MegaTale (Pacifist) Part 13- Puzzles and DETERMINATION

Rock sees a person selling ice cream at a stand, but without any customers. The man was an Eskimo in a green coat and is wearing shades. "I just don't get it." The man said. "Who cares if it's cold out, EVERYONE likes a nice, cold scoop of ice cream, or at least they should! I mean, not that the could would bother them anyways!" "This is the perfect opportunity to get ourselves at least ONE healing item." Rhythm stated. "We should take up this opportunity." Rock nods and walks up to the stand.

"Excuse me, sir?" Rock asks the man. "...Hm? A human?" The man reacts. "Could I have an ice cream, please?" Rock continues. The man was in shock. "...You're... a customer?" The man asks. "...I mean, you're human, but... Hey, business is business! The name's NiceIce, glad to be of service to you." NiceIce takes a scoop of Ice Cream and places it on a cone. "I heard that ice cream on the surface melts pretty quickly, especially in the heat." NiceIce states while giving the scoop to Rock. "However, THIS Ice Cream NEVER melts in ANY condition due to the magic used making it! It usually costs 30Ƶ, but since you're my first customer in a long time, I'll give it to you at half price!" Rock pays NiceIce 15Ƶ and heads on his way.

Rock then spots a snowball on a field of sorts. "That's a snowball mini-golf thing they have around here." Rhythm states. "Based on the way you get the ball in the hole, it usually tells a robot what kind of SOUL they would have if they were human." Rock was a bit confused on this. "...Oh yeah, I should probably tell you about the SOUL types." Rhythm continues. "There are generally 7 types of human SOULS, each of them a different color based on their trait, or personality. If your SOUL was cyan blue, your trait would be patience. If your trait was bravery, your SOUL would be orange. A regular blue means integrity, purple is perseverance, green is kindness, and yellow is justice. Last of all is YOUR SOUL color, red. Red stands for DETERMINATION, a mixture of ALL traits."

Rhythm then gets a thought in his mind. "Tell me," Rhythm asks. "At certain places, like that leaf pile back in World, or back past where that lamp was... Did you ever get a powerful or comforting feeling?" "It was more comforting than powerful, but yeah, why?" Rock asks. "That feeling you get... THAT is DETERMINATION." Rhythm continues. "At times, a human might be filled with it whenever their trait is at it's strongest. However, the SOUL of DETERMINATION gains it easier than other SOUL types. I know this because I used to have a SOUL of DETERMINATION back in my days, so I had to learn a lot about my trait and what powers it." Rock is surprised by this. Excited, too. ...But mostly... Curious about something else.

"Hey, Rhythm?" Rock asks. "...What DID happen to your SOUL?" Rhythm fell silent and looks away. "...It's... It's best we talk about this some other time." Rhythm responds. "...However, it seems we are both connected by YOURS. Possibly due to us sharing the same trait. Who knows for sure?" "...But what about the robots?" Rock states. "Do THEY have SOULs of their own?" "...Technically." Rhythm states. "There are two types of robots: Artificial Robots and Robot Masters. Artificial Robots don't HAVE SOULs, for neither Robot Masters OR humans could create an artificial one. As for Robot Masters... Well, they don't have SOULs. In placement of SOULs, they have COREs. COREs come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. The most powerful CORE is what we call a 'Fortress Boss CORE', like Adrian has. But even THOSE aren't as strong as a SOUL. THAT'S what separates the humans from the Robot Masters: The power of their very culmination." Rhythm then stops. "...But I'm getting ahead of myself. We have to keep moving." Rock nods in understanding.

"Hey, kid." Beta calls over to Rock. "If you're done talking with yourself, mind chatting for a bit?" Rock walks over to Beta's location. "...I've been thinking of doing a business of my own around here." Beta continues. "You want some Energy Pellets?" Beta holds out what seems to be a white ball of sorts, seemingly made of a strange, soft, metal alloy. "It's only 5Ƶ." "I wouldn't buy it." Rhythm states. "Those can actually only be consumed by robots. Tried one before. It was like a soft jawbreaker that tastes like gym socks." Rock decides to politely pass on Beta's offer. "Yeah, you're right." Beta states. "...The price isn't high enough." Rock chuckles at this and heads on his way.

Rock then gets a call on his communicator, once again an unknown person, yet not the same as the last one. Rock answers the call. "Hello?" A strange man spoke. Almost sounded like Beta, but more... Ghostly? "Can I speak to-" The man continued, but then realized something. "...Is this the wrong number?" The man then sang some odd song to the sound of an equally odd tune before hanging up. "...Well." Rhythm states. "...That was weird."

Suddenly, Rock runs once again into MegaBoy and... Beta? Wasn't he in the other area a while ago? "Human!" MegaBoy states. "I hope you're ready for-!" MegaBoy then stops to notice a sort of game on the floor. "...Beta?" MegaBoy asks. "...What is this?" "It's a puzzle." Beta responds. "Trust me, they can't possibly beat this one." Rock approaches the game. The name of the console was "SVC", or "Super Virtual Console" as its long name (which sounds oddly like an off-brand sort-off thing). Inside was a cartridge for a game called "Castlevania". The console was out of batteries, however, so Rock just continues on past it.

"...Beta, I'm pretty sure that didn't do anything." MegaBoy states. "Whoops." Beta says in response. "...I knew I should've put in batteries for that Castlevania game." "What!? Castlevania!?" MegaBoy exclaims. "That's a terrible idea of a trap! After all, Shovel Knight is MUCH harder!" "What?" Beta asks. "That game with that blue knight? That's for baby-bolts." "Ugh, I can't believe this!" MegaBoy exclaims. "Human! Which game do YOU think is harder?" Rock decides that he should try to stay on MegaBoy's good side and says that Shovel Knight is harder, despite never really playing either game. "BOOYAH!" MegaBoy exclaims. "I KNEW that you would pick the correct choice, human! HOWEVER, just because you sided with me, doesn't mean I won't still capture you! I'll be better than Zero yet!" MegaBoy leaves laughing as usual.

"...Thanks for saying Shovel Knight just to make him happy." Beta states. "Still, I'm 100% sure Castlevania is the harder game. But we all have our opinions." Rock continues down the path and sees a mouse hole, as well as a desk and a plate of steak and a note. Rock reads the note:
"Human! I have prepared you this plate of steak! All you need to do is microwave it and enjoy! (Little did they know, this is a TRAP! They'll be so busy eating the steak, that they won't even realize they're making no progress! BOOYAH! Tricked again by the legendary memester MegaBoyX7! ...As long as I don't write down exactly what I'm thinking again.) -MegaBoyX7"
Rock notices that the plate was frozen stuck on the table and looks over to the mouse hole. "...Maybe the mouse can have the steak instead." Rock states. "I'm sure it wouldn't mind putting the steak in the microwave and eat it without a plate."

Rock is once again filled with a comforting- ...No.

Rock is filled with DETERMINATION.










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