Fanfic / Roller Brawl: The Mega Cyborg

Roller Brawl: The Mega Cyborg is a crossover between Mega Man (Classic) and Skylanders written by omnimegalander. Specifically, it serves as a retelling of the Mega Man (Archie Comics) and an AU take on Skylanders: Superchargers, while also serving as a remake of the "Sole Survivor"/"Healing Wounds" duology by XandyFlare that inspired the author to write fanfiction.

When she fails to stop Kaos from eating the sky and ends up crash landing on Earth, Roller Brawl is found by Rock and being taken to Dr. Light. Seeing no other option to save her, Dr. Light converts her into a cyborg, with her later gaining powers similar to Mega Man. Readjusting to her new home, she now works alongside her brother to fight against the mad scientist Dr. Wily and his Robot Masters, as well as other threats.

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Roller Brawl: The Mega Cyborg provides examples of:

• Abled in the Adaptation: Canonically, Proto Man's flawed core leaves him Secretly Dying, but here, Dr. Light, Roller Brawl, and Rock manage to repair his core while keeping his personality traits intact.
• Adaptational Badass: Bubble Man. Retaining some of his abilities from Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters such as his bubble shield and trapping bubbles, he's a much more serious threat than he was in the comic, and while he is the Starter Villain, he is far from the Butt-Monkey he was in canon. The worst he has here is some grumbling about his unthreatening name, wondering why he didn't have a name like Scuba Man or Aqua Man.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: Blues, who made his debut in Issue 15, appears in the equivalent of Issue 14, deciding to help Quick Man stop the Emerald Spears.
• Adaptation Expansion:
  • Roller Brawl's backstory is more fully fleshed out, and there's also a look at her induction into the Skylanders.
  • The Wily Fortress from Mega Man 2 is also expanded on, as not only is there a fight against Picopicokun, but also a completely original room for the Skyborgs to fight the Darklander versions of Zap, Gill Grunt, and Slam Bam.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • Xander and the Emerald Spears as a whole are a much less villainous organization, as rather than get rid of robots entirely, they instead want restrictions on them so they cannot cause as much harm. They do take over the ARTS Convention, but Xander and the Emerald Spears make it clear that they want minimal casualties, human and robot alike, and Xander is furious with Lord Obsidian when he suggests more violent methods, stating he wants violence as a last resort. In canon, the Emerald Spears had no issue showing their utter disdain and forced all robots to stay at gunpoint, but in the fanfic, they allow any robots alongside humans to leave if they wish. They also never intended on blowing the ARTS Convention, and that idea came from Suna and Lord Obsidian. Ultimately, Simone, Xander, and Theo all make a Heel–Face Turn when it becomes clear that the newly-christened Onyx Axes are far more violent than they ever intended, willingly working with the Robot Masters to save as many lives as they can.
  • Quick Man also makes a Heel–Face Turn, helping Dr. Light's Robot Masters and the Skyborgs navigate Dr. Wily's fortress.
  • Blues also joins Mega Man and Dr. Light's side much earlier than canon, working directly alongside Roller Brawl to save Dr. Light from the Onyx Axes and fighting against Lord Obsidian. Additionally, his relationship with Dr. Light improves greatly after he hears from the doctor himself that he never meant to replace him with Rock, Roll or Roller Brawl.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • To some extent, Quick Man. While he still wants his duel with Mega Man here, he has some standards, as he wouldn't have destroyed Flash Man. In canon, he's the one who destroyed Flash Man via Quick Boomerang In the Back.
  • Xander proves to be this. In canon, he was a violent madman with a pathological hatred of robots and their creators, deeming any losses to destroy them as acceptable. In the fanfic, Xander is a far more affable and well-intentioned person who genuinely wishes for as little harm as possible, and his desire to slow down advancement stems from the fear of the potential for further destruction and the harm wrought on innocent people, exacerbated by the injuries caused by Dr. Light's robots when they rampaged under Dr. Wily's programming. He also proves to be much more forgiving, accepting Elec Man and Dr. Light's apology for what they did to him, and makes a Heel–Face Turn when it becomes clear the Onyx Axes are far more violent than he ever intended.
  • Similarly, Simone Miller is much nicer to robots than she was in canon, where she took great delight in tormenting the robots. Here, she is more affable and when Suna electrocutes an innocent robot that was about to leave peacefully, calling out Suna and stating she wouldn't have done it, and turns against the Onyx Axes when Suna electrocutes one of her own men, happily working alongside Elec Man to take Suna down.
