Back again! And here, what was discussed in the previous chapter...
Chapter 11 - ...is set in motion.
Maria jumped out of the dark portal after Rock had slipped out, the Reploid landing on both feet with an oddly soft clang. Shadow was quick to follow, the portal closing up behind him.
"We do not have much further," Shadow stated softly. He pointed across the street - lit by a single lamppost - at the alley on the other side. "Through that alley there, and then into the entrance of the Fortress."
Maria nodded slightly. "Right." She moved to the end of the alley and started to look around, scanning for any sort of Wilybot that might have been patrolling the area.
Other than the strange circle of metal that was on the pavement, there was no one in sight.
When Maria saw the circle of metal, she felt her circuits freeze up a little. She turned slightly and looked back at the two with her. "This is where MetalMan got melted." The Reploid pointed ahead to the circle of metal.
Shadow nodded slightly. "No doubt this area will have more enemies than the last." He walked towards the end of the alley and looked out himself. "Look." The Wilybot pointed at a figure hiding on the other side of the lamppost, staying in the shadows.
"Looks like a Sniper," Rock noted, frowning slightly.
"Great. Another one," Maria grunted. They had already run into a few of them at the last couple of alleys, which the Reploid had only taken as a sign that they were getting closer to their destination. "I'd try to snipe him from this distance, but that shield's going to be problematic."
"Why don't you sneak in close and snipe him from behind?" Rock suggested.
"Yes," Shadow agreed. "Use the Light Refractor. It will be very easy here, as there is very little light."
Maria blinked, then nodded slightly. "Yeah - that could work. Just give me a second." She forced herself to relax, seeming to release whatever stress she had through a release of air. A moment later, her form flickered a little, and she completely disappeared.
When Maria had disappeared from sight, she turned her attention to the Sniper across the street. Stepping lightly, the Reploid made her way across the street, evading the circle of artificial light as she approached the Sniper stationed there. Her hands flickered as she brought up her core temperature and let out the energy through her hands, right before she grabbed the Sniper Joe and throttled him from behind. The lights had gone from the robot's eyes before it hit the ground.
Maria flickered back into view as the other two ran over.
"What was that?" Rock asked. "It looked like he was choking."
"I throttled him," Maria responded. "Usually knocks people out, but when added with a fiery grip and used on a robot, disconnects vital circuits and stops it from working." The Reploid shrugged. "Best way to keep to from yelling and alerting anyone nearby." She looked over at the alleyway, which lay in shadow. "We'd better keep moving."
"Agreed," Shadow stated with a slight nod. He moved forward and disappeared into the shadows, a portal appearing in his wake. Rock and Maria promptly dashed forward and jumped in, disappearing into the shadowy realm.
"You are not taking this seriously," Shadow noted as he glanced back at Maria as e opened another portal.
"Perhaps you don't know what you're getting into?"
"Oh, I do," Maria responded, stepping out into the next alley. "It's just that I have an odd way of showing it." She looked directly at the two and spoke again in a low voice. "I've been through enough to know when to be serious and when not to be. And I've found that acting like I'm nowhere near the danger zone can make those I'm going against to lose their temper and act more reckless." A smirk came over her face. "It's worked on a few of those who live in other worlds, and I've seen it work here on a few people, too. Wily's reaction is a good example of that." The Reploid turned to face the exit of the alley. "When we get inside, you'll probably get to see my more serious side."
Shadow and Rock exchanged glances, having taken note of the grim tone in Maria's voice.
"How close are we?" Maria asked in a lighter tone, giving the two a smile.
Shadow blinked, taking note of the sudden change in attitude. Eventually, he nodded slowly. "We are close." He moved ahead and looked around for a possible sentry that had been placed nearby. "One more portal jump should get us inside."
Maria nodded slightly, then moved forward, sneaking a look out into the street. "What kind of portal-" She looked over to her left. "Oh. Pretty short portal jump."
There was a large, barbed-wire fence laced with electricity in front of a large, forbidding fortress that had a large skull over the entrance.
"I guess," Rock agreed, coming up and taking note of how close they were. He looked over at Shadow. "Are we going to jump here?"
Shadow shook his head. "No. See those cameras at the tops of the fence posts?" He pointed at the black boxes - which were, luckily, not pointed in their direction. "They're built to be able to detect when someone sneaks through my shadowzone without proper clearance from Wily. As I left him, he's revoked my clearance. We're going to have to find a place where it is easier to sneak by."
"But the MegaMan Killers are keeping security pretty tight," Maria noted, frowning. "How are we going to find a place if they're making sure that we can't sneak in?"
