Dr. Light's Lab: PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER (Mega)MAN!

[Vize Viper]

Ever since the Orange Start soldiers, and the... reploid with them (it was still a little mind-blowing to meet something that he never expected to live to ever see) had left, Thomas' lab was quiet, except for the sounds of Roll working on repairing her ship.

The doctor had sent a few of his metools to help her, hoping the little robots would be some help. The little mechaniloids were rather helpful, when not reprogrammed to attack people.

And as for the doctor himself? ... He was sitting on his porch, chewing absentmindedly on a pipe that was unlit, and in fact had nothing in it. He had a strange sense of foreboding, as if something horrible had happened... and that he was going to be becoming aware of it all too soon.

[Mage]

Of course, Roll wasn't working on it alone. Nell was there directing some Orange Star mechanics to help out, while some of the men brought in Marina's ship. "Good work." She frowned at Light. "I apologize for turning your home into a giant workshop." The commander promised to stick around and assist everyone in getting back up to speed, and the best way to do that is to help fix the ships.

Speaking of ships, Krystal's Arwing was coming up to Light's house fairly quick. She looked over at the house, curious. "That must be it." Then back to Mega Man. "Almost there, don't worry."

[AnT]

"Yeah, really sorry, sir!" Roll apologized, carrying a large crystal in her arms as she walked towards the Flutter. She hoped to get the ship done soon; she didn't feel right about using the good doctor's home like this, hopefully without the guys back in that other city calling her for info. She sure hoped they'll be okay, but she still hoped to get the Flutter done, quick. At least since the quantum reactor is still intact, Roll can get the ship off the street as soon as it's...

Suddenly, Roll stopped when she spotted a peculiar aircraft in the horizon. "Um...I think you may get more company, Dr. Light."

[Vize Viper]

Mega Man nodded weakly in response. He'd hoped his directions had been clear enough, and according to his GPS, they had been. He'd be home soon.

Rush, meanwhile, was rocketing along next to the Arwing, being careful to not dislodge his passenger...

The doctor looked up, seeing the incoming aircraft, and stood. It didn't look like one of Wily's machines, so he wasn't worried, and he could just make out a familiar red object next to the fighter. If Rush was with them, there was probably nothing to worry about.

[SHM 128 III]

Rush would not have to fear losing his rider: Mario was now lying down on top of the dog, one hand holding onto his hat and the other wrapped around the robot's neck and hanging on for dear life. He had long ago given up riding Rush like a surfboard, right about when he realized that he was going about three or four time faster than that manna ray... He wasn't in the mood to fall from a high altitude while going close to 200 mph, thank you very much.

"... ... ..."

He also wasn't in the mood to talk, since he was rather busy trying his hardest not to pass out. Of course, it probably didn't help that the only other person he could talk to at the moment was a dog. A super-intelligent robot dog that could turn into a hoverboard, yes, but still a dog. Either way, he was hoping that this would all be over very soon.

[Mage]

"Hm?" The officer looked up at the up coming ship, then her eyes went wide. "Hey, isn't that..." She then smiled. "No need to worry, that's one of Star Fox's ships."

The Cloudrunner landed infront of the house quickly and quietly, the cockpit opened up letting Krystal get her body out and on the ground. "Made it in one piece."

[AnT]

"Star-wha?" The moment Roll saw the pilot of the ship...she just blankly blinked. The name 'StarFox'...it seems this woman takes the name literally. Roll wondered if that was a costume, or not, but giving the surprises this planet threw at her...

But her curiosity of the fox's true identity was gone, averted to the ship. "Woooooow!" She went, with eyes almost similar to Andy's.

Uh oh...

[Vize Viper]

Of all the things Dr. Light was expecting to climb out of the fighter... a female anthropomorphic fox was NOT one of them... So he was quiet for a moment, before he began walking towards the... woman and her ship.

Rush, meanwhile, swooped gracefully down towards the ground, and slowed to a practiced stop, Mario most likely not even shifting at the dog stopped, giving a bark that seemed to say the ride was over.

As for Mega Man, he was quiet in the cockpit, his eyes closed. It seemed he'd finally gone into emergency system stasis.

Which Thomas couldn't see, causing him to hike an eyebrow.

"What dog belongs to my son. Where is he?"

