Mystic Destiny
Chapter 7-Arena
The man stood near monitor, watching as the efficiency rate of one of the enhancements bottomed out. A nervous, mousy student ran to the doorway, muttering a few things to his boss.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'There's an error'!?!?!? ERRORS NEVER DID ANYONE ANY GOOD! Go...FIX IT!!!!!"
~~~~~
Klein opened the door to his dorm to see everything untouched. Good, the girl hadn't been here after all. Checking over everything, he found it was all perfectly fine, everything where he had left it. He then lay down on the bed to think about what to do...If his little plan would actually work. It probably wouldn't, with all his thinking, and Selene would probably overhear and tag along like the rich girl she was, or Kelron would notice and give him another lecture...He rolled to face the door. Maybe it would be best to get it all over with now...
He walked out of his dorm, carefully closing and locking the door behind him, looking up and down the hallway. Good, no one was around. He carefully walked over to Selskia's dorm (which happened to be two dorms to the left and right across the hall) and tested the door out of habit. To his surprise, the door swung open slightly, letting him see inside. Stepping through the threshold, he looked for the girl he knew would (probably) be here.
Selskia was curled up on the bed in the middle of the room, sound asleep. A small pile of computer printouts lay next to her bed, stacked in an almost neat fashion. Walking to her computer chair, Klein sat down and looked at the sleeping girl. Immediately, her eyes snapped open and she sat up.
"Yes?"
"Well...Let's see...Are you busy right now...?"
He shifted his feet uneasily. Maybe it was best to scrap the entire plan. But then, what about the wasted credits Kelron spent on him...He mentally shook his head. Well, he was already into it, might as well continue.
"Nah, nothing to do...Why?"
Selskia looked up at the man curiously. This was odd...He had hated her a while ago.
"Well...Do you want to go to an arena match with me? I got these tickets from that idiot Kelron, and I don't really have anyone to see the match with..."
Klein reached into one of his pockets and pulled out the two tickets to the next match, in the space arena. Kelron had given them to him just a little while ago, telling Klein to spend a nice day with Selene. Of course, he wouldn't spend a day with the wretch for anything, and decided that a day with Selskia was better than with Selene. Maybe the girl would enjoy it...
"Of course I would!"
The girl smiled gently, almost gratefully, to Klein, getting one of the tickets out of Klein's hand. The newer tickets these days were holograms, and she pressed a few points to activate the small miniature (and cheap) hologram. Squinting, she looked over the thing, trying to make out minute words as they fuzzed up or flashed from the terrible quality. Once she understood the words, she looked back up quickly.
"It begins in only 30 minutes!"
Klein let out a small sigh of relief, and steeled himself for the worst. /I shouldn't have done that I shouldn't have done that I shouldn't have done that I shouldn't have.../ Too late to change anything now. Might as well make this something nice.
"Well, we should go then, shouldn't we?"
~~~~~
Klein walked into the large stadium behind Selskia, who was marveling at the changes since she was last in the same room. They were actually a little early for the match, Klein thought as he sat down in his seat next to Selskia's. Kelron had really outdone himself, getting the best seats in the place for him.
This match was in the space arena, one of those that most people enjoyed because of the added effect of weightlessness. The stats for the two ravens battling were showing on a hologram in front of the stands, so everyone could see. The match was for the B-5 ranking, so it was going to be a fair decent match, at least. Porth with his AC, Icestorm, were challenging Elwood with his AC, Oblivion.
Selskia was too busy looking around at all the improvements in the arena to notice Klein too much. The lights were different in here, as well as the shield generators and the gravity controls. She could reach up and start to feel like drifting while remaining firmly planted on the ground. At the moment, the lights were dimmed in the actual arena while the lights were bright in the stands. She sat back in her seat, waiting for the match to begin.
Oblivion floated out of the gate first, the pitch black midweight equipped with grenade rifle and dual vertical missile launcher, weapons of choice for the man. Elwood was known for sneaking around with his AC, tricking his opponent and finishing them off quickly when they were least expecting it. Icestorm came in right after, the middleweight AC a range of bold blues and whites, hence its name. With a machine gun and a howitzer being his main weapons, Porth typically fired light barrages constantly, slipping in sudden shots on occasion. Much like a storm.
