The Business of War

Orchestrated By C.M. Rich (Magnetman)

Tale of Two Cities

By Shinobu Plantman, Nytris, Ben

Scenario C
Participants: "Loner Squad" (Hyper Storm H (7M), Pharon (WW))(RPD)
Dr. Drew (?)
Armored Assassins (W)
Nytris Oxyde (?)

Location: Niagra Falls, CN
SA Troops: 1361
RPD Troops: 824
Wily Troops: 697

Time: 11:00AM
Location: Niagara Falls, NY
Mission: Wipe the RPD off the face of the falls.

“Tell me, Plant…how much are we actually hitting?”

“Hm? You mean the RPD? We’re bombarding them with plasma right on where they would usually move in, besides, we’ve blockaded every entrance into the city, and I don’t think they’ll even try touching the bridges…with us here.”

“Oh well, I’ll be heading for the Rainbow Bridge, check you later.”

“Later.”

Plantman looked at his flying comrade as the latter flew gently through the river, towards the next bridge after the famous Rainbow Bridge connecting the two cities together. Ever since the attack three days ago, they’ve successfully drove the little number of SA and RPD out of New York’s side, forcing them into the exploding fields of Ontario, Canada, Niagara Falls.

A metool slowly jumped towards the robot master, its helmet shining under the bright sunlight, “Boss-man, we just drove out another small platoon of SA, seems like the SA are more geared towards bugging the RPD than bugging us.”

“Really? Well, that’s no good, RPD’s getting surrounded…” Plantman laughed, raising his buster and firing a swift shot at one of the round stones in the middle of the river, a small explosion ensued as pieces of metal drifted off. “These RPD jerks are getting sneakier everyday…thank god the ICPO wants them out as well.”

“Boss-man, for reporting’s sake…we’re bombing the Canada side’s street’s pretty badly, already we’ve laid waste to one of those big main streets. Though as ya said, we’re avoiding buildings.” The metool looked up at its commander, than turning to look at the Canada Side of the City again. “Boss…they’re trying to break through again!”

The metool panicked as Plantman turned to look at the bridge, surely enough, a whole platoon of officers slowly marched forward, their busters raised at Plantman. As a commanding officer walked out in orderly-fashioned steps, reading from a piece of paper. “Interpol Agent Armored Assassins, MXN-045 Plantman, you have been deemed a traitor of the world’s cause, you will be put under arrest and restrained until further notice.”

“Well, that doesn’t help much, officer…” Plantman looked at the officer smirking, “The real Plantman is in Siberia, as with every other Armored Assassin member, they’re chasing down Silver Feather. Pass it on to your superiors, will you?”

“Information requested, approved…identify yourself, Wilybot, for faking a police agent!” The officer shouted in a robotic tone as they all raised their busters, pointing at the Flower-themed Robot Master.

“What can I say? My name is…not important!” Plantman laughed, as plasma shots engulfed him like a surfer engulfed in a tsunami.

“Boss-man!” The metool looked as the condensed fireball swallowed their commander whole. Unsure if its commander was alive or not, the small helmeted robot simply closed its helm, observing from small holes.

“Midget, boss ain’t dead.” A sniper Joe kicked the Metool on its back. Flipping the smaller robot over. “Look closer.”

Plantman stood in the middle, his armor completely unscratched, as hundreds of petals slowly opened up. “That’s all you RPD people got? Try harder next round.”

Without waiting for a response, Plantman opened fire at the platoon of officers, one by one, the police robots went down without the time to even fire their busters.

As the last Officer fell off the bridge, plunging into the falls as scrap metal, Plantman looked at Canada again. “Geez…this is going to be in stale unless someone drops a Hiroshima or Nagasaki and turns this place into a T-minus-Ten…”

Time: 11:10AM
Location: Niagara Falls, NY
Mission: Wipe the RPD off the face of the falls.

