Evanescense: Electrical Communication
folder
+M through R › Mega Man
Rating:
Adult
Chapters:
3
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1,274
Reviews:
3
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Currently Reading:
0
Category:
+M through R › Mega Man
Rating:
Adult
Chapters:
3
Views:
1,274
Reviews:
3
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own MegaMan, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
01: Run All the Way
A/N: This is completely finished on FF.net (same
pen name if you want to read the finished version), but I'm trying to start over
again here with the fixed-up/rewritten version, so I'll add the new chapters as
I rewrite them.
Chapter One
Run All the Way
Thunder rumbled through the heavens as dark clouds rolled across the sky.
Everything seemed to be painted grey or a rather dull version of any original
colors. The dull colors and clouds promised rain, but it was debatable as to
whether they would deliver. The trees and shrubs needed the rain, but it was
likely that they would be denied again.Rock attempted to keep his expression stoic, unchanging, hiding the inner
torment he felt as Blues watched him from behind his trademark visor. The two
faced off in the forest clearing, staring each other down. The wind toyed with
Blues' scarf, still its striking yellow even amongst the dullness of the
surrounding area. Rock shivered, clutching his wounded shoulder, one eye
squeezed shut from pain. Blues was unscratched, staring at his enemy, his
expression blank. That expression had not changed in nearly three years, not
that Rock could recall."Blues...please...wake up..." Rock pleaded, shivering and casting his gaze to
the dry ground, knowing his pleas always fell on deaf ears. Dr. Wily had done a
good job in gaining control of Blues. A very good job. Blues heard nothing, said
nothing, felt nothing - nothing but what Dr. Wily wanted him to. He did not
acknowledge anyone's words but Dr. Wily's, never said anything but what Dr. Wily
wished him to, did not flinch when he was attacked, did not react to victory in
battle. Rock shivered. His brother was dead, and only an empty shell remained.
He had been under the mad scientist's control for nearly three years and had not
felt, heard, nor said one thing which Dr. Wily did not approve of during that
time. The reminder made Rock's heart clench.Rock had one day hoped to destroy Dr. Wily's hold on his brother, to free
Blues from the prison made in his own mind, but he could never bring himself to
attack. Blues always gained the upper hand because Rock refused to fight back,
refused to harm his brother."Please..." Rock whispered, knowing he was just wasting his breath. Blues
raised his arm cannon and aimed. Rock braced himself for the split second before
he was sent crashing into one of the trees behind him, yelling in agony and
coughing. Three loud buzzes echoed over the rumble of thunder, signalling Rock's
energy was at a very dangerous level. He squeezed his eyes shut and silently
longed for everything to be the way it was before three years past - for Dr.
Light to be there for him, for Roll to be alive.For Blues to be back to normal.Blues retook his aim, expression still blank."I won't fight you..." Rock whispered, not bothering to stand up as blood
began to seep out of his wounds. Lightning streaked across the sky, reflecting
off Blues' visor. "What...what do I have to do...to get you back...?" Rock all
but whimpered.It was Dr. Wily who heard him and made Blues reply, "...die." Rock felt as if
he had been shot even though he knew it was not Blues' reply. It was his voice
but not him. Blues began charging his cannon, and Rock squeezed his eyes
shut and waited for the attack which would end his torment.It never came. The shot was fired, but it did not connect. Rock heard a brief
struggle before he dared to open his eyes just in time to see Blues melt back
into the shadows, retreating as smoke billowed from a torn, burnt wound marring
his left arm. A neon green glow pierced the dull surroundings as Rock's savior
watched the shadows Blues had disappeared into, one hand on placed on his hip.
He was clad in black slacks and a deep violet, nearly black tunic. His hair was
lavender, and his skin was pale, nearly white. A violet stripe trailed under
both of his eyes, down his cheeks, connecting below his jaw.In his hand was his "dual-purpose" weapon, a mechanical, metal rod, one end
placed gingerly onto the ground while the other end glowed brightly with its
neon green, electric fire, shaped to form a three-pronged "blade" like that of a
trident. The other end, when ignited, formed a scythe blade, also made of the
neon green, crackling blaze. The rod was at least half a foot taller than its
handler. Only a select few of the more powerful Mages could create and wield
such a weapon."Forte..." Rock whispered, almost unbelieving.Forte turned to face the blue robot, gold eyes shining from the glow of his
beam-trident. All Rock could do was stare. He had not seen Forte in four years.