An announcer stated the rules and terms for the match in a monotone voice, no one really listening. Most already knew it, and the rest didn't care, but it was law, so they continued to talk while the man recited the words yet again, as he always did before every match. Slowly, everyone stopped talking and turned their eyes to the actual arena and to the two ACs floating there. Then the announcer went through the typical formalities before raising a hand for silence.
"Begin!"
End Chapter 7, Part I
Note from Selskia
This shall be my terrible, horrible try at a battle!
I would also like to thank Squirrel for helping me write the battle (actually, he wrote the entire battle and I just tweaked it). Thank ye once
again!
At the announcer's words, Icestorm immediately boosted up, while Oblivion started gliding along to meet his opponent. Once in range, Oblivion fired a volley of vertical missiles, but, of course, Icestorm dodged them easily. The dark black AC blended into the background of space perfectly, just firing volley after volley at his enemy, until all his ammo was gone. With the useless hunk of metal on his back, he jettisoned the missile launchers, glad to have lost the extra weight. Not that it mattered, in the 0 grav of simulated space.
Icestorm took the offensive suddenly, coming straight for Oblivion. In return, Oblivion brought out his grenade launchers, firing one after the other, at perfect intervals to force his attacker to dodge. Soon tiring of the pointless dodging, Icestorm triggered his overboost suddenly and lunged at Oblivion, dodging another grenade round, as he opened fire with his machine gun. After taking moderate damage, Oblivion finally managed to hit Icestorm at last, the grenade tearing off the AC's left arm, smashing the hunk of metal against the force field that protected the spectators. He carefully took aim to make the final shot as the icy blue AC was stunned, but right before his round hit, the armless AC managed to boost out of the way. Despite his efforts, Icestorm was just a little off, and his right leg was torn apart just below the knee. He could still battle though, thankful that this was in the space arena instead of the normal ones, where he would be near crippled.
The AC circled Oblivion, firing his MG-1000 the entire time. A few rounds of machine gun fire managed to hit the ammo storage for the left grenade rifle, causing it to implode, knocking the black AC back. While the AC was struggling to regain control, Icestorm used the time to position himself behind Oblivion, placing his machine gun at the base of the AC's 'skull', firing until he only hit dirt. Without cameras, Oblivion was forced to surrender, the lights in the arena focusing on the ice AC.
"The winner--Porth and Icestorm! Porth is now upgraded to raven rank B-5, and Elwood has been moved down to rank B-6. Thank you all for coming, the next match is in 45 minutes, for the D-7 ranking..."
Klein looked back at Selskia, who was judging the match by now, ignoring the announcer. The one thing he hated about arena matches was that the announcer kept on babbling about pointless things. Then, Selskia spoke, still looking at the ACs.
"Porth was lucky it was an anti-grav arena, otherwise, I doubt he could have won. And Elwood, nearly overweight with those grenade launchers, but in anti-grav, it really isn't a problem..."
Suddenly, there was a high-pitched cry of surprise from a young boy nearby. Both turned to see what was going on, and found that a young boy was slowly floating towards the center of the arena, trapped in the anti- grav, his struggling futile. Another man, obviously the boy's father, jumped up to grab the boy, but was caught in the spherical dome of anti- grav at once. Klein snorted, shaking his head.
"Some people...Are just idiots...Let's go, it's pointless to stay."
Before following Klein out of the stadium, Selskia looked back to the young boy, a slightly worried look on her face. /Well...It had to have happened before...They'll get him out.../ By the time she looked back, the oblivious Klein was already far ahead, near the doors that lead to the streets in the middle of a mass of people.
"Klein!!!!! Wait up!"
~~~~~
The streets of the city were built to hold large amounts of people, walkways under domed structures to protect against the rain, and the occasional spurt of acid rain. From the exit of the arena, the shuttle station to the Nest was only a short walk away. But then, the huge crowds made the travel time up several notches. After about 15 minutes of standing and waiting for any slight thinning of the crowd, Selskia finally sat down on a bench in the little niche they had gotten themselves in.
"Why don't we just go ahead and go into the crowd? I'm tired of just standing around, and watching people pass..."
Klein sighed and continued to watch the crowd from his position. "It's not exactly a good idea. It's easier to get lost in a crowd, or for someone to kidnap you."
"Well, isn't there an equally likely chance in a deserted area!?"
