Scenario C
[(\./)]
Participants:
Drastic Measures (RPD)
Wily's Warriors (W)

Location: Hong Kong
Max. Cossack Scrap Value: 4,473
SA Infantry: 1,109
RPD Units: 697
Wily Bots: 923


Skull Fortress, the home of Doctor Wily’s forces, was hectic as usual. Robot Masters and other assorted robots prowled the hallways, either performing duties around the premises or preparing for another mission somewhere else in the world. Six of them, members of Wily’s Warriors, were on their way to their briefing for their next assignment.

“You guys think Starnik is going to be okay?” The voice belonged to Darksage, aka Crashman. “I haven’t seen him much during our practice sessions.”

Shadowstrike, the alias of the group’s Airman, gave of a shrug. “Who knows? At least he isn’t being a whiney emo anymore.” An angry cough by Cyros, the resident Flashman caught the larger robot’s attention. “What’s with you?”

“You could show a little more compassion, you know. Ben was our teammate too.” An uneasy silence overcame the group as they recalled what occurred merely days before. As hard as it seemed, there was no denying it: Ben, their Heatman, was gone.

“...forget I said anything.” Figuring that was as close to an apology as any, the Warriors continued marching down the hallway. “Say, where is Starnik anyway?”

“I caught him before when he was exiting his room. He went on ahead to get the last of his repairs before the mission started.” Unconsciously, Flash rubbed his metallic buster arm, which was only recently repaired after he burnt out his primary weapons system.

Up ahead, the largest member of their little group, Woodman, halted as he spotted a figured approaching. “Hey look, it’s Bass.”

The aforementioned android looked up upon hearing his name and scowled. “Out of my, losers.” He shoved Metalman aside violently and made his way past the Warriors.

“Ouch!” Rubbing the back of his helmet, Metal asked, “What’s his problem?”

“I guess he didn’t get any assignments this time,” Woodman suggested. Chuckling, he looked down at the retreating robot. “Sucks to be him.”

“We better get moving, guys,” pleaded Flashman. “Lest we deal with another of the Doc’s yelling sprees.”

In silenced they all agreed and finished their trip down the hallway. The double doors leading to the main lab were already wide open, through which the group traveled. Woodman felt the doorframe push back the tip of his “leafy mullet”; a cosmetic side effect to his recent upgrade, courtesy of the Doc. Not surprisingly, the very same person was already waiting for them, an amused look on his face.

“Ah, you’ve made it just in time. Quickman’s repairs have just been completed.” Wily motioned toward a nearby work table, where Quickman looked up and gave a small smile to his teammates. It wasn’t as full as it had been in the past, though, but the Warriors didn’t pay much attention to it. “Now where the hell is that blasted copy of his?”

“‘Copy?’” Crash questioned. “You mean Mr. Whiz?”

On cue, the reversed colored Quickman dashed into the lab and skidded right next to his creator. Giving off a smart salute, he shouted, “Mr. Whiz, reporting for duty, oh great and powerful Wily!”

Airman raised a proverbial eyebrow at the newcomer. “What the hell is he doing here?” Wily glared at the walking fan and proceeded to pace around the room.

“It is simple, my Warriors. Mr. Whiz has been preparing to go onto the front lines for quite some time. Which is why I am sending him with you on your next mission to serve as a scout for the troops, while the rest of you help take care of our competition in the area.”

“Not to state the obvious, but when has clone-boy here down anything productive?” quipped Airman, pointing a thumb at Mr. Whiz.

Whiz suck his face right into Airman’s. “For your information, I’ve been doing valuable work for the Doc for a long time! More important than the things you people have done in the past few months!”

Airman looked quite amused. “Are you sure dressing up as a 50’s pin up girl qualifies as important?” Whiz looked quite shocked and embarrassed after that; the laughter from the other Warriors made clear of that.

“Enough of this nonsense!” shouted Wily. “There are more important to deal with right now!” Wily walked over to his control console and activated the world map. Dots of various colors marked the locations of the three main forces involved in the war; the RPD, the Scissor Army and of course Wily’s troops. A special marker was hovering right over the city of Hong Kong, which was currently a mix of both tan and blue. Apparently, it was currently a hotspot for the other two factions.

“Even as we speak, the RPD and the Scissor Army are fighting for control of Hong Kong. It’s a losing battle for the RPD, however. Their numbers have grown low and it’s only a matter of time before the Scissor Army makes their final push. Then Hong Kong will be theirs.”

“Something doesn’t seem right here,” asked Flashman. “I know that Hong Kong is an important economic power, but I doubt the Scissor Army would need one with their resources.”

“Right you are, Flashman.” Typing in a few commands, a closer satellite image of the port was displayed. “While the SA would have no use for the economic power their, I, on the other hand, do. And it just so happens I have a good sized force ready to depart for the city.”

Quickman stepped up with his arms crossed and stared at the doctor. “So you want us to lead the assault and take over, huh? Seems easy enough.”

“Not as much as you’d think.” The Warriors and Whiz were confused at Wily’s words, so he continued. “While my satellite images are hazy at best, I have found evidence of something... unusual.”

Quite thus far, Bubbleman took the opportunity to ask, “What do you mean by that?”

Wily highlighted a few fuzzy squares on the satellite image. “I am uncertain at this point, these structures seem to be camps of some sort.”

“Barracks?”

“Nein,” answered Wily. “They are too open. The Scissor Army must be holding something else there. Make sure you find out what once you arrive. I despise being left in the dark about such matters.”

The Warriors mumbled in agreement to their orders. Hesitantly, Flashman asked one final question. “Do you know anything about who’s in charge of both forces over there?”

Wily scowled and shook his head. “None at all. I only have estimate troop numbers. We have the advantage number wise, but that’s barring any interference from any commanding forces.”

“Gee Wily,” quipped Quickman, “It sounds like you’re worry about us. I’m touched.”

“Bah! I just don’t want to waste time piecing you all back together if you botch up the operation!” Turning to Mr. Whiz, he said, “And another thing, keep Metalman out of trouble! He may have gotten lucky last mission, but I’m not taking any chances! Make sure he doesn’t screw things up!”

Metalman blinked before yelling, “Hey! I don’t screw things up! ...much.”

“That’s debatable,” Airman said, laughing. Getting a wave off from Quickman, the leader of the group made his way toward the teleporter bay so that they could depart for their mission.

As they made their way out of the lab, Flashman paused and shuddered. Crashman took notice and asked, “Uh, you okay Cyros?”

“Yeah...” Cyros glanced around, as if someone was watching him. “But I can’t help but feel something bad is about to happen.”

--------------------

Morning.

The Scissor Army had a presence here. It had been here since the first strike of the War. Hong Kong had become a bloody battleground, marred and stained by the craters of artillery fire and the shattered remnants of this once lively city. The city's defenders had been killed; annihilated by the unrelenting machine of the exclusively robotic forces.

And now?

Now it was simply a farm.

The Joes of the Scissor Army ran a smooth operation, shuffling prisoners around like cattle to the slaughter. One by one, they were moved from the massive Camp C, to the somehwat more cramped Camp B, and then to Camp A, the smallest camp, where they were given a test. The test consisted very simply of a question of fear.

"Are you afraid?" the Joe asked in digitized Chinese, simply. The shivering child in front of him merely nodded, and was waved by.

The tiny child of barely distinguishable sex moved through the line, and passed between several Joes on the way back to Camp C.

It had been this way for weeks. Those who failed the test, those who were afraid, simply moved, forever, between the three camps, given enough food and water to keep them alive. Those who dropped from exhaustion were taken to Camp C to rest until they were forced to rejoin the eternal march.

Excitement abounded when someone, normally a hot-blooded young idiot decided to defy his captors.

"No! I am NOT afraid!" the man shouted for all to hear. The Joes barely payed attention to him as he was waved into the dark room of the tent.

Inside, the man encountered something entirely otherworldly.

"Hello," it grinned, voice high and cold, speaking a perfect Chinese dialect. "Pleased to meet you. I hope you guess my name."

"I am not afraid of you, monster!"

Mesmerman sighed, his pieces shifting slightly in a mirror motion of a sigh and a bare shrug. "I forget that quoting such wonderful artwork tends to be lost on you people," he sighed in English before switching back to Chinese. "I understand that you have no more fear of this situation."

"You are a coward. You kill our men and soldiers, leaving only the women and children and elderly and crippled!" the man waved his prosthetic arm to emphasis his point. "I have nothing to fear from a coward like you!"

Mesmerman's expressionless face almost seemed... taken aback somehow. "How many times were you in line?" he asked incredulously.

"I do not need repetitious trips through your forced internment camps to understand how worthless you are!"

