1,226"Mega Man: Defender of the Human Race"
The story is rated "T" for content reasons. (Violence, language - including infrequent crude language -, mild sexuality, violence against female characters, descriptions of terrorist attacks and descriptions of captivity.)
"Mega Man" and all characters and events therein: copyright 1987-2014, Capcom.
"Mega Man" the cartoon series: copyright 1994-1997, Ruby-Spears Productions.
All original characters and concepts not featured in the show or the games are created by me (MegaBauer, your friendly author.)
Names, characters and incidents featured in the story are of the author's own imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead) is purely coincidental.
An introduction from the author:
Let me start be saying this. I was a HUGE fan of the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon show as a kid, and I still love the show to this day.
I know this will sound corny, but this show helped make me into what I am today. This show made me want to write and create.
So, I take great care and pride in any Mega Man work that I do and try to treat it with the respect it deserves.
If you are reading this, then there is a good chance that you were/are a fan of the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon as well (or, you're one of the people who I've kindly asked to read this project.) I hope that over the course of this new series that you will enjoy it and be entertained by it and that I can do justice to the show.
Now, Welcome to "Mega Man: Defender of the Human Race," a half-retelling/half-continuation of the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon universe. If you've never seen the show before, don't worry, you don't have to.
This story is a more serious and dramatic version of the Ruby Spears Mega Man universe and will start with a new version of Mega Man's origin story, and will be followed by a continuation of the origins that takes place before the first actual episode of the show took place. One of the installments I plan on posting will take place just before the end of the run of the cartoon with my own adaptation of one of the more remembered episodes (I know others on this site have already done the episode, but my version will - hopefully - be specifically tailored to match the story I'm trying to tell here), and then, all stories taking place after that will be a continuation of the Ruby-Spears continuity (Essentially, Year Three and Year Four... and hopefully, if I still have the willpower by then, Year 5.)
However, I have taken creative liecense to make a few changes to the cartoon timeline.
They are as follows...
-The flashback in "The Beginning" is now the first installment of this story.
-For storyline reasons, the "Mega X" episode doesn't take place.
-For storyline reasons, the 'Second Season' now ends with the events of "Bro Bots," therefore "Crime of the Century" now takes place before that.
-Those three episodes (featuring The Genie, The MonsterBots and The Lion Men) no longer take place... because, they shouldn't.
-Also, in my version of the story, Dr. Light's lab has more of a flat roof at the top of that egg-like structure. It's for minor story reasons.
-Finally, The Governor of New York looks totally different in my story than he did in the episode "Electric Nightmare." And the Chief of Police is also a totally different character as well.
Another note (sorry about all of these notes): My series is not related to, and should not be confused with, BlackRussian's excellent "Mega Man: Recut" series, which is her own retelling of the Ruby-Spears universe. I am going for a much different interpretation of the story than the one BlackRussian is using for her story. So, please don't accuse me of ripping off another author, as I am not.
Yet another note on the updated episode 1 chapters: Longtime readers will probably notice that the following eleven chapters look a little differently now. These are the "special edition" chapters I made reference to recently.
There are some new scenes and some new additions along the way... and it looks a lot nicer now too.
EPISODE 1: Defender of the Human Race.
(Based partially on events featured in the episode "The Beginning" by Mark Jones.)
The following takes place before the first season of the Mega Man cartoon show.
The year is 20X1.
The future is now. The world in which we live in today is a much different place than it was in the past.
Issues that plagued the planet in the past like poverty, greed, environmental decay, hatred and terrorism are almost all but a distant memory.
While there are still issues like crime, drugs and occasional political squabbling, the world of the future is a nearly blissful place.
Even the pipe dream of the Flying Car has finally become a reality.
Most importantly, humans now live in perfect harmony with both one another and with artificial lifeforms, or robots as they are called.
Not only do humans peacefully co-exist with robots, but robots are viewed as a valuable asset to society, performing tasks that would be too dangerous for humans, as well as serve as personal assistants to them.
But, tonight is the night that this bright and wonderful future will slowly change into something else entirely, starting off a chain of events that will ultimately change the entire world along with it.
From this point on, there is no turning back... peace is about to be shattered... war is about to begin...
Episode 1, Chapter 1: The Real Beginning.
At a laboratory just outside of New York City, New York.
Here, lying flat on a cold metallic work table in the middle of this laboratory is the world's first humanoid robot. The robot has yet to be activated, but in a few short minutes, he will powered-up for the first time.
The robot's appearance resembles that of a handsome young caucasian male in his very late teenage or early college years.
