Wanted

By C.M. Rich (Magnetman)

Episode 2 - Eclipse

May 31st, 20XX, 5:31 AM , MST

It was still dark in the deserted Los Alamos when the Maniacs arrived, still confused and frankly, frightened that an entire city, it seemed, was out to kill them for no reason.

Most of them asked the same question, over and over again, overlapping each other’s urgency. Then they noticed that Shadowman wasn’t amongst them.

“Snakeman! Where’s Gauntlet?!”, Lennon demanded.

“I don’t know. He came with us, he should be here.“

“Why did we leave without a fight?”, Magnetman interjected.

“Because violence against humans will land us in prison, regardless if we’re guilty of…whatever it is they’re mad at us about. “, SparkChan explained thoughtfully.

“Ridiculous.”, Kenta grumbled below his breath.

The sound of a whistle a few feet away caught their attention, as Shadowman stood at the foot of a doorway. “Get inside. I’ll explain.”

The other Maniacs filed into the partially wrecked building, where Gauntlet was trying to get a TV to work. He realized there was no electricity, however. That’s when he turned to the Maniacs’ own walking power source.

“Classi, if you will…”

“Sure, hun.”

SparkChan plugged the television’s power cord into a port on her calf- a newer addition to her body. Within a few seconds, the television hummed to life again, and Gauntlet searched for the nearest news channel to better explain what was going on.

“Hey, we don’t have time to-“

Topman put a silencing hand to Geminiman’s mouth as a news conference appeared on screen.

“-Maniacs. If you see them, you are NOT to approach them, as they are highly dangerous. Please report them to the authorities AT ONCE. I repeat, do NOT approach them, or attempt capture in any way. They are heavily armed terrorists.”

The Mechanical Maniacs muttered amongst themselves, a few choice swear words, mixed with a healthy dose of even more confusion, permeated every few words.

A news anchor interrupted the generic authority figure at this point.

“And if you’re just rejoining us, that was chief FBI director Warren Ryder on his news conference, acknowledging the Mechanical Maniacs as, collectively, America ’s most wanted suspects for the destruction of the city of Los Angeles early yesterday morning. Only a few hours ago were we shown what appears to be definitive evidence of the Maniacs at LA just prior to the explosion that decimated the city, seen here in these photos. In reiteration, the FBI encourages you to-“

Shadowman shut off the television and hung his held low. The other Maniacs struggled for words, unable to assemble them in any appropriate way for a few minutes.

“Okay…What the hell was that?”, Topman finally managed.

“That can’t be real…”, SparkChan whispered.

“Of course it isn’t…”, NeedleGal muttered.

“Alright…What’s the story, Gaunts?”, Snakeman said bluntly.

Shadowman drew in a shallow breath before starting the explanation to a story he himself had a hard time grasping.

“At…some point yesterday, while we were busy here, Los Angeles was destroyed. How…nobody seems to know yet. Whatever it was, it was powerful enough to make a few million people disappear in a few minutes. Since the government is blocking any media from the city limits, nobody’s seen LA too clearly…That is, until about three hours ago, when one of the networks received photos that apparently show ‘us’ in LA around the time the attack occurred.”

“Which means”, Lennon interjected, “that we’re the most wanted crew in the world as of today.”

“Precisely.”, Shadowman confirmed.

SD sighed audibly. “Does anybody else think this is completely insane? I mean, we were here the entire day.”

“Which is why I brought us here. I’m hoping someone from this town would be around to help clear our name. If we can find someone whom the FBI will believe, we might be able to beat this without violence.”, Gauntlet reasoned.

“Boss…Ain’t nobody gonna be here for days.”, Hardman countered. “The place is still under a fire alert.”

“And besides…”, Snakeman hissed. “This is beginning to smell real fishy. Somebody must have doctored those photos…Someone who wanted us to go down hard.”

“Or take attention away from themselves...”, Magnetman uttered from behind the others.

“Well…If we can’t find anyone from Los Alamos to back us up, then we’ve got only one other option: we go to LA and start looking for clues.”, Shadowman announced.

