Update from the author at the bottom of the page, posted on 7/29/2012.

Interlude: New Beginnings.

April 20X3.
Two days after the defeat of Bass.

After spending many hours offline while he was being repaired following his near-fatal encounter with the extremely powerful robot known as Bass, Mega Man wakes up in Dr. Light's lab. For the first time since before his battles with Bass this weekend, Mega feels healthy and back to normal again, and the first thing he noticed was that his previously destroyed left eye has been replaced with a brand new one, giving him a full range of vision again.

As he lays flat on his back atop the lab's worktable, Mega sees the bearded face of his father Dr. Light looming over him. "Welcome back, Rock. You're as good as new," Thomas says, "I wanted to make sure that you were in top shape before your birthday tomorrow."

Mega sits up on the table, trying to stretch the tired cramps out of his titanium joints after so much inactivity, and a few strands of his bushy brown hair almost falls over his eyes. "This weekend was so bad, I forgot what it was like to feel normal. I'm lucky I've got you patching me back up," Mega says... then sponteniously wraps his left arm around Dr. Light to embrace him.

"Thank you, Father!" Mega says with a genuine grateful smile on his face.

"You never need to thank me for repairing you, son. You just need to keep being the same young man I've always known," Thomas replies, patting Mega on his upper left chest, but looking and sounding exhausted.

"You look tired. Have you had any sleep?" Mega asks.

"I've had just enough to stave off my fatigue," Dr. Light answers, "Now that your repairs are done, I think I will retire for the rest of the day. It took longer to repair you than I had previously calculated because your damage was very extensive."

Mega bows his head for a moment when he thinks about his deadly encounters with Bass just a few short days ago, although it felt like only a few minutes ago with how long he had been offline. "Bass is too strong. He should've never been created... maybe I should have let you work with the Vick-Tek people afterall. Wily would have never been able to build Bass to begin with."

"No, Rock," Thomas insists, "I would never want to work for a group of people such as them. You did the right thing by convincing me to turn them down. And furthermore, they were respoinsible for Bass' construction; not you."

Mega Man hops off the table and takes his first steps in two days, the leg Bass severely injured during the final battle feeling normal again, but just a little stiff after the repairs. Even thinking about Bass has him bothered, and it shows on his freshly repaired face. And thinking about the final encounter with him also reminds Mega of the help he had from a certain somebody.

"Did you hear about Proto?" Mega asks.

"Yes. Roll told me about the part he played in all of this: freeing her from captivity and later helping you defeat Bass," Thomas replies, "But, she thinks his motivations were only for his own best interests and nothing more."

Mega shakes his head. "I don't believe that. After the things he's done recently, like trying to help us stop that ion bomb from blowing up, his reasons had to be more pure than that... don't you think?"

Thomas holds his arms behind his back as he answers, "Personally, I don't believe Blues would have done any of this if he didn't care about his siblings. We can only hope that your feeling about him is correct."

Mega smiles again. "I knew you had more faith in him. I just wish Roll did too."

Thomas then looks worrisome. "If Albert learns about what he did... I fear what he will do to him. I know first hand what Albert Wily does to people who he thinks have betrayed him."

"I'm going to bring my brother home for real one day, Dr. Light. I promise," Mega assures, "I owe him that much. If it wasn't for Proto, Roll would still be in danger... or worse. And Bass would have won..."

Mega's voice wavers when he brings up the frightening senario of Bass conquering the world with Dr. Wily, and with his sister meeting a horrible fate that she would have faced if ProtoMan hadn't helped her out of there.

"Bass is too powerful for his own good. He could see me even with the stealth suit on, he countered almost everything I threw at him... I've never faced anybody or anything like him. I got lucky when I copied his power... but if it wasn't for Proto, I don't think I would have stopped him... I don't even know if I can stop him alone."

Mega Man pauses and turns to face Dr. Light again. "Roll told me that Bass was sighted leaving Skull Fortress yesterday."

Dr. Light nods his head. "I was informed of that shortly after it happened, but I did not want to tell you before your repairs were complete. I was affraid you would worry."

"If you saw Bass at his worst and what he and that wolfbot of his can really do, you'd worry too," Mega says.

"He hasn't been sighted since he left Albert's fortress, and no futher attacks have taken place," Thomas adds, then suggests, "It is possible that Bass left Albert behind. Maybe there was some good in him too."

Mega retorts, "Not him, no way. Bass is bad, through and through. And I've got to find a way to stop him for sure... and if I don't find a way, I'll create a way to stop him. I just hope I do it before he shows up again."