"I find one of his power generators and shut it down," the ninja replied simply. "Stay here." He started to walk along the fence, fading in and out of sight whenever a camera seemed to swing his way.
Maria and Rock exchanged glances as Shadow disappeared from sight. Then there was the sound of something on the roof of one of the nearby buildings, and the two looked up...catching sight of an entire group of Sniper Joes, glaring down at them.
The surprised gaze that had been on Maria's face became a deadpan expression. "Great. Looks like we're not going to be without some sort of trouble." She cracked her knuckles and got into a defensive stance, prepared to attack when the enemies did.
"If they know that we were here," Rock muttered, "Then Wily-"
"There's still a chance that he doesn't," Maria stated quickly in a serious tone. "They could have been patrolling and heard us talking and decided to investigate." She brought out her Buster and aimed it carefully at one of the Snipers, taking a moment before firing, only for the shot to bounce of the shield it carried. "We need to lure them down here somehow...or try something else."
Rock gave Maria a curious look as she started to back up, her Buster still trained on the robots standing above them. "What are you-"
He got his answer when Maria fired off a yellow shot from her Buster, sparking with electricity that branched out as it approached one of the Snipers. A moment later, electricity sparked most of the Snipers, causing them to lose their balance and fall to the ground in front of Maria and Rock, getting up unsteadily a moment later, the extra electricity sparking off.
Rock blinked, but then brought out his own Buster and aimed it at a few of the Snipers. "Got a plan?"
Instead of answering, Maria flickered out of sight, and her heat signature suddenly dropped. Almost instantly, one of the Snipers started to freeze up, ice forming over its joints.
::What are you waiting for?:: Maria demanded over the mental comlink. ::Try to blast the ones that I'm stunning!::
Rock blinked, bemused for a moment, then gained a determined look and started to blast the Snipers that Maria was freezing as the shot resounded and ice appeared. The Snipers were soon taken down.
Maria's form flickered into sight as the last Sniper was taken down. The look on her face was a serious, dark one, her shoulders moving up and down like she was panting heavily. The Reploid's form soon stilled, however, and a dark smirk came across her face.
"A good workout," she finally stated, the dark look on her face lifting. "I'd consider myself warmed up for what we're going to be facing in there."
"You consider that warming up?" Rock asked, frowning. "That's..." He blinked and shook his head. "Wow. There's definitely a lot more to you than any of us could ever expect."
"As has been proved time and time again," Maria replied with a playful smirk.
The electrical hum from the fence suddenly died, causing Maria to look out of the alley. Upon seeing that the cameras had dropped, the red recording lights having died, the Reploid grinned. "Way to go, Shadow." She waved for Rock to come out, and stepped out into the street as a portal appeared.
"The power generator is down," the ninja stated calmly as he came out. "We have a limited amount of time before the backup is turned on. Let's go."
Maria and Rock both nodded, then walked into the portal...stepping out on the other side of the fence.
"Why did you take us directly into the fortress?" Maria asked, looking around and frowning.
"Wily has that under a separate system, and it's even tighter than entering and exiting. If I were to take us directly to, say, ProtoMan's location, all of the fortress would come bearing down on us." Shadow motioned to the towering building ahead of them. "We will have to continue on foot and destroy any opposition that may come in our way."
"If we don't find a way to avoid them," Maria replied. She started forward, away from the fence as she started to look around. "Is there a side entrance we might be able to take in order to avoid any sort of ambush that might be waiting for us at the main one?"
Shadow blinked for a moment, then nodded. "This way." He motioned for the two to follow him as he took off at a jog, the Reploid and Rock following close behind.
"Why is it that I never thought of that?" Rock muttered to himself as they jogged around the building.
"You probably thought it was more polite to go through the front," Maria responded. Her gaze went over the courtyard as they went, her eyes narrowing slightly. "What I find odd is that there isn't anyone out here that might be patrolling. There's no way that any section of the building would be left unsupervised."
"They might have been counting on the cameras for that," Shadow supplied.
Maria frowned, then came to a stop and shook her head. "No. Snake said that the Killers were in charge of security. They probably know that we've got you on our side, so there should be sentries walking around. Something isn't right."
"Well, well, looks like we've got some intruders!" The group looked up sharply at the fortress, catching sight of a red robot with spikes on his shoulders.
"Punk!" Rock identified, getting into a slightly defensive stance.
"I knew that there was going to be some difficulty getting in," Maria muttered. She glared up at the figure, who was looking down at all of them with a haughty sneer in his eyes. "Your name fits, kid." She cracked her knuckles and got int a stance of her own. "How about you come down here so I can test you?"
