Megaman Reborn

[Mewfour]

Heh, it appears that I let the last MMR thread die. Of well, here's another.

Memories raced through his head, fast and feverishly like a raging hurricane, seeing his own life flash before his eyes. Almost as suddenly as it began, it had stopped, and he was left with blackness. Sounds, he could hear sounds now. Voices, his ears could hear with eerily abnormal crispness. He could hear his own heartbeat as well, hear his own blood pumping through his veins, hear his very mind ticking. Touch, he felt like he was lying down on his stomach, and through it he felt every vibration on the surface upon which he lay, he even felt the chattering voices bounce against his bones. Smell, he could smell traces of sweat, blood, metal, ashes, and scraped skin. He willed his eyes to open, and with razor-sharp clearness, he saw the world around him.

"He's waking up," he heard a voice say. He jolted over onto his back, looking up at two figures peering down at him, their faces marred by a blindingly bright light hovering over him. He shielded his eyes from the stunning brightness as he heard one say, "Easy there. We just stitched your spine shut again a week ago."

His eyes quickly adjusted to the light above him, and the faces quickly took form. They looked nothing like any face he could remember, because when he tried to match them, he could remember nothing.

Machines, he could hear machines whirring and beeping close by. Turning his head slowly to his left, he saw various machines of all different shapes and sizes lined around the walls of the small, dark room he and the strangers were in. He tried his memory to recall this setting, but again his brain dealt him blanks. Trying to remember anything else on everything else, he could find nothing more than nothing at all. Looking up at the faces again, he murmured, "Who are you?"

As he felt his words reverbarate in his throat, one looked up at the other and said, "They're getting smarter. They're making sure to sever nerves in the neck and deal heavy cranial trauma, destroying most if not all of the brain's memory patterns."

"Indeed," replied the second. "We were lucky to find you when we did," the other said, looking at him again. "We've been looking for other bodies for years, and you're the only one to have a fraction of a chance of surviving the operation."

He groaned wearily. His ears rang with their voices, and so did it echo inside his body. "What are you?" He moaned. "Where am I?"

"You're in our operating room, whoever you are," said the larger figure. "Auto and I are humans, just as you are." Then, looking at the other figure, he said, "At least, you were human."

"Human," he moaned. "I'm a human?" he asked, hardly understanding the word.

"Human," said the second, "And a very lucky one at that too."

His eyes suddenly popped into focus, and he could now see the two faces clearly. The bony, dark-skinned, red-haired face on his left looked at him with dark sunglasses, while the one on his right looked at him with a long-drawn jaw, a red and white bandanna, and a pair of large glasses decorated the rest his face. "Who are you people?" he asked wearily.

"This is Auto," said the one with the sunglasses, motioning at the one with the bandanna, "he's the one who performed the operation, and the one who gave you another chance. My name is Blues, and I am the one who found you."

"Found me?" he murmured, "Operation? What's going on?"

Auto and Blues looked grimly at each other. "You don't remember a thing, do you?" Auto asked him. He weakly shook his head. "Care to enlighten him, or shall I?" Auto asked.

"You, whoever you are, are a human," Blues said, "Or at least what's left of you is. We found you sixteen miles from here four years ago, another victim of a Virtuloid attack."

Virtuloid. Something within his mind suddenly jarred.

"They had broken your back, neck, and almost every other bone in your body. Whatever bones you still had were in pieces, in whatever limbs you still had on you."

"Am I dead?" he suddenly gasped, sitting up quickly. He found that he was sitting on a table, and his head nearly hit the bright lamp that hung from the ceiling overhead.

"Yes, you are," Blues said, "But your brain is very much alive, thanks to Auto."

He looked at Auto, who grinned and said, "You have no idea what trouble I went through trying to keep your brain alive."

His eyes suddenly darted to his body, and found it to be coated in a deep blue metal. His hands, a soft and silky-feeling white, were like large gloves, almost as large as his forearm. He wiggled his feet, finding nor feeling not toes, but two bulky blocks, shaped into oversized blue boots. "What am I?" He asked, shivering with fright, "What have you done to me?"

"We've brought you back, whatever your name is," said Blues. "Whatever we couldn't find of your scattered body we made, based on some blueprints of the 20XX roboticist, doctor Thomas Light."

Light. Another sudden jolt rocked his mind.

"Light," he murmured. "That was him who made machines, human-like machines- robots."

"Yes," said Blues, "And he also made the original fighting robot, Megaman."

Megaman. Another jolt.

"Megaman, and the later X model," said Auto. "I replicated your body based on the data I found on both Megamen," he said. "Both of them were made to be peaceful, helpful robots, but were both, ironically, remodified into battle robots to protect humans." Auto looked at him straight in his deep green eyes. "Odd, though, you're a human like us, and now you, remodelled after the Megamen, can protect the rest of us humans."

"Megaman," he muttered. "You've made me the new Megaman?"

Blues nodded. "And we did because we need you to protect us from the Virtuloids."

At the mention of Virtuloids again, his memory jarred again.

"You made a Megaman with my body?" he murmured. "Just to protect you?"

"That's what both Megamen were created for," Blues said, "Protecting humans and robots alike from themselves. And now, us humans need another Megaman, and you are him."

The peices of the tale and his new, however few, memories were far from his ability to stick together into a complete story. So much was missing, and he wanted to find out what. "What's going on?" he asked, "Why do you need me to protect you?"

Blues looked grimly at Auto, who returned his grimace. "It's horrible down here, Megaman," he said, "and the Virtuloids are closing in on us quickly. We're running out of resources, and soon, we will all die. That's why we made you into a new Megaman, whoever you are."

"Don't I have a name?" he asked. "I can't remember mine..."

"Of course you can't," said Auto quickly, "Your corpse's brain had its entire memory wiped clean."

He looked at his new body intently. "Did the Megamen have names?" he asked.

"One of them did," said Blues, "His name was Rock."

"Then that's who I'll be," he said, "My name is Rock."

[powermudkip]

Yay!A Megaman fic ^_^
When I saw the title I was hoping it would be the battle network series but I'm still happy ^_^.
I like the first chapter.I don't have anything to complain about with this chapter.I love it!

[Pokemaster Ash]

It's not bad, though I wish you would dig Rumble of the Robot Masters up from where ever you have it stored. I liked that one.

[Mewfour]

Rock looked into the mirror, and saw his face for the first time. Pale, pinkish-yellow skin held firm below a tangled mess of shoulder-length, fluffy, jet-black hair. He never noticed that he had green eyes until Blues, looking over his shoulder, pointed it out to him. "Is this what I looked like?" he asked.

"No, we had to reconstruct your face," Blues said, pushing his dark glasses further up his nose. "Those Virtuloids left your former self in quite a mess after they were through with you."

Rock's fingertips ran down his cheek, feeling the soft yet sturdy bend of something other than bone underneath. "Blues, I'm still a little lost," he said, still locking eyes with his reflection. "Can you explain what happened again?"

Just then, a high voice asked, "Hey Blues, done with him yet?"

Rock and Blues turned behind them to see a slender blonde woman leaning in the doorway. "Not yet, Roll," Blues said, "Rock's still sorting out an identity crisis."

"Well, I've got to hand it to Auto," Roll said, "He really did make an impressive-looking robot out of that body."

Blues saw Rock gazing dumbfoundedly at Roll. "Rock, let me introduce you to our scouter, Roll," said Blues, beckoning Roll to enter the room.

Roll was almost at tall as Rock, and Roll smiled welcomingly at Rock when she joined them. "So you're the new Megaman," Roll said, extending her hand to Rock, "Nice to meet you."

Rock hesitated a bit before he shook Roll's hand. Almost as soon as they touched, something flew past Rock's mind. A fragment of scrambled memory of his past life again flashed before him, this time showing a split-second glimpse of a woman, almost like Roll, with much longer blonde hair.

Roll unsteadily took her hand back when she saw Rock gazing emptily at her. "Something wrong?" She asked.

