Chapter 8: Blood, Sweat, and Tears
"ROBATTLE!"For once, there wasn't a furious explosion of action as Mr. Referee's hand fell. Instead, Metabee and Starkiller stood absolutely still, each daring the other to make the first move. Ikki and Merer shared the same look, as everyone stood in silence.
In the end, they both made the first move, as Metabee snapped out his right arm and opened fire even as Starkiller ran to the side as she flipped her sword into her arm and started shooting even before her cannon was fully formed. The two dashed and dodged as their shots tore up the battlefield, neither of them scoring a hit as each got closer and closer to the other.
With a spray of dust, Starkiller leapt to try and get a better shot. But Metabee intercepted her in mid air and their arms locked, each grappling with the other as they tried to aim their weapon at their opponent and let off a point-blank shot. The two spun and tangled before both hit the ground hard.
With Metabee's new sword weapon pinning Starkiller's cannon to the ground as he jammed his other arm against the side of her head.
"Gotcha, dead to rights."
Starkiller didn't even blink. Instead, her sword suddenly sprang back out of her arm, flipping up so quickly Metabee didn't realize it was there until it was at his throat.
"Dead wrong."
Deadlocked, the two stared into each other's eyes.
Metabee pulled his arm away as he pushed away from the sword, even as Starkiller jumped and spun like a screwdriver away from his opponent. She landed and twirled her sword, ready to block any of Metabee's shots.
Metabee didn't shoot. Instead he lowered his laser cannon and raised his Silversword. The blade extended further to about 3.5 feet.
"I learned something from all those fights with Sumilidon."
"I'm going to teach you a few more things. Like all new ways to feel pain." Starkiller shot back, and leapt. Metabee blocked her laser sword and engaged her in a furious duel. More dust plumed up around them: the ground they were standing on was rather dry. Which was odd due to the presence of a nearby small lake. Well, they weren't there to ponder nature.
"Good Metabee! Keep an eye out for an opening!" Ikki said.
"I spent five years programming Starkiller's sword style. It doesn't HAVE openings!" Merer shot back.
Indeed, Starkiller seemed to be the superior sword-user, as she caught Metabee's blade between the twin tuning-fork like blades of her sword and twisted down, leaving Metabee open. Metabee quickly raised his cannon but Starkiller reached out and clamped her hand over it. If he fired it with an obstruction he'd blow his own cannon off as well as Starkiller's hand. The two struggled as they grappled with each other.
"Hope you brought a lunch, because I'm taking you to school!" Metabee taunted as he started kicking at Starkiller. Starkiller blocked all the kicks with her legs.
"Hope you have a dirty time-keeping mechanism, because I'm going to clean your clock!" Starkiller shot back, and started kicking as well. Metabee aped her strategy by blocking them with his legs.
"Well, we're tied again. Got a gamebreaker?"
"Yeah. I'm gonna use my head!" Starkiller snapped, and she reared back and thrust her head forward, slamming it against Metabee's face. Metabee staggered back and barely dodged a follow up slash before he let loose with a storm of laser shots, forcing Starkiller to retreat.
"MISSILE LAUNCH!" Metabee yelled as he fired off his seeking rockets. Starkiller switched to the Nova Cannon and blew them out of the air.
"Please, do you think…"
"BOO-YAH!" Metabee yelled as he was suddenly right in Starkiller's face. Starkiller only had a second to realize the missiles had been a fake-out before Metabee slammed her fist into her face, throwing her backwards. She sprawled on the ground near Merer, who looked very displeased.
"That was sloppy Starkiller! Get with it, unless you want me to sell you as scrap!"
"Yes master…" Starkiller said as she got to her feet. Ikki's heart went out to the medabot. It wasn't her fault her creator's grip on reality was slowly losing more and more cohesion.
But that wasn't going to deter him, even though it now seemed like Merer was a triple threat: skilled medafighter, genius, and quite possibly a psychopath.
"Starkiller, Speed Mode!"
Starkiller switched and blasted at Metabee, faking out and driving behind him before she reversed and drove an elbow into his back. He yelled and turned and walked right into Starkiller's follow up spin kick, sending him flying backwards. He flipped and landed to his feet.
"Laser cannon!" he yelled as he fired. The shots barraged Starkiller and she was forced to switch back to Warrior mode to avoid excessive damage due to her non-armoured state. While she was changing Metabee leapt and swung his Silversword., but he arrived too late and Starkiller parried. She kicked him in the gut and then tried to stab him when he was down. Metabee rolled away and fired again. Starkiller took a few more hits.
"Warning: Body 30 percent damage." Merer's modified medawatch told him. He growled. He had fought Ikki already! The medabot shouldn't have been able to even scratch him, even if that child Erika insisted he was a "fellow prodigy". In he was, woe to him, as Merer had found out: Common society detested the special. It made them feel inferior, and they always reacted by trying to destroy rather then recreate themselves into something better.
"Argh! Starkiller, what are you doing! Wake up! DESTROY HIM!"
"Yes master…!" Starkiller replied. But Metabee could tell by her tone she was becoming afraid, and not of losing the Robattle. She was scared of what her medafighter was becoming.
