Episode 4: Metabee VS Warbandit!
The first thing Metabee acknowledged was a pulsing pain in his head. He groaned, and he began to slowly rise. His gears and servos whirred and whined in protest, and he felt like he was being held down by an invisible chain. He was stiff, and it was everything he could do to get to a kneeling position. He gave his head three small shakes, and he did his best to concentrate and gather his thoughts.
"What…the…the bot?" he muttered with a slur. Even his speech seemed to have slowed down.
Suddenly, it all came back like a crashing tide. The Mega-Emperor, the black hole bomb, and that weird light in the sky: it was all coming back to him. He did his best to think, but nothing else was coming to him. He finally rose to his feet, and he studied his surroundings more closely. He was clearly standing in an alleyway between two buildings. While not exactly and architect, even Metabee could acknowledge that they were very primitive. He looked down, and he could see something small, white, and possessing four legs looking up at him. Metabee scowled, and he bent down to look at the creature more closely.
"Ok, bub, I want answers! Where am I, and what happened to my friends?"
The white creature cocked its head at Metabee, and it raised one of its floppy, brown ears. It didn't answer Metadbee's question, nor did it seem to acknowledge it. This annoyed him.
"Hey, does it look like I'm playing? I asked you a question, fella! You better be laying down the answers, or I'm gonna meda-wreck your ugly face!"
The white creature remained silent as Metabee brought his face just a bit closer. Suddenly, it whipped out its tongue and proceeded to lick the Medabot's faceplate. Immediately repulsed, Metabee backpedaled away, tripping over his own feet, and landed hard on his backside, all while wiping off his face.
"Ew, gross!" he spat as he brushed off the last of the slobber. "Dude! Two words: personal space!"
It was at that moment that Metabee took a much closer look at himself. His eyes went wide, and he began to shake.
"Oh, no! No! No! No!"
He jumped to his feet and then bolted out of the alleyway, the white creature following closely. Metabee rushed into an open street, and he spied a store window on the other side. Not wasting a moment, he raced across, meanwhile ignoring any of the vehicles that charged around him. He didn't come to a stop until he had reached the store, and he gave his reflection a careful look. To his horror, he found that his suspicions were correct.
"I'M SHOOOOOOOOORT!"
Indeed, the once six-foot-tall medabot had been reduced to a puny four feet tall. He was forced into a stunned silence, his eyes glued to the reflection of his body. He looked down at his hands and formed fists, but he could no longer see the mighty tools of destruction. In truth, they were now only like half-sized softballs.
"My body! My beautiful body!" Metabee moaned a mournful cry as his entire form trembled with disgust. "Why is this happening to me?! I don't know where I am, I don't have a clue what happened to my teammates, and to top it all off I've been shrunken down into a useless pipsqueak! Oh, how could this be any worse?!"
Huh? What's going on here?
Metabee froze in his tracks. Did he just here a voice? Better question: did he just hear a voice…in his head? His horror suddenly intensified when his vision blacked out, and he felt his faceplate pull apart.
….
Ikki had to squint at the sudden flash of light. When his vision cleared, he could see that he was looking into the glass window of a furniture store. Already confused, he tried to remember what had happened. He had switched on the Medawatch XD, and then…nothing. Maybe he had fainted. Yeah, that made sense! He was so excited about his new watch that he keeled over, blacked out, and then…crossed the busy street to stare at a furniture store?
"That does even make sense." he grumbled aloud, placing a hand to the side of his head. He froze at the sound of clanking metal, and Ikki finally noticed the new weight that surrounded his entire body. He backed up from the store, and he studied his reflection more carefully. He was wearing what could only be described as armor. It was yellow and white, and it had an antenna on top of the helmet that reminded him of a Hercules beetle. Not unlike the larvae emblem on the medal of the watch.
"Wait a second!" Ikki suddenly exclaimed. "Am I…a medabot?!"
No! I am! Now put my face back!
With a snap, the helmet's faceplate molded back into place, and Metabee could see again. However, for him, that wasn't completely a good thing.