"At least, in a deserted area, it would be noticed by everyone in it."
A familiar face popped up in the crowd as Selskia started to look up at Klein to answer. A woman, a familiar woman, with two large bodyguards next to her...Selene!
"Hey, Klein, isn't that Sele-"
Selskia's words were cut off by a sudden discharge of a firearm, one of the bodyguards with his gun out, aimed for Selskia, who covered her face with one arm, trying to duck out of the way. Klein leapt back and in front of Selskia, shielding the girl, and taking a bullet in the chest while getting his own gun out and firing twice, getting that one bodyguard's knees. All of this, in one swift, fluid motion.
"You idiot! Don't take shots for that girl! You're supposed to be MINE!!!!!"
End Chapter 7, Part II
Klein was knocked back from the impact of the shot, but still standing in front of Selskia, blood starting to blossom on his shirt from the wound. All of them could hear police sirens starting to sound, a call from one of the many spectators. A few from the crowd tried to grab Selene and her cohorts, but they slipped from their grasp as the two blended into the crowd, leaving the fallen guard in the street.
As soon as the police arrived, the crowd started to thin, many trying to get as far away from the scene as possible. With one look, the police went to call an ambulance as well.
"Klein..." Selskia reached out a hand worriedly, but the man batted the hand away.
"I'm fine! Everyone, I AM PERFECTLY FINE! Just...Could someone get the bullet out? It's kinda annoying..." With an almost petulant look at everyone and a sigh, the man sat down and unbuttoned his shirt to get a better view of his injuries.
"But...Doesn't that hurt...? I can at least numb the pain, or maybe even heal it..." Again, the girl reached out a hand only to get it swatted away.
"It doesn't even hurt. Just a minor little scrape. It only skimmed my heart, I'll live." By now, the man was rather annoyed at everyone worrying over him. Which only made his temper worse when the ambulance arrived.
"LET ME GO YOU IDIOTS! I am FINE! Just get the bullet out and go away, damn it!" Even with Klein's obvious aggravation, the two doctors didn't seem to notice.
"Don't worry sir, it will all be ok when we get back to the hospital to fix you right up..."
Klein knew better than to retaliate against the two men for their utter idiocy, but he couldn't help cursing them as they brought him into the ambulance. Selskia, in the background the entire time, hopped in right before they closed the door and headed off to the nearest hospital.
From where he was, Klein motioned the girl closer, and looked over to an open drawer where a pair of pliers were, looking back down at his wound, which was just now starting to sting a little. Taking the hint, Selskia crawled over to the other side of the small compartment, between the two arguing doctors, oblivious to her position.
"We should apply anesthetic and remove the bullet!"
"No! Any sudden jarring would cause the wound to bleed!"
"Then we should clamp the veins and arteries then remove the bullet, idiot!"
"But then..."
Quietly, the girl grabbed the metal pliers and returned to Klein, probing hesitantly with the piece of metal, searching for the little blob of metal that should be in there. Then, as the two doctor's arguments were starting to become yelling contests, the girl found the bullet, and with a triumphant smile, yanked it out. Klein only winced at the slight pain, but immediately started to undo his bindings while Selskia returned the tools and the doctors argued.
"No! THAT'S IDIOTIC! We should-"
"Hey! The patient is getting up!"
With a final tug, the arm restraints were off, and Klein was up with Selskia right behind. Before the two idiotic doctors could do anything, Klein jumped off the stretcher and opened one of the back doors, leaping off with a slightly surprised Selskia in tow. They rolled to a stop beside the dusty road, the blaring alarm and flashing lights of the ambulance fading off into the horizon.
"Well, at least they're gone...Now all we have to do is get back to the city, and then back to the Nest..." Selskia got up slowly and off Klein, checking his injury. But for some reason, there was no sign of any injury, not even a scar...Of course. Enhancements. "Well, at least you don't have to get any medical attention..." She placed one hand on his chest, where the bullet shot through. Perfectly fine as far as she could tell.
"Yeah, yeah, I just have quick healing, that's all..." The man got up and looked around. Then, a gleam of light against the setting sun, from the city. A car...A familiar car...Selene's car..."My god will that woman ever stop..."
