The Business of War
Orchestrated By C.M. Rich (Magnetman)
Rematch by the Rogues
By Hunter, Regulus, Zymeth
Scenario E
Participants:
Spade & Sedulus (SA)
Fatal Five (W)
Location: Murmansk, Rusia (Wily)
Max. Cossack Scrap Value: 9100
SA Infantry: 1289
RPD Units: 1267
Wily Bots: 312
Missions :
SA :
-Test the new Frost Joes
-"Put a dent" in Wily's territory
-Secondary : Take the town
RPD :
-take control of the town
WILY :
-Keep the town
After its invasion by Wily, Murmansk had been turned into a powerful
stronghold. Automated turrets and minefields surrounded it, while
aquatic mines protected the seaport. Some of the ships destroyed
during the SA's initial assault had been used to form a wall on
the bottom of the sea : Riff had long studied Captain Quint's attack,
and was preparing himself in the case another Officer would try
to attack again from the sea.
For now, the Fatalist leader was patrolling around the town, along
with his teammates. All humans had been sent to quickly-built underground
shelters : they had the obligation to protect them from the SA.
"How're the external defenses ?" he asked to a Joe walking
next to him.
"Checked, and ready to open fire at will, sir !" the
drone replied while saluting.
"And for the troops ?"
"Squads of Ride Armors and Joes are patrolling around, and
we have guards regularly set on the walls. Hot Dogs and other large
units have been set at keypoints of the town. We put the Mad Grinders
in reserve for now."
"Good. Dismissed." As the Joe ran back to the external
wall, Riff opened communication with the other RM in town. "Multiman,
do you read me ?"
"Yeah." He was being laconic on the purpose of upsetting
Riff.
"We'd need your help, Multiman. Start the replication process,
please."
"I only take orders from Wily and Doc Robot, you know." Riff
clenched his left fist. Warpman was enough to deal with.
"But if Wily sees we lost the town because you didn't give
us a hand, he'll be very angry. Understood ?"
"Maybe, but if we lose because of a tactical error, he'll
be angry at someone else. Understood ?"
The Fatalist sighed. "Start the replication now. And keep
... six of you in reserve, in case we need to escape. Riff, out."
Staccato motioned closer to his leader as he shut his comm. line
off. "Why six, mylord ?"
"I'm sure Henry will enjoy a safe way out." replied Karasû.
The three remaining Fatalists were shocked. "Henry's here
? But ... he's no warrior !" told Warpman.
"Maybe, but we agreed with Lord Wily that he would do administration
work in the conquered towns. And alas, he had to work in Murmansk
for this week." explained Karasû. "And if we don't help
him, no one else will."
They remained thoughtful when an emergency signal beeped through
their ears.
"Land attack from the RPD ! I repeat : Land attack from the
RPD !"
"You know what do", Riff told. "if they start pushing
too much on us, retreat intown : there are mines everywhere, and
we need the highest numbers against the SA."
On a nod, they all headed to the external defense line. Today would
be a long day for the WilyBots...
--------------------
Spade laughed gleefully as his gunship sailed through the waters. It was a pretty big vessel bristling with pivoting artillery cannons and machine guns, as well as a few missile bays, not to mention the armed SA troops on it, and the side-guns that they were continuously adding to the sides of the hull. It was real easy to snag too. All it took was him and his troops silently boarding the thing while it was in port, pirate-style. He wore the Napoleon hat and jacket that he produced from thin air proudly as he stood on the front deck with his hand stuffed into the front of his jacket. "Well, men..." He started, addressing his four real followers. "This is a glorious day to die!"The three carnies saluted, hesitantly. Spade spun around and added, "For THEM of course! HEHEHEHEHE!" All three of them burst into manic laughter along with their boss.
Tim, the fire-breather wearing nothing his long, baggy pants held up by suspenders, a jacket, and a blue bandanna claimed, "Yeah! With this new thingimabob, they won't know what hit 'em! Right Carl!?"
The portly clown began to speak but Spade interrupted, "He's BOZO now, remember?"
Bozo, dejected, whined, "But I'm Carl! I don't wanna be Bozo!"
