The Business of War

Changing Minds


Scenario A
Participants:
Geminiman (MM3)(SA)
Chimeraman (MM3)(SA)
Heatman (WW)(SA)
Doc Robot (MM3)(W)
Spark Chan (MM3)(W)

Location: Skull Space Station
Max. Cossack Scrap Value: 0
SA Infantry: 0
RPD Units: 0
Wily Bots: innumerable

He lay there in the deepest, darkest hole. High, high above him there was an army bent on genocide. Their fanatical training went unhindered all day and all night. Yet below all this there lay a broken robot. He used to be a hero. Or a villain, depending on your perspective. At the height of his power he might have even been described as a force of nature. His name was Heatman. He used to be Magma Dragoon of the X-Force in a future that no longer exists. He also used to be Fireman of the Sinister Six. Now … he was just cold.

Chimeraman sat on a stool inside of Heatman’s cell. It was cold, dank, and dark. The General had given him the responsibility of setting Heatman on whatever sort of mission he deemed fit. And so far that had been Niagra Falls.

“Get up already,” said the myth-based robot, “We’ve got another job for you.”

Heatman just sobbed louder. “I don’t want to. You can’t make me.” Chimeraman just shook his head.

“Didn’t you used like this sort of mass destruction? I heard a rumour among the guys that you even wanted to join the Scissor Army just because yer a damn psycho!”

Heatman sobbed. Chimeraman was right. Throughout the years he really did love to cause chaos and destruction. He felt joy at being the baddest and strongest there was. Only … the was before. “So why do I feel so cold now?” asked Heatman quietly. He already knew the answer.

And so did Chimeraman. “It’s because you haven’t got yer fix yet, you little addict. You’ll feel so much better once you have your pick-me-up.” Chimeraman’s face didn’t fully support it, but he gave Heatman a nasty, goatty smile.

“Me occidas” said Heatman quietly.

“What was that?”

Utinam me occidas!

Chimeraman kicked the crying Heatman. “Still with the Latin! You might think it’s cool or something, but nobody can understand a word you say! Least of all me.”

“Mori volo! Iam me permisse dormire.”

Chimeraman threw his arms into the air. “I just finished saying that I don’t understand you. Do you think people carry dead language packs in their system just in case someone decides to talk to them in Latin? If you wanna talk to me in another language, try Greek! I can understand Greek!"

Heatman just sobbed louder. He couldn’t stand it. How many people died because of him? How many times would they send him out to be their tool? Why couldn’t he have died along with his team? Or fighting that Neo Dragoon army? Or even against this cocky bastard? Shouldn’t he have died then? As a hero? Oh, how he envied Fireman. A double of himself created by the now-deceased Nnth, he had died fighting Neo Dragoon and Heatman wished it was him. Everything good happened to other people, it seemed.

Chimeraman looked at the former hero in disgust. “Maybe it’s a good thing I can’t understand you. Whatever you’re saying in Latin, it’s probably the same whiney trite you say in English.” Heatman only sobbed louder at this and Chimeraman threw his arms in the air. This was just sad.


“You’re right. Vera dicis. EGO miser sum! Ergo me occidas.”

I don’t understand Latin!” screamed Chimeraman impatiently. Speak American!” He hissed to himself. “Get up already. You’ve been fixed since your last blow-up and it’s time to get back to work.” Heatman just remained where he was, mumbling to himself in the dead language. Chimerman put his hand to his face. This was not what he signed up for. Heatman was just not moving. Their big, badass, walking nuke was too busy feeling sorry for himself to get to work.

“I’m cold,” said the robot master sadly. And it was true. He shivered violently. Chimeraman sighed. It was unavoidable. He opened a small lead-lined briefcase he had set on the ground when he had gone into the cell. Immediately Heatman stopped sobbing. Chimeraman produced a small vile that was contained in the briefcase. It was the size and shape of a text-tube. What was inside of it was even smaller.

“Alright, this is just enough to get you –“ Chimeraman didn’t have time to finish his sentience. Heatman jumped on him. The surprised Chimeraman felt a stab of pain as Heatman bit into his arm. The mad robot master grabbed the vial from Chimeraman’s hand and dashed to a corner of the room. Chimerman rubbed the puncture marks on his arm as he heard the sound of Heatman placing the small sample of radioactive isotope in his body. His back was to him, but Chimerman heard Heatman moan in pleasure.

Heatman felt a small pit of warmth in the middle of his body. He was ice cold everywhere else, but this brought him back to reality. With a jolt he realised what he had done. Again he had played into the Scissor Army’s hands. What would Quickman say if he had seen him? Or Spark Chan? Could she ever look at him the same way again if she ever found out what he’d become?

“All done?” asked Chimeraman gruffly while standing on all fours. Heatman’s sudden attack had put him on edge.

“I’m still cold,” whined Heatman sadly.

“Well, there’s more of what you need on the Merauder. You’re taking a little trip into out space, big boy, and we don’t want you flying off the handle before it’s time.”

Outer space? “Why?”

Chimeraman chuckled in a goat-like way. “We’re paying a visit to your old pals at Wily’s. It seems they’re shaking up in space now.”

Wily’s! That meant that there was a possibility of Spark Chan being there! But … wherever he went destruction followed. The Wily’s Warriors (why hadn’t he appreciated them before?) might be up there. The Evil Eight (whom he really didn’t want to hurt) might be up there. Could he really allow himself to be used as a weapon against them?

Chimeraman was in the hallway beyond the open door to Heatman’s cell. “Come on, crackhead, there’s more heat waiting for ya on the Marauder. Get yer ass in gear.”

Hating himself all the while Heatman got to his feet and sadly marched towards the exit. He needed plutonium now. He needed it. He could almost taste it already.

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

Chimeraman and Heatman made their way to the Marauder while Geminiman stood anxiously at the entrance to the spacecraft.

“My beloved is in need of me, so I would appreciate it if you made haste.” The White Knight said impatiently as he carefully placed the tiny Shoryu on to his shoulder who had just recently returned from Himeji Castle.

“I do not take orders from anyone other than the General. Especially you…” The monstrous robot master hissed at his fellow officer, still having a bit of animosity towards the former Mechanical Maniac.

Heatman, on the other hand kept his face down in his cold lost state as he was still shivering from his cravings of plutonium. Geminiman looked at him with a feeling of disgust as the once proud hero he had once known was reduced into something that just seemed so unsightly.

“Well I will have you know that the General has put me in charge of this operation, so my orders are his. What does a man of my prestige have to do in order to get some respect?” Gemini yelled back at Chimeraman.

“Maybe if you lay off that high and mighty attitude of yours you might actually realize you have to earn it. Respect is earned, not given by some sort of birthright.” The mythic beast retorted.

“The nerve of you… I will make myself clear, Chimeraman; I want you to obey my every command in this mission. Failure to do so will result in your termination in which I will personally execute. I will not stand for a misshapen beast or some fallen addict to tarnish my reputation.”

Chimeraman angrily marched on board the ship, dragging Heatman behind him while muttering at his commander’s orders.

“Thinks he’s better than us, doesn’t he?”

“I AM better than you, Chimeraman. That is why I was gifted with my own personal army and that’s why I am in charge of this mission.” Geminiman yelled back as he turned to board the Marauder and prepare for take off.

“Mr. Gem, will mommy be ok? You seemed very unsettled before you sent me back to Elysium.” Shoryu asked innocently.

“Your mommy is going to be ok, now that I know where she is being held I will personally rescue her and we can all be one happy family…” Geminiman replied in an attempt to comfort his beloved’s daughter, but the deranged twitch and tone of his voice betrayed his words, “Yes… one happy family…”

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

“Master! It would appear that the Scissor Army know where we are and are sending an attack force immediately!” Doc Robot screamed out in a panic as he ran into the control room of the Skull Fortress Space Station, still all battered and bruised from his encounter in Himeji.

“I know, I know, Doc Robot. Multiman had already informed me of our current predicament. Rest assured; I have some ideas in mind to welcome our guests.” The mad scientist replied calmly.

“Oh dear, I hope there won’t be too much trouble…” Classi-Cal voiced in an innocent sounding voice.

Dr Wily walked up to his creation and wrapped his arm around her and held her tight, there was no doubt in his mind that amongst the attacking party of the Scissor Army there would be at least one clone of Geminiman and there was no way he was going to forfeit his wife to him, he had just gotten her the way he wanted her.

“Don’t worry my dear, I will protect you from all that try to do you harm. I wouldn’t want my dear wife to be taken away from me so soon.” He said in his own creepy yet loving tone. “Now go and make yourself comfortable in your quarters, and I will come to see you once this is all over.”

Classi-cal embraced her husband gently and then walked out of the control room to her living quarters while Dr Wily looked out into the empty vacuum of space outside his fortress.

“You may take my castle, Geminiman, but it will be a cold day in hell before you take my wife away from me.”

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

The Marauder lifted off from the secret location in Elysium. It was the mobile headquarters of the Seven Mercenaries and their alliance to the Scissor Army, although it had not come in handy as of yet. Now, though, it had a purpose: eliminate Dr. Wily. Wipe his space station off the map. Scatter his atoms across space like dust in the wind. There was nowhere for the Doctor to run. And no forces to protect him. This would not be like the attack on Cossack’s citadel. There would be no massive, cumbersome force to coordinate.

“There’s only you, m’boy!” said Chimera to Heatman. Heatman merely groaned.

“I don’t want to.”

Chimeraman scoffed. He looked at Heatman, strapped into the seat beside him. The robot master’s shoulders were shuddering. Again he was softly sobbing to himself. The very small amount of plutonium Chimera gave the zippo seemed to be wearing off. Chimeraman frowned. He wanted to get Heatman moving, but he didn’t dare give him the heat. Not yet. Heatman looked at him then and seemed to read his mind. He silently begged for more plutonium.

Geminiman was suffering his own brand of internal torment.

“Bring her to us, Lennon. You know it’s the right thing to do.”

Yes.

“She’ll thank you for it. You know she will.”

And we’ll be together…

“Yes.”

The crystalline robot strained himself against the G-forces of lift-off. The now-familiar voice in his mind filled him with confidence. He’d do it. He’d do it with Classi and … his partners. Ben and Chimeraman. Chimeraman was someone he’d beaten over and over again. He was a loser. And now he was a loser with plastic surgery. And Ben … what a disappointment. What happened to him? Where was the confident weapon of destruction he used to know? This new Heatman was … pathetic. He just had to rely on himself. That’s all there was to it.

The Marauder finally hit the stratosphere. It was now making it’s way to Skull Space Station. Gemini stopped his internal reverie and got out of his seat. “Prepare yourself. We’re off right away.”

Chimeraman grumbled and Heatman had to be unbuckled by the mixed-and-matched robot master manually mumbling things in Latin all the while. They struggled for their footing as the Marauder accelerated. There was no stalling this time. There would be no slow creeping up on Wily. They would hit him fast and hard. Chimeraman followed Geminiman into the launching bays of the Marauder. Geminiman grinned to himself. Very soon now his plans would be finished. Scissor Joes loaded two small ships. He might have to command Chimeraman and Heatman, but he didn’t want to sit with them.

“Strap in,” ordered Geminiman, “Let’s get moving!”

“Let’s save mommy!” said Shoryu happily.

“Let me die!” moaned Ben sadly.

“Let’s get this damn thing over with,” grumbled Chimera while shoving Heatman towards a space ship that Joes were loading with a heavy black container. Heatman’s eyes seemed to focus on it. Chimeraman urged him forward.

Just the Marauder rocked. Alarms sounded throughout the ship. Geminiman looked around angrily. “What’s going on here!?”

“We’re under attack!” called a Scissor Joe,

“Just handle it! I’m busy,” screamed Geminiman. In his haste to get to his beloved Spark Chan he didn’t wait for any other clones to arrive. In his mind’s eye he could still see them fighting. If he waited a few more minutes then they might be able to beam onto the Marauder. But he didn’t have “a few minutes”. Wily was onto them! Spark Chan was slipping away. Again! And Chimeraman … Chimeraman was loading a reluctant Heatman onto the ship. Chimeraman didn’t care that Spark Chan would still be on the space station. No, Geminiman had to keep moving.

The Marauder rocked with the impact of missiles again. It didn’t matter. Geminiman, Shoryu, Chimeraman, and Heatman were strapped into their ships. It was time to go. The room depressurised. The doors opened soon afterwards. Both space ships fired their rockets. It was time to go!

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

Dr Wily stood at the observation deck of his space station as he saw the Marauder take a direct hit from his fortress missiles and laughed maniacally at his foe’s peril.

“My space station’s defenses are the very best, there is no way any attacker would be capable of breaking in.” he proudly boosted out loud. “Once I destroy you here, Geminiman then your annoying clones in Himeji will die too and the castle will be mine!”

“Master, the enemy ship has appeared to have fired several missiles at the space station.” Doc Robot’s voice came through the intercom while he was operating the fortress defenses.

“Clearly they don’t take me very seriously,” the mad scientist spoke disappointingly as he waved his arm, “Shoot them down!”

The robotic replica of Wily cheered in response and launched all the anti-missile defenses he could fire and a large series of explosions could be seen outside the station as all the Marauder’s missiles had been destroyed.

Or so they thought…

“That was a rather garish display of fireworks, I must say.” Geminiman said as his ship had now burst from the explosions left by the anti-missile defenses. “Poor predictable Wily, now that he’s wasted all his shots on the missiles we now have the perfect opportunity to dock onto his fortress.”

Chimeraman and Heatman’s ship had also emerged from the explosions and sped up towards their former master’s hideout.

“Master, the enemy prepared small shuttles and disguised them as missiles to sneak onboard while the Marauder is now providing cover fire for the shuttles!” Doc Robot screamed out in a panic.

“I can see that, Doc Robot!” Dr Wily yelled out angrily, “Open fire on them! We can’t let them dock in the fortress!”

“But all our weapons are still cooling down from the last attack!”

“Damn it all, get Multiman to send copies down to the docks with as many robots as we can muster! Also buff up the defenses over at Classi-Cal’s quarters. Nothing is to get through!” Wily ordered and soon the alarm sounded as the Scissor Army had now forced their way into the fortress docking bay.

