The Business of War

Orchestrated By C.M. Rich (Magnetman)

The Old Citadel Part 2

By Anime Master, Spark Mandrill, Jade, Jet, Zapper, Sean, Zymeth, Regulus, Regdar, Lennon, Snipe Anteater, Blazeman, Mahajarah, Naoshi, Hunter Chameleon, Kayori, Iga, Shift, Magnus Riujin, Winterman.exe, C.M. Rich

Scenario A
Participants:
The SA vs the Cossack Faction

Location: Cossack's Citadel, Northern Russia

Beneath the main floor of the Citadel, the Comrades were hard at work on their escape plan.

"Man this bites! Why do we have to be in some God forsaken tunnel?" Jay asked Silent Bob. The two were taken by Groundman earlier and were waiting with the Doctor and Kalinka.

"Would you shut up! I'm trying to get work done here. Your bitching is louder then my drills. How the hell does Drill do it?" Ground muttered to himself.

Cossack looked up from his work and at his daughter, who had her trademark shotgun in her hands. "Kalinka...I am sorry to have gotten you into this mess...It's all my fault. I'm sorry for all the times I ever called you ungrateful..." he started, but Kalinka interrupted him with a hug.

"Father! Never be sorry for what you have done! You have done what others should have done. Look at these robots, how they believe in your beliefs. Without you, they might have joined the SA." she told him. He blinked twice and nodded.

"Thank you Kalinka..."

"Aw look at this shit! It's like some bad chick flick, eh Lunchbox?" Jay laughed. Kalinka raised her gun.

"Shut. Your. Mouth. If I have to die, I'd rather not hear your pathetic banter. It's bad enough I have to be the communications commander here," she told him bluntly. Jay looked shocked.

"Dude...weak!" he protested. Silent Bob raised a fist and hit him over the head.

A shock was heard over head. It sounded like cannon fire. Suddenly Drillman appeared. "Is everyone okay Ground?"

"Yeah, though we knocked out that stoner. Can I assume that we have company?" he asked. Drill nodded.

”We need to finish this fast."

Back within the Citadel itself, Dustman was headed outside as quickly as he could.

"No pun intended, but this is really going to suck," Dustman said as he saw the stampeding Chargeman head towards the Citadel, followed closely by CrystalGirl.

He quickly activated both his communicator and his vacuum as he prepared to engage the enemy.

"Contact everyone. Yes, everyone. I think most people would want to know we are out of time to prepare," Sean said into his communicator. "Scissor Army forces are closing up on the Citadel, and fast. Whatever you’re doing, hurry up and get ready to engage the enemy."

Dustman then closed communication and then started to aim a Dust Crusher. He hesitated for a second and reactivated his communicator.

"Connect me to CC Toad Gal, DI Astrochan, and TT Astroman," Dustman stated as he kept the incoming opponents in his sight. "Chargeman is starting to get a little too close to comfort. I'd appreciate if some fire could be given in an attempt to halt his stampede.

Once again communication was closed and once again a few seconds were spent thinking.

"Connect me to CC Diveman, DI Grenademan, DI Aquaman, and anyone you think is appropriate," Dustman said as he now started to move forward. "Long range team, I am now going to attempt engaging Chargeman and his companion Crystal. Requesting backup. Actually, wait…Cancel that. I am at the moment begging for backup because I highly doubt my ability to last long against the duo."

Dustman now closed communication for the final time and sprinted in Chargeman’s general direction. He fired off a Dust Crusher, completely unsure if it would hit its target or not. Then Sean began to gather dust particles from the air and prepare another attack.

"Well I guess if no one decides to lend a hand I can always try and run back to the Citadel," Sean muttered to himself under the sound of his vacuum.

"About time some back-up arrived." Artilleryman commented as he flew towards Dustman’s position, who was also being joined by Grenademan. "I'll take care of CrystalGirl." he continued as he prepped his Pyro Cannon and aimed it at the crystalline princess. "Just make sure Chargeman doesn't flatten our entire resistance; I'd still like to get paid my full amount."

"Ha, good to see you're still in one piece." Dustman replied as he fired another Dust Crusher at the unstoppable force that was Chargeman. "And I'd prefer it that you stay that way for the rest of this battle. I had enough fun picking up your pieces last time, so don't try any more heroics."

Artilleryman ignored the Cossack bot's remark and focused on CrystalGirl as he then unleashed a series of fireballs from his Pyro Cannon at her. As expected the large crystals surrounding her moved into position and blocked the incoming shots and now the female Ascendant Android's attention was diverted to him.

"Hmph, so Prince Charming hasn't finished you off yet." she said before making a sadistic laugh. "I suppose that means I get to tear you into pieces."

"Great, another psychopath with a penchant for shiny objects. Due to those crystals she probably also has a weakness to fire as well. I must be drawn to these types." the mercenary remarked as he fired another shot from his cannon.

"So even the General has kept me on guard duty..." Geminiman muttered as he had finally regained his composure after being relieved of that pesky virus. "I have no choice but to not disappoint him then." The White Knight promptly split into his maximum of 6 clones and sent 5 of them to go protect the remaining areas of the field.

"I will only need one clone to rid myself of that annoying mercenary..." With all self-doubt erased from his head, he headed for Artilleryman and CrystalGirl whilst laughing maniacally.

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

From the observation tower, Pharaohman spotted Gravityman. "Crap, I see him... And it looks like he brought a buddy along for the ride."

"So now what?" Sunstar inquired.

"One of these Android bastards is bad enough. It'd be suicide for our group to take on two of them. Kinda my fault, actually, I should've known better than to assume we'd catch him on his own." Jade put his hand to his communicator. "Connect me with all the other teams. We see Gravityman, and Stoneman is with him. Any chance some of you can keep rock-head occupied while we take Gravs down?"

“I’m trying to give you some cover fire, but these turrets are ancient!”, Pluto lamented over the communication line.

“Just do what you can! We’ll need all the help in the world and then some to take him out!”, Pharaoh encouraged.

Outside, Gravityman seemed to realize something.

“Oh…Right…There’s this.”, he commented, once again holding up the discharged Long Tom round.

Stoneman peeked over at him from a few yards away, somewhat fearing what this madman would do with it. He slowly began to work his way further down the wall, away from Gravityman.

The round hovered before the maniac for a few seconds as he admired it. Then, with sudden force, he punched it, using his manipulation of gravity to accelerate it far beyond its original speed, sending the shell, which shattered somewhere along the way, through the corner of the Citadel, all the way to the opposite corner, finally ending up in some forest nearly a hundred miles away.

Under the tremendous blow, the tower collapsed, taking the turret down with it. Free of two annoyances- the gun turret and the wall itself- Gravityman chuckled as he slowly began to enter the Citadel as an audience looked on above.

“God, did I draw the short straw, or what?” Dive lamented, throwing down an empty can of liquid courage. Aquaman shot him an annoyed look, but Dive ignored ‘im. He had to tango with an SA CO…with the walkin’ urinal as his back-up. What’d he do to deserve THAT?! From his position, he could see Stoneman bashin’ away on the Citadel. Gravity wasn’ his problem, so Stonehenge was gonna be his mark. Just as good as anyone.

“Any ideas?” Aquaman asked, soundin’ worried.

“Go for the eyes, Bed Wetter. I’ll nail the rest,” Dive commanded, pointin’ at Stoneman. Stonehenge’s gaze fell squarely on the two Cossackers huddled on the wall. Outta the blue, several geysers o’ rock and stone shot outta the ground, coverin’ the battlefield with rubble. Dive didn’ know what the lummox was up ta, but he hated it. Aquaman fired a steady stream of water balloons into the freak’s face, but he wasn’t lettin’ up. Dive unleashed a salvo at the brick wall’s knee, hopin’ that trick would work better here than it did with Napalm. Dive thanked all merciful God as the knee began ta gave a smidge. Bits and chunks o’ blasted rock fell off, but the stony cyclone was still buildin' up.

“Concentrate fire!!” Dive barked as he and Brita Boy hit the blockhead’s knee with everythin’ they had. Pluto joined in with a few shots from another one o’ th’ nearby plasma cannons, hittin’ Stone dead-on. By some fucking miracle, the rock monster hit the ground like a sack o’ potatoes, breakin’ off huge chunks o’ his rocky armor.

“Thanks for the back-up, Pluto!” Waterboy thanked over the com.

“That’s how it’s done!” Diveman boasted as he pulled a cig outta his jacket. Before he could light it, somuvtha debris Stonehenge kicked up started attachin’ itself on the fallen CO like a rocky band-aid.

“No friggin’ way…” Dive gasped, his unlit cig fallin’ outta his mouth. Dive and Aqua could do was watched in disbelief as more n’ more of the rubble patched up Stoneman. As long as the sonuvabitch had all that rubble around ‘im, he could just simply put ‘imself back together no matter what they threw at him. N’ there was plenty more rock where that came from. Not good. Before they knew it, the Rocky Horror Picture Show was back on his feet, larger than life, twice as ugly, and five times as pissed. Two more rocky geysers shot outta the ground, only they was shitloads bigger than the last ones, n’ they was startin’ to spin n’ churn...

“Hit the dirt!” Dive shouted as one o‘ the rocky tornado hit the wall. Diveman quickly threw himself through a window, avoidin’ the worst o’ the rock storm, but still clippin’ him n’ badly dentin’ him here n’ there. Aqua wasn’t as nimble or lucky as Dive n’ got slammed by some heavy-duty rubble, shatterin’ his water tank. The second stone cyclone tore through the battery that nailed Stone early on, reducin’ it to useless scrap.

“Crap in a fuckin’ hat,” Dive hissed as he watched Aquaman get hammered. “Yo! Man down!” Dive screamed over the com, not even botherin’ with radio etiquette crap. “Frost, Blizzard, Neptune, yer not doin’ nuthin’ constructive! Get yer asses over here ASAP! N’ Aqua’s in deep shit, too.”

“But-“ Kalinka replied over the com.

“NOW!!” Diveman bellowed over the com as somethin’ bang through the roof. Dive looked up ‘n saw Stoneman loomin’ over ‘im through the hole in the roof with a mean lookin’ warhammer in place o’ onuva his hands.

“Gimme a fuckin’ break!!”

A way’s away, Gravityman’s breach hasn’t gone unnoticed, as Pharaohman and Sunstar blaze towards Gravityman, ready to slam him with a combined surprise attack. Uranus drops down also, holding Bright Babe, using his own gravity powers to soften their landing. Jade and Shift, meanwhile, streak at Gravity, ready to unleash their full power, when suddenly, he looks up at them.

"Shit, he saw us. Sunstar! GET BACK!!"

At Jade's command, the two jump back to get themselves out of the range of Gravityman’s daunting Gravity Hold. Not wasting any time, the two raise their hands for a barrage of Pharaoh Shots and Fireball Busters, only for them to be cooled off with a shield of swirling snow as Gravityman flies back up on his feet.

