//------------------------------// // 9: One Giant Leap // Story: Wily's Wittle Wub // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// The trip to the mines was swift and uneventful, enabling Mega Man to recharge his energy stores from solar energy. While not as strong as it was on Earth due to Mars' distance from the sun, it was still enough to get him back to full strength. The mine entrance itself was also unremarkable, having been shaped so that it would blend with the natural landscape with eyes towards eventual vista views when the whole planet was settled. Inside the mine, the dimmer light turned the crimson dirt and stone purple, the path inward zigzagging downward. While the paths themselves were laid out flat, the dirt to the sides had been dug out only until large gems of various sizes became visible, even the smallest of them being half the size of Mega Man himself, larger than anything that could be mined on Earth anymore. The cart tracks were guarded by Mettools and mining cart bots. While the Mettools shot at him as he approached, the mining cart bots ignored him unless he attacked. Since he was there to investigate more than destroy, he did his best to only shoot back at anything that shot him first. The only other major obstacles he encountered early on in the mine were turrets that fired bouncing spheres at him and spider bots that attempted to drop down on him from the ceiling. Both were easily dealt with if he was careful and kept his eyes on his surroundings. Further on, Mega Man encountered large platforms hanging on chains over deep pits. Plainly, these had once been bridges, but had been sabotaged, leaving wide gaps. Leaping onto one, Mega Man found it swung on the chain with his weight, and he was easily able to use this to clear the gap to leap to each successive platform, glad that at least the platforms were well balanced enough that doing so did not cause them to tip or flip, just swing. The last jump had to be carefully timed, as someone had lined the far wall with spikes, the only safe point the door into the next chamber. Once through, Mega Man found himself confronted by a series of large boulders that would drop on him from the ceiling, controlled by a boulder robot that attempted to roll over him when it dropped towards him, shaking the chamber when it landed on the ground and knocking Mega Man off his feet if he were on the ground when it landed. Enough well timed volleys of shots, however, managed to take it out, allowing Mega Man to continue deeper into the mine. Once beyond, Mega Man found floating gem bots attacking him, forcing him to be even more careful with how he made his way through, as they could only be damaged when they opened up to fire. The really frustrating obstacle for Mega Man, however, was a chamber with walls nearly covered by spikes and a swinging platform over the only hole leading deeper in, forcing Mega Man to carefully time the sway of the platform against his own position on it so he didn't swing into - or get pushed into - the spikes. Thankfully, the center of the mine was not far beyond, and as Mega Man approached what he knew would be Jewel Man's chamber, he switched to Black Hole Bomb, just in case he needed it. As he entered, he saw Jewel Man hunched over, glowering at him. He began to rave to himself, his head jerking back and forth as he spoke, his voice switching between two distinct, but still reedy and thin, tones. "He comes, yes! Comes for the precious! But we won't let him takes them! No, no we won't! We shall puts the Mega Mans in his place! What do you thinks of thats?" Mega Man blinked. "Uh, I'd rather you-" "He wasn't talking to you!" Jewel Man snapped out. "It's alright, the naughty bot won't interrupt you again. Now, how shall we deal with this sneak thief? The Jewel Satellite? Yes, excellent! He wants the precious? We shall smash him with the precious!" Jewel Man leapt forward, surrounding himself with a barrier of jewels. Acting quickly, Mega Man fired off a Black Hole Bomb while dashing the side. The miniature singularity generated sucked up Jewel Man's field of gems, as well as draining off a good chunk of his energy. "No!" Jewel Man cried out in rage. "My preciouses!" He lunged at the singularity as it closed, trying to grab the lost jewels. "My birthday presentses!" Sighing, Mega Man got behind Jewel Man, popped open his control panel, and switched him into stand by mode. "That should hold you long enough for Vinyl to look you over," Mega Man muttered as he beamed the robot out after acquiring the Jewel Satellite. "Hope she can help you..." To Mega Man's relief, shutting down Jewel Man shut off all the robots in the mines, leaving him a clear path out. A second path he followed let him out just outside the Power Plant, so Mega Man decided to investigate that building next. The interior was well lit and entirely contained, with electricity running visibly over wires lining the green walls as lights blinked on and off to indicate a variety of power states. The actual passage Mega Man followed in was, unfortunately, lined with spikes, electrified platforms, and patrolled by various floating bots that slowly floated towards him without firing, merely limiting the area he had available to maneuver. Though frustrating, the passage wasn't actually challenging, as long as Mega Man was willing to take a few hits to get past. The disappearing blocks in the next passage, however, proved an unwelcome reminder of past trials. He pushed past it and thought about it as little as possible, continuing his way forward. Unfortunately, disturbing past reminders didn't end there, as static screens he passed by released shadowy holographic copies of himself to pursue him, which was only compounded when the lights dimmed in the next passage, making the holographic copies difficult to see. That plus more disappearing blocks and electrified platforms led to Mega Man classifying this particular area as 'fiendishly frustrating' to progress through. Thankfully, the area shrouded in darkness was relatively short, and the remainder of the power plant was much simpler to get through, letting him easily reach the control room, where Plug Man waited for him. "So you have arrived, Mega Man!" Plug Man proclaimed in a rather sad attempt at being intimidating. "Now you face me, Plug Man, surely the most fiendish foe you will ever face!" "Well, I don't know about you," Mega Man countered, "but the security here is certainly amongst the most frustrating I've ever faced." "R-really?" Plug Man responded, pleasantly surprised. "T-then...do you think you could fill out this survey of how I and my security endeavors stack up against previous Robot Masters you've dealt with?" He grabbed a clipboard off the table and handed it to Mega Man. Mega Man blinked in surprise for a time, then shrugged. "Sure," he replied, quickly filling it out. Once he finished, he handed it back. "Here you go." As Plug Man went over the data, Mega Man smiled. Maybe this was another Robot Master he wouldn't have to fight- He lunged to the side as Plug Man angrily hurled a sphere of electrical energy. "I am not pink!" he roared out angrily. "I am light red!" "What's the difference?" Mega Man shouted back, activating Jewel Satellite to block the blasts, hoping to talk him down. "Pink is raw!" Plug Man shouted as he lunged in for a physical attack. "I am rare-" Plug Man jerked back as the jewels of Mega Man's defensive barrier became embedded in the holes of his metal prongs, causing his electrical discharge to flash back along his own circuits and overload him. Mega Man stared at the smoking, but otherwise undamaged, Robot Master as he lay inert. "And now you're well done," Mega Man offered sadly, acquiring the Plug Ball subweapon and teleporting the bot away.