Disclaimer: Superior Defender Gundam Force is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.
Distraction Is Imminent
The Magna Musai quietly hovered over the smoking crater of a volcano. On board, the various minions of the Dark Axis went about their daily duties. They kept the deck swabbed. They kept the ship fueled and performed routine maintenance on its systems. They cautiously made sure Destroyer Dom remained inside his containment cell. And when all that was done, they made sure to look busy in front of the squad leaders so as not to get yelled at for lying down on the job.
Everyone was waiting to hear about their next invasion. Many months ago, they had successfully toppled the Kingdom of Lacroa. They were currently sending aide in the form of Big Zams and Zako Busshi to a Musha Gundam warlord who was trying to conquer the country of Ark. However, his campaign was carrying on a bit too long for the Axis leaders' tastes, and was yielding little rewards. Thus, scouting missions to neighboring dimensions were being made. A few of them had been completed, but there was no news as to which one was going to be their next victim. No one, not even the squad leaders, had even heard from the commander for almost a month.
The Zakos tried remain patient. They told themselves that the commander's absence was actually a good thing. But in reality, they were all bored. Very, very bored.
Commander Sazabi, on the other hand, was quite busy. He had barricaded himself in the Magna Musai's control room, locking every entrance as well as the porthole.
The room was largely empty, as Sazabi had no need for furniture. This gave him plenty of space for his latest possession: a giant glass tube that was capped on either end by round, silver cylinders. It was slightly wider than he was and almost touched the ceiling. Thick wires snaked out of the base and lay on the floor, ready to be plugged into a power source.
Inside the tube, a dark grey sandy substance rested at the bottom of a bowl-like indentation in the base. Sazabi eyed that substance eagerly as he began to remove panels from the wall behind the machine, revealing the Magna Musai's various power lines. He picked up the thick cables and carefully patched them into the ship's electrical circuits one by one. Blue lights flickered to life on the base and cap of the tube, bathing the room in an ominous glow.
The dark sand suddenly began to make a low humming noise and shift around by itself. Tiny waves glided across its surface. Sazabi gently tapped on the glass with a finger. In response, the sand buzzed loudly and rippled.
The "sand" was actually a colony of nanomachines that had been confiscated during the previous scouting mission. The dimension they originated from was one where machines had risen up and exterminated most of their human masters. As much as he admired the denizens' attitude, the dimension was ultimately declared useless. There were no gundanium ore deposits. Any attempt at enslaving the machine armies was met with failure, as a central AI kept disabling the control horns.
The nanites and their incubator had been discovered by a group of Zakos that got lost while on their way back to the Zakurello Gate. Sazabi had sent a fleet of Doga Bombers to retrieve the machine when he realized what they had found. Strangely enough, this recovery mission was met with little resistance from the natives.
The commander decided not to report this acquisition to Professor Gerbera. The only thing the professor cared about was gundanium, and anything that was not directly involved to obtaining said metal was considered a waste of time and resources. If he found out about the nanomachines, he would not only have them destroyed, but he would also punish Sazabi for taking them. Therefore, Gerbera didn't need to know about this newfound treasure.
Nor did anyone else in the Dark Axis, for that matter. The recovery team didn't ask about what the tube was for, and the commander didn't bother with an explanation. He didn't want gossip reaching the professor's audio receptors, and he especially didn't want his precious haul accidentally getting destroyed by his underlings' profound incompetence.
The blue lights pulsed. Sazabi received a message that the machine was searching for a network. His optic flared as he tried to connect himself to it, but he was immediately rejected. He'd have to force his way in.
"Zako?"
His body tensed at the sudden outburst. Was someone outside?
Silence. Back to work, then.
"I wonder what the commander's up to, zako?" a high-pitched voice asked.
Sazabi whipped his head around. It sounded like the speaker was right outside the porthole.
"I dunno. He's probably, like, real busy n'stuff, zako," a drawling voice replied.
"I know, but it's been a month!" the first voice replied. "We usually hear from him by now, zako."
The commander stalked toward the window as quietly as his heavy, massive feet would allow.
"Maybe we should knock and see if he's okay? Zako," the first voice continued.
"No way, man!" the second voice cried. "Like, he'll get mad and fry us! Zako."
"But we gotta make sure he's alright," the first voice argued. "What if he was knocked offline, or something? Zako."
