The Business of War

War's End Part 2


Scenario A
Participants:
Mechanical Maniacs (RPD)
Magnetman (Mez)
Docman (Mez)
Wily Rescue Force (W)
Mr. Whiz (W)
Napalmman (N)
Artilleryman (A)
Constance (?)

Location: Eden, Skull Castle
SA Infantry: ?
RPD Units: ?
Wily Bots: ?

“Welcome home, shit stain.”

You’re the general!?”

Artilleryman could hardly believe it. He didn’t quite know what to expect then the Joes told him they’d be taking him to their general. In his heart he somehow thought they were taking him to General Cutman. That, despite what seemed total RPD victory at Desert Gulch, General Cutman had survived somehow and was leading his forces.

He did not expect to be taken to a badly damaged Napalmman.

“Damns traight I’m the general. Who else would run this team of maggots after –“

Napalman paused briefly while eyeing the surrounding Scissor Joes. “After General Cutman was defeated. Someone has to bring Elysium to the world and it looks like I’m the only one up to snuff.”

So, even if he wants to, he doesn’t dare bad mouth General Cutman, eh? Who knows just how loyal these fanatics are, after all …

“Clearly true,” said Artilleryman. “And it looks like you’ve got things running pretty smoothly. I was impressed with how swiftly you captured us.”

Napalmman tried to get up, but sparks flew from an exposed gash in his side and he sat back down. Still, the robot gave an unpleasant rumble. “Don’t try to butter me up, I don’t wanna date ya. And I don’t buy that crap neither. Yer up to something.”

Artilleryman smiled casually. “Of course I’m up to something. I’m always up to something! This time it’s doing business with the Scissor Army.”

“Is that a fact?”

“Hey, I go where I’m needed.”

Napalmman simulated a sniff. “And you think yer needed in my army?”

“Well, not for nothing, but you’ve suffered some pretty big losses. From the way I hear it, you’re just about the last commanding officer left in the Scissor Army.”

“S’true, but so what? I’m the best commanding officer there ever was! I don’t need those pieces of shit and I don’t need you.”

“That’s up to you, but think about it … do you really think you can do without anyone? The Robot Police Department have sided with the Cossacks and your guys … well, working with the Wilys is even worse than working with the Scissor Army, right?”

Napalmman barked a laugh. “Comin’ from a Wily, that’s a pretty dumb thing to say.”

The smile was wiped from Artillery’s face. “FYI, Napalm, but I was made by Duo when he was infected with Evil Energy. Not by that washed up never-was Wily. I hung out there for lack of any other place to set up shop, only to find that it was run by losers and morons.”

Napalmman muttered something under his breath. It sounded as if he was agreeing with the sentiment.

“And who’s left from Wily’s dream team? My intel tells me the Fatal Five, Sunstar, and Dark Moon have all left or have been captured by the RPD. And the Wily Rescue Force, you have thanks to me. And now there’s …. Wily’s Warriors. Who, from what I hear, are about as good as Omni and Golem were about now.”

Napalmman grumbled uncomfortably now. “Maybe I do have just the one team of losers for now. I have some people working on that little problem. But, as for you, from what I hear you’re just a scum-sucking sucker for money. I don’t trust you and I don’t want you in my army. In fact, I think I’d rest easier if you weren’t alive at all!”

Artilleryman bared his teeth in frustration and pointed his Long Tom cannon at the black behemoth. It was never the easy way …

“All, right, I‘ve had enough. Hire me or I’ll blow you to kingdom come, sucker!”

“What!?” Now Napalmman got to his feet and painfully adjusted his own cannon so that it aimed at Artilleryman. “You got a pair on you, you little fucker! Pointing a cannon at me in my own base! Well, the jokes on you because size counts and my gun’s bigger!”

Artilleryman laughed. “You think you can talk like that in the shape you’re in? Maybe you could have shrugged off my Long Tom before, but you’re just a walking train wreck now. Look at you! You’re about ready to drop! Hell, even just firing your Napalm Nuke is likely to tear you in half at this point!”

Napalmman seemed to smile broadly. “You think a little think like that’ll stop me? And do you really think your damn pea shooter will make me even flinch? Who the fuck cares if I have some boo-boos, I will tear you a new one!”

“And carve a hole out of half your base. And leave your precious army leaderless! Who’ll lead the world to Elysium then, eh?”

Napalmman stomped his foot, rocking the floor in a rage. He saw his Joes surround Artilleryman, but he didn’t care. “If yer so smug, take yer shot! You only get one! Go on!”

“Naw, you take your shot, ‘general.’ I wanna see your face when you blow half your base away! From what I hear you’re stupid enough to do that sorta crap.”

The two robots stared at each other. Until, finally, both lifted their guns at once and laughed.

Napalmman limped over to Artillery. “Y’know … yer my kinda mother fucker.

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

Expressman was thrown into a cell. He rubbed his head as the door was slammed shut. He paid the hum of a force field no mind as he looked through the bars of his cell.

“Hey, guys! Barrage is here too! Barrage! Yo, Barrage!”

Barrage was in bad shape. The huge robot master was missing both his arms. His body was cracked and riddled with holes. His legs seemed unable to do much besides twitch. Yet his eyes lit up at Expressman’s call.

“Unit Barrageman acknowledges Unit Expressman’s greeting.”

“You look like Hell, Barrage.”

“Unit Barrageman does not need reminding of current status. Unit Expressman is not one to make such observation given his own current status.”

Multiman spoke up next. “Hey, chucklehead, what’s the buzz?”

Barrageeman’s eyes narrowed. “Unit’s designation is Barrageman not ‘Chucklehead.”

Multiman laughed. “Alright, alright, Barrageman. No need to be touchy.”

Barrgeman’s expression softened as much as it could. “Unit Barrageman has resisted several attempts at reprogramming.

Expressman stroked his chin. “Reprogramming, eh? I guess that’s their game plan to stay major players in the War.”