“Don’t make me…” moaned Heatman in dismay. Chimeraman snickered. It was time to get this over with. Heatman continued to protest right up until Chimeraman opened the large lead container. Then Heatman stopped. Inside was a nice container full of plutonium. That would end his guilt. It would end his endless cold. Because he was so very, very cold. A panel slid aside on Heatman’s body. He snatched the container of plutonium away from Chimeraman and inserted it into himself.

“Finally…” said Heatman with glee. He burst into flames. Chimeraman screamed and pulled his hand back.

“Great,” said the composite robot master, “Thanks a lot. You slagged my arm you asshole!”

Heatman wasn’t listening anymore. The cold was gone. He felt hot again. He felt powerful again. He felt like himself again!

“Iam hunc locum incendamus!”

“Shut up!” growled Chimeraman, “You slagged my arm! What the Hell!?”

“What are you doing!?” yelled Geminiman in surprise, “It isn't time for this yet!”

“I’ll send them all to the cold peace of sweet death,” said Heatman to himself.

“Hey, this is the mission, fancy-pants,” sneered Chimeraman, “Where’ve you been?” Geminiman stared open-jawed as Chimeraman crawled back into his space ship.

“Just where do you think you’re going?”

“Their souls will be cleansed in fire! I’ll wipe the slate clean. Clean! Burn everything … everything to the ground!”

Chimeraman buckled his safety belt. “I don’t know if you noticed, but our little ticking time bomb has just been set. I’m not sticking around when he goes boom.”

“But we have to rescue mommy!” cried Shoryu.

“You have to obey my commands!” yelled Gemini in frustration.

“You two can go on your suicide mission. My duty is to point psycho-boy over there in the right direction. Frankly, I don’t give a damn what sort of made-up position you think you’re in, but I don’t report to you. I’m getting the Hell outta dodge. If you weren’t so damn obsessed with your ‘beloved Spark Chan’ you’d be coming with me.”

Geminiman could only stare as Chimeraman turned on his ship. Gemini levelled his laser at the traitorous robot, but Shoryu stopped him by climbing into his field of vision from atop his head. “We have to stop Ben!” Gemini turned and saw Heatman was making his way deeper into the base. He ran to stop him.

“Ben! Listen to me…”

“They can’t control me. Nothing controls me! What they’ve done is burn away all my weakness …”

“Listen to me, damn it!” Ben stopped and noticed Lennon behind him. “Ben, we’re on a msission to rescue Spark Chan. It’s imperitive you don’t explode until we do!”

“Spark Chan?”

“Yes, Spark Chan! Your friend.”

“All my friends are dead! All the ones that matter … But Spark Chan …”

Anger grew in Gemini. One minute he could barely move him and now he’s raring to go off at any moment. It was frustrating! “Ben, I am a ranking officer of the Scissor Army. I will look for Spark Chan and you will explode only when I –“

Lennon was interrupted when Heatman sent him flying with a small burst of Atomic Fire. It was the smallest burst of heat Heatman could produce, but it sent Geminiman flying into the far wall, uncomfortably close to the open docking bay doors. Shoryu was sent off into a dark corner where she stayed, out of sight.

“A ranking officer of the Scissor Army!?” cried Heatman in a mad euphoria. “I don’t give a shit about the Scissor Army! Your orders don’t mean anything to me! All I want is heat. But Spark Chan is here. Spark Chan …” Memories flooded into Heatman. Spark Chan was once Classi Cal, a flimsy prototype of Bass. At one point she was part of his long-departed team the X-Force. He had to see her. He had to tell her. And then … cleansing fire would obliterate all traces of Skull Space station.

Geminiman struggled to his feet just in time to see Chimeraman’s ship fly off. “Damn” said the crystalline warrior. Chimeraman was gone. And that monstrocity also seemed interested in Spark Chan.

Legions of Multimen charged in to welcome the two members of the Scissor Army but against the ferocity of Heatman’s flames they stood little chance and were quickly melted down to scrap.

“This is not good,” the White Knight said in frustration, “I have to get to her… I have to get her off this deathtrap before it gets blown into oblivion!”

Geminiman ran out into the hallways of the fortress to see them covered in smoke and flames, not his ideal environment, the smoke and heat waves left in Heatman’s wake had distorted light to the point his illusion technology was practically useless.

“I’ll have to quickly find an area in which that addict has not charged through and start my search there. If I just follow his path of destruction, he’ll find milady before I do regardless of anything.”

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

Shoryu had lost all her companions and was now all alone within Dr Wily’s fortress; she was scared at the last thing she saw before she was thrown from Geminiman’s shoulder, the terrifying Heatman preparing to detonate the entire facility. If her mommy was still in the building when that happened, then she didn’t know what she would do.

“Mommy…” she cried out as she crept her way through the small crevices of the fortress and quickly found a way into the ventilation systems. As she crawled into the ducts, she could hear the screams and explosions created by Heatman and her concern for her mother had increased.

“Mommy, where are you?” the little spider cried again, until a gentle feminine voiced echoed through the ventilation ducts. Shoryu responded quickly and crept her way to where the voice was coming from and then through one of the grates, of the vents she saw her.

Classi was cuddled into the corner of her quarters worried about the commotion outside, finally, able to see her mother again, Shoryu quickly knocked down the grating of the vent and spun a web so she could drop down to greet her.

“Mommy!” she cried out as she swung down in front of the Bass prototype. But something seemed different to the spider robot, her mother didn’t give out the same motherly aura she was used to. Something didn’t seem right.

“Mommy… what’s wrong?” Shoryu asked, unaware of her mother’s reprogramming...

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

Heatman laughed as he melted another squadron of Bubble Bats into slag.

“You can’t stop me! Nothing can stop me!” Heatman gripped the wall at his side and “pushed” outwards. A wave of heat surged from his body. The metal wall turned red and then melted right before him. Heatman laughed. He felt like a god! But what was he looking for again? He knew he was looking for something…

Heatman felt small amounts of pain from behind him. It was like someone was hitting him with needles. He turned and saw a large machine encased in a bubble coming down the hall. The old Heatman might have been worried. This was the “Bubble Boy”, a precursor to Bubbleman, the robot master who held his weakness. But this Heatman wouldn’t be stopped! He let loose a bit. The bubble around the machine sizzled, but still it came. Heatman laughed. Would this kill him? It crashed into him and he did feel it. But the pain lasted only a moment. He wiped off slag from his face. The machine had melted on impact. In fact … he had better get moving because he just realised he was sinking through the floor.

He took two steps before smelling it. “It couldn’t be,” mumbled Heatman to himself. He took another few steps forward. There was something … he wanted to do. But that feeling. He could sense it. There was something he wanted to do, but … could it be that Wily had been stockpiling weapons-grade nuclear material?

If it were possible Heatman would be drooling in anticipation. As it stands he merely entered the room, destroyed all enemies contained therein, and moved towards the sweet “scent” of plutonium.

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

Doc Robot twitched. “Heatman has … destroyed all troops we’ve sent after him, Master.”

Wily was fuming. He knew what General Cutman had turned his old creation into. It was insulting! “Keep throwing our men at him! He only has so much energy … we will wear it down to nothing!”

“Brilliant plan, Master! But, maybe we should make our way to the escape pods…?”

“NO!” cried Wily in rage. Doc robot took a few steps backwards. Wily rounded on him, jabbing his finger into the robot’s chest as he made each point. “We have too much at stake here, Doc Robot! I can’t take over the world if I run away from a fight! We don’t have that many fortresses left either … this is my best one as it is! Most of my new weapons are right here! This isn’t like when we abandoned Skull Castle … I don’t have everything packed up! If we leave it will be like starting all over again! I refuse! It will not happen!”

