BLIND TO THE TRUTH



"Where'd you guys go?"

The sudden silence was getting nerve-racking. Mega Man's ears were ringing as if they were trying to make some noise to fill the gap. And for a moment the blackness around him was again suffocating, as if it was going to close in on him.

Since he was unable to see anything, Mega Man had to rely on other senses. He turned and started following the wall beside him away from the alcove, searching for an opening. He listened intently for any sign of Kevin or Break Man, but his ears could not hear the pit in front of him. Before he knew what was happening, he had tumbled off the edge.

MEGA MAN
THE SERIES

Blind to the Truth

Mandi Paugh

Copyright © 1992, 1996, 1999  Miranda Paugh  All Rights Reserved.


Mega Man and all related characters are trademarks of Capcom Co., Ltd.

All other trademarks and copyrights are acknowledged and remain in the properties of their owners.

May not be altered or sold.


Note: All works are in uncompleted format and as such may contain errors and are subject to change without notice.

Chapter One



"Ohh, wow..."

"Mega Man? Are you all right?"

It was pitch black. Of course, Mega Man still had his eyes closed. But as his friend Kevin and his brother Break Man helped him to his knees, he shook his head and opened his eyes--and was still faced with darkness.

"Wow," he said again. It wasn't typical darkness but rather a stiffening blackness that seemed to close in on him. "What happened to the lights?"

"Lights?" Kevin's voice came to him from very nearby. "What about the lights?"

"The lights," Mega Man repeated, struggling to his feet. "It's really dark in here!"

He didn't see Kevin and Break Man exchange glances.

"It is?" Kevin said in bewilderment.

At almost the same time Break Man spoke up. "Are you okay?"

Mega Man blinked. "No," he said slowly as the truth dawned on him. He raised his hands in front of his face. "No, I can't see a thing."

"Nothing?"

"No, it's all black all around me!" Mega Man stumbled but four hands caught him before he hit the ground. He was still weak, sore, and rather low on energy. He sat down and buried his face in his arms. He wanted to believe that the darkness was caused by his hands, but when he removed them it was still there.

He was blind.

His brother Break Man examined him. "I don't know. Your eyes look fine. Oh, it must be internal."

"What are we going to do?"

Suddenly Mega Man was angry with himself. He again climbed to his feet. "I'm not helpless. I just damaged my vision functions, that's all." But then he found that even a simple thing such as walking was difficult now. For he had no idea what was in front of him. He stopped.

Instantly his brother and Kevin were by his side.

"We'll have to get you to Dr. Light's. Maybe he can fix your sight."

"Fix him?" Kevin echoed. "Fix blindness?"

"He's a robot," Break Man countered. "It's different than with humans."

"Right," Mega Man agreed. He tried to take another step. "Dr. Light can...repair me."

"But how do we get there? Have you forgotten about the Princess?" Kevin called out. "If we wait too long she'll end up at Metroid."

Mega Man hesitated. "You go on," he said finally.

"But--"

"No, really. I'd...I'd slow you down."

There was a silence.

"We can't leave you here alone," Kevin said.

"Yeah...I don't have my teleporter," Break Man added. "Is yours working?"

Mega Man fingered it. "It never works when you need it to." He put his hands to his helmet. "Besides, I don't think much of me is working right now, anyway."

Break Man moved forward to encourage him. "There have to be some warps around here somewhere. When we find one, we'll take you back to get your sight restored."

"I'll stay here," Kevin volunteered. "I can handle Dr. Wily."

"Yeah," Break Man returned rather uncertainly. He turned. "Why don't you try your teleporter? If it works I'll stay here with Captain N."

Glumly Mega Man again felt around for the button to take him to Dr. Light's. It was the center one, so it wasn't hard to feel for. He pushed it and frowned. Then he tried to look around.

"Where am I?"

"Still here," Kevin laughed.

"I'll have to talk to Dr. Light about that," Mega Man muttered.

"Maybe it's not the teleporter," Break Man suggested suddenly. "Maybe Dr. Wily changed his barriers again."

"Maybe," Mega Man agreed. "But that's not going to help us any."

They were silent for a few moments.

"I'll wait here for you," Mega Man repeated. "When you've found the Princess you can meet me here."

"I don't know," Kevin hesitated. "We might not be able to find this spot again."

"And what if someone else finds you? No, you're coming," Break Man spoke up cheerfully. "Although battling Dr. Wily in your condition may not be such a good idea. So we'll get you to Dr. Light's first."

"You don't have to--" Mega Man started to protest.

"No, really," Break Man interrupted. "It won't be hard."

"Yeah," Kevin agreed. "All we have to do is find our way outta here."

"And your teleporter can to the rest," Break Man finished. He nudged his brother. "Come on. Just follow our voices."

Mega Man started forward, but stopped again. "I don't know what I'm walking on," he tried to explain.

"You're walking on the floor," Break Man said quietly.

"No, I'm not. I'm walking on a big black void." He waved his arms around. "There could be a wall out there, or a pit--or spikes!--and I wouldn't know it."

During this conversation, Kevin had been silently experimenting, testing Mega Man's words. He tried walking with his eyes closed, but after a few steps he had to stop. He wasn't sure if the hunk of mortar he had seen was in front of him or to his left. It took all of his willpower to keep his eyes closed, for he had an urge to open them and look. He took another step, his hands out, but felt nothing. Then his eyes unconsciously snapped open.

"We'll be your eyes for you," Break Man was saying. "Now let's get moving before the rest of this ceiling comes down."

They led him out of the room and into the hallway. For a few minutes they wandered the castle, Kevin and Break Man arguing at every intersection. At one point the hall narrowed for some unknown reason, and Kevin and Break Man went through without thinking about it. Mega Man stopped, and it only took the other two a second to realize it.

They went back and found him facing the wall where it had become narrower. He had almost walked into it.

"Oops! Sorry about that," Kevin started sheepishly. "Some guide dogs we are."

Mega Man wasn't paying attention. He reached out and touched the wall. "That's really weird," he said to no one in particular. "I knew there was something here even though I couldn't see it."

"At least your other sensors are working," Break Man quipped.

"I didn't know I had one like that," Mega Man replied, feeling along the wall until he came to the edge.

"We probably don't know half the things Dr. Light gave us," Break Man agreed. "And some of them I'm sure he doesn't even know we have."

At the following intersection was the usual controversy. Mega Man did not join in, for even if he did know where they were, he would not know which way to go. Dr. Wily's castle was constantly changing--and besides, he had not been in this one very much anyway.

So while Break Man and Kevin debated their options, Mega Man wandered across the hall. His two companions were talking about going either left or tight, so he figured they were at a T-shaped intersection. Sure enough, within moments he had reached a wall.

Mega Man turned to wearily lean on the wall, for they had only found one energy capsule for him so far. But as he leaned backward he met no resistance and tumbled to the ground.

For an instant he could have sworn the ground had moved, but then he dismissed it as his imagination. When he sat up the only thing damaged was his pride. He laughed.

"Sorry," he said to Kevin and Break Man. "I thought there was a wall here. Guess I missed it."

There was no answer.

He frowned. "Captain N?" Mega Man called louder. "Break Man?"

The sudden silence was getting nerve-racking. "Cut it out, you two," Mega Man said angrily as he climbed to his feet. His ears were ringing as if they were trying to make some noise to fill in the gap. "Enough games--I know you're there." He began to feel around him. Smooth, circular walls surrounded him on all sides except for a hole in front of him.

"I must have fallen into some sort of alcove in the wall," Mega Man said aloud, laughing again. He stumbled as he stepped out into the hall, but this time there were no hands to catch him. Slowly he got to his feet.

"Where'd you guys go?"

Mega Man turned to his left and started walking, his hand following the wall beside him. But he had only taken a few steps when he ran face-first into something solid.

"Ow! What the--" His hands revealed what felt to be another wall, one at right angles with the one he'd been following.

"But that's crazy! There's supposed to be a hall here or something. Break Man and Captain N were talking about it."

He turned and walked in the other direction. Going past the little alcove, he again found a wall after going a few steps--but this time with his hand.

Frustrated, Mega Man started following this new wall away from the alcove, searching for an opening. He listened intently for any sign of Kevin or Break Man, but his ears could not hear the pit in front of him. Before he knew what was happening, he had tumbled off the edge.

"Okay, okay, we'll go right," Kevin laughed.

But Break Man wasn't listening. "Mega Man? Where are you?"

The two looked around in alarm. Their friend had seemingly disappeared.

"Mega Man!" Kevin called. "Where'd you go?"

Mega Man didn't hear their calls. He had landed with a painful jolt on something that moved beneath him. He almost fell off but managed to keep the upper half of his body on what seemed to be a moving platform. He tried to pull his dangling legs up as well.

Then there was a jolt that tossed a surprised Mega Man forward. Without thinking, he tumbled onto solid, unmoving ground.

For several seconds he remained still. Then he climbed to his knees. "Wow--was that close! I know that wasn't there before."

Then, with a jolt, he realized--that circular alcove had probably been a teleporting hatch! No wonder the others weren't answering his calls--he had been transported to another spot in the castle!

But why hadn't they seen it? They should be here by now. For one insane second Mega Man started to go back to the hatch. But he stopped himself right before he was about to again fall into the pit. He doubted he'd be able to get across it again.

"Besides," he groaned, "most of those hatches only go one way. What do I do now?"

The only thing he could think of was to keep on going. If Kevin and Break Man had not found the hatch by now they might not at all.

Mega Man continued down the hall, his right hand on the wall to guide him. His other hand was watching out for walls while his feet were looking out for pits. They all hit something simultaneously, but another second later the obstruction was gone. Confused, Mega Man moved forward after whatever it was he had touched, and after two steps the wall dropped away at a sharp right angle.

At the same time something brushed against his back. Mega Man whirled and his hands rested on something with a clang of metal on metal.

"A gate!" he cried.

"Yes, a gate," a sudden voice replied.

Mega Man spun around, voicing his thoughts before he knew it and even before he had turned around. "Who's there?"

"Gee, don't you remember me?" the voice said from across the room.

He remembered that voice all too well.

"Cut Man!"

"Very good," the Robot Master laughed. "Are you surprised?"

"Not anymore," Mega Man replied coldly, bracing himself. "I wish I'd been able to destroy that annoying cloning machine, though."

"You did enough damage as it was." Mega Man could hear the robot pacing around him. "Now it's my turn!"

Mega Man tried to duck but he had no idea from where the attack would come. "How am I supposed to fight something I can't even see?" he managed to get out before the Rolling Cutter hit him.

As he slammed into a wall there was a noise beside him. Cut Man was silent so Mega Man didn't know where he was. But suddenly he realized that the gate beside him had opened again.

Without pausing to think, Mega Man dove through it before it could go back down. He heard the sudden footsteps behind him, causing him to start running. But he had forgotten about the pit until he was on top of it.

His hands hit the moving platform but they were unable grab hold. Suddenly he was tumbling through the blackness with nothing to hold onto and no hope of ever stopping.







Chapter Two



But Mega Man did stop. His back slammed into something solid so hard it took his breath away. He remembered thinking something about the fact that he had just hit the bottom of a bottomless pit. Pretty good for someone who can't even see.

The next thing he knew a familiar voice was calling to him. And somehow the darkness around him suddenly didn't seem so dark.

"Break Man!" Mega Man responded. "Captain N!"

"Are you okay?" his brother asked, helping him sit up.

"How'd you get all the way down here?" Kevin chimed in.

Mega Man checked his limbs to make sure they were all still working. "Easy," he groaned, putting his hands to his head. "My question is why I even stopped. And where'd you guys come from?"

"We've been looking for you," Kevin explained. "Then we rounded a corner and you were lying here." He paused, looking at the pit that extended both up and down right next to them. He was beginning to understand what had happened. "I guess you swerved and landed on this level instead of continuing down the pit," he guessed.

They were helping him to his feet when there was a sudden humming sound.

"Bladers!" Kevin identified immediately, ducking. "Get down!"

Break Man started firing at the little helicopters as they zoomed past. Kevin tried to reach his zapper but he was too busy dodging the Blader's attacks. Without thinking, Mega Man began firing, destroying the robots with rapid efficiency.

When they were all destroyed Kevin and Break Man turned to stare at him.

"Mega Man!" Break Man cried finally. "You can see!"

Mega Man blinked in surprise, as if that notion hadn't occurred to him. "Not really," he realized. "I can see shapes though. Black blobs on a dark gray background."

"You're getting better," Break Man assured him.

Kevin changed the subject. "We're probably almost out of this place."

"That's right," Break Man agreed. "Let's get moving."

"Blind?" Elec Man frowned. "You're sure he wasn't just faking it?"

"Positive," Cut Man returned. "He was looking forward when he was running and he still fell head over heels off the edge. He wouldn't have missed the platform if he could see it."

"Are you saying he did himself in?"

"Nah, he landed three levels down. Mostly by luck. Of course, finishing him off now will be a piece of cake."

Elec Man sneered. "I'm almost glad he survived. It leaves more fun for us."

"I was just on my way to tell Dr. Wily," Cut Man said.

Elec Man nodded. "I'm going to find Mega Man."

"Don't you take all the fun," Cut Man warned.

"Oh, I won't destroy him," the other Robot Master assured him. "I just want to test out this story of yours."

Mega Man had told the others about the teleporting hatch, but both of them denied ever seeing it.

