The Business of War
Orchestrated By C.M. Rich (Magnetman)
Target: Wily
By Gauntlet, Regulus
Scenario F
Participants:
Wily Rescue Force (W)
Mr. Whiz (W)
The Armoured Assassins (C)
Bass (L)
Location: Subterranean Skull Castle
SA Infantry: 1034
RPD Units: 1161
Wily Bots: 302
Doc Robot couldn’t stop Wily’s punishment. He cringed every time
General Cutman brought that whip down on his master’s back. He
screamed in pain. None of the Wily Rescue Force could stand it.
Even Barrageman, with about as much personality as a home computer,
couldn’t bear to watch the doctor’s punishment. Doc Robot tried
to go to the sobbing scientist when the punishment ended, but the
cruel hands of Splitter Joes took him away while others restrained
the maddened Doc Robot. He hacked them away with a Metal Blade,
but it was too late. The General merely laughed at Doc Robot’s
display of loyalty. The clockwork Wily gave him a cold glare. He
could bring him down. After all, he could access the power of Gutsman.
But that monster had Wily.
The severe punishment was because of Spark Chan’s desertion. And
Windman’s death. Apparently dying was considered something punishable.
Omniman and Golemman had destroyed an important Scissor Army base.
They had died, but Wily had to pay the price. Mr. Whiz had lost
the President of the United States. Sunstar and Dark Moon had both
“allowed” Magnetman to level New Delhi. The Wily Rescue Force hadn’t
accomplished much during their mission and, although Canberra now
belonged to the Scissor Army, it was due to the mass Shutdown of
RPD troops, not their efforts. Wily suffered their mistakes as
well, much to Doc Robot’s shame.
If any of Wily’s forces had believed General Cutman wouldn’t harm
an old man, despite his threats … doubt was erased from their minds.
Every single one of Wily’s men has suffered defeats and now Wily
had paid the price for their failure.
“It’s not fair!” said Mr. Whiz between tears. “He’ll die if they
keep doing that! Damn it, the mission went fine didn’t it? We captured
Washington! Quint said he’d talk to Cutman!”
“I know,” said Doc Robot quietly.
Mr. Whiz walked with the Wily Rescue Force back to the mess hall.
The corridors were crowded with Scissor Joes. Skull Castle was
overrun with them.
“We have to do something,” said Expressman angrily.
Multiman was morose. “He said not to.”
“That was before he was whipped.”
Doc Robot had a mad look in his eye. “We are the Wily Rescue Force.
We will rescue Master!”
“And I’ll help!” said Mr. Whiz enthusiastically. The Wily Rescue
Force looked his way slowly. They had quite forgotten he was there.
--------------------
The heavily forested area around Wily's previously above-ground castle was almost completely devoid of sound...Well, almost...
"Your logic is flawed!" A thick Russian voice boomed inside a small clearing.
"I don't have to put up with this. You're just a terrorist getting off easy for working for us."
Blizzardman loomed over Commander Garmel. The RPD CO was well-built, but he looked like a twig next to the 6'10" Russian. Still, he looked up to the Assassin defiantly.
"You think you can stare me down, terrorist?" Garmel snarled. "I can just as easily work without you. Then where's your army?"
"I've done twice as much work as you with far less troops. You RPD hacks couldn't do anything right if it weren't for your super computer." Blizzard shot back. "I could do this myself if I had to."
"Hahaha! As if, Sno-cone." Blizzardman recognized the voice. It was Bass.
"Great! First, terrorists, then Wily's right-hand man." Garmel sighed. "Is a deal with Satan involved, too? I hear he's not such a bad guy, either."
Bass completely ignored the CO and walked straight to Blizzardman. "You can barely hold onto a city without destroying it."
"I did what needed to be done." Blizzardman stated calmly. "74% of the city remains intact, a hell of a lot better than what the Scissor Army would have done with it."
"Whatever, Frosty." Bass replied. "Think you can can the waterworks over your dead girlfriend for five minutes and actually try to be useful?"
"Depends, can you pull your head out of your ass and help us out?" Blizzard shot back.
"What was that?!" Bass clenched his fist.
"You can kick my ass any day of the week," Blizzardman admitted. "But all that power isn't going to be worth a damn if you're not going to work with us. This isn't a bust-down-the-door mission. That's what I was trying to drill into Skippy's skull here." He pointed to Commander Garmel, who looked as though his face was going to melt from the rage beneath it.
"You think I don't know that?" Bass snapped back. "I know Wily's base better than any of you. You should be listening to me."
"Would you care to share with the class?" Garmel said.
Bass pulled out a hologram map of the parts of the underground he was familiar with. "The old man's a paranoid old coot, so I don't know where everything is, but I do know there are only ten exits from the underground base. Just about the only thing you guys are good for is guard duty, so you might as well just stand near the door and catch the little insects as they flee from me."
"You see? That's a wonderful suggestion, Bass." Blizzard said.
"Of course it is." Bass snapped. "I thought of it!"
"And humble, too." Garmel rolled his eyes.
Blizzardman leaned over to Garmel. "As much as I enjoy the attempts to participate in intellectual conversation, this guy could easily clear out half your army, so I'd suggest working with him on a pleasant basis."
"There's still the communication relays to consider." Garmel ignored Blizzardman's suggestion. What do you intend to do about that?"
Bass sighed. "If you weaklings are THAT afraid of Wily's defense turrets, I can go and destroy them before I go in."
"Actually, Bass, I'd prefer if you didn't waste your time on such an easy task. I've got it covered." Blizzardman turned his back to Bass and Garmel and brought up Silver Feather's com-link frequency.
"Hello, Blizzard. To what do I owe the surprise?" The ace thief replied.
"I need a favor from you, Feather." Blizzard said. "I'm uploading a map to you. I need you to take out the communications relay in the area around the subterranean Skull Castle."
"Oh, and what's in it for me?" Silver Feather asked innocently.
"I don't club you like a baby seal when I get back." Blizzard responded in a chilling tone.
Silver Feather didn't speak for a while, making it look like he was actually weighing the choices. "Alright, sounds like a deal. How would you like the job done?"
"Quickly." Blizzardman replied. "And all at once. Tell me when you're ready to neutralize the relay so we can coordinate the strike." Blizzardman turned cut the communication and turned to the others.
"Gentleman," He said. "Consider the communications relay inoperable."
--------------------
The others sat in silence as Doc Robot worked his magic over the controls of the computer terminal. They were deep within Wily’s Subterranean Skull Castle. Even though Scissor Joes were everywhere, few of them came this deep part of the castle. It had been used primarily as storage space when the castle was active as a main base, but that was long ago. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. Since it was so out of the way and extremely useless, few people bothered with it. The Wily Rescue Force and their earnest ally Mr. Whiz had made it their secret headquarters.“I’m in the deployment roster,” said Doc Robot excitedly. Whiz tried to get a closer view, but Multiman and Expressman were blocking him. Barrageman, being uninterested in the subtleties of their plot, was put on guard duty. He would warn the team of detection by blasting the intruder to pieces.