Sazabi almost turned on the projector to let them know that yes, he was online and that yes, he was going to fry them. Thankfully someone intervened.
"What are you metallic morons doing?! Don't you know the commander's in there?!" Zapper Zaku's voice angrily whispered at them. Though he had cut his decibel levels in half, he was still louder than the Zako's normal speech.
"Like, w-we're sorry, Lord Zapper!" the drawler sputtered. "W-we just wanted to make sure the commander was okay, zako!"
"Yeah, nobody's seen him in a long time, zako!" the higher-pitched voice cried.
"Well, it's obviously because he's just that busy, you tin-plated twits!" Zapper barked, his muffled voice steadily growing louder. "Now get out of here before you get us all deep fried!"
Sazabi heard the scratching and clanging of metal feet scurrying away. There was a strange lack of Zapper's guns firing, however. That must have taken a lot of restrai-
Rata-tat-tat!
Spoke too soon.
The commander quickly returned to the incubator and began searching its programming for a way in. Once he was able to find a back door, he forced the interface to give him admin status. It flashed a triangular logo at him, sent a welcome message, then prompted him for a command. He wasted no time in uploading his schematics and instructing it to integrate the nanomachines into his systems.
The computer took a few milliseconds to calculate before showing him a model of the resulting upgrade. The new body would be a lot thinner and lightweight. The armor consisted of many overlapping, sharp-angled plates connected by metal strips. The armaments were largely the same; it was the defensive features that were far more interesting. The nanomachines would allow his body parts to instantly fly apart and reform to avoid any and all damage. They could also rapidly rearrange themselves so that he could change his shape into almost anything or anyone. It wasn't perfect - powerful magnetic fields could disrupt the nanites' cohesion. However, such fields required an exorbitant amount of energy, making it highly unlikely that any of his next opponents would be able to create them. He quickly approved the model for construction.
The sand prickled and hummed. The top cylinder of the incubator slid to the left with a hiss, opening the main chamber. He received a prompt to add more materials. For his size and mass, fifty more kilograms of metal was needed to create enough resin to coat his body.
Sazabi grunted. Here he thought that he could just rub the nanites on his armor, and they would magically self-replicate until he was fully upgraded. It could never be that easy, could it? Now where was he going to obtain some scrap metal?
The Magna Musai had a trash heap on its lowest level. The materials down there may not be of the highest quality, but it would be far better than the alternative. Trying to steal scrap from the General's smelting pit was a good way to get thrown in.
He was not going to go down there himself, of course. The commander never left the control room unless it was absolutely necessary, and besides, he didn't want anyone wandering in here while he was away. He also wasn't going to ask a subordinate to get it for him. A Zako would probably drop the entire cargo on the way back, and the Dogas might start asking questions or spreading rumors if they weren't already doing so already. No, he had someone much better in mind.
Sazabi stepped over to a closed door in the side of the room. His optic flared, and the door opened. Inside was Zako Red, an old body of his that he still used for special missions.
The Commander's optic glowed brightly, and the salmon-colored Zako sprang to life. A window containing the drone's camera feed instantly appeared in Sazabi's field of vision. He gave it its orders, and it left the control room without a word. A few heads turned as it hurried down the hallway to the freight elevator, but thankfully no one tried to stop it.
Zako Red rode down to the lowest level and entered the recycling repository. It was a very large room; large enough to fit a Komusai inside. Half of it was taken up by an enormous pile of discarded components - cracked Zako armor, non-functional limbs, broken Doga wings, and other busted parts. On the other side of the room was a row of hover platform carts. The drone picked one out and began to load it up with the prerequisite fifty kilograms of junk. Once its task was complete, it pushed the cart back into the freight elevator and began to make its way back to the control room.
That was a lot easier than I thought, mused Sazabi as he watched Zako Red's elevator ride through the camera feed. Hopefully, these materials are all the nanomachines need to form my new armor. And then I'll be invin-
"Zako?"
The Commander shuddered as he snapped out of his thoughts. He immediately stalked over to the window. Who was out there this time?
"Like, did you see that gnarly-colored dude that came outta the control room?" a familiar drawling voice asked from behind him. "Never seen him before. I thought the commander was the only one in there, zako."
Sazabi whipped himself around as fast as his heavy body would allow. Those voices weren't outside the window, they were-
At that moment, the freight elevator reached the top floor and opened up. Through Zako Red's feed, he saw two - no, three - Zakos standing around the hallway, right outside the control room.
