Shell Shock
Writers:
Denny and Leila
Rating: PG-RG
Warnings: Ratchet/Azimuth. Violence.
Disclaimer: We value our lives too much to even dare think about claiming Ratchet and Alister as our own. We borrow them for an RP, so don't worry. [Put the Wargroks back into your cage!]
Summary: Everyone's nightmare is to wake up in a cold, dark place without a clue where one is. Sadly, that's what's happened to us. What's even better, we have monsters and weird encounters to endure as well. And then there's them…
Lucky, right? If I ever get out of here, I will need some therapy sessions.
Chapter 23
A writhing feeling similar to nausea settled heavily in Ratchet as they positioned themselves at their spots. He both cursed the Shapeshifters for taking so long and wished they would take another route.
"Relax, Ratchet. Being so tensed up won't contribute to anything."
The elder rolled his eyes before he directed his thoughts at the communicator. "Thank you, but please don't interrupt us right now."
"Now you are being hypocritical." The sniff almost sounded hurt. "You have just requested me to be more active, giving you advice and now you blow me off."
"There is a difference between senseless and useful advice." Azimuth rolled his eyes. "Apologies for the harsh words, but if you want us to survive and get rid of the Shapeshifters, think carefully."
"Shhhh! You both are going to blow our cover!", came the harsh whisper.
There was a silence in which Alister was staring at Ratchet, the silence coming from Lawrence giving him a similar mental image before he spoke.
"Ratchet," the elder transmitted, "you do remember that the communicators transmit thoughts, not words?"
A short, but hearty laugh. "Delicious. Ratchet, you are such enrichment for this facility. If you were a robot, I would hire you just for the amusement you bring."
At that, Ratchet's eyes seemed to want to pop out their sockets. "Uuhhh... thanks, I guess, Lawrence?"
"You are welcome," the butler answered, "Quite welcome indeed. Now, would you please concentrate on the corridor again? I detect three individuals approaching your location."
"Three?" He had heard the approaching footsteps already, now realizing it were more than two pairs. Dealing with two had almost killed Alister and himself in direct confrontation - three felt more like a whole troop of normal, but battle-hardened soldiers.
"Yes, three. But the fight won't be as hard as the last one, seeing how you are going to do battle with the Wrathful."
"They are still Shapeshifters," Azimuth remarked before he concentrated on the exit once more. "And Shapeshifters are still dangerous enough to kill us in a moment of negligence." With that being said, how should they attack the guards? Simply jump out and attack them like last time? Since they were Wrathful, taunting them was the correct choice, wasn't it?
Decisions. They were the reason why he wished to prepare thoroughly at all times.
Deep, but slow breaths. For a few seconds that was all what Ratchet was concentrating on, willing his rapid heart-beat to slow down and his mind to settle. While the steps sounded now closer, they were still disturbingly quiet like the first time he and Alister had unknowingly seen the guards.
Azimuth gulped lowly. The steps were coming closer and closer, just like the three dots on the holo-map. He had to ready himself for the moment when they would appear. Then purple figures appeared before their eyes.
Time to provoke them nastily.
Lunging forward, the general spun his wrench and rammed it into the stomach of one of the Shapeshifters. The impact threw the entity to the ground and gave Azimuth enough spin to jump further and skid over the floor. With a challenging, taunting grin he waved the guards closer. "Hello there. Missed me?"
"Okay, here goes nothing..." Ratchet released the safety on the Constructo pistol, the muscles in his legs tensing for a jump.
"Wait, Ratchet!"
"Damn!" Ratchet hissed. "What is it, Lawrence?"
"Don't interfere now. Otherwise you are using the exact tactic as last time." The butler paused. "Which would lead to the guards suspecting something."
The Shapeshifter on the ground got up and rubbed its stomach under a growl. It seemed quite discontented, judging after the hostile snarl it directed at the elder. Then it stepped back, pointing at the Lombax - the other guards nodded and rushed forward, arms formed to scythes.
