Berkana and Gareth peered over the edge of the window, watching the two intruders plummet toward their doom.
"Should I look into another security staff?" Gareth asked, his expression still unchanged.
"No." Berkana said, sitting back down in her chair. "With any luck, those two will now be out of our lives. We can move on in peace."
Alright, so what have we established so far? I'm impulsive. Taking a suit of armor hidden in a secret room proved that. I'm rash. Getting into a fight at school, then trying to one-up the person I fought later on proved that. I also have a hard time thinking ahead. Trying to catch a flying alien bat from fifty stories in the air is probably that statement's newest piece of evidence.
It didn't hit me that trying to grab Broodwing from so high up was not a good idea. At least, not until I got a hand on him and the two of us began our plunge back toward solid, unforgiving ground.
"Not this again!" I shouted. I was right; this was the second time that I'd gone over the edge of a building from high up. The last time, though, I only landed painfully hard. Nearly five hundred feet up? I wondered if I'd even feel the landing.
"Let go of me, you idiot!" The bat shouted, both surprising me that he could still talk and scrambling furiously to try and make me let go.
"No way, bat-boy!" My wit didn't seem fazed by our fall, though. "I'm not going down alone!"
A loud hiss from out of nowhere reminded me that our tumble down wasn't a big deal. Tango, who I'd forgotten about, reattached himself to my armor, kicked his jets in and pushed the two of us forward.
"Pull up!" I screamed as the ground moved faster. "Pull up!"
Another meow, and we were suddenly angling up. As glad I was that Tango was there, his jets weren't enough to keep us in the air. I had no choice but to let the bat go and brace myself. Tango disconnected from my armor and jumped away, leaving me to skid at a high speed along the ground. The good part was that the armor took the most of the landing and scraping. The bad part was that I still landed hard enough to hurt.
Once I came to a stop, I slowly rolled over and groaned. "That...was not fun."
"Iris!"
Since someone shouted my name, something that I didn't need by the way, I looked around to find the source of the voice. It didn't take me long to find the six people I'd left behind. I guess they had everything they needed.
"You okay?" Ibuki asked, already in her ninja suit with her face covered. The S.P.D. officers stood between us and the alien, forming a sort-of barrier.
"Yeah," I said. Ibuki helped me get to my feet. Everything felt really wobbly. "Just fine."
"That's good." Broodwing said, changing out of his bat form. "That just means you'll make for a better second test." Before I had the chance to come up with a snappy comeback, he hefted and launched a pair of small balls. I recognized them as the same ones that the Krybots from the mall came out of. So that was the way he wanted to do things?
Fine by me.
The eight of us, counting Tango, watched as the machines from earlier were summoned in front of us.
"Those things again?" I asked. "Don't you have something else we can beat the egg out of?"
If he could smile, he probably would've been at that point. "Why, I'm glad you asked. I just so happen have the latest models on hand for display. Hope you enjoy them!" With that, he produced two more balls, these with what looked like a pair of blue rings circling them. He threw those into the air and, just like the first set, they released his machines. It was only two of them this time, but they looked different from the regular ones. Their basic appearance was the same, but their heads had the same two circles going around their heads. Unlike the Krybots, who were moving their arms up and down, these two held still.
"Blueheads." Jack said without hesitation. "Watch out for those. They can be pretty nasty."
"How nasty?" I asked.
Before I got an answer, one of them charged forward and leaped over the crowd of Krybots. It came in with a flying kick, forcing everyone to roll away. The Krybots then charged in themselves, forcing each of us to try and fight off a small pack on our own.
So, in essence, that basically answered my question without anyone needing to say anything.
Several Krybots surrounded me, basically cutting me off from everyone else. In the back of my mind, I knew that I couldn't treat this fight like I did just the others. I had to make sure that I kept my head on a swivel and knew where everyone not me was at all times. I couldn't afford to-
"Oof!"
A hard kick right into my back cut off my thoughts. What was that I was saying about always being aware?
