Chapter 7: A New Enemy
Hunter quickly dove out of the way of the shadows and ran down the hall franticly trying to take the clips out of his wings. He whipped out one katana and sliced both clips off, scratching the tips of each wing in the process. The shadows seemed to be going away, but one still remained. Its yellow eyes sparkling in the darkness. Hunter flung one knife backwards, but it missed. "Darn, I missed." He whispered into the air, frustrated because he knew each throw would count.
He threw a shuriken back this time because of its easier maneuverability through the air and the way it curved, making it harder to deflect with some sort of weapon. It hit the creature right in the eye, making it cry out in pain and stop in mid flight. Hunter smiled and ran sown the passageway to find Swift.
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Swift ripped the stone spike out of his shoulder and threw it at his attacker. It seemed to move at the speed of light around the room as its eyes flashed from one wall to the next. Next thing he knew, missiles were being fired everywhere in the tunnel in an attempt to make the crumbling tunnel cave in. He used his speed to zoom through the tunnel, but was not able to catch up with this creature attacking him.
It quickly sped behind Swift and tried to cut his neck with its wrist blades. Swift remembered his sword, drew it and caught its blades in the small hole near the tip. With that he twisted the sword and dug it into the wall. With the creature trapped in the wall, Swift unloaded barrel after barrel of missiles on his new enemy with the launcher attached to his back. Fiery explotions came from every which way, but had miraculously not damaged the cave.
Once he stopped, the dust cleared, it was still there unscathed.
"W-what are you?" was all the surprised Swift was able to get out.
The robot grinned through the metal faceplate."My name is Ersatz." said the blood curdling voice.
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"Security breach in sector 85T, security breach in sector 85T. This is not a drill. Repeat; this is not a drill."
The computer-generated voice rang throughout the entire fortress except for the basement, to make sure Swift and Hunter did not realize that this was not some sort of GrieveR attacking them. Hundreds of GrieveRs worked their way to the basement where the breech was taking place, hoping to stop this new target before it could memorize the shape of their base. That way it could send reinforcements that would be able to make their way to any area of the fortress.
Delito looked at the many different screens upon the master control panel for the "N" base. Surprisingly, there seemed to be an unknown target attacking Swift, and the exact same target attacking Hunter. Most would agree that there must have been something wrong with the database, but Delito knew better. He commanded a duo of GrieveRs to go toward each target and use a special weapon. It was called männlich, which is 'scanner' in our language.
What it does is scan the chosen object and it transmits all of its data - thoughts, weapons, and even what it is made of - to a programmed computer, therefore revealing any secrets, any person could be hiding.
One elite tried to reach the figure attacking Hunter, but was unfortunately had its energy core chopped through via a horribly thrown knife. The only response to this accident was a barely audible "Darn, I missed," from Hunter.
The other was luckily able to get within two meters of the figure attacking Swift without dying. He charged the männlich and scanned the shadow. It was transmitted to the main computer nanoseconds before the elite was fried with a barrage of missiles. All that was left was a smoldering crater of metal scraps.
The text and picture boxes popped up on the data screen.
Form Name: Ersatz
Company: Robotnic co.
Description: A deadly robotic creation designed to surprise and quickly kill enemies with ease. Increases intelligence with each move the opponent makes. Able to split into multiple forms that operate independently. Colored black and shaped to look vaguely like the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Covered in high-class armor that allows easy movement and almost makes the user invulnerable.
Weapons: Small omega-laser attached to the fingertips of each hand, long claws attached to each wrist, a small scorpion missile launcher attached to each shoulder, and a self-destructible core.
An idea flashed in Delito's head almost instantly. He quickly called the general in charge of the base protection branch. "Call off the defensive maneuver," he said. "Let that target do more damage to Swift and Hunter, and then chase him away. I want him alive, remember." The General confirmed and started rounding up the defense team. Delito was happy that some other sucker was going to do his dirty work.
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Ersatz shot the small, but deadly, lasers out of the guns inside of his fingers. Lights flashed every which way as Swift nimbly dashed through each hole he could find. He grabbed the sword that was still lodged in the wall and reflected the multiple lasers back at the gleaming black robot. Each dug not even the slightest dent in the high-class armor. Nothing can destroy this thing! Thought Swift.
He made another attempt to slash at Ersatz, but it trapped the sword in between the two wrist blades and pulled it right out of Swift's hands. With no weapon, he tried to kick Ersatz, but of course it flung him in the direction of the wall.
Hunter saw this scene while running down the hallway and caught Swift before he crashed against the stone. Hunter then flung his knife in the direction of Ersatz, but it bounced right off of the black shoulder plate. Realizing his attempts would be useless, he screamed "We have to get outta here!" and flew as fast as he could, he wings flapping franticly. Swift needed not a second prompting and instantly ran off with Hunter.
Unexpectedly, the bunch of heavy metal transformed into a more maneuverable form. Once it said "Aero mode." in more a robotic voice, the piled-on metal on the chest, shoulders and arms, back and legs were folded back revealing aerodynamic spikes and a smooth, hedgehog-shaped silver and black body. Meter-long wings sprouted from the back as it took a running start into his glide. He took off as a booster propelled him forward with the power of a thousand jets.
They rushed through a white door that led to an octagonal room with a marble center, like a ball room. An open colonnade stretched along the perimeter of the room, with beautiful paintings that were equally lined. Stain-glass windows numbered the dome ceiling that glimmered in the sunlight. Just having this room in any house was to indicate that someone was filthy rich.
But why was it even near the dark base of Über?
Ersatz busted through the white door and changed back to "Battle Mode" as it called it, revealing the heavy black, stacked armor. As it readied its guns, Swift and Hunter prepared for the battle of their lives.