"What are you doing here?!" he demanded through the drone as it pushed the platform down the hall. The three Zakos stayed put, and Sazabi was tempted to simply run them right over.
"Whoa, it's him!" the drawling Zako exclaimed. "It's the guy I was talkin' about, zako!"
"Oh, hey buddy!" another Zako asked in a familiar cheerful, high-pitched voice. "Whatcha doin' with all that scrap?"
"None of your business!" the commander barked via Zako Red. "Now get outta my way!"
"Rude," the third Zako muttered in a deep voice as he turned and walked away. Unfortunately, his friends were not smart enough to follow him.
"Hey, calm down," the cheerful Zako said. "We just wanna find out what's going on with the Commander, zako."
"Like, you were in there, right?" the drawling Zako asked, pointing to the control room. "Didja see him? Is he okay?"
"He's fine!" Sazabi made Zako Red say. "Now leave!"
It bumped them with the cart for emphasis, making the scrap rattle. Unfortunately, the pests didn't take the hint.
"Chill out, zako!" the drawler cried, stumbling.
"Can you at least tell us why he's been gone for so long, zako?" the sunny Zako asked.
Just as the Commander was about to throw open the door and feed the two nuisances to his nanites, someone else intervened once again.
"What's going on out here?"
Through Zako Red's optic, Sazabi saw Grappler Gouf come up from behind the Zakos. He crossed his arms and glared down at them.
"Uh, nothing Lord Grappler!" the cheery Zako said sweetly. "We were just asking this guy about the commander. He's the last one to see him, zako."
"What guy?" Grappler asked as he eyed the platform full of metal. "And why is there a pile of junk in the middle of the hallway?"
"Like, he means the dude with the funky paint job back there. See 'im?" the drawling Zako answered, pointing behind the heap. "He's also the guy who brought in all that scrap."
Grappler stepped to one side to see around the mound of garbage. As soon as he saw Zako Red he gasped and took a few steps backward.
"Oh! Uh, I apologize sir! I-I didn't see you there!" the squad leader blurted out. "These two weren't bothering you were they?"
"Just leave already!" Sazabi grunted at him through the drone. Then as an afterthought, he added, "Zako."
"Yes sir, right away sir!" With that, Grappler grabbed the two Zakos by their collars and dragged them down the hallway.
"I don't get it, zako," the drawler said as he was being hauled away. "Who was that dude?"
"That 'dude' reports directly to the commander!" Grappler snapped. "And you two idiots are very lucky you didn't end up on that scrap heap!"
The three of them disappeared around a corner.
"Finally," Sazabi grumbled to himself as he opened the control room door.
Zako Red entered the room and the door immediately slammed shut behind it. It dropped off the cart full of metal, returned to its alcove, and turned itself off.
The commander grabbed the nearest piece of metal off the cart, which happened to be a mangled piece of Zako armor. He stood on the very tips of his toes to reach the rim of the glass and dropped the scrap down into the chamber. He felt a jolt of excitement as he watched the nanomachines dissolve the plate. After several minutes, the armor had been completely assimilated and the nanite mass had grown to fill half the bottom of the chamber.
Sazabi continued to feed the tiny machines in this fashion, steadily becoming more and more exhilarated as he watched them replicate. He kept imagining himself with the complete upgrade, how it would work, what it would look like. He made up scenarios in his head in which enemy units would unleash all their firepower upon him, but all their beams, bullets, and shells would simply go through him. He pictured changing his body to whatever shape he needed, with whatever weapons he needed. He thought about using the nanites to dissolve enemy barriers...and enemy troops as well. He had to pause to cool down his processor a few times, as he was almost becoming giddy. This was certainly the most excited he had been in a few decades.
Soon he was down to one last piece of scrap. It was a severed endoskeleton arm that was curiously long - almost as long as one of his arms. It largely consisted of hydraulic bars and had very large finger joints; definitely not something of Dark Axis design. Was this part of a scrapped enemy unit?
He looked up as the nanites hummed. The dark grey sand now filled up half of the incubator. Where ever this thing came from, it would be the final piece of his magnum opus. He reached up to drop it into the chamber...
"Zako?"
Sazabi stumbled backward. No, not again...not again!
"So what do you think the commander's doing with all that scrap metal, zako?" the cheery voice from before asked.
