"Be Careful What You Wish For."
This story is set in the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon universe and is based on the episode "Master of Disaster," written by Matt Ulitz.
Inspired by the Twilight Zone episode "The Man in the Bottle," written by Rod Serling.
"Mega Man" and all characters therein: Copyright 1987-2016, Capcom.
The Mega Man cartoon series: Copyright 1994-1997, 2016, Ruby-Spears Productions.
"The Twilight Zone": Copyright 1959-2016, CBS Television Network and Cayuga Productions.
This fiction is rated K+ for a scene depicting implied smoking, and potentially disturbing moments for younger readers.
No infringement is intended.
"You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound... a dimension of sight... a dimension of mind.
You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas.
You've just crossed over into... The Twilight Zone."
We see moving images of a bright metropolis, which looks very much like New York City, sprawling with citizens. However, the technology far surpasses the kind we have today. It is unquestionably futuristic, like something out of Science-Fiction.
We then hear a voice - our host and narrator - speaking to us in a very unmistakable, dramatic, clipped manner...
"This is the future... well into the twenty-first century. Some of the sights and locales may be familiar yet different to you, but this is Earth. The same Earth as which we live in, only different. In this fantastical future, there are such things as flying cars, computers that need no wires and can fit in the palm of one's hand, human society living harmoniously with very few remaining prejudices from their past, and a new race of robot kind beyond that of any artificial intelligence we have ever known. One said robot is even the chosen Defender of the Human Race, an honest-to-Pete super hero resembling those in the newsstand comics. But, as wonderful as all this sounds, there are still unwanted relics from the past that still exist in this time... war and hatred. And the harbinger of both is a man who is about to uncover something which was buried long ago... Something never meant to be discovered again... and with good reason..."
We are then transported all the way to another part of the world, settling on a large mountain-laden area with steep waterfalls and caves, located near in the Middle-East. Inside one of the caves, an expedition was taking place, conducted by esteemed archaeologist and historian Professor Ahmeed Ramu. And joining him were the prestigious Dr. Thomas Light, famed robotics scientist. Also joining him was his most well-known creation, one that he considers his son, the aforementioned Defender of the Human Race, a robot named Rock. Although, he is better known the world over as Mega Man. And also joining them is Rock's robot sister, appropriately named Roll, and their robot dog Rush.
Within these caves, the group, led by the Professor examined ancient hieroglyphics depicting an Arabian legend about a phantom and a Rajah who lived in a mythical city that existed somewhere near these caverns. Dr. Light joined the expedition for his own interest, while Mega Man and company were here to protect them and whatever discoveries they find. Specifically, protecting them from any unwanted hostile visitors.
As the group made their way into one of the deeper areas of the cave, the Professor spoke in his Middle-Eastern accent, "You may be excited to learn that after years of research, we are finally on the threshold of the greatest archaeological discovery ever." Ramu then modestly added with a docile smile, "At least to my people's culture, that is."
"Just point us in the right direction, sir," Mega Man spoke kindly.
The group of five made their way deeper into the cave until The Professor found what he was looking for.
"There, up ahead," the Professor said, pointing to a wall with several colorful etchings adorning it. "There are cave drawings from Ancient Mesopotamia. I am certain these have been here for centuries. Fascinating! ... Please forgive me if I am over-enthused."
Being a robot, Mega Man was capable of several abilities that humans were not, one of them being advanced sight. The hero pointed at the wall, directly at an etching of a one-eyed, single-horned green phantom. "Professor Ramu, something's up with that drawing. The green one. There is some kind of mechanism behind the eye."
The Professor and Dr. Light shined their flashlights upon the drawing and the single golden eye on the etching appeared to stand out.
"Hmmm... You're right. It appears to be the trigger for a secret door," Ramu said.
As the Professor began to approach the wall, Mega Man's sister Roll stepped close to her brother. She quietly asked, "He's not actually gonna touch it, is he?"
