Mega Man (character)/Archie Comics

Rock Light, better known by his alias Mega Man or by his serial number DLN-001, is a character that appears in the Mega Man comic series published by Archie Comics. The main protagonist of the comic series, Rock is one of the three "children" of Doctor Thomas Light, the other two being Blues and Roll. First appearing in the Mega Man #1, Rock Light was meant to be a helper to Dr. Light. However, when Dr. Light's co-partner, Doctor Albert Wily, reprogrammed Dr. Light's Robot Masters to take over the city and if succeeding, the world, Rock had selflessly requested to be remodeled into a fighting robot known as Mega Man to stop Dr. Wily and return the Robot Masters to Light Labs. However, as more conflicts arose, such as Dr. Wily's escape to the Lanfront Ruins and the Emerald Spears, Mega Man has became the protector of the world, and has made it his job to proclaim everlasting peace on Earth.

Personality
Being modeled after an eight year old child, Rock has an innocent and ecstatic nature, much like a young boy. A pacifist inspired by Dr. Light's principles of values, Rock knows the right and wrong and has a mighty sense of justice. He does not like violence, but he will stand against violence just to protect anyone in danger. He has attempted to solve conflicts with words rather than violence, such as his attempt to stop the fighting between the reprogrammed Robot Masters as seen in Mega Man #4. Most of the time, however, it is at the least bit of successful. However, Rock has trouble fighting his own kind due to his peaceful nature. An example is seen when Rock was forced to destroy a Sniper Joe in Mega Man #5, as he quotes "I'm sorry." just before he shoots the Sniper Joe.

Mega Man, however, does not have a free-will, despite his human-appearance that can easily fool others around that he is a human. Rock is still a robot, and he must obey the rules of a robot, known as Isaac's Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics". Following with the programming inside Mega Man, Rock cannot go against his coding.

The Special Weapons Mega Man absorbs can tend to cause him to get over-confident and cocky on his powers, as shown through Mega Man #3. To not have this happen once again, Mega Man wishes to have all of the data he copied from his adventure uninstalled when the adventure is over. Rock and Mega Man are the same character, but however, to avoid confusion, Rock is used for when he is normal and not fighting robots, whereas Mega Man is used only during confrontations. However, because they are so close to him as family, Dr. Light, Roll, and Auto will refer to Mega Man as Rock even when the Blue Bomber is equipped with his blue armor.

Early Life
Rock Light and his sister, Roll, were created by Dr. Thomas Light after their older brother Blues had run away from home. Rock, similar to his sister and brother, had been named after a musical genre (in his and Roll's case, "Rock and Roll") due to Dr. Light's love of music. Both Rock and Roll were built to assist Dr. Light at Light Labs, whether it be everyday tasks or building robots. It was also theorized by Dr. Noele Lalinde, Light's close friend and colleague, that Thomas may have built Rock and Roll for Blues so that if he ever chose to return he would no longer be the only Robot in the family. Other Robot Masters were created later, but appear not to have been considered Light's children or Rock's siblings.

Let the Games Begin
In the year 200X, at the Titanium Park, Rock, Roll, and Dr. Light are preparing for a unveiling of the Robot Master: Cut Man, Guts Man, Bomb Man, Elec Man, Fire Man, and Ice Man. However, Dr. Light's co-worker, Dr. Albert Wily, came in to check up on Light and, after Rock and Roll tried to help Wily in any way they could, asked the doctor on whether Doctor Wily would get any recognition as Dr. Light presents the Robot Masters. Dr. Light disagrees because of an "unethical robotics experiment" that Dr. Wily had made that apparently would cause controversy for Light Labs supporting negative influences. An agitated Wily immaturely states that he "forgot that 'Light' makes 'Right,'" but Dr. Light reminds Wily that both of them worked together in the university and that Wily can eventually fix his mistakes. With this, Wily and Light agree for now and Dr. Light goes on the stage and presents his Robot Masters to the public while on live air. However, when Ripot, a member of The B&C Gazette, asks Dr. Light concerning about robots made for battle and war created by Dr. Light, the scientist, adamant, confirms that the days of making war craft robots have been stepped aside. After this was said, Dr. Wily had left the unveiling, disappointed at those words.

Later that night, the Light family are preparing to go to bed, as Rock and Roll help put up Light's clothes, but Roll brings up the moment earlier that day when Dr. Light was a bit furious at Ripot's question on robotic warfare. Dr. Light explains that violence, in his beliefs, should be the last resort to any situation, and that his creations on warfare robots just to make Light Labs known, as well as earn money needed for supplies, was a bit skeptical on his part, but he promises to Rock and Roll that he will never go back into robotic warfare. Unbeknownst to them, as the Light family prepare to go to bed, Dr. Wily had sneaked inside Light Labs and had made some "modifications" to each of the Light Robot Masters, making the Robot Masters under his control. The next morning, Roll alarms Dr. Light and tells the scientist that the Robot Masters are no where to be seen and have apparently escaped. Rock then turns on the television, where news coverage of the Light Robot Masters is broadcasting live. The news coverage states that police and other forces are no match against the Robot Masters and that violence and chaos is spread across Mega City. Suddenly, Dr. Wily hacks into the television broadcast and declares his strike-out against the world with the Robot Masters. He simply demands each of the world leaders to resign and for him to become the supreme emperor, so to speak, of Earth. Horrified, Dr. Light asks Rock to turn off the television, as Dr. Light and Roll are weeping at this monstrosity. As Roll asks whether anyone can stop the Robot Masters, Dr. Light doubts anything can defeat this violent act of Wily's. After a few seconds of weeping, Rock selflessly states that "he'll do it" and that he will stop Dr. Wily no matter what. Dr. Light and Roll, both shocked and thankful for Rock's actions, immediately head towards the laboratory to upgrade Rock with the best armor Light has, a Copy Chip to essentially use the enemy's weapon, and a Mega Buster to shoot at his foes. After being upgraded, Rock declares that, since he has a Mega Buster, he decides to take on the alias of Mega Man.

And so, Mega Man was teleported in war-torn Mega City. Rock is horrified at the city's destruction and contacts Dr. Light and asks him which Robot Master Rock needs to face first. Dr. Light tells Mega Man that Bomb Man is the closest Robot Master, logically making Bomb Man Mega Man's first target. Unbeknownst to Mega Man though, two soldiers are hiding and eavesdropping on Mega Man. Mega Man asks Dr. Light why [Light] couldn't build a Robot Master such as "Origami Man," but Light tells Rock that the Robot Masters were meant to help people, not hurt them. Having heard Mega Man, the two soldiers quarrel with each other, as one believes that Mega Man is going to fight the Robot Masters, while the other one disbelieves Mega Man's true actions. Mega Man admits that he doesn't mean to complain at Dr. Light, and the scientist believes in his son, and that Dr. Light will be online contacting Mega Man throughout his journey. Mega Man declares that he will bring everlasting peace to Mega City and return the Robot Masters back. The two soldiers yell at each other for the same reason as earlier, which catches Mega Man's attention. Mega Man startles the two soldiers as he attempts to shake their hands, but Mega Man moves onward after accidentally scaring the soldiers.

Mega Man then encounters reprogrammed-Flea robots, in which causes the Blue Bomber some trouble shooting the robots via Mega Buster. Dr. Light tells Mega Man that Rock is going to have to fight his own kind but Rock is ambushed by a Sniper Joe robot. Dr. Light is shocked and questions if the robot is someone named "Blues." However, Dr. Light realizes it is just a Sniper Joe, but Roll asks Dr. Light who Blues is. Dr. Light simply tells her that he's not "important right now," and that helping their brother is the major concern at the moment. And so, Mega Man avoids the Sniper Joe and is transported to a excavation site, the location Bomb Man is located. Bomb Man, sitting on a ruined construction vehicle, is impressed with Mega Man's entrance, but he is displeased that the Blue Bomber didn't enter with a bang. With this, Bomb Man uses his Hyper Bomb Master Weapons to attack Mega Man. Mega Man pleads to stop Bomb Man's terror, but the Robot Master rejects the offer and states that the fight is actually a massacre.

Seeing how Bomb Man will stop at nothing to destroy Mega Man, the Blue Bomber decides to fire pullets from his Mega Buster at the Robot Master. With this, Bomb Man is defeated and Mega Man, horrified at what he's done, apologizes to the deceased robot. Dr. Light then tells Mega Man to copy Bomb Man's Master Weapon via Copy Chip, and Rock does so. With this, Mega Man had acquired the Hyper Bomb, and asks Dr. Light if he can throw bombs like Bomb Man. Dr. Light agrees, but he states that only one weapon may be used at a time, meaning if Mega Man uses the Hyper Bomb or any Master Weapon, he cannot use his Mega Buster. Mega Man then sadly states that his Mega Buster if enough, but Dr. Light conforms his son by wishing their was another way. Regardless, Dr. Light promises Mega Man that he will reprogram the Robot Masters and fix them up back to normal. A slight-conformed Mega Man is then transported to a quarry, where he will encounter Guts Man.

