We dropped a short distance into the final room. The heat was creating ripples in the air all around us. I took a small step away from Fire Man, whose flame had only gotten brighter throughout our adventure. On beside the wall we had come through, and the one opposite that one, the other two sides of the room were cut off by large lava falls, creating something like a convection oven.
Across the room, sitting against the wall, was what I guessed to be our next Robot Master. He was mostly bright yellow, and had a box-like shape to his body. His limbs were a bright red, as was his head, which stuck out of the yellow box of his body, with the box bending back behind his head into a design like an opened lighter.
He almost looked uncomfortable. I couldn't really tell from the heat and small distance across the room, but he seemed to be sweating and fanning himself.
He seemed to notice we had entered. "Oh. Hey. You made it. I was beginning to wonder if-" His eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh, Fire Man! Thank goodness, I've-I've been meaning to ask you something."
We were both surprised, and Fire Man thought about it for a moment before answering awkwardly, "Alright, pardner. Shoot."
The Robot Master got to his feet. "You know, I'm designed based on fire. But not just fire, also heat. I mean, you can tell from this room just how much heat matters to my design. Heck, I'm even called Heat Man. So you'd think with all that, I don't know, I'd maybe have a little tolerance to the thing?"
He sighed and shook his head. "What I'm saying is, do you ever really, you know, feel hot? Like, uncomfortably hot?"
Fire Man looked at him and shrugged. "Not really. The work I do, you have to be able to take some heat."
The robot looked at him with something new suddenly in his eye. He frowned. "What, you think I can't take the heat? Well you're wrong! I may not be able to always be comfortable, but that doesn't mean I can't take you down in the name of Dr. Wily!" His entire body quickly ignited into flame, and he was launched towards us at high speed. I quickly made a jump to the side, and Fire Man did the same.
He stopped after traveling across the room, the flames on his body dimming down. He spun around, and launched a series of small fireballs from his body, which traveled in arcs across the room. I dodged the first fireball that landed right at my feet, but another one caught the side of my helmet. I let out a short yell in surprise and smacked at it to put it out.
Heat Man smiled a little and charged at us again.
---
Within a few minutes of having started playing, Michael was already exploding.
"2 lives? You took two of my lives in 24 seconds?" He exclaimed, dropping his controller in frustration.
Ice Man remained in his comfortable position, unmoved by the complaint. "I know lots of little things about advanced combat." He replied before crushing one of Tempo's lives.
Michael growled and sat back down to continue playing. A smile crept into the corner of Ice Man's mouth.
Roll walked behind the couch for a moment, still doing busy work. Tempo turned. "You're really sure you don't wanna play anymore?"
Roll smiled, but shook her head. "No, thank you. I've never been a fan of violence."
Ice Man quickly straightened up. "Well then, I can't say I'm a fan of it either. But unfortunately, situations arise, and we must be willing to fight." He said quickly.
Roll kind of nodded and left the room.
Ice Man let out a breath and turned back to the TV. A frown developed on Tempo's face. "What was that?"
"What was what?" Ice Man replied, still tapping away at his controller.
"I mean, what was up with the way you acted just now. You seemed really desperate to get that sentence out there."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Tempo's smile grew to an intimidating level. "I see what's going on here."
"No, you don't."
Tempo rolled her eyes as she looked back at the TV. Ice Man had finished both of them off.
"I think I know what we need." She announced.
"Oh yeah, snacks, right? Don't worry, I gotcha covered." Michael stood up and walked around towards the pantry, before he was grabbed and flipped onto the couch by Tempo.
"Let's make a wager." She said, picking up her controller. "One battle, you and me. We fight it out, and if I win, you have to tell us what's going on with you."
Ice Man swallowed as the controller down next to him. "...I see. I suppose it's a reasonable request. And if I win?"
"You will be addressed with 'sir' at all times, for two weeks."
Michael groaned. "You don't get how wagering works at all. This deal would never get made in a million-"
"And he does it, too." Tempo nodded toward Michael.
"What?"
