The Megaman War:
Part 2 – Decisions, Destruction, Duty, and Destiny

By Hadrian (Hardman) Howell

Chapter 24: Sight and Sound

Rock and Theresa walked through the mall, not really speaking to each other. Ben and Gary followed almost exclusively because nobody told them not to.

"So which one are you?" Rock asked quietly. "Frost Chick? Cold Ho? Oh, no, wait, don't tell me... Snow Bitch?"

Theresa smiled an empty smile. "Icema'am."

The raven-haired boy shook his head. Gary's gaze travelled around their surroundings, while Ben's ears absorbed their sounds.

"No need for such open hostility," Theresa shrugged. "We were having fun until a couple of minutes ago."

"You were just playing with me, weren't you?" Rock hissed.

"Wish I coulda seen that," Ben mumbled.

The hero continued, "So how many innocent people do you plan on killing? Four hundred? Five? How will they die?"

"So full of venom," Theresa chuckled. "Not everyone plays by Wily's rules. I know I don't anymore."

"Oh, so you're a free lance murderer then?"

"Why the hell are we following these two?" Ben mumbled. "It's just seems there's going to be a fight where someone will die. I'd rather it weren't me..."

Shadowman smiled. Locks were easy.

He slipped into the cheap hotel room and took quick stock of it. One bed, a decent closet, a TV that had been left on, and minimal storage space. A single t-shirt in a drab blue lying on the floor told Shadowman whoever had come here hadn't come with luggage.

Tracking his wayward 'sister' had been easy. Avoiding the eyes in the sky, however, had been difficult. He was taking almost megalithic risks in order to be here, where one of the few people who might actually grant him sanctuary was sure to come back to. He slid into the closet and closed it from the inside, settling down for a quick nap.

"Step away from the door. Master Wily does not wish to speak with anyone," Punk intoned in emotionless words.

"I couldn't care less about what that old bastard wants!" Plantma'am screamed as the vines on her arms leapt to life, unwrapping and stretching out with a mind of their own toward their target. Punk didn't even bother to shift out of the way as the vines hit, wrapping themselves around his chest and one arm. waterfalls of saltwater falling from her eyes, the foliage-themed Master grabbed the vines in her hands and, with all of her augmented might, picked up the spiky red enforcer like a ragdoll and heaved him behind her and down the hallway.

Even as the stone-faced Punk flew past her, the vines on her legs rocketed forward to attack the door he'd been guarding. Diamond-hard thorns smashed into a military-grade bulkhead, which gave away under her anger. Screaming in metal protest, the door fell with a resounding clang.

As the noise died away, Plantma'am's psychological pet returned to its place on her body, still shivering with her rage. A faint, mocking, singular applause echoed in the wounded stillness.

"Very gud, mien friend," Dr. Wily chuckled from his chair. "But you are forgetting somzing very important, I believe."

The woman consumed in her own hatred was already running toward the German scientist, heedless of his words. It was, then, a total surprise to her when fourteen three-inch-long spikes slammed into her back. The wind knocked out of her, she fell to the ground as the red, metal ball adorned with spikes continued to roll over her.

The violent ball slowed to a stop in front of Wily, and unfolded into Punk's unmoving form again.

"Punk is far more loyal zen you ever were," Wily smiled.

"Well," Tron said, wiping her hands with a cloth as she stepped out of the hangar, "It's done."

Tiesel gave his sister a look. "I'm not going anywhere in that thing. I'm serious."

His sister rolled her eyes. "We already tested its armor, remember?"

"We threw rocks at it! Small ones!"

"And? The rocks bounced off, didn't they?"

"SO? The people we're going up against could tear concrete in two as easily as Superman makes two phonebooks out of one!"

Bon Bonne looked at his two siblings. "Babu?" he eventually asked.

"Yeah, that didn't make any sense to me, either," Tron said, shrugging.

"The point is," Tiesel said, regrouping, "that thing is a deathtrap! If it flies right, it won't land right, and if it lands right, it'll fly wrong and make us crash anyway! Not to mention we're going to be SHOT AT by weapons far more advanced than anything most of us have ever seen!"

"Babu..."

"Oh, don't you take his side too!" Tron glared at her baby brother. "Honestly, you two. Megaman'll be there to protect us, so we won't have anything to worry about, right?"

Her encouraging words were met with skeptical silence.

Theresa glanced at Rock's arm. "You always carry your weapon, I see."

"A present from a brother of yours," Rock told her sullenly.

She bit her lower lip. "Cutman... changed. More than the rest of us. He began to enjoy murder on an almost orgasmic level..."

"Not a mental image I needed," Ben commented dryly.

Theresa continued uninterrupted. "He became of the opinion that only Masters, like you or I, should be allowed to exist because of our obvious superiority. Survival of the fittest, as it were..."

There was a low humn as Rock's hand slid back into his arm and the plasma buster warmed up. "Never," he growled, "call me a 'Master'."

Theresa Frost fought back the urge to laugh. "You would kill me, then? Here, in public, without that blue helmet to hide behind?"

"I'm just here to stop you if you start trying to kill people."

"That's stupid," Ben sighed.

The two humans, enhanced by a system he didn't even begin to understand, turned to look at him. He couldn't tell, of course, but he could feel the air around him go from venomous to merely questioning. "What are you talking about?" Rock asked slowly.

Ben sighed again. "It's simple. As a superhero, you've set yourself up as a purely reactionary force. The bad guy, or in this case, girl, always has the initiative, and therefore, the advantage. They can sit and plot and plan while you run around stopping minor problems and losing your touch. It is more than true to say that without Gutsman, Fireman, Cutman, or Miss Frost here, there would be no Megaman."

Theresa returned her gaze to Rock, who seemed lost in thought. He'd been reminded of his... dream? Or was that a real... conversation with Protoman?

Theresa almost laughed as she remembered something. "I CAN'T go on a killing spree, even if I wanted to!"

Rock gave her a questioning look, and she pulled her long hair up and showed him the back of her head. "See this port? I have to have a Liquid Nitrogen tank attached there in order to use my Ice Slasher. Without one of those tanks, I'm just a strong, resilient girl, and I didn't bring any with me."

"Is that supposed to put my mind at ease?" Rock asked her flatly.

"I can even show you my hotel room! All I have there is the t-shirt I wore out of the Fortress. Come on!" She said with a smile as she picked up her pace and headed back toward her hotel.

As Rock started off after her, Ben hit Gary's shoulder and pointed at the pair of superhumans. Placing his hand on his little brother's shoulder, Gary's eyes began to lead them after the two. "I can't say," Ben muttered, "that I don't like where this is going..."