All of the meteorite fragments had now been collected from the mine, much to the Robot Master's relief, but Dr. Wily wasn't ready to leave Red Gulch yet—a train carrying a shipment of gold was scheduled to pass by on the nearby railroad. This was too tempting for Dr. Wily to pass up, so he ordered Guts Man to lock the scientists in a broken down mining elevator on the bottom floor of the mine as they prepared to leave.

When Snake Man came staggering into the mine, armor battered and sparking with a warning that Mega Man had stolen a meteorite fragment, Dr. Wily had made a noise something like an angry badger, but he quickly recovered.

"No matter, if he tries to stop us, we'll make Mega-dust out of him!" he growled.

Mega Man and Roll had been waiting in Red Gulch's saloon with Quint when Dr. Light returned from the hotel, looking troubled.

"Is Dr. Cossack back yet?"

"No," answered Mega Man. "Did he check in at the hotel?"

Dr. Light shook his head. "The manager said we are the only ones staying there."

He glanced anxiously at his watch. Dr. Cossack had said he would only be gone for a few minutes, and that had been almost a half hour ago.

"He wouldn't have gone wandering on purpose," murmured Roll. "He knows Wily has a bunch of Robot Masters out there now…"

Rush gave a soft whine. Mega Man glanced outside the broken window. The streets were still and very, very dark. "Shit, this is not a good time for him to go missing…"

Elec Man was playing Tetris on his handheld computer, Dark Man submerged in a gameboy RPG, when Proto Man came hurrying up the slopping mesa to where they were keeping watch.

"Elec Man? Cool, you guys are okay," Proto Man said in a would-be-casual way, his hands on his hips as he gazed at the empty crossroads below, the dirt roads bluish in the night.

Elec Man switched off his game and stood up. "…Why wouldn't we be?"

"Nothing, just, uh, wondering if you had seen anything weird lately."

"We live at Skull Fortress, you'll need to be more specific."

"Space ghosts? Little green men?"

"…What?"

Dark Man sighed, rising to his feet. "So 'something terrible' it is…I'm going to go for a walk." His head still bowed over his game, Dark Man skidded to the bottom of the mesa in a plume of dust then ambled off toward the mine.

A crunching noise was coming up the other side of the dune. Both Proto Man and Elec Man tensed, ready to attack, but it was only Metal Man who was trudging up the slope toward them. Ahead of him, his arms raised and behind his bowed head—was Dr. Cossack.

"One of those white coat dudes ran off," Metal Man called up. "I'd cut his head off but I don't want to ruin my blades."

"Whoa, I'll take it from here, Metal Man," interrupted Proto Man, quickly waving Metal Man off as he skidded down the slope toward them. "Hey Dr. C! You weren't here earlier…"

Elec Man hadn't moved. He was scrutinizing Dr. Cossack critically. "…'Dr. C?'"

"Dr. Cossack, that guy I kidnapped back when Wily was messing around with the Lotos stuff," Proto Man replied airily. "What are you doing here, Dr. C?"

"I'm here to check on Wily's prisoners." Dr. Cossack had lowered his arms after Metal Man had departed, but was watching Elec Man warily from the corner of his eyes.

"Alone?"

"The radiation from the meteorite prevents me from calling for help, besides, it would be unsafe to to bring allies under the current circumstances."

"Heh. Sorry about all this. I woulda kept my promise about not taking you hostage again, but if you're going to make yourself an easy target by wandering alone in the desert I'm gunna have to break it."

"No problem. I'm lucky to cross paths with you of all robots, you know how much I enjoy our time together."

"Very funny, smartass."

Proto Man removed the laser holstered on Dr. Cossack's back, disarmed it, and discarded it.

"I remember last time."

Elec Man had joined them, pushing Proto Man aside coldly. "Try again."

He began searching Dr. Cossack for more weapons. Dr. Cossack remained completely still as Elec Man checked the knot of his olive green tie, patted down the sides of his tailored lab coat and the legs of his chinos, examined a fountain pen in his labcoat pocket, glanced at the identification in his slim wallet, confiscated a small toolkit, and unstrapped the cheap digital watch from Dr. Cossack's wrist.

"Communication device," Elec Man muttered crisply to Proto Man as he crushed the watch in his hand.

"He's tricky."

Lastly, Elec Man slid off Dr. Cossack's half-rim glasses.

"Hey, c'mon," Proto Man protested, feeling Elec Man was now crossing a line.

But Elec Man didn't crush the glasses. He turned them over in his hands, swinging their thin arms on their tiny hinges, tapped at the minute magnification controls on the end pieces, looked through the lens, then coldly into Dr. Cossack's eyes.

"So you're Dr. Cossack?" he asked in a low voice.

"Do you know me?" Dr. Cossack replied in an equally low voice.

Elec Man gave a derisive snort, handing back the glasses. "No."

Proto Man was watching Dr. Cossack thoughtfully, a hand on his chin. "Hey Dr. C, I bet you know a lot about this green space rock, huh?"

"More than you, I'd wager," Dr. Cossack sniffed as he smoothed the wrinkles from his lab coat, casting a pointed look at the meteorite fragment on Proto Man's chest, which glowed softly in the night.

"That'll come in handy," Proto Man told Elec Man. "But what do we do with him? I don't think it's a good idea to take him back to the mine…"

"I don't care what you do with him—he's your hostage."

Proto Man looked back at Dr. Cossack, smiling. "Sorry, I know you wanna check on your Citadel pals, but Wily doesn't seem to like you very much. Not sure why especially, but…" he trailed off, shrugging.

"Perhaps my reputation intimidates him."

Proto Man grinned. "Glad to see you're still hilarious."

