Foreword: Set in the Classic Rockman universe with some influences taken from Hitoshi Arigia's manga. Any deviations from canon are in the mind of the author. Takes place in the year 200X. All characters and locations are fictional.

Prologue

There are two kinds of men in the world. There are those who create their own destinies, whether they are great pioneers who lead the world from one great age to the next, or destroyers whose selfish desires bring terror and misery to the world.

And then there are victims of circumstances.

At eleven thirty-five Dr. Cossack was in bed sound asleep when his phone began vibrating from the nightstand.

"Dr. Cossack, I'm sorry to call you at such a late hour, but we've found Wily's base," said the small, gentle voice of Roll. "I don't have time explain everything. The military set up a barricade at the foot of Sidewind Peak. You can teleport to their base directly."

"I'll be right there."

Two minutes later, Dr. Cossack was wearing a long white lab coat and a pair of brown sneakers. He sprinted down to the basement of his lab where he kept his teleport hatches, and within seconds materialized to the coordinates Roll had given him, going from the middle of the night in Russia to the blinding white sun in Greenland.

Dr. Cossack gazed at the horizon. Dr. Wily had a flair for finding dramatic locations for his fortress. The light blue peaks of Sidewinder Mountain loomed ahead, and all around the permafrost field lay the smoking debris of Wily's robots. Nestled against the jagged cliffs lay Wily's Base, hidden from arial view from the outcropping of rock above. Wily never could resist trade marking his own creations, and this base was no exception. It resembled a giant, Halloween-like skull with beady red eyes.

The barricade Roll spoke of had been erected at the edge of the wide, icy tundra before him. Dr. Cossack pulled his lab-coat closer to him to ward off the cold air, the snow crunching under his feet as he walked to ward the front lines.

Roll was waiting for him there. Dr. Light had built her in the likeness of a young girl, and since Dr. Cossack was very tall, she scarcely came up to his elbow. "Dr. Cossack! Thank you for getting here so quickly," she said, giving him a small bow.

"Where is Dr. Light?"

"In there," said a gruff voice. Dr. Cossack turned to see a stout man with bushy eyebrows in a military uniform with tall boots. The man was pointing toward's Dr. Wily's base. "I'm Commander Commier, leader of this military resistance. We haven't been able to run a successful rescue operation for Dr. Light, Wily's forces are too strong. Only Rockman was able to break through, and he has been in there for a long time. We saw an unidentified teleport beam enter the base about five minutes ago, so we think he may be in trouble."

"What can I do to help?" asked Dr. Cossack.

"We need you here in case Wily starts another assault. We've already lost three of our cannons. If we lose the fourth, we're going to need you to run some field repairs. Also, we know that you have had…experience…with Wily's forces."

"I understand."

"Prepare yourself everyone, here comes another one! Take cover!" shouted a voice from the front lines.

In the distance, the jaw of Wily's Skull base was opening, and out poured a dark cloud. Within seconds the sky had darkened with millions of squeaky battontons. Dr. Cossack and Commander Commier quickly crouched behind the ion cannon. Within seconds it was blasting into the air, its thunderous booms quaking the earth beneath it. Dead battontons fell to the ground with thuds.

"How long has this been going on?" Dr. Cossack shouted over the ion cannon.

"It was really bad earlier when he still had Sniper Joe armies," Commander Commier shouted back. "We've destroyed all those, seems all he has left is these damned battontons!"

"Wily with have something worse, soon enough," said Dr. Cossack, grimly. "He always sends out his lesser robots to weaken the enemy before bringing out the big guns."

"'Big guns' are what we're worried about!" replied Commander Commier. "He's been stealing parts from military bases all around the world. We think he might be building some sort of doomsday weapon."

"A doomsday weapon? You mean to end the world? It doesn't sound like Wily, but I've been wrong before."

A flying chunk of shrapnel stabbed the ground to his right as a battonton exploded overhead. "That was close! Here, take this." Commander Commier handed Dr. Cossack a blast-proof vest.

"Thanks!"

As Dr. Cossack slid the vest over his chest, his eyes fell upon a pair of soldiers crouched in the front line just as one was stricken by a flying piece of metal, snapped his arm like a toothpick. Dr. Cossack stared, his mouth going dry.

"Are you okay, Dr. Cossack?" asked Commander Commier, eyeing him closely.

