The city was safe. Armed guards were patrolling the streets of
Monsteropolis. Heavily armoured cars were now a common occurrence.
Now the Technodrome, with its guns and bulk, didn’t seem
to stand out at all. Jackbots and repair crews were working ‘round
the clock to repair the damage the Ascendant Androids did to the
city. Due to the vast number of robots and sheer dedication, it
was almost like the devastating attack never happened.
Shadowman slumped against the walls and looked over the scene.
The police had begun to diversify their robots as well. While the
common officer was still in wide use, there were a number of other
models out as well. He surmised new models were made to try and
combat the threat of new Joe attacks in different ways. Some of
them actually looked quite sinister and Shadowman wondered whether
some of the General’s modifications were taken into use.
Moreover the RPD was becoming more and more international. There
were less Robot Commandos to be seen and the RPD was always the
first on the scene in times of crisis.
Shadowman ran all this through his mind along with his assessment
of his last mission. Although it was a success in terms of his
objective and his losses, it still hung heavily on the ninja’s
soul. Ben was gone. And the General was still out there. Shadowman
had devoted an entire program to analysing what he knew of the
General in order to search for weaknesses and potential attacks.
A good portion of his mind dwelled on how much he hated him in
all the spare moments he had.
--------------------
It was the first time in a long time that Hardman found himself greeting
his boss at his bar. “Boss! Yer actually here!”
“Yeah. Sorry about that, but I’ve been …. Busy.”
It was the first time Hardman or Snakeman had seen their friend in
weeks. They were all keeping busy with repair plans and fortification
tactics. With the success of their last major mission, each of them
had been given greater authority. Needlegal herself was busy working
with the Robo Rescue Force to speed up hospital waiting times in
case the Scissor Army came back to call. Crorq had been put into
enormous pressure to do something to safeguard the city’s citizens
after a particularly grizzly attack by their old nemesis, Mesmermen.
Shadowman did not look well. Neither Hardman nor Snakeman marvelled
at Light’s new synthetic skin’s ability to mimic the
effects of human exhaustion, rather they were concerned that the
heavy shadows under their leader’s eyes and his paler than
usual complexion that hinted at a deeper emotional burden.
“Boss … 'r you okay?”
“Yeah, seriously. You look like Hell.”
Shadowman smiled and leaned back in his chair. He didn’t like
looking like he was having trouble at anything. “Hah, are you
kidding me? Things are great. The city’s looking good and I’ve
been pouring over those unknown designs all day and night! I think
I’m just about ready to try my hand at building it!”
Snakeman looked at his leader incredulously. “So … you’ve
figured out what it’s supposed to be?”
Shadowman gave him an odd look. “No. That’s why I’m
building it. I mean …. Why else would I spend so much time
on it?” Shadowman chuckled, as if something in that sentence
was funny.
“Wait,” Hardman said, catching a vital fact, “Yer
not gettin' any sleep? Uh …. I think maybe ya oughta catch
a few winks there.”
“Hardman, I’m a robot. And robots don’t need sleep.
That’s why we’re so great!”
Although Shadowman was joking he didn’t look like he was doing
very ‘great’
himself. “And, besides … we have to figure those schematics
out. I can’t get them out of my head. It’s not that I
haven’t been trying, either. Anyway, there’s no point
sleeping when all I’ll be doing is analysing the designs all
night anyway. Hell, even as I’m talking to you, I’ve
devoted a program in my head to analyse the important schematics
found at the site. But, everyone needs a break. And that’s
why I’m here! To unwind.”
Hardman and Snakeman looked at their leader doubtfully. He was trying
to build the unknown machine the General had designs for? And the
lack of sleep disturbed them. While it was true that simple robots
didn’t need sleep, the more advanced AIs behaved remarkably
like a human’s mind. Sleep wasn’t just to recharge the
body, the mind also needed rest.
Shadowman thanked Cassandra for the drink she brought and gulped
it down. Perhaps they were wrong. Despite the dark rings under his
eyes and his pale complexion, Shadowman seemed to be just as fine
as he claimed he was. And being in charge would weigh heavily on
anyone’s shoulders. But still …
Snakeman spoke up after a few minutes of bantering “You know,
if you’re having trouble, we’re there for you. We’re
all in this together.”
Shadowman met his team-mate’s eyes. Was that doubt? But it
was only for an instant. Shadowman flashed a gleeful smile and his
eyes sparkled with energy.
“No, there’s no trouble. I’m fine. Better than
ever! I actually have a secret plan that I’m very excited about.
It’s still in the early stages, but …. I can guarantee
it’ll spell the end of both the Scissor Army and the Shutdown
Code!”
--------------------
It was already all said and done. The Scissor Army was the superior
force in the city, meeting relatively little resistance. It was a
normally busy hour of the day, but Madrid was still and deathly silent.
Joes were already performing routine sweeps, making absolutely sure
that no one was left alive. A couple of Joes broke off from their
unit into an alleyway in the south side to check for survivors.
The whistle seemed to come from everywhere. One of the Joes stopped
short and looked around, trying to find the source of the noise,
only to get a ball of plasma to the back, destroying it. Its companion
took up a more defensive stance, but met a similar fate as it too
failed to locate the attacker...
--------------------
A few of the Seven Mercenaries stood outside the country's center
of politics and admired their handiwork. It was a battle certainly
not without its losses, but it was one step closer to Elysium and
that was all that mattered.
"Yet another falls to the Scissor Army," their captain
mused, placing his hands on his hips and smiling as he surveyed the
scene.
"Yeah... No offense, boss, but this was just too easy," Hyper
Storm complained, leaning lazily on his sword. "Kinda boring."
Ballade simply shrugged. A victory was a victory to her. "They're
waiting," she mumbled. The first words she'd said all day.
"Yes, we shouldn't let our comrades get..." Quint never
got to finish his sentence. His communicator had started ringing
-- one of the command Joes.
"Captain Quint! Several of our units have been disappearing
on our sweeps of the city. We've already lost eighteen and we can't
find the cause!"
"We'll look into it. What was the location of the last attack?"
"Around the southeast central area, not long ago."
"Alright. Keep us informed. Quint out."
The green robot turned to his teammates. "Well, then. It looks
like we have more to do here after all. Scout the central area, starting
in the southeast. We may have a bit of resistance on our hands."
The other two Mercs nodded and split up to find the cause of the
mysterious disappearance of their forces. It seemed almost silly
to Ballade, but she understood the logic. Two missing soldiers could
become ten, then twenty, then a hundred if the cause wasn't found
and eliminated... but such a "ghost hunt" would have gone
better with the full team and not just the three of them in her own
opinion.
A trio of burned and deactivated Joes, obviously of Scissor Army
alignment, greeted Ballade's optical sensors. One of the mystery
attacker's victims, no doubt. And again came the whistle, again from
seemingly everywhere. It was obviously a scare tactic. Startle the
enemy with an untraceable sound (and probably even the familiarity
of the tune) and catch the victim while he's off guard.
Ballade leapt to one side and whirled around, predicting the surprise
attack, but not fast enough to keep her right arm from getting damaged.
She scowled. She knew she was better at defending against those tactics
than that. A red and gray robot with a distinctive yellow scarf landed
in front of her.
He always was one to make an entrance... She tapped her com.
"Here."
From there, it was a staring contest. Both Proto Man and Ballade
refused to make the first move, both robots had their weapons leveled
and ready to fire if the other even did as little as twitch. The
other two Mercenaries would be there within minutes and the tension
was beginning to build. If Proto Man stayed, he'd soon have to face
any number of enemy forces. His back was already to a wall, retreat
wouldn't be easy. He resigned himself to the fact that he was going
to have to do some fighting... as soon as this standstill gets broken.
"Ah, Proto Man, I presume."
Ballade glanced behind her. Quint and Hyper Storm had both arrived,
weapons at the ready.
"Tell me. Why do you resist? Ambushing stray soldiers in alleyways...
Tsk, tsk. You're the first of our kind, Proto Man. You of all people
should appreciate what we're doing for the robotic race,"
said Quint, lowering his weapon and stepping forward.
"If you're going to say what I think you're going to say, then
just shove it. I only work for myself. I'm not working from some
psycho," spat Proto Man, "You and your Elysium can go to
hell."
Quint stepped back in feigned surprise. "Ohh... Harsh words.
Well, then. If you won't cooperate, I guess we'll have to force you
to."
Proto Man cursed himself for stupidity as he hastily sidestepped
the now-charging Quint. The alleyway he chose to launch his latest
ambush was a tight squeeze for a full-fledged fight, not much room
to move around. His primary objective was getting out of there.
Ballade vaulted into the air to attack from a different angle while
Quint went for another charge. Proto Man responded with a leap backward
and pulled out his shield to block the oncoming drill attack. A horrible
noise resounded as the drill impacted the shield and the two found
themselves deadlocked. The stalemate wouldn't last. As Quint's drill
chipped away at the shield, Proto Man's Buster was already charging.
Just before his shield failed, Proto Man threw his assailant off
of him and prepared to take the shot... just as Ballade's and Hyper
Storm's attacks struck his unprotected back.