"You..." Gravity gazes at Pharaohman. "I never did get to properly pay you back for the job you did on me in Izhevsk." He looks over at Bright. "Ah, lightbulb-bitch is here too. Good. I'll enjoy torturing you both."

“Come on and try it!” Sunstar challenges.

“You don’t have to ask me twice!” In a blur, Gravity streaks toward him and Pharaohman. The two of them leap back, in separate directions, Jade firing his Pharaoh Beam and Shift releasing a blast from his flamethrower. Gravity just smirks as a wall of snow bursts from the ground to shield him temporarily. He throws the frozen barrier at Jade, who wards it away with a Pharaoh Wave, but while he’s distracted he jumps at Sunstar and snares him in his Gravity Hold.

“Hrrgh!!” Sunstar struggles painfully against his grip.

“So you think you’re good enough to hang with the big boys, huh? Psh. I doubt even the General would waste his precious time on your miserable ass…”

Uranus suddenly jumps in, using his Gravity Twist to break the hold long enough for him and Sunstar to escape.

“Oh no you don’t…”

The CO turns to pursue the Stardroids, but catches an eyeful of Jet’s Flash Stopper. As he holds his eyes for a moment, the ground beneath him thrashes in his rage.

“GODDAMN LIGHTBULB BITCH!!! WHEN I CATCH HER I’M GONNA RIP THAT FUCKING LIGHTBULB OFF HER HEAD AND CRAM ITS BROKEN PIECES DOWN HER THROAT ONE BY ONE!!!”

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

Quint was extremely cautious. He just knew that the Murmansk sniper had to have been a Cossacker. The RPD was kept on edge for the first few hours of suppressant sniper fire, which meant that they couldn't have had one of their men out there. And Wily's Rescue Force was decidedly lacking in any sort of long-range support in that respect. If nothing else, he wanted the data on the shooter, or shooters (He seemed to move rather quickly for one sniper).

"If I can't take him out, I can at least gather information on him and compromise his advantage." Quint reasoned. Suddenly, an axe was hurdling towards him.

Quint dodged the projectile just barely as the weapon lodged itself into a tree trunk.

"Well, well, if it isn't Captain Quint." A deep voice mused, stepping out from behind a tree. It was Tomahawkman. "You may not know this, but I almost had you back in Murmansk. I'm here to finish the job."

"Really?" Quint sneered. "It's so easy to say something like that when I'm still standing."

The Robot Master and the Rockman Killer went into a stare down. Regdar brushed back his duster, revealing his revolvers hanging at his hips. Snow blew past them both as they stood like statues, each watching for the other to slip up.

"Say when." Regdar teased the Mercenary.

Quint attempted to draw his Saku cannon, but reeled back in pain, grabbing his right eye. Regdar had beaten him on the draw, blinding him in the process.

"MY EYE!" Quint screamed. "YOU BASTARD!!!"

"That was a right nasty trick you tried to pull there, partner, going before you gave the signal." Regdar mocked the writhing Merc. "Oh, thought you wanted to know. Blizzard's just fine."

Regdar began tossing his tomahawk up and catching it repeatedly. Quint was able to focus his remaining eye just in time to see the Silver Tomahawk attack with enough time to dodge it. The axe blade just grazing his cheek as it caught in the tree behind him.

"I can do this all day, kid." T. Hawk snickered as he lobbed another Silver Tomahawk at Quint.

The Mercenary may have had a blindspot, but he was able to dodge the tomahawks that Regdar threw at him. Finally, the Indian Robot Master decided to take a break. Quint took this time to catch his breath.

"I'm getting tired of playing Cowboys and Indians." Quint said smugly.

"Ready to play hard-ball when you are, Custer." Regdar shot back.

"Ha, ha, ha... but I'm afraid it is YOU who will be making his last stand." Quint readied his Saku cannon.

Regdar started laughing. It began as a low chuckle, then it elevated to a hearty laughter. Quint was furious.

"Hey! What's so funny?!" He demanded.

Regdar gave a brisk motion to the surroundings. "Look around you! What do you see?"

Quint looked around. All he could see were the trees. Oh, and the various botched attempts to hit him represented by the tomahawks buried in those trees.

"Lousy axe-throwing?" Quint made an attempt at a smart-aleck comment.

"No, not quite." Regdar shook his head. "I like to call it a setup." Regdar took out a silver dollar and flipped it between his fingers. "Call it in the air." He said, flipping the coin in the air.

Before Quint could react, Regdar pulled out his revolver and emptied all eight shots from the chamber in rapid succession. He didn't aim at Quint though. He was aiming at the tomahawks that were lodged in the trees. His aim as sharp as ever, the bullets ricocheted off the axe heads, heading straight for a very surprised Quint. Quint was just barely able to dodge all of the shots, taking one of the bullets right in the shoulder as he yelped in pain. Regdar put out his hand and caught the coin.

"Heads." He said.

Quint grit his teeth. "You're all out of ammo again. Just like last time."

Quint swore under his breath as he saw the gunslinger unholster a second single action army revolver. "Always carry at least two." Regdar countered.

Regdar took a tomahawk and lobbed it high into the air, then proceeded to open fire just as he had done before. This time, however, he only fire four shots at the tomahawks lodged in the trees and fired the remaining four at the tomahawk he had just thrown, showering four bullets downward on the hapless Mercenary. He wasn't expecting the downward assault, being more concerned with the chaotic ricochet attacks from the stationary axes. One of the bullets entered his left thigh. Quint screamed in pain. It was a damn lucky shot, or so Quint would have called it. The bullet struck a major nerve relay, rendering the function of the leg useless. Quint limped on his left side to avoid the falling tomahawk.

Regdar was enjoying himself. He liked showcasing his expert gunplay. "Farewell, and ado, to ye fair Spanish ladies..." Regdar sang the first line of the sea-shanty a different Captain Quint was famous for, mocking the Quint that was kneeling before him.

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

Sean activated his communicator and connected his with Grenademan’s; he had no doubt that communication would be necessary during this fight. Another Dust Crusher was launched and backed up with a few explosives and each attack hit the target. The stampeding train based robot, however, continued onward, barely slowing down as the projectiles hit.

"God damn it!" Dustman shouted over the radio. "What does it take to make this guy flinch!"

"Not sure, I guess we will just have to whittle him down," replied Maha.

Dustman paused to think for a second as he took a few shots with his buster. His eyes followed the blasts of energy all the way to impact. The giant monstrosity kept moving forward. A few more explosives hit Chargeman and succeeded in causing him to slow down once more.

"Do you think you can nail him in the face with a bunch of those grenades?" asked Dustman. "Maybe around ten grenades to the face could catch his attention.”

"Not sure," Grenademan answered. "I think he might be too tall. I've never shot a grenade that high before. Besides, I couldn't have them all go off simultaneously!"

"Let me try then. Create as many grenades as you can and then lob them towards me," Dustman said.

Maha quickly threw handfuls of grenades towards Dustman, who quickly sucked them into his vacuum, spending a few seconds aiming before he opened fire. The explosions occurred, one after the other, right in front of Chargeman’s giant head. The locomotive slowed to a stop as he screamed and futilely raised his arms in front of his face expecting more. The mechanical monster than looked around and spotted his two attackers, which looked almost like mice in comparison. A deafening, but incomprehensible, scream came from Chargeman before he altered course towards the Dustman and Grenademan.

"Well, you got his attention." Maha said. "Now what?"

"Uh....not sure," Sean answered. "Running looks like a good idea right now!"

"Wait, you didn't think this far ahead?!" shouted Grenademan. "What were you expecting?! Did you think that would be it?! I thought you would have a battle plan! You're supposed to be smart!"

"Not expecting, but I was hoping." Sean replied. "And I always thought improvisation was best for battle."

Dustman then noticed Chargeman getting uncomfortably close. He saw the snow melt and the soot stain the earth black only a few yards away.

"And I really think we should get out of the way!" shouted Dustman.

Before Grenademan could respond, Dustman used a blast of air from his vacuum to knock his ally away. Then, Dustman quickly dove in the opposite direction as Chargeman charged by. The snow and ice were melted away and the ground was overturned from the spikes of Chargeman’s feet. The ash covered the earth. Some of the soot managed to land on the two Robot Masters and they felt the heat eat away at their armor. Nothing life threatening had been dealt, but death had been far too close to comfort for both Maha and Sean.

"Okay, lets try and keep our distance from now on," Dustman said over the communication system, still rather shocked.

Grenademan quickly replied, "Agreed."

"Splitting up might be the best idea for now," Sean suggested. "He can't trail us both and whoever he isn't chasing can open fire as much as possible. I don't think he has any weaponry other than his body."

"I don't think he needs any." Maha dryly observed. "Be careful!"

Chargeman had already turned around and was about to sweep at the smaller robots once more when the two ran off in different directions. He hesitated for a few moments before running after Dustman. Grenademan then immediately turned around and began to lob explosive after explosive at the speeding locomotive while Sean ran for his life.

On the opposite side of the Citadel, Artilleryman continued his attempts to stave off the incoming Scissor Army brigade.

Shot after shot was being repelled, and Artilleryman was getting frustrated, at least when he was fighting Geminiman he felt like he was doing something by keeping him constantly moving in order to evade attacks, but CrystalGirl didn’t even move an inch when a shot came her way. Instead, one of her crystals would just instantly move to the right place and the right time, leaving no opening.

“Damn it all, my Pyro Cannon just isn’t enough to get through her defense! Fortunately, this constant attacking has kept her crystals from doing anything other than blocking, so if I can just…” the mercenary’s train of thought was interrupted when he suddenly realized a large laser beam shoot out one of the crystals and singed the side of his helmet.

“Oh, did I miss?” CrystalGirl snickered as she motioned her Crystal Eye to adjust the degree of its laser shot. Artilleryman was not pleased at this turn of events. Shiny objects, a sadistic laugh and now a laser, it was just all too familiar to him.

“Am I reminding you of somebody?” the crystalline robot asked as if she was reading his mind. “Well unlike fairy boy, I will get the job done and tear you into pieces.” She fired her Crystal Eye laser again through a larger crystal and refracted the now larger beam at the former Wily bot, who was now more prepared and flew out to evade the beam until he noticed a much larger beam suddenly pass by at a different angle. Reacting as fast as he could, he bent backwards in time to see the laser tear apart his chest-plate before it reflected off the Citadel wall and into the ground before it went back up in his direction. He rolled out of the path of the laser which narrowly blew off his left arm in the process but then noticed the laser hit one of CrystalGirl’s crystals and shot right back at him, missing him by several inches.

A familiar laugh echoed in the field and the two robots then turned to see Geminiman approaching with his arm cannon pointed at Artilleryman, his grin was as wide as ever. “Surprised to see me, Artilleryman?” he sneered at the horrified mercenary.