Punk snorted. "As if! Wily showed us what happens when 'bots get on your bad side. I'm not coming down there to turn out like Metal." He motioned to something behind him, and a moment later, a large number of Sniper Joes and Metts appeared out of nowhere. "Instead, they will. Get her!"
Maria was blasting the first row of robots with ice shots before they were even off the roof. The rest of them simply crashed through their comrades as they tried to get off the roof, but the Reploid continued to fire. Rock soon joined with his Buster, and Shadow threw out one of his ninja stars, slicing the more vital cables in multiple Snipers' necks.
Punk let out a growl when one of Maria's shots got him in the right arm as Rock took down the last Sniper, causing the joint to become encased in ice. "Why you little -" He cut himself off with another growl. "No. Master said I couldn't face you here. Not now. You're lucky that I'm not going to."
"Oh, really?" Maria asked, raising an eyebrow as she placed her left hand on her hip.
"Yes, really!" Punk snapped in reply. "And there's more where this came from. Let's see how you can handle it on the inside." With a short laugh, the MM Killer backed up and disappeared from sight.
"Well," Maria finally stated after a moment. "He's certainly full of himself."
"Comes from being based off a rebellious version of music," Shadow muttered in response. "Come. The entrance is not too much further." He turned and started along the wall again, Maria and Rock following close behind, only to stop a moment later in front of a small door.
"This is it?" Maria asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Did you expect something more?" Shadow responded, looking at Maria curiously.
"I probably shouldn't have, but..." Maria let out a short blast of air and rubbed the back of her head, a sheepish expression on her face. "It kinda felt anti-climatic for a side door."
"If you wanted something extravagant, enter from the front." Shadow kicked the door open, then motioned inside. "We must move, and quickly."
Rock nodded. "Right." He dashed inside, Maria and Shadow following close behind.
"Do you think you could lead us directly to where Proto might be kept?" Rock asked as they dashed through the corridor they had entered upon getting into the base.
"It is possible," Shadow responded, glancing back. He turned to face the corridor ahead as he continued, "but there is a chance that Wily has redesigned the innards of the base simply because I left."
"You left of your own volition?" Maria asked, frowning slightly.
"I was not created by Dr. Wily. My creators are much more ancient and knowledgeable than he. As such, there were parts of my programming he was unable to decipher. Parts that allowed me to bypass and delete whatever he may have added."
The Reploid's eyes widened, and a look of understanding came over her features as she smirked. "Nice. Think he ever figured it out?"
"It is possible. However, he did not do anything about it, and I will make sure that he will not." The ninja robot suddenly came to a stop, holding out an arm in order to keep Maria and Rock from running past him. "Now we see Wily's work."
Maria looked past the Robot Master and saw instantly what he meant, her eyes widening as she took in what was going on in front of them. "This place looks like a large factory."
The large chamber in front of them had conveyer belts in the middle of the air, moving from furnaces through machines and to a door at the opposite end of the chamber. Below, there was a large amount of scrap metal that made for a tough place to land if one fell. Robots with helicopter propellers lifted up large chunks of metal and dropped them in the furnaces, were they came out as melted piles of glowing orange. By the end of the conveyer belts, they were dangerous-looking Snipers with spikes on their heads and on their shields - obviously, the original design had been added to.
Unfortunately, the little robots that were moving the metal weren't the only robots in the area - there were upgraded Snipers patrolling the area, obviously prepared to take out anyone who wasn't supposed to be in the area.
"Was this a part of the original design?" Rock asked, looking over at Shadow. "I know you left pretty recently, so if any upgrades were added -"
"No." Shadow shook his head. "This was not a part of what he had planned. This area," he motioned to the scene with a sweep of his arm, "was supposed to be where we stored the remains of those who had fallen - where we took the Metts and Sniper Joes you Lightbots destroyed. If it has been remade into a factory, that means Wily has lost many and is preparing for something big."
"Think he's going to go after Light with an army this big?" Maria asked, worry evident in her tone.
"I find it highly likely."
The three started to make their way along the wall, watching in case anyone decided to try and go after them and bring the entire fortress down on their heads. Maria made it a point to try and scan the area to see if there were any passages that might end up leading somewhere that they might want - or need - to go. She also poked around a little with the other options for sight, including infrared and x-ray, getting a good look at what the Snipers' armor might truly be capable of defending them against.
"How deep into the fortress were the holding cells the last time you were here?" Maria asked Shadow, giving the back of the ninja's head a curious look.
