Fresh pain had been felt in Chad's stomach and chest, as the rock made claw wiped him aside once again, after attempting to stab the monster in the face with his Blade of Darkness.
Twenty minutes had come and gone when this fight began…
Soon Chad found himself yelling in pain, as a fireball hit, and exploded on him, sending him to the muddy ground, the cold muck on his entire back, as he looked, and saw Phantom slowly come towards him, he quickly got up, and prepared to try another attack, as thunder is seen flashing in the sky, the rain going on.
As it was obvious, Chad hasn't fared well in this battle. Phantom is on an entirely different level compared to him.
Chad once again was sent flying back, a least several dozen feet, before slamming into the ground one more time. The mud had covered him at this point, and the pain was all over, as he just got himself back up, and saw phantom coming towards him…the being also had magic, as it had just cast lightning on him…it was powerful, just like everything else this thing throws at him.
Chad tried to keep his mood up, by giving a smirk as Phantom slowly drew closer. "Not bad. You got some good moves there, for a random creature I've only met twice."
Phantom chuckled. "This is only a taste boy…you can't even damage me with the power you have at this moment. You're nothing more then trash to me."
Chad knew this was true, with the way this was turning out. His tried everything his got, including several battle chips and two program advances, but nothing seems to even budge this huge asshole. He was cold, wet, hurt, damn sure he was bleeding somewhere on his left leg, and his clothes were damaged, torn and burnt slightly. That power boost he had against Darkmega seemed to have simply died away now, and he can't even contact anyone to help him, as his com link was dead. Running was out of the question, as this creature, no matter how slow it looks, could actually teleport from one place to another, easily blocking his route with itself, and several bits of magic.
He soon noticed Phantom stopped, and was charging up a fireball in it's mouth, ready to blast him away again. Chad attempted to jump to avoid the shot, but Phantom has the uncanny trick of holding the fireball for longer periods if need be, and firing them at the best timing, for this one, just as Chad reached the top of his jump. The fireball launched at blinding speeds, and smacked into Chad, causing yet another explosion, and Chad hitting the ground, face first…that was it. Chad was exhausted, that attack finally did him in. He was hoping Zuo Ci might return or something…but nothing, as he slowly closed his eyes, the blackness of the world taking him in…
Phantom knew all these attacks would wear Chad down, and knew this was the moment to finish him, he begun charging up another fireball, ready to destroy Chad…when Chad disappeared into thin air, teleported away. Phantom had fired the fireball, but it simply exploded on the mud outline of where Chad was.
The lava being snarled, and looked around…the one responsible was nearby, to the left of him, a mere dozen feet away…Griffon, once again arrived to save the day.
Phantom was not happy with seeing his enemy. "You again! Can't you fly off!? I have a destiny in which to stop!"
Griffon growled, and opened his wings slightly, getting ready to fly at Phantom, and attack with everything he had. "MUST you keep trying to intervene with these things!? Chad's destiny must continue Phantom! I will not allow you to stop it!"
Once again, both of them clashed, but as for Chad…
Chad felt cold…it felt like his back was in water…cold air, around him…he couldn't seem to open his eyes either. He knew he was awake again, but his body felt like it didn't have the energy to do anything.
He heard small splashes in the water, as if someone is walking towards him…he felt the ripples hit against his face, and soon, something stopped right near him. As soon as the thing spoke, he knew the voice…Zuo Ci.
"Chad…You have defeated Darkmega, but he was the first, and simplest one of the evil's, in which are coming to this universe."
Chad sighed. "Great…I take it that huge thing that kicked my ass is one of them?"
"No Chad. That, was Phantom. A summon."
"…A what?"
"A summon, Chad. A being that serves the likes of me and others. Phantom is from a being that wishes to stop what you must do."
"What am I supposed to do Zuo Ci? Am I the actual person to kill these guys, or what? Because I felt I was only lucky with Darkmega because of you."
"I cannot say…you will understand when we meet again properly. For now, I aim to stop Phantom, while you handle the next darkness…and remember Chad…people can redeem themselves, with another chance."
"What's that got to do with anything?"
Then Chad suddenly heard a new voice answer his question…the voice of Dr Light. "What's what, got to do with anything Chad?"
Chad now felt himself on something Cold…metal…he finally had the energy to open his eyes, to see Dr Light looking right at him, in concern.
