Wanted

By C.M. Rich (Magnetman)

Episode 7 - Light Traveler

May 31st, 20XX, 12:03 PM , PST

Boomerang gasped, clutching his chest. But beyond his exhaustion was the more important feeling of thrill. He was feeling the joy of battle, and that’s all that mattered to him at this point. Not alliances, nor rivalries- the pure, simple joy found in fighting.

He couldn’t help but observe that his two sparring partners didn’t seem to share this sentiment.

“Maniacs…What is the matter? You seem…tired.”

“Shove it, you prick…”, Topman spat, his body baring a few more dents than he’d like to possess. Beside him, Geminiman’s usually pristine, crystalline armor was cracked and chipped in various places, and the synthetic flesh around his left eye seemed to be pushed upwards in an unnatural way.

“I have to thank you…It was certainly worth wading through the political quagmire for these few moments…Worth it for atonement for my earlier failures.”, Boomerang reflected openly.

“’Political quagmire’?”, Geminiman noted. “So…That implies you know more about this situation than most…?”

“Naturally. I am a ninja, after all. Collecting information is the basis of my entire existence, aside from battle.”

“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to share said info, hm?”, Topman asked, a sly smirk across his face announcing his sarcasm once again.

“Beat me, and perhaps you’ll inherit my knowledge. In other words, you’ll die without the slightest clue why.”, Boomerang challenged.

“Me? Die ignorant? Sorry, but not in this lifetime. You, on the other hand…”, Gemini scoffed.

The Twin Terror unhooked his latest weapons, his Gemini Riot Sticks, from his belt, and proceeded to…juggle them.

“…Fool. You dare mock me with parlor tricks? Just…vanish. I-“

In a split second, Geminiman caught both riot sticks in midair and tossed one straight at his enemy. In that same split second, Boomerang drew his Saber Fang, and slashed the whirling weapon out of the air, but not before seeing through the trick.

Boomerang caught the second riot stick in the next second, which had been tossed at almost the exact same time as the first.

“Damn…The Gemini Eclipse usually gets everyone…Guess he’s not bluffing about those neat new skills…”, Lennon lamented.

“Gem, let me take a few more shots at him…I think I’ve spotted our friend’s fatal flaw.”, Topman sneered, getting back into his Capoiera rhythm.

“Be my guest.”, Lennon offered.

“Not this fool’s dance once again. I can see through your beat quite easily, by now.”, the demon ninja boasted.

“Show me.”

Boomerang assumed a defensive stance this time, with the blade of his sword pointed upwards. Topman whirled over to him, wasting no time in accepting Boomerang’s latest challenge, in a rhythmic pattern.

In no time at all, Topman was trading kicks for defensive sword cuts, his shins and ankles making contact with the flat side of the blade, all at the rate of three blows per second. Boomerang was indeed excellent at defending against every single attempted kick, and did not accept a single blow.

But still, Topman kept smiling, knowing something that Boomerang apparently did not.

The Demon Ninja now assumed the offensive lead, taking quick, wide slashes against his enemy, which Topman evaded as easily as Boomerang had block his own blows.

For all intensive purposes, the two were a dead match. From his vantage point, Geminiman kept watch, whistling his approval of the show at hand.

“Yeah…I see it now.”

“See what?”, Boomerang questioned the kinetic king.

“Victory, of course!”

“He’s not-…Heh!”

The former Quarter Knight took another slash at his enemy, attempting to cut him neatly in half at the waist. Naturally, Topman didn’t stand still, and leapt to the side, flowing in the direction as the blade, rather than against it, and at one point, touched the Saber Fang while upside down, landing a few feet away.

He needed the distance, as the explosive he used against the Demon Ninja would have hurt him as well at that range.

Boomerang didn’t see it until it was much too late. A small top, the size of a baseball, was planted on his blade in an instant, and spun all the way down his blade to his knuckle, where it exploded on contact, separating his fingers from his hands instantly, and quite messily.

Boomerang screamed in anguish, shock, and anger, all at once.

“Hooow?! Nothing…Nothing could be…so…Auuugh! All of this training…for NOTHING?!”

Topman put his hand to his mouth, his eyes looking off to the side to avoid the gristly sight of Boomerang’s blood pouring from the hideous wounds he had inflicted upon him. Somehow, he felt almost…guilty.

“Ahhh…Augh…Outwitted…”, the former Quarter Knight lamented, staring at his mutilated appendages. “I am…beaten…by…YOU, of all people! Blasphemy!”

“Yeah, you think?”, Lennon smirked, offering his hand to Top to shake as a sign of congratulations, which Top accepted curtly and quickly, not very keen on taking too much credit for mutilating anyone.

