Paradigm City - Fan Fiction - Eve of the Hurricane

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Eve of the Hurricane

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

A few scorpion-bots tried to sneak towards the mansion, but the automatic defenses always picked them off. If a group tried to attack, a Chromebuster blast, chain-harpoon, or a huge metal foot would stop them.

As the last of the scorpion-bots smoldered in the silver light of early morning, a shrill whine sounded from above. Big O looked up to behold the great red Megadeus, flying straight towards him in an attack run.

"What the - ?" Roger breathed aloud. It had been - at one point - Big Duo, the Megadeus controlled by Schwarzwald and subsequently destroyed by Roger Smith and Big O. Roger had left it headless and armless and eventually it came into the hands of Paradigm Corp.

Now it stood before him with a new, more ornate head and crest, bigger weapons, and obviously not controlled by Schwarzwald. Its face looked different ... emptier, somehow ... As if it were no longer Duo ...

"I suppose that's not the Ghost of Schwarzwald in there," Roger commented.

Big Duo slammed into Big O, forcing the great robot several blocks down the street.

Big O engaged the Megadeus in battle, struggling like great sumo wrestlers up and down the street. They seem evenly matched until Big O's foot hit a car and slid on it like a banana peel, sending the Black Megadeus crashing backward with the Red Megadeus atop him. Big Duo's fist came up to pound Big O, but its powerful legs kicked Big Duo off. As Big Duo was slammed backwards, it's fingers twisted around and it's turbojets engaged, lifting it into the air.

"Have to get you away from my family." Roger slammed the communications switch and yelled, "Who's in there?!"

Big Duo answered by looping around and making a strafing run, shooting missiles at him. Big O's forearm guards caught the two or three that actually hit him. His eye-lasers replied, to no effect.

The Red Megadeus landed in front of the Black Megadeus and their fists met, the shockwave rattling the windows in the mansion a block away. Big O lost his footing and fell back, allowing Big Duo to crush its foot into the black Megadeus' chest.

Over the comm system, Tami's voice cried out, 'Get UP, Dad! Get UP!'

"I'm trying, honey," he answered. "Norman!"

'Yes, sir,' Norman's voice replied. 'I can monitor the battle or make Miss Tami eat her breakfast, I cannot do both.'

"Are the missile banks reloaded??"

Big Duo was now using the hands as drills and trying to drill through the glass of Big O's cockpit.

"Ready and armed, sir."

"Big O," Roger said to his own Megadeus. "It doesn't make sense to just let him have his way, don't you agree?" He released the hip-anchors straight into Big Duo, smashing into the Red Megadeus and pushing it off of Big O. He flipped the control switches to the missile banks open.

"No matter how often you come back from the grave, that's where you belong. Eternal sleep means ETERNAL!"

Roger slammed his fist into the buttons, firing all the missiles in the chest cavity right into Big Duo. The rocket thrust made the Red Megadeus lift off briefly, then the shudder of explosions propelled him higher than the skyscrapers.

As the smoke cleared, Big O got back up on his feet. Roger grunted with approval, seeing a smoldering Big Duo at the other end of the street and away from his home and family.

Tami's scream of victory nearly made his ears bleed.

"Tamara Smith!" Roger called into the comm. "Go back into the house and eat your breakfast!" This was quickly followed by a "Holy - !" as Big Duo got back up.

The comm was suddenly filled with squeaky, maniacal giggling. A monitor flickered and Alan Gabriel appeared from inside the cockpit of Big Duo. Cables were strewn everywhere, all of them leading into Gabriel's back and one directly into his left eye. He caressed the control sticks.

"Oh, I must say, this does feel good!" Alan cackled cheerfully. "I haven't felt anything quite like this since I decided to quit being a total human! My body, my nerves! They've all been tied directly into Big Duo! Big Duo itself is my very own body!"

Roger folded his arms and snorted in disgust. "You'd go that far? Well, you have it backwards. That incomplete Megadeus has control of you."

"What??" Alan cried. "Meh-ga-dee-oos?"

"An incomplete Megadeus seeks out a Dominus," Roger explained calmly. "You're just being used as a device to activate it. That's exactly why your master is trying to kidnap Dorothy, isn't it?"

Alan giggled again. "Which do you mean? The Union? Rosewater? Either way, I don't care." His giggles became even harsher. "There's just one thing I have to make perfectly clear to you. I have to teach you that your unwarranted self-confidence - your arrogance in believing you can control machines - is just a delusion, by sending you to Hell!" Gabriel's grin turned into a leer. "Big Duo, SHOWTIME!"

The drills started up again and slammed toward Big's O's head. Big O raised his arms up, trying to protect himself. A drill made contact with Big O's face, crushing the metal 'cheek' of the faceplate.

Roger moved Big O back. "Ordinarily, I'm not one to whine, but I do have to admit this fight has me a little worried."

Dorothy's voice commented over the comm, 'Roger Smith, will you stop your peacock posturing with your battle-speeches and destroy that monster? He tried to kill me!'

"I know, my love," Roger answered, swinging his arm back with the control stick. "However, that isn't the Megadeus's original form. The fantasies that Gordon dreamed up will NOT be repeated!"

Big O's fist barreled forward, tossing Big Duo back. The next moment, Big O was on top of Big Duo, grabbing the Red Megadeus' head and pinning it into a building. The Thunder Cannon popped out of the black Megadeus' bracer and began firing, the plasma bolts shredding Big Duo and the building.

Silence. Big O pulled Big Duo's head off and stepped away. Big Duo remained still, then abruptly lunged forward, its right arm attacking with a drill the size of a small truck.

The drill seared right through Big O's 'ribcage', clear through to the other side, until the drill spun furiously behind Big O's back. Big Duo pinned Big O back to the building and attacked the cockpit windows again with the other drill.

"Be afraid, Roger Smith," Alan Gabriel sneered happily. "This particular dream isn't going to end 'til I bring your life to an end - just like I will with your little love doll and that baby she's carrying!"

"You sick monster!"

"DIE!" Gabriel answered.

'ROGER!' Dorothy's voice screamed from the comm.

And just as suddenly, Big Duo stopped.

The Red Megadeus pulled his arm out of the chest of his opponent, got up, and left Big O where he was. A second later, Big Duo raised his arms, started his engines, and the Red Megadeus fell into the sky.

Roger switched at the comm controls frantically and caught blanked out, flickering visions of the cables wrapping and writhing around Alan Gabriel's body as he screamed, "But I haven't killed him yet! ... SHUT UP! ... NO NO NO!!!"

The signal died as Big Duo vanished into the clouds above the city.

Roger stared up in shock, unable to comprehend what happened. An electronic beep sounded and he looked down to one of the monitors.

'To Roger Smith - From AI Dorothy, Paradigm Mainframe.
Schwarzwald found the Truth. And he's taking Alan Gabriel and Big Duo with him. We've lost them again!'

"A.I. Dorothy!" Roger called.

His wife's voice answered, 'We received the message here, too. What does she mean by "again", Roger-dear?'

After a long moment, Roger finally replied with, "I don't know."

'Roger. A.I. Dorothy just sent another message - someone had burned down the main Isleberry agricultural dome early this morning. Everyone within it had perished, including Gordon Rosewater.'

"Bet you a backrub it was Alex." A rumbling sound made him look up again and he noted the formation of planes approaching the city. "It's the Union."

Norman's voice said this time, 'Master Roger, Big O is in no condition to continue fighting.'

"I know that, Norman. Contact the military police. This is a city defense problem until we can get Big O fixed." He looked around at the gawkers on the ground. "I'm about a half mile east of the house - get the Prairie Dog ready to catch us."

'Of course, sir.'

"Any damage to the house?"

'None, sir, save for Miss Tami's mess in the dining room.'

Roger exhaled in relief and smiled. "That's a disaster I can deal with."

'You haven't seen it yet, sir.'

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