Mega grabs his signature blue helmet - which is a replacment for the one that was damaged during the fight with Bass - and places it over his head, covering up his mop of hair. "While you rest, I'm going out with Rush to patrol the city for a bit."

"So soon?" Dr. Light asks.

"With Bass still out there, the citizens need to know that their protector is back on his feet. I don't want them to live in fear, especially with that psychobot still on the loose," Mega says.

After Mega Man leaves with Rush, Dr. Light makes his way to his house right next to the lab so that he can finally get some rest. Thomas makes his way into the main living room and hangs his white labcoat on the coat hanger nearby, but then he catches something adorable out of the corner of his eye.

He sees Roll seated on the couch with the Met she recovered from Skull Fortress in her lap and scooped in her right arm. Until she recovered him from Skull Fortress a few days ago, the most important thing on her schedule was the Captain Fallout and the Atom-Smashers concert at Madison Square Garden in a few weeks time. But, now that this Met is here, she has been devoting a lot of her time to aiding him so he can get back to normal

While she nestles the Met in her right arm, Roll is holding a small bottle of energy liquid in her left hand, trying to convince the Met to drink it, but he looks like he is affraid to.

"But you've gotta drink your enery juice, sweetie," Roll sweetly explains, "If you don't, you won't feel good anymore. Don't you wanna feel strong?"

The Met worriedly beeps that he's too scared to drink the juice and tries to hide under his hardhat.

After whatever trauma he went through at the hands of Dr. Wily, Roll knows that she needs to be as delicate with this Met as she can be, so she nestles the Met in her ar a little more and coos, "Aw, don't be affraid. I would never do anything to hurt you. I promise."

The Met looks up at Roll with his big eyes and beeps her a question.

"It's totally safe. See?" Roll answers before putting the energy bottle to her lips taking a tiny little sip to show him it's safe to drink.

After seeing his friend Roll drinking this juice and having no ill-effects from it, this Met doesn't feel as affraid anymore. A moment later, he opens his little mouth so he can drink and Roll gently puts the bottle to his lips and he begins to slurp the energy juice down like a little trooper.

"Good little boy!" Roll peeps as she gives the Met a little hugging squeeze, "I'm so proud of you!"

Dr. Light watches on with his own since of pride in his daughter. Previously, this Met would not eat or drink anything and was affraid of almost everything because of whatever happened to him at Skull Fortress. The fact that Roll managed to get him injecting energy juice is a real breakthrough.

"You are doing a terrific job with him, Roll," he says as he approaches the couch.

"Thanks, Dr. Light!" Roll replies as the Met finishes up his energy juice. She asks the little robot, "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

The Met beeps his response, not looking affraid anymore.

"Great! I've gotta talk to Dr. Light for a little bit, so you can go play," she says as she sets the Met on the floor.

As the little robot goes running along, Roll stands up and talks with her father. "He's doing better than he was a few days ago. I guess he'll be ready to go soon... I'll miss him."

"That is what I wanted to speak to you about," Dr. Light says, "In my opinion, I don't think this Met should be redistributed like the others we recovered from the Ballroom attack in February. He was traumatized by being held captive by Wily and I want to guarantee that he will be kept in a loving home."

"Then, we've gotta find him one," Roll shrugs.

"Actually, I was thinking the Met should stay here, and under your care especially," Thomas suggests, "You have experience."

After hearing her father's suggetion, Roll becomes uncomfortable with the idea and folds her arms accross herself. "I... don't know if I should keep him, Dr. Light."

"Why?" asks a puzzled Dr. Light, "You love Mets more than anybody I've ever seen."

Roll pouts, "I'm not ready yet."

"It doesn't look that way to me. You've done more with him than any of us has. He's getting better because of you," Thomas says.

Knowing that she finally has to admit why she thinks she isn't ready to take in a Met, Roll confesses, "I'm affraid I'll get too emotionally attached to him."

"Because of how you lost Doc?" Thomas asks.

Roll nods, looking sad. "I'm scared I'll lose him like I lost Doc... I can't let that happen to him. I can't go through that again."

"I know you still hurt after losing Doc, and I understand. But, you should not deny yourself a companion if you want one. Wouldn't you want to be the one who takes care of him?"

"Yeah, but... is it too soon to have another Met? I mean... what would Doc-"

Thomas gently interrupts Roll as he puts a hand on her shoulder. "Doc would want you to be happy. He always wanted that."

The pitter-patter sound of the Met's feet can be heard as he runs back into the living room. He runs right up to Roll and beeps that he's scared to go down the hallway alone. He wants Roll to go with him.

