Title: Welcome to Metropolis

Plot: Shunsaku Ban came to metropolis to solve one simple case, only to find himself involved in saving the world. As a power-struggle begins between opposing forces over a mythical creature and the power to conquer the world, the question of what it means to be human, to be alive comes into play. Dedicated to Osamu Tezuka.

Chapter 1: Of Ziggurat and Robots

By: rockofmarduk

Last time on metropolis: Doctor Frankenstein, a member of the ministry of science, argued about the existence of a mythical creature and wanted a study brought forth on it. Even though Dr. Sharaku argued against the idea, Dr. Ochanomizu and the rest of the panel agreed to move forward and allow a study to begin. Back in his office though, Dr. Frankenstein was confronted by an unknown person and knocked out. In the mean time the creature that everyone is talking about is making it's way to earth.... **

The lights turned on as a man entered a clean and tidy office. The walls were white with an emerald design at the sides and across the walls. The carpet was a light shade of brown. A large desk stacked with papers, sat near the window with the curtains closed. Two tables covered in scientific equipment sat next to both sides of the walls.

The man himself made his way to the desk, humming to himself as he went. He was an elderly man between the ages of fifty or sixty years. He had a large white beard that went over the ears and around the back of his head and covered his potbelly tummy. His head was bald and was wearing a graduation cap. A monocle was over his left eye. He wore a simple scientist coat with a high collar, which went down to his feet.

Sitting down at his desk he looked over some paperwork before looking up and noticing us. " Ah, so you finally showed up. It's not nice to keep a person waiting you know. Well let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Dr. Yorkshire Bell. I'm the head of the Metropolitan scientific institute and I've got a story to tell." He said in a German accent.

Walking over to his window he opened the curtains and revealed to us a world unlike any other. Everywhere you looked there were monstrous buildings made out of glass and metal. Not a blade of grass or even a tree could be seen for miles. Cars were flying past as people made their way to work. And robots were seen doing the work that most people couldn't or reused to do. All of this seemed to center around a gigantic building that was almost near completion.

"Welcome to Metropolis my friends. The most highly advanced civilization in the world. At one time it was nothing more then a spec on the map, but now it has become so big it's it own nation. 'That building over there," he said motioning to the giant building behind him. "Is the nearly completed Ziggurat tower. It's supposed to commiserate the progress and the technology of metropolis but underneath that cold mound of steal is an even darker purpose that almost killed us all. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's s begin at the beginning, shall we?" **

At the top of the Ziggurat tower, a room was being completed. The walls, floor, and yes even the roof were covered in a gray metal. Wires hung from the ceiling, sides of the wall, and were strung across the floor just waiting to be connected. And there siting at the back of the room was a chair. Not a regular chair though, it had the appearance of a throne. A metal throne waiting in the dim light for its king, it's leader, its master.

An elevator stops in front of the door leading to the throne room. Two men stepped off and go inside. Some other men working inside stopped what they were doing and watched the other two men enter. The first man was shorter then the other man and was about thirty to forty years of age. He wore a long white lab coat of a scientist that was a little bit too big for him. He had black hair, but was bald with only a few stray hairs sticking out on the top. He also had a long pointy nose and curly goatee. His name is Dr. Ponkotz, but to his friends and fellow colleges he's simple know as Klunky. A name that he detests since he was a boy. The other man was much taller then him and was also about the same age. His nose was huge and his hair was blond, spiky at the back, with a curled sideburn over each ear. Even his blond eyebrows were curly. He somewhat resembled that of a cockatoo. Dressed in a dark red suit with a large red bow tie, he looked like a respectable businessman, or at least that's what he appeared to be.

"As you can see Duke Red not all of the systems are operational yet." Klunky explained. "Were still hooking certain components into the throne as well as programming and reprogramming certain systems that have been giving us certain problems." Klunky hated it when he said certain so many times. It made him sound like he didn't know what he was doing. And he had plenty to worry about. Duke Red was the most powerful man in metropolis, maybe even the whole world. While he appeared to be nothing but an ordinary citizen, he was in fact the shadowed ruler of metropolis. Everyone in the government, including the president bowed down before him. And even though Klunky was in charge of the development of national defense weapons, he could easily lose his position with one wave of the duke's hand.

"When exactly will the throne room be finished?" Duke Red asked in a deep voice.

Klunky turned around and motioned two more scientists in the room to step forward. Both were the same age as Klunky, but were much taller then him. Makeru Butamo was a man with a large brown mustache and long brown hair (bald at the top), and in similar garb as Klunky and the other man. The other scientist was Parrot and looked exactly like his name. His nose was shaped like a parrot's beck and his lime green hair stood up and flopped over at the back. Makeru, Klunky, and Parrot were all experts in the inner workings of the Omotenium device, a special weapon that was going to help in their plans.