"I'm pretty sure that's what it was," Mega Man protested. "It was right there in the wall of that T-shaped hallway. At least, I think it was T-shaped."

"Where you disappeared?" Kevin asked. "Yeah, it was. But I still didn't see it."

"Maybe it was behind a secret door that opened when you leaned on it," Break Man suggested.

"But there was nothing--" Mega Man stopped. "Wait a minute. Maybe the opening was covered with some sort of hologram."

The others stopped walking but Mega Man could tell so he was able to keep from running into them.

"A hologram?" he heard Kevin ask.

"Yeah--an image. I've fought them before."

"Yeah, I know, but why make a wall out of a hologram?"

"Maybe Dr. Wily wanted to hide it," Mega Man replied.

"And the person who finds it can't see?" Break Man laughed.

Mega Man sighed. "I'll bet I was close to something, too."

They didn't have anything to say to that, so the three walked in silence. Mega Man spent the time trying to see better, but his vision refused to improve. In fact, it seemed to be getting worse. The dark gray faded in and out to black. At one point he couldn't tell if the images he had been following were really there or if they were just his imagination. He had to stop.

But before he could call out to the others to confirm their location, someone nudged his shoulder. Apparently Kevin and Break Man had noticed his hesitation. The hand motioned him toward his left and he automatically turned and began to follow this new hall. He put out his hands on an impulse and found that this hallway was much more narrow. He wondered if this was the same hall or if they had turned into another. He smiled at the thought that he might have almost ran into a wall at the corner. He felt more secure with his right hand following the wall, so he continued to walk with it there.

Meanwhile, Kevin turned to look back behind him, and immediately braked to a halt. "Uh-oh."

Mega Man was missing again.

He and Break Man turned around and started to run. But just as they were about to call out, Kevin happened to look down a narrow side hall. And he was startled to see Mega Man heading down it. Another robot was there and apparently Mega Man didn't even know it.

"Elec Man!" he cried involuntarily.

Mega Man skidded to a halt. At the same time Break Man was yelling, "Mega Man--look out!"

Mega Man jumped as a Thunder Beam sliced past him. Then he took to his heels and fled back toward the voices of his friends. Break Man met him halfway and led him back into the main hall.

By that time Elec Man had made his own getaway. Mega Man leaned weakly of a wall.

"Boy, you scared us," Break Man scolded. "Why'd you wander off like that?"

"Sorry," Mega Man returned. "But I thought that's the way you'd gone."

Kevin rejoined them, hoisting his zapper. "It's our fault," he said. "We didn't say anything to you."

As they moved on they tried several things to prevent further separations. First they attempted to get Mega Man to walk in front but that was close to impossible. So instead one of the two tried to walk with Mega Man in view at all times. And they kept up a constant chatter all the time, telling Mega Man their surroundings and discussing trivial topics just so he could stay in range.

They were attacked by countless minor robots at various places. Sometimes Mega Man could see them enough to fire, and sometimes he used his ears to aim. But most of the time he let the others do the fighting for fear of hitting his own allies.

It wasn't long before they were heading down a ladder into a lower level. Both Kevin and Break Man agreed that this was probably either the second or the first floor--which meant they were almost out. Mega Man tried to refrain from commenting but he couldn't help himself.

"If it weren't for me we'd probably be out with the Princess by now."

"Don't take it so hard," Kevin replied.

"Yeah," Break Man agreed. "Besides, the only reason you fell through the floor and not us was because you got us out of the way first."

"You're being too kind," Mega Man grinned. "All I did was tell you guys to start running. I've encountered those Laser Monitors before and they aren't fun. Especially if you stay in their range too long." He paused. "I've never seen one take out a floor before, though."

"Dr. Wily ought to recheck his fortress designs," Break Man laughed.

"Yeah, he made his floors too thin," Kevin came in.

"Well, so much for hindsight," Mega Man shrugged. "We're still down here when we really ought to be up there."

"Let's not talk about it," Break Man said, turning. They started walking again. "The important thing is to fix your sight."

Mega Man started to follow them but he had only taken two steps when he was seized from behind. Before he could cry out a hand was clapped over his mouth and he was yanked backwards, right off his feet.

Mega Man fought fiercely, but despite his strength he was wrestled to the floor by at least four pairs of hands. They used metal bands to hold his arms--and particularly his arm cannons--out of harms way. Finally he stopped struggling, listening to Kevin and Break Man calling out to him.

"He's gone again!" he heard Kevin yelp.

"Mega Man!" Break Man yelled. "Start searching," he added. "He couldn't have just disappeared. Maybe there's another walk-through wall around here."

The voices were moving away. Mega Man was unable to answer, and his captors were still so as to not draw attention to themselves.

After a few moments of listening helplessly to his friends' search, Mega Man felt the hold on him begin to shift. A toss of his head was all that was needed, and abruptly his mouth was free.

He immediately opened it to shout to his allies, but before he had made a sound a sudden thought struck him. What if the Robot Masters wanted him to alert them? The last thing he wanted to do was drag them into a hopeless battle.

Mega Man clamped his mouth shut and remained silent.

This apparently upset the Robot Masters. There were a few seconds of quiet murmuring. Then Mega Man was lifted right off his feet, seemingly by one of the larger robots such as Guts Man or Hard Man. The robot took a couple of steps with Mega Man in his clutches, then stopped.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Look who we've got!"

Mega Man recognized Guts Man's voice. At the same time his unseeing eyes grew wide.

"Look out!" he cried. "It's probably a--"

He was jerked backwards as Guts Man started running. Kevin took off too, heading for the section of wall into which Guts Man had disappeared. Break Man lagged behind.

"--trap," he finished for his brother.

Kevin waved him on. "Who cares? We've got to help him!"

Break Man frowned at him. "You're going to jump right into it without at least being prepared?"

Kevin slammed into a wall. He had missed the walk-through panel. His flailing arms found it though, and seconds later he had jumped through.

Break Man was right behind him. "Guess so."

They found themselves in a short, narrow hallway. Together they chased the footsteps they could hear deeper into the castle.







Chapter Three



Mega Man was hauled rather unwillingly on a jarring ride. Guts Man carried him quite a distance before they finally came to a halt.

Mega Man was tossed to the floor. His back slammed up against what he assumed was a wall. As he shook himself off, a very familiar voice spoke up in front of him.

"So glad you could accept my invitation," it said. Mega Man recognized Dr. Wily's evil voice instantly.

He glared in the direction of the voice. "Did I really have a choice?" Mega Man retorted, yanking on his metal bonds.

Dr. Wily didn't answer right away.

"I hear you managed to blind yourself somehow," he said finally.

At first Mega Man started to deny it, then he tried to come up with a suitable snappy retort. But in the end he remained silent, dropping his head.

Apparently this was all the proof Dr. Wily needed. He started talking to no one in particular. "I guess I never thought about robots being blinded, but I suppose it's possible. Of course, your case is slightly different. I can't imagine how it happened."

I can, Mega Man thought dismally. He could remember it all too well. His mind replayed the scene so vividly it was almost as if he was seeing it all over again.

Kevin and Break Man had turned and were running, heeding Mega Man's call. Mega Man himself was right behind them. But he made the mistake of looking back. Mega Man remembered the terrific flash of light, but after that his usually-sharp computer mind lost the image. There had been a roaring sound and the sensation of falling...then--nothing.

Suddenly Mega Man was again aware of what was happening around him. Dr. Wily was calling to someone.

"Sure, bring her in."

Then, a call-- "Mega Man!"

It was the Princess. Mega Man tried to lunge toward her voice but was thrown roughly back up against the wall. Apparently someone had fastened his bands to the wall with a metal cord to prevent him from wandering off.

"You came alone?" he heard Lana cry.

"Of course not," Dr. Wily replied for him. "Captain Nitwit and his brother are on their way." Mega Man didn't see the evil scientist indicate him with a slight nod. Evidently the Princess missed it too.

"Kevin has a brother?"

At that moment there was a noise to the right, and the room exploded into action.

Behind the commotion Mega Man heard the Princess cry out as two large hulks began to pull her away. At the same time, a ray blazed past him--a product of the battle going on--and his bonds shattered.

Without thinking, Mega Man hurled himself at one of the Robot Masters holding the Princess. He heard her yelp in surprise--along with the two robots--as he slammed into his target. As the two tumbled to the ground, the other Robot Master seemed to have released his hold, for Lana hesitated, then ran toward Kevin, expecting Mega Man to follow.

But the robot he had tackled held him back. At first Mega Man was surprised that the Robot Master had not fired at him by now. But as his opponent forced him to his knees, Mega Man realized that he must have attacked Guts Man.

Guts Man didn't have a normal weapon. His power rested his unique and incredible strength. A long time ago he had tried to destroy Mega Man by hurling huge boulders at him. In fact, Mega Man had acquired his own strength after beating Guts Man that first time.

But while Mega Man and Guts Man were now at almost equal strength, Guts Man was almost two times larger. He had Mega Man pinned in no time, and no amount of struggling seemed to be able to free him.

The Princess made it to her friends and quickly ducked behind Kevin.

"Where's Mega Man?" Break Man cried, peering through the crowd of ten or so Robot Masters.

"I don't know!" she answered.

Break Man spotted him. "Oh, no!"

Mega Man yanked against the hold, trying to fire at his enemy. But Guts Man had both of Mega Man's arms in his vise-like grip, wrenching them securely behind Mega Man's back.

Then, suddenly, he heard his brother's shout above the din of battle.

"Mega Man! Duck!!"

Immediately Mega Man complied: without even taking the time to think he threw himself forward, pulling a surprised Guts Man with him. He heard a cry, then the hold on him was released.

Raising himself onto all fours, Mega Man blinked in the semidarkness and frowned. What had happened?

Break Man knew. He had seen Elec Man fire at the captive Mega Man while Guts Man held him in place. Luckily, though, Mega Man had ducked just in time. The beam had hit Guts Man instead. By now Break Man had plunged through the sea of enemies, dodging a Rolling Cutter and going to Mega Man's side.

"Come on, Mega Man," he cried. "Hurry! Follow my voice!"

Mega Man jumped to his feet and obeyed.

Across the room, the Princess watched in curiosity. Most of the Robot Masters were pursuing her and Kevin, for to them Mega Man was hardly a threat. That left Kevin and Break Man. And they knew they had to recapture the Princess. So Kevin was their main target.

Lana's eyes followed Break Man and Mega Man as they fought their way toward her and Kevin, using a wall for protection.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked, perplexed.

Kevin dodged a shot and gently pushed her out of the way.

"He's blind!" he replied hurriedly.

Lana blinked in surprise. "He's...blind?"

Mega Man knew nothing of this. He heard only the din around them, and through it, Break Man's encouraging words. As they got closer to their other friends, apparently the Robot Masters became more worried and tightened their attacks. A couple of times Mega Man was hit, but he was also able to fire back a few times. Most of the time he was running and dodging, though.

Break Man's voice moved behind him, but when Mega Man hesitated he cried, "Go on--I'll follow!" Why, Mega Man did not know, but he didn't argue.

Seconds later he heard Break Man's warning, "Look out!" But before he could react a robot slammed into him, and the two tumbled to the ground.

Instinctively Mega Man struggled against his attacker.

That's when the resistance was released. "Hey, calm down," a voice said. "It's me."

Mega Man froze. It was his brother.

"You were about to get nailed by a Thunder Beam," he explained as they quickly climbed to their feet. "Again."

"Thanks," Mega Man started, but a cry cut him short.

There was a thump behind him.

"Break Man?" Mega Man called.

"Ouch..." his brother groaned in response.

There was a bang beside Mega Man which sounded like a Rolling Cutter coming a little too close to his arm and hitting the wall instead. Knowing that the Robot Masters were closing in, he backed up against the wall and tried to see through his darkness.

"Break Man!" he yelled again. "Get up! You're got to!"

"Don't bother," Elec Man's voice cut in. "We'll just shoot him down again."

They were enjoying his helplessness, Mega Man realized. He charged up his Mega Buster and fired at the voice, all the while wondering how long they would hold their own fire.

A surprised yelp told him he had hit. Quickly he turned and reached out a hand, for he had not heard his brother get up. After a couple of moments Break Man took it, and Mega Man helped him to his feet.

"Wow," he gasped.

"Are you okay?" Mega Man asked.

"Yeah, just sore."

Mega Man felt a pull on his arm--Break Man's way of getting him to move. They both dodged the next round of shots successfully, then Break Man spoke up.

"There's an opening. Let's go!"

And, following his lead, Mega Man was suddenly plunging through the blackness.

For several seconds they dodged madly through the crowd with Break Man calling "This way!" at times to keep his brother on course. Mega Man was grazed by a couple of shots but nothing very damaging. He had no idea how Break Man was doing, but at least he was still on his feet.

Then Break Man gave him a small push, calling to him at the same time to let Mega Man know it was him. "Left!" he yelled, nudging him in the same direction. Mega Man felt a hot burst of air burn by him.

Without breaking stride they moved onward. They'd almost reached their goal when Bomb Man managed to toss a bomb over their heads. It landed right in front of them, and Break Man couldn't stop in time. Mega Man, who didn't even see it, inadvertently kept running toward it. Break Man tried to call out and pull him back, but by then it was too late.







