| GCB Fanfics: The Fanfiction Project |
August 25th, 2003"I, Robot" The difference between animals, humans, and robots, is not as obvious as you might suspect. Consider, if you will, how each of type of being is commonly defined. An animal is a creature utterly bound by its emotions and instincts. It knows no purpose other than following wherever its senses lead it. It is defined by its emotional states-whether these be aggression, the desire for a mate, or simple pain or pleasure. Its existence is the sum of its experiences. A human is an animal with reason. It is a creature which still bases its life around what it feels and experiences, but does so with the ability to think. A human can at once feel a certain way, and act in defiance of those feelings. A human is capable of logically dealing with the world, and understanding it. A human is self-aware. It is, according to most of the philosophers who spend their time discussing such things, a being with potential that outstrips its animal form. A mental and spiritual entity married to a physical one. Drives and desires combined with logic and will. A robot may be defined as a mind capable of logic, but not truly capable of emotion or reason. It is a synthesized intelligence, with the ability to make sense of the world and deduce more of it from all of the parameters it knows... but incapable of dealing with factors outside its experience in the same way that a human can. A robot is nothing more than a ridiculously complex system of pipes and wires, or a mind boggling sequence of logical connections. It is a human without the natural connection to the physical universe, and without the ability to be truly self-aware. Thus, an animal is a creature defined by instinct, a human is a creature defined by self-awareness, and a robot is a creature defined by logic. But all of these beings possess each of these qualities in varying degrees, and some entities in one of the categories may hope to bridge the gaps. It was for this purpose that Dr. Light created MegaMan. A robot with the ability to grow. To improve itself, and surpass its own potential. Animals evolve through random chance. A minor mistake occurs somewhere along the line of genetic selection, and results in a superior or inferior animal. The mistake is repeated endlessly, until hopefully an improvement is made to the species as a whole. Human beings evolve through self improvement, due to their awareness. For years, robots had only evolved due to the efforts of humans... but Dr. Light intended to change that, by engineering a creature that would be capable of improving itself, and continually modifying itself to fit with a world in a constant state of flux. Thus, MegaMan was the first computer Dr. Light hoped would never go obsolete, and the first design he might never have to replace. MegaMan was capable of taking other computers, robots, or weapons even, and engineering them into himself. And hopefully, by learning to improve his design from other robots, MegaMan would in turn discover how to change himself, and be the first robot to truly grow. That was the theory anyway. But the dream had been cut short. Dr. Light's brilliant designs for robots were stolen by his assistant, and engineered into weapons of mass destruction. All of what the external funding and his own brilliance had bought him had come crashing down around him. He had no choice but fight back with the only robot that might be able to surpass all the others. MegaMan had originally been built as a butler. It had been Dr. Light’s intention that he would learn from all of the other robots, and gradually become better than all of them. But he had been forced to become a fighter, and a warrior against all the mindless machines humans had introduced into the world to achieve power. One robot against every other machine, in a battle for the survival of the fittest. And the single robot won. And so it came to pass that the blue bomber was fighting in another competition for survival-and had another chance to prove that he was something more than a mere machine. Sixty-four fighters from across the multiverse had been called once again to discover who was the best, and he was one of the ones chosen. He had been in the dimension hosting the battles for weeks now already. All around the tournament grounds there were little reminders of his true nature, and what made him different from all of the other fighters. The computer terminals in the training center continued their perpetual hums and clicks whenever he arrived. The robots who occasionally patrolled the arena never even acknowledged his presence. These were supposed to be his brothers. His co-heirs in the legacy of mankind. But deep down MegaMan knew that they were nothing more than mindless automata. It was one of the prices you paid for a semblance of intelligence. It meant recognizing the difference between yourself and those around you. The humans at the tournament were his real siblings. But he was like a kid brother to them, an embarrassingly backward child who still hadn't grown out of infancy. They all had something he lacked-true emotion, reason, intuition, and the capacity for choice outside their parameters. And that meant that humans were unpredictable. They were always capable of surprising him, and even themselves. MegaMan had seen it with Zero too... the older robot had recognized that there was something that set them apart from the humans. Despite their more durable forms and superior weaponry, they still couldn't match the human ability to make leaps of logic, and see past what anyone else could. Even recognizing the difference between a friend who was seriously troubled or merely stressed baffled MegaMan. The complexities of human emotions were a mystery to him simply because he was not designed to behave in the same way they did. In less than twenty-four hours, he would fight a mob boss whose behavior had been even more confusing than most. Samus seemed to regard him both as a friend and an enemy. He didn't know what Vercetti would do in their match... so he had to be ready for anything. MegaMan punched in a training program designed to give him a large field of opponents to fight off. He would only have to deal with one target for his match, but it would test his skills to the limit to have to battle more enemies than most of the humans would likely be able to count. Dark purple polygonal forms began to load onto a series of platforms, immaterial constructs loosely tied together by the computer simulating them. Their artificial countenances twisted as they turned to face MegaMan, who was climbing up onto the platform. The enemies were all simulated mockups of his opponents in the tournament. They shared all of their abilities... but none of their eminently human unpredictability’s. The battle progressed with few hitches. MegaMan's superior computing power allowed him to effortlessly dodge and counter the attacks of his opponents, and switch through an enormous library of weapons to keep fighting them off. A light blue shield surrounded him, forcing the physical fighters to keep their distance, and MegaMan fired rapid plasma blasts in all directions. One by one, the polygonal fighters made contact with his blows and dissipated into pure static. MegaMan threw a boomerang at a group of remaining fighters, and slid past a rampaging Donkey Kong, firing quick bursts of flame behind him. MegaMan's competition would have had significant cause to take the robot more seriously if any of them had been there to witness how the mismatched battle was progressing. And as a matter of fact, one of them was. MegaMan threw a blade cutter at a polygonal sword fighter just in time to match the simulation's downward stroke, and literally cut through his opponents defenses. A polygonal Link quickly turned into digital ash. He spotted another sword swinging at him from the opposite direction, and brought another blade to bear against the unseen opponent as