"Eh?" Selskia turned to where Klein was staring, and watched the black vehicle come closer and closer while she tried to distinguish who was driving. But her quiet contemplation was interrupted by Klein suddenly forcing her down below the road as a series of shots rang through the air, the single guard firing a sniper rifle through the back seat window. Once that moment of chaos passed, the girl whistled, bringing her Mini AC up out of nowhere, a camouflage shield wavering off the small mech as it floated down to its master's side. With a short whispered order, it brought up a shield around the girl as she held the AC, giving it power to deflect bullets, instead of simply slow them.
Klein stood as soon as the firing stopped, knowing quite well that he was not the target--Selskia was. He got up onto the pavement as the car slowed to a stop, and Selene, dressed in black leather, hopped out of the car, the burly bodyguard in tow.
"Klein, dear, why don't you just come with me? Your...friend...Doesn't get hurt and everyone's happy!"
The man just kept walking forward, shielding Selskia from view. "When will you give up, Selene? When I'm gone and dead, or when you are? Then again, you won't give up on me when I've died, you'll probably rape my corpse." he spat, a look of complete annoyance on his face.
Selene was in utter shock. "You...You...GUARD! GET HIM!"
But before the slow and stupid bodyguard could react, Klein was already behind him, deftly disabling the man and knocking him out cold. He turned to Selene, but didn't move forward as the other girl backed away, reaching for the car door.
"You...You...ARGH!" With that, she wretched the door open and got in, driving off as fast as she could. Very badly, too...She must have been pretty mad.
From behind Klein, Selskia peeked out. "They're gone?" A nod from Klein, and the girl got up, Mini following just behind. She dusted herself off, and looked back up at Klein, a small smile on her face, then looked back at the Mini.
"Come on...Let's get back to the Nest. Mini will take us..." With small nod, the AC transformed into a small engine within seconds, hovercraft ready to be ridden. The platform was big enough for the two to sit, and the Mini whistled for attention.
"I'll walk, Selskia...You can go ahead and ride."
The girl, already seated, pulled Klein down pretty much on top of her. "No, just ride with me, ok? You've been through enough, haven't you?"
The man sighed and looked down at the girl. "Fine, fine..."
And so they rode off, back to the city, back to their home...
End Chapter 7, Part III End Chapter 7
The man stood near monitor, watching as the efficiency rate of one of the enhancements bottomed out. A nervous, mousy student ran to the doorway, muttering a few things to his boss.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'There's an error'!?!?!? ERRORS NEVER DID ANYONE ANY GOOD! Go...FIX IT!!!!!"
~~~~~
Klein opened the door to his dorm to see everything untouched. Good, the girl hadn't been here after all. Checking over everything, he found it was all perfectly fine, everything where he had left it. He then lay down on the bed to think about what to do...If his little plan would actually work. It probably wouldn't, with all his thinking, and Selene would probably overhear and tag along like the rich girl she was, or Kelron would notice and give him another lecture...He rolled to face the door. Maybe it would be best to get it all over with now...
He walked out of his dorm, carefully closing and locking the door behind him, looking up and down the hallway. Good, no one was around. He carefully walked over to Selskia's dorm (which happened to be two dorms to the left and right across the hall) and tested the door out of habit. To his surprise, the door swung open slightly, letting him see inside. Stepping through the threshold, he looked for the girl he knew would (probably) be here.
Selskia was curled up on the bed in the middle of the room, sound asleep. A small pile of computer printouts lay next to her bed, stacked in an almost neat fashion. Walking to her computer chair, Klein sat down and looked at the sleeping girl. Immediately, her eyes snapped open and she sat up.
"Yes?"
"Well...Let's see...Are you busy right now...?"
He shifted his feet uneasily. Maybe it was best to scrap the entire plan. But then, what about the wasted credits Kelron spent on him...He mentally shook his head. Well, he was already into it, might as well continue.
"Nah, nothing to do...Why?"
Selskia looked up at the man curiously. This was odd...He had hated her a while ago.
"Well...Do you want to go to an arena match with me? I got these tickets from that idiot Kelron, and I don't really have anyone to see the match with..."
Klein reached into one of his pockets and pulled out the two tickets to the next match, in the space arena. Kelron had given them to him just a little while ago, telling Klein to spend a nice day with Selene. Of course, he wouldn't spend a day with the wretch for anything, and decided that a day with Selskia was better than with Selene. Maybe the girl would enjoy it...
