"Ready?" "Yes. Get this over with." "You sure he'll handle it?" "They both have to. None of us are ready until we fix the problem. If we fix it, then we can go to them, but until then, start. We won't know if this works unless we try." "Are you POSITIVE you want to be the guinea pig?" "It's the only way we can find out if this works. Get moving before I change my mind." "Okay, just checking. I don't want you to regret doing this..." "I can't regret it if it doesn't happen. I told you to move it!" "Heh, just like old times..." "Stop it with the nostalgia and get this program started! I don't like to waste time."

Babe grimaced. For some reason, the sugar was tasting like ash in his mouth. "Mitch, can we do this some other time?" Mitch glanced up to make sure he was still eating the sugar. "We'll be done soon. I just wanna be sure you're ready this time. I don't want something like that to happen again..." Babe came over and laid a hand on Mitchel's shoulder as he started crying. "I miss them too, Mitch. I miss them too..." Mitch shoved his hand off. "But you're used to this!!! It's EASY for you to say that!" Mitch watched him for a minute, then sat down beside him. "Do you really think that?" "Why wouldn't I?” “ It's true!!" "Never. It has never been true, and it never will be. Remember when I reacted to seeing my old girlfriend? Do you know why I was like that?" "No..." "It wasn't because I didn't want to see her again, hell, I'd give ANYTHING to have the old Sarrah back again... I MISSED her more than anyone else in the world. When I saw her again like that, it--it was like the greatest dream come true twisted into the greatest nightmare ever imagined. It's like I lost her all over again. I've had to live without her for one hundred and fifty years, Mitch. She was EVERYTHING I ever wanted. Words can't BEGIN to describe how much I STILL miss her. I was able to say that I would miss them only because I can rest easy knowing they aren't robots. They are truly gone, and can never come back. I prefer that to seeing them again as my enemy..." "But... they were my friends..." "They were my friends too, Mitch. Why do you think I've been staying with you so much now? You, Jesse, Dana and Jimmy are the only friends I have left. I never want to lose you, but I have to live with the fact that it will happen. For you it's different. You can die and see them again. I have to keep living on this damned world for eternity!!!!!!!!!!" Now Babe started crying. It was so hard to come to this fact. Harder than anything else, even Sarrah. "As soon as I destroy that factory that made my friends into robots, I want to leave, but it won't happen. It can't happen!!!" "But Babe, why not? Wouldn't it be easy to just go up really high and never use your jets again?" "Oh, you'd think that, wouldn't you. I've TRIED that, Mitchel. I'm a coward. I can't end this life... I'm going to live forever, and I hate it. GOD, if I could die... if only..." They turned toward the sound of a wheel chair to see Dana slowly rolling into their room. Dana looked as if she had just finished crying as well. "Hi..." Her voice still shook. "Is this the place to talk?" Babe frowned and turned around. Mitch did the same, but spoke. "Come in if you want, but we aren't exactly having a party in here." "Thanks." She rolled up by Babe. "Babe, Jesse told me what happened. Will you be alright?" "Leave--me--alone. I REALLY don't want to talk about anything right now." "Is that so..." Everyone jumped and turned to Jesse's voice. He was being pushed in on his bed by two anthros Babe thought he recognized... The diggers!! Babe scowled at them. "You'd better leave. It's pretty dreary in here." "Your point?" One of them asked. The other forced a half smiled and pushed Jesse the rest of the way in. Babe tried to ignore all the new arrivals until Mitchel was done with him. Once Mitch picked up his tools and put them away, Babe left. He flew off with full energy, hoping that it would all be needed. He wanted an excuse to destroy something, anything, to get rid of the emotions trying to come out. He was given that excuse with the coordinates Mitchel had given him. "He said the factory was this way... Once it's gone, I can ask Mitchel to shut me down... I hope." He sped through the desert area, where the factory was hidden. He'd be there soon...

Steve sneered at the survellance videos. "Greg, he came." "Are you ready? This time you don't have an army to use up. You'll HAVE to fight him." "Did you make that new weapon?" "Yes." "Then I'm ready." Greg handed Steve the new rifle he'd made. It shot small napalm rockets, which would melt any metal they came into contact with. Even metal from Babe's armour. Steve smiled, remembering all of the so called super-metal they had. It had been part of the fortress, now it was part of a pile of molten metal, being readied for robots. He wiped the smile off his face. He would NOT let himself think like that often. "What the--often?!!!" He thought. He couldn't believe he'd admitted to liking the robotic body he had! Then again... Steve shook his head and went outside to wait for Babe. Babe was there within minutes. "Well, robot, this time we finish our fight." Babe landed. "I couldn't agree more, Steve. Today's the day I take down this damned factory once and for all. Mitchel made some new modifications to me." "Interesting... I'll bet you didn't know I had a few more myself!" He showed Babe his rifle. "This thing is gonna finally rid me of you. Believe me, I've tested it." Steve could feel Babe's sensors go over himself and the gun. He aimed it at Babe and fired. Babe dodged it and flew low as he came in. Steve couldn't help but be impressed. Babe was so close to the ground that he almost touched it! He put down his gun and activated his cannon for the fight.

