The Business of War

Orchestrated By C.M. Rich (Magnetman)

The Fight for Nonsteropolis!

By Rebel, Naop, Regulus

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Scenario E
Participants:
Mysteryman (SA)
Ringman (W)
Armored Assassins (C)

Location: Nonsteropolis, US
SA Troops: 972
RPD Troops: 699
Wily Troops: 701

December 2nd, 20XX
10:00 AM

Ring Man stomped toward the massive city, his head lowered so no one around him could see his face. He had been preparing for this moment for a month now, yet it seemed as though everything he learned had been washed out of his mind in seconds.

Behind him was Wily's army--Not the whole thing, mind. Oh no, Wily had plans of his own, and didn't plan on sending his entire force into one area, even if it was the infamous Nonsteropolis, a site where his first attempt at world domination was located. Instead it was a small platoon of Wily's forces: Metools, Sniper Joes, Battons, etc. You name it, Wily had it.

Then there was him, of course. He was the only Robot Master who was sent with this batch, which meant that he was practically the guy in charge of these cretins. Strangely, he felt his ego swell with this thought, although he knew Wily would be keeping tabs on him as he was still a Cossack-brand robot. Not like he could blame him--He didn't necessarily trust the old coot either.

Things had changed since then. He was definitely more serious and planned on crushing the RPD in this war, starting with their headquarters located in this sector. The Scissor Army was also a problem... but he would leave the other units to them while he slowly made his way to his destination.

"Sure hope I don't see the other Comrades..." Rebel muttered under his breath, before stopping to turn his head and stare at his fleet. They all stopped in their tracks, obediently waiting for an order. Cautiously, he raised his hand and flicked his wrist forward, before darting off into the city, a ring in each hand. Destruction was nigh.

--------------------

In a parking garage far away from the raging battle, two powerful Robot Masters were discussing the details of a secret operation in the back of a large grey van. One of them was an extremely large robot with bright blue eyes that glowed with an icy aura. The other appeared to be modeled after a Cherokee Indian. He had a single action army revolver slung on his side and he was tossing a tomahawk into the air and catching it as the larger robot spoke to him in a thick Russian accent.

"This is a very important mission, Tomahawk." The large robot robot began. "If this mission is successful, we shall turn the world against the Scissor Army. Wily is already focusing on General Cutman. It's only a matter of time before the RPD will see him as a threat whether it is by his actions or not."

Tomahawkman stopped tossing his axe. "Hey, Blizzard, where's Centaur and Knight? And where's Plant?"

Blizzardman sighed. "They have not returned my signals. I don't know what Plant is up to, either. Regardless, we still have you, and that counts for something."

"So how are we going to pull this off?" Tomahawkman asked.

"This is how the operation is going to go down." Blizzardman climbed into the back of the van, the vehicle sank low to the ground under his enormous weight. He brought back a laptop and booted up a map of the city.

"You are going to infiltrate the RPD headquarters here. You will be driving that truck." He pointed down to the street below where a Pepsi truck was parked.

"A Pepsi truck?" Tomahawk asked in disbelief.

Blizzardman tossed him a remote. "Press the button on the remote when you are making your escape in that vehicle. The panels will fall off revealing the Scissor Army insignia. In this day and age, people are forever slapping labels on their affiliated products. Even if the General doesn't spam his label, the RPD won't have any reason to believe he doesn't advertise on the same grand scale as Wily does."

Tomahawk laughed, remembering Wily's tendency to slap a gigantic W on anything and everything he owns. "Cool idea, Blizzard." Tomahawk said.

"The first part of this objective is to find any research files concerning the shutdown code." Blizzard said. He handed Tomahawk a backpack filled with C4. "Then you will place these explosives at key foundation points in the building, so the resulting explosion will collapse the building's major supports, causing the top floors to fall on the ground floor."

"Does Cossack know about this?" Tomahawk asked.

"He asked me to lead the operation here, but he thinks I am going to be causing trouble for the bad guys."

"You mean the Scissor Army and Wily?" Tomahawk asked.

"Yes." Blizzard replied. "Unfortunately, I also view the RPD as the bad guys. I will not allow them to manipulate the world as they please. My plans for the world do not include the RPD. They must be wiped out."

"Well, you sign my pay-check, Blizzard." Tomahawk laughed.

"Indeed I do." Blizzard agreed. Do not worry about the robots back at Cossack's base. I will present any information you have gathered as a personal compilation of research to Dr. Cossack. He will suspect nothing. To everyone else, this is a horrible act of terror from the Scissor Army, and in reality, it is. The Scissor Army should have never challenged my wit by attempting to create their own utopia. This is a response to their actions."

"Well, I'm off. Wish me luck." Tomahawk requested.

"You shouldn't need it, but I wish it to you all the same." Blizzard sent his friend off. "Even if they obtain control for now..." Blizzardman thought to himself. "A fool and his power is soon parted..."

--------------------

A police bot was marching through the street, searching for any attacking robots belonging to the Scissor Army. Unlike the rest of it's unfortunate unit, it was the sole survivor from a previous onslaught of the rogues, but he still courageously continued onward, determined to continue it's duty as programmed. Little did it suspect a sharp blow to the back of the head as a Ring Boomerang plowed into it's skull, causing it to cave in on itself before collapsing to the ground, ceasing to exist. The boomerang, it's mission completed, casually returned back to it's owner's hand.

Ring Man scratched the back of his head, before stooping to the ground, checking markings carefully. He had been taking an offbeat path, hoping to encounter less enemies by traveling through alleyways and the like. So far, it was a success; all there was were a few police bots that had gotten lost from previous battles that he could easily take out using simple stealth maneuvers.

The question was where the RPD's HQ was located. He had never been there before, so he had nary a clue as where to begin. Yet he had started noticing a pattern with how the stray police bots had been acting--Patrolling certain areas, mainly--and realized that with just a little more time and patience he would be able to deduct where this base was.

Time and patience, however, was a gift around here. Ring Man never knew when a police bot or a soldier from the Army would show up, and if he was caught by surprise it would be the end of him for certain. Although he was in a relatively quiet location at the moment, the surroundings told him that the RPD and the SA had been there not too long ago.

"Gotta keep going..." he told himself bitterly, taking a step forward, crushing the remain's of the corpse's skull beneath his foot.

--------------------

Ringman observed the streets looking for anything out of the ordinary. Other than the occasional stray RPD bot or Scissor Army Joe, however, he had little to work with.

"Man, this is so dull." Ring thought to himself. "I'd be happy if things weren't at least so darn quiet."

Just then, almost as if in divine answer to his wishful statement, he heard the sound of heavy metal coming from a radio a little ways off. It was distant, but still there.

"Wow, that was convenient." Ring said. He stopped and thought for a moment. "I'd also be happy if a bag of money landed right in front of me." He waited a moment to see if this would also be answered. "Oh, damn. Well, can't blame a guy for trying." He muttered as he set off to see the source of the noise.

