Hello everyone! I just finished chap 12 and it has been quite fun. I've been thinking about how to continue writing this chapter while sticking that what I had originally planned in mind, and I'm quite satisfied with the outcome. It may seems as if the story is going slowly however I can assure you guys that things are soon about to get interesting, I'm just asking for a little more patience.
Anyways that's all for now and I'll see you guys in the next one.
Peace!
To say that A2 wasn't amused in the slightest would be an understatement, she could've sworn that an hour has passed by since she took on the machine clone. She thought this fight would be quick since her opponent was nothing but a clone and not the original machine however she quickly realised this clone was anything but weak, in fact he was even stronger than the real one which infuriated even more. A2 didn't know what she was expecting by charging towards the clone with her sore body that still hasn't recovered from her previous fight, however there was no going back from now on.
A2 was blocking every hit that came towards her before having enough and swung her sword towards the clone but to her dismay he parried it before following with a powerful kick into her stomach, this caused her to be knocked back but she quickly caught herself before landing on her feet. A2 frowned as she couldn't understand how a clone could be more stronger than the original, it didn't make any sense to her but her thoughts were cut short as she immediately evaded multiple blast that were aimed at her until she positioned herself behind a tree.
Her blue eyes were desperately looking all around her surroundings to see if there was anything that could be used as a distraction but to her frustration there wasn't anything that could possibly be useful to her, her surroundings were composed of destroyed buildings with rusted vehicles along with unusual giant sized trees. It was at this moment that A2 realised that she needed a proper strategy to defeat this clone, taking him head on and trying to overpower him with strength was futile.
After some moments the blasts were slowly diminishing until there wasn't anymore that could be seen flying past the tree, this was the perfect moment for her to slowly peek her head out from the tree but a sudden movement caught her attention at her feet. A2 squinted her eyes towards her ground to see a shadow slowly approaching her however it wasn't her shadow but someone else shadows, her eyes widened as she immediately backed away from the tree by jumping back which thankfully caused her to narrowly miss a sword that penetrated the tree. A2 watched as the clone quickly pulled his sword out from the tree and began walking towards her, she may not show it on the surface but inside she was panicking like crazy. A2 immediately took her stance before looking all around her until her eyes landed on a building at the corner of the streets. This gave her an idea on how she may be able to defeat him, it was a risky idea however in her current position she didn't have any other options at this point.
A2 dropped her guard and started to sprint towards the road besides her and continued to run until she was at the end of the road. As she entered the building a set of stairs could be seen against a wall leading up to another floor. Wasting no time A2 dashed towards the stairs and immediately climbed them up, she continued to making her way up until she was at the first floor of building. While in the room A2 quickly observed her surroundings to see pillars and some holes inside the floor that seemed to lead down to the previous floor. ''I need to hide quickly.'' A2 muttered to herself as she looked all around the room before hiding behind a pillar, after some times the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs could be heard echoing all inside the building. A2 peeked her head out and quickly retracted when she saw glimpses of the clone sword coming out from the stairs, her body was slightly shaking as she heard him entering the room and walked around in circles which meant he was aware of her presence inside this room. A2 closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing but the sound of his grunting and his sword scraping against the floor didn't help at all, she was risking a lot by following this idea but it was either that and have a slight change of survival or suffer an inevitable death at the hands of that clone. A2 still couldn't believe that she was hiding from a machine clone, never would she have imagined herself being forced to retreat against a machine however this wasn't just a regular machine that she was dealing with. It was something far horrible than she could possibly imagine.
The white haired android body tensed as she heard the clone slowly approaching her hiding spot, she looked at the ground and saw many rocks that were scattered across her feet. She immediately crouched down and took a rock in her hand and peeked her head out behind the pillar and saw the clone inspecting every room including behind the walls that were covering some of the room, A2 patiently waited for him to turn his back and quickly threw a rock at the opposite direction of the room before hiding herself. This caught the clone attention as he rapidly snapped his head towards the rock that fell to the ground, A2 could hear him walking away from her hiding spot and quietly moved behind a wall besides her. She felt relieved that he was no longer close to her but that didn't mean he was no longer hunting her down, as A2 looked back towards the clone she could see the ceiling of the room was crumbling. It looked as if it could break at any moment which made her realise that she could use it as a trap, carefully she moved out from her hiding spot and quietly walked towards the clone that was still looking around for her. A2 tightly gripped her sword as she kept walking behind her enemy's back until she was a couple feet away from him, this was her opportunity to win this battle or else she place would be her grave.
