Duo snapped awake, and immediately he knew something was wrong. Something had just cut through his link to tactical. He pondered that occurrence for a minute before his thoughts again were interrupted.
"Commander! Commander, snap out of it! We've got incoming!"
The enemy? Here? Now? "Report, Corporal, what's coming our way?"
"They're coming in swarm Commander, no doubt they know we're here. They outnumber us two to one, and I'm getting a really strong signal from their apparent leader, I think it's an energy master!"
Great, that's just what I need right now. That explains why I lost connection. "Alright, stay passive. They know we're here, but they don't know exactly where, and surprise may be our only friend right now. Has Trace and Kael reported in yet?"
"Negative sir, they're still on patrol."
"And Grid? Has he found the navigation device?"
"Grid reported in moments ago, he claimed to have found the device, and is currently in the process of decoding it. He didn't think it would take too long."
"Good, tell him to remain hidden, if the unit is overpowered, he has to get that data to High Command at all costs!" Duo redirected his thoughts to all of his troops. "Listen up people, I've just received word that a large enemy force is vectoring in on our position. They are being lead by an energy master. We've been expecting this sort of thing the moment we got here, so it should not surprise you. We are an elite force, so let's make them remember that! Stay where you are and wait for my signal to attack, and let me engage the master, he may be too powerful for any of you. Keep telepathic links closed until my signal, Duo out."
***
"Calm down Doc, you don't know how fast their communications work, maybe he didn't get the signal off in time." Spark Man had his hands full calming Dr. Wily.
"I don't NEED to know their communications speed, I can already tell its fast enough, and the next time that thing show's its weak spot it's going to be vaporized!"
"Right Wily, after what I've seen that thing do, it has a better chance taking you out while fighting blind than revealing its eye. Course I wouldn't necessarily mind that…" Mega Man said.
Wily glowered at Mega Man, but decided not to comment, though he did calm himself down a bit.
Bomb Man decided to break in then. "I'd hate to interrupt and all," he said, "but how are we going to get out of here with the way down blocked?"
"We'll have to go around, which means back through the fortress. Let's go."
"Hold on there, Wily, maybe there's another way." Mega Man said.
"I would think that I know my fortress a bit better than you do, Mega Man."
"All those brains Wily, and yet you still lack ingenuity, tsk tsk tsk…" Mega Man pressed a few buttons on his gauntlet, and immediately a red warp signal flashed down into the fortress. Rush reorganized himself and turned eagerly to Mega Man. "Alright Rush, Mega Man Power Suit!"
Rush yipped an affirmative and transformed, merging himself with Mega Man. After a brief flash, Mega Man became garbed in a red and white armor, looking something like a boxer with gloves that were too big for him.
"How does that mutt always manage to get through my barriers anyway?"
"I can't tell you all my secrets now, can I Wily? It's none of your business, now stand back if you don't want to get hurt." A whine began to fill the hall as Mega Man charged. When the charge reached max peak, he ran toward the rubble blocking the hallway and threw one of his giant fists into the blockade, smashing into it with enough force to shatter it completely. A few guards on the other side were completely unprepared for the blow, and were knocked unconscious as the wall of concrete exploded inward, burying them underneath two tons of rock. "Violá, instant doorway." Mega Man reverted back to his normal form and patted his dog. "Good boy, Rush. Now, get back to Dr. Light, he might need you." Rush gave a quick yip and teleported away, and Mega Man turned back to the rest of the group. "They probably weren't expecting us to go this way, so we should have a relatively easy time, assuming we move quickly enough, now let go."
The group moved on down the stairwell. Wily led the way, and Mega Man brought up the rear. As they passed by a small doorway, Wily quickly jumped inside, and came out with a few energy capsules, which he tossed to each robot. "Wouldn't do me any good to have you all get killed on me, now would it?" he said as he distributed the energy.
"Why, Wily, I didn't know you cared." Mega Man poked fun at the mad scientist. "In all the years that I've come to visit you, you always set up traps and tried to kill me. I was beginning to think that you didn't like me, Wily." Mega Man gave Wily a sarcastic smile and moved on. Wily could only mumble to himself.
"I wish you had gotten the hint…." He said under his breath, but he followed the blue bomber, and was followed closely by his own robots in the process. They continued down the hallway in relative silence, and went unchallenged for the next ten minutes, which was enough time to find the place they were looking for. "The hangar should be no more than three hundred feet ahead, I think I see the entrance now… waitaminute." Wily motioned to his robots to stop, and Mega Man did the same. He then proceeded to examine the nearby ground, running a few scanners that his suit was equipped with. "Well, well, well."
"What is it?" Mega Man asked.
Wily turned towards him. "These creatures are smarter than we give them credit for. Look down the hall and see if you can see anything out of the ordinary."
Mega Man scoffed. "That should be relatively simple, considering how many of them I've been through. Letsee…" Mega Man glanced down the hall. "That sensor array seems a little out of place. Yours are quite distinct, yet not quite so subtle. So, they ARE intelligent after all."
"If you had the proper scanners, you'd find about fifteen sensor cannons embedded into the wall, ready to fire at anything that moves past that scanner, observe." Wily motioned to Crystal Man, who threw a Crystal Eye past the sensor array. From fifteen different angles through the archway, a laser shot down at the spherical crystal. When the beams hit the crystal, the light expanded, and the number of beams passing through it created a brief laser wall, and while the energy was much less focused and dangerous, it was enough to fry the cannons and the sensor array as the crystal passed through.
"So, Wily does have a bit of innovation within." Mega Man said.
Wily shrugged, "You work with what you've got, now if you're done with the sarcastic remarks and biting comments, I'd like to get out of here!"
"Alright, alright, I'm done, now wait here. I'll go scout the hanger to see if it's clear." Mega Man then walked to a nearby vent, pulling the casing from the wall with little effort, and then crawled in. With his smaller size he was able to easily pass through the ducts, and was soon overlooking the hanger bay.
The others were still waiting in the hallway when Mega Man returned, grim faced. "We're gonna need some help with this one," he said.
***
Back in deep space, two blue streaks sped across the dark void.
"We're almost there!" Kael shouted to his companion. "I can sense… oh no!"
"What is…" Trace was about to ask before the sensation hit him as well. "We're too late! They've already beaten us there, we gotta hurry up! There still may be time to save someone!" With renewed effort, Kael and Trace flew towards the furious battle with all that they had.
***
The battle was raging, but it was no use. There had been too many of them, WAY too many of them. Even for the purpose of eliminating an elite group, the size of the strike force the enemy had sent was overwhelming. The energy master's strength was also uncanny, and he had brought along two apprentices as well. Right away, Duo had known that something was amiss. Apprentices were never sent to battle with their master, there was bigger purpose for this group, Duo was sure of it. However, Duo was a bit busy at the moment, and his group was not faring well. Duo interrupted his thoughts just in time to dodge a blast headed his way. His attacker didn't even have any time to react before the giant robot sent himself straight through his assailant, shattering the creature into pieces. Duo had lost the Energy Master in the fray and quickly scanned the battle looking for him. On of the apprentices caught his eye as the evil learner dispatched one of Duo's warriors.
Even the learners are stronger than usual, this is uncanny indeed. Duo promptly attacked the apprentice but was knocked aside as another form smashed into him from above. Duo quickly recovered from the attack and sent a fist of energy his way. The Energy Master easily dodged the attack and Duo was again struck from behind as one of the apprentices attacked him. They have been training long together, I need to focus, alright Duo, if they want a fight, they're going to get one.
Duo recovered again, and shot straight up, as the Energy Master launched himself at the spot Duo had just recently vacated. Both apprentices, seeing their master miss his target, attempted to correct the situation by angling themselves on an intercept course on either side of the team leader. Just before impact, Duo abruptly stopped, and the apprentices stopped right with him, within arms length of the mighty robot. Hmm, they're smarter than I thought. That usually works, time to improvise. Duo quickly slammed his oversized fist into one of the enemy learners and again shot off… straight towards the other learner, shoulder blades extended. He only managed a glancing blow as the apprentice attempted to dodge, but it was enough to disorient the enemy, and Duo turned around to finish the job. He sensed the Master coming up again behind him in just enough time to dodge the attack. By the time Duo had finished his evasive maneuvers, the three Evil Energy users had regrouped and were preparing to attack again, but this time they had been joined by eight other soldiers.
