Chapter 9

They were on the move throughout the cities, the Neo Heroes.

So far the people have loved and respected them to no ends, some are even preferring them over the Association considering who runs it and what heroes are within that aren't considered to be human.

Today, a small band of them were making their rounds, the latest ones to be upgraded and turned to cyborgs. "We have been told to keep an eye out for Metal Bat, Destro believes that he has been taken in by the Association, but is unaware of they did anything to him as of yet."

The others nodded.

They were a mere band of ten, and yet their main mission as of late is to find and bring back Metal Bat at any and all costs.

They were patrolling near Bad's home, their mission today was to find and retrieve Zenko and to bring her in. They will use his sister to lure out Metal bat and gain what they desire.

"Team leader…" one of the men called. "I am sensing someone following us."

He nodded. "I have been sensing them for the past twenty minutes myself. Anything familiar about this stalker?"

"Scanners are not picking up anything unusual at the moment. There is some genetic… wait…" one of them paused.

There came a lingering shadow over the ten Neo Heroes. Peering up to a near by rooftop, they saw someone peering down at them with great interest. "Who are you!" Team leader shouted.

But as he did, the man vanished!

"Sir, on your left!"

There the stalker appears. "How can he move that fast in less than .6 seconds?!"

The stalker began to walk out of the shadows and into the light. He wore an odd mask over the mouth part of his face, he dressed in a black tattered sleeveless T-shirt with holes in it, his black jeans were also tattered and his boots appeared to be reinforced with steel plates and spikes. His hair was crimson red, but so were his eyes.

They bore into these men without mercy as they began to tremble. "Who the hell are you!" Team leader demanded.

A dark laughter came out of him.

"You're worst nightmare… good thing you boys got arms and legs that can be replaced… because you're about to lose them…"

#

Neo Heroes HQ.

"Code red! We got a code red!"

Destro came to the screen where he saw the code red, squad 8 was calling or emergency help. "Squad 8, what is the situation?" he asked calmly.

"Legs…" the team leader said weakly. "He took our legs… he took our arms… we can't move!"

The room appeared unsettled to the news, Destro kept calm as he talked the team through. "We are sending a recovery team at once, but who did this to you? Was it Garou?" he asked.

There was silence at first. "No sir," came a startled voice of one of the other men. "We… we have never seen him before."

This caught his interest. "What did he look like?"

"Punk guy, tattered black clothing, boots with steel and spikes, his hair and eyes are crimson red, but he wore a mask that looked like the bottom of a skull over his mouth…"

Destro himself has never heard or seen such a person before, let alone notice any one stalking the Neo Heroes. "Would you think it is Metal Bat?" he asked.

"No sir," the team leader replied. "He was too tall, not to mention, he didn't carry his bat around. He also didn't really sound like him either."

Curiouser and curiouser…

"Remain were you are, the clean up unit will be there soon, we will get you instantly to the chambers for repair and upgrades."

The communication ended. Destro knows he is going to have to see what they remember, it's a good thing he replaced their eyes during the last upgrade.

#

"Wait, what?!"

Emp got wind of an attack.

Another squad of Neo heroes were taken out in a matter of hours. He heard about the first unit falling in battle, but then, they started dropping like flies. Squads, 43, 39, 15, 4, and 322 were knocked down and out. Emp was trying to get more information about it, but the 'security' team of the neo heroes was consistently blocking him.

"Should I not be made aware of the situation?" he asked.

"You will when all information is acquired and we can share it properly." Explained Erimin.

Emp sighed aloud and nodded, but he decided to see if there was someone else who may know.

He returned to his lab.

From there, Emp tried something. It was something taught to him by Alley, just in case he needed to speak with her in private. He just had to make certain he knew how to do it properly.

His eyes closed. Emp began to think of the phrase, then allowed it to echo in his mind. 'Candy is dandy, but bots are hot'

'Emp?'

'Wow, how does that even work?' Emp thought and laughed.

He heard Alley giggle. 'Brainwave, I made that phrase so it will sync with my telepathic power. What's up?' she asked.

'Do you know anything about the person hunting Neo Heroes?'

There was silence. 'Someone is hunting you?' she demanded.

'No me per say, but the Neo Heroes in general. They are taking down squads without hesitation. I didn't know if you had anyone with a grudge against us'

'You want the short list or long list?'

He snickered at the thought. 'The thing is, no one has seen this guy before. Did you hire anyone new?' Emp asked.

'Besides Suiryu's sister…'

Silence befell them. 'Emp, do you know what they did to Metal Bat?' she asked of him.

Suddenly he felt sick. 'I hadn't seen Bad in a while…'

'Emp, they forced him into a cyborg. I'm worried they are going to take you out next. We took Suiko as a precaution. If the Neo Heroes want to go to war over that I welcome it. But I want you to be EXTREMELY careful! Keep an eye on Darkshine for me too, if things go south…'

'I get it. I'm surprised you aren't forcing me to join you now!'

Alley sighed. 'I would, but I also respect you and your thought process, if you have a plan going I don't want to interfere unless you need me. But Emp, please, watch your back,' she pleaded.

He agreed. 'Thanks Alley,'

'You can reach me any time!'