"Mega Man!" Dr. Light called out worriedly. "Mega Man! It's an emergency!"
"What is it, Doctor?" Mega Man asked, stepping out of his room.
"New Robot Masters are attacking different points across the world!" Dr. Light explained quickly. "I believe it's a cover for someone helping Wily escape from prison!"
"Who'd do that?" Mega Man asked, confused.
"Well, it might be Vinyl, so you'll have to inves-" Dr. Light cut himself off as he saw Mega Man's eyes go dark. "...damn it, Rock..."
Eight hours later, Dr. Light confronted Mega Man immediately. "You need to stop the Robot Masters before they destroy everything!"
"...why does it have to be me?" Mega Man asked. "Can't the military take care of this?"
"It's taking all the might of the militaries in the countries being attacked just to keep them contained!" Dr. Light snapped out.
"...how long can they keep them contained?" Mega Man inquired.
"Another day or two-" Dr. Light stared at Mega Man's darkened eyes. "...so this is what Albert was talking about..."
Another eight hours later, Dr. Light looked up at Mega Man as he came back online. "What happened to trying to save the world?" he asked softly. With no orders in queue, Mega Man could take his time responding.
Mega Man sighed as he leaned back against the wall. "I don't think I have it in me anymore," he stated finally. "I...don't feel like much of a hero...after what I would have done..."
Tom sighed as he glanced up at his broken son. "What then?" he asked. "Should I remove your weapons? Return you to simply being my lab assistant? Who, then, will go to fight this new threat? Who would stop the world from falling into ruin? Who will protect the innocent?"
Mega Man glanced away. "I...but I'm no hero..."
"Then don't be one," Tom replied. "Be a warrior instead."
"...huh?"
"'If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?'" Tom took a sip of his tea. "Rock...you volunteered to become Mega Man to become a warrior for justice. Those were your exact words. You didn't ask me to make you a hero...and I didn't. I made you a warrior. Now...the question is yours: what's left for a warrior who can no longer fight?"
Mega Man stared out the window. "I...I could still fight, couldn't I?" he asked softly. "But...is it right to do so?"
"Only you can answer that for yourself, Mega Man," Tom replied. "But also ask yourself this: is it right that the innocent suffer, because one good robot can't bring himself to do anything?" He smiled softly. "You question your heroism...but that was never an issue. What you really are afraid of...is that you are no longer 'good'. But Mega Man...if you weren't good at heart, then your fall from grace would not torture you so. The very pain and indecision it causes is proof that you are still who you always were."
Mega Man was silent for a long time. So long, in fact, that Tom was afraid he'd shut himself down again. Eventually, however, he lifted his head. "You're right," he said softly. "Someone has to do something...and that someone is me. And the time is now." He pushed himself off from the wall, walking to the front door.
Tom smiled softly. "I'm proud of you, son," he said softly.
When Mega Man stepped outside, he was unsurprised to find Skull Man waiting for him, leaning against the wall with his hood hanging back. "So you're going to do it all over again?" he asked. "Kill more robots just doing what their maker asked them to do? You really enjoy this, don't you...dirty brother killer?"
Mega Man turned to stare at him. "Do you have a point?" he asked calmly.
Skull Man chuckled as he pushed himself off the wall. "Guess you really haven't learned your lesson..."
"And what lesson is that, exactly?" Mega Man demanded. "Tell me, how should I have handled the Cossack situation?"
"You could have picked up Kalinka straight away-"
"And what would that have done to Mikhail?" Mega Man interrupted. "Once I knew Kalinka wasn't a hostage, if I'd brought her back right away, there would have been no way to conceal the fact that Mikhail set it all up with Wily for a field test of you and your brothers' combat capacity...and that he was the one who put those capabilities in them, especially since they would have been forced to undergo official examination. He would have faced criminal charges, if not worse! What would that have done to him and Kalinka?" When Skull Man was silent for a time, Mega Man continued. "My programming core made the decision to fight all of you before retrieving Kalinka. I didn't understand why...but I do now. In situations like that - like this - there is no right choice...only the best choice."
He took a deep breath, let it out, then continued. "Whatever I choose, I must do some sort of evil. And that torments me...because at heart, I just want to do good. I've killed so many of my brothers, whether actually built by my creators or just brother robots, and every day I mourn every last one of them...especially since meeting you." He squared his shoulders. "But I can't let grief crush me. If I do...then their deaths become meaningless."
Skull Man slowly brought his hands together in an excessively dramatic clap. "Well now...somebody finally put his big boy pants on...even if it does look like he's still wearing his underwear on the outside." Pushing off from the wall, he spread his hands wide. The pieces of the fallen rose to his command. "Let's see if you can back it up."
The 'bones' flew at Mega Man, and he dodged each incoming projectile as best he could, moving as little as possible in order to give himself maximum reaction time for each incoming piece. He saw some actual human bones amongst them, and knew they were to represent the humans who would suffer, no matter what choice was made. Steeling himself, he continued, at one point even vaulting over an incoming bone to land behind Skull Man.
