Chapter 7: Prodigy
"Transport Metabee!" Ikki ordered as he pressed a button on his medawatch. A beam of light flashed from it and a second later Metabee appeared. And promptly fell on his face, as he had been in mid-step when he had been teleported.
"OW! IKKI! What was that for?" Metabee complained as he got up, rubbing his face.
"I just wanted to make sure we were together."
"WHAT? I was heading for our meeting place! I wasn't late either!"
"Just to be sure." Ikki said. The sun was low in the sky behind him, although it would be about an hour before it set.
"Just to be sure?" Metabee grumbled. "Your mom wants to reward you on the No. 3 position…do you get me a good medapart? Noooooo…you spend it on that upgrade that lets you teleport a medabot even without its medal!"
"What Metabee?"
"Nothing. Let's go."
"Let's. Hey, how's your shoulder?"
"As right as rain. And I must say it is pleasant not to have those shooting pains running up my arm anymore."
"Good. My watch reads you at 100 percent as well. I'd say we're ready."
"I was born ready."
A few minutes later, Ikki reached the spot they had set. To his slight surprise, Erika wasn't the only one there.
"What do you want now Samantha?" Ikki said to the Screws leader, as her two cronies hovered behind her.
"I'm coming along! You're the only one he hasn't beat Ikki! You seem to have a knack for defying the odds…and even if it fails you, Flute will be weak and ripe for a rematch, which I will win!"
"It's Merer now." Erika said. "At least we think it is."
"What?"
"Ikki, where is Brass?" Erika asked.
"Brass? Isn't she with you?"
"No! I sent her to check on Metabee hours ago!"
"And she was walking with me before you so rudely zapped me to your side!" Metabee said. Erika gave Ikki a dirty look.
"Hey, don't shoot the messenger!"
Brass came along a few minutes later.
"Metabee! What was that for?"
"Not my fault! His fault!" Metabee said, pointing to Ikki.
"Hey Spyke, is Crosserdog fixed yet? I want him handy in case we get to gang up on Flute again." Samantha asked.
"No…we're still stuck with Cyandog." Spyke replied.
"I resent the implication that I am a burden!" Cyandog said from Spyke's medawatch.
"Um, is there a reason we're just standing around? Has the author got writer's block or something?" Ikki asked. A second later a huge pile of bricks fell near the group.
"There goes the forth wall again." Metabee muttered.
"Hey guys!"
A second later Rintaro came running up. Karen was following behind him closely, and Ikki started to get moony-eyed again until he realized she was with Koji. He frowned.
"What are you doing here?"
"Karen told me about this, so I figured I'd come as well. If you don't win, it could be a prime opportunity for me!"
"No way! That's our opportunity!" Samantha said.
"YOU WON'T BE GETTING ANY OPPOURTUNIES! WE'RE GOING TO BEAT HIM!" Ikki roared.
"We'll see Ikki. For all we know, you're covering the fact that you're scared!"
"I'm not scared!"
"And neither am I! Except of snakes!" Metabee said.
"What? Snakes?" Ikki said, his brow arching in confusion. Brass looked annoyed.
"Erika said she could handle her research by herself and sent me to keep an eye on Metabee. He was watching television, and there was nothing on, so we wound up watching a horror movie marathon. Ever since that damn Anaconda movie Metabee's been scared of snakes."
"That snake was huge! And it regurgitated people!" Metabee replied, some fear in his voice.
"Metabee, THAT WAS A MOVIE! It wasn't a documentary!"
"But there are real anacondas!"
"Metabee, the anaconda in that movie moved at least FIFTY TIMES FASTER THEN THE AVERAGE SNAKE! I think it must have eaten a Lamborghini at some point!" Brass said in exasperation.
"Ok, enough! We aren't fighting a snake! Now is everyone here, or did you invite more people?" Ikki asked Erika and Karen. They both shook their heads no.
"Ok, let's go!"
"One problem…WHERE DO WE GO? Flute never gave us a location!"
"He said he'd find us. I guess we basically wander around until then. Anyone got any ideas?"
"Yeah, how the hell did the author wind up thinking this was a good idea?" Samantha asked. I've tired of the lightning bolt, so this time I dump a bucket of old coffee grounds on Samantha's head.
"ARGHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Ok, we're going! Wandering away we go!" Metabee said as everyone quickly ran away. Samantha groaned and followed.
Some time later, the group had checked several locations and come up with nothing. The only ones who weren't annoyed were Metabee and Brass, who had begun arguing the merits of horror films and hadn't stopped for half an hour. Ikki and Erika would have pondered how surreal said situation was, except they were too annoyed at Flute (Merer?)'s vague idea of directions.
"Does he have any idea how big Japan is? For all we know he's on top of Mt Fuji!" Erika cursed.
"Ok, we've checked the Hop-Mart, my house, our old battle site, and Rosewood. What else?"
"How about where he was looking for Rokusho? And where he kicked our butts?" Spyke suggested. The latter got him a whack over the head by Samantha.
"Might as well." Ikki groaned.
The group headed over to the wooded area and spent another twenty minutes searching. Any worry Ikki might have had had long been replaced by boredom and exasperation.
"Why the author thought this was a good idea, I will never know." Ikki muttered.
"And another thing, I never want to watch any of those Children of The Corn movies again! Not only are they not scary, they're an insult! Even I had a brain I swear I would have felt the cells committing suicide by the sheer idiocy of those films!" Brass argued.
"Be thankful you never saw the Troll series." Metabee muttered.
"I mean, why do the children want to give people "peace"?"
"They have a different dictionary. To them "peace" means A) Killing you with a scythe B) Killing you with a BIGGER scythe C) Killing you with any other available sharp object!"
"SHHHHHHHH!" Koji suddenly said. "Can you hear that?"
Everyone fell silent. Ikki strained, but couldn't detect any sound until he cupped one of his hands behind his right ear.
"Yeah…sounds like…singing…"
Ikki wandered around a bit until he was able to pinpoint the rough direction from which the sound was coming from. Yes, it was definitely singing.
"Well, I guess we follow it." Ikki said.
"And if it's some kind of trap?" Metabee asked.
"Then keep your weapons armed." Ikki said.
The group followed the singing, which gradually became clearer and easier to pinpoint.
"La….la la la…"
Ok, so it wasn't much of a song. Then again, it was fine as a lure, and there was no need to try and make a top-selling single of it. To Ikki, it sounded strangely familiar.
The group followed the wordless (ok, ONE word) tune, eventually coming to its source.
Starkiller sat on a rock before a large tree, looking away from the group and towards the sky. It was her that was singing.
"Laaaaa…la la la la…la la la la la la…."
Her tune was joined by a brief flute solo, and everyone's eyes turned to where Flute was sitting in the tree, leaning against the trunk while he played. He finished and glanced down at the group. Starkiller finished her song at the same time(And I officially finish some of the worst writing I've ever done. Well if you read this far it gets better from here! Well it couldn't get any worse).
"So you've come, Ikki Tenryou. Well it least you have courage." Flute said, as he slipped his instrument up his sleeve and carefully jumped down from the branch. "Is Metabee's arm ok?"
"You betcha!"
"I see you brought company. Do you like an audience, or do you have some absurd plan that revolves around them channeling their combined medafighting progress into you or something that sounds as stupid?"
"What?"
"I'll take that as a no. Well ladies and gentleman, if you would mind getting out of our way…"
"Hold it! Win or lose, I want a rematch!" Koji blurted. Flute cocked his head.
"No."
"What? Why?"
"Because I've beaten you already. In fact I've beaten all of the best here. I hung around solely because I respect Ikki's abilities and wish for him to have a chance as well. Once I beat him, I am leaving Japan."
"What? Why?" Ikki said, echoing Koji.
"They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Japan is just my first step. There's a whole world of challengers out there…and I'd better get started. He who hesitates is lost."
"I think you're already lost…" Metabee said. "Isn't that right Flute…or shall I say…MERER PIMON?"
Even with his face obscured, it was clear that Flute was shocked. He looked at Starkiller and then looked back at Metabee.
"So you found me out…bravo. Perhaps you have potential as a reporter after all young lady." Flute, or Merer said. "Now, are we going to Robattle or not?"