Mr. Whiz was nervous. “I wanna see.”
“Pipe down,” said Expressman.
“But I wanna see!”
“I said pipe down!”
Mr. Whiz sat cross-legged and sighed. It wasn’t long before Doc Robot cried out in excitement.
“Goodie goodie! It is done!”
“what’s done?” asked Multiman gruffly. “Do we get to smash things yet?”
“Patience,” hissed Doc Robot. “You will have your action soon. Right now I’ve reset the schedule. It was pathetically easy … I know this system inside and out!” Doc Robot giggled in excitement. If the Scissor Army thought Wily’s forces would just let them keep their beloved leader, they were in for a shock. The Scissor Army had completely co-opted Skull Castle and ran it’s own Joe control systems through the Castle’s computers. Unfortunately for them Doc Robot knew the Castle’s systems better than they did and broke through their security with easy. He changed the duty rosters for that day, resetting key places so that the Scissor Joes would be replaced by Multimen. Such a formation would never have escaped notice before, but the Scissor Army was busy at the moment.
“Come on, we don’t have much time. Barrageman, make your way to the teleporters. We’ll need them secured.”
Barrageman grunted in agreement. The Wily Rescue Force made its way into the elevator shaft and began to make their way out. Mr. Whiz was excited. Wily was finally going to be rescued … and he was going to be a part of it!
--------------------
Four Joes stood their watch at a communications relay tower. Normal guards would probably be chatting idly or sighing their brains out of sheer boredom, but Scissor Joes never got bored. They weren't allowed to be bored. They weren't excited, either. They had job, that was the only thing they could call their own. A function a mission, and theirs was guard duty."Four Joes shouldn't be difficult to outsmart. They're Joes, after all." Silver Feather whispered to himself. He scanned the environment. Everything was still living. The SA hadn't had enough time to clear out all traces of organic life and warp the land into their utopia.
"I know what will do the trick." The expert thief said as he rummaged through his gear. He pulled out a small speaker the size of a half-dollar and climbed up the nearest tree.
Over at the tower, the four Scissor Joes heard hushed voices talking about a possible ambush.
"Unit 437, go investigate with Unit 723. We'll stay here." One of the Joes said. It was hard to tell which one was speaking since they lacked mouths and they all sounded alike, but the respective Joes broke off from the group.
The remaining two Joes resumed their rigid stance, fulfilling their purpose for all it was worth to them. Meanwhile, Silver Feather used the gap to sneak in past the guards' line of view. He took out a bag of small explosives, placing one at each corner of the tower. The combined explosion would take out the support and cause the tower to collapse.
"It's almost unfair." Silver Feather thought to himself. "Maybe I should be giving them a handicap..."
--------------------
A squad of Scissor Joes were making their rounds when a black robot leapt into the crowd, raining plasma down on them as though he had something better to be doing. The Joes hardly had any time to react before being blasted into scrap metal."It's almost like they're produced to be destroyed." Bass sighed as he dropped to the ground.
A lone Joe was readying his rifle. Bass had apparently missed him when he spotted their group. Just as he was about to fire, a large hand broke through the tree behind him, grabbing him by his head and yanking him through the tree. His torso got caught in the tree, but the force pulling him yanked his head off his shoulders, leaving the decapitated Joe lodged in the trunk.
"I suppose you want a thank you for saving me." Bass said.
"No." Blizzard said as he crushed the Joe's skull in his hand. "The way I see it, I saved you from a sharp sting in the back. It's not like these ants can hurt us."
"Maybe you, but not me." Bass laughed. "C'mon, let's get this over with. I'm babysitting as far as I'm concerned."
Blizzard walked on as Bass took the lead with Plantman, Yamatoman, and Flameman following behind. The Assassins had thinned once again. This time T. Hawk and Ivan had been taken out. T. Hawk would recover, but it'd be a while before he felt ready to fight again. Blizzard cursed his luck, T. Hawk was his no. 1. Possibly his most useful friend in the war. He was part of the reason Dr. Cossack had valuable information on the Shutdown Code, and his sniping was always a useful aid in combat. Ivan would need a full reboot. He was only a Special Forces unit, but Regulus had gotten attached to his personality. It just wouldn't be the same without Ivan there to pound your lungs out your mouth with a slap on the back greeting.
Blizzardman let out a sigh then focused his attention on his beeping com-link.
"Yes?" Blizzard replied.
"This is Silver Feather, I just finished wiring the last one. I'm waiting for your signal."
Blizzardman gave Garmel the signal to start moving in. "Go ahead." He said.
The forest sprang to life with the sounds of hundreds of explosives as they rocked the communications towers set up at various points of the forest.
"Try to keep up, I can't afford to make sure you weaklings don't get killed." Bass said as he shot off towards the base.
Blizzardman turned to the Assassins. "Let's use the heat-shock treatment. Plant, I'll need a barrier. Stay behind with Yamato and take out the stragglers."
Plantman conjured a Plant Barrier that encompassed Regulus as he dropped his snowboard on the ground. Flameman hopped on the wintry juggernaut's shoulders as they blasted off towards the base.
The Joes were quick to react. The attack on the communications towers had already sparked a steady flow of ground troops to make up for the decreased efficiency in the base's automatic defense turrets.
Bass hardly bothered with the Joes. Every once and a while he'd blow one apart as it got in his way, but it was beneath him to waste time on worthless Joes. It was the overpowering force that followed Bass that was reducing them to scrap. With the barrier sticking to Blizzardman, the few plasma shots that hit him were simply reflected. Blizzardman left a trail of ice in his wake, freezing Joes in place or tearing them to shreds with his razor-sharp snow. Flameman made use of the ice, throwing fireballs at the pockets of frozen nitrogen, causing the ice to explode in a shower of shrapnel, ripping apart even more enemies. Just when the survivors thought it was safe to give chase, they'd be overtaken by Plantman and Yamato's superior melee combat ability.
Bass looked behind him and observed the clean-up job. "I guess these tin cans can pull their own weight after all." He looked ahead, they were almost to the entrance.
--------------------
Doc Robot met Expressman and Mr. Whiz in an unmonitored hall. In another time, Skull Castle’s defences were targeted only by Megaman, but the General had fortified them to detect any movement now. He did not trust Wily’s men. Luckily Doc Robot had accounted for this.“Follow me,” said the clockwork Wily as his shape blurred and distorted. Suddenly he was a SWAT Joe with indicators of high rank. Whiz’s mouth hung open stupidly until Expressman clued him in.
“Darkman.”
“Eh?”
“It’s a holographic disguise. Just follow along and try not to do anything stupid.”
