//------------------------------// // 7- Model P // Story: MegaMane // by Flutters Is Shy //------------------------------// The air was heavy with thrumming energy, the very walls pulsing with a sinister glow. The sky above was thick with the discarded waste of burning fuel, permeating the are with a rancid stench. Not that most of the areas inhabitants would have minded. Not much use in adding olfactory sensors to a bot designed to fire a full compliment of rockets and lasers from its face. The journey had been fraught with danger, the path they blazed littered with the broken remains of the mavericks that had stood against them. In all shapes and sizes they had challenged his megaman, his chosen wielder. They had pushed him to the brink of death, and sometimes beyond it. And still they failed. Their remains had only served to strengthen his bearer yet still, aiding in his quest. The weak fall, and pave the road for the strong. And his bearer was one of those strong few. He had taken his enemies apart piece by piece over the course of every battle, and had added what had made them strong to himself. Over the course of the path he took, his bearer reunited him with his various brothers and sisters, and they had thrived in their bearers embrace. He had cared for them, protected them, had made them feel alive. It was no wonder they all willingly fought for his cause, to rid the world and its inhabitants of the twisted biometal scourge known as Model W. None could fully rest easy while its influence still tainted the lands. They would not rest until it had been eradicated, burned to the quick, and left as nothing. It was as it would be. They were their megamans strength, and he was theirs. Together, their reach was almost as monstrous as those they faced, and yet more twice as strong. The sight of their quarry swam through the air above, a writing mass of Model W which had decided to finally take notice of them. Its form was that of a tremendous serpent, its head a horrendous combination of bared mechanical parts and burnished biometal. It had but one eye, that glared out the bottom of its head with ire so great that he almost felt himself draw back in fear. Almost. The driving force behind them did not back down. The Megaman would not be quashed down into submission. So neither would they. The Megaman leaped forth, to battle. They surged around him, reveling in the strength, the energy, the life he exuded. He outstretched his limbs as he sailed forward, his body arcing through the darkened air. They heard his call, and danced in delight to tone. Their lights shone in the darkness surrounding the Megaman, carving forth his path. "All models!" he called out, and let them know of their overwhelming right. "MEGAMERGE!" The purple tinged chunk of Biometal lurched off the table I had placed it on, impacting with the ceiling and clattering down on the floor. "Excitable, ain't he?" Model D chirped, getting a few seconds of air as he continuously bounced up and down on my sofa cushions. Little booger was lucky the basement had no windows, with the noise he was making I bet anyone walking by would suss out my little secret as quick as you could say 'He's Megaman!' Err, 'megamane', I guess. Sometimes I hate this place. "Who are you?" the violet laced chunk of living metal demanded, hovering roughly at eye height as he swayed from side to side. "Where am I? How did I get here? Where is the Megaman? Where is Grey!??!" I froze at his words, the implications hitting me straight in the face. Grey. Not Ashe. It couldn't possibly be, I had to be missing something important, an errant word or obscure meaning. "A!" he crowed suddenly, spotting the warily floating Model A that had decided to place my head inbetween herself and Model DM. I honestly don't blame her for that, DM is boisterous. Little brat already broke five vases. There's nothing worse than a broken vase you never even got the pleasure of breaking yourself. If someone else gets to, it's just no fun. "Where's Grey?" he repeated, slightly softer this time as he invaded my personal space to orbit with Model A. Why they decided to orbit all of a sudden, I don't know. If I had the ability to fly, I wouldn't waste it by circling around someones head... "Who?" Model A finally decided on letting out, quirking herself at a curious angle, reminiscent to a dog cocking its head. "Wait... Grey?" she turned the word over in her mouth, slowly bobbing up and down. She then turned to look me straight in the eye. I think. She could have been staring at my nose for all I really know. No pupils to follow, after all. "Didn't you say something about... yeah! You asked me if I new a Grey, right?" "Who... is this... creature?" Model P ground out, his callous tones sounding slippery and caustic. Damn, 'creature'. Don't think he likes me. But I'm so lovable! A regular furry four legged Fonzie, friend to everyone! "This is David!" Model A crowed, defending me as she hung protectively over my head. "He's our current megaman! Listen..." Model A leapt to explain the current situation, detailing how Discord was the cause of our problems, the bane of our existence. Model P was understandably pissed, even thought he didn't curse or try to break anything I could see him literally shaking with barely restrained rage. As Model A eventually got to the parts where we had contacted help from another world in order to find him in the desert, I could hear him strangling back a growl. Whether the growl was in reaction to us finding him acting as an impromptu battery to a random individual who he couldn't rant against due to them not actually being evil, or was in fact due to the very incomprehensible idea that I, a 'so called megaman' had been able to save him I couldn't tell. It was clear he didn't really like me. You didn't get much in the way of facial emotions with the biometals, but even someone as feasibly slow as me could not only decipher the underlying hostility in his voice but very well recognize the 'subtle' way he scoffed every time Model A noted a competent point I had accomplished. It was quite clear we weren't going to immediately mesh like Models A and DM had. They were likable. P was an arrogant little shit. He was absolutely convinced that I wasn't 'good enough' for him, and I'll be honest that I don't currently look that intimidating. A teetering tripod covered in hair with eyes larger that most plates. I REALLY didn't look that scary. That being said, I didn't appreciate the fact that he just took one look at me and then judged me unfit. See if I let him megamerge with me. Model A was pretty badass on her own, I didn't need... 