Diamond City was free at last, but four more Dastardly Bombers are still alive, each more powerful than Magnet Bomber...
DISCLAIMER: Contra belongs to Konami, whereas Bomberman still remains a property of Hudson Soft as of March 1, 2012. WarioWare, on the other hand, is owned by Nintendo. Any songs "used" throughout the course of this fanfic are properties of their respective owners, along with any characters that aren't within the three franchises listed here, unless stated otherwise.
Chapter 4: Journey to the polluted Rio beach
With Magnet Bomber dead, and the news broadcast all over Diamond City, the remaining RF soldiers cowered and attempted to set all of their death camps to self-destruct, but are unable to do so. The main reason, not because of the city's power grid being damaged, was that Magnet Bomber's long-distance power generator was destroyed by Bill and Lance at the now-defunct MagnetBase, after helping me and Ami kill Magnet Bomber. The generator itself (and not the one meant for the mayor's office building) was designed only to keep Magnet's death camps up and running, in case of a power outage. Now that his evil plans for a personal metropolis of his own had been crushed, the prisoners were free to drive out the rest of his non-robotic men, with a couple of our close friends leading the way to freedom. Sooner or later, all the death camps were shut down, with only a few RF soldiers fleeing in cowardice to wherever the other Dastardly Bombers may be hiding...
...Or, so our close friends had told me and Ami when we woke up on our medic beds at Crygor Labs. The first people we saw were Mona, 9-Volt, and Phoebe, before turning our attention towards Bill, Lance, Penny, and Blaze Bomber. On top of that, we had been unconscious for over an hour since we were nearly killed by Magnet Bomber's laser-trip mines; the clock's time read 6:30 PM.
[Meeting BGM: Dr. Light's Lab (Mega Man 7)]
"Ah, thank goodness you're alive," said Blaze Bomber. "We were worried you might never wake up!"
I replied albeit weakly, "Blaze Bomber...and even three of our close friends..."
"You're all okay..." Ami finished.
"Yeah," said Mona. "We were able to hold our ground the best we could. When you destroyed Magnet Bomber and his personal power generator, his death camps were permanently shut down."
"We all escaped to freedom," explained 9-Volt, with Phoebe's help, "and that's when Penny and Blaze Bomber picked us up...but what about the others?"
Bill answered, "We've yet to hear from them. Magnet Bomber told me and Lance that they were taken prisoner all around the world, despite gloating about how he did all this by himself."
"Aaron and Ami risked their lives to free us," chimed Lance, "and we returned the favor by killing Magnet Bomber. We were lucky he's too cocky for his own good."
Seconds later, Cute Pink walked by to show herself, much to our relief. "Pink?" asked 9-Volt.
"9-Volt!" chimed Cute Pink, as she hugged him warmly. Phoebe was happy to see that 9-Volt's other guardian angel was alive and well.
"I'm so glad to see you again! All those mean aliens kept telling me you turned evil and sided with the Dastardly Bombers, and...well, Phoebe did tell me you'd never do that, but..."
"Shhh...don't listen to them, sweetie."
Bill stepped in to talk. "Anyhow, Cute Pink...how did you and Blaze Bomber get out?"
Lance added, "And where did this Super Titanium alloy really come from?"
"We were both taken prisoner aboard Red Falcon's planet-sized space base, formerly an escape ship," explained Blaze Bomber. "Sniper Bomber decided to give it a name as something sinister and befitting to his leader, like the Death Falcon."
"Death...Falcon?" I wondered.
Ami felt just the same as well. "What kinda name...is that...?"
"Now that's a good question. I honestly don't know, but somehow, it sounds similar to that of...what do you guys call it? The Death Star, from Star Wars?" Ami and I nodded in response, before allowing him to continue. "I thought so. Anyway, I'll tell you what happened..."
