Chapter 15
General Calvin Fox of the Global Defense Force didn't quite know what to think. Here he was, sitting in the general communications room of the complex along with several other key personnel, being guarded by several indescribable, yet vaguely humanoid, things. So far the guards had refused to negotiate. In fact, they had refused to talk altogether. Some of the staff had thought about using the equipment in the room to send a distress signal, but the enemy had slagged it after bringing them into the room. Fox could only assume that it was another that cursed Dr. Wily's plots, but for the moment there was nothing he could do but sit and wait.
It had all happened rather quickly. He had been in his quarters, preparing for a meeting with some officials from the Global Space Exploration Force who had been busy trying to figure out why communications with all satellites and stations in orbit had been suddenly lost. It seemed that they had simply vanished off screens nearly a week and a half ago, and several attempts to contact them had proved futile. In fact, ground radar hadn't picked up so much as a piece of space scrap since it had happened. The GSEF had launched a massive telescope search to find the missing satellites. They found nothing but stars.
Television stations and the internet had also stopped working when the satellites had gone down, and for the moment, the only way to send news was through local radio stations and the telephone lines.
The science division had said that they'd discovered something, which was to be the topic of their meeting, but it had never happened. Just as Fox had packed up all this files and data, his door was blown open and he had been taken into custody. He didn't even hear the alarm until twenty minutes later and it had been quickly silenced.
Roughly two hours and several communication attempts with the guards later, the door was finally opened and an eight-foot beast walked in. Well, it wasn't really a beast, but though it resembled the guards, it was much larger, and its armored plating looked like solid rock of a type that the general had never seen before. Whatever it was, it was obviously in charge, and its face radiated a sense of intelligence that the guards lacked. It glanced over the occupants in the room, its eyes settling over the General, where they stopped. General Fox didn't know why it had chosen him, he wasn't even the highest-ranking General there, but for some reason, it was to him that the beast directed his gaze. After a few silent minutes, Fox decided to speak up.
"So, what does Wily want this time?"
The beast seemed slightly taken aback. "Wily? Ahh, you refer to the bane of this world. Let me assure you that I have nothing to do with this so-called 'Dr. Wily'. In fact, my master has already dealt with that threat, his operations have been halted for the moment, and most likely permanently."
The officers looked around, puzzled. One of them, an Admiral whose name Fox did not immediately recall, put the general confusion into words. "Well, if it's not Wily, then who the blazes are you?"
"My name would be meaningless to you, but I will allow you to know that we are here to enslave your species and take your planet's resources for our own. My master has chosen you to be the first 'humans' subjected to the process."
"Why us?" Fox asked, "We are hardly the most important or even influential people on the planet."
"We realize that this world is ruled by a civillian autocracy, but we have learned through our conquests that we can be much more efficient by eliminating military leaders first. Not only is a species morale lowered when they realize that key military leaders are suddenly fighting for the other side, we are also able to aid in disorganizing your defensive abilities in doing so. Eliminating the civilian government would only accomplish one such objective."
"Where is this master you speak of, let us talk to him, we may be able to reach an agreement."
"Hah, your petty attempts to dissuade us will be in vain. Your race was doomed the moment we discovered of your planet's existence, but I assure you, the process is virtually painless, so long as you subject yourselves willingly."
"Well, I'm afraid that your 'attempts' to persuade us will be equally in vain. We 'humans' don't really like backing down without a struggle."
"You will have little choice in the matter. I will give you roughly three standard Earth 'hours' to decide. You can either encourage your people to give up, or you can be tortured before being subjected. Until then, I have my own objectives to accomplish." With that, the thing left the room, which remained silent for several minutes afterward. Admiral Roger Duncan was the first to break the silence.
"Well, I for one won't agree to anything until I see some proof that he is what he claims to be."
"I donno, Roger, do you really want to risk going through what he said?"
"Regardless, I'm not going to go and broadcast a statement of surrender to the world's population."
The comments started flying. Several, like Admiral Duncan, wanted proof. Some refused to give up, while other's seemed to have already given in to the thing's demands. They always were the pessimists, Fox thought. A small groups of officers still didn't know quite what to think. After forty-five minutes of debating, Fox had had enough. He stood up and faced the group, shouting for quiet. When he was convinced that he had everyone's attention, he began to speak.
