Hours later, Roll, through her usual means of hacking and back door information gathering, told the group what they were up against.

“Apparently, the NSG has caught onto our search for Dr Genesis, and are ramping up their own efforts to recover him before we do. Or kill him, if need be. They’ve deployed several of their top agents to various NSG intelligence bureaus all over the neutral world, presumably to personally oversee search parties, but probably to get a jump on us as well.”

“Uh, question.”, Erik raised his hand, as if he were in school. Not that a cyborg would know what that’s like. “Do you know why they haven’t attacked us here yet?”

“I know why.”, Cutsan spoke up from the back of the group.

“…Do tell.”, Leon mumbled.

“New Center City is still on good terms with Eastern Asia, and it has to remain that way since they’re still dependant on this region for a few things. An attack on their soil would really damage that relationship, and the NSG knows that.”

“So, this is a political thing?”, Ben shot.

 “Pure and simple.”, Hayasa explained.

“Never thought I’d be happy for diplomacy still existing.”, Gary quipped. “So, I guess our main priority is to get Genesis before they do, right?”

“Yes, but we’re all out of leads. Genesis is proving to be a more difficult man to track down than I had imagined.”, Roll reminded her kin.

“I think it’s time we pay these ‘intelligence bureaus’ a visit. What do you say, guys?”, Gary sneered.

Elecman nodded in approval, signifying the start of a guerrilla war against the Neo Shinsengumi.

“Somehow…”, Roll sighed, “I knew that’d be your first choice. That’s why I took the liberty of tracking down the most prominent bureaus.”

“Good. Do we have any names for who’s stationed at these places? Might help us out.”, Leon questioned.

“No, I couldn’t get that info. It didn’t even appear to have been entered into the system, but I have found evidence of major deployment at these places.”, the slender dress-wearing scientist answered.

“We’ll probably be dealing with lower-rung agents. They’ll always keep their highest ranking agents closest to New Center.”, Hayasa noted.

“Huh? Why’s that?”, Rich asked.

“To keep an eye on them.”, she smirked slightly.

“Any ideas on who they’d send, then?”, Fireman followed up.

Cutsan thought for second. “The Sleek Squad.”

“’Sleek Squad’? The hell kinda name is that for a group a’ killers, huh?”, Bombman snickered.

“They’re goons. They’re mostly early experiments that barely made the grade into the NSG. The higher ranking agents called them the Sleek Squad out of jest, since they were a bunch of misfits. Still, they’re dangerous, even for lower ranking agents- they have a lot of destructive power. More than they realize.”

“Hmm…So, who’s on this goon squad, then?”, Erik thought.

“Granite was on that ‘team’, but if Elecman is right, he’s not going to be a problem. The other three are Edward Dashing, Gaurava Vaish, and Friedrich Tkachovsky. Dashing is a one trick pony, an experiment in pushing the human body’s limits on speed. ‘Stretch’ Vaish is probably going to be more of a threat, since he’s more-well versed in actual fighting- he can stretch his limbs thanks to mechanical implants.

…And then there’s Tkachovsky: the “Rabid Flare”. I don’t know much about him, actually. I’ve never met him, but from what I’ve heard, he’s some sort of madman with all sorts of strange problems. If the rumors are true, he’ll be the most difficult to deal with.”, Cutsan ran down.

“Sounds fantastic.”, Fireman said dryly.

“Also…”, Hayasa began to add, “they’ve no doubt deployed a hitokiri by now.” Cutsan seemed to show a bit of concern when she said this.

“Wait, there’s another hitokiri? Like you?”, Leon scowled.

“No, not like me. There were two of us. The other one, Amanullah Maro, is in a completely different league than the Sleek Squad. He may or may not be on par with me.”

“…Greaaaaat.”, Bombman tossed his arms up. “Whazzo scary about this guy?”

“…He’s called the Scorpion. He hides beneath the surface in wait, and kills his target in ruthless efficiency.”

“Much like yourself.”, Leon frowned.

“…Yes.”, Cutsan reluctantly agreed.

“So…is that it? That’s what we’re up against?”, Erik asked for confirmation.

“In all likelihood, yes. I doubt the others will be deployed just yet.”, the steel-eyed assassin said.

“Well, that’s a little comforting. But, we still have to remain focused here. Our objective is Genesis, first and foremost. We only fight these agents if we absolutely have to, understood?”, Elecman announced, putting emphasis on the last word.

