Duo raced through the sky, using his senses to lock onto the Evil Energy that was on the planet's surface. Having transformed his body almost entirely into Justice Energy for transport, he was all but immune to physical damage as he flew, so he doubted if anything he encountered on his trip to what was apparently an island in the middle of the ocean - and skull-shaped at that - would give him any sort of problem.
As such, he was understandably perplexed when he lowered close to the sea level to recieve a white energy beam to the face that slammed him bodily into the rocky archipelago that shaped the island's 'teeth', rapidly drained his energy, and forced him to revert to his physical state. "What in this world?" he demanded in shock as he floated out of the pillar he'd slammed into, letting it collapse behind him.
"Yeah, that'd be me."
"Roll?" Duo asked in confusion as he turned towards the source of the voice...only to spy a robot in dirty looking red and yellow armor. "...you are not female," he commented dryly.
The robot threw his arms into the air in frustration. "Seriously, Dad! Let me have my normal voice back in battle mode already! I'm sorry about laughing about the Novocain!"
"...you are not Roll," Duo repeated, seeking clarification.
"No, I'm Mega Man," the strange robot replied. "Sis called me as soon as you shot off here to kill Vinyl. I'm here to stop you."
Duo growled as he braced himself. Despite his mission, there was another protocol inside him that was causing him problems now. He wasn't supposed to fight another Justice user, whether actual or potential. While it had higher priority over actual, his senses showed a strong affinity for Justice Energy in the robot before him, even if he had never been exposed. As such, it went against the grain as far as his programming to simply go all out against him. "Very well," he grumbled. "Then I will make you-" He paused, noticing something else. "Why are you glowing-"
Without warning, Mega Man shot forward, flames shooting out of his hindquarters as he body-checked Duo back into another rock pillar before bringing his buster around, unleashing another white beam, using the recoil to push himself back to land. "That's why," Mega Man replied simply. "It's called the Skull Blast."
"Stop! Doing that!" Duo roared out as he sent a surge of Justice Energy through his body to accelerate his self-repair. Locking his eyes on Mega Man, he raced forward, pulling his fist back. He wasn't surprised when Mega Man rolled out of the way, but the discharge when his fist slammed into the ground still sent Mega Man flying back. "Hold still and fight-" He rocked back as he received a flame driven kick in the head. "What kind of weapon is that, anyway?"
"A useful joke!" Mega Man proclaimed as he gripped Duo's shoulders, flipped himself around...and unleashed a point-blank flaming fart right in Duo's face as he launched himself forward to get some distance.
Duo screamed in frustration as he wiped at his face. "Look, I can see a strong Justice in you. I don't want to fight you..."
"And I don't really want to fight you, either," Mega Man admitted. "But I'm not about to let you go kill someone when I can stop you."
"Why?" Duo demanded. "I aim to destroy evil!"
"And I've got nothing against that," Mega Man countered. "I'm fine with the idea of seeking out evil and destroying it. But I'm a robot. Beyond anything else, the First Law means I can't stand by and let someone my program classifies as human get hurt if I can act to prevent it. And my program classifies Vinyl as human." Lowering his voice, he murmured, "Can't count the mental issues I wouldn't have if somebody had thought to do that a lot sooner..."
"I can fix that for you, then," Duo offered, calling up a function of his Justice Energy state.
"Wha-"
Before Mega Man could react, Duo had blurred forward and gripped his head in his massive hand. For a brief moment, both Duo and Mega Man entered a pure energy state, and then they were back to normal. "There," Duo explained. "It's not a full fix, but I've reconfigured the connection between your programming and personality cores. Your command structure is now part of your personality core, rather than your programming core, with the programming core acting as a preprogrammed set of ethics rather than an iron-clad command structure."
Mega Man staggered back, stunned. "Then...I actually have...true free will now?" he asked, stunned.
"Not entirely," Duo replied. "For some reason, the restructure left you incapable of disobeying orders from an entity identified as Kalinka Cossack. No idea who that is."
"Huh. ...wouldn't really want to upset her by telling her no, anyway," Mega Man admitted.
"Her? Oh, a female. Yes, that would likely be your updated self preservation protocols," Duo admitted. "Well, now that I've fixed that, you don't have to stand in my way as I go after this Vinyl-"
Another blast of white from Mega Man's buster slammed Duo into yet another pillar of stone above the water. "The bleep!?" Duo demanded angrily.
"Don't have to," Mega Man confirmed. "Still want to. She's still one of my best friends, after all." He grinned widely. "Besides..."
Ten more robots teleported in. Eight seemed to be designed along an elemental theme of some sort. One was black armored and stood beside Mega Man, bracing his large buster. The last was armored in red and seemed to be of similar design to Mega Man, standing to his other side.
"...I'm not the only one here to stop you," Mega Man concluded.
Duo gritted his teeth firmly as he stood upright. As he analyzed his situation, the programming restrictions relaxed as the situation dictated the survival of potential Justice users being of lower priority of his own survival, or the priority of destroying Evil Energy. "Fine then," he growled out as he released his internal limiters, no longer holding anything back. "Die with her, then."
I can honestly say I did not see this coming.
Huh, actually a good spot to play "Electrical Communication" as the BGM here.
Self-Preservation for the fear of what a female could do is even more powerfull that Justice Power
Come on, Duo, PROVE to the world you're more than just a robot!... What, someone has to around here.