"!" Azimuth jumped aside and rolled over the ground until he was back on his feet. Just in time; the blades crossed each other and pierced the floor he had been on.
The two guards were derailed by countless little buzz blades cutting into them, distracting them enough that Alister could start another attack on them. The third Shapeshifter watched the surroundings, eyes narrowed as it searched for the buzz blades' origin.
A grateful smirk. "Thanks," he transmitted before he lunged forward and tore off the guards' heads by slashing at them with a wrench charged to its maximum. The bodies jerked and pulled back, kneeling on the ground and forming new heads in sudden, violent jolts.
The one Shapeshifter who had not attacked let a whistle sound. Then it stepped backwards, giggling as it pointed at Azimuth and then cut the air where it saw the elder's neck.
Before the Lombax knew, the two guards lost their shape and darted into the opposite directions. The purple shadows hit the wall and bounced off, aiming directly at the elder. Azimuth didn't hesitate - he dashed forward to escape them-
The Shapeshifter gestured anew. Clapping its hands once, the shadows changed from their sharp form into large claws that snapped down on the general.
Suddenly, screams of denial and rage tore through the room. They were nearly drowned out by the roars of the green beasts that had appeared from the ground, and the whole-body choke-hold the Plasma Beasts had on the guards. The one left free jumped forward, arms transforming into blades to slice the green goo through and free its comrades.
Azimuth gasped as he rushed away from the Shapeshifters. His breath was going fast, his mind ringing in alarm. This had been too close, too damn close!
Compose yourself, Azimuth!, he ordered himself, This is no time for panicking. Panic and die. A deep breath as he shut his eyes and concentrated. Then he dashed forward, attacking the guard that was still in the grip of the plasma beasts and lunging his wrench at it—
A blade obstructed his attack before it turned into a clawed hand and held the helve in an almost iron-clad grip. "Do not try my patience, creature," it hissed into Azimuth's mind and smashed him against the wall before he spun the wrench in its hand. A giggle. Now that was a splendid weapon! It would make a great addition to its arsenal…
Frizzling blue light shot at the guard. It held up its new toy to deflect the attack but the push never came - the energy surrounded the whole wrench and before it knew it, it was jerked violently forwards and through the air, going through another Plasma Beast. The guard let go of the wrench, seeing it through green-tinged lighting fly to-
As the energy died down, the wrench's momentum didn't. It landed in Ratchet's outstretched hand over his head.
The Shapeshifter stared at the young Lombax in surprise. Then, after the initial shock of loss its face turned into a vile grimace, mouth torn open to a bone-shattering scream and fangs bared in anger. Raising both hands, it screamed at its companions and slit the air before its throat. Then it pointed at the younger and screeched even more until the other guards levitated over the ground and darted towards Ratchet, arms raised and formed to whips.
Red lightning shot through Azimuth's perception. An after-effect of the collision, he assumed. With a groan, he tried to get up and supported himself on his hands. His attempt did not go unnoticed, however; the remaining Shapeshifter turned its head in an unearthly angle to the general and grinned deviously.
"Let's see if I can get this wrench to working like my own..." He felt the energy crackling even through the gloves as he activated Alister's wrench. Ratchet needed to concentrate on the weight as it was far heavier than any of the wrenches he himself had ever owned.
One head began dragging down as the handle extended and he grunted as he re-balanced it. He yelped suddenly and ducked under the swish of one blade, swinging the handle forward by instinct.
The head connected with a loud crackagainst one entity's chest, then the electricity burst through the guard.
A scream tore through the room as the creature stumbled back – this did not stop the other guard, however. Stepping aside just in time, it lunged its blade forward.
Capture, not kill.
And so the blade cut deep into Ratchet's thigh, sliding through armor's fabric with ease and leaving the wound with just as much swiftness.
