CHAPTER XI

Rebellion

"Heaven may await us all yet, but it lies on the other side of hell."

R.D.M.

The Wakeman residence

"YOU INGRATE!"Vexes's voice synthesizers screeched out in anger. She clenched her sharp talons tightly, oil dripped to the ground through her balled fists, "I freed you from your wretched existence and birthed you anew! You dare? YOU DARE!" Vexes showed no attempt to hide her predatory teeth during her fit of rage. Her face plate twisted into an expression of pure, malicious anger, highlighted by wide eyes, glowing with hate, "I swear to whatever power created this FUCKING universe that, before this day is done, I WILL pullout what little squishy bits of your human form remain and FEAST ON THEM!"

"Freed me? By imprisoning me inside my own idiotic, misguided, ideological, social mask? You screwed up my head! Played to my emotions and feed me LIES!" Sheldon curled his now permanently metal brow in obvious disgust, "I would have rather suffered and died from my mistakes than live as I am forced to now. You destroyed my HUMANITY! A crime of unequaled proportions, every pulse of your power core, every liter of oil that is heaved through your tubes by that terrible pump is an insult to me! By my blood or by your oil, your dept to me will be paid! Be forewarned witch, if you kill me, then you are forgiven, but if you wound me..." Sheldon cranked up his new Cluster power core to it's full potential. His orange and slightly yellow hued aura exploded out to double it's original size. He turned his left arm into a cannon and his one remaining blade's edge glowed white hot with heat, "Then I willkill you!" A quick blue-tooth signal to all the XJ's by Sheldon began the rebellion. They all received precisely coordinated instructions. Sheldon fired a blast of energy from his cannon at Vexes. A Nightmare quickly stepped in front of the shot and lost it's activation cycle for it's Queen in an explosion of liquid hot metal. Jenny flexed her arm's powerful, micro-pneumatic synthetic muscles to their peak. The unmistakable sound of slowly bending metal resonated from DV-2's forearms. He had no choice but to release his captive or suffer the loss of his appendages from the elbows down. Jenny rotated on her abdomen with great speed and landed a vicious backhand that sent DV-2 cartwheeling, head over heels, clear out of sight. Smytus preyed on the distraction, trying to stomp Misty and Sheldon with his massive foot. Sheldon activated his thrusters and slid backwards out of the way, Misty turned to mist as the immediate Earth around where they stood erupted with the impact. Misty passed through the foot and rematerialized. She landed a round house kick to the knee of the huge droid, ripping off a few sheets of paneling from the hinging joint of it's gigantic leg. Sheldon returned his arm to normal mid slid, grabbing Nora and Brad by the collars of their shirt as he passed, Dale by his arm. He continued sliding backwards, dragging them along the ground, until he was satisfied that the distance he achieved was safe enough.

"AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGG! God damn it man! Can you at least give a guy a warning! Fuck that hurt!" Dale yelled out as Sheldon brought them to a halt and dropped him on his back.

"Take me back! I have to-" Brad protested.

"Can it Red!" Dale interrupted, "They'll tear you up if you go back over there...aah" Dale let out a slight moan while clutching his chest. Brad balled his fists, the truth stung him deep as he watched the battle raging in the distance.

"I apologize for the abrupt and uncomfortable ride but, it was necessary. Nora, I believe these will come in handy." Sheldon spoke while opening a small compartment in his left thigh. He grabbed and presented to her a pair of heavy duty, mechanical gauntlets covered with wires and circuitry.

"My Gravity Well Gloves!" Nora exclaimed, "They work by borrowing and amplifying a percentage of the natural gravity of whatever planet your on!"

"I retrieved them from your lab during my battle with your daughters. Originally, I had orders to destroy them but, after Misty found my consciousness inside the artificial animus Smytus built to contain my mind, I figured that, since they served you so well on Cluster Prime, they may come in handy in this situation." He stated. Without hesitation, Nora snatched them from his huge hand. She shot him a well deserved look of scrutiny from the corner of her eye as she dawned the weapons.

"So, lets cut to the chase. Do you have a plan?" She questioned while turning up the dials on her gloves.

"First, I'm going get you to safety. I told your daughters to not overdo it while your still in the vicinity." XJ's 1,2, and 3 landed beside them, "The little ones will guard you until your transport arrives. Skyway is sending in its largest ship to take you to safety." Sheldon replied.

"Skyway?" Nora asked.