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Time: 11:10 AM
Location: Niagara Falls, NY
Mission: Secure the border region for the RPD; arrest any officers with ties to the SA, Cossack or Wily.

Two lights appeared on the outside of the battle area. As the lights faded, a large round figure could be seen next to a more human-sized figure. Both seemed uneasy; the larger figure stood ready to attack at any moment, while the smaller figure looked around for any sign of chaos. As they got accustomed to the location, a voice crackled through the communication units in their heads.

"Alright you two, it's time to earn your keep." The voice of the Watcher seemed confident, almost condescending to the two former convicts. Pharon, the former Airman, and Hyper Storm Hog, the brute force of the Seven Mercenaries, had been let out to play with the Scissor Army.

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Time: 10:00 AM
Location: RPD Headquarters, Monsteropolis

Pharon had been captured and imprisoned by the RPD, left to rot with minimal repairs and human contact, save for the guards assigned to watch him. Hyper Storm H had already been incorporated into the RPD's folds and had been on one mission, but was given less free space to roam than the more trusted officers. Both were locked in separate chambers, they had not met until today.

Now, guards were leading them towards the offices of the RPD's top brass. They were to meet, face-to-face, with the supposed genius behind the department's strategies, along with the human Chief and his advisors.

"So," Hyper Storm H started in an attempt to break the silence, "are you really Airman? You don't have any armor on."

"I *was* Airman, but not now. I quit with my brother a while ago, so that's past us," Pharon replied in a quiet tone.

"So what do you do ability-wise then?"

"I can still do a little of the Airman stuff. If I tried showing you what I could do now, we'd both be in trouble. For now, I suggest you stay quiet. If this guy is anything like Wily, then we should be alright."

"You mean a maniacal genius who lives in hatred of his former friend's creation?"

Pharon chuckled at this remark. "He's full of hot air anyway. Sure, he can build robots, but he can't manage them effectively enough to get anything done."

"Quiet!" a guard yelled. "You will be in the presence of our Commander. You are to speak only when spoken to, and be courteous. Remember--we own you now, so any smart ass comments will not be tolerated. Got that?"

Pharon just stood silent and nodded his head in agreement, while Hyper Storm quickly followed suit. The door opened, and the pair were greeted by an empty bucket of chicken thrown at them.

"WHAT IS IT NOW ?!" came a loud, robotic voice from the end of the room. "I have to plan my glorious strategy for combat, and you keep interrupting me!"

Pharon looked on in shock at his new master. Hyper Storm had encountered him before, but had a long way to go before he was accustomed to it. A computer. They had been imprisoned and humiliated by a computer.

"Commander Crorq sir, we have brought the prisoners that you requested."

"Ah...the INFIDELS. Get out then, I wish to speak to them alone. Go!"

The guards quickly exited the room, leaving the two prisoners alone with Crorq, the human Chief, and a man with glasses wearing a suit. The man had a badge on his jacket, one that Hyper Storm recognized as belonging to the Watchers.

"Both of you, come over here please," The human Chief said after the door was shut. "Commander, may I explain the situation to them?"

"I will...permit it." Crorq said in a less fierce tone of voice, as if in respect to the Chief.

"Well, you two are now prisoners of the RPD. Do not expect to be treated like the rest of our commanders; you gave up any rights you had as soon as you joined the rebel forces. It does not matter who you are, what 'team' you are from...you belong to us, and will be our property from here on out. This means you will listen to us and do what is asked of you, under penalty of shutdown and reprogramming. This will be your only warning on the matter. Is that understood?"

Both of them nodded, but were interrupted by Crorq screaming.

"You are GARBAGE to us. Ordinary filth! You are lower than even the peons who clean this building! Do you hear me? Filth!"

"Gee, thanks," Hyper Storm muttered, hoping no one would hear him. He had heard all this before. Why were they reiterating it to him now?

"WHAT WAS THAT, PIG?" Apparently Crorq had heard him.

"Nothing!" He quickly said, standing straight up.