"Like, I have no idea, zako," the drawling voice replied. "Maybe he's makin' a sculpture out of it! Although the commander never impressed me as the artsy type..."
Was it the same two Zakos every time?!
"Ask the ninja," a deep voice suggested. Oh great, they dragged their friend from the hallway into this, too.
"Good idea!" Sunny Voice said. "That ninja guy could probably sneak into the control room and see what's going on, zako!"
"Yeah, but like, do we really wanna ask a Gundam for help, zako?" Drawling Voice asked.
Sazabi stepped away from the incubator, the arm still in his hand. He paid no attention to the small sparks that flew out of the frayed wires in its shoulder attachment. He would absolutely not tolerate any talk of infiltrating his control room. He marched over to the porthole to give the little parasites a good screaming at followed by a good frying.
But just as he was about to activate the projector...
"Hey! What are you tin cans doing back up here?!" Zapper's voice demanded, not even bothering trying to whisper.
"Yeah, didn't I tell you twerps to mind your own business?!" Grappler's voice added.
"Ah! Uh, we're very sorry, Lord Zapper, Lord Grappler," Sunny Voice cried.
"Yeah, like, we were just leavin', zako!" Drawling Voice added.
Once again, little metal feet scurried away. Sazabi continued to eye the porthole. Yes, Zapper and Grappler were doing a good enough job scaring the nosy Zakos away. However, if they did a better job of keeping their troops in line, the Zakos would have never pestered him in the first place. He considered giving them the scolding (and frying) he had planned for the pests.
The strange arm twitched in his hand. Save it for later, he had better things to do. He stormed back to the incubator. He reached up to drop the arm into the chamber.
The arm sprang to life and grabbed him by the neck.
"AAAACK!" Sazabi fell over on his back with a terrific thud, shaking the entire room. He grabbed the arm and tried to pull it off of him, but the thing refused to let go. It was crushing his neck supports with incredible strength.
He thrashed back and forth wildly until the hand's grip finally weakened and let go. He hurled it across the room, and it slammed against the porthole with a loud clang. It clattered to the ground and began to crawl around on the floor on its fingers. Sazabi rushed over and gave it a good stomping until it stopped twitching.
"Did you hear that?!" Grappler's voice said.
The commander nearly jumped out of his exoskeleton. He thought they had left.
"Whaddya think's goin' on in there?" Grappler continued.
"Ah, who cares?! I'm sure everything's fine!" Zapper replied. "Now let's get out of here! This place is givin' me the creeps!"
"I dunno. What if those bucket heads were right and something is wrong with the commander?" Grappler asked.
"I'm sure the commander's got everything under control!" Zapper barked. "Now let's just go already!"
He heard their footsteps fade away and then silence. Thinking he was finally alone, Sazabi began to gather up the flattened pieces of the aggressive arm. He stopped himself when he heard strange scraping noises against the porthole shutters.
"What...what're you doing?" Zapper's voice asked flatly.
"I think I can get a claw in here," Grappler whispered. "I'm just gonna take a quick peek and make sure the commander didn't - I dunno - fry himself, or something."
Sazabi dropped everything in his hands and forced the projector on. Holographic screens appeared in front of him, showing everything right outside the porthole. He saw Grappler's head at the very bottom of the screen. Zapper was directly behind him, trying to pull him away.
"Get away from there!" The dark red mech growled under his breath. "You're gonna get us scrapped!"
"Would you knock it off?!" Grappler hissed as he turned around and swatted at him. "This'll take me two seconds!"
"What do you two think you're doing?!" Sazabi roared at them.
Zapper looked up and immediately jumped backward when he realized he was being watched. Grappler fell on his rear, his optic wide.
"AH! Uh, commander!" Zapper sputtered. "We were just, um-I was just passin' through!"
"We heard a commotion in there, and we just wanted to make sure you were alright!" The blue mech said as he stood up and slowly backed away.
"I'm fine!" Sazabi screamed. "Now LEAVE!"
After hurriedly spitting out apologies, the squad leaders ran away. Grappler leaped off the side of the crow's nest while Zapper fell over the edge thanks to tripping on his own feet. Sazabi heard him yelling, "Ow, ow, OW!" as he tumbled down the outer hull.