Chapter Four



At first Mega Man thought they had made it to Kevin and the Princess. Then there was a jerk on his arm and a terrified shout from his brother. He had just started to swing around when something seemed to explode right in his face. All of a sudden there was a flash of white and a terrible booming noise. He felt the pressure on his arm released, and he was tumbling through the flashing void while the thundering noise continued. Then he came to a jarring halt, and just as suddenly the flashes were gone and the noise was gone. Everything was black and very, very silent.

Break Man tried to get up from where he had landed but was quickly thrown again by a Magnet Missile. Luckily this threw him toward Kevin and Lana, who quickly helped him up.

"Mega Man," Break Man cried, turning. "Oh, no!"

"This doesn't look good," Kevin agreed.

Mega Man was lying motionless across the room and over to the right. The Robot Masters were surrounding the three remaining N-Team members, leaving Mega Man for the dead.

Kevin, Lana, and Break Man backed nervously toward the wall behind them. Kevin and Break Man fired but their shots did little good. The robots just kept coming.

Kevin was hit. Break Man ducked. "I hate to tell you this," the latter shouted. "But the only one of us that's experienced with fighting Robot Masters is lying over there."

Mega Man's ears picked up the din of the battle but the sounds did not register in his mind. He groaned weakly and painfully struggled to his hands and knees. His head was pounding, his limbs were sore, and his eyes hurt too much to open them.

But finally they adjusted to the light. For several seconds he remained still, blinking and frowning.

Across the room the Robot Masters were gleefully cornering his friends.

Mega Man struggled to his feet, a little less painfully than before. The Robot Masters had their backs to him; he was being totally ignored.

That's when something occurred to him so suddenly it was like a blow.

He could see! He stopped short and blinked in surprise. He could see! He could see his hands as he turned them in front of his face. He could see the large room around him. He could see eight Robot Masters ganging up on three people.

His vision was still hazy. He seemed unable to focus no matter how hard he tried. But he could see colors--bright, vivid colors forming identifiable shapes. The room's walls were a shiny maroon metal. The master robot's armors shone with dazzling hues from reds to yellows to blues.

Mega Man had been capable of color vision his entire robotic life. And he was so used to seeing, like most everybody else, that he had never thought about it beyond Dr. Light's color tests after Mega Man was first activated. That's why it took several seconds for it dawn on him that moments ago he had been seeing only faint shades of gray.

Now the impact of being able to see after all that time he spent in darkness hit him. An elated feeling started at his feet and rushed upwards. I'm never going to take my vision for granted again, he vowed right before taking off toward the Robot Masters.

Mega Man took everybody by surprise. Even Kevin, Lana, and Break Man didn't see him coming. The Robot Masters, with their backs facing him, were completely overcome.

"What--?" Kevin yelped as the Robot Masters cried out in surprise and frantically began counterattacking.

Break Man blinked. "I don't believe it!" he finally yelled, elated. "He can see again!"

It was obvious that Mega Man could at least see somewhat. He expertly dodged the Robot Masters, purposefully heading over to his right.

"What's he doing?" Kevin asked.

Break Man grinned and crossed his arms. "My guess is he's going after Elec Man."

"Elec Man?" Lana repeated. "Why?"

"For the Thunder Beam," Break Man replied. "Come on," he added to Kevin. "There's some we can take out."

Kevin nodded and the two jumped into the battle. Kevin set his zapper to Ice and went after Fire Man. Break Man pondered the choices and decided on Bomb Man.

Elec Man fell. Although beating him with just his Mega Buster had proven to be very difficult, Mega Man had taken him completely unawares. He used the master robot's weapon to make a path over to his brother and the Princess. Break Man grinned at him, then left his post and chased after his target. Mega Man took his place by Lana, guarding her by mowing down with his Thunder Beam anyone who dared to approach.

Ice Man was felled with only two hits from the Beam. Break Man snatched up the Ice Slasher and began cutting down the other robots.

Kevin had taken care of Fire Man. Now there were only five left.

Mega Man let Break Man have the Fire Storm as he looked over the remaining enemies. Bomb Man was battling a red and white robot--Break Man. The big blue figure trying to land on Kevin must be Hard Man. The second red robot was Magnet Man, while the yellow and black one was Guts Man. A red-orange robot was close enough to be distinguished as Cut Man. And that figure in the white lab coat could only be Dr. Wily.

"Dr. Wily?!" Mega Man did a double-take. The evil scientist had opened a bright blue warp and was motioning his Robot Masters through it.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Break Man, who was nearest to the warp, yelled. He began heading for it. Kevin, Mega Man, and Lana also started running. Break Man reached it first and dove through just in time. It closed up behind him.

Kevin slammed into the blank wall. "Ow!" he cried, rubbing his nose.

Mega Man pounded on it with his fists. "Break Man!" he yelled.

"Now what?" Lana asked.

"I don't know. Where do you think they went?" Mega Man asked in despair.

"Who knows?" Kevin said. "Question is, how do we find out?"

Mega Man paused. "Dr. Light," he said suddenly. "He might be able to trace Break Man."

"Let's go then!" Kevin agreed.

It was a long way out. Mega Man still had some energy left in his Thunder Beam but he conserved what was remaining for when they needed it.

As the three finally stepped out of the castle they were attacked by a squad of Shell Bombers. At first Mega Man joined Kevin in firing with his Mega Buster, but as more reinforcements came he finally switched to the Thunder Beam and wiped them out with one shot.

"I love that thing," he laughed, holding up an arm cannon. "Almost as good as the Metal Blade. Well, let's get out of here."

The three joined hands and Mega Man pushed the center button on his teleporter. It worked like new, giving him the feeling that Break Man may have been right.

Quite a distance away a woman peered in wonder at a monitor screen.

"Corneillius," she called. "Look at this!"

Her husband frowned at the screen. Three people were making their way out of some sort of fortress. "So?"

She pointed to a little blue figure. "It's a robot!" she announced happily. "Look at him go!"

Corneillius studied the image. "Hmmm. It appears as though someone has mastered humanoids--finally."

"I'd just gotten the scanner working," the woman said. "And I located him rather accidentally just a few minutes ago. But I've seen enough to tell that he's well-built and seems to have a complete personality." She turned, her eyes shining. "He's what I've always wanted, but we've never succeeded at building. Oh, let's take this one!"

"Ameilla," he scolded, "you can't have everything you see on television."

"Please help me," she begged. "I have the feeling that he's special somehow."

Corneillius looked back at the screen in time to see the little robot fire a huge stream of electrical energy, wiping out an entire group of robot guards. He jumped in surprise.

"Well," he murmured. "Perhaps he's worth testing after all."

The three members of the N-Team set down in the middle of Dr. Light's laboratory, as expected. The scientist was there, and happy to see the Princess back safely. He contacted Simon Belmont and Kid Icarus, who were guarding the Palace of Power, and told them the good news.

Mega Man, meanwhile, shook his head and rubbed his eyes. His vision was getting hazy again. It was becoming very annoying. At the same time he suddenly realized that he no longer had the Thunder Beam.

"How's the eyesight?" Kevin asked, noticing him.

"Getting worse," Mega Man said in disgust, looking at his hands. But he wasn't testing his sight; his attention was on the weapon slots in his arm bands. They were empty.

Dr. Light raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"He was blind," Kevin explained, launching eagerly into the story. When he was done Dr. Light worriedly approached his creation.

"That's surprising. Let me look it over."

Repairing a living machine had always been rather difficult. Dr. Light had been finding that out ever since Mega Man became one. It wasn't possible to really take one apart without killing it, and yet the typical medicines were unusable as well. But through his trials, Dr. Light had been discovering what could be done. So after a couple of tests he tried some remedies and Mega Man was surprised to find his vision was back to normal.

"Wow," Mega Man said, noticing the difference. "Thanks, Dr. Light!"

"That did it, then?" the scientist wanted to know.

"Yes, that's perfect," Mega Man replied. By this time Simon, Kid Icarus, and Kevin's dog Duke had arrived via a warp and the story had to be told all over again.

As they mentioned Break Man's name Mega Man was reminded of their urgent news. But before he could bring up the subject of his brother's disappearance, Dr. Light's sensors claimed they had a visitor.

Then a buzz that passed for a doorbell came through the speakers mounted on the ceiling. "Someone's at the main door," Dr. Light said. He didn't even have to check the monitor; he knew from the tone of the buzz from which door it was coming. And the fact that the person had even bothered to ring the bell at all indicated that it was a friendly visit.

"I'll get it," Kevin offered, vaguely remembering how to get down to the main door. He disappeared into the hallway that led to the lifts. A few moments later he came back with another teenage boy. The latter was carrying a cardboard box.

"It's a delivery," Kevin announced.

"I have a package for Mega Man," the boy said in a bored monotone.

Everyone else looked at the little robot.

"Me?" Mega Man finally got out as the boy set the box on the floor. "Who would be sending me anything?"

Dr. Light tipped the delivery boy, who left.

"Well, open it, Mega Man!" Kevin said as they all crowed around the box.

"Yes, I've got to see what this is," Kid Icarus chimed in, floating down close to it to look.

"I have to admit I'm curious too," Lana smiled.

Mega Man frowned and looked over the package. It couldn't have been big enough to hold his helmet. What could it be?

"Don't just stand there," Simon scolded. "You're driving us crazy!"

Dr. Light settled into his work chair a few meters away and watched on with a smile. He was curious like everyone else, but like Mega Man he also tended to be more cautious.

"Go ahead," the others were saying. "Open it!"

Mega Man shrugged and took hold of the glued flaps. One thing he hated was suspense. With a yank he pulled them open and was greeted by a bright blue light.

Mega Man jumped back in surprise as the box continued to radiate the light. Across the room Dr. Light leaped off his chair as there was a blinding flash. When the light died down he was alone. Even the box was gone.







Chapter Five



The next thing the N-Team knew they were standing in shock right outside a strange fortress. Well, almost everybody. The Princess found herself on the very edge of the bridge they were on--and there were no guard rails.

"What the heck--" Kevin started to say as they all looked around in confusion. But he was cut off by a cry from Lana as she tumbled off the bridge and fell into the moat below.

"Lana!" he finished instead.

She was pulled under by two robot alligators. Fearlessly Mega Man plunged in after her. Kevin was right behind him. The others followed shortly thereafter.

Unlike Kevin's zapper, Mega Man's arm cannons worked underwater. He destroyed the alligators and the group swam with the Princess to the surface. When they emerged they were in the castle's basement.

Lana gasped as they climbed out of the water. "Where are we?" she cried.

Kevin shrugged. "I guess that box held some sort of trap that transported us here."

"Well obviously it was meant for me," Mega Man said grimly, "since it was delivered to me."

Duke shook himself off, showering Simon. "Now what?" Simon asked in disgust, trying to wipe himself off. Kid Icarus was busy shaking the water off his wing's feathers.

Before anyone would answer him there was a clang and a roar. Everyone looked up to see a rush of water pouring from a huge valve above them. They tried to run but were carried away with the flow.

For several seconds they were thrown on a jolting ride, swirling around so much they soon forgot which way was up. Then they were pouring out of a pipe and into a large room. They were cut off from the room, however, by a thick glass wall that made a semicircle around them, trapping them by the wall.

The water continued to pour in after them. Mega Man was up against the glass and he quickly began to search for a way out. He was not afraid for himself, for he could stay underwater indefinitely. But he was not sure about the others, and their little prison was rapidly filling up with water.

"What are you doing?" he heard Kevin ask over the gasps from the others.

Mega Man was wrenching up some bolts. He removed two then asked everyone to help him push.

With a groan, then a snap, the section of glass gave way and fell to the floor, cracking. The N-Team half jumped and half slid out of the prison.

"Wow," the Princess gasped as everyone tried to catch his breath.

"My thoughts exactly," Kevin said.

"Where are we?" Kid Icarus asked, echoing what the Lana had said before.

Mega Man shook himself off. "Reminds me of Dr. Wily's fortress," he said. "But I got a glimpse of the outside and this isn't it."

"Could it be Dr. Cossack's, maybe?" Kevin asked.

"I've never seen this one before," Mega Man replied, shaking his head. "I do think we're still in MegaLand, though."

The Princess nodded in agreement.

"Are you saying," Kevin spoke up, "that there's another evil scientist out there?"

Mega Man laughed humorlessly. "One who's got something against me? I don't see why not."

"Maybe this is Dr. Wily's doing," Lana suggested.

Mega Man considered that. "It could be a new fortress of Wily's--he does build them fast--but he has a unique style and this one just doesn't match."

Simon, staying as far away from Duke as he could, was passing the time drying his hair. "Are we going to do anything or just stand here and debate?"

"That's a good question," Kevin said. He glanced behind him. The flow of water had stopped, but the tunnel was now sealed tightly. Even if they could open it back up, he doubted they would be able to retrace their route. "Do we work our way outta here or try to find out who's behind this?"

They all looked at each other.

Finally Mega Man shrugged. "Well, we aren't going that way," he said, pointing at the tunnel. "And I seriously doubt that whoever's behind this is going to let us just walk back out. He'll reveal himself eventually."

Kevin nodded. "Then let's get moving. We aren't getting anywhere by standing still."

Mega Man headed for a metal gate in one of the room's walls. "Just pick a route by random," he said with a grin. "You'll find out soon enough if you're going the right way!"

