Author's note: Awww yeah, connecting back old chapters from "Firecracker" FTW! It makes it look like I know what I am doing! :D
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Chapter 2: Turning Heads and Breaking Necks
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Lily slowed down her breathing and tried to focus. She could not sense anything from Jet, meaning he must be okay…... or dead. A knot tied in her stomach. She had felt something earlier, when going against the dinosaur, but in the middle of the battle, she could not focus on separating his heartbeat from her own. She headed back to the clearing where the others had split up. Another roar. Thunder rumbled and lightning split the sky. Lily slowed as she came upon the clearing, wanting to stay covered by the trees. Her eyes widened at the scene before her.
002, 005, 009 looked on as a headless dinosaur cyborg seized Dr. Kylie. 002 held 009 back, "Let him go," he told 009, sadly. The wires from its neck sparked and metal crunched as the robot exploded. 0014 winced, shielding her eyes from the blinding light. Around the pile of smoking metal were two other dinosaurs, their scales gone, only the metal hulls remaining. "Guys!" she called out, running towards them. The others turned to her, "You okay, 0014?" 002 asked, relief in his voice. "Yeah, I'm fine. Ran into a big guy back there, but….. yeah, all robots. We need to get out of here, there are probably more." 005 sighed, "We think Dr. Ross is responsible for turning that dino against Dr. Kylie. We need to try and find him." The others nodded and began walking towards the high cliff face, where his laboratory was located. Drops of rain pattered as the storm rolled in the distance.
005 stopped in his tracks and looked up. "Someone else is here," he whispered. The others stopped, looking around warily. 0014 felt a tingle run down her spine. Out of nowhere, something smashed into 009's chest and sent him flying. "009!" 005 called out, before something pushed him hard, clearing several feet. 002 and 0014 stood back to back. Whatever it was, it moved too fast. Suddenly Jet was pushed up through the air, as a force caught him right in the gut, and forced him up, throwing him several feet away. 0014 looked on in horror. "JET!" she ran to him as he fell, and dropped to her knees beside him. She whipped her head around, hearing footsteps behind her. Blood drained from her face when she saw him. "No…. not you…." She whispered, her voice wavering.
"Oh, but it is me. Long time no see, 0014," he smirked at her. The rain ran down his shiny metallic skin. His inky black hair rested on his broad shoulders. "R-03….." 0014's voice came out in a squeak. 002 pulled up himself with a groan. He looked at the stranger and his breath hitched. "Lily, it's the man I saw in your nightmare…" Lily rose to her feet, standing in front of Jet, blocking him from R-03. He laughed menacingly. "Oh, I appeared in your nightmare? How sweet. Well, I have been having dreams of you, 0014, dreams of crushing your skull like I should have back at the test site. Now, I have the chance to prove I am stronger than you BECUASE I should have been sent after the 00 TRAITORS!" 0014 took a step forward. "You evil creature. If you had any scrap of humanity remaining, you would leave Black Ghost like I did!" R-03 intertwined his fingers in front of him. "Of course you left, you are too weak-willed for your strength. Me, on the other hand, I wish to get stronger. Every time I destroy someone, I take their power. And you're next." He launched himself forward and collided with 0014, sending her rolling across the ground. 005 and 009 were now running towards them. 002 got to his feet, clutching his stomach. "No, leave her alone!" he called out. R-03 ignored him and walked over to 0014. He yanked her up by her hair onto her feet.
"You are not making this fun for me, 0014. Perhaps I should destroy the 00 Rebels first?" he turned around towards the trio. 0014 wobbled on her feet. 002 rushed forward, his fist ready to punch R-03. He dodged 002 easily and grabbed his closed fist. He snapped his wrist backwards with a sharp, deafening crack. 002 yelled out in pain. R-03 threw him to the ground. "Nooo, Jet!" 0014 gasped, the shock grounding her in her place. 005 lifted up a huge boulder and hurled it at R-03. Instead of dodging it, he leapt up, and disappeared, his accelerated speed shattering the boulder into small shards of rock. He then round kicked 005, knocking him off his feet. 009 disappeared and was then behind him. He shot his laser and R-03 raised his arm to block it. The laser blasted through his arm, cutting into his uniform and slicing through his silver flesh. 009's eyes widened when he saw that R-03 was unfazed, as the severed flesh simply molding back into the shape of his forearm, as though like liquid. "You can't hurt me, stupid cyborg! I am R-03, the R is for rejuvenation. I am a higher model than 0014 and my injuries can heal immediately. You don't stand a chance against me!" He shouted, punching 009 straight into the gut, and sending him flying.
0014 looked at her fallen team mates around her. 002 was trying to pull himself up, pain and anger written across his face. 005 was still on his back and 009 struggled to get up on his feet. Memories of being back on Black Ghost's base flooded 0014's mind. Being sent out onto the test site and being hunted by R-03. How he punched and kicked her until her vision blurred. The manic look on his face as he launched himself at her, only be teleported away at the last moment. How she thought she was going to die….. 0014 took a deep breath, steading herself. They were no longer at the base. She had to protect her team mates, her love, and everyone from this monster. "R-03," she called out. He turned to look at her. "I'll give you the fight you want." She spat the words like venom. "Catch me if you can!" she added as she accelerated, jumping from tree to tree and scaling the cliff face. 'I have to get him away from Jet and the others,' she thought, moving as fast as she could. She could feel him behind her. He was as fast as her, if not faster. 0014 darted this way at that, trying to keep him off balance. Landing on top of the cliff's plateau, she deactivated her accelerator to face him.