Escorted by the disguised Doc Robot the group made their way to the elevator. They were eyed warily by other Joes lurking the compound. It was highly unusual for any Wily Robots to be going in their direction. However, the highly militaristic programming of the Joes was turned against them. All it took was a look square in the “eye” to stop low raking Joes from questioning them. They made it to the elevator in time. To Expressman’s annoyance Whiz let out a relieved sigh.
Trouble began almost as soon as they exited the elevator. They were at the dungeon’s level now and were stopped. Expressman was cool as ice and the Joe disguise hid any expression Doc Robot might have had, but the overly emotional Mr. Whiz could barely contain himself. Especially when they were stopped by a Sahara Joe, fresh from a victory in Iraq.
“What is your business here?’ asked the Joe gruffly. Doc Robot took note of his rank and saw it was the same level as he pretended to be. There would be no staring down this Joe.
“I have orders from Napalmman. Wily is to be secured in case of attack by the Robot Police.”
The Sahara Joe looked at Doc Robot critically. “I have been given no such orders.”
“You are being given them now.”
“You are not authorised to give me orders. This is unusual behaviour.”
Doc Robot suppressed a surge of impatience. “If we do not secure Wily you will have hindered our mission and caused a delay in the plans of the Scissor Army. Follow orders now. Elysium awaits.”
The Sahara Joe paused for a moment. By its reckoning orders did come first. It was unusual for him not to receive orders such as these directly, but then Napalmman was an unusual commander. He had circumvented the proper channels before. And any delay in carrying out orders was an offence punishable by death. For a Joe, orders were paramount. And not to be questioned.
“Elysium awaits.”
Doc Robot nodded and moved on. Wily’s dungeons were, by and large, empty. The Scissor Army was not known for taking prisoners. Even here there were guards. However, noted Doc Robot with a hidden smile, three of them were Multimen, as was his design. The Scissor Army, obsessed with their orders and unquestioning loyalty, and distracted by the campaigns they were waging all around the world, failed to see the consequence of this. Without words Multiman led them into the chamber.
Doc Robot felt himself choke up. Wily was bloody and sat on the floor dejectedly. He even flinched as the team entered the room.
“Whiz! Multiman! And Expressman too! What … do you want?”
The door shut and Doc Robot dropped the illusion. He looked up at the camera and smiled. Unseen from their view, the Multiman on monitor duty smiled back.
“To free you, Master!”
Wily’s eyes widened in surprise. “Doc Robot!? You’ve all come to rescue me!?” Wily was on his feet.
“Don’t act so surprised. Of course we came for you,” said Expressman. He seemed to have a grin on his face.
“We’re not called the Wily Rescue Force fer nuthin’,” said Multiman gruffly. Mr. Whiz looked about ready to give Wily a hug.
Wily stepped towards them, but hesitated. “What about … Classi Cal?”
Doc Robot frowned. “She has left, Master.”
Wily looked stricken. So, that was how it was. But this emotion lasted only a moment. For the first time since his capture wheels were turning in the old doctor’s head. “At least I have you.”
Whiz could remain silent no longer. “What’s the plan for getting out of here?”
Expressman and Doc Robot responded in unison with some annoyance. “Brightman.”
--------------------
Bass laughed. That brainless oaf had been put on guard duty. It was the perfect position for Barrageman. No wit required. Barrageman turned just in time to see Bass hurtling towards him, but not soon enough to react to the brutal crescent kick Bass delivered using his thrusters for added force. Barrageman landed flat on his back, only to have Bass land in the middle of his chest, knees first, making him groan in pain."Stay out of my way, idiot!" Bass snapped before blasting off into the base. Barrageman tried to target him, but his scanners were picking up another presence.
Barrageman turned around to find Blizzardman charging at him. He remembered the Russian from his mission in Kalingrad. Blizzard had been a big help to Wily's forces in the past, but Doc Robot had made it clear that Blizzardman was not to be trusted. This mission was important. Wily's safety meant keeping them at bay while Doc Robot got Wily to the teleporters.
"Unit Barrageman shall not allow unit Blizzardman to pass." Barrageman droned as he launched a flurry of heavy plasma shots at the intruder.
Blizzardman launched himself into the air over the attack, holstering his board on his back and grabbing Flameman by his right leg. Blizzardman rotated his upper torso to pick up momentum before pitching Flameman at the green giant. Flameman began spinning himself in midair, activating his flame buster at the same time, engulfing himself in the white-hot inferno. The fiery torpedo slammed into Barrageman at full force, knocking him back a few meters. Barrageman stabilized himself using his thrusters and backed himself against the entrance. He wasn't as brilliant as Doc Robot, but he knew they wanted in, and with his back to the entrance, only reinforcements would have a glimpse of his back.
Blizzardman cursed under his frigid breath. Barrageman had the advantage. He had superior long-range firepower. The Blizzard Attack probably wouldn't even scratch his thick armor. If only he could get close to Barrageman he might be able to overpower him, but Barrageman knew Blizzard was a brutal close-quarter combatant, and was already in the process of making it obvious where the border between them was with his powerful plasma barrage.
"Plant? Yamato? Any time, guys." Blizzard muttered as he barely dodged a blast, wincing as it grazed his left side.
--------------------
"Where's that worthless old man?" Bass spat as he slammed a Scissor Joe into a wall head first, crushing his CPU against the steel wall. A rag-tag band of mis-fit Wily bots and Scissor Joes flooded the hallway only to be cleared by the black robot's superior strength. A Hammer Joe threw a heavy steel ball at him. Bass sidestepped the attack, grabbing the end of the chain and whipping the steel ball back around to crush its owner. More Joes filed in, attempting to use their shields to slow Wily's rogue powerhouse, but Bass simply strode up to them while keeping them pinned with his rapid fire, making them stick to their choice of shields. When he was close enough he tore into the crowd, kicking their shields out of their hands and blasting them to pieces with his buster. If he knew those buffoons in the Wily Rescue Force, he knew he'd have to peel them off their precious doctor like leeches. He laughed at the pathetic forces that the defense system kept tossing at him. A couple of Multimen even dared to oppose him."Tell Wily I'm home, scrap heap!" He shouted before melting a Multiman's head off his shoulders.
--------------------
"Well, it looks like that sno-cone stayed true to his word." Garmel mused as he observed the battle ahead. The RPD was hammering the opposing forces. They had caught them by surprise and without their main defense guns to help them. He even laughed a bit as his SWAT officers took out some odd-looking Wily bots with eerie smiles painted on them. He never did get why Wily did that. He's an old man, maybe he gets lonely.--------------------
Blizzardman and Flameman were starting to get repelled by Barrageman as his backup arrived. A Multiman had stepped up to the doorway and sat there, breaking off copies to go fight with the two robots every couple of minutes. The Joes were starting to look more formidable now that they were assisting Barrageman's shots. Just as Blizzardman was about to break off the attack, RPD units began flooding in from the forest, applying pressure to the defending squad. The Wily forces were starting to withdraw and even Multiman was having trouble keeping Barrageman supplied with copies. Barrageman still did not move."Unit Barrageman shall not back down until all enemy units are destroyed."
