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EIGHT!
let's get the big bad
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Today was considered a day of relaxation for the Mech X4 team. All of the members except for Ryan, were just chilling in the control centre. Harris was in the process of researching for his school project. Mark was in the middle of working on the X-weapon, which was a new weapon that Harris and Hana had created together and were in the process of prototyping it. Spyder was lounging in his chair and trying to nap but couldn't because of Hana's constant slurping of the instant noodles she made. Finally, Natalie was playing some computer games.
"Harris!" Mark called angrily before rushing down the ladder and marching over to the boy.
Mark's angry call caused everyone to look at the senior. "Your stupid X-weapon almost burned my eyebrows off!" Mark exclaimed angrily. The senior did indeed have burnt patches around his eyes. Hana, Spyder and Natalie were all laughing quietly at the situation that was unfolding.
"You think, I want to look permanently surprised for the rest of my life?" Mark asked angrily.
"I didn't know it would overload your console but now, I do! So....Yay!" Harris said nervously. Mark looked ready to hit the boy but the elevator door opening stopped him. It was just Ryan.
"Everyone stay calm." Ryan ordered.
That didn't work on in the boy's favour. Everyone immediately entered their fight mood as soon as they say Grey. Mark was the first one to react and he tried to throw a punch at Grey but she easily caught it.
"No, Mark, wait." Ryan tried to stop but Mark threw another punch. Grey deflected it before kicking the senior down. He fell to the ground.
"Yikes, that's gotta hurt." Hana cringed. Spyder and Natalie nodded in agreement as they were also cringing at the sight.
"Dang." Mark sighed in disbelief.
"Harris, you're all ideas. Why aren't you doing something?" Spyder asked Harris.
"Was I the only one who heard Ryan say, stay calm?" Harris questioned.
"Alright, dingus. Wanna explain why you brought our enemy here?" Mark asked as he got up from the ground. He then pulled his brother off to the side and the other members followed.
"Because we have a much bigger problem. The mastermind behind the monsters. She's gonna help us stop em." Ryan explained.
"I don't trust this." Hana blurted out and everyone except Ryan, nodded in agreement.
"You don't expect us to trust her." Harris said.
"We have to." Ryan begged.
"The leader isn't what you think. He's actually trying to save the planet." Grey assured. The woman put her arms around both boys and you could clearly see that they were both uncomfortable.
"Ooh, saving the planet. I'm all for that. I am a vegan three times a week. I try my best to use products that are biodegradable or recyclable. I'm also wearing a whole outfit made out of recycled materials." Natalie explained happily and everyone gave her a weird look at her rambling.
"From earth's greatest threat." Grey reminded.
"Owls. No, no, rats. No! Owls!" Spyder exclaimed.
"She means humans, idiot." Natalie pointed out.
"Yes, at least one of you is smart." Grey said and Harris gave her a look.
"It makes sense." Natalie nodded.
"Exactly! We pollute, we build bombs, we stampede each other over Christmas sales. Humanity has peaked, so when the leader clears the unworthy, this place will be paradise for those he believes deserve to survive." Grey explained.
"Oh, you hear that, Spyder. She says the unworthy will be cleared. You better start packing your bags. You're moving to Mars." Hana laughed and Spyder glared at her in annoyance.
"Also, why does the leader have to be a man? We all know women are more intelligent than men." Natalie said and Hana nodded in agreement.
"Hey!" The boys exclaimed in sync.
"It's true, we're far superior." Natalie shrugged but she was ignored by the boys, who felt betrayed.
"That's why he keeps sending monsters. That's why we have to stop him." Ryan pointed out.
"Doesn't mean we're gonna team up with you. You tried to kill us." Mark directed at Grey.
"For once, we have the upper hand. He has no clue that we're working together. Just imagine if we could take down her boss, no more monsters." Ryan said.
"I don't know, Ry." Spyder sighed.
"I'll erase all of your detentions." Grey said, trying to persuade the boy.
"Welcome to the team." Spyder said and shook Grey's hand with a smile.
"I feel like this is going to get bad real quick." Natalie whispered to Hana.
"Yeah but let's just see how this plays out." Hana whispered back and Natalie just nodded.
"Ok, then, how do we find your boss?" Mark asked.
"There's...the wrinkle. I actually don't know who he is." Grey said and their eyes all widened.
"You know.....I have an idea on how to flush him out." Ryan said.
