Bomber Blue, and Doomguy too

Heya Doomers. I'm kinda new here, and just wanted to post a story in progress. I'll be posting it in parts, so come back regularly to see what's new. I hope you enjoy.

Half a dozen.

It just had to be that many. I can barely handle one of those bastards, but half a dozen? That's like fighting Hitler. Inside a mecha suit. With chainguns. And fire. Lots of fire.

I hate fire.

The corridor is long, empty. Only have enough cell power to kill two, maybe three. There's a light flickering near the far left corner. I can see one of those thing's shadow in the flicker. It knows I'm here. It's making that terrible laugh, like a hyena that just found its snack.

Ok, quick overlook.

Another glance at this hallway. Blood on the walls. Dead marine seven meters to my right. Probably smells like sulfur, burnt hair and flesh. Part of the dark green wall in front of me is caved in, or removed.

Hold on...that looks like...

In a quick movement, I thrust myself into the small crevice parallel to me. I aim my gun near the flickering light. It's getting closer. Just need to be prepared for---

It zooms into the hallway, zig-zagging everywhere. Damnit, it knew I was waiting for it. It weaves side to side, expecting oncoming fire from my...

Previous location. Good.

I fire the gun. Intense heat from the blue bolts of plasma find their target. In it's confusion, the damn healer didn't expect to be shot at from the other wall. I've got the upper hand. The plasma is starting to singe its chest. It's fighting against the pain. It's starting to conjure that damn fire spell on me.

I hate fire.

I aim at its head. The cranium melts quickly. It falls, slumping against the wall. It gurgles its last growl toward me before being silenced by my final shot for good measure. I get out of the crevice, face sweating behind my helmet. Need to turn on air condition function. Ahh, that's better. Now I can find a way out of this sector.

The corner leads to a half broken door. It tore through it, looking for me. Its friends are probably looking for me too. They can look all they want. They can't stop me again. Not after I'm getting so close.

These things...these...Demons...are persistent. I shut down their big plan, they make another. They caught me off guard the first time, now I'm pissed. It's a bittersweet relationship. On one hand, I have to preserve what's left of my sanity to fight for humanity. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I'm crazy anyway, because I enjoy spilling guts. Even if I do win, I'll probably end up in a madhouse screaming for glory of an incident the UAC will somehow cover up. They always cover it up.

The door leads to a small cafeteria. Tables, chairs, spilled food, chunks of human limbs...More blood on the walls, evil imagery, blah blah blah. As if the occasional chanting from nowhere is hell enough, I have to walk through these messes time and time again. Maybe I can salvage some things.

Two sets of clips, cool. Four shells inside that dead guy's ammo belt, always nice. Another one of these weird blue bottles, they taste odd. This guy won't be needing this armor anymore. Need to find a place to clean it. Oh hey, bathroom.

I point my gun inside before the rest of me enters. Besides the ugly blue hurting my eyes, the room is surprisingly clean. Guess nobody was caught with their pants down in this sector. They have a large sink, now I can clean out this armor--

Oh hey, reflection. Jeez, I look like hell. Heh. I should probably clean off my helmet, can't see part of my HUD. Might as well see how the ol' mug looks too. "H.E.L.M. deactivate." Safety locks off, here we go...

My face seems almost devoid of hope. All this war is getting to me. My eyes are bloodshot, my cheeks are sunken in, brow is dark, and I'm getting a five o-clock shadow. Old scars on my forehead and left temple, from the brown things. Broke my first helmet. Bite marks on my shoulder and arm, from the possessed soldiers. Broke my shoulder armor. Surgery scar on my right side, from the skeletons. One of them took a jab and broke several ribs.

More scars and bruises, all telling a small part of my little "adventure." And after all that, my brain is probably the most harmed. I've seen so much, killed so many, heard and spoke terrible things. But I'm still here. Still fighting.

Maybe I have my common sense gone. Maybe I have a death wish. But for some reason, I just can't give up. I still keep fighting, despite all odds. No backing down, no quits.

I like that. Fighting for everlasting p--

A growl. Big one. Several.

I turn to the door. It's no longer there. Now there's brown freaks. Lots of brown freaks. They changed the scenery. Now they're going to rearrange me.

The two in front throw their balls of fire at me. I jump to the left, barely escaping the heat. I'm vulnerable, armor and weapons next to one of the toilet stalls. There's a shotgun protruding from my backpack. I grab it. They're getting too close.

I unload two shells. One is a bulls-eye, the other hits two shoulders from separate owners. They fall back, their comrades come forward. I aim lower, hit the chest of the closest. He's down, here comes the others. Shoot their chests, dead. Shoot the harmed ones, dead. Dodge fireball, aim, shoot.

Miss. Dammit.

That was the last shell it had. There's two of those brown spiky things left. Fisticuffs then. One of them gives a good swipe, but I've fought them before. Predictable. Punch it in the jaw, it's unconscious. Other one attempts a throw and then a slash. I duck, sidestep, kick it towards the sink. I move toward it in a dash, punch its throat. It's choking. I grab its leathery head and smash it into the sink. Blood is oozing from it. Smash it again. Now it's dead.

In a swift motion, I clean off my face, bleach the helmet, bleach the armor, and get my gear. Not before shooting the unconscious one in the head, didn't forget him. I get my Plasma Rifle out again, searching for any more extra ambushes outside the door. The room has also been changed. The cafeteria tables and chairs are now giant blood fountains in crimson red and mucus green colors. The bodies are gone, but not their extra bits of chunk that fell out. Any extra things I could have salvaged are now gone. Swell.

I check my overhead map. I've cleared about twenty percent of this sector. I just need to find the Demon's makeshift portal. Gotta avoid those other five healers. As long as they don't revive old dead, I'll be fine. Now to check supplies. Two stimpacks, about thirty shells in my belt. Those two clips will be used for the chaingun. Reload shotgun, recharge cell pack for the Plasma Rifle...

So far, so good. I've been making the best progress since I first met these things. Granted, I had more guns, but it seems I won't need more firepower. Yet. Now to advance ahead. Let's see...

Three more doors and a hallway. One door seems to locked by a keycard. Kitchen? The other door has a wide window next to it. It's the smoking section, for the cigar chewers. There might be some stuff in there. Last door is a broom closet, account of the sign. Covered in blood. Avoid that room.

From the window, it looks like some people were huddled in there fighting back whatever eventually killed them. It looks like they were chewed and mauled. The goat legged bastards, probably. Hold on, looks like the one guy in the front is clutching a gun. Is it...

Yes it is. Finally, some REAL buckshot. It's the infamous double barrel I can finally have again! Its power is three times more kickass, because of its new tech that allows the whole shell to be utilized, instead of being ejected. I must have, no, I NEED it. I open the door immediately--

A clawed fist. It hits me square in the chest. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Got careless, caught off guard. The armor absorbed most of the impact, but I got the wind punched outta me. I look up. It's a goat legged, pig faced, bull horned jackass. Its skin is a pale, milky white, its legs covered in fur. It's a damned monster. And it fucking punched me.

It stomps toward me, its eyes glaring. Its whole body language screams "I'm going to KILL you" as it rears its other claw, ready to gouge me open. I can't get up in time. I'm going to die.

Time seems to slow down. Its claw is reaching the climax of the swipe. Any moment, it will rain down death upon me. Except...

It sees something from its side.

Out of nowhere, three yellow pellets of...something...smash against its face and chest, melting the skin. It rears back, surprised by whoever just saved my bacon. I get my focus back and reach behind me for my shotgun. I pull it out of the backpack holster, aim and pull the trigger at the goat legged freak.

BOOM. Left shoulder gone.
BOOM. Right arm shredded.
BOOM. Face is torn in half.

Green blood spews from all the parts I just buckshot. It screams and howls in anger and pain. It barely clings to life as it still draws near. One last shot to the chest.

BOOM. Green confetti everywhere. Heh.

I sigh in relief. I slowly turn towards my savior. Another survivor, with an extra weapon maybe?

Nope. It's something completely different.





That's all I have for now! Leave a comment if wanting to. Thanks for your time!

Are my eyes playing tricks on me? I expected a battle-worn or partially injured space marine clad in green armor. What I'm seeing is...a short person, maybe four foot seven, in a blue and light blue bodysuit, with one arm as a cannon. And he's wearing a helmet, with some weird red ear phone dish things, and a small stripe leading towards the middle of his face. And his face...

He looks like a teenager. Fourteen, at best.

He walks up to me, the cannon arm aimed at the floor. His other arm, with a blue hand, is lending out. I look in his eyes. They're also a bright blue, shining with courage, bravery, kindness. He has a sort of aura around his demeanor, like I just felt a strong sense of justice.

