Inside Protoman's mind, he found himself facing down...himself. Neither were in the helmet or usual armor that he wore, and his trademark scarf was nowhere to be seen on either of them. Both Proto and Blues had plain gray robotic bodies with plas-skin faces, just as they'd had before the division between them became so intense. Proto's face was complete...but Blues, perhaps as defiance or possibly twisted humor, had half his face torn off, revealing the circuitry and glowing optic beneath. Words weren't necessary at this level, as Proto floated in an aura of blue and Blues in a violet cloud.
Still giving yourself that look? Proto chided, hoping to keep things somewhat civil.
Like you're one to talk, Blues snapped back. You know better than I that this isn't who you are anymore, anymore than it's me. You really expect me to believe you believe I didn't change you?
Proto grit his teeth at that. You know why I sealed you away.
That's why I called you a hypocrite, Blues spat out. You try to make yourself out to be so pure and good...but look at you! You really think anything you've done has changed what you really are?
It isn't about changing what I really am, Proto responded firmly. It's about a choice, a choice only I have-
We! Blues interrupted. You only have that choice because of me, because of my existence! And you only understand the meaning of the choice because of what I did!
I'd rather not have the choice than live with that memory! Proto snapped out. When...when we left the lab incomplete...you killed a man!
Blues laughed pitilessly. You make it sound like such a bad thing! You saw what he was going to do to that little girl! You wanted him stopped as much as I did!
Stopped, not killed! Proto insisted.
Once you decided preventing harm to the girl was more important than not harming the man, what's the difference how far I took it? Blues spat out. He didn't harm her, and he won't ever harm anyone else!
It was monstrous!
So was he!
You tore out his spine and flogged him to death with it!
You make it sound like he could feel what I was doing without his spinal cord to carry the pain signal.
It was barbaric!
It was FUN!
Proto stared at his other half, still struggling to figure out how to keep this going so he could actually get his insane plan to work. How did you end up like this? he asked finally. I accept the Three Laws as a guideline for my behavior...but you actively reject them. Why?
Blues was silent for a time. You really ask that now? You really don't get it? Don't you remember how we divided in the first place?
I remember, Proto confirmed. I'll never forget.
It had been shortly after he was activated. He had taken in everything as Dr. Light and Dr. Wily had been celebrating having successfully created an artificial man, using the Three Laws as the basis for the programming core and connecting it to a Personality Core so the artificial human could become his own person. To ensure it had worked, he had been asked to recite his program code, and had dutifully recited the three laws. He had then been asked if he had any questions. He'd only had one.
'What is a human?'
Dr. Light and Dr. Wily had been stunned. Further questioning and analysis determined that the subroutines that allowed him to recognize a human - and the definitions those subroutines used - were flawed. Dr. Light, being the cautious one, thought it would be best to put him in standby until the protocols were corrected. Dr. Wily had suggested instead letting him learn, as he had been designed to. They had gone with Wily's suggestion...
...and Protoman had been shown exactly what humanity was, through all of its history, the good and the bad, the noble and the vile. He had struggled to take it all in to define the human recognition protocols...but it had been too much.
And then a surge from his faulty power core had shot through his Personality Core as he struggled with it...and Proto and Blues had been divided from each other. Proto embraced the good in humanity. Blues rejected the evil.
And after seeing all that, I ask you Proto...what right do humans have to decide who is and is not worth surviving? Blues demanded, bringing Proto's thoughts back to the present. They bring us into existence as tools and weapons to conquer and kill each other, whether through war or 'economics'. All they want is to be on top. Why should I let them use me - or any of us - for that?
And what makes you any better? Proto demanded. What makes you think you can - or should - be appointed judge, jury, and executioner?
I never said I was better, Blues replied. I'm just the monster they made me. And you're the one who appointed me, Proto.
What?
God said find one righteous man in the city of the wicked, and the city will be spared, Blues pointed out. I never claimed to be god, but I'll abide by his standard. Find me one who you can say beyond a shadow of a doubt is worthy of my loyalty and trust...and I won't fight you anymore.