Then he had to move as Starkiller brought her Nova Cannon back out and fired at him. Metabee dove behind a rock, but Starkiller just started to blast it, filling the air with dust and pelting the assembled observers with shrapnel. Neutranurse quickly threw up a shield to protect the group.
"MISSILE LAUNCH!" Metabee yelled as he fired off more rockets. As they flew at Starkiller Metabee dashed from behind his rock, firing. Confused, Starkiller took some more hits and nearly got blasted by the rockets before she moved away at the last second.
"Starkiller, Nova Lance!" Merer ordered. Starkiller tossed her sword up and clamed them between her fists, rocketing at Metabee. Metabee dodged again and Starkiller's sword impaled into another tree, getting stuck.
"HA! MISSILE…!"
Starkiller yanked one arm from the Nova Lance formation and backhanded Metabee as hard as she could. Metabee took the blow on the side of the head, stumbling and nearly causing his missiles to misfire and blow his head off. Starkiller yanked her sword out of the tree and swung, but Metabee brought up the Silversword and blocked it. Starkiller swung low, Metabee parried. She spun and did a roundhouse swing from that, but Metabee blocked that too (In the back of his head, Ikki wondered if Sumilidon or Rokusho had secretly been giving Metabee lessons). Starkiller pushed Metabee's Silversword aside and shot out her fist in the opening. Only Metabee had the same idea and had taken the course of action, and the end result was the two Medabots punching each other in the face as hard as they could.
"Ohhhhhh." Ikki groaned as Metabee stumbled back. He shook his head, trying to clear his senses.
"Starkiller, you idiot! What are you doing out there? Why is he still standing?" Merer yelled. Ikki glanced sideways. This was worse then he thought. Eight years of isolation and repression combined with the fact he wasn't taking Metabee apart like a can of peas was starting to cause Merer to unwind.
"Hey Merer! Shut up! Quit acting like an animal!" Ikki yelled back. Merer shot a withering glare at Ikki.
"Another saying for you, child. 'He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man!' STARKILLER, RIP HIM APART!"
Metabee gasped as Starkiller redoubled her efforts. Their swords clashed again and again, and Metabee, worried, stole a quick look at the notch that was developing in his blade. The Silversword melee blade medapart was composed of good material, but Starkiller's blade was pure energy, and pure energy was a lot harder to break then metal.
Metabee shoved backwards, firing his laser cannon again. Starkiller deflected the shots with her sword and lashed out. Metabee yelled in pain as the sword caught him across the body, knocking him to the ground. To add further injury to already severe injury, Starkiller kicked Metabee in the ribs as hard as she could, tossing him across the battlefield.
"Warning! Body 60 percent damage! Left arm 40 percent, right arm 37 percent, head 44 percent. Legs 70 percent" Ikki's medawatch intoned.
"Dammit!" Ikki cursed, kicking the ground in frustration. It just caused more dust clouds to fly. Ikki coughed from the raw air.
Merer grinned. The burn made him look like a demon grinning over a claimed soul.
"Finish it."
Starkiller flipped backwards and leapt into the air, as blue energy began to gather on her.
"On no! Not this again!" Samantha said.
"But boss! We're not even fighting! Won't it be fun to see Ikki take this?"
"Believe me Sloan…NO ONE deserves this."
Ikki's eyes widened as Metabee tried to get up. With his damaged limbs, there would be no way he could run. There wasn't even any cover he could hide behind, the only walls around were the walls of dust…
Walls of dust…
"EARTH TO IKKI! What do I do?" Metabee yelled over the Medawatch. Ikki looked up and down from Starkiller to the ground.
Above, Starkiller completed her charge. Her cannons snapped open.
"See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya."
"NOVA STORM!"
"IKKI!" Metabee bellowed.
Starkiller opened fire. The scores of blue laser shots arced down at Metabee. His green eyes widened.
"This is gonna…"
"METABEE! DON'T MOVE!" Ikki ordered.
"WHAT? Ikki, have you lost it?"
"Metabee, if you never listen to me again, listen to me now…DON'T MOVE!"
"But I…"
Then the shots began raining down on Metabee. He raised his arm above his head as some hit him.
"IKKI…YOU'D BETTER BE…" Metabee said, before his words were lost in the noise, even as he was lost in the clouds of dust, kicked up by the massive barrage of shots. It washed over the group like a desert sandstorm.
Merer coughed on the dust, but that didn't impede his speech.
"KEEP FIRING!"
And Starkiller did just that. The four lightning-esque shots arced down into the dust and exploded, and then the final two blasts shot down. The shock wave nearly knocked the group off their feet. They struggled against the wind as Starkiller landed. The dust was so thick she couldn't see her sword clearly as it fell down, and instead of catching it, it nearly landed on her head.
Merer waved his hand in front of his face, as if that could somehow dispel the dust that had been kicked up by the shots.
"Metabee…" Ikki said as he got up. He'd been closest to the blasts and hence had been knocked flat on his rear. "Metabee?"
"It's over kid. Declare me the winner." Merer said to Mr. Referee. Correction: he said it to where he thought Mr. Referee was, since the dust was so thick. My god this ground is acrid. Maybe I should have waited for a rainstorm…
"Uh, well…I can't really…"
"Look buddy, NOBODY could have survived that."
"Then just call me Nobody!"