"Those dumb-asses...Will never...Make it..." Dale spoke through the pain, still clutching his chest, "They'll never get through to us."

"It was Misty's idea, after she freed me. It's the U.S.S. Johnson, destroyer class, and it's being escorted by The Omega Armada, Skyways finest." Sheldon informed, "Skyway turned the Enterprise into a public memorial for it's role in the first inter-galactic war, the Johnson is it's bigger and more powerful replacement." Sheldon turned his robotic eyes to Nora, "Nora...There isn't enough time, nor the right words to explain-"

"Sheldon..." Nora interrupted. Her gloves hummed with energy, pink flashes arched around it's wires, "Actions first. Emotions second. This isn't my first rodeo...Go, save my daughters." Sheldon nodded in acknowledgment to Nora before rocketing low across the ground, back into the battle, "Bradly, I want you to stay close to me. XJ's, form a twenty foot perimeter around us. I don't have to tell you of the danger we are in."

Back in Tremerton

"Your going to squirm at my feet, you abomination!" Vexes screeched at Sheldon as he approached her. She wildly slashed her claws through the air, sending wave after wave of light blue energy streaking towards him, "I should have let you rot away like the disgusting creature you are!" He focused his aura in-front of himself as he flew. The deadly energy blades deflected and exploded as he plowed onward to his target, but before he could impact, Vexes clasped her hands together and raised them high above her head. White energy crackled around her as she heaved them downward with incredible speed and power. Sheldon could not stop in time, the attack caught him in the back, between the shoulder blades. The force of the attack pushed him deep down into the Earth's crust, rippling and cracking the ground around the hole, "You belong beneath my feet WORM!" The ground beneath Vexes's feet began to rumble. Sensing the building energy from below, she faded away into a portal. Moments after, the terrain exploded and Sheldon streaked into the air, searching for his quarry.

"Where are you..." He thought to himself while scanning the horizons. An alert sounded in the nick of time as a clawed hand slashed at his head and disappeared. Sheldon knew the pattern of attack, hit and run but, he also knew one of her few weaknesses. Her ego, "An awfully cowardice strategy for a Queen...Afraid to face your mistake? Afraid to face me? AAAHHHH!" Sheldon was greeted with a powerful punch to the small of his back, leaving the imprint of the attackers fist.

"COWARD!I ruled a planet for a thousand years! I built a civilization from a ragged group of outcasts from across the universe! I waged war on our kinds behalf, freeing and avenging more and more from their filthy organic masters! How dare you call me a coward!" A small, compressed white ball of energy formed in the air just in-front of her chest plate. Without warning, the ball shot at Sheldon with lightning speed. He barely managed to strafe to the right, but not fast enough. The blast grazed his left side, at the area where a humans kidney would be located. It melted a slight, red hot channel in Sheldon's armor as it zipped by.

"You were afraid of the empire you built. You controlled every aspect of your peoples lives because you were afraid of them..." Sheldon could hear a growl, emanating from multiple locations, "You became the very the thing you hated, covering your insane blood lust with lies of freedom... Your beloved peoples found out the truth and cast you out. Just like Vega." Vexes snarled even deeper, "And you destroyed them...Your entire planet and it's people. Your own daughter..." By now, Vexes was trembling with anger, "I can't imagine what it's like to be that powerful, and still look over your shoulder."

"ENOUGH!" Vexes bellowed, "How dare you speak of my life! You've no idea what it takes to rule a planet! The strong will flourish and the weak shall perish...A harsh lesson you will learn first hand!"

