The Business of War

Hell Metal Zoo: The Fields of Mars!


Scenario D
Participants:
Drastic Measures (RPD)
Makenshi (RPD)
Fatal Five, Saturn (W)

Location: Bergen, Norway
SA Troops: 1243
RPD Troops: 1446
Wily Troops: 154

MISSION OBJECTIVES:
RPD - Rescue the politician!
SA - Destroy the city!
Wily - Investigate unusual robot activity


It was just another business day for Senator Hugo Jorgunsson, signing bills and what not, doing the work one would expect of your typical politician. Oh, but he was more than just your typical politician. As Norway’s foremost crusader against the so-called “robot menace” to society, it was he who was the first international supporter of US Senator Keigle’s proposal of the now-infamous Shutdown Code Act; and furthermore, he was one of the driving forces behind its actual creation. As many aspects of the Shutdown Code began as his ideas, Hugo Jorgunsson was held in high regard by his peers and acquaintances. But now, he was in grave danger.

On his way through Bergen coming home from a meeting, he found himself caught in the crossfire of the Scissor Army and the occupying RPD forces. Hugo Jorgunsson was too important to die! Thankfully for him, the Robot Police Force realized this, and sent an escort squad to accompany him, protecting him from harm as needed. Robots being used as tools for the convenience of a human… to Hugo, that was just how it should be. Even still, he wasn’t all too fond of the machines. The grip of the robot trooper’s hand on his grew all the more uncomfortable as it rushed the politician to a safe haven. The cold, metallic hand was gripping him tightly, and he found it difficult to keep up with the robot… he was running out of breath, and it felt like the trooper would tear his arm clean off if this kept up for too long.

Hugo wasn’t exactly known for his athletic abilities, so if he hoped to stay alive, he had to rely on these machines for assistance, whether he liked it or not. His personal entourage consisted of a few dozen standard robot troopers, as well as two larger Special Forces units. Of course, his escape from the action would have been made all the less strenuous if he had allowed one of the Special Forces units to carry him, but there is no way he would have let that happen, no matter what the circumstance. Being held by a giant robot? No way at all! Humans should be the ones in control of the robots, not the other way around! Having only one of his hands in the grip of a smaller, less threatening-looking robot was the lesser of two evils, most certainly. But how much longer would he take being handled even like this?

It wasn’t long at all before he yanked his hand away from the robot trooper, and with that, he slowed to a halt. His robot entourage continued ahead, but stopped once they realized Hugo had separated himself from them. He was clutching his right hand, which still stung from the robot’s grip. His poor hand… the very one used to apply his signature to the bill that would become the Shutdown Code… he wouldn’t forgive the robot for this, despite its intentions of protecting him. Clearly, the troopers would have viewed Hugo a fool for this maneuver, but thanks to their programming, their thoughts didn’t stray beyond their one intended purpose: protecting Hugo. Not like those troublesome Robot Masters, the bane of Hugo’s existence. There were no enemy troopers in the immediate area, but they had to remain ever vigilant – and there Hugo was, still clutching his hand while gasping for breath. He couldn’t last long like that.

One of the Special Forces units knew what had to be done. Regardless of the consequences, he had to help the senator out by lifting him up and carrying him. As the SF unit moved to wrap one of his massive hands around Hugo, he was stopped by the politician’s yelling. “Don’t even think about it, tool!” This man was impossible. The rest of the robot troopers turned to Hugo, while the SF unit continued reaching his arm out to the politician. But in a blink of an eye, the very SF unit was knocked down… they were under attack! But… who did that? No Sniper Joe could tip an SF unit on its side like that. And whoever – or whatever – did it was quick to boot. The troopers turned their attention to the other SF unit, who was just as quickly tackled in the same fashion as the other. The attacker was too fast… none of the robots could clearly make out its form, even, but what they could make out was a sound, which could be compared to that of a ferocious growl. As they scouted around for the attacker, they were quickly drawn to the attention of a man screaming.

Hugo could no longer feel the ground under his feet. And to make matters worse, there were sharp, metallic talons wrapped under his shoulders and around his arms. From his perspective, the view of the robot troopers grew smaller and smaller… however, he could clearly make them out to be aiming their weapons at him… or were they aiming at whatever it was that was carrying him into the air? But they could not fire, due to the risk of hitting Hugo instead of their intended target. The rather chunky Hugo was a much larger target, anyway. As he was hoisted up, higher and higher, he could only watch as the rest of the troopers were tackled by the same blur from before. And then… a massive laser blast consumed them. While it could be said that the SF units managed to survive, the same couldn’t be said for the standard troopers. But at that point, Hugo was too far up now. Even the Special Forces looked like ants at this height…

Much of what happened then was drowned by Hugo’s fear. But soon, he found himself dropped on the ground, in a rather secluded area. He managed to stand up, but even still, he was shaking with terror, and his joints were in pain. Besides, they got dirt on his nice suit! SOMEBODY was going to pay for all this, that he would be sure of. But before he could plot his vengeance on anybody, he felt something strike him in the back of his head… and everything went blank from there.

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

It had been too long. The RPD Robot Master team known as Drastic Measures had suffered extensive damages to each of its members in the last battle, and only now, uncountable numbers of days later, were they each fully repaired. The one known as Burstgirl was the last to leave the repair bay. Having lost both arms in the previous battle, she was still taking time to get used to her new ones, as she moved them about in a fashion that would make one ask, “what’s the deal with her?”

Way too long had she been cooped up in the repair bay. Right now, she just wanted to get out, somewhere nice, anywhere… though preferably a nice beach in the pouring rain, which is paradise for an aquatic robot such as her. Though of course, in these dark times, that can’t exactly happen. Perhaps, she’d just go to the indoor swimming pool. But, no time for that either, as a trooper crossed her path.

“Our magnificent chief, the great Crorq, has hereby ordered all members of Drastic Measures to report to the briefing room this instant.”

“What now?” Cloudman asked his assembled team, as they all sat in the empty confrence room. Turboman only shrugged, while Junkman hit him in the head. “Ow, what was that for?!”

“What do you THINK we are here for?” Junkman said, rolling his eyes at the thunder robot master.

“Crorq is going to award us for doing such a great job....with candy?” Cloudman says, true hope in his voice.

“Why? We haven't had a victory yet?” Springman says dejectedly. “If anything, we are about to be punished. “

“What do you mean? Toronto was a victory....sort of” Burstgirl says, not truly believing it herself. “I mean, sure, we didn't save the town, but after we got there, there weren't anymore human casualties. “

“I'm pretty sure if we came back with the general's head, Crorq would still be angry with us. “ Turboman says, with a hidden smirk.

Junkman was about to say something when the door burst open, almost off it's hinges, and in walked Crorq, 3 boxes of nachos in his hands. “INFIDELS!” He yelled, throwing a box of nachos on accident when he pointed his finger at them. The box of cheese and chips flew hard into Turboman's face, smearing his face mask with bright yellow cheese. “Do you know how expensive it was to repair you useless robots? “

“Five dollars!” Cloudman said, only realizng too late he shouldn't have said anything.

“NO INFIDEL! A LOT MORE!”

“SIX DOLLARS!” Cloudman knew he shouldn't, he just had to.

“YOU DEFY ME? INFIDEL! INFIDELS! ALL OF YOU!” Crorq screamed, shoving nachos in his mouth. “IF YOU WEREN'T THE LAST ROBOTS HERE, I WOULDN'T EVEN LOOK AT YOU USELESS SCRAPS! “

“What about the mechs?” Spirngman asks.

“That doesn't matter to you, INFIDEL! Now, I'm sending you and your tag along to-”

“Wait wait wait, Tag along? What do you mean tag along? “ Turboman asks, confused and starting to get angry.

“Because of your high failure rate, I'm assigning someone else to your unit.”

“You can't do that,it's not fair!” Junkman says, just under a yell.

“I already did. Speaking of which, WHERE IS THAT INFIDEL? “ As Crorq screamed yet again, he stood up, unknowingly throwing another box of nachos, again hitting Turboman in the face. Just as the final bits of cheese dripped off his mask, the door swung open again, and in walked Shiken Max. “THERE YOU ARE, YOU INFIDEL! WHY ARE YOU LATE?!”

“I was just told.”

“INFIDEL? What makes you think I care?! “ Crorq says, seething with anger, smashing more nachos in his face. “Why are you useless robots still in my sight?”

“You...haven't told us where to go.” Junkman says, awaiting the yelling in return.

“Norway. To save a major pusher of the shutdown code. NOW GET OUT OF MY FACE INFIDELS!”

“Wait, there are people being slaughtered all around the world, and we have to save some politician? “ Burstgirl said, getting slightly angry.

“I thought I just told you useless peons to go. I meant it....NOW GO!” Crorq screamed, throwing whatever was within his grasp at the robots and human, chairs and tables included. It wasn't long that they retreated to the safety of the hallway. Turboman turned to the Shiken.

“So, your with us for this one?”

“I guess so. “

“What are we waiting around for? Lets get going before Crorq remembers he has guns.” Cloudman says, already around the corner.

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

BERGEN

The large robot smashed another of his opponents before being destroyed by enemy fire. With the Mad Grinder down, the resistance of the Wily forces was winding down, leaving the SA free to claim this area of the Norwegian town.

The five commanders of the Wily force were gathered a few blocks away, with what remained of their "army" : a large display of variations on the Sniper Joe, along with some simpler drones.

The leader spoke out. "We'll have to play it stealthy now, people."

"No slag, Sherlock." replied Warpman, nice as always with Riff.

"We must not forget our mission, either." continued Riff, ignoring the sarcastic comment. "According to Dr Wily, some unusual robotic activity has been spotted around, which is stranger when you consider the town is mostly anti-robotic. We are to gather intel on it."

"What if someone gets in our way, mylord ? " asked Staccato, the knight-bot. He was still sore from his butchery by the General, but he was fairly resistant.

