//------------------------------// // Friends // Story: Champion of the Sun // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// "Feel the beat!" Harp Note roared as she swiped her fingers across her guitar strings, sending three massive musical notes hurtling towards the Maestro. The Maestro barely registered the attacks as the notes slammed into him, shattering against his metal frame without denting it. Harp Note snarled before she shifted her guitar so that she was looking down it, firing out guitar strings to ensnare him with. "A futile effort," the Maestro scoffed as he snatched the guitar strings and yanked on them hard, pulling the wielder of the music towards him. He cocked back a fist in anticipation of taking her head off with a single punch, yet a blast from the Mega Buster cut through the strings and gave Harp Note enough time to get out of the way. "Megaman." In a heartbeat Maestro was upon Megaman, grabbing him by the throat before slamming him face first into the top of the studio. His strength was so great that Megaman crashed through the roof and came to a stop when he crashed into the tiles on the second floor, growling in pain as he started to stand back up. Two boots to his back convinced him otherwise and a moment later he was driven down to the first floor. With Megaman buried under a ton of rubble that had been caused by his descent through two floors, Maestro aimed at the back of Megaman's head with shattered magic forming in his hands. The sounds of guitar strings being strummed inclined Maestro to move out of the way, moving just in time to watch as musical note in the shape of a heart missed him and slammed into a wall. "Harp Note. Sonia Strumm," the Maestro said as he turned to face her, before having to move again as she fired another round of musical notes towards him. "You...aside from Megaman, you may be the most influential person in this entire world. If it was up to my opinion, you would be the greatest influence that has ever influenced this world." "Shut up. I'm done with you," Harp Note snarled before she pulled out a battle card and slid it across her guitar. "Battle Card! Ghost Wail!" Harp Note pointed her guitar at the Maestro and fired a wail of sound so painful that everyone near it had to cover their ears with their hands to keep from screaming in pain. Yet pain was nothing to the Maestro and he threw himself through the wail, driving a fist into Harp Note's stomach with such force that she was thrown through the nearest wall and out into the parking lot. "You are responsible for an uncountable number of factors to happen in this world. You, for lack of a better word, are a catalyst," the Maestro continued as he walked through the hole he had made with Harp Note's body, while the EM hero pulled herself up off the ground while clutching at her stomach in pain. "If not for you, Megaman would have most likely never came into being. Then this world would have died years ago." "But you are so much more," the Maestro said as he ducked a punch thrown by her and grabbed her by her face, driving the back of her head through the nearest car. She screamed in pain as he pulled her free and threw her into another car, which crumpled under the impact. "You are one of his greatest driving forces. You are a hero in your own right that has saved the world on your own. In some worlds you are the hero of earth, while Megaman is your sidekick." "We're...partners...neither of us...is greater than the other," Harp Note spat out along with a bit of blood as she picked herself up once more, having to lean against the car to remain standing. "You say that. But everytime the world is in danger, you are left behind while he saves the world," Maestro corrected for her, getting Harp Note to narrow her eyes. "But enough about this reality. I must admit that it pains me a bit to kill you. I would love to see how you would change if I killed Megaman and left you as the only hero here to save your world. But you would most likely attack me in an emotionally destroyed rage, and then I would have to kill you then. Oh well." "I won't let you hurt him!" Harp Note roared as she grabbed her guitar and swung it towards Maestro, who grabbed the guitar and shattered it with his grip. Lyra cried out in pain as she materialized near the broken guitar. "LYRA!" Harp screamed before Maestro grabbed her by the mouth and hoisted her into the air, ignoring her frantic attempts to kick herself free. "Oh, all the untapped outcomes. How would you live your life if you were not chosen by your love? Or what if he chose you and you spent the rest of your days with the one you care about the most. The pain and grief you would go through if he was dead. The rockstar you would have become had Geo not found you...or Lyra, for that matter. Until the FM kind destroys your world. Or if you had killed Megaman yourself, stayed evil and ruled the world with your power. Which of those do you think sounds the best?" "The one...where you're dead!" Harp Note roared before she changed her frequency to EM, causing