Chapter 10
Preston Light was too anxious to sleep. Why couldn't we have made this discovery at a normal hour? He thought. He paced the Command Area, in the Main Hall, when Radcliffe walked in. "You really should get some sleep, Doctor." He said.
"I just can't shake the feeling that it can't be this easy, Marcus. Something doesn't feel right." Light replied.
"Sir, Wily is a wounded animal, trying to hide, right now. He isn't a King anymore, and no longer has an Army to protect him." Radcliffe stated. "Even if he has top-of-the-line defenses, we both know that he won't get away from the two that you sent to get him." He clapped Light on the back, "Now go to bed. I'm running comms, I'll wake you if anything comes up."
Light smiled, "Alright, sorry, it's just hard to believe that it's, finally, going to be over." He responded and made his way to the elevator.
He laid in his bed, looking at the ceiling. The underground Living Quarters were packed, since the arrival of their new guests. But they would be fine, until the new sub-level was built. He thought to himself, In a couple days, we could all be going to our own homes. When Curtis was brought in, he would do what was right, not because it was right, but it was his only choice now. He closed his eyes and drifted off.
He was jolted awake, to the sounds of screaming alarms, and panicking people. Running to the elevator, he assured everyone to remain calm and return to their quarters, bolting the doors.
When the elevator doors opened, to the Main Hall, it was utter chaos. The commandos were firing, wildly, at swarmbots, while trying to fight off the packs of robotic wolves, that viciously attacked them. Light ran along the wall, toward the Weapons Storage, trying to stay out of sight. One of the wolves took notice of him, and rushed in, snarling. It pounced him, knocking him to the floor while digging it's claws into his chest. It wrapped it's fangs around his throat, but the jaws only locked down on air. The animal was snatched off of him and it's neck snapped, before being tossed across the room.
"What the hell are you doing up here?!" Radcliffe asked, helping him to his feet.
He was about to respond, when Marcus shoved him to the floor, swinging his assault rifle around. He, methodically, dropped a small group of gearbots, with a series of three-round bursts.
"Get back downstairs, Sir!" He yelled.
"We need to arm ourselves, Marcus. They're sitting ducks, down there." Light replied.
Radcliffe herded him back toward the elevator, with his back to him, disintegrating the metal wasps, as he walked. "I'll have some men come down and bring you weapons. But for now, stay put, and don't open the emergency hatch. There are hoards of them outside the building."
The elevator doors closed, as Radcliffe kicked a leaping wolf and putting to bolts in it's head. All that remained of their army were ten men, including himself, and they were all fighting for their lives. A trio of wolves jumped on his friend, Lucas, and began mauling him. He yelled, starting to run to him, when Lucas pulled the grenade pins from his vest, incinerating the surrounding droids.
Nine men, Radcliffe corrected himself, as the back draft sent him crashing through the Command Center. Then, eight, as he opened his eyes to see Greg getting impaled by four of the wasp droids. He got up and made a run for the Weapons Storage, as the glass, from the upper level windows, shattered, raining down upon him. The security droids dropped in, looking like armor-wearing skeletons, and blasted gaping holes through three more of his men.
"Weapons Room!" He shouted to the other four, as they began to maneuver their way, painstakingly, through the onslaught. With his back to the wall, he crept towards the rendezvous, laying down automatic fire, to open a path for the others. He made it to the door, just as William, a newcomer, lost his head to a security droid's bladed forearm. Another droid's arm came up, to fire a high-focused fusion at one of his surviving comrades. He targeted the small canister port, on it's wrist, and blew it's arm off. The bolt had already been let loose, though. The arm fell to the floor, blowing the legs from it's target, as the wolves dove in on their prey.
He went into a panic, as he realized that he had lost the other two commandos, in the sea of machines. He whirled around, frantically, to open the doors to the Weapons Storage, when the power was cut, and the room went dark. The glow of the morning sunrise bathed the large room, in a faint, orange, hue, as the army of droids cornered him.
