Chapter Text
Elec Man continued to endure snide mutterings about his creator as Dr. Wily studied his circuitry through the rest of the summer. Occasionally, he ran heists with Proto Man. Otherwise, Elec Man kept to his small windowless office, managing logistics and security measures for Dr. Wily on his computer, purposely closed off from everyone else. They weren't Syndicate, therefore, they were inferior.
The only robot more secluded than Elec Man himself, was, perhaps, Proto Man, who (still shirking his second-in-command duties) rarely visited the armory. The other Robot Masters regarded Proto Man from a distance with awe and curiosity. Elec Man could only roll his eyes at this; Proto Man was Dr. Light's runaway android, no further mysteries here.
At night, on the rare occasion Elec Man needed a break from long hours of typing (like most normal robots, he did not sleep) he would go out for a walk, always alone. Since rain was uncommon in the badlands, he could cross the wide plains without danger of being caught in a storm, the open sky above a deep blue and shimmering with stars (admirably, the badlands were quite beautiful).
One such night he sat out on a smooth boulder, helmet off, letting the dry wind ruffle over his short hair, when he noticed a light in one of Skull Fortress's western towers. He frowned at it, then gave a disdainful sniff. Proto Man must sleep there; it was nearby the western hangar, where Proto Man spent most of his time. He had no clue where Wily went, or if he slept at all. Elec Man frowned, unsure who was stranger—Proto Man, or Wily.
Definitely Wily, he decided finally, though it was a close contest. Then he replaced his helmet and stalked back to Skull Fortress.
In August, Wily covered New York City in a glacier using stolen 'super-freeze technology' for his latest bid for World domination, but was stopped short when one of his own recruits, Ice Man, pulled a mutiny, sabotaging everything. According to Proto Man, Ice Man had been destroyed, but the plan could not be salvaged. Wily soon forgot about this failure, however: His next plan—a shrink ray.
"That man is insane," Elec Man muttered shortly to Proto Man. It was now September, and they were walking side by side down a hallway that lead from Wily's laboratory to the armory.
"Gee, really? The mad science hadn't tipped me off yet," replied Proto Man.
Elec Man realized at this point he really shouldn't still be shocked by Wily's absurdity nor Proto Man's total apathy toward Wily's absurdity. Although he hadn't been ordered to assist with the shrink ray operation, he couldn't help but argue with Proto Man over Wily's latest scheme anyway. "Weren't you listening? He's making shrink rays powered by magic crystals. It's an insult to your intelligence and mine."
"Maybe, but if it does work, wouldn't that be cool?"
"If Wily shrinks every major city, it'll destroy the economy, including the Underground which we normally trade with."
"Quit looking for holes in Wily's plans. Just go with the flow."
The door to the armory was straight ahead of them. Proto Man looked over at Elec Man, and said in a casual yet low voice, "Hey Elec Man, do me a favor? Know our recycling room? Go to the scrap metal compactor, turn it on, and step inside."
The words didn't immediately register. Elec Man was so accustomed to abusing Wily in front of Proto Man that he had suspected nothing off about Proto Man accompanying him toward the armory instead of reporting to the hangar as Wily had asked. He glanced over at Proto Man's face, which was cheerful yet unreadable, the overhead lights shining dully off his visor, and lowered his own voice. "Is this another one of your jokes? I will be destroyed."
Proto Man shrugged. "Yeah, I think you will. That's an order. Hop to it."
Elec Man felt…stunned. Wily was inventing shrink rays and planning to auction off cities, and now, now, Proto Man had finally decided to act like a true second-in-command and dispose of the dangerous and defiant criminal within their ranks?!
With no choice but to obey, Elec Man glared at Proto Man and was about to turn back down the hallway toward the recycling room—but before Elec Man had a chance to fully process a premature and unpleasant demise, Proto Man quickly stopped him.
"I'm just kidding, I'd never order you to hurt yourself, Wily'd have a fit. Just testing your loyalty, you're a good sport."
Elec Man's shock, indignation, and betrayal evaporated instantly. He couldn't believe Proto Man had had him going there. It appeared Proto Man had picked up more about acting like a ruthless gangster than Elec Man had given him credit for. Though he felt annoyed at falling for the ruse, Elec Man surmised Proto Man's motivation hadn't been for a cruel laugh at his expense. "This has something to do with Ice Man's betrayal, doesn't it?"
"You know it. Of all the other Robot Masters Dr. Wily's reprogrammed, your personality and will have changed the least…and in your case, that could be a problem."
"It gives me no pleasure following your orders. If I could disobey Wily, you'd both be dead."
Proto Man laughed. "See, that's what I'm talkin' about! Though no offense, if you were capable of killing me, you wouldn't be here."
"So how do you justify keeping me here against my will?"
"Never said I did," Proto Man said frankly, though he paused on the question for a moment. "…Do you believe in karma?"
