Once Mega Man warped into the hanging garden that Gyro Man was supposed to be based in, he quickly found that making his way through was much easier than expected, mostly because of the new Super Arrow ability, due to just how long the gardens were. Once he climbed high enough arrow to arrow, he was able to ride straight across even when the weapon energy ran out. This rendered nearly all obstacles moot as he could simply glide swiftly over them - far more swiftly than even Rush in Jet mode could fly - and allowed him to get a great overview of the entire garden structure. While it was an amazing view, the better part of it was that it allowed him to swiftly locate Gyro Man.
Unfortunately, this was accomplished by slamming bodily into him and sending them both crashing to the floor below.
"My bad!" Gyro Man offered worriedly. "I wasn't looking where I was going..."
Mega Man sat up quickly. "It's quite alright," he offered warmly, finding himself wanting to comfort Gyro Man for some reason. There was just something so...adorable about the robot's voice that made him want to protect him.
"It's my stabilizer," Gyro Man apologized as the propeller on his back spun in a sputtering manner. "I just don't know what went wrong..."
Mega Man winced internally. "Look...why don't you just warp back to base, get some snacks, and rest up?" he offered. "No reason you need to stick around to fight or anything. It...wouldn't feel right fighting you."
"It...won't disappoint Vinyl?" Gyro Man offered hopefully.
"Definitely not," Mega Man hastened to assure him.
"Well...I could go for some muffins..." Smiling, Gyro Man hugged Mega Man - downloading his weapon chip in the process - and jumped back. "Bye bye!" With that, he teleported away.
Mega Man blinked up in the air. "Well...that was easy."
The mines proved to be about as frustrating as Mega Man had expected them to be. In addition to various new types of drones patrolling the tunnels, crystals dropped through chutes into pits along the path, making dangerous obstacles for Mega Man to evade. Thankfully, the entire area was self contained, with only a single straight path leading a short distance into the mine, allowing Mega Man to reach Crystal Man with ease.
Crystal Man smiled at him as he approached. "Ah, what a beautiful entrance! Truly, a memory to be treasured." Standing up from amongst a collection of snowflakes preserved in crystal, he walked slowly towards Mega Man. "As I will treasure the memory of your beautiful explosion."
Rolling his eyes, Mega Man switched to the Gyro Blade weapon. "Somehow, I doubt that." Drawing back, he hurled a flurry of the blades.
Crystal Man leapt into the air, but Mega Man redirected the blades, pinning Crystal Man to the ceiling. "...well, that is impressive," Crystal Man mused. "But it will take more than that to-"
Switching to Gravity Hold, Mega Man dragged Crystal Man back to the floor, his limbs remaining pinned to the ceiling by the Gyro Blades in the process. Mega Man's eyes widened in shock. "Uh...that's more brutal than I meant..."
"I'm okay..." Crystal Man mumbled softly.
The blades fell out of the ceiling, coming down to impale Crystal Man through the back, his limbs still stuck to them.
"...less okay..." Crystal Man whimpered before teleporting out.
Mega Man rubbed the back of his head nervously as he downloaded the Crystal Eye. "I...just don't know what went wrong..."
The weapon manufacturing plant proved to be in the middle of a wide forest. The initial approach to the entrance passed over a vast tract of land, which Mega Man used the Super Arrow to ride across with ease. He then descended into the tunnel to the underground facility.
The tunnel proved as simple to maneuver as before, and he quickly returned to the surface, once more using Super Arrow to get to the actual facility entrance. Charge Kick proved useful in getting past the bots patrolling the halls, as it surrounded Mega Man with a corona of energy that let him punch through them without taking damage. It wasn't long until he found Napalm Man, loading up on weapons from the shelves. "Rearming?" he asked curiously.
"No," Napalm corrected. "Just making sure the more dangerous of these things won't be used. Safest place for them is in my hands-whoops!" He promptly fell over on his back, setting off several rockets and napalm charges towards Mega Man. "Sorry about that!" he called out worriedly.
"It's okay," Mega Man reassured him, having managed to dodge all the incoming fire. "You missed."
