Dr. Light sighed sadly as he stared at the capsule before him. Mega Man had been severely damaged as a result of the fight with Skull Man, to the point that he couldn't even work on him while keeping him active. His only option had been to retrofit an experimental construction pod - destined for a future project - as a stasis repair bay. Mega Man now floated in the green fluid which was a mixture of stabilizing liquid and repair nanites, slowly putting him back together. Based on current projections, he wouldn't be back online until after the New Year.
On top of that, Roll hadn't quite been herself with her brother in such condition. Her emotional program based in her personality core had been causing an endless sequence of errors, to the point she'd actually put a live turkey in the robot repair bay and nearly tried to cook Rush for Thanksgiving Dinner. After that, Dr. Light had granted her request to leave her in standby until Mega Man was reactivated. As for Rush himself, he had taken position on top of the capsule after his bad experience in the kitchen, and refused to move until the capsule opened.
As a result, Dr. Light found himself spending Christmas alone. He sat staring at the capsule, sipping eggnog laced with a mix of Cognac and Rum. He imagined that Albert would be having a much happier Christmas right now, wherever he was. After all, whatever else he had, he had Vinyl.
He was startled out of his reverie by the sound of knocking at the door. Curious, he went and opened it. "P-Protoman?" he gasped out, shocked.
"Dr. Wily was wondering if you'd like to play Santa Claus for Vinyl's first Christmas," Protoman replied.
As lonely as Tom had been feeling - and as much of the spiked eggnog as he'd already drunk - he didn't need to be asked twice. "Let me get my suit!" he replied eagerly, rushing back into the lab.
Chuckling, Protoman stepped inside, unwrapping his scarf briefly to rub his neck. Setting the scarf down on an end table, he took a sip from Tom's eggnog, only to make a face. "Wow. No wonder he agreed so fast..."
Tom soon came rushing down the stairs, rosy cheeked and dressed from head to toe in red and white fur, a perfect traditional Santa outfit. He looked like a very realistic Santa Claus, to the point that Protoman was having 'Miracle on 34th Street' flashbacks. "Let's go!" he said eagerly, grabbing for his keys.
"No need for a car," Protoman countered. "We're providing a vehicle." Taking Dr. Light's arm, he led him outside.
Dr. Light blinked at what he saw. "Is that a Mass Transit Teleportation Unit...done up to look like a sleigh? Pulled by eight new Robot Masters?"
"Yup," Protoman agreed. "Albert made them specifically for this, to give Vinyl a 'real' Santa experience."
"You mean the reindeer antlers are a part of them?" Tom asked, shocked.
"No, just funny hats to get in the spirit," Protoman replied with a chuckle, leading him up to the head of the sleigh. "This is Crystal Man," he introduced, gesturing to a blue robot with crystal spheres on his shoulders, head, and chest. "He's in charge of making the sleigh shimmer."
"Another beautiful one!" Crystal Man stated eagerly all of a sudden, conjuring a crystal around a falling snowflake. "And another!"
"He's...making a snowflake collection?" Dr. Light asked, stunned.
"Yes, he is," the robot next to him - a large purple robot bristling with rockets, missiles, and other weaponry - stated as he shifted his tank treads.
"This is Napalm Man," Protoman introduced. "He's in charge of fireworks."
"Don't you think all that is overkill?" Dr. Light asked gesturing to the weaponry.
"Oh, that's not what this is at all!" Napalm Man replied. "I collect weapons so they won't be used, and the only way I can be sure they won't be used is if I carry them with me at all times-oh no!"
At the 'oh no', Napalm Man stumbled forward, falling on his face as several of his weapons went off.
"It wasn't. My. Fault," the robot who bumped into him - an orange robot with a large yellow star on his torso and smaller stars on the rest of his body - stated, placing odd pauses in his speech.
"Then whose fault was it, Star Man?" Protoman growled out. "You're in charge of choreography."