Multiman was about to convince his teammate that Wily would have more use for a fully intact Barrageman when backup arrived in the form of a Matasaburo. The tubby robot with a giant fan built into his stomach toddled in front of the two WRF members and turned on its massive turbine. Flameman tried his best to keep his ground, but his armor was the lightest of the group and the impressive wind knocked him back into the forest, knocking him against a tree and disorienting him. The other RPD units attempted to keep their ground, but they slowly began to give ground as the wind blew them back. Only Blizzardman remained as his immense armor anchored him to the ground. He pulled out a ski pole from his back and dug into the ground, allowing him to move faster through the high speed wind. Unfortunately, now he was alone. He grabbed a fallen Joe shield as it blew past him, which he used to dodge incoming plasma fire. Eventually he had to stop, however. He had only managed to reach the barrier Barrageman had set since the the encounter started. It was aggravating. For all his strength he couldn't get past the powerful bolts of energy that Barrageman kept pelting the ground with.
"What I wouldn't do for a rocket launcher..." He sighed.
--------------------
If Doc Robot could sweat he would The base was going insane! Expressman took out a few Scissor Joes as they set their sights on them. “Came on, we have to get outta here!” cried the speed freak.“I know, I know!” Doc Robot once again activated the Flash Stopper. Doctor Wily let out a gasp. A Sahara Joe had fired directly in his face.
“I’ll take care of this, boss!”
“Not if I take care of it first, kid!”
In a blur of motion Mr. Whiz and Expressman destroyed all other robots around them. Even robots on Wily’s side couldn’t be trusted as far as those two were concerned. The Scissor Army had gained access to the castle’s central computers … they were on their own.
Time resumed and Wily let out a long breath.
“You guys leave me no fun,” complained Multiman. Expressman chuckled at the robot’s sentiment.
“Halt! In the name of the law!”
“What!?” Wily turned and saw some Robot Police officers level their weapons at the team.
“Switch to stun, we have to capture that human alive!”
“Like hell you do!” Mr. Whiz, Expressman and Multiman charged at the police squad. Multiman smiled as he took the brunt of laser fire and crushed an RPD officer with his fists. Another fell to an Anti-Quick Boomerang and yet another to Expressman’s Solar Cannon. The rest backed off as they were called to another area.
“Madness,” whispered Wily softly.
“Yer not kidding,” Multiman said as he produced another clone. Already the party was escorted by a team of Multis, You couldn’t have enough of a good thing according to the orange and blue robot. And they were glad for the assist. Multiman has already informed him of the presence of the Armored Assasins. Nobody had been pleased to hear about it, least of all Wily. They had taken advantage if the doctor’s instability after many of his forces rebelled against him and had left just after Wily put some faith in them. Nevertheless, they had to get out of there, not engage in some futile and pointless battle. Right on cue Bass attacked Mr. Whiz.
“So there’s the suck up!” said Bass as he tore through Whiz with purple rabid fire. Whiz screamed in pain, but Bass did not relent. He charged at the yellow robot and fired on him even more, until he was set on by Expressman.
“What do you think you’re doing!?” Expressman hammered at Bass with his Solar Cannon and his fists. Bass just smiled. Within moments the black robot found an opening and fired on Expressman. Caught off guard, Expressman was thrown into the wall. Bass merely laughed. This was his idea of a good time.
“Wily Rescue Force. Yeah, right. Hand the old man over!”
Doc Robot stepped protectively in front of Wily.
“What are you doing?” screamed the Doctor in fury, “You are on my side!”
“You’re side’s finished, old man! And you’re coming with me!” Bass levelled his buster at the diminutive lookalike and chuckled. He actively avoided the ego boost. Somehow having a robot version of his creator hanging around gave him the creeps … even if he could beat him up. Bass fired his buster...
...And hit the Multimen behind them. Bass blinked. And in that moment of confusion he was set upon by Expressman and Whiz.
“You think you’re so hot? You shoulda never messed with the Wily Rescue Force!” Expressman laughed as he fired at Bass. Whiz laughed as well … he liked bringing the high and mighty Bass down a peg or two.
Multiman jumped into the fray with his clones. The struggling and now damaged Bass screamed bloody murder as he was shoved inside of a Multiman. There were a few more flashes of light, but Bass couldn’t see them. He was too busy being led away as a captive inside of Multiman.
“Let me out you idiots!”, screamed Bass, “Don’t you get it? I’m rescuing him! I’m working for the good guys you bunch of retards! Let me out!”
--------------------
Doc Robot laughed out loud. “It’s not his job to rescue Wily.”Expressman let out an annoyed click. “Yeah, no kidding. Who does that ass think he is? There’s only one ‘Wily Rescue Force’. Accept no substitutes.”
“Does this mean I’m in the Wily Rescue Force too?”
Everyone in the group looked at the enthusiastic Mr. Whiz.
“There’s no way I’m going to let myself be arrested,” said Wily angrily. “Why if they knew what I did to those refugees …”
“We won’t let ‘em get you,” said Expressman confidently.
“Barrageman’s not reporting back.” Doc Robot looked worried. Despite the lack of personality, he’d grown fond of Barrageman. The Wily Rescue Force had worked together for a long time now. Multiman was worried too.
“Are you still getting his signal?”
“Yes. He can be repaired. We’ll come back for him.”
Wily opened a secret elevator to the surface. It was spacious, but not spacious enough for all the Multimen and so all but one stayed behind. As it stood there was still too little room for comfort. Still … they had gotten away. Doc Robot let himself relax. They had snuck past the majority of the chaos and got Wily out of Skull Castle.
The team had just exited the facility when a bright light shone on them from above. They could barely see it with the light shining right in their eyes, but they were sure they saw a gigantic flying fortress! A voice boomed out at the small group of fugitives.
“Don’t anybody move! You’re all under arrest!”
--------------------
Within minutes the would-be rescuers had been taken up to the top deck of the Flying Fortress and were now staring down Blizzardman. True, there was an RPD CO right next to him, but Wily was more furious with having been betrayed after taking the Assassins in."You bastard! I helped you!" Wily spat.
"And I thank you for the upgrades, old man. It seems no matter how many times I stab you in the back you shower me with gifts." Blizzardman stooped to place himself on eye-level with Wily. "Much like how you seem to give Bass so much trust."
"I suppose I should have known better than to trust someone as dirty as I am." Wily smirked.
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Garmel asked.
"Oh, don't tell me you don't know who this is." Wily chuckled. "You think destroying cities is the only thing he's been up to? You're dumber than you look, Commander."