"Well, too bad, you're Bozo. You know? Bobby n' Bozo? It's Classic!" Spade said, forcefully. Mary, the crazed-looking and skinny acrobat in the blue tutu brandished one of her many knives and chuckled.
"Yeah, Bozo, lighten up." She said, snidely. They all burst into laughter. Suddenly Spade motioned for silence.
"Where's Bobby at?" He asked, referring to Bozo's taller counterpart. Bozo shrugged. Suddenly the average-heighted clown ran up on deck, in a pirate outfit.
"Sorry I'm late, Cap'n. I had an awful time gettin' my costume put together!" Bobby said, happily.
"What are you supposed to be!?" Spade asked, angrily.
"Why, I'm a pirate!" Bobby replied.
"We're not pirates!" Spade declared. Bobby looked around at the others' costumes. Spade was Napoleon, Bozo had an old-timy navy outfit, Tim had a bandanna and a commodore's jacket, and Mary was wearing navy boots and a hat.
"Who are we supposed to be?" Bobby asked, fiddling with his eye-patch. Spade grabbed it and snapped it off his head.
"We're supposed to be those people that crossed the Delaware, stupid!" Spade claimed, gleefully.
"Um, boss..." Mary interrupted. "Napoleon didn't cross the Delaware. He was a famous French dictator." A Joe walked up to the group attempting to get their attention, but Spade ignored him.
"Really?" The crazy jester asked. "Shoot. We're French people then!"
"There were French pirates!" Bobby said.
"We're NOT PIRATES!" Spade roared. Once again the Joe tried to say something but he was interrupted.
"Actually," Tim said, "we commandeered an ocean-faring vessel. We ARE pirates."
Spade changed to a shocked expression mask, "I guess we really are... Fine, everyone change into more pirate-ey outfits and meet back here in ten minutes! I'm keeping my cool-guy Napoleon outfit though." And with that the three non-pirates scampered off.
"But I don't WANNA be a pirate!" Bozo shouted as he ran. Spade ignored him though, for the sake of the solid Seinfeld reference.
"Sir-" The Joe began, but Spade cut him off again.
"It's Cap'n!" Spade corrected.
"Captain-"
"Cap'n!"
".... Cap'n, we're approaching the harbor. We'll be within firing range in moments." The Joe said, unfeeling.
"Good! Why didn't you tell me sooner!?" Spade asked, his normal mask back on.
"You were speaking."
"Well, WHY didn't you interrupt me then?" Spade asked, annoyed.
"I tried to, but-"
"AHA!" Spade shouted, "You DID try to interrupt me! I knew it!" With that he delivered a sharp smack to the Joe's head and sent him off. "It's a good day to be Cap'n!" Spade declared. "To Tortuga!"
"Murmansk." Another Joe corrected.
Spade put on an annoyed mask, "Yeah yeah, Murmansk Whatever." He shoved his hand back into his jacket as the four circus bots ran up behind him, decorated with black, white, skulls, and various other pirate knick-knacks. Spade poked a few holes in his jacket and hat to get into the spirit.
"Hey, Cap'n." Bozo began. Spade turned to look at him. "The ex-cap'n's been whining a lot, heheheheh." Bobby and Tim walked forward, throwing the almost-naked captain to the ground in front of Spade.
"Why, herro there!" Spade said, kneeling down. "Being whiny are we? It makes me sad that we even bothered to keep you around! Why don't we just-" Spade was cut off by the captain's sobbing.
"Please! Have MERCY!" He begged. Spade stood up, thinking.
"Mercy?" He asked, mockingly. "After you've scrubbed all the floors in Hyrule, THEN we can talk about mercy!" The captain gave Spade a very confused and scared stare. Mary whispered into Spade's ear, Spade waving his hand in front of his face to reveal a shocked expression. "Really!?" He asked. "Damn! Oh well. I guess Hyrule is out of the question..." Spade began gesturing while speaking, repeating the lines in almost the exact same tone. "You'll just have to scrub all the floors on the top deck, and then you can scrub all the floors on the second deck, and then you can scrub all the floors on the third deck, and then you can scrub all the floors on the-"
"Cap'n" A Joe said.
"WHAT!?" Spade reeled.
"We are VERY close to firing range, sir."
