Hey you guys, Steam here with a long-awaited update to Peacekeepers. I must first apologize for being away for so long, lots of family stuff happening and I will not go into detail. But, I'm back and I'm better than ever! And for you is the next chapter to Peacekeepers for you to enjoy. So what happened last time? Sai and Bad Hacker battled Maquette and managed to get him under control, and afterwards, Sai made his membership to the Peacekeepers permanent. But… what were the Guild-Masters talking about? What happened to make them lose members? What's the significance of the members that walked away? All will be revealed in time, but for now, let's move on in the story.
Credit to Natsume for Medabots
Data Log 6- A New Member
Two weeks had passed since Maquette's rampage. During this time, Guild-Master's Metal Beetle and Head Scissors spoke with the CEO of the Medabots Corporation branch in their region; explaining what happened as well as wanting to make Maquette a field agent for the Peacekeepers. They explained that the experimental bot had far exceeded expectations and was himself wanting to join. The Board was hesitant about the decision, especially recalling how much damage he caused when he went mad, but after several hours of discussions and negotiations they finally approved the request. Maquette still was unaware of the decision at that point in time until the Guild-Masters paid him, Bad Hacker, and Sai a visit the day after they returned from the out-of-town trip.
"Afternoon Agents," Metal Beetle greeted as the cockroach type invited them into their room, "Wassup my homies?"
"How'd the meeting go?" Sai asked, hopping down from the top bunk of the bed.
"That was what we we're here about." Head Scissors explained as he turned to Metal Beetle, "Shall you do it or should I?"
"He's part of YOUR model series," The old KBT type shrugged, "I say you do it."
"What is… going on?" Maquette asked.
During the two weeks the Guild-Masters were away, Bad Hacker and a couple other bots managed to build a much smaller and more toned-down version of Maquette's right arm cannon, of which he was now using over his older and larger one. Also during the time they were away, Maquette had been staying with Sai and Bad Hacker in their room.
"Maquette…" Head Scissors began, "The day you went berserk, you had enough of not getting what you truly wanted more than anything else… Freedom. That day you showed us how badly you wanted it, and put up such a fight to help ensure that you obtained it. During the two weeks Metal Beetle and I were away, we thought more and more about our decision, and when we brought it up to the Board, it wouldn't do justice to say that they were hesitant about their approval of our request."
Maquette's head fell. If the old KWG type was saying that he would be sent away, or even scrapped, for what he did on his rampage, he wouldn't know what to do with himself.
"However…" He continued, "After several hours of convincing the Board what you truly are capable of, as well as assuring them that you were stable and under control, they finally gave us the approval to permit you into the ranks of the Peacekeepers."
Sai, Bad Hacker, and Maquette's eyes went wide.
"You mean…" Bad Hacker stuttered, "He's… in?"
Ignoring the cockroach type, Head Scissors pulled out a red bandana from a small satchel on his hip and tied it around the experimental bot's neck.
"KWG-XX, Maquette…" The old KWG declared, "From this day forward you are now, and forever more, a Peacekeeper. You are a free medabot."
Maquette looked at the bandana now tied around his neck and stared at the fabric, running his fingers through it.
"I am…" He said, "Free. I am free…"
"Welcome to the Peacekeepers Bud," Metal Beetle chuckled as he patted him on the back, "Got anything you wanna say?"
"… Thank you… Thank you for my freedom. I… I will not fail."
"Glad to hear Agent, now you will be assigned to Saikachis and Bad Hacker's team, making you all eligible to now attempt HIT and ESC missions without special permission."
The beetle and cockroach types may as well have gone off like rockets they were so excited. They were now a team of three, and therefore able to tackle any and all missions with no approval of the higher-ups required.
"And your first assignment as an official team…" Metal Beetle continued, "We have some bots we need to bring in here…"
He nodded to Head Scissors as he disappeared into the corridor outside, and then reappeared a moment later with Magentacat and two other bots behind her.
"CMYK Gang," The old KBT type declared, "Head Scissors and I are placing you under the authority of Team Saikachis for the duration of the Bounty Hunter Mission."
"Whaaaat?!" The blue colored bot wailed, "Magenta-Sama, is this true?"
"That we have to take orders from… them?" The yellow bot added disgustingly.
