Rock was standing at the mouth of a gigantic cave seconds later. Quickly diving between two large boulders as soon as he realized he was out in the open, Rock tapped on the side of his helmet as soon as he was safely hidden. "Roll, I'm at the mines," Rock whispered.
"Good," said Roll, "You know what to do, just be careful, Rock. Who knows what those Virtuloids have in those mines."
"Something not too welcoming, I'm sure," Rock muttered.
"I can't really tell if our signal will reach into those caves, Rock," said Roll, "So you'll be on your own for awhile."
"Just leave it to me," Rock said, morphing his forearm into a cannon again.
"We're counting on you, Rock," said Roll worriedly, "Please come back in at least one piece."
"I'll try," Rock said as he heard the connection sizzle out. Charging the energy from his reserves into his arm cannon, Rock smirked to ease himself and said, "Let's rock."
*****
The heavy iron door came blasting off of it's hinges in a booming explosion, and Rock came dashing past it seconds later. Almost as soon as he crossed over the thresholds, a deafening alarm screamed though the air. A quick shot to a small electrical box on the side of the wall silenced the alarm immediately, and Rock could hear a swarm of drones rushing towards him. The first flash of light that caught the corner of his eye made Rock's arm cannon fire a blast upon it. A small blast rocked the insides of the cave as Rock continued to run through the tunneled-out corridors. The corridor widened sharply in front of him, and Rock found himself dashing towards a large pit, littered all about with various cranes and pulleys. Pushing himself as far as he could into the air as he leapt off the edge of the pit, Rock landed firmly in the empty carriage of an ore basket, being gently raised upwards to a hole in the roof of the cavern. Reading his arm cannon, Rock waited with bated breath as the carriage whisked him into the roof and to the upper level. As soon as he saw the ground of the new platform, Rock lept off of the cart and let his cannon fire in front of him at the first thing he saw. The small bulldozer-like robot was blasted onto its side, and another shot from Rock's cannon set it ablaze. Dashing over the ruined robot, Rock ran into the next corridor he came across.
A sudden jab of pain in his back sent Rock stumbling as he ran along the ground. Spinning himself around, Rock opened a barrage of firepower at the cloud of eye-drones behind him, each exploding in a shower of flames and shrapnel. Another sharp jab in his side sent Rock whirling around and firing madly, laying chaos to the army of mass of various robots in front of him. When the corridor was silent, Rock rubbed his ribs. Rock began to wonder where he would find something to destroy the mines with, and he immediately thought of a horde of explosives levelling the entire caverns. Hoping to become lucky, Rock continued down the tunnels with dynamite on his mind.
The cannon on his hand felt like it would met any second. Blasting anything that moved as he ran like a rabid wolf down the twisting tunnels made his head spin. He barely managed to recognize another large pit in front of him to jump in time, sending him sailing towards the other side. With a quick thrust of his legs in the air as he came to the middle of the chasm, Rock pushed himself into the air again, landing squarely on the other side of the mining pit.
A sudden rumbling from beneath him made his nerves shiver. Suddenly, the ground opened up beneath him and swallowed him whole. Rock landed clumsily on his feet in another cavern, inside a small, empty cart on a rail track. Another rumble shook the caverns, and the cart began to move. Deciding to leave his life to luck, Rock readied his arm cannon and braced himself for the worst, as the rail cart slowly dropped down a steep hill. Rock looked down the plummeting railway, and was relieved to see nothing but a hazard-less ride down. But when another rumble caused the rails to fall apart, Rock screamed, "Oh shit!"
The wheels of the cart skipped over the broken rails, jarring Rock as it skidded over the damaged tracks. As he fell down the steep hill, Rock saw an empty cart sitting lazily on a level platform ahead of him. Perching on the rim of the cart, Rock leapt out of the plummeting rail cart, only to land in the other one seconds later. The force of Rock's body crashing inside the small cart was enough to send it racing along the new set of tracks, just at the caves trembled again. Rock began to wonder what was making the tremors around him as the cart skidded into a low hole in the wall, so tight that Rock had to hide himself in the cart to slip past. When he stood again, Rock found himself gently coming to a halt at what looked like the end of the tracks. As soon as the cart stopped, Rock hopped out, and rubbed the back of his neck. "I've had it with the easy way out," He muttered, looking at the cart.