''Over here!'' A2 yelled hoping to catch the clone attention which successfully worked as he faced her and began walking towards her, now all she needed to do was to be patient as the clone kept walking closer. Unlike the real machine this clone expression wasn't of malice but instead it was pure one of hatred which made her quite uneasy, once she was satisfied with the distance she quickly threw her blade at him which he avoided by moving aside with ease but he what didn't know was it wasn't aim at him but rather the ceiling on top of him. The powerful duplicate kept walking towards her without hesitation while raising his sword which caused A2 to raise her fist and prepare herself for another attack, but suddenly many small rocks began falling down on the ground until the whole room slowly started shaking. This caused the clone to stop walking and look up to the ceiling before a large rock crashed down on him but as he was about to get up many rocks began falling down on him, the whole building was violently shaking as the ceiling continued to fall down on him until he was engulfed in debris. But that's when the ground also began to shake, A2 eyes widened before she desperately tried to hold on something however it was to late as a the floor began opening up beneath her feet and she immediately fell through the hole. Before she knew it her body brutally hit the ground making her go unconscious.
2B was heavily panting while still keeping her guard up, she knew that it was a matter of time before her body collapsed however if she allowed that to happen then it would over not only for her but for everyone at the resistance camp. What she needed was to be strong even if nobody came to her rescue, the only person she could count on was herself at the moment. 2B mentally winced as her gaze fell on her damaged body, the sight of her bruised and injured body made her question how was she still able to fight. Most of her exposed skin were covered in wounds as her clothes were torn up. 2B never really cared about her appearance but if one thing was for certain it was that she wasn't a pleasant sight to be seen, the thought of 60 berating her for damaging her uniform made 2B slightly smile however the sound of Erebus coming close caused her to snap back into reality. 2B frowned at the sight of Erebus walking towards her, just as she was about to charge at him the ground suddenly began shaking before a loud noise soon followed. This caused her to look at the source of the noise and was aghast to see a building far further from her slowly collapsing until most of it was destroyed, that's when the realisation struck her that it must have been caused by a certain person that was fighting the clone. ''Was that A2?'' 2B quietly asked herself however now wasn't the time for her to be distracted by A2 situation, her primary focus was killing Erebus while she still had some strength left in herself.
2B looked at Erebus once again, but something far further towards the streets caught her attention. It was moving towards them, 2B narrowed her eyes towards the strange moving figure as she wondered what it could possibly be. But to her surprise it was a small machine, her blue eyes couldn't believe that a single machine had suddenly appeared out of nowhere after not seeing any for hours however another small machine soon followed behind the first one.
She didn't understand where these machines were suddenly coming from but what made her even more stressed was that they kept increasing in numbers, a sudden noise caught her attention to her left and to her horror many machines suddenly appeared from the road besides her. Never had she seen so many of them gathered in one place but the conversation she had with the commander in the bunker made her understand what was currently happening, 2B soon realised that she was at the center of their destination. Her eyes were filled with fright and despair as she immediately started to look all around her and saw there were thousands of them coming from every corner of the streets, this was the end for her and there was no possible way for her to survive. Her eyes landed on Erebus and she was surprised to see him also looking all around him while grunting, it was almost as if he felt threatened by these machines which was weird due to him also being a machine. His behaviour didn't make sense to her however her thoughts were interrupted by a strange noise coming from above her, 2B quickly lifted her head towards the sky and was shocked to see many flying objects coming towards her. After some moments of observing these objects in the sky her body suddenly collapsed to her knees as she figured what these objects were.