"I can't believe this!" he proclaimed. "This really is the worst thing that could ever happen! I'm not only lost, confused, and short. I've been bonded!"
What's going on here? Where am I, and, better yet, who are you?
"Ki-ki! KIKIKIKI!" Metabee clicked. It was an old habit of his, and it only seemed to pop up when he was irritated. "And to top it all off, he sounds like a kid. Just great! The first and only time I've ever been bonded to something, and it has to be some small, sawed-off little runt. Great, just peachy!"
I can hear you, you know!
"Good!" Metabee snapped. He kicked up some dirt from the sidewalk, and then he sighed. "I may as well get this over with. You got a name, Shorty?"
It's Ikki. Ikki Tenryou.
Metabee scoffed. "Yuck! You name is just as gross as the idea of having your squishy body inside of mine."
Hey!
"Ok, listen up, short stuff." Metabee continued. "Tell me if anything feels different. Maybe a tingle in the back of your mind, a strange sensation in your arms and legs, an adrenaline rush running through your systems: anything like that?"
Ikki was quiet for a moment.
Well, everything seems kinda bleary, and I do feel heavier. But, then again, I'm wearing probably two tons of armor plating. But it does feel like something is poking at the back of my mind.
"That's what I thought." Metabee said. He hummed a few thoughtful notes, and he rubbed his chin. "Ok, let me think. If the process has started just now, then it's probably gonna be another hour or so before we're fully synchronized. What a pain. Hey, Stinky, you know a place close by that we can hide out in for a bit?"
It's Ikki! the boy insisted. And yes, I do know a place.
With Ikki as his guide, Metabee made his way through the city, keeping to the back alleys and doing his best to stay out of sight. The journey eventually took the two to an old, abandoned factory on the other side of town. As Metabee stepped inside, he whistled.
"What a dump. I mean, I've seen some old wrecks, but I think this takes the cake."
Well, beggars can't be choosers. Ikki said in retort. This place hasn't been in business ever since this big fire that destroyed nearly half the complex. My dad, when he still worked with the company that owned it, told me that it was an accident, though my friend Erika told me that it was corporate espionage. Whatever the heck that's supposed to be.
"I think she might have a point." Metabee said as he took a seat on the defunct conveyor belt. "I used to work in a factory like this a long time ago before I joined the CORP. Places like this are prime targets for people that can't take the competition."
Huh?
"Forget about it. It's grown up stuff. So, anything you wanna tell me about yourself? We're probably gonna be here a while."
Actually, I'm more curious about you. Ikki said. I've been playing with medabots ever since I was a toddler, and I've never known any that can walk and talk like you do.
"That's because I'm not a toy." Metabee grumbled. "I'll admit, I'm a bit surprised that you guys know about Medabots, but you apparently haven't bonded with us before. To give you the long and short of it, I'm what you might call an alien."
He could sense Ikki's rise in excitement.
Woah! Really? But I thought…
"What? That you were the center of the universe? You ain't that lucky, bub. "
Ikki was utterly beside himself. While he should probably of been more shocked to find that he talking to an alien, as any sane person would be, he was too excited at the prospect of meeting someone from beyond his planet. It seemed like something out of science fiction, and he wanted to enjoy it for the moment.
So, how are we doing this right now? What was that thing about compatibility?
Metabee hummed thoughtfully. "Well, frankly, I haven't the slightest idea where my armor came from, because it clearly isn't the set I was using before. As for the compatibility thing, it's how a medabot bonds with a host. You see, each and every medabot has a medal, which is, in all honesty, our true bodies. It houses our memories, our personalities, everything that makes us what we are. However, the things are dinky in nature, and they're fairly fragile. That's why we need hosts to bond with. However, there's a hitch. You see, our medals give off this kind of psychokinetic frequency, and, in order to bond, our host has to have a similar a similar frequency."
Sounds complicated. Ikki deadpanned. What would happen if somebody didn't match?
Metabee groaned. "Paperwork. A lot of paperwork. If the frequencies are even just the tiniest bit uneven, then the two personalities will fight against one another for control of the body. It's a total mess, and one I never enjoy cleaning up."