Meanwhile the other Shapeshifter stepped slowly towards the elder, head raised high and lips forming a belittling smirk. It folded its hands behind its back and stopped before Azimuth, violently yanking him up and smashing him against the wall. Licking over its lips, its other hand slid over the elder's arms, thus disabling them. The order may have been not to kill either, but nobody had ever said that they couldn't have a little snack on the road…
It was now Ratchet who screamed, yanking the leg back with the damage already done. Numbness spread from the wound but luckily only in a small diameter around the inflicted wound while he brought distance between himself and the attacking guard. He nearly stumbled from the wrench's unfamiliar weight, his gaze accidently landing on the other side of the room.
The breath was caught in his throat.
Amber eyes stared into glowing ones as Azimuth felt the numbness spread through his body. Damn it, damn it, damn it! This was not how it was supposed to go!
"Azimuth!" The butler suddenly called out, "Use the bracelet!"
"I can't," He hissed in thought, "I can no longer move my limbs!"
The creature giggled lowly. Then it leant in, licking over its lips-
A short prick, the tingling of electricity jerked the guard from his smug haze. Eyes narrowing into dangerous blood-red, it looked to the side where the young Lombax had his Buzz Blades ready, the launcher spinning in warning. It didn't look down to his arm where the Lombax had to have hit him. Instead he lifted the elder higher with its other arm, a condescending giggle coming from its lips.
"One more move, precious, and I shall end his life in a blink of an eye." To emphasize its stance, the claws around Azimuth's neck cut into the skin and disassembled the blood. The other guards readied their blades in case the younger still tried something.
With satisfaction the entity noted the accelerated heartbeat, even more deliciously displayed by the rise and fall of the chest. Those green eyes flitted between the elder's tortured expression and the wound on his neck, what the guard met with much less eagerness. Their precious should concentrate on its own red orbs, not the pathetic creature in its grasp.
Lips curling back to display his teeth, Ratchet slowly, disdainfully lowered his weapon but never let go of it. The other two Shapeshifters approached - carefully, as they knew from their kin's dismay the Lombax could be quite deceiving. Acting as if he was giving up.
Nevertheless - the smug grins etched across their faces spoke of the victory they felt close.
Thirty seconds had already passed.
The general hadn't even noticed the small hook in the entity's arm. "Ratchet! What are you doing?", he shouted. The Shapeshifter had not yet disabled his voice at least. "Get out of here-"
The guard turned back to him and clawed deeper into his throat. "Silence," it formed, "Or I will do things worse than death to him…"
The elder fell silent, not only because he felt the numbness spreading to his vocal chords, but also because he did not want to endanger Ratchet any more than he already was. Anger, slight as it was, came up in him – why couldn't he do anything? Why was he so helpless this time?
Forty-five. The device was not working…
"That's a good boy." As surreal it was that the entity addressed him like that, it did not even come close to the feeling of fear that spread in Azimuth as the entity approached him. It licked idly over its lips before it leant in. "Now, time for a little appetizer…"
The other guards turned to their companion, eyes squinted in delight as the creature etched closer, lips brushing over the elder's-
Sixty seconds.
Suddenly the entity's eyes widened. Bolts and flashes sizzled out of the hook and tore into the creature's body, electrocuted it until it let go of Azimuth and finally hit the collar around the guard's neck. A pained scream left the entity before it was violently reverted into its orb shape and impended in the air. Unnoticed, the hook fell on the ground when the transformation was done.
Shock was more than visible on the Shapeshifters' faces. What had just happened and where was the other guard? They felt lost as they were to obey the other at all times, especially since it was superior to them. Without its help it was more than difficult for them to carry out orders in an efficient way.
"... I think you and Alister will later want to address me about the device's functionality, Ratchet?"
"Later, Lawrence, yeah."
At that point, Ratchet was already smashing rapidly at the orb with his own wrench. He had thrown several Constructo Bombs at the other two guards before rushing in front of the general's crumbled form, checking him before he had turned to the orb.
The elder watched him as he attacked the Shapeshifter, unable to say a thing or to do a thing. He could only watch, very much so since his whole body was disabled. All he was able to do was sit and lean against the wall, eyes widened in tension.
The acid continued to burn the guards as they jumped away from the puddles on the ground. Under their still wild shrieks they communicated with each other, trying to work out a new strategy. But what could they do on their own? Above all, they had to get the other guard out of danger. They had to retrieve it before their precious would destroy it!
Azimuth saw the creatures shifting in the back. His gaze darted around in frenzy, trying to contact Ratchet. But his voice was disabled, he couldn't do anything—
The communication device!
The elder frowned. This should be still working. "Ratchet!", he transmitted, "Look out!"
The warning came almost too late. The two approaching guards had turned their arms again into weapons - but instead of the blades before, they were long spears throbbing with energy. Ratchet snapped his head one moment to the side, gasping. STUPID! How could he have lost his focus on the other, still active guards? Unfortunately they had the spears at the ready, both being pointed at Alister. Before he could react, the sharp tips seemed almost to jump forward. They were just too fast, the only thing he could was shield the general but he knew the spears would likely tear through him and hit Alister anyw-
The guards took advantage of Ratchet's move. The spear closer to Ratchet morphed into a kind of net, catching the orb and receding instantly. It didn't deter the second Shapeshifter, however. Spear raised, the creature rushed past the Lombax and rammed its weapon deep into Azimuth's arm. A scream tore from the elder's lips as he tried to move away, but in naught – even after the Shapeshifter had hit him and taken off some of his paralysis he was unable to defend himself.
Malicious cackling erupted from the guard. Such delicious pain from that thorn of a Lombax in their side. Making him pay for the shame when he had escaped with their precious. This was much better than instantly killing the elder, to make him suffer, to make him writhe—
Its eyes widened. It looked down itself to see a long shaft embedded into its chest, blue-white-hot pain jumping back and forth from the wound of its back to the front. The spear was cleanly torn out of the arm, making the guard jerk backwards, before an explosion went off from the middle of its body. One micro-second long, it saw the energy's light illuminate the younger Lombax's face - eerie shadows dancing across his cheeks and eyes. Never had their precious looked more threatening to a guard before; and yet, yet the entity felt only a twinge of fear.
Completely mesmerized by the cruel gaze in Ratchet's eyes, the creature did not even feel the pain from the malicious energy. How could it when it was confronted with such grace? Mouth open, it reached for the helve and clasped its fingers shakily around it, nearing the younger with disturbing wonder in its optics.
He had never looked so beautiful in rage.
The pain turned immense and before it knew, the explosion sent the guard careening through the room to the very wall on the other side.
Ratchet needed to gulp down bouts of air to calm down. That damned thing. That THING had dared to smile at and try to touch him.
Its companion rushed to the creature's side, endless whispers leaving its mouth. Then it snapped around and snarled, one arm clutched tightly around the orb while the other was about to change its shape—
The guard on the ground jerked its hand forward and pulled at the entity's wrist. At the irritated glare it answered only with a nod towards Ratchet, smirking in utter bliss. How much it wished to see that expression once more!
The entity stared at it incomprehensively before the fleeting image reached its mind. A low growl escaped the Shapeshifter before it agreed on the appeal of that image. Realizing how it could hinder its companion from gathering its thoughts, it turned to Ratchet.
Two minutes. Then we will continue.
That stunned him. Quickly reigning himself back, he contacted Lawrence. "What does that mean? Are they seriously meaning a reprieve?"
"I assume that they are waiting for the Prideful to awaken. Perhaps their sense for hierarchy is too strong at times." A pause. "Either way. Don't you think you should use the unexpected break to bring a certain Lombax back into shape? I can see that our lovely guards are doing it as well."
"Oh... Right." Disconnecting the line, he turned to Alister. The elder was clutching the wounded arm against his chest; Ratchet guessed the adrenaline from the pain had dissipated the last of the paralysis. He was panting heavily, eyes glazed over and too bright for the younger's taste.
"Alister. Do you recognize me?" The Lombax nodded with a hiss. Good - at least the general was coherent. Ratchet materialized some nanotech from his subspace, breaking one orb. "We don't have much time. Stretch your arm out that I can heal the wound."
"I… can't…" The words left him only slowly as he pressed them through his gritted teeth. "The aftereffects of the paralysis… are still apparent…" To emphasize his point, he tried to move his arm towards Ratchet, but in naught. Only tremors went through his limb as it slowly etched forward. "They… got me good, I fear…"
"Then let me do it. Nanotech should deal with the rest of the paralysis." He gently gripped the offered arm around the wrist and stretched it forward. The torn material around the wound had dark edges from the blood but the diameter was surprisingly small. Ratchet first smeared the Nanotech over the wound. Alister hissed, the arm twitched but it stayed where it was. As soon as the flesh had closed Ratchet massaged gently down to the hand, covering the area with the rest of the nanotech.
"Can... you apply some on my legs?" Azimuth asked, slowly flexing his hand. "I need to be able to move on my own."
Ratchet did with the same speed as before; after all, their reprieve was running out on them fast. He hoped he got enough Nanotech through the boots, but he made sure every other place on Alister's legs was accounted for.
A playful chuckle from the elder reached the younger's ears, as inappropriate as it was. "Guess this is the one time I won't mind you groping my bottom." He watched the Shapeshifters at the other side of the room. They were still waiting for their comrade to reform itself.
"I'm gonna continue to grope you when I feel like it." Ratchet shot back with an own smirk. He let Alister do the watching of the guards although he several times almost turned his head around.
"I doubt you will be successful next time." The elder stared at the Shapeshifters while Ratchet took care of the last affected spots. Switching on his visor, he began reading the creatures' structure; but as expected, all he could see was their shape. No weak spots, no concentrated heat areas. Even the large wound in the guard's stomach had not left any visible tracks. Were they really that different from the other life forms? He zoomed in a little to perceive the collar around their necks. They were barely pulsating at the moment. Perhaps because they were not doing anything?
It was then he noticed that the orb within the entity's grasp started to shift its shape. The elder tensed up and was about to inform Ratchet about the development when a blood-chilling scream tore through the room.
Rammed into the ground, the Wrathful were trying to get away from their superior, but to no avail: The Prideful had clutched its claws into the guards' heads and prevented them from shifting their shape and escaping its grip. The Wrathful screamed and whined, claws digging into the metal floor and leaving deep scratches behind, legs flailing and kicking to hit the creature behind them. There was a pleading tone in their cries as they stared at Azimuth, eyes filled with an imploring, no, begging gaze.
Save us!, they were forming, shaking heavily. Please, save us…!
When he whirled to face the guards, dreadful realization settled in Ratchet's body. The wide-opened eyes, the faces disturbed in panic and terror, the pleas that held no mockery or deception - the Wrathful knew of their fate. And he knew, too. Bile rose in his throat, the screams getting louder and more frantic.
"Don't look!"
He almost screamed himself as he went blind, a heavy weight settling over his vision. He struggled at the arm tugging him back - the voice that shouted into his ears barely audible.
The elder pulled him against his chest, pressing Ratchet's face into his armor and preventing him from seeing any more. Azimuth however still stared at the display before him with a mixture of fear, disgust and an odd urge to help the Wrathful. People pleading for their lives, crying out for a savior—
It reminded him so much of the fleeing Lombaxes during the devastation of Fastoon.
The guards on the ground writhed and whined, no, they cried and shivered as they hoped that the general, anyone would save them. But when the first of them was yanked up, they knew it was too late.
Not letting go of the other Wrathful, the Prideful formed another arm out of its body and reached for its own chin. Then it dislocated the jaw and split it into two halves, fangs glowing as it stared at the guard in its grasp with bloodthirsty eyes.
Before either of them knew, the Prideful had bitten off the other's head.
Azimuth's eyes widened at the display. He pressed against the wall as he saw the sheer brutality with which the guard devoured its companion. Tearing limbs off, ripping pieces out of the chest—
One moment of negligence – Ratchet turned around in his grasp and saw how the Prideful shredded the twitching remains apart.