"Of course I would!"
The girl smiled gently, almost gratefully, to Klein, getting one of the tickets out of Klein's hand. The newer tickets these days were holograms, and she pressed a few points to activate the small miniature (and cheap) hologram. Squinting, she looked over the thing, trying to make out minute words as they fuzzed up or flashed from the terrible quality. Once she understood the words, she looked back up quickly.
"It begins in only 30 minutes!"
Klein let out a small sigh of relief, and steeled himself for the worst. /I shouldn't have done that I shouldn't have done that I shouldn't have done that I shouldn't have.../ Too late to change anything now. Might as well make this something nice.
"Well, we should go then, shouldn't we?"
~~~~~
Klein walked into the large stadium behind Selskia, who was marveling at the changes since she was last in the same room. They were actually a little early for the match, Klein thought as he sat down in his seat next to Selskia's. Kelron had really outdone himself, getting the best seats in the place for him.
This match was in the space arena, one of those that most people enjoyed because of the added effect of weightlessness. The stats for the two ravens battling were showing on a hologram in front of the stands, so everyone could see. The match was for the B-5 ranking, so it was going to be a fair decent match, at least. Porth with his AC, Icestorm, were challenging Elwood with his AC, Oblivion.
Selskia was too busy looking around at all the improvements in the arena to notice Klein too much. The lights were different in here, as well as the shield generators and the gravity controls. She could reach up and start to feel like drifting while remaining firmly planted on the ground. At the moment, the lights were dimmed in the actual arena while the lights were bright in the stands. She sat back in her seat, waiting for the match to begin.
Oblivion floated out of the gate first, the pitch black midweight equipped with grenade rifle and dual vertical missile launcher, weapons of choice for the man. Elwood was known for sneaking around with his AC, tricking his opponent and finishing them off quickly when they were least expecting it. Icestorm came in right after, the middleweight AC a range of bold blues and whites, hence its name. With a machine gun and a howitzer being his main weapons, Porth typically fired light barrages constantly, slipping in sudden shots on occasion. Much like a storm.
An announcer stated the rules and terms for the match in a monotone voice, no one really listening. Most already knew it, and the rest didn't care, but it was law, so they continued to talk while the man recited the words yet again, as he always did before every match. Slowly, everyone stopped talking and turned their eyes to the actual arena and to the two ACs floating there. Then the announcer went through the typical formalities before raising a hand for silence.
"Begin!"
End Chapter 7, Part I
Note from Selskia
This shall be my terrible, horrible try at a battle!
I would also like to thank Squirrel for helping me write the battle (actually, he wrote the entire battle and I just tweaked it). Thank ye once
again!
At the announcer's words, Icestorm immediately boosted up, while Oblivion started gliding along to meet his opponent. Once in range, Oblivion fired a volley of vertical missiles, but, of course, Icestorm dodged them easily. The dark black AC blended into the background of space perfectly, just firing volley after volley at his enemy, until all his ammo was gone. With the useless hunk of metal on his back, he jettisoned the missile launchers, glad to have lost the extra weight. Not that it mattered, in the 0 grav of simulated space.
Icestorm took the offensive suddenly, coming straight for Oblivion. In return, Oblivion brought out his grenade launchers, firing one after the other, at perfect intervals to force his attacker to dodge. Soon tiring of the pointless dodging, Icestorm triggered his overboost suddenly and lunged at Oblivion, dodging another grenade round, as he opened fire with his machine gun. After taking moderate damage, Oblivion finally managed to hit Icestorm at last, the grenade tearing off the AC's left arm, smashing the hunk of metal against the force field that protected the spectators. He carefully took aim to make the final shot as the icy blue AC was stunned, but right before his round hit, the armless AC managed to boost out of the way. Despite his efforts, Icestorm was just a little off, and his right leg was torn apart just below the knee. He could still battle though, thankful that this was in the space arena instead of the normal ones, where he would be near crippled.
The AC circled Oblivion, firing his MG-1000 the entire time. A few rounds of machine gun fire managed to hit the ammo storage for the left grenade rifle, causing it to implode, knocking the black AC back. While the AC was struggling to regain control, Icestorm used the time to position himself behind Oblivion, placing his machine gun at the base of the AC's 'skull', firing until he only hit dirt. Without cameras, Oblivion was forced to surrender, the lights in the arena focusing on the ice AC.