The blue body suit boy asks me, "Are you alright sir?"

I hesitate for a minute, then lend out my shaking hand to him. He lifts me up with ease; stronger than he looks. As I stand upright to him, I realize that he really is about four foot seven. His head probably reaches past my ammo belt. His person says he's a teenager, but his body language says he's a veteran of combat. Who is this kid?

I decide not to speak yet, instead I let him look me over for a few minutes. He says to me, "You look pretty beaten up, sir. I think you might need medical attention. But before I can escort you, can you please tell me where we are? I've lost control of my teleportation."

I shake my head. "Sorry kid, there isn't any hospitals where we are now. And I'm not telling you anything until I get some answers."

I tense up, expecting some hostility from the blue boy. He looks up toward my helmeted face for a second, then steps back. "Fine," he says, "Go ahead."

He seems OK with it. "Alright, first question. Who are you and where did you come from?" I ask.

"I am an advanced robot, originally built to aid my creator, who I also see as my father. Some turn of events happened, so I asked him to reprogram me as a fighting robot. I ended up here minutes ago, when person of so called turn of events scrambled my teleportation system with a type of unstable gem." He finished speaking, putting his arms to his sides in a neutral stance.

Behind my helmet, I was stupefied. His whole story sounded like it was straight out of a cheesy super hero film. No way that load of bull was true, but I decided to indulge him in the oddness of the situation.

"You're a robot? Never seen one as advanced as you. You almost look human. Who is your creator?" I ask, with feigned interest.

"His name is Thomas Light, and he is one of the leading scientists in future robotics. Have you never heard of him? He's quite famous in Mega City," the blue boy says.

'Mega City?' Gimme a break. "I've never heard of him or that city. Are you just telling me locations out of an old comic book or something? Because I think you're pulling my leg."

The blue boy looks puzzled. He looks at the floor, probably in deep thought. He looks at me again.

"May I ask again where we are? And when?" He asks.

I think about it for a moment. I shrug; why not? He's been respectful so far. "We are in the Advanced Teleportation Sector of the UAC's Headquarters. Earth's headquarters anyway," I say.

He moves his head a little and squints.

"And," I added, "The year is 2148."

His eyes widen. "So that's it," he mumbles. He looks to the floor again for a minute, then looks up to me. "If what you're telling me is true, then that means I have traveled forward in time. Can you tell me if there was any kind of war with a doctor named Albert Wily? About a hundred or more years ago?"

As I hear this, I try to remember anything about the past century. Besides a few wars and some depressions, I've never heard of any incident about this man at all. His story is making less sense the more he goes in detail.

Of course, if he knew what the hell I was going through, he'd probably think I'm insane.

"Never heard of a Doctor Wily. Time travel seems a bit far fetched for you being here too. I'm gonna need your name kid, so I can find some way of getting you out of--"

I suddenly notice the growing loudness of a rumbling in the floor. The blue boy notices it too, and he raises his arm cannon at the ready. The floor below me starts cracking, convulsing. Aw hell, one of these again...

"What's going on?" Blue boy shouts above the noise, searching for the threat. I look to him, and then the smoke room. I doubt I could get the double barrel and get out quick enough. I'll have to get it later. I yell to him.

"Kid! Get over here! The room is changing!"

He hears me, and then surprises the sh*# out of me.

As the floor lowers and raises, he jumps, flips, slides and runs out of the oncoming danger of being squished. His agility astounds me. He makes a final leap and lands gracefully right next to me.

Who IS this kid?

I shake my head. More important things to do. "We need to move! That hallway on the far corner, that's our exit! Stay with me, kid!"

I run beside him, dodging oncoming debree and instant death from the bits of the floor colliding with the ceiling. We're getting close, but then the whole floor slowly rises up. I tense up, full of adrenaline. Fight or flight mode? Naw, I'm definitely choosing the third mode.

The FUCKING RUNNING FOR DEAR LIFE mode.

I grab the kid, he shouts in surprise. I heap him over my shoulder, and I go into overdrive. The muscles in my legs double time it, and I zoom towards the welcoming hallway at forty five miles an hour. All that extensive training, along with some trauma from the Demons, have made me into a super speedy space marine.

And then I tripped on a piece of floor. Swell.

I'm in the air, flying headfirst into the hallway. I slowly but surely angle myself and the kid to where I will meet the floor, taking most of the impact. Only know this kid for a few minutes, but I gotta keep him alive. Here comes the floor...

CRACK. There goes the air condition in my helmet.
WHUMP. Armor taking the brunt of the shoulder pain.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH. Back feels hot. So does my ass.

We stop about a couple dozen feet inside the hallway. I look to where we ran from. Nothing but uprooted floor. Probably can't get that weapon now. I look to the kid. He's a little shaken, but ok. I sit up, he separates himself from the bear hug I had to do in mid-air. I dust myself off. He does the same.

"Thanks for saving me. Could have given me a warning though," he says.

"We're even on that term," I grunted, stretching out my arm and shoulder.

"I've never seen a human run so fast like that. How did you do that?" He asks while checking his arms and feet.

"Months of training. And an old gene passed down from my family tree. We run like the wind," I answer with a little ego. Then I look to him again. "Wait, a 'human?' Why the disconnection?"

He looks to me and smiles. "I told you, I am a robot."

"I thought you were just telling me a story," I admit.

He looks at me with a small frown that spoke to me with a "Seriously?" tone of body language. I chuckle a little. I'm gonna have to believe him for now, because my story will be just as unbelievable if he asks me the question.

"Can you tell me what's going on here, sir?"

There it is.

"Alright," I start to say with my hand up to him, "I'm going to believe your story, but you probably won't believe mine. A few years ago, I was at Mars. The planet. I was set up on one of its moons, Phobos. The UAC, the corporation I mentioned earlier, were doing teleportation experiments up there, between Phobos and Deimos."

He nods to me, acknowledging what I've said so far. I continue. "So far, it was a cushy job for the marines up there. Boring, but cushy. But then something happens to Deimos. It disappears. Then, things started pouring out of the Phobos portal. Evil, unspeakable things. I'm not gonna lie to you, those things ended up killing nearly everyone or possessing the competent leftovers. I was the only one left."

I start to visibly shake in anger, frustration. "I had to go through the entire bases of Phobos, fighting off my friends, my coworkers, and the entity of pure evil that was the monsters that came from the teleport. I soon later learned that they were from another dimension. A dimension that closely resembles to Hell. So I call them Demons. I fought them, their leaders, and their Icon that they worship. This has lead me back to Earth."

I'm too livid to look up to the blue boy. "They had already taken most of the cities, the countries, continents. Armies fought and fell. I was the only one who knew how to stop them. And I did."

I punch the wall, knuckles white and burning. "But the UAC had done secret research under the earth in the middle of the Egyptian desert. They knew what was happening above, but their single mindedness kept them from truly caring. They thought they could utilize the negative energy that these Demons brought with them. But they ended up making another portal. Before the earth could even recuperate, they came back, hordes after hordes erupting from the portal and out of Egypt...

..slaughtering everyone in their path of Ultimate DOOM."

I slowly turn back to the blue boy. His face is full of worry, pity. I sigh. "That's why I'm here. This place has the only way I can teleport to their plane of existence. We are in the secret base. And there are Demons in the base." I get out my Plasma Rifle, checking the ammo count. "I must stop them. I must kill the Demons. I must fight."

The blue boy shakes his head. "What a terrible future this is," he exhales, slightly overwhelmed by the story. "To think this is what mankind has to go through. What YOU have to go through." He looks toward the other end of the hallway, my destination.

Then he looks back at me, with new-found vigor in his face and posture. "Sir, please let me help you. You don't need to go through this alone. I will aid in succeeding your mission to save humanity from this supernatural threat. It's the least I can do before finding a way back to my timeline."

He raises his arm cannon in determination. "After all," he says, "I am a fighting robot."

His fierce will gives me a little hope. For the first time, I laugh a good genuine laugh of relief. "Kid, I would really love some help. If you're that intent, I won't stop you. But I need something to call you. Got a name?"

His eyes brighten. "Just call me Mega Man."

"Alright Mega Man, I am Corporal Flynn Taggart, of the now dismissed Union Aerospace Corporation. I'll be your tour guide through this whole mess, so be sharp." I rest the Plasma Rifle on my shoulder and point towards the end of the hall. "This will be a learning experience for you. I hope you're up to par."

