CHAPTER
6
Sinister Six H.Q. lay in despair and loss of hope. Even
more so that it usually does. The fine tuned colorful
interior of the base seemed dead on its own as several
figures stood watchfully inside the corridor.
The Mechs, filled with defeat filed into the room and
sat without much alertness and sorrowful expressions.
It's been nearly 9 hours, and Needle Gal still hasn't
woken from her slumber. Gauntlet showed the most emotion
has he vanished without a trace for several hours.
Lennon still felt bad for what had happened. Flash backs
still play over and over again. How Red vanished and
Needle Gal was transferred in his place. How his blast
connected and sent her rocketing to the earth. It had
replayed many times through his head. Lennon sat alone
in the back of the room. Staring at the floor underneath
him. He didn't seem to forgive himself.
Whenever someone tried to approach him, he would shun
them away with a wave of his hand and he'd go back to
silence. The other robots wouldn't bother him further.
"Quite
frankly I donno what to do..." Topman spoke suddenly.
"Needle Gal is gone, Gauntlet has vanished for good,
and Lennon won't speak to me." Topman said with a bothersome
expression. "Could this be the end of the Mechs...?"
He pondered to the others.
The Sinister Six knew what it was like to lose a valued
member. And The Mechanical Maniacs have suffered many
more losses. All Tim could do was place a comforting
hand upon Topman's backside as the yellowish clad rocketed
himself back and forth in his sitting position.
Gary sat in the Lab watching Needle Gal's body. The
Six had placed her on a soft bed-like table and hoped
that she would recover. Andon had tried every trick
in the book to regain her back. He even rebuilt her
armor, which hung from the wall by her bed. Needle Gal
was in her Civilian outfit and she lay motionless on
the table bed.
Gary had no idea how Red could be so cruel. So Evil.
It wasn't the same Red he knew from the last adventure.
Silence continued as Gary continued sitting in the room.
Not leaving Needle Gal's side. He owed it to Gauntlet
to stay by his sister.
A puff of smoke came into focus and a blue clad Ninja
appeared next to Iceman, making the little Eskimo shift
in his seat. "Jeeeeeezzzz G! Next time ring before you
come a puffing!" Gary sat upright in a jolt.
"Sorry...."
Was all that Gauntlet said as he walked up to his sister
and placed a blue hand upon her head. "How is she...?"
He said softly as he massaged her forehead.
"Andon
said that she's in a coma. There's still a chance she
could pull through. He did repair her armor." He said
pointing to the Transmetal Armor hanging on the wall.
"However the blast knocked her clean off...she may wake
up not knowing who she is..." Gary said not looking
Gauntlet in the face as he finished his last sentence.
"Bastard...."
Gauntlet said and stared at his sister for a few minutes.
Gary waited a while before he finally spoke again. "Where
did you go? The others are very worried." He said hoping
not to upset G by the sudden subject change.
"I
did some research on Red....turns out that when you
went to the Star Wars Timeline to fetch Red, you only
made it worse." Gauntlet said quickly not feeling any
emotion towards Ice's feelings.
"Whaaaaaa...?"
Was all that Iceman could say. Before he could even
say more, Gauntlet continued.
Gauntlet started talking with his back turned to Iceman.
"So, this is what happened." Gauntlet trailed off. "After
the accident from Dr. Light's Lab. The accident that
gave Red his basic powers." Gauntlet stopped for a bit
and checked to see if Iceman was paying attention.
After Gary nodded he continued. "So he floats around
for a while. His memory is damaged. He has no clue who
he is. Or what he's supposed to do. So he sleeps." Gauntlet
continued. Only Gary spoke next.
"In
the Star Wars Universe?" He asked. Red back then was
the original Iceman who came before Gary. Only after
a freak accident back at the lab did Red transfer to
the dawn of time. Though it was proven false during
the last adventure when the crew traced Red down in
the Star Wars Timeline. Fearing for all the power he
could gain there by eating souls, they had attempted
to stop him. Though they had realized that Red was at
peace and was dormant. Though this is where Iceman made
his mistake.
Gauntlet nodded and continued. "Then he hears Iceman
calling (via Yoda) and drops by. The Clone Wars happen.