Of course, this didn't do him much good as a small skull flame latched onto him and hurled him away. Skull man then pulled out the dragon skull shaped blasters, which hovered around the area and opened fire. Mega Man twisted, turned, and leapt to evade each one. The seemingly endless waves of attacks continued, but he refused to yield. He was strong...he was brave...he was determined.
Skull Man suddenly stepped up the assault. Patterns of attack shifted in the blink of an eye, barely giving Mega Man time to react. Still, he managed to evade, still never firing a single shot. He noticed that Skull Man was sparking oddly, apparently pushing himself too hard. If things kept going, Skull Man might overheat and self destruct.
Acting on instinct, Mega Man leapt onto one of the skull shaped blasters. Aiming it, he used the thrust to propel himself straight at Skull Man, leaping off it and over a skull flame at the last possible moment. Tackling Skull Man to the ground, he put his buster to his head.
Skull Man chuckled. "Go ahead," he replied. "Pull the trigger. I won't surrender."
Mega Man smiled softly. "Then I will," he replied, standing up. Switching back to his hand, he held it out to help Skull Man to his feet. "You're not my enemy. I have no desire to see you dead. And I certainly didn't win here."
Skull Man's skeletal grin widened. "No...you didn't." Taking the offered hand, he pulled himself to his feet. "But you did pass." Gripping Mega Man's hand tightly, he began the transfer.
Mega Man felt his buster twist and contort inside as new programming and new configurations were applied. At long last, a status update appeared in his mind.
Charge level 4 unlocked: Skull Blast
Skull Man stepped back and gave him a teasing salute. "Fight~o, Mega Man! For everlasting peace!"
Grinning widely, he turned to rush off into the sunset.
As he raced away, Dr. Light stepped out. "Thank you for helping him, Skull Man," he said softly.
Skull Man grinned as he watched Mega Man race away. "...he does remember he can teleport, right?"
Ermagersh, der sermberlerserm!!!
Is Skull Man the Megaman universe's version of Sans now?If so that is awesome.
6751167 Ahh, the grammar. It burns, nooooooo!!
skeleton who wants to avenge his brother.....is he Sans?
...Huh, too bad you're not doing the comics I would have loved to see how these robot masters would have handled the Starloids. Anyways, good chapter.
So does that mean Mega Man is a... Gaster Blaster Master? His first time using it will likely be a Gaster Blaster Master Disaster, he'll need some Gaster Blaster Master Disaster Plaster after.
This chapter was both deep and epic. Skull Man is best Sans.
Do you read A Dreemurr Reborn? That bit with Mega Man grabbing the Gaster Blaster to propel himself forward is awfully similar to something that happened there.
queue
6751253
I do read it. It was inspired by that.
...
....
..... So the thing I believed to be the least likely to happen turned out to be the thing that DID actually happen. In a way, I'm proud that this was achieved, not just because I contributed to an interpretation of one of the most influential video game characters of all time, but also because it actually happened. There have been times when I comment on a story and an author says "F14m3rz had a good reason for a character/species getting chosen to do something, so cool beans", but there hasn't been a time before where I actually influenced the course of a character's development... That being said,
Oh my gosh this is the greatest moment I've ever seen in my life!! The Blue Bomberman was like "Everything I've done up to this point actually lead to something!" and Cambria Man was like "Huh, I guess it was. Hey, wanna fight?" and so they fought like a bunch of people with too much on their hands. But then Cambria Man is like "Darn, the guy I'm based on dies from something like this... huh, guess I'm next." And then the Blue Bomberman is like "No... if Undertale has taught us anything, it's that we can always make the best decision." "Couldn't I die by accident, though?" "Yeah, but your personality and stuff is backed up on a computer, isn't it?" "Oh yeah. Go for it." and then they tied, and they were all cool afterwards, and then the Blue Bomberman just charged off like a badass, and it was AWESOME!!! This is Robert K. Thanks saying: "Coins, you got coins?!!? Ah, come on! Help a guy out, will ya?! Come on, coins! I'll teach you how to beat M. Bison in Mega Pony XW!!"
6751182 Actually Tatsurou just might use them. Their first appearance was in the games. Megaman 5 for the Gameboy. The manga and comics used them far later. Heck Duo was after them in 8 along with the Dark Energy if my understanding of events work. The manga just explains more how Duo came to be, a Corrsack number made from the remains of the good robot out to destroy evil and stopping his evil counterpart from which the Starloids were with.
Oh, ballz! A Mega Man crossover.
Let's give this first chapter a read and see how far this Robbit hole goes...
6751334 Both this and it's sister story Melody of the Future are well worth the reads.
Actually, everything Tatsurou writes is worth a full read.
6751263 IS THE END NEAR!?
6751355
Far from it.
I've still got game's six thru ten to go through.
Can robots have determination?
6751194 Yes.
Not sure if you are taking suggestions, but Luna raised by team Dai-Gurren from Gurren Lagann. If you haven't seen it, it's well worth the watch.
6751396
Nightmare Moon went to Ralph from Wreck it Ralph.