“Damn it, Geminiman! Watch where you are firing those lasers! My crystals are not some sort of convenient object you can bounce that pathetic laser of yours off.”

“Calm down, princess. Your crystals are as resilient as they are beautiful; I can only hope that their owner is the same.” The crystal robot felt somewhat disgusted at the White Knight’s rather lame remark and then decided to press on to attack the Citadel.

“Go back to your fantasies about your ‘beloved’. I am far out of your league.” She replied as she went to attack the Citadel walls.

“Shot down again.” The White Knight sighed as he fired another laser at Artilleryman, “It appears I’ll need to earn a bit more respect to get more of the ladies. So I’ll have to make sure I finish you off for good.”

Artilleryman managed to dodge the incoming laser and thought about his situation, Geminiman was one thing, but if he concentrated on him now, he would let CrystalGirl destroy the Citadel, wall allowing the SA to gain entry into this wing of the Citadel. This would mean his employer would be in more danger, and if he had no employer, he would not get paid. His grudge against him already allowed the SA to get closer than they should; he was not going to let it happen again so he quickly turned to fire several shots in front of her to prevent her from advancing.

“You’re not going anywhere, just because he’s here doesn’t mean you can run away, I will destroy you both.” He yelled out, determined as he was, in his mind he had realized he had just signed his own death certificate… again.

“Geminiman, you idiot, can’t you keep him occupied at all?”

“If you are so frustrated by him, princess, you might as well help.” The White Knight annoyingly stated. The two robots glared at each other before they finally just nodded in agreement and concentrated their attacks on the airborne mercenary. Their lasers flew in various directions creating a beautiful and deadly light show in which Artilleryman struggled to avoid, watching him dance in the air soon made CrystalGirl and Geminiman cry out in maniacal laughter which sounded in the ears of all that were around them. Soon the laughter grew infectious as the nearby SA officers started to laugh as they pressed their attack further.

“What the hell is so funny?” Artilleryman yelled as he struggled to return fire. “I could certainly use some help here stopping these two!”

Explosions soon occurred around the mercenary, helping put a stop to the lethal laser light show and Artilleryman turned to see the turrets pointing over at his direction before they quickly turned to face another point on the battlefield.

“I’ve got enough problems to deal with shooting at the rest of the Ascendant Androids! I can’t cover all your backs!” Pluto cried out as he was still struggling to keep the turrets functioning.

Artilleryman looked around and saw that everyone else was occupied, and then noticed the unstoppable force that was Chargeman who was moving around relentlessly around the field as so many of his comrades were trying to stop him. He then noticed that spewing out what appeared to be smoldering hot ash where ever he went and then it clicked to him. If he could somehow distract Chargeman into passing through his ordeal, the ash he’d leave in his wake would burn away at his sadistic opponents and hopefully lighten the attack load on the Citadel if he can keep him distracted long enough to draw him away from the fight. Artilleryman switched on his communicator to contact the rest of him team.

“To all the guys fighting Chargeman, listen up, I might have a plan. But I’ll need a bit of help trying to get it to work.”

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

Back in the mobile control room, Pluto was in trouble. His CPAS had started sprouting errors out the wing-wang, and he couldn't fix it with software changes. He soon realized it was a hardware problem; the components borrowed from the Sagittarius were finally falling apart. Fortunately, his limbs still worked perfectly. Pluto and Mars tried their best to defend the Citadel in spite of the glaring problem, but Gravityman had noticed the sudden change in the turret movements.

"Strange, they seem... less precise." the SA officer thought aloud while looking through the mounds of snow for Bright Babe. Seeing an opening, he rose into the air and tore off as many of the nearby turrets as he could, hurling them into the walls of the Citadel. The damage was extensive, as the holes left structural weak points and they started to collapse. Gravity just made it worse as he put even more force on the side of the building.

The two Stardroids could see the damage by looking at what parts of the Citadel had lost power. All they could do was stand and watch as the building was torn to shreds.

"That's it." Pluto said. Shouting over the com system, he warned the Cossacks of the impending danger. "Kalinka, Mikhail, get out of here now! The place is falling apart!" He turned off the speaker system and unplugged from the control panel. "C'mon Mars, we've got to get out of here!"

As he said that, a small chunk fell from the ceiling. The whole place was shaking.

"Don't you think I know that?!" Mars responded, unplugging from the control panel himself. Gathering both cords, he set them on fire and hopped into the land rover. Pluto got into the driver's seat, revving the motor as Mars charged his weapon. The vehicle sped down the tunnel as the massive explosion destroyed the small room and any trace of the control panel. Speeding through at 400mph, the land rover outran the small fireball, slowing down once the flames were no longer a danger. Suddenly, the rover spun out, colliding with the wall of the tunnel. Pluto was obviously unconscious from the impact.

"Oh no... wake up!" Mars shouted. "You can't pass out now!"

But it was no use. Pluto's already heavily damaged body had finally given in.

Mars quickly pulled Pluto into the back, and took the driver's seat. He put the vehicle into reverse, backing away from the wall and turning back to the Citadel.

I've got to get back there. Sunstar will have to pilot his ship now..., he thought.

The rover entered the charred room, and Mars jumped out. "I'll be back..." he said to his teammate. Running down the hallways, he was surprised to find the Citadel was still mostly intact. "CG Sunstar, are you there?" Mars asked over the com system.

"What is it?! I'm kinda RUNNING FOR MY LIFE HERE!" Sunstar shouted back. "Note to self: Never shoot Gravityman in the back while he's distracted!"

Below the snowy, battle-scarred fields outside of the Citadel, another front of the siege was taking place, although more quietly than a full assault.

"Filthy, filthy, filthy!" Waveman fumed as he drifted his way through the sewage. "Such a sin for water to be used like this!" As he went along he accumulated some of the water to his own mass, doing his best to purge it of unwanted particles and objects. By the time he was directly underneath the Citadel, he was about the size of a yellow devil, his immense size pressing against the sewer walls.

"Now, now, shall I wait here? The metal heads may try and escape through here... Oh, but guard duty is so boring!" the liquid behemoth radioed Napalm. "Yo, 'Palmy! Should I just wash everyone out of the Citadel?"

"That actually sounds like-"

"Good enough for me!" Waveman cackled, and closed the communication.

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

Blizzardman received the transmission from Diveman.

"Got it." Blizzardman said over the com link. He turned to the group.

"Frost, Pirate, Neptune, we have to-"

Blizzard's shout was cut off as the ground shattered and water began to spray from the hole. A crazed laughter rang out from the water as several armor pieces floated in the watery mass.

"Shit! It's Wave!" Neptune shouted.

Wave wasted no time in slamming Blizzardman into the wall with a column of sewage. Both painful and disgusting, Blizzard hit the wall, impacting the steel upon collision. Waveman shot pressurized fists in every direction, nailing everyone in the hallway. The walls began to crumple under the force, threatening a collapse from above. Waveman began cackling in his usual manner. What had he to fear of being crushed? He'd just ooze out from the rubble.

"Neptune, NOW!" Blizzardman shouted.

Before Waveman could react, Neptune blasted Wave with a shot of Aquamarine. Waveman began to shriek with pain as his own body became an acidic solution, eating away at his protein bonds. Waveman broke off from the rest of his "body," but serious damage had already been done. He had lost a lot of nanomachines from that acid bath, and he couldn't manipulate water nearly as much as before.

"Hehehehehe.. KYAHAHAHAHA!!! How could you?!" He cackled deliriously. "You've maimed me!"

Waveman realized with the flooding water, all Neptune had to do was pump the incoming sewage with acid. Then he'd be a dead man. He began to flee from the one thing he had abused on so many occasions. The other Robot Masters gave chase. Waveman saw his redemption from the flood: a staircase.

"Higher ground!" He gasped, reaching the top in one mighty leap.

Neptune was the first to catch up with him. "Why don't you stay and die like a man?" He asked.

Waveman lunged at him with his trident. Neptune shot a blast of Aquamarine at him, but he pulled out the water from his gut, allowing the blast to pass through the new hole in his body. He rushed the cosmic fighter, following the blast carefully to avoid taking in acid, and slammed his whole body into Neptune, forcing him to the ground. He pressurized water on Neptune's buster, pinning his arm to the ground. He raised his trident over his head.

"Tonight's special from the chef: skewered mermaid-thing on a shish kabob!" Waveman shrieked hysterically, thrusting the trident downward. Neptune put his arm up to defend, the trident stabbing down into his wrist and pinning it to his chest. His arm was now useless, but he avoided death, which Neptune was rather grateful for.

However, something burst out of the wall, and Neptune's heart sank as he realized that it was one of Wave's trademark giant makeshift tridents enveloped in malleable water, crafted prior to the battle from the sewer walls. It was shorter than usual to fit indoors, though.

Waveman scooped up Neptune with his new trident and swung it around 360 degrees, hurling the Cosmic Gladiator off and hurtling down the hall.

"Heyyyy! Why don't you stay and die like a man?!" Wave taunted to the still airborne Gladiator, then turned just in time.....

Frostman dashed at the watery figure before him, now only yards away from him. Wave blasted a concentrated column of water at him which Frostman blocked with his fists. The water kept pushing the behemoth back despite Wave's weakened state. Frost eventually backed into a wall, the steel starting to give under the intense pressure.

"What is this delicious evil energy I taste in you?" Waveman asked with amusement, referring to Frostman. "Oh, yes, I sense evil that surpasses any I have ever seen! KYAHAHAHAHA!! How could someone covered in so much darkness be with a scumbag like Cossack?! Come now, that energy has much better use on the other side..... On the Scissor Army!"

"Don't listen to him!" Neptune's distant voice called out.

If Frostman had even responded to Waveman’s proposal, it would have been drowned out by the insane SA officer's laughter anyway, as well as the torrent of water that began to push on with greater force.

"How does it feel to be helpless?!" Waveman cackled since Neptune could no longer assist in bathing the SA Commander in acid. "You'd put up more of a fight... If you were graced with the good General's power! Heeheeheeheehee!" Frostman only smirked.

Waveman watched as Frostman shot liquid nitrogen from his knuckles, freezing the pounding water as it attempted to push him back. The water spray began to freeze on Frostman’s knuckles, creating boxing gloves of ice. However, Frost had failed to take account of the still-active trident, and the giant weapon emerged from the flood of water, embedding itself into the behemoth's left hand. Luckily, the layer of ice he had created cushioned the hit, but it still penetrated pretty deep, and the stream of water was starting to push it in. Howling in pain, Frostman mustered all of his strength to yank the trident out and snap it in half. He clenched his injured hand to see that it was still functional, then continued to block the flood that was still pushing him.

