Mechanical Maniacs: Life After Life

By Hadrian (Hardman) Howell

CHAPTER 15: Marathon

Unfortunately, I'd forgotten about Cityman.

Huge chunks of building crashed to the street, drawing my attention to the rooftops of the twenty story all-purpose type buildings they'd come off of.Light became scarce as the huge, battleship head swung over the edge of my vision and the tear-like mouth opened is a devastatingly loud roar.

Cityman's weight began to crush the building he was leaning on, sending an avalance of debris my way. I'm tough, and it probably wouldn't kill me, but it would pin me down long enough for Cityman to really get to work on me with those cannons he had, and I wouldn't be long for this world at that point.

So I turned and ran. Concreteman's unconsious form was buried in my place as I tore up the street, taking grate, almost leaping strides with the aid of short, controlled bursts from my jet engine. Not as fast as I'd have liked to be going, but fast enough to avoid getting buried under rubble.

Cityman crashed to the ground behind me, on top of the ruins of the buidlings he'd crushed, and let out another roar, his cannons firing again. I heard the munitions scream by in the air, and I felt the pressure as they passed over me, and they STILL must have been four or five feet away. The ordnance blew open another hapless building, causing another cascade of rubble and ruin that threatened to catch me unless I switched directions.

I took a sharp right and bounded my way down a wide alley, my shoulders occasionally scraping the walls around me. I smashed dumpsters and chainlink fences out of my way with Hard Knuckles and I was soon into the next street. I heard a terrible set of noises as Cityman got ponderously to his feet.

I stepped out into the open again to see Topman, skating along as fast as he could to avoid his foe, a green robot with a ridiculous headdress and wind literally spiraling out of his arms. The gusts blew Topman this way and that, batting him around like a leaf in a thunderstorm. Only through his incredible speed did he manage to avoid getting slammed into a wall or thrown through a window.

Topman cut to one side, speeding toward his opponent (who I could only guess was Tornadoman) and launching into his signature Top Spin. Greatly enhanced and upgraded over the years, the attack has transformed from a simple high-speed spin into a whirling vortex of kinetic energy that I've seen put down robots many times my OWN size, let alone Topman's. Coupled with Topman's style of vicious spinning kicks and a few other tricks he's picked up over the years, Top's arsenal was one of the most fearsome of all of the Maniacs.

Tornadoman launched himself into the air on a column of gale-force winds, laughing that oh-so-annoyingly-arrogant laugh that all bad guys eventually develop. He swept his arm in a wide arc, knocking Topman way off course and sending him spinning into a fire hydrant. It snapped like a twig as Top stumbled and fell, and wat blasted its way into the open air.

I fired a Hard Knuckle to distract Tornadoman as Top got back on his feet, and launched myself into the air with my jet engine. I met with some expected resistance as Tornadoman focused his efforts on me and voluntarily dropped to the ground about halfway through my jump by cutting the engine. I landed heavily.

"So, I take it Concreteman has been defested?" Tornadoman sneered from the sky, still perched upon a pillar of air. He didn't seem very concerned for his supposed teammate.

"Well, ya know how it goes. Ya mess wi' th' best, ya get yer jaw ripped off 'n yer face punched in." I grinned and gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Indeed," Tornadoman smirked, an unleashed the full fury of his power again.

During the war, I battled a completely crazy version of a robot called Hyper Storm, who had similar abilities to Tornadoman, as well as the similar, overblown-ego-like attitude that came along with being a member of General Cutman's Scissor Army. I managed to smash both him and the explosives wielding lady who'd been accompanying him, so I thought I was ready for this sort of thing.

I realized I was wrong about the time I fell backwards. And slide along the street a good four or five feet.

I shouted in alarm and fired my Hard Knuckles, but neither projectile got good distance before they nearly burned out and were forced to return to me. I said a bad word that my own ears never heard over the roaring wind and simply dug into the ground with my hands and heels.

