by D N Meinster
Another peacekeeper floated into his back, with Aros unable to shake it off. As Aros started fumbling with the lines on his arm, another struck him in the chest. And then another piled on after that one. If there was any benefit to the amassing pile-on, it was that the magnetism seemed to disable the peacekeepers, as each remained motionless once they joined the collection.
Aros touched one of the lines, and finally a beam of light shot out of his arm and burnt a hole in a nearby peacekeeper. He stared at the line, trying to memorize its position, as more and more chrome men adhered to the growing assortment. Once Aros was positive he would be able to find the line again, he began sliding a finger on the others, trying to turn off the magnetic link that was attaching all the peacekeepers to him.
The jumble was so uneven he was able to breathe, but without the light from his arms, he might not have been able to see. Still, he played with the grid until he finally ended the magnetic attraction. Unfortunately, that made the peacekeepers spring back into action.
Aros hastily tapped on one of the lines, firing off beams in all directions as he waved his arm about. Peacekeepers flew back as they were hit, with singed metal and frayed wires resulting from the attacks. When Aros accidently hit the line with two fingers, an even wider beam emerged from the armor. Suddenly metal limbs and heads were flying everywhere; the floating debris making the lively peacekeepers a tougher target. After missing all of them and unintentionally shooting the wall, he created a hole to an adjacent room that was potentially wide enough to escape through. Aros attempted to propel himself over to it when the eDat spoke once more.
"Peacekeeper testing lab breached. For your safety, gravity will be re-enabled."
Aros looked down, estimating that the fall would be enough to kill him. He focused back on the hole and pushed against the nearby bodies and fragments to try and get over to it as quickly as possible.
He was reaching out for it when the gravity came back on. His fingers latched onto the bottom of the hole while all the peacekeepers and their remains went crashing down to the bottom of the area. The sound of metal splattering and clunking into each other echoed through the room as piles of chrome decorated the floor.
Aros watched as he hung from the hole, unsure if he should try to pull himself up or slide down. His clawblades were down there, somewhere. He wasn't about to leave without them.
Bracing his arms and legs against the wall, he let go and started plummeting toward the floor, his armor only slightly slowing him down as it dragged against the side of the room. Aros' legs slammed into the lump of chrome first, the pain shooting up from his heels to his knees. The rest of his body crumbled inward, and he rolled out from the wall and into the trash heap.
Aros lay on top of all the peacekeepers, his body sore and unwilling to move. "M'dalla," he meekly called, hoping for some assistance. When no one showed up, he spun onto his stomach and pushed part of his body upward. He studied the mess, dreading how long it would take to find his clawblades. It was going to take forever to dig through it all.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Weaponized
Aros dragged his right leg along as he departed the weapons lab. He was unable to bend it at the knee, a result of his foolish attempt to retrieve his clawblades. He'd been successful at finding them, but his recklessness slowed him down considerably. He abandoned his quest to find the master control and made his way back to the AGT, figuring M'dalla could go after it once she returned with the electromagnetic device.
The doors slid open as he exited, and he was glad to find that it was once again pouring outside. Whatever had happened with Rikki and Doren, it had passed.
Raindrops slid along his armor and his sopping hair flattened against his skull as he lumbered over to the AGT. He didn't bother checking if the construction continued in the inclement weather, or if any of the laborers were looking his way. They didn't spot him before, but if they did now, it hardly mattered. He'd take the vehicle back to the hospital and M'dalla could shift away if it came to that.
The AGT opened up as soon as he neared, and he hopped inside and collapsed onto the closest seat. With both hands, he rubbed his damaged leg, though he was unable to soothe it as the armor protected from that as well.
Mr. Kwee squeaked when he noticed Aros had returned, and his tails latched onto him once more. Aros stroked the tails a couple times before he crooked his neck back and tried to relax.
He hoped either Rikki or the Bellish could fix whatever was wrong with his leg. Rikki was bound to be able to heal him. She'd done it in Faunli. There was no reason she couldn't do it again.