"Chad? Are you all right?"
Chad quickly sat up, making Dr Light move back a little, and found himself to be in the hospital of the Zebes base. On one of the medical beds. Medi was seen nearby, typing away at the hospital computer, and Quickman was on a bed nearby his, with his arm still missing, and by the looks of it, shut down for the moment. Chad then looked down at himself…he was bloody, battered, torn, and covered in mud.
Dr light coughed a little, so Chad would look at him. "I was just planning to heal those wounds Chad, and then get Medi to clean you up. You look like you had a terrible fight with Darkmega, it's lucky you were able to get yourself back to the hospital room before blacking out…which baffles me as to how you did, as you didn't use the teleport, since we suddenly lost contact of you and your whereabouts…"
Chad sighed. " I wish I could say doc, but I have no idea how I managed either. I just…did."
All Chad did from there, was lay back on the bed and let the doc do his job of healing him, barely listening to the man, thinking back to Phantom and Zuo Ci…something else was going on, something bigger then what actually has been going on…
In the main room, sitting around, was Anna, Zhang He, Shademan, Dr Wily, Roll, Yuan Shao, Pang Tong and Xiahou Dun. It had been 3 hours since Chad was back, and he was still being fixed up by Dr Light, along with his Navi Quickman.
They had been mainly saying about after Wily had called Keaton about Darkmega, and Keaton informing them that he will contact them as to when it's all clear for them to return to Earth X.
Right at this very moment though, It was awkward for Anna. As she knew, if Roll didn't arrive with Shademan to help Chad, he could have been a goner…she looked at Roll and smiled slightly. "Hey Roll? Listen…thanks for giving Chad a hand earlier, if it weren't for you and Shademan…"
Roll just gave her a smile. "It's no problem Anna. We're friends right? We have to look out for each other."
Anna smiled a little bit more now. "Yeah, friends."
Yuan Shao, right now, was despairing over the fact they could leave. "All this money, wasted…I knew I should of only rented us a few dozen apartments on some backwater planet."
Pang Tong looked at him. "whaddaya talking about? Zebes IS a backwater planet, ya know…you just decided to be so kind as to make some shelter for us, and we're all very glad that you did, and so will all the little critters that will flood in when we leave."
Yuan Shao give him such a nasty glare at that. All Pang Tong did was shrug at it, as if saying 'What? It's true.'
Dr Wily, meanwhile, was sitting at a computer in the main room, seemingly in deep thought about something. Darkmega was defeated…why couldn't he shake the feeling that wasn't the end of it? His grandson is still on the loose, that could be why. He sat back in his seat, and heard someone walk to next to him, the one eyed warrior, Xiahou Dun.
"Is there anything wrong, Dr Wily?" He asked.
"…I'm not sure. To be honest with you. I'm not sure…"
The empty void of space…endless…cold….Richard found himself floating in it, with no planets nearby, simply adrift. He was breathing, still alive, when he should've suddenly died.
He slowly looked around…no, nothing around but himself. His main question was how did he get here? Followed by why can he breathe?
Both questions were about to be answered, as he suddenly felt like he was being watched. He quickly spun round, and before him, was Unicron, in his planet form still, the light from his mouth covering Richard.
"Richard Wily. I see you still live, compared to the other one…"
"..Unicron…where is this?"
"This, is an illusion. I have simply connected to your mind, to speak with you. There is someone…above, that has suggested, I grant you specific powers, before my arrival…"
Richard looked surprised. "Someone, above?"
"You are to be my assistant. To serve me in my mission of destruction. To make sure I have your loyalty, I grant you the power to command…the power to control others, specifically, a race of creatures, that are both powerful, and very effective."
Richard felt a rush of energy inside him, new power…he felt refreshed, recharged…and inside, he could feel a small lump, on his spine…but it didn't hurt, even if he could feel it connected to his nerves…his flesh and bone…he looked at Unicron, hoping for an explanation…he got one without asking.
"Tell me, Richard Wily, you know of the Zerg race, don't you?"
Richard went silent, looking at Unicron.
The Zerg race was one of the more dangerous races to exist in this universe. They work in a hive like matter, having a chain of command. Zerg are known for aggression towards other races and using numbers to swarm their enemies. It seems they originate from the planet Char, which is closely watched by several Galactic Federation space stations.
