Mega Man Issue 45 (Archie Comics)


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Mega Man #45 is the forty-fifth issue in the Mega Man comic book series by Archie Comics, released in January 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!''

The Ultimate Betrayal - Part One: 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 lab, Dr. Wily tells Dr. Light not to be difficult. Doc Robot, in multiple voices, inquires whether he should fan the already present flames, or blow more stuff up. Dr. Wily 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 the robot and expresses his confidence that Mega Man will be present any moment and stop him. Wily 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 has anticipated this outcome and made sure that Break Man would handle Mega Man.

Dr. Light then demands to know why Dr. Wily would insist on using the name Break Man as if Dr. Light wouldn't recognize his own son, with Dr. Wily saying 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 and 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 her, with Light protecting her Roll and narrowly dodging. Dr. Wily warns Doc Robot to be careful with the splash damage, and Doc Robot proceeded to state that Wily crammed his Robot Masters' I.C. chips into Doc Robot, meaning that it was hard to process commands. Dr. Wily 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 should not, Dr. Light reluctantly caves to Dr. Wily's demands. Dr. Light then tells a bewildered Roll to do whatever Dr. Wily demands, and assures her that everything would be fine.

As Dr. Light lowers the defenses, Wily continues to taunt him, asking him how long it was since they were competing regarding robot development, as well as seeing who among them was the real genius. Light tells Wily that it was never a contest to begin with, with Wily capitalizing on the remark by stating that he was "always ahead of the rest of you." Light then tells Wily that the defenses are down and thus Wily can leave at any time. However, Wily demands that Light be proud of him instead of being a "sore loser," rubbing in that he managed to surpass Light despite being banned from robotics and having to work off Light's scraps. This acted as the final straw, as Light is finally pushed to physically attempt to attack Wily, grabbing him by the shirt. 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 above the hangar while he teleports off with Gamma by using the eight teleporters used to send the Energy Elements.

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. Break Man then contacts Wily, with Wily then, after asking if the destruction of the lab was glorious, before revealing he managed to escape with Gamma in tow beforehand and has already returned to the castle. Break Man, however, inquires about Roll and Dr. Light in a tone of concern, with Wily, citing he's not a monster, stating that they are still alive in Gamma's hangar below the lab. Break Man then noted they are safe, with Wily expressing irritation at Break Man's unusual amount of concern for them, telling him to finish off Mega Man and then return to the lab. Mega Man, however, overheard the entire exchange and then began angrily yelling at Break Man. However, Break Man tells him to "save it." 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, even though it was to save Roll, and raving about how the world will suffer for it, and even implied he may have to give up believing there is good in anyone. 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 (alongside Auto) and head off to the provided coordinates, where Break Man is waiting for them.

Short Circuits
In a biology exposition, everyone runs away from the location. Inside, doctors Light and Wily wonder what did they think a robot named "Guts Man" would look like (Guts Man being mostly transparent with several visible organs, some coming out from his abdomen), and it is considered a failure.

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 issue was released two weeks early via either a Barnes and Noble-issued Nook or the Nook app.
 * On page 19 there is an abbreviation of "TUBP1 - 0914", which means "The Ultimate Betrayal Part 1 - September 2014". The forty-fifth issue was announced in September 2014.
 * On page 20 is a number (87%). The first Mega Man game was released in 1987.