Hardman's Bar
By Hadrian Howell (Hardman)
Chapter 33
It was beginning to rain as I knocked on the door of the Light family, holding onto a kicking, crying Doc Robot. The door opened with a slow creak, and a familiar face looked out.
“How can I help you?” Rock asked.
“Er… can I some in?” I asked.
“… I guess,” Rock said slowly, drawing out his words. “Why?”
“I could use a repair, and I brought a mutual friend.”
“What’s Fliptop got to do with this?”
“Flip…?” I looked at the thing in my hand. It was, indeed, Fliptop, the miniscule red robot used to deliver items to Megaman in times of need. “Oh, cut it out, you idiot,” I told him, shaking him violently. The illusion fizzled for a moment before Doc Robot retook his rightful place in my grip.
“Doc Robot?” Rock cried, throwing the door open. He was a funny sight, dressed in blue pajamas, with a funny little night cap and his Megabuster at the ready. Doc Robot’s cries for mercy kicked up a few notches.
“Yeah, turns out this guy’s been passin’ ‘imself off as yer brother fer th’ last few weeks,” I shrugged.
“And why should I believe you?” Rock asked me.
I was just about to answer when I got one-upped by a voice that almost made Rock’s eyes bug out. “Leave it alone, bro.”
“PROTOMAN?” Doc Robot screamed in sheer terror. “OHGODI’MSOSORRYIWASBEINGMINDCONTROLLEDANDPLEASEPL EASEPLEASEDON’TKILLMEOHGODI’MABADPERSONIREPENTOHPL EASENONONONONO!”
A red fist came down on the babbling shape-shifter’s head, silencing him. I looked at the first son of Dr. Light and smiled. “Nice ta see th’ real you fer once.”
“Good to know someone can tell the difference,” Protoman smiled back. “Let’s get inside, it’s wet out here.”
Rock let us inside silently, and Protoman led the way into the kitchen, taking a seat and a soda. I just sort of leaned on the door frame after putting Doc Robot down on the floor. He wasn’t going anywhere soon. Rock sat down across the table from his brother and regarded us both with a weird look.
“Someone want to explain what’s going on?” he asked.
“You owe Hardman a favor,” Protoman shrugged between sips. “Simple as that. Seems to me you can pay him back by getting dad to patch him up.”
“Okay, but… why? What’s going on?”
“Someone called Hakushaku’s mixin’ up ‘is own brand o’ trouble, and he needed someone posin’ as Protoman to help ‘im do it,” I said. “He’s also got Mesmerman on ‘is payroll, and he was also the guy behind Cityman.”
“I can assume he’s managed to tick Wily off,” Rock said. I nodded. “So we have two evil people going after each other. Innocents are sure to get caught in the crossfire.”
“Some already have,” I said sullenly. “Wily’s got some o’ my friends, and I want ‘em back.”
“Fair enough, but Dr. Light’s busy right now.”
“I can wait, I think, but not fer very long.” Truth be told, I really wanted the roaring inferno of pain that was assaulting my body taken care of and right quick, but I also didn’t want to appear ungrateful.
“What about the rest of your gang?” Protoman asked.
“I don’t know. Wily found a way ta jam our team communication channel, an’ I’ve barely been able ta turn my own comm. link on after getting’ hit with that Big Bang attack.”
The red robot stood up. “Then I’ll go look for them and tell them what’s happened to you.”
“I… er… appreciate that,” I said hesitantly. Up until this meeting with him, Protoman so far had been cold, unfeeling, and bent on the destruction of every robot master… But then again, that had been Doc Robot in disguise. “Oh, one more thing…”
“Yeah?”
“Could you find a young lady named Cassandra Keslevitch? She’s one o’ my employees, an’ I need ta know if she’s okay…”
“Sure thing, big guy,” Protoman nodded before vanishing out the door.
Rock and I took the time to lock Doc Robot into a capsule, putting him into a stasis that would last for a while to make sure he didn’t escape until he could be properly dealt with. Roll and Rush were no where to be found, but Rock assured me that was because they were visiting to Cossacks in Russia. Now much more at ease with the world around me, Rock and I sat up and discussed some different things for a while before Dr. Light left his laboratory and came in on our conversation.
“Let me guess,” was all he said before almost pushing me into his workshop to undergo repairs. I was shut down for a while, so I don’t know much about it, but I do know that Rock explained everything to Dr. Light while I was out. I woke up feeling MUCH better, my armor plating even touched up with a nice pearlescent blue color.
“Wow…” I said, looking at myself. “Thanks, sir. Best I’ve felt in almost two years…”
“No wonder,” Dr. Light smiled as he wiped grease off his hands. “You needed that tune up I gave you. Some of your parts had decayed past safe levels for use, and your chest-mounted weapon systems were all but inoperable.”
“Chest…?” Then I remembered. Way back when I first stepped into the massive boots of Hardman, the armor itself had been beaten up, in poor shape, and almost not worth it, really. Under normal circumstances, I’ve apparently got a deployable cannon in my chest which I haven’t had access to for the whole time I’ve been Hardman.
Now, though, I had it back. Or I just had it. Don’t really know how to word that one. Anyway…
“Has Protoman sent any word?” I asked.
“He sent me,” said Topman, who I hadn’t noticed until just then. “Looking good, Hard.”
“Thanks.”
“Let’s get going. We’ve got some friends to save.”
We made our way to the door, where Ro… no, Megaman was waiting for us. “I’m coming with you guys.”
“Nice of ya ta offer, but no.” I told him as Topman and I walked past him.
“Why not?” he asked.
“Because you’re the last resort,” Topman shrugged. “You can beat us all, and you’re the best there is. Spark, Gem, and Snake are our friends and team mates, so WE’LL save them. If we fail, THEN you come running.”
“But…”
“No buts, kid,” I said. “Seriously. This is our show.”
“Fine. You have two hours before I go after Wily.”
“Whatever,” Topman and I said together as we made our way up the street.
We walked in silence for a while, Topman seeming to know where he was going. “What now, bite size?”
“We’re meeting up with Shadowman and the others at the outskirts of town so we can all go to Skull Fortress.”
“We’re just gona go get the others right now?” I asked. “What about this Hakushaku guy?”
“Yeah, Protoman mentioned him…” Top said thoughtfully. “But Shadowman thinks we’ve been split up way too much lately. We’re going to need to be a team to take this one down.”
“Fair point,” I nodded. Last time I’d seen the whole Mechanical Maniacs team in one place, we were coming out of some altered reality. It would be nice to go throw down with a bad guy as one cohesive group again. Of course, first, we’d have to save the others, but what was going to stop us? Wily? The Evil Eight?
Oh, yeah, this was going to be a cakewalk.
