Retrieval Saga

A Can Full of Clones

Chapter 10: Seven Sins Trogs

In the ship's brig…

It may be a small brig, but the clones are all dehydrated. The several viral pods were in one large brig container in the brig. It seemed a bit haphazard, but it was a bit easier to guard. The one exception was the five viral clones that have shown unusual behavior: Spats, Hunkahunka, Manners, Slick, and Checkers. They were in a separate container so could be examined later. There weren't many guards that night. After all, who would be insane enough to attack them? This thought was revised after some thinking and now 'Who would be insane enough to attack alone?' Currently, the brig was being guarded by Hyena. He was more than enough to keep out most intruders. He sat in front of the door to the brig, making sure not to fall asleep.

The door down the hallway suddenly opened to reveal a pinkish parrot-like experiment with red eyes. Before Hyena could act, he was zapped by a green beam that came out of V-Lax's antenna. Hyena was about to attack him, but then he felt an overpowering wave of laziness swept over him. He sat back down and went to sleep as the Viral Clone walked past him. A camera turned unnoticed to view the intruder… Chris was sitting at the security console, playing a PSP when he spotted activity on the brig's cam. "What the…? GUYS?" he called as he watched V-Lax open the door by zapping the digital lock.

V-Lax zapped the security features of the containers, causing them to go inert. He then opened the container with the odd clones' viral pods and placed them on the floor. He then took out an eyedropper and put a drop of water on each of them. V-Checkers was the first to recover his senses. "What? It's about time. What took you so long?" he said as the alarms began to wail. "This place isn't exactly easy to break into," said V-Lax. "Where is our other comrade?" asked Viral Manners. "I am here, mon amis," said a voice with a French accent. A small tornado came down the hallway and stopped spinning in front of them, revealing a light grey experiment that looked like a French chef with four arms and a spatula tail. "Good," said V-Checkers as a neutron grenade was rolled in. Luckily, V-Lax zapped it in time. "… But I think we should leave before these idiots think to overwhelm us." The Viral Clones nodded and they all held hands. Just as Matt and the gang barged in, there was a bright flash and all seven of them disappeared.

It was a bit later and the whole gang was together in the North Star's small briefing room. Matt had every crewman out and armed with dehydrators to try and find the wayward clones and now he and Chris, as the only witnesses to the escape, were trying to convince the others. "…I'm telling you, they went poof… just like that," said Matt, yawning from exhausting. "How can that be?" asked Draco, "That's not standard Viral Clone power." "Because they're not standard Viral Clones," said Chip, "I've cross-referenced the ones we've captured and the two you saw breaking them out. Apparently, they were an earlier attempt at combining the seven deadly sins with Viral Clones. They're much different from regular Viral Clones, hence their odd behavior." Matt sighed, "Great… It was only a matter of time before something magical arrived to try and take my head off."

Chris was interested though. "You didn't see how to beat them, did you? These guys are the last things Kauai needs," he said as Matt ranted incoherently until Morph whacked him on the head. "Well, they were noted to be harder to control than the other Viral Clones. Once the Shadow Clone project started, they were reclassified to standard clones and put in that satellite. I think they have the same weaknesses as their original counterparts. To fight their sin-based powers, it would probably take a virtuous nature and strong willpower." Everybody looked at each other. Techo finally said, "We're royally screwed."

Matt calmly cuffed Techo on the back of the head. "How hard can they be?" We've handled worse… I beat V-627," he said, only to have Chris add under his breath, "Yeah, after the clone almost took your arm off." "Do not scoff the seven deadly sins," said Draco with a stern voice, "They are known to be the roots of many great evils. Besides, they can be quite incapacitating."

Matt shrugged. "That's what people said about the Doom Weapons and who took them out? I believe it was us," he said cockily. "They're not to be underestimated either, we got lucky that time. I think it might have been also because they weren't in their true forms." "Come again?" said Matt. "Well, from what I've heard, the method of dimensional traveling in their world sometimes alters the appearance of the one going through. That's probably the same for the Walking Blades."