“…H-heh…Very well then…I am a man of my word…”, Boomerang reasoned, bitterly. “You…You Maniacs…You’re not the Riders’ top priority here. You were merely…convenient…for them…In truth…the government as you know cares nothing about you…”

“The government as we know it’?”, Geminiman interrogated. “Who’s in charge here, then? What do they really want?”

“Hah…The answers…lie with a little girl…in this city…”

“Little girl? What little girl?”, Topman pressed.

“Heh…That’s the end of my help…Figure the rest out on your own, Maniacs…Hear me! This…This is a mere setback! In time, I will heal. I WILL gain vengeance! And when I do, you…ALL of you will be made to suffer! This will not go unpunished!”

All at once, Boomerang exploded, gone in a flash of light and sound, his presence completely gone.

“Well…That was nice…”, Topman remarked, wiping a leftover trickle of oily blood from his mouth.

“Little girl…I call shenanigans on that one. There’s no one alive in this city.”, Geminiman claimed.

“We knew there was something weird about this whole thing from the beginning…This is another piece to the puzzle.”

“…I hate ninjas.”, the mirrored Robot Master remarked.

“Ninja. The plural form of ‘ninja’ is still ‘ninja’. ‘Ninjas’ is simply-“

“Top?”, Geminiman interrupted.

“Hm?”

“Shaddup.”

May 31st, 20XX, 12:31 PM , PST

Stepping cautiously over the rough, broken terrain, Shadowman stalked the small makeshift arena, his sword held high at his side, clutched tightly with both hands.

He made certain to avoid the pillars of light. He already learned that the hard way. They certainly weren’t ordinary beams- they were laser-like in their intensity, and burned like mad upon contact.

This made things difficult within this makeshift prison cell. Though he was still outside, he also learned through experimentation that this area he found himself in was contained by an electromagnetic shield roughly twenty four feet in diameter- not much room to maneuver in, especially with those damned beams in the way. It’d be a different story if the source of the light, which hung about twenty feet overhead, could be destroyed. Maybe it could, but not with Shadow Blades or his shinobigatana- it was well protected by the same shield that imprisoned him in this tiny area.

At the very least, the man whom imprisoned him here also seemed trapped with him, rather than outside. However, it also seemed as though that was his intentions from the start. While he couldn’t see this enemy, he knew he was here, as Gauntlet observed the man “jump” into one of the pillars of light, and completely disappear.

Which set Shadowman on edge. It was perhaps even more unsettling that this mystery foe hadn’t attacked directly yet since manipulating him into this area…away from the other Mechs. It was easy enough for him to do so, as the Maniacs were forced to scatter within seconds of the coat-wearing leader’s call to the other Pale Riders.

But…It was obvious at this point that this guy was here to specifically counter Shadowman’s powers…If that was the case, it’s possible the other Pale Riders each counter a Maniac in some way. This made Gauntlet suspect that the Pale Riders were not some ramshackle team assembled at the last moment for this mission.

Gauntlet now wondered just how long this team had been together, and if this LA situation was simply an excuse…How deep did this run?

But, this was no time to delve into this mystery. Not when he was being stalked.

“Shadowman.”

The voice came instantly, with little hesitation. Very blunt, and with a concise purpose- to get his attention.

Not that the gun that was nuzzled against his temple wasn’t enough to get his attention.

“Bang.”

“…I get the feeling you’re not here to bring me in for questioning.”, Shadowman remarked.

“You could say that…I’m here for the fun of it, mostly.”, the man, whom remained partially hidden in the beam said through a soft smile.

“I don’t have time for ‘fun’.”

“Apparently. But, I suggest you make time. You’re not leaving this area unless I want you to.” the voice stated matter of factly.

“…I see. That’s a problem.”

“For you. For me, it just makes my job all the more easier.”

Gauntlet remained silent and unmoving, considering his next move while taking into account the handgun pressed against his skull. He could tell just by the feel of the muzzle that it was of a high caliber, and would probably have little trouble piercing even a Robot Master’s skull at this range.

“How long have you been waiting for this?”, Gauntlet asked, attempting to buy more time whilst figuring out what next.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve been waiting for this. It more or less happened, as we knew it would. There’s a few people in the government who just plain don’t like you Robot Master-types running amok. You had to have known that some government action would eventually transpire. Its just a shame it took something like…all of this to motivate them to take the last step.”, the light-dweller explained.

Gauntlet sighed. “True…I always wondered what was taking them so long to either attempt to control us or get rid of us. I suppose it’s the latter.”

