The Business of War

The Axe Falls


Scenario E
Participants:
Wily Rescue Force (W)
Mechanical Maniacs (RPD)

Location: Brussels, Belgium
SA Troops: 1660
RPD Troops: 1116
Wily Troops: 738


It had been a while since their success in Monte Carlo. Hardman had been keeping up with the situation there out of general interest. It seems there were absolutely no survivors at all. Which is a shame, really. Hardman had been holding out hope, but no such luck. Still, they did have the city, for what it was worth. And cleanup had begun. As it turns out, most of the RPD officers in the area sort of … cried … and surrendered peacefully. Like the crazed officers they brought back from Madrid they had their hard drives wiped and their programming re-installed. Which is what Hard figured what would happen. After all, the RPD needed its troops.

The other factions in the area were crazed enough that an organized assault had wiped them all out with little effort. And now they had another lifeless city, for all the good it did them. What did they do with those cities? Who knew? Hardman made a mental note to ask around.

“Geez, pops, you look more thoughtful than usual,” said Gag as he continued to clean glasses. Hardman grunted. He was still pretty disturbed by the events in Monte Carlo, but he supposed he’d just have to push it to the back of his mind. Just like everything else that had been going on in the last little while.

“Not r'lly,” lied Hard. He didn’t really want to explain.

“Musta been the light then,” said Gag with a smirk. He served an energon drink to an officer bot. Nowadays, officer bots were their main clientelle. Things were calm. Orderly. And they made very good money. It seemed even the regular officers needed a hang out spot. Still, although he’d never admit it, Hardman wished the old days were back. It was more colourful when Spinman would try to threaten Topman over beers. Or that weird time Juno came into the bar after being possessed …

His pals had just come in. Needle, Snake, and Shadow walked through the door looking tired. Gag was preparing their standing order.

“Hey, guys. Boss.”

“Morning,” said Needle cheerfully. Shadowman grunted at the same time. Snake waved and said hello with a smile.

“So, how goes it?” asked the massive blue robot while pulling up a chair to sit with his team. It was slightly too small, but he was used to it. Needle lay back in her chair before responding.

“Well, there’s been no regular attacks from the SA. Which is weird since they’ve been straining our defences all this time.”

Hardman grunted. That was weird. “Well, that’s good news in’it?” asked Hard, not seeing the problem.

“Sure is,” said Needle, “Managing all those guys is hard enough … I’m glad for the small breather.” Shadowman grunted. There was something off. If he had super intelligence he might’ve been able to say why and what, but as it stood he barely cared. If there was one thing he learned was that it was totally hopeless. Nothing they did mattered.

“Yeah, it’s been quiet on the western front. No doubt,” said Snakeman sipping the drink Gag had poured him.

“But don’t you see how bad that is?” asked Shadowman. It was the first time he’d spoken. It had taken him achingly long to formulate his thoughts into coherency. At least compared to his former thought process. “What are the SA doing? They haven’t just disappeared. Whatever they’re up to they’ll just come right back at us with some new, horrible weapon. All this is just …” Shadowman made a sound and did a swooping motion with his arm.

Needlegal looked glum. Her brother had an awfully fatalistic view of the world when he was depressed. Sure, the General and Mesmer were up to something, but did he have to be so dark about it? “We’ll be ready for it. We handled Xelloss well enough, didn’t we?”

“An’ I kicked the snot outta Hyperstorm,” said Hardman with a grin.

“And you got all that intel about the General back in his base, remember?” said Needle helpfully. Shadow grunted. They lost one of their guys then, so he wasn’t too thrilled.

“We have to take our wins where we can find them,” said Snakeman with a grin. “I mean … this war hasn’t been kind to any of us. You’ve been hit hard, I know. But being part of the RPD isn’t so bad. We’ve been doing what we’d have been doing anyway, haven’t we? We’ve kicked the asses of the Scissor Army, the Seven Mercs, Xelloss, Chimeraman, and more. We’re protecting the people of Monsteropolis. I really think things aren’t as bad for us as you think. And you know what? I bet Tops and Spark’ll come back too.”

Shadowman sighed. Snakeman was right, he knew. They had done fairly well, hadn’t they? Still, when he had that genius chip … was it quieter in the bar than it had been a moment a go?

The next thing the ‘Maniacs knew the world had gone dark.

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

They collectively awoke much later in a much less comfortable setting. They were once again propped up on repair beds in the RPD HQ recharge bay. Greeting their freshly opened eyes was an image they almost attributed to a continuing nightmare, the definitive blue screen of death, Crorq's scowling face.

"Wakey wakey, Mechanical Maniacs. Did you enjoy your little nap?" Crorq greeted them in his most mocking tone before grabbing a hanful of donuts from the table next to him.

"Wha...Wha' happen'?" Hardman asked groggily. "Were we attacked 'r somethin'?" His eyes then grew wide when he remembered where they were before blacking out. "My bar! What happened to my bar?!"

"Settle down, there was no attack, and your bar is in as good a condition as you left it, assuming that's the kind of condition you deem 'acceptable'." Crorq assured him while simulating the rolling of his eyes. "You should KNOW what just happened to you. Think about it. Four robot police officers, rendered offline simultaneously, next thing you know you're having a chat with little old me..."

"You...you shut us DOWN!?" Needlegal couldn't believe what was happening. Was this all some inane joke? "We didn't receive any orders all day! How can you shut us down for not doing anything?"

"How long've we been out, anyway?" Hardman mumbled, slowly getting to his feet.

"About six hours..." Snakeman responded, taking note of a clock in another room one of his Search Snakes could see. His own internal chronometer was blinking "12:00" since the shutdown. He sighed as he reset it according to the clock in the other room.

"Aw c'mon. Yer tellin' me Gag's been in charge o' my bar fer tha' long!?" Hardman sat back down and rested his forehead in his giant palm.

"FOCUS! You infidels!" Crorq bellowed, hurtling chunks of donuts in their direction from his mouth. "Consider you soft-shutdown experience to be a warning. One that is LONG overdue!"

"An overdue warning!? You've done nothing but threaten us ever since you became our boss!" Needlegal protested. She was trying to hold back what she really felt about Crorq, but he wasn't making it easy.

"Then consider this a FINAL warning! Next time, the shut down will be for real! Your bodies will be confiscated and decommissioned indefinitely, and your memories may very well be permanently wiped!" Crorq's last words managed to keep them all speechless. Smiling slightly at the prospect of being properly feared, he continued. "Now this demonstration was decided upon after reviewing your records over the past three missions."

Crorq opened a panel on the side of his body and an arm holding a thick file folder extended from it. Another arm holding a box of chicken wings also appeared, but they were used to seeing that. The arm with the folder dropped it on the table and opened it up. First he grabbed a large stack of papers that looked older and more crumpled than the rest of the folder's contents. "You should consider yourselves lucky we're not even counting your indiscretions from before joining the force." Crorq suggested menacingly, shaking the claw-full of papers in the Maniacs' faces before slamming it down on the table beside the folder. He then picked up the remainder of the folder's contents and began flipping throw the pages. "Let's see, evidence of conspiring with the enemy...your dear Watcher friend passed that on to us after the previous mission. Madrid, where to start? You not only failed to apprehend Protoman, but Ringman and Topman were in the area as well! You didn't even try to capture them! All that on top of your former lieutenant commander's unauthorized use of restricted technology... those Joe disguises could have come in handy if you hadn’t destroyed them! Not to mention whatever the Hell you did to yourself before having a breakdown…"

"But sir..." Needlegal spoke up, nearly choking on the word. "We have managed to secure both Madrid and Monaco and we have defeated many powerful enemy combatants. We need to take what victories we can. We're doing our best."

“Oh, but that isn’t all. Our investigations turned up something rather interesting. Have a look!” Crorq’s blue screen which normally showed his eyes changed to scene presented in black and white. The team was confused at first. Many were straining their eyes to make out what was going on. Was that Shadowman?

“Don’t see it?” asked the super computer, “Allow me to magnify…”

The three figures were magnified. The picture quality was bad, but they definitely saw the former lieutenant commander. As well as …

“Shit,” said Snakeman.

“That’s right. It took us a while and some digging, but we’ve found out about your rendezvous with Artilleryman at the very beginning of the war! This is treason, ‘Maniacs.” A chill went up Shadowman’s spine. He had completely forgotten about handing Artilleryman a copy of the shutdown code program on the CD the RPD gave him.

“Wondering how we got this?” asked the chief of police. Hardman and Needlegal looked thunderstruck. Neither he nor Snakeman informed their teammates about this meeting. Shadowman had to admit he was curious. “As it happens, you did manage to sneak around very well. Unfortunately for you, Artillery was not so cautious. Our crime scene investigators looked into the unusual markings left by a destroyed Scissor Joe. None of our weapons make that sort of marking. It was very clever of that individual and he tracked down this footage from a nearby convenience store security camera. As you can see, it’s not of the highest quality, but it’ll do, won’t it?” The team was stunned. After all the skulking … after being so careful, it was Artillery and his own eagerness to stick it to the RPD that did him in. After years of fighting Artillery actually managed to get them into the tightest spot they’ve even been in by accident!

“And the fact that you ordered your team to disobey a direct order to apprehend Protoman…” Crorq paused to take in the team’s shocked reaction. Oh, they thought they’d found all of his bugs in their little base, did they? “Yes, I know about that. And you say you’ve been trying your ‘BEST’!?" Crorq barked, slamming the file down on the table, scattering loose papers everywhere. "I have been monitoring your comm transmissions, you know. I know what your attitudes are, and they need to improve. No more questioning orders. NO more talking back! NO MORE FAILURES! It seems despite our best efforts, you still don't grasp how serious this is. Perhapse it’s time I enlighten you.”

Crorq’s screen changed again. This time it shifted to the back of an RPD base. The setting looked remarkably similar to their home city. But it was somewhat different. Needlegal was the first to guess the location.

“That’s Nonsteropolis…” said Needlegal softly. They all felt a sore spot there. It was the RPD’s greatest failure. The local RPD presence was so focused on fighting the Scissor Army that they had left their own base completely unguarded.

“Yes,” hissed their chief. “Don’t be surprised. We are the Robot Police Force. It’s only natural we would investigate something like this.” The footage continued. It showed a human officer approach the Indian-themed robot. They talked for a time. And then the officer fell backwards. The ‘Maniacs were stunned. They didn’t even see the robot draw his gun. Needlegal choked when she saw a surprised Ringman saunter onto the scene. The same Ringman she let walk away in Madrid. Tomahawk seemed to toss something at the dead man’s face. It glittered in the light, but none of the team could make out what it was. Was it a coin? Was Tomahawkman trying to be cool?

Crorq ended the recording. “It was only a short time later that the base had been destroyed. I think you can see who the ring leader was in all this.”

Snakeman felt sick. This was the group they tried helping before? What did they say … “those who give up freedom for security don’t deserve either?” And yet they’re taking away the lives of everyone in the building … in the city! Maybe they disagreed with the code, but didn’t they realise that, without the RPD, Nonsteropolis was defenseless? That everyone’s freedom was gone? Taking out the base had disrupted communications! No wonder they had lost!