The Chief cleared his throat and continued. "We have decided to let you pay your debt to society by accomplishing some tasks for us. You will be under watch at all times, and even the smallest infraction might get you shut down. You both had the Shutdown Code installed when you were captured, and it is still in effect. Any attempt to reprogram the code will also result in your immediate shutdown. You have no choice in the matter. The man next to me will be your supervisor. Lieutenant Riley, please continue."

Riley stepped forward cautiously, and took a deep breath. "We...I mean you two... will be dispatched together on a brief operation to commence in one hour. This operation is meant to see how well you work together as a team...uh, unit...I mean pair!"

The Chief looked to his side. Crorq was busy devouring a bucket of chicken. Good for him; that meant less chance for Crorq to scream his ear off.

"The operation will be taking place here," Riley said as he pulled up a map of Niagara Falls. "We want you two to rendezvous with the local RPD soldiers there, and help them secure the area around the falls. They are under concentrated fire from Wily's forces on one end and the Scissor Army on the other. We have lost contact with the officers there, so their current condition is unknown. Reinforcements will be minimal, since most of our soldiers are out on assignments."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," the Chief finished. "There are two Wily officers there currently; Plantman and Windman. Though your top priority is to secure the area and minimize human loss, capture of the officers is your secondary objective. They are well-armed, but so are you. You will be escorted to the repair bay for outfitting and charging, then transported to the city's edge."

The Chief turned off the map, then walked in front of the pair. "We are expecting your full cooperation on this mission. In fact...we demand it," he finished in a slightly mocking tone.

"Do not screw this up, INFIDELS, or your punishment will be unspeakable! GUARDS! Take them away!" The door opened, and the two were escorted to the repair bay.

"Lieutenant," the Chief turned to Riley, "this is on your head as much as it is on theirs. We are trusting you with dangerous criminals--be careful, and don't hesitate on the field like you were just now."

"Right sir!" Riley saluted the Chief, then exited to prepare for the mission. The chief looked at him as he left, wondering if he was really up for this mission.

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Time: 11:11AM
Location: Outside Niagara Falls, ON
Mission: Annihilate the city and all enemy positions within.

A bolt of dull orange and gray descended from the sky landing in front of a sign that proudly proclaimed the once lively city as "the Honeymoon Capital of the World." Once it hit the ground, the bolt rematerialized as a zippo-shaped mechanaloid with skeletal limbs and a haunting, soulless expression on its glowing, almost skull-like face. Its name was Heatman, and a few weeks ago he was a hero.

Then he plunged into the inky void called death, only to be pulled back out by the General and recieve this pitiful lot as a plutonium-addicted weapon.

"Why?" Asked Heatman whirring his head towards the sign. He wondered how many young couples came to this city, full of hope and potential, only to be torn asunder by their own greed, stupidity, and malice.

In those precious few weeks why he walked the frontiers of life and death, Heatman looked into the darkness and saw true peace in its infinite expanse. Many of those morons the General called his so-called "officers" parroted "Kill now for Elysium awaits!"

"There's no Elysium on this miserable hunk of rock," Heatman spat in contempt of his 'comrades', "Only in death is there Elysium. Cossack will see that soon, as will Wily, the RPD, and ultimately the General himself. I will kill them all."

With that, Heatman blasted at the sign with with his ampped-up atomic flame, utterly incinerating it and half a block of deserted residential buildings in its wake.

"Only in death is there peace."

And thus Heatman began his march to ground zero.

Estimated Time to Detonation: 45 minutes 24 seconds...

Time: 11:14AM
Location: Outside Niagara Falls, ON
Mission: Annihilate the city and all enemy positions within.

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Time: 11:17AM
Location: Niagara Falls, NY
Mission: Wipe the RPD of the face of the falls. “Sir! An unidentified object just blew the shit out of recon group seven! Seems like they were engulfed in flames before their last camera transmission?”

