CHAPTER SIX
Homecoming
Rock opened his eyes to find his vision blocked by yellow. Lifting his head, he saw he was in a small clearing, surrounded by trees, and Blues lay sprawled a short distance away. Rock had been lying with his face buried in his brother's scarf. The red robot stirred a moment later, raising a hand to his helmeted temple.
"Did... it work?" came Bass' voice, from somewhere behind Rock. The blue robot rose to his knees and turned, seeing Bass sitting up as well, looking as worn out as he felt.
"I'd say it did," Blues answered him, looking around. "This forest does look familiar."
"That's probably why," said Bass, pointing to the sky. Visible above the treetops in the distance was the white dome of Skull Fortress.
"That'd do it..." Rock said.
"...We've got company, though," said Blues.
Sure enough, also lying in the clearing, around the wreckage of the time machine, were the unconscious forms of X and Zero. Neither appeared to be badly injured, though they looked like they would be out for some time yet.
"These two are really made of strong stuff," Blues observed. "They look fine, even after that fight and Zero ramming into the time machine."
"Well, they are from the future," Bass said, shrugging.
"But why are they still unconscious, when we aren't?" Rock asked, worried.
"The shock of time travel, I'd expect," Blues said. "It knocked me out for a good while when I first went after you guys, too. I guess the effects wear off quicker when you travel more often."
"And... what happened to Sigma and Vile?"
"They aren't here..." Blues said, looking around. "I guess the portal didn't catch them."
"Thank goodness," said Rock. Dealing with X and Zero would be one thing... but having the Mavericks around would have been disastrous.
"Well, this is real nice and all," Bass said, standing up and beginning to walk towards the woods, "but I must be leaving now."
"What?" said Rock, startled. "Why?"
"We're home, stupid," Bass answered. "I don't have to hang around with you anymore."
"But X and Zero—"
"Are your problem now." He continued walking. "I've got things of my own to do. Later, Mega Man."
Just as he reached the fringe of the woods, he stopped, and turned back to Rock.
"Don't forget," he said softly, "we're enemies next time we meet. And I will destroy you then."
"I'll... be ready," said Rock. Bass nodded, then disappeared into the tangled underbrush of the forest.
"Such a charming young robot, isn't he?" Blues remarked, pulling himself to his feet and brushing dirt from his scarf. Rock just sat there, staring at the place where Bass had disappeared. Blues walked over and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up about him, Rock. He's not worth it."
"I guess not..." Rock sighed.
"Hey, see if you can contact the Doc," Blues said, tapping the side of his helmet. "My comlink's dead. The electricity from the machine going haywire must have overloaded it."
Rock shook his head. "Mine's broken, it got hit during the battle with Bass."
"Great," Blues sighed. "And I don't think our teleporters are stable enough to risk using. I guess we'll have to walk home... Once we figure out what to do with these two."
"That's a good question..." Rock said, looking over at the still forms of the two Hunters. "Zero would probably be safe to take back to Father... but... X..."
"Yeah, the old doc might have a heart attack," Blues agreed.
"X might have a heart attack, for that matter," Rock said.
Blues looked troubled. "Yeah, we don't know how much he knows..."
"Not much." Rock closed his eyes. "He has his picture... but no real memories that I'm aware of. And... he doesn't even know we existed."
"I figured." The red robot shook his head. "So he would recognize the doc, at least... But there's really no other option, is there? The time machine is totally gone."
Rock looked over at the pile of twisted and sparking metal that had brought them here. "And it's only a matter of time before X and Zero realize that they're not home, Maverick Hunter HQ doesn't exist..."
"...Damn it, I hate time travel," Blues sighed.
"So... when they come to, we should lead them home?" Rock asked. "I'm sure Father can help them."
"I guess we'll have to."
"Besides," said Rock, with a rueful grin, "I don't think they can mess up the timeline any more than we already have..."
There was a soft groan, and X began to stir, raising a hand to his head and opening his eyes. Rock moved to his side.
"X? Are you all right?"
"Uh... what happened?" X asked, as Rock helped him to sit up.
