The Pain Of Loss Chapter 27 – A Heart's Conflictions, Part 2
Mayl: I just thought of something.
Me: And that is?
Mayl: You said you were using mostly game elements, but you changed the Custom and Team styles a bit...
Me: I know. I used elements from volume 3 of the Manga.
Megaman.EXE: Too bad I can't pull that Omni-Megaman thing...
Me: It has some serious defects, Blue.
Megaman.EXE: You serious?
Me: Yup. It's got one seriously vital weakness. But you'll just have to read to find it out.
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Kali smiled as she watched Roll shake ever so slightly in fear. She grinned, shutting her eyes. "Oh... and, I'd suggest you be very careful, dear Roll... A Dark Soul is a very important part of it's other. The only safe way to destroy it is for it's counterpart to destroy it. If anyone else destroys it, it can corrupt the good soul. It may be destroyed, or crippled, or it may even forget everything it ever knew..." Roll's eyes shot wide as she heard this. It was like an arrow had just pierced her heart. Megaman forgetting her...? She couldn't bear that thought. She shook it off, gritting her teeth. "Y... you're lying, Kali!!! You're just playing mind games with me!!!" Kali shrugged, turning around, her hair flowing smoothly. "Hm, believe what you like. Just remember, you're risking his very soul... If you do manage to defeat him, though, please, take time to recover. I want to show you every bit of power you once had, and it just wouldn't be any fun if you deleted too early..." With that, Kali vanished, leaving Roll and Shadow Megaman alone.
Roll grit her teeth, then slowly stepped forward. "M... Megaman...? I know that... that there's still got to be a good part of you in there, even if you are a Dark Soul... Please, Megaman..." Roll came to a stop a mere 2 feet before Shadow Megaman. He looked sternly to her, then lowered his head. "... Roll..." He lifted his head, giving a gentle smile. Roll smiled, rushing forward and embracing him. "I just knew it...!" Unfortunately, Roll's emotions had gotten the better of her logic this time. Shadow Megaman's gentle smile quickly shifted to an evil grin. "Die..." Roll's eyes shot wide as she heard this. Before she could react, she was already flying back in the air, coughing up blood. Shadow Megaman stood strong, holding his Guts Fist straight into the air. He watched Roll skid on the ground, and eventually roll into a halt against a nearby wall.
She forced herself up, coughing and wiping the blood on her glove. "... I guess that was really dumb of me..." She forced herself up, catching her second wind relatively quickly. She shut her eyes, forcing back tears as she formed two Roll Swords. "... I'm sorry, Mega... but I've got to take him down!!!" Roll yelled screamed out, charging forward. She jumped into the air and started hacking and slashing wildly, but in a perfect rhythm, at Shadow Megaman. This did nothing, though, except give her the appearance she was performing for an audience. Shadow Megaman was extremely fast. He grinned, ducking, a Spin Slash. "Life Sword!" As he called out the Program Advance's name, a sword of white energy appeared in his grip. He jumped up and slashed Roll across the chest, sending her stumbling back. She grit her teeth, then continued on with her assault.
Mayl bit her bottom lip, her eyes wide. She was just glad that Lan had gone with the others to see over repairs to the other Navis. If he'd seen this, it probably would've torn his heart to pieces. She reached into her hip pouch and pulled out a Recovery 300. "Here Roll!!!" She slid the chip into the PET, restoring most of what Roll had lost from the Life Sword assault. 'Just hold on, Roll. I'll think of something!!!'
Roll was now on the defensive against a team of three Navis. The Navis were Quickman, Protoman, and Beastman, all in their V5 forms. Roll was only barely able to parry and dodge each one of their separate attacks. After 15 long seconds of combating them, though, they vanished. Roll dropped to one knee, panting heavily. Shadow Megaman chuckled, shaking his head. "You're pathetic, girl... If you can't stand up to me, Lady Kali will tear you to shreds... Allow me to end this fight once and for all! MASTER STYLE!!!" Shadow Megaman grinned, his body splitting into the four different base styles embedded in his coding. They vanished, appearing at all sides of Roll. Roll's eyes shot wide as they began a massive assault. Even though each one only hit her twice, totaling in at 8 hits, each attack was more devastating than the next. Roll flew back after taking one final punch from the Heat Guts style, slamming hard on the floor. She forced herself up, shaking uncontrollably as she coughed up a stream of blood. She held her chest, her eyes going wide as she saw Shadow Megaman once more. He was in his base style now, and charging up for the final move. "Well, Roll, I must say I'm impressed you survived the last 8 parts of the style... BUT YOU WON'T SURVIVE THE FINAL ASSAULT!!!" Immediately, he let out the charge, sending a dome of energy throughout the room. Roll screamed out at the top of her lungs, quickly engulfed in the wave. Mayl's eyes shot wide as her PET screen went blank. "ROOOLLL!!!"
