Sinister Six: Calling

by Odin (Elecman) Lionheart

What happens when fiction becomes reality? When suddenly the words on a computer screen or printed on paper become reality. For an association of six friends their fantasy lives suddenly became very real and were thrust into a life of adventure and danger. All of them unprepared for the perils ahead…

* * * * *

The red robot with a helmet that reminded one of a turban had quickly spotted his target. The young girl with blond hair stood looking at the terminal and didn’t see him coming, not before it was too late. She seemed terrified at first, but then calmed down quite quickly. The ‘bot didn’t understand before he lowered his field of vision slightly and saw how a blank piece of metal was placed at his robotic throat. What the hell?

* * * * *

I am a writer and a dreamer. I go by everyday wishing to be part of a dreamworld that I conjured up in my mind or borrowed from somewhere else. But when the dreams suddenly become true a jolt is sent through your body and you end up with an array of different feelings. I didn’t know which feeling to follow as I found myself face to face with robots from an old video game, only now instead of being small pixilated things on a TV screen they were real metal killing machines.

* * * * *

Odin Lionheart, a young man with a love for literature and tasty pizzas. He had seen the first attacks of Wily on the news and had surely been greatly surprised. More so when he realized who was fighting him, if not his comrades from Sinister Six.com alongside RockMan and Dr.Right. The reason for his teammates’ disappearances a week ago suddenly stood clear to him. He felt a little left out that he didn’t get to join his companions in the battle, but perhaps it was for the best as he still had school to take care of. Apparently it wasn’t for the best as he soon got a letter on the mail with a airplane ticket and a note from Dr.Right to meet him at London Airport.

“The good doctor is calling together the whole team after all, huh?” he said to himself and immediately began packing his stuff. Odd, as it had only been a couple of month he had unpacked his stuff when moving into his apartment. He crammed as much as would fit into the two bags he had chosen to take with him now. If he was staying for any lengthy period of time he would send after the rest of his stuff. This meant that he could only bring the most important. This included (but was not limited to): A vast majority of his books, his laptop, his Dreamcast including a couple of games and an extra controller, his mangas, some other necessities and his gift katana. After that he made sure to clean the apartment one last time before heading off towards the airport. On his way he brought up his cell and dialed the number to his parents. No-one was home so he left a message on the answering machine, telling them where he was heading. He expected that sometime when he was sitting on the plane on his way towards England he would receive a phone call from home with the old man yelling at him. Correct, he did. Odin explained to his father that this was something he would need to do. Of course, the old man didn’t listen, but little did it matter. He was on his way towards his destiny.

* * * * *

“So how do you like the weather, Mr. Flame Man? Perhaps a little to wet for your taste, hm? The voice from behind the red ‘bot asked. Flame Man turned his head slightly to try and see who was behind him. His scanner could immediately detect who the dark haired young man was.

“Do you really think this pitiful instrument of yours can really hurt me, Odin Lionheart of the Sinister Six?” he asked in a metallic tone. The person behind him took a step to the side so that Flame Man could see him better. He was wearing a half-smile on his lips as he still held the katana at the robot’s metal throat.

“No,” Odin said, “but I could delude you long enough for the girl to escape.” He smirked as Flame Man quickly turned his field of vision to where his original target had stood. This enraged him and he held a buster pointed at Odin’s face.

“You will die. Dr. Wily have given me orders to execute any member of the Sinister Six upon sight,” Flame Man threatened. Odin smirked and removed his katana.

“Sorry, but your program forbids you to hurt humans, and I am not Elec Man yet,” he said and began heading of. After a few meters he turned his face back towards Flame Man, “Have a nice day,” he added and smiled. This was too much for Flame Man who fired at Odin. The young man’s smile turned into a straight line and he dodged behind a bench which burst into flames on contact with the fired shot. He rose up and was delighted that his provocation had worked. A jolt had been sent through Flame Man’s body after firing that shot. He was not supposed to harm humans and since he broke that law his body was shutting him down. Although many people in the terminal stopped to look at what was going on with the Wily-bot, Odin just continued to the baggage claim where he found the blond girl he had helped earlier.

“Are you ok, Miss. Roll?” he asked with a rather relieved expression in his face. She looked at him and blinked a few times.

“Thank you, Odin Lionheart. That you did well. Don’t think all robot masters are as easy, though,” she warned him. The half-smile returned to his face.

“I don’t,” he said as he picked up the bag that he hadn’t carried with him on the plane, “Now where is Dr. Right?”