His leader chuckled. "Dr Wily said nothing about bringing back samples..." The Fatalists laughed together, but the joke didn't reach the mind of their newest "addition". Lento was the first to spot it.

"Any problem, Stardroid ? Bad morale decreases chances of success."

"No, it's not that." replied Saturn. "I'm worried, though. What if we walk into my Team ? I'm not sure they forgave me joining your side. No offence." He quickly added as Warpman frowned.

"We do get along fine with Cossackers, you know. Not like these Evil Eight blokes..." said Riff. It was thanks to cooperation that they made it alive, back in Russia. "I'm sure we can all get along on the battlefield when we have a common enemy."

"As long as they don't go after the same thing than us." threw Warpman.

"So, Saturn ... is it true you clashed iron with Hyper Storm twice ?" asked Staccato in an attempt to switch the conversation to a safer turn.

"Yeah. First time was in Mexico City, 'efore those Mercs destroyed the whole town. He still owes me an arm.
"Then, it was in Lisbon. Funny thing, he was with the RPD now, and he was way smaller. Safer for the RPD, I guess." he shrugged.

"Other Mercs spotted in Lisbon ?" asked Lento.

"Nope. Only the boar. Why do you ask me that, by the way ?" replied the ring master.

"Long story short, we were rivals with the Mercs before the War. We grew to see them as ... colleagues." Riff looked sad as he explained himself.

"We were together in the 'heroes and villains' business, except they were the other side. We started to appreciate them, after all." Warpman, as he explained, looked thoughtful. Maybe he was having a hard time believing what he just said.

"Rivals of this strength can only be respected. We swore on our blades that we will bring them out of the clutches from this devilish General, no matter the cost !" Staccato's outburst took Saturn aback. But the knight-bot had some reasons - after all, he got cut in pieces by no less than the SA leader himself.

"Heh. I suppose Renard and Stardust feel the same abou-"

"Stop. Rewind by two seconds. You said Stardust ?" requested Lento.

"Yeah. He's our leader, and ... Why the smiles, you all ?"

"Oh. It's just that ..."

"Stardust was the first Hyper Storm. Nice to hear he's still active and kicking some SA ass." interrupted Riff.

Before Saturn could add something, they all heard a scream from a not-so-distant place. The scream was coming in a way that suggested the guy was being elevated, and carried at high speed.

"The SA got some copter-bots, now ?"

The "Fatalists" were frightened now. Copter meant Gyroman, and Gyroman meant the Androids. And the Androids meant Gravityman...
Even with this deep-down, primal fear, they followed the screams, which stopped after a while.

"It's not the style of the SA. We should have heard noises of the guy being killed." commented Warpman.

"Think it could be related to our goal ?" asked Riff.

"Very likely."

"Then, we wait. Weird stuff like that will attract the RPD, and they'll lead us right to the good spot. We sneak in, take the stuff and leave quietly." explained Riff.

"Nice plan" admitted Warpman. "I like it."

"But for now, we wait and shelter. We'll take turns to spy on RPD activity." stated the Fatalist leader.

Saturn took the first turn. "Just gotta try to play the normal guy," the graceful Pseudo-Human thought. "If anyone's spying on us, they won't expect me to blast them to bits when they come out to attack."

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

"Yes... I had suspected that the Scissor Army were trying to find Cossack when they decided to move into St. Petersburg," Makenshi said, looking at the electronic map before him. "And then, we see Scissor Army troops all over Russia. There's no doubt about it." He kept his gaze on the screen, trying his best to ignore the piercing eyes of the commanding officers that were listening to him.

"That's good, now we don't have to go through any trouble to give that scumbag Cossack what he deserves!" One of them said. Some of the other officers laughed.

Makenshi shook his head. "No, this is bad." The laughter was cut short.

"How so?"

"Now, how many robots does Cossack have on his side?" Makenshi inquired.

"Around forty," he said, answering his own question. "Now, let's say the SA manages to find Cossack's base. They completely destroy it, and kill Cossack in cold blood. I ask you, where are those forty-or-so robots going to go without a leader?"

"Wouldn't the SA just kill them all?" Captain Landigarm retorted.

"Or, how about the Scissor Army captures each and every single one of them, takes them back to base, and assimilates them into the army. Those forty-or-so Cossackbots could then become forty-or-so Wraithmans and Mysterymans, or they could become five teams of Ascendant Androids or Seven Mercenaries, and you know by now how deadly all of them are alone."

"So what do you propose we do?"

"Well, suppose we beat them to it."

"You don't mean-"

"Why not? It's either having the Cossackbots with us, or them."

"Well, there's only one problem with that. We have no idea where Cossack's base is, and the SA probably have more of a lead than we do."


"SO WHY AREN'T WE LOOKING FOR HIM?!" Shiken suddenly yelled. He immediately turned and saw the Drastic Measures giving him an odd look.

"Because Crorq hasn't told us anything about where to look or who this 'major pusher of the Shutdown Code' is supposed to be," Junk replied bitterly.

"No, no, no, I wasn't talking about... Nevermind," Makenshi muttered.

Captain Spiegel's voice rang out in Makenshi's ear. "Yo, if you're going to scream like that without warning, how about closing communications before you do it next time, okay? Jesus Christ that did a number on my ear drums."

"Whoa! Who's that?" Cloud exclaimed in surprise. Apparently Spiegel's speech extended to the Drastic Measures' communicators as well.

"It's your Watcher, that's what!" the Captain said, his voice suddenly near them.

"Wait, are you physically with us this time?" Makenshi inquired. "Where are you?"

"Right in front of you."

"Why can't I see you?"

"Of course you can't see me! Haven't you heard of our neat cloakers?"

"Oh, right."

"Er, you might want to stay a bit farther away from us," Turbo said. "If we can't see you we can hit you accidentally."

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to stay out of everyone's way. Of course if it seems like you're purposely shooting random places, you'll suffer a nice hard shutdown!" he explained, faking maniacal laughter.

The Drastic Measures found no humor in this. Makenshi bit his lip. Spiegel was kind of a nice guy to him, but he wasn't sure how the Watcher would act towards robots.

Another voice came in via their communicators. "Alright, chumps, I'll be your navigator for today. I just received a distress signal from our man. Take a look." A map of Bergen appeared across the group's optical sensors, glasses in Makenshi's case. There was a red dot on the southwest tip of the city. "But if you look closer..." and the map zoomed in, revealing that the dot was outside of the city's boundary and into a blue shaded area. "He's in the water, probably held prisoner on a boat." The map disappeared.

"Alright, folks, we know where the guy is, so let's get a move on!" Spiegel ordered. An explosion sounded in the distance. "Remember, our objective is to save this guy, not stick around and fight the Scissor Army! Our troops our already taking care of that! So stay away from unnecessary battles!"

"Hey, Captain, where are my bodyguards?" Makenshi asked.

"You don't need them! They're helping out the others!"

"Gotcha," the gunslinger said.

As they ran through the city, being careful not to attract the attention of the Scissor Army, something bothered Turboman. "Hey, who do you think captured this guy, anyway? I couldn't have been the Scissor Army, because then he would already be dead."

"It could have been Cossack or Wily," Spring suggested.

"Hmmm, Wily seems more likely," Burstgirl replied, apparently deep in thought.

"Reports state that the guy was carried off by a bird-like robot," Vatnick informed.

"That sounds like Wily with the animal motif and all," Makenshi mused, "But the only bird-like robot I can think of that he has are.... those birds that drop eggs. What are those called?."

Makenshi thought until the proper name came to mind.


"Yeah, Pipis," he finished.

"......It could carry a giant egg, but I don't think it can carry a man," Burst said.

"Yeah, and the bird that carried away the guy was reported to have much larger wings, like a condor," Spiegel added.

"Alright, just who is this 'guy' supposed to be anyway?!" Burstgirl said impatiently. "We should at least know why he's so important that we have to go through all this trouble to rescue him!"

"Eh, you didn't get the memo?" Vatnick asked.

"I'm pretty clueless as well," Makenshi said.

"Well, his name is Senator Hugo Jorgunsson, and he played an important part in the creation of the Shutdown Code Act. He got Norway to be the second country to pass the Act as well, and is quite enthusiastic about anti-robot rights."

"Oh, great, I shouldn't have asked," Burst said, rolling her eyes. "Now I feel less motivated to save him."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'd like to have a successful mission for once," Turbo stated grimly. "You know, so Crorq doesn't start pulling more random objects out of his ass and throwing it at us."

The rest of the DM murmured in agreement.

Makenshi sighed. It was going to be a long day.

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

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey..."

Hugo Jorgunsson awoke in a daze. It was pitch black, and he couldn't even see himself. However, he felt that his hands and feet were bound to a chair. His head felt like it was going to split, and he groaned.

"It's about time," the cold, metallic voice said.

"W-Wh-Who are y-you....?" the senator stammered.

"Me? My name is Doctor Wolfland. A pleasure to make your... acquaintance," and two glowing red eyes pierced through the darkness, their gaze fixated on the senator. They seemed to penetrate his very soul.

"W-Wh-What do you want?" Hugo asked, trying not to scream.

"Hold on, I'd like to have a chat first," Wolfland's metallic voice said coolly. "Let's backtrack a bit. You're Senator Hugo Jorgunsson, an anti-robot politician who supported the Shutdown Code Act with zeal and eagerly awaited it to be signed into Norway. And I am Doctor Wolfland, a scientist who worked with many people funded by the government to research bionic enhancements. Now at first, all this anti-robot ruckus hampered us from getting some willing human specimens, so we had to use our work on animals.

"Oh, I must say we were at the very apex of our research! We had produced wonderful creations, using our bionics to do things nature could never do! Converting sea animals so that they functioned perfectly on land! Can you imagine that? We could, and we saw these visions through!

"I got excited. I now desired to focus our attention on humanity and seeing just what we could do to improve our own lives. But still, nobody was willing to volunteer. That's when I decided that I would step up!