"No."
"Well, while I can't go into the details of your past, let's just say maybe you had something like this coming."
…Being forced to work for a criminally inept mad scientist as punishment for being a member of the Syndicate was a bizarre definition of karma. Elec Man cast an appraising look at Proto Man, who willingly assisted Wily in unleashing chaos on an unsuspecting populace just for the fun of it, and asked, "And what does karma have in store for you?"
Proto Man smirked. "I don't believe in karma. Listen, I don't understand what you're unhappy about. I know you think working at Skull Fortress is slumming, but by this time next week, you'll be back on top. In the meantime, you've got important jobs to do, jobs too tedious for a human like Wily to do himself. He's the creative architect, after all, which takes up all his time."
Elec Man remained unmoved; he refused to see crime as a game like Proto Man did. "A child can dream up a shrink ray."
"Yeah, but only a mad genius can build one. Wily specializes in impossible inventions. For example, you were reprogrammed by a gun made of vacuum tubes and price scanner parts. Isn't that amazing?"
Elec Man ignored the last jab as he crossed through the door into the armory and shut it firmly behind him.
Keep talking, idiot. Your time will come—and it won't seem fun when you finally face the harsh reality of crime.
Predictably, Wily's shrink ray operation was a complete fiasco, with Wily and Proto Man failing to make any money and only narrowly avoiding falling victim to the shrink ray itself.
In October, Wily finally built his first Robot Master—and Elec Man was unsurprised by the results. Snake Man seemed to be Wily's idea of a terrifying monster, but looked more like a villain-of-the-week from a live-action children's serial and spoke with an annoying hiss. Wily sent this mockery of robotics overseas to Geneva, Switzerland along with Cut Man, Guts Man, Proto Man, and his 'transport chambers,' intent on sabotaging the International Science Conference and kidnapping its attendees. Again, this plan ended poorly, with the transport chambers rendered useless and Proto Man and the rest narrowly avoiding being arrested by Robot International Police.
Still, Wily remained undeterred. He always had yet another plan in the works like a persistent conman as he showed Elec Man the blueprints for Spark Man, who was installed with a rip-off version of Thunder Beam that Dr. Wily had spent so long studying.
"That looks nothing like my design," Elec Man stated coldly, his nose wrinkling in distaste as he looked at the crude electrode arms.
Dr. Wily clapped him on the shoulder. "Indeed, it is an improvement! For unlike you, Spark Man has no design flaw!"
Elec Man gave a small jerk and went silent, unable to come up with a sharp comeback. He peered around Wily's laboratory, feeling relieved that no one—especially Proto Man—was in earshot.
Alongside Spark Man, Dr. Wily had built Gyro Man and Gemini Man, and with these three robots, schemed to take over the World by having them pose as 'Cold Steel', a metal band that played mind control music.
…Elec Man couldn't stand the compiling stupidity. He really just wanted to burn down the whole fortress and himself with it, and was relieved when Proto Man informed him he would not be going with Cut Man, Guts Man, and the members of 'Cold Steel' to Wily's secret mountain base in the Sierra Nevada.
"You're going to California?" Elec Man whispered after Proto Man broke the news, his outrage over Cold Steel forgotten.
"That's what I said. You're staying here…Wily wants you to keep an eye on things. You know, the usual."
"How long will you be gone?"
"Dunno. Awhile."
Elec Man studied Proto Man for a moment, taking in the unshakable, carefree smile. "That's Syndicate territory, you know. Extremely risky for you, Proto Man. What if you and Wily don't return?"
Proto Man was already heading out the door, completely unconcerned. "You mean if we die?" He paused, turning his head back at Elec Man and added in mock seriousness, "Then you gotta avenge us by carrying on the mission alone: Take over the world in the name of Dr. Albert W. Wily. That's an order."
"Proto Man—"
"Keep the door locked and don't talk to any strangers!" Proto Man remarked cheerfully, then he left.
This was the most reckless stunt Wily or Proto had pulled yet in the name of mad science. Of course, Elec Man speculated Wily's true business in California was to follow Dr. Light, who was heading on an extended business trip. He wondered if Proto Man was yet aware of this, for Proto Man still avoided talking about Dr. Light in any capacity. It might make Wily's scheme less fun for him, no matter the thrill and danger of operating in Syndicate territory.
Then again, if Dr. Light were in California, so would Mega Man. Though not as obvious as Wily, Proto Man had a clear obsession over fighting Mega Man, his brother—that, or recruiting him to his side, secretly motivated by acute loneliness to be with someone like himself. In this way, Proto Man was nearly as deluded as Wily's ambition for World conquest, for Elec Man did not see many similarities between Proto Man and Mega Man outside of their plans. Mega Man cared for the well-being of the World, meanwhile Proto Man never cared about anything or anyone.
