Little Boy Blue

Chapter 3

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A short while before, Mega Man was crossing delicately though the underwater cavern, unaware of what was in store for him. After several harrowing leaps he found himself near the surface. Quickly he leaped up and out of the water, grabbing onto a ledge near the surface. He was still in the cave. In front of him the passage traveled upwards; behind him it dipped downwards, below the water level, and the rest of the tunnel was submerged.

Glad to be out of the water, Mega Man traversed the rest of the cavern much more effortlessly since the spikes were less abundant and easier to avoid.

Finally he emerged from the cave onto the surface of the island. It was a rather small island, actually: about a hectare. Trees surrounded him but there was a comfortable space between each one, filled in by bright green grass. The vegetation was not unlike anything else that grew in MegaLand, and yet the sensations of color and life almost overwhelmed him.

Mega Man stood still for a few moments, then he started for the geographical center of the island. After a few steps he broke through the trees into a circular clearing surrounded with trees. In the exact center and on the top of a small hill was what seemed to be half of a stone pillar. Resting on that was a glowing white crystal the size and shape of a small football.

This must be it, Mega Man realized as he stared, transfixed, at the fragment. Now that he had found it, he wondered what he should do with it. He knew that he wouldn't be able to simply walk up and take it, for certainly the crystal's defenses wouldn't stop at the perimeter of the island. But he wondered if he need even take it at all. After all, what possible use could it have, besides keeping away visitors?

Mega Man was standing at the base of the grassy hill. He took another experimental step forward, reaching at the same time toward his helmet to activate his communicator.

Something happened as he set his foot down, but it wasn't the crystal's doing. From behind him came an all too familiar voice. "Well, well--look who's here," it said.

Mega Man whirled. Tron Bonne was standing just outside of the tree-line, surrounded by several pieces of equipment. She had obviously come prepared to claim the crystal.

"Did Dr. Light send you for the crystal?" Tron went on.

"Not really," Mega Man replied, instinctively holding his buster gun at ready. "But what do you want with it?"

"Ah..." the pirate girl replied."That you will have to see for yourself." Then she waved a hand in a signal that swept several robots out of the trees. They headed directly for Mega Man.

With a small cry, Mega Man turned away from the three robots running toward him but was cut off by a fourth coming the other way. He recognized them all, and they were all big trouble--literally. Stone Man, Hard Man, and Guts Man were among the largest Robot Masters ever built. Gravity Man was the smallest of the four, and even he was slightly larger than Mega Man.

Quickly Mega Man fired at the nearest robot, backing him off slightly. He continued to fire alternately at each of the four, but finally a shuttering leap by Hard Man threw him off balance enough for Guts Man to jump forward and tackle him.

With Stone Man's help Guts Man was able to subdue the struggling Mega Man. Together the two held him down while Hard Man and Gravity Man went to help Tron.

"This is perfect," the teenage pirate was gloating. "I couldn't have planned it better!"

Helpless, Mega Man watched her prepare the devices she'd brought. He had no idea what Tron was up to, but at least this confirmed his suspicion that taking the crystal wasn't an easy task. And Mega Man knew that if Tron was willing to go through all that trouble, the crystal must be incredibly valuable.

But why? What did the crystal do? Mega Man didn't know, but Dr. Light might.

Dr. Light! Suddenly Mega Man re-remembered the scientist waiting on the beach. Hoping that Dr. Light had escaped Tron's notice, Mega Man reached up and turned on his communicator.

"Dr. Light!" he hissed through the receiver. "Dr. Light! Can you read me?" He tried to speak quietly but Tron heard him anyway.

"Stop him!" Tron yelled to her robots, whirling.

Immediately Guts Man and Stone Man each grabbed one of Mega Man's arms, yanking them away from his helmet. But Mega Man's communicator, once it was turned on, was voice-activated. He no longer needed his hands.

Throwing caution to the wind, Mega Man was now just intent on saying as much as he could before the robots silenced him forever. Dr. Light had answered his call, but Mega Man was in too much of a hurry to let him finish. Rapidly the robot blurted out, "It's Tron! She's got the crystal! Dr. Light, I can't--"

At that moment Mega Man felt a painful blow to the back of his neck, part of which was left unprotected by his helmet. His world flashed red and white, then blackness overcame him and he dropped to the ground.

Dr. Light didn't waste any time. As soon as it became apparent that the connection was not going to be restored, the scientist used his own communicator to radio the warp controls as he'd originally planned. After inputting all of the proper codes, he was able to get it to reopen the portal. As soon as it formed, he leaped through and was back in his lab.

Dr. Light went immediately to the computer where he set the terminal's powerful communicator to signal the Palace. It would set off a buzzer, he knew, that would alert the Palace's occupants of his call.

As he waited for them to answer, Dr. Light also called for Roll. But before she could get to the lab room Princess Lana's image had appeared on the screen.

"Dr. Light!" she said with a hint of surprise. "Is something wrong?"

The scientist nodded. "I'm afraid so. Tron's at it again. Mega Man's in trouble--I need the N-Team's help."

By that time the other members of the N-Team--Kevin Keene, Kid Icarus, and Simon Belmont--had joined the Princess in front of the monitor. "We'll be right there," Kevin promised.

Lana paused. "Are the other Bonnes involved... or is Tron working alone?"

Dr. Light hesitated. "I'm not sure. You might want to leave someone to guard the Palace. The Bonnes could be planning a double attack."

"We've had too many of those, I agree," the Princess said with a nod. She turned. "Simon, why don't you stay here with me? Kevin and Kid Icarus can go together." She chose Simon to remain at the Palace because Mega Man and Kid Icarus were good friends, and she knew the winged archer would want to help.

Kid Icarus smiled at her in appreciation. Then he and Kevin turned to head for the warp to Dr. Light's laboratory. Kevin's dog Duke followed them.

Meanwhile, back at the lab, Roll had entered the room during the conversation but waited until it was finished. Dr. Light thanked the others and turned off his screen, then he turned to his housekeeping robot.

"Is something wrong?" she inquired, but Dr. Light was too disturbed to realize that's exactly what the Princess had asked. He was busy wishing he'd never sent Mega Man out to that island!

"Yes," he answered. "I'm going to be away for a while. I need you to watch the lab."

Kevin, Kid Icarus, and Duke arrived, and were a little surprised when they found out that Dr. Light intended to join them. He quickly explained, though.

"Mega Man mentioned a crystal, and now everything's beginning to make sense. If I can see it, I might be able to figure out exactly what it is." He smiled. "Besides, you have always done such a great job at protecting me in the past!"

"And you were always a big help too," Kevin replied as the scientist set another warp to take them back to the island. As soon as it was ready Kevin led the way with a yell of, "Let's go!"

Mega Man wasn't sure how long he'd remained unconscious, but it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. In fact, to him it seemed as though the blackness had lasted only a few seconds. When he came to he found himself lying on his back on a hard surface. Getting to a sitting position, he saw that the hard surface was the metal base of a long cage.

"Oh, great..." he muttered, glancing around. It was a rather odd cage, really. The narrower ends were solid walls of metal, whereas the other two sides were lined with bars. Peering between them, Mega Man discovered that his cage was actually a mobile vehicle. It was sitting on the edge of the clearing along with two other transits, both with solid walls. In front of him was the grassy hill and its stone pillar. The crystal was gone. Mega Man had been out longer than he'd thought.

Tron came into view. She seemed to be wrapping things up in preparation to leave. She paused by the cage when she noticed that Mega Man was awake.

"Oh, by the way," she said with an evil grin, "thanks for showing up. I was originally planning on coming by the Palace after securing the crystal. I was going to lure you out--that's why I had this cage and the robots all ready. You just saved me the trip."

Mega Man watched in horror as Tron  walked away. She'd had it all planned, he realized. What sort of chance did I have?

Of course that brought to mind the same question as before: What could be so important as to go through all the trouble?

Mega Man moved to the other side of his prison and could see Tron instructing her robots. From what he heard, he figured they were all on their way back to the Gesellschaft .

"But what's the crystal for?" Mega Man had to ask.

Tron seemed to be in a good mood, for she paused to answer, "I need it for my newest invention."

"Which is--?" Mega Man prodded.

The 16-year-old girl laughed. "I don't want to ruin your surprise," she replied. "And in case you're wondering where you come in: I needed someone to test it. Of course I could just use something around the lab, but having you as the subject is much more fun!"

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