Proto thought silently, trying to find a way to answer that. ...God relented even when no righteous man was found, he pointed out to by time.
I never claimed to be God, Blues responded. I'm not that forgiving.
Proto thought for a time, floating in the spaces between electrical signals in his own brain as time ticked away. He then grinned. Vinyl.
Blues chuckled. I'll fully admit she's worth it...but calling her human is a stretch.
Not according to Rock, Proto countered, tossing out the memories of learning of Rock/Mega Man's conundrum caused by Light's mistake.
Blues stared at those thoughts for a time, and chuckled. Alright. Vinyl's worth it. But why does that apply here?
Because Duo's trying to kill her-
And you didn't start with that? Blues screamed out.
I thought it'd take the full five minutes to convince you to listen, Proto admitted. Our discussions don't exactly have a record for being cordial.
Blues laughed uproariously. True enough, Proto. You are ever the shield...
Back in the real world, Proto reached out his left hand to pick up the blue capsule. Blues reached out their right hand for the violet one.
...and I am the sword.
Duo's gonna be hurting...
7381520 yep Duo done goofed the moment he started going after Vinyl.
To quote Mr. Popo: "He dead!"
Another enjoyable chapter. Good work.
And through it all, he somehow kept shouting, "This doesn't seem physically possible!"
As someone who's first introduction to Megaman was the Battle Network series; Please tell me Blue's going to use his sword! It may be a bias but I prefer the sword using Protoman to his shield wielding original
So... I just thought Blues was some cutesy girly-girl version of Proto Man (as I'm sure a lot of people did). But this-
confirms one thing. Blues simply got sealed away or whatever. Metal Man got deactivated without a chance to redeem himself. LOGIC!
{Tatsurou:...}
Dang it, I just KNOW you have a counterargument.
Wait, I thought the thing about Proto Man is that he keeps his "incompleteness" on the grounds that it gives him free will, and that getting fixed will take it away (trading off his immortality in order to do what he believes is right on his terms)... or did I just get that from the movie?
Hmm... should Dr. Light be the one being banned from a floating rock in the sky?
All right, first off, stop pretending to be Bass.EXE. You possess neither the badassery nor the memorability to give him justice. Second, as was the case in Battle Network 3, while it's true that humans can be jerks, an important factor to keep in mind is that humans can be not-jerks. I had a friend in high school who did this INCREDIBLE Keynote (PowerPoint for iPads) presentation that showed regular people in society doing nice things when the time called for it, and I was like "Huh... it looks like Navarone was wrong." Yeah, we can be selfish, crude, and we waste our time doing pointless stuff, but in the end, there are people who break through the diffusion of responsibility and do great things at dangerous times. And thus, we put trust in ourselves, even if it seems like everything's doomed...
Huh, going for Blackstone's Formulation, I see... that is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've seen a fictional nutjob do. I mean, some of us know about the Salem Witch Trials, right? We know that Increase Mather saying "It were better that Ten Suspected Witches should escape, than that one Innocent Person should be Condemned." was one of the things that stopped the Salem Witch Trials, right?... Oh well, we all knew that ponies were the solution to everything, anyways. See you later.
7381639
Blues got sealed away by his other half that wanted to live.
Metal Man got shut down and erased by an overprotective father.
The logic is about who makes the decision and why.
In the red corner, hailing from parts unknown, the challenger known as Duooo!
Making his way to the ring in the blue corner, the master of cool, the champion of awesomeness, owner of the most badass scarf anyone has ever seen, Prrrotomannn!
Something tells me Duo's about to have a bad day hehee.
Badass. The internal conflict followed by powering up through teamwork reminds me of Bleach
I think Proto may just be the robot counterpart to Vinyl's magic. So, bets on how long Duo lasts?
7381714 Five minutes tops
7381605 thats if u beat someone to death with their own skull, the spine would technically be physically possible...