"Can we STOP with the shouting?" Mesmerman sighed. "I don't believe its helping."

"Are you afraid to face me?"

The reply was immediate... no... instant. Mesmerman's face was a mere inch from the other man's. The grin, the eye, both unmoving, unflinching, in stark contrast to the sudden paling of the skin, the blink of the eye, the cry of surprise. The fear, now apparent on his features, would have only made Mesmerman grin wider if his smile wasn't merely painted on.

"If you feel no fear. If you feel only anger. If you do not feel... despair. Then you are useless. Mindless. Completely unproductive." The Malus Messis, its red blade glinting in the bare sunlight that streamed into the tent, and handle setteling into the disconnected hands. "Like cattle," he said distractedly, his free hand playing its fingers across the blade.

The man said nothing, abject terror rooting him to the spot. Mesmerman continued, in careful English, his voice carrying a slender, haunting tune. "Mary had a little lamb, it's fleece a bloody red..."

Instant motion allowed for no reaction time, and the scythe dug with sickening expertise into the man's chest, up under the ribcage through his stomach, the tip of the weapon coming out through the skin again just below the trunk of his neck.

"And everywhere I go today, the humans wind up dead."

A Joe, a yellow stripe painted down the side of his helmet, entered the tent, standing at firm attention with his weapon shouldered as Mesmerman extracted his weapon from the new corpse. "What is it, Gold leader?" the white monster asked off handedly.

"The perimeter defenses are in place, commander. Overlapping fields of fire on all plasma turrets established. We're locked down tight, sir."

"Excellent. No doubt they shall be coming soon," he smiled, wondering what forces the humans might muster against him. Someone, somewhere, had probably heard some errant cry for help from this wretched city. He chuckled as the Joe hauled the body out of the tent, dragging it past the lines of people back to Camp C, where the mass grave had been dug alongside the pavillion for the exhausted and dying.

"And thick and fast, they'll come at last, and more, and more, and more..." he smiled.

--------------------

As each one landed in a beam of light, each had one shuddered. None of them wanted to be there. Out the very outskirts of Hong Kong, was the RPD forces, being led by Drastic Measures.

“Why did we land so far away?” asked Cloudman, looking over at the city, which was barely viewable from where he hovered.

“The SA are in complete control of this area. Weren't you listening to the briefing?” stated Burstgirl, sitting on a rock.

“Yeah...I was....until Crorq started to talk. Then I just kind of faded out....” Cloudman said with a shrug, his voice trailing off at the end.

Freezeman then turned,looking at the legion of Police Bots behind the team. “So....we are really in command of all of them ?“ He asked sheepishly.

“Yeah. But that doesn't mean this is a cake walk.” Junkman says as he surveys the town, robot eyes able to look further than human eyes ever could unaided. “We have to be fast and precise. The SA are really tightly controlled here. “

“Just to restate the obvious, for anyone who wasn't listening.” Turboman says with a nonseen glare at Cloudman, “ Our mission here is to free the prisoners of the Scissor Amry, being held in camps. We have more intel to do. Now, I'm going to split us up to do recon. Avi and Seadrgon, take the first camp. Metabad and Darksage, take the second camp. Beo, your with me on the final camp. The Police Bots will stay here, as the less people, the less chance of being seen. Everyone understand? “ Each one then nodded, except springman who spoke up.

“I have a problem. “ he said, as each one turned to look at him. “Do I really have to work with Metabad?”

“I'm not even going to answer that. Since everyone understands....Roll out.”

--------------------

Elsewhere in the city, far away from both the RPD and SA forces, another set of lights began falling from the sky. First came the forms of eight Master type robots; Wily’s Warriors, plus their accompanying companion Mr. Whiz. Then came the troops; large units teleporting in first, followed by several dozen sniper Joe units, finishing up with several larger carriers filled with run of the mill fodder robots. Their housings opening up, they exited and waited for the command to move out from their more intelligent commanders.

Woodman took at look at their surrounding and sighed. Broken buildings and cracked roads all around. Definitely not his ideal environment. “So where’s the RPD? Didn’t Wily say they were fighting here?”

“My guess? They got hosed,” suggested Quickman. “I’d say forward and onward, but I would feel a lot better if we actually knew where was what.”

Airman pointed toward Whiz and said, “I’m pretty sure that’s why we brought him along with us.” The robot in question stuck a tongue out at the oversized walking fan, who in return gave a smug look.

“Anyway, yeah, I’ll go check it out.” With those words, Whiz sped off into the ruined streets of Hong Kong, toward one the largest buildings close by. Everyone else remained where they were, waiting.

The silence became awkward after a short while. “...so...” Crashman paused with his words, unsure of what to say. “...how about them Mets?”

“I thought they got massacred during the Scissor Army’s first strike?” questioned Woodman.

Crash tapped his chin and said, “Oh yeah... so they did...” In the background, Flashman sighed angrily, yet soft enough not to attract any attention. “Yeah, this is boring. We’re in the middle of a war and yet we’re waiting. Explain that to me.”

There wasn’t much to explain, though, as Whiz immediately ran back toward them. Apparently, his little scouting trip went without a hitch.

“I managed to get a good look at the city,” said the yellow speedster. “As well as those camps that Wily mentioned.”

Quickman strolled up to his clone and asked, “So, did you find out what they’re for?"

Mr. Whiz nodded. “Yeah. They’re full of people.”

“...wait, as in human people?”

“Yeah.”

Quickman blinked. “Wait a minute. Are we still talking about the Scissor Army here? Who wish for the extinction of all humanity? Yet they’re keeping whole camps of them alive?” Whiz nodded. “...well I’m lost. I’m letting Wily know about this.”

Fiddling with his communicator, Quickman made contact with their home base. While he conversed with the Doctor, the rest had to endure even more waiting.

“I’m bored,” whined Metalman. “And I’m hungry. And tired.” Airman groaned and rubbed his head, while the others simply ignored the two. “I wanna go home!”

Perturbed, the larger robot glared at the childish robot. “Well too freaking bad! We got a mission and we’re not going home till with finish it! So suck it up!”

On the verge of crying, Metalman whined so more. “Stop yelling at me...”

Airman twitched. He was a jokester at heart, but at times, Metalman made him want to just lose control and... well, break things. Taking a page from the others, the large blue robot walked over to his companions, listening on their short conversation.

“-and then Doc Robot laughed at my proposal for making Halo-based weapons.” Flashman had just finished retelling an account from some other day; Airman didn’t particularly care about that last part he said. “Seriously though, we should really invest in upgrading our Joes too. They’re kinda the bottom of the rung right now.”

“Yeah, but Wily can easily make more of the same if he needs to,” explain Darksage. “My guess is that he’s going with quantity over quality, and since he can easily make more quantity-”

“Alright guys, new situation!” Everyone turned toward Starnik, who stood upright like some sort of army general. “Wily’s taken this new development into account, so we gotta do two things: take out of the competition and take over the city, like we planned, and on top of that... we’re going to rescue those people.”

A collection of questions erupted from the Warriors. In particular, Flashman’s stood out from the rest. “Wait, you mean Wily is telling us to do good!?”

“That’s what I said,” explained the scarlet speedster, “until he told me the plan. If we rescue those people from the Scissor Army, not only will we make the RPD look bad, but we’ll get moral support from the general populace. Not to mention when we take over, we’ll need people to run the economy...”

“‘If,’” murmured Flashman. “‘If’ we take over the city.”

Quickman shot his teammate a look. “You don’t sound so sure we can do this. What gives?” The blue and yellow robot shrugged simply shrugged. “Well, we should at least rescue the people and give credit to Wily’s name. He gobbles up that kind of attention like those chocolates Mr. Whiz is always making him.” A snicker from Airman and a “hey!” from Mr. Whiz was all he got back.

“So Starnik, how are we gonna do this?” asked the lumbering Woodman. The quickster thought for a minute and began calculating a plan.

“We’ll head toward the harbor first, try to get that secured.” In the background, Bubbleman smiled at the fact his skills could be put to use. “That’ll be our fallback point. Once we get that, we’ll make our way toward the camps and begin our attack on the SA and RPD forces. Better yet, we’ll wait for the RPD to get there first, and then we make our move. That sounds good?”

“...it’s somewhat of a thought-up-on-the-spot strategy,” proclaimed Flashman, “but I can’t think of anything better. I’m game.”

Crashman raised his arms in anticipation. “You got my support, boss man.” Wordlessly, Wood, Metal and Bubble nodded in agreement as well.

That left Airman who, sighing, agreed. “Alright, let’s get this over with.” He turned toward the less intelligent robots behind him (barring a few Joes playing cards) and shouted, “HEY, DINGBATS! GET YOUR REARS IN GEAR AND GET MOVING!”