He gives a nod, and we both stroll towards our destination. I don't know how he'll do. The only thing I know about him is his agility, and that his arm cannon can melt the skin of one of the toughest Demons of the horde. Hopefully I'll get to see what he can REALLY do.

The hallway ahead opens up to a large room full of small cubicles, desks, heavily advanced computers. The lights above are dimmed, giving the room a creepy vibe. I flinch in disgust as I see yet another collection of dead bodies, torn stomachs, gouged eyeballs and brains scattered every which and where. The blue boy, Mega Man, gasps at the horror that we pass by, visibly unnerved by the violent deaths obscuring the otherwise typical work place.

Doors upon doors lead to several offices, some completely normal and others covered in blood and guts. The writing on the walls depict insanity, torment, torture, and never ending sorrow. I give this only a glance, already having been through most of the wall's miseries. But the blue boy is taken aback. Whatever combat he's been through, it probably hasn't been as bad as this.

"So much pain and suffering," Mega Man thinks aloud. He takes interest in a small cubicle with several small posters and cards. I watch him as he picks up one of the cards. It lights up, giving a small view of a 3D hologram of a woman dressed in summer clothes. "Hi Sam," she says happily, "Just wanted to give you a special message card saying happy birthday to you. I know you've been busy, but this card is to show that I and the children appreciate your hard work. Kids, come up to the camera!"

I walk up to him, still watching the card. There's a toddler and a young kid, perhaps nine, that show up on the hologram. The woman picks up the toddler and tickles him, all the while speaking. "I'm glad that you will be able to come see us this weekend, so we'll be able to enjoy some cake, even though it's a few days after your birthday. We all look forward to it, but in the meantime..." She shows the kids her fingers going three, two, one, "...Happy Birthday!" The kids say it along with her, and then they all make cute faces to the camera before the hologram shuts off.

The blue boy stares at the card, silent. "This man never got to see his family, did he?" He speaks up.

I don't say anything. It gets the point across.

"How could this corporation go this far? Do they have no shame? No regret?" He says louder, more angry.

I already know the feeling he's going through. Despite him being a robot, he has all the quirks and emotions of a fourteen year old boy. The man who put him together must have given a piece of his soul. I put a hand to the boy's shoulder. He looks up to me. Jeez, are those tears?

"Look," I say with a heavy heart,"This man thought he was doing the right thing, trying to change the world with the power of teleportation. At the end of the day, it's not just the corporation's fault. He, along with many others, was lead to believe that they could fix their mistakes. They should have never tried. The best we can do is avenge his death, by ending this."

Mega Man looks at me for a moment, before making a large sigh. "If I wasn't lost in time, I bet I could have prevented this from happening. My father could have built me to last for centuries, helping to keep mankind from destroying itself."

I give him a small nudge. "I'm sure you could, kid. But we need to focus on the here and now. Speaking of which..." I trailed off, looking for any lurking shadows.

"We're having good luck at the moment," I confirm. "I usually get ambushed regularly by now. Which means something's up. Keep your weapon handy." The blue boy takes one last look at the card before walking next to me to the next line of cubicles.

I check for any extra things I can salvage among the wrecked work space. Mega Man helps me after figuring out what I need. I shove over the trashed computer bits, finding a personal handgun with a clip that's compatible for my chaingun. He starts moving things around in the corner of my eye, shuffling things around. I look back to my pile of junk and useless tools, finding a flashlight with a small cell battery. Compatible with my Plasma Rifle, but might use it for dark spaces.

I hear a noise to where I saw the blue boy shuffling. I turn around, instinctively clutching my weapon for a quick draw. It's him, and he's holding something in his hand. I calm down, and then notice what it is; a small mechanical food compartment, almost completely untouched.

"Have you eaten recently, Mister Taggart?" He asks, opening the food compartment, revealing a small Styrofoam cup of mac n' cheese, along with a steak and mashed potatoes on a glass platter.

I grin behind my helmet. "No I haven't. Thanks a bunch for finding that. Keep it handy for now. I wanna find a safer place to eat." My stomach makes a huge reminder of how long I've had a good ol' American lunch. Then I add, "And just call me Flynn."

"OK then," blue boy agrees. He shuts the compartment and puts it under his left arm.

We start heading for the next cubicle, before hearing a low growl on the other end of the room. It's a distinct growl I've heard before, and it's one of my least favorite. I start hearing more growls as I look over to Mega Man. He's got his right arm aimed towards the sound, a cannon at the end of it. "OK tour guide, what's that pig snorting belong to?" he asks.

Suddenly, the cubicles surrounding us are shredded and chewed apart. I catch a glimpse of the all too familiar ugly mugs of the horde.

It's the damn pinkies.

"Keep your distance! Fire at their mouths!" I shout at him, aiming my gun at the nearest threat. One comes furiously towards me, it's gleaming yellow eyes shining in the dim light. Its mouth is as big as I remember, with bullhorns to match. Powerful long arms try to get a grab on me so it can chew my face.

"Chew on this," I whisper, and pull the trigger.

Wave after wave of plasma bolts burn and molten the oncoming ambush of fleshy pink monsters. I catch a glimpse of Mega Man firing his cannon at several pinkies, killing them clean in one or two shots to the upper roof of their giant maws. I get close to him, putting my back against his.

"How many left on your side?" I shout between firing.

PEW PEW. "Eight or nine! Yours?" He shouts back.

FWOOSH. "About six!" FWOOSH. SNORT. GURGLE. "I mean five!"

PEW PEW. "Good progress!" PEW PEW PEW. "I'm down to seven!"

"Alright!" FWOOSH. "Keep going!"

I melt another pinky before checking my ammo count. I need to reload another cell pack. Can't be fast enough to do it. I put it to the floor, and reach out to my other holster on my backpack.

The one with the chaingun.

With a small effort, I whip it to the front, and spin it for a good warmup. It whirls to the optimal speed, and I fire away. Bullets spray outward like fireworks, penetrating the faces of the angry mob of Demon scum. One by one, they fall over one another, making wet thuds on the ground as they mindlessly try to kill me. I can't help but make a satisfied grin as I fire the last onslaught of lead into the last pinky. I sweat from tension, exhaustion, my eye's becoming blurred from the droplets falling down my brow.

I don't have air condition in my helmet now. Swell.

I look to Mega Man. His arm cannon is now to his side, and he makes a big "Phew!" from the intense ambush. I notice all the pinkies he had killed were still intact, save for the open holes in their mouths and foreheads. I can see that he tries to end the fight quickly and efficiently. On my side, the pinkies are either burnt to a crisp or full of holes. I gotta admit, I'm pretty brutal.

"I call these things pinkies," I say aloud, putting fresh clips into the chaingun. "They're like bipedal bulls that never stop. Best dealt with via long range. Keeps 'em from chomping off your head."

Mega Man makes a frown. "I don't like them."

I chuckle. "Likewise."

We head into one of the offices after picking up my Plasma Rifle. I take the food compartment from blue boy and get ready to eat. I leave my shotgun on the desk, just in case something interrupts my meal. I take off my helmet, seeing Mega Man wince from the scars on my head. I take it in stride.

Then, the blue boy stares at my backpack holstered on the mobile chair I'm using. "How many guns do you have anyway?" he asks me.

"Four," I answer between munches of the steak. "Use to have eight."

His eyes widen in surprise. "How do you carry all that stuff?"

I stop chewing for a moment. "All the weapons of today are made of a lightweight but highly durable metal. They only weigh a few pounds each. Their ammunition are a few ounces. The only thing I have trouble with is finding space to put them in my backpack."

I start going for the mashed potatoes. "What about you? What's up with the giant cannon for an arm?" I ask.

Mega Man stares at his right arm. "It's called the Mega Buster. It's my go-to weapon for nearly all forms of combat. Super heated plasma, along with solar energy, is what it fires. It seems pretty effective against those..erm..Demons."

"But besides that," he continues, "I have a very special upgrade called the Variable Weapon System. My father, along with Doctor Wily, are the only scientists who know how it works. It allows me to copy an ability or attribute of another robot, or even a weapon."

I stop chewing for a minute. "Howzit work?" I ask with food in my mouth.

Blue boy smiles. "It's a mystery to me, but from what I can understand of it, I manipulate the atoms of the energy I gather to form the weapon. It has limited use though, unlike my Mega Buster, which I can use indefinitely. I get it simply by absorbing or touching the target."

I've never heard of anything so hi-tech. It almost sounds like magic to me. My chewing is slowed down as I develop an idea. I swallow my food before asking him, "Can you copy this shotgun's power?"

I point towards the pump-action twelve gauge laying on the desk, intent on seeing how his absorbing thingy worked. Mega Man agrees with a small nod, and reaches out with his left hand. He holds his breath, and opens his hand wide.

The shotgun starts to glow brightly, before several small orbs of pure white flow from it and into the blue boy's stretched out hand. The stripe on his forehead blinks twice. "It worked," he breathed.

I blink in surprise as his body shifts in color. His forearms, helmet, feet and his...safety shorts?...all change into a gritty blackish grey. His shoulders, chest and legs change into a wood-finish brown. I realize that not only did he absorb the weapon, but its color scheme. He then switches back to his blue and light blue in a small BLIP of a second.

"Cool," was all I could get from my brain.

Mega Man makes a small chuckle. "Apparently, the name I got from the shotgun is 'Buckshot Buddy.' It's kind of catchy."

I make a small grin. "At least it wasn't 'Winchester Ester.'"

A pause.

"Sorry," blue boy deadpans, "But that was just BAD."

After a few more minutes of small talk, I finish my meal, put my helmet back on, grab my shotgun, and leave the office. I check my overhead map again, discovering I've been making some decent progress. There were four different locations we could go; we could check out more of the workspace we were currently in, investigate the small teleportation tests residing near our position, or check out the dual rooms ahead.

"The teleportation testing rooms may lead toward the main teleporter you're looking for," advises Mega Man.

"Probably," I quipped, "But it's never that easy. The Demons can manipulate reality to change it into distorted, abstract spaces. They can also lock doors with magic skulls, like key cards."

"They also have some control of teleportation," I add. "Seven times outta ten, it works. Other times, it backfires against them. You'll know when it backfires."

The vagueness of my response to the Demon teleporting has blue boy raising an eyebrow. He shrugs after a few moments then asks, "Want to see of there's more stuff in the work space?"

I shake my head. "No longer a good idea. Those pink bastards always come back in swarms with the spiky brown freaks if I kill the first wave. Our best bet is to see what's in the two rooms ahead."

"Spiky brown freaks?" Mega Man repeats.

"Yeah. Seven foot, leather skin. Spikes on their shoulders, elbows, kneecaps. Throws fire," I say nonchalantly before adding, "I hate fire."

We cautiously step around the scattered computer parts and maim-able debree, slowly seeing the two large steel doors ahead. As we approach, I notice the doors are covered in long, disgusting organs. They wrap around the doors like snakes on a victim, seemingly squeezing the steel. Old experiences tell me it's a warning for intruders, but it also may mean hidden goodies for me to indulge.

I push the door's opening sensor, getting no response. It doesn't have a key card requirement, which means it's locked by a security switch. And THAT means the Demons have hidden it somewhere.

"Mega Man," I say to blue boy. "We need to find a lever or a button. It's somewhere nearby."

He gives a nod. "OK, I'll search over here." He points to the far left wall that's covered in more debree and some dead bodies. With a slight grimace, he gently moves the bodies to the floor before making a clearing. I turn to the wall on the right, noticing a small door hidden behind some cubicles. Where did that come from? It wasn't on the overhead map.

I look back over to where blue boy was searching, but he's too far in the debree for me to see him. Despite the obvious fact that I could fall into a trap, I decide to go see what this door was hiding. I load a fresh cell into the Plasma Rifle and push the opening sensor.

The door opens, and it is pitch black on the other side. I remember the flashlight I found earlier, and reach to my ammo belt where I stored it. I would have to put my gun to my side, resorting to inaccurate hip firing if I wanted to see what I might have to kill.

I click the flashlight on, and it illuminates the interior of the separate side of the door. From what I can see, it looks like a small room riddled with holes and chunks of body parts. I make an annoyed grunt of only finding a makeshift 'food storage' for the Demons before noticing a small glow to the inner wall.

It's a button.

I make a surprised "Oh!" before I turn back to where Mega Man had been searching. Most of the debree he had gone through was pushed aside enough to where I could see him. I wave to him to catch his attention. He sees me.

"Hey Flynn!" He shouts. "I think I found it!" His left hand is clutching a lever...

A lever that looks WAY too suspiciously like the opening of...

"Wait! Don't pull it--"

CLANK!

...Shit.

The message goes unheard as blue boy pushes down the lever before his face shows a little fear. Next to him, the wall crumbles and folds, revealing growling, roaring surprises just waiting to 'meet their savior.'

He just activated a trap, from a fake switch.

That's REAL FUCKING SWELL.

"Run away! NOW!" I shout. He sees what he has just done, and complies immediately. I turn back to the small dark room and smash the button down with my fist. The dual doors rise up slowly, crushing the organs tangling them. They open to reveal a security stop and another set of dual doors. In the oncoming panic, I see another button just on the other side of the doors. I dash to it and press it quickly.

Now the doors have changed their course. They fall back down slowly, ready to lock in place again. I look to Mega Man's direction; he's fighting them off with his newly acquired ability, his colors the black and brown from before. He fires off several shots of imitated buckshot, slowing them down some, but not enough.

"Mega! C'MON!"

I shout as loudly as possible before firing a parade of blue plasma bolts into the horde. In the midst of smoke, I notice that the horde from the trap consist of goat-legged freaks, pinkies, spiky brown things and...

Oh no.

Three large, obese monstrosities slam their way against their falling comrades. They stand ten feet tall, and twenty feet wide of pure, unadulterated blobs of fat. Their tiny heads with beady green eyes stare intently, their arms at their sides, cannons as hands.

Those cannons emit fire.

I hate fire.

In my constant reminder of things I hate, my blood begins to boil. With a shuffle of my arms, I aim the trusty Plasma Rifle at the blobs. I fire away, screaming out of pure anger. Layers upon layers of skin and fat melt away as the the first blob gurgles, chokes and falls over with a sopping wet thud.

I feel a little better now.

I shake my head, returning back to sanity. Where's blue boy? I look back to the other side of the closing dual doors. He's there, still firing, waiting for me. Wordlessly, I oblige, and crawl under the door just as they shut out the Demon scum.

They scream, howl, and bang against the door, their efforts in vain. Blue boy looks to me with worry. "Relax," I say, "They can't get through for a good while. These doors are a solid thirty inches of reinforced steel."

"We can take a breather then," he says, transforming back to his blue and light blue.

"Yep," I say. Shakily, I slump against the wall, all my muscles aching. It'll take days for my body to heal. The food blue boy found helped with my energy and hunger, but I might need something to speed up the healing process a bit. I take my backpack out from behind me. Time to check my stuff.

I've used two cells for my Plasma Rifle, and now I'm down to the last, not counting the one in the flashlight. I'm also down to one clip of the chaingun. I'll have to resort to my shotgun, as I still have at least twenty seven shells for lethal damage. If only I could have gotten the double barrel...

Sighing, I put my used weapons inside the backpack and put the shotgun on the holster. I then notice I still have two stimpacks left. Might as well use one. I look up to Mega Man. He's walking up towards me, wondering what I'm doing.

"Are you alright, Flynn?" He asks.

"I could be better," I admit. "So I'm going to use something that can help with that." I lift out a small syringe from the backpack to show him what I mean.

He makes a small frown. "Drugs? I'm hoping it's legal."

I chuckle a bit. "Don't worry. It's standard medicine actually. This IS the future for you, after all. Might as well show you the advances of Medical Science."

His frown lessons, but now I've piqued his interest. I take the syringe to my arm. I put it up to the skin, and press the little button on the side. It fires like a small gun, instantly going into my blood stream and then back out, used up.

"Quick and clean. No mess," I say.

Then, my body starts to slightly vibrate. My chest feels stronger, my shoulders no longer ache, and my legs feel fantastic. Mega Man notices the vibration from my body. "What's going on?" He asks.

"Nanobots," I smile, "Repairing muscle tissue, bones, replenishing blood cells, you name it. It also gives a small shot of adrenaline for later use if I'm in the middle of combat. After the nanobots fix you up, they enter your stomach where they can be removed naturally. I'm currently using the weaker brand."

His frown his gone, and is now replaced with curiosity. "How do you feel?"

"All in all, about ten percent better," I reply. "We can get moving in a couple minutes. I wanna see what's behind those doors before the Demons decide to teleport in here."

His eyes are now full of activity. "Do you have any more of those syringes? I would really like to know how they work. Maybe I can show them to my father, and maybe he could make them even more helpful for the future."

A skeptic look crosses my face. "You're awfully confident in the belief that you can go back. You might want to make a plan B if something goes wrong."

Blue boy makes a smile, clutching his fist in perseverance. "I'll find a way somehow, Flynn. I never give up when I put my mind to it. It's what makes me special from other robots." He gives me a thumbs up. "I fight for the people who can't fight back. I fight for the justice of robots and humans alike."

His eyes shine. "I fight for everlasting p--"

A large clang from the other side of the door vibrates my eardrums. It soon is followed by more clangs and large WHUMPS, causing alarm for Mega Man. Despite the near three feet of thick steel, the door is slowly being pushed outward. I clutch my shotgun and zip my backpack up, rising from the floor.

"Looks like they're too eager to use teleportation yet," I grunt. "Time to see what the other doors have in store."

With a nod, blue boy goes to the other side of the room and presses the button. The doors slowly rise up, taking their sweet time revealing the other side. I aim my shotgun out the doors, prepared for another ambush.

My aim falters. I am stunned.

Rows and rows of beds, wall desks, PDAs, and laptops. They seem to go on forever. I can't even see the ceiling. My mouth drops from the sheer magnitude of disbelief. There were probably thousands of beds here, all for the remaining scientists to use when they were tuckered out. What I've been exploring, I wasn't even expecting THIS many people here.

Which means I've only scratched the surface of this secret headquarters. Swell.

I look over to Mega Man. He's impressed by the sight of it. We exit the security stop, and shut the doors behind us, all the while mesmerized. "This.." he breaths, "is amazing. There weren't even that many cubicles to match the amount of beds here! Are we only in a small section of this place? Astonishing..."

My guard is down, but I'm too flabbergasted to care. The UAC was really putting in all their efforts to fix this mistake they made. Tens of thousands of scientists conversing, testing, theorizing everyday, trying to find the perfect method of saving the world with a resounding "Eureka!"

Too bad it didn't happen.

I walk to the nearest bed and take a look at the PDA on the wall desk. It's still intact, despite the circumstances in the Demon infested hell hole. A grin spreads across my face as I skim into it and discover a neat app; A downloadable map of the base for combat helmets! Oddly specific and convenient. Meh, I'm not complaining. I transfer the data to my helmet, and it makes a small BEEP of completion. Just turn on the overhead map and--

Woah.

"Mega Man," I gasp. "Take a look at this."

Alright Doomers! I've got an update for you.

I will be writing up on the story a bit more before posting chapters. I need to work ahead on it while balancing life and work. In the meantime, please feel free to comment on the story, and see if you can depict the Doom Items and Monsters. Also, if you're an artist, I'd love to see some Mega Man and Doomguy fighting back to back in the cubicle scene. (Might be asking a bit much on that last one.)

Thank you!

I activate my helmet's 3D visual screen and aim it to the floor for blue boy to see. He stares at it, his eyes growing wider the more he sees it. The room we were in was indeed massive, covering at least ten miles across length and width. The rooms I went through were like tiny blocks compared to the living quarters. There were three other sets of dual doors, each at the other walls of the squarish room. They led to more cubicles, teleport test chambers, lunchrooms, bathrooms...

"It's almost like a city down here," blue boy announces. "They prepared for the worst before they even knew what they were doing. Food, power, water, all funded and supplied here for who knows how long...instead of being funded to the poor countries of Africa, where it would have been needed most."

"Damn right," I agree. "The UAC is the big daddy of operations. No way they were going to share their spoils to anyone they deemed beneath them. United or not, they were corrupt; it took years for people to realize that."

Mega Man shakes his head. "Well, like you said, the only thing I can do now is help you end this. We need to find out which one of the other sets of workplaces lead toward the main teleport chamber."

"Right," I reply. "Let's start on the east wing. Here, grab my arm."

I lend out my left hand to him, seeing him confused. "What are you doing?" He asks.

"I'm asking for consent before sprinting like a madman this time," I say casually. "I'm gonna have you piggy back."

Blue boy gives me a look. "Seriously?"

I nod, holding back a snort of laughter. "Don't worry, we'll be at those doors in no time. Now hurry up, I don't wanna be ambushed anytime soon."

Reluctantly, he grabs my arm. With one quick motion, I heave him up over my shoulders, my backpack a seat for him while he keeps his balance. I flex my muscles, then make a dash to the nearest dual doors. It doesn't take too long to get there, what with my powerful legs going at forty- something miles an hour.

The doors come into view ahead, and I slow my pace. Blue boy hops off of me and checks the area for the lock button. I stretch my legs and feet for a minute before joining him. The button is on the left side. I press it, un-holstering my shotgun and prepping it for combat.

The doors open. Another security stop. But this one's different...

I recall that the last one had the walls and floor almost completely white with small lights filling the room. This one has the walls a strange blue and green, the blue being carpet. "Odd..." I think out-loud.

"The other lock is over here. I'll push it when you're ready, Flynn." Mega Man has his cannon aimed at the door, his other arm hovering over the button. I take one more look at the carpet, feeling like I've seen it before, but I just can't remember where. I shrug; it's probably not important, have more things to worry about.

"Press it," I say.

My mind trails off as the doors open. So far, I haven't gotten any real problems with ambushes, besides the kitchen incident. Glad the blue boy showed up when he did, otherwise I'd be toast. We never did get to explore the sector we came from, because most of it was either booby trapped or filled with Demons.

Its been much easier to cope with my mission, having finally someone to talk to other than mumbling idiots, chanting voices in my head, or any other form of insanity. My confidence is definitely up, and I feel a sort of brotherly bond to this kid. And the strangest part is, he's a robot.

I guess the line between man and machine is blurred where he came from, but something tells me it isn't from this universe's past. I think he's from another Earth, another past, another fight.

I wonder if he has figured that out himself.

I blink back to the present as I see the doors finally open. The cubicle area here is different too; there's a small set of stairs leading toward a large table with graphs, a hologram, and sets of PDAs. Cubicles are surrounding this area, along with more dead bodies and mutilated limbs.

Most of the lights are broken, either from stray bullets or melted and clawed by Demons to give the element of surprise. Bullets means ammo, which means I can probably salvage some here.

"Mega Man, let's find some things for later use. Keep your guard up," I remind him. He nods, and goes from cubicle to cubicle to check for stuff. I head nearby towards the cubicles surrounding the table, keeping my shotgun at the ready.

Sets of blue bottles surround the table as I get into view. "These things..." I mumble. For whatever reason, I'm always coming across these bottles filled with a mysterious liquid. It tastes great and all, but it's weird. They make me feel better, and my wounds clear out, but I never found out what they do if I drink them when I'm perfectly healthy.

I hear the familiar footsteps of Mega Man behind me. I look to him, seeing him clutching a handful of clips compatible for my chaingun. He's also carrying another blue bottle. "Hey Flynn, what are these?" He asks.

"Beats me," I say, "But I drink 'em because they have a healing quality similar to my stimpacks. It's not nanobots though. You're welcome to sip them. Might do something different for a robot."

He hands me the clips, and I put them in the backpack. He looks at the bottle with focus. "My sensors detect some form of atomic manipulation. It seems harmless, but I'll just have a small portion. Just in case."

He takes it up to his mouth and slurps the tiniest sip I've ever seen. Wow. So cautious.

His eyes close, and he slows his breathing. I feel a little foolish for telling him to try it. It might end up doing something to his inner systems, or make him malfunction, or--

"Holy Guacamole! This stuff is GREAT!"

...Or it could be robot caffeine.

"This stuff just made my energy reserves sky rocket to maximum! I feel like I just hopped out fresh from Doctor Light's workshop! And it was just a sip!" He's practically jumping around the workplace, laughing excitedly and dancing like a loon. Amidst the craziness, he spills the liquid on the floor, flowing towards the stairs.

"Aw man," he says, defeated.

I guffaw for a good two minutes.

"Don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from." I slowly sidestep next to him, showing the blue bottles next to the table. His attitude changes back to crazy happy, but with less crazy.

"Do you mind storing a few of those in your backpack? I could probably use them if I ever get hurt. Those things are like E-Tanks on steroids!" Mega Man announces.

"E-Tank?" I ask.

"Oh, right." He calms down, a little embarrassed. "Energy Tanks. I use them to refill my energy reserves and keep me going. Kind of like a pick-me-up for robots."

Yep. Robot caffeine.

"I'll be sure to stock some for you," I assure him. "In the meantime, use that boost to help me salvage more things before we get moving. Oh, and keep your weapon ready."

He nods, and starts looking again. In the couple of minutes we spent searching, he managed to find a box of shells and a shotgun in a makeshift shelter made of cubicle wall pieces. The scientist's remains were scattered across the ceiling, smeared with blood. I give blue boy a thanks, and then we head towards the telportation chamber doors.

We get into view in a matter of minutes, and it is BIG. The door is a standard ten-foot steel card-locked entry. It needs a red card.