Doc Robot paid little mind to this conversation. He and Whiz were across from Expressman and Multiman and could see into Wily’s cell, which was beside the speedy robot. There Wily sat on the ground, with his back to the wall. Dried blood stained his pants and his coat.

Whiz couldn’t find any words, it was Doc Robot who spoke. “Master?” said the small robot in a quiet voice. “Master, can you hear me?”

To Whiz’s and Doc Robot’s relief Wily’s head lifted. It shook unsteadily and there were dark circles under the old man’s eyes. “Doc Robot? Is that you?”

Doc Robot leapt to his feet and put his hands on the force field. They burned his palms, but the robot didn’t care.

“Yes, Master! It’s your Wily Rescue Force!”

“And me too!” said Mr. Whiz excitedly.

“My robots …” Wily’s head bobbed back down.

“Master! What’s wrong?”

Doctor Wily seemed to sink into himself. “Doc Robot … I am dying.”

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

Shock registered on Sparkchan's face and she opened her mouth to say something- anything- to Benny, but the roar of the engine and the tremendous sound from the impact of the Hard Knuckle collapsing the wall behind the two humans drowned her out.

Instead, she turned and said, in a horrified half-scream "Hardman! What on earth are you DOING?"

The massive robot's hand reconnected with his army with a definitive click, a look of unfathomable anger etched into his every feature. "I'm NOT doin' this again. Mesmerman's jus' tryin' ta screw with us, an' I'm not lettin' him do it. Not with Cass, an' not with Benny. No way, no how." The words sank in with all of the Maniacs as the rubble settled and the dust cleared.

And then there was a blinding flash of light.

"Aw, Hadrian," something with Cassandra's voice chuckled, "And here I thought you'd have missed me after all this time."

Hardman had no idea what was going on when the fist smashed into the side of his head, sending his disoriented form down to the ground. Sparkchan was felled by a similar blow from a fist twice the size of her own.

"Well, this can't be good," Topman said dryly, taking in the two Siege Joes that had just appeared out of nowhere. These monstrosities had been based off of the failed design of Siegema'am, and adapted for Mesmerman's own purposes in the war. It hadn't even really occured to anyone they would encounter them here, especially not like this.

Cassandra, or Constance, or Siegema'am, or whoever was really in control right now leveled the two-stage buster at the remaining Mechs, and weapon cycling through the first click of the process before a gout of green flame-like plasma spewed forth. A Hard Knuckle from the ground knocked the weapon off its mark, though, and gave the Mechs time to scatter. Hardman was rewarded for his quicck thinking with a kick to the side that left a decent dent.

"You're ALWAYS getting in my way," Cassandra hissed. "Just let me do SOMETHING for a change."

Shadowman dashed in and grabbed the still shaky Sparkchan, diving into the shadow of the second Siege Joe (if that was still an appropriate term) and coming out right behind Geminiman, who'd split into three copies by now.

"What did this monster do with Benny?" Sparkchan demanded weakly, trying to keep her feet under her.

"Probably whatever he did with Cassandra," Shadowman scoffed.

Snakeman fell back, trying to get a good distance away to make use of his rifle. He rounded a corner and crouched low, poking his head around and trying to draw a good bead on one of the two siege engines.

Another bright flash of light drew his attention back around the corner, and he was moving fast by the time the two-stage buster had clicked the second time, unleashing a deadly wave of melting death. The green robot felt the heat of the plasma behind him, and swore as he dove behind a couch. He went to take a shot, only to discover he must have dropped his rifle in the scramble. A quick look confirmed it had been on the now scorched floor, steam rising off of it as the metal bubbled.

"Well," he thought to himself, "it's probably still salvageable..."

The Siege Joe that had attacked him took a step forward, crushing the melting remains underfoot.

"... or not."

By now, the Mechanical Maniacs had noticed that more than just two Siege Joes were entering the fight. Using their short-range teleports, the hulking dealers of death were popping into and out of the Technodrome with ease, exhibiting the ability to jump several times in the same instance, a previously unheard of feat for the machines. Needlegal's weapons spat roaring, pointed death as she assaulted the Siege units with needles whenever she had a clear line of fire.

"Mesmerman must have refined the design," Geminiman mused, focusing his multiplied firepower on one of the enemy robots. Three lasers sliced through two knee joints and an elbow, the dangerous buster dropping to the floor with a clang before being followed by the rest of the body.

Hardman was having a tougher time. The Siege unit containing Cassandra hadn't given him time to get up, raining down a furious physical assault of punches and kicks, and clubbing him with the barrel of the buster. The big blue robot tried to fight back, but couldn't get the time to actually aim any of his wild retaliations.

A recovered Sparkchan ducked sideways to avoid another punch and grabbed the arm of the offending unit, sending an untold amount of electricity into the behemoth's system before something inside of it popped and the head blew off the shoulders, the whole thing collapsing into a smoking heap. Her victory was short lived as another Siege Joe appeared beside her, forcing her to retreat as it fired its weapon, engulfing the remains of the other Siege Joe in green flame.

"Dammit," Shadowman spat, throwing a Shadow Blade into the cannon of one Siege Joe as he danced around another, crouching low and rolling as he brought a kunai across the back of its knees. He came up and kicked it hard in the side, the machine falling over without control of its legs. "This isn't getting us any closer to Mesmerman! Gemini, is there a way to stop these things?"

"You're asking me?" the twin terror asked incredulously, one of his many copies driving its nightsticks through the head of the Siege Joe with the inoperable buster. He winced as one of him was incinerated by another enemy that came out of nowhere and focused his fury on revenge. Four identical lasers sliced the offending robot to ribbons. "They're less armored than I remember, probably to make room for the larger generator for the continuous jumps," he speculated, blasting another two Siege Joes and pulling his various selves back to help out Topman.

The small orange robot flew by, encased in a shell of kinetic energy, seemingly having the time of his life. He smashed into the head of one Siege unit and leapt with unreal speed into and then THROUGH another one, a shattered batch of wires and boards clutched in one hand. "At least there's no people in these other ones," he said with a grin, throwing a glance at Hardman.

