Disclaimer: Do not own Rockman, yada, yada, yada; don't own any songs mentioned, yada, yada, yada…
Chapter II:
Ishi Kobushi-Faita-Taikai VIII
Part II: Birth of a Hero
It was a true spectacle. Kakashi and the quickly advancing "Creeper" battled it out like no one else in the history of the IKFT, neither could make a real hit on each other without having a block, counter, and counter-block. It was truly amazing. The DJ flipped on some "Linkin Park" and the people watched in awe. The two continued blocking each other's blows as Takeshi attempted to wipe the blood from his open wounds. But he could only watch in awe at the battle rather than his wounds, however. He knew in the end it would be between him and Kakashi… he just hoped it wouldn't. Kakashi would kill him out there…
"IT ENDS NOW!" Kakashi swept at the "Creeper's" legs and delivered a massive double punch and kick to his head as he tumbled; an instant knock-out. The crowd oohed and ahed as Kakashi walked out as if nothing happened, leaving the unconscious "Creeper" to bleed.
Meanwhile, Takeshi lowered his head. What had he gotten himself into? "You know him?" The black-haired teen spun around, his wounds finally ceasing to bleed, to find Satoshi standing there. "You stare at him as if you know him… as if you owe him something." Takeshi was confused. "Yeah, I know. I'm good with figuring people out. I can see every detail of their current state just by looking at them… in a way I can read their inner thoughts and exploit them. Otherwise I wouldn't be this far in."
"That's some gift…" Takeshi replied, curious as to why this man even cared about a weakling like himself.
"But I am not strong. I can see within you. You have compassion. I have hate. You have power. I have weakness. We are complete and total opposites and that is why I will be quick to eliminate you. If anything, we will eliminate each other, like magnets of the same pole headed toward each other at blistering speed we will collide and propel each other deep into the ground, eliminating us both from this vile race."
"How poetic." Takeshi sarcastically replied.
"Joke all you want, shrimp. But this tournament is the real deal. People are crazy out here… they will not stop for fear of killing."
"I know. As he said, "Welcome aboard the death train. Next stop, Hell"." Satoshi grinned wickedly.
"Exactly."
"AND KAKASHI WINS!" The announcer said, surprised. "The greatest duel in the history of the IKFT is ended by South New Tokyo's own, Kakashi Hagane. The next match will be between the gothic warrior Satoshi Blek and the amazing Takeshi Rokku, who is wiping the floor with every contestant, despite the fact he's only 16. Guys, your match is in 5, so be prepared!" Satoshi smirked.
"I'll kill you." He replied. Takeshi made no response; he just wiped his face and walked out to the ring.
… … … … …
The DJ quickly changed the music for the next fight; which could be an even more intense match than the previous. Takeshi stood there, awaiting his opponent as the crowd roared. Was this applause for him? He had no time to wonder, however, for in Satoshi cut through the air at amazing speed, landing directly in front of Takeshi. He stepped back to gain some room and awaited the bell. As it finally rang, the Goth grinned and stared deep into Takeshi's eyes. What… was this…? Why couldn't he move? Suddenly, every fear, every pain, every thought of his entire life bombarded him nonstop, tearing him a part. He fell to his knees and screamed, holding his head, feeling as if he were about to explode. The Goth repeatedly kicked Takeshi as he was down, who paid no attention to his attacks, too wrapped up in his own despair.
"MAKE IT STOP!!!!" Takeshi screamed. Satoshi was doing exactly as he did with every man, bringing them down and ripping them half from the inside, using their own minds against them. He had no need to be strong.
"I believe this match is o…" Before Satoshi could finish, he could feel a quivering hand grab his leg from behind and weakly pull him towards its source. "You're still sane!?" Takeshi, one eye open, laughed as he attempted to pull the man to the ground, despite the pain his body was in from such a bombardment of fear and hopelessness and hate. Satoshi shook him off and leapt into the air, attempting to literally snap Takeshi in half. But rather than taking the deadly blow, Takeshi jumped to his feet, grabbed Satoshi's leg, and threw him out of the ring, an immediate disqualification for him. "You're mind… why won't it bend?!" Satoshi shoved aside the referees and jumped back into the ring. "FALL!"
"You can't…. ugh…" Takeshi moaned. "You can't stop me!" The match ended too quickly. Satoshi wasn't going to be defeated by a weak minded child!
"BEND!!" Takeshi ignored the dark thoughts, repelling them with thoughts of brighter days, better times, and dashed toward the Goth, sending him flying into a wall and out of the ring once more with a punch to his chest, ribs breaking in the process. He just fell, confused… how is it that Takeshi stopped him? Everyone fell to his ability… everyone…
… … … … …
The old man, Albert, still concealed in shadow, grinned and strapped Jakob down. "I will recreate you… I will play God and make you the ultimate being! You will be the first man to be combined with robotic parts to create a super man, if you will!" Jakob tried to break the straps. He didn't like where this was going… "Heh, heh, heh… you can't escape now! You agreed to this!"
"Listen Old Guy, I want out! I don't want this anymore!"
"The name is Dr. Wily! And you are now my first test subject!" A robot skeleton pulled a lever, and electricity flowed through Jakob's body, his screams echoed throughout as Wily began to rip apart and recreate the man.
… … … … …
This was it. The clouds gathered, and the air smelled of blood, sweat, and rain. It was down to the last four contestants. Kakashi Hagane vs. "Crimson", and Takeshi Rokku vs. Max "Heat". This was truly going to be interesting… a second ring was prepared, and a third, final ring without fencing erupted from the ground between the two, its base covered in spikes, and being made of cold steel. Takeshi took his spot on the far right corner and Max took his, his burning, short, spiked red and orange hair lightly blowing in the wind. His torn brown leather jacket and black T-shirt lightly rustled in the wind, and his baggy gray pants worn by most contestants barely moved. "So it comes to this… the Burning God of Fire, Max "Heat" Stirn, vs. the Street Fighter, Takeshi Rokku, and the Behemoth, Kakashi Hagane vs. The Bloody Angel, "Crimson"!" The announcer said. Takeshi's scraped chest was drenched in sweat, and highlighted his six-pack abs even more than usual. The lighting was perfect, showing every muscle on his upper body. No one could really see how muscular he was till then… he must have gotten in a lot of street fights to get so strong looking.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! BURN BABY BURN!" Max screamed, fire shooting from small cannons behind him. The DJ switched on some new fight music and the battle began. Takeshi began by circling his opponent, then jumped around like a grass hopper off every pole and chain section he could, attempting to confuse Max, then cut through the air like a knife, attempting to kick him to the ground via his chest. Alas, it would not be, for Max quickly reacted by grabbing Takeshi's foot and twisting him 'round mid air and slamming him to the ground. He then moved so quickly around the ring, he seemed to be a blur, or fireball. He repeatedly and quickly punched Takeshi in his head and chest as he got to his feet, sending him flying.
Meanwhile, Kakashi just stood there, awaiting Crimson's move. Crimson was known for killing every opponent he ever faced in the tournament, and won the grand prize 6 times. Only one man took him down… but he mysteriously died soon after. Crimson was thought to be a mad man, a man with no name, a man whose soul intent was to kill all living things. His hair was, of course, crimson, as were his eyes. He wore a black T-shirt, sleeves torn off by hand, with a gray MMZ-style vest over it. His pants were the normal baggy dark gray fighting pants, and he wore no shoes. They slowed him down. He was known as the Bloody Angel, or the Soaring Vulture, for his tendency to fight while in the air, via jumping off surroundings and opponents. He quickly took into the air and slammed down ward with his heel, attempting to bash Kakashi's head in, but he blocked and in effect, snapped the man's ankle in half. He grinned and closed in.
"GUH!" Takeshi attempted to catch his breath as Melchior delivered a massive blow to his abdomen. "You're strong."
"And you're weak. The point?" Max kicked Takeshi aside and one of the people in the crowd handed him a chair. "Technically, this isn't a weapon… and the rules have nothing against it." He slammed Takeshi three times with the metal chair and threw it aside. "And to think… you took down everyone else so quickly!" Takeshi closed his eyes tightly as Max's foot collided with his back. After the onslaught, Takeshi's eyes snapped open. He wasn't going down… not now. He shook off the barrage as if it were nothing and dashed toward Max, shoving him into the upper left pole and repeatedly punched his chest and stomach. 10, 20, 60, 80 times, and finally let him fall to the ground before getting slammed deeper by an ancient move, a RAW style body-slam. Takeshi panted like a dog in the sun, awaiting Max to get up… but he didn't. The crowd gasped and Takeshi approached Max.
In the other ring, Crimson attempted everything to knock Kakashi down, but every attack just bounced off his body. It was as if he wasn't even human. Grinning, Kakashi grabbed Crimson by the head and swung him around like a medieval flail, before hurling him deep into the bleachers, and crowd.
Max's hand shot out and he pulled Takeshi to the ground, grinning madly. "Heh, heh, heh… you're going down now, weakling." Lightning flashed and thunder rolled as Max closed in for his final strike, only to be interrupted by the bell. Time was up.
"AND THAT'S IT! For the match between Max Stirn and Takeshi Rokku, the winner will be decided by the number of hits on the opponent. This may take a few moments…" Takeshi caught his breath while he could, while Max just lit a cigarette, awaiting the rains. "And the results… the winner is… Takeshi Rokku! For landing 121 hits!" Takeshi had mixed feelings. He was advancing to the final match, but he was also advancing toward his death. He and Kakashi weren't exactly "Friends". As the stairs to the top of the final ring rose from the ground, the rain began to fall heavily to the ground, putting out Max's cigarette as he walked off, unfazed by his failure and pain. Kakashi grinned as he and Takeshi climbed to the top of the large pillar, the other rings sinking into the ground.
"Ready to die, twerp?"
"…" Takeshi was silent and leapt above the final 10 steps, landing on the edge of the ring.
