As Mega Man went after Star Man at the old space station, he discovered something interesting. In addition to getting the Master Weapon when he defeated the Robot Masters, he also got one number of an eight digit coordinate code. A bit of thought brought him to the conclusion that this would be the location of the mysterious ninth, new Robot Master. Keeping track of that, he continued on.
He arrived on the outside of the station, where a weaker gravity let him jump higher and float slowly downward, but he quickly became more concerned with the meteor shower coming straight for the station, forcing him to run ahead of it to keep from being blasted apart. Once inside the station, he was safe from the meteors, but the robots and hazards lining the interior halls proved designed to make the lower gravity more difficult to maneuver in, with spike traps in midair or on the ceiling and turrets in the floor.
Despite this, Mega Man was able to progress rapidly, as he was quite used to dealing with low gravity settings, and the vacuum was easier to deal with than the pressures of deep water. The only major hazard he encountered was a bot that resembled an AT-ST in build, but with a flatter head. Unfortunately for the bot, its weapons didn't charge fast enough to make it any sort of real threat after everything Mega Man had dealt with before.
It wasn't long before Mega Man reached the control center for the station, where Star Man awaited.
"You are. Late," Star Man stated bluntly, his voice seeming to skip at odd moments, leaving strange gaps in his speech. "I expected. You to come after me. First."
"Uh...is something wrong with your voice?" Mega Man asked worriedly.
"My voice is. Perfect," Star Man insisted. "I am. The greatest star. Ever to perform in space." He struck a dramatic pose.
Mega Man rolled his eyes. "Right..." He leveled his buster.
"Shields up!" Star Man proclaimed, putting his arms to his side and conjuring a shield of stars around his body. "Set phasers. To stun."
Mega Man blinked in surprise. "You actually have phasers?"
"...not as. Such."
Mega Man groaned as he put his face in his hands, then charged forward between the spinning stars to unleash Water Wave at point blank range, sending Star Man slamming back against the wall in a soaking mess.
"...I am forced. To see the truth," Star Man spoke sadly. "I am nothing. But a washed up. Has been..." With that, he teleported out, leaving his weapon chip behind.
Mega Man collected the chip, acquiring the Star Crash Master Weapon...and Super Arrow. "Hmm?" Mega Man wondered, examining the new program. "I'll have to check that out at some point..." With that, he warped away, heading for the anti-grav research institute.
When Mega Man arrived in the institute, the first thing he noticed was a large display on the wall with two sets of arrows, one set pointing up, one set pointing down. The arrows pointing down were presently illuminated. "I get the feeling I'm not going to like that," he murmured thoughtfully. "I think I'll test out this 'Super Arrow' before I go any further. Let's see..."
Loading up the weapon, he fired it off...seeing it generate a suction cup arrow big enough for him to stand on. It floated in the air in front of him for a few moments, then shot forward.
"...okay..." Mega Man murmured, feeling singularly nonplussed. He began reading the weapon documentation. "Uh huh...oh, not meant as a weapon. It's a transport item. I can ride it or use it to climb walls. That's...useful, I'm sure." With that determined, he switched back to his buster and made his way forward.
As he progressed through the area, he saw several columns of the flashing arrows, pointing in opposite directions. Every time he passed by them, he found gravity reversing itself. "I see," he observed after the first one. "These arrows mark the boundaries between areas of altered gravity. I'll have to keep track of that."
It quickly proved that the altered gravity was the only hazard of any significance in the area, and once Mega Man got a handle on that, he was able to breeze through to the central chamber, where Gravity Man awaited. The only concern Mega Man had was that gravity reversed so he walked on the ceiling as he entered the final chamber.
Gravity Man dropped in to the floor. "This is going to be a very short fight," Gravity Man proclaimed as gravity reversed itself, sending Mega Man to the floor and Gravity Man to the ceiling. Gravity Man tried to shoot Mega Man as he zoomed by, but Mega Man was able to dodge the small projectile.
"You're right about that," Mega Man confirmed as he switched to Star Crash, activating the shield. He positioned himself on the floor, then hurled the shield forward as Gravity Man reversed gravity again, taking the three stars right to the face.
The fight continued in that pattern for several rounds, with Mega Man using Star Crash both to block incoming shots and damage Gravity Man. After a time, Gravity Man remained where he was. "...I can't beat you," he concluded finally.
"You did say it would be a short fight," Mega Man pointed out.
"I had thought my mastery of gravity would have given me an advantage, but it appears I was mistaken," Gravity Man admitted. "You have advanced too far, and I cannot match you. I admit defeat." Walking forward, he dropped his weapon chip down to Mega Man before teleporting away.
Mega Man couldn't help but frown thoughtfully as he downloaded Gravity Hold. Why would Vinyl pit me against Robot Masters I can defeat so easily, when they're programmed to recognize this and have the option of leaving? The ninth can't be powerful enough to counterbalance that- He froze as realization hit him. This is all televized. The more overpowered I seem compared to the Robot Masters she didn't make, the stronger the one she did make seems by comparison when it's on even footing with me...