"Damnit," I curse under my breath. Mega Man looks to me, and I respond more clear. "This proves my point from before. Key cards are something that used to be abundant around the UAC. Ever since the Demons have swarmed over, they eliminate almost every way of entering prohibited areas."

"Almost?" Blue boy asks.

I motion to him to follow me to the cafeteria before speaking. "They leave key cards in places where they can form an ambush. I've been almost killed dozens of times. My least favorite experience of it was in a base that was completely morphed. So many tricks and traps..." My mind flashes back to a room full of goat legged freaks, and the giant cybernetic monster with a gun as big as a car--

I shake my head a little. "They do the same thing with their magic skull keys. It's like a mocking torture for me to dare to move forward. But they're not mocking now." My brow lowers, I clench my teeth. "They realize how huge a threat I am. I have a feeling that this keycard is going to be hell to get. Trust me on that."

The hall leading to the cafeteria was smaller too. It was only about a good twenty feet before a doorway opened up to it. And it also had a blue carpet. The more I looked at it, the more familiar it seemed. The demons had not morphed this area yet, although there was still bodies and signs of fighting.

All the scientists had backed up to a wall before they were slaughtered. The bathroom's automatic door had been torn out, and I could see heaps of organs, limbs, heads, and chests piled high with blood seeping into the carpet. Looks like that bathroom isn't as clean as the one I was at before.

"I don't like having to see all this," blue boy breathed heavily. "If I could vomit, my stomach would be dry-heaving by now."

My eyes look back and forth in the room. "I've seen worse. And you just might see it too."

"What do you mean?" He asks.

I don't look at him. I keep my focus on studying the room. "Their reality is chaotic. Abstract. It's enough to make a man lose himself. I did once, but something inside me told me that I need to get up and fight."

I see what I'm looking for. I walk to it, still speaking to him. "In order for me to stop them, I need to close whatever portal they took over, and it will be on their side. You will need to prepare yourself when we get to that point. But for right now..."

I stop short in front of what I see. It is indeed a key card, bright red and blinking. Sitting on top of a pedestal that's out of place for a cafeteria. I open my satchel on the left side of my ammo belt; the place where I keep my cards.

"Mega Man. Get your weapons ready. I'm about to open up a wasps' nest."

"What's a nest doing in the middle of a secret base?"

"...Seriously?" I manage a small grin.

"Just thought to de-stress the situation."

I pluck the key card and pull out my shotgun, ready for anything. Sure enough, the floor and walls started to shift as soon as the card left the pedestal. Blue boy gets close to me, shifting his colors to the blackish grey and brown.

The floor around us shifts up to small steps, and morphs into hexagonal floor pieces. The carpet beneath me is still intact, but I realize what is going on in my surroundings. The ceiling rises and lowers in certain places, columns form around us, and another room starts to appear...

There is a large staircase leading up towards another pedestal, and there are cube-like power generators glimmering and humming on both sides of the foot of the stairs.

Now I remember the blue carpet.

Remnants of the room before lay astray as broken tables, unfinished food and bloody messes. But despite all that, this room is now a crude reminder of the beginning of my mental and physical torture.

"What is this place?" Blue boy whispers behind me.

Flashes of panic and anxiety wash over me for just a second before being boiled by frustration. Behind my helmet my face is wrinkled with old, horrible memories. Vivid, awful bits of violence, fear, and desperation cloud my mind from the trip down memory lane.

"Flynn? Are you--"

"The Hangar." My voice echoes loudly as though my helmet wasn't even there. "It was changed. Like everything else at Phobos. It wasn't a hangar anymore. It was a distorted nightmare."

I feel my legs walking towards the flight of stairs in the next room. I can't tell if I'm walking, or...something is making me.

"This is the first room I ever encountered them. Their influence." I see Mega Man walk next to me, still alert.

I solemnly walk up the stairs, still speaking. "There was armor up on this pedestal. It was a sign of hope, guarded by my fellow marines. They were possessed, no longer in control of their actions. I had to kill them. It was awful."

The pedestal was empty. The windows surrounding it led to a dark, foreboding red sky.

"I had to learn pretty quick what I needed to do to survive." I pause, choking back suppressed emotions. "I was use to it faster than I thought I would be. But it still is hard to live with. It was easier when I discovered what I was fighting."

I walk up to the pedestal, where the combat armor use to sit, awaiting some person to try to get it. It was such a long time ago, I had almost forgotten it. Absent minded, I reach out to the empty spot to feel it.

A sudden pair of milky white legs appear in my face.

Time seems to slow down as I realize just what the legs belong to. I attempt to grab my shotgun, but it's already too late. Fire surrounds me, the burning and crackling sensation overwhelms my body. The creature, tall and lanky, an ugly grin, beady eyes, chortling as it clasps its hands together.

I hate fire.

My feet leave the floor as the conjured magic thrusts me off the ground. Despite the armor I'm wearing, I can feel my whole body in agony. My arms feel like they're slowly turning into bacon, my legs are like the start of a steaming pot-roast. I can't move; it hurts too much. Where's blue boy...

I try as hard as I can to brace for the floor's harsh greeting, but it will be in vain. The impact may end up breaking my ribs or back, maybe even my head. If I die, I'm gonna be pissed that I got ended by a cheap shot from the stalking healer.

I close my eyes, ready for the oncoming pain.

WHUMP.

...What? That wasn't the floor. Did blue boy...

I open my eyes. I see the kid's face stare at me for the briefest moment before turning to where I came from. He aims his right arm, his cannon, at the Demon who jumped me. Buckshot explodes from his weapon unrelentingly as he aims at the monster's chest at the top of the stairs.

Despite myself being in great pain, I force myself to look over to the healer. It gets barraged by buckshot, flinching more and more as its tough skin falters. As Mega Man fires, he backs up slowly to get behind one of the generators. His arm stops firing, and he switches back to his normal colors.

"How bad are you hurt?" He asks quickly, firing at the healer with his Mega Buster.

"Bad," I manage to say above the gunfire. I don't know if he's hitting the monster yet, so I painfully get to my back pack. The shotgun was slightly scorched, but everything inside was intact. Thank goodness. I take out the last stimpack I have, and inject it. My skin starts to repair from the nanobots, then my muscles...

It's not enough. It's only the weaker brand, so it can only do so much. I can feel my adrenaline pumping, giving me just enough energy to lift myself up. Blue boy is still firing, but now that I can see, he's not hitting most of his shots. The damn healer is fast, dodging every ball of plasma coming at him.

"This thing is quick! Flynn, we may need to retreat! I'll see if I can find some medical--"

I tap his shoulder. His head turns to see me grasping my shotgun. My helmet hides my pissed-off mug. I use my free hand to gently push him aside, and I climb the stairs. The tall lanky monster sees me coming, and gets ready to conjure another fire spell. I aim at his head.

"I..." first shot hits the neck.

"HATE..." second shot gets the left eye and ear.

"FIRE!" third shot to the cranium, fourth shot to the other eye, fifth shot to the mouth, sixth shot to the mouth again.

It falls, no sound but the thud.

I have an update.

I will not be able to post chapters until the beginning of February. I recently got smacked with the flu, and I'm taking caution to keep others from getting sick. Also, I've been sticking to more Doom gameplay to satisfy my boredom rather than writing. (Whoops.)

I'll be writing more around Feb. Best of luck to you guys if you got the flu.

I take deep breaths. Part of me wants to go and smash the body over and over. But I have to keep my composure. I need to calm down, and get through this stupid trap. I turn to blue boy; his mouth is agape, his posture is disbelieved. I walk down to him and sit on the bottom of the steps. I wait for him to speak.

"Wha...Whe..Where did THAT come from?" Blue boy stammers.

I reload the shotgun. "It surprised me. It pissed me off. I killed it," I say nonchalantly.

"That was utterly overdoing it. No offense, but I hope you're not like this around people," he says to me worriedly.

"You know," I begin, "I used to be. People around where I lived and where I worked got on my nerves. But they were just flies compared to these things. It'll probably take me months, maybe even years to get used to a normal life again. But hey, at least I feel better every time I blast away a Demon."

"Perhaps so." Mega Man's face tenses a little. "But if your anger is too much to suppress, there won't be a monster to shoot, or a zombie to fight. Military or Police work might not be best for you until you can control your temper. I'm suggesting to you politely to give it a rest after all this."

Another good laugh escapes my lips. "Trust me, resting is all I want to do when I finish the job. I'll take your suggestion as a yes; I've already seen enough death. But what made you think that I wanted to be military?"