Pirateman leapt over Frost's back and into the water stream, rushing through the mass. Waveman broke off his attack, and Pirateman stopped his rush and jumped back as the aquatic terror's stomach suddenly expanded into a huge maw that snapped at him. Several more of the monsters emerged as tentacles, lashing out at Pirateman, but the Tyrant adeptly leaped over them, the meteor kicked right through the watery monster and slamming a piece of armor out of Wave's body. Waveman growled as he saw Pirateman had snitched his crown from the water. A lightning-quick viper head attempted to snatch it back, but Pirate pulled his hand away, and instead the snake got a small portion of his shoulder armor. He saw the piece become pressurized into oblivion by Waveman, who then made a sick gurgling noise.

"Blech! Thieving Cossack scum taste horrible!" Wave complained.

Blizzardman was now rounding the corner. He began to rush up the steps as Frostman shattered the gloves and slammed his fists on the ground, sending an Ice Wave hurtling after him. Waveman jetted his body to the stairs that wrapped to the other side to avoid the blast. He began to ascend the steel walkway as Blizzardman ran to the center of the staircase.

"Frostman!" Blizzard yelled to the ice golem.

"What?!" Frostman yelled back, about to give chase.

"Fire your Ice Gatling into the air!" Blizzardman shouted.

Shit! Waveman thought as he realized their plan. However, it was too late.

Blizzardman thrust his palms above him and shot a furious Blizzard Attack as Frostman fired his Ice Gatling into the air. Waveman tried to avoid the attack, but the storm of liquid nitrogen projectiles was all too much. Waveman tried to vibrate his nanomachines in an attempt to warm himself, but friction alone wasn't enough to counter sub-zero temperatures. Waveman slowed as the storm ravaged his watery form, finally, unable to dodge the Gatlings fired at him, he was shot head on.

"How does it feel to be helpless," Frostman calmly asked, echoing Wave from before.

"Such power...." Waveman commended, his speech processors unfortunately still intact. "Butyou'dbeevenstrongerifyouwere-"

Frostman cut him short, finalizing his strike with a blob of liquid nitrogen, encasing the Android. Unable to keep his balance, Waveman tumbled off the staircase, shattering on the ground.

"Is he dead?" Frostman asked.

Blizzardman picked up a frozen shard. He placed the piece of ice into his frigid trench coat. With the ice so close to his chilled body, it would be a long time before he had a chance to thaw.

"No..." Blizzard said. "But he is in an extremely dormant state. He won't be moving for a while."

"I say we turn this room into a meat-locker." Pirateman spoke up, twirling his newfangled treasure around his finger.

"Good idea." Neptune agreed, only now returning from his previous flight down the hall. "Another good idea would be REMOVING THIS TRIDENT FROM MY ARM!"

Pirateman tried to gently removed the trident as the two ice brawlers created a winter wonderland in minutes. The whole staircase was covered in snow and ice and three feet of snow now covered the floor.

"Welcome to Russia." Blizzardman said with a chilling cold in his voice.

"AA Blizzardman. Hey, Blizzard, nice weather we're havin', eh? Just callin' to see if ye wouldn't mind GETTIN' THE FUCK OVER HERE!"

Blizzardman had almost forgotten that Diveman needed backup. Then again, didn't everyone?

Just then, the com system gave a disturbing update. Gravityman was beginning to penetrate the Citadel defenses and Stoneman was with him. To make matters worse, Gemini and Crystal were hounding Artillery while Chargeman was storming the main defenses. Only Sean and Maha were trying to stop the nuclear-powered train. The SA had too many powerful forces spread out, and this wasn't all of them. This wasn't combat, this was an extermination. Cutman wanted Cossack dead, and he would probably see to the job himself. That meant the General himself was around here somewhere. He was formidable enough without his twisted machines of war. What chance did the Citadel have?

"Zapper..." Blizzardman whispered to himself. "You guys go on, I need to help Artillery." Blizzard lied to his attack squad.

It worked. Neptune, Pirate, and Frost ran off to help Diveman while Blizzard stayed behind.

"Sorry guys..." Blizzard whispered under his breath. "But Zapper means more to me than all of you..."

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

Outside of the Citadel, Quint and Tomahawkman continued their deadly game of hide and seek in the wilderness.

Quint looked at the tomahawks lodged into the trees. "I have to get rid of those somehow." he thought.

The sniper spun the barrel of his revolver, thumbing in six more rounds before snapping the barrel back into place. He aimed at the various tomahawks lodged in the trees around the duel field and fired. Two of the bullets entered Quint's back, right under his shoulders - not enough to immobilize his arms, but enough to cause him pain as he moved them.

One other hit the back of the Officer's left knee, completely rendering the leg useless.
The fourth and fifth aimed a point just above his pelvis, which would took away his enemy's ability to move his remaining leg for a long enough time.

However, the last bullet, aimed at Quint's left arm, did not deal damage : it bounced back, as if a small force field surrounded the arm. Even worse, itcame back at Regdar, forcing him to dive out of the way.

"My turn, now !" yelled the Officer. While gritting his teeth, he grabbed his left wrist and pulled. The arm detached, and he threw it on his immediate right.

A rain of missiles hit Quint in the back before the limb fell to the ground. The Killer was sent flying in the air, and hit a tree head-first before landing, apparently knocked out.

Searchman walked out of his hiding spot, the doors on his torso still opened ; the Homing Snipers were already reloading.

The Indian Robot Master nodded at him before getting back on his feet.

Unnoticed by the pair of Cossackers, the arm had landed on a thick layer of snow, nearly forming ice. Small claws came from the shoulder and dug in.

"Thanks, Search. Now, let's get back to the SA."

"Negative." The answer from the two-headed sniper blocked Regdar on his feet.

"He's out of commission, man. We've got more important stuff to deal with."

"I must make myself sure of it."

"Don't you remember how tight our budget is ? We can't allow ourselves to waste ammo on half-dead enemies !" explained Regdar with a voice louder than he wanted to.

"I did not intend to waste bullets on him..." Searchman did a small gesture from his left hand, and a dagger appeared just above his left hand. "Do not interfere."

By now, the Sakugarne had transformed into a turret, and was aiming at the two-headed robot. An order, a small impulsion, and it would destroy the opponent.

"Hey, that's just overkill, man." Regdar's face grew pale, as he gazed into Searchman’s eyes. They slightly glowed a dark purple, and he heard what would happen next if he stood in his way. "I can't allow you to do that. I kill for a living, maybe, but I have moral standards. He may be our enemy, but he doesn't deserve that."

"He does." The aura in the Impacter's eyes grew darker, as he motioned himself closer to the corpse.

"Look. We're losing time, and there are plenty of Officers around. Do you have a special grudge against him or something ?" reasoned the Assassin.

"Actually, I do." Searchman’s heads looked away, as if he was telling a shameful story. "We are...of the same family. He dirtied our name."

"And a rain of missiles didn't clean it ? This is my final word. We go back helping the others, or I'll take you out right now." His gun wasn't loaded, but he brushed back his duster to reveal a tomahawk attached to his belt. "I won't like it, but some guys need us." Regdar said.

Searchman considered it, before retracting his blade. His eyes went a slightly brighter shade of purple as well. "Fine. New mission : Sniper actions on SA Officers."

"That's the way to go, man." encouraged Regdar.

Both of them walked away. In the middle of the soft noise they were making as they walked in the snow, he heard the start of a low humming.

Before he made a connection, the humming turned in a loud screeching, and a burning-white ray came from the spot the Saku cannon had landed.

The shot hit Searchman right in his torso, causing a chain reaction with his internal missile launchers. He exploded in a shower of metal debris, his legs still firmly standing.
Debris hit Regdar on his left cheek, causing him to "wake up" from the scene. He turned back, to see his victim was still alive.

Quint had leaned on his right side, his legs lifeless, and oily blood covering his face. He had his hand on his right ear, apparently sending a message :

"Quint to General Cutman. One sniper is down, the other should be easily incapacitated. Quint, over."

He left his arm fell, and he raised his head to see Regdar pointing his rifle at a point between his eyes.

"Funny, that. You had two good eyes, and didn't see my shot ? Talk about a sniper..." he laughed, and laughed, until the Assassin fired. Quint was finally out of commission.

Regdar was about to leave, when he realized what would happen after the battle : the SA would pick Quint up, right. But -and he stared at Searchman’s remains- they wouldn't stop at that...

"He's pretty unstable with that energy of his." he muttered, before picking up the biggest remains of his sniper colleague - the shoulders, his left arm and his two heads, still pieced together by some miracle. "But that means it'll be all too easy for Mesmer to turn him into an SA puppet." He winced at the contact of burned metal against his body, and went back to the forest's edge. He could still do some shots on the SA before having to retreat...

Just outside of the South wall of the Citadel, General Cutman had gathered with the majority of his “orange peel”, where he stopped and looked up at the wall, nearly forty feet tall. Knowing he could scale it with relative ease, even given it’s icy, smooth sides, he knew he’d have to leave his followers behind, meaning he’d have to waste further time in fighting off lesser robots to get to Cossack.

“Sir, you want us to take this thing down?”, Punk offered enthusiastically.

Cutman removed his frail-looking hands from his lab coat, rubbing his index finger against his metal chin. “…No. The structural integrity of the wall has been seriously compromised on the other side. Causing a massive breach here would cause the entire wall assembly to collapse, with the majority of it landing atop the inner sanctum. We’d never reach Cossack then.”

“Perhaps I should sneak in and open the front door for you, sir.”, Sedulus came up with a secondary offer. This too would be shot down.

“We haven’t that sort of time.”

Cutman’s hand found its way into his satchel bag, intriguing his troupe as they had collectively wonder what he had brought with him since he had arrived. Pulling out his hand, he produced a rather innocent looking device.

“A…hand grenade?”, Buster Rod raised an eyebrow to. “No offense sir, but I was hoping for something a little more…y’know…cool.”

The General chuckled very softly. “I suggest you stand back. All of you. The wind is going to be a factor here.”

Puzzled, the group reversed a few steps back, giving the Citadel twenty feet of space.

“A grenade?”, Mega Water whispered to Ballade. Does he really think-“

Cutman casually tossed the white orb towards the wall with an eased, underhanded pitch. The fragile casing immediately broke apart upon hitting the wall, and a gray mist spewed out, accompanied by a loud hiss.

The “orange peel” collectively leaned in closer as the wall melted away, blowing into the Citadel along with the wind that had pressed against it.

“Interesting. Four and three hundredths seconds…”, Cutman scribbled down into a notebook, which he also kept in the bag. “I’d say that first field test was successful.”

“General! What the hell was that?!”, Punk inquired loudly.

“I’ve been calling them ‘nano bombs’. You’ve heard of nanotechnology, correct? Oh, yes, of course you have…I programmed you. Anyways, this is a direct military application of that technology in a destructive force. That gray mist was a swarm of limited-life, non-replicating nanomachines programmed to disassemble any and all objects their cloud touches.”

“…Okay…Now THAT is cool.”, Buster Rod commended.

“Uh, question. What if the wind had changed direction and blew it back at us, sir?”, Enker asked with a concerned look on his face.

