Mega Man:

The Movie

(This is not a script, but a novel that is divided by scenes. The project is inspired by dark superhero flicks of the early days such as Batman and Ninja Turtles. Act 1 of the story was written by SBester in 2006, and the rest will be completed in the coming months. I hope you enjoy this dark and twisted interpretation of Megaman's well known origins.)

ACT 1 SCENE 1

20XX

It was a dark and stormy night in July. Jason Ballars stood in line amongst the cluster of coal miners, waiting for his turn to venture underground into the pit of hell as he did every night. The rain fell from the black skies in heavy heaps, drenching everything in its path and forming a barrier of fog around the small ghost town. There was never any light in such a lifeless place, there was no need. Light would give hope to a place where such things were not possible. These people were slaves to the mine, it owned them. They existed for the sole purpose of mining for coal, their identities were as worthless as their pay.

Ballars was no exception to this way of life. He had never known happiness, an ambiguous concept that had less business being there than hope ever had. The rain on his skin felt more like oil than a cleansing liquid. There was nothing pure about it, and there never had been. These were the same water droplets that covered his face night after night, tickling the surface as they trickled down to the thick mud piles below. Walking in mud seemed more natural to Jason than pavement or dirt, his boots served no protection from the stinging cold of the puddles he trudged through.

The coal mines were amongst the most dangerous places a person could work. Coal mining was not a profession, it was a death sentence. All the workers knew it, for they were already dead on the inside. The dark was their soul, and the rain filled the empty void within it only long enough for them to serve another day.

Stepping into the shaft, Ballars and nine other workers watched as the gate closed and they descended into the depth of the mine where they would work for ten hours straight. Shut away from the rest of the world, much like the town itself. As the shaft came to a loud halt and the cages were raised once more, the last glimmer of reality died within them.

"Double shift?" a nameless entity questioned Ballars as their eyes adjusted to the dim lighting.

"Again," Ballars said without emotion.

"Same," The man disappeared. Ballars hadn't even looked at him.

"Ballars!" a voice called from deep within the darkness. The call was barely audible through the chiseling of pickaxes. Ballars moved toward the sound, slowly, blindly, carelessly.

A man appeared in his view, running at a considerable pace towards him.

"Ballars, come quick! Steve and seven other guys are trapped! Fucking cave in!" the man could now be identified as Givens, Ballars' old friend from another life. Dropping his pickaxe, he followed the man through pitch black tunnels, trying desperately to trace the sound of his footsteps on the solid ground. A flashlight suddenly flickered into his eyes, blinding him, notifying him that he had reached his destination.

"What happened?" Ballars joined a small group of men. The light shone over a pile of rubble, as tall as the ceiling. "Any survivors?"

"Yeah, we can hear somethin'." Another nameless man spoke.

"Steve!" Jason called out.

"I'm here!" a muffled voice could be heard from behind the blockade.

"Hold on, we're gonna getcha out!" Jason turned to the closest man. "How much room do they have behind there?"

"Not much. Dead end, probably worse now. We'd dig 'em out, but they're calling everyone to come up. Expectin' another cave in soon."

"We can't leave 'em here." Ballars said hoarsely.

"We don't have much choice."

"Givens, get the dynamite." He called out to his most trusted ally.

"Jason, there's no sense in risking our lives too." Givens objected.

"Lets go!" another voice was heard from the darkness. Panic must have ensued back at the shaft.

"I'll stay behind then, just get me the goddamned stick." Ballars became furious with the men's cowardice.

It only took a couple moments for the other man to bring the dynamite to him.

"Don't light it off until we're gone. If another accident doesn't happen on its own, you can be damned sure it will when that thing goes off," Givens handed the stick off and disappeared without another word. Ballars was on his own.

"Steve, I'm gonna blast it away. Get as far back as y'can and cover up!" he yelled at the pile of rock.

"Okay!" came the muffled reply.

Ballars buried the stick of dynamite as deep as he could into the bottom of the rock pile and waited to give the others enough time to escape the mines.

It started as a low grumbling, but soon he came to realize that the mine was again becoming unsettled.

"She's mad tonight." He whispered to himself. There was no more time left, he had to light the stick now before the whole mine collapsed on top of them. He pulled a match and lit the stick before running blindly away in the pitch black tunnel.

It was a heavier explosion than he'd hoped for. Shards of rock scattered everywhere, knocking him flat onto his front. Ballars slowly stood up as he tried quickly to recover from the impact. He shakily ran back to the pile of rubble and climbed over it to get to his fellow men. The smoke made it hard to see, and the mine began to shake with great intensity.

"(Groan)"

Ballars looked down, Steve was underneath the rock, and all the others were too.

"J…Jason…" the dying man tried to lift his head.

There was nothing more he could do. If he stayed any longer, he would find himself in the same grave.

Ballars turned and started to run back through the dark tunnels, without a word to his dying comrades. Blindly, he kept running as the mine shook with vengeance. Rocks fell from above and dust covered what little light he had to work with.

"Help!" Ballars called, hoping he was getting closer to the mineshaft. No answer could be heard through the crumbling caves.

The shaft could now be seen through the chaos up ahead of him, and he attempted to run faster towards it. When he finally reached it, he picked up a pickaxe from the ground and started to bang on it, hoping that someone would hear the jambering and pull him out of the mine. It took a few tries, but finally a voice called down.

"Ballars!"

"Pull me up!"

Jason pulled the cage in tight and the shaft began to ascend the long way up.

"Pull!" the voices were getting closer.

Without warning, the rumblings in the mine became out of control and the chord atop the shaft broke. It was not a very long fall down, but the sound of the crash was deafening to Ballars.

It did not occur to the man that there was no way of escape now. He looked down to his stomach to where his pickaxe now pierced his stomach, and the blood trickling down his body thicker than the cleansing rains had. Everything became black, and he was home again.

Roll credits