"'Well!" Duke Red growled. He was tired of waiting for an answer.

"In about a week sir if things go according to plan. It should at least be finished before the Ziggurats grand opening." Makeru promised in a gruff sounding voice.

"That's only if Dr. Laughton delivers the final piece of the weapon, which I seriously doubt it. We should have never have trusted him with his kind of reputation." Parrot said in his snobby sounding voice.

Duke Red nodded his head and turned to leave. "Just leave Dr. Laughton to me. I'll take care of him; you just make sure that everything is working before the celebration. Or else." The three scientists nodded their heads and went straight back to work. **

As Duke Red was leaving the throne room, another man dressed this time in a military uniform came running into the room. General Whisky was the commander of the metropolitan army and seemed to be a good friend of his. He got down on one knee and bowed his head in front of the Duke as if he was royalty. He had light brown hair with curly sideburns and his large general hat covered his bald spot. He also wore a pair of glasses that gave him a sophisticated look.

"Yes Whisky what is it?"

"Sir, were having another rebel robot attack." He said a little out of breath. "This one worse than before. And this time their leader is also in the battle. What do you want me to do?"

Duke Red smirked and let out a small chuckle. Whisky looked at him confused. "Don't worry yourself about it General Whisky. The situation is well taken care of. Rock and the rest of my Marduk's can handle it. You are dismissed."

As he left, Whisky couldn't stop himself from muttering things under his breath. He didn't like the idea of a mere child handling this situation. But he would do nothing to disobey the duke's orders.

"Is anything the matter Sir?"

Duke Red turned around to find Makeru and Parrot standing in the throne rooms doorway.

"No, nothing's wrong. It's just that were having a little robot problem outside. But Rock's gone to take care of it."

As Duke Red left Makeru whispered softly to Parrot, "For the Duke's sake, nothing had better happen to Rock. We made a promise and I intend to keep it." Parrot nodded in agreement. **

Boom!

Another explosion sounded as people ran for their lives. Smoke billowed out of buildings and overturned cars. Flames burst forward sending deaber into the air. And from out of the cloud of smoke came a group of heavily armed robots of all different sizes and shapes. Everywhere they went they destroyed property and began attacking people, which was against their programming. All of this was seen under the watchful eye of a mysterious cloaked figure standing on a rooftop.

Boom!

There was another big bang, but this one was not an explosion. It was the sound of a gun going off. One of the robot's chests exploded and it crashed down onto the street, a large puddle of oil spilled out of the robot and onto the concert ground, almost like blood. All the other robots turned around to see who had shot down their fallen comrade.

Standing there with his gun raised was a young man, a teenager, about seventeen years of age. He had dark brown hair that was dancing about in the wind. A pair of black chunky eighty's like shades covered his eyes. He wore a red turtleneck sweater, black suspenders, gloves and pants, and gray boots. A black armband was around his right arm with a dragon designed on it. This was the Rock of Marduk.

"Alright guys. Shoot them all down now!" he shouted. A hail of gunfire erupted as shoots were fired from all directions at the robots. Not knowing were the shots were coming from the robots ran about in circles, each one getting hit and taken down. When the dust settled every single robot was on the ground in a mangled heap of wires and metal.

A group of men dressed in similar outfits like Rock's but different came out from their hiding places. Each one was wear a dark blue turtleneck sweater, brown suspenders and gloves, green pants, and brown boots. None of them wore sunglasses but they did wear red caps on their heads.

"Way to go Rock!" One Marduk shouted as he approached their captain. "You nailed them!"

"Was there ever any doubt?" Rock asked as he put his gun back into his holster. "Now clean up this mess and get these pieces of junk out of here and to the dump were they belong." He ordered.

"Yes sir!" they said and went straight to work. Large tank like cars were brought in and opened up at the back. The destroyed robots were picked up by the Marduk's and were tossed in the back like they were nothing but garbage.

As Rock prepared to leave and report back to headquarters he heard some commotion behide him.

"Rock sir look up!" a Marduk shouted. "There's another robot up on the roof of the building up there."

Rock turned around and looked up. There was another robot, but it was different then all the others. It was cover in a red cloak that went down to its feet and was blowing back against the wind. The hood of the cape covered its head and it was hard to make out its face from so far away. A strange pointy object was sticking out of its head. And its eyes were on Rock, and only Rock. Suddenly the robot jumped from the rooftop and made its way towards the Zone-1 gate.

"Sir what exactly should we do?" a Marduk asked.

Rock pulled his gun out of its holster and reloaded it. "Continue disposing of this trash heap and stay on the surface. I'm going to handle this one." With that said he took off after the robot down into the bowels of Zone-1. **

Zone-1 was a very colorful, but dirty place to be. Only the non-working citizens of Metropolis lived and if lucky worked here. Rock preferred this place to the upper city because of its dangers. But now was not the time to be site seeing. He had a robot to hunt down. Rock ran down a dark alley with his gun held tightly in his hand. The light in this alley was very dim and hard to see. Rock couldn't tell if the shadows moving across the walls were either the robot or his mind playing tricks on him. As Rock turned a corner a dark shape jumped out in front of him and knocked him off balance. Rock crashed and tumbled down an old staircase right down to the bottom. Stumbling to his feet Rock managed to regain his balance and held the gun close to his chest. He was now covered in dirt and was sore from the fall he just had. Luckily nothing appeared to be broken. Peeking around the corner he tried to locate the robot again. He was pretty sure it was the robot that sent him flying down that staircase but it was so dark he couldn't tell. It was even darker in the staircase and the only light he could see seem to be coming from around the bend. Turning the corner he saw that the light was coming from a small hole in the ceiling. There were no doors and no way to get out of the small room he was in except the way he came in. Just as Rock was about to give up the chase, when the robot jumped down from the ceiling were it had been hiding. It took Rock completely by surprise and once again knocked him off his feet. Rock landed on the ground with a thud, knocking both his sunglasses off and his gun from out of his hand. Siting up on his hands and knees, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, Rock felt a sharp blade being pressed against his neck and pushing against his chin, forced him to look up. The robot came out of the shadows and into the light.

The robot that stood in front of him was unlike any he had seen before. The robots red cape had two bouncy sleeves that ended just above the elbow. The robot's turtleneck shirt underneath had the number fourteen on the front and its shirtsleeves covered the rest of its arms. It also wore a pair of black pants; gray boots and had a brown sword holder by its right hip. The sword in question was what was being held against Rock's chin. Its head was still covered by the hood but its face was easier to see. Its face was an orange- red with black spots covering it. Its mouth was nothing but a round hole, its nose a piece of metal that was attached to the metal-like eye mask. A pointy spike stuck out of its head and through the hood. The robot looked at him with cold eyes, the same cold eyes that had been staring at Rock before. It seemed to be questioning whether or not to finish Rock off. Rock gave him a cold glance back, never faulting or showing fear.

The robot made its decision and put his sword back into its holder. He turned to leave but turn back to Rock and spoke. "It was nice doing battle with you. Until the next time." With that he jumped back into the shadows and disappeared. Rock stared after him confused, then angry. Grabbing his sunglasses and gun he stomped back up the dark stairs.

Arriving back in the ally way, Rock then heard voices calling to him."Rock, Rock! Are you ok?" Rock turned around and found two of his Marduk's running towards him.

"I though I told you to stay in the top zone." Rock growled.

"I know sir but we wanted to make sure you were ok."

"Sir did you know that your bleeding?"

Rock finally felt the pain where the robot had punched him and touched the side of his face. He could feel the warm blood on his lip.

"Sir what happened to the robot you were chasing. Did you catch it?"

"Just forget about it!" Rock shouted. The two Marduks immediately shut up. Rock sighed and spoke in a quieter tone of voice. "Come on lets get out of here." **

In a dark room a man sat in a large office chair watching Rock and his comrades on a giant screen. Smaller screens were all around him, each showing different scenes on different zones. One showed the giant tower the Ziggurat, another showed the destroyed robots being carried away and dumped and one more showed that robot disappearing into the lower zones.

"My, my that was an interesting show. Bravo." The man cheered sarcastically. "So dramatic, it made me feel a little sick. The boy could have least put up a bit of a fight."

"Maybe next time we should get involved. Make the fight a little more interesting." A voice spoke from the darkness.

The man chuckled at the comment. "Maybe next time my friend. But for now we have to get down to bigger business. For when the time comes Metropolis won't know what hit them."

To be continued...

Next time on metropolis: A group dedicated to protecting the lives of robots begins to make trouble for the Marduks and for Rock. Could this be the start of a revolution?

Comments from the author: Some of the characters in this fic are from some of Tezuka's works. He was well known for taking characters from one fic and makes them completely different in another one. Almost like they were real actors and I'm trying to do the same thing he did. You can view the characters on Tezuka Osamu @ World and learn more about them.