well. But the blade cutter was quickly cut in two as it made contact with the genuine article this time. The master sword whipped through the air swiftly, and sliced through the flurry of MegaMan's beams. MegaMan gasped in astonishment as he realized who the figure was. In the training room, now emptied of the carbon copies of his very real opponents, he was standing toe to toe with the previous champion of the tournament. Link brought his sword back into its sheath in a smooth motion, never taking his eyes off of the robot who still had his weapon trained on the knight. Link's eyes seemed colder than usual, and his spirit had become so dark these days that even MegaMan could tell something was wrong with him. Ever since his last fight, he had barely been seen. He wasn't training, talking to the other fighters, or indulging in games of chance. He seemed content to be alone, all by himself. Or so it appeared. Link crossed his arms and smiled lightly at the shorter robot. "Don't you think it's a bit macabre, to go killing your own kind like this?" Perhaps luckily for both of them, MegaMan did not possess the capacity to be insulted. "They're not like me. They're just simple little programs. They're here to put up a fight, that's all they do." "But of course. But of course." Link paced past Megaman, his feet never even touching the ground. It took the blue bomber another few seconds to realize that Link was literally hovering in the air, floating from one platform to the next, and then climbing higher still. He was wearing some strange pair of boots, with miniature wings at the heels, allowing him to simply glide above the ground. The Hylian stopped a few feet above MegaMan, and sneered down at the robot again. "I know why you're here. You've already trained enough to where you know how to fight. You're here because you're not satisfied with who you are." Link began to slowly float downwards through the air. The Hylian's boots were level with MegaMan's head as he began to descend, lowering himself to the robot's level. Link's eyebrows were crossed downwards, and the look in his eyes would have left few opponents able to meet his gaze. Ever since his last fight, Link had appeared even more unwelcoming and sinister than before. The former champion of the tournament did not even wait for the robot to speak before continuing his own thoughts. "I was like you once. Always setting limits for myself, to how far I could go, what I was willing to do. Bound by an outdated code of moral conduct in the same way you're bound by your programming. Helpless to match others in what they were able to do. But that's all beginning to change now." A dark laugh began to slowly ripple from Link's belly as his feet touched the ground. MegaMan did not even know enough to be frightened of the green fighter, he simply listened in fascination. "Can’t you even see yourself for what you are? In some worlds, you'd be a fairy tale parents tell their children. A robot who wants to become a real human. How pathetic, when you could be... so much more." In a swift gesture, Link brought his sword straight up to MegaMan's neck, without even changing his expression. "Just look at you." Link hissed. "You're a soulless automata. A mindless machine incapable of going beyond the constraints forced upon it by its creator. Unable to predict. Unable to think. Unable to react to a world completely and utterly defined by chaos." MegaMan stumbled backwards as Link withdrew his sword. He raised his blaster arm cautiously, but Link kept talking, caught up in the force of his speech. "In my world, we have no need for machines. We harness the natural forces of the world ourselves, through magical power. But I know how it is with your kind. You’re a barely sentient creature, with power in excess of your own ability to wield it. You exist to fulfill a single purpose…" Link waved his hand through the air, gesturing to the nonexistent remains of the polygonal fighters. “And when that purpose is fulfilled, you are worthless. You will fight until you find something greater than yourself. And then you will be replaced. Eventually, your enemies will overwhelm you or your creator will decide he has no further need of you. You exist to be eliminated, little android.” MegaMan stood as still as only a machine could while Link began to narrow the gap between them. The feathers around the edges of Link’s boots flapped lightly, keeping him barely suspended in the air. “When the gods and goddesses came to all the worlds you see here, and separated man from the animals, do you know that they did? They gave him the ability to choose both good and evil. They implanted in him the capacity to veer away from the norm, and surpass his environment. From this, legends were born. Heroes, villains, and tyrants. But it all matters not. What set these few apart was the ability to defy others, and to exercise their own will in supremacy of all other things. They were able to break the established rules, and do as they truly wished.” Link glanced down casually at a small golden object resting in MegaMan’s left arm. “And so we come to the crux of the matter. That magical trinket you possess… very interesting indeed. An object of immense spiritual power. Insignificant to one such as myself, of course… but it is still quite intriguing. You have already attempted to make use of it yourself, have you not?” MegaMan nodded slowly. His own attempts to harness the power of the chaos emerald had been met with failure. But what could Link be suggesting? “But of course. You lack the capacity to do anything beyond the narrow boundaries imposed upon you. Your system could never accept something that might possibly prove disruptive to its workings. But that disruption is precisely what your outmoded self needs the most.” Link rested a gloved hand on the emerald, and looked MegaMan straight in his mechanical eyes. “I possess the magical abilities you do not. I could enable you to embrace this power of chaos, and let you learn what it truly means to be human… to have no restrictions at all. You saw how the emeralds changed the others. It could do the same for you, if used correctly. With a taste of chaos in your system… you might finally be able to experience the humanity these mortals so desperately prize, and even be able to surpass them all. All it needs is the right hand to apply it.” “And what do you want from me?” MegaMan had been around humans long enough to know that they seldom did anything out of pure goodwill. Link chuckled with a tone far more foreboding than cheerful. “For now, merely a chance to study the effects of one of these emeralds a little more closely. They seem highly prized by all these weaklings, so there may be something to them after all. They appear to be tied to a greater power, beyond anything witnessed here so far. You can be a channel to that power. I well let you be my guinea pig, an honor you should not take lightly. And as for after that…” The Hylian gazed intently at the blue robot. “I will let you know.” MegaMan’s CPU was working itself into overdrive processing all the information that Link was telling him. Two values were battling out in his mind. The need to win, tied to the desire to grow and become more human… but at the same time, the prospect seemed incredibly dangerous. Everything Link said seem to make sense, but some lingering doubts were still holding him back… some memories of what Dr. Light had said… but wouldn’t his creator want him to take this chance to become more human? Link observed the robot’s mental struggle with disinterest. “So, what will it be, little machine? Will you remain trapped in this primitive status quo forever… or are you prepared to step outside the confines of your own being to become something still greater? I offer you the chance to change your nature, and choose both good and evil… but you must first accept my gift. What will it be?” "The Choice" Vercetti’s brain took a hit as the shrill alarm pierced through his fuzzy inebriated state of mind. The world around him gradually began to fade into reality, as he tried to snap his sluggish senses into gear. Vercetti was lying on his back in Samus’ room—not the way he usually started his mornings. At first, he had some trouble figuring out what had happened last night but, after a few minutes, his brain had finally kicked into motion and he remembered everything that had happened last night. He chuckled to himself as he realized that this was the second time he had been in the bed of a mechanical woman. Granted, KOS-MOS had never had the occasion to drag his passed out body into her room, but that had only been because he had been too content when he was with her to drink like this. As best as he could remember, Samus had picked him up like a rag doll and dumped him off. She was nowhere to be seen. Which was probably for the better, given how his last night with KOS-MOS had ended up. Even Vercetti could see that Samus and Snake had been spending more time together lately. Which made Samus’s absence all the more convenient. An awkward moment with Samus wasn’t the way he wanted to start the day of his match. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. Rubbing the back of his head, he was surprised that there was only a little grogginess today. Snake had been right. Despite almost freezing his ****ing ***** off, he barely felt any traces of the bourbon that he drank last night. He looked at his watch and was surprised to see that it was only a little more than an hour before his match. That couldn’t be right. It was barely light out. Vercetti moved over to the window and looked outside. Outside, it was a very gray day. The normally sunlit sky was now heavy and overcast, making the grounds gloomy in the cold, grey light. Vercetti scowled a bit at this. Something didn’t seem right about this. Normally, the weather was almost always sunny like back in Vice City. Vercetti stared out at the gloomy surroundings for a moment. Then, shrugging to himself, he made his way out of Samus’ room. He had to get back to his room and get his weapons ready. He had said he was going to kick Megaman’s little blue ass last night and having one of his weapons jam during the fight wouldn’t help him do so. An hour and a half later, Vercetti was sitting in the middle of the arena, waiting for that ****ing blue robot to show up. The weather, while not cold, was not exactly the temperature that Tommy had grown accustomed to both in Vice City as well as in this world. Occasionally, he would shiver a little from the ****ing temperature or shift one of the straps that held the weapons that he had chosen to his body securely. Finally Megaman came running out of his end of the arena. Ignoring the roar of the crowd, he slowed to a walk as he came up to meet Tommy. “I’m sorry about being late and everything but, y’see, last night, Link came up to me and asked me if I wanted to be human and I thought that Dr Light always wanted me to be more human but didn’t know how but Link said that the emerald could” Tommy, who had levered himself up to a standing position, cut Megaman off with a wave of his hand. “Who ****ing cares? You’re here now. Are we going to do this thing or what?” Megaman blinked once or twice and then said “Oh. Yeah. The match. Yeah, let’s go back to our ends of the arena and then start. Good luck.” Megaman stuck out his hand at Tommy. Tommy stared down at the hand in almost disbelief. These two were about to mix it up and this guy wanted to shake hands as if they were best friends playing hide-and-seek. The absurdity of the situation had Tommy unconsciously reaching for Megaman’s hand. At the last moment, Tommy remembered that everyone was watching him about to shake hands with this ****y robot. He covered up a potential image-threatening mistake by moving his hand swiftly up and back to his side. “Psych. The day Tommy Vercetti shakes hands with a walking toaster is the day I hang it all up for good. You just get to your side and get ready to join the other losers, spare parts.” Tommy turned his back to the Blue Bomber and made his way to the side of the arena. Megaman turned and walked to his side of the arena, confused and a little mad at Tommy’s actions. He knew he was late but the previous night and morning had been very busy. He had accepted Link’s offer to become more human. He had no other choice really. To refuse would have meant never knowing a way to improve himself, which for a robot as adaptive as he was, represented nothing less than suicide, and surrender. Link had taken him to a secluded spot in the forest, and Megaman had laid down awkwardly. What happened next was very confusing to Megaman, simply because he could not properly recall all of it. The Hylian had performed some odd ritual channeling the power of the chaos emerald and a very ugly mask, using words that didn’t register in Megaman’s databanks as any form of language. Halfway through, Megaman had inexplicably shut down. When he came back online, it didn’t feel like the normal way he usually came out of power conservation mode. It was early morning and the sky had become quite overcast. Link had been there with a smile that Megaman couldn’t quite define whether it was threatening or reassuring. At first, while feeling differently on the insides, nothing seemed to have changed. The first thing Mega Man noticed was an odd sensation on his face. Seeing his expression, Link had mentioned that what he was feeling was what humans described as cold. Cold. Megaman had faced off against plenty of Wily’s robots that used the cold but it had always registered as damage. Emotionless numbers and pieces of data. This was actually feeling. He was being overrun by new sensations… he could even feel some sort of ambient energy coming from the forest… and a darker tinted sensation could be felt in the voice of Link. His arms seemed different somehow. His legs and boots, shaped more like those of a human. It took him a full minute to realize that he was actually breathing. Link explained to him that he had used powers of the stone to tie him to the physical universe. The power of the emerald was changing him into a being connected to that universe. Henceforth, he would be bound spiritually to the world around him, like all the humans he envied. He would draw on the powers inherent to life. He would be able to think as a being in tune with chaos. He would feel. And he might finally be able to match the race of beings that had created him, in their capacity for change and unpredictability. Link’s last words chilled him to the core of his CPU. “You now possess the power to surpass the insects around you. Even your creator could never have seen the paths open to you now. You can do anything you want. Create. Destroy. Kill. You may become greater than your makers themselves. But because your state of being is unnatural, it is still volatile. The cords tying your spirit can be broken only by the weakness of your desires. As long as you wish to be human, to have no controls, you shall remain so. If you surrender in your will, the ties that bind you will snap, and you may never be restored to what you are now.” Link had then left him with a final reminder that he would be anxious to see how well Megaman did in the upcoming match. As if he would ever not want to be this way! Everything was so new and wonderful. The smells of the hotel kitchen seemed to fill his spirit. He knew now why Mario was always eating pasta. If he had been able to know what food was really like before, he would have eaten like Mario did too. Megaman could not ever imagine wanting to give up what he had. He saw himself as he never had before… as the humans must see him. His somewhat clunky arms, his boyish face. He looked so artificial in comparison to the natural environments of the tournament… but even that might change in time. It was only after he had passed one of those clocks on the wall that he realized that he