A clumsy tumble from the blow turned into a handspring back to his
feet. These Mercenaries were more powerful than he remembered. He
put his shield back on his back, not finding any use for something
that could fall apart at any moment, then opened fire on the airborne
Ballade. Unable to avoid it, the purple robot took the attack head-on.
She landed on her feet, her chest sporting a few new scorch marks.
Ballade scowled, but continued her assault, this time taking a close-ranged
offensive along with her captain. This left Proto Man frantically
avoiding punches, kicks, and drill charges. Proto Man countered as
best he could. He was adept at defensive techniques and used blocks
to deflect several blows. But his arms were full of dents from the
effort. Meanwhile, Ballade was getting faster! With every punch avoided,
he could feel an odd vibration coming from his attacker.
Is that...? Since when was Ballade...? "Gaah!" Proto
Man's thoughts were cut short by a drill bit in his shoulder, followed
by a knee to the stomach, knocking him to the ground, his internals
rattled from the force. Ballade was definitely stronger than before.
The other mercenaries grinned in amusement. They were content to
watch the fight. After all, this was the legendary Proto Man. Brother
of Mega Man, the first robot with advanced intelligence. With their
improvements, even this robot couldn’t stand a chance.
"Ugh, geez...! This isn't working..." Proto Man muttered
to himself. Protoman jumped backwards, hoping to escape the battle.
He ran into Hyper Storm who gave him a shove back towards Ballade.
“No running away, small fry!”
Protoman was still unbalanced when another Ballade Cracker hit him
squarely in the chest. He screamed with pain and fell to the floor.
“Look at you! You’re a wreck! You should really let the
General take a look at those injuries. You can trust him! He’s
your brother too, after all!”
Protoman scowled. Whatever he looked like, whatever he called himself,
this
“General” was not his brother Cut Man! And neither
was this time-lost reject who stood gloating above him.
When it didn’t look like he would respond, Quint’s mood
changed. “Hey! Bro! I’m talking to you!” Quint
shot Proto Man several times to emphasize this point.
“Did that smack down we gave you earlier make you deaf or something?”
Ballade advanced as Hyper Storm laughed. “Maybe it’s
that helmet of his. We can always crack it open, that way we know
he’s listening.” Ballade chuckled at the thought and
readied one of her Crackers. Proto Man stayed low and considered
his options. With Hyper Storm blocking the way, there wasn't any
way out of that little trap he put himself in. Or was there...? He
let himself appear helpless before his attackers as they closed in
for the kill, hiding his charging Buster.
Quint smiled, “You know I always did wonder what he really
looked like under that thing. But, wait …. Won’t your
Crackers blow his face off along with his helmet?”
Ballade shrugged. “Maybe."
"That’s okay, the General can always give him the same
facelift he gave himself!” Hyper Storm added, grinning widely.
Just as Ballade and Quint got close, he fired, taking them by surprise,
and made a mad dash toward the robot "door" while they
were dazed.
"Oh, no you don't!" Hyper Storm yelled, preparing to catch
the red renegade. Proto Man moved like he was preparing to slide
between the behemoth's legs, but then took a flying leap and sprang
off of his shoulders into the street beyond, much to Hyper Storm's
dismay.
Quint was fuming, “He’s getting away! Don’t stand
there looking surprised, go after him!”
The Mercenaries left the alley to find their target, but he had somehow
vanished from sight. That red robot always did seem to be adept at
that...
"Sorry, boss... I let him get away..."
Instead of responding, Quint turned on his com. "Mercenaries,
we have some unfinished business to attend to in Madrid."
--------------------
Warman lunged at the horde of Scissor Army Joes he as fighting. “Ya
assholes think you know something about War, eh? You guys don’t
know shit! I’m WARMAN, damn it! Warman!” To emphasize
his point Warman shot missiles into the army attacking him and his
crew. Joes were blasted to pieces, but more pressed on.
“Kill! Maim! Rend! Do not fear! Elysium awaits!”
Spinman finished an imitation Top Spin attack, slicing several Joes
in half. However, these weren’t unintelligent drones, several
jumped back and blasted the robot as he spun! The sheer number of
bullets sent him flying into the face of a building. Spinman was
knocked out of his attack and held his head.
“Guys, I don’t think this is – “
“Eliminate them!” cried a nearby Joe. Spinman dove, but
took heavy hits all over his body. The Joes pressed on in their relentless
assault.
“Kill! Maim! Rend! Do not fear! Elysium awaits!”
For the first time Spinman looked at his enemies in fear. He was
going to die.
Or he would have if Clawman had not swooped in with his Raging Claw
attack, dispatching the troop into whatever afterlife they seemed
to believe in. “Don’t worry, Spin! We’ll get out
of here in one piece!” Clawman said it with confidence, but
he had already lost an arm to a lucky Joe attacker. His legs were
showing signs of overexertion and sported cracks along their surface.
He had blast marks all over his body. Spinman thought that Clawman
was only trying to believe it himself.
Warman, on the other hand was revelling in the battle. His guns were
blazing. He was laughing maniacally as he dispatched Scissor Army
infantry into oblivion, even as a shots broke open his casing, he
was having the best time of his life.
“Yeeeee-HAW! That all you little peckers got! Come on, pansies,
don’t hold back, cut loose!” Warman emphasized the point
by firing his flamethrower into the crowd of Joes while laughing
in manic glee.
--------------------
Outside Monsteropolis Shadowman dispatched the finishing blow to
the last of the Scissor Army infantry that was sent to break the
enemy lines with a surprising new weapon. The Joe’s eye widened
in shock just before his head was severed cleanly from his body.
“Was that Cutman’s weapons?” Needlegal asked eyeing
the weapon in surprise. Shadowman chuckled.
“Oh, no. Not really. It’s actually just a Shadow Blade.
But I modified it to look like a Rolling Cutter. Heh heh heh, isn’t
it funny? The way that Joe was shocked before my attack?” Shadowman
laughed to himself again. “It’s just my way of sticking
it to the General.”
Hardman brushed some scrap off his shoulders. “Dat’s
a great ideas, boss. Heh heh, I’ll bet it’ll stick in
th’ Generl’s craw.” Shadowman beamed. He hoped
it did too.
The General’s forces had been completely defeated. Again. It
was getting easier and easier. But then, the attacks were growing
less and less frequent. What was the General hoping to accomplish?
Or was it one of his generals? Was it to wear them down? Or just
to remind them he was still around? Was it a diversion? Was it to
lull them into a false sense of security?
Shadowman couldn’t decide, but decided to weigh the options
later. There was something more important coming up now anyway. It
was time to find out exactly what the General was going to make with
those plans he discovered.
--------------------
The ‘Maniacs stood in what was once one of several large empty
rooms that occupied the Technodrome. They supposed it was Bizarro’s
faulty memory that left so many areas of the ‘Drome unoccupied.
Most of those were filled with new equipment and now this one was
filled with a large, complex device that took up most of the rear
wall.
“What if it’s a bomb?” asked Snakeman with concern.
Shadowman looked at him. Again, there was an odd look on his face.
“Snake, don’t you think I know a bomb when I see one?”
“Your name isn’t Bombman.”
“Well, this isn’t a bomb!” Shadowman sighed. Why
were some people so dense? It took a moment to register that the
others were looking at him with … surprise? Well, he did lose
his temper. He sighed. “There’s just no combustible material.
The energy flow shows no timer, and the computer systems are much
more complex. From what I’ve been able to piece together the
energy matrix is much more complex than anything required for a simple
bomb. The design itself doesn’t lend itself to any known weapon … “
“Why’s it look like som’ p’rts ar’ missin’?” asked
Hardman. Indeed, several portions seemed out of place and others
seemed to have been skipped. Shadowman sighed again. Wasn’t
it obvious?
“Well, it’s not like I had all the time in the world
to get all the information I needed. In fact, I remember someone
ripping me from the console before I was done.” Shadowman eyed
his sister then. But, before she could say anything Shadowman quickly
moved on, “But it doesn’t matter. I’ve managed
to hypothesize the nature of the missing pieces and make compensations.
And now…” Shadowman grabbed the lever that turned on
the machine. He was very excited to start.
That was when his sister spoke. “Doesn’t hypothesize
mean you guess?”
“An educated guess, Needle.”
“But it’s still a guess. I don’t think – “
“I don’t care what you think! You didn’t study
the blueprints, you didn’t create a mathematical algorithm
to compensate for differentials in the energy matrix and you certainly
didn’t help me with the heavy lifting!” Shadowman was
glaring at her now. He was breathing hard. It was then that he noticed
Needlegal looked surprised and hurt. All of them looked aghast. He
wanted to apologize, but …. Well, how would they like being
interrupted all the time. He muttered an apology and turned on the
device.
--------------------
Needlegal couldn’t understand it. All she had really wanted
to do was help. Didn’t her brother see how dangerous this was?
The General built monsters. He modified their friends into killing
machines. His whole idea of heaven was built on genocide. No good
could come of anything he made! And this is something only half built.
Needlegal was going to try speaking up again, but she was too late.
Her brother pulled the lever.
