Hey guys, Steam here with another update. Gotta say that my Beta and I are on fire when it comes to workin on these chapters. So anyway, here's Chapter 6 for you to enjoy.
Credit to Natsume and Medabots, myself for everyone else, and AproposFool89 for both Beta Reading for me and for Alice Silverwind.
I greatly appreciate reviews, so please leave one will ya? I don't wanna be forced to withhold chapters. I don't wanna do that to you guys, so leave a review please.
This chapter is from Reno's POV
Chapter 6
Since Inyo and I had later classes today, we slept in a bit before actually getting up and getting ready. I had History today while he had English. Neither of us minded our classes, nor did we mind that we were in different classes, because of you ask me, it'd be better this way. Can't tell you how many times in the past people have mistaken me for Inyo or vice versa. Sure as kids we used to do that on purpose just to tease the teachers, but we're in College now, so those sorts of gags are best left at home. I roused Inyo from his sleep as I hopped in the shower to get ready. As I left the bathroom about fifteen minutes later, he tagged in as I headed to the kitchenette for breakfast. Inyo finished his morning routine by joining me for scrambled eggs and toast. Marcus and Aimflash woke up just as we finished eating and washed up our dishes.
"Mornin," I greeted, "Sleep well?"
Marcus mumbled something lazily as he pulled out a bowl and his cereal.
"I'll take that as a yes." Inyo chuckled.
"Don't mind 'em," Aimflash shrugged, "He's always like this in the mornings."
"I wonder if any of our teammates are the same?" I asked.
It was then that Marcus almost literally jumped from the table and went wide-eyed.
"Shoot…" He grumbled, "I forgot to ask Natalie and Trigger when the best time to train for today is."
He hazily skipped back to his room and returned with his phone in hand about three minutes later to continue breakfast.
"Inyo," I started, "You talk to Mallory about OUR training today?"
"She said to meet outside the front doors of the main building after our last class of the day." He said.
So let's see… Inyo's English class started at 11:00 and ended at 2:30. My History class started about thirty minutes later, but ended around 1:00. I'm not sure about Mallory's classes for today, but I know that I may likely be the first to finish if I recall correctly. About thirty minutes later we all headed out the door and separated to go to our classes. Marcus and I had History on the same day, though we had different teachers on different sides of the building. Inyo headed to his English class, and I headed to my own History class to wait for it to start. When I arrived, sure enough the previous class was still in session, though several students were sitting on the lounge area to relax and wait patiently. As I took a seat, I noticed a familiar face sitting right across from me. It was that girl from the medabots class. Shoot, what was her name… Ah yes, Alice. She was keeping herself busy with something on her phone, though she had more of a bored look on her face. I was however able to give her a quick look-over. She was wearing a short, black-colored, dress lined in blue with matching boots, and she had a short braid that was tied in the back as her long hair draped down behind her head. I looked around and saw that everyone else was busy keeping themselves occupied as well. Deciding to break the ice with an apparent fellow classmate, I started up a conversation.
"Waiting for History class?" I asked.
No answer, not even a twitch of the eye. So I cleared my throat. Finally her attention was caught.
"I am." She replied.
"Favorite subject?"
"No."
"Ah, what would it be then?"
"You seem to like prying into people's business."
"Just wanting to get to know my classmates better."
"And why is that?"
"It's just who I am."
"I see."
She sighed a moment before speaking again.
"If you must know I more prefer P.E. than anything else."
"Alright, cool." I nodded, "That's a pretty fun one, History would probably trump that for me though."
"Interesting, now stop bugging me."
"Just wanting to break the ice is all."
"Well then you'll be swinging your icepick for a while, now go away."
Ouch. I can easily see that she doesn't want to be disturbed. Ah well, I tried at least. A few minutes later the other History class was let out as we all rolled in and took seats. Alice however picked a seat on the side opposite of me, was I really that much of a pest? I honestly doubt it, I generally know when to back off, and I just felt led to keep going. Class started about five minutes later as we started our first official lesson on the Babylonian Empire and planned to work our way through early world history for the first section. We covered the general culture of the Babylonians, though I couldn't help but keep stealing glances of Alice from where I was sitting. And I had picked a seat closer to the rear of the classroom, and Alice took one near the front, so it honestly wasn't hard. I don't know why I was, there was just something about her that interested me. What that was I may never know, I only met her officially…well, officially as in I know her name, last night. Was it how she talked or looked or dressed? I don't know. After class I delayed my leaving to intercept her as we walked out the door. It actually worked.
