July 11, 1989. This is the date that Mega Man 2 came out on the NES. I had been long awaiting a sequel to my beloved Mega Man game, so when the time finally came and the game came out, I was ecstatic and immediately went to my local game store once my parents got home, which unluckily for me, was 8:00 at night. Once we parked next to the building that beheld my coveted game, I burst through the doors faster than a bolt of lightning and rushed over to the man at the counter before my mother could even leave her car. A bit unnerved by my odd amount of excitement and the fact that I appeared to be all alone, he hesitantly said, “Hello and welcome to-”
However, before he could finish his sentence, I interrupted, “Do you have any copies of Mega Man 2?”
The man, obviously caught off guard by my rudeness and my over excitedness quietly said, “Umm… yeah.. I’ve got a few copies left..” The man then scurried into the back to go get the hot-selling game, and walked back into the room, game in hand. However, at this point he got a bit less jittery, as he saw my mother standing beside me, assuring him that I wasn’t just some juvenile delinquent running around without any parents.
My mother asked the man how much my game would cost and he told her it would be the hefty price of $20.99. My mother looked down at me with a scornful look, but I did my best ‘puppy eyes’ and eventually I was able to get my mother to crack. She handed over the wad of cash to the man at the counter, and finally the game was mine. The car ride home felt like it took centuries as I had to sit there waiting to play my game, but finally, after about 20 minutes, my game and I arrived home safely. The first thing I did was run into the living room and insert my new treasure into my NES.
The game booted up as normal, but there was one problem that made my heart sink. When it was at the loading screen it froze. I was horrified, and my jaw nearly dropped down to my chest. Acting quickly, I took the cartridge out, blew on it, and put it back in. I waited for what felt like ages the game to start. However, all of my waiting was futile as the game just wouldn’t start. Both distraught and dismayed, I decided it would be best to just take the game out of the system and try the next day. However, when my hand reached the slot, the game randomly turned on, and for whatever reason, the TV was at max volume! After a loud scolding from my mother, and her usual promise of chastisement, I made my way to the TV and turned it down.
At this point, I could care less about my mother’s promises of chastisement, or my nearly popped eardrums, all I cared about was playing my long awaited game. However, I was incredibly confused when I picked up the remote. For whatever reason, I automatically started a boss fight.Bewildered, I just decided to pursue on and rely on my knowledge of the previous Mega Man game to help me through. I was quite surprised to see I got a boss that just looked like a mere fan! The top of the screen said, “Defeat Airman”. When he hit me I was brought aback by how much damage I had taken. I had to find a way to kill Airman, as I thought it was the only way to continue on in the game. After an incredibly strenuous and arduous half an hour, I finally found out how to beat the bastard. It was quite simple actually, and I was angry at myself for not catching on to the strategy sooner. All I had to do, was jump over him and hit him in the back a few times!
Leaving me no time to recover, immediately after that battle, I was thrown into a battle with, “Metal Man”. Metal Man threw saw blades at me which I had to attempt to dodge. I was at a loss for words as I had no idea how to kill Metal Man. At first I thought I could shoot the saw blades, but that was to no avail. It took me upwards of 50 tries to beat the guy, and this time the strategy for beating him was a bit more complex.
I was shocked when I saw the next boss. The next boss was… Mega Man. It was a mirror match, Mega Man vs. Mega Man. The other Mega Man mirrored all of my attacks and movements. When I tried to shoot him, he tried to shoot me. It was damn near impossible for me to hit my opponent, but eventually I faked him out enough to land a hit. However, I was confused, as after only landing one hit, the screen faded to black. I was tempted to yell out at the game and ask it what happened! However, as I was about to, some words above the screen said, “ :) having fun yet?...” I took the cartridge out and stopped for a second.What could the game have meant? I pondered to myself for a while, cartridge clutched in hand. It was silent in the room, in fact, it was too silent… Just as I began to notice the eerie silence, Mega Man himself appeared on screen. I pinched myself, as I knew that there was no game in and I needed to check if I was dreaming.
The bottom of the screen said, “I’m having fun aren’t you?” Then it just went black for a few seconds. However, an image of Mega Man with a devilish grin flashed on the screen repeatedly. The more the screen flashed, the more detailed the image became, and the more twisted too. Airman was hanging from a tree by what appeared to be his intestines. The pixely graphics led much to the imagination normally, but there was no questioning it. Airman was hanging there by his intestines. The screen flashed more, and soon the image panned out a bit. It eventually also showed Metal Man. He had a Saw Blade jabbed into his chest along with other slice marks on his face and body. I was confused, as I always thought that Mega Man’s enemies were robots, but that was the last thing that I was thinking about at that moment.
I tried calling out for my mother, but there was no answer. I tried to get up and leave, but I couldn’t. I was unable to control myself, I was stuck there, like I was controlled by a puppet master in a sick play. I tried to scream once more, but I couldn’t even manage to do that. I was stuck there, eyes fixed on the screen, and Mega Man and his fallen enemies’ lifeless eyes staring back at me. After a while, the screen stopped flashing and the image just stayed on the screen. I was wondering where my mother was, surely she would have heard my first cry for help and came down! However, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t leave or scream, all I could do was look. Text appeared on the screen. The text read, “The more defeat, the more bloodshed…” After I finished reading the text, I noticed his devilish smirk turned into a perfect grin, as if he was both laughing at his murdered foes, or at my indescribable fear.
The game started up once more, even without the cartridge inside, and I was fighting another boss. I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t take it. I tried as hard as I could to break free of the curse that compelled me to the game and wouldn’t let me out of its clutches. Finally, after nearly ten minutes of struggling, I was able to break free of my affliction. I had done it. I ran over to the door, I was home free in a second, back with my mother where I was safe. However, as I went to turn the knob, an incredibly loud sound emitted from my TV. I glanced over at the screen, and the screen read, “I wouldn’t do that..”.
I disregarded the text and went to go turn the knob. However, as I did, I felt a sharp pain in my chest. The pain grew harder, and harder, and harder until it brought me to my knees. I just needed to leave. I brought my hand up once more and grabbed the knob. Soon, everything just went black. All that I can remember is the pain in my chest getting worse by the second, and the words, “I wouldn’t do that” playing over and over in my head...
Story writer: Super Shadow Silver69