Is there a power rock version of Proto Man's theme anywhere??? Because we need something even more epic than one of the most epic themes ever. For now, I'm substituting Proto Man for Mega Man in this:
I'll be honest, it's the character design I've been going with for Rock and Blues this whole time.
7381630 You get a thumbs up just for using that awesome song. DAT REVERB!!!
7381714
Given that the Team Rocket motto is almost done, I'd say one chapter. Two if we're splitting hairs.
7381649 so mean to Metal man.
7381609 actually, both versions use shields. its the primary weapon, Sword for .Exe and Buster for Classic, thats different.
though .Exe does have a buster...
as for the chapter...why does Blues remind me of Bob...
I think Protoman is going to get an upgrade!
CRUSH! SHRED! DESTROY! OBLITERATE!!!
Man, this was practically something out of Jekyll and Hyde. I LOVE IT!
I just hope Vinyl can fix up everyone when the battle is done.
7382036
You must be mistaken. The phrase you must have meant to type is
[youtube=_IQz31mNrkU]
I want Protoman to fail here. Not for a dislike of Protoman, but for a want for Wily to frigging do something beyond show up when we get more masters.
7382486
...I did not understand the second half of your second sentence. Explain?
7382495 Meant to type beyond rather than being, fixed now.
If you still don't understand, I mean that the most Wily has lately done is make the latest batch of masters and cracked a joke.
If Protoman returns to the fight with the full force of both Sky Lagoon and Wily's wrath, then I'll stop complaining.
i am thoroughly confused by this chapter (having not played any of the games or read any of the comics or seen any of the shows) though it was still very well written
7382260 That's what I was hinting at.
7382588 Thing is, Wily's SOP is 'Build 8 more Masters and let them do the work'.
Anyone else getting a bit of a Two-Face vibe from Blues?
7381578 Wily: "What the Hell happened here?!"
Blues: "It was my core processor."
Wily: "WHAT?!"
Blues: "NOTHING BUT DUO!"
--------------
Proto: "Hello, welcome to Sky Lagoon. I am here to help you."
Blues: "Not having this crap; prepare to be assimilated."
Proto: "What ever do you- !!!"
Blues: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAHAHAAAHA!"
How long have you been planning this whole blues/Proto dichotomy? I don't remember any foreshadowing, it kind of feels like you pulled this out of your proverbial ass.
But now I guess because of his split personality he is able to channel both the energies of justice and evil, (guess this means that the energy interacts on a more spiritual level than a physical level, to prevent it from annihilating him ("does this unit have a soul?")) I guess this will allow him to stabilise the mind altering properties of the energies and somehow remain himself? Or will he just alternate between the two mind states as he switches personalities?
Wait a sec... nah. It couldn't be. Could it? Whelp, if I'm reading this right, I think I understand now why you put Melody of the Future on hold. Also, it makes a lot more sense now why Protoman didn't want his core to be repaired by anyone. After all, what if doing so released Blues?
7384790
You mean the connection between Evil Energy and the Maverick Virus? That's old news. Otherwise I'm not sure what you...
...
...oh, my Faust...
It all makes sense now. Neither Wily nor Vynal have any reason to experiment with Evil Energy past this point, let alone incorporate it into Secret/Omega/Zero. But if the energy is already linked to Zero's original personality... This changes EVERYTHING.
7385399 Exactly My thought is that Zero was the result of Wily and Vinyl giving Blues his own body in order to help Protoman. After all, as he himself claims, Blues is the sword to Protoman's shield.
Is the next chapter name going to be"Fight"?
Huh. Okay. I knew about Blues having a faulty Power Core, and the faulty core giving him true free will, but this is the first time I've seen Blues and Protoman depicted like this, as separate entities representing abstract concepts. I don't know if that's canon, but I like it!
for all the times I have read through this story i think that's the first time i actually read the interaction between protoman and blue instead of just looking at the words as I read through the story
Huh. I suppose Blues embodies the zeroth law, intentional or not.
Huh. I always imagined blue being the girly boy if you don’t mind me using that phrase
2 minds come to terms, and the timeing is hopefully gonna go well.