Dr. Wily lost his footing as more missiles hit his space station. Doc Robot was quick to catch his master. Dr. Wily looked unsteadily around the room. His face fell as the lights dimmed for a moment. Did he feel somewhat lighter than before?

“Okay, maybe leaving is not such a bad idea,” said Doctor Wily.

“A wise choice, Master!”

“After all, what’s a base or two?”

“He who fights and runs away –“

“Doc Robot!” Wily said, straightening himself. Doc Robot immediately fell silent. He knew Wily had a brilliant plan of escape. “I will collect my latest project. I may not be able to salvage everything, but I should be able to get most of it out. I will have my assistants prepare everything important for departure. But I need you to aid me in one very important thing.”

Doc Robot beamed. “Anything, Master!”

“I want you to get … Classi to safety.”

Doc Robot’s jaw dropped.

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

Benny stayed hidden in a dark corner as Skeleton Joes made their way past him. The base was on full alert. The alarms and the many minions of Wily didn’t scare him, though. It was that one moment the power almost went out that did it. They were on a floating deathtrap here in space.

“Sparks, where are you?” whispered Benny. He hadn’t seen Spark Chan lately, but he’d heard horrible rumours about her. That Wily did something to her. But, it couldn’t be so bad, could it? Wily was supposed to be in love with her, right?

Benny walked quickly through the empty hallway. He had to see Spark Chan. Quickman was away and she was the only person in the entire space station who cared about him.

He was sweating. Probably from fear. He kept running. He knew Classi’s room was around the base somewhere. He just had to get to her. She’d know what to do.

He stopped dead at the sight of an evil looking robot. He was on fire. And he looked like a lighter.

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

Heatman menacingly approached the young boy, he seemed like he was nothing but an insignificant little bug ready to be incinerated, and with a terrifying look on his face he was ready to ignite the little one into a smoldering corpse.

“Classi…” little Benny cried as he tried to back away calling for his guardian, the name echoed into the lighter shaped robot’s ears causing him to freeze in place.

“Classi…?” He remembered again, it was Classi-Cal he was trying to find, but for what reason? The plutonium was getting to his head and everything seemed to happening all at once to the pyromaniac robot. Perhaps the boy in front of him would be able to lead him to his answer. But when he looked down he saw that the boy had disappeared and without a direct goal to concentrate on, Heatman’s thirst for plutonium took over once more.

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

“Oh hello there, little one,” Classi spoke to Shoryu, finally noticing the spider robot dangling in front of her eyes, “Have you lost your way? Come here, mommy will take care of you.”

The former flimsy prototype held her daughter in her typical motherly fashion, but it just didn’t feel the same way it used to. She seemed to have lost something… It was like her motherly love was no longer genuine.

Shoryu quickly crawled out of her mother’s arms and crept along the floor of her living quarters and backed away as Classi-Cal’s face seemed to indicate a mixed expression of a blank state of mind and confusion.

“What’s wrong sweety? Are you scared of all the bad people outside?” she asked in her new eerie innocent tone.

“You’re not my mommy…” Shoryu whispered under her breath, causing Classi to come up a bit closer to hear the little spider who then yelled out “What have you done to my mommy!”

Classi was taken aback from this statement; her programming was now made to simply act motherly to anything that seemed childlike and only act affectionate to Dr Wily, she was no longer capable to understand the rejection of a child. Confused and unaware of her relation to the spider, she tried to develop some sort of reasoning with it.

“Sweety, I know I am not your real mommy, but I can take of you until we find her. I’m sure Dr Wily will be able to locate the one that designed you. He’s such a kind and brilliant man.”

Shoryu’s heart sank at the mention of the mad scientist, and it all seemed to fall into place now. Geminiman’s recent strange behavior or rather his even more strange behavior, her mommy’s artificial motherly affections, it was all his fault. It was all Wily!

“What did he do to you, mommy? Why can’t you just go back to the way you were before?” she asked, but was only met by an inquisitive look from Classi-Cal.

“Dr Wily has not done anything to me, he is my loving husband and I am his loyal wife, I love him and only him, and he is the only one who loves me.” The prototype replied.

“But Geminiman has come to help rescue you! He loves you, he misses you! Don’t you remember him?” Shoryu asked, hoping for a reaction but there wasn’t even the slightest tilt of the head or even a jolt of surprise.

“Geminiman? I’m sorry, but I don’t know a Geminiman…”

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

“My beloved, where are you?” Geminiman thought as he had now found a corridor that had not yet been attacked by Heatman, he had entered his stealth mode so that he would not get himself involved in a senseless battle, while he wanted to bathe in the blood of Wily’s other creations, he was at a loss of time as Heatman was getting ever closer to self detonating.

He snuck around a corner and looked around for security as his mind was constantly thinking of the woman he had sworn to fight for, the one he had desired more so than ever before. Surely the words of Doc Robot were false… She couldn’t have had her memory wiped. It was simply not possible; she was destined to be his, not the possession of that insane doctor.

After turning another corridor, he had found a target, Doc Robot was now running down in front and in the distance he could see a large number of Sniper Joes, the security was rather large, almost comparable to the armies of Multimen attempting to hold off Heatman. What else could Wily be hiding there? There was clearly no room in this section of the fortress to be capable of holding a WMD or anything similar. So what else could it have been?

His madness was beginning to increase again and the White Knight had now marched towards Doc Robot, unaware of the nightmare that was now following him getting ever so close.

“Move along, Master has ordered I assist in getting his wife out of the fortress!” the copying robot ordered, causing the Sniper Joes to move off to the side, but before Doc Robot went to open the door, Geminiman reappeared back into visibility with a wide grin on his face and his hands now glowing with his Gemini Laser energy.

“Is that so? Well perhaps I might just have to take her off your hands then…”

And with that, the Twin Terror unleashed a large laser at the Wily Rescue Force leader.

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

Heatman put the boy out of his mind. Everything he cared about was gone. He wasn’t about to let some frightened little kid get in his way. He laughed madly. It was funny. He liked it when people were scared. It made him feel powerful. But the kid knew Classi. He had to talk to Classi. But right now he was feeling cold.

He reached out a grabbed a Bubble Bat that was trying to attack him. He reached out at another still in its shell. Both sizzled and melted. He was before a shutter. Heatman recognised it as the kind before large boss rooms. It did not open for him though. Heatman chuckled. This wouldn’t stop him. He turned up the heat. Flames enveloped him and the door slagged in no time at all. But he was freezing! The “smell” of the large cache of nuclear materials was getting at him. He might have had his fill earlier on, but just knowing how much there was to “eat” here made him “hungry” right now. He felt ice cold.

Before him was a Giant Suzy. The small hallway shook each time it moved. Heatman did not even bother to dodge it, he just reached out and blasted in its general direction with a medium sized blaze. Instantly the large enemy was destroyed and the far door along with him. Heatman chuckled. Soon, they would all be like that. All of them! He had accounts to settle. Wily … for the abuse that senile old fart thought he could put him through he would die painfully. Of course Heatman didn’t know how to make it slow … even his small blasts of Atomic Fire were so much larger now. First Wily and then the Warriors. Those good-for-nothings always held him back. He resented them. He’d be better of without those useless emotional attachments. They weren’t his friends. He hoped he made that clear throughout their adventures together. And if he didn’t… Heatman chucked. If he didn’t they’d be in for a shock.

