When Rock managed to teleport to his hometown, he had to stop to take in Monsteropolis's state. The streets, unlike Astil's hometown, were littered with people. Car doors were open filled with people trying to sleep, and children were huddled with their mothers. Men were discussing about food and medicine, while others were exchanging whatever goods they had. Before he spoke, dozens of people were crowding him.
"Megaman, thank goodness! How are you online?" A disheveled man said.
"Is there going to be any help for us?! Are they going to leave us like this?!" More and more people started to crowd around him. Rock started to get anxious.
"My children are sick and starving! Help has to be coming, right?!" A mother among the crowd proclaimed.
"Wait, please calm down. I can't-" No matter how he asked, no one was listening to his distress and continue to overcrowd. People started to shove each other and demanded answers. Among the bodies came a hand and grabbed Rock's head. He was pulled along the ground, the frantic humans not realizing he was gone. The clashing hands and bodies faded, and Rock saw he was being pulled farther away from the crowd. The person clinging to him soon let go.
"Yo buddy, you alright? Everyone out there really riled you up." They asked.
"I'm fine. Thanks." Rock replied. He took a look at the person who rescued him, and realized it was a robot master. He was a blackish blue color with a red scarf covering the lower part of his face. Certain parts of his body was a light gray with a oil drop planted on the chest.
"Follow me."
The two robots ran through the corridors of the city, avoiding any human that came close. A couple of them awed at him passing by, but they didn't stick long enough to hear their questions. At the final turn, they stopped at the building up front. It was a bizarre structure of cylinder towers connected to a square laboratory. Solar panels replaced tiles of the roofs, and the perimeter was fenced off with warnings to trespassers. Each sign had a logo of a infinity logo with one of the loops as a clock.
"Boss, I have him! Let us in!" The robot shouted, and Rock felt his stomach sink. Was he about to be kidnapped after being saved from being smothered? To his slight relief, a short man approached the locked gates. He pushed his glasses and nodded as the gates opened. Without another word, he was pushed quickly inside the building's doors, and the sound of locks echoed the entrance.
"What is going on? Who are you guys?" Rock spoke nervously. He felt so tiny even with his armor on, and even if he could run, he had no weapons system. The glasses man extended his hand and gave a warm greeting.
"I'm sorry we had to drag you in like this Megaman, but we weren't sure how you would react to the public's situation. Ever since the strange blackout, everyone's ben struggling to keep themselves afloat. My name is Doctor Shou Kouin, and this is Oilman." He said.
"Yo!" Oilman said with a peace sign. Rock felt at ease and noticed all the lights were on, as well as the equipment.
"How are these-?" He trailed off. Kouin picked up his question and gestured to the whole building.
"This is why we needed to close off this area during the blackout. This is the Chronos Institute, a government facility meant to study space and time. Many of these machines are meant to study the existence of tachyon particles and manipulate time on a certain scale. They contain a experimental energy source meant to contain the tachyons, so it provides a small protection from the fields, but not for much longer. They are not quite as lethal since the blackout made some damage, but it can still be dangerous if someone stole any equipment." Kouin said.
"I see. How were you able to find me so quickly?" Rock asked.
"The doc here detected a signal podcast in Brazil a while ago and sent me to the receiving end. Glad I got ya, the public has been desperate lately." Oilman responded to the question.
"Thank you for that. But I have to get back home now." Rock walked to the door before a oil slick swept him off his feet.
"Now hold on! I risked my scarf and neck for you, and you're gonna throw yourself back out there during a blackout? Are you crazy?" Oil looked down at him. The machines and lights started to flicker and another machine sparked near Kouin. Rock shouted for the man to move and a purple energy field surrounded the device. The sparks moved in slow motion and Kouin put his hands to the machine. There were a few wires moved and the machine resumed working.
"The wave must be getting stronger if it's taking this long for security to activate."
Rock got back to his feet and faced Oilman, who still blocked off the door. "I don't have a lot of time explain, but all I know from Dr. Light is the EMP is going to continue getting stronger. And at the rate it's increasing, it will start to affect living creatures and everyone is going to suffer. I need to get back to Light Labs and retrieve my weapons system to save our home."