“Sir, yessir!”, Rich screamed. Then promptly threw up in his mouth a little.

“Alright…Let’s assign teams. We need to cover as much ground as we can all at once.”

Twenty minutes later, the Tetsu Roku, fully armored for the first time in a decade, deployed to various points of interest around the globe. The time for business was at hand once again.

* * * * 

“Man…This place brings back some bad memories, huh?”, Bombman said seconds after “landing” in Sao Paolo, Brazil after teleportation.

“You’re not kidding.”, Gutsman agreed, remembering the last time he and the other Roku members were in this city. “Let’s try and not end up in the same situation again.”

“Ey, it’s all in their court now. C’mon…Let’s go find that office or wha ever th’ hell it is.”

“Bureau.”, Erik corrected.

Erik took a moment to look over his old comrade’s battle attire, as if it was a separate friend altogether. Significantly smaller than the hulking Gutsman, Bombman definitely looked more like a SWAT team member, with a bulky protective vest riddled with extra bombs and grenades. A sandy camouflage pattern adorned most of his armor, with a plain looking helmet crowning it all, a rather haunting hand painted smile adorning the lower half of the face plate. It was something you learned to expect from a man like Rich.

The two wouldn’t have far to travel before they found themselves at the front gate of the New Center City Intelligence Bureau. The building itself was unremarkable, a grey brick and mortar structure with an old iron fence that kept the riff raff at bay. It was nestled between two smaller buildings, likely small businesses. Erik hoped they had insurance.

“So…Whassa plan, chief? Wanna just crash in like normal, or should we settle this diplahmatically?”

Erik answered by stepping forward and brushing the metal fence out of his path with a smooth motion, like a child tearing a page from its coloring book.

“Hehehe! Hoo, yeah! Back ta normal already!”, Rich proclaimed as he shoved a 40 millimeter grenade into his launcher.

“Don’t get it wrong, Bomb. We’re not here to fight. We’re only taking the direct approach because we’re on a time limit. Try to not go bat shit insane like you usually do.”, Gutsman warned.

“No promises.”, was all Bombman said in response as he fired the grenade into the side of the building.

For a moment, Erik could have sworn Rich had stopped slurring for that last line, and he heard the cunning voice he knew from ten years ago. He shrugged it off and charged into the building.

However, seconds after Gutsman disappeared into the dust storm, he was launched straight back out and into the small courtyard, narrowly missing the distracted Bombman, who was busy reloading.

“Hey! Watch where yer flyin’, ya friggin’ jerk!”, he screamed, not really stopping to think about what sent his half ton partner rocketing out of the building.

“Ha…It would appear that some people really don’t learn at all.

The two Tetsu Roku alumni peered through the dust for the source of the new voice, a distinct British dialect piercing every word.

“Heads up, chief. Looks like we’ve got ourselves the level boss already.”, Rich whispered to Erik, whom was still trying to sit up from a blindingly fast kick to the jaw.

“The Sinister Six…I’ve always dreamt of the day where’d I’d get to meet you…and surely beat you.”

The man stepped out of the shadows of the dusty maelstrom, revealing the source of the arrogant remarks. By all accounts, he appeared to be absolutely normal, an example of mediocrity at it’s finest. He was wearing a simple black track suit that covered his equally unassuming body, and his face was easily forgettable. His sandy brown hair was kept in a buzz cut, and a cock sure sneer streaked his face as he put his hands to his hips and stuck out his chest.

“…Ugh…You must be Eddie Dashing, judging by the speed of that kick.”, Gutsman accused as he stood up.

“You would be right, though I’ll correct you- my name’s Edward, not Eddie. I’m not some simple gutter trash to be taken lightly.”

“Fine, fine…Let’s get the introductions outta th’ way. Hi Eddie, I’m Bombman, this is Gutsman, and this here…is mah boom stick!”, Bombman yelled as he launched another explosive round towards Dashing.

Dashing was apparently caught off guard and didn’t have time to dodge, as he was seemingly engulfed by the blast all at once. Yet again, the building behind the blast suffered, as the remainder of the previously damaged wall finally gave away and collapse

Erik waved his arms around to clear away the dust.

“…’Boom stick’?”, he asked after a few seconds.

“Well…yeah. I’m not really that good at improv. Besides, ain’t ya never seen Army a’ Darkn-ughhh!”