Eventually he found the source of the heavy metal: a delivery truck with the Pepsi label on the side. At first, Ringman thought nothing of it, until he saw the driver.

"A Robot Master?" Ring said, noticing the distinct headdress of Tomahawkman. "What's he doing here?"

--------------------

Tomahawkman listened to the heavy metal pouring from the stereo of his truck as he examined the directions Blizzardman had given him. "He could have just said, 'Take a right on this street.'" He sighed.

He turned the keys in the ignition, starting up the engine and put it into gear. He looked around. "Look's like the coast is clear." Regdar said to himself as he was getting ready to pull away.

He looked in his side mirror and spied a stray dog. "Aw, little pooch." He said quietly.

The dog got up and walked into an ally-way. Regdar's eyes followed the dog, mildly interested in where he was going. As the dog entered the ally, however, Regdar's eyes met a much more interesting view, a pair of eyes looking back at him from around a corner.

"What the?" Regdar stared directly at whoever was following him. The face seemed surprised for a moment, and then darted back behind the corner accompanied by a barely audible, "Shit!"

Regdar put his hand to the side of his head and activated his com-link. "Blizzardman." He said calmly.

"Yes, Tomahawk?" The Russian voice on the other end replied.

"I think I'm being followed." Regdar explained.

On the other end, Blizzardman looked at his digital map. "Dammit," He muttered. "Don't let it get to you. Act casual and run the path I set up for you. Remember that you are a soda truck driver, not a terrorist."

"Ok, what if he tries to do something funny?" Regdar asked.

"I've misplaced my sense of humor today," Blizzardman's voice swept cold as ice through the com-link. "Kill him."

"Right." Regdar turned off the com-link.

--------------------

Ringman pressed his body up against the wall. "Shit!" He muttered to himself. "That guy's pretty big, too. What to do..." Ringman spied a broken rear-view mirror on top of a heap of trash in a dumpster close by. "Aha..." He smiled, taking the mirror and angling it to view around the corner. He saw the large Indian robot rolling up the window to the driver's side and take off.

"It's not much." Ring said softly as he began tailing the truck with increase caution. "But not much is better than not-at-all."

--------------------

As the large Pepsi truck pulled out onto the street, Ring Man inched back, not wanting to get caught again. He knew something was fishy from the moment he saw the truck. The driver looked especially out of place. Furthermore, it belonged to Pepsi--that alone was enough to warrant a closer inspection.

Still in the alley, Ring Man noticed an old, rusted ladder reaching the roof of one of the many tall buildings. Taking his chances, he jumped and grabbed the bar, feeling the flimsy metal bend under his impressive weight. Sweating (if he actually could), he lifted himself up, placing another hand on the bar above the first, until his foot finally rested in place. Letting out a sigh of relief, he gasped as the bottom bar finally gave in, snapping into two pieces. Falling, he tightened his grip on the bar he held and hanged on, feeling the next bar, while sturdier, also give in to the pressure. Not taking any more chances, he lunged for the next bar, and repeated the whole process until he made his way to the very top, exhausted.

Rebel knew, however, that his work was far from done, as he crouched slightly, not wanting to get spotted by any aerial enemies. He moved as quickly as could to the edge of the roof, and noticed the Pepsi truck still chugging it's way down the road, finally reaching a corner. Knowing he had to hurry, he checked to see the coast was clear and, not finding anything, raised up and started sprinting on the roof, leaping over any breaks between buildings.

Taking a glance at the truck, Ring Man watched it take a left. Perfect... he thought to himself as he too reached the end of the line, making a sharp turn to the left. Glad I picked the right side to climb...

This pace continued up until the next corner, when the truck continued going straight. Realizing that he could no longer keep up with him from above, Rebel got out the truck's line of sight and jumped off the building, landing on both feet as the pavement cracked beneath him, leaving two large imprints of where he stood. He then ran to the corner and took another peak at the truck, watching it move slowly but surely. Now came the tricky part... to follow behind it and pray to god that he didn't get caught.

All around him Ring Man heard the sounds of fighting. They were getting closer to the battle field.

--------------------

Regdar made his way through the streets until he found a large building with the letters "RPD" across the top. "Finally." He said with a sigh.

He looked around. "No sign of that weirdo." He said quietly as he drove to the loading bay. "I should be able to sneak into the back entrance." He said over the intercom.

"Don't get caught." Blizzardman reminded Tomahawk of the obvious.

"Yeah, yeah..." Tomahawkman waved it off.

Tomahawkman got out of the truck. Just then, an RPD officer was loitering around the building. "Hey, what's your business here?" He said gruffly.

"Uhh..." Tomahawk looked back at the truck. "I'm delivering soda for the machines here, duh?" He said plainly.

"Oh, yeah." He muttered, suddenly noticing how stupid it was to ask someone driving up in a Pepsi truck what they were doing driving up to the loading bay. "I'll open it up for you. You know, you look pretty weird for a delivery robot." He said suspiciously.

"Ah, that's because Pepsi is an equal-opportunity employer." Tomahawk said with a chuckle.

"And now that I think of it, we don't have Pepsi in the soda machines. It's Coke." He said, growing even more suspicious.

"Are you sure?" Tomahawk asked.

"I'm drinking it right now." Holding up the bright red soda can he had been sipping before the gunslinger drove up.

"Well, the soda machines are uh... under new management..." Tomahawk blurted the best response he could come up with.

"Under new management?" The guard asked, not very convinced at all.

"Yeah, just like how the rest of this base is under new management." Tomahawkman said menacingly.

"Wait, what the hell are you talkin-"

The guard never even saw what happened as Tomahawkman pulled out his trusted single-action army revolver. The bullet went straight through his skull right between his eyes. Regdar spun the revolver around several times, showing off his skill in gun-play, and holstered his gun before the guard, robbed of his ability to send brain impulses correctly, crumpled to the ground, convulsing slightly before dying. "Good thing Regulus installed one of those nifty noise-canceling speakers into the handle of the gun." He thought to himself.

Ringman was watching off in the distance. He shook his head after he realized the guard who was talking to his target had a bullet-hole appear in his forehead as though by magic. He rubbed his eyes. "Did I miss something?" He muttered. Then he saw Tomahawkman spinning his revolver around and finally holster it before the man slumped to the ground.

"Holy crap!" He gasped. "I DID miss something! He freaking shot the guy!"

Regdar reach into the pocket of his duster and pulled out two coins. "For the ferryman." He said as he flipped both coins with one action, landing them both perfectly on the dead man's eyelids. The guard had dropped a card key upon loosing his motor coordination. Tomahawkman picked it up. "Why thank you, mate." He said sardonically to the dead man as he slid the key card into the door panel, gaining entry to the base.

--------------------

Meanwhile, Blizzardman was sitting in the driver's side of his large white van, looking at a computer screen. "Now try and find as many research files as you can while you're planting those bombs, T. Hawk." He reminded.