Oilman did a double take before tapping a section of Rock's chest. A small panel opened and revealed his core and his father's writing. Oil gasped and closed the panel quickly.
"Y-You're Thomas's son? I thought you looked familiar!! Come on, you have to come with me!"
"How do you know m-!" Rock was pulled along the hallways of the institute, sliding along the oil slick covering the floors. Oilman had a blissful giggle with more corners cut before they reached a large room. It was familiar with more machines working and scattered with blueprints. However the walls were aligned with clocks, timers, and calendars filled with upcoming appointments. Sitting by a worn out desk was a dark purple robot, yellow bells attached to his head and a clock in the center of his chest.
"Time bro, you won't believe who I came across! It's Thomas's son!"
Timeman whirled around for a second and stared into Rock's eyes. His own blue eyes then hardened and he looked away with distaste. "That's not him Oil. And what did I say about interrupting me? Now I have to make up for several seconds worth of time of adjusting these machines to the electromagnetic field."
"Yes okay, but will you listen for a minute? He's not just Thomas's son, he's Megaman! And he said he's going to help stop the blackout!"
Rock approached Timeman, the coldness in his face never fading. He gave his hand to him in greeting and smiled. "Hey. I understand you might be busy, but it would really help if I had some people to help me."
"I already have my hands full filling in everyone's jobs because of this stupid blackout, as well as my own. I am under massive strain trying to keep everything together, and you're telling me to abandon my post for a possible death mission. You're wasting my time asking me to help." Rock winced by the cold words and Time turned back to his desk. In closer examination, he saw hundreds of requests with needing help in the city.
"How about I give you a compromise?" Rock suggested.
"Like what?"
Rock showed the special coating to the time robot, his eyes wide in realization of what he had been presented. He spent several minutes explaining the situation with the blackout and how it's affecting the world. Oil grew worried by the possibility of human lives perishing, but Time's face remained neutral. As he finished, Time pondered before plucking the coating from his hands.
"And you're saying this coating will only work for a few days?" He asked.
"Yes, the closer we get to the source, the effectiveness of it will dwindle. We need to act fast if we want to save the world. Will you help me?" Rock pleaded. The two looked to each other before Time opened the vial.
"Alright, we will help you. But we can't waste any time. Go get whatever you need at Light Labs, we'll meet you there once we add the coating to ourselves." Time stated. Rock nodded and ran through the city.
There were alleys of people shocked at his passing by, and some tried to stop him for questions and pleads. But he was too focused on getting home, stopping the threat and saving his sister. Light labs quickly came into view and Rock was greeted by rooms of darkness. Contrary to the city, everything was intact except for exploded lightbulbs and a burnt tv.
He searched through the shelves and desks for his weapons system, but it was nowhere in sight He couldn't remember where he put them, and he started to panic. Did he misplace it, or did one of his brothers misplace it? As he ran to his room, a unfamiliar box sat on his bed. Inside of the box were his weapon system, his helmet, and a newspaper containing headlines of his first battle with Dr. Wily. The picture on the paper was him and Roll hugging in relief. Scribbled on the paper was congratulations from Roll and how happy she was for him.
She left it here before they left on vacation.
"Thank you Roll." Rock murmured and grabbed the weapon system and helmet. Upon installing, he waited several minutes as each system booted up. He clutched to the newspaper and closed his eyes in attempt to clear his thoughts. At some point, Time and Oil had entered the lab and collected some E-Tanks and supplies.
"You ready yet Megaman?"
"Yeah, let's get-AAH!" Rock fell over and his two allies rushed to his side. "I'm receiving a message!"
"From who?" Time asked.
Removing the helmet, Rock approached the main lab desk and linked the intercom. A few seconds later, Doctor Wily's face showed on the screen. He looked horrible, like he hadn't slept in days.
"Doctor Wily?!" Rock exclaimed.
"Megaman!! Thank goodness you got my signal!! Can you hear me?!"
"Yes I am. In fact, you're rather yelling through the intercom. Where are you?"
Wily looked over to his shoulder like he was waiting for an ambush. "Megaman, you have got to save me. Ra Moon has taken control of my robots and is sending them after me. I have managed to evade them by hiding out in the temple with some of the tech that I've gathered, but I won't survive much longer. You must do something!!"