He lends his hand to me, and I take it. "You have good knowledge of warfare," he says. "You can probably teach future soldiers how to fight with all the skills you've acquired from your long trek to stop this supernatural force."

"I probably could, but I wouldn't want others to experience what I'm going through," I admit.

I get up slowly with blue boy's aid, still feeling the sting of the burns on my forearms and legs. The armor I'm wearing is almost completely useless now; I'll have to find a replacement. I take out my backpack and grab a few of the blue bottles collected from the work space. I motion to blue boy to come and help me.

"I'm gonna need you to pour this stuff on my back. A direct splash of this is more potent than drinking it. I'll be pouring some on my arms to heal the burns. We need to do this quickly before another healer shows up." I hand him two bottles.

Mega Man asks me while pouring, "Why do you call it a healer? It looks like it does the complete opposite."

I wince from the extra sting of the liquid hitting my bare back. "It resurrects any Demons I kill, making them extremely annoying. I have to fight whatever they bring back."

"Yikes," blue boy agrees. "Kind of reminds me of a certain doctor I know."

I keep my focus on my arms, but ask him, "Really? Who?"

I notice some hesitation before he answers again. "Doctor Wily. He used to be my father's best friend, but his jealousy grew into something horrible. I've been at war with him for a while. He always makes robots that I have to fight, then remakes them to make me fight again."

There is some sadness to his story. "That sounds awful. I'm guessing you don't want to kill the bastard, do you?"

He stops applying the liquid for a moment. I think I may have pushed a bit too far. I turn to him, seeing his face mixed with anger and regret.

"To be honest," blue boy begins, "I almost did. Despite the fact that robots aren't aloud to kill humans, I had aimed my weapon straight at him. I knew it was against my code, but I kept wanting just to end it. Only by sheer luck did he manage to escape, and I managed to control myself. But since then, I've always felt awful about it."

Again with the human-like feelings. This blue robot may be the culmination of man and machine, without the biological half. Amazing, yet sad at the same time. I wish there was something I could do for this kid, but all I'm doing is asking HIM favors. I've got to make it up to him.

"You made the right choice," I spoke aloud. His eyes look up to me with a query. "You proved to yourself you were better than that. You only fight because you must. You don't fight to murder, but to protect your family. Your friends. You fight for the justice of robots and humans alike. And now you're helping me to fight for the future."

A familiar spark in his eyes twinkle, just like when I first met him.

"You fight for everlasting peace, Mega Man. Something I've been fighting for since I've been here. All this time, I want to give up. But I never do."

We head out of the room and enter the hall to our left.

"I always pick myself up, telling my inner nerve to never go out. Keeping my sanity in check. With you here, I've got a nice wake up call. I can do this. We... can do this."

A large steel door emerges within our view. It's the first door I've ever went through in this terrible adventure.

"I'm ready to end this. How about you?" I smile behind my helmet. I wonder if he knows I'm smiling.

Blue boy gives me a nod, and a fierce attitude. "I'm ready too, Flynn."

I push the sensor panel, expecting to see another part of my past. Instead, it leads back into the large temporary housing. I clench my teeth; we took too long to get the card, and now there are Demons swarming the room. We'll have to re-enter the work space we came from. They hear the mechanical whine of the door, and turn to our vicinity.

Packs of pinkies, brown spiky freaks, goat legged behemoths and skeletons take a good look at me. Their hideous faces are all too non- comforting as they shift their movement directly toward me. My shotgun won't be enough to fight them off, and I don't see a clear space we can retreat. Blue boy's weapon can probably end most of them, but will it be enough?

As I try to form a plan in my head, Mega Man walks forward. I start to open my mouth to shout what the hell he's doing, but I notice a change. He begins to light up; energy from the air seems to vacuum towards him. His whole body begins emitting light, forming a sound like the beginning of a...

....charge. He's going to---

"SUPER..." The sudden loudness of his voice makes me wince for a second. I take this as a message that I should back away and crouch down.

"MEGA..." His second word gives me another clue of what he's about to unleash. I know what the last word is, but I can't help but feel like it's a tad cheesy.

"BUSTER!" Meh. To each their own.

A deafening sound emerges from his arm cannon followed by the largest blast of plasma I've ever seen. Even bigger than the biggest gun I've ever owned could fire. He had aimed it at a large pack of some of the pinkies and skeletons. There are at least two dozen of each in the trajectory of the blast.

It hits.

What I could only explain to be an explosion, it seemed that the shot had completely eliminated all forms of life and sent the rest of it flying. I feel a pushing wind from the effect of the weapon, despite me being a good twenty yards away. The sudden beginning and end of Mega Man's charged up arm cannon had swayed and confused the horde expecting a victory from their ambush.

This kid is fucking scary sometimes.

"There's our opening, Flynn! Let's go!" He shouts.

I blink back to reality. "Right. Fire and flee!"

I raise the shotgun's barrel to my side, pulling the trigger as we sprint through the infested hallway of beds. I'm right beside blue boy, firing at any freaks that get too close as we zig-zag our way into the confused Demon ambush. He shoots the skeletons at their heads and shoulder-hold launchers, ending them almost immediately. I kick and shoot any of the spiky brown freaks that try to claw or burn.

I can feel the intense heat from the fire and plasma in the air, and hear the constant growls and roars of the Demons as the they fall. Another grin passes across my face hidden behind my helmet; every buckshot to the head sends me great pleasure to see these things gone and dead.

It's almost too much fun.

I shake my head. Not going to go any further down that road again. I try to distract myself by checking the map. The work-space we need to get to is to our left at the end of this lane of beds. The blast from the past had sent us nearly opposite the direction of where we were headed when we got the key card. There's probably a bunch of hellspawn that are waiting in front of the security door, which means Mega Man might have to do another one of his 'Super Mega' whatever scary awesome thing he did.

I click the map off quick enough to see a pinkie charging at me with its mouth wide open. With a flick of my arm, I swing the shotgun's butt into its eye, stunning and infuriating it. Another flick and I shoot it directly into the roof of its maw, making a
fountain of blood and brains spew upward.

Hilarious.

A fireball whizzes past my helmet and towards blue boy. He doesn't see it coming, he's too busy. I open my mouth to shout, but the sound of fire and monsters are deafening. I see it hit his back; it clearly stuns him, and there's now a large scorch on his left shoulder. His firing arm.

Oh no. He's having trouble lifting it...

Anger fuels my body. I turn back to the makeshift group of Demons that were chasing us. At least a dozen brown spiky freaks, one of them in a posture like he just threw something.

Found my target.

The shotgun in my hand looms its deadly barrel towards the bastards, and I pull the trigger. The buckshot claims two victims, one of them being the culprit of the cheap-shot received by Mega Man. I pull it again, taking another two down and injuring one. That
should be enough to stall them.

I run forward toward blue boy; he's hanging in there, still shooting at another horde coming toward us. I shout as loud as I can to signify that I'm coming to help him. He gives a thumb up with his right hand; good, he heard me. I lift him on my side, his back against my shoulder. I make a turn left to our destination while I hear him firing shots behind me.

I start a sprint, the pain in my legs obvious from the incident with the stalking healer. I'm not moving as fast as I want to, but it's fast enough to get away from the ambush. I
slow down a little bit to ask blue boy a question.

"You hurt?" I manage to say in my jog.

"My suit took most of the damage, but I can't move my shoulder port as freely," he announces with a bit of worry. "But I can still fire my weapon. That's all that matters."

"Still want to help. How do I fix you?" I'm picking up the pace as I ask.

"No offense to you Flynn, but I'm not sure if you could fix me. You would need to know how my inner systems work, and that took my father years to master the process of making
and repairing me on a daily bas-"

I cut him off with a little aggression. "What about the bottles? Can they do something? Or are they just robot caffeine?"

I can feel the small bit of hurt in his voice. "I'm afraid it only boosted my energy reserves. I'm not sure if consuming a larger quantity will have any other effects other than over-working my systems. I'm sorry, Flynn."

"What if I pour it on your injury?"

The question hangs in the air for a moment as I get closer to our destination. Finally he answers, "That might work, but I suggest we only use a small sample as a test."

My mind flashes back to his super tiny sip of the stuff when he first saw it. I chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Blue boy asks.

"Never mind," I say, a smile hidden behind my helmet.

I've got some bad news.

I won't be able to finish this story for a while, if at all. My family is currently in a tight spot, and I may have to move or try extra hard at finding work. Whenever I have free time, I'll probably make a small post on some threads here and there, but that may be it.

Wish me luck. Hope you enjoyed the story.

Excellent work so far, DooM Soul, I cant wait for more.