[End BGM]
[Briefing BGM: Alliance Assembly (Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II)]
(BLAZE BOMBER'S FLASHBACK)
Shortly after Sniper and Axe took us down, we were indeed taken prisoner all over Earth. But, Purple Basilisk insisted that Cute Pink and I be held prisoner aboard their main base within Earth's orbit. He resurrected the Five Dastardly Bombers under Sniper Bomber's supervision, including the evil version of Pink herself that Cheerful White and Cool Black fought 2 years ago. It seems they wanted everyone on Earth to think she turned evil...or so I've heard. Meanwhile, Purple Basilisk reinforced all of his robots and evil Bombermen - both male and female - with what he called Super Titanium alloy. It originated as Super Titanium ore, mined from a distant planet of darkness. No ray of sunlight had ever shined on that planet. Immediately upon discovery, the Red Falcon Empire hired an army of alien cutthroats and soldiers to mine for the ore, whereupon they personally concentrated it 100 times over, so that no force on Earth - not even holy power - could even destroy the Super Titanium alloy. That must be why only Star energy, found within Power Stars seen in the Mushroom Kingdom and in outer space, can penetrate the evil armor itself. Anyhow, I took Pink to safety as we fought our way out. We did all we could, despite uneven odds being stacked against us.
"This way, Pink! We've gotta escape to Diamond City and help Aaron, Ami, Bill, and Lance! Then, we can save all our other friends!"
"I'm right behind you...and not to mention poor 9-Volt!"
I was damaged along the way, but not bad. Despite our escape on board one of the enemy ships, we were shot down without mercy above Earth's atmosphere. We braced for impact, while I gave Pink an emergency parachute. As soon as the downed ship reached past the clouds, we immediately bailed out. Pink quickly opened up her parachute and slowly descended to safety, while I attempted to slow down my fall. We both crash-landed, but thankfully, not bad.
"Penny, this is Aaron. We've just cleared our way to MagnetBase."
"Good job! Now all that's left is-" Suddenly, crashing sounds were heard over Penny's voice. "Oh my gosh! Blaze Bomber!"
"What? What happened?" A blaring alarm went off over the phone's speaker. "Crap! They've gone to full alert! I have to go now!"
"Guys-" She was cut off at this point, but immediately turned her attention toward us. "Blaze, are you alright?"
Though the crash-landing was rather harsh on our part, I could still stand up. "Yeah...a little injured, but not bad."
"We managed to escape to safety, and boy, did we learn some shocking news!" Right after Pink finished her side of the story, I was immediately taken in to be fixed. It took a little while, even when Penny downloaded the Star's energy into my body. As soon as I was whole again, I went with her to get you guys...
(END FLASHBACK)
"...and that's pretty much it. One more thing I overheard, though: Purple Basilisk had been working on rebuilding Red Falcon's body, under Sniper and Axe's supervision, for the past two weeks!"
Bill gasped at what he heard. "What?! Red Falcon's back again?! But that's impossible, and this time, we mean it!"
"I thought Aaron and Ami wiped him out with their Final Smashes," added Lance, "and with our help to boot! His gigantic body was disintegrating, followed by his brain dying down after pulling a last-ditch effort to take us with him!"
Blaze Bomber nodded in agreement, and resumed his explanation. "True, but it turned out that Purple Basilisk's distant reinforcements must have salvaged an alien cell that belonged to him. He's been using the cell in conjunction with the Super Titanium alloy to rebuild their army of evil Bombermen and women, as well as re-power Sniper Bomber and Axe Bomber. In his spare time - if you can call it as such - he assisted the Hate Bombers in rebuilding Red Falcon's body. He's not fully restored yet...but who knows for how long?"
Mona had little to say in surprise. "Wow...so that means..."
"We gotta stop the rest of those Dastardly Bombers AND save our friends before it's too late!" 9-Volt panicked. "Our hometown was only the starting point!"
Phoebe and Cute Pink patted his shoulders affectionately to calm him down. "Relax, 9-Volt," said Cute Pink. "It's gonna be okay."
"Pink's right," chimed Phoebe. "We'll sort it all out together."
9-Volt sighed painfully. "Easy for you to say. All those bad guys have gotten stronger now!"
"True. But we're stronger, too. We just need to start by finding Cheerful White and Cool Black next."
"Yeah..." said Cute Pink. "I hope they're safe; I'm beginning to worry about them."
[End BGM]
[Tutorial BGM: Dr. Light's Lab (Mega Man 8)]
Penny walked on in to cheer up the group. "I know what it feels like, but I'm sure Bill and Lance will help them reunite with you guys. Anyway, before you go, I'd like you to have these." She gave Mona and the others a pack of energy drinks. "These are my experimental Star Drinks, powered by our Power Star. There are about 6 of them for now, but they're useful. However, do take care to use them wisely, and only by any means necessary. One can should be enough for you."
Blaze Bomber was impressed, though he added his two cents, "These don't work on robots like me, but I'm okay with that. They can make you strong enough to take on the evil robots that have Super Titanium alloy, but they won't last long."
"Can you make us more of these if we run out?" asked Bill.
"We could..." answered Penny, "but the Invincibility Star over there - well, I guess you could call it a Power Star even if it didn't originate in outer space - requires holy power to continue running, let alone generate another mixture of Star Drink. And to get holy power, I had to salvage the AK-47s, which contained what our computer identified as 'RF Chips'. Maybe the robots contain those chips, too. In other words, the Star-powered gadgets aren't free, technically speaking. But, if you collect enough of these RF Chips and bring them back here, I can then purify them into holy power. A White Wizard and his female accomplice, the White Mage, will help me do the purifying; however, Aaron and Ami will be out of action for the next day or two, so the mages can heal them."
"So the big machine that can generate Star-powered items for us..." wondered 9-Volt. "Is it almost like that item shop from both Mega Man IV and Mega Man V on Game Boy, only we're not using 'P-Chips'?"
"Something like that, 9-Volt." Penny smiled, and turned over to Bill and Lance. "Now before I forget: I've finished modifying your M16 machine guns with the same Star energy that the Contra Rifle and the Bomberman Watch possess while Aaron and Ami were out cold in the last hour, so you should be good to go until they're well again. Feel free to take their holy gadgets along if you want to, but do be careful with them, okay?"
"Understood," acknowledged Lance. "We'll do our best, and even take these RF Chips into account. Wish us luck!"
[End BGM]
Before Bill and Lance led their group out of the lab, they were warned about the recent pollution going on somewhere in Brazil. According to today's article on the Internet, there had been signs of water pollution occurring at the coastal areas of Rio de Janeiro, in addition to a large number of vicious mermen coming out from the Atlantic Ocean lately. Blaze Bomber could not tag along to investigate the problem, since going underwater will weaken his powers, so instead, he volunteered to help clean up the damage inflicted on Diamond City - as well as clear out the rest of the Magnet Bomber statues. For the time being, Bill and Lance would have to use both my Contra Rifle and Ami's Bomberman Watch until Ami and I are back in action. Henceforth, they borrowed the experimental CrygorCopter that would get them to Brazil in a matter of hours, about twice as fast as an airplane. Without further ado, the group took off for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
A short while later during the flight, Mona noticed something strange coming from far below the helicopter, but she was unable to describe what it was. Maybe it was unknown to her and the rest of her group, but to a few others, it was the other way around...
"Mona, are you okay?" asked 9-Volt.
Mona nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright. I thought I felt something a bit chilly from below us."
Phoebe wondered, "Really?"
"Probably just a little cold front," said Bill, "but right now, we need to put a stop to who or what's been causing the water pollution in Rio de Janeiro!"
Lance, however, had a question. "Who do you guys suppose would cause that? I mean, I know Golem Bomber wouldn't do water pollution. Fire and explosions are his M.O., or specialty, so he's out of the question."
Then Bill added his two cents, "And Brain Bomber is unlikely an eco-killer kind of guy, given his status as the engineer of the Five Dastardly Bombers."
"Everybody knows that," agreed Mona.
With that said, Bill and Lance piloted the helicopter as fast as it would go, while making sure to watch out for enemy aircraft and/or anti-air cannons. Luckily, there weren't any of them in sight. The following five and a half hours eventually passed since the departure from Diamond City, CA...
6 HOURS EARLIER...
Meanwhile, at a country road between Diamond City and Hollywood (both in California, of course), lies a pure crystal-wrought castle. Inside the big castle was Arctic Bomber, Mistress of the Cold - and ex-Hate Bomber. Despite the invasions going on all over the world, she didn't care about it and just enjoyed herself. Well, maybe she did care a little...but she decided to go bowling in her own private bowling alley until the invasion would blow over, while having her Ice Golem minions protect her riches. Though she originally had no place to stay, she went on a money-grubbing adventure of her own in hopes of getting a castle of her own. She found a hidden magic lamp, and used it to get her wish as well as a bowling ball of her very own, which she dubbed the "Glacier Ball."
"Ahh...another day, another invasion. I used to do stuff like that, but eh, not anymore. Red Falcon's dumb Bomber-bots ain't taking my castle from me - not with my loyal Ice Golems around!"
Unfortunately for her, she was wrong. Little did the Ice Princess know that Red Falcon's "dumb Bomber-bots" have been reinforced with Super Titanium alloy. In other words, her so-called security has no chance against them, much less her ice powers. Within minutes, her castle was under attack. Two evil Bomber-women attacked the Ice Golems with relative ease; razor-sharp leaves, that is. Within the next hour, they had complete control of Arctic Bomber's castle, and even her private bowling alley in the basement!
"Huh? What?! How'd you..."
"Get past your silly Ice Golems?" asked Mosquito Bomber. "Just ask Siren Bomber."
"It sure was good having these Super Titanium thingies installed onto our bodies, huh?"
"Oh, it's you two. Well I don't care that you're Purple Basilisk's Chaotic Bombers, but you just made the biggest mistake of your lives! HEE-YAAHH!"
Siren Bomber mockingly shook her head no. "Temper, temper." She pulled out a whip to entangle Arctic Bomber.
"AACK!" Arctic Bomber struggled to break free, but to no avail. "Say what you will about me, but I work solo now! Get outta my castle! It's mine! Gimme back what's mine right now!"
"Somebody's got quite a temper," said Mosquito Bomber. "Oh, well. This castle bores me. Plasma Bomber and his merry friends are giving us a castle that's much, MUCH, better than this borefest! Well, as long as it's not in a cold place, because I hate the freezing wind..."
Siren Bomber got out a piece of paper which had Arctic's face imprinted on it. "So...I hear you're on the top list of 'Most Wanted Villainesses', huh?" She reached for a wall-mounted telephone nearby, and dialed 911 without delay.
Dispatch of Hollywood Police Department speaking, came a male voice. What seems to be the problem today?
Siren Bomber immediately put on a show by acting like an innocent human girl. "Oh, it's sooo horrible! That mean lady named Arctic Bomber kidnapped me and my friend, and she even tried to beat us up and freeze us! Oh please, help! We're trapped inside her crystal castle! Waaah!"
Crystal castle? That's the same place we got suspicious of for quite some time. We are on our way, so stay calm!
"WAAAAAAAAH!" cried Siren Bomber. "WE DON'T WANNA DIE!"
Shh, it's okay. Just relax, assured the dispatcher. We've dealt with bad guys who kidnap innocent women for their own amusement. We know their game plan. Shhh...it's gonna be alright, ma'am. We pinkie-finger promise. Then he hung up.
Arctic Bomber glared at Siren and Mosquito. "You twerps! I refuse to go to jail!"
Just then, someone else showed up: it was none other than Warlock Bomber, the infamous Black Wizard of Destruction. "Too bad! Thanks to the wonderful Internet technology your planet has, we know all about you! I gotta admit, you must be proud to have made the top 'Most Wanted Villainesses' list!"
Mosquito Bomber giggled deviously. "Mind if we steal what you love so much, while we're at it?" She immediately stole Arctic Bomber's bowling ball, while Warlock Bomber wasted no time incinerating the majority of her castle with a series of Firaga spells. He eventually led Siren and Mosquito out of the castle, and in no time flat, only the private bowling alley was spared. Finally, the Hollywood Police had arrived, and believed Siren Bomber's lies upon arresting Arctic Bomber.
"What? No! Wait! Stop! I didn't do anything! Don't take me to jail! Oh, it's sooo humiliating! No! No! NO! NOOOOO!"
One of the prosecuting officers shouted, "Yeah, that's what they all say! You're coming with us to the big house! I mean, kidnapping a poor innocent girl? Seriously, just look how low you crooks stoop these days..."
"I'M NOT A TERRORIST!" Those were Arctic's last words before the officer knocked her out with his taser.
6 HOURS SINCE THE BREAK-IN...
[Stage BGM: BigOcean (Bomberman Tournament)]
Mission 2A: The coastal side of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Witnesses have reported sightings of an unusually high number of vicious mermen storming the beach.
