The size of the asteroid Omega dwarfed in the incoming bodies of Rock and Rush, welcoming them with promise of mystery and danger. Rock scanned the surface with a anxious gaze, the towering structures lining each ravine with trails of light. Each crater was equal to the size of a mountain, a ravine as big as his home city. Domes encased in metal covered the smaller craters with rings of colored bulbs. Rock was surprised to see little hopping drones exiting the dome's doors, small little items on top of their heads.
"This is different compared to G-Gemini's," Rock stammered on the name, "maybe whoever is here is okay. Fly in Rush."
Rush obliged and glided to the asteroid's surface. Rock hopped off with a soft thud barely audible in the space vacuum. Suddenly, all the drones turned to him surprised and refusing to move now. He didn't know whether to activate his buster. This situation was different to Gemini's asteroid. Nothing was destroyed, the facilities were active, and all of the worker drones were moving around with no problem. If nothing was wrong here, it would be strange if this was the case for the others.
"Could you...direct me who is in charge?" Rock commanded the workers. One by one each little robot turned to the closest dome, their eyes pointing towards the door. Without another word, he followed their eyes with Rush not far behind. The door slid open and the force of a sudden open space pulled them inside. The door slammed shut tightly and Rock felt the atmosphere compress.
"Air? Why would an asteroid need air pockets?" Rock asked Rush, briefly forgetting that despite being programmed to understand speech, the robotic mutt can't speak. Moments later, the second door slid open to a tunnel filled with lightbulbs. Keeping his arm high he ventured through the tunnel while taking in the workplace. Cylindrical robots slowly drilled through the carved walls, leaving decently sized holes in their place. Small flea-like robots would hop into some of the holes, where there would return with small geode capsules in their claws. Frog robots hopped carelessly over Rock's head, beeping signals to each other in code with the new findings. One of them took his presence and its eyes flashed in consideration before vanishing down the tunnel.
"Well," Rock used the peaceful situation to think, "lets take everything in for a second. Everyone went into the asteroids to work on recovering something called an energy element. Lucy mentioned they were powerful, but they didn't seem like they were affected. But now they are. Gemini, or his clone, mentioned they were following a boss and now he went crazy. It seemed like the crystal was doing something to him. Could they...could it have done that to him?" He briefly looked at the beautiful blue crystal in his hand. The light white within had faded into a obscure glow enough to miss at first glance. Rush turned his head in confusion huffing at the question.
"You're right, that does sounds ridiculous. I really wish someone would give me an explanation. I don't want this to be another-" Rock was alerted to the sound of something grazing the rocky floor. Rush immediately snarled in the direction of the incoming noise. Bright orange flashed against the light bulbs, showing Rock the source of the noise. Topman halted in surprise, his bright purple eyes widening at the visitor presented in front of him.
"Megaman? What are you doing here?" Topman asked, unnerved by the snarling Rush slowly approaching him. Suddenly, Rock took them both by surprise by pushing through the mutt and wrapping his arms around his half-brother. Top halted as the little robot boy's squeezed his orange armor. Slowly his arms reached around Rock's shoulders and squeezed back. With the squeeze returned, Rock broke off with an awkward look.
"Are you okay? Like nothing's wrong?" Rock almost felt nervous to ask. There was relief when the Top's face further expressed concern and confusion.
"Yeah I am okay. Why? Did something happen to you? Where did you get these damages?" The half-brother asked, his arms still wrapped around Rock's shoulders.
"Lucy told Doctor Light something bad happened to you guys! A-A-And Gemini was glowing and other stuff! Top, he tried to-! And I had to-!" Rock started to ramble aggressively, Top's grip tightening slightly. Rush started to snarl again, his teeth baring as Top kneeled to the little boy's level.
"Woah slow down kiddo. I believe you in something is wrong. I lost contact with everyone else hours ago. How about we calm down so we can figure this out together?" Top spoke softly with one hand gently against Rock's head in reassurance. Slowly calming his thoughts, Rock nodded with a relieved smile.
"Okay. Do you have an idea?" He asked.
"I just finished some work a little further down from here. We can both rest there if that is okay with you." Top suggested.
"Okay." Rock agreed. As he grabbed the other's hand, he heard the growling of his dog grow intense behind him. He turned to Rush with stern but considerate eyes. "It's okay boy. He is not going to hurt me."
