Chapter 2 anyone? I hope you have fun reading this as much as I did making it! Now, onto the story!
Count Bleck stared the threesome down, grinning menacingly at the startled 3rd parties. "BLECK', he commenced, 'You all are friends of that darned plumber, dinosaur-turtle, and princess, are you not". Sonic looked at Mega Man, who shrugged and whispered, "Don't answer! It'll get us into an even bigger mess".
Sonic then turned towards the Count and muttered, "Mario? I can't say I know who that is".
Rock and Pac face-palmed in response.
Count Bleck simply scowled. "BLECK! Dumb animal!', he shot at the Blue Blur, 'you and your friends shouldn't be trying to trick me, you know. I am the Mighty Count Bleck! I cannot be defeated! That stupid plumber only won because the rascal Dimentio betrayed me! But with the wretch and Timpani dead and my force disbanded, I need new recruits! And you all have a history with the plumber, and you are his acquaintances, friends even, making you obvious choices for my first few assistants".
Pac stood confused in place, Sonic snickered, and Mega Man began to fire his Mega Buster at the titanium barrier holding them captive. Count Bleck then proceeded to take Nastasia's hypno-specs and slide them into a slit on a contraption that began to whir vigorously. Sonic and PAC-MAN began to follow Mega Man, who had already made a dent in the wall with Super Arm, Fire Storm, Acid Barrier, and Bubble Lead. "BLECK! No trying to escape, my pets', Count Bleck mused as a long robotic arm scooped up the trio, 'I have many plans for you". By wringing his hands together, he managed to form cages around the other-worldly heroes, already struggling to escape the creepy count's clutches. The devious villain then selected PAC-MAN from the threesome of third-party characters, setting his cage in front of the large laser while the other two were placed onto a nearby platform. They could barely hear Count Bleck muttering, "Don't worry, this won't hurt if you don't struggle or resist". Pac began to panic, gnawing at the cage bars in a last-ditch attempt to escape, but to no avail; the machine had reached maximum power! "NO!", the Blue Duo cried in despair and regret as a large pink ray erupted from the machine, engulfing the Yellow Bane of Ghosts.
A mere three seconds of rosy doom blinded everyone in the room, only for it to subside, revealing PAC-MAN keeled over in his cage, surrounded by spinning, red, luminescent squares.
"Yeah, sorry, but no one resists my ultra-hypnosis, especially from the Revert-a-Tron", Nastasia giggled. Sonic and Mega Man stared in shock as PAC-MAN stood up, only this time wearing black boots and a black mask with a backwards 'P' that covered his eyes. "Now tell me', Count Bleck queried in a sickeningly sweet tone, 'What is your name?". "I-I-I am", PAC-MAN stammered. "C'mon Pac! Fight it! You can't let this bozo control you", Sonic howled, his voice tasting of the 90's and newly settled-in panic.
"I AM MR. P!", PAC-MAN screamed in delight, to Sonic's ever-growing chagrin! "You're kidding…", he faltered, looking at Mega Man with a mixture of fear and anxiety in his eyes. "BLECK! THE FIRST EXPERIMENT IS A SUCSESS!", the evil count cheered.
Nastasia cracked a smirk as she directed Mr. P towards his "former" friends. "So how does it feel, hedgehog', he smirked with menace, 'to be in a cage like the rightful animal you are?!". Sonic silently fumed, only to be plucked off his post and onto the spot where PAC-MAN had left his old persona for Mr. P. Mega Man tried to make a panicky call to Mario, only to learn that the cell tower was blocked from his position. 'NO! NO! NO!', Mega Man thought, desperately trying to Super Arm the cage bars, but only succeeded in making his arms incredibly tender. Sonic stared at Rock's terrified face, knowing that he wouldn't see it for quite a while.
"Rock', Sonic called, to which said robot turned to face his blue SEGA-owned amigo, 'Promise me something! Even if we're evil, we'll look out for each other. Promise?". "Promise", Mega Man faltered, holding back a lot of aggression and fright.
The laser then hit Sonic at full force, stripping the Blue Blur of his veracity and normal nature, and nearly reducing Rockman to tears of anger and stress, not being able to do anything to save his colleague. Sonic quickly bore the appearance of Mr. P, only with a black bandana bearing a backwards 'S' and colorless shoes with gray gloves to complete the sinister look along with the mask. "Count, sir, Mr. S is in the house", Sonic smirked towards his new master. Count Bleck gleamed in happiness, content that these experiments were going so swimmingly.
"Two down', the count counted, turning toward Mega Man ever so slowly for dramatic effect, 'one to go. I saved the hardest for last! I know you're a robot, so this is going to be fun". Rock's cage was set down in front of the laser as dread began to linger in the room like stale cheese. In a last-ditch effort to escape, he whistled softly and called upon his cat, Tango, to use his spin-dash-esque move to cut the bars. Long story short, it failed miserably. The Blue Bomber sent his green robo-kitty back home, out of ideas and terrified.
This was one of the only times in his life that he had ever felt true fear, and it didn't feel good. Count Bleck stared at Mega Man in glee, waiting for the Revert-a-Tron to charge. "In thirty seconds at most, you won't have to think about this ever again. You'll join your friends in helping me destroy this world and that acursed Mario', Count Bleck hooted, 'don't worry though, your family will be alright, as long as they don't get in my way"! DING! The laser reached max power! Time was up, and this was it.
The laser was activated, and the Blue Bomber braced himself. A flash of carnation-colored light engulfed him as his mind began to go blank, as if a burglar alarm was scaring his memories away. He tried to struggle against it as best he could, calling back his memories in vain, but it was truly no use. After a few seconds that felt like hours, everything came to a standstill.
He felt different, but at the same time, Rock felt that this was, to an extent, normal. The door to the cage was opened, so he stepped out and turned to face Count Bleck. Mega Man now bore a black mask like the two of his friends, but his bandana was cobalt with a backwards "R", and the right side of his helmet had a little black silhouette of Timpani tattooed on it.
He seemed quite content where he stood, whereas Count Bleck had a jumpy expression on his face. "BLECK! Are you alright? Lad, what is your name", he nervously snapped. Mega Man hesitated, trying to call upon any memory he might have left.
Suddenly, he remembered something! Something that wasn't there before! He tried to tell Count Bleck that his name was Mr. R, but no sound came out. Nastasia looked puzzled as she scanned him for any sign of malfunction, only to realize that an emergency program placed in The Blue Metal Hero by Dr. Light had jammed the kid's voice chip. "Bleck! This is alright, Nastasia', Count Bleck stated, 'if he follows orders, he doesn't have to speak. Now, Mr. R, go join your friends".
Mr. R proceeded to walk over to Mr. S and Mr. P, completely ignoring the elephant in the room: Count Bleck was, indeed, a maniac. Of course, Mr. R couldn't contemplate that. He was simply unable to. The newly corrupted trio turned to face Count Bleck in unison, waiting patiently for a command. The count guffawed noisily, "BLECK! With you three under my control, The Fastest Trickster Alive, The Yellow Bane of My Enemies, and The Super Destructive Robot, Mario won't stand a chance against me! Now, 3rd Order, go and find Mr. L and bring him here!".
"SIR, YES SIR", Mr. S and Mr. P yelled with determination. Mr. R simply nodded and turned to walk out the door.
OH NOES! What have I done?! This is not good! Even so, I hope you enjoyed it! This story has brought me a lot of joy, and I hope you have just as much fun reading it. Until next chapter, Angel is out!