That's just what they did. With Kevin and Mega Man leading the way the group wandered down the various hallways, firing at or dodging the numerous machines that attacked them.

Mega Man was noticing a distinct difference between this fortress and one of Dr. Wily's. His old nemesis tended to design his robots to resemble animals, usually for some particular quality that the model creature possessed. It also helped in naming the endless hordes: Bomb Birds, Robo-Rabbits, Mecha Monkeys, and Atomic Chickens. But most of the enemies in this new fortress didn't seem to resemble anything. Many of them were simply weapons and claws mounted on the walls.

He was still thinking about this, and wondering where his Thunder Beam went, when the group found itself in some sort of computer room.

'Hall' would probably be a better word; two monitors and a key pad were mounted vertically on the wall in front of them. To the right of the screen the hallway continued on, narrowing because of the space taken by the computer. The N-Team stopped in front of the screen and frowned.

"What do you make of them?" Kevin asked.

Mega Man shrugged and randomly pushed a button. The lower monitor immediately lit up.

"A map!" Kevin cried. As they all examined it, he reached down and used the cursor keys to scroll the image. "Some games have maps like this that you can call up," he continued. "But I guess the Mega Man games don't really need them. There's usually only one way to go."

Mega Man laughed. "I wish it were that easy!" he said. The others could agree. The map they were looking at showed that this part of the castle was like a maze. Hallways went everywhere.

"Let's figure this out," Kevin suggested. "I think this is the path just ahead. See, this must be the end of that section." He pointed at the screen. "So that's where we have to go."

"What's that?" Lana asked, indicating another spot.

Kevin was experienced with reading digitized maps. "My guess is that's where these TVs are--our location."

"So what's that?"Kid Icarus spoke up, pointing at something moving up from the bottom of the screen.

Kevin frowned. "That's--right behind us!"

Everyone whirled. A wall, taking up the entire width of the hallway, was moving toward them. A spike-covered wall.

"Yeeow!" Simon yelped. In panic, the six ran for the only place they could go--into the maze.

They filed through the doorway next to the computer screens and paused in the next room to glance back. The wall came within centimeters of the monitors and stopped, blocking the way.

"Just what we needed," Simon grumbled. "More traps!"

"At least they were kind enough to give us a map," Kevin grinned. "Let's go!"

The group set off with a will but hadn't gone far before they were completely lost. For they had had only a few brief moments to study the map, and now their memories were failing.

"Let's try this way," Kevin suggested at the next intersection.

"Don't be ridiculous," Simon argued. He indicated another hallway. "That's the right one!"

Lana looked exasperated. Kid Icarus frowned. "Which way?"

Mega Man finally spoke up. "It's that way," he said, pointing down a hall that neither of them had chosen.

"Are you crazy?" Simon objected. "That's in the completely wrong direction!"

"We're trying to get to that spot that Captain N found on the map, right?" Mega Man replied patiently. "Well, that's the way to get there."

"And how can you be so sure?" Simon retorted.

But Mega Man grinned. "I have a computer for a memory, remember?"

They stared at him. "You mean you can see the map in your mind as if you were looking at it?" Lana asked.

Mega Man nodded. "It's not as good as it used to be--I mean, the image will fade eventually. But it'll be there long enough to get us through."

"Then lead the way," the Princess said, moving aside.

They followed him as he wound his way through the passages, only having to pause once or twice to figure out the next turn. At times Kevin would frown, or Simon would grumble that he was just getting them even more lost. But the Princess and Kid Icarus were behind Mega Man the whole way.

As they neared the end, Kevin had to admit that the hallways were beginning to look familiar. At one point he spoke up.

"We go right, right?" And even he laughed at the awkwardness of his phrase.

But Mega Man understood. "Right," he grinned. "We're almost out. At least, out of the part that the map showed."

Kevin nodded. "I remember this part. There should be something to the left of here now." And for once, everybody agreed with him.

The 'thing' that the map had shown there ended up to be a large electronic door, like the others they had encountered in this castle but bigger. Unlike the gates that Mega Man often came upon in Dr. Wily's fortresses, these opened in the center and slid sideways.

The hallway beyond the door looked like a normal corridor--a thankful sign for the N-Team.

"Phew!" Kevin cried joyfully. "We're finally out of that maddening maze." Then he added, "Thanks, Mega Man."

"Don't mention it," the little robot replied as Kevin pulled out his zapper and obliterated some sensors on the wall that were about to fire at them.

Mega Man didn't bother to fire. Kevin had been doing most of the shooting. Mega Man knew that the teenager enjoyed it. And he was a good shot.

The hallway was clear in no time, and Mega Man started forward. There was a wide intersection up ahead and he wanted to see what was there.

But he had hardly taken a few steps when the floor opened underneath him. With a yell he tumbled through the trap door. The rest of the group couldn't do a thing about it, for a larger opening appeared beneath them. Kid Icarus, because of his ability to fly, was the only one to escape.

But not for long. As he fluttered in surprise, a panel in the wall opened and a metal claw came out, grabbing him.

Mega Man landed with a thud on the next level down. Above him he heard the trap door slam shut. He looked up at the incredibly high ceiling where the faint cracks betrayed the door's location and groaned. It was way out of reach.

Getting up, Mega Man quickly took in his surroundings. Behind him was a wall. A wide hallway traveled a short distance, ending at a high ledge. A ladder led up to it.

Something about this place didn't look right. "I'll bet this is somebody's idea of a practical joke," he grumbled.

But he wasn't about to just stand there. There was only one way to go so he started moving at his traditional, fast pace. He was attacked almost immediately by small robots and laser sensors. Expertly he destroyed them all.

Climbing up the ladder--and shooting enemies at the same time--Mega Man safely reached the top of the ledge. The hall continued, making a dip then turning left. The ceiling was much closer now, of course, but after jumping down several series of ledges it was even farther away.

For several minutes Mega Man plowed his way through the robots and sensors, climbing up and dropping down at intervals. It seemed to be an odd way to build a castle to him. He also noticed that this was the only hall they had encountered so far that did this. It was beginning to remind him of one of Dr. Wily's fortresses.

His jumping abilities were tried on a series of tiny platforms hovering over a sea of odd-looking spikes. Mega Man had no doubt that were deadly, nonetheless. To make matters worse, some of the platforms would move unexpectedly. And there was a constant gaggle of robotic enemies.

Mega Man's energy shield, the tiny device that helped protect him, was a little drained by the time he had crossed the spikes. What worried him more was the fact that the others were no doubt out of its range by now. That meant that they had no protection against attacks. He wished he had thought to give them his spare shield generator.

Trying to ignore these worries, Mega Man moved on. He climbed down and followed the single hallway toward another ladder which led up an even higher ledge. The enemy population had thinned out but he didn't bother debating it.

When he reached the ladder, the only opposition in sight was a floating, yellow, metal orb. It reminded Mega Man of a Shell Bomber.

The yellow machine had a small gun which it was busy aiming. Mega Man reached to destroy the shell but it fired first.

Mega Man had never seen--or felt--that kind of ray before. It was continuous and he was unable to get out of its grip. As it drained his power he was finally too tired to fight, and he collapsed to the ground.

The energy meter on his arm was slowly approaching nil.

But then, just when Mega Man thought he was surely finished, the ray stopped.

For several seconds he lay still. Then he summoned the strength to look at his energy meter.

There was one unit left.

Groaning silently, Mega Man started to let his arm drop back down. Then something occurred to him and his eyes snapped open.

That's not right, his mind said. His shield was supposed to protect him.

He looked down at the shield generator. It had its own energy meter.

And it was also at one unit.

Mega Man shot to a sitting position. "Yeow!" he cried, startled. "Double damage!"

The yellow orb seemed to have been alerted. Mega Man tried to get out of the way but he was knocked off his feet by the ray.

In any other situation he would have been history. But when the ray stopped a split second later, Mega Man was surprised to notice that it had taken no damage.

He was weak again, though. But while he laid still and allowed his strength to return a second time, he began to understand this odd object.

Apparently it could take his energy down to one unit, but it could not actually destroy him. So, if he was right, all Mega Man had to do was get up the ladder and he'd have it made.

When he felt able, Mega Man slowly slid to the ladder. Evidently the metal orb, which was hovering over his head, was attracted by motion. Though its shots were now practically harmless, Mega Man did not want to be caught again.

As he started up the ladder, though, the orb noticed him. Mega Man fired at it, missed, and was thrown off the ladder by the ray.

This is something I don't need, he thought as he again waited silently for the orb to move away. This time he attempted to shoot it from where he lay on the ground.

His first shot just barely missed, and it attracted the orb. As the shell's gun aimed itself at him, Mega Man fired again. This time he hit.

Though it was not destroyed, the orb spun backwards and hit a wall. While it was distracted, Mega Man jumped up and dashed up the ladder. Triumphantly he made it to the top before the orb could sight him. As he had hoped, the yellow-shelled robot did not follow him.

"All right!" he cheered. Then he looked up.

Another orb was floating above him. A black one.

Before Mega Man could react it had fired. There was a flash of light, then Mega Man was gone.







Chapter Six



"I don't believe it," a woman said, half in surprise and half in disappointment.

"Don't believe what?" Corneillius asked. He had just entered the room.

Ameilla was still sitting in front of her computer monitor. "He didn't do it," she explained, turning to him. "The Down and Out Duo finished him off."

"Well, maybe he wasn't what we--" Corneillius broke off. "Wait a minute. What's that, then?"

Ameilla turned back to the screen. Her eyes grew wide. "Why, he's still there! How on earth...?"

"Guess he'll never cease to surprise us," Corneillius replied.

Mega Man was set down rather forcefully. He shook his head and blinked in surprise. He was right under the trap door. Had he dreamed the whole thing?

Slowly he began to remember. Another thought came to him. One glance down confirmed it. He had just used up his first shield.

The other one, glowing with energy, was his last one. He couldn't afford to slip up again. Each shield could save him once by teleporting him out of danger when hit by an otherwise fatal blow. Now that he was left with only one, another mistake could leave him with only his metal shell for protection, and nothing to give to the N-Team when he did finally catch up to them. It was something he wanted to avoid. That meant he'd have to be especially careful.

"Like I'm not anyway," he muttered. Then he looked up at the ceiling. "I wish it had taken me out of this stupid section, though. Oh, well, I guess I can't complain."

Without wasting any more time, Mega Man started moving again. As he made his way a second time down the hall, he wondered what had happened to the others. He had not seen the trap door catch them. For all he knew, they were still wandering above.

The robot population seemed to have replenished itself, but the trip was easier the second time through. Mega Man knew what to expect as he traversed the ladders and ledges and the pit with the spikes. He only became worried when he began to approach the yellow and black shells.

But he was prepared. As he destroyed the last robotic enemy and was coming up to the ladder and the yellow orb, he began charging up his arm cannon. It took a couple of seconds for the cannon to reach its highest power, so he paused to give it time to do so before taking on the shells.

The pesky yellow one noticed him anyway, though, and it was on him in a second. Before Mega Man could fire he was engulfed once again in that blinding yellow ray.

Mega Man jumped backwards, lost his footing, and fell. As he hit the ground, however, he released his fire in a desperate shot. The super-shot blazed through the yellow ray and obliterated its source.

The ray stopped instantly, of course. Mega Man collapsed in relief. Then he checked his energy levels. Both his meter and the shield's were at about half.

Getting slowly to his feet, he started up the ladder, again charging an arm cannon. Now all he had to do was get past the black orb and he would be safe.

He hoped.

Mega Man reached the top of the ladder and immediately looked up. But the black orb was not where it had been before.

Climbing onto the ledge, Mega Man noticed something move behind him. He whirled around just in time to see the shell hovering there. Then he was knocked off his feet.

Mega Man landed with a clang on the smooth metal surface of the ledge. The first thing he noticed was that he was still alive.

Quickly he rechecked his energy levels. How many more hits could he take?

"That's odd," he muttered, glancing back up at the orb. Taking a deep breath, he decided to try something.

Mega Man got to his feet and waved his arms. The black orb, alerted, promptly fired again. And although he had braced himself, Mega Man was still thrown to the floor.

But he had managed to keep his eye on the energy meter. "What's going on here?" he cried in disbelief. "That didn't do a thing!"

It had taken no damage, and yet it had finished him minutes before.

Suddenly Mega Man understood. Apparently the yellow and black orbs worked together. The black one seemed to only be able to take out an enemy if he had just a single energy unit left. So the yellow one was designed to create such a situation. It could whittle away on someone's energy, but it could not actually destroy him.

Take out either one, and the other was virtually useless.

Mega Man started laughing. He had eliminated the more dangerous one--when viewed separately, it was more dangerous. The black one couldn't do a thing to him--except maybe give him a few bruises.

He started dancing around the black orb, dodging its shots. It took three hits to destroy the pesky shell, but since it could not damage him back it was a simple task.

"Ha!" Mega Man laughed. "Take that!"

Actually he wasn't planning on coming back to this spot a third time. He had destroyed the orb just in case there were more yellow ones around. But he traversed the rest of the hallway without seeing a single robot. At the end was a door which opened at his touch.

"You'd think," Mega Man mused as he went through, "that if they wanted to keep me down here they'd have locked the doors or something."

Of course he was using 'they' for lack of a better pronoun, since he really had no idea who was behind all this. Little did he know how close his choice of words was!

