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.

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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.

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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.

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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.