Babe came at him with everything he had. As he fought, he started to notice a pattern in Steve's fighting style. There was always a moment after Steve lunged that left him wide open to an attack from the side. Babe flew away for a moment and activated his arm mechanism, choosing his old claws for his weapon. He hardened it and came back at Steve to see the same thing on his arm! "What the--but I thought only Mitch knew how to make those!!!!!!!" Steve lunged. "Not anymore. We found out and copied it. I can do everything you can do, and more." Babe gasped as Steve's claws dug into his chest. "NO!! I WON'T LOSE!!!!!!!!!!!" Babe backed out of the claws and fired a shot, directly at the mechanism on Steve's arm. It exploded easily. Steve held his arm, fingering the spot where the mechanism used to be. "You're gonna pay for that, robot. I'm gonna tear you apart and take the stuff from your body for myself!!!!!!" Babe ignored him as he checked the damage done to him. Amazingly, none of the important parts of his system had been hit. The only thing that had been damaged was heat sensative vision he used during the night. In this battle, it wouldn't matter. He still had the motioned detection eyes that Mitchel had built in him. "Damn you Steve. You LIKE being a robot! You're sick." "But I'm happy. I finally have a chance to destroy you. You did this to me." "And YOU tried to kill your own friend!!!!!!!!!!!!" Babe shouted as he lunged again. He made it up to Steve's face and fired at point blank range. Steve screamed and stumbled back, holding his face in his hands. When his hand left his face, the eyes were hollow. The scales on his face had been blackened to the extreme, unrecognizable from their original color. His voice sounded like it was a sort of broken record. "D--d--d--damn you!!!! I--I--I'll get y--you f--f--f--fo--for that!!!! I c--ca--can st--still sense yo--your mo--mo--mo--movements--s--s!!!!!!!" Babe smiled. He'd done some REAL damage that time! Steve would sense every movement of every object around them! Not just himself!!!!! Babe kicked a rock and watched, amused, as Steve swiveled and shot at it. Babe shook his head and brought up his cannon. "Steve, face it. YOU'RE THROUGH!!!!!!!!!!!" One more shot to the head put Steve out of commision for good. Babe was tempted to take the rifle and use it himself, but he wanted to use his own power for this. It would feel better if he used his weaponry to destroy this nightmarish place.

Greg activated all of the robots he had hidden from Steve, smiling. "I THOUGHT he'd get destroyed. Steve hid behind those robots way too much. Now I have them, and I'll use them the RIGHT way. All of my data on the renegade can be put in these robots, giving them the perfect defense against him. They'll find his weak points easily. I can't lose!!!!" He picked up a second rifle just like the one he'd made for Steve and aimed it at the door the renegade would come through. Any second now... Two shots from some robots behind him took out two robots he'd had hidden at the door. He turned to see the robots that had malfunctioned. "What the--I didn't make you!!!!!!!!!" He didn't get a chance to say more as the next shot killed him.

Babe flew into the next room, prepared to fight to his death. He found the remains of a battle already fought. Robotic parts were strewn all over room, along with blood...a human--the one he'd thought he'd strangled--lay in a pool of his own blood. Killed by one huge shot to the chest. "Damn it, I WAS SUPPOSED TO KILL HIM!!!!!!!! THIS WAS MY BATTLE!!!!!!!! WHO DID THIS??!!!!!!!!" He listened to the silence that came after his shout. It didn't give him the answer he wanted. He opened his wings to fly out through the ceiling. He could at least blow a hole in the ceiling to destroy more. Somehow, the shot kept going through the ceiling, into the machinery above him. The machinery exploded, destroying the machine next to it, which destroyed the next machine. Babe could see what was happening, and shot once more to widen the hole he'd made. He went through the roof next, waiting until the entire building came down on itself before he left. He glanced around, trying to see who had killed the human before he did. Something glinted in the sun, but it was so far away that he couldn't make out what it was. He frowned and headed back to the village. He'd barely used half of his first tank of energy, and wished he could use more. Mitchel welcomed him back, still looking a bit on the depressed side, but much happier. "Mitch, about how I acted earlier..." Mitchel held up a hand and barely smiled. He led Babe to the welding shop and introduced him to five new anthros. "Babe, some of the anthros who know how to build robots want to see how I made you. They want to be able to fix you if I can't." "But Mitch, they--" Mitch silenced him and pointed to Jesse and Dana. "They have your figures. If one of these anthros tries to do something to you, these two will be able to catch them. The anthros here already know what'll happen if they try to mess with your wires. Jesse wants me to show them how you work. Every anthro in here has a 'partner' from the village or the fortress who'll make sure what they know doesn't leave this village. It's safe. C'mon and lay down. We don't have anything else to do." Babe sighed and laid down to let Mitch show these anthros how he worked. It was odd... One anthro--it looked like the guy who owned the welding shop--kept glancing at them. The anthro looked like he was overly nervous, like he wanted to get away, but had to stay, or maybe it was the other way around...

"Well, he didn't follow us. How much longer should we stay hidden?" "We stay hidden until he gets to the next factory. The next closest is located right by the main control center for each of these robots. It the biggest ammuntition, robot, and enhancment facilities the humans have." "What the--Yann city?!!!" "Yeah. We show ourselves at Yann city. Until then, we watch and make sure he keeps himself in top condition. If he doesn't leabe for Yann city tomorrow, we leave him the napalm gun that Steve lost. If he still doesn't leave, we give him the only other item we've got still with us." "Okay, but is this all neccessary?" "Damn it, yes. He's is the last hope that village has." "But what about us? We could easily protect the place!" "Yes, but only he can attack something that huge!!! We couldn't even get in until he started fighting Steve because of all the cameras. His battle was our distraction. If he doesn't go after Yann city, we can't get rid of the biggest threat." "Then how are we gonna make sure he goes?" "I already thought of that. Don't worry, he'll go."

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