While Wily and Proto Man were away, Elec Man had been left in charge of Skull Fortress. Unofficially, Elec Man was Proto Man's pick for next-in-command—Elec Man supposed he would have been insulted if Proto Man had picked someone else, for who else did Proto Man consult with on crime?
Naturally, it was incredibly easy to assume Proto Man's responsibilities and run Skull Fortress in Wily's stead. All he had to do was monitor the defense systems and threaten the other Robot Masters when they acted like idiots. This left him lots of time to play video games.
Though Elec Man was sure he would never have wasted time with guilty pleasures at the Syndicate, he had beyond exceeded Wily's expectations of him, and therefore allowed himself to indulge in the preloaded games that had come with the stolen computer—FreeCell, Minesweeper, Pipe Dream, JezzBall, Reversi, Chess, Blockout, and Tetris. And so, four more months snuck by.
Meanwhile, Proto Man and Wily were risking their lives for inane conquest schemes with terrible codenames such as Operation Mind-Control Music, Operation Robo-drone Revolution, and Operation Triconium Takeover. Mega Man thwarted one after the other until finally Wily was forced to give up and slink back to Skull Fortress in defeat.
Yet Elec Man was actually impressed by Wily and Proto Man for once—for Elec Man had fully expected them to die.
A week had passed since Wily's return. Elec Man was in the middle of coding a new defense program when he glanced over his computer monitor. Proto Man was standing inside his open office door.
"Hey, let's go train in the badlands," said Proto Man.
Elec Man stopped typing and leaned back in his office chair to regard Proto Man with interest. He had been waiting for Proto Man to challenge him. Proto Man had been challenging all of the strongest Robot Masters to battle in the badlands as a form of intense training, leaving them confused and in severe need of repairs.
Elec Man didn't care about the welfare of the defeated Robot Masters, nor had any concerns about battling Proto Man, but he was curious to see Proto Man after his return, for Elec Man had never seen him in such a bad mood. Something had changed—Proto Man didn't seem so cocky and self-certain as before.
He gave Proto Man a small smile. "What do you need training for? Aren't you the strongest robot ever built?"
Proto Man bristled. "Practice makes perfect, right? We'll go three rounds—my weapon against yours."
"It's illogical to spar with me," Elec Man advised coolly as he logged out of Skull Fortress's mainframe. "It won't be a match of skill. You may be better in combat, but with Thunder Beam, I have an unfair advantage."
"Let me worry about that," Proto Man responded gruffly.
Elec Man shrugged. "Alright."
Bright March sunlight beat down on the rocky badlands outside.
The battle had only lasted a moment. Proto Man writhed in the sand as Thunder Beam crackled through his circuits, the war-torn landscape of his previous battles surrounding him like a wreath.
It was a pathetic sight, but Elec Man watched him without pity. "What went wrong out West? Trouble with Mega Man?" When Proto Man refused to comment, he added. "I get no joy from torturing you, Proto Man."
"Could have fooled me."
Elec Man rested the sole of his boot on top of Proto Man's neck. "If this were a real fight, here is where I'd end you," he said lazily.
Proto Man sputtered, tried to get up, and failed.
Elec Man rolled his eyes, removed his foot, then tugged off Proto Man's helmet.
He wanted to see Proto Man's eyes. They looked nearly as bitter and detached as ever—yet now they also seemed preoccupied, lost…
Proto Man glanced up at Elec Man and then away again, avoiding eye contact. "Alright, you've made your point," he said warningly, glaring out into the desert.
"Do you wish to continue…?" Elec Man asked pleasantly.
Proto Man trembled with frustration, but shook his head.
"Good choice. You make good life choices."
"Oh shut up."
Elec Man handed back the helmet. Proto Man put it on, then fell back in the sand with a sigh. He looked like he wanted to be left alone. He also looked like he needed someone to talk to (but was oblivious to his own emotions). It was plain to Elec Man that Proto Man was in a truly vulnerable state.
But Elec Man turned his back on Proto Man and dusted off his shoulder.
I'm Syndicate, I have far better things to do than counsel Light's prototype, he thought smugly…even if it was just to beat his own high score at Solitaire in Skull Fortress. Besides, Proto Man would be back next time he needed help with crime.
Feeling pleased with himself for defeating Proto Man so completely, Elec Man strode off toward Skull Fortress haughtily. But then he frowned, and looked back at Proto Man, who was still lying spread-eagled on the ground.
"Hey. Back when I still worked for the Syndicate…how did you ever win a fight against me?" he called.
Proto Man lifted his head to look over at Elec Man, looking confused by the question. "I, uh, copied your Thunder Beam and shocked you with it."
Elec Man narrowed his eyes. "I knew it." Then, his mood becoming irritable, he stalked quickly away, leaving Proto Man totally alone.