"NDS: Book 12—Neon: Chapter 90: Plans"
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Clive exits the end of the skyway ramp to set foot upon the spacious roof of the Hawthorne Tower. Ken in his final and true form remained standing at the roof's middle in stoic fashion; his arms crossed and eyes closed. To the left side of the roof from where Clive stood was the doorway to the stairs that led into Hawthorne.
Clive glared at the man as Ken became aware of his ex-partner's arrival on the roof. Opening his eyes and letting his hands fall at his side, Ken tilted his head with a smug and evil grin. "I thought you were smart, but you fell right into my plot the whole way." Ken cackled.
"How so?" Clive questioned calmly with a stern and stoic look on his face. His brows were left in a permanent glare.
"All of this was my doing." Ken declared like a ringmaster as he stretched out his arms as if displaying the whole city. "I told my robot not to kill you, and to take away that right arm of yours, while allowing you to take his own."
Clive winced as he realized what he meant. "Judging by the pain…I'd say this Hammer Fist is a defect."
"Correct." Ken replied with a joyous glee. He felt tingles despite not having his human body. "The wire-system is connected wrong, and the part that latches onto your human arm is installed reverse so it tears into your flesh and drains you of blood."
"I'm guess that your robot was also meant to chase me to that building I met you on as well?" Clive questioned.
"Yes, that is so." Ken replied with a wide grin. "All of this was to get you with that arm, weakened, and standing right where you are."
"But," Jet's voice cut in. "You have forgotten about people like me." The door to the inside of Hawthorne shut with a heavy boom as Clive and Ken watched as Jet walked forward more until the three stood equal distance apart. They were in a triangle formation, each ten feet apart from the others.
"No, I noticed you coming." Ken firmly dismissed Jet's claim. "I also noticed that the self-destruction count has begun, and I have shortened it to ten minutes and applied the count to all of Neon instead of just Hawthorne." Ken laughed. "In ten minutes Neon City will be just a memory."
"Wouldn't such an explosion kill you and also leave you with no more drones?" Jet wondered. The plan didn't seem wise to him.
"The drones may melt and perish, but as for me…" Ken let out a cackle. "Once I am in Excelsaga that fact will no longer matter."
"Excelsaga?" Clive questioned.
"Yes, an exo-suit." With that the roof let out a line of hot air from inside the building. Two lines of hot air flowing out through cracks. They were in cross shaped, and they divided the roof up into four separate squares. Jet quickly jumped to the one on his left, and diagonal to the one Clive was now on in the southeast, but Ken remained on the northeastern square. The four sections of the roof separated and moved outwards, sliding on tracks and moved by gears. As they settled there a large empty space between them where the roof originally was. The original roof now in four panels hung off the side of the building like the petals of a flower. The two western ones connected together as did the two eastern ones, and in the middle a noise was heard as a large machine poked it's head out from the dark. The whole last six floors were said to be empty, so when Jet ran past them he was just on a long stairway that encircled the floors. He had no idea what was behind the metal walls, but now he was seeing it in person. A new floor from below took the place of the middle part of the roof. At the exact middle of that platform sat a large mechanical machine. It was at least sixteen feet tall and resembled the tank drone Adven fought as well as the drones. It had it's head with the mono-eye, and from there it had a broad chest where an open cockpit was as the armor that would cover it was spread out and waiting for it's master. Two arms on it's side, with the right one tipped with a gattling cannon, and the left one ending with a large fist, that was most likely wire-guided like the Hammer Fist, but there were also signs that it was where a beam sword would emit from as well. It's two legs were instead just there to hold it up. They were short and stubby, but infused with many vernier so that it could lift the suit up and maneuver it in whichever way, with help from the vernier on the back where there were two large vernier as well. Those two held two hidden panels worth of missiles. All colored black it was ready to kill as it's blood red mono-eye lit up.
Ken was quick to move and sit into the suit as the cockpit closed and he was now no longer visible to the two other men, but his voice rang out from the suit anyway. "Meet Excelsaga. My final form was made especially for this." He paused as his body was plugged in and he became ready. A grin took his face as a cackle rang out. "Now…to destroy you two!"
Moving his gattling arm for Jet, he let loose a wave of bullets, but a well-time Lion's Shield stopped the bullets and blocked them from hitting Jet's none-bullet-proof body. "Clive!" Jet erupted. "You fix that arm, and I'll handle the big guy."
Clive nodded. "Right. I'll be done in a moment."
Jet looked at the towering behemoth who was three times his size. No plan coming to his mind.
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That was it for this chapter. I disappointed you. I know, and I left off at a cliffhanger too. The thing is, the next chapter will probably be really long, so I wanted to shorten it by throwing this out first. To think, Jet and Clive have ten minutes until Neon City goes out with a bang, and I'm sure they hope not to be in it at the time. Luckily the rest of the gang has already started to leave.
Next Time: Jet will give it his all in a desperate fight against something that will completely overpower him. Blood will fall as Jet gives his all, but in the end, the only option is to run. But Ken is being used by someone else, without any knowledge, and when Jet realizes the truth, it will be too late for him to change fate. The sins of one's past weigh a person down heavily, and not everyone can survive carrying them. To the very last moment, cries of pain will ring out, and then, they will leave Filgaia behind to be alone. The final battle of Neon City begins…