Heatman laughed and melted the corridor around him for the fun of it. Lights flicked. The walls slagged, and the wires behind them sizzled. Then the government. The United States. Gone! They thought the General was bad? They hadn’t seen Ben angry!

He chuckled madly. He saw himself as an angel of death. Cleansing the world. Who else? That’s right … the Mechanical Maniacs! They left him to die, didn’t they? They go too! They didn’t even send their full strength to back him up. He thought they were friends… but they had just used him. He wanted to use them, but they used him and for that they die!

Heatman tried to move, but found he had sank halfway into the floor. He had gotten carried away. He lit himself on fire and propelled himself forward! Beyond the door. The USA, the Mechs, the Warriors, The Scissor Army, Chimeraman, yes he’d kill them all! But first comes Wily!

Before him stood Super Chaos! Heatman gaped in astonishment. He thought this thing has been destroyed! What was it doing here?! It was when it hit him with its separating body parts without saying a word that Heatman realised that this was not really Super Chaos. This was a reproduction of the Yellow Devil. He was then filled with despair. The Sinister Six was gone! And here he was … working for the guy who had killed them! He was a monster. Ben hated himself right then.

Heatman looked at the parts as they once again separated from the main body (when had it reformed?) and tried blasting them. He was surprised when his shots didn’t destroy the bricks on impact … but he did knock them aside. The Yellow Devil couldn’t hurt him. When it opened it’s black eye to search for its target Heatman shot a mid-sized burst of Atomic fire at it and it was done.

The floor exploded below him! Heatman fell into another room. He cursed and looked around. The indignity! He was Heatman! How dare they make him fall. He’d pay…. Who was it this time? He noticed he had landed in a field of spikes. Wily was not playing fair. Luckily he’d managed to melt the spikes below him. And now for the second enemy. A large mechanical dragon. Heatman laughed as it shot fire at him. HIM! He destroyed the beast without a thought, but another foe came at him them.

This time it was two robots that walked effortlessly on the spikes above and below him. HE recognised them as something Cossack whipped up to stop Megaman in his first rebellion. Heatman laughed at the pathetic looking robots and flew towards the one on the ground. He tore through it easily and felt satisfaction as it was destroyed all around him. He shot the other with full force and blew away the ceiling above him as it was destroyed.

Ben wondered if Wily was laughing as he was crushed beneath a pile of rubble. He bet that he was. He thought that Ben wasn’t that tough. He knew it. It was time to show him! Heatman poured on the Heat and blasted himself upwards! It was time to end this!

Not yet, though. He was thrown back by a powerful explosion. Heatman cursed and looked up to see a large, menacing floating Skull bear in on him. It actually hurt when its rainbow coloured laser hit him! Heatman felt a rage, then. How many small fries would he have to put up with? How many useless vermin would he have to wipe out? What did Wily have up here!? Heatman didn’t even feel the Metools hit him. He didn’t notice the Gutsdozer had pulled up behind him, alongside two Mad Grinders. Ben was angry!

A strange urge hit Ben then. What was it? Someone else might have called it restraint. Somewhere deep inside him, Heatman knew he had another job to do. Which is why it was only the area immediately surrounding him that was destroyed in Heatman’s small nuclear fallout. However, the entire base shuddered. Lights now went out and there was the distinct low lighting of emergency power a few seconds later.

Heatman emerged from this fallout freezing cold. He hadn’t meant to explode. Whatever. He could “smell” much more plutonium not too far away (was he on another floor?). Heatman moved steadily. Wily’s forces did not let up, but Heatman was expending more power than before. He was so close now …. He could feel it! The enemies were varied. Pickermen, Mousubeils, Tamas, and large fortress bosses that Ben couldn’t identify all attacked him, all at once. Wily was throwing everything he had at him, but Ben took it and dished it out even more. The old man didn’t realise that he could survive his own nuclear explosions! He was invincible! Now if only he wasn’t achingly cold.

After he destroyed what seemed to be most of the forces on the space station Heatman finally came to the final door. Once again it was locked. Once again Heatman ripped it apart! He ripped apart the Screws and Metools guarding the corridor too. No mercy! He went into the final room. The one containing sweet, sweet heat. If he had doubted his mission of death before, those doubts were gone now. He could sense his wonderful heat right before him. For some reason he had trouble getting to it.

He tried again, but was punched back once more. Was something talking to him? He blasted in the general direction of the voice in a mindless stupor. All he needed now was heat! All he needed now was his heat. He didn’t see the huge fists pounding him into the wall. He didn’t notice himself dodging an attack that might have levelled him a moment ago. It was all a fantastic blur to Ben. Wily did not notice this.

He was literally sweating now. This was all he had left. He had poured all his effort into this last mecha. It was a combination of some of his previous attempts at giant robots. It had spikes on its hands like Gamma, and a bombing system. But it was sophisticated (and looked much like himself) like the Wily Robo Iron Golem. He had been working on it throughout the War. Indeed, it was his new Super Weapon! It was powered by the Nuclear material that his forces had collected thought their battles! He had managed to save it all before the Scissor Army had come to his first base. He shot a few, very small bombs at Heatman and they blew his butchered invention back. It was the only thing that worked so far. Wily wondered if Cutman had made Heatman in a similar way that Wily made his new Wily Iron Gamma Golem. If he had then Heatman had wasted precious energy on his previous battles. Each time he used his power, it would have to be a small nuclear bomb. Each time he used his power a very small portion of his nuclear material would be lost.

Wily kept on pounding at Heatman. He never liked him. Even now, the monster wasn’t responding to his brilliant retorts. He stopped even trying. All he ever said was “heat”. At least from what Wily could pick up; it was difficult to make him out from all the noise he was making. Heatman, though … what had they done to him? He was terrifying! He had destroyed all of his internal defences. Wily was sure the new Bubble Boy would have taken him out, but no. And the spiked floor seemed a stroke of genius, but that hadn’t worked either. Wily shot a barrage of missiles at his former minion. At least this traitor had shown himself early! And Wily’s genius had beaten him! There was no way Ben could survive his super Robot! It was made to take down all his enemies. And his friends too. Wily had learned you never could be too careful. And now … now …

Wily paled. His power gauges had just plunged to zero. And … where was Heatman?

Heatman was feasting inside of Wily’s Super Robot, that’s what!

That senile fool Wily and his robots … it was always the same damned plan. Always the same patterns! Even fighting like an animal he could see through Wily. It was simple to get close enough to melt his way into the robot and into it’s power core. Well, no more silly plans! Not after today! Never again! Heatman felt a surge of strength and confidence wash over him like a desert wind. There was so much here… he inserted another container of plutonium. He systems made compensations for the sheer amount of fuel he was giving them. General Cutman had planned well. He had accounted for this. Heatman was actually grateful. A part of him had worried that there might be some sort of end to how much he could “eat”. But, no! Heatman consumed another batch of plutonium and felt the world slip away. It was bliss!

