Chapter 13

Venixion Corps Pt 2

Run and Gun

Even though Roll's wing was badly damaged, she had shot out an eye, then taken a flying leap and had managed to grab hold of Mag-Viper's head.

"Freeze it!" She growled between grit teeth as it swung around wildly, trying to dislodge her.

Ice Man shot off his Ice Slasher but missed. Roll hung on for dear life, she would not be able to fly away if it threw her in the molten metal.

Ice Man shot again, freezing her arm to the beast.

"Mega's right!" She snapped angrily. "You seriously need target practice!" And she'd see to it that he'd get it IF she survived this.

She instantly regretted those words as the blinded robot dove into the molten metal, she couldn't help herself, she let out a shriek of fear.

If anything happens to my little sister, I'll hold you personally responsible."

Proto was seldom one to take his anger out on Wily's bots, but when he did, the old man had nuthin on him.

Ice shot true this time, sealing the creature's mouth.

"Use Gravity Switch!"

It went flying, slamming them both on the ceiling.

Thinking fast, he made platform after platform, which resulted in the stunned serpent sliding towards the floor. He whipped out a temporary scrambling chip and climbed on, wincing at the heated metal beneath his feet.

"Hit it!" A blast of flame melted a large hole in the wall and Mag-Viper zoomed along.

"What the hell?!" A startled worker screamed, he barely missed being crushed as a co-worker pulled him out of the way. Ice Man was at the front creating an icy pathway so they could move faster.

Roll had accessed the Ice Slasher chip to help cool her overheated body and was freezing Venixion workers left and right, she tried her best to aim at that their feet, but with Mag-Viper reaching maximum velocity, her melted synth-skin and all the chaos erupting around them, she sometimes missed.

One security guard had their head frozen solid and fell backwards with a clunk, she winced, and two others were frozen together at the waist like conjoined twins.

"Which way out?"

"Hang a left!"

Mag-Viper, half crashed, half slid into the wall and they had to get it moving again.

"Look out!" Roll was horror stricken as humans were crushed under the snake's body.

"Who cares? They were dumb enough to get in the way, they deserve to die. Sign up em for the Darwin Awards."

The look she shot him was pure venom.

They crashed through another wall and by pure luck found themselves outside. Ice brought the large van around and Roll used Gravity to help guide the monstrous robot in.

"Get in girly! We aint done yet!"

They scrambled in, both shooting blasts at the guards, tires squealing as they made their get away.

"Sir! Wily's robots they-"

"I know. I'll place a call to Mr. Venixion." The Head of the American Branch, replied. Though his voice was calm, he was very frightened. His cockiness had cost them dearly and there was no telling what the company's owners would do to him.

He gulped and wiped the sweat dripping from his brow, fingers shaking as he placed the call.

A large screen flickered to life, showing a darkened room full of silhouettes, none of the company's heads wanted to be known, even to their own staff. It was easier to maintain anonymity that way

The Head of the American Branch mentally groaned. As if his luck couldn't be worse, he'd interrupted a meeting and he could feel the glares in the darkness, even though he couldn't see their eyes.

"Ah, it's our American Associate. Tell me, how is the VC-00 coming? Have you completed the final tests? We have several very eager buyers waiting to see it." His voice was friendly, polite but there was a thread of irritation underneath.

"No sir, I…you see-" the man's composure faltered, "-there was a break-in sir." He bowed his head in shame, wishing this had happened to some other Branch. Anyone's but his, worse because it was entirely his fault.

"A break-in?" A woman's voice, sharp, condescending, with a slight Asian accent asked.

"Yes, Wily's Robots stole VC-00 sir. Many of our staff were injured or killed."

There was a moment of stunned silence. On the other side of the screen, a man tightened his fist on the arm of his chair.

"I want a report sent in one hour and you had better not leave anything out or the consequences will be severe. Is that understood?"

"Understood sir."

The screen shut off as the Heads of the company sat and stewed.

"We cannot allow this outrage to stand!" One barked.

"Wily will be dealt with."

"And what about-"

"We will decide their punishment after we analyze the report."

"But we can't let Wily run around with our prototype!" The woman's voice rang out.

Fingers stapled beneath his nose, the man answered quietly, "Think of it as free advertisement. We have others stored that he doesn't know about."

"Free advertisement! Are you insane? He'll destroy it!"

"It's a prototype and we won't deal with Wily just yet."

The people around him gaped.

"We'll let him think he's won, let him show off his newest toy to our customers, and when he least expects it, we'll crush him under our heel. No one is to make a move against him until I say so."

They dropped their heads, doubts were in the eyes of some, vicious glee in the eyes of others.

"Tell them to call off their attack, see to the injured, and take care of the families of the deceased. We must observe proper protocol at a time like this, do not alert the media until I can think of a story that will not make us look like weak fools."

Someone bowed and left the room to send a message.

Ice was driving and shooting at the vans behind him when they suddenly broke off the chase.

"That's funny." He muttered to himself.

"What happened?" Roll climbed into her seat, she had just returned from the back after shutting down the Mag-Viper.

"They're letting us go." His brows furrowed.

Roll frowned.

"Well whatever, don't see why you're complaining." She said waspishly. She was still upset about his callous remarks towards the dead humans.

She began assessing the damage to herself. She'd have to have the synth-skin replaced and she'd need new wires put in, she disconnected her wings and hissed angrily. This was gonna take a lot of work, it was a good thing they had a long drive ahead of them.

Dr. Light, I have some good news for you." Mr. Rice was smiling.

The good doctor looked up, "You see, we've been talking to the Regulation of Rogue Robot Association and they've consented to taking Roll off the list when this is all over, considering all she's doing for the fight against Wily, provided that she continues her efforts to capture Wily and provided that she does not take a human life by her own hand. They can understand her hurting humans under Wily's orders, but if she's as advanced as you say, then she should be able to use the first Law of Robotics to override his commands."

"Thank you Mr. Rice! Thank you so much! We won't disappoint you I promise!" He shook the agent's hand, his tongue still clumsy with his words, relief and joy shone from his eyes.

Mr. Rice smiled, happy to be the bearer of good news for once, as he walked away he checked his tablet, he'd be making contact with one of his agents in Venixion Corps in a few days.

If truth be told, Wily had his doubts about the Venixion Operation being successful, Ice Man was not his strongest Master and Ultra Girl was powerful, but had never gone on a mission without Proto there to guide her. He half-expected them to either come back empty handed or not come back at all, so imagine his delight and surprise when the battered pair pulled into Skull Fortress with his prize! He had no idea what it had been precisely, but this-this exceeded his wildest expectations!

Air Man looked disgruntled to see Ice Man back and Proto gave her a weary thumbs-up and a small smile of pride. He was still unhappy about Hard Man, even though he never really got to know the dumb lug, he certainly hadn't wanted to see him go out like that and he and Wily had argued and screamed about it till the doc had lost his voice. The two usually got along better then most people would expect, but they were both stubborn enough to back down on something they considered important, so the last couple days at the Fortress had been very tense.

After he was done, putting the Mag-Viper in a safe area, he went to do repairs on Ice Man and Ultra Girl, as he walked in, he found that he had a highly competent helper in that area, Roll was used to helping Dr. Light repair and construct robots, she had already fully repaired herself and was almost finished with Ice Man, her fingers working with a speed and proficiency that a human's never could. It was an added boon and another slap to Tom's face. He smiled to himself.