Dr. Cossack looked down at the cracked earth beneath his feet and sighed grudgingly. "…I would also prefer if Wily didn't know I was here. If you promise not to hurt me, I will stick with you and give you more information about the meteorite's energy."

"No promises," Elec Man spoke up instantly. "I will electrocute you for any lies or disobedience."

Dr. Cossack looked up at Elec Man over his glasses. "Will you?" he asked dryly, raising a brow.

Elec Man's only response was his cold-blooded poker face.

"He won't. I'll order him not to," Proto Man assured Dr. Cossack promptly.

Dr. Cossack looked unimpressed with both of them.

Elec Man stalked back toward Proto Man, lowering his voice so that it would be difficult for Dr. Cossack to overhear. "Proto Man, shut up and let me take care of this."

"What? You don't need to be a big show off gangster to every hostage. He's just a chemist."

"Are you sure? He was outfitted like a spy."

"A spy? As cool as that'd be, I'm sure he's just your average rich L.A. asshole. You're not determined to dislike him just because I think he's alright and you think I have poor taste, are ya?"

"No," Elec Man denied a little too swiftly, then with deliberate, icy evenness, added, "What do you know about him?"

"I dunno. He's loaded, head of Citadel Research and Innovative Technology, and kinda a bastard."

"I think he's hiding something."

"Aren't we all? Look, his business is his business, and if he does have a secret I'm sure it's of no consequence to us."

Dr. Cossack was watching them suspiciously. "…Do you two always argue like this?" he called over.

"We're not arguing, Dr. C," answered Proto Man cheerfully while Elec Man gave Dr. Cossack an annoyed look for interrupting.

Dr. Cossack just stared at them, looking concerned. Proto Man grinned back, then took a glance around. The crossroads below were still empty. He motioned toward Dr. Cossack. "Alright, Dr. C, it's a deal—c'mon, let's get out of the open."

Around midnight, Dr. Wily was sitting in a wooden wagon drawn by an old brown mare from Red Gulch's petting zoo, the horse busy swishing flies with her raggedy black tail and nibbling happily at tufts of sweet grass growing between the rocks. She had pulled the cart up a hairpin trail to the top of a large mesa that overlooked a railway winding through the ravine below like a dark ribbon.

Snake Man was slumped next to Dr. Wily on the wagon's bench, staring sulkily at nothing in particular ahead. Robbing a gold train was a petty waste of time, they should be moving onto more important objectives, but Snake Man didn't voice this opinion. He had come to expect this ridiculousness from Dr. Wily, and was presently too drained to care—even drinking an energy can hadn't helped.

"Rest now, you've strained yourself," Dr. Wily had told Snake Man, patting him on the back while the rest of the Robot Masters had taken off to seize the train, leaving behind only Crash Man and Dark Man to guard the scientists. "I see Mega Man got the best of you. You had the right intentions, but you shouldn't have faced Mega Man alone, it's best to stay in a group and gang up on him."

Snake Man had said nothing at the time, his irritation at Dr. Wily growing. He didn't like the idea of ganging up on Mega Man at all; he wanted to defeat Mega Man all by himself. Snake Man still blamed the useless meteorite for his recent failure, however he had been reluctant to take it off when he had seen that the rest of the robots were still wearing theirs.

Dr. Wily looked through a pair of binoculars at the distant end of the railway where an orange armored train could be seen. It resembled a caterpillar crawling along a wire, its head a light in the distance. Normally, it would be more trouble than it was worth to take down such a fortified target protected by formidable guard drones, but with the meteorite's power…

"Guts Man, take care of the tracks!" Dr. Wily hissed into a short-range walkie-talkie (their communicators were still unreliable due to the meteorite's radiation).

"Ha, no problem!" Guts Man's voice crackled back.

A few seconds later, a sickening crunch rang through the ravine like an explosion. Panicking, the horse began bucking and the wagon lurched. Dr. Wily swore as he fell backward while Snake Man quickly leaped to the ground, gently caught the horse's bridal, and patted her neck, calming her.

"Blasted horse," complained Dr. Wily as he climbed gingerly out of the wagon. He peered over the edge of the cliff, a wild grin reappearing on his face, and spoke into the walkie-talkie, "Now then, Cut Man! Open up our little surprise package." Dr. Wily dropped the communicator to his side and gazed with satisfaction at the train wreck. "Where's Proto? If Mega Man shows up and he's off wasting time with Elec Man, he'll miss out on his favorite pastime: destroying his dweeby brother!" Dr. Wily laughed.

Snake Man stirred. Mega Man would probably come, surely the sound of a train derailment could have been heard all the way back to Red Gulch. He should be down there fighting too, especially if Proto Man was absent—besides, Snake Man found he didn't like filling Proto Man's usual role at Dr. Wily's side, Dr. Wily tended to ramble on about stupid things.

Snake Man turned away from Dr. Wily, who was unwisely dancing along the edge of the mesa in excitement as the Robot Masters looted the train below, and began heading toward the trail leading down from the mesa.

The mesa top seemed like a plain of rock floating high above the surrounding desert, its surface covered in sweet-smelling wildflowers. A tortoise, disturbed from its sleeping place by the train crash, had tumbled down a jagged incline and was lying on its back, its stubby legs wagging frantically in the the air. Despite his mood, Snake Man stooped down and carefully flipped the tortoise right-side again. Then he looked up again and started.

The long-haired figure was sitting on top of a natural archway—beautiful, though ethereal, his green transparent form nearly blending in with the night, his shining eyes twinkling like large stars. It appeared he had been watching Snake Man for some time, smiling. Now that Snake Man had noticed him, he stood up, disappeared in a twinkling flash of light, then reappeared at Snake Man's side. He waved his hand toward the ground, a green phantom Search Snake materializing and winding silently around Snake Man's feet, a memory recording of light.