Mega Man asked back "Why wouldn't he?"
"I've seen enough movies where someone in a cave touches the wrong thing and then the whole floor falls through. Or a big boulder drops on 'em," Roll replied.
Dr. Light interjected, "You shouldn't worry, Roll. Those are only works of fiction."
Ramu added, "In my travels I have been on a few incidents like that myself. Though, nothing serious like that." He then briefly turned, "But, if that would happen, you'll get me out, yes?"
"Yes, sir," Mega replied quickly.
The Professor turned back to the wall and reached for the eye on the green cyclops drawing with his free left hand. After taking a moment to prepare himself, letting out a breif exhale, he pushed the eye trigger. When he touched it, the eye began to move into the wall the the guttural sound of stone grinding against stone was heard echoing through the cave, causing the Professor to backpedal several steps until he reached the rest of the group.
As the sound continued, the ground lightly vibrated and a plain area of the cave wall began to move inward on itself. The panel of stone then moved downward, revealing a secret compartment. The group looked fascinated as Ramu and Dr. Light shone their flashlights in the compartment. Behind the cobwebs and dust lied something this group was not expecting to find. Something that would make this expedition worthwhile...
Something that will prove it should have been left undiscovered... Something that could lead them into another dimension.
Professor Ramu reaches into the hidden compartment and pulls out a stone tablet, sporting more hieroglyphic etchings on them. But, these were even more of a find than the wall of etchings.
He exclaimed, "Oh, my!"
Mega Man asked, "What is it?"
"These stone tablets... the drawings tell the tale of the legend of Lotos! An evil spirit who was trapped in a golden chest. It was a fable, but nobody ever found any proof that it existed, or at least the other key part of the tale: an entire city that once existed not far from here. A city that has been undiscovered for centuries," Ramu said, in a state of amazement. "If these are here, maybe the city itself survived. These tablets may also lead us there!"
Dr. Light used his camera to take a photograph while Mega Man asked, "What else did the fable say about this spirit?"
"Not much is known beyond the legend I have always heard: An Indian peasant discovered the golden chest, and Lotos promised to use his magic to give him great wealth if he released him. After he was freed, Lotos was true to his word, and the peasant became a powerful Rajah. But, Lotos proved to be dangerous, perhaps even evil. Lotos was so dangerous that the Rajah tricked him back into his chest and left him buried in the lost city where he remains today."
Roll chimed in, "Sounds cool. But, you don't really believe all that stuff, do you?"
The Professor remained silent at first as he studied the etchings on the tablets, and they appeared to paint a different picture than what the legend said. The first few illustrations appeared to remain faithful to the story, depicting a human figure discovering a gold box, opening the box to free a large purple phantom with one eye. The next etchings showed the human figure seated in a throne surrounded with piles of money with Lotos floating next to him.
What followed, however, was a depiction of the former Peasant surrounded by even more wealth, a bevy of women and looking more imposing than he had in earlier drawings.
The final etching depicted a destroyed castle and the Rajah on his hands and knees before Lotos, his wealth gone and his throne destroyed, appearing to beg at the base of Lotos' chest as the purple phantom loomed over him.
"Hold on... This is interesting... These tablets diverge from the legend I have always heard," Ramu said. "Maybe there was more to it than we thought. Even if we do not discover the lost city, I will take these tablets back to America and display them in a museum. It is where they belong."
Unbeknownst to the group in the cave, they were being watched. Behind them, a small, rotund, bat-shaped robot named a Batonton hovered and was beaming images of this archaeological discovery back to the aforementioned harbinger of war and hatred that our narrator mentioned earlier...
Above the cave, a hovercraft carrier with a skull design on the front end was on the approach. The name of the craft was the Skullker, and the operator was a man named Dr. Albert Wily, the man who Mega Man was built to fight against. Seated next to him in the co-pilot's seat of the craft was ProtoMan, the very first robot of today's advances series of robotkind, co-created by Wily and Dr. Light, and who is the brother of Mega Man and Roll. But, unlike them, he fights on the side of Wily and evil.