"Look, I'm not exactly sure what kind of credibility we can give to this thing, but if what he says is true, then we can't afford to give up so soon. If you go and tell the public that they should give in, you would only be adding to the destruction of our entire race, not to mention that you'd probably be labeled a traitor, and what if we won this? Everyone who gave in would probably be court-martialed and sentenced to life. We were brought to these positions because the people saw us as leaders, and I'm not about to prove them wrong the moment I'm given the chance to show a bit of leadership. Besides, I doubt they'd listen to me anyway. Every great leader has the chance to make it into the history books. What if this is our chance?"
"What if there's no future to record it!"
"Then it wouldn't matter either way would it?"
The debate continued after this, but several officers began to rally behind Fox, and the group quickly became more decisive. Eventually, two groups were formed: Those who decided they would give up, and those who decided, for any reason, they would not. When the two hours had passed, heavy footsteps were heard outside the door as the thing returned to the room. It silently rounded up those who had agreed to encourage the people to surrender, and left, promising the come back for the others.
An hour later, it still hadn't returned, and the officers in the room were getting uneasy as their imaginations began to act up. Just as a few of them began to have second thoughts, the sound of heavy footsteps was once again heard outside the door, but they stopped just as they reached it, and a new sound could be heard, though it was muffled. It sounded like… voices. None of the men in the room dared go to the door to hear them better, because there were still several guards, but the guards seemed to know that something was wrong. They had begun to ready their weapons and aim it towards the door. Fox figured that something big was about to happen, and decided that he did not want to be in the middle of it. He slid off his seat and took cover under the table. The other men quickly came to the same realization, and followed his lead, some even used their chairs for cover. Just seconds later, the door was smashed in. Another eight-foot figure appeared, but unlike the last this one was clearly recognizable.
Guts Man stood in the doorway, his large figure filling it nearly entirely. He strode into the room and made for the guards on the other side. The guards, in turn, opened fire on the massive figure, but the large robot shrugged off the assault. When he got close enough to one of the cyborgs, he grabbed its arm and roughly tore the limb from the shoulder, tossing it away and hurling the body into two other guards. As the cyborgs concentrated on Gut Man, other figures began to enter the room and fire upon the guards, who went down quickly from the overwhelming onslaught. When the shooting stopped, the men got the courage to get out from under the table.
When General Fox saw what had entered the room, his first inclination was to duck back under the table. There stood seven robot masters, and several Joes behind them. The only reason Fox didn't duck back under the table was because he also saw a few humans in the group, and he became curious. Before he could ask them what was going on, one more figure stepped into the room, and all his fears were laid to rest.
The whole group cried out in unison, some in question, others in amazement, but they all cried out the same words. "Mega Man?!"
***
"So… uh… Crash Man, is it? If I may ask, what exactly are we dealing with here?"
The humans and their Joes walked among the group of robot masters as they continued their trek down the hallways of the complex. So far the only exchange between the two groups had been directions given by the humans of the best way to get to the main stations. They had also stopped by the armory for some needed munitions for their projectile weapons, as well as a few energy tanks. As they once again continued down the halls, one of the humans could no longer retain his curiosity, and he wanted some questions answered.
"What Shadow Man had told you before was no lie, though it may have sounded differently. We're not exactly sure what it is ourselves, but we do know that they're not here to help. Apparently they go from place to place enslaving the citizens and animals of various worlds for use in their own schemes. Dr. Wily and Dr. Light have temporarily joined forces to deal with this threat, and they are likewise being aided by the Russian scientist, Dr. Cossack. They're learning as much as they can for the moment, but right now we have orders to restore this facility to full operational status."
"Hmmm… I see… I guess that kinda explains why we can't reach our orbital satellites."
"The satellites have apparently been disabled, from what I understand, the enemy has been attempting to disrupt global communications."
"They're trying to disorganize us, I understand now. They must…"
He was interrupted mid-sentence by Crash Man, who made a swift hand gesture that obviously meant 'be quiet'. All the nearby robot masters suddenly stopped walking and fell silent for a few moments, until Crash Man tapped his helmet twice and turned back towards the other group. "It was Shadow Man," he said. "He says they've found a rather large group of guards outside the doors of the Communications Center. He's coming back so that we can formulate a plan to get through them.
Soon Shadow Man and Tomahawk Man appeared around the corner, while Slash Man dropped from the ceiling. The two groups huddled together, and Shadow Man began to explain the situation.
"Well, they outnumber us at roughly 2.5 to one, so this isn't going to be easy. They knew I was coming, and nearly fried me as I tried to scout the area. They must have sensors filling the hallways around this area. They obviously don't want anyone getting in there.