Rich’s explaination was cut short by a sharp blow to the spine right between his shoulder blades, sending him careening into the building in a particularly violent fashion. Just the way he rolled was enough to make Erik cringe. He turned around to meet Bombman’s attacker, a very much alive Edward Dashing, only to be greeted by another brutal kick to the stomach, followed by a spinning back kick so fast that Erik didn’t even see Dashing’s back.

This time, Gutsman remained on his feet, and almost in a single, fluid motion brought forth his giant fist towards the annoying little gnat. By then, Dashing was long gone, now standing behind Gutsman with a single leg raised in traditional Mui Thai style.

“Gyeh…And you were supposed to be an easy one.”, Erik remarked aloud.

“Hahaha…And who told you that? Hayasa, I assume? She may have been right as of a few days ago, but all agents have had a bit of a tune up since she left. We knew we’d have some trouble with you punks eventually, and we’re prepared for it.”

“Great.”, Gutsman remarked, mimicking his brother Ben’s dryness.

“A giant slug such as you has no right to battle such a fine balance of power and speed in myself. I’ll end you two quick, then reclaim Dr Genesis for New Center.

“He knows where Genesis is?”, Erik thought to himself. “In that case, we’ve got to beat him fast and get that info immediately before he has a chance to use it.”

Gutsman roared and shoved his entire forearm into the ground in front of him, then dragged it around his body in a circular fashion, kicking up even more dust. Dashing leapt backward to avoid being blinded with an eyeful of dirt.

“You bloody brute! Do you really think I’d allow myself to be beaten by such an amateur’s trick?”

It wasn’t until he saw the massive chunk of earth rise from the top of the dust cloud that Dashing realized that Gutsman was merely creating something to crush him with. He watched it rear backward for a moment, then launch itself forward like a one ton discus. Dashing had no trouble in dodging the incoming projectile with ease and grace to spare, but he was starting to get a face full of dust and debris, as well as another familiar feeling.

Dashing started a half hearted run, which was easily in excess of fifty miles an hour, he reached into the pocket of his black athletic wear and produced a small energy bar, which he ravenously devoured. As an early experiment in cybernetics, Edward had his share of side effects, one such being that he now had a hyper accelerated metabolism that demanded energy every few minutes. Another glaring weakness could be found in one of his strengths- his core. His heart, lungs, and stomach were all removed in favor of a single unit that performed the functions of his vital organs in a far more efficient manner. Actually, it worked too efficiently, hence his constant hunger pangs. It was also partially exposed under his shirt, due to it’s bulk, making an obvious target.

Once his energy bar was devoured, Edward crouched for a second whilst avoiding the barrage of rocks that Gutsman was lobbing and took to the air in a magnificent bound, with the heel of his foot headed straight for the center of Gutsman’s forehead. Perhaps Gutsman wasn’t able to react in time, or maybe he didn’t even get the chance to see Dashing take off, but whatever the case, Erik barely managed to avoid the blow, which found it’s mark on his shoulder.

Despite the heavy armor plating, the sheer force of this kick managed to severely hamper Gutsman’s shoulder muscles. He felt a warm feeling amidst the excruciating pain, which more than likely meant he was bleeding from that area. His finger tips grew cold and distant within mere seconds, meaning his body had shut down that limb already to allow his bloodstream’s nanomachines to work their magic.

Be it combat high or just a stubborn will, Erik refused to scream or even acknowledge his injury by clutching it. Instead, he leveled his good arm with his landing foe and unleashed a volley of machine gun fire, sending Dashing into yet another courtyard sprint. More dust and dirt from the poorly maintained yard was being stirred now than every before, and the two combatants soon lost sight of one another, though Erik could hear Dashing running still.

The footsteps were suddenly interrupted by a gigantic “bang”, accompanied by a scream from Dashing. With his thermal vision activated, Erik could see what had happened and reacted appropriately. He stepped to the side and stuck out his arm, which the now-one-legged Dashing crashed into throat first at two hundred miles an hour. Dashing’s larynx became a gruesome smear on the rusty red paint on Gutsman’s arm. His head, now completely separated from his tumbling, ragdoll-like body, continued forward in an upward arc before it was introduced to the remaining iron fencing, which minced the flying cranium into three neatly sliced partitions before the two seconds of carnage had finished.

