Co-Op Mode, Equations, Chapter 1

Co-Op Mode: Equations
Players: Gatlinggundemon9 & Extremespeeds
Chapter 1: The Capture

The McDowell Correctional Facility
4:38 p.m.
Medium Security Ward

A man walked down the hallways, not even bothering to glance into the mostly empty cells. One of the cells he did stop in front of contained a struggling Mobian fox. “Are the accommodations uncomfortable, Miss hardy?”

“Yes, they are!!” Selina said, slamming the robotic handcuffs against the floor. “And these handcuffs are chaffing my wrists!

“Those are to keep you from attempting any petty larceny.” Ryan explained calmly. “I’ll have your session ready shortly, but for now, enjoy your lunch. The chefs are exquisite.” Turning his back on her, he starting walking away.

“Where is Jamie??” Selina called out to him.

Stopping, Ryan turned his head back to her. “Jamie…. is fine. Shaken, but fine. Dr. Ponsoby is watching after him.” After that, Ryan continued on to his office, unaware that in her cell, Selina was already planning her escape.

A few hours earlier
Magerville, Washington
Earth Prime…

“And then it exploded before I could get a better look at it.” Jason told his girlfriend as they ate lunch.

“You sure they weren’t from Eggman or anything??” Selina asked, currently in human form.

“Nah, none of them looked like Badniks or had his face on them.” Jason said, munching on his burger, earning a glare from Selina. Swallowing, he apologized. “Sorry”.

“…well, maybe they’re from, uh… what’s his name…. Dr. Wily?” Selina asked.

“Last time I checked we didn’t meet him. And besides, he wouldn’t name a robot “Timothy”, he’d call it “Butler Man” or something.“ Jason said, shaking his head. His eyes wandering around the place he suddenly sat up. “Sel, its Nega!” he said, pointing towards and alleyway.

Selina turned around and gasped when she saw the humanoid shadow, which fled into the alleyway. “Let’s go!!” she said, getting her backpack and running after him.  Jason followed, leaving his money on the table and grabbing a handful of fries with him as he left.

Running into the corner, Selina stopped, confused.

Stopping beside her, Jason swallowed the last of his burger. “Where’d he he go???” asked, shoveling the fries into his mouth.

“Don’t know…” Selina responded pensively before spotting Jason’s snacking. “ and would you stop eating!?”

Jason waited till he was done swallowing before retorting. “It’s not my fault that I have to eat a bunch of junk food to keep me from turning hippoglemic!!”

“That’s hypoglycemic, Trickster.” Selina said with a facepalm, neither of them noticing someone appearing behind them.

“Yeah, that! Super speed makes me hungry!” Jason said, licking his fingers for salt. “And I don’t wanna run outta-”

“Don’t move.”

Spinning around, Jason and Selina took out their sword and electric pistol respectively. “Yeah, well neither should you, Faker.” Jason said, before realizing that the voice wasn’t Nega’s.

“Nega Jason” stood there, acting calmly despite of the situation. “How witty, of yo-yo-yo-you, Jason.”

Selina raised an eyebrow at the glitching voice. “That’s not Nega…”

“Nah, it ain’t!” Jason said, running forward with a punch, but only ended up falling through him. “A hologram…?!”

Literally turning its head 180° to looks at Jason, the smiling figure blurred into a static-filled image, growing taller than Jason, but only by several inches, until becoming a young man with spiked anime-esque hair and a lab coat with a logo on it.

“Project Shadow… you’re from Mobius!!!” Jason said, getting onto his feet.

”Wr-wr-wr-wr-wrong,” the hologram said, hovering back from the alleyway towards Selina. ”This Unit is designated as the Britannian Mainframe Operational System. Sub-designation: Superficial Hologram Assigned to Manage and Exterminate."

“SHAME?” Selina asked, moving aside.

“Britainnia..?” Jason asked.  “….that is the dumbest name for a place I’ve ever heard. Candyland’s a better sounding name than-“

Lightning fast, the hologram grabbed Jason and slammed him into the brick wall. ”SILENCE, MISERABLE TWIT!!!” it yelled, its head morphing into a sunken-eyed demon version of its regular face.

Selina quickly fired her pistol at SHAME, who glitched and vanished.

Rubbing his neck, Jason picked up his dropped sword. “Thanks Sel… guess HAL doesn’t like electricity too much.”

“No, Lord SHAME is simply making room for me!!” a gleeful electronic voice called out, leaping down from above. Landing on its hands, the robot turned its body around so that its head could face Jason, its body seemingly made up of magnets while its face looked like the Comedy & Tragedy theater masks combined.

