Fan Fiction ❯ The Crux ❯ Part 1- Prelude to the End ( Chapter 1 )

The Crux, a Rockman/Rockman X fanfiction

Part 1- Prelude to the End

Forte tapped his armored foot impatiently as he stood in Dr. Wily's personal quarters in Skull Castle, growing irritated that his creator would think to make him wait so long. After a while, Wily emerged from a door in the back of the room, his eyes resting on Forte as he drew nearer.

"Make this quick, old man." he demanded.
"Calm yourself, Forte." he said, his frail, decrepit hand moving softly downward in an appropriate gesture.
"Just get to the point so I can leave." the black armored bioroid insisted once more. Wily shook his head, drew in a deep, labored breath, and began to speak.

"Forte, as you know, it has always been my tradition to challenge Rockman the moment I have completed a full army to use against him, no matter how weak it is, allowing him to beat me time and time again."
"Hah! So you finally have the guts to admit it!"
"Silence!" he ordered sternly, covering his mouth as he let out a wet cough.

"However, these past three years, I have gone into hiding so I could perfect my latest robots. They are finally complete, and their storage capsules indicate their systems are primed and ready for activation. So, it's your task now to activate them." he said.

Forte raised an eyebrow. This was not at all like the Wily he knew. That Wily would have never given the 'honor' of activating his new robots to anyone. But he didn't really care, the man was getting old, and he'd only have to put up with him for a little while longer.
"Fine. I'll do it."
"Excellent. I believe you'll find these new creations of mine most...interesting."
"...Whatever."

Forte turned around, waving off Wily as he did, slamming the door behind him when he exited the room, not noticing the wide grin on the old man's face nor the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

He went down a long hallway and turned at an open stairwell, bounding down the steps as quick as he could, to get the whole thing over with, after all, he had more important things to worry about, namely Rockman.

Oh, how he hated that blue warrior, the embodiment of purity and selflessness, the paragon example of what was good and right in the world. It made him sick.
"I will destroy him one day...maybe I can use the new robots to help me out, if they're strong enough. Bah. Who am I kidding? The old man hasn't made anything good since he made me!" he said, reassuring himself that these new robots were the same weaklings Wily always turned out, and they'd only get in the way.

"I'll probably kill them just for target practice after their awake. Heheh." he finally reached the bottom of the stairs, standing in front of a large vaulted door labeled "Robotics Development Room."

The fin-headed Wilybot reached for the large hatch-like lock, twisting it hard and causing the door to hiss as it released air pressure and slid open. He stepped inside and found not the usual 8, but 12 capsules inside. Maybe Wily had gone a bit against his grain this time, but it wasn't of any concern to Forte.

He looked over the capsule readings when he got close enough.
"Yup. They're all set. At least this'll be quick." he walked to a large computer panel that was between capsules 4 and 5, the master control unit obviously. He quickly tapped a few of the keys, typing out the word 'activate'. The computer processed the command, and began the sequence.

Activation sequence will be completed in two minutes.

Forte turned about to walk back up the stairs, his job being complete. But no sooner had he reached the vaulted door than he heard glass cracking. It came from capsule 12, one of the four capsules that were set apart from the rest, towards the right corner of the wall. The crack widened quickly until it shattered wholly, the iridescent blue stasis fluid gushing from it onto the floor.

Forte stared, somewhat confused.
That...wasn't supposed to happen. Great. This will warrant another speech from the old man. Like I need to sit through another one of those...
As four metallic claws, each with four prongs latched onto the open hole in the capsule's glass, the thick cords the claws were attached to pulled the remainder of the body up from the capsule, detaching as the whole being stepped down from it.

The cords ran into the robot's back, and presently retracted into the four vents they had emerged from. To call the being a robot, however, wouldn't be entirely true. He was indeed synthetic and his systems were all mechanical, but his eyes, vile, piercing red eyes reflected a deep hatred. Not one that could be programmed. Those were the eyes of free will.

"Greetings Forte, my name is Antiocus IV." he said calmly, belying his true nature. But Forte knew. This was not just another mindless bot he could lord over. He was looking at his successor, he was looking at an android. As he opened his mouth and quietly uttered
"And I make you obsolete..."
It became apparent that Antiocus knew it too...

***

Forte glared defiantly as he saw one of the cords extend, lashing towards him. He had no time to dodge, and in an instant, he found himself lifted by the throat, the metal claws tightening their hold, crushing him.
"Rrrgghh....l-let me down or I'll shoot your head off, bastard!" he growled.

But just at that moment, Wily's voice came over the room's intercom.
"Forte, don't waste your breath. Antiocus is too strong to fall to a weak idiot such as yourself. I take it you realize he is your replacement. You see, that is why I sent you to activate them. I sent you to your doom, so I could start afresh."
"You backstabbing--"
"Ah ah ah, remember Forte, your life is on the line here. Maybe if you beg for mercy, I'll let you off with just some suffering."
"..."
"I said beg!"
"...Mercy..."
"Heheheh! Good, good! But did you really think I was being honest? Antiocus, finish him."
"NO! WILY, YOU RAT!" but those vengeful words were the last he'd utter, as Antiocus completely squeezed the life from Forte, the claws tearing through and snapping his neck.