Ikki hummed at that. For the major part, he was lost, but he was too excited to care. His mind was all jumbled up with a never-ending spiral of questions. He wanted to know what Metabee's home world was like, what other aliens were out there, how many planets he had been to, and that was just a start. He was just about to ask further when, suddenly, there was a loud crash coming from deeper inside of the factory.
Did you hear that, too? he asked.
"Sure did." Metabee replied. "Guess we aren't the only ones in here after all. Let's see what's going on."
He got up from the conveyer belt, and he made his way deeper into the factory. His search eventually led him to the main warehouse of the factory, and, according to Ikki, the source of the fire that had shut down the place to begin with. Taking refuge at the end of the hall, Metabee peaked inside for a look.
There were four of them in total. They were all dressed from head to toe in skin tight rubber suites and wearing sunglasses, and, strangest of all, they had strange antennae planted on their foreheads. They were all hunched around a video monitor with the image blurred out. A voice could be heard from the monitor's speaker.
"It took you all long enough to respond!" said the voice. "I trust that you obtained the precious cargo?"
One of the members, a skinny fellow with a sprig of black hair jutting out of the top of his hood, chuckled menacingly as he held up a small, black box.
"Got it right here, doc, and I gotta tell you that I'm looking forward to seeing what it does."
"Most excellent." the voice tittered with glee. "You have done well, my dear robbos. I must admit, I was quite dubious to send you four out on a mission so soon, but I can see now that my concerns were misplaced."
"Don't worry about it, boss." said the largest of the group. "We don't hold grudges. You shoulda seen us out there. Nabbing that little doodad from the doctor, giving him that wedgie, and the cops that came after us didn't lay a finger…"
"SQUIDGUTS!"
The larger figure, Squidguts his name seemed to be, looked to his companions, whom were all giving him scathing looks. All save for the shortest one, whom held up a hand with three fingers raised.
"3…2…1…"
"YOU BUMBLING FOOLS!"
Gone were the words of praise from the man on the screen, and in their place was the sound of pure rage unleashed.
"You were supposed to retrieve the cargo undetected! Now you are telling me that the police saw you?!"
"Not only that." replied the final member, this one clearly female. "Seaslug here tossed the coppers autographed photos of us while also shouting about our organization from the rooftops."
"Gillgirl, shut it!" Seaslug ordered.
He looked back to the screen…and he immediately wished he hadn't. The view had cleared, though the image was still incredibly dark. He couldn't see the man on the monitor's face but he could see his lower half, as well as a strange cat wearing a helmet. Judging from the way the figure's stiff fingers stroked the cat's back, he wasn't happy. Not in the slightest.
"Seeeeeeeeeaslug!"
"Now sir, I know how it sounds, but, given our future plans as well as our steadily growing empire, I thought now was the perfect time to get the word out and spread fear throughout…"
"Oh, shut up!" the voice interjected. "I swear, Seaslug, sometimes I think you must have watched way too many Saturday morning cartoons as a child. Also, that's another thing. You don't do any of the thinking. That's my job! All you and your cronies are expected to do is follow my orders. Your actions will only cause more delays than were originally necessary."
"So what do you want us to do now, doctor?" asked the short one.
There was a brief moment of silence.
"We can't risk anymore screw ups. I'll have to contact my associate and try to drum up some cover to get you four back to the hideout. Therefore, you are to remain in that factory until further orders. What's more, Seaslug, you are to guard that rare medal with your life!"
Metabee's optics went wide.
"Woah, hold on! Did he say medal?"
Seaslug saluted the screen.
"Don't you worry sir. You can count on me."
The figure on the screen huffed. "That would be a first."
With that, the screen went blank, and the room was silent once more. Seaslug then shot a glare towards Gillgirl.
"Thanks a lot, Gillgirl!"
She glared right back at him. "Hey, don't get mad at me! I'm not the one that blew it!"
"She's got a point." said the short one. "I think you should give the medal to me. I'll make sure that it is returned to our glorious leader without incident."
Seaslug snarled, and he snatched up his mouthy companion by the front of his spandex.