"That's a relief," Napalm Man exclaimed happily. "Any chance you could help me up?"
"Sure," Mega Man agreed, walking forward and pulling the tank-like robot to his treads.
Napalm Man nodded. "My thanks. So...go ahead and destroy me now."
"What?" Mega Man gasped out, shocked.
"Yeah," Napalm Man confirmed. "That's what happens here. You have to beat me. I'm not going to fight you, though. I'm a strict pacifist."
Mega Man shook his head. "I'm not going to just shoot someone who won't defend themselves!"
"Well, I'm not going to surrender, either," Napalm Man insisted.
Mega Man scratched his chin for a time...then snapped his fingers. "I've got it!" He promptly performed a perfect ballet pirouette. "Ta-dah!"
"Uh...?"
"I have to prove myself superior, and acquire your Weapon Chip," Mega Man explained. "That's what the challenge said. I downloaded your Weapon Chip when I pulled you up, and I just proved I'm more graceful than you."
Napalm Man blinked for a time. "Uh...okay." Napalm Man beamed out.
Smiling, Mega Man warped away, Napalm Bomb ready to use.
Great now I want to read your Derpy story next, even though it is not written yet.
One more of the 8 robot masters to go before the final, right?
This was inevitable, wasn't it?
Augh! Gyro Man is Derpy.
This sounds similar to one of the final parts in How to Train your Dragon
7638540
So is his weapon.
Poor Crystal Man...
I have no idea what even happened with that tank looking pacifist... logic does not compute
7638540 He should be renamed Derpy Man then or maybe D-man for short. Wait... Derpy is gray so add that in we get... D-Gray Man.
Derpy, what are you doing here?
Wow, three somewhat bumbling Robot Masters in one chapter... Don't know what to make of that.
I know the reference was for Derpy...but I couldn't help but think of Chrona! I don't know how to handle this!!!
Oh my Celestia! You made Gyro Man have the personality of Muffins/Derpy! That's just awesome!
7638771 doesn't surprise me.
omg soooo cute you refernced derpy
Gyro Man as Derpy
I figured Crystal Man was gonna be a typical narcissist, if not a Mettaton reference.
7638522
Well, Until Tats' give it a go you can read MrAquino's Story of Derpy in Futurama (if it's not already done)
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/287573/planet-expresss-package-pony
Gyro MAn better be one of your Masters that comes back and hangs with Vinyl.
Is Gyro Man actually Derpy?
Yes, yes they are.
For a moment there, I thought for sure Crystal Man would end up as the dark knight from Monty Python. Nice job not taking the obvious joke there.
7639595
Already did that joke with Magnet Man.
7639797 Ah, guess I forgot about it. Oh well, regardless the Derpy humor made this chapter absolutely full of win.
7639854 Yup!
7639797 And you almost made that joke with Knight Man before switching to a joke about Blue (Da Bo Dee Da Bo Dye).
7638694 He skipped MM5 to arrest Dr. Wiley. If I remember correct, Gyro Man was the only one that didn't require assistance to fly Dr. Santa Light.
Tatsu, you are suffering from "We are still relevant dammit!".
Gyro Man channeling Derpy... Never have I wanted to hug a Robot Master before.
7639448 I can totally see him air lifting Vinyl around for fun.
7638544 its fish legs when his dragon crashes then flips onto him.
The curse of the Derpy Mega Man, the curse of the Derpy.
Derpybot!
Ooo, ouch.
Gyro Man was based on Derpy! yay!
7690738
I guess the weapon effect was not the only thing in that chip.
Was that also a HTTYD reference I spotted? "I'm Okay / Less Okay?"
A meme for a meme.
Okay, sure.
Loved making gyo man based off derpy it just seems right
Also meant to ask in an earlier chapter if galaxyman was based off walle or eva/eve?
9851027
Wall-E.
Hardcore beating for Crystal.
Derpy and then Fish Legs. What a combo.
Also I feel like Super Arrow is an OP hookshot at the rate it gets MM through these levels. But hey, if it works...
3 masters in one run, that leaves only 2 left.. wonder who the last one will be, been so long i honestly forgot who it is.