"Why isn't anyone helpin' me?" the big blue robot shouted, rolling away from Cassandra and trying to scramble to his feet. He got his knees under him before another Siege unit kicked him from behind, sending him face down into the floor again. It laughed, child-like, and shook Sparkchan to her core.

"Does the big man need help?" Benny laughed. "How lame do you have to be?" Sparkchan grimaced as she sent more voltage into another Siege Joe. How had this happened? Cassandra had been under the influence of Mesmerman before, but Benny? This didn't make any sense to her. But she knew better than to try and reach out to him. Mesmerman's corruption ran deep, and neither she nor Hardman could do anything for their friends until Mesmerman was destroyed, once and for all.

Benny raised his buster to light Hardman up like a bonfire, but he hesitated with a glare from Cassandra. "He's MINE," she snapped, and Snakeman leapt, literally, on the opportunity, landing on Benny's back and released his drilling river jack over the metal shell holding the boy. He leapt away as the snake burrowed into a joint on the back of its knee, driving the machine to the ground as Benny shouted in surprise. The sudden collapse threw Cassandra off as well, watching her ally suddenly engulfed in flames from its own rupturing inner systems, giving Hardman his much sought after recovery time.

"I hate ta tell ya this, Cass," Hardman grunted, rising up like a rocket and catching her in the gut with both fists, "but yer fired." The Hard Knuckles shot off at maximum power to emphasize his point as she flew backwards, caught off guard by the attack. She tried to struggle against the force of the knuckles, but her inexperience in a bigger body played against her and she slammed through two walls and a table before impacting heavily on another wall.

The world crackled and shook, and soon the Technodrome was gone, replaced by some kind of shifting floor and ceiling lined with lenses and mirrors. There was a short, stunned silence, even the roar of Needlegal's guns dying out for only a moment.

Topman stumbled and stopped, the change of scenery throwing him off. "Whoa, what happened?"

"Must be a holodeck or something," Snakeman said thoughtfully, turning to see the collection of Siege Joes that had been using the unreal Technodrome as cover. "Knowing Mesmerman, the whole station must be like this."

"Good thing we shorted this part out, then," Geminiman smiled, unleashing a barrage of Gemini Lasers at the crowd of Siege Joes. Those that escaped the initial barrage were gunned down by Needlegal or caught by the bouncing lasers, with only a handful of them left to retaliate at all.

Hardman's hands clicked back into place and he got his bearings. Rolling around on the ground and getting the crap kicked out of you does nothing for your sense of direction. He caught sight of Cassandra trying to get back up, but got distracted when Benny shouted and tried to tackle his legs from his spot on the ground. Hardman sighed and slammed one of his hands down on Benny's back, stopping him in his tracks as he shot his other fist off toward Cassandra to keep her pinned.

"We gotta get 'em outta th' shells and back down ta Earth," Hardman asserted, trying to keep the two piloted Siege units busy while the other Maniacs mopped up the remaining foes. "An' THEN we gotta fin' Smiley an' Mesmer an' take 'em down a notch 'r two."

"So our schedule's just full today, isn't it?" Topman grinned.

"Incapacitate them," Shadowman told his team, something on his mind. "Make them useless in a fight, we'll let the RPD worry about it."

"I'd ask HOW they'll manage that," Needlegal sighed, "but I have a feeling you won't tell us."

Hardman, on the other hand, wordlessly went to work, stepping down hard on Benny's buster arm, making the youth cry out in bio-feedback pain as the weapon was crushed away from his body. The Hard Knuckle that had been keeping Cassandra busy came back to him as he kicked the busted arm away.

Cassandra growled in animalistic fury and pulled herself up, focusing all of her anger on the big blue robot that had disabled her ally. She charged forward, the two-stage canister buster cycling through in preparation to fire, and completely failed to remember that there were six other Maniacs.

Needle Cannon fire peppered her side to get her attention as the tornado-like force of Topman's Top Spin slammed into her back, sending her crashing down to the ground. In an instant, four Search Sidewinder Skip's missiles shot into her buster arm, exploding just as the weapon finished cycling to fire. The force of the blast disrupted the buster assembly, causing a backwash of green flame that immediately consumed the arm and burned away most of the armor that remained on the unit.

Hardman got around the prone Siege unit under his feet and got a good grip, hauling with all his might to detatch the legs from Benny's shell, and he looked at Cassandra, now half-hanging out of her own robotic counterpart, dark, lifeless smoke enveloping her eyes and forcing uncut hatred to spill over onto her every feature. The four ton robot simply sighed and turned away as Sparkchan laid a calming hand on Cassandra's shoulder and shocked her into unconsiousness.

The legs came free with a terrible groaning sound, and Hardman tossed the now useless limbs aside with a sigh. "Well, I can't say I didn't see this comin'."

Shadowman moved with indescribable speed, cracking open the already battered casing on Cassandra's Siege frame and messing with the wires. "Good job, guys. I'm sorry we had to face them like this, but I hope you-"

"No need ta say anythin' boss," Hardman told him, hauling Benny's shell over to him, the boy now trapped ineffectually inside it. "I'm not gonna break down now. I got time fer that later, after we actually kill Mesmerman." The youth in the robotic shell was shouting terrible things, but they were all muffled threats as Hardman dropped him heavily on the ground. He gave Sparkchan a meaningful glance. "You gonna be okay?"

She bit back tears. "Like you said, there's time for sorrow and saving them later."

Shadowman gave a short laugh of achievment and back away from Cassandra, the mangled machine disappearing in a flash of light. "Good. That worked," he said with a half-grin, and set to work on the invective-hurling hulk that was left. "The short range jump system is simple enough to re-wire. I'm just feeding the localized signal into the global one and sending them down to Cossack's Citadel," he explained. "I hope they can figure out a way to help them down there.

Benny disappeared in a flash of light and the leader of the Mechs stood up, his team gathering around him. Doubts still tried to invade their minds, but they were ignoring them now. THey still had one of their own to save, and an almost literal devil to destroy.

