Scenario G
[(\./)]
Participants:
Makenshi (RPD)
Cossacks Comrades (C)
SparkChan (W)

Location: Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany
Max. Cossack Scrap Value: 2969
SA Infantry: 1136
RPD Units: 1084
Wily Bots: 860

“Any sign of them yet?”

Drillman and the other Comrades are situated near the top of the Town Hall tower in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany, awaiting the approaching Scissor army. Cossack had received an SOS from this location warning of an impending SA attack, and so the Comrades were sent to fight off the approaching army, but upon their arrival, all has been silent.

"No, I don't see anyone yet, Drill." Jet says from the east end of the tower, everyone is watching a different direction, hoping to be able to spot any encroaching army before they arrive.

Drill shakes his head "I don't like this one bit." After a dangerously close-to-home battle in St. Petersburg against Mysteryman, the Comrades have been on edge, concerned that such an attack may have merely been the beginning. "This smells like a trap."

The entire town is sort of a throwback to medieval days. The place is full of very old buildings that are many hundreds of years old, yet they are marvelously well kept up. The whole thing is such a serene image of tranquility. It’s a bloody shame that this quaint little town will soon be a war zone.

“I just don’t get what the Scissor Army would ever want with a place like this.” Pharaoh speaks up. “There just doesn’t seem to be any strategic value to them taking this city.”

“Bingo.” Zymeth exclaims. “And that’s what worries us.”

Diveman lights up a cig. “Well, all we can do fer now is keep an eye out. At least if those Scissor punks show up we’ll be ready for them.”

“Let’s hope this was a false alarm.” Brightbabe speaks up again. “I’d hate to see this town be destroyed.”

Jade nods, “You’re right about that. It does have a charming atmosphere to it.”

“I know what you mean.” Dust says, “But I don’t think the good General and his guys will be here to sightsee. Just wish I knew what they were here for.”

The Comrades return to watching the horizon. For better or for worse, they’ll get their answers soon.

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

==MESMERMAN==

"Sir, Beta Company is ready to move out on your command."

Mesmerman's grinning face turned, overlooking the thousand Scissor Joes that stood at ready attention. Their lives his to play with and sacrifice. Loyal, unthinking, well trained automatons. The perfect soldiers, really. And in largers numbers than any commander in any engagement could ask for.

And yet...

"Not today," Mesmerman shook his head.

The leading Joe cocked his head to the side in confusion. His arm was decorated with both the SA insignia and the dual chevron over star design that marked him as a field commander, one of the higher ranking Joes that took to the field. An able coordinator, this particular Joe had proven his effectiveness to Mesmerman before, having been the prison warden of sorts in Hong Kong, and before that he had led a small force of Joes inside Monsteropolis into a human recreation center, something that was called a 'health club' and had turned the name into a sick joke.

Mesmerman had, of course, taken an immediate liking to him, even if his actions were unintentional.

But today, the Joe looked at Mesmerman. "Sir, the General has ordered us to mobilize against the forces based in Russia."

Mesmerman giggled. "I have... a different idea in mind."

The Joe stopped and processed this before coming to a conclusion. It snapped to attention once more. "Sir, what are your orders, sir?"

The white pieces waved a hand dismissively. "Why don't you and your boys... go play in Berlin?" he grinned. "You shall be close by if I need you, but you can pursue a different goal for me."

The Joe simply stood there for a moment and then nodded. "Sir, yes sir!" he barked, turning to the 999 behind him. "You heard the commander. Move out!"

Mesmerman watched them all file out of the room before returning to his own thoughts. He looked down at the map below him again. Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a rather quaint little village full of tasty history, authentically old buildings, and, currently, thanks to a little trick he'd picked up with some help from Thaddeus Tilman, occupied by one of Russia's finer combat units: Cossack's Comerades.

It was true. General Cutman HAD ordered Mesmerman and his detatchment of Joes to move in on a Russian city, almost purely to make the disadvantaged Cossack forces sweat, but this... this was a MUCH better idea.

By drawing the Comerades out of Russia, and then distracting them for an amount of time, Mesmerman would be granting the SA forces invading the various parts of Russia a boon, keeping one of the few nearly full remaining Megaman Teams in the war busy enough that they could do nothing to aid their mother country until, hopefully, the battles were already decided.

But to do that effectively, Mesmerman decided early on that he couldn't use standard Joes. No matter how well coordinated the SA forces seemed, the other armies always seemed, against all odds, to come out on top unless something massive threw the tide in favor of the SA. In Rome, that had been Mesmerman's Siege Joes.

All of that accounted for, Mesmerman stood up straight and made the decision. "The only thing the Comerades shall fight today... is ME." he giggled.

Instantaneous travel had its advantages. Teleportation was a wonderful thing when no countermeasures were in place, and Rothenburg ob der Tauber was about as far from shielded as you could ever want. Add that to the fact that he'd been here, two days earlier, preparing for this action. Mesmerman grinned as he touched down on the rolling grass outside of the village. His virtual form manifested inside the city almost immediately, seeking out the lonely basement where'd he'd placed the phantom S.O.S. generator.

The city had been evacuated weeks ago. When Berlin had been utterly demolished, much of Germany had been abanddoned in favor of Switzerland, New Zealand, or even Monsteropolis. Mesmerman couldn't say he understood WHY they wanted to move to those places, because it wasn't like they were safer, but an empty city had made this plan a much more viable course of action.

His spiralled hands ticked the off switch on the S.O.S. generator and hit the on switch on another piece of machinery. It began to hum menacingly, and a quick glance into the air with his robotic self confirmed the sky looked smudged, like the poor application of a Photoshop filter.

"The stage is set..." Mesmerman smiled. His virtual self dissipated back into harmless light, reforming in full nearby his robotic self. "Now to bring the players forward."

"Hey... am I the only one seeing this?" Pharaohman asked his fellow teammates.

"Crap," Dustman grunted. "Teleportation shield."

"Well, that answers the 'trap' question," Drillman sighed. "It looks like the shield stops near the edge of the city. We should get going while the getting is good."

"And leave all of this behind for the Scissor Army to claim?" Brightbabe asked, a small amount of shock in her voice.

"Doesn't do us any good to stay if we're outnumbered, outgunned, and screwed," Diveman told her.

"We don't have time to mess around," Drillman told the rest of them. "We need to leave, now, before something REALLY bad happens."

"I was kind of expecting... y'know, an attack or something," Diveman said, looking around from thier vantage point. "There isn't a Joe in sight."

"Let's go," Drillman repeated himself, leading them all off the tower and toward the edge of town. He didn't like this one bit. First, the S.O.S. for no apparent reason other than this was a ghost town, and now a sudden teleportation shield. There was no way this wasn't some kind of trap.

They reached the fringes of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and Drillman swore when he saw that the shield extended for about a mile beyond, over a large grassy field. A grassy field with a single occupant.

"Who's that?" Pharaohman asked, pointing at the solitary figure that was walking toward them.

Drillman opened his mouth to speak, but the newcomer cut him off. "I am Mesmerman," it chuckled, "and I'll be your opponent today."

Diveman actually laughed out loud. "You think you can take all of us on? That's rich, smiley."

Mesmerman's robotic form smiled. "I've learned a lot of things as this War has raged on. I've learned that, sometimes, tactics don't matter. Strategy and planning just can't compete. No, my friends, I have found that there is something even greater than the most complicated military maneuvering."

The Comerades began to spread out, ready to strike if Mesmerman tried anything, but the robot with the tentacles coming out of his back just kept talking. "Only two things matter in any engagement with the enemy: Force in as great a concentration as you can manage, and style. And in a pinch, style can slide. In any battle, there is a level of force against which no tactics can succeed, and all I have to do is keep hammering away at you until you all eventually fall."

"You're gonna be hard pressed to do that all by your lonesome, creepy," Dievman grinned.

Storm clouds rolled into the sky above as Mesmerman looked at him, a smile on his face that unsettled even Diveman. "It's true. Alone, I am somewhat weak. But, in numbers..."

A beam of light shot down through the clouds, through the teleportation shield, and landed beside Mesmerman. The form that resulted from the teleportation grinned at them all, hefting a Scissor Joe plasma rifle. "In numbers, I am VERY effective."

"TWO of you?" Drillman asked incredulously, "AND you can go through teleportation shields?"

"One way sheilds are a wonderful invention," the Mesmermen said in unison. Another beam of light delivered a third Mesmerman onto the field, and they all shared a laugh. "Many of them are designed to allow people to go out without allowing people in. I simply reversed its use. Now I can come in," they laughed, punctuating their statement as a fourth Mesmerman arrived, "and you can't go out!"

The Comerades began to back away, shock and realization registering on their features. "Guys?" Brightbabe said shakily, "I think we should run now..."

More beams of light began to fall from the sky, like rain. Slowly at first, and then with increased speed, adding more and more of Mesmerman's robotic forms to the field. They all began to laugh as one being and the white monstrosity materialized in the dark air above them all, hefting his blood red scythe.

"You can all have your finely crafted plans," he chuckled, "give me the sledgehammer to hit you in the face with any day!"

With a tremendous cry, over a thousand identical robots charged into Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

The Comerades dashed back into the city, hell on their very heels. They stopped only to cath their breath at the base of the Town Hall tower.

"Now what the hell do we do?" Toadgal asked, exasperated.

Drillman's reply was lost in a blinding flash of light. The assembled Comerades cried out in surprise, trying to shield their eyes from the all-encompassing flash. Diveman was the first to recover.

"Holy..." the rest of the expletive died on his lips as he looked up. Fifteen statue-like figures stood among them, radiating danger and unstoppable power. Massive cannons that made up their left arms hummed to life as the faceless heads of the new monstrosities looked down upon the Russian team.

"SIEGE JOES!" Drillman shouted, recognizing them from the horror stories the Cosmic Gladiators had related to him from the fight in Rome. Each of these oversized machines sported thick armor, a heavy plasma weapon capable of melting concrete, some sort of 'jump' ability he'd only gotten fuzzy details on, and a keen tactical mind focused on teamwork. Almost perfect, deadly behemoths. And they were outnumbered by these things by more than two to one.

There was no other option.

"SCATTER!" Drillman shouted, catching sight of Skullman jumping up and away from the sudden crowd, barely avoiding a hissing stream of plasma that cut deeply into the building behind them. Shuddering thumps followed by treacherously quiet hissing noises signaled the Siege Joes firing their busters, the area around them turning to slag as the Comerades beat a frantic retreat in any direction that presented itself.

Mesmerman's virtual form, the Terror of Perception, floated down from above, a smile pasted, as always, to his features. One of the Siege Joes turned to him and saluted.

"Sir, primary objective accomplished. Fighting unit designated 'Cossack's Comerades' suffering from loss of unit cohesion. Enemy forces are split and retreating."

"Excellent work, S-186. Hold position here until I call for you."

"Sir, what will you be doing in the meantime?" S-186 asked. Mesmerman had forgotten that the process of being wired into a Siege Joe made the standard SA Joe a little more bold.

"Why, what I do best!" he chuckled as over a thousand copies of his robotic form began to flood their way through the small city. "I shall be inviting them all to... play in my world."

His laughter rang out in fresh waves as the Siege Joes prepared for anything.

"Sir, it appears we have a situation. The RPD has arrived. And to make matters worse Spark Chan is on the other side of town," S-186 commed in.

"Hmm...leave the RPD to me. As for Spark Chan...let her be unless she comes too close...I want to have time to play with my new toys..." Mesmer whispered.

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

==MAKENSHI==

The RPD made their way through town, with Makenshi in the center along with his three SF bodyguards. You would have been at the front leading the group, but Crorq had stubbornly ordered them to not follow Makenshi's command due to him being "an incompetent infidel who continuously wastes our most expensive units as if they were disposable toothbrushes." Now, a couple standard SF units were leading the squadron. Makenshi only shrugged. At least he was able to give his bodyguards some... upgrades. Then they would be able to last much longer.

They had come to investigate an SOS signal, but not a soul was in sight. Was it a false alarm, or a trap?

Vatnick's voice came in to confirm the latter. "There's a teleportation shield, and a battle's taking place not far from here that's star"

"Great," Makenshi muttered.

The leader ordered everyone to scatter into groups to meet and combat these new fighters. Makenshi and his bodyguards were split up, with only a few standard police bots and K-9's at his side. Nothing had happened yet, so what was this lingering sense of dread he felt?

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

==DRILLMAN==

Drill looked everywhere. He couldn’t find any of his teammates. What he could see, however, is these damn Mesmer Clones. He starts to attack them one by one. Each kill gets him even angrier.

“Come out you Coward! Just because you are Cutman’s bitch doesn’t mean that you are above me! FIGHT ME!!!!” He roared. He startled himself by just how angry he was.

A tap on the shoulder. That’s all it was. He turned around and saw the grinning fool. “How could I refuse a request like that?” And the world disappeared.

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

==SKULLMAN==

The Mesmer body in front of him toppled over as Skull’s scythe relieved it of its upper torso. He turned and fled, nearly panicking in the other direction trying to loose the other Mesmermen on his tail. None of his guile or trickery would help him against a man who can read minds. He was at far too much of a disadvantage, and here he was sitting away from the group. Only moments ago he and Toad decided to look for other units in the area. He knew that Sparkchan was somewhere, and he knew that he could use her compassion to aid him.

He spun around another corner, realizing that he couldn’t hide and that he needed to find Zapper very quickly. He ran into another room in the building, still trying to loose his pursuers. Suddenly, from a locker to his left, came a huge crash. He raised his arms up in an attempt to raise his Skull Barrier, but the Mesmerman body that flew from was quicker on the draw. A cord wrapped around his ankle, yanking him off his feet, and in the air several more swung at his helpless form.

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

==DUSTMAN==

Dustman dove around a street corner to avoid incoming fire. He cursed under his breath as a stream of plasma reduced a wall to rubble. An ambush had practically been waiting for anyone foolish enough to show up when the Cossack’s Comrades had arrived. An army of robots came out of nowhere forcing everyone to scatter. While running from one of these mechanized monsters, Sean had unfortunately learned that the things were armed to the teeth. Sean swore once more as he tried activating his radio and only received static when trying to communicate. The Scissor Army certainly came prepared.

After running down street after street, Sean noticed he had just reached a dead end. For the third time that day he silently swore because his enemy had succeeded in trapping him; in such a closed space there was little doubt about whether Dustman would be gunned down. Overpowered and outmaneuvered, the robot master turned around hoping to possibly force his way through the alleyway. However as soon as he turned around to face his opponent head on, something hit Dustman from behind and he immediately blacked out.

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

==BRIGHTBABE==

BB couldn't believe what was happening. Not only was her team horribly outnumbered by hundreds of Mesmer clones, but now there were Siege Joes to worry about too!

Needless to say, BB was terrified as she tried to dispose of as many clones as she could. She was in a fix though. Her teammates were nowhere to be seen. Her slow firing buster arm put her at a greater disadvantage than the others as far as offense goes, though she did have Flash Stopper. She wouldn't use it now though, she'd save it for when she's stuck.

BB had to try and get away from them and find her team mates! She had to try and help them if she could! She suddenly heard Dive's voice over her Com link.

"A barn?" she thought as she quickly looked around.

There it was! It wasn't too far off! Maybe she could reach it in time to help Dive! So she took off for it.

.....Suddenly, just when she was about half way there, a brilliant light flashed on both sides of her. BB was startled badly as she held her arms up to block the light. She then looked in horror when she saw what had happened.

Two siege joes had teleported to her location and were both eying her with their weapons drawn standing less than 5 ft from her. BB let out a frightened scream and took off running in the opposite direction from sheer panic. As if things couldn't get worse, they began to give chase and were firing at her.

It was obvious BB couldn't outrun these things as they were slowly gaining on her and the shots became harder and harder to dodge. She even got grazed by a couple. She was at a complete loss of what to do.... until she remembered her light bulb of course. In less than a split second her light bulb burst to life lighting the entire region and stunning the joes long enough for her to run away.

BB ducked behind a small building just in time for the attack to wear off. As BB hid there to try and catch her breath, she quickly looked around when she thought she heard something back there with her.

Just as she turned around again 8 long cable arms wrapped themselves around her body and everything went completely dark.

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

==PHARAOHMAN==

A Pharaoh Shot incinerates about another half dozen Mesmerman puppets down on the street. Jade quickly ducks back into the window he fired out of. He peers out and sees another puppet that witnesses the blast start towards the building he’s in, but its head is demolished by the Curse of the King laser from his headdress. Jade now looks for another vantage point to charge another shot.

“Not too bad, if I do say so myself.” Pharaoh commends himself as he slips through the room and up the stairs to the roof. From here, he’ll hop to another building before the drones see him, and snipe a few more of them off. He opens the door to the roof access, and finds Mesmerman’s grinning visage looking right back at him! Startled, Pharaoh raises his buster, but he’s too late as a pair of cables immediately snaps towards him, and all goes black…

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

==DUSTMAN==

When Dustman awoke there was not a standing building in sight. Mechanical corpses littered the street composing of Wily and RPD forces. Some parts of the city were ablaze, but the flames were dying down. Sean looked on with shock wondering how this all happened and how long he had been out when suddenly Mesmerman appeared behind him.

“Oh, good,” Mesmerman said brandishing Malus Messis. “My last toy has finally awoken. I was worried that my soldiers had killed you. I’m getting a little bored since my other five playthings broke.”

Dustman immediately tried firing off a dust crusher that Mesmerman batted aside with his scythe.

“You still have some hope and aggression in you. That’s good. Maybe it will last longer than it did in your friends,” mocked Mesmerman. “Come, I’ll show you my handywork.”