The Zerg once dominated much of the known SCI galaxy, almost close to controlling everything, but time, wars between themselves, and the Protoss of the past, drove them down to nothing more than a handful of planets. Zerg are closely related to the Borg race that is close to the United Federation of Planets. They assimilate beings via infecting them, which in turn leads to mutation, and adds the beings to the Zerg ranks. They had even infected entire races at one point, fully adding them to the Zerg gene tree.
The Zerg's chain of command was one of the things that Dr Hojo discovered. The race are divided into 'broods', groups. And in each brood, there is at least from 50, to 500,000 Zerg beings, one of them being called an 'Overmind', who commands each of these broods. Hojo believes there is one more rank higher than an Overmind, but none of the broods have shown any unity so far on Char, simply fighting between themselves.
The Zerg of today, is much different from those of legends past. The Zerg now, bare more of a humanoid figure, Classed as "Basic Zerg" to the GF, they have red scaled skin, yellow eyes with snake-like black pupils, two open slits for nostrils, and a mouthful of jagged teeth. On the top of their hands, they can produce two white long claws, completely made of bone, when they need to attack. Zerg are known to have other abilities, but these appear to differ from one brood to another. One brood might have the ability to teleport short distances, while another may have the ability of using its hands and feet to climb walls.
All this major change to the gene pool some several million years ago was thanks to an ancient vampire getting infected by the Zerg, because of his powerful abilities and skills, the Zerg allowed him to become an Overmind of their swarm, and with that, he produced his own kind, the today Zerg, and drove out the old ones. The surprising part is the infection of the Vampire, as Zerg and Vampires are not known for being good bedfellows, often driving each other out of their respective territories.
Richard knew of them alright, but why did he ask? Again, Unicron was one step ahead.
"Go, to Char, and you will find them. They will follow your every whim. Use them, and bring fourth chaos and despair, before my arrival."
Richard wanted to question as to why, but if someone higher up wants him to have this….power of his, then whatever Unicron says, gets done.
Three days passed quietly in the base. Chad had fully recovered, and returned to his room in the middle of the night. Dr Light promised Chad that he and Dr Wily will personally congratulate him in defeating Darkmega sometime within the next few days, but right now, Chad was just laying in his bed, enjoying having some rest.
Not everyone in the base was so lucky though.
One person was busy in the labs, looking inside one of the computers and checking it was all functioning okay, as Dr Light complained of smoke coming out of it at one point. The person was laying on ground on her back, with her head and hands inside the massive computer, checking the wires and hardware, after finally removing the metal hatch on the front.
Keira looked at the machine's wires and hardware carefully, and saw the problem. Two simple wires were crossed…she sighed in annoyance. This always seems to happen in these infernal machines. It took only a few minute of gentle untwisting of them, getting out of the computer and closing it back up, then switching it on, to make it work completely fine again.
She heard the door to the lab open, and saw Princess Zelda, slowly walking in, looking at her with a smile. "Good morning Keira."
Keira nodded at her, then looked at the computer screen, as it was loading up.
"So? How's the work going?"
Keira begun to type on the machine, as she wanted it to run a scan of it's system. "Nearly done now. I dunno why I do some of their requests at times. It's so easy, I'm sure even the likes of Yuan Shao could fix it."
Zelda had a little giggle, then stood near Keira, looking at the computer screen as well. "..so, things improved between you and Jak?"
"Not this again Zelda, I've discussed it with you before, I'm in no mood for him."
"…Look Keira, that was quite a long time ago…don't you think you should just shrug it off?"
"No."
"..I just think you need to speak to someone in here, get to know them, if you know what I mean?"
Keira looked at her. " I don't need a boyfriend, they just cause trouble."
"Well that Zhao Yun looks at you in a nice way, and his rather dashing."
"Why don't you go and fuck him then?"
Zelda frowned at her for a moment for that response.
Keira sighed. "Look Zelda…I'm not in the mood for guys…Thanks for talking to me, but I like being single-" She heard a beeping sound from the computer.
She had a look, and the scanner program was showing, with writing on the screen saying it was damaged, and required repair…programming…boy, that takes a long time…Keira knew that the scanner was vital, and decided instead of wasting time, she could easily ask the docs to do it. Hell, she done her part of the job.