Mega Man is then transported to a quarry, where Dr. Light explains that he is able to track down the Robot Master's set location. Mega Man then touches a Mettaur after mistaking it for a hard helmet, and the Mettaur begins to attack Mega Man. Several Bunby Top DX robots begin to ambush Mega Man, but the Blue Bomber then trips on the same Mettaur. Mega Man questions to Dr. Light why [Dr. Light] would make robot heads while shooting Bunby Top DX robots but Light responds by saying the Mettaur robots can be attached or modified to other robots. Suddenly, Mega Man sees a human on a quarry and heads up towards to tell the human to leave immediately. Rock realizes that the human is actually a Picket Man robot. Rock asks Dr. Light if the robots suddenly attacking him have anything to do with Dr. Wily, and Dr. Light agrees. Mega Man is horrified at shooting at the robots, but Dr. Light states that the robots can be easily rebuilt or replaced.

Mega Man responds that it is still terrible to do this, but when Mega Man goes through a tunnel, in which he suspects that Guts Man is inside, he loses signal of Dr. Light, thus making Mega Man blindsided on the forthcoming fight. Guts Man is overly-cocky on him winning the fight between him and Mega Man. After some brief smack talk, Guts Man jumps and smashes on the ground, trying to crush Mega Man. Mega Man threatens to Guts Man on not hurting him, but Guts Man is hardly taking damage with "puny" lasers from Rock's Mega Buster. Mega Man then gets the idea of using the Hyper Bomb to shut off Guts Man. Mega Man transforms his attire to the green-and-white Hyper Bomb suit and, with just a bomb, Guts Man is defeated after colliding with a bomb. After moving outside of the tunnel, Dr. Light contacts Mega Man and asks the Blue Bomber if Guts Man was defeated. Rock agrees, and he copies Guts Man's weapon, the Super Arm. Mega Man, in a uncaring nature, wants to face Cut Man next just to get this fight over with.

Both Roll and Dr. Light then notice a strange switch of personality from Rock, as the Blue Bomber now acts cold and distant unlike how he was earlier. Dr. Light then states that he knew Rock would react like this, as both Rock and Roll were built to be peaceful and loving robots. But Rock, having disobeying his original coding, feels he is betraying his kind. Roll then reminds Dr. Light that Dr. Wily was the one who reprogrammed the Robot Masters and that if Wily would have never have done this, Rock would not feel sad like he is currently. Dr. Light sighs and realizes Mega Man has already reached Cut Man. Roll suddenly snatches the headset Dr. Light was using to contact Mega Man and tells Rock that he's not a bad robot. Mega Man, talking to Roll while finally encountering Cut Man, switches to the Hyper Bomb weapon before Cut Man begins to make silly puns involving cutting to insult Rock.

Roll carries on her speech and tells Rock he's not a bad robot but he is the best for sacrificing himself to the world. Cut Man, making another cutting remark, throws a Rolling Cutter, but Roll tells Mega Man that [Rock] must come back home in one piece, and the Blue Bomber agrees. Mega Man throws a Hyper Bomb at Cut Man, but the Rolling Cutter that Cut Man threw earlier had cut the bomb in half. Realizing that Cut Man is weak against the Hyper Bomb, Mega Man switches to the Super Arm weapon, picks up several blocks of bricks, and dumps it on Cut Man while avoiding the Robot Master. After a cutting pun that Mega Man admits was awful, Mega Man copies the Rolling Cutter data and thanks Roll for her speech. Mega Man then declares that three more Robot Masters must be beaten before Dr. Wily becomes the next target to subdue. Unbeknownst to Rock, however, Dr. Wily makes plans in case the Robot Masters have failed, as Rock will meet his demise by Dr. Wily personally.

And thus, Mega Man was teleported to a facility where Elec Man is located. Dr. Wily warns Elec Man about Mega Man's presence at the facility, but Elec Man is arrogant about his power and shows off his electricity power, which startles a climbing-Mega Man. Avoiding the power surge easily, Mega Man suddenly becomes arrogant and scolds Elec Man for messing with him and the facility. Elec Man realizes Mega Man is very close to the Robot Master, but he decides he'll put the Blue Bomber out of his misery. Mega Man suddenly shows up, switching into the Rolling Cutter weapon, and prepares to fight Elec Man. Mega Man successfully throws just one Rolling Cutter blade at Elec Man, putting the Robot Master offline. Dr. Wily sighs at the Robot Masters' performance and plans to make a back-up plan since Rock is much of a bigger problem than what he thought. Mega Man then copies the Thunder Beam weapon from Elec Man, proudly telling Dr. Light at the news. Dr. Light immediately transports Mega Man to the next location; a water treatment plant frozen by Ice Man's doing. Mega Man then is eagerly ready to defeat Ice Man and show him who's boss. Roll then realizes Rock is acting differently, in fact, just about the exact opposite, of how he was feeling when fighting the first three Robot Masters, as now Rock is cocky and reckless rather than him being depressed prior. But, Dr. Light, testing out a new invention for Mega Man, tells Roll not to worry about Rock's ego just yet.

Rock then approaches Ice Man lair, forcing the Robot Master to surrender and give up his tyranny. Ice Man then declines, as he states Dr. Wily has let him keep the water treatment plant. Mega Man then avoids a shot of the Ice Slasher from Ice Man and Mega Man uses the Thunder Beam to paralyze Ice Man, thus ending the Robot Master's terror. Mega Man then picks up the Robot Master, copying the Ice Slasher weapon simultaneously, but is then transported to a fire foundry. Rock then decides to quickly end the final Robot Master's life; that very Robot Master being Fire Man himself. As nothing, not even the robots or obstacles, stand a chance to Mega Man, the Blue Bomber switches to the Ice Slasher weapon once entering Fire Man's lair. Fire Man then declares that he will not be defeated easily, but he doesn't even finish his sentence before Mega Man uses the Ice Slasher to freeze Fire Man and then kicks and punches the Robot Master, ending the life of Fire Man. Mega Man, over-confident, copies the Fire Storm weapon and mocks Fire Man, declaring him as absolutely nothing. Suddenly, Mega Man is transported back at Light Labs, where he is trapped in a magnet-like box, made by Dr. Light. Furious, Mega Man uses each of his weapons he has copied during his mission to crush the box in a brief-temper tantrum, but none of the weapons work. After seeing Roll run away, crying at seeing her brother acting like a violent robot, Mega Man falls on his knees, begins to cry, and asks Dr. Light to remove the weapons Rock has at his disposal, as he states he is just as evil as Dr. Wily.

Dr. Light then conforms Rock, taking off his helmet and wiping his tears off of his face. Dr. Light then gives a memorable speech to Mega Man about his creation: "I made you in my image. I built your heart and gave you eyes. I gave you power and a sense of justice beyond any compare... I gave you hands, a child's face... Heh... Robot hair. But this burden, the burning of your heart, I did not put there." Although touched by the explanation, Mega Man does not understand, but Dr. Light tells his son that [Rock] was taking on a huge task and that help would be needed for this quest. Dr. Light then tells his son that he doesn't want to lose another one of his beloved creations. Mega Man then asks if he is evil to Dr. Light, but Dr. Light states that a tantrum is hardly evil, and asks Rock if he wants to continue defeating Dr. Wily. Rock agrees, and Dr. Light tells Rock that he'll need to keep those weapons he has gathered.

Dr. Light then gives the new weapon he was inventing earlier (as well as the same weapon used to trap Mega Man) to Rock, and states that it is the Magnet Beam. Rock then copies the weapon and hugs his father. However, Mega Man must apologize to Roll for his tantrum earlier. Rock apologizes to Roll, and the latter forgives the former but berates Rock for making a mess in a childish way. Dr. Light then decides to download data from Mega Man's copied weapons while Rock rests and drinks an Energy Tank, as Roll fixes the tile on the floor from Mega Man's tantrum. Dr. Light, shortly, then reveals that the location of Dr. Wily was uploaded from the weapon data, as Rock can immediately be teleported to Wily's base. But, Mega Man has to be transported outside of the base in case of a scrambling field messes up Rock's coding. Because of this, Dr. Light cannot contact Rock while he is facing Dr. Wily. Rock is fully ready to take on Dr. Wily and is then transported outside of the Wily Castle. Mega Man then heads out and begins to face Big Eye robots, as Dr. Wily is watching Mega Man's movements, with the six, reprogrammed-Light Robot Masters all behind him, ready to take down Mega Man.