Snake Man rounded irritably on the figure as the light Search Snake faded. "What do you want? I can't underssstand you, you can't underssstand me, sssso jussst go away! Go bother Mega Man or sssomething!"

The figure continued to stare into him with friendly patience, his long green hair flowing without wind behind him. Though they couldn't communicate, the figure's face was human and expressive.

"…I don't know if you are sssome kinda powerful being, or a ghossst, or a robot. Even if you are a robot, I'm not like you. I'm part sssnake."

Additional figures shimmered into view amidst the wildflowers. Like the first figure, they were transparent, seemingly mechanical lifeforms made of green light, and had star-like eyes that watched him with interest, but their forms varied. One was crouched as though ready to pounce, armor covered in fur with long claws and cat ears, another resembled Guts Man in size and shape but with bull horns and hooves for feet, another had flipper feet and fins on the back of his armor and the sides of his helmet, and yet another had talon-like toes and a beak on his helmet. A final glowing figure, so bright that he was difficult to look at, kept his distance from Snake Man, but his constant gaze could be felt like the sun itself.

Snake Man blinked at the group, frustrated. "Not more of them…"

He turned back to the first long-haired figure. Still smiling, the figure began projecting more spectral images like the Search Snake—horses, birds, fish, reptiles, whales, wolves, cats, humans, wooly mammoths, dinosaurs—not like the robosaurs Dr. Light had created, but real ones, beautiful—

Snake Man hesitated, watching in entrancement as the images shifted to other long extinct animal life like he had never seen before—

And then, it was if he was there—an invisible observer in a shimmering green projection of Earth long ago. He could not keep track of all the unfamiliar creatures, for Earth was thriving with early life. Amongst Earth's lifeforms, a one-of-its-kind colossus, roughly humanoid as though chiseled out of a cliffside, plodded gently through the ancient landscape tending to trees. Projections of the green figures were also there (just how old were these things?), roaming prehistoric Earth's surface with love and admiration, acting as protectors and guardians. As Snake Man observed this wondrous sight, he began to sense a certain kinsmanship between himself and the nature-loving green figures, though he tried to ignore it. Everything seemed so free and full of growth.

Then a shadow fell over the trees. A perfectly round sphere had appeared in the sky, blotting out the sun. Unlike the other projections, it had a purple shimmer, and felt ominous. A golden hieroglyphic outline of an eye appeared in its center as thin strands of cables fanned around it—for some reason, it reminded Snake Man of Lotos, sending a chill down his titanium spine.

The green figures were immediately alert, their faces turned up to the invader. The golden eye flashed, and its cables lashed earthward like a tangle of wires from behind a computer. Where the cables struck, the creatures became purple, their eyes flashed yellow, their shapes warping. They began attacking each other, disappearing in puffs of purple smoke. Earth exploded into chaos.

Only the green figures appeared immune to the invader's corruption. Though they became entangled by cables, their eyes remained like stars, their color green. They struggled to fight back, cutting infected creatures loose from the purple cables while firing attacks at the one-eyed intruder. It seemed like they had a shot at driving it away—

Then several of the cables struck the colossus.

The colossus turned purple, its form melting like a lit candle, losing its defined shape as its head merged into its shoulders. A round eye bubbled up from the center of its chest like a wrecking-ball sized cyst, golden protrusions bursting from its top like the stumps of horns. The once friendly colossus had mutated into an amorphous cyclops monster.

Consumed by rage and incomprehension, its new eye swiveling madly and glowing yellow, the cyclops burst into purple flames and began smashing at the green figures with giant gelatinous fists, destroying everything in its path. Above, a disembodied snicker echoed from the one-eyed intruder.

Snake Man staggered back, unable to watch anymore. "Why are you showing me thisss? Thisss hasss nothing to do with me."

The long-haired figure only gazed into him, eyes miserable. The imagery he was projecting faded into the building shimmer that was settling into the desert like an eerie green fog.

Snake Man shivered as he glared defiantly at the green figure. Minutes ago, all he had wanted to do was destroy Mega Man to teach Proto Man a lesson. It seemed childish, almost trivial in comparison, but Snake Man clung to it. If he didn't hurry, he'd miss his chance.

"Go away, leave me alone!" he spat.

He turned his back on the figure again and ran off down the trail, ignoring the warning.

The green mist continued to build in density, obscuring the distant plateaus and making the mesa top look like an island in a green sea. A sudden pain shot through Snake Man's body as though he had been struck by lightning. He let out a sharp hiss as he fell face first into the sand trail, his armor sparking.

"Not thisss again, ssstop being ssso weak," he rebuked his body as he forced himself up again. He touched the meteorite fragment on his chest, which felt burning hot beneath his fingertips. He should probably throw it off a cliff…but if Mega Man could stand the power of the meteorite, then so could Snake Man. Stubbornly, Snake Man staggered on, armor still sparking slightly, his boots dragging heavily in the sand.

Proto Man and Elec Man were walking down a dry riverbed with a pebbly bottom, Dr. Cossack striding rigidly between them. Occasionally, a scorpion skittered out from the shadow of a rock, moonlight gleaming off its brown exoskeleton.

A sound like a long crash of thunder rang through the air, yet the night sky was cloudless.

"…What was that?" asked Dr. Cossack sharply.

"Wily's robbing a gold train," answered Proto Man calmly. "You know, typical villain stuff. Shit, I was actually supposed to be there…eh, this is more interesting anyway."

"You promised to tell us more about the meteorite," ordered Elec Man coldly.