But differently. Amadala never sleeps with Anakin and
actually leaves him because she becomes disturbed at
the story you guys tell her." Gauntlet breathed a heavy
sigh as he continued talking.
"Y'know,
Palpatine (the Jedi can't oust him immediately because
of delicate politics) uses this to corrupt Anakin. And
he becomes Darth Vader anyway. The separatists are given
command of the clone army because they were programmed
to obey the Sith Lords and it's the separatists who
wage war on the empire."
Gary couldn't believe what he was hearing. Could all
this be true? How did Gauntlet find out about this.
Course he was a sneaky Ninja...but he really out did
himself this time. He sat back to his despair and remained
in focus to Gauntlet's speech.
"
During this Red fights with the Jedi, but Anakin begins
planting the seeds of darkness. Once Anakin betrays
the Jedi, Red kills him ...... and discovers how to
eat souls. And how good it makes him feel. He faces
Palpatine in battle and almost wins, but Palpatine unlocks
his memories using the Force. So Red remembers Dr. Light's
betrayal. And understands now that he was replaced.
Cast out. He hates you now; and that's when he decides
to get revenge. He knows how to track you now, because
he's done it before in the last adventure, and the rest
is history. So, basically YOU are the cause of Red's
power." Gauntlet concluded.
Iceman pointed to himself in disbelief. "M...M..Me..."
He said.
Gauntlet nodded without showing much respect towards
him. "The doom of mankind because if you had never gone
into the Star Wars Universe Red would never have woken
up and none of it woulda happened." He finished gloomily
if not rudely.
"How
do you know this...I know you're sneaky and...." He
asked the Ninja which immediately answered before he
could finish his sentence.
"I
used the time travel machine to go back after you left
and set it to "fast forward" where I observe as a phantom
the events of Red's uprising." Gauntlet said. "The machine
was too weak to actually let me go into the past fully
in order to stop any of this." He concluded. sounding
totally unimpressed by his actions. Which was rare.
"Simple,
strange, But there you have it. And it's odd how it's
all your fault..." Gauntlet finished coldly as he turned
to Iceman and nodded a slight bow and exited the room.
He sure had a unique way of rubbing it in. Was it really
Gary's fault on how Red has grown to so much power.
It made sense. Though where did this giant white eyed
beetle come from. And the meteor?
They all were interconnected somehow. Red. The Creature.
The Meteorite. But what was the connection? Iceman knew
he had to find out. He had to do it alone. For the damage
he had already caused.
Gary rose out of his seat. Clutched his fist and teleported
from the room. He would find out. If it cost him his
own life....
**********************************************
Thunderman leaped from his perch. He had jumped nearly
45 feet from building to building as he scaled the sky
scrapers. Searching for anything interesting. Something
though stirred in the golden armored lad. Revenge. But
who was he really? He barley knew himself.
All he really remembered was a massive explosion and
friends abandoning him. But for what purpose. What goal?
Why did they leave him? A spark let off in his brain
and he focused back on a jump. He had barley missed
a building thinking about his troubled past.
Thunderman noticed a blue line of energy not to far
off in the distance. It looked vaguely familiar. Something
from the past as well.
"Iceman..."
He gritted his teeth. "What's he doing strolling out
by himself..." He had spoken in mild terms. At this
comment a vile smile had entered onto his face. "Sinister
Six Headquarters." He cackled devilishly. Unlike other
S6 villains, he knew exactly how to breach their base.
It was the perfect opportunity to seek his revenge.
"Off
I go! To extract my hatred for the very team who abandoned
me!" He yelped confidently as he jumped off the closest
building towards the mansion.
As his golden shadow vanished in the mists, another
figure stood. Super Chaos had watched the little robot
from the alley ways. He stood motionless for a few minutes
before finally moving his enormous bulk from behind
the brick wall.
"Team
that abandoned him? The Sinister Six?" Super Chaos pondered
in his blob like head on trying to make sense out of
the ordeal. He paced back and forth shaking the area
slightly wondering. Thinking. Hoping it didn't hurt
him too badly.
"Could
it be..." Super Chaos motioned at his hands. They morphed
into various weapons. Super Chaos walked off in the
pale moon light, leaving behind nothing but darkness.
**********************************************************
"Great...Gary's
gone too! This is getting mad!" Tim yelled out in frustration.
