Attack on Muscle Tower!
Goku and Suno ran through a snowy field at full speed. It had been about an hour since they left Jingle Village and now Muscle Tower was within their sights. Today was going to be the day, Suno thought. Today they were going to liberate her village and it would be their first step towards defeating the Red Ribbon Army.
"Stay behind me!" Goku yelled as they got closer to the tower. She drew her staff from the sheath on her back as the soldiers and turrets took aim. A storm of bullets were sent flying their way but they didn't slow down as Goku began twirling her staff at supernatural speeds, deflecting all of the bullets that would have hit them.
Once there was a break in the gunfire, Goku pulled her staff to her side and shouted, "Power Pole extended!" Much to Suno's astonishment, Goku's staff grew in size, easily becoming five times it original length. With a mighty yell, Goku swung her staff and took out all of the soldiers standing guard at the entrance. Even Suno had to slow her pace slightly so as not to be hit by the backswing. "Power Pole retract!"
Goku quickly hopped to the side, Suno not even half a step behind, as the ground in front of her exploded in cannon fire. "Extend!" The Power Pole shot forward and caught one of the tanks below the barrel. With another shout, Goku raised her staff and flipped the tank into the side of the tower. The other tank fired off another round and it was Suno's time to act.
What she was about to do should certainly count as suicidal. She was nowhere near as strong as Goku and the only way this could end was with her getting blown up. However, Suno couldn't be sure that Goku would be able to react in time given her preoccupation and she wasn't sure if the strange girl would be able to survive a direct hit from a cannon.
Against all logic, Suno lept forward and kicked the cannon shell out of the way. Much to her surprise, this actually worked and her foot only tingled a bit. As she landed, Goku jumped in front of her and blocked the incoming gunfire from the turrets before pressing on.
As they neared the tower, Suno wrapped her arms around Goku's waist at her command before Goku used her staff to pole vault onto one of the tower's higher levels. No longer being attacked, they took this time to catch their breath. They had been there for only a few seconds when they heard a voice over the speakers.
"I see you, little lambs," a deep, male voice said. "You've made quite the little mess, haven't you? Assaulting my men, stealing from my comrades," the booming voice laughed, carried across the snowy fields as Suno and Goku glared up the tower. "You have made a mistake, little lambs. For now, you have walked to the den of the wolf and are all prepared to climb into his jaws!" He laughed again and Goku balled her fists. She hated being laughed at. "So what is it that is so worth dying for, eh?"
"We're here to get back the village chief, you jerk!" Suno shouted, surprised by her own boldness. The man laughed again.
"Ah, so it is the chief you want? That's fine. Come right in, come and get him!" He put on a mocking, melodramatic voice, "He hasn't eaten in a few days! He's sick and weak! He needs your help!" Then he laughed again, almost hysterical, "All you have to do is climb the stairs up here to the top of the tower and he's all yours. Surely such brave little lambs can climb some stairs, nyet?" He laughed again as the heavy metal doors slowly creaked open.
As soon as the doors opened, Suno and Goku sprang into action. The guards inside rose to their feet as quickly as they could but they may as well have been moving in slow motion for the good it did them. In a flash, Goku kicked one into a wall, dug her fist into one's stomach, and launched a third into the ceiling as Suno got to work. The first guard she targeted started to draw his gun but was far too slow. She nailed him in his solar plexus with a palm strike before sending a rising palm strike to the underside of his jaw and a roundhouse kick to his temple to put him out.
Immediately upon landing, Suno launched herself forward and bounded off the guard's stomach as another one fired at where she had be. She flip in the air and sent the heel of her foot crashing into the top of his head. Once on the ground, she sent a palm strike at the bridge of his nose, breaking it, then a spear hand strike at his throat, taking him out.
"Great job, Suno!" Goku said now that the area was clear.
Suno blushed as she caught her breath, "Not really. You're much better than I am."
Goku put her arms behind her head and smiled at her, "Don't worry about it! You'll get better! Man, it's really hot in here. Let's get out of these things." Agreeing with her, Suno and Goku quickly stripped out of their heavy clothing, leaving just their lighter wear on. With nothing left to do here, they headed to the stairs and quickly made their way up.
OoOoOoO
Murasaki sat in calm meditation on his level of Muscle Tower. His legs crossed and his hands upon his knees, he was the picture of serenity. Or at least he was trying to be. Being the picture of serenity was so boring. He was thankful for the radio crackle from the speakers overhead, hidden behind trees in the lush forest environment on his level of the Tower. He turned his head in the direction of one of the hidden cameras as General White spoke.