Once she saw the kindness in his cute little face, Roll's heart figurativly melted again just like it did when she first recovered this little guy. She kneels down and picks the Met up. "Aw, don't worry! If you feel safer with me, I'll go with you!" she coos.

The Met beeps again, thanking Roll for going with him. After watching his daughter being such a kind friend to this Met, Dr. Light felt the need to encourage her to do the right thing here.

"Roll... you should keep him, at least for now. You're the best caretaker he could possibly have," he suggests, "Plus, you could think of him as being an early birthday gift."

Roll looks down upon her little Met friend in her hands and asks. "Hey, do you wanna stay here with me and make this your new home?"

The Met beeps happily as a big smile comes accross his little lips.

Roll smiles too as her lip trembles. "Okay. You can stay with me for as long as you want," she says and she nestles her new Met companion in her arms.

He beeps again, asking if Roll can play with with him too.

"Sure, little guy!" Roll peeps, "We can have even more fun together!"

As Dr. Light watches Roll going outside with her little Met companion, he feels happy for her, relieved that she can finally mend the wound she has had to bare for two years after losing Doc.

Roll turns around to her father before she goes outside with the Met. "Maybe I am ready, afterall. Thank you, Dr. Light. This is the best birthday gift I could ask for!"

"You're welcome, sweetheart," Thomas smiles back.

Late that night.
Elsewhere in New York.

At a storage facility that was secretly owned by the Vick-Tek corporation, several Police Cruisers have filled the parking lot with their red and blue lights flashing everywhere. Just under thirty minutes ago, this place was broken into and raided by what appeared to be a single assailant... who happened to be wearing all Black, making his getaway in a Black car that appeared to drive on it's own.

Captain Talia Tallarico is commanding the officers and Policebots gathered here tonight, including her personal bodyguard/partner Officer Ash Rose, a man who by all means has every right to not be on duty this week, given the history this week holds for him. He hasn't been acting like himself so far this week, doing better this year, unlike last year.

The Captain notices how much he hasn't been acting like himself today and after she doles out her commands to the others, she approaches him. "You don't have to be on duty this week, Ash."

"I need to be, Ma'am," the Officer answers, "Keeps me busy... my brother would want me to carry on anyway."

It was two years ago this week that Officer Rose's brother was killed, but it wasn't just another casualty on just another day... he was one of the twenty-two victims of the first Dr. Wily attack in Times Square.

Captain Tallarico puts her hand on her partner's muscular shoulder. "You're doing him proud, but don't be ashamed if you feel you've gotta greive, kid."

"Thanks for your conrcern, Captain, but I'll be alright," the officer says.

Elsewhere on the lot, just outside the police line, a channel 7 news van arrives to the scene and Bree Recotta is the first to jump out of it, not even waiting for her cameraman to catch up with her. Once the news got around that a Vick-Tek leased storage facility was raided, this suddenly became a big story because of the fallout from Marcus Vickers' involvement with in the creation of Bass and Treble. Also, Bree felt she had to be here to cover this story.

Once she heard that the storage facility was rumored to be containing mostly advanced armor and weapon technology, Recotta's suspicion went into overdrive and she jumped on the opportunity to cover this story. For some reason it reminded her of her meeting with the strange guy at Yankee Stadium who know a little too much about weapons, or 'security' as he put it.

Bree heads for the police line where a majority of reporters from other news outlets have gathered and where a statement will be made by Captain Tallarico shortly.

As Bree's cameraman catches up with her and sets up his camera, he asks, "Do you think it's Wily?"

"No, it's somebody else. It has to be," Bree says.

"The only other jerk that gets this much police attention is that Mr. Black guy," says the cameraman.

Once the cameraman finishes his thought, a bothersome thought entered Bree's mind... it is believed that this Vick-Tek facility held armor and weapons... and that strange big guy at Yankee Stadium knew a lot about weapons, maybe a little too much about them...
Bree's brown eyes grow wide as something dawns on her... what if the big guy at the stadium was really...

The wail of a siren brakes Recotta's train of thought and she looks around to see that a plain black car with small flashing lights in the windshield that was making it's way onto the lot of the storage facility is where the siren came from.
Once the car is parked, two men in black and white suits and ties step out and approach the police. One of the men had thinning brown hair; the other was slightly younger with a head full of black hair and looked latin.
Just from one look at their stiff and professional cadance they have, Bree can tell right away that these gentlemen are Federal Agents.

"Looks like the F.B.I. is here," she says.

"Feds? What are they doing here?" asks the cameraman.