“Then you’d be killed, obviously.”, Cutman waved off. “I’d be fine, however.”

“…Oh.”

“How would you be fine? Wouldn’t the mist eat you?”, Buster Rod added.

“Boring details, my boy.”, the General chuckled as he readjusted the bag on his shoulder. Without answering the question, he headed inside.

“…I don’t think they’d be boring…”, Punk muttered to Enker.

Once inside the old fortress, Cutman took a moment to look around, as if reminiscing.

“I always did like the architecture of this place…”, he whispered.

This line seemed to elude most of the others, save for Ballade, who looked at him strangely for a few moments, then snapped out of it when he began heading off down one of the hallways, the rest of his “peel” following him.

It wasn’t long before the welcome wagon would interrupt their progress.

Slashman's sensor array became active. It appeared that some enemies made their way into the Citadel, a mere three feet from his current location.

"AA, CentaurGirl. DI, Swordman. We've got company. Keep on the alert, and keep in contact at all times." He whispered into his radio.

The animal-like Robot Master hid in the corridor, getting a good look at my opponents. After taking a good look, he was sure that his day couldn't get any better. The General had made his way inside, and he wasn't alone. Slashman knew that he couldn't tackle this one by himself.

He felt something tap his shoulder. Turning, claws bared, he realized that it was his partner, CentaurGirl.

"Don't spook me like that." he said in a harsh whisper. "I could've hurt you." After the reprimand, he smiled. "But at the same time, you're a godsend. Take a wild guess who's at our front door right now."

CentaurGirl didn't have to tell him in words. She only gave me a shocked look.

Slashman nodded. "Yep. The General himself decided to invite himself in and stroll around like he owns the place. Well, let's fix that."

Once their backs were turned, before CentaurGirl could protest, Slashman lept from the shadows, tackling one of them to the ground. When he recovered, he noticed that it was Enker or the Seven Mercenaries. He quickly recovered, and the others turned around.

"Well well." said the resident strongman of the 7 Mercenaries, Punk. "You have some nerve trying to sneak attack us like that."

The wolverine smiled. "Hey, it wouldn't be a war if I didn't fight, now would it?" he retorted.

Enker, now getting up from the tackle, was laughing. "You really think that you two have a chance against us? We are way out of your league, especially our master." He motioned to the General with that statement.

General Cutman studied the two Cossackers with his bloodshot eyes. "Enker," he said in his demonic voice, which sent a chill through Slashman, “You’re more than enough for these two to handle. Take care of them while we find Cossack."

Enker smiled, and drew his lance. "Gladly," he said with a sneer.

The General and the rest of the Mercs marched on. Slashman wanted so much to tear Cutman limb from limb at that moment, but Enker just wouldn't have it.

He shrugged. Ah well. At least this CO would suffice, he thought to himself. He got into his battle stance, and kept one eye on his partner, waiting to see what she would do. Would she take off after the General, or help me? Didn't matter to him either way, but he was curious.

No. No point of thinking that in the middle of combat. He smiled, and stared straight at Enker. "Your move." he said coldly...

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

“Okay, when did we start losing control here?”

“Did we ever HAVE control in the first place?”

Gravityman’s been relentless in his attacks the past several minutes. It seems the more Pharaoh and Sunstar hit him; they only succeed in making him angrier. So far, they, along with Bright and Uranus, have stayed away from the brunt of his gravitational attacks, but for the moment, they’ve been mostly defensive this whole time, focusing on dodging the huge chunks of debris and snow he’s compressed into solid ice that he’s been spinning every which way.

“We’re gonna need a bit more backup on this…” Jade muttered. “AA, Blizzardman. You got a minute?”

No answer.

“Dammit, hope he’s okay. DI, Searchman. We could use a little sniper backup with this guy.”

Still nothing.

“Crap. I’m getting no one. CC, Toad Gal. Can you give us a hand for a minute?”

No answer.

“Zap…?”

“Even she’s not answering?” Bright Babe asked.

“No. I hope nothing happened to her…”

Jet didn’t say anything for a moment, not sure what to think either. “Don’t worry, she’s probably just busy now.”

Pharaohman nodded. “Alright then, looks like we’re gonna have to bring this guy down ourselves, and go help the others, am I right?”

Uranus got out from behind their cover. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this guy.”
The hulking Stardroid grabbed a huge piece of what used to be the North wall and hurls it at Gravityman, who easily catches it with his Gravity Hold.

“You poor fool. At the end of your rope, huh?” Gravityman smiled as he sent the large chunk of stone back with enough force to smash the Stardroid to dust. But Uranus deflects it back with his Gravity Twist. “I see, so you have gravity powers too. Well? Are we gonna fight then, or just play catch?”

He sent it back with even greater force. “Damn, I won’t be able to block…” Before he can even complete that thought, the rock smashes into him. Hard. Even with the Gravity Twist working against it, it still plows through him with enough force to cause massive internal damage.

Gravityman wasted no time dashing over to Uranus, grabbing him and slamming his massive, yet horribly damaged body into the wall over and over again. “You fat fuck!! Did you think for a second that your power could match mine?! I’M the master of gravity! Not you!!”

“Uranus!!” Sunstar cried out. He unleashed a blast from his flamethrower while Jade shot a Pharaoh Beam. Ice shot out from the ground, instantly impacted from the snow, and flew toward them, putting out their fire attacks at the same time while they jumped out of the way. Jet turned her Flash Stopper on, but Gravity wasn’t about to fall for that again; he quickly closed his eyes and sent a rock in her direction, shattering her light bulb.

“Aaaaahhh!!”

“Not so tough without that attack, are ya, girlie?” Gravity laughs as he drops Uranus’s corpse and sprints toward her. “I’m gonna enjoy making you SUFFER!!”

“Jet!!” Pharaoh ran in front of her, ready to fire a Pharaoh Shot in the SA officer’s face, but he appeared to be anticipating that as he suddenly stopped and grabbed Jade, flinging him into a nearby tree.

“You are just too predictable, you know that?” He laughed heartily as his gaze switched over to Sunstar. “Whats’s wrong? Feeling left out? Why don’t you try another attack against me?”

“Dammit…” Sunstar muttered. “I heard he was tough, but this is unbelievable… he’s a MONSTER…”

“Got that right. Don’t worry, you’ll join your fat friend soon enough.” He turned to the downed Pharaohman. “Now where was I, before you so rudely interrupted me in Izhevsk?” He grabs Bright Babe in his Gravity Hold in front of him. “Oh yes, I believe we were right here.” He started slowly crushing Jade. “Go ahead, try that trick you did before; burn your lady friend here alive. I don’t mind.” he guffawed.

“Jade…Don’t worry about me…Just defeat him... and help the others.” Jet weakly stammered.

Phraohman just closed his eyes as he tried to shake his head. “You know I can’t do that…”

“Crap, I have to do something!” Sunstar Fire Dashed at Gravityman as his back was turned, but he was obviously waiting for that as ice shot up around him, plowing into him on all sides. Gravity then tosses him aside like a rag doll.

“Down, boy! I TOLD you to wait your turn!!” The bully Officer growled. “Okay, fun time’s over. I’m afraid I have a schedule to keep today… Gahh!!”

Suddenly, a trio of plasma blast hit him from behind. It was the previously missing Skullman, standing atop a piece of the wall.

Gravityman glared at him as he fumed. “I am getting sick and goddamn tired of all these distractions!!” He shot a shower of debris at Zymeth, who simply blocked them with his Skull Barrier. Then, he ran back inside the Citadel. “That’s right, you BETTER run, you skull-faced freak!! I‘ll tear your ass apart just as soon as…”

Suddenly, he was hit in the kneecap by yet another charged plasma shot. While Gravity wasn’t foolish enough to drop his Hold completely, it was weakened enough by the distraction for Bright Babe to angle her buster enough to shoot him in the leg. Gravityman howled in pain, flinging Jet into a nearby tree. He looked at her, fire burning in his eyes “I’ve had it with you… YOUR LIFE ENDS NOW!!”

His last mistake was throwing his human shield away. No sooner did those words leave his mouth than a fully-charged Pharaoh Shot, which Jade had been powering up for just the right moment, hit his head at almost point blank range. He fell motionless to the ground, smoke pouring from his smoldering head.

With that, Pharaohman fell over, almost completely spent with that last shot.

Jet just laid in the snow a few moments after slamming into the tree. She was sporting some nasty damage now. After having a rock thrown at her earlier to break her light bulb, and now being sent into a tree full force, she was beat. Or at least it left her with enough damage to weaken her ability to fight.

Finally, after about half a minute or there about, she finally sat up, rubbing her head wondering what on Earth happened. Then she remembered...

"Oh no! That's right! My light bulb's been shattered to pieces!" she cried, almost frightened by her predicament. Not to mention a small stream of internal fluids was coming from the corner of her mouth. At least that would explain the error messages her system kept sending. She wasn't worried about that though.

She needed to find her comrades, but she stopped dead in her tracks upon finding Gravityman face down in the snow with smoke coming from his downed form.

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed as she got a little closer as if to be sure she wasn't seeing things. "Gravity.... Wait. Where's.."

She stopped mid-sentence upon seeing Jade exhausted and laying in the snow now.

"Oh dear!" she quickly ran over to Jade to see if he was alright.

"Jade?" she asked while she knelt next to where he collapsed. "Jade, please get up!" she cried, growing more and more worried by the second as she was scanning the scene to find any SA Officer before they found them first.

"We should get out of here now, Jade!" she said trying to help him up.

Sunstar groggily stood up and surveyed the area. First seeing Uranus's mangled body and then seeing Gravityman face down in the snow, which he glared at with hatred in his eyes.

"YOU BASTARD! Uranus was MY nemesis!" Sunstar shouted at Gravity's body before using his flamethrower as a makeshift sword to hack at the lifeless body until it was as mangled as Uranus's.

After a few moments of trying to gather himself, he finally noticed Bright Babe kneeling next to Pharaohman and walked over to her.

"Bright... We have no time to waste, though, I understand how you are worried about your fallen comrade…But we are needed on the battle field. Now, lets get our fallen comrades someplace where the SA won't find them and then try to find out where our abilities will be most needed in the battlefield." Sunstar said to Bright Babe right before walking over to Uranus's corpse, dragging it towards the Citadel. BB followed suit, pulling Pharaohman by his arms.

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

Elsewhere, a com link rattled off, begging for attention.

"CC, Toad Gal. Can you give us a hand for a minute? Zap…?”

Zapper intended to answer the com link, but she was unfortunately busy... being an audience.

"LAAAAADDIES AND... well, just you, Madame." Spade bowed in a dramatic fashion before Toad Gal, who was getting nervous. "Have I got a show for you."

