MML3 Contest Entry 1

Roll’s Fickle Muse

“Okay Megaman,” Roll shouted as she wheeled the massive iron crate in, “these are some of the weapons I’ve designed for your next encounter with the Bonne family.”

The blue boy nodded slightly, sipping his coffee. “Alright Roll, let’s see what you got.”

The blonde gleefully reached into the box, withdrawing a forearm with a bright yellow scooper attached where the hand would have been. “This is the Jai Alai arm; you can use it to hurl sphere weapons at opponents, and they’ll travel much faster than if you threw them by hand.”

Trigger took the arm from her, examining the construction with a thorough eye. “Roll . . . what kind of explosives does it create?”

“It doesn’t,” Roll giggled, “that’s the great part. You can scoop up anything; rocks, wooden balls, fruit-.”

“Fruit? You mean like ‘oranges’ perhaps?” Megaman looked at his sister with annoyance, “Roll Casket, you got the idea for this by watching Jackass, didn’t you!”

Roll’s cheeks went red and she looked away sheepishly, “. . . no?”

“Yes you did!” Megaman rolled his eyes, “You so did! Seriously Roll, how much damage can I possibly do by hurling handfuls of dirt and gravel at the Bonne family? They pilot robots, big robots, remember?” He fingered the scooper’s seam, pulling a strand of thread loose, “and . . . wait a second.” He pulled the string harder, and with a ripping sound the scoop fell off. “Is this duct tape? Did you actually duct tape this thing onto . . . what is this . . . my Shield Arm?! You taped a Jai Alai racket onto my shield arm?! What are you, high?”

“Okay, okay, I admit that one was a bit of a rush job. But the others are sound!”

“They had better be!” Megaman batted the Jai Alai scoop off the table, gingerly setting the shield arm on the seat beside him.

“This is the assault tentacle.” Roll produced another arm from the crate, this one consisting of a sphere with eight tentacles dangling from it. “These tentacles can extend to nearly thirty feet in length, and they’re strong enough to crush most reaverbot armor. Also, from each of the ports located at the tip,” she said, indicating the small hole at the center of each tentacle’s end, “the arm secretes caustic foam that will dissolve the more durable steel of the Bonne family’s battle mechas.”

“No.”

“What?” Roll looked at Megaman in confusion.

“I refuse to use that arm.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“What’s wrong with it? Are you serious?” Megaman stared at her in shock, his normally fair skin beet red. “Where do I begin? First of all, I can’t go up against Tron with this; we both know how she feels about me, and now this? Seriously, it’s way too suggestive!” He took the arm away from his sister, removing his right arm and attaching it. Immediately, the tentacles came alive, writhing and flailing about. One of the tentacles lashed out, snaking around the blonde’s waist, while others went out and encircled her wrists and ankles. With a gasp, Roll found herself suspended in the air. “Oh look Roll, I’ve completely immobilized you, and I still have three tentacles free. Whatever shall I do with them?” he barked sardonically. As they watched, white ooze began to trickle from the emission ports on the three open tentacles, and the blue boy’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh this is just-” he stopped himself and set the blonde down, “I can’t do this right now; this is Kattelox Island all over again.”

“Oh come on, you’re overreacting!” Roll shouted as she chased after him, “that was an honest mistake! How was I to know that someone would think that way?”

“You attached a firefighting device onto my back, and when I deployed it, it sprouted twelve tentacles that started spraying fire-suppressing foam all over the place.”

“Well, it worked didn’t it? The fitness center fire went out pretty quickly!”

“Yeah, and the rescue crews showed up in time to see a tentacle monster lifting women covered in white goo out of a burned out building.”

“You saved their lives!”

“I was the laughing stock of the entire island.”

“They called you a hero in the paper.”

“They called me Hentai Man everywhere else!” He turned to his sister, stopping her with an out-turned hand, “this isn’t up for discussion.”

Roll stomped her foot angrily, “you’re so immature!” Megaman ignored her as he stalked out of the Flutter’s exit hatch, Roll running to the door and shouting after him as he went. “The corrosive enzyme is actually green! I just filled the tank with non-fat vanilla yogurt! It was so you could practice using it without damaging the ship!”

“That’s not any better! Seek professional help, Roll!”

----- | ----- | -----

-+- Several Hours Later -+-

Arms crossed in defiance, Roll glared at her digging partner as he sat down across the table from her, an equal look of irritation in his face. “I’m so glad you decided to grow up and come back. I’m trying to help you, so can you try to be serious?”

“Whatever, little Ms. Tentacle Invaders Boxed Set, let’s just get on with it.”

“Ok,” Roll produced a silver club from the crate. “This is the Mega-Smasher. The advantage with this is that it’ll free up your other arm for an additional weapon; such as, and I’m just picking randomly, we’ll say you could carry this and still have the assault tentacle equipped as a third weapon.” Trigger grimaced and crossed his arms, but said nothing. “Here, give it a try,” Roll said as she offered the weapon to Megaman.