The electronic door lead to a narrow, twisting hall. After a few steps an identical gate loomed up on his left, and like the others it also opened for him. Mega Man shrugged and went in.

He found himself in a large but empty room. The wall to the right was bare except for a large monitor and a keypad. In the left wall a second hallway led away from the room, but it was two meters off the floor. It stopped at a ledge surrounded by a solid metal railing like an odd balcony.

What caught Mega Man's attention, though, was the far wall. It was made entirely of glass.

Curious, Mega Man walked over. The strange window overlooked an even larger room a half-level below. Talk about weird architecture, Mega Man thought as he looked down into the huge room. When he did he saw four people and a dog in a large cage.

"The N-Team!" he cried. He had just raised a fist to smash the glass when a female voice spoke up behind him.

"Congratulations, Mega Man," it said. Mega Man whirled. "You passed your test with flying colors."

The speaker was a tall, dark-haired woman wearing a lab coat. She was standing on the balcony.

"Test?" Mega Man returned. "What test?"

"I've been watching you," she said. "I've been trying to create a humanoid robot for years. I guess someone beat us to it."

"Us?" Mega Man echoed. "And who are you?"

"Guess I'm being impolite." The woman laughed. "I am Ameilla Hart. My husband is Corneillius." She glanced at the monitor. "Though who knows where he went. We've been inventors for a long time, so a little while ago we moved to MegaLand since this place matched our hobbies. I never knew until now that someone had actually built a human-like robot, though."

You must be really new here, Mega Man thought.

"You are Mega Man, right?" she confirmed.

The robot shrugged, then nodded.

"Funny how you have the same name as the land."

"Dr. Light named me after it," Mega Man said simply.

Ameilla raised her eyebrows. "And who's Dr. Light?"

"Whoops!" Mega Man gasped, his eyes growing wide as he realized that he had let the name slip without even noticing it.

"He's your creator, isn't he?" she continued.

Mega Man didn't answer.

That was enough for her. Ameilla smiled. "So he's the one who figured it out. Where is he now?"

"I'm not going to tell you!" Mega Man retorted. "Besides, I doubt he's at the lab right now, anyway. He's probably looking for us."

Ameilla was silent. She realized that the spot where her 'gift' to Mega Man had been sent was probably Dr. Light's laboratory. She had the coordinates in her computer, she was sure...

Mega Man was glancing back at the window. "Oh, your friends," Ameilla acknowledged, noticing. She leaned casually on the railing in front of her." We're still trying to decide what to do with them."

Mega Man laughed. "Let me help you make up your minds!"

"I wouldn't break the glass if I were you," Ameilla spoke up calmly. "It's super-strong and internally electrified, besides."

Mega Man turned and paused.

"And this room," she continued, "is protected as well. I'm not foolish enough to try to face you undefended."

"But you couldn't stop me," Mega Man said, glancing at the room's gate. He couldn't understand what Ameilla was up to so he tried to see if he could get her to reveal her plans herself.

"I've seen you fight," she agreed, "and you're probably correct. But you could be sure that we'll have taken care of the others before you reach them."

"Not the N-Team," Mega Man countered. "They'll be free in no time and up here looking for me."

"The N-Team?" Ameilla asked with a raised eyebrow. "Is that what they're called?"

He hesitated, then nodded.

"And are you a part of them?" she went on.

Proud of his position, he again nodded.

"By order of Dr. Light?" Ameilla prodded.

"By request of the Princess of Videoland," Mega Man corrected. "Which is why you're in serious trouble!"

"You mean they are," she said, pulling a miniature communicator from her pocket as it bleeped.

"How's it going?" a man's voice came through, loud enough for Mega Man to hear.

"Okay. Have you found anything?" Ameilla replied, looking at a tiny screen which Mega Man could not see.

"You know, this is getting interesting," Corneillius replied. "I've found someone who would pay a lot to have our prisoners."

"Who?"

"Some wacko who calls herself Mother Brain."

"Mother Brain!?" Mega Man echoed.

"Good," Ameilla said, ignoring him. "That will get them off of our hands."

"You can't!" Mega Man cried.

Ameilla glanced down at him. "You know this Mother Brain?"

"Of course. She's been trying to take over the Palace for years."

"Well, that's not my problem," Ameilla said, her eyes on her communicator's antenna as she pushed it back in. "I have no use for them, and if we set them free they would no doubt try to get back in." She started to turn toward the hallway behind her, signaling the end of the conversation.

Mega Man's mind was working rapidly. He realized that he could escape this room and probably even the castle, but he'd never get to the others in time. Obviously the rest of the N-Team had been taken by surprise, but by chance Mega Man hadn't been with them at the time.

Or was it chance? Mega Man suddenly realized that the Harts couldn't have known that the N-Team would also be standing around the box when Mega Man opened it. Ameilla had said herself that she had no use for the others. Mega Man had been singled out because he was a robot.

All at once he had an idea. "Wait!" he blurted out suddenly. "Take me instead!"

Ameilla paused. "What?"

"Look, you said you wanted a robot, right? I'll stay here in their place if you set them free," he said hurriedly. "I'll even work for you--just...just as though you'd made me yourself."

That got her attention. "You'd do whatever I asked?"

"I wouldn't hurt the N-Team--or Dr. Light, of course. And I wouldn't help in any conquest motives. But other than that..."

"But you're a fighter," she argued. "What else could you do besides fight?"

"I was also a lab assistant," Mega Man explained hopefully. "I used to be a tool-user. And I'm still good at fixing things."

He watched as Ameilla's face lit up. It was working. Encouraged, Mega Man continued, "Just let the others go. Tell them not to come looking for me. And I'll stay."

Ameilla had that excited look on her face as though her entire dreams were coming true. She also looked relieved, as if a tough problem had just been solved. "It's a deal," she said, controlling herself. She pulled out the communicator again. "Corneillius...come in. There's been a change in plans."

"And what's that?" her husband asked as his image appeared on her screen.

"Set the prisoners free," Ameilla said with masked emotion.

"What?"

"Let them go," she repeated happily. "Mega Man's going to stay voluntarily. So make sure they know not to try to free him. Oh, and better give them a map to the Palace."

"The Palace," Corneillius echoed, as if he had just thought of something. "Ameilla, do you know what we have here? The Princess of Videoland! Do you realize how much she would be worth?"

"Who cares?" she responded gaily. "Besides, I have something better."

"I've almost got it," Kevin muttered, concentrating on the bars of their cage.

"Shh--hold it!" Lana hissed. "Here he comes!"

The N-Team stepped back and tried to look nonchalant.

Corneillius appeared to not have noticed. He went over to a console on the wall and pushed a few buttons. Responding to its controls, the N-Team's cage lifted itself up on a cushion of air. Then it glided smoothly through the castle.

"Where's he taking us?" the Princess asked softly.

They soon found out. Corneillius guided the cage right out of the castle, across the moat, and down a small hill. Then it stopped. "There you go," he said, moving around to open one side of the cage. "Sorry about the inconvenience. You're free to go. In case you're lost, this map will show you to a warp that goes to Central Island."

The N-Team stared in surprise. Then they began to understand.

"Wait!" Lana cried as Corneillius started back up the hill. "What about Mega Man?"

He turned and looked them over. "He's staying in your place. That's another thing--if you show up here again we won't be as lenient. You won't get a second chance. Next time I'll deliver you to Mother Brain without hesitation."

Then he turned back around and continued toward the castle, the cage following behind him, empty.

The N-Team looked at each other in shock. The Lana collected herself and shouted, "Hold it! We're not leaving without him!"

"Yeah!" Kevin chimed in, taking a step forward. "Let him go!"

By now Corneillius was at the top of the hill. "But we're not holding him," he called back. "He's staying by his own free will."

With that he reentered the castle and disappeared.

Lana watched after him. "Why in the world would Mega Man do that?" she asked no one in particular. "Did he change loyalties?"

"No way," Kevin replied. "That guy was probably lying."

"Well, let's go!" Kid Icarus cried, heading for the castle.

"No, Kid--wait!" Lana called. "We can't afford to just rush in there. They're expecting it!"

"So what are we going to do?" Simon asked.

"I don't know," the Princess sighed.

Mega Man watched on the large monitor screen as Corneillius freed his friends. He was a bit surprised that they had kept their end of the bargain. Now he had to keep his.

Over and over, he continuously tried to remind himself that he was only a robot--a machine to be built and destroyed, bought and sold, bartered and traded, just like any other.

But he wasn't, and that was the problem. He was alive.

A robot is a machine. It can stand for hours doing nothing, or it can work all day and all night. Since it has no feelings, it could care less.

But Mega Man had feelings. He was only just starting to get used to them. He was finding what it was like to be bored, to be tired, to be anxious. He knew what it was like to want to be doing what he wanted to do rather than what he was told.

It was better this way, Mega Man knew, and yet he couldn't help but think that he had just thrown his entire life away.







Chapter Seven



At first, of course, things were rather tense. But Ameilla did her best to regain control. Almost as if by an unspoken agreement, she and Mega Man pretended as though nothing had happened.

"There is one way," she was saying, "where your fighting skills can come in handy. I'm going to have you guard this castle from attacks."

Mega Man nodded. That didn't sound bad.

"Keep out any intruders," Ameilla continued. "Since we're new here and know very few people, that will be just about everybody. And that also includes," she added, "your N-Team friends if they are dumb enough to try to come back."

Mega Man winced but agreed, grimly hoping that they would just go back to the Palace and leave him. After all, he had gotten a break--one life in exchange for five.

Ameilla was moving on to new topics. "What all can you fix?"

"I used to be able to fix anything." Mega Man shrugged. "I can give it a shot. What's broken?"

"A couple of monitor systems went down on Level C that we haven't gotten around to repairing."

"I'm on my way."

"Okay." Ameilla smiled. "Here's a map of the place so you can familiarize yourself with it. Tools are located in the locker down the hall." She started to leave the room. "In between jobs you can patrol the castle and look for anything out of place."

"Affirmative," Mega Man replied with a grin. When he was alone he studied the map which she had brought up on the monitor screen for him.

"Not bad," he muttered. "Twenty floors. Central laboratory. Monitored hallways. Skeletal security alarm. Bigger than most of Dr. Wily's castles."

The map showed that each hallway was lined with monitor screens placed about twenty meters apart. They were built right into the metal walls and could be used to view any part of the castle. The map also indicated which two of the monitors were broken and in need of repair.

Mega Man left the room and turned left. He found the tool chest where Ameilla had said it was. As he pulled it out he couldn't help thinking that it had been years since he had done this. It had been years since he had become a living machine.

Mega Man located the first monitor quickly and was soon at work. He found that despite the fact that his mind was not as sharp and logical anymore, he still had instincts that came naturally and easily. He was able to get the screen working again even through he was unfamiliar with its circuits. At times he knew he had to do something, yet there was no tool he knew of to do the job. But he could picture in his mind what the needed tool would generally look like, and, after a brief search, find it in his chest.

At other times he would look through the chest and find a tool he had never seen before. But somehow he could figure out how it was used. These sensations were not exactly new to him, but were much different now than when he'd been an ordinary robot, and he was just starting to get used to them.

Mega Man finished fixing the second monitor and suddenly located a third that was down. He had at first thought there were only two. Shaking his head, he stuck the tools in the chest and stood up.

That's when the monitor he'd just finished repairing came to life.

"Mega Man?" came Ameilla's voice. "Can you read me?"

The robot adjusted the screen's knobs. "Yes, I can."

Now she could see him. Ameilla smiled, pleased. "Good. I'm in the Moderator Room. Do you know where that is?"

Mega Man remembered it from the map. "Yes."

"Come on up, then. I have something interesting to show you."

Ameilla's image faded and Mega Man shrugged. Leaving the tools where they lay, he started for a lift. On the way his thoughts were on Ameilla. At first he had been afraid that she would be ruthless like Dr. Wily. But she was turning out to a rather kind master. Her husband, though, was a little more heartless. But luckily Mega Man didn't see him often.

Mega Man entered the room which was dotted with computer screens, keyboards, speakers, printers, and other information devices. Most of the equipment was mounted on the walls, leaving much of the floor-space free.

Ameilla was by the right wall, her back to Mega Man, looking at an active screen. As he came in she glanced over her shoulder.

"Come on over and see," she invited. Mega Man walked over.

"I prevented the general alarm from sounding," she continued, "so that's why you don't know of this yet."

Mega Man peered at the monitor which was showing a view of the hallway in the lower part of the castle. A red and white robot was fighting through the castle's defenses much as Mega Man had done earlier.

Mega Man's eyes lit up as he grinned with surprise and relief. "Break Man!" he said without thinking. His brother was still alive!

Ameilla had been watching him. "So you do know him."

I have to watch what I say, Mega Man chided himself. But he answered truthfully, "Yes, I do. But I can't imagine why he's here."

"Looking for you,I'd wager," Ameilla said.

"But how could've he known? He's not part of the N-Team--" Mega Man broke off as it was suddenly clear to him. "Oh, Dr. Light told him, of course."

"I see Dr. Light's been busy," Ameilla commented wryly. "Well, this Break Man is a pretty good fighter." She didn't mention that he and Mega Man looked almost identical. She assumed they were both made by Dr. Light, so that was probably no wonder. She went on, "But he's becoming a bit of a problem. Why don't you go finish him off."

Mega Man blinked. "No," he said flatly.