After dodging the Big Eye robots by a slim mile, a barricade stops Mega Man from entering inside the castle. Mega Man then switches to the Super Arm weapon and successfully destroys the barricade. He manages to enter inside, seeing how gloomy the place is, until yellow slime-balls suddenly appear and are thrown behind at Mega Man, with the Blue Bomber having several slime-balls stuck on him. Suddenly, the yellow balls form the Yellow Devil, and Mega Man wonders how he got into this situation. Remembering what and why he's here, Rock dodges attacks from the Yellow Devil and switches to the Thunder Beam. But, having remember his tantrum that scared Roll, Rock decides to face the devil with his Mega Buster only. After shooting at the devil's eye, Mega Man realizes the Yellow Devil's weak spot, and, with a charged Mega Buster shot, Mega Man shoots at the Yellow Devil's eye, ending the devil's life. Mega Man then sees a teleporting chamber up ahead and goes inside, hoping he doesn't encounter any robots there. But, sure enough, all six of the Light Robot Masters, rebuilt and reprogrammed, await for Mega Man's arrival. Mega Man, having entering the chamber, quickly exits the teleport chamber, as Guts Man crushes it flat. Trying to escape, Mega Man runs away until a giant fire barricade made by Fire Man blocks the exit. Seeing that the Robot Masters want a proper battle this go around, Mega Man tells the Robot Masters that he has all of their weaknesses at his disposal and begins to charge at Elec Man. Suddenly, Mega Man grabs Elec Man's hand and states that he doesn't want to fight them again.

Mega Man then sympathizes with the six Robot Masters, stating that they were all made to help humans, not destroy them. He then states that each of the Robot Masters helping Dr. Wily is unjust and that they were made for better. Mega Man then advises the Robot Masters to stop working for Wily and to help him make a world that even Dr. Wily couldn't refuse. Elec Man then brings up the fact that no robot can go against their coding, but Mega Man tells Elec Man that [Rock] was originally made to help, therefore Rock is helping the world via fighting, something that disobeys his coding. Although Cut Man understands and believes in Mega Man, Guts Man refuses to believe Mega Man and states that Mega Man thinks he's stronger and that the Robot Masters need to be stronger to beat Rock. Elec Man, disbelieving in Mega Man, nearly strikes at Mega Man, but Fire Man, who was touched by Rock's speech, stops Elec Man. Ice Man, too selfish to believe in Mega Man, was about to attack the Blue Bomber, but Bomb Man, who just wants to party, throws several Hyper Bomb weapons at Ice Man.

Thus, the Robot Masters fight amongst each other, while Mega Man, seeing an exit, leaves the scene secretly. As Mega Man is climbing downward, he finds himself stuck, as spikes remain below for him to get damaged. Mega Man then uses his Magnet Beam weapon to easily get through the spikes with no harm. Rock then approaches a vivid-colorful room, but a UFO-like machine traps Mega Man inside. Dr. Wily, on an intercom, announces that if Mega Man can copy weapons from Robot Masters, why can't Wily copy the weapons from Mega Man. Thus, a clone of Mega Man emerges from another UFO-like machine and the two Blue Bombers begin to fight. Mega Man, seeing how his Mega Buster won't finish his evil clone, attacks his clone with the Super Arm weapon, but his evil clone manages to use the weapon as well. Mega Man attempts to use his other weapons, but none seem to do the job. Fortunately, Mega Man has the advantage with the ability of the Magnet Beam, but is still stumped on finding a solution to this brawl. Suddenly, all six of the Robot Masters break in and rampage the fake Mega Man. With all of their weapons combined, the fake Mega Man is destroyed by the six Robot Masters.

Quite confused at what just happened, Mega Man asks why the Robot Masters destroyed Copy Robot, and Elec Man explains that they were ordered to defeat one Mega Man, and since the Copy Robot was practically a perfect clone of Mega Man, the Robot Masters are now relieved on their mission. Mega Man understands what the Robot Masters just did and asks them if they would like to help Rock fight Dr. Wily. However, the Robot Masters cannot help Rock due to their little "argument" earlier and destroying Copy Robot. Mega Man does not mind the fact they cannot fight, and he decides to go onward and defeat Dr. Wily. Speaking of Wily, the mad scientist crashes inside with his machine and begins shooting all over the place. Mega Man tells the Robot Masters to find cover while Mega Man braces himself and fights the scientist. While shooting at Mega Man, Dr. Wily begins to state that Mega Man was nothing more than a janitor of Dr. Light's, and Dr. Wily down-talks Mega Man stating that he could have stolen him just like the six Robot Masters, but he didn't because "he wasn't worth his effort."

Dr. Wily then demands Mega Man to fall at Dr. Wily's mercy and to be vaporized by his machine. While all of this is going on, Mega Man makes a series of steps via the Magnet Beam to avoid Dr. Wily. Mega Man, switching to the Super Arm, calmly tells Dr. Wily that [Rock's] not embarrassed at Wily's harsh words, as he has a sister and father who love him no matter what, and that Wily had to steal, reprogram the Robot Masters, and cheat his way just to get attention. Mega Man, damaging the machine with the Thunder Beam and Hyper Bomb, switches to the Fire Storm and asks Wily which one of them should really be embarrassed. Mega Man then shoots the Fire Storm weapon at Wily, damaging the machine more. Mega Man then realizes his weapon energy besides the Mega Buster are depleted, as a relieving-Wily scolds Mega Man for entering his territory with nothing to help him. Wily then crowns himself as the de facto winner and flies away. Mega Man, charging his Mega Buster, runs to a nearby debris, making Wily assume Rock is leaving. As Wily is mocking Mega Man's cowardliness, Rock jumps on a debris tile, with a charged shot in hand, and jumps to Wily, unleashing a massive charged shot, thus destroying the machine.

As the machine begins to crumble inside, Wily, confidently, admits that he was better man despite Dr. Light having the brute force. Mega Man then finds Wily inside the broken machine, and pulls Wily out of the machine. After pulling Wily out, Mega Man notices the Robot Masters emerging from behind, which startles Wily. The scientist then demands the Robot Masters to destroy Mega Man immediately. The Robot Masters, however, state that they have already destroyed a Mega Man, a clone of him at least. Seeing how the clone of Mega Man was a perfect copy, Dr. Wily has no command on the Robot Masters anymore and has officially lost. As the Robot Masters, Mega Man, and a captive-Dr. Wily head outside, Dr. Light finally gets a signal and calls Mega Man on his status. Mega Man declares that the Robot Masters have been saved and that Dr. Wily has been successfully captured. Dr. Light and Roll then cheer and prepare for the Robot Masters' and Rock's arrival back home. Little do the heroes know, that outside of Light Labs, two Robot Masters, known as Time Man and Oil Man, spy on Dr. Light and Roll and state that Dr. Wily had awaken the two up for a reason. The two Robot Masters leave the scene, for time is the essence...

Time Keeps Slipping
Days later, the Light Labs foundation has decided to help rebuild and repair the city after the Robot Masters' strike commanded by Dr. Wily. But, sometimes work can turn into play, as Rock shoots boulders that Guts Man throws at the Blue Bomber. Bomb Man is impressed at Mega Man's skills, but Bomb Man and Mega Man are bombarded with boulders thrown by Guts Man. Mega Man then copies Bomb Man's Hyper Bomb, as they have a plan to explode the incoming boulders. With a count of three, both Mega Man and Bomb Man throw their share of Hyper Bombs at the boulders, causing a flash of explosions. Whereas the other Robot Masters are cheering on the Robot Master's flashing performance, Roll reminds the Robot Masters and Rock that they need to get busy working on rebuilding the city. Mega Man reminds his sister that the Robot Masters and himself are making the damage smaller, but Roll doesn't buy that and leads the others to get back to work. Above a nearby street, The B&C Gazette are interviewing Dr. Light about the recent attack of the Robot Masters and why Light Labs has decided to help the city out via rebuilding it. Dr. Light then answers by stating that Dr. Wily was the one responsible for the Robot Masters' terror, as Wily reprogrammed the robots in order to claim world domination. Dr. Light then explains that Light Labs has elected itself to repair the city in any way possible to make up the attack earlier. All Dr. Light wants is a happier, much peaceful place in the world, and thus he has decided to dedicate his time on rebuilding the city. However, the interview is cut short when two federal agents, who are Gilbert D. Stern and Roslyn Krantz, interrupt the interview to asks Dr. Light some questions personally.

