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WarioMan3K · #6 Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 3:32 am

Chapter 5: Shiver me timbers! The freezing White Glacier!

[Stage BGM: White Glacier (Bomberman 64)]

While Wario, Mona, Yumi, Kat, and Ana were dealing with their own agendas in the Blue Resort and Red Mountain, Ami and I have descended into the snowy mountains of the White Glacier alongside Bill and Lance, each with our jackets on. Even then, they would only keep us warm for so long...at least until we ascend higher and get out of the cold wind.

"Hey guys, I don't mean to sound obvious," said Bill, "but since we're in this very cold place, there's likely to be an ice boss at the end."

Ami and I had pondered what Bill just pointed out. "Hmm...I think I recall this world." I said. "We're in the White Glacier, but I can't seem to remember who that boss was..."

Ami added, "Maybe Sirius would know, if we can find him. We've still got to get our memories back."

"Let's press on and see what we find." Lance said. "Watch for the Robot Masters that we fought earlier." Ami was about to turn on her Bomberman Watch, when I suddenly placed my hand over it.

"Ami, wait! I'll tell you when to turn it on. It could be essential to our survival against the ice boss."

"In other words, don't waste its energy until then." Ami looked down, before looking at me eye-to-eye. "I got it."

Henceforth, we pressed on without relying on Ami's Bomberman Watch. Two power-up pods came by; Bill and Lance had "finally!" looks on their faces, and shot down the pods without delay. Bill picked up the Crash Missiles, while Lance acquired the Flamethrower, which was useful for melting the icy foes. We climbed up the snowy mountain, taking care not to set off an avalanche we might see. Sooner or later, we saw Sirius standing around. When we called out to him, he turned his attention away from looking at the horizon.

"Hi, guys." Sirius said. "So, you want to know something about me?"

"Hmm…we sure do." I said. Come to think of it, I'm beginning to recall something about him. Ouch, my head hurts just thinking about all this...

Ami wondered what I was thinking about, before turning her attention back to the golden warrior himself. "Sirius, why have you come to Earth? Surely there's a real reason..."

Sirius paused for a moment, but answered anyway. "As a matter of fact, there is a reason. Long ago...my home planet was destroyed by Altair. I fought him myself, but he proved too much with Vega, the personal attack drone, at his side. In other words, I was unable to even scratch - let alone defeat - him. In the end, he killed my brother and sister."

We all had saddened looks on our faces. "That's sad..." said Bill.

"I know; it sucks. And since then, I've been searching for a hero...or at least a few, in your case, who could defeat him, and return peace to the universe. That's why I'm here...Although, this reason may be troubling you guys, my reason for helping you is not an honorable one. I'm in this for revenge!"

Lance nodded with his eyes closed. "I see...well, see ya." Before he could walk off with me, Ami, and Bill, Sirius called out to us once more.

"Wait! Before you go, I have to warn you: When you make it all the way to the top of the White Glacier, approach Mantis, the ice spider, with extreme caution. Those who were lucky enough to have survived the encounter called her the Cold Killer..." With that, we moved on again, but it wasn't long before Napalm Man and Dust Man intercepted us nearby a crane, which marked the exit.

[End BGM]
[Fight BGM: Boss (Mega Man 3)]

Napalm Man aimed his cannons at us. "Not so fast, you four! You have to get past us first!"

Dust Man readied his vacuum-like device atop his head. "Yeah! In fact, you'll all pay big-time for humiliating us! Tell us where the two ninja brats are, and we'll reduce the pain we're about to inflict on you."

"As if we'll ever tell you bolt-buckets anything!" shouted Bill.

"Now get out of our way." Lance warned. "You know you can't win." Then he turned his attention towards me and Ami, who weren't armed with machine guns like him and Bill. "Aaron, Ami, we'll distract Napalm Man and Dust Man. You get to the top and kill Mantis the Cold Killer!"

"Got it!" I acknowledged. "Get ready, Ami!"

Ami nodded, as she turned on her Bomberman Watch. "I'm with you, Aaron! We are Contras!"

While Ami and I ran off towards the crane to ascend higher, the two other Contras fought hard against Napalm Man and Dust Man, while avoiding the deadly attacks. One hit would take away the current weapons they have on their machine guns. Dust Man tried sucking them in with his vacuum head, but Bill damaged him really good with his Crash Missiles, since the blue missiles themselves do explode on contact like in Contra III: The Alien Wars. Meanwhile, Napalm Man fired one Napalm Bomb after the other, but Lance quickly set them all off with his Flamethrower. He even took care to side-jump any incoming Napalm Bombs he couldn't set off in time. Sooner or later, the two Robot Masters were forced to call it quits.

"Nooo!" Napalm Man cried. "Those guys are too strong for us! Altair isn't gonna like this..."

[End BGM]

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[Boss BGM: Masker (Bomberman 64)]

Meanwhile, at a snowy arena, Ami and I were locked in battle against the third of Altair's loyal subordinates. "So, do you have what it takes to stand up to Regulus of the Masked Trio?"

"We do, Regulus."

"Heh, heh. You've both got guts, that's for sure." Regulus flashed with a golden aura momentarily. "Ready?" He charged forth, but Ami and I just barely dodged it with a side-jump. He did the same move again, only now, he ran around the arena to make mirages of himself, to throw us off. We could only look around and attack haphazardly, until we became dizzy enough for Regulus to surprise us with a headbutt.

