Author's Note: Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter. Here's Chapter 17 where you'll finally get to see Yomex himself in action.
Disclaimer: Refer to the prologue
Story Title: Corrupted Programming
Chapter Title: Takedown
Inside Grand Marshal Yomex's Command Ship
Yomex studied the green that stood before him. As the green robot took on a fighting stance and raised a weapon, the Grand Marshal swept his over him. Yomex skimmed his memory banks in a millionth of a second, comparing the green robot's design to all known Cluster designs, but no matches were to be found. However, when Yomex accessed non-Cluster designs he found a close match, Global Robotic Response Unit XJ-9. Comparing the green robot's design with XJ-9's, Yomex found several similarities although the green robot's design was considerably less sophisticated.
"So," Yomex began after he finished his scans, which lasted for about a second. "You're one of Wakeman's earlier creations. Now I know who to look for out there."
Yomex turned to the ship's intercom. "I have confirmed the intruder's nature. Tell the external search crews to look for human bio signatures."
"But, how'd you…" the green robot started, seemingly startled that Yomex appeared to know that Dr. Wakeman created him.
"How did I know?" Yomex smiled. "I can tell from your design. Although I have to admit that the files on the human, Wakeman, mentioned nothing about you."
"Yeah?" the green robot said. He seemed to shake away his earlier startled response and took on a confident smirk. "Then let give you my personal business card."
"The name's Dax!" the green robot yelled as he fired the weapon he held on full blast. But Yomex had anticipated that. The Grand Marshal dodged the blast with tremendous speed, gave a slight spin, then stopped and glanced coolly at the green robot.
"Dax, is it?" Yomex said mockingly. "Then I guess I must introduce myself. I am Grand Marshal Yomex. I'd make a longer introduction, but I'm in a slight hurry."
"A hurry, huh?" the green robot replied in an equally mocking manner. "Well, what're you gonna do about it, Shorty?"
Suddenly, Yomex's limbs started to extend. His arms and legs stretched several times as his neck also extended, though not as far as his arms and legs did. From each of his wrists activated a bright orange blade of energy. Yomex looked down at the green robot that had identified himself as ADAX, the confident smile of which had now disappeared. The Grand Marshal smiled ever so slightly and flared his now-extensive arms forward, baring his energy blades.
"Who's the 'Shorty' now?" he asked just before his energy-bladed arms shot forward.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Okay, left, now right, down that way then make a left." Brad directed Jenny while hanging on to her as she flew down the ship's corridors, blasting every unfortunate roach drone she came across. He shot a look over her shoulders and saw a raging purple robot chasing them down. Viruz's energy fields were now so hot and intense that the walls, floor, and ceiling literally wilted from the heat as he rushed. Brad gulped and pried his eyes away from the sight of the High Commander. He had to concentrate on directing. "Okay… um, left, no wait! The other left! Now down that elevator…"
Jenny followed Brad's directions just as he called them. Though, when Brad glanced at her, she seemed kinda frustrated every time he corrected himself when he accidentally said the wrong direction. Brad would've apologized for the screw-ups, but there wasn't really time for that now. Besides, it wasn't really his fault. Panic and stressful, dangerous situations weren't really much help in recalling things exactly.
"You can run, XJ-9," Viruz called out to them tauntingly. "But you cannot escape my wrath!"
"Brad, are you sure this is the right way?" Jenny asked in an urgent tone.
"Positive, Jenny." Brad said. "Have a little faith on the ol' Bradster."
"Well, the 'ol' Bradster' better have his directions straight." Jenny said. "Because if your directions are wrong we're going to be 100 different forms of toast."
The boy was about to reply when a ball of purple energy flew by, slightly singing his hair. Brad gave a small, muffled yelp of surprise as Jenny started to pull very tight and almost reckless evasive maneuvers in the narrow corridors. He held on to Jenny tighter and instinctively squeezed his eyes shut as they passed very, very close to the walls, floor, and ceiling. Another abbreviated scream involuntarily forced it's way up his throat as Jenny nicked the wall.
"Oh man…" Brad muttered. "This'd be so cool if only there weren't the threats of either being horribly mangled or brutally vaporized."
Brad forced his eyes open, and the first thing he saw was the floor rushing by only mere millimeters away. He quickly shut his eyes again, but then willed himself to open them again. He had to watch where they were going in order to give Jenny the directions, no matter how scary it was. Besides, hadn't he already done things today that would've made any of the so-called "tough" jocks back on Earth whimper like a puppy? The thought strengthened Brad's resolved and his eyes narrowed in the determination.
"Okay, Jenny," he said, keeping his voice as steady as possible. It was practically an unspoken code for guys to look like they were keeping calm, even though they were really scared pee-less. Besides, he wasn't Tuck. "Take a left, a right, then another left. After that just go down a couple of doors and we're there."
"Gotcha." Jenny said curtly as she blew down the corridors.
Outside Grand Marshal Yomex's Command Ship
Mrs. Wakeman looked for the umpteenth time at the Stealth Wasp's chronometer. Her mind repeatedly questioned her decision to send ADAX in alone. Sure, she had said that she was giving ADAX a chance to prove himself, but in retrospect a rescue mission into a ship full of hostile robots really wasn't a very good time to try and see if one of her creations had learned control. And ADAX past records were very far from exemplary.
Still, there was nothing she could do now. She couldn't go in and follow ADAX, the thermal vent's internal temperature would burn her to a crisp. She would just have to place her faith in ADAX, however foolish that decision seemed like. But as she finished that thought she was shown exactly how foolish the said decision was. Tow ant drones, a black one and a gray one, flew into view. Their weapons were bared and they seemed to be looking for something, and the doctor knew exactly what that was. Apparently, ADAX had been discovered and the Cluster commander within the ship had deduced that there was a cloaked ship that had carried ADAX in. Either that or ADAX had accidentally blabbed about it.
Dr. Wakeman took a deep breath to calm herself down. There was no reason to panic, the ant drones' sensor arrays weren't nearly powerful or sensitive enough to see right through her craft's cloaking field. Even the hole she had drilled into the Cluster ship's hull wasn't a cause for worry, the Stealth Wasp's cloaking field would just project an image of a whole hull. But just in case, she started to put on her space suit's gloves and helmet and started to observe the ant drones warily.
The ant drones slowly swept the bottom hull with their sensors. As they turned in a slow, almost lazy, manner Mr. Wakeman willed them not detect her presence. She had no such luck. When the drones swept by her position their eyes widened and then pointed their weapons at her. At that instant, Dr. Wakeman realized that they had scanned for her biological signature. That was the only way they could've detected her. She immediately threw herself at the craft's control panel. She managed to deactivate the cloaking field and activate her craft's shielding systems just as the two ant drones opened fire.
Inside Grand Marshal Yomex's Command Ship
"Argh!" ADAX grunted as one of the orange-gold robot's energy blades sliced a long gash along the outer casing of the sensor pod on his left forearm. He rolled away and volleyed off three shots at full power, but the orange-gold robot—Grand Marshal Yomex, as he had called himself—merely dodged them all. The shots slammed into the ceiling and exploded violently.
"Hold still so I can kill you, dag nab it!" ADAX shouted in frustration, firing volley after volley of weapons fire from Miffy. None of which ever made contact with their intended target.
"Now why would I do something that?" Yomex mocked as he struck at ADAX with his energy blades with blinding speed, his extra long appendages moving in a manner that ADAX would've considered comical had it not been for the fact that each strike was deadly. The green robot did his best to avoid Yomex's strikes, but the Grand Marshal was just too fast.
ADAX saw a red sheen come over his vision as his frustration and desperation turned to anger. He let out an almost animal-like roar of rage as he waved Miffy around wildly, filling the corridor with destructive blasts of energy. Large chunks of the walls and ceiling exploded outward as the blasts struck them. But much to ADAX's chagrin, Yomex effortlessly dodged each and every one of his blasts.
"ARRGGHHH!!!" ADAX screamed in pain as Yomex's right arm energy blade slammed into the upper left portion of his chest. The cutting energy passed right through ADAX's back until Yomex's fist pounded into his chest, sending him into a wall. ADAX involuntarily dropped his weapon as he struggled against the energy blade that literally pinned. Everything suddenly seemed to become empty to ADAX. He also became aware that he now seemed to have tunnel vision. It took a moment for the green robot to realize that he didn't have tunnel vision at all, his perception had just seriously limited since the connection to his left arm—and the sensor pod located on said arm—was severed when the energy blade went right through the upper left side of his chest.
Yomex kept ADAX pinned with his right arm blade while he raised his free left hand. Yomex's now-long neck snaked down to bring the Grand Marshal's face on level with ADAX's face. "You fought well, Dax. Unfortunately for you, I fought better."
"Now, this ends." Yomex said simply, with no sign of gloating in his voice.
