Megaman: Reboot

Mangled Metal

Rock readied his weapon as he entered the metal factory. The door was strangely open, and it was hard to see a few feet ahead. He could still hear the machinery working and items being built though. Was the robot trying to build an army for Wily? A saw blade was thrown to Rock's face, and he barely had enough time to duck. From the top was the red robot Metalman, his literal shoulder blades shining in the light.

"You must be Metalman. Where are the others, somewhere deeper in this place maybe?" Rock readied his mega buster and faced his enemy.

"No, I have told the others to head to their stations. So, it's just you and me now. I hope you're prepared for death by my hands." He twirled the blade in his hands before placing his hand on the wall. It seemed like he was triggering something.

"Wait. If what you say is true, and all of you are trying to kill me for Dr. Wily, why are you the only one here to do it?" After a moment, Rock wanted to punch himself. Why was he talking to his enemy, who almost hurt somebody, about how to end him?! It was stupid!!

"Well, I could just let you battle my seven brothers and die quickly. They would certainly make quick work of you..." He pondered, and Rock almost wanted to fall over.

"Seven brothers?!"

"But to watch you get sliced to pieces just seems more satisfying. So, I don't care what you say either way." A click came behind him and he started to run. "Do me a favor and try not to fall. I'll be waiting." The lights flickered on, and Metal was gone.

Rock prepared to run after him, only to be seemed to be pulled downwards. He clutched to the ground, dangling at the edge. Was the ground rotating? He swung himself back up and noticed the ground below was moving him forward. He jumped high and landed on higher ground, but he was going backward now. Looking all around him, he realized what situation he was in.

"The floors are all conveyor belts!" He sprinted as fast he could, adjusting to every direction the conveyor belts took him. Little robots tried to pin him down and rip pieces of metal, leaving him no choice but to punch them off. As he ran, he jumped and grabbed onto a ladder and sighed in relief. Reaching the top of the ladder, he took it in before running once more. However, Metal's voice chuckled throughout the walls.

"You better watch where you are, you'll be nothing but scrap metal. Hehehehe..." 

Suddenly, chunks of metal fell from the ceiling, pounding and shaking the conveyor belts. Rock landed hard on his chest and rolled away from the mayhem. Crushers on chains were shattering on the chunks, shards flying everywhere. The blue robot leapt from the chunks, whipped by the flying shards, and jumped away from the crushers. 

Little robots he recognized as 'moles' started zipping through the walls, past his cheeks and eyes. The front of their face was practically a tiny drill, meant to make holes for building foundation. As he ran through the corridor, the 'moles' were chasing him and ramming into his legs. He yelled and pulled them off, ignoring more heading his way. Luckily the crushers destroyed many of them as he reached the final corridor. Metalman was there, chucking his saw blades at a paper with a drawn face in. Though he couldn't tell who it was because of how destroyed it was. He turned around and glared.

"Look, I don't want to do this. Maybe we can solve this peacefully and no one has to be hurt." Metal stopped walking just a few feet from him. There was a moment we're they just stared in silence. Then, Metal's green eyes flared and stomped the floor, starting yet another conveyor belt.

Rock was speeding toward Metal at a frightening speed, who threw saws like frisbees. He had no time to fire his buster before turning around and running from the blades. The cycle went on for several minutes, to run and dodge before missing another shot. The first shot went completely over the head, the second was barely pass the shoulder. The third shot was closer to the neck, but only chipped his mask.

"You got a good power, kid. What do you call it?" Metal nonchalantly asked throwing three more blades.

"The Mega Buster!" Rock said in panic with only a scrap on the arm.

"Really? Mega Buster? What genius gives his weapon a name like that?" 

"Hey, my brother Bombman made it up! And I am not a weapon!"

"Then what are you?" Another stomp to the floor, and suddenly it was reversed. Now Metal was running past Rock. Buster shots and saw blades were falling off the edge, hitting walls, and the ceiling. Scrapes were left on both their armors, sparks fillings the dimly lit room. 

As he fell, Rock lifted one of the saw blades and threw at Metal's leg. A chunk of his leg ripped off, fresh wires and oil exposed. Metal yelled in pain and landed on one knee. "Ack!"

Using this chance, Rock grabbed several more and waited for the conveyor belt to change. On cue, he ran with all speed toward the saw robot. Metal cursed as he aimed for Rock's head, but missed. Buster shots were blasted in his helmet, blinding him from his final moments. Rock dove into his chest, the two blades in his hands burrowing deep into Metal's torso and chest. The conveyor belt jerked to a halt, as did everything in the factory. Rock panted heavily as Metal gasped and cringed in pain from his own weapons. Oil flowed down his body, and red armored pieces fell like flakes.

"Guess...Wily should've worked more...on my defense. You won this one kid...I'll give you that..." Metal looked at Rock, who was backing away from him. Metal's oil was smeared on both of his hands.

"You said you had seven brothers. Where are they, I have to stop them before something bad happens." He gently touched Metal's chest as he registered his weapon. He didn't notice Metal chuckling softly.

[ACQUIRED METAL BLADE]

"You know, the others...won't be happy about this. Taking out their leader...taking his weapon...now leaving him to die. They will make sure...you suffer horribly. You better...prepare yourself." Metal's eyes started to disappear as the last of his energy was being used.

"You know, the doctor never told us what your name was kid. I bet it's really stupid, just like that weapon of yours..."

Rock only glared as he stood up. "I maybe be a kid, but I'm willing to be in the line of danger and stopping you to protect my family and this city. It's not stupid, it's pretty brave to me. And to answer your question, I'm..." He thought hard until Bomb's words echoed in his head. With the buster's name and the nickname during soccer, he smiled. Maybe it was a dumb name, but he liked it.

"I'm Megaman."

The last bits of life left Metalman, leaving Rock-no Megaman- with a dead robot. He sighed before looking around the room. Next to the lodged drawing was a list of other robots. Looking at the names, Megaman added the locations of each of them and started walking out. He looked at the lifeless Metal one more time before leaving.

As the minutes passed by, the door opened again and two figures approached the corpse. The shortest one took the metal blade closest to the chest and started to open him up. Carefully shuffling the wires, he pulled the I.C chip out and handed it to the bulky, tall one.

"Make sure Dr. Wily gets this back." The short one said.

"Sure thing Enker." The tall robot said.