His dark brown hair is styled properly, and not a strand is out of place. His skin complexion is flawless and the only clue to indicate that his skin is actually synthetic and not real human flesh is the slight waxy sheen it has, which is only noticeable when it is seen up close.
The rest of his body from the neck down is all metal, clad in gray and red pieces of light titanium, serving as a sort of exoskeleton.
The only feature of his titanium 'armor' that appears to be abnormal is the size of his red feet, which are oval shaped and bigger than a human's foot.
This robot will not be like all of the other robots in the world... this robot will be the very first of it's kind.
He will be the first robot to have a full range of emotions; physical feelings which will alert himself to pain, injury and fatigue; as evidenced by his face, he will be the first robot to look like a human; and lastly, he will have his own free will.
The latter is the rogue element of this whole project.
Ever since they were created, robots have done only as they were instructed to do by their human masters, and they would always comply without question, (however, every robot is programmed to never self-terminate if a human would order it to do so. This directive was added to all robots a few years ago after some sick-minded individuals made their robots kill themselves for their idea of fun.)
This robot, on the other hand, would be able to make decisions on his own of his own free will, as well as live and learn just like a human would.
He will essentially be a human robot.
However, there is a possibility that this new robot could make very dangerous decisions which could result in self-destruction, or worse, the injury or death of a human. The fallout that would follow such an incident would be catastrophic for the future of robotic evolutions. Therefore, over the course of the next few years, he will remain under the care of the two men who created him, both of which are standing nearby and looking over him.
Their names are Doctor Thomas Xavier Light and Doctor Albert W. Wily.
Thomas Light was a college graduate and came from a model family with strong moral values and because of his upbringing, he is a good person. Thomas believes that all robots - and technology in general - can serve to benefit mankind.
Thomas has always had a fascination with robots, dating back to when he was a child. When he was in Junior High, he won top prize in his science contest for creating a robot that had voice recognition software and did exactly what Thomas instructed it to do. The robot itself more or less resembled a steel box with wheels and other knick-knacks attached.
Personally, Thomas always dreamed of having children, but never had time for a relationship. Thomas did have two long-term relationships with womans over the years, but they had fizzled out over time, because he always ended up pulling all-nighters with Wily at the lab as they trying to perfect their first robotic inventions.
He had considered adopting children, but again, Thomas knew he wouldn't have the time he would need to be a parent to them as science always came first.
But, despite his personal shortcomings, Thomas has had a very fortunate life... Albert's life story, on the other hand, is drastically and tragically different.
Albert Wily is a German immigrant and is the son of an abusive alcoholic father. As a boy, Wily was always afraid and he knew very little about love. It didn't help that when Wily was two, his mother had 'disappeared' (although some believed that his father may have played a part in that, but was never charged).
The young Wily would be beaten regularly by his father, even when he thought he wasn't misbehaving. He had no friends, nor toys when he was a child. Other kids at school mocked him too. Wily spent a lot of time upset as a child, which led to more beatings from his father for 'not acting like a man.'
The only thing Albert had was his education and he was clearly the smartest kid in his school and excelled in almost every subject he ever tackled. As he got older, he too was intrigued by robotics. He rented out library books and movies that prominently featured robots and cyborgs and binged himself on the subject matter and studied feverishly on robotics. He enjoyed studying because he was away from his father more often than not.
As a teenager, Albert began to get more reclusive and became the 'silent kid,' the one who you are always told to watch out for. In fact, he began hearing things in his head that resembled voices.
After another beating by his father, Wily violently fought back, and he did so with a smile on his face. He brutalized his father with a wrench and all the while, the smile on his face became wider and more sadistic, and he began laughing with the most frightening shriek that could possibly be imagined. He enjoyed returning all of the beatings to his father.
Wily gathered his things and ran away from home. He later learned that his father was killed in a drunk driving accident. Albert showed no remorse, actually spitting on his father's grave after he was buried.
Soon after, Albert ended up learning how to hack into bank accounts undetected and got himself enough money to go to college. It was there that Albert met Thomas Light. They shared a dorm room together and Light actually became a positive influence on Wily, saving him from succumbing to the madness that had tainted his mind.
Neither were into the party life that comes with college. Instead, they both put their minds together to make their dreams of creating the world's first life-like robot come true.
Now, so many years later on this cold January night, Thoms and Albert were here in their lab complex, standing over their humanoid robot prototype who about to come to life any minute.
The pair famously developed a series of user-controlled robots in recent years. This series of robots are given objectives by their human instructors and fulfill them to the letter and can be found mainly doing rutine assignments all over the country, serving as baggage carriers at airports, costodial work at several businesses and Taxi drivers. The team also developed the 'PoliceBots' who serve as partners to human police officers all over the country.
