Mega Man Legends: Bombshell Tron Bonne

Intro:

Many of us, the writer of this story and possibly the reader, have special "firsts" in their life. We all remember our first experience playing games. For me, it was back in the 90's. I grew up in an average income family. Not wealthy by most standards, but privileged enough to own a Nintendo Entertainment System. Also known as the NES.
My parents claim they spent a week secretly practicing Super Mario Bros.. Late at night, a week before Christmas of 1994, my parents let out hushed bursts of laughter and they controlled the red plumber straight down a pit.

"We can be better than the kids by the time we wrap it up and put it under the tree," they both thought slyly.
So they practiced. They were confident that they would appear superior to the kids like the adults they were.

Christmas morning came. The NES was opened and memories were made. My parents were disappointed when they witnessed my brother overcome their video game prowess in mere minutes. The whole week of tireless midnight gaming sessions hadn't yielded much for results.

I don't remember that particular memory. Though it has been described to me at family gatherings so many times that I see it in my mind as clear as glass. Like looking through a television screen, I see people moving about in the house of my upbringing. But I do not see myself in these flashes. I was four. Memories at this age are always so foggy. The sound of the memories is like static on a radio station not tuned just right. Interference clips the memories into small snippets.

My first true snippet of the past was on my brother's birthday. It was even later in December and the ground outside was blanketed with a comfy layer of snow. This made for excellent sliding in sleds and was a perfect complement to a birthday party.

I watched as my older brother opened his gifts. Among the presents was a new Nintendo cartridge. It was different from the other games. The artwork on the case was a bright stylized cartoon with a small boy garbed in blue metal armor. This boy was Mega Man.

In the picture it showed Mega Man jumping or free falling from a great height. In the place of his hand on one arm was a jet engine looking capsule. Coming out of it were electric orbs. Later I would recognize this as Mega Man's Buster gun or cannon. The image of the blue man jumping and shooting from an arm mounted cannon instantly became the single coolest thing my little four year old mind could comprehend.

The big kids rambunctiously played the game for a while. Then after seeing the game over screen a few times they went outside to burn off the energy from the cake and ice cream. They all bundled up and headed out into the winter wonderland to slide and toss snow balls. Maybe they went out and pretended to shoot snowballs from their own "buster" arms.

I wouldn't know what they ended up doing outside because I didn't follow them. Instead I was beckoned to the square controller of the gaming system. It was as if the NES was speaking to me. "Try me, Stephen. No one will disturbed you now, they are all outside."

It was my first real memory. It was my first experience playing video games. It was probably even my first true love, too. How disappointed my parents must have been to discover their little boy was in love with a blue robot man.

Me and Mega Man grew up together. As the games grew more advanced, so did I. My love for games got complex and my mastery of them evolved.

Mega Man stayed my favorite game series throughout my young life. The experience of playing the first 3D Mega Man stuck with me the most. Mega Man Legends, which this FanFic will resemble, was the first 'real' Mega Man game. It was an adventure, a 'Legend' if you will. It was beyond the simplistic series of Robot Master levels. Legends also had characters and enemies that were much more fleshed out. They are beyond the baddies that are destroyed seconds after they appear on the right side of the screen. This game felt as big and as real as my own world at the time.

It had everything a young pubescent teen could ask for including blossoming love interests. It changed my life and perhaps the reader of this fanfic feels the same. Please enjoy my rendition of Mega Man's 'first' encounter with Tron Bonne.

Chapter 1

It has been nearly two days since the Flutter made landfall. Since then there was nothing but water in all directions. The Flutter cruised gracefully through the salty ocean air. If a whale had surfaced below them in the water it would look like the size of an ant on the ground from their altitude.

The vast blue ocean swallowed up nearly all the major continents. It left only small plots of land and the occasional ruins of cities long past.

The only means of travel in a world covered by an endless ocean was by boat or by airship. Airships like the Flutter were rarer than the spots of land they hopped to and from. Few people owned airships and thus most populations stayed secluded on their island sized land masses.

The Flutter was a class of airship that allowed for a simple yet comfortable travel. It was a flying RV with amenities of modern day homes. Bathrooms, kitchens, even a living room with a TV. Each occupant could sleep in their own private quarters. Even the most expensive of RVs didn't have that luxury.

The weaponry systems were limited on the ship but it made up for it with speed. The Flutter was a tall and narrow vessel with two small wings and two larger fins above and below designed to allow for vertical flight. Boats in the water were influenced by the aggressive waves. The Flutter hovered. It floated high above the waves using a complex assortment of antigravity tech. The jet engines on either side of the hull pushed it through the clouded sky like a rocket traveling parallel to the ground.

The mechanics within the innards of the ship were powered by refractors. These long quarts shaped sources of energy were used for many generations, even before the mass flooding of the Earth. They ranged in sizes. The smallest could fit inside and supply power to an electric wrist watch while the largest refractors could power airships for thousands of miles.