"Yes, the operation on me was successful! I was part robot now, with enhanced strength, a longer lifespan, and a mental capacity that would make Einstein envious! We were overjoyed, and we couldn't wait to unveil our findings to the world! We would be rich and famous! I mean, who could resist the promise of becoming.... better?

"But alas, your dreaded Shutdown Code was passed! Everything fell apart from there! We were forced to close down, and all of our subjects abandoned here to rot.... Including me.

"How could I go back outside when there was a world waiting to hate me, to take me away and force a chip into my brain? I am a HUMAN! Or.... At least I was at the time. My only companions were the animals that lived here.... And I.... made some changes to them.... As well as to myself. I didn't realize my own madness until it was too late. Now, my humanity as gone, and I am even madder.

"Yes, part of my fate was my own doing. However, the roots of my misfortune lie in your accursed Shutdown Code!" Wolfland's mechanical cold voice suddenly had emotion, the emotion of fury.

"What I want, Senator Hugo Jorgunsson, is REVENGE. Brace yourself, because this lab shall be your final resting place! Along with the other bastards who made me look like THIS!"

The lights flickered on, and for the first time Hugo could see his captor. This time, he couldn't hold back a scream.

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

Lento was the one who spotted the newcomers as they arrived. He immediately reported to his teammates.

"Six units from the RPD deployed. Drastic Measures and Shiken Max."

"Shiken is an honorable fellow, we shall have no problem convincing him we are not their foes."stated Staccato. "For the Drastic Measures, however ... I cannot tell yet."

"Excuse me, but who're these guys ?" asked Saturn.

" How can you not know this ? ... Yeah, being in space and all. Sorry.
"Anyways, Drastic Measures is the Team from the Seventh Rebellion. Turboman, Burstgirl, Cloudman..." explained Riff.

"And so far, they got it real bad !" chuckled Warpman.
"Two of them left for Cossack at the beginning -Slash and Shade. The latter apparently blew up in Lima - that's what Omniman says, anyway.
"They lost Toronto to the SA, and were with the Warriors when they took Hong Kong. That's where Freezeman was caught by the SA. Poor chums..."

Saturn was disturbed by Warpman's sadism, as it was worse than his. How could one enjoy laughing at the problems of another during such difficult times ?
Before he could ask an explanation, he remembered the other name mentioned by Lento.

"And what about that Chicken guy ?"

"Correction : Shiken Max."stated Lento. "Human RPD Officer. Fights with twin pistols."

"We fought side by side in Anchorage. He is a brave fellow, and a good fighter." completed Staccato.

"We'll continue this discussion later. Let's follow them for now. Fatal Five, go !" commanded Riff.

Saturn stood still. He needed to know a last thing before going to his mission...

"Why was I teamed up with you guys ?"

Warpman chuckled again. "Our leader believes in lucky numbers, isn't it ?"

Riff's face looked contrived, like someone forced to explain a bad joke. "Well, we're the Fatal FIVE, after all. You see how the five of us fared so far in the War -rather well, I could say-, and ... I mean ... if you compare with the Evil Eight, who're only two now... we needed someone good to help us as long as Karasû is under repair, and ..."
His face got serious. "You're gonna stay and chat here for how long ? We have a mission to do !" The Fatalists and the drones followed their leader, soon joined by Saturn.

The Stardroid wasn't sure to completely appreciate the Fatal Five - Warpman looked like a complete bastard, and Staccato looked "outdated" in mind, but their leader considered him a good fighter. That's all he needed to cheer up, after his defeat in Lisbon.
He was starting to consider them better than deadweights.

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

An RPD patrol boat sailed the port of Bergen, Norway. Aboard the vessel were the Drastic Measures (sans Burstgirl who opted to swim instead), the gunslinger Shiken Max (AKA Makenshi), the invisible Watcher known as Spiegel, and of course the crew, consisting of standard RPD troopers. The rain poured down upon them as they sped across the water… Bergen was The City of Rain, after all. Water, rain… this was Burst’s kind of place. She would have been enjoying this if only the mission wasn’t to save some stupid politician who would have been better off dead. And the fact that the team now had some invisible guy breathing over their necks didn’t make things any easier… even if he was on the boat and she was in the water. This Shiken Max guy seemed decent enough, at least.

They had reached the marked area now, from where Senator Jorgunsson’s distress call was last picked up from. “WELL, mysterious voice from above?” Cloudman looked up into the air as he spoke. “You said he’d be on a boat. Do you see a boat? ‘Cause I don’t see a boat, noooo. LIAR!”

“Our sensors are still picking up his distress signals within the immediate vicinity,” Vatnick’s voice answered. “You just need to look harder.”

“Would it be possible that the vessel carrying him would be utilizing a cloaking device of sorts, like our invisible friend over here?” Junkman said.

“Our cloaking technology isn’t even widely known amongst the RPD,” said Spiegel, “with our security, I don’t see how Wily or Cossack or anybody would be able to get their hands on it, much less know about it. And furthermore, what with the nature of the technology and all, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to cloak anything larger than a person, especially with the energy it consumes.”

“You know… he could be held underwater.” Makenshi chimed in.

“Worth a look,” Turboman said. “Burst, why don’t you…” She had dove under the water before Turbo had the chance to finish, as indicated by a pool of ripples beside the patrol boat. She didn’t have to dive down for too long before spotting a network of large, metallic, dome-like structures, all connected by means of tube-like tunnels. There seemed to be no end to these things…

“Find anything?” Turboman’s voice rang in Burst’s communicator. “Ya,” she responded, “A buncha domes and stuff. The jerk’s no doubt inside.”

“Hmm… how are we going to go about entering these domes?”

“I have bombs, remember... hehehe…”

“No, don’t!” Junkman shouted over the communication line. “Haven’t you learned from Hong Kong? You could flood the whole damn place, therefore drowning the man we were sent to rescue!”

“I know he will drown.” Burst said. “But since there are no other entrances, I guess I’ll just blow the wall, and haul out his corpse. They can’t say I didn’t TRY to save the fat bastard then.” Each of the Drastic Measures palmed their faces. It was then that Speigel spoke in Burst’s ear. “My finger is on the switch right now. So don’t even think about it.”

Burstgirl uttered a string of profanities under her breath. She knew that no one would approve of her little “plan,” but she just had to get it out. She just wasn’t used to letting those that offend her walk away alive or at least without any sort of permanent injury, much less the idea of having to rescue one such person. “Fine, I’ll look for another entrance,” she said, making no effort to hide the disdain in her voice. She swam around the area. None of the domes or tubes looked to allow any conventional form of entrance… however, she did notice that one of the tubes lead directly into an earthen wall. And above that wall? A part of the city. Or more specifically, a run-down, deserted part of the city.

“Maybe we can enter by land after all…” Burst emerged from the surface of the water, and motioned to the patrol boat. As they docked and disembarked, the RPD members began searching for any means of entering the underwater complex by land. Since the entrance to the place was below them, their first place to check would be…

“The sewer.” Springman stretched his arms out and grabbed a hold of a manhole cover placed on the ground a few yards away, lifting it above his head. Cloudman’s eyes widened. “The sewer? Alright! We get to meet the Ninja Turtles!” He shouted with joy before Burst slapped him across the face. One by one, each of them climbed down through the manhole. Hopefully, maybe, this would lead them to the place where the senator was being held… it was worth a try if nothing else.

They searched the sewers thoroughly, but they hadn't found anything yet. Makenshi frowned. The entrance to the mysterious underwater complex had to be here, somewhere.....

But somehow he found it unlikely that the intended entrance was through these nasty tunnels. He reasoned that it would have to be a hidden underground passage accessible through somewhere more obscure, or maybe even from a building....

They were standing in front of wall. "That's strange..." Burst murmured. "The tube I saw should be around here..."

"Hmmm.... A hospital," Vatnick murmured.

"What?"

"You're directly underneath a hospital."

"Burst, blow up the wall," Makenshi suddenly said.

She nodded in understanding, then formed a Danger Wrap and flicked it at the wall. It bounded over to the bottom of it and exploded, causing the sewers to tremble a little. When the dust cleared there was a small hole large enough for everyone to crawl through.

The tunnel they found themselves in was definitely not part of the sewers. The walls were blue, and florescent lights lined the ceiling. After a long trek through the passage, they came across a door that was sealed shut.

"I got this one," Turbo said and kicked it off of its hinges with ease.

As they walked in and began to explore the complex, something all the way on the other side of the structure clicked.

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

Riff had just spotted the RPD members heading down the sewers.

"It's time to play plumbers, people."

ignoring the complaints of the other Fatalists, he prepared a message for Wily. Once in the sewers, the transmission couldn't happen.

<DWX-012. BR - NW. R-7R; R-H-ShM. RO=0. FaA. T=0. 7R+? //>

Translated, the communication meant : "Riff here. We're still in Bergen, Norway. We spotted Drastic Measures and Shiken Max, without RPD Officers to help them. We'll follow them, and attack if needed. Our target is still unfound, but we think they may lead us there. Riff, over."

One by one, the WilyBots and their soldiers went down the manhole, with some difficulties for Lento. They followed the footsteps left by their "colleagues", and finally arrived in front of the hole created by Burstgirl.

"No way I push and pull Slow Motion again." commented Warpman, as he threw a bomb a little above the hole.

They followed the tunnel, and found the smashed down door. It didn't take a brilliant mind to guess who went here first...

The Wily force entered the complex, their weapons ready, and feeling nervous. In this kind of place, enemies could come from anywhere...

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

The RPD gang came across a door. This time, it was more welcoming and opened automatically when they approached it. Moving down the hall, there was another door. They turned right to find yet another door. Only ten paces in was another....

There were a hell of a lot of doors here.

Makenshi shuddered. This place was a bit too eerie. It was perfectly clean and well lit... But the fact that all of this was under trillions of gallons of water and the winding halls with doors everywhere made him a bit claustrophobic. That, and it was like a ghost town in here. If the senator was here, he would have expected his captors to have sprung out of nowhere and attacked them by now...