"Sure," responded Dr. Cossack patiently, seemingly impervious to Elec Man's tone. "At Citadel, we study many mysterious things, including extraterrestrial power sources—alien energy. Because it originates from space, the power inside the meteorites is a type of alien energy—incredibly powerful, not well understood, and will eventually kill you. Any questions?"

Using the toe of his boot, Proto Man gently nudged away a scorpion that had darted out into Dr. Cossack's path, its stinger poised to strike. "Alien energy, huh? Neat."

"What do you mean 'it will eventually kill us'?" asked Elec Man, frowning.

"The energy is too much for your bodies to handle, like a million volts of electricity forced to cycle through a lightbulb. Given the nature of these meteorite fragments, is anyone you care about currently using one?"

Proto Man shrugged. "Not really."

Dr. Cossack was studying them both carefully, his face impossible to read.

"Lighten up, Dr. C—Wily says this energy or its equivalent are gonna replace current forms of robot energy—we're just getting ahead of the curve."

"Yes, perhaps—but not for likely thirty years. Continue using the meteorite and you will begin to experience short circuiting followed by complete system failure and overloading, if not worse."

Proto Man and Elec Man stopped abruptly beneath a dead mesquite tree, Elec Man curtly motioning for Dr. Cossack to do the same. A shimmering green haze had been subtly building in the sand drifts around them like a dense fog.

"Whoa…what's going on?" muttered Proto Man, taking a few steps into the haze. He looked back at Dr. Cossack and Elec Man, noticing the thin green veil that now separated them. "This is just like what happened on Wily's island and with Lotos in New York City. Should have expected this when the communicators went out…"

Dr. Cossack's square brow furrowed as he scanned the shimmering haze surrounding them. "Shit," he muttered to himself.

With Dr. Cossack's whereabouts still unknown, Dr. Light placed Quint inside a special recharging chamber from Dr. Cossack's equipment (a silver pod with pleasing contours and crisp white faux-leather lining, its casing made of an alloy of Dr. Cossack's own invention that was supposedly blast proof. Roll had even tested this with her toaster cannon, much to Mega Man's exasperation). Leaving Dr. Light and Quint behind in Red Gulch, Mega Man and Roll took off to investigate the source of the thunderous sound that had echoed across the desert. Expecting to meet Dr. Wily's forces again, they took the meteorite with them, Roll suggesting that they take turns with it in battle to mitigate their exposure and reduce their chance of overloading.

Mega Man rode on Rush's jet while Roll drove the jeep next to a nearby railway. Though they were leaving the glow of Red Gulch far behind them, the night was bright with stars and moonlight. Along the way, they saw someone running next to the tracks—but it wasn't Dr. Cossack, it was a human dressed in a disheveled conductor's uniform. He ran wildly across the dry grass toward Red Gulch, a dark plume of smoke rising from the ravine ahead. Meanwhile, a green haze rose from the dry ground like a shimmering luminescent mist. Rush made a strange lurch as though hitting an airburst.

"Looks like a radiation cloud," muttered Mega Man as they closed in on the ravine. "I bet this is the meteorite's doing. You better drop altitude, boy."

At the bank, Deputy had begun pacing in front of the front window.

"Quit that nervous walkin', Deputy, you'll wear a trench through the floor," complained Mayor Red, still engrossed in his poker game with Sheriff Cotton and the banker.

"Sir, I think I should be on patrol."

"And why would that be?"

"There's an unidentified green fog outside, Wily's Bad-bots could be terrorizing civilians, and one of the scientists who came here earlier was reported missing."

"Hmph, good riddance to the scientist."

"Deputy has some good points, he should be keepin' Red Gulch safe," wheezed Sheriff Cotton, looking over his hand to Mayor Red.

"Oh alright, you go keep an eye on those eggheads," relented Mayor Red, throwing down his own hand in contempt. "This green fog's prob'bly their fault anyhow, which is why we shoulda kept them out in the first place."

The orange train lay on its side, dark locomotive fuel pooling below it while bright orange flames flickering off the steep ravine walls. Battontons swooped in and out of one of the smashed cars carrying glittering gold bars, like flies swarming a carcass, the shimmering green haze casting an unearthly shroud above.

Mega Man leaped off Rush's jetboard as Roll screeched to a halt at the ravine's end, then together they charged toward Cut Man, Guts Man, and Drill Man, who were standing over the remains of the guard drones, a human crew standing trembling in a line with their hands up.

"Hey, how did you know where to find us?" demanded Guts Man.

"You're not the only one who can read a train schedule, dummy!" answered Mega Man.

Guts Man growled. "Get 'em!"

The Robot Masters rushed to meet them.

Snake Man had stumbled down the winding trail, around the curved edge of the mesa, and toward the opening of the ravine, the green haze thickening all around him. Ahead, he heard battle and saw golden flashes from plasma fire. So Mega Man was there. But Snake Man was feeling so weak…he closed his hand around the meteorite fragment. He needed more power…

At this thought, the meteorite fragment suddenly seared his titanium skin. Snake Man let out a sharp hiss, the fragment dropping from his hand, once again dull like dusty glass as it bounced off into a clump of weeds. But inside, Snake Man felt the meteorite's power sitting inside his power core like a blazing coal, sending energy throughout his wires, both rejuvenating him while burning and damaging his circuits at the same time. Though it hurt, he could push through the pain so long as he could fight again—

He froze. The shimmering haze surrounding him had grown extremely dense, obscuring the landscape, and yet, a shadowy shape had appeared in what he had though was an empty desert plain. It was as large as one of the mesas…but it was moving. Snake Man squinted at the colossal shape, feeling alert as he attempted to grasp its form—

Then the meteorite's energy surged in Snake Man's chest, blinding him with pain.