It was then that Rock noticed another heavy shutter in the spacious room he now stood in, the same kind he encountered in the fuel factory. Knowing it may be his only way out, Rock knocked on the shutter, and it was immediately pulled up into the wall, revealing a small, short tunnel leading to another shutter. Taking a deep breath, Rock stepped over the threshold, and the shutter immediately came slamming down behind him. Rallying all of what remained of his courage, Rock walked to the shutter ahead of him, and gave it a light touch. The shutter came up in a flash, revealing a large room in front of him. Stepping past the shutter, it came crashing down behind him again, trapping Rock inside the room.
Rock looked around, and saw that the room was completely bare, and the shutter that had let him in the room would not bugde a bit. "Roll, can you hear me?" Rock asked.
"I'm reading you," came Roll's voice, marred by static and interference, "But not very well."
"I'm trapped," said Rock, "I'm in some kind of room, and I can't see a way out."
"How'd you get in?"
"A retractable one-way wall. I can't go back through it."
"Oh my- wait a second, Rock," Roll suddenly gasped.
"What?"
"Rock, there's a Virtuloid right beneath you!"
Rock barely managed to leap to his side before a large drill shot up from the ground where he was a split-second ago. Another rumble made the whole ground shake, and Rock nearly fell over from the intense tremor. The ground split apart in front of him, and a large, bulky figure popped up from underneath the ground, and glared at Rock as soon as he landed. "Let me guess," said the Virtuloid, "The guy who raided the fuel factory?"
"In the flesh," Rock replied.
The Virtuloid sported numerous drills poking out from his body, most notably the three large augers that made his left hand. "You're certainly a brave-looking one," said the Virtuloid in his deep, scratchy voice, "What's your name?"
"If you must call me something, my name is Rock."
"The pleasure is all mine, Rock," said the Vitruloid plottingly. "They call me Ground. Remember that, it's going to be the last name you'll hear."
With that, Ground charged at Rock, thrusting his massive drill-laden hand at Rock. Rock catapulted himself off of Ground's head like a hurdle horse, spun around in mid-air, and opened fire upon the back of Ground's neck. Ground only stumbled a bit, hardly shaken by Rock's attacks. As soon as Rock landed again, Ground dug his arm into the floor and tunnelled himself underground. The room was silent again, and Rock could only feel faint tremors shake the room. On gut instinct, Rock stepped to his left, narrowly avoiding the body of Ground shooting up from the surface. Rock focused a charge of energy into his cannon, and unleashed it upon Ground's chest. The blow barely stunned the massive Virtloid, and it only made Ground spin around and jab his arm in Rock's direction. The drill on Ground's arm suddenly shot out at Rock, catching Rock by surprise. Rock soon found himself blown to the ground as the point of the auger dug itself into Rock's shoulder. Rock wailed in agony as he tore the drill out of his shoulder, feeling a stiff numbness shoot through his arm. As soon as Rock could stand again, he found that Ground was nowhere in sight. Another rumble shook the room, and Rock again managed to skip to his side and avoid Ground's drill-riddled body from skewering him. As soon as he landed, Ground charged at Rock again, with Rock leaping over the stampeding robot again. Charging his arm cannon again, Rock sent a massive blast of energy sailing towards Ground, smashing against Ground's back. Ground stumbled forward a bit, and suddenly collapsed to his knee.
"Had enough?" Rock jeered.
"I'm just getting started," Ground replied.
With that, Ground swivelled around and faced Rock, smashing his drills into the ground and beginning to dig. A shockwave of a tremor took Rock off of his feet, landing clumsily on his backside. As soon as Rock got to his knee, Ground had charged at him again, ramming his drills into Rock's already wounded shoulder. Rock screamed in agony when Ground pinned him to the wall by his drills. Keeping Rock stuck to the wall by his augers, Ground snickered. "And now, Rock, you die."
"No," Rock breathed weakly, "You die."
With that, Rock thrust the barrel of his cannon, along with all the energy he had charged inside, straight into Ground's face. And with a blinding flash, Rock unleashed it all in less than a second. Ground's head was roasted to ashes instantly, leaving his body to slump to the floor. Rock winced as he pried Ground's drills out of his body, pressing his hand against Ground's chest.
