Chapter 1: Four Years Later…

Beck yawned and moved the foot pedals forward for Big Fau. He had been out inspecting the columns for the bridge along with Roger and both heard a call go out for a robbery in progress with a mechanized unit that apparently had disabled two of the MP mecha units in their escape. But Beck, being a former thief, followed the radio traffic and knew which route they were going to take. Roger and Big O, had been waterproofed to help Beck with the inspections down in the schism that ran in the middle of Paradigm Harbor, but with being underwater, slowed his movements to a crawl. Big Fau was built for undersea battle, so Beck took off to intercept the thieves.

Beck slowly climbed out of the water and looked over the streets.

"Mm… not that one, not that one. Heh, here it is!"

Beck positioned Big Fau and a moment later, saw the glow of MP emergency lights from their cars, a group of tanks, and small green robots chasing a small white mechanized unit that had transformed into a vehicle mode. However, the transformation was incomplete. Apparently, the MP mecha units had jammed the transformation sequence, but the robot was still able to function. However, the thieves were so busy looking behind them that they hadn't noticed Big Fau in front of them.

"HEH! WE'RE OUT RUNNING THEM! THOSE GUYS WILL NEVER CATCH US!"

"Uhhhhh… Boss?"

"WHAT?"

The henchman pointed ahead of him, and the driver turned to look. Upon seeing Big Fau, the driver slammed breaks.

"IT'S THE WHITE MEGADEUS!"

Beck smirked, maneuvering Big Fau low to the ground, reaching out. The driver lost control of the vehicle, spinning right into Big Fau's hand. Big Fau caught them and raised them up, holding them.

"OI! LET US GO, YOU STUPID ROBOT! WE KNOW OUR RIGHTS!"

Beck laughed out loud.

"And Crow Boy thought I was unprofessional. How about no? Big Fau, let's take out the engine and leave this for the MP to clean up."

Big Fau obliged, taking two fingers and punching out the engine as the MP arrived, stopping a few feet before Big Fau. Dastun got out of the lead car, holding a megaphone in hand.

"How the… THE CALL NEVER WENT OUT FOR YOU!" he yelled at Big Fau through the megaphone.

Beck smirked.

"Relax, Pops. Crow Boy and I were out and about anyway. I was the fastest of the two and we heard this guy took two of the MP mechas out. When you get a moment, bring them by HQ so I can take a look at them. Oh, and here's the trash…"

Beck dropped the mecha down, where it crashed, making a crater in the ground. The force of impact knocked the thieves out. Dastun was beside himself, his vein pulsing on the side of his head.

"WHAT THE HELL? I KNOW YOU'LL REPAIR THE ROAD, BUT THAT DOESN'T GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO DESTROY IT!"

Beck laughed and took off back to the sea in Big Fau to meet up with Roger and Big O.

****

Roger was moving slowly around the columns located in the schism of Paradigm Bay. According to the civil engineer above ground, it was this area that had dropped a significant amount.

"Big O, let's scan the area one more time. I feel like were missing something."

Big O ran the scan, while Roger held his chin, thinking. The underground had been ruled out as Beck had made sure to make the new Prairie Dog tunnels that lead to the SCA and Electric City were away from the bridge to avoid any structural problems. But the ground had dropped in elevation from an initial topography scan above ground.

Big O completed the scan and showed areas of interest to Roger.

"Whatcha find?"

Roger studied the images. The column had shifted ever so slightly to the right, as if something had hit it.

"Odd…"

"Roger, come in, Roger."

A small beep sounded, and Dorothy appeared on the screen to his right. Roger smiled.

"Hello Dorothy."

"You're nearing your oxygen limit, Roger. Do you have the tank?"

Roger looked down at the oxygen tank that had been securely strapped next to him.

"I do."

"Beck's returning to your location. You two have been underwater for close to an hour. Just be careful. Did you find anything?"

"Not sure. Beck might have to look things over once we get back."

"Okay, be careful. I love you."

"Love you too. Don't be such a worry wort."

"You're such a louse."

The video shut off and Roger smirked.

"Somethings never change," he snickered.

Beck came into view.

"Yo! Crow Boy! How you holding up?"

"I'll need to surface soon, Beck. Wife just said my oxygen levels are getting low."

Beck shook his head. "Did you find anything?"

Roger shrugged. "Not sure. I think the right column shifted. Do you know if you or anyone ran into it? On one of the scans, it's showing it's not aligned with the other columns. Something big had to hit it."

"What? No! Ugh, damnnit, I was hoping it hadn't shifted. Did you get scans?"

"I got everything you requested. I'm sending it over right now. How did Dastun react seeing you?"

Beck shrugged. "I caught the guys, but I kinda dropped them. Pops wasn't happy about it."

"You 'dropped' them?"

"Eh, maybe on purpose."

"Oh boy."

"Relax, Crow Boy. I took out the engine so they wouldn't be able to escape. Dropping them was just added insurance they couldn't do anything else."

Roger smirked. "I doubt that's how Dastun will see it. Let's get back and look over this information."

Roger had Big O shoot out two hip anchors toward Beck and Big Fau. Big Fau caught them and slowly began the climb to the surface, heading in the direction of SCA HQ.