"Then, it's agreed!" Mr. Referee said as he walked up (I ran out of fancy entrances). "I hearby…"
"Hold it!" Metabee said. "Not yet!"
"Not yet?" Mr. Referee said, looking confused.
"Yeah."
"Then what am I supposed to do? Stand here?"
"Yes!"
"Just what is the holdup?" Merer asked, apparently able to shrug off the fact his identity had just been revealed.
"I want to talk to you!"
"About what?"
"Merer…why?"
"Why what?"
"Why the heck are you doing this? Have you seen your parents…"
THAT got a reaction, as Merer visibly tensed.
"You visited my parents? Please tell me you didn't…"
"No! But it doesn't matter what WE did! It matters what YOU did? I mean, you fake your own death because you lost a Robattle…"
"I DID NOT LOSE THAT ROBATTLE!" Merer suddenly screamed. Metabee recoiled at the sudden explosion of emotion. Whatever calm Merer had been trying to maintain had apparently been tossed out the window by that remark.
"I was SCREWED out of the Robattle. Everyone and their mother KNEW I had no "illegal" parts inside Starlight! But the referee apparently had some great secret knowledge that I didn't possess...or at least that could be thought of as a possibility until I did a little checking on his bank records. A normal referee makes a certain amount of money doing his job and occasional bonuses. The variance is not much. So, when you consider the fact that the referee who claimed that I had illegal parts made several VERY large deposits in the days after that travesty…well, he must have won the lottery! Except he didn't, I checked that too. Which leaves one option: SOMEONE must have bribed him. Hmmmm, who could it be…HOW ABOUT THAT PIECE OF CRAP WHOM I WAS ABOUT TO EXPOSE BEFORE THE ENTIRE WORLD!"
"David?"
"Yes, David. My, you've done your research, haven't you? That worthless piece of whale feces knew I had him beat. He knew he and Annika would be exposed for what they were: petty, cruel schoolchildren whose lack of decency was only dwarfed by their inferiority complex. So they passed the referee some cash, and I was disqualified. I made a promise to my parents, and those pieces of sh…crap pull the rug right out from under me! They say cheaters never win. Whoever said that was a liar. Well, at least there seems to be some justice in the universe. Nine months afterward, that morally deficient referee was tossed out of the World Medabot Federation on charges of corruption. But it doesn't take back what he did."
"Um…can you prove any of these allegations?" Mr. Referee piped up.
"Prove it? Well it's not like I carry the records around with me…oh wait, YES I DO!" Merer snapped, as he reached under his cloak and tossed a folded-up wad of papers at Mr. Referee. He jumped back as if they were toxic, and then went and picked them up.
"You were carrying them around? Why?"
"It's always good to have a reminder of who you are and why." Merer said.
"Uh well…" Mr. Referee said as he looked over the papers. "Are you people going to talk some more?"
"Probably."
"Uh ok, I'll be right back!" Mr. Referee said, and ran off.
" So you faked your death?" Ikki asked.
"No. As you might have guessed, I was rather upset that I had let my parents down and basically let those two get away with the horrid things they had done. In retrospect, it was a bad night to drive when you're normal, never mind highly distraught. The combination of that and the gale-force winds and rain-slick roads proved to be my undoing…I went right over the edge and down the hill. However…I didn't die. No. I had done some work on my car that was designed to protect me in the event of a crash. It worked…to a degree. At least until I went out the front window. That wasn't pleasant, even if it was safety glass. I landed some feet away, and my car unfortunately sprung a leak and exploded. A pity, my dad gave that to me for my sweet sixteen…but the end result was, I was alive. I had a broken leg, some cuts and bruises, and…" Merer trailed off.
"So what happened? Why did everyone think you were dead?"
"Ah, you see Metabee…that was not my fault. I didn't run away and hide from the ambulance. No. I was taken to the nearest hospital, fixed up, and given a room while I pondered how lousy the last few days had been. I figured my mom and dad would show up, and after that I'd figure out a way to expose David and Annika's cheating. When they didn't show up I got suspicious. And when the nurse came in and called me by the wrong name…well, I suspected there had been a mixup. And in that error lay…opportunity."
"All those deaths…" Erika said.
