Orange Hell

by Rich (Bombman) Kassidy

CHAPTER 1

It had been blissfully quiet in the city as of late. Dr Wily hadn’t appeared in months, and City Garage was nowhere to be seen. This sat very well with the premier Robot Master fighting squad in the region: The Sinister Six, who enjoyed the peace…mostly. The more sedate members of the team, such as Erik and Gary, welcomed the peace with open arms. Ben, on the other hand, was getting restless, and was jumping at every phone call from the city, hoping it would provide some much-needed action for the hotheaded fire wielder. What he got was a few bank robberies every few weeks, and maybe a car chase, but nothing too major; all of those incidents could be solved within minutes, and provided no real challenge what so ever. The other three members, Fushidane, Britt, and Odin were bored, but grateful for the quiet and used it as time for learning and training.

However, on this day, Ben would get his action. In spades.

Upon picking up the phone this time, the deputy mayor frantically informed Fireman of the apparent robbery of the Industrial Supply Co. on Gear Drive, which Ben didn’t meet with the same frantic fervor of the public servant. If anything, he thought he would be back home within thirty minutes, and back to watching the same old drivel on television, bored out his mind.

With a begrudging sigh, Fireman simply stated, “I’ll be there soon” and hung up on the semi-important figurehead. As he began his departure, Gary approached him, inquiring as to what was up.

“It’s nothing. Just some thugs robbing a warehouse in the industrial district. I’ll be done in no time.”

“Maybe you should take Erik with you”, Gary stated, almost nervous as to what Ben’s response would be.

“…Why the hell would I drag him into something so…easy?”

Gary took a moment to think up an answer that wouldn’t agitate the fiery one any more than he already was. “ He’s been kinda down lately, so I was thinking he could use some exercise to lighten him up some, y’know?”

Ben blankly glanced at the diminutive snow bot and managed a curt “fine” before continuing on his exit.

What Gary really wanted was Erik to keep Ben from leveling an entire building like the last time he was called for a robbery. When Ben was bored, he got destructive, which was never a good thing. At least with Erik tagging along he wouldn’t be so demolition inclined.

Upon reaching the building, Erik and Ben soon realized that this was no simple robbery. Smoke bellowed out from the roof, indicating a large-scale fire. Even more ominous was a huge entry hole into the building from the street, which meant this person or persons wasn’t even looking for a door, and perhaps was confident in their abilities to think they could handle whatever crime-fighting methods would come their way. This greatly amused Ben, and even excited him just a little.

“Heh. Maybe this wasn’t a wasted trip after all. I might just get some enjoyment out of this” Fireman grinned from behind his half mask.

“C’mon, man,” Erik interrupted with a concerned tone,” we’re not here to fight anyone. Just avert the situation with as minimal violence as possible.”

“Whatever.” Ben coldly stated, “I don’t have the patience to play negotiator with anyone”.

The two androids cautiously continued forth into the building via the entrance hole, which was big enough even for Erik’s massive 10 foot by 8 foot frame. As Ben readied his famed arm cannons, Erik glanced around, hoping to see the culprits before his partner. Erik knew that Ben would sooner melt them into slag than try to reason with them, claiming self-defense. As he looked around, however, he noted some odd, but familiar markings throughout the building.

Huge gashes crisscrossed the walls, neatly carved apparently. Furniture and machinery alike were sliced neatly in two in what seemed to be a wild rage with a sword of some kind. The two S6 alumni treaded on broken glass, and then on to something more gruesome: blood. Human blood. The two stopped in their tracks to follow with their eyes the trail that lead to what remained of a maintenance engineer. He was separated from his arms, which lay a few meters away from his torso, which were only a few inches above his waist. It was horrifying to think that someone would be dispatched in such a cruel way.

While Ben started forth again, Erik became all the more wary of his surroundings. It was clear that the culprit(s) were in the next room now; they could hear the rustling of papers and small parts in drawers. It was at this time that Ben raised his arm cannon, waiting for the killer(s) to emerge from the small office.

Even Erik’s anger level was nearing its limit. Knowing that these people would tear apart a simple janitor for simply being in the wrong place made his oil boil underneath his ceramic-alloy skin. He hated killing for any reason, especially when it was for something so stupid such as robbery. He readied himself with a heavy steel desk, leveling it at full arm length above his head for maximum swing. He then bellowed to the killers.