"Deal." Ice Man extended his arm and shook it with hers.
"Waitwaitwaitwait. You can't do this."
Tempo shrugged. "Just did."
Panic rose quickly through Michael. "But...I-I mean, I wasn't even involved! You can't just bring some random person into the equation, especially since I'm not even going to be playing!"
Tempo picked up her controller and fiddled with the control stick. "You are anything but a random person."
Ice Man patted him on the back. "Too late to change things now, soldier. I suggest you just sit back and hope like crazy that she wins."
Michael simply stood and muttered nonsense for a moment, before sitting down on the couch in defeat.
---
I was definitely starting to hate Heat Man's design.
His bulky, awkward shape made him an excellent missile for his main attack, but even when he wasn't attacking, having his flames up made him seemingly invincible. Nothing could get through the wave of fire.
Fire Man wasn't having much luck either. His heat couldn't hardly hurt the robot, so he was reduced to melee attacks (something that is pretty hard to handle when both of your arms are cannons). He managed to land a few hits on the robot, but Heat Man could always move faster. Anytime he got in a sticky situation, he moved.
I jumped over another fireball, firing a few shots at him in mid air. Most of them hit him, which made him launch at me again. This time, do to my just landing as the attack started, he singed my backside, and almost made direct contact.
I grunted, managing to stand after a moment. I watched from a distance as Heat Man continued his process with Fire Man. Fire Man was remaining in mostly the same spot, with Heat Man bouncing around him, occasionally stopping to throw a few fireballs.
I frowned as I thought about his fighting style. He charged in a manner where he was invincible, then let his guard down at a safe distance. I thought about his design, looking a lot like a lighter with arms and legs.
"He's long range." I muttered, before rushing into battle. I grabbed Fire Man by the shoulder and gave him a game plan. He smiled (probably, I wouldn't know with his face mask).
Fire Man drew his attention, while I cycled through my options. "The fire is his biggest tool. If I just had something that could mess up the fire starting systems..." I mentally face slapped.
Bubble Lead loaded.
I got moving, and watched him approached Fire Man. The older robot took a step back, causing Heat Man to fly past. I jumped towards him and fired a bubble as he prepared to stop.
It burst against his body, causing him to jolt. He stepped back and shook himself. "What the-"
I didn't hesitate and hit him with another bubble.
"Now hold on here a moment! I'm not just some pushover!" He growled, trying to ignite his fire. It sputtered for a moment.
"Wait, what? This...this usually works first time." Heat Man opened a small panel on his back. Fire Man jumped into the air, spinning around to face the other direction. He used a Fire Storm as he hit the ground, which hit Heat Man's systems directly.
"Oh...sh..." Heat Man started before he shut down completely.
I walked up to Fire Man and we rewarded ourselves with a quick high-cannon. I looked down at Heat Man.
Deactivated robot detected. Initiating protocol. Scanning...scan complete. Atomic Fire downloaded.
"Hey guys," I said into the comm set, "we did it."
I waited a moment. "Hey guys? Michael? Ice Man?"
I looked at Fire Man, who just shrugged.
---
Michael hurried back into the room. The epic challenge between Tempo and Ice Man had been escalating right down to its conclusion. He had gone to grab a few snacks, so he wanted to make sure he missed as little as possible.
Instead, he found the screen blocked by a strange message on the television. "Player 2 controller disconnected".
He walked over to the couch, and found Tempo bent over, seemingly crying. Roll had a hand on her back, comforting her, and Ice Man watched with concern.
"What...what happened?" Michael asked. He looked down and noticed a controller in pieces on the floor.
Tempo sat up and held up her hands. In their place were two strange drills. Roll nodded towards the controller.
Tempo bent over again and her voice choked up. "I'm not myself. I'll never be myself again. I'm just a freak."
Michael couldn't say anything. Didn't know what to say. He just looked at Roll, looked at Tempo, and walked away silently.
---
It's a bit of a strange note to end on, but I hope you guys enjoyed it. That's two down, six to go! Get ready everybody, cause next time Mega Man's taking a field trip!