Chapter Text
Episode 1: Escape Plan
Hey there guys, gals, and non-binary pals!!! Tardispilot297 here, wishing you a very Happy New Year!!! And what better way to start the new year than by bringing you all the premiere of Mega-Man: Robotic Hero season 5! Now I must confess, I actually planned this season out a long time ago, really put some work into it. And now I get the chance to share it with you all. I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. With that said… Let’s begin.
(Silicon City, Night)
*Shoot to Thrill by ACDC starts playing*
The night starts out just like any other night. Me and my friends leaping from one of the buildings and running across the rooftops. We stop at the last high rooftop and overlook the city below us. Oh, I should probably mention that this isn’t actually like any other night. Not for us anyway. Because tonight, we’re on a very important mission. I check the time to confirm that we are on schedule.
“It's showtime. Guys, you ready to roll?”
I turn to the rest of the team who each give me a response.
“I was born ready, Dude.”
“Behind you all the way, Friend.”
“I am ready.”
“Let’s do this.”
“BARK BARK”
I nod my head and shoot them a grin.
“Okay, Let's go!”
We all jump down and drop several feet down toward the closest building. While free falling, I get on Rush's back, who quickly transforms into jet board mode, while Axel rides his rocket skateboard as we approach a building with an outdoor pool. I skid across the pool while using Rush as a surfboard with Axel grinding along the outer railing next to us. Meanwhile, Douglas fires up his jetpack and grabs Alia’s arm before swinging her into the air to allow her to grab and unfold her collapsible hover-scooter and get on it. Keeping pace behind us, Zero boosts his way toward the side of the building and runs along the side, leaping onto the next building. We all fly through the air with Douglas helping Zero by swinging with his extendable staff right as we're all heading down through a large opening in the target building’s roof.
We all drop down and land hard on the ground superhero style. We stand up and each strike a fighting pose with Zero activating his sword, Axel twirling his dual blasters, Douglas standing ready with a gadget in his hand, and Alia and me with our respective buster cannons. I aim mine straight forward.
“All right! Put your hands in the air!”
The whole place lights up as crowds of people start cheering. We all relax our postures and start waving at the crowd around us. The building we had dropped down into is in fact the Silicon City Sports Stadium. And as for why we were there, we were invited to make a celebrity appearance before the start of tonight’s game. Which happens to be the sport of Laser Ball. Which in reality is just regular football but with robot players instead of humans. I’m sure you guys must be asking yourselves, “What is going on right now?” Well, let me give you a quick run-down. A few years ago, I was built by a scientist named Dr. Thomas Light using a very powerful core from outer space in secret. My name is Xavier Light. Of course that was just the name given to me in memory of my human counterpart who died in a tragic accident. My friends call me Rock, but the rest of the world knows me better as… Mega-Man!
Since that day I've occasionally saved both the city and even the entire world from all kinds of dangers. From crazy scientists to terrorist organisations. I’ve even gone toe to toe with robots from outer space. Of course, I couldn’t have done any of that without my friends and family by my side. Like my two best friends Axel and Douglas, with one being the hotshot marksman/goofball, and the other acting as one of the two brains of the team. Then there’s Alia, one of the bravest girls I’ve ever met and our top tier strategist. She’s also the girl that I’ve had the biggest crush on since I’ve first met her. (Not that I’ve ever been able to tell her that.) Finally, we have Zero, the team’s muscle and one of the two resident aliens living in this city. He also once tried to kill me, but we’re totally cool now.
And of course I can’t forget my dog Rush, who acts as both support and transport. He’s also a very good boy. Together we’re known as Team Mega-Man, Defenders of Silicon City. A title that also applies to the rest of the world as well. Hard to believe a group of teenagers like us could be hailed as world class heroes, am I right? Well to be fair, stranger things have happened. Which of course brings us back to now. As we continue waving at the cheering crowds up in the stands, a reporter comes over to us with a camera bot hovering alongside her.
“Excuse me, Mega-Man. Bree Ricotta, Global News. Could you tell us how it feels to be the hero who time and again has been able to save our city from those who threatened the peace and brought them to justice?”
She holds the microphone up for me to speak into. I clear my throat to speak clearly into it and answer her question.
“Well, the truth is, Bree, can I call you Bree?”
She nods her head as I continue speaking.
“The truth is I actually wouldn’t be here today without help from my friends here. I doubt that I’d even be standing here today without them occasionally pulling my metal can out of the fire.”
That comment gets a good laugh from everybody in the stadium. And that isn’t just me being modest, that’s the actual truth. Time and again my friends and family have been there to help me when I needed them most. Even from myself a few times. But that’s not the only thing I wanna talk about.
“But in all seriousness, I’m thankful not just to them, but to all the people of Silicon City. For accepting me. Despite the fact that I’m a robot. And while I’m privileged to help protect the peace in this city, sometimes I wonder what it would be like… to be truly human just like everyone else.”
That question has been in my head for a long while now. Sure I’ve experienced what it's like to be human by going to school, hanging out with my friends, even having a crush that’s been going strong for three years now. Despite that, I’ve still always dreamed what it would be like to be human. To live a normal life just like everybody else. Sorry, I’m probably bumming you out right now. This is supposed to be a fun night after all. A fan from nearby shouts over to me over the crowd.