Crorq felt a surge of pride as he took in the faces of his old ‘friends.’ It had been difficult to obtain and clean up the security footage from Nonsteropolis’ RPD HQ. Especially since it was still occupied by the Scissor Army. But it was Crorq himself who felt they had missed something. He alone had ordered a team of CSI to look for evidence. And his hunch was right. “Further investigations show Blizzardman was also in the area,” said Crorq. He might think he was stealthy, but he was spotted by traffic camera farther away as he exited a van and fought a squad of Scissor Joes. The ‘Maniacs were crestfallen. Two Cossacks. And one Wily. And they had helped both of them in the past.

Crorq’s screen turned blood red. Treasonous though they may be, his bosses had decided to give them a reprieve. They felt the ‘Maniacs were some of their better fighters, despite the failure in their missions. Still, all it would take was one more mistake … “If you don't start shaping up, then the next time you black out, you will NOT wake up, do I make myself CLEAR?"

Each of the Maniacs nodded, with a downcast expression on their faces. That wasn't quite enough for Crorq.

"I DIDN'T HEAR YOU!"

"Sir! Yes sir!" The Maniacs responded in unison, standing at attention. There hearts still weren't in it, but the last thing they wanted was to get Crorq yelling at them any louder.

"Good enough, for now." Crorq finally quieted down some and turned around to leave the room, grabbing both the donut box and his chicken wings on his way out. "Proceed immediately to the briefing room and meet with your Watcher. She will explain your next mission to you.

"A mission now?" Snakeman asked to no one in particular after Crorq had already left.

"If anything, that Crorq has one hell of a sense of timing..." Shadowman mumbled. With no choice, the team filed out of the room to go meet with Amatista.

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

They walked more slowly than they had to. The world suddenly seemed darker than ever before.

“Why d’ya su’pose they havn’t showed that vid’ ta th’ public?” whispered Hardman.

Snake replied in the same hushed tones. He had been wondering the same. “Even if it was Wily and Cossack who blew up the building, the RPD still left it unguarded. At that point a commanding officer … I think it was Mysteryman who led that attack … could have blown the headquarters anyway.” Now that Snake thought on it, Mystery had looked particularly beat up in his victory transmission.

Needle, apparently, was on the same track. “Hey, they could have gone in to stop the base from being destroyed! I mean … this is Crorq talking! Maybe they –“

Snakeman cut her off. “Tomahawk shot a cop. In cold blood, Needle. He murdered that officer without hesitating.” Needlegal looked down. What was it that Ring had said to her back in Madrid?

So let’s just … save it for next time, okay?

She couldn’t believe she fell for such a bullshit line! But next time …

Shadowman was even more deeply troubled. It was his brilliant idea to give the CD to Artillery. He felt sure that Cossack could find a cure … instead he was handing over cities to the Scissor Army. Never again. Never would he trust those self-righteous hypocrites again.

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

Amatista greeted the team with an “It took you long enough.”

They sat down in the chairs provided. Hardman had no chair big enough for him, so re remained standing like always.

Amatista did not turn on the monitor behind her. Nor was her briefing as detailed as they were usually treated to from Crorq. “We’re going to Brussels. Wily’s forces and the Scissor Army are both in the area. We are to destroy all enemy combatants. We’ll be getting around one thousand one hundred troops. The Scissor Army has around a thousand six hundred while Wily’s sent seven hundred or so.” It looked like they were outgunned.

“To make things more interesting, it looks like your old friends, The Rescue Force are also in the area.”

“The Rescue Force? What are they doing there?” Snakeman was intrigued by their presence. Needlegal scowled at the floor. She had not forgotten how Doc Robot had reprogrammed her and she held grudges.

“It doesn’t matter what they’re up to,” said Amatista curtly. “Your job is to destroy all other factions in the area and to secure it for the good guys.” Snakeman sighed. She had a point, but it usually helped to know what the other side was doing before attacking. Still, this was war. The Rescue Force were some of Wily’s most clever robots … whatever they were up to, it would be complex and multi-layered. But Amatista was right. Whatever they were up to or after wasn’t important. The ‘Maniacs would stop them. They had to.

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

It was daybreak in the quiet, peaceful European countryside. This undisturbed area of Belgium had been safe from the ravages of the Scissor Army and the War that was flourishing across the globe. However the land was home to many humans, and thus the scent of blood called out to the legions of heartless SA Joes. Just then, the roar of a motor, the explosive noise of plasma gunfire, and the screams of innocent people broke the white noise of the environment.

An old car carrying a small, frightened family raced towards the city on the horizon. Plasma bullets whizzed by the vehicle, causing its passengers to duck and cover while praying for their lives. Until the previous day, the family lived in a border-town in southern Belgium, constantly in fear due to the lack of military defense on-hand to protect them in case of an invasion. Then they heard about the recent fortification and expansion of Brussels. They weren't sure if they would be able to live comfortably if the city was already crowded with refugees, but as the Scissor Army loomed ever closer, they decided it was better than dying in their homes.

It turned out their escape could not have been delayed any longer, as even now they had to evade a squad of Scissor Joes that had marched in from Germany, seeking to exterminate any humans they could find. It just so happened the family fell into this category. For a moment it seemed they could escape, but the gunfire eventually found its mark, and the vehicle's tires were blown out along with the near-complete decimation of the back-end. Losing traction and balance, the driver failed to control the car as it veered off the road and got stuck in the brush. With no other choice, the man, wife, and two children vacated the wreck and ran for their lives towards the city that was much too far away.

The daughter tripped and fell as plasma bullets continued to rain down around them. The father cursed the cliché as he immediately picked her up and renewed their bid for survival. It was looking hopeless though. The Joes were faster than they were, and didn't tire. It looked like it was all over...

Then there was an explosion. It didn't come from any of the Joes' weapons, and it occurred on top of them. The blast sent the Joes scattering, looking for the new enemy. They didn't need to look very hard though, as it was immense and flying overhead. The giant green robot hovered down and set down between the family and the Scissor Army, its sizeable arm cannons aimed at the invaders. The family was stopped awestruck by their massive savior. This robot was even more frightening to behold than the Scissor Joes, but it showed them no harm and continued to blast away at their pursuers. They backed away, wondering if they should run from the entire scene, or stay close to their unexpected protector in case there were more hostile forces between them and the city.

They wouldn't have to wonder long, as the large green robot was soon joined by several smaller robots flying in from the city swarmed over the sprawling squad of Joes. Most of the robots were shaped like wasps and birds that released smaller wasps and birds from the compartments they carried. Others were simple smiling faces suspended by helicopter blades. None of them had any weapons to speak of, but selflessly dove in to envelop the enemy, tearing the evil machines to pieces by the collective high-speed collisions. Within seconds, the SA Joes Squad was no more, and the other robots either immediately flew back to their patrols or hovered harmlessly around the family, which was now cheering and thanking their new heroes. The large one turned around to look down at them before firing up its jets and returning to the sky without a word.

"Attendez! S'il vous...Que faisons-nous maintenant?" The father called out, worried they were being left alone to fend for themselves again. His answer came from another voice behind him.

"Don't sweat man. We got ya covered." Another humanoid robot seemed to appear out of nowhere nearby the family. The sleek, purple bot was accompanied by a few flying platforms adorned with googly eyes and small propellers, and he patted the top of one, inviting the children to climb on. "You'll be riding back to town with us in style." He then gave a thumbs-up, in case his words weren't fully understood.

"Th-thank you, sir..." the father said humbly in english as he helped his family onto the hovering transport.

"Hey, don't mention it. Just know that everyone here is safe as long as Dr.Wily is in charge!" Expressman said in an encouraging tone. He allowed himself a small chuckle before sprinting back to the city with the refugees in tow.

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

It was daylight and the Multimen were hard at work. It had been a few days since the Wily Rescue Force had saved the city and, while their more powerful forces patrolled the border of Brussels with even more Multimen right alongside a very conflicted robot police force, Expressman was rebuilding the larger building so the people had a place of refuge.

Doc Robot looked over the scene. It was all going the way Master wanted. The city was theirs. Their local RPD, like most smaller stations, would be easy to either integrate into their ranks or eliminate when the time came. Without a commanding officer to guide them the Scissor Army was no threat at all. Their strategies were so simplistic they made Doc Robot laugh. Yes the city was safe. Doc Robot’s thoughts were interrupted as something small knocked on his leg. Doc Robot looked down.

“Thank you for saving our town, mister,” said a little girl in a poofy dress. She spoke in French, but Doc Robot had come prepared. All the Wily Rescue Force spoke the local language. She handed Doc Robot a flower. He took it hesitantly and the girl ran off happily.

Doc Robot regarded the flower in his hand. Master was winning. The people here were becoming his, more and more. The Scissor Army was at bay. So why did this all feel so wrong?

Expressman watched Doc Robot walk off with a flower in his hand as he made the finishing touches on some roof work. Was he unhappy?

“That’s good work, there,” said a construction robot. Expressman looked down. The tiles were crooked. There were nails sticking out. And the paint was applied unevenly. However, the robot seemed to grin. Expressman matched his tone.

“All in a day’s work.”

Expressman leapt happily to the ground and heard a crowd of people clap and cheer. He hoisted his fist up high in triumph. This was the life!

“Yeah! Give it up, people!” Okay, he wasn’t made for construction. In fact, he wasn’t made for anything remotely resembling the work he was doing in Brussels. Still, the roar of the crowd. The adoring faces. Expressman loved it. He raced to Doc Robot to see what his particular problem was.

Expressman slowed down to a walk when he got to the diminutive Wily lookalike.

“What’s up Doc?”

Doc Robot grunted. He didn’t understand the reference.

“I mean, why so glum, chum? We’re doing good work here!”

Doc Robot grunted again. This time in frustration.

“And the people, Doc … they love us! No skulking! No hiding! No ‘most wanted’ list for us! Not here.”

Doc Robot groaned.

“Look, Doc! There’s some kids who’re unhappy their playground has been trampled. I’m gonna go straighten things out.”

Doc Robot groaned in pain as Expressman raced to help the kids. We are being corrupted!

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

Two miles outside the city, a group of teleportation beams started to fall from the sky one-by-one. Soon enough, the four members of the Mechanical Maniacs, Amatista, a single Special Forces unit, three Neo Officers, and four standard Police Bots were assembled in the brush out beyond the regular Wily-style teleportation barrier that prevented unexpected visitors from getting too close without going the long way. The rest of their forces were teleporting in around the area, surrounding the city.

The environment didn't give them a lot of cover, particularly this early in the day, but they didn't receive any orders to be stealthy about it. They hadn't received many specific orders at all. The whole mission deployment was a bit rushed, with the Maniacs herded to the teleporters without even being given a briefing on local conditions or an upload of official regional languages. They each got the feeling that the mission wasn't deemed very important by the RPD, and were disheartened by it to their own degrees.

Needlegal surveyed her squad. Shadowman was leaning up against a tree. Hardman was standing level with the same tree, looking uncomfortable with how he stuck out like a sore thumb, and glancing around for any enemies. Snakeman was kneeling on the ground, deploying his Search Snakes in various directions. The SF unit and other officers stood perfectly at attention while Amatista inspected them with a disdainful glare, eventually snapping her spiteful eyes back towards Needlegal. Needle averted her own eyes at that point, nervous about their earlier warning. Remembering that it was her job to call the shots now, she took a deep breath and gave out the most appropriate orders she could think of.

