//------------------------------// // VSW-008: Getting Pumped // Story: Wily's Wittle Wub // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Once Mega Man decided he'd had his fill of catharsis, he turned back to Dr. Light. "So which Wub Master is the next big threat?" he asked. "Well, there is one at the local combination gas turbine power plant/fuel processing center," Dr. Light explained. "...that seems oddly impractical," Mega Man muttered. "Are we sure I need to stop this one?" "What happens if it lights a fire?" Dr. Light offered. "Right," Mega Man agreed, sighing. "Send me in." Mega Man glanced around as he arrived at the other end of the teleport. He was outside the main part of the plant, the massive turbines visible in the distance. Seeing no threat at first, he made his way in. Unlike many of the other Wub Masters he'd faced, this one was - for the most part - using robotic foes he'd faced previously. The usual mix of metools, Sniper Joes, dive bombing birds, and bomb launchers. The only thing he really had to watch out for in the outside portion were the robotic gas pumps, which sprayed fuel at him. While the fuel didn't damage him, it could easily catch fire if anything exploded near him. Destroying the pumps wasn't a good idea, either, since they were still connected to the main gas lines of the plant, and the flames resulting from their destruction could possibly ignite the whole plant. Also, the fuel that didn't end up on him made the ground slippery. Eventually, Mega Man reached the main entrance of the plant, only to be confronted by a massive robotic fuel truck that had been equipped with a flame thrower in addition to its main hose. It drove around the entrance of the plant, trying to run Mega Man down. "Crap crap crap!" Mega Man shouted as he desperately slid away. "What do I do? What do I do? I can't shoot it, the explosion could destroy the whole place! Can't distract it, one wrong flame could destroy the whole place! How am I supposed to stop it without blowing this place sky high?" Managing to leap ahead, he spun to examine the truck. "...it has a driver car?" Desperately, Mega Man sidestepped the truck as it charged him, leaping into the cabin at the front. Seeing keys in the ignition, he twisted them to off and pulled them out. The truck slowed and then stopped...millimeters from a turbine. "...maybe I should have steered first," Mega Man murmured as he leapt out, shaking like a leaf as he made his way back to the entrance to the main factory. Once inside the main building, he found the way was rather straight forward. Just a straight path through the center to the manager's office, where the strong control signal of a Robot Master - or, in this case, a Wub Master - could be detected. The only problem was a mass of worker robots carrying torches and gas tanks moaning as they stalked towards him like zombies, nearly filling the room. Glancing around, he noticed a few highly ferrous metal grates hanging here and there, along with several chains hanging from pulleys. Thinking quickly, Mega Man activated a new system Dr. Light had given him, specifically for situations where maneuvers he wasn't normally capable of were required. Dr. Light had dubbed it the QTE System. Racing forward, he took a huge leap. Coming up to the first ferrous grate, he flipped so his feet were towards it, magnetizing the bottoms of his armored boots. Once he attached, he raced across as fast as he could before his weight dragged the grate to the floor and the waiting worker zombots. Reaching the edge of the grate, he leapt, catching hold of a hanging chain. The momentum of his leap propelled him across the pulley's track, but he had to rapidly pull himself up the chain to keep from falling to the floor. As the chain ran out, he flipped into a spin, kicking off a zombot to catch hold of a hanging pipe, swinging around it to launch himself forward before the pipe broke under his weight. The pulley by now had reached the end of its track, smacking into a ferrous grate and breaking it into falling pieces. Mega Man landed on the first fragment before leaping to the successive ones, gaining height each time. Nearing the manager's office, he saw a clear space around it. Thinking quickly, he spun and shot some beams on the roof as he leapt. The beams fell, landing behind him and blocking off the zombots, leaving him safe and ready to confront the Wub Master. The QTE System disengaged. "...that was fun!" Mega Man gasped out eagerly. "I hope I get more chances to use that. Just wish it didn't burn itself out each time and needed to be reset back at the Lab." Brushing himself off, he opened the door. "Ah, so you've finally arrived!" the Wub Master proclaimed, stepping out of the shadows. "I do so hope you enjoyed yourself...as my face will be the last you ever see, Mega Man!" "...that would be such a disappointment," Mega Man muttered. "I mean, you're a giant whoopee cushion with eyes! Your hands and feet aren't even attached to you! They're just...floating there!" He blinked. "Wait a minute...how are you even talking?" "I am Gas Pump!" the Wub Master proclaimed, the 'mouth' of its cushion body shaping its words. "I shall paint you with the colors of my wind!" Leaning forward, Gas Pump compressed, spraying a vile green gas at Mega Man while surrounding itself with a gaseous shield. Mega Man carefully sidestepped the incoming gas wave, his sensors telling him it would damage him. "...I'll take the damage," he grumbled, storming straight up to Gas Pump as he disengaged his buster, stalking straight through the gaseous shield. "What are you-" Before Gas Pump could say anymore, Mega Man grabbed hold of it by the 'neck' of its cushion body, and proceeded to flip it like a flapjack. He continued this until the Wub Master shattered explosively. "...not using that shield weapon," Mega Man muttered as his systems registered the download of the Master Weapon, 'Broken Wind'.