Thunder filled the skies, darkened by the clouds. The two mechs stood face-to-face, awaiting the first strike.
"This standoff bores me," Pokey said. "I will strike first!" From the head, came a series of wires, glowing red at the tips. They fired lasers at Crystal Cola. A barrier blocked them. "You're right, let's end this now!" Crystal combined Daikon V with the Scandalous Scallion, forming the Victorious Vegetable. It held the polearm in both hands. It suddenly dashed to the Emperor Mogul, slashing repeatedly.
"What a flimsy weapon you have, monsieur Cola!" Pokey taunted. "It cannot even scratch my armor. You are only doing damage to yourself."
"Silence. Even the best defense has a flaw in it," Beiki replied. "We'll find yours." Crystal scanned the Emperor Mogul. "Nothing so far."
Suddenly, the Mogul came with a fast right hook. Crystal blocked it. "I can fight without any fancy toy!" Pokey said. "Can you even throw a punch, Crystal?"
Crystal edged away and sheathed the Vegetable. It put its dukes up.
"Give me your best shot." The two began to engage in a fistfight. Blows were being delivered left and right. Iron, metal, bolts, nuts and everything mechanical flew all over the place. Crystal Cola and The Emperor Mogul were at equal footing.
"You punch like a girl!" Pokey said, punching Crystal.
"I AM a girl!" Bunny replied, with an uppercut. The Emperor's head showed the internal systems to the mech.
"And we have our flaw." Bunny stated, aiming for the head with more blows. The head became more and more loose, sparking a little. Crystal pulled out the Vegetable and slashed horizontally at the neck. The head came off instantly.
"Now, we stab the wound and claim our-" Bunny stopped as the head of the Mogul floated. "You silly girl," He taunted. "Take this!" From under the head, came out some wires. They went to Crystal and latched onto it. Suddenly, a surge of electricity was sent to it, shocking everyone in the process.
From the back, came the Silver Bullets, firing at the wires. "Don't count us out!" Wolf said. "Cross formation!" The Bullets flew in a cross formation, firing rapidly at the wires from the base of the head of the Mogul.
"Is everyone okay?" Bunny asked.
"I'm fine."
"Just swell."
"Those wire went to our systems," Walter said. "We got some glitches." Crystal was fidgeting a little. "Halo will clear this problem," Bunny said, running an anti-virus program. "Right now, the Mogul's systems are exposed. We can attack it directly!" Crystal went upwards and prepared to aim towards the open area of the Emperor Mogul.
"No, no, no!" Pokey said. From the open area, a large spike came out of the neck, piercing Crystal Cola. "You underestimate the power of the Emperor Mogul," He said. "You cannot just attack the inside; it is also its own weapon. Crystal pulled out from the spike.
"Damn, we took some damage, big time," Bunny stated. "Beiki, take the helm. I've gotta see how bad the damage is." Bunny went to a separate maintenance station. Crystal Cola was unable to move its left leg. It defended against the barrage of Mogul's attacks.
"What is this?" Pokey taunted. "You were telling me that you were going to pierce the earth with your carrot, but it seems that I have pierced you instead!"
"It's a daikon, you uncultured beast!" Tony C. yelled. "You…I need to make sure you never say such words to me ever again. Pokey got serious and grabbed Crystal by the neck, slamming it downwards to the base. It crashed through, going underwater.
"Dammit, we're picking up water, too!" Bunny was struggling with the coils. Beiki was steering Crystal up to the surface. "Bunny, is the damage bad?" Beiki asked.
"I'm trying to see what I can do," She replied from below. "But never mind that, is everyone else okay?" Everyone gave an okay. "Alright…let's see if I can attach this to the…Got it!" Crystal's left leg was slowly functioning again.
"Good, let's get him!"
"How sad," Pokey taunted yet again. "Putting on a brave face against something you cannot defeat. I admire your effort at least." The Emperor Mogul stood still. "I will allow you one hit, free of charge!"
"Don't pity us!"
"You do not want it? Now, now. Do not be bashful!"
"Enough!"
"Come now."
"Alright, you asked for it." The Victorious Vegetable was brandished. It was charging energy for an attack. "With this vegetable, we will pierce the earth and spread the seeds of the future to grow into the performers of tomorrow!" The Vegetable emitted a blue aura. Crystal Cola dashed towards the Emperor Mogul, at full power. "Take this, fat ass!" With one strike, the Victorious Vegetable only managed to chip a piece of the Mogul's armor before bouncing back and being blunted.
