----
Babe tried to lighten his mood around the
others. They were all celebrating after
hearing what had happened to the factory.
Dana was especially happy.
Tomorrow would mean she could walk around on her own again! Jesse and Jimmy were both as excited about it
as she was. Babe hid his gloom as much
as possible around those three. Mitchel was the only one still looking as upset as he
felt. "Umm... Mitch, I was
wondering something." "Yeah Babe?" "I
understand why you're upset and all, but don't you think you've been worrying
too much? I mean, we KNOW that there was
no chance for Max to become a robot, and Chris and the rest were all destroyed. All of our friends are at peace
now." "I know... I just miss them. Chris was the coolest friend I had. He was the only guy I could relate
to." "What do you
mean?" "He lost his family to
robots when he grew up. The only family
he had left after that was his father, like me.
He knew exactly how I felt when I lost mom and my sister... He was the only guy who knew exactly what I
felt. I miss him most of all..." "He was a nice guy, wasn't
he?" "More
than that." "Mitch, I'm
SURE he was more than that. He didn't
run screaming from me when he found out I was a robot! Hell, he saved my LIFE! I--what the hell?.." Babe walked over to Max's old radio. A message was printing out of it quickly,
soon doubling in size. Babe took the
sheet and tore it off. "To all in the resistance." He read out loud.
"Sources have confirmed that the Protector of old
has returned,
and is fighting alongside us. His white suit of armour
causes him to
look like the robot enemy. Of those who find him, be aware. He will
be attacking Yann city soon, willing to
risk everything and destroy the
largest robot facility yet made. To the Protector himself, if you do
not do this, the enemy will be able to
rebuild all that you have
destroyed.
Giants included."
Babe set the paper
down. "They could rebuild James?.. No.
No, it's a trap. There's no WAY
they could rebuild James. I destroyed
him!" He reread the note. "But
if it isn't a trap, and they CAN rebuild him...
I have to risk it. They can't be
allowed to rebuild him!" "But
Babe, what if it's a trap, like you said?!" Mitch came over and tugged on his arm. Babe gently made Mitchel
stop. "I have to make sure they can't do it, Mitch. The giant I had to destroy used to be my best
friend. I can't let them use him
again! Even if it IS a trap, I have to
be sure. I'm going tomorrow."
"He's
going!" "Yes, he is. I told you it would be easy to make him
go." "Just one thing still
bothers me though..." "And
that would be?" "Why did you
call him the Protector? That's just a
legend!" "No it isn't. He really WAS the Protector. It's just that they started making so many
robots that they couldn’t’ tell him apart from any other. Besides, with all of his improvements, he'll
be fine. I sent the same message to all
of the resistance, to give him an army."
"Won't they all think it's a hoax?" "Maybe, or maybe they'll think it's the
truth and leave for Yann city.
Whichever, you can bet that Babe's gonna have help. Even if we're the only ones
who give him any."
The next day, Babe flew to Yann city. He was sure the whole thing was a trap, but
he couldn't let a risk like that go. He
HAD to be sure Player would never be a robot again. Now, high above the city, he could see the
factory that made robots. He was so high
up that their radars would never find him, and as consequence, the robots
flying around and protecting Yann city didn't seem to ever see him. He brought out his arm cannon and carefully
aimed... One by one, the robots around
the city were destroyed, soon to be replaced by two or three more. "I
thought so." Babe sighed. They had so many robots in there that he
could spend the entire day shooting at them and STILL never completely get rid
of them all. He'd have to dive in there
and fight close up... "Umm...
Hello?" Babe glanced at
his arm radio. Someone was speaking to
him! "We
are trying to hail the Protector. Is
this him?" "Who's
calling?" "Is this him?!" Babe sighed. "Yes,
this is him. If you are looking for me
and can't find me, I'm above the clouds, shooting at robots. I could use a distraction." "How do we know you aren't
lying?" "I'll come down and
prove it to you. Wait a moment." Babe started diving down, watching for tanks
as he fell. What he saw was, not only tanks, but artillery, missile launchers, and
even a helicopter or two. There were six
supply trucks waiting to be used, and what looked like at least a thousand foot
soldiers. Some carried what looked like
bazookas, while the majority carried a personal rifle of their own. "Okay,
I've seen you. I'll land behind you a
mile away, and walk forward. Please do
not shoot anything that isn't flying over Yann city." "Affirmative, Protector." He leveled out and flew a mile away from the
huge army before diving the rest of the way and
landing. There was a white dragon who waited for him as he walked up. The dragon looked at him with something
resembling either disbelief, awe, or both.
"It's true... the Protector is real..." Babe recognized the voice as being the same
one who'd spoken to him. Babe
sighed. "Yeah, I'm real. Please
don't remind me." "Why not?"
Babe scowled at him. "I've been alive for a century and a
half. My life hasn't exactly been a
parade." "Is that really armour, or is that your
body?" "Both,
alright? Just give me the distraction
so I can get inside." Babe took
off and started flying at Yann city. For
a moment he thought they wouldn't fire, but just for a moment. There were soon cannon shells exploding left
and right. The robots didn't have TIME
to get more out there with all of the attacks going on. Babe slipped past the outer defense wall and
into the city. He looked around at the
buildings. So many skyscrapers, each one
placed in such a way that, even though they looked completely different, he saw
the old Yann city he'd grown up in, died in, protected. He could almost tell exactly where they would
have put everything from the train stations to the fast food restaurants. It all was so similar... He got a hold of himself and started
searching for the factory. "It's gotta
be around here somewhere. It's got
to!!!!" He went up and down
streets, passing by thousands of small buildings. Anthros who were
hiding from the battle peeked out at him, looking fearful of every living
thing. Babe saw one duck behind a garbage
can as his gaze came his way. He went
over and pulled him out of hiding. The anthro beared a slight resmblance to Ace.
"Where's the factory?" He asked.
The anthro shook while he was held, watching to see what Babe would
do. "Listen. I won't hurt you if you just tell me where
the factory is. It's
important." "Th--th--that
way. What are y--you?" Babe smiled slightly and set the anthro
down. "Believe it or not, I'm the Protector. Before I go, what's your name?" "It--t--t's Aaron Jacks--s--son." Babe stepped back in surprise. "Was
one of your ancestors Ace
Aaron watched as the strange robot went inside the
factory. Other anthros
started coming out of hiding as well.
One such was a yellow water/common dragon named Joel Rance. He was an odd dragon, being a half breed, but
still with children he'd made with his wife.
Somehow he'd gotten the third chromosome he needed, which was why his
family still existed. Joel came up to
Aaron. "What was that?!!!! I
could've sworn that robot had a personality!" "He--did... Joel, should we follow him?" "What and get ourselves killed?!!! Thanks, but I'd rather live to an old
age. It has its benefits, after
all." "But that robot said he
was the Protector..." "Aaron,
no offense, but that robot's got a malfunction.
The Protector is justa stupid myth! A legend!
How could THAT have been him?!!!
Besides that, you are the biggest fanatic when it comes to the
Protector. You're crazy,
Aaron." "No I'm not. That robot looked just like him, except for
the color..." "Look. Aaron, you've had a rough day. They just fired you from your job and--and
you imagined the whole thing. There is
no WAY that robot could be the Protector.
C'mon. The gang is waiting for us
anyway." Aaron nodded and
followed his friend, but he still wasn't convinced. It had just felt like that robot had spoken
the truth! He wanted to follow it and
find out...
WHAAAMMMM!!!!!!!!
Aaaron was blown back three
feet by the blast. When he looked up, he
saw two robots following the one he'd spoken to. They had an oddly determined look on their
faces...
Babe went inside the building, searching for any sign
of something living. All he could find
was machinery, and the parts that were used to make robots. He back off from those as quickly as possible
and followed the wall instead. An elevator appeared, open, and ready for use. Babe went in and pressed the button for the
top floor, unable to stop himself from imagining how
silly he must look. When it reached the
top, he stepped out to a completely different view. Robots were everywhere, walking back and
forth, running errands in and out of the room.
