//------------------------------// // Shut Down // Story: Champion of the Sun // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// "Geez, I know I acted all confident in front of my friends, but now, standing in front of this thing...I actually feel scared," Taurus Fire said with fear in his voice as he gazed up at he colossal sphere of energy that seemed to rip apart space and time around the area that he was standing. He had burned his way through the metal cube until he finally reached the power core, the center of the doomsday weapon that threatened everything and one he cared. That was where he found all of the EM power and shattered magic that the Maestro had collected, all of which was pointed at the Earth. The power was so intense that Taurus could feel his body slowly starting to fade away, making him focus to keep from being overwhelmed. 'It's okay to be scared, Bud. But just like Sonia and Geo, we have a job to do,' Taurus said to Bud, who narrowed his eyes before clenching a fist to pump himself up. He took a step towards the giant cube of death, but before he could get any closer a sword whipped by his head and imbedded itself right next to the power core. Taurus Fire turned around to see Rogue walking towards him, though he was far different than the last time that they had fought. His body was completely cracked and shattered magic poured out of him, causing him to walk at an awkward angle. But what drew Taurus's eyes was the expression that Rogue wore upon his face, almost as if he had been consumed by the power that radiated from him. Almost like he had sold his soul for the power. Taurus crouched down slightly as he prepared himself to begin fighting immediately, but to his surprise Rogue stopped a bit away from Taurus, who whole body shaking. "There you are. The weakling that deserves to die for daring to be anything more than a weakling," Rogue spat out in a tone that sounded like a man possessed, slightly unnerving Taurus before the bull let fire erupt from his nostrils. "Hate to break it to you Rogue, but you aren't going to kill me. There's too much on the line to allow myself to lose to you!" Taurus roared with enough power to shake the entire room. Bud's wizard appeared next to him and fit a small device onto the bulls head, flicking a camera over his right eye. 'Okay Bud, you're coming through perfectly and...holy crap, is that Rogue? What the heck happened to him?' Zack asked from the other end of the line. "Is this what it's come down to, Rogue? You want to beat us so badly that you're willing to sell your soul for this kind of power?!" Taurus roared at Rogue, who let out a small cackle before he twisted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at the being of fire. "My soul? What good is a soul? It doesn't make me stronger? It doesn't give me any power in battle? All my soul is is a waste of space within my body, space that could be filled with power," Rogue replied with a sinister cackle before he reached out with his free hand, drawing the blade that had been embedded in the wall back into his hand. Rogue then crouched down and began to swing his blades, slowly approaching Taurus with an unstable look in his eyes. 'Be careful Bud, Rogue has completely lost his mind,' Luna's voice said on the other end of the device Bud was wearing, getting Taurus Fire to nod before Rogue flickered. Taurus's eyes went wide before he raised an arm to his side, barely managing to intercept a blade strike that would have taken off his head. 'LEFT!' Zack roared, getting Taurus to turn to his left and slam his arms together to block a second strike, though the strength of the impact was still enough to send Taurus skidding backwards. 'There's a eighty percent chance that he's going to follow up with an overhead attack followed by a stomach stab! Get ready!' Taurus moved on pure fighting instinct alone allowed him to move his arm up to block the first strike, before he reached out with his hand to grab hold of the second blade that would have gone right through his stomach. Taurus Fire strained against the might of Rogue, but he quickly found that the power that the Maestro had given the being had made him far beyond anything Taurus was ready for. "You are the worst of them all. Geo was weak. Sonia was weak. But they held a small bit of strength in them. But you have never been strong. You are nothing if not for those weaklings that you fight so hard to protect. And yet you dared to stand against me," Rogue whispered before planting a boot into the chest of Taurus and sent the bull hurtling backwards. Taurus roared with pain as he slammed into numerous cables and cords, becoming entangled in them. 