Duo extended his senses, calling for help, but his calls went unanswered. As Duo opened his eyes, the reason became obvious. The fight was already over, and he was the last one left. A strange calm came over him as the realization struck him. He closed his eyes and let his power come forth. With astonishing abruptness, Duo became encased in a sphere of blue fire. A soldier that attacked early was instantly vaporized as he tried to assault the powerful form, the rest recoiled in shock. The enemy will pay Duo thought to himself. I will make sure of that!
Two of the soldiers didn't even have time to react. Duo tore straight through them, and then took out another one as the rest turned to face him. The two learners and their master also drew up their power and were surrounded by similar spheres of purple energy and each one shot off in a different direction, leaving the lesser soldiers to face the wrath of a very angry Duo. Duo dispatched them one by one, showing no mercy. When he finally finished with his rampage he noticed that the apprentices and their master had not been part of the group he had so easily torn to shreds. He didn't get to think about it much before two purple forms careened into him. The energy shield took most of the attack, but it had severely drained his power reserves. He was not, however, out of the fight.
There was only two of them… where's the third one? Duo sat facing his opponents extending his senses in an attempt to locate the final member of the enemy party. His senses picked up a different signal though, and the signal was confirmed when two streaks of blue light went through the remaining apprentice, vaporizing him on impact.
"Hey boss, thought you might need a bit of a hand," Kael said with a slight grin that belied the look of pure venom in his eyes. Duo merely glared at the final remaining energy master, who seemed unsure at the sudden change of odds. Motioning for Kael and Trace to stay back, Duo sped towards the master, who seemed to accept the challenge of the mighty robot, and accelerated to meet him. At the blue and purple forms sped towards one another, Duo stopped and the blue form around him suddenly vanished, the only remaining glow was around his massive right arm. The Energy Master, seeing his opponent's defense drop, accelerated all the more faster.
That proved to be his doom.
With a mighty roar, Duo threw his massive fist towards his adversary. The fist was fully encased in concentrated blue power, and the Energy Master went right through it. Or rather, it went straight through him. The concentrated energy of the blue fist simply dissolved the purple field of the enemy and seemed to shatter the body of the dark robot, which sent thousands of shards of shrapnel flying past Duo, into the depths of space.
***
"Bomb Man, is everything ready?"
"Ready when you are, Mega Man, just make sure that you act surprised."
"Of everyone here, I'm probably the one that has the best acting ability."
"Enough conversation you two, get on with it. We have a very small window, so you'd better make this count, and no screw ups!"
Mega Man sighed and adjusted his helmet's communicator; this was gonna be close, but there was no other way to get the guards out of the hangar. A distraction was needed, and he was it. Taking a deep breath, Mega Man started down the hallway to the hanger bay at a dead run, and turned into the doorway, expecting to give a quick look of shock and then head back in the other direction. He needn't have worried about acting. As Mega Man rounded the corner, his eyes quickly registered about a half a dozen weapons in immediate sight, and all of them were pointing at him. With a yelp Mega Man hurled himself back through the doorway and around the corner just as the opposing wall was vaporized by a wall of focused light. Mega Man tore down the hall at top speed.
"You didn't mention that they had video cameras outside the doorway, Wily." Mega Man growled into his headset.
"You didn't ask, and besides, I thought that the surprise would make you more authentic."
Yeah, right. Mega Man thought. "Alright Bomb Man, get ready, cause they're right behind me, and the seem pretty annoyed."
Bomb Man acknowledged the transmission as Mega Man rounded another corner, leaping up into the hatch in the ceiling and quickly closing it behind him. Viewing the floor, Mega Man saw the group that had followed him round the corner and continue down the hallway, where Mega Man lost sight of them. Moments later, Crystal Man's voice was heard through the communication.