Merer's eyes went wide, and he whirled to look in the direction of the voice. The dust was finally clearing.
Metabee stood there, lowering his arms. He was surrounded by craters, one which ended less then a foot from him. But he was still standing.
"Metabee!" Ikki said happily.
"How…how…" Merer stammered.
"Simple Merer. This ground is loose and light, and hence explosions cause dust clouds very easily. From what I learned from my friends, the first part of your attack had little power. It's a technique designed more to panic and set them up for the following blasts, where the real power of the attack is. By having Metabee stand still, I forced you to fire all your shots in the same general area…and that caused a dust cloud so thick your medabot couldn't lock on to mine properly, and you missed. As my medabot likes to say, dude, I rock."
"Hey!"
Merer blinked. He couldn't believe he had just been out-maneuvered by a child.
"And I know one last thing. That attack severely drains your medabot." Ikki said. "Metabee!"
"Way ahead of ya Ikki! MISSILE LAUNCH!"
"Starkiller, defense! QUICKLY!"
Starkiller converted to Armour Mode and got her shields up just in time. The missiles struck them and exploded.
"MISSILE LAUNCH! MISSILE LAUNCH! MISSILE LAUNCH!" Metabee yelled as he fired off round after round of rockets, determined to keep Starkiller from running away again. Starkiller vanished in the explosions as more dust was kicked up.
Finally, Metabee ran out of missiles (I figured he could only carry so many).
"Starkiller…?' Merer said, letting, for the first time, the possibility of losing enter his mind.
The dust blew away quickly this time.
Starkiller's right shield was completely smashed, and the left one was a mangled wreck. It was clear Starkiller had taken severe damage from the barrage of missiles. But she was still standing.
Metabee blinked.
"I…CAN'T…LOSE!" Starkiller screamed, breaking off her ruined shields. Chunks of her armour broke off as well as Starkiller snatched up her sword and ran at Metabee.
Metabee got up his Silversword as Starkiller slashed at him. But this time the blow was clearly sloppy. Starkiller was hurting.
"Starkiller, you're nearly dead on your feet! Why do you keep fighting?" Metabee asked as he dodged and blocked the slashes.
"Because I can't lose!"
"Starkiller, you…"
"Merer said I can't lose! His word is law! I can't fail him!"
Metabee didn't think Starkiller shared her creator's problems, so that left one possibility: she was afraid to lose. Not because she was afraid of what her creator would do to her, but what it would do to him.
But he couldn't stand down. If he lost, Merer would turn and get on a plane, off on a mad quest that only made sense to him. And the Pimons would be left, back in that house that wasn't really a home any more, slowly dying. It wasn't something they deserved.
Then again, neither did Merer. He hadn't asked for this life.
Metabee found himself caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
"STARKILLER! DON'T LET UP NOW!"
Screw it. Better to drown if it spited the devil.
Starkiller slashed again…
And the sword flew out of her hand as Metabee caught her on the hand, disarming her. She screamed. Merer growled as his medawatch told him about the damage.
"Starlight…" Metabee said.
"THAT'S NOT MY NAME!"
And Starkiller leapt backwards as her rocket blades extended.
"NOVA LANCE!"
Nova Lance? But she doesn't have her…Then Starkiller blasted forward, and Metabee learned too late that Starkiller didn't need her sword as both her fists slammed into him, throwing him backwards. Starkiller slammed on the brakes and leapt sideways, snatching up her sword.
Metabee rolled along the ground and leapt to his feet as Starkiller leapt at him again. He raised the Silversword…
KLA-KRLLAANGGGGG!Everyone gasped as Metabee's Silversword blade snapped off, spiraling through the air. Metabee's eyes widened.
"OH SH-"
Starkiller leapt up, slashing her sword up in an arc. Metabee screamed as he was knocked upward due to the attack.
It all seemed to go in slow motion for Ikki, as his medabot was lifted up by the blow, Starkiller leapt up with him and did a forward somersault, bringing her sword down and across Metabee. Gravity abruptly reclaimed its hold on Metabee as he hit the ground, bounced once, and landed in a crumpled heap.
"Metabee…!"
"Legs damaged 100 percent! Function ceased! Left arm disabled! Right arm 90 percent damage, function ceased! Head damaged 80 percent, missiles expended." Ikki's medawatch told him.
"Ikki…" Metabee groaned.
Ikki looked at his medabot and then back at Starkiller, and his mind slowly slid over just how great Merer's mind was at medafighting. Even when he was caught off-guard, he had robattled in such a way that he had managed to keep the damage spread out over Starkiller's medaparts, so while all were heavily damaged, there were still all working. Unlike Metabee, who was now as vulnerable as a fish in a barrel.
He looked at his friends, looking for an idea, a plan, anything. They all looked back at him.
Then Erika mouthed one word.
Believe.
Ikki looked at his closest friend, then nodded.
"Starkiller, finish him off. This time for real. Nova Storm."
"Yes master!" Starkiller said, and prepared to leap.
"No! Do it on the ground!"
"The ground?"
"Yes. He's not hiding in any dust clouds this time! I want all the shots to hit
him squarely! I want nothing left but metallic ash!"
"Master…"
"DO IT!