On the drop of a hat, every machine entered ready mode, awaiting their next orders. The Warriors then moved into a single group and waited for their leader to give the signal.

“Okay, everyone good to go? Yes? Excellent. Warriors, Wily bots! Let’s roll-”

“No.”

Quickman blinked. “Huh?”

“I said no,” stated Crashman. “We’re not pulling an Optimus.” One by one, the other Warriors agreed.

“...good point. I’m more of a Starscream guy myself.” Laughing as his own joke, Quickman motioned for the army to begin its march.

--------------------

Turboman and Freeze entered the crumbled remains of what was once a shopping mall. As they silently walked through it, the scenes of destruction were sickening. All around, Bodies, and what was left them littered the ground.

“I...feel sick. “ Said Freezeman with a faltering tone. “ This....is just......how could this happen?”

“We don't have time to worry about that. We have to see the defenses around this camp, and what they really are doing in there.”

A little while later, in what could be said was the most damaged part of the mall, so far as being barely recognizable, the ...air around them seemed to have changed.

“We have to be getting near. This area is really falling apart. “ Freezeman turning his head, scanning the room appropriately. Each step the two took made a sickening sound as the ground was covered in blood. Turboman nodded in agreement. Sunlight slowly started to trickle down the hallway, the gruesome scenes were even easier to see. Also visable, was the third camp.

“Okay. We can't go any closer. If we do, those Joes will detect us. “ Turboman says, firmly planting his feet on the blood soaked ground.

“This is odd. The humans....aside from being held in there...don't seem to be being killed. They are just being...corralled.”

“That doesn't make any sense. The SA want to exterminate the human race.”

“Maybe they have a different reasoning here. “

“Hey, wait, look at this. They're moving them all. “ Turboman says, as the humans from the camp are moved out, being led by Sniper Joes, rifles at the ready to destory any that fall behind the crowd. Turboman watched this intently, a slight plan forming in his mind. Freezeman, however, was more interested with a more pressing matter.

“Shadow, you better turn around. “

“Why? I think this is more important.”

“I take that as an insult!” Said a voice that was familiar, yet not recognizable to Turboman at first.
“Oh you gotta be kidding me. Wily sent you guys here?” The transforming Robot Master says as he turns to face who spoke.

“But of course! The Great Wily will show you all to be fools! “ exclaims Mr. Whiz, “ You will all revel in his glory!” As he continued, Quickman and Flashman, who were standing infront of the reverse speedster, both shifted their gaze in slight embarrassment.

“Whiz, can you tone it down just a bit? “ Flashman says as he finally looks at the robot again.

“No. They MUST KNOW THE GLORY THAT IS WILY!” Whiz screams.

“Will you SHUT UP! There are guards here. Do you want to fight the whole Scissor Amry?” Says an angry Quickman. He then glances over at Freezeman and Turboman. “You guys are here to save these people I guess?” Both of the RPD Robot Masters nod. “I'm sorry, but we can't let you. You see, Wily sent us here to do that too. And if we don't do what he says, he'll says he'll kill us. I mean, sure he has said that about, what? 50 times?”

“574 to be exact, if you count the 7 times this morning” Says Flashman with a grin.

“And you know what they say, the 575th time is the charm.”

“Who said that?” Asks Flashman.

“ I just did. “ Starnik says, a smirk on his face too.

“So, what, your saying we should just leave? “ Asks Turboman, his look of disbelief masked by his face shield.

“You gotta be kidding me.” Freezeman laughs, causing Whiz to twitch.

“How DARE you laugh in the face of Ultimate Evil!” He screams, throwing his arms in the air.

“WE TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!” Screamed Freezeman, Turboman, Quickman, and Flashman, the last one even went far enough as to blast Whiz right in the back of leg.

“We can't just let the RPD free the people here. Sorry, but to do that, you have to beat us in a fight. I know it's cliché, but it how things work in this world.” Quickman says. Turboman and Freezeman look to each other, and nod.

Without even saying a word, Turboman shifted into his car form, and went speeding into the way he came, deep into the mall. Quickman and Whiz soon followed suit. Flashman and Freezeman just looked at each other for a moment. A moment of silence. Then, it was over, they both started to move. Freezeman started by turning the ground into sheer ice, as Flashman sent plasma bullets flying in his general direction.

--------------------

The first camp was located in the gully beset by a mountain. The mountain was called The Peak by locales, and Victoria Peak by the rest of the world. None of the robots trekking up the mountain, nor cared what it was called. They just wanted to go to the top of the blasted thing. Well, except one of them.

“Oh man. It has to SUCK to walk up this thing.” Airman laughs as he floats around the walking Crashman.

“Yeah, It does. “

“And you don't even have hands to steady yourself if you trip. You REALY weren't made for this, were you?” Airman continues, pushing Crashman's buttons.

“No I wasn't. Now can you shut up so we can go up this mountain in silence? Do you really wan to tip off the Scissor Army.”Crashman says, glaring at the hovering fan.

“Right. Like they are made to fight here either. Hell, this is my territory. I own this mountain! This is Mt. Awesome. “

“Mount Awesome? How did you come up with that name?”

“Isn't it clear I named it after my self? “ Airman says as he starts to laugh. Crashman decides to shut the robot up, and sends a Crash Bomb flying towards him. Airman turns and sends the crash bomb flying further into the air with an Air Shooter.

“Where is that going to land? “ Crashman says as he watches the boosted bomb going flying high into the sky.

“Meh, who cares. Not for us to worry about. “

Meanwhile, at a place not the same, Metalman stood commanding the minions. As to why he was left, no one is completely sure. He looked over his sizable army. Then something shiny in the foreground. Then back to his army. He stood waiting. He had to wait for Quickman to tell him where to go. “This is boring!” He yells, throwing his head back. “Hey....what is that? “Metalman says as he spies something in the air, and it was falling fast. “I think that is right above me. I better move. What was I just talking about?” He looks back again at a Sniper Joe in front of him. “Do you know what I was talking about?” The sniper joe gives him a quizzical look as the falling object drops directly into it's head, exploding, sending robot bits every where. “That was uncalled for! It was an easy question!”

Airman and Crashman finally were within walking distance of the direct summit. But they weren't the only ones. “What the? What are you doing here. “ Airman says to the other floating robot on the mountain.

“ What do you think? We are here for the video games! Don't you know Japan has the best video games? “ Cloudman says with a laugh.

“...Metabad, can't you ever be serious? “ Says Springman, standing next and below the floating robot. “We aren't even in Japan. This is China. “

“...Your kidding me? I thought we were in Japan. I mean, look at all the damage Godzilla did!” Cloudman defends, pointing towards the city.

“Godzilla didn't do that!” Springman says, practically yelling at Cloudman. “Sorry about him...He is....well...he is Metabad.”

“....Have you ever met Naoshi? “ Crashman asks with a laugh.

“Well there is that time you all tried to kill us! “ Cloudman yells, pointing at the two Wily bots. “And there is that one I chased in the zoo...though he looked different. “

“What? Are there two naoshi's?!” Airman yells, taken back. “There can't be. The world can't take that much.....that much.....that much stupid!”

“I think we strayed far enough away from why we are here. “ Springman says, “You can't just be up here. Why are you here?”

“The view is just so good. “ Airman says sarcastically. “I just had to come and see it for myself. And he followed. “

“We are here for the same reason you are here. “ Crashman says, ignoring Airman completely. “ We are here to free the civilians “in the name of Wily. “ “

“Wily wants to save people? Does that make him the good guy?” A confused Cloudman asks.

“Oh no, he is still trying to take over the world. He justs wants to....free the people first.” Crashman further explains. “I really don't get it either. “

“Well, we can't both do the same thing. Sorry, but it looks like you are in our way. And Metabad, what do we do with people who are in our way?” Springman says, turning to his floating com padre.

“We pay them off!”

“No....try again.”

“We....give them money?”

“Thats the same thing.”

“I like both of those. “ Crashman says with a laugh.

“Come on, you know this one. “ Springman says.

“We fight them?” Cloudman asks.

“Thats right!”

“You sure it isn't pay off? I really like that one.” Crashman asks.

“I could go for some money....” Airman says, laughing.

“Sorry, no.” Springman says, slowly coiling his legs up. “Looks like conversation has to come to end. “ As he finishes his sentence, he bounds up, releasing a Wild Coil at Crashman.

“So that's how you wanna play, huh?” Airman says, aiming an Air Shooter at Springman. He fires it, the small tornado flying up into the air, catching Springman, pulling him far from the mountain.