But, all of the robots that Thomas and Albert have invented over the years do not have full free will capabilities like this revolutionary new creation will have, and Wily in particular appears to be a little giddy about this moment, rubbing his hands together.
The two scientists' appearance had changed over the years. The Dr. Light of today has snow white hair and a thick beard and also has a slightly portly frame which is covered by his white labcoat and his casual clothing underneath.
Albert Wily - who is also wearing a labcoat, a pink dress shirt, loose red tie and blue jeans - had lost the hair on the top of his head and is left with some dark gray hair that stuck out on the sides and a matching moustache.
Wily was taller than Thomas by over a half a foot and appeared to be in good shape for an older man.
Dr. Light makes a final check on the prototype's vital statistics on a handheld computer tablet, marking off the prototype's diagnostic checklist. "Ram checks out... rom checks out. Memory core and neural network are fully functional."
"What shall we name our new robot prototype?" Wily asks his partner with a grin.
Dr. Light looks away from the computer pad to answer his friend's query. "I have decided I will call him... Blues."
The smile on Wily's face melts into a disgusted frown. "Blues...? Are you serious?"
Thomas briefly looks up at his partner and looks annoyed as Wily begins mocking, "I can hear the introduction now, Thomas... 'The greatest creation known to man!... ladies and gentlemen... Blues.' What's his special talent? Playing Cab Calloway?"
Wily was clearly under-whelmed by Dr. Light's choice of name.
"Do you have a better idea, Albert?" Light asked
"I always do," Wily smirks as he saunters over to the table and studied the robot, stroking his prominent cleft chin. Albert took notice of the robot's metallic body. It looked like has was wearing a superhero outfit, with the gray armor, red boots, arm gauntlets and red briefs. "Well, he looks like a young man, and he's our prototype... I say we call him... Prototype Man!" Wily boasts, holding his hands out as if he was making a grand presentation.
"Too gimmicky," Thomas replies flatly.
"Of course! That's not the first time you've shot down one of my ideas," Wily sneers back, grumbling just loud enough for Thomas to hear.
"What was that, Albert?" Dr. Light asks, not taking his eyes off of the computer tablet.
Wily takes a deep breath as he taps his right foot on the floor, trying to surpress his anger as he believes in his paranoid mind that his friend is trying to hold him down again.
There are times when Wily's paranoia is so severe, he believes that Dr. Light conspires against him and rejects his ideas only to use something somewhat similar later on. This was not the case at all, however. The ideas that Thomas rejected were too radical, sounding like something an insane man would dream up.
This occasional friction has caused Thomas and Albert's working relationship to become strained in recent years, leading to tense moments like this.
"Nothing, Thomas... I apologize," Wily groans, forcing the apology out.
"Now is not the time to start another argument, Albert," Light says.
"Dammit, I said I'm s-... " Wily began to snap before simmering down, "I'm sorry, Thomas. Okay? I am just a little bit restless right now. Our entire adult lives have been spent on who is lying on this table right now," Wily says, forcefully pointing his right index finger downward at the robot, "I just want everything to be perfect, Thomas."
"I know you are... and I too am a bit nervous," Light answers, looking accross at the body of the prototype, "We both have sacraficed much of our personal lives to make this dream a reality. But, sometimes you have to trick your own mind into believing it's another rutine experiment."
"This is not just any damn experiment!" Wily asserts, "This robot will forever change our lives."
"I know he will," Light says, gazing back upon the robot prototype's body, realizing he might finally have the son he always wanted, "He will change my life, most especially."
A moment of silence passes as Dr. Light finishes checking up the prototype's statistics. "ProtoMan would be an adequate name for him, Albert," Thomas compromises.
Wily ponders that name as he begins stroking his moustache. "That works. I'm glad I thought of it!" Wily gloats.
Light shrugs Wily's revisionist self-compliment off and puts his computer tablet down. "It's time."
Light approaches a camera mounted on a tripod and activates it. Once he knows the camera is recording, he states the date and time and gives a brief explanation of what is about to happen. "January 13th, 20X1, 9:39 PM... Dr. Thomas Light speaking, joined by Dr. Albert Wily."
Wily nods, giving a brief wave towards the camera and not saying a word.
"Activation of the humanoid robot prototype, Codename:... ProtoMan, is about to take place," Light says, looking peeved when he uses the ProtoMan name instead of Blues, but Wily grins when he hears it. Every time Thomas gives in to one of his ideas, Wily considers it a major victory.
"Albert," Dr. Light says, "If you please."
Dr. Wily entered a command on a device that was plugged into a small socket in the back of the prototype robot's neck. This devices gives the robot's internal battery a full charge and when the proces was done, Albert unplugged the device from the prototype and stepped away.
