Chapter 1: Give me a name I can be proud of! (written by Michael Keens/ Exodus) “And Razar goes into a claw frenzy on MixaMex! This Fire/ Blade Class GenoGear has been a real strong contender in this tournament!” screamed an overexcited commentator as a GenoGears tournament broadcast on national television was coming to an end. Razar, a robot that looked fiery in appearance, boasting long sharp claws all over had got the jump on the brightly coloured yellow and pink robot, and was slashing away at its main body. This world was in a futuristic age, where many robots served humans, but a new sort of robot had been built, they were known as GenoGears, powerful little machines specifically made for battle. GenoGears were different than soulless machines, and had individuality thanks to the device that powered their mind and body, known as Memory Chips, or M Chips as they were generally known. M Chips held the memories, personality and data of a GenoGear, its very soul, as it were, and each chip was built to start a GenoGear with a specific personality, but the chips could adapt from experiences and friendship. No matter how much damage the GenoGears took in battle, provided their chip was intact, their personality and character could remain on the chip until a new body could be issued. M Chips were very strong indeed, so their human controllers, generally given the title of GenoMasters, needn’t had to worry during battles. Each GenoGear came in five parts, the head, the main body (which housed the M Chip and determined the core abilities of the GenoGear), it’s two arm parts and the leg parts. Each part contained abilities or weapons, and could be changed and replaced, although certain rules applied when combining different types of weaponry or abilities. “And Mixamex puts up a Defense Shield and deflects Razar’s attack, this Electric/ Illusion Class GenoGear has been known to lure its opponents into false pretences before striking back with its electricity.” “That’s not going to work.” commented Nathan ‘Nate’ Maxwell, a sixteen year old boy from Device Town, watching the final match on television, Nate was a descendant of the legendary scientist, Doctor Zenon, one of the many people that originally created the GenoGears, “Fire Classes are strong against Electric attacks.” As Nate had predicted, the red horned robot withstood the dazzling energy shots, and pushed on through to deliver a final flaming blow to its opponent. “Its over! Kai and Razar have taken this championship! This has been a truly awesome battle!...” yelled the commentator. Nate switched off the television, and walked through the lonesome household. Nate was an average sized kid, with long spiky black hair tied into a ponytail, he was currently wearing a yellow smart shirt, along with purple trousers and smart trainers, he briefly removed his glasses to wipe them clean before putting them back on again. Dennis Maxwell, the son of Zenon and Nate’s father, had passed away in an accident some time ago, now Nate lived with his mother and grandfather. Though he was a rich scientist, Doctor Zenon preferred to live like other people rather than splashing out on a mansion, besides, he spent a lot of money to continue researching on breakthroughs in GenoGear technology. “Someday, I’ll be up there, battling the world with my very own GenoGear.” said Nate confidently, both hands clenched, but he sighed, circumstances had forced him to wait for quite some time for his promised GenoGear, and he could really use the companionship. Nate was an only child, and the two adults of the household were busy people, and life at home was boring and lonely. Nate’s mother Leah worked in the police force, and had their hands full with a new crime group making themselves known. And his grandpa was of course busy with his work, Nate wasn’t even allowed in his lab because of the dangerous experiments, so he rarely saw his grandpa even though he technically spent a lot of time at home, but when he did leave the ‘forbidden’ lab, he sometimes took the time to teach Nate about GenoGears in every way. The only reason that Nate hadn’t saved up for his own GenoGear recently, was because his grandpa had promised him a special GenoGear for his seventeenth birthday, and coming from him, a special GenoGear meant it would surpass all expectations, Nate couldn’t wait. “Yo! Nath’!” shouted a loud cheery voice, Nate peered out the window and smiled, it was Leon Phillips, his best friend, and unfortunately known as ‘the poor kid’ of the town, Nate didn’t think such things though, he didn’t care for the lifestyle that Leon led, only their