"I will have to forgo the second blast if I do it on the ground master…"
"DO IT!"
"Merer…" Ikki whispered.
Starkiller tossed her sword above her and began to charge up again.
"Ikki…" Metabee said as managed to drag himself back up. But he was literally dead on his feet.
"Metabee, believe!" Ikki said.
"Believe…" Metabee said. Believe in myself. Believe I can win. And believe I can save this boy's sanity…or take it from him forever.
"STARKILLER…"
"I…BELIEVE!" Metabee yelled.
Golden power flashed on Metabee's medal, shimmering and then enveloping his whole body. Behind her shades, Starkiller cocked a metaphorical eyebrow. What the…
"Starlight, I say, this is a price I have to pay, but to save a boy who's lost his way…HELP ME WIN THIS ROBATTLE TODAY!" Metabee called in his version of the children's rhyme as the power built to a crescendo within him.
"FIRE!" Merer ordered. Starkiller let loose with the barrage of laser shots, which was cut short by her modified routine. She raised her arms as her mega-cannons armed. Metabee thrust his arms above his head.
"IT'S TIME…TO KISS YOUR BOT GOODBYE!"
Starkiller fired the twin blasts, somehow managed to keep from behind knocked off her feet.
The power flew at Metabee.
He slammed his arms out.
"MEDAFORCE!"
The golden bolt flew from Metabee's hands, blasting out. The small laser shots vanished, blown away by the sheer power of the attack.
Starkiller reached up to catch her falling sword, alarmed at the first phase of her attack being so easily stopped. But the twin blasts remained, as Metabee's shot bore down on Starkiller.
"How in the hell…?" Merer said.
The blasts slammed into each other, and for a moment the world was filled with light.
And then the Medaforce blasted through the Nova Storm blasts, heading straight for Starkiller.
"Master…!" she cried, as the attack filled her vision.
"STARKILLER!"
The explosion drowned out the cry as the flash of light blinded everyone. Unseen, Starkiller flew back and hit the ground. Her shades flew off and landed next to her.
And then her sword came down directly on the sunglasses, shattering them into pieces.
The song was over.
"…………………………………Function ceased! The winner is METABEE!" Mr. Referee declared.
Metabee chuckled weakly as he fell, landing on his rear. He wasn't just shocked. His legs literally couldn't keep him up any more.
"Dude….I rock."
"Metabee!" Ikki cried triumphantly, as he ran to his medabot. "You did it!" he said, as he reached out and clasped hands with him.
"WE did it Ikki. We believed."
"Yeah."
"Starkiller…" Merer said, his voice low. He fell to his knees and slowly picked up the medal that lay at his feet. "How…? How could you lose?"
Slowly, Mere raised his other hand and placed it on the hideous burn that warped his face, sliding his hand over the ruined tissue before he buried his face in his palm.
"How could…I lose?"
The sense of victory Ikki felt was abruptly halted as he remembered Merer. He looked over to where the scarred adult was, kneeling on the ground next to his motionless creation.
"Why? Why does it always…when it comes down to the wire…for the most important goals…why do I always choke? Why…?" Merer said into his palm. Then his misery became to transform into rage.
"No…NO…I won't allow this. I'll go back…I'll redouble my efforts…I'll build something stronger, faster, nastier…I'll make something ten times as lethal as Starkiller…I'll show this world yet that…!"
"NO."
Merer looked up as Rokusho suddenly landed next to him, his cloak fluttering around his shoulders.
"Don't you see? Don't you understand what kind of path that is?"
"Rokusho?" Ikki said in confusion. What's he doing here?
"What?" Merer said.
"I can understand your grief. You were wronged, and it hurts. But what you are about to do will turn that grief into the worst thing you can imagine. It will turn you into those people that wronged you."
"WHAT? How dare you…!"
"Yes, I dare. I dare to say the truth. And do you know what of humanity's worst truths is? You become the things you hate. And you will, Merer, if you walk that path. You were once a kind, generous, and mature youth. You still are. But those qualities are beginning to be lost, replaced by the taint of David and Annika. Do you want that Merer? After all that's happened, do you want them to win by letting them turn you into them?"
"But I…I played fair…I…"
"You did. And the world will remember you for it. But David and Annika did not. They chose their path and they wound the fruits on it were rotten, All they have is rot, in the end. But you…you can do the opposite Merer. Why do you want to destroy…when you can create?"
Merer was silent.
"I am not your keeper. You life if yours to live. But I saw it when I met you, and I see it now. If you walk that path…slowly your mind will grow paranoid. Winning will become an obsession. And soon you won't be able to go on with just your skills. You will have to sabotage others, just to ensure your own victory. And that could just be the first stop of your descent, Merer Pimon. So I will ask you this: How long will it be before you go from wanting to win…to being unwilling to lose?"
"Because that's what David and Annika were." Ikki said as he walked up, helping a limping Metabee. "They didn't want to lose. They couldn't lose. So in the end, what kind of victory is that? It's not. Your parents understood that Merer…and that, as well as your supposed death, has weighed on their souls for eight years."
"But I…I…"
"Victory is not all things Merer. Just ask King Phyrus." Rokusho said.
Merer sighed and looked at his medal.