“Show me.” Plantman looked at the camera images, pacing slowly through each scene. “Wind, what do you think? That looks a hell lot like Heatman…”

“I could say it’s definitely him…but isn’t he dead?”

“Well, now he isn’t…what’s those around him?”

“SA Joes, I believe…could he be commanding the SA?”

“You know how Atomic Fire works when it immolates from Heatman himself?”

“He burns brightly, and Woodman hates him when he does it.” Windman smirked.

“I’ll take a wild guess here we got big trouble coming, considering every single SA Commander’s directing their battle towards the Cossack’s Citadel, Heatman is probably facing us…Besides, RPD won’t blow a complex up just to find our recon group. They step in and capture us.”

Plantman replayed the video again, checking the pace of movement of both SA troops and Heatman himself. Then measuring the distance on the trace-map system on the wall.

“We got…less than an hour to get the hell out of here…judging by the radius those Joes are, we could be in deep, deep shit…”

“Sir! We have a picture of the complex ruins Group Seven was in!”

The two robot masters looked at the picture, Windman winced at the vaporized parts of metalwork and foundation. Plantman simply crushed the pencil in his hands.

"I didn't expect him to be half alive, or came this fast to attack the city...alright, people, signal retreat! We're abandoning this city! Evacuate the idiots, Windman, inform the RPD, show them the image we captured if needed! Began the evacuation of Niagara Falls, New York and Niagara Falls, Ontario, immediately! We have less than an hour to drop out, heck, even the non-SA Heatman will probably plow through RPD-or us easily! Move out!"

Troops slowly began to move out, tank treads plowed through the roads leaving hard marks, Sniper Joes and Metools forcing the remaining citizens of the New York side out of their houses.

"The Wily's Warriors are going to be absolutely pleased by this..."

With that, Plantman activated the transmission systems, sending a distress message to the Skull Castle of Heatman’s apparent return.

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"How much time do we have left?" Plantman looked in the direction Heatman was approaching towards.

"About thirty minutes left, boss-man." The metool sighed.

"Teleport all things possible back to Skull Castle, inform Wily as the following: We have found SA Heatman, but he seems to not be himself. Heck, didn't know he's alive."

"But Heatman is-"

"Just do it, Met. I'll explain later."

"...Aye aye, boss-man."

With that, the Metool hurried off towards the tanks, jumping on one of them as the tanks carried the citizens, robots and siege weapons out of the city.

"Sniper Joe, how much of the city on this side is evacuated?"

"About 78%, sir, it'll take 10 more minutes to finish the last district. the SA is now heading towards the RPD as well, should we bomb them while moving?"

"Do it, and try not to hit the RPD. This time we -must- save as many lives as possible...it's just not worth it for even those bloody RPD bastards to die just because of a stupid bomb..." Plantman looked at the street corner, then unloaded a plasma shot right at the sidewalk poles, as a SA Joe lay dead on the ground.

"Bastards, they're already in. Get your weapons ready, we're fighting our way out till teleport distance!"

Time: 11:30AM
Location: Niagara Fall, NY Outskirt Districts
Mission: Evacuate the City before 12:00PM

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Time: 11:32AM
Location: Niagara Fall, NY Outskirt Districts
Mission: Evacuate the City before 12:00PM

“Off with their heads!” A sniper Joe yelled as a squad of Joes opened fire against a platoon of SA Joes from atop a building, their plasma busters burning one Joe after the other to the ground.

"6272's down! same with 5363!" A Joe shouted towards their field commander, unaware of the bullet speeding towards his head.

"2403! That bul-"

Suddenly, a bright colored petal bloomed in front of the bullet, taking its full impact, eventually absorbing the force into nothingness as the bullet fell to the ground.

"Geez...we're cleaning out the SA like little pests, but we've got to be faster, search the houses, people, I want everything that looks remotely alive, even a bloody cockroach dug out and transported out of here, whether they like it, or not!"