The blue colored bot was DOG-0 Cyandog, the first in his line. As his model ID suggested, he was based off of a dog, and specialized in shooting attacks; similar to Sai. The thunderbolt pattern on his forehead had the same yellow bolt pattern that Magentacat had, though to offset his dominant blue color he had an orange bandana around his neck. The yellow bot was a tortoise type, donning the model ID, TOT-0 Yellow-Turtle. He was a little on the shorter and chunkier side due to having a rather stocky tank-type leg, but he made up for it with powerful laser attacks. He also has the yellow bolt design on his forehead, and had a brown sash across his torso.
"Nya…" The cat type sighed, "It's true."
Cyandog and Yellow-Turtle almost fell over in disbelief that their leader was submitting to someone else. Magentacat was the proud, and rather loud and bossy, leader of the CMYK Gang. They became more or less known as the troublemakers out in the field for complicating simple matters and accepting jobs that were out of their league. The only reason they weren't kicked out of the Peacekeepers was because, though incompetent they may be, they all show the true heart of the Peacekeepers and everything they stand for. They have recently been accepting all the jobs taking place around Headquarters so the other bots could keep an eye on them and make sure they stayed in line.
"Agent Saikachis," Metal Beetle asked, "You still wantin' to take on the Bounty Hunter Misson?"
"You know it Pops," Sai responded, "That guy won't know what hit 'em."
"Excellent answer, and since there are now six of you on this mission then I don't see any reason that you should fail. Go get 'em Agents, make us proud!"
The six charged out of the room and out the front door as they left the Guild-Masters alone to return to their office. Outside, the group then decided to formulate a plan.
"Alrighty Sai-Chan," Magentacat began, "What's the plan? You're the team leader after all."
"Well before we had to go back and take care of Maquette," He answered as Maquette nervously looked around at the reference, "We were tryin' to get some info on who this bot is and where he was last seen. Going together as a group would only make us stand out, so we'll need to break into teams of two."
"I go with Bad Hacker." Maquette declared, "No one else."
"It would seem best for now Sai," The cockroach type agreed, "He's still learning about the world outside the Headquarters, so he'll just have to stick with me for a while."
"And I'm going with Magenta-Sama!" Yellow-Turtle called.
"No way," Cyandog refused, "I'M going with Magenta-Sama!"
"I am!"
"No, I am!"
"I'm more powerful!"
"I'm faster!"
"Shut up Puppy-Dog!"
"Tiny-Turtle!"
"Idiot!"
"Numbskull!"
"Kikiki…. CUT IT OUT!" Sai barked, shutting both of them up.
Both the dog and tortoise types whimpered.
"So Magentacat'll be comin' with me," Sai declared, "Cyandog and Yellow-Turtle, you're the other team."
Yellow-Turtle moaned, "Awwwww….."
"That's not fair…" Cyandog whined, "She's OUR Magenta-Sama…"
"Yeah well she's mine until you two get your act together." Sai returned.
The cat type was utterly silent in the matter, fawning over the fact that she was being fought over by three guys, "Nyaaaa…."
"So, moving on…" Bad Hacker began, pushing the conversation back on course, "I ran into Exor and Unitrix that day, and they told me that this bot was likely a soldier type of some sort; so keep an eye out for anything that may spell that."
Everyone else nodded as they shared Mainframe Addresses and started in three separate directions to begin their search. Sai and Magentacat looked in the square again and began asking around for any sort of clues. Their search however, like the last time, yielded no results.
"Grrrr…. THIS IS POINTLESS!" Sai shouted in frustration after fifteen minutes of asking and no leads.
"Well so far we've been only asking other medabots about this mysterious shooter." Magentacat answered, "You think maybe if we start asking people we may find out something?"
"Not likely, bots are more able to recall stuff like that better than people can."
Magentacat was silent a minute as her mind wandered a bit.
"Hey, umm… Sai?" She asked, "How come you picked me to go with you instead of anyone else?"
"Hm? Cuz your two lackeys wouldn't sort it out themselves."
"You sure there wasn't any other reason?"
"Uhh… Like what?"
"Oh I dunno…" She flirted as she casually kicked a nearby rock, "Maybe you have something in your medal for a certain medabot…"
Sai remained clueless for a moment, and then it hit him what she was implying.