the Maestro's hand to slip right through her. Maestro sighed as his hand crackled with power and he spun around to strike a point behind him. His hand struck Harp Note and she screamed in pain as the power coursed through her EM form, before the pain caused her to collapse to the ground. "A neat trick. But a trick only works once and it worked only once for Megaman," Maestro explained as he reached down and pulled Harp Note up by the top of her helmet, looking into her eyes to see that she was barely conscious. He then slammed his fist into her face, striking her with such force that the transformation was broken and she returned to Sonia. Her head slumped to the side as blood poured from her nose, while the Maestro aimed another shot. "And with this, you die." Sonia vanished in a flash of solar magic, getting Maestro to sigh as he turned to see the princess of the sun holding up an unconscious Sonia beside her. "Celestia. Still up to your meddling I see." "I won't let you take anymore lives," Celestia promised the Maestro, glancing to her side when Megaman appeared next to her. "SONIA!" he screamed as he took her into his arms, placing his ear on her chest for a few seconds before letting out a sigh of relief. He rose to his feet with Sonia still clutched in his arms, flashing a look of absolute hatred towards the Maestro before he vanished inside with her. Maestro took a step towards the building, only to lift his arm a second later to deflect a blast of solar magic. "Like I said. You won't hurt anyone else," Celestia promised. Maestro shook his head before he fired a blast of shattered magic into the chest of Celestia, throwing her into the side of the studio. She had just enough time to cough in pain before Maestro slammed his fist into her face, cracking her skull while hurling her through the wall and into the studio. She groaned weakly and in pain as she tried to get back up. "The only reason you still live is because I am not sure I should kill you," Maestro stated as he lifted Celestia and hurled her through the entrance desk. Celestia coughed in pain as she tried to focus her magic, but a boot to her head ceased any attempts to fight back. "Because this is a new outcome, one that I have not seen before. Never before has a Celestia followed me to another world. I am tempted to leave you alive just to see if you can prevent the end of the world." "I will try," Celestia spat at Maestro. He smirked at her response as he took aim with his arm, but once more he was prevented from delivering the final blow by a shot from the Mega Buster that had been charged to the point of absurdity. The blast was enough to stagger the Maestro, before a follow up shot forced him to raise an arm to defend himself. "Megaman. Your refusal to die is starting to annoy me," Maestro said as the blue bomber bombarded him with a combination of mega shots and battle card combinations. "I won't die until I know for certain that I've stopped you!" Megaman promised as he started to charge his buster once more, but the momentarily lapse in the onslaught allowed the Maestro to appear before Megaman before he could register what had happened. Maestro grabbed hold of Megaman's outstretched hand and swung him into the wall beside him, collapsing the wall from the blow. "No. You will simply die," Maestro stated before he punched Megaman right in the center of his chest, hurling him through the entire studio. He burst out of the back of the studio and tumbled to a halt amongst the rubble, coming a stop next to the workers and reporters that had taken up refuge in the back. "Kid, you've got to get up!" Mega roared at Megaman as the hero tried to see through the pain, barely able to focus on the metal man that was marching towards him. Megaman rolled onto his front and started to push himself up, but a boot placed itself on the back of his head and pushed him back down. "It is over, Megaman. And sadly, you could not even put up a fight," the Maestro mocked Megaman, who strained weakly against the Maestro's superior strength. The reporters all began to take pictures of the scene before them, but the Maestro paid them no mind as he began to apply pressure. Megaman screamed in pain as he felt his skull reach it's breaking point, able to hear his helmet crack and break. That was until the sound of a guitar breaking caused the Maestro to let up on his pressure. He glanced down at the broken guitar pieces before he turned around to see a beaten and bleeding Sonia Strumm, holding only the neck of what used to be her musical instrument. "Let...him...go..." she spat weakly while clutching at what remained of her instrument. "Sonia..." Megaman whispered weakly as the Maestro turned his attention from Megaman to the singer. "Unless this reality is different, that guitar was given to you by your mother. And yet you destroy it in a futile attempt to kill me," the Maestro stated before he threw a punch at her head. A barrier of solar magic surrounded the girl just in time to absorb the blow, but the impact still hurled Sonia to the