"We could try to surprise them with a different approach," Crash Man said. He turned to one of the humans. "What exactly are these walls made of?"
Well, this isn't exactly a combat center. They're not reinforced of anything. A standard gernade could easily put a good sized hole in the wall…" He trailed off as he realized what Crash Man was suggesting. "You think it'll work?"
"They might have some excellent offensive strategies, but their defensive tactics need work. We can surround them on all sides, create confusion if possible, get them to divide their fire, and we shouldn't have many problems. Alright, Tomahawk Man, take the humans and their Joes. I'll take Crash Man and Metal Man. Freeze Man, Slash Man, a Crystal Man will take the other side. Tomahawk Man, wait for my signal, then start a diversion from the front. The rest of us will come in from opposing sides. This has to be quick, we need to get inside that room."
***
Bass merely walked past the cyborgs guarding the room. Just as all the other he had met since his initial encounter, they did not fire on him, but let him enter willingly. When he reached the door, he kicked it in without hesitating, and strode into the room. There was not one guard in the room. In fact, there didn't appear to be anything in the room. It was dark, the power obviously having been cut, and it literally appeared like a tornado had hit the room. Equipment and paper was strewn everywhere, most of the equipment having been destroyed beyond repair. There was no movement, in fact, everything seemed absolutely still. Still and silent… except for the soft sound of rustling paper. Rustling paper? Huh?
Bass looked around him, and saw that the paper thrown about the room had started to wave, as a breeze had suddenly entered the room. The noise began to grow louder, and soon papers were flying everywhere as the wind picked up. Bass couldn't understand it, there didn't appear to be any windows, except for the skylight, and it seemed intact.
"I can assure you, this is no natural phenomena."
The voice came from behind. Bass quickly wheeled around and saw a most peculiar sight. It was a large figure floating in the air, about six and a half feet tall, but slender. It had a large hump on its back which seemed to house a pair of high powered turbines that apparently gave the figure its flight capabilities. Bass raised an eyebrow.
"You're the one leading this force?"
The figure gave Bass what could only be interpreted as a smug expression. "In a sense of the word. Yes, I command the troops, but I also fight alongside them. You abandon your troops the moment the mission begins. Not very smart."
"Bah… they're robot masters and nothing more. I don't need them to take you down."
"Nonetheless, they fight well. They're on their way even now, but as entertaining as it was to see them struggle to get here, they won't get inside."
"Like I said, I don't need them. Your arrogance in challenging me will be your last mistake. You hardly look like you would put up a good fight."
"Appearances can be deceiving."
"Then I guess that's your last hope, isn't it?"
"Ha, you are nothing compared to me. A mere sport." At this, the elite raised its arms, and two turbine fans appeared, which began to spin, increasing the air current to the point that Bass had to lean into it to prevent from being blown over. "It has been a long time since a foe has given me a proper challenge. I am interested to see what your world has to offer."
"I could snap your limbs in two without pause."
"That may be true, but to lay a hand on me would be a feat in and of itself. You won't get close enough to try."
"Watch me." Without another word, Bass dashed towards his foe and lunged at him, but just as his fingers reached for the figure, they closed around empty air. The elite appeared behind him, and laughed mockingly.
"A noble attempt, but you'll have to move faster."
Bass tried again, but this time the elite raised its hands and a force of wind hit Bass like a brick wall, sending him flying across the room. Bass hit the opposing wall and slunk to the floor, dazed, but undamaged. He rose slowly to his feet. If I can't touch him, my buster can! Bass first charged shot was easily dodged, as was the second, and the third. Finally Bass gave up charging and sent several smaller beams of plasma in the elite's direction, intent on boxing him in, but the cyborg managed to dodge them all. There was no doubt about it, this guy was fast.
"I must say, you're rather good at running away. Had some practice have you?"
The elite gave Bass another smirk. "Do not attempt to goad me into making a mistake, I'm not so inexperienced to be muddled by words. I am merely giving you a chance to prove yourself. Thus far, the results have been disappointing."
"Really? Maybe I'm giving you too much breathing room." Without another word, Bass brought up his buster, but this time no large comet or cyan beam came from the weapon. Instead, several smaller purple plasma bolts were discharged in rapid succession. With no room left on the ground to maneuver, the cyborg took to the air, and the wave of plasma passed safely underneath him. Bass pressed the attack, but the cyborg now had that much more room to dodge, and it darted between the onslaught like a hummingbird on overdrive. Eventually the weapon began to overheat, and the firing stopped. Bass was beginning to get very frustrated.