"Snake, get up on Hard's shoulders and see what you can make out what's happening in the city. Hard and SF, watch our backs. Neos take point, the rest of you spread out. Amatista, stay close."

"Ech. You can keep your distance, if you know what's good for you." Amatista spat back, prepping her razor-sharp weapons and snubbing the robots around her.

Needlegal supressed her frustration. She didn't have enough patience for their Watcher's attitude, but their lives were in her hands. "I'm going by the book. Protocol specifically states that Watchers are to remain within five meters of their first-tier escorts at all times. It's for your protection."

"I don't need protection from the likes of you! In case you haven't noticed, I can defend myself against you monsters." To illustrate her point, she rapidly twirled the strand of jewels in her hand, flicked her wrist, retracted the weapon again, and two seconds later the tree Gauntlet was leaning against fell over, a clean cut through the trunk at waist level. Shadowman nearly tripped up from the unexpected move, but regained his composure and stood up straight before Needlegal continued.

"Fine, but the SF is going to be at your five meter mark whether you want it or not. Snake? What's it look like over there?"

Snakeman had taken his perch on the unamused Hardman's back as soon as the order came, and was well-underway using a combination of his power and his rifle's scope to examine the perimeter they were about to approach. "I see a lot of defensive structures. Cannon turrets, some automatic, some manned by Mets or Joes...they're set pretty high. Tall grass is obscuring the way, but...uh oh. Ow!"

Everyone jumped when it sounded like Snakeman was hit. When he didn't move and kept his lookout, they were a bit confused. "Wha' wuz tha'?" Hardman asked, craning his neck around to try and see him.

Snake held out his hand giving a signal that told everyone to settle down. "Sorry, that was some Search Snake feedback. Annie just got grazed by a Gabyol. We'd better watch our feet on our way in, or else use a route not so overgrown...Anyway, I can't see any sign of the civilians from here. The WRF may have them rounded up deeper in the city. The perimeter is tight, but they're all stationary weapons."

"Okay, new plan." Needlegal announced, she was starting to feel more comfortable with the situation. "Neos, get back here, you've got rear. Hard, you take point."

The blue behemoth shrugged once Snakeman slinked off of his shoulders. "Need th' tank ta take all th' hits from th' main guns, righ'?"

Needlegal nodded and smiled. "That, and if you feel any spinning blades scratch your feet, you can just step on them. Amatista, I think you should ride on the SF unit, just in case. If a Gabyol manages to sneak up on you, you can say goodbye to your feet." She then turned to notice Amatista was already sitting on the Special Forces' shoulder, looking somewhat embarassed, but also very annoyed.

"You don't have to state the obvious to me, soulless machine! I told you I know how to handle myself!" Amatista barked. She detested the though of taking any kind of orders or suggestions from the Maniacs, but knew well enough not to leave herself vulnerable to unseen enemies lurking beneath the unkept grass.

"Geez, tha' guy has her straddlin' his neck now, an' I got Snakes?" Hardman mumbled, looking at the SF unit, that remained standing at attention with no change in its demeanor.

"You're welcome." Snake said from behind Hard.

"Alright people, we're going to bust a hole in their defenses. Make it fast before their reinforcements arrive." Needlegal pointed to their target in the distance. "Once in the city, past the cannons, we fan out and search for the citizens. If any member of the Wily Rescue Force is encountered, call for backup. Let's move."

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

Doc Robot, Barrageman, Expressman, and Multiman (one of him, anyway) were having their energy breakfast away from the local humans and robots. They all ate in silence, content to eat what they could and prepare for another day of tedious work and public relations which they were not programmed for. All of them except Expressman.

“Are you sure you don’t want to eat with the others?”

“Positive.” said Multi.

“I mean, we’d be welcome to have breakfast with them. It’s rude to just eat alone out here.”

“Robots don’t need manners.”

“Unit Barrageman agrees.”

Expressman groaned. Doc Robot gave him a look. “Master will be happy we’re winning, but … this is not right.”

Expressman grunted. “What’s not right about it?”

“We are made to be evil fighters! This is not what we were made to do!”

“Damn right,” said the grumpy Multiman, “We’re made to kick ass and take names! We don’t function like this. We were made to be evil.”

“Aw, you guys are spoil sports. Aren’t we doing Wily’s will? Isn’t that what we’re really made for?”

Multiman and Doc Robot both sighed. Expressman liked being a good guy too much. Both of them yearned for their old method of combat. Neither of them was satisfied with this goody-too-shoes way of conquering. Barrageman agreed, but less yearned and more preferred. Doc Robot was sure Expressman was right and that Wily would be glad that they were able to get the city without a fuss, but it just wasn’t fun.

Multiman perked up. “The Robot Police is here!”

“Oh no!” yelled Expressman in surprise.

“Oh, YES!” exclaimed Doc Robot in glee. “Master’s gonna knock his socks off once we beat back the robot police! Who is it? Anyone interesting?

Multiman smiled. “The most interesting. It’s our good buddies, the Mechanical Maniacs.”

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

The Multimen had been taken out. Along with two RPD officers who were actually patrolling with them. Amatista saw to that, thanks to that pad of hers.

“That was easy,” said the Watcher. Shadowman grimaced. It was because he had managed to sneak up on them. They didn’t have time to make copies.

“I wonder if this means the others will know we’re here,” mused Hardman.

“Who cares? Get going!” barked Amatista. Shadowman grunted. The team marched steadily to their target. The city. This was not their style. Shadowman really would have preferred a less direct approach.

Hardman was suddenly fending off Mets who were jumping on him from the trees. He punched one off, but more piled on. “St’pid critters!”

Snakeman fired at Mousubeils that approached him. “It looks like this area’s littered with Wily’s smaller bots.

“Don’t expect everything to be like this,” said Needlegal while ripping Battons into scrap metal with her Needle Cannon. “The Rescue Force are some of our cleverest foes. Rip apart anything they send our way, but be careful about it. You never know when there’s gonna be a curveball.

The team ran further towards the city. This part was wide with a few scattered trees, but it was mostly flat. Needlegal hoped that meant that not too much could happen here, but …

Dozens of Multimen flew in from above with assorted Joes in their chest compartments. Before they knew it, the ‘Maniacs found themselves surrounded.

“Great,” said Needlegal sarcastically. “It’s gonna be one of those days, isn’t it?”

“Welcome to Brussels, little lady.”

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

"Man, we're not even in the city yet. Their defensive line must be better than it seemed." Snakeman commented while getting in as many shots as he could at the Multimen.

"Or maybe your commander just didn't approach the situation with the right strategy!" Amatista criticized from atop her SF perch. The unit's weapons were making short work of the Sniper Joes.

Needlegal didn't hear their Watcher suggesting any better stategies or objecting to hers earlier, but she decided not to call Amatista on it while she held that pad in her hands. Instead she tried to figure out how to make the best of the situation while pounding away at the approaching Multimen with her Needle Cannon. She noticed they were nearly within range of the automated cannons guarding the wall of the city. "Gauntlet! Can you get a hologram past the Multiman line?"

Reading her loud and clear, Shadowman generated a pair of duplicates that leapt high over the Multimen towards the wall. The ememies could clearly see that the Shadowmen making a break for it were fakes, and didn't allow themselves to get distracted from the real targets. The autocannons were a different matter. Detecting non-friendly movement approaching them, they opened fire with a barrage of spherical explosive shells. The holograms were agile enough to backflip over the bombs safely, but the unsuspecting Multimen and Joes weren't so quick and soon found themselves falling fast to friendly fire. With the distraction to their advantage, the RPD pressed forward and destroyed the rest of the Wilybots between them and Brussels.

"One more step, and the easy part starts." Snakeman stated, though he was not so sure about the change in difficulty. Hardman hopped in front of the group again, preparing for the onslaught of artillery that was about to be working against them rather than for them. The cannons opened their shields, took aim...and stopped. The Maniacs couls see sparks and smoke beginning to rise from behind the batteries. "Target those four!" Snakeman pointed at the nearest cluster of cannons.

The others weren't sure what happened, but the other Mechs at least realized some Search Snakes had managed to sneak in behind the cannons and damage them enough to give them an opening. Wasting no time, they decimated the cannons with a storm of plasma, Needles, Hard Knuckles, and Shadow Blades.

By now they were within range of the other defense structures on their flanks, and some of them were manned by Joes or Mets, so they wouldn't be as easy to trick or sneak around. The regular Police Bots moved in to draw their fire. Shadowman leapt on top of the wall and began running between the manned guns, using his Shadow Blades to cleave the operators, leaving the cannons useless. Once Snakeman's eyes on the other side of the wall confirmed there were no civilians nearby, Needlegal gave the order to Hardman, and one spiked cannonball later, there was an open entrance to the city where a high section of wall used to be.

"Alright, forget about the rest of the cannons. All southern quadrant units head into the city through that opening." Needlegal relayed her orders through the comm channel. Soon enough, more than a hundred RPD troops were within the city limits.

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

Deeper within the city, the peace that the Rescue Force had assured was collapsing around them. The people that were living close to the wall where the RPD broke through were quick to panic and head further toward the city center. The fleeing crowd in-turn panicked the citizens living along their path. Multimen were tasked with crowd control and calming the people down.

Expressman ran through the streets towards the intrusion, with a Quickman-emulating Doc Robot keeping pace with him every step of the way. "Man, who knew defending a town could be so tough?" the purple sprinter grumbled.

"We will repel the Maniacs! It will be easy, we have the advantage!" Doc Robot exclaimed, obviously in a better mood now that there were enemies of Master to contend with.

"Yeah sure, but even then the people aren't gonna be praisin' our names so much now that they've seen our 'protection' isn't all that invasion-proof. Worse yet, if the RPD gets it in their heads we're the bad guys, we can just kiss their hearts and minds goodbye." Expressman sighed. He was missing the cheering and gratitude already. "It's not like these people have any reason to oppose the Shutdown Code, so all we got over them is that the RPD can't be counted on. The Mechs could easily prove us wrong."

Doc Robot scoffed. "Oh, who cares? Master wants to control this city, and we will continue to control it! Whether the people here enjoy it or not is irrelevant."

"I guess. It's a real downer though."

"Besides, the RPD probably only sent a force involving the Mechanical Maniacs because we are still here setting up. Once we leave, it will seem less suspicious, and Brussels will drop on their priority list. There will be no more threats like this one."

Expressman cocked an eyebrow. "You sure it'll work like that?"

"Cairo and Hong Kong have been managed by Joes alone for weeks, and the RPD and SA still do not care enough to send more than pathetic little squads that Master's forces easily repel! Same with Kalingrad and Murmansk so far. It is just as I said, we should not be here. The occupation will be safer once we are somewhere else, leading our stronger enemies away."

"Well that's a catch-22, isn't it?" Expressman lamented.

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

The RPD officers were quick to spread out through the streets of Brussels. Amatista was back on her feet again now that she could see what was below her. She didn't go far though, as her duty obligated her to stay close to Needlegal and monitor her team's actions. Needlegal ordered Snakeman to split off and find a good lookout spot. Their next task was to find and defeat the other members of the Rescue Force, and possibly evacuate the people of the city.