Roll and Mega Man passed the meteorite fragment back and forth like a baseball. Though this meant only one could fight at a time while the other took cover, their strategy seemed to be paying off—Cut Man and Guts Man quickly became confused on who they should attack while Drill Man was having trouble keeping up.

Roll, her ponytail floating like a cloud around her as she clutched the meteorite in her hand, used a sledge hammer from her utility arm to launch Drill Man out of the ravine and into a far off scrubland. She then threw the meteorite to Mega Man, who was huddled beneath the torn-off train door while Guts Man bared down on him. Catching the meteorite, Mega Man blasted Guts Man into a star-shaped tunnel through solid cliff rock, leaving only Cut Man to deal with. Then, with a jolt, Mega Man realized there was something else in the ravine with them.

He counted around seven of them, their forms indistinct like flames in the wind, but their star-like eyes pierced him like lasers. They seemed suspicious of him, visibly tense.

These must have been the aliens Quint had seen. Mega Man remembered what Dr. Cossack had said about the trace sample of purple evil energy residing in his body, and how these aliens had found it threatening. He didn't want what happened to Quint to happen to him. But the aliens were keeping their distance for now, at least. Mega Man supposed—or perhaps sensed—that since the evil energy was dormant in his body, it wasn't cause for the alien's immediate concern.

But as Mega Man looked at them, distracted, the meteorite fragment began burning his fingertips like a pellet of plasma, energy surging through his wires. Oh no, I'm overloading! Mega Man thought. This was happening much faster than last time, he should have passed the meteorite fragment back to Roll—but before he had a chance, a Rolling Cutter streaked toward him, smashing the unstable meteorite like a clump of sand. Mega Man was knocked back, skidding across the gravel next to the train track. The energy overload instantly died down, making him feel like red-hot metal suddenly doused with water. The alien figures vanished like mist.

Unfortunately, without the meteorite, Mega Man and Roll no longer had a level playing field with the Robot Masters. Drill Man had returned by tunneling beneath the ground like a torpedo-sized mole, while Guts Man had clawed his way out of the cliffside, dust sliding from his armor in a shimmer of green. Together, Guts Man, Cut Man, and Drill Man began advancing slowly.

"Getting a little hot under the collar, Mega creep?" Cut Man jeered.

"Aw crap," muttered Roll, switching to her toaster cannon, her brow knitted as she struggled to think of a new plan. Rush, who had stayed hidden in a thicket of prickly pears, bounded protectively to Mega Man's side, growling at the Robot Masters. By now, the battontons had finished stealing all of the gold from the train and had left in a squeaking swarm.

The Robot Masters halted abruptly, their armor beginning to emit green sparks as their meteorite fragments flashed. Guts Man and Cuts Man's heads were swiveling around frantically, their eyes wide as they stared at unseen forms.

"It's them again!"

"They're back!"

Drill Man wrapped his drill shaped arms around his chest. "I'm—I'm overheating," he buzzed weakly.

Then, something extraordinary happened. A few short zaps echoed through the ravine, and with flashes of light, the meteorite pieces on the Robot Master's chests shattered too.

This was too much for the Cut Man and Guts Man. Screaming in fright, they turned away from Mega Man and pelted the opposite direction down the ravine. Drill Man, who had recovered slightly but whose armor was smoking like singed charcoal, trailed behind them.

"Don'—run—cowards! There—noth—g here!" Dr. Wily's garbled voice crackled angrily from a walkie talkie lying abandoned on the ground. Roll promptly crushed it under her boot.

But Mega Man also knew this wasn't the aliens' doing—the echoing zap had sounded like an ordinary laser pistol report. They turned, and saw someone in cowboy clothes running down the tracks toward them.

"Deputy!"

Deputy stopped before them, looking both excited and nervous at the same time as he gazed at the smoldering train wreckage. "Sorry it took me so long to get here! I shot those meteorite pieces on the Bad-Bot's armor to make them lose their power."

"Just like how Dr. Cossack saved Quint," said Roll. "The meteorite's power must protect the wearer, but not the meteorite itself!"

Mega Man grinned at Deputy. "You really are a crack shot, Deputy…"

Deputy fleetingly met Mega Man's eyes before looking down at the ground while smiling bashfully. Then, self consciously straightening his blue bandana, he said quickly, "I'll go check on the rest of the train's human crew, see if they want to take shelter in Red Gulch. I can take them back in the stage coach I brought—Sheriff Cotton shouldn't mind."

He hurried off. Mega Man and Roll smiled after him, then turned to head back down the ravine toward the jeep.

"Kid can hold his own against a Robot Master after all," said Mega Man.

"At least scaredy-cat ones like Cut Man and Guts Man," smirked Roll.

They had reached the mouth of the ravine, the green haze almost like a shimmering wall in the wide open plain beyond.

A crunch of gravel echoed through the haze like a large clumsy footstep. Mega Man and Roll both stiffened, looking around, then Roll pointed to their left.

"Look, Snake Man's on his own again!"

A short distance from the tracks, Snake Man was bent over, trembling violently. He looked on the verge of collapsing but, catching sight of Mega Man, he jerked his blaster upward and fired.

The Search Snake flew for a few feet before hitting the ground. There it slithered slowly toward Mega Man in slow jerks, then rolled over onto its back and powered down, its mouth hanging askew like roadkill. Meanwhile, Snake Man's blaster had erupted in green sparks and smoke from the recoil, and he fell backward into a dead thorn bush with a dull crunch.

"Looks like he's had more meteorite power than he can handle," remarked Mega Man, smirking.

"Yeah, he should have ran with the others," joined in Roll. "Now's our chance to nab one of Wily's bots!"

They hurried over to detangle Snake Man from the thorn bush, each grabbing an arm. Snake Man struggled, digging his heels in the gravel and wrestling futilely against their grip.

"Noo! Releasssse me or you'll pay!"

"You're not looking too good, Snake Man, but Dr. Light will see to it and fix your rotten Bad-bot attitude—" Mega Man responded cheerfully. "Let's get him to the jeep."

Snake Man's strength failed completely as he slumped between Mega Man and Roll, his legs trailing lifelessly through the cool sand as he was dragged backwards. He felt as powerless as a ragdoll, unable to move his own limbs, though the meteorite energy still burned persistently inside. He would have self destructed if he could—why hadn't Dr. Wily built his Robot Masters with this ability to prevent capture? Whatever shadowy form he had seen in the desert must have been a mirage, for it had gone. Perhaps the green figures had been mirages too—and now Snake Man was stuck in this degrading situation with no way out.

With the haze continuing to build, Proto Man and Elec Man had taken Dr. Cossack under a rocky overhang beneath a mesa as silent forks of green lighting flashed across the sky.

"What are we going to do now?" muttered Elec Man, wrinkling his nose as he looked out into the blanket of green.

"Keep calm and stick together."

"I wasn't talking to you, Cossack."

Dr. Cossack didn't seem to pay the comment any mind. His eyes fell on the handheld computer in Elec Man had been carrying. "May I borrow your device? I'd like to run an analysis."

Elec Man moved the computer behind himself. "Absolutely not."

"Elec Man's right. You made am electro-neutralizer pulse gun out of random garbage last time I kidnapped you, no way letting you use a computer is a good idea," put in Proto Man with fond recollection.

Dr. Cossack glared sternly at Proto Man. "After 'Lotos,' you must appreciate how much peril we are in right now. This green haze is caused by a high concentration of loose alien energy, such as from meteorite pieces—though it may be caused by something else too."

Proto Man whistled. "You seem to know a lot about weird stuff. Say, you're not secretly a mad scientist, are ya Dr. C?"

"No," Dr. Cossack retorted, rankled. "I didn't create any of this, I just study it."

"Meant it as a compliment. Wily's one, after all."

"Please stop talking." Dr. Cossack sighed, kneading his forehead. "We're in a dangerous situation. An unknown paranormal phenomena is rapidly developing, we can't call for help, we may even become trapped here. In the mean time, I suggest you give me your meteorite fragments. You'll be much safer without them. If I try to run away with them, you can shoot me." When neither Proto Man nor Elec Man surrendered their meteorite fragments, Dr. Cossack added, frustration building into his tone, "Why do either of you need these? You're powerful enough without them, aren't you?"

"I think you're over reacting, Doc," said Proto Man. "These meteorite fragments aren't really doing anything bad right now."

"Only because you aren't using them—"

"Enough," Elec Man interrupted impatiently, glaring at Dr. Cossack suspiciously. "I'll run an analysis on this green whatever, though I'll need to calibrate my computer first. I doubt I'll need your help."

He powered on his computer and began to work. An awkward silence ensued.

"Weird night, huh?" Proto Man asked Dr. Cossack conversationally.

Dr. Cossack sighed. "You have no idea."

After dumping Snake Man in the back of the jeep, Mega Man took off ahead on Rush's jet, flying low between the mesa tops to avoid interference from the radiation, while Roll leaped into the driver's seat.

"At least the jeep still works," she muttered as she turned the key in the ignition.

Dunes raced past the range of the headlines in dusty waves as they took off. Roll began flipping through channels on the jeep's radio, muttering in disappointment when nothing but grainy Country and Western stations came in.

"There'sss no metal ssstationsss around here," hissed a voice, almost startling her.

Roll switched off the radio and glanced at Snake Man through the rearview mirror. She hadn't realized he was still conscious, for his eyes were closed as he laid crumpled in the backseat. "…How do you know what music I like?"

"It'ssss what everyone likesss."

"Oh? And what sort of bands does a snake-bot listen to?"

Cold silence.

But Roll's interest was piqued. "You're full of it. Why would one of Wily's Robot Masters know anything about music?"

More silence. Perhaps Snake Man had powered down after all.

Roll drummed her hands against the steering wheel. "My favorite band is Nightmare Fuel. They're pretty awesome, probably the best band ever—if you really like metal, you've probably heard of them before."

To her surprise, Snake Man responded to this. "Nightmare Fuel isss good but I like Gigavolt better."

"What do you mean? Nightmare Fuel is only the best band of last year."

"Nightmare Fuel'sss good, but their soundsss isss a little overproduced. I like Gigavolt better."

"Hmm," said Roll, impressed with his knowledge on the subject. At the same time, the conversation seemed familiar… "…Have we talked about this before?"

Was it her imagination, or had Snake Man just started slightly?

Roll frowned, her eyes flicking to the rearview mirror to peer suspiciously at Snake Man as the feeling of familiarity nagged at her. She thought back to every person she may have talked to at concerts or music stores and drew a blank. Then her grip tightened on the steering wheel, her pulsar pulse beating fast as it suddenly came to her who Snake Man who reminded her of: the stranger who had helped uncover Dr. Wily's scheme at Fun World.