had forgotten what time it was and that he would be late for his match. He had forgotten about his internal chronometer after the rush of new sensations. After all Link had done for him, he wouldn’t be late to his match. So he had hurried as fast as he could to the arena, trying not to spoil the surprise by breathing heavily… but being amazed at what it felt like to be breathing.. Megaman’s thoughts turned back to the present. He couldn’t understand why Tommy had acted that way. He had been late but he said he was sorry so that should have made everything alright. It just had seemed …. mean for Vercetti to have pulled that trick. Maybe that was something else humans did differently although Megaman couldn’t recall Dr. Light having ever done that. Still, he would figure out why he had done that later. Right now, he had to win this match. The announcer signaled the beginning of the match. Megaman fired some of his trademark yellow energy bursts in Vercetti’s direction, taking care not to actually aim close enough to endanger Vercetti. After all, he didn’t want to hurt Vercetti. He just wanted to keep him busy until he could close the distance enough to knock Vercetti out gently and win the match. Vercetti dodged the bursts easily. For someone who was supposed to be a big name on his world, this Megaman was a lousy shot. He unlimbered the ingram at his side and started firing at Megaman. Megaman then put up some shield that seemed to consist of skulls flying around him. There didn’t seem to be that many and, yet, they were deflecting Vercetti’s bullets away from Megaman. Having noticed that Megaman had stopped moving when he put up the barrier, Vercetti quickly unlimbered his RPG from his back. Deflect this, you little jerk. Vercetti thought as he fired the weapon directly into Megaman’s skull barrier. Megaman saw the projectile coming but couldn’t think quickly enough to change his weapons. The grenade hit Megaman’s skull barrier in an explosion of flame. The skulls absorbed most of the destructive force but enough of the concussive force still got through to send Megaman sailing. He hit the ground with a crash. A new sensation entered Megaman’s body. Pain. Previously, while Megaman registered damage, it had always been as data pertaining to his body’s functionality. He had never felt as he did now. He wanted to just lie there but he saw Vercetti lining up another shot. He scrambled to his feet and dove to the side, partially propelled forward from the explosion as Vercetti’s second RPG shot created a small crater where Megaman had been. Megaman then knew with a chilling certainty that Vercetti was actually trying to kill him. He couldn’t understand why. Why is Vercetti trying to kill me? It’s just a match. Can’t he see that I’m trying not to hurt him? Why won’t this human understand? The last thought came through with a flash of irritation that this human would try to kill him when he was trying not to harm Vercetti. Flattening on the ground to duck a third shot, Megaman activated Cutman’s powers. The cut blades wouldn’t be fast enough to catch Vercetti but they would force him to move enough so he couldn’t use that RPG of his. Vercetti saw Megaman start firing these slow-moving blades at him, forcing him to step back and dodge the twirling metal projectiles. However, they were still easily dodged. I can’t believe that I was afraid of this guy. He can’t connect with any of these weapons. Too bad for him that I can. In a smooth practiced motion, he smoothly slung the RPG on to his back and resumed firing with the ingram. Megaman activated the Speed Burner to try to dodge the hail of lead but, even jetting around the arena, some bullets struck glancing blows off of him. Outwardly, they did very little damage but, inwardly, Megaman felt each bullet as they pinged off his armor. However, he continued jetting until he heard Vercetti’s ingram click to empty. Now, it was time to do what he had been maneuvering toward Vercetti to do. He started running normally at Vercetti. As he heard the telltale click, Vercetti quickly, in one practiced motion, ejected the clip. He saw Megaman start to run at him but, since he wasn’t using those ****ing jets in his feet, the slowpoke would never make it in time. Vercetti slammed a new clip home and started to point it at Megaman. Megaman had been watching Vercetti quickly reload the weapon. As Vercetti started to lift his weapon, Megaman activated the Flash Stopper. As the world froze, Megaman ran as fast as he could toward Vercetti, ignoring that strange hammering in his chest and the fact that his “breathing” seemed to have accelerated in what was an unpleasant way. As he got to Vercetti, he dropped the Flash Stopper and threw a punch at Vercetti’s stomach with his armor’s normal hand. Vercetti had no idea what had happened. One second, the little freak was a good eighty yards from him. The next, he had teleported in and sucker-punched him in the gut. The air blew right out of him as Megaman’s titanium fist drove hard into Vercetti. It was now Vercetti’s turn to fall back and skid along the ground. Little ******* just cracked one of my ribs, Vercetti thought as he grimaced in pain. However, there was no time for that as that little blue junkpile was moving in with both arms spread out. Vercetti didn’t know what Megaman was about to do but he doubted that the junkpile was going to hug him. The ingram had clattered to the ground away from him when he had been sucker-punched but that was not the only gun he had. Inwardly wincing at what this would do to his wrists, Vercetti pulled two Magnums from his sides and started firing at Megaman. As Vercetti dropped, Megaman started to rush over to him, spreading his arms. If he could just make contact with Vercetti, he could channel a very low-level electrical charge into Vercetti from his Elec beam. That should knock Vercetti out without hurting him too badly. As he saw Vercetti pull the magnums out, he tried to quickly switch back to the Flash Stopper. But he just couldn’t think fast enough. In a panic, he tried to dodge to the side. However, one of Vercetti’s shots hit Megaman in the side. Megaman cried out as he convulsed and grabbed his side. Then another shot tore through his left arm, spinning him to the ground. He lay there, clutching the wound in his side. He had never felt such sensations. His mouth had a strange bitter taste in it, and his left arm felt like it was on fire. Everything seemed to be spinning around him and every movement hurt. He tried to shakily get up but, as he did so, he heard a few feet to his side. He turned his head to see what had made the noise when the world erupted around him, throwing him again into the air and painfully to the ground. Vercetti watched the little robot flop to the ground with a bit of a scowl. He had only managed to fire off three shots from each magnum before the pain in his wrists had forced him to drop both of the magnums to the ground. Shaking his hands to alleviate the pain in his wrists as he quickly backpedaled away from Megaman, he saw that Megaman had hit the ground clutching his side. He had probably hit something vital in the robot. Those .454 Casull rounds cost but, when you were facing something that was made of metal, it was better to pay at the store than in the arena. He then threw a grenade at Megaman but the pain in his wrists made him throw like a ****ing girl so the grenade fell short. The explosion still managed to pick Megaman and hurl him further away from Vercetti. He wasn’t going to take any further chances with Megaman so he unlimbered the RPG from his back. Megaman knew that Vercetti was probably setting him up for another attack but he couldn’t get his body to move. He weakly looked at his hand that had clutched his side and he saw that it was red with blood. More than anything, this shocked Megaman who had always dealt with damage in a computerized way. As he looked at his new life’s blood, something changed within