Protection

C/By Kenjaje

Chapter 2: Vise-Versa

Hahli's lungs burned as she sprinted; her right hand flailed about to help her keep balanced as she carried the weary Metabee over her shoulder. Metabee had calmed down over the past few moments; his pulse and breathing returned to normal, he stopped quivering and he began move a little in her grasp.

"Metabee can walk..." He offered, his voice shaky and his words slow, and out of breath as if he had taken a dose of anesthesia.

"No you won't." Hahli snapped back, her pace slowing down as she spoke. She traveled at a jog, trying to get as much speed as she could back to the house. At first, Metabee sort of felt hurt by the tone she had taken; it was almost as if she was yelling at him for doing something wrong. As he thought about it though, he realized it sounded more like she was worried, rather then mean.

"Miga oketaka." He replied after a moment, not even realizing it had been almost a full minute since she had denied his request to walk on his own.

"It doesn't matter," she paused for a moment, seeing the house in the distance and picking up her pace, "how you feel," again she caught her breath, now running up the stairs to the front door and pushing it open, "we're going to Eggman," she then clambered up to the second floor, and turning to her right to jog the hallway, "just in case you might still be infected-EGGMAN!" She shouted, interrupting her own sentence as she slid on her sandals into his room. Eggman turned from the table where he was working and rushed toward Hahli as she fumbled to the ground.

"What is being wrong?" He said quickly.

"Metabee...he collapsed..." She spoke airily, her chest heaving in and out.

"Looks to be like you are about to be collapsing as well. Catch your breath, I will take 626." He then grabbed the little yellow KBT medabot in one hand and took him over to the bunk beds and laid him down. Eggman then proceeded to the closet wherein was a white coat, stethoscope, and other items he had for medical examinations. "Now, be telling what happened." He repeated, as he walked over to Metabee.

"Metabee and I were going to the beach, when we ran into Cody." Hahli spoke quickly; walking to the bunk beds and sitting on the end, still half catching her breath. "Then Metabee suddenly doubled over and started freaking out."

"By what means was he 'freaking out'?" Eggman asked, flashing a light into Metabee's optic. "What were the symptoms?"

"Well..." Hahli said ponderingly; her pulse returning to normal. "He started shivering, and sweating, like he had a fever. And his veins started growing huge, like a monster." She gripped a hand around her wrist to make her veins expand as well, to demonstrate what she was talking about. Jumba eyed her curiously, and then proceeded back to his examination; checking Metabee's horn and mouthplate.

"Very interesting...am wondering if this phenomenon was linked to something or if it was random."

"Is he going to be alright?" She asked with worriment.

"Nothing seems to be wrong anymore, am thinking it was just a minor problem but..." He scratched his chin, thinking to himself, then spoke after the small pause. "It seems similar to an effect that those cybeasts cause."

"What do you mean?" Hahli hopped off the bed and followed Eggman to his desk, where he popped open the computer. Hahli jumped up onto the table with her arms and looked in, levitating from the ground.

"You see," Eggman began, as the computer formed images to go along with what he was saying, "As you are already knowing, cybeasts are composed mostly of noradrenaline beast data. When first enter body cybeasts unleash this massive storage of the anger hormone, which is far too much, and far too sudden for the body to be used to. Symptoms of this overdose in noradrenaline beast data are similar to the symptoms you described 626 as having, when he laid eyes on Cody." Eggman shut the computer and turned back toward Metabee, to continue the examination.

"But then," Hahli said, grunting as she hit the ground, "why did Metabee have that reaction again?"

"Simply put...am having no idea." Eggman shrugged. "626 no longer has robots and cybeasts inside of him, something vaporized them from inside of him completely. I took blood sample and found nothing." Jumba pointed in the direction of his lab, a microscope was laid out, along with a veil, which contained a red-tinted liquid in it. "626 is fine, however, full examination shows nothing is being wrong. He should come around in the next hour or so." With that Jumba took out the stethoscope from his horn, and walked toward the closet.

