Part IV: Gatorade, Some Chips, and One Red Super-Robot, If You Please or Would You Like Fries With That Plasma Burger?
Bass finished mocking Proto when Beat swooped back down again and began pecking at his eyes.
"I feel like I'm in an Alfred Hitchcock movie," Bass said, using one arm to shield his face while trying to bat Beat away with the other.
Fliptop, having emerged from the concrete wall he was hiding behind, ran over to Rock on his stumpy little legs, dodging the occasional plasma shots Bass was directing at Beat. Rock was barely conscious, but able to see Fliptop through a little of a haze.
"Huh? When did you get here?" he asked, blinking his eyes to clear them.
"Just take this," Fliptop replied, ejecting an energy canister with a straw from his lid, making sure that Rock drank it.
Fully restored, Rock stood back up again.
"Thanks, Fliptop. Now get back to cover."
Beat had somehow found a switch on Bass' neck and flipped it, throwing the robot into some sort of weird gyration involving swinging his hips around and doing numerous hand motions.
"He's dancin'!" Roll yelled, laughter seeping into her voice.
Rock and Proto tried to stop themselves from doing the same, until Beat spun around in mid-air and stared toward one direction in a look that displayed both concern and horror.
"What is it, Beat?" Rock asked.
"It's him," the frightened bird managed.
"Who? Wily?"
"No. Worse."
Rock looked back at Proto. "Who could be worse than Wily?"
"Beats me," Proto responded, shrugging.
"He's way stronger than all of you. We're outgunned, and I don't think there's any hope for us now."
"What? I can't pick up anything," Rock said, checking his antenna.
"He's coming, though."
"I think you're hallucinating, Beat."
"He's right, Rock." It was Bass. He'd managed to turn his head to look at Rock. "Something's coming, and it's way stronger than any of us."
"So what do you suppose we do?" Proto asked suspiciously, crossing his arms.
"Hey, don't look at me," Bass replied. "I am the one standing here doing the Macarena."
"The what?"
"Oh never mind."
Rock seemed to have an epiphany. "I have an idea. No, it's too crazy. Well, maybe..."
"What is it?" Proto asked, slightly annoyed under the pressing circumstances.
Rock faced Bass. "Bass, you have to help us. One of us can't take down that thing, but maybe all of us can."
"Are you nuts!?" Proto and Roll yelled. Rush and Tango both stared at Rock like he'd lost his mind. It only became a priceless moment when Bass answered him.
"Fine. But please flip that switch on the back of my neck. It's my coordination circuit."
Beat flew back down and flipped the switch, returning Bass to normal. Proto and Roll looked at each other askance.
"What caused this change of heart, Bass?" Roll asked, arms folded over her chest.
"As much as I hate you guys, I do enjoy the thought of not being turned into scrap. And unfortunately, this seems to be the only way to prevent that from happening."
"So we have your help then?" Rock said.
"Yeah," Bass replied, then pointing a finger at him, continued, "but after we take care of this...this whatever it is, all bets are off."
"Fine with me," Rock said, placing one hand on Bass' shoulder. The black robot looked at Rock quizzically.
"Take that off of me before I blast it off."
"Ok," Rock answered, drawing his hand away quickly.
"Look, that stuff may fly with you guys, but I'm not exactly a touchy-feely sort of robot."
Suddenly, an explosion rocked the street below them. Bass jumped behind Rock and used him as a shield.
"Save me!" he yelled, holding Rock out.
Rock turned his head. "I thought you said you weren't touchy-feely?"
Straightening back up, Bass dusted himself off. "That's right. I'm not."
Glancing around, X tried to find where Zero had gone. After the red robot had run out of Light's lab, X decided to follow him. In any case, he had to find him before he did more damage.
A huge blast erupted from a concourse a couple blocks away. Using his scanning equipment, X took the measurements on the explosion. The source seemed to be Zero.
Taking off at a run, X hurried to get there before it was too late.
