Chapter 9: Opposing Forces

"That's right" the projection of Dr. Light said "You're in space. Specifically, you're in the asteroid belt."

"Asteroid belt…well I guess that fits. I mean Shadow Man started as a servant of the Asteroid Droids."

"Exactly" Dr. Light agreed "I do believe we're getting closer to the source of these events."

"How are we getting closer?" Roll asked in frustration "The asteroid belt is huge! Mega Man can't search all of it checking every rock for secret robot bases!"

"Somehow I get the feeling that won't be a problem" Mega Man said "Break Man wanted me to be here so I have a feeling his compatriots will want me finding them…assuming I survive this place."

"Of course you'll survive it" Roll added with a fierce and proud look on her face "You're the great Mega Man."

"Oh Roll you're embarrassing me."

"It's true. You're awesome."

"I'm afraid I'm also wasting time" Mega Man replied with sudden seriousness "Break Man could catch up to me at any time and I still have four other robots to deal with besides him."

"You're right my boy" Dr. Light said "Go do what you need to do and we'll be doing our part from down here. I just also wanted to tell you that we wish you all the luck in the world…"

"And beyond it" Roll cut in

"Yes indeed" Dr. Light went on with a slight chuckle "and also that Rush has a few E-Tanks stored inside him, just in case."

"Thanks you guys. I'll see you real soon!" He flashed a grin and waved as his family did that same and the transmission cut out. "Ok boy, it's you and me against goodness knows what. You ready for it?"

Rush barked, playfully struck a defensive pose and growled before popping back to happy mode. "I'll take that as a yes" Mega Man said with a laugh "let's go."

He carefully scrutinized his current surroundings for the first time. He was in another corridor that went on for a while before coming to a ledge. Another, higher ledge could be glimpsed in the distance giving the whole hallway the appearance of a staircase. Mega Man and Rush walked forward on alert for attack. Mega Man also glanced backwards at the door leading to the vanishing block pit but there was no sign of Break Man. As he was glancing back, Mega Man didn't immediately notice that he was starting to drift forward faster than he was walking.

"Oh look boy" he exclaimed with mock enthusiasm "more magnets."

With some effort, he managed to hold his ground while he tried to determine the best path forward. Rush yelped as an odd robot walked over the edge and landed on top of the dog. Rush shook it off and it righted itself giving a clear view of what appeared to be an eyeball on two legs. It moved by turning somersaults and alternating legs and it was now rolling towards Mega Man. He shot it and it went down easily but he was now being pulled toward the wall again. Rush ran forward with his spring already exposed and Mega Man was able to jump to the floor above. Rush leapt as high as he could and managed to grasp the ledge with his forepaws whereupon Mega Man quickly pulled him up the rest of the way.

"Thanks boy. It looks like we have more company."

He was pointing towards more eye robots rolling towards them. Mega Man fired upon the closest robot while Rush tackled another. The dog pinned the eye bot down and ripped a leg off while another robot tried to roll up from behind. Rush didn't even look back as he kicked with his hind leg hard enough to drop the robot over the previous ledge.

"Wow, good job Rush" Mega Man remarked as they finished off the last eye bots "I should have brought you along from the beginning. Anyway, let's go!"

They ran past the wreckage of these eye bots and approached the next ledge. This time the magnet was even stronger and the heroic robots were being pulled forward rather quickly. He tried to stop but the electric attraction was too far powerful. In a burst of inspiration he wildly fired a spray Needle Cannon. The already fast moving metal spikes were quickly accelerated by the pull of the magnet and they had sufficient force to pierce the wall. Mega Man and Rush slammed hard into wall in the midst of the impaled needles.

"Ok, this could be worse" as he finished speaking a small rocket soared over the ledge above and homed in on Mega Man. His grunt as it struck him was more from shock than pain but more were already appearing "And this is one way"

With great effort, he pulled his buster arm off the wall and shot down the missiles. He then grabbed a needle with his other arm and began to slowly pull himself up. Rush whined and struggled for a moment before converting to jet mode and rocketing upwards. He soared between the missiles and they began to home on him.

"Rush! I…thanks boy."

Mega Man climbed with doubled strength and vigor. As he poked his head over the top, he saw the source of the troubles. A large dome like robot was slowly moving along the passage firing the rockets out its top. Mega Man started firing upon it before he was even fully over the ledge. The robot began releasing more rockets and some focused on Mega Man rather than his dog. He was forced to divert his shots from the robot itself to defend himself. The robot kept inching closer while Mega Man fired on it as consistently as he could. Mega Man tried to climb all the way up but the robot sped up and knocked him backwards.

Mega Man managed to grab one of the needles while the magnet further served to hold him in place. Rush soared past and flew right over the robot before dropping altitude by several feet. The rockets that were chasing him tried to follow his actions but slammed right into the large robot. Its outer shell had already been weakened by Mega Man's plasma and the rockets finished it off. Mega Man finished his climb and squeezed past the smoking remains so he could once again hug his dog.