As his head fell off and rolled on the ground, Antiocus retracted his claws, and the intercom roared with Wily's insane laughter.
"Antiocus, my masterpiece, you are indeed the ultimate warrior! Now, tend to your brothers, and then lead them upstairs. I'll meet you soon."

Antiocus watched the capsules as the glass slid up into a metal slot in the top of the apparatus, and the 8 robot masters, as well as the three other androids emerged from their capsules.

Tarman, the shape shifter, his gelatinous black body oozing out of his capsule, was the strangest of the group. He appeared little more than a puddle after he emerged, but quickly, that puddle turned into a humanoid shape, metal plates emerging from within to form his loose, patchy armor.

Minotaurman, the brute, snorted loudly, steam clouds emerging from his nostrils. He looked himself over, finding his body to be heavily muscled, his forearms equipped with gauntlets that threw seismic waves into the ground. He also sported sharp, polished bull horns, perfect for impaling a foe.

Blitzman, the living arsenal, was covered in super heavy, bulky platinum armor that impeded his movement, but gave him the appearance of a walking fortress. This image was further conveyed by the twin gattling guns mounted on his arms and the large mortar he bore on his back. A thick piece of glass covered one eye. It was a tracker that would allow him to zero in on his targets, determine their vital statistics, and therefore let him use his weapons to greater effect.

Jetman, the speed demon, had the appearance of a Stealth Fighter gone humanoid. Massive jet engines were built into his typically disproportionate boots, and jet-wing-like blades accented his forearms. His face was not a face at all, so much as a fighter pilot's mask, and tinted visors rested over his optic nerves, the actual eyes being little more than digital dots on the visor's surface.

Psyman, the mind bender, had deep, penetrating black eyes and an expressionless face as he hovered, legs crossed, a few feet off the ground, hands folded into his lap. His head was covered in a dark purple helmet that had a small, circular quartz gem embedded in the very front, to channel his mental powers from his brain and out into the air, but the rest of him was draped in a loose ensemble of a similar color, giving him a relatively humanoid look.

Chronoman, the master of time space, had an eccentric look about him. His armor appeared to be swirling about, as machinery within him hummed to life. An atom smasher at his very core spat tachions into his very being, making him a walking tear in the time continuum, giving him the ability to shift the universe around him to his whims.

Shinobiman, the supreme ninja was perfectly aesthetically crafted, with the typical black costume of the ninja adorning a lean, muscular humanoid frame. His narrow eyes were constantly scanning, constantly searching as he took in the world around him. A long scabbard hung from his left hip, and an impressive Katana was sheathed within, constituting his primary method of attack. But like all ninja, he was multi talented. Shurikens lined up against the fabric of his costume were hidden close to his chest, giving him quick access to the deadly throwing stars, supplementing him with a distance attack.

Forceman, the shield bot, carried the weight of two heavy, spherical energy generators on his shoulders, that he used to generate a protective barrier around him, and also to attack, by throwing off the energy that would surround his body, the release of energy causing, in theory, a cataclysmic outward explosion. The rest of him was lightly armored, after all, what would he need armor for if he had a force field encasing his body? Instead, his body was light, small, and delicate. Obviously, Wily didn't plan on him taking much direct abuse.

Antiocus paid them little heed however, not nearly enough to take in the aforementioned details of the robot masters, as he was more occupied in watching those who would be his actual comrades, the three androids.

The first was Heavy-F, the F meaning 'fist'. He was a large android, at 10 feet tall. He looked the least human, but still possessed the free will and roughly humanoid shape that defined an android. His muscular, thick-plated arms supported large, but proportionate armored hands. Pneumatic pumps that connected with the wrists and lead into the arm itself provided his attacks with the added force of an instantaneous release of air pressure, and he had similar pumps on his legs, to give him the ability to jump to seemingly stratospheric heights.

The second was Illusion, a strange one to Antiocus. He was quite effeminate, and had very light armor. Beneath that armor was a complex network of fiber optics built right into his synthetic skin that allowed him to manipulate images of himself. He had no visible weapon except for physical attacks, but in actuality, a more tightly wired but not so complex network of fibers allowed him to fire piercing laser beams from his fingers. But after a moment, Antiocus put all this aside and realized the purpose of his odd brother's design. Illusion's body was lithe and lean. He was meant to have speed and agility that complimented his other 'specialized' abilities.

And the third...Zero. Crimson armor, long blonde hair, intense blue eyes, and a generally pensive look on his face, as if he was already using his free will to ponder some great philosophical matter. He had a semi-gauntlet left arm, clearly of the make that could shift into a buster. He also had an experimental weapon, a beam saber, latched onto his right hip for easy access, but other than that, he didn't seem like much of a combat android at all. Evidently Antiocus would have to watch to see if his skill compensated for his lack of equipment.

Presently, he began to walk up the stairs to meet his creator as he had been instructed, and, having nothing else to do, and having many questions for their father, the others followed after him, coming to a stop as Antiocus did. Wily was waiting for them at the top of the stairs.

"Welcome to life, my latest creations."

***

The newest generation of Wilybots walked down the hallways of Skull Castle, following after Wily, utterly confused, with the exception of Antiocus. He seemed to be familiar with the place for some reason.

