On the other side of the forest, Woodman sat on a stump with his brother Bubbleman swimming by the nearby lake. A few summer birds were sitting peacefully on his shoulders, and no noise from the city other a few of his minions walking at the perimeter. Bubble's little snorkel mask popped out of the water.
"Hey Wood, you think we even have a chance to beat him?" The little amphibious robot asked.
"What do you mean?" Wood's soft but deep voice woke up the little birds and flew off.
"He's already defeated Metalman and Flashman, and they're two of our stronger fighters. I just think I'm not...you know..."
"Bubble, I know you're scared but I believe we can stop him." Wood had a reassuring smile, Bubble rolled his eyes before emerging from the lake.
"Yeah, but what can I help with? I'm a robot that can't walk more than five feet and produces bubbles for weapons. Bubbles. Oh yeah, I'm so frightening to humans. Betcha five bucks I go down before you." Bubble kicked the water with his flippers.
"Now, don't say that..."
"You know it's true! You should hear some of the stuff the others called me back at the castle. I've heard 'snorkel geek' and 'frog foot' more times than my processor can count. Crashman even told I was fragile like a bubble too..."
"Oh come on, that happened while Crash was having an episode. That shouldn't count to you. Anyways, you know they don't mean it brother." Wood insisted, as he heard the sounds of metal being torn apart. Their enemy was approaching, and while he wanted to comfort Bubble, it wasn't the time to be sad.
"Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. I just want to prove to them, and Dr. Wily, that I'm not useless. But I guess that will never come." Bubble was just about to sink back into the water before Wood gently patted his shoulder.
"Bubble, don't let your feelings get you down. I know that you get hurt easily, but you bounce back like all of us. But if it makes you feel better, once all of this is over, I'll make sure to ask Wily to give all of the water territory to you." Bubbleman didn't say anything but he glanced at his brother.
"I don't know..."
"Plus allowing you to walk on land."
Bubble turned around with eyes full of hope. "You'll do that?"
"Of course."
"Okay! I can do it! I'll take down Megaman and show everyone how strong I really am." He hopped into the lake and disappeared under its depths, all while a bright colored dove watched Woodman get into position.
"I'm sure you will."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Megaman managed to trek through the harsher enemies with ease. Getting to his enemies was becoming easier with every boss he battled. He didn't even get anything worse than a couple of scrapes. Readying his blaster, he came to the center of the park with a lake not far away. And there was Woodman standing before him, little birds flying all around him.
"I'm impressed you managed to make it this far." Woodman didn't look at him.
"Your brothers did make a bit of a first impression." That was the best Megaman could say, and he mentally slapped himself for that. He couldn't sound sincere if he tried, for all he knew, all of them are just as angry at him.
"Allow me to ask, did they suffer?"
Megaman's core stopped for a moment before he gritted his teeth. "N-No! Why would I want to make you suffer, or your brothers?!"
"Well, at least that's a thought I won't have on my mind. Now we can fight."
"So you're not going to take surrendering as a consideration?"
"Afraid not." Woodman ordered all the birds to go away as he stomped toward Megaman. What happened next was a exchange between punches and bullets. While some buster shots managed to get through Wood's armor, most bounced off his body. Metal blades proved to be better in this.
Suddenly, a bubble enveloped him and lifted him several feet. As it popped, he fell into a trap of metal leaves from Woodman, scratching his armor. He fired a couple more shots before being lifted again barely over the water. Bubbleman disappeared under the lake as Megaman was attacked again by leaves. The exchange happened three more times, and the blue robot was frustrated by the repeating the cycle.
Activating Flashman's weapon, it took a moment for Megaman to realize everything was still like a doll. Running towards the lake, he spotted the frozen Bubble's face inches from the surface. As close as possible he got right behind him and muttered, "I'm sorry."
Everything was moving again, and both robots were stunned by their enemy gone. A moment before Wood could yell for his brother, Bubble felt a slice through his back. And he sank into the lakebed, back dripping of oil and the metal blade sticking out.
With Bubble out of the picture, he ran to Woodman, who had been consumed with rage upon seeing his brother. A storm of leaves covered the park, blackening the area. Metal blades cut through easily as Megaman tackled him against large rocks. The larger robot attempted to grab his neck. Feeling endangered, Rock stabbed several blades into the chest, bits and chunks ripping off.
"Get off!" He called out.
Rammed into the rocks, Rock felt the weight of the large rock shift. Slipping out of his grip, the boulder's top half collapsed on Woodman's body. As the dust and dirt settled, Megaman saw nothing but crumbled remains of Wood's arm and chest.
"That's four. Four more to go." Megaman gazed at the partially destroyed area. The odd colored bird flew away, high beyond the sky.
"I'll have to apologize to the owners of this park later, maybe Dr. Light can send money to help." Suddenly, Megaman's leg was grabbed by a hand. He was surprised to see Bubbleman, just barely functioning with a trail of oil from the lake.
"I'll let the others have their victory." His voice cracked as he lifted Megaman high into the sky in a bubble. Moments later, his energy depleted and he powered down completely
"What the? Where are am I going?!" Every minute, Megaman ascended several more feet from the ground. The cars blaring vibrated the bubble, the people scurrying for possible cover, and the skyscrapers grew smaller. He went above the clouds, now the only protection between him and death was a thin bubble. So he did the only thing he could do... Wait until the bubble went down, and possibly think a way out of this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You let Rock go out there alone?" Roll was staring at Cutman as everyone met up at Light Labs. Cut had rushed in explaining the whole conversation, guilt and overwhelming terror visible on his face. Half of the robots wanted to rush out to follow their brother, but were stopped by the distressed Dr. Light.
"I-I tried miss Roll, but he insisted! He cut me off before I could say anything else! I swear!"
"I'm sorry Cutman. I didn't mean to scare you, but Rock could be hurt right now. Dr. Light, what can we do?" Roll turned to her father, who typed coordinates into the main computer.
"Just give me a moment...there we go!" Amongst the map of the city, there was a blue dot moving slowly out of the perimeter.
"Why is he moving away from the city?" Cut asked.
"And why is he going in a weird pattern?" Roll added.
"I'm worried that Rock has received too much damage, and he left his communicator off so I can't contact him. Cut, is it possible you can reach him and help him." Dr. Light turned to the robot in question. The other Light bots were still helping repair the city, and Roll and Cut were available. Cut nodded without question.
"Of course Dr. Light!"
As soon as the door swung open, the same agents that the Light family encountered a while back stood in the way. Krantz was giving a small smile with a wave, her partner sporting a frown. Cut took a few hesitant steps back.
"Dr. Light, are you busy?" She asked quietly. Gilbert grabbed a communicator while being greeted inside. Cutman, feeling tiny to the agents, decided to sit beside Roll instead. Grabbing a separate chair, Dr. Light faced them both.
"Is something wrong?" Gilbert did a huff before glancing at the city.
"Besides the city being attacked for the second time, we have a matter to discuss with you." Gilbert did a huff before glancing at the city. Dr. Light blinked in surprise before calling his robot children over. The two robots were unaware they were staring for so long before the agent mentioned it. "They don't need to be a part of this. Can they go wait in a separate room?"
With a possible opening, Cut tried to reach for the door. Dr. Light motioned to wait, and the two confused robots went upstairs.
"Where's the other one, the boy?" Krantz asked, stern in her voice.
"Oh, he's out right now. He'll be back shortly, I promise." Dr. Light then dropped the façade as both of them spoke the same sentence.
"Back after stopping the threats, right? Thomas, we know who you're trying to hide. That's why we need him."