".... Hot damn! Get ta- scrubbing." Spade declared, racing to the bow of the ship. His voice suddenly took on a deep, gravely texture to it. "And keep adding those guns, boys! And don't forget to keep me informed on our little secret project!" He put his hand up to his helmet. "Killjoy, we're almost there, buddy. Let's show 'em the power of the SS Overkill!"
--------------------
Meanwhile, on the south side of the city, several turrets had been rendered inoperable."Sir, the turrets can no longer move due to the heavy ice coating on the pivoting mechanism." A Frost Joe reported.
"Very good." The white robot acknowledged the report while hovering over to the turret. It was straining against the ice. "The new Frost Joe unit is indeed a helpful addition to the ranks of the Scissor Army." Sedulus remarked. "I have uploaded your work orders. See to it that they are completed within 1 hour, 23 minutes, and 36 seconds. Completion of the task any later shall be recorded on your operating record."
"Understood." The Frost Joe set to work.
Sedulus hovered inches off the ground, observing the work of his new Frost Joes. They were busy creating thick walls in major access points of the city. The RPD was attacking from the East of the city, one of Sedulus's probes had spotted them. The Frost Joes were making travel hard in the streets. They iced the roads and put up entire walls of ice, blocking off access to major streets. When the RPD was forced into the city after being flanked by the majority of his army, they will be forced into a city that will be near-impossible to navigate and filled with automated defenses. The RPD will be swiftly crushed by the defenses of the city since they would not be able to retreat effectively, and Spade's assault from the North will further complicate the situation. Finally, if they managed to escape to the west side, they would be met with more iced roads, thanks to the small Frost Joe force that was placed in the heart of the city thanks to the teleportation relay SA Officer Quint had set up during their last campaign on Murmansk. There was a variable, however, that Sedulus knew would hinder his chances of victory. Multiman. He was an invaluable asset in any sort of war. His ability to exponentially replicate with seemingly no end presented a major obstacle, and obstacle that Sedulus only gave a 48% chance of overcoming. However, the General did state that their objective was to "put a dent" in the territories owned by Wily, not necessarily capture them. Sedulus knew that there would be a 87% chance of achieving this objective. Perhaps a random element would grant him victory. Thankfully, his partner, Spade, was a walking random element. It was hard to predict what the killer clown would do.
"Perhaps the spontaneity of Spade will prove useful in this encounter." Sedulus said to himself.
--------------------
Spade stood on a pipe on the deck, his hand still stuffed into his jacket. "They will always remember this as the day they ALMOST-" Suddenly the ship rocked after a tremendous explosion went off. Spade teetered on his perch, falling flat on his back. He sprung to his feet, "Whowhenwhatwherewhy!? What the hell was that!?""Cap'n, there's mines in the water!" Bobby declared.
"What, like in the cartoons?" Spade asked.
"Exactly like in the cartoons, sir!"
"What should we do!?" Mary asked, beginning to panic. The mine hadn't done much to the hull, but it did shake off a lot of Joes working on the side guns.
Spade leaned over the railing, "Errrrr......"
"Cap'n-" A Joe began, but was cut short by Spade.
"AHA!" He cried, seizing the Joe and hurling him into the water. A mine detonated harmlessly away from the ship. "That's it! We'll hurl our dead-weight troops and set off all the mines! Oh there's another one in our way! Fetch me something to throw!" Tim saluted, scurrying off and coming back with the boxer-clad ex-captain.
"What did I do!?" He cried, "I was scrubbing all the floors and everything else! Please don't kill me like the-AAAAHHH!" Spade had titled his head, signaling to toss him overboard into another mine. It detonated spectacularly.
"NICE!" Spade cried, giving Tim a high-five. "Let's get more stuff to throw!"
"Cap'n..." Another Joe began. Spade stopped and contorted his neck to look at him, an angry mask on. "We have aquatic troops. We could use them to set of the mines with bullets, harmlessly."
"Well, DUH! I thought of that in the first place!" Spade declared. He was telling the truth. "But my way is funner! But if you want to kill the spirit of it all, FINE! Do it." The Joe saluted and ran off. Moments later, pillars of water began shooting up all around Spade's boat, dramatically. He pulled a spy-glass out of his coat and extended it towards the city. They were in firing range, and the ship continued to approach the dock. He lowered the telescope, revealing a mask with a sinister, sharp-toothed grin. He looked up at the cloudy sky.