Good luck to you and yours

No worries just take your time, Finding work is more important too you right now anyways.

I see the door ahead. By sheer luck nothing was guarding it, but that probably meant the Demons were setting up an ambush further inside. I grit my teeth and hit the sensor panel with my free arm. Mega Man lets himself down from my back, flexing his injured shoulder. I keep an eye on the other side of the door; no surprises inside. That's a relief.

Swiftly, I grab a bottle from my backpack and open it slowly. I motion to blue boy to show me his back. "Can you feel pain?" I ask, hovering the bottle over his shoulder blade.

"Only to the point that I know something's wrong. It's not as excessive as a human's sense to feel pain," Mega Man assures me.

"OK then. Tell me what you feel." I angle the bottle ever so slowly...

A couple drops spill from the lip, two of them falling into the small crack in the blue boy's suit. The third drip hits the abrasive area around it. Amazingly, the drip seems to heal and reshape the abrasion, and I hear some resounding clanks and churns of some odd metal inside his shoulder.

"Amazing," blue boy announces.

I'm too surprised to answer back. The fluid in the bottle had healed him; better than it heals me. Whatever substance was in these mysterious potions was better with machine than flesh.

I manage to stutter out, "H-how do you feel?"

"My shoulder feels like I was never hurt. Better than that; it feels like I could swing my arm for days and still have perfect aim. Flynn, this liquid is even more potent than we both thought."

"You're telling me," I manage to speak after the stunning event. "Pardon my french, but this seems like some really good shit for robots."

Blue boy flinches a little at my curse, but doesn't seem too offended. "Can you hand me a bottle? I'd like to store it for later use, if I need it."

I stare at him for a minute. "Store? How?"

He motions for me to give him the bottle. "Atomic manipulation, remember? I can shrink its size and fit it in my arm compartment." As I give him the bottle, it suddenly grows smaller in his palm. He opens up a small part of his forearm and gently puts it inside.

I'm even more stunned. "Can you do that with anything?"

"As long as it's no bigger than an E-Tank, yes," he says, snapping the compartment shut.

"How big are those?" I ask as we make our way to the other side of the security stop.

"As big as your head," he says with a smirk.

"Hilarious," I deadpan, pressing the sensor panel.

Heya folks, Imma be continuing this fiction. Sorry the chapter was a tad short, but I needed to get back into the groove of things. The chapters will be longer from here on out, so don't forget to check here once a while. ; )

It's nice seeing a hardened-but-still-kinda-goofy portrayal of the Doomguy interact with such a PG character. They contrast quite a bit and yet work together so well.

At first I thought this was going to be dumb, but damn - this is great! Keep up the awesome work!

The doors whine in response, opening up to a completely changed area. I make a growl in contempt; the Demons had morphed the workspace into a maze of thorns and stone. I look to Mega Man, and see his face in confusion. We both take a cautious step into the foreboding maw of the maze. I check my map on my helmet; no info on this room. Damnit.

"This is the right way, isn't it?" Blue boy assures himself.

My temper starts to rise. "Oh yeah, it's the right way. The right way to piss me off."

I load extra shells into my shotgun for the grueling experience ahead. Blue boy looks at me with a hint of worry, then stares at the maze. "I'm guessing you're familiar with this kind of thing," he says. "What should I expect?"

"Frustration. Pain. Resentment. Regret," I start numbering the things I remember from before. "And hate. Lots of that too."

"Flynn, you know what I meant," blue boy says placidly. "I want to help you. Please calm down."

I take a deep breath. "Sorry about that. Ok, there will be ambushes. Pinkies and brown freaks most likely. The skeletons we met earlier will be scouting for us in higher points. There might also be some bull horned jackasses there. It's always different, so expect the unexpected."

Mega Man nodded in understanding. "I'll protect you as much as I can."

"Thanks," I smile behind the helmet. "Same for you. I've got your back."

We enter one of the openings close together, both sticking to the idea of not splitting up. Immediately after the first turn, several openings were revealed to us. The lights that used to be above could barely fill the room of grey stone. The floor was a mixed color of blood and internal fluids, sloshed around like snot on a wall.

Suddenly, the floor started to shake. We move out of the way as a column rises from where we stood; no going back now, it blocks the way we came in.

Growls and roars echoed through the hallways, signifying the Demons knew we were here. I gripped my shotgun tighter, the intensity of the situation getting to me. Blue boy kept his cannon at the ready, aiming the deadly weapon around every corner.

A large hissing began to emit from several cracks in the stone. Thankfully, I was expecting what came after. "Mega Man!"

The shout was enough. He heard, turned his head, and saw it; the wall next to us crumbled to the ground. The hissing grew more wild, the monsters inside finally free.

The red floaters.

Their maws opening wide and toothy, their cyclops eye staring intently at us. The horns on their heads made them look even more malicious as they steered closer and closer. Without a word, I calmly aimed the twelve gauge to the closest one.

"Aim for the eye or mouth!"

My shout resonated throughout the barren walls of the maze, and then, the trigger was pulled.

BOOM.

Missed the eye, but it left the one in front losing altitude. To my right, Mega Man fires his cannon at my target's face before firing on the others, rendering the Demon nearly useless. I finish it off with another trigger pull to the mouth, seeing the blue blood spray and watch it deflate like a balloon.

Ahead, I see blue boy taking on two of the red floaters; they don't seem to be giving him a problem. Suddenly, I catch a sight of bright light from my left side. I sidestep quickly, anger rising.

Another one veers into my sight, its mouth open. It spews another ball of lighting in my direction before coming closer. I fire the shotgun as I dash out of the way, taking out its eye. It hisses and screetches in anguish, madly chomping and puking out projectiles in panic. I fire more shots into its mouth before a stray attack hits someone. Blue blood everywhere.

Large steps started emitting from the hallways next to the trap. I catch my breath and keep my distance. Roars echo everywhere, hurting my ears dispite them being covered by the helmet. Finally, the monsters reveal themselves as their tall forms enter the combat.

The pale bull-horned jackasses.

Dozens upon dozens begin filling up the room. Fear begins to crawl into my mind, and I take a step back. I look behind me to see Mega Man already wide eyed, the bodies of the floaters nearby. I frantically look for an opening somewhere.

The way we came from was blocked by a raised column, so there was only the hallways that weren't full of the bull-horns.

"Mega Man! This way!" I shout. He hesitates a moment, but then sprints toward me. I lead him to the hallway, catching a glimpse of the oncoming horde before following.

Corners upon corners began flooding our vision as we trekked farther, killing stray pinkies that got in our way. We only stopped when I found ammo from the bodies of the scientists and guards. I had managed to gather enough to use the chaingun again, but I was still running low.

The bull-horns were still looking for us; their roars were echoing close. We had entered too deep in the infested maze to escape them. Mega Man wasn't slowing down anytime soon, but I was starting to feel body ache. So much strain...

It felt like hours had past, and I had lost my bearings. The only thing to guide me was my map, but we were off course. There's got to be damn switch somewhere...

"Flynn! Look!"

The blue boy's voice was filled with a true hope, and for good reason. I veered my head to where he pointed, and I saw it.

It was an atrium, as big as a football field, void of anything but a single column in the middle. A symbol; a switch to change the maze. As I gazed into it, I took notice of the change of scenery. It didn't have stone walls or smelled of sulfur, but instead is was a dull blue and grey, with brighter lighting from the lamps in the corners.

I took the first step inside, keeping the chaingun at the ready. The emptiness calmed my nerves, but I knew what came next.

"Mega Man, this is it. This switch will do it," I announced, my voice placid.

"Really? Just like that?" Blue boy asked with a hint of disbelief.

I shook my head. "There is always a catch. But right now, I don't care. We're out of the maze, and I just want to get to the next part. Be ready; anything could happen."

The symbol seems to scream in protest as I began walking towards it. It was a hideous face, with a snout like a boar and teeth like a shark. The horns protruded outward like spikes; and it meant change.

A strange calmness begins to wash over me. I have felt it before during an event like this. The blue boy seemed afraid in the corner of my eye. He couldn't read what I was thinking because of my helmet.

"Anything can happen," he echoed. "Please be careful, Flynn." His eyes lock on to me, his human-like emotions taking control. I can only be fascinated, and at the same time, grateful.

"Don't worry," I breath as I push the symbol. "We can do it."

And the room began to shake.

Again, bad news.

I won't be able to finish this story after all. I have found a job, but its hours are long and tiresome. Only doing it because I need the money; afterwards, I'm gonna help my dad with his mural painting.

It was fun showing this to people. Hope you guys have a good day.