“Step out of the room NOW! We know you’re in there, so make it easier on all of us and just come quietly!”

Erik knew these people didn’t deserve such a fair warning, but he wouldn’t lower himself to their level. He waited a few seconds before repeating the first part of his statement, but to little response. Agitated, he hurled the desk through the steel plate door to the small office. Ben followed suit with a hellish inferno loosed from his twin arm cannons. The sudden force of the two weapons would be enough to get the full attention of anything behind that door. Unfortunately for both of them, that’s exactly what happened.

Through the smoke and heat, they could hear footsteps trudge forth, then stop at what seemed to be in front of the fire. Suddenly, the water line above was slashed open in a lightning fast silver flash, extinguishing the blaze in a few moments. The footsteps continued forth, and on ward through the doorway.

The two crime fighters peered through the dense steam that now filled the large alcove they now stood in. They could barely make out the figure, but now knew they were dealing with just one suspect and not a handful as Erik had thought. But suddenly, the figure became a blur, leaving behind a small vacuum in the fog where it once stood. Fireman and Gutsman whirled around quickly to find the enemy’s position, which was now behind them, standing in the huge entrance hole.

The outside light that poured into the dark building once again created a silhouette of the assailant, but now it was a much clearer shape. It had the signature boots of a Light designed robot, which Dr Wily and Cossack used often in their own designs. Over its shoulder was slung a huge burlap bag, which was assumed to be filled with whatever cash was once contained within that small office, and in its hand were several rolled up plans and blueprints. However, the most distinguishing feature of this shadow was the over sized shears atop its head.

“Britt?!” Erik blurted out. “You did this?! But why?”

The figure then spoke, but in a completely different tone and voice than heard in their own beloved Cut-Chan’s.

“Oh, but it would be so easy to frame your own team mate,” The figure claimed with a confidence that was usually reserved for world leaders “but where’s the fun in that?” With that, the figure took on step forward to give his two attackers a good look at his more distinguishing features.

His glass eyes were the exact same shape as that of Britt’s, but these were obviously not as taken care of and were showing signs of yellowing around the ridges. Grime and oil were streaked across his entire body, as if he were constantly working on himself, or on something else. A crooked sneer stretched from one side of his tangerine colored face to the other, with his porcelain teeth looking the worse for wear. Even the famed Cutman shears adorning his head were scratched with thousands of miniature battle scars, a testament to their rigidity. Covering his back was an equally filthy lab coat, the likes of which were very familiar to that of doctors Light and Wily.

The two androids had only a few seconds to take in this sight before he simply stepped backwards and dashed off down the street. Erik and Ben followed, but as soon as they were out of the building they had lost sight of the orange menace. The two were now annoyed and confused. Hopefully, they’d have some answers soon.

“What the hell was that…thing?” Ben said aloud, but barely audible.

“I…I wish I knew”, Erik could barely muster.

The two then simultaneously realized what sort of a hell they were surely about to experience and they also knew they might be helpless against it.

CHAPTER 2

He hunched over the sink, slowly and meticulously scrubbing the blood from his gloved metal fingers. The sneer that crossed his face had rescinded into a docile half open maw of quiet contemplation. He was sure that the smell of the blood would have made him sick. Luckily for him, he had no nose to even bother with such a thing. As he scrubbed away the day’s murders, he hummed along with the music echoing within the caverns he inhabited: Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.

The caverns that he occupied lay beneath an abandoned town in the Mojave Desert, empty since the small town was deemed too radioactive for human inhabitation due to nuclear testing less than a mile away. The caverns beneath the town were made by gold miners in the late 1800s, and were further widened with the nuclear blasts below ground not too far away. It was perfect for Cutman; he felt the same way for the town as he felt about himself. His creators abandoned him because he was deemed too dangerous.

He dried his hands and slipped on his filthy lab coat for the long night of work that lay ahead of him. He thoughtfully put his hands behind his back as he strolled through the one of the caverns’ largest rooms, which contained a rather large example of his work. There within the dimly lit caves were thousands of near complete Sniper Joes, Metools, and giant Suzys, all awaiting the implantation of memory chips. On this night, Cutman would come much closer to this happening.