Plantman jumped over a ledge, stepping on an unoccupied skateboard, he flew over the ledge. Skating around the empty park checking for survivors. The robot master slowly skids through the slides as he heard a crying noise from within the small tunnels.

“…Kid, what happened?” Plantman stepped down, showing his ICPO Badge. “Do not fear, I’m with the police. Only working under Wily.”

“Dr…Wily?” The little girl looked at the flower-like robot in front of her. “Isn’t he…evil?”

“He’s here to save all your lives from the evil Scissor Army, and big bad Robot Police Department.” Plantman finished, turning his head outside the tunnel and firing several stray shots. All striking the SA Joes down. He then turned back and continued his questions. “Where’s your parents?”

“Kil-killed by Scissor Army…” The little girl burst into tears again.

“Geez….I swear to god the SA are getting worse at this genocide deal…” Plantman sighed as he picked up the girl. Leaping forward, he placed the girl in one of the evacuation vehicles, the steel-colored truck moving along with large amounts of artillery vehicles. “Don’t worry, I’ll see you after you get out of the city.”

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Time: 11:25AM
Location: Niagara Falls, CN
Mission: Secure the border region for the RPD; arrest any officers with ties to the SA, Cossack or Wily.

“Hog, do you think we can trust the message?” Pharon looked at the armada of birdies and Windman, the group in the air repeating the announcement and slowly falling back towards the American Borders.

“Honestly, no, bub, that could simply be a ploy to make us retreat while they pursue us…” Hyper Storm H looked with distrust at Windman. “Besides, Heatman is supposed to have been KIA’d ages ago.”

“You two will take down the SA and pesky Wily Robots, without question.” The invisible voice rang between the two RPD Commanders.

“Sir! Scouts have reported a mass-retreat of the Wily Robots! There also seems t be a gigantic heat concentration heading towards this city!” An officer scrambled in, saluting hurriedly and reporting the situation. “Those Wily Bots seem to be…evacuating and forcing citizens out of their residence!”

“What?” Pharon looked with disbelief, and looked at the blockades on the bridges again.

“…He’s right. The sound of bombing by Wily stopped some time ago.” Hyper Storm H grumbled, looking at the empty blockades, filled with decoy robots made of plastic and scrap metal.

“Sir! The SA are striking both us and Wily Forces now! Seems like the concentration of troops are focused on the Wily Side as they’re seemingly plowing through the SA Joes…”

The two RPD Commanders and their Watcher Superior fell silent, the retreat of Wily’s Army, the sudden attacks of SA, and the large heat concentration slowly heading towards the city—could Windman’s announcement be true?

Time: 11:25AM
Location: Niagara Falls, CN
Mission: …???

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Time: 11:27 AM
Location: RPD Headquarters

Riley looked on with shock. His first time as a Watcher, and already he was being faced with a potential crisis. He mentally told himself to calm down; he could not make the right decisions under stress.

"Pharon, Hyper Storm...regardless of whatever he was saying, he is a Wily robot. Get the humans out of here and remove the threat the Scissor Army poses to them. Capture the officers if you can, but remember we are on a time limit. They will be gone in a half-hour, so make it quick. Is that understood?"

"Roger," Pharon replied, readying his minigun.

"Alright...um, sir!" Hyper Storm followed, getting ready to charge the soldiers.

"Move out then! And remember, you are being watched. Any attempt to defect will lead to termination. Riley out."

Pharon spoke after the communication link was shut. "Hog, I suggest we split up. You go and break through the east half of the region the Wily bots are not in, and I will cover the west. If you see either Plant or Wind, try to bring 'em in, but quickly."

The two went their separate ways, destroying any Scissor Army soldier unlucky enough to get in their way.

Time: 11:28 AM
Location: Niagara Falls, CN
Mission: Rescue civilians from battle zone; capture Wily officers

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Time: 11:34 AM
Location: Niagara Falls, NY Outskirts

Plantman continued his search around the local park areas. The humans were getting to be fewer in number, possibly a sign that almost all of them were evacuated. Still, he had to be sure; he would not allow innocent human blood to stain his hands.