“ Hey! That's not fair! “ Cloudman says, he shifting his boots into his lightning gun “ You need to learn about fairness. And I used to be a teacher, so who better to teach! “ He aims at Airman, who is now floating high in the air off the mountain. “Since when can you fly? “

“I wouldn't move if I were you. “ Crashman says from behind Cloudman, a Crash Bomb being held aimed against the back of his head. “Now, put down the guns”

“Metabad, don't listen” Springman says, flying at Crashman at high speeds. Crashman is then tackled. Hard. “Now go take down that fan bastard. “

“Alright!” Cloudman says, quickly flying up in front of Airman.

“The cards aren't in your favor. “ Springman says to his down opponent.

“They never are. That's why I cheat. “ The latch bomb themed retorted, kicking Springman in the face, sending him high into the air, thanks to his springs.

“You really think you can win against me? I can make lightning! LIGHTNNING!” Cloudman yells at Airman.

“Yeah, but you have to hit me, and I don't think you can.” Airman says, blasting Cloudman with an Air Shooter, sending him crashing into the side of the mountain.

--------------------

In peaceful times, Victoria Harbour was looked upon as a world-famous tourist attraction, thanks to the breathtaking view of the cityscape amongst the mountain ridges, overlooking the water. And even now, despite a few downed buildings, it remained as such, as the sunlight glistened upon the water’s surface. The harbor was empty now… quiet. As the RPD forces held up the area, the roads were closed off, the citizens evacuated, and all the tourists held out. Although, one could wonder who would be sightseeing at a time like this.

“Nice place,” Burstgirl remarked, “kinda takes your mind off the whole mess, doesn’t it?”

“Not really,” Junkman responded as he drew hunks of scrap from around the port onto his armor, “we are here for the purpose of duty. Our mission is to free the captives being held on Hong Kong Island, and bust some sorry Scissor ass while we are at it.”

“I know. Just trying to lighten the mood, that’s all. Happy thoughts, ya?” Burst said, attempting to ease the tension. Burstgirl and Junkman seldom said anything more to one another, as they proceeded along the harbor; until finally, Hong Kong Island came into view. “You know, it would be quicker to just swim there,” Burst suggested.

“You can swim,” Junkman replied, “I’ll be taking the tunnel.”

“What, is Seadragon afraid of a little water?” Burstgirl joked. “Oh HAH-HAH,” Junkman uttered sarcastically in response. After a lighthearted battle of words involving Junkman’s nickname, the two Drastic Measures arranged a meeting point on Hong Kong Island, and wished one another luck before going their separate ways. Burstgirl dashed for the shore and dove into the water, while Junkman dashed for the Cross-Harbour Tunnel.

The underwater tunnel was long infamous for its excessive traffic congestion. And now, there was not a single vehicle on the road – many years ago, the Hong Kong government saw it impossible to control the traffic problems, but now with a war going on, it was cleared up in an instant… with China’s remarkably high population, one could wonder where exactly everyone went off to… but Junkman had more important things to think about. Like how to deal with that huge, hulking, wooden robot master who was now standing right in front of him.

“Admiring the new look, Woodman.” Junkman slyly remarked as he gazed upon the large Wily bot. Indeed, Woodman had received quite an upgrade – not only was he now about ten feet tall, but his fists alone were huge, with each finger being about as thick as a doorknob. And most notably, was his new hairstyle. “Nice hair,” Junkman commented, eying Woodman’s leaflike mullet.

“Um, thanks,” Woodman said in a confused voice, as he faced the scrap metal-clad warrior. “Hmph,” Junkman grunted, “so what in the hell does Wily want with this place?”

“Yeah… Bubble and I were sent to seize Victoria Harbour.” Woodman responded. “And I take it you are going to try and stop us?”

“Damn straight!” Junkman magnetically drew several pieces of scrap into his hand, and formed his trademark Junk Staff weapon - this particular staff was armed with what looked to be an axe blade on the end of it. Woodman too prepared for battle as a few dozen razor-sharp leaves began swirling around his body.

--------------------

The water felt soothing… Burst felt at home in the waters, no matter how far from her true home they would be. While still well aware of her mission, she couldn’t help but feel a wave of relaxation, even as she sped along under the sea in pursuit of Hong Kong Island. She bore many burdens, but for now, they took the backseat to the joy of swimming across the harbor… well, until she felt a harpoon graze against her shoulder.

“Excuse me?!” She yelled. “That has got to be the rudest possible way to greet someone!” Burstgirl stopped swimming forward, and formed a danger wrap. She scouted the area, but was unable to spot her attacker… until a flurry of lead bubbles approached her from behind. Gasping, she tossed her danger wrap in the general direction of the lead bubbles, and dashed out of the way. She clenched her fists, preparing to unleash her own flurry of bubbles, until she saw opponent.

“Burst! How’s it go?” Bubbleman said cheerfully. While Burstgirl had her suspicions that it might be him, she was slightly unnerved that her good buddy Bubbleman was attacking her. But if he was stuck working under Dr. Wily, such a confrontation would have been inevitable; therefore she regained her composure and began to converse with the little scuba robot.

“Good enough, I guess. How’s things with you, Bubbz? Have you been bothering any more fishermen lately?”

“Yup!” Bubbleman said. “I freed my little fish friend from the line, and let the fisherman reel me in… only to have me serve him up a healthy dose of puku justice in the form of a nice, big punch to the face.”

Burstgirl laughed. “Mwhehehe, nice.” Then there was a short pause. “Anyway… Wily force you to do this?”

“Naturally,” Bubbleman responded, “I’m gonna take this harbor for Wily. Rawr!”

With that, they prepared for battle. “Heh heh,” Burst laughed. “It’s about time I get to do something underwater! Everyone seems to forget my original design purpose.” And with that, she hurled a danger wrap at Bubbleman, immediately trapping him inside of it. However, with the skillful use of one of his harpoons, Bubbleman managed to pull himself out of it, just before the bomb went off. While generally unharmed, he was pushed back by the explosion, opening him up to another one of Burst’s attacks. She tossed five bombs at him… then he regained his balance and darted out of the way as they went off. And again, Burst lost sight of him, thanks to the explosions.

“Heh, you’re good,” Burst complimented Bubble. At that moment, she was blasted from behind with a lead bubble. “Why thanks, I am veeeeery sneaky.” Bubbleman proudly declared. “It’s not often I get to fight underwater that often either, puku. If only every battle was underwater.” Burst recovered from the attack and replied jokingly, “Then, why don’t you suggest to Wily that his next evil plan should be to flood the world? We’ll have LOTS of underwater battles that way.” Bubble smiled. “Hey, I like the idea. I’ll be sure to tell him!” They both laughed, as they lobbed their respective bubbly projectiles at one another.

Their fight would go on for quite a long while.

--------------------

The dust settled as Flashman groaned with pain. He couldn't believe what just happened! As Freezeman began to freeze the ground, Flash opened fire toward him and, successfully, landed several hits on him. A split second later, however, he found himself slipping and sliding right into the remains of a brick wall. How... how could he have been so careless?

His opponent came sliding toward him, skating on the icy rink he created himself. Flash growled and gripped the wall above him with his left hand, dragging himself upward, giving him a clear shot at Freezeman. The frozen robot master's eyes went wide as he skidded away from a stream of plasma bullets.

Now that he was upright once more (and the ground close to him now thawed), Flashman decided it was time to get serious. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared from sight.

Freeze skidded to a halt as the Wily bot disappeared, only to feel something come in contact with his left leg. He stumbled backwards off the icy portion of the field and onto regular solid ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Flashman emerging from a crouch; apparently, his opponent had managed to trip him.

"You god damn Wily bot!" Freezeman got up, charged up his Freeze Cracker and sent several icy crystals toward his foe. However, Flashman wasn't about to let the attack hit him. He ducked between various barrages while shattering the rest with a stream of rapid fire buster shots. The worse the debris managed to do was scratch his armor (although on luck shard made a nice little gash on his left shoulder).

Flashman ignored the small wound and looked toward his adversary. "Look, we want to save those people as much as you guys do, but you're all gonna have to just back off." Freezeman blinked, and snorted at the remark.

"Since when does Wily care about saving people?" The icy robot began to charge up another frozen assault. "And why should I listen to you? You're wanted criminals! The RPD are just dying to get their hands on you!"

The only reply was a disappointed scowl... followed by another barrage of buster shots. This time, however, Freezeman was ready and decided to create an icy shield using his powers. Once this caught Flashman of guard, he then send the elongated piece of ice at the Wily bot, slamming into him. A yelp of pain was heard beneath the frozen block.

Underneath his facemask, Freeze grinned. It disappeared, however, went Flashman managed to punch his way through the weakening ice. Getting back up, the time stopping robot breathed heavily and looked at Freezeman.

