Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Medabots or any related names and brand(Who belong to Kodansha, Natsume, Hasbro, Nelvana and a bunch of other people I'm not sure I know),I am writting this fic out of fun and I am not making any profit from it and I'm poor,please don't sue me!
Note that due to a heatwave going on where I live I haven't done much work on Third Challenge, the computer I work on that fic on gives off too much heat. I should have a part next week if the rain start fallin' --. So in the meantime, here's the first chapter of Blood Medal!
Chapter 1: Lost and Found
What makes the Rubberobo Gang so hard to catch is their constant moving. It is some sort of rule among them to never stay in one base for more than two weeks or so. That said it is important not to forget that they are also expert at running away, being the cowards they are. They have a central headquarter, hidden far better than the rest, but lately, due to the action of a brave kid it was discovered. The base was destroyed when the giant Medabot, Giganko, was released upon the world. Let's forget the history lesson for now, since it is certain you are all familiar with those events. After what happened, the four generals of the Rubberobo, having betrayed their leader had ran away, but they were soon contacted again by the gang, and managed to get their position back. Now the four of them, Seaslug, Gillgirl, Squidguts and Shrimplips had just found a perfect new hideout. An abandonned apartement building.
"Yes... this will be perfect! We bring in power, water and gas and it's gonna be a real palace!" Declared Seaslug, kicking open a door, leading in one of the apartement on the higher floor.
The little group felt a gust of wind: one of the window was broken, there even was a few pidgeon inside who quickly flew away, scared by the noise.
"Maybe we should clean up first." commented Gillgirl. "There's like 5 years worth of dust and pidgeon crap around this place!"
"Can I put this down now?" Asked Squidguts, who was almost being crushed by a huge bag containing all the little group would need.
"Nice." Commented a Noctobat, flying in with a second one.
"Sure." Answered Shrimplips.
There was a loud bang when Squidguts put everything down, the four Rubberobo cough a little because of the dust before they all grabbed a broom. They were all sweeping, Gillgirl in the bedroom, Shrimplips in the bathroom, Seaslug in the kitchen and Squidguts in the living/hall/dining room. One of the BAT type Medabots was taking bags of trash outside while the other was helping cleaning high surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom. Getting near the broken window, Squidguts noticed something amidst the glass shards and dust... a Medal! A Medal with a red jewel in the center. He bent down to picked it up and a big smile spread across his face.
"Woh guys! Check it out, I found a Medal!" He called.
The other three human and the two Medabot came into the room and gathered around Squidguts.
"What luck! And it's a KBT Medal! Maybe the previous occupants of the building left more stuff around! I bet we can even find some precious items in hard to reach spots! Maybe even jewelry!" Commented Gillgirl.
"That's weird... aren't the stones at the center of Medals usually of a greenish color? This one's red!" Pointed out Seaslug.
"It doesn't matter. I'll try it in my new Medabot!" Proposed Squidguts, fishing a box out of their stuff.
The first BAT read what was written on the package "Ooh... SHP type."
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Then after the darkness...
"I'll call you... Cruise-Gunner!"
"What? What does that mean?" I asked myself, "is that...my name?"
I suddenly regained the sense of touch and being. I felt like energy was surging through me. It seamed like a second ago I was shot into darkness after that long fall, but at the same time it felt like a VERY long time had pass... I opened my eyes, blinking a few time to get use to the light and looked in front of me... Legs in black? I felt like I was standing up but... why was I seeing someone's knee? They'd have to be incredibly tall to be taller than me,I tough, I'm like 6 foot tall no? I slowly looked up, the costume looked familiar, all black with the zipper in the center. I reached the face it was... Seaslug?!?
"AAAAAAAAAAH!!!!! SEA....SEA...SEASLUG?!?" I shouted
I looked at my hand... I gasped loudly, those weren't my hands! They couldn't be! They were purple! Some sort of blueish purple. Even now I'm not even sure what to call that odd color, altough I got used to it... I was in total shock! My hands... they were... metalic! Like... like a ROBOT! They were linked to those big blocky forearm made out of two piece, the under one yellow, not the shiny bright kind tough, and a larger over one in a darker blueish purple... I was even more shocked to realise I had two short golden CANON sticking out of my arms!