Ameilla looked at him.

Mega Man cringed, remembering that robots weren't supposed to disobey. "I mean, I couldn't."

"Now I'm sure you could defeat him, as good of a fighter that you are."

"But I said I wouldn't hurt--" Mega Man started.

Ameilla cut him off. "He's not part of the N-Team," she told him. "You said so yourself. So he doesn't count."

Whoops, Mega Man thought. "But he's a friend," he tried again.

"And he's also penetrating the castle," she retorted. "He'll destroy the whole place if he's not stopped. We can't do it. Only you could."

Suddenly Mega Man got an inspiration. "I also said I wouldn't hurt Dr. Light," he reminded her. "And destroying one of his creations would surely upset him."

"You'll hurt him more if you don't," a new voice spoke up suddenly.

Mega Man whirled. Corneillius was just entering the room. But he wasn't alone. Behind him was a shorter, gray-haired scientist.

"Dr. Wily!?" Mega Man cried.







Chapter Eight



"You seem to know everybody around here, don't you?" Ameilla said dryly. She didn't wait for an answer, but instead turned to her husband, a skeptical expression on her face. "That's him?"

Corneillius nodded. "He knows a lot of interesting things about this land," he commented.

I'll say, Mega Man thought.

Dr. Wily looked straight at Mega Man with an evil smile. "I found out about the construction of another fortress and decided to drop by," he spoke up before Mega Man could say anything. "And look who I picked up along the way."

He waved at another screen as it lit up. This image showed a man bound to a chair.

"Dr. Light!" Mega Man cried, jumping forward. This was too much.

Ameilla raised her eyebrows in interest. "So that's Dr. Light."

Mega Man spun around, his fists clenched in anger. "Let him go," he snapped. "You have no right to hold him!"

"I do and I will." Dr. Wily crossed his arms. "We're going to hold him hostage to insure that you'll follow orders."

"You're not my master," Mega Man countered. "I never agreed to obey you."

"Not me, but my new friends here." Dr. Wily laughed. "Corneillius told me about your, er, bargain."

"Dr. Wily is going to help us settle in," Corneillius explained. "But first of all, we need you to take care of that bothersome robot down there."

"Now wait just a minute! I am not taking orders from him!" Mega Man countered, pointing at Dr. Wily.

"They're not his orders, they're mine," Corneillius snapped. "And Ameilla's as well."

Ameilla shrugged. "It's true," she admitted, glancing back at the monitor showing Break Man. "We can't leave him running rampant through the halls; he's doing too much damage."

Mega Man knew he was in a hopeless situation. "Why not use him as a slave too?" he asked sourly.

"One's enough," Corneillius said. "Besides, we've found out the complications that would evolve if you were together. I hear that the mysterious Protoman changes sides too much to trust."

"That's Break Man," Mega Man corrected angrily. "And this is way more than I'd bargained for."

"Oh, cut the back talk and get going," Dr. Wily snapped. "If you ever want to see Dr. Light alive again, that is."

Mega Man glared at him but he knew he was outnumbered. Before Corneillius could repeat the command, Mega Man had fled the room.

There was a silence as they watched the gate close behind him.

"This is the test," Dr. Wily said slowly. "If he destroys his own ally, we will be ready for Stage Two."

Mega Man was wandering the hallways in despair, his mechanical mind in a whirl.

He had to free Dr. Light! Immediately! No, not now. That was what Dr. Wily was no doubt expecting him to do. Mega Man knew he had to be careful not arouse suspicion. Dr. Light's safety depended on it. Now that Wily was here, there was no telling what could happen. Why did everything have to go wrong like this?

After several minutes of walking he still had not come up with a solution. But now he had another problem.

He'd found Break Man.

The red robot rounded a corner and almost collided with his brother. They both jumped.

"Mega Man!" he cried, and his face broke into a grin. "You're all right!"

Mega Man jumped backwards. "Stay back!"

Break Man smile faded. Mega Man could see the confusion and wariness mirrored in his face.

The two had been through a lot together. They had battled each other, saved each other, been reprogrammed, and faced clones of each other. Neither had any desire to repeat any of it.

"I'm okay," Mega Man added quickly. "But--you really shouldn't be here. We're...not exactly on the same side anymore."

"What do you mean?" Break Man demanded. "What's going on?"

"It's a mess," his brother answered with a sigh. "I'm...I'm working for the owners of this place now. And they, well, sent me to get rid of you."

Break Man frowned, so rapidly Mega Man told him about his bargain. "The worst part," he finished, "is that Dr. Wily's here."

"I know," Break Man said hurriedly. "I followed him here. Come on--let's get out of here while we can."

"I can't! Besides, they have Dr. Light."

Break Man stopped. "They...what?"

"They're holding Dr. Light. If I don't destroy you he'll be harmed. But maybe..." Mega Man paused. "Maybe if you just leave now and never come back that will be enough."

Break Man hesitated, thinking. "No," he said finally. "Dr. Wily would never accept that. He wants me destroyed. So for your safety and Dr. Light's, you have to do it."

"I couldn't," Mega Man said quietly.

"I've made up my mind," his brother stated deliberately. "There's no other way." He looked down. "It's okay. I don't have much power left anyway. One super-shot ought to do it."

Mega Man was no longer listening. He had followed Break Man's gaze downwards, toward the other robot's red belt. And suddenly he saw it: Break Man had two energy shields.

As Mega Man's eyes snapped back up, he had to use all of his willpower just to keep from grinning. His only thought was, Could they pull it off? Knowing that they were probably being watched by Ameilla, Corneillius, Dr. Wily, or all of them, Mega Man struggled to stay calm, least he reveal to the watching eyes what Break Man had just shown him. He already knew what his brother was planning to do.

Trying to look depressed for the evil scientists' benefit, Mega Man said in a despairing tone, "I guess you're right." But one look at his brother's face told him that Break Man knew that Mega Man had caught the message.

"Don't worry," Break Man assured him smoothly, playing right along. He winked, although no one could see it through his black visor. "It'll work out. Dr. Light can make another me later."

Mega Man charged up his arm cannon. "Are you ready?"

Ready as I'll ever be, Break Man thought as he nodded. When he rematerialized, he would have to be extra-careful about not being detected.

Forget me and save Dr. Light when you come back! Mega Man's mind screamed. He wasn't exactly sure what Break Man was planning, but there was no way to communicate any farther. Mega Man closed his eyes and fired.

The N-Team knew that heading right back into the castle would be foolish, so they pretended to give up and headed back to the Palace of Power.

Immediately upon arriving they went through the warp into Dr. Light's laboratory. But the place was empty.

"Dr. Light?" they called.

"Where'd you go?" Kevin added.

Lana checked the computer. It was still on. "I don't like this," she said, locking it as they did with the Palace's computers. "He'd never leave the Palace empty without at least activating the defenses."

"Maybe he was too worried about us," Simon suggested.

"He has common sense!" Lana objected. "This isn't like him at all. Where do you suppose he went?"

"Looking for us?" Kevin tried.

"Alone?" Lana asked.

"He could have gone anywhere," Simon said. "It's not like he has to stay here, you know."

"I know," the Princess agreed. "But he remodeled the Palace's defenses for us, and offered to help look after them. While it's not his duty to guard the Palace--he was right here when we left! Don't you think he would do something about it?" She shook her head. "I don't like this at all..."

"His loyalty is amazing," Ameilla was saying.

"I wonder just how far he'd go," Corneillius mused.

"Shh..." his wife hissed. "Here he comes."

Mega Man entered the room and was relieved to see that Dr. Wily was absent from it. That, however, meant he could be almost anywhere doing almost anything.

Corneillius was already starting for the door as Mega Man came to a halt near the center of the room. "Good job, Mega Man," Ameilla said as her husband left. "Frankly we weren't sure if you'd go through with it. I'm glad you know to value a human life over a robot."

Mega Man just glared at her.

Ameilla watched the door slide closed as Corneillius went out. "I'm sorry about the tension," she continued in a softer voice. "I take it you're not on good terms with Dr. Wily."

"That's an understatement," Mega Man told her.

She sighed. "Well, there was no way we could have known. I wasn't really expecting all of that. But I can't change anything now." Ameilla paused. "Dr. Wily and my husband are on Level I. So if you care to avoid that section it's okay."

Mega Man nodded thankfully.

"That's all for now," Ameilla said, trying to block out the strain in the air and restore order. "Have you finished those monitors?"

"There's one left," Mega Man replied.

"Why don't you take care of that, then," she suggested. "We don't have anything else for you to do right now. So after that you can just parole the castle until I need something. Oh, and energy reserves are located in the eastern wings of all levels if you get low."

Mega Man nodded again and quickly left the room. Despite Ameilla's friendliness and the knowledge that Break Man was still alive, Mega Man still resented the Harts for their order to destroy his brother in the first place. Didn't they understand? No, they were friends of Dr. Wily--how much compassion could they have?

As he headed down toward Level C to get his tools, Mega Man again noticed the difference in the castle. It was odd to be able to walk freely through these halls without being attacked, when just a short while before he had been assaulted from every direction.

That brought his thoughts once more to Break Man. He had to make sure that his brother was not detected. Sabotaging the monitors came to mind, but he quickly dismissed that possibility. He would be detected for sure, and there was no telling what would happen after that. He had to make sure not to attract attention.

Deciding to simply go on nonchalantly with his duties, he went back to where he had left the tool box. Then he headed for the third disabled monitor. All the while his mind was going though the situation over and over but without coming to an answer. That's when the problem solved itself.

The intercom system came to life with Ameilla's frantic voice. "Calling Mega Man!" a speaker set high in the wall boomed. "It's an emergency!"

Mega Man set down the tools and dashed for the nearest monitor. Dr. Light's escaped! his mind hoped. Then it centered on a more disturbing possibility--Break Man had been found!

But it was neither of these. "The security system's gone down!" she announced when Mega Man turned on the monitor. "Corneillius and I are in the process of finding the problem now. You have to guard the fortress, Mega Man. You're our only defense!"

"I'll get to it right away," he returned.

"Don't try any fast stuff," Corneillius warned, coming up behind his wife. He didn't have to add that hanging over Mega Man was the ever-present threat of harm to Dr. Light.

Besides, Mega Man never backed down on his word. "I won't," he said. "I promised already that I wouldn't."

Mega Man clicked off the monitor. Sure, he would guard the castle. Why shouldn't he? As long as he steered clear of Break Man he'd be all right.

The security system was down! That was a stroke of pure luck. Now Break Man would not be discovered. Of course the monitors were still working, but someone had to be looking for him to find him with them. And there was no reason to look for him at all. Without the security system to sound an alarm, Break Man would never be detected.

In high spirits, Mega Man started for the lower levels where he would be less likely to run into his brother. Break Man could free Dr. Light and escape with him, and then Mega Man would not have to be worried about Dr. Wily, either. With Ameilla and Corneillius around Dr. Wily would never dare to try to destroy Mega Man. And without Dr. Light as a bargaining chip, Mega Man could go back to working for the Harts and just ignore his evil nemesis.

For once today, things were looking up. But then Mega Man was suddenly looking up at a robot he had not seen in quite a while.

"Pharaoh Man?!"







Chapter Nine



"Ah, you remember me," the Robot Master grinned. "It's been a long time."

"Not long enough," Mega Man retorted, taking on a fighting stance. At the same time dread rose up in him as he realized what Pharaoh Man's presence meant.

A while ago, Dr. Wily had helped a Dr. Cossack in creating eight Robot Masters. When Dr. Cossack finally turned against Wily and joined forces with Dr. Light, he also managed to take with him the only copies of the robot designs. Thus Dr. Wily was unable to rebuild them again. He did have a copy of each robot himself at the time, but Mega Man had ended up destroying them all.

But now it appeared that Dr. Wily had recovered the plans, for here was the first result.

"If you're looking for Dr. Wily," Mega Man went on, "then you're out of luck. I'm not supposed to let anyone by."

"Huh?" Pharaoh Man was taken aback.

Ah-hah! Mega Man mentally laughed. Got him! He had just come up with a perfectly nasty way of getting Dr. Wily--use his friends' rules against him!

But Pharaoh Man recovered smoothly. "But I wasn't looking for him. I was looking for you."

Now it was Mega Man's turn to blink in surprise.

Pharaoh Man grinned. "Come on. Right this way."

Balking, Mega Man laughed--this time out loud. "In your dreams!"

"I don't want to have to hurt you," Pharaoh Man threatened.

"Just try to," Mega Man returned. He moved away and fired his charged-up Mega Buster.

Pharaoh Man dodged and fired a powered-up shot of his own.

"Not bad," Mega Man said, just narrowly missing the large, orange-colored energy ball.

"I've gotten better." With that, Pharaoh Man gave up talking and jumped into the fray.

Mega Man had always had a problem fighting Pharaoh Man. The robot was just too fast. So, before, he had used Bright Man's weapon on Pharaoh Man, freezing him.

But now Mega Man didn't have that weapon. He was left with only his Mega Buster. And, slowly, he began to lose.

Pharaoh Man seemed to be doing more leaping and charging than anything else, but he did take the time to fire as well. Mega Man managed to keep away from the Robot Master but his constant movements were tiring him. Being a normal robot, Pharaoh Man wasn't affected by this and continued to fight just as efficiently.