"Indeed. I wasn't the only one who had an accident that night. Five people died, as well as a score of injuries from various automobile wrecks. The hospital was overloaded…and in the process, my records got mixed up. I later found out there had been another car crash close to mine…unfortunately whoever it was got caught inside the wreckage and died when it went up in flames…"
"And the mixup caused the hospital to tell your parents that it had been your car." Erika concluded.
"Exactly. Indeed, there was so little left of the man or the car that a positive ID would have been all but impossible. True, they could have checked my dental records…but they didn't. My parents thought I was dead. And when I realized this…I saw a chance to redeem them and myself. So soon afterward, I checked myself out. A little later I went into the hospital records and erased them so no one could discover this little accident. Computers are so useful, don't you think?"
"But…they…"
"They thought I was dead. In any case, this caused them to throw out Starlight, since she reminded them of me. I retrieved her, and once I explained this little drama that my life had become, I was ready to begin. First I needed money, since I couldn't access my parents' funds anymore. This wasn't too difficult: I just rolled up my sleeves and designed some new medabots and medaparts and sold them to the Medabot Corporation through a dummy company. On that note, I must confess to a possible small amount of cheating in our Robattle, Koji. I perhaps had an unfair advantage when it came to countering your Sumilodon's Flexor sword. After all, I designed it."
"No way." Koji said.
"Yes. Next, I had to deal with those people who humiliated me and shamed my parents. In the end, that proved all too easy. I guess I understand why David and Annika were the way they were. Life is far more nurture then nature, and considering the sheer amount of corruption and falseness I unearthed when I dug through their company's records, I really can't blame them for being such worthless human beings. We learn from our environment. Well, at that point I was really beyond caring. I passed the information I had acquired to people who would be interested and got out of the way as it all went to hell."
"You caused those companies to go bankrupt." Ikki whispered, as he remembered one of the last things Williard had said to him.
"They brought it on themselves. I was only the catalyst. After all, if David and Annika and their cronies were such superior human beings, they could surely do great things with their life? Right?" Merer said in a voice dripping with sarcastic scorn. "Well, it doesn't matter to me any more anyway. Those were merely a few loose ends I had to tie up. Once they were done, I went to work on my main goal…to create a medabot that could never lose. That could adapt to any threat, any obstacle, any Robattle strategy or technique. I spent years studying everything down to the most minute details…watching literally hundreds of taped Robattles and looking for patterns, quirks, strengths and weaknesses, and what, when, and why medafighters did what they did. And I worked out counters, strategies, and maneuvers… and then worked on designing a medabot that could carry out all of them. It took me eight years…eight years in which I sweated and bled and cried all day and all night for weeks on end…but I finally accomplished it. I created a masterpiece, an unstoppable fighting machine. I turned a Starlight…into a Starkiller." Merer said, and flourished, gesturing at Starkiller. She just looked serious.
"And I'm going to show the world I should have never lost that Robattle in the most complete and total way I can: I am going to face every single great medafighter on this planet and beat them. And I am going to do it through undeniable skill and ability that no one can muddy up or claim fraudulent. It might take a long time…but I will do it. And then I will go home. My goal will have been achieved: I am a champion. And there will never be any doubt in anyone's mind of it. Ever. Again. I will not be screwed once more. Now do you understand, Metabee?"
There was silence.
"Well yes…except for one thing." Metabee finally said.
"What?"
"YOUR PARENTS DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE THE GREATEST ROBATTLE CHAMPION IN THE WORLD OR HISTORY OR ANYTHING!" Metabee bellowed. "They're sitting at home slowly dying from the horrible feeling that the son they loved so much is dead, WHEN HE ISN'T! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO THEM?"
"How could you understand how I feel? You're just a damn medabot!" Merer shot back.
"They feel no shame at those nasty things David and Annika did to them! All they feel if grief! They don't want a master Robattler on a quest! THEY WANT THEIR SON!"
"Yeah! Your pain is baseless, Flute! Er, Merer!" Ikki added. Merer chuckled.
"Ah Ikki. When you get a little older you will find that even if a pain is baseless…that doesn't make it any less real."