"Flush." Spyder began to die of laughter.
"Yeah, this is the team that's beating you. How do you live with yourself?" Ryan chuckled. Grey just looked at them, completely speechless.
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The group was able to slip past the police that arrived at the school and make it back to the robot safely. Mark and Harris were both working on a new invention in the lab as the other four members sat in the lounge room to relax. Grey entered the room with a box of belongings in tow. She slammed the box down on the table, which caused both Hana and Spyder to quickly move their feet from it.
"Woah! Woah! Oh, now you're moving in. Ok, fair warning. When no ones on the X-Deck, I tend to go commando." Spyder explained, relaxing against the couch and everyone just cringed in disgust.
"Gross! Go be naked at your own house." Natalie cringed in disgust at the boy's confession.
"Don't deny that you love the idea of Spyder being naked." Hana smirked sarcastically.
"Shut up." Natalie exclaimed and hit the girl. Hana just rubbed her shoulder with a glare.
"New rule. No, you don't." Ryan cringed and the two girls both nodded in agreement.
"These are just a few things from my office. My principal cover is useless now." Grey explained and Ryan immediately opened the box.
"Is this me?" Ryan asked in confusion when he pulled out a framed picture of himself.
"Yeah, I was surveilling you back when I was trying to...You know." Grey said.
"Mr. Wooby!" Ryan exclaimed happily when he pulled out a stuffed teddy bear.
"Oh, I...also broke into your house to look around." Grey confessed and Mark's eyes widened.
"Woah! Woah! You were in our house?" Mark asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, no one could hear me over your snoring." Grey said. Mark just scoffed in disbelief.
"Mark Walker doesn't snore." Mark denied and they all looked at the senior weirdly.
"How is stealing a cherished toy, gathering intel?" Ryan asked in confusion.
"It's not. You're too old for Wooby." Grey said and snatched the bear from Ryan.
"I have a stuffed animal collection and I'm the same age as Ryan." Natalie pointed out.
"Yeah but you're a girl." Hana shot back as Grey threw the bear back into her box.
Harris came over with the clear phone that he had gotten a hold of. The phone was their only way to connect to the mastermind's location and identity. "Even if that thing has the boss's location, it will be encrypted." Grey explained.
"I'm pretty handy at cracking this stuff. Thank you." Ryan said and took the phone from Harris. He then turned his back to ensure Grey couldn't see him using his power.
"You're just entering random codes. That could take fore..." Grey started to say but got cut off by Ryan's excitement at cracking the code.
"Got it!" Ryan exclaimed happily. "Alright, so there's nothing in the GPS but he only used it to call one number. This could be the boss."
"Call him! I have an app that can trace the call if you keep him on the line long enough." Natalie explained.
"Ok." Ryan said, dialling the number.
"Report." A deep voice said from the phone and Ryan held it up to his ear.
"Uhh....Hey, it's Morris." Ryan said in a deep voice to mimic the mastermind's henchmen.
"Is Grey gone?" The voice questioned.
"Uh.....yeah. And um, we also ran into the pilot and took him out too but it was really hard though." Ryan said. Natalie began to track the call on her phone to be able to find his location.
"Why? What was the problem?" The voice asked.
"Because he's like really strong, stronger than I thought and he's really cool, cooler than his lame brother." Ryan said and everyone's eyes widened at his statement. Mark even hit the boy. "Uh, if he has a brother." Ryan tried to cover up and hit Mark back.
"That's irrelevant but very thorough." The mastermind said, slightly impressed.
"Uh, I love you, bye." Ryan panicked and quickly hung up. Everyone's jaws dropped in disbelief.
"I love you, bye?" Spyder asked in disbelief.
"Dang it! I always say that when I'm nervous." Ryan panicked.
Natalie's phone beeped, which indicated that the tracking device had worked. "Amazingly, that worked. We got his location." Natalie said happily.
"What are we waiting for?" Ryan asked. They all ran off to the control centre.
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Ryan used Mech X4 to take the group to the location that was on Natalie's phone. The coordinates led them to an abandoned construction site near the ocean. "There's someone in there. Pretty impressive tech for an abandoned building." Harris pointed out at the sight of a heat signature in the building.
"Yeah, jackpot!" Ryan exclaimed excitedly.
"You've made a terrible mistake." The deep voice from before, said. A voice appeared on all of the screens and as if on queue, a monster jumped out of the water. The monster was half crab as it had four pincers and half baboon. Ryan got ready to attack the monster, when the power suddenly went out.
