Bud leapt to the side as a blast of water came at him. When it hit the ground, it erupted into a spinning burst of droplets, catching Bud by surprise.
"Libra, stand down!" Taurus shouted.
"Taurus, I don't think he's gonna listen," Bud said. "We're gonna have to fight!"
Taurus grunted quietly as Libra launched another water blast. Bud prepared to dodge, but then a sheet of ice suddenly formed overhead—Amy came sliding down it, shooting a blast of cold from her hand to freeze the oncoming attack and make it drop to the ground harmlessly.
"Thanks, Amy!" Bud said. "Keep it up!"
"You got it!" Amy said, already creating a new ice path for herself.
Bud charged straight at Libra. Amy threw snowballs to keep him off-balance, though they seemed to do little against his armor. Bud made it about half-way before Libra attacked: a shadow appeared over Bud, so he threw himself into a sideways roll, just barely avoiding a massive steel weight covered in spikes as it fell from the sky. He got right back up and kept charging. Libra's eye flashed, and a series of geysers burst from the ground, gradually making their way towards Bud, while similar pillars of fire chased down Amy. Amy created a slope to launch herself high into the air, out of the towers' reach—Bud exhaled a huge swath of flames, heating the ground ahead so that any water that attempted to spring from it turned instantly to steam.
"Got you!" Bud said as he finally closed in.
He leapt towards Libra, throwing a straight punch. When he connected, the target was sent flying...but he quickly realized it was not Libra he had hit. The giant weight from before soared off into the distance, while Libra now floated back behind him, right where the massive object had initially dropped.
"Huh?" Bud said as he spun around. "How'd he do that?"
"Simpleton," Libra said. "One such as yourself will never best me."
Bud grunted, raising one hand. "It's way too soon to say that!"
Amy fell right into his grip. He spun immediately, building up momentum before hurling her at Libra. A fireball came to intercept her, but she cancelled it out with a large snowball, and landed a kick to Libra's face.
"Yes!" Amy cheered. "How do you—"
A swirling torrent of fire and water enveloped Libra then, picking up Amy and hurling her back. Libra turned to press his advantage, but one of Bud's rocket punches hit him while he was distracted, and he spotted the boy charging once again. Libra scoffed. He summoned three weights, one that almost crushed Bud and two that were off to either side, and then simply waited.
As Bud barreled past Amy, he said, "Get ready!"
"Libra's going to switch places with one of them," Yeti said. "We need to attack as soon as he does!"
Amy glanced quickly between the three weights. As Bud threw his punch, she threw a snowball at the weight that was farthest away. Her guess was incorrect.
"You humans are pathetic!" Libra shouted from nearby. "Is such a simple trick too much for you?"
He was unaware of the way the ground beneath him was shimmering. Suddenly, the massive jaws of Plesio Surf shot up, snapping shut around Libra's base and making him shout in surprise. Quick to take advantage of the situation, Amy slid forward and kicked at Libra, while Bud bounded over and finally landed a solid punch.
"Thanks for the help, Detective!" Amy said.
"Don't thank me yet," Copper said, pulling Libra aside.
"Wretched fools!" Libra said. "Away from me!"
Several weights dropped around him, forcing back Bud and Amy. They tried to warn Copper, but Libra switched places with a weight before they could; Copper faltered a bit under the sudden change in what he was holding, but recovered quickly, whipping his neck around to smash the weight right into Libra. He submerged right away, avoiding the small firestorm Libra tried to catch him in.
"Amy, I'll give you an opening!" Bud said. "Make it count!"
Amy nodded and raised both hands above her head, starting to craft an enormous snowball. Bud punched the ground to call up flame pillars, not only hitting Libra but also melting the remaining weights. Amy threw her attack right at their foe. Libra saw it coming, but he did not move. Instead, the lid portion of his body separated from the rest, lifting high enough that the snowball went between the two pieces.
"W-What?!" Amy said.
Stranger still, the snowball did not pass through the opening, but hung in the air for a moment. Then, it was pulled down into the cup, disappearing from view, and Libra sealed himself up again. The water he held began to bubble with even more force.
"Oh…so he can do that now."
Another water projectile came their way. Amy threw up a wall of ice, but the ball exploded into a miniature typhoon, ripping the barrier to shreds in an instant. A weight fell towards her, but Bud pushed her out of the way and took the hit instead. Copper resurfaced behind Libra, firing a lightning bolt at the unsuspecting EM being. He tried to retreat, but Libra summoned a weight faster than he expected, and it sent him plummeting into the depths.
"Bud! Are you alright?"