Unlike the others who were busy looking about the huge hallways, wondering at the massive amounts of machinery that ran the castle, Antiocus was busy compressing his hands into fists and testing his body.

"Good...good. This is just the body I need." he said in an almost inaudible voice. Wily turned to him with his ear inclined upwards to hear him better.

"What's that? In my waning health, I'm afraid my hearing has been the first thing to decline." he said. But Antiocus frowned briefly.
"It's nothing. I didn't say anything of importance." he muttered in response.

Wily looked at him questioningly, but then smiled, eventually breaking into soft laughter.
"Excellent! I can see your free will is quite strong. Strong enough to want some privacy, at least. I look forward to seeing more of this rapid development." the old megalomaniac beamed.

Presently, he came to an abrupt stop, as did Antiocus, and subsequently, the other robots. They stood before a thick metal door. Not as heavily protected as the one for robot storage, but enough to make it obvious something important was behind it.

Wily reached to the side of the door and pressed a few buttons. After a brief pause, the door slid open, and Wily walked into it, his creations following suit. They found themselves in what appeared to be a massive war room. On the farthest wall, there was a massive, digital map display.

"Now, your basic programming mentions a blue menace called Rockman. He has constantly been a thorn in my side, and this is where I have formulated my past plans to destroy him."

The robots looked around with great interest. Truly, they thought, their master had boundless capabilities when it came to mechanics! Wily was waiting for them to turn their attention back to him, and when they did, he pointed to an open white doorway.

"However, unlike my previous attempts, however, this one is going to be thoroughly prepared. You will undergo training to prepare yourselves for combat. It will be necessary if you are to defeat Rockman and his brother Blues. And you training will begin now."

They nodded in understanding, going through the doorway into separate training rooms, with the exception of the four androids, who found themselves short of three rooms. They simply stood silently, awaiting instructions.

The training got off to a slow start, mostly due to the robot masters not being used to their weapon systems. However, on instinct they began to grow more accustomed to them. Tarman learned to shift his body into whatever shape was needed to avoid his foe's attacks, and could soon quickly reform and follow up with strong counterattacks.

Minotaurman quickly found himself reveling in his incredible brute strength, simply smashing holes in the bodies of his enemies without care, occasionally impaling them on his bullhorns.

Blitzman, in the next room, was quickly getting the hang of distance fighting, unleashing well timed flurries of bullets from his arm-machine guns that dropped countless simulated sniper-joe enemies instantly.

Jetman was showing a good deal of promise. He was already so accustomed to cutting through the simulation enemies with his wings at high speeds and watching them explode afterwards that it had just become a game to him.
"Hey pops, come on and turn the difficulty up, this is way too easy!" he said with a cocky chuckle through the room's window, causing a demented, lopsided grin to cross the old man's face.

The three energy-based robots, Forceman, Psyman, and Chronoman had developed relatively similar combat styles, using some sort of debilitating energy technique, then using their enemies vulnerability to the fullest. He was slightly worried at this.
"Anyone who took time to notice patterns would pick up on all of their weaknesses immediately...I hope I'm wrong about that."

However, he didn't dwell on it for long, as Shinobiman was giving a spectacular performance. He had not even drawn his sword once in the entire fight, and already the scrapped bodies of sniper joes congested the simulated urban arena's floor.
"Hah. Shadowman would be jealous..." he mused, moving to the final room, where the androids stood motionless, staring at each other.

"What are you waiting for?" he demanded, walking right up to the room's window in frustration.
"We're waiting for orders. What do you want us to do?" a soft but commanding voice came from a back corner of the training room.
"Well, Zero, since you're all in the same room and it's combat training, it should be obvious that I want you all to..."
"Have a sparring match with each other." Antiocus finished for him.

Wily was taken aback, and remained silent for a moment.
"Right. Now, get to it. I want to see what you've got!"

Immediately the four androids were in motion, and the training room seemed ready to collapse at any moment as an intense brawl developed.

Heavy-F swung his massive fists at his brothers, landing several heavy blows on Illusion and Zero, but it wasn't long before Antiocus found the strength to block and effectively counter his wild swings. With a startlingly powerful backhand strike, he put the behemoth out of commission.

But the battle only became more furious. Illusion appeared from nothingness behind Antiocus, and fired several laser bolts from his fingertips, puncturing his back-plate armor.
"Haha! So you all have some fight in you!" Antiocus exclaimed, turning with an insidious smirk at Illusion, lashing at him with one of his claws, and only hitting air.

He reappeared in mid-air, only to be slashed at by Zero and his beam saber. But soon, the blonde warrior also found that he had only succeeded in hitting an after image.
"Damn...he's fast." Zero cursed. Antiocus nodded slowly at him in agreement, and began to look around the room, as if clueless to his brother's whereabouts.

Illusion in his invisibility saw this as his chance to attack, and did so. He unleashed a full barrage, firing the small laser beams from each of his ten fingers, aiming to take both of his brothers out in one sweep.

But things weren't as they appeared. Antiocus was not in such a dire straight as Illusion had hoped, and he was able to quickly duck under the assault, while Zero slashed in front of him, reflecting the shots off his saber and back at Illusion, who was hit hard and sent reeling back into a wall.