Suddenly, a wave of energy surged through his body. He felt his arm cannon feel like it had tied itself in a knot inside, as new knowlege suddenly forced its way into his brain. Rock still stood against the wall, too stunned to move as Ground's drills slid out of his body and collapsed to the floor. Quickly remembering Auto's words, Rock aimed his cannon at the wall across from him and fired. A large drill shot from his cannon, and quickly spiked itself into the wall. Rock almost forgot about the pain he was in as he admired his cannon. "Sweet."
"Rock! Are you alright?"
Roll's voice in his ear was nothing short of relieving. "I'm a little hurt, but I s'pose I'm fine," Rock replied.
"What about the Virtuloid?" Roll asked.
"Took care on him," Rock grinned.
"Okay, we'll get you teleported out of there in a sec," said Roll, "But first, you've got to find some way to get out of there and level the place."
Rock looked at the drill in the wall, and got an idea. Forming an auger from his arm cannon, Rock turned to a soft spot of the cavern wall, and willed the drill to spin. It did, and Rock soon found himself tunneling through the wall. "Now to find some fireworks!"
*******
Rock grinned to himself as he looked at the smoking remains of the mines in the distance, highlighted by the setting sun. "Hey Roll, I've demolished the mines," he said.
"Good, I'll start the- what?"
Rock heard Roll's voice suddenly cut out. "Roll?" Rock asked. No reply. "Roll?"
"Who are you talking to?"
The voice of a woman other than Roll from behind him made Rock spin around. Marie was standing behind him with her hands on her hips, looking at him questioningly.
"I-" Rock stammered, "Talking to myself," Rock said quickly, "It's an old habit."
Marie then turned her head to look at the smoking remains of the mines. "What are you doing here?" Marie asked.
"What are you doing here?" Rock asked back.
"I asked you first," said Marie playfully.
"Hunting," said Rock. "Ground told me he was expecting that same guy who raided the factory to come after the mines next."
"Ground put you on patrol duty too?" Marie asked. "Did you see anything?"
"Other than the mines suddenly exploding," Rock said, rubbing his injured shoulder, "I got caught by raining shrapnel."
Marie looked at Rock's wound in concern. "You certainly are injury-prone, aren't you?"
"I leean to live with it," Rock said impassively. "It's nothing I can't fix by myself."
Marie looked at the ruined caves again. "Do you think he's still in there?" She asked.
"Ground?"
"No, whoever's been causing all this trouble," Marie said, a bit testily.
Rock quickly glanced back at the mines. "Maybe," he said, "Thay guy's probably been blown to pieces by the looks of it."
"Hopefully," said Marie. "I've been wondering how I should kill him when I get my hands on him."
Rock grinned to himself. "Not if I catch him first."
"Oh, you only wish you could," Marie taunted.
Suddenly, Rock heard a faint beeping come from Marie's forearm armor. Marie raised her arm to her chest and tapped on her wrist. Suddenly, Marie gasped. "What?" Rock asked.
"Ground," Marie gasped, "He's dead!" Rock pretended to be in shock. "That guy's going to have some hell to pay when we catch him," Marie growled.
"No doubt," Rock said. Looking for an excuse to leave, Rock added, "Looks like I've got a report of death to file."
Marie groaned. "Oh, I suppose I ought to file one too," she said. "Alpha gets pretty pissed when anyone misses one. Remember the last time someone skipped a report?" Rock, out of nervous cluelessness, shook his head. "Good," said Marie, "It's best you don't know," she shivered. "I'd hate to get on Alpha's bad list." Marie tapped on her wrist again, smiled at Rock again, and said, "Seeya!"
With that, Marie suddenly vanished in a quick flash of light. "They can teleport too?" Rock mused.
"Hey Rock, are you still there?"
Roll's voice came into Rock's helmet again. "Roll, what happened?" Rock asked.
"Blues told me to keep quiet," said Roll. "When we saw that Marie heading your way, Blues wanted to hear what she had to say. And Rock, who's Alpha?"
Rock paused. "I don't have a clue," he muttered. "Now will you warp me back?"