"Don't talk like you know anything about me." Blizzardman straightened up. "You've lost and now you're just trying to fool the RPD into a fight with my men. You've lost, give up. Bass might not be the master tactician, but I like to make sure my trump cards are played when my enemy least expects them." He turned to Doc Robot. "That was one hell of a pitiful excuse of a rescue." He sneered.
Garmel thought about what Wily had just said. It seemed logical. After all, Blizzardman had helped Wily all along. It was hard to tell by his actions whether he was working for Cossack or Wily. He also had a tendency of destroying any city he was operating in. Nonsteropolis fell while he was stationed there, then Cairo, and he had set Kalingrad on fire just so he could win. Was it really a stretch for him to be worse than what the RPD already knew? Garmel decided that even if Blizzardman was as bad as Wily was building him up to be, if he tried to arrest the Assassins now, there'd be no chance of survival. He was standing on their very own base. It'd be suicide trying to arrest them when they supplied most of the firepower on the battlefield. He'd simply have the RPD interrogate Wily for information on Blizzardman.
"Shut up, Wily, I see what you're trying to pull. You're the only one going to jail today." Garmel said with confidence.
"Hmph. Believe what you want, Commander." He turned to Blizzardman. "You say you like saving trump cards for the endgame, Blizzard." Wily seemed unnaturally calm. "I suppose it's time to play mine."
Before anyone could make a move, Wily reached into his lab coat and pulled out a small remote, he aimed it at Blizzardman and clicked it. Suddenly the Russian felt a sharp pain in his right side as he saw one of his own katanas pierce through his front. He turned as much as he could to find Plantman right behind him, holding Officer Garmel with one hand and the katana in the other.
"I should be thanking you, really, Blizzardman." Wily said with a laugh. "If it weren't for you thrashing Plantman when you got here, I would have never had a chance to repair him. You gave me the perfect opportunity to install my mind-control device."
The RPD was now helpless. With an RPD CO being held hostage, they couldn't fire a single shot even if Garmel wanted them to take it. Plantman yanked his sword out of Blizzardman's side and held the blade to Garmel's neck. Regulus felt his arm go limp. He had just missed his stasis tank, but he had nicked the controls to his right arm. It was useless now. Multiman was already loading Wily into his chest cavity. Doc Robot turned to Blizzardman and simulated blowing a raspberry at the Russian before jumping onto Multiman's back. His master had done it. Doc Robot knew that Master could never be caught without a plan. He was too smart for that. Express and Whiz had some fun killing off the remaining RPD bots on the deck before joining him. As the heavily-burdened Multiman flew away from the Armored Assassins' base, Wily's remote lost the connection and Plantman regained his senses. Realizing he was holding Officer Garmel at sword-point, he look around at all the RPD robots aiming their guns at him. He looked at Blizzardman as though he had just woke up from a 5-hour nap.
"Did we switch sides?" He asked, confused.
"No," Blizzardman said. "Just you. That bastard Wily has you bugged."
"Shit..." Plantman dropped his sword, much to the relief of Officer Garmel. "How'd he manage that?"
"It's my fault, I'll explain later." Blizzardman snarled. He knew that with all the time-stopping techniques that tiny Wily clone had, the WRF could be miles away from the Fortress by now. By the time it would take to find them, they'd be outside the anti-teleportation barrier. "We'll have to settle for taking over the base." Blizzardman said. At least we'll know what he's been doing if we can hack the system mainframe."
"This is all your fault, robot!" Garmel shouted.
Regulus wheeled on the CO, who was so startled he just barely managed to stifle a scream.
"I could have easily beaten down Plantman if you hadn't gotten yourself captured like some new recruit! Blame yourself for being a bargaining chip. Congratulations, your life is officially more important than capturing a global terrorist!"
Garmel gritted his teeth. He had really wanted the title of being the man who put an end to Wily's reign of terror, and now he was responsible for his escape. He stared at the floor rather than face the Russian.
"Secure the compound, maybe we can locate other facilities from the archives." He sighed.
--------------------
The Wily Rescue Force hung tightly to Multiman as they veered past oncoming helicopters. There were reports that the communications relays had been destroyed, but whoever did that underestimated the effectiveness of the Scissor Army. They were programmed to improvise and so, even without solid communication, they seemed to be rallying to combat the enemy forces at their doorstep. The Wily Rescue Force considered this for only a moment before Multiman’s engines began to sputter.Mr. Whiz panicked. “What’s wrong? You can’t be running out of fuel now!”
Multiman grunted. “You try staying in the air with four people hanging on to you. I gotta land!”
Doc Robot immediately let go of Multiman and began to deflect missiles with a new 3-leafed blade he now carried. “I will cover you! Get Master to safety!” He used a Tornado Hold to destroy a small Scissor Joe piloted aircraft. Doc Robot’s face fell as he looked on the ground. Wily’s forces, now commandeered by the Scissor Army had begun to attack.
Multiman ejected Wily and Mr. Whiz was doing his best to defend the good doctor. Wily’s Warriors' stupid red Metools kept trying to kill their master, but Mr. Whiz was faster than anything the traitorous Warriors could produce and managed to defend his master from attacks.
Expressman roared in triumph as he brought down Battons, but he knew those were the least of his worries. He was dismantling the rooster-inspired Cooks when he saw them. The few remaining Mad Grinders. Charging at them was a mix of Robot Police forces fighting a crew of Scissor Joes. Apparently, word had spread that Wily was making a break for it. He turned around and saw Multiman was mass producing more copies of himself. He was going as fast as he could, but now he was an open target. Oddly enough relief came from the loud explosions above him.
The Scissor Army had targeted the Flying Fortress. Expressman couldn’t help but chuckle. And that was all he could do before an unknown female assailant kicked him to the ground.
“Sorry for being so rude, but you’ll have to excuse me. Manners aren’t really my specialty.” She twirled her long double sided axe high into the air before plunging it into a startled Expressman’s chest. The robot’s eyes widened in surprise.
“But ... you can’t …”
Doc Robot had finished covering for Wily and made a landing on the ground. He saw the desperate situation. The Rescue Force hadn’t been able to make a clean getaway as they had planned. Doc Robot hid for a few moments as he accessed a new power. Rumor had it there was another Doc Robot out there somewhere. Someone had rebuilt his predecessor. Doc Robot spent an idle moment fanaticising over the amazing team they’d make before he found his new ability. To accommodate it his body had grown several times its former size. The strain on such an elaborate change in his systems caused Doc Robot to cramp, but he resisted crying out in pain. He was relatively well hidden and it was time for a last, desperate strategy.