He knew Forte had left Dr. Wily's forces, had run away like a teenager would run
away from home, but he had not known what became of the younger robot. Rock was
not entirely sure if Forte was really standing before him or if his eyes were
merely playing tricks on him."You were just going to sit there and let him kill you," Forte
muttered."Th-Thank you..." Rock stammered, staring up at the taller robot, wide-eyed,
but not from fear - from amazement. Forte was alive. Rock had presumed him dead,
guessing Dr. Wily had been angered by Forte's desertion and had him killed.Forte slipped his hand under Rock's uninjured arm and heaved him up to his
feet. Rock cringed in pain but did not say anything, thankful for the help.Forte's indirect mutiny against Dr. Wily had signified a silent truce between
the two. Forte still held a grudge for all of his losses against Rock, but the
hatred was all but gone as Forte now had one of the main things he had envied of
the blue robot - freedom. Freedom to make his own choices, to be able to think
for himself and do things he wanted to do without Dr. Wily screaming at him for
it. That, above anything, had been why he had hated Rock - his freedom. Rock had
always been free, and Dr. Light had let him do anything he wanted. Forte had
never even dared to ask Dr. Wily if he could do something for himself. It almost
always resulted in a verbal or physical beating; however, now he was free and
had no grounds on which to hate the blue robot.Rock leaned heavily against the tree he had crashed into, looking down at the
ground as he whispered to the air, "...would Wily let him go if...if I
surrendered?""Doubt it," Forte muttered in response, deactivating his beam-trident and
pressing a button on the metal rod so it "shrunk" to a length of two feet rather
than its fully-extended six then tucked it into his belt as an Assassin - a
"gunslinger" as some called the Mage class - would holster his pistol and
crossed his arms. Rock was not sure why Forte made the weapon - surely, he still
had his arm cannons which were identical to Rock's, and they were much more
efficient than the rod weapon. "Blues is his strongest warrior - he's not about
to give that up," Forte continued."...but," Rock protested futilly, "...but isn't he out to kill me? If...if he
didn't need Blues to kill me, then..." He trailed off, shivering.Forte shook his head. "He still needs his robots to help him take over the
world."Rock shivered, hugging himself with his still-moving arm as he muttered,
"I...could do that...if he let go of Blues...""Blues wouldn't want you to do that."Rock's expression turned pained as he looked away. "He's been under Wily's
control so long...I've got to help him somehow...""I doubt there's anything you can do," Forte responded, shaking his head. He
knew it was a harsh thing to say, but truth always hurt. "I don't even know how
he's controlling him. Probably through Magery. And if he can gain control of a
Shadow Warrior through Magery, I hate to think of what he could do to a robot
without magic." He cast a side glance to Rock, his meaning plain and simple.
Rock was what humans called a "null" - completely magicless. It was rare, nearly
unheard of - even the most untalented of humans and robots alike could could use
magic to an extent but only very, very basic spells such as lighting lanterns
across a room. Rock, however, had no power at all. Forte was better, much better
than Rock though even he was very weak compared to many Mages, especially his
"brothers" among Dr. Wily's ranks of Robot Masters, but Rock had still defeated
him countless times. The victories had been won by skill and expertise, not by
firepower.Rock whispered, still hugging himself with the one arm which was not stiff
and throbbing, "I could take servitude...if my family-""I can tell you right now that no matter what you did or promised, Wily
wouldn't let Blues go," Forte interrupted. He looked straight at him. "Not
willingly."A tremor coursed through Rock as he responded, doing his best to keep from
whimpering, "Then...there's no hope?""You'd have to figure out how Wily's controlling him and stop it from the
source," Forte answered, silently ending the subject as he turned his back to
the blue clad robot, arms still crossed. Several long moments of silence passed
between them before Forte finally asked, keeping away, "So, where are you going
now?" Rock looked down at his metal boots for a moment before looking back up,
expression pleading and slightly hopeful."...where ever you go?"Forte blinked, looking back at him. "Why do you want to come with me?"Rock grinned weakly as he answered, "...it's...not like I have anywhere else
to go." Forte half-glared at him for a brief moment before shaking his head and
starting into the bushes, Rock limping slowly after him.