"Vick-Tek is under a Federal investigation right now after their involvment with Bass," Bree replies, "And since this is a Vick-Tek facility, they want in on this."

As Bree watches these two agents speaking with Captain Tallarico, she studies their body language and how they are acting. Then, she notices Tallarico becoming agittated as the agents begin speaking to her, and it looks like the Feds are doing all of the talking.

Then, several Federal vehicles begins to arrive on the scene, some of the a large black vans with the F.B.I. seal on either side. Even more agents begin pouring out of the vehicles, some of them carrying their own Crime Scene Investigation kits with them.
Not long after, the human police officers and Policebots begin to move out as the Feds begin to take their place here.

"And it looks like this is no longer an N.Y.P.D. investigation," Bree assesses, "The F.B.I. has taken over."

Captain Tallarico makes her way to the news reporters gathered at the police line, followed by the F.B.I. agent with the thinning hair who arrived on the scene in the black car.
Once she reaches the reporters, a keen eye can easily tell that she is flustered. "I'm going to keep this brief, people. Shortly after 10 PM, this storage facility was breached by unknown assailants and a sizeable ammount of the contents held inside were stolen. We will be... working with the F.B.I. to identify who is responsible for this. There will be no questions at this time."

As Tallarico leaves, the F.B.I. agent steps up and speaks. "We would appriciate if all of you would move back from the scene my forty yards so that we can complete this investigation. This is an active investigation that requires as little interference as possible. That is all."

As the agent leaves, the reporters try to ask their questions anyway, but Bree had a question that she felt compelled to ask. And it was her voice that stands out above the rest. "Is this break-in connected to the Mr. Black crimes?"

That question grabs the attention of the agent and he turns around to look at Recotta. "... I believe the Captain specifically stated 'no questions' tonight, Ma'am," he says, "You will be contacted with the neccessary information when our investigation is complete."

Just by reading the agent's reaction, Bree knew that this had to have been the work of Mr. Black. And it only makes her own theory about the masked terror - and the man who may be behind the mask - all the more interesting.

Meanwhile at his hideout far outside of the city, an unmasked Mr. Black stares at the many screens conected to his multimendia center, watching the news coverage of the brake-in he just performed at the Vick-Tek storage facility, the same one he learned about by finding his way into Marcus Vickers' personal network.

Once he sees the F.B.I. agent stepping up the address the news media, he leans towards the screen. He knows that face, he would recognize it from anywhere. It is his former F.B.I. Director, Paul Allen.

Mr. Black's eyes narrow as he stares at the agent on the monitor. He was one of the earliest contributers to his fall from grace. "You son of a bitch!" he whispers to the screen.

Then he hears Bree Recotta's voice asking. "Is this break-in connected to the Mr. Black crimes?"

Mr. Black's breath stopped for one second when he heard Bree - the woman whom he encountered at the Mega Man vs. Bass fight - ask the question about him. He then studied his former director's very reaction and awaited his response.

"... I believe the Captain specifically stated 'no questions' tonight, Ma'am," he says, "You will be contacted with the neccessary information when our investigation is complete."

Mr. Black leans back in his chair and stares at the floor, frowning as he tries to massage his browbone between his eyes. It was bad enough that his former agency was looking into his work and that Allen is leading the charge. But, now Bree Recotta may be getting involved in this. The Conduit did warn him that woman would be trouble.

"This complicates everything," Mr. Black muses to himself.

The next day.

"The Vick-Tek controversy continues," says Channel 7 anchor Kirk Trujillo as footage of the brake-in at the Vick-Tek storage facilaty is shown on the news, "Late last night, a storage facility leased by the company was raided and contents of unknown origin were taken. It is believed that Dr. Albert Wily and his robots played no part in this particular incident, but federal investigators are now working with the New York Police in the investigation.
This news could not have come at a worse time for Vick-Tek, as the company is about to be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange following the public backlash caused by their alledged involvment with Dr. Albert Wily and the creation of Bass."

We then see Trish Faulkenburg on the screen. "In our other big news story of the day, after nearly a year of specluation, it has now been comfirmed that former New York Governor George Cochran has announced his candidacy in the 20X4 Presidential race! He made the announcement earlier this morning and here are some of his comments."

We now see the former Governor of New York City, George Cochran seated in an office with several books on the wall behind him, looking directly into the camera.

"After serving as a proud member of the United States Marines, and eight years as Governor of the great state of New York, the next logical step in my life and political career is obvious. Effective immediately, I am running for the office of President of the United States next November," he states with a slight smile in his aged face.

