Mega Man Issue 15 (Archie Comics)


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Mega Man #15 is the fifteenth issue in the Mega Man comic book series by Archie Comics, released on July 2012.

Publisher's Summary
'Spiritus ex Machina,' Part 3. Time is running out for Mega Man and his friends. A new twist catches both heroes and villains off-guard, and putting Dr. Light and everyone at the A.R.T.S. in mortal danger! Meanwhile, Dr. Wily's growing army in the Amazon discovers a certain red-and-grey robot!

Spiritus Ex Machina - Part Three: Desperate Measures
The story begins with two Emerald Spears soldiers near one of the booths confronting Rock, mistaking him for a human and ordering him outside. Rock then tricks them by claiming that his dad needs his help and is searching for him. One of the guards takes sympathy for him and decides to aid him in finding his dad before getting them out. Rock thanks them and directs them to his "father's" location. One of the soldiers attempts to stop him, clearly suspicious of Rock's actions, but is told by his partner to give him a break as its dark, his father's likely in trouble, and there are dangerous robots around, with Rock "confirming" the robots are terrifying. He then goes into the men's room, causing one of the guards to get nervous while the other tells him to grow up. As soon as they enter, however, Rush barks at them, startling them, with Rock then "trapping" them in a stall, also fusing the door shut by partially transforming into Mega Man and using his Mega Buster, thus defeating them without violating the laws of robotics, although not before one of them reports to the remaining soldiers that a robot dog and a robot disguised as a boy has locked them up and gave their location.

Mega Man then realizes that he can't pull that trick anymore and proceeds to request a status report from Elec Man, Pharaoh Man, and Quake Woman regarding their bomb hunt. Quake Woman, while using her Quake Drill to open up a ventilation shaft, reports that she had just located her third bomb, and that she had already disabled two thus far. Elec Man reported that he is in the process of diffusing the second bomb with his Thunder Beam, citing that he had to lay low due to Emerald Spears patrols nearby. Pharaoh Man then reported in and transmitted what seemed to be the final locations of the bombs. Mega Man then congratulated them before telling them he'll continue distracting the Emerald Spears and stating they still needed to work fast as he exits the restroom, as he isn't sure if the doctors can stall their leader for much longer. Meanwhile, Xander Payne, shortly after forcibly taking command from Harvey Greenleaf, overheard ES-06's SOS transmission. Xander then proceeds to, after informing the doctors that he's taken command, threaten them by telling them that, after giving them a second chance to make peace with themselves, he'll detonate the bombs, not caring that there are some people still inside. He explains that he resents Dr. Light the most, as it was one of his Robot Masters that maimed his left eye.

Light attempts to apologize for the event, but then Dr. Lalinde cuts in and tries to stand up for him by stating it wasn't his fault, citing Dr. Wily's hijacking them as being the reason for his loss, but Xander informs her that it may have been a different individual, but it is still the same inherent problem. Xander then questions why she's so willing to stand up for him when she debated against giving robots free will, citing that he was surprised that she'd do that. Lalinde then reluctantly explains that it was to voice caution over developing emotional attachments to them: if they build a robot to do dangerous jobs, and those jobs take their toll, tools are lost and not 'sons and daughters'. While she is stating this, she has a flashback to an experience she had with Quake Woman, then known as Tempo, where Quake Woman was badly damaged in an accident relating to geological research, presumably almost destroyed).

It was at that moment that Dr. Light realized that Quake Woman seemed distant because Dr. Lalinde took away her personality. Lalinde then explained while holding back tears that she did it to ease the emotional pain, but realized that despite that, she was still her "Tempo," still her daughter, and very much in danger. Xander had little pity on her, and expressed disgust that she would hold emotional sentiment to machines, as their "personalities" were manufactured. Dr. Cossack proceeded to talk back and question whether love for machines was any less genuine than love for their own emotions created from a lifetime of experiences, or whether its any less genuine whether their creations had a pulse or a motor.

Back at the Temple of the Moon, Dr. Wily is using Ra Moon to repair and reprogram Shadow Man, while Quick Man questions why he needs to repair "some ancient Robot Master" when he already has so many other robot designs. Shadow Man is successfully repaired and appears surprised that he's functioning. A proximity alarm goes off, meaning something has wandered into the EMP field. Shadow Man is surprised by it and summons a Shadow Blade, ready to throw it. Wily is impressed by how quickly he responds, and Flash Man is displeased to see another "quick" robot. Wily sends Shadow Man, Quick Man, Magnet Man, and Flash Man to investigate, thinking it's a good time to test them out. Air Man questions why Wily is doing all this instead of rebuilding his lab, but Wily assures him that they can afford a little more prep time.

Roll and Kalinka are caught by one of the Emerald Spears, who thinks that the two are sisters (and that Roll is human) and leads them outside to safety without a fight. Once outside the convention center, Roll uses Kalinka's phone to contact Agent Krantz, sending her the video of Harvey they previously recorded to her and telling her about what's going on.

Needle Man emerges from Ra Moon, and is greeted by Dr. Wily, who asks him to help with some of the 'heavy lifting' around his lab. Needle Man seems a bit confused as how to do so, as he has no hands, and Crash Man (who has drills instead of hands) empathizes with him. Quick Man returns with Shadow Man, Magnet Man, and Flash Man, and says that a Robot Master entered the EMP field. Wily is shocked and overjoyed to find that the Robot Master is in fact Blues, who is completely deactivated. At that moment, Ra Moon explains that Blues deactivated (his power core still intact) because his EMP field deactivates any machinery that isn't of his making. He also says that his mentioned EMP field can be extended with enough time and power. Dr. Wily is fascinated knowing that, but decides to focus on fixing Blues.

Back at the convention, Xander detonates the bombs, but at first, none of them explode. When he sees why: almost all of them had been disabled. Enraged, he orders his men to attack all of the robots in the convention. At first, Mega Man can't fight back, but then the Spears begin shooting at people, endangering lives, he, Pharaoh Man, Quake Woman, and Elec Man start to fight them head-on. He lets them know, and soon, they're all fighting back. Xander, even more enraged, shows the doctors how their robots are attacking the Emerald Spears, but Dr. Light retaliates by explaining that his men were the ones endangering lives and that Mega Man and the others are trying to save them. Unwilling to give up, he detonates the few bombs that are left.

Roll and Kalinka are still talking to Agent Krantz about what's happening, then they see the explosion as they're hiding behind a car. Inside, near where the bombs were set off, Mega Man and the others are near the lecture hall, which has caved in, the doctors and many people still trapped inside.

I Want My Mummy
Pharaoh Man's sarcophagus is mixed up with a real sarcophagus during delivery and sent to a history museum.

Characters

 * Rock / Mega Man
 * Emerald Spears soldiers
 * Rush
 * Quake Woman
 * Elec Man
 * Pharaoh Man
 * Xander Payne
 * Harvey Greenleaf
 * Dr. Light
 * Dr. Noele Lalinde
 * Dr. Cossack
 * Dr. Wily
 * Magnet Man
 * Shadow Man
 * Flash Man
 * Ra Moon
 * Quick Man
 * Bubble Man
 * Heat Man
 * Air Man
 * Kalinka
 * Roll
 * Roslyn Krantz
 * Needle Man (First appearance)
 * Crash Man
 * Blues
 * Simone Miller

Locations

 * A.R.T.S.
 * Lanfront Ruins
 * Temple of the Moon