“Waiting for us in a cab outside. You’ll have to go through the same operation as your teammates, you’re well aware of that are you not?” she asked but he was already on his way out of the airport. “He-ey, wait for me!” she screamed as she hurried after him. Just as she had told him, Odin found Dr. Right waiting in a cab outside. He opened the backdoor when he saw the young man approach. Odin got in on the right side and Roll jumped into the front seat next to the driver.

“An honor to finally meet you, Mr. Lionheart,” Dr. Right said as he was leaning forward, resting on a cane. Odin eyed him carefully, he looked just as he had expected; like Santa Clause in a lab coat.

“The honor is all mine, doctor,” Odin said and made a polite bow to the man on his left. He then relaxed back and asked “How long before I can join my comrades?” Dr. Right thought for a minute before giving him his answer.

“Making you into Elec Man will take about ten hours, and then you’ll need to rest to attune to your new body. Then there’s of course the trip back to the U.S. so my guess lies between eighteen to 24 hours,” the doctor guessed. Odin nodded and looked out the cab window. His gaze wandered up into the London sky. It was night outside, and though no stars could be seen, a crescent moon lit the sky. It was sad that his stay in England was so brief; he would’ve liked to see more of the country. But it would have to wait for another time. The trip to Dr. Right’s lab in London wasn’t that far away and soon Odin found himself lead into a building by the doctor while Roll stayed behind to pay the driver. When inside the building Odin noticed that Dr. Right had already constructed a top modern lab in what outside looked like a warehouse that was due to fall down any minute. A very cliché place to build a lab, he thought. Roll soon joined them and he noticed that an operation bed had already been prepared.

“Now,” Dr. Right said and turned towards Odin, wearing a mask that made him look like a surgeon. “Is there anything you’d like to do before you join the fate of your fellows?” he asked. Odin shook his head as he put down his bags and headed of to the bed, which he jumped up on.

“No doc. The faster I can join the others the better,” Odin said and lay down with closed eyes. Dr. Right moved closer to his daughter.

“He’s brave,” he told her. Roll looked at Odin Lionheart for a second before turning back to face her father.

“Perhaps he’s just dedicated to help his friends,” she said. Dr. Right eyed her for a second before stretching his back.

“No matter,” he said as he put on a pair of surgical gloves, “Let’s get this thing over with.”

* * * * *

“So…this is what we’re up against,” sneered Benjamin Ronning as both of his hands turned into ‘fire’ mode. A few meters away stood Gary and Britt, holding hands as a last moment of intimate support. Erik stood further away alongside with Rockman himself; they both had their gazes directed at the opponents before them. A few moments ago a distress call had reached the current members of the Sinister Six. There had been sightings of quite a lot of Robot Masters heading their way. Rock, knowing Wily from earlier encounters, had guessed they came to take out the team before they would become major nuisances. Of course they could do nothing but fight, and Rockman had volunteered to help them out. Still, though, the Robot Masters were twice as many and would probably not be easily beaten cannon fodder like the ones they had fought earlier as no doubt this had been a planned assault and Dr. Wily had no doubt enhanced their AI a little to be better equivalents in battle. Nonetheless, there they stood, ten Robot Masters, out to stop the Sinister Six for good.

“Magicman, Junkman, Windman…” Rock began to account for.

“…Gyroman, Tomahawkman, Aquaman, Magnetman…” Gary continued over the intercom.

“…Dustman, Turboman and Pirateman.” Erik finished. Then they all stood quiet. In front of them stood what could be counted for as Dr. Wily’s strongest attack yet. They where placed about the Dallas building that they had trashed when they had arrived here.

