I lifted my Wii Remote, and prayed we'd get out of this alive.

You don't understand; when I said a massive wave of rats, I meant billions of rats. Forming a tsunami. Powerful enough to overtake the robot, and probably eat all of us alive in seconds, as if we had been dropped into a pool of piranhas.

The wave of rats hurtled toward us, and I instinctively(I did consider myself a gamer, after all) lifted the remote, and pushed the "A" button. A giant blue laser beam streaked out of the robot's palm, hitting the army of rats and freezing them on the spot.

But to the left and right of us, two more waves of rats threatened to hit us. I whirled around on the spot, and the robot responded- creating a similar massive whirling motion, and breaking the two waves of rats apart. The rats flew everywhere, hitting buildings and even smashing through windows all around us. I think I accidentally scraped a few buildings when I did my whirling attack; but at the time, I wasn't overly concerned about that.

Rats had been swarming the Cool Bot's feet, and a few had even got inside the room we were in- luckily Retina was there, or I probably would have inadvertently caused even more damage to city via the Cool Bot's "Real Time Control" in my attempt to defend myself ™.

Retina blasted the rats with her concussive beam. She wasn't trying to kill them, just hit them hard enough to stun them- which seemed to be working.

I pushed the "ZR" button on the back of my Wii Remote, and waves of cold energy began to pulse around me, freezing more of the rats and some of the buildings in the process.

Firebird flew around outside the robot, which I had no idea he could even do. Massive fiery wings had sprouted from his back, and bursts of flame flew off of them, onto the rats below. It hardly hit any of them; the fire itself seemed to instill some kind of primal fear in them and sent them scurrying back underground. I think that was probably his aim, but at the time I wasn't entirely sure.

The people of the city were taking refuge inside buildings, and several animal control trucks had arrived; but I doubt there was much they could do. There were even a few ambulances, and police cars, but they were being overtaken as well.

My movements became like clockwork. A wave of rats would appear, and I'd cool them into oblivion. The freeze beams were getting everywhere though, and some of the buildings were starting to collapse from the ice, making them more brittle... it's something that I really should have noticed.

Slowly, the rats were starting to recede. The near-freezing temperatures everywhere, combined with the random burst of fire flying at them seemed to be causing a lot of them to lose their nerve. After a few hours, there were very few in the streets.

Suddenly, a giant beam of energy streaked toward us from atop some random building to the northeast. It took out a chunk of the Cool Bot's abdomen, exposing us to the elements.

Then, a giant Rat with a crown on his head flew into the freshly-created hole in the robot. This time, he donned a jetpack and a bunch of random weapons strapped to a belt around his waist. I presumed that he got all of that from the Old Man's lab. "Behold! The Rat King!" He shouted at us, before an arm grabbed the back of his Royal Gown and pulled him out of the ship. Firebird had picked him up and was heading toward a nearby building, presumably to set him down there and start beating him up or something.

But, The Rat King reached into the assortment of weapons around his waist,(Some of which were falling off and plummeting toward the ground) and withdrew the Old Man's ray gun.

Rat King pressed the gun to Firebird's side, and fired. Gary let out a pained yell, before hurtling down toward the ground, like a plane that had been shot out of the sky. He also let go of Rat King, and the Royal Rat used that opportunity to power on his Jetpack and fly so that he was levitating directly in front of the Cool Bot.

When Gary hit the ground, he unfused with Cynder. The bird immediately got to work healing him, while I stared the Rat King down from within the robot.

He let out a cackle, and pushed a little button on a watch he was apparently wearing. "When did he get that?" I asked, mostly rhetorically. But from behind me, the Old Man answered the question. "Blast it... he got my Clone Watch. I never had much use for that thing.. when I first used it, all the copies of me began to wage war against each other, and my ex-wife never stopped making fun of me about that."

"They're not just illusions, then?" I asked him.

He looked at me strangely. "No, of course not. What good would illusions be?"

I ignored the question, and simply watched in horror as thousands of copies of Rat King came into existence, and all flew around the robot. They weren't illusions, but they didn't have a solid form either- they were made of some kind of strange blue energy. They started blasting the Cool Bot with their copies of the ray gun, their combined power making the giant robot shudder and shake. Evidently, that was what created the massive hole in the Cool Bot's abdomen- there was some kind of setting that increased the size and intensity of the laser.