“You rock, Mega-Man!”
I look over and smile, pointing right at them and tracing my finger along the crowds in the stands.
“You rock! You all rock!”
The crowd cheers loudly as me and friends start waving again. We get off the field to allow the game to finally start. As we leave, Douglas receives a phone call from our friend Maylu Sakurai. She’s a reporter for the channel nine news station. She’s also Alia’s co-worker who helped us bring down Xander Payne and put him back behind bars before he could destroy the city. Since then she has gone from a reporter covering small stories like “World’s cutest animals” to covering much bigger stories. Douglas answers the call saying hello to her. Axel hears Maylu’s name and quickly tries to cut into the conversation. Guess he hasn’t gotten over his crush either.
“Maylu! Hey! What's up, girl? Me? Not much, I've been hitting the gym a lot lately.”
Douglas shoves Axel away from him before listening to what Maylu has to say.
“Douglas, listen to me. I'm at the Mainline Train Station staking out Dr. Eric Doppler.”
(Mainline Station, Silicon City, Night)
“Oh, Eric Doppler! He graduated top of his class at MIT alongside Dr. Cain. He has over 140 different patents, and works as the lead scientist for Slither Inc. I am an avid admirer of his work. The man's a certified genius.”
Been awhile since I’ve heard Douglas geek out like this. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised really. I just sat down at the bar in a cafe at Mainline Station wearing my undercover disguise complete with a suit and jacket, glasses, and wig. I called Douglas because I wanted to ask him something. Though I should probably give him all the details of what I’m working on first.
“Yeah, well, I suspect that he's a genius that's about to be in a whole lot of trouble.”
Douglas asks me what I mean by that.
“Listen, I think Dr. Doppler is secretly working with The Emerald Spears.”
I go on to explain how for the last few weeks, I’ve been looking into rumors of Doppler’s dealings with an unknown group overseas. Most believed it was a rival company trying to pilfer Doppler’s genius from Slither Inc. However, the more I looked into it, the more I started to get a hunch that something else was going on. Something much bigger. And a good reporter always follows a hunch. Douglas asks me if I needed him and the others for backup.
“Nah. Dopplers an old softie. Oh, but, you know, that, uh, gift that you gave me to celebrate my promotion?”
I glance at my wrist at the special device Douglas made me called a Watch-Comm. One of his earliest inventions apparently which I was currently using to chat with him.
“The watch-comm? Of course I do. Why do you ask?”
“Well, I want to use it to try and hack into Doppler's personal emails. Do you think it can do that?”
“Hmm. I suppose so, at least in theory. However, Maylu, if you're planning to hack into his personal accounts, you will need to get within a very close proximity for it to be successful.”
“And just how close are we talking about?”
“Your watch-comm will need to be at least within three feet of his device. Laptop, Tablet, Phone, whatever.”
In other words I’m gonna need to get up close and personal with him. Shouldn’t be too hard.
“Gotcha. Thanks, buddy. Call you again soon.”
I hang up and spot the very man I’m looking for, walking to his table with the waitress leading him with his Tablet in his hand. As he sits down and starts typing on it, I try using the watch-comm to hack in. Unfortunately the screen gives me an “Out of Range” message. Guess I’m gonna have to get up close and personal with him. I stand up and make my way over to his table. Okay, Sakurai. Time to put on the charm. I put on my best cutesy fan girl voice.
“Um, Hi. So sorry to bother you. It's just... Aren't you, like um…”
Doppler looks up at me from his tablet. He lets out a tired sigh and raises a hand to interrupt me.
“Young lady, as much as I'd like to be someone that a girl like you would be able to recognize. I can assure you, you don't know who I am.”
“You're Dr. Eric Doppler. PhD. Studied alongside the famous Dr. Cain. Graduated at the top of your class from MIT. Your innovations in nanorobotics at Slither Inc. have been truly inspirational for me. I'm so sorry. I'm just like... I'm a complete tech nerd!”
I let out a small laugh which Doppler does as well. He gives me a warm smile. I knew those online acting courses would pay off someday.
“No, please. By all means, Feel free to “Geek out”.”
He then pulls up a chair and offers it to me while still seated to continue the conversation. I happily accept and sit down across from him. Okay so far so good. As we converse with each other, I discreetly start to hack into Doppler's tablet while keeping him preoccupied with small talk about some of his work. And I gotta say, he’s actually a very pleasant person to talk to. Now I’m starting to hope that my hunch about him turns out to be wrong. We talk some more when a man walks up to us and speaks to Dr. Doppler.
“Dr. Doppler. We just got confirmation, sir. The "package" is shipping later tonight.
While Doppler is looking away from me, I look down to check on the progress of the hack. So far the downloading progress has reached almost 50% completion. Doppler gives the man a set of instructions as he hands him the tablet.
“Well, make sure they're tracking it every step of the way. Oh, And Trevor, remember no mistakes.”
“Yes, sir.”
Trevor then takes the tablet and leaves the table. This also causes the downloading of Doppler's emails to be interrupted. Dang, just needed a minute longer. Because of this, I quickly take out my phone and fake getting a call from my boyfriend to fool Doppler and abruptly end the conversation.