Despite the hits he had made on his opponent, Mega Man's last remaining shield was decreasing fast. Finally, when it had only a couple units left, he deactivated it. No point in wasting it. He hadn't had the shield when he'd first fought Pharaoh Man before; he could do it now.

But when Mega Man was hit again he stumbled, startled. There was quite a difference between being hit with a shield and without. Pharaoh Man took advantage of his opponent's delay and fired a fully-charged shot.

The energy ball knocked Mega Man flat, and for several seconds he was still. Then he weakly turned over, checking his energy meter. It was very low.

Wonderful, Mega Man thought. A great guard I make. He was expecting another shot and prepared to roll out of the way when it came. But it never did. Instead of firing, Pharaoh Man reached down and scooped up his adversary right off the floor. Then he quickly carried him into the next room.

Pharaoh Man stopped a few steps into the room and tossed down his captive. "That's the last time I play messenger for you," he said.

"Just had to be difficult, eh, Mega Man?" a new voice spoke up pleasantly.

Mega Man looked up. A rather tall man with orange hair and a beard was standing in front of him. He had his hands in the deep pockets of his lab coat.

"Dr. Cossack?" Mega Man asked, climbing to his knees in confusion. He glanced at Pharaoh Man behind him. "But...what about...?"

"Pharaoh Man?" the scientist prompted, fishing out an energy tank and handing it to Mega Man. "I made him, of course. I still have the Robot Master plans. They take forever to build, though. I don't know how Dr. Wily cranks them out so fast."

"He's got a cloning machine, that's how." Mega Man finished off the contents of the tank. Then he noticed his shield. "Gee, do you have another one? My shield could use it."

"Hey, what about me?" Pharaoh Man protested with a grin. "You're nasty, Mega Man!"

Mega Man smiled, a bit smug upon realizing that he'd done some fair damage to Pharaoh Man after all. "You should have learned that by now," he teased.

But Pharaoh Man was solemn. "I don't remember the other times," he said quietly.

Mega Man stopped.

"When I rebuilt him, there was no way to preserve his memory," Dr. Cossack explained. "It's almost as if he is a completely different robot."

"I forgot," Mega Man apologized. Pharaoh Man reached down to help him to his feet.

Then Mega Man laughed. "Somehow I never imagined I'd ever be helped by a Robot Master!" he said.

"I'm hoping to rebuild the whole group," Dr. Cossack commented. "Then we'll have an army of robots on our side for a change."

Robot Masters on their side? That was a new concept.

Then Mega Man remembered where they were. "Wait a minute. What are you two doing here?"

Dr. Cossack smiled. "We're here to help you, of course."

"You can't," Mega Man said hurriedly. "I'm not supposed to let anyone by."

"Don't worry," Dr. Cossack said. "No one will find out." He nodded at the screen on the wall next to them. "This monitor isn't working."

Mega Man blinked. "That's right," he realized. "I never got around to fixing it."

"I found out when I tried to tap into your conversation with that woman," Dr. Cossack said. "Oh, that reminds me. I met up with Break Man, too."

"Break Man! Where is he?"

"By now he's probably near the top of the fortress. As long as he's careful, he shouldn't be discovered," Dr. Cossack added, pulling out his other hand to reveal an adjustable screwdriver. "--now that the alarm system is down."

Mega Man's eyes grew wide. "You did that?"

The scientist nodded with a sly grin. "Not bad for a first attempt. Anyway, Break Man filled me in."

"Then you know why you shouldn't be here," Mega Man said with a small smile.

"This is going a little too far," Dr. Cossack argued.

"My thoughts exactly. But all I want to do is get Dr. Light free," Mega Man explained. "If only Dr. Wily would leave I would be okay."

Dr. Cossack raised an eyebrow at that.

Mega Man caught the look. "Well, it's not the best...but I made a promise and I never back down on my word." He glanced the two over. "So you see, I can't let you go any farther. I promised to guard the castle--and so far I haven't done that good of a job!"

"Who do they expect to attack here, anyway?" Dr. Cossack asked in disgust.

"The N-Team, I figure," Mega Man replied. "At least they haven't come back."

Dr. Cossack didn't respond to that. After a moment's pause he said instead, "So you want us to leave?"

"Don't get me wrong--I appreciate the help," Mega Man said quickly. "But if Dr. Wily finds out that I let you in here he'll blow his top!"

Dr. Cossack laughed. "You're right. And I think I know how to help without causing an eruption."

Mega Man frowned at him. "How?"

But Dr. Cossack just grinned at him. "If I don't tell you, you won't be responsible. Let's go, Pharaoh Man. Good luck, Mega Man!"

Mega Man watched them start back down the hallway. "Thanks," he said. "With Dr. Wily here I might need it."

Break Man had never opened so many doors in his life. He had worked his way steadily through the castle, startling some local robots but managing to avoid further notice. Without the alarm, only the sensors in the immediate area found him, and had no way to tell anyone else about his presence.

But the only thing he was discovering was how huge this castle really was.

Finally he opened yet another door, expecting to see yet another hallway. But this time he found himself looking into a small room. And across from the door a chair was sitting by the wall. Bound to it with ropes was Dr. Light.

All right! Break Man grinned. He glanced around but, except for his creator, the room was deserted. "Dr. Light!" he hissed, slipping through the doorway.

Dr. Light's head snapped up, and his eyes widened with surprise. He recovered from his shock in time to warn, "Look out--the place is booby-trapped!"

Seconds later a laser burned past Break Man, who jumped. Then he dove out of the way as another came, then a third.

After about six bursts, the lasers subsided and all was still. Break Man looked around from where he was crouched on the ground. Then he jumped to his feet.

"Let's get you free before the calvary comes," he said with a smile, heading for Dr. Light.

But a pincer-shaped claw shot from a wall before he could reach his destination, snatching him right off the ground.

Break Man's back slammed against the wall as the claw withdrew, and his head followed it in rapid succession. Dazed, it took him a couple of seconds to get his bearings. He shook his head and realized that the pincer had trapped him up against the wall.

He kicked, pulled, pushed, strained, and yelled at it, but he couldn't break its hold. "Geeze," Break Man scowled. "What's this thing made out of, anyway?!"

"What's going on in here?" Dr. Wily demanded to no one in particular as he stormed into the room. He stopped abruptly upon spotting Break Man.

"What's up?" Corneillius asked, coming in behind him.

Dr. Wily thrust out his hand at Break Man. "I thought you said he'd been destroyed!" he accused angrily.

Corneillius looked surprised. "I thought he was."

Ameilla came in and also registered surprise.

"Then what do you call that?" Again, Dr. Wily waved his hand at Break Man.

"Magic," Corneillius joked. He scratched his head.

"I call it a trick--and they pulled a fast one," Dr. Wily returned. He went over to an intercom. "Mega Man!" he yelled into the speaker. "Get up to H25--immediately!!"

Break Man flinched. "Uh-oh," he whispered to Dr. Light. "I think I got him in trouble."

Mega Man heard the command but made no move to obey. Dr. Wily wasn't his master.

But when Corneillius's voice boomed through the castle as well, he knew he could not ignore it any longer.

"That's an order!" it added.

Mega Man sighed angrily and spun on his heel. "What is it this time?" he grumbled.

Sixty seconds later he had reached the room. He did not bother trying to figure out what Dr. Wily wanted. Mega Man reached out and slammed the button set into the wall, and the electronic door opened.

But whatever he was expecting as he stepped into the room didn't occur. He took one look at his creator and his brother and skidded to a halt.

"Surprised?" Dr. Wily laughed.

Mega Man was speechless.

"Do you mind explaining," Wily continued, gesturing at Break Man, "how he's here if you destroyed him? Obviously, you didn't after all."

"But he did," Corneillius spoke up. "I was watching the whole thing on the monitor."

Mega Man and Break Man's hunch about being watched had been correct.

Everyone turned to look at him, so he continued, "First they talked for a few minutes. Then Mega Man fired and there was this huge flash of light and--"

"A flash of light?" Dr. Wily interrupted. "As in, white spheres that spiraled outwards?"

Corneillius nodded. "Exactly. And then that robot was gon--"

But Dr. Wily wasn't listening. He strode over to Break Man and snatched something from him. "The energy shields!" he yelled angrily, holding up the generator. "He must have had another." He turned to Mega Man. "How many do you have?"

Mega Man drew back. "Just--just one."

"Give it here," Dr. Wily said, then changed his mind. "Better yet, take this one too. We wouldn't you to be destroyed, now would we?"

Mega Man caught the shield as Dr. Wily tossed it at him, but he didn't activate it and he didn't say anything.

"Did you really think you'd get away with it?" Dr. Wily had to ask.

Mega Man shrugged helplessly. "What else could I do? I could never hurt a friend."

A strange smile crossed Dr. Wily's face. "Maybe I can change your mind for you," he sneered.

Mega Man's eyes grew wide. He knew all too well what Dr. Wily meant. Reprogramming!

"No way!" he retorted.

But Dr. Wily was through playing games. "I'm afraid I'll have to insist," he said, taking hold of Mega Man's arm.

Mega Man scowled, then yanked free. "Well I'm afraid I'll have to resist!"

Corneillius came up behind him. "And I'm afraid I'll have to assist," he joked wryly, scooping Mega Man off the ground.

"Well I wish you guys would desist," Break Man spoke up. "And come back here!"

"Enough is enough, Wily!" Dr. Light chimed in.

"Are you kidding?" the evil scientist called back. "I haven't even started."

Mega Man didn't know what to do. He had vowed to work for Corneillius, and that meant he couldn't fight back. But he hadn't counted on Dr. Wily's appearance. And promise or no promise, his first loyalty was to Dr. Light.

They were entering a small rectangular room as Mega Man came to this decision. He made a sudden lunge and broke free, but through determination Corneillius managed to keep hold of one arm, balking him.

Mega Man was strong, and he had no doubt that he could fight off the human scientists. On the other hand, he didn't want to hurt them, either. He hesitated and that pause gave Ameilla enough time to come up and grab his other arm.

"Over here," Dr. Wily motioned, indicating a work table a short distance away.

But despite Mega Man's small size and weight, it was hard enough for the Harts to keep him in the room, much less get him across it.

Dr. Wily quickly thought through his options. "Here, this will slow him down." Rapidly he snatched up an electrode and plugged its cord into an outlet in the electronic equipment lining one of the long walls. He flicked a switch on the console, then hurried over to the others. Reaching out, he touched it to Mega Man, who jumped. The robot's struggles grew weaker until he finally dropped to the floor and lay still.

"An energy drain?" Ameilla asked.

Dr. Wily nodded and tossed the electrode back onto the console. "He'll be coming to any second. Guess we'll have to work right here on the floor."

"Are you sure this is necessary?" Corneillius asked suddenly.

"Positive," Wily answered. "You saw what happened back there. He'll never be totally obedient like this."

Dr. Wily opened a panel in Mega Man's back just as the robot groaned. "At least this confirms it," the scientist commented, rocking back on his heels. Ameilla and Corneillius each pinned one of Mega Man's arms in case he was to try to escape.

"Confirms what?" Corneillius asked.

"Mega Man's layout is different from any other robot I've seen. Usually the central controls are right here." He tapped the panel. "Easily accessible. But for Mega Man it's different. His main programming is in his head--where human brains are."

"Makes sense," Ameilla commented.

"Problem is," Dr. Wily went on, "the only way I've found to access it is through this slot in his shoulder."

"Why there?" Corneillius asked.

"Beats me. I once had a circuit to slip in there that was powerful enough to override his functions. But now I don't have one."

"Can't you link a chip directly to the computer?" Corneillius suggested.

Dr. Wily looked over at the control panels. "You might have something there."

Mega Man heard little of this. He was still drowsy, and his vision was hazy and the sounds around him were hardly audible to him. He vaguely realized that he had to escape, but his body would not respond.

Meanwhile, Dr. Wily had found the right size chip and had it connected to the computer with a long, thin silver wire. He slipped the circuit into the slot in Mega Man's shoulder, then went back to the computer.

"Ready?" he asked. Corneillius nodded.

Mega Man didn't have much of a say in that. He was just summoning the strength to get up when Dr. Wily started. The first command carried through the wire and stung Mega Man, startling him.

"Yeow!" he cried, flipping onto his side as he instinctively tried to clap a hand over the pain. Corneillius thought he was attempting to remove the chip, so he quickly grabbed both arms and held them to the floor. The world was spinning past Mega Man's eyes, and he was too tired to resist.

"'Yeow'?" Ameilla repeated, suddenly perplexed.

Dr. Wily hardly glanced up from his computer screen. "Oh, don't mind him. It's just one of those quirks that comes with being a living machine."

A..live? Ameilla's eyes grew wider, but she remained silent.

Mega Man was lying still, though his eyes were open, showing that he was still awake. Corneillius didn't dare slacken his hold. He looked up.

Dr. Wily was staring at the figures marching up his screen. "He's fighting it," the scientist commented casually.

Corneillius looked back down in time to see Mega Man's eyes slowly close.

A sudden twanging sound caused the three scientists to snap their heads toward its source. The silver wire was sliced in two, and an arrow was just clattering to the floor.

Mega Man!

The voice echoed through Mega Man's mind so hollowly that he wasn't so sure it wasn't just a dream.

Then it came again, calling though the darkness and blocking out the background noise.

"Mega Man! Are you all right?"

Mega Man had rolled over onto his back. Slowly he opened his eyes.