Amatista and the three remaining Maniacs were currently in a quiet, undamaged area, something they weren't used to seeing in enemy-occupied territory. Even Monsteropolis was is worse shape with repairs taking the backburner to furthering military expenditures. As for enemy presence, it seemed the bulk of Wily's forces were concentrated at the walls of the city, so things would be getting easier for them, just as Snakeman predicted. Still, they couldn't help but wonder how a region taken over by Wily could be looking so clean. Just where were the people of Brussels?

"Well...tha' didn' take long." Hardman shrugged as he spotted a small group of humans down the road, running in the opposite direction. "So now what?"

"Wait!" Needlegal called out. None of them were expecting to find people wandering around so close to the city limits. She wasn't about to waste the chance though, the humans may have been frightened by them, but this was their chance to find out what was going on. Needle leapt down the street, over the humans' heads, landed in front of them, and immediately set to trying to calm them down. "It's okay, we're with the RPD. We're here to liberate the city. Can you tell us where the others are? Are you alright?"

In answer, Needlegal received only more terrified faces and screams. The hapless citizens scrambled for a moment, about to run the other way until the caught a second glimpse of Hardman looming on the other side. Feeling cornered, the humans huddled together nervously. One woman was bold enough to shout angrily at the pointy robot before her. "Monsters! Why can't you leave us alone! You killed our saviors, how could you?! We were finally safe! You just keep hunting us down!"

The angry words of the woman and the more random exclamations of the other humans were French, and as such Needlegal could not understand any of it. She could only gather that they were upset, obviously enough. Not knowing what else to do, she backed away holding her hands in front of her in what she hoped was the universal "I mean no harm" gesture, and when the panicky humans moved to make a break for it, she didn't pursue them as they ran past her and into the city. She sighed and shook her head, hoping that the next humans they met would be less jumpy.

Shadowman, Hardman, and Amatista quickly caught up with the disappointed Needlegal. "What was their problem? What did they say?" Gauntlet asked his sister.

"I couldn't understand them. We didn't get the local languages installed." She responded bitterly, shooting a mean eye at Amatista. "It was clear enough they weren't happy to see us though."

"Why should they be? Your kind has been hunting down and slaughtering humans for months. Seeing more of you obvously isn't going to make them feel secure." Amatista reasoned with a contemptuous tone. "Especially not if you dive in front of them brandishing that hazardous armor of yours. They'll automatically assume you are nothing but a heartless killing machine...and they wouldn't be far off."

Needlegal clenched her fist tightly while Amatista was talking. At the end, her arm involuntarily twitched when for a fraction of a second the fantasy of punching the insulting bitch right in her masked mouth became too much to bear. Needle had the self-control to stop though, but the twitch was visible enough to Amatista's judgemental eyes that she was met with a threatening draw of her Watcher romote. Time stood still for a moment. Hardman and Shadowman tensed up, wondering if Amatista would really do it. The dark-clad woman stared intently into Needlegal's eyes, as if daring her to raise her fist againt her. Needlegal only stared back, silent and still. It wasn't going to happen.

Finally, Amatista lowered the remote and rasped "Don't you forget it." as if acknowledging Needlegal's silent concession. Hard and Shadow breathed sighs of relief.

"We don't have time for this." Needlegal said tartly, returning to her tasks. She switched to Snakeman's comm channel figuring it was as good a time as any to check in on him before heading out again. "Snake, what do you see?"

Snakeman's voice came back in her head sounding a little more calm and collected than the rest of them were. "I'm on the rooftops. I tried to find an abandoned apartment, but it seems there aren't any. Looks like the WRF is keeping people confined to their homes or something. They were all pretty mad to see me...some of them have thrown things at me. Can't tell what they're saying though. Better to just avoid them until we take care of the Rescue Force."

"Yeah, we got the same impression. What about enemy units?"

"There's another mass of Multimen headed your way. Looks like Doc Robot and Expressman will catch up sooner though. Still no sign of Barrageman."

"What was that about Barrageman?" Needlegal asked, having not heard the last words clearly.

"I said I can't see him yet. He's not in the air at least. They might have him doing something more important than tackling you guys." Snakeman clarified.

"Sorry, there was just some static before. My comm is getting some interference."

"Yeah, I'm getting some of that too. Could be a jamming device. I'm going to have my Snakes track down Wily's teleportation barrier generator. If he's got a signal jammer set up it's probably in the same place."

"Alright, keep an eye out." Needlegal cut the signal and turned back to the others. There were some standard police bots joining their group from the entrance. "Alright, we're about to have company guys. Let's make it quick."

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

Hardman was the first hit … and it was painful. He took a step back.

“Destroy them! For Master!” shouted Doc Robot in excitement.

“Aw, Hell,” muttered Hardman tossing a Double Hard Knuckle Doc Robot’s way. He was always annoyed by Wily’s little lackey. The Knuckle bounced off Doc’s magnetic field and Hardman felt a queasiness in his guts he always associated with pain. Immediately he knew that Doc Robot was simulating Magnetman’s powers.

Expressman made a beeline towards the other ‘Maniacs. They were all together … like bowling pins. How could he resist? He was about to punch the block off a particularily smug looking human when his attack was countered by the sudden appearance of a log.

“You guys ought to butt out of other people’s business,” said Expressman as he kicked the log out of this way. In a burst of smoke the log disappeared and Shadowman jumped high into the air and threw three Shadowblades at Expressman. Needlegal, recovering from her shock fired her Needle Cannon at the robot. Expressman was hit by a few needles, but being a fast robot he avoided the worst of the assault.

“You’re bad luck. We stop trouble wherever it’s found,” said Needlegal while trying to hit Expressman.

Expressman shot a volley of Solar Bullets at the group. Shadowman once again turned into a log to cover Amatista. “I hate hypocrites.”

Expressman ran straight towards a stunned Needlegal and delivered a large number of punches while continuing, “You people like to stand there all high and mighty, giving your lectures, but in the end you’re no better than anyone else, so get off yer damn high horse.”

Expressman was quick to avoid her spikes mace, but couldn’t avoid spikes on the ground that Shadowman had threw without him noticing. He cursed and toppled to the ground. Needlegal fired her cannon at the robot, seriously inuring him.

Meanwhile, Hardman was dealing with Doc Robot. The fight had drawn him away from his team, but only slightly. Shots from Needlegal’s cannon grazed him and he grimaced. It was bad enough that he had to deal with the devilish Doc Robot, he hated being caught in the crossfire.

“Ya gotta try harder dan dat, Doc. I hadda deal wit' Kenta y’know. He hits harder dan ya any day o da week.” And it was true. Doc Robot had been imitating the original Magnetman’s specs and not any of the Transmetal upgrades the team had been given. Hardman launched into the air, spun around, and landed straight into the ground, shaking the earth. Doc Robot had barely managed to avoid the attack and he shot more Magnet Missiles at the behemoth.

Hardman pretended he didn’t feel it and crushed a few Battons that tried to intrude on their fight. “Playin’ hard t’ get, Doc?”

Doc Robot stamped his feet in anger. “Doc Robot will show you! Master will scream in glee when he learns the tough Hardman was beaten!” Doc Robot leapt to the side as he avoided Hard Man’s attack. Hard had been waiting for this. If he kept it up, constant attacks from the Magnet Missile would have, eventually, done him in. But, while Doc Robot was an excellent strategist he still thought like a ten year old. Hardman knew he would try to switch powers to something different if he goaded him. And, knowing Doc Robot, it would probably be his own power. A weaker version of his own power that he could easily deal with.

Hardman threw a punch and knocked Doc Robot clear across the battle field. Small Chibees attacked him. He swatted them away like flies and leapt into the air, taking out the larger Subee as he did so. Doc Robot had a delay time between switching powers. Hardman planned to scrap the robot before that happened.

“Sorry, buddy,” said Hardman as he dove towards the small robot fighter, “you lose!”

Hardman hit the ground with all the force he could muster. The earth shook once again and some nearby enemies lost their footing. He’d done it! He had won!

Hardman rose to his feet. He looked down.

“Wait a minute …” there was no rubble. And why was his back hurting so much? He turned around to see Doc Robot with a smoking buster out. He was grinning madly. What just happened here? No matter. Hardman threw his Hard Knuckles in Doc’s direction. The cheesy look-a-like just stood there, grinning. And then he was gone. Hardman felt another burst of pain on his back. He turned around. Doc Robot was right behind him this time and the behemoth jumped backwards. How did he get there without him hearing it?

“Flashman,” said Doc Robot happily before disappearing again.

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

For Flashman's powers, he had to react fast. Too bad that wasn't his thing. Hardman remembered promising himself some time ago that if he ever met the Wily's Warriors in battle, he'd make a bid to take Flashman out first, no exceptions. If you're letting a bot with that kind of power walk around conscious, then you're just asking for something bad to happen. Something like what was happening to him at that moment.

Realizing begrudgingly that he would need some help for this one, he activated his comm to try and get some. "Hey boss? I coul' use some backup here."

Needlegal's voice answered back immediately. "You? Since when?"

"Since th' metal munchkin decided ta break th' rules. I need som'un fast. Is Shades busy?"

"Actually, yeah. We all are. Can't you hold him off on your own for a few more minutes? He's smaller than your foot, for crying out loud."

"Uh, yeah. Guess I'll hafta." It wasn't the response Hardman was hoping for. He was planning on congratulating Needle later for her impressive leadership so far, but now he was having second thoughts. Of course, he'd have to actually make it out of the battle in one piece if he was to get the choice.

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

Expressman ran. It was what he did, whether attacking or fleeing. At the moment it was leaning more to the latter. He wanted to get back at Needle for making such a mess of his armor, but his usually perfect Olympic sprinting form was reduced to an awkward high-speed limp thanks to the tacks Shadowman put in his way. He wasn't sure which of the siblings he wanted to get back at more, but in his condition he figured it would be smarter to sneak away back to base to get some quick foot repairs before thinking about that. So his slowed running led him weaving through the crowd of Mutlimen, away from the battle. Needlegal and Shadowman were looking too concerned with the growing Mass Production flood to notice or care about his escape.

Unfortunately for him, there was one cophe neglected to take into consideration, and she wasn't about to let wounded prey go free. No sooner was Expressman free from the brawling crowd and moving down an emptied street, than the ninja-like Amatista leapt down from the rooftops in front of his path. Express painfully turned on his shredded heel to escape, but with one swing of her weapon, Amatista separated the offending foot from his body. Shocked and terrified, Expressman collapsed to the ground. He sat himself back up as quickly as possible to face the ambitious Watcher, who twirled her jewels as she approached intimidatingly. From behind he could hear the thunderous footsteps of her Special Forces bodyguard, who had to run in a vain attempt to keep up with his impulsive charge. Expressman still had a trick up his sleeve, but now he wasn't sure if it would be enough...

"Cowardly robot." Amatista said with contempt. "You thought you could get away, as you always do? Well this time we are taking no prisoners!"

"Non!"

Amatista and Expressman turned in surprise to see just who offered the objection, and both were suprised to see not just one, but several humans rushing the street from the previously locked and boarded houses. Angered by the brutality against one who had personally saved many of them from Scissor Army attacks, the people crowded around the SF unit on one side and Amatista on the other, shouting obscenities in a language neither of the RPD officers understood. With built-in protocols against harming civilian humans, the mighty Special Forces robot could only look around in confusion. The people surrounding it were no taller than its legs, but it couldn't even manage to shoot or jump over them in these quarters. All it could do was issue fruitless warnings to the crowd to move aside in a language they did not understand anyway.

Amatista was less concerned with harming the people, but wasn't about to kill them, so she retracted her weapons and attempted to push her way through the crowd while shouting angrily over their own protests. "What are you doing? Don't you realize that's an evil, murderous robot? It doesn't need or deserve your help! It only wants to make slaves of us all! I'm on your side!" but her english warnings fell on deaf ears.

A man Expressman recognized as one of the people he personally saved from Scissor Joes came up and helped him to his foot, supporting the heavy robot on his shoulders. "We thought we could return the favor to you." The man said in his own language. "We'll help you get back to city hall for repairs."

Expressman was pleased by the outpouring of support. He separated himself from the man struggling to hold up his metal frame and balanced on his remaining foot. "Heh, thanks but I can get there faster on my own. You've done enough keeping these jerks offa me. Nice work!"

"Are you sure you can move by yourself?" The man asked with uncertainty. He wouldn't think someone with one foot would be so eager to move across town on their own.

"Don't sweat, I got it. Keep fighting the good fight!" With that, Expressman made a mighty one-foot leap over the crowds surrounding Amatista and continued hopping his way back to the base. Along the way, he got to thinking about how well the whole compassion and care angle was working in their favor. It reminded him of another ally that might just be the perfect foil for the Maniacs in this situation.

Expressman activated his own comm channel. "Yo, base. Pick up."

"What are your orders sir?"

"Patch me in to the supply liason at Skull Castle."

Express waited a moment for the comm signal to be re-routed.

"Expressman? What is it?"

"Hey, you're still bringing us our new bots and stuff today, right?"

There was a sigh. "Yes, it'll be a few more hours before they're all ready though. You're only using these weapons to defend the people there, right?"

"Just come and see for yourself! Forget about the rest of the supplies for now. Just 'port in, we could use your expertise at the moment."

"...Is someone injured?"

"Uh, just me, but that's not what I meant. We could use your personality, believe it or not."

"Expressman, is this some kind of joke? I don't have time-"

"Just pass it on to Bass or something! Now get over here, there's some old friends waiting for you."

"...what!?"

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

Snakeman was steady on his perch, scanning the city in all directions. His findings were certainly unexpected. There was no problem finding the people of Brussels since they were all living comfortably in their homes except the ones fleeing from the scene of the RPD intrusion. The Wily forces presence was clear everywhere with a Multiman sentry standing at every other street corner, but nobody was concerned. Strange as it was, it looked like the people actually didn't mind being under Wily's control. He wasn't about to rule out some kind of mass-hypnosis device or something...it wouldn't be the first time they tried that...but it didn't matter. Their mission was to eliminate the enemy presence and they couldn't afford to let any more mission objectives slide.

The abundance of humans wandering the streets made getting a clear shot at the Multimen and other Wilybots a difficult task. He was able to help out at the site of the main battle, getting some good sniping shots in on enemies that were bearing down on his friends, but as much as he wanted to whittle down the Multiman sentries deeper within the city, there were just too many people hanging around to notice it and cause a panic.

Barrageman finally made his appearance in the air over a building in the middle of the city. There were several smaller airborne robots following him and they were headed to meet the other Mechs on the south side of town. It seemed the big guy was delayed by picking up reinforcements. Snakeman sent the message along to Needlegal and took aim at the incoming flock. He couldn't take the big robot out from the angle he was in and the big guy was moving besides and one mistake could give away his position badly. He might be able to reduce the number of Pipis on their flank without any of them noticing though.

Then, Snakeman's concentration was broken when out of one of his Search Snakes' eyes he could see a familiar combination of orange and green appear on the streets near the building Barrageman emerged from. Shifting his focus, he had his Boomslang move in for a closer look. It was Spark Chan. She was looking around for someone, or was she taking in the scenery? She looked uncertain about something. Snake remembered that she was fighting for Wily now, and that his all-important mission was to eliminate any Wily presence in the area.

Snakeman grimaced. As if things weren't complicated enough. This was a bad time for a reunion. He did the best thing he could think to do. He moved Boomslang away and returned his focus to Barrageman and his minions. I'll just pretend I didn't see anything. He thought, and hoped against the odds that was the end of it. He wanted to see Classi again, but he wanted more for it to be on better, more comfortable terms.

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

The leaves rustled on the outskirts of the city. It was eerily silent here. The main fight was taking place in the city itself as the Robot Police were in the process of “liberating” it from Dr. Wily’s forces. The sounds of battle could be heard from even out there. The man looked around. There seemed to be no attempt at stealth this time. No attempt to hide what they were doing. Bodies and pieces of robots littered the area. If the man thought this was unusual for the team known as the Mechanical Maniacs he didn’t give any sign.

When they received words that the Mechs were in the area he heard the words “test” and “loyalty” used in a mixture of other things that didn’t stick in his head. It was the unvoiced command given to him by his master that was the only thing that stuck.

He left the area remarkably clean of debris.

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

Shadowman ripped a Multiman in half with a Shadow Blade and narrowly missed an attack from another. This was out of control. Everything was in chaos. He noticed SWAT units destroying a few Cooks while some regular Joes were destroying an out-of-place Retired Officer Bot. It seemed the local RPD decided to back the home team because he noticed a lot more blocky Officer Bots than they brought along fighting Wily’s forces.

Needlegal pummelled more Multimen and Terries away with a barrage of Needles. “We need to regroup,” said Shadowman. It took him much too long to come to this realisation and he cursed his slow-working mind. “This is chaos! People are bound to be hurt.”

“This is war, big bro! We have our orders so just concentrate on blowing up the bad guys!” Needlegal punctuated her point by destroying a flock of Mets that were running towards her. They were painted red for some reason and had the letters “T” and “A” painted on them. Wily’s growing more insane by the day.

“And what about Hardman?” asked Shadowman furiously, “Didn’t he say he’s having trouble? We have to get to him!”

As he finished his sentence the team was bounded on by two Hot Dogs and a flying Giant Metool.

“I’ll get right on that,” said Needlegal sarcastically.

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

“Do not let that robot get away!” shouted Amatista in fury. She could not understand some people. These people couldn’t actually trust the killer robots Wily sent to “liberate” them could they? She kicked a particularly stubborn man in the shins and ordered the Special Forces to go on crowd control. She made a mental note to talk to her superiors about developing a protocol for the Robot Police when it came to dealing with fanatics like these people.

The Special Forces and the regular Officer bots used their batons (Amatista was surprised they had those, she’d never seen them in use) and she led a few of them after their target. She laughed. Without a foot the guy was easy prey. Maybe she couldn’t shut down those murderers (and she knew those ‘Maniacs were murderers, they had killed the Pale Riders in cold blood and they should be put down like rabid dogs – mitigating circumstances be damned!) but she could shut this one down.

Monkings put themselves in her way. They were of several different types. Some of them nimbly leapt at her, others jumped forward some and yet another threw a banana at her! Wily’s a madman.

“Get down!” shouted a member of the Special Forces as he got between her and a particularly dangerous banana. His companions brought the primate patrol down in short order. Amatista fumed. Saved by some robots. Even if they were there to protect her, she could damn well take care of herself! She struggled free of the offending robot’s grip and led the charge once again. It wasn’t long until they found Expressman.

As a fully-prepared unit the Wily Rescue Force had learned how to repair themselves. Or rather, two of them did. Barrageman lacked hands and couldn’t repair himself even if he had the complex programming required to do so. Multiman downloaded the basics but couldn’t be bothered to learn much more than that because, as he put it, his power is Mass Production so he would rather just make more than bother with tedious repairs. Doc Robot, as Wily’s lab assistant, delighted in learning more about robotics in the hopes of impressing his Master. Expressman just found it practical. He had just finished cannibalising a mostly-destroyed Sniper Joe’s lower leg for his own use (along with a foot from a Crystal Joe, he was a fast worker, after all) when he was discovered.

“Kill it!” screamed Amatista. The Robot Police ignored her and followed protocol.

“Sir, you are under arrest! Stand down!” bellowed the hulking Special Forces member. Expressman grunted and made a break for it. He did not trust himself to the tender mercies of the Robot Police.

He promptly tripped over his new feet and rolled several meters away. He cursed his slow replacement parts. He knew he could get up to 65% of his speed back, but it took too damn long to re-calibrate his sensors. He heard a particularly derisive laugh from behind him.

“Looks like Wily doesn’t make ‘em like he used to,” said the human.

“Looks like yer mommy didn’t teach you manners,” said Expressman. In a flash he did a handstand and made a break for it again. This time it was more successful, but he hoped nobody saw this. It was embarrassing.

The RPD was not to be avoided so easily. They shot back at him and he was not in a very nimble position. The annoying lady laughed some more. He needed help. Badly.

And help came in a series of small green bullets from the sky. Some of the Officer bots were destroyed and a Special Forces member was hit squarely on the chest. That must have hurt. His savior crashed onto the ground.

“Friend Expressman needs help. Unit Barrageman is here.” Barrageman took aim at the not-so-smug-anymore human and fired. She was surprisingly nimble and avoided the shots while attempting to get closer. She was insane, that’s all Expressman could think.

“Amatista, please stay behind me!” pleaded a Special Forces member. Amatista looked ready to say something else, but Barrageman fired more shots and the squad avoided them. Expressman made his way onto the massive robot’s shoulder.

“Thanks, man. I … really just need to catch my breath.”

“Friend Expressman does not breathe.”

“It’s a figure of speech. Just … go higher.” Barrageman complied with Expressman’s request. He did not like being in such a tactically unsound position. What he did want was to blow off (was her name Amanista?) Amanista’s smug, condescending head! He leveled his gun at the ground while Barrageman continued to fight the officers.

Where the hell did she go?

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

Hardman collapsed from the strain of too many bullets. In addition to Flashman’s damned powers, Doc Robot had summoned reinforcements. He seemed to have a taste for irony because these reinforcements used to be stationed in the place the original Hardman once worked. He crushed small bees, stomped on Monkings, and ripped apart Hammer Joes. And still, those damn pot shots came.

Even a robot as strong and as mighty as Hardman had to give some time. Doc Robot leapt in the air in glee.

“Master’s gonna break his back after he flips out once he hears about how Doc Robot beat Hardman!” Hardman groaned. This was not one of his better moments. He sighed in relief as the flying Yambos were taken out by powerful plasma bullets. A Special Forces Unit had arrived along with some Neo Officers. He hoped one of them had an E-tank because he was feeling drained.

Hardman looked up and saw several small enemies fly off towards the distance at odd angles. Something about those enemies tugged at Hardman’s memory, but he was too distracted by the sudden pain on his back to give it much more thought. He heard Doc Robot snickering behind his back.