Megaman. Vercetti’s really going to kill me. He hurt me. THAT SCUM HURT ME!!! As a robot, Megaman had never personally dealt much with emotions such as anger or hate. He would see it in others but he didn’t experience very much within himself. Dr. Light, foreseeing the danger in allowing his creation to feel such things, had planted several directives that were designed not only to restrain Megaman from actions that would result from these emotions but were also designed to dampen such emotions in his creation. No such directives were there to hinder Megaman any more. Perhaps Megaman would not have been able to act on his growing rage if it hadn’t been for the presence of another agency in Megaman’s system. It is said that using flawed means will result in flawed results. The forces that Link had used in the ritual were some of the darkest forces known to Hyrulian magic. Forces that fed off such emotions such as anger and pain and hatred. Forces that had grown stronger within Megaman as his new emotions had become increasingly negative and he suffered from Vercetti’s attacks. None of this was known to Megaman. All he knew is that the pain of his wounds vanished under a blindingly hot new emotion that he had never felt before. Now, more than anything, he wanted, no, he NEEDED to destroy this maggot who had attacked him. Swiftly drawing himself up to a kneeling position, he leveled his cannon and fired his most powerful blast. Vercetti had lined up Megaman in his sights when he saw Megaman get up and level his blaster his way. Some sixth sense had Vercetti dropping the RPG and diving to the side. Not a moment too soon as an energy blast far larger and more powerful than anything Megaman had fired roared through the area Vercetti had just vacated. The RPG simply disintegrated as the energy roared past, the heat singing Vercetti’s hair as the shockwave flattened his clothes against his body. As Vercetti hit the ground and rolled, the blast struck the wall with such force that a visible ripple ran through the defensive screen. Vercetti glanced at the area where the blast had struck. A glance that became an open-mouthed stare as he saw that the blast had fused the wall and the ground around the impact area into blackened glass. Then he heard a familiar voice somehow turned ugly. “Like to play with bombs, vermin?” Vercetti heard a metallic clank at his feet and he saw an round object had grappled into the ground at his feet. A round object that was starting to flash. Swiftly turning, Vercetti broke out into a sprint as, a second later, an explosion created a fountain of stone and dirt. However, there was no time to stop as several more Crash Bombs started hitting the ground around Vercetti’s running form. Up in the contestant area, Samus had seen Megaman hit the ground from Vercetti’s magnum barrage when something peculiar had caught her eye. She turned her visor’s telescopic function and tried to train it on Megaman, a task made more difficult as the grenades had knocked Megaman away. Retraining her visor on Megaman, she saw what had caught her eye. Megaman appeared to be bleeding. Having a wide range of experience in robotics and mechanics, it was Samus’ experience that most sentient races never used any form of fluid in their robots that resembled that race’s blood. Samus didn’t have time to ponder the implications as she noticed that her suit’s computer had registered an odd energy wavelength emanating from Megaman’s gun arm. She swiftly altered her visor so she could see the energy. Sure enough, there was a point of light within Megaman’s blaster that was as incongruous with Megaman’s previous energy readings as the other readings she was picking up from Megaman. She mentally noted the wavelength on her visor’s readout and froze inside her armor. The energy was the same energy that she had seen in those seven points of light when she and Snake had confronted Sephiroth. Then, as Megaman rose to a kneeling position, the energy burst into life so violently, Samus was almost blinded as she swiftly returned to normal vision only to have another bright light bring spots to her eyes as the flash from Megaman’s energy blast hit the wall. Beside her, Snake was leaning forward tensely. “Something’s wrong.” He murmured half to himself. Samus understood his concern as Snake was facing the winner of this match, an outcome that was becoming increasingly obvious as explosions started erupting around Vercetti’s swiftly running form. Before Samus had gravitated away from Megaman to decidedly less childish companionship, Samus had gotten to know Megaman. He had never shown any cruelty or inclinations to kill. Yet, here he was, obviously toying with Vercetti as none of the explosions were close enough to kill Vercetti but close enough that Vercetti was forced to keep fleeing for his life. Samus rose out of her seat and started moving toward the front of the arena. Snake saw her go and took a subtle glance at Sephiroth. Having been the victim of one of Sephiroth’s illusions, this seemed very much like the work of the Son of Jenova. However, Sephiroth didn’t seem to be involved. If anything, Snake thought he saw a hint of surprise and interest on Sephiroth’s otherwise impassive face. No one saw the cruelly satisfied grin on Link’s face as a buzzing sound started to fill the air. Vercetti was a man running scared. Panicked, he thought that there was some law that a guy named Asinine had written that said that robots couldn’t hurt people. This robot was certainly trying to hurt him as Vercetti ran, trying to dodge the explosions that seemed to be all around him. Suddenly, there was a pause in the explosions. Vercetti wasted no time, unslinging his Kalishnikov from his back. He hit the ground, already swinging the assault rifle around. This action probably saved Vercetti’s life as a buzzing silvery blur tore right through the barrel of the rifle, sawing it cleanly in two. Megaman frowned slightly as Vercetti’s sudden stop had saved him from having his forearm decapitated by one of Metal Man’s blades. Still, there was more where that came from as he loosed several more blades toward Vercetti’s scrambling body. The buzz seemed to fill the air as Vercetti dodged the projectiles with the agility that only mortal terror can bring. Still, the blades left their mark as thin lines of blood began to appear on Vercetti’s limbs and torso. A near miss left another crimson line along Vercetti’s right cheek. His head involuntarily jerked to the side and he caught sight of the Ingram he had dropped earlier. Realizing that having a gun was his only salvation, Vercetti made an awkward half-run, half-dive for the gun. As he picked the gun up from the ground, he spun toward Megaman, the weapon already spitting lead as he brought the gun around. However, Megaman slid under the hail of lead. Before Vercetti could adjust his wild firing, Megaman had covered the remaining distance and, in a perfect imitation of Ryu’s dragon punch, rose up and sent Vercetti flying up and into the wall behind him. Vercetti tried to get his bearings as one of his legs gave way and he fell to the ground. This inadvertently saved him as Megaman drove his Magma Blade point first into the wall where Vercetti’s head had been. Grabbing the last weapon he had left on him that hadn’t fallen off or been used up, he desperately swung his golf club into Megaman’s head. The blow, which normally would have merely bounced off of Megaman’s titanium helmet, sent a shock through the helmet into Megaman’s all too human head. This only served to drive Megaman even more further into his rage-filled madness. He raised his arm to block the next swing then reversed his hand and yanked the golf club out of Vercetti’s hands. As Vercetti stumbled forward, Megaman neatly pirouetted and swung the club right into Vercetti’s face. Blood and not a few teeth fragments flew out of Vercetti’s mouth as his jaw broke. Vercetti staggered as his face exploded with pain from Megaman’s