The refractor currently powering the Flutter was reaching its expiration. Much like the eldest member of the Caskett family, Gramps. He was the owner of the Flutter and traveled from place to place with his granddaughter Roll, Mega Man, and Data. This last trip in the Flutter was putting a strain on him in his retirement years. His short term memory was waning and he found himself forgetting the simplest things. This time, he forgot to refresh the refractor at the end of its life cycle and they had no spares aboard.

The Flutter's engine began to signal a warning alarm and so did Gramps's brain cells. "I forgot to replace the refractor!" The signals seemed to scream at him. Gramps stood from his chair, his back severely stooped over. He cursed the pain in his joints after each hurried step to the engine room where plumes of grayish smoke were already forming. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Gramps pushed open the door and held his breath squinting his nitro green eyes. Eyes that shone like green traffic lights, soon to fade to yellow and at the end with red.

The status of the engine was grim. Gramps snatched a wrench hanging from the wall and dove in like a hero firefighter booting down a house door to rescue the trapped civilians inside. Gramps took one look at the refractor inside. It was toast. They were toast.

Gramps knew a land mass was ahead, miles ahead, "But will we make it there?" He thought darkly, "Or will we lose altitude and crash in the water? Stranding us?"

He paged his granddaughter, "Roll! You need to land the Flutter ASAP!" He hears Roll's reply amongst the chattering of alarms.

"Gramps? What's going on down there?" Roll said.

"Nevermind that, just take her down at the next piece of land you see. If we get that far," Gramps added ominously.

"Okay! I think I see an island ahead!" Roll yelled back.

Roll, Mega Man, and Data were on the Flutter's bridge. Roll was steering while Mega Man and Data peered over a world atlas.

Roll was the brains of the small crew. She loved anything mechanical. In a world that was in an era dominated by robotic tech, she found exploration thrilling. It was lonely sometimes traveling the world, but she learned so much growing up. With her experience she could out tinker even the most seasoned mechanic.

Roll learned to fly at a young age, too. Now she comfortably and confidently took to the helm and would steer it through a hurricane with no fear or hesitation. But she never had to land the Flutter on land with no disposable power to the engines.

Unlike jet planes, the Flutter had no physical landing gear. If they landed in the water, the hull would breach and begin to fill with water. They would then proceed to sink like a stone to the bottom. However, the Flutter had no runway wheels to cushion them if they tried landing on solid ground.

The Flutter would likely tumble end over end when it hit. The thin sheet metal hull of the ship would shred off into chunks. It would be like rolling a snowball across concrete – each revolution would break off pieces until there was nothing left.

"Hold on everyone," Roll called out, "This is going to be a bumpy ride!"

The Flutter was descending. The island was heavily forested and there was no obvious clearing to aim for.

Roll yanked the steering wheel as the bottom fin of the ship clipped the tops of the trees. The fin ripped off and flew like a giant metal frisbee into the woods. She braced for the impact with the ground. The belly of the ship kissed the ground and troweled through the woods leaving a path of mangled branches and debris behind it.

The sudden stop flung the crew forward in a heap. Amazingly enough the flutter stayed upright. Perhaps the spongy forest dirt was soft enough to safely cushion the landing.

Mega Man assisted Roll back onto her feet, "Nice flying, Roll!"

Roll smiled sheepishly, "I think we got lucky, Mega Man. Let's go make sure Gramps is okay."

Chapter 2

The damage caused by the crash was severe. The Flutter would be out of commission for several days, possibly weeks. It was unlikely the island had parts for airships.

"Hey Mega Man!" Gramps yelled. His hearing was going and often talked louder than necessary. He was staring at his wrecked vessel, "Why don't you go see if there is a town nearby. According to the map this island is called Kattlelox."

"Okay, Gramps! I'll be back," Mega Man sprang off down a dirt path. He didn't get more than a few dozen paces before he could hear distant police sirens.

The police cars came speeding down the path nearly running Mega Man over. They headed to the downed airship flicking up clumps of grass and dirt.

A detective with a mustache and a thick accent stepped out of the car. He made sure everyone was alright and offered to take those involved in the crash to the medical center. He then informed Gramps that they were welcome in the city.

"It seems like you guys are alright. That was a mighty loud crash," the detective offered his hand to Gramps, "Just wanna be sure that you don't need any help. Lemme know," He turned to get back in the police car and then paused to look at Mega Man, "Careful son, there have been some reports of sky pirates in the area. Be safe."

"Pirates?" Mega Man thought he must have misheard.

He followed the cars back to the town. As he approached he could see large cement walls. They towered over the surrounding trees eclipsing them into shade. The forest was quiet except for a few chirping birds. The walls were so thick that the noise from the bustling city was muted to just a low hum, like a buzzing bee.

Mega Man reached the door and stepped through to a crowded marketplace.

The market was small and secluded to the other parts of the town. It had a little of everything from a bakery to a parts store. City dwellers wore summer clothing in the noonday sun as they window shopped.