“I'm sorry, I need to take this. It has truly been an honor to meet you. And you are really one of the greatest minds of our generation.”
Doppler buys it and humbly nods his head.
“It was lovely to meet you too. Goodbye.”
I get up and walk away from the table. I leave the small cafe and start immediately tracking down Trevor in the station’s square. I manage to spot him and notice him heading straight for some girls posing and taking pictures with some people in costumes. From the looks of them I can tell that they’re students probably visiting the city. I also eye up some clothes at a nearby kiosk which closely match the uniforms they’re wearing. I quickly got an idea in my head.
Wasting no time, I head downstairs while taking my jacket off and throwing it in a trashcan nearby. I walk over to the kiosk and stealthily snatch a miniskirt off the rack. I take off and toss away the glasses while grabbing a black sweatshirt off the back of a chair. As I keep walking, I quickly change my attire while also ditching the wig. I loosen up the button up shirt I’m wearing to look more like one of the students. I then grab a stranger's cowboy hat and finally catch up to Trevor just as he reaches the group of school girls. I sneak up behind him and place the hat on his head. I call out to the group of girls.
“Lookie here, everybody. Got ourselves a cowboy.”
Trevor looks at me confused but then gets immediately surrounded by the group of girls. They all start fawning over him leaving Trevor feeling a bit overwhelmed. From the smile on his face though, I’m betting he’s actually enjoying the attention. As we all move in close for a group photo, I look down at the watch-comm which has resumed downloading files from Doppler’s tablet. I soon get a loud ping indicating that the download was a success and quickly turn to leave. I make my way to one of the train platforms and call Douglas again. I start combing through the data on the watch-comm as he answers.
“Maylu! Everything turn out alright?”
“You bet, Douglas. And you’re not going to believe what I'm looking at.”
“What did you find in Doppler’s files?”
Just as he asked me that question, I start to notice Doppler's files suddenly erasing themselves right before my eyes.
“Wait. Hold on, Douglas. The files seem to be erasing themselves. It must be some sort of self-destruct program.”
“Erasing themselves? Impressive security software.”
And just like that, all the data disappears from the watch-comm. Great, all that work for nothing. Well, almost nothing. I tell Douglas that just before they started erasing I had a chance to read a couple of Dopper's emails, and I was totally right. Doppler is definitely working with the Emerald Spears. I also found out that their leader, Xander Payne is being transported to an airport which will fly him to a maximum security prison out onto the coast tonight. As soon as I saw that, I quickly managed to piece together what was about to happen.
“Douglas, I think the Emerald Spears are planning on breaking Xander Payne out of police custody!”
Hearing that Douglas immediately tells me that he’ll let the others know and that they’re on it. I hang up the phone and start running to head outside and hail the closest taxi. I just hope they can stop whatever the Emerald Spears are planning in time.
(Federal Detention Complex, Silicon City, Night)
This is it. This is the big one. I standby next to the transport truck as Xander Payne starts walking down the path with armed officers all around him. His body is heavily chained up while being escorted to the vehicle which is occupied by five other criminals. Payne is then escorted inside the van and he is placed down on the chair in the center with the other officers ready to restrain him. All the other criminals stare in complete awe at him as if he were a famous celebrity. Two of the officers strap and chain Payne in place before they exit the vehicle. One of the officers shouts over to me.
“Hey, Hikari. They're all yours.”
I nod my head and turn to look inside the vehicle. After spending two years working as a street cop in the SCPD, I, Officer Lan Hikari, have finally been given the chance at a big assignment. Sure it was just transport duty, but it was also securing one of the most dangerous criminals in the world. And that to me is still a very big deal. As for the guys riding with him. Those five I actually caught myself. A real heavy duty street gang that goes by the name “The Deadly Six”. Which of course doesn’t make sense since there’s only five of them. Guess these guys got more brawn than brains. I start to walk up to shut the rear doors of the vehicle while looking directly at Payne.
“What’s up, Mr. Big and bad terrorist leader? On behalf of all the fine citizens of Silicon City, I humbly welcome you to what is known as “The Big Good-bye”.”
I finish securing the doors and run to hop in the passenger seat. The transport truck starts to pull away to exit through the tunnel along with other cruisers following behind. The six cruisers then split off into two groups of three, one group in front and the other behind. We officially commence with escorting Xander Payne, along with the five amigos, straight to the airport. Where a plane will be waiting to fly them off to a couple of nice, warm prison cells on the west coast.
(Secret Hideout, Silicon City Dump, Night)
I sit in my chair in front of my computer screen. My focus is sharp and unwavering. After nearly 24 hours of hard work, I am finally gonna beat this game called “Hollow Knight”. I just need about ten more seconds to beat the final boss. My fingers zig zagging across the keyboard almost a blur as I count it down. Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven. This is it… Six, Five, Four. Almost there… Three, Two… Suddenly the door slams open with a loud bang which pulls my attention away from the screen for just a single second. And that second is all it takes for my character to die thus receiving a big “Game Over”. I groan in annoyance as I spin the chair around to see Rock and the others rushing in. I stand up and call over to them.