"I didn't get to save my stuff!" Natalie exclaimed.
"What?" Ryan asked.
"The main power core's down!" Harris exclaimed. Grey pulled something out a taser from her pocket and sneaked up on Ryan. Mark caught her.
"Ryan!" Mark tried to warned but it was too late.
"Ah." Ryan grunted in pain when Grey used the taser to jab the centre of his back. The monster growled.
"He's making a better world and once I provide him with the kid who can control machines with his mind. I will get my place back in it." Grey explained.
The monster growled in the robot's face and caused the front screen to fog up. It then used its claws to grab a hold of Mech X4. Ryan was basically stuck and couldn't move. "I've crippled the robot for you and brought you the crew but there is more, the pilot has a power. He can control machines with his mind. That's how he's been controlling the robot." Grey explained.
"I'm intrigued." The mastermind said.
"How did you know I have powers?" Ryan asked.
"Please, the exploding glove? You cracking that phone? Wasn't hard for me to figure out that's how you defeated me at the lab. I thought the machines were just going haywire but it was you." Grey explained to Ryan.
"Wait..Wait, that was you at Harper's! You said it was a dude." Spyder pointed out.
"And he was six feet tall." Mark added.
"And had legs like tree trunks." Harris finished.
"I mean, he wasn't wrong about that." Spyder taunted sheepishly.
"Quiet!" Grey yelled at Spyder.
"Can you honestly tell me you don't want to know how his powers work?" Grey asked.
"Bring him to me and all is forgiven." The mastermind said. The monster let go of the robot and went back into hiding.
"I knew his curiosity about your power would buy me back in. Now, let's go!" Grey demanded.
"Yeah, I don't think so." Ryan said and back flipped. He quickly took off his belt and was able to kick Grey in the stomach. Grey stumbled back onto the platform. Ryan then used his power to cause electrified the platform. Grey was electrocuted.
"I always wondered what a burning principal would smell like." Spyder said as he fanned the air.
"Harris, can we please get the power back?" Ryan asked the boy.
"Bam!" Harris said. The boy pressed a button and all of the power instantly turned back on.
"What? I sabotaged the main battery!" Grey yelled.
"You mean with this?" Harris asked and held up the device that Grey used.
"You really think I'd let you smuggle a piece of tech onto my robot. I scanned you with my power every five minutes." Ryan explained smugly.
"Why would you pretend that it worked?" Grey asked in annoyance.
"Because we totally wanted to see your face when we double crossed your double cross." Spyder said. Harris made an X symbol with his arms for emphasis.
Spyder then took a picture of Grey's shocked face with his phone. "And texting photo." Spyder said and everyone's phone instantly went off. The team all immediately took their phones out to see the picture.
"Got it." Mark confirmed.
"Got it." Harris followed.
"And making it my wallpaper." Ryan smirked.
"Hilarious." Natalie laughed.
"New screensaver." Hana laughed as well.
"Really, though? I hoped you wouldn't go through with it. That maybe there was some more to you than just some....villain. Nope!" Ryan exclaimed.
"That monster will crush all of us!" Grey panicked and hid behind Ryan. At that exact moment, the monster turned towards them.
"Harris, where are we with the X-weapon?" Ryan asked the boy.
"Good to go, son." Harris said as he pressed a button to initiate the X-weapon. A small button came out from underneath Natalie's, Harris and Spyder's desk.
"Ready!" Mark called from the top.
"Ready!" Harris assured.
"Ready!" Spyder exclaimed.
"Ready!" Hana and Natalie shouted in sync. Ryan put his waist belt back on.
"Mech!" Ryan called. Spyder, Harris, Mark, Hana and Natalie all hit the new special button. "Execute!" Ryan exclaimed as he jumped up. The robot then blasted a bright red laser beam at the monster. It was so bright that everyone had to shield their eyes from it. Ryan screamed in pain.
"Ryan, shut it down!" Harris ordered.
"No, it's working. I can do this!" Ryan assured.
"Ryan!" Mark called. The beam finally stopped and the monster burst into a huge pile of red ooze. Ryan fell to the ground in pain as he had to use up all of his power and energy for the weapon. The boy was in grave pain from the after effects.
"Ryan!" Harris called.
"Hey, Ryan!" Spyder yelled and everyone rushed over to his side on the ground. They all helped the boy up and he leaned against his brother for support as he was struggling to stand on his own.
"Ugh! Everything hurts." Ryan groaned in pain.
"Grey's gone." Mark pointed out and the woman in question was indeed gone.
"Come on, we have to spilt up and find her." Ryan reminded. Harris and Spyder helped the boy up.
"Let us find her, you rest." Mark suggested.
"No, she threatened mom. She threatened my friends. I'm gonna help bring her down." Ryan said and everyone nodded in agreement.
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The group searched the entire robot for the missing principal but finally found her in the lounge room. They all split up and hid behind the different entrances to the room to make sure Grey couldn't escape from their sight again. The woman was just in the process of putting gloves on when Ryan decided to make his entrance. "You're not going anywhere." Ryan ordered suddenly as he stood in the doorway.
"You really wanna go head to head again? You can barely stand." Grey pointed out. That was the cue for the rest of the team to enter the room as backup. Mark stood beside his brother. Harris entered the opposite and carried his trusty taser. Natalie walked in and Hana decided to jump into the room and land with a cool pose, while holding her nunchucks. Everyone gave her a look. Lastly, Spyder entered but had no weapon.
"Hi." Spyder greeted like everything was normal and they all gave him a weird look.
"Surprise." Grey smirked before throwing a small grenade at Harris.
Harris screamed as her ran away before the explosion could hit him. Grey threw another grenade in Ryan's direction but Mark quickly grabbed the boy before her could get hit. Hana instantly tackled Natalie to the ground in case of a grenade being thrown at them. Spyder was the next target. He ran away from the grenade that exploded, once it hit the the ground. Grey then jumped over the couch and ran to make her escape.
"Ryan!" Mark called.
The boy used his power to bring down the automatic ladder. Grey ended up hitting it. Mark grabbed Grey by the shoulders and threw her towards the couch. Mark tried to attack Grey but she quickly flipped over the couch. Mark just laughed at her action before doing the same flip over the couch. He landed in a fighting stance. Grey pulled out two throwing knives from her back and tossed one right at Spyder. The boy's bounce belt instantly activated and the knife was deflected. The knife bounced off and flew right at Harris, catching his tie in the process.
"Not the tie. Not the tie!" Harris exclaimed in annoyance at the sight. Mark then attacked Grey and they began to fight. "God, I should of done the Pilates." Harris complained as he tried to yank the knife out but was struggling.
Hana helped Natalie up from the floor as they had been there for the past few minutes. Hana ran off to help Mark and Natalie went to help Harris. Ryan joined into the fight when Mark was knocked to the ground by Grey. Ryan was instantly tossed to the side by Grey. Hana was basically the only one standing. Those martial arts classes she was forced to take as a kid were now finally paying off.
"Ryan!" Spyder called and ran to the boy's side. "You ok?" Spyder asked. Ryan just nodded as Spyder helped him up.
Everyone instantly panicked when they saw that Grey was basically leading Mark over to the open window. Mark tried his best to not fall. Grey threw her only knife but Ryan used his power to send a gravity puck her way. The knife went flying when it hit the gravity puck. Natalie gave up on ripping the knife from Harris's tie and decided on just untying the knot. Harris was finally free.
"I can't control it!" Ryan exclaimed.
The gravity puck was flying out of control. Suddenly, it hit Grey and she fall out of the window. Luckily, she was was able to grab onto the side as the team rushed to her aid. Ryan got down on the ground and grabbed Grey's arm to try and pull her in. The rest of the group grabbed onto Ryan to ensure that he wouldn't fall.
"I got you! Nobody dies, not even you." Ryan assured the terrified woman.
"It doesn't matter. We're all dead anyway. He'll make sure." Grey said. Her hand began slipping and it was harder for Ryan to keep holding onto her. "Can't hold on." Grey freaked as her grip weakened. Her fingers slipped through Ryan's grip and she fell.
"No!" Ryan yelled. Grey fell backwards into the pile of ooze below. The group just watched in disbelief.
"I thought she could change. I thought I could save her." Ryan said.
"You tried, Ryan." Mark comforted.
"But.....who was she? Who was her boss? I mean, did we even really win?" Ryan asked.
"We stopped her. We're alive. So, yeah. I think we won." Mark reminded.
"Then why doesn't it feel that way?" Ryan pondered aloud in confusion.
★ 𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐃 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌 ! spyder johnson ★
(© 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝘆𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱)