Sunday, October 27, 1991 – Afternoon
Sakaki couldn't wait any longer—it was finally time to play Mega Man! Ever since he bought three new games, he'd already spent hours playing Final Fight and Hang-On, both of which he absolutely loved. But Mega Man intrigued him the most, especially after seeing the ZEPS showcasing its gameplay. Still, he had a habit of saving the best for last, so he purposely held off playing it until the final day of his weekend.
"Hehehe, let's go! Time to play Mega Man! I can't wait!"
Excitedly, he opened the Mega Man box and, as expected, found four items inside: the game cartridge, the Mega Man manual, ZEPS Volume 2, and a familiar black and gray Z-card. Flipping the card over, he read the cryptic message:
"When you fight the Devil and at last, you will meet me."
Sakaki raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? Is this another Zabo-Man appearance? Will he become just Cameos or Playable Character?" He shrugged, then quickly inserted the Mega Man cartridge into his ZEPS console. The
Mega Man
logo flashed onto the screen, and the title screen prompted him to press start.
The stage select screen appeared, displaying six Robot Masters: Cut Man, Ice Man, Fire Man, Guts Man, Bomb Man, and Elec Man.
"Hmm, let's go with Bomb Man! My workplace is Bakudan after all. Get it? Hahaha!"
With his choice made, the game loaded Bomb Man's stage, revealing a futuristic cityscape with an open sky and rounded tech buildings. Sakaki guided Mega Man through the stage but quickly found himself struggling against enemy projectiles.
"Damn, this game is tough!"
Though Zaboru had optimized the game for balance, keeping it challenging without being as frustrating as the original Mega Man 1, Sakaki still found himself dying frequently.
"AAGH! What the hell is that green robot?! He has a shield—so unfair!"
Determined, he persisted. After several failed attempts, he finally reached the end of the stage, where he faced his first boss: Bomb Man. Initially, the explosive-wielding Robot Master made quick work of him, but Sakaki learned from his mistakes. After multiple retries, he finally defeated Bomb Man and unlocked his first special weapon:
Hyper Bomb!
"YEAH! First boss down!"
With newfound confidence, he tackled the remaining stages one by one: Fire Man, Guts Man, Elec Man, Ice Man, and Cut Man. Each level brought new challenges, but after hours of perseverance, he cleared them all. Now, only one challenge remained:
Dr. Wily's Castle!
The castle levels proved far more difficult than the previous stages. After numerous failed attempts, he finally reached the first boss of Wily's Fortress. As he advanced, a yellow projectile suddenly shot toward him from behind, forming a massive, single-eyed creature with
eight
elongated arms.
"Whoa! What the hell is that?!"
Before he could react, a
black robot wearing a gray helmet with a glowing blue visor
entered the screen. The mysterious figure wore
a massive, smoking gauntlet
on its right hand and displayed a text message:
"I'll help you!"
The black robot then charged his gauntlet and
smashed
the Yellow Devil, shattering its form. However, the creature quickly reassembled itself, this time with only
four
arms instead of eight. The black robot, exhausted from his attack, moved to the side, panting heavily.
Sakaki grinned. "Zabo-Man! My bro!"
The intense battle continued. Sakaki fought skillfully, dodging attacks and reducing Yellow Devil's health to just
10%
. But before he could finish it off, the monster began
regenerating
its lost limbs!
"Oh no! It's healing!"
Just then, Zabo-Man pushed through his exhaustion, charged his gauntlet once more, and delivered a
final crushing blow
to the Yellow Devil, preventing it from regenerating. The enemy collapsed, and Sakaki delivered the finishing shot. As the boss disintegrated, Zabo-Man weakly exited the battlefield, disappearing from the screen.
"Damn, that was awesome! So Zabo-Man has a huge gauntlet in this game? Nice!"
Pumped with excitement, Sakaki pressed on. Hours later, he finally reached
Dr. Wily's final battle.
The evil scientist piloted a massive flying robot, bombarding Sakaki with relentless projectiles. As he dodged and returned fire, he gradually whittled down Wily's health to
70%.
Suddenly, Wily
laughed mockingly
and
ascended higher into the air
, out of Mega Man's reach.
"What?! What am I supposed to do now?! I can't reach him!"
For
ten agonizing seconds
, Sakaki struggled, unable to attack. Then,
Zabo-Man appeared once more!
"I'll help you!"
This time, Zabo-Man
charged his gauntlet again
, causing it to shake violently before launching himself into the air like a
rocket punch!
"ROCKET PUNCH!"
His fist
slammed into Wily's machine
, forcing the evil doctor to descend once again. But Wily retaliated, blasting Zabo-Man with a powerful energy beam. The black robot was knocked out of the fight and disappeared from the screen.
Sakaki clenched his fists. "NO! Zabo-Man! You'll pay for that, old man!"
Fueled by determination, he continued the battle, bringing Wily down to
20% health
. Suddenly, the scientist
entered a second enraged phase
. His projectiles became even
faster and deadlier
, forcing Mega Man to dodge frantically.
For
15 grueling seconds
, Sakaki barely survived. Then, out of nowhere,
a severely damaged Zabo-Man reappeared!
His armor was
tattered
, but he
raised his gauntlet one last time.
With a final charge, he
fired his detached gauntlet like a missile alongside with his right arm
straight at Wily's machine.
"ROCKET PUNCH!"
The gauntlet
obliterated
Wily's machine, but the recoil
destroyed Zabo-Man's core!
He stumbled weakly before
exploding on screen!
Meanwhile, Wily's machine
crashed down
, allowing Sakaki to continue the battle and then land the
final hit
. The battle was over.
The ending screen appeared:
"Mega Man successfully stopped Dr. Wily's evil plans and saved the world... with the help of an unnamed friend."
A silhouette of Zabo-Man appeared, giving a
thumbs-up
, with the words:
"I knew you could do it! You are cool!"
Sakaki, overwhelmed with emotions, shouted at the screen:
"NOOOO! Zabo-Man! You sacrificed yourself!"
And at that moment, every Mega Man player who had reached the ending felt the
same exact way
.
To be continued...
*Author Thought : Power stones! . I`ll probably make 2 chaptes today , and maybe i make more at night , anyway thanks for you guys advice regarding patreon , but i still not decided to do it or not , maybe next week?*