The room exploded in a burst of flames and radiation. Whatever Wily’s plans were, they had now ended. Heatman emerged from the smoke with confidence. He was the angel of death. Except he wasn’t Heatman anymore. His consumption of so much nuclear materials had changed his. His system had adapted itself into a more pleasing form. He was Magma Dragoon once again! His old self once again! Perhaps he didn’t look exactly like his old body, but that didn’t matter. He was back!

Thoughts swam in his head. The thrill of victory. The delight of being so high on heat. The joy of finally killing that old bastard Wily. And guilt. Yes, there was guilt in there. He’d done what the Scissor Army wanted of him. He’d been their lapdog again. He didn’t deserve to feel this good. But he couldn’t help it. He felt an odd mix of guilt and glee. What would his old friends say if they could see him now?

That brought him a focus. With all the plutonium gone (and he knew it was gone), he was freer to think. There was still a friend here he needed to see. Classi! Unconsciously he searched for her energy signature. And then followed it, with all the speed he could muster!

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

Doc Robot ordered all the Wily bots he could gather to attack the White Knight, Sniper Joes, Mets, Battons, Pickermen, Monkings, and every other possible robot that was in the nearby area. Geminiman was not allowed to get through that door to see his ‘beloved’.

However, the Twin Terror only had one thing on his mind now, and nothing could get in his way from achieving his goal. He fired his Gemini Laser at the ground so that it would reflect off it and knock a Monking from the roof as it had just jumped into the air and then quickly switched back to his arm cannon and fired shot after shot at all the lousy cannon fodder Wily had to offer.

The Joe-type robots stood behind their shields and created a defensive wall and from behind that, Doc Robot sneered and launched a number of Search Snakes at the White Knight.

Due to the enclosed space they were fighting in, Geminiman had very little room to dodge and took a couple of hits from the snake missile’s venom. As he reeled back from the pain, the Pickermen positioned behind the wall of Sniper Joes hurled their pick axes and one managed to find itself a new home embedded into the thigh of the Twin Terror.

His movement was now hindered and he had no clones to heal his wounds. Geminiman slowly got up and removed the pickaxe from his thigh and threw it away, now causing some of the hydraulic fluids to leak out.

“Being alone never used to be this difficult…” he muttered wishing he could just throw a clone over the defensive line and close them off in a pincer attack. But he was no longer in an advantageous position. As he slowly made his way closer to the barricade of shields, the Sniper Joes in unison pulled their shields away and fired volley of plasma blasts causing Geminiman to quickly take cover under his own shield, as he attempted to return fire with his laser, the Joes had quickly pulled their shields in front and the laser had bounced back down the corridor. Feeling a bit more confident, Doc Robot ordered all the Monkings to jump over the barricade and rip the White Knight apart.

“How does it feel to be outsmarted this time, Geminiman?” Doc Robot laughed, “Even with your strategic mind, against these numbers you are still nothing without your clones!”

“Annoying little pest…” Geminiman cursed under his breath, as he proceeded to grab the first Monking to get close enough to him and then hurled it at the barricade, knocking a Sniper Joe off his feet. He then shifted his hand into the Gemini Laser and fired a large laser at point blank range towards another Monking; the resulting laser had then bounced off the wall and into several more.

“I will not be stopped by someone as unsightly as you!” The White Knight spoke as he was now approaching Doc Robot, he fired another laser at the Sniper Joes allowing the laser to bounce back and hit the remaining Monkings that were jumping about behind him and then kicked up the remains of another and used it to block off all the shots and pick axes fired off from the Wily Joes.

“What are you fools doing? Kill him! Kill him!” Doc Robot screamed out, as he was beginning to panic at the sight of Geminiman getting closer and closer to him. He quickly switched his weapons to the Fire Storm and threw waves of fire in various directions so that the heat would hinder the White Knight’s advance, but all he managed to do to create more holes in the Sniper Joe barricade as Geminiman seemed to shrug off all signs of pain and pressed on using as many robots he could find as a shield so that he could openly fire his laser.

After he destroyed a great many he noticed tiny spiders going over robots he hadn't noticed before. There were thousands of them, obliterating robots ten times their size. Geminiman was impressed. It seemed that Shoryu was nearby to aid him in his quest!

Soon, there was nothing left between Geminiman and Doc Robot. The White Knight threw away the last of his robot shields and once again grabbed Doc Robot by his throat and lifted him in the air.

“I believe your usefulness has outlived itself, Doc Robot, you’ve told me where this base was and now you’ve led me to where my dear sweet Sparkchan is. For that, I shall thank you.” He grinned as he slowly drew out one of his swords while the Wily replica was struggling to break free from his opponent’s grip his eyes now focused on the sword Geminiman drew out, not only was it burning with its in-built weapon element but soon the White Knight’s arm began to glow with laser energy and the sword followed suit and the blade began to let out a magnificent light.

“I originally was intending to save this technique for finishing off Shadowman, but since you have proven yourself to be some what of a helpful robot to me; I think I shall reward you by making you the first victim of my White Holy Sword…”

Doc Robot knew this attack would be his end, he had to break free, if he could just aim his cannon to Geminiman’s chest and fire a Search Snake at it he might be able to win, he struggled to get his aim right, he only had one shot it was all for the Master’s sake. He could not fail him here, not at the most crucial moment. He had to get out of this situation NOW.

But that opportunity never presented itself as Geminiman’s Holy Sword plunged straight through Doc Robot’s chest, his arm went limp and the laser energy charged within the sword released itself and in one glorious explosion of light, Doc Robot was no more.

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

The sounds of fighting had died out from outside Classi-Cal’s room, had her husband’s robots successfully driven off whoever was out there? The room was filled with an awkward silence as she looked worryingly at the door while Shoryu remained depressed at the condition of her mommy.

Suddenly the door slid open and a robot in beautiful, pure looking white chrome armor stood in the doorway, in his hand was a sword that appeared to be burning with some sort of energy and his eyes were darkened into a black pitch.

“Milady…” the robot said in a calm, almost happy tone, “I have some to rescue you, free you of this cursed life that man has forced upon you.”

Classi felt terrified at the sight of the robot in front of her, he was clearly the one that had single-handedly wiped out all the guards at her door, now perhaps he was going to finish her off too.

“What’s wrong, milady? Don’t you recognize me? It is I, your knight in shining armor, the one who has always been there for you, and the one that has always loved you.” The robot said as he extended out his free hand for her to grab, but her only response was to back away from him into the corner.

“Who are you? Why are you doing this? You are not my love! My love is Dr Wily, him and only him!” Classi screamed out causing Geminiman to freeze up.

He felt like his heart had just been shattered into pieces, Doc Robot was telling the truth, his beloved was no longer the woman he had so desired, her memory of him had been erased and the only one that she loved was that man… Wily! Yet, despite all the evidence in front of him, he still didn’t want to believe it.

“Milady please, why are you playing such games. It’s me, Geminiman don’t you remember? Why won’t you remember!” he cried out to her.

“Mommy, has been reprogrammed… she is no longer the one we once knew…” Shoryu sobbed in the corner, but Geminiman just refused to believe it.

“No! That’s a lie! It’s just all an elaborate trick… it’s all Wily’s plot, he’s watching us here right now, she knows this and is only pretending so that she can further deceive him. She’s still the same person she was when I last saw her!” the White Knight cried as he threw his sword into a wall scaring the two other robots in the room and then proceeded to grab Classi and shake her violently.