• Adaptation Origin Connection: Several examples of this.
  • In Mega Man canon, Time Man and Flash Man are simply implied to be related via Flash Man being an improvement on Time Man, since Time Man was retconned in Mega Man Powered Up, years after the release of Flash Man's debut game of Mega Man 2. Here, they're outright confirmed to be related to one another, with Dr. Wily using Time Man's schematics to make Flash Man.
  • The Sky-Eater's origins are also altered. Rather than being made by Kaos alone, he had Dr. Wily plan the idea of the Sky-Eater before giving him large amounts of gold to fund his operations, essentially making him responsible for Roller Brawl needing to become a cyborg.
  • Dr. Wily also based Wood Man directly on the Life Skylander Stump Smash to the point that the two share the same voice in this fanfic.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • Suna, in Mega Man: Fully Charged, was Aki's sister and one of Mega Man's strongest allies, but in the fanfic, Suna is Lord Obsidian's sadistic right hand woman.
  • Spyro is this, but it's very downplayed. While he takes Proto Man's place as Dr. Wily's dragon, he's every bit as heroic as he normally is, being tricked by Dr. Wily into thinking that Dr. Light is being manipulated by Kaos as his unaware puppet, and given that he's already lost Skylands, he's driven by a desire to protect Earth from the Dark Portal Master.
• An Arm and a Leg: Happens a couple times, but not as debilitating as the trope would normally be due to the characters being cyborgs and robots.
  • Whirlwind's right leg ends up frozen and torn off after she escapes an ice prison from the Evil Ice Yeti.
  • Roller Brawl ends up losing her right arm after she pushes Xander away from an axe strike from Sergeant Night.
• Anti-Villain: Spyro serves as this. While he's working for Dr. Wily, it's both out of gratitude for the doctor for saving his life and a desire to protect his new home, thinking that the scientist wants to set up an army in protection of Earth from the Darkness thanks to Dr. Wily spinning a yarn and claiming Dr. Light is unknowingly working for Kaos.
• The Bad Guy Wins: The Darkness and Kaos succeed in eating the sky, and unlike what Glumshanks feared, Skylands was not destroyed: the Darkness, empowered by all the magic he consumed, was able to remake Skylands in his own image.
• Big Brother Instinct: Blues snaps after Lord Obsidian hacks off Roller Brawl's arm and attempts to kill her, overloading his core and proceeding to send him flying with a Blues Strike. He later confirms to Dr. Light that even if Mega Man and Roller Brawl were meant to be his replacements, he still sees them as his little siblings, telling him that it's his job as an older brother to protect them.
• Canon Immigrant: Lord Obsidian and Suna both make appearances, with the former being the one who helped arm the Emerald Spears, while Suna serves as his personal right hand woman.
• Cooldown Hug: In light of Roller Brawl breaking down after learning of the true fate of Skylands, Roll gives Roller Brawl one of these, assuring that she's not alone and as as far as she's concerned, Roller Brawl is her sister despite being a cyborg.
• Cyborg: What Roller Brawl becomes, her brain implanted into a robot body. The other Skylanders also become this voluntarily, and thus become known as the "Skyborgs".
• Decomposite Character:
  • The comic's version of Xander Payne is split into both the fanfic's Xander Payne and Lord Obisidian. While Xander retains his eye injury from Elec Man and is the leader of the Emerald Spears, Lord Obsidian is the one who helps arm the Emerald Spears and is more willing to use violent methods to bring change.
  • Simone Miller gets a similar treatment, with her still existing as one of the elite minions, but her sadism and cruelty is given to Suna.
  • As a whole, the Emerald Spears from the comic are split into the fanfic's version of the Emerald Spears and the original Onyx Axes. While the Emerald Spears are led by Xander like in canon, the Onyx Axes use the more violent, extreme methods of the canon Emerald Spears.
  • The comic's version of Proto Man is split between Proto Man and Spyro. Blues still appears as a character, but Spyro takes his place as The Dragon of Dr. Wily.
• Despair Event Horizon: Roller Brawl crosses this as a result of her failure to save her home and her initial belief that she's the only survivor of Skylands, becoming a Death Seeker wanting to reunite with her brothers and friends in the afterlife. Dr. Light thereby explains the concept of despair to Rock as a result.