"Pushy today, aren't we?" Roll teased as Rock was suddenly whisked into thin air.
"Good," said Roll, "You know what to do, just be careful, Rock. Who knows what those Virtuloids have in those mines."
"Something not too welcoming, I'm sure," Rock muttered.
"I can't really tell if our signal will reach into those caves, Rock," said Roll, "So you'll be on your own for awhile."
"Just leave it to me," Rock said, morphing his forearm into a cannon again.
"We're counting on you, Rock," said Roll worriedly, "Please come back in at least one piece."
"I'll try," Rock said as he heard the connection sizzle out. Charging the energy from his reserves into his arm cannon, Rock smirked to ease himself and said, "Let's rock."
*****
The heavy iron door came blasting off of it's hinges in a booming explosion, and Rock came dashing past it seconds later. Almost as soon as he crossed over the thresholds, a deafening alarm screamed though the air. A quick shot to a small electrical box on the side of the wall silenced the alarm immediately, and Rock could hear a swarm of drones rushing towards him. The first flash of light that caught the corner of his eye made Rock's arm cannon fire a blast upon it. A small blast rocked the insides of the cave as Rock continued to run through the tunneled-out corridors. The corridor widened sharply in front of him, and Rock found himself dashing towards a large pit, littered all about with various cranes and pulleys. Pushing himself as far as he could into the air as he leapt off the edge of the pit, Rock landed firmly in the empty carriage of an ore basket, being gently raised upwards to a hole in the roof of the cavern. Reading his arm cannon, Rock waited with bated breath as the carriage whisked him into the roof and to the upper level. As soon as he saw the ground of the new platform, Rock lept off of the cart and let his cannon fire in front of him at the first thing he saw. The small bulldozer-like robot was blasted onto its side, and another shot from Rock's cannon set it ablaze. Dashing over the ruined robot, Rock ran into the next corridor he came across.
A sudden jab of pain in his back sent Rock stumbling as he ran along the ground. Spinning himself around, Rock opened a barrage of firepower at the cloud of eye-drones behind him, each exploding in a shower of flames and shrapnel. Another sharp jab in his side sent Rock whirling around and firing madly, laying chaos to the army of mass of various robots in front of him. When the corridor was silent, Rock rubbed his ribs. Rock began to wonder where he would find something to destroy the mines with, and he immediately thought of a horde of explosives levelling the entire caverns. Hoping to become lucky, Rock continued down the tunnels with dynamite on his mind.
The cannon on his hand felt like it would met any second. Blasting anything that moved as he ran like a rabid wolf down the twisting tunnels made his head spin. He barely managed to recognize another large pit in front of him to jump in time, sending him sailing towards the other side. With a quick thrust of his legs in the air as he came to the middle of the chasm, Rock pushed himself into the air again, landing squarely on the other side of the mining pit.
A sudden rumbling from beneath him made his nerves shiver. Suddenly, the ground opened up beneath him and swallowed him whole. Rock landed clumsily on his feet in another cavern, inside a small, empty cart on a rail track. Another rumble shook the caverns, and the cart began to move. Deciding to leave his life to luck, Rock readied his arm cannon and braced himself for the worst, as the rail cart slowly dropped down a steep hill. Rock looked down the plummeting railway, and was relieved to see nothing but a hazard-less ride down. But when another rumble caused the rails to fall apart, Rock screamed, "Oh shit!"
The wheels of the cart skipped over the broken rails, jarring Rock as it skidded over the damaged tracks. As he fell down the steep hill, Rock saw an empty cart sitting lazily on a level platform ahead of him. Perching on the rim of the cart, Rock leapt out of the plummeting rail cart, only to land in the other one seconds later. The force of Rock's body crashing inside the small cart was enough to send it racing along the new set of tracks, just at the caves trembled again. Rock began to wonder what was making the tremors around him as the cart skidded into a low hole in the wall, so tight that Rock had to hide himself in the cart to slip past. When he stood again, Rock found himself gently coming to a halt at what looked like the end of the tracks. As soon as the cart stopped, Rock hopped out, and rubbed the back of his neck. "I've had it with the easy way out," He muttered, looking at the cart.