“WHY? WHY ARE YOU TORTURING ME LIKE THIS?” He screamed out to the scared wife of Wily with tears flowing through his eyes.

“I have done EVERYTHING I could to get you to love me, EVERYTHING! I have rescued you, been by your side when you needed comfort the most, protected you, fought for you, and killed for you! Why can’t you acknowledge me? WHY WON’T YOU LOVE ME?”

“Please, let go of me, I don’t know you, I don’t know anyone named Geminiman, please don’t hurt me in front of that child…” Classi-Cal said in a shaky voice.

The White Knight dropped down to his knees sobbing and slammed his fist into the ground, she was gone. It was almost as if she was dead to the world now.

“Mr. Gemini, we need to get out of here quickly. What about that other robot that was here with you, Mr. Heatman, isn’t he going to explode soon? We have to take mommy back to Elysium before that happens, then poppa Cutman can fix her.” Shoryu said, slowly knocking some sense into the Scissor Army officer.

That’s right! General Cutman, he could reprogram her just as Wily had done. Then she would return to the one he loved, and then she would be together with him forever. He got back up to his feet and looked coldly at the Classi that stood before him.

“You are not the one I love… But soon that will all change and everything will be back to the way it was.” He said as he went to grab his beloved’s arm but she resisted and then all 3 robots heard the door slide open once again and then they turned to see a little boy run in.

“Sparks are you in here? There’s a big scary robot looking for you and…”

Benny stopped as he saw Geminiman holding a rather different looking Sparkchan as if he was trying to take her by force. He was frozen in fear at the sight of this new robot he clearly wasn’t one of the ones that lived at Wily’s fortress. He must have been part of the Scissor Army.

“Run little boy!” Classi cried out to Benny, ‘Little boy?’ that seemed unlike what Sparkchan would say. But before he could react properly, Geminiman had grabbed hold of him and now placed his sword at the boy’s throat.

“Very well, if I can’t force you to come along on my own, then I’ll just have to resort to threats. Since Wily seems to have reprogrammed you to remain motherly, you’ll still put this little boy’s life ahead of your own well-being wouldn’t you? That’s what a good mother would do.”

“Reprogrammed?” Benny asked, “What do you mean? What’s wrong with Sparks?”

“That’s none of your concern little boy, you’re just lucky that you have a use at the moment, otherwise I would have dealt with you just as I have dealt with all the other robots outside this room.”

Classi looked at the scared little boy in Geminiman’s arms and then her expression sank into sadness as she finally relented.

“Ok, I’ll go with you…” she said in a defeated tone.

“Nobody is going anywhere!” a new voice bellowed as everyone turned to see a new fearsome figure, a body unlike any this timeline had ever known. However, Shoryu and Geminiman recognized it immediately.

“Magma Dragoon…” Geminiman said in awe.

The leader of the X-Force had reemerged in all his glory and now stood in the way of the White Knight. He did not look exactly like the Magma Dragoon of old. He was angular and flames shot out from his body. His head was a dragon's skull. But there was no mistaking it.

“Reploid or not, you are still under my command of the Scissor Army, stand down and let us through, be done with the mission and meet us back at Elysium!” Geminiman commanded but was soon met with a swift punch to the face sending him crashing into the corner of the room, releasing little Benny from his grasp.

Benny didn’t know what to do, he couldn’t leave Sparkchan alone with that monster, but if he was going to stay here any longer he would surely die. He looked at Classi who looked seemed so different now. She didn’t seem to acknowledge him the same way she used to. It upset him in a way.

“Run” was what she said to him, he didn’t want to but he knew if he died here then that would make Sparkchan cry, and although she seemed to have changed now, he didn’t want that to happen. So he ran out the room as fast as he could and never looked back.

“I don’t care about this Scissor Army or this War anymore, nothing matters. I am back to my former glory and it is about time I celebrated.” Magma Dragoon said angrily at the White Knight before he turned to the scared Classi-Cal, “Classi, don’t worry, it’s me… Ben… your leader, your friend…”

“What are you?” she asked in a shaky voice, her fear was showing through causing the dragonoid machine to be surprised.

“What?” Magma Dragoon asked in confusion, why did she not recognize him, they had been friends forever. He then turned to Geminiman for an explanation who was slowly recovering from his punch to the face.

“Wily reprogrammed her. The Classi-Cal you knew is gone.”

Ben was shocked, after all this time he had almost forgotten about his former teammate’s existence, her memory had fallen behind all the cravings and addiction, but now that he had felt that he had satisfied himself she was all that was left for him and now that he finally remembered her again, the girl he once knew was no longer there.

“But we can fix this…” Geminiman continued “We can ask the General to program her back to the way she was. Perhaps even make her better than she was.” He began to say but then he found himself in a chokehold from the fire-based monstrosity.

“Listen to yourself! Make her even better than she was? You’re beginning to sound like that insane doctor! No, I refuse to subject her to another reprogramming. She’s not some sort of toy that you can play around with, she’s almost human, more human than you and I! While she was nothing but nuts and bolts she acted more human then any other robot and even some humans.” Ben yelled out furiously at the White Knight.

“Then what are you going to do? Leave her the same way she is now? Don’t think I never knew! You love her, just as I love her as well! But the way she is now she will never accept either of us. Something must be done about this!” Geminiman retorted then soon his expression went blank and a new voice had emerged from his lips.

“Now I suggest you let go of me Magma Dragoon. Neither the General nor I will tolerate any more insubordination.”

“Mesmerman, huh? You don’t scare me, neither does the General. Many men greater than you have tried to conquer the world and they have all failed! I have seen the future and you’re not in it.” Magma Dragoon said to the now possessed Geminiman.

“So I then take it that you are leaving us? Well that is indeed unfortunate…” Mesmerman chuckled but Ben ignored his words as some sort of empty threat.

“What are you going to do then? Control me so that I do your dirty work, you can’t and you never have before! I was just using you this entire time to fulfill my own desires! Nothing can control me! I am the only one that is in control of me!” he yelled out defiantly.

“Yes, we are aware of that, and for that reason we have prepared a little failsafe for the event that you betray us.”

Then something clicked inside of the Magma Dragoon and he was overcome with a searing pain from within.

“What the hell is this?” he struggled to say, dropping Mesmer-Geminiman, who simply smiled in amusement. He felt his hegs lock up. His arms seized up. He couldn't move! What had they done to him!?

“Oh, nothing much. I just activated the detonator the General placed inside of your body. Since you are of no use to us anymore, it would be too dangerous to let you go about unchecked. But rest easy in the fact that you’ll die fulfilling your last duty as a Scissor Army member, for the resulting explosion will most certainly destroy this Skull Fortress as you were meant to. Farewell…” Mesmerman mockingly said as he shifted his control back to Geminiman who upon looking at the dying Ben realized the situation.

“The mission is over, we must get out of here quickly Shoryu!” he said as the little spider robot hopped up to his shoulder and he then grabbed hold of Classi-Cal.

“You will be coming with me whether you like it or not.” He said and then pulled Wily’s wife out of the door as they headed to his ship.

Before they were out of the door, Ben cried out in a loud voice. "Me Ulciscimini!"

Geminiman did not know what it meant.