Zapper had just gotten outside the Citadel when Spade caught her. Spade loomed over her menacingly, his face had a threatening glare. Suddenly, he passed his hand across his face and a new mask had appeared in place of the old one. This one had a giant grin across it's mug. He then straightened up as if he meant no harm and began to dexterously shuffle playing cards.

"Pick a card, any card at all." Spade said quickly and cheerfully.

Zapper reached for a card and Spade slapped her hand. "NO! Not that THAT one!" He corrected.

"Ow..." Zapper rubbed her hand and decided to try again.

Spade began to clear his throat obnoxiously, gagging and wheezing to indicate another lemon card. Zapper finally found a card that pleased the mad jester.

"Now, DO NOT show me the card." Spade passed his hand over his face, replacing the smile with a stern visage. "Now shuffle it back into the deck."

Zapper did so.

"WONDERFUL!" Spade switched to the crazed grin. "I shall now, without ANY knowledge of your card of choice, show you which card you picked." He lunged forward, just inches from Zapper's face, making her extremely uncomfortable. He held up a card. "Is THIS your card?"

"Umm... no..." Zapper said, rather let down by the lack-luster performance just displayed.

"Huh?!" Spade had covered his face with the fanned deck of cards, bringing them down to reveal a shocked expression. "Are you sure?" He asked accusingly.

"Yeah, that's not my card..." Zapper shrank down a bit, afraid to hurt his feelings.

"How about this card?" Spade held up another one.

"No..." Zapper was getting nervous. She didn't want to upset Spade, but she didn't want to lie, either.

"How about THIS one?" Spade chucked the card at her this time, cutting a few hairs from her head as she dodged it.

"No!" Zapper started running away from him.

"How about this one? Or this one? Maybe THIS is your card?" Spade began throwing cards at Zapper, floating off the ground and chasing her in circles as she denied each one. "C'mon, I've got a 1 in 52 chance of getting this right!"

Zapper tried so hard to dodge the attacks, but Spade was a deadeye when it came to card tricks. He kept throwing several at a time, and all she could do was let one hit her in a spot that wasn't a vital point. She was starting to receive gashes all over her body while Spade laughed like a maniac.

"Oh, I still have 22 cards left! AAAHAHAHA!" Spade began shuffling the razor-edged cards.

Spade suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. "HERRO!-" He turned around to find Blizzard glaring at him. Spade switched to a sad mask by passing his hand across his face.

"Not the face..." He begged.

"I don't take requests..." Blizzardman stated coldly.

"YOU HAVE NO TASTE!!!" Spade screamed as Blizzardman’s uppercut sent the crazed theatrical murderer sailing over the field in a high arc, burying half of his body face-first in the snow.

Blizzardman rushed over to Toad. Dark purple blood had stained the snow where she stood, shaking.

"Zapper! Are you ok?" He asked, worried.

"Yeah..." She replied. "Thanks, Reg..."

Blizzard looked at her. His eyes once again retracted to pupils. "Zapper. Go and pack your things, we need to leave, now."

"But, Reg..." Zapper looked back at her team mates. "What about the others?"

Blizzard placed both hands on Zapper's shoulders. "I won't lose you!" He said. "I can't! I can't go on without you!"

Zapper looked at Regulus. His eyes expressed all the terror he felt when confronted with losing her.

"Please..." He begged.

Zapper stood there, motionless. Bright, Skull, Dive, Drill... they were all her friends. They were her family, and now her lover was asking her to abandon them all when they needed her most. She wanted to help, but she knew if she refused, Regulus would stay and fight to keep her safe.

"O-okay..." Zapper ran off.

Blizzardman rushed off to his room to pack a few of his things before leaving with Zapper. "I won't lose you, my love. The world means nothing to me if you're not in it..."

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

Spade kicked his legs frantically in an attempt to pull himself up from the snow. He finally dislodged himself and stood upright. "Heckler!" He called out towards the lovers, dusting himself off. "Oh well, the show MUST go on! AAAAAHAHAHAAA!"

Suddenly, Spade received a transmission.

"Hellooooo." Spade sang into the receiver.

"SA Officer Spade, this is SA Officer Sedulus. I wish to share some vital information with you..."

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

"Urrgghh... I'll be okay... I think..." Pharaoh stumbled to his feet.

"Are you sure? You look pretty messed up." Bright asked, concerned that he might be pushing himself too hard.

"Eh, don't worry about it." Jade laughed. "I've been though worse than that lummox can dish out." Not really, but he didn't want to worry her. Truth is, he was pretty badly torn up, both inside and out. To top it off, he had little strength left after putting everything into that last Pharaoh Shot. "What about yourself?"

"I think I'll be okay." Jet felt the top of her head, where her light bulb usually was. "I don't know how much help I am now if I can't use my Flash Stopper..."

"I dunno, I doubt Gravs would argee with that right now."

"Heheh. Thanks. But what do we do now?"

Jade answered by opening his com link. "CC Drillman. You there?"

"What's up, Jade?" Drillman’s voice crackled through the com.

"Well, you can forget about any trouble Gravityman might cause. We took care of him"

"Good job. What's your status."

"Not too good, to be honest. Me and Bright are pretty messed up. It's not like you can go into a fight with a walking black hole and come out unscathed, y'know."

"Yeah... Well, get to the basement in the Citadel then. The doctor might be able to patch you up temporarily, at least. And we're getting ready to get him out of here anyway."

"I see... Alright then. We'll see you in a bit." Pharaohman broke contact with Drill. He then turned to Jet. "Well, you heard the boss. Hurry on down to the basement. I'll see if I can lend a hand to any of the other Comrades still fighting out here."

Bright Babe protested. "Oh no you don't. You're not in any shape to fight! C'mon, I'm sure they can handle things."

Jade shrugged. She was right, after all. Who did he think he was kidding? He knew he wasn’t going survive if he tried locking horns with another SA Officer. Besides, it wasn’t like the others were incapable of holding their own. "Alright, alright. I guess I can't let you go by yourself, anyway." He looked around. "Hey, where's Sunstar?"

"He took Uranus back inside the Citadel. Which is precisely where we should be heading. Let's go."

As they made their way back to the Citadel, through the demolished north wall, a low moan emitted from underneath Gravityman’s demolished body.

"Gonna... kill... all... those... sons'a... Urrhhh..."

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

Mars marched back and forth near the rover he had driven outside near the back, away from the prying eyes of the SA. It was remote enough to give them protection from the SA but accessible enough to let people get there in time. Mars looked down, “Come on…” he said, anxiously. He put his hand to his headset. “If you guys don’t get here soon we’re leaving without you! Pluto’s hurt and-“

Suddenly a rogue energy wave landed near him. It was Spade, recently recovered from Blizzard knocking the crap out of him. “Oh come on. Not you!” Mars said, more annoyed than anything. “How’d YOU know we’re here!?”

Spade laughed in his normal fashion. “HEEHEHEEEEHEHEEEEE! A little birdie told me. Actually, Sedulus pointed you guys out for me, heheheheh. Sent me over here to nip a potential problem in the butt, you know what I’m sayin’? HEHEEHEEE!” Spade’s invisible “audience” erupted in applause, much to Mars’s dismay. He brushed a hand in front of his face, revealing a sinister expression.

Mars stomped his foot. “You know what, freak show!?” He demanded, readying his weapons.

“SHOW!? NOW you have the idea!!! HAHAAHAHAAA!” Before Mars could open fire Spade sprung into the air, throwing an onslaught of multicolored balls down. They all exploded in a series of flashing lights and colorful smoke, making Mars loose his line of vision. Spade giggled and leapt into the cloud, his wrist blades drawn. He teleported behind Mars, who was unaware of the killer clown’s location.

Spade leapt at the flat-footed Cosmic Gladiator, only to find that he wasn’t as well hidden from the war machine as he had thought. Mars’s foot kicked Spade squarely in the face, knocking him back out of the dissipating cloud cover. The ‘crowd’ gasped, but Spade recovered from his flight with a handspring. “Nice shot!” The jester declared, moving his face in front of his mask and adding a happy smile to it. “THIS is a show, gentlemen!”

Mars aimed his busters at him and opened fire, the nimble acrobat easily dodging the spray of bullets. Two grenade shells fired at Spade, but he caught them in mid flight, knocking them out of the air and somehow disarming them in the same motion. “HOW-“ Mars started, only to be interrupted.

“A magician never reveals his tricks, Curly Joe! HAAHAHAAA!” With that Spade somersaulted towards the Cosmic Gladiator. Mars aimed down to fire at him, and did, only to have the acrobat leap up and land in front of him. Spade delivered a humiliating slap to Mars, followed by a poke to both eyes. “Nyuk nyuk nyuk! AHAAHAAA! Someone needs to get in touch with-“

Spade was cut short as Mars backhanded him, sending him flying backwards and causing the audience to gasp once again. Spade landed on his feet, but obviously not very amused with that last attack. He looked up, his mask carrying a sad-eyed expression. “That hurt!” Spade cried, childlike. Mars only grinned.

“There’s a hell of a lot more where that came from.” Mars said, getting ready for another assault. Spade started laughing again. He gestured and fireworks erupted behind him in a dazzling display and his mask changed back to normal. He took out a deck of cards and began shuffling them between his hands.

“I won’t look at the card!” Spade declared. With that he hurled the sharpened blade at Mars, which stuck in his armor with startling destructive capabilities for such a small projectile. “Three of hearts!” Spade guessed. Mars looked down. It was. He crumpled the metal object in his hand as Spade got applause, being able to pull off the card trick this time. He fired another grenade and then a flame round, but Spade disappeared in a giant flash of light and smoke.

He saw the performer going for another card, and turned around to attack. Spade was caught completely off guard. Mars opened fire with every weapon in his arsenal. Fireballs, grenades, rockets, machine gun bullets, and others all whizzed towards Spade, causing the snowy area in which he was standing into a complete disaster zone. Mars watched the explosions and smoke fly, still firing into the murky mess. Suddenly a flash of various colored light shot forth from it, Spade screaming like a little girl.

Mars raised an eyebrow. It was obviously being showcased. But his thoughts were interrupted as he felt a pair of feet land on his shoulders. He shouted as a blade punctured his skull, unexpectedly. He managed to struggle a look upwards. Above him, Spade was in the process of stabbing his other arm down and pulling his other up. The one he had shot was an illusion after all.

Spade’s infuriating grinning mask faded out as his wrist blade plunged into Mars’s face. He aimed up through the excruciating pain and started firing in an attempt to hit the murderous jester. But Spade merely scuttled away from the fire to continue his rapid stabbing of Mars’s head and neck. The Gladiator felt his arms go limp, followed soon by his knees. Spade’s screeching laughter and the audience roaring with applause echoed through his mind as everything went black.

Spade leapt from the robot’s shoulders and bowed deeply. “Thank you! Thank you! You’re too kind!” He cried. “Then again, maybe not kind enough.” Spade mused in his best Groucho Marx impression. “Oh ho ho! Christmas came early this year. Someone’s dropped Spade off a new little toy!” He yelled, running for the rover.