friendship. Leon was a little chubby, but not what you’d call fat, and had wavy brown hair, he was wearing a green shirt with blue jeans and brown boots. Nate put on his favourite red jacket and secured it with several yellow clips and black straps running down the middle, he welcomed Leon’s company whenever it was available, “What’s goin’ on?” “I’m off to the store, its a special day for me.” “I didn’t realise it was time. Are you sure the one you want is in your price range?” “Nate, that high interest deal at the bank is working wonders, I’ll have to thank the guy who introduced me to it...” Nate gave off a serious yet joking stare, to which Leon replied by grinning, “Thank you.” A figure walked past them, his destination: Zenon Maxwell’s lab, he beat on the door there without truly acknowledging the two kids. “Oh, its you.” said a less than happy Zenon as he opened up to the old withered man, on first impressions, he looked grumpy and bitter, with messy spiky hair and several wrinkles, while Nate’s grandfather looked good for his age with long straight hair at the sides of the otherwise bald head, he rarely acted rude or grumpy despite the workload he had to deal with daily. “Grandpa, I’ll be out for a while.” called Nate, before running off with his friend. “Right! Right!” he called back, “You may as well stay out today, I’ll probably be busy all day speaking to this man.” replied Zenon, before leading the suspicious man in. The two later arrived at Robot Planet, one of a chain of shops that specialized in GenoGear equipment, as well as being a local newsagent. “Nate, I haven’t seen you in a while.” said Mr Mart, one of the shop assistants that dealt with the kids of the town quite often, “And, Leon. Window shopping again?” Mart had an unusual round head with wide eyes, it wasn’t a face forgotten easily, he was dressed in his usual pale blue uniform with white apron. Leon grinned slyly, and approached the counter, “Not today, I’m ready to buy something.” “Oh, that’s great, we’ve got some really classic models down here somewhere.” “I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” said Leon calmly. “Oh, I’m sorry, well, I might be able to sell you one of these second hand units.” said the store clerk, picking up a battered blue robot and pulling its arm off by accident. “Oops, this isn’t a Junk Class GenoGear, um, still with a bit of work this’ll be able to withstand a full battle.” said Mart nervously, welding its arm back on. “I don’t think so.” frowned Leon, “I’m looking for a Dual-type.” “Um, you Do know how much those cost, don’t you? Not even the regular kids can afford them.” Leon sighed, “Here’s my credit card.” Mart scratched his head, and scrapped the card across the computer till. “This can’t be right.” He did it again, and his eyes and mouth widened, “This card has more money than the value of my house...” “Yeah, well, that’s what several years of saving does for ya.” grinned Leon. Nate smiled, as a friend of Leon’s, he knew that he had made plenty of sacrifices over the years so that he could own a powerful GenoGear, he’d been picked on by others because he couldn’t keep up with the current trends of GenoGears, but he stayed strong, even while people like Barclay, the mayor’s spoilt son, bought themselves a GenoGear long ago and became talked about all over. Leon was strong, and now he finally got to choose his reward. Mart escorted the two to the back room, the Dual-types were expensive and very rare, apparently only one of each combination had ever been built, and so, these ones were not on display. A Fire/ Nature Class GenoGear that looked like a miniature dragon and a Blade/ Fighter Class that resembled a powerful swordsman from long ago. It took a while to decide, but Leon eventually chose the Blade/ Fighter Class model, the large gold and silver machine with a large frame (but short, like most GenoGears who were built at sizes around 3 and 4 feet tall), bulky outward shoulder pads, and large wrists and lower legs (another regular attribute to GenoGears), but unlike most Blade Classes, it didn’t have a great deal of spikes on its body, mainly because its blade was in the form of a huge sword, longer than the GenoGear itself but usable due to its large figure, Leon also splashed out on some small but decent laser cannons, which grafted onto the GenoGear’s wrists without depriving it of its use of the sword. “And here is your GenoComm and M Chip for this unit, its pretty compatible with this sort of weaponry.” said the store clerk. GenoComms looked like handheld game consoles with communication devices attached, in this case, it