* * * * *
The log cabin was practically brand new, probably less than five years old,and it was obvious Forte had been hiding himself away in it for his
four-year-long disappearance as the younger robot opened the door and walked
inside, Rock limping after him.Wooden furniture was clearly handmade by a less than experienced carpenter,
short, miniature cots acting as wobbly, barely balanced chairs with a larger one
in the center of the room padded with small cushions. The fireplace was glowing
from recent embers, and a makeshift kitchen was just to the left of the den,
sporting a basin, a cast iron wood stove, and a wooden box in one corner -
probably an enchanted coldbox which were not uncommon in this part of the
continent. A small hallway lead to the single bedroom, the only true room in the
cabin save for the den, and a sod roof kept rain at bay. The log cabin was very
small, yet it had a comfortable feeling about it. It made Rock homesick."This place looks new. Why would anyone abandon it?" Rock muttered,
expressing his belief that it had been abandonned and Forte had moved in.Forte contradicted him as he closed the door and barricaded it with a plank,
"It wasn't abandonned. I built it." Rock blinked, glancing back at him before
looking around the cabin again."You built it?" Rock repeated, clearly impressed. "How?"Forte shrugged and crossed his arms, leaning against the door. "I got tired
of getting wet when it rained, so I borrowed the tools from a farmer down the
trail and stayed in his barn until I was finished. Took care of his animals
sometimes to repay him.""Wily never came after you?" Rock found himself asking. "Never tried to get
you back...or kill you?""Oh, he tried, alright," Forte grumbled. "Destroyed the cabin once or twice
while I was working on it." Rock blinked."Surely you could have fought them off," he muttered, staring at the downcast
robot."...could have...but I didn't," Forte responded. "The second time they
destroyed the cabin, I made it look like I had died in it. I don't think they
know otherwise. I wouldn't put it past Wily to know that I'm still alive, but he
hasn't done anything since." Rock blinked."Why didn't you fight?" This time he received no response. Several long
moments passed in silence before Forte finally spoke again."I guess make yourself comfortable," he said, rolling his neck stiffly along
his shoulders. Rock hesitated timidly before he limped over to one of the cot
chairs, being careful to sit in a way where blood would not stain the material.
Forte stepped to the "kitchen" for a brief moment before returning with a few
pink and yellow apples, the rinds cold enough to confirm Rock's first assumption
of the crate in the corner. Rock accepted the apples and ate eagerly. Pure
energy would have been better for his wounds, but all robots were made in a way
that food could be used as a less efficient alternative if only for working
energy and not repairs. The smaller wounds could be left to heal on their own
while some of the larger ones would need a little bandaging to keep the exposed
circuitry and artificial muscle from being further damaged.Upon eating the apples down to the cores, Rock let out a small sigh of a
mixture of relief and contentment before stating meekly, "Thank you. I don't
want to be a bother..."Forte shook his head, sitting on the sofa as he answered, "Nah. We're not on
hostile terms anymore, so it's okay." He hesitated a brief moment before
speaking again, "You've been living in the woods this whole time, right?" The
visible cringe Rock gave was confirmation of Forte's assumption. Forte knew the
laboratory had been destroyed during the attack three years past. The attack on the laboratory had come out of nowhere - Dr. Light was away
with Tango to the nearest town, Fuu, to gather supplies, and Roll and Rock were
in charge of watching over the laboratory. Roll, Rightot, and Beat had been
killed right in front of Rock, Rush injured only to die in Rock's arms three
days later. Rock was never able to determine whether Dr. Light or Tango had
escaped or if they returned to the ruined laboratory and were captured or killed
as well. Just a few days after the attack, Blues had been captured by Dr. Wily
and put under his control. Dr. Cossack and Kalinka were more or less safe in
their Northern citadel, having taken their surviving robots - Ring, Skull, Dive,
and Bright - with them just a year earlier. The events had taken place shortly
after Forte had deserted Dr. Wily's ranks and supposedly been killed. Rock shivered, daring to speak again, "I...don't want to be alone anymore..."Forte nodded, understanding. He, too, had suffered a loss even though it was
minor compared to Rock's. Gospel had died fighting off the "search party" which
had destroyed the one-third finished cabin the first time Dr. Wily's forces had
attacked him, and his grave had been placed in the back near his bone pit."Sorry..." Rock apologized, nervously turning the apple cores over in his
hands, staring at his still-armored feet.Forte shook his head. "Nah, it's alright. I know what it's like to be alone."
Silence reigned for several long moments. "So...other than nearly getting
yourself killed, what have you been up to?""Searching..." Rock answered as Forte took the cores from him and left to
throw them away, "I think Dr. Light's alive, but..." Once again, silence won."Can I ask you something?" Forte finally asked. Rock looked up at him as
Forte sank back onto the larger cot. "Why do you keep fighting when it's just
you? Don't you feel...overpowered?""All the time..." Rock answered, "But I want to save Blues...I want my family
back." He let out a deep, shuddering sigh. "Sometimes I just feel like crying. I
just..." He let out a long, shuddering sigh. "I don't feel as brave or as strong
as I used to...""You're letting your feelings about Blues get in your way," Forte stated
patiently. "You need to treat him like he's always been one of Wily's. If I
hadn't been in the area, you would have let him kill you." Rock did not comment.