Topman took advantage of the distraction I provided, dashing in between a pair of buildings and leaping up with augmented strength and bounding from fire escape to fire escape. In only a few scant seconds he'd reached the top of one of the buildings, ran to the edge closest to Tornadoman, glowing a kind of neon orange. He managed a gymnastic flip over the waist-high wall that ringed the roof and planted both feet firmly on the side of the building, launching off of it in an explosive display of kintetic power that rocketed my small friend into our mutual airborne enemy.

Tornadoman had been so focused keeping me down that he never saw the orange blur until there was no time to react. They tumbled out of the sky after a tremendous crash, and I realized that Topman's legs were flailing around uselessly. I shot a Hard Knuckle to catch him and another to visit some more punishment on Tornadoman as he fell as well.

In all honesty, I'm unsure how much damage the Hard Knuckle actually did when it hit. Tornadoman had already been fairly screwed up when he was hit with the kinetic equivalent of a frieght train, which his slender, lightwieght frame was by no means built for. I managed to change his ariel direction from just down to down and sideways, but he was probably already way past gone by that point.

My other hand an Topman, clasped firmly by the shoulder, returned to me and he gave me a happy smile. "Thanks for the lift, big guy."

"No probl'm, short stuff," I commented. "Tha' was pretty impressive."

He shrugged as if it was no big deal, collapsing to his knees as my hand let him go. "Yeah, well when you can generate kinetic energy by moving around the way I do, it's just a matter of creative thinking when it comes to using that energy in new and different ways."

"Prolly hurts like a sunuvabitch, tho," I said, hoisting him back up onto his feet. He stood shakily for a few moments, and then nodded and pushed my hand away.

"These guys mean business," Topman told me, changing the subject. "Between the Sterling Sentinels and Cityman, we need to make sure the others are okay."

"Ya got that right," I nodded. "But where do we start? Follow th' explosions? We got a lotta options there."

"Wow, you HAVE forgotten a lot, haven't you?" he said, standingup straight. I heard a distinct clicking sound in my head as he spoke next, his mouth unmoving. "Topman here. How's the battle going for you guys?"

I nearly hit myself in the head. Of COURSE I'd forget the team communications channel. Nevermind the fact that I had a handheld version of the damn thing in my hand only an hour ago. Stupid old man.

Replies came back layered over static. "Splashwoman is down," Needlegal affirmed. "Catty bitch," she added as an aside.

"HAHAHAHAHA! DIE YOU BUG LOVING BASTARD! DIE!"

"Was that Snake?" I asked aloud. Topman gave me a look that mirrored both of our desires to not know what the hell was going on there. "Either way, le's assume Hornetman's taken care of."

"Magnet reporting. Galaxyman is proving troublesome, but nothing I cannot handle." Kenta's cold, hard tones were just like they'd always been. Especially when he was speaking about an opponent he was becoming annoyed with. Galaxyman was in for a nasty amount of forcibly introduced metal in his system, if I was any judge.

"Who stuck me with Jewelman?" Geminiman demanded. "Seriously, this is insulting!"

"Plugman and I are at a stalemate..." Sparkchan replied. "Lennon, hun, maybe when you're done playing over there you can come help me."

There was a fresh wave of static that covered the sound of an explosion. "Consider it done, m'lady."

"Magma's down," Shadowman said. "I'm heading back to the Memorial. Anyone who can, meet me there and we can deal with the Middleman before we focus on City."

"Gotcha Boss," I said, clicking on my own team comm. "Tops an' I're on our way."

Topman took off and I followed, lagging far behind my much faster friend. He sped around a street corner onto a main street that would take him back toward the Memorial, and was probably there by the time I'd arrived at the same corner. As I turned and started to power down the lane again, something wierd happened.

The world seemed to wrap up around a single point in the air, and a tear formed. Through the hole, I could see the inside of what looked like an office building, and a funny looking robot that looked like a flying saucer with arms and legs flew through it. He touched the ground briefly, turned and saw me, and leapt back up into the air at a right angle from his point of origin.

