Lantern Power asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)
Mega Man belongs to Capcom.
Fear Can't Withstand True Friendship
The group was pinned down and hiding behind a metal slab that hadn't buckled yet underneath the firepower being aimed at it. "Okay, we need to think of something," Mega Man said to Napalm Man.
"I agree," he said before seeing Needle Man come running and he was helping Charge Man, who was his best friend, get to cover fast as they were all a bit injured from getting hit by the bosses they were trying to defeat.
"What do we do?" Needle Man asked.
Charge Man managed to sit up a bit straighter. "Needle, you can use your attack to take out the boss," he said. "It is avoiding sharp objects. I noticed that when I tried to get close to it."
The poor bot looked afraid. "No," he said, his voice a whisper. "I can't."
Mega Man realized the issue. "Ever since that battle with Dr. Wily last year, he's been afraid to use his needle attack," he said to the other two.
"What battle was that?" Napalm Man asked.
Almost a year ago...
Mega Man and Needle Man looked to see Dr. Wily had created a new robot and it was terrorizing a pre-school. There were kids crying as teachers tried to keep them safe and reassure them they'd all be okay. "Mega Man, the kids," Needle Man said.
"They're our first priority," Mega Man said. "You feel up to distracting the robot while I get the kids and teachers to safety?"
"Okay."
"Rush, help Needle Man."
Rush barked and transformed, to which Needle Man climbed aboard and they went after the robot, trying to draw him away from the school. Needle Man watched the kids follow Mega Man's directions to safety and the teachers helped out, making sure the kids stayed together.
The robot didn't see this right away and started firing at Needle Man, who returned fire with his Needle Cannon, striking the robot and being careful not to have it notice the kids escaping. Dr. Wily, seeing this, grew angry and upped his robot's defenses, which made it a bit harder to take down, but Rush gave Needle Man a hand in that and they soon had it down on one knee and Needle Man took aim to take the enemy robot out once and for all, but just as he was about to fire, the robot moved and slapped Needle Man off of Rush and the robot hit the ground, his needle arm going off from the impact.
A child's scream rang out a moment later and Needle Man got up and turned to see a horrific scene.
A small girl, no more that three years old, had been hit in the shoulder by his needle attack and she was on her uninjured side, crying as her left shoulder, where the needle was stuck in, hurt. "No," Needle Man said in shock before he ran over to the child, who looked up at him tearfully. "Shh, it's okay, little one. You're going to be alright."
"It hurts," she whimpered, tears running down her face.
"I know," he said soothingly, scanning her injury and seeing that if he removed the needle, it would do more harm than good. He vaguely heard Mega Man take down the robot boss and give Wily the boot as he gently lifted the little girl up into his arms and moved over to where a teacher was and looked at her. "Please call an ambulance."
"I did," she said before looking at him and seeing that he was focused on the little girl and it looked like he was about to cry. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "You didn't do this on purpose."
He looked at her. "No, but...this little one is hurt because of me," he said. "I...I could have badly hurt her or worse."
The child was still crying a little, but her sobs had died down as she drew comfort from the robot, who gladly gave it to her, gently shaking her to keep her awake. "Don't fall asleep, little one," he said, his voice urgent. "Stay awake for us."
"Okay, but I'm really sleepy," she said.
"I know, but stay awake," the teacher said. "You want to meet the nice paramedics, don't you? And see the ambulance?"
The little girl perked up at that and Needle Man felt relief at that. When the ambulance and paramedics arrived, they got the child inside the vehicle and got her stabilized. Mega Man and Needle Man both went to the hospital to check on the girl and to everyone's relief, the young one survived. The needle had just missed some major blood vessels and veins. It would probably scar, but she wasn't in danger of bleeding out.
That had been a relief to the two, but since then, Needle Man grew afraid to use his Needle Cannon.
Present day...
"But that wasn't Needle's fault," Charge Man said. "He didn't know his attack would go off and hit the girl."
"But guilt is very powerful, even if you didn't intend for something to happen," Napalm Man said.
Needle Man looked away and Mega Man put a hand on his shoulder. "Needle, you can do this," he said. "There's no kids around this time."
"But...I...What if I hit one of you guys?" He asked.
"You won't, Needle," Charge Man said.
Napalm Man had an idea. "Hey, Needle, what is the kid's name? The little girl?" He asked.
"Julie," Needle Man said.
"Okay, then beat this robot for Julie. If he's not stopped, he could go after her. Stop him for her."
The robot looked up and Mega Man and Charge Man nodded, seeing what their brother was doing. "Do it for her, Needle," the former said.
"To keep her and other kids like her safe," the latter said.
Needle Man brought out his Needle Cannon and looked at it before thinking about Julie and how she lit up when he and Mega Man had visited. He couldn't forget the three words she told him when she had hugged him during that visit.
"I forgive you."
He latched onto that memory and stood up, looking over at the robot and charging, now firing his Needle Cannon fast and furious while the others quickly recovered and provided cover fire. Moments later, the boss robot was down and Dr. Wily was being taken away into custody while Mega Man, Charge Man, and Napalm Man came out to see Needle Man was standing triumphant, despite looking a little tired.
When they got home, Dr. Light smiled at them. "Well done," he said. "And Needle, I see you were able to use your Needle Cannon."
"Yes, sir," he said. "It was because the guys helped me think of Julie, the little girl we met about a year ago."
"That reminds me," the doctor said, handing him an envelope. "This arrived for you today."
Needle Man carefully opened it and to his shock, it was a drawing of him and Julie done by the little girl and Needle and the little girl were holding hands. On the top were words.
Me and my best friend.
Mega Man smiled, as did the other two. "See? That kid's the reason to keep going, Needle," said Napalm.
"Yeah," said Charge with a smile.
Needle smiled and hugged the picture, both it and his friends proving that fear couldn't withstand true friendship.
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GoldGuardian2418