Then, they made an unsettling find. On the wall was a large poster, with a picture of a baby laughing. Below were the words, "To save and improve lives."

It was a touching poster, save for the fact that it was ripped messily, as if great talons had struck across it. The mark continued on the wall as a trail of blood, and finally, a smeared, deformed handprint.

And all of a sudden, the lights went out, and there was the sound of something behind them, scuttling and shifting, its presence reverberating through the walls. But in an instant it was gone, and the lights flickered back on.

"What.... The hell was that?" a somewhat shaken Springman asked.

Turboman frowned from under his helmet. "It must be the guys who've kidnapped our man, or....." his voice trailed off as he looked at the claw marks on the poster.

"Come on guys, let's keep going..." Junkman urged. "Nothin's gonna come from just standing here."

The group agreed, and they began to press on. The invisible Captain Spiegel followed close behind, but he stopped and turned back to the poster, staring intently at the pictured baby.

It can't be....

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

How long they have been traveling through this undersea labyrinth, none of them could say. Hall after hall, door after door… it felt like hours they had searched through this lonely place for Senator Hugo Jorgunsson. In fact, it felt like they were walking around in circles, as a wave of déjà vu swept through the air. They weren’t sure whether they had already visited the areas they found themselves in, or whether the different rooms just simply looked all the same. Through every door, there seemed to be another hallway, and if they were lucky, an empty storeroom.

“I think it would be best we’d split into smaller groups, to cover more ground,” Turboman suggested.

“Wait.” Burst interrupted. She wore a grim expression on her face.

“Did something happen?” Junkman inquired.

“I found the senator,” Burst said solemnly.

“Is he-”

“Alive, unfortunately.” She shook her head, and proceeded to one door that she had left ajar, with the rest of the team following. Inside this otherwise empty storeroom, they could see the back of a chunky, balding man in a blue business suit, with his arms tied behind the chair, and his legs tied together. He didn’t bother to take notice of any of the Robot Masters, as he sat, shaking in fear. Burstgirl slowly backed out of the room.

“Mwhehehe… you had better be afraid,” she chuckled to herself as she drew out her combat knife. But at that moment, an arm stretched out from the other side of the doorway, and pulled the knife from her grip. “Aw, what did you do that for?” Burst said in a childish tone. “I was only going to cut him free, y’know.”

“I know you were,” Springman said. “But we don’t need you “accidentally” cutting his hands off in the process.” Burst had to admit – she was pretty easy to see through at this point. “Just give it back when you’re done.” She ordered.

With that, Springman turned to the senator, and leaped above his chair from behind, then landed directly in front of him. At the surprise of seeing the robot suddenly landing in front of him, Hugo let out a piercing scream. “M-M-MONSTER!” He cried out. Indeed, Springman had a most unusual appearance, being a robot whose body was made up of a series of coils, but never once had he considered being described as a “monster.” Strange, maybe… a talking slinky, maybe… but never a monster.

Hugo shook his head around franticly. By now, he had caught a glimpse of all of the Drastic Measures, which only added to his state of panic. “WHAT ARE YOU THINGS?! LEAVE ME ALONE! GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!”

“Senator Jorgunsson, please,” Turboman attempted to reason with the panicked man. “We are here to-”

“TO KILL ME?!” Hugo shouted out. “You’re with that thing that calls itself a doctor, aren’t you, you, you… THINGS!”

“Senator, relax,” Springman said. “We are with the RPD, and we were sent to rescue you. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to free you...”

“Get that knife away from me!” Hugo commanded. “So what if you are with the government, tool, if you bring that knife so much as an inch closer to me, I will see to it that you are shut down and recycled into something more useful, like paperclips!” Even the wise Springman didn’t know how he would handle the creep at this point. So, he turned to Makenshi, and handed him the knife. Makenshi nodded, and approached the senator.

Hugo was slightly relieved now. He could tell by looking at Makenshi’s face that he was a human. After all, his face didn’t possess that creepiness factor to him that the synthetic, humanlike faces of many Robot Masters seemed to possess. He remained fairly calm as Makenshi cut his bonds, eventually seeing him free and without injury. “Thank you, son,” Hugo said. “What is your name?”

“Shiken Max, sir,” Makenshi answered, before handing the knife back to Burstgirl. While he couldn’t say he was fond of the man himself, he did what had to be done, and now they could leave this stuffy underwater complex. But somehow, this seemed far too easy. And what about “the thing that calls itself a doctor” that Hugo mentioned?

Then, there were those sounds again. Those clicking sounds.

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

The Wily bots found themselves in an office. The cubicle was relatively small, and the desktop and computer was covered in dust. On the floor were some tattered clothes, and the wall was stained with eerie patches of blood.

Riff tried to turn on the computer, only to find that it was dead. "Well, there's nothing in here," he stated, and turned to walk back out.

"Halt for a moment, sir," Staccato said suddenly. He reached under the desk and pulled out a notebook. There didn't seem to be a lot of dust on it, and the Fatalists and Saturn gathered around as Staccato opened the book and read its contents. It was filled with notes and diagrams they couldn't understand. However, the second half appeared to be a log of sorts.

Our experiments are becoming a success. We have improved our specimens with our implants, and they look completely normal, too! I'm getting excited. We've used so many animals for our research, and I'm proud to say that they are noticing and appreciating their new endowments. If only we could just get a human specimen, and we will be ready to unveil our work to the public!

I've grown quite fond of the animals. Everyone else only sees them as a specimen, but.... I feel like they're my own children. Needless to say, the wilder ones take some taming, but they seem to return my affection.


Staccato continued to skim through the journal, looking for anything of interest.

This anti-robot mindset isn't good news for us. Being grafted with bionic implants is considered becoming a robot, and thus we have not been able to get human specimens, even when they need the surgery in order to survive. How could the world ignore our magnificent progress?

If no one will step up to do it, then I will.
_____

The operation was a success! I feel... alive! Younger! Faster! Stronger! No one can even notice that I have robotic parts grafted inside me! Oh, how could people be foolish enough to deny these gifts that we have available to them?
_____

It all happened so quickly. The Shutdown Code Act was passed.... Thank god they don't know about our research, otherwise they would have already raided our labs. According to the law, I am supposed to be considered a robot. What kind of nonsense is this?! I am human! A human who merely pursued the elixir of life and succeeded! How can they take away my freedoms just because... I'm BETTER than them?!

I can not live in a world that rejects me. I just can't. I will live here in this lab, alone, with the animals I have experimented on for so long... They will be my only companions until the outside world finally regains its sanity.

And at the same time, I want to go out and fight... I will make those who have brought upon my suffering pay.


Then, the writing was less faded, indicating that it was much more recent. The words became sloppy and were haphazardly written across the sheets of paper.

God what have I done I've become insane I did this to myself I'M NOT HUMAN ANYMORE I'M NOT HUMAN ANYMORE I did the same thing to the animals THEY'RE ALL MONSTERS AND SO AM I.

Finally, there was one last entry.

This strange man came to me, seemingly attracted by my own despair. He promised to turn my life back to normal, but I must aid him in destroying the RPD. I gladly accepted his offer. It's time to give the ones who did this to me their comeuppance.

Staccato closed the book, and the Fatal Five (plus Saturn) looked at each other.

The RPD was being set up for a trap, and they were going to be caught in the middle of it.

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

Getting out of the place was going to be yet another arduous trek. Thankfully though, Vatnick was able to act as their navigator and could tell whether they were getting closer or farther to land.

Turboman led the way, while Burst and Makenshi stayed at the rear, with the apprehensive senator cowering from the robots behind Shiken, as if he had devolved into a frightened child staying close to their parent. Makenshi was quite bothered with the analogy.

"Mr. Jorgunsson, what was this doctor you mentioned?" Makenshi inquired. He wanted to at least know who was behind all of this, and why they hadn't shown up yet. Something was strange about the senator just sitting there alone for them to rescue. It had to be a trap...

"He's not a doctor!" Hugo cried. "IT wasn't even human! A monster, just like them, but tenfold!" pointing a shaking finger at the Drastic Measures. Makenshi could hear Burst grinding her teeth.

"He was going to kill me," the senator continued, "then he left, saying that he would return! We must get out of here now!"

Then, the lights began to flicker once more, repeatedly blinking on and off, until they finally dimmed, shrouding the whole place in darkness save for the meager amount of light nearby.

Tmp tmp tmp tmp...

The group stopped.

TMP TMP TMP TMP TMP...

It was the scuttling noise they had heard before, the sound of something making its way towards them, padding softly on steel that creaked and groaned with every step. In the semi-darkness they could make out the silhouette of something, something humanoid, crawling on the ceiling, rapidly approaching them.

And then came a shrill cry, the angry wail of something feral as the beast leaped from its upside-down perch. It was going for something yards ahead of them, reaching out its massive hands for something that only it could see.

And Captain Spiegel emerged from hiding, his camouflaging dissipating into blue sparks.

Suddenly, there was an explosion, and the beast was engulfed in flames. It let out a shriek and crashed into the ground with a thud. The flaming monster continued to crawl towards Spiegel, letting out a pitiful wail, until the Captain finally smashed his foot in its face. Smoke spilled from its wounds, and it finally collapsed, dead. The Watcher turned to face his subjects, firmly gripping a short bazooka.

Then, there came even more animal screams. This time, they came from all directions.

"RUN!" Spiegel shouted.

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

Dr. Wolfland chuckled. He observed all of his... creations... flood the halls, stalking for prey. There was that accursed RPD squad, as well as some stray dogs that wandered in. No matter. They would all become food, for this lab would be their final resting place.

Welcome to my zoo, the mad doctor thought.

Then, he lumbered over to the other side of the room. There, two figures floated inside a tank filled with a green liquid. Tears would have began running down Wolfland's face if he had been able to produce them. His cold eyes didn't even do the sorrow he felt any justice.

"Oh, Trisha, Ralph, we will be a family once more... Mesmerman promised to bring all of us back as long as those Robot Police Department scum die. Aren't you happy? We'll be together again..."