"The winner--Porth and Icestorm! Porth is now upgraded to raven rank B-5, and Elwood has been moved down to rank B-6. Thank you all for coming, the next match is in 45 minutes, for the D-7 ranking..."
Klein looked back at Selskia, who was judging the match by now, ignoring the announcer. The one thing he hated about arena matches was that the announcer kept on babbling about pointless things. Then, Selskia spoke, still looking at the ACs.
"Porth was lucky it was an anti-grav arena, otherwise, I doubt he could have won. And Elwood, nearly overweight with those grenade launchers, but in anti-grav, it really isn't a problem..."
Suddenly, there was a high-pitched cry of surprise from a young boy nearby. Both turned to see what was going on, and found that a young boy was slowly floating towards the center of the arena, trapped in the anti- grav, his struggling futile. Another man, obviously the boy's father, jumped up to grab the boy, but was caught in the spherical dome of anti- grav at once. Klein snorted, shaking his head.
"Some people...Are just idiots...Let's go, it's pointless to stay."
Before following Klein out of the stadium, Selskia looked back to the young boy, a slightly worried look on her face. /Well...It had to have happened before...They'll get him out.../ By the time she looked back, the oblivious Klein was already far ahead, near the doors that lead to the streets in the middle of a mass of people.
"Klein!!!!! Wait up!"
~~~~~
The streets of the city were built to hold large amounts of people, walkways under domed structures to protect against the rain, and the occasional spurt of acid rain. From the exit of the arena, the shuttle station to the Nest was only a short walk away. But then, the huge crowds made the travel time up several notches. After about 15 minutes of standing and waiting for any slight thinning of the crowd, Selskia finally sat down on a bench in the little niche they had gotten themselves in.
"Why don't we just go ahead and go into the crowd? I'm tired of just standing around, and watching people pass..."
Klein sighed and continued to watch the crowd from his position. "It's not exactly a good idea. It's easier to get lost in a crowd, or for someone to kidnap you."
"Well, isn't there an equally likely chance in a deserted area!?"
"At least, in a deserted area, it would be noticed by everyone in it."
A familiar face popped up in the crowd as Selskia started to look up at Klein to answer. A woman, a familiar woman, with two large bodyguards next to her...Selene!
"Hey, Klein, isn't that Sele-"
Selskia's words were cut off by a sudden discharge of a firearm, one of the bodyguards with his gun out, aimed for Selskia, who covered her face with one arm, trying to duck out of the way. Klein leapt back and in front of Selskia, shielding the girl, and taking a bullet in the chest while getting his own gun out and firing twice, getting that one bodyguard's knees. All of this, in one swift, fluid motion.
"You idiot! Don't take shots for that girl! You're supposed to be MINE!!!!!"
End Chapter 7, Part II
Klein was knocked back from the impact of the shot, but still standing in front of Selskia, blood starting to blossom on his shirt from the wound. All of them could hear police sirens starting to sound, a call from one of the many spectators. A few from the crowd tried to grab Selene and her cohorts, but they slipped from their grasp as the two blended into the crowd, leaving the fallen guard in the street.
As soon as the police arrived, the crowd started to thin, many trying to get as far away from the scene as possible. With one look, the police went to call an ambulance as well.
"Klein..." Selskia reached out a hand worriedly, but the man batted the hand away.
"I'm fine! Everyone, I AM PERFECTLY FINE! Just...Could someone get the bullet out? It's kinda annoying..." With an almost petulant look at everyone and a sigh, the man sat down and unbuttoned his shirt to get a better view of his injuries.
"But...Doesn't that hurt...? I can at least numb the pain, or maybe even heal it..." Again, the girl reached out a hand only to get it swatted away.
"It doesn't even hurt. Just a minor little scrape. It only skimmed my heart, I'll live." By now, the man was rather annoyed at everyone worrying over him. Which only made his temper worse when the ambulance arrived.
"LET ME GO YOU IDIOTS! I am FINE! Just get the bullet out and go away, damn it!" Even with Klein's obvious aggravation, the two doctors didn't seem to notice.
"Don't worry sir, it will all be ok when we get back to the hospital to fix you right up..."