Suddenly, Blizzardman heard a loud pounding on his window accompanied by a, "Get the hell out of the van, worm!" Blizzardman turned to the left and noticed a Scissor Joe was pointing a blaster at him. "You're not with us, and any robot who's not on our side is a potential threat!"

Blizzardman sighed and rolled down his window. "Could you please repeat that, comrade?" He asked as though he didn't hear.

"I said you're a potential threat to the Scissor Army." The Joe insisted.

"Oh, I think you're mistaken," Blizzardman said. "You see, I'm not a potential threat. I AM a threat!"

Blizzardman flung his driver door open so fast he sent the Scissor Joe flying several yards away from the van. He got out of the van, the bottom gaining several inches from the drastic decrease in weight. The Scissor Joe who had just now registered the fact he had been knocked on his hind quarters was now seething with anger at the insubordination shown to him. He aimed his gun at the large Robot Master.

"You're dead."

Blizzardman didn't even grace the peon with a comeback as he pulled one of the ski poles from his back and flung it like a javelin at the Scissor Joe. The ski pole lodged itself firmly into his buster, causing his arm to explode as he pulled the trigger. Another Scissor Joe, admittedly not the sharpest wit in the group, grabbed the wintry behemoth by his wrist. "You can come quietly, or making a bunch of racket as you rattle around in a box of scrap metal." He said, feeling clever at making a sadistic joke.
"Are you stupid?" Blizzardman spat at him. He grabbed the Scissor Joe's arm with his other free hand and torqued the whole arm clean off its socket. The Scissor Joe recoiled in pain, but he didn't have much time for nursing his injury as Blizzardman swatted his head clean off his shoulders with his own arm. The head slammed into another Scissor Joe who was, rather unfortunately, sitting on the railing around the building, assuming that he wasn't needed to put down a simple robot. The Joe lost his balance and plummeted four stories, creating a large crater in the sidewalk where he landed. The Joe next to the brave (Or more likely, ignorant) Scissor Joe freaked out upon seeing his partner receiving the baseball treatment and tried to run. Blizzardman grabbed him by his head.

"Going somewhere, comrade?" He asked.

The only thing the Joe could reply with was a frightened scream as the Russian robot hoisted him off the ground and gave him a devastating suplex, crushing the metal skull in the process. The two remaining Joes opened fire on Blizzardman, who just barely managed to sidestep the plasma shower. It hit his van instead, punching a decent-sized hole in its side.

"My van!" Blizzardman grunted. "You!"

Blizzardman thrust both of his palms forward and shot a furious blizzard from his snow generator, blanketing the entire floor in snowfall. The two Joes recoiled from the sudden precipitation and looked at their target again, only to find he was no longer there.

"Where'd he go?" One Joe asked the other.

"Beats me." The other shrugged.

Suddenly, one of the Scissor Joe's eye dilated. "He's..." He pointed behind his friend and sputtered."He's..."

"Huh?" The oblivious Joe looked confused. "He's what?"

"Right behind you." A voice cold as ice came from behind him.

Before he could react, Blizzardman picked up the Joe by the head and crushed it between his palms. He opened his hands, letting the lifeless metal slump to the ground. He stepped over the headless Joe and grabbed the other Joe by his head, hoisting him off the ground and shaking him violently back and forth until the metal plating in his neck snapped and his body was thrown from the head. He walked calmly over to the maimed Joe who was nursing the stub that used to be his buster arm. He glared at the Russian defiantly.

Blizzardman laughed. "You're quite the trooper, aren't you, comrade?"

"Go to hell!" The Joe spat at him.

"You first." He placed his right hand on the Joe's left shoulder. "While you're there, why don't you cancel my reservations at the front desk. I won't be needing them." He placed his left hand on the right side of the Joe's helmet while sliding his right hand onto the left side of his helmet and snapped his head neatly off his shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere for a long time." He said calmly. He replaced his ski pole to its resting spot on his back. "Five Scissor Joe frames." He smiled. Not a bad way to get parts." He piled the Joes into the back of the van. "I'll have T. Hawk hot wire a car and he can follow me with that." He reasoned a method to carry the extra weight.

--------------------

“This is boring. Almost like a game… an easy one at that.” Mystery Man thought, as he stood atop a skyscraper, his cape moving wildly with the wind. The city had already been partially leveled by the Ascendant Androids. All that was left was to take over, and one of the most technologically advanced cities in the world, would belong to the mighty Scissor Army.

Deep inside him, Mystery Man knew he didn’t give a damn about utopia. He just wanted to prove himself useful, so the General would reward him in return. For now, he was just glad this was an easy job.

He had been observing the RPD fight Wily’s minions, successfully wiping out considerable portions of each others armies, while SA casualties had yet to happen. “I bet everyone is wondering where we are…” Mystery though.

His strategy was working: while his Joes were cleansing the land of the few human survivors in all the residential areas, the cops were too busy fighting Wily for the City’s control. SA troops were still at their fullest, while the others were hastily decreasing. When the time came, Mystery man would make his move, removing whatever remaining pests would stand in his way to the RPD’s main HQ.

For now, he waited, and waited some more, watching the battle develop… until he spied a peculiar phenomena occur off in the distance at a parking garage. "What the?" He muttered as he looked closer. The whole fourth floor had shot snow from its edges and the escaped powder had fallen in a neat ring around the building. "That's intriguing." He said quietly. Things were about to get a tad more interesting. "I believe I sent a small party to investigate that building." He thought to himself out loud.
He tuned into the proper com-link frequency. "What's your status report?"

--------------------

In the building, one of the functioning Scissor Joe com-links was going off. Blizzardman picked it up. "Unit 475. What is your status report?" The voice demanded.

"Your party has unfortunately run into some bad weather." Blizzardman said casually. "And you owe me a new van."

"What?" The voice sputtered in being shown such insolence. "How dare you!"

"Your pitiful soldiers shot up my van, it's only fair." Blizzard said coldly.

"I'll show you what happens to those who dare to show ME such disregard." Mysteryman spat.

"They find it amusing?" Blizzardman guessed in a scathing tone. "I'm amused."

"Why you little-" Was all Mystery man got out before Blizzard crushed the com-link in his hand, causing the conversation to end with static.

--------------------

Taking a moment on what to do next, Ring Man noticed the Indian-theme robot pick something off the ground, possibly belonging to the officer. He was still in a state of shock from what had happened to the poor guy, especially so given the fact that it all happened so quickly. Whoever this robot was, he knew he had to watch out for.

At that time Rebel took another peek and noticed that the door to the back was opening. Taking a chance, he crouched and walked as fast as he could to the side of the Pepsi truck facing away from the building without detection. From there Rebel continued watching the robot as he stepped through the door as it slowly closed shut behind him. With the coast clear, he stood up and walked over to the door himself, inspecting it.

"Ah, damn... need a card key," Rebel muttered to himself, rubbing his chin. "He must've gotten his from the guard."