"He should be online any second... and this had better work," Wily grumbles, "Or I lost all my hair for nothing!"
A moment passes and the two scientists watch with anxious anticipation, awaiting their creation to come to life. Then, at last, the robot prototype's eyes open to reveal a set of two piercing blue eyes and he slowly sits up, beginning to experience his first moments alive. Dr. Light smiles with pride and Wily can barely contain his excitement as they watch their creation living.
The robot then scooches off of the work table and stands on his metal feet, which make a 'klank' sound when they hit the ground.
Wily is almost hooting as he watches his co-creation take his first steps. "He's working! He's working!" Albert peeps.
ProtoMan looks around and finds the two scientists standing nearby. He appears confused and just stares at Dr. Light and Dr. Wily as the scientists approach him cautiously.
"Who are you?" asks ProtoMan, tilting his head.
Dr. Light approaches the prototype with Wily, in awe of what his own hands have brought into ths world at long last, and greets his creation, unable to remove the prideful smile on his bearded face. "I am Dr. Light, and beside me is Dr. Wily."
ProtoMan barely smiles back at them. "Hello. My name is Blues."
Wily's smile disappears again and he shoots Thomas an angry look. "You pre-programmed that stupid name into him?"
"Please, not now, Albert! We can fix it later!" Light says under his breath.
While the name issue annoyed Wily at first, the grin re-appeared on his face soon afterwards. Despite the goofy name Thomas bestowed about their robot prototype, he knew this was the defining moment of their careers and their lives.
"Do you know what you are?" Light asks.
"Yes," ProtoMan (or Blues) answers, "I am a humanoid robot."
"Feel free to take a look around your new home, Blues" Thomas says, gesturing all around the lab with his arms.
ProtoMan walks around the lab and studies his surroundings, looking like somebody who had never seen the world before, facinated, yet seeming lost, like he was a stranger to this new world.
His optical circuits search all around this sterile-looking environment, adorned with several computer monitors and electronic equipment. The prototype's eyes study the tall walls of the lab and according to his scanners, this structure appears to be made out of metal not too disimilar from him.
As Thomas and Albert watch their robot studying his new envoronment in awe, Wily can barely contain his excitement. "Thomas, we did it!" Wily blurts, grabbing Thomas by his shoulders, "We have done what all the nay-sayers said could never be done! We're rich... We are rich!"
"This is not about money, Albert," Light replies, "We've created a life! He's walking and talking on his own. He'll be able to live his life like we do, with the ability to make his own decisions."
"Indeed. Maybe we'll give him a cut of the profits too!" Wily says, still selfishly stuck on the financial gain ProtoMan will bring him.
"We can create hundreds of industrial and domestic robots based on his design," Light says, dreaming of the future, "Robots for mining operations, marine operations, construction robots. We can even build military robots and demolition robots. All with minds of their own... all for the good of mankind."
The prototype looks at his own face in a mirror that is a few inches taller than he is. He then looks at the rest of his body and appears to be confused. He brings his right hand up to touch his chest armor, then brings his hand up higher to touch the synthetic skin on his face. They both felt so different.
"Why does my face look human and my body doesn't?" the robot asks.
"Your outer body is only temporary. We will have your full human body ready in a few days," Light answers.
"Oh... okay," the robot answers.
"Are you sure about the human body, Thomas?" Wily asks, "The extra layer of metal only protects his endoskeleton. A layer of synthetic skin can get damaged easily."
"I want him to feel normal," Light says quietly, "I don't want him to feel out of place."
After looking at himself in the mirror again, ProtoMan turns back to Albert and Thomas. "Am I the only robot of my kind?" he asks, almost sounding a little bit sad.
Wily steps forward and answers, "For now, yes. Don't worry, my boy, you will have plenty of brothers and sisters very soon."
"A brother?" the robot asks, the lonely expression on his face finally turning into a slight smile, almost resembling a smirk, "... I'd like to have a little brother."
The prototype continues to wander around the lab and Dr. Light watches on with pride and he almost starts crying as he watches the robot smell a flower in a small vase on a nearby desk. Wily watches on as well, quite happy with his creation, but he doesn't feel the fatherly pride that Dr. Light is feeling.
Wily only sees the profit he can make from this robot and dreams that maybe he can have enough money to fund what project he wishes... and maybe, put all of that hair back on his head.
But, little do the scientists know, this dream project of theirs is about to take a turn for the worst.
The robot begins to feel something inside of himself... something terrible. The data could be called 'pain', since it was sharp and hot, causing a severe amount of discomfort. The pain started in his left hand, and then it quickly began to race to the back of his neck.