"So you have any other classes today?" I asked.
No answer as she continued ahead and left me behind. Hmm… I honestly have no clue what's drawing me to this girl, but I do know one thing… She apparently isn't a people person. I shrugged it off as I decided to stroll around the campus while I waited for Mallory and Inyo to finish their classes. As I walked outside however, I was able to catch sight of one of Marcus's teammates walking this way. Ah what was her name? May as well start up a conversation.
"Hey." I greeted.
"Hi." She returned.
"You're one of Marcus's teammates, right?"
"That's right."
"Glad that I remembered, and you are…"
"Natalie. And you?"
"Reno. I'm one of Marcus's roommates. I'm on another team in the medabots class though."
"Ah, ok. Cool, so what's up?"
"I was just curious if you knew anything about Alice Silverwind. See I have her as a classmate in my History class, as well as in our medabots class, and for some reason she seems kind of…"
"Cold?" She finished.
Wait a second… how does she know?
"Yeah actually," I responded, "How do you know?"
"Because she's my roommate."
Ahh… That would make perfect sense.
"She's a little cold initially," Natalie continued, "But she did tell me that she's nicer to people she knows."
"Knows as in how?" I asked, "Like, knows like as a friend? Or family? Or…"
"I dunno, she never really talks to me or Sherlock when we're in the room, and Natsu's even quieter than that."
"Natsu?" I inquired.
"Her medabot. Professor Winthrop called her by her model name last night, Ready-Go."
"Ah yes, I remember now. She's even quieter than Alice?"
"Based on what Sherlock's told me so far." Natalie shrugged, "Every time he tried to strike up a conversation he was shot down and ignored."
"Sounds like she doesn't want to be talked to." I shrugged.
"Maybe," Natalie agreed, "But still, it really makes one wonder why she's like that. What made her that way?"
"Well when you figure out an answer, let me know. I've been trying to figure it out all through my History class today."
Natalie giggled, "I'll be sure to. Well I gotta head to my next class, so I guess I'll see you later tonight in medabots class?"
"Definitely, take care."
"Likewise."
She then headed off into the building. Eventually Inyo joined me outside as we waited for Mallory to arrive. Thankfully neither of us had other classes today, so it would definitely help us be able to maximize a general training session before we get to class and cover actual topics and strategies to master. At around 3:00 we called Ranger and Tonto over to meet us at our spot, and they did so just as Mallory and Shin Saber walked outside to meet us.
"Hey guys," She greeted sweetly, "Sorry I'm late. I got held up in class."
Inyo was the first of us to speak.
"N-no worries Mal," He said as I noticed the blush in his cheeks, "It's fine, happens to everybody."
"Same here." I agreed, deciding to lend my twin a helping hand, "So don't worry about it."
"Aww… You guys are just too sweet." She smiled, "So shall we go find a place to practice?"
"Why not the park?" Ranger asked, "Plenty of space there to train and move around."
"It would be," Shin Saber agreed, "But it's far too open. And if we were to practice a special team-based move, there would be no way to hide it from other members of the medabots class that may be either spying or training there."
"You bring up a good point Kemosabe," Tonto said, "So with that said, would you have a suggestion for a place to train?"
Mallory stepped in.
"I know a good place in the middle of town we could try." She said, "It's not that populated, but it's an old construction zone that was left and never returned to. It's nice and spacious, so we could definitely use it to practice what we learn I class."
"Don't see why not." Inyo shrugged, "So shall we be off then?"
He held his arm out for Mallory as she held it with one arm. I know that Mom and Dad taught us to be gentlemanly to women, but in all honesty I've never seen Inyo this into it. I mean, yes it's the proper thing to do, but he never once did this in the past without prompting; and I normally was the one to do the prompting. But this time, I didn't say a word. Is my brother really this infatuated with her? Yes, she is very pretty, though we've seen a lot of girls like her in the past, and even back home in Colorado. What makes Mallory so different? Eventually we reached the old construction site to already find someone here. More specifically, THREE someones and an equal amount of medabots. It turns out that Alice had taken her team here to practice and beat us to it. Looking at the team however, there was certainly a lot if diversity to put into a team. I could see Natsu moving around like the ninja she was, easily as swift as the wind. Over on one side was Hector and Piraskull, whom the latter was improving his speed to get around the fact he had one working foot and the other was a peg leg; and I must say that I think it may be paying off. Over in the other corner of their triangle was the third member of their team, a guy that had KKZ-0 "Cutter" as his bot; whom was practicing his stabbing speed with both his arms. They all seemed to have been busy with their own individual training sessions, though our presence was sighted by Hector.
"AVAST CAP'N!" He called, "I SPOT SPIES OFF YOUR 7:00!"
Alice turned to find us three with our bots watching.
"Well what do you want?" She asked.
"Well we came here thinking we could use the area to train." Mallory explained.
"Sorry to disappoint Lass," Hector grinned, "But we made here first whether ya like it or not."
"Oh, ok." She said, though easily able to sense the disappointment in her voice.
I could see the look in Inyo's face, he was going to do something…
"What if we robattle for it?" He called, "You win, we leave. We win, we'll share this spot on joint days."
"Forget it!" The other guy called, "We found this spot first Alice, there's no way I'm gonna let these second-rate medafighters just take it from us!"
"Cool it Karlos." Alice refuted, though it looked like Inyo's wager really piqued her.
I'm not sure whether to say "good call" or "you dummy" at this point. Mallory on the other hand in complete shock that he was bold enough to make such a call for her.
"Inyo," She said, "It's fine, we can find another spot."
"No it's not fine." He returned, "If you want this spot then I'm willing to fight for it. You with me Tonto?"
"You know I always follow you Kemosabe." He returned.
I could see Mallory was utterly speechless. At this point however, I couldn't help but shrug and chuckle. If Inyo's going to get himself into something like this, then he may as well not go alone.
"Come me in too." I said, "Ranger?"
"Let's do this!" He said.
Alice's interest was now easily showing with a grin on her face.
"Alright," She said, "As team leader I accept your challenge. We'll play this one at a time."
"Then I'll challenge you." I called, which made her grimace in slight irritation.
If I was going to get to the bottom of why Alice interested me so, I may as well do it on her turf.
"Fine," She agreed, "Inyo will take on Hector first, and then Mallory will fight Karlos. Agreed?"
As we all nodded our heads, a voice calling "THEN IT'S AGREED!" called out from nowhere. Immediately afterwards, a mustached man in a white t-shirt, black pants, and a red bowtie dashed from around the corner and screeched to a halt. We all knew this guy well, Mr. Referee. I honestly don't know how in the world he can be everywhere at once and watch every robattle, but I won't complain about his sound judgment.
"I officially declare this a Robattle Marathon. The rules are simple, the team with a win/loss ratio of 2-to-3 or higher wins the match. And to win you must stop the other medabot from functioning. The first match will be Inyo and Tonto versus Hector and Piraskull. Are both sides in agreement?"
Inyo and Tonto stepped into the area, as did Hector and Piraskull.
"We're ready." Inyo called.
"As are we Laddie," Hector returned with a smirk, "Time to shiver your timbers!"
"ALRIGHT!" Mr. Referee called, "MEDABOTS… ROBATTLE!"
"TIME TO SET SAIL PIRASKULL!" Hector called, "SHOW THOSE LANDLUBBERS JUST WHAT WE SEADOGS DO!"
"AYE CAPTAIN!"
Piraskull hobbled into the battle as the rest of us backed off to give them room.
"Alright Tonto," Inyo said, "We got this! Go in with solo attack maneuver alpha!"
"Understood!"
Tonto dashed in with his left arm crossed over his chest. In the second it took, he then disappeared in a puff of air.
"Eh?!" Piraskull stammered as he stalled to a halt, "Where'd the Landlubber disappear to?"
"Watch yourself," Hector called, "Tis the Assassin Maneuver!"
The pirate captain type looked around carefully. Just as Tonto reappeared behind him, Piraskull waited until the last possible second to counter and clashed blades.
"You'll have to do better than that to outdo a pirate me bucko!" He chuckled as he leaped backwards, "Because you never know what a pirate may have up his sleeve."
"Show 'em your first trick Piraskull!" Hector ordered.
"Aye captain! Hammer Claw!"
He held up his left arm claw as he suddenly let Tonto have it with a good left hook. I dunno exactly how strong the Piraskull model is supposed to be regarding standard, but I can easily see that Tonto's getting a run for his money.
"Tonto," Inyo shouted, "Use your Auxiliary Charge and evade!"
Tonto did as told as the ring on the back of his head started glowing. Immediately his land speed almost doubled and was now almost untouchable. This may just be the edge my brother needs to get the better of Piraskull. Seeing his opponent confused and stuck to one place, Inyo ordered Tonto to close in and circle him. Seeing his personal space closing fast, and seeing nothing but mirages of his target, Piraskull looked to his medafighter for help. Hector looked beat only for a moment before a smirk grew on his face once again.
"Weigh the anchor Piraskull," He shouted, "Whirlpool Blade!"
"AYE CAPTAIN!"
Piraskull balanced on his peg leg and then started spinning like a top, with his right arm outstretched to attack his target. Tonto failed to react in time as Piraskull made a clean cut to his torso and knocked him backwards. I could hear Mallory gasp in both shock and fear as we all saw the gaping slice that not occupied his chest.
"You alright Tonto?" Inyo asked worriedly.
"Just fine Kemosabe." He returned, "I'm not going down that easily!"
'Glad to hear Lad," Hector shouted proudly, "Cuz we ain't finished with ya yet! Piraskull, finish the job and send this poor unfortunate bot to Davy Jones's locker!"
"Aye Cap-tain?!" He started, and almost tripped over himself.
Turns out that during Piraskull's spinning attack, he had drilled his peg leg into the ground about three inches and basically glued it into the soft gravel.
"CAPTAIN!" He shouted, "I BE STUCK!"
"WELL DON'T SAY IT OUT LOUD YOU IDIOT!"
I could see the grin on Inyo's face growing. This is your chance Inyo, you better take it.
"Now's our chance Tonto!" He shouted, "Auxiliary Charge and then Laser Beam!"
Tonto disappeared again as his speed increased and once again surrounded Piraskull with several mirages of himself. As his target became confused, Tonto reappeared about fifteen feet in front of Piraskull and charged his right arm laser. By the time Piraskull was able to finally see where the true Tonto was, it was too late as the laser struck him dead in the head. The force was enough to uproot him from the ground as he was launched back about eight feet and landed on his back with a thud.
"H-He...He…" Hector whimpered in utter disbelief, "He shivered OUR timbers…"
"PIRASKULL FUNCTION CEASED!" Mr. Referee shouted, as he raised his right hand, "AND THE WINNERS ARE INYO AND TONTO!"
"Seas of Poseidon…" Hector sighed as he fell to his knees, "This defeat brings shame to me name as a pirate…"
Inyo and Mallory shared squeals of excitement as they hugged in celebration, and then high-fived me.
I looked over at Alice as I noticed a slight glimmer of surprise at her partner's loss.
"Not bad," She said, "Karlos, you're up."
"With pleasure."
He and his blade type bot stepped forward.
"THE NEXT MATCH WILL BE MALLORY AND SHIN SABER VERSUS KARLOS AND CUTTER!" Mr. Referee shouted, "MEDAFIGHTERS READY?"
Inyo and I watched Mallory and Shin Saber step into the area and prepare for the fight. I must say though, I highly doubt Shin Saber should have any trouble with a katana like he's holding, but when faced against a blade type medabot, I'm left to only wonder how this fight will end. Mallory nodded to show she was ready, and I could see Karlos cracking his knuckles in anticipation.
"Alright Shin Saber," Mallory said, "Let's do our best and show him what we're made of!"
"You can count on me Mallory." Shin Saber returned as he clutched his katana with both hands.
"I'm gonna make you sorry you even dared to challenge the BLADE!" Karlos smirked, "CUTTER, SCRAP THIS PIECE OF TRASH!"
"ALRIGHT," Mr. Referee, shouted, "ROUND TWO OF THREE! MEDABOTS, ROBATTLE!"
Cutter, apparently being the reckless and impulsive one, charged at Shin Saber and made the first swing. Shin Saber leaped over him and made a dash for his vulnerable backside. Shin Saber's attack landed, but Cutter simply laughed it off. To our surprise, Shin Saber's blade didn't even make a scratch.
