MegaTale (Pacifist) Part 14- WARNING!

Rock continues down the path as Rhythm leads him to a small square with no snow on it. "Over here." Rhythm states. "There's a button hidden right in this spot. There are spikes blocking the path, so you'll need to press it to deactivate the spikes." Rock nods and finds the button, pressing it. Suddenly, as he turns around, he runs into Colton and... What appears to be some kind of fat, blue robot with a fan on its torso. "Ugh, the Wi-Fi here sucks." The blue robot stated. "Ugh, it's Fan Fiend." Rhythm states. "He's a big loser, let's just ditch him." Rock nods and whispers to Colton the plan, who agrees.

"Hey, Fan Fiend!" Colton states, then points in a random direction. "There's better Wi-Fi over that way. Go check it out." Fan Fiend decides to check it out, and the three decide to ditch the blue robot and continue the FIGHT with no interruptions. Rock already knew how to spare Colton, as well as remembered his patterns. However, it was not long until Fan Fiend came back. "Ugh, I can't believe you guys would, like, lie to me." The Fan Fiend said. Everyone else sighs in annoyance as Rock presses the MERCY button, letting Colton go on ahead. "Could you at least drive me home?" Fan Fiend asked. Rock couldn't even drive, let alone would he be able to bring one down into the hole he fell from. So he simply ditches Fan Fiend again and continues on his journey. "Good riddance." Rhythm stated. "Hopefully that guy doesn't end up following us around."

Surely enough, as Rhythm said, there were holes in the ground where spikes once were. Rock walks past them, but suddenly... "You there! Human!" A voice called out. "Prepare to be captured by the Royal Guard's greatest dynamic duo!" Suddenly, two robots appeared. One looks akin to a psychic, while the other appears to be a smaller, ...derpier... version of Beta. "I am the GREAT Psion Man!" Yelled the psychic robot. "and i'm BAKA." Stated the smaller Beta. "Let's give 'em a good fight!"

The FIGHT started as soon as Psion Man finished his sentence. "All we need to do is avoid all attacks." Rhythm states. Rock nods and prepares for the first attack. "To get you well prepared for our epic battle..." Psion Man states, "...We have decided not to go full-out on you just yet!" Psion Man attacks with a bunch of crystallized bones while BAKA fights with... rather misshapen ones that looks like a 3d rendering of what a child (or an extremely drunk/high person) would draw.

Rock avoided a few of the attacks, but got hurt by a single misshapen bone from BAKA. However, it only did 1 damage. "Now, for our second-!" Suddenly, two robots interrupt the battle. "Don't worry, guys, we got this!" One of the robots were a blue-and-purple robot that seems to be holding a purple ring of sorts. The blue robot's eyes were a similar blue with purple sclera. (You know that white part of your eyes? Yeah, it's that.) The other robot had a black, yellow, and green jumpsuit of sorts, a mask that sports a thunderbolt at the top, and red eyes.

The blue robot started throwing purple rings while the green one was firing bolts of lightning. Rock manages to avoid the attacks somehow, and it was all interrupted by Psion Man. "Hey! This is OUR fight!" Psion Man exclaims. "What are you two doing here!?" "Fighting the human." The blue robot stated. "Same as you." "NO!!!" Psion yells. "We're the dynamic duo of the Royal Guard! It's OUR job to fight humans!" "It's our job too, actually." The green robot stated. "We're Team Memester, a group dedicated to fighting humans for fun and troll-like reasons!" "Well, WE fight humans to bring them to MegaBossMan!" Psion Man exclaims. "THEN, using SOUL power, King BossMan will set us all free! YOU, on the other hand, are just fighting them for no reason! It's rude and uncalled for and YOU'RE INTERRUPTING OUR BATTLE! BAKA, help me out here!" "i dunno, they seem pretty cool." BAKA states. "UGH! YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" Psion Man responds.

"Team Memester consists of Ender Man- the blue one with the rings- and Alto- the green one that shoots thunderbolts." Rhythm explains. "They only fight others when they are already in a FIGHT. They're just massive trolls like that. In fact, if my guess is correct, Ender's the one who has been making these robots fight you." *Though, I don't know how he was able to get them all against Rock before he even fell down here...* Rhythm then thinks to himself. *...But he WAS always an oddball, calling everything in life all part of some 'PasteBin Story', whatever that means.* "Just keep avoiding the attacks." Rhythm continues. "Psion will just get annoyed and end the FIGHT. After the FIGHT is over, Ender and Alto will leave to prepare yet another trollish prank." Rock nods and prepares for the next attack.