Wily nodded. It was as he expected. Now it was down to Antiocus and Zero, whom he had designed to be the superior brothers. From here, it was anyone's game, as far as Antiocus and Zero were concerned, but Wily already knew the outcome.

Oblivious to all this, the two brothers within stared at each other, facing off. Zero held his saber at his side, poised to strike, and Antiocus fully extended all four of his claws from his back.
"YAH!" Zero leapt at his brother and brought his saber down hard in a hammer-fall technique, hoping to force Antiocus to block as a reflex.

"Nice try..." Antiocus said, leaping backwards, landing against the wall, perpendicular to the floor.
"But not nice enough." he said, pushing off the wall and flipping in mid-air, bringing his armored foot square at the crimson swordsman's chin, sending him straight up into the air.

Wily nodded. It was just as he had expected. Both of them were strong, possibly beyond comprehension, but Antiocus was the only one who was truly unbeatable. He walked back past all the rooms where the other Robot Masters continued training, not waiting for Zero to fall back to the ground with a thud, limp and defeated.

"They have shown their skill, and it is well beyond what is needed as is....tomorrow, Rockman will die at their hands. He he he....hahahahahahaha!"

***

Rock placed a delicate ceramic bowl back down on the counter after giving it a good cleaning. It was like a breath of fresh air for him to not have to deal with Wily or his robots for 3 years. Even Forte and his persistent challenges had tapered off in the past several months. Dr. Light always said it didn't feel right, and that either Wily had died, or he was planning something more insidious than anything they had seen before.

Rock was not one to be oblivious to this consideration, but he didn't care to dwell on it when he didn't have to. Presently, Roll and Dr. Light came into the kitchen, smiling when they say Rock working so industriously, and being so happy at his work. Roll lightly tapped his shoulder, and he turned to face her, a big smile on his face.
"Rock, you've been working around the house everyday for months now, and you never take a break till you're all done! You have to learn to slack off a little!" she winked at him.

She lead him to the living room and turned on the television.
"Now, let's sit down as a family and enjoy each others company for once." Rockman took the left portion of the couch, while Roll sat in the center. Dr. Light frowned for a moment when Roll immediately turned to the cartoon channel.
"As soon as a commercial comes, I want to switch it to the local news for a minute and see the weather report." he said. The two robots nodded and turned back to the cartoons for a moment, a commercial coming quickly.

Roll handed the remote to Dr. Light, and he switched it to channel 3, where the strangest thing he'd ever seen was taking place down at the freeway, the main commuter lifeline to and from the city of Tokyo. The reporter above scene in the helicopter did not help to clear much up.
"As you can see, the road seems to be lifting itself up and flinging itself down on unsuspecting drivers, and is throwing chunks of itself at the buildings below the bridge it was built on."

That much was obvious. The road had been bad in a traffic sense before, but it was now turning aggressive and consuming that very traffic in what appeared to be a bizarre earthquake? That was ridiculous.

"Local scientists have quickly begun analysis of the problem, and I have the latest report right here. They say that it must be something within the asphalt of the road itself, as no seismic event could effect it in this way."

Dr. Light slowly stepped away from the television and turned to face the door that lead to his basement. Rockman leapt to his feet.
"The break has been fun, but I've gotta investigate this!" he said with a firm commitment to his duties resounding in his voice.

Roll took him by the arm as he began to run off, however, and tightly embraced him.
"Brother...I love you...be careful."
"I will, Roll." he said, returning the embrace.

Dr. Light narrowed his eyes and met Rockman's intently. He mouthed the word 'Wily' to him silently, without Roll's noticing. Rockman nodded back, completing the secret communication and walking over to the old man, who had become worn and fairly emaciated in his old age. He gave him a hug, and the scientist placed a comforting hand on the back of his head.
"See ya, Dad."
"Good luck son."

After this exchange, Rockman ran out the front door, found rush laying in the grass outside and filled him in on the situation. Rush barked and turned into jet mode, and Rockman leapt on, blasting off to the Freeway.

***

Tarman let out a guttural chuckle as he caused the road to destroy itself and everyone on it. He now knew the full capabilities of his shape shifting, and that he could meld into anything made of asphalt and control it as he desired.
"Hehehe! This is delightful! Listen to those screams!" he bellowed, the road booming it outward for all to hear and cower at. Many humans were trying to escape the destruction, but he crushed them all with no regard for the rules of robotics, after all, he did have free will.

His brothers watched from above curiously. This was not the true beginning of their mission, as Wily had stated, the purpose of this was to draw Rockman out so they could kill him.

Shinobiman turned his head to a speck in the distance, stared at it for a moment, and closed his eyes.
"He's here." he said, deliberately pointing his finger at the speck. As it grew larger and larger, the form of Rockman aboard a red dog-jet emerged.

Jetman saw rush's thrusting along and scoffed.
"What an amateur." he said with a smirk. Rockman and Rush drew very close to Tarman's position now, disembarking from Rush and heading for the shifting chunks of road.

Tarman wasted no time, and used his control to raise a massive piece of the freeway and let it collapse on him. It began its descent upon the blue bomber quickly.
"No way out, blueberry." he taunted. However, he was silence when Rockman raised his Mega Buster and shot a sizable hole in the asphalt. When the road fell back down upon him, he passed through the hole and continued his progress to the center of the trouble.

