A/N - It was so cool writing for this fic again! Last chapter was mainly me trying to figure out Shadow's character a bit more and I'm still feeling my way through how I want to portray the characters going forwards. I do imagine Heat especially as this naive sort of character, and just a reminder that a majority of the Robot Masters, when not fighting, do tend to act like teens.

Chapter 9 - Choice

Bubble lay in the grass outside of Light Labs, his eyes drifting across the clouds that passed above. Apparently sky-gazing was a past time that both Mega Man and his sister were quite fond of and Roll had suggested that he give it a go to try and calm himself from all of the issues plaguing his mind. Firstly, there was still a very sore feeling of betrayal in the pit of his stomach.

He would never be able to forgive his creator for his actions. And with Wily's obedience removed from his wiring, he had no reason to feel any attachment towards the man. The man had been nothing but cruel to him since he had awakened, and for no apparent reason. Wily was a troubled man but he never resorted to the physical abuse of Robot Masters. And yet this Wily was so different.

He was pretty sure the man had some form of multiple personality disorder, but none of that really mattered. Wily had dug Bubble's grave and unknowingly given the Robot Master the redemption that he was after. But there was no way he could rest for long as thoughts of Heat's horrified face flooded his thoughts. Heat was younger than he was by design, a more impressionable and naive personality.

There was so much that could be going wrong with Heat right now and he could only hope that his brothers were doing their best to comfort him and that Heat did not have any run ins with Flash Man. The bald Robot Master was one of the few who seemed to relish in causing pain, regardless of who was affected and Heat was certainly a potential target.

"Hey," A voice said. He was surprised as he turned to see Mega Man himself strolling up behind him.

"Mega Man?" He replied incredulously.

Rock's face scrunched up with a frown and he clearly did not want to be there, but one glance back at the labs and a rather angry Roll standing near the main doors was enough to clue Bubble in on the situation.

"Let me guess, Roll sent you to check up on me?" He asked.

Rock nodded, looking straight into Bubble Man's eyes. "I don't trust you, you know."

That remark stung. But he could not say he was not expecting it. As far as the Blue Robot was aware, Magnet and he had both been their enemies just a few short hours ago. Changing his attitude on the pair would not be easy and he wasn't expecting the boy to greet him with open arms or a smile. Still, he needed to be the bigger man and try to earn this robot's support.

"You've got every right not to trust me, Mega Man," He stated flatly.

"My name's Rock, not Mega Man." Rock's face was now unreadable as he studied Bubble, as if trying to scan him for threats.

"Fine then, Rock. I get it, we're encroaching on your territory and you clearly don't want us here since you think we'll do something bad," Bubble hypothesized, his gaze shifting from Rock back to the clouds. "You think we'll attack Roll or Dr Light. Or maybe we're here to take the rest of the Robot Masters."

"I never said that."

"You didn't need to say it, you've made your stance very clear."

Bubble sighed, pushing his hands behind his head to stretch himself out across the grass. He looked back up at the other robot, who stood there with a strangely frustrated look on his face.

"Something wrong?" Bubble asked calmly.

"No, nothing's wrong," Rock spat out. Clearly that was a lie.

There was a tension in the air as Bubble continued to gaze out the clouds and Rock continued to simply watch the green Robot Master. The atmosphere was heavy and it was starting to feel very uncomfortable. Rock glanced back at the lab, seeing that Roll was shaking her head in disappointment, which Bubble noticed out of the corner of his eye.

"What can I do for you to trust me?" He asked out of the blue, making Rock jump from the silence being broken.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, what can I do for you to trust me?" He repeated, looking up at the Blue Bomber. "I just want to find my brothers and live in peace, y'know."

Rock grimaced. "I offered you all a chance for peace many times and you never took me up on the offer. So why now?"

For an intelligent and capable fighting robot, his naivety was something else. "You do realize it was against my programming to accept your offer, right?" He rolled his eyes, sitting up to look at the other. "But now that programming's no longer in me. I'm free to have my own desires now."

"Freedom isn't something you can just switch on and off," Rock growled quietly. Clearly he was even naive about his world view too.

"We're robots. We do what our creators tell us to do. You talk about freedom but you're at the beck and call of Dr Light whenever he needs assistance."

"That's different. He's my father," Rock replied, his tone becoming increasingly manic.

"You don't think I didn't consider Wily my own father?" Bubble replied, a frown forming on his features. "You like to think that we're so different Rock, but we're not." Bubble pushed himself up from the grass, now standing eye to eye with the boy. "The last few weeks have been utter hell. My father beat me up and abused me. You think I want to go back to someone who willingly chucked me out of a plane because I was useless?" He was surprised at how calm he was as he said this, looking at Rock's surprised expression.

There was a pause before Rock replied with a quiet, "I had no idea."

Before Rock could get anymore words out, Bubble pushed past him to head back to the lab. "Why don't you think about how other people feel next time," He hissed, not a question but a statement. Standing there unsure, Rock sighed, uttering a few simple words.

"I'm sorry."