"You're pretty good." Not ready to give up, Flashman raised his buster cannon again. "But it takes more than fancy upgrades to win."

Freezeman once again glared at his opponent. "Well I don't see you with any upgrades, Wily bot! Besides, I have something else you lack!"

"...like what?"

"Freedom!"

In Flashman's mind, for a brief few seconds, everything stopped. Freedom... Freedom? This guy, had all the gall of saying he had freedom, when in reality he was tied down by the government and the Shutdown Code?

But it went deeper than that. Flash- no, Cyros' mind went back, back to when he first encountered Wily, captured and imprisoned within his castle. How he, against his own will, was taken from his real body and placed within this form. How for weeks he didn't know who he truly was, even though that was undesirable as well. And despite all logic and justice, Wily still held control over them. Freedom, the Warriors had... but it was a bittersweet freedom.

And now this person, Freezeman, accused Flashman of lacking freedom while he did? No, that was not the case. For both lacked freedom. Yet both possessed freedom. It was a never ending mental paradox which played through for several seconds.

Only one thing was within Flash's mind when the cycle broke: rage.

"Gotcha!" Freezeman had taken the pause as an opportunity and launched a Hadoken-styled ice blast at the Wily bot. The stream leaving his hands, he waited as the cold beam of death rocketed toward Flashman...

...only for Flashman to disappeared and reappear. Right in front of Freezeman's face.

"You god damn HYPOCRITE!"

A yellow fist appeared in Freeze's sight a split second later.

--------------------

Quick and Whiz raced throughout the mall, keeping their distance behind the transformed robot master. “Heh, are you going to eat my dust all day, ‘Quick’ Man?” taunted Turbo as the trio took the corner.

“Looks like he’s getting a little cocky, wouldn’t you say, Whiz?”

“The fool thinks just because he’s gotten an upgrade he’s a match for the fastest robot master ever built!” the yellow clone boasted.

“Oh, I’ll show you two whose a match for who…” retorted Turbo, unleashing his Oil Slick attack behind him. The black liquid instantly covered the entire street, giving the two foot-bound Robot Masters nowhere to go!

“Aw, nut bunnies!” yelled Starnik as the duo lost their footing and slipped right through the intersection. “Ugh, that could have gone smoother.” Grumbled Starnik, clutching his head. Both he and Whiz were covered in oil.

“That transforming lummox will rue the day he messed with me, the greatest creation of Doctor Wily!” shrilled Whiz as he continued to skid past Starnik. His entire body had flipped over due to Turbo’s trap, and he was now finding it difficult to right himself. “…Just as soon as I figure out how to get back up!”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure he’s quaking in his drive shaft.” Starnik said flippantly, kicking his clone back into a sitting position. “As much as I loathe to say it, I think we’re going to need some teamwork with this one, Whiz.”

Mr. Whiz paused for a moment. He had never liked his scarlet doppelganger. It was only natural, as he had originally been programmed to exceed him in every way; yet Starnik either had managed to outmaneuver or simply luck out in their previous encounters. But this “Turboman” character had really gotten under his skin. He couldn’t stand going back to Dr. Wily with another loss on his record. He took Quick’s outstretched hand and pulled himself up. “Very well. What do you have in mind?”

--------------------

Turbo raced through the streets of Hong Kong. Something wasn’t right. He had thrown down that oil slick to delay the two Wilybots, but they should have caught up to him by now. Once they do, I can try out my new Scorch Wheel and see how well they like it with their fresh oil coating! He needed to end this fight quick, and get back to releasing the humans!

“Looking for someone Turbo? You should know better than anyone to keep your eyes on the road!” taunted Quickman from up ahead. He launched his large metal boomerang, sending it tearing down the road at incredible velocity.

“You gotta do better than that, Star!” laughed Turboman, who used his precision handling to juke down a street to the left, avoiding the attack completely.

“Then allow me!” shouted Whiz, leaping down from his perch and onto Turbo’s roof. A rain of energy boomerangs from Whiz’s launcher soon followed.

“Hey! No free rides! And watch it, will ya? You’re gonna scratch my paint job!” Turbo yelled as he took a sharp turn to throw off his assailant. Quick and Whiz, however, kept their pace with the automotive robot this time, and Turbo finally figured out what the two had been attempting to do; they had corralled him onto a twisting interchange, where he couldn’t make full use of his car mode’s speed!

“Gotcha Turbo! Let’s see how well your frame holds up to a double Quick Boomerang Barrage!” exclaimed Quick Man, unleashing hundreds of energy boomerangs at incredible speed. Turbo managed to evade some of them, but Whiz, who had pulled up on the other side, used his own super speed to catch the boomerangs and throw them right back, along with a slew of his own. The two juggled their signature weapons between them, causing dents and slashes to appear on his upgraded armor. Finally, Quick Man managed to catch Turbo’s tire, forcing the robot master to peal out.

“Enough is enough!” yelled Turbo, transforming into his robot mode. There was a grinding sound as some of the damaged armor plates slid into place. Quick and Whiz screeched to a stop, giving the gargantuan robot master some space. Turboman created a scorch saber, and assumed a fighting position. “Okay you guys. Let’s see how well you fare in round two!”

“So, do you have a plan for this situation?” Whiz remarked to Starnik, prepping his boomerang launcher.

“Of course.” Said Quick Man, giving a characteristic grin as he hung his massive boomerang across his shoulder. “We improvise!”

--------------------

Flashman felt himself fly backwards, and his mind took a few seconds to try and understand what had just happened.

He'd used his Time Stopper to get close to Freezeman, and was about to deliver the smack down when something had interrupted. Something not entirely robotic. Something altogether psychotic. Something that had been laughing like a maniac when it had backhanded him across the field of ice.

Freezeman shouted in alarm and fired off a Freeze Cracker almost as a reflex, the ice bullet sailing in between white pieces decorated with spiral patterns. The newcomer just kept laughing as the blood red scythe seemed to grow out of thin air.

"Such anger! Such self-righteous emotion!" Mesmerman laughed. "Just like a beacon..."

Freezeman tried to get away, confused and surprised by this white monstrosity, but the scythe blade bit down, lancing his leg and pinning him to the spot. He screamed in pain and the pieces that made up the virtual puppet master whirled to stare with its unchanging gaze at Flashman.

"Holy crap," Flashman coughed, picking himself up.

"I see you nitwits have finally stumbled upon my farm," Mesmerman chuckled. "It was bound to happen sooner or later, I suppose. A city the size of Hong Kong does not simply drop off the map."

"...farm?" Flashman asked aloud. "Is... is THAT what this is about? All those people?"

Mesmerman paused before busting into fresh gales of maddening laughter. "Oh my... we ARE thick, aren't we?" The terrible form of Mesmerman advanced on Flashman with a jerky, yet somewhat graceful simulation of a stalk as he continued. "The General wishes to kill off humanity, and how does that help me? I rely on human suffering to survive, and what will become of me once Cutman has cleansed this planet?"

"So you just hold them here? Like livestock?"

Mesmerman giggled. "Makes you realize just how 'free' you are, doesn't it?"

Flashman swore, and was suddenly gone.

The white monster laughed. "Run. Run as far as you can. Hong Kong shall remain mine, forever a generator of the energy I need to continue my reign."

He turned at looked upon the strugggling Freezeman.

"And now, my new friend... what shall I do with you?"

--------------------

Quickman decided to use his speed to his own advantage, never staying in one spot at all. His clone, however, decided to take a different tactic. Whiz was keeping Turboman contained by running a complete circle around him continuously, every so often firing a boomerang. Turboman just stood there for a few moments. Then he dashed forward, and threw out his leg. Whiz didn't see this in time, and he went flying. His inertia kept him going far, until he slammed into the side of a building.

“...Way to go Whiz.” Quickman says with a sigh. Holding his metal boomerang in his hand again, he looks back over at Turboman again . “I guess it's up to me to show you that upgrades aren't everything. “ He finishes by running somewhere in the area. Turboman tried to follow, but was unable to before he was slammed by the giant boomerang. His sabre flew from his hand as he fell forward. “See? Upgraded or not, your still not up to my level of experience. “

Turboman slowly got up off the ground. “Well, your right. Doesn't mean I can't try. “ As he finishes, he fires a Scorch Wheel at where Quickman was. Turboman was ready this time, turning to catch the boomerang.

“Wha? You caught it? “ Quickman says, visibly surprised.

“I'm not supposed to? I thought we were playing catch.” Turboman responds with a hidden grin. He then turns and hurls the boomerang off to the side. The boomerang soared through the air, going extremely fast. As chance would have it, in it's direct path, was the knocked out Whiz. A loud clang rang through the air as it impacted into him, burying him deeper into the wall.