I was doing my best to swat them away, and managed to get a few- but it was no use. Eventually, the robot sustained enough damage to where it simply began to collapse. When this happened, the clones all flew to other places around town, presumably attempting to finish what the rat army started.

Retina had been standing in front of the giant hole, firing at the Rat King, who was holding a giant rifle. The end of its barrel was pulsating with energy, as if it was charging. Rat King effortlessly flew out of the way of each of Retina's blasts.

Now, when the robot began to collapse, the backside of the room became... well, the floor, as the robot fell backward. Thinking on my feet, I dashed across the Robot's back, so I was positioned at an angle where I could clearly see The Rat King. The rifle appeared to be about to fire, and was now aimed directly at Retina. I reached out to my right, and my Spear quickly formed in my grasp. I swung myself around a couple times, building momentum, before releasing the spear- sending it streaking directly toward the Rat King's abdomen.

It seemed that he didn't expect me to do that, because he was fixated on hitting Retina first, since she was the first one to start firing at him. So the spear connected- and he dropped the weapon.

Then.. much like the situation with the Old Lady in the Super Suit, two things happened at the same time.

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First of all, the Cool Bot was apparently still responding to my movements. I thought it had completely deactivated, since it collapsed, but evidently I was wrong.. though it was falling apart, and those laser blasts earlier had caused damage all over the bot. So when I threw the spear, the robot made the same motion... and arm flew out of its socket from the sheer momentum. The arm hurtled directly toward where Firebird was laying, and threatened to crush him.

Just before the moment of impact, something hit the massive robot arm, and caused the whole thing to bust apart. Standing over Firebird, fist raised, having saved him from certain death, was Super Semicolon.

But at the time, I had barely registered this.

You see, the second thing that happened was the supercharged laser hit Retina. It had fallen in such a way that it still was poised to hit her- and it blasted a hole right through her midsection.

I rushed over to Retina, and... it was pretty bad. She was bleeding profusely, and her breathing was labored. "Retina! What... how..."

"You!" I shouted at the Old Man. "Do you have a phone? Please call 911." He did, luckily, and wasted no time doing so. I think he was about to say something snarky, but I didn't really have time to register what he was about to say.

The next thing I registered, was a fist.

Flying directly toward my face.

Despite wearing armor, the punch sent me flying. I somehow felt it through the armor.

Another punch hit me, even as I hurtled through the air- sending me crashing toward the ground.

Hard.

I staggered to my feet, and in an instant Super Semicolon stood in front of me. He was seething with rage. When he spoke, he seemed about to lose it.

"You. What have you done?" He asked, his voice calm, but unsettlingly shaky.

"I was trying to stop that-"

"You smashed 5 buildings. Dozens of people nearly froze to death. The phoenix man also nearly lost his life. That fancy bicycle-helmet woman might lose hers. Look around you. Do you seriously think you helped anyone by being here?"

I took a look around, and... well, it wasn't pretty. Pieces of buildings lie strewn all over the streets, like toys cast aside by a toddler. Many buildings were frozen over, and had massive holes in them, which I assumed Semicolon used for evacuation.

Cars were smashed, and... some pedestrians were as well. "D-did I kill those people?" I asked, my voice small and quiet.

"No. That was the handywork of that rat." Before saying anything else, I got punched in the stomach. He then spun around, and roundhouse kicked me into the partially-frozen building behind me.

I smashed through the brick from the force of his kick, but that might have been partially because it was all frozen as well.

I coughed, and staggered once more to my feet. He slowly walked toward me.

"W-why are you attacking me, then?" I asked him.

"From the time I saw you, you've done nothing but cause trouble. The jewelry store. That lady with the chicken. The little chicken robots caused dozens of casualties, and you didn't even bother to make sure that didn't happen. Here, you nearly destroyed the town yourself. And that costume looks ridiculous... As it stands, you fit my definition of a villain.. and whether you like it or not, you will have to endure this beating, otherwise how are you going to learn?"

He pointed at me, and looked off to the side. "Filthy criminal. I, Super Semicolon, will bring you to justice."

I felt anger well up within me. What he was saying was true... but I didn't want to hear it. I was already beyond angry with myself... I didn't need him to drill the situation into me all over again.