Ender and Alto's next pattern was the same as before. *So, these two think they can just interrupt Guard business, can they?* Psion Man thought to himself. Then, Psion Man started attacking with his crystallized bones, and soon BAKA chimes in with his misshapen ones. It was hectic, but Rock managed to avoid all the attacks. "Ugh, forget this!" Psion Man stated. "If these two are just going to insist on interrupting us, then there's no point in continuing this battle!" Psion Man then ends the FIGHT.

"Don't worry though, human!" Psion Man responds with. "Me and BAKA will be back, just you wait!" Psion Man then rushes past Rock. "...thanks for playing with us a bit, kiddo." BAKA states. "just so you know, though, i was only going easy on ya. you don't want to see me at full power. trust me... you'd never stand a chance." BAKA then leaves in the opposite direction, akin to Beta. Which just leaves the two troublemakers. "Sheesh, not even a single use of either buttons, and the fight's over." Ender states. "What a bummer." "But Team Memester isn't done yet!" Alto chimes in. "We'll be catching up with you later, kid!" The two robots then leave the scene.

"...All four of them are a bunch of wackos." Rhythm states. "I'm sure we'll run into them later. Just separately... I hope." Rock continues on the path ahead. Rock then notices a sort of thing with a sign. Rock reads the sign:
"Turn all the X's into O's by stepping on them ONCE and press the button."
Surely, this must be another one of MegaBoy's puzzles. So Rock stepped on the two X's, turning them into O's and presses the button. Suddenly, the O's turn green and there is a sort of sound coming from up ahead of Rock. There were once again a few whole where there used to be spikes. Rock walks past the holes and notices MegaBoy.

"Hey, you made it past the puzzles!" MegaBoy exclaims. "...Wait, how did you get past my trap, though!? Did you eat any of it?" Rock just couldn't tell a lie, and stated that he didn't eat the steak. "...I see." MegaBoy. "So you managed to resist eating the steak... Nobody has ever passed down a plate of my hand-prepared steak! That means you have a very strong sense of resistance! Very good! ...Maybe too good... Human! I won't let you get the better of me! I, the magnificent memester and brilliant steak chef MegaBoyX7, will surpass you!" MegaBoy then rushes off, laughing as usual.

Rock follows behind MegaBoy. "...You know, Beta has been collecting trading cards recently." MegaBoy states. "Sometimes I wonder what he would do without a cool roommate like me! BOOYAH!" Then the two runs into a sort of puzzle. "Ah, so you see the puzzle I just recently improved!" MegaBoy states. "...Well, I'd say improve, but... Well... I tried to make it into the shape of my face, you see. But the snow froze to the ground, and now the solution is different! And as usual, Beta is nowhere around, as if he'd actually help. But worry not! I said I shall surpass you, and surpass you I shall! Starting with completing this puzzle myself! ...But first, I'll let you give it a shot. But come to me when you are struggling, and then I'll solve this puzzle for you!"

"The solution of the puzzle is actually simpler than you might think." Rhythm states. "You know that six-dot puzzle where you have to connect all the dots with only a few lines? It's kinda like that, where it says nothing about stepping out of the puzzle itself." Rock nods and, with a little thinking here and there, manages to solve the puzzle. "Wh-what!?" MegaBoy exclaims. "You actually solved the puzzle by yourself!? I guess I can't surpass you... YET! But don't worry, soon shall be able to compete with you yet! I AM great after all!" MegaBoy does the usual leave-while-laughing routine before Rock continues on.

Rock then spots Beta right where the spikes were. Which was odd, since he wasn't there before. "Good job on solving it so quickly." Beta states. "It's almost as if someone's helping you." Rock was genuinely concerned about how oddly specific it was, but moves along anyways. It was then Rock ran into Beta and MegaBoy once more, again confusing Rock on how Beta got there so fast. "Ah, so you arrived!" MegaBoy states. "I think I got you cornered this time! This puzzle was actually created by Dr. Mikey!" The puzzle consisted of many squares that seem like they might be able to do something, but it's currently deactivated. Next to the two robots standing in front of Rock is what appears to be a helmet of sorts. The helmet was black with a few lines of a cyan, neon glow, albeit dimmed. Sporting the same cyan color rests an "N" in the middle of the helmet.