Mesmerman charged forward and swung Malus Messis at Sean. Dustman tried moving out of the way but Mesmerman was too fast and impaled the robot master on his weapon. Howling in pain Dustman now had the scythe sticking through his chest and was lifted up in the air as Mesmerman raised his hand and began to walk through the destroyed streets.

“You Cossack bots aren’t enough a challenge. Half of you are barely held together and almost all of those working for Cossack still lack upgraded armor. You are almost not worth killing, but only almost,” said a grinning Mesmerman. “The only problem is that all of you morons seem to be filled with that annoying thing called hope. I absolutely hate the stuff; it lacks logic and seems to overpower the more sensible fear. It is such a shame that you missed me crushing the hope out of all of your team mates, I really wish I had the time to personally destroy the dreams of each and every one of Dr. Cossack’s soldiers. However I’m on a schedule. I think the corpses of Dr. Cossack’s own robot masters being dropped on the Citadel’s doorstep will do a nice job of spreading fear, don’t you?”

Mesmerman reached his designation and stopped. He grinned with that crazy smile of his as he lowered his scythe and with his free hand twisted Dustman’s head to ensure the whole scene was taken in.

Zymeth was the first one to be seen since his corpse was at Mesmerman’s feet. A scythe, identical to the one Dustman was currently attached to, had been struck through his head nailing it to the ground. Skullman’s face was filled with horror and his mouth was still open, he was silenced mid-scream. His whole body was covered with holes and by the position of his limbs it looked like Zymeth had tried crawling away only to be finished off.

“He was the last to be killed since it took longer for his anger to die down and be replaced with terror. By the time he tried fleeing instead of fighting he was too damaged to run properly and immediately toppled over,” Mesmerman explained.

Sean shouted, “You bastard!”

Dustman’s vacuum activated as he tried to move his head against Mesmerman’s hand. He also raised his buster and began to fire when Mesmerman spun his scythe and flung Dustman up into the air. Mesmerman threw Malus Messis up into the air as the robot master flew. Another instantly appeared in Mesmerman’s hand and he threw scythe after scythe into the scythe. After causing a twelve Malus Messis to materialize, Mesmerman simply turned the weapon and caught Sean on the blade once more. His vacuum had been slashed apart and his buster had been sliced off. Deep gashes and holes covered his entire body.

“You’re already losing your temper?” Mesmerman asked. “You are too hotheaded. Just wait until you’ve seen all of your friends.”

With that Mesmerman once again twisted Sean’s head to show the remains of Zapper. ToadGirl body was backed against the wall and it was covered in deep gashes that seemed to be only an inch each apart. Mesmerman moved himself and Dustman closer and grabbed at an area in between gashes and pulled it out. He then pushed it back in pace with his sick grin once again upon his face. Zapper had been cut into thin sliced and like Zymeth she died while screaming.

Before moving on, Mesmerman decided to see how Dustman was doing. The vacuum-based robot master was futilely struggling to free himself from the scythe. He tried activating his weapon and was met with the sound of hissing air to announce his failure to not only himself but Mesmerman as well. Mesmerman’s sadistic smile grew bigger as he moved onto his next victim.

Diveman’s remains were scattered on the ground. Unlike the other two robot masters, Geoff had been torn to pieces. His torso had been blown apart from the inside; Dustman guessed that Mesmerman forced his explosives to go off before being launched. The remains of Diveman’s face had his mouth wide open just like the other two.

The next corpse that Mesmerman proudly displayed was Pharaohman’s. After examining the body it was clear that some sort of sick humor existed inside the holographic robot. The power core, cooling unit, and a few other pieces had been carefully taken out without being damaged and placed on small stone pillars. However Jade’s seat of consciousness, his robotic mind, had been smashed against the ground and been shattered into hundreds of pieces. His face, despite his body being less torn apart than the others, had a mouth still open and eyes wide with terror.

Drillman had been pierced to the wall; the leader of the CC was the second to fall. Three scythes held AM in place, one for each hand and one for both feet. There was also a gash on his side as well. Mesmerman’s twisted sense of humor had once again shown its hideous head. Drillman’s mouth was open wide with a scream and there was a deep hole between his eyes since unlike a human Drillman needed more damage to die.

BrightBabe was the final corpse to be displayed. Her bulb was shattered and the body was on top of the broken glass. It looked like Jet had fallen over and only begun to get up when she had been killed. Several gashes were shown in her armor, Mesmerman only cut deep enough to destroy everything vital. Her face once again had the mouth open, but not as wide as the others; Jet had only begun to scream when she died.

“I unfortunately didn’t get to have as much fun with her,” Mesmerman sighed with his grin for a few seconds disappearing. “I had to make sure she wouldn’t try to stop time and let everyone get away. I made sure to make up for it by enjoying Drillman’s and Pharaohman’s deaths as much as I could.”

Dustman glared at Mesmerman as he once again struggled to free himself causing Mesmerman’s smile to return.

“And now it’s your turn,” Mesmerman said. “This has been such an enjoyable experience. I’ll have to make sure to hunt Ringman down and show him my artwork.”

Mesmerman flung the battered Dustman off his scythe and onto a nearby wall. Dustman slowly got up, almost falling down once more since his legs were so badly damaged.

“This can’t be true,” Dustman said as he staggered onto his feet. "They can't be dead. You won't get away with this!"

Mesmerman spun his weapon and tossed it back and forth between his hands as he slowly walked forward.

“Don’t worry. You’ll join them soon,” Mesmerman mocked.

Mesmerman lifted his weapon above his head and prepared to strike. Grinning one last time, Mesmerman swung Malus Messis down at Dustman.

“This can't be true, there is no way you could of killed them all! They wouldn't of let you, I won't let you!” Sean shouted as he quickly brought both his mangled arms up to block the blow. "I'll tear you apart with my own hands if I have to, but I won't let you win!"

To both of their surprise, Sean caught the blade. Dustman was now the one to smile as realization dawned on him. The catch proved everything.

“It isn’t true is it?” Dustman asked as he yanked the scythe out of Mesmerman’s hands and through it aside. “It is all in my head isn’t it?”

“How?!” Mesmerman demanded. “You were beaten, you had given up!”

“You need to work on believability,” explained Sean as his armor repaired itself. “My friends would never let you torture them to death and give you your sick pleasure. You underestimate us too much; I don’t think any of us would go down without a fight. I was shocked and disturbed too much to rationalize, but as soon as I tried to block your attack and fight back despite being nearly destroyed I realized they would of all done the same. I knew the fight was hopeless and you'd already taken down my weapons, yet I prepared to fight. How could I believe that the rest wouldn't do the same? Scary? Dear god, yes. Believable? No.”

“Not bad,” Mesmerman said. “I guess I should have acted sooner, before you had time to rationalize things. The offer we gave your leader still stands and it stands for all of you. You’re skills would be much more-”

“I don’t care what you say right now,” Sean interrupted. “There is no way I’d ever work for such manipulating, scheming, evil bastards like you and the general.”

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

==PHARAOHMAN==

“Wake up, Jade…” An unsettling voice rings through the monarch’s ears, “It’s time for us to have some fun together!”

“Mesmerman…” Jade’s eyes snap open. Looking around he finds himself on the roof of the building, bound in place by a series of energy rings. Jade struggles against the powerful bonds, but they seem to be remarkably durable.

“Aw, don’t tell me you want to leave already.” Mesmerman’s evil image floats in front of him. “The show’s just about to start, and you have a front row seat!”

“That’s fantastic.” Pharaoh replies with mock enthusiasm. “And what kind of ‘show’ is that, Chuckles?”

“Why would I tell you now and spoil the plot?” Mesmerman laughs in his usual disturbing tone. “For my first trick, I’ll need a volunteer from the audience. How about this charming young lady?”

Mes reaches back behind Jade with one of his cable-like arms and drops a badly beaten Brightbabe at his feet.

“Jet!” Jade cries out.

“I’m sorry Jade…” Jet stammers.

“Mesmerman!! What are you doing?!” Jade’s furious inquiry is probably pointless, as he thinks he knows precisely what that sicko Mesmerman has in mind; he just doesn’t want to admit it.

The high-ranking CO shrugs, as much as a body like his can shrug, anyway. “Well, I was planning to saw her in half, but that’s boring. It’s over too quickly.” He summons his scythe, Malus Messis, from out of thin air. “I like having fun with my victims, see? So I thought I’d just wing it.”

With that, Mesmer brings down the pointed tip of his scythe, stabbing Jet in the arm, who lets out a painful scream.

“Jet!!” Pharaoh screeches, still straining against the rings holding him in place.

Mesmerman simply cackles once more as he stabs her again, with another agonizing scream the result. “Ah, I never tire of those screams, like beautiful music…” His grin fixes on Jade once more. “What’s the matter? You don’t seem to be enjoying my little show.”

