Elec Man let out a flurry of electric blasts. Mega Man flew into the air, jumping over them, returning fire with his buster shots. Elec Man easily darted out of the way, again launching a flurry of offense. Mega Man jetted to the side, launching several more shots. Elec Man ducked under them.

Mega Man landed on the ground. "Not exactly 'The Rumble in the Jungle'." He observed.

"If you're tired of taking your petty little shots at me, you can come fight me hand to hand." Elec Man called out.

Something told Mega Man that wasn't the best idea.

"Not my style. But I do have a few moves." Mega Man turned green. "Try this."

Mega Man summoned two Hyper Bombs, throwing them as he dashed forward. Elec Man blasted them both as they came at him. And through the explosions and smoke ...didn't see Mega Man coming, knocking him off the roof with a dropkick.

I might have to get up close and personal. Rock thought to himself. All this open space, plus his great speed and agility, means I've never going to hit him in all this open space. But he WANTS to fight me hand to hand, that must mean he has some-

A red glove grabbing the edge of the roof caught his attention.

"Not gonna lie, nice trick." Elec Man said, coming back onto the roof, marks on his vest. He dusted himself off. "Got any more?"

"Yeah." Mega Man turned brown. If Hyper Bombs was Guts Man's weakness, maybe the Super Arm and Guts Blocks are Elec Man's?

Mega Man blasted out a salvo of Guts Block. Elec Man dodged some, and then blasted the rest, the bits crumbling to the ground.

"Is that it?" Elec Man asked.

"Why don't you show me of your moves then?" Mega Man replied. Well that failed. Rock thought. What now? I have to get him in a closed space, maybe I can do something then.

Elec Man smirked as he outstretched his arm. A spark of electricity crackled on his hand. Running forward, Elec Man drew out the spark, turning it into a beam of electricity, surrounded by a streaking bolt.

"Time for shock therapy!" Elec Man shouted. "Thunder Beam!"

Mega Man barely had time to react. On instinct, he raised his buster, and fired a Guts Block right at the beam. The beam vaporized the Block, the blast sending Rock hurtling through the air. He crashed through the door to the roof, becoming plastered to the back wall. Falling off the wall, Rock fell face first onto the stairs. Tumbling down, Rock found himself at the entrance of the 3rd floor.

D-d-d-damn it. I messed up. I should have dodged. Rock thought as he reached for the door handle, arm tingling. "The good news is that there isn't just so much room for him to run around and dodge my attacks." Then Rock realized something as he walked in. I don't have all that free space either.

Going back into Buster Mode, Rock stumbled back onto his feet, then slipped on something, falling back to the ground, landing with a thud. "OW!" He said, holding his head. "Now what was that?!" He mumbled, sitting up.

He had tripped over a doctor's leg. Skittering back, Rock felt himself bump against something else. A nurse's back. Rock jumped to his feet. I can't fight him here! Maybe if I can get him in the stairwell-

WHOOOOSH!

Mega Man realized that something large was flying toward him at astonishing speed. Jumping over it, Mega Man followed its movement as the object crashed into the wall. He finally recognized it. Wait that was the DOOR! Then that means-

A fist connected straight into Rock's jaw. He stumbled several steps back, recovering just enough to see Elec Man hurl his knee right into his solar plexus. As Rock doubled over, Elec Man sent his elbow right into the side of Rock's head. Rock flew into the side wall.

"Muay Thai fighting. Bet you didn't see that coming did you?" Elec Man said, picking up the prone Rock. "Ice Man knows Tai Chi, Fire Man knows kickboxing, and Cut Man knows Kung-Fu."

Elec Man electrified his hand. "Now see what happens when I combine it with electricity." With an electrified punch, the miniature explosion sent Rock down the hall, laying him out.

Elec Man looked down at him, expecting a little more from someone who defeated two of his brothers. "I guess you're really not used to fighting things not 3 times your side." Elec Man said, walking back to the doorway.

"And you know, I really don't appreciate you using my brother's moves against me like that. Real classless in my opinion.

But-" He electrified his hand. "Since all is fair in love and war, I think I'll return the favor."

Elec Man dashed down the stairs.

Wait, is he-

Mom. Grandad. Maylu, the Stelars.

They were all right below him.

And Elec was going to...

No.

Rock, dashed to his feet, trying to run after him.

I won't make it. He realized. Elec Man is too fast.

C'mon Rock don't let them be KILLED!

He started looking for

THE WINDOWS!

Mega Man jetted out of the windows,

swooped down,

turned the corner of the hospital,

and crashed back into the waiting room.

Elec Man bolted through the door, arm raised. "TIME TO DIE!"

Mega Man lunged forward with a buster shot...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Mega Man was thrown on his back, everything went blurry...

...

...

...

...

"Ugh..." Rock felt a ringing in his ears. His vision was starting to come back in...

Did...he,

get them? He groggily thought as he staggered back to his feet.

He could smell smoke. Elec Man had hit something. He heard a groan coming from somewhere.

With a deep breath, Rock turned around and...

The TV.

It had exploded into red hot chunks across the room.

Oh dear God, yes. Rock said, exhaling. He only hit the TV.

Taking a minute to rest, Rock leaned against the table.

And then he realized something.

Everything was kind of on fire.

OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT!

Rock quickly stamped out all the little flames growing around the room, and carefully pinching out the one singing Geo's hair.