He slammed his fist into the wall as he figured out what was going on. She's trying to Worf me!
That explains the star trek references!
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Make whoever is trying to frame her and her dad think twice. If she can make a robot that can match Megaman, who is currently trashing every other robot she "designed to fight him," then what could she do to their efforts?
I've got a theory about this ninth robot master. I call him: Ponyman. Either it's flat-out a humanoid pony (as literal as Vinyl can get to fighting Mega Man herself for all of the world to watch) or it's an exaggerated parody of a "real-world" pony fan. Both options could work or I could be way off base. We'll find out in a few chapters...
Wow that is a bit low Vinyl. Still let's see how handles the ninth robot master. I still get the feeling that it will not be a fun experience for everyone.
Ooh, that's gotta hurt the pride generator a bit.
can someone explain the last line, please?
I'm glad Mega Man figured out he was being set up, now let's see how the rest of the fights go. Gravity hold was the one weapon I wished you could use more to make super jumps or use it like Gravity Man did.
7630558 Yeah, for me to please.
7630606 Worf from the Star Trek series. He was a powerful Klingon on the crew, so if the enemy could beat Worf, that means the crew was fucked. Bascially, a powerful character is used to show how powerful the villain is by getting their ass kicked.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
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A Helpful TV Tropes Link.
Oh, Vinyl, you crafty little pone.
Star Man as Captain Kirk was funny
as not all of us know everything of Star Trek (I think is from there from where it comes 'worfing) could you put a author note with a explanation?
why i think that instead of a ninth robot master the coordinates will send megaman to whoever is trying to frame willy and vinyl?, and that the other eight robot master are there just to gain time and keep everyone distracted, while vinyl finishes getting the full coordinates?
7630304 pretty sure megaman is talking about the worf barrage trope
7631063 didn't know about that trope was called that, but this line 'Set phasers. To stun.' threw me for that loop. plus the trope is named after worf himself.
G** D*** that pony is smart!
Wouldn't it suck if it was a robot that could dismember Megaman in rapid succession?
7631733 Instead of using the obvious joke that many would expect me to do, I instead posit the following: Mighty No. 9 is nowhere near as bad as people say it is.
Is the game bad? Sure it is. Does the gameplay have its faults? Certainly. Does the lag, dearth of lip movements, and sorry state of graphics turn off more than its fair share of players in this modern age of ours? More than likely. But it more than makes up for it by being one of the closest things to Mega Man I've seen in years. The main character is what I'd expect in a Mega Man-esque protagonist; hesitant to harm his fellow machine, but ultimately understanding of the necessity in doing so. The game is exactly what one would expect in something claiming to be a spiritual successor; difficult, but capable of being overcome as long as you put your mind and reaction times to it. The plot, while simple and easy to predict, has its fair share of twists and turns that makes it reminiscent of the series, but unique enough to distinguish itself. And it bothers to understand the message of self-empowerment (or empowerment on the behalf of others) better than I initially thought it would after seeing the playthrough by the Renegade himself. As a person who may or may not be reading this comment himself put it, it is the Dark Souls of Mega Man... I mean, that's basically saying it's the Bright Eyes of Derpy Doo, but I digress.
With a game that manages to get a number of things right as it gets other, less important things wrong, I daresay that Mighty No. 9 is more than apt of being defined as "the minimum requirement", considering my stance on this series of midquels.
Well, if it works. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the great work. Deus tecum.
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My big problem with Mighty No. 9 is this, the game collected a ton of money, did they fix the bugs as a thank you? Nope.
Defeated by TV tropes. The indignity.
Hah!
is that a Star Trek TNG reference? because Worf is the name of a Klingon character. Lieutenant Commander Worf, who also was in Star Trek DS9 seasons 4-7
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Technically yes; but more specifically its a reference to the Trope "the Worf Effect," where the newly introduced villain shows they are a serious threat, by promptly wrecking the toughest character in the room.
Oh, this chapter made my day. Laughed so hard at the Worf thing.
Oh hey, it's Captain Kirk. What people didn't know was that it was actually Chris Pratt doing a William Shatner impression.
Oddly enough, it could work for the both of them, depending on how you feel about them.
{Guy1: Shatner was right to end his ties to Star Trek in Episode VII.
Guy2: Pratt RUINED Kirk FOREVER!}
Oh yeah, I remember this even though I've never watched the show. They would have a Klingon dude named Worf get thrashed by every monster of the week despite being a Klingon in order to hype it up. Yeah, that does sound like something Vinyl would do.
{Vinyl: I have a thing that can do better stuff than this other thing; praise and adore me!}
Strangely I read Star Man's line as Christopher Walken before I figured out that he was supposed to be Kirk.
Friggin' Shatner. I find it even funnier now that he actually made a cameo on the show.
thw worf effect, even MEGAMAN wouldn't be able to handle such a thing...