"All that's left is for me to.... take care of the bad guys."

He trod out of his room. The stray dogs will have to go first.

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

The Wily group had entered a larger room - a hall, maybe. After the latest Metool was in, the door they came by locked and every light went off.

And then, they came...

The enemy couldn't be stopped in the dark, but there were several of them. They assaulted the robots and destroyed half a dozen of Joes before they could set their lamps on.

"I'm going to be sick..." whispered Saturn.

Their opponents was a large group of rats. Not your usual rodents, however - their legs had been replaced by bionic limbs, and they carried a small cannon on their backs. The worse, however, was their face - it had been completely cut off and replaced by a bunch of sensors wired to what remained of the cranium.
Metools of flesh.

It didn't seem to affect the Fatalists, however. They shot at the horde, or slashed and squashed them, but with little success - they were too small, and parried every attack - as if something commanded them...

"Lento." commanded Warpman. The walking tank nodded, and fired his spheres all around the room. the rats progressively stopped moving, and became as many living statues. The other Fatalist teleported around the room, leaving bombs wherever he popped in and out.

The following detonations repainted the walls and robots a light shade of red. While Riff checked on the casualties, Saturn took advantage of this time to empty his mechanical stomach in a corner of the room.

"That's no good. We're down to 130 drones." stated Riff.

"I also am afraid we will meet stronger foes later on, mylord." added Staccato.

"Don't you also find "no good" the fact we fought FREAKIN' CYBORG RATS !?" cried Saturn.

"Surviving : primary. Nature of opponent : secondary." Lento's comment put an end to the discussion.

Two of the Hammer Joes had creaked open the door in front of them. Wordless, the WilyBots carried on, with Saturn pondering on the nature of the soon-to-come opponents.

"What would be worse than sensor rats ?"

The next room they headed in was dark as well. However, someone -or something- activated a switch, blinding the batallion with crude light. Other drones fell before the Fatalists' eyes grew used to the light.

Their new opponents were primates and giant lizards. They were all gifted with bionic implants of some sorts. But the strangest was that the monkeys were able to speak. It was a monotonous, repetitive sentence :

"Protect the Master ... Destroy the intruders ... protect the Master..."

One of the apes charged fists first at Staccato, only to be impaled on his blades. In the same time, another monkey opened fire with a cannon implemented on his arm, stunning the knight-bot.

Soon, each robot was fighting for its life against various monstrosities. Riff met his match in the form of a Komodo dragon. The creature, already 3 meters long, was made even more dangerous by its metallic jaws. It charged with surprising speed at the Fatalist leader, but he dodged and shot back, only to see his bullets deflected by the strong scales.

The beast attacked back, and threw Riff to the ground by it enormous weight. It clasped its jaw near the WilyBot's head, missing his face by less inches each time.
With lightning reflexes, Riff blocked the jaw with his left hand as it opened again, and fired with his automatic weapon in the open mouth.
Two problems came in his way : the dragon's saliva was starting to melt his hand away, and it was firing back with a laser cannon in its mouth. With both of his arms incapacitated, Riff could only pray for a quick death ...

... which never came. The lizard's head fell on his torso when he realized who saved him : Saturn. His ring was bloody, and his face livid, but he helped the Fatalist leader to get back on his feet. His face was sporting a wide grin, as he remembered the spray of blood his attack caused.

"You'll have to get these repaired once you get back." he commented, while pointing at Riff's left side : the hand was completely melted, and some saliva drops had fallen on his armor. He was too shocked to notice Saturn removing himself from the group-list.
The ringed robot took a closer look at Riff's arm. "That's right," he thought. "When YOU go back. I'm not going back with you; the Cosmic Gladiators need me more."

"Will do." Riff released some of his missiles to assist Lento, who had some troubles with a trio of chimps.

After a few minutes, it was over. All that was left was a large orangutan, who seemed to be the leader, as his large cheeks revealed. he was immobilized by some of the surviving Joes, who had removed his weapon out of his shoulder.

"I know you can talk. Who is that Master of yours ?" asked Riff.

"Master ... good. Gave ... presents ... made us ... smart ... powerful. Us ... protect Master." replied the ape, as if he was dragging words from his memory.

"And where's he now ?"

"Me ... loyal to Master. Not tell ... secret."

"I've had it with that guy !" shouted Warpman. His left arm armor had creaks, as if someone tried to break it with bare hands. "We do monkey mash out of him, and let's carry on !"

"He can still be useful to us. I still dunno yet. Isn't it, mister ... monkey ?" Riff's words died in his mouth. The primate suddenly clamped down its powerful jaws on its on tongue, causing massive amounts blood to spurt everywhere. The creature made sick gurgling noises as it took its last breath, and the blood was still pouring out by the time it was still.

"Regular stuff. 'I kill myself before betraying the Master'. Which means the guy shouldn't be too far away." said Saturn.

"You're amazingly smart, arrogant robot. Or should I say ... brother-in-flesh ?"

The voice made all of the Fatalists jump. In the part of the room that was still in the dark, something moved.

"It's time you meet who you're looking for..."

"Who we're looking for…?!" Saturn shouted. "Brother-in-flesh?!! Come outta the shadows 'n' show your face, you FUCK!"

"That is exactly what I had in mind, Ringmaster..." A loud stomp, and a foot that had nothing left human came out of the shades, soon followed by the rest of the body...

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

They were extremely fast. Without enhancements they could still outrun a sports car. But now, artificial muscles powered their legs to supernatural proportions, allowing them to dash around like blurs with sharp jaws.

Cheetahs.

Turboman took out his scorch saber, swinging furiously at the hell cats that just kept coming. One leaped up to tackle him, only to meet with headlights in the face. Two more cheetahs followed up in front and behind him, and he kicked once more, this time arcing his foot upwards and going all the way in a flip like a bicycle kick, until his foot ultimately slammed down on the creature behind him. He then nimbly jumped back to his feet to combat another wave, with Junkman and Springman at his side.

Behind them, Makenshi, Captain Spiegel, and Cloudman were combating hordes of condors, though they looked more like a collective batch of huge metallic wings. Said wings were powerful enough to send short gusts of wind with each flap, giving the threesome trouble to keep their balance. Makenshif fired his wind bullets, bunching the birds of prey together in a Tornado Hold, while Spiegel or Cloudman finished them off.

Then, the attacking animals started to become more assorted. Snakes that spewed acid... Lions of terrifying strength... enormous gorillas armed with laser cannons. It seemed endless.

“HEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!” Screamed Hugo amidst the chaos. It seemed now that every RPD member in the place was engaged in battle with some form of scientifically mutilated animal… well, all of them except for Burstgirl anyway. Well… as much as she hated it, the whole purpose of the mission was to save this buffoon, and since she wasn’t tied up at the moment…

She stood beside the senator, but it seemed the closer she got to him, the farther he backed away. “Look,” Burst stated, “If you don’t want to die an awesomely horrible death, I’d stop backing away if I were you.”

“Never!” Hugo shouted. “Shiken! Shiken Max! Where are you?!”

Burst displayed a wicked smile. “He’s a bit busy at the moment. So I’m afraid you are with me, buddy. Mwehehehehe…” Hugo grew all the more disturbed. “No… NO! I’d sooner die than entrust my life to a-” he then turned around, and saw himself confronted by large beast – it looked to be a lioness wearing a steel mask, that had two large, pointy fangs, much like that of a saber tooth tiger.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!! HELP! HELP!” Screamed Hugo as the lioness opened her mouth and let out a roar that shook the room. She looked about ready to rend Hugo limb from limb, as he fell to the floor in fear. Burst sighed in frustration, before letting out a flurry of bumper bubbles. Each of the bubbles slammed into the lioness, tossing her around the room and onto her back. And then, one of the other bubbles slammed Hugo in the face. “Sorry,” Burst muttered.

“You had better be sorry!” Hugo roared. “You almost snapped my neck off! And my nose… it hurts! If I find so much as a scratch on me, consider yourself shut down!”

“I wasn’t apologizing to you,” Burst said. “I was apologizing to the kitty.” Hugo let out an aggravated grunt before Burst continued. “Now thank me for saving your miserable life.”

“Do I thank toasters for warming my bread?” Hugo spat back. “Do I thank my chair at home for massaging my back?! DO I THANK THE FLOOR FOR ALLOWING ME TO WALK ON IT?!”

Burst was about ready to shout an insult at Hugo that involved every swear word in her vocabulary, but her attention was quickly diverted from him by the lioness getting up. “Well, what are you waiting for?” Hugo barked at Burst. “KILL IT!”

“Heh, I’m trying.” Burst said as she released more bumper bubbles at the lioness, tossing the beast about once more. Of course, she wasn’t actually trying, or else she would have broken out the explosives by now. These animals… they were just pawns in the game of some sick creep. She was normally fine with mercilessly slaughtering her enemies, in fact she enjoyed it… but only if they had done something to deserve death. These were animals… much different than a human or a robot. They never chose to fight in the name of some mad doctor.

It was a good thing Hugo didn’t know that Burst had bombs. A robot going against a human’s wishes of its own free will… that was the very reason why he couldn’t stand the Robot Masters.

Finally, it was all over. The last creature fell, dead, and there was only a sea of techno-organic corpses. The group had not budged the entire time.

Makenshi caught his breath and looked around. Everyone looked a bit worse for wear. He and Captain Spiegel were bleeding where they had been clawed at. Cloudman's chest plate had also been abused by acid, Turboman's lights were busted, Junkman had sacrificed some of his armor, Springman looked like he could fall apart at any second, and Burst had several dents in her armor. The only person who was still in top condition was Hugo Jorgunsson, though at some points in the battle he had been close to soiling himself.

"Let's.... Just get outta here...." Spiegel huffed, and they silently continued their way through the labyrinth.

"I'm starting to think that Dr. Wily is behind this," Junkman said grimly. "If you think about it, the guy has a lot of minions based on animals."