“Hey! What’s going on? Did something happen?”
Rock pauses in his movements and walks over to explain to me why he and the others were in such a rush to begin with.
“Roll, the Emerald Spears are attempting to break Xander Payne out of custody.”
Oh that is very not good. If Xander manages to get free, he can start his reign of terror all over again. Rock then quickly asks me if I can figure out which route the police convoy is taking and send them the coordinates.
“Just leave it to me, Rock.”
Rock thanks me and takes off running to rejoin the others. As he does I shout after him and the others.
“Go get him, guys!”.
(POV Change)
After filling Roll in, I continue running to join the others in the garage. If we were gonna stop the Emerald Spears from breaking Xander out of police custody, then we were going to need some heavy duty wheels. Fortunately, as luck would have it, Douglas and Roll had been busy making some improvements to our decked out van. Douglas walks over to pull off the tarp covering our ride.
“Alright, everyone, try not to get too excited. After all, it is still a bit of a work in progress.”
The tarp falls down to reveal a large decked out van. What was once a small modified 1960 Volkswagen, is now a heavy duty vehicle. Calling it tank-like feels like a gross understatement. Axel lets out a loud excited cry.
“Dude! Are you kidding me?”
We all climb inside which has also gone under a huge change. Along with a new control chair in the middle, there’s also a couch, arcade game, mini fridge, punching bag, and even a vending machine for drinks. This thing is just beyond awesome. Douglas heads up toward the driver seat and reaches up to flip a switch to power everything up. Including a bunch of different screens along the inside of the vehicle.
“I'm not kidding, you guys. This beauty still requires a fair bit of fine tweaking here and there. However, when it's finally finished, it's going to be quite the sight to behold.”
Well, no time like the present. As Douglas continues fiddling with wires inside an upper panel, I reach over and hit the ignition button. The vehicle’s engines roar to life with the exhaust pipes underneath spewing out flames. We take off right out of the garage which had already been opened prior to us climbing inside the truck. Douglas keeps making adjustments and taking note of what still needs adjusting. All the while failing to notice the metal wall up ahead that we’re about to crash into. I start shouting Douglas’ name to get his attention. Douglas stops and finally notices the wall and quickly presses a button on the dashboard. Just as we were about to crash, the wall sinks down into the ground giving us a clear exit out of the dump. Leave it to Douglas to think of everything. We drive out into the city when Roll’s face pops up on one of the screens.
“All right, guys. I’m tracking Xander's convoy which is currently 7.2 miles east-northeast of where you are. It looks quiet for now, but no telling when that will change.”
“Copy that. Thanks again Roll.”
I tell Douglas to “Punch it!” and we shift into high gear as we head for the highway.
(Undisclosed Location, Silicon City, Night)
(Third Person POV)
Doppler arrives in his car and steps out. He walks over toward Simone Miller, second in command of the Emerald Spears. She can be seen standing in front of a control console with several screens showing different images. Doppler turns his gaze to the main screen, CCTV footage showing the police convoy transporting their leader Xander Payne in real time. Simone turns to Doppler as he approaches.
“Surveillance feed is live. And online, Doctor.”
“It seems they decided to move the timeline up.”
Doppler looks at the main screen and smirks.
“Standard police transport formation. Predictable as always.”
He sits down as Simone gives the order over the radio for their troops to move in on the convoy. Out on the highway, the convoy moves swiftly while the police cruisers keep close to the transport. Up in the front of the truck, Officer Lan Hikari takes a brief peek into Xander Payne’s criminal file. He lets out a loud whistle as he reads through.
“Yo, Xander! Says here you got over 200 counts of domestic terroism along with 67 counts of first-degree murder. I mean hot damn! You have a lot of serious problems.”
He leans back a bit to speak to Xander, still chained up in the back.
“Take it from someone who has his own issues with anger management, you, my friend, are in serious need of a new hobby. Now personally I myself am a bit of a soccer guy. I also do a bit of inline skating as well as knowing a thing or two about electronics. I wouldn’t say I’m at what you would call an Ivy league college level, but still pretty decent.”
Lan looks over at the driver sitting next to him.
“What about you? You like soccer, right?”
The driver looks at him and shakes his head.
“No. I’m more into DND roleplaying.”
Lan stares at him for a bit before nodding his head and looking forward.
“Huh. I can respect that.”
He lets out a small chuckle. Sitting in the back with Xander are five other criminals dressed in orange jumpsuits with their hands cuffed. One of them, a much shorter man with a tuft of black hair on his head, looks over at one of the more skinny members of their group. They gesture with their head over at Xander still sitting quietly with his back to them in his chair. He and a few of the larger, more muscular members quietly encourage the short man to say something to Xander. He nods his head and takes a deep breath in. Some of the other members whisper words of encouragement.
“You got this, boss.”
“Remember, speak from the heart.”
He clears his throat before speaking to Xander.
“Hello there, Mr. Pain. It’s a real honor to finally meet you in person. The boys here and I are all really big fans of your work. Especially your early stuff. See, we’re all part of this gang called “The Deadly Six”. Don’t know if you’ve heard of us.”
He then starts to go around introducing himself and the rest of his gang.
