"Slash Man..." growled Mega Man.
Slash Man snickered, "Ah, yes. The annoying helper robot. I should let you know Wily brought me over from my station for one reason. To turn this colorful forest into a city of his robotic image." he revealed, holding up his three metal claws near his face. He pointed at Mega Man and the ponies, "And you cannot hope to stop me this time." he sliced a branch off a nearby tree as though to emphasize the point he had made.
"You monster!" shouted Fluttershy, getting the attention of the robots and her friends, "You dare harm the cute animals that live here?" she asked loudly.
Slash Man chuckled at the sight, "Yes. I do. It's in my programming you annoying pony. I was brought back for that purpose." he announced.
"Well, you're not going to destroy this forest like you did before in our world!" declared Mega Man.
Slash man jumped down from his spot and raised his claws once more. "If it is a fight you want, Mega Man. Then you shall get one!" he lunged at the Blue Bomber, who slid underneath his attack. Slash Man got himself stuck on a tree. He tried to pull himself out of his spot, but Proto-Man had already grabbed him and launched him into the air. Applejack used her lasso to catch Slash Man in middair and throw him downward. Slash Man tore apart the rope binding him and faced the farmpony. Rainbow Dash saw that he was ready to attack and tackled him, driving her hooves into his body.
Mega Man started to run, seeing Slash Man standing up. He used the Top Spin ability to hurt the Robot Master as much as he could. Once he stopped, Slash Man cut Mega Man in the chest, his blue armor now scratched.
Proto-Man saw that Slash Man was now focused on him. The robot lunged after the red hero, and once Slash Man was close enough, the red robot tossed up his shield in front of him and tossed Slash Man in the air by hitting him upward. Twilight grabbed him and levitated him with her magic before throwing him into another tree. The Robot Master grunted and sliced off some branches and tossed them at the mares. Mega Man threw his Metal Blades at them, slicing them before they could hurt anypony, "Rush! Spring form!" he ordered his faitful robot dog.
Rush barked and transformed his body so that the top of it was a spring that allowed Mega Man to jump on it. He hopped on top of Rush and bounced off the spring, getting high enough to shoot Slash Man with a powerful charged shot. He fell from his perch and landed on his back, while Mega Man landed perfectly om nis feet, "You should've stayed in your station, Slash Man." taunted the Blue Bomber with a confident tone in his voice.
Slash Man raised his arms, and suddenly caught Mega Man in a red aura. 'I-I can't move! Oh no... I forgot he could do that!' he thought, seeing Slash Man aim his claws directly at him. Proto-Man jumped front of him in time and blocked the Robot Maater with his shield once more. Rarity tried to use hr own magic to remove the aura surrounding and paralyzing Mega Man, 'I-It's paralyzing my joints! I'll be stuck here for a while! Unless Rarity or Twilight can find something...'
Luckily for the Blue Bomber, Rarity had managed to free him, "Are you better, now darling?" she asked him. Mega Man tried moving his joints, which started to move freely.
"Yeah, thanks for the assist."
Slash Man sliced once more at Proto-Man's shield to no avail, "Ah, forget this!" he shouted, trapping Proto-Man as well as the ponies in the same aura he trapped Mega Man. The Blue Bomber looked at them in worry, wondering how to assess the situation, 'Surrender now, Mega Man, or I'll hurt every single person here."
'But...' thought the Blue Bomber.
"Don't do it, Rock!" shouted Rainbow Dash, "He doesn't look so tough!"
Slash Man anickered, "Oh?" he asked, running at Dash, and pointed his claws directly in her face, causing her to sweat, "Listen, pony, in the state you're in, you won't be fast enough to avoid my slices... Now, you wanna repeat that?" he questioned. Rainbow Dash looked at her friends and gulped. Each of them struggled as Mega Man did before, but with the same results. Slash Man smirked, awaiting his enemy's decision.