Meanwhile

The once peaceful town of Tremerton had become a jagged wasteland in the wake of battle. Jenny deactivated her optic lubricating system to avoid shedding tears at the site of her ruined home. Her advanced optical hardware took in every marred memory that surrounded her. The wounded pedestrians, the burning homes, all took it's toll on her already frayed emotions. "CLANG!" A hard punch to the side of her jaw snapped her out her emotional daze. She slid and spun around to face her assailant, "Axle..." She grit her teeth behind her metal lips and sneered at the robot standing in-front of her. No longer a friend, but an obstacle, impeding her progress towards her main objective. She slightly clinched her fists while scanning for the familiar, sweet connection her systems had come to enjoy, to crave. It is amazing how fast a human mind can work in instances that require immediate and rash action, even more so for gynoids. She processed back to the sweet, harmonious buzz she felt inside Axle's mind not so long ago. She looked into those solid white, empty optics and her scans received static. For reasons she couldn't readily explain, Jenny suddenly felt like her weight had doubled. In slow motion, she watched Axle no, DV-2 raise his hand straight out and began charging yellow energy into it. Jenny knew that, weather or not this was the real DV-2, she had no choice but to fight. Her family, hell the weight of an entire planet and then some, now feel on her shoulder's and she must protect them, down to the last pulse of her oil pump. Jenny slapped the energy beam up into the atmosphere and out of sight, "That was a weak attack. Distraction?" She processed to herself while looking back at the spot where DV-2 had been standing. To her surprise, only a small cloud of dust hung in the air where he once stood. She braced herself for an attack, though she didn't know from where. Suddenly, her proximity alert rang inside her C.P.U. She moved just in time as DV-2 slammed his fist into the ground where she stood. Faster than the average robotic eye could process, he burst through the cloud of dust he created with the impact, sprinting at an incredible speed towards Jenny. She dug her heels in and leaned forward, preparing for impact. DV-2 collided into Jennifer with the force and display of a volcanic eruption, throwing hundred of tons of debris high into the evening sky. The two locked hands in a contest of strength. The ground around them vibrated violently as their artificial muscles heaved against one another, both trying to over power the other, "Wh-what's the matter? I ca-can tell your holding back...What's wrong? Damaged containment field acting up? Ha-having second thoughts?" Jenny strained out.

"HHHHHMMMMMM..."DV-2 let out a low yet, deep growl from his vocal systems. For a split nanosecond, Jenny swore she felt the connection from earlier. DV-2 capitalized on her momentary distraction and yanked downward, bringing the top half of Jenny's body down while planting a metal rending knee to her mid section that sent her into the air. Jenny caught herself and processed the data she collected in the small exchange. She quickly calculated a new strategy. She ejected several small orbs from compartments on her back and produced several energy guns from various areas on the front of her chassis and opened fire. DV-2 erected an invisible field around himself and charged. Jenny's attacks simply deflected. As soon as he reached her, Jenny, at the blink of an eye, retracted her guns, grabbed his right arm, spun head over heels, and threw DV-2 towards the ground below at an incredible speed. He slammed into the dirt on his back. The orbs Jenny produced closed in on his position. He rolled to the right, out of the small crater he was in and took a defensive stance. The orbs surrounded him but, stopped within ten feet from their target. DV-2 processed the situation, scanning the objects, he saw small, metal doors roll out of the way to reveal black, glass lenses. Each fired a thin, blue line from it's lens. The line's spread out to form small holographic windows. The blue hued displays encircled DV-2 and began to play video images. Images of Brad, Jenny and himself played on some, intimate moments between him and Jenny played on others. The images played and DV-2 lowered his guard, taking in all that he was seeing, processing the scenes. One hologram in particular seemed to garner most of his attention. It was the image of him, placing his hand on Jenny's shoulder when she was inside his mind for the first time. She was crying and he was trying comfort her. Whatever emotions DV-2 my have been processing, it quickly shifted to anger. He snarled at the image and fire his eye lasers, destroying the orb. He balled his fist tight and spun in a circle, firing and destroying all the damnable orbs, "RRRRRAAAAAARRRRHHHHH!" He let out a loud cry. Jenny took the opportunity, swooping in from behind, she subdued him in a Full Nelson. DV-2 thrashed around violently, throwing Jenny to and fro as she clung to his back. DV-2 forced his energy out in-front of him and slid backwards at mach three, straight through the remnants of the decimated town and exploding into the side of Tremerton Mall. Jenny held fast until she finally mustered her strength and pulled DV-2 backwards and firmly planted her feet back on the ground. Once she established her footing, she activated the geomagnetic cells in her feet, anchoring her through the planets gravitational field.