“True again.”, the man agreed. “We were designed and trained with the intention of bringing the Sinister Six down first, then you, the Maniacs…But with the Six retired, we’re already ahead of schedule.”

“…You’re planning on hunting all of the other teams once you’re done with us.”

“Very perceptive.”

“…Robot Master Killers. Humans being used to kill robots. That’s certainly a change.”

“I wouldn’t be so quick to judge all of us as human.”

“You are.”, Shadowman pointed out. He could tell by observing his heart rate through the gun against his head.

“Am I? I’ve always considered myself more of an entity than a man. I’m far beyond human, I’d think.”

“A few tricks involving light doesn’t make you a god these days. You must be new to this.”

“Hmph.”, the man scoffed. “I am more than a man, more than an experiment. I am The Dusk, and I am a traveler of light. I can use light the same way you use the darkness, Shadowman…Probably even better.”

Shadowman remained still and unflinching for a few seconds. Then he finally turned to face his foe and laugh, risking a bullet to his brain in the process.

“Heh…I suppose imitation is the most sincere form of flattery…But like I’ve said…I don’t have time to allow you to prove your theory, so I’ll have to beat you into a mess until you allow me to leave.”, the ninja Robot Master threatened, his open eye growing dark.

“Kyeh…An idle threat. This is MY arena, not yours. I make the rules. And the first rule is…that fights end when I say they do, and ours ends before it begins. Goodbye, Shadowman.”

The Dusk squeezed the trigger, sending a bullet into the head of a still Gauntlet. Much to his surprise, the famously elusive ninja hadn’t moved to avoid the shot, apparently caught off guard.

The light-bound assassin watched the body of the robot crumble messily to the rocky terrain instantly, the dead expression on his face betraying his feared reputation.

“A rather cheap trick, don’t you think?”, The Dusk challenged, blocking Shadowman’s sword blade with the barrel of his gun as he whirled around. At his feet, the body of the killed Shadowman evaporated and drifted off into the wind. “Holograms will be of no use against me. ”, he warned.

“I see.”, Shadowman said, the same dark expression adorning his face.

Gauntlet whipped around, clashing his blade against The Dusk’s gun, and stabbed into the assassin’s heart, killing him instantly.

“Ha ha…What are holograms but structures of light?”

The Dusk’s body double vanished with less drama than Shadowman’s, but it proved a point- The Dusk had come prepared to counter and negate Shadowman’s usual arsenal, and hold the upper hand at all times.

“Damn it.”, Shadowman thought to himself. “He was ‘designed’ to take me down. The government probably studied me for months…maybe years to notice every detail they could…”

Shadowman looked around and realized his Shadow Dive would also be useless. Though he used his own shadow to dive into earlier, and used The Dusk’s own shadow to emerge from, without The Dusk’s shadow he had no exit portal at his disposal, thanks to the light emitting device- something The Dusk no doubt took into account for this battle.

With that field in place, he wouldn’t be able to call for his giant frog out of desperation, nor would it be of much use anyways, as it’d be destroyed by the pillars of light. Caltrops and smoke bombs were of little use as well. If his Shadow Blades proved just as useless, that left…

It’s been a long time since he had to resort to it, but if ever there was a time, that time was now.

The twelve light beams formed a pyramid at the center of the small fighting zone. It was a matter of deducing which pillar The Dusk would emerge from, and what sort of attack he’d use. If The Dusk was smart, which he certainly seemed to be, he’d stay very close to a light pillar at all times, and Shadowman may never be able to corner him.

It didn’t seem possible, but The Dusk seemed to have designed a perfect arena for himself. Gauntlet would be dead if he couldn’t figure out a way to turn this disadvantage into his trump card.

From behind, The Dusk appeared from one of the pillars, and filled Gauntlet’s back with a few rounds from his Raging Bull revolver. The high-powered handgun dug deep holes into Shadowman’s unprotected back, as without two sources of darkness, he was unable to use his holograms. Wincing in pain, the ninja android whipped a pair of quick Shadow Blades towards the source of the cheap shots, but the perpetrator was long gone by then, vanished back into the glow.

“Damn it…”, Gauntlet grimaced, balling up his fists to counter the pain caused by three new holes in his back. At that distance the high caliber bullets managed to reach his metallic ribcage before being stopped short of his vital systems, but the pain was intense.

Within seconds, a very faint sound alerted Gauntlet to another attack, now from a new pillar. Instantly, Shadowman ducked and rolled as the massive hand cannon screamed and spit forth its deadly gunfire. Taking a bullet to his leg, he managed to avoid the two other shots entirely, and launched another pair of Shadow Blades into the heavenly haze. He couldn’t tell if he actually hit The Dusk, however.