"Your orders, Cap'n?" A Joe asked, his carnies hovering behind him in anticipation. Spade walked down the deck, dramatically and suddenly dead serious, his sinister grin mask still on. He signaled and the bright board-walk lights began coming on, revealing the graffiti covering the boat. Spade walked to the bow again, spinning around, still grinning.
He shouted, imitating a light Scottish accent, "Let no joyful voice be heard! Let no man look up at the sky with hope! And let this day be cursed by we who ready to wake ... THE KRAKEN!!!!" After Spade's quote, all remained awkwardly still and silent. Spade looked around, his mask changing to a concerned expression.
"Uhh... Boss... We don't have one of those..." Bobby pointed out.
"Awww, Damnit!" Spade cried. "I thought we did! I put it in the suggestion box!" He gestured to the small metal box he had bolted up. "Shoot. I went through the trouble of putting this up here and no one even bothers looking in it."
"I put in a suggestion for more guns, Cap'n." Bozo piped in.
"Really? Aww, you kiss ass! You're my favorite now!" Spade declared. Tim, the previous favorite, looked down dejected. "So, no Kraken?" Spade asked once more, just to be sure.
"No, sir." Mary enforced.
"Oh well... in that case, FIRE AT WILL! And all those other guys out there! AHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!"
And with that final order, the ship was ablaze with firing guns, launching artillery shells at the trapped Wily and RPD troops, and peppering the coast with machine-gun fire from the turrets on the sides of the ship. Spade laughed crazily as and continued chanting ant pointing, "FIRE FIRE FIRE!" Until finally stopping and insterting his hand back in his Jacket. He just chuckled to himself, sinisterly, as the ship slowly continued to get closer to the coastline.
--------------------
The two men were standing near a half-destroyed building, the sounds of battle coming from a few miles."Remind me where we were going, again ?" asked the one in a trenchcoat. He obviously wasn't happy with the climate.
"Rome, if I remember correctly." replied his comrade.
"And where are we, now ?"
"Hmm ... Murmansk."
Noguchi sighed. "This is the last time I give you a map, Feather."
"But we're winning, here !" replied Silver Feather. "Wouldn't you think a town controlled by Wily has more valuable stuff than a town of the SA ?"
Before the Inspector could reply, a Joe called them. "You ! There's a War going on, you know ! Get back to the shelters !"
Feather smiled. "Err ... We forgot where they were !"
Had he a mouth and lungs, the robot would have sighed. Humans were so useless, it was hard to believe Lord Wily was one of them !
He picked a small card from his belt, and gave it to Noguchi. "Follow this itinerary. Now, go before you get a stray bullet !" And the patrol went away.
Feather was now beaming. "Now, do you think this would have happened in Rome ?"
Noguchi was forced to accept, but still wanted to argue. "Kalingrad was closer, anyway. Or you could have picked any other town in Europe - they're controlled by the RPD."
"Details, details... now, let's see how these people can help us in our war effort !"
Noguchi stopped for a few seconds before following Feather. Being reduced to allow pickpocketing in front of his eyes in order to survive ! How low could an agent of the ICPO fall ?
But it was this, or jail. Or worse...
--------------------
Henry was getting very worried. The battle was raging around, and he could do nothing to help.And he was staying with one of the few WilyBots he actually disliked.
As the official "bartender of villains", Henry had seen everyone, and got on well with practically every villain in Monsteropolis.
The only person he didn't get on with was Multiman. Damn duplicator copied every drink he bought, and paid the copy only if Doc Robot was around.
Though, he never thrashed the place, so he was okay in Henry's books.
"You've gotta be careful now, Henry." started the Rescuer. He was replicating as he spoke, like others would play with their fingers - he did this without thinking about it But it always was the same one -the very first in the place- talking with Henry.
"I know a lot of people at the Castle liked your place, and generally like you, but if you stand in Wily's way again, you'll get burnt no matter what."
Henry sighed. There was no need to try to explain himself to multiman; After all, ten of "him"s had been blown up. "I'll try." replied the bartender.
But a question came to his mind. "How do you control all of these clones, by the way ?"
