Eventually, Mega Man decided to go after Charge Man first, thinking that he'd have an easier time tracking a robot master down in an outdoor area, rather than an indoor one. Thankfully, the data file on the Robot Masters that Vinyl had provided included teleport coordinates to each of them, so he didn't have to calculate that himself...and he knew Vinyl would never set a teleport coordinate that would drop him into lava or anything like that. It wouldn't be very sportsman like.
Upon arrival, he found himself inside what looked like a massive train station, quickly disabusing him of the 'outside is easier' idea. Seeing trains in the distance, he made his way forward to see what awaited him. The first enemy he encountered was a flying, Mettool-like construct that dropped three bombs as it flew straight forward, a simple enough affair to evade as he moved towards what looked like an office-type structure within the station.
Eventually, he reached a ladder letting him climb to the upper levels of the structure, which he took to find a clue where Charge Man might be. Instead, it turned out the ladder took him atop a train that immediately started as soon as he stepped onto the top of the back car. Atop the train, he encountered train-Met bots, charging towards him and shooting at him. He continued forward until he found a path that let him get into the train, dropping into the next car.
The car appeared to be a grocery car, filled with crates of food supplies and guarded by large chicken bots that sent eggs marching at him and rat bots that scurried back and forth. His charged shots proved best for dealing with each, letting him make his way through the cart to get back atop the train.
"In, out, in, out," Mega Man grumbled to himself. "Makes me feel like there's a joke I could make here somewhere."
The top of the train was guarded by more train-Mets, along with bulkier bots that launched round bombs at him. Once past them, he dropped down into the engine car, where he found a rather large red bot guarding a sealed door. The large bot could only be damaged on its head, and shot homing missiles at him out of a torso compartment. Careful jumping and shooting took it down, unsealing the door.
Charge Man turned to face Mega Man as he entered. "You're late! You're late! This is a very important date!"
"Sorry," Mega Man apologized. "It took me a while to decide which of you to go after first-"
"But Vinyl left a weakness order for you, with a promise of no Freak Chips!" Charge Man pointed out.
"...I missed it."
"Ahhh!" With that scream, Charge Man charged Mega Man, racing towards him.
Mega Man leapt over the charging train Robot Master, shooting him from behind. Once he'd done that, he waited and watched as Charge Man...slowly walked towards him. "Is that all you can do?" he asked, surprised.
"I can do this!" Charge Man shouted, shooting flaming coal to fall down in a random pattern...nowhere near Mega Man. He slumped in on himself. "We weren't really designed for combat..."
"In that case, how about you just gimme your Master Weapon chip and go back to doing what you're supposed to be doing?" Mega Man offered.
"I am running late as is..." Charge Man admitted. Smiling, he tossed a chip to Mega Man and beamed out.
Mega Man smiled as he installed the Charge Kick weapon. "So that's what Vinyl meant about beating them without destroying them..."
As the chart showed that Wave Man was the one vulnerable to Charge Kick - and in fact one of the only ones who even took damage from it - he went after him next. This left him just inside the water treatment plant, where some of the systems were still damaged from the Roboenza outbreak. Cracked pipes in the floor occasionally released bursts of pressurized steam, while spiked balls swung back and forth on chains. However, very few robots patrolled the corridors.
The only point of interest that Mega Man encountered early on were large pipes that sucked him down if he got too close to an open end, which proved to be the only way to advance in certain areas. The danger was in choosing the right pipe.
The next area, Mega Man found bubbles coming out of the pipe floor, some large enough to ride up to the top of the structure, which proved necessary due to the absence of stairs or ladders. This led him up to the top of the facility, letting him walk out over the roof. At the edge of the roof was the massive reservoir, with a jet ski resting at the edge. Mega Man promptly hopped on. "Here's hoping this is fun rather than tedi-OOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUSSSSSS!"
Apparently, Vinyl had decided she didn't want Mega Man to be bored. Instead of the trip across the reservoir being a leisurely cruise while dealing with the occasional robotic buoy, it was a high speed obstacle course reminiscent of a stage of Battletoads, complete with ramp jumps that were easy to screw up and crash out of the reservoir on.
As he reached the end, Mega Man was glad to get off the jet-ski. "That...was..." After managing to catch his breath, he thrust his hands into the air. "AWESOME!" Rushing forward, he leapt over a turret that guarded the final door, coming face to face with Wave Man.
Wave Man glowered at him as he entered. "So...you have come. Well, you will not leave-"
"Boot to the head!" Mega Man shouted out, using Charge Kick to slam into Wave Man.