"Sergeant Indigo, are you in position?" the General asked. Murasaki groaned and rolled his eyes. He hated the ludicrous title that Commander Red had slapped on him the day he'd joined the Red Ribbon Army. Why did everyone need a rank and color?
"I am ready, but my name is-" he began to say before General White cut him off in a weary voice.
"I know, I know, comrade. But these are the rules. Do you think I enjoy them? I have not been called my birth name of Alexiev in three years. Such is protocol, eh?" There was a sigh and the sound of shuffling papers. "If the children should make it past Metallic, that will mean you have to deal with them. Can you and your brothers handle that, comrade?" Murasaki laughed aloud at the question.
"The Murasaki brothers can kill some small children. Even if they get past the mad doctor's ridiculous creation," he squeezed his fist around the grip of his katana. "It will be easy." General White laughed over the speakers.
"Very good, comrade! And when they are dead, we shall drink to celebrate our victory!" Murasaki laughed with him and gave a thumbs-up to the camera.
"You are a good friend, Alexiev. Not a good man but a good friend. Sergeant Indigo signing out!"
General White nodded to himself as he switched over the monitor to follow the children's progress and sipped at his cocoa. There was nothing to fear.
OoOoOoO
Goku and Suno reached the top of the stairs to find a large room almost completely devoid of features. The only thing of note in it was the very large chair in the center and the equally large man sitting in it. As he slowly got up, Suno couldn't help but think that there was something very strange about him. She couldn't quite figure out what it was, though, so she put it out of her mind when he spoke up.
"I am Sergeant Metallic. You will not be able to continue until you defeat me," he said in strangely unaccented voice. Goku and Suno took a few steps towards him and slid into their guard stances.
"So you wanna fight? Okay!" Goku said as Metallic drew back his fist. When it came crashing down towards them, Suno dove out of the way while Goku seemed to disappear as she jumped to the ceiling. Before Suno could even return to her guard position, Goku had bounded off of it and slammed her fist into the back of his head causing Metallic to crash into the floor.
Suno stayed rooted in place, too stunned to move, as Goku walked over to her with a big grin on her face. "Well, that was easy!" she said before starting to the next set of stairs. "Come on, let's go!" Before Goku could take get too far, though, Sergeant Metallic moved. He slowly put his giant hands against the floor and pushed himself back up to stand on his feet. Suno's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open as Metallic stalked towards them. She'd seen Goku kick a flip a tank. What was this guy made of? Goku, by contrast, just smiled all the more at the prospect of a tough opponent. "Okay!" she said as she charged at Metallic. "Here I go!" She leaped into the air to throw a flying kick at Sergeant Metallic. However, in a burst of surprising swiftness, the Sergeant's massive hand gripped around Goku's leg. Without any emotion or aggression, Metallic methodically swung Goku into the wall hard enough to crack it. The impact jostled the Power Pole off of Goku's back as Metallic swung her again, Goku too dazed from the impact to react yet.
Suno took that moment to act and dove for the Power Pole while Metallic's attention was still on Goku. If Goku's attacks weren't harming Metallic then she doubted that her own would. Left with only one option, she just hoped that the staff would work for her voice as well as Goku's.
"Power Pole extend!" Suno shouted after putting enough space between them. She swung the extending staff as hard as she could and slammed the far end onto Metallic's wrist. This broke the enormous man's grip and let Goku tumble away. Suno brought the pole down and swung the staff at Metallic's knee, staggering him. Metallic stomped emotionlessly towards Suno and his mouth opened an impossibly wide distance and inside his mouth, Suno could see… a rocket?! Suno swung wildly with the Power Pole as the rocket flew at her to smack it away and explode against the wall. What the heck was that?! Goku peppered Metallic's torso with fast and powerful punches that left visible dents in the Sergeant's chest. That didn't seem right. As Goku landed again, Sergeant Metallic pointed his fist at them.
"Rocket Punch," he declared in a disturbing monotone. Suno wondered what the heck that meant when the man's fist shot off of his body and flew at them! Goku threw out a kick out to meet the fist which exploded on impact. Goku shook out her foot when she landed with her eyes wide as she stared at the stump of the Sergeant's arm.