Nobody in the meeting room knew what to say. When Erik and Ben returned from their encounter from the “Cutman clone”, they just didn’t say much after explaining their story. Truth be told, they just didn’t know what to make of all of it. It scared them.

Odin theorized that it could be another one of Wily’s clones doing his dirty work. It seemed viable, but there was something so un-Wily in this robot’s movements. He moved with both caution and confidence, knowing he could be hurt yet be invincible to his attackers. His voice was enough to make a human’s blood run cold. It rang with a tone that was like a knife going through one’s ears. However, there was a certain softness to it, which commanded respect and attention, as well as fear and contemplation. It was like an image of their own Britt gone horribly awry, so twisted.

But now, they were all left with more questions than answers. They were no closer to understanding this new threat than they were yesterday, when the two Robot Masters returned from their encounter. Dr Light, whom the Six called only when they needed the direst of help, could not be reached at his lab in Tokyo. He must be off in England supervising his operations there, where he would leave his phone off in hopes of greater concentration.

Finally, Britt broke the silence.

“…He’s a clone of me, right? So, he might have the same weaknesses as myself, so we can definitely beat him with six to one odds, right?”

“No.” Ben dryly stated. “He’s too quick, too devious. I don’t think he’s a mere clone.”

“He’s right.” Erik piped in. “There’s something…unnatural about him.”

“Uh, no offense, but being a robot isn’t exactly natural.” Gary quipped.

Normally, he would have gotten at least a chuckle, but the mood of the room keep on the dim side. Nobody would feel like laughing as long as this problem existed.

Finally, after a solid week of incommunicado, Dr Light replied to the plethora of messages left for him on his machine. He didn’t know what the S6 needed, but he knew the situation must be grave if they needed him so badly.

“I’m very sorry for not being available this past week or so. We’ve been working the bugs out of the new line of Sniper Joes and it’s been a rough week.” Dr Light said with an innocent tone. He was oblivious to the goings on in the Six’s part of the world. He had no idea of this Cutman clone wrecking havoc across their fair city.

“Doctor, we need help, and we need it now.” Gary plainly stated. “A week ago, Fireman and Gutsman were working on a robbery scene, when they ran into the culprit. It appeared to be a clone of our Cut-Chan, and what’s worse is he seems to be able to break the cardinal rule of robotics and can kill at will.”

“…”, Was all the good doctor could muster. He had an answer, but wasn’t sure of how to word it.

“Doctor,” Fushi chimed in, “we haven’t much time. If you know something, please. You have to tell us before he has the chance to kill again!”

“He’s not a clone…” Light quietly whispered.

“What is he then? Some sort of new prototype of Wily’s?” Gary questioned.

“He is…the original DLNO 003.”

CHAPTER 3

Britt sat on the edge of her bed, mulling over an old photograph. It was a picture of the six of them prior to their reprogramming at the hands of Dr Wily. This meant that the Cutman shown in this photo wasn’t her after all, as she had believed her whole life during her stay with the Sinister Six. In less than an hour, her whole world was torn asunder. Why? How could her own “father” lie to her for so long?

Her thoughts then turned back to the events just an hour ago, when Dr Light finally explained the truth behind her past.

“As you all know,” Light began, “the Cutman model was the first ever industrial robot to be given the designation ‘Robot Master’. What this also implies is the fact that he was still a bit of a prototype, much in the same sense as Blues is to Rock.”

The Sinister Six quietly sat in the room, fixated on the white-haired man on the screen in front of them. Light continued.

“I had to use an experimental thought processor for this, so I could check my theories of a high intelligence processor that could easily be produced. What I didn’t expect was that it would work out so well…at first. When he was tested, he earned a 283 on the IQ test, which places him a full two points ahead of Dr Cossack’s Brightman. Cutman was capable of such incredible thinking, and read as many books as he could get his hands on. However, he became infatuated with the idea of war.”

The expressions upon the Six’s faces grew even more grim.