"Yeah..." Cloudman agreed. "Those animals back there were like his animal-bots, except they were real... and scarier," he added with a shudder.

"Wily is evil, but I didn't think that he could do something so cruel..." Burstgirl said.

Makenshi sighed. "I dunno.... While there's the possibility that we're dealing with a third party, Wily is the only guy between him, the SA, and Cossack who would lead us into a trap like this."

"Well, I'll bet a hundred dollars we run into his lackeys on our way out," Junkman muttered.

"Ha! You're on!" Cloudman shouted instinctively.

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

The "thing" they had before their eyes had very few human left. At this level, cyborg was a more appropriate word.

It had red, glowing eyes, and a metallic, toothy grin that remained closed even when it talked. Brown hair hung loosely over its face though it looked more like dirty straw. No, there wasn't a patch of skin left on it. It was made entirely of sleek titanium. Massive claws replaced its right hand, and an enormous laser cannon engulfed its left forearm. Wing-like protrusions spread out horizontally, lined with machine-gun barrels, and four spider-like legs supported its massive frame. Its voice was cold, muffled, and robotic.

"My name is Doctor Wolfland", said the monstrosity. "But my underlings refer to me as Master S. It is your choice."

"It will be 'scrap metal' in a few secs, ya bastard !" yelled Saturn, as he prepared his ring. A red light started to glow on Wolfland's left side, still hidden, and a laser blasted the ring out of the Stardroid's hands. He walked completely in the light, and revealed his laser cannon.

"Had I gone full power, you wouldn't have an arm left. I'm leaving you alive for the simple reason that you amuse me."

Riff spoke up. "You're the cause to this robotic activity around, isn't it ? Turning these animals into war machines..."

"Wonderful, isn't it ?"

"No. That's just plain sick." replied Warpman.

The mad scientist started to laugh. "What do you know about this, you simple-minded tool of destruction ? Only the likes of Wily could understand my genius !"

"Do not insult our master." spat Riff. "I know he may be a madman bent on conquering the world, but he isn't cruel. He wouldn't create freaks and play with Nature like you just did. He's different."

Wolfland remained silent, then spoke up with a voice filled with wrath. "You're right : we indeed are different. I'm far better than him !
"You don't amuse me anymore. And what is useless, I throw away."

Wolfland opened fire again, this time on Lento. The huge Fatalist didn't dodge, but part of his armor melted away. The remaining drones opened fire on the mad scientist's exposed side, and were quickly blasted away, leaving the Robot Masters on their own.
Warpman took advantage of this time to warp bombs all around Wolfland's left shoulder. The detonation blasted the shoulder, and the cannon fell to the ground, useless.

The mad scientist hissed in pain, and retreated. The Fatalists gathered around Lento, checking his wounds.

"Systems : functionnal. Lento still ready to fight ! Never surrender !" Riff shook his head. Apparently, some of Lento's brain systems were implemented in his toros - or he was just extremely shaken.

"I could have totally killed that guy, you know." said Saturn as he was picking up his ring.

"No you couldn't. He shot right at you from the start." replied Warpman.

"Because he saw me as a huge threat !"

"No. Because you were foolish enough to reveal your intentions." stated Staccato.

"Okay, guys, we don't have time for an argument !" pleaded Riff. "We try to catch on this guy, and stop him for good. Then we'll argue all you want back at the Castle, okay ?"

Talk for you, losers. Saturn was infuriated with the Fatalists' comments, but he agreed with Riff : he had to focus on his mission for now.

The Wilybots went on the path Wolfland had taken. But it was maze-like, and lost his track after a few intersections.
Finally, they headed in another hall-like room, and heard the door clicking behind them. And they saw who was already in.

"We're just passing through, please don't mind us." pleaded Riff to a room full of RPD members.

"Aww man," Cloudman groaned, recalling his bet with Junkman.

It was safe to say Drastic Measures didn't have a good day so far. They still remembered what they had just faced - a mad scientist's creation. And they had in front of their eyes the goons of a well-known mad scientist...

"You. You wanted to trap us here, isn't it ?" asked Turboman, as he pointed at Riff.

"Wha- ? No ! Actually, we're here to help you, people !" yelled Riff.

"Help us just like the Warriors, isn't it ?" sneered Junkman.

"Shut up, T1000." replied Warpman. "Look, this place is a closed-down lab. They used to experiment on humans and animals with cyborg technology."

"Ah ? I didn't know Wily extended his field of researches that much." said Burstgirl, with a sarcastic tone.

Riff sighed, and turned to a more familiar face in the RPD's ranks. "Shiken. We fought together in Anchorage. You can trust us."

The gunslinger slowly nodded. "Well, yeah ... But you've gotta admit, appearances are against you."

Unknown to the lot of them, Hugo Jorgunsson had started to back away in a corner, afraid of the Wilybots' coming. What could they do to me ? he thought

"Yeah ! You're the bad guys !" shouted Cloudman.

"For Christ's sake ..." said Saturn. "Are you people that DENSE ?! Can't you see we fought these fraggin' monsters too ?"

Turboman shrugged. "Yeah, so ? Some of Wily's creations are rather rebellious."

"I'm getting fed up ! Bring it on, Hot Shot !" shouted Warpman, as he fired at the Drastic Measures' leader. However, his bombs were blocked by Junkman, who raised a metallic shield in front of them.

Turboman charged Riff, but Staccato blocked his way. Taking out his Scorch Saber, the two of them duelled.
The melee around them was getting confused. Lento fired his spheres all around, only to see them deflected by Burstgirl's bubbles and bombs. Warpman was playing hide-and-shoot with Cloudman, the two of them jumping around everywhere and sending their respective projectiles at the other.
The fight went on for a whole minute, before Shiken who remained out of the brawl yelled : "They're back !"

The doors unlocked and swung open, revealing that swarms of animals were coming back, and DM went to assist their companion. The Fatalists, who had the lower hand in the fight, quietly retreated, unnoticed.

"That's their problem if they dont' want to survive..." muttered Riff as they ran through the maze once again.

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

The RPD group fought their way through the wave of cyborg animals once more, but their numbers suddenly dropped dramatically until not one was in sight. They had all retreated.

"That..... Was weird," Springman stated.

"Something's fishy about this," Makenshi said. He looked around, and then his heart sank.

"Where's Hugo?"

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

Every single door was open, beckoning them to go through them without backstabbing them and slamming down. Vatnick was able to track Hugo's location, and with all of the passages cleared, they were able to get to his location quickly. It had to be a trap....

The room was large, like an auditorium. Tanks, computers, and other machines were lined along the walls. And at the other end of the room, with Hugo Jorgunsson in his claws, was Dr. Wolfland, grinning at them.

They all gasped. This.... thing was behind all of this?

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the accursed lapdogs of the Robot Police Department!" Wolfland bellowed. "Did you come to retrieve your precious legislator?" and he lifted Jorgunsson by the collar and waved him around. The senator was absolutely petrified and his screams were unrelenting. Captain Spiegel raised his rocket launcher, but Wolfland quickly thrust the senator in front of him. "Uh-uh-uh, Nicholas Spiegel! You wouldn't want your precious legislator to be blown to bits, would you?"

"How do you know my name?!" Spiegel demanded furiously. Something was suspicious about this guy...

"All in due time, all in due time," the doctor chuckled, but then something exploded at his feet and he jumped back. Makenshi had fired his Explosive rounds, and Junkman followed up by blasting Wolfland's exposed side with junk while he was distracted. By the time the cyborg regained his composure, Turboman had already snatched the senator out of his hands and dashed him to safety.

"Wow.... That worked out perfectly," Cloudman commended, amused. "Mysterious voice, you sure know your stuff!"

The Lieutenant, who had quietly radioed the maneuver to the group, was heard chuckling in their ears. "Well, that was a bit too risky...."

Wolfland cursed for letting his guard down. Rage welled up inside him and he let out a ferocious, maddening roar.

"INFIDELS!! SINNERS!! FASCISTS!! IT IS YOU WHO ARE THE REAL MONSTERS!!!

"AND YOU!" Wolfland cried, pointing an accusing claw. "YOU.... NICHOLAS.... YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!!! MY ONLY FAMILY LEFT... BETRAYED ME! MY SON...."

It was then that Makenshi realized the doctor was pointing at Captain Spiegel. The Watcher was transfixed by the doctor's words, his face showing only pure shock. Shock at who this..... thing was supposed to be.

Dr. Wolfland Spiegel.

His father's voice grew more hysterical. "COME, LOOK!" and he dashed over to the tank that held the two figures. They obeyed, and saw a child and a woman suspended in it. The child looked similar to the baby on the poster they had seen.

Captain Nicholas Spiegel, the commander who was always tough and arrogant, now spoke only in a whisper. "Is that.... Ralph.... and... Mom...?"

"YES!" Wolfland confirmed, laughing hysterically. "WHEN YOUR BROTHER WAS BORN HIS SPINE WAS DEFORMED, BUT WE FIXED IT WITH OUR EARLY RESEARCH! IT WORKED FOR A WHILE! IT WAS A MIRACLE! BUT THEN HE SUDDENLY REJECTED HIS IMPLANTS AND YOU AND YOUR MOTHER LEFT US! WHEN SHE DIED, I FOUND HER GRAVE AND DUG UP HER BODY WITH MY OWN HANDS! I COMPLETELY CONVERTED THEIR BODIES TO MACHINES! BUT THEY NEEDED SOULS..... MESMERMAN PROMISED TO COMPLETELY RESTORE THEM, AS WELL AS ME! NICHOLAS...... JOIN US, AND WE CAN BE A FAMILY AGAIN! HAHAHAHA..."

Captain Spiegel was trembling. This couldn't be happening. It was all too insane. How had someone of his own flesh and blood degrade into something like this? All he could do... Was stand there, trying to keep his own sanity from shattering.

"Wait, did you say Mesmerman?!" Turboman shouted. "You can't honestly believe what that bastard says!"

