Metalman felt himself gaining control of his movement, first the fingers and slowly making way to the arm. His legs started twitching, and he could hear his core going faster and faster. There was a voice speaking to him, echoing in and out. His eyes flickered open, and he saw he was surrounded by massive junk piles. Enker was kneeled by his side, the sunlight shining off his armor.

"Good, you're awake." He said.

"Enker? Where are we right now?" His voice was scratched and skipped a little. His voice box must have been damaged.

"The dumpster. I managed to find your body among the husks here." The more Metal kept moving, his joints were clicking back into place, his vision zooming out. Piles of old TVs, rusting parts, and husks of old robot bodies were littered around them. Abandoned parts of sniper joes and crushed pawns that followed him in battle with Megaman were crushed into squares.

"We lost, didn't we?"

"Your brothers are waiting further in the junkyard."

Enker didn't have to answer for Metal to understand Dr. Wily had lost, and that he was in prison. Without another word, the two robots walked through the maze of garbage. The first steps were wobbly, and Metal could feel some wires rubbing against his metallic skin. Enker did the best he could at repairs, but this wasn't Wily's castle, so the possibility of finding good material for repair was slim. But the uncomfortable scratching of his unstable innards wasn't the only thing on his mind.

A abandoned power station laid at the tallest hill, holes from where individual bricks couldn't hold on, a single window cracked and a roof that looked like several car doors were melded together. To the right was a radio tower that was bending slightly off, and a power box with a wire went through the window crack. Small talk and arguing barely passed through the iron door, and as Enker slid it open, the talking ceased.

"I found him." He spoke up.

Metal saw all of his brothers scattered in the closed space. Flashman was talking with a bulky red robot with a silver mohawk-like blade, his bald yellow head blown open with some tape over it. Crashman's left arm was severed off and leg was crushed, and Heatman was sitting close to him, hugging his only drill hand. Bubbleman had a noticeable scar in his back, the wires and circuitry still visible from the door. He leaned sadly against Woodman, whose body along with Airman were crushed and twisted. Quickman was the least damaged, just a missing foot and the long horns of his helmet snapped.

"Hey Metal. Glad to see you alive and kicking." Heatman gave a slight smile.

"If you can call this 'alive and kicking'." Flash murmured.

Metal kept looking at Woodman and Airman's crushed bodies. "Are they gone?"

"Calm down Metalman, their chips are right here. Completely unharmed." A tallish robot came from the room corner with a smirk. He looked similar to Quickman, but with a purple-white-gold color scheme and few design differences. Between his fingers were the I.C chips of the crushed brothers.

Metal closed his eyes in relief before settling down next to Crash. After sitting, he noticed a hole going completely through him, and pieces of welded pipes to Heat's box body. "Are you two okay?"

"I'm fine, but Crash took a pipe to the stomach. He can't stand up right now, at least until we get the parts."

Crashman refused to say anything more than a greeting, and then resumed to staring at the drill hand. Quickman went on a ramble on how the victory was his, while Bubble continued to stare at Wood's partially crushed body. The other two robots in the room, Punk and the purple one, Ballade, were addressing matters of the situation. A scrunched up piece of paper showed the headlines of Dr. Wily being taken into custody by Megaman.

Megaman.

That was the final straw. His calm demeaner is gone. His circuits felt on fire, nothing compared to the rage building in the I.C chip. He stood up to the middle of the room, addressing the group.

"Who ruined it?" He stated coldly.

"M-Metalman?" Heatman stuttered.

"Who went out of their way and screwed up the plan that Dr. Wily had planned?" Everyone looked away, he knew he was being harsh on them, they couldn't entirely be at fault because there were other contributors, but they could have been part of it.

Flashman was the first to speak up. "Well I know it wasn't me. The kid took me out easily with your weapon. Why did the doctor make your weapon out of ceratanium? He should know that stuff cuts through normal metal like a hot knife through butter." He briefly went back to skulking before Quick snickered, which was returned with a glare.

"Yeah, he could copy our weapons! How is that any fair?"

"Heatman, you can turn yourself into a living vortex of fire!! If you had just get up from your 'important nap', we wouldn't have been in this situation!"

