Series 7 Issue #12 - Remnant Part 3

By Gauntlet (Shadowman)

The Mechanical Maniacs brace themselves as the Technodrome continues to rise through the ground...

Geminiman: What did you do!?

Topman: I - nothing! I was trying to deactivate the old security!

Snakeman: It says we're moving upwards.

Topman: What? That's not what I wanted to do!

Magnetman: It's Mesmerman! That monster's still alive.

Hardman: A course he is.

Magnetman: Show yourself you grinning monster! Where are you!?

...

Needlegal: If it's him, he's not in a chatty mood.

Snakeman: (Fiddling with the control panel) Uh, guys? I can't stop our ascent.

Shadowman: Where are we going to come up?

Snakeman: Right in the middle of downtown Monsteropolis.

Hardman: CRAP!

(With a colossal earth-shattering boom the Technodrome emerges from the earth.)

Hardman: Crapity crap crap crap.

Snakeman: (While furiously typing on the controls) I can't stop this thing!

Shadowman: So long as none of the giant guns fire -

(The Technodrome begins firing its giant guns, sending skyscrapers crumbling to the ground.)

Shadowman: AHHHH!

Geminiman: We weren't overly concerned with destroying the city when we moved the Technodrome back in, as I recall...

Shadowman: We didn't just stop being considered enemies of humanity back then! Oh, this is bad.

(The phone rings and Topman answers it.)

Topman: Helloo? ... Uh huh ... Uh huh ... Mmhmm ... It's Oilman. He's saying he's not going to negotiate with terrorists like us and that he's going to turn us all into scrap metal for using RPD property to destroy the city.

Shadowman: God damn it!

Topman: And Sharkman's giggling in the background. Friggin' Sharkman ...

Needlegal: Top, you've got to tell him this isn't our fault.

Topman: Hey, Oil? This isn't - annnnnd he hung up. Rude.

Hardman: We gotta do somethin' to stop dis thing.

Spark Chan: And to clear our names. Oilman's not gonna help us with that.

Magnetman: Hey is that ... it is! The Sterling Sentinels!

Spark Chan: Maybe they'll listen to reason.

(A large part of the front of the Technodrome then falls free. There's a resounding bang as the panels falls into place.)

Geminiman: Wait, what was that?

Shadowman: No, no, no. Oh come on! Not the -

(The eyeball of the Technodrome is then released! It rolls off the ramp created by the opened side of the Technodrome and rams right into the Sterling Sentinels, pummeling them into the ground!)

Shadowman: Not the eyeball!

Snakeman: It's still in one piece. It might be a little scuffed and dented, but we can still -

(The eyeball explodes as Splash Woman blasts her team free.)

Snakeman: Never mind, it's toast.

Shadowman: Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Needlegal: You really liked that eyeball, didn't you?

Shadowman: We just got it back!

Magnetman: You really gotta learn to let things go, man.

Shadowman: Someone dies for this!

Magnetman: Geez!

Spark Chan: The Sentinels are still coming...although it looks like that took all Splash had, she's down.

Topman: Do you guys really think they can take down the entire Technodrome?

Snakeman: There's always a chance ...

(The Technodrome's ramp fully collapses back into the behemoth base and its guns take aim at the Sentinels. Within moments the Megaman 9 team is gunned down by the powerful lasers.)

Snakeman: Guess not. Damn, the RPD really did keep this place up to snuff.

Shadowman: There are Special Forces Units trying to pound their way in, but most of them are just getting crushed by the giant treads. This is terrible!

Hardman: Why don't we just start smashing stuff?

Shadowman: This is still our home, damn it!

Geminiman: And I don't think that'd help much. We'd need to go to the engine room and take out the Technodrome's power supply, only...

Needlegal: (While shooting at the armored door) Only we're locked in this damned room!

Shadowman: Hey, careful!

(Alarms start going off and the room is quickly filled with Foot Ninja.)

Topman: Everyone else is seeing them this time, right?

Hardman: Yep.

Topman: Good, so I'm not crazy!

(The Maniacs easily dispose of the robots, but more keep on coming.)

Snakeman: We could take out the engine room...that would cut off the power and cut off the supply of Foot Ninja. We just need to get there first.

Magnetman: You all know...I could take it all down.

Shadowman: What?

Magnetman: With my power, I could do it. During the war I destroyed whole cities all on my own. I've been practising -

Hardman: Dude! I'm right here. When ya took down whole cities y'weren't 'zactly concerned with leavin' survivors.

Magnetman: I have been practising! I think I could do it with little collateral damage. I could take this entire thing down.

Shadowman: Aw, man.

Spark Chan: There's no other way.

Shadowman: Okay...fine! We were evicted anyway. Take the Technodrome down, Mags.

(Magnetman closes his eyes and relaxes. Hardman blasts the surrounding ninja away as Kenta concentrates.)

Hardman: Aw, I'm really gonna hate this, aren't I? OW!

(Hardman clutches his chest in pain and an eerie red glow surrounds Magnetman. If the Maniacs could see his face they'd see it twisted in anger and rage as Kenta goes to a very dark place.)

Topman: The Foot Ninja are disintegrating!

Snakeman: Stay down! (Snakeman pushes Topman to the floor as a large piece of the main console is ripped away and flies overhead.)

Shadowman: A little protection here, Mags!

Magnetman: Nnnng.

(Several panels from the walls surround the Mechanical Maniacs and soon they are in total darkness. They can hear large chunks of metal tear into their shield as Magnet continues to destroy the Technodrome.)

Magnetman: Mesmerman, I really hope you are still here. Because you will never survive this! Do you hear me, monster! You'll never survive this!!

(Magnetman unleashes his full fury and the metal sphere containing the Mechs is lifted off the ground as Magnet lets his rage grow. Now everything is in the air. There is no trace of Foot Ninja or Mousers, but Magnet can hear the treads still moving forward and the large cannons still firing. For the first time in many years Magnet allows himself to feel the deep rage at having been used as a tool for what seems like a lifetime.)

*****

(It seems like hours before the raging storm is done. With an effort, Hardman fires his Hard Knuckles and breaks their protective sphere open.)

Hardman: Ahh! I...dat's all I got, guys. I'm...I'm done.

(With a grunt Hardman collapses. The severe magnetic storm finally overcoming his systems.)

Geminiman: There's...nothing left!

(The Maniacs survey the area. The large treads of the Technodrome largely remained after Magnetman's fury as did some of the larger cannons, but the rest was completely unrecognizable. Parts from their shattered base were scattered everywhere the Mechanical Maniacs could see.

Shadowman: I guess...I'll just have to let go of the past.

Needlegal: That'd be a good idea.

Spark Chan: Mags seems okay, but he's out cold. I didn't know he could still do this. I could have sworn I could hear him screaming as he tore the place down.

Geminiman: It was just your imagination. It was just metal, twisting and tearing apart.

Spark Chan: I guess you're right...I'll do what I can to get Hard back online first, since there's too much magnetic interference to teleport at the moment and there's no way we're carrying him out of here...

Geminiman: Do you think we got Mesmerman?

Shadowman: I don't even know if he was there.

Topman: Someone tricked me into inputting my codes into the computer. This all started after that happened. It has Mesmerman's stench all over it!

Shadowman: You're right, but he wouldn't have to be in the room with us to make you do that. He could have been working you for months without you even realizing.

Topman: Could he? He seemed pretty messed up the last time we saw him.

Shadowman: We have to assume he still could.

Snakeman: But how could that guy even get into the Technodrome? We had security set up to stop him specifically.

Shadowman: I guess he...could have gotten low-level access somehow.

Snakeman: But how could he possibly do that? The Technodrome has the best security money can buy.

Special Forces Unit: You'll die wondering, Mechs.

Shadowman: Crap!

( Most of the team avoids the Unit's gunfire and flees when another group approaches.)

Spark Chan: No! What about Hard and Magnet?

Special Forces Unit 2: Dooooood! We'll take good care of your buddies! Heh heh heh.

Special Forces Unit 3: Shut up, you idiot!

Needlegal: What? WHAT!? Sharkman? Are you in there!?