"I'm working on that Dr. Wily. We'll arrive at the temple as fast as we can." Something about what the doctor tugged at Rock. "You just said you had gathered tech from the temple. How did you even come across the temple in the first place? You didn't have the map." He asked.
"W-Well, I may have came to this place a while ago. I thought about gathering parts of my own to analyze-"
"What?! After Astil told us to not go into the Amazon alone!?! What were you thinking?!" Rock shouted. Wily was taken back by the shout and pointed into the screen.
"Listen here blue bot, you wanted to visit the temple too and see what was going on! I just found it first!"
"That...that doesn't mean anything. And besides, what would you want to gather in the ruins anyway?" Rock muttered. He had to admit that he wanted to explore as well, but at least he had others with him.
"None of your business. What should be your business is saving me from this genocidal machine that's keeping me pinned down here."
"I am doing everything I can." Rock repeated, barely keeping his voice level. It was understandable how much stress the doctor was in, but it didn't give him the right to shout at him. Timeman felt the same way with his hand hovering over the disconnect button.
"If you're quite done wasting time berating us, we have to go and save the world."
"Wait!" Wily yelled before looking away again. "I can provide help in your assault on Ra Moon."
"By shutting up?" Time sighed.
Wily was running out of patience by the remarks and began typing off screen. Coordinates appeared on the screen and an option to accept the directions. "I am sending you coordinates to the junkyard to receive help. Attached to the coordinate is a note to them, and you need to give them this. Otherwise, they will attack and destroy you on sight. You got that?"
"Why the junkyard?" Rock was full of suspicion from the sudden coordinates.
Before Wily could answer, the camera suddenly shook and dust fell on the screen. Dark voices were heard distantly and the doctor's face paled. The screen started to glitch and his voice was fading rapidly.
"They're almost here! Head to the junkyard and show them the note! I will hold my own Megaman, you can't put the great Doctor Wily down this eas-!" The screen switched off and the line disconnected forcefully. All that was left were the coordinates of a certain location in the junkyard. Time and Oil waited for something to be said as Rock's helmet was adjusted.
"Well...I guess the next stop is the junkyard?" Rock smiled with confusion written all over his eyes.
"You can't be serious." Timeman groaned.
"I know you're upset about this, but what if the information is useful in helping us stop this threat? You said it yourself that this could be dangerous, even life threatening to all of us. If this contact is as cooperative as Wily says it is, then we have to consider it." Rock said.
"And you're sure to trust Wily at all? You are aware that he tried to destroy you twice, in addition to never telling you about this little excavation. For all we know, he may be the cause of all this happening." Time accused.
"I don't know, I feel like something else is doing this. He sounded pretty scared, and it's clear he's in danger. Whether or not he's the cause of this, it is my function to protect everyone and that includes him."
Time stared for several minutes before giving in. "Whatever you say. Let's find this contact quickly."
Rock nodded in agreement and the three teleported to the junkyard. The immediate sight of rusting metals and husks of smaller machines made their stomachs drop. The air was quiet and still with their feet crunching glass and rust. The radar on Rock's helmet pointed towards a destroyed power station with a bent radio tower. He could see small movement and lights through the holes of missing bricks. He ushered Time and Oil to his side as they walked closer to the signal. Just as they approached the door, the talking stopped and the lights flickered off.
"I'm starting to think this was a bad idea..." Rock said.
As he took one more step, he heard something whizzing past his check. Readying his blaster, Rock looked to the robot master in question. His armor was gold and blue and spikes protruded from the helmet's top and sides. The robot called out to the hills and two more robots burst out. The tall purple bot threw a bomb to Timeman, which promptly blew in his face. Time slammed into the bent tower and his bells lodged into the small holes.
Oil fired oil along the ground and ducked from every attack the huge red bot threw. He taunted and laughed but the golden staff snatched his scarf. Startled, he left himself open to a punch slamming into the chest. Oil bent over and clutched himself in pain.
Rock fired his buster at the gold robot and it became a clash of weapons. The robot grabbed one end of the staff and hook it around the back of Rock's head, pulling him forwards. As the other hand gripped his neck tightly, he looked at the attacker and gasped with realization.
"Enker?"