The hit sent me stumbling forward into another Bot. Whether it was quick thinking on my part or the suit taking over for a second, I used the momentum to roll right past it and underneath the punch it threw. Once I was behind it, I gave it a good hard crouching kick to send it stumbling forward. Another one came up and tried to kick me (what's with all the kicks?). I blocked the attack and, again I wasn't sure if it was me or the armor, drew one of my Z-Blades and sliced the Krybot in half with one smooth motion.
I'm willing to bet it was me. I'm getting good.
A couple of the Mechaniloid wannabes charged, both winding up for what could've been heavy punches. This time, knowing full well it was me, I decided to take a risk and do something for the first time. I sprang up onto my feet and launched myself backwards onto my hands. Another quick spring, and I was back on my feet a couple of...feet...away from where I started and out of their range.
"Cool." I said to myself. It was the first time I'd ever done a successful backflip without landing painfully onto something. At least now I knew I could do it. After I'd finished admiring my hidden natural talent that had absolutely nothing to do with the power armor I'd been given by my parents, I quickly dashed forward and slashed both Krybots across their chests. Three down, looked like three more to go. Two of them raised their arms, showing that they'd switched to their electric arms.
"Like I need to see those things." I said, again to myself. I could feel my arms start to tingle just remembering the last time those things shot at me. Acting on armor influence, because I probably never would've guessed to do so on my own, I could feel myself cartwheeling to the side. Good thing, too, because the armed Krybots fired electric sparks where I stood before, creating a small explosion of sparks.
Once I'd finished my move, I charged in with my swords ready. They fired again, this time their shots connected with me, sparking off of and heating up my armor. I winced underneath my mask, but the suit kept pushing me forward and ignoring my pain. Can't say I blame it, considering that it doesn't know that my side and one of my arms, where the electric attacks landed, were starting to sting against the heat. The 'bots apparently didn't know not to stand still when someone's barreling in on you, because they just kept firing while I kept running. Once I was close enough, it was just a matter of a simple swipe of a sword to each to put them down for good.
I groaned loudly. I'd gotten my last burns taken care of not too long ago, and now I had new ones in new places. Sort of. Before I had a chance to tell myself that now wasn't the time to let the pain get to me, a hard punch right to the stomach did it for me. All the air leaving my lungs forced me to gag and hunch forward, making eating a knee from my attacker pretty easy to do. The hit knocked me back onto my rear.
One of these days, I'm going to get the hang of fighting in these large battles.
My vision was a bit blurry from eating a gut-witch with a side of knee, but I was able to see that the Krybot that attacked me wasn't an ordinary Krybot. It was one of the Blueheads Broodwing sent after us. I didn't have a chance to recover from the hits before it charged me again. This time, though, instead of another hit to the stomach, it decided to go for my head. My armor kicked in and forced me to bring my arms up to block his attacks. It was all I could do, though, because the stupid thing kept throwing punches and kicks at me and not giving me any time to try and fight back. Before I knew it, though, a light pressure hit my shoulder and a rain of knives came down on it from behind me. Most of the knives missed, but the few that connected only bounced off of it. They came down hard enough, though, to force it to back off and try to defend itself. I looked back to see where my help came from, but I had a pretty good idea.
Ibuki was crouched down on the ground, looking at the two of us. Guess that means I owed her for saving me.
"Thanks." I said. Ibuki, on the other hand, wasn't in a gracious mood.
"Don't look away!" She shouted, springing to her feet. I turned back around, only to see the Bluehead come at me with a flying kick. I didn't have time to react, so the hit ended up knocking me backwards into the ninja behind me. The two of us rolled a bit, finally stopping in a tangled mess of limbs.
"Nice job." Ibuki groaned underneath me.
"Sorry." I said, equally strained.
"Just get off. You're heavy."
I felt offended. "Are you suggesting that...?"
"Your armor makes you heavier?" Ibuki cut me off. "Yes, now off!" With that, she was able to slip a leg underneath me and push me off. I shook my head once she was free. At least she wasn't saying that I was getting fat.