Not knowing what to do, he decided to head back and find another way. As he walked away from the scene, however, another officer appeared.

"Hey, Harry, it's time to switch..." he said blearily, rubbing his eyes before taking a good look at the scene: A dead Harry and one robot.

Before Ring Man could even take a step the officer turned and started calling for backup. Immediately three police bots came onto the scene, circling the rogue communist in an orderly fashion.

"Hey, you... you scum!" the officer yelled. "Surrender yourself now if you know what's good for you!"

"Hey, hey, easy there, officer!" Ring Man threw his arms up in an innocent gesture. "I know what you are thinking, and you are probably not going to believe me anyway, but I swear to you that this isn't my fault. Someone else did it!"

"Oh yeah? And just where is the real culprit?"

"He... um... went inside the base?"

The officer gave the robot a skeptical look, not sure whether to believe his words or not. Although in the end he supposed it did not matter much, as he had three police bots watching their target well, so he probably could go and see if this other person did in fact exist.

"All right... I'm gonna go report this matter to the boss. You stay right there and don't do anything funny--Or else they'll shoot!" he warned before he bolted away.

Rebel shrugged his shoulders and sighed. Did he honestly think he was going to just stand here and wait for the guillotine to come crashing down on him? Well, whatever makes you sleep at night, I suppose.

Eying his capturers carefully, he knew that it was going to be tricky coming out unscathed, but who even cared at this point? He was going to wing it.

Pulling a ring out, the police bots quickly lifted their buster cannons up, unsure of what was going to happen. Ring Man charged at the one to the right of him, bashing his ring right across the side of it's face, causing it go flying off the ground and into the nearby wall with a crunch. The two remaining 'bots opened fire in response, releasing hot plasma on their prey. Strafing, Rebel felt a beam graze his arm, causing him to wince slightly as he he faced the next closest target. The fellow robot leaped back, knowing to avoid the ring at all cost, but did not expect for it to be thrown like a boomerang, crashing into the side of it's midsection, cleaving it into two pieces. Catching the ring, Rebel turned to face his last companion.

The two stared off in a classic showdown, waiting for the other to slip up and make a move. Scrunching his eyes, Ring Man focused all of his energy into this one moment, until he saw the police bot's foot twitch, forcing him to charge forward. The police bot fired his blaster as Ring Man deflected the shot with his ring, taking his fist and punching the foe straight in the face, watching as the metal split from his surprising force. The robot, it's systems deactivating, slumped to the floor with minimal effort.

Taking a deep breath of relief, Ring Man inspected his hand and noticed how his knuckles seemed to be busted open from the impact. So that's why I use rings to fight with... Shaking the thought from his mind, he decided that it was now or never--his cover was already blown, so he might as well go all out now. Running up to the door that he had inspected earlier, he took his ring and jammed it into the card key console, causing it to malfunction and the door to click in response. Then, putting his ring away, he grabbed the door and forced it open, revealing the inside to him. Releasing his grasp, he stepped inside and prepared himself once more.

It was time to make a house call.

--------------------

BlizzardMan had one foot on already inside his van, but he suddenly felt like he was being watched. Slowly stepping back, he ignited his snow generator… at least 30 Joes from the Scissor Army were surrounding him. Apparently, the man he had just insulted through the com-link, had taken it a bit too seriously…

--------------------

“Damned Cossacker…” MysteryMan thought to himself as he looked through a pair of digital binoculars. He had already guessed the identity of his target, and that duplicated his anger. If there was something he hated more than being insulted, it was being insulted by some ally of Cossack’s.

This however, could prove to be his doom, since he had abandoned his advantageous watching spot to follow a personal vendetta. His ego was too big, but he still had a certain degree of reasoning when angered. Even though he had partially abandoned his immediate objective for a more trivial one, he would measure the strength he put into it by only sending a small portion of the robotic army he was in charge of commanding.

“Thirty Joes ought to do it.” He thought to himself. “If they fail, I will strike without hesitation and this will be settled in less than a minute.” Part of him wanted compensation for the Cossacker’s insult, but he was also eager to test his new SA upgrades… the General was a generous man after all.

--------------------

"I'm wondering if the frailty of one's ego is directly proportional to the size of it..." Blizzardman thought to himself looking at the slowly advancing Scissor Joes. He grabbed the only important items out of his van: his laptop, and his trench coat which had taken off while driving. He put the laptop into his coat pocket, as the coat was large enough to hold entire laptops, and began slowly backing towards the ledge.

"Now, gentleman." He said calmly, perhaps there is some reasonable agreement we can come to-"

Blizzardman stopped short as he bumped into the railing and fell over the edge of the 4th floor. The two Scissor Joes in the front (They appeared to be the leaders in the group, shook their heads at one another.

"Mysteryman went a little overboard sending these many units." One said to the other. "We didn't even have to fire a shot."

One of the Joes walked over to the ledge to admire the crater his foe had made. Instead, he found a pair of glowing ice-blue eyes glaring back at him. Blizzardman had stabbed his ski pole into the side of the wall, and was now hanging from the sturdy rod. Before he could react, Blizzardman drove his other ski pole through his skull and yanked him over the ledge. The other Joes rushed to the ledge to find nothing over the ledge. Blizzardman had dislodged his pole and caught the ledge of the third floor, hoisting himself up to the ground. He salvaged the com link from the pierced Scissor Joe skull.

"Do you think this is a game, boy?" Blizzardman said calmly through the receiver.

"BOY?!" Mysteryman spat. "Don't flatter yourself. I'm sure this is life or death for you, but I assure you this is but a game to me."

"Oh, you must like games then, comrade." Blizzardman said in a mock-friendly way. "Have you ever played Jenga?"

"What?" Mysteryman asked, confused at the seeming non-sequitor remark.

"It's that game where you try to keep the tower from falling on your move." Blzzardman explained.

"Of course I've played Jenga before!" Mysteryman said, frustrated.

"Well, you just lost." Blizzardman said, walking over to a support pillar. He slammed his fist into the pillar with earth-shattering force, causing the support beam to crumble. He pick up a car that was close by and threw it at a support column close by, causing the building to further weaken.

Mysteryman watched as the 3rd floor of the building appeared to cave in, then the floors on top of it came crashing down, leveling the building. "Fool." He said quietly. "No one can stand up to the awesome might of the Scissor Army, especially when they have me!"

"You still owe me a new van, comrade." An ice-cold voice declared rather calmly.

"What?!" Mystery was furious that he had lost that many Joes and still hadn't met the goal he had in sending them out.

"I've been sitting here, minding my own business, comrade." he continued. "And you come and try to kill me. I don't see why you're angry. If I came and tried to kill you, you'd fight back, wouldn't you? Not that it would help. I'm sure by the way you talk you're not the one who actually does his own fighting."

"I'll have you know I'm an excellent warrior!" Mysteryman retorted.

"Then prove it." Blizzardman shut off the com link.