"You see these tiles?" MegaBoy states. "Once I tell the machine next to me a specific code word, the tiles will activate, and will also change colors! Each color has a different function!" MegaBoy then does a long explanation on how each and every title works. The only two Rock remembers greatly is the first one- red tiles that block paths- and the last one- pink tiles that do absolutely nothing. "So, you got all that?" MegaBoy states. Rock wasn't sure, but said yes anyways. "Great, just one more thing!" MegaBoy states. "This puzzle is randomly generated, meaning it could be anything! Alright, here we go!" MegaBoy then turns to the robot and utters out a word: "Meteor!" Suddenly, the cyan lights glow brighter and the puzzle activates. The colors kept changing randomly, as Rock crosses his fingers and hopes he could-

...It was a straight, pink path ahead with two small walls of red that don't even block the way. MegaBoy slowly leaves the awkward atmosphere without even laughing. Rock walks up to Beta to talk with him. "You know, that steak from earlier..." Beta states. "...It was actually store brand. I swapped out the one MegaBoy made a long time ago. What MegaBoy originally made was whatever scraps of meat he could find, so that wouldn't really be the same as actual steak. But hey, since the food is made of magic, it never becomes old, so there's that. Though he DID take some cooking lessons, though. Even if they don't get along ALL the time, MegaBoy and Zero manage to tolerate each other... Well, sometimes." Rock continues on his path.

Rock notices Jazz trying to make a snow-sculpture of himself... with little success. "...What?" Jazz states. "I have hobbies TOO, you know. ...Hey, didn't I tell you to run?" Rock decided to leave from Jazz's sight, but knowing that Jazz might someday complete his snow-sculpture fills Rock with DETERMINATION. Rock then notices a bunch of ice ahead of him and accidentally slips on it from not knowing where he's going. He soon found himself landing on an O. Rock then tries to solve the puzzle, but ends up slipping off the edge, with a pile of snow cushioning the fall. Rock notices 3 things: a path back up, a snow-sculpture, and a pile of snow with a name written on it.

"How cute, MegaBoy made a little snow-sculpture of himself." Rhythm states. *But wait, if MegaBoy made THAT, then...* Rock thought to himself, then looks at the snow pile. The pile has "Beta" written on it in purple... marker? However that works... Rock chuckles at this. "Of course he didn't put any work into it." Rock stated, then heads back up to the puzzle. After a little bit of thinking, Rock solves the puzzle. Suddenly, a path is created magically as Rock continues to slide further down it to the other side of the path. There was a little bit of snow on Rock head, but he shakes it off.

Rock notices a downward path and decides to explore it. That's when he sees Beta, who just says a simple "Heya." Rock continues to explore and sees... Beta? "How's it hanging?" Beta states. Rock turns around to see Beta again, then looks back just to see him once again. "Confused, kiddo?" Beta asks. "It's called a shortcut. How else do I get to places so quickly?" Rock just smiles and chuckles at this, now knowing how Beta gets to places so quickly.

Rock then runs into yet another mecha. It was a big, blue, mechanical dog of sorts that seems to have ornaments all over it. "That is Hot Dog." Rhythm states. "Yes, it's literally called that, and it can also spit out fire. Very out-of-place if you ask me, but what you need to focus on is avoiding it's attacks and removing those ornaments. Kid-like robots usually put them on Hot Dog as a joke, but Hot Dog doesn't really appreciate it." Rock nods and decides to remove one of the ornaments. "Ah, thank you." Hot Dog stated, but still continues to attack with streams of fire. The snow around the two seems to have melted a bit, but it was of no concern. Rock removes the other ornament from Hot Dog, dodged the other attacks, and removed the final ornament.

"Finally, a heavy burden has been lifted." Hot Dog exclaims. "I can't possibly thank you enough, human." Rock smiles and presses the Mercy button, and Hot Dog goes on its way. Rock spots a cave and decides to investigate it as well. There seems to be a big door of sorts, but Rock couldn't get it to open. "That door never really opens to anybody." Rhythm states. "It's best to leave it be." Rock nods and turns around, only to see a strange, blue robot appear in front of him.

The blue robot was wearing a chestplate of sorts and only had busters for hands. The robot's helmet was akin to that of a candle and covers the mouth, but despite the candle-like design, on top was not a flame, but rather ice in a fire-like shape. "That's Cyro Man." Rhythm explains. "I don't really know a lot about this guy, to be honest, but just try to avoid his attacks. If they hit you, the ice will slow you down." Rock nods and prepares himself. "Sorry for bumping into you like that, but a friend of mine asked me to try and capture you or something." Cyro Man states. He then fires out snowflakes as if they were ninja stars, which Rock manages to avoid.

Rock was amazed by Cyro's attack skills and style and claps for him. "You... think I'm great?" Cyro Man asks. "...I AM great, aren't I? Ha ha ha!" Cyro Man continues to fight with more style as Rock cheers him on further. "You like that, eh?" Cyro Man states excitedly. "How about THIS then?" Cyro Man then fires more snowflakes as Rock cheers him on further. "You know what? I kinda like you." Cyro Man states. "You gave me a bit of confidence. Perhaps my friend will understand if I let you go." Cyro Man ends the FIGHT and leaves, with Rock leaving as well.

