MegaTale (Genocide) Part 15- Empty City

Rock notices a bridge up ahead and takes the bridge. It was there that none other than Beta and Mega were waiting, talking to each other. "I'm telling you, Beta," MegaBoy stated to Beta, "The entire Arctic Forest Force seemed to have completely disappeared! I'd expect it from you, but the Royal Guard? Lazy? Preposterous." "Hey," Beta states, pointing at Rock, "maybe the kid knows where they headed." MegaBoy turns to face Rock. "Oh! HUMAN!" MegaBoy exclaimed. "This is your last- and most dangerous- puzzle yet! BEHOLD! The Gauntlet of Deadly Terror!" Suddenly, the path becomes surrounded by deathtraps. A few maces, some spears, some flamethrowers and cannons, and... Ender tied on a rope?

"Impressed?" MegaBoy asks. "When I activate this puzzle, blades will swing! Cannons will fire! Spikes will attack! (The spikes are the most dangerous ones. I'd recommend avoiding the tip.) And Ender will! ENDER WILL!" MegaBoy was silent for a moment. "...I have no idea why he's there, actually. BUT! Each and every weapon will be swing violently, becoming potential hazards! Only the smallest, tiniest chance of victory shall remain!" Rock and Rhythm both just stare at the robot duo blankly.

"Are you ready, human!?" MegaBoy asks. "Because I! Am! About! To do it!" ...But nothing happened. "...Um..." Beta asks, "...The blades aren't swinging. The cannons aren't firing. Spikes aren't attacking. And Ender... Well, that part you got right, I think even he's confused on how he got there. What's the holdup?" "Holdup?" MegaBoy asks. "Why, I was waiting for the human to sink it in, that's all! In fact, I'm gonna activate it right now!" ...And still nothing happened. "...It, uh..." Beta states, "...Doesn't look very activated to me."

"Well..." MegaBoy states. "You see... Ugh... I just think the human is just going to walk past it as usual. And it would just be completely boring. I made these puzzles to entertain myself! But every time I try to have fun in capturing a human, this guy always just ruins it!" "So..." Beta states. "...This whole thing was a bust, huh?" "Well..." MegaBoy continues. "...I mean, I still want to capture it. You know, bring it to Waterfall Institute, rub victory in Zero's face, take it to the capital, become captain of the guard- all that fun stuff. But THIS? ...This only became boring because of lack of participation. Maybe you were right about being lazy..."

"...Me?" Beta asks. "Right about being lazy?" MegaBoy puts a little more thought into it. "...Yeah, you're right." MegaBoy states. "You're still wrong! Laziness solves nothing! Never had, never will! I just have the wrong audience! In fact, I'm sure Zero wouldn't mind giving it a try! This is the kind of extreme thing he likes! And it's also another way I could have victory over Zero! But on you... It's wasted. Away it goes!" And just like that, the deathtrap MegaBoy calls a puzzle leaves. "There we go, much better." MegaBoy states. "...Hey, if you're thinking me and Zero are friends, you're wrong! We're just... Rivals. IN FACT! Beating Zero's enough a reason to get ready to capture you officially!" MegaBoy just leaves laughing.

Rock walks past Beta, only for the purple robot to stop him. "Guess we didn't need you to have fun after all." Beta states. "...Listen. I've been thinking as of lately. The entire Arctic Forest Force has completely disappeared. But beforehand, there were various warnings on posters about a vicious killer. ...I don't suppose you know anything, do ya? ...And it seems you might fight MegaBoy here soon enough. So... Here's a little friendly advice."

Suddenly, things got a bit... Ominous. "...Turn back on your path now." Beta states in a rather menacingly voice, "...If ya don't... Heh... Your gonna have a BAD TIME." Suddenly, Beta disappears completely. "...What secrets is that comedian hiding from us?" Rock asks. "...Eh, doesn't matter. Let's keep going, Rhythm." Rock, having previously killed off all other robots before reaching the bridge, continues on to Arctic City.

Straight off the bat, we see a sign that states "Welcome to Arctic City!" A kind, warming welcome sickened Rock to his stomach. In fact, knowing the job is almost done filled Rock with DETERMINATION. Rock then takes notice of the Shop, conveniently right next to the sign. Rock enters and sees an empty room with a note:
"Take what you want. Just know if you harm anybody else, Zero will know. And he will make sure you NEVER see the light of day."

Rock didn't know who it was, but didn't care either. He steals the leftover zenny and takes a look at what's in the shop. There seems to be some kind of Boxing Helmet, some sort of pie, and... Some kind of pastry in the shape of a balloon? Rock decides to steal some Pie, some Balloon Pastries, and the Boxing Helmet (which seemed like good defense).