"Hurry up, M'dalla," Aros muttered as he glanced out the window. A bolt of lightning illuminated the sky as he watched. There was construction going on even in the middle of the storm. The Bellish certainly were relentless. The weapons lab had been repaired further while he'd been inside it.
This kingdom had brought to life so many things which he had never imagined or had never expected. No structure in Kytheras or even in Faunli had matched the grandiosity of Castle Tornis, but here they lined the blocks. Magic was not something he'd been born with, but here he'd been given armor that ably mimicked it. But most surprising was the Roamer who, instead of getting the Keys for her group, was now on Aros' side.
He wouldn't have gotten this far without M'dalla. Either a monstrous snake would have eaten him or he'd have drowned in the oceanic zone. He'd told Rikki he could do it all by himself, but he was wrong. He needed a companion and one had shown up. Had the Goddess manipulated events to make it so? Probably. But M'dalla didn't seem the type that would let anyone influence her, Goddess or not. She might not admit they were friends, but he knew. He only wished that she would open up to him. Any information on the Roamers would have been helpful.
Aros sighed as Mr. Kwee hopped into his lap. He gently poked his other new companion and gazed back out the window. Another flash lit up the sky, but this one didn't come from any lightning.
A massive white beam broke through the top of the weapons lab, disintegrating part of the roof that the laborers had only recently repaired.
Aros leaned in, trying to make out what he was seeing. Someone appeared to jump out from the newly formed aperture and spin in midair.
Seconds later, M'dalla appeared right outside the AGT. The door opened for her and she hurried inside, a flat, black slate tucked between her arms. "Let's go!" she screamed, barely taking note of him.
But before they could even request a destination, the AGT abruptly whirled about, pressing Aros back into his seat while M'dalla fell into an empty one.
"What was that?" Aros asked before the AGT began spiraling out again.
He tried to peek out the window to see what was out there, but the glass started melting as he watched, obstructing the view.
A splash of liquid hit Aros' arm, and he gaped at the silver that was flowing down his armor. His eyes carefully searched upward, and he saw that the entire roof of the transport was melting. "How are they doing that?" he cried out.
After M'dalla looked to where he was looking, she grabbed hold of Aros and pulled him back on his feet. He let out a high-pitched whimper as the pain reverberated up his leg.
"Three," M'dalla said.
"Huh?"
"Two. One." Latching onto his arm, she sprung them both at the AGT's door, even though it remained shut.
The two of them burst through the side of the vehicle like it had only been made of water. Bits of silver liquid sprayed everywhere, though is simply slid off both M'dalla's cloak and Aros' armor. Mr. Kwee was the worst affected, as it speckled his purple fur.
Aros was trying to come to terms with what had just happened, and he turned to watch the AGT melt faster than butter on a hot stove. The top of the transport caved in first, but then the rest of it went, with only a puddle of silver left that was swiftly brushed away by the rain.
M'dalla had yet to drag him anywhere else, and when he checked to see why, he saw five men dressed in wet
, white uniforms in front of them, all brandishing their technological weapons and aiming them at her.
"You melted it?" Aros stated with obvious perplexity.
"You're next," one of the men responded. He pointed his device, which appeared to be a stick with unruly tentacles decorating its front, and launched the tentacles at Aros.
The tentacles latched onto Aros' chest and rapidly locked his body in their clutches. Mr. Kwee shrieked as his tail got caught up in the entanglement, and he bounded from Aros' shoulder and onto the gray appendages. His button-sized mouth expanded in size until he was able to bite down on one of the tentacles.
M'dalla retaliated immediately, dashing forward with a flying kick into the man who had shot at Aros. When he was down, her flail slipped down from the arm of her cloak and into her hand, and she swung it into the head of the nearest Bellish who had yet to fire on her.
One of the remaining three let loose his shot, which escaped from his oblong weapon in complete invisibility. When it hit M'dalla's head, she heard a high-pitched ringing in her ears that overwhelmed her thoughts as easily as it gave her a headache. She pressed her arms against her ears but the noise only got worse. Even the magic of the cloak couldn't keep it out.