'Bud, you need to get free now!' Luna roared through the communicator, getting fire to erupt from Taurus's body as he had his mission. With his already incredible strength he ripped himself free of the cords, but Rogue was on him in an instant and grabbed hold of the bull's head with his shattered hand. Taurus roared as Rogue ignited his hand, causing the burning magic to fry the face of the bull. Rogue then snickered at the pain of Taurus before hurling him into the ground. "You dared to try and fight me. You dared to try to rise above what you truly are and that is weak," Rogue said with a deranged malice in his voice as he combined his blades, creating a brand new blade that looked like a nightmare given form. "But worst of all, you dared to defeat me. You DARED to defeat someone who will forever be beyond you. And that is a sin I cannot allow to let go unpunished." "You've gone off the deep end, Rogue. You used to have at least a semblance of a warrior's code, but now you're just a bloodthirsty monster," Taurus replied as he picked himself back up, taking up a boxer's stance once more and motioned for Rogue to bring it. Rogue's eyes became enraged and he lunged towards Taurus, who braced himself for the onslaught. 'Bud, he's going to be going wild against you. Your best bet is to keep your guard up and wait for an opening,' Zack instructed Taurus, who followed his orders to a T as he deflected each massive sword strike with the armored part of his arms. Rogue pointed his left hand at Taurus and fired a blast of shattered magic into the face of the bull, staggering her momentarily and allowed Rogue to slash Taurus across the chest. Taurus roared as he staggered back, but the screaming in his ear forced him to concentrate. He blocked a quick strike to the gut which allowed him to retaliate with a massive right hook that knocked Rogue off of his feet. Rogue flipped in the air and launched himself off of the ceiling, slamming the front of his head into the nose of Taurus Fire. Fire shook his head to clear the stars in his eyes before he felt a hand grab around the device on the side of his head, before Rogue ripped it clean off of his head. "So this is what you have been using to be better than me. You are relying on friendship...that tears it," Rogue whispered as he turned the headset to nothingness as wrath flashed across his eyes. "You do not deserve to die. You deserve to suffer for all eternity. How dare you rely on such a weakness to overcome one like me who is strong?!" Taurus, sensing that he might not have another chance, spun and slammed a fist into the side of the energy container, but to his horror he found that he could barely keep scratch the surface of the container. Rogue let out a cackle that chilled Taurus to his soul before a kick sent Taurus back first into the container. Rogue pinned Taurus to the wall with his free hand, before smiling widely as he took aim at the face of the hero. "Do not bother. A weakling like yourself had no chance of punching through that. Only one as strong as myself can get through!" Rogue roared as he plunged the blade forward. But right before he could drive the blade into the skull of Taurus, the bull vanished in a flash of light. Without Taurus there to impale, the blade cleaved right through the side of the clear container and struck the energy core inside. Rogue looked from the area that he had impaled with surprise, before he glanced down to see an untransformed human and his wizard resting at the warriors feet. "Like you said Rogue, I wasn't strong enough to punch through it. But I knew that you would be. I'm not stronger than you. But thanks to my friends, I can out think you," Bud said as he pulled out a small earpiece and flicked it at Rogue's face. "And thanks to them, you've done my job for me. Thanks for helping this weakling out." Rogue let out a bellow as he pulled the blade out of the core and aimed it at Bud, but before either could do anything the core began to flash with a violent light and the room shook with an intensity that made even the crazed Rogue glance up in fear. That moment gave Bud his opening and a moment later he was back to being the blazing bull. Rogue spun around just in time a fist to the face, one that drove him into the heart of the machine. Taurus Fire held him in there as the power coursed through both of them, an agonizing sensation that neither could withstand. After a few moments of that pain, Taurus released Rogue and they both fell to the ground, reverting to their human forms. Solo lay unconscious on the ground while Bud's vision was fading. "Got...you...this time," Bud weakly panted out with a smile. Laplace appeared beside Solo, looking down at the human that he had called partner. Laplace then shook his head at Solo before reaching down and picking him up, tucking him under one arm as he began to change the both of them to EM forms. But then the wizard stopped to look at Bud, an expression on his face that Bud couldn't read. It almost looked like...respect. Then Laplace reached out for Bud. {} Megaman had never been so tired in his life. His battle with the Maestro, which had in reality lasted about thirty minutes, felt like it had dragged on for hours. His armor was cracked and dented, his shield was shattered and a large chunk of it was missing and his solar saber barely had any flames left within it. Celestia fared no better, with her lower jaw cracked and her horn was having issues giving off anything but a few sparks. But a glance to his side showed him that Sonia was far worse than he was. Without armor to tank blows like he had, she