The Mega Man: Legend

Ch. 21 Spearpoint Part 3

Michael did take a defensive position. He did question the mysterious figure about themselves.

But first, he screamed like a scared little girl and fell on his face.

He dropped the lantern in the fall, and when he recovered himself, he grabbed around for it. As he did, the light suddenly returned to his vision.

"You lookin' fo this?" The voice came again. As Michael turned towards the lantern, he saw a face illuminated in the dim light. It was strange, a very navy color, with eyes the only visible facial feature. Anything else that might be there was covered by a smooth red scarf.

"Who..." Michael stopped to grab the lantern. "...Who the heck are you?"

"I'd ask you the same thing, pal. Whacha doin' in Lights laboratory?"

Michael froze. "You know Dr. Light?"

"Well, I oughta. I'm his creation, after all." He stepped back so that his whole body would be illuminated by the lantern. "Oil Man. At your service."

Oil Man stood proudly for a moment. He stopped and looked down again. Michael was still looking at him with pure confusion. Oil Man sighed. "Listen kid, you came up here for something, right?"

After another moment, Michael blinked, and nodded. He held up the lantern. "Uh, I got it."

Oil Man chuckled. "All right. You seem like a cool enough dude. I trust you, bro." He patted Michael on the back, which made him extremely uncomfortable.

"Okay...I have to go take this thing somewhere, now. It's really important."

"Well then pal, lead the way."

---

The man in the eye patch didn't look like he was armed, but so far no one wanted to try to stop him. He spoke again. "I'm sure you've all heard of the problems that plagued this city with the attack of Doctor Light's 'Robot Masters'. I'm sure you've all heard about the destruction in this city that went on. And how the army themselves couldn't truly prevent them from doing anything."

Dr. Light began to feel sick in his stomach. He had a bad idea of where this was going.

"I'm here to talk to you about these robots. I have a few questions for you. Do we really need them? Answer me, do we really need these self-functioning machines to replace the work of hundreds, maybe thousands of people?"

The man continued speaking as he began to pace on top of the small car he stood on. "Another question: Even if we somehow decide we need them, is it worth the risk? Light's creations weren't even meant for destruction or fighting, but they still did it pretty darn well."

Dr. Light suddenly yelled out, "You don't understand everything about what happened. Dr. Wily was-"

The man chuckled. "Ah, yes. Your old lab partner, if I recall. I seem to recall the two of you being very ready to produce robots built for military purposes back when-"

"That's enough! I left that behind. These robots aren't meant to hurt anyone, and they never will be!"

"Who was that one robot you built? Oh yes, Mega Man, I believe he is called now?" The man looked Light directly in the eyes. "Just how many of his own kind did he have to fight?"

He stood up and looked around. "People of this city. We are human beings. We've come this far in society, and no challenge has prevented us from furthering our race. But what this man does, this can destroy everything we've built. And we can't stop them. I have something to admit to you all."

He took a deep breath. "What you are experiencing is an Electromagnetic Pulse. An EMP. It's disabled everything running on electricity within this city, and beyond. Why did I do this? That's a good question. Because I believe the age of robots had its chance. And it failed."