Family Reunion - Part 3

This is the third and final of the collab between me and RedSpy. Thanks loads, man, it was fun whilst it lasted! :D

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“Right, let’s get this underway. Are you ready, Beck?”

“Ready to rock and roll, Grandad!”

Light nodded, and set about tapping buttons on the control panel again. Lunch, it had seemed, had passed by slower than it ought to have done - there had been no end of conversation during it, mostly about Beck and what he was capable of. Roll, of course, had been on hand to pour out drinks and take away finished plates and meals, and much fuss was made by Jewel Man about how just darling Oceanus would have looked with sunglasses on. After they’d finished their dessert (and succeeded in prying James off the green Robot Master), they’d made an immediate beeline for the training room again, where Zephyrus had just finished uploading his battle data onto the computer.

In the centre of the room, Beck cracked his knuckles as digital planes and pillars began to form.

“Who’s it gonna be, big bro?” asked a relieved Oceanus, thankful Jewel Man was stopped before unleashing any Purnima-style makeovers.  “You’re not gonna throw Tiamat at him or anything like that, right?”

“Maybe one day, but not yet,” the fanbot replied. “I think I’ve picked a pretty solid test foe, though.”  He turned to Beck as the hologram began to take shape, a rather pointy wireframe of a humanoid.  “You ready to go, Beck?”

“Sure am, Uncle!” called Beck, assuming a stance as he turned to face the hologram.

Slowly, the wireframe faded, skin and colour covering the shape…

 

“You will die, mortal,” rumbled the ominous and familiar figure of Shao Kahn, hefting his hammer onto one shoulder.

Beck stared.

Then he burst out laughing.

“What is this?” he cried aloud, pointing one pudgy finger at the Outworld warlord. “Look at him, he’s not even out of his diapers yet!”

Oceanus tried his hardest to stop himself from laughing his ass off.  It wasn’t very effective, and were the actual Shao Kahn there his head would’ve surely been caved in.

This was not the right sort of remark to make, especially in front of a maniacal emperor bent on world conquest. With a roar of rage, Kahn leapt forward towards the robot, swinging the hammer downward like an express train made of solidified pain. Beck saw the incoming strike and juked to one side, the hammer missing him by a mere whisker, but the shockwave of the weapon hitting the virtual arena floor flung the Mighty Number off his feet, the unfortunate boy landing heavily on his butt a few feet away.

“ROUND 1 - FIGHT!” called out Zephyrus, voice modulating his best mimicry of Shao Kahn’s infamous announcing.  Time for Beck’s biggest trial yet.

As soon as Zephyrus had given the call, Beck was suddenly on his feet - and moving, just as fast as he’d been when demolishing the Guts Dozers and Sniper Joes. Shao Kahn, still in the act of lifting his hammer from the floor, turned - too slow to defend himself. An almighty clang resonated throughout the arena as the android’s fist impacted with the Emperor’s helm, sending Kahn staggering backwards with a cry of surprise. Dropping to the floor, Beck immediately followed up with a spinning kick to the shins that overbalanced the warlord, sending him toppling to the floor like a felled tree.

“That all you got, fatso?” taunted Beck as he stood poised over the prone titan.

By way of reply, Kahn lashed out with one meaty fist. But by the time it would have hit, the android had already leapt away, putting considerable distance between himself and his enemy. WIth a laugh, Beck sprung into the air like a jackrabbit, turning a complete somersault in the air before suddenly jetting down in a dive kick aimed at the head once again.

A kick that was dodged, caught and yanked on. Beck gave a yelp as he jerked backwards in midair, then a harsh cough as the enraged Kahn, holding him by the leg, slammed him into the floor hard enough to bounce back up into the air. Another fist was then swung around with impressive speed, driving hard into the boy’s gut and knocking him backwards clear across the arena like a home run at baseball. Thinking quickly despite being winded, however, Beck quickly curled himself up into a ball, bounced once or twice and then landed in a crouching position facing his enemy, teeth gritted.

“You are NOTHING!” roared the digitized Shao Kahn, and raised one hand over his arm, materializing a glowing green lance within his grasp. With a snarl of anger, the emperor flung his conjured weapon at Beck, and the robot quickly lent to one side as the projectile skimmed over his arm, cutting a sizeable scratch in the metal before disintegrating into sparks. The young android hissed and clutched his wounded arm, but Kahn wasn’t yet done - in a flash of green the Emperor was barreling forward, driving one knee into the boy’s face and sending him tumbling backwards once again, this time to smack into a convenient pillar.

As the ringing impact of metal on stone died down, Beck lifted himself to his feet and mimed wiping blood off his lip.

“So you can dish it out,” he growled, glaring at the towering villain. “But you obviously can’t take it, can ya?” With only a snarl in reply, Shao Kahn charged forward once more, hammer raised again to smack Beck across the- 

CLANG 

Kahn’s eyes went wide, and a squeak of pain left his lungs as he collapsed backwards, doubled up.

Beck casually retracted one fist, grinning.

“Told ya,” he chuckled. Then his limbs and body flashed, flew apart in a maelstrom of Xel cubes, then snapped back together in a new configuration - sleeker, thinner and sporting helicopter blades between the shoulders, which were already whirring to life. The pained Shao Kahn made a feeble attempt at a grab, but Beck simply lifted out of his range as he took to the skies, casually ascending until he was almost level with the observation balcony Light and the other robots were sat on. He was close enough for the wind kicked up by the rotor to buffet the observers somewhat, and for them to notice the missile launchers on his legs unfolding with punctuating clicks.

Jeez, talk about adaptation.  It seemed like Beck could form a weapon out of pretty much any part of his body.  Oceanus was on the edge of his seat, while Zephyrus kept an eye on Khan to see if he had any counters prepared.  Surveying the battlefield was tactics 101, after all: hopefully Beck already had that down pat.

Scrambling to his feet, the now severely-annoyed Emperor whirled around to face his airborne foe.

“Get back down here,” he thundered, “and fight me!” The sentence is punctuated by the sight of the massive hammer soaring through the air like a demented frisbee, aimed right at Beck. Of course, this doesn’t really work when your target has complete freedom of movement, and the Mighty Number demonstrates this by dodging the incoming weapon, letting it clatter out of sight somewhere in a corner.

“No, thanks,” jeered the young robot. “I can’t see your ugly face from up here!”

And with that, a duo of missiles ejected themselves from his legs in plumes of smoke and fire, spiralling towards the startled Shao Kahn. All the Outworlder could do was raise both arms in an attempt to defend himself, and was almost immediately consumed in a plume of fire as both projectiles struck. For a moment all was chaos, and then the fires died down to reveal the emperor prone on his back, covered in soot and bruises and more than a little dazed.

Upon seeing this, Beck seemed to spy a new opportunity, quickly moving forward until he was hovering over his foe, triumph on his face. And then, with a whirr of rotor blades, the android simply plummeted out of the sky, both feet aimed straight for the stricken warlord’s midsection in a stomp of massive proportions.

But, as it seemed, at the very last moment there was a blur of movement and a surge of dust as Shao Kahn rose, arms crossed in front of him. There was a harsh clang as the metallic boots struck the fire-tempered arm guards instead, and Beck seemed to vibrate like a struck tuning fork as the impact rattled up his body, teeth chattering in his jaw. From where they sat on the platform, Light and his robot children winced in sympathy back pain as the sound reverberated up into the darkness around them.

“It’s official,” growled Kahn. “You suck.”

And with that, the Emperor of Outworld quickly fastened his hands around Beck’s ankles, twisted on the spot with a thunderous bellow and flung the stunned robot across the room once again. This time, however, Beck was ready, and as he pirouetted through the air the yets in his feet kicked in, flaring brightly as he sought to gain control over his unmanned flight. By a sheer stroke of luck he managed to land feet first on a nearby pillar, and with on-the-fly thinking he pushed back against the stone structure with both legs, rebounding off it as he dropped to the floor, rolled once and hopped back to his feet.

“I will tear you apart,” Kahn was yelling as he charged forward once more, “limb by limb!” The enraged conqueror was charging at Beck like a stampeding elephant, kicking up rubble and dust as he ran, and the robot was swaying rather worryingly as the lingering after-effects of his failed stomp shivered through his frame. With the distance rapidly closing between them, it seemed as though a former villain of the Kobbers was about to get his first unofficial victory.

But then there was a sudden surge of light - a shining red light that blinded everyone in the vicinity and caused Kahn to stagger back with shock.

 When Beck next spoke, glowing like a Fourth of July firework, his voice had an edge like sharpened ice.

“Sorry, mate. It’s opposite day.”

And then he moved. And Osh and Zeph may have suddenly felt as if they were watching another japanese cartoon, because Beck’s fists were now a shining blur that pounded again and again into his enemy’s body. True to form, he was even making the accompanying “ATATATATATATA” noises with his mouth as he pummeled away, and Kahn’s body jolted this way and that with every blow, the warlord unable to defend himself. And then with a final kung-fu scream and a blast of energy, a fist found the Outworlder’s stomach and knocked him sprawling onto his back.

Wasting no time, Beck leapt into the air once more as the Xel of his body activated, disconnecting and whirring into a new configuration in a blaze of light.

“What time is it?” he was heard to cry.

The Xel snapped back into shape.

“HAMMER TIME!”

And the giant hammer that had a robot in it somewhere plummeted down towards the stricken conquerer.

There was a veritable explosion of dust.

And when it cleared… Beck, reverted to his standard shape, was standing in a sizable virtual crater, casually dusting himself off as a semi-conscious emperor lay buried in rubble.

“But I prefer the pink one, mother…” Kahn was heard to babble.

K.O.!

Shao Kahn Defeated! 

“Fatality!” Zephyrus cheered, the holographic Khan vanishing in a puff of code.  He and Osh hopped down from the balcony, landing (not so gracefully, in the bubblebot’s case) to go congratulate the victor.

“So!  How’d it feel taking on the former Emperor?” Osh asked as he picked himself up from the ground.  “ ‘Cause you damn near caved his head in!”

Beck made that odd raspberry-ing noise of dismissal and cockiness. “You kiddin?” he quipped as the virtual arena faded away and the viewing balcony began to descend. “Sure, he was tough, and I can see why he gave you guys trouble, but honestly? I reckon I could have thrashed him twice over!”

“I don’t doubt it, Beck,” chuckled Light as he stepped off the balcony, Rock and Melody racing ahead of him to fuss over their son. “But remember - just as the Kobbers grow stronger, so do the enemies they face. I doubt you’ll have as easy a time of it as you did with Kahn.”

“Yeah, well, I’m still trying to find the limits of this body, aren’t I?” retorted Beck. “I’ll bet I can find some new tricks to- Mo-om, stop messing with my hair!”

Oceanus chuckled at the poor kid’s embarrassment.  Ah, to be young again.  “Oh, you bet they did, Doc,” he answered.  “But I bet Beck’ll be able to rise to the challenge.  Heck, even if he can’t at first, I’m sure he’ll be able to use those cubey thingies to come up with some way of pulling off a win!”

“It was one heck of a showing for his first one-on-one fight,” Zephyrus added.  “I’d call today a huge success!”

“So would I!” cheered Rock, holding up a hand for a high-five. With a laugh, Beck returned the gesture, having to jump up slightly to reach his father but none the worse for it.

“Well,” said Light once everyone had calmed down a bit, “I suppose this wraps this up. Zephyrus, Oceanus, I know you two will be wanting to head back home, and I have some more paperwork to fill out, so I won’t delay you!”

Rock nodded, then turned to Zeph with a smile. “Nice meeting you, Zeph, and good to see you’ve turned things around! Don’t forget to pop in or phone every now and again - it’ll be nice to have some more chats.”

“Maybe we’ll all have to have a go in the simulator at some point!” put in Beck. “See if you guys still got what it takes!”

Oceanus let out a little chuckle.  “Damn straight we should!  I mean, Zeph’s still gotta shake off that ring rust before the Triple B, eh?”

“It’s been a while, but I’m sure I’m still ready.  Maybe it’ll be you having to keep up with me, eh little bro?” the fanbot answered.  He turned to Light and the ‘bots, a smile in his eyes.  “It was great seeing you all.  I’ll be sure to call when I can!”

“Of course. It was great to see you two as well.” Light responds with his customary smile, before turning and heading towards the door, back to the house to carry on with whatever he has to do. Rock and Beck follow him, but Melody lingers behind a little as she turns to the Ro-Bros.

“Look after yourselves, you two!” she calls as she follows. “And try not to end up carting home gaudy souvenirs, like James did!”

Classic Jewel Man.

“We’ll try not to!” Osh replied.  He was never a souvenir guy, really.  “Why spend your money on cheap knick-knacks when you could spend it all on food and booze?”  The two robots waved to Melody and the Light-bots as they returned indoors, until it was eventually just them and Mach.

“Simulators, huh.  That gives me an idea . . . “ Osh pondered as the two hopped onto the hoverboard.  “I mean, its not like you’ve seen much of how the new crew brawls.  Think it’ll be my turn to play teacher, eh?”

A moment’s silence.  “. . . Sure.  After, I can’t be rusty for my return tour.  Maybe if we’re lucky we can power up one of the old pods at Gezora’s.”

“Alrighty then!  Mach, set course for the King of Beasts!”  Osh pointed dramatically into the distance, the hoverboard’s engines whirring to life as it darted off.

Some things just never change.