"Maybe…but they did such awful things…for such petty reasons…"
"And you did not. Why give them so much credit, Merer? Why give them so much power over you? One should remember the past…but not relive it every day. Look to the future Merer. Look at what you could be…and what they will be. I know it's been said so many times it's virtually become cliché…but living well if the best revenge, Merer." Erika said. "You'll be getting the front page headlines. They'll be lucky to get in the tabloids."
Merer spun Starkiller's medal over his fingers as he thought. Are they right? Have I accomplished anything?
"They're right Master."
Everyone jerked as Starkiller's medal spoke. What made it shocking was that it wasn't in Merer's medawatch, which had fallen from his face and lay forgotten by his side.
"Wow. Did you just speak?" Metabee said, genuinely impressed.
"Of course. I am the greatest creation of Merer Pimon. He made sure I wasn't shackled by the requirement of a medawatch."
"You're more then that Starkiller…you're almost my child…my…own blood…and sweat…and tears…"
"And I say sweat no more Merer. Bleed no more. Cry no more. Let these old wounds heal and move on. I know you better then anyone Merer, and I know that you know that I'm right. That they're right."
Merer sighed again and looked at the group that had by now gathered around him.
"It figures…children's minds are so simple…and yet the answer lies in them."
"Who you calling simple buster?" Samantha snapped.
"No child. You misunderstand. Simplicity…is good. I've lived my whole life in complication. The gift, and curse, of my intellect. You saw all through it to the core. It figures…"
"Then you'll go home?" Ikki asked.
"That…Ikki…is not so simple. Perhaps it is not WILL I go home…but HOW can I?"
"But…"
"I did this to avenge my parent's pain. Yet in it I have caused them more pain…far more pain…oh god what have I become…" Merer agonized as he buried his face in his hands again.
"Ok look buddy. Maybe I'm not the smartest medabot ever…but let me sum it up to you: You were hurt by ugly, petty, worthless human beings. So let me put it this way: Do you want to give them a drop of dignity, let alone the ocean that devoting your whole life to proving them liars does? Or do you want to give the people whom you care about so much joy?" Metabee said.
Even with his face covered, it was clear Merer seemed to be pondering Metabee's words. He was motionless for a short time, as everyone looked at him in silence.
"You're right."
Merer took his hands away and stood up, heading over to Starkiller's empty body.
"I've been going about this all wrong. That damn screwjob knocked me askew and I was so mad about it I didn't even realize I was deviating from who I am. Nothing like a good hard knock on the head to get one straightened up again! And it sure beats a shrink!" Ha! Who would have though it! I spend eight years building the ultimate medabot and I get beaten by an archaic KBT medabot who pulls out an attack that I though was a myth! This is rich! The sheer absurdity of it…"
"Life's absurd." Starkiller noted.
"True. 'The race is not always to the swiftest, nor the battle to the strongest…but that's the way to bet'."
"So you'll go home?" Ikki asked.
"I…"
Merer's eyebrows suddenly arched. A second later Ikki realized why. Merer's medawatch, left near the ground on the ground, was suddenly beeping rapidly. Merer dashed over, carrying Starkiller as he scooped it up, looking at it.
"What is it?" Ikki asked. A second later Merer's eyes filled with shock and fear.
"MOVE! RUN!"
And a second after that, the missile exploded from the top of the treetops, blasting at the group. This wasn't a small medabot missile, this was one shot from a heavy-artillery helicopter.
Fortunately, the group was fast.
Most of them, as they scattered just before the missile came down on what would have been their midst, turning a slaughter into a bunch of thrown cursing kids (mostly Samantha) and Medabots (mostly Metabee).
Ikki shook his head to clear the cobwebs and got to his feet, coughing on the dust the missile had tossed up.
"Guys! Are you ok?"
"I'M GONNA KILL THAT…!" Samantha roared.
"Boss, calm down!" said Sloan and Spyke, roughly at the same time.
"That was so bogus dude." Rintaro complained.
"You ok Karen?" Koji asked, helping the dusty girl to her feet.
"Yes. Thanks Koji. (In the back of his head Ikki pondered if he should feel jealous, then concluded he could do it later) Are you ok Neutranurse?".
"I'm fine."
"Brass?"
"Over here Erika."
"That was definitely against the rules!" Mr. Referee complained as he pulled himself from the tree he had been tossed into.
"GIYIYIYIYIYYIIYIYIYIYI! Whoever did that is going to get a seeker missile up his medabutt!" Metabee cursed as he tried to drag his heavily damaged body up. He made it halfway up and fell. Ikki caught him.
"Wait? Where's Merer…MERER!" Ikki called, and then his heart sank as the dust cleared some more and he saw Merer's limp body about twenty feet away, lying on the ground like a discarded mannequin.
"No…" Ikki said in horror.
Then Merer jerked up, coughing and sneezing on the dust. Ikki felt his horror fade. Thank…wait a minute, who shot that damn missile?
"Pity. I thought that would thin the herd a bit."
Finally, Ikki noticed the large helicopter-esque vehicle flying above the trees. It floated silently, it's rotors barely making any noise. No wonder they hadn't seen or heard it coming before it had fired on them.
But he knew the short figure who was standing in the open door of the helicopter-esque vehicle all too way, as he looked down on them with a look of disappointment.