Jade lunges at Mesmerman, but is again stopped by his binds. “Damn it, you want a show?! I’ll give you a show as soon as I get out of here!!”

“Yes, yes. I’m just shaking over here.” Unimpressed, Mesmer continues to stab Jet over and over again. “All of your friends are going to meet the same fate as her. And you’re going to watch every agonizing moment of it!”

Jade cringes as Bright’s screams continue to fill his ears. “Dammit, do what you want with me! Just leave her and the others alone!!”

Mesmerman looks up for a moment from his grisly handiwork. “My dear Pharaoh. You speak as if you were in some kind of bargaining position.”

He goes back to his torture, Pharaohman continuing to struggle vainly to escape. “Tsk, tsk.” Mesmerman speaks again. “Poor girl, she’s probably wondering why you aren’t doing anything to save her. Hm, some friend you are.”

Jade starts fighting back tears, “S… Stop it!!”

Mes ignores him and continues. But suddenly… the screams stop.

Jade goes pale. “J… Jet…?”

The CO grabs Bright by the head and picks her up. “Aww, I broke her. Oh well, I always did play rough with my toys!! Kyahahahahahahaha!!!”

With that, Mesmer brings he scythe around, severing her head from her body. He looks over at Jade, who’s completely numb, completely speechless. That lifeless grin never looked so evil. “Heads up!!” He tosses Jet’s lifeless head at Pharaoh’s feet. Her lightbulb shatters on the ground as Mes is laughing manically at his own tasteless pun.

Jade, meanwhile can’t strop trembling, with a combination of sorrow, and pure, unmatched hatred. “Mesmerman… Mark my words… When I get out of here… I’M GONNA…”

“YOU’RE GONNA ‘WHAT’???” Mesmerman’s usually playful and haphazard tone of voice suddenly turns dead serious. “Kill me?!?” He floats directly up to Jade, that single eye gazes straight into his, burning a path to his heart. “You think you’re the only one who’s tried?? The Maniacs couldn’t beat me. Wily’s Warriors couldn’t beat me. Drastic Measures couldn’t beat me. AND YOU THINK YOU CAN?!? That must be some ego you’ve got on you! You’re a powerful fighter, I’ll give you that much. But the truth is, you’re powerless to save the people you care about from me. Heh, I know you’re the type who wants to save the damsel in distress. But face it, chivalry is dead!”

His voice returns to normal. “And speaking of which…” Another cable hand comes into view, holding Zapper up by the hair, “Lookie what I found!! Let’s have another sing-along!!”

Toadgal struggles against his grip. “Jade… Help me…” She gasps.

Mes cackles madly as he stabs her with his Malus Messis. “Sorry, my dear. He can’t help you! He’s too weak to save you!”

“Mesmerman…” Jade stammers. “Damn it… I…”

That’s right, little Pharaoh! Hate me!! Despise me!! In the end, that’s all you can do!!

“What…?!?” Pharaoh’s eyes open wide. He starts to realize just what’s going on.

“Why couldn’t I see it before?” Jade says to himself.

“Mesmerman fuels himself off negative emotions. Anger, fear, aggression. The Dark Side of the Force are they… Dammit, this is no time to be quoting Star Wars!”

Jade closes his eyes and tries to focus.

“I have to concentrate… Think back to the most important teachings of a Red Mage… The harmony between light and darkness… The two are perpetually cast as mortal enemies but in fact they were meant to coexist in harmony… One who relies on the darkness is eventually consumed by it… The same goes for the light…”

Mes meanwhile, continues his sadistic game with Zapper, in much the same way as Jet. “What’s wrong, Jade? Have you given up? You don’t want to save your pretty little friend anymore?”

“The key is to find the balance…”

“Light and darkness… are ONE!!”

Jade’s eyes snap open with a newfound clarity in them. It’s clear to him now that he’s trapped in Mesmerman’s own little nightmare world, a place where the SA officer had planned to take control of his mind, casting him into an abyss of hatred and despair. A shimmering aura srurrounds Pharaoh as he casts off his shackles that had previously bound him as Mesmerman simply cocks his head.

“Now how did y…”

He never finishes that sentence before the Pharaoh Beam melts his static face off. Jade suddenly finds himself in an unfamiliar part of the city. The lifeless body of a Mesmerman puppet lies in pieces next to him; Mes’s true form has apparently migrated elsewhere.

“I’m powerless, huh?” Pharaohman growls to the husk before him, tearing the cables from around his head, “That sadistic freak and his scissor-headed boyfriend are wrong about that one. DEAD wrong.” He looks around, and sees a swath of dead Joes before him. "Huh?" He seems puzzled, "These are RPD Joes... Does this mean... Mesmerman had control of my body as well?! If that's the case, I'd better find the others, and quick before something awful happens..." With that he hurries off to find the others.

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

==BRIGHTBABE==

"...Huh? What happened? How'd it get so dark out?" she wondered as she got up to stand.

Indeed, it was completely dark where ever she was. It was very unsettling too. She was just waiting for something else to happen now. As if anticipating her curiosity, the room lit up to reveal it was a theater of some kind. There was something very odd about it though. There were only two seats....

"How strange. What kind of theater is this? Where am I?" she wondered extremely confused as to what was going on.

"This is an Imax theater." a voice answered from behind. "Come. Have a seat."

"What? I can't! I have to find my team!"

"Just sit down." The voice said again.

Obviously annoyed, but scared of angering whoever the voice was coming from, she sat down in one of the seats and the lights began to dim. As she watched the screen she noticed someone had just appeared in the seat next to her.

"Mesmerman!" she cried out.

"Well this was planned on rather short notice." He replied as he offered her what appeared to be popcorn.

"No Mesmerman! I've got to help my team!" BB yelled back as she jumped from her chair to leave. She was just about to reach the exit when she suddenly felt herself lifted off the ground and pulled back to her seat.

"Oh no, my dear. I paid for these tickets, after all, so we really should watch the show together!" Mesemerman said as BB was now held in the seat by his 8 cables.

"Let me go! Please let me go!" she cried as she struggled to free herself to no avail.

"Shhhh. The movie's about to start." He replied.

BB was on the verge of tears as she looked up at the screen to see.....

"Me?" she asked confused.

"Why yes! This is the premier screening of my latest psychological thriller, Agent of Justice!"

"What?" she pondered as she looked up to see herself begin attacking RPD troops. A look of horror appeared on her face as she watched them being brutally beaten up and destroyed. "What IS this!? What's going on!?!" she yelled out struggling against the cables.

"Well here we see you take care of these useless RPD troops. They got what they deserved for making slaves of us. Good riddance." he said as BB attacked a group of troops with Flash Stopper only to blast them one by one with her buster.

"How horrible!!!"she exclaimed fighting back tears.

"You should be greatful, Jet. I've chosen to use you to cleanse this place of such sinful creatures as them." Mesmer stated as he ate some more popcorn and turned back to the movie.

"How can you enjoy this?! This is terrible!! Let me go!!!" she said as she struggled against her restraints again.

"Awww... You don't like my movie? You haven't even seen the best part!" Mesmer replied as he gestured towards the screen.

BB was absolutely mortified as she saw Drill appear on the screen.

"What are you doing? What are you gonna do!?' she asked beginning to panic even more.

"Watch." he ordered in a somewhat unsettling tone. With that he used one of his cables to forcefully turn BBs head to face the screen again.

Tears began streaming down her face as she saw what happened next. She used Flash Stopper against Drillman before he could react and began charging up her buster arm!

"Oh no! Drillman!!" she shrieked as she watched herself attack him by blasting him square in the face. The shot went clean through his head causing him to slump to the ground in a lifeless heap.

BB was mortified as she cried for her friend. "How could you!?!" she asked angrily.

"Quite easily actually. He certainly had it coming for all the sins he's responsible for." Mesmerman said rather cheerfully as he watched the screen.

BB suddenly went completely pale when she saw that another comrade had appeared. This time, it was Zapper!

"OH NO! DON'T! PLEASE DON'T!!" she pleaded. But just as Zapper was about to use Rain Flush on screen, BB activated Flash Stopper again preventing it's use.

"Stop it!!! " BB screamed as she cried harder than ever. Only to see herself attack Zapper like she did Drillman.

"And ruin the show? Hardly." Mesmer said a bit annoyed.

The movie continued to roll and BB could do nothing to stop it. All she could do was cry as she watched dozens of RPD troops be destroyed by the Mesmer clones while she used Flash Stopper to freeze the RPD in place while they were fired upon by the clones.

BB was in serious trouble. All she could do was watch.

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

==MAKENSHI==

Makenshi's squad wandered throughout the city, but they had not encountered any signs of battle yet, until they came across Drillman.

Something was wrong though. Behind him was a sinister figure that resembled an impossible object. Cables sprouted from its back and were latched onto Drillman's neck. The thing had a static and unsettling grin, and the added silence made things ever more uncomfortable.

"AM...?" Makenshi asked, and Drill responded by firing drill bombs at him!