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

Spark Chan continued to look through the streets for any sign of Expressman. She was somewhat surprised herself to find the city in such admirable condition. Thanks to her and Starnik's suggestions, Wily had been ordering his troops to take territory more peacefully than his usual style. She hoped it would edge Wily's forces more towards the side of good, but as suggestible as Wily was, she wasn't sure if all his minions would be as compliant. She was certainly relieved when she talked to some of the residents and they all had nothing but the highest respect for the Wilybots that were occupying them. Things were apparently peaceful there, and it made Spark Chan feel warm inside.

After a couple of blocks, she finally spotted someone she recognized. "Multiman!"

One of the Multiman sentries, quite bored with his duties so far, was surprised to hear the feminine voice call out to him. He turned to see Spark Chan approaching him. He hadn't expected her at a time like this.

"Multiman, what's going on. Expressman sent me a pretty cryptic message..." She said suspiciously.

"Oh. I don't know. Probably has something to do with the Mechs being here." he answered listlessly.

Spark Chan's eyes grew wide with shock. "Wait, what!? Where?"

"Just head south. That's where all the action is. Not that it matters to me."

Spark was aprehensive. She missed her team, but was now the best time to confront them again? Perhaps it was. She was feeling proud of the Rescue Force for doing such good with the town. It would certainly be good news to the Mechs. Would the RPD be as understanding though? If the RPD was here, it was surely to fight against the Wilybots, and the last thing she wanted was to make them force her friends to attack her. Expressman...why did he call her here? Her personality? He must have thought she would make a good negotiator. Maybe there was a chance at peace after all.

"Thank you Multiman...I'll see what I can do!" Spark Chan said as she turned and began running to the south.

"You know we can handle this on our own. Don't get too - urgk!"

Spark spun around again when she heard Multiman's short cry. There, standing over Multi's decapitated body was the dark-garbed Amatista, spinning her weapons and eyeing down the next Wilybot in her path. "Well well, it seems I've found myself a traitor! You are the worst kind of robot."

Spark Chan didn't know what this meant. She recognized Amatista as one of the Pale Riders, but what was she doing here? Why did she call her a traitor? Could she have been working with the Mechs? It didn't seem to matter at the moment, as Amatista was in no mood to be reasoned with. The vicious human pounced at Spark Chan with full intent to kill, but Spark was agile enough to avoid her. The orange robot did not want to fight back against any human, and began to run in the other direction. However the Watcher was rather quick herself. Spark could feel the bladed tips of Amatista's weapons scratching at her heels and cutting through her hair as they whipped around.

It seemed like she had no choice but to defend herself. Picking the right moment, Spark Chan twisted around and crossed her conductors, generating an electric shield. Amatista was not prepared to find a way around it, and instead slashed directly with her weapons. The chains of jewels came in contact with the electric barrier and sparks flew as energy surged through the thread and into her wrists. Heavily shocked, Amatista reeled back and reflexively dropped her weapons, which were still coursing with electric feedback. She fell to the ground, her gloved hands slightly smoking.

Spark Chan was horrified. "Ohmygosh! Are you alright? I didn't mean to hurt you, I just-"

"Save it!" Amatista snapped, climbing to her feet quickly. She was only slightly stunned. Her costume was made to be insulated against various energy weapons, so the shock didn't injure her as much as it could have. The bigger blow was to her ego, for having been made to drop her only weapons. She eyed the tangled chains on the ground in front of Spark Chan, who had stopped generating her shield, and was now looking at Amatista with concern. The activist narrowed her eyes and made a dive for her weapons. Realizing the human was still quite spry for someone who was just electrocuted, Spark Chan took action once again and hooked the tangled mass with one of her conductors and tossed it into the air. She then brought the tips of her conductors together above her head and charged up a massive Spark Shot. When the weapons fell back down into the bright orange ball of energy, there was much loud hissing and crackling as the specially designed metals holding the links together fused further. When Spark cut off the energy flow, the remains of the weapons fell to the ground as a melted, smoking, useless heap.

Amatista glared at Spark Chan with unbridled rage. "...YOU...HOW DARE YOU!"

Spark Chan only gave the excitable human a sheepish grin before she turned and continued running towards the south.

The defenseless Watcher wanted to continue the chase, but what was the use now? She had nothing to attack her with. She finally started to regret ditching her SF bodyguard back at the battle with Barrageman. Now what could she do?

A loudening whirring coming from behind caught her attention. She turned to notice a flock of Helis approaching her position, eyeing her with their wide, grinning faces. As much as she hated it, she had to run from them. If she could only fight back they would be nothing, but now they could slaughter her.

She sprinted away in the same direction as Spark Chan, but the sound of the chopper blades still got louder. The little robots were faster than she was. One dove in slammed its underside onto her back, knocking the wind out of her and sending her falling to the ground again. Rolling over, she attempted to guard herself from the others closing in and diving. Just before she was about to be swarmed, holes burst in the Helis and their broken forms fell from the sky, landing with a noisy clutter nearby. One-by-one, the unseen force shot the flying bots down until she was safe once again. Others might have been more mystified by the mysterious rescue, but Amatista knew who to "thank".

"Snakeman! How long have you been watching me?" She barked into her communicator.

"You're welcome, by the way." Snakeman's voice answered back.

"Don't get smart! You saw where Spark Chan went, didn't you? Stop her!"

There was some hesitation at that point. He didn't say anything, but Amatista could almost hear him mutter "Aw crap." Finally he answered. "I've lost track of her. She's too quick."

Amatista didn't buy that for a second. "Don't give me that! You just don't want to shoot a 'teammate'! She's a traitor, and working for Wily, it's your job!"

There was another pause. "I'll see what I can do, but like I said, she's quick."

So were the Helis. Amatista didn't trust Snakeman one bit, but at least now she had an idea of where she could put her unarmed skills to use. She got out her Watcher pad and switched it to GPS mode. Dots lit up representing all the RPD units in the area. One isolated green dot a couple of miles northwest from her position indicated Snakeman's perch. She began to make her way there. If Snakeman had anyone in his sights, she was going to make sure he did his job.

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

Doc Robot felt pain on his back as the Hard Knuckle hit him. Flashman was effective against one opponent, but the Special Forces and regular officer bots were faster than Hardman. He was having difficulty dodging. He checked his internal power readings. It confirmed what he already knew; he was very low on energy. It was time for a new plan.

“S’ry, Doc. This ain’t personal,” said Hardman as he clasped both hands together. Doc Robot was busy dodging the regular shots from the Special Forces. He looked about as bad as Hard felt. That last battle took it out of him. He had to give Doc Robot credit, he fought better than he looked. But it was over. Doc Robot’s back was turned and he was running from a Special Forces officer. Hardman fired.

There was a bright flash as Doc Robot, at the last minute, activated the Time Stopper. Hardman had to blink a few times before he realised that Doc Robot had escaped.

“Spread out! He can’t a' gone far!” yelled Hardman to the assembled officers. He saw them scatter in all directions. Hardman remained where he was. He felt pain all over thanks to the multitude of pot-shots Doc Robot took and the earlier use of the Magnet Missiles. His body still ached. He smashed a few robotic rats that tried to attack him, but Hardman was still looking for Doc Robot. I know yer out here, ya slimy little …

It was then that Hardman saw him. He really hadn’t gone far, he was hiding inside the wreck of a lager Wilybot. He seemed bigger than before. And now … he flew.

“Time to say goodbye, Mech!” said Doc Robot happily as he fired a series of green shots. Hardman blocked it with his arms, but they did their part to damage him. Doc Robot was using Ion Blasts. He was imitating his teammate Barrageman now. Hardman grimaced. He thought flying would help him, did he?

Hardman used his thrusters to leap in the air. He would catch the surprised Wily Robot by the ankles and smash him into the ground. At least that was the plan until he saw what was over Doc Robot’s shoulder. It was hard to make out, but it was gathering junk from all around. In the brief glance Hardman was afforded he saw a building wrecked right before his eyes. Smashed to bits and pieces with the larger bits of wreckage that orbited the eerily familiar man floating in the middle of it all.

“Pay attention to what’s going on!” shouted Doc Robot as he shot a fully charged Ion Blast at Hardman. Caught completely off guard Hardman felt chunks of his body give out as the blast hit him. Hardman’s mouth could only gape in shock. Both at the party crasher and at that last blow. They did call him Barrageman for a reason. Even through his thick armour Hardman felt that. He felt it even worse as he smashed back to the ground. Some poor Officer Bots cushioned his fall.

Doc Robot soared triumphantly over the crowd and opened fire. Today was his day! For the glory of Lord Wily!

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

Expressman rode atop Barrageman and oversaw the battle. It was nuts. This wasn’t their style. They did things the smart way, the tricky way. This head-to-head encounter was just … unprofessional. He checked on his systems. Recalibrating them for his new parts was an achingly slow process. And it didn’t do much to ease the discomfort of attaching barely comfortable parts to your body. He kept on searching for that Amanista woman, but couldn’t see her anywhere. When was Spark Chan supposed to get here? They were actually doing good work this time, so maybe she could get those Mechs to back off.

He then spotted two more Mechs standing over a downed Hot Dog. It looked like those guys managed to destroy those big things on their own. Expressman shrugged. He had a job to do.

“Giddy’up!” shouted Expressman, urging Barrageman forward. Barrageman had spotted the duo as well and charged his Ion Blasters.

“Unit Barrageman sees the enemy! Unit Barrageman needs no urging!”

Needlegal was trying to radio Hardman now that she could take a breath. There was no answer. She asked around via the internal comlink and got a hurried report that he was engaging Doc Robot.

“Let’s motor, big bro. Follow me!” Needlegal had hardly taken two steps before she saw the path in front of her strewn with solar-powered bullets.

She looked up and saw Expressman riding Barrageman. She thought she heard him shout something, but she couldn’t make it out. She also saw Barrageman fire more bullets at her.

She couldn’t dodge them all in time. Shadowman tried to throw a Shadow Blade at them, but it didn’t have enough reach, so he caught it as it came back and tossed some kunai. Expressman laughed as he deflected them with his gun. “Gotta try better than that!”

Both Barrageman and Expressman targeted the two robots and fired. Shadowman split into several holograms to confuse the them, but they hit the real one anyway, Needlegal was also hit, but she retaliated with her Needle Cannon. Barrageman didn’t even try to dodge, he merely powered up his Blaster and readied for another round.

That is, until Doc Robot came in over the internal communications.

“Barrageman,” said Doc, “We have a problem! A big problem!”

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

Doc Robot was helped out of the wreckage by some of the Joes on his side. It was bad … he was severely damaged. But he could stand. And he could still fly. The Mech had hurled a car at him! He was so busy pounding that Hardman into the ground that he didn’t notice it until he was underneath the flaming wreck. He flew close to the ground so the insane Mech wouldn’t see him. It wasn’t possible … how could he have become so powerful? Doc Robot veered to the side as a steel girder smashed beside him. He chanced a look back while fleeing. Magnetman didn’t seem to be after him in particular. He was just randomly destroying whatever was in his field of vision. He was perpetually circled by steel debris, which here counted for broken enemy bits. Doc Robot saw Mag Flies (or at least their remains) circling the robot. He was glad now that he had abandoned the original Magnetman powers … who knows what would had happened to him if he kept using them? Doc Robot narrowed his gaze.

The Mech wasn’t moving. His body was the same as Doc Robot had remembered, but it was covered in scratches … and he noticed his hands were somewhat banged up. He shuddered. It was time to teach this guy a lesson. He opened internal communications.

