A light drizzle had settled down overhead. Rhythm bit her lip, if the woods couldn't get any more depressing. She had already been here once, why did she need to be here again?
"Rhythm?" Lazuli suddenly asked. Rhythm looked up, Lazuli seemed to have noticed that she was upset. Rhythm looked down at the wet grass.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"What's bothering you?" Lazuli asked, sounding a little worried. Rhythm sighed.
"I was here earlier, stopping one of the other Robot Masters, and..." she started explaining. Lazuli had a comforting look on her face.
"And?" she asked softly. Rhythm looked ahead, the blind hill was just up ahead. Rhythm motioned for Lazuli to follow her. They walked over the blind hill. A dark spot on the ground showed exactly where Vengeance Man had blown up. Rhythm couldn't hold in tears.
"He wanted to destroy me so bad he self-destructed. He nearly did it too." she whispered. Lazuli gave her a soft hug.
"This won't mean as much from me, a bit of a stranger, than from a person that you know, but, I'm sorry." she said quietly. Rhythm brushed away a couple of stray tears.
"Thanks, Lazuli."
Walking past the explosion site was a little hard, but Rhythm managed to do it. If robots were the same way in her mind before this, she wouldn't have felt so bad, or scared, but now, she was a robot had had nearly gotten used to it, it was strange. Rhythm took a deep breath, her dad had been a robot, he was as real as anything to her. He wasn't just circuitry and metal, he was her dad. And she was her. But some robots were a little more, well, robotic than others. Vengeance Man was one of those. Rhythm wished she could talk with her dad, but she couldn't until everything was over. Why did the Robot Masters set up communication jamming frequencies anyways?
"Rhythm!" Lazuli suddenly exclaimed, bringing Rhythm out of her thoughts. She looked up, Lazuli was pointing to a clearing in the trees, just up ahead. In the clearing, a Robot Master sat on a boulder, waiting patiently. He slowly stood up, the rain making his jade green armour shine.
"Are you the ones who have defeated my siblings?" the Robot Master asked. Rhythm nodded.
"Yes." she said. Earlier, Rhythm wouldn't have been able to say that with any confidence whatsoever, especially after talking with Lazuli about Vengeance Man. Now, she could do it. The Robot Master looked at her and Lazuli, seeming to evaluate them.
"I'm surprised that either of you made it this far, you don't seem like fighters to me." he said. Lazuli scowled.
"We are fighters though." she snapped. Rhythm gave her a look, but Lazuli didn't seem to notice. She quickly whipped out her weapon, and held it up. Rhythm took a deep breath, not good.
"What's your name?" she asked. The Robot Master eyed her like a prize.
"Draco Man, a warrior. Give me yours." he said. Rhythm activated the Rhythm Buster.
"Rhythm." she declared. Lazuli stood beside her.
"Lazuli." she said. Rhythm started charging her weapon, the rain was falling down more harshly now. You could feel the tension in the air. Draco Man's eyes narrowed.
"Let us begin." he declared. He jumped backwards and fired his weapon. It happened so quickly, Rhythm barely got out of the way. The blast of energy singed her arm, making her give a little cry of pain.
"Draco Man sure packs a punch!" Lazuli exclaimed. Rhythm nodded, quickly shifting to the Rare Reaction.
"We better give him a bigger one!" she exclaimed, launching the attack. The colorful balls burst into gas, but before it could hit Draco Man, the rain dampened it and made it fall to the ground. Rhythm gritted her teeth.
"No!" she exclaimed. Lazuli raced forwards.
"Well, you do still owe me a couple of shots!" she exclaimed, letting her weapon fly. The shots merely glanced off of Draco Man's armour.
"Is that the best you can do?" he asked tauntingly. Rhythm shifted back to her Rhythm Buster.
"No, this is!" she exclaimed, sending a fully charged shot at Draco Man. The powerful Robot Master simply dodged out of the way. Rhythm charged in again, Lazuli charging in from the other side. Draco Man raised his weapons, one on each arm, and fired. Rhythm had no time to get out of the way, neither did Lazuli. Both of them crashed into nearby trees. Rhythm shook her head, trying to clear the mist out of her head.
"That hit like a load of bricks." she mumbled, propping herself up. Lazuli groaned.
"We finally see a weapon that makes sense, and it hurts." she mumbled. Rhythm's mind raced, a weapon that made sense, what about a weapon that made no sense? A strategy that made no sense. Rhythm hit her fist into her palm, yes! That was it! She quickly turned to Lazuli.
"Lazuli, I need you to distract Draco Man so I can get in close enough to use the Rare Reaction." she said. Lazuli nodded, but had half a frown.
"I don't mind if that thing hits me again, but be careful." she agreed, racing back into the battle. Rhythm wasn't sure if she meant the Rare Reaction or Draco Man's weapon. She waited for just the right moment, tensing herself to get in close. Finally, Draco Man was completely focused on Lazuli. Rhythm switched to the Rare Reaction once again, and rushed in. Everything seemed to slow down for the next couple of seconds. Draco Man grabbed Lazuli, Rhythm got behind him, and sent the Rare Reaction flying. This time, it managed to activate before it got dampened by the rain. Time sped up as Draco Man shorted out. Lazuli tumbled down, looking once again incredibly dizzy. Rhythm looked at Draco Man, he seemed upset, but not quite.
"You have beaten all of us now. Now go find Dr. Regis. He's on the very outskirts of the city, hiding in his fortress." he whispered before coming off-line. Rhythm bent down and copied Draco Man's weapon. The Draco Power.
"Thank you." she whispered.
"Could somebody make the forest stop spinning?" Lazuli suddenly asked. Rhythm spun around, Lazuli seemed to be regretting letting Draco Man grab her. Rhythm gave a sympathetic smile and helped her up. Static suddenly buzzed through her helmet.
"Megan? Can you hear me?" Rhythm smiled wide, it was her dad.
"I'm here! Guess what, all the Robot Masters have been defeated and I have a new friend named Lazuli and we know where Regis is!" Rhythm exclaimed all in one mouthful.
"What?... -is Lazuli? ... stop... Dr... -hurry..." Rhythm's dad said, static overtaking the com system once again. Rhythm got the gist of it though. She had the go-ahead to stop Regis.
