The Mega Man: War Games

Ch. 13 Real Demons Part 3

"What?" Quick Man whipped around and looked at where his brother had been standing. Ice Man knelt down and picked something up.

"That's an arm." He said solemnly. The appendage lay lifeless in his hand. The shoulder end contained many fried wires and torn metal, indicating that it had been torn off.

I wanted to throw up, if I could. Air Man swallowed. "We...we must keep moving."

I turned around and faced him. "This is ridiculous. What is going on? Why would people suddenly turn into these things?" My arms trembled as I spoke.

"You're overreacting, Mega. We need you to relax." Flash Man tried to tell me.

His comment horrified me. "I'm overreacting? The closest thing I have to a father just tried to kill me! Roll's probably gone, and you want to say that I'm overreacting?"

Flash rested his hand on my shoulder. "Mega, you aren't thinking clearly. If we want a chance of getting out of here, we'll need you."

"What's wrong with you? How are you just denying all of this? I thought you had more heart than that."

Another door nearby smashed open, and a couple creatures began stumbling in. Quick Man turned to Ice. "What are you doing? You were supposed to be watching the other exits!"

Ice Man stared at Metal Man's arm, his body shaking slightly. "I-I...I'm sorry."

"Hurry, let's go!" Heat grabbed the small robot and pulled him away.

We all gathered near the door that led outside. Quick Man growled. "We don't have time to sit here. We either go out or we fight." He looked directly at me as he said this.

I tried to muster as much courage as I could in order to reply, "We leave."

Quick opened the door enough to get through, then briefly disappeared before returning right outside. "We should be clear for now. Best to get as far as we can without them noticing us."

Once we had all left, the door was shut behind us, and we carefully made our way to an alley nearby. Finally given a break, we stopped to re-evaluate the situation.

I knew what Quick Man had been saying was true. I had to be stronger, couldn't let myself get shut down so easily. People needed me.

You constantly rush into battle like it's your home.

I blinked as I remembered the line. Who had said it? Why did it bother me so much? Everything was so unclear. Maybe forcing the updates to stop caused some malfunctions.

Regardless, I turned toward the others, who sat about, heavy expressions on their faces. "Alright. What do we know about this?"

"Everyone wants to kill us." Heat Man muttered.

Air Man sighed, and winced as he grabbed his side. "The source of this...virus is unknown. The extent of its effects are also unknown. How it was introduced is unknown, and how Dr. Light could have become infected is unknown."

"Well, Ice Man said something about microbots?" I looked over at him.

Ice Man still had not looked up at any of us. "It...does appear similar to some of the micro-technology used in enhancing cold-resistant technology and clothing. I've never seen it applied biologically, though."

I nodded. "Well, that's something. How can we work with that?"

Ice Man lowered his head. "If I could get close, I could inspect the technology. If it's similar enough...I may be able to figure something out."