All at once, the rumbling stopped. Tarman began to emerge, as a black puddle of the slimy material, taking shape quickly, sneering as armored parts emerged from within him to keep his body in that form.
"So, this is the great Rockman eh? You don't look so tough!" he cackled.
"I get that a lot." Rockman said with a stern voice and a piercing glare.
"I'll bet. But I don't blame you for looking so weak. I mean it's not every day you meet a robot who can do..."

At this, he thrust his hands into the road and shortly after, huge spikes of asphalt began to form suddenly from the road, piercing several cars along their path to Rockman, but then they subsided.

"THIS!" he finished, causing one spike to appear directly underneath Rockman, piercing into his left boot, tearing the armor to shreds and knocking out his nerve system's connections with that leg.
"OR THIS!" he caused another spike to emerge directly under his other foot, having the same effect on that leg.
"OR HOW ABOUT THIS?"

With this final yell, he sludged along towards the blue warrior, and turned his body into a long coil of black ooze, wrapping around Rockman's arms, constricting him. The upper half of Tarman's body pulled away from the rest of the coil. He let the metal plates on his hands sink back into the rest of his body, and slammed them together, merging them into a large spike.
"Bye bye, Rockman." he said grimly, jabbing straight into the hero's heart.

Rockman's eyes widened, his pupils dilated, and tears formed in his eyes.
"I....I'm sorry..." he uttered to those who had been putting their faith in him, the undefeated beacon of hope for all those years, and would have to throw it all away after a few short minutes.

Tarman uncoiled from Rockman's body and let him drop, his last noble tears staining the asphalt. Antiocus nodded slowly.
"The first step is complete."

Shinobiman drew his katana and stuck it into the ground, gripping the handle lightly and kneeling before it. He gave an utterance of honor to the defeated Rockman before getting back up and re-sheathing the blade. Antiocus stared at him intently. For a ninja, he had a good grasp of the concept of honor.

Not the kind of trait needed to fulfill the mission...but his power makes him worth keeping. he thought.

Wily looked ready to die of laughter as Antiocus and his brothers entered his quarters. His face was red, his eyes filled with tears of twisted joy. He turned to face Antiocus.

"Hahaha! Look! Look at this!" he said, turning the volume on his television up to maximum. A reporter was grimly broadcasting the message of Rockman's death. With tears ready to flow forth, he concluded with

"Today...is the darkest day in history..."

Antiocus smiled evilly and looked behind him.
"We owe that particular victory to Tarman."

The black gelatinous bioroid gurgled proudly.
"It was all too easy! That wimp never stood a chance against me!" he continued to gurgle, black bubbles forming and bursting in his mouth as he did.

Wily nodded in approval.
"Very impressive! Now that Rockman is dead, there is very little to stand in your way. A few scientists have robots that are about 3/4 as strong as Rockman is...or should I say was. Hahah! ...But otherwise, the world is ours now."

Suddenly, the door into the room flew open, and a very human-like robot rushed through the door to Wily's side.
"Yes?" Wily asked, not at all taken by surprise.

The robot leaned over and whispered in Wily's ear. The old man gave him a skeptical look, and the robot nodded in response before running out of the room.

Wily's expression turned sour.
"It seems this operation will take longer than expected. After you destroy Blues, there may be yet another one of Light's bot's to deal with. It seems in response to Rockman's death, he has activated an all-new robot. Actually, an android. Like you four." he said, pointing at Heavy-F, Illusion, Zero and Antiocus.

"He may prove to be a real challenge. However, you are still to proceed as planned. He may be stronger than Rockman, but chances are he's not as strong as any of you."

The robots seemed reassured.
"Before we go to destroy Blues, who was that robot?" Antiocus asked. Wily leaned back in his chair and narrowed his eyes, looking up at the cieling.
"His name is Sly. He's an old spy robot of mine. I built him several years ago when I felt I needed intel on Rockman's upgrades. He was how I knew about Rockman's Super Adapter before he could even use it. If you'd look up my data records on Forte, you'd see that Sly gave me accurate enough data on the upgrades for me to replicate it perfectly."

"Oh. I see. Well then, that is all. We shouldn't be gone long, Wily." he said, turning about-face and walking out of the room with his brothers.

Wily sat for a moment, hands folded on his knee, considering the last word as the robots vanished around a corner. His creations had never addressed him as `Wily' before. Perhaps in informal conversation, but never directly. They all felt their inferiority to him, and either called him father, master or sir. That Antiocus was not feeling this same inferiority worried the old man, but only briefly. There was still the issue of Light's last resistance, in the form of Blues, and this `X' robot he had heard so much about from Sly over the past few weeks.

"If he poses a true threat, the might of the androids will crush him swiftly. I have nothing to fear from Thomas anymore…." He said grimly, shutting his eyes and leaning back in his chair, a wide, sinister smile on his face.

***

It only took a few minutes for the Wilybots to depart from Skull Castle, and through the aid of rapid, self-recharging short range teleportation devices, reach the site of Rockman's death, where, as Antiocus suspected, a vengeful Blues had come to honor the death of his younger brother.