Once he was certain there was absolutely no one outside, the commander shut off the projector. He collected the scattered components of the crushed arm and hurled it into the incubator before it could somehow strangle him again. The machine's lid slid closed and it gave him a message that the correct amount of mass had been reached. He was then given an estimated time until the armor was finished.
Sazabi largely ignored the countdown as he paced back and forth between the door and the porthole. He listened carefully for any voices or footsteps outside. He would catch glimpses of the new exoskeleton as he'd walk past. First was his large, wide feet with their toes coming to sharp points. Then it formed his legs with their thick armor. Then came his torso and his back thrusters, the latter of which looked like they just barely fit inside the tube. Next was the arms, their attached wings, and his boxy pauldrons. He stopped his pacing as it formed the head and its tall crest.
The glass split down the middle and opened outward. The incubator told him that the armor was now ready. It also cautioned him to have a reliable power source on hand so that the nanomachines will have enough energy to integrate themselves into his systems.
Sazabi took a minute to inspect it. It was a dark grey, hollow version of himself, minus the detailing and his visor. Its plates were held together by cris-crossing strips of metal. Faint blue light rippled through its body as the nanites moved about.
He was so tempted to grab the new shell and start smearing it all over himself. However, he knew he had to be cautious; he saw how the nanomachines consumed that scrap, and he did not want to suffer the same fate. He would install this upgrade one piece at a time to make sure it integrated properly. And just to be on the safe side, he removed his visor and placed it on the floor - he didn't want it to get accidentally dissolved.
Carefully he reached for the armor's left hand...
KABOOM!
A sudden blast shook the Magna Musai. Sazabi reeled backward, but quickly righted himself. The armor buzzed loudly even briefly lost its shape as its nanomachines were thrown forward from the impact. It immediately reformed itself, much to the commander's relief.
Sazabi ran to the porthole and turned the projector back on. He could see explosions all around the ship, as well as hundreds of Zakos milling about down on the main deck.
The first thing he thought to do was to radio security in the weapons of mass destruction storage unit.
"This is Commander Sazabi!" he announced over the commlink. "Did Destroyer Dom escape containment again?!"
"No commander sir, he's still in his cell," a guard unit answered.
"Aw, c'mon! What's goin' on out there?" Dom's voice came over the link. "I wanna see!"
Sazabi ended the call and looked at the screens again. More explosions appeared on the horizon, but there was no sign of the culprits. Was it survivors from Lacroa? Someone from Ark that had gotten wise to the Dark Axis' real plans?
He hated to go out there, but he couldn't see well enough through the projector. He shut it off, opened the porthole, and stepped outside.
The first thing he found out was that the explosions came in a variety of colors: red, green, purple, gold, and white. They whistled and crackled. Some were shaped like rings, others left long trails like willow leaves. The Zakos on the deck had stopped running around and were watching the blasts, sometimes saying "Ooooh!" or "Ahhh!" They didn't even notice his presence.
Is this some sort of joke?! Sazabi thought as he clenched his fists. Perhaps it wasn't; it was very possible this fireworks display was a smokescreen for an oncoming assault. He closed the porthole behind him and flew above the ship to get a better look.
The firecrackers surrounded the Magna Musai and seemed to originate from the levitating rocks around the ship. He tried to zoom in on the rocks for any signs of the perpetrator, but the colorful blasts kept obscuring his vision. He tried to scan far into the distance for any incoming vehicles, but the glare kept interfering. He began opening network connections.
"Attention all Doga units!" the Commander announced over the link. "I need several squadrons to investigate these fireworks! I need to know where they are and who set them off!"
"Understood, Commander," replied the voice of Doga Grey.
"You got it, Commander dude!" said the voice of Doga Blue.
"I'll also need several more squadrons to scout the perimeter for any suspicious activity," Sazabi ordered. "These fireworks might be serving as a distraction."
"Yes, Commander," Doga Purple responded.
"We'll get right on it, Commander sir!" Doga Yellow's voice rasped.
Sazabi landed back down on the crow's nest as Dogas began pouring out of the ship. He peered at the deck below him as he opened a different link.
"Attention Zapper Zaku, Grappler Gouf!" he announced.
Two of the silhouettes on the deck stirred. One jumped in the air.
"Oh! Er, sorry commander, didn't see you up there!" Zapper replied.
"What are your orders, sir?" Grappler asked.
"Get the troops in formation," Sazabi explained. "We need to prepare for a potential attack!"