“Whoa, red flag, time out…Did you say 'we're going to LA'? Isn’t that the last place we should be right now?”, Topman argued.

“Yeah, that’s the belly of the beast…It’d be suicide!” Geminiman sided with the Spinning Demon.

“Which is exactly why we need to go there.”, Snakeman defended. “Nobody’s there right now, and the whole world is after us. We’ve got no other leads, and we’ll need to clear our name fast. Time is not on our side for this one.”

Lennon gritted his teeth and waved off Snakeman nonchalantly.

After a few seconds of fidgeting, no one within the group seemed too willing to head to LA right away. Until Magnetman got up from his seat atop a burnt out cabinet and headed outside.

“Ken, where are you going?”, SparkChan asked.

“Isn’t it obvious? Shadowman-san says we need to go to Los Angeles …I’m going to Los Angeles .”

As he walked out of the dilapidated house, the dust red robot tossed something down nonchalantly.

Lennon cocked his head to the side and twitched his eye, his mind beginning to believe that Magnetman was siding with Gauntlet just to keep from agreeing with him. “You mindless puppet…You…You guys are going to get us all killed…”

“You got any better ideas, brilliant leader?”, NeedleGal chided.

“As a matter of fact, I do! I say we go to Master Light, since we’re good with him now. If anyone can clear our name, it's him.”, Geminiman claimed.

“Idiot. Do ya really think he’s there alone now? He’s probably up to his eyeballs in FBI, Secret Service, CIA, Green Berets, Green…Peace, even! They’re all waiting for us!”, Hardman shot back. “And if Rock is on the wrong side, we ain’t walkin’ out of Light Labs. No question.”

“…What do you know? You’re…Just a walking bank vault.”, Geminiman muttered, obviously feeling defeated.

The sound of Magnetman teleporting outside caught everyone’s attention, prompting everyone to swallow their feelings of doubt…And head to the most dangerous place on Earth. At least in their minds.

Classi walked out first, picking up the object Kenta had thrown down on his way out.

It was his badge.

“We’re…fugitives, now…” she somberly uttered.

“Yeah.” NeedleGal agreed, pondering over her own badge before throwing hers down as well.

The other Mechs followed suit, discarding their badges on the dirty streets of Los Alamos as they headed to the graveyard that was Los Angeles .

Classi was left alone for a second, still holding onto her badge while looking at the pile of others before her. Silently, she placed her own down as well.

That just…didn’t feel right.

May 31st, 20XX, 5:06 AM , PST

“…Oh…God.”, Classi uttered, her hands covering her mouth in horror within seconds of landing.

There was nothing left. No life, no movement, aside from the stiff wind, which blew an inordinate amount of dust. So much dust, that the rising sun was obscured to the point of eclipse, and the entire area was much darker than it should be at dawn.

Everything was brittle and frail. Cement cracked under everyone’s feet as though it were constructed of glass, accompanied by even more dust escaping skyward.

“Nuclear bomb?”, Snakeman wondered aloud, matching most of the other’s thoughts.

“Negative.”, Magnetman countered, his helmet now enshrouding his head. “Magnetic waves do not match the disturbance associated with nuclear detonation.”

“What else could it be, then?”, Lennon also wondered.

“I suppose that’s one of the things we’ll have to find out.”, Gauntlet offered. “To do that, we should try to find ground zero, if this was any kind of bomb. Snake?”

“Here.”

“Send out your snakes and see if you can get a lead on where ground zero may be.”

“I don’t think I should do that just yet.”

“…Why?”

“Company.”

The Maniacs followed Snakeman’s eyes, which glared at a crumbling second story ledge above. Perched above, were six sets of eyes belonging to familiar, threatening faces.

“Well, well…Isn’t this a nice turn of events, huh, you frauds?!”, Torchman screeched from his perch above. “We always knew you were nothing but fake heroes, and now the world knows the truth at last!”

“Hey great…This day’s off to an even better start already.”, Topman rolled his eyes.

“You’re finished, Maniacs! At last! We’ll bring you in and finally be recognized as the heroes we are!” Torchman continued, waving his Torch Arm about madly.

“Yeah! And we’ll also bring home some nice reward money, too!” Blademan added.