"I THOUGH YOU HAD IT ALL SET UP! Besides, if Quick and Airman had put their egos to the side, Crashman wouldn't have a chunk of his stomach missing!"

"Well, maybe he's just not a good sniper. Add that to the list of 'what can my brother fail at without hands'." Quick pointed at Crashman. Metal was starting to regret bringing up this conversation. Clearly no one was acting well in their defeat.

"Watch it..." Crash murmured.

"You all are acting like a bunch of children, worse than the ones I've encountered." Metal was relieved as Enker broke the tension in the room. Punk and Ballade stood on each side of the golden robot like soldiers, while each of the brothers were slowly regaining composure. "While I can see all of you are angry, it's idiotic to fight over it now. While I was recovering each of you, Ballade got intel on Dr. Wily's whereabouts. He has been taken in Megaman's care, and they're hoping for him to change. As of now, the best option is to lay low for further orders. Everyone got that?"

All of the brothers nodded slowly and the room went back to eery silence. Crash man had nudged Metal and pointed to the door, and with some pulling they went through the door. The sounds of the factory echoed all around as the brothers leaned on each other. "Now that Heatman isn't answering for you, how do you really feel?" Metal asked.

"Like complete scrap."

"I see." The two brothers locked eyes for a moment, and Metal held his tongue. How was he supposed to talk to his brother with comfort, when his first conversation nearly made their hiding base explode? Crash had shuffled his feet against the ground, staring at the road leading to Monsteropolis.

"Hey Metal, we are meant to destroy Megaman, right? Dr. Wily said we should have been prepared to die by his hands, because it was for the good of the plan." There was something about his eyes that made Metal curious. Careful not to trigger him, he gently sat to the side.

"Why are you asking this?" Crash inhaled before turning around.

"Metal, did Megaman try to spare you?"

Metal was left speechless as he continued on. "When I was defeated, he had the perfect shot, was just feet away from me and perfect aim at my neck. One shot and I was done. And yet...he spared me. Metal, I called him a fool and gutless while he was walking away and he smiled. Said if this was another situation, we could've been friends."

"He said that to you?" Metal scooted closer to Crash's side, gently pushing the exposed wires back into his body. Crash flinched but smirked at his brother as he continued.

"It's been bothering me. Dr. Wily said that Megaman would fight without mercy, and yet he spared me and Heatman. What kind of fighting robot refuses to finish the fight?"

"He actually spared me too, when I was down and he said he wasn't a weapon. I thought he was calling my bluff, but because he spared you too, I don't think he was lying."

"Do you think Dr. Wily lied to us? Did he program us to fight a defenseless robot?" Crash looked to Metal, pleading for a answer.

"I don't know. I just woke up, so this is all hitting me hard. I'm sorry Crashman."

"Megaman wasn't built for fighting, and he looked like nothing more than a child. He said we could've been friends if we weren't like this." He made a motion to himself with his drill hand. "Do you think we could be more than this? Maybe he could make me feel less clumsy."

Metalman patted his back, "Is Quickman the reason you're thinking about this?"

"And other things."

"Crash, I know he bothers you a lot, but you need to understand that his cockiness just came naturally to him. Plus, he feels humiliated that his ego is shattered and he needs to make himself feel better. I'm sorry if I made you feel worse by bringing up our failure." Metal sighed as he looked into his eyes. So much thought were going them, it was unusual for someone like Crashman, who always followed orders without hesitation. But then again, being so young in activation time, Crash continues to surprise him.

"Are you sure we're going to be okay?"

"I don't know, but we'll have to see. Dr. Wily will figure out something, his madman brain is like that. But until then, if you ever need something to destroy or someone to talk to, just talk to me okay?" In one moment, Crash smiled and the atmosphere brightened. The failure of their mission no longer lingered in Metal's head, keeping his brothers together was the objective now.

"Okay brother. Please don't tell the others about our conversation, I don't think they would like it." The two brothers nodded as they helped one another up.

"Agreed, Quick and Flash would give you the lecture of a lifetime. I'm sure Heat would keep it silent if you gave him one of your bombs as a snack, and..."

"Metal," they halted opening the door as Crash smirked again, "Thanks. Really."

"What are brothers for?" As Crash went in first, Metalman looked onward to Monsteropolis's skyscrapers. "Dr. Wily, what are you going to do now?"