…...
…He opened his eyes….
Rain….cold rain…washing over him…dark grey clouds in the sky…lightning.
Arms….no, just a arm….and one leg…numb…..he couldn't move his head….a figure…an old man….
The old man spoke. "Look at you, wounded, dying, alone….this isn't for you."
He couldn't speak, he just…couldn't…too weak…too damaged.
"What if I told you, that you have a much larger, greater destiny before you then what you had once thought?"
Destiny…what destiny…all he wanted was utter chaos…
"You must return to them, and work with them, against the very being, you had wished to bring forth.."
The being…his memory was dying out, bit by bit…
"Are you afraid right now?"
Yes….yes he was….he wanted to say it…he just wanted to, he felt fear…emotion…
His eyesight blurred, the old man was becoming no more than a smudge in his view…
"You will wake again…and you will warn them, of what you had done."
That was all he last heard…
It was about 6 in the evening, and right now, Chad was sitting at a round metal table, on one of the simple, cheap metal chairs, with a glass of black fizzy drink, Dr pepper, as most people call it. He was inside the main luxury area of this base, called Ridley's Bar.
Ridley's Bar is owned by the space dragon, of an old, unknown species of them, called Ridley, the once known rival to Samus Aran. Once renowned space pirate, Ridley had chosen to come to the base to retire from that old life, as you can only enjoy looting, raiding, killing and causing chaos for no reason for so long.
Dr Light suggested a bar or pub for the place, but not a lot of people were willing to serve up drinks to others that might cause a fight easily…aka, Samus Aran. Only Ridley had the real balls to do it, and saw it as a new way forward in his career…and so far, his loved every moment of it.
Ridley, after being in the base for two years now, has become a relaxed, welcoming friend to those in the base, mainly due to the fact he gives out booze to make them happy now, and if they get on his bad side, he can simply toss them out...or try to fry them, whatever strikes his fancy at the time. His also become best friends with his old rival, as they now often chat when in the bar…again, Samus mainly accepts him because of the booze, and it makes her happy…pissed, sometimes going into a fit of missile firing rage, but happy nonetheless.
The bar had six tables, each with at least seven chairs around them. The bar itself was fully metal, with at least ten chairs next to it. Behind it, stood Ridley, his wings folded in, speaking with Samus Aran, who of course, had her helmet off for now, and Zhang Liao, as they ALWAYS sat at the bar, no excuses…Zhang Liao was the only person that would really put up with Samus Aran when she was having drinks. With them at the bar side as well, was Mr T, with a pint of cold fresh milk. At one table, was Ryu, Ken, Mario and Luigi. At another, was Zhao Yun, Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun, and there was Chad's table, with Himself and Anna, who had a small bottle of blue coloured fizzy alcohol, called "Jaraso!".
Of course, alcohol and drink isn't free…the currency is Gil, which are small gold pennies, worth 50gil each, and notes, varying to all kinds of amounts, some notes worth 100,000gil, and most people of the base have a decent amount with them, some with far more then others, aka, Yuan Shao, since being a minister, gets a monthly check for simply being alive of 500,000gil.
Chad hasn't got any sort of income, and all the money he has, is from the gold rings he collected over time back on Mobius…which didn't give him much, as each ring was exchanged for 2 gil…he had 2500 rings in total, and it just gave him a measly 5000gil…and buying a pint of dr pepper was like 300gil a pint…and his money hadn't improved over two years of absence of course, and now he was down to 700gil.
He had saved his money tonight though, as Anna wanted to treat him. He was listening to her right now about some of the people here.
"- and Mario believed it! Seriously! He thought that what Sonic said to him was true! That the wild mushrooms of Zebes were the same type as on the Mushroom world!"
"He did? So what happened" Chad asked.
"Well, he got him and ate them…had this 'mad'a trip' as he put it, got sent to the hospital, was made to hurl up by Dr Light…and swore blind revenge on the blue hedgehog. Of course Luigi got him to calm down…but to hear Mario f'ing and swearing was great to see!"
"Heh, I bet it was…" Chad sat back, and looked around at everyone else, while Anna was starting on something else about people…he saw Zhang Liao telling Samus to take it easy, as it was her 5th pint…she didn't give a shit. Mario had just got a hardy slap on the back from Ryu for some reason, some joke no doubt, as Ryu was laughing…and Marios face was slammed on the table by the sheer force of the hardy slap.