Makenshi narrowly dodged the explosive drills, but more were on their way towards him, aimed at the ground to detonate at his feet! He ran madly, jumping into the air to avoid the explosions. He tried to remember which cartridges were in his pistols. One was standard, and the other was ice, right? He fired his left gun at the ground. It made a normal-looking hole. Then he aimed his right gun at Drill and fired. His drill launcher was instantly encased in a sheet of ice. Makenshi fired at the other drill launcher, then at Drill's feet, temporarilly immobilizing him.

Now what? Makenshi wondered. Whatever the thing behind Drill was, he was evidently controlling him. It was staring right at him, with the exact same expression it had from the beginning. Then, the troops that had accompanied Makenshi began to attack Drill.

There was a brilliant flash of light, and everyone was frozen in place. Beside Drillman appeared Brightbabe, with another of the freaky white figures behind her, cables extending into her neck. She raised her buster and shot at the RPD troops, taking them out mercilessly in a flurry of plasma. They all fell helplessly to the ground, and yet Makenshi was still standing. She had spared him for some reason.

Then, the two impossible figures seized their captives and fled, leaving Makenshi completely alone.

"Come in, lieutenant!" Makenshi yelled in a frenzy.

"I'm right here," he replied via communicator. "You're far away from everyone else, and there's hundreds of those things between them and you. There's also moving patches in the town that the satellite can not access. I reckon those things in Alaska are paying a visit as well."

Makenshi cursed. "Beeson, what's the status of my bodyguards?"

A female voice answered him. "They're fine. They're with the standard Special Forces, but they're pretty much on the other side of town."

"I see. I just hope I can regroup with SOMEONE," Makenshi muttered.

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

Jade had been watching the event unfold from afar. Makenshi was alone, apparently communicating with someone, and Drill and Bright, controlled by Mesmer, had split up. "Trying to free Jet alone would be suicide," Jade said to himself. "I'll have to go after AM first," and he dashed off in pursuit of his leader.

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

==DRILLMAN==

Drill came to in what seemed to be the Citadel. He looked around and lo and behold it was his room. Could this all have been a dream?

He got up and walked outside. Then it hit him. That was no dream. Outside of the Citadel were the bodies of his teammates, even Rebel. Upon further examination there were other faces…faces from the past. Drill started crying. He recognized them. Keba, Sergal, Shadowy, Err, The Original Diveman, Kalinka, Jay, Bob, Dr. Cossack, The Parrs, and various other faces of friends current and long gone. Why? Why are these here? Who did this?

“Kyahahahahahahaha!!!!! Do you like my doll house?” a voice asked the crying robot. He knew who it was.

“You Sonova…WHAT DID YOU DO?” Drill yelled at the floating Puzzle.

“I just got my dollies and will play ‘Gauntlet’s Dream House.’ You give me too much credit though…I had help. Be it from, what did you call him? ‘The One Who I am a Bitch too?’ or even yourself,” He cackled.

“Me…? You LIE!!!!”

“Kyhehe…it’s your fault that the Parrs are dead, YOUR fault for Shadowy’s death, YOUR Fault for Err’s, YOUR fault for The Original Diveman! You have so much blood on your hands…” He sneered “Aw…is the little baby gonna cry? It’s alright, I can share.”

Drill shot at him. Now he was really pissed. “HOW DARE YOU! You are just…TOYING with me! Toying…”

Holy shit, he thought, he IS toying with me…This can’t be real…It must be an illusion like Mystery…But how do I get out?

While he was thinking to himself, Mesmer suddenly got serious. “You are just as guilty as I. Had you been stronger your team might be alive right now. You weren’t there for them. You weren’t there for Diveman. You weren’t there for the Parrs! You don’t deserve to lead! You came on a throne of blood! Ah…the sheer thought of it makes me tingle with excitement.”

He picked up a random corpse. “I wanna play a game. Let’s play…Catch…” Howling with laughter, he threw the corpse of Rebel at Drill. Drill stood there and just let it hit him.

“It’s not real. Tranquility. Peace. Transformers…Tranquility. Peace. Transformers,” He continued this Mantra while he was pelted with the various corpses of friends and family.

“You’re no fun. Accept it. You have lost…All your Comrades are dead, The SA has conquered the Planet, and Chaos reigns. Ain’t it special?” he asked.

Suddenly the world stopped. The next thing he could see is Jade, ripping out these cables.

“Am I back now?” Drill asked his friend. He nodded.

“He…used you. Like a puppet. You attacked a human officer…” Jade stammered.

Drill pressed a button on his right drill. The Drill split in two and from the gap a beam of light sprung out. “I am gonna kill that bastard…and with that I’ll prove that I am a good leader. I swear it! You hear me? You will pay for the deaths that you caused me to re experience. You will PAY!!!!

MESMER!!!!!”

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

==DUSTMAN==

Dustman then prepared to attack Mesmerman when there was a burst of light. Everything began to vanish into the whiteness and Sean closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was inside a damaged building with Drillman and Pharaohman.

“We were wondering when you’d wake up,” Jade said as Dustman got to his feet.

Dustman quickly asked, “Where are the other others?”

“Not awake yet,” AM explained and gestured towards the dormant bodies of the rest of the team.

“Anything we can do for them?” Sean asked concerned.

“Yeah,” Pharaohman answered. “Hope they are smarter than you.”

Just then a pharaoh shot hit Dustman in the stomach and he fell backwards on to the ground.

“After we realized our nightmares were simply nightmares, Mesmerman offered us all a second chance. Turns out those realms were just a test to see if our minds would be worth anything for the SA . We weren’t foolish enough to waste it. The Scissor Army is too powerful, human kind will soon be extinct. Why suffer when we can have freedom in Elysium?” Drillman said and leaned down towards Dustman’s head with his drills spinning. “Any last words, old friend?”

“Yeah,” Sean said and activated his vacuum. “Mesmerman, what makes you think I’ll fall for this? It has to be one of the most unlikely scenarios that I can imagine.”

Dustman fired off a dust crusher that blasted Drillman’s head off. The robot body fell backwards and then vanished. Pharaohman then warped into Mesmerman.

“I didn’t think this world would, but perhaps the next will last a little longer,” Mesmerman explained. “Even if I succeed in tricking you, your friends will break you free eventually. I need to break your will and shatter your mind. I’m going to create world after world and keep you in them for varying lengths, some more believable than others. Anytime you come close to beating me or sometimes at random, I’ll change realities. Expect to find yourself breaking free and escaping time after time because I’m not letting you go. Then when you either win for real or your friends free you, you will always doubt whether or not it’s another illusion. You’re perception of reality is about to be destroyed.”

“Quick question, are you in my mind or am I in yours?” Sean asked. “Or do you even know?”

Before Mesmerman could answer dust from the ground in the fake world rose and began to swirl around Mesmerman as Dustman turned around and started walking away from Mesmerman.

“I’m leaving this time, I'm not letting you try again,” Sean said as he closed his eyes.

Sean opened them a second later and found himself holding Drillman above the ground with his hands. His vacuum was also currently active and taking in dust to attack with. Pharaohman was reading a pharaoh shot for a Mesmerman clone that had just collapsed. Dustman quickly dropped Drillman and turned off his vacuum while Jade shot at the dead robot just incase.

“Sorry,” Dustman said.

“Not your fault,” Drillman replied.

Pharaohman gestured to go and said, “We need to free the others soon. Who knows what Mesmerman is forcing them to live through."

Dustman looked around and saw the remains of several RPD robots.

“We need to teach Mesmerman that our bodies and minds aren’t his play things,” AM added angrily.

"I'm not sure if we can," responded Sean. "He almost beat me and I doubt he'll be easier next time. We need to hurry; I'm not sure how much longer everyone can last if they haven't escaped yet."

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

==DIVEMAN==

“By Super Chaos’s unblinkin’ red eye!” Dive cursed as he scrambled through the field. There was no good fuckin’ reason why the Comrades were still here. They shoulda bailed as soon as they saw the town was empty. Hell, they should’ve known better than wander off to some Bavarian Sticksville that obviously had no friggin’ strategic value whatsoever. But with the damage done there, they might as well take out Mesmer in a blaze of glory.

“Easier said then done,” Dive mused to himself. One of the Mesmermen in front of him flung its blood-red scythe at the bulky submarine, but Dive quickly hit the dirt, just as the scythe sailed over him and skewered a Mesmerman coming up behind him. Before he could catch his breath, another Mesmerman raised its Malus Messis over Dive’s head. As the Mesmerman swung down, Dive quickly tumbled into an earthy culvert and retaliated with a barrage of Dive missiles, but it was hardly the Mesmer knock-off. As he lobbed a Dive Mine at a cadre of Mesmermen, Dive ran through, and subsequently ruled out all the options his frenzied mind could think of.