Multiman shrugged. "I do it. It works."
With this reply that indicated an end to the discussion, Henry stared at the weapon he had brought with him. It was an obsolete-looking plasma rifle, but extremely efficient on troublemakers - Chimeraman could attest of it.
It was an old Christmas present from Hunter, before he switched ... to the bad side.
With the hope he'd never had to use it on his "benefactor", Henry gripped the weapon, and turned to look at the detonations far away.
He was hoping Riff would win this one.
--------------------
The RPD forces were meeting a rather low resistance. Several of the defense turrets had been disabled by their shots, and it seemed like the Wilybots were retreating. It was only a matter of minutes before the external defense wall was destroyed.And then, the SA came from the side.
They had taken cover from the blizzard, and were flanking the RPD, forcing them to enter the town, despite the work of their engineers being uncomplete.
Several Troopers fell to the landmines, and the surviving units were to face similar problems in town : mine fields were set at strategical points in town, and some areas were completely frozen, making it hard to walk through - and it wasn't counting the ice walls.
Worse, Wilybots were ambushed here and there, striking and retreating again.
A victory for the RPD, in these conditions, was very unlikely.
--------------------
Riff was getting rather positive reports from his troops, despite the fact that they raised more questions.After the destruction of another RPD squad was reported, he turned to Karasû.
"Tell me, do we have any ice-makers drone deployed here ?"
"Not to my knowledge. Do you suspect an infiltration from the Army ?" enquired the raven-bot.
The Fatalist leader shrugged. "As long as it stops the RPD, it's secondary."
The communicator beeped again. "Commander ! The situation is critical ! The SA is attacking on the southern side, and there's a maritime assault from the north !"
"I thought it was completely protected ?" asked Warpman.
"Meaning it requests our presence." continued Riff. "Warpman, go there first. Karasû and Staccato will follow you.
"To the units on southern side, retreat and protect the town ! Lento and I will come and help !
"Fatal Five, go !"
On these words, the Team split up, each to their own mission. Today shall be their day of glory !
--------------------
Warpman stopped at the tallest building still intact to get a view of the attacker."Damn !" The ship was abnormally huge, nearly rivalling in size with the Marauder. And it carried more weapons than the whole US Army.
Near the main deck, there was a group of ... clowns, or something. One was extremely tall and thin, with a Napoleon jacket.
Warpman called his following teammates. "We have a French to kill, and it's not Quint. I'll take care of him. Warpman, over."
Warpman disappeared once again...
--------------------
... to appear just in front of Spade. Who put a hand on his mask to reveal an expression of surprise."I told ya, Bozo ! Spontaneous generation is for real !"
"It was Spontaneous COMBUSTION we were talking about, Cap'n." sighed said Bozo.
"Oh, yeah. Like when Bobby set fire to the kitchen." Spade now had a thoughtful expression.
Boby tried to defend himself. "How could I know that toasters burn spaghetti ? It was your order, anyway."
"Yep, but you put the fire, so only you could have prevented it !"
The chat was rudely interrupted by a Crash Bomb. No one was hurt, but they all turned to an angry Warpman. "I'm here, you know."
Spade was now wearing a demonic smile. "That's "I'm here, Cap'n" to you, Frankenstein !"
"I already had it with you, Junkion clown. Let's end this, quickly." Warpman aimed with his bomb launcher again, but had to dodge a fire-breath from Tim.
The second he thought he was safe, he recieved a volley of knives on his torso.
"Two can play this game !" He removed one of the knives, and threw it behind him. Mary laughed until she recieved the blade, warped, in her back. She screamed in pain until the Fatalist grabbed her and threw her off the Overkill.
"That guy does think in portals." commented Bozo. He was answered with a Crash Bomb. The detonation took his left arm.
Warpman then teleported in Tim's back, and grabbed his throat. "One move, and your goon is out !"
Spade chuckled. He took a hat from behind his back, and reached in it. He pulled, and Tim's head came. It was only at this time that Warpman realized that the fire-breather had disappeared from his grab.
Spade took advantage of his confusion to charge at the Fatalist. He kicked and punched until Warpman had his back on the Overkill's side. The Bloody Arlequin then grabbed his opponent's body, and threw him over. There was a splash, soon followed by a flash.