"Will you hold still and let me shoot you!"
"I'm afraid that is entirely out of the question, but I believe that I have had my fun. You were amusing, and few have been able to match your determination, but I must say that I have fought better."
Rage overcame Bass as he once again lunged at the cyborg, and once again, he was caught in a powerful burst of wind that knocked him into the opposite wall. This time, however, the elite continued to blast Bass with his power, holding the black robot fast. Bass couldn't even move.
"Amusing as you are, all toys have a tendency to break, and your usefulness has worn out. Like so many others, you will fall at the hands of my Sonic Wind!"
Immediately upon announcing his intentions, Bass began to hear a strange hum. It was quiet at first, but steadily grew louder, and Bass was feeling the effects well enough. He began to shiver as every molecule of his body started vibrating with sonic intensity. It felt like his body was about to tear itself apart, and his energy began to fall at an alarming rate. When eighty percent of his energy was gone, the vibrations and the wind both ceased, and Bass dropped to the floor. It was quite a chore to get himself back on his feet, and his limbs protested violently. The elite seemed vaguely impressed.
"You are quite durable. A sustained burst of that strength would have seriously damaged even one of my brethren, and certainly destroyed anything else, and yet you are still able to remain on your feet."
Bass tried to talk, but he only managed to get out a few labored words. "I'm… just full… of surprises."
The elite seemed to think something over. He gazed over the black and gold form in front of him, "Maybe you can be of use to me after all."
***
"Alright, everyone is in position. I guess it's time to stir things up a bit. Tomahawk Man, that's your cue."
"Consider it done." Tomahawk Man turned to the humans. "We might have to lose a few Joes with this, but we have to get their attention focused on us entirely. So far the idea is to just charge out there and fire at anything that fires back. I would suggest that you two stay behind the corner and guide your Joes from there."
The humans nodded, gave their directives, and the troop of Joes, led by Tomahawk Man, darted around the corner and began to fire at anything in the hallway. The cyborgs were ready, and immediately returned fire, but never left the vicinity of the doorway.
Good, Tomahawk Man thought. That's just what we want them to do.
Several Guard Joes had already fallen, and even the robot master had taken a few hits, but it was working. The entire force of cyborgs was diverting its attention to the threat. The humans added to the confusion by occasionally tossing a grenade into the enemy formations. After about a minute or two of fierce fighting, the wall to the right of the cyborgs suddenly exploded outward, sending two of their number that had been too close flying in the opposite direction, and showering the rest with plaster and drywall. Metal Blades, Shadow Blades, and Crash Bombs began spewing out of the hole in the wall, ripping into and blowing apart every cyborg that got caught in the onslaught. The three robot masters attacked with such a ferocity that the entire cyborg force turned on this new threat in order to deal with it properly. Tomahawk Man saw the opportunity, as did the humans, and their team pressed the attack. Caught in the crossfire, the cyborgs couldn't quite figure out which direction held the bigger threat, and they began to fire wildly. As the robot masters began dropping cyborgs one at a time, the remainder of the group huddled together in front of the doorway, determined not to let anything get past them. They began to reorganize their efforts, and concentrate their fire in one direction, attempting to deal with the enemy one by one.
Their efforts were cut short by a large block of ice. Actually, it was more like a large block of the ceiling encased in ice. Suddenly weighed down by several tons of ice, and weakened by a few well placed slashes, the ceiling had come down on top of the huddled cyborgs with a loud crash. Freeze Man, Slash Man, and Crystal Man had ridden the ice block to the floor.
"Well," Crystal Man was saying to Freeze Man, "That certainly got the job done, now didn't it?"
The other teams gathered into the hallway, which was now covered in ice shards. One of the humans turned to Freeze Man. "You know, I was expecting you to come blasting out of the other wall, like those guy's did," he said, motioning to Shadow Man.
"If you were expecting it, they might have too. Gotta keep the enemy on their toes y'know."
"I guess…"
"Well," Tomahawk Man said, "We fought so hard to get here, should we at least figure out what's behind door number one?"
Before any of them could move, one of the humans gave a stifled scream, and slumped to the floor. The robot masters whirled around, and as they did so, one of the three remaining guard joes exploded. It didn't take long to spot the origin of the disturbance, it was quite easy to see.
A hulking beast stood in the middle of the hallway, nearly blocking the whole thing with its mass. It was generally humanoid, with a small angular head and a massive body. Roughly ten feet tall, it was covered with various weapon systems, most notable were its huge, shoulder-mounted cannon, and a rotating rocket launcher attached to its back. Two small swivel cannons were mounted on either side of its waist. Its hands were huge, and looked like they could crush any of the robot masters if they got too close. A long, dark visor was apparently its optical system, on which a single green eye bounced back and forth. This was obviously something entirely mechanical. It was the first time the enemy had employed anything without a trace of living tissue. It faced the group, which could only stare for a few moments in silent awe at the power they beheld. Metal Man finally broke the silence.
"Anyone have any suggestions?"
The shoulder cannon began to glow.
"Yeah," the remaining human said, "GET OUTTA THE WAY!"
The entire group leapt into the hole in the wall that Crash Man had created earlier, with the exception of the Sniper Joe, which decided to trust his shield. Through the hole, the Robot Masters could see the hallway behind them fill with a vast beam of white light. When it subsided, the Sniper Joe was on its back. The beam had pierced the visor imbedded into the sniper's shield, and in turn, had pierced the Joe as well. The joe's feet, which had not been protected by its shield, were gone.
"We can't fight that thing in the hallways, there's not enough room to maneuver."
"What do you suggest, Shadow Man?"
"We'll have to make a mad dash for the control room. We'll have more room to fight there."
"What!" Crystal Man exclaimed, "We'll destroy the very equipment we came to preserve!"
"Not really," Shadow Man reasoned. "Chances are it's been destroyed already. There are other ways to get the system working again anyway. There's no more time to argue, it's coming down the hall. Let's go!"
As one, the group ran back into the hallway and through the (now vaporized) doorway into the communication's center. The room was dark, and apparently empty, as nothing within fired upon the incoming group. Damaged and destroyed equipment (as well as thousands of sheets of paper) were strewn about the area. Shadow Man turned to Crystal Man.
"See, told ya."
"Yeah, yeah…"
The group split up, deciding to take to the shadows hoping to surprise the hulk as it entered.
Heavy footsteps announced the coming of the monster. It walked with a slow plodding gait. It didn't appear very fast. Then again, it probably doesn't need to be very fast, Shadow Man thought to himself.
The moment the beast entered the center Crash Man let loose with a Crash Bomb. The monster brought up one of its massive hands, and the Crash Bomb hit it and exploded. The result was not pleasant.
It didn't even look like it did any damage! Freeze Man thought.
The monster was returning fire with its waist cannons, rapidly firing off several green lasers. Crash Man was forced to duck back behind the console he was using for cover.
"The armor on its hands is thick. We'll have to get around them if we want to do any damage," Crash Man called to the others.
"Freeze Man, can you slow him down?" Shadow Man called in turn.
A ball of concentrated ice few at the robot's feet, coating the floor around it with ice, but the robot was able to walk on the ice without a problem.
"It's no good," Freeze Man yelled, "He's either too heavy, or he's got excellent traction."
The robot masters continued to trade shots with the beast, but nothing seemed to work. Crystals and Blades merely bounced off the armor, it could break through ice too quickly for it to be effective, and it was quite good at intercepting Crash Bombs with its hands. The robot masters were not quite so immune.
The remaining guard joes had been the first to go down. The human wasn't showing his face. The robot masters were adept at dodging the beast's guns, but they couldn't hold out forever. They needed some breathing room, and an idea… fast!
Surprisingly enough, an idea came to Shadow Man quite quickly.
"Metal Man, Crash Man, get his attention! I've got a plan," Shadow Man called out. The two robot masters immediately began throwing everything they could at the beast, while the others gathered in the far corner of the room, hidden by several cubicles. Shadow Man addressed the group.
"Look, Freeze Man can't slow him down, the ice is too weak, but maybe," he turned to Slash Man, "…your secondary can."
"Think it'll work?"
"It's all we've got left, but we can't risk wasting our chance with only one or two canisters. Give everyone at least two, we'll have to throw them all at once, half of us at his feet, and half at his weapons. We've got to slow him down."
"Right." Slash Man generated several canisters and handed them to the others. When they all had their hands full, Shadow Man signaled.
"All right… NOW!"