"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up!" He started, "You're thinking I have feelings for you?"
"Why not?" She replied, "Why would you have chosen me as your teammate otherwise?"
"Heck no, for starters we just met. I'm beginning to think you have a screw loose or something."
"Well jeez when you say it like that you make it sound like it's a bad thing." She huffed.
"And YOU'RE trying to flirt with me."
"So?"
"So, it's weird with bots you just met."
Magentacat growled and one of her hands began to tremble.
"YOU SCRAP-BRAIN!" She shouted as he slapped Sai upside his head and stormed off in some direction.
"Oww….." Sai mumbled, "What'd I say?"
As the cat type stormed off and stopped next to a tree elsewhere in town, she began grumbling to herself.
"Stupid Sai…" She growled, "He's got a head thicker than a block of cement! He doesn't know anything about how to deal with girls! At all! The dummy…"
It was about that moment that she noticed that she was alone in a part of the square that at the moment was vacant. She looked around carefully for any signs of movement, but found none. Everything was quiet, and not a sound was to be heard as a breeze whistled through a couple nearby trees.
"Hello?" She called, "Anyone out there?"
No answer.
"Sai, if this is a joke it's not funny!"
Still nothing.
"Alright cut it out! Just come out and face me you Scrap-for-brains!"
It was about that moment that she heard a click as a gun barrel was placed on the back of the Magentacat's head.
"U-u-uhm…." She stuttered, "N-nyaaaa…?"
*BANG*
A figure watched the cat type's body fall to the ground with a metallic thud; her medal ejecting onto the ground and rolling to a stop before falling onto its face.
-000-
Meanwhile, Cyandog and Yellow-Turtle decided to look around in the park for any signs or clues. Unlike the others however, they were more occupied arguing amongst themselves than actually looking for clues.
"And I told you that I'M more suited to be Magenta-Sama's partner!" Cyandog barked.
"And I said that you couldn't even be the partner to a telephone pole!" Yellow-Turtle hissed.
"You're so slow that even a snail would outrun you!"
"And your aim's so bad that if you had a target they'd be the safest thing in the area!"
"SHUT UP ABOUT MY AIM!"
"SHUT UP ABOUT MY SPEED!"
"IDIOT!"
"NUMBSKULL"
"SLOWPOKE!"
"BLIND BAT!"
"IMBICILE!"
"MORON!"
"THAT'S IT! YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"
"NOT IF I TAKE YOU DOWN FIRST!"
"Will both of you just shut up already?" A voice called irritatingly out to them.
Both bots stopped cold and looked around confusedly.
"Who's there?" Cyandog called.
A meda-bullet embedded itself in the ground at the dog type's feet.
"Aaiee! We're being hunted!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Yellow-Turtle agreed as he quickly turned around and floored it, "Let's get outta here!"
Both charged in the other direction as fast as they could. Surprising to Cyandog, the tortoise type could go pretty fast when he was running for his life as his six wheel-legs spun like no tomorrow. Before they could make it to cover on the other side of the park, another shot could be heard as Cyandog was taken down with a hit to the inside of his right knee. He tumbled and rolled onto the ground as Yellow-Turtle screeched to a halt and looked back in horror.
"Just go on without me!" The dog type shouted, holding a hand out to wave him on, "SAVE YOURSELF!"
It was too late as another shot nailed Cyandog in the head and shut him down; his medal ejecting and landing on the ground next to its body. Yellow-Turtle began trembling in utter fear as he got a glimpse at who shot his friend.
"N-no…" He stammered and began going in reverse, "It can't be…. They were right about your type! H-How could you? We saw you as a friend!"
*BANG*
Yellow-Turtle fell over onto his face as his medal ejected and landed on the ground next to his body. The figure turned and walked away, slipping into hiding as fast as he made himself known.
-000-
Bad Hacker and Maquette had some leads and ideas as they asked around the business district. They were on their way back to Headquarters as they talked with each other.
"Well," The cockroach type started, "At least we have something more to build on in regards to who or what to look for."
"Yes." Maquette agreed, "Some leads… better than none."
"Hey Maquette, I've been noticing for a while that you seem to be speaking in a rather broken way. Are your voice circuits working properly?"