Erik sighed. Killing wasn’t his thing, but this was one of those exceptions he had to make. He knew that as he watched Bombman quietly start laying mines while he created that first dust cloud that Dashing wasn’t going to survive, so Erik simply decided to work within Rich’s plan by creating a diversion in hopes of ending it as painlessly as possible. Somehow, that plan went awry.

“Dude…That was friggin’ sweet.”, Bombman touted as he pointed at the bloody pile that was Dashing’s head. “This really is like old times, man.”

“Just…be quiet, Bomb.”, Gutsman said as he shook the red chunks of goo from his forearm. Bombman shrugged behind him and the two entered the now severely damaged bureau

“Weird…I woulda thought this place woulda had a coupla hundred guys tryin’ ta kill us, at least. Not just one goon.”, Bombman remarked as the two investigated the strangely silent building.

“…Something’s up.” was all Gutsman said

Bombman literally looked upwards for a second before catching himself. “Er…Yeah. I think so too.

“Let’s just find the computer lab and start looking for info. Every second in here makes me feel a little more on edge.”

After a few more moments, the two finally came across the equally empty computer work area, where several monitors were left on. Erik removed his gloves in order to type, and a quick search led him to the file on Genesis.

“Hmm…If the dates are accurate, there’s a search team out there right now at these coordinates”, Erik read.

“Then what about chopped liver our there? Why didn’t they take ‘im and leave ah few guards instead?”, Rich asked.

“It doesn’t say, but that was probably more Dashing’s ego than anything logical. That guy was here waiting for us to show up so he could fight us. Non-fighting staff probably bolted when the fight started. In any case…It appears that these guys haven’t found anything worthwhile in weeks, and they’re just re-checking one of Genesis’s known hideouts for completeness’s sake. I doubt we’re going to find anything out there.”

“…Shit…This was just a chicken hunt.”, Bombman frowned beneath his helmet.

“Well, just to be sure, help me pack up a few of these CPUs quickly. Maybe Roll will find something useful on them after all.”

“Whatever you say, man.”, Rich accepted.

The pair of cyborgs quickly tore three computers from their resting places and headed back out to the courtyard. In the distance they could see the returning search party, which by now was running at full speed in reaction to the obvious damage done to the bureau. By the time they would arrive, the only signs of the office’s attackers would be footprints and the remainders of two bright white beams of light that escaped to the heavens. A few soldiers pondered what the mess of greasy red chunks laying in front of the fence was
 

Chapter 13 Extras- Edward Dashing

Original Name: Edward Mitchell Thurston (Changed his surname to Dashing upon joining the NSG)
Specialized In: High Speed Hand to Hand Combat
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 162 LBS
Last Known Residence: New Center City, Antarctica
DOB: 2/3/2011
 

Edward Thurston was born to middle class parents in Liverpool, England at the time when Dr Light’s robots were first becoming integrated into modern society. He would come to idolize these androids, given their science fiction-like nature, and he joined the UN Army in hopes gaining at least some recognition as a hero, like his childhood idol, Rockman.

However, his tendency towards disobeying orders and out right arrogant behavior soon landed him far from the front lines in the fight against the HTF. He was regulated to be a pencil pusher, that is, until New Center City’s take over of the UN Army. Edward jumped at the chance to join the Neo Shinsengumi and realize his dream, and he volunteered for the cybernetic research test subject position.

As a result, he became a high speed machine whom took the name Dashing, due to it’s super heroic flare. Still retaining his arrogance, Edward grew to hate the “fake heroes”, the Tetsu Roku, and longed for the chance to fight them. He studied various martial arts, such as Tae Kwon Do and Mui Thai, feeling that he would achieve true factory without weapons.

His body was modified through several surgeries that completely changed his life. Most of his inner organs have been removed in favor of a machine that processes energy much more efficiently and quickly. Though it demands food on an almost constant basis, Dashing accepts it as necessary sacrifice. His limbs have been cybernetically enhanced to take advantage of this excess energy, and he claims to be able to reach a top speed of three hundred miles and hour at full stride.

If you haven't figured it out, Edward Dashing is my R-E equivalent of Dashman of the Sleek Squad. Like Granite, I didn't want him to have the "-man" at the end of his name, since I wanted all villains to reflect a more serious nature than the original Megaman universe, as well as the S6 standard canon. I wasn't too keen on the Dashing name, since it's a bit too obvious, so I sort of covered my tracks by saying that Edward thought of it himself. Incidentally, the name "Edward" as it appears here is not to be taken as a reference to the former S6 member.

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