“Before I could get to tweak his systems to try and dissuade this thought process, it happened: Dr Wily stole you all away from me, giving him a near perfect military genius in Cutman. I knew I couldn’t allow him to remain in Wily’s hands, for then nobody would be able to topple him. Indeed, if this Cutman was the one that Rockman fought, things might be very different from what they are now.”

“But if that’s the case,” Odin chimed in, “what happened to this other Cutman? How could there be two?”

Light gathered himself for what was sure to be a disheartening story to tell his “children”.

“Like I said, I knew that Cutman was too dangerous a weapon for Wily. I doubt even Wily was able to realize this robot’s genius before I took the measures needed to keep Cutman out of his clutches. I had but one choice: a memory surge.”

“Memory surge?! That’s like killing a robot’s personality indefinitely, Doctor! It’s like murder, but the body remains intact!” Erik exclaimed.

“I know…but I had no other choice at the time. Rockman hadn’t been completed, and there was no telling what sort of carnage would be unleashed when Wily deleted the Three Laws from Cutman’s system. Believe me, it was the last choice I wanted to make, but it needed to be made.”

“But, if you could stop all six of us from the get go, why not fry all of us at once? Why let us become Wily’s tools?” Ben shot at the doctor.

The other five in the room looked at Ben. He just said what was on all their minds, but was avoiding asking the doctor.

“Because…I knew Rock could beat you. I still had hope in the rest of you. You see, I saw you, and still see you, as children of mine. It was difficult enough to end just one of you, but to end all six of you would had driven me over the edge.”

“But, this still doesn’t answer the main question here: Why are there two Cutmen now?” Britt snapped. Already, she was feeling alienated from the other five in the room. She already knew the answer, but she needed to hear it from Dr Light’s lips.

“Cut-Chan,” Light began quietly, “you are Dr Wily’s first functioning robot. Despite his claims, Metalman isn’t the first robot built by him; just the first totally original Robot Master of his own design. My guess is that he had plans for all six of you long before you were in his possession, and needed to come up with a new robot to take the place of Cutman, who was surely a useless shell of a robot by now. So, he must have copied Cutman’s body and made as close a clone as he could. In doing so, he also wiped clean the rest of your short term memory circuits, so that there would be little confusion and less chance of a rebellion towards him on your part.”

“That…makes sense.” Fushi rationalized, “That explains why we can’t remember anything until our battles with Rock. I’ve always wondered why that was.”

“Yes, and to some extent, I agreed with Dr Wily’s decision even after you were recovered. I just couldn’t bring myself to tell you about this whole matter, and I had hoped that it could stay buried with the original Cutman.” Light began to become visibly shaken, tears welling up on the edges of his glossy eyes.

The Six remained silent for a few minutes. Again, they were collectively at a loss for words, only this time it wasn’t from a lack of answers, but from the answers. Finally, Gary asked another question that needed to be asked.

“Doctor, if this is all true, then why is this original Cutman up and walking about? Shouldn’t he be laying in some scrape heap in Wily’s Monsteropolis Castle?”

“I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for that just yet. However, I have Roll hacking into some of Wily’s old encrypted files that we recently recovered from one of his destroyed Skull Fortresses. We could have our answers within the next few days if we’re lucky.”

It wasn’t the response Gary and the others were looking for, but then again, neither was this whole conversation. Especially Britt, who had heard enough and was making her exit from the room.

Gary knocked on the frame of Cut-Chan’s quarters. The door was open, but he felt he needed to show some decency in a case like this. When he got no audible answer, he sat on the edge of the bed alongside Britt, who by now was clutching her Iceman plush, partially burying her face in it.

“I…,” Gary stuttered, “I wish I could tell you I know how this feels…but I don’t want to lie to you.”

“Why not? My own father lied to me!”

“I do know that this doesn’t seem very much like Dr Light,” Iceman tried to defend his creator, “he’s not much of a liar and you know that. He…had a valid reason, I think.”

“Valid? What do you know of that word? Now I know the true meaning of that word, and I can say that I’m anything but valid! I’m a mere copy of an original, a half baked replacement made by some deranged scientist.” Britt screeched from behind her gritted teeth.

At this point, Gary had nothing left to say. He could try and say, “that’s not true”, but he didn’t think it would do much good at this point. He knew, on some sad level, that it was at least partially true, and now he was getting depressed. Instead of saying anything, he did the only thing he could think of: He hugged her.