"You call that a sword slash?!" Cutter bellowed, "Lemme show you a REAL sword slash!"
"MURDER 'EM CUTTER!" Karlos shouted.
"Shin Saber," Mallory called, "Resort to distance combat, you can't let him get close."
"I'll do my best." He returned as he sidestepped an incoming swipe and tried to maintain a distance of no less than ten feet between him and his opponent.
"What's the matter?" Karlos grinned, "You too chicken to fight Cutter? You afraid you'll lose? You're nothing but a helpless wimp with a sorry excuse for a medabot!"
"Hey stop with the name calling!" Inyo shouted.
"SHUT IT PAL! I CAN SAY WHATEVER I WANT!"
He then turned to Cutter, "FINISH OFF THAT SCRAP PILE CUTTER! RIP 'EM TO PIECES!"
Cutter charged again, but was eventually able to pin Shin Saber into a corner and then come down with another slash. Shin Saber slid under him and then attempted another slash to his backside. Cutter however saw it coming and threw his right arm into a wide slash around his backside. We all gasped in shock as Shin Saber's katana shattered into pieces upon impact with Cutter's arm. Far from finished, Cutter used his momentum to throw his left arm into an uppercut. The blade whacked Shin Saber head on and threw him easily about twenty feet backward and almost eight feet up. When Shin Saber touched down with a crash, we all knew there was no way possible he survived that attack. And Mr. Referee verified our fear.
"SHIN SABER FUNCTION CEASED!" He shouted as he raised his left hand, "AND THE WINNERS ARE KARLOS AND CUTTER!"
Mallory dashed to Shin Saber's body and put the medal in her watch. Thankfully he was still ok, but she immediately started crying. Inyo was the first to her side as Mallory buried herself in his chest while Inyo watched Karlos and Cutter dance in arrogant and prideful victory with a scowl in his face. I knew that face well. That was the face he made when someone hurt one of his friends, and I have a feeling that Inyo plans to return the favor on behalf of Mallory at some point.
I then looked down to Ranger, who was looking back up to me. We both nodded as we knew one thing was clear, it was going to be up to us to fight for the team.
"So it seems that we'd be the tiebreaker." Alice called as Natsu walked forward and waited for her opponent.
"So it would seem." I said back as ranger met his opponent.
Something however was still on my mind, and I felt bold enough to stake it on this robattle.
"I want to add something to his wager." I said, "If we win… No, if I win, you tell me why you act the way you do."
I could easily tell the Alice was both surprised and slightly flustered by my wager, but with the others here there was no way she could refuse.
"And if I win?" She asked.
"Then I'll tell you why I act the way I do."
See the others look back at her, she growled that I put her on the spot and then agreed.
"THE FINAL MATCH OF THE ROBATTLE MARATHON IS RENO AND RANGER VERSUS ALICE AND NATSU! THE WINNERS WILL BE DECIDED BY THIS TIEBREAKER MATCH!" Mr. Referee called, "MEDAFIGHTERS READY?"
"Ready when you are." Alice challenged.
I looked back to Inyo and Mallory, and then to both of Alice's teammates before looking her square in the eye. I felt my eyebrows knit themselves together.
"Let's do this!" I shouted.
"ALRIGHT!" Mr. Referee shouted, "ROUND 3 OF 3, TIEBREAKER MATCH! MEDABOTS, ROBATTLE!"
"Alright Ranger," I called, "Go in with solo attack maneuver beta-four!"
"HEIGH HO!" He shouted as he used his Auxiliary Charge, with the ring attached to the back of his head glowing to show that it was working, and then dashed into battle.
"Natsu," Alice called, "Feign a left cross and go in with a Shield Breaker!"
"I will do as ordered." She returned as she dashed into battle.
I did my best to keep most of my focus on Ranger and his surroundings and some of my focus on Natsu, but it was awfully hard with an opponent that almost literally dances on thin air she was so nimble. Ranger refused to let that get to him as he decided to improvise; which was his best trait, and the reason we won so many battles on our own. Ranger punched the ground with his left arm and unleashed a pulse that started shaking the ground in uneven intervals. It took a few pulses, but Natsu was beginning to trip over herself and then recover. As Ranger finished and readied another attack stance, Natsu made her move and dashed for him. I was barely able to yell "defend!" in time as her arm-mounted katana and not only shattered his defensive stance in one strike with an incredible forward stab of her left arm, but also pushed him back about seven feet.