“Keep fighting, too damn many of ‘em. Call for help, no one’s coming. Run, they’re blocking the way,” Dive watched in horror as Mesmer-knock-offs tackled Pharaoh and Drill and shoved their cords in their noggins, taking control of ‘em. Now they were in serious trouble. Dive cursed his luck, but o’ the corner of his eye, he spotted a barn a few hundred yards in the other direction. It wasn’t much, but there weren’t many Mesmermen blocking the way, and it’d give ‘em a little time to whip up a gameplan.

“Yo! There’s a way out! Follow my lead!” Dive shouted over the com as he got up and sprinted towards the barn. A Mesmerman dropped in front of him, grinnin’ like the village idiot, but Dive shot it in the face with a dive missile as he ran by. But the barn almost seemed to get farther away as he charged towards it.

Ya not welcome at home, ya know. Dive growled to himself as he ignored the twang of self-doubt. He didn’t have time for that crap right now. He turned to fire several dive missiles at some of the Mesmermen pursuing him. As the Mesmermen crumbled, Dive noticed that none of the comrades were following him.

“Guys, make for the barn! What’s the hold up?” Dive asked frantically as another Mesmerman dropped on top of him. Angry, Dive Man slugged the grinning bastard in the face, sending freak sprawling on the ground like a sack of potatoes. Before it could recover, Dive Man crushed its head beneath his boot. Several more Mesmermen tried to halt Dive’s desperate retreat to the barn. But by some miracle, he was able to blast them outta the way with dive missiles, and he made it in the barn, relatively unscathed. Leaning against the door, Dive gave himself a couple seconds to collect his thoughts and wait for his buddies to catch up. But after several seconds, he was still alone in the barn.

“Where the hell are you guys?!” Dive shouted over the com. No answer. He waited several more minutes, but no one showed. Not even a Mesmerman.

They’ve left ya to die, big guy. Dive growled again at the thought.

“No they didn’t!” Dive scolded. “Mesmerman must’ve gotten to ‘em!” Not that it mattered. Whether his pals gave ‘im the slip or not, Dive Man was the only one left now. He’d never make it outta the barrier now. He was a dead man. Or a Mesmer Ass Puppet, not that was any better. Terrific. Suddenly, dozens upon dozens of Mesmermen leapt through the windows, brandishing their scythes, along with…RPD SWAT Joes? What were they doin’ with Mesmerman? Just as Dive was about to open fire, he noticed an open trapdoor a few feet away from him.

“Why the hell didn’t I see that before?” Dive asked, bewildered. A Mesmer slashed Dive Man in the gut as he made a beeline for the trapdoor, but he ignored the pain and sprinted down its wooden steps. A small part of the stairwell was dimly lit by a single incandescent bulb. The rest of it was cast into inky darkness. Dive pulled the lighter out of his coat pocket and lit up, as he pressed on. From what little light his lighter provided, he could see that stairwell seemed to go on forever, and the walls seemed to be draped in…plastic? As Dive continued down the stairs, he noticed the wooden steps were inexplicably replaced by metal ones, and the plastic-draped walls replaced by corroded steel. He could also hear metallic wails, scraping and screeching echoing throughout the stairwell, louder and louder as he descended. Surprised, Dive cast a glance behind him to see if anyone was followin’, ready to blow ‘em to hell. But there was no one there. Not even a single Mesmerman. Frownin’, Dive Man pressed on, but now he was startin’ to wonder what the hell what he got himself into. After descendin’ for what felt like hours, Dive Man came to a corroded metal door. As he reached for the door knob, he plainly heard what sounded like a deep, throaty, demonic growl. Frightened, Dive Man jerked his hand back. What the fuck was down here? Dive Man was about to beat feet out of Satan's stairwell, until he realized that there'd be countless Mesmermen and Siege Joes waitin' for him outside. Unnerved, Dive Man slowly opened the door and cautiously entered the room.

“…Oh my god…” was all Dive Man could say when he entered the basement. The room was the size of a football field, with rust-covered walls, and shadows reaching as far as the ceiling. The floor beneath Dive’s feet was rust-red metal grating suspended over a seemingly bottomless chasm. The room was filled with robots, with most of their metallic hide peeled off, being dragged around on barbed-wire-like leashes by humans. Or at least what looked like humans. Their skin looked like rancid cream, and their bone-white clothes were smeared with god-knows what. Their hair looked more like dark flaps of flesh hanging down from the back of their faceless heads. Some of the robots on their leashes looked frighteningly familiar and had filthy RPD badges nailed onto their shoulders. One, vaguely resembling a skinned Shadow Man with a toothy maw spannin’ his whole face, was on all fours and pounced on another robot, tearin’ it apart limb from limb like a mad dog. Another human was dangling a robot resemblin’ a mangled, twisted Needlegal over the edge of the abyss and was jerking her up and down like a yo-yo. And she was smiling all the while. SMILING! A bulky robot that looked too much like a scarred, and poorly stitched-up Hard Man crawled towards another human with a chewed-up robot resembling Dust Man in his mouth and dropped it at his master’s feet, looking up hopefully. The spectacle made Dive Man want to throw up.

Not a pretty sight, is it? Dive Man didn’t try to ignore his self-doubt this time. How could the people Dive used to call his friends cope with themselves doing this? And how could any sane robot gave up their freewill, let alone, ENJOY it? Suddenly, takin’ his chances with all the Mesmermen and Siege Joes in the world didn’t sound like a bad idea. Dive turned to go out the way he came, but the door was gone, and was replaced by a smooth, blank, corroded wall. When Dive turned around, he saw that the Shadow-freak and Hard-freak were crawlin’ towards him, their fangs bared.

“It’s you or me, ol’ pals!” Dive Man spat frantically as he blasted the two with dive missiles. Surprisingly, the two monstrosities collapsed to the ground and curled up into balls. Dive Man suddenly felt a sharp, stabbin’ pain in the back of neck, turned to face a cacklin’ Needlegal, her head rapidly wavin’ around as though she were convulsin’. Angry, he grabbed Needlegal, and holdin’ her like a batterin’ ram, sprinted towards the other end of the room, skewerin’ any of the sadistic humans dumb enough to get in his way. When he got to the other end of the torture chamber, he snapped Needle Gal’s neck and sprinted through the door.

The next room had dark orange-yellowish walls, with a catwalk suspended a couple feet above the ground by a few rust-red steel cables. The room had the texture of cold metal, but pulsated, almost though it was alive. It could very well have been since he could hear gurglin' and slurpin' coming from every corner of the room. Dive could also see what looked like growths and lesions along the walls. The aroma of rotting meat and sulfur permeated every corner as he walked towards the back of the room along the catwalk. As creeped out as he was, Dive found the stomach to slowly edge along the catwalk. Where else could he go? When he got to the other end of the room, Dive’s heart fell to floor. He could see the comrades kneeling before a boxy, mound pulsatin’ metal-flesh growin’ out of the walls with spindly arms, surrounded by mounds chewed-up pieces of flesh and bone. The creature had an RPD badge on its right side, and was screeching incoherently as it attached leashes to the rest of the Comrades’ necks, all of whom looked as though they were at peace. That they were safe.

Don’t act surprised. Ya know they’d bail on ya when the stakes got high. It’s what the Mechs n’ everyone else will do if they haven’t already. That’s what Dive had always believed ever since Ring disappeared. But for some reason, a part of him never thought his closest pals would actually do it. Dive Man couldn’t help but turn away in disgust and betrayal. Only to come face-to-face with Ring Man. He was now decked in a tattered, fleshy apron and black boots. Rings of various shapes and sizes were juttin' in and out of his body in all directions. One of his arms was sliced off, leaving a greasy stump with an open gash down the middle. His squirming, lump-shaped head was covered with burlap with silver metal rings tightly wrapped around it.

Why wouldn’t they? The Comrades only stuck with ya ‘cause things have been going their way so far. The voice in Dive’s head told him as Ring Man tossed several ring boomerangs at Dive Man. And now that the heat’s on, and the SA’s bearin’ down on them, they’re showin’ their true colors.

Dive Man hissed in frustration as he tried to dodge the boomerangs. He wanted to ignore the voice in his noggin, but it was gettin' too loud now.

“What are ya gettin’ at?” Dive snarled as the rings cut into his shoulder.

Maybe it’s time ya found someone who ya can count on. The voice reasoned. Dive shrugged indifferently, then blasted Ring Man with a salvo of dive missiles.

“Like who?” Dive asked flatly as he pummeled his former ally. “I hate Wily. I HATE the RPD. And I fuckin’ HATE the SA!”

So you’d rather put your life and freedom in the hands of people you know can’t trust? The voice in his head answered, louder than before. At the same time, Ring Man kicked Dive Man off him and sliced at his gut with his rings.

“Where else can I go?” Dive growled as he kicked Rebel in the head. Then it hit him. “Never mind. Lemme guess…Elysium?”

You’re a sharp one! The voice congratulated. Dive Man simply sneered at the offer as he threw Rebel to the ground.

“I outgrew Never Never Land when I was…what…? Nine? Maybe ten?”

What do you mean? The voice asked, mocking indignation. Your freedom’s guaranteed there. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? The voice asked as Rebel quickly sprung to his feet.

“Get with the program,” Dive Man scoffed as he fired another dive missile at Ring. “The SA’s Happyworld Land could never exist.” The blast slowed Ring Man down, but the ring master leapt into the air and countered with several ring boomerangs. “Not that it matters. My freedom was never at stake until the SA stepped in,” Dive Man bitterly reasoned. “Yer sayin’ I should be GRATEFUL for this mess they got me into?!”

What are you talking about? The SA didn’t mean to put your freedom in jeopardy. Honest. It’s not their fault that humans don’t trust their own toys. The voice answered. Dive Man tumbled back as the rings sliced some of the cables suspendin’ the catwalk.

“Golly, whoda thought the Shutdown Act would be such a hot-button issue after slaughterin’ a couple cities?” Dive was gettin’ impatient with this naggin’ voice in his head. What part of, “I don’t want to be in the SA,” did it not understand?! And why was it gettin’ louder all the time? Growling, he took some of frustration out Ring with another barrage of dive missiles. However, it was hardly slowing him down.

You’re not one to talk about slaughtering humans. And you honestly think the world can go back to what it was? You’re better off trying to make a make a new world. Dive Man grimaced. In his gut, he knew that even if the SA was blasted into the Stone Age, their damage was done. Odds are, humans would never take their eyes off of another robot after all the blood they’ve spilled. That HE spilled. But he couldn’t believe that killin’ all humans for some childish cause would make it any better.

“Okay,” Dive conceded, tryin’ not to sound weak. “Ya got a point there. But let’s say Elysium comes to be. What guarantee do I have that some other asshole won’t come along and threaten my freedom again?” Shrugging off the damage he took, Ring Freak tornado-kicked Dive Man, sprawling him out on the ground.

Relax. The General will to see that. The voice reassured. Trust me, he wants NOTHING to happen to Elysium. Dive Man smiled at that. That put all his uncertainties to rest. He knew where he stood clear as day.

“…And yer logic comes full circle,” Dive Man replied smugly as he picked himself up.

What? What do you mean? The confused voice asked, sounding weaker all of a sudden.

”Cuts won’t let ANYTHING happen to his Elysium, eh?” Dive reiterated as he uppercutted Rebel. “Sounds to me like he gonna run the whole show,”

That’s not what-

“Shut up. That’s what it boils down to,” Dive Man interrupted as he forcefully tackled Ring Man. “…And havin’ one guy rule the globe ain’t my idea of freedom,” Dive proclaimed as he ripped Ring’s mask off, revealing the surprised face of Mesmerman.

“Man, ya guys SUCK at mind games,” Dive boasted as he forcefully head-butted the puzzle-robot. He then picked up the dazed Mesmerman and tossed him into Monster Crorq’s gapin’ mouth. Dive Man felt like a million bucks as he lit up a cig and watched the screeching gluttonous mound of flesh messily devour the puppet-master. He came head-to-head with his own personal demons, commanded by Mesmerman himself, and even that wasn’t enough to bring him down. What else was could the SA throw at him? Pleased with himself, Dive Man adjusted his jacket and turned to leave the room…only to come face to face with a laughing Mesmerman. Or rather his head. The freak’s head was now growin’ out of the wall like some tumor, grinnin’ like the frickin' Joker.

“That’s funny!” Mesmerman giggled. “You honestly thought that slob would do me in? Don’t you know who that came from?” Dive growled in exasperation.

“Kid, it’s over,” Dive snarled. “I’m out of the SA. Deal with it,” To prove his point, Dive Man obliterated the head in a flurry of dive missiles. But another Mesmerman simply appeared and chuckled at Dive’s resistance.

“With all that juicy and sweet hatred and contempt in your heart? Not likely,” Mesmer explained. “I was happy asking you to join us, politely. But now…Now I’m bored. ” As if on cue, the catwalk collapsed, sending Dive plummeting into the spongy mass beneath him. Dive Man watched in horror as the fleshy mass started engulfing him. Another Mesmerman head emerged from the floor next to him, smiling.

“Welcome home, Dive Man,”

“No! I can’t-!” Dive struggled vainly to break free of his fleshy prison, but it wouldn’t give. The flesh slurped its way up Dive Man’s legs.

“Shh. Shh. Shhh.” The Mesmermen whispered. “You won’t miss your freedom that much.” The clammy flesh had crept up to Dive Man’s chest as he weakly struggled. He tried to grab onto the catwalk, but it simply broke off in his hand as grabbed on.

“No!” Dive shouted. “I…I don’t wanna to turn on my friends!!” Mesmerman simply shook his heads.

“They’ve already turned on you, Dive. You know that. Don’t be silly,” Mesmer scoffed. Dive Man shook his head.

“No they haven’t,” Dive Man shot back. “None of what’s happening here is real. They haven’t turned on me.” Suddenly, the flesh started creeping slower as Dive had his epiphany. “They haven’t done nothin’ to me. I shouldn’t take this war out on ‘em,” Dive Man gasped weakly. The Mesmermen looked at Dive Man thoughtfully.

“But how do you know you can keep trusting them?” Mesmerman asked, inquisitively.

“…I don’t,” Dive Man replied as the flesh reached his neck. The Mesmermen said nothing and simply rolled their eyes in disgust. Then the world went black…

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

When Dive Man came to, he found himself in some warehouse back in the city, with a splitting headache. Countless deactivated RPD Joes, and a couple K-9 units lay in pieces all around him, including one Mesmerman, with a scythe protruding from its body, and cables ripped off. Dive realized that it must’ve been seized control of him while he was makin' his mad run for the barn. Growlin’ with rage, Dive Man fired a salvo of Dive Missiles at the wounded puzzle.

“Ya wanna talk ‘bout loyalties?…” Dive snarled. “…Let’s talk. You oughta keep yer eye on the General,” The Mesmerman drone said nothing as it drew a blood-red scythe. “Didja know, when yer hubby was startin’ his first war, he tried to turn on Ice Man Red, his own freakin’ bro?” The drone said nothing and simply flung its scythe at Dive Man. “Almos’ pulled it off, too,” Dive continued smugly as he ducked under the flying blade. “An’ if Cold Cuts can give that freak a run for his money, then a bad acid trip like you ain’t got a prayer,” Dive Man concluded as tossed a few dive mines at the puppet. “Puts yer partnership in perspective, don’t it? ” Dive Man asked the Mesmerman was blown into countless pieces. Exhausted, Dive Man slumped against the wall, and took a swig of Russian Maalox. He hoped like hell he didn’t have to go through THAT again.

“Mind games, gotta hate ‘em,” Dive sighed as he lit up a cigarette. He felt like crap that he’d been givin’ his buddies this much guff all this time. They were fightin’ alongside him for the same thing he was, and how did he pay ‘em back? By dubbin’ ‘em traitors outta sheer paranoid resentment. What a swell guy, he was. Sighing, Dive Man turned and looked out the window, hoping to get a better idea where he was.

“Ah, fuck me,” Dive lamented as he spotted a Mesmer-controlled Skull Man marchin’ down the street, brutally slashin’ RPD officers with his scythe.

“Hang on, buddy,” Dive reassured, as he took another swig from his flask. “I’m comin’ for ya!”

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

==SKULLMAN==

He hit the ground hard, but no longer felt the monster’s wires. He slowly raised to his feet and noticed that everything had taken a bizarre and surreal tone. The building had decayed and taken in a hideous blood and rust color scheme. He raced out of the building to find himself in the middle of a town square. On the ground he saw a silver cross, the one that Katrina had given him so long ago. He felt his neck, and realized the necklace wasn’t there anymore. Cautiously, he inched towards the object, unwilling to part with it.

Suddenly, chains decorated with spikes launched from the ground, wrapping around his forearms and shins. The spikes dug into him and held him in place, and he let out a short yelp of pain. However, his painful grimace turned to a glare of spite as Mesmerman himself came into view. The white fiend clapped, “Too predictable, Skull.” He picked up his prized possession and looked at it, curiously. “My question is why you would put so much value in such a thing. I mean, come on! How OBVIOUS did the trap need to be?” Mesmer giggled.

“Don’t toy with me…” Skull said, spitefully and ominously. Mesmer leapt forward, stopping just inches from Skull’s face. The skeletal robot didn’t budge an inch and continued to ignore the pain in his limbs. Mesmer swatted his helmet from his head, revealing his pale face to the light of day for the first time in several weeks.

“You think you’re pretty clever don’t you!?” Mesmer asked, amused. “Thinking you can pull us around like puppets. I don’t think the General would be too happy about it, really… but don’t worry, that’ll be our little secret! Heeheeheehee!” Skull didn’t respond, and only glared at him. “You’re welcome.” Mesmer continued, grinning.