As one, the group of robot masters rose and threw the canisters at the beast, which split open mid-flight. Gobs of red gunk exploded out of the canisters, covering the monster, and the area around it, sticking it to the floor and clogging its weapon systems. The robot found that it suddenly could not move or fire. It lost its balance and toppled to the floor, shaking the whole room as it fell.
The robot masters began to approach the beast cautiously, but the remaining human didn't waist a breath. In a flash he had darted out of his hiding place, pulled out two grenades, pulled the pins, and shoved them into the back mounted rocket launcher tubes. Slash Man tried to warn him about getting too close to the monster, but he was either too wrapped up in what he was doing, or he didn't seem to care. It wasn't until he tried to get away that he realized his mistake. He fell to the ground, having stepped in the goo himself, and he only had enough time to close his eyes in anticipation.
The robot masters quickly dove for the nearest cover.
The resulting explosion rocked the very foundation of the building, sending anything and everything that had been anywhere near the blast in all directions. Concrete, metal, plastic and various other things rained down upon the robot masters crouching behind their cover.
As the dust settled, the robot masters cautiously peeked around their cover, only to discover that the sentry was back on its feet, and no longer covered in red gunk.
But its rocket launcher was missing.
As was a sizable chunk of its back.
Tomahawk Man was the first to speak. "Well, that probably wasn't the smartest move that guy ever made, but he did give us something to work with, so let's bring this beast down!"
The robot masters attacked furiously, concentrating on the damaged section of its back. The sentry, however, had gotten noticeably faster, and was not letting anything get through. In a frenzy, Slash Man leapt on the beast, with the intent to cut him apart from the inside out. The sentry merely grabbed him out of the air, and began to squeeze. Slash Man gave a yelp as he reacted to the sudden pressure on his body, and he tried to fight, but the sentry's grip couldn't be broken.
Metal Man intervened, jumping onto the sentry's back, he jammed a Metal Blade into the damaged portion. The robot, sensing the greater danger to its health, threw Slash Man into the nearest wall, and instead grabbed Metal Man. Slash Man hit the wall and slumped to the ground, his body screaming in protest at the punishment it had just taken, but he got back up.
The sentry didn't even bother to try and crush Metal Man, but instead brought him in front of the large shoulder mounted cannon, as he turned to fire his waist guns on Shadow Man, who had attempted to come to Metal Man's aid.
The cannon began to glow, and Metal Man was staring straight down the barrel. He still had one hand free, and as a last ditch attempt, he threw a Metal Blade into the optical system of the sentry. The blade smashed into the visor, splintering it to pieces and cutting directly into the oscillating eye. The sentry was blinded, but that didn't stop the cannon.
The beam was much smaller, and not as intense, but it got the job done. The sentry tossed aside the remains of what used to be the robot master Metal Man. Half his upper torso, and everything above, had been completely vaporized.
The sentry began to fire blindly in all directions. It was aiming its fire by sound only now. Small green lasers lit up the area, accompanied every once in a while by a large white beam of energy, but since the weapons were no longer properly aimed, the remaining robot masters had no trouble dodging them. Still, the robot masters couldn't get very close, and it was getting frustrating.
"Look, I can't aim these things well enough to get into that hole in his back," Crash Man said, referring to his Crash Bombs. "He keeps turning around too quickly, and his armor's just too thick. We need to try something else. Slash Man, get on that wall, get ready to jump at him, but be prepared to catch something on the way there. Freeze Man," he tossed Freeze Man a Crash Bomb, "Throw that at him when he jumps."
Slash Man understood. Leaping up onto a wall, he began to give off a reddish glow. After a moment, he launched himself towards the monster once again, but something else met him in mid-air. It was a Crash Bomb, encased in ice. Slash Man deftly caught the frozen bomb, using his claws to grip the ice. He latched onto the monster's back, used his Slash Claws to cut even deeper into the robot's systems, and jammed the bomb as far into the sentry as he possibly could before jumping away to safety. Soon after, another explosion rocked the building, and this time when the dust cleared, there was nothing left.
A/N: This chapter didn't quite come out the way I'd wanted it to. I've also begun to notice that because I split my characters up so much, jumping around is going to get confusing. I also feel that there's been too much action, and not enough plot… I'll try and fix that. Truth be told, I'm making this up as I go, so any suggestions might be useful :). Oh, and I know that Sonic Wind comes from Sonic Adventure 2… but it sounded like such a cool weapon, and I didn't know what else to use :).
Shadowwolf75: Nice to have you back. I thought my extended absence had lost ya.
Everyone, leave a review, if you please.