Chad felt a cold shiver down his spine…something was happening. Something not good…
" -Cao Cao really wanted to get back at Liu Bei, so…..Chad?…are you okay?"
Chad looked at her, and shook his head a little. "No…Something is getting to me, like, something bad is happening right now…"
Anna looked a little concerned. " Well, it can't be on this planet…could it? I mean you just dealt with Darkmega.."
"…My gut instinct is telling me it's on this planet…no, in this base right now."
"…Maybe you should go and see the Doc's about it Chad. Maybe they know something is wrong."
"Yeah, good idea." He got up from the table, and smiled at her. "Hey, thanks for the drink Anna. Hopefully I'll get back to drink it, if not…well, thank you anyway."
Anna smiled back at him. "My pleasure."
Chad turned, and left the bar…he didn't want to, but he wanted this feeling gone first before he gets all chatty with Anna…she's got such a nice smile, he thought to himself…and her body…he could picture it in his head right now…he soon shook it out, as he arrived in the main room, and walked to the labs grabbing the handle of the door and pushing it down.
He smacked right into the door.
He stood back, dazed a little, rubbing his face, as he had flattened it on the door…that wasn't right...
"Doors locked."
He looked to the voice that said that, and saw Charlie sitting down at one of the chairs, reading a small book. "Could've warned me sooner…why's it locked?"
Charlie didn't bother to look at him while answering. "Dr Light and Dr Wily just found someone injured in the corridor entrance after fixing the scanner. They refused anyone to see the person while they teleported him to the lab. They're both inside right now."
"How long have they been in there?"
"A good half an hour or so."
Chad looked at the door to the labs…and the bad feeling was coming from inside. He knocked on the door.
…..No reply.
He banged on the door.
It was heard being unlocked, and Dr Wily opens it a little, popping his head out. "What is it!?…" He looks at Chad, and frowns. "Oh it's only you…What's the matter? We're busy."
"Busy with what, doc? More precise, who with?"
"None of your business!"
Chad gave him a glare. "Oh? If you're like that, normally it's something not good…I can break this door down you know if I have to!"
Dr Wily wasn't going to back down. "Don't threaten me young man! This is my base! I can easily chuck you out if you start trying to get your nose into our business!"
"After the WONDERFUL work you did on Darkmega? I have a good enough reason to get my nose in!"
Then, he heard a voice…weak, but he knew it.. "Let him in…Dr Wily…I'm in good enough condition.."
Chad looked at Dr Wily in the way that showed on his face 'WHAT, THE FUCK!?'.
Dr Wily knew that look. "Chad…relax okay? He was severely wounded, and we can't just let people die."
Chad clenched his teeth. "HE is a different matter! Fucking hell doc, he planned to come and kill us all!"
"After the damage you done to him, I think his learnt his lesson…look, before you start shouting anymore…just, come in.."
Dr Wily moved back, opening the door…Chad walked in. As Wily closed the door, Chad saw the person sitting on a metal table before him, with Dr Light at a computer nearby, with a white wire connected to the person, and to his computer..
Chad said his name like he was trash. "Darkmega…"
Darkmega was in a state. His left arm was missing, data flowing out from it's place, his right leg was gone, his clothing was damaged, along with his Navi crest, his helmet cracked, a little black blood was seeping from his mouth, as he looked at Chad.
Darkmega's voice wasn't fully restored, but Dr Light was making the repairs now. "Heh, how quickly we meet up again, huh Chad?"
Unlike humanoids, repairing Navi's is a lot easier. Attaching them to a computer, you can restore a lost limb, fix broken bones, recharge their energy, even fix blindness or deafness…it takes time, but it works.
Chad didn't seem to care for Darkmega's state right now. "….What the fuck are you doing here."
"Not even a hello? You hurt me Chad…more then you already have. I thought we were friends."
"You forced everyone off Earth X, took my friend and controlled him, made Anna and the others lives miserable, and you act like we're buddies?! I've got a right mind to blast you into oblivion…"
Dr Wily had quickly moved to stand next to Chad. "Lad, listen to what Darkmega has to say…he came with a warning." Chad looked at him, and he continued. "We're not stupid enough to fix a mistake, unless something else was going on.."
