Hardman's Bar

By Hadrian Howell (Hardman)

Chapter 43

He rolled out, a horrifying gash down one side of his body, and coughed. “Ouch…”

“Don’t move,” I told him, turning to see Eden give up on Magnetman and ducking and weaving between the Geminimen while coming back towards me and Topman.

I turned around quickly, “Sorry about this, kid,” I said as I literally kicked him away from me, and leapt into the air. Eden continued streaking towards my injured team mate as I rotated in air, and fired my lower-half’s jet engine.

My head met Eden’s while we were both traveling something a little less than Mach one. The Hard Press spread Eden like confetti, while I remained unharmed, even from his razor-like edges. I pulled my head out of the ground to see the thing pulling itself back together, and let loose my fury, slamming the reconstructing pieces apart with my fists, firing short-ranged Hard Knuckles to avoid damage to myself while keeping up the attack.

Fists flew and glass shattered for a seeming eternity before it seemed to give up, shards clattering to the floor and staying there. I took a few deep breaths and stood up, making my way over to Topman and hoisting him up onto my shoulder. Hades was receiving similar punishment from Needlegal, Magnetman, and Shadowman while the Geminimen merged back into a single body and kept an eye out for more traps from the now windowless walls with Snakeman.

Top’s voice entered my head from over my shoulder. “Okay, I’m feeling better. Seriously, you can put me down now.”

I ignored him and made my way back over to the rest of the team as they stood in the middle of the chamber. Glass shards were EVERYWHERE, but none of them were moving now. The Organ above struck a dying chord, ending its song.

“Are we all still alive?” Shadowman asked.

I set Topman down. “I just took some minor armor damage,” I shrugged. “Top here got slashed pretty bad, though.”

Topman waved a hand that wasn’t holding the gash in his side. “I’ll be fine,” he shook his head.

“I may have lost the tip of my helmet’s tail,” Snakeman complained. “I can’t be sure. Does anyone think it looks cut?”

“A little,” Geminiman nodded. “Man, I knew this was a bad idea…”

“What, going after Hakushaku?” Needlegal asked. “Because, really, it’s been what I’ve wanted to do for a while now.”

“Not this, doing it this way,” the duplicating Maniac said, giving Shadowman a knowing look.

“What’s he mean?” Magnetman asked, looking at Gauntlet as well.

Our team leader almost opened his mouth, but then the room shook, and the floor started to rise and the ceiling opened up. We’d been fighting on some massive elevator the whole time…

We rose quickly, and soon arrived in a larger circular chamber, one our elevator fit into with a lot of room to spare. The same hardwood floors remained, as did the stone walls, but there were no windows save for a domed, stained-glass skylight to made up the ceiling. Ringing this entire room was a massive, never-ending pipe organ, with a single person sitting on a stool that was built into a runner that could take it anywhere up or down the organ.

As the organ player turned to look at us with eyes closed and an impish smile, the bulk of the Maniacs took up ready stances, trying their best to hide their surprise. Geminiman and Shadowman, on the other hand, didn’t seem alarmed at all.

“XELLOSS!” six of us shouted in surprise.

He clapped his hands together a few times. “Bravo on making this far, friends.”

“YOU’RE Hakushaku?” Needlegal asked. Her voice echoed with the others in this cavernous chamber.

The monster seemed amused by the thought, and chuckled. “What a funny idea,” he said with amusement. “So I take it your fearless leader didn’t give you the whole story?”

“What’s he mean?” Magnetman asked Shadowman.

Our leader remained silent, but Xelloss didn’t. “Why, Mister Shadowman came to me for advice on how best to deal with your mysterious foe. How do you think he knew where to find that magic circle?”

“You went to XELLOSS?” Gauntlet’s sister screamed at him. “Why?”

He shrugged. “Hakushaku needed to be stopped,” he said simply. “And I’ll take the evil I know over the evil I don’t any day.”

“I assume you also told Gem how to ‘hack’ into that circle,” Sparkchan said accusingly. Xelloss just laughed as Geminiman hid his face.

“It’s amazing how an old enemy has made you all go to such desperate ends,” the mysterious priest laughed. “It’s so amusing!”

“Old enemy?” Magnetman wondered aloud. “Who could that be?”

“He’ll be along any minute now, I imagine,” Xelloss chuckled.

“Then I’ll take the chance ta ask what YOU have ta do with all this,” I said.

Xelloss adopted an innocent expression, but one of his eyes opened ever-so-slightly. “I’m merely a consultant.”

“And what do you get out of this?” Snakeman asked. “Why help us?”

“Let’s just say you owe me a favor,” the monster said in a nasty voice, his other eye opening to give him a truly frightening grin.

“I do NOT like the sound of that,” Topman coughed.

A new, deeper voice that we’d heard before tore through the immense chamber. “Begone, demon!”

“Ah, and here’s our guest of honor now,” Xelloss clapped. “I’ll be on my way, then. Do make it back to Earth safely, my mechanical friends. I’d hate to lose a favor I’m owed.”

And with a crack and a cloud of black smoke, Xelloss was gone.

Hakushaku’s voice boomed out again. “The priest is going to be disappointed,” he chuckled. “You’ll never leave this room alive.”

“Big talk coming from someone too scared to show his face,” Needlegal shouted at the room in general.

“But I’ve been here the whole time,” the voice boomed. And then something floated down from above. “Greetings, Mechanical Maniacs. It has been a long time,” he said, now in a much softer, slightly more feminine voice.

“Juno?” Shadowman asked. “I thought Galvatron killed you back when he led Unicron to earth!” (See Season 2 Finale!)

Juno chuckled, one of his massive hands lifting up, holding something I couldn’t make out. “It’s true. I was nearly eliminated like a common carbon, but then an extraordinary power revived me.” He held the object in his hand aloft, and now I could make out some sort of silvery shard, crackling with energy.

Shadowman’s face sank in horror. “That can’t be…”

Juno laughed out loud, which was disturbing to hear. “Oh, but it is! This is a portion of Unicron’s Spark! His very essence, cut down to a manageable size. Enough to provide me god-like power, but not so much that it takes control of me…”

Juno floated up into the air, the shard clutched in his hand, and the organ began playing itself. The shards of glass that littered the floor around us began to shift and reform into Hades and Eden. Much, much LARGER versions of Hades and Eden.

“And now, Mechanical Maniacs, I shall repay you for sealing me inside that blasted containment sphere, and then I shall wipe the globe clean of the Carbons and start over again, as I was MEANT to!” Eden and Hades shook with anticipation as they began to circle us, slow, calculated movements, as Juno rose up into the dome over our heads and out of our reach.

He chuckled, a low, resounding sound that seemed to shake the room as the organ began to play the same song it had before. He swept an arm out into the air and pointed at us.

“DIE!”