Jason jumped back, looking fearful for a moment. “A jester robot??” Straightening, he returned to his snarky attitude. ”Where’s your knight, Harley?”

The robot spun its body around, digging its tapered feet into the ground so it stood upright. “I am RL-QN! King Ryan’s court jester!!” it said smugly with a low bow. “And here are my “knights”, lowly peasant!” A portal appeared behind it and several robots, armed with what looked like muskets and dressed like British Coldstream guards, emerged.

“Those bots… you’re with that Timothy robot, aren’t ya??” Jason said, his tone a bit more serious.

“Correct!!! Lord Timothy wanted to test you!! And you failed, so I’m here to entrap you and your allies!!” he confirmed.

“Over my dead-“ Jason started, but was electrified into unconsciousness.

“JAS-“ Selina cried out, but was also knocked out.

“Huh??? SHAME!!! His Majesty said I could take them down.” RL-QN whined.

“He did. Yet you took too long talking.” Shame pointed out, reappearing. ”Move them to the cells.”

“What about the robot boy??” RL-QN asked.

”Miss Chanteur and Doctor Ponsoby will take care of him.” SHAME explained, vanishing into the portal.

Meanwhile, at Jason’s home…

In the living room sat a robot, modelled after a black hedgehog with wings and a jetpack. At the moment he was hooked up to two separate devices: an Ethernet cable and a Playstation 3.

“Hey Amelia.” Jamie said, watching the TV, the screen showing a blue robot making its way through a mine dodging spider robots.

“Hey Jamie…” Amelia said, nervous near her robotic brother. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Playing Mega Man 9 and catching up.” Jamie explained, not moving from his spot other than to look at her.

“You can play without a controller?” Amelia asked, sitting next to him eating a candy bar.

“As long as I can plug myself in, yeah…” Jamie said, glancing longingly at the candy bar.

Ashamed, his sister stopped. “Sorry….”

“It’s okay.” Jamie assured her.

“….what did you mean by catching up?” Amelia asked, hoping to end the moment.

“Well, I’ve been gone a few years. I’m outta touch.” Jamie reminded her, pointing to the cable in his head. “I need an update or two.”

“So you’re surfing the internet?” Amelia asked.

“Yep. There are so many pictures of grumpy cats, weird faces, and something called “Gangum style”!!” Jamie said.

Amelia laughed, but stopped. At the same time, a quiet voice, singing what almost sounded like a French lullaby made itself known to Jamie.

“Sis?” Jamie asked. “Something wrong?” Instead of answering Amelia stood up and walked, almost zombie like out the door. “Amy!!!” Jamie called out, ripping out the cords in his head and chasing after her. Running outside, he stopped.

Outside, in the middle of the road, surrounded by various tranced people was a robotic woman with silvery skin, dark red hair, and a black dress. At the moment she was singing something in French, with the people surrounding her swaying in tune to it. It didn’t take a powerful robotic mind to figure out what was going on.

“Shut up!” Jamie said, his hand changing into an arm cannon. “Why’re you doing this?!”

Surprised at his reaction, the robot stopped singing, though the people didn’t leave their state. “Oh cher….. looks like ze doctor was right…” she muttered in a French accent, her tone a mix of disappointment and reluctance.” “Ze tones must be parfait…” she looked down.

“Who are you?! Release my sister or I’ll-” Jamie angrily called out.

“Calmer, calmer. I am Fifi Chantuer,.” she interrupted with a bow. “Ze people are fine. Ze trance will wear off in time… but we still have to retrieve you.”

“We??” Jamie asked. “Who’s- a.rktbamerklramk;LKNdr;lsn ra;n;!!!“

Jamie started sputtering, his voice box screeching. His body then fell limp and backwards, letting him see who caused his spasms. “What….. what happened?! Why can’t I move?!”

It was another robot, with similar synthetic skin and hair, though he was male and dressed like a scientist. In his piston-like arms he held what looked like a hybrid of a taser and a TV remote. “I’m sorry about this.” He said in a miserable tone of voice. “Really, I am…. But his majesty needs to see you, Jamie Drummond.”  Before Jamie could say anything, Ivan pushed a button on his Hacking Device, and Jamie was immediately sent to sleep mode.

Gesturing to some robots, a pair of coldstreams picked Jamie up. “Be gentle with him! We don’t want to risk hurting him!” the robotic scientist barked at them while simultaneously opening a portal with a small remote.

Fifi was the first to walk through, followed by the Coldstream guards.  The scientist followed through, not realizing that behind him, something black and slimy had followed him through.