The Mega Man: War Games

Ch. 16 Eternal Wanderer

Hand to hand combat is difficult enough against robots. It's somehow even worse when you're dealing with an expert in the field.

The man seemed to have a way to counter or evade every maneuver I made, and more often than not turned it into an opportunity to strike. I had already taken some rough hits across my body. Nothing too damaging, but also nothing I wanted to keep taking.

I neglected using my buster unless he launched one of his energy balls. I was definitely tempted to utilize it more often, but it would be a lot easier to pull my punches literally. That being said, pulling your punches doesn't really matter if you aren't hitting anything.

He tossed his leg out in a high arc, and I only narrowly leaned back to avoid being hit across the face. However, he suddenly launched an energy ball immediately after. This one burned bright red and orange, and as I ducked to avoid it, I could feel heat radiating off of it. Unfortunately, he was ready when I popped up afterward. He quickly approached, and I desperately crossed my arms to block his attack. 

What he did very much surprised me, as he leaned forward, throwing a downward angled punch into my arms that forced them apart, and I was suddenly left wide open as he stepped forward and briefly crouched before launching upward, his fist colliding with my chest and chin on the way up. He shouted something else as he rose, which I didn't really catch, what with the fact that I was getting an uppercut to the head.

When I came back down and fell on the ground, I found myself staring up at the ceiling.

"What am I doing?" I whispered aloud.

I sat up, and watched the man take few steps toward me before crossing his arms. I held up a hand. "Hey. Can we just talk about this?"

He didn't reply.

My monitor suddenly flashed a new warning to me, indicating another life sign nearby. I turned my head to where a girl had entered through the rubble. She appeared to be about 14 or so, and wore a school uniform. She looked in at us, and seemed a bit confused. She said something in Japanese that I didn't translate.

It was about that time that both of us noticed the structural damage to the garage leaving cracks across the ceiling above her. Without a word, I rushed forward, and began to activate the Super Arm. The man sprinted ahead of me, diving to the girl and dragging her to the ground, where he covered her with his body. Meanwhile, I slid to a standing position as a chunk of the concrete fell. I caught the piece in my hands, and held it up with Guts Man's ability.

Within a second, I could already feel the strain of supporting the piece. I glanced down as the two looked back up at me, seeming a bit surprised. I winced as I dipped slightly to readjust the weight. "Get out...please?" I grunted.

His expression became serious, and with a quick nod he lifted the girl to her feet and they hurried out of the area.

With that taken care of, I decided to try to get out in the dumbest way possible. I shifted the weight briefly to just one arm, and as soon as one hand was freed, I formed a buster and pointed it up to the piece. I charged a shot as long as I dared, then let go of the blast directly into the rubble as I released my grip. The concrete shattered, but several large pieces still fell on me, and further damage from above piled on top.  I took a hard hit to the helmet and blacked out.

---

After a few moments, everything came rushing back. My monitor was flashing all sorts of red warnings in my face, which was the only thing I could see at the moment. Small cracks of light came from around me, but I couldn't move my head much to look at anything. 

I took a moment to compose myself, and tried to load a Super Arm. However, yet another warning popped up, and despite my efforts, my regular self couldn't get some of this debris off.