//------------------------------// // The Second Conquest Begins // Story: Wily's Wittle Wub // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Wily, Protoman, and Vinyl sat around a large TV screen as footage began to play. "Is everyone ready to see Mega Man's attempts at defeating our robot masters?" Wily asked wickedly. Protoman flashed a thumbs up. Vinyl clapped her hooves together, waving a flag that read, "Go Crash Man!" Wily chuckled. "Guess you've picked a favorite," he replied happily. "Let's see what Mega Man's going to do." The screen lit up, showing nine small boxes in a 3x3 grid. The center box had Wily's own logo - Dr. W - emblazoned in it, while the eight outside boxes had each of the Robot Masters pictured. The left box, Heat Man, was illuminated. "Smash!" Vinyl shouted happily, waving the concept model of Heat Man - the lighter with Mr. Potato Head bits stuck to it - around happily. As they saw Mega Man beam into the area, Protoman asked a pertinent question. "Where did Heat Man get the lava?" "Smash!" Vinyl shouted happily as Mega Man began leaping through the stage. "Vinyl's probably right," Wily pointed out. "He probably just smashed some rock and superheated it." As Mega Man continued through the stage - leaping from small platform to small platform and shooting the smaller robots that attacked him - Vinyl began to giggle. "Boing, boing, boing!" she chanted, timing each boing to when Mega Man jumped. At one point, one of the blocks Mega Man was trying to jump to vanished without explanation, causing Mega Man to freak out and wave his arms and legs wildly as though trying to fly. He managed to catch the next block and pull himself up, however. Vinyl smacked her forehooves together with the sound of snapped fingers. "So close!" "Did...did you do that?" Wily asked, his eyes amazed. Vinyl shook her head. She waved the Heat Man toy. "You told Heat Man to do it?" Vinyl nodded eagerly. "That wasn't a vanishing block," Protoman interpreted. "That was an illusory block!" Vinyl clapped happily and eagerly. Mega Man was very careful with the disappearing blocks in the next section, making all three watchers laugh. They laughed harder when Mega Man whimpered at the next section of small platforms, precise jumping...and a whole sequence of disappearing blocks over a pool of lava and a bottomless pit. Eventually, Mega Man made it to Heat Man's chamber. As Mega Man had frequently during Wily's first conquest, he leapt to plant his hand at the top of the door...only to get smacked back by a boxing glove. It then deposited a cleaning rag and soap, and the handprint left behind illuminated. Grumbling, Mega Man scrubbed the door clean before it opened. Vinyl and Protoman fist bumped at that. Mega Man was still grumbling as he entered Heat Man's chamber. Heat Man himself burst in loudly. "Heat Man Smash!" he roared as he charged Mega Man in a burst of flame. Mega Man leapt over him, turning to shoot him as he stopped charging...only for Heat Man to keep charging straight up the wall, slamming into the ceiling and causing lava bombs to drop down towards Mega Man. Mega Man did his best to dodge each one, shooting at Heat Man as he came down. "Heat Man strongest there is!" Heat Man roared as he charged again. While Mega Man's skills at evasion were challenged since the lava bombs fell randomly, Heat Man's pattern was predictable, and he eventually fell. "Well, didn't think he'd fall to the first," Wily pointed out. On the screen, Mega Man found something orange and white. "Hey, what's Item 1 doing there?" "Oops!" Vinyl replied. Seeing Mega Man grabbing it, she pouted. "Hey! That's mine!" "You can take it out of his circuits if he makes it all the way to the fortress," Wily promised. "So who's he going to go after next?" Protoman asked as the screen returned to the original configuration, this time with Heat Man's small window blacked out. This time, Air Man's window was highlighted. "Odd," Wily pointed out. "Why Air Man next?" "Maybe he has his reasons," Protoman pointed out as the cameras showed the area Air Man had conquered. Mega Man beamed in to a series of mid air platforms, some of which attacked him as he progressed. He seemed quite nervous about jumping from platform to platform. "Maybe it was Dr. Light's idea to make him confront his newfound fear of disappearing blocks," Dr. Wily joked. After a longer time of getting from platform to platform - and starting to panic because both platforms and enemies tended to hide in clouds - Mega Man eventually reached Air Man's chamber. As Mega Man walked in, he was rather pleased to see that there were no pits to fall into. Air Man dropped in. "Greetings, Mega Man," he stated flatly. "I am Air Man." Mega Man blinked at him. "Is...is there something wrong with your voice synthesizer?" "No," Air Man replied. "My voice synthesizer shows no errors." "It's just...you sound more...robotic than most." Air Man glowered at Mega Man. "This is my normal voice," he pointed out firmly. "Fair enough," Mega Man replied quickly. "I do not like you, Mega Man," Air Man stated bluntly. "I think I will destroy you now." "Weren't...weren't you going to do that anyway?" Mega Man asked. "Yes, but I was going to have more idle banter with you while the Masters watched, to entertain them," Air Man corrected. He stomped his foot on the platform, and the walls to either side fell away, revealing bottomless pits. "Not the pits!" Mega Man whimpered. "Not the pits and disappearing blocks!" "And now we fight," Air Man proclaimed. Shivering, Mega Man leveled his blaster. "Not yet," Air Man pointed out. "We must have music." Lifting his hand to his head, he pushed a button, making music start. "This is my jam." Mega Man did his best to fight, but without walls to rest against, fighting against the wind and dodging the mini-tornadoes proved much more difficult...especially since Air Man stayed put and kept firing, rather than charging towards him. As the lyrics passed, Mega Man's eyes popped open. "Wait, you're weak to Wood Man's weapon?" "Precisely," Air Man replied. "Why would you tell me that?" "Because it will do you no good." Mega Man thought for a bit. "Does that mean that all the Robot Masters are weak against one of your weapons?" "That is correct," Air Man replied. "Are you going to tell me who's weak against yours?" Mega Man asked. Suddenly, the wind stopped, and Air Man was right in front of him. "No," he stated, kicking Mega Man in the face. "...ow..." The battle continued, Mega Man unable to land a serious blow on Air Man, and eventually he was left hanging from the edge with Air Man standing over him, boot raised to crush his fingers and send him falling to his death. The music stopped. "This fight is over," Air Man stated, lowering his foot...to the platform. "...eh?" "I'm done. You are boring me." Air Man turned and walked away. "The Items belong to Vinyl. Make sure you return them to her. If you don't, I will feed you your own limbs with marinara sauce and oil." Air Man then beamed out. Mega Man continued to hang from the platform. "...little help?" he called out. The trio watching stared, their jaws hanging. After a time of silence, Vinyl pulled out a flag that read, "Go Air Man!"