Shadow glanced back. "The holding cells were designed to be near the center of the base, where Wily's living quarters and lab were located, as well as the recharge stations for the Robot Masters. They were placed there so that Wily would have easy access to prisoners so that he could experiment on them and use them to create new types of robots - or reprogram them to assist him in fighting Dr. Light."
"I take it that they haven't really been used recently, then," Rock noted. "No counting ProtoMan."
Shadow nodded slightly. "Correct. When I left, the cells were collecting dust."
A loud alarm suddenly went off, causing the three to stop in their tracks.
::Attention all units! We're going to need more help out on the front lines against the Lightbots! Go, go, go!::
"Who is that?" Maria asked, looking around as the voice continued to repeat its statement.
"Ballade," Rock noted. "He must be in charge of the mass number of robots that serve Wily."
"Indeed," Shadow confirmed. "This may work in our favor - the robots who are working here are being sent out - the base may become deserted."
::And if you manage to find the three intruders who snuck in, an extra gallon from the E-Tanks reservoir is yours!::
"Looks like you spoke too soon," Maria muttered under her breath. "We're going to be getting a lot of attention in a few seconds." She started to dash ahead, the path they were taking coming close to the other end of the chamber, where it was revealed that a large passageway as tall as the furnaces was located.
"They will most likely be coming from there," Shadow called out, causing the Reploid to stop. "There may be another way to get deeper inside the base without being noticed."
"What?" Maria asked. She looked impatient to move, hopping from one form to the other. "We don't have much time, here!"
"I am aware of that," Shadow replied calmly. He looked across the chamber, then pointed at a corridor that was across the great expanse. "There."
"Across the conveyer belts?" Rock asked, sounding skeptical. "That could be a little dangerous."
"So long as we avoid the piles of melted metal and whatever those other machines are," Maria responded, motioning to the items in question. "Those flying robots could prove to be a little trouble, too, though..."
"Those I'm not worried about - I'm worried about getting smushed before we can rescue my brother," Rock stated.
"You've been able to get past worse situations before - I'm sure you're going to be fine," Maria stated calmly. She looked over at the nearest conveyer belt - which was a jump away - then back at Shadow. "Are we going to work across that way? Or are we taking the long way round?"
"We are going to have to take this way, if we are to not be trampled by the robots that are most certainly coming," Shadow replied. He promptly jumped onto the conveyer belt and started to make his way across the chamber.
Rock let out an annoyed sigh, looked over at Maria, shrugged, and then followed, leaving the Reploid to consider how she was going to get across.
"It's just jumping," Maria muttered under her breath. "You've faced a lot worse than this - going against Rourke on a hot air balloon, going through the Rocket base..." Steeling herself, she jumped forward, landing next to a pile of melted metal just as it came out of the furnace. "Just have to time it right."
The heat from the metal she was standing to the left of gave her a small energy boost, causing the Reploid to smirk before she started to jump across the gaps between the conveyer belts with relative ease. The melted piles she landed near gave her a boost as she sucked the hear from them, allowing her to keep up her energy without too much difficulty.
A few minutes later, she was on the other side with Shadow, watching as Rock carefully finished off his trip.
"How in the world did you get so much speed?" Rock asked as soon as he got to the other side. "Your form isn't made for it!"
"You know how those piles of melted metal are releasing heat?" Maria asked with a smirk. When Rock nodded, she explained, "When I was a Vulpix, I gained the ability to absorb fire in order to make me stronger. Anything that releases heat can also make me stronger, as well. Hence my speed boost."
"That would certainly be useful against HeatMan," Shadow noted. He looked over at the doorway they were standing by. "Come. We must move if we are to avoid the oncoming horde." He disappeared into the doorway.
Maria nodded in agreement. "Right." She slipped into the corridor after the ninja, Rock following close behind...just as a rumbling was heard from one of the adjoining corridors. Mere seconds later, a large crowd of Snipers and Metts of various sizes and shapes dashed past them without even looking over to see that the intruders were right under their noses.
"That's a lot of robots," Rock noted, blinking as the last few creatures slipped by and out of sight.
"It's obvious that Wily's been busy," Maria stated darkly. She looked ahead, taking note that the corridor was hidden in shadows. "Think we ought to go this way, Shadow?"
The robot ninja looked into the corridor, a slight frown coming over his face as he scanned the darkness that was disguising what lay on the other side. "Yes," he finally stated. "This may be the route that takes us directly to ProtoMan's location."
"May be?" Rock asked, frowning. "Where would it take us to if it didn't take us to him?"
"Most likely one of the living quarters of the Robot Masters who still yet live here," Shadow responded coolly. "I do not doubt that, if we do find one, he will be taken down easily."