Rush looked confused as the two robot masters moved on forward, forcing him to catch up to their increasing footsteps. Top gave a squeeze to Rock's hand as they descended the tunnels with dozens of robots carrying various sized rocks. Scattered across the rocks surface were flecks of crystals and fossilized plants. The floral imprints intrigued the little robot as they navigated the winding tunnels.
"Wow it really goes far." He commented towards his half-brother, the latter taking a minute to respond.
"Yeah it does! I'm pretty sure these tunnels go all the way to the center. You'd be impressed what we've found down here. Some of the diggers have found frozen seeds and water pockets within the rocks. The air pockets help prevent the exposed seeds from dying to the lack of oxygen." Top added on. They had reached one of the holding tunnels where lines of navigation robots patrolled the ceilings above. The orange robot master gave a simple wave for them to disperse, and they continued on.
"What else have you found?" Rock asked.
"There have been lots of fragments of fossilized plants scattered in the tunnels. I'm not sure if that's what they want for me to report, but I figured to save them anyways. I also have many crystals, including this beautiful one I have back in my base. I feel like this one is...special." Top said.
"As in the energy element?" Rock clutched the bright blue crystal in his other hand. Top had nodded hesitantly as they passed giant cat robots guarding different tunnels. The area started to widen as they started to enter the asteroid's deeper layers.
"It was really weird. It looks like a crystal like everything else, but it has this warmth when I touch it. And a light. It felt alive some how, and I had it in my hands." Top shivered, looking back and forth between Rock and the tunnel ahead several times.
"Gemini's clone mentioned a light too. He said it was painful. And he...god Top he looked horrible. Like something was controlling him. It was controlling him to attack me." Rock winced with the fresh image of Gemini's body still in his processor. Top visibly stiffened and the grip tightened more, but nothing else occurred in his expression.
"Well it didn't do anything to me." He objected.
"Are you sure?" Rock asked.
"I'm sure Megaman." Top said tightly, almost sounding like he wanted to cry.
"I had to fight and destroy him. He wouldn't stop coming at me. I just want to make sure this is not a reoccurring thing." Rock didn't mean to push the subject and the consequence came with Top gripping his hand tightly enough to cause a reaction. Rush made a quiet rumble to warn the half-brother of any further consequence.
"To think you would think less of us like this." Top hissed. A tense silence was exchanged between the brothers and robot dog. Rock pulled his arm slightly to loosen the grip once more, which successfully worked.
"I'm sorry." He apologized softly.
"It's okay. I guess we can't help it, can we? It is our nature after all."
The phrase made Rock raise his head in alert as Top started to speed walk down the corridor. He glanced at his dog and beckoned him close as he picked up the pace to follow him. With each step he made, his brother seemed to go two paces faster. Top was in a hurry to get to the base, almost in desperation.
"What do you mean by that?" Rock asked curiously, his hand now brushing against his dog's muzzle.
"Hm?" Top hummed.
"What do you mean by 'our nature'?" Rock specified.
"Oh I just remembered a little tale I found around Dr. Light's lab. I believe it was called the Scorpion and the Frog? ....Very interesting story." The half-brother's voice drawled.
"I never heard of it. What is it about?" Rock asked. An orange light illuminated the edges of the ending tunnel. Top's hands twitched in a rhythmic fashion, his gaze had fixated on the little boy longer than what felt comfortable.
"There was once a scorpion that needed to cross a river. It never says why, but the goal was the same nonetheless. The scorpion then finds a tiny frog and it asks for a ride, but the frog says no because it is a dangerous creature that will attack it. But the scorpion pleads it is different, and that attacking would doom them both. The frog agrees and allows the scorpion a ride." Top began, the orange light growing brighter and closer. Rock noticed the light of his own crystal beginning to glow brightly as well.
"But halfway through the crossing the frog felt a searing pain from the scorpion. It had stung him, despite it promising not to. They were both doomed at that moment. As the both of them began to drown, the frog turned to the scorpion and demanded why it would doom them both. There was no purpose for what it had done. Can you figure out what the scorpion said?" Top asked, but Rock refused to say or look at him.
"It said 'it was simply my nature'. No matter how much the scorpion fought its instincts, it couldn't change fate. I did not like the story, but hearing your account of what happened to Gemini makes me feel like it is a similar scenario. Maybe he was the scorpion in your situation. But the one thing I do know is that we can figure this out together." Top wobbled slightly before revealing the glowing container to the young robot. The container was a cylindrical shape with mismatched colored rings and handles protruding the ends, a beautiful fire colored crystal glowing within.
