Chapter 1: The Final Battle
A shriek of pain rose from the chamber below—human pain. Proto Man stood over the precipice, wondering if he should even look. Did he even want to know? Had Mega Man finally overcome his programming and stopped Wily once and for all?
These terrible fears clashed with the relief in his heart. Since Light's passing, there were no more backups for Mega Man. Every fight could be his last. But it sounded like the Blue Bomber had pushed through, once again.
The ground shook and alarms blared, warning of the castle's self-destruct activation. Nothing new. Proto considered jumping down to check on Mega, but his brother would be fine. He'd just teleport out. But wait. The teleporter wasn't responding. Something was blocking it!
Proto activated his remote comms. "Mega Man? He's blocked our recall systems. Climb out of there, now. This place is going down."
No response. Proto leaned over the gaping pit, visions of his blue brother's fall flashing through his mind. The Wily Machine had gone down hard, smashing through the floor into a pitch black area beneath the castle. No knowing how far they'd fallen, or where they'd landed.
One life sign registered. Wily was still down there, his heart beating. But what about—?
"I repeat," Proto said into the comms. "Climb out now. Please respond."
The ground trembled again. Proto knew the castle could only stand a few more minutes, barely enough time for him to get out, but he couldn't leave his brother behind.
No more hesitation. He activated night vision and jumped down.
The chamber below was more of a vertical tunnel than a natural cavern, still part of the castle. Proto wondered if Wily had planned this descent as a last-ditch effort to stop Mega Man. But whatever his plans, the maniacal doctor had failed miserably.
He was little more than a head and torso, his one human hand dragging his body along the ground. Mechanical parts sparked where his other limbs should have been. He was now more than machine, and Mega had destroyed that machine.
The Blue Bomber stood with his arm cannon trained at the doctor. Sparks and flames spewed from the mechanical walls, damaged from the fight. Wily crawled toward an intact console in one corner, next to a capsule covered in blue-tinted glass.
"Mega Man," Proto said, walking up to rest a hand on his brother's shoulder. Mega's helmet was damaged—must have knocked out the comm unit. "Let's get out. The castle is collapsing."
"Not without him. He'll pay for what he did."
"You know you can't—"
Mega's face tightened to a grimace as he refocused on the pitiful doctor. "Leave it, Proto. This isn't your fight. It ends now. Life for life."
"No!" the scientist cried, choking on the word, coughing blood into his palm.
"Leave him," Proto said. "He won't make it, anyway. But we're running out of time. Let's go!"
Even as he spoke the words, he knew Mega Man couldn't will himself to leave. His emotion chip was locked in war againstt his programming, unable to kill, but unable to leave Wily for dead. Either he would see the man safe or save him himself, but everything in him fought against either resolution. He couldn't win. He couldn't lose. He could only wait.
Wily dragged himself a few more meters to the console. "I will live," he cried. "I will live… forever!"
With a final grunt of effort, he gripped a lever on the console, pulling it back with the weight of his collapse. The nearby capsule began to open, smoke billowing from within. Mega Man retrained his buster toward the capsule.
"I will get the doctor," Proto said. "You get out. Whatever that is, it'll be buried here with the rest of this junk."
"No. No more letting his plans slide. We stop this here and now." Mega held his arm steady. Why did he never listen?
Proto ran to Wily, whose breathing was slow and shallow. He turned to Mega. "If we don't get him out of here now, he'll die."
That was enough to snap Mega Man out of his infinite loop. He ran over to help lift the scientist over the red robot's shoulder, then looked back to the capsule.
"Go," Proto said. And for once, Mega started to obey—but they'd delayed too long.
Smoked billowed from the capsule, quickly followed by a red robot, one sharp, white-pointed boot after the other. A spiked red helmet separated his human-like face from a swooping lock of blond hair, and a blue crystal shone with dark, purple energy on his forehead. His buster was larger than any Proto Man had seen—and he raised it to point at Mega Man.
"Down!" Proto shouted, dashing away. He tried to hold onto Wily, but the doctor slipped from his arms and landed on his stomach with a loud "oomph."
Mega dodged the first shot. The plasma blasted a crater in the far wall. The shockwave threw Mega off his feet, but he bounced back onto one knee and prepared to return fire.
Wily cackled with laughter as he rolled onto his back, pointing at the new red robot. "Do you like my creation? He is the first, the alpha, the beginning of a new age; a true fighting robot. You are little more than insects to him. Fall to the ground and worship at the feet of Zero!"
A second blast flew toward Proto. He braced to block with his shield, but the plasma tore a hole through it like paper, slamming him into the far wall. He crumpled to the ground, energy low. More shots sounded, Mega's charge shots a quiet ping against the explosive blasts from Zero.
Draining his last reserve tank, Proto Man struggled to his feet. Mega's fully charged shots splashed against Zero's side like water as the larger robot fired back in rapid succession. The Blue Bomber was in rough shape, visibly drained from the battle with Wily, barely avoiding each attack.
Then he dodged the wrong way, and a shot blasted his buster arm into oblivion.
"Mega Man!" Proto shouted.
The Blue Bomber held the sparking wires and circuits at his shoulder where his arm once was. He had nothing left. Would he even make it out?
Zero fired a warning shot at Proto and said, "Be gone. We have no qualms with you."
What? Why? But Proto had no time to vocalize those questions.
In a final flash of plasma, the Blue Bomber was gone, reduced to black dust staining the metal floor, an evil grin on Zero's face. He turned his back to Proto Man. "You are free to go."
And before he could protest, his vision shrank, and he teleported away, by no choice of his own.