"Depending on who it is," Rock pointed out. "HeatMan won't be too much of a problem, if Maria can just leech off him and I can weaken him with BubbleMan's copied attack. But the others..." He shook his head. "They might be more difficult to deal with."
"Well, there's only one way to find out whether or not we're going to end up facing any one of them," Maria responded. She motioned to the darkened corridor with an elaborate gesture. "Shall we?"
Shadow gave a slight nod in response, then started forward into the blackness, Rock and Maria following close behind.
"Do you think Proto's going to be damaged when we get to him?" Maria asked, looking over at Shadow with a curious expression.
"I expect that his Buster would have been forcefully neutralized," the ninja replied. "Wily knows that ProtoMan is not going to say anything unless he wishes to, so I doubt that he has been tortured in any way."
Rock let out a sigh. "That's good. We could still be able to get out of here as fast as how we got in."
"Depending on whether or not those robots don't find us first," Maria noted grimly. She had started to slip into her more serious persona, considering that they were close to their goal and there was still the chance of an ambush from another Robot Master. "And when we get Proto, alarms are probably going to be set off all over the place and get a whole lot more attention than what we have now."
"Correct," Shadow murmured. "We will have to use the teleportation system installed in ProtoMan."
"Teleportation?" Maria frowned slightly.
"A part of ProtoMan's systems that was still in beta testing," Rock explained. "He can teleport in and out to wherever he wants, but not when he's contained within an interference field. The rest of us didn't get that added to us when we were made - Dad created a separate circuit of teleporters that we could use - but if we're nowhere near one, we can rely on ProtoMan to get us out of a sticky situation."
"I take it that it wasn't added to the rest of you because Dr. Light though it might have been part of the situation at caused Proto to malfunction and deviate from his original programming."
Rock nodded.
"Wily did manage to perfect the system," Shadow spoke up. "But when he came across me, he switched to using the shadowzone I had access to."
Up ahead in the corridor, the shadows started to recede as the next section of the base they were approaching became brighter - obviously, it was one of the more well-used areas of the base.
Maria's systems started to send warning messages to her; the infrared scans she had initiated had picked up multiple energy signatures up ahead.
"If Proto's up ahead, he's got company," Maria stated grimly.
Rock looked over at her curiously, but then noticing the serious look on the Reploid's face, gained a determined look himself and activated his Buster, prepared for what might be coming. Shadow didn't visibly pull out his weapons, but Maria couldn't help but get the feeling that the ninja robot was more than ready for anything they might be facing.
Slowly, the group stated to pick up pace, then burst through the end of the corridor and into the next chamber: a circular, white chamber that looked like it had taken some design elements from Gemini's crystalline castle.
Except for the monstrous-looking Sniper Joes and Mega-Metts that surrounded them.
Maria let out a growl as she looked around at the foes, her core temperature starting to rise as she prepared to fight. "Great. Looks like we walked right into a trap."
"Indeed you did." A yellow, blue, and gray-armored figure appeared on a balcony above where the three stood. A smirk was clearly there on his face, and he looked calm, his spear held loosely in his right hand.
"Enker!" Rock identified, looking up at the MM Killer with child-like surprise.
"Who'd you expect? AstroMan?" Enker shook his head, then looked over the three. "Shadow. The Master going to be glad to hear that you're back. He's been planning how to work around your programming for a while now."
"He will not rewrite what and who I am," Shadow replied boldly. "No one can, and no one will."
"Bold words for one who was tricked by Ra Moon into working for him." Enker turned his gaze to Maria as Shadow's form stiffened; it was obvious that he was planning on attacking Enker the moment had had a chance. "And you. FireWoman."
"I told your boss already, bub," Maria growled in response. "It's Maria. Remember it."
Enker blinked, slight surprise coming over his face. "A human name? That's a new one." His face quickly went to a dark sneer. "The Master's got big plans for you, Maria. I'm looking forward to watching them go through."
"In your dreams," Maria scoffed in response. She glared at the Killer. "I'm not going to be swayed so easily, you walking junk heap."
Rock's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing the Reploid say such a thing so flippantly. Enker's eyes, however, narrowed into slits.
"You're going to pay for that," Enker growled. He lifted up a foot and slammed it down on the balcony, causing a loud click to resound throughout the entire chamber.
A mere moment later, the floor gave out from underneath Maria, and she fell down into a shaft with a yelp of surprise, Rock's cry of alarm growing fainted by the second.
Before Maria could do anything to even slow her fall, her rear landed on a hard surface and she was knocked out from behind with an electric charge.
Uh-oh.