"What is this?" Pokey said, astonished. "You get a free hit and it is only a mere scratch?" He began to laugh loudly. "And your exotic daikon blade has been ruined!" He began to laugh even harder.
Everyone in Crystal was dumbfounded. "I don't believe it," Erocook said. "We put all of that energy and time into that attack and it only made a small chip in his mech."
"And the Victorious Vegetable is weakened," Mika added. "One more careless attack like that and it may snap."
"It can't end like this," Brolax said. From the air, came the Silver Bullets. The Emperor Mogul used its cocktail, splashing some searing acid on the Bullets. They all barrel-rolled, but the acid still managed to weaken their ships.
"This is no ordinary drink, my dear Wolfie," Pokey boasted. "I made this out of the same fuel that the Golden Locket is using to power Monsieur Mogul!" It turned to Crystal and splashed some on it as well. The shields that protected it dissolved.
"No, not the shields!" Bunny yelled. "Dammit, it's really eating at the outer shell!" The left leg of Crystal dissolved, falling off.
"Damn, damn!" Bunny went ballistic. "We're in some serious shit now!"
"Calm down," Beiki told her. "Keep your composure. We're not out just yet." Bunny took a breath. "Now then, think for a moment. What's the last thing we did beforehand?"
"I don't get it."
"I think I do," Noone said suddenly. "Calie. Calie! Are you there?"
"Good, Noone. When we connected the Golden Locket to the Cola Commander, we installed our systems into its interface, remember?"
"…you're right," Bunny said, realizing her mishap. "I'm sorry everyone." She typed a few button commands in.
"Calie? Calie, are you able to hear us?" Static was heard on the screen.
"…..i….c…..o….."
"C'mon." Bunny typed more commands. Still static.
"If only there were a way to get in contact with the locket…" "Let's worry about that later," Winnosh said. "Pokey's about to attack again!" "You are really going out on a limb here, no?" Pokey said, making a blatant crack at Crystal's condition. "You barely have a leg to stand on!" He laughed manically.
"Shut your mouth, piggy!" The Emperor Mogul dashed at Crystal, punching it. "You shut your mouth," Pokey said seriously. "You do not have the right to talk to me like that, bunny girl!" Mogul pinned Crystal to what was left of the base.
"You are weak, you are pathetic! You, a group of performers cannot defeat the Great Pokey Minch, with his genius brain, his deep, deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep wallet and cunning charm!" Mogul was being punched Crystal as this was being said.
"Single Fragment is a gateway play of the worst kind," Pokey said as he continued his brutality. As he kept going on with his rant, Bunny thought for a moment.
"Single…Fragment." She uttered. "One chip, one fragment." A bulb went in her head. "If we can expand on that small fracture in Mogul's armor, we can win this!" She contacted Wolf.
"Wolf, can you do me a favor?" She asked. "I want you to try to attack the small chip on the Mogul." "Oh? You're planning something."
"Right. Can you and the Fans do it?"
"Of course!" The Bullets began to fire at the Mogul's chip. "What is this?" Pokey bloated. "You are trying to attack that insignificant damage on my dear Mogul?" The Mogul shined its ring. The Bullets avoided the flash, save for one. Crystal escaped to the air.
"Damn," Wolf cursed. "Bunny, we aren't able to expand that fracture any further."
"I figured as much," Bunny replied. Static was on a screen.
"…sid….is….eak…."
"That was Calie, wasn't it?" Bunny got an idea. "Steve, take over the coding for me. Walter, sheathe the Vegetable. Mika, come with me. Wolf, keep attacking that spot!" Everyone was moving to her orders.
The Bullets continued to attack the Mogul. Two were shooting lasers at the fracture while another fired bombs at it. "It is hopeless," Pokey said. "So hopeless." From the top of the head, came an antenna. It glowed a little. Suddenly, a flash of lightning hit on it.
"Take this!" A barrier of thunder covered the Mogul. The Silver Bullets showed no effect to it. "I almost forgot, Silver is useless against electricity."
At Crystal's command panel, the static was clearing up.
"Attack the…side…weak from…" Calie's message was getting through. "What side?" Steve asked. "Bunny, we got some contact!"
"Good," She said. "We're working on restoring the Vegetable. Noone!"
"Yes?"
"Go to the Avenger and have it change back into its ship form."
"On it."
The Mogul's fracture was shining. "Something's in it," Said a Fan, attacking it. The Mauve Avenger was back to normal. "Now, go to the Vegetable and press the eject button. "I do not know what you are planning, but I do know you are not made of silver," Pokey said, ready to attack.