  Rock, it's an unfortunate truth about humans I didn't think you'd be exposed to at this point. We are tough and strong-willed yes. But even the strongest metals will break under enough pressure, and once a critical component of a building breaks, the whole structure fails. It's just the same with the will of living beings. They can endure much, but when their will breaks, it shatters them entirely. Once their will is gone, so too does their ability to hope for a better tomorrow. For her, it seems she was a protector on her home world, but given what she said, I think it's safe to say that she failed, and that those she cared about are probably gone for good. Once someone loses their way, it can be devastating to them. That is the meaning of despair: when one's hope dies, leaving nothing left[.]
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: The order of the Mega Man 2 Robot Masters sans Flash Man and Quick Man is altered, resulting in them getting destroyed in different ways to the comic series, apart from Metal Man and Quick Man.
  • Bubble Man was destroyed by the Leaf Shield in canon, but due to being the Starter Villain here, he's simply destroyed by a Mega Buster shot.
  • Heat Man was destroyed by a point-blank Mega Buster after being shot with Bubble Lead, but here, he's simply splashed with the Bubble Lead before shutting down.
  • Wood Man was the first to be fought in canon and was thus taken down by the Mega Buster, but here, he's burnt by the Atomic Fire and then blasted by the Mega Buster.
  • Air Man was taken out by Leaf Shield both in canon and here, but since he takes the place of Crash Man, he suffers Death by Irony via being ripped apart by the Air Shooter.
  • Crash Man, in canon, was blown apart by Crash Bombs set by Mega Man, but in the fanfic, he gets his left arm torched off via Atomic Fire from Roller Brawl and then torn to pieces by the Air Shooter from Mega Man.
  • Flash Man, in both versions, is destroyed via a shot In the Back, though by different people with different weapons. In canon, Quick Man stabbed him with a Quick Boomerang, but here, Roller Brawl sends a Crash Bomb into his back and detonates it.
• Downer Beginning: Can't really go lower than Kaos succeeding in eating the Sky and Roller Brawl crossing the Despair Event Horizon as a result and then crashing in the world of Mega Man (Classic) gravely injured.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Quick Man may be willing to harm Mega Man's family to get him to fight him, but he wouldn't destroy his own brothers to do so, adamantly answering such a query to Roller Brawl as such.
  • Simone is shocked when Suna needlessly shocks a robot ready to leave for being too slow, and she states she wouldn't have done that herself when Elec Man asks her.
• Evil Knockoff: One set of Dr. Wily's minions are Kaos' Darklanders, evil clones of the Skylanders that serve him. The first one shown was the Evil Armored Dragon, the Darklander version of Drobot. However, Dr. Wily also employs a Darklander version of Sprocket to help him develop the second line of Robot Masters. Hex, Cynder, and Whirlwind also fight against the Evil Water Dragon, Evil Amphibious Gillman, and Evil Ice Yeti in Dr. Wily's fortress, the Darklander versions of Zap, Gill Grunt, and Slam Bam respectively. Later, during his time exploring the Lanfront Ruins, he has Darklander versions of Enigma and Jet-Vac serve him.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: What Roller Brawl makes one Emerald Spear do. She points out that Dr. Light had not only planned to showcase Elec Man and Mega Man, but also his first cyborg, something the Emerald Spear accepts. Then she points out that a cyborg wouldn't be Three Laws-Compliant, and when the Emerald Spear agrees, he realizes that Roller Brawl is the cyborg in question, panicking as he shoots at her before getting knocked out.
• Expy: Xander Payne takes several cues from Dimitri. Both characters are associated with spears (Xander leads the Emerald Spears while Dimitri's weapon of choice is the spear), his prosthetic eye and eyepatch reflect Dimitri's post-Time Skip design, both are scarred by their traumatic experiences both physically and psychologically (Dr. Wily's first attack and the Tragedy of Duscur, respectively), Xander's desire for change through peaceful but slow methods like diplomacy compared to Lord Obsidian's desire for immediate change through destructive means reflects the crux of Dimitri's and Edelgard's debate on societal change, and the author also states Xander would be voiced by Chris Hackney. Additionally, Xander's user name, EmeraldSpear1220, makes reference to Dimitri's birthday being December 20th, and also quotes Dimitri directly, asking "IS THIS SOME KIND OF TWISTED JOKE?!" to Lord Obsidian.
