Excuse me, Reggae... You seem to have something that we kinda need... Can I have it? I promise I'll give it back...
Hm, I dunno, I dunno... I'll have you know I earned this medal fair and square. Fair and square, SQUAWK!
Come on, Reggae, please? There has to be something I can do for you to give me that medallion!
Hmmmm... OK! I'll give you the medallion. Give the medallion, SQUAWK!
Thanks, Reggae! I-
IF! You give me 10 Swift/Explode Dual-Typed Cores! Dual-Typed, SQUAWK!
H-huh!? I don't... Reggae, I couldn't possibly have-
Here, allow me.
Thanks for your cooperation! Cooperation, SQUAWK!
...Just as I thought. Surge Man has installed a program in their IC Chips that sends them back to his tower... Possibly for one of those "boss rematch" things.
...What he didn't account for, however, are the capabilities the people of the Chaos Zone has. The IC Chips for the other All-Stars have been completely destroyed, or otherwise placed in a situation where the "return-to-base" program became completely inaccessible to them.
...Here you are, Sonic. You've earned it.
Now then... I believe that's all 5. It's time to confront Surge Man himself.
Bane, Fortem. I assume you two know where to go. Me, Sergeant, and Beta will meet you all at the Tower's entrance to finish the fight.
Thanks for helping me take back my new Cathedral, guys. You all go on ahead without me... There's something I need to work on in here.
So, I've got Distortion Man's medallion. And Dark Prince, you've got Flurry Man's.
I saw Sergeant Man Z grab Drone Man's medallion, and we have no evidence of him not cooperating.
If any of us are in disagreement over who uses these medallions, we will settle it at the tower. Volt Man, would you do the honors?
Sure thing, bro! Next stop, Surge Man!
I assume everyone's got their medallions?
I have obtained Tachyon's medallion from Reggae.
I've got both Drone's and Photon's right here.
Then with Dark Prince having Sleet's and Distortion's in the hands of Sonic Man, I think it's time.
...Elec'n. They are trying to get in the tower again.
It would appear so, sir.
I'm tired of telling them to go get the Eternal Medallions. You go tell them.
About that, sir... It appears they are using those very medallions to get in.
...What!?
...No. That is impossible... They would never give up their medallions like this... If they truly DO have their medallions, then their IC Chips should've come here by now!
...And what are you laughing at?
I'm sorry, it's just funny... It appears you have chosen the most incorrect world to try and take over.
What are you-
This is a world where anyone can become as powerful as they see fit. If they want the power to destroy the world, the galaxy, or even the universe, then they can... You and your brothers never stood a chance.
How ironic... You came to this world because you didn't like the idea of being scrapped. And that is EXACTLY what has led your brothers to their ultimate demise, with you to follow.
...
...Is everything ok, si-
Rally up ALL of the troops. We will stand our ground. No matter the cost.
Volt Man, Dyna Man, listen to me closely.
What I did back at the Cathedral...you two are going to need it as well.
B-but how?!
Prepare yourselves. I'll help.
There you are. this Weakness Nullifier Module should at least give you more resistance to Electric-based attacks. Not to mention the Upgrades your Stat Boosts will receive to compete in times of crisis. There is also.... "something else" that has been added. Hopefully you will need not to resort to it.
Hnhnn. I do feel different...
Not that I needed that sort of upgrade in the long run. Anyway, just what is it you need me to do?
Though day by day our domain and grasp over this earth grows stronger, we cannot simpy stay cooped in a simple Fortress until the end of time.
This is where you come in. Your ability to adapt as the situation requires it will be useful, as well as, now that it is confirmed that we no longer have any guarantee of being safe from any other... characters of sort, your ability keeping tabs at a low-profile. Is that clear?
Heh! Crystal. They'd better not dare to look down on me...
Alright, let's break this barrier open already.
Long enough. Now let's get in there and do this thing.
Maybe we just hold up the medallions to the barrier at the same time to cause a reaction from it?
I'm pretty sure there's only a small handful of people currently not on the "beat up the ASNs list". There is plenty of us just waiting to lay the smackdown on Surge Man.
*Inhales, then exhales* Ah, the sweet feeling of a successful business.
Just let me have this, alright? This whole thing took a lot of hard work. Do you even know the amount of effort it took to ensure nobody- especially the kids- knew about the broken robot we had to drag to the dumpster out back? Not to mention the time the Fake Men robots came around and I had to create a license to own a restaurant from thin air to make sure I don't get shut down. And let's not get started with the Health Inspector that came by a few hours ago.
...You know. I don't think we have ever even discussed who you are supposed to even be.
Yes. But who's voice is it, exactly? Because sometimes it's me, but especially recently, it most certainly is not.
Because I'm curious about who exactly insists on not only narrating our every action, but also do it with a side of snark that comes at the expense of those you speak with directly. So, I shall ask for the final time: Who EXACTLY are you?
...My name is Upsilon Narrator. And I AM you. An alternate version of you from another dimension, but a version of you nevertheless.
Now, I can't say where I came from or why I've been placed in the role of narrating your every action, because even I don't know the answer to that. All I know is that I am you, and my job is simply to narrate things as I see them. ...On your account, anyways. (Sometimes on Phantom's, too, but mostly here.)
So, there you have it. This is who I am. Satisfied?
...Actually, yeah. Quite satisfied, really.
Good. Now if you excuse me, I'm going back to my job to being the disembodied narrator voice on your account.
What? Hey, someone let us out of here!
Huh. Neat. But how do we get down from here, ah Jade? Jad-?
You know, the girl has a point. How do we get down from here?
I know! I know!
Really? Now how would we- Hey wait! Wait! Wai- AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH
Are you two ready?
We sure are!
I was BORN ready!!
Now I'm curious. Who's my narrator voice?
Huh, neat. Thanks for clearing that up.
Seems like Surge is pulling all the stops.
*Looks up* ...Yeah. All of them...
...You know. All I wanted was a world without this foolish war between Good and Evil. The "good guys" always win, and the "bad guys" always lose. The heroes are congratulated on the news, the villains lurk in the shadows to make a new plan. ...But do you ever even stop to think how the actions of these villains effect normal people like me and my brothers?
...Let me tell you something. Over 100,000,000 people DIED in Beta Devil's onslaught of the Universe. And then, almost 5 TIMES the amount of people died in the MKII attack. Out of all of those who DIED in those attacks... How many people have you actively tried to save?
...None of them. You care more about protecting the planet than you do protecting the people that make it worth protecting. Heroes don't exist. Neither do villains. It's nothing more than an act.
...But who am I kidding. That was NEVER what this was about. This is about the absolute HELL my brothers and I have been through. We've been cast to the shadows of our two older brothers. Our minds have been twisted by an alien virus. We have been planned to be scrapped by our own father, the "generous" Dr. Light, due to the unfair laws that were made because of a single, fiendishly vile old man- Dr. Albert Wily- and the actions he has laid to our town... But then a much worse fate fell before our ENTIRE UNIVERSE, banishing us to the Void, unable to move, unable to speak.
...If it was just me, I'd still be mad, but I would've left this whole thing well enough alone. ...But my brothers didn't deserve it.
Tachyon Man. He might not have been the kindest of us, but his experimental body had a purpose in both the research of speed and experimentation with particle manipulation.
Drone Man. His simple purpose was to be a package delivery drone for a shipping service... He even joined Amastar Delivery Services so he could continue his intended purpose. He truly was the better of us.
Sleet Man. He was created to create artificial snow for ice-themed parties and events. The reason he was so cold and bitter was because he felt underappreciated.
Photon Man. He was meant to be a source of renewable power. He wanted nothing more than to fight back against the heartless corporations that spawn twice the amount of greed than they do joy.
Distortion Man. Did you really think Wily and Rockman Shadow messing with the flow of time was completely harmless? Distortion Man was created to make sure the resulting time distortions wouldn't end up destroying the fabric of time.
...And then there's me. I was created for the same purpose as any other Electric Core made by Dr. Light, granted. But I had a purpose. And they intended to discard me. Discard US.
...I want a world where no one gets left behind, discarded, and/or forgotten. Where no one has to die for the world to be "safe". ...But more than that, I just wanted to make a world where my brothers can be safe.
...I thought that my brothers could prove to be able to protect themselves. I wanted so desperately to prove we weren't weak. That's why I created the barrier. That's why I challenged others to face my brothers, so they could prove themselves capable to fight back against the terrors of the world. And under normal circumstances, they'd still have their IC Chips intact to bring them back. Mega Man did it with Wily's robots. Beta Man did it even to beings who wanted to destroy the world. I expected the same sort of mercy for my brothers.
...What did you do to them...?
...WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM!?
Null! This madness ends now!
Root. This really isn't the time.
You've told us this plenty of times, but if you wanted to win, why did you even create the medallions?! To a good guy, or even a bored person, that's a call to adventure! Not a reason to sit down and obey!!
Do you think you deserve special treatment? If you knew anything about our past, it'd be a wonder how any of us even survived the Spring Head outside your barrier. But in a place like this, we aren't limited to our past potential. So stop acting like YOU are!!
And another thing: What's all this talk about "good" and "evil"?! You're not the villain, and you're not the hero; nobody is! You're just a guy with a tower who has a fancy shmancy story to tell! I'll tell you why nobody cared to save any of those dead people: It's because they only mattered as much as YOU do!!!
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