“This isn’t very fun, Shadowman…”, The Dusk’s voice said in dismay. “At this rate, you’ll be dead before I can use my cooler tricks. Such a waste!”

“Then why don’t you put down that gun and MAKE things interesting…I’m not having much fun, either.”

“Interesting proposition. I think I’ll take you up on that.”

The Dusk stepped out of his hiding place, holstering his handgun on his chest. Gauntlet got a clear view of him for the first time now. The Dusk wasn’t anything special to look at. Some women may consider him handsome, Gauntlet thought, but the ninja robot remained unimpressed. He was dressed in rather civilian clothes, such as a sweater, though his clothes did appear to be of the nicer variety as far as quality was concerned. To offset his rich-boy attire, the Dusk wore various add-on accessories, like various holster, ammo belts, knives, and grenades- he was indeed prepared to fight, despite his clothes.

Shadowman wearily climbed to a standing position to stand face to face with the assassin of light.

“Well, at the very least, you won’t die so easily.”, the Dusk commended, hands on his hips. “Then again, you are a machine…I’d be disappointed if a simple handgun could put you down, after all.”

“Glad you’ll enjoy the show, then…”

“Ah ah…Haven’t said I’ve enjoyed anything yet. I still don’t think you’ll be able to beat me. I’m here to kill you, naturally…”

“Kill me, eh? There’s more deserving guys out there that would fit that honor.”, Gauntlet chided.

“I’ve been known to rob people on occasion.”
The Dusk pulled a rather large knife from a position on his back, and held the point against his index finger. Casually, he moved towards Gauntlet.

The Dusk closed his eyes briefly, then quite suddenly took a swipe at Shadowman, whom blocked the knife with his sword hilt and attempted a swift kick in retaliation. The Dusk latched onto Gauntlet’s leg and buried the knife into his thigh. Again wincing, Shadowman fought past the pain and swung his blade towards his enemy’s throat.

Insanely enough, The Dusk actually grabbed the sword with his barely gloved hand with no ill-effects, then sneered at Shadowman.

“Kevlar.”

The Dusk forced the sword back and pulled his knife from Gauntlet’s leg messily, spewing oily blood like a geyser. Quickly, Shadowman tried to take advantage of The Dusk’s dramatic recovery of his weapon by producing a Shadow Blade from his wrist, stabbing it downwards into The Dusk’s collar bone.

The Dusk finally clambered away from his target, clutching his shoulder, feeling his own warm blood seep out of the fresh wound through his fingers. For a second, he watched the grey and tan terrain become dyed with droplets of crimson, intermingling with Shadowman’s darker vital fluids at his feet. Quickly regaining his composure, he looked at Shadowman, whom was still worse for the wear, given his stab wound and bullet holes.

“Oh ho ho…Ow…If that Shadow Blade were just an inch longer, you could have put me in serious trouble!”, The Dusk antagonized.

“Sucks for me. ”, Gauntlet observed, forcefully closing his wounded thigh with his free hand.

“Hmm, yes…I see now I shouldn’t have played with you so long…”, The Dusk commented, looking at his own blood on his hand. “It seems as though it’s time to bid you adieu…”

The Dusk pulled his Raging Bull from its holster yet again, leveling it with Gauntlet’s head. This time, however, Shadowman was waiting for this, armed with a Shadow Blade, which was tossed into the gun’s barrel.

Knowing better, The Dusk stopped himself from pulling the trigger and tossed the gun aside.

“That’s an expensive piece of hardware, Shadowman…I hope it’s not broken.”

“Here’s a new rule for you, then: Toys and artwork have no place in a fight.”

“Ha ha…Quite…”

The Dusk produced another “toy”- a canister-shaped device that was familiar to Shadowman, who’s face showed signs of shock when he imagined what this meant for him. Immediately, he shut his eyes hard as his assassin slammed the canister onto the ground.

Flash-bangs, or stun grenades as they’re sometimes referred to, work by creating a large flash generated by a chemical reaction, and is accompanied by a large “bang”, attributing to their namesake. Against humans, flash-bangs can stun nearly anyone instantly, allowing a SWAT team to move and disarm a situation without resorting to lethal force. Against robots, they’re little more than annoyances.

But…Shadowman knew that The Dusk wasn’t intending to stun him with it.

The light-bound killer had used the flash-bang as a method of disappearing into the light, and was now completely gone, putting Gauntlet back at square one.

“You’ve got to be kid- ngh!”