And so, without a word for the next hour, the two drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms, tears dried to their latex skin cheeks.

CHAPTER 4

4Deep beneath the scorching sands of the desert above it, the almost frigid caverns below it teemed with the ominous tones of Bach and Mozart on a regular basis. The classical sounds kept the rouge Robot Master Cutman in high spirits as he slaved away over his work. The chips that were recently “confiscated” from the industrial warehouse were nearly rid of the pesky laws of Asimov, and would soon be fit for the troops of his army. His mad dream of vengeance and retribution would soon be realized.

However, he only had part of the computer system needed to awaken his army of patch work robots. He also needed the control modules that would enable his creations with the power of mobility. With the last component in place, he could at last begin his great plan of revenge against both doctors Light and Wily, as well as finally validate his existence in the world. This would be his grand debut as the first true Robot Master.

All he needed now was to wait a mere day for the control modules to be completed in the small factory outside of Florence, Italy. He had placed several scout robots on the scene to monitor the progress of these important components, and they were finally nearing completion. Tomorrow, he would go to collect these components, and at last start his great plan.

It has been a whole month since the incident on Gear Drive, and the Sinister Six were now undergoing routine training drills to make sure they were up to the challenge that would soon surface. Erik had his muscle systems updated with the latest in high tension wire, which essentially is much like a body builder bulking up for a strongman competition. He could now surely lift a Boeing 747 well over his head with little effort. His speed also benefited greatly from this, and was almost able to keep up with the fast paced Gary, who wasn’t one of the fastest members of the team, but still quick in his own right.

Gary, like Erik, had also undergone some changes to his structure. The bottle that was mounted to his back was now able to carry twice as much N2O as before, which is essential to him being able to perform his signature Ice Slasher attack. What’s more important is the level of effectiveness of this attack; it could now freeze even Dr Light’s signature Light Ceramic-Titanium Alloy to a bitter –100 degrees F, and could be shatter with as little force as a punch from the Arctic research android.

Fushidane, on the other hand, actually became slower. Not because of a lack of training, but because of the addition of a solid extra inch of armor, which would enable her to survive a force of 10 kilotons of explosives without batting an eyebrow. The purpose of this, in her eyes, was to be able to get up close and personal with her already lethal Hyper Bombs and possibly end the situation quicker than anyone else. The only question was if she could get close enough to actually use this bizarre method of kamikaze style fighting.

Ben and Odin, on the other hand, preferred to sharpen their natural skills even more, rather than upgrade them. Both of them had been studying hand to hand combat techniques extensively, and with their abilities as robots to absorb knowledge with the ease of simply reading it once or twice, they had both become deadly artists in the form of well over a dozen martial arts.

All of them knew that the key to victory would be besting Cutman at his own game: close quarters combat. Cut-Chan had always been possibly the best at getting up close and personal when fighting her foes, so they all figured that this Cutman would be no different, given the nearly identical builds of the two Cut models. All of them trained and prepared…except for one.

Britt had sunk into a deep depression by this time, getting harder and harder to talk to as the weeks wore on. She now spent almost all of her time in her private quarters doing nothing but contemplating the meaning of it all. From time to time, the rest of them team would try to snap her out of it, but it never seemed to be of any use. Britt just lay there staring straight up at the ceiling, her thoughts her own. Nobody had given up on her, but they knew that Britt would be the only one who could snap herself out of this funk. They knew that they might have to relay on just the five of them when it came time.

The distress call rang out early the next morning. A frantic call, translated from Italian by the Six’s super computer, had wildly stated another robbery of another industrial supply company, and further adding to the tension was a blurry photo of a lab coat donning robot making his entrance into the complex. The Six knew they had mere minutes to get to the coordinates displayed on the enormous screen of their war room. All except for Cut-Chan, who remained in her room. The remaining five Robot Masters disappeared in the telltale flurry of electric haze that signaled a teleportation device at work as they went to meet their long lost brother.

They arrived just outside the building, already looking grim with the expressions of business painted on their faces. They all knew that none of what would happen inside this building today would be easy. Could they possibly match wits with this supposed genius?

