Third Person Thursday - Mega Dad

His thumb strikes the A button like lightning. Plasma bursts shoot forth from his arm cannon, wiping out enemy after enemy before him.

“There’s a Sniper Joe!”

With rapid fire and well timed jumps, he makes quick work of him. no need to worry.

It took some getting used to, but all his old skills are coming back to him. This life seemed like it had been lived so long ago. He wasn’t sure he could ever return. Yet here he was, right back in the thick of it like he’d never left. He began to think he never really had, that it was just hiding inside of him all these years, waiting to be let out.

He wipes out Metalls and assassinates Pipis before they can drop their eggs. Flyboys poise no threat to him as he simply reaps the rewards that appear upon their defeat. He jumps from Goblin to Goblin with ease and jumps over the chains of fireballs spewed from Frienders. He punges into the water and begins to destroy robot frogs and fish.

“Watch out for the spikes!”

He’d forgotten about the spikes, but he’s quickly reminded of how deadly they can be. He loses two men, yet he keeps trying.

Before he knows it, he’s navigated his way through the underwater lair and taken out another target. He’s amassing powers left and right. There’s only one enemy left to take out before he can move on to the real challenge.

But again, there’s something he’s forgotten.

“Fire guys!”

The Changkey Makers, or Fire Guys, as his son so excitedly called them, aren’t the problem. They real problem is the beams of light that come after. If he doesn’t use his time stopping ability at just the right moment and collect energy pellets to keep it running as he descends, he’ll never even make it to the end of the level.

Somehow, he makes it.

After taking out Quick Man, it’s on to the evil doctor’s castle.

“Mecha Dragon! Don’t let him shot you with his fire!”

It’s all coming so easy to him now. The giant robot dragon, the moving room, the Guts Man tank all fall like dominoes to his agility and his plasma cannon. There’s not an enemy he can’t take.

Though he’s lost lives along the way, he has a stash to keep him going and several energy canisters saved up. Each acquired power is charged to the max.

“Ready to see the ending?” he asks.

There’s no answer.

He turns in the darkened room. Away from the light of the television screen, his eyes need a minute to adjust. Finally he sees him.

His six-year-old is out cold. At one point shouting out enemies, now he breaths heavily beneath his covers. His body still lies in the awkward position required to watch the screen past the father who sat at the foot of his bed.

“Guess we’ll finish up tomorrow,” he says and kisses the boy’s forehead.

Feeling like he’s twelve again is fun. He can almost see himself visiting his friend’s house and plowing through level after level as they snack on slices of salami in between.

But having his sons watch as he does it all again is even better. So, instead of continuing on as they sleep, he turns off the television and turns off the console.

He’ll be the hero tomorrow. He’ll beat Mega Man 2 when they can watch and cheer him on.