Before either of us had a chance to start a round of banter, the Bluehead came after us again. This time, with a little help with me, the two of us were able to surround it and fend it off a little better and even get in some attacks of our own. Problem, though, was that for every kick or punch we threw, and we managed to throw a lot, the Bluehead seemed to be able to figure us out and block all of our attacks. It was getting to be a chore just trying to hit the stupid thing.
Eventually, our attacks circled us both in front of it. It must've recognized that, because the next thing we knew, it jumped up and kicked us both at once. The two of us fell backward, though I was a little more embarrassed than hurt. Ibuki rubbed at her sore spot.
"What now?" I asked. "We can't get in a good hit."
Ibuki drew one of her throwing knives before answering. "Buy me some time. Gotta get ready."
I nodded. With my blades in hand, I charged the Bluehead, swinging away. It read every swipe I tried and dodged them. It ducked under a slash at its head and connected with quick hits to my stomach and, once I doubled over, jaw. The hits didn't hurt too much, but they were enough to send me sprawling back. I had no idea how I was supposed to buy any time when nothing I did seemed to work.
Which was a good thing, because it turned out that Ibuki didn't really need that much, anyway. Before I knew it, she'd jumped up onto my shoulder, using me to get more height on another jump. In a move that always made me wonder if physics applied to her, she spun in the air a couple of times.
"Present for ya!" She shouted before her last spin. She flung her arms out to the sides, revealing so many knives I couldn't help but wonder where the heck she hid them all.
Then again, maybe I didn't want to know.
The knives came down on the bot like some kind of homing rain, if that makes any sense. It tried to dodge them, but there were too many for anyone to avoid and they ended up slashing the bot to small, sparking pieces.
"That was cool." I said just as she landed. "How'd you do that?"
I couldn't see it too well under her facemask, but I could see that she had a smile on her. "Can't tell ya."
I rolled my eyes. "Right. Ninja stuff."
"Nope. Just don't want you figuring out how to beat it."
Another roll. "I think moving would work just fine."
"Yeah." Ibuki thumbed toward the mechanical heap. "That guy can vouch for that."
Okay, so she had me there. Before I had a chance to respond, though, an interesting set of words were shouted from people other than us.
"SPD! Emergency!"
The two of us looked toward the group of visitors just in time to watch as they transformed into their own special suits. It only took a split second, which was just enough time for me to ask another question.
"Why can't I say something that cool?"
"Look out!" Ibuki shouted, then tackled me. Electric arcs landed in the spot we used to be. Our landing was pretty rough, considering I wasn't ready to get thrown to the ground. It didn't help that Ibuki screamed in pain right when we hit the ground.
"You okay?" I asked. Her eyes were shut tight, meaning that she wasn't too comfortable.
"My arm..." She groaned. I looked down. Turned out that when she tackled me, I ended up landing on her arm. That was just great. Now not only did I manage to somehow get myself hurt every time I was in these situations, now I managed to injure my best friend in the process.
To make matters worse, the Krybots that shot at us, I assumed, closed in on us with their needle arms aimed. And, to make things much better, there were apparently enough Krybots left over to push out guests from another country back toward us.
Shots from a few of the Krybots landed all around us, throwing everyone back in a fit screams near where Ibuki was laying.
Groaning all around, everyone but she struggled to get up. She stayed down, clutching at her arm and cringing in major pain.
"You guys okay?" Jack asked. Part of me had to resist smacking him for asking such a stupid question. Thankfully, I guess you could say, I didn't really get the chance. Before anyone could say anything, more bolts flew our way. The others moved out of the way, but I had to stay in place to make sure Ibuki didn't get hit.
Which meant, of course, that I did. The bolts that landed on my heated my armor again, and I could feel my skin underneath it.
Between Ibuki's groans of pain, people in brightly colored suits, the burning sensation, and the sight of sparks flying everywhere from missed shots I could only hope that something good would happen and we could get the upper hand.
A loud hiss chose that particular moment to remind me that a friend of mine was still there.
Tango jumped out from behind the mass of machines, turned to face them and started shooting his ear-beams at them.
"Yes!" I cried, then cringed. Reacting like that aggravated my burns. Tango kept at it, reducing one Krybot after another to scrap. The others, though, ended up getting pushed back toward us.
"Okay," Z said. "So rushing in isn't going to work. Any ideas?"
Heads snapped around, everyone trying to get ideas under the constant fire. Tango kept returning the favor, proving himself to be a better shooter than the Krybots. Everyone else had drawn out small Buster Guns and were firing as well. I moved back so I could act like a shield for my injured friend. Speaking of, I hadn't heard anything from her for a minute or so. Looking back at her, I could see that she wasn't moving or anything. She'd probably passed out from the pain. Not good. I had to think fast.
That was when it hit me. Why not try
"Can you guys buy me some time?" I asked. Everyone nodded.
"Can do." Jack said. "Let's move!" With that, everyone took off to buy me said time. I stayed in place so I could keep acting like her shield. The last thing she needed was to get hurt even after I'd already done so.
"Z-Blades, combine!"
Just like the last time I'd done this, I slammed the hilts of my Blades together and heard them lock together. Again, the blade doubled in length and energy coursed through me and into it. As it was charging, a thought came to me.
I don't know where I came up with the name I used for the move I beat Archon with, but it sounded pretty lame in my head. Maybe something better sounding?
Before I knew it, the Z-Saber's blade glowed brightly. A cue that it was ready. Good thing, too, because looking at the battle in front of me showed that the S.P.D. Officers were fighting a losing battle.
"Move!" I shouted. They each took one look at either me or my sword, I couldn't tell with their visors covering their eyes, and got away as fast as they could, running behind me for safety. After they got clear, I reared my sword back and prepared to attack. That was when, for some reason but not entirely unusual, the name of the attack skipped my brain and went straight to my vocal chords.
"Final strike! ZERO DIVIDER!"
Completely original. So was the attack. Instead of dual massive energy waves being fired at the Krybots when I swung, the sword unleashed the energy in the form of momentum. The hilt slipped from my hand, and the Z-Saber flew toward the mass of mechanics, spinning so fast it almost looked like some kind of disc.
Krybots, at this point, were pretty clearly not intelligent. At least, not intelligent enough to move away from a sword flying directly at them. The Z-Saber sliced its way through the crowd, cutting down any Krybot unfortunate enough to get in its way.
"Okay," Z said from behind. "That is cool."
Once it finished clearing a path, which included forcing Broodwing behind the 'bots to duck down or get sliced, it circled back around, going through even more of the alien Mechaniloids.
I couldn't help but watch in awe. After all, that was probably the last thing that I wanted to do. As I watched, though, something hit me like a slap on the back of the head.
It was coming back.
Crud. I started panicking. How the heck was I supposed to stop a sword that's about two-thirds my size and coming at my like a Frisbee on a mission? I held my hand out, hoping things would work out like they do on TV. For once, my hopes paid off as the hilt of the blade found my hand once again.
I grinned like a madwoman. "Freakin' sweet!"
Looking up, I could see that a huge chunk of the Krybot army that Broodwing threw at us was a nice pile of scrap. The rest stood frozen. If they had any sort of AI in them, they were probably terrified. I would've.
With a smirk under my mask, I asked the first question that came to mind.
"So, who else wants a piece?"
"Don't get cocky, Iris." I could almost hear Sky's eyes rolling. "We've still got a job to finish."
"Doesn't mean we can't have a little fun." My smile widened. This really was fun when I wasn't getting thrown around like a doll in a daycare.
"Let's finish this up." Jack said. "We've gotta get your friend out of here."
Well, there went my buzz. I looked behind me. For that split second, I'd forgotten that Ibuki was behind me, still not doing much moving.
In that split second, a loud bang went off in my ear, followed by a shower of sparks that would've burned me if I were staring right into them. Instead, they bounced harmlessly off my armor. Turning around, I could see a Krybot falling limply to the ground in front of me. Apparently that one wanted a piece.
