Issue #11: Counterstrike (Part One)

Green Greens

"Hm. Sometimes I forget how… tranquil some of your worlds can be." Shadow admitted to his teammates, taking in the calm scenery.

Pit shrugged, "Yeah Kirby has it easy here… I think. I'd say Whispy Woods can be annoying but he's nothing compared to us."

"Who's Whispy Woods?" Weiss asked.

"A tree that Kirby picks a fight with all the time." Pit explained.

Weiss gave the angel a deadpan stare and replied, "…Right. I shouldn't be surprised."

Logan huffed, "Well we ain't here to pick a fight with a tree."

"Logan is right. President Carter warned us that the Cabal might be making a move elsewhere." Strange reminded them.

"Do we know who?" Robin asked.

"No. I didn't get much from the message relayed." Mega Man said dejectedly. Rush walked over and nuzzled his head onto Rock's leg to boost his spirits.

Kaine crossed his arms, "It's not like it matters, they'll probably come to us."

The group heard squeaky footsteps. Curious, they all turned and saw a lone Waddle Dee wandering the grassy plains on a lovely stroll. "What is that?" Weiss wondered.

"Oh a Waddle Dee! They're so adorable!" Pit cooed, grabbing the creature and hugging him. The Waddle Dee struggled in the angel's grasp but it admitted that the hug did feel nice.

"Pit, put him down. I think he's suffocating." Weiss told him. Pit lowered his gaze and dropped the Waddle Dee, who mouthlessly waved and continued his morning walk.

"What strange creatures." Shadow muttered.

"Pichu Pichu!" Pichu shouted happily, loving the plains of Kirby's world.

Mega Man heard his communicator go off and he pressed on the ear of his helmet, answering it, "Hm? President Carter? What's the matter?"

"Champion, we have information on the one who seeks to attack Garrison. It is none other than the Red Minister!" Carter revealed, "I am heading to the Shadow Moses region to aid in detaining him."

"Got it, thanks!" Mega Man replied, "Guy! We have to get to Shadow Moses!" he revealed to the group, "President Carter is waiting for us there!"

Strange nodded, "I shall use my magic to ensure we arrive on time. The War Table has aided the use of such spells thankfully. Come, Champions." he spun his hand around and opened an orange vortex and gestured the Champions to follow him, which they did.

Shadow Moses Island

The Champions walked into the snow-covered base of Shadow Moses, observing the scenery. Shadow closed his eyes and hummed, "Something about this seems… familiar. As if I have been to a base like this before." he mumbled, trying to recall the hole in his memories to no avail.

"I don't remember Eggman having a snow base…" Tails admitted, trying to recall the same memory, "And yet…"

"You two have been through a lot, I can see it blending in." Fox told the Mobians.

"Perhaps." Shadow relented.

The Champions were greeted by a woman clad in red, white and blue, a round shield held in front of her, "You made it, and not a moment too soon." Carter greeted the heroes.

"Hi, President Carter. So uh… what can be so big that we're needed here?" Pit wondered.

Carter scowled, "The Red Minister may have unearthed an old weapon of his and seeks to use it on Garrison. I fear with the emeralds in the Cabal's hands it would be too much for the Super Soldiers' skillset, hence where all of you come in."

"Then we'll help," Weiss said, Pichu jumping in agreement.

"Thank you. And please, on the field, you may call me Captain Carter." Captain Carter politely told the team, who agreed.

"You were a Captain?" Zelda wondered.

"Yes. Before the event that forged Battleworld." Carter revealed.

"A powerful warrior and a leader. I do wish I could display the same skills more…" Zelda lamented.

Carter put her shield down and responded to her, "Nonsense. You have already done the same, Princess." she assured her ally, who gave a small smile in response, clearly touched by the small comment. Captain Carter led the team forward deeper into the base, hoping to find Red Minister.

"Red Minister… I do recall that name." Weiss said, "If he is an enemy of your region, then he sounds like Red Skull."

"That was his name, yes." Carter established.

Shadow questioned, "We know Red Skull, rebuilding devices doesn't seem to be something he is known for."

"It has me curious as well, Shadow. That is why I came to seek answers." Captain Carter replied.

The team made their way to an empty room, where they found an unmoving pile of metal in the center of it all, seemingly waiting for them. Kaine put his hands out and quietly spoke, "Something's wrong here… be alert."

"You don't need to warn us, we're well aware." Shadow snarked.

The metal being remained still, keeping the heroes on alert. Tails was the first to walk to it, looking for any openings to examine the wiring. "Nothing… it doesn't seem to be motion sensitive. It might actually be inactive. We're safe for the moment." the fox revealed, giving the heroes a moment to adjust themselves.