“They call me Chill. This here’s Magna, Crescent, Burn, and finally Boomer. Crazy sounding names, I know, but for guys like us that got nothing going for them it’s better than nothing. Plus, each name has a meaning behind it. For instance, I’m Chill because I’m cool under pressure. Magna over there has a very electric personality. Burn really knows how to turn up the heat on people. Crescent here can put punks to sleep with a single swing of his arm. And as for Boomer, it’s because… Actually go ahead and tell him yourself, Boomer.”
The skinny member clears his throat before speaking.
“Because when stuff starts to go down, I always bring the "Boom"!"
The whole gang starts cheering and laughing while shouting “My man!” to each other and exchanging high-fives with their feet. Lan slams his fist against the metal gate and shouts at them.
“Hey! Keep it quiet back there.”
Lan then glances back at Xander.
“Karma’s a funny thing, isn't it, Payne? One minute you’re the head of a major terrorist group, and now you get to spend the rest of your life stuck behind bars with this bunch of morons.”
As Lan starts laughing, Xander finally breaks his silence with two little words.
“We’ll see.”
Xander looks over his right shoulder back at Lan who just turns around and sits back in his seat chuckling. Lan glances over at his side mirror where he spots a single motorcycle loudly revving up its engine. He stares at it for a bit, getting a funny feeling from it. Suddenly a large group of identical bikes spreads out from behind it. This makes Lan even more suspicious and watches them closely as they move closer towards the convoy. He calls over to the driver.
“Hey. Heads up. We got bikes coming up on our right and our left.”
The bikes move through the convoy with each rider placing a device on the back of each cruiser. Lan sees this and starts shouting into his radio for the rest of the convoy to move in closer and try and pin them all in-between them. They manage to slip through though as the devices attached to the cruisers start beeping loudly before flashing red. Lan spots this and quickly realizes what they are.
“Oh, my God.”
Each device immediately detonates, sending each of the six police cruisers flying into the air and crashing into the ground around the transport truck. The sudden event causes both Lan and the driver to start exclaiming loudly as they speed through the sudden destruction all around them. Even smashing through one of the destroyed cars in the process. They pick up more speed as the motorcycles give chase. The driver shouts for Lan to call for help. Lan grabs the radio and starts shouting into it.
“This is officer Hikari. We have a 10-13. I repeat, 10-13. We are being ambushed, heading north on 87. Requesting immediate assistance!”
Lan looks back outside and spots two jet black three-wheeled roadsters moving up to the truck on both sides. He and the driver notice a few troopers getting ready to climb up onto the truck. The driver shouts for Lan to secure the gate behind them. As Lan does so they start to hear the sounds of metal clanging from the outside. Outside the truck two troopers use magnets on both their hands and knees to climb up along both sides. Lan spots the one on his side from the side mirror and quickly reaches down to grab the shotgun stored at his feet. He cocks the gun only to find it empty.
“Where the heck are the shells?”
The driver shouts his answer while pointing down.
“They're stashed in the bag.”
“What are they still doing in the bag?”
Lan frustratedly looks down and grabs the bag to start loading shells into the shotgun. All the while the two troopers outside climb up to the roof and each take out a blowtorch to start cutting through the metal roof. The sight of sparks raining down inside causes Chill and his gang to start celebrating. Back in front, Lan shouts in frustration while loading the shotgun.
“I just don’t get it! We head out on a highway transporting the most dangerous criminal on the planet, and you don't even bother to load the shotgun!?!?”
The two troopers above continue cutting through the roof. They make it halfway through when they’re suddenly blinded by a bright light from behind. All eyes turn to see a large metal vehicle coming up behind them honking a loud horn. Inside the vehicle Mega-Man and his team stand ready as Douglas points out to the two troopers on the roof from the driver’s seat.
“Looks like we’ve got some ruffians trying to hitch a ride.”
Mega-Man stands up and turns to his dog Rush.
“Alright! Let's do this.”
Mega-Man and Rush climb out the side and jump. Rush transforms into jet board mode for Mega-Man to land on, and the two take off into the air. They fly right towards the truck while Mega-Man takes aim with his buster cannon. He starts firing a few shots as Lan sticks his head out the window to fire the shotgun. The trooper on the right side nearly falls off from a point-blank blast while Lan has the shotgun shot out of his hands by a stray energy shot. Mega-Man sees this and winces a bit as he shouts over to Lan.
“Ohhh, Sorry about that!”
The two roadsters break away from the truck and fall back a little. The drivers each pull a lever that opens a small compartment in the rear of their respective roadsters. From inside a mounted gun springs up and swerves around to start firing lasers at Mega-Man who bobs and weaves through the air on Rush to avoid getting hit. A number of the bikes pull back to move alongside the team Mega-Man’s vehicle. Alia looks out and sees them getting ready to toss explosives. She turns around and shouts over to Axel sitting in a control chair.
“We got company boys. Axel, clear them out.”
“Okay, but how?”
Douglas shouts over to him.
“Just hit the button.”
Axel looks over the various buttons next to him.
“Which button? There’s like a million of them here.”
“Fourth row, button three.”