• Fatherly Scientist: As always, Dr. Light, and it's shown that it extends even to Roller Brawl despite not being a robot originally, basically adopting her and telling her that she is just as precious to him as any of his creations.
• Fear of Thunder: Xander admits to having this, but unlike other examples, it's due to thunder and lightning being a Trauma Button as a result of his maiming at the hands of a Wily-reprogrammed Elec Man.
• Foil: Roller Brawl and Mega Man serve as this to each other.
  • There's the obvious Pink Girl, Blue Boy orientation in their color scheme. More specifically, Mega Man's blue and cyan coloration lends to Light Is Good, whereas Roller Brawl's pink and black applies more to Dark Is Not Evil.
  • They also gender-invert Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Mega Man prefers to use the Mega Buster, while Roller Brawl prefers her unique Leech Claws.
  • Their origins put them opposite sides of Magic Versus Science: Rock is a Robot Kid built to be a lab assistant to one of the greatest scientists on Earth, while Roller Brawl is a vampire from a land of magic.
  • Personality-wise, they also contrast heavily. Rock is a pacifist at heart who prefers repairing robots, not wishing to destroy his enemies if he can and is generally well-mannered and polite. Roller Brawl, however, is a tomboyish Blood Knight who relishes combat and is considerably more brash and rude, being unafraid to fight if she has to.
• Gatling Good: Trigger Happy's special weapon is the Golden Gatling, a buster variation of the gatling gun. He's not only able to fire quickly, but he's able to release multiple weak but piercing charge shots.
• Happily Adopted: Roller Brawl is this to the Light family. They accept her as family without question (even throwing her a birthday party in celebration), and she loves them dearly.
• Loophole Abuse: Being a cyborg, Roller Brawl isn't held back by the laws of robotics, allowing her to harm humans like the Emerald Spears without the need for life being in danger, using this to clothesline two Emerald Spears before calling for Quick Man.
• Love Redeems: Quick Man's crush on Roller Brawl eventually causes him to defect from Dr. Wily, joining Mega Man and warning Roller Brawl of the Mecha Dragon and helping her destroy it. It's also shown that his Heel–Face Turn is genuine, feeling that he owes it to Dr. Light for giving him a second chance when asked by Blues.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Mega Man suffers this when, in a fit of rage, he punches Roller Brawl as she tries to get him to calm down. He's horrified by the fact he hurt his own sister, and immediately goes to comfort her, shedding Tears of Remorse as he does so. While Roller Brawl tries to brush it off and jokes they're even for her slapping him to calm him down, he's still very upset at himself.
• Named by the Adaptation: Kaos' evil clones of the Skylanders are termed as "Darklanders", whereas they were only called his minions in the games.
• Not What I Signed on For: When an Emerald Spear overhears Suna and Lord Obsidian planning to blow up the ARTS convention, innocents be damned, he states this in response, attempting to warn Theo and Simone of their true plans before getting shot by Lord Obsidian.
• Oh, My Gods!: In place of God, Roller Brawl swears by the Ancients, The Maker of Skylands.
• Original Character:
  • Nocturne (keeping with the Musical Theme Naming of the series) the robot bat is original to this fic, serving as Roller Brawl's equivalent to Rush, and having the ability to release a stunning screech and transform into a buckler shield.
  • Ra Hermes, Ra Moon's replacement for Quick Man after the latter's Heel–Face Turn. While still heavily based on Quick Man, Ra Hermes is far more obedient to Dr. Wily, and his body is covered in boomerangs.
• Patchwork Fic:
  • Dr. Wily's motives here are somewhat expanded upon, as well as his history with Dr. Light, as it incorporates parts of Mega Man 11 into it: Dr. Wily brings up how Dr. Light wanted to focus on independent thought for robots while he wanted to improve their speed and power as he builds the Mega Man 2 Robot Masters, and Dr. Light, during his debate with Dr. Lalinde, brings up how the Double Gear system had issues with long term use, hence why his theories of independent research were pursued.
  • Additionally, Pulse Man is one of the Robot Masters attending the ARTS Convention, with the author stating they plan to incorporate other Mega Man fan games into the plot.
• Shout-Out:
  • While Guts Man is voiced by Garry Chalk like he was in the Ruby Spears cartoon, his voice here is based more on Optimus Primal, also voiced by Garry Chalk, from Beast Wars.