blow. Then a second burst of pain exploded from the back of his skull as the club connected with the head. He fell forward to a crawling position which became a prone position as the third blow connected between his shoulder blades. After the fifth blow, Vercetti became only dimly aware of the repeated blows on his defenseless body. Megaman rained blow after blow on the prone Vercetti until his arm grew tired with what may have been the fifteenth or twentieth blow. He tossed the golf club, now stained with blood from where it had broken Vercetti’s skin through the shirt. Vercetti had curled into a fetal position and was quietly whimpering. But Megaman knew that this wasn’t enough. He heard the crowd roar for blood and he would happily grant them their wish. His hand clamped around Vercetti’s throat. Pulling Vercetti up, he slammed him into the wall. As Vercetti’s head hit the wall, he coughed up a gout of blood as his head rolled forward. Megaman wasn’t tall enough to lift Vercetti completely off the ground but that wasn’t important for what Megaman was going to do. Not bothering with this Elec man ****, Megaman switched his blaster to Spark Man’s weapon. Electricity began to crackle in the air as Megaman started to charge the weapon with more energy than he had ever used before. This spark would leave nothing left of this human garbage but ashes. A voice broke through Megaman’s consciousness. “MEGAMAN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP IT!!!” Megaman looked up. He hadn’t realized he had slammed Vercetti into a wall so close to the contestant’s area. He saw Samus leaning forward, shouting at Megaman to stop. She spouted some meaningless garbage about him not being a killer but Megaman saw differently. He saw the concern in her eyes and knew that she was only concerned for Vercetti. Typical. Humans only stuck with humans. She didn’t give a damn about him, she only cared that a robot was going to eliminate a human. She had abandoned him so she could be with other humans and laugh at him behind his back. Megaman knew that they all had laughed at him when he was a robot. He knew that being a robot had made him less than they were in their eyes. Link was right! He was only used when it came time to eliminate other robots and then he was just put aside like a device that had served it’s purpose and was no longer useful. Humans just thought of him as a device, undeserving of respect. Samus didn’t care. No one cared. After he took out Vercetti, he knew that would change. Everyone would respect him. And they’d respect him even more after he won the tournament. AND HE WOULD WIN THE TOURNAMENT EVEN IF HE HAD TO SLAUGHTER EVERY LAST ONE OF HIS OPPONENTS. AND, IF SAMUS TRIED TO STOP HIM, HIS PATH TO VICTORY WOULD ROLL RIGHT OVER HER BROKEN BODY. NOBODY WOULD STOP HIM! NO….BODY…..WOULD Unbidden, a memory came to Megaman, breaking through the rage that consumed him. A memory of a conversation that he had with Zero at the portal after his fight with Sonic. The portal’s swirling lights were ignored by Megaman as he tried to grasp what Zero was saying. He had wanted to learn about the tricks that Zero had used against Mecha-Sonic and the conversation had turned toward the enemies that they had faced in their respective worlds. Zero had reacted strangely when Megaman described Wily and had quickly changed the subject to the enemies he had faced. “But Zero, I don’t understand. Why would these ….reploids … turn against humans?” “I already told you. There is…” “Yes, you already told me about Sigma. But you said that some of these reploids had gone Maverick before Sigma. Why would they do that when, if they all work together, they could create a better world for everyone?” Zero had sighed at this. “I do not have the answers. I’ve been destroyed” “YOU were destroyed?!?” “Don’t interrupt.” Megaman quieted down as Zero continued. “I’ve been destroyed more than once and done what the humans call “coming back from the dead”. I’ve fought Mavericks for as long as I can remember. I’ve done all of this and I still don’t have the answers. Maybe it was a flaw in our creation. Maybe, by giving us free will, the humans gave us the ability to choose to do evil. Maybe some beings are just bad or don’t even know that they’re bad. I just don’t know. It could even be that they are trying to do good but they are doing it in the wrong way.” “What? I don’t understand. You can’t do good and have it come out to be evil. It’s impossible.” “Look, Megaman. I spoke with Knuckles as we were changing Sonic back. Supposedly, in his world, Sonic is a real hero. He does the right things and helps protect people from some clown named Robotnik. However, when it came to our match, Sonic lost sight of all that. He became so obsessed with winning that he resorted to means which endangered everybody. He lost sight of what makes him a hero and only focused on what would make him a winner. Do you understand?” Megaman tried to compute this but, finally, he had to admit it. “No, I don’t understand. That…that means, if trying to do good can be evil, then you can never win because there will always be evil in this world. That means that it’s all hopeless.” “Sometimes, it seems that way. But I know that it is right to continue to oppose evil. Deep down, I know that it is the right thing to do. Winning this contest would be a good thing but not if you use the wrong means to do so. Not that I would have to worry about that with you.” Megaman had puffed up with pride at this and gave Zero a thumbs-up. In a cheerful voice, Megaman said “I’d never let you down, Zero!” Zero had almost….almost smiled at that and said “I know you won’t.” Then, as if remembering himself, he punched Megaman in the shoulder. “After all, you’re the only robot left in this tournament now. Someone has to show these people how well us robots fight.” Zero had then turned and walked to the portal. Without turning around, he waved at Megaman once and walked into the portal. As this memory came back to Megaman, he hesitated. He thought to himself about what Zero had said. How could there be a wrong way to win? He had never worried about that when facing Wily’s robots. You just chose the right weapon and destroyed them. Simple as that. Why should it be different now? Wasn’t using any means that he could to win the match the right way? How could there be a wrong way? There couldn’t be. He could hear how the crowd loved and respected him now. All he had to do was kill this human and they’d do so even more. He was just an obstacle to winning the tournament. He was no different from any of the robots he had trashed. And he had the power now. After getting the emerald from Zelda, he could win this tournament and be a human. Megaman frowned. He remembered that, during the match, while he had kept the wall from collapsing, his audio sensors had picked up Link telling Zelda to blast Megaman in the back. Then there had been a pulse of some energy that he still couldn’t identify (even though similar pulses had occurred around Magus and Cloud.). Zelda had begun talking to herself as if she was replying to some question. She had said something that he couldn’t follow about trees and wisdom and changing the world. At the end of this, she had rejected what he guessed was the emerald’s power and gave the gem to Megaman. Obviously she was too weak to handle such power but that didn’t seem right. It seemed that she didn’t think that the power or the victory was worth using the power. But I’m human now. This is what Dr. Light wanted but he felt like something still wasn’t right about this. A barely audible moan escaped from Vercetti. Megaman looked at Vercetti and truly saw what he had done for the first time. This wasn’t what Dr. Light had programmed him for. And Zero? Would he be proud of Megaman’s victory? Megaman had a sinking feeling in his stomach that he would be ashamed of Megaman. Megaman had been created to fight for everlasting peace. He had entered the tournament