Trish Faulkenburg adds, "With current President Kieth Henry's reaching the end of his second term in office next year, Capaign 20X4 is already going to be a very ineresting race, but the presence of Governor Cochran insures the coming months will be even more interesting."

We then see video of a sizeable contruction project going on elsewhere in New York City and Trujillo narrates over it.

"Construction work continues on the mysterious large structure in Central Manhattan today on the same lot where the old Sierra Dynamics headquarters building once stood. Following the building's destruction during the Gamma attack last March, Sierra Dynamics moved their headquarters to California and the lot remained vacant until earlier this year when Governor Mitchell Deacon commisioned a new structure to go in it's place.
The Governor says that a formal announcement about this building and what purpose it will serve for the city will be made in a few weeks."

Governor's Mansion.
Albany, New York.

While the man who previously held the Governor's seat has launched his Presidential campaign, current Governor Mitchell Deacon is making his own plans... plans involving this 'mysterious structure' that was just mentioned on the news.

Deacon has only been in office just over six months, but he feels that now is the time to take some major action in the war with Dr. Wily. Seeing that the majority of Wily's attacks continue to take place in New York City, Deacon wants to take measures that would be in the best interests of New York and the citizens' safety.

A pair of well-dressed human gentlemen enter Deacon's office and approach the Governor. One is a security advisor, another appears to be an engineer.

"Mr. Newkirk and Mr. Keil are here to see you, Mr. Governor," says Deacon's personal security robot.

"Thank you. Please, gentlemen, sit down," Deacon says from behind his desk, his dull jet black hair still as flat and tragically un-hip as ever.

Deacon's two guests sit down on the opposite end of the Governor's desk and the Engineer Mr. Keil places a computer pad atop of the desk.

"So, what is the latest progress report?" Deacon asks.

"Work is nearly complete, Mr. Deacon. It could be ready inside of three weeks at the earliest," says Keil the Engineer, pressing the screen of the computer pad. Then, a one-foot tall holographic rendition of a towering structure appears.
This is the mysterious structure being built in Manhattan.

Newkirk the security advisor comments, "The latest revisions to the Civil Defense Tower will be to your liking, Mr. Governor. It will be fitted with two-hundred mounted plasma bolt turrets and laser cannons, and it's height can be extended to stand taller than the Empire State Building or Freedom Tower. That way it can pick off any high-flying bogeys with it's arry of missiles, all of which are impervious to anti-aircraft denfense menthods."

"What about the operation of the tower?" Deacon asks.

"There will be a crew of operators in the central hub high at the top of the tower 24 hours a day. Strict security checks will be made on each crew member before they can even step foot inside," replies Mr. Newkirk.

Mr. Kiel adds, "And there will be a lockdown system in place in case security is compromised. Any intruders will be trapped inside and awaiting capture from New York's finest."

Governor Deacon looks a bit unsure. "This all still sounds like many of the things we heard before the Gamma robot was hijacked by Dr. Wily. I want you to make sure that a disaster like that doesn't happen again with the Civil Defense Tower."

"We are personally guaranteeing it, Mr. Governor," says Mr. Newkirk, "Even if Albert Wily would manage to compromise it, he would be trapped like a rat and even his best robots would most likely be unable to compromise the outer wall of the tower before being taken out by it's weapons. He would be captured at last."

"We could use the tower to bait Dr. Wily," suggests Mr. Kiel, "He does have a tendancy to appear whenever something big is happening and usually manages to use it to his advantage."

"Yes, I know all about that first hand," Deacon says, "He almost replaced me with a robot copy of myself."

"The engineer brings up a good point. If Wily was trapped inside the tower, all we would have to do is call Mega Man to pick that psycho's ass up and this war would be over."

Deacon puts a hand on his chin, just below his black mustasche and ponders to himself for a moment. "A promise of the end of the war is something I wish I could deliver... and the idea is very tempting, but also very hazardous. If there is one thing we should all know about Albert Wily, it's that we should never underestimate his intelligence. Just we all think we have him beaten, he always finds a way to get out unscathed. We have to be cautious."

"Not that I don't think Mr. Kiel is doing a good job overseeing the development of the Civil Defense Tower, but I'm still suprised you didn't commission Dr. Thomas Light to design this, Mr. Governor," Newkirk says.

"After the Gamma incident, Thomas said he did not want to work on anything like that again, even if it was on a small scale like the Tower," explains Deacon, "But, the longer this war goes on, the more life and property will be lost. So, I have to step up to the plate as well and do what I can."

"Does Dr. Light know about the Tower, sir?" the security advisor asks.