Meanwhile, the shores of the Atlantic Ocean are being polluted by a strange underwater base, surviving authorities say.
Bill Rizer and Lance Bean of the "Four Contras" sent to neutralize the threat, with Aaron and Ami Onuki out of action.
August 29, 20XX
6:30 AM
Bill began, "Looks like a good day at a beach, if only we never had any evil mermen and water pollution to contend with."
Lance joined in, "Since Magnet Bomber came along to invade Earth, then Golem Bomber, Pretty Bomber, Brain Bomber, and Plasma Bomber are present as well." He paused momentarily to glance over at Cute Pink. "By 'Pretty Bomber', I mean the evil one, not the good you."
"I know, Lance," she replied. "But just to avoid any confusions, I think we should dub her 'Evil Pretty Bomber' - or in my case, evil me."
9-Volt nodded. "I feel the same way you do, Pink."
"Me three," said Phoebe. "but the question is: will the people living in this city be able to tell the difference?"
Immediately, the mermen approached the group. "We'll worry about that later," interrupted Bill, kicking one of the mermen away. "Right now, we've gotta pulverize these freaks!"
Mona smirked. "They're not metallic, which means we don't have to hold back!"
The mermen attacked with their extendable tridents, which Bill and Lance blocked for Mona and the others with the Contra Rifle and Bomberman Watch's 5-hit barrier systems. Meanwhile, reinforcements were pouring in from within no less than 10 illegally-modified BTR-80s, originally the 8x8 armored personnel carriers developed by the Russians decades ago. Unsurprisingly, since the vehicles yield the Red Falcon insignia, that means they were likely based on stolen technology. Luckily, Penny and Blaze Bomber teleported in two power-up pods from Crygor Labs, whereupon Bill shot down the pods for useful weapons: the Crash Missiles, and the Drill Shot. But rather than upgrade the M16 machine guns, he decided to put the power-ups in my Contra Rifle instead. While the BTRs could carry personnel on the battlefield and provide close fire support, in addition to reconnaissance, combat support and patrol missions, they were still vulnerable to armor-piercing high explosives. Bill took the opportunity to utilize the Crash Missiles and Drill Shots to destroy the BTRs (and kill the mermen inside), while Lance - having learned how to operate the Bomberman Watch - helped out by using the pumped-up Thunder Bombs. The electrical blasts disabled the remaining BTRs, forcing the mermen out by their weaknesses to electricity. Despite taking out all of the illegally-modified BTR-80s in the vicinity, there was no possible way of exploring underwater to find the source of the pollution. On the other hand, Mona, 9-Volt, Phoebe, and Cute Pink were exhausted from the trip.
"Bill, Lance, we're tired," said Mona. "We're gonna exchange some of my money for Brazilian currency, and then check in to a hotel."
"Will you be alright without us?" questioned 9-Volt. "Phoebe and Cute Pink will keep me safe while we're resting up."
Bill smiled warmly. "Alright. I understand, but just in case of trouble, take three cans of our Star Drinks with you."
"And Cute Pink," said Lance, "if you're worried about Cheerful White and Cool Black, don't be. Bill and I will get them out safely for you, 9-Volt, and Phoebe. That's a promise."
Cute Pink beamed. "Thanks, you two. And I'll help Phoebe make sure 9-Volt's safe and sound, like he said." She followed Mona, 9-Volt, and Phoebe to a currency exchange center nearby the hotel. As soon as the coast was clear, Bill and Lance took a moment to exchange words with each other.
[End BGM]
"With these BTR-80s out of commission, we'll have to find another underwater transport."
"How about submarines? Maybe Evil Pretty Bomber's minions have them in store. We can hijack one of them and get to wherever her base is!"
"Great idea, Lance! So, if there's a MagnetBase, then whatever's been causing the water pollution must be PrettyBase."
"Well, only one way to find out, and that's by hijacking that submarine not far from here!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
With their friends safe at the hotel, Bill and Lance need only worry about Cheerful White and Cool Black's lives, in addition to the mucky water that's been polluting the coastal side of Brazil for quite some time. If it isn't stopped, the Atlantic Ocean will be contaminated for years to come...