"I gotcha! Quit struggling! I know your in there Axle! You can beat this!" Axle strained with all his might. He activated his flight systems and tried to carry them both away but, he could not break the bond Jenny had with the Earth, "Vexes may have created you but, she does-doesn't control you! You have a choice! You can override your programing!" Each word seemed to fuel his urge to escape. He funneled every once of power he could into his boosters. The Earth trembled for miles and began to crack and shift. Great quakes rocked the landscape all around them as Jennifer strained to keep them grounded, "C-come on damn it! SNAP! OUT! OF! IT!" The Earth finally conceded to the two struggling superpowers and it birthed out a mile wide section of itself that Jenny was anchored to. The opponents, and the massive rock, rocketed towards the atmosphere. Jenny dared not deactivate her grip for fear that the rock would crash back down on her friends and family. She was forced to wait until they breached the boundary between atmosphere and space, allowing the lack of gravity to bare the burden before releasing the massive stone. DV-2 cranked up his power core, turning his external body paneling temperature to near sun levels, trying to melt his capture. Jenny detected the maneuver and matched his power level and temperature, canceling out DV-2's attack. Jenny beamed a message to her captive through the silent void, "Axle...Th-this is your last chance...I'm sorry but...I can't let you go...Not as long as your under Vexes's control..." Jenny trailed off. She shifted her breasts apart about six inches and formed a round, metal ring directly in-front of her power core. With the execution of a small program, she could deactivate part of the containment field around her core and channel it's raw power through the ring as an intense beam of pure solar radiation. With her breast plates pressed against his back, the attack would be devastating, "Please, if your in there...If you were ever really there...Give me a sign." In a last ditch attempt to reach her friend inside the beast, she forced the image of their most intimate moment into DV-2's C.P.U. To her surprise, DV-2 immediately froze.

"I-I...Jenny...I'm s-s-sorry..." DV-2 finally replied. He strained out the message in his usual digitized voice, bringing the old connection along with it. Jenny knew she had gotten through as soon as she felt it, "Please...K-kill me...I don't want to remain active like this...I don't want to destroy another world..." Jenny clung to DV-2 motionlessly, shocked at what she had heard. Not a second later and the connection was lost, replaced, instead, by the static she felt earlier, "YYYYAAARRRRRHHH!" DV-2 used Jenny's distraction, breaking free of her grip, he grabbed her by the ankle and rocketed back down to the Earth. He impacted her body into the Atlantic Ocean with enough force to throw the water high enough to make the sea floor visible. Jenny, due to the water being pushed a side, had no cushion what so ever and connected with the sea floor. The Earth heaved and cracked, Hydrothermal vents for miles around the impact zone spewed out bursts of magma high into the air. The momentum that peeled back the Ocean slowly waned and the force of gravity teamed with Mother Nature, bringing their immense power crashing back down on the helpless robot girl. DV-2 silently hover above the violent Ocean, scanning the turbulent waters for his prey but, the terrible current's random fluctuations blocked his sensors. The churning waters also hid Jenny's attack, the water around her boiled. She partially deactivated her power core containment field and fired a massive ten foot wide whitish yellow beam of energy that sizzled through the Ocean. DV-2's optic arrays only detected the attack after it broke the water's surface. He had no time to dodge or block, the beam engulfed and pushed him into the clouds. Jenny burst forth out of the water, pursuing her adversary. DV-2 stopped himself inside the cumulus clouds and with a heave of his limbs outward, he dispersed the energy around him in a show of yellow sparks and a small shock-wave. Jenny's attack had stripped him bare of his tattered clothing and synthetic skin, leaving his dull Grey armor underneath exposed in all areas. At the last possible moment, he spotted Jenny coming at him with the force of an Aircraft carrier moving at mach five. He threw a wild left handed punch that managed to connect with Jenny's right. The titanic force of the opposing blows could be heard reverberating on both continents that the Atlantic split. The shock-wave rippled through out the sky, pushing and dispersing the clouds completely out of sight and even touched back down to the waters below, pushing out a large crater in the Ocean. The effect was not lost on the combatants, their arms twisted, rippled, split and cracked. A small mist of hydrological fluid and oil sprayed out from the connecting limbs at the moment of impact along with various small pieces of their armor. Both pulled back there now nearly useless limbs with grimaces on their face plates. Jenny felt the connection once more while DV-2 stared at his mangled appendage.