Bubble stopped in place hearing those words. There was a vulnerability behind what Rock had said and he could hear the genuine concern etched into the tone of the older robot. Still, there was more to the situation than just an apology.

"I know," He replied, tilting his head back to give Rock another look. "Actions speak louder than words, on both sides I guess," He mused, wondering what he could do to help bridge this gap between himself and the good Robot Masters.

Magnet had retreated to the small room that Dr Light had set up for him. The Doctor's warehouse was expansive and it seemed that many of the other Robot Masters used it as living quarters while staying at the lab. From the few snippets he'd heard from Pharaoh, many of the Light Robot Masters had their own places to be. Some like Ice Man didn't even live in the city, having flown in from the northern icefields for a monthly check-up.

But now his thoughts were dwelling to the Robot Masters that his creator had captured during the raid. Ice, Cut, Bomb, Toad and Bright Man were all taken in the struggle and Magnet had already come to the conclusion that he was pretty much a hostage until those stolen Robot Masters were returned.

He lay there on the small bed that had been given to him, mulling over thoughts in his mind, drumming his fingers to a quiet beat to keep himself relaxed. It was all he could do to stave off the fear that he felt being separated from the majority of his family.

He rolled on to his side, taking a look out of the small glass window at the side of his bed. The landscape outside was quiet and dark. The bright pinpricks of light from the city center were there and he could see smoke rising from the city where he assumed they had destroyed the shopping center. Without any driving force from his creator, he was free to really think about his actions. And it took him a few moments to realize just how enthralled he was in the view outside the window.

A small blinking light in the corner of his eye brought him back to reality and his head snapped down to his arm where a small flashing blue light sat. His eyes widened, his transmitter was still functioning. Apparently Dr Light had not taken it out of him during their check-up.

Sitting up, he clicked the button that was flashing and within moment a small ray of blue light began to beam up from his arm, taking the form of a familiar face.

"Magnet, are you there?" The voice asked, recognizing it as Needle Man. His spiky headed brother's face began to form in the light, giving a small smile at seeing him okay. "Magnet, you're alright!?"

"Y-yeah I'm fine," He whispered, eyes darting around the room. He pressed a finger to his lips, forcing Needle to quieten down as he realized anyone could hear them. "What happened today?"

Needle looked down for a moment, a guilty look in his eyes before he spoke, "We couldn't get you out. So we decided to leave you there as part of an infiltration job."

"You want me to what?" He hissed, eyes widening in surprise.

"Infiltrate. Do you still have your override switch that Wily gave us?" Needle asked. Magnet shrugged, looking through his pocket until...

"I've got it, right here Needle," He muttered, surprise etched across his reply.

Needle gave a sigh of relief. "Good, you need to override a bot and get out of there. Wily is counting on you to do well here. Quick and Shadow are arguing and Snake's been trying to calm them down, but it's a bit of a mess here. So some good news would be great."

Magnet merely looked away quietly, processing what he'd heard. Quick and Shadow always argued but it was usually trivial. If it was concerning Needle, then something had seriously happened. "I'll work on it."

He was about to switch off the transmitter, needing to think when he heard Needle ask, "Wait! Is Bubble with you?"

Magnet was about to answer when he heard the squeak of a doorway in the distance. His eyes darted to the door to his room where he noticed a light had flickered on. He needed to go before he was seen. Turning to Needle, he nodded quickly before clicking off the transmitter, the other Robot Master frantically trying to keep Magnet online but to no avail.

Right as the transmission ended, he heard a small knock on his door.

"Come in," He called out quietly, noticing his voice with rather shaky, however his fears dropped somewhat when the small form of Bubble entered the room.

"Woah, you okay Magnet? You look like you've had a nightmare or something," The green Robot Master said, giving Magnet a concerned look. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I-I'm fine," Magnet stammered, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

"You're lying," Bubble stated, crossing his arms. "And you know how much I hate seeing my family cry."

Magnet looked to him, then quietly held out his hand, revealing what was in his palm. Bubble's eyes widened as he noticed one of Wily's override switches in the center. "How do you still have that?" Bubble asked quickly, moving to Magnet to get a closer look.

"They never searched me. I think they spent too much time with you and not enough with me," Magnet explained, tapping the wall next to him. "I... Uh..."

Bubble gave him a weird look, "Spit it out."

"I just talked to Needle. My transmitter still works," He admitted, crumbling under the pressure. "But Bubble, I'm scared."

Bubble's eyes grew dark. "What did they want?"

"Well, Quick and Shadow are fighting and Snake's tried to stop them but it's all pretty bad back hom-"

"Magnet. What did they want us to do?" He rephrased, fearing the answer.

Magnet sighed, motioning to the override switch, Bubble feeling a fear rise up from the pit of his stomach, knowing exactly what his former master wanted.

"They want us to infiltrate the lab and take over one of the Robot Masters."

A/N - So yeah, Bubble isn't wanting that life of evil anymore. But Magnet's still clutching to his fears. He enjoys being free but definitely doesn't have the backbone needed to change on his own.