It happened so fast! Some parts looked like they worked fine. Even
some of her brother’s additions looked like they held. But
it didn’t take long for …
something started to go wrong. Sparks flew everywhere, casings melted.
The machines rumbled as it made a visible effort to work.
Her brother looked surprised. He did not see this coming. Why didn’t
he listen to her? Or his friends? Needlegal made a step towards him,
to pull him away from this dangerous thing. That was all Needlegal
could remember before she was knocked aside by Hardman.
--------------------
Shadow’s machine blew up nice and good! Needle looked like
she was gonna try to push her bro outta the way, but Hardman used
a Hard Knuckle, palm open, to push her out of the path of the explosion.
He then grabbed Snakeman and pushed him under his heavily armoured
body. Snakeman looked too surprised to do anything. Hardman had to
admit. He knew how he felt.
The boss looked so sure his machine was going to work. He looked
sure of a lot lately. Sure he seemed a lot less patient and more
irritable than always …. But he was under a lot of pressure.
Hardman didn’t have long to continue this train of throught
before the explosion hit him. It was kind of being like punched –
hard – over his entire body. He grunted. It was an enormous
amount of energy, but he felt worse. Overall, this didn’t amount
to much.
He straightened and let Snakeman out of his one-handed bear hug. “Thanks,”
muttered his teammate. They looked over to Needlegal. The explosion
had knocked out the returning thrusters on his arm, but Needlegal
crawled out safe and sound. Her legs, being unprotected, were somewhat
scorched, but she was alright overall.
It didn’t take long for the sprinklers to turn on. There was
smoke and fire everywhere. The machine Shadowman had created was
just a pile of junk now. All three of them looked around for their
boss. Needlegal was crying. She was such a sweet girl sometimes.
They upturned pieces of wreckage, hoping to find something.
But Shadowman found them instead.
--------------------
Snakeman leaped back in surprise. “Shadow!” Their leader
was still up and about.
Shadowman used his hand to crack his jaw back into place. “Sorry
about that
–zzzzzzt!” Shadowman’s voice made odd electrical
noises as he tried to speak. And no wonder. Snakeman was horrified
by the damage taken by their leader!
One of his arms was blown clear off. His trademark blade had been
blown from his head. The part of his face that used to be obscured
was blown off and Snakeman could easily see an empty eye socket.
Shadowman knees were wobbly and bent at odd angles. They looked like
they could buckle at any moment.
“Boss!” said the giant Hardman stepping over to Shadow, “Geez,
boss! Let’s get you to the medics! They’ll patch ya up!
Aw, geez!”
Shadowman waved his friend off. “I’, fi –I –I
- -I –I zzzzzzt*” Shadowman seemed to … chuckle? “I
guess you were right after all, Needle. Ha hah ha – a –
a- a- a- zzzt*” Shadowman jabbed at his neck, trying to get
that stutter out of his vocal cords.
Snakeman took a step towards Shadowman. “No, Shadow, you definitely
need help. Maybe you can’t see yourself, but – “
“I look like Hell? No, I – I – zzz*” Again
Shadowman jabbed at his neck. Something clicked and he began to talk
normally. “This is okay. I’ve actually been going over
my blueprints, looking for improvements. This actually gives me an
excuse to tinker with my design. I got it, don’t worry.”
Shadowman took a few steps to the door and fell over.
“Uh …. Little help?”
--------------------
Another day at Wily's Skull Castle ensued as Ring Man entered the
mad scientist's lab, watching him work on various foot soldiers for
the war. Hearing the robot's footsteps approaching him, he got up
and turned, his face forming a scowl.
"Finally, you're here."
"Sorry about that, doc," Rebel scratched the back of his
head.
"I'm still not very used to exploring this whole thing yet."
"Whatever," Wily brushed him off, walking over to a large
table. Several blueprints and charts were scattered about as he grabbed
one and lifted it up so his visitor could see. "Tell me, have
you been using my Trick Rings?"
"Of course! I've been trying to experiment with them as much
as possible," Rebel grinned behind his helmet. "They're
pretty cool. I hope you make some more."
Wily stroked his mustache, pleased to hear this. It was not easy
developing rings that could perform such a variety of functions.
By utilizing them effectively, Ring Man could easily become one of
the most versatile robots in his army; a huge asset, to say the least.
Of course, Ring Man had no need to fear as several more were already
being built as they spoke.
Facing the table, Wily started shuffling through several of the documents
laid out before him, searching for one in particular. Eventually
he grabbed one and placed it out on top. It was a large map of the
world, with over a dozen red marks dotting it's surface.
"What is that?" Rebel asked, peering over his shoulder.
"It is a collection of data regarding the whereabouts of Proto
Man."
Proto Man, the first robot with advanced intelligence. The infamous
brother of Mega Man. In fact, if it wasn't for Proto Man's creation,
Ring Man himself might never have been built. Although whether that
was a good or bad thing in terms of the current situation was beyond
him. Snapping back into reality, he blinked and looked at Wily curiously.
"So... you are looking for him, I take it?"
"You aren't as stupid as you look," Wily huffed as he placed
the chart down. "Proto Man has been missing since this war started--A
curious trait, to say the least. What I am wondering is what he could
possibly be doing and I believe I now know."
"And that is?"
"Obviously, he is performing guerrilla attacks on the Scissor
Army. There have been several of them across the globe, with no clear
source. Obviously, it can't be my men. The RPD pulling this off is
also rather unlikely, as it makes little sense to me. So it must
be Proto Man!"
Ring Man thought about this for a moment. "Well... isn't it
possible that it's from Cossack?"
"Bah! That fool and his pathetic robots?" Wily scoffed,
noting that verbally assaulting Cossack and his creations made the
red robot flinch, much to his amusement. "No, I refuse to accept
that. It has to be Proto Man... it MUST be Proto Man! And you are
going to go find him!"
"M-me!?" Ring Man could not believe his ears. "Why
am I being sent out to do this? All alone, for that matter?"
"Relax, you'll be with a portion of my army as backup. However,
Proto Man isn't the kind to come out in the open, so it would be
better to have one person to try and search for him."
A sigh escaped Rebel's lips: He did not want to do this. Wily was
prone to be rather rash about his decision making, and his previous
defeats have only furthered his insane ideas. What if it was not
Proto Man? Then it would have to be someone from Cossack's forces,
and if it was the Comrades then he...
"...All right, I'll go," he hung his head low. "Where
do I have to go?"
"The most recent attack was located in Madrid, Spain,"
Wily answered, ignoring Rebel's depressed voice. "I want you
to go there immediately."
--------------------
Immediately came a little too soon for Rebel's liking, as he teleported
to a desolate part of the city, the SA already trampled through the
surrounding area. Inspecting the fallen buildings surrounding him,
he turned to look at the robots that had come with him--A whopping
629 total, although he wasn't exactly certain if that was counting
him or not. Regardless, he knew that the SA had probably double the
amount already, and the RPD, if they were there, had a good amount.
Then again, Rebel knew that the SA had already taken over Madrid,
and that the objective here was to not rain supreme but rather locate
one individual.
"All right, listen up!" Ring Man called out, trying to
not raise his voice too high so no one he did not want to hear heard
him. "This mission is simple--Find Proto Man. We are not here
to fight the Scissor Army, so only do so if they strike first. The
same goes with the RPD and if anyone from Cossack's side shows up.
Stealth is the key here. Understood?"
Only a handful of the robots that could actually speak replied, which
was good enough for Ring Man. It was odd enough talking to these
things anyway.
"All right, then split up into squads of twelve. Try and make
sure that you are as well-balanced as possible," Rebel noted,
remembering Wily had possibly the most diverse force in the war.
He then pointed to two Sniper Joes.
"You two, since we have an uneven number of troops, I want you
to follow me."
"Yes sir," the Joes replied simultaneously. They stood
behind him on both sides in an orderly fashion, their shields and
buster cannons at the ready.
"All right, one more thing!" the leader called out once
more.
"If by any chance you find Proto Man, contact me immediately!
I do not want you to destroy him. This is a direct order from Wily
himself! Now, move out!"
The foot soldiers, processing this new information, all started to
separate, slipping into every nook and cranny of the city, avoiding
the Scissor Army's forces as well as possible. Ring Man motioned
to the two Joes behind him and started combing throughout the city
as well, traveling down an abandoned street where parts of the road
had been blown to pieces, rubble now littering the streets. Every
so often the red robot would bend down and touch the ground lightly,
looking for a clue.
"Hmm... this is going to prove difficult," Rebel surmised.
Despite the fact that Wily was certain that the prototype was located
in the city, it was still like searching for a needle in a haystack.
(Not only that, but if the Scissor Army finds him first then who
knows what could happen...)
Turning his head, Ring Man stared into an empty alleyway, his gaze
piercing through the shadows of small space. He had to think, think
like Proto Man! What would he be doing right now, at this minute?
Other than attacking the SA's forces, he would be hiding, of course.
Proto Man was well adept in stealth, after all, as not even Dr. Light
knows where to find him. He only appears at the sound of a whistle...