"Something's wrong!" Dr. Light said, looking on concerned.
"Wrong?" Wily asks his partner, "What could be wrong?"
The prototype began to wince as he began to feel a sharp stabbing sensation in both of his craniums. He grabs his head and begins to stumble to his knees, suffering in agony and he didn't know why this was happening.
"Blues!" cried Dr. Light.
Light and Dr. Wily rush to their robot's side to help him, but he swings his arm, knocking Wily off of his feet and down to the floor, then he shoves Dr. Light away with a primal yell.
"Get away from me!" the robot barks as he runs towards a wall. When he reaches the wall, the robot swings his arms and plows himself through the wall, leaving a colossal hole in it.
"Stop!" Dr. Light shouts, "I command you to stop, now!"
The prototype ignores the order and makes his way towards a large piece of equipment in the storage room he just barged into. He didn't know what the thing was or what it did to make him target it, but he didn't like it and begins bashing it with his fists and ripping it apart.
He now has a new feeling inside of him: anger. Where it came from, he didn't know, but, it's there now. When he attacked his creators and tore down the wall, the pain eased and he felt good again, but his inner rage continued forcing him to bash the machine in front of him.
Dr. Wily gets back up and grabs a remote, frantically pressing the button meant to shut-off the robot. But, it wasn't responding. Maybe the frequency wasn't properly set or it was a glitch in the robot's systems.
"Work, damn you! WORK!" Albert yells at the remote.
"It's no use," said Thomas, "The only way to shut him down is manually."
Throwing the remote down, Wily quickly grabs an electro magnetic shock prod, which he keeps here at the lab in case of emergencies like this, despite Thomas' objections.
"NO!" Dr. Light shouts, grabbing Wily by the arm, "You'll hurt him with that!"
"He's going to kill us both! I have to use it!" Wily shrieks.
"I won't let you harm him!" Light snaps, angry with his partner.
As the two doctors struggle over the shock weapon outside of the hole in the wall made by their creation, a sizable piece of the machine in front of the raging prototype breaks off and falls. The robot looks up to see what is about to fall on him and he lets out a horrified gasp before the debris falls on top of him, damaging his titanium exoskeleton.
"Oh, no!" Light gasps as he walks through the huge hole. Dr. Wily follows him inside, desperately hoping that his big cash bonanza did not just kill itself.
Dr. Light gets down on his knees and cries out the robot's original name as he shakes his lifeless body. "Blues! It's Dr. Light! Can you hear me?"
The robot remains stiff and unresponsive, his eyes now closed. After several unanswered calls by the two creators, Wily gives up.
"Wonderful! Absolutely damn wonderful!" Wily whines as he gets up and storms out in a fit of anger.
"Albert!" Light snaps, "Get back here now! He's injured!"
Dr. Light's stern request for assistance fell on deaf ears as Dr. Wily kept walking away. Thomas stayed with his creation, however, not leaving his side and holding his right hand. Since this was the closest thing to a son he's ever had, Dr. Light felt an obligation to treat him as such and protect him.
Thomas is still displeased with Albert being so willing to use that abomination of a weapon on the prototype like he was some convict. The poor robot was suffering enough as it was, he didn't need even more pain.
Thomas could hear Wily spraying his German obscenities in the main lab area. If this was anything like his other blowups, Dr. Light had a feeling that Albert would just come back, because he wants this project to be a success just as much as Light does.
Sure enough, Wily came back with a floating mechanical gurney and the two doctors begin loading their creation on top of it so they can diagnose him properly, but the two scientists nearly can't handle the weight of the prototype's body as they hoist him onto the gurney.
"He weighs a damned ton!" Albert complains.
"Please Albert, prepare the diagnostic equipment right away," Thomas orders as he moves his creation back into the lab.
Wily groans, "I knew we should have given him a helmet!"
Author's notes:
I always felt that ProtoMan deserved a much better origin story than the one he got on the show. He's also no longer a 3 feet tall little boy robot like he was in The Beginning.
Also, what do you think of the dark backstory for Wily? (You're going to be seeing a lot more of it in the future.)
For those of you who don't know, Cab Calloway was a performer who was seen in the Blues Brothers movie.
The story continues on chapter 2.
(Don't worry, unlike the old days of staying up at 6:00 AM to watch the Mega Man cartoon, there will be no ads for Bumble Bolters, or Carzillas or Mr. Bucket before the next chapter begins!)
Please remember to leave a review or a comment, it would be much appreciated. Of course if you've already left a review, I don't know if you are able to leave a new review. Also, if you catch any typos, let me know via a PM.