Mr. Kwee gnawed on the tentacle until he was able to rip the chunk from Aros' chest. With that piece gone, Aros wriggled an arm free and swung a clawblade off his back and into the rest of the slithery limbs. As the tentacles fell to the ground, Mr. Kwee let off a joyous squeal.
Aros charged forward with his blades, impaling the device that was impairing M'dalla. Its wielder gazed at him in shock before M'dalla's flail struck his cheek and knocked him to the ground.
They both faced their two remaining opponents. One of them had a barrel of a weapon protruding from his chest. Jolting both of his arms back, he fired upon them. A black blob came soaring at them, and though it missed, it hung in the air between them. The blob started to expand, growing wider until Aros' face was almost right up to it. That's when he realized it wasn't a blob. It was nothingness, like Oblivion, and it was devouring the air and the rain as it enlarged.
M'dalla flung her flail into it, but after it made its way through, it came away without any ball at the end. She was left with only a loose chain hanging from the hilt. "Shit."
Aros returned both blades to his back and swiped onto his arm so the white lines returned. He pressed four fingers onto the line that shot the beam, and a massive light was discharged from his armor that consumed their Bellish foe's entire body.
After the attack ceased, he fell face first into the blackness, which swiftly decapitated him as the rest of his body hit the ground.
Their remaining opponent turned and fled, and neither Aros nor M'dalla were willing to chase after him.
"Do you know how long I've had this?" M'dalla whined, brandishing her empty chain in front of her.
"No?" Aros replied.
"Since way before you were born, kid." She fecklessly flung it about, getting more disappointed as it hit the air. "You don't know any blacksmiths, do you?"
"Actually..."
Before Aros could finish telling her, a creaking metal and odd buzzing caught both of their attention. Emerging from the weapons lab was a chrome giant, its blocky arms and legs each the size of a person. Aros thought it was a massive peacekeeper at first, but it didn't have a head like the others. As it got closer, he saw that it didn't need one. Strapped to its chest was a familiar individual, whose own appendages appeared to be controlling the automaton he was riding inside of.
Lodmac Cron had shrunk since their last encounter, but the machine he was inside was undoubtedly an attempt to make up for his diminished stature. "Where's the mage?" he barked as he neared, scowling at M'dalla and Aros.
"What is that?" Aros gawked, unable to prevent his mouth from hanging open.
"WEXO suit," Lodmac stated. "Weaponized exoskeleton. I've been staring at it for a decade, never thinking there'd be use for it. Thanks for giving me the opportunity." He further encroached on them. "Now, where is your mage friend?"
"You don't know?" Aros asked, unsure how the Director of Security could be so poorly informed.
"What?" he said, his arms spreading out and the mechanical arms replicating the motion.
Well, Aros wasn't about to tell him where they were. "Shouldn't you know?"
The massive metal arms pounded into the pavement. "I expected to find her here, with you. I owe her for what she's done to me. So, tell me her location and I'll let you keep the device you've stolen. I don't care about that. I only want – "
"Revenge?" M'dalla said. "Belliore has changed, hasn't it? I've never seen someone from here act so emotional."
That set him off. Lodmac's metallic limb swung forward and smacked M'dalla in the side. She crumpled before she could react.
Aros withdrew both clawblades and rushed at Lodmac. But the Director swung out his other metal arm and sent Aros flying back.
"You're outmatched," Lodmac taunted them. "Yield or I'll have to be your executioner."
Aros sat up and looked to M'dalla, who was completely defenseless. Without magic, Lodmac was right. If Aros knew how to use his armor correctly, maybe they could make up for the deficit, but there was neither time nor teacher for that. All they had were two swords and a light beam that could shoot from his arms. They'd have to make the most of it.
"M'dalla!"
Her head twisted toward him, and he tossed one of his clawblades into the air. She kicked off and caught it by the hilt.