"Wow!" she declared with excitement as Metallic didn't even seem nonplussed that he was now short a hand. "This guy's cool!"
"He's not just cool," Suno added as she saw the visible amounts of circuitry and moving mechanical parts in the Sergeant's forearm, "He's a robot!" She'd never imagined that the Red Ribbon Army had the capabilities to build a completely human-looking android. If it weren't trying to kill them, it would be amazing! "I think I'll just let you handle this one, Goku," she muttered and stepped to the side. She considered herself to be a pretty good martial artist but this was a robot and she was only human. Goku nodded and dodged one of Metallic's fast punches. She landed on his arm and ran up it to kick him in the head so hard his head spun around to face the wall. Goku flipped backwards and landed on her feet in front of Metallic.
"Kamehameha!" The beam of blue-white light blasted the automaton's head off and blew a hole in the wall behind him. The robot fell backwards with a creaking sound and crashed like a felled tree. There was a bit of an awkward silence after his defeat. "Huh," Goku said with her hands on her hips. "Did I kill him?" Not that the idea really bothered her. She'd killed a couple people already. But they were all jerks. He seemed like a jerk, too. Before Suno could answer, Metallic started to move again and got back to his feet. "Can I have that back?" Goku asked Suno, referring to the Power Pole. Suno nodded wordlessly and handed it to her. "Power Pole extend!" Goku cried and kicked off the ground as she gripped the staff. It launched Goku through the robot's chest with the pole stabbing into the wall behind him to pin the robot on its feet. Goku walked back over to Suno's side and looked up at the robot. "Is it dead?" After a few seconds, that question was answered when the headless, armless, hole-in-his-chest body of Sergeant Metallic gripped the staff in his one good arm and tossed it away.
"Oh, come on!" Suno cried in exasperation as the android stomped towards them. Goku put herself between Suno and Metallic and glared at the robot. He drew back an arm to bring down a punch at them… but came to a screeching halt. They both stared at him for a moment and waited for him to move again. But he didn't. Just to be sure, Goku jumped up and ripped off Sergeant Metallic's arm. Then she threw a cross-armed chop to break off both of Metallic's legs from the knees down.
"I think we've beaten him," Goku said and Suno nodded before they headed up the stairs. What neither of them could have possibly known was that Sergeant Metallic's batteries, which had not been changed since last spring, had burned out.
OoOoOoO
"Wh… what?" General White asked incredulously having watched all of this from his monitors. His hands were trembling as they squeezed his mug of cocoa. How could that have happened? How was that possible? How could one little girl be that strong?!
OoOoOoO
- From the notes of Dr. Archimedes Gero
"While Sergeant Metallic (I will never understand Cyril's fascination with ranks and colors) is so far my most successful automaton in terms of a human likeness and lethal capabilities, his power cells are currently less than acceptable. They require a charge or replacement every nine months. I must look into more efficient power sources.
Perhaps my son Adrian's ideas of a perpetual motion engine are worth investigating. Granted, his thoughts on the subject were more towards clean energy and saving the Earth or such nonsense but… builing robots to fight the Aliens is certainly protecting the Earth, isn't it?"
OoOoOoO
Goku and Suno reached the fourth floor to find something completely different. Unlike the normal second floor or the mostly barren third floor, the fourth was covered from wall to wall by a lush forest. The atmosphere was surprisingly serene and the temperature reminded Suno of when she visited her aunt in the south.
"Wow! This place is really pretty!" Goku said as they walked further in.
"It sure is. I wonder who the guardian of this floor is."
"That would be me, little girl," a voice coming from the treeline said. Suno and Goku were instantly on their guard as a handful of shuriken were thrown at them. Given the forewarning, they had no trouble dodging them despite the speed and accuracy at which they were thrown. "Hmm… Very good. I can now see how you made it this far. How about thi-" Whatever the guardian was going to say was cut off when Goku decided that she had enough of this and chucked a rock at where he was hiding. What they heard instead was a yelp of pain and a resounding thud as the guardian fell out of the trees and hit the ground.
Now visible, the two could see that this floor's guardian was some old-looking guy clad in purple ninja garb. Given the aura she felt from him and his current performance, Suno couldn't help but wonder how these people managed to terrorize them for half a year.
"Ah, you are more clever than I expected," the ninja said as he got up, rubbing his forehead. "However, that won't be enough! Now I, Murasaki, Guardian of the Fourth Floor, shall-"
"Ah, ah, ah. You know the rules, comrade," a voice said over the intercom. Goku and Suno recognized it as the same voice they heard outside.