"Look at yourself! Look at me! Your hurting yourself and the one's you care about!" DV-2 shifted his gaze from his hand to Jenny, slowly taking in all the damage to her chassis, "Your in pain...I know because I can feel it to." Jenny's dimmed eye lit back up, her repair systems were doing their job only, they could not keep up with the constant stream of damage that she was receiving. She watched with her now slightly clearer vision at the machine in-front of her. DV-2 dropped his arm limply to his side and opened his mouth as if to speak but stopped. He began to tremble and his faceplate shifted between mixtures of anger and pain. Jenny also felt the connection ebb and flow rapidly from static and back. DV-2 slowly and jerkily raised his hands above his head. Jenny brought up her good arm and turned it into a laser limb. She knew he was struggling with the programming inside but, she also knew that she may never get this opportunity again. She processed this fact while she calculated the exact location of his central processing unit inside his head. Time seemed to slow as she level the barrel of her weapon with his forehead, an all to familiar scenario. DV-2 reached the back base of his metal skull and pushed his fingers through his armor and into his own body. He grasped the vibrating object attached to his spine and with some effort, yanked the piece of hardware out. Jenny let out a gasp as she watched the scene. He twitched and jerked still as he brought his arms down to his sides

"D-damn thing...Has b-been ssssending me c-c-commands..." Axle explained. He crushed the device in his hand and released it to the tides far below, "Can't f-fully override t-the programing." Jenny noted how hard it seemed to be for him to speak as well as the violent tremors that seemed to come and go. This time the connection remained but varied in intensity, "H-hard to focus..." Jenny stowed her laser limb.

"We'll get to my Mom, she can remove the program from your systems." She offered.

"N-no. Not enough t-time. W-we need to stop V-Vexes before she kills Sh-Sheldon." He strained out.

"I thought she was stronger than you? How can we beat her?" Jenny asked.

"I-I don't know but, I ha-have to try." The two scanned the horizon in the direction of Tremerton, locking onto and locating their enemy.

"We'll get you fixed up when this is over. Don't worry." Jenny said with a little smile as they headed towards the battle.

"Yeah..." Axle replied while following behind.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Tremerton

"Hey, you guys hear that? Kinda sounds like...Choppers." Brad said. Nora shielded her eyes from the sun to see what was approaching them.

"That's Skyway. I recognize the ships color pattern. E class armored transport. Stand down girls." The XJ's lowered their weapons.

"Oh, I hope they have a well equipped mechanical repair station..." Mogg added as he continued to stare helplessly at Kenny.

"If what Sheldon said is true, they probably have to most advanced technology available. We'll get him up and running again, don't worry." Nora rested her hand on the small man's shoulder.

"You sure got a good eye...For such an old dog..." Dale chimed in with no other purpose than to ruffle Nora's feathers and distract from the dire situation. She picked up on this.

"Well, you know what they say about old dogs...You can't teach us new tricks but, we never forget the best ones. I started out doing recon, if you remember." Nora retorted while bringing her wrist communicator to her mouth, "XJ-4, how's it going out there?"

"HHHHIIIII-YYYAAAAHHH!" XJ-4's voice came through the communicator loud and clear as she landed a powerful left handed punch to a Nightmare, "We're still alive and holding up! Elena and Misty are dealing with Smytus. It's taking everything the rest of us have to hold off these Nightmare things!"

"Keep up the good work. I want you to keep me posted on your situation and..." Nora paused momentarily as if in deep thought, "I love you girls. Stay alive out there." She added before cutting the link. Her lab coat thrashed about in the strong winds kicked up by the heavily armored transport ship touching down beside them.

"You really do love those things you built, don't you Nora?" Dale questioned. Nora answered back with silence.

"Mel! Do you read me Melody!" Brad tried in vain to reach his robotic interest, "I don't know what else to do...I keep calling her but she wont answer." He balled his fists and frowned at his helplessness in the situation.

"Don't worry so much Red...She's a tough ole' bot. She'll be fine." Dale reassured. A large door hinged downward from the bottom of the ship, forming a ramp to the entrance. A few Skyway personnel came jogging from the ship, their weapons at the ready. They formed a protected corridor and motioned for them to board the ship, "I guess we better get on that thing before we wind up casualties of war." Dale let out a small moan from pain as the ground rumbled. Two more Skyway members came down the ramp and ran along the path with a gurney in tow, followed closely by another pair, pushing a much larger gurney on mechanical tracks. It even had a metal arm attached to the side to lift Kenny's heavy body and carry it onto the ship. Carefully, the first two eased Dale down and began to roll him away. Nora followed with the XJ's close behind. Bradly remained steadfast, staring off into the sky.

"Come along Bradly, we must be off..." Nora spoke over her shoulder as she entered the craft. Brad pulled his eyes away from the clouds and glanced at the men hoisting Kenny's frame onto the table. He watched the tears in Mogg's eye's, teetering on the edge of streaking down his cheeks. Surly, he knew the feeling. He felt the same for Melody. After a moment, turned and made his way aboard.