"They've found something, Proto," Wily said as he watched the live image of the Batonton's. "And I'm sure it will reveal the legend of Lotos!"
ProtoMan, who saw no purpose in Wily's plan of chasing after myths, scoffed back, "Ha! Who cares about a stone fairy tale?"
Annoyed with ProtoMan's abrasive attitude, Wily shot back, "Its no fairy tale! They will lead me to the magic chest containing Lotos, and in it: more power than you or I have ever dreamed of!"
Behind his helmet's black visor, ProtoMan's eyes glazed over. He could not believe what he was hearing. "Now we're chasing magic genies. What's next? Are we gonna go lookin' for ghosts and goblins?"
Dr. Wily frowned at Proto. "You'll see I'm right, my boy. I'll be accepting your apology later! For now, it's time to strike!"
Dr. Light took a picture of the second stone tablet as Professor Ramu studied it. Light stated, "This one appears to have a map."
"Yes. And if I'm right, it could lead us from this cave to the lost city. Maybe the golden chest is still there. We can recover it," Ramu said. He then added, "I would not dare open it. Even keeping it in a museum would be a bad idea. If the legend is true, Lotos yields great power. And if it fell into the wrong hands, it could be extremely dangerous."
The Professor kneeled down to his open messenger bag and placed the pair of tablets inside it. No sooner did the tablets get tucked away that the cave started to rumble again, much stronger this time, putting everyone on alert.
Ramu asked, "Is that another secret door?"
Mega replied, "No. That was an impact! We've got company!"
No sooner did the words come out of Mega Man's mouth that a second explosive rumble occurred, this time emanating from the tunnel where the group entered to get here, and behind it came a thin cloud of dust that filled the cave. The force of the second impact was so strong that the structural integrity of the cave itself had been compromised, and the stone walls begin to crack under the pressure. A large chunk of the 'ceiling' of this part of the cave soon broke off and it was about to fall on top of Dr. Light.
"Dr. Light! Look out!" cried Mega Man as he leaped like a dart, directly for his creator, getting him out of the way of the debris as it fell, saving him of certain death.
Dr. Light let slip a pained grunt after the landing, causing Mega Man to check on him. "Are you okay?"
"Quite a rough landing, but I'm fine," the good Doctor replied.
Afterwards, a third explosive impact was heard and felt through the cave. If there was any doubt as to what was going on before, there certainly was not any further.
Kneeling next to his canine companion, Mega Man spoke. "It's Wily, alright. Rush, jet mode!"
The robot dog barked and his body changed shape into a flatter form and rocket boosters protruded from the back of his body. Mega Man then stood atop Rush and the pair soared out of the cave to fend off the approaching threat.
At a construction area not far outside the cave waited two robots named GutsMan and Drill Man, two in a series of robots called the Robot Masters, used as weapons in Dr. Wily's war to conquer the world. GutsMan was capable of intense strength, as his massive size could dictate. Drill Man had two all-purpose drills for hands, and sported a third atop his head. He was capable of firing either of the drills from his hands during combat, and that is exactly what he did when he saw the first glimpse of Mega Man and his dog Rush flying out of the cave's entrance.
As Mega Man and his dog saw the Driller projectile heading in their direction, they changed their trajectory several degrees and flew out of the way of it, allowing the hero a clear shot to use his weapon on his opponent. Mega Man's left hand retracted into its forearm and he fired a single shot from his built-in plasma energy cannon (or alternatively "Blaster" or "Buster" as it is sometimes referred to) at Drill Man. The shot struck him in the middle of his titanium chest armor, knocking him off the nearby supply shed he was standing on. The robot landed with a loud crash on top of a stack of large steel pipes and was left incapacitated for the time being, but the threat of GutsMan remained.
He bellowed in his gruff voice, "Hey, Mega Punk! Hungry for some action? Try this for an appetizer!"