Axel looks over the console until he spots the button Douglas is indicating. He presses it causing the chair’s system to boot up with a holographic interface popping up in front of him and a pair of handheld controls to extend out of both sides of the walls. Axel grabs them which activates a set of giant mechanical arms that extend out from the underside of the vehicle. Axel starts getting excited as he uses the interface to pinpoint where each bike is around their vehicle outside. He then starts to put on his best Al Pacino impression.
“You wanna play rough? Okay!”
Axel uses the arm controls to start smashing up the bikes one after the other. The remaining bikes break away to avoid getting smashed like the rest. Axel, Alia, and Douglas start cheering with Axel moving the arm controls up and down causing the arms outside to move in a cheering motion. The cheering comes to a sudden stop by a loud smash from outside. Axel starts to dread what the sound was while Douglas asks him about it. Axel responds by trying to convince him that it was nothing. All the while the wreckage of the once grand giant arms lies strung out in pieces having been smashed against a concrete bridge the vehicle had gone under just a few seconds ago.
Meanwhile, Doppler continues watching the whole scene unfold on the screen. The sight of their troops falling one after the other to Mega-Man and his team begins to slowly vex him. He grabs the radio from Simone and shouts into it.
“Get rid of those meddlesome brats!”
The few remaining motorcycles once again move in towards the vehicle and begin tossing explosives all around it. The vehicle buckles and shakes while being bombarded from the front and behind. The turbulence nearly throws Axel out of his chair.
“I’m really starting not to like these guys.”
Further in the back, Zero paces back and forth and punches the bag swinging around next to him. He shouts up toward the front.
“I feel as though my skills as a warrior are not being utilized to their true potential.”
Alia responds back to Zero over her shoulder.
“Hey, just sit tight for a sec, Zero. We're kinda busy here.”
Douglas looks out the side mirror and spots the bikes moving in for another bombing run.
“Uh, friends, I don’t mean to alarm you, but it would appear that they're coming back.”
Zero responds with a low growl and turns to slam his fist on a large button on the wall causing the rear door to slowly open. He shouts over the loud rush of wind from the outside.
“Enough! I am not here as a spectator!”
Zero crouches down and runs forward to leap out of the truck into a spin with his arms extended. He flies toward two bikes and uses his arms to knock both riders off of them with a loud war cry. He then rolls himself into a ball and moves along the ground toward the last bike. He unfolds his body and pushes against the ground with his feet which propels him onto the front of the bike. Zero stares right into the eyes of the rider through their helmet visor.
“That is how I roll.”
He slams his head hard into the rider’s helmet which knocks them off of the bike.
“And that is how you roll.”
He twirls his body around to take control of the bike and ride it back to the vehicle. When he gets close enough he stands up on top of the bike and leaps off to land back inside through the still open back door. He rolls along the floor and pops right back on his feet. He presses the button to close the door back up and grins over at Alia.
“Anything else you require of me?”
Axel and Douglas chuckle while Alia just smiles and shakes his head at him. Overhead, a chopper flies in toward the holding truck where the two troopers still attached on the roof finish cutting through the metal. One of them looks up to signal the chopper to come down lower. As it flies down, something large and metal hangs underneath the chopper. Alia and Douglas squint their eyes to try and figure out what it is.
“What the heck is that thing?”
“If I didn’t know any better I’d say that was a… a magnet.”
The two troopers reach up to place the magnet on top of the roof and activate it. The chopper begins pulling up and in no time at all pops a piece of the metal roof right off the top of the truck. Mega-Man and Rush try to fly in closer to stop them, but almost get it by laser fire from the two roadsters. The chopper starts to lower a rope attached to a winch down to the truck below through the hole in the roof. Lan and the driver see this with the latter telling Lan to get back there and secure the prisoners. Lan unbuckles his seat belt and unlocks the gate. He quickly spots Xander, now free of his chains and glaring right at him with the rope in his hand. Lan takes out his taser pistol and orders him to freeze. He moves in to try and stop him but gets suddenly tackled all at once by Chill and his gang, getting knocked out cold.
Back outside Mega-Man and Rush continue to try and fly closer only to once again get cut off by the roadsters. Douglas and the others try to come up with a way to help but their vehicle’s armor is now badly damaged. Suddenly another motorcycle comes out of nowhere. However, instead of attacking, it speeds past the vehicle and heads right for one of the roadsters. The rider jumps off the bike which seems to be able to drive itself and lands on top of the roadster while slicing the laser turret in half with an energy sword. The driver looks up to see an assailant in red and white armor with a long white ponytail sticking out of the top of a helmet with a white face plate a black visor standing right over him. The assailant deactivates his sword and grabs the driver by the collar, tossing him out. He looks up at Mega-Man and speaks to him over his internal comms.
“Go! I got your back!”
Mega-Man looks down and recognizes the assailant as none other than his old ally Proto-Man. He shoots him a grin while giving him a thumbs up. Mega-Man and Rush head straight for the truck while Proto-Man turns his head towards the remaining roadster. He reaches down and grabs the steering wheel to turn his roadster on a collision course with the other. At the last second, he leaps off and lands back on his bike just as the roadsters crash into each other.
Mega-Man and Rush fly in close and see Xander being hoisted up out of the truck and up into the chopper. Thinking fast, Mega-Man creates a pair of scissors in his hand which he loads into a slot in his buster cannon. He takes aim and fires the pair of scissors at the cable cutting it in two. Xander falls back down and nearly falls off the truck but is saved by the two troopers below. Mega-Man and Rush go in for a dive when the chopper turns around to one side. Mega-Man looks up and spots Xander’s brother, Theo aiming a mini gun at him from the chopper. Theo opens fire and Mega-Man quickly jumps off of Rush so they can both avoid getting hit. He lands on top of the truck and turns to come face to face with Xander and the two troopers. He shoots Xander a very confident smile.
“Xander, buddy! It’s been too long. How’s prison life been treating you?”
Xander scowls at him and orders the two troopers to get him. They both attack him one at a time but Mega-Man easily overpowers them and tosses them over the side of the truck. Elsewhere, Doppler continues watching the situation unfold and decides to make a very rash and dangerous decision.
“Alright, enough. If Commander Payne can't make it to the extraction point, then we’ll just have to bring the extraction point to him.”
He goes over to a keyboard and starts typing in a set of codes. Back inside the truck, Chill and the rest of his gang get busy using Lan’s keys to undo their cuffs. As they do, Lan starts to wake up, which Chill notices. He looks down at him with an excited smile.
“Oh Hey there. The name’s Chill. Say, have you met my friend Crescent here?”
Lan turns his head to see one of the big guys bring his foot down hard, knocking him out again. As Chill tells Magna and Boomer to throw him out, Burn moves up toward the front. He sticks his head through the gate and looks directly at the driver, startling him in the process. Burn gives him a wide toothy smile.
“Hi there.”
Burn shoves the driver out and gets into the driver’s seat. Back up top, Xander stares Mega-Man down who now has him cornered at the edge. Mega-Man shouts over to him.
“Just give it up, Payne! It’s all over!”
Xander grabs a blowtorch dropped by one of the troopers and wields it like a weapon.
“Nothing's over while I'm still breathing!”
Mega-Man lets out a tired sigh as he mutters to himself.
“Why can’t the bad guys ever just quit?”
Mega-Man lifts up his arms to block multiple hits by the blowtorch. Meanwhile, Doppler continues typing in sets of code which activates a small device on the table near him. He turns back to Simone.
“We have no choice. We’ll have to teleport Payne earlier than we’d planned.”
Simone turns to give Doppler a look of shock.
“But I thought you said that that would be irresponsibly dangerous?”
“True. Then let’s hope that I was wrong.”
He charges up the teleporter device and stands ready to input the command. Back on the truck, Mega-Man struggles against Xander who keeps striking him with the blowtorch. Until finally Mega-Man fires a small shot of ice freezing up the blowtorch which flies out of Xander’s hand. Xander clutches his hand in slight pain while Mega-Man cracks another joke.
“Come on now, Xander. Didn’t your parents teach you not to play with fire?”
He tries to move towards him but gets shot at again from above. Xander looks up to see Theo firing the minigun again while kicking a rope ladder down to him. All the while, Doppler starts using the device to lock on to Xander’s position and gets ready to trigger the teleporter. Mega-Man uses his arms to shield himself from the bullets which bounce off his armor. The force of the onslaught does however slowly push him back toward the edge. He takes one last step back and falls off the truck toward the street below. Before he hits the pavement, Proto-Man swoops in on his bike and catches him just in the nick of time. Mega-Man thanks him for the save and they both look up to see Xander getting ready to jump toward the ladder. In a last ditch effort to stop him, Both Mega-Man and Proto-Man each fire a shot from their buster cannons up at Xander.
Doppler waits a few more seconds and presses the command key to initiate the teleporter just as Xander leaps into the air and flies towards the ladder with two plasma shots heading right for him. His hands come within reach of the ladder, when suddenly a strange looking portal opens up and sucks him into it. This causes the two plasma shots to miss him entirely. Proto-Man stops the bike at the same time Douglas applies the brakes on the vehicle. Both coming to a screeching halt. Rush flies over to join them and lands next to Mega-Man and Proto-Man. Everyone looks up and stares out at the empty space where Xander used to be. Axel asks out loud the one question they all share.
“Uhhh, Where'd he just go?”
Back with Doppler, he looks at the screen which informs him that the teleportation was a success. However, it also tells him that Xander’s precise location is currently unknown. Doppler and Simone both exchange worried and confused looks. If Xander Payne didn’t get transported to the extraction site, then where did he get transported to?
(Unknown location)
As I fall through the gateway, it feels like every molecule in my body is being violently ripped apart. It isn’t until it spits me back out that I start to feel whole again. I drop onto a metal floor groaning in pain. I gasp for breath as I try to get a sense of what just happened. My best guess is Doppler activated the teleporter earlier than we had planned. Damn fool. I was just within arms reach of escape. Still, something doesn’t feel right. I start to slowly pick myself up off the cold floor and inspect my new surroundings. Just where exactly am I? This place doesn’t look like either the extraction point nor my new base of operations. Instead I’m in the middle of a cold, darkened chamber with only a single light shining down on me. I sit up on my knees and search for any way to get out. Suddenly I start to hear someone’s voice whispering my name. I quickly look around but can see no one there.