"But that name is ridiculous!" Murasaki shouted to the sky.
"Yes, but rules are rules."
Murasaki muttered something under his breath before saying, "Fine. Now I, Sergeant Indigo, Guardian of the Fourth Floor, shall-"
He was interrupted again by Goku speaking up, "Hey, are you going to fight us or what?"
Indigo's shoulders drooped in defeat, "Yes, I am going to fight you."
Goku smiled, "Great! Hey, Suno, since I fought the last guy, why don't you fight him?"
Suno looked between Goku and Indigo. He didn't seem all that threatening and it would be a shame if she relied on Goku to handle everything. "Alright," Suno said as she took a few steps forward before sliding into her basic guard stance.
Indigo smiled maliciously at Goku, "So you are just going to sit back and watch your little friend die?"
Goku was nonplussed, "Nah, she can kick your butt."
Indigo fumed at this while Suno had to suppress a giggle, "Fine then! Her death shall be on your head!" He drew the ninjatou from his back and flashed forward with three lightning-speed attacks each guaranteed to kill her.
He was fast, Suno had to admit, but nowhere near fast enough.
She dodged the first strike- a rising, diagonal slash meant to cleave off part of her skull- with just the slightest movement; the sword not even disturbing her hair as it narrowly missed its target. The second strike- a horizontal slash aimed at her neck- was likewise dodged with only the minimum required movement; the tip of the blade ghosting across the skin of her throat as she leaned backwards. The final strike- a vertical, two-handed slash meant to split her skull- was never even launched as Suno took the opening presented to launch her counteroffensive. A quick palm strike to his diaphragm to force the air out of his lungs. A sweeping kick to his shin to force him down onto one knee lest he topple over. Simultaneous knifehand strikes to the inside of his elbows to both force his arms apart and to force him to let go of his sword. Lastly, the sword fell and the pommel hit him in the head precisely where Goku's rock had.
Suno disengaged, taking a few steps back, as Indigo doubled over in pain. A bit behind her, Goku was equally doubled over in laughter. "You little brat!" Indigo said as he struggled to his feet. "Do not get cocky! You have yet to see my power as a master of the-" Whatever he was going to say was interrupted when Suno hit him in the forehead with a rock she had palmed when he was getting up.
"You talk a lot for a ninja," was all Suno had to say while Indigo cursed and rubbed at his forehead.
"Fine then!" Indigo shouted as he threw several smoke bombs around the area. "Let us see how well you do when you cannot see where I am!" Suno could certainly no longer see where he was and he wasn't making any obvious noise. She might have actually been in serious trouble if she hadn't extensively trained in similar conditions. She quickly closed her eyes, cleared her mind, and pushed her consciousness outwards. In an instant, she could feel not only Goku's presence but Indigo's as well.
Suno sidestepped the sword swung at her before jamming her elbow into Indigo's stomach. He coughed and staggered backwards but was gone before she could follow up. He moved away from her and made a throwing motion so she quickly rolled to the side to avoid the shuriken thrown at her head. She heard him start to head to the treeline- probably trying to hide since the smoke was likely clearing by now- but she intercepted him and nailed him in the small of his back with a palm strike. He spun around with a backhand but Suno was too slow in reacting to it so it clipped her jaw and spun her around. With her concentration broken, Suno blindly rolled forward and managed to avoid the follow up sword strike through pure luck.
"You stupid brat!" Indigo spat as Suno returned to her guard stance. "I cannot believe I am being forced to use this technique so soon!" He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly. "Ninpou!" He threw out more smoke bombs, once again completely obscuring Suno's vision. "Bunshin no Jutsu!"
When the smoke cleared, Suno took a few steps back in surprise as she saw not one but five Indigos. They were currently grouped up but were slowly starting to spread out. They all had swords and weapon pouches but the most worrying thing was that one of them had a gun. "Self-Replication Technique?" she said as she slowly shifted her position and calculated her odds. "So you made four clones?"
"You certainly are a smart one but do not get too cocky. Each one of us is just as real as the others," one of the Indigos said.
"Hey! Five-against-one isn't fair! Want me to help out, Suno?" Goku asked from the sidelines.