"Right away, sir!" they replied.
The Zakos on deck stopped gawking at the fireworks and starting lining themselves up. Despite having closed his network connections, Sazabi could hear every word Zapper was yelling all the way up on the crow's nest.
How convenient that someone should attack just as I'm about to upgrade myself, the commander thought. Very well, then. I can use them to test out my new powers. Whoever they are, they'll have the honor of being the first victims of a new and improved Commander Sazabi!
He chuckled darkly to himself as he stepped toward the open porthole.
Wait a minute, that wasn't right. He closed that porthole, didn't he?
He replayed the footage from his recent memory. Yes, he closed the shutters before he flew into the air. So why was it...?
Sazabi felt a chill run through his processor. He stepped inside to find the incubator empty and his visor missing.
"Im...impossible!" he cried as he staggered backwards. He ran back outside and made a thorough scan of the area, thinking that he might somehow spot the thief. After a few minutes of searching, he found absolutely nothing.
Sazabi fell to his knees. "How? How could this have happened...?" he mumbled to himself. "I only had the shutters open for a minute! Who could have...?"
He balled his hands into fists and began to shake. All that work he did in the past month was for nothing.
"The troops are ready, Commander," Grappler's said over Sazabi's radios. "Whaddya want us to do next?"
Sazabi ignored him and stared at the floor. His funnels launched from his back and began floating around.
"Commander?" Grappler asked. "Are you...okay?"
Sazabi slowly stood up. He raised his arms straight above his head and screamed into the heavens at maximum volume, "WHO DID THIS TO ME?!" Zakos scattered and ran for cover as the funnels zoomed around and fired upon all moving targets.
On a levitating rock many meters out from the Magna Musai, a trio of Zakos were sitting around, watching the fireworks.
"Whoa," said the drawling Zako. "Ninja dude said he'd find a way to get the commander out of his room, but like, I didn't expect him to do somethin' like this. That's one totally righteous light show, zako."
"Yeah, he got our attention at least, zako!" said the cheerful Zako. "I wonder where he got all those firecrackers from?"
"I know someone who sells them real cheap," a voice rasped behind them.
The trio spun around. Cheerful Zako gasped while the Drawler fell over. The quiet Zako just stared. Behind them was Cobramaru wearing what looked like a dark grey suit of armor made out of rippling duct tape. It was roughly the shape and size of the commander, which meant it didn't fit the Gundam well at all. His feet were in its midsection, and his hands were in its forearms. His face awkwardly peeked out of the space where an optic should go. He had slapped Sazabi's brightly-colored visor on his head, and was carrying his normal cobra armor under one arm.
"You're back!" Cheerful Zako exclaimed. "But, um...why are you dressed like the commander, zako?"
"I found this 'costume' in your leader's command room," Cobramaru explained. "It seems that this was what he was working on all this time."
"So like, he was makin' a statue of himself!" Drawling Zako exclaimed. "Gotta say the commander's pretty talented, zako. Looks totally avant-garde."
Cobramaru rolled his eyes. "This is not a statue!" the ninja explained. "This is a new set of armor. Apparently, your commander wanted to upgrade himself."
"Oh. That's pretty cool, zako," Cheerful Zako replied.
Suddenly, the quiet Zako tapped his two friends on the shoulder. "Look!" he said, pointing at the Magna Musai.
The three mechs looked up at the ship. Between the colorful bursts, they could see long strings of light rapidly streaking in all directions. They were definitely not fireworks.
"Uh-oh!" Cheerful Zako said. "I think the commander found out you took his stuff!" He turned to the Musha Gundam. "Maybe if you give it back to him right away, he'll calm down, zako."
"Give it back to him?!" Cobramaru stopped himself from bursting out into laughter. He cleared his voice modulator before continuing. "Oh, of course! In fact, I'll go do that right now! Now, if you'll excuse me..."
With that, the Gundam leaped over to the nearest floating rock...which was several meters further away from the ship.
"Hey!" Drawling Zako called. "You're goin' the wrong way, ninja dude! Like, the Magna Musai is thataway!"
Cobramaru ignored him as he continued to leap rock to rock, putting more distance between himself and the Dark Axis. He eventually came to rest on a stone that was on the other side of the volcano crater.
"Sure, I'll give it back to your commander," he cackled to himself. "After I'm done with it, of course...which will be never!"