The 12 approached him slowly, watching as he set down the body of his brother, a silent final farewell passing between them. He didn't turn to look at the robots, but spoke to them with rage evident in his voice.
"So you've come to finish the job." He said slowly. Antiocus stared heavily at him, his eyes betraying no emotion.
"Indeed." The leader responded.

Blues got up from the ruins of the freeway, and turned to the Wilybots, gripping his helmet.
"I'm not gonna be any kind of pushover….I know I'll die, but I'll take as many of you sons of bitches I can!" he yelled angrily.

Jetman stepped forth from the group.
"I'd like to see you try. You're nothing more than an old pile of living scrap!" he dashed at Blues at a speed that was rather low for him, confident it was all that was needed. Blues lifted his helmet from his head, and in one swift movement, had tossed it square into the middle of Jetman's forehead. The robot master fell backwards exclaiming "Shit!" as he fell.

After getting back up, the speed demon chuckled through his pilot's mask mouth.
"Nice work, but you won't ever hit me when I actually try…" Jetman now got into a running position, narrowing his eyes hard at Blues before starting off on his left foot.

In a split second, Jetman had already closed the gap between himself and Blues, and used his sharp-edged wing blade to slit open his chest, sparks flying from it as he did. Blues stumbled backwards, but showed no loss of determination. He raised his buster and began to collect energy into it.
"Come and get me." He taunted. Jetman dashed again with great speed. He slashed once more across Blues' chest. But as the red armored Light-bot fell, he raised his buster and unleashed a vicious plasma burst into Jetman's stomach. He was catapulted into the air by the blast, and Blues got back up to his feet quickly.
"You need to work on your follow up!" he said, leaping into the air and firing several more shots down at his foe.

Jetman grinned. This was the chance he had been waiting for, because in the air, everyone was a sitting duck to him. He cut through the shots with his wing blades before back flipping into a crouch. Thrusters in his feet came online, and in an instant, he rocketed straight into the air, fast approaching a wide-eyed Blues. But rather than hit Blues at his great speed, Jetman suddenly came to a dead stop, and all the kinetic energy that had resulted from his great speed continued to rocket forward, and shot into Blues' heart like a great invisible punch.

Jetman smirked.
"My Thrust Breaker is a success." He thought, pleased with himself. He dropped back down to the ground along with Blues and chuckled softly as the warrior hit the ground with a thud.
"OH YEAH! I AM THE BEST OF THE BEST!" he said, thrusting a fist into the air as if to emphasize his point to whatever was watching from above. The others celebrated the death of their foe, except for Shinobiman, who again honored the mighty warrior, and Antiocus, who simply stared blankly into infinity.

He's too cocky....it will be his death...

***

Dr. Light sighed as he descended into his basement.
"So it's finally come to this" he moaned.

He felt like a failure as a father as his eyes came to rest upon his last remaining son, the yet inactive X, sleeping serenely in his capsule. It had been bad enough that Rock had to become a war machine so shortly after his activation, but now X was going to be a fighter from the moment he awoke.

He wondered why it was so hard to keep his creations out of combat as he walked over to the capsule in his sights. He peered in through the glass. X looked so human, so peaceful. It would be a shame to wake him up to a world in such chaos, but it had to be done.

He knelt down so that he could reach the keyboard at the bottom of the capsule. He pressed the start button, and quickly typed in his password.

"Alpha"

The capsule came to life, lights flickering inside in sequence, but X remaining asleep. X had total freewill, and his mind would take several hours of priming before he could be awakened safely. In the meantime, he had to worry about who would help him hold off Wily's forces before they came to finish him off.

He had sent an S.O.S to a few prominent robot designers whose robots could be of great assistance to him. He had gotten a response from a European scientist, who had offered to send his robot, Ophelia, to help him in any way she can.

"She'll be arriving shortly...and then there are a few wildcards left" he said, sizing up the situation as he walked up from out of the basement, again letting out a heavy sigh of despair and disbelief.

He had received responses from other scientists, but they had been indecisive. Presently, he heard a knock at the front door. He went to the door and opened it a crack, peering through and seeing two unfamiliar robots, but clearly not the ones of Wily's he had seen on the television. He opened the door and the two robots entered.

One of them, a robot of grays, had a cape, armor, eyes and hair all of that color. He looked fairly human, though not as human as X. He had none of the human innocence on his face that X did, only a stern resolve during the crisis that had been obviously programmed into him.

The other was designed with a mixture of blue, white and black. His armor was dark blue, while thin rings of flexible white material surrounded the joints. His eyes were blue, his hair was black, and he had a strange looking generator of sorts attached to his right arm, evidently his method of attack.

The gray robot spoke first, in an intent murmur.
"I am Specter. I come from Germany at the orders of Hans Leichten, my creator. I have heard of the tragic death of your 'Rockman' and come offering assistance." he said, bowing his head for a moment.

He has protocols that require him to act subservient to humans... Dr. Light thought, wondering how that would affect his performance in the tasks that lay ahead.

The second one spoke in a soft, melodic voice.
"I am Sonata, from Wales. I have come at the orders of my creator, Arden Hisch. I'm here for the same reasons as Specter. We've come together because our creators have been on friendly terms since well before our creations, and we make a formidable team, if I do say so myself."