As the two agents and Dr. Light chat about the recent Robot Master attack, Dr. Light is questioned with both a strange "conscience" that Wily stole the Robot Masters right after the unveiling of the Robot Masters and that the only person competent on stopping Wily was Mega Man, a creation of Dr. Light's. As Dr. Light proves this is a mere conscience, Roslyn Krantz comes back and asks about the whereabouts of DLN-00A and DLN-00B, two Robot Masters, according to Dr. Light, were under their experimental stage that weren't ready to be presented to the public unlike the Robot Masters. Dr. Light also admits that he no idea where the two Robot Masters are located. Suddenly, the six Light Robot Masters and Mega Man cause an explosion of sorts below, which startles the agents and Dr. Light. Roll, furious at her hair being on fire by Rock, goes up on the street to tattle on Rock, despite Fire Man admitting he set her hair on fire as well as Ice Man putting out the fire on her hair. As Roll tattles on Rock while the latter tries to make it seem like it wasn't that bad, Dr. Light tells Roll that she can go get groceries and not have to help the Robot Masters and Rock out on construction work since Rock, Dr. Light, and the federal agents will be heading to the prison to get Wily in order to escort the scientist to court. Roll gladly accepts the offer and she goes onward to get groceries. Stern and Roslyn Krantz then decide to leave, but Gilbert Stern has his eye on Dr. Light and Rock.

On the car ride to escort Dr. Wily to court, Rock asks Dr. Light if he can return back to his regular form and retire his blue armor. Dr. Light agrees, but Rock asks why Wily is being transferred to another prison. Light then gives an explanation to Rock that, like parameters of robots, humans must obey rules in the society, and if they disobey, they are consequences, in this a prison. Dr. Wily's actions would cost him a long time, according to Dr. Light. Rock then asks if prison is basically a robot's place for localizing errors, and Dr. Light agrees. Rock questions if humans get reprogrammed like robots if they're in prison, but Dr. Light states that some people can change their ways, but changing a person's ways is not simple. Dr. Light then explains that having a free will allows humans to act, feel, and do what they want, which can be both good and dangerous. Rock gleefully asks if he and the Robot Masters can make their own choices, as well, but Dr. Light disagrees, saying that Rock may look human and act like one, but his coding prohibits him from having a free will. Dr. Light, however, does want to one day create a robot that captures the X-Factor like humans.

Arriving at the prison, Mega Man and Dr. Light see both Gilbert Stern and Roslyn Krantz giving a Miranda warning to Dr. Wily. As Dr. Wily could care less about the warning, he notices Mega Man and Dr. Light being present at his prison convoy. Dr. Light tells Dr. Wily to cooperate with the authorities, but Wily yells to Light that he only cares about his authority. Wily is put inside a truck and is locked inside, the federal agents, police, and the Light family head en route to prison. While en route, a Sniper Joe from an above highway, shoots a police car and halts the traffic. Mega Man, suited up, then decides to take care of the Sniper Joe, and attack it. As the two robots are engaging each other, time suddenly halts and Time Man, who is controlling the time flow, walks through the rampage, breaks in the truck Wily is in, grabs Wily and takes him away from the scene. Time then resolves back, and Mega Man punches the robot. As half of it crumbles apart, both robots fall down on the street, and Mega Man, hesitating to shoot and pleading he's sorry for this, shoots the Sniper Joe, destroying it in the process. Roslyn is impressed at Mega Man's skills and she thanks him for defeating the Sniper Joe. However, the police, Dr. Light, and Stern all realize that Wily has "vanished." Stern, agitated at what's happening, then accuses Mega Man and Dr. Light of helping Wily escape. Unbeknownst to any of them, Roll has returned home, but is suddenly ambushed by Oil Man, and Oil Man kidnaps Roll.

And so, Dr. Light and Gilbert Stern are arguing, as the latter is accusing Dr. Light and Mega Man of letting Wily escape during the fight, but Light faces Stern, calling it ludicrous. Dr. Light then mentions that the attack between Rock and the Sniper Joe was obviously a distraction for Wily to escape, but he nor Rock had nothing to do with his escape. Roslyn cuts the fight before things get messy and states that finding Dr. Wily is the most important objective at this time, not fighting over his escape. Mega Man volunteers to make up Wily's escape by finding the mad scientist, but Stern, furious, bluntly tells Mega Man to not interfere with the federal agents. Dr. Light then tells the federal agents that if it will help, he will turn himself in jail until Wily is caught. Mega Man runs to Dr. Light, exclaiming he does not want this to happen, but Dr. Light has made his final decision. Impressed at Dr. Light's decision, Stern then puts police cuffs on Dr. Light, much to Mega Man's displeasing. Before being taken away by the agents,

Dr. Light tells Mega Man to get Roll to safety and watch her while the agents will find Wily. With this, Dr. Light is taken away by the agents, leaving the sad-Mega Man to teleport back home. As the Blue Bomber goes back home via teleporting, he notices oil and fallen groceries all around his front yard. Walking to the front of his house, he then finds a note saying the following: "Thomas, I have taken your precious little Robot Roll! If you ever want to see her again in one piece, you won't contact the authorities and you won't send that lab robot you strapped a cannon to after me! Once I've escaped, I'll contact you. This is your only warning! - A.W.W." Furious at recent events along with this, Mega Man begins to run to contact the authorities, but stops and reads the letter again. Rock then falls on his knees, and begins to notice that he cannot do anything about Roll's capture, Dr. Wily's escape, or saving Dr. Light. Little does Mega Man know, however, that Dr. Wily is located at an abandoned factory where Time Man and Oil Man, who in which has returned with a captive Roll, prepare to plan for Wily's escape away from his escape.

Back at the street, the six Robot Masters are having playing while working until Mega Man returns. He tells the Robot Masters the recent events, and Elec Man attempts to find a solution to this mess. He states that Wily is probably bluffing about destroying Roll, and that the Robot Masters and Mega Man should split up, as one team will go back to the Wily Castle, as that perhaps might be the location where Wily is located, while the others will remain here, that way they don't stop their post on cleaning up the city. Cut Man and Ice Man decide to go with Mega Man back to the Wily Castle, and, without further ado, the three teleport to the Wily Castle. Mega Man then mentions that Fire Man told him that, typically, criminals return to the crime scene if they escape. Both Cut Man and Ice Man then have bad memories when seeing the castle, as they state that they get the chills begin close by. Mega Man, however, tells the two Robot Masters that most of the enemies in the castle are probably destroyed, so they should have nothing to worry about.

The three robots enter inside, and while encountering situations such as robot enemies and obstacles, each of them are able to remove the potential threat easily. Soon, the three enter inside Copy Robot's room, where the remains of the fight still lay. While Cut Man and Ice Man are having good memories inside the room, Mega Man begins to remember the bad events inside, as the Robot Masters almost killed Mega Man if not for the Magnet Beam. As Cut Man and Ice Man find Copy Robot's helmet remains, Mega Man notices a pathway via a broken wall. Cut Man suspects that it leads to a secret entrance, but he's not sure, as none of the Robot Masters were given a "tour" around the castle. The three robots jump inside the tunnel, but they are quickly ambushed by Adhering Suzy robots, which rapidly fire lasers around the room. Without noticing where they are going, the heroes fall inside another tunnel. The tunnel appears to be very quiet and long, but none of the robots can teleport outside of the tunnel. Suddenly, a burst of water comes surging in the tunnel, taking Rock, Cut Man, and Ice Man farther inside the tunnel. Ice Man tries to freeze the water, but is unsuccessful. As the robots approach a water-filled room, Cut Man berates Ice Man for not freezing the water successfully, but Mega Man interrupts their argument, as a CWU-01P robot appears inside the room, and it doesn't look friendly.

As CWU-01P comes closer to Mega Man, the Blue Bomber is touched by the enemy, electrifying Rock. As he tries to shoot back, the enemy leaves into a tunnel. Mega Man questions what bubble shield the robot is made out of, but Cut Man, standing right in front of the tunnel CWU-O1P went out of, replies that they've chased it off and that it doesn't matter. However, Cut Man is ambushed by the enemy robot, and CWU-O1P begins reproducing tiny versions of itself. The little robotic doppelgangers begin to explode in front of Rock, Cut Man, and Ice Man. Ice Man then freezes the tiny robots under Mega Man's order, while the Blue Bomber and Cut Man take care of the CWU-O1P robot. Thanks to Cut Man's Rolling Cutter and intended-pun, the robot is successfully destroyed. Mega Man then touches the remains of the robot, seeing that it was a water purifier until Wily hijacked it and turned it evil.