"THAT DOESN'T CHANGE ANYTHING!" Metabee roared, hopping up and down, the memory of Serenity breaking down in tears making him more furious by the minute. "WHY DON'T YOU USE THAT IQ OFF THE CHARTS YOU HAVE AND ACTUALLY THINK? HOW CAN YOU LOOK AT YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR KNOWING WHAT YOU'VE PUT THEM THROUGH!"
Merer's hand curled up in a fist.
"You should know better then anyone, Metabee. Because every time I have to look in a mirror, I see THIS!"
And he reached back and pulled back his hood.
To a doctor, it probably wouldn't have seem that bad, but too a group of kids and medabots who had very little experience with injuries, it was enough. Some of them gasped, and some just let their jaws drop in horror. Erika covered her hand with her mouth as Ikki's eyes went wide.
"Good god…"
Merer looked pretty much the same he had in the photos, abet a bit older. He had grown his hair out a bit and wore it in a tightly tied ponytail behind him.
He has his mother's eyes. Ikki thought.
But all that was hardly noticeably next to the scar. It seemed to consume the whole lower right side of his face, a hideous spread of black, disfigured flesh that looked like an oil slick was trying to eat Merer's face. Slashes of burned tissues stabbed outward across Merer's face, leaving lines of blackness above and below his eye, near the corner of his mouth, and under his chin. Like a star.
"Flaming gasoline from my car. I suppose it could have been worse. A little lower and it would have been my throat on fire. A little higher and it would have been my face. But I'd say it was still pretty bad, eh?"
"Uh huh." Was all Ikki could manage.
"It's kind of hard to think about other ways to live your life when you have to look at this every day. Wouldn't you say Metabee?"
"Uhhhhhh…uggghhhhh….uhhhhhhh…" Metabee stammered. He'd seen Merer's face once before, and it wasn't any less horrifying the second time.
"I thought not. Now let's Robattle. Once I beat you, I have more people to challenge. And to destroy. I'll build myself a throne on the broken bodies of those who dared do this to me! I'll show this world that cheaters never prosper! And I'll show this world that a jack of all trades IS A MASTER OF ALL!"
At that moment, Metabee was glad he was a medabot. Because for all his adaptability, he was always the same being. No matter what parts Ikki gave him, or what tinpet his medal resided in, he always would be himself.
Because that was far better then this hideously malleable clay humans seemed to be made of, material that could be shifted and changed and warped by unseen hands to horrific results. And that was what had happened with Merer Pimon. He had tried to do everything the right way and life had screwed him over anyway, molding him into the hideous wreck obsessed with victory that stood before him.
Those bullies had won anyway. Their actions had made Merer as bad as them.
Somewhere, Metabee was sure they were laughing. Or something was.
"Now do you want to keep talking Metabee, or shall I get on with beating you?" Merer said.
That snapped Metabee out of his thoughts.
"Beating me? I don't think so! Let's get metabusy!"
"Yeah!" Ikki said.
"You go dudes!" Rintaro added.
"Show him everything I taught you Ikki!" Samantha said.
"For the last time, YOU TAUGHT ME NOTHING!"
"Good. Anything else to say Metabee?" Merer said.
"Yeah! "You should be women and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so!"
"………………………….WHAT?"
"Shakespeare! You're not the only one who can quote it, smartypants!"
"I know it was Shakespeare, but you misquoted the line horribly. You basically called me an ugly woman."
"What? Uh, yeah I knew that! Well then, uh, "Thy head is as full of quarrels as an egg is full of meat"!"
"So you're saying I'm bad at arguing?"
"Uhhhhhh…aha! I will cut off the head of your maid, or your maidenhead!"
Merer snorted as he tried to contain a laugh.
"Metabee, you used that line SO wrongly I'm not even going to tell you what you just threatened to do to me."
"WHAT? Ok, now I'm really angry! Well then, try this! And even I can understand it! "Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit, for I am sick when I do look on thee!"
Merer smirked.
"Well you finally got one right. But if you want to quote the Bard Metabee, let me show you how it's done. "Thou losest labour, as easy mayst thou the intrenchant air. With thy keen sword impress as make me bleed…Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests. I bear a charmed life, which must not yield, to one of woman born." Merer said dramatically. Metabee tried to think of a comeback when Ikki suddenly stepped forward and inhaled.