"You really don't know what you're up against," Lodmac warned. Both of his metal arms cocked back and locked against his chest. The fists lit up in a brilliant yellow light before tremendous beams shot out at his opponents.
M'dalla spun and shifted before they could hit her, but Aros took the brunt of the attack. He held his clawblade out in front to try and protect him, though his armor wound up doing a better job of that. Though his face was slightly singed, most of him was unharmed.
"Right," Lodmac said as he examined Aros, recalling what he was wearing.
M'dalla appeared on top of the WEXO suit, but she was spotted as she drove the sword down at Lodmac's head. His metal arm grabbed hold of her, and he smashed her into the ground, where she lie flattened and still as the hand lifted away.
"No!" Aros screamed, and he placed five fingers on the correct line on his armor. A beam shot out that enveloped the arm of the WEXO suit, but when it let up, the suit was still intact.
"It was a good try," Lodmac said as he stepped forward. "But this suit is made of impact resistant, thermal-absorbing steel. It's as close to indestructible as anything we've made."
"Is it as tough as Ligold?" Aros asked.
"Ligold?"
Aros leaped forward and jammed his clawblade into the mechanical hand. As he thrust it in, Lodmac's other arm swatted him away.
Lodmac examined the metal hand, whose fingers were no longer moving at his command.
While he was seemingly distracted, Aros ran over to M'dalla. He tried to bend down, but the immense pain in his leg prevented him from getting to her level. So he said, "Are you alright?" while he was leaning over her.
M'dalla's eyes opened and she moaned in response.
"I need you." Aros held out an arm, and though it took a moment, she grabbed on and he helped her back onto her feet.
That was when Lodmac sent another walloping beam in her direction. It consumed M'dalla side, and though her cloak protected her body, her head bore the brunt of the damage. She stumbled back to the ground, half of the hair on her head burnt away.
Aros scooped up his other clawblade and faced Lodmac. "You bastard!" He moved with incredible speed, as if his leg was not sprained at all, but was diverted from his path by the Director's massive metal arm. It rammed into his side and Aros fell onto the pavement. He remained conscious, though the pain now shot up his entire side instead of just his leg. He slapped at an itch on his face, but realized it was only Mr. Kwee urging hi
m to continue.
An immense pounding shook the air, and though Aros thought it was only in his head at first, he realized it was thunder when it wouldn't stop.
Lodmac bent his neck up, glaring at the sky as it rumbled and lit up with lightning bolts. "This is some storm," he remarked while Aros attempted to stand.
"It's magic," Aros said.
"Magic?" Lodmac focused back on him. "Why?"
"We took out your generators," Aros said while he sidled back toward M'dalla. "While these clouds have blocked the sun."
"What?" Lodmac said like he couldn't believe it.
"We're going to take your Key when the power's out." Aros tugged at M'dalla's arm until she gradually rose up, leaning on him as she did.
Lodmac laughed. "You Kytherans couldn't possibly understand the redundancies and preventative measures that have been built into the power grid."
"We didn't have to."
"Is someone helping you?" Lodmac asked, both of his eyebrow's halfway up his forehead. "One of the Directorate?"
M'dalla was back on her feet, though she was holding onto Aros to stay that way. He placed one of his blades in her hand and whispered into her ear. "Into his shoulder." While her face suggested she didn't quite understand, she still nodded.
"Yes," Aros said, and with the force of one leg, he hurdled into the air.
M'dalla spun and shifted right where Aros had asked her to. She plunged the clawblade into the WEXO suit's right shoulder, while Aros did the same on his left.
As Aros hung off from the top of the arm, M'dalla tumbled back down, leaving the blade where she'd stuck it.
Lodmac tried to raise his arms, but neither would respond. While he helplessly thrashed about inside the suit, M'dalla swung her flail out so the chain wrapped around his neck. She pulled at it and choked the life from him as he spat and gurgled.
"M'dalla!" Aros cried, realizing what she was doing. He wrestled the clawblade free and landed back on the ground. When he made it back over to her, Lodmac was already dead.
"You didn't have to – "