"Something in the device malfunctioned and blew us here," Blues replied.
Across the clearing, Zero began to awaken as well, muttering, "Ow... what in the world...?"
"Oh, good. You're still okay, Zero," Rock said.
"If you call feeling like you've been stepped on by Blizzard Buffalo okay," Zero mumbled, sitting up and brushing twigs and leaves from his ponytail.
X rolled his eyes at his friend. "Like you would know how that feels."
"Hey, I said I was sorry about that already!" Zero said. X stuck out his tongue, and the blonde hunter laughed. "Okay, okay, I get it." Then he looked around, noticing the abundance of trees and the wrecked machine. "...Hey, where exactly are we?"
"Er..." said Rock, "It seems... we're fairly close to our creator's home."
X also looked around. "...Where's Forte?"
"...He went on ahead," Blues said. "He wanted to make sure everything was... okay."
"Sigma and Vile...?" Zero asked.
"No sign of them. I can only assume they didn't get caught in whatever it was we did."
Zero frowned. "My comlink's not responding," he told X. "And neither is my teleporter."
"...Same here," X said, after a moment. "Are we being jammed?"
"Maybe the trip shorted them out?" Rock suggested casually.
X froze, then slowly turned his head towards the two brothers. Rock mentally slapped himself. That had sounded far too suspicious. X, with his military training, would certainly think the same... His fears were confirmed a moment later when the blue Hunter looked straight at Rock and said, "You're hiding something."
"What?" Rock stammered. "N-no, of course we aren't!"
"Don't lie, please, Rock," said X, still staring unflinchingly into the younger-looking robot's eyes. "What's going on?"
Rock and Blues were silent for a moment. Finally, Blues gave a half-hearted grin and said, "Heh, you're pretty sharp, X..."
"Explain yourselves, please," said X, an edge creeping into his voice.
"...It'd be easier to show you," Rock said, glancing over at Blues.
"You wouldn't believe us if we just told you," the red robot agreed.
"...Guess that's all we're getting for now, huh?" said Zero. There was an edge in his voice, also. Rock didn't like it at all. It was the same tone he'd heard them use when speaking to Sigma and Vile... the voice they used for enemies.
"Please, X," Rock pleaded, "Trust us for a little while longer."
X was silent for a moment, and then replied, in a somewhat softer tone, "...All right, Rock."
"Thank you," Rock whispered.
"I hate to interrupt, but it's getting dark," Blues said, looking up at the sun, beginning to dip below the treetops. "We'd better get going before a robot m— hostile robots end up finding us."
X and Zero glanced at one another, but rose silently to their feet and followed the smaller robots through the woods towards their home.
-------
About an hour later, the group emerged onto a two lane asphalt road. Rock and Blues turned right, following the path along until they reached a gravel driveway winding up to a neat white frame house. It was two stories tall, with an attached garage, surrounded by flowerbeds and impeccably trimmed grass. It looked very quaint and old-fashioned to X's eyes. He had seen pictures of similar houses from books spared in the Cataclysm, and he knew they still existed in some remote parts of the world, but never before had he seen one in person. The area around the house, too, was all too natural. They had passed through an entire forest without seeing any mechanical implants on the trees, and this house sat on a tidy little lawn with more trees surrounding it. Even in the fading light, X could tell the plant life was healthy and vibrant green.
"...This place looks... very remote," X murmured to Zero, as the two Hunters followed in their guides' wake.
"And primitive," Zero murmured back, eyeing the antique structure of the building.
Rock halted beside the front door, looking over at Blues nervously. "Here we are. Um..."
"We're going to have to ask you to wait here," Blues said. "Our creator is... well, excitable. He might be startled if he sees you two just walk in."
"Oh, is he a fan?" Zero asked.
"...You... could say that," said Rock, and without explaining the statement, the two disappeared inside the house.
"What does that mean?" X wondered. "I thought they said he didn't care much about world events..."
Zero shrugged. "Don't look at me. I have no clue what's going on here."