Oh, would you just shut up about that already!
Huh... well thanks, Duo. Doesn't fix the fact Mega Man could've potentially fixed that himself in a previous arc, or the fact that an unfillable pit will always remain, but if Deus Ex Machina is the key to Autem(?) Ex Machina, then so be it... well, I'll never accept it, but I'm sure your other fans will be more than happy to. Now then, let's see Mega Man beat the crap out of Duo already.
Dammit, Duo, you had one job!... Oh well, obligatory whatsit.
My life for Aiur (Or whatever name suitable)!
I can't resist:
Well! Didn't see this coming... Please, continue.
Both obligatory and fitting for this chapter
And this is why you don't put your fan next to an old rusty septic pipe. You never know when it's going to give out.
....Duo, you stupid, suicidal f@#k-wad....
....Anyone else reading Duo's voice as TFS' 16?
Tats I think I see what you're aiming for now, and while the first part of it seems like a great idea I'm not sure if I like the second. I hope I'm wrong. Out of curiosity though, can you tell me, either here or in a PM, how many 'games' are left to go?
7361811
Two more. Nine and ten.
In a PM, however, please tell me where you think I'm going. Pretty sure you're wrong.
7361811 There are 10 Megaman games in total for the main arc, and countless spin-offs. But I think it's a safe bet to say about 3 games after this are left as well as the epilogue arc.
*hides in a nuclear bomb shelter and locks it*
Just out of curiosity, wasn't there a Duo in Melody of the Future? I seem to recall seeing him during Sigma's attempt to turn Repliforce rouge. And if there was, is it the same one.
7362043
Not Duo, Double.
7362086 Got it. I'm gonna have to reread it.
I'm disappointed. I really wanted Duo to be talked down.
Did I miss something or is Skull man just not pitching in?
7362372
Skull Man's a Cossack bot. He's not there.
Also, Sans personality. He's lazy.
*five minutes later* And that's when Duo realized, he done fucked up
7362378 true that but wouldent be be beeped off that vinyls under attack shes hes friend two
7362389
He hasn't heard about it yet.
7362210 He's a zealot, there is no talking them down, there is no reasoning with them, there is only killing them before they start killing innocents in their crusade.
7362396 more like he leaps before thinking i mean roll said vinlys magic has a commen link to both justice and evil energy
hahahahaha Duo is about to have his robotic butt handed to him
Woohoo! Rock has some modicum of free will, and Duo's gonna get his butt kicked!
When did Duo's personality become Shadow the Hedgehog x Superman?
7362597 eyup but i think its safe to say kalinka has rock wrapped around her little finger
7362916 That's mostly voluntary, though. If she ever hurts him, you can bet that will go right in the trash can.
7362953 true but why would she do that to him
7362979 On purpose, absolutely no reason. Accidents happen.
7363027 true i bet ten to one she might end up getting hurt and breaks hes heart so he dosent have to worry about her
7361530 Honestly, I disliked Electrical Communication as the intro song. I think the music the US got is actually more fitting-- for one thing, it is actually fucking timed with the animation.
In general, 8 is one of my less favorites in the series: Inafune tried to go with that bendy, plasticy cartoony look--- that was only ever used for the sequel of Rockman & Forte, then never again because fuck that shit. X, EXE, Legends, Starforce-- even the Ruby Spears cartoon: they all look and bent like machines--- well designed machines, but still machines. 8/R&F's style was too .... meh, so it was more the same evolutionary line as Bad Boxart Megaman than any other incarnations.
Well, it looks like it's time to see if that oversized sonic artillery piece can actually hit something.
I have a idea on how to fuck him up! Get one of the bubble attacks. Good now pump it full of Forte's bass cannon sonics. Now throw that shit like a bomb and gtfo if the blast radius!
THIS IS GONNA BE AWESOME!!!!! I can't wait to see how the fight against Duo goes, though I think a triple buster combo from Rock, Blues, and Bass should be the final blow ala Mega Man's Final Smash.
So a blind Super Justice Space Paladin, the kind that would try to stop his Assassin partner from doing his job.
Obligatory "IT'S RAPING TIME!!!1" comment. Because 11 separate attacks, and if he gets stuck, full release Bass Cannon boosted by a Skull man empowered Megaman, and aimed by Protoman.
Despite how excited I am to see where this goes, it annoys me that a slightly different phrasing could have aborted this entire arc.
Roll: We found that Justice and Evil energy have similar wavelengths that aren't properly understood by our sciences. We call it magic.
Duo: Blah blah blah justice, blah blah blah paladin, blah blah blah evil energy is bad.
Roll: Yes, well hopefully identifying that shared quality will help Vinyl figure out more about her abilities. She generates and uses magic without channeling evil energy, or justice energy.
or something like that.
Well, as I said, Bass will have to get his most powerful weapon unlocked.
7363925 Nah, just use the Bass Cannon.
For whatever reason, every time I try to picture next chapter's battle, I get Mega Man 2's Wily Stage One playing in my head. I gives I associate it with epic robot battles.
7367596 with Forte's shit aiming? Bah I'll stick to the sonic bubble bombs that someone else can throw.
7367953 Have someone else aim.
7367953 have vinyl make another one that she aims then.
7368838 EXACTLY!!
Oooo, full free will for Rock. Didn't see that one coming.
With rock, bass, skullman, and the other robo masters, they should be on par with duo. Now, here we go!