Rock stared down the road, trying to see through the smoke of the explosion. Bass and Proto were standing nearby, and Tango had decided to take shelter with Fliptop and Beat.
"C'mon, Rush," Rock said. "We gotta be the absolute strongest we can to do this."
Rush activated a program that was long overdue to be used again. During one of the early times Wily had tried taking the Earth, he had been programmed with a power suit adapter that would enhance Rock's strength and agility. It took a lot of energy to use, so they didn't really resort to activating it often.
Joining with his master, Rush was absorbed into Rock in much the same way Treble had been absorbed by Bass. Rock's body instantly began to increase in size, but only went a small way before stopping. When the symbiosis was complete, Rock was a little taller, a little bit more armored, and infinitely more powerful.
"Now let's see him take us on!" he yelled.
Through the fog, a silhouette appeared, walking slowly toward the group. It's tall, slender frame showed it was designed from battle, and Rock could make out what could only be an arm cannon. Now that the robot was in range, he used a scan to assess this new threat. The blaster had 45 plasmatics in it-Rock's, Bass', and Proto's all had 2. The armor was made from an unknown alloy of titanium and another metal of some sort, but had an atomic structure unlike any he'd seen before.
"Guys, maybe we are in a bit too deep."
Proto and Bass exchanged glances that let Rock know that they had taken similar scans and knew what they were up against.
The smoke had cleared, and now the mysterious robot was fully visible. His red armor reflected the luminescence from the explosion ghostily, and his green chest nodes appeared to be flashing the momentary bursts of light from the street torches. Fixed to his back was a saber that rivaled the blaster in strength, containing 44 plasmatics in its suspended energy generator.
Rock stepped forward.
"Who are you and what do you want?"
The robot stopped, about ten yards from the group.
"My name is Zero, and I've come to destroy you, if that's alright."
"Well, I'd say that's not ok," Rock answered, aiming his blaster at the hunter. Firing a single blast, Rock waited from Bass and Proto to follow the shot up with their own, but got a surprise instead. The energy simply bounced off Zero's armor, hitting a nearby building and demolishing the concrete siding.
"Here, let me show you what I mean," Zero said, raising his arm cannon. One plasma blast erupted from the machinery, vaporizing the street in front of Rock, leaving no debris whatsoever. Bass and Proto jumped to Rock's side.
"C'mon. We gotta do something!" Bass yelled, beginning to fire his weapons at Zero. Proto and Rock did the same, but only found that the energy wasn't doing anything, just ricocheting off the red robot's armor and hitting the surrounding structures.
Zero laughed. "You have no idea what you're up against, do you?"
He unhooked the saber and held it out in front of him, pressing a single button. The energy generators inside it came to life, making a blade of pure ultra-powered plasma shoot from the handle. In one deft movement, Zero sped to the side, faster than Bass or Rock could believe, and performed a series of slices that could hardly be detected, and jumped out of the way. The concrete that Zero had been slicing at broke apart at lines that could only have been made by the saber.
He held the blade out in front of him, pointing at Rock.
"Let's see you do that!" he yelled, only to be stopped by a shout from a nearby rooftop.
"I don't think so!" a voice screamed, followed by a blue robot, a foot taller than Rock, jumping off the building, raining plasma down on Zero.
Bass and Rock stared in awe at the blue robot. His armor looked similar to Rock's, but was more angular. It was also made out of the same alloy that Zero's was made from. His blaster contained 47 plasmatics, enough to dwarf the entire world's armies dozens of times over.
"Who are you?" Rock asked, pointing to the robot.
He turned. "Oh, hi, Rock. It's me, X."
X! That's impossible! Dr. Light wasn't even finished on him. How could he be active?
"But...but..."
"I know, Rock. Dr. Light finished me a few hours ago. Before this monster killed him."
"Dr. Light is dead!?" Roll screamed, covering her mouth.