Deciding not to split up, they all knew that teamwork would be their greatest ally in this battle. Cutman may be one of the greatest fighters and planners known to robot kind, but there was no way he could take on all five of his brethren at once. It was simple mathematics, really. They all knew, however, that he still posed a great threat.

They traversed into the now desecrated factory/warehouse, alert to every noise about them. The electricity had been cut off, so the only light within the building was given from windows placed far back in the halls of the building, and the flames that danced upon random desks and work stations. The shadows cast upon the brick walls bobbed up and down, almost mocking the small group as they forged ahead. Their grim expressions began to fade into looks of shock as they set their eyes on what lay ahead in the distance.

The entire line of assembly workers lay in a mound at the back of the room, bloody and torn. Limbs lay strewn about the room and fragments of human tissue were thrown about all over the place, splattering on anything that happened to be nearby. Not one was breathing, either; all were killed within seconds of seeing their assailant. It was ghastly and obscene, and a true marker for the horrors of this murderous robot. They could do nothing at this point but forge on and hope these were the only casualties.

The vault lay a few feet ahead of the mound of mutilated corpses, where surely Cutman would find what he had been looking for. The Six still had no idea what it was he took from the last outing of his, seeing as the factory refused to say what it was. All they put out was a generic “classified” statement, not even filling in the S6 who tried to stop the robbery. Needless to say, Roll would have more hacking to do if she could ever get past her job of hacking through Wily’s old encrypted files.

The vault door lay on the ground within the vault itself, its hinges chopped clean away from their mounting surface. Inside, the small vault room was pitch black, due to the electricity being out. The six heroes, however, knew their target was still inside, as the tell tale rustling of parts and small metallic bits were still plainly heard from within. This time, however, Erik wouldn’t let out a warning like last time. If they still had the element of surprise, they intended to keep it until Cutman emerged from the room.

However, the rustling stopped quite suddenly, leaving the Six peering into the dark chamber even closer. Suddenly, bursting through the darkness came the familiar silver flash, quicker than ever before. It spin and whipped through the air so furiously, the vacuum left in its wake was audible. The blades came within a fraction of an inch from shearing off Odin’s nose, who just barely managed to step aside in time, even though he was the quickest of the elite fighting force. The left the lightning user visibly shaken; how could he catch him off guard? The only other robot to ever come close to doing so was his “cousin” Quickman, and even he barely managed to beat him.

The blades returned to their master as quickly as they were loosed. Standing atop the fallen vault door was the lab coat brandishing Cutman, who had filled his burlap knapsack with whatever it was he came for. He had the same nasty sneer smattered across his grimy face as before, not the least bit concerned with being out numbered by his “brothers”.

“You know,” He began his taunt, “I was wondering when you would show up. I was afraid I’d get away scot-free. I wouldn’t be able to call you ‘crime-fighters’ then, would I?”

“Enough of the crap already, you walking scrap heap! We want to know what it is that so damn important that you felt it was necessary enough to kill whatever human stood in your way, and we want to know now.” Ben threatened in a menacing growl. The sudden out burst unnerved a few of his own, even. None of them wanted to start hurling insults without first trying to reason with him.

Cutman began to tisk his verbal assailant.

“Now, now Fire old boy. Sticks and stones. You’ll all find out exactly what I’m up to in good time. That is, if you make it out of Italy alive, of course.”

With that, Cutman dropped his knapsack gently beside him and cracked his neck in a circular motion. It was clear to the S6 that Cutman had no intention of negotiations at this point, so they had no choice but to brace themselves for the onslaught that was sure to ensue. It was no surprise to anyone that Ben made the first move, however.

Fireman dashed forward with speed that perhaps rivaled Odin himself, while simultaneously sinking his hands into his forearms, readying his arm cannons in an instant. Within a fraction of a second, he was a mere meter away from his target, and unleashed a hellish blaze of iron melting heat at a lethal range. Cutman, however, was less than impressed with this new found speed as Ben found him with his back to his opponent even quicker than he could have seen.

“Hm…still too slow. I hope your fellow ‘heroes’ can do better than that.”