Megaman accepted the weapon, swinging it a few times. “Roll, this is a baseball bat. A WOODEN baseball bat.”

“Yeah, I know, that’s why I reinforced it.”

“You wrapped it in tin foil and duct tape.”

“There’s more to it than that!” Roll shouted defensively.

“I can still see the engraved logo” Megaman said as he ran a thumb over the shiny surface, the foil sinking into the grooves on its surface. “. . . who the hell is Ken Griffey Jr?”

“Okay forget the stupid bat!” Roll snatched the Mega-Smasher away from him and threw it into the crate. We’re moving on to the next weapon.” Her eyes lit up as she withdrew the next weapon, setting it down on the table. “This is the Flash Timer.”

“The what now?”

“The Flash Timer,” Roll said as she opened the command panel on the side. “You can use these controls to set the duration of the time stop effect, although the longer you choose, the more energy you use.”

“Time stop effect,” Megaman looked dubiously at his sister, “you’re telling me you’ve invented something that will let me stop time?”

“Absolutely, don’t you trust my technical skill?”

“Does it work?” A blinding flash surprised Trigger, and he threw his arm over his eyes as Roll yelped in surprise. As the flash cleared, the boy lowered his arm, only to find Roll completely undressed before him. Upon realizing her state of exposure, she screamed bloody murder and turned bright red, desperately trying to preserve some degree of dignity by using her arms to shield herself. Paralyzed by shock, Trigger made no move to avert his eyes until Roll’s scream snapped him back to reality, his face blushing a deep red and he hurriedly spun away from her. “Roll?! What the hell!”

“I didn’t do anything!” Roll screamed furiously, wielding her discarded jacket as a shield.

“Huh, Flash Timer works well enough for me, kee kee!” Data giggled animatedly from his hiding spot in the corner. As Roll turned her venomous glare onto the robotic monkey, he dashed from the room.

“Megaman, do something!”

“You got it Roll,” Trigger rose from his seat, raising a fist, “it looks like my monkey is in need of a good spanking!” He raced from the room, freezing outside as he caught the double entendre in his words. He stuck his head back in, “Did that sound just a-”

Roll, in the process of clothing herself, was caught in a position where her clothes covered nothing vital but her hands were too occupied to cover anything. This presented a compromising picture for Megaman, which caused him to freeze in mid-sentence. Snarling furiously, Roll hurled the Jai Alai racket at him, smashing him in the face. “Get out of here Megaman!”

“Right! Sorry!”

----- | ----- | -----

-+- Several More Hours Later -+-

Roll, absorbed in her shame, didn’t hear the first few times Trigger knocked, so when he cracked the door and called out it made her jump. “Roll, can I come in?”

“Sure Megaman,” she said quietly, pulling her sweater tightly around her as he entered. Considering the day’s turn of events, he was not surprised to find that she had passed over her usual outfit of shorts and a t-shirt for a set of long slacks and a long-sleeved sweater over her undershirt. “What a day, huh” she smiled weakly.

Trigger smiled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, “yeah . . . some day.”

“I’m sorry the weapons are such a wash,” she said meekly, bowing her head, “I guess I’m just a little dry on inspiration.”

“It’s okay Roll, the Time Flasher works great,” he said as he blushed slightly. “A-and tomorrow we can go through the rest of the weapons! I’m sure they’re all great. Megaman smiled encouragingly.

Roll shook her head, “that’s all of them.”

Megaman smiled, “well that’s ok then, we can use the left over funds and buy some buster modifications.” Roll shook her head again, and Megaman stopped smiling. “There’s no money left?”

“No,” Roll said quietly, “I had to see your other weapon arms to make up the difference I needed.”

Megaman’s jaw dropped, “you can’t be serious! I brought home over five million zenny when I returned from Elysium! Where did it all go?”

Roll blushed, “well the parts for the Time Flasher weren’t cheap you know! And there were other . . . expenses . . .” she fidgeted.

Trigger cocked a wary eyebrow, “what kind of expenses.”

“Oh, you know, this and . . . and that.” Roll shrank into her sweater.

“You spent our weapon budget on anime, didn’t you!” He narrowed his eyes accusingly.

“. . . not all of it.”

“I can’t believe you spent the weapon budget on anime and graphic novels, and then sold my arm weapons to make these . . . things.”

“Well I had to!” Roll dragged a Sakuracon 2006 bag out from under the bed, “they were selling the anniversary boxed set of Naruto, including the mangas and the uncut anime DVDs!”

“You sold my weapon arms for Naruto VDVS and manga novels” he screamed furiously.

“It was too good to pass up; they’re autographed by Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei!”

“They’re fictional characters!”

“Fictional characters who signed my DVDs!” She thrust the DVD set at him victoriously, indicating the kanji characters hastily scratched onto the surface in black sharpee.

“I can’t believe this,” Trigger rose and stalked out Roll’s room.

