Little Boy Blue

Chapter 9

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Kevin jumped forward and started firing instantly. Dr. Light ducked out of the way while Kid Icarus pulled out his bow.

"I should be helping," Mega Man spoke up worriedly as Kevin narrowly dodged a laser from Tron 's creation.

"Kid Icarus!" Dr. Light called to the archer. He lowered his voice when the archer came nearer. "Can you two keep her distracted? I need to remodel that shrinking invention of hers."

"We can try," Kid Icarus agreed.

But before any of them could move their luck took a plunge. Tron managed to land a hit on Kevin, and her laser surrounded the Game Master, partially paralyzing him. Kevin found that no matter how hard he tried, he could now only move at a fraction of his normal speed.

Tron 's machine moved closer and raised a huge arm.

"It's too powerful!" Kid Icarus cried in dismay. Kevin was just barely able to dodge Tron 's next strike, but hindered as he was he wouldn't be able to avoid the attacks for long.

"I have an idea," Mega Man suddenly spoke up. "Kid Icarus--can you give me a lift?"

The archer nodded and flew down to him. Dr. Light placed Mega Man on the archer's shoulder, leaving Kid's hands free to fire his bow.

"Where to?" Kid Icarus called over the din of the battle.

"Fly around that thing. See if you can get behind it," Mega Man requested. He couldn't speak very loudly at his size, but luckily his position put him right near the archer's ear.

Kid Icarus immediately did as the robot had requested. Tron was concentrating her attacks on Kevin; she didn't notice as the archer rounded the giant robot.

"There!" Mega Man pointed at a panel built into the monster's back. Kid Icarus flew over and, after a bit of work, was able to open it. Mega Man jumped off his shoulder. "Let's hope this works."

"What are you doing?" Kid Icarus asked.

"I'm going to stop this thing from the inside," Mega Man explained, slipping into the complicated circuitry. He was just barely small enough.

Kid Icarus drew back as the giant robot moved, apparently still trying to hit Kevin. The Game Master was good, that was certain.

Meanwhile, Mega Man was picking his way through the robot's electronics, clinging to wires with the giant's every movement to keep himself from falling all the way down to the monster's toes. Mega Man hoped he wouldn't accidentally grab onto a live circuit.

The inside of the robot was like a huge tower filled with moving parts. Gears clanked, cylinders rolled, and wires sent energy to every part. Mega Man could hear the echoing booms of each of the robot's steps, and could feel the hulk shift as it swung at Kevin. He knew he had to hurry.

Mega Man slipped and swung through the mass of wires, cylinders, and electronics until he found the main power units. Quickly he switched two of the thick wires, then hurried to get out of there.

Crossed energy can be explosive. Tron 's creation jerked as it began to blow up from the inside out. The evil scientist checked the gauges in surprise, quickly realizing that his robot was history. At that moment it began to topple over. Tron opened a hatch and jumped out right before it crashed to the ground.

The robot fell on the force field around Break Man, and was so big that it also hit the wall behind it. This led to a chain reaction as the wall collapsed and brought down part of the ceiling. Kevin pulled Dr. Light out of the way. They and Kid Icarus and Duke huddled together until the worst of the rumbling, crashing, and shaking had subsided.

Slowly the four climbed to their knees. "Mega Man!" Kid Icarus cried in alarm.

The room was in shambles. Where the force field and its control console had been there was now only a pile of rock and rubbish. Pieces of the destroyed robot were scattered across the room, stretching all the way up to the shrinking machine, which had miraculously survived the destruction.

For several moments everyone stared at the settling dust in dismay. Then Dr. Light noticed a movement. He jumped to his feet and rushed over.

Mega Man was climbing over the hunks of metal and mortar. "Boy," he gasped, "that thing was really packing a bunch of energy!"

"Are you okay?" Dr. Light asked him.

Mega Man nodded.

"Good." Dr. Light stood up. "I think that thing's still operable," he added with a bit of surprise as he surveyed the shrinking invention. "Let's get you back to full size before Tron comes back."

Mega Man wasn't looking at the invention; he was looking at the pile of rubble. "Where's Break Man?"

Worriedly he headed for where the force field had been. Kevin and Kid Icarus joined him. Dr. Light, now standing by the invention, turned to watch.