"Take this!" Pokey fired a stream of electricity at the Avenger, which came apart. The wings flew to the Vegetable. The cockpit was hit.
"Noone!"
"I'm okay." He was in an escape pod, floating down to the sea. A Silver Bullet saved him. The Victorious Vegetable was transforming yet again.
I give you…
The Last Lavender! It was a blade with a proton cannon at the tip. "This is it. To use this will deplete a lot of our energy," Bunny explained. "So we have to make these three hits count."
"Only three?!"
"That's all we can afford to use. Any more and we risk destroying our only way of escape."
"Bunny, is that you?" It was Calie.
"Calie! You're okay!"
"Yes. I've found some areas that are vulnerable from the inside. When your spy set off his bombs in the Elite Cocktail, the damage was immense. Even when the Wealthy Playboy fused, some of that damage carried on to it. The left side of its torso has some internal damage. Even if you don't destroy that area, the shock of it may do enough to keep the Mogul at bay."
"There. We have our target." Crystal charged up for an attack.
"So you have a new veggie," Pokey said. "Big deal. Take this!" Pokey charged his hand for another electric attack. Wolf blocked it with his ship. "Attack him now!" Crystal aimed at the left side of Mogul's Torso.
"Fire!"
A bright, purple blast fired at the torso. It knocked Mogul back, even leaving a dent. "Sacre Bleu!" Pokey yelled. "You actually did something to my dear Mogul!"
"The systems at that area are scrambled," Calie told Bunny. "Nicely done!"
"But, look." Crystal's systems were failing. "That was too much for it to handle." Snake said. "I don't know if we can risk another attack." "Calie, can you sense any other vulnerable areas?"
"One more. The area where Mogul's head rests at," She explained. "If you attack there, you'll destroy it completely."
"But what about that internal weapon thing?" Wookie asked.
"Controlled by the head. But right now, there's some errors going on. You can probably try it now." Crystal went to the Emperor Mogul. But it staggered a little. "Damn. We're almost out of power." "What are you trying?" Pokey asked. "Did I not tell you that you cannot attack from there?" A spike shot out of the neck's opening. "You seem to be on your last legs, my dear Crystal!"
"He's right," Beiki thought. He looked at the head of the Mogul. "Wait. I figured it out. The head controls the Mogul, even when disconnected."
"But we can't risk-"
"If we don't, we die!"
"If we do, we die!"
"Remember what we said? How can we be scared if we're with you?" He turned to Bunny. "Besides, who said we had to fire at the head?" Bunny's eyes sparked. "I know what to do now." Crystal Cola mounted on Last Lavender as best as it could and flew to the head, riding on it.
"Hmm?" When it came to the head, it threw Last Lavender at it with full force. It pierced right through it. "No, not the head!" Pokey yelled. "I can't control the Mogul now!" Last Lavender was flying back to Crystal, who was right above the Mogul.
"Pokey, your time has come," Bunny said.
"This is for everyone you've corrupted with your money and influence. This is for ruining our play. This is for the future that will prevail over evil like you. This is…"
OUR FINALE!
Last Lavender was charging up, charging fiercely. Crystal was coming apart. "Wait, you cannot use that!" Pokey panicked. "You will die as well!"
"Death will bring us relief." Dick said, surprisingly calm. Crystal pushed Last Lavender into the neck. "Everyone, thank you," Bunny said. "We've done a great job until this point. We've entertained, inspired and defended many. We had very little to work with, but right now we overcame the biggest obstacle anyone could ever come across." She was crying.
"Wolf, Pz, Snake, Erocook, Fuwa, Noone, Hiro and to all of the Single Fragment and SuperCola Powered Live crew…" She gave a salute, and everyone followed suit.
Thank you. Last Lavender fired, completely skewering and obliterating Emperor Mogul. A white aura spread over the area, scattering everything in its radius.
"Thank…you…"
When the area cleared, there was a large crater in the ocean, filling up with water from the base. Crystal Cola was in smoldering pieces. The crew was nowhere to be found. However, from the sky, was a glowing object. On it, was Crystal's upper body, damaged badly. It was the Golden locket.
"Locket to Crystal," Calie said. "Locket to Crystal?" There was a silence for a moment.
"…Crystal…reporting in." It was Snake. "Everyone…isn't doing too well." He coughed. "We need medical attention immediately…"
"Roger that."