"Yes," said Dr. Cossack, tearing his eyes away.

"I'm sorry to drag you into the middle of all this, Dr. Cossack, but we can't fire directly on the base without risking Dr. Light's life. It's up to Rockman to stop Wily's operation now, but we have no idea how long it will take. As you know, there are few men who are as experienced in robots as you are."

"It is my duty to do whatever I can to help fight Wily."

"Well, have you ever been in the middle of a battle before?"

"Worse!" Dr. Cossack grinned. "I've fought head-to-head against Rockman!"

All went still again. Heads hesitantly peeked out from behind the blast scorched barricade, through the smoking haze left from the battontons.

"Well done men!" Commander Commier yelled. "How much damage did we take?"

"Two robo-squadrons are down, sir, and six men are wounded," shouted back a field officer.

"Damn," Commander Commier hissed. "This stake out better end soon. I hope Rockman isn't much longer."

"It would be great if Blues showed up," Dr. Cossack murmured to himself.

"Who?"

"Nothing. How many fortresses has this been for Wily now?

"Ten? Twenty? Too hard to count. Rockman will know, if he ever comes out."

Roll was kneeling next to him Dr. Cossack. Her face was calm, but she her hands were twisting the hem of her shirt. They all looked expectantly at Sidewinder Mountain, to Wily's base, waiting for the next attack.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light followed a few seconds later by the delayed sound of explosion. Dr. Wily's base was on fire and the whole thing cascaded down the mountain, the skull crumbling into itself like broken pottery until nothing was left but pottery.

The soldiers broke out into cheers. "He did it! Rockman did it! It's over, we've won!"

Roll had gone very still, her sky blue eyes staring at the mountain in horror. A second later, she stood up, her eyes still fixed intently on a point. Soon, Dr. Cossack was able to see what she was looking at. A small blue dot was streaking toward them, growing larger and larger until it turned into Rockman.

"Rockman, what happened in there? Where's Wily?" called Dr. Cossack as Rockman came sprinting into the barricade.

Rock stared at him with glassy, haunted eyes, not seeming to hear them. "Dr. Light…we need an ambulance. Dr. Light is hurt…I don't think he'd survive teleportation."

"Rockman, where's Dr. Wily?" repeated Commander Commier.

"Don't ask him now, didn't you hear what he said? We need a medic!" Roll shouted angrily, whirling to face Commander Commier, her eyes like angry sparks.

"Alright little missy, I didn't mean any harm," Commander Commier said hastily. "Alright, men! We have a man down in there, we need medics rescuing Dr. Light, NOW!"

"Yes sir!"

Two medical officers hopped into their van with Rockman and drove back across the war torn field. After several minutes, they returned to the barricade. Dr. Cossack couldn't see Dr. Light, who was presumably in the back of the van with the medics. Rockman helped Roll climb in behind him as the driver had a short word with Commander Commier.

"Is he all right?" Dr. Cossack asked as the van drove off.

"It didn't look good, and at his age…" Commander Commier trailed off. "But he is in good hands now. Rockman is at his side. No sign of Wily, of course. Slippery devil." He nodded toward the base. "Shall we?"

Together, Dr. Cossack and the military troops crossed the field to the smoking ruins of the Wily's base. There were still a few active traps that they had to look out for, but it appeared none of the robots had survived. But after nearly an hour of searching, it appeared Dr. Wily had already escaped, leaving nothing left but broken machinery and wreckage.

They were about to give up when someone shouted, "Sir, we've found something!"

"Is it Dr. Wily?" Commander Commier shouted back.

"No. It looks like one of his robots. I think you should come take a look!"

Commander Commier and Dr. Cossack rushed over to join the soldier. At his feet lay a figure. It was badly misshapen and barely recognizable as more than a twisted lump of metal in the shape of a person, like a scarecrow made of wire.

"Looks pretty broken to me," remarked Commander Commier with a shake of his head. "I don't think it takes a scientist to know that machine will never run again."

Dr. Cossack crouched next to the figure, and after a breif examination, proclaimed, "He's still alive."

"He, Dr. Cossack?" asked Commander Commier, his brows raised.

"Yes. We have one of Wily's most powerful in our hands," said Dr. Cossack, turning the figure over with his shoe so that his face pointed upward. "It's Forte."