Suddenly, Mega Man finds a glowing pad ahead in the room, and the three heroes head over to the circle base. The base flies the heroes upward, to where they return back to Copy Robot's room. Much to the heroes' disappointment, Mega Man begins to worry about the recent events, as Wily was not inside the castle, making this mission pointless. The three heroes then decide to head back to the construction site, as at least they know Wily isn't located at the castle. Unbeknownst to the heroes, a Telly robot was recording their conversation, as the Telly robot is bringing footage to Wily. Wily, disappointed at Rock not following his order of not searching for [Dr. Wily], still reminds himself that he has Roll hostage and his double-blind getaway, currently being worked on by Oil Man and Time Man if they don't continue to fight each other. Plus, with Mega Man getting his other Robot Master brethren, everything seems to be going according to Wily's master plan...

Rock, Cut Man, and Ice Man then teleport to the construction site, but deliver the bad news that nothing was found at the castle. Elec Man wants to solve this case quick, but Mega Man reminds the others that they have no clue where to begin. Suddenly, Roslyn startles the Robot Masters and gives a message to Mega Man that Dr. Light was worried at about him. Dr. Light attempted to call Light Labs, but no one was answering. Thus, Roslyn had decided to go to Light Labs to check on Rock and Roll, but she found the front yard messy with oil and grocery. Knowing this, she decided to check up with the heroes, which that is currently happening. As Roslyn, or called "Rosie," states that she believes Wily is at fault for these recent events, she has Mega Man contact Dr. Light at the federal office. Mega Man contacts Stern and Dr. Light and gives his father the bad news that Roll has been captured by Dr. Wily and that he, Cut Man, and Ice Man have already checked the Wily Castle.

Rosie backs Rock up confirming what the Blue Bomber said is true, and she asks Dr. Light if there is a clue to the oil and Roll's capture. Dr. Light then mentions that one of the Robot Masters (Oil Man) that were unfinished during the unveiling was built for oil-spill cleanup, while the other Robot Master (Time Man) has the ability of time manipulation. Dr. Light then solves the puzzle, as Wily could have used Time Man to stop time during Mega Man's brawl with the Sniper Joe earlier. Having all the pieces of the puzzle completed, Dr. Light then follows up that maybe, just maybe, Wily, Roll, and the two Robot Masters are at the last place the uncompleted Robot Masters were located; a retired-workshop use for Light Labs at one time. Stern then tells Rosie that he'll bring the address of the workshop and reinforcements, but Rosie only needs the address, as she has the back-up from Mega Man and the six Robot Masters.

Inside a truck, Rock and the six Robot Masters are sitting down, waiting to get to the workshop. Elec Man tells Mega Man that the latter is going to need all of the Master Weapons again since they have a clear idea of what they're about to face. Reluctantly, Mega Man copies the six Master Weapons from the Robot Masters, and immediately, the heroes have arrived at the workshop, which can be identified easily thanks to an oil-like "painting" of a skull insert on the building. Rock, the six Robot Masters, and Rosie then enter inside the workshop and will communicate through whisper, as they do not want to attract Wily or his forces to ambush the heroes. However, one by one, each of the Light Robot Masters are captured by Time Man or Oil Man. When only Rock, Elec Man, Bomb Man, and Rosie are left, they decide to split up into teams to cover more ground.

Shortly, Bomb Man and Elec Man are frozen in place thanks to Time Man, Elec Man has the ability to walk slowly against Time Man's Time Slow due to his electric force, but Oil Man ambushed Elec Man and slams him on the ground. Mega Man and Rosie then find Dr. Wily on top of his saucer, with Roll tied below. As Rosie tells Wily to surrender for he is under arrest, Dr. Wily then sends Oil Man and Time Man to attack the heroes. As Mega Man takes care of Oil Man while Roslyn tries to defeat Time Man, Mega Man saves Rosie from Time Man's Clock Hands weapon. Rock tells Rosie to save Roll while he will deal with Oil Man and Time Man. Thanks to Oil Man's Oil Slider, Mega Man slides on the oil and successfully shoots Oil Man and Time Man down. While Time Man berates Oil Man for allowing Mega Man to have the upper hand, the Blue Bomber tries to reason with the two Robot Masters and tells them to return back to Light Labs so they can be repaired and reprogrammed, but Mega Man is hit in the head by a Rolling Cutter. Shocked at this discovery, Mega Man realizes that the six Light Robot Masters have been reprogrammed once again, and are ready to destroy the Blue Bomber.

Surrounded by all eight of the Robot Masters, Rock and Rosie try to think of a plan to subdue or, if extreme measures are taken, destroying the Robot Masters. Dr. Wily explains that Oil Man and Time Man were left to be worked on some more but Dr. Wily had finished their programming and the two Robot Masters are completely loyal to Wily. Wily gives Mega Man and Rosie a chance to surrender, but Rock declines the offer. Mega Man secretly gives Rosie a plan to defeat the Robot Masters; since he copied their weapon energy earlier, he knows and has all of the weaknesses of the Robot Masters, albeit Oil Man's and Time Man's. Rosie doesn't like the plan since Rock would be outnumbered fighting the robots, and Rock then recalls when the six Robot Masters, back at the Wily Castle, destroyed Copy Robot, and that was when they weren't reprogrammed by Wily. Rock decides to stick with the plan and asks Rosie to save Roll in the meantime.

Dr. Wily then lets the Robot Masters attack Mega Man and Rosie, as they've had their chance to plead for mercy. As Rosie runs to save Roll, Mega Man switches to the Ice Slasher weapon and freezes Guts Man's and Elec Man's legs. While Fire Man is unfreezing the two Robot Masters' legs, Oil Man shoots oil at Mega Man, but the Blue Bomber switches to the Fire Storm ability, since fire can burn oil. However, Time Man freezes Mega Man before Oil Man could melt, and Time Man begins to summon a Clock Hand weapon to end Rock's life. But, Mega Man avoids the shot, thanks to static electricity nearby from Elec Man. Telling Time Man to remember what electricity can do to his time manipulation, Guts Man punches Time Man. Cut Man then explains to Mega Man that after the first time Wily reprogrammed the Robot Masters, Dr. Light put a tamper-proof device inside each of the six to have them immune to reprogramming of any sorts. As Time Man and Oil Man are being subdued by the six Robot Masters, Rosie is successful at rescuing Roll despite a laser-gun nearly killing the two. Soon, both Oil Man and Time are successfully subdued thanks to the Robot Masters.

Realizing the two Robot Masters have been defeated, Mega Man, after going up to Roll and thanking Roslyn for saving her, begins to run and shoot at Wily's saucer, which begins to explode and crash. However, Wily is still standing on the saucer, not moving an inch despite the destruction of the saucer. While Mega Man forces Wily to surrender, Rosie finds out that Wily was just a hologram. The Wily-hologram begins to explain that he left hours before the heroes arrived at the workshop, and that, if Mega Man was actually destroyed by the Robot Masters, they would be transported to Wily. Roll mentions to Rock that she never saw Wily leave, and, out of anger, Mega Man switches to the Super Arm weapon and begins to wreck the saucer. Rosie pulls Mega Man back, as they need the saucer as evidence to prove Dr. Light innocent. Rosie then calls Gilbert to tell him the recent events, while the Robot Masters and Rock begin to warm each other after the fight.

Shortly, Stern and the federal agency arrive at the workshop, and Oil Man and Time Man have been locked inside inhibitor cuffs in order for them not to attack against the heroes or the federal agents. Mega Man cheers the two robots up by telling them they will be reprogrammed into happy robots when they return to Light Labs after being inspected by the federal agents. Stern, walking behind Mega Man, tells the latter that the van taking Oil Man and Time Man will be heading to Light Labs, as Dr. Light is proved innocent. Dr. Light then greets Mega Man, and the two hug each other. Dr. Light asks where Roll is, and Mega Man tells his father that Roll is inside helping organize the evidence for the federal agents. Mega Man asks Stern if he can trust Mega Man or Dr. Light again, but Stern plainly says no. But, he then goes on saying that he doesn't trust anyone, but that Mega Man did a good job. Mega Man, confused at this, is explained by Rosie that [Rock] got praise out of that "old fogey."