Rock blinked for two seconds before rubbing his eyes. "Nothing," he muttered, "Just some memories."

"Memories?" Roll asked.

"He's suffering from amnesia," Blues explained bluntly. "Most of the memory patterns in his brain were destroyed when he was killed. Apparently, a few of them are still there."

It was then that Rock noticed that all the rooms that he had been to were devoid of any lighting. "Why is it always so dark in here?" Rock asked, "Where are we anyways?"

Blues looked at Roll grimly, who returned his glance with a frown of her own. "Rock," said Blues, "I think I should start at the beginning."

******

Rock and Blues sat at the only table in the dark room, lit only by a light bulb hanging from the ceiling on a string. Rock sipped quietly on a hot mug of tea while Blues told him their story. "...And then someone thought it would be hilarious if he hacked into Masterframe and turned all of the Virtuloids against us humans," Blues muttered.

"Why would someone do that?" Rock asked.

"I don't know," Blues muttered, "But if he wanted to turn the Virtuloids against us, he did it the right way. Masterframe controls every Virtuloid's free-thought modules, and bypassing Masterframe would turn the Virtuloids into Reploids... and Mavericks."

"Now you're confusing me," Rock murmured. "What's the difference between a Virtuloid and a Reploid?"

"Reploids were robots based on Megaman X, capable of free thought and free will. They could break the three laws if they wanted, but they seldom did."

"Three laws?"

"One, a robot must never harm a human. Two, a robot must do what a human tells it to do, unless it interferes with the first law. Third, a robot must preserve itself, unless it conflicts with the first or second law."

"So if the Reploids were free-thinking like Virtuloids, what's the difference?"

"Virtuloids are Reploids," said Blues, "But whereas Reploids were free-thinking, Virtuloids are controlled by Masterframe."

"What is Masterframe?" Rock asked.

"Masterframe," Blues hummed to himself. "I'm not even completely sure what it is either. It was a computer developed by us humans to keep Reploids from going Maverick after the Maverick Wars. Neo Arcadia tried to destroy the Reploids instead of implementing Masterframe, but that backfired. So both sides agreed that Masterframe was the only solution to prevent Maverickism."

Rock took another long sip of his tea before he spoke again. "So let me get this straight," he said. "Reploids were put under control by Masterframe, turned into Virtuloids and then Masterframe broke down and turned every Virtuloid against humans."

"Exactly," said Blues. "They rule the surface now, and the rest of us humans have been hiding underground ever since. We knew the only way to fight back was to create another Megaman, but if we made him a Reploid, it would only be a matter of time before he went Virtuloid. That's why we searched the ruins of the surface regularily, looking for dead humans to try and partially convert into robots, because not only would they not give off biological life signs, they would be immune to Masterframe's control and able to fit in perfectly with other Virtuloids. We need someone to break through their defenses and destroy Masterframe, and without Masterframe, the Virtuloids will revert back to Reploids. Maybe then we can build a new Masterframe, one that won't be so easily hacked."

"Turning Virtuloids against humans," Rock muttered, "Why would anyone do such a thing?" he asked, apalled.

"That's not our concern right now, Rock," Blues said firmly. "Right now, our concern is getting enough power to our main generator. It's been offline for too long now, and we can't last much longer without it."

Rock finished the last of his tea. "So if I'm going to go and get fuel for your generator and destroy Masterframe, when do I leave?"

It took Blues only a split second to reply, "Now."

[Mewfour]

Before he knew it, he was standing in the midst of a large field, before the gates of a large, ominous building. "Rock, can you hear me?" Roll's voice asked.

"I'm hearing you loud and clear," Rock replied, tapping on the side of his blue helmet.

"How did you like the teleportation machine Auto made?" Roll asked.

"Didn't feel a thing," Rock responded.

"Good. Now back to subject," Roll said quickly. "Rock, the fuel capsules that our power generator needs to fuction are produced by this factory in front of you," she said. "There's a ton Virtuloid drones inside, and they've been programmed to destroy anyone that is unauthorized to be there, and that would include you."

"Any idea where these capsules are located?" Rock asked.

"Sorry, our radar can't penetrate that far into their buildings, so you'll have to find them yourself. Move quickly, Rock. As soon as the drones spot you, they'll call real Virtuloids to hunt you down. There's no Virtuloids for miles around, so you'll have about thirty minutes to get in, grab the capsules, get out and lie low for awhile."

"Can't you just teleport me back to the hideout after I've got the capsules?" Rock asked.

"Blues should've told you," Roll muttered, "That teleport machine takes up a lot of energy, and you know our generator doesn't have much of it to spare. It'll take an hour to save up enough energy to keep our systems running and bring you back at the same time again, so you're on your own until then."

"Damn, this isn't going to be easy," Rock muttered.

"Compared to the other missions we need you to complete for us, this one's a walk in the park," Roll said. "But don't worry, when Auto rebuilt you, he made you as exact as he could to Megaman and Megaman X. Just run in and fire at everything, get the capsules and gun your way out again."

Rock tensed his right arm, and his large white hand slid into his giant forearm, quickly replaced with the barrel of an energy cannon. "The things I do for humanity," Rock muttered to himself, readying his cannon as he crouched low to the ground like a biding leapord.

"One more thing," Roll added, "Good luck."

"I'll need it," Rock thought to himself, bracing his knees. And with a burst of speed, Rock dashed towards the gates, leapt onto the rails and catapulted himself over. Dashing madly towards the doors of the factory, Rock held his cannon arm in front of him, and began to focus all the energy his cannon could hold. And just as he felt his arm begin to tingle, Rock unleashed it all in one massive blast, destroying anything in its path with a ear-piercing roar.

The instant he blasted his way into the machine-packed factory, Rock heard hundreds of mechanical whirrs fill the air. "Here they come," Rock muttered, poising his arm cannon as the whirrs grew closer. Rock quickly shot his cannon out to his left and let out a blast of energy, smashing into what looked to Rock like an eyeball flying with airplane wings. Almost as soon as he shot down the flying drone, Rock heard millions more rush in on him. Biting his lip and taking a deep breath, Rock's feet took off, sending him running full speed down into the depths of the factory as a swarm of more of the eye drones closed in on him. Rock never knew the eye drones were capable of shooting at intruders until a few small laser blasts shot from their pupils at him, singeing the surface of his armor as he weaved in and out of their way with agility he never knew he had. The swarm of drones began to form like a fog around him, and before he knew it, Rock's arm felt like it was set alight from the massive numbers of energy shots his arm cannon fired into the air. One drone shattered and exploded into thousands of pieces with every shot, and it was replaced by three of four more soon after. Suddenly finding himself being chased down a narrow corridor, Rock saw what looked like a massive shutter begin to slowly decend from the ceiling, seconds away from sealing him inside the hallway. Summoning whatever speed his aching legs had left in them, Rock dashed at the falling shutter. Just as he was seconds away from colliding with it, Rock kicked his legs out from under him, sending himself sliding fluidly along the smooth floor, slipping underneath the shutter just before it slammed shut. Finding the rest of the hallway oddly quiet, Rock took a few seconds to rest against the wall, breathe heavily and sigh, "Now I know why there's no more Megamen left."

"Rock!" Roll's voice suddenly blared in his helmet, "Virtuloids are coming! There's at least five of them, and they'll be at the gates in ten minutes! Have you found those fuel capsules yet?"

Flexing his cannon, Rock muttered, "I've been trying to stay alive more than looking for some capsules."

"Well you'd better hurry up and find them. Those Virtuloids know what we're after, and they've no doubt put up some heavy security around where they store the fuel caps."

Rock grimaced. "Is that generator doing any better?"

"Not yet," said Roll. "But for now, you'd better keep moving. Those drones know where you are, and they won't stop hunting you until they've destroyed you."

Rock pushed himself off of the wall by his hips. "I hope I can find a way out," he muttered to himself, looking behind him at the closed shutter.

