Gatecrash

Chapter 3: Rabbit Hole

"No way!" Rock exclaimed, "No way Wily could have made it all the way from Siberia to here in that short amount of time." He pounded his fist on the table.

Wily's tank advanced over the concrete debris, swinging his tank's robotic arms, demolishing the house with each step. Rock could almost hear his maniacal laughter from the console. He hadn't the time to comprehend how or why this was happening, only that it was time to do his duty.

Rock activated the comm system on the computer, "Roll, we've got big trouble. Get Dr. Light down to safety right now!"

"What's happening? What was that tremor?" came her disembodied voice.

"It's Wily. No time for details, just get him to the underground shelter right now."

"OK." Click.

Rock jumped up from the chair and sped off to the robot lab.

The lab had various utilities which Light used to improve his humanoid robots, but this lab was special to Rock, because it was where he was changed into Mega Man, and where all his subsequent upgrades were made.

The only upgrade Rock needed right now though was his helmet. It was based on an old war bomber helmet, colored blue, with two metallic receptors covering his ears. He grabbed it from a table and fastened it over his head. Now he was truly Mega Man.

The blue bomber checked his Mega Buster - it was at full power, though there was nothing in his weapon inventory. But he had the home court advantage and the assistance of his battle robots Dr. Light created for him.

Now would be an excellent time for Rush, he thought. Mega Man activated Rush's call and a red dog appeared before him. Rush was created to be Mega Man's friend and multi-purpose transportation as he used a special transformation chip to change into a variety of vehicles, including a submarine and a suit of armor.

"Jet, Rush," Mega Man commanded. The smiling, panting Rush tucked in his legs and flattened his back and in no time had changed to a jet sled. Mega Man stepped on top of Rush's platform back.

"Let's go!" Mega Man yelled. Rush zoomed off into the halls. The flares from his tailpipe lit the hallways amid the circling red sirens. As he neared the front of the building he could hear Wily's tank destroying his home, creating vibrations in the air.

Mega Man burst out of the tunnel at full speed and climbed up. The bright light of day shone down on him from the open air now shrouding the living room. Wily's tank had already demolished a large chunk of their home. Open floors were visible, walls torn off.

Wasting no time, Mega Man began firing at the robot tank. The plasma bursts hit the armor with an ineffective clink and reflected away harmlessly. The entire machine was made out of litanium - plasma proof armor. Mega Man's blaster would be completely ineffective.

But there was always a weakness, there had to be. Some part of the machine had to be vulnerable, usually it was some sort of crystal-like outcropping. Mega Man flew his jet around the robot's circumference, looking for some sort of weak point, shooting at likely places. The slow tank rotated with Mega Man, tracking him. "Grrr," Mega Man exclaimed, not finding anything. "Come on, Wily. Show yourself!"

The armored bubble on top of the robot slid away, revealing Wily in his control booth, furiously pounding at buttons and levers. "Good to see you again, blue bomber," Dr. Wily's voice boomed over a loudspeaker in the tank.

"Yeah, same to you," Mega Man leveled his buster at Wily and fired a charged shot. The blast diffused harmlessly.

"Ha ha ha ha ha..." Wily laughed maniacally. "Anything else you'd like to try?" Wily turned the robot to face Mega Man. "How do you like my new robot design? State of the art armor. Not a weak point anywhere."