As it turned out the force field was still standing. The group found a gap in the rocks and pieces of metal that had fallen onto the curved wall of energy, piling up on its outside and filling up most of the space within. But part of the area inside the force field was still bare, and Break Man was standing safely in this clearing.

"I'm okay," he called to them, waving.

They moved up to look through the yellow barrier. "Can you get out?" Mega Man asked.

"Not so far," Break Man replied with a shake of his head. "I can't seem to climb out, or move any of the rocks. They're too heavy."

Mega Man glanced to his right. "And the controls for the force field have been buried."

"Don't worry about it," Break Man told them, his voice sounding a bit hollow as it passed through the field. "When Dr. Light unshrinks you, you'll be strong enough to help me move some of the rubble."

Dr. Light was already working on altering the machine. "Come on over, Mega Man," he offered. "I think I almost have it."

Mega Man nodded and started across the room. He had only taken a couple of steps before Kid Icarus spoke up, "Do you guys hear what I hear?"

Everyone glanced around. Finally, one by one, they looked up and noticed the ceiling.

A section of the ceiling by the far wall had fallen along with the right wall. This had loosened the rest of the thick ceiling, which was groaning and crumbling and threatening to fall at any second.

Kevin and Kid Icarus jumped back, toward the room's open doorway. If they all didn't get out of there within a few seconds, they'd be flattened!

"Mega Man, quick!" Dr. Light called from across the room. "It's ready! There should be just enough time to unshrink you before the rest of the room collapses!"

Mega Man glanced behind him and saw what the scientist meant. The heavy ceiling would undoubtedly crush the invention when it fell, and take Mega Man's ability to become full-sized with it.

But the roof over Break Man was also in danger of collapsing any second. The red armored boy, trapped in a walled-in section no bigger than a closet, would be buried under the rubble and perhaps killed.

"Hurry!" Dr. Light called. Kevin, Duke, and Kid Icarus fled to the other end of the room, ready to duck into the sheltered hallway at first notice.

"What about Break Man?" Mega Man cried in dismay, turning back to face his friend. "We have to get him out!"

Break Man looked surprised. "Forget me!" he returned. "Mega Man, this is your only chance! Go!"

Mega Man was frozen with indecision. But as the room's rumbling grew louder the noise hurled him into action. He hurried around force field until he reached the rubbish that had covered the control console. Hoping it had survived the impact, he began climbing up the rocks.

"Mega Man!" Dr. Light called to him. "What are you doing?"

Mega Man didn't answer. He had already slipped through a small crevice between two rocks and disappeared.

Kevin and Kid Icarus looked at each other. "What's he up to?" Kid echoed.

Mega Man picked his way through the rubble, pulling himself through gaps between the rocks that were sometimes so small even he could hardly fit. Even though he was moving as quickly as he could, he had to go agonizingly slowly. Finally he pulled himself from a narrow crack and saw that his hope had been correct. The rocks had buckled over the console, leaving it more or less intact.

Rapidly Mega Man climbed his way to the controls. Time was growing short. He began pulling all of the switches to their 'off' positions.

Meanwhile, Dr. Light was standing in disbelief beside the shrinking invention. "Mega Man!" he called hopelessly above the loud rumblings. "There's no time!"

Break Man had his hands pressed against the force field, trying to see where Mega Man had gone. He was taken a bit by surprise when the barrier suddenly disappeared, sending him tumbling forward.

The material that had once rested on the force field was now freed from restraint and crumbled downward. Unfortunately, this sped up the deterioration of the rest of the room, and chunks of the ceiling began to fall at an alarming rate. After only a moment's hesitation, Break Man hurled himself across the room, grabbing a stunned Dr. Light and pulling them both to safety. For the second time that day the small group crouched on the ground as the fortress shook with the force of the falling rubble.

Once the noise had died down the five risked a glance into the destroyed room. Through the clouds of dust they could see that there was very little left unburied.

Break Man got to his feet. "Mega Man!" he called, suddenly rushing back into the room.

Kid Icarus followed. Kevin paused to give Dr. Light a hand. Together they reentered the room. Dr. Light took one look at the spot where the shrinking invention had stood and shook his head. It was completely crushed.

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