was red with an attachment that resembled a mobile phone, this would be used for recording and keeping data of the GenoGear, and doubled as a transmitter to speak to GenoGears during battle, due to the environment in which they did. “You ready?” grinned Leon. “Go for it.” nodded Nate. Leon opened up a plate in the GenoGear’s back, and plugged in the M Chip through a vertical slot there almost like an action move, nevertheless, the GenoGear’s yellow eyes came on through the dark eye slots in its head. “Ah’m alive!” it yelled out. It had a long and complicated codename to tell it apart from other Dual Classes but it was a common practice to name a person’s GenoGear. “GenoGear, from this day, you shall be known, as Swift.” smiled Leon. “SWIFT?! That name sucks!!!” screamed the GenoGear with its deep but loud voice. “Parry?” “No.” “Cutlass?” “Uh UH!” “You’re not too good at names, are you Leon?” smiled Nate, trying to keep himself from laughing. “Well, I suppose if its got a discipline problem, then I could replace its M Chip with another, since you’re practically saving the store from any sort of bankruptcy.” offered Mart. “No way buddy! Do ya know how long I’ve been on that dusty shelf! You’ve taken me out two times, an’ both times I was put in wussy bodies, I had a right ta complain! An’ now I finally get a cool body, an’ yuh wanna take me out. Its Not gonna happen!” screamed the robot, picking up its large sword and pointing it menacingly. Leon and Mart looked afraid and backed away, but Nate stood confidently with his eyes closed, his arms crossed, and a sly smile on his face, “Don’t be so scared, GenoGears can’t hurt you, it goes against their primary code.” “Say what?!” screamed the robot. “You can’t hurt humans, you have to obey your master, and you have to look out for yourself, in that order, while prioritising the first above the second and third, and the second above the third but not the first.” All three were staring at Nate strangely, “You’re like a walking encyclopaedia.” commented Leon. “Aw man!” groaned the GenoGear, “I’ll be good, jus’ don’t put me back on the shelf, GenoGear M Chips have feelin’s too.” “Don’t worry.” said Leon, “I’ll take it, but only if you’re good.” “Don’t worry, I will... Sucker...” said the robot, keeping the last part quiet. The two stepped out of the shop, and into a well known face around the town, Barclay McGrover, a rich bully, he was a big guy but overweight with dark hair and an expensive red and black jacket. “Ah heard yuh got a GenoGear Leon, but it mus’ be old an’ rusty, seein’ as its yours.” Leon heard his GenoGear growling furiously. “Ah take on every GenoMaster in town, its the only way ta raise mah status so that Ah get picked ta participate in an official tournament, though Ah’m sure that won’t be a difficult task today, yuh’ve probably bought a second hand GenoGear while mah father has bought me all the best parts.” “Grrrr, Kid, lemme at him!” whispered the angry robot. “Aren’t you supposed to call me Master?” Leon whispered back. “Say what?!” “Leon, not all GenoGears are happy about that, its something you’ll probably have to live with.” whispered Nate, so as not to embarrass his friend. “Okay then, um, GenoGear. Barclay! I accept your challenge!...” The two moved towards the nearest Battle Cube in the town, a square arena with structure poles creating a cube shape, there were two consoles on opposite sides for the GenoMasters to stand, along with consoles to connect their GenoComms to, in order to register and record the details and results of the match. This way, data from the battle would be recorded in the GenoComm but also sent to the people in charge of tournaments, so that the best contenders would be picked to participate in future championships. “Are yuh ready fer the biggest thrashin’ ever?!” taunted Barclay. “Of course I am... Yours!” replied Leon. Barclay’s GenoGear was a humanoid warthog-type, with sharp silver tusks and a hard head, its body was mahogany, red and yellow in colour, this GenoGear was of the Blade and Earth Classes, but Barclay had equipped it with two weapons of other types, and the same with leg parts. This was allowed, but GenoGears tended to work better with weapons and attachments from the Class that they primarily belonged to. “Ah’ve got all the best weapons, yuh don’t stand a chance!” taunted Barclay, “Let’s tear it apart Gorehog!” “Yeah Sir!” grunted the pig. “You ready, um, Scrape?” “’Course I am, but lay off that Scrape stuff an’ give me a cool name! An’ stop callin’ me GenoGear! I don’t call you Human!” The two contestants pressed a red button on the consoles, and