Mesmer picked out one of the stitches holding Skull’s otherwise undamaged face together, and began slowly pulling it out. Skull grimaced somewhat, but not enough to signal the level of discomfort Mesmerman was trying to achieve. “You’ve got a pretty good pain tolerance, Skull. I’ll give you that.”

“Not everyone has had to experience burning to death.” Skull spat back. Mesmer grinned.

“True that. But I know your body isn’t the thing that hurts you, Vincent.” Skull’s eyes widened slightly at the mention of his real name. Mesmer grinned at the response he got. He held up the silver cross in front of his face and said, “It’s your poor, poor lover’s death that eats at you, isn’t it?” Vincent rattled his chains harshly, trying to escape, but as he struggled the spikes dug deeper into his arm. Blood somehow trickled from the wounds as final proof that this wasn’t real. Skull braced himself for what was to come.

Mesmer said, “Well lucky for you I’m going to give you another chance. Another chance to save your dear Katrina from the flames, so don’t screw up this time!” He spun around, flourishing his coat, and snapped, causing an entire building to fall down like a stage set. Inside it was a platform, and at the top a wooden pole. Katrina, her exact image, was once again chained to it. Kindling was strewn around her feet, no doubt laced with oil as well.

“Katrina…” Skull sputtered.

She called out to him, “Vincent!” This was soon followed by Mesmer’s childish giggling.

“Look, Vince, all you have to do is go up there and get her. Just unchain her, and then everything’ll be JUST… PEACHY!!! Of course, that’s assuming that you’re strong enough to get her. You already failed at life once, heheheheh.” Mesmer snapped again, causing the fire to be lit.

He knew this was all fake, but his mind still raced and screamed as if it were real. She began crying out to him more as the flames began to approach her, and Skull flung himself forward only to be held back by the chains. The spikes dug into him more, causing more blood to run down his body. He couldn’t break them.

“C’mon, champ. You’re a general! You can do it!” Mesmer encouraged. The flames began licking at Katrina’s body, and she began screaming. Skull continued to struggle against the chains, only to have them continue to hold him down. This went on for several minutes as her body was soon wreathed in flames. Skull’s body couldn’t take much more of the pain the spikes induced.

“HEHEHEHEE! You can’t do it can you? You know why!? You’re not strong enough! You’re not good enough! AH HAHAHAHAA!” Mesmer mocked. At any other moment, Skull would have simply become angry or even laughed back, sarcastically, but he could feel his soul being torn in two. “If you were stronger, I’d bet she wouldn’t be screaming bloody murder right now would she!?”

Skull dropped to his knees, defeated. He was still leaning forward, the chains being the only thing keeping him upright. He tried to drown out Mesmer’s taunts, and the screams of his beloved. Between shrieks of agony she’d cry out his name, begging to be rescued. But he wasn’t strong enough. Tears started rolling down his face.

“Awww…” Mesmer said, mockingly. “Hurts doesn’t it? Sucks being so useless doesn’t it?” Skull grimaced in anger. “It’s not like she’d love you anymore anyway. Not after what you’ve made yourself become over the years, oh Murderer King. You do great work though, I’ve always been a bit of a fan.”

Many more moments passed. Fifteen minutes which seemed to be fifteen years passed until her dying shrieks ended. Vincent refused to look up from the patch of ground in front of him. His heart seemed so heavy he couldn’t stand. His whole body become prone to twitches and minor convulsions out of sheer madness and sorrow. Mesmer giggled as he pranced over to her charred corpse, freeing it from its confines. He posed with is as if about to waltz. “I do have to say, Vince, you have excellent taste in women! HAHAAHA! I prefer mine more… medium rare… HEHEEHEHEHEEE!”

Mesmer plopped her corpse down in front of him, right into his field of vision. Skull almost vomited on sight, and tears welled back up in his eyes. “You normally don’t think so much of a corpse! It’s pretty nasty when it’s a loved one, eh? Heheh.” Skull stared at her broken and blackened body. “See what you’ve caused? Your king would have never done this if she wasn’t involved with you! If you weren’t so pathetic you could have saved her! So this is you’re fault then!”

The reddened eyes of his lover slowly turned to face him. Skull just stared back in horror. “This isn’t your only issue is it? You’re DADDY beat and hurt you. You’re KING tried to get you killed off. You’re GOD abandoned you! Has it not sunk in yet!?”

Vincent felt his left arm be yanked back. He spun and saw a visage of a man with his throat slit, and long black hair just like Vincent’s. He had taken up the chain. His other arm was yanked back too, this one by an elderly figure with a crown and a deep impalement wound. Katrina’s body slowly sat up and held out an accusing finger towards her former lover. Mesmer giggled and made a gesture. “Funny thing is that you’ve killed all of these people! Your father out of madness and desperation. Your king out of lust for power and revenge. And of course, your lover out of weakness and worthlessness! Not to mention all of your innocent victims!”

People began appearing out of the fog, all of them brutally wounded. They marched towards Skull’s current location. But the homage to his past victims took a far backseat to the corpse of his lover. She continued to point at him with her charred hand. “Y-you… you promised…” She choked.

“No…” Skull responded.

“Yo-you promised that… n-nothing w-w-would happ-pen to m-me…” She continued. Skull just choked on his tears. “Y-you l-lied…” She accused. “Th-this is your fault!”

Skull grimaced as the other two pulled on his chains, stretching his arms and piercing him with the spikes. She continued to wail at him, accusingly while Mesmer laughed hysterically in the background. He began screaming in horror. He tried to grab his head in pain but the chains held him down. He closed his eyes. He felt his mind slipping as his heart was torn in two. The pain was unbearable to him. In his mind he thrashed and screamed, groping at the darkness. He tried to lash out at Mesmer, but the chains would not budge. It was a rancid concoction of hate, anger, sorrow, guilt, and despair that welled up in him as he continued to try to writhe.

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

Skull felt himself hit the floor. Now free, he proceeded to squirm and writhe while he screamed and clutched his head. A hand reached out for him, but he intercepted it and flung it aside. After the toppling noise stopped, he curled into a ball on his side, still clutching at his throbbing head. He retreated into his own mind, trying to escape the hell of the world.

Moments passed, and finally he heard a voice reaching out to him. “Skull..?” It was gruff and deep, yet concerned. Skull recognized is as Diveman. He slowly looked up and peered out of his helmet. He was in the same general area, but the destruction from scythe swings and plasma bullets around him proved that Mesmer’s body-controlling methods worked. He looked wearily up at Dive, who towered over him. “Skull..?” He asked again. “Are you…. Um… you?” Skull nodded and collapsed on the ground, limp. He felt drained and powerless. His breathing was heavy and labored, a natural reaction from his human past.

He said, proudly, "I, believe it or not, took out that Mesmerman that was controlling your sorry ass. Wasn't easy, 'specially considering that I had to dodge YOU constantly. But I pulled it off before you could wreck too much havoc." Skull put his hands over his eyes, trying to shake off the torment.

Diveman looked down at his right arm, which had a decent-sized crumple in it. He said, “After I killed off that Mesmer freak’s body, ya just started screamin’ and flailin’ around. You’re damn strong when you’re freakin’ out; I tried to shake ya out of it but you just tossed me.” Skull looked down but Dive just gave him a sympathetic glance. Skull looked at Dive’s arm. It looked overtly damaged, but it was actually only a thin surface wound. It looked more uncomfortable than it really was, and Skull grinned slightly beneath his helmet, his sadistic nature returning to him.

“Sorry.” Skull chuckled, weakly.

Dive grinned and said, “No sweat. I didn’t get hurt too bad. Let’s get the hell out of here before more of those freaks show up. You okay to fight? Or walk even?” Skull hesitated, his muscle equivalents not wanting to respond. Finally he forced himself to get to his feet. His body had suffered relatively little damage.

“Yeah I’m alright…” He said. Dive had never seen him so broken.

"You sure? Mesmer must've put you through 'is own personal little hell, eh?"

"No, he just brought mine to life..." Skull said, dismally. They both were silent for a moment before Skull said, “We have to find Toad.” trying to mask his painful state of mind.

“Ya lost her!?” Dive asked, surprised. “Well we better find her before she’s caught.” Skull nodded. "Let's go find the others first. You might not be the only sorry ass 'round here that needs rescuing." Dive added, trying to lighten the mood somewhat. With that the two raced off.

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

==TOADGIRL==

“How did I get here..?” Toad wondered, looking around her own darkened bedroom. The last thing she remembered was inspecting a group of Mesmermen she had used Rain Flush on, only to realize one wasn’t quite deactivated. He startled her by jumping up, and then she was there in bed. She huddled down in her blankets. At first she didn’t pay much mind to looking like a six-year-old version of herself. Somehow the fairly drastic decrease of size didn’t bring much attention to her. She always viewed herself in a fairly child-like way anyway.

Rain pattered against her window in her dark room. Her nightlight wasn’t working for some reason too.