“Two each,” Ben leered confidently, having his previous battle in Calgary fresh in his mind. The others were not that confident, and truth to be told neither was Ben, he just believed that if he could keep the spirits high amongst his comrades then they could be able to perform so much better. Both opposing sides stood quietly still and the fiery fighter knew that things wouldn’t get easier if they waited, so he was the first to rush forward towards their opponents. His companions were quick to follow suit, but so was their enemy. In the middle of the loud clanks the other Sinister Six members and Rockman could hear Ben screaming “Pirate and Gyro are mine!” Erik followed his concept by calling dibs on Junkman and Dustman. Gary found himself facing off with Windman while Britt encountered Magicman. Rock tried his luck with Tomahawkman. Ben reached Gyroman first and greeted the Wily ‘bot with a fully charged Atomic Fire. The Green one took to the sky before the projectile couldn’t do much more than heat it up a little. Having failed with his first attack, Ben cursed under his breath and began unleashing a barrage of fire towards the flyer m thought the reckless attack didn’t exactly hit due to the lack of aiming before releasing the shot. A bad start, a real bad start. Further down Gary wasn’t having a much easier time as he tried to shoot Windman with his Ice Slasher. But this one controlled the wind and the frozen projectiles were made to change direction midways, heading back towards the Eskimo, making him have to dodge his own weapon. The only ones that did demonstrate any luck with their battles were Britt and Erik. The Gutsman alter ego didn’t have any problem with Dustman’s projectiles thanks to his high endurance and could just walk forward without being hindered more than a tenth of a second by every shot made by the mute ‘bot. However, soon Junkman joined into the fray and, while not as strong as Gutsman, locked his arms from behind so that he was unable to move them. Britt had it easier, though, as she realized when she got in the first Rolling Cutter on Magicman that this Wily ‘bot had a weakness for sharp weapons that could temporarily dismember a part of his body from the rest. So by focusing her attacks on his hands where she knew he fired his weapon, she could make sure that Magicman never got in a hit on her. Had Gary or any other member of the Sinister Six saw her now they would surely have been impressed. Only Rock saw a slight glimpse of the scissor sister as she dominated the Robot Master. But he was more busy with Tomahawkman who seemed to be just throwing axes that Rockman shoot down without much of an effort. Had anyone stumbled in on them, and by chance failed to notice the battling robots all around them, he or she would think they were doing target practise. Now, the blue bomber had never experienced Robot Masters working together, but he saw the second projectile coming a mile away. He dodged when the Fire Wheel was right upon him and released a charged shot in the direction from where the projectile had come from. Tomahawkman gave up on his stalling tactics and began throwing axes at Rock like a madman. With the mixed tactics of shooting and dodging he managed to avoid most of the axes. But there was one that got to him and injured his arm. Due to his attention being removed from the battle towards his wound for but a split second it gave an opening for Turboman to close in at a high velocity. When Rockman’s attention picked up the closing Robot Master it was too late and he was accelerated into the air. Ben burnt a gyro as it came towards him. The weapon wasn’t really that threatening, nor was the ‘bot, but the little bugger could fly and therefore avoid Ben’s attacks without any problems. Ben was, however, quite persistent and wouldn’t let Gyroman off for a second. This left him open for a little surprise fired by another Robot Master standing a few meters away. He suddenly felt how something hit his back, though the impact had hardly felt, it stayed there. Then he suddenly heard a beeping noise. Immediately he knew that an Remote Mine had been attached to his back. In small fraction of time he was thrown into panic as he tried to find the blasted thing, but as the name implied it was remotely controlled and Pirateman blew it up without giving Ben much of time to do anything about it. The fiery warrior was sent a few meters by the impact and he landed on his stomach in the building rubble. Rising up again he ran back towards his fight, dodging projectiles from Gyroman on the way. When he came closer Pirateman shot another Remote Mine. Ben stepped to the side, but the mine changed its course and he realized that the Pirate ‘bot was not only controlling when it would blow up, but its course as well. He tried to dodge it some more, but eventually it stuck to his shoulder. Pirateman was about to blow it up when he suddenly saw to his surprise the mine just doing that without his interference. Ben was sent to the ground now instead of flying a few meters.

“Strange,” Pirateman stated as he looked down at the fiery warrior, “Must have detonated due to the heat in his armor.” Fireman was smiling, though, because not only had he been struck by a mine, but by an idea as well. Ben got up and dusted the soot of his Fireman armor before calmly addressing the two Wily ‘bots.

“How measly of you to only fire one projectile at a time. You really think that one lousy Gyro Blade or one lousy Remote Mine would be able to take out the great Fireman of the Sinister Six?” he asked in a mocking tone. The two Robot Masters knew exactly what he was pointing at, though they did not suspect that he had something planned; they had not seen his smile as he had lain on the ground. Gyroman was the first to fire and two Gyro Blades were sent towards the fiery warrior. Ben immediately sprung into motion, knowing that he had only seconds to act. He jumped up and took the hits, and when the gyros had gone out of their spinning motions after connecting on his armor he grabbed them before they fell to the ground or Gyroman could retreat them. Then, as Pirateman fired two Remote Mines, Ben used the two gyros to catch the projectiles, one on each, and then quickly throwing one gyro/remote mine an both his foes before they could react. With sheer force the two projectiles connected to the Wily ‘bots, burying themselves slightly into the armors. Pirateman watched in amazement on what had happened, knowing he would be able to detonate the mines before getting them out. But the last part of Ben’s plan was yet to play out as he approached the Pirate ‘bot.