Blood, cut-off flesh, oil, mangled metal - all that Ratchet had seen before and more, often inflicted by himself. If this happened, it was either 'hurt or get killed' and mostly he could avoid lethal injuries. He couldn't say that for some scum he had watched, but unfortunately this happened too often while he still never got used to the sight. He wondered if this was a good or bad sign. But as he watched the last remains of the guard being scattered and the rest eaten, he-
He emptied his stomach right in this room.
After another moment, Azimuth rubbed his back over Ratchet's back and slowly pulled him around so that he did no longer face the disgusting sight. Then, when the younger had calmed down, he wiped over his mouth and whispered calming words as he drowned out the pained screams of the second guard and pressed Ratchet against his chest. If there was pain from where Ratchet's nails dug into his forearms, he kept silent about it.
With Alister's words and touches to focus on, the panic and sickness slowly left Ratchet although a sour taste stayed. Ingrained habit and instincts kicked the rest away, reminding him of the danger the Prideful presented. No – the threat it presented even more now as it had likely absorbed the two weaker guards to strengthen itself.
His eyes widened as he looked back while Alister was still distracted by holding and soothing him. He was torn out of his thoughts as the younger roughly pushed him away and the loudest, bloodiest scream so far erupted through the room. What happened then, he wasn't able to say.
Claws as big as the young Lombax shredded the very spot where they had been just a moment ago apart and tore a huge hole into the metal surface. The Prideful had turned into a vicious creature – fangs bared, a giant wolf snarled at them. Yellow eyes shook as if the whole being was unstable, red smoke escaped from the gaps between its fangs. The fur was moving as if in a constant whirl, the paws were engulfed in dark purple clouds.
Then it turned its head to Ratchet.
As soon as it perceived the younger, the entity tore its claws out of the wall and snapped after the younger under a deafening scream.
The Lombax dived under the lowest claw, shooting over his shoulder with the Constructo Cannon. The projectiles seemed to have almost no effect at all, as any wounds on the giant limb was instantly enclosed from red-purplish smoke, the edges frizzling together.
The Prideful cried out before it turned around and lunged at Ratchet. He did hit him - the giant paw swiped the Lombax across the room over the ground until he hit the wall. Tearing its mouth open, it dashed towards the younger. Before it could reach its prey, though, the general stepped between them and rammed his wrench right into its pharynx, unleashing a white lightning with this attack. Effective it was, seeing how the Prideful jerked back and whined pathetically at the sizzling wound in its throat; but the price to pay was high. In its frenzy it hit Azimuth with its paw with such force that he coughed up blood.
Ratchet quickly threw out Plasma Pods, leaving it to the beasts to distract the entity and chip away on it while he looked after Alister.
The general tried to get up, but stinging pain in his chest was preventing him from doing so. "Blast it…" He pressed out of his mouth, "Strong…"
That beast really had gotten stronger - Lawrence's theory had been right in that regard.
What he hadn't told - or probably couldn't have known exactly - was the amount of strength the Prideful had gained. Going by the ache in Ratchet's muscles and bones where the guard had hit him, the power of the two Wrathful hadn't just been simply added. Rather was it almost like it had been multiplied.
Azimuth gritted his teeth as Ratchet applied some Nanotech to his chest. "If it goes on like that, we'll run out of Nanotech before we even know."
"We need another plan. If we go on charging at that thing or directly attacking, we'll be toast." He yelped and suddenly yanked on Alister's arm, engaging his hoverboots and dragging him with away from the incoming claw just a microsecond early enough. The following screech of metal tore into his skull that he almost let go of the other to cover both his ears.
Azimuth regained his balance and activated his own hoverboots as he whirled around. The Shapeshifter really had lost its mind, seeing how it destroyed everything in its path.
But how to defeat it?
Before he could go on, though, the guard dashed heads on towards them, mouth ripped open and unleashing a bone-shattering sound.
The same terror when that guard had chased him through the facility to its brethren overcame Ratchet. But at that point he hadn't known that; he had simply been running from an unknown beast and only had maybe distinctly wondered why it could change forms. Now he knew what it had been - to what it belonged, what they were able to do, what they wanted—
And honestly, he had never fathomed just how terrifying knowing the truth could be.
"Watch out!" Azimuth pushed him aside before the fangs could pierce the Lombax. Damn, this was getting too dangerous! They had to escape, work out a plan, do something!
"Try to lay mines or bombs," sounded the butler's voice in their helmets, "And lure the Shapeshifter into the traps. Best would be if you split up for the moment; there is another big room that you can reach through two different corridors from here. While one of you distracts the guard, the other lays the-"
"Too complicated!" Azimuth shouted before he had to dodge another assault. Not without inflicting some damage, though – he pierced the Prideful's side with his wrench and unleashed a bolt of energy. Then he dashed away, his ears picking up pained screams from the entity.
Ratchet heeded the advice, instantly dropping several Constructo Bombs and Plasma Pods behind him and throwing the other half around the room. Racing towards a wall, he somersaulted with the help of his hoverboots back over the guard the last moment possible. The guard screeched instantly to a halt, spikes emerging from its feet and legs - it grinned viciously as it stopped shortly in front of the wall then resumed its chase.
Tearing the limbs free, it charged after Ratchet and changed its shape into a cheetah-like creature, fangs bared and its breath escaping as red smoke. The eyes were fixated at the young Lombax as it closed in rapidly – then it rammed him against the wall, one paw clutching into the younger's chest armor and piercing through the enforced material while the other supported its body against the wall.
A stifled scream left Ratchet. He grabbed the entity's foreleg and tried to remove the pressure from his body, but in naught. The claws dug deeper and deeper into his skin until they drew blood.
"RATCHET!" Azimuth screamed, rushing to the younger and spinning his wrench before he aimed for the Prideful's body. His attack never reached its goal, though – a shield formed itself out of the purple matter and deflected the energy bolt as well as it pushed the general back with the impact. A growl escaped the elder. He wouldn't let this happen, he wouldn't—
The shield deformed and turned into a battering ram to crash Azimuth to the other side of the room.
"A… Alister…" The young Lombax wheezed. He couldn't say more; the pressure on his chest intensified. Breathing became increasingly harder and painful now – and so he could but watch how the general wiped the blood of his mouth and staggered back onto his feet.
The elder's senses were dulled. His mind was pounding, his eyesight skewed. Odd shapes were dancing before his eyes. Somewhere in the back of his mind his ears picked up a low warning signal. Whatever - he had no time to deal with the newfangled technology of this armor. Kicking on his hoverboots once more, he tried a different approach this time. He picked a smaller bomb from his inventory and threw it behind the Prideful. As the device detonated, Azimuth used the distraction to dive beneath the shield and clutch the foreleg on Ratchet's chest with his wrench, but before he could break the limb apart, he was hit on the head and tossed aside once more.
A giggle broke from the entity. The wildness was still there, the thirst for sheer brutality too – but that did not seem to keep it from its desire to mock the elder.
Ratchet shook beneath the painful grip. The claws were digging in painfully deep now; he felt the soft inner shell of his armor getting soaked with his own blood. The fingers around the Prideful's limb grew weaker as his gaze turned slowly blurry. Despite the pain and gradual loss of his consciousness, he still watched the general in fear. He was lying there, lifeless. The Lombax's heart stopped when he thought of the worst case; but it was only one moment.
The elder let out a pained groan. All right. This was not going well. Absolutely not. He had to… had to work something out. Something. Anything. But his mind was in shambles, his vision completely wrecked. He felt the blood pounding through his veins, the numbness from the pain wear off… The alarm signal was getting obnoxiously loud now too. But he had no time. He had no time, especially not if Lawrence was telling him that the bio-scan of Ratchet's armor revealed alarming circumstances. He had to hurry; otherwise Ratchet would die on him-
A double-headed purple scythe flew through the air and ended in the entity's back.