"Yes… Voice circuits working… Not sure why I speak this way…"
"Hmm… I'll need to run a scan on your head part later and see if I can find anything wrong."
It was about then that Maquette stopped cold and looked around for something. Bad Hacker noticed this and looked over at the experimental type.
"What's up Maquette?" He asked.
"Not alone…" He answered, his antenna twitching as he started scanning the area, "Being followed… Hostile… Stealthy…"
"Then this may be our chance, where is the source?"
Maquette scanned the area around him and found the source right behind Bad Hacker, hidden in a bush. He moved like lightning as he smashed a nearby mailbox post and chucked it at the bush; whizzing past the cockroach type's head and it sailed into the bush and flushed out the source. It rolled to a stop next to the shrubbery, now exposed as the two bots saw who was following them. He was a soldier type, model ID FRL-0 Frontline. His color was mainly that of a two-tone army green with pale violet accents; his thighs having camo patterns on them. He had a short-range knife on his right arm, and his left arm was a black sniper rifle. Frontline watched his foes as he cocked his left arm.
"Frontline?!" Bad Hacker exclaimed, "You're the mysterious sniper?"
"Isn't it obvious, though you're not gonna make it back to the Headquarters alive to tell the Guild-Masters."
"Traitor!" Maquette snarled, "You misuse power!"
"I'm not misusing anything, I'm just following orders."
"Orders?" Bad Hacker mused, "Orders from who?"
"And right now, my orders are to take out those that get a little too curious." Frontline continued as he aimed square between the cockroach type's eyes, "And you'd fit into that category just fine, along with all the others I shot."
Maquette charged at Frontline with a snarl and deflected the shot at the last second, the meda-bullet screaming past Bad Hacker's shoulder as he leaped out of the way.
"No one touch Bad Hacker!" He roared, "I destroy those that do!"
"Try me Freak," The soldier type retorted, "I know all about you. How you work, what you're capable of, even what holds you back. There's nothing that you can surprise me with."
The experimental type charged again and used his cannon arm like a club as Frontline casually sidestepped and weaved side to side to avoid being attacked. Bad Hacker got into the fight as he started laying Shooting Traps everywhere to try and balance the fight. After enough of evading, Frontline forced his left foot into Maquette's torso and forced him backward with a powerful kick. He followed it with a horizontal slash of his blade arm and left a successful gash along Maquette's chest. The experimental type leaped backward to keep distance between him and his opponent.
"You're too slow with your attacks." The soldier type called, "Far too predictable that you're not even worth being considered a threat. Besides, it's him that I need to shoot anyway."
Bad Hacker froze only a moment as Frontline pointed at him. He hoped and prayed that one of his many Shooting Traps were close enough to trigger if he did shoot.
"On second thought," Frontline paused, "You're not worth wasting a bullet on… May as well stab you instead!"
"Darn it," The cockroach type cursed to himself, "He saw right through me!"
Frontline dashed forward, ready to impale Bad Hacker, until Maquette intercepted him with a jump kick to throw him off balance. The soldier type rolled on the concrete of the road and back to his feet as he regained his balance. Bad Hacker looked to Maquette.
"Go find Sai," He ordered, "Someone needs to tell him what's going on or we may not make it back to see tomorrow."
"No. I don't leave Bad Hacker." Maquette refused.
"Don't worry about me, I can put up more of a fight than you think."
"But…"
"Trust me Maquette, I'll be fine. You need to go and help Sai and tell him what's going on."
The experimental type was hesitant, but then nodded as he started for the direction Sai walked off to explore with Magentacat.
"You know you just shot yourself in the foot," The soldier type called, "Sending away your only chance at besting me."
"Don't underestimate me just yet Frontline." Bad Hacker returned as he readied to fight, "I may not be an offensive type bot, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve."
-000-
Meanwhile, in the lair of the Asura Mafia, the vast and cavernous room remained largely empty outside of the group's leader; who sat silently in his enlightened corner and meditated. It wasn't a few minutes later before Master Asura's head rose to peer into the darkness around him. There was another presence alongside his, and he knew exactly whose it was.
"LED Shadow…" He spoke, "Thou hast no need to hide thyself from me. Make thyself known and speaketh thou…"
The ninja type stepped forward and out of the darkness before kneeling in front of his master.
