CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Hidden Member

"You need to dispose of her now." The Dark Champion gritted his teeth over the communication, sitting in a lone room, speaking with someone else.

"Is she injured enough for me to do so?"

"As far as I'm concerned, yes, though you should do it anyway. She was extremely close to doing fatal harm to one of the outsiders!"

"My, you certainly care a whole lot about this."

"It's part of the plan, you fool! You were supposed to—"

"Please, there were too many prying eyes. I will come down to 'fetch' Mercury."

The call ended, and the Dark Champion pulled himself away from the room, going back to see if Natalie was alright. That along with her three friends…

"Take us to Nefarious, he's going too far with this! Is he involved with the others!?" Nick questioned.

"Others?" Mercury paused. "The dragon was not our doing."

"Apologies for interrupting," the Dark Champion had to intervene, any further the conversation went, and too much would be revealed to them. "But if she is not willing to take us to Dr. Nefarious, it might be in our best interest to return her to the other doctor in Planeptune. He did create her, after all."

"I dunno, I think interrogating her on where that Nefarious guy may be seems like a better idea right now." Caela disagreed.

"Not to mention, that other guy, Mercury mentioned before she left the first time…"

Nick took a good moment to remember who that was, but then shivered as he did so.

An idea came to the Dark Champion just then. The "leech" as Samael called him, could convince Natalie further.

At first, he didn't want them to be revealed, but if Natalie knew nothing about who they were, it could be so easily twisted, especially when Nick recalled the name.

"Lumine…"

"Isn't that the main villain from Mega Man X8!?" Caela exclaimed, as she had played the Windows version of that game.

"I only kept up with the first three, you mean that it wasn't Sigma the whole way through?" Michael asked.

"No, Lumine is even worse because he said he was using Sigma. He's that one girly-looking robot, with purple hair—"

"Wait… purple!" Michael interrupted Caela. They all soon drew to the same conclusion, that Lumine was probably the one Sabre was talking about before.

The doors opened. Looking innocent as ever, stood Lumine.

"Mercury! Are you alright? What have those humans done to you!?" Mercury was absolutely confused, not at his concern, but what the others had mentioned.

"Not so fast, Lumine. We know very well what you have been up to." The Dark Champion blocked his way.

"Yeah! You're using Nefarious, and Mercury here, aren't you!?" Nick accused, surprising Mercury even further.

"Nick, calm yourself." The Dark Champion then smiled at Lumine. A plotting one, and since he was facing the reploid's directly, only he could notice it. "It is about time to admit it, you are here because you have allied yourself with my brother, and for similar reasons as him."

Lumine went from seeming bemused, to depressed, his expression being a hurt one. "It's… it's as you say, I admit it." He clutched his chest, tears somehow forming. "I wanted to feel the thrill of a rebellion created by robots again, but in a right way. Your brother gave me a second chance at this, by directing me to Dr. Nefarious! I had no intention of betraying him, but now that my cover has been blown…"

He began sobbing now. Nick and Caela didn't buy it for a minute, while Michael was skeptical since he didn't know who Lumine was all that much. Considering Sabre's actions and the pattern that was going on, for all he knew, Lumine could have been telling the truth.

"The Dark Champion helped convince me to get involved, understanding how I felt, since my single appearance wasn't a proper enough ending to me. You there… you must understand the struggle!"

Rather than Natalie, Lumine directed his question at Michael, surprisingly enough. "That poor Sabre boy, and the Anglar Emperor never got something satisfying. Especially the former, who never got a chance to shine at all because of the changes made."

Michael clenched his fists. "I don't even blame Nintendo for that, Rare was rushed because of Microsoft buying them—"

"What!?" Caela snapped. "Oh no, don't you go pushing this one on Microsoft, a majority of the plot to Dinosaur Planet would have been taken out no matter what! I'm surprised none of those F-Zero characters turned over yet from not having a game since… when? The early 2000's?"

"That will come back some day, unlike the bunches of IPs Microsoft has laying around, which don't sell enough."

"Nice to see the whole Nintendo vs. Microsoft over Rare is still gonna be brought up by you two. I think Sony made the right decision in not getting involved with that noise." Nick said aloud.

"Did Madi not attack Lastation because her tale never started?" Lumine asked, in a slightly sarcastic manner. "Lord Palethorn says he felt his reign was too rushed, and wanted a second shot as well."

"Please, all of you, cease this at once, this is about Lumine." The Dark Champion tried to bring balance to the conversation, knowing well it would only become worse, all of which he intended.

"Why are you still here? Shouldn't you be worried about the whole world, and not just what we have to say?"

"You're the one that started it Michael, blaming Microsoft for Nintendo's problems again!"

"Yeah, ignore that clown, so we can pull the rose-tinted glasses off your head!"