--------------------

The clang of robotic steps could be heard on the distance. BlizzardMan was still alert, and he didn’t expect the SA boss, whoever he was, to make such a frontal approach. As the figure came closer, Blizzard noticed it was no enemy, it was his own comrade: TomahawkMan.

“What happened?!” Dropping his defence stance, he immediately asked.

“Bad news…” Tomahawk said, still panting. “They caught me off guard, but I managed to escape.”

“What? Wait, are you sure you’re not being follo…” BlizzardMan was interrupted by the sound of a dozen marching steps. A whole platoon was coming from the same direction Tomahawk had arrived. To his surprise, the man commanding the platoon was none other than his close friend Zymeth. But that wasn’t it… immediately behind him, were Cossack’s Comrades, looking rather morbid.

“Blizzard…” SkullMan/Zymeth spoke, coming to a halt. “I’m sorry, but it seems we’ve become enemies in this war. The General won’t stand for me to ally with no one other than himself.”

BlizzardMan was in shock, he certainly didn’t expect his friend to change sides so quickly. Just then, another close friend spoke up. “Come on Blizzard, you can join us too.” ToadGal stepped forward to make the invitation. However, BlizzardMan noticed something on closer inspection… the CC were not their usual selves. They had scars and missing limbs, and their faces were lifeless. He immediately guessed what was going on.

“You miserable bastard…” Blizzard cursed at Zymeth. “How dare you turn her into one of your zombies?”

Zymeth just chuckled, and someone else spoke in his behalf. “She’s not the only one, Blizzard.” A zombified TomahawkMan had positioned himself behind BlizzardMan, with his axe just a few inches from slicing him…

--------------------

Blizzardman shifted his body to cushion the blow, allowing the tomahawk to glance off his shoulder plate. He felt a sharp pain as it scraped him. He grabbed his now-undead friend by his wrist and began rotating his upper body, spinning his attacker around faster and faster, creating a white blur. His targeting computer targeted a destination, and Blizzardman launched Tomahawk into a telephone-pole, denting his friend's back where the pole hit him.

"I'm sorry, friend." He wispered. "Zymeth. How could you?"

"In order for my plan to work," Zymeth said. "You need to die. I'm sorry."

"If your plans matter more than your friends," Blizzardman growled. "Then I have no choice but to destroy you!"

He charged at Skullman, but Brightbabe, rather, a horrid aberration resembling Brightbabe, interfered using her Flash Stopper to blind him.

Blizzardman cursed under his breath. "How dare you?!" He shouted. He felt teeth sink into his shoulder.

"Come on, Blizzard." He heard Toadgal ask softly. "We'll all be together if you just join us..."

"Not her..." Blizzard thought to himself. "Not Zapper..." He reached for her, but his frame wouldn't let him get a decent grip on his assailant. He shook himself violently, but Toadgal held on tight.

"Please don't make this longer than necessary, friend." Zymeth pleaded. He shot an energy blast at his large Russian friend.

Blizzardman was starting to adjust to the Flash Stopper, and was able to see the blast hurtling towards him. He shifted himself to allow the blast to hit Toadgal. The shot pierced right through her, his armor absorbing a part of the blow as well.

"No!" Blizzardman looked on Toadgal's mangled body. "I thought the blow would just hurt her... I didn't think it'd kill her... It's... it's all my fault... I killed her..."

Brightbabe was charging another Flash Stopper.

"YOU!" He shouted. He pulled back his fist and smashed it through Brightbabe's lightbulb.

Bright stumbled to the ground from the ferocity of the blow, glass shards from her bulb littering the floor. Diveman charged at Blizzardman, attempting to rush him while he was busy with Brightbabe. Blizzardman reached down and grabbed Brightbabe by the ankle as she tried to crawl away from combat and whipped her at Dive, who caught the blow strait in the chest, causing him to break the attack. Blizzardman launched himself into the stunned Diveman, forcing him to the ground and pinning his chest to the ground under his enormous weight. He placed both hands on his skull and began forcing pressure, attempting to cave it in with the force from his palms. He suddenly felt a sharp pain on his back, causing him to turn around to see Ringman, who had just given him a decent cut with his ring blades.

Blizzardman grabbed Diveman by his shoulders and stood up, allowing him to yank Diveman up from under him. "DIE!" He shouted as he swung Diveman around, slamming his large body into Ringman, sending both of them flying into the nearest building.

Dustman shot a clump of debris at Blizzardman. Blizzardman had heard that the debris explodes on contact from Toadgal, and he fired his blizzard attack at the clump in order to freeze the detonator. The furious snow cooled the package just as it slammed into the massive robot, harmlessly crashing at his feet. He picked it up.
"It's for you!" He pitched it back at Dustman, the block of ice-cold debris slamming deep into his chest, flooring him in a single shot.

Pharaohman shot a fiery orb at Blizzardman in response. Blizzard wasn't able to react in time, and it hit him square in the chest, damaging his armor plating.

"That was fire-based." Blizzard thought. "That should have killed me."

The force was impressive, regardless, as Blizzardman was knocked down by the blast.

"You should just give up." Zymeth taunted Blizzardman. "You can't win. Look."

Blizzardman glanced at all of his enemies. They were slowly getting up. Even Toadgal was being pieced back together by dark magic.

"I've failed everyone..." Blizzardman thought to himself in sorrow. "I couldn't protect those who meant so much to me. I deserve to die..."

--------------------

Ringman lurked through the base, avoiding the dim-witted and underpaid guards who cared so little about their job they were waiting until the end of the day so they could punch out and go home.

"I need to find that guy and find out what he's up to, then stay away from him." Ring said softly as he rounded a corner.

He ducked into a darkened room and hid behind a stack of delivery packages. He heard ome rustling from the other corner of the room. He looked over to the source of the noise and saw the Indian Robot Master from earlier placing a package of explosives into a cardboard box that was resting near a stack in the corner.

He saw the door open quietly, and a RPD officer walked through the door. "FREEZE!" He shouted at the Robot Master.

The robot muttered, "Shit..." and put his hands up. "Listen, can we talk?" He asked.

"What's that?" The guard demanded.

"Oh, that?" Tomahawk asked. "You don't want to know what that is..."

"Looks like he's in trouble..." Ring thought to himself. "Maybe I should help him. We're trying to take down the same base, after all." He jumped out from behind the boxes. "Hey, dirtbag!" He shouted at the guard.

"What the?!" The guard turned to face Ringman.

The slight distraction was all Tomahawkman needed. He dropped his hand to his holster and planted a bullet in the guard's skull. Ring jumped, once again seeing a guard dropped so quickly. The Indian gunslinger immediately pointed his revolver at him.

"Freeze!" He said quickly.

"I'm trying to help you." Ring said. "I'm with Wily. I want these guys dead the same as you."

"Prove it." Tomahawkman demanded.

Ringman pointed to the giant W on his chest plate.

"Oh." Regdar said, noticing the obvious. "How do I know you won't back-stab me?"