"Unfortunately, yes. I saw Zero do it with my own eyes. I did all I could, but it wasn't enough."
Zero smile maniacally.
"You twit. I should finish you right now."
"Alright, Zero. I guess it all comes down to this."
Leaping forward, Zero used his saber to slash at X. Moving quickly, X dodged the attack, and followed it with a blast directly to Zero's chest. The red robot flew backward, armor cracking. X walked forward.
"This is the last time you'll hurt someone."
Zero looked around. There was one chance.
Bass looked at Rock and Proto. "There's only one way we can hurt him. We've gotta join our blaster generators together."
"I thought doing that could destroy us. You know, that whole 'don't cross the beams' and all..."
"Do you have any better ideas?"
"Nope."
Holding their arm cannons out, the three robots formed an energy net between their generators. In one blast, they unleashed enough plasma to sear the street below them. Luckily, it caught Zero off guard, pummeling him into a nearby building.
The energy net faded, and the three robots cannons returned to normal. Zero was hidden from sight in a gigantic hole in the side of the building, surrounded by debris. Getting back up, the damage he'd sustained was evident. His chest circuitry was exposed, armor having been blasted off, and was sparking. He held one hand to the injury.
"You'll pay for that," he seethed, once again preparing himself for the maneuver he was about to perform before being so rudely interrupted.
Leaping high in the air, Zero took his saber and slashed the nearest building. With his blaster, he used a fine laser-point emission to vaporize the street surrounding Rock, Bass, Proto, Roll, Tango, and Fliptop. Beat's wing was seared by the laser, so he was trapped in the circle too.
X leapt backward as the street collapsed and the building's concrete fell on top of the group. The hole created was hundreds of stories deep, and the force of the impact would have killed all of them. Zero landed beyond the gap, smirking maliciously.
"What goes around..." Zero began, firing one more blast at X. The speed was insane, and X had no chance of dodging it. The plasma hit, knocking him back against the street, unconscious. Zero, badly damaged, had to escape somehow. Taking off at high sprint, he left the city behind.
Bass finished mocking Proto when Beat swooped back down again and began pecking at his eyes.
"I feel like I'm in an Alfred Hitchcock movie," Bass said, using one arm to shield his face while trying to bat Beat away with the other.
Fliptop, having emerged from the concrete wall he was hiding behind, ran over to Rock on his stumpy little legs, dodging the occasional plasma shots Bass was directing at Beat. Rock was barely conscious, but able to see Fliptop through a little of a haze.
"Huh? When did you get here?" he asked, blinking his eyes to clear them.
"Just take this," Fliptop replied, ejecting an energy canister with a straw from his lid, making sure that Rock drank it.
Fully restored, Rock stood back up again.
"Thanks, Fliptop. Now get back to cover."
Beat had somehow found a switch on Bass' neck and flipped it, throwing the robot into some sort of weird gyration involving swinging his hips around and doing numerous hand motions.
"He's dancin'!" Roll yelled, laughter seeping into her voice.
Rock and Proto tried to stop themselves from doing the same, until Beat spun around in mid-air and stared toward one direction in a look that displayed both concern and horror.
"What is it, Beat?" Rock asked.
"It's him," the frightened bird managed.
"Who? Wily?"
"No. Worse."
Rock looked back at Proto. "Who could be worse than Wily?"
"Beats me," Proto responded, shrugging.
"He's way stronger than all of you. We're outgunned, and I don't think there's any hope for us now."
"What? I can't pick up anything," Rock said, checking his antenna.
"He's coming, though."
"I think you're hallucinating, Beat."
"He's right, Rock." It was Bass. He'd managed to turn his head to look at Rock. "Something's coming, and it's way stronger than any of us."
"So what do you suppose we do?" Proto asked suspiciously, crossing his arms.
"Hey, don't look at me," Bass replied. "I am the one standing here doing the Macarena."
"The what?"
"Oh never mind."