Though not a PWNY-verse story, Woona's in Undertale.
6751276 Tatsurou is good at taking advice from people and giving due credit to whom it's deserved.
6751396 And I already asked. That's a no, for now at least.
6751408 I consider Nightmare moon to be a Luna possessed by jealousy, and, it has been shown that NM has a different personality to Luna, and, as you say, Moon in the Dark is not a PWNY series story.
English sub of Gurren Lagann is on Netflix.
6751432 The magic of awesomeness; they should make a kids' show about what it could be.
6751449 I've gotten like 10 total notifications today, that's more than I normally get in a week.
6751358 Don't forget the Megaman Killers, Starloid and Megaman & Bass games. Megaman 5 GB was an important part of the Megaman 8 story since the Starloids were one part of the Evil Energy Duo was gathering up in 8 and is the good half of the mysterious robot seen in the opening movie or cutscene I guess? And Megaman & Bass had King in it plus a few new Robot Masters. There's also the Power fighters ones which had Zero's first appearance in it which could bridge a little gap between the events of the last of Classic and the start of X since Zero's Wily Virus was the reason Sigma went maverick in the first place and it could be around that time the remaining Evil Energy Duo obviously missed was used to make it since that was the single most important theory people have connected with logic and what the events of the games state..
6751455 Life is funny like that sometimes.
6751461 Honestly I've gotten tons at times. When I update.
6751438
Well, the story "There's Nopony I'd Rather Be Than Me" shows my perspective on the matter, and the reason why there isn't going to be a separate Luna story for the PWNY-verse.
6751456
I am not including the gameboy games. Just the main line, 1-10 and possibly Mega Man & Bass.
6751476 fair enough.
6751358 THE PARALLAX(Term coined by the creator of Ender's Game. Now that's an idea!) THEN!?
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
Really...? Now this makes me depressed.
Oh my god, this is my favorite line in the entire freaking Fimfiction.net.
So. Much. SKULLMAN.
I see you're a fan of Undertale.
6752057
Yup.
6752073 Called it.
Lemme be the millionth person to realize it. And you know what? I do too. Its a great story, and I cried on my one attempt at a Genocide Run.
God, the freaking FEELS.
6752078
Care to see a story where Woona's in Undertale?
6752085 I see it, and I am DETERMINED to read it 'till its end.
6752090
Enjoy, and please comment frequently.
6751174 Skull Man's been Sans for quite some time now.
Go Megaman Go! YAHOO!
6751276
I'm not saying I had anything to do with that comment; you could've avoided my response. We had a random conversation and it pushed inspiration on the author.
I'm not taking credit because I'm not Bat Man... I'm like Alfred at times, ya know? Good Game. You did amazing!
Me influencing someone/authors: 2 or 3? Regret: 0.
6752336 I'm still thanking you, 'cause you said awesome words, too. And that has made all the difference.
6752339
Thank You/Your Welcome!
great battle sequence,
that just cracked me up
Every time this story updates, I take time to pause everything else and just sit down and read ^^. You've been portraying Mega Man as quite a multi-layered character in your fic, even if the primary focus has been on Dr. Wily and his Wittle Wub, Vinyl. I have enjoyed the fact that there are some Robot Masters, that Mega Man could not defeat for various reasons. Skull Man gets to stay in that club, as he's just an emotionally draining enemy to fight, yet now it's clear he's been trying to help Mega Man, much in the same way Protoman helps him grow by fighting him. It's good to see this encounter with Skull Man turned out in a more positive note, perhaps Mikhail or Vinyl could get Skull Man some upgrades, we don't want him to almost accidentally self-destruct again. Also Human bones?
SansSkull Man? Where did you get those? Has he been grave robbing or stealing fossilized bones? Well Skull Man is canonically kinda morbid, so it fits.I dunno if this will be a theme you'll be carrying on in later chapters, Mega Man having rematches with the bots who beat him and the ones he didn't fight. But I got the impression it might be, especially since Vinyl was working on a modified Air Man in the previous chapter, no doubt making him tougher than he was before. Hopefully the other Robot Masters: Doc, Wood Man, Shadow Man, Crash Man and maybe even Protoman can all get a few upgrades, if such rematches are planned. Also I forgot to mention on the last chapter, but I loved Giganto and Sewer Gator, as brief as their appearances were. I was envisioning Sewer Gator as looking like Vector from Sonic the Hedgehog, especially when you mentioned him going through loop-de-loops and corkscrews like a sonic level XD. I liked the explanation about Metools and Metool alloy as well, and why they don't just coat robots in that stuff.
Loving the custom Robots of Vinyl's, hoping maybe to see a few others, maybe a Portal Woman? A portal-based robot who has access to repulsion/speed gels and is able to fire energy orbs? Keep up the good writing Tatsu ;)
Real subtle. Never thought I'd see that in a Mega Man/My Little Pony fanfiction. That's what I love about these stories, they use one character and delve deep into their psyche.
6752265 maybe the secondary core was burned out? Personally I just think everyone likes him better this way.