//------------------------------// // Contradiction // Story: Wily's Wittle Wub // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// With the S. Tomahawk now in his program, Mega Man decided to make a couple of preparations before going after Yamato Man. First, he made a few inquiries of Yamato Man's creator. Then he recruited a bit of backup, uncertain whether or not it would be needed. However, he decided it was better to have this backup and not need it rather than need it and not have it. Once that backup was in position, he made his way into the Fortress that Yamato Man had taken over. The Fortress proved to be more machine and metal than ancient stone, soaring into the sky like a tower. As Mega Man entered, however, he noticed a wall that had undergone some structural damage. Activating Rush's Power Adapter, he broke through the wall, seeking a swifter way to reach Yamato Man than climbing the tower. Behind the broken wall was a samurai robot, but not Yamato Man. Mega Man was able to evade its spear strikes by staying out of range and shooting after it had hurled its spear, and before it drew another one. He then broke another wall, dropping downward. Confronted by a giant frog tank driven by another samurai bot, Mega Man evaded its lasers and thrown bombs, shooting at the frog tank's eyes to take it down. Once the tank went down, Mega Man continued onward, pausing only to break another wall to grab an extra E Tank. After a short path with few robots guarding it, Mega Man encountered a split in the path, with ladders leading up and down. After careful consideration, he went down. The path once more had very few robots guarding it, allowing Mega Man to swiftly make his way through before making his way up. It wasn't long after that before Mega Man safely made his way to the path to what he'd come to think of as 'the boss chamber'. Once inside the path, he paused. Let's see... he thought to himself. Elevation...good. Position relative to the Fortress...good. And...yes, I guessed the right wall to put her at. If things work out that way... He smiled widely. At least this will be a good part of the gift. With that determined, he made his way into the 'boss chamber'. When Yamato Man dropped in, Mega Man immediately noticed something amiss. He wasn't wearing his Tournament ribbon. "Yamato Man! Why haven't you responded to your maker's order to withdraw?" he demanded. "A prior order takes precedence," Yamato Man explained simply. "He ordered me to do my best to win FART." Mega Man stared at him for a time. "...so you're manipulating Three Law loopholes so you can keep your promise to Merkava?" he inferred. "I don't see how that is any business of yours, or how it applies to this encounter," Yamato Man replied simply. Mega Man sighed. "Then I guess we'll just have to fight now." He immediately fired off a charged blast. Yamato Man spun his spear, deflecting it. "You will have to do better than that," he replied simply. Mega Man began running around, seeking a better vantage even as Yamato Man did the same. "Shouldn't you be trying to troll me about now?" he asked curiously as he fired off several probing shots. "I won't be doing that to you," Yamato Man replied as he deflected each shot with a wave of his spear. "While there are several points I could attempt to taunt you on, I make an effort to do no real emotional damage to my opponents with those taunts." "Huh," Mega Man admitted. "That's...rather noble of you." "So I suppose I am limited to just my spear in this fight," Yamato Man admitted, quickly lunging in for a stab. Mega Man back-flipped out of the way, his eyes narrowing. "Wait...what's that supposed to mean?" "You have a lot of sore points in your psyche, Mega Man," Yamato Man explained sensibly. "I am merely trying to be sensitive to the trauma of your past-" "Sensitive nothing!" Mega Man snapped angrily. "You're treating me with kid gloves because you think I can't take your taunts!" "I suppose one could look at it like that," Yamato Man allowed. "But I don't feel it would be right to take advantage-" "Take advantage!" Mega Man snarled angrily, equipping the Rush Power Armor. "I can handle everything you can throw at me!" He lunged in, delivering a solid punch that Yamato Man barely blocked with his spear shaft. "I would rather not take that risk," Yamato Man replied, spinning his spear shaft to deflect each of Mega Man's blows. "I would not be able to live with myself if I made you cry." "You really think I'm going to cry?" Mega Man roared