R-03 came to a stop also, smirking at her. 0014 charged towards him, catching his shoulder and pushing him towards the cliff face. He launched himself at her, but this time, 0014 ducked out the way, and turned, kicking him in the back. R-03 fell and rolled, jumping up again, unhurt. He rushed to her again, this time landing a punch to her left cheek. 0014 hooked him into the neck, and then into the ribs. She kneed him, managing to push him back again. She stood her ground firmly, and glared up at him. They continued fighting, punch for punch and kick for kick. The only difference was that R-03 did not sustain any injury, while 0014's skin was swelling and bruising far too fast for her body to self-heal. He was wearing her out.
"005! 009! We got to go after them! Grab onto me!" 002 pleaded. His lifted his arm, and with a wince, tucked his broken wrist in the opening of his jacket, between the golden buttons. The others hobbled over to him, pain written across their faces. They had already used too much energy from fighting the dinosaurs. "005, grab my waist. 009, take my good arm." The two followed his order. "Hold on!" Jet clenched his teeth and bent his knees, igniting his jets. They took off in the direction of the cliffs plateau, the sounds of slams and a scuffle guiding them.
R-03 grabbed 0014 by the neck and pulled her down, kneeing her in the chest, winding her. 0014 dropped to her all fours, gasping for air. He then brought his foot down on her back, slamming her down to the ground. She rolled over on her back, and coughed up blood. R-03 jumped on top of her, his hands wrapped around her neck. Rain poured down and the lightning lit up the sky. "0014!" She tried to turn her head in the direction of the voices, R-03 gripped her even tighter.
002 flew up, 005 holding onto his waist and 009 hooked on his arm. They landed around 40 yards away from 0014 and R-03 and started running towards them. "Hold it right there, cyborgs! You are just in time to see me squeeze the life out of her and take it for myself." 002 looked on in horror. 0014 was bruised and swollen, her uniform torn. Blood trickled out of her nose and mouth and her face was beginning to turn purple from R-03 strangling hands. "Here is a question for you, 00s. How do you kill a cyborg that can self-heal? I'll give you the answer; you pull her apart! You shall see, after I drain her power!" 002 felt like he was moving in slow motion. R-03's evil tone echoed in his ears. "Lily! Nooo!" he called out, his voice breaking as he lurched forward. "You deserve a slow death, 0014. After what you did to R-01… My R-01…." He hissed. 0014 shut her eyes tight, feeling her energy slipping away. 'This is it; I am a goner…..'
-0014! Use your power! You can drain him first! Trust yourself- 001's voice rang in 0014's mind. Her eyes flew open. She shot her hands up, grabbing R-03's face. One thumb stuck into his eye, the other in the corner his mouth. Her fingertips pressed into this hard skin. "What do you think you are doing?!" he growled. 0014 closed her eyes again and tried to focus. She felt her hands warm up, growing hot, as though melting into his face. She squeezed as tight as she could.
"Noooo! Stop!" R-03 shouted, panic clear in his eyes. His grip on her neck relaxed. 0014 felt her whole body heat up. The throbbing pains of her injuries started to subside. She looked up at R-03. His skin started to change back from sliver to his natural tan color. Red lines started to grow out from where 0014's fingers pressed into his skin. She clenched her teeth and pressed harder. Cracks started to form where the red lines were and ran down his neck. R-03 groaned in agony as his skin now started to lighten to a sickly grey color. "005! Help me!" 0014 called out. 005 rushed to them and grabbed R-03 by his shoulders from behind, pulling his hands off of her neck. "PULL!" she screamed. 005 pulled back as she pressed and pulled with all her might. 002 and 009 looked on, mouths open. R-03 screamed in agony. With the sickening sound of flesh ripping and bone snapping, R-03's head came off his shoulders. 005 fell back, still gripping R-03's headless body. He trembled in shock. "Get back, 005!" she called out. He released the body, and rolled away, looking back at 0014. She got to her feet and quickly pulled out her laser gun and blasted needle lasers onto R-03's body and head, causing them to burn up. As his remains burned, 0014's whole body started to tremble. She felt like she was on fire. She looked at her team mates as they stared back at her in disbelief. 0014 felt like she too, would burn up. Energy pulsed through her body. Her mind darkened and everything started to tilt sideways. Then everything turned black as she crumpled to the ground.
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Lily felt like she was floating. Everything was dark and cloudy, like a stormy sky. She could hear voices. They were faint, going in and out. "Doctor Gilmore, why hasn't she woken up?" that was Jet's voice, demanding and worried. "Her whole system has been over worked, 002. Like when an engine overheats. We have to wait for her own self-heal ability to resolve the issues." Lily tried to open her eyes. No good. She tried to move her hands. Nothing. "But it has been two days already! Can't you do something?" Jet's voice rose, panicked. "No, 002. We have to wait. Go and get some rest, you haven't slept and you are not helping." Doctor Gilmore's voice faded out. Lily felt herself grow tired and darkness took over once again.
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Author's note: Phew! Like? Typical, her first battle of the story and she ends up in a coma. Oh, I have been watching Game of Thrones, can you tell?! Lily and 005 make up the Mountain! Write to meeeeeeeeeeeee, emojis for the win! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx