Chapter 4: Meltdown

With a snap of her fingers, Bleu transformed her appearance to that of an Outlaw. With another snap, she turned Robo blue. "See? This is better than sneaking in. This way, we'll just walk right in and take a skimmer. Just leave all the talking to me."

Exiting the forest, they began walking toward Choras. The clouds had gathered again, and it was now pouring. Bleu shielded them from it with a spell.

"Stop! Halt there! What are you doing coming from those woods?"

"We were searching for the fugitives, sir," Bleu answered smoothly. "However, my companion here suffered severe injuries during the search and I'm taking him back to Medina."

"Robots are repaired in Geno Dome, not Medina."

"Right." Bleu didn't even blink. "So anyway, I need a skimmer to get there. Can you direct me to some currently unused ones?"

The Hench pointed to Choras's docks. "There. The good citizens of Choras won't be using those for a while," he chuckled.

"Thank you, sir." Bleu nodded. She and Robo headed for the docks.

"Sadistic creep," she muttered under her breath. "Ah, here's a good one. You fly it. You do know how, don't you?"

"Of course. But why don't you want to?"

"Because I need a little nap," she replied as she climbed into the passenger seat. Yawning, she removed the disguise spell. She relished the looks of shock and outrage on the faces of the Mystics who were watching. Smiling, she closed her eyes and went to sleep as they took off.

"You WHAT?!" Jade shrieked. "You let them just walk by you?! What kind of an idiot are you?!"

The Hench cowered. "Forgive me, O Great One. I didn't know it was them. They were in disguise. I couldn't tell."

"You moron! Didn't it even occur to you that they might have hidden their true forms?! Everyone knows that we Mystics can do that! Bleu's half-Mystic and she can do that! On account of your utter stupidity, I hereby declare you unfit to be called a Mystic! YOU ARE FIRED!"

Robo tapped Bleu's shoulder. "Bleu, wake up. We're there."

She yawned. "Wha...? Don't wake me up until we're there."

"We ARE there, or here, whatever."

"Oh. Well then, let's break in, shall we?"

The door wasn't guarded, so they got in pretty easy. Robo entered the code to open the next door, and they walked up to get on the conveyor belt. That's when the trouble started.

The conveyor was loaded with enemies. Bleu attacked with her sword at first, Robo with his laser weapons. Then the robots surrounded them.

"Bleu, what do we do?" Robo yelled over the din of clashing metal.

"Leave it to me!" she shouted back.

Sheathing her sword, she cast Ice 2, then Lightning 2. "Robo, now!" she yelled. They teamed up to cast Super Volt. The enemies were completely annihilated. But then more showed up just before the end. Bleu and Robo cast Max Cyclone, wiping out the robots.

Bleu wiped the sweat off her forehead as they arrived at the end of the conveyor. "Now what do we do?" she asked.

"We have to get to the central computer and shut down the Mother Brain and the other robots," he replied. "I know the way."

They snuck through the halls and found... a big locked door blocking the way to the computer. "And now I suppose we float through?" Bleu asked dryly. Robo shook his head.

"It's not supposed to be like this," he said in a puzzled voice. "Usually it's open. What could have happened? Something's not right here." He walked around, trying to figure out a way in.

Suddenly his sharp eyes spotted two pedestals on either side of the door. "Ah, of course! That's it!" he exclaimed. "It's the automatic security system that activates when Mother isn't here. We must find two Poyozo dolls and place them on the pedestals. Miss Bleu, this way!"

He led Bleu to where a locked door waited to be opened. Robo charged it, and they entered to find the first figurine inside. Bleu stuffed it in her bag and they continued on.

As they left the room, a smooth female voice spoke to them.

"Hello, Prometheus."

They looked around, but no one was there. The voice laughed.

"Ah, silly Prometheus. Did you really think you could escape me? Yes, that's right; it's Mother."

"How did she --" Bleu whispered, but was cut off by the Mother Brain laughing again.

