Part 1: The Criminal Child

The deed was done.

In his blaze of pure, unadulterated anger, Mega Man fired the Buster Blast, ultimately killing Dr. Wily.

As he stood over the professor's lifeless body, breathing heavily with his anger, Bass and Treble teleported in, and looks of shock and fear were expressed.

"M-mMega Man, you..." Bass shook his head, his crimson eyes becoming large with fear at the angered child and the dead scientist. "You... a tiny twerp like you... did that?!"

Mega Man looked up, the negativity he'd locked up for years finally spilling over and showing in his cerulean eyes, his very movements. He remained silent, apart from his soft panting. Before he turned away, became a blob of blue light, and took off.

Bass was far too shocked to even try and follow. His creator, the one person he could trust, was dead.

Killed at the hands of a ten year old.

With Mega Man...

The first thing he did when he reappeared in a forest, several miles away, was lean against an old oak tree, trying to clear his thoughts and feelings. Everything was going too fast, too fast, too fast.

"What have I done?!"

"It was for the better."

"I AM MORE THAN A ROBOT!"

"The authorities are going to come and scrap me now!"

"Father would never forgive me."

"N-NO! SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Mega Man screamed as several voices in his head began to argue. Pressing his hands against his head, he began to cry as he tried his hardest to make sense of what was going on, what he'd done. He'd murdered in cold blood, and for his crime against a human, he was going to be destroyed.

Bleep bleep, bleep bleep!

Somebody was calling him through the tiny com link in his helmet. With shaking hands, he pressed his fingers against the touch sensor on his left ear cover that served as the answer button.

It was Dr. Light.

"Rock, where are you? Did you stop Wily?" His father's voice came over the com.

Mega Man froze immediately as he tried to think of an answer. His mouth was dry and although he was fairly sure that couldn't be sick, he felt nauseated. Finally, he spluttered out a trembling "I'm sorry father!" and cut the line. Next, he took off his helmet, found a nearby boulder and smacked the left side off of it until he was sure that the com link and tracker were offline. It was battered when he was done, but it still fitted fine so he put it on nonetheless.

Everything he'd done as a hero was tarnished. Soon, the whole world would know Mega Man as a heartless, thoughtless killer. It hurt him so badly to know that his negative emotions were leading him down a dark route, it stabbed him so hard that right there, in the lonely forest, he let out a loud, long cry. His only choice of survival was flight, to never go home and see his family ever again, to know that the authorities were on his tail.

"Maybe it's just better to let them catch and kill me like some kind of prey."

He'd heard stories of rouge bots. They'd had endings like spikes pushed through their power supply, or locked up to run out of energy and never be reactivated, or to be disassembled and watch as they became the bolts and screws that once made them.

All three of these ideas terrified him, and he found himself shaking in fear, a cold sweat seeping through his skin.

"You get caught and the spikes are going through your chest, Rock." The inner voice whispered softly.

That specific idea, one of his fears actually, made him feel really, really queasy. Almost as if he was going to be sick.

Wait-

"Oh no..."

He could feel something inside him turning dangerously...

"Oh no no no no...!" Looking around in a desperate panic with his hands clamped over his mouth, Mega Man found a nearby bush, ran over and kneeled down. Around a minute later, he started retching loudly and trying his best to keep everything down, but there was a heavy jolt from his midsection and he hurled half absorbed E-Tank fluid into the bush. He then lay back, breathing slowly to try and settle his stomach.

"Well. Guess I can be sick." Was his immediate thought.

His tummy's reaction was to go crazy again, so he rolled over and crawled to the bush for cover. Mega Man heaved loudly a few more times, artificial spit sliding out of his mouth before more E-fluid came up and was deposited in the bush.

"What is... wrong with me? I've never felt so horrible in my life!" Mega Man asked himself as he pulled himself into a kneeling position. He'd lost his mind, murdered a person, ran to the forest, started an argument with the voices in his head, cut contact with his family and now was throwing up out of nerves.

After he hurled once more, there was nothing left to come up so he stood up, feeling dizzy and drained, both physically and emotionally. There was a bitter taste in his mouth but he couldn't do anything about that when it was obvious he couldn't keep anything down. So he started to walk. Nowhere in particular. All he knew was that it was away from home.

He was going on the run. Starting anew, with no possessions, no relations and to the unknowing public, no history.

And just to be safe...

He transformed into Rock Light, so it would be harder for anyone outside the city he once called home to recognise him. To the world, he was nothing but a simple and innocent child, not a heartless killer.

Not that he was sure if he was either.

What was he really? An insane murdering machine who claimed to be "more than a robot"? A hero, who'd saved the lives of many, many people? A young child, brought into this world to be an assistant and a son? There were so many things he was known as, and none of them seemed to fit anymore. Like a puzzle piece, damaged and torn. Where it had once gone no longer fitted it.

Dr. Light's Lab...

"Rock! Rock, come in!" Dr. Light yelled frantically. All he'd heard for the past five minutes was white noise. Roll stood next to him, wishing that her brother would answer.

His location had disappeared off the trackers, which was a worrying sign. Plus, he wasn't answering his com.

An idea lay at the back of Dr. Light's mind, an idea that he always feared but knew would happen eventually. Was Rock, his youngest son and little hero truly... gone? Had he been killed by whatever Wily had set up? Or he was trying to go home, wounded and had fallen to fatigue?

"I'm sorry, father!"

That was what had last been said by Rock.

"Rock... Please son, answer me!" Dr. Light tried the com once more. Nothing. So, finally giving up for the evening, he set the headphones down and went into the living room. Roll followed after, silent and scared.

Maybe the news knew something, anything?

So Dr. Light switched on the TV. Nothing, the channel was packed up for the evening.

Nobody knew.

That's it for Robot On the Run today. We'll see how Rock fairs later. After all, he's already starting to regret his recent choices...