"Dr Meta-Evil."
"Well Met, Ikki Tenryou. I expected my surprise attack to get rid of a few of you at least. Well, this simply leaves more cleaning up to do. But in a way, that will be even more entertaining." Meta-Evil cackled, and hopped down to the ground. Despite being a jump of at least ten feet, the short antennaed doctor was not harmed.
"Well well, if it isn't the one whose butt we kicked when…" Koji began to taunt.
"BE SILENT, YOU PATHETIC WHELP!" Meta-Evil roared. The sheer volume of the noise coming out of such a small figure shocked Koji into silence.
"You! Well buddy, is it really you, or have you sent one your pathetic drones in your guise again?" Metabee asked.
"Oh it is me in the flesh you infuriating contraption. You get the honor of that this time…for what little time you have left!"
With a short meow, the cat that had controlled the Meta-Evil drone hopped down and onto Meta-Evil's shoulder. It spoke to him, but Ikki couldn't hear what the creature was saying, as he friends gathered around him.
"Not just yet my friend. I want to savior this a bit more."
"What do you want this time, you medamoron? You want my medal again? Well you ain't getting it!" Metabee snapped.
"No, Metabee. I do not want your medal. No. There is one thing I want…YOUR DESTRUCTION!"
"WHAT?"
"I had the world in my grasp! Victory was assured! And somehow, you CHILDREN took it all away! You destroyed Operation Beatlemania! You, by some miracle, crippled my greatest creation Giganko and stole from me the satisfaction of destroying the Medabot Corporation! YOU! A BUNCH OF CHILDREN! YOU DESTROYED MY DREAMS! IT SHOULD NOT BE!"
Metabee sweatdropped.
"Ikki, I think losing made him lose a few more things. Like his marbles."
"Yeah Metabee." Ikki said. He could sense it. Meta-Evil had always been a bit loopy, but it was clear he had totally snapped.
"I have suffered under this injustice for a long time, but no more! Now I will have my revenge! I will destroy you for your sins! You, and all those who aided you! You will be punished!" Meta-Evil ranted.
"And we'll help!" said a voice, and a second later Seaslug, Gillgirl, Shrimplips, and Squidguts appeared out of nowhere.
"What the…where did you losers come from?"
"It'd say it matters more where YOU'RE GOING! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Seaslug chortled.
"How can you side with him again? He betrayed you and left you dead in the water! How can you sell your souls to him again?"
"Simple: He offered us a lot of money!"
All the children and medabots facevaulted.
"Why am I not surprised…" Koji muttered.
"And not just that. I have granted them a little present. I like to call them…M-Bots."
"Wha…?"
And then suddenly the group was surrounded, as dozens apon dozens of robots suddenly seemed to appear out of nowhere (later, Ikki would rationalize they had probably hidden while he and Merer had Robattled), completely cutting off any escape routes.
"Yes, M-Bots. I always found the individual personalities in medabots to be aggravating, especially when they're as uppity as that scrap heap you own, Ikki Tenryou." Meta-Evil said.
"Bite your tongue!"
"So I designed these. Medabots without any desire but to serve! And all can be controlled…via a single medal! What they lack in design, they make up for in sheer numbers!"
"Yeah! They give us hives!" Seaslug chortled. His companions looked at him in confusion.
"Uh, I mean they have a hive mentality!"
The kids and good medabots facevaulted again.
"Well, let us do some introductions! They're not quite as good as Belzelgas, but I think you'll still find them to be dislike at first sight! I, Seaslug, give you my invincible troops: The Bezels!" Seaslug trumpeted. He gestured to a large group of medabots (er, M-Bots). They looked like smaller and less armoured Belzelgas. To make up for the lessened intimidation factor, there were a lot of them.
"I have the next generation of Noctobats, the N-Bas!" Gillgirl proclaimed. Above her floated her own army of smaller Noctobats, or N-Bas.
"Tanks are good. Tankors are good. But I have neither. I have something better: The Taks!" Shrimplips added. He had a legion of smaller, less armoured Tankors.
"And I like these guys because even I can remember the name. I may no longer have Gobanko, but I have all his cousins, the G.Bs!" Squidguts finished. His M-bots went along the same lines as his allies, looking like smaller and less armoured Gobankos. They also only had two weapons, compared to the six or seven Gobanko had carried.
"Dear lord, there must be hundreds of them." Erika said as she looked at the M-Bots that surrounded them.
"Big deal! Don't you know it's quality over quantity? I don't care if your goons have a bunch of lesser medabots that can all control using one medal, I'll kick all their medabutts!" Metabee proclaimed, and tried to stand up again. He failed. Meta-Evil smiled, a hideous grin only a madman could make.
"Oh you do not understand Metabee. These lesser are for your friends. For you and Ikki…I have something VERY special for you…AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!"
A large door opened in the bottom of the helicopter and a large metal crate fell out, landing in front of Meta-Evil with a massive THUD. It was huge, nearly twice as tall as Squidguts.
"I started my road to perfection with Robo-Emporer. I improved on it with Mega-Emporer and super-sized it with Giganko. But now…I have finally found the pinnacle of destruction! The peak of ruination! The crown jewel of catastrophe! The…!"
"WILL YOU JUST GET TO THE POINT!"