"The Dark Knights have arrived Master Asura…" He said, "They await your invitation…"
"They knowest they need not an invitation to enter into this place."
"Then call it being polite Asura." A voice called from a hallway.
Both the Asura and Ninja types looked into the hallway to find four sets of eyes peering their way as they stepped into the light to be seen.
"Dark Knights…" Master Asura greeted solemnly, "Formerly known as the Trump Cards… I welcome you to the Asura Mafia."
"Save it Asura. We didn't come because you called us, we came because we share a common goal."
The Dark Knights, four medabots belonging to a series of four known as the Trump Cards.
The Ace of the four, bearing the Spade, TJO-0 First-Ace. Purple and Blue being her main color scheme and donned in rather bulky armor, First-Ace was menacing and dangerous on her own, let alone with her teammates.
The Jack of the four, bearing the Club, TJK-0 Jackal. Gray and Orange in color, he was known as the Interrupter by his battle style of supporting teammates by making life harder on his opponents. More the team player of the four.
The Queen of the four, bearing the Heart, TQN-0 Mayqueen. Yellow and dark pink in color, she was the dominant supporter, donning the name of the Bloody Queen with her method of healing her allies at her opponent's cost.
And the King of the four, bearing the Diamond, TGK-0 Ganking. Donning a blue and gold color scheme, and by far the most dangerous of the four. He has been known by many as the Invincible Force that no one can beat. With his mighty lances in hand, every opponent thus far has fallen to his power before they even realize Ganking had struck them.
"Let's get to the point Asura." Ganking continued, crossing his arms, "You and I both want the Peacekeepers to fall. Why? For reasons personal to each of us that I will not bother asking for. Whatever order you give, just know that we'll do it our own way regardless of what you specify."
"You dare speak to Master Asura in such a manner?" LED Shadow hissed, "I shall purge this place of your insolence on my master's behalf!"
LED Shadow leaped forward with blades drawn, intent on attacking Ganking. At the last moment however, Ganking had drawn one of his lances and impaled the ninja type's shoulder as he sidestepped him casually. LED Shadow cringed as the Trump King's lance was then yanked out of the hole in his arm and struggled to stand. First-Ace then fired a shot at the ninja type's torso that sent him to the wall with a crash. Ganking walked over to stand in front of LED Shadow's battered body and point the tip of a lance at his neck.
"Challenge me again, and I won't be as forgiving."
"Ganking…" Master Asura called, "Thou hast no need to demonstrate thy power. Put away thy weapons and let us finish our discussion."
"Our time of talking is finished Asura." First-Ace interrupted rudely.
"We know what we must do." Jackal added.
"And we know how our task is to be fulfilled." Mayqueen included.
The Trump King walked back to his teammates and then faced the Asura type, "Well then I suppose we're all in agreement. We do things OUR way, and Peacekeepers will fall the way WE want it to fall. End of story."
Master Asura watched them turn and leave him, disappearing into the darkness of the hallway in front of them.
"M-Master…" LED Shadow strained, struggling to stand and limp closer to his master and hold the new hole in his shoulder, "W…Why them… You could easily have destroyed…guh… the Peacekeepers on your own… Why u-use those who… show no loy…loyalty?"
"Patience LED Shadow…" The Asura type replied, "I have reasons unknown to many for mine actions. Thou on the other hand hast revealed thine arrogance and impatience to me."
"But Ma…Master! They… slandered your name… with their disrespect to the mighty… Spenog-Menague…"
"Enough. You're loyalty is admirable, but blind loyalty hast been the doomed end to many. Now leave mine presence, and have thyself repaired from the damage thou hast incurred."
LED Shadow hesitantly complied as he limped into another hallway, leaving the Asura type alone in his chamber.
On their way to the hidden entrance back to the outside world, the Dark Knights continued in silence, mainly in thought of how to go about their plan. Ganking in particular was the quietest of the four.
"You seem lost in thought Ganking," Mayqueen stated, "Is there something on your mind?"
"A lot of things." The Trump King answered, "Why did he call us? Why now? Why not sooner? If you ask me something's fishy about this whole setup."
"Perhaps he is using us to 'test the waters' and see if Peacekeepers is still a worthy adversary?" Jackal suggested.
"If he is then I'd be right in my theory that old bot 'Master Asura' is losing his touch." First-Ace retorted.
Ganking looked over at the Trump Ace, "What do you mean?"
"It's just as you said Ganking. If he had the power to destroy the Peacekeepers himself, why would he require our help? And on that topic, why now in specific? If you ask me I think Asura's gone rusty. So with that said, I think attempting a hostile takeover of the Asura Mafia should be a considerable backup plan in the case we fail at destroying the Peacekeepers."
"Taking over the Asura Mafia?" The Trump Joker repeated, "That would surely be a task in and of itself. Doing so would require us to take on Asura himself you know."
"It'd be four against one Jackal." The Trump Queen refuted, "And with our united might I see no reason victory shouldn't be assured."
"And if he calls subordinates?"
"Then we simply target Asura at a time he's alone…" Ganking interrupted, "And with that said… I think I know a way we can use Asura, AND the Peacekeepers, in our favor."
The other three looked over at the Trump King with curiosity. While being the most powerful of the four, Ganking was also the unparalleled strategist; seeing things from angles that no one else would even consider and figure out how to work those given scenarios to his advantage. This is but only one more reason, of many, why Ganking is known by countless as the Invincible Force; and when with his teammates victory was almost assured from the moment they march to battle.
"What'd you have in mind?" First-Ace asked.
"We botch the mission on the Peacekeepers." He answered, "Use them to our advantage."
"What do you mean?" Jackal inquired.
"Think about it Jackal, the Asura Mafia, along with us, are enemies of the Peacekeepers… correct?"
"Yeah."
"So, let's play with the Peacekeepers a while. We'll throw them around, have some fun, but not enough to wipe them out. At the right moment, we'll tell Asura that the Peacekeepers are ready to fall, and have him send out his subordinates to take them down. While they're gone, we strike Asura down and claim the Mafia with an iron fist. Anyone who dares oppose us will meet the same fate as their fallen master…"
"The plan seems sensible, and plausible…" Mayqueen remarked, "But how would we determine the right time to strike?"
"When we see the Peacekeepers struggling to survive. They may be a strong force for now, but they've slowly been diminishing in number. We strike them where they're weakest and expose the Achilles Heel to Asura. Then the rest is history."
"This is good…" The Trump Ace nodded, "We'll take care of the Peacekeepers AND the Mafia in one fell swoop, and then WE'LL be the ones in charge!"
"That's right." Ganking agreed, clenching a fist, "And nothing's going to stand in our way. For we are the Dark Knights, the Trump Cards of any warfare! Defeat is foreign to us, and all we know is victory!"
-000-
Sai had been looking for Magentacat for the last several minutes. He had an idea of why she ran off, but in his processors she was also to blame for trying to flirt with him. Regardless, she was still his partner for the mission, so finding her was a requirement. He tried to follow where she ran off after the cat type smacked him, but his search had come up empty.
"Ahh come on Magentacat," He sighed, "Where'd you run off to?"
The beetle type looked around to find nothing around… or anybody around for that matter. All was quiet, save for the wind that blew across the empty road. It was a workday and school day for the humans, so naturally the streets were empty due to the town's inhabitants being elsewhere. Sai's neon green eyes looked up to the sky; dark and dreary… as if it were getting ready to rain. He felt uneasy. He was alone, and his allies were all scattered across town looking for a mysterious sniper.
"I don't like this… It all just feels… off…"
He heard a cling under his foot when he went to take a step. Looking under his foot revealed to be a lone medal sitting in the street. It was a Queen medal, but the question was, who did it belong to?
"That's funny… Why would I find a medal in the middle of nowhere?"
Sai looked around some more to eventually find Magentacat's body lying lifeless at the base of a memorial. What was worse, there was a dent in the back of her head, like a bullet struck there but didn't penetrate. The beetle type cringed slightly, and then put the pieces together to realize the medal he picked up was indeed Magentacat's. He felt even more uneasy at the impact in the cat type's head, but knew that as long as the medal was alright then Magentacat was still unhurt… for the most part. He reinserted her medal into her body and waited for her to boot back up; of which she did after a time.