"Gyro. Man. Bumped into. Me," Star Man replied, his voice mild but accusing.
"My bad!" a green robot with a large propeller strapped to his back replied in a good natured voice, managing to sound happy and - somehow - adorable.
"I don't know how you manage that when you're supposed to be in charge of stabilizing the flight path," Protoman groaned.
"I just don't know what went wrong!" Gyro Man added sorrowfully.
"Can we hurry this up?" a robot shaped like a red train engine proclaimed, pulling out a large pocket watch. "I'm in Charge of the schedule, and we're late! For a very important date!"
"You forgot to take time zones into account again, Charge Man," a blue and yellow robot with swim fins on his feet and a harpoon for a hand replied bluntly.
"That's easy for you to say, Wave Man," a large red robot replied, his voice soft but intense. "I'm the one who has to carry all of us. All you have to do is use your water powers to give us a soft landing."
"That's Gravity Man," Protoman whispered. "He's here to use his gravity manipulation tech to make the whole thing fly."
"And...this one?" Tom asked, gesturing to the last Robot Master, who looked to be made of bricks.
"I am Stone Man," the robot replied, his voice very bland. "I am to be a chimney...with extreme prejudice."
"...he sounds a bit like Guts Man," Tom commented.
"That's because he's a reupload of Guts Man," Protoman explained. "With a few minor tweaks."
"Does that make you Rudolph?" Tom asked jokingly as he climbed into the sleigh.
Protoman merely glowered at him as the sleigh started forward into the sky, bells ringing, only to teleport out.
Inside, Protoman's scarf lay across an end table next to a spilled glass of eggnog.
Albert smiled widely as he got the signal of the arrival. "Vinyl, do you hear that?" he asked eagerly.
Cocking her head, Vinyl listened...and heard the sound of sleigh bells in the snow. Gasping happily - she'd spent the past month hearing every Christmas story for children there was - she dashed outside, looking up in wonder as the sleigh descended, pulled by what to her childish imagination and delight appeared to be eight robotic reindeer. And Santa himself leapt out of the sleigh.
"Ho ho ho!" 'Santa' called out in Dr. Light's voice. "Merry Christmas!"
As everyone filed inside, Protoman suddenly snapped his fingers in frustration. "I forgot my scarf!" he snarled.
Giggling, Vinyl handed him a scarf wrapped in a ribbon. It was the same yellow as Protoman's old one, but when she ran her hoof over it, it sang.
Confused, Protoman wrapped it around his neck. When it blew in the non-existent breeze, the scarf played his distinctive whistle. Smiling, Protoman pulled Vinyl into a hug.
"So tell me, Vinyl, have you been a good little girl this year?" Dr. Light asked, leaning over her as he held the massive sack of presents.
Grinning, Vinyl pulled out her sonic disruptor. "This is a stick up!" she shouted with a wide grin.
As Dr. Light dropped the sack and threw his hands into the air, every robot present laughed. Albert struggled to get his own laughter under control. "Vinyl!" he scolded, taking the gun from her. "You don't hold Santa up for his presents!"
Vinyl pouted as Dr. Light lowered his hands. "Thank you Albert."
Wily suddenly smirked, aiming the gun at Tom's head. "That's Daddy's job," he finished, startling more laughter as Tom put his hands in the air again as everyone else made a mad scramble for presents.
Much later that night, after Vinyl had gone to sleep and most of the robots had powered down for a sleep cycle, Albert and Tom sat up drinking their spiked eggnog, and having gotten more than a little tipsy.
"Ya know..." Tom joked as he hiccuped, "if I'm not back when Mega Man reactivates - the capsule's on automatic - he might think I've been...kidnapped!" He laughed at that.
"But Protoman left his scarf behind!" Al pointed out through his own drunk laughter.
"So he'll think Protoman did it!" Tom guffawed. "And since the sensors will show him arriving with eight Robot Masters..."
"If you're setting me up as the fall guy for another world takeover scheme, I want my own fortress," Protoman spoke up, leaning against the wall as his scarf continued to whistle.
"Done!" Tom and Albert both shouted out before slumping forward into unconsciousness.
Protoman chuckled to himself. "What a way to start the New Year," he muttered, covering both doctors up with blankets.
... You know, that is by far the best justification for a fortress that I have seen so far. Other than because what else is a genius supposed to do in his free time.
Let me guess, what Dr. Light jokingly suggested is exactly what's going to happen?
I suddenly want a picture of Vinyl and Wily holding Dr. Light at gunpoint in his Santa Costume. That is just too good a picture opportunity to pass up.
An adorable Christmas Chap AND a set-up for the next Game? Perfect.
*groan* That's' what's going to happen, isn't it?
OMG...GYRO MAN'S DERPY!!!!
Drunk science is the best science.
DERPY RIDES AGAIN!
I read this and instantly muttered under my breath "Oh for God sake Proto...". Then I laughed
This... this is just perfect. We need an animation of this.
And this is just adding to the fuel of my headcanon wherein everyone says sorry at the end of the story and Light, Rock and Roll move in with Wily, Vinyl and the Robot Masters.
As a side note - wonder who's gonna be the new addition to the "never beaten by Mega Man" club.
I'd imagine that the only thing on TV around the time Light was picked up was Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. While it's a guilty pleasure for me, I CAN'T ignore GGROR's issues.
I HAVE TO PUT THIS ON MY LIST TO READ LATER! I love vinyl, and just seeing this made me laugh and smile. I haven't even read it and I am already addicted! I look forward to reviewing this after.
Okay I really want to see a picture of Vinyl trying to rob Santa/Dr. Light.
6692344
Gyro Man might be too much of a fan favorite. Either him or Gravity Man.
Guts Man and Brick Man Construction. We lift thing up and put 'em down... with extreme prejudice.
... There are no words... except AWESOME!!
Oh, and another two: Called it.
I'm surprised you brought in Navis from Battle Network 5, but the effect... I'm going to go look for an game boy emulator now.
6692420
Those Navis are based on the actual Robot Masters from the original Mega Man games, which are what I used.
O.K. Now this feels like this entire thing has become less about conflicting ideals and more of two old men playing a game with a bunch of robots caught in the middle.
XDDD, that was very good, even so when I read some of the names I was surprised by their personality... I was thinking of 'Crystal Man' as some addict to Crystal Meth or maybe to create it like Breaking Bad, and 'Napalm Man' as a pyromaniac... 'Star Man' I could only think of "Wish upon a star"
But it was a surprise to see that, good work.
So far so good. The eight new Robot Masters have interesting personalities. Napalm Man seems to be based on that one Robot from 'My Life as a Teenage Robot' that malfunctioned and started trying to disarm the world. Or at least the idea of that robot. I'd love it if he's also got one of those dual personality cores, cleverly slipped in by Vinyl while Wily wasn't looking. Stealing the idea from Dr. Mikhail XP.
I liked Gyro Man, because who doesn't like Derpy? Evidently MLP doesn't exist in this universe so the personality must've been randomly generated. I can just see Mega Man struggling to try and hurt Gyro Man, that adorable voice. Also yay for Guts Man getting re-uploaded and tweaked a little into a new Robot Master body. Mega Man's lucky Bomb man wasn't also re-uploaded into say... Napalm man's body, to bring him Destruction. (Unless he's a secret second personality core ;p)
Alas Mega Man's previous defeat has really taken a toll on poor Roll and Rush T_T. Hopefully they'll be better when Rock wakes up. Of course Rock might still be suffering some PTSD from that Skull Man fight. Metal Man traumatized him pretty badly after the events of Mega Man 2 after all, and he didn't even get a chance to give him nearly as bad a beat down as Air Man and Skull Man. Also yay for Mega Man 5 story setup, I wonder if Vinyl will design the Mega Man killer series of Bots in this canon, Enker, Punk and Ballade look like robots Vinyl might build. Plus she's shown to have some negative feelings for the blue bomber already.