"Finish with the Siege Sword maneuver!" Alice shouted.
"I don't think so," I challenged, "Ranger, hold her back!"
Ranger barely clashed blades in time to keep her left arm held at bay. Naturally, Natsu attempted to impale him with her right arm, though Ranger had directed enough strength to hold both arms back and force both him and her into a standstill.
"You… Fight well." I heard Ranger say, straining all the while.
"As… Ungh… Do you." Natsu returned, "But… I am… Far from finished!"
Their grips had hardened as their determinations to win engulfed them like fire. After about ten seconds of the extra strain, three blades could be seen spinning through the air as the two combatants had forced themselves a distance between the two of them. Alice and I, as well as everyone else, gasped in complete shock to find that due to the incredible force they pushed into holding each other back, they had shattered their blades and rendered them useless. This is impossible! How can something as hard as Meda-alloy shatter like that? It's supposed to be near unbreakable under pressures like that.
"We can fight without blades," Alice called, "Natsu, close in the distance and resort to hand combat!"
Natsu dashed towards Ranger as I gave him the order to do the same. Luckily Ranger still had one arm capable of a powerful attack, but we'll have to time it right if we're to land a hit. Both combatants had continued exchanging and dealing punches and kicks to in hopes to overwhelm the other. The others could see the fight getting even more intense as they watched in utter awe. After a while both Ranger and Natsu had done more than enough damage to push the other into cease function, but something inside both of them had completely ignored that option. I could tell Alice was thinking the same thing as we watched our bots fight viciously, though at the same time, we were so entranced by their fiery determination to defeat the other. Eventually they had dealt simultaneous blows to each other's heads as they shakily back up about three feet each. Both bots were over the edge, and my medawatch proved it as all parts were over ninety percent damage. I had a feeling that Natsu was basically at the same point. Both bots just stood there and stare each other down, struggling to stand all the while.
"Nnngh…" Ranger strained, "I'll admit… heh heh… This was a fun robattle."
"I… Only concede to… those deemed worthy…" Natsu returned, "You have proven yourself… but only this time… Next time… Nnnngh… I will be the victor of our duel."
"Well that makes… two of us."
Immediately afterwards, both bots hit the ground at the exact same moment with a unified clang as their medals ejected. I couldn't believe it… Ranger… And Natsu… had tied …
"RANGER AND NATSU BOTH FUNCTION CEASED!" Mr. Referee shouted, "DUE TO THIS, THE MARATHON ROBATTLE HAS ENDED IN A DRAW!"
With that said, he excused himself as we all were left in silence. Alice was the first to speak as a small grin grew on her face. She looked back up at me before speaking.
"You wanna know something about me huh?" She asked. "Well I'll tell you this. Those that are able to at the minimum match Natsu, let alone beat her, earn my respect."
She then made her way over to pick up Natsu's medal and transport her body and broken swords.
"But just because we tied doesn't mean that I'll just start being nice." She continued, "It takes more than that to humble me."
"Then until next time." I grinned.
She gave me a nod and slight smirk as she led her teammates back to the campus. Taking a sigh of relief, Inyo and Mallory met me as tears ran down Mallory's face.
"You two did that…" She quivered, "Just to fight for me. Even with me losing you refused to leave my side… I… I…" She buried her face in Inyo's chest again and started bawling. Tonto had reinserted Ranger's medal into his body and his twin up and served as a crutch, with his broken blade in his other hand.
"Nice job bro." Inyo grinned, "I couldn't be prouder."
I returned the comment with a grin. Looking at my medawatch however showed that we better get a move on to our medabots class or we may find ourselves tardy.
In today's Marathon Robattle:
Inyo/Tonto vs. Hector/Piraskull- Inyo and Tonto triumph over Hector and Piraskull
Mallory/Shin Saber vs. Karlos/Cutter- Karlos and Cutter beat Mallory and Shin Saber
Reno/Ranger vs. Alice/Natsu- Both combatants fell simultaneously, resulting in a draw
Final Score: 1-1 Draw
What'll happen next time? You'll have to come back and read on to find out.
And one last thing, rate and review please.
MORE MEDABOTS! MORE POWER!