The Mega Man: Legend

Ch. 26 Bubble Wrapped Part 2

After a brief tense moment, a voice came over the line. "Hey, Mega Dude. What's up?"

Horror filled my thoughts as I choked out in response, "O...Oil Man?"

"Yup. That's me." The robot replied cheerfully.

"Well, where's Dr. Light?" I asked him.

"He had to step out for a moment."

I wanted to punch something. "Seriously?"

"Oh yeah. But hey, you got me here."

I sighed and frantically tried to think. "Well, I'm fighting a deadly robot underwater, and am kinda getting my butt handed to me. I could use a hand, see what you can find about the facility I'm in."

I ran along the edge of the room avoiding attacks while Oil Man (hopefully) tried to figure something out.

Oil Man finally came back on. "I think I got something. Think you can get over to those crates without him noticing?"

I sighed. "I'll try." I turned to Bubble Man. "Hey, man. Mind actually aiming one of those?"

He frowned and fired two bubbles directly towards me. I jumped up under them and hit Bubble Man with a punch to the face before kicking off of him to propel myself towards the boxes.

I landed in the pile. "I'm here, what do I need to do?"

"Look though the boxes and find a big one labeled DLN-067. You'll want that one."

"Alright." I muttered, as I began tossing aside boxes, praying that Oil Man knew what he was talking about.

I almost didn't notice when the letters "D L" appeared in front of me. I quickly tore it open. What lay inside was a surprise.

"Oil Man..." I managed, "This is..."

"Robot Master model DLN-067. Designated Splash Woman."

"Not...cool, kid!" Bubble Man shouted from behind me, almost making me drop the lid back on. I quickly pulled the limp robot out.

"Now what!?" I frantically yelled into my headset.

"Go to the back of her neck. An emergency activation switch should be there."

"How do you know?"

"We've all got em, kid! And right now, I don't think you're really in a position to question my advice!"

I turned to the back of her neck and found a small button. I quickly pressed it in and waited.

For a moment, nothing happened. Suddenly, it jerked and fell forward out of my hands. As it began straightening itself out, it made some bizarre twitching movements, as if its movements were being calibrated. It turned to me, and the eyes glowed to life as it looked at me.

She was a mermaid-like robot, with blue scale-like metal decorating most of her body. Rather than legs, she had a fish tail, making it obvious she was built to function in the water. A large yellow trident was in her hand.

As I stared at her in silence, she spoke with a soothing voice. "Hello there."

I nodded. "H-hi."

She looked around briefly before asking, "Can you tell me why I have been activated?"

As I was about to reply, a shot from Bubble Man soared over my head. I glanced up at him as he glared down at me. "Now who's this? Doesn't matter, because I'll destroy you both!"

I quickly turned to Splash Woman. "That guy is contaminating the water in this station. And also just being an all around jerk face."

She took her trident in both hands. "Say no more, friend." She spun around and her trident glowed briefly with energy before blasting a large laser towards Bubble Man.

"Uh oh." He muttered before taking the attack to the chest. He was sent flying upward and into one of the mines on the ceiling. The explosion was small, but powerful enough to rocket him back to the ground. 

I slowly hopped over to Bubble Man. "It's over."

His damaged circuits caused him to twitch awkwardly, and he replied, "I guess so. Nice one, there. Caught me off guard. I suppose I may see you later. But in the future, Mega Man, my brothers will present you with many different, more deadly challenges."

His eyes lost light behind them, and they closed.

The display in my face startled me. Deactivated Robot detected. Beginning protocol. Scanning...scan complete. Bubble Lead download.

I let out a breath and relaxed. This fight had been entirely different from any of the ones I had had before. This guy was stronger. And I had a feeling they were only gonna get tougher.

---

Wily watched the footage once more, observing Bubble Man's destruction carefully.

"So you completed her, Thomas. I'm surprised." He turned to another monitor, where designs for eight Robot Masters were shown. 

"But I know she's the only one you finished. That won't happen again. For Mega Man, I have seven more of Bubble Man's brothers ready to avenge him. But for you, Thomas, I have something much more personal."

Hollow metal footsteps echoed through the quiet room. Wily turned slowly toward as the robot entered, its yellow scarf flowing as it moved. It stopped before him, and spoke from its motorcycle-style helmet. "You called, Doctor?" A voice rumbled from within, modified by the helmet to sound sinister and distorted.

"Yes, I did. I believe it's time you had a name like your brothers. I already had something in mind. How do you feel about, 'Break Man?'" Wily grinned.

The robot held out his fist. "It will do."

And then he turned around and walked out, whistling a quiet tune as he went.