A mostly metal, mostly desk-like thing sailed through the same tear and slammed into the pavement, Magnetman in hot pursuit. As the tear he'd just come out of closed, he landed, gave me a nod, and turned to face Galaxyman, who was already opening another hole in the air. I felt the bottom of my stomach drop out as Magnetman unleashed his fury, pulling streetlights, the remains of the desk, and a few abandonded vechicles together through magnetism, all the objects flying towards a single point.

Galaxyman stepped through his portal just as everything came together in a terrific crashing sound. I watched, still trying to run but feeling my strength leaving me as Magnetman went to work, and the mass of chattered metal and glass crushed inward, condensing into a ball that Magnetman hurled through the portal after his enemy. He leapt again, chasing his own creation as the tear in the air began to close.

As the effects of the magnetism on my system subsided, I shook my head. "Damn," I said aloud to no one in particular. "That's gotta break a few laws o' physics."

I kept my eye out for signs of Cityman (well, more an ear. I could HEAR him moving around and shooting at stuff, but he wasn't close enough to warrant any worry just yet) and kept running to the Memorial Park. I arrived soon enough, and the battle was already under way with the Middleman at the foot of the steps.

Purple fire burned in streaks across the pavement, leaving an almost acidic smell in the air. The smell of evil, I guess. Shadowman and Topman were pounding away with Shadow Blades and kinetic storms as the Middleman stood behind his seemingly impenetrable shield. Snakeman was there was well, bearing more than a few scratches from his battle with Hornetman. He was content to stand back, keeping an eye on the Middleman and watching our teammates dodge the occasional gout of purple fire that shot out of his hands.

"Good theater?" I huffed, coming to a stop next to him.

"Well, it's obvious that we're not getting past that shield the conventional way," Snakeman shrugged. "I see no reason to tire myself out attempting the impossible."

"Fair 'nuff," I nodded. I caught my breath and watched Topman dodge another blast of evil fire. "Y'think he's gonna run outta Evil Energy 'r somethin' soon?"

"I'm hoping so," Snake nodded.

Snakeman made a face and took a few steps to one side to avoid a wild gout of purple fire. "Seriously, does this guy ever run out of energy? The purple fire is bad enough, but there's got to be a lot of power going into that barrier of his."

"Maybe we jus' need ta hit it harder," I suggested, stepping forward.

"You have an idea?"

"Yeah. He's pretty much station'ry, right?"

"It would seem so."

I smiled. "Goody. I'm not gonna miss." I turned and leapt into the air, my engine roaring to life. I caught Shadowman's attention, the leader of the Maniacs looking up at me and nodding. He grab Topman and pulled him aside to avoid another blast of evil energy, and then leapt back a good distance. Good plan, all things considered. I had no clue what was going to happen when I Hard Pressed into an unbreakable barrier.

The Middleman noticed the other two falling back and then noticed me. Worry crossed his features, only for a moment, and then he grinned that damn annoying grin of his. I fired my engine again and came down at him hard, smashing into the top of the barrier.

I didn't go through it, but I didn't completely stop, either. I heard the Middleman say something in an angry tone, but I have no idea what it was, looking back on it. By this time my world was bright, burning purple and a tremendous amount of noise.

The Middleman obviously didn't have enough faith in his barrier to see if it would stop me or not, and leapt away as the barrier dissipated, allowing me to slam into the ground unimpeded. I picked myself back up slowly, unbalanced from the lights and the colors and the noise, plopping heavily onto my butt when I tried to stand back up.

Shadowman stood over the Middleman, who was pinned to the ground with a Shadow Blade and had our leader's shinobigatana at his throat and a foot on his chest.

"Game over," Shadowman hissed. "You lose."

"No," the Middleman wheezed. There was an awful roar and a thunderous sound as Cityman returned, almost twice as big now as he had been when he first stepped out of the ocean. The addition of more buildings and more wieght had driven him down on all fours, making him look more like some massive, beastial dragon than a humanoid robot composed mostly of buildings. Cityman was on the other end of the major street Topman and I had taken to get here, and even at this distance he gave the impression of terrifying size and deadliness.

"No," the Middleman repeated, chuckling, "I don't think so."