While heading towards the park's entrance, he heard the sounds of gunfire. Rushing in the general direction of the noise, he was surprised to find it beginning to die down fairly quickly.

"What the hell could be doing that so quickly?"

His question was answered when he reached the peak of a nearby hill. Standing in the middle of a small group of destroyed Joes was a lone person draped in a rough covering. He held a Japanese-style sword in his hand, the weapon of destruction as evidenced by the slash marks in his destroyed foes.

Plantman waved to get the man's attention.

"Hey you! What are you still doing here? You've got to leave!"

As soon as Plantman finished his sentence, the man disappeared, quickly reappearing next to him.

"I am able to handle myself just fine, thank you very much," he said in a hushed, quick tone. "As for you...answer me quickly, are you with the Police?"

Plantman looked taken aback by such a sudden question. He decided to keep his answer concise yet ambiguous.

"Yes, I am a police officer. What do you want?"

"My master has sent me over here to assist in your mission. We share a common goal, and he wishes to play a role in this war," the man explained.

"So which side do you consider yourself allied with? Wily? Cossack?"

"As of this point...none of them. Come, let us search together."

The man sheathed his sword, and turned to run off. After taking a few steps, he turned towards Plantman again.

"By the way, whom do I have the pleasure of working with? You may call me Tempest."

"Tempest? Weird name," Plantman replied, "but you may call me Officer Plantman."

Time: 11:38 PM
Location: Niagara Falls, NY Outskirts
Mission: Evacuate the city.

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Time: 11:40AM
Location: Niagara Falls, NY Outskirt Districts
Mission: Evacuate the City

"Okay...maybe not so much of an officer, bud..." Plantman changed his mind, lying was of no good. Flashing his ICPO Badge, he continued, "I am with the ICPO, but I'm siding with Wily, those RPD bastards are up to no good, even trying to take over the Interpol Branch and remove the remaining human officers. I cannot allow that to happen."

"Ah...hold on." Tempest sheathed his sword once more, half unsheathed the moment Plantman mentioned 'Wily'. "SA Joe there. By the way..."

"A dead one." Plantman rolled his eyes and pulled the dead Joe out, the Joe's neck circuits slit by a sharp petal. "Is a good one. This is the only building left that we have not tried to evacuate..."

"Any survivors you detect?" Tempest inquired as he pushed open the half-open steel door of the apartment. "Anyone home?"

"I sense heat right atop of us...and something down in the basement." Plantman looked down from the stairs.

In a split second, the robot master backed away as a green slime of corrosive venom shot upwards, had he been one second late, his face would be scrap metal by now.

A black leg stretched out. followed by many more, as a giant spider droid slowly climbed out, legs on walls and the stairs. "Iden...tifying...comman...der...of Wily...Unit..."

"...A droid used in the...3rd or 5th Wily Uproar." Plantman tapped the droid's head a bit. "An elite killer, made to make silent moves and kills. probably was going to be deployed against Blue Bomber...never got the chance too."

"Why is it here?" Tempest frowned at the Spider as he walked an old woman down from the stairs.

Plantman opened the IC board of the droid, loading its memory databanks to his own, scanning across a network of memories, "It was almost taken by the RPD...hence why it hid here."

"...Who are you?" Tempest nodded at the old woman, then pulled out his blade pointing at Plantman. "You're not a Robot Master."

"That's true...a de-powered Planeswalker, something you could have called god...of course, that's ages ago. I got nothing on me now." Plantman rolled his eyes as he tapped coordinates into the Spider's systems, watching it teleport away into the retreating Wily Army. "I'm not an ordinary robot...nor is the one pointing his buster at you, put it down, Windman."

"Fair enough." Windman said as he lowered his buster cautiously, "I'm an Esper...Ma'am, are you the only one left in this building?"

"Ah...Yes...I'm the only one left in the district..." The old woman said slowly. Her attires were a complete mess.

"Seems like the RPD rampaged through the apartment and even used violence just to find the spider..." Tempest looked at the wrecked stairways. "The SA would've had the building destroyed completely."

"Like, now." Windman looked at the large debris outside of the apartment, heat waves slowly vibrating like mirages, he then carried the old woman on his back. "We got fifteen minutes left. If she's our last evacuee let's get the hell out of here."

"Heatman should be close by now...hopefully those RPD idiots are retreating." Plantman said as the group sprint across the streets, all the way up to the top of the rear vehicle, a Metool Demolisher Truck slowly following the other vehicles, the Demolisher Truck was driving backwards-its weapons pointed at the empty streets.

“I’ll escort the veteran nurse here to the caravan…” Windman muttered, looking around cautiously.

“Well, here comes our boy, guys, say hello to Agent Pharon of the Robot Police Department!”

Plantman roared as he fired a rapid volley of plasma shots, all of which Pharon easily dodged.

"Eat this, Plant!" Pharon shouted as he threw a volley of small plasma bullets at the Robot Master. "Come back with me to the Police!"

"Nuh-uh...you guys better worry about getting out of the city, fast." Plantman smirked. "Your old buddy Ben is going to blow this city into pieces with...I don't know. Plutonium Fury, and he'll turn everyone here into T-Minus-Ten like Hiroshima."

Plantman blocked down the spray of shots with his petals, the petals absorbing the small impact the buster shots made. "Tempest, watch the front, don't let Hyper Storm H jump around crushing Windman. I'll handle Pharon here!"

Tempest nodded, jumping vehicle through vehicle towards the already battling Hyper Storm H and Windman.

"Pharon, this is of no help...as an direct agent of ICPO you're ordered to cease fire!" Plantman yelled as he flashed his badge, the official logo of Interpol Agents Armored Assassins.

"Why have you defected to Wily then?" Pharon looked at the badge, then firing an air shooter. blowing some of the petals out of the way.

"Let's just say the RPD are all idiots, including those Mechanical Maniac and Drastic Measures, give that Gauntlet my regards his brain's growing numb." Plantman looked at the former Airman. "I know you can't betray, and we won't force you too. Pharon...but we're trying to save lives here too. Wily will haul my butt for doing this as well, but I can't come back with you...lastly, if you can, keep saying that 'I', am a fake, the 'real' Armored Assassins are in Siberia chasing down terrorists...that's what the Interpol told RPD anyways."

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"Bub, you're in for it! Come back with us so I won't get scolded a second time!" Hyper Storm H roared as he threw a punch at Windman.

"Buddy, I have no time to deal with this, we got a Nagasaki coming at us, and if you don't get Ontario side's people out soon, you'll be in deep shit!" Windman shouted back, blocking the punch with his all his power.

Time: 11:50AM-10 MINUTES LEFT
Location: Niagara Falls, NY, just barely made it out of Explosion Range.
Mission: 75% COMPLETE
New Mission: Force a RPD retreat.

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Time: 11:51 AM
Place: Niagara Falls Plantman's plea to him for retreat... something seemed right, kind of honest to Pharon's mind. Plantman was normally a good person, and he had already made a name for himself among the Robot Masters, despite his lack of seniority. What if he was right? What if Ben really was the cause of this change in strategy, despite the obvious advantage the Wily forces had?

In another flash, Pharon's mind jumped back to thoughts of Crorq, berating them in his obnoxious voice and insulting everything he stood for.

"Come on Pharon, don't stall," he heard the voice of the Watcher in his ear. "Everyone is watching."

With that remark, Pharon raised his gun to fire another round of shots at Plantman. before the first shots even went far, a slab of rock rose in front of them, absorbing their power and causing the rock to shatter.

Plantman lowered his arms, thankful for the intrusion. But who was behind it? To his knowledge, none of the officers out there could use rock like that.