“All forces in Magnetman’s area (save for Barrage and Express) ... attack!”

Immediately Metools, Cooks, Hot Dogs, Joes, and even some Multimen sprung into action. It was over quickly.

The Hot Dog was dismantled before Doc Robot’s eyes and his rubble was used to block a swarm of Metools that charged at him. He them encased the Mets in the debris and crushed them to death. Multiman (one of him) charged at him while Joes shot at him. With invisible magnetic fields, the offending Magnet was used as shield to block the Joe’s attacks. He was tuned towards Magnetman … was he regarding Multi’s look of shock? And then Multiman was no more. Crashing was heard behind him as, without even looking, he used the debris around him to strike out at unseen enemies.

Doc Robot surmised that he couldn’t actually see what was going on behind him because of the randomness and broadness of the attack, but … was that wishful thinking? Doc Robot sped away, staying close to the ground while doing so. This was no a fight he could win. Let the lesser robots destroy themselves, it was time to get out of here!

Doc Robot stopped himself short before activating his teleporter. His logical mind cut through the panic. The intense magnetic fields would disrupt his teleporter. He tried anyway, hoping beyond hope. No good. He gave the order. It tasted like bile.

“Rescue Force … pull out.”

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

Hardman awoke to see the Wily horde get ripped to shreds And Kenta was the one doing it. Brings back memories…

Kenta seemed to have overlooked Hardman in all the destruction. That couldn’t last. Doc Robot had already flown the coop and, not for the first time, did Hardman wish he wasn’t so damn slow. It was only a matter of time before he was noticed. And Kenta, with that lost look in his eye, would surely rip him into so many pieces that nobody could ever put him together again. He felt a magnetic force grip him. He closed his eyes, uttered a prayer and took desperate action.

The next thing he knew he was miles away. His chest plates were ripped off, revealing an interior cannon. One of his arms had been ripped out and it hurt like Hell. He put his good arm to the side of his head and found a chunk of his helmet had been ripped off. He tried to get up, but found one of his legs was locked in an odd position. The knee joint was wrecked. He grunted. He was still alive! He nearly turned himself off at the last moment hoping beyond hope that the magnetic fields wouldn’t fry his brain for the few minutes he would be offline. He hoped Kenta wouldn’t bother tearing apart the robotic corpse of a pal. He guessed right.

Or maybe he was flung at an unsuspecting enemy. He couldn’t tell. Hardman was clinging to consciousness now. He couldn’t afford to be deactivated now. Not yet! He opened communications…

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

Barrageman heard the command to exit. Expressman looked over and saw metal debris flying in all directions. Building after building fell. He recognised the one he helped fix up as the latest in demolished real estate. The debris was used to destroy more of the ground troops. Expressman issued a command to the Multimen.

“Get the people out of here. To the nearest city.” He felt something hot stir up in the pit of his stomach.

Shadowman and Needlegal felt relief as the shooting stopped.

“I think they found a more important target,” said Shadowman, smiling. He didn’t need any chip to know what was going on.

Needlegal did not feel like smiling. It was all going to hell! “We need to get to Hard. Now!” She had received Hardman’s distress call and ordered Officer Bots to get him out of there. No doubt he already issued that order, but it never did hurt to add more to it.

The happy thought of escape was cut short by Expressman’s Solar Cannon. “This is all your damn fault!” screamed the enraged robot master. “You people just had to come here and wreck everything!”

Barrageman flew low and pelted the siblings with Ion Blasts. There was no dodging, they were riddled with bullet holes. Shadowman felt a tug on his scarf and he was suddenly up in the air.

“Expressman, damn it!” screamed Needlegal as she watched her struggling brother rise into the air. “We have to get out of here! Magnet’s part of the Scissor Army now! Our reports say –“

“Shut up!” yelled the fleet-footed robot. He threw Shadowman onto Barrageman’s back and shot out his knees. Shadowman screamed in pain and surprise. “Why did you do it? This place … we weren’t doing anything damn it!”

Shadowman readied a Shadow Blade, but was in no position to throw it. “What are you talking about? This is War! You’re on Wily’s side of all people!”

Expressman shot at Shadowman again in rage. The shoulder this time. He wanted answers and the leader of the Mechs was a good place to get them. “You assholes just couldn’t let us have anything, could you? There must have been a billion other places you coulda hit, but you had to pick the one where we were actually making a difference! Was it spite? Hunh?”

Shadowman used his damaged legs to push himself backwards. Clearly Expressman thought he still led the Mechs. And Shadowman had a sinking feeling this mission wasn’t quite what it seemed. The panicked look in Expressman’s voice hinted at sincerity.

Multimen were flying through the air now, in a tight formation. They were flanked by lesser robots such as flying Metools. They were all coming from a single building. Expressman paused to consider them. Good … they’re safe.

It was then that several Multimen bent inwards. Ones that were far away, others just getting off the ground, and other spared by some cosmic whim scattered as the Multimen exploded outwards. Shrapnel and chunks of flesh rained over the battlefield. Expressman screamed. The only people who ever looked at him as a hero … they were being slaughtered!

He was still screaming as large chunks of debris were hurled at the group. The robots felt themselves being shredded as shards ripped into their skin. Loud static could be heard from Barrageman. Shadowman wondered if they were out of range of Magnetman’s more direct attacks right before larger chunks of debris knocked Barrageman out of the sky.

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

Snakeman tensed up more and more as he watched what was unfolding below. Far in the distance the WRF and the other Mechs were taking a heavy beating from the horrific metallic storm of Magnetman Eigen. The spreading destruction was about the worst thing that could happen to the city, which Snake had to admit looked like it was in pretty good shape with just Wily to deal with. People were fleeing the city walls that a few hours ago provied them a safe haven. Others were not so lucky and were shredded to pieces along with their homes. Snakeman's view of the massacre was limited to the scope of his rifle, as he'd pulled all his Search Snakes out as quickly as possible. He only hoped they could slither fast enough to escape the brainwashed Maniac's range, which seemed to be just too large to be possible.

Several blocks north of the destruction, Raijin could see Spark Chan, staring up towards the eye of the storm, frozen and clutching a hand to her chest. He could only imagine what was going through her head, and he would probably feeling paralyzed too if he was that close to it all, in fact he was already feeling that way somewhat and he was relatively safe. Still, he wished she would run, he wished she wasn't even there to begin with.

For weeks he had been eagerly awaiting a team reunion, in which Spark, Magnet, Top, and Gemini would all finally shake off whatever problems were bothering them and rejoin their friends with clear heads. It was a trivial solution, but the easiest, and he wanted nothing less. He just couldn't accept that the team could be broken up by strife. Hadn't they endured worse? However as he saw the soulless form of Kenta wreak such havoc without pause, the situation suddenly seemed brutally real. Spark Chan certainly wasn't being held against her will either. Since she appeared in the city, she was treating the Wilybots with the same respect and kindness she showed everyone. Neither one of the errant Mechs looked to be returning to "the side of good" any time soon.

So what could he do? Snakeman could anticipate the evacuation order. Even the Wily forces looked to be pulling out in the face of the magnetic threat. there was no way the RPD was currently equipped to counter it. Just to be sure, the Serpent Sniper did his best to land a good shot in his former comrade's back when he exposed his blind spot. He had reservations taking out a teammate, but this obviously wasn't the right situation to be sentimental. For the good of everyone, Magnetman had to go down.

It appeared as if Snakeman wouldn't get the choice though. While the eerily floating robot looked like an easy target with his eyes closed and body hanging motionless, not a single shot the sniper fired came close to the target. Raijin couldn't tell what was happening to the bullets. Was Kenta stopping them in mid-air like he did back at the face-off with Cutman? Was the swirling debris acting like a massive Junk Shield? Maybe the bullets were just getting caught up in the magnetic current and joining the black dust and scraps of buildings and robots. Either way, Magnetman didn't even seem to notice, which was of some small comfort to Snakeman who didn't need the misguided shots giving away his position at a time like this.

"There you are!"

Snakeman nearly jumped out of his scales. It was Amatista. She was suddenly standing right behind him. With his Search Snakes on the move and his own senses focused on Magnetman, she was able to sneak up on him until she was breathing down his neck. It was unnerving to say the least. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be evacuating? Do you know what's going on down there?"

Amatista looked over his shoulder at the dark storm in the distance with little concern. "As far as I'm concerned, there's still a mission to complete. We can leave when it's over."

Was she serious? The mission had gone to hell, it was plain as day. Could she really be so obsessed? Snakeman wondered, and he was starting to become more tense looking at the Watcher pad in her hand than he had been watching Kenta weave his way through the south side of the city. "I already tried to drop Magnetman. Believe me, my bullets just can't get around his power."

"It's not that traitor I have in mind at the moment." She responded ominously while striding over to his side and looking down at the streets. There were still RPD and Wily forces running around trying to gather themselves against the chaos, but one figure not too far away stuck out like an orange star to the vengeful woman. "There she is...you can see her just fine, can't you? You have had every oppurtunity to take out Spark Chan, so what's stopping you?"

Damn it. Snakeman thought looking anxiously down at Classi's position. There was a Multiman urging her to escape with him, she was hesitant though. It looked like she still wanted to go to Kenta in spite of everything that was happening. Sympathy aside, she was making herself an easy target and his previous "she's too quick" excuse wasn't going to cut it this time.

There was no getting out of it, but he figured there was one more lie he could attempt. He grimly took aim with his rifle while explaining to his Watcher. "The magnetic interference is pretty wide, it's affecting every shot trajectory." He pointed his sights at the ground a few meters away from Spark and Multi and fired. The bullet kicked up some dust right on target. The Wilybots didn't even seem to notice in all the confusion. "See? There's nothing I can do. We should just pull out while we can."

Amatista narrowed her eyes at the lying snake. "Your acting skills are pathetic. You honestly expect me to believe you would shoot at a former teammate so casually? You have no reservations at all about killing her?"

There was a pause. Snakeman felt more trapped than he had ever been in his life. "Of course I do...but I know my orders and I follow them. What choice do I have?"

The tension was in no way broken by Amatista's shrill laughter. "All right, robot. I'll humor you. You say you can't aim properly? Maybe I can. Give me your gun."

Another pause. Raijin could have been sweating bullets at this point. "Ma'am, with all due respect, it isn't easy to properly aim this without the proper training..." He didn't think she even could land a hit, but could he take the chance? Classi was dangerously close to the magnetic waves and being rendered offline by a lucky shot could mean a mindwipe for her. At the very least, one shot would be all it would take for Amatista to know that he was BSing her about the aim being off.

"Just admit it, you deceptive piece of garbage. You refuse to attack one of your own." The woman hissed with contempt. "Your record doesn't lie. In every one of your missions in this War you've allowed enemy robots to escape for questionable reasons. Not long before that you took out Barrageman with a single hit. Admit that you're missing on purpose!"

Snakeman stood up. There was no more trying to deceive her. It was a longshot, but maybe he could still reason with her. "She's not doing anything wrong. None of Wily's Forces are at the moment. In fact, they're all retreating...just like we should be." he appealed in as level a voice as he could manage.