"I am far ahead of you, children. I knew you would try to come here and stop me, Prometheus. So I came back to wait for you. I placed extra guards on the conveyor. But I must admit, I had no idea you'd bring help. But no matter. You will not reach me, and you will not stop me, or this war. Goodbye, Prometheus."

Several robot guards suddenly appeared before them and started attacking. But Bleu cast Dark Matter, and they vanished.

Making their way down and around, they found another robot guarding the last doll. No matter what, it wouldn't budge. It just kept getting in their way, and their spells, even Black Hole, didn't seem to have any effect on it.

"Well, this is just great," Bleu grumbled. "A dead end. Got any ideas?"

"Actually, I do," Robo said. "I think the computer we passed back there can tell us something about this."

Robo accessed the information files in the computer. It told them to find another robot to distract the guard. It also told them where to find the robot. They quickly found it and placed it in front of the guard, causing it to malfunction. Then they moved on.

But before they could put the figurines in their places, they were stopped by a pink robot.

"Atropos!" Robo exclaimed. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in Porre!"

"Mother brought me back here. She knew you were coming, so she wanted me to guard this place. She told me to do anything I had to to prevent you from ruining her plans." Atropos assumed a fighting stance. "Anything at all."

Robo knew at once that his girlfriend had been reprogrammed by the Mother Brain. With a horrid sense of deja vu, he stepped forward and shook his head.

"Atropos, no. You won't. You don't want to," he said, trying to appeal to some part of her, some chip that remembered.

"Oh, don't I?" she taunted him. "Mother told me what you did, how you betrayed her, betrayed us." She looked disdainfully at Bleu. "How you joined up with this half-breed traitor."

If she was hoping to get a rise out of Bleu, she was out of luck. The young magician just shrugged. She was so used to disparaging remarks about her heritage, they didn't even bother her anymore.

"Atropos, please!" Robo took another step forward. "You don't know what you're saying, what you're doing. This isn't you. If you just let us by, we can stop this stupid war and reprogram you."

"Let me think. No!" Atropos punched Robo, sending him flying. Getting up, he walked toward his girlfriend. He knew what he must do. It was the only way. He just wished he didn't have to.

Bleu drew her sword and started forward, but Robo stopped her. "No, Bleu," he said in a sad, quiet voice. "This is my fight. I must do this... alone." Bleu started to say something, but decided against it. Instead she nodded silently, and, sheathing her sword, stepped back.

And so, Robo's war of the heart began. He used all his might to defeat Atropos, who seemed to be stronger now. He used Uzi Punch, Shock, and Robo-Tackle until she finally broke down.

"Prometheus?" she said weakly, looking at him with confusion. "What happened. I..." She paused, then continued. "Oh... now I remember. Mother reprogrammed me. Oh, Prometheus, I'm so sorry."

Robo shook his head. "It's okay," he said sadly.

"No it's not," she replied. "I hurt you. Oh... Here, take my ribbon. Don't forget me. Goodbye, P.r.o.m.e.t.h.e.u.s..."

For a moment Robo just stood there, holding the ribbon. Then he attached it to himself and walked toward the door. Bleu followed, and placed the figures on the pedestals. The door slid open and they walked in to meet the Mother Brain.

She appeared almost as soon as they entered. "So, you beat Atropos?" she asked, not looking very surprised. "She must have been useless, if she couldn't beat YOU."

"Take it back," Robo said in a deadly voice. She burst out laughing.

"So, now you're giving ME orders, Prometheus? I think not. Come, let's see what you and your new friend have got, shall we?" Robo had no objections to this, and neither did Bleu.

They first used their own weapons. Then they started using magic and Techs. They teamed up for Ice Tackle, Super Volt, and Double Bomb. Then Bleu cast Dark Matter to finish the malevolent matriarch while Robo destroyed the computers behind her.

"Prometheus... why?!" she wailed as she shut down for the final time. The Geno Dome began to shake as it self-destructed, and Bleu quickly warped them out.

Outside the wreckage, Robo just stood and stared at it, holding Atropos's ribbon. Stepping forward, Bleu tentatively touched his metallic shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asked quietly, knowing it was the wrong question.