GutsMan stood next to a wooden crate of explosives and bashed his large right hand through the lid, pulling out several sticks of dynamite. These sticks are made with an easy ignition fuse that is triggered when the top end of the stick is pressed down. GutsMan ignited the sticks, but instead of throwing them at Mega Man, he decided to be cute about it and put them in his mouth to spit them out towards Mega Man and Rush.
The hissing dynamite sticks flew in Mega Man's and Rush's direction after GutsMan spat them in their direction, and while Rush dove to his left, Mega Man tried to flip backwards behind a mound of large stone and rocks to avoid the concussion of the explosives. The sticks detonated just before impact, creating a crater in the ground and kicking up a large cloud of dust around it, obscuring the surrounding area. When the dust cleared, Mega Man was face-down on the ground.
GutsMan was happy with himself, rushing to the conclusion that he had just bested Mega Man, and that when he was ready to strike again, he would put him down permanently.
Using a portable walkie-talkie, ProtoMan contacted Dr. Wily. "ProtoMan to Wily. We've got Mega Man under wraps. He'll be busy for a while. We're entering the cave."
Dr. Wily responded, "Good, my boy! Get those tablets and get them back to me. Then, we will find Lotos' magic chest in the lost city!"
Once the walkie-talkie was off, Proto complained aloud, "Yeah. More like Embarrassment City. Population: Me."
Cut Man, another Robot Master who had a large pair of scissors atop his round head, overheard ProtoMan's bitter complains and asks, "What did you say, Proto?"
Proto shot back, "Mind your own business!"
Cut Man retorted with a cut-related pun, (which is the Robot Master's verbal tick.) "You'd better cut the attitude, Proto. Dr. Wily's going to to get sick of it one day."
Proto shot back with annoyance, "If we find this magic genie, if it even exists, the first thing I'm gonna do is wish for you to knock it off with the scissor puns!"
As the group entered the cave along with a third Robot Master named Gravity Man, whose power was the ability to use gravity itself as a weapon, Proto complained aloud to himself once more. "This whole thing is stupid."
Back outside, GutsMan grabbed more sticks of dynamite and ignited them, bellowing, "Time to serve up seconds, Mega Twerp!"
Again choosing to show off, GutsMan put the dynamite sticks in his mouth about to spit them out like he did before. As he did, Mega Man bolted back to his feet and fired two blasts. One directly at GutsMan's chest, which caused the Robot Master to stagger back. The second, weaker shot fired at the controls of a nearby crane. The shot hit the controls violently enough that they unlocked, causing the crane itself to lower, falling directly down upon GutsMan's head.
Immediately thereafter, the dynamite sticks detonated inside of GutsMan's mouth, and with the crane compressing his head, he was unable to spit them out. The end result was GutsMan's entire head becoming mangled in the explosion, with his eyes, shrapnel and wires sticking out. The robot's face was so hideously deformed that it would be better suited for a gallery of horrors... or, perhaps, a Night Gallery.
As Rush returned to Mega Man's side, the robot hero delivered a parting verbal shot. "You gotta watch those spicy foods, Gutsy! See you soon!"
GutsMan's only response to Mega Man's sarcastic advice was a plume of smoke emitting from his mouth and his eyeholes.
Back inside the cave, Roll was leading Dr. Light and Professor Ramu - who was carrying the stone tablets in his bag - out of the cave before they could run into any Robot Master entanglements. But, unfortunately for the group, that is exactly what was about to happen.
"We'll be out of here soon. We're not far from the entrance," Roll announced.
"Good. We must keep the tablets safe," Ramu replied.
Then, the wheezy voice of Cut Man was heard, interjecting, "Don't worry. They'll be in really good hands."
Cut Man pulled the round pair of scissors off the top of his head and flung them at Ramu. The Professor freaked as they approached, by they merely clipped the bag containing the tablets off his back by slicing the straps over his shoulder. This caused the backpack to fall to the ground, and the tablets came spilling out of the open flap.