Doc Robot’s chest opened. The new cavity caused Doc Robot pain, but it soon faded. His systems had made their acclimations to the new power. It wasn’t the first time he’d emulated Multiman. Like his team-mate, Doc Robot had found having a spare of himself lying around to take over in case of injury or destruction was a useful strategy. It had saved him when Wily’s Space Station was destroyed. Unlike his team mate, however, Doc Robot’s mind wasn’t quite used to handling multiple versions of himself active at the same time.
Now the smaller robots on the ground finally noticed him. The second Doc Robot defended the first as he spawned another copy of himself. Small Mousubeils had made their way to the once-diminutive robot master, but he heard the tell tale barks of dogs. One such dog once accompanied Ringman to search for a missing Wave Girl. Now both had disappeared from Wily’s forces, but the dogs remained. They attacked Doc Robot.
Now, however, there were five Doc Robots. His mind spun with the strain of maintaining so many of himself on the battlefield. And yet, he had to. Wily depended on him! Doc Robot strained himself to focus. Even as one of his copies was destroyed another two were produced and two of the robotic canines fell. These were some of Wily’s most deadly troops. Unlike the RPD’s K-9 units, these had incredible durability and Doc Robot had to fight tooth and nail Still, Doc Robot was good at copying Multiman’s powers. By the time the man in the black trench coat arrived the dogs were destroyed and there was a small force of Doc Robots to contend with.
“My, my, my,” said the man in black, “there sure if a lot of you.”
Doc Robot was straining himself. It was time to switch gears. The man charged at Doc Robot as another switch was made. On the defence Doc Robot fired a Thunder Beam at his assailant.
--------------------
Parts from the Flying Fortress rained down on Mr. Whiz and the small group of Multimen as the battle raged on. The booming sounds of the cannons and the whirling sounds of helicopters were music to Whiz’s ears. People who attacked Skull Castle deserved no less. Contrary to what they must have thought, the subterranean Skull castle was heavily guarded. Even if it seemed as if the Robot Police had sent out enough troops to match them, they had heavy artillery on their side.Multiman destroyed robots he would have called allies scant months ago. Whiz had a similar disregard. Their mission was clear. They had to rescue Wily! Multiman’s eyes widened in surprise as a large staff came out of nowhere and skewered him from the top of his head right through to his power core. The human attached to it smiled in delight.
“Hello there,” she said while freeing her weapon. She strolled casually towards Whiz while destroying a Joe that tried to attack her. The battlefield was madness, but she strode through it as in the eye of a storm.
Whiz shot out an Anti-Boomerang shouting, “Who are you!?” The woman garbed in white moved so fast that she almost disappeared. The boomerang had missed its target. Whiz ran out to meet the new attacker without noticing how pale his master had gotten.
“It can’t be you,” whispered the doctor. Suddenly he felt every single wound inflicted upon him by the General. “It can’t be! I created you!”
The woman matched Whiz for speed and delivered another blow to the yellow-clad robot. “Created me? That’s funny, I don’t remember you doing that.”
“Calamity,” breathed the Doctor. He was in a cold sweat now. “No! I created you! You were a disguise I made up! A holographic entity! You can … Anguish…” The Doctor’s eyes darted wildly. The black clad man known as Anguish was nowhere to be found, but Wily knew one wouldn’t be present without the other. He had to make a break for it. There was no way someone like Whiz could protect him from them!
Mr. Whiz cried out as the doctor made his escape. “Doctor! I can handle it!”
Calamity laughed at the robot’ concern. “Maybe he has the right idea, little robot.”
Wily ran, trying to hide behind as many clusters of the now-numerous Multimen as he could. Anguish and Calamity … Mesmerman’s agents of sorrow. But he created them both! In a mad bust of inspiration he decided to beat the Mechanical Maniacs when they were at their most confused. He remembered it well. He and Bass had stalked the new Magnetman before he made his debut to the rest of the team. They were there as he attacked Bombman and Hardman at his all too public bar. And that was when Wily and Bass made their moves. Using holographic machines Wily had used many times before he created both Anguish and Calamity and tried to use the ‘Maniacs fear of their newest threat against them! He programmed the disguises to be ruthless. Brutal. And disturbing.
“And you made us much more disturbing than you could have imagined, didn’t you?”
Wily let out a startled gasp and turned around. Calamity had spoken to him just then. But she was fighting Whiz. Still, he had made them capable of that. It was a transmission over his internal frequencies. Wily cursed himself. Once again his creations were being used against him. The mad doctor grabbed a Multiman and ordered him to retreat. Ever compliant Multiman opened his chest cavity and let the doctor in.
--------------------
Anguish laughed as he was struck by numerous Thunder Beams all at once. “You’ll have to try better than that my tiny friend! That is, if you want to save the good doctor.”Doc Robot cursed, despite his childish demeanour. The man in black was right. However, it was a serious strain on his already taxed system. Still, Wily needed saving. And Doc Robot was the leader of the Wily Rescue Force!
Anguish was frozen in midair for an indeterminable amount of time. Once time resumed the smiling man had a splitting headache. Before he could comment his back was shredded by needles. He seemed to be crying in pain, but Doc Robot did not let up! Another of him charged at the mad man with blinding speed and used his new claws to rip into him physically. And yet another Doc Robot used an extending staff to beat the man senseless. All the while Doc Robot’s mind spun with new programs and new tactics.
Anguish let out a loud, continuous laugh as he got right back up and used a long, unconventional sword to destroy a Doc Robot. “That’s it! Keep on coming! I felt those last try! Don’t stop now!”
Doc Robot couldn’t retort. His attacks kept on cycling through. Another one of him charged an Ion Blast and shot at the laughing man, sending him flying. The one imitating Flashman did not let up. Anguish landed with a lot more scorch marks than he had previously had. He seemed ready to keel over, but he couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. And Doc Robot couldn’t stop himself either.
The area was drizzled in rain. There was a loss of gravity for a few moments. Anguish was covered in Ice and Doc Robot followed it up with a Hard Knuckle. And more Thunder Beams. Which were the strongest attacks? Doc Robot tried Magic Cards, but Anguish easily avoided those. Rolling Cutters? The man seemed to really enjoy seeing those. Ion Blast? No he tried that one already. Doc Robot could smell smoke. It took longer than it should have to realise it was coming from himself.
Anguish stood still and laughed as Doc Robot screamed out in pain! He had been outsmarted! Too many of him, too many powers cycling too fast, all at once! Doc Robot, all of him, were down on their knees screaming in pain while clutching at their heads, their eyes, and their stomachs. It was too much! Much more than Doc Robot was designed to handle.
“Master! I … I’m sorry.”
The Doc Robots fell to the ground.
--------------------
Yamatoman ripped Joes apart left and right and Blizzardman did his thing to make the battlefield less suitable to their enemies. The Assassins were on their new mission.“This way! I can see that yellow freak Whiz over here!”
Blizzardman trudged along slowly. Plantman had to stay behind since that trick Wily pulled had made him next to useless on this mission. Bass had also been too damaged to lend any more “assistance”. Blizardman didn’t like being out in the thick of things. Not when it was a hopless situation like this.