Klein knew better than to retaliate against the two men for their utter idiocy, but he couldn't help cursing them as they brought him into the ambulance. Selskia, in the background the entire time, hopped in right before they closed the door and headed off to the nearest hospital.
From where he was, Klein motioned the girl closer, and looked over to an open drawer where a pair of pliers were, looking back down at his wound, which was just now starting to sting a little. Taking the hint, Selskia crawled over to the other side of the small compartment, between the two arguing doctors, oblivious to her position.
"We should apply anesthetic and remove the bullet!"
"No! Any sudden jarring would cause the wound to bleed!"
"Then we should clamp the veins and arteries then remove the bullet, idiot!"
"But then..."
Quietly, the girl grabbed the metal pliers and returned to Klein, probing hesitantly with the piece of metal, searching for the little blob of metal that should be in there. Then, as the two doctor's arguments were starting to become yelling contests, the girl found the bullet, and with a triumphant smile, yanked it out. Klein only winced at the slight pain, but immediately started to undo his bindings while Selskia returned the tools and the doctors argued.
"No! THAT'S IDIOTIC! We should-"
"Hey! The patient is getting up!"
With a final tug, the arm restraints were off, and Klein was up with Selskia right behind. Before the two idiotic doctors could do anything, Klein jumped off the stretcher and opened one of the back doors, leaping off with a slightly surprised Selskia in tow. They rolled to a stop beside the dusty road, the blaring alarm and flashing lights of the ambulance fading off into the horizon.
"Well, at least they're gone...Now all we have to do is get back to the city, and then back to the Nest..." Selskia got up slowly and off Klein, checking his injury. But for some reason, there was no sign of any injury, not even a scar...Of course. Enhancements. "Well, at least you don't have to get any medical attention..." She placed one hand on his chest, where the bullet shot through. Perfectly fine as far as she could tell.
"Yeah, yeah, I just have quick healing, that's all..." The man got up and looked around. Then, a gleam of light against the setting sun, from the city. A car...A familiar car...Selene's car..."My god will that woman ever stop..."
"Eh?" Selskia turned to where Klein was staring, and watched the black vehicle come closer and closer while she tried to distinguish who was driving. But her quiet contemplation was interrupted by Klein suddenly forcing her down below the road as a series of shots rang through the air, the single guard firing a sniper rifle through the back seat window. Once that moment of chaos passed, the girl whistled, bringing her Mini AC up out of nowhere, a camouflage shield wavering off the small mech as it floated down to its master's side. With a short whispered order, it brought up a shield around the girl as she held the AC, giving it power to deflect bullets, instead of simply slow them.
Klein stood as soon as the firing stopped, knowing quite well that he was not the target--Selskia was. He got up onto the pavement as the car slowed to a stop, and Selene, dressed in black leather, hopped out of the car, the burly bodyguard in tow.
"Klein, dear, why don't you just come with me? Your...friend...Doesn't get hurt and everyone's happy!"
The man just kept walking forward, shielding Selskia from view. "When will you give up, Selene? When I'm gone and dead, or when you are? Then again, you won't give up on me when I've died, you'll probably rape my corpse." he spat, a look of complete annoyance on his face.
Selene was in utter shock. "You...You...GUARD! GET HIM!"
But before the slow and stupid bodyguard could react, Klein was already behind him, deftly disabling the man and knocking him out cold. He turned to Selene, but didn't move forward as the other girl backed away, reaching for the car door.
"You...You...ARGH!" With that, she wretched the door open and got in, driving off as fast as she could. Very badly, too...She must have been pretty mad.
From behind Klein, Selskia peeked out. "They're gone?" A nod from Klein, and the girl got up, Mini following just behind. She dusted herself off, and looked back up at Klein, a small smile on her face, then looked back at the Mini.
"Come on...Let's get back to the Nest. Mini will take us..." With small nod, the AC transformed into a small engine within seconds, hovercraft ready to be ridden. The platform was big enough for the two to sit, and the Mini whistled for attention.
"I'll walk, Selskia...You can go ahead and ride."
The girl, already seated, pulled Klein down pretty much on top of her. "No, just ride with me, ok? You've been through enough, haven't you?"
The man sighed and looked down at the girl. "Fine, fine..."
And so they rode off, back to the city, back to their home...
End Chapter 7, Part III End Chapter 7