As ProtoMan aimed his plasma cannon towards the trio, he remarked, "Good hands or bad hands. Either way, we're taking them."
With that, ProtoMan fired a shot downward and in front of the group of the Lights and the Professor, all three of which leaped out of the way of being hit by the shot. When the blast hit the ground, it caused a small explosion and further degraded the integrity of the cave, kicking up hundreds of years of dust which filled the open corridor, severely hindering nearly everyone's vision.
As Dr. Light and the Professor coughed, Roll used her left arm, specifically made with several household utilities and appliances built into it, to summon a vacuum cleaner.
"I better clean up this mess," she said.
Roll's left hand retrated into her forearm and a vacuum appliance appeared in its place. She then powered up the vacuum which began to suck much of the dust cloud away to clear the visibility of the cave. But, when the dust cleared, the Professor made a startling discovery.
He gasped, "The tablets! They're gone!"
The backpack which had been clipped from Ramu's back was still on the ground, but was now empty, the stone tablets missing. Instead of making a getaway with them, Cut Man had to gloat as he held both of the ancient tablets in either hand.
"Not quite yet," he said, followed with his wheezy laugh.
Keeping his plasma buster aimed at the group, ProtoMan proclaimed, "Well, gotta fly. It's been not-so great seein' you again. Even you, New Guy. Sorry about the dust."
Before ProtoMan, and the Robot Masters could escape with the tablets, Mega Man and Rush returned and blocked their path.
"Take one more step, and you're plasma dust," Mega Man warned.
ProtoMan kept his aim on his brother, who has also been his arch rival since this conflict began. CutMan had his hands full holding the tablets, but Gravity Man was free, and was about to use his uncanny ability to make things even more difficult.
Proto uttered to the bigger Robot Master, "Plan B."
"Got it," Gravity Man said, turning around and aiming both of his hands upward at the cave's rocky 'ceiling' formation. His hands then produced two translucent blue beams of energy that shot out, shining upon the rocky ceiling. As Gravity Man began to pull his hands downward, a whole section of rock began slowly but inevitably coming down; and if action were not taken in time, it would surely crush Roll, Light and Ramu at any second.
Knowing what choice his brother would make, ProtoMan taunted, "Decisions, decisions, huh, bro?"
Mega Man chose to rescue his family and the Professor before it was too late. His older brother knew him well. Mega Man would never allow those he cared about or innocent life to be sacrificed to stop them, especially if there was a chance he could still stop this enemies later.
Mega Man and Rush raced for Roll, Dr. Light and Ramu as the large rock came loose and slammed down with a thunderous crash.
ProtoMan smirked, "That'll keep 'em busy long enough. Come on!"
The trio of Wily robots ran out of the cave where they soon reached Dr. Wily's awaiting Skullker transport. Once aboard, the transport's propulsion kicked in and took off away from the cave.
Meanwhile, Mega Man blasted a large hole clean through the fallen rock Gravity Man and dropped in front of them, clearing their path out, but it was already too late.
The hero spat, "They got away. Blast!"
The Professor became stricken with worry, briefly putting his turban-clad head in his hands. "Oh, no! This is terrible! If the second tablet truly does lead to the lost city and if that horrible man finds Lotos' chest, who knows what power he'll unleash! You must stop him."
Roll asked, "How are we gonna track him down without a map of our own? He just took it."
"Actually, we still have one," Dr. Light said, removing his camera from his pocket. He hit a button that instantly developed his most recent picture on the second tablet into a physical copy.
Mega Man took the picture and declared, "Now we'll find him, Professor!"