Hahli walked over to Metabee and took his arm, checking for his pulse—a skill she had learned from Eggman. It was normal, and she smiled. "Maybe it was just..." She froze as she felt something. It was subtle, and unsettling, but barely there. It was like she heard and felt something, but wasn't quite sure. A moment later, it happened again, and continued for a few more moments.

"Everybody run!" Daffy shouted, bursting into the room. The rumble of the ground and the sound of heavy pounding suddenly made Hahli realize what it was she sensed. "Cody is coming!" A split second later, a large crackling noise was heard outside the home. Hahli tried to grab Metabee, but fell to the ground as a small tremor came at her. Eggman and Daffy were on the ground as well.

"Six-two-six!" Cody's voice boomed over the house, as his torso and shoulders was seen through the window of Eggman's room. The roof of the room shook violently as Commander Cody lifted it with little effort and peered into the room. For a second, everyone was silent. Then, as if without warning, everyone in the room was kinetic.

"Come on big dummy!" Eggman shouted, moving to the center of the room and raising a fist, trying to distract Commander Cody while Daffy took cover under the desk. Hahli looked around to see what she could use to help lure Cody away, but couldn't find anything.

"Where is the experiment?" Cody shouted, as if demanding an answer.

"You want experiment?" Eggman retorted back, almost threateningly. He ran toward a small table on which lied an experiment pod. "Take 055, is useless to us!" Eggman threw the small experiment pod at Cody, hitting him square in the forehead of the helmet.

"You're such a fool." Commander Cody snorted, catching the pod in his hand and throwing it back. Eggman leapt to the side, the pod smashed through the wood. "You try my patience."

"As if you had any-" Eggman began to joke, but immediately shouted with surprise and leapt to the side again as a bright ball of plasma smoked where he was just standing. "Sheesh! Touchy, touchy."

"He's got a blaster...what do I do...I got to do something!" Daffy said to himself, as he poked his head out from underneath the desk. Jumba dodged more shots, amazingly quick for a man his size, and started to tell something to Hahli. Daffy looked up on top of the table, trying to find something he could use. His search was rewarded as he found a small gun on the far right. Quickly he seized it and jumped out, pointing it at Cody.

"Little robot girl, take 626, get as far away as you can, we'll hold them off." Eggman shouted, dodging shot after shot from Cody, his knees began to quiver.

"Right!" Hahli shouted, grabbing onto Metabee's arm.

"Freeze Cody!" Eggman heard Daffy shout as the slender black feathered duck with a orange beak and a blue shirt with yellow shoulder plates, appeared to fabricate in front of him. Cody flinched back, but immediately aimed his blaster at Daffy. Eggman quickly glanced at what was in Daffy's hand and took action.

"No Daffy, do not be firing that gun!" He shouted, as Daffy's stubby, shivering finger pulled back on the trigger. Eggman lunged at Daffy and took hold of his wrist, twisting it behind his back as they both tumbled to the floor. As Daffy's hand hit the ground, his finger pressed the trigger. From the large, square gun, a purple stream emanated from its barrel.

"C'mon Metabee, move!" Hahli shouted, holding on to Metabee's right hand, trying to move him from off the bed. She heard Eggman shout at Daffy, telling him not to do something, but was far too concentrative on her task to hear what it was. She yanked Metabee off of the bed and he landed hard onto the floor. Hahli looked up, just in time to see a light purple beam come directly at her.

"Oh no..." Eggman said grimly, as the laser shot at Hahli and Metabee. It hit their robotic hands, before Hahli could pull away, and immediately the room was filled with her scream. She tumbled to the floor after an aura-the same color as the laser-surrounded the two of them for a split second.

Eggman squinted his goggled eyes, there was a lot to do and only a bit of time to do it in. He had to get rid of Cody first. Letting go of Daffy, he ran to his lab table and took up a syringe, loading it into a small dart gun, which he had used once before to try and sedate Metabee. Commander Cody was still laughing from the event that happened not ten seconds ago, until he heard Eggman's voice.