In the silence, he heard heavy footsteps, as the robots cleared a path. The officer who approached looked like an abomination. The red Spartan helmet, once donned by Burnerman, covered his head, without the green-flamed mohawk. He had one blue eye and one red, with the metal of his jawline exposed, on the left side. He wore Dustman's grey chest and stomach armor. The red, bladed, gloves and arms once belonged to Quickman, and the grey nanopants with orange boots, courtesy of, the late, Cutman.
Wily, being the conservationist, had made this android, with the parts of his fallen officers. Affectionately, calling him "Junkman". Being no file on the android, Radcliffe had no idea what he was capable of. "Where is your Megaman?" He asked, in a deep, electronic, voice.
Marcus clenched his jaw, defiantly.
Junkman cocked his head, staring him in the eyes. "I will carry you downstairs and make you watch, as I slit the throats of every person down there, one by one." He said, not bluffing, "Where is the android, and the woman?"
Radcliffe, breathing deeply through his nose, slowly raised his hand, clutching a detonator that matched with the blinking lights, on his chest. In the blink of an eye, the swarmbots dropped to the floor. The wolves spit sparks, as they fell convulsing. The gearbots' tracks spun sporadically, sending them wildly around the room, smoking. The security droids dropped to their knees grabbing their skulls. The deafening staccato, of serious artillery guns, caused him to fall to the floor, covering his ears and dropping the detonator. He yelled, but it went unheard, drowned out by the sounds. Then they stopped, as the building seemed to rattle.
Junkman, unaffected, stood still, looking around at the chaos. The Alpha-Class droids were regaining their bearings, as the officer turned to follow the source of a low, almost inaudible, humming.
Protoman stood on the upper balcony, his finger to a, small, glowing, circle on the side of his helmet. "Heard you were looking for an android and a woman." He said, as he cranked the EMP higher. The security droids dropped back to their knees again, but Junkman still stare at him, grinning. "Doesn't bother you, huh?" He asked, dropping into the room. "So you're a magnetic user, too? No worries," he walked slowly, kicking a wasp droid, "Your Beta-Classes are, pretty much, trash now."
He extended his staff, and began whirling it, smashing the skulls of the writhing security droids. "Alpha-Classes always take some extra convincing, though."
The officer stared down his brow, at the mouthy android, then grinned, menacingly.
Protoman neared closer, taking a longer look at his foe, "Christ, what the hell do they call you, Piece-of-Shitman?"
Junkman chuckled, "If you're finished, you can proceed with dying alongside these people." He said. He raised his palm, hurling Scott across the room. His rival threw up his own hand, matching the polarity. This freed him of the magnetic hold, landing him on his feet, safely.
"Oooh, the Force is strong with this one." Proto said, mockingly.
"Enough!" The officer yelled, as he charged his opponent, raising scrap metal around him, and fling it at the same time. Protoman deployed his shield, batting through the hailstorm, charging forward as well. They collided, exchanging punches like heavyweight boxers. Deploying his baton, Proto deflected a bladed gauntlet, grazing his throat. He followed the opening with a baton smack to Junkman's cheek.
The android stumbled back, slamming his palms to the floor, momentarily pinning his adversary to the floor. The tornado of debris treated Scott like a human test dummy, slashing and pounding him from all sides. He matched polarity, again, bouncing himself off the floor. In one motion, while he was airborne, he clipped a crash bomb on a hunk of metal, and sent the trash heap back to his attacker. The pile exploded in Junkman's face, driving him to the back wall. The security droids were back to their senses, opening fire on Protoman as he landed. Taking a few hits, he dove behind a computer desk.
Radcliffe stood up and began picking off the machines, from behind, while making his way to the elevator. He struggled, prying open the doors, when the officer stood up, noticing him. He picked up the pace as the android came closer. Marcus felt the metal glove on the back of his neck, when he heard the loud "clang".