A worried face was hovering above him. "Are you okay?" it asked again.

"I--I think." Mega Man allowed himself to be pulled to a sitting position. Then he was finally aware of his surroundings. The rest of the N-Team was fighting the room's defenses while the evil scientists fled. Kid Icarus, the owner of the arrow that still laid on the floor, had immediately flown to Mega Man's side upon entering the room.

Mega Man shook his head and tried to clear out the confusion in his mind. "Thanks, Kid Icarus," he said. "It's a good thing you were the first person I saw. Otherwise I might not have woken up on the right side."







Chapter Ten



Mega Man pulled the chip from his shoulder and tossed it to the floor in disgust. Then he turned to Kid Icarus.

"Come on," he said urgently, turning to leave the room.

"What's up?" the archer asked.

"Follow me. Hurry!"

Kid Icarus didn't object. He trailed his friend through the halls of the castle.

"You get Dr. Light," Mega Man called over his shoulder as he ran. "I'll take care of Break Man."

Kid Icarus glanced at him, startled by the request, but he didn't ask. Besides, his questions were answered as they entered the next room.

Across the room was the missing Dr. Light, bound to a metal chair. And Break Man was still trapped against the wall to their right, having tried and failed at everything he could think of.

"Mega Man!" Dr. Light cried as they barreled into the room. "You're all right!"

Understanding, Kid Icarus immediately flew to Dr. Light's side to undo his bonds. And while Mega Man would have rathered to free his creator himself, he knew that releasing Break Man was going to take a little more doing.

Promptly Mega Man charged up his Mega Buster. "Thanks to Kid Icarus," he said in reply to Dr. Light's statement.

"You had us scared," Break Man grinned.

Mega Man released his super-shot, hitting one of the two claws holding Break Man. But the metal was hardly dented.

"Wow," Mega Man said. "What's that thing made out of, anyway?"

Without waiting for an answer, Mega Man jumped up and grabbed the damaged claw. Bracing his feet against the wall, he pulled with all his might.

Break Man helped him by pushing at the same time, and finally the claw gave away. Both of them went tumbling head over heels across the room.

Dr. Light and Kid Icarus came to help them up. "I'm glad you weren't harmed, Mega Man," the scientist spoke up.

"I am too," Mega Man admitted with a grin.

"How'd you get here?" Kid Icarus had to ask Dr. Light.

The scientist laughed wryly. "After you disappeared, I ran outside like a fool to try to catch up with that delivery boy and ask him who'd given him that package. But unfortunately for me, Dr. Wily just happened to be flying by in his saucer."

"Ouch," Break Man said.

"Exactly." Dr. Light shook his head with a smile.

"Now we have to help the N-Team," Mega Man spoke up.

The others agreed. "Lead the way," Dr. Light said.

Together they headed for the gate, which opened readily. But just as Mega Man and Kid Icarus went through it slammed shut, almost clipping some of Kid's wing feathers.

The two whirled and pounded on the door, but it refused to open again.

"It's locked them in," Kid Icarus realized.

"It almost locked us in," Mega Man agreed. Then he raised his voice. "Dr. Light! Break Man!"

"We're all right," the scientist's voice came through. "But it may take a while to open this gate."

"Now what?" Mega Man asked.

"Go help the others," Dr. Light replied. "We'll get out somehow."

Mega Man obeyed, and he and Kid Icarus headed back to the room where they'd last seen the N-Team. It was empty, so they continued through into another hallway.

"Where's this lead?" Kid Icarus panted.

"Level J," Mega Man said promptly. "But I'm not sure what's there."

They moved through the hallways silently then, traveling at a fast jog. Rounding a corner, the two entered a small room. It was empty, but another hall to their left led from it. The two had started toward it when suddenly Mega Man felt a mysterious force pulling him back. He ran faster but wasn't seeming to be making any headway.

Finally the force won out and he was pulled back across the room and against an oval-shaped metal panel, where he was pinned tightly.

Kid Icarus turned in surprise.

"A super-magnet!" Mega Man cried as he tried to pull himself from the metal. "Oh no--not again!"

He ended up flipping over, kneeling on the wall on his hands and knees, pushing with all of his strength. But he was trapped in the powerful magnetic field.

Suddenly the large magnet shifted, throwing Mega Man against it. Then it turned horizontal and moved through a panel which opened in the wall. The opening had closed up again before Kid Icarus could reach it.

The magnet stopped, still horizontal like a little table, in an even smaller room--this one completely enclosed with no visible hallways. Dr. Wily was there, with Dr. Light once again as his captive. Break Man was nowhere in sight. One look in his creator's eyes told Mega Man that Break Man had somehow escaped.

But the magnet still held Mega Man to its smooth surface, and Dr. Wily seemed to be in no mood to fool around.

"You should be thankful," the evil scientist replied at Mega Man's cry when he'd seen Dr. Light. "I decided to let him share your final moments with you."

His two captives glanced at each other.

"Don't worry," Dr. Wily continued. "If all goes well you'll stay in one piece. I don't intend to destroy you."

"Then what are you planning on doing?" Dr. Light had to ask.

"I had a chance to study his internal structures better earlier. Although his main programming isn't back here," Dr. Wily explained, tapping Mega Man's back, "his main functions are. I can shut down his entire system from here."

As he spoke, Dr. Wily picked up some arch-shaped metal bands and rapidly placed them over Mega Man's wrists, allowing the magnet to pin them to it. This kept Mega Man from moving his hands at all.

Dr. Light looked aghast. "But that would...that would--"

"Kill him, I know," Dr. Wily finished for him. "And that's exactly what I want." He opened the panel in Mega Man's back. "Later I can reactivate him, and he'll be just an ordinary robot from then on. Very obedient."

"You're unbelievable," Dr. Light cried.

"I don't want to hear it," Dr. Wily snapped. Searching the area usually hidden by the panel, he located the right section and began holding a piece back to cut off the energy flow. This had the same effect as blocking the blood veins of a human. Within a few moments, Dr. Wily knew, Mega Man's functions would halt, and, as a living creature, he would perish.







Chapter Eleven



Suddenly there was a clang behind Dr. Wily as a metal grate clattered to the floor. Break Man somersaulted out of the ventilation shaft that the grate had once covered.

"That's far enough, Wily!" he cried.

Dr. Wily turned from his captive and ran for the computers lining one wall. "I was prepared in case you showed up," he said as he pushed a lever.

Break Man had started for Mega Man and Dr. Light but was pulled off his feet by another magnet set into the wall. Before he could move Dr. Wily came up holding a large U-shaped bracket which he used to pin Break Man's arms to his side.

"Just to make sure you say still," Dr. Wily explained. "Now that you're taken care of, let's get back to business, shall we?"

Break Man had caught the tail end of the former conversation, so he knew the danger Mega Man was in. He kicked and pulled but got nowhere.

"Dr. Wily!" he cried finally in exasperation. "Don't believe you'll get away with this!"

But the scientist returned simply, "Don't start. You're next."

Dr. Light gasped. Actually he should have guessed, but the truth was he hadn't really thought about it at all. That's why Dr. Wily's words had an extra sting to them. "Him too?" he couldn't help but protest.

"Yes, him too," Dr. Wily replied impatiently. "Because I know that, even though he may not have had time to show it, I'm sure he will be just as much of a nuisance as Mega Man was. I'm not leaving any loose ends."

There was a silence after that. Break Man and Dr. Light couldn't think of anything to say to change Dr. Wily's mind. And Mega Man's own mind was so hazy at the moment that he didn't even try to speak.

Dr. Wily went back to work. What he'd done before Break Man's sudden appearance had caused Mega Man's semi-conscious state. The robot was just starting to come to when Dr. Wily started again.

Mega Man turned his head, and his gaze met Dr. Light's. They shared a long moment of a silent message. Then Mega Man's eyes closed.

That's when everything seemed to happen at once. Frantic, Break Man was able to lift one arm off the magnet just long enough to fire a desperate shot toward Dr. Wily. He wasn't intending to hit but simply to distract. But the shot did even more than that. Besides getting Dr. Wily to jump back, it hit the magnet and caused a power surge.

Immediately both magnets were deenergized and Break Man found himself sliding to the floor. At the same time, part of one of the walls disintegrated under Kevin's red-hot zapper. Kid Icarus was behind him.

"There they are!" the archer cried.

Dr. Wily knew instantly that he was outnumbered. He took the same course of action that he usually did when cornered--he fled.

As Dr. Wily disappeared through a hidden doorway, Kevin and Kid Icarus were attacked by some sensors in the hallway. While they were fighting them off Break Man hurried to free Dr. Light. Then the two of them hastened to where Mega Man was lying. He hadn't moved.

"Oh, no..." Break Man whispered. "Are we too late?"

"I hope not," Dr. Light sighed.

Break Man was already tossing aside the metal bands. Then he pulled Mega Man off the flat surface and carried him away from the magnet. Mega Man's body was limp, but as Break Man set him on the floor by the wall the blue robot stirred.

"He moved!" Break Man cried, elated.

"It may not mean anything," Dr. Light warned him. "He could be a robot and still move."

Break Man understood what he meant. They were both anxious to see if Mega Man was still alive.

"I'll have to run some tests, I suppose," Dr. Light mused. "No, wait. I just remembered something." He reached for Mega Man, but when the robot moved again he checked this action.

Mega Man pulled himself to a sitting position, leaning against the wall with a hand on his head and his eyes pressed shut. Dr. Light and Break Man knelt in front of him.

After what seemed like ages, Mega Man opened his eyes, blinked, and seemed to focus.

"Dr. Light..." he murmured. "Break Man?"

"Are you okay?" Break Man asked. He put his hands on Mega Man's shoulders, but in his excitement the movement was a little rougher than he'd intended.

"Hey, watch it!" Mega Man protested cheerfully. "I'm still a sick robot!"

Break Man pulled back, then asked the classic question: "How do you feel?"

"Stiff." Mega Man laughed weakly.

Dr. Light sat back. "Mega Man," he said in wonder, "do you realize what a close call you just had?"

Kevin came up just then, joined by Kid Icarus and Duke. "What happened?" the teenager asked, but before anyone could answer someone tugged on his sleeve.

"Kevinicus...?" Kid Icarus started. He pointed behind them.

Through the oval-shaped opening Kevin had created with his zapper they could see something approaching. But before they could even try to figure out what it was, the entire wall fell away.

A huge machine stood before them, taking up the entire width and height of the wide hallway. Dr. Wily could be seen operating it. He laughed in glee as everyone scattered.

"Yes, yes, run away!" the evil scientist gloated. He glanced around, then spied Mega Man leaning against the wall with Break Man right beside him. Dr. Light had jumped back.

Dr. Wily began aiming the large cannon mounted on the front of his battle machine at the two robots. "Looks like I can get two birds with one stone!" he said with an evil grin.

Break Man jumped to his feet and was about to leap out of the way when he realized his brother hadn't moved. "Mega Man! Get up!" he yelled frantically.

Mega Man tried, but after an effort he sank back down and closed his eyes. "I can't," he said softly.

Dr. Wily locked the gun on Mega Man's location and hit the fire button. One shot from the powerful cannon, he knew, would be all that was needed to finish Mega Man and possibly Break Man as well.

Break Man reached down and tried to haul Mega Man off the floor and into his arms, but Mega Man, terrified the gun would fire at any moment, protested, "Get out, Break Man! Don't let him destroy you too!"

The cannon's tip started glowing as it accumulated the energy needed for firing. Across the room Kevin and Kid Icarus were fighting off a section of Dr. Wily's new machine that had attacked them automatically. Behind them, Dr. Light watched in horror. They all tried to stop the large central cannon but both Kevin's shots and Kid Icarus's arrows bounced off.

The cannon was glowing brighter and brighter, then, with a flash, it fired a huge white energy ball. Break Man tried to dive himself and his brother out of the way, but deep inside realized he wouldn't be fast enough. Mega Man instinctively threw up his hands as the two fell to the floor, though knowing that it wouldn't really do any good.

But just then an orange flash jumped in front of a startled Mega Man, taking the hit. There was a large white explosion that made Mega Man glad that he'd been covering his eyes.

Mega Man lowered his hands in shock, almost surprised that he was still alive.

Dr. Wily didn't catch a glimpse of who had jumped in the way, but whoever it'd been was dust now. The scientist checked his gauges and saw that he had enough power for another, though weaker, shot.

Because this one wasn't as powerful, it didn't take as long for the cannon to charge up. But there was time for Mega Man to realize that it had been Pharaoh Man who'd jumped in front of him. As if in slow motion, Mega Man's head swiveled left to see Kevin and Kid Icarus shielding Dr. Light, then right--the direction from which Pharaoh Man had come. Mega Man was unconsciously looking for Dr. Cossack, but all he saw was his brother getting to his feet, apparently oblivious of the cannon that was glowing again--but instead of Mega Man, it was now aimed at Break Man.

"Break Man!" Mega Man yelled. "Look out!"

Mega Man threw himself forward and miraculously his body responded. With one lunge he leaped headfirst at his brother, his arms outstretched as far as they would go. He slammed into a surprised Break Man just as the cannon released its shot.

Startled, Break Man tumbled to the floor but there was no longer anyone on top of him. He looked back just in time to see the spheres of white light spiraling outwards before finally fading away. They were all that was left of Mega Man.