Later at Light Labs, Rock is helping Dr. Light and Roll on repairing Time Man and Oil Man. Rock mentions that he likes working in the lab rather than shoot robots, but Dr. Light reminds Rock that Dr. Wily is still out there and, if he returns with his evil ambitions once again, Rock may have to don his helmet once again. Rock then tells his father that he doesn't want to make his father work on support units and robots by himself, but Dr. Light reminds Rock that [Dr. Light] has Roll to help, and he can even get Auto to pitch in time to help. Dr. Light suddenly then tells his two children that he has more robots and support units to build if Wily returns. Roll asks Dr. Light if the robots will make her and Rock obsolete but Dr. Light disagrees and tells her that, no matter how many robots there are, Rock and Roll will always be his children and that no other creation will be greater than the two. As the Light family embrace each other with a heart-warming hug, an unknown, long-haired robot spies on the Light family through a window, with a long frown on his face. Unbeknownst to the Light family, however, Dr. Wily has currently made his stopping point at his at-the-works castle, where he vows to defeat Dr. Light and Mega Man by showing who the two how the genius really is, as he builds his own set of Robot Masters.

The Return of Doctor Wily
Days after Wily's escape, Rock (mostly clothed in his blue armor), Roll, Dr. Light, and Auto are celebrating the memorial of Rock's alias, Mega Man, and his services to the world. As everyone except Auto are happy for Rock to finally return and to help at home with his family, but Auto tries to talk Rock returning back into Mega Man, as the green robot thinks Rock looked super cool with his armor and when he was shooting evil robots. Auto tries to negotiate with Dr. Light on telling said doctor that Mega Man needs to remain a hero since [Rock] will be giving up his future glory. Dr. Light denies, as he is in full agreement with his two children. Auto, agitated, decides to mention that if Wily returns, then the green robot can say "I told you so!". Rock then mentions that Dr. Light doesn't think Wily is a threat anymore, and to back up this statement, Dr. Light then explains that Wily was a threat when he stole the Light Robot Masters. But, since the Light Robot Masters are completely tamper-proofed of any of Wily's malicious coding, Wily has no resources nor the time to make any Robot Masters even if he could.

Roll then brings up the fact that even if Wily returned, then the police would immediately catch the evil scientist. Auto then yells that he can't help Dr. Light because Mega Man is home, but Rock then tells Auto that there's always room for help as well as Auto's shop. Roll then tells Rock that Auto is being a fanboy and that reasoning with him should stop since there is no end. As everyone except Auto is laughing at this joke, a mysterious character inside the house fake-laughed at the joke. Suddenly, the mysterious character, revealed to be Quick Man, runs towards Mega Man, asks if the Light family seriously thought they had beaten Dr. Wily, and punches the Blue Bomber. The Robot Master then throws two Quick Boomerangs at Rock while the latter is heading to a wall, trapping the Blue Bomber at the wall. Quick Man then slide-kicks Roll, catches her, and throws her to Dr. Light as the two make it on a rolling chair. Quick Man then punches Auto before he could finish his sentence that he started when Mega Man was punched by Quick Man (this implies that Quick Man was so fast, that Auto barely could finish his sentence that was less than ten words long).

After getting the Light family's attention, Quick Man introduces himself, and announces that Dr. Wily has returned, seeking revenge on both Mega Man and on the world. Quick Man continues to explain that his seven brothers are ready to destroy the city at will in six hours, unless the "bwave, wittle, Mega Man" can stop Quick Man or his brothers. Quick Man then mentions that only Mega Man can stop the Wily Robot Masters, as if the authorities or other forces are contacted, the Robot Masters will attack the city earlier. Quick Man tells Mega Man to meet him at Titanium Park when he's ready. Quick Man then leaves Light Labs, and Auto tries to get Mega Man out of Quick Man's boomerangs traps.

Roll asks Dr. Light how Dr. Wily could build more robots, but Dr. Light is stumped, as he doesn't know how Dr. Wily could have the time or the resources to build eight Robot Masters quickly. Mega Man, furious that Dr. Wily hurt and threaten his family, then decides to go after Wily once again. Dr. Light warns his son that the Robot Masters made by Wily were designed for combat and destroying Mega Man–unlike the Light Robot Masters, which were built for work. Dr. Light then comments how the message was announced too brazen; as if it was another trap. Mega Man then states that this Robot Master attack is another trap, but because Wily is threatening his family this time, he will go after Wily to but his evil ambitions to rest. As the Light family are helping Mega Man prepare to transport to Titanium Park, Dr. Light will monitor and help his son like he previously did when the Light Robot Masters attacked. Mega Man, telling his family farewell for now, transport to Titanium Park.

And so, Mega Man is teleported to Titanium Park to find Quick Man. Unbeknownst to Rock, however, is that Quick Man is spying on the former and was about to destroy Mega Man quickly until Dr. Wily interrupts the Robot Masters, reminding Quick Man that he was supposed to lure Mega Man to Titanium Park to fight the Robot Master there–Wood Man–and return back to his location. Quick Man argues with Wily, suggesting that if he would destroy Mega Man now, Wily's plan would be complete, instead of Mega Man destroying Wood Man. Wily then replies that either way would work for his "master plan," and tells Quick Man to return to his post. Quick Man then unwilling returns back to his post, and Mega Man heads to the North Gardens. When approaching Wood Man, Mega Man is confused, questioning Wood Man (who is sitting down with Kukku, Robbit, and Friender robots) not being the Robot Master [Rock] had saw.

Wood Man reveals to Mega Man that the Robot Master that ambushed him back at Light Labs was Quick Man, and Mega Man tries to reason with Wood Man, only for the latter to refuse, as what purpose would an all wood-robot have? Wood Man then shoos off the robotic pets away as he prepares to face Mega Man. Mega Man then faces Wood Man, declaring that no one will ever threaten his city or family again. Wood Man blocks Mega Man's Mega Buster shoots via the Leaf Shield, and then thrusts the Leaf Shield towards Mega Man, damaging the Blue Bomber. After hiding from Wood Man's Leaf Shield thrusting in a robotic tree, with Wood Man asking if this was the best Rock could do, Mega Man is contacted by Dr. Light, who tells Mega Man then Wood Man can be easily destroyed with a charged Mega Buster shot. Mega Man asks Dr. Light if the former can save Wood Man, not destroy him, but Dr. Light replies to this question, saying that Wood Man was made to destroy Mega Man, not to help humanity. Mega Man, understanding what must be done, charges a Mega Buster shot, runs towards Wood Man, and shoots the Wily Robot Master at a point-blank range, destroying Wood Man.

Depressed that he couldn't save Wood Man, Mega Man copies Wood Man's Master Weapon, which immediately gives the Blue Bomber the weapon but also an energy spike simultaneously. Dr. Light notices this and asks Mega Man if he is all right, but Mega Man forgets about that and asks Dr. Light if the latter can rebuild Wood Man and the Wily Robot Masters Mega Man encounters later back to normal. Dr. Light assures Mega Man that, while no promises will be made, he will try his best to rebuild the Robot Masters and give them functions. Dr. Light then tells Mega Man that the new Robot Masters are keeping a low profile, but Rock then speculates that Wood Man was at the central point to ambush the city, and a waterway leading to a hydroelectric plant is nearby the park.

Dr. Light tells Rock about the speculation, agrees, and tells his son to watch out for the water currents. As Mega Man is progressing through the hydroelectric plant, Bubble Man is spying on Rock, soliloquizes about Mega Man falling to his doom at the lair of the persona. Mega Man goes under water, avoiding spiked-mines and Shrink enemies from the Anko robots. Bubble Man, who watches the Blue Bomber destroying the robot enemies, is furious at the latter destroying and making a mockery of himself. Bubble Man then has had enough of being mocked by not only his Robot Master brethren, but by Dr. Wily himself. Mega Man then interrupts Bubble Man, asking if their is a dangerous Robot Master nearby. Agitated, Bubble Man shoots his Master Weapon, the Bubble Lead, at Mega Man. Mega Man, luckily, switches to the Leaf Shield weapon and launches it towards Bubble Man, decapitating and ripping apart the Wily Robot Master.

Mega Man, being burned by the sulfuric acid via the Bubble Lead, finds a piece of Bubble Man's armor, which gives him the Bubble Lead ability but also another energy spike. Dr. Light realizes these energy spikes are parts of viruses, but Mega Man brushes it off and decides to face the next Robot Master. Dr. Light asks Rock to come home and rest up, but Rock denies, as he has limited amount of time to face the remaining six Robot Masters. As he reaches the hydroelectric plant floor, Dr. Light tells Mega Man that he is letting the power going through his head once more, but Mega Man rejects that, as this is a different situation. As Mega Man asks Dr. Light to find the nearest location, Mega Man is suddenly ambushed by Quick Boomerangs, in which Quick Man forces Rock on the floor, asking Rock if he remembers him.