"Keep your head up!" Jack shouted, firing his Buster into whatever 'bots remained. The rest of his team charged in, Pistols blazing and steel dropping to the ground. If I could've, I would've gone in and helped out myself, but someone needed to stay by Ibuki and make sure she didn't get hurt any worse than she was. Staying there let me see something I wouldn't have if I were in the middle of the battle.
Namely, a bat-like figure flying away from the scene and away from the tower. Clearly, he didn't have any interest in sticking around to find out if he had a deal with Berkana or not. It was a good thing, though, because not too long afterward, the S.P.D. officers had cleared out whatever Krybots were left over. Once they were done, they regrouped around us.
"Well, that went easier than expected." Z said.
"Yeah," Bridge agreed. "That wasn't nearly as tough as it usually is."
I raised an eyebrow to those. "That's easy?"
"Pretty much," Jack answered. "Normally we'd have an ugly monster or robot to fight too."
Ho-boy. I could only hope things didn't escalate for me like that. Otherwise, Middy and Techno would have a ton of work cut out for us.
"Guys," Now Sky chimed in, not very amused. "Didn't anyone notice anything wrong with this situation?" Everyone looked around, but I was the only one who knew what he was talking about.
"Broodwing took off. He flew off that way." I said, pointing to where he went.
"Alright," Jack started. "You stay here with her and mak sure she's okay. We'll go after Broodwing."
"If we need help, we'll know where to call you." Sky added. With that, the officers took off running. It didn't take long for me to lose sight of the group, even when I took my eyes off of them to look at Ibuki. She shifted a bit on the ground and groaned, meaning that she was probably conscious and in a lot of pain.
I knew that I needed to get her some help, even if she wasn't going to like it, or me, later on. Whatever her injury was, it wasn't something that I could just take her home for and let Mom and Dad handle. As carefully as possible, I lifted her over my shoulder and began making my way back to the spot where I'd been Trans-Servered into.
I think I just created a new word.
The one thing that I was hoping for while I was moving Ibuki was that I wouldn't get attacked, or even noticed, while trying to get her to safety. Half of my hopes were dashed, though, because the second I stepped off the property, I got all kinds of stares from the people who'd frozen in place due to the battle. They weren't a huge problem, though. Like the first night I wore my armor, I hopped on a car and then a rooftop, using the springing motion from the car to give me more momentum. A little roof-hopping later, which ended up being longer than it need to be thanks to my inability to find where I landed, and we were there. As I stepped onto the glowing square, I had to hope that more than one person traveling at a time was safe.
After all, I'd rather not have a leg where an arm's supposed to be.
Mom and Dad were waiting for me at home. They rushed over to us the second I returned. I laid Ibukin on the ground, silently thankful that we made it in our respective pieces. It was at that point that the adrenaline from the battle faded and panic started to set it. "We need to get her to a doctor!" I nearly cried. What if I hurt her worse than I thought?
Mom shook her head. "No. We can take care of her." Dad knelt down and gently ran his hands over her, which would've deserved a comment in other situations. Instead, I knelt too and kept silent. He had to know what he was doing.
A second later, he smiled slightly. "Not too bad, " he said. "Her arm's broken, but not much else to be concerned about.
"That's great and all," I said, still panicking considering the situation,"but we need to get her some professional help!"
"Do you see the way she's dressed?" Mom asked. I could tell she was starting to get upset with me. I didn't blame her. She'd been though a war and probably saw a lot worse than that. I just wasn't used to the people close to me getting hurt. "Don't you think we should worry about helping her as well as respecting her need to keep her secret?"
"I don't care about that right now, Mom! She's hurt because of me, and I want to make sure she gets the kind of help she needs!"
A moment of silence and some head rubbing later, Mom let out an exhausted-sounding sigh.
"Fine. We'll take her to a hospital."
I smiled a little and took a deep breath. At least I knew she was going to be safe and, hopefully, just fine.