Matt nodded, remembering what Draco was saying. Not even the NSC had worked out how to stop the transforming affects of dimensional reality shields yet. "So… we just sit here and just wait to get wasted? I say we go kick their butts." "I never said that," said Chip, "I'm just saying we don't want to underestimate them." Matt nodded. "Good… Let's go shoe some plasma up their patookies," he said. Techo muttered, "Subtle Lynch, real subtle."

In an empty house in town, the clones sat in council. "Okay, what now?" said V-Lax, "I've been watching that human, Matt, all day. He'll be after us in a heartbeat." "As well as the rest of his crew," said V-Manners. "Let them come," said V-Checkers, "We can easily overwhelm them with our powers. That would show that we are no 'standard Viral Clones'." "But what about Silvia and NegaMorph?" asked V-Frenchfry. "I can handle Silvia," said V-Hunkahunka, "but NegaMorph's going to be hard." "We'll incapacitate him somehow," said V-Checkers, "Let's deal with the others first." "If we can incapacitate 'em quick, we could use their ship to escape," said V-Slick, "and it's bound to be worth something." "And we could cause a lot of chaos on different planets with it," said V-Spats. This met with obvious approval from the other clones. V-Checker simply smiled and said to himself, "That human has no idea what he's in for."

Back at the ship, Matt was trying to get the rest of the crew, but V-Lax had zapped the com on his way out. "Guess we're on our own," he said. As they walked outside, Matt asked Chip, "By the way, do you happen to know which clone has which sin power?" "I'm not quite sure, but if we look back on their behavior last time, I think we can figure it out." Matt's wristcomp immediately wailed the second he activated the clone tracker. In front of them was V-Frenchfry. Matt, the first to see him, ignited a plasma orb and threw it as a warning shot over the clone's head. "The next one goes down your throat, surrender," he said, not in the mood for niceties. "Why would you throw things at me?" said V-Frenchfry, "when I came to give you a feast." He spun around and somehow created a stack of pizzas that went several feet into the air. "Bon appetite," he said and ran off. Matt, whose A-001 status allowed him to resist, just started before throwing the plasma orb futilely after the fleeing experiment clone. Chris and Techo had also had anti-mind control flash training, but Morph, however, wasn't so resistant and dove on the pizzas like Stitch with coconut cake. "Huh, a tower of pizza," said Chris. "A leaning tower of pizza," corrected Techo. "A falling tower of pizza," corrected Matt. The crash was surprisingly loud and the pizza trail went in the same direction that V-Frenchfry went. Matt snapped out of the stare first with a cry of "LET'S GET HIM!" before drawing his ion staff and tearing off in pursuit, followed by the gang. Except for Morph, who looked hungrily at the pizzas.

Draco and Chip were in the back of the group and were currently discussing the situation. "So, have any idea which clone has which sin?" asked Draco. "I believe so," said Chip, "It's obvious that Frenchfry has gluttony, Lax has sloth, Spats has anger, Hunkahunka has lust, and Slick has greed." Matt stopped suddenly, head cocked as he listened. "What's that noise?" he asked. Draco and Chip looked behind them and saw what looked like a giant white ball of rubber rolling towards them. Then Morph's face briefly came into view before rolling out of sight. "Holy mammoth," said Chip. "RUN!" yelled Draco. The two of them quickly ran to the front of the group yelling, "Run for you lives!" Matt also saw the ball and dived out of the way as the rest of the gang fled in various directions.

After a few minutes, he peered out to see one of the clones, V-Slick, in front of him. "Oh good, someone to vent on," he said evilly. "Oh, you don't wanna do that," said V-Slick, "If you just listen to me for a couple of minutes, you'll find that you won't be able to snub the offer I got." Matt glared and readied a plasma ball, for once listening to the voice that was advising not to listen, sadly it came a little late. A minute later, he was wondering why he was now weaponless. "Always glad to help another customer," said V-Slick as he ran off. For a second, Matt wondered why V-Slick was carrying clothes. Then he looked down to see that the only stitch of clothing he had left was the inhibtor, and the clothing function on it was missing. Fortunately, V-Slick left a barrel with straps on the top to provide Matt some decency. Matt glared and pulled out a spare out (I am not revealing from where) and incinerated the barrel. "YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!" he screamed, making the clone in the distance hesitate, as he then met an unexploded Matt holding a ball of high-grade napalm plasma. V-Slick reached into Matt's pants and pulled out his glasses. He put them on and said, "You wouldn't a clone wearing glasses, would you?" Matt melted the glasses with a gesture, which was all the answer the clone got before several plasma orbs knocked him back 10 feet into a tree hard enough to splinter it. "Anything to say?" said Matt angrily as he advanced, "like where my friends are?"