He continued snickering as he placed his regular armor down on the rock. He then straightened up and looked over his new armor.
Now then, let's see what this thing can do, he thought.
He concentrated on his new suit, trying to establish a connection with its particles. It hummed in response. He gave it an order to change its shape into that of his serpent armor. The nanites loudly buzzed and clicked as they molded themselves into a dark grey, oversized replica of his old shell. His feet still didn't touch the ground, his hands were still inside the forearms, and his vision was obscured by the larger snake jaw.
I see that some adjustments will be needed, Cobramaru thought. In the meantime, let's see its other abilities.
He commanded its right arm to become a sword, and adjusted its size and shape into something that felt comfortable. He then sliced through the lower part of the forearm that didn't contain his own arm. While the blade cut right through it, however, the particulates slipped around the edge like sand. The arm remained whole; in fact, looked as if it had never been touched.
Hmmm...self repair even faster than Nano Skin, the ninja thought. How interesting...
He formed three shuriken in the armor's right hand. He hurled them to the ground, and they embedded themselves in the rock. Then the stars dissolved, leaving behind three holes in the stone. The nanites crawled back toward him like a swarm of ants and were reabsorbed by the armor's feet.
Yes, this is proving quite useful!
The exoskeleton's overly long arms gave Cobramaru an idea. He shaped them into Kijuumaru's massive claws complete with the drums on the shoulders. He flexed the fingers to make sure they worked. He dissolved the arms and formed Bakuhamaru's giant mallet. He gave it a twirl; it felt rather light despite its bulk. He dismantled the hammer and formed Moukinmaru's wings on his back. He flapped them a few times, but he was only able to hover a few inches above the rock. After returning to the rock's surface, he commanded the armor to create Haganemaru's spherical shield. In a whirlwind of grey sand, the suit formed two halves of a spiked hallow ball on either side of him.
I'm starting to see why the commander was so secretive about this, Cobramaru thought. Whatever material this armor is made out of is marvelous! Once I figure out how to make this thing change its colors, I could probably perform the Mirror Transformation technique without the Black Armor!
He made it change back into his serpent armor.
With this, I could easily crush Buritenmaru and his resistance! the ninja mused as he scratched a random itch on his neck. Lord Kibaomaru won't even need the Dark Axis anymore! He took his left arm out to scratch it. In fact, after we're done with Buritenmaru, maybe we should turn our attention to them next. Their lowly grunts may be weak and incompetent, but their leaders are... He shoved his hand into the suit to scratch a stinging itch on his right leg. Their leaders are quite...
Now his left leg itched. Then it was his back. Then it was his head. His entire body was itching and stinging.
"What is going on here?!" he hissed, scratching wildly.
He looked at an itchy spot on his forearm to see a silver patch slowly spreading in all directions. He let out a small gasp.
"The armor is reacting to my Nano Skin!" he cried.
He immediately leaped out of the suit, hoping it would stop the rash. Unfortunately for him, the now-empty, top heavy exoskeleton toppled over and teetered at the edge of the rock.
"NO!" he shouted as he dived for the imperiled armor. He managed to grab it by the tail just as it tumbled off the side of the stone. However, the tail slipped right through his hands like so much dust, and the shell plummeted down into the boiling lava.
Cobramaru stared down at the volcano and then at his empty hands in disbelief.
This can't be... he thought. I was going to end the war...!
He pounded his fist on the rock. After taking a few deep breaths, he stood back up.
Never mind, I don't need it! he told himself. Buritenmaru is already on the ropes, and I've destroyed nine castles already on my own. That armor would have taken all the challenge away, and where's the fun in that?
He stepped over to his old cobra armor and slipped it back on. For some reason, the snake's jaw wouldn't fit around his head. As he tried to cram it on, his arm brushed up against metal. It dawned on him that he was still wearing Sazabi's visor. He was rather surprised; he thought that it had also fallen into the lava. He removed the visor and finished putting the cobra hood on. As an afterthought, he put the visor right on the snake's forehead.
At least I get a nice hat out of the deal, Cobramaru thought. It could use a new paint job, but that's easy enough to fix.
He then turned back to face the Magna Musai to see how his "friends" were doing. His fireworks had ended, but the commander was still throwing a temper tantrum; he could see the beams even from this distance. Cobramaru sat back and relaxed as he watched the laser light show.
The End