"Come back safe, Rock," Roll said as Rock heard the transmission cut.

"Easier said than done," Rock muttered, dashing down the corridor again.

The lighting suddenly grew dimmer as Rock pushed deeper into the factory. The eye drones swooped on him around every corner, with each becoming fodder of Rock's cannon soon after. Running as quickly as he could, Rock finally dashed into a large room, managing to lose the drones chasing him. It was almost pitch-black in the room, so dark that Rock barely skidded to a halt in time to stop himself from tumbling down into a deep depression in the middle of the room. Rock strained his eyes, squinting in the darkness to look around. The giant pit, one which Rock could only interpet as a mining pit, spanned the entire room, leaving only a thin sliver of floor at the other side of the room, right in front of an open hallway. Rock bit his lip nervously, knowing right away he had no chance of leaping over the pit, even with a running start. Suddenly, he heard the same whirr of small machines float closer to him, and Rock hastily changed his mind. Edging back to the entrance, Rock dashed towards the pit, and he then thought of speeding forward with inhuman velocity. As soon as the thought left his mind, some force behind him blasted from his feet, shooting him straight forward towards the pit with heartstopping speed. Surprised by his sudden burst of wind blasting against his face, Rock leapt off of the edge, flying in midar further than he thought he would have ever been able to leap in his life. But seconds later, Rock began to lose air in the middle of the pit, and Rock began to kick his legs in futility, wishing he had a second chance to jump the pit. Another burst of an invisible power hit his feet as soon as he wanted to jump again, and Rock suddenly found himself leaping upwards again, as if he had just leapt off of thin air. The second jump propelled him so far that Rock collided noisily with the wall on the other side. On instinct, Rock put his hands in front of him to protect himself, crashing into the wall with jarring recoil. Rock was surprised to find himself slowly sliding down the wall, as it his hands were somehow sticking to the wall like two magnets sticking to each other. Dropping to the ground as soon as he took away his hands, Rock landed noisily on his feet in front of the wide-open hallway on the other side of the pit. Pondering the discoveries of his new body, Rock made a mental note to ask Auto what else it could do for him as he dashed down the new hallway.

It was not long before Rock came to another screeching halt, nearly crashing into another thick shutter that blockaded the hallway. Knowing that the drones were close behind him, Rock aimed his cannon at the center of the wall, charged up all the energy his arm could hold, and unleashed it at the shutter. The kickback nearly floored Rock, and he snarled quietly in frustration when he saw the shuttere was barely scratched. Hearing the drones floating closer down the corrdor after him, Rock got back to his feet and fired rapidly at the shutter. The shutter barely shook at all from Rock's assault, and he grew so desperate to evade his hunters that he growled, "Come on, open!" smacking his fist on the shutter. The shutter suddenly zipped back into the ceiling, leaving Rock staring in dumbfounded surprise, looking into the large room the shutter once sealed. Quickly shaking the confusion, as soon as Rock passed under the shutter, it came crashing down behind him again. With no other way to go, Rock ventured into the middle of the oddly spacious chamber. Rock was overjoyed when he saw a crate sitting in the middle of the room labelled "Fuel C." Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Rock strolled towards the crate and put both hands around it.

As soon as he touched it, an automated voice said, "Input security code."

"Security code?" Rock murmured.

Suddenly, the floor opened up around the crate, and it was swallowed up by a trap door and covered again before Rock could get a firm grip on it. A loud crash roared from behind him and the ground shook violently. Rock spun around only to find that a gigantic heap of machinery had fallen from the ceiling behind him, and was now aiming the barrel of a giant cannon straight at him. Rock barely managed to roll to saftey as the cannon shot a gigantic laser like a thunderbolt at him, melting the tip of his shoulder armor in seconds. Rock responded by aiming his own arm cannon at the faceless machine and firing away. The cannon took awhile to slowly move back in line with Rock, and again it's intense blast came within inches of incinerating Rock. Realizing the machine's sluggishness, Rock stood in one place, ready to leap to his side at any moment, and began focusing all his cannon's energy into one shot again. Just as his cannon reached its limit, the machine's cannon fired, blasting against his chest. Rock felt like he was hit by a semi trailer was the blast floored him in a heartbeat. Dazed and winded, Rock barely found enough energy in time to roll out of the way of another devastating blast. Formulating a quick strategy in his head, Rock dashed to one side of the room, keeping his aim upon the middle of the machine, unleashing blast after blast of energy at its center. As soon as he reached one end of the room, Rock zigzagged back to the other side, keeping constant fire upon that one spot of the machine. The mechanical mountain's cannon kept trying to follow him around, but Rock was much too fast for it to keep track of, and soon, with time and heavy damage from Rock's cannon, the machine caught alight. And with a high-pitched whine, the machine began to crumble into a giant pile of smouldering scrap.

As soon as the fire died down, Rock saw the crate pop back out of the floor. Clutching the sore spot of his armored ribs, Rock walked over to the crate and hoisted it up onto his shoulders, and he sighed in relief when no other giant machine ambushed him.

"Rock! Are you still inside?" Roll's voice blared at him.

"Yeah," Rock replied.

"What are you doing?" Roll shrieked, "The Virtuloids have been inside for five minutes! Have you even gotten the caps yet?"

"I've got 'em, don't worry," Rock said, half annoyed by Roll's nagging and half panicked at the thought of running into a Virtuloid.

"Well what are you waiting for? Get out of there!"

Rock ran towards the shutter and smacked it again with his fist. The shutter did not even budge. "Oh ****," Rock muttered, glancing around the room for another way out. A small hatch on the wall caught his eye, and Rock made no hesitation to blast it open and dive down it.

He landed clumsily on his head seconds later. The air was fresh and more of it was gently blowing on him from above. Picking himself up, Rock rubbed his forehead and groaned, thankful for his sturdy helmet. When his vision uncrossed, Rock was delighted to see that he was now outside the factory, with the crate of fuel resting at his feet, standing below what looked like a giant air exhaust vent. Picking the box up on his shoulders again, Rock carried it along with him as he slid over the gates and quickly dashed as far away from the factory as he could.

Once he was certain he was out of danger, Rock placed the crate down beside a large boulder and rested his back against the stone. "Wow, what a rush," Rock grinned to himself. "Roll, I'm out."

"You cut it awfully close, Rock," Roll sighed. "Blues was worried sick about you. How are the caps?"

Rock lifted the lid of the crate and peeked inside. "They look fine," Rock replied. "How long until you can warp me back?"

"Ten minutes," came Roll's reply. "The Virtuloids are no doubt crawling all over the factory looking for you now, so in the meantime, keep yourself scarce, okay?"

"Can do," Rock replied as he heard the transmission fizz out. Lifting the bounder by just a bit with his body's superhuman strength, Rock kicked out a small hole in the soft dirt underneath the boulder, slid the crate into it with his foot, and gently set the giant rock down again. "Better keep you hidden for now," Rock muttered to the buried crate. Taking his helmet off, Rock's sweat-matted hair fluffed up again in a matter of seconds in the gentle breeze. Flexing his arms, Rock smirked. "Dead or not, I think I'm going to like this new body."

Suddenly, Rock heard something pop up from behind the boulder and exclaim, "Hold it right there!"

[Mewfour]

Rock whirled around, only to find himself staring down the barrel of another arm cannon. "Oh, I'm sorry," said the owner, "I thought you were one of them."

The cannon reverted back into a giant hand, and Rock was soon looking into the sparkling green eyes of another humanoid. "Them?" Rock asked. "Oh, you mean humans."

"Of course," said the android, hopping over the boulder and landing beside Rock. The lean and slender armored body modelled like a woman brushed her long blonde hair off her shoulders. "We got a few reports that one of them was raiding the fuel plant."

Rock looked at the large factory in the distance, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. "Human? I doubt it," Rock grinned knowingly. "Those weaklings couldn't even dream of doing something like this."

The android beside him giggled. "You'd be surprised what those humans are stupid enough to try," she said. "Oh, I'm sorry, my name's Marie. What's yours?"

