Nova and the rest of the team wasted no time dodging the explosives, but Chromie got a blast square in the arm. She stumbled backwards, clutching the small wound. When she released her hand, it revealed a small but painful looking second degree burn.
"Ow! What the heck did we do?!"
"You are attempting to assassinate Lady Penelope!" The man barked back.
Nova shot him a confused look. "When did we say we were going to do that?"
"Well I- She- She told me that- ENOUGH! I SEE WHAT YOU'RE GETTING AT, YOU GREMLIN!
He pulled out a rocket launcher from seemingly nowhere, pointing the intimidatingly large weapon at Chromie.
"Woah, buddy, take, like, ten chill pills. We've only just begun fighting!"
"Yeah, why waste your ultimate on two defenseless women?" Chromie asked, placing her hands on her hips.
"You two are not...are not…." He zoned out for a second.
Nova snapped her fingers, sending the man back into reality.
"You two are not defenseless! Tall blondie, I see a rifle! And short blondie, you're a dragon! I saw you fly onto the roof through the windows!"
"Listen, dude. Your Goddess? Penelebitch? She's crazy." Nova said, placing her hands on her rifle just-in-case.
"PeneleBITCH?! H-how dare- ARRRGH! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" He yelled, pulling up the weapon once more.
He inhaled sharply. "PYRO CAAARNIVAAALLL!" He screamed, aiming it straight for Nova's head. He pulled the trigger.
Time seemed to slow. Nova saw her life flash before her- Her upper-class family, the Ghost Academy, that whole Zerg thing…
There was a bright flash and a deafening ringing noise, and Nova instinctively shut her eyes tight. When she opened them, there was a huge bronze dragon in front of her, pawing at it's face.
"Chromie! Oh my God, are you okay?"
She shifted back to her humanoid form, and fell to the ground, hands still on her face. She removed them, only for a second, revealing horrifying 3rd degree burns all over her face. She shuddered for a moment, and stopped moving, dissolving into dust.
Nova dropped her rifle. Everyone seemed to freeze, even the man who had shot Chromie. Nova felt a redness come to her face. Her fists shook. She snatched up the rifle from off the ground, and pointed it directly at the man's head. He rolled out of the way just in time for a bullet to graze his ear. Nova stepped forward, another bullet loaded, before Brightwing stepped in front of her, blocking her way.
"Friend Nova, please stop. You're scaring Brightwing with your angryness."
Nova nearly saw red, but calmed down when Brightwing intervened. There was no point in killing somebody for revenge. If you kill a killer, the number of killers in the world stayed the same.
She picked the man up by his collar.
"Tell us EVERYTHING you know."
"F-fine! Just don't hurt me!"
"Start with the basics."
"The basics? Okay. Penelope became ruler shortly after the assault on the last respawn point. The LM's had no leader, and were confused as to what to do next. Lady Penelope, feeling pity for us, took all of us under her wing, and attempted to fix our society. Everything was fine at first, until I heard she started to read a weird book. Soon, the sky turned red, the grass lost its green, demons popped up everywhere, animals got sick beyond control, and we started to take over peaceful noble and civilian settlements. Soon, she ordered the assassination of the Raven Lord. We nearly found him, but the sneaky a-hole got away. Soon after, she started making us with...specific purposes. If she wanted a mechanic, she told some sort of magical statue she wanted a mechanic, and pop, out comes one. If we deviate from our purposes, we die. A caste system, if you will. Nowadays, she's more bent on doing something in the now closed-off throne room. She somehow still looks picturesque, though. Poor Sephiro- I mean, poor Mince. Someone needs to tell that guy he has a zero percent chance with her."
Nova dropped him.
"We learned what we could. Let's go, everyone."
"But friend Nova! Shouldn't we bring him? He seems important! Brightwing thinks we should do so!"
"Fine. But only if he proves himself helpful. Since you used your ultimate, do you have any spare weapons?"
"I have a few rocket launchers…" He muttered, fishing around in his pockets for something useful.
The group was walking out of a spare hatch in the wall, the atmosphere weighing a ton among them.
Brightwing flew up to the man and attempted to make small-talk.
"Hello, friend! Brightwing does not know your name. What is it?"
He flashed a sort-of grin. "I'm glad you asked. I just call myself The Armorer. I make...well, armor."
"How funny! Is it hard?"
"Not most days, but some days, when I wake up too early, or skip breakfast, I sort of lose my balance."
"Very interesting, friend! When we go into battle, would you make Brightwing some armor?"
He smiled at her. "Of course! I guess it's better than making armor for some lou-mouthed, nosy…" He caught himself nearly calling his superior a bitch. "A nevermind, that was what I was going to say, totally."