had taken far worse punishment than Megaman. Her outfit was ripped and tattered, while her helmet was completely decimated, allowing her midnight blue hair to be stained with her blood. Multiple bleeding wounds covered her body and her left arm was dangling limply, while one of her legs twitched in a painful manner. But in her eyes Megaman could still see the will to fight, the will that made him admire her so much. "I admit that I am impressed that the both of you can still stand," Maestro said with a meager bit of praise, before forming a blast of shattered magic within his hand. "But it seems this is where our adventure ends. You're formers were far more powerful than I would ever have believed, but it is not enough. The simply truth is that you are flesh and blood. I am beyond." Maestro then fired a blast of shattered magic at Harp Note, but before the blast could strike her Megaman threw himself over her, taking the blast himself. He roared with pain before his legs gave out, causing him to collapse into Harp Note's arms. She caught him with her good arm before her eyes went wide as she realized the next attack was already coming, forcing her to throw herself over Geo to protect him. She roared with pain as the magic tore through her suit and made her left arm go completely numb. She cracked open her eyes to see that her left arm was completely ripped apart, with blood pouring from a horrifying gash. "Sonia...are you alright?" Luna asked weakly from what remained of Harp Note's helmet that lay on the side of the station. "I saved Geo. That's all I need," Harp Note weakly spat back as Megaman finally managed to pick himself back up, his eyes going wide at the damage that Sonia had endured. He spun around with a fire in his eyes as he reached out and summoned the solar saber once more, but he found that the blade barely held a semblance of the light that it once did. Harp Note forced herself to take another step with a roar as she grabbed her guitar and held it like a scythe, spitting out a good amount of blood before she glared at the Maestro. "Sonia Strumm. You have a will that just won't quit," Maestro said with a nod before he fired more blasts of shattered magic at the pair, forcing Megaman to use what remained of his shield to protect Harp Note as best he could. "Your love for Geo gives you strength that is staggering, especially considering in other realities, he chooses Luna over you. You are not that special to him." "Why...would Geo pick a horse...over me?" Harp Note spat out with a small smirk, getting Maestro to lower his hand slightly. "And speaking of horses, Celestia and Luna. Know that I owe the both of you an apology. When I killed your world I thought you would die with it like all the others did. But you two are stronger than the others. You changed the fate of this world because of your refusal to give up. And for that," Maestro finished as he channeled all of his infinite power into his hands. "I thank you." "I can't block that," Megaman admitted with a whisper as he realized what was about to be launched at him. But then he cast a glance at Harp Note, who could barely stay standing, before gritting his teeth and throwing himself in front of her. "Get behind me, Sonia. I promise that I won't let him hurt you." "If you think...I'll let you give your life for me...you're solely mistaken," Harp Note weakly said as she staggered next to him, bracing her good shoulder against the shield. "This time, I save you." "Sister, talk some sense into her. If she dies then you will die as well," Celestia said weakly to her sister. "Then I will die protecting you," Luna spat back as she used her magic to levitate what little remained of the helmet back onto Harp Note's head. "Like I told you, I would give my life for you." "How precious, you are all willing to die for each other," Maestro said before he put both hands forward and smirked. "So I will kill all of you, just to make all four of you happy." An explosion went off beneath them with enough force to tear all of them off of their feet, while a hole was punched in one of the sides of the cube as power erupted through the side of it. Maestro let out a snarl of frustration as he realized what had happened, but it took the champions a few moments more to catch on. "Bud did it," Megaman whispered before he looked down at his Hunter, getting the "Mission Success" message from Bud. "He stopped the weapon." "Correction, he let out all the power I had stored up. The weapon can still be fired again if given time," Maestro corrected for the EM champion as he floated back up to his feet. "All that means is I will have to kill the lot of you and then gather more power. Shouldn't take more than a few weeks with you gone." "Geo...any ideas?" Harp Note asked Megaman as she tried to lift her guitar once more. Megaman looked from her to the helmet in which Luna resided before glancing at the alicorn in his hand. A small smile crossed his face before he reached back and pulled out a small container, knowing that the time to use his trump card had come. "I've got one trick left. And it's a trick that the Maestro will never see coming."