//------------------------------//
// 10: Hot and Cold 
// Story: Wily's Wittle Wub 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

	After a quick decontamination shower to cleanse themselves of the residue of the previous area, Mega Man, Bass, and Prometheus went to check on the Doctors' progress.  "So how goes it, Dad?" Mega Man asked hopefully as he stared into the quarantined section, where Roll lay, now tossing and turning.

"We have good news and bad news," Dr. Light responded.  "The bad news is that we're no closer to an actual treatment for infected robots, as we still don't know how the virus initially infects them."

"The good news is that we've managed to develop a vaccine which can be used to prevent robots from being infected," Dr. Wily added.  "I've already vaccinated Rush and Treble, so they'll be able to assist you from now on."

"That's great!" Bass praised eagerly.  "And you can vaccinate us so we don't have to worry about infection either, right?"  Noticing both Doctors' faces fall, he hesitated.  "Uh...Pops?"

"The vaccine will only work for certain if a robot hasn't been exposed to Roboenza before application," Dr. Light explained.  "Otherwise, it runs the risk of accelerating the infection.  So you can't risk merging with Rush or Treble either, which is why we've temporarily disabled their Adapters."

"Still better than nothing," Prometheus mused as Mega Man and Bass clenched their fists in anger.  "Are the robots we're bringing you helping?"

"Indeed they are!" Dr. Wily offered.  "I'd say we have about half the program keys we need to fully identify this virus and its nature.  If the other four initial infectees are as different from these four as they are from each other, then with all 8 we should be able to produce a proper anti-virus!"

"Then let's go!" Mega Man insisted, rushing to the teleporter.





Solar Man was based in, of all places, a solar power plant.  He had apparently been charged with running it before becoming infected, and was now running amok within.  Now they had to climb to the top and deal with Solar Man before the plant went completely out of control.  On top of that, the interior had been trashed, leaving only treadmills and ladders for the group to ascend on for the first segment, and pits of fire that spewed out flames at them elsewhere.

Partway through the plant, they encountered a guardian...a pair of flaming bird bots, one red, one purple.  They fought by charging across the room at two heights, spewing flames at the trio.  However, when not dashing, they were easily targeted, and vulnerable.  The path onward proved to hold more of the same as what came before, packed together to be incredibly frustrating to get through, especially as there wasn't enough room to use Rush or Treble.

Thankfully, the path was also relatively short, and the trio were able to find safe spots to observe the various traps and learn their patterns before rushing through them at the right moment.  Before long, they reached the final chamber, where Solar Man awaited them.

Solar Man was a human shaped Robot Master, colored orange and gold.  His helmet was open at the top, and as he prepared for battle, the open space became filled with a spherical flame.

"So he fights with fire?" Mega Man asked, switching to Water Shield.  "Let's cool him off!"  The others followed suit, and all three activated their shields.

The strategy proved exceptionally effective, as the shields not only absorbed Solar Man's weapons fire, but also caused major system errors in his body when he came in contact with them.  Before long, the flame was extinguished, and Solar Man collapsed.  Mega Man promptly used the remote beacon to send him back to the lab, as the trio acquired the Solar Blaze weapon.

Mega Man paused as he examined the nature of the weapon.  "Say...one of these guys ice related?" he asked curiously.

Prometheus quickly consulted the list.  "Yes.  Chill Man.  He's an arctic observation bot, designed to stop glacial melting caused by global warming.  He's probably going out of control by now."

Bass grinned widely.  "Why don't we turn up the heat down there, then?"





Chill Man's arctic exploration base proved to be guarded mostly by snowman shaped robots that hurled electrified snow at the trio, as well as a few flying robots that proved easy to evade.  The main obstacle proved to be the icy ground itself, which offered very little traction.

Once inside the actual facility, things proved more difficult.  Blocks of ice proved the only platforms over spikes, but they cracked and shattered if impacted twice, forcing the trio to be very careful with how they crossed the blocks so all three of them were able to do so.

Once past the worst of that area, they found themselves back outside, this time on the facility roof.  There, bird robots dropped rockets to attack them from behind, though Prometheus' shield rendered that threat non-existent just by having him in the back.  The next danger was ice blocks covering gaps in the path, dropping straight into deep ocean beyond where teleport signal could reach them.  While exceptionally dangerous, it proved relatively simple to overcome.  Mega Man crossed with Rush, Bass with Treble, and Prometheus jumped, not remaining on any ice block long enough for it to break under him.

Before long, they reached the final chamber, where Chill Man awaited them.  He was a blue-white humanoid Robot Master with an ice helmet.  He fought by jumping and throwing out ice spikes, but the power of the Solar Blaze weapon rendered both tactics moot, and his ice helmet soon melted, rendering him prone.

Beaming him out, the trio gained the Chill Spike subweapon, which threw out a ball of ice that become a row of spikes on ground or wall, wherever it hit.  Prometheus immediately saw how useful it would be for one of the Robot Masters.  "Nitro Man is car based..."

All three grinned as they beamed out.