But no whistle was to be heard. Proto Man was not going to come for
him, and why should he? The two had never met, so he would never
trust someone such as Ring Man, no matter how friendly he tried to
come off as. He was working for Wily now, too... Force may be the
only way to bring him in.
Lost in thought, one of the Joes who had been following him spoke
up.
"Sir, we've found something!"
"What is it?" Rebel stood, cracking his neck while rubbing
it.
The other Joe ran up to him and handed him a curious object--A yellow
scarf. Rebel's eyes widened with shock as he hurriedly grabbed the
piece of cloth to inspect it. Along with his shades and shield, Proto
Man's scarf was a well-known "trademark" of the robot's.
Granted, the scarf had seen better days, singed on the edges and
covered with dirt, but no doubt it belonged to their target.
"So, Wily was right after all," Ring Man finally admitted.
"Proto Man is here. The question is though... where? And is
he still alive?"
The questions concerning him, Ring Man put the scarf away as both
he and the two Joes started to inspect the entire area. If his scarf
was here, then he just might be nearby. Activating a com-link, he
spoke to a nearby unit.
"I want you to scour the buildings at Point 3A. Check them from
the inside out and above air."
"Roger," a voice responded.
In less than a minute several Pipi's could be seen flying overhead,
circling the buildings as a handful of Mousubeils scurried into the
cracks, trying to find a trace of the robot. A few Batton's fluttered
into open windows, attaching themselves to the ceiling and scanning
the surrounding area. Mettools and a few Sniper Joes entered the
buildings the old fashioned way as they barged through the doors,
combing the vicinity as quickly as possible.
As for himself, Ring Man opened up a com-link to Wily. "Wily.
This is Ring Man. We found a clue."
"Good," the old man's voice crackled into his ear. "Make
sure that when you find him you do not damage his reactor. It is
extremely fragile and could erupt at the drop of the hat."
"Understood. Ring Man out."
--------------------
In the distance a pair of eyes watched the red robot carefully. Proto
Man had been hanging out in an empty building not too far from the
Wilybots' current location, and he knew that they were looking for
him. Their reaction from his scarf certainly didn't dissuade this
notion.
"Knew I should've gotten it..." he cursed under his breath,
realizing that it was a fatal mistake.
He continued watching them, noticing how they were working back from
the way they came, towards him. The red robot, who was more than
likely the leader of the group appeared to be Ring Man, a Cossack-built
robot. The rest of the robots seemed to belong to Wily, other than
the Sniper Joes, which were of the Scissor Army's design. More than
likely, however, this was just a tactic to fool opposition, and they
were just Wily bots. Ring Man's affiliation bugged him, however.
Last he heard, Cossack himself had taken a stand with his own creations
backing him up, so why he was here with Wily's Joes puzzled him.
"Shit... not good..." the prototype muttered, moving cautiously
to the door leading to the roof. He had to get away from them so
he could regain his strength. Away from the windows, the cracks,
the doors. Nothing was safe. If he didn't move soon he was going
to be trapped. Trapped... with everyone hunting him down.
--------------------
Magnus grunted in frustration after lopping the head off an RPD trooper
they had beaten a while ago. Protoman was always a step ahead, but
now it was more like twenty steps. The Officer crunched through debris
from various robotic units, picking up the helmet form a damaged
Metool and spinning it on his left index finger. A pair of joes approched
him from the right, stopping quickly and saluting.
"Sir, it appears Wily troops are investigating the city." One
of the Joes said with a monotone drawl. Magnus' right eyebrow slid
upwards before he put the met hat on.
"Not a surprise. It seems Protoman has become quite wanted by
all sides. Perhaps we should 'take over' for those Wily troops." Magnus
said, a sinister tone in his voice when he said "take over".
He stood up, then took of the met hat and threw it aside at high
speed, lodging it in a nearby vehicle. "I want three squads
with me, we're going to see what Wily's up to."
Magnus then switched on his com link as he followed the Joes to Ringman's
location. "Quint, some Joes have found Wily's forces investigating
some buildings. I'm going to see if I can't get them to do our work
for us, then obliterate the fools. I'll be sure to have a pair of
Joes come lead you to the location."
--------------------
It was a few days after the accident in the Technodrome and Needlegal
hadn’t seen Shadowman in all that time. She kept trying to
knock on the door of his new laboratory, but he yelled at her to
keep out. He must have been concentrating very hard in there, but
she wished he didn’t talk so harshly at her. She was just worried.
Snakeman met up with her as she was going over the medical reports.
“Hey, how’s it going?”
“Terrible! Look at this …” Needlegal brought up
the display on her monitor.
“The Scissor Army is slaughtering everyone in the world! I
can’t believe what they’re doing! Every day the death
toll just gets higher and higher!” Needlegal put her head into
her hands. Snakeman felt awkward. He wasn’t very good in these
types of situations. He just didn’t know what to do.
“Well, Shadowman just called a meeting. Maybe he's on the verge
of a breakthrough. Hopefully it’ll help put General Cutman
out of commission!”
Snakeman tried to sound enthusiastic about it, but Needlegal didn’t
seem to feel any better. She just made a resigned sigh and got up
to leave with Snakeman.
--------------------
The two joined Hardman in the meeting room of the Technodrome. Immediately
they were frozen in place.
Shadowman was standing there before the control screen. He seemed
healthy and unharmed, but … hardly normal. The arm that had
been blown off was replaced by a new arm. This one was made of black
metal with a matte finish. It was plated and seemed very durable.
His fingers looked more like claws now. Four tentacles were now affixed
to Shadowman’s back. They moved eerily sometimes. But what
was most startling was his face. The eye which had been blown off,
the eye which he normally kept shut, was replaed with a large circular
eyepiece. It glowed a sinister looking blue.
Shadowman smiled warmly. “Hah hah hah. Like the new look?”
Needlegal cleared her throat. “Em … ah … you
look …”
“Pretty cool, right?”
“Freakin' disturbing is more like it!” said Snakeman
loudly. Shadowman’s smile faltered a bit. He seemed to have
been expecting this sort of reaction, but was hoping it wouldn’t
happen. “What’s the big idea? Bizarro Shadowman was one
of our toughest enemies to beat!”
“That’s right,” said Shadowman, “and I’ll
use that to our advantage against General Cutman.” Snakeman
paused to think. Shadowman continued, “The General comes from
an alternate universe. Our only hope is to use advantages unique
to this universe against him. So I’ve added some enhancements
from my one-time doppelganger. Not everything, mind. Bizarro didn’t
exactly care about keeping notes, you see. But some small things.
My arm, for instance,” Shadowman held up his sinister looking
hand out in front of him, “is stronger and more durable than
my previous one. It’s also equipped with a variety of special
scanners. My fingers are made to be faster than the average robot's,
so my typing (and programming) speed is doubled. The wires on my
back,” Those wires now twisted in front of Shadow and he swung
his unchanged arm in a sweeping gesture, “are now capable with
interfacing with computerized machinery as Bizarro’s were.
They are also capable of sending strong electrical charges into an
enemy robot. And, finally, my eye,” Shadowman pointed with
his now claw-like hand, “is running supplementary visual diagnostic
algorithms. I can now analyze the structure of machinery faster than
ever. I can even 'see' electrical flow. A good advantage in a fight
against an enemy with exposed wiring, like the General.”
Shadowman put his arms to his back and nodded curtly. “So there
you have it. It’s resemblance to Bizarro is also intentional.
It’s designed to strike fear into the heart of our enemies.
Bizarro was fearsome, if anything.”
The ‘Maniacs visibly relaxed. Hardman even cracked a smile. “Yer
tellin’ me, boss! I gotta say, I was pretty freaked out.” Shadowman
laughed. This was exactly the kind of response he wanted. He didn’t
think the General would be disturbed, but most following him would
probably be.
“Now, then, to the business at hand. This isn’t a fashion
show, after all.” The
‘Maniacs took their seats in the room. Hardman had a seat specifically
designed for him and sat near the back. The display sprang to life
and showed an aerial view of a destroyed city.
“This is Madrid, Spain. The Scissor Army has recently invaded
and wiped out everyone there as well as all resistance in the area.
Most of Spain has been overrun and their army’s having a tough
time dealing with it. This, however, is besides the point. More to
the point is that the Scissor Army has been having a string of guerrilla
attacks targeted to strategically important locations. These attacks
have served to hamper the Scissor Army’s efforts in their war.
And these efforts are perpetrated by none other than our old acquaintance
Protoman.”
“Protoman!?” said Needlegal in amazement, “is that
what he’s been doing all this time?”
Snakeman barked a laugh and hit his thigh, “I knew it! We haven’t
heard anything about Protoman since this all began, I knew he’d
be in the thick of things. A guy like him could never just sit this
out with Light and his guys!” Hardman was grinning too. They
might not know Protoman too well, but they had met him a couple of
times and he had earned their respect. They all felt good to hear
he was fighting.
“However, all is not well,” continued Shadowman. His
tone quickly sobered everyone in the room. “This morning I
received this message.”
The display shifted to another scene. It was obviously recorded on
a low quality camera. Static flickered against the image of Protoman.
His glasses were cracked and his helmet dented on one side. His body
looked like it had seen better days too; there were cuts and black
scorch marks all over it.
“Mayday, Mechanical Maniacs, mayday! I’ve been fighting
the Scissor Army all on my own since this war began, but I’m
trapped! The Scissor guys are after me and
…. I think Wily’s goons have come for me too. I’ve
been followed by some robots that can only be from him. The city’s
completely occupied and …. I’m running out of places
to hide out.
It’s the Seven Mercenaries. They’re being relentless.
I tried to fight them on my own, but there were too many. And I don’t
exactly have a repair station to help me out.
I’m not afraid to say it … I’m desperate. I wouldn’t
be asking for your help otherwise. I know you guys are with the Robot
Police and that fascist code of theirs. But I’m hoping that
won’t stop you from coming in to rescue me. I’m in Madrid,
Spain. I’m afraid I can’t give you any more details over
the comm. line. You never know who’s listening. This is Protoman.
Over and out.”
The screen died. Shadowman was now moving into the details of their
assault.
“Unfortunately I couldn’t keep this from Crorq. He’s
ordered us to bring Protoman in. Either as a recruit or as a prisoner.
I, of course, have no intention of complying with that order.”
The ‘Maniacs gasped. Shadowman had never so openly said he
would defy the Robot Police’s orders. Snakeman spoke up, “Hey,
wait a minute! We all have chips in our heads set to explode if we
don’t do as we’re told! And programs to wipe out our
minds in case that first measure wasn’t enough! Maybe your “lieutenant
commander” status can protect you, but we’re pretty vulnerable!
If we’re ordered to bring Protoman in, that’s what we
gotta do!”
Shadowman’s smile was wiped from his face. “Hey, now.
Don’t you think I’ve already thought of that? This room,” Shadowman
made a sweeping motion, “is completely bug free. I’ve
checked. And built scrambler devices to make double sure. So, if
you’re worrying about our big, fat, yellow windbag of a police
chief, then don’t.” Shadowman’s voice was raising
in anger as he spoke. “And if you’re questioning the
wisdom of my decision to let Protoman go once we rescue him, then
don’t do that either! The RPD can’t be trusted! They
have no concept of loyalty! Protoman won’t ever join the RPD,
and I don’t blame him. But we need him active and alive! So
why not think a bit before you open your mouth?”
Snakeman’s jaw had dropped. He knew Shadowman did not like
to be contradicted, but he rarely let himself blow up over it. His
points made sense, though Snake didn’t really want to stake
his life on it.
Shadowman took several, visible breaths to calm himself. He was letting
his temper get ahold of him. It was happening pretty frequently lately.
Although that could be because his blasted headache wouldn’t
go away. He’d just finished some more tweaks, but that didn’t
help too much. Shadowman thought he might try to install a small
power regulator. He was using more resources than he used to, so
it must cause occasional surges. He must consult his plans more thoroughly.
“I’m sorry,” said Shadowman. “I shouldn’t
have yelled. I’m just … I’m just sorry.”
Snakeman had gone out of his chair during the outburst. He now sat
back down.
“S’alright. We all know how hard you’ve been working.”
Shadowman straightened. “Right. Well, we have seven-hundred-and-fifty-four
troops at our disposal. There’s a bit of a range. We have a
few Special Forces and some SWAT team members. We also have K-9s,
so we can use those to try and track Protoman if we find something
with his “scent”. Our number is made up mostly of Neo
Officers.”
Needlegal smiled. “Nice. I was hoping we’d get to use
some, they look cool!”
Shadowman smiled. “Glad to hear you say that. I actually had
a hand in designing them.”
The team’s jaws dropped. “Since when do you design new
robots?” his sister asked in disbelief.
“What? You know I’m a pretty smart guy. I just looked
at what the General was doing and decided he had a few good ideas.
Mostly, it makes our guys look more intimidating and they’re
faster than the normal officers.”
Hardman chuckled. “I’m surprised they ain’t lookin’ like
ninjas, knowin’ you!”
Shadowman sighed. He actually had pushed for that, but the RPD seemed
to share Hardman’s idea on what a police officer should look
like.
--------------------
Shadowman and his crew had teleported into position. He and the other ‘Maniacs
were away from the scene currently. They were surveying the land
personally before carrying out the plan.
Even though their fighting force was formidable, the sheer size of
the Scissor Army infantry made an attack daunting. However, they
had the element of surprise working in their favour. It was time
to take a page out of Protoman’s book. Their first priority
was to locate Protoman and get him out. However, their second priority
was to eliminate the Seven Mercenaries. To accomplish this, their
army surrounded the city. They would sneak in and perform guerrilla
attacks to drive the Scissor Forces into the center of town. And
then …
Shadowman smiled. IT couldn’t fail. To him, all these players
were pieces in a puzzle and now he’d put his picture together.
It would be beautiful.
“This place used to be so beautiful, but look at it now. It’s
all …. Ruined.”
Shadowman looked around. Needlegal had been right. The Scissor Army
didn’t care about the natural aesthetics of their battlegrounds.
It was all about destruction. Just another reason to hate the General
and to bring him down.
Snakeman made a sound. “I can hear something!” The serpentine
robot led his team warily closer to what he had spotted. It wasn’t
long before the rest of them heard it too. Moaning. And the sound
of a machine repairing itself.
They rounded a corner and walked in on Spinman re-attaching an arm
onto himself. It was from a Scissor Joe, obviously. It wasn’t
very compatible with his systems, but it didn’t seem he had
much choice. The ‘Maniacs were right on top of him before he
noticed they were there. Spinman sprung to his feet at once.
“You!? What do you want!?”
The team was shocked. They had never seen Spin so unnerved. Hardman
made a defensive gesture. “Easy lil’ fella. Easy. We’re
not here fer ya. Really.”
Spinman loosened up, but still looked panicked. Needlegal gave him
a concerned look. He was an enemy of theirs, but he didn’t
look very threatening right now. Just scared.
“Spin, what happened? Where’s the others? I thought War
and Claw were with you.”
Spinman shuddered. Finally he relaxed. “Claw … I was
separated from Claw in the fight. I dunno where he is. He was thinking
of rejoining his old Dark Six buddies before all this started. And
War… Just look around you.”
The ‘Maniacs did as Spin has asked. They saw him now. All over
the place. Parts of Warman littered the area along with Scissor Joe
debris. Shadowman nodded to himself. “Warman had a pretty appropriate
end.”
The ‘maniacs looked up at Shadowman. He was being very cold.
But Spin let out a weak, defeated laugh and sat on the ground. “Yeah,
he did, didn’t he? The big guy was having a ball right until
they blew his head off. And even then his body just kept on going.
Just like a cockroach.” Spinman looked into the sky wistfully. “It’s
the way he always wanted to go. Of course I think we all thought
that it’d be you guys doin’ us in. No offence.”
Shadowman took none. After all, Warman, Clawman, Spinman, and Chimeraman
were actually some of their oldest enemies. They used to be Wily’s
elite force.
“What were you guys doing out here anyway?” asked Snakeman.
Were they after Protoman too?
“You guys are gonna hate this, but … we were here to
join the Scissor Army. We heard they were around here so we figured
we’d sign on the dotted line! Only … “
Spinman looked down and seemed more depressed than ever. “Only
they said they had standards and that we were has-beens who had no
place in their army. Warman, of course, took the first shot. They … they
didn’t even bother with us themselves. Just sicced a bunch
of Joes after us.”
They all just stood there. They had never seen Spin in this light.
Most of the time he was out trying to kill them, but now they could
only feel sorry for him. Hardman, especially, felt bad since he sometimes
gave the guy a hard time back at his bar. He teased him about being
a second-rate Topman at times; mostly after one of their fights.
Now he wish he hadn’t.
“But, you know … with you guys here … “ Spinman
gave a small laugh. “If I said I was sorry, you don’t
suppose it’d fix everything, would it? Maybe I tried joining
the wrong si –“ Spinman’s words were cut in mid
thought. His eyes widened in surprise. And they didn’t move
at all. Spinman slumped onto his side.
Shadowman coldly removed the large Shadow Blade from Spinman’s
back. He then made it disappear. He then levelled his arm cannon
at the robot and took aim at his head. With no change in expression,
Shadowman eliminated the possibility of repair. The others were looking
at him in shock.
“He said it himself … he was here to join General Cutman,” explained
Shadowman,
“and you all know that he’s one of our oldest enemies.
It wasn’t that long ago since he and his team went on a public
feud against the Rescue Force and got us involved. He helped to put
everyone in Monsteropolis in danger. He could never be trusted. And,
in the end, the General was right. We don’t need has-beens
on our team either.”
Shadowman then dismissed his friends to their locations at each corner
of Madrid.
--------------------
"Alright. Make sure you don't fail this time."
All of this mess was Hyper Storm's fault. Had he reacted fast enough
at the first encounter, they wouldn't have to play hide-and-seek
with Protoman and Wily's forces right now.
But now was not the time to complain. Quint commanded his troops
to scatter around town, in groups of two squads. That way, one could
cover the other while exploring the ghost town.