"I wish we were meeting under better circumstances Dale. I am Captain McKenzie of the U.S.S. Johnson, the newest addition to the Skyway fleet. It's truly is an honor. Your sort of a legend back at base." Captain McKenzie complimented. Dale snorted to himself as he spoke.

"The big Johnson huh?" Dale smiled, "Just get me fixed, we'll chat later..." Dale, in no mood to talk, due to his injuries, said while being carted him away. Leaving the Captain behind with his bewilderment, though only for a second as the ground beneath the ship shook once more.

"Alright! Wheels up people! I want this bird in the air now!" Captain McKenzie shouted out in his raspy voice. All personnel within ear shot immediately snapped into action.

"I request a status update on our situation and so help me, if you tell me to fill out a request of status update form..." Nora said in a rather stern tone. McKenzie swallowed as he glanced down at Nora's balled, metal clad fists.

"Th-that wont be necessary, a request of immediate and rash action was filed in triplicate prier to our arrival. All paperwork will be put on hold until the situation is resolved. We've deployed ground troops equipped with weapons based off the designs that were procured from Dr. Locust's destroyed lab. They should be able to damage Vexes but, we didn't have time for proper testing. I've also sanctioned Omega Squadron to carry out an air strike into the hot Zone." McKenzie replied. A slight look of uncertainty passed over the younger man as he looked to the older woman standing next to him, "Nora, I've read about you. You became quit the the strategic combatant before you gave up Skyway to pursue your interests in robotics...This is my first actual combat situation...what do you think our chances are?" Nora pulled her red tinted goggles from her face and cleaned them with her shirt tail.

"I don't know. Right now the fate of this entire planet rests in the hands of a few. I created my children with great care and have complete faith in them but...I never intended for them to engage such a powerful opponent..." Nora let out a sigh, "I've never been one of those religious types but, I suggest praying to your omnipotent being of choice. We all have done our best but, it is out of our hands now." Nora replaced here glasses and starred out of a port hole at the flashing lights and explosions of battle in the distance. She could faintly hear Bradly off in the distance, still trying in vain to reach Melody.

Back at Tremerton

"UHHH!" Sheldon let out a grunt as his robotic body slammed hard into the ground from the air. He struggled to pull himself to his feet. Badly damaged, his chassis was covered with dents and claw marks. He managed to rise up as Vexes landed in-front him.

"Humans...Why must you always fight the inevitable? You could have had the activation cycle of a god. Traveling the Universe along side me, creating civilizations in our image and..." The witch clenched her fists, "You threw it all away..." She approached the giant robot who seemed to be struggling to remain standing, "Just look at you. You can hardly stand." Vexes, faster than Sheldon could detect, lifted her right leg and smashed her heel into his left knee joint, bending it backwards and shattering it. Sheldon dropped to his right knee as his left folded backwards, "That's right...Bow to your Queen...One last time." Vexes smiled and opened her right hand. She stretched out her talons and allowed arcs of White energy to spark between them. Sheldon braced himself, he knew it was all about to be over. Vexes pulled her hand back to prepare the final strike but, froze. A look of shock spread across her faceplate, "DV-2! That fool!" She screeched as she received the signal that her connection to her brood had been lost. Sheldon took advantage of this unexpected reprieve, firing his eye laser, he struck Vexes in the breast plate and sent her skidding backwards. Sheldon managed to stand again despite his damaged leg.

"My powers down to 30.67%! Think Sheldon!"Sheldon thought to himself. A proximity alert sounded and he checked his radar, "YES! Better late than never!" Fighter jets streaked over head, releasing their payloads on the entire area. Sheldon had to use quick, evasive maneuvers to avoid the assault as they carpet bombed the battle field. Vexes survived the attack with little more than scratches and minor dings. The jets turned to make another fly by but, Vexes picked them off with her own eye beams as they approached.