Meanwhile, Draco and Chip were busy looking for the others. "I hope they're alright," said Draco, "those clones are nasty." "Especially Viral Manners and Viral Checkers," said Chip. "How's come?" "Because they have the sins of envy and pride, respectively. I figured that out because V-Manners played with Victoria's jealousy and V-Checkers apparently inflated NegaMorph's ego enough to attack us." As if on cue, V-Checkers stepped out in front of them while V-Manners stepped out behind them. "Oh boy," said Draco. V-Checkers smiled and said, "Have you met our friend. He has the anger power." On cue, two zaps hit Draco and Chip from the side and V-Spats came out, grinning evilly. "I should have seen this coming," said Chip. "With that big eye, you should have," said Draco. "What's that supposed to mean?" snapped Chip. "Then again, it probably wouldn't have very good depth-perception." "I have great depth-perception!" yelled Chip, "At least I don't have eyes on the sides of my head!" "They're close enough to the front to allow me see forward!" snapped Draco. V-Spats was impressed, he didn't expect that strong a reaction.

At Silvia's room, the aforementioned hybrid was sending her report to the emperor when there was a knock at the room door. "Get that, NegaMorph. I'm busy," she said. NegaMorph stretched out his mechanical tentacle-arm and opened the door. Chris was standing in the hallway, looking slightly nervous. "Um, is this a bad time?" he said, "It's just that there's this group of Viral Clones." At the same time, a familiar clone flew over the two's head. "Like that one?" said NegaMorph glumly. The two ran after the clone as it flew into Silvia's room. There was an "Ow, what the-" and Silvia stopped as she saw Chris. "I think I love you," she said. NegaMorph and Chris looked at each other and Chris said, "Well this is awkward. Is it me or did the pher0mones in the air just thicken? And where's that sultry sax music coming from?" "Ooh, it's so hot in here," said Silvia as she unbuttoned her shirt. "Whoa, whoa," said Chris, "can't we take this slow?" "But I just can't wait," crooned Silvia and she pinned Chris against the wall. Chris tried to keep his head away from Silvia's kissy face with all his might. "A little help here?" he said. "Why?" said NegaMorph, "I thought you wanted her." "Well not like this," said Chris. "I better go find that clone and neutralize it," said NegaMorph as he headed towards the door. "What am I supposed to do?" protested Chris. "Keep off the bed," said NegaMorph as he headed out.

"Alone at last," said Silvia, "Now where were we?" Chris felt rather uncomfortable with Silvia's hands running down his chest like that. "Can't we just cuddle?" he said. "What's the matter, tiger? Never been with a woman before?" said Silvia as she tossed her hair. "It's not that, it's just- Wait. Tiger?" A blast shot from the windowsill and knocked Silvia off of Chris and out cold. "Phew… thank God. Thanks, dude?" he said, spotting another of the clones with a nasty-looking blaster. "Oh crap, this is NOT my day," he muttered before he was stunned too.

NegaMorph stood outside the hotel for a minute. His twin ears twitched as he listened carefully. "Good, they've managed to quiet down," he said. His tail twitched as he scanned the area for Viral Clones. "Chris had better not take advantage of Silvia's condition, if he knows what's good for him," he muttered. His tail leaded him to what appeared to be Viral Slick, hanging from a tree upside down. He was covered in various plasma burns and looked happy to see NegaMorph, a unique situation in itself. "Boy, am I glad to see you, partner," he said, "If y'all could do me a favor and untie me, I'd be mighty appreciative." NegaMorph flexed his claws idly and said, "I could do that, or I could assimilate you and get your powers." "But, but I know where the competition is," said V-Slick desperately, having heard of Nega's trick. "What competition?" said NegaMorph. "My partners got those other clone hunters all bundled up. I could lead straight to them. Just let me down first." NegaMorph considered it and said, "Okay, I'd win either way."