"This is what I wanted to show you. I managed to contain it before things got too scary. I figured since its able to contain one of them, it could also contain the one you've been hiding behind your back. Why don't you hand it to me so we can get out of here and find Snake and Magnet? I know exactly where they are, so-" The increasing volume of a blaster powering up stopped the orange robot master's speaking. His eyes remain unchanged staring at Rock, who had switched back to his armor and pointed a trembling blaster inches away.
"This is-" Top did not get to finish the question before Rock said his first.
"Who are you?" Rock said. Top blinked owlishly as he backed up slowly against the wall, Rush now snarling in a deep mechanical rumble.
"What are you talking about? I am your older brother. Or is it technically younger brother? I never liked the complications." Top tried to deflect the tension, but Rock only inched closer with the blaster at full power.
"You know what Gemini also told me when he tried bashing my face in at his station? He said that he was following the boss's commands. I know someone is telling you to do this, someone who does not know my half-brother as well as they think they do. And that's because Top has never called me Megaman. He has only called me kid or Rock." Rock had an edge in his calm voice, but the unsteadiness in his arm betrayed that calm confidence. The two robots blinked with uncertainty until an amused huff escaped Top's throat. A huff that grew to a giggle, then a short laugh devoid of warmth commonly associated with the robot. Then he blinked once and his eyes lowered into a cold gaze.
"Should of figured you would be smarter than a normal child."
"Just hand over the energy element and tell me who has been giving you these orders so we can end this before it gets worse. You are my family, and family wouldn't do this to each other." Rock pleaded, his eyes threatening to spill some tears. Top chuckled again before whirling around for a roundhouse kick, the blow connecting hard to his chin. The blue energy element flew out of Rock's hand and pinning under the robot master's foot. He flailed up and kicked Top's knee in causing him to fall backwards, allowing enough time to gather distance in the cavern maze.
"WAIT, DON'T LEAVE!!!" He had already retreated several tunnels in before his attacker's impatient yell reverberated through the walls. All the drones, worker robots, and metallic animals perked up to the voice of their master. Rock took the opportunity to squeeze into a tunnel large enough for his frame. Even though he was safe for the moment, he knew it wouldn't be long before Top starts searching for him. His half-brother was the fastest in terms of speed and his knowledge of navigating the asteroid's tunnels put him at a disadvantage.
The thundering yowls of the giant cats accompanied their rapid scratching against the walls with their sharp teeth glinting in the lights. The flea robots scattered in dozens of groups within the smaller tunnels. Somewhere in the distant dark he heard the sound of Top rapidly skating across the smooth floor. A massive gust followed the orange and black robot master skidding to a stop, his left leg only feet away from Rock.
"I would not recommend leaving. Who knows what will happen if you come across Snake or Magnet? It is safer if you stay here a little longer." Top kept his voice at an even level.
"My jaw speaks a different story!" Rock shouted. Purple eyes darted in his direction before a metal fist collided with the wall. Both of them avoided the crumbling rocks before another punch swiftly collided against the little boy's chest. The damages were starting to stack up as his felt the dents and tears within the armor grow deeper.
"Don't you know that family, especially siblings, tend to hurt each other as well? I would consider this to be play fighting." Top taunted the pinned boy. To gather distance from the incoming kick, Rock fired the laser obtained from Gemini into the left shoulder. The hot beam cut through the orange armor, the edges bending in a upwards curve and circuits singed. Top halted the kick to turn attention to the useless shoulder and screamed when Rush plunged his teeth into the open wound.
"Rush let go of him!" Rock attempted to warn the robotic dog, but it was too late for the dog was knocked out cold by a well placed punch. Rush's body collided with a tunnel a fair distance away and remained unmoving.
"Now that dog is out of the way, shall we get this over with Megaman?" Top hissed in pain.
"You will have to catch me first!" Rock said.
"I can work with that!" Top laughed when Rock started running again. One of the huge cats snapped its jaws close to his hair, their metal teeth and claws almost gripping a vital limb. While he swerved to avoid the clashing drones and cat teeth, Top flipped through the obstacles with ease. Rock knew he stood no chance with just a refracting laser. He needed to get back to the energy element and catch Top off guard. They had left both of the crystals with no one to hold on to them. But his fastest jog can not outrun Top at his casual speed. The best option to buy time through tactical ambush.