With a groan, Bud pushed the weight away and picked himself up. "Yeah…guess we underestimated this guy, though. No more of that!"
He roared as the flames shooting from his elbows grew larger. In seconds, Bud's armor was burning red hot, and Libra regarded him curiously. Bud sprinted forward, so he summoned a weight in his path. This time, Bud just put his horns down and kept running, colliding with the weight and launching it at Libra without missing a step. Libra switched places with the object before it could hit him, and learned something new about his ability in the process: he retained the momentum of the object he switched places with, meaning he was now flying through the air towards the stationary weight. Pulling himself around, he managed to stop just before colliding with it, but Bud was almost on top of him now. On instinct, he switched places with the weight again. He realized it was a bad idea even before Bud punched it straight into him. Flames consumed Libra, but when he opened his lid, they were all pulled inside his armor, feeding the flames he wielded. He returned them to Bud, and though the boy held his ground, there was not much else he could do.
"Stupid, stupid humans," Libra muttered as he drifted away. "You understand nothing!"
"Hey, you're the one who's refusing to talk to us," Taurus said.
"I already told you: I have no choice but to fight!"
"Mrrgh! Can't do both?"
Bud dodged to the side as another weight fell. "C'mon, Libra! At least tell us what it is you want! Maybe we can work it out!"
"All I want is peace!" Libra shouted. "But I've realized that's impossible! I am an engine of war, and there is no escaping that!"
As he talked, Amy rolled a snowball along the ground towards him; as it came upon the weight he had spawned, it pulled the object into itself and grew larger, reaching a point where it dwarfed Libra. The FM-ian focused a powerful blast of flame onto it, breaking it apart, but Bud leapt into the fire as soon as he spotted the weight and gave it a punch. Libra was sent spinning by the projectile, and soon realized he was sinking as well. A whirlpool had appeared beneath him, courtesy of Copper, who now circled around him from a safe distance.
"That's what we all thought," Taurus said. "But the rest of us…well, most of us…have learned it doesn't have to be that way!"
Another weight fell, though this one wasn't close to anyone in particular. Libra switched places with it immediately, and pillars of water and fire spread out from him in every direction, forcing his foes to take evasive action.
"Well it must be nice!" Libra yelled. "Having someone to care for you, having a home you can return to! I've been stuck on my own this entire time, constantly hunted down by these Dealer thugs, barely escaping the traps laid out for me at every turn! I've been tracked like an animal for three years with no end in sight! But I couldn't outrun Corvus…it was all a waste! I still ended up their pawn!"
Entire lines of weights fell from the sky, trying to crush Bud and Amy and Copper as they desperately searched for safety. Taurus mumbled, "Libra…"
"I had no idea what had become of you or any of the others! And here I find you've been living happily this whole time, apparently completely free of all that had burdened you? You all got everything you ever wanted, and all you had to do was sacrifice me!"
Copper motioned for the kids to stay back. With a heave, he called up a massive tidal wave, and as it surged forward it swept up the dozens of weights Libra had generated, carrying them all back towards him at once. Libra quickly scanned the oncoming wave and moved slightly before opening his lid. He was able to absorb the wave, and while that didn't stop the weights, he was able to position himself so that he didn't take a direct hit from any of them. However, he did not see the red-hot rocket punch coming until it was too late.
"What, it's our fault?!" Taurus said as Bud charged. "You think we didn't try to find you, Libra? We had no idea where you were! We wanted to help you, but—"
"Shut up!" Sparks of green static burst around Libra's head as he spoke. "Enough of your lies, Taurus! What does it even matter now?!"
Bud swerved back and forth, doing his best to dodge the incoming water blasts. If nothing else, he seemed to have successfully drawn Libra's attention: Amy and Copper were moving to flank him, seemingly undetected still, so he kept running.
"It matters now because you're here!" Taurus said. "Now we can finally help you! And we're gonna start by beating the Noise out of you!"
Copper focused hard on the area around Libra. A trio of waterspouts spun into existence, circling the FM-ian and catching him by surprise. He spotted Copper in time to dodge his lightning breath, and called down a weight that very narrowly missed its mark—still, he used it to escape the funnels, and turned to take stock of his surroundings. Amy was close, but not as close as she had been hoping to get. Libra used a weight to get closer to her and sent her flying with an explosion of flame.
"Lay off!" Bud said, throwing himself at Libra. He knocked his foe off-balance, so he started punching, continuing to push him back and back.
"Foolish…humans…" Libra said. "I…won't…lose…to you!"