Protoman struck the android in the back of the head, with his baton. He quickly extended the other end, wrapping it around Junkman's neck, and pushing off the wall, bringing them to the floor. "Move!" He yelled, as he snatched the elevator doors outward, magnetically. "Get the people out! Tron's outside!" He said taking elbows to the ribs, from his subdued rival.
"Thank you, Scott." Marcus said, before dropping down the shaft.
"I wouldn't thank me, just yet, you prick." He muttered to himself, as he rolled Junkman over, kicking him in the face, as he stood. He went for another kick, when the android grabbed his foot, flipping him backward, onto his stomach.
Pulling the doors open, Marcus ran through The living Quarters, banging on doors and shouting for everyone to evacuate. The people flocked to the stairwell, leading to the emergency hatch in the flowerbed. When the hatch opened, The Phantom sat, with the Loading Bay ramp down. "Go, go, go!" Tron was shouting, as she sat in her mech suit. She stood, swatting the swarmbots with a giant palm, and mowing down security droids with a rotating heavy machine gun, where the other hand would be.
When Light and Radcliffe approached the ramp, she turned to block their path. "Not you." She said, coldly.
"What?!" Marcus shouted. "What kind of rescue is this?!"
The same kind the two of you gave my brother." She replied, as four servbots emerged by the landing gear, holding rifles on the men.
"I suggest you get back inside." She said, grabbing Radcliffe's gun and crumpling it.
"They're still swarming the building, Tracy! What are we supposed to do in there?!" Light asked.
"Scott made it out of the Capital, I think the two of you can figure something out." She responded, as she walked up the ramp.
The Loading Bay closed, and Dr. Light and Marcus made their way back into the hatch. They sat on the stairwell shocked. "Hopefully, Megaman and Miller will come back before they get down here." Radcliffe said.
Light looked into the Lieutenant's eyes, sadly, "Marcus, I think our time in this war has come to its conclusion."
Marcus put his face in his hands. He was exhausted and deflated, "How could we have known, Doctor?"
Protoman smashed the wall, cracking the blocks. The fight seemed to be going on forever. "Scott, pick it up, the people are loaded." Tron said in his comms.
"Yeah," He said, wearily, "I'll stop toying with hi..."
Junkman grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off the floor, and holding him by his yellow cloth. "Where are the jokes now, Protoman?" He asked, grinning.
Scott gave him a bloody giggle, putting his hand out, "Mjolnir, to me." He said weakly.
Before he could react, the hilt was in Protoman's hand, and the shield deploying between the two. The red gauntlet and hand still clung to his scarf, as Junkman stumbled back. The shield became a staff, as he swept the officer's legs, crashing him on his back. Bottom retracting, he mounted his foe, punishing his face, until the jaw latch broke. He dropped the hilt, and filled the android's mouth with grey foam, then quick-dashed to the door, as Junkman's head exploded.
Tracy turned to check the engine status, when she was face to face with a, vaguely familiar, six year old girl. The girl was crying on the borderline of hyperventilating. "Hey, hey. What's wrong?" She asked.
"I, I, can't find my daddy!" She barely got out.
"It's okay, this is a big ship. I'll get on the intercom. What's his name?" She asked.
There was a sudden banging on the hatch above the two men. "Hey! You guys in there?" They heard. Light was baffled, it sounded like Scott. He opened the hatch, and was snatched out by his shirt.
"This is how you rescue someone, asshole." Protoman said, shoving him toward the ramp.
"Daddy!" The girl yelled jumping into Radcliffe's arms. Why didn't you get on with everyone else?" She asked.
He looked over at Tracy, "Miss Bonne's brother still needed help, but we got trapped trying to get to him." He said.
"Wow. That's so brave!" She replied, hugging him.
As he put her down to go play in the lounge, he walked over to Tracy. "I can't begin to understand your anger toward us. But thank you, Tracy." He said, quietly.
She nodded and looked down, "Go play with your kid, Marcus." She said. As Light walked past her, she stopped him. "You're not playing with anyone. We have work to do, your up front with us." She said, grinning.