A point came to his mind : Protoman's weak, and surrounded by a large
group of the SA. He wasn't as reckless as Bass, and might even call
for help. But if he did, who? From the memories of his old self,
he recalled Protoman was neutral to anyone non-Wily. He wouldn't
put Cossack's forces into trouble by requesting an emergency rescue.
He wasn't likely to trust the RPD at all either. He was too much
of a loner, and valued his freedom and privacy highly. But did he
care about it so much he would opt to die here alone?
He then opened a special comm. line.
"Quint to Mercenaries. Magnus has spotted Wily's forces. It's
also very likely another force might move in. Carry the hunt on,
but if needed, be ready to apply the battle protocol. Understood
?"
Six voices approved in response.
"Perfect. Quint, over."
Surrounded by a squad of Joes, Quint was thinking about the possible
battle: he was hoping for a quick victory. He heard of Captain Napalmman's
meeting with the General after Berlin's battle, and sure as hell
didn't want to be involved in a similar scene.
Shaking out these thoughts, he headed back to lead the search, ready
to call the Marauder for emergency teleportations...
--------------------
Snakeman laid low in the grass. His troops did as well. He had launched
his Black Mamba, Mambo to look for Protoman as well as Makoto (the
Mamushi), Regina (the Queen Snake), and Jack (the Rhinoceros Viper).
All had the ability to search for Protoman via a unique energy signature
that the ‘Maniacs had thanks to their prior association with
Dr. Light, but only the Mamba had a short-range teleporter that could
bring him to Protoman. Snakeman hoped he would be able to recover
all his serpents … it would be a shame to lose even one of
them. Ultimately, however, Protoman was his first priority. He knew
his snakes could do the job while staying hidden.
Meanwhile, it was time to bring the fight to the Scissor Army. He
had to focus on that, making his snakes' well-being … and
especially his leader’s disturbing behaviour, a second priority.
They were at the perimeter of the city. A small squad of guards were
patrolling the area. It was dark and they weren’t on the alert
just yet. Snakeman and some Neo Officers had no trouble silently
dispatching them. Silently, more officers infiltrated the base while
a good portion of his officers remained outside.
--------------------
Hardman didn’t even want to think of Spinman’s death.
That was just cold. He could understand killing someone in the heat
of a fight. He’d done so a few times himself. To robots and
humans. That’s why he and Spark had grown fairly distant recently
and Hardman wished it didn’t have to be that way. But Spinman
was just scared. And they said they weren’t after him. He’d said
they weren’t after him. Maybe the boss was right about Spinman
being and enemy, but they weren’t the Scissor Army … or
even Wily’s faction. They were the good guys. They just shouldn’t
act that way.
Hardman wasn’t built for stealth, but that’s what the
mission called for. He liked to think he had his own unique take
on the idea.
He sent some Officer Bots into the area to draw out the enemy. Sure
enough, they were ready for them. A squad had already come out to
greet them. And they were with … HyperStorm and Ballade!?
So soon? Those two were wrecking the poor Officer Bots. Hardman felt
bad, but drawing out the Scissor Army was the number one priority
here. Snakeman’s snakes were handling the real search.
“Pathetic! I didn’t think the RPD would be dense enough
to think these outdated pieces of scrap metal would be enough to
take us all out, eh, Ballade?” Ballade merely nodded and took
out some more Officer Bots.
”Get outta my way!” yelled HyperStorm, knocking some
of his own troops aside in order to better pummel the robot police
officers. The rest of the troops had learned from prior battles to
keep their distance from Commanding Officer Hyper Storm.
The two Mercs had been drawn out from the city and deeper into Hardman’s
trap. The Scissor Army Infantry looked a little nervous. Ballade
also seemed suspicious. But, Hyper Storm was fully focused on destroying
the Officer bots still in his path. Ballade had to watch that he
didn’t get hit and that proved to be a fatal distraction.
Hardman emerged from his hiding place in order to signal the attack
with his trademark Hard Knuckle. With Ballade’s back turned
it managed to hit home and drive the enhanced robot master into the
wall of a destroyed building.
“Attack!” called Hardman. Officers of every sort quickly
emerged from their hiding places and attacked the two with all the
weapons they could muster. Hyper Storm could barely utter any cry
of alarm before he was hit with shots from all the officers around
him.
“Y-you cowards!” cried Hyper Storm as he was battered
by the barrage of plasma bullets.
“Hey, ya know wha' they say: work smart not Hard!” Hardman
opened an internal communication line to the rest of his units. “Stay
outta sight. Time ta infiltrate th' city an' herd as many SA Joes
ta th' center a' town. Go!”
Hardman barely noticed as his units made their way into the city.
The Scissor Army Joes were all down, but Ballade got up. It seemed
Hardman managed to piss the robot off.
--------------------
Shadowman checked on Needle before making his move. It seemed she
had made her way inside of the city without encountering much trouble.
Good. But that would change soon enough.
They didn’t like my killing off Spinman, did they? That
was cold, wasn’t it? They should have understood, but …
Shadowman could feel the axe hanging over his head. He’d made
too many mistakes. He’d let Mesmer brainwash him into letting
that loose cannon Kenta onto the team. He let the General beat him
in their first encounter. He’d sided with the RPD, breaking
up the team. He’d been wrong about their ability to
‘cheat’ their way out of the shutdown code. He let Ben
die. And now they were all doubting his ability to lead. All doubting
him. It didn’t matter to them that he had led the team successfully
for so long. Topman and Spark Chan just hung them out to dry at the
first opportunity. And, if the reports were right, Geminiman had
become evil. Again.
They … they’re all out to get me.
But even as Shadowman thought this he knew it couldn’t be so.
He was being paranoid. It was him not getting enough sleep, wasn’t
it? Still … his thoughts were logical.
These thoughts stayed with the lieutenant commander as he and his
troops made their way into the city. Their cutthroat tactics had
gained them more stealth than they needed, but now there was a particularly
large amount of Joes heading their way.
“Keep on the lookout!” Shadowman heard Quint’s
voice over their communicator,
“We’re getting reports of the RPD attacking us! Stay
on your toes!”
Time for plan B. Shadowman ordered three officer Bots to engage the
enemy. They slid on their stomachs and took as much cover as they
needed. The city was full of debris, this wasn’t hard. As soon
as the Joes were near enough they latched themselves onto three of
their enemies.
“What’s this?” cried out one of the SA Joes. The
others didn’t have time to react. The three Officer Bots overloaded
their systems and blew up at once! The Joes didn’t expect this
sort of attack. The ones who weren’t destroyed were disoriented
enough to be easily taken out by Shadowman’s officers in hiding.
Shadowman chuckled to himself. These Joes were programmed after Marines … but
even the army had its weaknesses, didn’t it? And all it cost
him were three disposable, outdated, Officer Bots.
--------------------
Magnus grinned slightly.
"Maybe you should have taken your own advice."
With a quick, sudden movement, a twister erupted around the officer,
blocking the incoming plasma bullets. The police bots quickly stopped
firing, then dove for cover once Magnus let the twister loose, cutting
through some RPD troops until it hit a building. Ballade, meanwhile,
was preoccupied with keeping the RPD Units from completely overtaking
her. It was only moderately difficult, her skills and the SA Joes
were picking them off rather nicely.
Hyper Storm then did something he'd always wanted to do while Kayorei
went for the grunts; he barreled towards Hardman, ripping Officer
Bots to shreds with either his hands, mini-twisters, or his emerald
green sword. As soon as he was past the RPD fodder, he sheathed his
blade and made an attempt to challenge Hardman in hand-to-hand combat
with a quick punch aimed for the Maniac's face.
--------------------
Well, Hardman thought as Hyper Storm charged forward, so
much for stealth.
He sidestepped the incoming punch with some practiced ease. Hell,
the big man could dodge better punches when he was less sober. Some
days, being a barroom brawler had its advantages. He took the minimal
opportunity to order his troops to fall back and find cover. No sense
in getting everyone on his side killed while he took out some major
trash.
Hyper Storm threw another, much more aimed attack his way that he
weaved under with some dexterity that betrayed his size, and he returned
in kind, his own large hand slamming forward, open-palmed, to catch
his opponent off-balance. It also had the nice added effect of shoving
the big idiot back a few steps and gave Hardman some room to work.
The RPD troopers followed their orders and found cover, returning
fire on the SA Joes and forcing them to do the same. Ballade also
took cover under the curtain of plasma fire, but she was already
working out a plan to get around that.
Hyper Storm, on the other hand, could feel his proverbial adrenaline
flowing. Throwing down with the Maniac's tank had been a longtime
dream of his, and now he was finally getting to do it! He had the
upper hand, as well, with his mastery over the wind. In these close
quarters against an opponent like Hardman, you might not think it
was helpful, but Hyper Storm still had a trick or two up his sleeve.
As the inevitable attack came from his sizable rival, Hyper Storm
grinned, the air around his body rushing up to speeds usually reserved
for twisters and the Auto Bahn. The effect was noticable, although
not completely deterring, and Hardman's fist glanced off his side
instead of slamming home into his gut. The big blue behemoth took
a step back and gave Hyper Storm a look.