“Those imbeciles should allow us to retreat.”
Flameman destroyed a squadron of Pipis that flew too close to him. “I know! Live to fight another day, right? It’s like that piggy wants us to die!”
Blizzardman narrowed his eyes angrily. “There is just too many robots and they are too well armed. And not only that, but they drove us out of the castle’s interior!”
“’This is our last shot’ … what a joke! It’s stupid to stay and fight when you know you’re gonna lose.”
Blizzard didn’t spare a look back. He knew his fortress, undisturbed by the present conflict until now, had sustained costly damages thanks to those cannons and now the Scissor Army itself. Blizzardman heaved a sigh. The remnants of his team didn’t like doing this. But it was their ticket out of jail, even if Blizzardman himself didn’t think a machine like Crorq would honour their bargain.
Blizzardman used a telescope and saw Whiz could barely fight off the RPD officers that had closed in on him. “The little guy looks to have taken quite a big beating. Let’s give him something bigger to worry about.”
Flameman agreed enthusiastically while Yamato looked ready to hit something to make up for earlier frustrations. Still … if Whiz was over there … and Multiman was all over the place … then where was Wily?
--------------------
Whiz noticed them out of the corner of his eye. Blizzardman and Flameman were marching straight for him. As if the RPD grunts weren't enough on his plate. He sliced through an RPD bot with his Anti-Boomerang before turning to run. He ducked in and out of the trees, trying to keep an eye out for RPD troops. Suddenly, he felt a numbness in his leg as he tripped and fell face-first to the ground. He looked down at his right leg to find that it wasn't there."Holy crap!" Whiz screamed, trying to pick himself up. He looked up and saw Yamatoman walking towards him with his spear in hand. "No!" Whiz thought. "I have to help Dr. Wily!" Whiz leaned on a large Anti-Boomerang to stand himself up. "I'm warning you, stay back!" Whiz bluffed. Yamato wasn't buying it as he rushed the inverted Quickman, quickly knocking aside the boomerang he attempted to defend himself with and cleaving his left arm from his body. Whiz screamed in pain as he felt his right arm go numb as well, severing the grip on the Anti-Boomerang and causing him to fall, no chance of getting up. Yamato finished the limb-hacking with a quick slice across Whiz's upper-left thigh. Yamato stood over Whiz with his spear in hand. Whiz cringed as he waited for Yamato to finish him off. Suddenly, Yamato stopped, stood up straight, and smiled.
"Sorry about that, Torso-Boy, but I couldn't think of any other way to keep you down without killing ya." Yamato skipped off, bounding over Whiz. "See ya!"
"Hey!" Whiz called out. "A little help?!"
---
The Assassins continued to make their way to the base. They lost a lot of ground, as they had somewhat retreated after catching Wily. Blizzardman lagged behind Yamato and Flame. His right arm was useless and he was primarily built for melee combat. Instead, he assisted his team by creating a blizzard to shroud their presence. The confused enemies didn't have enough time to adjust to the sudden precipitation before they were melted down by a fireball or eviscerated by Yamato's spear. All of the Assassins knew how to use their leader's snowstorms to their advantage. The Assassins were doing their best with what they had, but things were looking grim. Yamato and Flame were starting to get beaten up, and Blizzard wasn't able to help much with only one arm.
"Blizzardman. This is commander Garmel." Blizzard's com-link went off.
"Yes, Commander?" Blizzard answered.
"Pull back, we've lost enough troops." Garmel explained.
"What happened to ’This is our last shot’?" Blizzard taunted.
"This is different, we've recaptured Wily!" Garmel responded.
"We're on our way, Garmel." Blizzard responded. "Let's head back to the Fortress-" Blizzard was cut off by a plasma blast nailing him right in the back. He had let his guard down and a Scissor Joe had managed a pretty decent shot.
Flameman quickly melted the Joe, but more and more started pouring in. Yamatoman came between Blizzardman and the Joes.
"Go, take Blizzard back to the Fortress!" Yamato said to Flame. "I'll deal with these!"
"But they're so many." Flameman said.
"Don't worry about me, Blizzard's in trouble. Get moving."
Flameman helped Blizzardman get up and they started to move towards the Fortress as Yamatoman cut off the Scissor Joes.
"Your fight is with me, tin-cans." Yamato twirled his spear around and assumed an offensive stance.
--------------------
Doc Robot awoke in darkness while he experienced a strange moving sensation. It took him a moment to realise what had happened. He failed. He stretched himself beyond what his programming would allow and failed his Master. Now he was at the mercy of Anguish and Calamity. And whoever they worked for. Likely Mesmerman though, as Doc Robot realized upon reflection.“Don’t get so down,” said Multiman. Apparently that was where Doc Robot was; inside of a Multiman.
“How can you say that? I have failed Master!”
Multiman opened his chest and the now-reactivated Multiman gingerly stepped out.
“Who knows what will happen to him. He’s captured by Mesmerman. Mesmerman! He destroys minds!”
Multiman was chuckling and Doc Robot rounded on him. “What is so funny?” demanded Doc Robot, “Master is helpless without us! We have failed him.”
“Not quite” said Multiman happily. He opened up his chest and there he was. Dr. Wily resting peacefully. Doc Robot and several Multiman continued to walk away from the diminishing battle. It seems the RPD had decided to cut their losses and leave as well. And the Scissor Army was in no hurry to pursue.
“I have Whiz and Express in a few of me too. I only managed to get Whiz now, so he's still behind us a bit. He got beat up pretty badly, but I’m sure you can fix ‘im.”
“Yes I can!”
“The doc will be really surprised to see us. It’s really weird. Calamity just gave him back to us all of a sudden.”
Doc Robot stopped and took another look at Doctor Wily. The diminutive robot then noticed he wasn’t breathing.
--------------------
"How did you get Wily?" Blizzardman asked back at the Flying Fortress."Well, two weirdos just showed up with Dr. Wily in tow. They said it was a token of good will from Mesmerman." Garmel replied.
"That smiling bastard's pulled through again!" Blizzard thought, but he kept that to himself. "Mesmerman? Isn't he... a terrorist?"
"I figure why look a gift horse in the mouth. It seems to be Wily. C'mon, Noguchi placed him in the holding cell."
Garmel lead Blizzard and Flame to the holding cell of the Fortress. Two SWAT RPD officers were standing guard, but Garmel dismissed them as they walked in.
"Garmel?" Blizzard asked as he walked in.
"Yes, Blizzard?" Garmel responded.
"Are you sure this is Wily?" Blizzardman asked as he stepped aside, revealing what appeared to be Dr. Wily except he was...
"Is he river-dancing?!" Flameman was dumb-founded.