"He was the first person I asked about making a defense system for New York. Again, he did not want to risk the same thing happening again," Deacon answers, "But, even though he's a friend of mine, this was one case where I don't think we can afford to wait on taking action... and I want this war over as much as anybody."

Governor Deacon stands up and approaches the office window with his arms folded behind his back. "If we do use the tower to bait Wily, I want this method to be tested over and over again, even after you get it right," Deacon says, "I will not put the lives of my citizens at risk to catch him, not unless it is gauranteed to work."

"Like I said earlier, Mr. Governor... we guarantee it," Mr. Newkirk says.

Deacon continues staring out of his window at the mansion's lawn outside. He now has some big decisions to make. Decisions that could potentionally end the war with Wily... or could potentially be the biggest error in judgment since Gamma.

Later that week.
Los Angeles, California.

Somewhere in a large multi-tier parking garage, a shady-looking character wearing a ski cap and sunglasses makes his way through the rows of parked cars, scanning each one of them, looking for the right one to steal.

This fellow crawls over to a parked SkyCar and kneels beside the driver's side door. This was the perfect one.

He grabs a long flat silver wand from under his jacket and jams it into the top side of the door, right in the windshield slot. The device begins to change shape and manipulated itself deep into the door and finds it's way to the locking mechanism and undoes it unlocking the car.

It appears that this guy's job for the night is done, and without much effort. Then, he hears something behind him... a voice, to be exact.

"HEY!" barks the gruff-sounding voice.

The crook spins around on his knees and spots three male siloettes standing right behind him, all of them wearing high-quality robot armor on their bodies, almost all of it painted blue. In fact, each of their armors appears to be styled after Mega Man's armor.

At first he thought these three were robots, but they appear to be three young males and robot-like costumes. But, it appears that each of these three were carrying some sort of weapons in their hands.

The tallest and biggest one of the group took a step forward, wearing a blue helmet with a spiked metallic mohawk on the top and a face shield covering his jaw, but leaving his eyes exposed. This one is clearly the leader and probably the oldest of the litter.

"And what do you think you're doing with that car, buddy?" asks the leader of the trio.

The carjacker wields his metal rod, ready to use it as a weapon, but the leader holds his left hand out and a magnetic pulse generates from it, yanking the tool right out of the punk's hand and into his.

"We tried doing this the easy way," the leader says, "But, I guess you'll just be like all of the others that oppose us. Take him, boys!"

The other two members of this trio lunge into action and jump towards the carjacker. The punk tries to defend himself by taking a swing at one of these young vigilantes, but the punch is ducked. Menwhile, the other one takes the crook down by clipping his knees out from under him, causing him to fall hard on his back.

Both of the vigilantes quickly begin tying him up by his wrists and his legs with some sort of cable-like material and the leader of the group steps up and grabs him by his jacket and drags him over to a nearby guard rail, which is the only thing between this structure and a multi-story drop to the sidewalk below.

"You're probably wondering just who we are, aren't you?" says the leader through his face shield with a laugh, "We may look it, but we're not robots, and we're not Mega Man... but we are the Mega Crew! So, do you have any last words?"

"No! Please!" the carjacker pleads.

The leader of the Mega Crew slaps something on the man's chest before interrupting him. "Wrong last words, punk. See ya!"

He then shoves the bound carjacker over the railing and down to the ground below. The man wails in horror as his body falls all the way down, until...

the cable his legs were tied to reaches it's limit and stops him from hitting the sidewalk just a few feet befoe he hit.

"Oh, God! Get me down!" the carjacker shrieks as his body danagles upsidedown over the sidewalk, leaving him there to be retrived by the police when they get here.

The thing that the leader of the Mega Crew stuck to the crook's chest was a small adhesive steel plate which reads, "Another one caught, courtesy of The Mega Crew... you're welcome."
These boys certainly aren't humble about their work, that much is for certain.

Back in the parking structure, all three members of the Mega Crew look down upon their latest catch and snicker as they give eachother high fives.

"Let's beat it before the cops get here," says the leader.

He and his two armored buddies step on their red hoverboards - all of which have goofy-looking fake dog heads on the front of them, clearly designed to be their version of Rush Jets - and fly away from the scene as the wail of approaching L.A.P.D. sirens can be heard.
Whoever these three kids are, they are certainly making a name for themselves, but these wannabe vigilantes may end up barking up the wrong tree...

"So, when're we gonna go after that punk Dr. Wily?" asks the Mega Crew member to the right of the leader.

"Yeah, we've got a war to fight, man!" adds to other to his left.