The other Mechs noticed his dorm was empty and that
he wasn't in the room with Needle Gal.
"Don't
tell me he left too." Snakeman said with an ice pack
on his head. He was still recovering from being petrified
earlier. The Six told him to relax and get some rest.
They too had to deal with its effects shortly before
Snakeman got a hold of Pulzar Beetle.
Pulzar Beetle was now the name of the white-eyed insect
beetle that stalked the streets at night. Causing various
light and mechanical surges and draining the life out
of everything. It was a plaque. The term Pulzar or Pulsar
came to being from the beast coming from a Neutron star
in space. Since the beast could control Gravity and
Electricity, the Z replaced the S.
Gauntlet had vanished again, only this time he's been
gone for quite a while. "Probably to seek revenge for
his Sis." Quoted Magnetman who sat on the floor eating
popcorn. "Gary's probably off doing the same..." He
concluded.
"Yeah,
he's done this before." Tim said sounding worried. "I
hate it when he goes off to fight danger like this."
He sat down and looked at the fire which burnt crisply
in the fire place.
Topman got to his feet abruptly and trudged off from
view. He didn't want to seem to listen to the conversation
any longer. He seemed very upset about the whole ordeal.
Ever since Gauntlet has vanished he seemed to be very
aggressive and irritable to hang around. Lennon still
lagged by himself in his room, while the other Mechs
felt that the team was splitting apart. All The Sinister
Six could do was sit back in sorrow and watch.
"Crap...this
is bad." IRA spoke suddenly. "I mean I've never seen
this kind of crap happen before. Could this really be
the end of the world?" IRA spoke in soft worry.
"We
have to do something." Andon said. "The Mechs are falling
apart!"
"Then
it's decided then." Tim had spoken in a rough tone.
Almost like a command.
"What?"
Jason and Scott said at the same time. "What's decided?"
They both concluded.
"We
confront Pulzar Beetle. He's the source of the planet's
problems. We defeat him, then the world will be saved."
Tim said in sure answer. "I hope." He concluded.
Andon and the others agreed. "We'll go tomorrow. I'm
afraid any longer and the world won't be able to survive
much longer with Pulzar draining its life."
Tim nodded. "After that is solved we'll worry about
Iceman Red. For now Pulzar is our main concern." Tim
said getting from his seat and walking around the room.
The Sinister Six still remained in their armor. Thanks
to all that is going on they wanted to be battle armor
ready incase an emergency came up quickly and their
assistance was needed immediately.
Question is could they stand up to Pulzar again. Their
first encounter with the relic wasn't to pretty. Though
they figured that it was best to attack it during the
day, where it remained hidden. Andon had discovered
a pattern to its attacks, and hopes to find its next
location. They prey during the day that the creature
wouldn't be so strong.
The rest of the Mechs slowly left the room one by one
until there were only the Sinister Six in the room.
All the lights turned out in their dorms and they turned
in quickly.
"Poor
guys..." Tim stated in worry. "Don't worry. We'll revenge
Needle Gal." He said to himself as he pondered off for
Night duty.
****************************************************
Jason shook in his bed violently. He finally was able
to get the night off while Gutsman and Fireman stood
night watch tonight. Cutman still had doubts about staying
with The Sinister Six. He felt he was dragging them
back and he wasn't at his full potential.
Cutman was very depressed. All his life. He never really
showed it to his peers. He didn't understand what was
going on with his life. Just figured that he was worthless
and wasn't pulling his weight on the team. He wanted
to quit. But he couldn't just go up to Tim and quote.
"Yeah
it's the worst day of you're life. By the way, I QUIT!"
He repeated over to himself. He sighed in frustration.
He couldn't bail and see all the destruction and feeling
guilty about leaving. He couldn't do that to his team.
He was a hero. Whether he liked it or not. Jason turned
to his side and looked at the picture of the S6 sitting
on his desk. He smiled warmly as he stared at it. Gutsman
in the back putting a comforting hand on Fireman's shoulder.
Iceman stood in the front since he was the shortest.
Sticking out his tongue at the camera. Bombman holding
a bomb in his hand on the left side. Elecman standing
with pink lemonade in hand and a fancy smile. Then he
looked at himself. Cutman smiled warmly with a peace
sign showing. Jason smiled. Now that was a real circle
of friends.
