The Night Before:

A Little Piece of History

Written by: Bill Mallison


It was the night before Christmas, and Avalon was weary with the burden of work. He had not slept in days; his battery was running down, and rest was about to force itself upon him. Since the battle on the meteor with Talon and the recovery of Shademan, all he did was tinker and analyze the deactivated master hoping to uncover some secret about it or himself. Avalon wasn't remarkably skilled in robotics, but he could attend to Shademan, being so much alike in design.

His main aim was to find the appendix that Talon spoke of; he said all robot masters had it in them, and Avalon got increasingly curious about it. Maybe the appendix inside himself was really the same sort of thing, maybe it was even built by Wily himself.

Avalon was also busy trying to decode the personality and memory chips hoping to get to Shademan's memory and find out more of history. In any event that was the task at hand for the weary hunter.

"I can't wait until i get this finished, but I wont rest until i do. How did Talon get hold of the masters anyway? He is only human; I've been searching the earth for longer than he has been alive. I wish I had saved more than one from the explosion; i know they are dangerous, but they are ancient relics that are irreplaceable." Thought Avalon with a scattered mind and a head full of questions.

He had left the room that was shared with Xrileshr to conduct his work in a small bunk/broom closet across the hall. As it got later and later; Avalon knew he would not be able to get to the bottom of Shademan or bring him back online without some help from the others. Finally, he collapses on a bunk overtaken by the need for sleep.............


A cold yet strangely familiar feeling sweeps over Avalon, as he awakes with a start. "What time is it? What in the hell?!!!" gasps a startled Avalon as he awakes in the strangeness; the world is black and white,as if all color has been sucked out. But the strangest thing of all is when he he turns around........there stands a dark looking cloaked figure almost like a phantom from a familiar work of literature.

Avalon stands in front of the apparition dumb-founded for a moment before coming to his senses.

"Who are you? Explain yourself! Where am I?" Avalon managed to blurt out.

The phantom silently backed away and extended its hands...An immeasurable blast of lightning surged forth into Avalon, knocking him flying into the black and white wall.

"Energy like that could only come from....."Thought Avalon as he crashed into the wall. Just as Avalon was about to finish his thought; the hood falls off the apparition to reveal the face of none other than Elecman, the legendary robot master with more energy in his right hand than a power plant. Then oddly enough a big grin came across the face of Elecman.

"Don't be afraid Avalon, I'm not here to kill you; thats just my way of making an entrance; I've got an itchy trigger finger you could say." Said Elecman with a somewhat sadistic chuckle.

"Well then if your not here to kill me, which surprises me, then why are you here, being dead and all?" Says a charred Avalon.

"Its going to Christmas tomorrow as you know, and I have come to show you some things from the past; the past is your hobby right? Call it a gift." Said Elecman as he faded away into the air.

Just as Avalon begins to say something like "what?"; he turns around to see not the black and white room but a bright shining crystal room. And, in front of him is the Megaman of long ago ,and two Geminimen revolving around him beating up on Megaman badly.

"Well I've been put here for a reason, might as well have some fun; I may even save Megaman-theres a thought. Prepare yourself Geminiman!" Avalon says as he readies his buster.

"I don't know who you are, but I need help! Get the clone; i' ll get Geminiman." Gasped Megaman as a shot from the clone slammed into him.

Avalon teleported in front of the clone and shot into him twice, knocking it back, as Megaman leaped over Geminiman and let loose plasma into his back doing almost no damage. The clone and his master both shot in a cross, being perfectly synchronized, into the faces of Megaman and Avalon.

"Use the search snake Megaman!" Shouted Avalon remembering a page in one of his books that described this fight. Just as Avalon exclaimed, Megaman let loose three snakes straight toward the simalacrum, engulfing it in flame and sparks. Then the unlikely pair double teamed Geminiman until he was defeated.

"That was interesting, to think; me battling Geminiman. Well, i guess stranger things have happened."Avalon silently remarks as the world turns black and white again, frozen in time.

Then, there is an epic scene. Megaman, again, is battling a desperate Doctor Cossack in his famed mech. Its energy level is getting dangerously low and is beggining to show outwardly, as Cossack says something in Russian that sounds like a prayer and a curse. Suddenly out of the sky like a beacon, not Protoman but Avalon teleports down with Kalinka to stop the battle...

"Please Megaman, don't hurt my father anymore! He isn't evil; Wily kidnapped me to make him fight you!" Gasped a frenzied Kalinka as the battle halted. Out of the stormy clouds above the castle, Wily's saucer appears and descends into the battlefield, and everyone but you know who looks on with awe.

"You have foiled my plans.....mysterious gremlin, now that the truth is revealed I'll be waiting for you ,Megaman in my castle." proclaimed Wily as he flew away. The world turns dark again as Avalon wonders how he got in Cossack castle and how he got Kalinka out of Skull castle, but in any event it is amazing to be a part of another event in history. As he blinks; the scene shifts again, this time to a collapsing Skull castle. Megaman and Light are in front of him in grave danger as the ceiling is collapsing; Wily is fleeing away behind him.

"I remember this one from the books..." Avalon thinks as he braces himself to hold up the ceiling that is determined to come crashing down.

"Get away from here quickly, you don't have any time to go after Wily; this castle collapses in seconds." Yelled Avalon to a fatigued Light and Megaman. As the two escaped, the apparition of Elecman appeared again in front of Avalon who was still bracing the ceiling. He smiled at Avalon, which was odd for a master to do.

"Well, my boy I hope you have enjoyed the little bit of history you have experienced tonight, but you have a responsibility. We have all been destroyed, except one, people will forget the past if no one cares and no one thinks about it. You are one of the last who does, and the present is grim especially for earth; don't let us be forgotten" Elecman delivers his final message as the rubble all falls in, and Avalon blacks out..............

The sounds of Christmas resound through the Fury, as Avalon awakes to his little room and his little bunk, not the rooftop or the crumbling lab-It was all just a dream But, out of the air drifts down the most curious thing. A newspaper, newspapers don't exist anymore of course not in space. But the front page reads-"Wily captured at last and jailed by our hero Megaman" December 25 of an unknown year.