As Yomex slowly brought around his left hand to bring the energy blade right beside ADAX's face, ADAX desperately searched for a way to get out of the situation he was in. He quickly looked around and saw Miffy lying on the ground. It was beyond the arm reach of his default form, but well within the reach of his arms extension capabilities. Despite the pain he was feeling, ADAX smiled.
Yomex, upon seeing ADAX's smile, turned to look at what ADAX was looking at. ADAX's right arm suddenly extended the instant the Grand Marshal turned to look. ADAX's hand sprang forward and grabbed Miffy, but Yomex reacted quickly as well. Yomex brought his free arm blade down to slice off ADAX's quickly retracting arm. But even with Yomex's speed the only thing he cut off was ADAX's right thumb, the rest of ADAX's arm quickly resumed its original length with the gun in its grasp. The Grand Marshal brought his free arm-mounted energy blade to bear and whipped his head around to face ADAX and finish him off. But when Yomex turned he came face-to-face with ADAX's weapon.
"You know," ADAX said gleefully, seeing the shock spread through the Grand Marshal's face. "I don't think I've properly introduced you Miffy."
"Yomex, Miffy. Miffy, Yomex." ADAX said just as he pulled the trigger. The energy beam punched into and through Yomex's face, blowing the Grand Marshal's head into shrapnel. Yomex's beam blades deactivated as his smoking, headless body fell lifelessly to the ground. No longer pinned to the wall, ADAX dropped Miffy and sank to his knees, clutching the hole in his upper torso.
As ADAX pulled his thumb-less right hand away from the hole, he saw that it was wet with formaldehyde. It was the formaldehyde from the tubing the covered his bio circuits and prevented them from to rotting. The formaldehyde quickly stopped spurting out as failsafe mechanisms constricted the severed portion of the tubing, preventing him from bleeding out what was practically his lifeblood. He stared at the hole for a moment before he reached over to pick up his weapon. It was difficult to do so this time since he was missing a thumb.
ADAX slowly stood up. His left arm hanging limp, accentuating the sorry state of his gashed and battered body. He gripped Miffy firmly as he started down the corridors. His mission wasn't complete yet, not by a long shot.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Viruz stormed down the command ship's corridors, hurling energy balls at the blue robot in front of him. His target, XJ-9, dodged the ball of purple energy causing it to instead hit one of two mantis repair drones that had the bad luck to pass by at that very moment. Them other mantis bots looked in shock as its partner exploded. It cringed as XJ-9 flew by. It was just looking up to check if the coast was clear when Viruz flew right into it.
The mantis drone gave a wailing scream as the energy-covered body of the High Commander melted it out of existence. But Viruz hardly even noticed, the only thing he was concerned about was revenge. If anyone got destroyed by accident, well, tough luck for them. He continued on, leaving in his wake a trail of partially melted corridors. He didn't notice, all he saw and cared about was that Bradley and XJ-9 were running away from him. He had to capture them and destroy them. He had to get his vengeance.
Then, he saw XJ-9 suddenly duck into a room. Viruz tried to turn and follow her, but he was moving in such a fast and furious manner that he couldn't turn on a dime. He, instead, skidded into a very surprised red roach drone, melting the unfortunate robot into a puddle of molten metal before it could even scream. Angrily, the High Commander picked himself off the floor with his remaining left arm and went right into the room he had seen Jenny and Brad duck into.
When he stepped in he saw Jenny and Brad, literally up against a wall. 'The fools,' he thought. 'They've run themselves into a dead end. Now there is no escape for them.' He smiled a twisted, maniacal smile and started to laugh.
"There's no way out for you now!" Viruz said. His voice suddenly rose in volume. "I FINISH YOU HERE!!!"
Viruz threw himself bodily at the two teenagers, but before he could hit them they leapt out of the way. He rammed into the wall and melted right through. He started to turn back to leap right back through the hole he'd made when he realized that he was falling. A split second later, he realized something else: He wasn't just falling, he was falling down a waste disposal chute that led right down to a vaporization chamber. It was then that he knew why XJ-9 had led him down here. He had been tricked, and in his rage he fell for it.
With these realizations in mind Viruz fell down the chute, screaming in absolute fury the whole way…
Author's Note: Could this be the end of Viruz and Yomex? Could this story finally be over? Not just yet. There're still a couple of chapter's left, and maybe even an epilogue. Anyway, please review. I'll try to get the last chappies out as fast as I possibly can.