Cutman clutched the back of Ben’s bright red armor plate and whirled around twice before releasing him, sending him hurtling towards Fushi who had almost no time to block. The two tumbled together across the expansive room and lay in a heap far and away from the remaining fighters. The filthy orange robot next turned his attention on his awestricken opponents. “Anyone still brave enough to try me again? I do have work to do.”

“Like hell!” Odin screamed as he charged up strands of electricity between his fingers.

“Ah, I have a special surprise just for you then, thunder wielder.” Cutman stated as he reached behind his back.

Odin burst forward like a bullet shot from a pistol, holding out his outstretched hands for an attack with his all powerful Thunder Beam. Possibly the most deadly weapon among the group, it had the power to completely disrupt the electrical systems of most robots, and was certainly something to be feared. Cutman, however, was well aware of this ahead of time and made special preparations for his encounter with Odin.

Odin stopped dead in his tracks to look at what had happened to his hands. He felt his power slip away from him almost immediately as he saw the liquid splash onto him.

“What…what is this?” He questioned with anger erupting in his voice.

“It’s a small momento from the Yellow Devil.” Cutman said with the same evil smirk crossing his face. “ All I did was replace the element that monster is most well known for, namely gold, with a synthetic rubber substitute. What I wound up with was a wonderful instant insulator that I just knew you’d love.”

“Fine then! I don’t need my powers to beat you anyway!” Odin screamed as he began his charge yet again. He had hoped his newfound close range skill would be enough to give this bastard a run for the money.

Odin whirled around in front of Cutman, extending his left leg in a near perfect crescent kick, aimed directly toward his foe’s midsection. Cutman, however, was ready with a counter of his own as he shifted his weight as soon as Odin’s foot made contact with his awaiting hands. Using advanced judo, he flipped Odin to the ground effortlessly, kicking him in the stomach as he fell, sending him careening across the floor next to Gary. Odin’s fluid delivery system began washing oil and coolant up his intake tube, causing his “blood” to seep out his mouth.

Erik and Gary knew at this point that the two of them would have to work in perfect harmony to have a shot at putting an end to this in a favorable way. They both circled around their target, communicating to each other with their eyes as Cutman simply grinned and looked at the downed Odin.

“You’re kidding, right? Surely, you both realize just how outclassed you really are by now.”

“You never know until you try!” Erik bellowed as he swung with his massive arm. His fist, however quick and wide, missed its target entirely, as Cutman was literally on top of him no sooner than after he had swung. He stood atop his yellow helmeted cranium, staring directly at Gary. Erik, barely able to understand exactly what had happened, began shaking his massive torso in an effort to unbalance Cutman, who gracefully landed on the floor just ahead of him. Erik looked down just in time to catch an orange boot to his large lantern jaw. Normally, a kick from anyone wouldn’t do much more than tickle the giant, but this kick was so precise in its aim that it jammed his jaws locking joints back deep into their frames, effectively breaking his jaw.

Before his pain sensors even registered the event, Cut wasted no time in delivering a similar kick squarely in the back of his neck. Had it not been for Dr Light’s super high tensile strength muscle cables, Gutsman would have been decapitated. Instead, he found himself rendered unconscious, mercifully.

Gary, who had been searching for the correct time to land an Ice Slasher on the orange menace, could now unleash a volley of his famed freezing attack now that the large Erik was down and out. Cutman knew he’d be under an attack of these as soon as he dispatched Gutsman, and performed a handstand-to-back flip to avoid the deadly ice. The Ice Slashers crashed into the pillar behind him, creating a shattering sound as if someone broke a plate glass window with a sledgehammer. Cutman retaliated with a projectile of his own as soon as he was level with the ground again.

The giant set of shears whirled past Gary’s face, missing him by inches. Surprised by this, Gary knew this would be the perfect opportunity to ready another set of Ice Slashers.

“Hyuuu-“ Gary inhaled, but he was stopped short quite suddenly.

Cutman had missed Gary on purpose! Upon its return, the blade hit it’s actual target: the tube that connected the nitrogen canister to the back of Iceman’s head. The deadly freezing agent sprayed wildly out the severed tube, nearly knocking Gary over. He had no choice but to eject the canister from its position upon his back.

Grinning even more madly than before, the tangerine terror’s eyes widened as he realized victory over his fellow Robot Masters.