I held my hand out to the right of me, and began to imagine the spear. But just before it could form, even though I'd gotten to the point where I could forge it almost instantly-

Super Semicolon dashed toward me in that same instant. He outstretched his own hand, his palm facing mine as the purple energy began to form in my palm.

"DELETE!" he screamed. Red energy formed around the radius of his hand, and expanded to engulf my hand- and just like that, my "Universal Connection" disappeared. The spear stopped forming.

I was taken aback, but my surprise was interrupted by his other hand streaking toward my face. The blow sent me flying into the back wall, and just as soon as I hit that wall, I was assailed by a series of blows.

Powerful punches and kicks, that I could tell were able to finish me if it wasn't for my armor. Even then, I still felt the enormous impact of them and my body began to ache.

I finally rose my arm and blocked a punch with the back of my forearm, and threw a punch of my own toward his chest, putting all my strength into it. But he instantly backstepped, before dashing back toward me and aiming a punch at my face again.

But this time, I was ready for it. I rolled out of the way, and managed to land a blow on his right side. He used his left leg as a buffer, stopping him from flying back, and retaliated by grabbing my arm and throwing me into the air.

I went flying. And again, in his signature fashion, he appeared above me. But this time, I put together all my anger and rage, and extended a hand toward him.

I formed a mini galaxy in my hand, as I'd done on the ship- it was the only thing I could form in an instant, but it cost a lot of the "Primordial Energy" that my suit collected for me.

Super Semicolon's eyes widened for a moment, and he was clearly impressed. But as I attempted to increase the size of the star, he swatted my arm away with insane strength, and kicked me toward the roof of the building he knocked me into just a few minutes ago.

I smashed onto the roof, and within a few seconds he'd managed to leap onto the building as well. I attempted to form the galaxy again, but it required considerable effort. I could tell that I was forcing the armor to absorb extra Primordial Energy to complete this forge.

Super Semicolon walked over to me, and when I'd just barely managed to form the star he cupped his hand over it and said, "Delete."

The red energy again enveloped his hand, and the mini galaxy dissipated just as easily as it was formed. Then, Super Semicolon clenched his hand into a fist- still encased in that red energy. And again, he shouted.

"DELETE!"

But this time, he grabbed my shoulder, and punched me with that same energy. Square in the chest.

I had no clue just how much this guy was holding back, until he threw this punch. It felt like he pierced my armor, and his punch went right through me. It didn't, but that's what it felt like.

I crumpled to my knees, doubled over in pain. I coughed up blood, staining the inside of my armor. I wanted to stand up again- but I couldn't. I closed my eyes, and my vision turned red. I couldn't register anything, except the pain. When I opened my eyes again, I was sitting back in the wreckage of the giant robot, so I assumed Super Semicolon brought me here.

I had been completely destroyed, and barely fulfilled the mission I was given. I didn't know where Firebird was, and Retina was gone too- but I assumed she'd been loaded into an ambulance, after the Old Man called 911 earlier.

Speaking of him, he was tending to the Cool Bot. I was about to walk over to him, when a bright flash of light appeared, and suddenly Behemoth was standing before me.

"Y- you going to chew me out, too?" It hurt to speak, but I kind of had to.

"I'm the last person who'd judge you, Starlight. Remember that. Just do better next time." He said, smiling a little. "A few towns over, is a little girl who needs your help. Make things up by going to her."

"What about.. you know, my team?"

"Firebird... said he needed to deal with some things. I guess seeing the way this went made him rethink his position on the team.. don't worry, I'm sure he'll come around. Retina... is in critical condition. I'll let you know how she is when we learn more."

"Can I at least have Blur back?" I asked. "Or Angler? I still haven't really done any missions with him. Or.. you?"

Behemoth shook his head. "Blur and Angler are still away. I don't know where they are, to tell you the truth... I'll have to go check on them. You'll have to fly solo for a while, sorry."

With that, in another burst of light he was gone.

I really felt like crap. The whole point of this, was to recruit Gary. The stuff with the Old Man, and Rat King.. that was stuff I thought I had to do, in my new position. And I couldn't get any of it right. No Firebird, Rat King almost won... the Old Man never got apprehended.

Just then, I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Excuse me."

I looked around, and saw a woman with black hair, seeming to be in her late 20's. She was wearing a black trench coat and leggings. She had a weird belt, with a bunch of different pouches and little chests attached to it.

"What happened here?" She asked.

I had no clue how to answer that question.