A torrent of water threatened to wash Bud away. He dug in, managing to stay upright, and then looked up to see a weight coming down towards him. With an uppercut, he split it into four pieces, and then crouched down. Copper's head surfaced right beneath him, only long enough to toss him high into the sky. Libra looked up in confusion. A second later, a massive avalanche rammed into his back, sweeping him away; Amy angled her ice slide through the air to catch Bud just before he fell, though the heat from his armor greatly thinned their path as they headed for the ground.
"I think the Noise is gonna start messing with his head," Bud said as they not-quite-crash-landed. "We'd better wrap this up fast, or else he could go berserk."
"Then why are we standing around?" Amy asked. "Go get him, Bud! We'll back you up!"
With a nod, Bud took off towards Libra, while Amy kept up with an ice slide. Libra launched attacks at them one after another, but very few hit their mark, and none did much to slow the two of them down. He soon gave a yell—at least half a dozen weights materialized in the air, placed just so that Bud would run straight under them.
"Brace yourself!" Amy shouted as she reached out.
Bud shifted his weight. The ground before him froze over, and as he slid across the ice it gently angled him away without taking away his speed, allowing him to just narrowly clear the falling objects. He and Amy continued to dodge Libra's shots, now retaliating with a few of their own.
"It's still gonna be tough to get close," Bud said. "I'll power through it if I have to, but…"
Copper surfaced nearby, surprising him and nearly costing him his footing. "Leave that to me. Jump when I tell you to!"
Bud nodded. Copper pulled back a bit, and gritted his teeth as he prepared to summon another tidal wave. The strain was worse than he had been expecting, but he did his best to ignore it—he needed to wait for just the right moment. Bud and Amy were closing in now, and Libra summoned another weight in their path.
"Now! Get on top of it!"
Bud leapt onto the weight at the same time Copper released his power. The wave sprung up directly beneath Bud, immediately shooting up to tower over Libra, and Bud balanced carefully atop the weight as the force of the rushing water carried it up and forward. Libra opened his lid to absorb the wave, drawing all the water into himself; Bud waited as long as he could, and when his altitude dropped too low, he hefted the weight, tossed it forward, and fired a rocket punch behind it to give it an extra push. Libra shouted as the attack impacted his base, his entire body shuddering, but continued to pull in Copper's attack as Bud fell towards him.
"Libra!" Bud shouted. "This has gone on long enough!"
He threw his fist down, but Libra just barely pulled away in time. Rather than retreat, he remained right in front of Bud, and called up a swirling veil of water and fire, battering the boy with the full force of the storm.
"If that's the case, then give up!" Libra said. "Run away—sacrifice your friends to keep yourself alive! That's your only hope of escape, stupid human!"
The attack was rapidly whittling away at Bud's stamina. Mustering all the strength he had left, his armor burned even hotter, and he managed to take a step forward.
"Libra," Taurus said. "I'm sorry that Dealer found you before we did. But now that we have found you…we're not gonna let go!"
Bud reached out and grabbed each of Libra's arms. The points at which they connected to his base were cracked, no doubt from the rocket-propelled weight that had just hit him.
"Sorry!" Bud grunted. "Here goes!"
With a tremendous roar, he pulled until both of Libra's arms snapped clean off. The FM-ian cried out in pain, his attack ceasing instantly, but Bud knew he couldn't relax yet. Lifting the two appendages overhead, he moved to bring them down upon Libra. However, even in agony, Libra was able to evade, switching places with the same weight that had wounded him.
"Damn you!" Libra said as he spun around. "Damn humans!"
Thinking fast, Bud spun and started to breathe fire on Libra. Libra opened up to absorb it, but Bud kept up the pressure, not sure what else to do.
"I'll take all your power from you! I can absorb far more than—"
An enormous snowball came at him from the side, getting wedged into the opening. Amy was already creating another as Libra slowly worked to break it down. Cracks began to appear all along his body.
"Rrrgh...this…is still…!"
He turned his head as Copper surfaced. Bud and Amy continued their own assaults, and when Copper added his lightning breath to it, it finally became too much. The energy all exploded out from within Libra, streaming up and around his lid and into the sky. Soon it became Noise. After a minute or so, the eruption finally ceased, and Libra collapsed on the ground, his single eye blinking and fading.
"Again…" he mumbled. "I'm…sacrificed…again…"
He was consumed by a flash of red. When it passed, his body had returned to normal, and he had lost consciousness. Bud powered down and walked over to him.
"Nice job, guys," he said. "You go on ahead—I'll catch up in a minute."
He carefully picked Libra up and turned back towards the hospital. Copper said, "Bud…are you sure that's such a good idea? There's no telling what'll happen when he wakes up."
"I'm positive, Detective Copper. Besides, if Sonia were here, I'm sure she'd do the same thing!"