"Rock."

"Rock," Marie pondered. "I haven't seen or heard of you before. Are you one of the newer Virtuloids?"

"You could say that," Rock said.

Marie looked back at the factory. "What are you doing out here?" she asked, stepping forward.

It was that sudden image of Marie's face accented by the slowly setting sun that made Rock's memory jar. A flash of another woman, almost exactly like Marie, raced through his head and vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"Something wrong?"

Rock blinked and shook off his daze. "What are you doing here?" Rock quickly answered Marie with another question.

"I asked you first," said Marie.

"Damaged," Rock said, tapping on the slightly discolored part of his armor. "I caught wind of something happening in the factory an hour ago. When I got in, the drones in the factory turned against me."

Marie blinked in disbelief. "Those wimpy little drones did that to you?" she asked skeptically.

"You try fighting off two hundered at once," Rock retorted.

"The drones turned against you?" she asked, "How?"

"Whoever's raiding the factory must have something to do with it," Rock played along.

"Oh, well it's a good thing you didn't run into the main security turret in the fuel cap storage chamber," Marie said. "Last time that thing went bezerk, it wiped out an entire platoon."

"Lucky me," Rock muttered. "Now, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, perimeter patrol," she replied. "I just wait around places like these when we're flushing out humans. Some manage to get away sometimes, and when they think they're safe..." she said, quickly dragging her thumb across her throat, grinning.

It took all of Rock's willpower to stop himself from shivering. "You want to know what I heard?" Rock said, quickly changing the subject. "I heard that some of them were looking for other dead humans to make into a super-powerful robot."

Marie looked at Rock in dumbfounded confusion, and then she burst out in laughter. "God, that's the most absurd thing I've ever heard," she laughed.

"Yeah, stupid isn't it?" Rock grinned, laughing along with and at her.

Marie's laugh faded into a sigh as she glanced at a small device on her wrist. "Oh, it's already time to give it in," she said. "I guess there's no humans for me to axe today," she sighed, dissapointed.

"Tommorow's another day," Rock hummed, trying his best to maintain his composure.

"Well, I'm off to the factory to help clean up the mess. Coming?" she asked.

"I'd love to, but I've got to be somewhere soon," Rock replied.

"Oh," said Marie, a little wishfully. "Well, I hope I'll see you around again sometime," she said, sprinting towards the factory, "See ya!"

"Likewise!" Rock waved after her. As soon as Marie was but a shadow at the gates of the distant building, Rock breathed, "Even the female Virtuloids are cold blooded."

"Hey Rock!" Roll's voice cheerfully piped from his helmet, "The generator's got enough power to bring you back. Do you still have the caps?"

Rock rolled the boulder over with his foot and picked up the crate from the ground. Putting his helmet back on and holding up the crate, he said, "I've got them."

Before he could say another word, Rock was whisked away into thin air.

*****

Rock quickly found himself in the dark underground bunker again, stepping out of the coffin-like machine with the crate under his arm. "Welcome back," said Roll, smiling at him from a computer kiosk at his right, taking off her headset.

"The caps?" Blues asked, standing in front of him with Auto.

"Right here," said Rock, patting the crate gently with his other hand.

"I'll take those," said Auto, taking the crate from Rock, carrying it like a barrel across his chest, and quickly disappearing into the depths of the hideout.

"I take it you're not too damaged?" Blues asked clamly, looking at Rock's melted shoulder armor and the blemish on his side.

"Just a little tired," said Rock.

"Well rest up," said Blues, "You've got a big day tommorrow."

Rock sighed and pulled up an empty chair beside Roll. "How do you like your new body?" Roll asked.

"Awesome," Rock grinned.

"Good," said Blues, "because now I think we'll need it for more than just fighting."

Rock looked up at Blues inquizitively. "What do you mean?" Rock asked.

"It seems like you're new Virtuloid-like body has helped you make yourself a new friend," Blues said.

Rock's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

Roll tapped on her headset in her lap. "I heard it all, you know," she said.

"If you could get that female Virtuloid to open up to you like that with just idle chit-chat," Blues reasoned, rubbing his chin, "Imagine what she could tell us about the inner workings of the Virtuloid ranks, or even Masterframe itself."

"It's promising alright," said Roll cheerfully.

Suddenly, the dim lightbulbs that illuminated the room lit up brightly. "Ow," Roll murmured, shielding her eyes, "Jeez, that's bright..."

"It's been awhile since they've seen light this bright," Blues muttered, looking at Rock after glancing at Roll.

"They?" Rock asked.

Blues replied calmly, "I'm blind."

Rock's jaw dropped silently. He gazed at Blues, and suddenly realized that Blues could not gaze back. "But- then how did you know I had green eyes?" Rock asked.

"Auto told me," Blues replied placidly.

"Oh," Rock murmured, flushing red with sheepishness. "I was wondering why you wore sunglasses in this dark hideout."

"These aren't sunglasses," Blues said, "These are audio-wave receptors." When Rock gave Blues a confused look, Blues said, "You know how a bat sees in the dead of night? It sends out super-high sonic waves that bounce off objects and back to it. These glasses are doing that right now, and they're giving my brain a picture instead of using my eyes. Oh, and Roll, you left the CPU out of the recharger jack again."

"Did I? Oh," she murmured, reaching below the kiosk and fiddling with an assortment of switches.

Rock rubbed his eyes and slouched deeper into the chair. "I'm sorry Blues," Rock groaned, "I just... need some time to adjust... to everything."

"I understand," said Blues, "It's not every day that a guy gets brought back from the dead to save his fellow men." When Roll cleared her throat loudly, Blues added, "And women."

Just then, Auto came back into the room, wiped his forehead and let out a heavy sigh. "The caps are installed," he said. "This batch should last us for another few years."

"Another few years?" Rock asked. "Just how long have you been hiding down here?"

"Six years, four months, and seventeen days to be exact," Blues said quickly.

"And we're hating every minute of it," Roll pouted.

Suddenly, a faint bleeping came from Blues' wrist. "It's ten o'clock," said Blues, looking at his watch, "Time to pack in."

Roll put her headset on the counter of the kiosk, stretched her arms and yawned. "Good," she murmured, standing up and stretching her back. "Night, Rock."

Auto had already vanished from the room and Roll did soon as well. Just as soon as Rock stood up, Blues said, "I'll show you to your quarters, Rock. Believe me, you'll need all the rest you can get."

[Mewfour]

Rock rolled over. His body felt a lot different now that he had left his armor. Part of him was glad to have the extra weight off of his shoulders, but when he looked at what was left of his own body, he wished the armor was his body. Chunks of flesh on his torso were missing, pieces that Auto told him were too decayed to keep, now replaced with steel that poked into what was left of his body every so often. He looked at his arms, pasty pale white, and he could have sworn that he felt something clicking when he moved his left elbow. The hard matress on the floor that he lay on with a thin tarp and a piece of a tire, wrapped in patchy fabric as a pillow was the first time he had the chance to rest his worn body. Even if it was the spartian bed instead, Rock could not sleep at all, his mind already much too occupied with thoughts of his new life as a Megaman.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Rock stared at the low ceiling of the small and dark room, staring up at the ceiling and examining the thin crack that ran along the middle. Even though it was almost a whole day, it seemed like only a few minutes ago that he had woken up face-down on the operating table, seeing Blues and Auto for the first time with nothing but his body and a scattered memory of the man he was before. His thoughts turned to the factory, and how his new body could perform feats that Rock still could not believe he could execute. More sooner than later, Rock thought about the first, and only, Virtuloid he met. There was something about Marie that made his mind tick. Something from within the buried memories in his subconsiousness surfaced whenever he saw her in his head; the image of another human, with flowing blonde hair like Marie's, in front of a setting sun. Rock clamped his eyes shut and tried to force his brain to remember, but nothing came back.

