Author's Note: I'm glad it seems everyone is enjoying my fic so far.

mobileholmes: (nice pun with your name, btw. SH22was a cool show) Yes, Wily is a good for nothing creep, and I'm glad I successfully brought that out. But, unfortunately as you will see, it'll be up to the brothers to save themselves this time around.

Shishio: Hehehe, I bet you know too. I've got a timeline set up on my profile, if you want to see whereabout this story falls in relation to my Bretheren fics, as of this point. (Hmm... Bretheren...)

Day 1: A World Away

Mega grunted as he landed on his feet with a thud. He looked around and saw that he was in the middle of a forest by a river, the time early dawn, with no idea where he was. The stars that were still visible weren’t in any familiar constellations that he knew of.

A creature rustled in some nearby bushes. Mega spun and raised an arm to form an arm cannon - but nothing happened.

“Huh?” His arm cannon had never malfunctioned before. He looked at his arm. It looked - different. Slimmer. Curious, he hit his recall button, causing his armor to vanish and leaving him clad in his street clothes.

The first thing he realized was that he felt extremely different. Not just his arms, but his whole body. He was feeling strange sensations that he hadn’t ever felt before, then he felt a strange sensation at his feet. Looking down he was shocked to see two bare, human feet below him. What he’d felt, he realized, was the grass tickling his skin. Confused, he looked at his arms. Human. Mega pinched his upper arm to see if it was real, what he was thinking.

“Ow!” His skin turned a red tone from the pinch “I - I don’t know how - but I’m - human.” He felt a mix of surprise and awe wash through him. He felt all his emotions more fully that before, felt his heart beat in his chest, felt more clearly the grass and the wind. He moved his limbs just to feel how his muscles responded to his commands. It was amazing to him. He even tasted how high he could jump and a few other things, to see what his limitations were now as a human.

At last he stopped and looked around.

“Now what do I do?” He thought about Dr. Light on reflex, and dismissed it. Suddenly his neck itched. “Huh?” He craned his neck to look, but the itch went away, and besides was in a place he couldn’t see. “Oh well. Lets just see where I am.” He chose a direction, downriver, and began walking.

Break Man looked around, curious. He’d too realized that he was human, and too had felt the surprise and wonder. But now what he wanted to know was why. That and where he was.

He went to the river and peered in, staring at his own reflection. Then he removed his helmet and looked again, now appearing identical to Mega with wild black hair and blue eyes.

“Where am I?” he asked his reflection. He briefly considered the thought that it might be a Wily trap. Then he frowned, thinking suddenly of how the evil doctor had basically attempted to ruin his life on Mega’s fifth adventure. That led him to thoughts of Mega and to anger. His neck itched, and absently he scratched at it. His fingertips found a bump, but for all his looking he couldn’t see it. “Oh well.” He decided to follow the riverbank going against the water’s flow, so he began walking.

Close to evening Break Man was getting tired. He’d forgotten for a while that he was human now and needed more rest. So he found a spot and sat down.

“Fell free to rest here as long as you like,. Break Man,” a soft feminine voice said. The red raider looked around, startled, to see a creature sitting nearby, leaning against a tree. She appeared to be a combination of a human and lion, wearing a dress that went down to her ankles and sandals. A soft blue glow covered her entire body and slightly altered her coloring, so Break Man couldn’t tell if the stone on her forehead between her eyes was really blue or not. She was smiling kindly at the startled boy.

“Who’re you?”

“I’m Zana. I’d like to help you.”

“How’d you know my name? What are you?”

“I know because of what I am. I am the spirit of a Half-Kin, as those of this place would be called in your language.” She smiled again. “You look tired. Don’t fear being attacked by anything. No evil can easily enter Kijo’s Glen.”

“Is that where I am?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me something? Why am I human?”

“Higher Powers works Their will any way They can or wish. I’m sure all will make sense later. Perhaps there is something that can only be done as a human that you need to do, or something that you need to learn that you can only learn as a human, able to feel as they do.” Break Man sighed, then laid down to take a nap. Within minutes he was fast asleep.

Mega, meanwhile, had also stopped for the day. He was laying on his stomach by the river, feeling a little hungry, idly watching the water flow by, and was thinking. He was so wrapped up in his thinking that he didn’t hear the footsteps until...

“Oh!” a feminine voice gasped. Mega flipped over, sat up, and came face to face with a creature he’d never seen before. She was about five foot three, wearing a dress that looked like a single piece of light blue material wrapped around her body, and looked like a cross between a lion and a human. She even had a mane pulled back in a ponytail and a tuft on the end of her tail. A smooth blue stone adorned her forehead between her eyes.

“Who are you?” Mega asked.

“I could ask you the same question, but since you beat me to the punch, I’m Zatana Leon. Now who’re you?”

“I’m Mega Man.” Zatana blinked as if recognizing the name, then said,

“Oh. Well, what’re you doing here?’

“I saw a green oval of light and just went through it.”

“That was a portal.” She sat facing him by the riverbank. “Did you go through by accident or by choice?”

“By choice, I guess.”

“Were you running from something?” Zatana smiled at his startled reaction. “Most everyone who enters voluntarily are trying to escape something. Why don’t you tell me about it?” Mega hesitated. Zatana laid her hand on his arm in a friendly way. “C’mon, I’d be impartial. Plus talking about it may help.” Mega smiled a bit.

“Okay.” And so Mega told Zatana his story. She listened patiently, then gave him a comforting, friendly hug for he’d become a little agitated during the telling.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“All those things happening to you. It must’ve been annoying.” She let him go. Mega did feel better. “You can stay here in Kijo’s Glen with me for as long as you like. I’m here with some friends on a camp-out, and I’m sure they’d like to meet you and have you join us. Then, afterwards, you can come back to my hometown with us if you want.” He brightened.

“Cool.”

“Lets go.” She led him into the woods, away from the river.

Zatana’s friends, Wroul the wolf, Selina the tigress, and Lighthorn the unicorn, welcomed Mega warmly. All agreed that Mega should join the campers and made him feel right as home. They also told him about Zantar and Zentarou, two twin cats who were also with them.

“They went off to practice for a talent show,” Wroul said. “They’ve been staying away until late, so you might not meet them until we leave to head home.” He turned his attention back to the marshmallow he was toasting. Mega grinned, holding his ‘stick’ which was really a length of metal with a heat-resistant coating for a handhold. He pulled it back, glad to be getting something in his stomach, and began to bite until the gooey treat. Zatana saw.

“Be care -” He bit and jerked back as his mouth was slightly burned. “ -ful.”

“Yeow!” Mega yelped, rubbing at the goo on his mouth. Zatana handed him a canteen of cool water to drink. He gulped half of it, then poured the other half on his mouth. That was when he noticed that the Half-Kins, even Zatana, had their hands over their mouths (or, in Lighthorn’s case, his mouth pressed against a foreleg, as he didn’t have hands) as if they were trying not to laugh. He glared, his anger flaring, then abruptly stood and ran from them.

“Mega!” Zatana shouted after him. “Wait!” He ignored her and ran as hard as he could until he reached a lake that apparently fed the stream. There he dropped into the grass, panting as he struggled with his emotions. He felt a burning sensation in his eyes and realized that it was tears, both from the pain of the burn and from his anger. They’d said they were his friends, then laughed at him! His neck itched, but he ignored it.

After a little while, he heard a noise behind him. He turned and saw Zatana kneeling in the bushes behind him. She was looking at him with a odd expression on her face, her ears drooping a bit, and there was a white substance on and around her lips as if she’d done what Mega had only on purpose.

“Mega?” she asked softly, not quite meeting his gaze. “Will - will you please talk to me?” Her uncertain tone slightly confused Mega’s anger, diminishing it a little as he wondered at her odd behavior.

“What happened to your mouth?”
“I was sorry that I laughed, so I did what you did.” She moved closer, and Mega could easily see how red her mouth was where it had been in contact with the hot goop.

“Why’d you do that?”

“So if it happened again, or if I thought of it, I would know what you felt and wouldn’t laugh.” She knelt nearby to him, and he saw a film of tears in her eyes.

“Why’re you crying?” She blinked hard, and the tears fell, one, two.

“I didn’t mean to laugh at you. I’m sorry.” The slight break in her voice as she apologized did what Mega wouldn’t have thought possible: It extinguished his anger completely to ashes.

“Don’t cry.” He hugged her as she’d hugged him. “It’s okay.” She hugged him back. Something rustled in the bushes. Mega looked over Zatana’s shoulder to see the others who’d seen his mistake, minus Lighthorn, all with drooping ears and red and white mouths.

“Forgive us?” Wroul asked. Mega nodded. He felt Zatana relax, and saw the others’ ears perk up. Suddenly, looking at them with the marshmallow goo around their mouths, it dawned on him what he must’ve looked like. He pulled back and looked at Zatana, seeing her gooped face and how cheerful eyes. Then he felt his own mouth and the goo there - and he laughed. First just a soft chuckle, and then a full laugh. He just couldn’t help himself. Zatana smiled, not in the least bit upset by his laughter.

“That’s better,” she said, and knocked Mega over, pinning him to the ground.

“Hey!” he sputtered as Wroul and Selina joined Zatana, holding Mega’s shoulders to the ground. “What’s going on?”

“It’s how we cheer up friends,” Zatana said as she placed her hands on his ribs. Mega got an unexpected surprise when she wiggled her fingers. In all of his life he’d never suspected that he was so ticklish. He laughed and kicked, the heels of his borrowed shoes digging into the ground as he struggled to escape. Then he laughed harder as Zatana tickled his soft stomach.

“Quit! Quit!” he giggled. Selina let go, then Wroul, giving him enough slack to struggle. Then Zatana quit and sat back, smiling at Mega as he recovered. Then he sat up, rubbing his belly.

“Lets head back,” she said. They helped Mega to his feet and all headed back to finish the marshmallows. And Mega remembered this time to blow on the marshmallow before he ate it.

That night Mega was awakened by a rustling noise in camp. Cautiously he crawled to the entrance to the tent he shared with Wroul and peered out. There he saw two figures moving through the camp. Although he couldn’t see much more than their shadowy forms, he could tell that their builds were next to identical. So he guessed they were Zantar and Zentarou. One went into the only empty tent, and the other slipped into Zatana’s tent. That sparked Mega’s curiosity, but he was tired and his body called for sleep. So he went back to his sleeping bag and curled up in it. He quickly fell back asleep.