"The sea must've claimed him, Cap'n !" commented Tim, as Spade was wearing a confused face.
"Impossible ! I should've known it ! I am the sea !" A loud crash was heard, as the Overkill "landed" on the dock. "I'm the pavement too !"
A Joe rushed to the Officer. "Cap'n, should we start part Two ?"
Spade now had a happy face. "Yeah ! We'll show them that, if they don't come to the sea, the sea will come to them !"
--------------------
Out from town, Sedulus was anlyzing the reports from his probes. They were satisfying."RPD loss level has reached a critical level of 82%. They no longer pose a threat.
"However, the Wily defense force is too organized. Reports have stated that the Fatal Five protect the town. The leader of this group is Riff, and seems to possess leadership skills.
"Destroying him would disorganize the defense, and the mission's success rate will rise to 74%. It is a mission I must fulfill myself."
Before heading to Riff's latest position, Sedulus sent a copy of the report on the Frost Joes to the General. That way, he could fully dedicate himself to his suppression mission...
--------------------
Taking cover from a building, Riff was observing a small group of RPD troopers heading his way. He opened a message channel to the nearby troops :"They've fallen in the trap."
Immediately, a trio of Metools fired at the attackers. They were weak, but forced the RPD squad into retreating to a nearby alley ...
... where a Madgrinder was waiting for them. The fight was quick - and brutal.
After his small success, the Fatalist leader heard a calm voice coming from behind him :
"You seem to be a good leader, Riff. It really is a shame you did not accept the offer of the General when you met him."
"Who're you ?" asked Riff, turning back to see five identical robots floating in front of him.
"My name is Sedulus, and my current mission is to terminate you. The destruction of this town is capital in the achievement of perfection, and I will destroy you to reach this goal I was programmed for."
Taking no time to answer, Riff fired at the robots with his gatling. Four of them flickered, and the last one quickly teleported before being hit. then, the five robots turned around the Fatalist, so that he couldn't guess who was who.
"Holograms. How original." said Riff, before a laser came from each Sedulus.
"I believe you have mistaken me for Shadowman. Know that my holograms, unlike his, have a strong offensive power."
The Sedulus'es fired again and again, forcing Riff to doge harder each time. Finally, he released tracking missiles, which detonated on each Sedulus. Four probes fell to the ground, and a damaged-looking Sedulus was still floating in the air.
The Officer smiled, as more probes came in. Takin no time, Riff jumped on the real Sedulus, and yelled :
"Lento ! Slow Shot on my position ! Now !"
Sedulus tried to rush away, but Riff was too tightened on him. A sphere detonated on him, englobing both fighters.
No damage was done, but Sedulus felt ... something. As he turned his head to Riff, he felt that moving - and thinking- became harder ... slower ... until he froze in place.
The Fatalist smiled and released his grasp. The Fatal Five's designs were built to counter the effects of the Slowdown Cannon - he would feel groggy for a few minutes, but that would be all.
A green behemoth came in. Lento aimed at Sedulus, and opened fire. He was equipped with many hidden weapons, and he never took kindly at people hurting his leader.
It was a whole minute before his arsenal was emptied. All that remained of Sedulus were a few parts of armor, barely recognizable.
Riff raised a thumb at his walking artillery before they headed back to the fights. With their leader disabled, they would have a chance of getting Scissor Joes...
--------------------
The scene was amazing. Slowly, the Overkill was landing, helped by a series of treads that extended under its structure. the vessel was now heading in town, destroying any building nearby.Karasû and Staccato, who were watching the scene, decided from a common accord to try and take out the captain of this behemoth.
The raven-bot grabbed his colleague by the shoulders, and the two of them made their way to the boat between the unending rain of bullets coming from the Overkill, only to be greeted by Spade.
"Would you two happen to be friends of that portal-guy ?" he asked in a very serious way. The contrast with what they heard about him took them aback, and they nodded.
"I hate to break good relationships. I'll help you dine together tonight - in Hell !" Giant baldes popped on the Bloody Arlequin's, and he charged right at Staccato. The two of them clashed iron, while Tim was turning around them, trying to get in a good position to "fire" at the Fatalist.