Rock groaned and rolled over onto his side. Shivering, Rock pulled the tarp higher up on his body, covering the tip of his shoulders as his toes peeked out from the bottom. Wrapping his arms around himself, Rock wondered how the others could stand living like this for years on end. Looking at the small remnants of a tiny wristwatch by the head of the matress on the floor beside him, Rock saw that it was exactly midnight, with only five hours to go until Blues told him it was time for all of them to wake up. He began to wonder if his former self was anything like what he was now, and if his previous persona could live like he was living now. Rock tried to imagine himself, as what he was before his death, in the life he had lived before. Meeting his friends, if he had any, coming home to his family, if he had a family or even a home. Nothing came back to him, and Rock found himself on the verge of breaking up.

Marie. The Virtuloid came back to his mind again, and Rock was powerless to flush her out again. Rock had to admit he found her attractive, but at the same time, his stomach churned when he thought of the pleasure she got in slitting human throats like a sport. Rock wondered how someone so beautiful could be so heartless as he rolled onto his other side. Rubbing his eyes, Rock thought about what Blues had said, how he was to use her to get information, how easy it would be to win her trust, and how deavastated she would be if she knew his true motives.

Rock's thoughts finally shifted away from Marie. He wondered if all Virtuloids were as human-careless as Marie was, or if they were even worse. Rock kept wondering what Blues had in store for him in the morning, if it were fighting actual Virtuloids. He suddenly found himself wondering why he was helping them, and he soon concluded that he was the only one who could. Rock began to ponder if his former self was as trustingly compassionate as he was now.

Rock rolled onto his other side again and looked at the tiny watch. It was three-thirty, and Rock felt no more will to sleep than he did before. Beginning to try and remember if he was an insomniac in his last life, Rock found his memory was again dealing him blanks. Rock looked at his hands again, feeling the barrels of his cannons tucked inside his wrists and nothing else, not even a hint of flesh nor vein. He began to wonder how long he would have to live like this, and knew that maybe only the barrels of his cannons would know for sure...

Suddenly, the small clock beeped at him. Rock looked at the tiny watch and saw that it had just turned five o'clock. Immediately, a knocking came from behind his door. "Hey Rock, wake up," came the voice of Blues.

Rock groaned and sat up, kicking the tarp off of his body. Swiveling over to the side of the bed, Rock put on the thin long-sleeved shirt beside his bed, slid on the matching pants and socks, and stood up. Stretching his arms, Rock yawned as he opened the door.

Blues was the first thing that met his eyes. "Sleep well?" Blues asked.

"Didn't sleep at all," Rock muttered.

Blues sighed. "You'll get used to it," he said, "After the first year it'll actually feel comfortable."

Rock decided not to ask Blues how he would know. "So what are you going to have me do today?" Rock asked.

"Not what I'm going to have you do," said Blues, "What you want to do."

Rock gave Blues a confused look. "Come with me to the main room," said Blues, "and we'll start the briefing."

[Mewfour]

'Nother update cuz I'm bored out of my wits.

The photographs were piled in six different stacks on the small, round table. Rock, Blues, Roll and Auto sat down around them, and waited for Blues to speak. "Up until now," Blues said to Rock, "We've only been able to take quick snapshots of thier resource facilities. Without these, the Virtuloids know that thier operations would cease in a matter of weeks, so they've put up heavy security around them."

"So you're asking me to break my way in there and level the place?" Rock asked.

"In simpler terms," said Blues, "yes. Of course, your raid on the factory yesterday turned some heads, so they've stepped up thier defenses a bit. Word has it that the Virtuloid officers that supervise those plant's operations have come to help defend them."

"So, where are they?" Rock asked.

Blues pushed a stack of photos across the table to Rock, and Rock began to thumb through them. "These are the six most critical plants that the Virtuloids need to survive," said Blues. "A hydro-electric dam, an incineration plant, an ore mine, a sub-zero storage hold, a nuclear power plant, and a weather-monitoring station. When all of these have been destroyed, we'll have them at their weakest."

"Sounds good," said Rock, "Which should I attack first?"

"Your choice," said Blues. "Go for whichever target you think you're ready for."

Rock took some time to paw through the photographs again. "I'll go with the ore mines," he said at length.

"Auto, prepare the teleportation machine," Blues ordered.

"I'm on it," Auto said cheerfully, getting up and moving to the hallway.

"Oh wait, Auto," Rock called, halting Auto.

"Yeah? What?"

"I've been meaning to ask you about my new body," said Rock, "I want to know all of what I can do with it first."

"Oh, that's right," Auto said, "I never got the chance to tell you. Blues, mind if I enlighten him before he goes?"

"Take all the time you need," Blues replied. Auto beckoned Rock to follow him out of the room.

*****

Rock, lying on his stomach on the same operating table he awoke on, felt like a vulture was picking apart his neck. "Ouch, watch it," Rock winced as Auto prodded the inside of his vertebrae with a thin instrument.

"Hey, you wanted me to spruce you up?" Auto asked, "Well that's what I'm doing, so lie still."

"I just wanted to- ow!" Rock said, pausing to yelp, "-just wanted to know what my body can do."

"Well, I must admit, when I first put you back together, it wasn't my best of my work," Auto said, "Blues kind of rushed me."

"Well- ow! God damnit!" Rock gritted his teeth, "Do you have to keep me awake while you cut me open and poke to death?"

"Yes, I can't garuntee the stability of your nervous system yet," said Auto, "And I can't poke you to death when you're already dead."

"Smart ass- ow," Rock muttered.

"Well, if you think you're in pain now, I could have restored your nerves to full sensitivity."

"I hate being dead," Rock pouted.

"Well, you'd better get used to it," Auto said as Rock winced again, "But hey, look on the bright side. At least you're getting a second go on this mortal plane."

Rock groaned as Auto began to stitch up the skin on his neck again. "Okay, well- ow- what exactly can my body do?" he asked.

Auto paused to dump his bloodied instuments in the nearby sink. "Well, for starters," he said, "I think you've already noticed your superhuman speed and strength."

Rock sat up and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the ribbing of threads poking out of his skin. "Yeah, I know," he said, "And the two cannons in my arms," he added, "What else?"

Auto rolled up a chair beside the table and sat down with Rock. "Anti-gravity speed propellers in your feet allow you to fly forward very quickly, but only for about a second. Those same propellers can give off a blast of anti-gravity in midair, just enough to do your jumping for you. But the propellers can only give you one burst, until you land again, they won't work."

"I found that out in the factory," said Rock, "And I also found that I can slide down walls by just putting my hand to them. Is that all?"

"Close," said Auto, "But not yet. I modelled you after Megaman and X, remember?"

"Yeah? So?"

"So, if you can destroy a Virtuloid, put your hand on his body, and your arm cannon can copy a part of his weaponry system. But which part it copies is completely random, so I can't garuntee you that it would be totally reliable."

"The more weapons, the better," Rock muttered. "Anything else?"

"No," said Auto, "but I'm still going to be working on new weapons and adapters for you," said Auto. "I'm not having any luck right now, though, but I'm sure I can build something."

Suddenly, Blues walked into the room. "Rock, are you ready yet?" He asked.

"Ready as I'm ever going to be," Rock said, standing up.

"Good," said Blues, "because we really can't afford to pass up any more time. Those Virtuloids are expecting another attack, no doubt, and the more time we waste, the more time they have to prepare."

"Well, I'd better get moving," Rock said, following Blues out of the room. "Hey Auto, good luck with your projects."

"Thanks Rock," Auto said as Rock and Blues disappeared, "you're gonna' need it..."

***********

Rock was standing at the mouth of a gigantic cave seconds later. Quickly diving between two large boulders as soon as he realized he was out in the open, Rock tapped on the side of his helmet as soon as he was safely hidden. "Roll, I'm at the mines," Rock whispered.

"Good," said Roll, "You know what to do, just be careful, Rock. Who knows what those Virtuloids have in those mines."

"Something not too welcoming, I'm sure," Rock muttered.