Special Forces Unit 2: "In there"? Hee hee hee, nope! Er I mean, who is Sharkman? I don't know -

(The first Special Forces Unit begins to attack the rest of the group.)

Special Forces Unit 1: Stop it! They belong to me! Just get lost and stay out of my way!

Special Forces Unit 3: Who do you think you are!? You can't tell us what to do!

Special Forces Unit 4: He said it right!

Special Forces Unit 1: I don't have any grudge against any of you, but -

Special Forces Unit 5: Guys, the Mechs have split.

Special Forces Unit 1: WHAT!?

(A short distance away...)

Needlegal: I hope Spark will be alright back there.

Snakeman: She will be if we make like good distractions over here. The Special Forces ought to focus on us while she slips in and continues working on Hard. Then either the interference clears up or Hard can carry her and Mags to safety before we meet back up.

Needlegal: I like the sound of that. "Safety." Why don't we join her?

Shadowman: We also need to capture one of the Special Forces Units and question it. We have to learn more about what's going on here. If we could get it alone we could hack into it.

Topman: The Sinister Six are in control of the Special Forces Units. How did that happen?

Geminiman: Oilman is the Chief. It wouldn't take much for him to sign a few out for a joyride.

Shadowman: Oil wouldn't jeopardize his position so soon by using them like this. There were more than just the Six back there too. I don't know, it's really beginning to trouble me. First you're manipulated within the Technodrome. And now the Special Forces Units have been compromised. There's something there that we're missing. I just...I can't put my finger on it!

Special Forces Unit 1: Like I said, you'll die wondering!

(The Special Forces Unit starts shooting at the Mechanical Maniacs and it's soon joined by two more of its kind.)

Snakeman: (While his snakes surround and gun down one of the Units) We can't keep doing this forever.

Topman: (Kicking dents into the frame of another Unit.) I dunno, I kinda like getting all my pent up aggression out like this.

Shadowman: (Slicing into one of the Units) Leave one of them active enough to hack into!

Needlegal: Does this remind anyone of when Scissor Joes attacked RPD HQ using these things as suits? (Repels one of the armored police officers with the Needle Cannon.)

Snakeman: A little too well. I told myself never to trust these things and then I went and forgot about it. After so long, they just seemed to be...around. But anything could be inside of these things!

Shadowman: Wait, that's it! (Shadowman slices through the Special Forces Unit's chest armor, revealing a surprised Officer Bot. Shadowman quickly dispatches it with a Shadow Blade.)

Topman: (While finally damaging the knees of his foe enough to fell it) What? Didn't you just tell us to leave these guys online?

Shadowman: There's no need. I know the connection here.

(With a roar, Needlegal and Geminiman's foe falls to the ground, several large spikes driven deep into its metal body.)

Geminiman: Thank you my lady, but more are on the way!

Shadowman: I'm starting to get a signal. Let's get to the safe house before we're overwhelmed!

(The Mechanical Maniacs teleport out just as the Special Forces Units begin their assault. They rematerealize in a cluttered compound far, far away from Monsteropolis....)

Topman: Dr. Light's lab from the war. This place really brings back unpleasant memories. He really lost it back then.

Geminiman: All the more reason to use it. I doubt anyone else remembers this place exists.

Needlegal: Yeah, our obsessive-compulsive leader.

Shadowman: Be thankful I'm this obsessive! We have everything we need right here.

Spark Chan: You made it back...so soon? I only just got back here myself.

Geminiman: What of our comrades? Did you retrieve Hardman and Magnetman?

Spark Chan: I...I'm sorry. The Sinister Six took them away before I could reach them.

Topman: Damn! No, they could be dead! We have to go after them!

Snakeman: Relax, Top. Killing them would be the smart thing to do. But the Sinister Six are controlling the main RPD force so our pals are probably fine. Those idiots wouldn't think to do anything as smart as just killing them.

Topman: I don't know if you can tell, but those idiots have been kicking our asses!

Spark Chan: We have to go rescue them!

Shadowman: We have bigger problems.

Snakeman: Right, you said you had this figured out.