Sonata grinned slightly. The two showed just as much personality as each other, but unfortunately, they were also both subservient, incapable of true free will. If he was to make them effective allies, he'd have to risk tampering with their core programming. But he was desperate now.

"Well, Specter, Sonata, I have something I need to discuss with you before we go any further. Something I call the 'Alpha Program'...

***

After some explanation, Specter, Sonata and Dr. Light stood together, the Dr. making final preparations to an empty capsule as the robots threw questions at him. Specter had the last and most important one.

"So, explain to me…why is it that the Alpha Program will enhance our abilities so greatly."

The Dr. finished typing in a sequence of keys on a computer, and beeping and flashing lights told him the capsule was ready. He turned to Specter then, rubbing his bearded chin slowly.

"I must confess, I'm not actually sure if it will work. You see, I have often theorized about why robots seemed to peak after certain strengths. The most outstanding examples I've seen up until now were my two sons and Wily's Darkman, Forte and King. I studied this `power peak' anomaly intently for quite some time, and found it was an efficiency barrier. No matter how well designed the robots were, they only attained the usage of 50% of their power at best. Rockman himself was little better, his peak being 55%."

"And yet these robots must be well above that mark to have destroyed him, yes?" Sonata asked. Dr. Light nodded quietly.

"Yes…possibly, they've attained the 100% mark, after much study, there is only one way Wily could have wrought such power. He's removed their free-will inhibitors entirely. Since the mind controls all other bodily systems, if the mind is weakened, the body is dramatically weakened as well. If, however, a fully developed mind, one with true free will, is given to a robot, there are no bounds to its power. That is the principle of the Alpha Program, and the principle on which I built my X." he said, pointing briefly to the still slumbering figure.

Specter had been staring at the ground for quite some time by this point, but then stepped into the capsule quickly.

"The program will remove several key protocols within my brain to grant me full will and potential…I know I could be ruined in the process, but I have a better chance of death against those Wilybots than I do here in this capsule. I will accept the program."

Sonata nodded with a smile, this was the same brave Specter he had always known, had always admired.

Sonata stared deeply into Specter's eyes for a moment, seeing a glimpse of some odd feeling that he had never seen in the gray robot's eyes before. Uncertainty. He would have thought Specter's courage had left him at any other time, but with Wily becoming the heir apparent to the throne of the World, no one could blame him. Sonata himself also felt uncomfortable about the whole situation.

"What am I, a coward? Afraid to face Wily's monstrosities?" he thought, self admonishingly. But he knew that wasn't it. He had fears about other things right now as he watched Specter being consumed by light from both ends of the capsule.

***

Antiocus paced about a wide room as his android brethren sat on the floor, watching him. His eyes reflected deep thought. However, it's true depth could not be fathomed. He was philosophical to an unmatched extent, and rightly so. He was the freest of the free willed. He owed loyalty to none, and had nothing to fear from anyone in the world.

Zero was worried for his elder brother and superior. He and Antiocus had formed the closest bond of all the brothers, though it was more like a mentor-student relationship than a brotherly one, as Antiocus never showed positive emotion.

He was ready to get up and take the super android aside and ask him what was on his mind, when a knock on the door diverted the attention of all the androids. Illusion got to his feet and dusted himself off.
"Somebody should get the door." he said.

Antiocus stared at the roof, and Zero paid the effeminate Illusion no mind.
"Well?" he said, casting a harsh glare at Heavy-F. Even though he was a vast wasteland mentally, Heavy knew what his brother was asking, and slowly got to it. He opened the door, and found Sly, the spy robot from before, holding a portable video screen.
"This is the visual data I could collect on Dr. Light's new trump card. Apparently his name is X."

He handed the brute his screen carefully and then dashed off quickly. Heavy-F closed the door and walked back into the room. No one had paid attention to anything Sly had said.
"What is it?" Illusion asked impatiently, using his lasers to form a small mirror of light, examining his own face in it briefly, thinking 'flawless' with pride, and then dispelling the disk of light, turning again to face the brutish brother.

"Uh....something about a trump card" he said, scratching his head in confusion. Illusion looked ready to slap Heavy-F when Zero snatched the screen from him and activated it. It showed several images of an android decked out in blue armor and elastic material, just like Rockman had been. But he looked more like an adolescent, and was sized more like one as well.

After some brief explanation and watching through the data and specs several times, Illusion finally spoke up.
"So that's X....hmm...he's cute." he remarked.

Zero raised an eyebrow for a moment, but turned back to the screen, studying the specifications intently, garnering as much as he could on his new enemy. Antiocus, however, let out a heavy sigh and unleashed one of his claws, the cord shooting out at Illusion's throat, the claw grasping tightly around it.
"I couldn't care any less about your feelings and urges, Illusion, but if you let your attractions get in the way of your mission, I will kill you myself. Understood?"

Illusion choked and coughed for a moment until Antiocus let him go.
"Yes, yes, fine...it doesn't really matter. Somebody else will kill him off first anyway. Such a waste." Illusion said in despair.