"Over here Cody." He spoke calmly. Commander Cody turned and readied his blaster. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Eggman said with a rising tone. "You know what's in this?" He motioned the dart gun. "I have read all about those robots that were inside of 626. It was very intriguing. So much, that I even went so far as to creating some of my own." Cody slouched his blaster, Eggman smiled. "If you don't want to face the side effects of it...which I know you may not be able to handle...then I suggest you leave us." A droplet of sweat trickled down Jumba's neck.

Commander Cody glanced around the room, trying to look for a way to stop Eggman without getting injected with the robots and cybeasts. Seeing no option, he lowered his gun completely and turned his back.

"This isn't over." He snarled, as he holstered his blaster and sprinted off, the tremors of his footsteps trailing behind him. Eggman relaxed his shoulders and threw the dart gun to the floor, his bluff had worked. Taking two deep breaths in, he then turned to Daffy, who was now getting up off the floor.

"And as for you." He said, slightly scolding. "How many times must I tell you never to touch my inventions if you don't know what they do!"

"But I did know what that does...it...it..."

"I'm not even sure of what it does, it was still in the experimental stages!"

"Well if you didn't have all of your evil genius inventions just lying around on desks, maybe I wouldn't have picked it up." Eggman closed his goggled eyes and clenched his fists, breathing out his pointy nose with rage. He then opened his eyes, and smiled.

"Now." He spoke, trying to focus. "Let us be seeing how little matoran girl and 626 are doing." He walked over to the two, and stopped a few feet away. Daffy turned.

"Oh no!" Daffy shouted, running to the duo. "Somebody dial those three numbers! We have an emergency!"

"Pah..." Eggman said, whipping his hand. "Is no emergency. Laser gun was harmless, only a class 2. If anything little matoran girl just fell over from fear."

"Oh yeah, well how come she looks-"

"She's fine. Just look, sleeping like baby." Eggman lifted her blue masked head, her breathing altered slightly from the change in angle, then returned to a normal pace. Daffy folded his black feathered arms for a moment then relaxed. "These two are always seeming to be sleeping." He said. "Let us be waking them up." Gently he shook Hahli's shoulders. "Hahli..." He said quietly. Hahli's yellow eyes opened, and she rolled over away from Jumba. He heard her yawn loudly as she scratched her blue masked head and lifted herself up to a sit.

"Gaba ichuta..." She said drowsily, opening her eyes. "Miga nopalu-"She paused, her yellow eyes opening wide and her mouth clenching. The hand scratching her head slowly stopped as if she'd lost thought of what she was saying. As Hahli kept the surprised and wondering look on her face, Metabee began to wake up as well.

"What happened...?" He groaned, sitting up and rubbing the bare spot on his neck. "I feel like I just slammed into the-"Metabee stopped in mid sentence as well. Both Hahli and Metabee dawned a surprised and wondering expression on their face, something wasn't right.

"What is being wrong?" Eggman asked, trying to figure out why they were looking so strange. Metabee began to stir; he extended his yellow wrist gun armed arm in front of him and with his other hand began to feel the yellow and white armor that covered all around it. Hahli put a hand to her blue mask covered face and then turned to face Metabee. They paused as their eyes met. They both had the eyes of a deer staring at headlights. "Hello?"

Both of them screamed loudly, Hahli's piercingly high and Metabee's gurglingly low. Eggman and Daffy fell backward as the two stood and began to panic. Hahli stared blankly at her black hands, as if surprised they were attached to her matoran body, and Metabee pulled at his horn. They both stared at each other again, and paused.

"What's going on?" Metabee said meekly.

"Naga nota..." Hahli replied.

"Can someone be explaining to me what's wrong?" Eggman demanded. Both of them looked at him and pointed to each other.

"Metabee is Hahli-" Hahli began loudly.

"And I'm him!" Metabee finished the statement, as loud as Hahli had started it.