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

The teleported took some time to power up. Cossack wished the ‘Maniacs hadn’t had to use it. Each time they did it wasted valuable time and energy. Each time they made their plans just a little more visible to the Robot Police. Cossack would like to believe that this mission would be supported, but he knew that there was a good chance they’d all just be arrested for violating the ‘great’ orders of the RPD.

All those hard feelings melted away once he saw Cassandra’s head poking out of the massive torso of the Siege Joe.

“Help her out of there!” ordered Cossack. Roll. With a strong worker robot Cossack had commandeered for his own use, obediently came forward. After they had dragged the remains of the Siege Joe out of the transporter it activated again and another badly damaged body came in. Roll suppressed a sob as she saw the little boy’s head poking out of the Siege Joe’s body. A little boy and Cassandra … Roll helped out at Hardman’s bar sometimes and knew Cassandra from there. She also knew how close Cassandra was to Hardman. And she had been such a help with Light ... when that creepy 'Constance' persona wasn't in control anyway. And a little boy … whoever he was he didn’t belong in this fight. Mesmerman really was a monster. Cossack’s heart nearly broke as he looked at Benny. He could only imagine what e would have done iof Wily had done something like that to Kalinka. What would this child’s parents do if why saw him like this?

Cossack turned to his daughter who was gaping at the sight. “You and Roll help them out of those things, will you? I’ll have to work even harder to get this virus ready.” Kalinka nodded obediently and ran off to her work. Cossack turned to his own labours with Doctor Light.

“How goes the programming?”

Light shook his head. “This code … I don’t even know where to start.”

Drillman sighed. “Well, even the General couldn’t stop him in the end, could he?

“But we will,” said Cossack confidently.

Divman then walked into the room. “I heard there was a party goin’ down. What’s the haps?”

“They’re working on a virus to kill Mesmerman,” explained Drillman. “And they’re helping some of Mesmerman’s victims as the ‘Maniacs invade his base.

Diveman’s jaw dropped. “What the Hell?”

“I think you had better gather the other Comrades. They have to be notified of the situation.”

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

The ‘Maniacs went around the next corner cautiously. They had left behind the damaged facsimile of their base and their search for Mesmerman continued.

Do you have any idea how big this place is?

The ‘Maniacs checked into a room. The damage to the holoprojectors affected the entire area, so the image kept on flickering. However, it appeared to have been oddly …. Homey. There was, what seemed to be, a television set along with a refrigerator and a sofa.

Topman laughed. “What the heck is this? Mezmerman’s living room? What, is he entertaining guests now?”

Hardman didn’t see the humour. “That sicko? Who knows what he’s up to.”

Can’t I be hospitable?

“Hey guys!” called Needlegal from another room. “Check this out!”

The ‘Maniacs made their way to what appeared to be a laboratory. Pieces of half-made machinery were everywhere, but there seemed a kind of …. Order to it.”

“Can you believe Mesmerman has a place like this here?” asked Needlegal. “Some of this stuff look pretty nice. And ...” Needlegal picked something off the table. “I found some old coffee!”

“General Cutman’s burning the midnight oil, I guess,” said Geminiman dismissively. Still, there was something … out of place. A laboratory … Mesmerman wasn’t the tinkering sort -

I like to tinker with minds, doesn’t that count?

- so what was with the laboratory? It all worked. Did he have a secret contract with Wily? Because General Cutman wouldn’t have dared to …

The ‘Maniacs spun around as they heard something fall from another part of the lab.

“Someone’s here,” said Shadowman. Snakeman rushed ahead of the ninja and hid in a small crevice. Something small and green crept out of the shadows. Shadowman motioned to Needlegal and she covered the door. Another motion to Geminiman and the crystalline terror split into three and placed himself around the room. Classi went behind Needle to offer support while Topman took a place across the room, in order to have more ground to work with in order to achieve top speed. Shadowman himself aimed upwards and took his place on the ceiling. Months of being split apart could not undo the years the Mechanical Maniacs had spent together and even now, within Mesmerman’s stronghold, their training kicked in.

Mesmerman laughed within their minds. What was training and discipline to a mind reader?

“I can’t find him,” said Snakeman with a small measure of frustration over the internal communications. “He’s avoiding Regina with ease! Hold on! I have something. There’s someone small … it’s dark in there. Regina’s switching to – AAHHH!”

Snakeman’s scream caught the team off guard. As did the sudden attack on Needlegal within the room! The spiked warrior turned around and fired her weapon, but a flash blinded the dark-adjusted Mechanical Maniacs and then it was Topman who was in the death grip of … was that Brightman?

“You’ll all die … for the glory of my Scissor Army, you’ll all pay …”

Topman struggled and then resorted to whirling about. Brightman grunted in frustration as Topman managed to spin himself free of his grip. Topman followed it up with a roundhouse kick to Brightman’s face. The fat robot fell and then Needlegal was on him. She fired her signature weapon … only to see it bounce harmlessly off Needleman’s blue body.

“It’s Docman!” screamed Shadowman as Geminiman fired a Gemini Laser.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, I’d never … never fall for a lame trick like that. I was built before any one of you! It’s insulting to think that you think that I would…”

In between his ramblings Docman switched to Crashman and Geminiman’s beam bounced harmlessly off him. Docman leapt into the air and fired his bombs at the surprised Geminiman. The blue warrior quickly put up a shield, but the explosion knocked him off his feet. Shadowman feel from the air and tried to catch the rambling Docman off guard. Now he was muttering something about how the police should be protecting him and about how they should all be shut down …

“But wouldn’t that mean I would be shut down?”

Before firing a bomb at Shadowman so quickly that it hardly even registered to the ninja. Crashman was equally surprised to see his bomb go right through his attacker and explode harmlessly on the ceiling. Docman barely had time to wipe the shock off his face as he was nailed by a Shadowblade form behind him. The robot spun around to see Shadowman sink back into the shadows. Docman opened his mouth, but was silences by Needlegal’s spray of needles.

