CHAPTER
10
The Silence was broken as the Neo Dragoon Army continued
March towards the heart of the city. Nothing much as
changed as they continued their loud assault through
the already smoldering fragments of a once proud, lush,
and thriving Megalopolis. Iceman Red although controlling
the army was nowhere to be seen. The Original Neo Dragoon
however blending in with his 'clones' marched along
side his companions as if it was his mission in life.
Neo Dragoon however remembered his past as he marched
on. 21XX, Mavericks, Ben. His father. His absent father.
Who in turn abounded him to his fate. This upset him
gravely as he wanted to erase his own sorry existence
and all of reality with it.
Back in his younger days, he was the outcast, the seemingly
different person. Other Reploid Children Tormenting
him. Treating him like he was a nobody. Even older,
more experienced Mavericks never understood him. They
didn't understand. They always jumped to conclusions.
Automatically assumed things, without getting to know.
Well, now things are about to change. For revenge was
in order.
The thoughts of this halted suddenly. As the great Army
of Darkness stopped dead in their tracks. Looking straight
forward without blinking. The loud marching and clomping
stopped and there was a great silence. The Neo Dragoons
sense something. Something approaching not to far off.
Whatever they had sensed was enough of a threat to pause
them right in their tracks. The Army of Darkness stared
off in the direction their foe was to approach. Even
though the opposing threat was no where to be seen,
the army knew it was coming. And they are not amused.
As they continue to stare into what looked like nothing,
suddenly something appeared.
First a few, then a bunch more, then hundreds more.
But this was no ordinary army. It looked as though they
were looking into a mirror. When the entire threat finally
emerged into view, the Army of Darkness saw their adversary
for who they were. About 300 or more Magma Dragoon's
appeared.
Sputtering uncontrollably, the Neo Dragoon Army didn't
know what to compute. What was this? They were not informed
of such manipulation of Magma Dragoons. Especially in
this time period. Although they out numbed them greatly,
Magma Dragoon was a foe to be weary of. And Magma Dragoon
was the spawn of Neo Dragoon. This was indeed very complicated.
The Neo Dragoon army scanned the warriors that now stood
ahead of them. Something was amiss. And it didn't make
much sense.
"What
the hell is this..." Neo sputtered bluntly. He glared
at the impossible site before him. Before the Neo Dragoons
could compute what the problem was, the attack begun.
Fire spewed every which way which right away collided
into the ground troops of the Army of Darkness. Thrown
back by the volcanic fury, the Neos had no time to calculate
a counter-attack measure. The Magma Dragoon army charged
into the field. Led by non other than Ben. Ben? Didn't
he get destroyed? Wasn't the X-Force whipped out?
Neo had very limited time to think this as a Magma Dragoon
soldier slice his way into the first unit, slicing off
several body limbs. The Neo Dragoons withdrew slowly
but then got into the thick of it as they swiped at
the nearest opponent. The battle thus had started.
The immense heat started to penetrate the battle field,
as it shook with all the Dragoon's clawing, snapping,
and fighting one another. Neo Dragoon wanted to get
to the bottom of this as he plowed through several Magma
Dragoon clones to finally tackle down the leader. Ben
himself.
Ben smiled as he kicked him. "Neo, what a pleasant surprise
son. What brings you here?" He barked rapidly as he
prepared himself for a fight.
"What,
what, what!??? What the Hell is this!? That bastard's
dead!"" Neo didn't speak many words as he swiped his
claws into Ben's chest plate. Ben roared in pain as
he fell back. However he wasn't easily beaten as he
charged full blast into Neo.
The Dragoons continued slaughtering each other as they
flew into battle. However something was amiss about
the Magma Dragoon Army. Several Dragoons released plasma
shots, and others released elemental attacks. Which
was different, it caught the Neo Dragoons off by surprise.
As they were half expecting only fire to be spewing
from their arsenal of attacks. The Army of Darkness
in the confusion made them vulnerable, but their sheer
numbers proved to be a challenge as several Magma Dragoons
were forced to leer back.
Ben released a large molten blast at Neo which caused
him to fly back. Neo however wasn't affected to greatly
as he charged up his own molten fire ball and drove
it straight into Ben's left arm.
*************************************
Iceman didn't know where to start. Red could be anywhere.
At first Gary got the idea to check out the old warehouse
where Red's base was cleverly hidden inside. There he
might be able to find some answers of Red's location.
