Chapter 16: Brothers in arms part 2
Hey there guys, gals and non binary pals. Tardispilot297 here bringing you the latest chapter of Cosmicon Rising. Sorry I'm a month late in posting but school has been keeping me busy lately and on top of that this month just happened to be my birthday. The big 26 baby!
Now as a reminder after this I will be taking a break from this story to start a brand new story which I will be posting soon as my way of making up for my lateness. And while only a few of you actually voted it was still nice to know people care.
As always I only own my own characters and nothing else. Anyway without further ado let's get started.
(Ikki's house)
By the time Ikki, Metabee, Erika and Brass made it back to Ikki's house the adrenaline from the night's earlier events had finally run out, leaving them completely drained. Brass and Metabee helped their partners into the house where Ikki's mom waited at the front door. She instantly ran over to Ikki, crushing him with the biggest hug she'd ever given him. Afterwards she began checking if he had been hurt. She nearly had a heart attack when she saw the bruise forming on Ikki's hand.
Before she could bombard him with questions Metabee quickly explained that the bruise was because Ikki had struck his head harder than usual. She let out a sigh of relief and inflicted another strong hug on her son. Some time passed as everyone stepped back into the house. Erika and Ikki took turns using the bathroom and getting ready to go to bed. Ikki's mom had set up the guest bed in the living room for Erika and placed a pillow and some blankets on the couch for Brass. After saying goodnight Ikki and Metabee went up to Ikki's room where the former instantly fell onto the bed like a ton of bricks.
Metabee started to lie down on his floor bed and just stared up at the ceiling. After a while his eyes finally began to close as well deserved sleep began to overtake him. His mind began to drift into nothingness at first before suddenly shifting to images of two mechs fighting in a battle. It felt like a repeat of the dreams he had been having only this time was different. Instead of fighting each other the two mechs fought side by side. The lights of nearby explosions revealed the two to be Metabee and Cosmicon. He then saw other images ranging from the two of them sitting next to each other on a bridge watching the sunset over a vast city to sparring together in a training yard. The final image to emerge was Metabee and Cosmicon clasping hands in friendship and swearing an oath to help make the world more peaceful together.
(Iacon province, 10,000 years ago)
The moment then shifted to the two of them walking along a dirt road. The time is going well into the evening. As they spoke of their plans for the future Cosmicon made a joke about which of them would marry first. Metabee suddenly stuttered looking at him. "W-w-what brought that on?" "Oh come on Kayamou, you mean to tell me you never once considered taking a beautiful femme as your wife?" Metabee looked away rubbing the back of his head. "Well I never really considered it before. After all, I've been so focused on finally becoming a protector for most of my life. Why have you?" Cosmicon shrugged his shoulders. "Not always, but sometimes I like to tell myself that if I ever met the right femme I wouldn't hesitate to make her my wife." Metabee turned to him. "That's just like you Orion. Once you set your mind to something it's impossible to talk you out of it." "I could say the same thing about you Kayamou. Though you could strive to be a bit more aggressive in terms of reaching your goals in life."
Metabee looked at him confused. "What's that supposed to mean?" "Kayamou ever since what happened at the coliseum you've done nothing to rise in the ranks of the other protectors. If you really want to change the world you need to have more ambition." Metabee scoffed. "You make it sound like I'm more important than the others." "I'm just saying what happened that day was a miracle. I just don't want to see you waste it." "I'm not wasting anything Orion." Metabee looked ahead at a small round house where a certain purple and white femme resembling Brass was tending to the garden out front. He stared at her with great interest as she knelt to the ground smelling the flowers. Cosmicon followed his gaze and looked at her as well. "If you say so." Metabee looked over at Cosmicon. "What about you?" Cosmicon flinched and looked away from him. "Of course not." Metabee shoved him lightly, inciting laughter between the two of them.
They then walked over to Brass who looked up and waved at them. As they got closer she ran up to them and hugged them both. "I was wondering when you two were gonna come home. I thought training was supposed to end before sundown?" Cosmicon and Metabee turned to each other with looks of embarrassment. Cosmicon spoke up. "Well things got a little… heated during sparring." Brass placed her hands on her hips in annoyance. "Did you two overdue it again?" Metabee spoke next. "To be fair he was cheating." Cosmicon and Metabee then started to argue until Brass reached up to smack both of them on their heads. "Honestly, how many times are you both going to keep acting like immature younglings?" Metabee looked at Brass. "Sorry Feyou, we'll try to do better next time." Cosmicon agreed, causing Brass to let out a sigh. "Well anyway you're both just in time to help get started on dinner." Cosmicon and Metabee were about to object when Brass gave them a look that immediately made them more compliant.
As they went inside Metabee made a quiet comment to Cosmicon about if any mech wanted to marry Brass may the medaforce have mercy on them. Cosmicon agreed before looking back at Brass with a loving gaze.
(Ikki's house, Present day)
Metabee immediately awoke and sat up in his bed. He looked around to see that it was still night and that Ikki was sound asleep. He placed his hand over his face before quietly standing up and leaving the room. He walked around the house checking if everyone else was still asleep. Ikki's mom slept soundly clutching Ikki's dad's empty pillow. He went downstairs to see Erika was asleep on the guest bed while Brass slept peacefully on the couch. Metabee looked closely at Brass and was tempted to go over to her. Halfway across the room however he hesitated and turned back around to go back up the stairs. He climbed through an upstairs window and walked out onto the roof before taking a seat to look up at the stars.