"Cute trick," he muttered.
"You'll LOVE this one!" the SA officer crowed as he let
all of the wind gather before him and slammed it forward on the end
of his fist. Opting to try to block instead of avoid it, Hardman
got a nasty shock when the force of the blow sent him skidding backwards,
and he had to put some effort into staying on his feet.
"Yer a lyin' sunuvva-" Hardman grunted, crouching low as
the other robot charged forward, his zeal showing itself on his face.
The Maniac simply accepted the charge after bracing himself, and
the area shook as the two met with the force of two angry semi trucks.
Hardman grunted, his eyes not on his foe as he fired off a Hard Knuckle
that sailed, it would seem, off course. Hyper Storm barked a harsh
laugh and rewarded Hardman's mistake with a fist to his side that
made the blue robot cough briefly before he returned in kind, preying
on his opponent's overconfidence and landing a solid hit on Hyper's
knee.
The windy robot crumpled to the ground, the force of the blow having
put a stress fracture on his lower leg armor, and the pain too great
to ignore aside. It wasn't disabling, but it gave Hardman time to
recover and back away.
Ballade, on the other hand, had been forced to fall back from her
attempt at slipping into the enemy lines to silently dispose of them
all while their commander had been apparently distracted. She could
bring herself to believe that now, considering the fist-shaped hole
in the concrete where she'd been that had been created by the seemingly
random Hard Knuckle. She watched the larger opponent carefully, and
she could have sworn she saw him grin and... was that a wink? At
HER?
Hyper Storm stood back up with some pain on his features and stumbled
back, now a little more unnerved by Hardman's grin.
"I admit, you've managed to surprise me," he wheezed, trying
to shut down his pain sensors in his leg.
"Yeah, I do tha' a lot," the bartender smiled. "An'
you oughta tell yer lady friend not ta try sneakin' off again."
Confusion crossed the SA officer's features as he looked back at
his companion, whom he could now see under cover about halfway between
the SA Joes and the RPD trooper's various positions. How had he noticed?
And what was that look on Ballade's face for- Oh snap.
The first Hard Knuckle punished him for his mistake, slamming with
frieght train fury into the back of his head and pitching him forward.
The second Hard Knuckle sailed past him, toward Ballade, who again
had to fall back toward the SA Joe position to avoid going for another
ride into concrete.
"Lesson number one, kid," Hardman sighed as his hands came
back to him and clicked into place. "NEVER take yer eyes off
th' prize, ya got me?"
Hyper Storm's reply was a roar of fury mixed with outrage and pain
as he opened up with his Surging Gust, a howling force of wind akin
to a hurricane that blasted forward, lifitng up rubble and bodies
and slamming them like rain against Hardman's frame.
"Tha's another neat trick!" the Maniac shouted over the
wind as he batted away the debris that might actually hurt him, letting
the small stuff just bounce off him. "Bu' lemme show ya one
better!"
Hyper Storm's attack had quickly run out of random objects to fling
at Hardman, but he was confident in his ability to keep the obviously
more experienced opponent at bay, maintaining the Surging Gust would
at least keep this guy busy long enough for Ballade to sneak around
and kill off the rest of the RPD Troopers...
And then Hardman took a step forward.
That was impossible! How could...
And then Hyper Storm heard it. Over the raging cry of his beloved
winds, the high pitched whine of an engine. A jet engine.
Practically doubled over, Hardman took another step forward, using
the jet engine built into his body to counteract the force of the
wind. Since the engine was normally used to lift his multi-ton frame
off the ground, it was more than up to the task of providing Hardman
with the force he needed to move against this kind of attack.
Now, Hyper Storm kept up the attack out of a will to survive more
than anything else. If his Surging Gust stopped, four tons of angry
RPD commander were going to meet him at a velocity unlike anything
he'd ever witnessed before. That was not a comforting thought.
Ballade, however, was on the move. The RPD troopers were proving
to have the upper hand on the SA Joes, more because of their better
field position, having set up for the ambush and the attack before
the Joes, they had the choicest pieces of cover and had left the
SA with small rocks and crumbling walls to hide behind.
But this fact was also making sneaking around to reverse the reprehensible
situation something of a challenge. She kept having to feel out a
path, being rewarded for her mistakes with hails of plasma fire.
There must have been some of the enemy forces which were now tracking
her specifically, to ensure that destroying them with this kind of
tactic was that much more unlikely.
She growled in frustration, unable to listen because of the roaring
winds and screaming engines. She risked a glance back, and saw Hardman
slowly approaching Hyper Storm, with a pace that made snail racing
look like high-speed internet connections. Still, the big blue monster
was making progress nonetheless, and her companion's face had gone
from enraged to terrified in a short minute.
And due to the concentration required to keep the Surging Gust active
to keep Hardman's jet-propelled self away, he could only watch as
the other robot reached forward slowly and grabbed his arm.
The Gust died instantly. Hardman shot forward instantly. Hyper Storm
felt the pain much, much later and for a much, much longer amount
of time.
Hardman had slammed with an incredible, sudden force into Hyper Storm's
chest. Even though the Maniac had shut off his jet engine right after
the impact, the SA officer still shot backwards a few feet before
landing heavily on the ground. He didn't move immediately, but he
was still breathing, despite the large dent now in his chest plate.
Ballade's attention was elsewhere. Specifically on Hardman himself.
He just shook his head and stood up straight, cracking his neck and
knuckles.
"Well, tha' didn't work out quite th' way I planned," he
seemed to sigh. "Better wrap this up quick an' get back ta work.
Now where'd purple chick get ta...?"
--------------------
Needlegal blasted away some Scissor Army Infantry that was heading
towards her. Despite being successful in avoiding the enemy, her
mind was not on the job.
What’s wrong with you, Shadow? You’re acting like
such a jerk!
Not that Shadowman wasn’t prone to jerk-like behaviour. Just
not quite this bad. It was this distraction that allowed her to be
caught off guard.
She was barely able to avoid being hit as Punk came barrelling through
in his buzzsaw form right over her squadron!
“Gangway, comin’ through!” Punk transformed into
his robot form and tore into the rest of her troops. The Special
Forces with her engaged the Commanding Officer in combat.
“You have destroyed Robot Police property. That is a federal
offence. Come in quietly or we will be required to use force!” Punk
just laughed and blocked the powerful punches that came from the
SF units. At the same time, regular Police Bots shot at the larger
robot, but it only got them a minimal amount of damage.
Needlegal was collecting herself when she was hit by a large staff.
“Hey there,” said Buster Rod, walking with his staff
held in a defensive position, “Fancy meeting you guys here.”
--------------------
Mega Water and Enker ran on instinct from the explosions that surrounded
them.
“What the hell was that!?” cried the kappa-based Robot
Master. Enker just shrugged and used his spear to create an energy
field to protect them from the assault that came at just that time.
“Well, we can’t just take this! We have to attack!” Mega
Water ordered Joes forward and found them greeted by gunfire. Enker
came in to protect his subordinates and used his weapon to make the
police robot’s shots rebound back towards him. He smiled in
satisfaction when he saw the amount of damage that did. With the
same broad grin he aimed his spear towards his enemies.
So they think my weapon’s the same as before … I'll
show them how much they're wrong …
He unleashed the power he absorbed from their shots amplified ten
fold. It not only destroyed their cover, but took their lives as
well. However, the Japanese-and-Greek-inspired robot master didn’t
have much time to celebrate. From behind them police robots of all
sorts fired!
He and his contingent received heavy damage. Mega Water began to
panic.
“We have to get away! We have to go!”
“Steady Megs. We can handle this. Officers of the Scissor Army
do NOT retreat!”
Despite these words, however, the pair of robots began to back off.
From his hiding place among the ruins, Snakeman smiled. He had not
been spotted yet. Very soon there’ll be one less adversary
to deal with.
--------------------
Shadowman had managed to lead several brigades of the Scissor Army
into place using his cannon fodder as bombs. The Joes were pleasantly
off balance with this tactic. But Shadowman did not smile. This part
of the city was littered with the corpses of the people of Madrid.
The Seven Mercenaries had done their vile task too well.
Shadowman surveyed the land. But was it worth it? The General had
a genius chip that gave him great intelligence. Could a robot utopia
be born from this Hell?
Shadowman could not imagine that the General had the capacity for
kindness. He looked upon the broken remains of a school bus. This
was the General’s idea of Heaven. Shadowman shook his head.
Yes the world had its Wilys … and yes, Shadowman could now
see that ridding the world of its trash was a commendable idea. How
had he missed that vital point before? But this? This was a terrible
waste. Mankind … it didn’t needed to be wiped out. It
needed a gentle, but firm hand to guide it towards the right course!
It needed to be kept safe … from maniacs like the General … as
well from their own incompetence!
Shadowman checked on his “team”. If they could be called
that. Hardman and Snakeman were doing well. Naturally his sister
was having trouble. Would he go to help her?
No. No, she had her role and he had his. It seemed as if most of
the Mercs had been accounted for, based up the reports he was getting.
