The story isn't over, by the way.
I was out of town for a while, and couldn't do much writing on my phone. Also, during that time, I wanted to work on Pokemon Max (another one of my stories, which you should totally check out). This was the main reason I uploaded two chapters of Mega Man without anything in between. Anyway, don't worry, I will continue writing this, the next chapter should hopefully be out sometime this week.
Thanks to all the people who read Mega Man, btw. You guys are some of my biggest fans, and I'm so happy to have you along on this adventure.
Don't worry, this will get replaced by the real chapter soon.
---
I lay silently on the table. The quiet beeping behind me was almost driving me nuts.
I sat up as Doctor Light entered the room. "All right, I've run your diagnostics."
"And?" I asked, moving my arm around.
He put down his tablet and smiled. "Your filters are functioning properly. All motor systems are undamaged...you're perfectly fine."
I breathed out as I hopped off of the metal surface. "Good."
He put a hand on my shoulder. "You fought one of Wily's new combat robots. And you won."
"Yeah. With a little help." I sighed as I grabbed my helmet.
Dr. Light spoke after a moment. "You'll be fine, Rock. You just need a little practice."
A series of notification sounds erupted from the tablet. Dr. Light picked it up.
"Well, I'm not going to be getting that practice, am I?"
I stepped into the next room behind Dr. Light. Inside, I was surprised to see someone seated there.
"Ice Man?" I asked as I pulled in front of Dr. Light.
"Present, and reporting for duty." He saluted in front of me, before actually accepting my handshake. "Excellent work, soldier."
A frown crept across my face. "Yeah. Excellent."
Dr. Light thankfully interrupted. "I asked Ice Man to help monitor you on the next mission. Although he was supposed to have some help..."
"Yes, sir. I'm afraid the boy still hasn't arrived." Ice Man answered.
"The boy?" I asked.
"Oh yes. I'm afraid I have something I need to take care of, so I needed people to help monitor your situation. I figured I need someone else to assist Ice Man, and I couldn't think of anyone who could help you better than Michael."
"Cool." I replied. "So what's going on?"
He walked over to his computer and typed for a moment before pulling up an image of a building on the side of what looked like a mountain.
"Dr. Wily's next robot master has transmitted a signal from this location. It's a facility that I created, that monitors volcanic activity." Dr. Light explained.
"Precisely the reason I'm sitting this one out." Ice Man announced, leaning back in the chair he sat in.
Dr. Light snapped his fingers. "I knew I was forgetting something. To help you navigate the extreme conditions safely, I'm bringing in some help. Come on-"
A door on the other side of the room burst open, and Fire Man emerged, shouting as loud as he could, "WOO-HOO!! It's time for some ACTION, pardner!" He slapped me on the back. "I'm ready to confront this troublemaker, and give him a taste of the FLAMES OF JUSTICE!!"
I wasn't sure whether to feel grateful or terrified.
"Fire Man." Dr. Light interrupted.
"What's up?" He turned to him.
"Calm down please. You're setting things on fire."
Fire Man turned around. Ice Man grumpily blew ice on his flaming chair.
"Mah bad." Fire Man shrugged.
"Well, we can't waste much time," I said, "the sooner we take care of this robot, the better."
"Let's do it, pardner!" Fire Man held up a cannon, which I high-fived with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.
"The coordinates are downloaded. You're ready to go." Light told us.
"Great. Let's roll." I pressed on the side of my helmet, and felt the teleportation sensation as the world around me changed. Suddenly, we were in the facility. We stood on a metal floor, which, as I could clearly see, didn't cover the entire surface. Underneath and around the floor, lava flowed through the building, casting a red glow on everything in sight.
Fire Man appeared next to me. "Ah. Ah missed places like this. All the fire, heat, light..." He closed his eyes for a moment. "Paradise."
I glanced down at the flowing lava. "Instant death." I replied.
Fire Man gave me yet another pat on the back, this one however almost causing me to tumble forward into a lava filled death pit. "We better get goin', pardner."
Yeah. Partner.
---
Dr. Light was generally a very composed man. Few things tended to get to him, and if they did, he was excellent at not showing it.
So the fact that he was currently so anxious that he wished he had put on more deodorant was a tad alarming.
He nervously found the mailbox containing the address he had written down. He stepped up to the door and wiped some sweat from his brow before ringing the bell.
After waiting for a few agonizing moments, the door opened to reveal a woman wearing a bright white coat much like the one Dr. Light himself was wearing. She wore a pair of glasses which rested low on her nose. Her face showed curiosity upon first opening the door, which then changed to excitement.
"He-"
"You're Dr. Thomas Light, aren't you?" The woman interrupted, stepping forward to look at him more closely.
"Um...yes."
"Oh, this is amazing. Your work in robotics and self automated technology has had a significant impact on research of-"
"Um, yes, I'm aware. If I may, I'd like to have a word with you." He looked over her lab coat. "I...take it you're a scientist?"
"Yes." She replied, having stepped back but her excitement still being obvious. "What would you like to talk about?"
Dr. Light took a breath before continuing. "Your daughter. Tempo."
The woman suddenly developed a much more reserved expression. Compared to the rest of the conversation, she was much slower in responding.
"I see. All right, you can come in." She said, and stepped aside to let him enter.
---
Fire Man fell backward on top of me as he scrambled to avoid being crushed by a large robot that fell from the ceiling.
"Do you think-" I grunted as I pushed him off of me, "-that you could be more careful next time?"
"Sorry, pardner." Fire Man said standing quickly.
I sighed as I stood up. "Look. Fire Man...you're great. It's just...when Dr. Wily was controlling you...you had to do some terrible things. Especially to me."
"I remember, pardner. Sure do." He replied, watching as I quickly blasted the robot to pieces.
"And it really hurt me. You...I think you less than any of the other Robot Masters really wants to hurt me, and that makes what Wily told you to do so painful to me."
I looked down at the ground. "I'm sure you're a really great guy. It's just...with everything that's happened, I don't think I'm quite ready for that friendship. Not just yet."
He looked at me for a moment. "I understand."
We silently agreed to continue on, keeping over the pits of lava and destroying the large helicopter-like robots falling from the sky. After a moment, Fire Man spoke up.
"This might be an awkward question an' all...and I know ah say it way too much...but just pard-" he stopped himself and corrected. "Just partners, then?"
I turned to him, and at the same moment he whipped around and destroyed a small robot that had been flying towards me.
I chuckled a little. "Partners."
---
Michael threw open the door and practically slid up to the chair. "I'm here!"
Ice Man turned to him. "Welcome."
Michael glanced around. "Is Rock here?"
"You just missed him."
"Really?" Michael sighed.
Ice Man glanced at a clock. "By about 15 minutes, soldier."
Michael frowned and pulled up a chair.