It was then that Rock noticed another heavy shutter in the spacious room he now stood in, the same kind he encountered in the fuel factory. Knowing it may be his only way out, Rock knocked on the shutter, and it was immediately pulled up into the wall, revealing a small, short tunnel leading to another shutter. Taking a deep breath, Rock stepped over the threshold, and the shutter immediately came slamming down behind him. Rallying all of what remained of his courage, Rock walked to the shutter ahead of him, and gave it a light touch. The shutter came up in a flash, revealing a large room in front of him. Stepping past the shutter, it came crashing down behind him again, trapping Rock inside the room.
Rock looked around, and saw that the room was completely bare, and the shutter that had let him in the room would not bugde a bit. "Roll, can you hear me?" Rock asked.
"I'm reading you," came Roll's voice, marred by static and interference, "But not very well."
"I'm trapped," said Rock, "I'm in some kind of room, and I can't see a way out."
"How'd you get in?"
"A retractable one-way wall. I can't go back through it."
"Oh my- wait a second, Rock," Roll suddenly gasped.
"What?"
"Rock, there's a Virtuloid right beneath you!"
Rock barely managed to leap to his side before a large drill shot up from the ground where he was a split-second ago. Another rumble made the whole ground shake, and Rock nearly fell over from the intense tremor. The ground split apart in front of him, and a large, bulky figure popped up from underneath the ground, and glared at Rock as soon as he landed. "Let me guess," said the Virtuloid, "The guy who raided the fuel factory?"
"In the flesh," Rock replied.
The Virtuloid sported numerous drills poking out from his body, most notably the three large augers that made his left hand. "You're certainly a brave-looking one," said the Virtuloid in his deep, scratchy voice, "What's your name?"
"If you must call me something, my name is Rock."
"The pleasure is all mine, Rock," said the Vitruloid plottingly. "They call me Ground. Remember that, it's going to be the last name you'll hear."
With that, Ground charged at Rock, thrusting his massive drill-laden hand at Rock. Rock catapulted himself off of Ground's head like a hurdle horse, spun around in mid-air, and opened fire upon the back of Ground's neck. Ground only stumbled a bit, hardly shaken by Rock's attacks. As soon as Rock landed again, Ground dug his arm into the floor and tunnelled himself underground. The room was silent again, and Rock could only feel faint tremors shake the room. On gut instinct, Rock stepped to his left, narrowly avoiding the body of Ground shooting up from the surface. Rock focused a charge of energy into his cannon, and unleashed it upon Ground's chest. The blow barely stunned the massive Virtloid, and it only made Ground spin around and jab his arm in Rock's direction. The drill on Ground's arm suddenly shot out at Rock, catching Rock by surprise. Rock soon found himself blown to the ground as the point of the auger dug itself into Rock's shoulder. Rock wailed in agony as he tore the drill out of his shoulder, feeling a stiff numbness shoot through his arm. As soon as Rock could stand again, he found that Ground was nowhere in sight. Another rumble shook the room, and Rock again managed to skip to his side and avoid Ground's drill-riddled body from skewering him. As soon as he landed, Ground charged at Rock again, with Rock leaping over the stampeding robot again. Charging his arm cannon again, Rock sent a massive blast of energy sailing towards Ground, smashing against Ground's back. Ground stumbled forward a bit, and suddenly collapsed to his knee.
"Had enough?" Rock jeered.
"I'm just getting started," Ground replied.
With that, Ground swivelled around and faced Rock, smashing his drills into the ground and beginning to dig. A shockwave of a tremor took Rock off of his feet, landing clumsily on his backside. As soon as Rock got to his knee, Ground had charged at him again, ramming his drills into Rock's already wounded shoulder. Rock screamed in agony when Ground pinned him to the wall by his drills. Keeping Rock stuck to the wall by his augers, Ground snickered. "And now, Rock, you die."
"No," Rock breathed weakly, "You die."
With that, Rock thrust the barrel of his cannon, along with all the energy he had charged inside, straight into Ground's face. And with a blinding flash, Rock unleashed it all in less than a second. Ground's head was roasted to ashes instantly, leaving his body to slump to the floor. Rock winced as he pried Ground's drills out of his body, pressing his hand against Ground's chest.