The Dusk didn’t wait very long this time, and leapt from one of the light pillars with a heavy knee to Shadowman’s back. A vicious flurry of Muay Thai-style kicks proceeded to pummel the disoriented Robot Master, all the way to the point where Gauntlet lost his grip on his sword, and it landed point first into the ground beneath the light-producing generator.

In vain, it seemed, Shadowman attempted to defend himself against the hellish flurry of kicks, punches, elbows, and knees, which rained upon him in deadly fashion. The Dusk wasn’t giving him an inch, knowing any opening that Gauntlet saw would be turned against him in an instant.

After a few minutes, Shadowman seemed barely able to stand up, let alone raise his hands to defend himself. Noting this, The Dusk began his final blows. Hard, heavy-hitting attacks, with a final roundhouse kick to the face, which sent the decimated Shadowman through a light pillar at one point, causing him to smoke slightly as he lay outside of the pillars of light, nearly motionless.

“…Hah…Ha…*cough*…Do you see?...Hah…Robots aren’t invincible! You’re just as frail and weak as any other human!...”, The Dusk claimed, standing triumphant at the center of his angelic Stonehenge-like pillars.

Silently, Shadowman lay on the ground, his face a mask of pain and oil. He fought through it again, this time taking the Shadow Blade crested on his head off, cautiously.

“Oh! One last attack, is that it?...Hah…Give it one more shot! It’ll be easy to dodge it in your shape!”

Shadowman glared at his foe in defiance, and then managed a small smirk as he thrust his hand into the light next to him. Bewildered, The Dusk hadn’t any idea as to what he was up to…Until he noticed the smaller beam of light that shot out from the pillar next to Shadowman, which beamed between his own legs.

The Dusk’s eyes grew wide as he looked behind him, noticing the small laser-like beam hitting the shinobigatana’s reflective blade as it stuck out of the ground at a forty-five degree angle.

The geometry was just right. The small laser beam shot straight upwards- straight into the light emitting device above. After a few seconds, the floating orb’s power began to falter as it absorbed the heat from this small laser, and exploded in a dazzling display in short order. With it’s destruction, the light beams faded, as did the invisible electromagnetic shield.

Shadowman stood up, slowly, his hand blackened by the sacrifice. Yet, he grinned, still clutching his Shadow Blade.

“…You!”, was all The Dusk could say in his state of shock for a moment. “…You knew the light was the only thing capable of passing through my shield!”

Shadowman nodded, triumphant.

“…You intentionally got beaten to throw me off and set it all up!”, The Dusk realized, noticing how perfectly everything was set up. “You’re…inhuman!”

“That’s the idea.”

“…Rgh!! No matter! I’ve proven I can defeat you without any damned gadgetry!”, the enraged assassin screamed, charging the shadow robot.

Only now, Shadowman wasn’t about to allow himself get beaten up anymore. Gauntlet caught his foe’s fist and nastily twisted it downwards, producing a loud, very sickening crack from within The Dusk’s arm, likely at the elbow.

The Dusk stumbled backwards in agony, tripping over the grounded sword, giving him an idea. He grabbed the sword’s hilt with his good hand, intending to slash his enemy in two with his own weapon. Keeping his injured appendage close to him, he swung the sword wildly, eventually cutting open the throat of his target.

He stood, silent, for a few seconds, a smile gradually accumulating on his face. Until, he felt the prescence of a face next to his, which had approached from behind with a whisper:

“…T’was a hologram.”

Startled, The Dusk whirled about again, slashing at Shadowman, and “killing” him once more. Not to be fooled again, he kept swinging the weapon about madly, until it was stopped by the hand of it’s master, who reclaimed it quickly, and used it with far more precision.

The Dusk’s previously injured arm fell to the ground beside him with a thud, leaking more crimson onto the ground as he feel to his knees, yelling in anger, shock, and sadness, both at the loss of his arm, and at the failure of his mission.

“Yeeaargh!! Ahhhh! Ngh! Oh God…!”

“He can’t help you here.”, Gauntlet murmured, fighting off a tinge guilt. He approached the downed enemy, his intentions clear.

Scrambling, The Dusk came up with a quick plan, and produced several more flash-bangs, and tossed them skyward. Gauntlet spun around backwards to shield his eyes from the impending display of blinding light, and by the time it was done, he was alone once again- The Dusk had vanished.

Still, he wasn’t distraught over allowing The Dusk to escape as he glimpsed at the leftover limb still oozing blood on the ground. There wasn’t exactly a great health care system here even before the devastation.

Shadowman slumped to his knees to catch his breath. He knew his comrades were most likely in similar trouble…But he knew when he needed a break.

And now was the time for a break.