After giving Illusion the video screen, Zero walked over to Antiocus, who resumed his pacing.
"Brother...what are you thinking about?"
"...Mutiny..."

***

Dr. Wily sat leaned back in his chair uncomfortably, thinking hard. He was suspicious of Antiocus, who had recently acted as if he thought himself equal to him. Perhaps it had been a mistake to grant him such free will. Once Antiocus had gotten rid of the last threats to Wily's plans for conquest, he knew the android would consider him useless, and he'd be as good as dead. Unless he had a bodyguard, the mad doctor thought.

But then again, if Antiocus found out about such a protector being created under his nose, he would destroy it before completion for sure, and Wily would only have hastened death's coming. He needed to force someone into making one for him…but who was genius enough to make a robot to stand against Antiocus, and would kneel to his threats?

"Cossack."

He grinned widely and walked to the back of his room, where a videophone was implanted in the wall. He dialed up Cossack's number and waited for a reply. It took a few minutes, but eventually the signal got through, and the stern face of the Russian scientist appeared.

"Albert, what do you want, you beast?" he snarled.

"I require your services once again, Sergei." Wily responded, indifferent to Cossack's insult.

"What for?"

"You see, I've grown suspicious of certain…elements in my team as of late, powerful elements, to be more clear. Now, I'd like bodyguard to protect me in case of this element's betrayal, but if I were to build one myself, well, he'd get jealous, and things would go downhill from there."

"Understandable, but I won't work on one for you. I'd rather you die by your own crea-"

"May I remind you that I'm the only one who possess any degree of control over this element, namely my Antiocus. If I died, he'd go wild. Who knows…he could possibly…hurt Kalinka? I'm sure without my guidance, nothing would prevent such a scenario."

"…"

"In fact, if you don't comply promptly, it can happen by my orders, right now"

"…Very well. I'll do it, just don't hurt my darling daughter…"

"Much better."

"You will have the use of my most powerful creation…an android of my own. He is nearly finished…expect him to arrive tomorrow…" the Russian sighed with a sense of defeat.

"Perfect, perfect."

"Oh, and Wily…I will have my revenge for what you've done to the honor of the Cossack family!"

"Fool." Wily muttered in contempt, turning off the videophone before returning to his chair to contemplate his plans with a greater sense of security.

***

Sonata emerged from the capsule, feeling light headed, and somewhat weak. Specter, whom he had briefly seen after his own emergence from the capsule, was similarly affected. The darker robot, rather, android; now that he had been given free will; sat down beside his drowsy friend.

Dr. Light looked at them, expecting such a result. It wouldn't be long before they awakened, revitalized, however. But as he was considering this, Roll entered the basement, a heavily armored female robot following after.

"Ophelia, I presume?"

"Indeed." The female returned, pulling a stray strand of blue hair back behind her left ear.

"Well, seeing as how I already had the chance to explain the Alpha Program to you before, step right in, The sooner you're all ready to face the Wilybots, the better.

Dr. Light motioned for Roll to leave, but she had already passed by him, and was staring into the other capsule, her eyes slowly tracing along the powerful figure within.

"So…this is…X"

"Yes. He's the android I've been working on for so long. I had finished him months ago, but I needed to run some tests on him before activating him. But now it seems I've had to bypass all that so he can fight."

"…My new little brother…" Roll muttered, oblivious to Dr. Light, as she pathetically smiled at the blue android, his delicate face reminding her of Rock, whose death she had learned of a few hours ago from the television. She had basically been numb since then. The death of her beloved brother had broken her.

Roll got up, resisting the urge to drape herself on the capsule surface and cry her eyes out, she took her painful reminiscence a few feet from X's resting place, but still kept her eyes locked on it. Dr. Light walked over to the capsule and checks several of the vital read-outs. He nodded slowly, deeming his last son ready.

He reassumed his station at the control panel and finally pushed the activation key. A hiss of steam and a draining of stasis fluids into the capsule's interior was followed by the sliding open of the capsule's glass top.

Roll was silent, her tears stopping as she watched intently. After a few tense moment, X's eyes fluttered open. He looked around, somewhat confused, but after comprehending his situation, he stepped from the capsule. His eyes fell on Dr. Light, whose eyes reflected regret.

"…Dr. Light…my father."

"Yes, X, but I'm not worthy of a son. All that you've been awakened for is to fight, sad to say. I had hoped to reserve you for a day of peace, but that is no longer possible." X tilted his head to the side.

"And why is that?"

"Where to begin…" Light said, sadly wiping off his sweaty face and beginning the story.

After nearly half an hour, his explanation was finished. X's soft face had taken on a serious, determined look by the end of it.

"So these Wilybots are rather strong."

"Strong and very dangerous, especially if you don't have the proper combat training"

"Which is my case, is it not?"

"Sadly…"

Specter's voice came from the other end of the room.

"That's where we come in," he said, getting up and helping a still somewhat dazed Sonata and Ophelia to rise to their feet. "We do have combat experience."

Dr. Light jumped, startled as he heard Specter's voice, having almost forgotten his presence. But after regaining composure, he nodded in affirmation.

"That's right. They'll be helping you to take down these new terrors of Wily's."

X inspected the three briefly before turning to Dr. Light to ask the question on all of their minds.

"So, what next?"