Suno licked her lips. This would definitely be tough. She had never actually fought more than one person at a time so all she had was theory. However, she couldn't back down now. She couldn't take the easy way out and rely on Goku. This was her village in danger and she had to save it. That being said, to completely reject help when offered would be the height of foolishness. "No thanks, Goku. I think I've got this. Will you lend me your Power Pole, though?"
"Sure! Good luck, Suno!" Suno was surprised that she managed to not only have that entire exchange but also catch the Power Pole without any interference. It seems that Indigo was extending her a courtesy that she hadn't extended to him. What did it say about you when the villain was more honorable? She put such thoughts out of her mind when the Indigos attacked.
Suno's primary objective was obvious: She had to incapacitate or otherwise disarm the Indigo that was carrying a gun. While Goku could dodge and deflect bullets, she wasn't going to try to find out if she could do the same. The one with the gun was currently the one furthest away from her so it'd take some work to get to him while simultaneously making herself as little of a target as possible. Calling to mind one of her master's advanced lessons, Suno began her most intricate Dance.
Suno took two steps forward and a half step to the left and slightly back. She brought up Goku's staff to sweep aside the first Indigo's sword as it came down at her. One step forward, quarter-turn left, one step back; she avoided two more sword swings from the second and third Indigos and blocked a dart fired by the fourth Indigo with Goku's staff. Crouched step forward-right, quarter-turn left, stand up; she avoided a swing aimed at her head made by the first Indigo and tripped him with a leg sweep before catching the third Indigo under the chin with a rising strike from the Power Pole. Two steps back, half-turn right, one step left; she avoided being shot by putting the fourth Indigo between her and the fifth before striking the third across the jaw with the Power Pole and sidestepping a strike from the fourth. One step forward-right, quarter-turn right, one step right. She dodged an attack from the second Indigo and parried an attack from the fourth before striking the second in the gut with the Power Pole. One step back, one step left, bend backwards, straighten out. She dodged two more frantic swipes from the fourth Indigo before bending backwards at the waist to dodge a third and striking him on top of the head as she straightened out. One step forward-left, one step forward-right, spin clockwise. She weaved left and right to remain out of the sights of the panicking fifth Indigo before shouting "Power Pole extend!" and executing a spinning strike aimed at the side of his head. Bow.
OoOoOoO
Murasaki stood there with his mouth hanging open and his eyes bulging wide as he muttered wordlessly in shock. His brothers. She'd knocked out all of his little brothers. How? When? What was going on?!
"Y'know," Suno said as she idly poked one of his brothers with the Power Pole to make sure he was out. "Usually, when a copy like this gets taken out, they disappear. These are real people, aren't they?" She looked back up at Murasaki. "You're not a very good ninja, you know that?" Murasaki's face turned a deep shade of reddish-purple and he screamed as his whole body shook with rage. She had injured his body, assaulted his family, but this. This was too much. To mock his skill, to assault his pride, was unthinkable. Unforgivable. He reached into a hidden pocket in his shirt and produced a remote control with a single button.
"You have mocked Mura…" he stopped and sighed, "You have mocked Sergeant Indigo for the last time, children! Now you shall see the strength of the Red Ribbon Army! Now you shall see our brilliance! Now you shall gaze into the mouth of Death and-" Goku hit him in the head with another rock. In the exact same spot as the other two times he'd been hit with a rock! "Y'know what?" he muttered wearily. "Fuck it." Suno and Goku reflexively gasped at the swear and he pushed the single button on the remote. Somewhere within the room, there was a hiss of compressed air as a wall split apart. Sergeant Indigo threw his head back and laughed as something enormous stomped towards them. The ground shook under their feet and trees parted as it got closer.
Goku's mouth grew wide as she put herself between Suno and whatever was coming. An enormous hand reached out from the trees and shoved them aside. Indigo was still laughing when the thing walked into the clearing. It was an enormous… man! He was dressed in all black with stitches across his forehead and cheek. He was almost as big as Sergeant Metallic!
"Whoa," Suno whispered as she looked up at him. He looked like the monster from that old book she'd read once. 'I guess whoever built him wasn't feeling very original that day,' she thought since he had to be a robot like the Sergeant.
"Hello," the creature said in a deep, almost melancholic voice as Indigo wiped a tear from his face. "I am designated Android Eight." That answered that question, then. Definitely a robot.
"Nice to meet you!" Goku said with a big grin. Suno had to fight the urge to groan. Sergeant Indigo grinned wickedly and rubbed his hands together.