He didn't go unnoticed, though. As he caught his breath, Karasû drew runes with his hands, and pointed his left hand at the fire-breather. A wind blast extinguished Tim's fire-breath, and when the carnie turned back to see what the problem was, he was greeted by Karasû's staff.
As the raven-bot was done with knocking his opponent out, he heard a scream, and turned : Staccato had just beeen thrown out of the ship.
"Don't worry for him." told Spade. "He's with Warp-guy now. And down there, they all float..."
"You sent him on the pavement."
The awkward silence was filled with the noise of detonations as the Overkill blasted all around town.
"... How about I flood the city ? He'll float, then !"
"Do not think of plans, clown. My task is to send you in the after-world."
"Cap'n !"
"What ?"
"Not "clown". Call me "cap'n"."
Karasû sighed. He only seemed to face weirdos and blood-thirsty monsters ever since the War began. He prepared another spell to restrain Spade's moves.
"Wow ! You're a magician too ! Let me show you my tricks !"
Spade put his hands in his back, and then proceeded to throw whatever stuff he had found on his adversary. It mostly was confettis and garlands - but a small porcelain plate hit Karasû on the forehead as he was about to throw his spell.
A "puff" detonated, followed by a cloud of smoke surrounding the killer clown. A silhouette emerged from it, forcing Karasû to blink as he realized what was in front of him.
Spade's body had been altered in a ... surprising way. It could be told he had switched to his feminine side.
"What ... What have you done to me ?" Even "his" voice had been altered.
"That was both mean, unnecessary, and uncalled for ! It hurts, you know !"
"What ... what did I hurt ?" asked the raven-bot. Through his mind, mental pictures were popping in, and he silently vowed never to use that spell again.
"My pride and self respect ! Damn you, Davy Jo- err, damn you, Beaky !" Maddened by the spell's effects, Spade charged at the raven-bot, in an effort to hack him to pieces with his wrist-mounted blades. The Fatalist deflected each attack with his staff, and was forced to get in the air - only to be followed by the levitating Arlequin.
--------------------
In the meantime, a bulky robot was trying to catch up with the Overkill. After a few metres running, he raised his right arm, which emitted a flash of light - and he was gone."Well calculated." muttered Warpman. He had appeared exactly in the engine rooms of the battleship. There were only a few guards - all the remaining Joes were firing at Murmansk and their defenders.
The Fatalist silently walked closer to the main engine. There was a control panel, guarded by a single Joe. Warpman used his Stopper and Bombs to quickly blast the "intruder" away. As he inspected the panel, a single button drew his attention : bright red, with the mention "Explode !" on it. He sighed.
"A total nutcase. Well, there soon will be one nutcase less in the world." He sent an emergency message to his teammates, and pressed the button.
Another flash, and he warped away to a safer place.
--------------------
Karasû wasn't faring well against the maddened Spade. He wasn't expert at close-quarter fights to start with, and he couldn't take the chance to throw a spell - or he would get stabbed.After a final attack, his staff flew away, and the mad Arlequin threw him to the ground. Spade landed on the magician's back, and grabbed a wing.
"Tonight, on Iron Chef, we welcome Spade ! Today's ingredient - raven wings !"
The Fatalist screamed as his enemy was tearing his appendix apart with his blades.
Spade was nearly done with the right wing when Karasû recieved Warpman's message. Gritting his jaws, he took a scroll from his belt and opened it.
As the writing faded, translucent ropes came out of the scroll and grabbed the Arlequin. Karasû grabbed his severed wing and levitated away.
"That blasted wizard ! If I catch him, wooden or not, I'll ... burn ... him ... waitaminute." The effects from karasû's first spell were fading away, and Spade's body was back to its former state.
"No more problems ! Cool ! I'll still burn him, though."
As Spade was planning his revenge, he heard the detonation. The next second, he was blasted in the air, followed by burning debris of the Overkill and his crew.
"It seems that I'm blasting off agaaaaaaaain !" As he disappeared in the sky, a spark shone at the spot he previously occupied. Ting.
--------------------
Karasû slowly came out of the building he took cover in. All over the streets, burning debris of the Overkill and its crew could be seen. Buildings close were heavily damaged, but the menace was stopped before it hit the shelters - and that's all that counted.The raven-bot drew a small symbol with his left hand, and his staff flew to him.