“You idiots! Don’t you realise I’m on your side!?” Docman changed to Cutman and tackled Topman as he attempted to kick him into submission. Docman picked up Topman’s head and slammed it onto the floor hard as he continued to rant. “All the work I’m doing, all this time is for everyone’s benefit! Don’t you give a damn that you’re second class citizens in your own damn world!? This world … this world …!”

Docman saw the Hard Knuckle coming for him and knew it meant certain destruction. He rolled to avoid it. Why couldn’t he have done something else? Something smarter? He was smarter than this! The ‘Maniacs didn’t let up, Needlegal came at him … Needlegal, with her spikes and her machine gun …. But she couldn’t hit him! Not if he was as fast as …. Turboman!

Needlegal; swore as Docman, in Turboman’s car form, sped right at her. She dodged it, but slammed into a laboratory table. Something about the half-finished robot on the slab nagged at her mind, but she had to dodge a Scorch Wheel.

“You people! Ganging up on me like this. All of you make me sick! You … leaving me to die … I know who you are!”

Docman’s eyes shone with madness. Docman, as Torchman still, rushed over to Needlegal and began to punch her as his mind focused on a painful memory. It was cold … very cold. They had told him it was his big chance to get even with the ‘Maniacs. He was with Bizarro, Torchman, Quint, and others. But he was just being used. And in the end …

“You killed me! All of you!”

Needlegal extended her spikes and gouged Docman, but Docman was ferocious and did not let up. Needlegals creamed as Docman set her on fire. She didn’t know how much it would hurt her … she had presumed her armour might stand up to fire well enough. She presumed wrong.

Hardman finally got a hit as his knuckle rammed into the deranged robot.

“Yer sick, pal!” said the blue behemoth as the landed on top of Docman. “An’ right now I don’t give a damn about what problem you have with my friends!”

Again the trunk-like fists came down, but this time Docman’s body broke apart on impact. Hardman then had to contend with a hard smack on the chin as Stoneman’s form rose out of the rubble. Docman continued to rant madly.

“You killed me! I remember …. I tried to forget, but I remember now. I don’t know how I could have been so confused before! I know who you are! I know who you are and I know who I am. I am Docman!”

Stoneman’s form was blown apart as Topman spun into him. Large boulders then knocked Topman off his feet. One caught Shadowman off guard while a Geminiman rolled to avoid another.

Hardman was still in a rage and pounded on Docman again, but Stoneman’s form wasn’t susceptible to physical attacks. It just broke apart and reassembled itself above Hardman. With all the force he could muster Docman came crashing down on Hardman who barely felt the impact.

“You idiot, smashing stones like you is what I was built for!”

Hardman blocked a punch and countered with one of his own.

“Built for? I was built to take on any robot! I’m the ultimate!”

Docman, now fully focused on finishing the ‘Maniacs, turned into Darkman and shocked Hardman with his electrical force fields.

Which is when Spark Chan came in with her electrodes. Using her power she siphoned off Docman’s power. But with stunning ease, the robot changed into Magnetman and grabbed her spires.

“I spent so long studying your weaknesses!” Drawing power from the shocked Spark Chan, Docman fired three supercharged Magnet Missiles at Hardman. Hardman dodged, but it was of no use, the missiles hit him.

Then, still as Magnetman, Docman turned on his magnetic field and filled Spark Chan with pain.

Until Topman crashed into him and knocked him aside. Hitting Docman at that moment made Topman cry out in pain … he was usually impervious to damage when spinning, but not that time. He saw the hit coming only when it landed.

Gutsman had thrown a table at him. The force took the wind out of the Spinning Demon and Gutsman’s deep laugh filled the room. Hardman’s Knuckle came out of nowhere and it knocked Docman into the room he had come in from.

This room was, what appeared to be, a spacious bedroom. Gutsman picked up the bed and gave it a toss, but Hardman’s fist shattered it. If he thought strength attacks would work, Docman was madder than he seemed.

Hardman felt his skin burn as an Atomic Fire tore through him.

Heatman’s high-pitched laughter reached in the sparsely decorated bedroom. White lab coats caught on fire and the smell of burnt rubber filled the room as Docman poured on the heat.

Hardman swore as Heatman barrelled towards him. He was usually pretty good with fire, but somehow Heatman’s Atomic kind did a number on him.

“Preetty sucky to be hurt by your old friend, eh?” taunted Docman while wearing Heatman’s form. He was knocked painfully aside as Topman gave him a swift kick.

“Don’t you ever think you’re good enough to mock our friends!”

“But we are friends, aren’t we?” Topman was shocked silent as Docman assumed the form of Iceman and coated the floor with a thick coating of ice. Topman lost his balance and fell ontot he floor – hard. Iceman’s laughter filled the air and Topman felt a stab of pain in his heart.

In more ways than one. Iceman was throwing his Ice Slashers around the room. Still bursting with fire it now had patches of thick Ice as well. Hardman tried to get up, but found his body was frozen to the floor. He cursed. It was embarrassing.

Iceman’s laughter turned to a shriek as Shadowman came out of the shadow behind him and sliced him with his sword.

“You have a lot of nerve!”

Icerman’s face looked pained. “How can you do that!? I thought we were friends!”

Shadowman grunted as he was hit, point blank, with Iceman’s signature weapon. He’d never felt it before. His systems froze up and he found it hard to move. But he had to, because now Docman was coming at him in the form of Freezeman.

Freezeman was faster than Iceman and he matched Shadowman’s speed as he blocked a kick from the ninja.

“Too slow! You’re all too slow to stop me!”

The Freezeman mockery dodged as Hardman came crashing down. Icicles fell as Needlegal tried to take aim at the enemy. Freezeman saw the snake coming for him only after it hit him.

In an instant Freezeman was caught by an anaconda. He could feel his body being crushed by the snake.

“Gotcha,” said Snakeman, but mostly to himself. He knew Docman couldn’t hear him. He was being strangled by his snake. Just as planned. He may not have a rifle anymore, but he was far from helpless.