ground and knocked her out cold. "Sigh...Celestia. You will never cease to amaze me with how stubborn you are." "Glad...to see that I'm...finally getting under your skin," Celestia chuckled weakly and in pain as she staggered out of the studio, causing the reporters to gasp at the talking horse before they began to click away with their cameras. "Like...I told you. I won't stop." "No. You won't," Maestro agreed before he fired a blast of shattered magic into the chest of Celestia and flung her back onto the ground, where she gasped in pain as she writhed. Maestro then slammed his boot into the side of Megaman's head and sent him tumbling over to where Celestia lay, neither of them able to find the strength to stand. "And I believe that I am done. I refrained from killing the both of you to see if either of you could do something to surprise me, but like all your other versions, you fail to entertain. Perhaps the next versions of you will do better." "I'm...sorry Celestia," Megaman weakly panted out as he glanced over at Celestia, who was in too much pain to even look back at him. "You placed all your hopes on us, but we still couldn't do it. Even with all of your training, we couldn't stop him. I'm sorry that I couldn't avenge your world." "Even...in this situation...you're still concerned with others than yourself. Truly you are the hero that you claimed to be," Celestia weakly breathed out before a small chuckle escaped her lips. "I...am sorry too. If I had been able to defeat the Maestro back on Equestria, then none of this would have ever happened. Your deaths...will be on my hooves...just like everypony else that I let down." "Don't talk like that. You did everything within your power to fight a foe that came out of nowhere. I had a warning and time to prepare, but I got cocky and was nearly killed. This is as much on me as it is on you." "I am the thousand year old princess. I should have been more prepared for such a foe." "Enough of your prattle. Die," the Maestro cut in before he fired a blast of shattered magic at Megaman. But before the blast could strike him, Celestia threw herself over Megaman and roared in agony as the blast burned through her back. "Celestia?" "You have friends...parents...people who need you. I can't...let you die," Celestia spat weakly as she made sure she was between the Maestro and Megaman. Maestro growled before he fired another shot at Celestia, but this time Megaman phased through Celestia and rematerialized in time to take the blast, getting a roar of pain out of him before he collapsed to his knees. "No, Megaman-" "And you...have a sister that needs you...I am the hero...of earth...and if I have to give my life to protect you...than that is my duty as a hero," Megaman said weakly before he collapsed onto his face. "And also my duty...as a friend." "You two are sickening. Die already," Maestro snarled as he pointed both arms at the two of them, channeling a blast of magic so powerful that the ground shook as if it was going to be ripped apart. Megaman and Celestia both leaned on each other for support, each of them staring down the attack with as much courage as they could muster. "Megaman?" "Yes, Celestia? "Thank you...for being my friend." Maestro then fired a blast of shattered magic so powerful that it decimated half of the studio and practically everything around it. But even with such a powerful attack, the Maestro snarled as he crouched down, knowing something was wrong. And as the dust cleared out of the way from the attack, the reporters and workers that had been knocked off their feet saw why as well. For in the middle of the devastation, was a single, white shield. The shied then swung to the side and cleared away the dust, revealing the hero that had been standing in the dust. Megaman stood there, but his blue armor had been replaced by entirely white armor, with red and yellow detailing. His new chest piece looked like that of a knights, a white cape flowed from behind him and the helmet was now adorned with a golden crown that blazed like the intensity of the sun. Yet the Maestro found himself drawn to Megaman's hands. Because on his right arm was a shield, a shield of the purest white that was detailed to look like the sun. But his left hand drew the most attention, for his left hand was gone and replaced with a far more armored looking version of Celestia's head. Megaman then looked down at himself with both amazement and some confusion, Celestia doing the same as best she could. "What happened to us?" Megaman asked Celestia, who took only a moment to think it over before a smile crossed her face. Between the chest piece, the grieves that now covered his legs and the crown and cape, she had a few idea what may have happened. "I believe that we have combined our powers, Megaman. Perhaps enough to finally defeat the Maestro," Celestia put forward, getting Megaman to smile as well as he turned to face the Maestro, glaring at him through his golden visor. "But there is only one way to figure out. Let us put an end to this, my Solar Knight!"