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

Wily had made it to the escape pods. In truth he had been there for some time. He had made a robot double to control his giant mecha so the enemy would be distracted while he made his escape. Despite getting away alive, Wily felt no joy. His plans were now all in ruins, his plutonium was gone and his space station was on the verge of collapse, all he could do now was pull back to another fortress and regroup.

Time was wearing thin and Doc Robot had not returned, the last thing that seemed to matter to the mad scientist was now probably gone as well. Now in a defeated state, Wily got in his escape pod and prepared for his retreat.

As he got in he saw little Benny running to another escape pod. It seemed that the little brat had also managed to escape, but still no sign of his wife. With a heavy heart Wily sat in his pod as it launched out of the space station and then he saw a small ship take out of the docks and Benny’s pod also shoot out of the fortress.

Then after everything cleared a safe distance there was a bright flash of light.

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

The explosion was tremendous. Somewhere the General was smiling. One more player off the board. Like the Cossacks, Wily might not be gone completely … but he was done for and they both knew it. There wasn’t time to move all the “important stuff” this time. No underground caverns or secret stashes. He had dealt Wily a real blow this time. Whatever that old coot had planned, it was over.

Mesmerman floated silently down beside him. “It might not be though. You have to be careful.”

“What do you want?”

“Just to give you the report on Himeji. As predicted it fell. But Geminiman wasn’t exactly inspired in the fight. It’s almost like his mind was somewhere else.”

“If it was, you’d be the one who’d know.”

Mesmerman chuckled. Quite right, he would. “Not issuing orders to retrieve Heatman’s body?”

“He’s space dust. I was monitoring him during the mission. He had consumed too much fuel. He can safely survive his own explosions if he isn’t an idiot and makes one too big for his shielding to handle. He’s gone. Or in many small pieces. And besides, he was a gas guzzler. I’m not made of plutonium. I had enough for one real mission and this was it. Besides, when he’s high Heatman becomes quite ….”

“Boisterous?”

“Right. Not a quality I look for in the Scissor Army. It’s what the fool wanted anyway.”

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

Everyone thought Magma Dragoon had died there, in the explosion. He had wanted to die. That was the plan, wasn’t it?

But he wasn’t dead. He was floating in space. He was no longer Magma Dragoon, though. Once more his internal systems had reconfigured themselves. This time as a response to Ben’s subconscious desires. This time was an 8 year old fox-boy. It wasn’t a precise copy of this form, it was created from his Heatman / Magma Dragoon body, but it was where Ben’s mind was now. Still, he was badly damaged. His systems might reconfigure themselves, but they didn’t do miracle repairs. His body was coming apart at the seams.

Ben floated there, among the wreckage of Wily’s Skull Space Station. His anger was gone. Gone with the explosion that rid of his overwhelming power. Gone with his high. He was just floating now. Slowly away from the Earth.

She hadn’t remembered him. He wanted to say goodbye to her, but she didn’t remember him. But maybe it was better that way. He’d been … a monster. All his life. A bad parent, a bad hero, and a bad friend to those who counted on him. Chibi was gone, and he died trying to kill him. For some reason Ben could remember everything he did as Fireman now. Maybe they really were the same person and the presence of both of them at once was the real illusion. He remembered Chibi dying fighting him and heard about him dying again while trying to be him. As a hero he slaughtered innocents with glee. He’d always done the right thing generally, and had always regarded himself as a hero. But he wasn’t. And his friends … he could have stuck with the Warriors. He might have stuck with the ‘Maniacs and followed Shadowman’s plans. Why had he jumped into that mass of Joes? It didn’t help anyone, he knew that now. It was a stupid, selfish move. He wanted to go out with a bang, but that move was stupid and reckless. He did it because of his resignation to die. And it was selfish; all his friends might have died because he broke off from their plan.

He turned his body around and gazed at the Earth. It was beautiful. Why hadn’t he seen it before? And his friends … they might be gone, but he did have others. Others who could have meant as much to him as the ones he lost.

It was then that he felt the cold gripping on his body. He had tried opening his hand towards his planet, but it wouldn’t budge. It was frozen. He then realised his couldn’t feel his feet. His new tail was similarly stiff.

Ben panicked. He flailed his arms wildly. But there was no friction in space and all he continued to drift slowly away from his home. Reflexively he tried to gasp for air, but naturally there was none. He tried to create flames, to heat himself. But flames required oxygen and there was none here. Ben realised he didn’t want to die. What did death hold for him? Looking back on it he knew he’d never make it to Heaven, if a Heaven existed. He had a much firmer grasp on Hell and thought that might be where he ended up. Not being with his friends at all, but eternally suffering. But what if … what if he didn’t go anywhere? He was a robot, after all. What would total non-existence be like? The thought of eternity suddenly frightened Ben. Of not existing.

Still, will power could not stop the chill of space. Even as he tried to will up more power, his heat-based systems began to die. He couldn’t feel his ears. His arms were sticks hanging out of his body. He felt a tiny flicker of life in him.

He had always imagined his death would be … quick. He thought that he’d die in battle. There was a glory in that. The comics always made it seem … special. Or, if it was slow, that he’d settle into acceptance quickly and die at peace with himself. He always imagined that death would bring him peace. But, finally faced with it, he did not find peace. He finally found true fear. This was not something he had time to come to grips with. It was slow, but it was not slow enough. Any yet it was no fast enough either for there was too much time for contemplation. For fear.

The cold of space gripped his robotic heart like a fist. He could feel his systems shutting down. He had damaged himself, just as planned. He could feel his mind crashing. Why had he wanted this? He remembered thinking that the world just wasn’t “fun” anymore … was a lack of fun all it was really about? Unwanted memories came up. Happy times with his friends. Some were dead, but many were not. Half of the X-Force managed to survive the destruction of their timeline. Why did he focus on the dead when he could have focused on the living?

His arms spasmed as power shot through them involuntarily. It was happening. He had damaged his mind and it was crashing now. Ben could no longer philosophize; his brain just kept processing the immense regret he now felt. He remembered hatching this mad plan from atop the Baxter Building. Envying the dead. Most of all he remembered being angry and depressed. Angry at his friends for dying. Angry at himself for surviving. Angry at everyone around him for the situation he was in. He went backwards. He remembered finding out the Sinister Six had disbanded and relived the events afterwards and felt loss. And anger. Anger at himself. Anger that he could do nothing. Anger that those around him could do nothing. He remembered joining the Sinister Six then and remembered the anger of being used by Kefka to fight his friends. Of vowing to use the power he was given to destroy whoever he had to. He remembered the government forcing him to join Wily, as Heatman, and remembered the anger he felt at the humiliation. He remembered the constant anger towards his team-mates. Knowing he’d never be one of them. He remembered his anger and his shame at being alive after Red had destroyed everything he knew. He went further back and remembered Red destroying his future. Again there was anger. Red had been right there and he could do nothing. He remembered Iris telling him about Chibi, soon after the X-Force was formed. Anger, even then. Bitterness. And shame. He’d never wanted him. Anger was his constant companion. Until now.

His mind crashed, its systems unable to compensate for the damage caused by the immense explosion. His mechanical heart gave out shortly afterwards. Ben, as Pyro the Fox continued to drift slowly away from the Earth, looking at it with his sad eyes.

Death was not anything like Ben had imagined.

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