"I can't really tell if our signal will reach into those caves, Rock," said Roll, "So you'll be on your own for awhile."

"Just leave it to me," Rock said, morphing his forearm into a cannon again.

"We're counting on you, Rock," said Roll worriedly, "Please come back in at least one piece."

"I'll try," Rock said as he heard the connection sizzle out. Charging the energy from his reserves into his arm cannon, Rock smirked to ease himself and said, "Let's rock."

*****

The heavy iron door came blasting off of it's hinges in a booming explosion, and Rock came dashing past it seconds later. Almost as soon as he crossed over the thresholds, a deafening alarm screamed though the air. A quick shot to a small electrical box on the side of the wall silenced the alarm immediately, and Rock could hear a swarm of drones rushing towards him. The first flash of light that caught the corner of his eye made Rock's arm cannon fire a blast upon it. A small blast rocked the insides of the cave as Rock continued to run through the tunneled-out corridors. The corridor widened sharply in front of him, and Rock found himself dashing towards a large pit, littered all about with various cranes and pulleys. Pushing himself as far as he could into the air as he leapt off the edge of the pit, Rock landed firmly in the empty carriage of an ore basket, being gently raised upwards to a hole in the roof of the cavern. Reading his arm cannon, Rock waited with bated breath as the carriage whisked him into the roof and to the upper level. As soon as he saw the ground of the new platform, Rock lept off of the cart and let his cannon fire in front of him at the first thing he saw. The small bulldozer-like robot was blasted onto its side, and another shot from Rock's cannon set it ablaze. Dashing over the ruined robot, Rock ran into the next corridor he came across.

A sudden jab of pain in his back sent Rock stumbling as he ran along the ground. Spinning himself around, Rock opened a barrage of firepower at the cloud of eye-drones behind him, each exploding in a shower of flames and shrapnel. Another sharp jab in his side sent Rock whirling around and firing madly, laying chaos to the army of mass of various robots in front of him. When the corridor was silent, Rock rubbed his ribs. Rock began to wonder where he would find something to destroy the mines with, and he immediately thought of a horde of explosives levelling the entire caverns. Hoping to become lucky, Rock continued down the tunnels with dynamite on his mind.

The cannon on his hand felt like it would met any second. Blasting anything that moved as he ran like a rabid wolf down the twisting tunnels made his head spin. He barely managed to recognize another large pit in front of him to jump in time, sending him sailing towards the other side. With a quick thrust of his legs in the air as he came to the middle of the chasm, Rock pushed himself into the air again, landing squarely on the other side of the mining pit.

A sudden rumbling from beneath him made his nerves shiver. Suddenly, the ground opened up beneath him and swallowed him whole. Rock landed clumsily on his feet in another cavern, inside a small, empty cart on a rail track. Another rumble shook the caverns, and the cart began to move. Deciding to leave his life to luck, Rock readied his arm cannon and braced himself for the worst, as the rail cart slowly dropped down a steep hill. Rock looked down the plummeting railway, and was relieved to see nothing but a hazard-less ride down. But when another rumble caused the rails to fall apart, Rock screamed, "Oh shit!"

The wheels of the cart skipped over the broken rails, jarring Rock as it skidded over the damaged tracks. As he fell down the steep hill, Rock saw an empty cart sitting lazily on a level platform ahead of him. Perching on the rim of the cart, Rock leapt out of the plummeting rail cart, only to land in the other one seconds later. The force of Rock's body crashing inside the small cart was enough to send it racing along the new set of tracks, just at the caves trembled again. Rock began to wonder what was making the tremors around him as the cart skidded into a low hole in the wall, so tight that Rock had to hide himself in the cart to slip past. When he stood again, Rock found himself gently coming to a halt at what looked like the end of the tracks. As soon as the cart stopped, Rock hopped out, and rubbed the back of his neck. "I've had it with the easy way out," He muttered, looking at the cart.

It was then that Rock noticed another heavy shutter in the spacious room he now stood in, the same kind he encountered in the fuel factory. Knowing it may be his only way out, Rock knocked on the shutter, and it was immediately pulled up into the wall, revealing a small, short tunnel leading to another shutter. Taking a deep breath, Rock stepped over the threshold, and the shutter immediately came slamming down behind him. Rallying all of what remained of his courage, Rock walked to the shutter ahead of him, and gave it a light touch. The shutter came up in a flash, revealing a large room in front of him. Stepping past the shutter, it came crashing down behind him again, trapping Rock inside the room.

Rock looked around, and saw that the room was completely bare, and the shutter that had let him in the room would not bugde a bit. "Roll, can you hear me?" Rock asked.

"I'm reading you," came Roll's voice, marred by static and interference, "But not very well."

"I'm trapped," said Rock, "I'm in some kind of room, and I can't see a way out."

"How'd you get in?"

"A retractable one-way wall. I can't go back through it."

"Oh my- wait a second, Rock," Roll suddenly gasped.

"What?"

"Rock, there's a Virtuloid right beneath you!"

Rock barely managed to leap to his side before a large drill shot up from the ground where he was a split-second ago. Another rumble made the whole ground shake, and Rock nearly fell over from the intense tremor. The ground split apart in front of him, and a large, bulky figure popped up from underneath the ground, and glared at Rock as soon as he landed. "Let me guess," said the Virtuloid, "The guy who raided the fuel factory?"

"In the flesh," Rock replied.

The Virtuloid sported numerous drills poking out from his body, most notably the three large augers that made his left hand. "You're certainly a brave-looking one," said the Virtuloid in his deep, scratchy voice, "What's your name?"

"If you must call me something, my name is Rock."

"The pleasure is all mine, Rock," said the Vitruloid plottingly. "They call me Ground. Remember that, it's going to be the last name you'll hear."

With that, Ground charged at Rock, thrusting his massive drill-laden hand at Rock. Rock catapulted himself off of Ground's head like a hurdle horse, spun around in mid-air, and opened fire upon the back of Ground's neck. Ground only stumbled a bit, hardly shaken by Rock's attacks. As soon as Rock landed again, Ground dug his arm into the floor and tunnelled himself underground. The room was silent again, and Rock could only feel faint tremors shake the room. On gut instinct, Rock stepped to his left, narrowly avoiding the body of Ground shooting up from the surface. Rock focused a charge of energy into his cannon, and unleashed it upon Ground's chest. The blow barely stunned the massive Virtloid, and it only made Ground spin around and jab his arm in Rock's direction. The drill on Ground's arm suddenly shot out at Rock, catching Rock by surprise. Rock soon found himself blown to the ground as the point of the auger dug itself into Rock's shoulder. Rock wailed in agony as he tore the drill out of his shoulder, feeling a stiff numbness shoot through his arm. As soon as Rock could stand again, he found that Ground was nowhere in sight. Another rumble shook the room, and Rock again managed to skip to his side and avoid Ground's drill-riddled body from skewering him. As soon as he landed, Ground charged at Rock again, with Rock leaping over the stampeding robot again. Charging his arm cannon again, Rock sent a massive blast of energy sailing towards Ground, smashing against Ground's back. Ground stumbled forward a bit, and suddenly collapsed to his knee.

"Had enough?" Rock jeered.

"I'm just getting started," Ground replied.

With that, Ground swivelled around and faced Rock, smashing his drills into the ground and beginning to dig. A shockwave of a tremor took Rock off of his feet, landing clumsily on his backside. As soon as Rock got to his knee, Ground had charged at him again, ramming his drills into Rock's already wounded shoulder. Rock screamed in agony when Ground pinned him to the wall by his drills. Keeping Rock stuck to the wall by his augers, Ground snickered. "And now, Rock, you die."

"No," Rock breathed weakly, "You die."

With that, Rock thrust the barrel of his cannon, along with all the energy he had charged inside, straight into Ground's face. And with a blinding flash, Rock unleashed it all in less than a second. Ground's head was roasted to ashes instantly, leaving his body to slump to the floor. Rock winced as he pried Ground's drills out of his body, pressing his hand against Ground's chest.