''Flying units!'' 2B exclaimed with a slight ounce of hope in her voice, never had she believed that they would be able to find her location. But she still succeeded at stay alive until the Yorha squadron come to her rescue. She was more than relieved to see them rapidly approaching her position until they began opening fire on the many machines that were surrounding the streets, 2B could only watch as the number of machines were diminishing. However they still kept coming from all side of the city, but what surprised her the most was that some machines were attacking Erebus. She was shocked to see him destroying them without hesitation which made her wonder if he was defective in some way, the noise of the flying aircraft landing on the ground caught 2B's attention and she looked back to see four units had already landing on the ground while some kept flying in the sky still trying to destroy the machine from above.
''Hey! Are you alright?''
2B looked besides her and saw a blonde Yorha unit however something about her was familiar, she soon realised that she was the same captain from the forest.
''Yes, I'm just exhausted from fighting.'' 2B replied as she slowly got up however her body was slightly shaking.
''Doesn't seems like it's just fatigue, still you did well by surviving against these machines. Our online communication has been cut out about an hour ago so we didn't know your precise location however thanks to your scanner partner he was able to send some small details about your position.'' The blond captain explained while looking back to see her other subordinate helping the injured black haired scanner on the ground.
''4S! Is he alive?'' 2B asked as she was about to make her way towards him however she felt a hand on her shoulder which made her stop in her tracks. ''I need to go! He's injured because of me.''
''Calm down, my companions are treating his wounds. He's in good hands, trust me okay?'' The blonde woman reassured her while letting go of 2B shoulder's which seemed to calm her. ''Besides we have another problem on our hands at the moment.''
2B nodded as turned herself to face Erebus who was staring at them with anger in his eyes, the blonde haired android walked towards him until they were a couple feet away from each other's. She summoned her spear in her hand and directly pointed it at him.
''Well, we meet again machine... You've managed to escape last time with your little trick however this time i can guarantee you that you won't escape us this time.'' The blonde Yorha android said with anger clear in her voice, she waited for him to respond but to her confusion he only grunted and snarled at her face.
''Don't bother he's a mindless machine now, the only thing that's worth taking seriously is his strength.'' 2B said while walking besides the blonde captain who looked at her with a raised eyebrow before looking back to Erebus.
''Well that makes our task easier I suppose, We'll just have to take him by force.'' The blonde woman exclaimed while taking a fighting stance which 2B did the same. Suddenly two small machines appeared and charged towards them which they both disposed with ease, but to their surprise they saw some machines were also attaching Erebus however he wasted no time and destroyed all of them without any struggle. This caused the blonde haired captain to look at him with hesitation before turned her head towards 2B.
''Why are these machines attacking each other's? Aren't they supposed to be on the same side?'' The Yorha Captain asked to her companion.
''I have no clue, perhaps there's something wrong with his programming...'' 2B explained as she was also having a hard time comprehending what she was currently witnessing.
Both androids were startled as Erebus suddenly vanished and reappeared behind them, before the duo could react Erebus kicked 2B in her stomach which send her flying back. The blonde Captain could only stare in shock before regaining her composure and swung her spear towards him but to her dismay he dodged it before following with a small cut at her leg, it took some time for her to register the fact that she was bleeding. Having enough of him she kept assaulting him with her spear but she quickly realised that it was useless against him, Before she could summon another weapon Erebus quickly closed the gap between them by grabbing her neck and violently slammed her into a wall causing her to gasp for air. The impact left some noticeable cracks on the wall as he kept pressing the blonde captain's neck even harder them before.
2B slowly got up and saw Erebus had pinned the blonde woman into the wall and she immediately began sprinting towards him hoping to help her however many machines suddenly began getting in her way which made her even more angrier as she began cutting them down one by one. 2B didn't have the patience to keep fighting these machines, if she didn't go and quickly help her companion then Erebus would certainly kill her, but to her frustration another machine approached her however this one was much more bigger than the others one. Anger could be seen all over her face as she prepared to deal with the giant machine however a sword suddenly pierced the side of its head, the giant machine fell down and soon exploded into pieces, 2B wondered who could've done that and her question was answered by looking to her side. Her eyes widened as she saw 11B running towards her with a grin on her face along with three other resistance members, never would've 2B imagined the day she would be happy to see 11B coming to her help. Things were finally looking up for them in this battle which is why they couldn't afford to lose now.
''Sorry for the wait 2B! the-what the hell happened to you?!'' 11B asked with concerns while she gazed 2B's bleeding body.