Spade practically leapt through the door and spun around in the driver’s seat, getting ready to start pushing random buttons until he saw something in the back of the rover. He contorted out of the seat and slunk over to the unconscious figure of Pluto in the back. “Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww…” Spade cooed, “That’s adorable. He has no idea that he’s about to die…”

Pluto began to collect his thoughts and shrug off his unconsciousness. Pluto forced his eyes open, only to see a black and white mask with a gigantic, now demonic grin plastered on it inches from his face. “You been takin’ any illegal drugs boy!?” Spade shouted in a horrible Texas accent.

Pluto started to scream but it was cut short by Spade eviscerating him, sending him back to a mental blackout. Spade laughed and looked over his latest victim. He was disappointed though, as neither of them bled. “Oh well…” Spade sighed. He started to go back to the driver’s seat, nursing the impact wounds he had suffered, when he turned around to look at Pluto’s downed body again.

He held a light bulb over his head and it turned on. He laughed manically and hopped over to him. He reached behind his back and produced a pair of scissors and a needle and thread set seemingly from out of nowhere. He crouched down and went to work, and in moments he had the object of his whimsy. He took off his jester’s cap and replaced it with his new hat. It was a purplish fur hat, similar to a raccoon skin cap, with Pluto’s long tail dangling from its back.

“I has me a dern good-looking cap there, eh?” Spade asked himself before jumping out of the driver’s seat and running over to Mars’s downed body, throwing it in the back along with Pluto’s. He heard something from Mars’s twisted helmet. A cord popped out of his sleeve and he plugged it into Mars’s earpiece, and he heard them.

“Mars? Are you there!?” Someone asked, probably Sunstar. Spade giggled.

“If you want him to hear you…” Spade said, suddenly taking on a deathly sinister tone, “You’ll have to speak louder, hahahaha.” With that he tossed the helmet aside, hopping back in the Driver’s seat.

It was only moments later when Spade was careening around the outside of the battlefield like an intoxicated infant in the Cosmic Gladiator’s rover. “TEN FOUR! SMOKIE’S ON MY TAIL!” Spade shouted to himself. He drove around to where the real battle was taking place, and then, much to his allies’ annoyance and dismay, past it. He drove into a nearby tree, not causing much damage to the rover but still causing it to come to a sudden halt.

He toppled out of the driver’s side door without too much grace. “I’m OKAY!” He shouted, raising his hands. The General, who was looking on without much humor, only shook his head. He continued on, annoyed by the distraction.

Sedulus, who was looking on, mused to himself, “Spade’s antics, bizarre and outlandish behavior, and overall disregard for the objectives at hand are quite detrimental to the success rate of our current mission. However, his combat abilities and unique assassination talents lend much to our efforts. Overall, Spade seems to be a greater benefit than a detriment, but his exasperating behavior lends much to be desired.”

Sedulus turned to see that the General had not been listening to him, and continued following his commander. He heard Spade in the background, screaming “Check it out! I made a Pluto hat! HAAAAHAHAAAHEEEHEEHHEEE!”

Spade leapt onto the top of the rover, scouting for potential victims. He was having a lot of fun, now.

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

"How do you two feel?" Cossack asked the two Comrades. He had managed to repair the internal damages on Pharaohman and Bright Babe, fixing the latter's light bulb.

"Well I could be better, but it's great Doc. Thanks," Jade told him, with Jet nodding her head.

"Yeah, I am glad that we are all okay. I wonder how the others are doing..." she muttered.

"They'll be fine. Ground, I don’t think the top is big enough. Let's tackle that," Drill told his counterpart. The two activate their drills, piercing the rocks above.

After only a few moments, the entire tunnel shook, causing dust to fall on top of its inhabitants.

Collectively, they adopted silence for a few moments, listening for it. Finally shrugging it off, Drillman re-activated his arms and went back to work, but not for much longer.

In mere seconds, the tunnel seemed to come alive, plunging the entire group into a panicked darkness, which was quickly broken by Bright Babe. Peering ahead, they were shocked to find the cause of the problem.

With a grunt, Stoneman lifted his arm out of the ground, leaving a massive hole to the surface. Nobody in the tunnel seemed too keen on taking the chance getting out that way.

“Ohhh God!”, Kalinka yelled. “Get back! Turn around!”

Needless to say, the entire group was already on their way out before Kalinka got even halfway through her order. As fast as they ran, Stoneman disassembled himself now, and followed in hot pursuit, chasing the collective refugees back into the Citadel.

With most of the gang back inside, Groundman and Drillman fired off their explosive weapons into the tunnel, sealing it off, momentarily blocking Stoneman’s chase. Knowing that wouldn’t hold for very long, the group had to think of Plan B…Fast.

“We don’t have any other options…”, Cossack wheezed.

"...You don't mean..." Drill started.

”Yes, I do. We’ll have to use the bomb shelter exits.”

“Bomb shelter? What’s this all about?”, Drew asked.

“This Citadel has two bomb shelters built sometime during the Cold War. One is in the North, the other in the South. It’s been years since I’ve been down there to check on them, so I don’t know of the doors will open in time.”, the sweat-drenched doctor explained. “Drew…I cannot allow you to come to harm. Please take Kalinka-“

“Papa, no! I can’t leave you!”, she pleaded.

Cossack continued, holding Kalinka against his belly, tears welling up around his eyes. “Take Kalinka out through the South shelter, as well as these two.”, he asked, gesturing to Jay and Silent Bob. “Groundman, please take care of them.”

“I…will, doctor.”, the large, drill-tipped machine promised.

“My Comrades and I will escape through the North shelter. I pray to God we will meet again outside and escape to the West. Please…Be safe.”, he pleaded with the forces that be as he kissed his daughter on the head before pushing her into Drew’s arms.

“Kalinka…Its time to go.”, Drew hushed her sobs as he nodded to his old friend. “God speed, Sergei.”

Cossack nodded tearfully as he watched his daughter reach back to him over Drew’s shoulders. Mindful of the time, the Comrades took Cossack by the arms, dragging him down the opposite end of the passage way.

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

Buster Rod G. was holding to his orders: keeping his General from having to deal with any small fry. As much of an honor that personally body-guarding the General himself was, things were actually pretty boring. At least until he noticed a strange red-orange figure coming at him.

"The fu-" Suddenly Buster Rod was blind-sighted by a stampeding Swordman, with full intents on taking him out. Buster Rod quickly rolled with the tackle and somersaulted a little more until he could jump back to his feet. He pulled out his bo staff and held a defensive position, this was going to be a duel.

It started out with the obligatory, almost clichéd, stare-down. This continued for a good half a minute, until Sword took a dive at the simian Officer. Buster Rod parried the blow, but he got knocked down in the process. He rolled just out of the way of a follow-up overhead swing, and jumping to his feet, he swung his staff at Swordman's legs, hitting behind the kneecap, causing him to stumble as he was in the process of pulling his sword back up.

"This will prove interesting..." Swordman thought to himself as he stood himself back up. "The rushdown strategy worked for a little while, but he'll quickly learn to anticipate it." Swordman thought to himself, then approached his opponent. This time, Swordman thrust his sword forward in an attempt to stab Buster Rod, but the simian Mercenary was able to step aside. However, Buster was caught unprepared for Swordman's follow-up, which was a horizontal strike. Buster made a hasty attempt to block, but was knocked down by the attack. Swordman then tried to use his free hand to grab his opponent, but Buster was able to get up and back out of reach.

Back outside, the “Chargeman dilemma” continued on…

Chargeman was closing in on Dustman while Grenademan lobbed grenade after grenade. As the distance between the runners shortened, Grenademan attacked more rapidly and started shouting to get Chargeman’s attention. When Dustman received Artilleryman's message he quickly ran while trying to hold a conversation.

"You have a plan? Sure, let me here it," Sean said over the radio.

"We'll do our best to help, though we are a bit busy," Maha added.

Both listened quietly as they frantically avoided Chargeman and his superheated ash. Once Artilleryman finished, the duo grinned.

"You want to trade places for a while? Fine by me," Dustman said.

"But how are we going to get there?" Grenademan asked. "Its not like we can lose this guy that easily."

"Leave, that to me," Dustman answered. "I've been meaning to try this for a while."

Dustman activated his vacuum and sucked in nearby dirt and debris. He then spun around and aimed upwards toward Chargeman’s face. However rather than firing off a Dust Crusher, a cloud of dust came flying out of the vacuum to obscure Chargeman’s sight. While the SA officer was left blinded, Sean and Maha proceeded to run towards Artilleryman's location.

"I didn't know you could do that," Maha said.

"What's so complicated about that move," Sean replied. "Its a Dust Crusher minus a step. All I did was not bother to compact all the trash I took in."

Suddenly, lasers were flying off in every direction as Artilleryman tried to weave his way through the gaps left by Crystal and Gemini’s light show. Then he felt a burning pain as a laser had finally hit its mark, destroying his left arm.

“Ow! Son of a…” Artilleryman instinctively tried to grasp his wound although couldn't due his other arm being an oversized cannon. But, in the process he stopped his movement momentarily and then soon another laser flew past and shot off the remains of his right leg, causing him to fly a bit off course before he could adjust his balance again.

“Nice shooting, princess.” Geminiman remarked as he continued to fire off his Gemini Laser, having them reflect off the Citadel walls and his fellow officer’s crystals. “Together we make the most dazzling duo.”

“Enough with the ‘princess’, got that, fairy boy?” CrystalGirl replied as she moved her crystals gracefully around the area in order to keep her prey on his feet, so to speak, no longer caring that Geminiman’s lasers were bouncing off them constantly now.

“If my plan is to work, I’m going to need these two off my back for a while. Dust and Grenade had better get here soon…”, Artillery grunted.

As if on cue, grenade after grenade was fired on to the field as the two robots had come to Artilleryman’s aid.

“Still holding up there, pal?” Dustman remarked at Artilleryman, whom was really looking worse for wear, he then proceeded to fire a Dust Crusher at his two new opponents, who were taken aback by their sudden appearance.

“Using garbage to attack? How very uncouth of you, I believe I’ll have to show you some common decency!”, the White Knight uttered in disgust as the attack flew past him.

“Damn it all, where the hell is Chargeman? He was supposed to be running these two down!” CrystalGirl yelled out in annoyance but then she saw in the distance, Chargeman wiping off the dust in his face and a familiar look of anger resurfacing on his face, and her anger quicky turned to fear. “Shit, he’s getting in that mood again.”

“Good, all the pieces are in play. Hope you guys can all do your part.” Artilleryman said with a smile on his face as he began charging up his particle beam.

"Don't worry," Dustman said. "I think we can handle these two."

"Yeah, no problem," Grenademan replied. "Any preference, Sean?"