If they had been normal anthros and hadn't
been taking the things they held to humans, Babe would've sworn the place
looked exactly like an office building.
It made him wonder just how many floors were factory
and how many were like this. By
following some robots, he found his way to what looked like the executive's
office, and walked in. A chubby human
sat in his chair, busy scribbling on some paper and barely ever glancing
up. Babe activated his arm cannon and
aimed it at the human. "I wouldn't if I were you,
renegade. If you fire that cannon in
this room, not only will special lasers disintigrate
it before it reaches me, but those same lasers will turn on you and shred you
into small pieces. In here, I am perfectly
safe." Babe scowled. "You
really think you're safe? What makes you
think I'll stop myself from attacking you bodily?!!" "What?
Nothing except the electricity flowing through my
suit. If you touch me, your
circuits will fry. You'll be shocked with
over 100,000 volts of electricity, enough to power this entire building!" Shocked, Babe stood there, unsure what to
do. He thought and thought, but no
matter how hard he tried, nothing came to mind on how to attack the human who
sat before him. He glanced around the
room, hoping for inspiration to strike.
Babe smiled. "Okay, so I can't touch YOU.
Let's see what happens when I do THIS!!!!!!!!" He shot at a spot on the ceiling. It hit without making a single thing shoot
back at him. Encouraged, Babe continued
to fire at the ceiling, bringing down more and more. The human looked up at the ceiling and
blanched. An alarm sounded as he got out
of his chair and ran to the exit. Babe
smiled and shot at the door right as he went through it, making parts of it
collapse on top of him. Another shot
killed the human. Babe left and walked
through the building, destroying robots as he went. That was all it took to scare the humans out
of the building. When he was sure they
were all out, he blasted a hole in the floor and fell through, letting his
speed force him through more and more ceilings.
He stopped and flew out of a broken window to see how far he'd gone
down. He was two floors away from the
main floor, where the last humans were running out. Babe went in and started destroying the
machinery, blasting away with everything he had. There was soon only one machine left. Warning. Switching to secondary
power source. Babe
smiled. He'd finally used up a lot of
power. The next two shots destroyed the
last machine. Babe glanced at the ground
as it started moving. It felt like it
was swaying back and forth, wobbling. "It's coming down..." He started for the door to see Aaron walking
in. "Aaron,
what are you doing?!!!! Get out before
the building collapses!!!!!!!!!!"
Aaron turned a frightened gaze to him.
"You--you mean you brought
this entire building down by--by yourself?!!!!!!!!!!!" "Get going!!!!!!!!!" Babe started ramming into him, carrying him
as the building rumbled. They got out of
the building and Babe flew to a far away part of the city, putting Aaron down
only when he was sure he wouldn't get caught in the blast.
"THAT'S going to
impress a few anthros!" He said as he set down the napalm rifle. "No
one except us'll know about all the stuff below the
building. Too bad Babe didn't try to
find a way down. We could've seen him
sooner." "Hey. He still has to destroy the ammunitions
factory here. We can celebrate AfTER that thing ends up like this
one." The two of them hurried
out of the building and went straight for the ammunitions factory on the other
side of the city. "Hey, I think Babe might already be there. There isn't another robot except him in side
the city! Seems they
were all called out to help with the battle!" Both smiled at that. More anthros had
believed in him than they'd thought!
They found him with a griffin, who was then trying to get out of his
grip. They could hear what the anthro
was saying from where they stood, out of sight.
"You don't understand! My FRIENDS are all there!!!! I can't let them get killed!!!!!!" "Stay here and I'll bring them!! Do you think I WANT to kill them?!!! Just stay here! I can bring back two at a time!" "You won't be fast enough!!!!!!!!! They have families there!!!!!!!!!" They watched Babe fly off, back in the
direction of the factory. "Now?" "Now."
They shot into the sky after Babe.
----