  • Gilbert and Roslyn gain voices based on characters linking to each of them from Transformers: Animated. Gilbert, being the older and bigger detective with a dislike for technology and a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, is voiced by Jeff Bennett, the one who voiced the similar Captain Fanzone. By contrast, the younger, dark-skinned, red-headed, more tech-savvy and open-minded Roslyn is voiced by Tara Strong, who voiced Sari Sumdac.
  • Oil Man, being voiced by Khary Payton, uses Cyborg's catchphrase of "BOO YA!" when bringing the captured Roll to Dr. Wily.
  • Roller Brawl and Dr. Wily's dialogue after the reveal of Skylands' fate is based on the discussion between Scarlet Witch and Thanos from Avengers: Endgame.
    Roller Brawl: IT DOESN'T MATTER! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME! MY FRIENDS, MY FAMILY, MY HOME, MY BODY! I LOST THEM ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!
    Dr. Wily: I suppose. But in fairness, I didn't even know who you were.
  • Quick Man and Roller Brawl also have a role reversal of Sonic and Amy's relationship. Quick Man is the speedster voiced by Roger Craig Smith while Roller Brawl is the snarky, pink gal, but it's Quick Man who pines over Roller Brawl instead of the other way around.
  • Roller Brawl's dislike of Pipis in Wood Man's stage references Roahm Mythril and his own dislike of them.
  • When encountering Quick Man after defeating Heat Man, Roller Brawl says Quick Man had better "bet his shiny metal butt" that she remembers him.
  • Quick Man offers a kiss for luck, with Roller Brawl rejecting while saying he's got to be kidding.
  • Roller Brawl gaining the Time Stopper from Flash Man brings to mind DIO, becoming a vampire with the ability to stop time. She even declares that she won't let Dr. Wily have the world (the name of DIO's Stand) in his palm.
    • On that note, Flash Man being voiced by Matthew Mercer essentially makes it a role reversal of Jotaro learning how to stop time from DIO. However, Flash Man's voice is slated to be more similar to Chrom, as both act as A Father to His Men.
  • Whirlwind's civilian design is based heavily on Rainbow Dash, but with the hair style of Hilda (Pre-Time Skip), whom Whirlwind shares a voice actress with.
  • Alongside his namesake from Greek Mythology and Quick Man's NetNavi counterpart QuickMan.EXE, Ra Hermes is also inspired by Kamen Rider Double, specifically having the blades of FangJoker and the scarf of CycloneJoker.
  • During their fight, Roller Brawl and Sergeant Night take cues from Richter and Dracula's conversation in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
    Sergeant Night: Mankind ill needs a turncoat such as you.
    Roller Brawl: ...But I'm through talking! Have at you!
• Spit Take: Roller Brawl gives one of these when she sees that Dr. Light's opponent in the debate will be Dr. Lalinde. Quake Woman lampshades the use of this trope.
  Hmmm. An effective way to convey the emotion known as surprise.
• Trauma Button:
  • Dr. Wily's note after kidnapping Roll ignites painful memories from Roller Brawl, reminded of how Kaos similarly gloated over having captured her older brothers after they defended her.
  • As a result of his injury at the hands of Elec Man, Xander reveals that he ends up tensing up instinctively in thunder storms.
• Wolverine Claws: Just like her canon self, Roller Brawl's cyborg form is equipped with a pair of these known as the Leech Claw, but they also have the ability to absorb electromagnetic energy to heal herself and even infuse them with energy to increase their cutting power. She can also use them to cling to ceilings.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: In Mega Man: Fully Charged, Suna was Dr. Light's daughter and Mega Man's sister, but here, Suna has no connection to Dr. Light or Rock.
• Villainous Crush: Quick Man develops one on Roller Brawl, calling her nicknames like "Roller Beauty" and "Roller Babe". This eventually evolves into a Love Redeems moment, as Quick Man betrays Dr. Wily and joins Roller Brawl and Mega Man.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Roller Brawl knocks out one Emerald Spear with a German Suplex, and does a drop kick in her fight against Lord Obsidian.
• You Are Not Alone: When Roller Brawl breaks down and admits to feeling out of place and alone, Roll reassures the former Skylander that she has her, Dr. Light, Rock, and the other Robot Masters to help her.