“Need a light?” he asked before firing intense heat at the Remote Mine, making it blow up. And when the original Robot Master blew up, so did the mine still stuck to Gyroman. After that there was no problem for Ben to finish the two of them off. He then looked out over the battles going on around him. Gary was still having trouble with Windman and Britt was mostly toying with Magic Man. Rockman had managed to take out Tomahawkman and was now focusing on Turboman. Erik on the other hand had managed to focus his strength to lift up Junkman and swing him around to knock down Dustman. After that Erik had gone over to pummel, jump on and throw heavy stuff at Junkman.

* * * *

Ben saw no sign of the last two Robot Masters, but decided that Gary was in more need of his help. With the element of surprise on his side, Ben managed to surprise Windman from behind. For a second the ‘bots wind power was shut off and Gary had enough time to freeze them so that no more wind could be generated. This left the Robot Master weaponless and he fled in terror (after also receiving a fully charged Atomic Fire in his ass). Both of them headed up to Britt who had managed to fully beat Magicman on her own. Gary gave her a quick kiss on the cheek to congratulate her and they headed off to help off with Turboman, which Erik was already doing. However, Britt was intercepted by the up to now hidden Aquaman. Ben and Gary did not notice and she had no time to scream for help before he began attacking her. She tried to fire some Rolling Cutters at his water tank, thinking that if she could break the tank, then he would be left offenseless. It wasn’t as easy as her projectiles didn’t seem to have any effect on it. Also he kept attacking with a never suspected force. Her screams of pain when Aquaman got in an attack didn’t reach the others before they had arrived at Erik, Rock and a now defeated Turboman. They were about to go to her aid when they were all stricken by a sudden wave of magnetic pulse and they were left unable to move their legs. Gary, Ben, Erik and Rockman turned their upper bodies to see that Magnetman now had appeared and was standing next to Turboman’s body, laughing menacingly.

“The hell!” Erik screamed.

“Where did he get such powers from?” Rockman asked. The others shrugged but Magnetman apparently felt compelled to answer.

“A last retort if you would prove to put up with more of a fight then we had anticipated,” he said and continued to laugh as he stared towards them. Britt was now alone to face Aquaman, an opponent that was obviously too much for her to handle. Every attack she made was futile, and every attack he made weakened her. In the end she had barely strength enough to stand up and was kneeing on the ground in front of a towering Aquaman. It seemed as he was going for the finishing blow when suddenly a piece of metal protrude from his belly.

“What in the world!?” Aquaman asked out loud, drawing the attention of Magnetman and the others further away. He felt a pain in the chest. Apparently something had pierced him.

“Sorry chum, but I cannot let you hurt Lady Britt any further,” said the voice of the young, dark haired man behind the Robot Master. The object that had pierced Aquaman was retreated and was revealed to be the young man’s katana; small amounts of water began to sip out through the holes caused by the weapon. The young man moved to place himself between Britt and the water ‘bot. Aquaman let out a coughing laugh when he saw the weapon.

“You think THAT’S going to cause me any serious damage, kid?” he asked. The young man stared intensely at him.

“Yes,” he simply said and with extreme force he rammed the blade into the water container on Aquaman. First the ‘bot just stared and was about to let out another laughter, but then something happened. A million volts emitted from the young man’s weapon and Aquaman was sent into a weakened state were he looked at the young man in pure amazement before shutting down completely. The young man removed his katana once again and returned it to its scabbard. He then turned to Britt.

“I’m sorry, Lady Britt, for not arriving earlier to honor my oath as your bodyguard,” he said and made a polite bow. Then his gaze wandered to the others and Magnetman. He turned his head slightly to address her again.

“Wait right here,” he said before walking a few steps towards the others. Britt stared at him for a moment in puzzlement, but then something happened to the young man. With a flash his appearance was altered and before her stood someone both she and the others recognized: It was Elec Man. The electric warrior was a little different in design, though. A long, black cape had been added, as well as a cloth that covered his face from the nose and below. But they knew it was him. It suddenly stood clear who the young man had been; one they all trusted and believed in but hadn’t expected to find here. Nonetheless, they were all thankful that Odin Lionheart had come to their aid. Magnetman, on the other hand, was not impressed.