"Magentacat," Sai began as she shakily rose to a sitting position, "What happened to ya? You look like you got sniped in the back of your head."
"Uunngh…." She moaned, "It all happened so fast… I dunno what took place. But all I remember was hearing a gun click and then a barrel touch the back of my head. After that, bang."
"Did you see who did it?"
"Nya… No I didn't. They approached me from behind, so I wasn't able to see who shot me."
"Maybe this sniper-dude's onto us. We better stick close from here on in case he decides to try again."
"Sai…"
"What?"
"My head part's in pretty bad shape right now from that hit I took earlier. I dunno how long I'd be able to stay up in a battle."
"Then we'll make sure we don't run into a battle. Come on, let's find the others and see what we can do."
He helped Magentacat to a standing position as they looked around a little more for any possible clue. They found nothing, and that worried them. It wasn't too much longer before Sai received a message from Maquette.
"Bad Hacker in trouble. Sniper appeared… a Frontline… Meet in square… Come quickly…"
"Hey um, Magentacat?" Sai began, as she didn't get the message, "I think Bad Hacker and Maquette figured out who our sniper is…"
"Really?" She replied, "That's great! Who is it?"
"Maquette said it's a Frontline."
The cat type gasped, "Not… Frontline… he was such a good bot…"
"Well we don't have time to waste here." Sai finished as he quickly medachanged into vehicle mode, "We gotta meet Maquette at the square so we can help Bad Hacker, so let's go."
Magentacat hopped onto his back as he floored it and raced for the town square, and they arrived a few minutes later. The cat type hopped off of Sai as he changed back into robot mode and looked around.
"Sai! Sai!" The experimental type shouted as he ran to meet with them, "Bad Hacker in trouble… facing Frontline alone… Not suited for fighting…"
"Then lead the way Maquette, we gotta help 'em out!" The beetle type answered as Maquette nodded and headed back in the direction he came.
Thanks to having a much lighter and smaller version of his microwave cannon, Maquette was able to move much quicker and keep a steady running pace without being slowed down by armor weight. Due to this however, and his naturally higher base speed, Sai and Magentacat had a little trouble keeping up with the experimental type. Eventually they rounded a corner as Bad Hacker was thrown onto his back with a thud against a concrete wall elsewhere; a gun barrel pointed in the direct middle of his forehead. Frontline looked down his arm as he cocked the mechanism for another shot.
"End of the line, roach." He said, "Let's see you come back from this."
"You'll… never get away with this…" The cockroach type returned, futilely feeling the wall for something to grab, "But why… Why revolt against those who saw you as a friend?"
"Simple, friends are a waste of time. I was taken out by one of these so-called friends. And you know what I did with the bot, who I once thought as a friend, that stabbed me in the back? You remember Sherwood right? I shot 'em, right through the medal hatch."
Bad Hacker shuddered on the inside. He had remembered reading the missing bot report on RBA-0 Robin-Arch, better known by friends as Sherwood. He had been missing for about two weeks after Frontline left the Peacekeepers, and now the cockroach type was enlightened on exactly what happened to the missing comrade.
"But that attack was an accident Frontline! I read the report! He missed at the last second and your opponent used you as a shield."
"Like I care. Sherwood was a useless scrap of metal anyway, always talking about the greater good of medabot kind and blathering on and on about how it's up to us to ensure the safety of the humans. But lemme ask you something, what have the humans done for us? Why offer ourselves to them? All those good-for-nothing meat-sacks have done is abuse us and then throw us away or abandon us like a broken toy! I'm following a visionary, and his plan is to rule this town with an iron fist, and put US in charge of the humans!"
"No… you're crazy!"
"I'm not crazy, I'm just following orders."
Frontline cocked the mechanism on his arm, ready to put a meda-bullet in the cockroach type's head and finish the job.
"Any last words, roach?" The soldier type asked.
"Not any I would say out loud…" Bad Hacker retorted.
"Good, I always liked silent targets."
*click… click…*
Looks like Bad Hacker's in trouble now! Will help arrive to save him? Or will it come too late? Who is Frontline taking orders from? And how will the Dark Knights enact their plan to take over the Peacekeepers AND the Asura Mafia? The only way to find out is to read on when the next chapter is released. Until then, rate and review please.