"Alright, Bomb Man, here they come. Get ready………trigger one!" An explosion ripped through the complex as the hallway up ahead was riddled with explosions from the bombs that Bomb Man had so carefully placed.
"Alright, wait for it…" Mega Man cautioned as he saw another group pass underneath him, no doubt to investigate the explosion and offer assistance if possible. Crytal Man's voice was again heard.
"Okay, Bomb Man, here they come again…….. tigger two!" Another explosion was heard and Mega Man saw a body of one of the cyborgs fly past underneath him.
"Alright, the third group has passed underneath me, Wily, we've done all we can to eliminate the guards, you'll have to take care of the ones still in the hangar."
"Already on it, just make sure that the third group doesn't come in behind us!"
Easier said than done. Mega Man dropped through the hatch behind the third group of cyborgs that had just ran past him and let fly with a level three charge shot. The comet of white plasma enveloped one of the rear guards and he went down hard. The rest turned on him as a spray of small plasma bolts filled the room heading in their general direction. The Cyborgs dodged as best they could, but the small shots weren't too damaging, and the few stray ones that hit weren't enough to take any more of them down.
"Crystal Man, Bomb Man, where are you. I can only keep them busy for so long you know!"
"We've got bad news Mega Man, that second set of explosives caused a cave in. We're sitting behind a wall composed of half the stuff that was in the room above us, we can't get through."
"What are you talking about, Bomb Man created the barricade, why can't he destroy it!"
"His systems are still recovering from generating so many large explosives in such a short time. He can't generate more than his primary weapon yet, and it's not powerful enough."
Mega Man groaned Great, just great. What else could go wrong today? "Alright, I'll get you out, just give me some time and be ready to fight when it happens, cause this isn't going to be easy for me, and I'll need a break."
"Gotcha, we're ready."
Mega Man changed frequencies in his communicator. "Rush, Super Adapter, now!" Within seconds, Rush teleported in and merged with Mega Man, creating the Super Adapter, a mix of his Power and Jet adapters. While not as powerful as the Power Adapter, and not as maneuverable as his Jet Adapter, the Super Adapter was a successful mix of the two. "Alright, let's get this over with." Mega Man jetted towards the cyborgs before they could even react, charging into the group and knocking several onto their backs. As he passed out the other side of the group, his fist abruptly left his wrist, jetting towards one of the cyborgs and slamming heavily onto it's unprotected back, taking it out of the fight. Several more plasma bolts caught another cyborg that was too slow to turn around, critically wounding the unit until it's system went into shock and it collapsed onto the floor as well. The rest of the group immediately turned and opened fire on the small red and white figure, which dodged around the nearest corner.
Mega Man could see the collapsed ceiling. As he ran towards it he called once again to Rush. "Rush, Power Adapter!" The armor on his chest briefly unlatched to reform into the Power adapter unit. The Super Adaper wasn't quite powerful enough to clear the wall, but the Power Adapter had no such problems. Charging his energy, Mega Man reached the blocked portion of the hallway and released the stored energy through his fist, sending out a short but extremely powerful shock of energy into the wall before him. The wall crumbled, and immediately two more forms joined the fight, as two white and black spheres flew past Mega Man into the enemy force. Crystal Man's Crystal Eye smashed into the lead cyborg as Bomb Man's Hyper Bomb sailed over its head into the middle of the group beyond, sending some of them flying in all directions. Not to be outdone, Mega Man took advantage of the confusion created by the two newcomers to get in close with one of the enemy. With a mighty cry, Mega Man's charged fist hit the enemy with such a force that the cyborg snapped in half, crumpling to the floor. In a few more minutes, it was all over
Standing over the bodies of their fallen opponents, Mega Man keyed his comm. "Wily, how are you about securing that shuttle?" His question was met with static. "Wily, don't you dare tell me that you left without me!" More static was all he heard, and Mega Man gave a sigh. He turned to the two robot masters with him. "C'mon, let's get to the hangar bay, maybe there's something else there that we can use." Together, they started back down the hallway.