[SHM 128 III]

If the circumstances were different, Mario would've been content to simply roll off of Rush and lie on the nice, solid ground below him for a few minutes until he 'recovered' from the trip. However, upon hearing Dr. Light, he quickly pulled himself together as he stood up and got off of the dog-turned-jet, stumbling a bit as he did so. Thanks to some small talk with Mega Man earlier, he was able to quickly conclude that the old man before him was Rock's "father", so he tried his hardest to begin addressing the man as best he could, despite him showing some obvious signs that he was still trying to get over the ride.

"You're-a Dr. Light, right?" Mario began, swaying a bit before grabbing onto the side of the Arwing to balance himself, "Rock... He's-a in the ship, but he needs-a your help..."

Mario trailed off as another bout of wooziness overtook him. He normally wasn't very prone to motion sickness (kinda hard do be what with all those crazy go-kart tracks one has to race through), but dang... that was a rush... no pun intended.

Mamma-Mia... How does Sonic manage to do-a stuff like-a this all the time?

[Mage]

While the vixen helped steady Mario from his experience, she looked over at Light nodded. "Right, Rock is in the Cloudrunner...in terrible shape too." She looked around herself, blinking at confusion. "Wait, was this city here before?"

The commander, who was looking over at Roll worriedly, answered Krystal. "It's a long story, Krystal." She knew that look in Roll's eyes, almost the same look in Andy's eyes. "Roll?" Nell called out to the girl.

[AnT]

"Oh WOW!!!!" Dropping the refractor, Roll marveled at the glorious Arwing, zipping around every corner and studying every crannie. "The design...it's so ...WOW!!! I bet it has quite an impressive stabilizer."

The old man who designed Marina casually approached next to Nell with a coffee pitcher and coffee in his hands. Since he was busy fixing the kitchen of the Flutter, he came out for coffee break. "Ah, the engineer's eye! It reminds me back when I drooled over every impressive machinery I see And not just hotties."

She practically stuck on the jet like a spider, peaking over the cockpit...and boy did she get a surprise. Laying on the backseat was someone from her childhood. Someone she used to watch everyday on TV. Someone she named Rock's codename after.

"M...Me...Meh....Meh ... M-M-MEGA MAN!?!?!"

[Vize Viper]

At the words "terrible shape", the doctor's eyes widened, and he immediately was moving towards the Arwing, his expression one of intense concern.

"Rock? Can you hear me? Answer me!"

The blue robot's eyes opened slowly as his father's voice registered, pulling him out of system stasis... And the first thing to greet his green eyes was a blonde girl, who from what he could tell, knew who he was. ... But why was he in what looked like a cockpit? And where was Rush? And Dr. Light? Of course, his eyes were supplying a very distorted image of the girl above him, and his voice came out crackling weakly.

"R... Roll? Where's... Dad?" Then again, maybe he was hallucinating. Enough systems damage did that to him, he'd found.

Rush barked loudly at the fighter, hoping to help rouse his master, before whining quietly, transforming back into a normal canine.

Knowing he wouldn't be up to climbing into the fighter, Thomas called up to Mega Man, hoping to reassure him.

"I'm right here, Rock. We just need to get you out of this fighter, first."

Meanwhile, tucked into one of the landing gear wells of the fighter, a familiar little robot fell to the ground, bouncing off the landing strut with a metallic clank.

"Mreep!"

[SHM 128 III]

Mario simply nodded. He knew better than to try helping Rock out of the cockpit: he was still far too disoriented and didn't want to risk breaking anything else in the boy. Instead, he simply backed off to let the others take care of it. In the process, however, he nearly stumbled over a small, yellow guest he did not recall seeing there before.

""

[Mage]

She looked down at the little guy, and just smiled. "Met, so you came too?" She then looked up at the ship. "I need some help getting him out."

The woman looked over at Theo. "Engineer's eye, huh? Andy has something like that, we call it Mechanical Rage...but I like that one better." She smiled, then went over to Roll, pulling her away. "Don't get too close to him, he's damaged." She got on a radio. "I need a medical stretcher and two soldiers, over." Soon two soldiers came in the ship, and slowly put Mega Man in the stretcher. "Where should they put him?" Nell asked Light.

[AnT]

"But..." She didn't know what to feel, after seeing a being from fiction...sort of fiction. There was alot to the show than just a mere show. The term 'Mega Man' was used for special units in Elysium, and from the journal pieces Rock...HER Rock won from that game show, THE Mega Man was real. So she couldn't deciede if she was excited that he was live in the flesh...so to speak...concerned for his safety...or frightened...

...for he knew her name.


Meanwhile, the robot monkey leaped out of nowhere, examining the little helmet robot. "Kee-kee-kee?"