Okay, okay, now that that's taken care of... Mega Man looked around the room. Something was missing. Someone.

Where did Elec Man go?


He limped down the stairwell, holding the railing. His right arm dragging at his side. He had a price for all his speed, all his agility, all his power; there were two weak spots on Elec Man's body that could absolutely devastate underarm area, that's where the stabilizers that channeled the electricity from his body to his hands lied. One well-placed hit, and they would be out of commission. When he raised his arm to blast,

I left myself open. Damn it!

But that was okay. Dr. Wily had taken measures to insure Elec Man's survival if such a thing ever happened...

Those computers, the ones that power that 'Tree of Life'. I need to get to those, NOW!

CREEEEAK!

Elec Man gasped, looking up.

"There you are!" Mega Man said, aiming his buster.

Elec Man threw electric blasts as cover fire, ducking out of the way as Rock fired off his buster rounds.

Why is he running? Is he injured or something? If he is...

I can beat him now!

Rock jumped down.

"STAY BACK!" Elec Man fired another volley.

These blasts caught Rock as he was jumping down, the impact pinning him to the wall and dropping him to his knees.

That should buy me time. Elec Man thought, continuing down.

Reaching the computer room, Elec Man shut the door behind him, and locked it for good measure. Ripping off the electric control panels of the computers, Elec Man grabbed the wiring, the electricity flooding into him. Mega Man rushed to the door, already readying his buster as he reached for the door handle. He crashed and bounced right off it.

"OW!" Rock said holding his head. "WHY IS IT LOCKED?!"

This time Mega Man kicked in the door, and found Elec Man doing,

doing,

um...

"A little shocked are we?" Elec Man said with a smirk, as he appeared to be,

Electrocuting himself? Rock wondered.

"I got more than a few bolts to help me in win fights. You managed to get me pretty good, but I can supercharge my cells to help me heal myself. All I need is an external power source to give me the spark I need. And these computers are exactly what I needed."

He can't move, I have him cornered! Mega Man thought. Let me try my Fully Charged Buster shot!

Mega Man started charging his shot. Elec Man raised up his free hand, creating his Electric Shield. Damn it. Elec Man thought. I don't know if one hand can contain that kind of a impact. And if I let go... No.

Elec Man dug in. I've taken everything he's thrown at me with ease. His little pea shooter shots, the bombs, the block. All I have to do is survive this, and I'll have my other arm functional...

and I'll rip him apart.

Rock realized something as he was charging his buster. In hindsight, I think i should have laid a few bombs first, just to make sure I overwhelmed him. But still, calculating his size, weight, and the energy of the shield, I should still blow him away.

As Mega Man's charged shot grew bigger and more intense, Elec Man began nervously weighing his options. Damn it, that thing's actually looking pretty mean right about now. I could try to dodge it, but if the computers are broken, I'm trapped in this room with one arm... my arm! With both of 'em, I could easily block that! Elec Man checked his other arm, not yet fully healed. C'mon, c'mon ...work already! Elec Man turned his attention back to Mega Man, and his...

HOLY SHIT THAT THING IS HUGE NOW! Elec Man began to falter at the sight of the Charge Shot. No wonder that thing took down Guts Man in one hit...

"FIRE" Mega Man yelled, releasing his blast.

Oh no. Elec thought, as the blast came right at him.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Elec Man found himself hurtled back, crashing right into the mainframe of a supercomputer, knocking it over.

With his vision coming back in, Elec Man realized that Mega Man was standing right over him, aiming his buster at his face.

"You lose." Mega Man said, charging another shot.

Elec Man's body was worn out. Whatever strength to fight left had been put into that shield.

But, I've got one spark left. Elec Man thought. And I know just how to use it.

Elec Man reached into the mainframe under him, touching it with his last bit of electricity. The mainframe exploded, knocking Mega Man off balance, accidentally firing his charged buster shot ...at the ground under Elec Man's feet. Elec Man went flying upward, crashing through the he landed, Elec Man realized his was on the first floor, the entrance of the hospital only several yards away. Good, I got away from him, bought myself just a little more time. He started crawling with one hand, looking for a power source. Maybe there's a generator, the lighting, hell I'll even take some AA batteries right about now.

Then he noticed an EKG monitor on a desk several feet away. Oh, Elec Man likey. Elec Man likey a lot.

Slowly crawling towards it, Elec, propped himself on the desk and reached for his prize. If I can just get a little juice in me, I can actually go after some big game, and then I can finish-

BOOM!

Elec Man was flung onto his back, the desk falling on top of him. The EKG monitor had exploded, and was not just bits and pieces falling to the Man gulped, and slowly turned around, it was Mega Man.

"You are NOT getting away from me." Mega Man said.

Elec Man pushed the desk off him, and leaned back against it, Mega Man's buster pointed right at him.

"You know, you really should not destroy me." Elec Man said, appearing more tired than afraid.

"You just tried to kill me and my family." Mega Man responded. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."

"Well kid, I can give you three, and not to be the bearer of bad news, but they're all right behind you."

No. Rock felt his heart stop. There's no way- The doorbell to the hospital went off. Rock quickly turned around in horror as the remaining 3 Robot Masters walked into the front door of Seaside Hospital.

"Oh nurse! Hand me my tools." Cut Man said with a wicked grin. "I think it's time to operate!"