"It looks that way." Blizzardman was just as confused. "I knew he was off his rocker, but this is a new record of insanity."
Blizzard and Flameman walked over to the river-dancing mad scientist. "Wily? Are you alright?" Flame asked.
"I'm almost done." He replied, and with a flourish he finished his awkward performance accompanied with a shower of confetti spraying from his wrists. "Ta-dah! There shall be cake in the main lobby during the intermission!"
Flameman was caught completely flat-footed by what happened next as Wily's head popped off his shoulders and beaned him right in the face, dropping the Arabian robot to the floor, more from shock than anything else. Garmel jumped a bit, still under the impression that Wily was real, but perhaps a little too stressed from the mental trauma of being captured and facing charges.
"A fake..." Blizzardman spat. Mesmerman was probably eating this up right now.
"Then I guess the cake is a lie?" Yamatoman's voice rang out from behind the group. Flameman and Blizzard turned to see Yamatoman, badly damaged, but still standing, if only just barely.
"Yamato! I thought you were done for!" Blizzard run up to his teammate and got the samurai in a headlock. Yamato just grinned.
"They'll have to do better than that!" He replied.
The Assassins didn't care about Wily anymore. The war was almost over and all they wanted was to get back to the way things used to be. Besides, Garmel was cursing up a blue streak to compensate for all three of them as he shoved the fake Wily to the ground and kicked it.
--------------------
The troop of Multimen stopped dead as Doc Robot examined the unmoving doctor. The sounds of battle were quiet. Even if they weren’t, the team stopped caring about them. Doc Robot gently took out the Doctor’s body from out of Multiman’s chest. The former could not find words to speak. How could he not realise Wily wasn’t moving? Doc Robot collapsed and began to search for the mortal injury.Just then Wily jerked upright and grabbed Doc Robot by the shoulders. It spoke in a high-pitched voice Doc Robot immediately recognised.
“Sorry, chumps, but your princess is in another castle!” Wily immediately laughed shrilly before it slumped to the ground. It was several minutes before either Doc Robot or Multiman realised it wasn’t going to get up again.
It was Multiman who broke the silence. “What the hell was that?”
Doc Robot pulled a Rolling Cutter from out of thin air and gently cut one into of Wily’s fingers. His hands shook. First with trepidation …. And then with anger. In a rage he sliced off Wily’s head. Sparks flew from the neck as the head rolled down the slope.
“A robot!” shrieked Doc Robot, “They tricked you!”
Multiman was aghast. “It was Wily! I could tell! I know it was…” the robot’s voice trailed off as he realised what had happened.
“Mesmerman!” screamed Doc Robot, “He did this! He must have been here the whole time! He used Master’s creations against him! He made you believe this fake was Master!” Multiman was sick. He couldn’t believe he’d fallen for such an obvious ruse. But then, he had desperately wanted to rescue Wily … it was now obvious to him how easily he could have been manipulated in that frame of mind.
“So … what do we do now?”
“What do we do? We are the Wily rescue Force! I will repair Whiz and Express and together … we will find Wily and rescue him!”
--------------------
Anguish and Calamity smiled at the Scissor Joes. They were such an enjoyably predictable form of robot. Wily was half carried, half dragged by a pair of Joes back to his cell.“I hope you can keep the old coot in there,” said Calamity, laughing to herself. She had deliberately said it loud enough for Wily to hear.
“Don’t worry about him. You will stay where you are.” The Joe levelled his weapon at the woman. She and Anguish looked at each other ruefully.
“Is this how you treat people who bring your prisoner back to you?” asked Anguish with mock concern. The Joe did not notice the change in tone.
“You have admitted working with the traitor Mesmerman. You will await the General or one of his Captains for questioning. Comply or be terminated.”
Calamity pouted. “That’s just being rude. Mesmerman didn’t mean to cause the Scissor Army any lasting harm.”
The Joe seemed to see this as an argument and repeated his previous statement. “Comply or be terminated!”
Anguish and Calamity exchanged looks. Very soon the base was on full alert. Troops were dispatched to the receiving room, where Anguish and Calamity had dropped Wily off. However, the duo had disappeared leaving a pile of destroyed Joes in their wake.
--------------------
Commander Garmel stepped off to the side. Blizzardman was occupied with shouting orders to the few RPD officers left on the Flying Fortress. They had been helping Inspector Noguchi to man the heavy guns on the ship. Sedulus used to operate everything manually for the Flying Fortress until he went rogue."I have to warn Crorq. If what that senile old man is blabbering about is true, then there's no way that the RPD should trust him." He whispered to himself.
He ran off to a small lab room in the Fortress where he could hide out to make his call. He punched in the respective frequency for the RPD HQ.
"RPD HQ, this is RPD Commander Richard Garmel. Do you read me?"
All Garmel received was static.
"I think you'll find that your communicator isn't working, Commander."
Garmel jumped at the voice. He looked up to find Blizzardman standing in the doorway.
"The Flying Fortress has its own radio jamming device. I've made sure that no calls can be made to or from this base." The Russian explained.
"Why's that, Blizzardman? We're leaving, I have to report to RPD HQ and tell them that the mission was unsuccessful." Garmel replied.
"I believe you wanted to add something to that report." Blizzardman walked over to Garmel. "I believe Dr. Wily's words have touched something in the back of your mind, and that you want the RPD to investigate a little deeper as to just who I am. Crorq might have offered safety from being put on trial for my actions in the war, but what he doesn't know are some of the other things I've done."
"Look, I don't care what you've done in the past, you're helping out now, right?" Garmel tried to lied.
"There's no point in lying to me, Garmel. Why were you hiding? Because you didn't want me to hear what you had to say to RPD, that's why."
Garmel tried to run, but Blizzardman grabbed his arm and yanked him back. Before Garmel could yell out the Russian clapped his massive hand over his mouth, muffling the call for help. Blizzard began dragging Garmel through the hallways. He had access to the cameras in the base, so he could wipe the recordings at any time to clear out the evidence. Garmel tried in vain to free himself, but even though he was strong for a human, Blizzardman was much, much stronger.
Blizzard dragged Garmel into a dark room and flipped the switch. The room was empty save for a few crates and a large incinerator.
"Can you tell me what this room is?" Blizzardman asked Garmel. "No? Well, this is our waste disposal room. It's where we toss our garbage, things we no longer need."
Blizzardman walked over to the incinerator and opened the door. The heat made him stumble back a bit in his already weakened state. Garmel stared at the raging blaze in horror.
"You're one of those things we no longer need, Commander."
Blizzardman drew back his hand and tossed the terrified RPD Commander into the fire. He quickly slammed the door and locked it. Garmel writhed in pain as the flames consumed him. He fell against the door, peering in through the small window. Blizzardman looked back, unmoved by his pitiful attempts to open the door. The Blue Fox had once again eluded capture, and this time there would be no evidence.
--------------------