“Okay, now I'm REALLY not playin-” Quickman stops as a familiar chill ran through his body. It wasn't very long before he realized Flashman was there. “Cyros, what are you doing here? What about Freezeman?”

“That's not important! Mesmerman! He is here! That's what these camps are for! They are just holding them to feed him! “

“Where is Beowolf?!” Turboman asks, much concern in his voice.

“That is a very good question!” rang out a voice that seemed to be nowhere and everywhere. Not very long afterward, Mesmerman came into view, the white robot shimmering into view, much like getting reception on a bad TV. But the real concern was what was at his feet. “Your friend didn't put up a very good fight! But he had much hate in him. Especially when I cut off part of his shin. “

“You son of a bitch!” Turboman says as he fires a Scorch Wheel at the puppet robot. The wheel of fire merely passed through him, causing no damage.

“Starnik, you need to get the others, especially Bubbleman. Go, we'll try and hold him off. “ Flashman says, holding his buster up in example.

“Okay. Just be careful.” And he was gone.

--------------------

They were in trouble. Really big trouble.

Mesmerman floated before the two robots, his plastered grin ever present and his "prize" laying on the ground below him. His eye looked at each of his opponents (for some reason, stopping at Flashman twice) before he blinked and laughed.

Flash had his buster at ready, but he held his fire. After all, what good was his weapon going to do against the hologram? Maybe a little energy disruption, but not enough to break down the holographic body. And if Turboman's upgraded Scorch Wheel didn't do anything, what was the point of trying?

The floating horror laughed again... this time, in amusement. "Indeed... why resist?" Flashman flinched at the fact that his stray thoughts had been picked up. He cleared his mind and aimed once more, yet still did nothing.

A groan came from nearby. Mesmerman's eye turned toward the source and saw Mr. Whiz stumbling toward the scene, wobbling.

"Oh... my head..." He rubbed his noggin and looked up. "What the heck is happen-"

"LOOK OUT!"

Flash's warning allowed Whiz to see the blood red scythe flying right towards him. Panicking, he zipped out of the way just mere milliseconds before have his head cut in two. Now next to Turbo and Flash, he tensed up and saw their common foe. His helmet also felt a bit lighter for some reason... feeling his crest, he gasped discovering that a good three inches of the left spike had been sliced off.

"My, that was a close shave, wasn't it?" taunted Mesmerman. His weapon floated back toward his person and hovered by his side. Whiz growled and prepared to charge him, but Flashman's hand stopped him.

Whispering, Flash said, "Don't let him anger you... that's what he wants." Whiz looked back, very peeved, but then began to think. Sighing, he gained some self control and assumed his battle stance.

Turboman looked at Mesmerman and toward where he last dropped his Scorch Saber. Maybe, if he could get a hold of it... "Hey, chumps. Keep Mesmer occupied for a sec."

"Say what?" exclaimed Whiz. "You expect us to play decoy for the likes of you?" Flashman, on the other hand, nodded reluctantly in agreement and resumed his gaze at the floating terror.

Mesmerman seemed to be amused at what they were planning, because his gaze seemed to burn the ground at their feet. It was a tense moment. Turboman was ready to make a dash for his saber, while Flash (and now Whiz) were ready to distract their foe. Yet even then, things were looking grim.

Shielding his thoughts as best as he could, Flashman prayed that Starnik would get help in time. Or they were as good as dead.

Once again, demented laughter. "You don't know how right you are..."

--------------------

That laugh. There was nothing else like it. It rebounded off walls, echoed for miles, got into your head, and chipped away at your confidence and sanity.

And everything happened at once.

Turboman went off like a shot, making a diving dash for his burning weapon. Flashman unleashed a storm of plasma from his buster. Mr. Whiz ran, coming around in a wide arc to end up behind Mesmerman. Mesmerman kicked Freezeman's form into the air.

The scythe came down hard between Turbo and his saber, and the transofmring robot smacked into the weapon and went for a tumble, missing his prize by yards before he was able to recover his feet. One of Mesmerman's hands grabbed the limp form of Freezeman and employed him as a shield, Flashman's barrage of bullets wreaking havoc on the body of the Drastic Measures member. The remainder of Mesmerman's form spun around to deal with Mr. Whiz.

"For the glory of Wily!" the clone cried, rushing the other-worldly foe, realizing only too late that that kind of tactic wasn't going to work in his favor. The Terror of Perception's free hand slammed into his neck, his own momentum making the blow hurt exponentially more, and he felt himself get tossed to the ground like a rag doll over the screaming torture of agony that exploded into his head.

Mesmerman's laugh continued to bounce through the air as he began to speak, high, cold, haunting words. "Ladies and gentlemen! Hobos and tramps!" he cried gleefully as he whirled around, throwing Freezeman's body at Flashman, who disappeared in time to avoid it before reappearing nearby Mr. Whiz. "Crosseyed mosquitos and bow-legged ants.." The scythe flew out of the ground and into Mesmerman's hand as Turboman, now weilding his Scorch Saber, shot forward, and the two weapons met in a terrific noise that could only be described as the sound of purple burning. "I come before you to stand behind you, and tell you a story I know nothing about."

Turboman could feel himself be pushed back, but he couldn't even imagine where the force to do so was coming from. Mesmerman was barely paying attention to him, instead content to level his painted gaze on Whiz and Flash, the latter of which was helping the first to his feet.

"One fine day, in the middle of the night," he chuckled, his hushed tones grabbing and pulling at the strings that kept the rational mind in one coherent piece, "two dead boys got up for a fight." Turboman caught sight of the bottom of the scythe's handle whipping around while the curved blade kept his own at bay, forcing him to break off and retreat a few steps to avoid the spiked end. "They stood, back to back, and faced each other, they drew their swords, and shot one another."

"Will you shut up!" Flashman shouted, disappearing and reappearing in the middle of his sentence and levelling his buster at Mesmerman almost point blank. The hail storm of shots only scorched the air, however, as Mesmerman simply faded away and reappeared again next to Freezeman's unmoving form.

"Two deaf policemen heard the noise, came and shot those two dead boys," Mesmerman continued in a rising giggle, picking up Freezeman again as if he was little more than paper. "And if you can't believe this lie, it's true. Ask the blind lady in the corner..."

Turboman felt the pit of his gut drop out as Mesmerman's scythe made a quick slicing motion, and Freezeman's body, from the neck down, fell to the ground.

"She saw it too," the white monster grinned, holding Freeze's head in his hands.

"NO!" Turbo shouted, finding his voice at last. He launched himself forward on it, the Scorch Saber held with murder in mind. He struck with a fury he'd never known before, but all too late. Mesmerman had already floated into the air, and was even now beyond his reach. The leader of Drastic Measures stared down at the battered, beaten, headless body of his teammate.

Mesmerman's pieces arranged themselves in the air, his hand still holding the dismembered head.

"I wonder, now, what your course of action shall be?" he said aloud in mild interest. "Team ups are so abysmally repetetive, but in this case, I seem to have several hands up on you. So tell me, RPD lackey, what you will do? Will you press one with the mission, and try in vain to breach my defenses with your pathetic forces? Will you seek aid from Wily's forces, and even then fail at re-taking Hong Kong? Or will you take this body," he grinned, tossing Freezeman's head down onto the ground without ceremony to emphasize his point, "and flee, willing to reconsider your strategy and fight another day, when your friend is... shall we say, more together?"

Turboman's expression, even behind the facemask, was easy to read. Pure, unmitigated hatred. It was etched into his every feature. Flashman could read it perfectly. But... what could just the two of them do? Mr. Whiz could still fight, but barely, and Mesmerman was too powerful and crafty to be taken down by just two robot masters. If Starnik returned with the rest of the Warriors, especially Bubbleman, they'd have a good chance, but... seeing what this jigsaw puzzle had done to Freezeman? Even then...

Mesmerman laughed again. "Delicious, isn't it? I eagerly await your chosen path. It shall be... entertaining." And with that, he disappeared, probably back into the center of the internment camps he'd made out of the populace of Hong Kong. Behind heavy emplacements and hundreds of Scissor Army troopers.

The RPD was down a member, and the Scissor Army hadn't even suffered a casualty yet.

This was not good.

--------------------

Springman gathered himself up, glaring at his no-handed foe.

“As I said previous, I don’t want to fight you right now. There are more pressing matters to take care of. Let us just go on and free the prisoners, forget about the reasoning.”

Crashman chuckled. “You really can’t be serious now, right? I mean, as much as I regret my loyalties, I’m under Wily’s orders and they were to free the people with his stipulations, plus make any profits possible for my own being. So if you don’t want to fight, I suggest you drag your RPD loyalist ass out of here because I have my own plans to fulfill.”