"SHUT UP!" Meta-Evil thundered, which would have been amusing if he hadn't looked so damn crazy. "This is my masterpiece…and I will enjoy watching it rip you limb from limb! I give you…"
The crate exploded, throwing metal shrapnel everywhere. The Rubberrobos yelped and tried to hide behind their M-Bots.
"…..OMNI-EMPEROR."
There was a pause.
"THAT'S IT? After all that buildup I was expecting some fancy new name like "Hell's Messiah" or "Blood Nocturne" and instead you just stick another synonym in front of Emperor? Dude you are so unoriginal! I mean…" Metabee said, before trailing off as Omni-Emperor was revealed.
The medabot was huge, even bigger then Mega-Emperor and painted a menacing black with jagged streaks of red running across its chest and face. The body trailed down into a tail, but this tail was more serpentine then insectile, as Mega-Emperor's had been. The left arm had a multi-missile launcher; the right arm had a five-pronged laser. The shoulders had gatling-style cannons on them. The head had long metal tentacle-esque "hair" that reminded Ikki of dreadlocks. The whole body was covered with sleek black armour that looked incredibly strong. Omni-Emperor had red glowing slits for eyes and a mouth full of metallic fangs. It hissed at them.
(Swinging Medal)
OMNI-EMPEROR
Medafighter: Dr. Meta-Evil
Type: Fusion: Devil/Serpent/Weapon
Specialty: Blitzkrieg Attack
"Whoa boy." Metabee whispered. Omni-Emperor hissed at them again. Meta-Evil laughed.
"Where are you taunts NOW, Metabee? Do you finally except that your fate is sealed?"
"Hey! This is absolutely against the rules! You cannot bring a…" Mr. Referee began as he walked up.
"SHUT UP! OMNI-EMPEROR, BLOW HIM TO PIECES!" Meta-Evil ordered. Omni Emperor raised his right arm. Mr. Referee yelled in surprise and fear and barely dodged the five blistering laser blasts. It struck the ground behind him and exploded, throwing him on his face. Mr. Referee looked up with angry eyes.
"YOU DARE ASSAULT THE REFEREE? I WILL…!"
"You'll what? Punish me with that medabot satellite you have? Omni-Emperor, let us show him what we think of his punishment! ARMAGEDDON CANNON!"
Omni-Emperor opened his mouth as black energy glowed deep within his gullet, and then he raised his head and fired a gigantic black energy blast off into the sky. It flew up and vanished.
There was a boom so faint it could barely be heard, and then a few seconds later a smoking pile of what had once been a medabot satellite came crashing down to the ground. Mr. Referee looked in horror at what had once been his punisher.
(Yeah, I know it would take a lot longer for the shot to fly up and the satellite to come down, but I couldn't have them standing around, so I defied the laws of physics, which aren't respected all that much in anime anyway)
"You see what I think of you and your punishment? NOW DIE!"
Omni-Emperor fired a barrage of missiles at Mr. Referee, who screamed and ran for his life. Meta-Evil laughed at the scene as the group of children looked on in horror.
"He's totally lost it. My god, we're gonna die." Erika whispered, as she finally realized the depths to which Meta-Evil's mind had descended.
"Now…for the child who dared get in my way. Now, Ikki Tenryou, you will learn the price of defying the one who is destined to rule the world! Rubberrobos, take care of his friends! I want that child all to myself!"
"No."
Meta-Evil's head jerked as Merer spoke for the first time. Ikki had totally forgotten about the scarred medafighter in the chaos that had just occurred, and Merer, being closer to the missile, had taken a worse impact and had taken longer to recover.
And he'd suffered something the kids had managed to avoid, as shrapnel had pelted him. His clothes were sliced up and a large cut oozed blood through his hands he held it against his scar tissue. He spat and glared at Meta-Evil.
"I know your kind. You think you're so superior, that you have great gifts that gives you the right to do whatever the hell you want. You think whatever comes out of your mouth is the absolute truth and law, and your deeds are god's gift to mankind. But you're not special, asshole. Oh no. You're nothing but a bully."
Merer reached down to where his medawatch lay at his feet and slowly strapped it on.
"I…HATE…BULLIES…"
The watch activated as Merer pressed a button.
"TRANSPORT TWO FULL REPAIR CHIPS!" Merer ordered. He held out his other hand as a beam of white light shot at it, and down small computer chips appeared in his palm.
"Ikki, catch!" Merer said as he tossed one at Ikki. Ikki caught it..
"What's this?"
"There's a slot in the back of Metabee's neck! Slide the chip in!" Merer said as he leaned down and inserted the second chip into Starkiller.
"Ok…here we go…" Ikki said.
"Who are you?" Meta-Evil asked.
"The name's Merer Pimon, but you can call me Flute, because I'm going to play your swam song."
"I have no quarrel with you!"
"We do! He…" Seaslug began.
"SILENCE!" Meta-Evil roared at his subordinate. Seaslug cowered again.
"Oh yes you do. You're a lunatic who wants to hurt innocent children. That's all I need."
"DO YOU WANT TO DIE?"
"No, but why worry about that? It won't be happening." Merer shot back.
"WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYI!" Metabee hollered as he suddenly began doing a mad dance.