He sat there contemplating what he saw in his dream and the last two times he fought Cosmicon. 'It just doesn't seem real. How could he hate me so much when we apparently used to be friends?' His thoughts were interrupted by a sound coming from behind him. He turned around to see Brass standing there looking at him. "Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." "No it's OK." "Is it OK if I sit down?" Metabee moved to the side and gestured for her to sit next to him. She sat down and looked at him. "Having trouble sleeping?" Metabee nodded. "Did you have that dream again?" "That's just it… it was different this time." "Do you want to talk about it?" Metabee looked over at her. "Honestly I don't know what to think. I thought that Cosmicon was just some old mech who was my enemy in a past life. Now it turns out… we were actually all friends. And this time even you were there."
As Metabee described the dream to her Brass sat there taking in what he was saying. "That's unbelievable." "Yeah you're telling me." "That explains why he acted like he knew me." "Oh yeah I forgot to ask earlier, are you doing ok?" "Yeah, my arm's still a little stiff but it's not too bad." "I mean after Cosmicon came after you." Brass stiffened up for a moment causing her to shake a little. Metabee saw this and draped an arm around her and brought her in close to try and comfort her. "Hey, if you don't want to talk about it that's fine." Brass shook her head. "No, I'm fine really. It's just the way he kept looking at me at first. I felt as if he truly didn't want to hurt me." Brass thought back to when Cosmicon came to her after she had been injured and tried to assure her that he meant her no harm.
And for a brief moment some part of her started to feel at ease with his presence.
It wasn't until he turned violent that her mind immediately snapped back to the fact that he was not a friend but a ruthless killer. "It wasn't until I tried to convince him that I wasn't who he thought I was that I started to feel a sense of dread towards him." Brass slowly leaned her head into Metabee's shoulder, slowly starting to feel a calming sense of safety in his embrace. "I'm sorry you had to go through that… You never should've been there." "Hey, I knew what I was getting myself into. Besides I could say the same about you." "Yeah but it's different for me."
Brass pulled away from him to look at him. "How is it different?" Metabee wanted to argue but found he couldn't find the words. He looked Brass right in the eyes and became slowly entranced by them. He wanted to tell her that it was too dangerous for her but then he realized how hypocritical that would sound. As he sat there thinking he failed to notice Brass talking to him, trying to get his attention. Until finally he snapped out of it when she said his name three times. "Huh? What did you say?" "I said you haven't answered my question, How is it different for you?" "Because…" He took a deep breath before speaking. "Because there are still things I need to figure out. Cosmicon has answers to questions that just might help me find out who I was. That's why I have to find him again."
Brass looked at him shocked for a moment. At first Metabee wondered if he'd said the wrong thing until she got close and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a soft embrace. Metabee relaxed a little before returning her embrace. "You're not going to give up are you?" Metabee hesitated in his answer. Brass pulled back to look at him again. "Then I'm going with you." Metabee shook his head. "No. I have to do this alone." "Why? Why do you feel like you have to do this alone?" "Because it's my past. It all comes down between me and him." "Doesn't that make me involved as well? It's like you just said he remembers me too, or at least a past life version of me." As soon as she mentioned that Metabee once again saw in his mind the image of the lifeless Brass in his arms.
He shook his head trying to get rid of the image. "That's precisely why I'm asking you to stay here." "And that's why I'm telling you not a chance. We're in this together." Metabee wanted to continue arguing but Brass stopped him by placing a finger over his face plate. "I understand that you want to protect me, but I want to be there to protect you too." When Metabee looked into her eyes he knew full well that she meant every word she said. He also knew that once Brass set her mind to something it's impossible to talk her out of it. After a moment Brass removed her finger allowing him to talk again. "Now promise me you won't try to go after Cosmicon by yourself." Metabee nodded. "Alright I promise." Afterwards the two of them continued sitting there on the roof looking up at the stars. The moment felt so wonderful Metabee almost didn't want it to end.
(Ship)
Elsewhere at almost exactly the same time Cosmicon's ship was buzzing with activity. Down in the cargo hold Rubber Robos were working/building on the large machine that now stood at about 20 feet tall. Nearby Henry was tied up in the corner watching everything going on, all the while thinking of a way to try to escape.
Since his capture Henry was able to pick up on some chatter from some of the robos about what's happening. Comments like "Prepping the remaining bots" and "Launching soon" kept spinning around in his thoughts. 'What the heck could they possibly be planning?' he thought. Elsewhere Gill Girl, Squid Guts, and Shrimp Lips were hanging around on the top deck with Squid Guts puking over the side of the ship. "Guess that's why you're called Squid Guts." Gill Girl commented with a smirk.
Squid Guts lifted his head up a little. "How much longer are we gonna stay on this big boat?" "Until the new boss says so." Shrimp Lips said. "Yeah but when is that? It feels like we've been here forever." "It's only been a few hours." Shrimp Lips commented. He then turned to see Sea Slug walking up to them. "Alright you guys, the night watch is about to start so you might want to head below and get some shut eye. We'll be heading back to shore in the morning." "Oh thank good-" before Squid Guts could finish he started to puke again.
Gill Girl began patting him on the back to try and comfort him while Shrimp Lips walked up to Sea Slug. "So what's the play now?" "All I know is that we're preparing to hit one last X-Treme facility." "You're kidding right? We must've hit every place in the city. And in case you forgot we got The Special Corp. after us now." Gill Girl spoke next. "He's right, Slug, the minute we break into another storage warehouse we're gonna get fragged." He turned to her. "We're not hitting another warehouse." Shrimp Lips and Gill Girl's interests were piqued. "Then where?" Gill Girl asked. "We're going back to the Kilobot reprogramming center."
(School)
The next day began with everyone heading off to school, which had finally reopened. Despite some areas still under repair from the previous attack classes went on like normal. The only difference was that the human and medabot classes had been combined to help compensate for the lack of available classroom space. During a history class Ikki, Metabee, and everyone else tried their best to focus on the lesson. Unfortunately not all of them were succeeding. Metabee, his thoughts still on his conversation with Brass last night, kept occasionally looking at her.
'I know I made a promise to her but it's still too dangerous.' He thought. 'Where I have to go she can't follow. What I have to do she can't have any part of. But I don't want to leave her either. Dammit what should I do?' As these thoughts kept bumping around in his head meanwhile in the back of the class with Kam another medabot was feeling conflicted. Black Beetle hadn't been able to sleep since she was visited by Bloodbeetle last night. She understood that he was an enemy but at the same time she felt a sort of connection with him.
Everything he said, every moment he was with her. It all made her feel things she never felt before. Despite having lived with Kam and being around all their friends she still had this feeling of being alone. And yet for the first time in her life she didn't feel alone anymore, not when she was with him. Even so the fact remained that Bloodbeetle was a servant of Cosmicon and that when the time came she would no doubt have to fight him. Not that it made her feel any easier. 'Maybe there's a way that he could be turned to our side instead?' She thought. 'If only there was a way to contact him again.' Her thoughts were eventually interrupted by the ringing of the school bell signifying the class dismissal.
As everyone began leaving for lunch something outside one of the windows caught Black Beetle's eye. She saw a single black rose sticking out of the side swaying in the breeze. She looked around to make sure no one was looking and opened the window to grab the rose. She held it close to her chest and looked it over, noticing something attached to the stem. She saw a small note tied to the stem and started untying it. She opened it up only to be startled by Kam calling her. "Black Beetle aren't you coming?" She quickly turned toward him, hiding the rose and note behind her back. "Oh you go ahead without me Kam. I'll catch up later." "Well ok if you say so." Kam left the room leaving Black Beetle alone with her secret.
While Black Beetle didn't like the idea of lying to Kam she felt that it was necessary for what she had to do. She resumed opening the note and started reading it. 'Come find me.' A set of coordinates were found in the lower right corner of the note. She looked it over and immediately recognized them. They were the location of the kilobot reprogramming facility she and everyone had visited the day the capsules containing Cosmicon and his generals were stolen. And just like that everything started to become clear in her head. She quickly stormed out of the room to look for the others.
She finally found everyone at their usual lunch area and ran up to them. "EVERYONE!" She cried out getting their attention. Kam walked up to her concerned. "Black Beetle, what is it?" She took a moment to catch her breath. "I think I know where Cosmicon is going to strike next." Zuru walked up to her. "What do you mean?" "The way I see it, Cosmicon is building an army by reprogramming kilobots." Spike spoke up next. "Yeah and we blew them all up." "No we didn't." Everyone turned to look over at Metabee. "Rokusho and I both saw several more kilobots on Cosmicon's ship." "But even if he still had some left he wouldn't be able to get anymore." Erika said. "At least not without having to build them himself." Koji added.
"And of course that's impossible since all Xtreme factories are too heavily guarded for him to take control over." Kam said. "But there's still one place he can get to. The place where this all started." Black Beetle said. Ikki's eyes widened with realization. "The reprogramming facility!" Erika began realizing it too. "Of course. It's literally the last place anyone would think of as a target." "And if he managed to take control of it he could easily reprogram almost every kilobot in the city." Zuru deduced. Ginkai stood up. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get over there and stop em." Karin spoke up next. "Wait a minute we can't just leave in the middle of school. And besides, we should really call my Uncle and tell him about this." Ginkai turned to her. "Are you kidding me? We don't have time for that crap." "Yeah by the time Dr. Aki and the Special Corp get moving; it could already be too late." Samantha added.
Erika turned to Samantha. "I never thought I'd say this but she's right. We can't just sit around and do nothing." Ikki spoke up next. "Damn right we're not." He looked around at everybody. "After all, since when have we ever needed somebody else to fight our battles for us?" The group all looked at each other and grinned. "So what's the plan?" Koji asked. Ikki turned to him. "We do as Karin suggested, we contact Dr. Aki about what's going on. While at the same time we make our way to the reprogramming facility and stop Cosmicon and his goons." Erika gave Ikki a thumbs up. "Now that's what I call a plan."
Before long the group decided to sneak out of school during the remainder of the lunch period. After making sure they wouldn't be seen they snuck out through the front gate and made their way to the train station. Upon boarding Karin tried calling her Uncle but ended up leaving a message on his voice-mail. During the train ride they all discussed their battle plan. Zuru began by stating that Sumilidon and Neutranurse would handle the Rubber Robos. Brass and Roks would handle any active kilobots. And finally Metabee, Black Beetle, Tyrel-beetle, Arc-Dash and the screws medabots would take on Cosmicon and his generals.
At the mention of Cosmicon Metabee tensed up a little but managed to shake it off. Black Beetle on the other hand felt very much conflicted about having to fight Bloodbeetle. And while she knew turning him was a longshot she still had hope.
(Kilobot reprogramming facility)
As the train pulled into the station the group made their way towards the entrance of the facility. They immediately stopped upon seeing four Ambiguous 2's guarding the front door. They hid behind a wall and peaked around. "I don't suppose they're with security." Sloan commented. "Looks like we're gonna need another way in." Ikki added. Black Beetle spoke up. "Wait. I wanna try something." She gestured for everyone to huddle up before explaining.
A few moments later her and the other medabots walked toward the entrance with Ikki and the others acting like captured prisoners. As they approached the Ambiguous 2's immediately grabbed their shoulder blasters and took aim at them. One of them gave the order to halt. "My name is Black Beetle. We're taking these prisoners here to general Bloodbeetle." "Where are you taking them?" "To general Bloodbeetle." "General Bloodbeetle? Um, that doesn't compute. Oh wait YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!" Before they could act Metabee and Roks quickly dealt with the ambiguous 2's on the right while Brass and Black Beetle took out the ones on the left. "Well it was worth a try." Karin said.