to further test what he could do. But there was nothing to learn from beating someone who had already been defeated. He had never done this when he was a robot. Maybe the power of the emerald wasn’t something that was right for him. Maybe it was better to be a robot who did the right things than to be a human and to be like Sephiroth or, even worse, Wily who just cared about winning and ruling over others, never once considering how they might feel. A shaft of sunlight broke through the clouds as Megaman let the spark dissipate from his blaster and he felt the feelings from his body fade to be replaced by the familiarity of ….. not physically feeling at all. He had a last thought (or was it the emerald?) where he knew he would never be human again if he rejected the power. He would always be alone. Megaman smiled a little at this and spoke softly under his last breaths. “I may make this journey alone but, as long as I have friends like Roll and Dr. Light and Zero, I will never be lonely. I may not win this tournament but I will fight it the way Zero would. With the right means. I reject this power. I want to be a robot again.” Megaman felt the emerald’s power fade once more into the cold chunk of rock that it had been before. He shifted his grip and gently cradled Vercetti’s body into his arms as the clouds that had been crowding the sky now dissipated into warming sunlight. Megaman could feel none of this but he didn’t care. He heard the announcer declare his victory and the crowd break into hesitant and perhaps somewhat disappointed applause but none of this mattered now. Megaman wasn’t sure but something told him that he had won a greater battle than just this match. He wasn’t quite sure what it was but he just knew somehow that he had. He walked to the tunnel to take Vercetti over to the medical center. At the mouth of the tunnel, Megaman stopped and looked back at the now brilliantly sunlit arena. “Thank you, Zero.” "Heart of a Robot" Vercetti was pissed. In his line of work, if you got this mad, and you were still alive, someone had to die for it. You didn't cross a mobster who ran over pedestrians just for laughs without having some serious consequences. If he had been back in Vice City... there would be hell to pay. Some rivals he'd been meaning to get around to wouldn't have woken up the next morning, he'd hook up with some local broad... and whoever was responsible for ruining his mood wouldn't have a chance to repeat his mistake. It was just the way you did things. If you're going to **** with Vercetti, you'd better finish the job. But the stupid droid couldn't even get that right. First the robot had toyed with Vercetti, then he freaked out and nearly killed the Italian mobster... and then apparently he had him dropped off at the medical ward like he thought he was dealing with a helpless child. Vercetti had spent enough time there that he was on a first name basis with all the nurses... and not in the way that he wanted. Their lack of respect kind of precluded any chance he might have with them. Dumb *****es. Vercetti was a people person. He knew how to deal with people. They either feared you, respected you, or they were in your way and had to be dealt with. MegaMan was just a freak though, weird even in Vercetti's experience. Tommy wasn't sure whether to expect a homicidal killing machine or a childish kid in a blue suit of armor. Vercetti barged out of the ward, slamming the door behind him. Snake was leaning on the building with his arms crossed. Vercetti could tell the agent had been waiting for him, but he was too mad to comment on it. Vercetti kept moving, and forced Snake to tag behind. "That stupid little freak... what the **** did he think he was doing back there?" Snake shrugged his shoulders. "It's possible he doesn't even know himself. Samus seemed to think he wasn't going to be able to hurt anyone." "Easy for her to say, when you're not the one that freak is going psycho on. **** it. I've had about enough of these lunatics flipping out and trying to kill each other. I thought at least someone in this damn thing wasn't a complete power hungry screwjob." "Possibly not. But forget about it Vercetti, he's my problem now." "Oh really." Vercetti snorted. "What are you going to do, stealth him to death? Sneak your way around his shots? That's the problem with you Snake, all this spy bull**** is just a waste of time here. There's only one thing everyone understands. Force. You've got to show these nutcases you can kill them at will, or they'll never respect you again." "Maybe." Snake's reply was noncommital as usual. Still keeping up his damn poker face. "****ing robots. You ever watch any bad future flicks, Snake? Evil machines that are supposed to destroy the world?" Snake smirked. "Maybe a little." "Yeah, well I always thought it was bull. I always figured we'd never build anything smarter than us, and there's no way we could make anything we couldn't take out. But that little twerp....****ing psycho. You'd better take him out any way you can. Little freak talks like he thinks it means something these days. It's **** like that that makes bad movies. I won't rest easy until that psycho is taken care of." Snake gave the bare minimum verbal response to acknowledge that he had heard Vercetti. Vercetti turned back to Snake and shook his head. "I'm done here. I've wasted enough time. You're a solid guy snake, it's been a pleasure emptying your pocketbook, but there's nothing more for me here. Just get going." To Vercetti's surprise, Snake offered him a gloved hand and firmly shook his palm. "You may not know it yourself, but you're a good man, Vercetti. It wouldn't hurt you to put a little faith in who you are every now and then." Vercetti rolled his eyes. "Honestly, you'd make a better shrink than a gunfighter. One other thing, Snake. What about Samus?" Snake crossed his arms. "What about her?" "You know what I mean. I never would have figured you for a coward before this, Snake. Take a good look at what you're doing to yourself and her, and tell me that's right. Hell, I know I'm the last person on earth you'd ask for advice about women..." "Now who's the shrink, Vercetti." Snake commented dryly. "I'm aware of how things stand." "Yeah... whatever." Vercetti wasn't about to get dragged into another conversation neither of them wanted to have. "See you later, Snake." "If we're lucky." --- The choice that Mega Man had made on the battlefield was one of the most important decisions of his existence. He had been offered humanity; he'd been offered a chance to experience all the things his previous form would not allow. He'd been offered a chance to live. And, in the end, he had rejected it; humanity, or at least Link's version of it, came at much too high a price. Mega Man didn't go back to being "just an ordinary robot", however. For Mega Man had never been an ordinary robot, at least as Link had defined the term. Dr. Light had already given his creation the ability to think—and, in a limited capacity, to feel. His emotion subroutines were functioning normally again...and right now, they were working harder than they had in a month. They were telling him to flee, to get away from the arena. After the kind of performance he'd just put on, a normal human would get out of there as fast as humanly possible. But the difference between Mega Man and a normal human was that he could control his emotions. He couldn't shut them off, exactly, but he could disregard them entirely when making his decisions. His emotion subroutines were telling him to leave...but his logic circuits told him that he had to stay, to explain his actions to someone he could trust. And that's exactly what he did. "So...you're all right now?" Samus asked, tentatively, as the pair walked down the arena halls. The blue bomber nodded, giving her a nervous smile. "But what about your wounds...?" "It turned out they're mostly superficial," Mega Man explained. "Now that I'm a robot again, they don't