“Sooo…there’s another one of you. Feh, big deal. My magnetic field will stop you too,” he said and laughed. Odin began walking forward after placing his katana on the ground; his face never left Magnetman.

“Somehow I don’t think so,” he said in the same voice that he had had while in human form: dark but respectable. “You see, Mr.Magnetman, that Dr.Right had already foreseen this move by Wily and made me invulnerable against such methods,” he explained. His right hand was beginning to gather electricity as he now continued forward. Magnetman stopped his menacing laughter and stared at Odin in surprise.

“Eh?” Magnetman asked. Odin bothered little about his last line and broke into a fast paced run, being the second fastest Robot Master next to Quickman.

“Also,” he begun, his voice calm but loud so that Magnetman was sure to hear him, “On my way here I picked up a small gift, just for you!” The magnetic ‘bot didn’t know what to make of that line, neither did he had time for it as Odin Lionheart now was closing in fast with lightning dancing all over his body from the electricity collected in his right hand. Before anyone could react Odin had already made it up next to Magnetman and releasing an overpowered Spark Shot that he had picked up from Sparkman shortly after arriving in America. There was no life left in Magnetman and Odin relaxed, turned around and saw Dr. Right making his way towards them after having handed an Energy Tank to Britt. The doctor immediately began with fixing Gary’s legs and after that he moved over to Ben. Odin walked over to the leader of the Sinister Six and extended a hand to help him up.

“Sorry that I’m late, Gary. But the good doc and I had a little run in earlier.”

“Odin!” Gary shouted now that the initial shock had eased. “Thank heavens you’re here!” Odin pulled down the piece of cloth that covered half his face and showed off a smile, then he made a respecting bow.

“Reporting in to the Sinister Six,” he said and helped Gary to his feet. Odin then turned to see that Ben was getting up. The fiery and electric warriors exchanged stares before Ben took a few steps forward so that he stood face to face with Odin. First there was nothing but silence and an intense air between them. But then Ben extended his right hand.

“And so we meet, Odin Lionheart,” he said.

“I was not going miss fighting alongside you, Benjamin Ronning,” Odin replied, his expression now revealing half a smile, and shook hands with him. Britt had now made it up to them. She carried with her Odin’s katana which she handed to him.

“Here you are. And thanks for the help out there,” she said in a quiet voice. Odin smiled fully again as he accepted back his weapon.

“What else is a bodyguard supposed to do, hm?” he asked and Britt shone up. She then turned to Gary and hugged him tightly.

“You’re sooo brave, my little Eskimo,” she said, happy now that the battle was over and that they now were one man stronger. Gary blushed, but he knew that she had been the one showing of most courage and will when she had easily took care of Magicman. Erik and Rock now joined them and both greeted Odin to the team.

* * * * *

When victory had come to the Sinister Six the morning sun had just risen. Now they were back at their base. Odin Lionheart had officially been greeted onto the team and had been given a room. Roll had taken care of Odin’s luggage and helped him unpack. Dr. Right was busy installing the same protection against strong magnetic fields such as he had given Odin. Ben and Odin spent most of the time talking like the old friends they were. Gary had later butted in asking about Odin’s katana. He had explained that while he was resting after the operation Dr. Right had taken the freedom of making his katana more powerful. Not only was it strong enough to pass through normal Robot Master armor, but it also housed a strong electric power. Gary had become jealous and had gone up to Dr. Right and demanded a mallet with the power of ice. The good doctor had said that he would see what he could do and returned to upgrade Britt’s armor. That evening they decided to celebrate their new member, although Odin wasn’t present all the time as he preferred to stay in his new room and practice handling the Elec Man armor along with the grace with his katana sword. He did so to the soothing music of his favorite artists: Enya and ERA. But after a while he heard a knock on his door and a familiar blond head poked in.

“Sorry if I interrupt,” Roll said.

“Not at all,” Odin said as he paused the music and laid the katana on his bed, “What can I help you with?” Roll looked a little nervous.

“I-I just wanted to thank you once again for helping me at the airport. I would’ve been more grateful then if we hadn’t been in such a hurry,” she explained.

“No worries. I can’t leave a beautiful young woman like you in trouble, now can I?” he asked with a smile on his face. Roll blushed and quickly left the room, leaving Odin to return to practice.

End