Later, Dr. Wily's group had arrived to the supposed location of the lost underground city, which was hidden deep within a steep canyon, and whose only entrance was hidden behind a waterfall. When Dr. Wily and his entourage of Drill Man and Gravity Man reached the end of the tunnel, they stopped and made a most amazing discovery: an ancient city, well hidden inside of the canyon. The very same fabled lost city spoken of in the legend of Lotos and the Peasant. The city was lit by the sunlight above thanks to a large opening at the top of the canyon. Despite being abandoned for generations, the city looked pristine, and almost had a shine to it to the naked human eye.
"We've found it! The lost city! Now nothing can stop me," Dr. Wily remarked, giddily laughing as his eyes scanned the city landscape. It seemed that victory was finally his, provided he could find the magic chest. There was still one major problem that could prevent him from accomplishing it. Mega Man.
Dr. Wily was immediately reminded of this when his Batonton robot glided through the tunnel and hovered in front of him. As it flapped its wings to stay suspended, it spoke in an odd voice. "Mega Man! Mega Man!"
Wily assumed that meant his mortal enemy had somehow learned of this canyon and was on the approach. He turned to face his Robot Masters and gave orders.
"Drill Man! Gravity Man! Make sure that blue dweeb doesn't find me here! Stop him at all costs!"
The Robot Masters obey their creator, running back through the tunnel to encounter the hero. Dr. Wily remained and raced towards the city. He spoke to himself as he searched.
"The tablet says the golden chest is hidden inside a well. And I don't have much time," he said.
Dr. Wily was on his way through the city, searching for any kind of well he could find. Soon he stopped and looked back to the tunnel. Still no sign of activity. But, Wily knew he was alone and exposed now, perhaps the most vulnerable he has been since he began his quest to conquer the world. His robots were elsewhere to battle Mega Man, his transportation was a long way from here and Mega Man stood in his way, and if the legend of this magic chest was just false, his quest could reach a quick end today.
Wily continued his search for the well anxiously as he continued ranting to himself. "If only Proto was here! He would never let the blue pest get to me! But, no! He had to go running off to fight him again! When I return to Skull Fortress, I need to program a little more obedience in his behavior program. Or maybe a little less pride. Yes, that should.."
Dr. Wily paused in mid-sentence when he saw a lone water well near the lost city's central plaza, with a single ray of light shining down upon it.
"That's it! There it is!"
Wily ran up to the well and looked down it, but only saw darkness despite the light from above. He then grabs the rope leading to the bottom of the well and pulls on it. He feels something being pulled up with it, so Wily continued to pull the rope, bringing something, whatever it is, to the surface. And when it rose from the darkness, Dr. Wily's eyes started to become large and he began to grin when he saw exactly what this object was from the bottom of this well. It was the golden chest of Lotos, no bigger than a foot long and eight inches high, adorned with hieroglyphic-like markings along its sides, and on its lid was the marking of what looked like a single eye with an arched brow above it.
Dr. Wily's grubby hands snatched the chest from its basket and brushed the dust and cobwebs from it, and he held it as if he were holding the single most powerful item in the world. And for all he knew, it may well be.
"The golden chest! It's real! The power of Lotos is mine! All mine!" Wily clamored to himself as he prepared to open the chest, his hands moving ever so closely, his fingers about to open the lid...
But, for a few fleeting moments, time stops and everything and everybody is suspended in time, even Dr. Wily. Elsewhere in the ruins, we see what nobody else can: a man in a suit and tie with cropped black hair, holding a lit cigarette in his hand.
This is our narrator, Rod. And he speaks directly to us...
"Portrait of a Mad Man: Dr. Albert Wily, criminally insane scientist set in his evil ways, on a quest for world domination. Dr. Wily is a man who, despite his best - and worst - efforts, always finds himself on the losing end due to the existence of a heroic protector. But in just a moment, courtesy of the improbable phantom who lives inside that small chest, Dr. Wily will be pulled from his failure-ridden misfortunes and finally get what he wants - for a price.
Because, little does Dr. Wily know that when he opens that chest, he will also open a door that will lead him to the farthest reaches of... The Twilight Zone."
Continued in next chapter.