Suddenly, a wave of energy surged through his body. He felt his arm cannon feel like it had tied itself in a knot inside, as new knowlege suddenly forced its way into his brain. Rock still stood against the wall, too stunned to move as Ground's drills slid out of his body and collapsed to the floor. Quickly remembering Auto's words, Rock aimed his cannon at the wall across from him and fired. A large drill shot from his cannon, and quickly spiked itself into the wall. Rock almost forgot about the pain he was in as he admired his cannon. "Sweet."

"Rock! Are you alright?"

Roll's voice in his ear was nothing short of relieving. "I'm a little hurt, but I s'pose I'm fine," Rock replied.

"What about the Virtuloid?" Roll asked.

"Took care on him," Rock grinned.

"Okay, we'll get you teleported out of there in a sec," said Roll, "But first, you've got to find some way to get out of there and level the place."

Rock looked at the drill in the wall, and got an idea. Forming an auger from his arm cannon, Rock turned to a soft spot of the cavern wall, and willed the drill to spin. It did, and Rock soon found himself tunneling through the wall. "Now to find some fireworks!"

*******

Rock grinned to himself as he looked at the smoking remains of the mines in the distance, highlighted by the setting sun. "Hey Roll, I've demolished the mines," he said.

"Good, I'll start the- what?"

Rock heard Roll's voice suddenly cut out. "Roll?" Rock asked. No reply. "Roll?"

"Who are you talking to?"

The voice of a woman other than Roll from behind him made Rock spin around. Marie was standing behind him with her hands on her hips, looking at him questioningly.

"I-" Rock stammered, "Talking to myself," Rock said quickly, "It's an old habit."

Marie then turned her head to look at the smoking remains of the mines. "What are you doing here?" Marie asked.

"What are you doing here?" Rock asked back.

"I asked you first," said Marie playfully.

"Hunting," said Rock. "Ground told me he was expecting that same guy who raided the factory to come after the mines next."

"Ground put you on patrol duty too?" Marie asked. "Did you see anything?"

"Other than the mines suddenly exploding," Rock said, rubbing his injured shoulder, "I got caught by raining shrapnel."

Marie looked at Rock's wound in concern. "You certainly are injury-prone, aren't you?"

"I leean to live with it," Rock said impassively. "It's nothing I can't fix by myself."

Marie looked at the ruined caves again. "Do you think he's still in there?" She asked.

"Ground?"

"No, whoever's been causing all this trouble," Marie said, a bit testily.

Rock quickly glanced back at the mines. "Maybe," he said, "Thay guy's probably been blown to pieces by the looks of it."

"Hopefully," said Marie. "I've been wondering how I should kill him when I get my hands on him."

Rock grinned to himself. "Not if I catch him first."

"Oh, you only wish you could," Marie taunted.

Suddenly, Rock heard a faint beeping come from Marie's forearm armor. Marie raised her arm to her chest and tapped on her wrist. Suddenly, Marie gasped. "What?" Rock asked.

"Ground," Marie gasped, "He's dead!" Rock pretended to be in shock. "That guy's going to have some hell to pay when we catch him," Marie growled.

"No doubt," Rock said. Looking for an excuse to leave, Rock added, "Looks like I've got a report of death to file."

Marie groaned. "Oh, I suppose I ought to file one too," she said. "Alpha gets pretty pissed when anyone misses one. Remember the last time someone skipped a report?" Rock, out of nervous cluelessness, shook his head. "Good," said Marie, "It's best you don't know," she shivered. "I'd hate to get on Alpha's bad list." Marie tapped on her wrist again, smiled at Rock again, and said, "Seeya!"

With that, Marie suddenly vanished in a quick flash of light. "They can teleport too?" Rock mused.

"Hey Rock, are you still there?"

Roll's voice came into Rock's helmet again. "Roll, what happened?" Rock asked.

"Blues told me to keep quiet," said Roll. "When we saw that Marie heading your way, Blues wanted to hear what she had to say. And Rock, who's Alpha?"

Rock paused. "I don't have a clue," he muttered. "Now will you warp me back?"

"Pushy today, aren't we?" Roll teased as Rock was suddenly whisked into thin air.

[Mewfour]

Lightning


The stack of the photographs of the ore mines lay ripped in two, leaving only five more stacks on the table. The lightbulb hanging from a wire on the ceiling waivered around the room, rolling their shadows all around the room as they looked at the other pictures.

"Well, what do you want to do now, Rock?" Blues asked.

Rock eyes the photographs intently. After a lengthy silence, Rock took the stack on his left. "I'll go for the power plant," he said.

"Wait, Rock," said Auto, "I don't think that's a good idea yet."

"Why not?"

Auto pushsed his glasses further up his nose. "If you got in contact with electricty in the power plant, I'm not sure if your body could handle the overload."

Rock paused, and looked at the photographs again. "Well, there's only one way to destroy that power plant," said Rock, "I may as well go there now."

Auto groaned. "Well, if you want to," he said. "I'll get the teleporter ready."

When Auto left the room, Blues leaned over to Rock. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" he asked.

"Positive."

******

After a blinding flash of light enveloped him, Rock was standing inside the gigantic threshold of the power plant. A sudden buzzing filled his ears, and Rock pressed the side of his helmet closer to his ear. "Roll? Roll, are you there?" When all Rock got for a reply was more static, he groaned. "I guess I'm doing this one alone." Taking a deep breath and coiling his knees, Rock took off into the plant.

With all the speed his legs could muster, Rock barreled his way into the power plant, letting his cannon run wild, streaking stray energy blasts and flaming wreckage everywhere he went. Mechanical drones, everything from insects to walking lightning rods, came at him from every side, and as more and more swarmed around him, Rock took sharp turn after sharp turn around the winding corridors, and just when he thought he had lost them by running into a small dark room, he collided with something.

A searing pain tore at his body as his arm began to shake and twitch, and Rock realized that he had just ran into an gigantic power motor, filling half of the room. Nursing his tingling shoulder, the motor suddenly began to grow more and more active, until the room was lit up in a flash.

The doorway was suddenly sealed by another iron shutter, and the motor began to hum and blow smoke out from all around it. Rock backed away, and glanced around the room for another way out. Just as he saw that he was trapped, a small tube from the motor extended Rock's way, and a thick cloud of black smog blew into his face. Rock coughed and gagged as the smoke filled the room, and soon all he could see was nothing but a thick, endless haze.

Suddenly, a blast of energy tore into his side. Purely on instinct, Rock fired his cannon, feeling the energy stun his stinging arm. More small jabs of pain blasted against his body, and Rock let his cannon loose around him, firing in any direction he could into the thick smog. Anchored to the spot in panic, Rock blasted anywhere his arm could point, and just as his arm felt like exploding from the intense energy his cannon shot, he suddenly stopped, resting his burning limb. The room had fallen silent, and Rock saw the smoke beginning to clear. When he could see the room around him again, Rock saw the giant motor was now nothing but a wrecked heap of junk, and a slew of wreckage lay around him. Breathing heavily, Rock looked around the room again, and noticed a thin space between the motor and the wall, just wide enough for him to slip through. Squeezing through the hole, Rock once again found himself in complete darkness. Suddenly, a doorway opened up in front of him, and Rock hastily leapt through it. Now inside of a dimly lit room, Rock saw nothing but four walls, a floor, ceiling, and another shutter blocking the door he came through. "Great," Rock muttered, rubbing his tingling arm, "This just gets better and better."

Suddenly, the floors beneath his feet began to shake. A loud buzzing filled the air, and Rock's paralyzed arm began to stiffen as the crisp smell of electricity filled the air. There was a blinding flash, and then a bolt of lightning shot into his damaged arm. Rock screeched as he fell to his knee, clenching his stinging shoulder. A pair of footsteps echoed around the room, and soon, Rock found a tall, slender robot standing in front of him. "So, this is the Megaman I've been hearing so much about, eh?" He said, putting his hands on his hips.