He knew he was stupid for just standing there, but he could not bring himself to
fight his own brother regardless of Blues' mental state. What hurt most though
was knowing Dr. Wily was gleefully using that to his advantage and enjoyed every
moment of it."I still don't understand why you keep fighting when you're so outnumbered,"
Forte spoke again, bringing Rock's attention back to him."I did it because I was protecting my family at first...but now there's no
one left to protect...all I have left is hope. Hope that I can save Blues." Rock
shook his head. "And I'm starting to lose even that...sometimes I wonder why I
still fight. Believe me, I've thought about doing what you did; leaving it all
behind and hiding away..." A thought crossed his mind and he looked at the
younger robot. "Why did you leave, anyway?"Forte flinched visibly, hesitating for a long moment before answering,
"I...had to get away..." He glanced straight at Rock. "Wily isn't exactly the
nicest creator I could have asked for." Golden eyes filled with envy met with
blue-green, envying Rock for being Dr. Light's creation.Rock blinked. "Then, what is he doing to Blues...?" He was not sure he wanted
to know."Hopefully not all the stuff he did to me..." Forte shook his head, looking
away. "I wish I had the guts to stand up to Wily like you.""I'm starting to lose those guts..." Rock muttered."If you do, then who's going to help Blues?" Rock flinched. "And search for
Dr. Light?" Rock's gaze shifted to the floor. "I don't have anyone relying on
me, but I'll bet Dr. Light wouldn't want you to give up so easily." Rock nodded
slowly.A soft sound made him look up and toward the window. It was finally raining.
Water flowed down the windows and soaked into the sod roof. Rock looked down at
his still armored left arm, remembering that his teleporter had been broken for
weeks. It was going to be a long walk back to the empty, burned out shell which
used to be Dr. Light's laboratory."You can stay here," Forte spoke, bringing Rock's attention back to the
younger robot. "At least until the rain stops." Forte rubbed the back of his
neck. "Although I'm probably not the best of hosts."Rock blinked. "Are you sure you don't mind? I don't want to be a bother..."
Forte shook his head."I could use the company," he replied, shrugging and grinning slightly. "I've
been by myself so long, I'm starting to talk to myself." Rock let a
nervous, but relieved, smile spread across his face. Forte cleared his throat
and rubbed the back of his neck. "Unfortunately there's only one bed..." "I can sleep on the cot," Rock offered. Forte shook his head. Rock was the
guest, no matter what their differences were in the past."I don't mind sharing the bed..." Forte responded. "It would be easier on
your wounds than this hard thing," he quickly offered as his reasoning which
was true. Sleeping on the wobbly, less than sound larger cot would only make
Rock stiff and more pained the next day. "You just better not snore. Or kick."
That earned him a weak, amused smile from his elder. "Why don't you go wash up
first?" Forte asked, crossing his arms. "Clean those wounds a little. I'll
bandage them when you're through." Rock looked down at himself and his blood-
and mud-covered armor and nodded, standing up and starting down the small
hallway toward the tiny makeshift bathroom.It was really only big enough for the washing basin in the floor and a stool
to sit on. A smaller basin sat on a block of wood in the corner, its purpose
only for face and hand washing, and a looking glass - a "mirror" according to
those in the North - was hung on the wall over it. The larger basin in the floor
already had some water in it which Forte was able to warm from his place in the
den. Rock often found himself wondering exactly how many everyday things he was
unable to do because of his lack of magic.The now steaming water stung the circuitry in his open wounds, the washing
rags catching every now and then, but Rock ignored it, silently thanking Dr.
Light for waterproofing every part of his internal structure. He worried he was
taking too long, but getting clean felt too good for him to make himself hurry.
Three years of almost entirely living in the woods had made Rock very thankful
for the things he had once taken for granted such as a simple washing and
regular meals. The water was disgusting with dirt and blood by the time he
finished, but he felt much better. Forte offered him a change of clothes which
Rock timidly accepted and donned. His wounds were dressed, and he was "forced"
to eat another apple before they finally retired.
"Run All the Way" -- Megumi Hayashibara
"The Slayers"