The group then made their way inside the facility, carefully moving throughout the main lobby. They began to walk over towards the elevators and pressed the call button. They got on board and Kam pressed the button to take them down to the lower levels. As the elevator stopped they stood ready for anything. The door opened to reveal an empty hallway that looked like a fight had broken out earlier. They carefully walked down the hall and headed toward the main labs. They snuck in to find Rubber Robos hard at work repurposing most of the equipment. They quickly ducked down behind a wall as a kilobot walked past. When they peeked out they could see Dr. Meda-Evil shouting out orders to the Rubber Robos.
The doctor himself was nestled behind a large console pressing a few buttons. Nearby Aracno-Droid and Meta-Cronus were going over a group of kilobots that appeared to be on standby. Zuru looked carefully at where Dr. Meda-Evil was. "That has to be the main control console." "So what now? We go in guns blazing like in the plan?" Ginkai asked. "No. We still don't know how many enemies we're up against." "Plus there's still Cosmicon and the other two generals to find." Erika added. Ikki spoke up next. "Then we split up. Kam, Metabee, Black Beetle and I will head up to the main office areas. Koji and Erika, you guys take Sumilidon and Brass and check the factory area. Meanwhile the rest of you check around here." Everyone nodded in agreement. "We'll use our phones to keep in touch." Zuru suggested.
The group then split up and made their way through the facility. Kam and Ikki made their way up to the office areas with their partners and began searching. At first there was no sign of Cosmicon or his other generals so they kept going. Unbeknownst to them they were all being watched from the security office. Shrimp Lips glanced over the wall of monsters and reached over to grab a walkie. "Hey Slug it's me. Tell the boss we've got company inside." Back with Sea Slug he made his way to Cosmicon and told him the news. "Looks like we've got a few party crashers. It's those brats and their medabots." Cosmicon turned to Bloodbeetle. "It would appear that our new ally led them right to us." Bloodbeetle said. "Excellent. Locate the rest of them and make sure all the preparations on the ship are complete." "And what of Kayamou?" Bloodbeetle asked. "Ensure that he is separated from his friends and makes his way to the main factory floor. It's time the two of us had a nice, pleasant chat."
Meanwhile with Zuru and the others they were carefully making their way through the holding area of the labs. There they found all kinds of computers and consoles along with kilobots currently offline for reprogramming. As they walked along the area a security cam kept a close watch on them from above. In the security room Shrimp Lips reported to Dr. Meda-Evil. "Hey doc, I found some more of those brats. They're in the holding area close to you." "Understood." Meda-Evil pushed a few buttons on his console.
Back in the holding area a few of the kilobots started to move and look towards the group. Krosserdog then noticed a Skelbot getting ready to hit Spike from behind. "LOOK OUT!" Krosserdog raised his arm blaster and opened fire hitting the Skelbot in the head. It crashed to the floor with a loud bang. "I-I hit him! Did you guys see that? Tell me you guys saw that." "That's great pal but I think we should be more concerned about them." Totalizer pointed out to the kilobots starting to surround them. "Well look who's here." They all looked to where the voice came from and saw Aracno-Droid lowering himself via a plasma strand in his tarantula form. When he came close enough to the ground he instantly transformed into his robot form and landed on his feet.
He straightened up and started cracking his metal knuckles. "I got dibs on the feline. She's gonna pay for that little shock she gave me back at the warehouse." "Fine by me." Meta-Cronus dropped down from the other side, twiddling his blade fingers. "So long as I slice up the human vermin." The medabots immediately stood in front of their partners ready to fight. Arc-Dash glared at Aracno-Droid. "You're gonna have to get through us first." Aracno-Droid chuckled. "Gladly." The kilobots then charged at the medabots commencing a no holds bar brawl.
Back with Koji and Erika they made their way to the factory floor. Here the machinery used to maintain the reprogramming equipment was manufactured on a daily basis. At the moment everything was offline and quiet. Sumilidon took point and carefully looked around for any signs of enemies before gesturing to others that it was OK to move forward. As they made their way across the floor a shadow made its way to one part of the room.
Erika and Koji kept their eyes open when suddenly a noise was heard behind them. When Koji turned he was quickly knocked unconscious from a pistol smack to his head. Sea Slug stepped forward with a grin on his face. Erika cried out, causing both Brass and Sumilidon to take battle stances. Sumilidon rushed over to attack Sea Slug only to be slashed from behind by Kaizen. As Sumilidon hit the floor seemingly motionless Kaizen quickly turned his attention to Brass as she stood ready to shoot. "Ah ah ah, I wouldn't try anything if I were you." Sea Slug commented, aiming his gun at Erika's head. A bunch of goons then jumped from their hiding places and surrounded them aiming weapons.
Brass understood the situation and lowered her blaster. A few kilobots walked up to her and restrained her. "Carefully, Lord Cosmicon wants this one unharmed." Kaizen ordered the kilobots. He sheathed his sword and looked over to Sea Slug. "Take the rest back to the lab, keep an eye on them." Sea Slug gestured for two goons to pick up Koji while he motioned for Erika to start walking forward. A few kilobots picked up Sumilidon dragging him across the floor. Kaizen contacted Cosmicon via internal comms. "My lord we have her, the trap is set." "Excellent. Clear the area once he's inside. I want no interruptions." "Yes my lord." Kaizen then turned to the kilobots holding Brass. "Place her near the entrance." The kilobots nodded and walked Brass off to the side.
Meanwhile Ikki and Metabee were looking through one of the offices while Kam and Black Beetle searched another nearby. As they searched Kam couldn't help but glance over at Black Beetle every so often. Her previous actions from earlier made him wonder if something was off with her. Like how he noticed her trying to hide the flower back at school but pretended not to. Though now that he thought about it she'd been acting strange ever since the attack on the warehouse. After they had returned home she found it difficult to even look at him let alone be in the same room with him. 'What's going on with her?' He thought.