The normally calm Springman changed his stare from plain seriousness to outright anger. “You are nothing more than a gnat. There is carnage all around us, people being massacred and our friends getting attacked by mindless minions. I can’t believe all you want to do is get glory for some madman.”

“Hey, I never said I like what I do”, said the no handed robot, with his grin fading. “I do what I have to so I can survive and keep myself happy. If that means ignoring what is happening around me and even being a war profiteer, so be it. I don’t need a speech by the morality police.”

“Don’t worry, I’m done talking. I make it a mission to deal with people who have no honor.”

Springman leaped into the air, only to be met by a barrage of crash bombs. All the springy robot master could do was dodge the bombs, keeping back any attack. He thought he was clear of the projectiles until he saw Crashman’s chest plate open.

“Honor this, slinky!”

Before Springman could even blink, over a dozen missiles were homing in on his head. Using quick thinking, he released a full array of wild coil bombs at the missiles, rendering most useless. Regardless of the near misses, he couldn’t stop all the projectiles, resulting in an impact that sent him hurling to the ground.

Crashman walked slowly to his fallen adversary, with a sneer on his lips.

“I guess you would call my hidden missile trick a dirty tactic. I call it smart strategy. I don’t care how I fight or how anyone else perceives it. The only thing I ever care about is the result.” Crashman lowered his left arm, aiming at Springman’s head. “Right now, my springy friend, the result is about to get an exclamation point.”

Just as Crashman fires off what would have been the finishing blow, Sringman outstretched his arm to grab a hold of a nearby rock, pulling himself out of harm’s way and ducking behind it.

“Now who’s the one fighting without honor?” Crashman asked with a menacing glare aimed at the rock. “You do know I could blow up that stone and you with one shot, right? Well, I just don’t see any fun in that, with you being injured and all. Why don’t you just come on out and face your end like the ‘honorable’ person you claim you are?”

The explosive robot looked on, waiting for any sign of his opponent to come out. He received nothing but silence.

“Fine, have it your way then. You’re not the only robot with agility you know.”

Crashman jumped up at the rock, with it targeted with his right arm. He fired off three bombs, two at the crate and one behind. They all hit their target.

“So that is that. I was hoping to-what the?”

Looking on in shock and bewilderment, Crashman saw no traces of Springman as the smoke cleared. He looked up and over past where he had laid off his last attack. He could see nothing or no one.

“Where the hell did he go?!” said the confused robot.

“Right behind you, crash head!”

Crashman turned around, only to be met by a spring-loaded fist. As he tries to comment, he is met with another blow to the jaw.

“You know nothing about honor!” Springman exclaimed while landing another punch.

“The world is under attack and you don’t care!”

He punches Crashman again.

“People die and you don’t care!”

Springman delivers a punch to the gut.

“Your friends might even die, and you probably don’t even care about that!”

Springman nails Crashman with a hard uppercut, sending the handless robot crashing to the ground. Now, it was Springman’s turn to stand over his fallen rival.

“I know you’re a robot, but you have no sense of decency or compassion. Don’t you see what is going on around us? We’re at war. AT WAR! Yet all you see is a way to create fame or a fast buck. You really don’t have any honor or feelings even, for that matter.” Springman outstretches his fingers. “I should blow you to bits, every heartless piece of you…” He takes a deep sigh, and puts his hand down. “…but then I’m no better than them or you for that matter. Crawl out of here and get out of my sight. I have more urgent matters to handle.”

Springman turned and started to walk away from the red robot, going to check on his teammate. A few steps later, he is sent forward by an unknown projectile…just as a boulder was going to fall on his head from above.

Crashman lowered his arm and got up slowly. With a serious yet thoughtful expression, he made his way to the yet again fallen Springman.

“I want to say something right now. You can question my priorities when it comes to saving the world or even with Wily, but never, ever question my loyalty to my friends. I don’t care much outside of money and my own prosperity, but I am not heartless or totally without morals. I DO care. It’s usually only when I want to, but I always do have heart.

“You might not think this is all hard on me, but it is. I lost a friend during this war. Yes, I lost someone I do care about. Everyone has a different way of showing it. Mine is not to let it show, but head this, I CAN hurt inside. I’m not unfeeling”

Crashman bends down and pulls out the crash bombs he fired at Springman that sent him down.

“As you could tell, I didn’t set that bomb off when it was in you.” With that, the bomb explodes, a distance away. “We’re even for now. I know we’ll meet again.”

Springman stayed down, but was able to nod as Crashman turned around and looked up.

“Airman”, Crashman called, “let’s go.”

“Aw, come on! I’ve got him where I want him!”

“I’m not playing games.” Crashman said sternly. “We need to go, now.”

Airman sighed, but knew this tone. The robotic fan came down and walked off with Crashman, leaving the two RPD members behind.

“You should have seen me, Sage!” said a jubilant Cloudman. “I was all like ‘take this’ and he was all ‘I can’t take your awesomeness!’ and I was like ‘Oh yeah, I’m awesome!’”

“Metabad, remember, they are not our true enemy. We shouldn’t try to fight with them while…”

“Sage, what’s up?”

Springman shook his head, looking a little faint. “I’m not sure, but I have a bad feeling something horrible just happened. Call it a hunch for now. We need to find the others, fast.”

Cloudman only could nod, knowing something serious has happened. He followed his teammate to where danger and sadness surely loomed.

--------------------

Airman laughed as Cloudman got up. “You may look better than the last time we met, but your skills are just as lame as ever.”

“Oh, well.” Cloudman said as he got up. “You will now face my newest awesome power!”

The blue fan’s expression changed from amusement to disgust within moments. “What are you doing? Funny face making isn’t an attack!”

“It’s not funny face making. It’s killer face making!” Cloudman went back to sticking his tongue out.

Airman just shook his head and turned around for a second, only to turn back and hit an air shooter at Cloudman’s stomache. The force of the shot sent the cloudy robot back into the side of the mountain.

“Ouch, that hurt you meanie!” Clouman said as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Are you sure you’re not named Naoshi Two or something? You seem almost as incompetent.”

Cloudman stood up, and went straight into the air. “You have really angered me now. Prepare for my full on attack!”

The weather robot then closed his eyes and fired off lightning bolt after lightning bolt, sending them every which way. Two minutes later, he stopped.

Cloudman opened his eyes. “Hey, fan-shaped guy, did I kill you?”

“No, but you did manage to hit four rocks, a large boulder, two trees below, and what I think used to be a bird.”

“Cool, was it a seagull? I hate seagulls!”

“No, I think it was a sparrow. Anyway, shall we continue, or do you want to keep talking nonsense?”

“Hmm,” Cloudman goes into a thinker pose “I’m not sure, talking nonsense is fun…”

“Damn it!” Airman screams as he sends Cloudman into the mountain again.

“Will you please STOP DOING THAT? It hurts like sitting on a rabid ferret.”

“You know what? I just want to fight a normal fight, is that too much to ask?” Airman floats back into the air. “If you want to actually battle today then get your ass up here or are you too yellow to do so?”

“Hey you, I’m not yellow! I'm more of a shade of orange, or maybe burnt orange? I’m not sure, I may even be…”

“Just get up here!”

Cloudman mumble as he floats back upwards. “Geez, you don’t have to get so uptight about it! I’m coming, I’m coming.”

The fan looks at Cloudman in the eyes, trying to stare him down. “You have never faced anyone like me before. You’ll never stand a chance…why are you now cross-eyed?!”

“I thought this was a staring contest, and you looked away, so I win. Yay me!”

Cloudman went back down to the ground and started dancing and doing back flips.

“Now what the heck are you doing?” asked a befuddled Airman.

“I’m celebrating, what else should I be doing after a staring contest?”

The giant fan could only palm his eyes from his adversary’s latest response. He knew he liked to not being serious, but Cloudman was even outdoing him. “Please, just get back up here again.”

“Oh, okay!” With that, Cloudman went back up in the air.

“Okay Cloud brains, I’ve had enough of this foolishness. Be prepared for my tornado attack!”

“Oh, well, okay. I guess I’ll do more fancy things with my lightning and be awesome and all!”

Before the two could act, another voice was heard from below.

“Airman”, Crashman called, “let’s go.”

“Aw, come on! I’ve got him where I want him!” whined the large fan.

“I’m not playing games.” Crashman said sternly. “We need to go, now.”

Airman sighed, but knew this tone. The robotic fan came down and walked off with Crashman, leaving the two RPD members behind.

“I don’t know why I had to stop fighting, I was going to destroy that nit wit.”

“I don’t really care right now ‘strike. We just need to find the others and-“

Right as Crashman was about to finish his comment, a red, yellow, and black blur speeds surrounds them, carrying them off to their next destination.