I then start to hear the heavy sounds of metal footsteps coming toward me. I turn and see a figure stepping out of the shadows. The figure reveals itself to be a man with an elderly appearance while coming into the light. His beard and hair are both cylindrical in shape, and he has sharp eyebrows that point upwards. His eyes are completely red with black outlines. He has black and brown armor, and wears a long lab coat with grey metal shoulder pads. I quickly realise that this man isn’t human, but rather a kind of machine. He looks at me with his red eyes and speaks in a clear deep voice to me.
“Welcome, Xander Payne.”
I stand up slowly staring at him confused.
“You know my name? Just who or what are you?”
“I am Isoc.”
This just doesn’t make any sense. I know for a fact that he’s a robot, but from the way he speaks and carries himself… it feels like I’m talking to a living person. I shake off the shock and get straight to the bigger question.
“Where exactly am I?”
This Isoc thing explains that I am currently on board a starship in the far reaches of space. Several billions of lightyears from my solar system. As he speaks, the dark room changes around us to reveal a fleet of alien ships flying through space. So he’s not an earth machine, but a machine from another planet? This just doesn’t make sense.
“Why am I here?”
“Because you and your associate Dr. Doppler managed to find something of ours. Something we need.”
He holds his hand out showing a small circular device in his open palm. The device emits a small holographic image of something I come to recognise, The teleportation device.
“I don’t understand. The teleporter was supposed to assist me in breaking out of prison. How could it have transported me all the way out in space?”
“Because it’s true function is much more grand than your simple, human mind could possibly imagine.”
Behind him a large screen appears showing a large mass heading straight for Earth. He tells me that the teleportation device is actually part of a much larger machine called the Infinity Bridge. Years ago, it was launched toward Earth. But upon entering the planet’s atmosphere, it broke apart into three pieces. A few months earlier they had sent an operative in a smaller craft to try and locate each piece while also gathering information about the planet. That explains why he knows me and Dr. Doppler.
“You and Doppler are in possession of one piece. Another is located within a museum in Silicon City. The third lies somewhere in what you call: the Brazilian rainforest. We wish you to collect the other two pieces for us. With his knowledge, Dr. Doppler should be more than capable enough to reassemble the Infinity Bridge.”
I eye Isoc with suspicion. There’s got to be a catch to this.
“Say I do that, And then what? What’s in it for me?”
“Once the Infinity Bridge is restored, it will open a wormhole through which we can finally bring our fleet to Earth.”
So that’s it. They want to invade the Earth. As if sensing my unease, Isoc steps closer toward me.
“We are aware of your fight to safeguard the fate of your species. This is a cause that we both share.”
“Why would a machine be concerned about the future of the human race?”
“It is the future of every race we are concerned with. Ours is an organization dedicated to bringing order and stability to this chaotic universe. And we would like to extend our merciful hand toward your planet as well. Together, we can bring the people of your planet true and everlasting peace. And swiftly crush any who would dare oppose us.”
I’m still a bit skeptical, but he seems to be telling the truth. And judging by the level of technology they possess, wiping out the machine threat on my planet would only take a matter of days. I look him straight in the eye and make my decision.
“Alright. I accept your offer. However, I'll only help you bring your fleet to planet Earth if you help me with my problem as well. An old enemy of mine, a special kind of robot, will no doubt try to stop me from getting the other two pieces. His name is Mega-Man.”
Isoc nods his head while stroking his beard.
“We are well aware of his existence. As well as the potential threat he poses.”
He holds his hand face down toward the floor. A part of it slowly rises up toward him. Inside the top is a container of glowing red liquid which seems to move around on its own like it's alive. He takes the container and hands it over to me.
“Take this. It will aid you in solving your little Mega-Man problem.”
I take the container and look it over. I instantly feel a strong sense of power emanating from inside of it. And to me it feels… Good. I turn back to Isoc who starts typing in something on a small holoscreen in front of him.
“I shall now send you back to your world.”
He takes one last look at me.
“Best of luck to you, Xander Payne.”
Within a brief instant, Isoc vanishes from my sight and I end up dropping down into a dark alley. I stand back up and look around to find myself back in Silicon City. I look down at the container still in my hands. I start to chuckle silently as a grin forms on my face. This can only mean that not only is my cause noble, it is shared by all those who live throughout the universe. And if you should choose to continue to stand against us, Mega-Man. You shall be crushed beneath the might of our boots. You and every other robot like you on this planet.
And so ends the first episode of what will no doubt be an exciting action packed season. I hope that you all enjoyed reading and are looking forward to seeing the next episode get posted.
And now replies to reviews!!!
Wiewior: (Deep Inhale) I’ll check you out first and get back to you when I can. For everyone else reading this… if you’re a digital artist who wishes to offer an art collab, feel free to PM me with your full information and I will get back to you with a reply as soon as I can. Otherwise, I’ll believe you to be a potential scammer and will simply and kindly mentally reply to you with these two simple words: DROP DEAD.
Well then folks, until next time. This is Tardispilot297 saying… ALLONSY!!!