“Dude, there’s money? Awesome! There’s so much wicked bitchin’ stuff I’m gonna buy!”, Sharkman yelled with much bravado.

“…You idiot. I told you not to mention the money issue in front of the fakes. Now we just look like we’re here for the bounty.”, Torchman berated the magenta-colored robot.

“At least they don’t know we were here scavenging…”, Waveman uttered quietly.

“Shaddup!”, Bitman yelled, slapping the emotionally-challenged “true” Waveman upside his head with his massive limb. “We’re looking worse by the freakin’ second!”

“Mechanical Maniacs, your time is up! Now, come with us or…Maniacs? Hey! Hey!! Don’t walk away from us when we’re on the verge of victory! Come back here!”, Torchman demanded.

“Losers…”, Geminiman labeled the PC team.

“Sinister Six! Unite and crush!”

The six “unknown” Robot Masters leapt from their vantage point, charging their mortal foes for yet another battle.

“We don’t have time for this…” Gauntlet groused, drawing his sword.

“Haven’t you learned anything? How can you take them so lightly?”, Kenta gritted his teeth as he leapt in front of the other Maniacs.

“The question is; how can you take them so seriously? Guess we can tell who’s the newb here.”, Lennon shot back, casually leveling his Gemini Laser.

“Waaaugh! Why me?!”, Waveman screamed as the laser burned its way into his chest as his supposed teammates leapt clear, leaving him to take the blast.

“Dammit, why didn’t you jump, you dork?!”, Oilman questioned, unleashing the fury of his Oil Stream at his enemies.

Oddly enough, a familiar occurrence happens to the Mechs themselves, as they jump clear of the stream…save for one.

Topman, looking definitely darker and more slippery than before, simply stands there, more than a little annoyed.

“I…I’m really starting to hate this week…”

“Hahaha! It’s a good look for you, bite size.”, Hardman jests.

“Oh really now? Let’s see how you’d like a makeover then, huh?!”, the demon yells as he spins the dark mess from his body, splashing it onto everything nearby, including the snickering Hadrian.

“I’ve been covered in worse…”, is all the big blue behemoth claims in response.

“You fools! You’ll rue this day! The day you failed to take us, the Sinister Six, seriously!”, Torchman screeches again, igniting Hardman with his Torch Arm, setting the four ton tank ablaze all at once.

“Rrggh!”, Hadrian grunts through gritted teeth.

“You! Time to be put to use, lummox!”, yells Kenta as he “grabs” the burning mess that was his teammate with his magnetic power, attempting to hurl him at the collective six.

However…

“H-huh? My…My powers…I don’t understand?”, Magnetman mutters woefully as he realizes he cannot do as planned. For some reason, Hardman seems too big to simply toss this time.

“Eat it, noob!”, Sharkman screams as he launches his large, shuriken-like Shark Boomerang into Magnetman’s chest, slashing his armor and digging in just enough to cause some major pain. “El oh el!”

“Oh no! Ken!”, SparkChan shouts, rushing over to the downed Magnetman.

“Uhh, I’m hurt too, y’know…”, Hardman mutters as he plants a flaming fist into Bitman’s face.

“Aaaaugh, you damn fake! Eat this!”, the yellow monster yells in anger, unleashing his electrified Bit Cannon’s power on Hardman.

“It’ll take more than that, junior.”, Hardman claims, shrugging off the effects of the electricity. “I’m pretty well grounded, punk.”

Hardman punches Bitman in the stomach, ignoring the effects of the Bit Cannon almost completely, then smashes his arms down across Bitman’s back.

“Gauntlet! You fraud…Today is the day we bring your entire team to justice! At last! Justice will-“

Torchman’s speech is cut short by a pair of lightless shuriken as they plow into his shoulders.

“I think I’ve heard enough speeches today, thanks.”, Shadowman claims, his jaw tight. He pulls his sword from its scabbard once again, drawing back his blade.

“No! You WILL listen to what I have to say! We will not lose! Righteousness is at last on our side!”

Torchman bellows in defiance as he pulls the Shadow Blades from his arms and unleashes his Torch Arm once again, seemingly engulfing the dark blue ninja in amber haze.