"That's how you solve all your problems, isn't it?" She retorted, not swayed in the least. "You let your enemies live to fight another day so they can keep causing mayhem and destruction, and you, the so-called 'hero' can swoop in to stop them time after time, while never stopping them permanently. Those Wilybots are threats to everyone and the sooner they're destroyed the better!"

Snakeman didn't know what else he could say. He glanced around his shoulder to see Spark and Multi were finally airborne, making their escape away from the storm. "It's over Amatista, they're leaving. You can wait until the next mission to force me to shoot my friends." He said, his frustration pushing him beyond any sense of placating the madwoman.

"There won't BE a next time for you if you don't shoot those fleeing robots out of the sky this instant!" Amatista shrieked holding up her pad. "For all we know this could be our last chance to remove threats like the Wily Rescue Force and Spark Chan before they cause serious damage to our forces! You will either either kill them NOW, or I will activate your code!"

Snakeman was petrified. He could never bring himself to hurt Classi, but if he did nothing he would die right there. If he took the shot and missed, she would shut him down anyway suspecting him of throwing the shot. The longer he waited, the farther away the Multiman that carried Spark Chan away flew. He only had a few seconds to reflect on this. He could feel his options slipping away.

The tense scene was interrupted by the arrival of a banged-up Special Forces unit that leapt onto the rooftop with a single bound. "Sir! Ma'am! For your safety we must evacuate the area!" The large robot seemed unaware of the standoff in progress. It had apparently gone through hell to catch up to the Watcher it was charged to protect, and wasn't about to waste any time fulfilling its task.

Snakeman was somewhat relieved. Maybe the second opinion in favour of retreat would convince her?...No such luck. Amatista waved off the confused bodyguard. "In a minute. There is still a crucial mission objective to complete."

What a joke. There was no point in any of this! She was just being vindictive. Snakeman saw how Spark Chan disarmed the bitch, he was amused at the time. Was this all to get back at Classi for ruining her weapons? Or was this all about her hatred for robots in general? One thing was clear to Snakeman at this point...she had no intention of letting him leave this mission in tact. She wanted him to disobey her order. She wanted to bring the hammer down. She wanted him to die, maybe even more than she wanted Spark Chan and the WRF to die at the moment. A short time ago he saved her life and it made him sick to his stomach that if he had let the Helis maul her, he would be suffering the same fate along with the rest of his team for letting their Watcher fall on the battlefield.

There was no question any more. No anxiety. He knew what he was going to do, and what was going to happen. He looked back up at the Multiman flying off in the distance. He could still make out the bright orange and green against the grey sky. She was too far away for him to see clearly, but he could tell she had a very sad expression all the same. He did nothing but watch them fly farther away, well out of his range. They would have their reunion eventually, he thought. And that was the last thought he had before everything went black and still.

Snakeman's lifeless form collapsed to the ground and Amatista harnessed her pad again. The SF unit looked shocked despite its AI's low capacity for such emotion. Amatista gave a disgusted grunt as she moved over to Snakeman's corpse and picked up his rifle. Not wasting a second, she pointed the barrel at the distant speck of Multiman and Spark Chan and centered them through the scope as best she could. Holding the gun steady with cold, relaxed precision, she fired several bullets at the retreating Wilybots. She was thrown off by the recoil at first, and none of the shots even came close to the target, but she didn't expect them to. The important thing to her was that she tried, which was more than she could say for the worthless traitor at her feet.

Slinging the gun over her shoulder she walked up to the Special Forces unit and gestured for it to let her climb onto its shoulder. "Alright, let's get out of here before that monster gets any closer."

The SF unit looked back and forth between Amatista and Snakeman's corpse for a second, and then stepped over and picked the serpentine robot master up in one hand. Amatista was annoyed by this behaviour. "What are you wasting your time with that scrap for? Leave it behind! It's no good to us!"

The SF had little capacity for fear as well, but still felt a sense of alarm over the prospect of conflicting orders. It felt the best it could do was define its motivation. "RPD Wartime Regulation Ammendment thirty-two-dash-A states all robot master level RPD personnel must be recovered from the battlefield, whether they were defeated, deactivated, shut down, or otherwise immobilized. Wartime Regulation Ammendment forty-five-dash-C states all measures must be taken to prevent robot master level units from being captured by the Scissor Army or other enemy forces."

Amatista rolled her eyes. "Couldn't you just incinerate the carcass with your buster? We won't be in any danger of it falling into enemy control then."

"Wartime Regulation Ammendment twenty-"

"Ugh! Fine! I don't care. I'll make sure they don't reactivate him anyway. We need to set an example for these insubordinate machines."

The Special Forces carried the two smaller officers away from the storm, moving as fast as it could. They weren't the only RPD on the move, as many others, including the Mechs scrambled out of the city in whatever vehicles they could find along with many frightened humans. Another Special Forces unit carried the massive injured form of Hardman, still managing to move as fast as the one carrying Snakeman and Amatista. The Rescue Force made their escape in another direction, with several Multimen, carrying as many citizens as they could, and Barrageman and Doc Robot flying ahead of the group, Expressman hanging defeatedly on Barrage's shoulders. Soon enough, Magnetman Eigen was left alone in the city with the bodies of those unlucky enough not to make it out in time. The proud lasting architecture along with the WRF's recent fortifications all crumbled the same and mixed together in the whirlwind of magnetic carnage.

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

Expressman watched the city fade in the distance. It as all for nothing. All of it. Barrageman was shaking unsteadily as he flew. He had a gaping hole in his chest thanks to the debris tossed at him, but they all made it through okay.

Doc Robot was also flying erratically. The magnetic waves were still causing them problems. “When we are clear, we teleport back,” said the grey robot. The rest just nodded.

“This was a total waste of time,” said Multiman.

“Unit Barrageman agrees.”

Expressman sighed. He then turned to Multiman and said, “How are the people doing, Multi?”

Multi hung back to meet Expressman’s gaze. He seemed to strain as he made contact with his doppelgangers. There was a lot of static in the area, but it was possible.

“I’ve dropped a lot of them off already,” said the orange and blue robot, “but most are alright. Our forces are providing a good distraction, I think. Most are cursing the Robot Police and a few of them want me to stay. Of course I can’t, the RPD are just around the corner. Once they saw that I was evacuating survivors they stopped shooting at me.”

Expressman exhaled a simulated sigh. At least some of the people were getting out safely.

“Then this is not a total waste,” said Doc Robot while trying to keep steady, “Wily has won the people’s hearts and minds. This will just make them hate the RPD. It looks like your plan worked.” Doc Robot emphasized that with all the scorn he could muster. He did not like following orders based off Spark Chan’s suggestions. She was a bad influence on Doctor Wily and the other Wily robots.

He could not see Spark Chan’s expression as she was inside Multiman, but her voice did not betray the great weight on her shoulders. “You guys did good out there. This is all Kenta’s fault. I really don’t know what’s happened to him.” Spark Chan made a secret vow to bring the team back together. She didn’t get to see much of anyone this time, but next time … next time she’d make a special effort to see her friends. That thought kept hope alive in her heart.

The group teleported as soon as they were out of the magnetic field.

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

Needlegal reached the outside of Brussels in a “recovered” jeep along with Shadowman (whom she found under a pile of rubble) and Hardman (whom was left in the street with a multitude of debris covering him). They were safe. Amatista was there waiting for them. Needlegal had no idea how she managed to get there before them, but she had.

“So, the rest of you’ve made it back, I see.”

Needlegal grunted. “Except for Snakeman. You said he’s here?”

Amatista nodded curtly. “Yes, he’s here. Well, I think it’s safe to say this was a win for the good guys.”

Needlegal spun on her heels. “A win? A win!? How does this fiasco qualify as a win!?”

Amatista smirked in her arrogant way. “The Wily faction’s done for here. And, while it’s true an insane teammate of yours is destroying their homes, most of the RPD forces did manage to make it out of the city in one piece. Once he’s gone we’ll simply go back in, rebuild, and stay there. Thankfully the lion’s share of the population survived. And unlike in the rest of your adventures, we won’t have captured a completely dead city.”

Needlegal was furious. “And what if Magnetman doesn’t stop at the city!? What if he comes here too!?”

“He started this right at the city’s borders. He seems to be destroying everything just within its borders leaving the rest untouched. And the city is something we can – and will rebuild. We already have construction bots and trailers on the way. You see it’s really the people who’re important.”

Needlegal fumed. That woman was insufferable. She oversaw the Robo Rescue Force’s removal of Hardman from the jeep (was that Cleaveman and Boomerang with them?) and saw them all flash away as they teleported back to base for repairs. Shadowman tugged at her arm and urged her elsewhere. With Amatista’s attention turned away they could see what there was to see. Needlegal gave him a questioning look, but followed closely.

They walked together without words. They had to be quick about it, but both were injured. Shadowman made use of a scrap metal “cane” as his legs had been injured when he was topped off Barrageman. It was a miracle he didn’t sustain worse injuries. It was several hours before they arrived on the outskirts of RPD presence and that’s where they saw the people of Brussels. All looked sad and miserable … and one group of people were pouring out of a Multiman.

Amatista met with the battledroid as he did his work. “Good job, robot. We’ll take it from here.” Multiman grunted.

“Yeah, you do that. Been doing an amazing job so far.”

Amatista stamped her feet. “None of that was our fault.”

Multiman made a grumbling noise. “Oh, come on. We’ve been here for weeks defending this place against the Scissor Army. If they wanted us taken out they would have sent Magnetman here ages ago. But they sent him in now and look,” Multiman made a sweeping gesture, “no Scissor Army here at all now. Why do you suppose that is? Even a brainless human like you ought to figure out why a former Mech was sent here.”

Amatista tensed. She did not like her mistakes being spat back at her. Not when it was done by a soulless machine. “This looks like the last batch. You better scram. I put up with you only because you were dropping these people off. You’ve officially worn out your welcome.”

Multiman grunted and flew off. Many in the crowd moaned and watched as he left. The rest looked at the RPD with hatred on their faces.

“So, this is how the day was saved, was it?” said Needlegal while stepping out of view. Shadowman propped himself against a tree for support.

Amatista did not look pleased. “I thought you had teleported back to base.”

“You used us! These people were perfectly fine until we came along and wrecked everything!” They were looking at her now, eyes filled with questions … and anger. It was true, but Needle could scarcely believe it. The Wily Rescue Force were actually doing good here … and they were sent to put a stop to it!

“These people,” said Amatista with growing impatience, “were under Wily’s thumb. You know Wily … that enemy of that state? The guy who helped get Nonsteropolis destroyed? The terrorist who has tried to take over the world over a dozen times? That Wily?” Needlegal backed a few steps. Wily, personally, did try to destroy them too and she had not forgotten that. And yes, the Robot Police (now mandated throughout the world) were charged with stopping all his activities wherever they were found.

“This is war,” said Amatista coldly, “And in War there are casualties. Yes, this city’s being levelled, but the people, for the most part, are safe and good guys have once again secured peace in Europe. And I’ve received news that Libson also went to us earlier in the day too. This is war and we’ll do anything to win. We have to, humanity depends on it. Because the alternatives, frankly, suck! You’ve made your bed,” Amatista levelled a cold stare at Needlegal. “It’s time to lie in it.”

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