If they're like this now... what were they like in college learning to build robots and how many of their first attempts were horrid abominations created while they had one to many beers in them???
6692622 It probably went a little something like this...
This was probably my favorite chapter so far. A nice chapter all its own while still being a transition. Also, is Star Man supposed to be Shatner?
6692704
Yes. He is.
A very enjoyable chapter. Great job.
Gyroman... why is Derpy in control of their flight path?
And just like any respectable villain in a holiday special, they kidnap Santa Claus in exchange for presents.
You need to make Disco Man. AKA Mettaton. More specificly, Mettaton EX
So, Gyro Man's Derpy and Charge Man's the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland?
6692745
Boldly going where no robot master has gone before...
6692622 ah yes the first robot masters
Beer-man
Weed-man
Pong-man
Paddle-man
Chip-man
Sick-ass-tunes-man
Alibi-man
Tylenol-man
So I take it that when Megaman enters Gyroman's hideout, a potted plant will fall on his head, followed by an anvil, a piano, and finally, a carriage filled with hay?
For some reason, when I read Napalm Man's lines, i couldn't help but say "Ad victoriam" and then a power armor suit popped into my head.. No idea why though.
I wonder if Star Man was supposed to act like William Shatner...I know Gyro Man's Derpy, but I'm just trying to figure things out.
Funny and adorable The last part was especially funny.
That was fun, may I have another? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
6692640 Well there goes a few brain cells.
6693074 Every year, thousands of people lose brain cells to dumb internet things.
DON'T DRINK AND SCIENCE.
6692344
I'm betting Derpy/Gyro-Man will join the club.
6692944
Weed-Man was recycled into Wood-Man.
Alibi-man was rebooted and integrated into Shadow-Man's design prior to completion.
I'm really starting to feel bad for Rock and Roll. X, you have nothing compared to this.
I am waiting for the fortress in wich the 'never-beaten-by-Megamen' Club decides to educate Megamen again why it exists.
That will be the moment to feel with Megamen as it will be his worst nighmare.
Or if Metal-Man makes a comeback now that Vinyl is no longer so afraid of him.
Am I bad for wishing to see Mega in those situations?
What would Vinyls Maschine look like?
Here my current best guess:
Dr.Wily based Gyro man on Derpy?!?!?!?!?!?!?
retrofitted capsule for a future project....X? nah couldn't be
Derpy flies again on the wings of time!!
Derpy!
Oh right, there's also a story here. Loved how you set up the next game using this chapter.
6692545
I actually wrote a small omake ending and epilogue hint for this story, with a big focus on the problems Rock would have by then, based off of some slight changes to the time between the first and second games. If I'm given the okay, then maybe I'll clean it up a bit and send it in to be posted as a guest chapter or something. If not, I'll just post it in the comments.
6695230 That sounds like a cool idea. I'd like to see a guest chapter of good quality. Especially one focusing on Mega Man, yeah it's Vinyl's story, but it doesn't hurt to visit the other characters or the 'Good guys' when their not involved in the next Mega Man game ^^;.
On an unrelated note, perhaps Dr. Light should consider making a therapist robot to make sure Rock and Roll remain emotionally and psychologically stable. Also I really want to see a robot with Mettaton's personality ^^; Dammit Undertale, why must I love your fandom and characters so much XD.
6695230
Go ahead and give it a clean up and send it in via PM. I might just post it as a guest chapter.
6692944 so they kept weed man of reprogrammed him
This is probably the most stupidest question I've ever asked...
What in the hell is eggnog!?!
Seriously, I'm being serious here. I have no god damn idea about what it is, or what it taste like.
Answers, I need some answers please.
(Also good chapter)
6968395
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggnog