Episode 8.6

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(Previously: Streamline blows up half of Vecto's head, but Vecto grabs him by the throat.)

Vecto paused, staring at his former friend and companion with his remaining eye.

"You heard me!" Streamline coughed. "You valued his life over yours and thought of yourself as a worthless machine. You wondered why Gyro had risked his life for you when you can be recreated. You blamed yourself and questioned your existence, telling yourself you weren't worth saving . . . and soon, that mentality stuck . . . and you began acting like the mindless machine you once vowed never to become!"

Vecto was at a loss for words. He struggled to maintain his thoughts as he reflected on Gyro's brutal death.

Streamline laughed despite Vecto's grip. "Don't you realize? When you found word of Morphaal's resurrection, you pinned the blame on him instead, and when he couldn't be found, you blamed Sable! Then you blamed the SS6. Your rage trickled down from there, and now you're venting your rage on your friends, acting like the whole world is against you, when in fact-it's you against the world . . ."

"You lie. You're lying!" Vecto yelled, tightening his grip. "You are the ones who toiled against me!"

Streamline took another deep breath. "How selfish of you! . . . We aren't tryin' . . . to kill you, Vecto. We're trying to save you!" As he spoke, he grasped Vecto's chestplate panels. "To bring you back to the OLD VECTO!" He yanked Vecto's chest apart, going for his core: for the Flummox Capacitor orb within the robot's chest.

Vecto's mind snapped back to reality. He looked down to observe that his chest was open, then watched as Streamline extracted his pistol and blasted his orb at point-blank range. The shell struck the orb's faint shield and exploded, causing Vecto to release Streamline, both of their bodies catapulting from the force of the blast. The explosion ripped into Vecto's waist, flaring through his chest. It also tore through Streamline's body armor, exposing some of his charred flesh.

"You would sacrifice yourself to obliterate me?" Vecto asked. His body was aflame, but within those flames, the orb remained intact, spinning in place.

"To save you!" Streamline replied, struggling back to his feet. "AND KNOCK SOME SENSE INTO YOU!" He lifted his Omega Blaster and unleashed green energy at Vecto. The blasts divided in midair, spanning out to lash Vecto's body like horizontal rain. The energy beams chipped at Vecto's frame as the robot walked through the stream, heading for Streamline.

The gunfire ceased as Vecto's Blaster 3,000 knocked Streamline in the side of the head and fired.

(Will the two destroy each other or will the incoming nuclear bomb change the outcome? Find out more in the next installment of Vecto: Vengeance!)

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