''Nothing worth worrying about, I just suffered some minors injuries.'' 2B lied through her teeth which which didn't seemed to work as 11B's face went from worried to anger in no time.
''Don't give me that shit! You're literally bleeding from everywhere! I can even see what's beneath your skin!'' 11B practically yelled on top of her lungs however 2B face remained neutral before looking at everyone behind the black haired Yorha soldier, all of them were looking at her as if she had lost her mind.
''You're a horrible liar 2B... You don't look good at all.'' Anemone accused her while walking past 11B.
''Now is not the time for chatter, this machine is still holding her against a wall.'' 2B said while slightly raised her voice as she motioned towards Erebus who was still kept pressing into the blonde haired woman neck.
''Then what are we waiting for? Let's go and help her!'' 11B said while running Erebus which everyone did the same however 2B stopped them by positioning herself in front of the group.
''Me and 11B will be enough to help her, you should go and help the other Yorha units that are healing up 4S. The number of machines keeps increasing so they will need your help to destroy these machines.'' 2B said while pointing at the ground of Yorha units that were helping 4S in the distance. Anemone looked at the group before looking back at 2B and nodded.
''Alright but please be careful, we don't need anyone to die right now.''
''I will, don't worry.'' 2B replied back before running behind 11B while Anemone's group went towards the small Yorha group.
As they arrive 11B immediately summoned her sword and sprinted towards Erebus and went for a backstab, but unfortunately he noticed her and threw the blonde haired android against her making them both fall on the ground. 2B rushed past them and slashed him from all side which he avoided every hit until he decided to parry one of her hit with his sword before following by piercing her stomach, it took some time for 2B to register what happened before she began falling down on her knees. 11B and the blonde haired captain were petrified by what they've just witnessed, 11B was about to rush towards him when something strange occurred. She saw Erebus body began shaking as he started to scream in pain, everyone was beyond terrified by what was happening as they kept looking at him. Soon his screams slowly ceased and a figure began materialising itself besides Erebus, 2B eyes widened as she recognised the clone from earlier which could only mean that he had defeated A2.
''Who is he?'' The blonde haired captain asked as she pushed herself from the ground.
''Yeah what is this thing! And why do it resemble to the other machine?'' 11B also asked while preparing herself.
''That's a clone, a copy of him.'' 2B weakly answered the duo, upon hearing that they both looked at 2B with disbelief before looking back at the machine clone that had walked past Erebus. The clone stopped in his track and lifted his arm as it suddenly started glowing red, it didn't take much time for them to understand what was about to happen. However the sounds of footsteps coming from behind took their attentions, as the three Yorha soldiers turned their heads they saw Anemone along with four other Yorha soldiers rapidly approaching them.
''2B your stomach is bleeding!'' Anemone said as she rushed to the white haired android and got to her knees to inspect her while the four units positioned themselves in front of them and took their weapons out, 2B was about to protest Anemone help when she saw that the clone body was slowly starting to fade.
'What's going on with this machine?' 2B thought to herself in confusion however the clone moved his hand above all of them and was focusing on something else, by instinct she turned her head to look behind her and saw all of them were standing beneath a decaying building that seemed quite old. Her eyes widened as she understood that he wasn't aiming for them but rather the building behind all of them, 2B was about to shout for all of them to back off however it was already to late as the clone had already fired a powerful crimson blast towards the building behind them. The sudden impact caused all androids to cover their ears as the sound was to loud for them, soon many debris began falling down on them until some windows began cracking and pieces felt down on some of their skins. If they didn't take cover now they would surely die by being crushed underneath these rocks, 2B stood on her feet with all of her strength and urged Anemone to get up as well.
''Everyone we've got to go NOW! Or else we'll be crushed here!'' 2B shouted with all of her remaining energy which seemed to work as all of them rapidly got up and began sprinting towards the opposite direction, Anemone wrapped 2B arms around her shoulder and dragged her far away from danger as the whole building suddenly collapsed. However 2B spared one last glance back towards the machine clone and saw that his body had practically vanished into nothingness, but what captivated her eyes was that Erebus seemed to be unmoving as more debris kept falling all around him. As strong as he was there was no possible way for him to survive being crushed by all of these rocks, but her eyes widened as she could've sworn that she saw a black flower had begun growing out of his body. But 2B didn't have the occasion to look any longer as she felt someone taking her other arms, she turned her head back and was surprised to see it was 11B who had helped her supporting her weight.