"Fine." he sighed, transforming back into Rock. His choice caused all of the ponies to gasp, Proto-Man looked at his brother, seeing that he would sacrifice himself if it meant that no one got hurt, 'Just like Dr. Light programmed us... He has something that will stop him. I'm sure of it. Because this time he's on his own.'
Slash Man raised his claws, "So the great Blue Bomber surrenders. Wily will be pleased with the results."
The seven watched as Rock got punched by Slash Man, each of them unable to intervene thanks to the aura. "No!" the mares shouted at once. Proto-Man remained silent, yet he still worried for his brother, not being able to step in this time. 'Hopefully you have something up your sleeve this time, Rock.'
Rock felt his armor get scratched and staggered in his place. He fell to one knee, allowing Slash Man kick him. Rock made no effort to fight back this time, 'I can't... Not this time. My friends are in danger...' he thought, feeling his enemy continue to pummel him without holding back. 'C'mon, Rock... What are you going to do? At this rate if he destroys you, then he'll kill them and then Wily and Starlight will get away...'
Clenching his fists, Rock felt something surge in his system. Anger, rage, guilt. All of it combined in his processor and core. He wanted to do something, but didn't want to risk anything, yet at the same time he knew that something must be done. 'No... I'm not going to die today. Nothing is going to stop me! I'm Mega Man!'
Slash Man raised his fist, ready to end Rock once and for all, but then as he brought it down, something happened that surprised everyone around. Rock caught it, now back in his Mega Man armor, and eyes now glowing red. He used the Super Arm ability to push Slash Man upward. This surprised the Robot Maater greatly, "So... You wish for your friends to die. Then I'll just end them while you're alive."
Mega Man growled, throwing a Metal Blade in his direction, "No! You want to fight dirty!?" asked Mega Man in an angered tone. Slash Man attempted to fight against his enemy, but Mega Man countered each attack with ease. "Two can play at that game!" he declared loudly.
'Rock? What's happened to you?'
Proto-Man watched as Mega Man fought Slash Man brutally. Slash Man tried to tackle Mega Man, but the Blue Bimber used a Top Spin to counter, damaging the clawed robot greatly, "You threaten me! You threaten my friends! You were a mistake, Slash Man! Wily should've never brought you back! Because once I'm through with you, you'll regret ever challenging me!" Mega Man shouted his announcement to his opponent.
Slash Man was scared. Scared that Mega Man was no longer holding back. Mega Man smirked, activating his Freeze Cracker, "Hey, I just remembered!" he said, shooting an ice bomb, the explosion on Slash Man caused him to shut down for good. Mega Man stood over his body and smirked, watching his friends be freed from his aura, "How's that, Slash Man?" he asked the broken body, which never responded. His eyes never fading from its unusual red.
"Rock! What the hell was that!?" asked Proto-Man.
Mega Man ignored his question and pressed his hand on Slash Man's body, downloading the information he stored, "Found the last Robot Master's location. We're heading back to Ponyville to rest for a bit then we're heading back out." he ordered.
"Rock! Don't you dare ignore me!"
Mega Man gritted his teeth, "Or what huh!? You've been doing that to me for most of my existence! So how about you just shut up, Blues?"
"Hey! What's gotten into you, Mega Man?" questioned an annoyed Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah! Blues has only been looking out for you!" Rarity scolded.
"Don't you dare defend him!" yelled Mega Man, sipping his E-Tank to replenish his energy, "If you're not with me, then I guess I'm finding Ghastly Gorge on my own!" he stomped away from his friends.
"Ghastly Gorge?" asked Twilight, Mega Man already gone at this point. "Girls. Let's get Spike and follow Mega Man. Something's off about him."
"You guys go ahead..."
"Wha? But Proto-Man, we need yer help!" insisted Applejack.
"Sorry, but I already did too much. My core is unstable, remember? Let me know if something is wrong and I'll step in." said Proto-Man, "In the meantime, I'll deduce what's wrong with Rock. he's never acted like this before and I intend to find out why that is."