Rock seemed to have an epiphany. "I have an idea. No, it's too crazy. Well, maybe..."
"What is it?" Proto asked, slightly annoyed under the pressing circumstances.
Rock faced Bass. "Bass, you have to help us. One of us can't take down that thing, but maybe all of us can."
"Are you nuts!?" Proto and Roll yelled. Rush and Tango both stared at Rock like he'd lost his mind. It only became a priceless moment when Bass answered him.
"Fine. But please flip that switch on the back of my neck. It's my coordination circuit."
Beat flew back down and flipped the switch, returning Bass to normal. Proto and Roll looked at each other askance.
"What caused this change of heart, Bass?" Roll asked, arms folded over her chest.
"As much as I hate you guys, I do enjoy the thought of not being turned into scrap. And unfortunately, this seems to be the only way to prevent that from happening."
"So we have your help then?" Rock said.
"Yeah," Bass replied, then pointing a finger at him, continued, "but after we take care of this...this whatever it is, all bets are off."
"Fine with me," Rock said, placing one hand on Bass' shoulder. The black robot looked at Rock quizzically.
"Take that off of me before I blast it off."
"Ok," Rock answered, drawing his hand away quickly.
"Look, that stuff may fly with you guys, but I'm not exactly a touchy-feely sort of robot."
Suddenly, an explosion rocked the street below them. Bass jumped behind Rock and used him as a shield.
"Save me!" he yelled, holding Rock out.
Rock turned his head. "I thought you said you weren't touchy-feely?"
Straightening back up, Bass dusted himself off. "That's right. I'm not."
Glancing around, X tried to find where Zero had gone. After the red robot had run out of Light's lab, X decided to follow him. In any case, he had to find him before he did more damage.
A huge blast erupted from a concourse a couple blocks away. Using his scanning equipment, X took the measurements on the explosion. The source seemed to be Zero.
Taking off at a run, X hurried to get there before it was too late.
Rock stared down the road, trying to see through the smoke of the explosion. Bass and Proto were standing nearby, and Tango had decided to take shelter with Fliptop and Beat.
"C'mon, Rush," Rock said. "We gotta be the absolute strongest we can to do this."
Rush activated a program that was long overdue to be used again. During one of the early times Wily had tried taking the Earth, he had been programmed with a power suit adapter that would enhance Rock's strength and agility. It took a lot of energy to use, so they didn't really resort to activating it often.
Joining with his master, Rush was absorbed into Rock in much the same way Treble had been absorbed by Bass. Rock's body instantly began to increase in size, but only went a small way before stopping. When the symbiosis was complete, Rock was a little taller, a little bit more armored, and infinitely more powerful.
"Now let's see him take us on!" he yelled.
Through the fog, a silhouette appeared, walking slowly toward the group. It's tall, slender frame showed it was designed from battle, and Rock could make out what could only be an arm cannon. Now that the robot was in range, he used a scan to assess this new threat. The blaster had 45 plasmatics in it-Rock's, Bass', and Proto's all had 2. The armor was made from an unknown alloy of titanium and another metal of some sort, but had an atomic structure unlike any he'd seen before.
"Guys, maybe we are in a bit too deep."
Proto and Bass exchanged glances that let Rock know that they had taken similar scans and knew what they were up against.
The smoke had cleared, and now the mysterious robot was fully visible. His red armor reflected the luminescence from the explosion ghostily, and his green chest nodes appeared to be flashing the momentary bursts of light from the street torches. Fixed to his back was a saber that rivaled the blaster in strength, containing 44 plasmatics in its suspended energy generator.
Rock stepped forward.
"Who are you and what do you want?"
The robot stopped, about ten yards from the group.
"My name is Zero, and I've come to destroy you, if that's alright."
"Well, I'd say that's not ok," Rock answered, aiming his blaster at the hunter. Firing a single blast, Rock waited from Bass and Proto to follow the shot up with their own, but got a surprise instead. The energy simply bounced off Zero's armor, hitting a nearby building and demolishing the concrete siding.