really matter much." He lifted his arm and pointed, showing Samus the bullet still lodged there; she winced in spite of herself. "I have lost a lot of energy...but it shouldn't take me too long to recharge." The bounty hunter shook her head in wonder. "You're pretty lucky, Mega Man. You looked like...well, you looked like you were really hurting out there." "I was. ...I think," the blue bomber replied sheepishly. "I can remember that it was an unpleasant experience...but my memory logs for that time are incomplete for some reason." Samus chuckled. "Your memory's just a bit fuzzy," she explained. "Don't worry about that. It's natural for humans." "You mean...humans spend their entire lives with memories like this?" When Samus nodded, Mega Man visibly shuddered. "What in the world was I thinking!?" he exclaimed, and the two shared a laugh. After a moment, Samus sobered rather quickly. "So...the only question left is...what was Link trying to do...?" "I wish I could tell you," Mega Man replied, quickly matching her somber tone. "He sounded really interested in these Chaos Emeralds. He didn't give me any hints about what he wanted them for, though, or even if he really wanted them at all. But this gem is practically made of pure magical energy...so he could want them for just about anything." "As if Link needed to be any more powerful," Samus muttered to herself. Neither of them spoke for a while, after that. "Umm...there is one more thing I wanted to talk to you about," Mega Man said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh? What's that?" "Well...." He looked very nervous. He was very nervous. But he wasn't going to let that stop him. "One thing I do remember from when I was human was when you told me to stop my attack. I remember what I thought—err, what I felt then. I felt like...you were just thinking of Vercetti. I felt like you had abandoned me because I was a robot...like you and he and Snake were all laughing at me. And I....I hated you for it," he admitted, his emulated emotions dropping his voice into a whisper. "That's why you couldn't make me come to my senses," he went on after a pause. "It took the memory of Zero to get through to me, because he was another robot. I don't know why I felt like that...but I'm really sorry, Samus. I know you would never laugh at someone just because he was a robot, and I'm sure there was another reason you started talking to—Samus?" Before he could say another word, Samus knelt down and gave Mega Man a hug. "...I think I'm the one that should be apologizing, Mega," Samus said, as she stood up and tried not to laugh at the utter shock on the blue bomber's face. "You're absolutely right: I abandoned you. I can't say I planned on it...but that's still what happened. I may have found some new friends, but that's no excuse for forgetting about you. You were one of the first people to make me feel welcome here, and I'll never forget that." "...did you just...hug me??" Mega Man exclaimed. "You deserved it," Samus replied with a grin. "I'm sorry, Mega. Can you forgive me?" "Can you forgive me?" "Of course," Samus told him warmly, extending a gauntleted hand. He shook it enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear. Then he suddenly frowned. "I'd better go check on Vercetti," he said. "He was unconscious when I left him in the medical ward, and I should apologize to him more than anyone. I'll see you later, Samus!" "See you later, Mega," she called, as he ran off for the first bend up ahead. She crossed her arms and chuckled, then started heading for the exits. "...well." Samus flinched, but managed not to turn around. She knew exactly whose voice that was. She didn't want to turn around. "You saw me hug him, didn't you," she stated, rather than asked. "I'm afraid so," Solid Snake replied, stepping around her from out of the shadows. "I'd tell you I was jealous, but you'd probably shoot me." "You know me well," Samus admitted, fiercely thankful that she tended to keep her helmet on when she talked to Mega Man. The last thing she needed now was for Snake to see her blush. "I'm sure you can guess what happens if you tell anyone about it." "You could never catch me," Snake told her, shaking his head. "So which is it you're embarrassed about—hugging a robot, or hugging anyone?" "Snake—" "I followed you," he interrupted, "to ask you what happened out there. I heard most of it from the robot, so now I have a new question: Do you trust him?" "Yes, I do," she answered immediately. "The one I blame for this is Link." "You realize the robot might not have changed back completely," Snake argued. "These magicians are no pushovers...and their magic's a hell of a lot sneakier than I am." "Hmph. Maybe," Samus muttered wryly. "But I scanned Mega Man the moment he changed back. His schematic's exactly the same as it was when I first saw him...and that apology he gave me removed all doubt." "That emotional outburst actually made you less suspicious?" "Believe me, Snake...that's how he's always acted. Just because he's a robot doesn't mean he can't have feelings too." The Gear hunter sighed. "It does on my world, Samus," he told her, shaking his head again. "But I suppose that's the beauty of this place. I've seen things here I'll never be able to forget. ...and a few things I wouldn't want to, at that." Samus blinked. "Snake...?" But he'd already turned around. "Vercetti's already gone," he told her, still not turning back to her. Her mouth dropped open, but he continued before she could respond. "Seems the doctors around here work a little faster when they know you're going home. But it's just as well for Mega Man. Vercetti's world barely knows what a robot is...and at this point, he's not exactly ready to give them any hugs." He started off, then, as Samus tried, for perhaps the hundredth time, to unravel the mystery that was Solid Snake. --- It was good to be back on the streets. Here, no one cared who you were. You weren't a celebrity just because you killed someone in public. Vercetti could dish out his best lines without his worst reputation preceding him. If someone bumped into you, they didn't apologize, and you likely didn't care. And people actually acted normal. Nobody trying to save the world or destroy it. People dealt with things right here, right now. The world of the real. The way Tommy Vercetti liked it. His absence and return had caused a slight stir, which was both good and bad. The feds were still on his tail, he had to work to get back into the swing of things... but he was secretly disappointed anything had kept running without him. He'd always felt like the center of his own little universe for some reason. The tournament had been hell, but fun at the same time. Mario had gotten an even quicker goodbye than Snake before he left... but it was nice to finally reduce the world to sanity. All in all... he really had no regrets. Except about one little blue troublemaker... Vercetti had to smile again as he thought about his last parting gift. --- Vercetti was already gone... which should have made MegaMan happy, but it was still kind of sad at the same time. It was a complicated thing. That meant his opponent was gone and safe... but MegaMan still didn't have time to sort things out with him, or even apologize for what he almost did. He wondered what the human must think of him now. MegaMan got his answer as he stepped back into his quarters. The room was ablaze. He could detect the presence of some gasoline and alcohol based compounds... and the flames had already begun to peel the paint off of the walls. Vercetti had apparently decided to torch the place. MegaMan calmly fired out a water wave over the walls, dousing the fire as best he could. When it all settled down, the room had a somewhat blacker hue to it, and a distinctly singed smell. It wouldn't do to have any guests over soon. Still, MegaMan couldn't help but feel Vercetti had gotten his point across rather clearly, for a human. ~Fin~ Next Entry Back |