Shadowman: I have some of it figured out, namely, what links all this together. It's my old doppelganger, Bizarro Shadowman.

Geminiman: Bizarro Shadowman!?

Snakeman: Okay, I see that. He made the Technodrome, and the Special Forces Units are based on the Gamma Units he made.*

(*Series 5, the Unnamed)

Topman: They are the Gamma Units he made! They just have a shiny coat of paint and Officer Bots strapped in them, but they're still the Gamma Units.

Spark Chan: But, hun, Bizarro can't be behind this. He's dead.

Shadowman: ...Maybe. It wouldn't be the first time a villain we thought was dead came back to haunt us!

Snakeman: But it wouldn't explain how the Sinister Six are involved. Bizarro wouldn't need their help controlling them. And it doesn't totally explain what went on in the Technodrome either...messing with people was never his style.

Shadowman: It's been 15 years, maybe his style changed. I'm telling you, it feels like Bizarro!

Geminiman: Bizarro's our best bet at any rate. Whether it's him or not -

Shadowman: It's him!

Geminiman: It seems as if someone is at least using his technology to get at us. We just need to find a way to log into the system and track the source. Looks like you were wrong, Shadowman. We still have to capture one "alive."

Shadowman: Naw, I have one in the back.

Geminiman: Wh-what? Since when?

Shadowman: Since the War. They came in handy during the assault at Desert Gulch, so I decided to keep some. Just in case.

Needlegal: You really are a pack rat, you know that!?

Shadowman: Oh, whatever! It came in handy didn't it? Don't complain!

Snakeman: This is good news. I can use that to trace the signal being sent to all the Special Forces Units using that thing.

Shadowman: You can, Snake? How did you get from sniping to hacking?

Snakeman: I moved on, man, get with the times!

(Snakeman drags the offline suit of armor into the center of the room and plugs himself into it. Activating only a few core systems, Snakeman logs into the Unit from a kind of distance. The Special Forces Unit's motor controls are offline and its programming is not allowed to interact with Snakeman's own in anything other than a read-only capacity.)

Snakeman: Woah! Looks like your hunch was right. Now that I'm really diving into this I can tell you that these things still have a massive amount of Bizarro's old technology.

Shadowman: Of course they do. Those idiots tried to reverse engineer Bizarro's tech to use as their own. Like they could have ever controlled it!

Spark Chan: Um, hun? We trusted Bizarro's tech enough to move into the Technodrome.

Shadowman: That was a totally different situation.

Snakeman: I can hear all the chatter. The Sinister Six definitely have control over most of the Special Forces, but there's another guy.

Topman: Mesmerman.

Snakeman: He doesn't sound like Mesmerman, but it might still be him. He has his own guys. And he seems to be on the way to something. I'm trying to pull up data on their place, but it's firewalled. It's...right in the middle of Monsteropolis!

Geminiman: People? I think -

(Geminiman is cut off as a large explosion rocks the building.)

Needlegal: What was that!?

Snakeman: Shit! (Snakeman quickly climbs out of the armor) He found me! And he's not Mesmerman at all! We have to MOVE!

Spark Chan: We need backup! I think I have an idea, but it'll take a bit of time. I'll meet back up with you if I can! (Spark Chan teleports out).

Topman: Who is it, if it isn't Mesmer?

Shadowman: Guys! (Shadowman turns pale as he stares out of a large hole newly made in the wall.) It's...the Ark.

Snakeman: Like I was saying, we're facing Nightmare Top. He got into the system somehow and now it looks like he's going to kill us.

N-Top: (From a loudspeaker) Die, Mechanical Maniacs!

(The Ark fires a large laser vaporizing the derelict Light's Lab.)

THE END

(Nah, just kidding.)

To be continued...

Cast:
Classi Cal as .....	Spark Chan	Raijin as .....	Snakeman	Psycho Magnet as .....	Needlegal
Hadrian Howell as .....	Hardman			Nightmare as .....	Topman
Lennon as .....	Geminiman	Kenta (Kassidy) Eigen as .....	Magnetman	Gauntlet as .....	Shadowman