All except for Quint. Shadowman let himself chuckle. Quint was actually
trying to hunt him down, wasn’t he? Did he fancy himself some
sort of master strategist? That was funny.
Shadowman’s mirth faded as a voice spoke inside his head.
“My, my, my … you’ve made a mess out of my little
operation, haven’t you? But I guess I should expect that from ’Lieutenant
Commander’ Shadowman. After all, you’ve taken to
the delusion that you’re some sort of rival to me, haven’t
you?
Shadowman balled his hands into fists. General Cutman. Again!
--------------------
Quint was starting to panic. He was receiving more and more messages
indicating that whole squads had been destroyed, and every other
Merc was engaged in battle with the Mechanical Maniacs.
Luckily, nearly all of them were fighting their targets as intended,
but still ...
From the last report sent by a SA Joe a few minutes ago, Magnus was
severely damaged. Besides, two Maniacs still went unspotted : Snakeman
and Shadowman. Naoshi and Falling Star can take care of Snakeman on their own.
But Gauntlet is mine!
His eyes narrowed. He well remembered the shame the Androids had
brought to the Scissor Army with their utter failure in their last
mission … despite their success in Mexico in their last mission
they would fall from grace hard if they failed even once. The General
was brilliant, but not forgiving.
He shrugged these thoughts off. If he started to think of defeat,
he'd surely lose.
Now, where is Shadowman? Quint moved out with his squad, and
commanded the Joes closest to the Officers to help them. Protoman
was important, but he made his priority to keep his fellow Mercs
alive. Shadowman was the key. Cut the head off a snake and the body
would die.
Quint calmed himself. The ‘Maniacs seemed to be attacking from
the four cardinal directions, so Shadowman would be coming from the
one direction the others weren’t. Shadowman may think he has
the upper hand, but he doesn’t know who he’s dealing
with.
--------------------
Needlegal struggled back up after Punk’s relentless assault.
Punk only laughed.
“Heh heh heh. Still up fer more punishment, eh?” Punk
cracked his robotic knuckles and moved closer. Needlegal was breathing
heavily. Her distraction earlier gave the Mercs that fought her the
advantage they needed … and they were playing for keeps! What’s
worse was that, while she was being treated like a punching bag,
her unit was being scattered. Quite a few of the robot police officers
were still on task on heading the Scissor Army into place, along
with one Special Forces member, but she was taking heavy damage.
Needlegal narrowly avoided several hits with Punk’s Screw Crusher
attack. She countered with her Needle Cannon, but it had little effect
on the heavily armoured robot master.
Unknowingly she collided with another one of the Special Forces assigned
to her.
“Sorry about that, Ma’am.” Said the robotic police
officer.
“No problem.” said Needlegal. Punk fired another Screw
Crusher in this moment of distraction. Needlegal gasped as the Special
forces unit used his own Arm Cannon to deflect it.
Needlegal quickly repaid the favour and deflected an attack made
by Buster Rod’s extending staff. She then took the opportunity
to send some needles his way and they proved far more effective than
against his larger companion.
“Hey, it looks like trading off worked out pretty well!” exclaimed
Needlegal in excitement. Somehow, the mouthless Special Forces Officer
seemed to grin.
“They say necessity is the mother of invention!” Back
to back they stayed. Buster Rod shot out a plasma bullet, which Needlegal
could deflect with the spikes on her arms. She returned with Needles.
Buster Rod was nimble, but he couldn’t avoid all the needles.
He pulled one out of a very awkward area.
“So, it’s like that, is it?”
Punk charged at the pair in his buzz saw mode. “This is like
bowling!”
The Special Forces member had no retort to make when it grabbed Needle
and dodged the attack. As Punk was flying past, the officer kicked
the Scissor Army officer so hard that it sent him off course and
into the wall of a building. Punk soon emerged from the smoke angry,
but mostly undamaged.
"Feh. Gutterball."
Buster Rod leapt into the fray. He kicked the Special Forces officer
out of the way and set his sights on Needlegal. She might be good
at long range attacks, but Buster Rod was quite adept at short range
melee combat!
With simian agility, he maneuvered behind the trigger-happy Robot
Master who struggled to get a lock on the twisting and rolling monkey.
He latched onto Needlegal’s back and began to hammer away at
her head, laughing hysterically. She may have been heavily armored,
but she was definitely feeling this. He screamed out in pain and
surprise a short time later when Needlegal extended her porcupine-like
spikes right through his legs. In fact …
I can’t move my damn legs!
“You bitch!” screamed Buster Rod in agony. His legs … his
legs had been mangled. He knew his robotic muscles and tendons had
been ripped and pierced to such a degree that he could only make
his limbs twitch and spasm.
“Hang in there, buddy! Help’s at hand!” cried Punk,
charging to Buster Rod’s rescue. He was stopped short by a
member of the Special Forces. The Special Forces officer tackled
Punk to the ground and proceeded to punch the robot into submission.
“You, sir, will not harm an officer of the law while I am in
the vicinity!”
Punk was roaring mad! He was being kept busy while his friend was
being mangled right before his eyes by the damned robot police!
--------------------
A shot rang out in the dark. Mega Water gasped. His comrade had been
hit! He must have been. But …. He was still standing there.
What happened?
Enker smiled. His patience and calm had won out. After hearing that
Hardman was in the area he knew that the other RPD-affiliated Mechs
were around. He knew that a stealthy attack like this had to have
been either the work of Shadowman or Snakeman.
And it looks like it was Snakeman. Enker had been sure to
keep his Mirror Buster up at all times, hoping someone would take
a shot. And Snakeman had. Enker was still smiling as explosions and
buster fire drew him deeper into the city.
Snakeman was lying on the ground, clutching his shoulder. Both it
and his ego stung. He wanted to get Enker out of the game. He was
the calm one, the one who was most threatening. But he had that damned
Mirror Buster up and he sent his own bullet right back at him. Those
things really hurt! And what was worse was that his arm was shaking
pretty bad. That was no good for a steady shot. Snakeman cursed.
He could already hear Scissor Army Joes making their way to his position…
--------------------
Pathetic aren’t they? None of us would be killed this easily.
I mean, we might stumble, but we can be repaired. Not like these
folks.
Shut up! You’re wasting my time.
A facility blew up as the officers inside bombed themselves in a
strategic location. Several Joes were inside. The destruction of
the Scissor Army was going well. And once that was done, Protoman
wouldn’t be hard to find as well.
Unless he was in that building.
If he was in there, then he should have hauled ass when he heard
the fighting! And besides, there’s no way he’d be there.
Too many Joes around.
Shadowman moved to inspect the area. Human bodies lay in the rubble.
He winced. Were they being kept captive? Or killed during the Merc’s
assault?
Yes, it’s questionable, isn’t it? Of course you could
consider this a mercy killing.
Yes there was that. Wait, no! You’re just talking to me
to keep me off balance. I’m not listening to you.
Well, that’s a correct answer. Of course you really don’t
have much choice in the matter of listening to me. And it’s
not like I’m going to stop talking just because you tell me
you’re not listening. The General chuckled. Shadowman gritted
his teeth. Of course, he wouldn’t stop talking. Talking distracted
Shadowman and that was –
Shadowman was hit by a volley of plasma bullets! The Scissor Joes
had found him! Curse the General! And he was chuckling too. Did he
send these guys?
No, I didn’t send them. I’m just curious to see my
great rival in action, really.
Shadowman looked around. He used his new eye to magnify the surrounding
locations. So … Quint was copying Snakeman and using the Joes
as Snipers, eh? Shadowman smiled. He had considered this tactic.
The wires on his back writhed and dove into his shadow. A combination
of his Shadow Warp and his razor sharp wires. It was true that he
could interface with a robot’s systems with them, but he could
also use them to impale his enemies. Again and again he dove his
wires into his shadow and each time he felt the scraping of metal
on metal as his weapons hit their mark. Shadowman smiled. His new
abilities gave him the edge he needed.
And the General was suitably chagrined.
It wasn’t long before Shadowman ran into his target, surrounded
by Joes. Shadowman’s own infantry was busy destroying Joes
elsewhere. And searching for Protoman, of course. Mustn’t forget
that. But his focus right now was on his main enemy. Quint.
Quint was obviously struggling to maintain his composure.
“So, it’s just you and me,” said the robot from
the future. Shadowman shook his head.
“You know, I faced a Quint before. He didn’t last too
long. And neither will you.”
“Ahh, well … we’ll see about that!” In a
surprise move the Joes around him lit up! Shadowman looked around.
There were Joes everywhere, all lit up like Christmas trees. Quint
was smiling more broadly. He had walked straight into his trap. His
Shadow Warp, which he was relying so heavily on, was now useless.
He even dared a laugh. Shadowman was not expecting this.
However Shadowman was smiling too. It looked like stealth was out
of the question now. But that was fine. He was growing impatient
and a good fist fight was just what the doctor ordered. He produced
two Rolling Cutter shaped Shadow Blades and was pleased to see that
Quint was sufficiently disturbed.
If they think what I did to Spinman was bad, then let’s
hope they don’t see what happens to poor little Quin there.