After a bit they moved on to the next set of offices to search. Suddenly a small noise got Ikki's attention and whispered to his friends to hide. They quickly dived behind a few cabinets and desks just as a small group of Rubber Robos entered the room holding guns. Among them was Bloodbeetle eyeing his way along the room. Ikki looked at Metabee who gave him a look that said "Let's do it." Ikki nodded and looked at Kam and Black Beetle, giving them hand signals to tell them what to do. Kam and Black Beetle nodded and the four of them waited for the right moment to strike. "There's nobody here, they must be on the next level." Said one of the robos.
"Spread out. They're here somewhere." Bloodbeetle commanded. The goons started to slowly spread out through the office. When suddenly one of them was grabbed from behind and pulled to the ground before being knocked out. Then just as quickly another was grabbed. Then another, and another, and another until only Bloodbeetle and two more goons remained. Bloodbeetle stopped walking and glanced around. Then without warning the two goons both hit the floor after being hit in the shoulder by blaster fire. Before Bloodbeetle could react he felt a blaster aimed at him. He slowly turned to see Metabee aiming right at him. "Don't even think about pulling that vanishing act of yours buddy." Metabee threatened.
Black Beetle walked up to Bloodbeetle with her blaster raised as well. Bloodbeetle looked at her and slowly raised his arms in surrender. "Well done. It seems you've gotten better." "Shut up." Nearby Ikki and Kam were dragging the unconscious goons and piled them into a supply closet before locking the door. "Where's the rest of your pals? Where's Cosmicon?" Metabee asked him. Bloodbeetle remained silent for a moment before answering. "I believe Kaizen, Aracno-Droid, and Meta-Cronus are off welcoming the rest of your little friends." He turned to look at Metabee. "As for my master, I believe he said something about heading down to the factory floor to oversee repurposing it." "Repurpose it for what?" Kam asked. "Your time on this earth is over human." Bloodbeetle turned to Kam. "This world once belonged to our kind. And my lord plans to make it ours once again." Ikki and Kam tensed up at his words. "Soon everything you've built will fall. And from the ashes of your world, we shall build a better one." Metabee walked up behind Bloodbeetle and proceeded to kick him in the back, sending him face down on the floor.
Metabee looked at Black Beetle. "You and Kam stay here and watch him, me and Ikki will head down to the factory floor and find Cosmicon." "Understood." Black Beetle responded. Metabee then turned toward the door with Ikki close behind. When they left Black Beetle looked back down at Bloodbeetle who glanced back up at her. As soon as their eyes met, Black Beetle once again felt a connection with the mech in front of her. She started to slowly lower her blaster when Kam spoke to her. "Black Beetle." She quickly looked at him. "Are you ok?" He asked. She nodded and returned to aiming her blaster at Bloodbeetle. "I'm fine Kam. Don't worry." She answered. 'I wish I could believe that.' Kam thought.
Back at the main lab Koji started to come to. As he opened his eyes he saw Karin looking down at him with a relieved smile on her face. "Thank goodness." She said. Koji slowly sat up grasping at his head where he could feel a small lump forming where he was hit. "Karin? What happened?" "We were ambushed. They brought us here and took our phones." Koji looked around and saw the others with them. Nearby he saw Sumilidon and the other medabots lying on the ground offline. Some of them showed heavy damage across their bodies. "The whole thing was a trap." Zuru said, adjusting his glasses. "And we walked right smack into it." Ginkai added. Koji noticed that Ginkai had a cut on his lip like he'd been punched hard in the face. Koji looked around further and noticed they were being guarded by a few goons with guns. He turned to Zuru. "What about Ikki and Kam?" He whispered. "We don't know yet. We assume they have yet to be captured." Zuru answered. Koji looked over at Erika who sat there with a worried expression on her face as she fiddled with her hands trying to remain calm.
He went over and sat down beside her. "Don't worry, if I know Ikki and Metabee it won't be long before they come and rescue us." Erika looked at Koji and smiled. "I know what you mean. But of course you should also know how impulsive and reckless those two can get at times." She chuckled a bit. "I just hope they're ok." Koji placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
(Ship)
Meanwhile back on Cosmicon's ship Henry sat carefully tugging at the rope binding his hands behind his back. He had been at this process for over the past few hours and he could feel it slowly giving way. He quickly stopped when he heard a loud sound over the intercom announcing the crew to standby for the opening of the cargo hold. The large doors began to open above him letting in the light of the sun. It's sudden brightness temporarily blinded him.
As his eyes started to adjust he could see the light pass over the large machine in the center finally revealing what it was. His eyes widened as he saw that the machine that he had watched being worked on for so long was in fact a large rocket aimed toward the opening of the doors above. "Oh my god." He said.
(Reprogramming facility, factory floor)
Back at the facility Ikki and Metabee were on their way to the factory floor, careful not to run into any more goons or kilobots. As they rounded the next corner the floor entrance came into view and opened to reveal Kaizen and a few kilobots stepping through with Brass standing near Kaizen. The group suddenly stopped and looked at the two before them. Kaizen quickly brought his sword up to Brass's neck as he ordered the kilobots to blast at Ikki and Metabee.
Metabee and Ikki quickly dashed behind the corner as the kilobots opened fire. Ikki peaked out a bit and told Metabee to blast the first two kilobots on the left. Metabee complied and turned to raise his left arm machine gun and opened fire on the medabots, riddling them with holes. As the two sides exchanged fire Metabee could hear Brass shouting from down the hall. As she struggled against Kaizen's grasp she desperately shouted at Metabee. "METABEE DON'T IT'S A TRAP!" She continued to struggle as Kaizen and a few of the kilobots headed back through the doorway. "IT'S A TRAP!"
Metabee turned back to dodge a few stray shots before looking out to blast another kilobot. He then saw the doors slowly closing and made a break for the doorway. The remaining two kilobots opened fire on him as he rushed forward. Ikki yelled out to Metabee to slide on the floor. Metabee quickly dropped onto his back and slid down the hall aiming his right arm blaster and firing at the kilobots. He fired two shots, both of which hitting each kilobot in the head. He continued sliding towards the doorway as the metal doors were closing.
At the last moment he managed to slip through as the doors closed, sealing themselves shut. Ikki ran up to the doors and started banging on them. "Metabee! Metabee, are you alright?" He continued banging on the doors trying to figure out a way to open them back up. He stopped cold when he heard a gun cock behind him. He turned around to see Sea Slug, Squid Guts and Gill Girl grinning at him with a few goons aiming guns at him. "Hello Tenryou, long time no see." Sea Slug smirked. Ikki stood there with his hands raised and a frown forming on his face.
Back inside with Metabee he quickly looked around to find Kaizen and Brass. He proceeded forward with his blaster raised and his head on a swivel. The entire floor was quiet and slightly dark. He took a few more steps when suddenly all the lights flashed on and the machinery around him rapidly came to life and started moving around. Metabee looked around and saw machines moving back and forth working on various pieces of metal going about on conveyor belts. He stood still for a moment before he started walking again. He continued onward keeping his eyes open and his blaster ready.
He took three more steps before hearing a voice call out over the machinery. "Hello Kayamou." Metabee jumped looking for the source of the voice. While he saw no signs of anyone he knew full well who was speaking. "How nice of you to 'drop in' as the saying goes." Cosmicon said. "Well you know me, always dropping in when you least expect it." Metabee said. "Oh on the contrary. I was counting on you to be here. And that's because I in fact know you very well." Cosmicon responded. "And I guess you could say I know you a bit as well, Orion." Metabee heard a laugh echo around. "So you do remember." "Maybe not everything, but I'm certainly remembering a few things. Like how your real name was once Orion and that we once knew each other." "You don't know how glad I am to hear you say that Kayamou."
"In that case why don't you come on out and we can catch up. Maybe even talk about the 'good old days'." Metabee called out. "Oh you misunderstand. You see until you could remember, killing you wouldn't feel quite as satisfactory." Metabee saw a reflection of Cosmicon aiming his minigun arm at him in the glass in front of him and quickly ducked out of the way when he started shooting. Metabee moved in-between machines to keep from getting blasted. When the fire ceased Metabee jumped out and returned fire at where Cosmicon was only to hit a wall where he used to be standing.
Metabee continued to look around with his blaster ready. "TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED THAT DAY!" Metabee shouted. "And to what day are you referring?" Cosmicon's voice replied. "That day!" Metabee's voice filled with frustration. "Ah, of course that day. The day everything ended in fire and death." Metabee kept moving trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. "Yes, I was there. I watched as our people fought and died senseless on a grueling battlefield. And standing at the heart of it you and me. Two of the greatest warriors our world had ever seen. Both are part of the same great game, only to end up on opposite sides of the board."
"This isn't some game Cosmicon." Metabee yelled out. "Oh but it is. At least from where I'm standing. After all that's what we've been reduced to isn't it? As nothing more than playthings to entertain children?" Cosmicon accused. "No you're wrong. They don't see us as toys. If anything they see us as companions or friends. Maybe even family." Metabee countered. "LIES!" Cosmicon shouted as another barrage of plasma shots flew past Metabee, nearly hitting him as he ducked behind a machine. Metabee took a risk and stepped out to fire a few shots at Cosmicon. He managed to hit him in the chest causing him to fall backward with a loud crash. Metabee dashed out to where he fell.
Back with Kam and Black Beetle they were still sitting tight in one of the offices. They had managed to restrain Bloodbeetle with some computer cables tying up his hands and feet. He sat on the floor in front of one of the cabinets with Black Beetle keeping a close eye on him from across the room. The two of them just sat quietly while Kam was sitting near one of the doors keeping an ear out for anyone else that might show up. Bloodbeetle looked over at Black Beetle and leaned forward to whisper to her. "I see you got my gift." He said. "So it was you who sent me the rose." She whispered back. "Did you doubt it?" "No it's just… I don't understand why you would send it to me."
"I thought that was obvious." Black Beetle looked at him confused. "I wanted to see you again." He admitted. Black Beetle was taken aback by his answer. If she had blood in her face she'd be blushing right now. Bloodbeetle leaned back against the cabinet. "I also was hoping to see if you had given any thought to my offer to join us." Black Beetle looked back to where Kam was. When she saw he wasn't looking their way she stood up and walked up to Bloodbeetle and knelt down in front of him. "As a matter of fact I have given it some thought." She told him. He looked at her intrigued. "And now I'd like to make an offer of my own. Join us instead." This proposal genuinely shocked Bloodbeetle. "You told me I was different from my friends. Well the same applies to you. You could've killed me both times at the warehouse and back at Kam's home. But you didn't." She explained.
"And just now you could've easily escaped and attacked any one of us. Yet you chose to surrender to us." She continued. "Don't you see? You're not like them. Maybe once you were but you're changing." She got closer to him and placed a hand on his own. "You're not the same anymore." Bloodbeetle looked into her eye. "And how can you know that for sure?" He asked. "Because I've seen bad people change before." She answered looking back at Kam. "And I know that it's never too late for them to do so. As long as there are people willing to give them a second chance." Bloodbeetle looked over at Kam. And then noticed a file cabinet behind Black Beetle labeled [Project G MK 2]. This gave him an opportunity to complete the wedge between her and her so-called changed friend.
He looked back at her and grasped her hand with his. "Maybe you're right." He lied. She turned back to Bloodbeetle with hope. "Perhaps I can change." He leaned forward. "And perhaps I was wrong about humans. Especially your friend there." He gestured over to Kam. "If someone like him can change, then perhaps there's hope that I can as well. That is… if you'll help me." Black Beetle pulled him up off the floor and started untying him. "Of course I will." She told him. "Thank you. And to further earn your trust I'll tell you what Cosmicon has planned." He told her. "I know that he's trying to build an army of reprogrammed kilobots." She revealed. "Yes but that's not all. When we attacked a number of X-Treme's storage buildings we found files pertaining to a new type of kilobot that is being developed as a weapon." He told her.
"Cosmicon plans to take control of that kilobot to use it against the humans. And that's why he came here himself. Because this facility houses the necessary blueprints to build it." "Then we need to find those blueprints and destroy them." Black Beetle said. Bloodbeetle nodded in agreement. "Now from what I know the files are labeled Project G MK2." He told her. The two bots then started to search until Black Beetle found the cabinet containing the files. "I found it." She called out. "Found what?" Kam asked as he came running over only to find Bloodbeetle free and Black Beetle pulling out a file. "Black Beetle, what are you doing? Why is he untied?" "It's alright Kam, he's with us now. And once we destroy these files Cosmicon won't be able to-" Her words stopped cold once she looked inside the file.
She stood there almost frozen as she saw the blueprints for a kilobot she had hoped she'd never see again. The kilobot in the file was none other than Gryphon. And just like that all of the memories that she had locked away came bursting out through her mind. Her shock was so great that she could barely hear the muffled sound of Kam's voice talking to her. When she suddenly felt his hand on her shoulder she instinctively slapped it away and turned to him. "You lied to me." She told him. "What are you talking about?" Kam asked her. "You said all the files were destroyed." Black Beetle's shock slowly transformed into anger. "You said that there was no chance they could be recovered!" She threw the files down at Kam's feet. As he looked down his expression turned shocked. "Black Beetle wait. This isn't-" "SHUT UP!" Black Beetle shouted, aiming her blaster at Kam. "I'm sick of your lies. You haven't changed at all. You're still just the same."
Kam tried to walk towards her only for her to shoot him in the shoulder. Kam cried out in pain as he hit the floor clutching his shoulder. She then walked up to him and looked down. "I won't be lied to anymore. I will no longer be a puppet." She spat at him. Bloodbeetle walked up to stand beside her. "And you won't." He told her. She turned to him and saw him extend his hand out to her. She looked at it for a moment and took it without hesitation.
Meanwhile back at the factory floor Metabee walked over to where Cosmicon fell and saw him getting up and grasping at his chest. Metabee stood there aiming his blaster at him. "No more running Cosmicon." He told him. "So it would seem." Cosmicon turned to face Metabee. "Now answers!" Metabee demanded. "You want to know so badly." Cosmicon replied with a sneer. "You think that knowing will heal you. Huh? Fill some… crater in your soul. Well here's your answer. On that day, the destruction of our people was all the cause of you." Metabee stood there shocked. "Our homes, everything we held dear, everyone we cared about, all gone because of you." Cosmicon's words sparked a fire inside Metabee whose fists began to tremble. "And it's because of you that on that day… she died."
Suddenly all at once the memories of that battle raged inside Metabee's head. Including the image of the lifeless Brass in his arms. Until finally Metabee screamed in rage and charged at Cosmicon tackling him through the wall onto a moving conveyor belt. Metabee proceeded to punch Cosmicon in the face over and over until he was kicked off by Cosmicon and sent back further up the belt. He landed on his back only to quickly dodge the large press coming down on him. Metabee got back up to see Cosmicon charge at him with an arm blade. Metabee quickly caught his arm and struggled with him until the two were separated by a mechanical arm that swung and knocked them both off onto another belt.
When the two mechs stood up they saw that the end of the belt led to a pool of hot lead. The two mechs started running in the opposite direction but the pool was getting closer and closer. Cosmicon quickly changed into his beetle form and flew off onto a catwalk above. Metabee continued running only to trip over bits of metal. Cosmicon landed on the catwalk and reverted back into robot mode and watched Metabee down below. Metabee crawled to try and get away but the pool was now inches away from him until he finally fell over the side. Cosmicon looked down feeling somewhat satisfied.
However he failed to notice Metabee slip out from underneath the conveyor belt with a piece of metal he had stabbed into the underside to avoid the molten metal. He began climbing up to the catwalk and landed behind Cosmicon who turned around surprised. Metabee then charged at Cosmicon who raised his right arm blaster to fire at him. Metabee smacked the barrel aside and tackled Cosmicon over the side. The two mechs fell struggling with each other until they both hit the floor below hard. Metabee got up clutching the piece of metal and got on top of Cosmicon ready to stab him with it.
*Ashes to ashes by Marches begins playing*
He glared down at Cosmicon with pure anger but then suddenly stopped. He looked at Cosmicon's face and began to see glimpses of past memories of the two of them training together and spending time together. 'You think we'll end up drifting apart? Of course not, we'll always be there for each other.' Metabee grasped his head giving Cosmicon the chance to push him off and counter attack. Cosmicon began delivering blow after blow to Metabee who was too slow to protect himself.
As Cosmicon attacked him each blow triggered more images of their past together in Metabee's mind. Until finally Metabee received a kick to his head, cracking his visor and sending him into a metal railing. As he clung to it he looked down to see a trash compactor below. He turned back at Cosmicon who walked slowly toward him. "You don't know how long I've waited for this moment. To finally see you groveling at my feet." Metabee tried to stand up only to stagger against the railing. "And now, dear Kayamou… it ends here." Metabee raised his hand. "Orion, wait." Cosmicon stopped in surprise. "We used to be friends once. We don't have to do this. We can be like that again."
Cosmicon's eyes went from emerald to crimson at Metabee's words. "You really don't remember do you?" He snarled. Metabee stood up against the railing. "I remember we treated each other like brothers." Metabee replied. "No Kayamou, I am your brother!" Metabee's eyes widened at Cosmicon's reveal. Cosmicon proceeded to kick Metabee hard in the chest, sending him over the railing and causing him to fall down into the trash compactor. Cosmicon looked down below as the compactor crushed and smashed the metal inside it.
Cosmicon's eyes reverted back to emerald and then walked away.
*Music ends*
Back in the main lab Dr. Meda-Evil finished his work on the control console just as Ikki and Brass were brought in to join the others. Erika got up and ran up to hug Ikki, catching him off guard for a moment before returning her embrace. "I'm so glad you're ok." She told him. "Same here." He told her. When their embrace ended Erika noticed that their remaining friends weren't with them. "Wait, where are Kam, Metabee and Black Beetle?" She asked. "Metabee and I got separated from each other. As for Kam and-" Ikki was interrupted by the sound of someone being tossed down on the floor. He looked to see Kam still clutching his wounded shoulder with Black Beetle standing over him.
He looked at her confused at what he was seeing until he saw Bloodbeetle walk up beside her. "I see you've been busy Bloodbeetle." Everyone looked to see Cosmicon walk in looking at Bloodbeetle and Black Beetle. "Not just me lord Cosmicon. May I present our new ally." Bloodbeetle motioned to Black Beetle who bowed her head to Cosmicon. "My lord." Cosmicon walked up to her and motioned to raise her head. She looked up at him. "What is your name?" He asked her. "Black Beetle." She answered.
He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I see that you have suffered Black Beetle. And I promise you, you will never feel that kind of pain again." Black Beetle bowed her head. "Thank you. Lord Cosmicon." Ikki and the others couldn't believe what they were seeing. Even Kam lay on the floor in shock at Black Beetle's betrayal. Cosmicon then turned to Brass who was brought up to him by two kilobots. She stood there in front of him as he reached out to touch her only for her to pull away. "There's no need to be afraid now. I promise no harm will come to you." He told her.
She glared at him. "I find that very hard to believe." She spat at him. "In time you will see that I'm nothing if not honest with you." He told her. "Yeah, well enjoy this while you can Cosmicon." Ikki shouted. "Because once Metabee gets here you and your pals are gonna be scrap." Cosmicon turned to him and walked over. "Now that would be an interesting sight. If it wasn't for the fact that 'Metabee' is already dead." Everyone gasped in horror. Ikki stood there trying not to show fear. "You-You're lying." He told him. Cosmicon looked up at him. "Am I?" He told him with a small chuckle.
Enraged by his response Ikki tackled Cosmicon to the ground to try and start hitting him only to be yanked off by Squid Guts. Ikki quickly bit him on the hand forcing him to let go only to be stopped by a blade to his throat. Cosmicon stood in front of him with his arm blade raised. "No, don't!" Brass cried out. "Please don't hurt my friends. I beg you. Please." Cosmicon turned to look at her and lowered his blade. He turned back to Ikki and looked him in the eyes. "Consider yourself very fortunate human. You and friends won't be dying today." He walked away from him and walked up to -Evil. "Is everything ready doctor?" He asked him. "Yes lord Cosmicon, we need only await your command." He told him. "Begin." Dr. Meda-Evil then hit the console which lit up to life.
(Ship)
After several more minutes Henry finally managed to break free of his bonds. Then suddenly the rocket in front of him began to utter a low sound like a rising storm. He looked over to see the underside begin to glow bright orange. "Oh shit." He uttered as he quickly ran for the door just as a large plume of flames bellowed from the rocket filling the whole of the cargo bay. Henry managed to close the door narrowly avoiding the flames and made his way up on deck.
When he got topside he saw the rocket fly high into the sky going higher and higher until all that was left was the trail of smoke in the sky. Henry didn't have time to watch further as he immediately ran to get back his phantom renegade outfit and leave the ship.
(Space)
Meanwhile the rocket flew higher and higher until it reached the edge of the upper atmosphere. The engine then shut down before the rocket split open revealing a large satellite that began to extend itself out and angle its primary dish to aim back down towards the earth.
(Reprogramming facility)
Back with Dr. Meda-Evil he saw a screen on the console that read [Satellite Connection Established]. He then proceeded to press a few more buttons until the words changed to [Transmitting Signal]. Cosmicon then stood before everyone and clenched his fists. "Here we are! Fight us now!" He announced. As he spoke all across the city kilobots began twitching and convulsing before straightening back up with their eyes glowing red.
Without warning they began to launch attacks all over leaving havoc and destruction in their wake. The citizens all ran away in fear trying to get away as the police tried in vain to fight the attacking kilobots. At Special Corp HQ reports of attacks all over Japan were coming in at an unprecedented rate. Commander Sato and Dr. Aki could only watch in shock and horror on the monitors as the city became engulfed in flames.
Meanwhile Ikki and the others could only sit and watch as everything outside was being destroyed. It was then that they knew the full scale of the situation. They had failed.
Is this the end of humanity as we know it?! Is Metabee truly dead!? Will Cosmicon be eligible to receive the best brother award!? Find out most of these answers and more in the next exciting chapter of Medabots Movie 1: Cosmicon Rising!
Well there you have everyone. I hope you all enjoyed reading this long awaited chapter. And now without further ado the results of the poll for next story. (Handed an envelope) And the next story is….Mega-Man: Robotic Hero!
Expect the first chapter of this story to be posted very soon. Until then, this is Tardispilot297 saying… ALLONSY!