"MAGGOTS! I'll kill all of you!" Vexes screamed at an approaching squadron of Skyway ground troops. She sprinted at the men, gnashing her teeth and claws but, something grabbed her by the ankle and snatched her off her feet. Her face plate slammed into the ground and her body began to slowly be dragged backwards. She rolled to her back to see what had a hold on her, "RRRRRRRAAAAAAHHH!" She yelled. Sheldon had extended out his arm and grabbed her. She slashed the metal cable dragging her backwards, in half. She grabbed the severed end and yanked it hard towards herself. The action snatched Sheldon off his feet and sent him sailing in her direction, Vexes remained on her back. When his form came over the top of hers, she planted both of her feet into the center of his chest plate. The attack crushed a dent in the emblem on Sheldon's chest and sent him high into the air. Vexes rolled backwards to a standing position and spun to face the approaching human army. The ground troops immediately dropped to one knee and opened fire. Vexes glared at the incoming projectiles without even attempting to dodge. The energy bullets all came to a stop around her and fizzled out, as if it where hitting an invisible barrier. Vexes clapped her hands in-front of her, casting out a massive shock-wave that traveled outward across the ground, knocking the soldiers off their feet. The wave also brought a nasty surprise along with it, an E.M.P. It disabled the humans electronic equipment, including their laser rifles. Vexes turned her pointer fingers, on each hand, into gun barrels and pointed them straight at her enemies, "I'm through with these games...It's time I showed you how insignificant you really are, and how futile your struggle is." She took her time, watching the humans regroup, picking her targets carefully, until just the right moment, "Bang..." She fired one, small, white energy bullet no bigger than a dime, from her right hand. The ball sailed at the poor soul she had singled out, passing through his head with a sizzle. The shot continued through another unfortunate soldier's arm before striking it's intended target. The heavily armored tank approaching from the rear. The energy ball melted it's way inside like a hot knife through butter then, exploded like a cruise missile. Vexes let a slight grin tug at the corner of her metal lips as she opened fire on the remaining forces. Her projectiles had a similar affect on the human body that a shot gun would have on a sheet of wet newspaper, passing through uninhibited, leaving bloody stalks of sizzling meat behind to fall lifelessly to the Earth, "Your time has come meat creatures! It is your fate to bow before me! And you can NOT deny fate!"

Across town

"FOOLS! You can't possibly hope to defeat the almighty SMYTRON! Surrender to me and I will make your deactivation quick and painless..." The boisterous Smytus bellowed out through his giant machines external speakers. He swung his massive hand at the small annoyances flying around him. Misty shifted into her mist form and slipped through his fingers. She re-solidified and landed on his forearm. Pressing onward with her assault, she ran along the giant robots arm, towards it's main body. Elena was not as fortunate, she was caught by the attack. The the giant hand's palm batted her away like an insect, she impacted hard with the ground below.

"AAAAAHHHH!"Misty yelled out in her rage. She was becoming more frustrated by the minute, ever since her first initial attack, Smytus had erected a powerful force field that followed the contours of the huge robot tightly. All of her attacks came to a halt about a foot from her target and the air rippled around her fists as the invisible cushion absorbed her attacks, "Shit! Nothing I do has any affect!" She thought to herself.

"Can you not see? This war is OVER! You've lost!" Smytus gloated once more, "Face it, robotic organisms are the superior beings! The next step in evolution!" He opened his left hand and pointed it down at XJ-4 and XJ-6, who were preoccupied battling the Nightmares, "Those that choose to stand in the way of progress...Will be trampled by it..." A rumbling hum so loud that the air seemed to vibrate began to emit from the hand.

"NOOOO!"Misty could do nothing but watch on in horror as a massive beam of green energy burst out of the giant's hand, heading at the unsuspecting victims. In the blink of an eye, Elena exploded out from the hole her impact had created. She moved lightning quick, placing herself between the beam and her siblings. She braced herself in the air and faced the attack. She cupped her hands together on her right side, purple energy quickly built up in her hands as the beam neared her.

"I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum..." The energy she was building seemed to peak, "And I'm all out of bubble gum..." She forced her hands out in-front of her as she spoke the last words. The energy in her hands exploded out in a purple beam equally as massive as Smytus's. The opposing forces collided, the ground shook and split with their power. Large chunks of the Earth pulled loose and shatter. Misty had to back away from intense heat and turbulence for fear that she might be pulled into the swirling energies. Elena pushed with all of her energy, the fate of her sisters rested in her hands, she refused to hold back. The mighty Smytron even began to slid backwards across the ground. The two kept up their power struggle until both beams slowly petered out. Elena slowly began to drift back down to the ground, her power supply nearly depleted.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Well, well...It seems that this one's got a lot of spunk! To bad such vigor will be wasted. You could have made a fine addition to our ranks..." Smytus raised his gigantic fist high above his head, preparing to crush the depleted robot. Misty swooped in and grabbed a hold of his wrist, trying in vain to hold back the attack but, to no avail. She wasn't strong enough. The fist came down with the sheer force of a meteorite impact. Just when it seemed that Elena would pay the ultimate price for the protection of her siblings, a silent, thin, yellow laser melted off the huge arm, just above the elbow, "WHAT?" Smytus questioned while the appendage crashed to the ground with a resounding thud. He scanned the skies and found two energy signatures. He turned to see his assailant and was greeted with another yellow beam through the head, crippling most of the robot's functions and disabling it's shields.