Each moment Top felt too close, his hand barely reaching for Rock's neck, the little robot fired Gemini's laser into the ground. The laser refracted twice on the walls, chunks of celestial rock flying around them. He could hear Top grunting in pain with his attempts to avoid the debris before catching up again. He whipped around the sharp corners of the corridors, causing the assailant to slip and spend seconds to regain his footing. Every second felt like a minute too long, and he did not want to see how the chase ends.
"How long do you plan to go in circles?" Top said a few feet behind him while skating with little effort. Rock was heading towards the right direction, but turned to a previously unknown tunnel. If Top were to recognize the area they are returning, the chase will end before he reaches one of the energy elements. The best option was to keep him focused on him and the chase, and also get some needed questions.
"When did you start to get orders to attack me? Did they say anything else to you?" Rock picked the questions carefully. Top slowed his speed to consider his answer and came close enough to be heard.
"Not long ago at all! Even though he was quiet most of the time, we were always there waiting for him. Once we got the word, the whole plan was put into motion. I was getting bored with playing along with 'good Doctor Light' anyway. It feels refreshing to mean something to someone for the first time!" Top joyfully said. Rock tripped at the last sentence as he saw the faint lights of the energy elements several tunnels down.
"But you did mean something to me. All of you did. Don't you remember what we talked about after your function assigning? All the times you took me and Roll out of the lab to hang out? You taught me how to dance. The different genres of music you showed me. Was that not always how you felt about me? That you loved me?" Rock spoke softly. There was no bravery or hero facade, but a little boy reaching to the one he wishes to be a older brother.
The orange robot master glanced in multiple directions to contemplate, a frown stretching his mouth. "Do you have any idea how much trouble our existence is? Every robot master has one specific moral compass that reflects their creator. You are a reflection of Doctor Light, who is good-willed but gullible to a stupid level. I was given separate moral compasses from opposite men. It was sickening to try and fulfill both sides. So it felt better to just stick to one permanent code. It just makes it easier."
"I did like those times playing with you. But if I have to be honest," Top halted before finishing, "You were always more of a convenience to me. At least until our creator took us in."
"It...It was Wily, wasn't it? It was always him." Rock meekly said.
"You must have seen it coming, right? Wily hates you and your creator's guts. Did you think anything that man says or creates is genuine?" Top taunted.
Rock could not feel anything. The robot standing in front of him had no warmth in its eyes. This was a robot master built using his creator's materials, so Wily could play with him again. He lied to him about the first Wily robots. He lied about the discovery at the Amazon. Now he lied in creating half-brothers that would love him. Everything had been for nothing, and this was the whole plan after all.
He had murmured something as Top approach ready to strike one more time. "Could you repeat that? I couldn't hear you."
Rock refused to give the Wily robot the satisfaction. With a fully charged blaster, he had aimed right at Topman's chest and fired. The robot master's body collided with the wall, and a large stone smashed between the torso and chest. Topman remained unmoving as his purple eyes faded in color.
Rock panted heavily as he hesitantly walked to the fallen robot master, and he easily moved the stone off the torso. The joints connecting the legs were flattened up to the lower portion of the chest, small sections near the core singed by laser burns. He pried his fingers into the bent chest opening, a horrible screech accompanying the hatch popping off. The I.C chip poked out near the core in a beautiful amethyst color. He held gently it in his hands with the motionless body at his knees.
He heard the sound of Rush rapidly approaching, having now caught up with the little boy in the chase. Without turning around he pointed to the entrance to the energy elements.
"Fetch the energy elements Rush."
Rush swiftly returned dragging the container by the handle, the two energy elements sealed inside. Rock quickly sealed the I.C chip within the dog's shoulder box and picked up the larger container. He made his way to the exit, which was not far away with the current available path. All of the giant cat robots and flea drones had reverted back to their simple coding, digging with direct order of where to go. Surveillance robots floated meaninglessly in the air, but were not alerted to the duo passing by them. Their simple behavior made sense in Rock's mind, for simple programmed robots follow the orders of a robot master. Top had kept them under command until he shut down. Now that he had been defeated, there was no greater order to follow.
The entrance opened and he was left in the void of space again. Rock slowly gazed at the stars until he followed a blue comet flying between his asteroid and Glimmer. The stargazing trailed his sight to Beta, its familiar dome structure littered across the surface. Rush automatically turned into his spaceship mode and Rock climbed in. The only noise made in the entire ride there was the sound of his running core.