Mega Man Issue 21 (Archie Comics)


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Mega Man #21 is the twenty-first issue of the Mega Man comic book series by Archie Comics, released in January 2013.

Publisher's Summary
''‘Countdown.’ It's almost New Year's Day, and Mega Man is ready to celebrate in style! Rock, Roll, and Dr. Light are among the crowd waiting to watch the ceremonial light-ball drop at midnight, but the celebration is short-lived as the Emerald Spears return to exact their revenge on our heroes! The epic grudge match between Mega Man and Xander Payne begins now, so grab a front row seat and prepare for the battle royale!''

Countdown
On New Years Eve, Mega Man and Emerald Spears leader Xander Payne are exchanging fire amongst each other while inside the countdown ball, which has ten seconds before it hits the ground and not only pronounces a new year, but also explodes and kills a large number of innocent bystanders. Xander then boasts that the bomb inside the rigged countdown ball will prove the Emerald Spears victory, with him going out as a visionary and a martyr.

It then flashes back to 21 minutes and forty-three seconds earlier, when Mega Man, the guest of honor at the new year ceremonies in the city square, gives a brief speech thanking them for making him the guest of honor and telling them to enjoy the festivities. Agent Kranz then arrives, commenting on how Mega Man has been a lab worker, a hero, and a public speaker, and they greet each other. Roll and Dr. Light then greet Kranz on the occasion. Dr. Light then questions Kranz whether everything's all right, due to the heavy police presence in the area. Kranz mentioned that everything is fine at the present, but explained that this was the reason she was meeting with them: After the terrorist attack conducted by the Emerald Spears group at the A.R.T.S. Convention, all but three members have been arrested. However, as three are still at large, and due to Mega Man's presence, they suspect the remaining three members intend to disrupt the ceremony with another terrorist attack, and requests Mega Man to protect the city for the night. Mega Man heartily confirms the request and has Rush come along to help. Kranz then leads Mega Man and Rush to Agent Stern, who then explained, after telling Mega Man that man invented coffee to prevent them from getting cold, the gist of what he knows regarding recon duty. After their "hippie-turned-revolutionary leader" was arrested, he relayed everything Greenleaf knew about what had transpired, although he admitted it wasn't much, as while Greenleaf was the official figurehead of the organization, he left all the organizing and logistics to his second in command, Xander Payne, the one responsible for blowing up the A.R.T.S. Show while Mega Man and several humans, including Doctors Light, Lalinde, and Cossack were still inside the building. They also deduced that, besides Xander, two other currently unidentified members had escaped prior to their arresting several of the members. Although the two unidentified members could be captured, Xander himself is the top priority, as because of his being ex-Military and being very fanatical towards his cause, he was the biggest threat.

Meanwhile, the two "Spears" members, Simone Miller and Theo Payne, disguised as construction workers via uniforms they had stolen, including badges, that allowed them to get past security, returned to Xander and confirmed the arming and the placing of the bomb according to Xander's specifications. Theo, however, questions why they needed to do the attack, as the people didn't do anything wrong. However, Xander stated they were indeed guilty by using a machine to celebrate New Years Eve, and he intended to demonstrate exactly how they were guilty. He declares that with the "weapon" they worship, he'll purge the symbol, robots, and the foolish humans who cannot live without them.

Short Circuits
Flash Man, Cut Man, Quake Woman, Bubble Man, Pharaoh Man and Roll talk about their New Year resolutions.

Characters

 * Mega Man
 * Dr. Light
 * Roll
 * Rush
 * Gilbert D. Stern
 * Roslyn Krantz
 * Harvey Greenleaf
 * Xander Payne
 * Theo Payne
 * Simone Miller


 * Auto
 * Guts Man
 * Time Man
 * Oil Man
 * Concrete Man
 * Splash Woman
 * Dr. Cossack
 * Kalinka
 * Dr. Noele Lalinde
 * Quake Woman
 * Break Man