"You've got to trust me." Ring said. "I helped you with that guard."

"I'm going to see what Blizzard thinks." Tomahawkman put his hand up to the side of his head, activating the com link.

--------------------

Blizzardman was woken out of his despair by a com-link call.

"Who is this?" He asked.

"Blizzard, it's T. Hawk." Regdar explained. "I'm in the HQ with Ringman. He wants to work with us, but he also works for Wily. Should we trust him?"

Blizzardman looked at the undead figures of Tomahawkman and Ringman. "You're... at the base?" He asked, confused.

"Yeah, where else would I be?" Tomahawk sounded frustrated.

"Have you said your prayers, my unfortunate friend?" Zymeth asked. He was perched on a lamp post.

"I'll call you back, T. Hawk. I think you can trust Ringman, just don't let him walk behind you." He said as he turned off his com-link. "Zymeth." Blizzardman asked. "What's my real name?"

"Huh?" Skullman looked confused. He thought for a moment. "You never told me. You never tell anyone."

"Come now, comrade." Blizzardman looked like he was starting to enjoy himself. "You of all people know my most secret of names. Surely you wouldn't care about concealing it now. Tell everyone here who I really am!"

Skullman looked concerned.

"Hold on. What's YOUR name, comrade?" Blizzardman asked.

"Uh, Zymeth." Skullman stuttered.

"Your first name, comrade." Blzzardman specified.

Mysteryman stood on top of the pole, shaking. "Dammit! Zymeth never told me his first name!" He stood silent for a while. "That's a trick question!" He said finally. "I don't have a first name!"

"Congratulations," Blizzardman said with a laugh. "Let's see what you won!"

The last thing Mysteryman saw was Blizzardman put his hands up and then everything was blurred by a thick blizzard, blanketing his glass helmet in white snow, completely whiting out his vision.

"Just as I thought." Blizzardman would have been smiling if he had a mouth to smile with. "It's just illusions." The thick snow had distorted the light from Mysteryman's illusions so greatly that the only shapes that could be made out were the ones next to the blurry Skullman, and they were hard to make out.

Blizzardman walked over to the telephone pole where Mysteryman was trying to wipe the snow off of his glass dome frantically. He slammed his fist into the pole. Mysteryman lost his balance and fell down. Blizzardman caught him, and started shaking him violently. As the blizzard died down, Mysteryman saw the large Russian as he shook the snow off his helmet. He stopped shaking him and brought him inches from his face, his eyes casting a light blue glow on his face.

"You've damaged me." Cold air was crawling over his massive frame. Mysteryman's helmet began to fog. "You'll be lucky if you escape with your life."

"As a personal favor, could you avoid hitting me in the face?" Mysteryman pleaded.

"Request denied." Blizzardman said calmly, although Mysteryman could almost feel the raw hatred pouring from his vents, as though the cool air was his captor's malice rolling from his inner emotions.

--------------------

Regdar, who had finished communicating to Blizzard, removed his hand from his com link and let out a small sigh. He had no idea if this guy would end up stabbing him in the back or...

"Hey, were you that guy following me earlier?" he suddenly asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, that was me," Rebel shrugged the question off like it was a normal thing to do. "Thanks, by the way--I never would have gotten here if it wasn't for that horrid Pepsi truck of yours."

"Right, right... let's just get this over with," Tomahawk shook his head.

The large Indian robot turned and walked over to the backpack that was lying next to the cardboard box he had filled with explosives. Silently he picked it up and tossed it at Ring Man, who caught it with a dumbfounded look. The other robot sighed once more.

"That bag is filled with C4..." he whispered. "So be--"

"HOLY CRAP!!" Ring Man freaked and dropped the bag.

"...Quiet."

"Sorry... You shouldn't be throwing bags full of explosives at people, anyway."

"Oh, just shut up and follow me!"

The two Robot Masters silently continued their expedition throughout the base, placing bombs everywhere that was outlined, undetected. As they carefully moved down toward one hallway, however, an interesting conversation came up.

"Say, Ring Man," Regdar piped up.

"Hm?"

"You were made by Cossack, weren't you? So why are you with Wily?"

The red robot was silent, deciding not to answer. It wasn't that he did not want anyone to know his reasons, but he felt that if he were to reveal them at this point then... something would be lost. His meaning, perhaps. Whatever the reason, he chose to continue the silent treatment. Regdar only nodded silently, realizing what was going on. The two entered a room: A meeting room.

As the two placed the last of the C4 in the corner of the conspicuously empty meeting room, Tomahawk decided it was time to reveal the second part of his plan to Ring.

"All right, now before we go blowing this place to kingdom come, we have to locate a computer mainframe that I can hack into. Once I do that I can find some research files that Cossack could possibly use in this war."

"Hmm..." Rebel rubbed his chin sagely. "Would the computer being used in here work?" He pointed at a small computer that was built in at the end of the meeting board's table, so the chief could access anything of importance in case of presentations and the like.

"It could work. Lemme see..."

Cracking his knuckles, Regdar sat down and started typing away, until he came to a blue screen.

"Password?"

"How about donuts?"

"...You serious?"

"Does this face show that of a kidder?" Ring Man leaned uncomfortably close to Regdar.

"F-fine, I'll try it, but if we get caught it's all your fault."

Entering the password, Tomahawk slowly pushed the Enter key, finding to his relief that it was in fact the password. He then jerked his head back at Rebel, confused as to how he could have known it was so simple.

"Hey... cops love their donuts," Rebel shrugged. "Even robotic cops."

"...Right."

Regdar continued typing away until multiple screens popped up everywhere, revealing various information. Some were notes, others blueprints, and others were journal logs.

"Heh, if I was Pirate Man I'd say we have just found us some booty," Tomahawk snickered. "All right, time to copy and transfer all of this to my jump drive."

"Hey... is there any possible way that I could get a file of that too?" Ring Man spoke up, shifting his eyes slightly.

"And give it to Wily? No way, he's an enemy!"

"C'mon, I helped you get this far!"

"Oh, this far? You mean surprising that guard long enough so I could shoot him in the head?"

"I helped plant the C4!"

"Yeah, and I thank you for that. But really, I could have done it all on my own. You just helped speed things up."

"But... I still helped!" Rebel yelled out off the top of his lungs, getting aggravated.

"Shh, quiet you fool!" Regdar motioned by putting his finger up to his mouth. "If you keep yelling like that someone will eventually realize that people are sneaking around!"

"Pfft, not like it matters, anyway..."

"W-what do you mean?"

"I already told the RPD that you were sneaking around a long time ago."

"You WHAT!?"

As if on cue an alarm went off, causing the entire base to flash red, as a loud whooping sound resonated throughout the halls. Suddenly, the sounds of police bots could be heard, rushing to the location of the robots. In a matter of seconds the doors flew open and the room was filled with robots, with several human officers behind them. The unlikely pair of robots found themselves surrounding, with only the wall behind them.