"'Curiouser and curiouser', as Alice would say," X sighed.
"What?"
"Alice, you know... from Alice in Wonderland?" Seeing his friend's blank look, he sighed again. "It's classic literature, Zero..."
"You read too much, X," Zero replied.
"No, you just read too little."
There was a momentary silence. Birds sang in the distance, and a squirrel ran across the lawn, spotted the two reploids, then darted up a nearby tree.
"...You don't think they're Mavericks, do you?" Zero said finally.
"I'm not sure..." said X, shaking his head. "They're clean of the virus, but... be ready for anything."
"Funny. They seem pretty harmless."
"Double seemed pretty harmless too," X replied. "Remember what happened with him. Be ready, Zero."
Silence fell again. The squirrel inched down the tree, chattering at them.
"This place, though..." Zero said, looking at the small animal. "Have you ever seen so much green at once?"
"No... I haven't," X admitted. "It seems... so untouched. There aren't even implants in the trees..."
"Well, they did say they came from overseas..." Zero said slowly. "That is, if they were telling the truth."
"I suppose it's possible," X said. "But... I can't but wonder just what happened to Forte. It seems strange that he'd up and leave so quickly."
"Yeah, it does," Zero agreed.
"But... I don't know," X said. "I don't want to believe Rock and Blues are our enemies. There's something about them that seems... familiar. Like they're old friends I've forgotten..."
"Hmm... Rock is the blue one, right?"
"Yeah."
"Am I the only one who thought he looked a little like you?"
"No, Axl brought it up too."
"...Something's really not right here," Zero said, shaking his head.
"Guys?"
X and Zero turned as the tentative voice broke into their conversation. Rock was standing in the doorway again, looking hesitant. He had removed his helmet, and the night breeze ruffled his midnight-black hair, making him look even more like X.
"You can come in now," he said, glancing over his shoulder back into the house, as though receiving extra confirmation from an unseen source. "Just... try not to... well, jump out of your boots."
X glanced at Zero, who shrugged. Coming to an unspoken conclusion, they stepped forward simultaneously and followed Rock inside.
The interior of the house was as meticulously neat as the exterior, the hardwood floor mirror-like and dazzling to look at where the fading sun entered from the long windows. The front door opened into a spacious entry foyer, which in turn opened onto a hallway and two other rooms. To the right of the door was a stand sporting an assortment of brightly colored umbrellas. On the other side was a small padded wooden bench and a tray of magazines, making it look much like a waiting room. Of the two doors on the far wall, only one was open, giving a glimpse of a long oak dining table. Pictures hung on the portions of the walls not taken by doors and windows. Most were paintings of landscapes and pastoral scenes, but one in particular caught X's eye. It was a framed, blown up-snapshot, depicting what appeared to be Rock and Blues out of their armor, along with a girl in a red dress. Blues was making a valiant attempt to escape from the camera, while the other two held him in the frame, laughing.
"Nice place," said Zero, looking around. X nodded. Rock, standing across the room, gave them a nervous half smile.
"Father's in the living room, X, Zero..." he said. "This way please..."
"It looks a little... dated, though, don't you think?" X muttered, as the two followed Rock down the small hallway. The furniture and floor even appeared to be real wood, something he'd rarely seen outside of museums.
"Yeah," Zero replied, after glancing up to make sure Rock wasn't overhearing them. "This just keeps getting weirder..."
Rock turned before they reached the staircase at the end of the hallway, and opened the door to a side room. He held it open, allowing X and Zero to enter first.
The new room was as dated looking as the last. The floor was carpeted this time, with a leather couch and armchairs facing an old-fashioned TV set. Several bookshelves lined the walls and there was a foosball table in one corner. Large bay windows overlooked the side yard.
It took less than a second for X to process all this. Then he noticed the room's occupants.
Blues leaned against the back of the couch, arms folded, yellow scarf hanging limply down his back. He had an odd expression on his face, as though he couldn't decide whether he should frown or smirk. Rock walked up next to him, nervously wringing his hands. And beside the two of them...