"Even still…"
Taurus materialized in front of him. "Mrrgh! Look, I know it might be a lot to ask right now. But we can't abandon Libra—not again! You saw what living in fear for so long has done to him. We gotta start breaking through that right away!"
"Come on, Detective!" Amy said. "Give him a chance!"
Hesitantly, Copper nodded. Bud thanked him, and then carried Libra towards the hospital, saying, "Don't worry, pal. We'll take care of you now."
Geo let out a sigh of relief as he finally looked out over Alohaha. "Honestly, I half-expected the whole place to be on fire."
"Seems Dealer decided to leave this place alone this time," Mega said. "That, or that punk we fought was supposed to come here instead. Either way, means the doc made the right choice."
As his allies came through the warp behind him, Geo turned and said, "Let's assemble the program. I'll take it to Strong, and you guys can rest up a bit."
He headed for the ground before anyone could reply. Following him, Pat called, "Hey, wait up! Shouldn't you rest too?"
"We'll see if there's time. WAZA hasn't been able to answer all these attacks going on, so I want to pitch in as soon as the transfer is complete."
The group undid their Wave Change and held their Hunters close to each other. Pat and Hyde both transferred the data they had been carrying to Geo, who combined it with his piece to complete the file and begin decrypting it. While that was going on, he opened a line to AMAKEN. Goodall answered.
"Doctor," he said. "We've made it to Alohaha with the program intact. I'm about to go help Strong install it, and then we can begin transferring the files from HQ as soon as you're ready."
"Excellent!" Goodall said. "Only something like the Environmental System has enough space to store all of WAZA's data. That program will set up a secure connection so that we can make the transfer without any fear of it being intercepted, and I'll monitor it from my Hunter."
"Pardon me," Hyde said, "but how is the situation at AMAKEN?"
"Oh, no need to worry, Jekyll—our enemies are taken care of and Veggie is safe."
Hyde relaxed his shoulders. "Ah, wonderful!"
"What about the other reported attacks?" Geo asked.
"We've made progress," Goodall said, "but there are still a few incidents we haven't been able to wrap up just yet. If you boys are up to it, I can direct you to the nearest site once the transfer is complete."
"Please do! I want to help as much as I can!"
Pat set a hand on Geo's arm. "Geo…don't push yourself too much. That fight wore you out at least as much as it did us."
"Oh…right. I'll be careful, Pat."
His Hunter flashed, so Geo turned towards Alohaha Castle. Pat said, "One second, I'll come with you."
Pat pulled his Hunter aside, giving it a tap. Gemini materialized before him. Immediately, everyone froze.
"…Explain," the FM-ian said.
"It can't be pleasant being cooped up in the Hunter all the time," Pat said. "I thought you might want to get out for a bit."
"And…why now?"
"To say thank you. You helped me in that fight: if you hadn't pushed me, I might not have been able to protect Geo and Rey. I'm really grateful for that."
Gemini turned away. "Hmph. Gratitude is hardly what I require."
Geo looked to Pat. Pat nodded. Nodding back, Geo headed for the castle, with Pat following.
"Hold on," Phantom protested. "Is this a good idea? Shouldn't someone at least keep watch?"
"Thank you for volunteering, Phantom," Hyde said. He slapped his Hunter, spitting Phantom out right next to Gemini. "Do take care."
Hyde was gone before Phantom could formulate an argument. He faced Gemini, sizing up the FM-ian, and then turned away again with a grunt.
"…So," Gemini said. "They tell me you were an FM-ian as well, before you let some primitive machine retune you."
"A past I have left far behind me!" Phantom said. "I've seen nothing to necessitate adjusting my belief that FM-ians are a foolish bunch that I need not associate with."
Gemini paused. "And how do you feel about humans?"
"Hah! They're hardly better! I offer them my time and my sage advice, and they only degrade me!"
"Yes, I've noticed. You must grow quite tired of your arrangement."
Phantom floated a few paces away. "I am biding my time. For now, no better options have presented themselves, so I will play along if I must."
After another short pause, Gemini approached him. "Must you?"
Phantom looked over his shoulder.
"Why must you continue to follow the humans' orders, no matter how little respect they offer you in return? Could you not break free of their bindings and strike back against them?"
"Will you arrive at your point shortly?"
"Heheh, I see you already know. I propose that we work together to take our revenge on the humans. What do you say?"
Phantom narrowed his eyes. "Why on Earth would I agree to work with an FM-ian?"
"Do not compare me to the common stock. For years I manipulated the FM King, instating my will disguised as his across the galaxy. I very nearly took this planet as my own. And from that experience, I, unlike the rest, see the value in your strategic mind, Phantom. You are an ally worth having."
