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Tempo's face would've turned white if it could. It was impossible. And yet, there it was on the news; amateur, but clear images of Dr. Light being kidnapped by... Proto Man.
"Why..?" she thought.
Tempo didn't know what to think... what to feel. Proto Man... Blues had been there for her. He had sworn to protect her family, he had sworn that he would make amends for what he had done...
“Then why was he doing this? I thought he changed... I thought he lo-"
The sound of the door opening cut Tempo's thoughts short, as she turned off the television to face who had entered the house.
"I was hoping I could speak to you before you saw that..."
Tempo froze. It was Proto Man. What was he doing here?
Tempo stood up, transforming into Quake Woman.
"Wh-What do you want? To- To kidnap Mom, too? To spit on everything else you worked on?"
Proto Man held up his hands defensively, walking towards the Robot Master. "Tempo-"
"Not another step!"
Proto Man stopped, before taking a deep breath; and detransforming into his civilian attire.
"Listen. I don't want to kidnap anyone. I don't want to hurt anyone."
"Yeah? Well- Well, what about Dr. Light?"
"Tempo... Listen to me, please. I didn't do any of those things."
Quake Woman paused, she wasn't quite convinced, but she was willing to listen to the robot.
"Then... then who could've..?"
Proto Man gave a half-shrug. "Dr. Wiley wasn't exactly thrilled when I betrayed him and rescued Kalinka, not long ago."
"So you're thinking he might've made a fake?"
"Wouldn't put it past him. Especially now, of all times, when I'm actually trying to make a change... He probably intends to make the world hate me, so I have no choice but to come back."
Quake Woman’s face softened. "Could somebody, even Wiley, be that evil?"
Proto Man turned away. "You'd be surprised."
"So... what are you going to do?"
"The last thing he'd expect." Proto Man transformed back into his armor, and turned back towards the door. "Fight back."
Quake Woman reached out. "Blues, wait..!"
Proto Man turned back to face her.
"Why did you come here?"
The red robot paused before smiling. "I needed to make sure you were still on my side. Thank you."
Quake Woman nodded, giving Proto Man a supportive smile.
"Hey, before you go..?"
Quake Woman turned away before calling out. "Vesper? Can you come here please?"
"Be there in a buzz!"
With the sound of a door opening and closing, Vesper could be heard flying towards the living room before finally landing near Proto Man and Quake Woman
"Heya, Reds! Is this about Fake-You?"
Quake Woman turned in shock to face her sister. "Wait, you knew it was a fake? But, how?"
Vesper Woman smiled non-chanlately, before gesturing towards her neck. "Well, duh, no scarf!"
"Tempo, what are you doing?" Proto Man spoke up.
"Blues, can you copy powers like Rock?"
"More or less." Proto Man gestured towards his buster. "When Wiley turned me into Break Man, he gave me a work-in-progress Copy Chip, as a sort of trump card, if worse came to worse. He said something about wanting to use one for his 'Ultimate Robot'. It’s not quite finished yet, but I should be able to copy at least 2 or 3 at a time..."
"That should be fine..." Quake Woman replied, before gesturing towards herself and Vesper Woman. "Because you’re going to copy us."
"Are… are you sure?"
Vesper Woman stepped forward, standing alongside her sister, the pair of them holding out their hands to him.
"Hey, we might not be Super Fighting Robots, like you or your brother, but we can still give you a leg-up against that Dollar Store Rip-Off."
"Thank you, you two." Proto Man nodded his head, before taking their hands and copying their powers. "We’ll beat Wiley, together."
Proto Man prepared to turn back around only for Quake Woman to keep holding his hand, surprising him.
"Here’s one more thing." she softly smiled, before planting a quick kiss onto his cheek. "Show that fake what the real deal can do."
Proto Man smiled, before taking hold of his shield and readying his buster. "I will."
Quake Woman smiled, transforming out of her armor, she watched in awe as Proto Man, as Blues, went into battle. A Robot Master with no purpose other than to live, and yet he forged his own path. The path of the hero, and not out of desperation, but out of-
"So~" Vesper Woman smirked. "You gonna tell me what that kiss was all about or..?"