As soon as Rock shot out his arm cannon at the robot's chest, the Virtuloid grasped onto Rock's barrel and snickered cruelly. Suddenly, a wave of electicity surged through Rock's body, and Rock yowled in agony as the surge ripped through his every bone. The rush stopped when the Virtuloid released Rock from his grip, and a weak kick from the Virtuloid was enough to send the shivering Rock onto his side. As Rock lay on his back, trying in vain to stop his damaged arm from shaking, the Virtuloid pointed his finger at Rock's neck, and grinned. "Any last requests?"

As the power surge began to wear off, Rock said, "Tell me your name."

The Virtuloid shrugged. "Lightning."

"Then do you know what your problem is, Lightning?" Rock asked with a sudden smirk, "You're too arrogant."

With that, Rock jabbed his arm cannon into Lightning's knee, and fired a blast of energy into his joint. Lightning yelped as his leg collapsed from underneath him, letting Rock struggle back to his feet. Charging his arm cannon with as much power as his shocked arms could bear, Rock unleashed a blast at Lightning's head, barely enough to make Lightning flinch. Rock winced as his arm buckled with tingles running through his shoulder.

Before Rock knew it, Lightning was back up on his feet. Rock aimed his cannon at Lightning once again and let out a quick blast at Lightning's chest. The blast bounced off of Lightning's armor, and Lightning hardly even stumbled. "So you want to play dirty, do you?" Lightning hissed. Rock began blasting his cannon in a panic, with each weak shot bouncing off of Lightning like pebbles. As Rock's arm began to sting and shake, he noticed two large poles attached to Lightning's back begin to shoot bolts of electricty between them as Lightning spread his feet and glared at Rock. The crackling bolts began to flare wildly as Lightning continued to lock his eyes on Rock, and Rock soon felt his electrocuted arm begin to shiver once more. As Lightning began to hum with the electricy surging between the tips of the poles on his back, Rock slowly backed away, bracing himself for the worst.

With a sudden roar, Lightning threw his arms to his side, and a fierce wave of electicity blasted against the entire room around him. Rock screeched as he was knocked off of his feet and sent crashing head-first into a wall. Landing hard on his back, Rock groaned as rubbed his aching neck as the electricity around Lightning subsided. As soon as Rock sat up, he was blasted in the stomach with a jolt of electrcity. Rock howeld as he wrapped his arms around himself, kicking his legs as Lightning quickly walked to his side. Raising his palm, Lightning shot his hand around Rock's neck, and hoisted him up agaisnt the wall. And with another snarl, Lightning sent another surge through Rock's body. Rock felt like his body would tear itself apart before he would be electrocuted as Lightning continued to pump volt after volt into Rock's trembling body.

Just before Rock felt he could take no more, his body suddenly exploded with a wave of energy, and his arm cannon sprouted one of Ground's drills. Lightning suddenly stopped his assault, staring at the drill with hatred. Releasing Rock, Lightning raised his other hand, and then sent a blast of electricty at Rock's drill. The bolt bounced off of the drill and flickered into the air. As Rock staggered back to his feet, Lightning sent a flurry of bolts at Rock's arm, with the metal drill deflecting each one all around the room. Once he had his scrambled wits recollected, Rock quickly held his drill-hand up to his chest, and Lightning continued to throw bolt after bolt at it, each bouncing off of it leaving not even a scratch.

Rock grinned. "What's wrong, Lightning? Don't like my drill?"

Just before Lightning could throw another bolt at him, Rock thrust his arm forward and shot his drill into Lightning's chest. The tip of the drill just managed to burrow into Lightning's chest, and Lightning suddenly dropped to his knees. Crackles of electricity began shooting out of the drill, and Lightning grew more and more visibly tired. Ripping the drill out of his chest Lightning threw the drill back at Rock, who had already found strength enough to sprout another drill from his cannon, knocking it away and firing another drill into Lightning's body. Lightning weezed as the drill began to shoot out more electrcty from his body, letting the dril drop out before collapsing onto his hands and knees. As Rock grew another drill from his cannon, Lightning shot another bolt at Rock's damaged arm, driving Rock back to his knee. As Lightning struggled back to his feet, Rock had already staggered back to his, and shot another drill into Lightnig's hand. Lightning screeched as the drill sped into the ground, anchoring Lightning to the floor. Just as Rock was about to fire again, the poles on Lightning's back flared up again, and another wave of electricity smashed Rock back against the wall. Lightning roared and struggled to free his hand from the drill, but it still remained pinned to the floor as the drill began shooting out more of Lightning's power. By the time Rock struggled back to his feet, Lightning was now barely moving, still trying to weakly wrench his arm free. Not wanting to take any more chance, Rock fired another drill at Lightning, spearing his other hand onto the floor, pinning his shoulders flat. "Goodbye, Lightning," said Rock, sprouting another drill from his cannon. Lightning screamed as Rock plunged the drill into his stomach, and soon, Lightning's scream turned to a moan, and then to silence. When all was finally quiet, Rock took a deep breath, and fell onto his back. His arms tingled and shivered, and his body felt like someone had set his every nerve on fire, but a grin stretched itself across his face. He had survived.

Suddenly, Rock heard another pair of footsteps running towards the shutter from the hallway on the other side. Rock quickly bolted back to his feet and looked at Lightning's body. Rock teared out the drill in Lightning's stomach and kicked out the drills that pinned him down. With whatever strength his body had left in him, Rock lifted Lightning's body into his arms and felt his body copy Lightning's weapon systems just as the shutter flew open.

"Lightning! Rock!" The Virtuloid who ran through the shutter gasped.

"Marie," Rock sighed with relief, "Thank God you're here."

Marie ran to Rock's side and looked at Lightning's face. "Lightning!" Marie shrieked, "Is he-?"

Rock put on his best sorrowful face. "He's dead, Marie," said Rock. When Rock saw Marie's face twist up in a mix of shock and sadness, he added, "It was him- that guy who's been wrecking everything in sight. Lightning and I tried to stop him," Rock said, beginning to weeze, "But he was just too strong."

Marie looked at Lightning's damaged body, and the looked at Rock's numerous wounds. "Give him to me," she said as Rock gently set Lightning into Marie's arms, "You'd better wapr back to HQ for repairs, quickly."

Rock blinked. Roll had no idea that he needed to teleport out of the power plant. "I can't," said Rock, "My teleport system is damaged."

Marie looked at Rock with curiousity. "Your teleport system is damaged?" She asked. When Rock nodded, she said, "The teleport system is practically indestructible, Rock."

"I know," said Rock quickly, learning something knew, "We both took a lot of damage." Wondering what Marie was doing in the plant alone, Rock asked, "Where are the others?"

"They thought that the Megaman would be attacking the hydro-electric dam next," said Marie. "You probably didn't hear the announcement, Alpha sent everyone to the dam. I thought that the dam would be the last place he'd attack, so I came looking around here."

"Wait, if Alpha sent everyone to the dam, then why are you here?"

Marie looked back at Rock straight in the eyes. "I should be asking you the same thing."

Rock gagged. "I was excused," he said quickly. "I'm actually part of some special operations unit- We can do whatever we want unless Alpha says otherwise."

Marie suddenly gasped. "You mean- you're part of the Alpha Elite?"

Rock's eyes glanced around the room. "Uh, yeah," he said.

Suddenly, Marie looked at him wishfully. "Oh God, please don't marhsall me for breaking my orders!" Marie pleaded, "Please!"

Rock grinned. "All right, I'll let you off," he said, "But just this once."

"Oh, thanks Rock," said Marie. "I'll get Lightning back to HQ for you." Suddenly, Marie said, "Oh Rock, your teleport system's damaged," she said, "I'd better warp you out of here too." Biting her lip, she took Rock's hand and said, "I'm not sure if mine can handle taking all three of us."

"We're not going to get out of here any other way," said Rock.

Marie took a deep breath, and the three instantly vanished.