Wave Man fell back, clutching at himself. "That...wasn't my head..." he whimpered.
"I meant the nautical term," Mega Man explained.
"That doesn't even make-"
"Boot to the head!"
"I'm out!"
Mega Man caught the weapon chip as Wave Man beamed out, installing Water Wave. "I think Vinyl should have upgraded these guys before sending them after me..." He paused as a realization hit him. "Unless that's deliberate to give me a false sense of security, and the new ninth Robot Master is going to be severely overpowered...oh dear..."
Most likely......................Your so screwed if it is.
And a light goes on in Rock's head... I wonder if the ninth robot is Axl...
If this goes exactly how I think it's going to end then Rock's gonna lose an arm fighting Zero...and lose as horribly as he predicted. But so far so good, I really like how this is going and I love both the 'Alice in Wonderland' rabbit and the 'Boot to the head' joke keep up the good work
This is how the charge kick should have worked (IMHO)...
7620738
The problem with that theory is that Vinyl said that it is a robot he hasn't fought before. He's already fought zero as secret when Vinyl saved Wily... If you could have called that curbstomp a fight.
Ahhh...jokes from back when I was a kid. So nice to know that I've gotten old....
....(sobs)
7620748 He did? I thought he didn't and this was where he was going to fight Zero...albeit yeah in the game where Zero makes his first appearance for the 'Rock Man' series it was like, and this is a TFS reference, 'A cataclysm compared to a rampaging toddler'(Zero's the cataclysm, Rock is the rampaging toddler.) So I wonder what new Reploid prototype Vinyl has got in store for him.
You just need a hamburger, fries, and milkshake to eat dude.
I think someone has been studying Tai Kwon Leep.
7620739 That is a good one.
Curse you nostalgiiiiiiaaaaaaaaa...
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
I hope Zero is not the surprise 9th robot master. I have heard that he was possibly the reason for Mega Man's destruction in canon. Let's see who shows up in the end.
7620739 No kidding. That would have been hilarious.
Not entirely the same but ehhhh... close enough.
puu.sh/rzh9m.png
7620721 A fight against his own son? Well, I guess we know how poor Alex lost his memory.
The Charge Kick.
Making the Top Spin look good as a weapon.
and guarded by large chicken bots
1. Extra spacing.
If I had to guess, it'd probably be a dirty joke. Probably. Because we all love some dirty jokes now and again.
7620907
Ah, good times. Good times. Never did get the chance to watch Nightblade at Camp David, though. I always liked those radio snippets about it in game 3.
Nothing like a good old fashioned Boot to the Head
Expected more of the White Rabbit's lines from Charge Man
7620949 Right?
7620721 I don't think Vinyl made Axl. He'd prolly be created by Kalinka or something.
7620944
7621073
Axl IS being built by Kalinka, WITH Rock's help. So he can't be the 9th.
I am wondering how this is entertaining to the global audience. Vinyl said 'make it badass' yet failed to meet him halfway.
Is the challenge being livestreamed from Rock's eyes?
7620735
7620776
Have you guys not seen the pony version? Sheesh.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA laughed so hard i almost cried.
7621631 Yes, but this one I came up with first.
7623626 Too bad, I could imagine a trick like that from Vinyl.
Yeah, Charge Kick sucks. It's down there with Top Spin and all the shield weapons.
7621631 It's because that version is inferior. Also, stock SFM pony models look terrible.
7625233 *slap* I LOVE it.
*ded*
Well, at least it's fun.
Vinyl: "Well, Mega, looks like there's only one thing left to do." *raises a hand-held buster"
Mega Man: "No Bass Cannon!" *duck and hides*
Vinyl: *triggers the buster, causing it to shoot a stream of harmless bubbles* "Bubble Cannon!"
Mega: *emerges, sighing in relief* "Oh, that's not so bad."
Vinyl: "With a boot to the head!"
Mega: "Wait, wha-?!"
*SMACK!*
Mega: *sprawled on floor with a boot print on his forehead* "...ow..."
The Master bows in respect to this excellent student of... Boot to the Head!
*SMACK!*
OW! PINKIE!!!
Pinkie Pie: *giggles*
8897441
Dafuq did I just read?
-and one for the wimpy robot Iceman
you know, how megaman is handling these robot master is quite entertaining, but i wonder wh- *get's hit* OW!!!!! ok WHO THRE THAT?... well, as i was saying megaman might just be facing a senario where not everything is as it seems.