Beside the two of them, was Doctor Thomas Xavier Light.
X took an involuntary step backward, nearly slamming into Zero, who had also frozen at the sight of the white-bearded man. His central processing unit went numb as he tried to evaluate what he was seeing. Doctor Light... In front of him...
Alive...
"X..." the old man said softly, in the warm, kindly tone heard so many times before, played and replayed in the holographic messages X had carefully collected and stored. There was the same twinkle in the eyes, undimmed even in the holograms, the same patient smile. "Welcome home."
X's vocal processors unfroze in a halting fashion, as he took another involuntary step back. This time he did run into Zero, who put a hesitant hand on his shoulder to steady his friend. "What... what is this?" X choked, wincing inwardly as soon as the words left his mouth. He was face to face with his creator and that was all he could think to say? That is, if this was even really Dr. Light, which was completely impossible...
Blues had apparently decided to smirk. "X, I know it's a shock, but don't reboot on us here," he said, somehow managing to make his visor glint in an amused fashion.
"...Doctor Light?" Zero said, still clinging to X's shoulder, as much for his own support as his friend's. Zero had seen enough of the holograms to recognize the scientist, and the shock seemed to be as paralyzing to him as it was to the blue bomber.
"The very same," said the doctor, still with that slight smile. He seemed calm, but X noticed detachedly through the whirl of confused data rushing through his mind that he was standing very stiffly with his hands in the pockets of his lab coat, as if he were just as nervous about the situation as X and Zero.
"You... you're the one who built me..." X finally managed to stammer, standing up straighter. Zero moved to stand beside him, eyes still fixed on the absurdity before them. "How... this is impossible!"
Rock gave a small smirk that almost mirrored Blues'. "Well, not technically impossible... considering it's happening right now."
X turned to them, as though registering their presence in the room for the first time. "...Just who are you two?" he asked.
"These are your brothers, X," said the man who looked like Doctor Light. "Meet Proto Man and Mega Man." He gestured to each boy in turn, and they nodded across at the two reploids. "Though, we usually call them Blues and Rock around the house."
"...Wow," said Zero, his voice beginning to return to normal. "That... explains the resemblance, then."
"Then... then who was Forte?" X asked, still bewildered by the situation.
"You mean Bass, don't you?" asked the doctor. "Well, he's... not related to you."
"...Bass?" X asked, wondering why the black robot had bothered to conceal his true name.
"Yes. He was built by an old associate of mine, Dr. Wily." Dr. Light gave a heavy sigh, his voice gaining the tired edge that X had heard often in the hologram messages. "He was meant originally to destroy Mega Man. However, he's had... many snags in doing so."
"Thankfully for me," said Rock, with a shrug and a disarming smile.
"Then why was he helping you?" Zero asked.
Blues rearranged his scarf nonchalantly. "It was more of a mutual goal kind of thing. We all wanted to get home, as quickly as possible."
"Yeah... but also Bass... well, I don't think he's all bad." Rock added.
"He isn't, frankly," Blues replied, glancing over at his brother. "He's just too stubborn to admit it."
"You shouldn't be so trusting, boys," Dr. Light said, turning from X to face his sons.
Blues' smirk grew wider. "Heh. Doc, you're probably the most trusting person on the face of the planet."
"Be that as it may," the doctor cautioned, "remember what happens when you trust someone too much."
Trusting too much, X thought. Well, he was certainly in a situation like that now. Could these three be trusted, especially since one had supposedly been dead for the past century? "...This is all happening so fast..." he said, and the three seemed to remember he was in the room. They turned back to their visitors.
Zero decided it was time for action. "What is going on here?" he demanded, taking a step forward. "Where exactly are we?"
"Well, to be blunt..." said Dr. Light, "You are in the year 20XX."
The two Hunters became even more shocked, if that were even possible. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Zero cried, speaking for them both. "We went backwards in time... a hundred years?"
"Yeah," Rock affirmed.
"...Then how did you three get to our time period in the first place?" X asked. This couldn't be possible... time travel was theoretically unsound... but yet, it was the only explanation. There was no way Dr. Light could be standing here otherwise...
