Mega Man Issue 45 (Archie Comics)


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Mega Man #45 is the forty fifth issue in the Mega Man comic series by Archie Comics, to be released in 2015.

Publisher's Summary
AN ALL-NEW, JAW-DROPPING STORY STARTS HERE! 'The Ultimate Betrayal' Part One: The Robot Masters have been defeated-but that doesn't mean Dr. Wily has lost yet! A battle-weary Mega Man rushes home to save his family-but is he too late? Has Dr. Light faith been shattered beyond repair? Is this the end for our heroes?! The adaptation to the legendary game Mega Man 3 begins here, with cover art from the equally-legendary Patrick 'SPAZ' Spaziante and an all-new box art variant cover from the latest Mega Man superstar RAFA KNIGHT!

Part 1: Making It Personal
Mega Man, while using Rush Jet and telling Rush to move faster, continues to try and hail Dr. Light with no success, as his teleporting signal is rendered offline. He then begs for someone to respond so he can stop worrying, but then discovers that Light Labs is on fire. Realizing that something terrible must have happened, he tells Rush to land and see if everyone is alright. However, before he could finish his thought, he hears a tune and recognizes it. True to his recognition, he and Rush are shot down, with Break Man then approaching them and telling them that Dr. Light can't see them as he's busy with "someone else."

Meanwhile, inside the labs, Dr. Wily tells Dr. Light not to be difficult. Doc Robot then, in multiple voices, inquires whether he should fan the already present flames, or blow more stuff up. Dr. Wily then tells him neither will be necessary as long as Light cooperates. Dr. Light, realizing that Wily is referring to Gamma, tells him he won't grant him access to Gamma and expresses his confidence that Mega Man will be present any moment and stop him. Wily then recognizes Mega Man as Dr. Light's second son who barely managed to beat his Robot Masters with an eerie amount of confidence, while Doc Robot states that he let Mega Man come as "they are all dying for a rematch." Dr. Wily then reveals that he anticipated this outcome and made sure Break Man handles Mega Man.

Dr. Light then demands to know why Dr. Wily would insist on using that name as if Dr. Light wouldn't recognize his own son, with Dr. Wily revealing that Break Man is his son now. Roll, clearly enraged with Wily having lied to them and then hurting Auto and putting Rock through more horrible fighting, attempts to drive Wily and Doc Robot out while swinging her broom while yelling at them to get out, with Dr. Light warning her to stand down. Roll then whacks her broom at Doc Robot, but the broom broke apart upon contact. To make matters worse for her, Doc Robot was enraged with her attack, realizing that they could and should have dodged her attack, also getting enraged with her hair, and then debating whether to attack a helper robot, before deciding they might as well since she took the first swing. Doc Robot then proceeded to hit her with Air Shooter.

They then proceeded to state that the attack was "weak sauce," and debating whether they should attack a kid or not before they then shot Bubble Lead at them, with Light and Roll narrowly dodging. Dr. Wily then warns Doc Robot to avoid the splash damage. The Doc Robot then proceeded to state that Wily crammed his Robot Masters' IC chips into Doc Robot, meaning that it was hard to process commands. Dr. Wily then explained that the Doc Robot is buggy, and then tells Light to fork over the keys to Gamma's chamber with the strong implication that he'll have Doc Robot kill them with a random attack if they refused to cooperate. Despite Roll's insistence that he do not, Dr. Light reluctantly caves to Dr. Wily's demands.

As Dr. Light lowers the defenses, Wily continues to taunt him until Light is finally pushed to physically attack Wily. Doc Robot breaks them up and Wily makes his way to Gamma. Wanting Light alive to stew in his defeat, Wily orders Doc Robot to destroy the lab while he teleports off.

Outside, Mega Man and Break Man are engaged in combat. Rush is knocked down, but a plea from Mega Man to spare his life and the IC chips of the Robot Masters contained within keeps Break Man from a killing blow. Mega Man inquires as to why he's doing this, but his use of the name Blues only makes Break Man angry again. Before things turn ugly, the lab explodes from Doc Robot's attack. Wily then signals Break Man to return after confirming no one died. Not wanting to fight Mega Man in his weakened state, Break Man gives him the coordinates to Wily's new castle and leaves.

Heading into the remains, Mega Man finds Dr. Light on the brink of despair, having realized the weight of what he has done and raving about how the world will suffer for it. The two siblings console their father as best they can, reminding him that Gamma and Wily can still be stopped and have to for everyone's sake. Mega Man and Rush are fully repaired and head off to the provided coordinates, where Break Man is waiting for them.

Trivia

 * The variant cover is based on the North American box art for Mega Man 3, except updated to reflect the current designs for all of the characters involved. Like previous variants, the Nintendo Seal of Approval was also parodied into an Archie Seal of Approval.
 * This is the fifth Mega Man comic to be printed in the "Archie Action Series" style.
 * This issue was released two weeks early via either a Barnes and Noble-issued Nook or the Nook app.