"Stop it!" Natalie yelled, clutching her shoulder where the scratch was. "You all need to remove your glasses! The Eternal Champion didn't do anything and you know what? From the looks of it, neither did Lumine! First you guys all fight with each other, and now you lash out at him!?"

Caela raised a brow. "Lumine? Did nothing wrong? He manipulated Sigma! Going by with what Nick said, he's probably doing the same to that Nefarious character!"

"But his motive I can get behind! Was that last game the conclusion you really wanted? Do you think there should have been more? He's just like the Dark Champion and all the others, every good story should have the best kind of ending or tell us what happened next! I'm just tired of so many concepts, games, and character getting swept under the rug, no matter the company!"

They all just stared at her. Normally, Natalie trying to break up the fights was one thing, but to see her go out of her way to defend the "Forgotten Forces" as one may call it…

"I… I'm done here. I don't want to see you all fight anymore over this." Getting up, still struggling a bit from the scratch on her, Natalie began to leave the room.

"Wait, miss human!" Lumine called out to her. "You… you truly do understand our feelings, don't you? You should be with—"

"Enough of this."

Mercury, having used a built-in bolt cutter to break the chains, attempted to move without her legs. "Lumine, I demand you carry me and we exit now! Your true motivations shall be questioned later when we return to Dr. Nefarious."

"Wha… Mercury—"

"Hurry while they can't react!" Latching herself onto Lumine's shoulders, a jet was activated on her shoulders.

All three of the remaining friends tried to transform, only to be met with a purple, crystallized wall created by Lumine which blocked their paths.

Once again, Mercury had gotten away… but this time, it would not be for long.

"Ah, so all the fiends have been disposed of?" Samael asked, sitting around the more dark portion of the icy lair, which was surrounded in a few, colorful lights meant for a rave party almost.

"The Sleeping Princess told me to inform you of it, Lumine's cover has been blown as well, I have a feeling the Dark Champion is trying far too hard to win that outsider's trust." Sir Grodus explained to the angel.

"No way, I definitely trust him to bring the cute girl here!"

"Must you have a one-track mind?"

"Relax, I'm never serious about my relations anyway."

"That's not the point, Samael. You don't seem to care about how this is falling apart."

Done fooling around with his glowsticks, Samael huffed, tossing them to the Wavy Tube Man, who was flailing around in the back. "Are you doubting our plans? Thinking you could do better, since you're such a stick in the mud, as the Anglar Emperor puts it?"

Sir Grodus held his staff tightly, annoyed at how immature the angel was being. It was bad enough when the Anglar Emperor did it. The fish constantly called Grodus out on being a little too hard on Lord Crump, despite them all being evil. It might just be though since the Emperor held their own right-hand in such a high regard.

… Ridiculously high regard at that, to the point where Lord Crump even asked Sir Grodus what Zazan's relationship with the Emperor was. Come to think of it, the Anglar Emperor did have another underling, but he was rarely around.

Either way, the both of them were better than Palethorn in that regard. He pretty much threw Mander and Dogman at Sir Daniel Fortesque.

"Yo, Grodus, I hate being ignored here? Are you seriously hesitating to answer that?"

"Hm? No, you simply made me start thinking—"

"Eyes over here."

Sir Grodus looked back at Samael, and went completely still.

Out of fear, which was unlike him. Samael was holding a pair of scissors, right in front of Sir Grodus.

"Do I have your attention now? Otherwise, I will use these, y'know." Sir Grodus instantly responded with a nod, feeling chills that were not from the ice. "Anyway, it's not just the Dark Champ who's trying to bring help down here. Try to remember your place, alright?"

With that, Samael went back to partying joyfully, as if he had never threatened Sir Grodus at all.

"That boy… what are his true colors?" Sir Grodus wondered. "How will he act in front of that outsider in such a case?"

Natalie was by herself, trying to calm down and collect her thoughts. Not only did she have to deal with outside invaders, it looked like she had to deal with inside attacks as well. She didn't know how it all got started, where it all went wrong.

She thought back to when she was little, when she first knew her friends. She first met the others outside of an arcade, where they were all trying to get in line for the new game. When it was her turn, she was too short to reach the controls or see the screen properly. She was about to cry when Nick and Michael picked her up and held her as she played, with Caela making sure she didn't fall down. That was when Nick starting calling her Squirt. She admitted it was cute at first, but it got annoying as they got older.

Older. Natalie guessed that was when things changed. When home consoles became more commonplace, they saw as a great opportunity to hang out more, as well as have more games to play. Those were some of the best years of her life. But as the gaming industry grew older and more diverse, so did they. It wasn't before personal preferences began to tear holes in their friendship. Nick's cockiness over Playstation's success, Michael's temper over every problem that happens with Nintendo, and Caela's stubbornness over making sure Xbox mascots were not forgotten. And Natalie was always forced to play Peacemaker because she was the only one who could actually acknowledge problems and flaws, apparently.