"I think I'll teach 'Prince Charming' that life isn't a fairytale," answered Dustman. "I'm going to show him not all weapons are nice and pretty."

"Fine, I'll handle Crystal then," Grenademan said.

The two then split up to take care of their respective foes. Grenademan began to toss explosives at CrystalGirl while Dustman used fired his buster against the Geminiman. The two SA officers were quick to recover as precious gem stones blocked the explosions and the 'White Knight' sidestepped all of the buster shots. The battle was now fairer that it was two against two, but it still would be an uphill struggle for Cossack's forces.

CrystalGirl used her crystals to block every grenade tossed her way, and Grenademan’s frustration was starting to show. The explosives were thrown more rapidly with little aiming at all as Maha tried to blast through the barriers of valuable gems. Grenademan was so busy, he didn't notice the Crystal Eye had fired until right before the laser struck. He quickly tried jerking away, but still was hit hard in the right shoulder. The laser had cut right through the armor. However Grenademan had little time to recover as a crystal shard came flying towards him and tore through his side like a dagger.

"Close range and long range capabilities," muttered Grenademan as he aimed another grenade. "It looks like the only thing General Cutman doesn’t give you guys is freewill."

Dustman was not fairing much better. The 'White Knight' was dodging everything he threw at him and Sean was having a hard time keeping up. Even when Dustman dodged Geminiman’s signature laser it would go bouncing off one of CrystalGirl’s crystals or the Citadel’s walls, coming right back at Dustman. The trajectory of the attack was precise and Sean soon found himself struggling to dodge Geminiman, rather than even attempting to launch an attack of his own.

Then Geminiman and CrystalGirl decided to come up with a slight plan of their own. Another Gemini Laser was fired, which Dustman found little difficulty to dodge. A second crystal shard was sent towards Grenademan and this time Maha had an easy time stepping out of the way. Neither realized anything was wrong until the Gemini Laser hit Grenademan in the back of his right leg and the sharpened gemstone tore through Dustman’s buster. Sean glanced down at his buster and quickly realized his secondary weapon was now useless. Grenademan examined his wounds and came to the conclusion that soon he might not be capable of keeping up the fight.

"Artilleryman, you better hurry up," Dustman muttered underneath his breath.

“Dust, Grenade, time to get out of the way!” he sounded through the communicator, and the two robots quickly acknowledged the order, barreling off to the side as far as they could, firing their weapons at their respective opponents to prevent them from pursuing. To further assist them, Artilleryman managed to unleash a salvo of missiles around the White Knight and the Crystalline Princess, to box them in. Then CrystalGirl had caught on in horror to what was happening.

“Those bastards, Chargeman stop!” she cried out in a futile effort as Chargeman’s mind was lost in his rage, completely oblivious to the trench Artilleryman had just made in front of him with the particle beam. Then everything just seemed to go in slow motion; Chargeman fell into the trench, crashing violently into the ground, causing all his burning nuclear ash to fly everywhere in front of him, covering the unprepared Geminiman and severely damaging CrystalGirl and her precious gemstones that had come to block off most of the ash headed her way.

The two SA robots screamed out in agony as the ash melted away at their armor, forcing them to the ground as they tried to cool them themselves on the snow, only to have it melt instantaneously as it touched them.

“My… my precious armor… my beautiful looks… you… you’ve ruined it all! Hurts… so… much…” The White Knight was nothing but a burning ash covered shape of what he once was; he could barely even talk as he tried to remove the ash that was clinging on to him burning into his body, eyes and skin. He could no longer take it anymore, as he shook off as much of the ash as he could he decided to merge this body with one of the clones on guard duty. He could not pull another clone from their post to carry on his fight, and so he regrettably retreated from the field.

“This is most unpleasant… I hate to leave a lady like this, but I cannot go on in this condition.” He muttered as he suddenly shifted away from the battlefield and moved back to guard duty.

CrystalGirl got off slightly better, but her condition was still almost critical. She had lost 3 of her precious gems to the ash, melted down into significantly smaller shards and her Crystal Eye was damaged beyond recognition, not to mention parts of her body were now smoldering from the nuclear ash spewed out from Chargeman. “That god damn train,” she cursed under her breath as she slowly stood up, trying to ignore the burning pain she was feeling all over now finding herself on her lonesome against Dustman, Grenademan and Artilleryman.

“I gotta hand it to you Artilleryman; that was one hell of a plan.” Dustman laughed.

His laughter slowly died away though when he then noticed Chargeman was getting up from his pitfall, looking as furious as ever.

Quick to react, Artilleryman fired his Electro Net from his shoulder cannon to try containing the beast, but it only managed to anger the Hell Train even more as he broke from the snare, the electricity doing practically nothing to him. He tried using his stun laser but it appeared to do absolutely nothing.

“Aw crap, that’s not good.” He voiced over the communicator. “You two take care of CrystalGirl; I’ll redirect this runaway Hell Train away from the Citadel!”

Not too far down the wall, Stoneman had given up on persuing Cossack through the collapsed tunnel, and was once again focused on demolishing the outer walls of the Citadel, despite Diveman’s best efforts to gain his attention…

Things were goin' ta shit. Fred Flintstone didn' seem ta care 'bout Dive anymore 'n was now relentlessly nailin' the Citadel walls with 'is hammer 'n giant rocky fists from the rubble strewn all over the battlefield. Dive tried slowin' 'im down by firin' Dive Missiles at odd "weakspots", hopin' one o' 'em would bring the fucker down again. Bastard didn' even slow down; he just pulled 'imself 'nother band-aid from the debris as he plugged away at the walls. However, Dive coulda sworn he saw some kinda ball floatin’ ‘round inside ‘im when a well-place Dive Missile blew a hole through ‘im. But the walls weren't gonna take this abuse much longer.

Thankfully, despite their best efforts, Pirateman, Neptune, and Frostman joined Diveman just before the wall gave.

“Sorry we’re late!” Pirate greeted. “Waveman held us up.” Dive simply gave Jack Sparrow the finger as the wall buckled.

“It’s not going to hold!” Neptune warned as he and the other Cossackers took cover down a hallway, ‘n not a moment too soon. Stoneman broke through the wall like the fuckin’ Kool-Aid Man, sendin’ concrete ‘n steel girders every whichaway. As the dust settled, the four Cossackers could make out Stone’s silhouette triumphantly raisn’ ‘is rocky fists in the air.

“Nail tha bastard!” Dive growled as he ‘n ‘is cavalry leapt from their cover, their weapons blazin’. Neptune let loose a rapid stream o’ aquamarine at the piles o’ rubble behind Stone, takin’ Stone’s pet rocks outta the equation. Dive, Pirate, ‘n Frost hammered at the asswipe with Dive Missiles, Remote Mines, ‘n Ice Gattlin’ respectively, mostly jus’ to keep Stone from nailin’ the Guppy. However Stone weren’t too impressed, n’ simply conjured up ‘nother rocky geyser which deflected their shots.

“Alright, time for step 2,” Dive noted as he pulled out a dive mine and lobbed it in front of Frostman. The mine blew up in fronta the yeti’s face, the light from the explosion blindin’ him sumthin’ fierce. The Ice Ape covered his eyes, ‘n screamed in anguish as the flash brought back all sorts o’ nasty memories he’d been tryin’ to put behind ‘im. It didn’t have as much punch as a Flash Bomb, but it was doin’ the trick. Smilin’, Dive dragged Pirate as far ‘way from Frost as he could as the yeti howled in pain…then in rage. The apeshit insane popsicle screamed incoherently like a spaz as he magiced 'im up a hammer o' ice, ‘n charged full tilt right through the rock storm straight at Stoneman. Neptune, however was caught between the Roid Rager ‘n the Rollin’ Stones, ‘n frantically tried to getta outta Frost’s way. Unfortunately for ‘im, the spaz was a smidge quicker on the draw than he was, ‘n flattened the Little Mermaid with ‘is hammer, his spine snappin' with a sickenin’ crunch.

“Diveman, you heartless son of a bitch! “ Pirate spat, glarin’ at Diveman. Dive hissed in frustration as he slugged Long John Silver.

“Fine, I’m an asshole,” Dive replied indifferently. “Now lissen good, Bluebeard. We got one shot at this…”

The fuckin' yeti bellowed with rage as he jus’ shrugged off the cyclone’s rocky punishment. The psycho slammed one o' Stone's legs, smashin’ it to splinters. Stoneman frantically tried usin' the remains o' leg to form a shield on 'is hand, but Frost jus' bashed it to even smaller pieces before it could fully form. Mongo brought ‘is hammer down on Stone's head, poundin’ it ta dust. The effin’ psycho raised his hammer ‘n screamed in triumphant rage…jus’ as two jagged shards o' stone lodged 'emselves into Frost's eyes. Vanilla Ice dropped ‘is hammer ‘n staggered ‘round, howlin’ in mad pain as Stone fixed ‘imself up from his one undissolved pile o’ rubble. Pressin' 'is advantage, Stone conjured a couple o’ rocky spikes from his rock pile 'n drove 'em into Frost's knees, pinnin’ ‘im to the wall. The snowball on steroids slouched to tha ground, howlin’ in pain as he threw a hissy fit.

"Any more smart ideas?" Stoneman smugly asked the overpowered Comrades as he raised 'is hammer. Diveman simply shot the CO a blade-like smile.

"Ever been had?" Stoneman shot the sub a befuddled look jus’ before he was blown from the inside out. While Frost kept ‘im occupied, Pirate ‘n Dive ‘n stuck a shitload o’ Dive n’ Remote mines to the rocks in 'is rubble pile. ‘N when he used ‘em to patch ‘imself up, the stupid bastard unknowingly incorporated dozens of hidden bombs into his internal structure. In a panic, Stoneman tried takin' usin' some o' 'is rubble to patch 'imself up like before, but there weren’t ‘nuff rocks nearby for 'im to use. Neptune'd dissolved 'em all into sludge with ‘is Aquamarine. The SA's pet rock was shit outta luck as ‘is busted up controllin’ spheres fell to the ground.

"Ya guys did great," Dive sneered, lightin' a cig as he looked the fallen squatters over. One o’ ‘em was flat as a pancake, the other was blind as a bat, crippled, 'n in need o’ a Ritalin OD. Pirate however, was shootin’ Dive a look as though he’d knocked up his daughter.

"CC Diveman! Where the hell are you?! We need you down in the basement, immediately!" Drill shouted over tha com. Dive rolled his eyes as he adjusted his jacket.

"Don't get yer panties in a twist boss. I'm on my way," Dive shot back as he took a drag off his cig. "Well, I gotta run. They're playin' my song," Dive jeered.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Pirate scolded, blockin’ Dive’s path. Hissin’ in frustration, Dive shot ‘im with a Dive Missile, knockin’ the prissy bastard outta his way. Smilin' his blade-like smile, Dive flicked’ his cig at Captain Hook as he left.

"So long."

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