The anaconda felt itself stretch, however, as Freezeman’s form shifted and changed. It was Freezeman no longer, now it was Frostman! Snakeman felt pain as Annie was ripped apart! The sheer size of Frostman was much too large for the constrictor to ever hope to hold.

“Kill all of you! My enemies!” Docman blocked a Hard Knuckle with a large block of Ice. He shot to towards his attacker before his fist returned. Shadowman’s blades did little damage and Frostman counted with a punch. The ninja picked himself painfully off of the ground, but not in time to avoid another large block of ice.

Frostman screamed as Spark Chan shot electricity through the ice. “And who’s your enemy, Cutman?”

“You!” snarled Docman madly. “All of you! Yor’re traitors! Traitors to robotkind!”

Now he was Cutman again and he leapt into attack Spark Chan. She, however, purposefully took the hit and kept on talking.

“So you hate traitors?”

“That’s right! They’re scum! They don’t deserve Elysium.”

“Then what about Mesmerman?”

“Mesmerman?” Docman hesitated in his attack. What about Mesmerman? What was going on here?

Don’t let her fool you!

A voice in his head. So annoying!

“Mesmerman betrayed you, remember?”

“He did!” shouted Docman in a rage. “He used me! But now he’s … helping me?”

To kill humanity!

Spark Chan placed a hand on Docman’s shoulder. “No, he isn’t.” He –“

Shut up! I know what you’re trying to do!

Spark Chan’s head jerked upright as pain shot through her systems. It was a surprise attack, but Docman was hesitating. Mesmerman … he had done something to him. He was using him! But he was loyal to Mesmerman, he knew that. And Mesmerman was useful to his plans. His goals. His ingenious and perfect plans …. He needed him. And, besides, Mesmerman made the pain go away. When his head hurt it was Mesmerman who-

“He killed you, General.” Docman whirled around. It was Needlegal who spoke.

“He couldn’t have. I’ve survived everything that was ever thrown at me!”

Needlegal came towards him slowly.

Don’t you dare!

Docman shifted uncomfortably. It was true that he did worry about Mesmerman. Memerman who used him. He confused him … did something to his mind. Docman was always worried about his mind. His wife had told him to …

Don’t listen to her!

Mesmerman had seen the plan as it sprung into Spark Chan’s mind, but Docman was now lost in a sea of his own shifting thoughts. Mesemrman tried to attack Needlegal, but Spark Chan’s cry of pain had alerted her to his presence and she managed to block him. He knew what she was going to do, but Docman’s mind was shifting constantly. He held his head in confusion. And Needlgal still came towards him …

To everyone’s shock, save for Mesmerman’s, Needlegal embraced Docman. After she let him go he was in his original form.

“Mesmerman really killed me, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“And you killed me too.”

“I’m sorry.”

With that Docman’s memories of the Antarctic began to fade … and were replaced by a new pain. Mesmerman had finally did it! The part of him that was Cutman felt humiliated. The grinning madman had gotten into his mind. His perfect, precise mind and had killed him.

Mesmerman witnessed Docman’s decision to reveal the location of the central core to the Mechanical Maniacs. He knew even before they did that Docman had switched sides. Damn him! Docman was supposed to be his pawn! He shouldn’t be sharing with a dead egomaniac like the General! Especially after he was dead.

But Mesmerman relaxed. So what if Docman decided to guide them to his core? Here, he was strongest. Here his power would be at it’s peak. And, really, now they had just enough time to meet their old friend.

“It’s time to get up, Kenta,” said Mesmerman with a grin on his face. “It looks like your old friends are going to say hello.

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

Artilleryman looked over the Scissor Army troops from his view in Napalmman’s command box. They were intermingling with Wily’s forces comfortably now. Without the Wily COs to instil some sense of discomfort, the simple-programmed robots Wily stole to fuel his ambitions for conquest were quick to follow the orders of the more sophisticated Scissor Army units. But even these were under Napalmman’s overall influence. Their abnormal speech patters (meaning their swearing like sailors) was just the tip of the iceberg. Even looking from above Artilleryman could see they were no longer a single unit. They were in groups. And there seemed to be … was that animosity?

“I have a score card,” explained Napalmman as he caught Artilleryman looking down. “The panty-waists need a bit more focus and setting one on top of the other makes them compete a bit more. ‘Specially now that we’re keeping track a all the kills.”

Artilleryman zoned out as Napalmman explained the process. He had learned the subtle skill thanks to Wily’s similar rants. He didn’t need to know about Napalmman’s motivational strategies. He really didn’t care about how much a better general Napalmman made over Cutman. He was just waiting to get to that control console…

A resounding explosion echoed throughout the building.

“What the Fuck!?” swore Napalmman. Artilleryman cursed as well. The natives were growing restless, it seems. Didn’t anyone know the value of patience?

“Woulda been nice to get an extra couple of bucks, but whatever,” Muttered Artilleryman.

Napalmman turned in disbelief. “What was –“

Artilleryman let loose with a volley of missiles before Napalmman could finish his thought. The surprised robot master was filled with pain as they detonated within a gaping hole in his armour. The Scissor Army general staggered back as Artilleryman did not let up. More missiles! The mercenary could hear the drum of footsteps coming up towards the command box. He needed to do this quickly.

“You asshole,” said Napalmman angrily as he took a step forward. His Napalm Nuke was out of commission. Essential circuits had been blown away.

“When I get my hands on you –“ Artilleryman then aimed for the CO’s hands and blew one away while mangling another. With a roar of pain Napalmman leapt at Artilleryman, but the smaller robot was ready and, with terrifying speed, he reached into the hole in Napalmman’s body. The black general screamed as Artillery grabbed at something that seemed important and pulled.

When the Scissor Army troops finally broke through the door all they could see was that their newest general was laying on the floor with vital fluids pouring out of him.

“Over there!” said a nearby Joe. The other looked up. A ventilation shaft had been pried open.

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

Doc Robot had used Bitman’s bizarre combination of electricity and strength to both short out the force field surrounding his team and to tear open the doors of their cells. A surprised Wily found himself being scooped up by Multiman (who had made a duplicate of himself while in his cell) and was placed inside of the large robot for safe keeping.