"Hey! What have I told you goofs? We've gotta build our rep first!" replies the leader, "Mega Man didn't storm Skull Fortress right away, did he? No! He built up his reputation first and let everyone know just what kind of ass-kicker he really is... besides, all good things come in time. At least that's what my sister says."

"Hey, when's she gonna come along?" asks the one of the left, "She could be our Roll!"

"I'm the leader of this gang! I make the decisions!" the Mega Crew leader barks.

Skull Fortress.

A lot can happen in the span of a week.

The Vick-Tek corporation has already entered financial ruin following the public backlash from the Bass controversy and experts believe that the company could be out of business within the next few months... if they even have that long.

The trio of human young men dressed like robots known as The Mega Crew is still at-large and fighting petty crimes vigilante style and making a name for themselves.

Governor Deacon's plans for the defense system have moved forward, while Former Governor Cochran is going ahead with his Presidential Compaign.

The F.B.I. is now getting involved in the Mr. Black case and so is Bree Recotta, but the masked terror has not been spotted since the night of the brake-in at the storage facility.

And Mega Man is still proudly and boldly serving as the Defender of the Human Race, as Roll has herself a new Met companion and Dr. Light continues to develop robots for the benifit of humankind.

But it's how Dr. Albert Wily has spent his time that has made the most difference, and not for the better. Even though he is still angry over how Bass and Treble turned on him, Dr Wily has a renewed vigor to take over the world and he has been plotting and planning all new robots and instruments of terror, and it's all because of his new bonanza of money he was given by the Vick-Tek corporation.

Several sketches can be seen taped all over the walls of Wily's workshop at the Fortress, but there is one particular design that Albert has sketched multiple times and can be seen all over the room, and it is also the one that Albert is working on right now.
These designs are not for another robot or a weapon... it is something much more...

As Dr. Wily scribbles down the newest blueprint draft of his latest abominable creation on a large sheet of paper, he begins thinking aloud to himself like he always does.

"Ever since this war began, I have sought the perfect plan... the perfect weapon... the perfect robot," Albert says to hmself, "Everything from mind chips, scrambler chips, earthquakes, Robosuars, Grabbing the Moon, taking the Robot Masters... Bass... Proto... and yet, I am still at square one. I have yet to take over the world... and Mega Man still lives."

Without taking his eyes off hs work, Wily continues to draw out the plans and he continues, "The only time I ever came within a breath of accomplishing my quest... was Gamma."

And Dr. Wily is right. The closest he has ever come to defeating Mega Man and taking over the world with one swift stroke was when he hijacked the peacekeeping robot Gamma. On that horrible night, it appeared that Dr. Wily had all but won the war with resounding dominance, and if it hadn't been for the valliant efforts of Mega Man, the Lights and some of their closest friends and allies, he would have done it.

While three of Wily's most recent plans - The Deacon Operation, the framing of Mega Man for the kidnapping of Kalinka Cossack and the creation of Bass and Treble - came close to removing Mega Man by one means or another, each of them did not convey to the world the aura of power and domination that Wily wanted to convey to the world... something Gamma did do very easily.

While there is no way that Wily could manage to build another Gamma, even with his newfound budget of nearly two-hundred million dollars, he can make something just as powerful as Gamma... something much worse than Gamma ever was... something that can -and will - get the job done at last.

Suddenly, Dr. Wily's concentration is broken when ProtoMan enters the workshop, as always not knocking the door first. The entrance jarred Albert's concentration so much, his pen slipped as he was drawing the diagram for this new instrument of destruction, and the blueprint was marred with a long steak of ink.

A raging Wily throws his pen at the wall and spins around in his creaking old swivel chair to face Proto, wearing an angry scowl above his prominent cleft chin.

"How many damn times do I have to tell you not to interrupt my work?" Wily asks with a yell.

ProtoMan snarks, "You know what? You have never specifically told me to not interrupt your work before! At least according to that memory core of mine."

Wily harshly gravels, "Then, I'm telling you now! And consider it an order!"

Proto's smirk quickly disappears once Wilty calls him on it. Since he had ordered ProtoMan not to interrupt his work anymore, Proto's programmed obediance to Wily's commands orders him to comply.

"Aye-aye, sir," ProtoMan groans as he leans on the doorframe.

As Dr. Wily takes his ruined blueprint for the deadly project he was working on and throw it onto the nearest table, he grumbles, "What was so damned important that you had to interrupt me?"

Proto answers, "The materials you ordered for your next wicked creation has arrived. I guess they're for that dream machine I see that I see you've made sketches of all over the room?"