Jason sighed and turned out his light. He needed some
rest. The last few nights were hell on watch duty. He
was busy all night and you could tell he lacked sleep
due to the old wrinkles under his eyes. Jason looked
at his armor which was sprawled on the floor before
tucking in his last yawn and drifted off to sleep.
**************************************************
The
old scarred battle field lay in upset dust and dirt.
The Mechs had battled Red here not to long before as
the area remained in quiet and stillness. The old buildings
which strewed out near by made Downtown Megalopolis
a ghost town. Nothing seemed to have stirred.
Until a blue flash came roaring down upon the fields
of acres. Sand and dust caught air abruptly as Iceman
came teleporting down from the sky. The short Blue Eskimo
surveyed his surroundings. He looked for signs of anything
interesting. Nothing caught his eye at first.
Using his Motorgraph sensor he eyeballed the interiors
of all the buildings which lay out before him.
"Nothing
but an old, worn out town." Gary said to himself. Having
large receptors in his eyes, made it easy to scan stuff.
As where Fireman could scan living and metallic objects
to determine its origin, Gary could scan inside buildings
for heavy activity.
"Well.
might as well try somewhere..." Gary did a double take.
He noticed something strange in an old abandoned warehouse
not to far off from the perch from where he stood. "Holy
heavy activity Batman!" Gary spoke off seeing massive
machinery operating within the warehouse. And not normal
Warehouse works either.
Gary stood motionless scanning for anything else around
the area. He didn't want to get a nasty surprise after
investigating the warehouse. When he was convinced it
was clear he moved onto the old Warehouse.
"Clever
hideaway. You'd think the place was dead." He motioned
silently as he approached the side of the place. Finding
the place was easy. However getting in unnoticed would
be difficult without drawing attention to himself.
Gary crawled up the old stack of trashcans and peered
through the window. He didn't see anything abnormal
at first. But when he put on his motor sensors he saw
more than he wanted to see.
"What's
with all those capsules..." He said with curiosity.
Gary's feet slipped and the trashcans quickly fell from
their formation to the ground. Causing a massive loud
noise. Gary quickly leapt and stuck himself to the wall
using his Ice Powers. He had half expected something
to notice the noise. But nobody came to check it out.
Perhaps the person involved wasn't home.
Gary sighed in relief and quietly froze the window in
place. With careful pacing, he was able to cut a hole
big enough for him to squeeze through without making
a sound. He landed with a metallic thud in the first
room. He knew behind the wall was something more.
Using his Motor senses to keep track of the source he
quickly found a door leading to the source. The place
was a maze of sorts. So finding this secret place would
be hell if not impossible. Especially if you didn't
know what you were looking for.
Icy opened the door and half expected Dr. Frankenstein
to burst out saying "It's Alive" When he finally saw
with his own two eyes what was behind the door.
"Oh
my god..." He covered his mouth in horror. Machines
flickered on and off. Functioning by themselves. Data
was being transferred from machine to machine, and self
robotic probes worked without the assistance of a scientist.
This lab was incredible. Almost like being aboard an
alien spaceship.
The technology was something that Gary had never seen
before. Worst of all was the Capsules. Standing about
7 feet tall and looking very threatening. Inside each
of thousands and thousands of capsules was a very similar
body. Dragon-like appearance. Horns, claws, fangs. Red
glowing eyes. It was the body of Magma Dragoon. Only
each was covered in black and white scales unlike MD's
reddish and grayish version. It was Neo Dragoon. Ben's
son. Only there were thousands of them.
In each capsule the body of Neo Dragoon stood. Dormant.
Sleeping. Awaiting to be awakened for destruction.
Soon a voice rang off. Sounding digital and robotic.
"Duplication of Neo Dragoon is processing successfully
Iceman Red. Another thousand are soon on their way."
The computer beeped off at Gary. "The Army of Darkness
will soon arise!"
"The
computer thought he was Red." Gary gulped hearing what
the computer had stated. Even worse he now new who was
behind this caper.
Iceman Red was making his own Army. An Army of Neo Dragoons!
Even one was bad news. But an entire army! This legion
of darkness was not a good thing. Iceman couldn't believe
his eyes.
He backed off slowly in fear. "Red is back...and with
his own Army. Army of Darkness."
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