'ninja' powers or whatever Model P had. Flinging shuriken, seeing through walls. Grapes probably being sour and all that. The scarf probably would have been cool, though. "My functions are... impaired," he... whined? Complained? Mentioned in a tone so salty I wouldn't be surprised if everything spontaneously tasted of lemons. "I don't have time for this, I have to get back to Grey, we were so close! One final battle, and then it would have been over! This... is intolerable." "Look," Model A tried to console him, "I can't say what functions will restore or when, but from personal experience I can say that they will eventually come back. Remember, I started off without most of my telemetry or other basic radar capabilities when I woke up here..." "Thus eventually leading to how you found myself," he noted, his tone refusing to deviate from his perpetually morose drawl. "Yes," Model A responded whilst DM let out a chirpy 'yep!' "And what... are you?" he switched gears, placing the brunt of his attention on DM. Surprisingly, Model DM momentarily lost his 'bounce', freezing under the dry gaze of the newcomer. "I have been around... for quite a while. I have seen Megamen come and go, and I have seen those that stood bright in the darkness leave behind their legacy as my brothers and sisters. And I must be completely frank... I do not recall you." Another short description as to 'where' and 'how' Model DM came about from Model A saved me from having to phrase it myself. Thank goodness for her. It's not that this new model scared me... he just gave me the heebies. "Another Model," he hummed as DM seeked sanctuary behind one of my ears. Big, useless floppy things they were, I guess they worked well as a temporary shield. "I will not baby you. I will not puff up whatever fragile sense of self worth you may have. Prove yourself and I will grudgingly accept you as worthy to fight beside me. You may even yet be worth adding your strength to my Megaman. And you," he snarled, placing himself an inch away from my face and causing DM to flee to the far side of the room. "You are not my Megaman. I do not trust you. I do not acknowledge you. I will use you for my own goals, to recover my lost brothers and sisters so we may return to our true Megaman. If you don't prove useful, I will leave you behind for one more so. Understand?" "Yeesh, dramatic much?" I quipped, snorting a breath of air into his face. I wasn't going to be one to quail before a dinky little piece of sentient metal. Little jerk wanted to insult me to my face, I'd give as good as I got. "Try to keep up with me, and I may end up using you, if you somehow end up being as useful as Model A. Doubt it, but stranger things have happened," I joked. "So since the princess is now awake, I'm going to take a walk. Get some fresh air. Who's coming?" I asked, giving Models A and DM the chance to get some breathing space between us and the blowhard. I'd have to figure out a better way to blow off some steam than going for walks. If his current demeanor was any indicator, I'd soon become a marathon walker if I went that route. "I'm good," DM spouted, surprising me. The way he was acting, I would have thought he'd want to get some distance for a bit. "I'm coming," Model A declared, unsurprisingly. Model P refrained from talking, giving me what was probably a disapproving glare. Once up the stairs, DM settled back on the windowsill that Model P had previously occupied whilst he had been 'charging'. No further words came from him, maybe he was taking a nap. "Are there any current signals?" Model P asked, somehow managing to still sound entitled despite the inquiry. "No," Model A stated simply after a short pause. "Although I might not even tell you if I had found something. Look, I know David here's not who we're used to dealing with. I know you probably have some high set of standards you're holding him to. I get that. But do you have to be such a brat about it? My version of you'd kick your ass if he was here." After a confused pause as Model P drew back as if slapped, Model A continued unabated. "Yeah, that's right, my version. My P is quite like you. But he is nowhere as stuck up as you. I don't get what you've been through to get that metaphorical stick stuck up so far in there, but David doesn't deserve it. He isn't the best," I tried not to grumble at that. Not quite successful, but still, "But he's not incompetent. I've seen him walk forth, head held high. He didn't have to, he could have stayed in relative safety-" Oh, so now I had a choice? I seem to remember her goading me on that first time... and then with the fishbot in the well... "But he's chosen the path of strife. Our path. The path of the Megaman. So give him a chance." He didn't respond, hanging silent in the air before us as I quietly gathered a few bits and placed them in my bag. I got to the front door when I heard a subdued, almost chagrined, "Fine. We shall see." That got a slight smile from me. Point to Model A, seems she had a way with words. I opened the front door, stopping as I noted an eggshell off-white hoof extending to where the doorknob was before I opened said door. Connected to the hoof was a predictably eggshell off-white leg, torso and complete body with a swirl of perfectly quaffed purple hair. "This is the one you said was your mate, correct?" Model P asked snidely. Rarity stood in the open doorframe, gaping wide at the words of the floating, stupid, dumbass chunk of biometal. I told him not to let anyone else see him. I told him not to talk to anyone else. I DID. And whats the first thing he does as soon as he gets the chance? "Mate?" Rarity stated in a bewildered timber, her eyes darting back and forth from myself to the traitor.