"You'd like that wouldn't you, Shrimplips you dirty little suckup. Just because the boss is your uncle, you think that makes you better than me. Well you're not riding my coat tails to the top. I'm the leader of this group, and that medal is staying right here with me."
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that, bub."
The four immediately looked up to see Metabee, his arms folded against his chest for added menace. Seaslug dropped Shrimplips, and the shorter fellow rushed to take refuge behind Squidguts.
"W-what the heck is that thing?"
"Names Metabee, shorty!" the medabot spat. He turned to Seaslug. "Hey, stretch, I think you got something that belongs to me. Hand over the medal!"
Seaslug slowly regained his composure, and he straightened his posture to make himself look taller and more menacing.
"Listen, tin can! I don't know who you are or what you think you are, but you better watch yourself! Do you have any idea who or whom you're dealing with?"
"Nope." was Metabe's curt reply. "Nor do I really care, but I got a feeling you're gonna tell me anyway."
"You better believe it, buster!"
Seaslug turned back to his companions.
"Ok, guys, it's showtime! Just like we rehearsed it!"
A collective groaned washed through the remaining three, and Gillgirl even placed a hand over her face.
"Oh, boy. Here it goes."
With that, the four of them lined up in a row starting with Squidguts, then GillGirl, then Shrimplimps, and ending with Seaslug. Then, going down the line, the four begain to chant.
"Year upon year, and muscle upon muscle! The eldest and mightiest of this band of miscreants! I am the invincible Squidguts!"
"Endless radiance and irresistible beauty! I am the rose whose thorns will pierce your heart! I am Gillgirl!"
"Intelligence and wisdom far beyond my years! I am the one true shining star of this scene! I am Shrimplips!"
"With a demented cackle, I plunge all of the world into chaos! The great king of evil, I am Seaslug!"
The group then broke ranks and struck poses, and they finished the mantra in one voice.
"We are the elite alliance of evil united under one banner! We are…THE RUBBER ROBBO GANG!"
When they finished, there was silence. Metabee just stood there and stared, and it seemed that he was having trouble coming up with a response. Then, little by little, he started to giggle, and soon he collapsed to his knees as he began to laugh harder and harder. But he wasn't alone. Even Ikki was getting in some hardy laughs. The four, rubber robbos fell onto their faces.
"I told you that it would be stupid!" Gillgirl groaned.
"My uncle was right." Shrimplips mumbled. "You made us sound like the villains from a Saturday morning cartoon."
"I was thinking more along the lines of a fanfiction." Gillguts mused. "I hope that wasn't copyrighted."
Seaslug groaned, and he snapped back to his feet. "All of you just shut up! You just didn't do it right, that's all! And you!" He pointed at the still laughing Metabee. "Stop laughing at us! Stop it right now!"
Metabee held up a finger as a sign for peace, and he did his best to control his outbursts and find his voice.
"Sorry bout that, dude. But how did you expect me to take you seriously after a bogus display like that? I'll tell ya what, though. Since I'm in such a good mood, why don't you just toss me that medal, and I'll leave you in peace. I get what I want, and you can walk away with your dignity. What do you say?"
From behind his standard issue sunglasses, Seaslug's eyes burned with hate. Steam whistled out of his nostrils, and he raised an angry fist towards Metabee.
"You…you…you arrogant, worthless, piece of scrap! How dare you mock me?! We Rubber Robbos are the future of the entire planet. You should be kissing my feet, but now your chance is gone!"
He retrieved the black box, and he tossed the lid aside. He then pulled out something that looked like something akin to a medawatch, though it was much more seamless and it lacked any of the logos or insignias that tied it to the Medabot Foundation. In his free hand, he held the aforementioned medabot medal. His sneer fell, and his smirk returned to his face.
"Take a nice long look, tin can. What you see here is the finest technology ever devised by our fearless and beloved leader. With this watch and this medal, I will unleash an unholy power unlike any you have ever seen."
Metabee could sense Ikki shuddering.
Shouldn't you be doing something? You said…
"Relax, Ikki." Metabee whispered back. "You can't bond with a medabot medal unless you have a conduit to link mental waves."
But that thing looks exactly like my medawatch! That's what merged US together!
Metabee froze, and his optics grew wide as he weighed in this information.
"Ikki, I wish you had of told me that to begin with."
Seaslug inserted the medal into the watch, and it suddenly exploded with a bright light. When Metabee could see, Seaslug had completely changed. He was now encased from head to toe in bronze colored armor. Like Metabee, he was armed with laser canons on each arm, and his head piece was molded like that of a lion's mane with a blue visor shielding the eyes.
Metabee gasped. "What the bot?! Warbandit?!"
What's going on? I can't see.
"Believe me, kid. You're gonna be glad you don't see what happens next. It's never pretty."
The new medabot remained perfectly still, his gaze lowered. The remaining rubber robbos stared at him from behind with mystified wonder. Shrimplips whistled a soft tune.
"Wow! When my uncle said that that this was some high-tech stuff, he wasn't playing around. I can't believe I'm saying it, but you look awesome, Seaslug."
The new medabot turned towards Shrimplips. Then, without saying a single word, he raised one of his canons and fired. Shrimplips squealed in terror and dove away, taking refuge behind Squidguts.
"Hey! Watch it!"
The medabot bellowed with rage, and it fired again, this time widening this range for a better chance at hitting the other robbos. Gillgirl and Squidguts jumped to the side, leaving Shrimplips completely exposed. The tiniest robbo shrieked with fright, and he covered his face as he braced himself. Fortunately, the shots were wild, and they only succeeded in grazing the concrete in front of him. Looking up, Shrimplips allowed himself a moment's euphoria for his life, and then he turned tail and ran for the nearest exit.
"I think our tiny friend has the right idea." Gillgirl said to Squidguts. "Best to just let Seaslug sort this out for himself. Hence forth, it is Time for the rubber robbo gang's ultimate technique: RUN AWAY!"
She got no argument from Squidguts, and the two were soon gone from the premises. This just left Metabee alone with the wild Warbandit, whom had turned a hungry looking towards the yellow bot. Metabee could feel a shudder run through his chassis, and he waved his hands as a sign for peace.
"Now come on, Warbandit! WB? You…you recognize your old buddy-not to mention commanding officer-Metabee, right?"
Warbandit snarled, and his body shook and jittered madly as though he were having a seizure. Suddenly, he howled, and he placed his hands on the sides of his head. Then, at last, he spoke.
"Me…Meta…bee! Can't…can't control…"
"Yes you can!" Metabee declared, a sliver of hope ringing in his voice. "See? You're talking! Talking is good; it means your winning. Keep it up, buddy! Fight it!"
Warbandit howled again, and he launched a flurry of energy blasts all about.
"Can't…can't do it!" Warbandit stammered, weakly. "Evil! So much evil…inside! Can't…fight it! Please, stop me!"
From within Metabee shell, Ikki's heart was breaking. He could tell that Warbandit was in pain, and it was causing him no end of suffering.
What do we do? he asked. We've got to help him!
Metabee fell silent. He knew that Warbandit was fighting a losing battle. It wouldn't be long before he went completely wild, and if he were to get loose a lot of innocent people could be hurt. Even one rogue medabot could cause a lot of damage. He took a deep breath, and then he let it out, slowly.
"There's only one thing we can do, kid." Metabee said as he squared his shoulders and raised his weapons. "WB, I don't want to fight you, but I can't let you run wild neither. I hope you can forgive me for this, later, but right now you're gonna have to take a few lumps. It's time to robattle!"
"THEN IT IS AGREED!"
The sudden declaration caught both Metabee and the near rabid Warbandit off guard. All of the sudden, all of the factory's lights switched on, and from out of the shadows appeared a man. He was a medium sized fellow of about middle age. He had a full head of hair with a matching moustache, and he was outfitted with a white referee shirt, a big, red bow tie, and a pair of slacks. He dark brown eyes burned with a near supernatural passion, and he raised a finger in the air with gusto.