"Here, let me show you what I mean," Zero said, raising his arm cannon. One plasma blast erupted from the machinery, vaporizing the street in front of Rock, leaving no debris whatsoever. Bass and Proto jumped to Rock's side.
"C'mon. We gotta do something!" Bass yelled, beginning to fire his weapons at Zero. Proto and Rock did the same, but only found that the energy wasn't doing anything, just ricocheting off the red robot's armor and hitting the surrounding structures.
Zero laughed. "You have no idea what you're up against, do you?"
He unhooked the saber and held it out in front of him, pressing a single button. The energy generators inside it came to life, making a blade of pure ultra-powered plasma shoot from the handle. In one deft movement, Zero sped to the side, faster than Bass or Rock could believe, and performed a series of slices that could hardly be detected, and jumped out of the way. The concrete that Zero had been slicing at broke apart at lines that could only have been made by the saber.
He held the blade out in front of him, pointing at Rock.
"Let's see you do that!" he yelled, only to be stopped by a shout from a nearby rooftop.
"I don't think so!" a voice screamed, followed by a blue robot, a foot taller than Rock, jumping off the building, raining plasma down on Zero.
Bass and Rock stared in awe at the blue robot. His armor looked similar to Rock's, but was more angular. It was also made out of the same alloy that Zero's was made from. His blaster contained 47 plasmatics, enough to dwarf the entire world's armies dozens of times over.
"Who are you?" Rock asked, pointing to the robot.
He turned. "Oh, hi, Rock. It's me, X."
X! That's impossible! Dr. Light wasn't even finished on him. How could he be active?
"But...but..."
"I know, Rock. Dr. Light finished me a few hours ago. Before this monster killed him."
"Dr. Light is dead!?" Roll screamed, covering her mouth.
"Unfortunately, yes. I saw Zero do it with my own eyes. I did all I could, but it wasn't enough."
Zero smile maniacally.
"You twit. I should finish you right now."
"Alright, Zero. I guess it all comes down to this."
Leaping forward, Zero used his saber to slash at X. Moving quickly, X dodged the attack, and followed it with a blast directly to Zero's chest. The red robot flew backward, armor cracking. X walked forward.
"This is the last time you'll hurt someone."
Zero looked around. There was one chance.
Bass looked at Rock and Proto. "There's only one way we can hurt him. We've gotta join our blaster generators together."
"I thought doing that could destroy us. You know, that whole 'don't cross the beams' and all..."
"Do you have any better ideas?"
"Nope."
Holding their arm cannons out, the three robots formed an energy net between their generators. In one blast, they unleashed enough plasma to sear the street below them. Luckily, it caught Zero off guard, pummeling him into a nearby building.
The energy net faded, and the three robots cannons returned to normal. Zero was hidden from sight in a gigantic hole in the side of the building, surrounded by debris. Getting back up, the damage he'd sustained was evident. His chest circuitry was exposed, armor having been blasted off, and was sparking. He held one hand to the injury.
"You'll pay for that," he seethed, once again preparing himself for the maneuver he was about to perform before being so rudely interrupted.
Leaping high in the air, Zero took his saber and slashed the nearest building. With his blaster, he used a fine laser-point emission to vaporize the street surrounding Rock, Bass, Proto, Roll, Tango, and Fliptop. Beat's wing was seared by the laser, so he was trapped in the circle too.
X leapt backward as the street collapsed and the building's concrete fell on top of the group. The hole created was hundreds of stories deep, and the force of the impact would have killed all of them. Zero landed beyond the gap, smirking maliciously.
"What goes around..." Zero began, firing one more blast at X. The speed was insane, and X had no chance of dodging it. The plasma hit, knocking him back against the street, unconscious. Zero, badly damaged, had to escape somehow. Taking off at high sprint, he left the city behind.