Rock tears off the Faded Scarf and puts on the Boxing Helmet. Suddenly, Rock notices a strange robot near a tree. It looked almost like Retro- must be a popular design down here- but with a grey mask, a cape, a dark red color with similarly red eyes on the visor, and shoulder pads. Rock decides to walk up to the robot. "Back. Away." The robot stated, but Rock ignores this. "...Hmph. Seems you got guts. 'Name's Proto Man MKII. So... A bunch of cowards, am I right? What even is there to hide from?" Rock decides to continue walking through town.

Rock then notices the library and decides to visit it for he heck of it. Rock decides to read up a bit on the books on the shelves. There was one on Robot Funerals:
"Robot funerals are actually kinda fun. Sure, it's saddening to see loved ones die. But when they die, they become dust. Then, we spread the dust on the robot's favorite thing. Then their essence lives on inside it. In conclusion, sure, death is saddening, but it has plenty of upsides to it as well."
Another one on robots and humans:
"While robots are made of magic, humans are made of water. Humans, because of their physicality, are stronger than robots. However, they'll never know what it's like to have magic. Magic is a pretty handy tool."
Another on... Something...
"...I am bored and have no idea what I'm doing. Uh... Books are fun, I guess. Not as fun as the Internet, but they can be very resourceful. ...But the Internet is resourceful, too... What's the purpose of a book again?"
One on Robot History...
"Fearing humanity no longer, we moved out of Development Build and spread out. We braved the cold, the swamps, and the heat, losing a few along the way due to their own living preferences. However, we eventually reached the capital, the place closest to the humans we could ever be. We decided to call it... 'Community'. ...Well, at least the names got less stranger from there... Kinda."
One on one of the Prototype's many strange, robot-only items...
"Humans are strange. For the very rare occurrence in which a human appears, we have noticed that they are unable to consume some of the items that are very help us robots in a battle. For instance, there is the Speed Capsule. A Speed Capsule can make a robot go faster. Robots are able to use these simply, but humans... The only items they seem capable of using is armor, weapons, and food. I don't get it. Speed Capsules shouldn't taste bad if they don't have taste to begin with... Right?"
And finally, one on COREs and SOULs...
"Love, hope, and compassion is what people say Robot COREs are made of. Aside of, of course, magic. But the SOUL- especially those of a Human's, are basically unknown and unpredictable. There is, however, a strong power inside all of them that Dr. Whats-his-name calls DETERMINATION. Anyways, because our COREs are made of magic, unlike the artificial robots made on the surface, we are attuned to them. If we don't want to fight anyone, our defenses weaken dramatically. And because SOULs are made of DETERMINATION, humans on the surface are also attuned to them, but differently. Say if, for instance, a human has a thirst for death and destruction. Their power would increase immensely, becoming stronger and deadlier. So if a robot that doesn't want to fight faces a human that is also a savage killer... Um... I'm just gonna stop there."

Some of these were very interesting to Rock, for once. "...A human with an urge to kill against a robot that doesn't want to fight, eh?" Rock states. "...Seems like something I want to put to the test. I DO have an urge to kill, after all. And as for MegaBoy..." "...As simple as killing MegaBoy seems to be..." Rhythm states. "...Are you truly sure about this? I mean... I've been thinking, and... Does he actually deserve this?"

"...Heh." Rock states. "How odd of you to speak up now instead of earlier. Especially since you stopped worrying about it since we gotten out of World. So why start now? ...In fact, back then you were trying your hardest to convince me, yet now you completely stopped trying. So... Who's side are you on, *SPOILER*?" "...Yours, of course, Ro-" Rhythm tried to say.

"Then be a good little spirit-ghost-whatever..." Rock continued, "...And hush it. I'm doing this, and there's nothing you can say or do to stop me." "But what about-" Rhythm tried to speak up. "I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!" Rock interrupted. "I'M the one in control of this operation! You're just my guide out of here. And for your information, I don't care WHAT that comedian THINKS he's going to do to me, I'll burn this entire Prototype DOWN if it's what it takes to get out of this *CENSORED*hole. So just SHUT UP, and only talk to me when you have something IMPORTANT to say. NO MORE of this 'stop killing everyone' crybaby bull*CENSORED*."

Rock heads on his way out. *...So HE'S in control, huh?* Rhythm thought to himself. *...Fine then. ...Let him think of things to be that way... For now. But he'll learn...*

*I'll find a way to MAKE him learn.*