Phantom stared at him for a moment. "…I suppose you wish me to find a way to release you from your own bindings? What makes you think I would have the means?"
"You have their trust. You have access to more than you realize, Phantom. And especially now that we are in a state of crisis, the opportunity to take advantage of that trust will most surely present itself to you."
Phantom turned away as he thought.
With a shrug, Gemini said, "Or, don't. You and I can continue to play our parts for these humans until the day our code falls apart. I do doubt another opportunity like this will present itself…but, think on it if you must. I would not dare shackle the will of a mastermind such as yourself."
Gemini turned and gave Phantom some space. Phantom continued to stare off into the distance, rapidly weighing his options and calculating his risks. And the more he thought, the more a large, sinister grin spread across his face.
King hummed cheerily to himself as he shuffled his cards, watching data pour across the screen. "Oh, it's just so beautiful! Such vast quantities of Crimson! You made an excellent call, Joker my boy, excellent indeed!"
Joker nodded. "Thank you, Mr. King. I am glad to know your goal is so close to fruition."
"If I may," Heartless interjected. "While we did gather ample Crimson and shake up the general populace, we also lost nearly all of our forces in the process. A single platoon remains. Is this truly the position we want to be in right now?"
"You worry too much, my dear Heartless," King said, waving his hand dismissively. "At least now they've served a purpose, rather than just sitting around idly. The wager was more than worth it in the end."
"If those forces had been worth keeping, they would have survived," Joker said. "Now we have fewer leeches dragging us down."
Heartless gave a short sigh as she crossed her arms. "I'd argue that even pawns have their use, Joker. A scarecrow is all it takes to protect a field. How are we to guard our facilities, understaffed as we are?"
"It is a moot point, Heartless. Everything of value is in this facility. And I am here. There is no reason to worry."
"I concur!" King said. "Don't worry your pretty little head about our defenses, my dear. All will be well, I am certain."
"Very well," Heartless said. "In that case, I withdraw my concerns. So, Mr. King…how do we proceed from here?"
"Ah, that's the proper question." King stopped to stroke his chin. "If we have one platoon left, then I should put them to use. We need only a tiny bit more Crimson—though a margin for error would certainly be appreciated—so it's not as if they require a great challenge…"
Joker and Heartless waited in silence as King continued to think. Eventually, he pulled a card from his deck and grinned at it.
"…Yes, perhaps them. Surely WAZA and Harp Note will continue to harry us here, and it would be rude to not offer them a seat at the table." He threw the card to Heartless. "See to it, Heartless."
She glanced at the card. "As you wish, Mr. King."
Once she was gone, King leaned his face against his palm, turning back to Joker. "With that taken care of…I do wish to be absolutely certain. It is not Harp Note's call that Meteor G answers to?"
"That is impossible," Joker said. "It requires an immovable will to bend Meteor G to one's own ends. As she is, she is utterly incapable of interfering with it to the extent we have witnessed."
"Hmmmmm. And I suppose the same would also go for Ace and Mega Man, even the three of them together." He faced his screen—it immediately switched to show an image of Meteor G. "Once we have enough Crimson, it shouldn't really matter. But…this was unforeseen. As if a new reel has been put into play. It may be presumptuous to assume taking control of Meteor G will be easy when it seems someone else has recently done just that…"
Suddenly, King sat up.
"…Hm. You know, a thought just occurred to me."
Joker inclined his head. "What is it, Mr. King?"
"It seems I may have to wrest control of Meteor G from someone's hands. Now I find myself wondering…whoever holds it now: did they too need to wrest it from someone else?"
Joker thought for a moment. "Until recently, Meteor G has never defied that which has called to it. Drawing upon its strength has been an easy task for those capable, and it has drifted through space with no clear direction. I have seen nothing that would lead me to believe someone was in command of it then."
"But it is not impossible. There could still have been someone watching over it, even if they were not directing it. Someone simply observing it, overseeing it…an Administrator to organize the Meteor Server…" King smiled. "Hoho…I must admit, this is becoming rather thrilling. To think, even once my inevitable victory over WAZA is won, I may well still have one more game to play!"
King spun his chair around, slowly making his way out of the room as Joker stood there lost in thought.
"Yes, how fitting: one final challenge to win the ultimate jackpot. I am ready to play. Care to join me? Harp Note? Hohohohoho!"
Notes:
-A quick update! Huzzah! Don't think I have any particular notes on this one, so I'll just get to work on 29. Just need to make final preparations and we'll be on to the scenario we've all been waiting for!