“You just didn’t understand, did you? I am right in my revenge! I will not be denied, not by you, and not by that graying fool Wily!” As the blades returned to his awaiting hand. “The only thing that could have made this victory any sweeter would have been if I could have destroyed that damned copy of me right here in front of you.”

Gary’s eyes grew cloudy and angry. He began shaking with rage at the thought of this maniac hurting his beloved Britt.

“Ah well”, Cutman reasoned,” You’ll be seeing each other again soon enough.”

Cutman reared back his hand for the killing toss of the cutters. However, Gary had a small surprise of his own.

“Gkkkt! GYahaayAAHHH!!” Cutman screamed as he watched his left arm shatter in front of his eyes. The Cutters dropped to the floor in front of him as he dropped to his knees in agony, clutching his ravaged arm at the elbow. Dark lubricant shot out of his open wound, creating a rapidly growing puddle beside him before his internal systems cut off circulation to his severed arm.

“Y-you…how? Your damned s-supply line was c-cut!!”

Gary allowed himself a small smirk of his own.

“I managed to inhale just enough nitrogen just before it was cut and I managed to keep it from spilling out.”

“H-hehhhh….very l-lucky for you then…” Cutman said with a half cocked grin, “However, don’t think this is over just yet!”

Cutman reached for his shears and slowly rose to his feet, now with an even more serious look adorning his oil spattered face. No sooner had he risen, however, than he was grabbed from behind by a now recovered Fushi.

“I can blow us both to high hell if I need to, but I won’t have to if you drop those shears of yours.”

Cutman released his grip on his prized weapon, letting it tumble to the broken concrete floor.

“Now, kick ‘em towards Gary. Slowly!” Bomb chick demanded forcefully.

Cutman obliged and let his boot nudge the blades across the floor. Gary, just watched them slide towards him and stop. He was much too wary by now to pick them up.

“Cut, listen. I know you’ve been through a lot, but it doesn’t have to be like this. I don’t want you as an enemy! Why don’t you just come back with us and let Dr Light fix you back up?” Gary pleaded.

“Fix me back up?” Cutman slowly retorted,” Why? I’m in much better condition that I was when I was in his care! Look at me! I just held my own against the five of you! If anything, you should join me; I’ll soon be ruler of this pathetic little mudball of a planet anyways, so you may as well switch sides while the offer is on the table.”

“You just don’t get it, do ya? We’re the good guys here, and its by our own saving grace that we don’t end you right here and now! We certainly are within our rights.” Fushi claimed as she reminded herself of this fact by glancing at the still wet pile of corpses.

“Oh?” Cutman sneered with a growing sound of doom in his voice, “I thought…THAT IT WAS THE OTHER WAY AROUND!!”

Cutman whipped his entire body a full one hundred degrees, taking Fushi along for the ride. They were now standing directly opposite of how they were before, with their backs to Gary. As he was twirling, he activated the return magnet atop his head, which called for his shears to return to their home. The shears responded by skittering across the floor briefly before becoming airborne. Standing in between their home atop their master’s head was an unfortunately placed Fushidane.

“Gyaaaaahhh—accckt!!” Fushi yelled with a mix of shock and pain as the shears easily drilled through her chest cavity, sending many types of internal fluids spraying onto the back of Cutman, who reveled in her agony.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a long night of work ahead of me, thanks to you” Cutman sneered at Gary as he raised his stub, implying his discontent with the Eskimo. With inhuman speed, Cutman snatched up his burlap bag and disappeared in an orange blaze, leaving Gary in a state of confusion and shock. He didn’t know if he should chase down the bastard or stay and help his fallen friends. This didn’t last very long, however, as he ran over beside the now unconscious Fushi.

Unfortunately, the Six’s problems within the warehouse were not over just yet. Almost as soon as the orange haze of Cutman’s teleportation trail settled, the earth below them shook with tremendous force. Looking around, Gary soon realized that this was no earthquake. Around the edges of the room, the signs of some sort of plasma-type force field made it’s presence know as it left a trail of empty earth behind it. It drew itself closer towards the group, seemingly taking its time in getting to them. The Sinister Six, so it seemed, were about to be compacted into dust by this energy compactor.