Darkmega smiled. "And that something is my own mistake, a good idea at first, but now I've lost my position, not so…I've summoned something far more powerful then myself….tell me Chad, have you ever heard of…Unicron?"
Chad thought about the name…then looked at Dr Wily. "Got any ideas?"
Dr light spoke up, while typing on the computer. "Chad…Unicron is known to be a old legendary being from the time of Primus, a machine that desired destruction of the universe, at one point, he even used his dark powers to grow into the size of a planet…it's not really known as to what his fate was, but I'm afraid that, to what Darkmega said, this Unicron fits the tales…'Heavens Judgement', he used to call himself."
"Heavens Judgement? Oh boy, a crazy one then.."
Darkmega laughed a little. "Crazy? Perhaps…but his beyond my power Chad…you thought I was bad? You haven't seen anything yet…he'll come soon, and he'll start to devour, to eat planets."
Chad looked stunned at Darkmega. "He…eats planets!?"
"His still in his planet size Chad…he needs to feed, and with so much life on these planets within the Galactic Federation, his going to be having a buffet."
"Well if his still in his planet size, what the hell can we do? It's gonna be up to the Galactic Federation to handle this! I done my bit by kicking your sorry ass!"
"You're expecting them to hold him off? His out of their league Chad. He'll destroy any fleet they send at him without trouble."
Chad shrugged. "That'll be all Keaton's fault then, wouldn't it? From what I hear he isn't the smartest guy around."
Darkmega looked Chad in the eyes, and chuckled. "So you won't do anything? You won't try if he comes and endangers you and your precious friends?"
"The docs would handle it. They'll brew something powerful to send him packing with."
"And what if I said Richard might get involved with Unicron as well?"
Chad went silent…
"I thought so…you wouldn't stay away then. I'll tell you now that he will be. Him and I awoke Unicron together. No doubt his gone to meet with him."
Chad glared at the dark Navi. "That's because his still under your control, now most likely Unicrons as well…"
"Is that what you think? That I controlled your friend? Boy are you stupid.."
Darkmega found himself looking Chad right in the face, as Chad had shot forward, grabbed Darkmega by the front of his clothing, and pulled him close, ready to smash his face in. Dr Wily and Dr Light both shouted at Chad to put him down at once.
Darkmega didn't get scared at this, he just kept his evil smile. "A little soft spot? To him? You? You were rivals Chad if I recall….are you gay?"
"His still a friend to everyone else here and you made him turn into one of your psycho minions. Richard would never go so low as you made him. He would never abandon his family."
Darkmega still didn't flinch. "Heheh, You're an idiot, a complete idiot. How the hell did I lose to you?"
Chad raised a fist, and was ready to hammer Darkmega's face in, but Dr Wily got bold, and grabbed Chad's arm, forcing him to stop. Chad glared at the doctor.
Dr Wily shook his head. "Chad, Richard is my grandson. I'll do the beatings if I feel there should be any. Not you. Right now I don't think we should waste our anger on Darkmega. Or get worked up about Richard. As far as I'm concerned, we have a bigger problem."
"Unicron is not our problem Doc! The GF can handle him! They have huge guns on their ships and more troopers then we could ever count!"
Dr Light stopped typing on the computer, and turned towards Chad, Darkmega and Dr Wily. "Chad, Unicron is very powerful. His size may make him a large target, but I doubt technological weapons would affect him. I believe that back within the days of Primus, they most likely had huge warships and weapons, but it was Primus that defeated him. Not a huge army. One man. I admit, for now, we must wait and see, but if we are needed, we need to start thinking of something to fight him off with. Darkmega MIGHT be able to assist."
Chad let go of Darkmega, staring at Dr Light like he was a loony. " Doc…No. Just, no. Darkmega needs to be deleted! He can't help us! His insane! His-"
Dr Wily spoke up "Wounded and unable to hurt us! Chad, you need to cool off! What Darkmega tried has failed! End of!"
"Are you going to tell everyone else that we have a psycho in the base!? Their reaction is gonna be close to mine!"
"Well…Maybe…in a week or two.."
Chad just…gave up with them. It was hopeless. They couldn't see it the way he did. He just walked out of the labs, pissed off.
Dr Wily Sighed, then Darkmega chuckled, saying "So, was him and Richard an item once then docs?"