"Well, the short version is that Mega Man and Bass were fighting, and Bass tried using a new weapon," said the doctor. "It malfunctioned and flung them both into the future. Proto Man quickly came to me, and I was able to analyze the residue caused by the temporal distortion and make a device to retrieve them before they caused any trouble... but I suppose he was a little late."
"Only a little," Blues defended.
"So... wait," said Zero, trying to process the information. "That means it's my fault we're in this mess 'cause I took that thing from where you'd stashed it..."
Blues shrugged. "Hindsight's 20/20. There's no point in pinning blame."
"Besides," said Rock, with an apologetic smile, "It's not exactly... normal to see a time machine lying around.
X was silent, his mind still whirling. They had gone back in time. He was standing in the presence of his creator, his father... and two brothers he'd never known existed. His emotion matrix was going haywire... he wasn't sure whether he should cry or laugh or scream.
And then, there were the questions. So many came unbidden to his mind, the result of sixteen years of pondering on the nature of his existence. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had all the questions about his origins filed away in a neat, typewritten list, but they all came tumbling into his consciousness now without any sort of order.
"X, are you all right?" Zero asked, giving his friend a concerned look. "You look a little strange..."
"Zero..." X said, grasping at words in an attempt to say something meaningful, "It's really... you know... awkward to stand in front of the person who created you." And then, unbidden, he added, "Especially considering I still don't understand what my purpose is."
That was the foremost question he'd asked himself over the years. Why had he been built? Why had his father left him in a capsule, alone, for a hundred years? Hadn't he cared? Had he, perhaps, been a failed model, that didn't warrant activation? The label on his capsule said thirty years, but his sleep had gone on far longer. Was that a malfunction, or had he truly never been intended to wake? And what about the armor pieces, and the hologram messages attached? Why had the doctor left those? ...Why, in all those messages, had he never mentioned Rock and Blues?
"Your purpose, X?" Doctor Light asked, fixing his youngest son with an odd gaze. "Is that what you want to know?"
"...If you are willing to tell me," X replied.
"Your purpose is... to be what you choose to be," said the doctor.
"What...?"
The doctor smiled at him. "X, I created you to be able to think and act on your own. To feel things. You are all but human... and that's why I wanted you to live as you saw fit."
"I could've told you that, X," Zero said, smirking at his friend.
X shook his head, seeing that the blonde hunter had reverted to his normal irritating personality. "Zero, do you always have to be so... obnoxious?"
"Hey, I've gotta follow my purpose too, you know?" he replied, with a shrug and a grin.
"Heh, I like this guy," Blues said, with a grin of his own.
X rolled his eyes. "You say that now..."
" Hey! That's not funny," Zero complained, tapping X lightly on the shoulder. X gave him a fleeting smile and returned the gesture, with slightly more force.
"You two are going to fit in with this family just fine," Blues observed.
That sobered X. "...Fit in..." he said softly.
"But... we can't stay here long," Zero said, his joking tone disappearing. "We have to get home... and who knows what problems we're causing to the timeline?"
"Unfortunately, that is true," said Dr. Light. "It would be wise to return you to your original period in history as soon as possible."
"...Yeah..." said X, sounding slightly disappointed.
Dr. Light smiled kindly at him. "There's no need to be overly hasty, though, X. I'm sure you would like to get to know your brothers and your sister better."
"Sister?" X asked, thinking back to the girl in the photograph.
"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about Roll..." said Rock, looking around.
"...You can be a real idiot sometimes, brother," Blues sighed, raising a hand to his temple.
"Where is she, Father?" Rock asked, ignoring the red robot's comment.
"She's sleeping right now," Dr. Light explained. "She wore herself out worrying over you two."
Rock and Blues both looked slightly ashamed. "Man, I feel guilty now," Blues admitted.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine," the doctor assured them. "Let her sleep for now, though. She can meet X and Zero in the morning."
"Alright," Rock agreed.
