The Year Of Robo Chapter 18
August 2300
By Robo
August 10, 2300
Death's plan was near complete. The troops he requested from the Mother Brain had arrived, Atropos was no longer in her favor, and the Keeper's Dome would surely fall. He was now speaking to Mother Brain on his communicator, "Mother. I find it unnecessary to attack the Proto Dome. Once the Keeper's Dome falls, the humans will surely surrender. Especially if their leaders fall in battle. I have more than enough military power to accomplish this task."
"Very well, your plan sounds satisfactory," Mother Brain said. "But remember, very often my most trusted warriors made a simple mistake and ended up in severe trouble. Simply ask Atropos."
"Yes Mother," Death replied coldly, "but keep in mind, I am not Atropos."
"How true!" laughed Mother Brain. "I trust you and believe that if you cannot do this, it cannot be done at all."
That night they loaded all their soldiers on a large boat and set sail. Death insisted only the finest troops should come, which meant only the XR-Series. There were nearly two thousand of them. They set out on the voyage while Death merely teleported to the continent of the Keeper's Dome where he would await them as soon as they arrived. Early the next morning Death fired two Shadow beams, hitting the front of the dome. Though the shields were able to absorb the majority of the damage, it served as a warning to the humans to prepare for battle.
"Sir, they have come!" cried Davis. "Thousands of XR-Series, led by a robot that perfectly matches the description of the one who led the attack on the Factory!"
"Yes, the Mother Brain's new weapon," sighed Belthasar. "I did not prepare that we would have to fight the final battle of the war without the assistance of Robo or Rachel. Prepare the soldiers, while I tell Doan." Belthasar walked into Doan's quarters and found him all right, lying on his back with a bottle of booze at his side. "Doan?! What have you done?"
"Can't you see?" demanded Doan. "It's over! I knew when dear Rachel never returned. Or that kind robot that went with her. There's no point in fighting this lost cause. No sense in beating a dead horse into the ground."
"Doan, it was possible that we could have pulled off a victory, but it would have taken the combined magic of myself and you," said Belthasar. "But the fact that you stayed up all night drinking did not help one bit. You are the leader of these people, whether you like it or not, and protecting them is your responsibility. It shames me to think what your great ancestors would say if they saw you in this state."
"Shut up, you!" cried Doan. Belthasar had to duck the bottle that was thrown at him. "I'm sorry," apologized Doan. "Didn't mean it. You're right. At this point, you and I are the only ones that can stand up to them. I'm ready to go." Doan stood up, but was too feeble to hold himself up. He crashed to the floor and said, "Gimmie five minutes, okay?"
"You're in no condition of fight," sighed Belthasar. "Don't you see? Your magic is useless you're sober and capable of controlling it. If I let you fight out there, you'd be so drunk you wouldn't know who to hit. There must be something I can do," he said thoughtfully. "In the meantime, we might as well prepare ourselves," he picked up the intercom and announced, "This is Belthasar, speaking for King Doan. Prepare for battle. General Davis shall prepare strategy while John and Johnny will lead our soldiers to battle." He turned off the intercom and said to Doan, "Robo had a great library of information in his quarters. There has to be something there!"
"Come back soon," said Doan. "You can't leave me like this, I have to..." Doan trailed off then fell over and fell asleep.
Belthasar entered the room of Robo and frantically searched through Robo's computer banks while in the background soldiers rushed outside from all rooms in the dome. Belthasar looked up the index and selected the word "alcohol." A second later a screen appeared. Belthasar read it aloud, "Alcohol: a substance known to have an intoxicating effect on living organisms, especially humans," he stopped reading. "This is no help," he sighed until he continued reading down the screen, "The intoxication is relatively strong, but an antidote is easy to prepare. Simply mix," Belthasar quickly wrote down the recipe and hurried to the laboratory to create the antidote.
On the outside of the dome, humans were concentrating their fire on the XR-Series but were able to take down only a few. Death walked forward and sliced through several humans with his sword. He put his hands together and released a wave of darkness that went out and killed many humans.
Johnny pulled out a phaser rifle and attempted to destroy Death but to no avail. Realizing that it was not working, Johnny ran forward as he shouted, "You're going down, man!" He swung his rifle as if it were a club and hit Death in the head. In response, Death lifted Johnny high into the air. "I'm in deep trouble, man!" Johnny groaned.
Death tossed him to the ground and opened a small hatch on Johnny's back and removed a wire, deactivating him. "Does anyone else want to try to be a hero?" Death demanded.
"Ya ain't gunna have such an easy time wit me!" cried John. He jumped forward and tossed grenades at Death. This annoyed death who fired a Dark Bomb at John. He avoided Death's attack and fired his gun before tossing another grenade. Death ran forward and drew his sword. He swung at John who jumped out of the way, then slapped Death in the face in order to get Death to lose his temper. "How does ya like dat?" John asked.
"Hold still, filthy human," snarled Death. He swung again but John was too quick. He tossed another grenade which exploded in Death's hand. He wasn't damaged but it did cause him to drop his sword. Death fired a spell remarkably similar to Dark Matter and knocked John to the ground. Before John had a chance to get up, he was hit with Dark Mist. John was close to dying but he knew he had one last chance. He pulled out of his belt a small knife that had been passed down in his family for generations. He ran forward and aimed the knife at Death's head. Death simply reached out his right hand and grabbed John by the throat and squeezed.
John instantly dropped his knife and struggled to breathe. Death would not release his grip. "Waits a minute," John gasped in desperation, "all I asks of ya is to spare my life. Please jes spare me." He tried to pry Death's hand off of him but simply could not.
"Pathetic," growled Death. He tightened his grip and dug his fingers deeper into John's neck. By now several human troops had taken notice and fired upon him. The shots took no effect to Death, who shot beams of darkness from his left hand and killed them.
Belthasar had finished the antidote and rushed into Doan's room. He woke up Doan and said, "Here, drink this." Doan drank it and his eyes lit up at once. "I think it's working, but the instructions said wait about fifteen minutes before it takes its full effect," said Belthasar.
Outside the dome the battle continued, and at this point, even the XR-Series were concerned about John. "Master Death," said XR-101. "Although Mother is infamous for her cruelty, she does have at least some standards of war. Even Mother would not approve of this. Please release the poor human, and I will destroy him quickly and efficiently."
Death waved his hand and destroyed XR-101. He once again tightened his grip on John. Atropos watched in the background and smirked. "As much as I can't stand him," she said, "you must admire his love to torture his victims."
"Atropos," said XR-500. "You cannot mean to allow Death to continue in this matter. Even we robots would not allow that degree of suffering for even a human."
"I say the hillbilly deserves it," replied Atropos. "Besides, I am no longer your leader. What would I do?" She instantly remembered her anger towards Death and walked over to him.
Death simply refused to let go of John, whose face was now turning shades of blue. John continued tried to breath but could neither get in a breath of air or pull Death's hand from him. Then without warning, Death jerked his hand quickly and snapped John's neck. Everyone, both human and robot, could hear the sickening crack of John's spine. John's dead body hit the floor. Death laughed and shouted, "Who's next? I'll take on all you humans right now!"
Suddenly the glow in his eyes stopped as he was stabbed in the back with his very sword. Death turned around to see what happened when he saw Atropos holding on to the sword. "You are finished. I now command the XR-Series once again," she said as she removed the sword. She stabbed him in the head and Death fell on his face, dead. Atropos picked up his communicator and activated it. Mother Brain's face appeared on it and Atropos said, "Death was incapable of leading the attack. A human destroyed him in the first few minutes of battle. I will now lead our forces to what will surely be a victory."
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