As Iceman teleported to the outskirts of Megalopolis,
he couldn't help but feel bad for leaving his friends
to do battle against the dreaded Army of Darkness. But
then he remembered 'Ben's Plan'. A smile came across
his face. That should buy them sometime so he could
find Red. For Gary knew with Red's demise the Army of
Darkness should seize to exist. At least he hoped. But
even with Red's death, would the world rest easier.
But how on earth would he defeat a god? Gary didn't
know, but he knew he had to try. Red was his clone,
and somewhere deep down inside, he knew he was the only
one who could destroy him. Gary arrived at the outskirts
finally. He searched the outskirts of Megalopolis where
the army factory once was. It wasn't there anymore.
"What the heck...?" Gary mouthed of suddenly. He looked
at the empty lot as if it never existed. "This doesn't
make any sense, how the heck can something so big...just
disappear?" He asked himself with worry. Red was clever.
Not only did he erase any means of finding him, but
he's also covering his tracks. He must have thought
that there could have been a weakness located in the
factory for his army. Gary sighed with annoyance. It
was back to square one. Where else could he look? Gary
searched the area for any more clues. Unfortunately
there wasn't any. Frustrated an angry Gary pounded his
fist into the ground causing Ice Pillars to pop up every
which way. The shiny blue emeralds glittered which gave
the half-murky area a bit of a glow. Gary didn't care
though. He felt useless. He didn't know what to do.
"I donno where else to look, And it all started with
that damn meteorite..." Gary stopped mid sentence. The
meteorite! Why didn't he think of this before! Gary
knew exactly what he had to do. The whole world counted
on it. Within a few seconds Gary vanished within a line
of sparkly blue light.
*************************************
The battle raged on. Although the Magma Dragoon army
was greatly outnumbered, they showed great ability in
lasting through the fight. More Neo Dragoon's were lost
in battle than the Magma Dragoon's. Mostly the confused
Neos lowered their fighting ability dramatically. They
continued their onslaught though. Maiming and spewing
Electrical fluids every which way..
Neo and Ben were still interlocked in their battle.
Ben seemed to do a lot of the talking between the two
as he blocked most of Neos attacks. "Wow, is that all
you got, I can't believe you are my son." Ben snarled
with a devious smile at Neo, who kept attacking out
of anger and spite.
"You
bastard...you never cared about me!" He said slashing
his claw at Ben who barley escaped the stab. Ben backed
off in defense as Neo attacked on the offense.
"Look
what you've become, you should be ashamed." Ben continued
gnawing at Neos anger. Fueling Neos anger which ironically
made Neo not think straight. Ben knew this and took
it to his advantage.
"I
should have abandoned you since day one, look at you!"
Ben raged at the pounding and roaring silver dragoon
who tried as he might to ignore Ben's ugly threats.
"ENOUGH!"
Neo said slashing into Ben's left arm where the ugly
mark had been before. The thick armor tore off and landed
with a metallic thunk on the ground below.
Ben was a bit worried, but not defeated as he drew back.
Neo blindly not seeing the fake armor on the ground
continued slashing. Something suspicious was going on
with this Magma Dragoon Army. Neo brought out his left
foot and attempted to sweep Ben off his feet. This time
however Ben was on the offensive. He had to keep Neos
eyes away from the armor now. Too much was given away.
Ben opened his mouth and spewed out an Atomic fire-
like blast as it hit Neo at point blank range. Sending
him back a few ways.
Neo Dragoon grumbled as he breathed in a large breath
and stood straight forward, as if the attack seemingly
bounced off his chest. "This is all you can do? My once,
great and proud father. You've grown weak." Neo spoke
suddenly, fixing his eye on the injured Ben. Ben however
tried to keep his attention away from his battered armor
and attempted a quick jab at Neos jaw. Neo however grabbed
Ben's wrist in mid air. "Fool, I can't believe we are
the same flesh and blood."
Red's perception had really paid its toll on Neo. Brainwashing
the Reploid into thinking that Ben and the X-Force had
left him for dead. Neo only felt anger as he saw Magma
Dragoon's body in front of him. Everything Red told
him was a lie, but Neo was convinced that this wasn't
his father, but a traitor. It was then Neo saw it. The
armor.
Suddenly and with surprise Neo knew that this wasn't
Magma Dragoon. It was all a trick. The blackened Dragoon
glared at all the other Magma Dragoon's in the area.
He was on to the scheme.
"IMPOSTERS!"
Neo roared into the crowed. The Magma Dragoon's and
Neo Dragoon's stopped fighting to witness the true identity
behind Ben. Peeling the fake reddish armor off his body,
Heatman's stout and chubby self stood in its place.