Suddenly, a wave of energy surged through his body. He felt his arm cannon feel like it had tied itself in a knot inside, as new knowlege suddenly forced its way into his brain. Rock still stood against the wall, too stunned to move as Ground's drills slid out of his body and collapsed to the floor. Quickly remembering Auto's words, Rock aimed his cannon at the wall across from him and fired. A large drill shot from his cannon, and quickly spiked itself into the wall. Rock almost forgot about the pain he was in as he admired his cannon. "Sweet."
"Rock! Are you alright?"
Roll's voice in his ear was nothing short of relieving. "I'm a little hurt, but I s'pose I'm fine," Rock replied.
"What about the Virtuloid?" Roll asked.
"Took care on him," Rock grinned.
"Okay, we'll get you teleported out of there in a sec," said Roll, "But first, you've got to find some way to get out of there and level the place."
Rock looked at the drill in the wall, and got an idea. Forming an auger from his arm cannon, Rock turned to a soft spot of the cavern wall, and willed the drill to spin. It did, and Rock soon found himself tunneling through the wall. "Now to find some fireworks!"
*******
Rock grinned to himself as he looked at the smoking remains of the mines in the distance, highlighted by the setting sun. "Hey Roll, I've demolished the mines," he said.
"Good, I'll start the- what?"
Rock heard Roll's voice suddenly cut out. "Roll?" Rock asked. No reply. "Roll?"
"Who are you talking to?"
The voice of a woman other than Roll from behind him made Rock spin around. Marie was standing behind him with her hands on her hips, looking at him questioningly.
"I-" Rock stammered, "Talking to myself," Rock said quickly, "It's an old habit."
Marie then turned her head to look at the smoking remains of the mines. "What are you doing here?" Marie asked.
"What are you doing here?" Rock asked back.
"I asked you first," said Marie playfully.
"Hunting," said Rock. "Ground told me he was expecting that same guy who raided the factory to come after the mines next."
"Ground put you on patrol duty too?" Marie asked. "Did you see anything?"
"Other than the mines suddenly exploding," Rock said, rubbing his injured shoulder, "I got caught by raining shrapnel."
Marie looked at Rock's wound in concern. "You certainly are injury-prone, aren't you?"
"I leean to live with it," Rock said impassively. "It's nothing I can't fix by myself."
Marie looked at the ruined caves again. "Do you think he's still in there?" She asked.
"Ground?"
"No, whoever's been causing all this trouble," Marie said, a bit testily.
Rock quickly glanced back at the mines. "Maybe," he said, "Thay guy's probably been blown to pieces by the looks of it."
"Hopefully," said Marie. "I've been wondering how I should kill him when I get my hands on him."
Rock grinned to himself. "Not if I catch him first."
"Oh, you only wish you could," Marie taunted.
Suddenly, Rock heard a faint beeping come from Marie's forearm armor. Marie raised her arm to her chest and tapped on her wrist. Suddenly, Marie gasped. "What?" Rock asked.
"Ground," Marie gasped, "He's dead!" Rock pretended to be in shock. "That guy's going to have some hell to pay when we catch him," Marie growled.
"No doubt," Rock said. Looking for an excuse to leave, Rock added, "Looks like I've got a report of death to file."
Marie groaned. "Oh, I suppose I ought to file one too," she said. "Alpha gets pretty pissed when anyone misses one. Remember the last time someone skipped a report?" Rock, out of nervous cluelessness, shook his head. "Good," said Marie, "It's best you don't know," she shivered. "I'd hate to get on Alpha's bad list." Marie tapped on her wrist again, smiled at Rock again, and said, "Seeya!"
With that, Marie suddenly vanished in a quick flash of light. "They can teleport too?" Rock mused.
"Hey Rock, are you still there?"
Roll's voice came into Rock's helmet again. "Roll, what happened?" Rock asked.
"Blues told me to keep quiet," said Roll. "When we saw that Marie heading your way, Blues wanted to hear what she had to say. And Rock, who's Alpha?"
Rock paused. "I don't have a clue," he muttered. "Now will you warp me back?"
"Pushy today, aren't we?" Roll teased as Rock was suddenly whisked into thin air.