Meanwhile, Matt was sitting in a bush, watching for the other clones and wishing he'd gotten V-Slick to give back his guns. "If I go there alone, I'm dead. And the rest of my crew are spread out all over the place, they'd never get there in time. Suddenly he heard something rustle and he quickly hid behind a bush. V-Slick ran by, chucking to himself, "That gullible blob. One of the most important things a salesman knows is how to ditch an irate customer. Better get on back to the others." Matt watched him go and thought, 'Well, this is convenient. Follow the leader.' Matt stealthily followed along behind V-Slick, not noticing a shadow was following HIM as well. Finally, he spotted V-Checkers and the other sin clones and dived into the undergrowth and settled down to watch and listen.

"Let's see, who's all that's missing?" said V-Checkers. "We still need to find Master Lynch and NegaMorph, sir," said V-Manners. "That shouldn't be too hard," said V-Lax, "if they're anything like the others." Matt noticed that they had the others tied up, except Morph, who was too big to tie up but couldn't move anyways. "Crap, I'll need a mech-tank to get in there," Matt muttered to himself as the shadow behind him solidified into NegaMorph. "Looks like they affected everybody," said Matt, "Judging by the way they're shouting at each other through their gags, I'd say V-Spats got Draco and Chip. But why is Silvia snuggling Chris?" "Because V-Hunkahunka got her," said NegaMorph. Matt almost had a heart attack then and there. He spun on NegaMorph and lunged at him, snarling, "Why you little…" and began to choke Nega. The others could see Matt and NegaMorph from where they were sitting. They chuckled a bit at Matt throttling NegaMorph. Fortunately, the Viral Clones ignored them. "We'll send a message to Emperor Hamsterviel that we've caught we've caught those pesky hunters," said V-Checkers, "That would show him that we're not common Viral Clones to be assimilated." Matt was finally dragged off, barely. "Let me go so I vaporize you," said Matt angrily. "Be quiet," hissed NegaMorph, "You wanted to be bloated up, made lazy, or have your hormones overcharged like the others?" "I won't give them the chance. I'll kill them all," said Matt, his inhibitor flickering a bit from low charge. NegaMorph's eye turned slightly red, "You will do no such thing. If you think carefully, you'd realize this is a delicate situation. I suggest you control your anger before they control it for you." Matt took a few breaths and said, "You're right, sorry, any ideas? If we go in, they'll probably kill the others."

"They're pretty weak in terms of combat. I think if we took them by surprise, we'll be able to overpower them," said NegaMorph. Matt nodded before saying, "What do you have in mind? I'm low on internal plasma and all my guns are past those guys." "Nothing like that's necessary," said NegaMorph, "A hard whack on the head should do the trick." Matt nodded and picked up a sizeable rock. "This ought to do it," he said and lobbed it at the back of V-Lax's head. "What was that?" said V-Spats. Suddenly, Matt jumped out of the bushes and whacked him between the eyes with a big stick. Then he used said stick to bat V-Frenchfry and V-Slick into a tree. "HOME RUN!" he yelled, high on success before blasting the ground in front of V-Lax. "Not a chance, creepy," said Matt before turning towards the last of them. "Your turn," he said happily. "Oh dear, what dreadful behavior," said V-Manners. He waved his finger and some shining dust came out of it and covered Matt. Matt sneezed and then glared evilly. "You do know there's two of us in here," said V-627, "Long time no see, V-Manners." V-627/Matt powered up an orb to incinerate V-Manners. "Any last words?" V-Manners shrugged, "Behind you?" Matt/V-627 laughed out loud. "That has got to be the oldest…" he began until a second rock hit him from behind and knocked him clean out. V-Checkers had jumped onto Stitch's head and was controlling him like a puppet. "Stupid fool talks too much. Let's just kill the pest and be done with it," he said from atop Stitch's head.

NegaMorph, who was watching from the bushes, slapped his forehead and said, "That's it! I've had all I can stand and I can't stand any more." He leaped from the bushes and into the clearing. Before the Viral Clones could look, NegaMorph said, "I'm gonna take of all of you, right now!" Then he opened the mouth on his stomach and started sucking them towards him.

(Author's note: I'm sure some of you are wondering how NegaMorph can open his stomach-mouth while he's wearing a coat. Well, I should remind you that his coat and hat are made out of shadows. If that's not a good enough explanation, NegaMorph's coat opens like other coats would open. The major difference is that he has two flaps to accommodate the N-shape. These flaps are held shut by simple magnetic buttons, which can easily be opened and closed.)

The Viral Clones were drawn towards NegaMorph's maw by an inescapable gravity-like force. Curiously, it didn't affect anyone or anything else. One by one, they were each sucked into his inner darkness. Matt came round just in time to see V-Checkers, the last of the clones, fly off Stitch's head and into NegaMorph's stomach mouth. "Oh, that's just gross," he said dizzily. "Is everyone back to normal?" asked NegaMorph. Matt looked over at the prisoners and saw that Morph was still bloated, Draco and Chip were still arguing, and Chris was still trying to get Silvia off of him. "I'll take that as a no." Matt remembered one of the cures, the one for Spats. "Allow me," said V-627 and grabbed Draco and Chip by the neck, or in Chip's case, by the arm "Count to ten or die," he said. "Subtle," said Matt.

"It's going to take more than that," said NegaMorph, "It's deadly sin-powered. There's one sure-fire way of calling it off, but I'm going to get such a migraine from it." "You better do it or you'll get a migraine from me," said Matt. NegaMorph's large eye's pupil started flashing multiple colors. Then Matt saw, or thought he saw, something drain out of the others and into NegaMorph's eye. "Cool," he said and then looked shocked when NegaMorph, one of the hardiest tough guys he'd ever had the bad luck of being the enemy of, collapse to his knees. "Hey, you good?" he asked as the others came to their senses, first confirmed when Silvia shrieked and punched Chris clear across the clearing. "Ugh, I'm supposed to inflict sin power, not draw it in," groaned NegaMorph, "It takes a lot out of me to do so. Not to mention a couple days to digest those clones the hard way."

Silvia was looking around in confusion. "What am I doing here," she asked. "The real question should be, why are you showing off your bra?" said Matt. Silvia looked down and quickly covered her chest, her face a bright red under the fur. "If you ever tell anyone about this," she hissed. Chris got up dizzily, "Don't worry, I don't wanna think about this ever again." Matt smirked, filing the memory away for possible blackmail in the future and just to add insult to injury said, "Ok, sis," and regretted it when a lightning bolt chargrilled him, "…ow."

"Boy, was that a hassle," said Chip as he untied Draco. "Believe it or not, I think we owe our thanks to NegaMorph," said Lilo. A faint 'thump' caught there attention. NegaMorph had collapsed out of sheer exhaustion. "You know… any other day, I'd take the chance to arrest them both, but not this time," said Matt, looking at the half-naked Silvia and the sleeping NegaMorph. Silvia just grabbed NegaMorph and went off. "Well, those sin clones are gone, I think this is time to celebrate," said Draco. "I'm way ahead of you," said Morph, "I found this bowl of chili V-Frenchfry left behind." "You sure that's safe to eat?" asked Matt. "Ah, what could happen?" Morph ate a spoonful and a second later, his tail swelled up to the same size he was when he was bloated. "Everybody leave. I'm going to break wind. NOW!" Everyone immediately ran away as fast as they can from what became to be known in the papers as 'the worst stink-bomb used on the island, which rendered the forest inhabitable for three days.

Finally, the last chapter. This one took a real long time for me to do. But I definitely think it was worth it. If anyone figured out the connection between the clones earlier, kudos for them. I'm going to be starting the next story very soon. This will be made up of multiple parts, but not like this one. There will be just three parts and a three-chapter maximum for each part. So keep an eye out for it and please review.