Wolverine sniffed the air, "I wouldn't lighten up just yet, kid. Somethin's in here with us."

"Very observant, Wolverine. Seems you are as astute here as you are within this realm." called out a man with a thick German accent.

"Show yourself, Skull!" Carter shouted back.

"Why dear Captain, I am right here." the Red Minister appeared out of thin air behind Captain Carter. The Super Soldier got her bearings and swung her shield back, smacking the Red Skull variant in the jaw and making him stagger backwards.

Scarlet Spider webbed up his back and pulled him towards Weiss, who used her weapon to keep the Red Minister at bay by trapping his body except his head in ice, "Talk, Skull. What do you want?" she asked.

"Bait. Did you truly believe I didn't anticipate the arrival of the so-called Champions?" his armor began to glow a dark red, emitting heat and freeing himself from the small glacier made to keep him trapped, "My new allies have done me a favor, and with their aid, Garrison shall fall, and the HYDRA Empire shall rise once more under the Cabal!"

Strange conjured a magic replica of the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak and yanked down Red Minister's arm as he opened his palm, preventing him from blasting the Ice Queen, "There will be no more games, Red Minister."

"Wait… his palm. Was that… Stark Tech?" Weiss deduced.

Red Minister smirked, "Ah you figured it out. I needed an upgrade, and with the help of the Cabal…" a black helmet matching his black armor formed and covered his head, "I have stolen Tony Stark's greatest asset for myself. From the ashes of Garrison and in the rise of the HYDRA Empire, the Iron Minister shall lay claim to the land!"

Captain Carter gritted her teeth, "We will not let you win! Your armor cannot help you against our numbers!"

"That is true. Fortunately for me, I have a few extra assets…" boasted the Iron Minister, revealing a certain gem within the armor's arc reactor. He shot a Cosmic Repulsor Blast at the heroes, the projectile deflected by Weiss right before it hit Pit.

"Thanks for the save there." Pit said.

"You're lucky someone's paying attention," quipped Weiss, "He has a Cosmic Emerald… of course:"

Mega Man aimed a charged shot at Iron Minister, hitting the arc reactor. The Iron Minister shot a Unibeam from his chest and nearly hit Mega Man had he not leaped out of the way of the attack, "This is bad…"

"And it will get worse…" Iron Minister threatened the heroes. As he said this, his helmet beeped.

A heavy rumbling was felt as the heroes tried to get their bearings while dealing with Red Minister's Cosmic-powered assault. "I think you might have missed the mark a bit, Tails…" Fox muttered as he realized what was happening.

The robot that was inactive in the room began to move and rumble, moving up and revealing itself at last. A grey and purple robot towered over the Champions, taking them aback for a second.

"Galleom?!" Pit shouted, "Again?!"

Captain Carter said, "Of course, the Minister's favorite weapon! It will not work just as it never has in his previous attempts!"

"Did you forget about this already, Captain?" Iron Minister mocked the President of Garrison as he shot another Cosmic Repulsor beam at her, the Captain deflecting it with her shield and hitting the armor-clad villain with his own projectile.

Robin held out his tome and scepter and struck lightning at Galleom, saying, "We need a plan of attack! We cannot keep going like this!" he told the Champions.

Zelda summoned a Phantom to counter Galleom's wind-up punch, the spirit's sword slicing the metal and scratching it, "He's right! The Cosmic Emerald can ensure the Iron Minister can hold his own even against us!"

Rush barked, getting Mega Man's attention, "What is it, boy?" Rock asked his pet. The dog jumped and changed form, covering Mega Man in red armor.

"Super Mega Man?" Weiss asked.

"Good boy, Rush! We'll help keep the Iron Minister distracted!" Mega Man told the team.

Robin nodded, then continued speaking, "The Cosmic Emerald should be our priority. Strange, Weiss, Pit, you all can match its power. The rest of us will ensure Galleom's fall!"

"Very well, tactician." Strange agreed, hovering and ready to do battle against the Red Skull.

Tails spun his namesakes and got Galleom's attention. The fox lowered himself away from one of the robot's punches. The fox revealed his arm cannon and tried blasting the robot with an Energy Ball, it bouncing off. Curious, he curled into a ball and tried to bash into it, mirroring Sonic's actions. That too did not work. The fox grew curious and got back to flying as the robot kept fighting his allies. He noticed shards of crystals embedded into its body, "Guys! There's a stash of ISO-8 in here!"

"That's why he's stronger than usual!" Fox deduced, "And we don't have Spirits to help us this time!"

Scarlet Spider held up one of Galleom's fists from being slammed down on him, grunting, "Pain in the ass piece of junk… any ideas genius tactician?" Kaine coldly asked Robin as he forced the robot's arm upwards with his spider-strength.

"The Iron Minister turned it on… maybe Mega Man can reverse it." Robin suggested.

"So it falls on us to be the distraction… Great…" Kaine muttered, jumping and punching the robot in the head, hoping to keep it busy even for a second.

Captain Carter threw her shield, watching it bounce from Galleom to Iron Minister's back as his fists collided with Super Mega Man's. Annoyed, the Red Minister turned around and said, "You…" to Captain Carter.

The Iron Minister dashed towards Captain Carter, who caught her shield on time to smack the villain, causing him to slide on the floor painfully. Using his repulsors, Iron Minister got his bearings and reared his fist back and tried to punch Captain Carter.

Thankfully, Weiss created a wall of ice thick enough to keep the Iron Minister back as he hovered around to continue his payback.

Wolverine ran behind Galleom and revealed his claws, jumping into the air and slicing the ISO-8 out of the robot's body. Logan caught a shard and threw it at Zelda, "Use it! I'm already gettin' sick of this!"

Zelda nodded, keeping the ISO-8 shard close as she opened a palm. Shadow grabbed a fragment and muttered, "Chaos Control!"

Time stayed still for Shadow. The black hedgehog made it to the top of Galleom's body and removed more of the ISO-8 on the robot's body, "Hmph. Pathetic. This was the Red Minister's greatest weapon?" the hedgehog mocked the metallic being.

Zelda continued her spell, trapping Galleom in a Triforce conjured up by magic. Shadow used his hover skates and kicked Galleom's head and laid as much of a beatdown as he could. Once the hedgehog was done, Tails spun through the robot's shoulder.

Scarlet Spider revealed his stingers and drove them through Galleom, "Just stay down, asshole!"

"No! You will not destroy him!" Iron Minister yelled, getting hit by Super Mega Man's Rocket Punch.

"Don't look away, Red Skull!" Mega Man mocked the villain, dashing after the villain and tackling him onto the floor. Red Minister shot a Cosmic Repulsor Blast at Mega Man, launching him into the air.

Pit used Electric Knuckle to punch Iron Minister and launch him into the air as well. Mega Man came back and punched Red Skull. He shot a repulsor blast, hitting him back thanks to Fox's reflector.

While the armored villain was distracted, Strange brought out the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak and kept Iron Minister bound.

Kaine webbed the Cosmic Emerald out of the Arc Reactor and gripped it in his hand. He felt something poke his leg. Looking down, the Scarlet Spider saw Pichu getting his attention. "What is it?" Kaine asked the Pokémon.

"Pichu Pichu!" Pichu shouted, pointing a hand at the emerald.

"Hm. Fine, go ahead." Kaine decided to give the emerald to Pichu. Closing his eyes, Pichu began to surround himself in a lightning aura.

"PICHU!"

A burst of lightning was aimed at Iron Minister. The Red Skull Variant screamed as the armor tightened around his limbs as it started to overload and shut down. The surge reached Galleom and successfully shut it down as well. Eventually, Pichu's eyes closed and he fell, getting caught by Weiss, "Poor guy looks strained… we need to get him back quick."

Strange released his grip on Red Minister and watched him fall. "The honor is yours, Captain." the sorcerer gestured to the soldier.

"Thank you, Captain." Carter smiled.

With his helmet removed, Red Minister could only scowl at his fated nemesis, "You know I will return."

"Yes…" Captain Carter admitted before uppercutting Red Minister and knocking him unconscious, "But the Soldier Soldiers will ensure your retreat before you win." she declared, watching him fall on his back. She eyed the Champions and her smile widened, "Thank you, Champions. We come ever closer to winning."

"It's no trouble, Captain," Weiss responded.

"We come ever closer to victory," Strange said, looking at the Cosmic Emerald in their possession.

Mega Man rubbed his helmet, feeling and hearing static, "Wait… getting a transmission." he answered the call, "This is Mega Man."

"Mega Man. Someone! Hurry! The Cabal's in the Chimera and-" Carina shouted a distress signal before the call cut off, concerning Mega Man.

"Strange! Open a portal to the Chimera! The Cabal's made a move!" Mega Man yelled in surprise.

"What?! What's the Cabal thinking?!" Tails gasped.

Shadow crossed his arms, "A counter attack while we're divided…"

"Go. I will detain the Red Minister and ensure justice is delivered for his actions against Battleworld," Captain Carter told the team.

Strange nodded and opened a portal, the Champions running into it. The battle to turn the tide of the conflict was about to begin.

MJR Here: And so the second half of the story begins. More battles and turns will be had as the Champions continue the war against the Cabal for all of reality as we draw closer to the conclusion.

Next Time: The Battle for the Chimera! The Cabal Strikes Back!