Mega Man then immediately begins to fire at Quick Man, but misses due to the Wily Robot Master's supersonic speed. Mega Man takes out the anger on Quick Man for ambushing his family earlier, but Quick Man, bemused at the fight, subdues Mega Man and begins to "speed things up a notch", as Quick Man and Mega Man teleport to a Geothermal Plant, the very location Heat Man is located. Quick Man reminds Mega Man to survive long enough that way the former can destroy the Blue Bomber. With this, Quick Man runs away from Mega Man, and the Blue Bomber begins to explore the area, attempting to find Heat Man. Dr. Light, who can barely communicate with Mega Man due to the weak signal, tells Mega Man that losing the geothermal plant would be drastic, and that Rock needs to hurry and defeat Heat Man. While the two are talking, Mega Man is ambushed by Telly robots, but he is able to shooting most of them down.

Mega Man then enters a room that has a sweating-Heat Man inside, waving his hand to produce some air. Heat Man notices Mega Man and asks if Fire Man ever gets hot, as Heat Man is a direct model based on Fire Man. Heat Man states that he doesn't even want to move, which allows Mega Man to ask if Heat Man wants to fight or surrender. Heat Man declines and begins to shoot himself like a fireball to Mega Man. Mega Man tries to contact Dr. Light, but is unable to due to a weak signal. Trying to shoot at Heat Man, Mega Man switches to the Leaf Shield weapon, only for it to burn to smithereens by Heat Man's Atomic Fire weapon. Mega Man then rethinks his strategy, as didn't think the Leaf Shield would burn. Nevertheless, Mega Man switches to the Bubble Lead weapon, shoots it at Heat Man, and the latter is soaked. Heat Man surrenders himself, while Mega Man copies the Atomic Fire from Heat Man, again, receiving the malicious coding. Heat Man tells Mega Man to pass on a message to the Robot Master above, Crash Man, the message being "hello." Mega Man promises to Heat Man, and without hesitating, shoots at Heat Man's face, putting the Wily-Robot Master offline. Unbeknownst to Mega Man, his eyes turn red as he does this, indicating that the virus is beginning to have a greater effect on him.

Mega Man, from direction by Roll and Auto (Light being unavailable due to his working on an anti-virus system after witnessing Mega Man's uncharacteristic brutality on Heat Man and suspecting that Wily implemented malicious coding into his Robot Masters) then went to the top of the building where Crash Man was located at. The Blue Bomber then proceeded to taunt Crash Man in various ways, including the latter's lack of hands, eventually getting Crash Man enraged enough to recklessly cover the entire room with his crash bombs. Mega Man proceeded to use the Leaf Shield to evade the explosion in the nick of time. He then approached Crash Man (who was stuck under rubble) and copied his power. After Crash Man complimented him for his power, citing it was to "die in," Mega Man then finished him off by destroying the remains of the building in a controlled explosion, leaving a line of Crash Bombs in the process while under the influence of the virus. Mega Man, after spotting the weather control center that Air Man was located at, then proceeded to enter the Control Center and fight his way to Air Man, although not before refusing to come home to Dr. Light to have a disc (containing the anti-virus) uploaded into him due to wanting to prove that he can stop Dr. Wily and Quick Man by himself. He initially had problems against Air Man, who taunted in a bored tone his superiority over Mega Man while blowing him. However, Mega Man then expended the remaining amount of power in his Leaf Shield to clog Air Man's fan, causing him to detonate. Light once again tells Mega Man to come home so he can get the virus update, although Mega Man, mostly because of the virus having a stronger effect on him from copying both his special weapon and part of his energy, refused. He then was informed by Dr. Light that Agents Krantz and Stern reported an attack by robots at a factory and quarry, causing Mega Man to deduce that was where the remaining two robots besides Quick Man were located. Entering the factory first, he evaded the pressers only to end up ambushed by Metal Man, also injuring his leg from the latter's Metal Blade. Mega Man then proceeded to distract Metal Man by using Crash Bomb on him and then copying him from behind. Afterwards, he then decapitated the Robot Master, also plowing through Metal Man's attack in the process. Light then attempted to force Mega Man to return home for the update, but Mega Man broke the radio and turned off his transporter module. He then left for the rock quarry. Unknown to Mega Man, however, Light, after having Roll make calls, decided to remotely hack into Mega Man's systems to install the virus update. He eventually locates Flash Man, and conserved his energy by evading his attacks. However, he is eventually placed in the mercy of Flash Man via the latter's Time Stopper. His helmet then fell off revealing hair, much to Flash Man's chagrin, as he lacks hair. Mega Man eventually ended up saved by an unlikely savior: Quick Man, as he wanted to fight him. Secretly, however, Mega Man copied Flash Man's data before pursuing Quick Man down various laser-locked areas. He then trapped Quick Man with his Time Stopper and finished him off with the Mega Buster while telling him that he and Wily won't hurt the people or his family again. Unfortunately, after copying Quick Man's power, he is fully corrupted, with the download being interrupted as a result. He is then forcibly teleported to Dr. Wily's new castle, where Wily confirmed to his new slave that he had implemented malware in each of his robots to bring him under his control. Light, left with no other options, had the original eight Robot Masters (whom he had Roll call earlier) summoned to rescue Mega Man, also handing them a databox containing the remaining 2% of the virus download to directly interface with Mega Man. He then narrowed down Mega Man's transportation to find the location of Wily's Castle. In the meantime, Mega Man was given a purple scarf (making him resemble Mega Man?) and dusted. He then left to confront the Robot Masters as they fought the Wily Dragon, although hesitated to attack them when he had the opportunity. He was then restrained and had the remaining virus uploaded onto him. Mega Man then helped the other Robot Masters finish off the Wily Dragon with the Quick Boomerang, although not before Elec Man got himself injured. After being informed about what happened, he then received from Cut Man some program data containing the transport items and made his way with the other Robot Masters to Wily's inner chamber. However, all but Bomb Man were forced to deal with the other defenses, and eventually Bomb Man is forced to let Mega Man go on his own after all his Hyper Bomb ammo was depleted from dealing with a Boobeam trap. Mega Man then tried to throw everything he had at Wily in his Wily Machine as payback for the virus, but quickly decided against it after his first weapon of choice, the Metal Blades, ended up doing an unexpected amount of damage to his vehicle, causing him to wish he procured the weapon first. Mega Man then tried to get Wily to surrender, but discovered that Wily had in fact been a space alien, or so it seemed. He eventually discovered that Wily was in fact using a hologram giving the illusion that he was an alien, and located Wily inside the main projector and forcibly removed him, angered and disappointed that Wily would resort to a cheap trick like a fake alien invasion. However, he was forced to let Wily escape after the latter set off the self-destruct sequence for the castle, saving all of the Robot Masters in the nick of time during the evacuation. They then celebrate, and Mega Man learned from Dr. Light that he has a new support unit: Rush. Because of Wily's escape, they ended up having to have Rock continue to be Mega Man indefinitely. Meanwhile, Wily is headed towards LanFront Ruins in the Amazon.

Spiritus Ex Machina
Rock later accompanied his father, sister, Rush, and Elec Man to the Advanced Robotics Trade Show. The Robot Masters were supposed to be part of the Advanced Support Robotics, but Rock and Roll, largely because they were programmed to act exactly like human children, quickly became captivated by all the various robotics and machine parts and left while Dr. Light was about to explain to them what the event was all about. He eventually got into an argument with Pharaoh Man, one of Doctor Cossack's Robot Masters, in defense of Roll after the latter accidentally bumped into Dr. Cossack's daughter, Kalinka, although her father eventually quelled the argument and forgave Roll, knowing his friend Dr. Light would never have his creations do deliberate harm. Rock then wondered how Dr. Cossack knew them, although Dr. Light eventually revealed how upon finding them. Rock also wondered, after witnessing Dr. Light knowing not only Dr. Cossack, but also Dr. Lalinda, if all the robotics scientists knew each other, although Kalinka informed Rock that they actually knew each other from college. He then asked Cossack what Dr. Light was like back when he was before a doctor. He was also introduced to the emotionless Geological Survey Robot Master, Quake Woman (who originally went by the name of Tempo), and revealed his identity as Mega Man to her in the process. He also explains his functions as Mega Man to Pharaoh Man, also explaining he was named such for his primary weapon, the Mega Buster, when the latter expressed confusion regarding Mega Man's ability to copy other Robot Masters special weapons despite his name. He eventually was bumped into by a supposed security guard and apologized to him, who forgave him (unknown to Rock at the time, the "security guard" was actually a member of the anti-Robotics terrorist group known as the Emerald Spears who alongside most of the members had replaced the actual security guards to stage a takeover of the convention). He also watched the resulting debate about free will between Dr. Light and Dr. Lalinde with interest, alongside Quake Woman (who was uninterested due to her emotionless nature) and Rush expressed concern. He quickly becomes Mega Man (he adopts the Mega Man armor the same way he changes special weapons) after it became apparent from a blackout and a sinister voice that the Emerald Spears took over the convention, and charged the stage as Doctors Light, Cossack, and Lalinde question his motives, also telling Rush to calm down.