Mega Man decided to browse more later and instead headed to the door on the far side of the market that lead to the town. As he neared it, he overheard a hushed conversation.

Three teen boys closely encircled a trash can. He could only hear bits and pieces as he passed them.

"...and she was wearing boots like a go-go dancer."

"Nuh uh! No way!"

"I swear dude. She was a flippin' bombshell!"

"I should ask her out."

"Are you kidding me? A woman like that doesn't want a fatass like you!"
"Hey!"

The boys looked up and noticed Mega Man standing there. They lowered their voices a little more but Mega Man didn't miss the last few remarks.

"Who's that weirdo?"

"Don't know. Never seen him before, maybe he came with the girl you saw. Ya know?"

The boys scrambled away towards the electronics store leaving Mega Man alone. "I wonder what they were whispering about?" Mega Man thought. Then he discarded the thought and stepped through the door.

The blast of sound from traffic hit Mega Man like a haymaker to his eardrum. There were people walking along the sidewalks of the tightly knit buildings. The grass of the lawns were mowed so short it could be mistaken for the putting green of a golf course. The buildings were not much higher than the surrounding town walls, probably around four or five stories.

One of the largest buildings took up nearly a quarter of the town's usable space. As Mega Man got closer he heard growling and then a volley of piercing barks.

A woman was screaming in terror and Mega Man's body got rigid with excitement. He was programmed to be fearless and rescuing people was what he was best at. His legs propelled him forward as he scanned the area for the source of her screaming.

"The dog!" She yelled again, "get it off me!"

Mega Man rounded the corner of a building. He saw a dog, possibly a terrier, as it barked viciously at a lady wrapped around a street lamp post just out biting range. She resembled a bear being treed by a bloodhound.

"Don't just stand there gawking, you moron! Get that stupid dog away from me!"

Chapter 3

Mega Man observed the scene in its entirety before reacting to the women's plea for help. He once rescued Roll in a similar situation when they were exploring ruins underground. Roll had charged ahead excited at the notion of finding treasure before him. But when Mega Man caught up to her she was surrounded by reaverbots. She screamed for him to blast them away with his buster gun and he wasted no time in doing so.

This was a bit different though. For one thing, there were no reaverbots to blast away, instead it was only a small dog. The dog might be a terrier mix but it was hard to tell. It didn't look like it could even reach up to his knee caps.

Another issue was that Mega Man was an animal lover. A swift kick of his metal foot would surely send the dog running and yelping in pain. But what kind of hero would he be if he treated a little dog this way? If he harmed the dog he would probably land himself in the town's prison for animal abuse, assuming the town even had a jail.

Finally there was the issue with the woman. She was clearly not a member of the town. He could tell this just from looking at how she looked.

The woman was roughly the same age as Roll, maybe a little older. Her soft smooth complexion and bright emerald green eyes were framed by long dark hair, the color of used motor oil. It swooped to either side of her head giving her the appearance that she had wings.

Mega Man felt a little uneasy as he examined her clothing. Her black leggings were tight against her curvy bottom. Her pink shirt was pulled up to reveal a skinny midriff. She wore a peculiar metal buckle that fit snugly between her thighs like a pair of underwear worn on the outside of her pants. Almost equally as bizarre were her shoes. The heels on them added nearly half a foot to her overall height. She truly looked like she might be a go-go dancer as described by the teen boys.

"What are you doing!" She squealed each syllable with more anger this time, "Do something!"

Mega Man snapped out of his momentary daze and came up to the dog. "Hey, boy," he had no idea on the gender of the dog, "Leave her alone! Don't you know you're not supposed to treat girls that way?"

The dog turned on him instead. He jumped at him snapping wildly. Mega Man stumbled backwards landing on his butt. He put out his hands in a defensive gesture, "No, down! Down boy!"

The dog suddenly stopped growling. It gave a few cautious sniffs and then licked Mega Man's hand happily. It then gave the girl, who was still clutching the lamp post, an evil side glance. The lips lifted into an ugly grin that said "keep in line or else I will get you next time." The dog then dropped its tail and strode off.

"Phew, close one, huh?" Mega Man chuckled.

The woman said nothing. She slid down the pole landing her bum on the sidewalk. She stood and slowly made her way over to where Mega Man was waiting.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, "My name is Mega Man," he smiled warmly and extended a hand. He could see her face more clearly now. She was cute and he sensed a tickling heat rising in his face.

She turned quickly from his gaze, "I'm Tron." She was blushing, too. Then suddenly her face screwed into a poisonous scowl, "J-just stay out of my way, y-you big dummy!" Tron spun around on her heel and ran from him.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Mega Man called but she was already out of sight. He scratched his head. "That was odd," he thought, "I was only trying to help."

For the remainder of the day Mega Man thought about his confrontation with Tron. He played the scene over again and again in his mind wondering if he would notice what went so wrong. He couldn't resist thinking about Tron and hoped it wouldn't be the last time he saw her.