"You're Aaron and Ami of the so-called 'Four Contras' I've just heard about from Altair's spies?" mocked the blue warrior. "What a joke!"

Ami wasn't fazed by his words one bit. "Don't ever underestimate what we can do!" She threw her bomb at Regulus to stun him, and followed up with a pumped-up bomb to inflict damage.

"Thanks, Ami." I smiled.

"No problem, Aaron." Ami and I took Regulus together after having learned his attack pattern, and eventually defeated him. Ami, on the other hand, turned off her Bomberman Watch to conserve its time of usage.

Regulus, battered, got up to call it a draw. "Urgh...Not bad. I underestimated you two. However, you've upset me. Prepare to meet your fate!" He then flew all the way out of the White Glacier.

[End BGM]

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[Stage BGM: Iceberg (Donkey Kong (Game Boy))]

Before Ami and I could even ponder Regulus's last words, Bill and Lance arrived on the scene. Despite the disappointed looks on their faces, they were glad we survived the battle. With the four of us together again, we pressed on as we took the crane farther to the top. We're no longer on a snow mountain; this time on a slippery icy floor. It was difficult to proceed, but with careful steps, we managed to avoid falling off. On the other side, we activated the switch, and got back to the start, where the crane was turned on. We got onboard, and entered Mantis' lair.

Bill was a little concerned about the current situation in Diamond City. "I know I should've asked Mona a little earlier, but who's looking after 9-Volt while she's with us and the others?"

"Mona had Penny Crygor look after him for her." I answered.

Ami piped up. "Believe me, 9-Volt told me that Mona's like a big sister to him, the one he never had...it's a shame that he's the only child in his family."

"Same thing for 18-Volt being like a big brother to 9-Volt," said Lance, "despite not being related to each other." Before we could address the situation further, a hissing sound was heard from above.

[End BGM]
[Boss BGM: Bloody Storm (Contra III: The Alien Wars)]

"Uh-oh!" Ami gasped, turning on her Bomberman Watch again. "Here comes Mantis, the Cold Killer!"

"Crap!" I shouted. "Evasive maneuvers, everyone!"

Mantis crashed down on the icy floor, knocking us off our feet momentarily. Just then, Sirius flew by, and gave Ami the Remote Bomb item before flying away. Back to the current situation at hand, Mantis began attacking by swiping her icy scythes at us, but we barely avoided getting ripped apart. However, it was difficult for us to dodge without getting hurt as well as inflict damage, due to the icy floor. Bill and Lance melted the scythes with their guns, while Ami and I inflicted damage on Mantis by breaking her mask off. The ice spider then spat out baby spiders to fend us off, but Bill and Lance squashed them by jumping on them, Super Mario Bros. style.

Mantis grew angry, and hissed before breaking the floor apart with her burnt scythe arms, sending all of us tumbling below to a webbed floor with holes on it. Then she slammed us around with her arms in an effort to push us off to our deaths. With another hard slam, Ami and I were shoved off, barely holding on to the ledge for dear life.

"Hold on, Ami!" I grunted. "Don't die on me!"

"I can't!" Ami grunted, too. "It looks like this is the end for us!"

"Not today!" said Bill and Lance, regaining their consciousness and pulling us to safety. Mantis tried one last time to knock us off the webbed arena, before we finally defeated her. With her last shriek, the Cold Killer shrunk to the size of a normal spider before disintegrating. We won the battle, got out via Ami's microphone whip, and called Kaz to pick us up.

[End BGM]

Now that all 4 bosses and anchors are destroyed, the force field guarding the Black Fortress disappeared, leaving it open to attack. Wario, Mona, Kat, Ana, Ami, Yumi, Bill, Lance, and I are finally reunited, and we were free to take on Altair at any time...

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[Interlude BGM: Ganon's Message (The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past)]

Meanwhile, at the Black Fortress, Altair was very displeased at our success. "WHAT? The 4 anchors were destroyed?"

Regulus stood tall, despite getting yelled at. "And that's not the half of it, Altair sir! Artemis and Orion are KIA, and our base is vulnerable to invasion!"

"Regulus, alert all troops to maximum security alert! I'll deal with the four Robot Masters at once!"

Regulus saluted. "Yes, sir!"

While Regulus ran off to alert the rest of the troops, Altair went to the beaten Robot Masters, and berated them for failing twice. "Blast, blast, BLAST, BLAST! You idiots bungled it again!"

"Sorry again, boss." said Quick Man. "The meddling Earthlings were stronger than before, even though they split up to different places like we did."

"Yeah," cried Needle Man, "and they pulverized us like we were not a threat at all!"

Altair was annoyed at the robots' sniveling. "You'll be sorrier! Zap them, Vega!"

Dust Man gasped. "No! Not your mech ship, Vega!"

Napalm Man, on the other hand, begged for mercy. "Please don't zap us! Anything but that!"

Vega floated towards the reprogrammed Robot Masters, and zapped them without mercy. Then Altair stepped forth to give them one last warning: "One more chance is all you get! If you bungle it one more time, you know the price for failure..."

With the Black Fortress eventually alerted to maximum security level, it would prove difficult for us to pull through! Will we succeed in defeating Altair and discovering the source of our amnesia? And is this our final battle? Only time will tell!

[End BGM]

TO BE CONTINUED...