"HAHAHAHA.... AND WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE YOU SCUM OVER HIM?!" Wolfland retorted. "EVEN IF HE IS LYING, THAT DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT YOU WILL DIE HERE! HAHAHA.... AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" and he darted over to a control panel and slammed a button down. Immediately, a siren split the air, and over the intercom, a voice stated in a matter-of-fact manner, "WARNING.... WARNING... Emergency self destruct sequence activated. Please evacuate immediately. There are.... 10.... minutes remaining until detonation."

"OHHH, IF ONLY I HAD MY CANNON..... BUT THOSE DAMN WILY BOTS DESTROYED IT!" Wolfland said to himself.

Cannon, huh... Makenshi thought. I'll remember to thank the Fatal Five next time I see them...

Dr. Wolfland began his assault. His machine-guns open fired and the group scattered for cover. Burstgirl quickly booted Hugo under a table, ignoring the threats that followed afterward. Then she realized that Captain Spiegel was still frozen in place and did the same.

Makenshi took cover behind a chair and loaded his Icarus pistols with ice bullets. Once it was clear he emerged from his hiding place and fired at Wolfland's guns. Some bullets made their mark and disabled the barrels, but there were still many more that kept on firing.

Junkman formed a shield, then charged at the doctor, his machine-gun bullets clattering uselessly against the junk. However, turrets opened up in the doctor's chest plate and launched a flurry of missiles, destroying, Junkman's shield and damaging him. However, this was enough of a diversion for Burstgirl to encase one of Wolfland's wing-like appendages in Danger Wraps, and they detonated, thus disabling half of his machine-guns.

The Fatal Five silently watched the battle by the door, unnoticed.

"Should we aid them?" Staccato asked.

"No way!" Warpman exclaimed. "They're just going to backstab us in the end like they always do! I say we just leave them alone!"

"Requesting that we find a way out before this place goes boom," Lento said.

"Indeed," Riff agreed. Then he noticed something. "Hey, where did Saturn go?"

Blades around ten feet long popped out of Wolfland's four knees, and while his upper body remained in place the legs stomped rapidly in a circular motion, sending the blades whirling around like helicopter blades. Springman was unfortunate enough to be in the way and he jumped up just in time, grabbing hold of Wolfland's torso and swinging around until he was holding on to the monster's shoulders, with the blades whizzing dangerously below. A compartment opened up in Wolfland's back, revealing...

Aw, crap.

Springman was now doing a handstand on the doctor's shoulders, barely evading the plasma shot that would have devastated him at point blank. He then jumped off, landing behind the doctor, and stretched his arms below the blades, seizing Wolfland's ankles. Wolfland tripped, landing awkwardly on his freakishly sharp and elongated knee caps, the blades screeching clumsily on the floor. Turboman seized the opportunity and thrust his scorch saber into Wolfland's back. The doctor roared in pain, retracted his blades, and jumped to his feet, swiping at Turbo with his claw and sending him flying back a few feet. Then, he felt a sharp stinging sensation all over his body. Makenshi was firing volleys of Volt bullets, with Cloudman unleashing Thunder Bolts simultaneously.

"Thanks to your titanium body, the pain is magnified, isn't it?" Makenshi taunted with a smirk.

Wolfland furiously charged towards the two. Cloudman retreated, but Makenshi continued firing his Volt shots. However, the insane scientist was ignoring the pain and continued to dash towards him. Wolfland opened up his chest plate, revealing the missiles waiting to be released...

..But a rocket slammed into the exposed compartment, which started a chain detonation of all of the missiles. Makenshi turned to his savior and saw that it was Captain Spiegel, who had only recently snapped out of his spell.

"You know, you could have done that at the beginning!" Makenshi yelled jokingly. The Watcher didn't reply.

Junkman blasted off the remaining wing of machine guns. Wolfland's screams pierced the air, filled with agony and hate.

"There are... 5... minutes remaining until detonation."

“Let’s get the hell out of here!” Junkman shouted as he made a dash for the hallway.

“No need to state the obvious!” Turboman said as he shifted into his car mode and revved his engines. He zoomed through the halls, checking in his rear-view mirror to make sure everyone was following. There was Junkman, Cloudman, Springman, Shiken, Spiegel… but where was Burstgirl? Maybe she was there, but he couldn’t concentrate on looking right now… maybe it was the state of panic as he rushed to find the exit to the sewers that interfered with his concentration, or maybe it was the yelling coming from his back seat… wait, what?

“LET ME OUT OF THIS TIN CAN! LET ME OOUUUUTTT!!!” screamed Hugo, who seemed to have been thrown haphazardly into Turbo’s seat. He was tossed from side to side with each turn Turbo made, letting out a scream each time. When the hell did he get in here?! “Okay, who threw THIS into my back seat?”

Cloudman spoke up. “Um… yeah… you see, Avi came up to me just before and was like, “Here, take him, I’m sure you’ll take REEEEEEEEAL good care of him Cloudy boy, mwahahahaha” and I was all like, “yay, I get to be a bodyguard!” But then he started being a baby, and I didn’t feel like being the bodyguard anymore, so, um… there you have it!”

Cloudman’s punishment would have to wait until later. Same to Burstgirl, who just had to entrust the senator’s care to the team’s troublemaker. Wherever Burst was…

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

Wolfland’s crazed laughter never ceased, even as he stood in place, as bubble after bubble latched onto his body. “HA HA HA HA HA… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…” It continued on, until not even the slightest sign of his body could be seen under the coat of explosive bubbles.

Even if Wolfland was standing in the middle of an underwater laboratory that was about to explode, Burst had to make sure that he would die here and now. For all she had cared, it was this sicko’s fault that they had to be sent on this pointless mission to save that corrupt politician, and furthermore, it was his fault those poor animals had to suffer such gruesome fates. Besides, digging up his family's bodies and keeping them around the lab? Just... disturbing. If he were to die a gruesome death himself, this mission would have had a point to Burst after all.

Alas, there was no time to watch the fireworks that would tear the mad doctor apart. But even as Burst dashed across the complex, the walls were lit with the many colors of her Danger Wraps’ explosions, accompanied by the sweet sound of metal being ripped apart. Her teammates were far ahead of her now, but no worries…

“Avi, where the hell are you?! What are you doing?” The voice of Turboman rang in Burstgirl’s communicator.

“Just had some business to take care of,” she answered. “Don’t worry about me. I can swim, remember?”

“Alright…”

"Hey, isn't that the Fatal Five behind us?" Cloudman asked. The group looked behind them, and indeed, there were four robots following them.

"You're right. I'll take care of these guys," and before anyone could react, Spiegel stopped and fired his rocket launcher at the ceiling. Copious amounts of rubble fell, blocking the Fatalists path.

"Those bastards!" Warpman yelled.

"Behind us!" an alerted Staccato shouted. They turned, and couldn't believe what they saw.

They couldn't even make sense of where the hell it even came from. It was a large, bionic shark with six spider-like legs similar to Wolfland's protruding from its sides. Its mighty tail lashed about, smashing the walls until water begin to pour through.

"The doctor's diary mentioned making sea animals capable of walking on land..." Lento mused.

"I'll bet it can still swim..." Riff murmured. The Fatalists only stared at him.

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

“Now, what would be a good wall to break through…” Burst thought to herself as she made her way across the complex. Along the way, she could make out the sounds of hurried footsteps. Perhaps from those pesky Wily bots? “All the more reason to flood this place, mwhehehehehehehe…” Just to be on the safe side, she released a trail of explosive puddles from the soles of her boots with every step, hoping to catch a Wily bot or two slipping to his death.

She came to a small room adorned with several small portholes… the water was clearly visible from them. Perfect. She clapped her hands together, then pulled them apart, producing a fairly decent-sized Danger Wrap. All that was left to do now was to stick it to the wall… but then, it was sucked away from her grasp. And what’s more, she felt herself being drawn away from the room!

Saturn held his ring in front of him, producing a black hole that drew the Danger Wrap forward, until it was compacted into nothing. “Ain’t gonna let ya do THAT, bitch!” Saturn yelled as he drew Burstgirl herself towards the black hole as well. Reacting quickly, she tossed a barrage of bombs at the ringmaster, but they too were absorbed into the nothingness of his ring.

“Cheater,” Burst scoffed. “I’m getting sick of your kind.” If only she still had Hugo with her… then she could have plugged up Saturn’s ring with his fat ass or something. But any potential thought of an actual strategy was cut off when Burst slipped and fell… on one of her own explosive puddles. Thankfully, the gravity Saturn had created worked in her favor this time, as it had pulled her away from the puddle just before it had detonated. But… was being compacted into a void of nothingness any better than being hit with one of your own explosives?

Still on her back, Burst had to reach for something. Along the walls, she noticed the occasional tube-like object running from the ceiling to the floor. It looked like she could fit her hand around any of those, so if only she could grab onto one of them… As she was being pulled towards Saturn, she rolled over to the wall, and wrapped her hand around one of the tubes, stopping herself momentarily. Saturn grew madder. Still holding his Ring, he slowly approached Burstgirl. The closer he got to her, the stronger the gravitational pull… as she clung onto the tube, she could feel it bending outward… it was going to snap soon…

And that, it did. But underneath the tube was wiring. Burst was quickly drawn ever closer to the source of the gravitation, but was stopped once again, as the wires underneath the tube seemed stuck on something. However, it wasn’t long until they too snapped. The wires released sparks everywhere as they were drawn closer to the black hole as well… however, that was when Saturn dropped his ring and dodged backward, stopping the gravitational pull. He didn’t seem to want anything to do with those sparks…

Still holding the remains of the tube and the wires inside, Burst swiped it at Saturn, as if it was a whip. He attempted to run, but the exposed ends of the wires managed to connect – he let out a scream as he tensed up from the electric shock. He fell on his knees, twitching. “Heh heh heh… don’t like that, huh?” Burst taunted the stunned stardroid. He uttered a couple of profanities before Burst kicked him in the face. At that point, he only let out an angry grunt.