"Those materials are intended for new Robot Masters. Project G-2 will require much more than that."

"What does 'Project G-2' mean?" Proto asks.

Wily grins, "My boy, you could say it is... classified."

Proto frowns as he crosses his arms accross his grey titanium chest armor. He doesn't like the fact that Dr. Wily is still keeping him in the dark about his plans, even after embracing the Red Raider as his 'boy' again.
But, as much as Proto hates beign left in the dark, he doesn't complain aloud. At least he has his job back and that jerk Bass is nowhere to be found anymore... but still, things aren't the way they used to be between Wily and Proto, and this was a glowing example of it.

"I'll leave you to your work, Wily. And don't worry, I won't interrupt it," Proto says as he turns and leaves the workshop... then he smirks, "By the way... you never said anything about not knocking on the door!"

ProtoMan laughs heartily as he walks away, and Dr. Wily is a bit peeved that his Prototype has once again managed to get the last word. "If there was ever I time I wish I had programmed a more humble disposition into that boy's neural net, it's now!"

Dr. Wily turns his attention to the marred blueprint of the mysterious 'Project G-2' he was working on just a few minutes ago. "As much as I would like to finish developing Project G-2 right now, I do have more pressing matters to attend to."

Wily grabs a communicator and contacts GutsMan who is elsewhere in the fortress. "GutsMan, bring the robot materials to the workshop now."

"Ya' forgot to say the magic word again, Dr. Wily," GutsMan responds, still with his updated free-will capabilities programmed into his systems, something that Dr. Wily once again forgot about.

"PLEASE, DAMN YOU!" Dr. Wily roars into the communicator, fed-up with this secret word crap, before slamming it on the floor, breaking it into two shattered pieces.

"I need to build new Robot Masters and fast! Namely ones that don't force me to say please!" Wily angrilly complains as his beady eyes scan all of the hand-drawn blueprints for potential Robot Master designs.

Wily's eyes stop when they reach two particular blueprints for two new Robot Masters. These Robot Masters are very unique compared to all of the others and both have powers that none of the others have. And what makes them both interesting is that they are both female.

Albert's eyes dart back and forth between the two designs. One of the female Robot Masters would be more for ground-based attacks; the other would be used for aquatic purposes. Both of them would be very useful additions to the robot army, but Wily only wanted to build one of them right now.

"I shall build you first," Wily says, grabbing the blueprint for the non-water based female robot and pulling it off the wall, "You will make a fine addition to my army, my dear!"

Author's Notes:

And finally, 'Defender' is back online!

First off, I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter online. It was longer than I expected for a whole bunch of reasons, one of which was the fact that I have been overhauling all of the Epsode 1 chapters including the interlude to episode 2, which have been posted you can finally check those out if you want. (Chapters 1 though 11, if you're interested. It doesn't look so bad to read now.)
It's a bit easier to read. Also for the past few weeks, my body could not handle hunching over in my chair for long periods of time, so that slowed writing things down a bit. And, I had not decided one what direction I wanted to take Episode 8 in until now.

But, I can tell you that Episode 8 is in production now and it won't be too long before it debuts. I'm going for something a bit different with this one. It's not quite the "big event" stories like we've been seeing recently, but hopefully, you'll like it.

With this interlude, I wanted to really set up a few things going into Episode 8 and show how things are starting to change and how interesting things are beginning to happen (I.E.: Deacon working to build the defense tower, Wily's future plans.)
Also, I wanted to introduce some new characters, namely the Mega Crew (specifically the leader of the group) and this mysterious female Robot Master who is an OC I've been waiting to introduce for a while.
These things will be followed up on in the next episode and future episodes. The wheels of change are still turning.

I think all of you true Mega Man fans know who the aquatic female Robot Master really is, don't you? But, no, she's not showing up in the next episode. Sorry about that. Maybe in the future, however... ;)
And also, the new Robot Master OC is not based on any other existing character in the Mega Man games or comics. She will be a completely new character that I've had in my mind for a while now.

Please remember to leave a review/comment and if you catch any typos, PM me right away.

... Who is the leader of the Mega Crew...? And what's the story with this new female Robot...? and what exactly is Dr. Wily' Project G-2?

Update:

Again, it has taken longer to write this upcoming episode than I had expected, and for more than one reason. But, don't worry. Episode 8 will debut no later than August 8th of this year (or maybe sooner.)

I am getting closer to finishing the first raft of the chapters and hopefully, you will enjoy it.
Sorry to keep you folks waiting, but, don't worry. Defender isn't anywhere close to finished yet, and the new episode is coming.