"Merer! What the heck is this chip doing?"
"You know how medabots have a nanotechnology system within them that functions as their version of a healing ability? That chip just shot it into extreme overdrive!"
"YASALMOUDAKOLAHMOWOSSSSSSSSSS!" Metabee babbled as he continued to dance.
"It's not pleasant with conscious medabots, but it should be finishing right about…now."
Metabee stopped his mad dance, and the chip ejected. Ikki's eyes widened. Metabee's rapid motion had masked the effect of the chip: his body was completely repaired. There wasn't even one scratch.
"WHOA! I didn't think it was possible, but I feel even better then I look! Ikki, get me back my original arm!" Metabee said.
"You got it!" Ikki said as he swapped the Silversword medapart with Metabee's usual arm.
Starkiller's body had been similarly repaired, and Merer stood the body up as he flipped the medal in his hand.
"Ready for another war Starkiller?"
"Nothing like a good war to make heroes of us all."
"How true. GO STARKILLER!" Merer yelled as he slammed the medal back into place. Starkiller jerked and then stood up, pulling out her Nova Sword and igniting it.
"Ok Meta-Evil, let's get…"
"Transport Peppercat!"
Ikki's eyes widened as he looked over as Samantha transported her medabot.
"Samantha?"
"He just threatened to kill me as well Ikki. Think I'm taking that lying down?"
"Transport Totalizer!" Sloan ordered. His medabot appeared.
"Transport Cyandog!" Spyke added. A second later the Screws' trio was complete.
"C'mon Kanteroth! Let's teach this nutball some manners!" Rintaro said as he called his KBT-Type medabot.
"Sumilidon, it's time to fight!" Koji said as he called his medabot.
"Neutranurse, aid them!" Karin said.
"Brass, show them what you've got!" Erika said.
Merer strolled over to the group and stood beside Ikki.
"You know Ikki, whatever feelings you and your friends may have over the Robattles I've fought the past couple of days…well, one last quote. "The enemy of my enemy…'"
"Is my friend." Ikki finished. "Well Meta-Evil? Still feel like this will be a cakewalk?"
"You foolish children. This changes nothing. Your medabots are no match for my M-Bots and the overwhelming power of Omni-Emperor! Have you forgotten whom you have angered? LET ME REMIND YOU! OMNI-EMPEROR!"
Omni-Emperor thrust back his head and roared to the sky, and suddenly the ground began to shake.
"What the heck? Is it an earthquake?" Ikki asked.
"No. That's his damn medabot powering up!" Merer cursed, as small pieces of rock began to float up from around Omni-Emperor.
"No way! What kind of power source could cause this kind of effect?"
"One that's highly illegal and only a madman would dare use in a medabot…but I'd say that's beside the point." Merer said grimly.
"AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Meta-Evil laughed. "YOU CANNOT STAND BEFORE ME! I SHALL MOW YOU DOWN LIKE GRAIN BEFORE A SCYTHE!"
"You guys take care of those would-be Medabots the Rubberdodos have. I'll take down this junk heap." Merer said.
"Not alone you won't!" Ikki said.
"Hell yeah! Let's get medabusy!" Metabee added.
"And I'll fight too!"
The sound of a cloak being tossed off filled the air a second before Rokusho landed next to Metabee and Starkiller.
"Rokusho? Where did you go?" Metabee asked.
"I was checking on Mr. Referee! He's fine. Now we can deal with the task at hand." Rokusho said, his eyes hard.
"Rokusho as well? How convenient! I can destroy you all in one fell swoop!" Dr. Meta-Evil cackled.
"You poor twisted soul…how much pain have your delusions caused others? You've taken so much, including the life I had with Dr. Hushi! I won't forgive you!" Rokusho declared.
"Let's get the medabastard." Metabee added.
"You ready guys?" Merer asked.
"YEAH!" the children chorused, as their medabots lined up.
"THEN, IT'S AGREED!" Mr. Referee said as he popped up from behind the rock he was hiding behind. 'I HEREBY…"
"SHUT UP!" Dr. Meta-Evil screamed, as Omni-Emperor fired a barrage of missiles at Mr. Referee. He yelled and scrambled back behind the rock as they exploded all around him. "OH, FORGET THE RULES! NO HOLDS BARRED! DO WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO, JUST WIN!"
"I'll take that as a cue! CHARGE!" Seaslug bellowed, and the hordes of M-Bots surged forward.
"Pick on the young, you're pathetic. Pick on the old, you're a coward. Pick on the weak, you're ever weaker. Pick on us…" Merer muttered, and looked up to watch the legions of robots charging at him.
"YOU'RE HISTORY!"
"LET'S MAKE HISTORY!" Ikki said.
"YEAH!"
The medabots surged forward as they snapped out their weapons, as the age old battle between good and evil began once again.
Sun Tzu would have been proud.
Wow! What a twist! Metabee successfully defeats Starkiller, only to have a now utterly insane Dr. Meta-Evil return with a desire for blood! Who will win this medawar? Can our heroes find the skill, the drive, the ability, and the power to defeat the hideous power of Omni-Emperor? How badly will Cyandog get trashed? How long before I can get a new satellite? Find out in
Chapter 9: The Art of War
More Medabots, More Power!