, showing her the empty quintessence case.
This didn't seem to be a big deal to Mega Girl. "Seriously, Mega Man, stop being such sour grapes. You'll never become a great hero with that attitude!" she told him. "Anyway, good work today team. Now let's bounce before the cops come b—I mean, we'll let the police handle it from here. Byeee~"
She skipped away, humming to herself, apparently without a care in the world.
Mega Man watched her go in astonishment. "…You know who Mega Girl reminds me of?" he said aloud to Roll.
"Who?"
"Proto."
"Chh, that valley girl bot with the pigtails, like Proto? Noooo way." Roll thought about it for a bit, her brows rising. "Actually, maybe? I kinda see it now. Whoa."
Later that night, Kalinka was still daydreaming of the events of that day after she had gone up into her room and changed into her pajamas. Quint and Punk had teleported to the laboratory to check on their prisoner and recharge, while Beat sat on his perch next to her bed, his wings hunched, occasionally casting her disgruntled looks and shaking his tail feathers irritably (in her distracted state, Kalinka had forgotten to let him out of the dumpster Shadow Man had trapped him in until long after the battle with Knitter was over)
She fell backward on her bed. What an amazing day! she thought, hugging her pillow and giggling. It really had gone well—even if she hadn't had a chance to ask Proto Man his justice energy yet. I should definitely have asked him out for coffee—next time.
"What a horrible day," grumbled Mega Man as he and Roll returned to Dr. Light's laboratory that night. "Wily's got teleporters, there was another evil alien energy outbreak, I now know what it's like to be a knit doll, and we didn't even manage to arrest any of those idiots!"
"Cheer up, Mega! At least we have a team now to help out now," said Roll.
"Yeah, I'm still not sure if our new teammates helping or making things worse," sighed Mega Man, but decided to let the matter go and instead headed off to bed. Privately, he couldn't help but hope neither Quint nor Mega Girl would be contacting him for assistance any time soon.
After the fiasco at the Citadel storage facility, Dr. Wily had been forced to fly to Los Angeles in the Skullker to collect the defeated Robot Masters. To Proto Man's annoyance, Dr. Wily had wanted Needle Man alive—intending to study him as another subject of alien energy. Jewel Man had given Elec Man the small vial of quintessence (which he had securely stored in his jewel-studded utility belt shortly after receiving the case for safekeeping), who handed it to Dr. Wily. Pleased with the quintessence acquisition, though disappointed that he had once again missed out on obtaining alien energy, Dr. Wily dismissed everyone from his laboratory as he began work on teleporters and plan a new scheme.
"You know, I really think you have the wrong idea about us," Ring Man told Jewel Man, slinging an arm around him as the Robot Masters trooped back to the armory. "Why, if we were humans, I would think of you as an older brother."
"Oh please," muttered Jewel Man, rolling his eyes.
"Forgetting about me?" spoke up a voice from behind them.
Ring Man sprang away from Jewel Man, casting Elec Man a dirty look from over his shoulder. "Geez, you're like the frickin' bogeyman. Alright, alright, I'm moving along, you stuck-up creep."
"Jewel Man, take tomorrow off, you've earned it—but do try to cower less next time—and Magnet Man, good work today," Elec Man said with an edge that indicated that Magnet Man should be stepping up more often.
Magnet Man grunted, then sauntered over to Ring Man.
"He really is a bastard," muttered Ring Man as Elec Man stalked off again.
"Yeah."
Back at Skull Fortress at last, Proto Man headed back to the west wing with Elec Man, where they planned to resume working on jets. But as they reached the hangar door, Proto Man hesitated, scratching the back of his head in chagrin. "Actually, think I'm going to hit the hay. Tired. Big day and all, what with getting a new little sister and giving Wily the ability to teleport—"
"That's a good idea, you need to recover from your alien energy flare-ups."
"Yeah, maybe—you don't gotta rub it in! I'll meet back tomorrow, okay?"
As Elec Man watched Proto Man head up a spiral set of stairs up to his room in one of Skull Fortress's towers, Elec Man realized he himself felt tired—though Elec Man, still thinking being programmed to sleep ridiculous, did not have a bed. He instead strode off to his office, locked the door, climbed into a window ledge, and then drifted into an uneasy doze with his head against the sun-warmed glass, his mind still spinning about evil energy and Proto Man's condition.
Next time on Mega Man Recut…
Now that they have Shadow Man captive, the heroes finally learn valuable clues about the evil energy threat, the alien supercomputer behind it, and the sinister game that's afoot. As fears about future alien energy outbreaks rise, Elec Man worries about being targeted to become its next host, while the unseen enemy watches them all…tune in next time for Ramblin' Evil!