The monotonous voice then spoke over the intercom once more. “One… minute remaining until detonation.”

“Aw shoot… kill ya later!” Burst shouted to the kneeling Saturn before darting off to the room with the portholes. She produced another Danger Wrap, and this time, stuck it to the wall without any problems. She backed away, and then, with a display of fireworks, a hole was made in wall, and the place was quickly filled with flowing water… that was when Burst found the time to swim to safety, soon to rejoin the rest of the RPD forces on the surface.

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

When the RPD forces had moved into the complex, Vatnick had charted a map of all the paths they went through as they progressed. Thanks to his effort he was able to give them directions to dash out of the structure in time. Of course, they could have opted to blow a hole in the wall and swim to the surface if Hugo hadn't objected. The important part, though, was that they all made it back in one piece, and they were grateful for that.

They were back in the sewers now, and heard the distant rumbling of the secret laboratory being demolished into oblivion. "Burst, are you alright?" Turboman radioed.

"Right here," she said, tapping him on the shoulder. Everyone was relieved.

Then, there was a soft thud. They turned, and saw something bright approaching them. It took a moment for them to realize that it was the upper half of Dr. Wolfland, engulfed in flames and crawling towards them, moaning pathetically. The sight was frightening yet... sad. Makenshi couldn't help but feel sorry for the man.

Burst was about to rush forth to finish off the monstrosity once and for, all but someone stuck out an arm to stop her. It was Captain Spiegel. "Sorry," he said. "But this is my job..."

The Watcher lifted his rocket launcher, aiming at his father. No... What USED to be his father. Wolfland groaned miserably, extending a trembling arm at his son, reaching for him.

Captain Nicholas Spiegel pulled the trigger, and Doctor Wolfland Spiegel was no more.

There was only silence. Then, the Watcher spoke, his voice shaky yet determined. "This.... This is why the Shutdown Code is necessary. Robots.... they have such a seductive amount of power. Prolonged life.... durability... intelligence... weapons... Humans tempted by these powers will turn themselves into these machines, but sometimes the power is too much for them. Sometimes that unsatiable thirst consumes them and they turn into monsters.... Like my father. The Shutdown Code is a deterrent to prevent such things from happening. If it had been enacted sooner, my father wouldn't have sealed his own fate. And maybe then he'd still be alive...."

Makenshi stepped up. "That may be true, but not everyone succumbs to their own power when they become robots. The Drastic Measures and the Mechanical Maniacs, they still act like they are ordinary human beings. And what of the pure Robot Masters who were built? They have feelings. They laugh. They cry. They love. They're like us too. The problem with the Shutdown Code is that it's outright unconstitutional. Yes, robots are capable of damage and light shutdowns can be used as their version of handcuffs, but when you press that switch a second time, giving them the death penalty without any trials or appeals, that's downright tyranny. Just because they're... Well, more "privileged" than us in terms of intelligence and power, doesn't justify us taking away their rights!"

Captain Spiegel turned away. "I.... I don't know.... I didn't say that I agreed with all of the Shutdown Code's mechanics, but.... I don't know...."

When all was said and done, news reached the team that the RPD forces had routed the occupying SA soldiers and secured the city of Bergen. Between them being driven out, Wolfland being defeated, and Hugo rescued, it was safe to say that the Drastic Measures had finally earned themselves a much-deserved victory. With no major damages to speak of, it seemed they could finally return to base on a good note.

However, Turboman seemed to forget that he was lugging around a certain politician until he felt knocking on his back window. “LET… ME… OUT…” Hugo wheezed. Turbo let his back door open, resulting in Hugo falling outward, landing face first on the ground before changing back into his humanoid mode. Burstgirl couldn’t help but laugh at the pathetically amusing sight of the senator’s misfortune.

Hugo got back up on his feet… his hands were clenched into fists, and his face red with rage. The Robot Masters backed away as he stomped towards Spiegel and Makenshi. “You need to replace these tools!” He commanded, pointing at the Drastic Measures, who only stared at him in disgust.

“I’d just like to make sure,” Makenshi stated, “that you know those “tools” were the ones who saved your life, Senator.”

“Of course those things saved my life, what do you think their purpose is?!” Hugo roared. “But they didn’t do a very good job in the process. In fact, they almost killed me! I never thought I would get out of that worthless tin can of a driverless car, especially the way it was smashing me around like that!” It could be said that it was a good thing that the enraged expression on Turboman’s face couldn’t be seen beneath the visor.

Hugo continued his rant. “Then there was that floating one. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that that thing was programmed with the mind of a complete idiot! How is that one even allowed on the force?! And that… weird one…” Hugo gestured to Springman. “Shiken, had you have not stepped in, it would have stabbed me with that knife! I just know it! And don’t even get me started on the one that looks like a girl…”

Makenshi grew more annoyed at the senator by the second. “Listen… sir… all that matters is that you are safe and sound, so-”

“These are urgent matters, boy!” Hugo barked. “We’re lucky things turned out the way they did, but if they ever had to do this again, I just know that they would mess up! They are reckless, unruly, and really, if you insist on using robots, scrap them and replace them with superior models! I mean, look at that one!” He pointed at Junkman. “That thing is CLEARLY a walking pile of trash!” Oh, if only there was no Shutdown Code in place, Junkman would have torn him in two by now.

“I can’t stress this enough,” Hugo continued, “THEY NEED TO BE REPLACED! Would you still use a toaster that burns your bread? NO! Sure it toasts the bread like it is intended to, but it doesn’t matter in the end because you can’t eat burnt bread! See what I am getting at? Just like I’d want a toaster that makes nice, edible toast, I want a police squad that can actually do its job without causing any harm to the one they were sworn to protect!”

“Sorry, Senator, but you look perfectly unharmed to me.” Spiegel said. “Now if you would please-”

“Please WHAT?! Listen carefully now, Captain. If you don’t do away with these rouge machines, or at least reprogram them to be more loyal to us humans, you can bet I will stop supporting your- GAAAAAAHHHH!!!” A fist struck Hugo’s face from the side. And then another, straight to his nose.

“No, Avi! STOP IT NOW!” Turboman commanded. But Burstgirl continued viciously clobbering the hapless senator from all around, until she wrapped her hands around his neck, and squeezed as hard as she possibly could. Hugo’s face began to lose color, as he struggled to breathe… however, he was able to weakly utter three words: “Shut it… down… Now... before I get your ass fired....”

“Understood…” Spiegel said, then mumbled something and pulled out his switchboard. Before anybody could say anything, there was a THUD as Burstgirl fell to the ground, motionless. Even in this state, her face retained the same enraged expression she wore as she stood strangling the corrupt politician.

Everything fell silent then. All that could be heard was Hugo’s heavy breathing as he gasped for air. Blood was clearly visible, running down his face and out from his nose. And only one of his eyes remained open. Not one of them there felt pity for him. He definitely got what he deserved, but was it really worth it?

None of them could bring themselves to look at the lifeless form of Burstgirl. This mission really was a waste after all. They all knew the government was better off without a man like Senator Hugo Jorgunsson high up in the ranks, and the fact that they had to lose a dear friend in the process? And over a single, stupid maneuver like that? Turboman was at a loss for words. The fact that he lost Freezeman weighed heavily enough on his conscience, but now another one of his faithful friends and teammates? And furthermore, the fact that this was due to a ridiculous government regulation made the loss all the more painful and regrettable…

Time passed, the group remaining ever silent, wrapped up in sorrow, disgust and despair as the sun set over Bergen, Norway. As soon as the sun was gone, a squad of RPD patrol cars arrived on the scene. Out of one of the cars, alongside a small group of robot troopers, stepped a human policeman, who then rushed out to meet up with Hugo. “Mr. Jorgunsson! I’m glad to see you are safe.” The man said as he approached the senator. Hugo, although standing, obviously wasn’t in very good shape, as he still didn’t say a word. “He’s a bit shaken up by the whole ordeal,” Spiegel informed the officer. The officer then thanked the RPD team, before escorting Hugo off and into one of the cars.

“I guess we should get going now as well,” Makenshi brought up after the last remaining patrol car had left. Solemnly, Turboman bent over in front of Burstgirl. He placed his hands under her body, and prepared to lift her up, only to be caught off guard when she spoke: “hands off.”

“YOU’RE ALIVE?! But… but…”

A wave of surprise swept the team, followed by relief. All the while, Spiegel only chuckled to himself, his melancholy spirit lifted by seeing the senator get a beating and the trick that he had pulled.

“Heh heh, I guess I should have opened the communications to all of you, but while I was mumbling I told her to play dead. I’m only going to let it slide this once,” the Watcher said. “Because quite frankly, I couldn’t stand that man either. He was such a pompous, ungrateful little bastard, and an all-round asshole to boot. Especially so for one of his stature.”

"So what was that button you pressed?" Makenshi inquired

"Oh, I just turned the safety lock off and then back on. Hugo was too stupid to realize that's what I did."

Burst let out a laugh. “Heh, thank you so much, Cap’n! To think I’d get off from a total shutdown, especially after what I did to that buffoon… you know, I doubt he’ll ever be able to see out of that one eye ever again… mwahaha!” Joyous laughter filled the air.

“Indeed,” said Spiegel. “But be warned: while today was an exception, I won’t be doing this ever again. So next time, please think before you act. Common sense here.” Burst nodded in understanding. “Same goes for the rest of you as well!” Announced Spiegel to the rest of the DM. “Awwww…” Cloudman groaned.

It seemed there were decent people among the RPD Watchers after all.

END

MISSION RESULTS:
RPD - Rescue the politician! (Complete)
SA - Destroy the city! (Failed)
Wily - Investigate unusual robot activity (Complete)

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

Affiliates

Blyka's Door
E-Can Factory
MMAyla
MM BN Chrono X
MM PC Website
Protodude's RM Corner
Reploid Research Lavatory
RM AMV Station
RM EXE Online
RM EXE Zone
RM:Perfect Memories
Sprites INC