angrily, charging up. "I'll make you cry!" "I somehow doubt that," Yamato Man replied softly. "But with all you'd been through, I thought you'd welcome-" "Don't treat me like an invalid!" Mega Man roared out, firing off a Power Armor amplified Skull Buster shot. Yamato Man dodged to the side, watching as Mega Man flew back against the wall, the spear blade embedded in the back of his waist being driven forcefully through the Rush Power Armor, severing some key components and forcing Rush to disengage before warping out. Mega Man sank to the floor, his hand going to the blade in his back, wincing. He stared out the massive hole in the wall he'd left, seeing the trees off in the distance. Yamato Man stepped in front of Mega Man, between him and the wall. "It looks like I've beaten you," Yamato Man stated bluntly. "I won't let you escape to take that away from me." Mega Man smiled widely. "You know, your maker tells me that, unlike most robot designs, there's no fundamental circuitry in your head. Your personality core and hard drive is stored elsewhere in your body. If you lose your head, you'll be just fine when you get a new one. Just a temporary shut down." "I fail to see the significance of your observation," Yamato Man stated calmly. "It's because I didn't come here to beat you," Mega Man replied. "I don't want you to break your promise, either." Yamato Man stared at Mega Man in confusion...until he noticed how much lower than his head Mega Man presently was. His eyes widened as he turned towards the hole in the wall. The laser blast tore through Yamato Man's head, incinerating it and dropping him to the floor, punching into the wall well above Mega Man's head. Off in the trees, Merkava lowered her laser-sniper rifle attachment, one she'd swapped in for one of her heavy machine guns. "Got him, Mega Man," she called through her communicator. "I'll be there to pick you both up soon." Discarding the camo sheet that had concealed her presence, she turned her tank treads towards the Fortress. Once Mega Man and Rush were fully repaired - which didn't take long - it was discovered that the blade embedded in his side had been enough to download the Y. Spear Master Weapon. With that in hand, Mega Man went after Knight Man, who had conquered an old style castle from which to lead his efforts. At first, the obstacles didn't seem too different as Mega Man made his way into the castle. The robotic defenses were easily dealt with using his variety of Master Weapons. However, one of the early chambers held a new challenge. Spikes raised and lowered throughout a long hall at different heights, the lowest level of spikes meeting the floor. Mega Man was forced to carefully maneuver his way past, positioning himself so that the spikes didn't so much as touch him when they reached their lowest, and jumping the smallest of heights as they raised up, all the while dealing with attacking robots. Eventually, Mega Man made his way past it, making his way up the castle. The Rush Jet Armor proved effective at making his way through most of the remaining obstacles until he made his way back inside the castle. The next chamber had spring balls all throughout it, making him bounce around at unexpected angles as he struggled to make his way through. The only hazard was spiked bots that moved back and forth along springs or platforms, indestructible and damaging when he slammed into them. Beyond that, he finally reached Knight Man himself. Knight Man stayed braced behind his shield, holding it over his Tournament Ribbon. "You shall not destroy my ribbon! And without that, you cannot remove me from the Tournament! I shall be victorious! You cannot penetrate my shield!" Mega Man stared at him for a time...then smacked himself in the forehead. "I don't have to." He calmly switched to Flame Man's weapon. "W...what are you doing?" Knight Man demanded. "Well, you turtling isn't going to be a very entertaining fight," Mega Man explained, "so since I can't make this fight awesome, I'm going to make it funny." With that, he shot the flames at Knight Man's feet. "Yowch!" Knight Man yelped, hopping up and down. "Hot foot! Hot foot! Hot foot!" Mega Man waited for a time, then used Blizzard Man's weapon to put out the fire. "And...done." Knight Man paused, then looked down. His ribbon was ashes on the floor. "Huh..." With that, he beamed out. Mega Man chuckled as he grabbed the weapon chip for Knight C. from the hidden chamber that opened when Knight Man beamed out. "Hope that was funny enough..."