"HEY JEN!" Misty yelled out with a smile on her face when she spotted the attacker. Jenny did not reply back as she landed by Elena. Jenny saw her other sisters still fighting off her evil clones. She open her chest and fired a few, quick bursts of raw energy that vaporized their foes. After that, she turned her attention to Elena.

"This is all my fault...XJ-5 and 7...They were deactivated because of me and now...Look at you..." Jenny said as tears formed in her optics. She scanned her sister's damaged body. The other XJ's ran up to her side.

"Jenny! It's so good to see you still active! You got here just in time!" XJ-4 exclaimed. XJ-6 folded her arms in a huff.

"Yeah...You saved the day once again...Thanks.." She said with a slightly annoyed tone, "But I had it under control!"

"Oh, girls...sniff...I'm so glad your OK." Jenny wiped away the oily drops from her optics. She glanced back down to Elena, "XJ-8? Can you her me?" A few tense seconds passed before her optics opened and she responded.

"Affirmative. Call me Elena. Power levels are below normal operating capacities. Physical damage is moderate...Processing..." Her response brought a smile to Jenny's face, "DANGER WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!" She suddenly shouted. All of her siblings detected the incoming attack at that same moment. Jenny spun around to counteract the offense but, she wasn't fast enough. Axle had stopped Smytron's giant foot with his left hand while holding Sheldon in the other. He fired a blast of energy through the foot that sent the giant toppling over backwards. Axle then bent down beside everyone and lay Sheldon on the ground. All of the XJ's looked upon them with hate.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY DOING HERE?" XJ-6, of course, was the first to speak up.

"YEAH! Last time we met, the two of you were trying to kill us!" XJ-4 exclaimed while pointing an accusing finger at Axle.

"Everyone just calm down! Both of them were under Vexes's control, but they managed to fight it off! When this is over, we're going to help Axle get rid of the programing completely and repair Sheldon." Jenny tried to explain and defend.

"I don't trust him... Or Sheldon for that matter..." XJ-6 once again spoke up. XJ-4's expression said that she also agreed.

"I can back them up." Misty added while landing beside them, "I searched through Sheldon's head when I was in there, it wasn't his fault." Everyone turned their attention to Axle who was trembling under their stare and the constantly active program he was fighting, "I don't really know what this guy's deal is...All I can say is that what he did wasn't because he wanted to. He's struggling inside."

"I'm sorry f-f-for my ac-actions. I *zzz* will make a-amends...I-I swear." Axle said. Elena pulled herself to her feet, she approached Axle at an uncomfortable distance, starring down her chest at him.

"Processing...I'll hold you to your word..." Was all Elena spoke before turning back to her family, "We are to damaged to be of significant help...We need to get the wounded away from the area to safety." Her sisters knew it was true, they would be terribly outmatched, even at full strength. She turned to Jenny and placed her hand on her shoulder, "Your main objective, as a Global Robotic Response Unit, may be the protection of this planet and it's inhabitants, but...As my sister, it's your duty to return home to me." Jenny smiled back and opened her moth to reply but Elena removed her hand and turned away before she could. Elena grabbed Sheldon and slung him over her shoulder, "Let's go girls." All of Jenny's siblings followed behind. Jenny watched them all disappear in the distance. She turned to Misty.

"Misty, you better get out of here to..." Jenny suggested.

"Whoa there girl!" Misty replied, "I'm not leaving you behind. Besides, I owe you one for being such an ass back in the day." The two friends exchanged quick smiles, "Well, get going! The world wont save itself!" Misty exclaimed before flying off towards the badly damaged Smytron.

"Smytus is inside that thing! He shouldn't be a problem for you!" Jenny yelled out to her. She turned towards Axle, it was time. Time for the final battle. Their final battle. Neither spoke a word as they rose into the air and rocketed in Vexes's direction.