"That was amazing Rush! I mean you could have been blown to bits but it worked." The dog barked and wagged his tail in happiness. Mega Man straightened up and observed no more obstacles, simply a door. "I have a feeling I know who's behind that. Let's go boy."

They passed through the door into a large empty room. Mega Man was looking around when a voice said "Back here."

Mega Man turned around to see Magnet Man standing near the door. "I see you survived Break Man. It was nice of him to deliver you here even if he can be a bit rough."

"No more rough than your lovely asteroid base."

"What can I say? It's become traditional; as has this…"

He touched the magnet on this forehead causing it to glow. He swiftly pointed his hand at Mega Man and launched the energy which quickly took on the shape of a horseshoe magnet. Mega Man tried to dodge but the magnet followed him and exploded as it brushed his side. He was quickly bombarded by two more which were equally damaging. Rush tried to tackle Magnet Man but he fired a few more of these energy magnets at the dog. He was knocked out of the air by the explosions and Mega Man exclaimed in anger.

"I didn't tell you to bring a pet" Magnet Man said "You don't see me bringing Snake Man to duels do you?"

"Fair point…mean but fair. I guess I also need to keep in mind that he can take care of himself."

Magnet Man was side blinded by the angry dog and was literally knocked sideways. He struggled while rush tore at him with teeth and claws alike. He tried to throw Rush off but this proved rather difficult. After another few moments, Rush was thrown back by an explosion and Magnet Man climbed swiftly to his feet. Rush seemed a little unsteady and Mega Man ran to his side.

"A Magnet Missile at point blank range and he only looks stunned" Magnet Man remarked while shaking his head "You have one tough dog."

"Yeah he is but I can take it from here" he said more to Rush than to Magnet Man. He watched Rush retreat to a corner before standing up and facing his foe. "Ok you and me now."

"Sounds lovely."

Mega Man began firing immediately but his plasma bounced harmlessly off of an electromagnetic field that had formed around the robot master. On top of this, Mega Man found he was being pulled closer to Magnet Man who suddenly dropped the field and released another trio of Magnet Missiles. Mega Man was too close to dodge and took the full brunt of the attack. He tried to strike back but Magnet Man had jumped into the air and almost seemed to hover as he released more missiles.

Mega Man ran a little ways before stopping. Right as the magnets curved downwards to attack him, he used a Top Spin to swiftly move away. The missiles lacked the time to course correct and exploded on the ground instead of on Mega Man. Magnet Man himself landed without enough time to protect himself from the incoming plasma. He recovered quickly and fired more missiles towards Mega Man who chose to slide under them this time. Again, they weren't able to course correct before exploding but this time on the wall.

Magnet Man leapt across the room again while launching more missiles. Mega Man pulled the same stunt as before but was slightly off with his timing. He wasn't directly struck by the projectiles but the resulting blast knocked him to the ground. He then felt himself being pulled across the floor and he saw Magnet Man quite close and pulling his opponent even closer with his force field. Mega Man thought fast and took his opportunity when the field dropped. Before any Magnet Missiles could be fired, he released a Spark Shock which caused Magnet Man to scream in pain.

"I thought so" Mega Man said "You run on magnetism so I wondered what a powerful jolt of electricity might do to that."

Rush barked in appreciation of his master's cleverness and Magnet Man said "Quiet you. That's rather good" he said turning his attention back to Mega Man "but will it be good enough?"

During this time Mega Man had been getting to his feet but now he was knocked back down by a Magnet Missile to the chest. He frantically rolled to the side to avoid another and fired another Spark Shock. Magnet Man tried to throw up his shield but the ball of energy was already striking him. Mega Man got up and fired another. This time the shield was up and Mega Man was struggling to hold his ground. He once again turned to Top Spin to give him the speed needed to break free and he was ready to zap his foe once he was vulnerable again.

Magnet Man screamed and dropped to his knees. He was in bad shape and even had faint wisps of smoke rising from parts of his body. He tried to stand up but Mega Man acted quickly with another massive spark. Magnet Man fell to the ground and seemingly couldn't get back up.

"Foiled by a fundamental weakness" he said in a quiet voice "It seems that every robot has at least one."

"This isn't my first rodeo" Mega Man said with his buster still primed "I'm ready for any tricks."

"As much as I hate to admit it, this fight is over. I imagine someone will be escorting you to your next one soon."

Mega Man lowered his buster a fraction but remained on alert. However, Magnet Man shut his eyes and moved no more. Mega Man sighed at the disturbingly familiar sight and absorbed the data for Magnet Missile. Rush sped to Mega Man's side and opened a compartment so Mega Man could remove an E-Tank.

"Thanks boy" he said before drinking deeply from the blue can "Ah that's better. I wonder what he meant by…"

Mega Man didn't finish that sentence as he and Rush were suddenly surrounded by energy for a teleport. A few seconds later the room was empty save for the defeated Magnet Man.