No way…

After the events of Dr. Wily's Robo-Spider, Roll had thought the stranger had been Elec Man in disguise, for the two 'humans' had appeared identical, a most unpleasant reveal…but was the stranger's true identity Snake Man? That was impossible—no, not impossible…after all, Snake Man had switched bodies once, perhaps he had again…

Roll felt a mixture of emotions at this revelation as she glanced between the green hazy desert ahead and the still form in the backseat. Snake Man was one of Dr. Wily's Robot Masters, had recently attacked them at Red Gulch, and had been part of Brain Bot's kidnapping party. Truly an enemy…right? She thought back to what else she knew about Snake Man. When he had attacked Dr. Light's university, he had seemed like a lousy shot…had he been holding back? And when Proto Man had saved her from succumbing to the retrovirus…hadn't Snake Man been there too? Even her earliest memories of Snake Man, back when he was impersonating Mega Man, he had seemed…cool? It was beginning to feel plausible that Snake Man and the stranger were the same person after all…

The jeep came to a stop in a crunch of sand, the engine cutting off. Snake Man cracked open his eyes to peer out the open roof. They didn't appear to be at Red Gulch yet. It was dark, the mesas encircling them in black graceful silhouettes in the greenish haze, a steady chorus of cicadas ringing in the early morning hours.

"Snake Man, I know you were helping me at Fun World."

A stab of horror shot through Snake Man like a cold knife. How had she figured it out? They had just been talking about music, nothing else. He forced himself to remain calm and give nothing away.

"What are you talking about? I wasss not part of the Fun World missssion, I would have sssstuck out in the crowdssss."

Roll leaned on the back of her chair to look at him, her arms folded in a casual, smug way. "Yes you were, you switched bodies with Elec Man to blend in."

The idea of being taken for a body-snatching thief repulsed Snake Man to the core. "I'd never ssswitch bodiesss with him…it was a ssscrap drone modified to look like him," he retorted instantly. Then he paused, becoming flustered. He hadn't meant to say any of that out loud, and instantly wished he was in a different body now, preferably far far away. "I don't know what I'm talking about. I-I'm confusssed."

Roll only grinned, looking like a cat who had cornered a mouse. "Holy shit, so it was you. Calm down, stick to the truth. If you were the one who helped me at Fun World, then you also saved me from the robosaurs. But…why did you go back to Wily after all that? You were turning traitor!"

"I wasssn't turning traitor," Snake Man snapped contemptuously. He felt Roll was jumping to conclusions. "I wasss acting on Wily'sss ordersss!"

"Oh really? Wily ordered you to save me from the robosaurs and expose his stupid mind-control operations at Fright Island?"

Stumped, Snake Man clamped his mouth shut, willing himself to keep quiet. He didn't really have an answer anyway, his recent rebellions had been gradual shift spurred by dissatisfaction at his position and, more importantly, drive to be better than Mega Man. He had never considered himself an outright traitor…yet, like at Fun World, he felt uncomfortably exposed as Roll confronted him with secret truths that she apparently found obvious.

"Think about it! You can't like all the dumb shit Wily makes you do!" Roll continued bluntly. "I always thought you were a creep because of the body switching thing, but I guess you had no choice if Wily ordered you to do it…and you made up for it at Fun World. You're a total animal-loving softie who saves frogs from being crushed on sidewalks! That's the real you, whether you know it yet or not!"

"Animalsss are better than people," Snake Man responded defensively, "And you don't know the real me."

"Maybe not, but neither do you! You shouldn't be with Wily, you should be helping us as a good guy."

"A good guy?" Snake Man huffed, painstakingly raising his head a few inches in indignation. "Don't make me laugh."

"Why not be a good guy? I think you'll like it."

"Becaussse I am built for chaosss, terror, and dessstruction!"

Roll snorted, looking him over.

Snake Man glared at her for a moment, then let his head fall back into the jeep seat with a creak, sighing as he looked up into the star-dusted sky. He felt so tired. "No one takesss me ssseriousssly in thissss body."

"It is a bit funny, especially with the obnoxious hissing," Roll snickered before quickly catching herself with a cough. "I-I mean cool. Snakes are cool."

Snake Man rolled his eyes. "I would look rediculoussss if I sssswitched sssides."

"Oh, c'mon, who cares about that! Though if it's a big deal to you, I'm sure Dr. Light could give you a new body that you actually like—you could even be an android like Mega Man and I, then you won't have to switch with scrapyard drones."

…To become an android, like Mega Man and Roll? Snake Man bristled indignantly at the thought, the whole situation becoming increasingly surreal. "Thisss isss…insssane. I'm Wily'sss robot."

"Yeah, well, no offense, Wily sucks." Roll leaned closer over the back of her chair. "Snake Man, you should let go of your allegiance to Wily. You obviously hate it. And knock it off with this tough guy front, it's really childish. We're only trying to help—and if you even dare say 'I don't need your help' I'll ducktape your trap shut, I mean it! …But don't worry, Dr. Light will take care of you. He's way better than Wily, you'll see. If he can't fix you, no one can."

In response, Snake Man rolled onto his side to turn his back on her and shut his eyes. He waited, expecting Roll to say something else. But she didn't, and a second later he heard the key turn and the jeep engine rev up again. The seat rumbled underneath him as they began cruising over sand dunes again.

Despite the aching heat radiating from the meteorite's power inside his chest, dread swept into Snake Man circuits like ice. He was accurately aware that he would have to face Mega Man in this humiliating condition.

Though Cut Man, Guts Man, and Drill Man had returned to the mine in defeat, Dr. Wily was in a good mood, for the train robbery had been extremely successful. They could finish off Mega Man later.

The only thing that bothered him was that Snake Man had gone absent again. It was normal for Proto Man to go off on his own without warning, but Snake Man? Dr. Wily would have a talk with him when he returned. It wouldn't do if his Robot Masters started picking up bad habits from Proto Man. In the meantime, Dr. Wily was content to count the stacks of gold bars the battontons had given him, imagining all the fiendish things he could spend it on…

"This is so idiotic," muttered Elec Man as he typed rapidly on the keypad of his handheld computer. Analyzing alien energy was not what he considered time well spent.