----
Rock and Dr. Light gave their guests a tour of the house, showing them the dining room, the study, and a glimpse of the downstairs lab. They ended at the kitchen, where for dinner they had cold sandwiches Roll had left in the fridge. Dr. Light apologized, but X told him it wasn't a problem. "Hey, it's way better than the Hunter's cafeteria," Zero had agreed. Blues still hadn't reappeared by the time they finished, and Rock finally took a sandwich and went looking for him. X and Zero remained in the kitchen talking to the doctor, who was giving them brief overview of the events leading to Rock's creation and the past Robot Wars.
Rock knew Blues was probably outside, as they hadn't seen him anywhere during the tour, so he went out the door into the twilight. Walking around the house, he had no luck until he heard a soft whistling from behind some trees. Continuing forward, he found Blues sitting in a secluded corner of the yard, staring off at the sun slipping below the horizon.
"Blues...?" he said tentatively.
"Hmm?" The elder boy replied, without turning.
"I brought you a sandwich," Rock said, sitting beside his brother. "You didn't come inside for dinner."
Blues took the food, but didn't start eating. Rock watched him.
"Just... what exactly are you doing?"
"Me?" Blues asked, as though just realizing Rock was there. "Oh... whistling... watching the sunset... listening to the insects..."
"Uh... huh." Rock said.
"There's a lot more to life than you realize, brother," said Blues, turning to him and smiling. The sunset was reflected in his shades. "You should try just sitting still and watching sometime."
"I guess I could try that..." Rock said.
Silence fell between the brothers, and the sun slipped further down, tinting the sky purple.
"...Blues?"
"Yes?"
Rock took a deep breath. " You don't really think... what Bass said was right, do you? That... that Father is going to replace me with X?"
"Why would you think that?" Blues asked.
"Well... he said that X has feelings," Rock explained. "That he can make choices with his life. That sort of implies that we can't. That we're... inferior..."
Blues smiled at him. "Rock, the very fact that you're sitting here pondering this proves you aren't."
"What?"
"If you were truly mindless, and incapable of choosing your own path, would you worry about that fact?"
"Well..." Rock began, but couldn't think of an answer.
"It's true we have to adhere to our programming..." Blues said, shrugging. "But in the end, I don't think that's really much different than a human adhering to their moral values. And we can even bend those core rules if we wish. How many times have you disobeyed what a human told you to do?"
"Well... A couple times..." Rock said, thinking back.
Blues smiled again. "You can think for yourself, Rocky. And while it may be true that your basic traits were programmed in, what you made of them is your own. It's because of your choices that you've become the person we know."
"But, well..." Rock said, still not convinced, "Dr. Light seemed so happy to see X today."
"This is the first time they've ever met," Blues pointed out. "It's understandable. And X is our brother. He deserves as much attention as the rest of us get."
"You're right, of course, but..." Rock trailed off, gazing into the empty sky.
"...But, if you want more proof..." Blues said, barely audibly, "Did Father stop caring about me, when he created you?"
Rock stared at him. For one, he'd called Dr. Light "Father", something he'd rarely, if ever, heard him say before. For another, his tone sounded almost... sad. Again, Rock wondered about his mysterious sibling's past. He seemed to be carrying around more than his fair share of demons, and Rock wished he'd open up so he could help chase them away.
"...Blues... I never realized before..." Rock said, and Blues turned back to him.
"Hm?"
"...I see now why you've thought so much on this," he said slowly. "You felt the exact way I am now, when you first met me, didn't you?"
Blues shrugged, and grinned disarmingly. "Heh. I guess so."
Blues' past still held many secrets, Rock was certain of that. But even so... he felt that he understood his brother a little better, now. Blues had the same emotions as anyone else, he just chose to show them in strange ways. And he also now realized how silly it had been to worry about Dr. Light's rejection. There was plenty of proof around him that the doctor cared about all his children. Rock leaned over and gave his brother a very brief hug.
"Thank you, Blues."
"For what?" Blues asked, slightly startled.
"For... being you," Rock replied.
"...You're welcome, little brother," said Blues, and smiled.