He then tries to warn Harvey Greenleaf to not harm anyone at the convention, while also threatening one of the guards when they tried to forcibly remove Dr. Light. However, because of the three laws of robotics, he was unable to make do with his threat, as he cannot attack humans unless it is to save the lives of others, causing him to realize he was powerless to stop them. Nonetheless, with Dr. Light's input of disabling all the explosives in the convention center to stop the imminent threat the terrorist group posed with the three doctors distracting Harvey Greenleaf, Mega Man, Rush, and Quake Woman managed to leave the area to hunt down the bombs. Mega Man, also using his civilian identity of Rock, worked with Rush managed to distract the Emerald Spears soldiers and defeat them without violating the laws of robotics by locking them up in rooms while Pharaoh Man gave the locations of the bombs and Quake Woman and Elec Man located and disabled the bombs with their respective abilities. However, after an incident where Rock/Mega Man sealed two soldiers into a stall in the rest room, he realized he can't keep up the act for long, and after getting a status report (Quake Woman having already disabled two and having located the third bomb, Elec Man disposing of a bomb and is in the process of diffusing the second while laying low, and Pharaoh Man having transmitted the locations of the final bombs and planning to diffuse several by himself if possible). Mega Man then told them to keep up the good work, and to hurry as he suspects the Doctors won't be able to stall for much longer. True to his suspicions, Xander Payne, who forcibly took command due to being unhappy with Harvey Greenleaf's attempts at ensuring their goals, ordered all available Emerald Spears members to attack the Robot Masters. At first, Mega Man, alongside Quake Woman, Elec Man, and Pharaoh Man were powerless due to the three laws of robotics, but eventually fought back when the soldiers actions were endangering innocent people nearby. The bombs eventually went off near the lecture hall courtesy of Payne as a last ditch effort, although the Robot Masters and Rush weren't significantly harmed by the explosion. Mega Man, witnessing the explosion, realized that the Emerald Spears detonated their bombs while not only innocent people, but also their own forces were still nearby, and expressed shock and disgust at the action, although he realized with relief that Roll managed to get out of there with Kalinka. Elec Man and Quake Woman then arrived at Mega Man's location and tried to warn him about the doctors. Mega Man thought he meant they were in general danger and proposed evacuating everyone, although Elec Man then explained he actually meant the doctors specifically had still been in the lecture hall, which was one of the few locations that the Robot Masters hadn't diffused the bombs, one of them being responsible for the doctors' current situation. Mega Man, realizing there is still time to save them, then plotted for Pharaoh Man and Rush to use the latter's abilities as a ruins excavation robot to track down the scientists, and that Quake Woman and himself will use the Quake Drill (Mega Man via his Special Weapons systems) to dig down and rescue them. He also told Quake Woman, when the latter implied callously that they might not survive before they get there, that they always should have hope regardless of whether the situation looked bleak. He then tells Elec Man, when the latter protested about not being able to do anything, to direct the other Robots to help out the humans, especially the wounded, and get them to safety. As they were about to start, however, Payne, having witnessed their survival, rushed outside the security hall to personally confront them and proceeded to shoot at Mega Man. Mega Man then warned Payne that his dad is still buried underneath, and he will stop him if he interferes, even if it means having to attack him. Payne ignored his statements by citing that Mega Man cannot stop humanity and he will tear him apart if necessary, but was interrupted upon noticing Elec Man, the Robot Master responsible for harming him back when Dr. Wily took over Dr. Light's six Robot Masters. Capitalizing on the distraction from Payne's infuriated reaction to Elec Man, Mega Man used the Quake Drill to make the ground unstable for Payne and some of the soldiers accompanying him. He and Quake Woman proceeded to eliminate most of the rubble and, after evading some collapsing rubble, located the doctors. Unfortunately, they also discovered from Pharaoh Man that one of the other bombs was still active, and set to blow at any moment. Mega Man and Quake Woman then nearly sacrificed themselves by using the Quake Drill to vibrate the components out of alignment, and if that failed use the rubble to contain the explosion, but they narrowly managed to escape via the quake drill. Mega Man then is relieved upon learning that most of the Emerald Spears members were brought into custody, save for three (Payne himself and two other unidentified members).

Short Circuits
Mega Man appears in a number of the series' Short Circuits strips, beginning in the first issue when he is accidentally rebuilt into Bad Box Art Mega Man. He doesn't appear in Issue 2's strip, but Cut Man does question whether he can go out and fight Mega Man. Issue 3 finds him envisioning-with some terror-a weaponized Roll employing her powers for cleaning. The following issue finds him celebrating Wily's capture with Dr. Light and wondering whether any further adventures await, oblivious to Bass, Rush, and Proto Man pressing their faces against a nearby window. Issue 7 finds him being scowled at by Gilbert Stern as part of a series of images reflecting Stern's long history of disliking new technology.

In issue 9 he is introduced to Mariachi, a perpetual motion robot hamster created by Dr. Light, which Blues points out as evidence of why he didn't want Dr. Light modifying his power source. Issue 12 finds him being attacked by Wily's latest minions, the aliens from Space Invaders, and giving up due to the overwhelming power of old video game villains. Though absent from Issue 13's strip, he is paid tribute to by his ultimate fanboy/bot, Auto Man, who wears a spare helmet of Mega Man's while pretending to fight Dr. Wily. He later returns in Issue 23's Short Circuits, where Break Man annoys him by going on a fifteen minute break during their fight.

Worlds Collide saw Mega Man appear not only in Short Circuits but in the Off Panel strips featured in Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe. The first of these featured the blue heroes meeting each other and expressing excitement at fighting evil together, only to be informed that crossover rules demand that they first do battle with each other. Mega Man Issue 25's strip declared that the biggest battle of the crossover was neither Mega Man vs. Sonic nor the two of them battling Wily and Eggman, but rather a battle of pirates-PirateMan and Captain Whisker of Sonic's world-against ninja-Shadow Man and Espio the Chameleon.

Sonic Universe Issue 52's Off Panel featured Mega Man preparing to battle the Genesis Unit, only to be attacked by Sonic as the group's name reminded him of the Sega Genesis console and the age old Console Wars, despite his objections that he was a multi-platform character. Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 250's strip found Mega Man envying Sonic's success in reaching 250 issues in his main series alone, and Breaking the Fourth Wall by encouraging fans of the Mega Man comic to spread the word about his series. Sonic Universe Issue 54's Off Panel featured Bass and Metal Sonic forming a musical duo, surprising Mega Man as he was expecting the two of them to merge in a fashion similar to the Super Adapter. In the Off Panel of the Sonic the Hedgehog immediately after the crossover, Sonic remembered the sorry state of his world-particularly his closest allies-prior to the event and called Mega Man to see about staying at Light Labs on the couch.

Issue 28's Short Circuits also referred to the crossover, with Break Man's Proto Buster being cited as the reason for the "four month break." The following issue found Mega Man questioning Plant Man about his ability to stay functioning despite the EMP field, with Plant Man responding that he had "an...embarrassing...back-up system..." Issue 30's strip found him trying to confront Needle Man, only to encounter Spark Man and Gemini Man instead, prompting him to ask what purpose Needle Man served. Issue 31's Short Circuits found Mega Man blasting Ra Moon with his Mega Buster, only to cause it to start a tirade over the pain caused to its eye.

In Issue 33's strip, when asked by Roll about a conventional guitar that he was playing, Mega Man referred to the issue's main story title "Unplugged" and claimed that he was "Acoustic Rock" as a result. The next issue saw him and Roll shooing Mega Man X and Zero out of the book, as they hadn't even done the Mega Man 3 story, and advising them to get their own comic book. The next issue also saw him interacting with X, complaining about having Dr. Wily as a nemesis, only to be given a reality check as X offered to trade him for Sigma. In Issue 36 Roll, Dr. Light, and himself were treated to Dr. Wily's tale of challenging Ra Moon's plans only to be enslaved by it, though Rock and Roll regarded the account with obvious skepticism.