"Surrender yourself!" an officer among the horde of bots called out. "If you do, we will make certain that no harm will come to you!"

"Like Hell you will!" Regdar spat out, then turned to Rebel. "You... this is all your fault!"

"My fault? Well excuuuuse me, princess," Rebel said sarcastically, waving him off. "Listen, I have a plan to fix this mess."

"Oh yeah? And just what is that?"

"It involves something that Dr. Wily had given me right before I was sent to Nonsteropolis... if you could hand me that jump drive of yours, please, then I will be more than happy to show you."

Although he did not want to relinquish the device that contained the precious data for his mission, Tomahawk was slightly curious as to what this Cossack-turned-Wily bot could do. Pulling the jump drive out of the computer, he hesitantly handed it to Ring Man, who stared at it momentarily, before clutching it tightly.

"All right... Now for phase two of my plan..." Rebel suddenly bolted to the wall, with a large ring in one hand, as he slammed the flat side of it against the wall, pressing it as hard as he could. The ring suddenly started to spin rapidly, until it slowly but surely began eating away at the wall it was against. After a few moments the ring had gone through the wall completely, creating a nice sized hole--an opening. Rebel turned to face Regdar. "Sorry, but I've gotta jet."

"H-huh!?" the robot stammered, caught off guard at what was happening. He never knew Ring Man had such an ability! "Where do you..."

Before he could even finish, Rebel leaped through the hole to the other side, in a hallway leading to the exit. Grabbing the piece of metal that he had sawed through, he slammed it back in place, covering the hole. Although it wouldn't hold for long... it was enough to get him the heck outta there. Hopefully those RPD goons would stall him long enough while he made his leave.

Running as fast as he could to the exit, he realized that he had back stabbed what could have been considered a former ally and friend. But hey, he was certain things would work out fine. He would deliver the data to Wily, and Regdar would still blow this ugly base to smithereens. Everything worked well with him. Everything.

--------------------

Regdar looked at the guards. "Shit..." He muttered. He held up the detonator. "NOBODY MOVE!" He yelled.

"What makes you think you're in a position to make demands?" The lead officer replied.

"I have a remote detonator." He replied. "And this whole building is wired to this detonator!"

The humans in the group grew pale. The robots just looked back to their masters, concerned.

"I think you're bluffing." One brave soul stuttered.

"Ok, then I guess you won't mind if I press this button." Tomahawk said calmly, putting pressure on the button. Everyone lurched forward.

Regdar smiled. "Thank you so much gentleman for caring so much about your miserable lives. I value mine a good deal, myself. Now..." He logged off the computer and unplugged the modem. "I'd like to have an escort out of here."

The officers begrudgingly walked Regdar out of the building, the robot carrying the computer modem with him. Regdar pressed the button, causing the Pepsi panels to fall down, revealing the Scissor Army logo in all its brilliance on the sides of the vehicle.

"The Scissor Army thanks you for your cooperation, and your fear." Regdar said ask he threw the computer into the truck. He placed a foot inside the truck. "Gentleman," he began. "You shall always remember this as the day you ALMOST caught Regdar Khrast!" He waved to them and started the truck. He drove off smiling to himself. "And now for the finish." He said, pressing the button, wiping out the RPD HQ and the adjacent buildings. "Just have to make sure this truck is found near the bombing site." Regdar said as he floored th accelerator and direct the truck at a telephone pole. Regdar grabbed the computer and jumped from the truck just in time as the truck smashed into the pole, coming to a stop. "Blizzard is going to be so happy with me." Regdar bounded off from the crash site with excitement. "I'll call him right now."

--------------------

"Had enough?" Blizzardman asked Mysteryman. He had smashed his glass dome and had crumpled his metal skull into a horrible mess.

"P-p-please!" Mysteryman begged. His voice was distorted through his altered mouth, so his pleading sounded like gibberish.

"I don't understand you, comrade!" Blizzard said with absolutely no emotion in his voice. "Speak like a normal person. I'll stop if you can ask intelligibly."

Mysteryman tried as hard as he could to say, "Please don't hurt me." but all he could manage was, "Plek dun hurg nuh."

"Shame." Blizzardman said calmly, then slammed his fist into Mysteryman's face again.

Much to Mysteryman's relief, Blizzardman's com-link went off. He held Mysteryman by his cape collar and activated his com-link with his free hand. "Yes?" Blizzardman asked.

"Ring double-crossed me." Regdar said. "But I got a whole computer, and everything went roughly according to plan."

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." Regulus thought to himself. "Well, it was to be expected, he betrayed his own comrades, after all."

"I guess you're right." Regdar replied.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," Blizzardman said calmly. "I must murder someone in a way befitting my extreme hatred for him."

"I'll leave you two alone then." Regdar said with a laugh.

Blizzardman turned off his com link and looked down at Mysteryman to find Mysteryman's cape and an obvious lack of it's wearer. "That little..."

Meanwhile, Mysteryman stumbled into a group of Scissor Joes. He went up to one and started shaking him while trying to speak.

"Er, Commander, I don't understand." He said awkwardly.

Mysteryman shook his hands in a furious rage and began to gesturing dramatically.

"Oh, I love this game!" The Joe clapped his hands together. Mysteryman began trying to tell him that he needed something to write on. "First word... three syllables..."

--------------------

The building collapsed on it's self, followed by several others next to it as Ring Man watched with intensity in the distance. Although no one could see it because of his helmet, he had a large grin spread across his face.

Strike one for the good guys... he thought to himself, but then realized his error. Wait... I'm with Wily now... can't exactly call this a victory in the name of justice, now can I?

Deciding not ponder on that disturbing fact any longer, the rebel turned his head to view the battle below. Due to the unexpected end of their HQ, the RPD forces had started to scramble about aimlessly in panic, making them easy targets for the Scissor Army and Wily's robots. Unfortunately, this resulted in a battle against those two sides, and the Scissor Army was far stronger, easily overpowering the majority of the units. Even a spectator with no knowledge of what was going on could tell you who was going to win...

"Welp, guess it's time I hit the road. These foot soldiers are dead meat, so I'll just leave 'em here and hope that they somehow make a comeback. Who knows? They might just surprise us," Ring Man thought aloud.

Turning his back, he hopped off the building and started walking away from the scene, being careful of any stragglers. He decided to take his time heading back to the base by walking on foot rather than teleporting, as he did so coming there as well. Wily's base was relatively close, anyway. In about two hours he made it back, whistling some mindless tune in his head.

Inside the notorious Skull Castle, Ring Man headed to Wily's lab, where he was repairing various robots.

"Yo, Wily," Rebel called out. He had gotten used to be pretty relaxed around the old fart, no thanks to the Warriors.

The doctor turned and furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you doing here, you fool!? I sent you to Nonsteropolis with an entire army at your disposal! Last I heard, we were being crushed over there, and here you are, strolling like you own the place!"