Dr. Cossack's eyes flickered nervously between his captors, first from Proto Man, who was leaning against the concave wall in a bored, listless way, then back at Elec Man. The meteorites glittered softly on their chests.

Finally, Dr. Cossack decided to break the silence. "Seems like you should be his boss," he told Elec Man in a light, friendly sort of way, nodding toward Proto Man and shrugging sympathetically.

Elec Man shot Dr. Cossack a quick scathing look over his computer, not willing to dignify this compliment.

Dr. Cossack hesitated, then added, "Quint—er, Brain Bot told me about you…he thinks highly of you."

At this, Elec Man sighed rudely, glancing over at Proto Man. "Proto Man, make your hostage stop talking to me, I'm trying to concentrate."

Elec Man stalked several paces away. Proto Man walked up to Dr. Cossack's side, shaking his head.

"Don't take him personally, he's like that with almost everybody. Takes after the bastard who built him. How is Brain Bot, by the way? Did he tell you how I let him go in the end?"

Dr. Cossack closed his eyes, summoning all patience he had to remain silent.

Mega Man and Roll regrouped with Dr. Light at Deputy's maintenance quarters, which looked somewhat like a shed, with one long gabled roof of green clay tiles, swinging barn doors, and gray fieldstone walls. The inside was cool and breezy from the open windows, which looked as though they would normally flood the room with natural light during the day. Many necessities needed for the care of robots were neatly organized throughout the space, from a large operating table, shelves of tools, computer equipment, and energy cans kept in wooden crates.

To Mega Man and Roll, it was the most normal place they had seen in Red Gulch. Still, it left the stark impression of a prison without bars—the only personal touches Deputy had added were flowering cacti in terra-cotta pots and a wooden stool positioned next to the largest window which presumably overlooked a beautiful night sky—now currently curtained by the radiation cloud.

Tipping his cowboy hat at them, Deputy returned to his patrol of Red Gulch while Mega Man and Roll lifted Snake Man onto one of the workbenches.

After a brief scan of Snake Man's systems, Dr. Light slipped a headset over the ear receptors on Snake Man's helmet. It looked similar to the mass download interfacer Dr. Wily had put on Mega Man when posing as Brain Bot. With it, Dr. Light was attempting to reprogram Snake Man to take orders from himself, just to be safe.

But Dr. Light sighed after several minutes of rapid typing. "No good, he keeps reverting any changes to his obedience protocols."

"Wily must have perfected some anti-hacking protections," mused Mega Man.

"No, I think his programming is too advanced, its response is the same to what would happen if I tried to reprogram either of you. Like an advanced android, he appears to have self-determination. I don't think he takes orders from anyone."

"Does that make him an advanced Robot Master?" asked Roll, gazing curiously at Snake Man.

"Is that possible, Dr. Light?" Mega Man added quietly.

"Quite possible, especially if Wily referenced Proto Man's A.I. patterns when programming Snake Man," Dr. Light explained calmly (Roll and Mega Man exchanged startled expressions). "And since I can't reprogram him, the best I can do is calm him down so he doesn't hurt himself." He glanced over his shoulder. "You are safe, Snake Man. We are trying to help you."

Snake Man's eyes flashed open. "Sssave your breath, Light! I'll never ssserve you or the humansss!"

"Pardon?" asked Dr. Light, unable to understand Snake Man's hisses.

"…Forget it."

Dr. Light stared at Snake Man for a moment in troubled puzzlement, then shook his head at Mega Man and Roll. He walked with them toward the barn style doors to give Snake Man some space. "I'm afraid his condition is grave. According to the preliminary scans I took of his body, the alien energy appears to have transferred into his body and is now rooted inside his power core."

Both Mega Man and Roll stiffened. Dr. Cossack had warned this could happen. "Surely there's something you can do?" asked Mega Man in a low voice.

"I will try. For now, he is stable, though reversing his condition may be beyond my scientific understanding. If only Mikhail were here…"

"Right," murmured Mega Man, glancing back Snake Man, who was trembling and seemed to be trying his hardest to ignore the rest of them. "Unfortunately, we have another problem. I can't beat Wily's robots anymore…they destroyed my meteorite fragment."

He held out his hand. All that remained of the meteorite fragment was a dull green speck the size of a pepper flake.

Dr. Light's face brightened. He gingerly picked up the speck with a pair of tweezers he had borrowed from one of the supply drawers. "Perhaps there's another way. I've been thinking about what Quint said about how the alien energy anchors to crystalline solids. Remember the gemstones that Dr. Wily used to power his shrink ray?"

Mega Man chuckled dryly. "How will I ever forget being the size of a toy soldier, it was the worst thing to happen to me up until I switched bodies with Snake Man—" He froze. "Waitaminute…do you think those held alien energy too?"

"Must have!" exclaimed Roll excitedly.

"And Dr. Light neutralized them by altering their molecular structure," Mega Man added, grinning.

Dr. Light smiled too. "The shrink ray's gemstones are now of no more use to Dr. Wily than ordinary gemstones. Perhaps I can do the same with the meteorite fragments!"

"Then Dr. Wily's robots will lose their powers and the green aliens and this weird radiation will go away!"

Dr. Light dropped the meteorite speck into the bottom of a drum-shaped analyzation machine, shut the lid, and powered it on. "It's our only chance."

As Dr. Light set to work on their new plan, Roll leaned closer to Mega Man.

"By the way, you'll never believe what I just found out about Snake Man," she whispered, grinning.

To be continued…