Expressman turned to his surprised friend. “Sorry, Barrage. We’ll come back for you.”

“Unit Barrageman detests the situation.”

The Scissor Joe and several regular Sniper Joes that were guarding the entrance to the cells were now standing at the door, firing on the team. In short order, Whiz was right on top of them using his Anti-Quick Boomerangs to tear them apart.

“I thought the plan was to wait for Artillery’s signal,” said a Multiman as he spit out another one of himself.

“Master is dying!” said Doc Robot in despair. He fired a Bit cannon as he led the team past the now destroyed guard. Whiz and Expressman met another squadron of troops, this time several Flame Joes. The two speedsters dodged them all and attacked with their weapons. Expressman let out a joyous laugh as one of his shots blasted a Joe’s head clean off it’s shoulders.

“This is great. I have a lot of aggression to work out of my system.”

“I’m not dying,” said Wily in annoyance within Multiman’s chest. He was being bounded left and right as Multiman hammered away at Metools who attacked him. He left the heavy fighting to his twins, who didn’t have Doctor Wily inside of them.

Doc Robot wore a perplexed look on his face. “But Master said-“

“Mester was being dramatic!” said Wily impatiently. He honestly appreciated Doc Robot’s child-like devotion and admiration, but he often wished he hadn’t made him so naïve.

“Where are you taking me?”

“The teleporter bay,” replied Doc Robot, “We have to get out of here!”

Doctor Wily rolled his eyes. “No, no, no! There’s nowhere we can run! The Scissor Army is all over the world!”

Multiman grinned widely. “Actually, no.” The large robot let out a chuckle. “Elysium fell. I was there and pitched in. And Arty tells us General Cutman’s a goner now too.”

Wily processed this information. Elysium, which he had learned was the Scissor Army’s strongest base, was destroyed. And General Cutman, his hated tormentor, was dead. But that wasn’t the entire Scissor Army.

“But what about Mesmerman?”

“Mesmerman?” asked Multiman. “What about him?”

So the grinning mad robot was still alive. Wily smiled broadly. It was good. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to get revenge on General Cutman, but –

Multiman shook as he was hit by something large.

“What was that?”

“It’s One of the Mad Grinders.”

“One of mine!?

“Yeah. While you were away the Scissor Army-“

“Let me out.”

“But there’s-“

Let me out, Multiman! I command you!

Multiman quickly got to a safe distance and. Hesitantly, obeyed. Wily frowned as he surveyed the situation. A Mad grinder and several smaller minion s of his were being commanded by a squadron of Spotlight and Nightshade Joes. Expressman, Whiz, the Multimen, and Doc Robot were all fighting admirably, but Wily had a much better plan.

“Don’t attack me! I’m you’re creator! Attack them!” called Wily. His creations stopped dead. Shocked, the Scissor Army Joes took aim and fired, but they were soon crushed by the Mad Grinder. In no time Wily had secured a Joe with a communications array and issued out orders throughout the network of minions within Skull Castle.

“Hear me, my robots,” called out Wily over the internal network. “I am free and the Scissor Army has fallen. It’s time to take back Skull Castle!”

A roar of triumph issues out of the mouths of the robots sophisticated enough to understand the situation. Scissor Army Joes looked on in shock as robots that had obeyed them obediently for months suddenly turned on them with rabid ferocity.

Expressman chuckled. “Good goin’, Doc.”

“That’s our Master for you!” chimed in Doc Robot enthusiastically.

Whiz Pumped himself up “And I helped out-“

“Yes, you all did very well,’ said Wily curtly. He had other things on his mind.

“What’s going on out there?” roared Artilleryman with impatience. “I thought the plan was for me to sneak you assholes out! Now I have the Scissor Army on my tail … and it sounds like World War Three our there!”

Expressman answered the mercenary. “It’s revolution time, baby. The Doc’s ours. It’s time to head on out-“

“NO!” Wily cut off the surprised Expressman and spoke to his men, including Artilleryman. “We are heading to my lab.”

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

The ‘Maniacs dodged Calamity’s spear as she wove through them like thread through a needle. She was laughing madly at Topman’s attempts to get her. All the while Topman’s mind was full of anger. It was all Mesmerman, wasn’t it? He had led him by the nose all this time!

Right you are!

Topman cursed and threw a kick at Calamity.

Needlegal, meanwhile, was attempting to calm Docman down.

“We’ve gotta find Mesmerman, remember? Concentrate!”

But Docman was lost in a sea of madness once more and he lashed out at Anguish with Metal Blades.

“You almost got me that time. Don’t give up! Keep on trying! Thattaboy!”

“Die in the name of the glorious Scissor Army under Juno and Xelloss while we look for the golden Shadowblade under the sky of Monsteropolis!”

Needlegal suppressed a curse. Mesmerman’s Agesnts of Sorrow had appeared out of nowhere and now they were going nowhere fast. In fact …

“Mesmerman’s stalling us,” said Needlegal over the internal communications.

“Well, that’s not surprising,” replied Geminiman as he fired one of his lasers. He clicked his tongue in annoyance as Anguish managed to dodge the angled shot.

“We have to get out of here.”

“Any suggestions?”

Snakeman was wondering the same thing. His snakes were still trying to get a bead on the Agents, but it was no good. They were much to fast.

Hardman dodged a blow Anguish carelessly launched his way with a yelp of surprise.

“This is nuts! Let’s take these suckers down!”

“Cool it, big guys,” said Needlegal, “Keep your mind on the plan. These creeps are small potatoes.”

“Yes,” agreed Spark Chan, “It’s Mesmerman we want.”

“To get to him, you have to go through us first!” screamed Anguish as he used his large sword to gouge a scar across Needlegal’s armour. The speed of the attack was breathtaking. Anguish was thrown aside as Spark Chan threw a large spark his way, but the madman was laughing in glee as he went.

“Are you okay?”

“I will be …. Once Mesmerman’s history!”

“We’re close,” said Shadowman, emerging from a shadow. “I scouted ahead and there isn’t many forks in the road.”

“But there are forks,” said Geminiman.

“That’s right. And Docman’s…”

Docman slashed at Calamity in Swordman’s form as he was drawn further into the complex and the ninja felt an almost overwhelming sensation to join him. But this feeling only strengthened his resolve.

“Mesmerman’s close. That’s for sure.”

Geminiman wore a scowl on his face. “I’ll lead us the rest of the way.”

you will?”

“I can …feel him. When you have someone in our head as long as I’ve had you get to be sensitive to them. This place … part of me thinks it’s madness, but … I can see order in it. I can see how it all fits together.”

Geminiman followed a path unseen to the rest of the ‘Maniacs. Calamity tried to follow, but Docman had assumed the form of Geminiman and fought with the woman. She no longer wore a smile on her face.

“I’ll have my revenge on you for using me! I’m smarter than all of you. Oh so much smarter. In all the worlds there isn’t someone as smart as I am! My mind is perfect!

The ‘Manacs raced after Geminiman. The crystalline warrior took odd twists and turns. At one point he even doubled back and went the way he came … but not in a way that seemed lost. There was a purpose to it. More than once Needlegal thought she saw the laboratory where Docman had ambushed them. Topman thought he saw Anguish race by him in the other direction, taunting him to follow. Shadowman was almost convinced he saw Mesmerman’s control room. But he only knew for certain once Geminiman stopped.

“Here’s in this one. His voice is echoing in my head. Here’s in here.”

The ‘Maniacs opened the door and stepped into a room full of mirrors. But they were not truly mirrors. Geminiman looked into one and saw the white knight of the Scissor Army grinning back at him. Topman peered into another and saw Nightmare Top’s condescending gaze.

Docman was on the floor, shaking. Somehow the Agents and Docman had arrived here before they did.

“Well, well, well, all the players are here,” said Anguish.

“Except for the master of course,” continued Calamity.

“Can the crap. We know you’re really Mesmerman.”

Their smiles faltered for the briefest of moments after Hardman made his bold pronouncement. Calamity opened her mouth before Hardman cut her off.

“Yeah, yer fond of your damned mind games, but enough is enough already. Me an’ the boss fought the ‘Agents a Sorra’ before and they turned out to be Wily and his mutt. But after all this, even a dimbulb like me c’n see what’s shakin’. You used Wily way back then to give us a hint. ‘cuz you knew we’d be here facing these sock puppets a yers. But you just aren’t a good actor. These things act jus’ like the holograms Wily ‘made’. And ya can’t honestly expect me to buy that Wily thought up these sickos.”

Anguish’s smile broadened and he was about to speak when Hardman again interjected.

“I said to cut the crap! Come on out already! We’re here right now, so come out an’ show yer ugly mug!”

For the first time the smile was wiped from the faces of Anguish and Calamity. Docman looked up in surprise and fear as the two extended their arms; holding their respective weapons at arms length from each other. They liquefied and turned into a pair of white scythes. Then their smiles returned and their bodies began to mash together. The sight wasn’t unlike plasticine being mixed together by a child, but with forms resembling human being made it disturbing. Needlegal took a reflexive step backwards.

“All, right,” said Mesmerman as a large, sharp, dagger cut out of his eye and around his head, “Consider the crap cut. I guess I made that one a little too obvious. You can’t win ‘em all, right?”

Geminiman split into two forms and armed himself with his nightsticks. His reflection bowed deeply towards Mesmerman and Geminiman felt sick as he saw what he used to be.

Let me ask you this, Maniacs..." Mesmerman said levelly, his expression as ever unchanging, "... do you want the devil you know? Or a devil you don't?"

"I'd rather not 'ave a devil at all," Hardman grumbled.

"You don't really have a choice," Mesmerman said, shrugging his disconnected shoulders. "If you kill me here, now, then all of the Evil Energy I have collected and stored will scatter to the winds. Raining down on your planet like some invisible wave of hostility. Mark my words, someone, somewhere, sometime will pick up the ability to gather and control Evil Energy again. It will happen as it has before, because history is lazy and likes cycles. Do you all really want to take the chance that this next devil has a sense of humour like I do? That the next devil will understand that humanity MUST survive?

"This War was started by an idiot. He sought to use the power of this world's denizens against it, turning them against each other to further his own genocidal goals. Compared to him, am I really worse? Am I truly something to be feared beyond all else? Or am I not, in many ways, much more harmless? I don't wish to crush humanity under my iron heel. I don't WANT to wipe the whole thing clean of 'carbons' and start over. I LIKE this world, and I'd like to keep it as it is, thank you.

"If you want, fine, I'll stop the War. I'll even direct the portions of the Scissor Army under my control to help you hunt down this new quasi-threat of General Napalmman (Oh, yes he’s in charge of the Scissor Army now, by the way). Hell, I'll decommission the forces myself, if you ask me nicely. I have an immense storage of Evil Energy here, enough to last me for years without a finger raised on my part, and that gives me plenty of time to work up fun and interesting new ways to gather it for myself, without some faceless army."

A laugh started in the back of Mesmerman's throat as he regarded the shocked faces of the Maniacs. Would he actually follow through on it? Could a deal realistically be struck with this monster? It was true … Mesmerman really had laid low this entire time. The war was really General Cutman’s big idea and not Mesmerman’s at all. And they knew that Mesmerman survived by feeding off the negative emotions of others, so it really wasn’t a lie. Could Mesmerman really be … an ally?

"Of course," Mesmerman sneered in a calculated way, "if you DON'T accept my generous offer, each and every one of you will die here and now."

The last sentence shocked the Mechanical Maniacs back into reality, and anger crossed all of their features. "There's now way I can speak for the world," Shadowman said through gritted teeth, "but I speak for my team when I say you can't be allowed to exist any longer."

"So be it," Mesmerman chuckled, "In the immortal words of Pat Benetar," he said off handily, twirling his twin weapons with ease and floating a little higher into the air, "Hit me with your best shot."

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

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