"You won't think it's such a nice meeting in a second!" he said deviously before pointing at them. "Android Eight! Kill them!" Suno and Goku got into their guard stances and frowned up at the robot. There was a long paused that bordered on awkward. Then the android spoke.
"Why?" he asked. Sergeant Indigo blinked and stared at the android. Clearly, he hadn't expected this.
"B… Because I told you to!" he said while still pointing at Goku and Suno. They were almost as confused as he was.
"But they are children," Android Eight said and gestured to them. "It would be wrong to kill children." Indigo pulled at his face in frustration and groaned.
"You are a killing machine!" he explained to Android Eight with an edge in his voice. "In the most literal sense of the term! You were built to kill. Now do as I command!"
"But I do not want to," Android Eight said stubbornly. Indigo shrieked with anger and pulled out his hair.
"I don't care what you want!" he screamed. "You're a robot! Your wants don't matter! Now kill them! Kill them, kill them, kill-" he fell silent when Android Eight raised one of his massive hands and slammed it onto the top of his head, knocking him out.
"I am sorry you had to see such violence," Android Eight said as he turned to Suno and Goku. "But he was becoming quite annoying." Goku shrugged as she and Suno dropped out of her guard.
"That's okay," Suno told the android. "So, are we going to fight?" The android shook his head.
"I do not want to," he told her.
Suno nodded. "Then we don't have to fight," she said. 'What a weird conversation to be having,' she thought.
"You said your name was Android Eight, right?" Goku asked and Eight nodded. "How about I call you Eighter?" The enormous robot smiled.
"I would like that," Eighter said and Goku smiled.
"Let's go!" Goku said as she ran up the stairs, Suno following after her and Android Eight stomping behind. Now she had another new friend!
OoOoOoO
Deep in a hidden mountain lab….
Archimedes Gero hemmed and hawed as he went over his diagrams and schematics for his previous eight androids, as well as the unnumbered automatons he'd built for the Red Ribbon Army, including their pilot droids and Sergeant Metallic. He stroked at his luxurious orange mustache as he thought. There might be something hidden in these older designs that he had overlooked that would hasten in Android Nine's completion. He knew what they had all been lacking, of course. Not nearly enough chainsaws. But Android Nine would have chainsaws. Hidden chainsaws in the hands, chainsaws coming out of the back, chainsaws in the knees and elbows and mouth, rocket chainsaws. Chainsaws enough to tear all of Earth's enemies to shreds! Chainsaws: The ultimate weapons!
But when he came upon the schematics for Android Eight, more specifically, Android Eight's artificial intelligence, he saw a handful of notes that drew his attention. Notes that filled him with an immeasurable rage. Notes that were not in his own handwriting.
"Fraaaaappeeeeeeee!" he bellowed into the catacombs of his secret lab. The other scientist came scurrying out of the shadows like the miserable rat that he was. He wore huge spectacles, had an absurdly large head of gray hair, and his mustache was pitifully thin.
"Yes, Archimedes?" asked Daedelus Frappe as he wiped a speck of dust from his spectacles with a hand towel he had produced from his yellow jacket's breast pocket. Gero growled and stood up from his workbench and leaned forward to tower over Frappe as he stalked towards him. While an older man and nowhere near as tall as his enormous late son Adrian, Archimedes Gero was still an imposing figure. Especially so to a coward like Daedelus.
"Why," he demanded, "In the seven circles of hell, did you give Android Eight subroutines for compassion, logic, and restraint?!" Daedelus shrank away from his colleague's fury, stepping back as the other man stepped forward.
"I thought it would make his artificial intelligence more complex!" he offered nervously. "M-more fleshed out! Weren't you complaining about how basic and rudimentary Sergeant Metallic's intelligence was just the other day?" Gero grabbed a wrench in his fist and squeezed it until his knuckles turned white.
"I am building war machines, you simpering boob!" he roared as he hurtled the wrench at the other scientist's head. Frappe ducked with the wrench barely missing his skull and bouncing off his hair. He scurried away again with a ridiculous "whooping" noise of fear. Gero sat back down at his bench and groaned wearily, rubbing at his temples. If it weren't for the man's inexplicable brilliance with biomechanics, he would be dead already. Once Gero had learned everything he could from Frappe, then he would be expendable. Then Gero could finally take the first steps towards building his ultimate creation. His perfect creation.