“At….At last! I’ve killed him! I’ve killed-“

“A hologram.”

Shadowman explains as he appears from behind Torchman, driving his shinobigatana through his unequal foe’s midsection.

Torchman belches up a few pints of dark circulatory fluid from behind his mask. “D-damn you…How can…the g-good guys…lose?!”

“Simple. You still weren’t the good guys.”, Gauntlet states, pulling his sword free of Torchman, who falls slack onto the ground, his legs not responding.

Still, he managed to roll over and point his Torch Arm at Shadowman. “We…can’t…lose!”

Gauntlet bats his arm aside, and steps on his elbow. “Go home, Torch. Today isn’t the day.” Shadowman’s baleful eye glares into Torchman’s, almost as though he were staring instructions directly into the downed burning android’s brain.

“…S-Sinister…Six…Temporary retreat!”

“What? We were winning, though!”, Blademan argues, despite the fact he was now missing and arm and sporting a few new bullet holes from Snakeman’s rifle.

“We were? But…in the end, does winning really matter?”, Waveman thoughtfully ponders just before taking a thirteenth Gemini Laser to his abdomen. “Oh god! The pain! Why?!”

The battered Sinister Six manage to converge upon their fallen leader, still in the fighting mood despite numerous serious injuries.

“Someday…Someday, Gauntlet…You’ll fail…And we’ll be there, laughing at you!”, Torchman vowed.

“Shut it, or else I’ll make sure laughing is the last thing you’ll be able to do.”, Shadowman threatens.

“…W-We’ll return…Soon…”

The Sinister Six attempt to teleport, their bodies each glow in light…but they never take off. Instead, they’re left, shouting in agony.

“What’s going on?”, NeedleGal asks, disturbed by the sight.

Magnetman clambers to his feet, staring at the sky above. “E-Electromagnetic shield…Above…It’s blocking our teleporters.”

“…A trap.”, Snakeman realizes.

“Great. Great job, fearless leader. You walked us right into a trap, as usual. Let’s all give Gauntlet a big round of applause!”, Geminiman scowled.

“Eat it, Mr. Glass.”, NeedleGal shouts in defense of her brother, who managed to ignore Lennon’s rant.

“What now, boss?”, a once-again charred Hardman asks.

“Well, first off, is everyone alright?”

Gauntlet looks at his team, whom for the most part were in fairly good shape, save for a slightly scorched Topman and Hardman, Magnetman, whom sported a few more gashes than usual, and NeedleGal with a few slashmarks from Blademan’s attacks.

“What should we do with them?”, Topman asks, pointing his thumb over his shoulder towards the now-unconscious Sinister Six.

“…Leave them.”

“What? Why? We have the chance to-“

“Leave them. We’re not here to kill anyone, even them.”, Gauntlet surmised, cutting off Kenta in the process.

Magnetman grunted in disapproval, but gave up his argument quickly. Unlike Geminiman, he respected the shadow ninja, at least.

“Snake, can you try to find the epicenter?”, Shadowman continued.

“Without anymore interruptions, yeah.”

“Good. I assume that’ll take awhile, so let’s split up and see if we can find it the old fashioned way. Keep your eyes open for any clues, or anything odd, for that matter.”

“Odd like…That?”, Topman pointed skyward.

Descending in the distance was a distinctive large, black helicopter. The Maniacs quickly took cover behind some wreckage and observed the copter’s occupants exit the machine as it landed.

“Government issue…”, Snakeman observed.

“Obviously…The question is: are they here for us, or something else?”, NeedleGal countered.

“The massive arsenal they’re carrying tells me the former.” Top observes dryly.

“So…Do we take ‘em down?”, Hardman asked, cracking his knuckles.

“Look…”, Gauntlet suggested instead.

Out of the helicopter, after the three dozen plain-garbed soldiers exit, comes a set of decidedly different soldiers- special agents. Each one looked to be heavily armed with some sort of special gimmick, but one in particular catches Snakeman’s eye.

“I don’t believe it…”

“What?”, Needle asks.

“The Judge just got off that helicopter…”