White Knight and Chameleon stood outside the emergency ward at the hospital. Inspector Solo came running down the corridor.
“He’s in emergency.” said Chameleon. “It doesn’t look good.”“Have the doctor’s said anything?” asked Solo.
“Nothing.” White Knight replied.
Then, the door of the emergency room swung open. Mr. X was brought out on a stretcher, and wheeled down the corridor. Then the doctor, Vijay Singh approached the three of them.
“We are going to have to operate, gentlemen.” he said. “Mr. X has a fractured skull, but he also has a massive blood clot, neat his brain. If we can’t move it, he won’t last the night.”
Dr. Singh then walked towards the operating room.
“Blast it!” White Knight cursed, smashing his fist against the wall.
“Where are Star Man and Woodwose?” asked Solo.
“They are checking the scanners back at the mansion.” Chameleon replied. “But there’s probably not much to go on. If they had picked him up, he never would have made it to the computer room.”
“The forensic boys are on their way over there now.” said Solo.
“What good will that do?” asked White Knight. “They won’t find anything the sensors can!”
“Easy, Arthur!” said Chameleon. “There’s nothing else we can do, except continuing to try and contact Jim at Craigmillar. But with the computer half-smashed, that means the transporter tube is also out of action!”
“I’ll send a message to our boys up there.” said Solo. “I’ll get them to send a launch to the island. But it will take some time.”
“That is one thing we don’t have.” said White Knight. “I have a feeling that our Captain is the next target!”
“What ho!” said a voice behind them.
White Knight turned to see Magus.
“You weren’t gone long.” he snapped.
“Time is relative, dear boy. I have been gone quite some time. It appears to be a good thing that I am back however. I have seen the mess at the mansion. Some sort of robot, I believe.”
“You must go up to Craigmillar. The thing is after Jim.”
Magus shook his head.
“I am needed her more. Who is attending Mr. X?”
“Dr. Singh.” replied Solo. “He’s a good doctor.”
“Bring him here.” ordered Magus.
Soon Singh was sitting with Magus.
“You have decided to operate?”
Singh nodded.
“It does not look good.”
“Then I will operate.” said Magus.
Magus led the way into the sterilisation room. Soon he was clad in the green gown of the surgeon. He made his way into the operating theatre. Mr. X lay on the table. In deference to his secret identity Magus was alone in the theatre, summoning the instruments he needed by magic. As he operated the other members of Anglo-Force could hear his voice in their heads.
“His injuries are too severe for me to attempt a magical cure. I am going to have to operate manually.”
For hour after hour the aged wizard worked, repairing damaged blood vessels, removing the clot bit by bit, striving to repair the damage to the brain. After twelve hours he emerged from the theatre, looking as old as he actually was.
“With luck he will live.” said Magus. “But I am afraid the main damage has been done. His spinal chord has been damaged beyond even the ability of magic to repair. I am afraid he will be paralysed from the waist down.”
“You saved Jet, and Jim before. Why can’t you save Mr. X?” asked Chameleon angrily.
“In his weakened state, to even try to use magic on him would have killed him. All that remained to me was to repair the damage as best I could. Any human surgeon could not have done as I did. There may be ways in which we can restore him to full mobility, but for now, is it not enough that he will live?”
With that, Magus stalked away.
“You were a bit rough on him, weren’t you?” snarled Solo.
“I don’t buy what he said about magic. I reckon he’s losing it.”
“When you have known Magus as long as I have, you won’t doubt him.” said Connor McCloud, entering the waiting room. “Magus has no more control over the future than you do. Perhaps Mr. X is meant to go through paralysis for some reason. I just don’t know. Don’t seek to blame those who are not to blame.”
“Well what do we do now?” asked Solo.
“We can do no more here. What about Jim?” replied White Knight.
A day passed. Nothing had been seen or heard of the strange “man”. At the farthest northern point of Scotland, the local fishermen were preparing to go out and earn their living. One line fisherman was preparing his nets, when someone approached him. There was not that much sunlight, so the fisherman could not make him out that easily.
“Canna I help ye?”
“Are you going near Craigmillar Island?”
“I’m going past there. Why?”
“I need to go there.”
A few minutes later, the small fishing boat put out to sea. The fisherman lay dead on the shore. It took him almost an hour to get to the rocky shores of Craigmillar Island. The droid disembarked, and let the boat drift out to sea. At that moment in time, Watt was getting out of bed. He walked over to the window, and looked out. He saw the drifting fishing boat.
“Strange.” he mused. “They don’t normally fish near here, not with the mithril mine near here.”
Watt put on his clothes, and walked down the stairs. He went outside, and looked out to sea. Just as he was about to fly off and go after the drifting boat, he was hit hard by a diving figure. The T1000 had found it’s target.
Watt never knew what hit him. They both went crashing through the wall. The droid grabbed Watt around the throat, and threw him through another wall. He quickly went after him, grabbed him again by the throat, and punched him in his mid-section with his other hand. The droid was surprised when he dropped Watt, because none of these blows had any effect on him. Watt quickly got to his feet, and charged the droid. Another wall was destroyed by the impact. Watt dealt several blows to the droid’s head. Now Watt was the one who was surprised, as these blow had no effect. It seemed that both of them were evenly matched. The battle raged on throughout the castle. Watt tried to use his speed against the droid, but it seemed as if it had been programmed to deal with this. Blow was matched with blow. After a few minutes, it seemed as if Watt was starting to weaken. The droid seemed to be getting the upper hand in the fight. As they fought, Craigmillar Castle began to crumble with the impact around them. The battle was tearing the place apart.
As the battle took place, a small aircraft flew overhead. The aircraft was a Muir S-7, one of the first to be given to Anglo-Force as part of their government funding. Aboard were Inspector Solo, Chameleon and White Knight. They looked down at the island below them.
“It’s too late.” said Solo. “He’s here.”
“Land this thing.” Chameleon ordered.
“Where?” asked White Knight. “In case you haven’t noticed, we are out at sea!”
The battle below continued. Watt continued to weaken, but he as still putting up one hell of a fight. They continued to battle throughout the castle. Next, they entered Magus’ study. It was then that Watt seemed on the verge of defeat. The droid battered him unmercifully. Blood began to appear on Watt’s face. The droid continued with his onslaught. One blow after another was followed by several kicks to the stomach. The droid than picked Watt up with both of his hands, and held him high in the air. He then threw him against the massive bookcase. Watt and the bookcase came crashing down on the desk in front of it. There was no movement from underneath the huge pile of books. The droid walked forwards, and began to throw away the books, until he found the limp body of Watt. The droid picked him up again, and threw him onto the desk.
When Watt crashed through the desk, he unknowingly threw a small switch. As Watt hit the ground, a huge light suddenly appeared in the study. The brightness of the light blinded the droid. He tried to block out the light with his hands. Strange, eerie cries filled the room. Strange, dark creatures began to fly about. The light had begun to bring Watt to his senses. Slowly, he got to his feet, and staggered toward the droid. In his hand, he held the small control panel. When Watt crashed into it, he had opened up the Void. Watt knew this, and as he got near the droid, he picked him up with all of his remaining strength and threw him into the Void. He then pressed the button on the panel again, and the void was closed. He hoped that nothing got out while the Void was open.
Later that day, Watt was at the hospital. He sat at Mr. X’s bedside. Mr. X was still unconscious, but was in a stable condition. Watt had been filled in on what had happened, he knew all about the T1000, and where it had come from. He then took hold of Mr. X’s hand.
“If there is any way I can stop this from happening
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