"AAAAAAH! WHAT...WHAT HAPPENNED TO ME?!?"I asked completly panicked, a thousand questions and answers were racing in my mind, but the most obvious answer was too scary to consider long enough at that moment.
"Calm down! We just found you laying on the ground and gave you a new body." Said Gillgirl, apearing in my field of vision.
"How do you know my name?" Asked Seaslug.
"GILLGIRL!" I shouted, yet again.
That's the moment I realised my voice had this weird metallic quality to it. Like... like a robot again. How could this be? I didn't know what they meant about finding me on the ground. I couldn't understand . The terrible truth, the impossible truth was becoming more plausible to me and I realised that somehow, for some reason... I... was a Medabot!
"No...this...this can't be... you don't exist! I'm dreaming... I have to! It's impossible!" I cried, steping backward and hitting someone.
I looked up to find Squidguts looking at me quizzically.
"Calm down now. I'm your new Medafighter, Squidguts!" He said.
"I'm... no I'm dreaming!" I repeated, trying to pinch myself, but only finding metal arms and impossible to pinch.
At the moment I didn't even dare to look at myself, too afraid to find a metalic body of some kind. I would eventually have to face it, but that was not the time. I was surrounded by people that shouldn't exist! Mad, crazy criminals at that.
"Your Medabot's bonker Squidguts." Declared Shrimplips, appearing as well, followed by two... what was their name... oh yeah, Noctobats.
"Maybe he's malfunctionning." Proposed the first one.
"Maybe his Medal is too dirty and it's causing him to go crazy." Proposed the other one.
"Let's take him offline and we'll check it out." Said Seaslug.
I was scared now... if I truly was a Medabot... wich was impossible... I couldn't stay with those maniac! Who knows what they could have done to me! I looked around the room in panic, seeing a doorway.
"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" I shouted, dashing for the door.
Running felt so odd... I could hear my metallic footstep echoing through the darken and abandonned hallway of whatever the building I was in was. I could hear the disctinctive sound of servos activating in my arms and legs, what an odd sound it was when heard from the inside. All I knew is that I had to get away. Far away. I realised I was running faster than I ever did... I realised I wasn't even breathing or panting. I was making sound that might seam like panting, but it didn't felt like it. Later I would learn that Medabots need to take in air to cool down, or water, if they are waterproof, can suffice, it is in a way somesort of breathing, but the feeling was much diferent. It was like a bag filling inside of you, but your body not moving around it. I could hear they're scream behind me, I even heard an explosion or two. I was running for my life, I reached stairs and almost felt while running down. The stairs felt so big now that I had lost most of my height. I tripped and rolled down the last flight, but it wasn't really painful. I'm not even sure if I can call it pain anymore, more like signals that make you cringe like pain, beside I was too confused, panicked and scared to feel pain. I don't know if Medabots got something like adrenaline, but if they do I was on it at that time. I got up quickly and kept running toward the exit.
"THE MEDAL'S NOT EJECTING!" I heard Squidgut scream behind me.
I held up my arms in front of me as I ran through the glass door, not taking time to open it. I found myself in some sort of forgotten part of some town, old buildings in row next to an old road and a forest. Somehow this felt familiar... the Gimme Ghost Episode flashed through my head. I looked around and found the city in the distance... yes the city. Maybe there I could find help or something... as reality started to sink in, as impossible as it sound, I tought of finding the heroes of my favorite show. If there was one man who knew a lot about Medabot it was Dr. Aki. I had no idea what he could do to help me, but it was the only thing I had to cling on. I was lost in a place that wasn't suppose to exist, turn into a robot that wasn't suppose to exist, and alone...
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The Medabot Corporation Building is an important landmark in the city, it's the not only the highest one around, but it were most of the Medabots in the world are made, off course the Corporation isn't the only Medabot producing company, they can't suffice for the vast demand, but still, this building is considered THE birthplace of Medabots. It is were the world famous Dr. Aki works. The security is reputed to be tight, but if the Rubberobo Gang could put a spy on the inside, it might be wise to doubt of it's effectiveness, but now is not the time to worry about that.
Near the entrace to the building a young woman with brown hair is aproaching. She's wearing a pink jumpsuit, better suited for a repair shop than a walk on the town, it is adorned by a red spot on the left side of the chest, and the woman is carrying a bag. As she nears the entrace she stop to take a look at the massive metallic form still blocking the street. It's parts of the giant Medabot Giganko. Workers are still on the task of dismentaling it, supervised by the Select Corp. Nearby there is also what seams to be wood laying around, pushed aside by lazy workers. The girl remember hearing about the fall of the water tower in a Robattle that saved the prototype model Belzelga from the hands of the Rubberobos. As fate would have it, the sun came out from behind a cloud and reflected briefly on a metallic object near the foot of the famous building. The young woman bent down to look closer... it was a Medal. A Queen Medal, and strangely enough the stone at it's center was red rather than the usual green. The woman picked it up.
"Hmm... maybe Grandpa lost that Medal." She tought before rushing to the entrace.
The guard looked at her and asked her what her buisness in the building was.
The young woman pulled a special pass from her pocket and showed it to the guard.
"My name is Nae Aki, I'm here to see my grandfather, Doctor Aki." She stated, before the guard let her pass.
"I'll warn your grand father your here m'am!" He called, picking up a phone.
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"Honey! I'M HOME!" Called a tall strongly built man, entering in a tengu shaped house (courtesy of the Rubberobo ).
The man hanged up his yellow construction worker helmet on a hook on the wall and took off his work boot. He walked into the living room where a girl and a CAT -type Medabot were watching TV, or rather channel surfing.
"Hey Sam! Peppercat!" Said the man.
"Hi dad! How was your day?" Asked Samantha, turning around to look at her father.
"Hello master." Added Peppercat politely.
"Not bad..." Answered the man walking closer to the couch "We started the new project today, it should keep us busy for a while... Hey! guess what I found wh en we started digging?"
"What?" Inquired the leader of the Screw, curious.
Sam's dad pulled out a familiar object from his pocket. A Medal. It was a Ladybug Medal with a red stone at it's center. The man hand the object to his daughter.
"I know you've been saving money to get a new Medabot, this should make it easier for you to get one." He said with a smile.
"WOW! Thanks dad!" Cheered Sam, jumping off the couch to give her father a hug.
"The dinner's almost ready you two, better go wash your hands!" Called Samantha's mother from the kitchen.
"Coming dear!" Replied her father.
The girl turned to her Medabot and handed her the Medal "Go check what type of Medabots suits a Ladybug Medal, try to find a feline preferably!" She ordered.
"Aye boss!" Answered Peppercat, saluting her Medafighter in a military fashion before scurying to the girl's room.
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Chibori Tenryo, mother of the Third Medafighter in Japan, the famous Ikki who saved the town from Giganko, was picking some flowers in her courtyard. She had assambled a small bouquet of white flowers.
"This should cheer up the dining room." She said with a smile "I just wish I had more time to take care of my flowers." She added sadly.
She shrugged and head back inside. That's when Salty, the family dog, came running into the courtyard from one of it's roaming. The dog let something fall to the ground from it's mouth as it started to bark.
"What is it Salty?" Asked Chidori."Oh you found something and you want to give it to me?"
The dog gave a bark that Chidori understood as a yes. She bent down to pick up the shiny object in the grass at the dog's feet. She picked it up and studied it closely. It was a Medal, with a nice shiny red stone in the center. It had a bear drawn on it.
"Oh... how cute, a teddy bear Medal!" Commented the woman, smiling, before she looked at her courtyard and all the small bushes and flowers "Maybe... maybe I could get myself an assistant. Metabee is already a great help inside, but I need someone with a bit more muscle for outside. Allright! I'll go see that nice boy Henry!" She finally declared, pocketing the Medal.
Fate and destiny work in a mysterious way. Now four Medals have been found, and one found itself lost. What kind of adventures awaits in the future? Only time will tell...
To Be continued...
NA: Nae(pronounced 'Nah-hey' ) is an actual character from the first Medarot manga (the one about Henry/Hikaru, the manga about Ikki is Medarot 2 ), I based her present look on what she looks like in the Medabots TCG published by Upperdeck. She's about Henry's age if anybody was wondering.