After exploring the branching path, Rock continues his journey. Suddenly, he spots something rustling in a pile of snow- Or as Rhythm kept calling them, "snow poffs", though Rock DID find some zenny in one earlier. A robot then jumps out of the snow poff and aims both a buster AND a rocket launcher at Rock. The robot was green with camouflage underneath a grey chestplate. On the robot's right shoulder was a green-and-yellow rocket launcher, and on his back was a shield of similar color. "I am Sargent Man, leader of the Royal Guard's Arctic Jungle Force!" The green robot stated. "I've been spying on you, human. Watching how you handled the guards... As well as every other robot you ran into. I don't know how you managed to pass by the other guards... But you won't get past me. I shall hand-deliver you to Captain Zero personally. Do not resist... Otherwise I will make you suffer for it."

A FIGHT starts suddenly. "Sargent Man is tough, but he has one weakness... His lack of self-confidence." Rhythm explains. "But if we could give him some confidence of himself, he might just be able to let us pass." Rock nods and turns to Sargent. "You are much stronger than you think you are, you know." Sargent was in shock, but regained composure. "Your flattery won't work on me, kid." Sargent states. "I know ALL your tricks." Sargent then fires a barrage of missiles at Rock, who gets hit by 3 of them. Rock had no choice but to heal up using the Ice Cream he bought earlier.

"You don't have to be so hard on yourself." Rock continues. Sargent was slowly about to sway, but continues to fight. "What do you know?" Sargent states. "You are a HUMAN. Our job is to CAPTURE YOU and take your SOUL to MegaBossMan." Sargent then fires a few rockets from his rocket launcher, which Rock manages to dodge without a single hit. "You are more capable than you think, Sargent." Rock states. "Shut up!" Sargent states. "You don't know anything about me! I might be weak, but you are weaker!" Sargent then fires more attacks at Rock.

"If you are truly weak," Rock states, "then you would never have been part of the Royal Guard, let alone be able to lead the units in charge of this place!" "...Who are you fooling?" Sargent states with slight despair. "Someone like you is the strongest opponent I can face. Otherwise, I'm nothing but a coward." Sargent continues to attack, with Rock already learning the attack patterns. "...Strength isn't everything, Sargent." Rock finished with. Sargent stops completely. "...I know." Sargent states. "I had always known, ever since I tried to join the guard... Guess I just lost sight of that. Thanks kid, you made me remember what it truly means to be a Royal Guard." Sargent puts down his guard as Rock presses the Mercy button.

Sargent smiles and pats Rock on the head. "...You're a good kid." Sargent states. "You seemed like the kind of person who wouldn't harm a single soul. That's why I thought I could capture you... Because you were an easy target. But now... Not only have I realized that I can do so much more... I also realized it isn't right to attack an innocent child like you." Suddenly, Sargent spots something in the distance. "There he is!" A robot suddenly exclaims. It was none other than Ninja Man, followed by the other members of the Royal Guard. Jazz, Psion Man, BAKA- All members of the Arctic Jungle Force was in one convenient area, and they all outnumbered Rock.

"It seems even with a head start, you couldn't escape me!" Jazz stated. "And with those two 'Team Memester' guys out of the way, we can continue our fight with no interruptions!" Psion Man chimed in. "I know you showed me- Showed us ALL- kindness, kid, but orders are orders." Ninja Man states. "Surrender peacefully and we'll give you a swift e-" "Stand down." Sargent Man interrupts with, making the entire Royal Guard stop completely.

"...But..." Jazz tries to speak. "...But our job-" "Our job is to preserve the law and protect the innocent. And this kid is a kind and gentle soul. I'm certain another human will fall down here, and they will be the opposite of this kid right here. And when that day comes, we, as proud members of the Royal Guard, will be ready. But for now, my order is for you to let this kid go." The other guard members look at each other and puts down their weapons. "...As you wish, Sargent." Ninja Man states.

"...Come on." Sargent states. "We all had a hard day's work. I think we deserve a break over at Meta's." The guards all left, one by one. However, BAKA stopped to turn towards Rock. "...you know, i wasn't actually planning on hurting you." BAKA stated. "...but if you were to hurt my bro psion man... heh..." BAKA then turns around. "...U WOULDA HADA BAD TOM." BAKA then left, leaving Rock in confusion. Especially the "tom" part, Rock had no idea what he meant by that.

"...Well, that's the Royal Guard for you." Rhythm states. "They're all goofy but tough, but they all mean well for the robots and innocent down here." "Well, I'm glad we're part of the innocents." Rock states. "...Except they ALL aren't like this." Rhythm states. "In fact, a few people had already mentioned their leader, Zero. And he's not as nice as the others. I'm fairly certain that if we run into him, he'd hunt us down every chance he gets." "But there IS a way around him, right?" Rock asks. Rhythm sighs and responds simply...

"...We can only hope."