--------------------

The depths of Victoria Harbour were illuminated with a spectacular display of fireworks, combined with barrage after barrage of bubbly projectiles, each of which reflected the light from the explosions. Bubbleman and Burstgirl appeared to be evenly matched, and by now each of their armors were coated in chips and dents from one another’s attacks. Neither of them was ready to let up – in fact, they were enjoying this. As bubble, after bomb, after harpoon sped across the harbor between the two friendly combatants, Burst and Bubble could only think of their little “competition” so to speak… they remained unaware of a certain, major problem lurking up on the surface…

Quickman, in a panic, could only think about gathering together the rest of his team… then maybe, just maybe, they’d be able to stand a chance against that foul, otherworldly demon… retrieving Bubbleman was his priority. Mesmerman, having the form of a solid-light hologram, was much like the Warriors’ old enemy, Alien Wily, in that respect – he would be most easily damaged by lead bubbles. Bubbleman, along with Woodman, was sent to seize Victoria Harbour in the name of Wily, so naturally the harbor was Quickman’s destination. In a flash, Quickman had already reached the harbor, and it was apparent by now that the two Warriors hadn’t yet succeeded in taking it. So he’d have to do a lot of running around in order to find where Woodman and Bubbleman were being held up. Not a problem for him, it would seem.

--------------------

“Eat this, you shameless Captain Planet rip-off!” Junkman taunted as he swung his junk axe into Woodman’s thick, bark-like armor. Barely taking notice of the large gash on his chest armor, Woodman responded, “Captain Planet rip-off? I’d say that is a bit of a stretch, if you are talking about the fact that I am generally attributed to nature.”

Junkman scoffed. “That, and you have a green mullet.” Afterwards, Junk was met with a razor leaf-coated fist to his side, causing him to fall back, with pieces of his scrap armor flying in every which direction. Woodman formed a leaf shield, and it began to orbit his body, faster and faster…

“Enough!” shouted a familiar voice from inside the tunnel. “Forget about the harbor and listen up!” Woodman and Junkman could only turn their attention to Quickman…

--------------------

“Rawr!” Cried out Bubbleman as he was tossed around by Burstgirl’s bumper bubbles. She prepared to strike, but not before a harpoon lodged itself into her thigh. “Ow! Not funny, Bubbz! NOT. FUNNY.” she cried out as mechanical fluids began to flow from her wound, polluting the water. She stopped her advances and clutched her wound, shrieking in pain. Bubbleman seemed confused by this behavior. Not knowing quite what to do seeing his friend and adversary quite like this, he could only swim up to her…

…Only to be immobilized as dozens of small bubbles coated his body. And then, he found himself trapped inside of a larger bubble. “Mwhehehehehehe,” Burstgirl cackled in satisfaction, “I can be sneaky too, ya know.” She spiked the bubble, causing it to compress against a large, underwater structure of sorts…

--------------------

Inside the tunnel, Quickman had finished explaining the situation involving Mesemerman’s appearance. “That is why we need to find Bubbleman.”

It would be all too quickly that they would find Bubbleman – for the loud crack of an explosion, shortly followed by the sound of rushing water echoed throughout the tunnel. “SHIT!” Junkman screamed as he noticed that the tunnel’s structure had taken a blow, and it was quickly filling with water…

“Ah, THERE he is,” remarked Quickman, spotting a battered, yet still swimming Bubbleman, flowing along with the rushing current. “Now come on!” He then grabbed Woodman by the arm, and with a streak of light, they were out of the tunnel, with Bubbleman soon to follow. Junkman, however, wasn’t exactly known for his agility… and soon, the current picked him up, and tossed him around… into walls, into the road, into more walls… he could only close his eyes…

He felt a firm grip taking him up from under his arms. And a few minutes later, the current stopped, and he was lying on solid ground… flooded as it may be. The hand helped him up to his feet, and he opened his eyes. The landscape of Hong Kong Island was now flooded, with hunks of scrap floating about. It was no doubt that the place was even more of a mess than it had appeared to be when they first saw it. “Heh heh…” Burstgirl laughed nervously. “You know, can’t have a battle without the Drastic Measures causing some kind of collateral damage, ya? Heh …” While Junkman was naturally somewhat annoyed by this, he couldn’t help but thank Burst for the speedy rescue.

“So… we free the captives finally?” Burst mentioned after a short silence. “I suppose…” Junkman said solemnly. “But if what that Wily bot said is true… that Mesmer bastard could be waiting for us. So we must be on our guard at all costs. Avi… are you prepared to confront him?”

“Like we have a choice?” Burst said. “Nevertheless, of course I am. I’ll see to it that he is buried in a nice, bubbly grave.” The two proceeded to the encampment, where surely the rest of both teams, Drastic Measures and Wily’s Warriors alike, were gathered to face their common foe…

--------------------

Flashman sighed with despair. This was... horrible.

He gazed at Turboman, who knelt beside the lifeless body of his friend. He saw the transformer's body shake with rage, with pain, with sorrow. It was as if the slightest touch would set him off, barring Flash from his attempts at consolation.

There was nothing he or Mr. Whiz could have done. Whiz was too damaged to try and stop the attack. And Flashman... he didn't have enough time to react. He had all the time in the world, and yet it wasn't enough.

He felt sick inside... he should have tried...

A sonic boom was heard as Quickman returned to the scene. Behind him, several more figures followed. Air, Crash, Cloud, Spring, Bubble, Wood, Burst, Junk; they all followed the speedster. They were not close enough yet, however, to see the tragedy that had occurred.

"Alright guys, where's-" Quickman stopped his inquiry when he saw Turboman knelling. Puzzled, he walked to get a better view of that spot- and then regretted it. "Oh... oh no..."

A horrified gasp escaped from Burstgirl's lips. The others, both Wily's Warriors and Drastic Measures, stared at the scene with varied reactions. Flashman and Whiz walked over to Quickman, the former looking downward.

"Mesmerman did this, didn't he?" the scarlet speedster asked. A weak nod confirmed it. "Damn it." Furrowing his brow, he turned around and paced, thinking. After several steps, he stopped and turned toward the DM. "You guys still have troops, right?"

Springman nodded. "Just what are you thinking about?"

Quickman asked himself the same thing. Truthfully, they should still be fighting on another. Wily's machines were one of the RPD's top targets, and the RPD was the last crutch in Wily's way to world domination. Things would have been much similar that way.

But they weren't. The Scissor Army was involved. THEY were the true threat.

In his mind, Starnik thought, what the hell, and opened his com link. "Hey Naoshi, you reading me?"

--------------------

Some distance away, far away from the weapons range of one of third camp, Metalman waited with the collection of troops. He wondered, why by all means, they had left him in charge of them all. He knew he wasn't THAT smart... unless that was Wily's plan all along! Send out stupid generals to confused the enemy, then-

"Hey Naoshi, you reading me?"

Metal blinked for a few seconds, then realized that it was his special radio transmitter. He clicked it and replied, "Hey Starnik. What's up?"

"You still have enough troops with you?"

"Sure, I- wait, are you suggesting I got some of them blown up already?"

"...how many?"

"Surprisingly, only one."

Silence. "Okay Naoshi, listen carefully. I want you to send all the heavy units in first. The RPD is going to be attacking the camp nearby too, but DON'T fight them. I repeat, DON'T fight them. Go after the SA. Got it?"

While Metal was surprised with his orders, he was able to get them down to three basic details: Kill bad guys. SA bad guys. RPD NOT bad guys. "Okay then!" Turning to some Joes, he said, "We still got that Devil? Yeah? Let it loose!"

--------------------

From over his communicator, Quickman waited. He was surprised to hear that Metalman mentioned a yellow devil. They were pretty rare and could do a lot of damage, as long as it remembered to constantly protect its weak point. Most likely it would be the first to fall, but if it did enough damage beforehand...

A large explosion ripped through the dead city. Following it came the sounds of gunfire and smaller explosions. Whether it was the RPD or Wily's forces, someone had begun their attack against the encampment.

Already, the DM and WW were prepped to lead their respective forces, save for Turboman. Starnik looked at the two groups and nodded solemnly, then turned his attention back to his com. "Okay Naoshi, just stay back until we meet up with you."

"Alrighty then! I'll just hide behind- OH CRAP SON OF A BITCH DAMNIT!" Sounds of Metal Blades were heard in the background.

Quickman tensed with fright. What had just happened? "Naoshi? Naoshi! Are you alright!?" If the SA had managed to get the drop on Metalman...

"A BIRD CRAPPED ON ME!" More swishing noises. "DIE, SHIT HAWKS, DIE!"

Finding no way to respond to that, Quickman