It was Ben from Wily's Warriors.
Ben, even though in this new form, had barley survived
the X-Force's death. His soul was transferred into Heatman's
body for him to continue living. Though his Magma Dragoon
body was destroyed. This Ben was far weaker since the
body couldn't hold all of Ben's raw power, but Ben's
personality still lives on.
"They
are all imposters! Show yourselves! We are no longer
fooled by your fake disguises!" Neo shouted at his enemy
who reared back from the Army of Darkness. They knew
their plan was figured out. Ben's plan to confuse the
Army into thinking that an army of Magma Dragoon's was
created to stop them. This indeed lowered their defenses
as it confused them. But now that they were figured
out.
"Crap..."
Ben muttered under his breath. The Army of Magma Dragoons
started to panic from Neos sudden insight.
The Army of Darkness may have been played for fools,
but they aren't easily impressed.
"Plan
B everyone!" Shouted Lennon underneath his own Magma
Dragoon armor. Soon all the Magma Dragoons lifted off
their armor and underneath it all were the sneaky, and
brave Megaman Community. Even some of them were Metools,
cleverly hidden underneath. Their plan may have been
discovered, but now was the time to fight for true honor.
The Army of Darkness snarled angrily at their foes.
The Megalopolis army backed off from the Neo Dragoon's
and prepared their next onslaught. They zipped into
a battle formation, and certain Warriors took up the
front of the pack. They eyed down the darkened Neo Dragoon's
in hope that they could make a dent in their ranks.
The Neo Dragoon army was still many. And even though
they lost several soldiers in their mist, the Army of
Darkness still were many. For a long ways back, you
could see their dark figures that seemed to stretch
on for miles.
The Megalopolis army stood standing tall. They were
ready for the real battle. As both armies stood eyeballing
each other only 10 feet from one another Neo Dragoon
finally gave the signal to attack. The blackened soldiers
charged head on towards the waiting hands of the Megalopolis
army. They gritted their teeth and were awaiting the
first command from their leaders.
"First
Wave, Attack!" Shouted Gauntlet as the warriors up front
dug their fists into the ground. Various attacks were
issued as these 'ground attackers' sent out their moves.
The Earth trembled. Wood Towers started sprouting up
from the ground. Electricity soared through the layers
of rock until it struck the first Neo Dragoon full in
charge. Frozen glaciers sprouted from the ground and
struck several of the roaring Neo Dragoons, piercing
their armor badly and leaving them too injured to continue
on foot.
The Frozen warriors sent out ice towers every which
way to skewer the Army ahead. Same with the Wooden,
Electric and Stoned warriors who in turn sent out wave
after wave of ground based tremors. The first line of
Neo Dragoon's already started suffering many casualties,
but it was their numbers that kept them alive.
"They're
still coming!" Shouted Drizl. The Neo Dragoon's charged
around the towers that sprawled out from the floor.
Even those who took damage from the first attack continued
charging ahead. As if the Army of Darkness could feel
no pain.
"2nd
Wave! Let's go!" Shouted Lennon as Warriors with projectile
attacks stepped up to the plate. Their arm cannons and
plasma rifles glowed with immense energy. The Neo Dragoons
new what was coming, however that didn't stop their
charge as they continued to run in ranks at the armed
and waiting Megaman Community.
"Charging
weapons!" Lennon shouted as he pointed out his own charging
Laser Cannon at the Neo Dragoons. He and hundreds more
prepared their most powerful charged up projectile shots.
"Ready!" He bolted as the Dragoons neared closer and
closer to the sound of energy absorbing cannons. The
guns started glowing with massive amounts of energy,
and the light started to appear on the darkened warriors
that rushed closer and closer. It made their black armor
actually seem to shine with light with the energy reflecting
off them. However the attractive light show didn't last
long.
"FIRE!"
The call was made and soon the Neo Dragoon's were treated
to an enormous light show presentation. The blasts were
fired and the hits were taken. Several Neo Dragoons
were rocketed back into others, while others had a hole
punctured right through them. Even with the futuristic
armor, did the blasts do damage. The Megalopolis army
greeted the success with hopeful smiles. Knowing they
did some damage to the nearly indestructible army.
Until the shots were fired back. Before they had time
to celebrate their attack, the Neo Dragoon's launched
their own fiery projectiles into the heart of them.
Several warriors were blasted into pieces, while others
were hit so far back that they were unable to get back
on their feet on their own. Lysekoid had taken a nearly
fatal hit thought the rib-cage area. He lost complete
consciousness and fell to the ground KO-ed. These shots
were far more powerful and far more advanced. The Neo
Dragoon's didn't let up. Several charged again, while
others stood back and continued the barrage of powerful
blasts.
The Megaman Warriors now were at the disadvantage. The
Neos were now fighting hand to hand and from a distance.
"Don't
give in! Sword Wielders, Weapon masters! To the front!
Block the upcoming charging attack! Shooters! Fire!
Don't resist!" Gauntlet yelled out among the frightened
warriors.
"Get
in there! Show them why we are the defenders of Megalopolis!"
Tim continued as he marched to the front of the army
to take on the charging Dragoons which now were practically
on top of them.<
The hand-to-hand warriors pulled out their swords, axes,
bows, knives, and sabers, to ready the upcoming stampede.
And they struck the front line, they gave it their all
by slashing the Neo Dragoon's head on. Several Dragoons
were forced to rear back after getting several limbs
chopped off, but they still felt no pain as they still
pounded into the Megaman Warriors. Blows were exchanged,
Coolant was spilt.
"Damn...there's
so many of them..." Lennon mouthed off as Hadrian pounded
his body weight into several opponents. Most of the
Mechanical Maniacs were being over powered one way or
another. Wheatear the numbers were being overwhelming,
or just facing blow after blow. Gauntlet himself was
having a hard time keeping himself from being beaten.
"Jeeeez,
Even my annoying tricks aren't lasting long..." The
ninja swore as he chucked Shadow Blade after Shadow
Blade. A Neo Dragoon caught one of the flying stars
in mid air, only to have it explode and sent his entire
left arm flying from its socket. Gauntlet quickly snuck
in a smile as he dodged out of several swipes from other
Neo Dragoons surrounding him.
Even the Sinister Six themselves were having a hard
time keeping alive. Tim had plowed through several Neos.
He left several over his head and threw them into others.
. Jason found his blades having very ill effect against
the thick armor of these warriors, while IRA, and Scott
were barley holding their own.
The tide of the battle was in favor of the Neo Dragoons.
Unless there was some other idea planned by our heroes,
they will certainly not last much longer with the major
advantage of their enemies.
*************************************
The meteorite sat quietly in the darkened wasteland
that surrounded it. The skies were now engulfed in darkness
and the crash landing site was barley recognizable before
the meter hit. The smoldering rocks hissed a nasty gassy
vapor as all life around the area seemed to not exist.
The world before the rock was nearly destroyed. Full
of nasty dull red, gray and black. With the Dragoon
army way off in the distance, the area here was deathly
quiet. Not a single soul stirred. The Earth slightly
trembled, but nothing more. All was quiet until a small
blue light came flying down from the sky. The light
was so bright that it actually lightened the area considerably
for a few seconds.
"Bzzzzaaap!"
The light hit the ground and disturbed the dusty remains
of the cracked rocky surface. Soon the light took shape
and grew in size until a lone warrior was left in the
darkness as the light vanished away.
Gary looked around and couldn't believe his eyes. The
area has dramatically gotten worse since he last visited
here sometime ago. This is where he had his first vision
from the meteor. The weakness of Pulzar. How he found
out that Red was behind all this. This is how he knew
he could find Red. He could use the meteorite again.
It was his only option. His only idea. Gary carefully
walked up to the meteorite. It looked half dead itself
as it desperately lost all its color. Gary again almost
felt sorry for it.
"Kapow!"
Gary was sent rearing back in pain as an electric blast
cornered him and caught him completely off guard. Gary
had barley enough time to recover as another barrel
of electric blasts fired from the darkness and bit at
Iceman's armor. Gary jumped to his feet and dodged a
blast that smacked to the ground underneath him. Gary
felt the electricity snap at his feet as he jumped into
the air. As Gary landed with a metallic thud, he looked
for his adversary. He was cleverly hidden. "Damn it!"
Gary whispered to himself. Another Electric charge was
sent in Gary's direction. This time however Gary was
ready and easily dodged it.
Immediately Gary fired off several blasts of frozen
mass from his mouth in the direction of the electric
charges. A small grunt was heard as the Ice Slashers
flew through the air quickly and the enemy had very
little time to maneuver.
"Bastard...cut
off my electric flow.." Spoke a familiar voice not to
far off in the distant dark.
"How
did you escape Edward?" Gary answered the familiar voice
which was that of Thunderman. There was a small silence
until Thunderman appeared out from the shadows.
"My
master rescued me. And to repay the favor he sent me
to destroy you." Thunderman smirked. "And once I've
burned you into ashes, I'll take out the other Sinister
Six. One by one." Thunderman's armor sent bolts of electricity
through it as he spoke.
"You
know that we never abandoned you right..." Gary reached
towards his back. He attempted to keep Thunderman's
eyes fixed on his face as much as he can. Gary had a
plan. But to do it, caused a lot of risk. Another good
jolt of electricity and Gary knew he'd be done for.
As his weakness consisted of electric weapons.
Edward knew this too, which is why he remained totally
confident on the other side of the battle field. "Bull!
You never even went back to check for me! You left me
to my fate! And now I leave you to yours!" A flustered
Thunderman absorbed all the electricity his armor took
and sent it straight for the little blue Eskimo.
Gary was quick though he quickly jumped out of harms
way. But he knew another volt of electric terror was
on its way. He wouldn't have time to dodge this attack.
This was it. The Electric blast would overwhelm Gary's
circuits, causing him to malfunction and soon, cause
him to shut down completely.
That is if Gary hadn't grabbed his weapon that was sealed
to his back. Gary grasped his hands around his wooden
mallet and shoved it out in front of him. Before the
barrage. The electricity slammed into the wooden hammer,
however the bolts of lightning disintegrated quickly
as the Wood blocked the electric attack nicely. Thunderman
was left gawking at the unsuspected weapon.
"Don't
tell me you forgot that I still hade these..." Gary
smirked as he twirled around the wooden weapon with
finesse.. Thunderman yelled off in anger as he charged
his fist with enough electricity to overwhelm Gary for
sure. That is if Gary didn't block the electric move
with his Mallet again.
Thunderman was forced back by the uselessness of his
power over Gary's new weapon savior. Try as the Golden
Warrior did, he couldn't get past Iceman's wooden shield.
Gary blasted Thunderman back with a well timed icy blue
beam of destruction. "Red's poisoned your mind, don't
you understand? He's been manipulating you from the
very beginning. He's the enemy. Not us!" Gary tried
to reason with the downed Thunderman, but the golden
clad just wouldn't listen as he rose to his feet and
attempted another barrage of electric bolts at Gary.
Blocking the attack again Gary blasted Edward back to
the ground again. "Stop fighting and listen to me!"
Gary growled at Edward's stubbornness.
"If
you help Red, you will live in a world of chaos and
death! Don't you understand that Red is the evil one
here!" Gary stood over Edward with a tear in his eye.
His once close friend, hypnotized. Gary couldn't believe
it would come down to this. Edward again opened his
hand and a large bolt of lightning spewed out at Gary.
Only this time, Gary wasn't quick enough on the draw
and was sent flying towards the meteorite.
Gary was badly hurt this time. He felt the electricity
surging through his body. It nearly paralyzed him. If
the blast didn't kill him, Edward's next strike surely
will. Gary watched his opponent rise to his feet. He
staggered slowly, so Gary knew he too was on his last
leg. Gary however couldn't move. Every time he tried,
a shock would go through is body and force him back
down again.
"Fool,
Red is my savior! He saved me from that Space Shuttle!
He did what you guys failed to do!" Edward drew closer
to Gary. Preparing his final strike. "You were supposed
to be my family...my friends. You were supposed to be
there for me! But you weren’t! I spit on you!" Edward
powered up his lightning strike move.
It was then Gary noticed that he could suddenly move.
It was a miracle! Gary didn't have time to savor the
moment as he formed razor sharp icicles in his hands
as Edward was about to attack. The Iced warrior charged
head first into Thunderman's electric torso and the
sharp ice tore through his armor and soft tissue that
lay underneath. Thunderman cried out in agony and pain
as Iceman rammed right through his entire body.
Iceman fell to the floor and was covered in black coolant.
He looked behind him to see Edward's stammering body
shaking. Gary didn't realize he tore a hole right through
his abdomen. Gary was in shock as Edward fell to the
floor.
"What
have I done...?" Gary couldn't believe his eyes. Did
he just kill his old friend in a bloody rampage? Edward
coughed up his own coolant fluids as he stared up at
Iceman.
"Well,
looks like you've won....congratulations Gary...." He
spoke wearily as he coughed up more. "Red will find
you...." Was all that he said before finally dosing
off into unconscious. Gary bowed his head silently to
his old 'friend.'.
"I'm
sorry Eddie...." Gary motioned quietly as he rose to
his feet. Red was going to pay. Big time.
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