"Show-off." The storm raged and the winds picked up as Kakashi finally made it atop, the DJ playing the ancient hit, "Faint", by Linkin Park. The two dashed toward each other as the bell finally rang, but were flung off the huge pillar by a huge explosion. The crowd turned their head to see two figures in the midst of the dust and smoke. The announcer prepared to call the police, only to be interrupted by a small spinning blade, which killed him instantly, and returned to the right figure. Takeshi, playing hero, immediately dashed toward the figures, ignoring the embers of fire slowly blinking out in the rain, and kicked one of them, only to hit metal and bounce off in pain. As the winds blew the smoke away, the left figure sent a huge blast of electricity toward a nearby light, having it explode and tumble toward Takeshi. He quickly rolled out of the way only to be shoved aside by Kakashi, clearly angered at the fact that he didn't get to fight his rival.
"Oh no you don't!" The figure on the right grabbed Kakashi and began crushing his arms with ease. His left eye glowed red and scissor blades jut from his palms. "Snip, snip." He said darkly, Kakashi's screams of pain echoing throughout the area as the man laughed his head off… literally. The second man placed the head back on, and the smoke cleared enough for everyone to get a good look at the man on the right. The right side of his face had no flesh, and revealed a metal section connecting to bone, and red armor around his wrists, shins, and a red helmet. Atop, a small hole, and a faint red W on the back. The rest of his body was encased in a white bodysuit, and his hands were completely robotic. His red belt hid many things, including several small scissor like razors. He removed his hands from Kakashi's now immobile arms and a silver pellet jumped up from the hole in his helmet, and quickly morphed into a sword as he grabbed it. Takeshi could look away as the man… thing, violently slashed and stabbed Kakashi.
"What is he…?" Before Takeshi could get his answer, he heard a rush of air, and a pure robot stood behind him. He had no flesh on his face, only steel with two beady red eyes and a mouth. His armor was Black, and encased his chest, wrists, shins and shoulders, with a yellow bodysuit encasing his robotic body. His helmet had a wavy lightning bolt on the front, and on the back was a dark gray W, similar to the one on the red-clad monster. Takeshi screamed to the heavens as millions of volts of electricity shot through his body. The wounded Satoshi rushed to save him, but was sent flying, nearly dead, by a massive explosion. From a large saucer-like craft, the two monsters were summoned back, and an old man's cackle haunted Takeshi as missiles were sent tumbling toward the crowd, killing everyone on contact.
Meanwhile, outside the temporary coliseum set up for the tournament, a younger scientist watched in horror. What had Albert become? He then saw Satoshi's body not to far away and slowly approached it.
The saucer-like craft quickly took off, taking Kakashi and Max with him. Though Max was still very much alive and nearly unharmed, he was the one who organized the entire attack and creation of the two armored men... if they could even be called men anymore.
Takeshi just laid there, barely conscious, the only one not taken by Albert that wasn't dead. He laid alone… cold… left to wallow in his own pain and horror.
The younger scientist then approached him, and looked down. "I can help you." He said, helping Takeshi to his feet.
… … … … …
"R… robots…?"
"Cyborgs, actually. My colleague, Albert, must have planned this from the start. We have been studying advanced robotics for decades together, and I guess he was just in it for the power… when I suggested we experiment on willing people to further advance our work, he must have gotten the idea to destroy them in that tournament, and take them in as mere lab rats."
"What kind of sick mind would do that…?"
"His, I guess… he always was the darker side of me. We were like yin and yang, like brothers…" Takeshi winced as the scientist touched his wounds.
"I want to stop them…" The scientist looked up.
"Why would you want to end your life trying to stop him?! He's just too powerful…"
"You said you wanted willing subjects. Well here I am. Turn me into one of them… I have the feeling no man nor weapon can stop them but one of them. I don't know why… I just want to stop him…" The scientist smirked, but his smirk quickly turned into a grin.
"You're a brave boy, Takeshi."
… … … … …
Several hours later, Takeshi awoke from his slumber, having no feeling anywhere but his head. As he studied his body, he seemed to still appear human… but something felt… different. He stared at his hands as if he had never seen them before, and made a fist, the sound of hydraulics replacing the unheard sound of muscle and bone. "It is done." The scientist, Thomas, said. As Takeshi git up feeling returned to his body. Though he was now mostly machine… he felt human.
"…" Takeshi was silent. Thomas grabbed a suit of dark blue armor from a closet and handed it to the teen.
"Dark blue armor made with the toughest mineral on earth, a lighter blue body suit with the same protection as a medieval suit of armor, and boots with miniature rockets built in for extra speed when needed. Your body has, as you can probably already tell, also been enhanced. Your arms are now completely robotic, your right one using nano-bot technology to morph into a laser cannon and steal the abilities of other cyborgs by merely touching them, bone in most weak areas has been reinforced or replaced entirely making you more resistant to falls and explosions, and your muscles have also been enhanced with nano-technology giving you extra strength. You are the ultimate man, Takeshi."
"…Takeshi sounds so weak… I want a name that people can identify with strength… a name that identifies with versatility and power…" Takeshi thought for a moment. "Rock Man. I am… Rock Man…"
END CHAPTER
Author's Note: This came sooner than expected... but as I like to say, "Inspiration hits like a rock to the head!"