"LET IT BE KNOWN THAT A SUBMISSION ROBATTLE HAS BEEN DECLARED BETWEEN FIGHTERS METABEE AND WARBANDIT! THE BATTLE SHALL END WHEN ONE OF THE COMBATANTS ARE UNABLE TO BATTLE!"
Metabee could only stare at this strange man as he began to strike several dignified poses as he carried on.
"What the bot is going on here?" Metabee wondered aloud.
Beats the heck out of me. Ikki replied. This is easily the weirdest day of my life.
"…AND THUS IT IS WITH GREAT PRIDE THAT I WILL PRESIDE OVER THIS VERY ROBATTLE!" the man continued. "FROM THIS MOMENT ON, I, MR. REFEREE, SHALL BE ACTING AS REFEREE TO ENSURE THAT NOBODY GETS HURT! ARE THE COMBATANTS READY?"
Warbandit howled while Metabee just responded with a confused nod.
"THEN LET IT BEGIN! MEDABOTS…RO-BATTLE!"
No sooner had the words left Mr. Referee's mouth, Warbandit started firing on Metabee. The yellow bot yelped in surprise, and he raised his arms to shield his face. From inside his head, he could hear Ikki yelp.
Hey! That hurt!
"Yep!" Metabee grunted as he dove away and made for cover. "That would be our pain sensors linking up. Man, fighting wild medabots is annoying enough, but it's worse than when you're in the middle of bonding. What next?"
Left arm: fifty percent damage.
Right arm: fifty percent damage.
Metabee froze. "Woah, you say something?"
No. Ikki said. But I think I can see now through your eyes. There's also a weird display that shows your medaparts. I think I'm supposed to be keeping track of how banged up you get.
Metabee wanted to make some sort of snide remark-something along the lines of leaving his health in the hands of a kid-but he kept it to himself when another volley of Warbandits energy blasts shot wildly overhead. Metabee went into a sprint and started to run in a zig zag as he tried to stay out of range.
"One good thing about all this," he muttered under his breath, "Warbandit's shots are really powerful, but it requires for him to stand in one place. If I can just keep a good enough distance between us, I can fake him out and then counter…"
Suddenly, something moving at intense speed crashed into Metabee from behind, throwing him up into the air before he came crashing back down.
Head: ten percent damage.
Legs: ten percent damage.
Left arm: sixty percent damage.
Right arm: sixty percent damage.
Metabee groaned as he got back to his feet in a daze.
"What the bot was that?"
Ikki scoffed. Seriously? Did you forget about Warbandit's Tension-Up medapart?
"Huh?" Metabee slurred. He looked up, and he could see steam rushing out from Warbandit's mane. "Oh, yeah! Warbandit uses that to increase his speed so he can close gaps and shoot at close range." He paused for a moment. "Wait a sec! How do you know about it?"
Haven't you been paying attention? Ikki asked irritably. Metabots have been around since before I was born. The Warbandit model was one of my first sets. I know just about everything about it. He sighed. Look, I get that you're upset about this, and you probably don't like me much, but we're both gonna get hurt here if we don't work together. Medabots are my life. I can help!
It was Metabee's turn to scoff as he got back to his feet. "Yeah right! Get real, kid. I've been leading military assaults since probably before you were even conceived. I can easily handle a small robattle without help. Watch this!"
He took aim for Warbandit's headpart, and he opened fire with his right arm submachinegun. The yellow bolts of energy soared straight and true, but sadly they missed their mark as Warbandit blurred out of sight once again. The next thing Metabee knew, he was soaring through the air again, only this time he landed on his face.
Need my help now? Ikki asked.
"No!" Metabee snapped.
Just then, Warbandit pulled to a stop and fired another salvo. Metabee raised his right arm, and he steadied himself as the damage took its toll.
Right arm: one hundred percent damage. Function cease!
Metabee groaned when he lost feeling in his right arm, but it was worse when he heard Ikki chuckle.
"Ki-ki! Kikikiki! Ok, fine, Mr. Genius. If you've got a better idea, then I'm all ears."
Ikki gave a little cheer, and he waited till Metabee was standing again to get a better look at things. As best as he could tell, Warbandit's were completely erratic. He wasn't moving in any real direction for a real reason. It was just like Metabee was saying. He was acting like a wild animal. However, there was a weakness that Ikki knew to exploit.
Keep an eye on his movements. he said. The instant he stops to shoot, drop to the ground and start firing with your revolver.
Metabee didn't waste time with a reply. Warbandit had started to move again, and Metabee watched him carefully. At last, when Warbandit pulled to a stop, Metabee dove for the ground and started to shoot madly with his single barrel revolver. While slower, the energy bolts were more powerful, and they had better accuracy than the submachinegun. Metabee's shots finally met their mark and struck Warbandit's legs with heavy force, sending him realing. Metabee whistled.
"Woah! That worked out better than I expected."
You don't have to act so surprised. Ikki grumbled. You weren't getting anywhere just shooting at him while he has that Tension-Up medapart. He can still speed up, but his legs won't be able to take the strain very well anymore. Now hit him hard before he can recover!
Metabee shuddered with glee. He watched as Warbandit got to his feet, turned about, and started to run. However, he didn't get far as he tripped over his own feet. Metabee then popped his knuckles, and he lowered his head as he armed his antenna launcher.
"Sorry about this, WB. But it's time to kiss your bot goodbye! Missile launch!"
Two red-nosed missiles fired from Metabee's head, snaking their way through the air until they reached their target with a fiery boom. Warbandit cried out one final time, and then he collapsed onto his face. There was a popping sound, followed by the hatch on his back popping open as his medal clinked to the floor.
"FUNCTION CEASE!" Mr. Referee declared proudly. "THE WINNER OF THIS ROBATTLE IS METABEE!"
Alright! Ikki cheered .
Metabee chuckled, and he folded his arms across his chest. "Dude, I rock!"
What do you mean, you rock? You wouldn't have won if it weren't for me!
"Heh, yeah right. I'm the champ, here. You're just technical support."
Oh, whatever!
Metabee chuckled, but he paused when he saw Mr. Referee walking towards him. The grey headed man was beaming from ear to ear, and he took Metabee's hand and shook it vigorously.
"Thank you very much for allowing me to referee your robattle!" he declared, though he was using a subtler tone. "It is tradition for my family to judge and maintain all of the great sporting events of the world. I look forward to refereeing over your future battles. With that, Mr. Referee is out! Peace!"
With that, the man spun on his heel and began to walk away briskly. Metabee was left standing there with his arm still outstretched. He was utterly dumbfounded, and he struggled to find any words to describe how he felt.
"Weird." he muttered simply. "Ok, enough messing around. Time to reclaim Warbandit's medal, and then I'm gonna…Hey!"
He turned about back towards the prone Seaslug and Warbandit's discarded medal, only to discover that someone else had picked it up. He was a tall, lanky figure dressed from head to toe in black, complete with a black cape and matching fedora. It should also be noted that his face was concealed behind a mask with eyes and a mouth painted over it. The figure raised Warbandit's medal up into the light for a better look, and he chuckled mischievously before placing it into his pocket.
"Hey, hold it!" Metabee snapped as the figure started to leave. "That doesn't belong to you!"
The figure stopped, and he turned about very slowly, giggling devilishly as he eyed Metabee.
"On the contrary, my yellow plated friend. This medal does belong to me, as will all your rare medabot medals be one day. Such is the fate of the Phantom Renegade!"
He threw back his head as he cut loose with a maniacal cackle as he became shrouded in mist, followed by a brief coughing fit. When the mist cleared, the figure was gone, and Metabee was once again alone. Metabee just stood there and stared at the spot where the madman had been, the fingers of his left hand unconsciously flinching.
"Ikki," he began, his tone even, "your planet is strange."
Ikki hummed thoughtfully. I think that's something we both can agree on.
Next time on Medabots Re-bot-ted:
Ikki has just been flung head first into a strange and mysterious world. However, he will soon learn that he is not the only one to trod within it, and not all of them are as nice as he is. Tune in next time as Metabee and Ikki try to work out their differences and try to stay above water in "Tricks of the Trade".
More Medabots!
More Power!