The blond gingerly set the prized DVDs down and ran to her doorway, “Megaman, where are you going?”

“To test the usefulness of the Assault Tentacle,” he shouted over his shoulder, “you have a ten minute head start.”

Roll giggled, “that’s funny. For a moment I thought you were serious.” The blue figure said nothing as he walked down the hall, climbing down the access ladder that led toward the R&D Room. “You are joking, right?” She listened, but a reply never came.

“Right?”

----- | ----- | -----

Trigger’s eyes fluttered open, disoriented by his surroundings. “Wh-where am I?” He shouted, his voice echoing in the stillness. “Oh, I remember now, I’m on Elysium.” He scanned the surroundings of the lifeless air bay, “just as I left it, what a surprise.” Above him on the ceiling, he noted the slowly pulsing red eye that indicated the Elder System’s slow progress toward full activation. It was moving faster than before, he’d have to get a status report from Yuna or Sera. His gaze drifted from the undulating eye to the vastness of space, and the distant blue dot he knew too well. “Please come soon, Roll” he whispered quietly into the deafening silence.

----- | ----- | -----

Blue sparks exploded out of the panel furiously, causing the blonde-haired mechanic to utter a string of curses that sent the block-headed Kobuns scattering, hands pressed over their ears. “Ms. Tron! Ms. Tron!” One of them shouted, “Ms. Roll is saying naughty words again!”

“How typical,” the raven-haired mechanic said smugly, wiping a smudge of grease away from her cheek. “Hey Blondie, if you can’t handle the pressure of the job, take a break. I’ll tell blue boy all about how quick you were to give up on him.”

“Go to hell, Tron” Roll growled from the other side of her welder’s mask. “I’ve got enough to worry about without your grand-standing. Shouldn’t you be off shivering some guy’s timber, or something?”

“Ok, that is it!” Tron slammed her tool bag down, sending a tremor through the plate section the pair was working on. Several springs popped, and the metal grid sprang free, crashing to the ground. Roll’s steel-toed shoes saved her, but Tron’s Bot-Macy’s shoes did nothing to cushion the metal impact. She screamed a string of profanities that sent the Kobun running. “You want to go you washed up auto-mechanic, because I’ll throw down right here and now!”

“Come get some, you skanky little bitch!” Roll leveled the blow torch like a sword, its blue flame guttering in the still air.

“Alright, that’s enough, both of you. Tiesel leapt out of the control hatch and landed between them, placing a heavy metal hand on each of their shoulders. “You both know you’ve been at work for a solid thirty-six hours. Nobody here questions your loyalty to Megaman, and you’re both too cranky to be human right now. As commanding officer of this operation, I order you both to get some dinner and to leave here for a period of no less than six hours. Understood?”

“But there’s so much left to do!” The girls cried out in unison, sending Tiesel backwards into, and nearly over, the railing.

“Baa buu!” Bonne shouted as he flew up to the guy plank the three of them occupied. “Baa buu baabuubaa buu buu buu baabuu buu!” The yellow robot waved his arms animatedly, “baabuu baabaabuu baabaabaa buu buu BAA BUU BUUUUUUUUUUUU!”

The trio was stunned into a momentary silence. Tiesel responded first, a smile creeping onto his exhausted face. “You’re absolutely right Bonne.”

“Wow, that’s right.” Tron smiled at Bonne, “you’re quite the poet sometimes. You’re right of course.” She smiled at Roll, “come on Blondie, let’s get some shut eye.” Roll nodded softly, setting her bag of tools down on the catwalk, and the girls left the crowded hangar.

Tiesel watched them go, “you know, I’d be willing to bet their love for that blue meddler is enough to make this ship work.”

“Baabuu baa baa buu!”

The gray-haired man nodded, “exactly, and the sooner they admit it, the better everyone is going to be.”

“Buu baa?”

“Yes I meant what I said.” Tiesel smiled, ‘your sister is right, you can be pretty darn poetic sometimes.”

“Baa buu buu baa buu baa?”

“Yes,” Bonne’s brother said, “I do intend to take a break as well. I need to eat something or I’m going to pass out.” He lightly punched Bonne’s shoulder, “what do you say we go get some lunch?”

“Buu baabuubaa buu baa?”

“Of course you can have whatever you like.”

“Buu baa buu?”

“Yes, even strawberry shortcake. Although you should eat some real food as well.”

“Baa buu baa buubuubaa?”

“Of course I think we’re going to succeed! That little blue twerp has been too much of a thorn in the Bonne family’s side to let him waste away somewhere. Besides,” Tiesel said quietly, lowering his voice so that only Bonne could hear him, “just think of all the refractors lying around up there! Enough to pay off our debts, buy back the store, pay someone more qualified to run it, and retire to the tropics!”

“Baabuu baabuubuu baa!”

“That’s right,” Tiesel said energetically, raising his fist to the sky, “you really can’t keep a good Bonne down!”