"Hey, hey!" he waved his arms frantically. "Don't get mad at me. Look, the truth is is that the Scissor Army had the advantage in the battle. They outnumbered us thanks to the RPD also assisting."

"Humph, so you came back like a sniveling little--"

"Look, if it makes you any happier, I did manage to take out the RPD's HQ stationed there."

Wily stopped in his tracks and faced Rebel. "Oh really?"

"Yeah, found some guy on Cossack's side trying to blow the place up. So I followed him for a while and..." Ring Man pulled out Regdar's jump drive. "I got this."

"A... jump drive?"

"This thing belonged to the Cossacker. He uploaded important data regarding the RPD. Now that we've got this and the base is gone, it is probably rather valuable, methinks."

"So you just took it from him? Just like that?" Wily started smiling evilly.

Rebel shrugged. "Well, yeah. Not like he's gonna use it or anything. I ditched that kid with the RPD. Although he is probably still alive, seeing as how he was the one with the detonator and the headquarters went bye-bye."

"I see..."

"But yeah, don't let it get to you, Wily. So what if Nonsteropolis has fallen to the Scissor Army? The world is a big place, and in due time I'm sure we'll be able to make up for our loss. Not only that but the RPD will surely be reeling from their losses today, so overall I would say that while the objective of capturing the city failed, the rewards are priceless."

"...Very well. Let me see that," Wily reached over and took the jump drive. After making a quick inspection, he placed it in his coat pocket and started to walk away. "I will view it's contents when I get the chance. Right now I have to fix some of these worthless dolts up."

Rebel scratched his head as he realized he was pretty banged up, too. Although he had kept most of the fighting to a minimum, his hand was mangled pretty bad and he had a few open wounds on his body. He would have to get it checked up on. First though, he was going to go to the kitchen and find a nice, cold can of Coke. Today was definitely a good day.

--------------------

Regulus sat in his room in Cossack's base. He had hung up Mysteryman's cloak as a trophy in his room. He sighed, a little dismayed he wasn't able to bring back a mangled metal frame to mount on his wall. He got up and began strolling the base. Dr. Cossack met up with him.

"Blizzardman." The fellow Russian flagged down the large robot.

"Comrade Cossack?" Blizzardman replied.

"I heard there was a bombing at Nonsteropolis." He said concerned. "I was just checking to see if you were ok."

"I appreciate your undying concern, Doctor." Blizzardman said. "The SA bombed the RPD HQ. So many casualties..." Blizzardman sounded saddened at the thought of all the officers who had died in the explosion. "But what's done can't be undone... All I hope is that the Scissor Army will pay for what they've done."

"Indeed." Cossack agreed.

"But now is not the time for sorrow, comrade." Blizzardman changed the subject. "As a matter of fact, you should be happy. I bring you a gift."

"Hmm?" Cossack was interested.

"This disk." Blizzardman held up the item in question. "It belonged to the HQ that was bombed."

"What were you doing there?" Cossack asked.

"Admiring my handiwork..." Blizzard thought to himself. "I was salvaging useful things. Like that drive you have. It contains very important information concerning the shutdown code. We might find a counter-code."

"That'd be nice..." Cossack responded quietly.

"I need to take care of some details, Doctor." Blizzardman said. "I'll see you around."

"Thanks, Comrade." Cossack called after him.

"Always happy to help a fellow Russian!" Blizzardman waved back as he left.

--------------------

Zymeth walked slowly through the citadel, musing over the scenes of horror with a smile. Suddenly, the dim light was illuminated by light blue light. He spun around to find a gigantic Russian staring at him.

"Blizzard!" Zymeth jumped, slightly caught of guard. "It's nice to see you again."

"I'm sure I'm much more relieved that you." Blizzardman replied cryptically. "Come with me."

Blizzardman led Zymeth to his room. "Now no one will overhear us." He said confidently.

"How?" Zymeth asked. "It's no different from any other room here."

"I modified the security protocols." Blizzardman said with pride. "Nothing can eavesdrop on us here."

"What's with the cape?" Zymeth asked noticing Mysteryman's flowing cape.

"A souvenir." Blizzard said. "Allow me to explain."

Blizzardman filled Zymeth in on the battle.

"And he couldn't even remember my first name?" Zymeth said in disbelief. "What an ass."

"I know." Blizzardman went on. "He even had the gall to ask me not to hit him in the face."

"Did you do it anyway?" Zymeth leaned forward.

"Of course." Blizzardman said plainly.

"Good man." Zymeth replied. "I cut off a clown's hands."

"Sounded like fun." Blizzardman said.

"Oh, and we used some guy's hands to manipulate a datapad." Zymeth added with glee. "It was brilliant. They only respond to DNA, and we had the DNA with us, so why waste a good set of hands?"

"Always resourceful." Blizzardman chuckled. "In a sick and highly demented way, but resourceful nonetheless."

"How come you're about the only one not disgusted by my warped sense of humor?" Zymeth wondered aloud.

"Perhaps it's because I lack feeling." Blizzardman replied.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Regulus opened it. Toadgal stood in the doorway. "Hey, Reg." She smiled at the large robot.

"Zapper." Blizzardman immediately dropped to a knee so he could be at eye-level with her. She hugged the giant Russian, or rather, tried to, as his girth was so immense she couldn't get her arms around him.

"I'm glad you're ok." She said, relieved.

"So am I..." Blizzardman said quietly, remembering the fight with Mysteryman.

"You lack feeling, do you?" Zymeth snickered at his friend as he got up from his chair.

"I'll send up T. Hawk, too." Zymeth said as he left. "So you can be sure that I didn't turn him into a zombie, either." He walked down the hallway, laughing hysterically at the thought of raising Cossack's Comrades against Blizzardman.

--------------------

December 3rd, 20XX
07:00 AM

MysteryMan had just gotten out of the repair bay at the Scissor Army’s outpost near the city. He had been there all night long, getting repaired from the beating he earned the night before. His pride was the only thing left scarred, however.

Now, he was surveying the city… their city. The SA had taken over the city hall and all other government buildings. Even all the military outposts had been taken over by them.

The local RPD HQ had been bombed by some impersonator (Mystery’s best guess pointed towards the Cossackers), but the people that survived the onslaught were still trying to make a run for it. Still, it wouldn’t be long before they were crushed under the heavy foot of the Scissor Army. By now they were probably attempting to teleport away to one of their multiple headquarters around the world.

After issuing commands to his troops, he walked into the city hall, where one of the General’s new offices was located. He ordered his escorts to remain outside when he approached the doors to the office, and he stood there for a few seconds, doubting what would become of him after this meeting.

Would the General see this as a success or as a failure? On one hand, he had managed to take control of the city, but it was already in bad shape when he intervened. So it was not a difficult task, especially after Ascendant Androids.

And on the other hand, he got personally beaten by one of the enemy factions… one that they considered the war’s underdog.

Deciding to face whatever the General had in store for him, MysteryMan knocked at his door…

Fin.

--------------------

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