Just mere moments later, the final bits of debris hit the ground. Shadow Megaman sighed, now in his Regular Style. He turned, grinning and thinking to himself. 'Tch. I'm lucky that blast took her out... Kali didn't tell me the Omni-Style was deleted when I used the Master Style Program Advance...' He sighed in relief, then started to walk towards the exit of the room, back to Kali. Just then, there was a shifting in the rubble. He came to a halt, spinning around, arming his buster. He stood still for a moment, glaring straight at the rubble that the movement came from. He sighed, relaxing and shaking his head. "I'm too para---"Before he could finish, a blast shot through his gut and out his back. He grit his teeth, dropping to one knee as blood ran out his mouth in small streams. "Ggghhh... H... How the..."
Roll grit her teeth, pushing herself from under what felt like tons of digital rubble. She held her Roll Buster ready, panting heavily. "You... shouldn't have done that... that advance..." She coughed a bit, dragging herself from the rest of the rubble. She stood weakly, her body bloody and battered. Her suit was hanging off her at many places, but remained covering the private areas. She raised her buster, shaking off a bit of blurry vision. "I... I won't die... Not until Kali's defeated... Not until Megaman's back to watch over everyone... and... to make everyone happy again..."
Shadow Megaman growled, standing up. Using the Master Style did weaken him, and the hole in his gut didn't help the matter much at all. But even with all this, he still contained enough power to defeat Roll. "Feh... You can't beat me... Not in your sta..." His eyes went wide, catching wind of a powerful aura. Roll clenched her fists, her Buster vanishing. "I... I won't let scum like you take over the Net... I won't let an imposter like you soil Megaman's name... AND I WILL END THIS RIGHT NOW!!!" Roll floated off the ground as she began to glow, invoking a brand new power within. The pink vest-like of her suit area extended outward at the shoulders into pointed shoulder plates. Her helmet grew a face mask of it's own, much like Megaman's, while her gloves sprouted spikes at the knuckles. She touched down on the ground, glaring at Shadow Megaman as she formed a pink energy sword. "Paladin Style!!!"
Shadow Megaman's eyes shot wide as he saw this. He'd never seen so much power eminating from one being before. He grit his teeth, quaking with fear. "Y... You don't scare me, girl!!! Big deal, you got a new suit and sword, that proves nothing!!!" Roll stood silently, her eyes locked upon Shadow Megaman. She smirked beneath her mask, shutting her eyes. "... good bye." Shadow Megaman grit his teeth, then formed his buster, firing at her wildly. Roll by this time, though, was already at his side. "Those things are dangerous, you know..."
Before Shadow Megaman could even turn his head, Roll's sword sliced through his arm, lopping it clean off. Shadow Megaman yelled out, his entire arm starting to phase in and out. Without any hesitation, Roll dealt the final blow. Within mere seconds, she'd hacked into Shadow Megaman at least 20 different times. She stood behind Shadow Megaman, sighing softly. Just as she did this, he burst into a stream of data. Roll lowered her head, clenching her fists as her sword vanished. "... I won't let this go on any longer..." Just as she spoke these words, a screen appeared behind her. She spun around quickly, only to see her Net Op. Mayl sighed in relief, brushing away a few small tears of concern. "Roll, I'm so glad you're alright... What happened to Shadow Megaman...? And... your suit..."
Roll smiled, her face mask vanishing. "Don't worry. I dealt with him. He won't be a problem anymore..." Mayl nodded, then narrowed her eyes. "This isn't good..." Roll blinked, a look of concern quickly occupying her face. "What is it, Mayl?" Mayl looked grimly to Roll, speaking softly. "After you pass through that door, Roll, there won't be any way for me to contact you. We'll be cut off from each other... Apparently, Kali wants this to be a One-on-One fight, no Net Ops." Roll nodded, looking to the door. "... Just wish me luck, Mayl. I'll come back, I promise you!!!" With that said, Roll charged off through the door, cutting off Mayl's PET once more. Mayl sighed, setting the PET down and lowering her head. "... Roll... don't die... just win and come back home..."
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Me: #Sigh#
Ky Kiske: What's troubling you?
Me: Meh, that chapter didn't come out half as well as I'd hoped it would.
Axl Low: Relax, it came out fine. I'm sure your readers enjoyed it.
Me: Maybe. But I just had really high expectations for this chapter and...
Kali.EXE: You're a second-rate writer?
Me: You know, after this story you're fair game, Kali...
Kali.EXE: Uh, HELLO!!! Have you NOT been paying attention to the power you gave me?!!
Me: #Uses his Author Powers and strips her of her powers, holding them in a sphere similar to the one she held Roll's powers in# Yup.
Kali.EXE: ... Screw you!!!
Me: #Smacks Kali with Heavy Man and grins# Respect mah authoritah.
Kali.EXE: #Murmurs some inaudible insults#
Me: Anyhow, that's it for this chapter. See ya in the next, folks!