"Despair thy charm! And let the angel whom thou still hast served Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb, untimely ripped!" Ikki said with a dramatic flourish, Everyone's jaw dropped.
"……………………..Whoa. Ikki, where did you get that?"
"He liked to quote Macbeth right? So I went back to the library and read the play. When I saw that line, I thought he might pull it out. So I memorized the follow-up line." Ikki said, looking smug.
Merer chuckled again.
"Well met my esteemed foe. Now let me get on with destroying you."
"I don't think so!" Erika said. "You think you're special Merer? You think you're a prodigy? Well, so is Ikki!"
"WHAT?" Ikki and Metabee said at the same time.
"This child took an ancient Medabot and a medal he fished out of a river which held the most arrogant, disagreeable annoying junkheap of a medabot personality and yet he had the drive and the talent to make it all the way to No 3 in a country full of talented medafighters! If that's not the talent of a prodigy, then tell me what is!"
Merer smirked."Watch and learn child. Now Ikki…you think you can beat me?"
"YEAH!"
"Get ready to hear the Metabee Bop, till you drop!"
"Very well then. Perhaps you will beat me… "Yet I will try the last. Before my body I throw my warlike shield!" Merer yelled as he tossed his cloak off. With a sudden quick motion, he snatched his medawatch off and tossed it in the air, pining it to the right side of his face above the burn as a mike extended out of it. Ikki blinked as he realized how much Merer had done to his medawatch, turning it into a walkie-talkie. He raised his own Medawatch.
"Transport Silversword!" he said. A beam shot out of his medawatch and engulfed Metabee's left arm. It vanished and was replaced with an armoured silver appendage, from which a small blade poked from a heavy chunk of armour above the digits.
Merer smirked again. The burn scar on his face made the expression look demonic.
"Lay on, "Macduff." And damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!"
"Then, it's agreed!", and a second later Mr. Referee rose up under Merer's discarded cloak, as he pulled out a flute and played a few sour notes. "I hereby declare this to be a submission Robattle between Ikki Tenryou and Merer "Flute" Pimon! The rules are…"
"WAIT! I request a special set of rules!" Metabee interrupted. "If I win this Robattle, Merer Pimon has to stop this silly quest he's on and go home!"
"Uh…well?" Mr. Referee inquired to Merer.
"I accept." Merer said. As if on cue Starkiller took a small leapt forward, readying herself for combat.
"Ok! This Robattle has special rules! If Merer Pimon loses, he has to go home! What happens if he wins?"
"I'll think of something." Merer said.
"Well then, this is officially a submission Robattle! Whoever stops the other medabot from functioning wins!"
"Starlight…" Metabee said as he faced his opponent.
"That's not my name. It was once, but no more. I am Starkiller, Merer Pimon's masterpiece, and the song war plays as he rides across the battlefield!" Starkiller said. With a jerk Metabee finally realized why Starkiller could sing so well, and why it had sounded familiar. She has Serenity Pimon's voice. Merer programmed his mother's voice into her.
"Medafighters READY….?"
"Well then "Starkiller"! This isn't your fault, and it's gonna hurt me to kick your medabutt all over this forest…" Metabee said as he raised his left arm and a two-foot silver blade sprang from his new arm. "But not as much as it's going to hurt you!"
Starkiller peeked over her shades even as her sword popped from the sheath on her back. She caught it and ignited it.
"That's what I like about you Metabee…" she said as she pointed the sword at him. "You're not afraid to be a dreamer."
Once again the air was still, as Metabee looked at his opponent he had to battle, and the man whom he hoped he could save.
And in a nearby tree, Rokusho turned to Baton.
"Now it will be decided."
"ROBATTLE!"
Once again, it had begun. And this time, only one would be left standing.
Well, what a time to end a chapter! Will Ikki and Metabee be able to best the twisted genius and furious drive of Merer Pimon? Or will they become just another notch on his belt? And what was the rest of the group doing while Merer and Metabee were standing around arguing? What nasty thing will the author do to the next character who assaults the forth wall? Find out in
Chapter 8: Blood, Sweat and Tears
More Medabots, More Power!