a blue transparent aura covered the sides and top of the arena, turning it into a giant transparent cube with the GenoGears inside, this way, the attacks wouldn’t be able to harm the GenoMasters, or spectators. The phone-like attachment was released and Leon held it to the side of his head, while Barclay removed a radio-like part from his and started shouting through it. “Gorehog! Vortex Blast!” “Alright!” snorted the pig, shooting a large tornado forward through the use of a dark blue Air Class fan attachment on the right arm. Leon and the GenoGear underestimated its size, speed and strength, and it overwhelmed the bot, spinning it around and throwing it back into the energy field, causing damage from the repelling effect. “Hang in there Auto, just avoid the shots and get in close, its the only way you can win.” cheered Leon. “I ain’t answerin’ ta Auto!” he shouted, and jumped back up into a menacing stance, in order to distract the opponent, it wasn’t working though. “Use Fire Bomb!” shouted Barclay, and the pig used its red and yellow Fire Cannon arm part to shoot flaming balls into the air, that rained down on the GenoGear. “Nate, help me out here, what sort of name should I give him? Its the only way he’ll listen.” pleaded Leon. “He needs a high rank name, one that he can live up to, with that sword he’s sure to be a fine warrior, and he’s got the arrogance of a king, so how about Sabre, or Monarch, or-” “Use your sword Kaiser!” shouted Leon suddenly, inspired by Nate’s suggestions. “Kaiser?...” questioned the robot, “Now we’re talkin’!” With that, he drew out his large blade and started cutting through the spheres, splitting them in half and sending the pieces away from him, mostly into different parts of the cube shield, one final bomb came at him, larger than the rest. “Take a swing at it!” shouted Leon, and Kaiser grinned. “I like yer style. Batter up!” Turning the blade to one side and using it like a large bat, the fireball was repelled and exploded on the pig, there wasn’t too much damage, thanks to its expensive armour, but it was momentarily dazed. “Now’s your chance, get in close and turn that pig into bacon!” called Leon. “Ham slices comin’ up!” the robot would have smirked if it could have, while charging forward. “Grrrr, don’t jus’ stand there Gorehog, yuh’ve got all the best parts! Smack that joker!” shouted Barclay, seeming worried for once. “Yes, Mas- Huh?!” Suddenly, Gorehog seemed strained, the weapon parts equipped on his arms were too heavy, and caught on the floor due to the explosions, Gorehog was unable to move swiftly, and was suddenly acting very sluggish. “Use your Zap Kick!” Gorehog screamed, and lashed out with his brightly coloured leg parts, with electricity being generated all over the underside of the boots. He wasn’t getting anywhere, he was still grounded, kicking his legs around harmlessly, the range of his legs wasn’t enough to reach Kaiser. He sarcastically yawned at the pig, “Man, you really are a ‘bore’, this is too easy.” With that, he swung his sword upwards, knocking the enemy GenoGear into the air, before plunging the sword into the ground, and firing several laser blasts upwards from his wrists into the pig, keeping it in the air until all the shots were fired. The pig fell onto the floor, his back opened up and steam blew out of it, a sign that he was defeated. “No! How could we have lost?! Ah’ve got better parts than yuh!” moaned Barclay. “True, but they were too heavy, you’ve got to know your robot’s limits, including the manageability of the parts you give them.” explained Nate. “What do yuh know?! Yuh haven’t even got a GenoGear!” shouted Barclay, making Nate a little saddened, before picking up his GenoGear, and walking away, “Yuh haven’t heard the last o’ me, Ah’ll be back fer a rematch Loser!” “Congratulations Leon, if not for the name problem, you probably could have wrapped it up quicker.” applauded Nate. “Hey! Whadda ‘bout me?! I’m the one who did all the work!” shouted Kaiser angrily, no matter what the scenario, this GenoGear would probably always be this loud and cranky. “You too Kaiser.” added Nate. “My first battle, and we won it.” grinned Leon happily. “You sound surprised...” frowned Kaiser, “You didn’t think I could do it, did ya?!” “Its not my fault you didn’t listen.” “You gave me rubbish names!” “I kinda liked Scrape!” “Scrape?! SCRAPE?!... The name’s Kaiser!!!” Nate quickly snuck away from the arguing two, fighting was sometimes a part of friendship, but this was ridiculous. At least they were willing to work together. End Chapter 2 Back to the GenoStories Back to the Dream Archive