And know they are in the place where any gamer would give anything to be, and all they can seem to do is fight even harder with each other. Maybe it really was time to end it, as it seemed like it was nearing the point of no return….

"Excuse me." Natalie jumped five feet at the sudden arrival, turning to see the "Eternal" Champion standing there. "I wanted to tell you something, but I didn't know if it was ok right now as you seemed deep in thought."

"It's okay, I wasn't thinking of much. Go ahead." The Dark Champion wasn't sure if she was saying the truth due to a lack of enthusiasm in her voice, but proceeded. "Through tracing the residual energy of the enemy's warps, I pinpointed their location and was able to establish contact. I was able to talk them into a little bit of a truce, when they heard that there was an individual from the outside world who stood up for them. They would like to meet you, if that is fine by you."

Natalie almost yelped, happy that someone was actually willing to come together, even if it was the ones that have been responsible for the recent troubles. She was about to say yes when…..

"Hey Squirt, we're about to do a roster check of who should be in which squad for the march to enemy headquarters and the CPUs requested your assistance."

"There's no need for that." Nick stopped in his tracks, confused at what she said. "The Eternal Champion was able to contact them and form a truce. I'm going to meet them and see what can be done to help them."

"Help them? After what they've done to the nations?"

"Yes. They've realized that they were wrong in assuming that they were completely forgotten, and that talking with someone who understands them can help everyone understand what they're going through and help them."

"Did you hear this from them yourself?"

"No, the Eternal Champion told me after he established contact with them."

"So, you didn't hear it yourself, but heard it from some guy after he 'just happened' to speak with them?"

"He's not 'some guy'. He's the one who watches over the balance of this world. Negotiating peace is something that he can do."

Natalie's temper was rising. She couldn't believe that her friend didn't seem to trust her or the characters she knows about more about than him. And what he said next was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Unless there's some definite proof, this just screams trap. You're going to be walking into the Lion's Den. I thought you were much smarter than this, Squirt - "

SMACK!

Caela and Michael walked in on Natalie slapping Nick so hard he almost fell down on the floor. Holding his cheek, Nick just looked at Natalie in shock as tears started to form.

"I told you, I hate that nickname! But not only do you have to poke fun at my height, but you also have to insult my intelligence! I know what I'm doing! This is what's best for everyone! But none of you can see that because all you do is fight and argue for the fun of it! Well, I've had enough! Of the console's conflicts, and of you! I'm going to talk to the forgotten characters by myself, because of this moment -

OUR FRIENDSHIP IS OVER!"

The three of them just stood there, terrified at the change that came over her, and more terrified at the fact that she was right. All they do nowadays is squabble over every little thing, trying to prove who is better.

With their perception shattered, and before they could say anything, not that they could think of anything to say, Natalie turned around and walked to the Dark Champion. "Let's go."

"Huh? Oh, um, yes." The Dark Champion was trying to stay calm, but was a little excited in the inside due to the fact that Natalie now had no chance of coming back to the group now, ensuring her staying with them, and with him.

As the teleporter came to life and whisked the two of them away, Nick could only say under his breath: "What have I done?"

Lumine and Mercury were flying through the air, still in Planeptune, currently above a thick forest with no one around. Lumine was smiling, while Mercury was thinking of what the humans said about the possibility of treachery. "Lumine, what they said wasn't true, was it?"

"What was?"

"Their theory that you are just using me and Nefarious. You do remember that our fight is for all robots?"

"Of course, of course, 'The New Age of Robots', where you replace the CPUs and all organic life is extinguished."

"Then why do you not sound as committed to the cause as the others?"

"Wellllllllllll, I guess you could say that - " Lumine did his Thunder Dancer attack, shorting out Mercury's rockets and making them fall. " - I am more committed to a different cause." He landed on his feet, using the branches to break his fall. Mercury wasn't so lucky, the numerous bumps and crashes on the way down damaging her even further.

Struggling to get up, she weakly replied: "Why? What cause is greater than ours? A cause for all robots - "

"Robots that are remembered, for the most part. What good is ruling everything if you aren't recognized? You might as well be watching ants that are too busy to acknowledge your foot. Until you bring it down. Like now."

Mercury tried to drag herself away, trying to reestablish connection with Dr. Nefarious, to tell him, to warn him, but nothing was working. Lumine caught up to her easily and turn her over. "Now, I was looking over your schematics, and I liked what I saw. I kind of want it for myself. But I don't have the necessary hardware. Unlike you." He said, while preparing to open her circuitry.

The nearby birds flew away as the sounds of metals and wires being torn apart filled the air.