''The hell are you staring at?! Keep fucking moving.'' 11B shouted to her which she responded by a nod. The three of them kept running forward as they avoided rocks and debris crushing them until they were in a safe zone and took cover behind a rusted truck, they felt the ground shaking while the whole building collapsed. A rush of dust soon came flying past them causing them to close their eyes. After what felt like years, as 11B peeked her head out she didn't see the building but instead it was nothing more than rocks and dust. Anemone opened her eyes and looked all around her until her eyes landed on 2B to her left along with the group of Yorha soldiers that came with her, she couldn't believe they almost got crushed to death but thankfully they managed to escape right on time.
''We're not out of danger, remember that there's a large group of machines still coming towards the city ruins'' The blonde Yorha captain said while dusting herself.
''We have to call for reinforcements and keep continuing fighting these machines until everyone of them is destroyed.'' 2B said while getting up however this caused her to groan in pain before sliding back again the truck tires.
''Have you looked at yourself 2B?! You're barely keeping your body from detaching itself!'' Anemone yelled while looking at the white haired android with disbelief in her eyes. ''What you need is to be patched up real quick or else you'll bleed out to death!''
''I don't have the luxury to wait for my body to heal up.'' 2B answered with some irritation in her voice.
''And what do you think you're gonna do in your state? Take on over ten thousands of machines by yourself?'' 11B sarcastically asked while scowling at 2B. ''What we need to do is leave this place and go back to the resistance camp along with everyone else so that you can be treated for your wounds real quick or else you'll die right here, is that what you want?''
2B wanted to argue further however she needed to admit that they were right, she wasn't thinking straight. She has been fighting Erebus for hours and barely managed to survive. Pushing herself further would not benefit anyone and certainly not her. But it was hard to accept that once again there was nothing she could do against him other than surviving until someone came and help her. 2B remembered seeing the black flower growing out of Erebus and wondered if he was truly death however something told her that he wasn't dead. In fact with everything that happened with him it wouldn't surprise her that he had managed to survive, but that just meant it was only a matter of time before they encounter each other's again.
''Let's move and get the other resistance members that came with us.'' 11B suggested before looking towards the resistance camp leader. ''Anemone do you know where they currently are?''
''Yes they are still fighting against the machines life forms as we speak, they told me they could handle these machines and instead insisted for me to come and help you.'' Anemone explained as she got to her feet, after hearing this 11B nodded towards her and suggested for them to find the remaining resistance members which everyone agreed to. As the group of androids kept walking 2B couldn't help but to feel slightly overwhelmed by what just happened, she almost died while 4S almost got killed trying to protect her.
''Look they're over there!''
Anemone and 2B both looked ahead of them and saw the three other resistances members that were holding back the machines. Anemone stopped walking and called one of the trio to come and help her, the Yorha group including 11B went to talk to the resistance members while one of them approached them. A peached haired woman quickly came to 2B side and began inspecting her body before pulling out some medical supplies, 2B gritted her teeth as the nurse started to apply some blue liquids on her wounds. After what felt like an eternity. The nurse finished cleaning her wounds and looked at her work before looking at Anemone.
''This should work for the time being however we need to go back at the resistance camp immediately, I can't fully treat her wounds here and I don't have the necessary equipment for it.''
Anemone looked at the nurse then back to 2B and saw that she was right, staying here wouldn't bring any good to them. They all had managed to survive against the machines which was more than a miracle however now it was the time for them to retreat as much as she didn't like it, furthermore the machines keeps increasing in numbers with each passing minutes.
''Alright, everyone who has a gun stay close to me. We'll make sure no machines follow us while going to the camp!'' Anemone ordered at her group which they quickly responded by a firm nod. 11B wasted no time and began leading everyone towards the camp while they disposed of the machines that came into their way. Anemone along with another resistance member began opening fire towards the many machines that were following them, after being satisfied with the outcome Anemone mentioned for the other woman to withdraw which she did without hesitation.