Across the field, Tempest smiled to himself.

"It's about time," he muttered.

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Time: 11:58 AM
Location: ?

The four reappeared in a clearing . After quickly surveying the area, they caught the plumes of smoke rising up from the Niagara Falls area in the distance. Pharon estimated the distance to be about fifteen miles, enough that they could teleport away. Hyper Storm, on the other hand, was marveled at the very fact that human transportation was even possible.

"Hey, you weren't kidding about that magic thing. Thanks Nox, we can get out from here no problem...Nox?"

Nox was lying on the floor, breathing heavily. "That took more out of me...than I thought...I usually don't do...that amount of people.

Tempest picked Nox up and slung him over his back. "Can you get us out now?"

Pharon nodded, and put his arm on Tempest's shoulder. The teleport system kicked in, and the four made their way to base.

Riley looked on in shock, and put his head down. Robots, Heatman...and now a magician. How else could this day get stranger?

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Time: 11:5AM
Location: South-east of Niagara Falls
Mission: Evacuate The City of Niagara Falls Ontario/NY-MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

"Keep heading east, we'll bring these people to the nearest non-SA occupied city before it's too late!"

"The closest is Indianapolis and Baltimore, Plant..."

"Fair enough, the Colts' RCA Dome should accommodate these refugees."

"Again with the Colts..."

"Whatever, let's keep moving."

The two robot masters stood up in the middle of the armada of mechanical trucks and jeeps, all with human refugees and robotic soldiers within them. Not far behind is a group of SA Joes in pursuit.

"Boss-man, what do we do with those Joes? They don't seem to be giving up anytime soon..." The Metool Commander looked worriedly at the pursuing enemies.

"Don't worry." Plantman nudged a Joe as the Joe got off its speed bike, the linear-shaped bike used by many robot masters against Megaman in speeding fights. "Thanks, 0794, I owe you one."

"No problem, sir."

In a bright flash of the fire ignition, Plantman speed off into the group of Joes. "Tell General Cutman and Mesmerman, only they in the army are enough to fight -me-, Planeswalker Raven Camelot, the other idiots like Gravityman and Geminiman can kiss my butt!"

As the Joes stepped onto the bridge, Plantman continued to ride towards them, firing and destroying Joes with direct shots towards their heads. "This, will be the last place you lot will cross."

Charging up his buster, the Robot Master fired several heating blasts, the heat melting open the structure of the small, steel bridge, forcing the bridge to fall down into the chasm below, along with several SA Joes.

The surviving Joes continued to fire, dodging each shot, Plantman turned back and sped off. "Bring those words to your generals!"

ime: 12:00PM
Location: South-east of Niagara Falls
Mission: Evacuate The City of Niagara Falls Ontario/NY-MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

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Time: 12:00PM
Location: Niagara Falls, CN/NY
Mission: Annihilate the city and all enemy positions within.

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Time:12:03 PM
Location: RPD Headquarters

The foursome ended up in a hangar on the RPD building. Pharon and Hyper Storm lowered their guards, while Nox motioned to Tempest to let him down. Nox stood upright, and fished a necklace from the inside of his cloak.

"Ready to rest Tempest? You have earned it my friend."

Tempest nodded, then faded into nothingness before everyone's eyes.

"He is my Guardian," Nox said, anticipating the questions, "Tempest must rest before he can assist me again, but I assure you he is fine."

The three were met by a group of guards, which formed a circle around forward. One of them stepped forward to address the group.

"Pharon and Hyper Storm Hog, you are to come with us for debriefing. Your superiors have much they want to discuss. As for the other one with you, he is to come to Interrogation Room C for the time being. Resistance will lead to shutdown. That is all."

"Well," Nox said, "I guess we part for the time being. I hope we meet again, gentlemen."

The prisoners nodded in agreement, and were lead off on their separate ways. Much needed to be settled between the three, but looming over it all was the fear of an atomic bomb, the former Officer Heatman.

End

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