"Cool trick. Not like I don't see it everyday, but still." Karasû didn't turn to see who spoke.
"And you, companion, would give Wily a heart attack every day if you tried." He finally turned to Warpman. "What are the reports from the outer wall ?"
"The RPD force is annihilated, and the SA is retreating. Apparently, Riff and Lento took out their main Officer."
They remained silent until Staccato arrived. He was looking weary, but seemed determined to keep on fighting.
"Who of you brother-in-arms is to be thanked for this wonder ?"
The wizard and the trickster looked at each other before turning back to their teammate. "We can say it is teamwork."
"Let's go now. I'm sure Riff needs us."
On these words, the Fatalists headed to the southern part of town. There was still some work to do.
--------------------
"Do we really have to do this ?"The fight for Murmansk had been a complete success for Wily's forces. What remained of the RPD, and those of the SA that didn't flee, had been crushed by the Wily troops and the Multimen squadron.
Now, the Fatal Five, Henry and a Multiman were about to adress a speech to the citizens they just protected.
"We gotta tell them they're safe, Warpman. That's what we fought for, right ?"
The other Fatalist nodded. "Good point, Riff. Go ahead, then."
Riff turned to the civilians in front of him. He coughed, and motioned to one of the translator bots. It acivated itself, ready to retranscript his speech in Russian.
"Citizens of Murmansk ! Today, your city was attacked by both the forces of the Scissor Army and the RPD, in an attempt to destroy this haven !
"But thanks to Multiman's assistance, we pushed back the invaders, and destroyed no less than two Officers of the Scissor Army !
"None of you were hurt in that fight, but we Fatal Five promise to help you rebuilding the town !"
As the Fatalists and their friend walked away, Riff asked : "So, how does it feel, being a hero ?"
"I have to say, it feels ... good." agreed Warpman.
"And thanks to you, I've found a nice cover from Wily's wrath. Helping rebuilding Murmansk. Gonna be weeks, maybe." Henry was beaming. After the mess he had gotten into, he had the perfect occasion to stay hidden until things cooled off.
The six of them walked away, ready to help supervizing the construction bots.
--------------------
None of the Wily Bots had spotted two civilians who walked away before the end of the speech. One was wearing a trenchcoat, and observed his surroundings, expecting an attack, while the other was walking swiftly, ghost-like, and the trenchcoat man nearly had to run behind him.Silver Feather was humming, looking at the jewels he had "found". They could easily be sold to the black market...
"I wonder what'll happen to the civilians." said the trenchcoat man. "Being under Wily's reign isn't a good perspective."
"To be honest, Noguchi, I don't really care." replied Silver Feather. "They just proved the RPD and the SA they were no small stuff, and I bet the RPD has more urgent issues than a heavily guarded town near Siberia."
The two of them remained silent until they were out of town, and entered Feather's helicopter. Today was a victory for both Cossack's and Wily's forces.
--------------------
It was a control room, with nothing particular to the external
observer.
A probe teleported in, and connected itself to the main computer.
The machines hummed, and the screen activated itself, revealing
a familiar shape.
"The defeat in Murmansk was due to an underestimation of the
robots known as 'Fatal Five'." told Sedulus' silhouette.
"The damages dealt on my main body are nearing 80%. Analyzes
reveal it would be easier to build a new body from scratch rather
than retrieving the destroyed parts.
"Spade's fate is unknown, but it seems he will be unable to
fight for a long period of time. the destruction of the "Overkill" would
be fatal to 90.3% of the robots trapped in such a situation. It
is unknown if Spade belongs to the remaining 9.7%, but chances
are high.
"Until my body is rebuilt, I am of little help to the Scissor
Army. Until that time, I must step out of the War.
"Sedulus, over."
The computers seemingly stopped, yet something felt "alive" in
the room. It could be monthes before Sedulus was back into action,
but he will come back to fight.
He will.
Results
:
SA :
-Test the new Frost Joes : SUCCESS
-"Put a dent" in Wily's territory : SUCCESS
-Secondary : Take the town : FAILURE
RPD :
-take control of the town : FAILURE
WILY :
-Keep the town : SUCCESS
THE END
--------------------
