Carol and Mason stay and cling to me once the MDF get here. They say they're making sure nothing happens to me, but I think they're just scared. Not that I mind. Having them around makes accepting what happened a bit easier.
"What did he take from you?" Agent Hammer asks as we drive down the road.
"Silver, dual-colored, and red. Those are all the discs he took. Whatever Shocker's planning, he won't need the green or blue one now." I say.
"What about you two?" He looks at Carol and Mason, who've been pretty quiet. "How are you feeling?"
"Is he going to come back?" Carol asked.
"No. I'll take another beating again if it means keeping you two safe. Don't worry." I say.
"But that didn't stop him from getting us first. He let you have us." Carol says.
I can't argue with that. He could've walked away with both of them. They got lucky. If it were anyone else, I don't think he would've let them go. But I'd still be able to protect them, right?
"What are you talking about? You said it yourself. Chase is still our hero. She would've saved us, no matter what. She did save us." Mason says.
"I'm not saying… Sorry, Chase. I wasn't trying to say that." Carol says.
"No, you're right. I would've tried my best to hold him back, but if he wanted to take you, then he probably would've."
"All of you are safe, that's what matters. Don't let the details confuse you." Agent Hammer says.
"He's right! Doesn't matter what that guy could've done, because he didn't." Mason says.
"But he still got away with those discs." I say.
"He didn't get all of them, right? Use what you can and make it count." Agent Hammer says.
"Not like I can do anything with my arm like this." I say.
"The rest of us can hold our own until you get back on your feet. Don't worry, we won't crumble just because you're out of commission." Agent Hammer says.
"Does Otto or the Professor have a plan? Or are we just holding off for now?" I ask.
"That's what we need to find out." Agent Hammer says before getting a call. "What is it?" He quickly hangs up before speaking to the driver.
"What's wrong?" I ask.
"Shocker's already back. He just started going on a rampage. We're heading there now." He says.
I put my belt on my waist, but Carol stops me. "Chase, you aren't seriously thinking about fighting? Are you?"
Part of me hadn't realized the reality of my situation. I can't do the fighting. I can't protect anyone. It's up to everyone else to handle Shocker.
—
"Be safe, Otto. I'll do what I can with the Sophie's belt." The Professor says to me on the other side of the phone.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything stupid. Just finish the work with Sophie as fast as possible. We'll need her. See if you and Agent Braid can think of other places Shocker could be hiding." I say, putting the Chimera belt on as I get closer to the sounds of destruction.
Even if I'm not as strong as Chase or Alicia, I'll give it my all and prove that I can be a hero, just like them. Hopefully she isn't mad about me giving Sophie's belt to the Professor. I spin both sides of the belt.
Mix! Mix! Mix! Lion! Goat! Snake! The experiment was a success! Chimera~
I see Shocker's new golden form in the distance. So that's what Agent Hammer was talking about. I'll have to hold him off for as long as I can. Without thinking any further, I leap into action and jump past Shocker, slicing at him with the end of my tail.
It didn't even scratch him. "Just you? The soldiers tend to take their time." He takes a swing at me. It's so much faster than I had expected.
As Shocker's claw almost hits me clean in the chest, someone quickly pulls me out of the way. "You alright Otto?" Alicia asks in her suit.
"Thanks to you, I am. Did Agent Hammer tell about him?" I ask.
She nods. "If he beat Chase, that means all we can do is try to make him retreat."
"The Professor and I have a plan. We just need to hold out for as long as we can." I say as I get ready to continue.
This time should be right, I did everything correctly. She should be coming any moment now. Alicia and I charge at Shocker, splitting off as he slams his claws into the ground to hit us. He swings at Alicia. I run and wrap my tail around the claw and yank it away.
"Did you forget what happened when you tried this before?" Shocker says.
Before he can swing me into the air, Alicia gives him a swift kick to the head, giving me the chance to let go of his claw. As he prepares to go at Alicia again, I spin the left side of my belt twice.
Lion! Goat! Bone Charge!
Bones gather around the horns on my helmet as I ram into Shocker. Even if you can't do damage, we can still knock you back. As long as you can't hit us, then your attacks don't mean a thing.
"You two are getting annoying." Shocker pulls a claw up to swing down into me.
He's cut off again as a monster crashes into him. The ladybug flies into the air, holding on to Shocker on the way up. But he finally lands a hit as he frees one of his claws and slams it into the monster, knocking it down, and causing him to fall.
The ladybug tries to fly a bit to cushion its fall before turning back into Alicia as she crashes into the ground. "Did that do anything?" She says to herself.
Shocker crashes into ground. As he gets up, we can see scratches on his golden carapace. "Even if you are annoying. You two are impressive. I never expected to actually take damage."
Trying to get our hopes up? Don't worry, you won't fool us for a second.
"Don't let up, alright Alicia?" I ask.
"Never planned on it." She says.
We hear steps come from behind us as Shocker charges. "You two have done well. Allow me to support you." A familiar voice says. Shocker stops in his place as he looks behind us.
We look behind us and see Sophie with a group of MDF soldiers. "I knew I got it right this time. Welcome back." I say.
"You did. Everything is working perfectly." She pulls out a new belt. It's black and orange with what looks like a bike handle going through one side and out the other. "I'm here to repay you all for my past." She says before putting the belt on a revving up the bike handle.
B-B-Beat!
Sparks fly as she tears the bike handle out of the belt, revealing a cane shaped sword. "Transform!"
Beat! Get up and fight! Beat! Never give in! Beat! Face your enemy! Beat!
Pieces of the suit come out of the sides of the belt one by one, clinging to Sophie. The suit is almost completely black, with yellow and orange lines around the neck, wrists, and ankles. Part of it doesn't get filled, as dark orange circuitry sticks out of spots on the chest and arms. A black cloak with an orange outline flies out of the belt and around her, covering up some of the circuitry.
You. Are. Beat!
"I will draw his attention and be his focus. You two attack whenever he goes to strike me. Can you do that?" She asks. We both nod as she slowly walks towards Shocker, the saber from the belt at her side.
"And here I thought you were a waste." Shocker says.
Before he can say anything else, Sophie dashes in, closing the distance between them instantly and slashing at him three times. He blocks one with his claw, but the other two are direct hits to his chest. It's small, but the slashes scratch his carapace. He tries to attack with his other claw, but Alicia comes in at the last moment with a kick to the same claw, pushing it away as Sophie pushes him back with another three slashes.
"You three make a good team." He says, going into another strike at Sophie. I move in to kick his claw away. "But not good enough." Shocker says before redirecting the claw into me, shattering my suit as I hit the ground. The Chimera driver lands in front of Shocker.
"Another three down." He says before kicking the belt away so that we can't get it.
"Otto!" Sophie shouts. Shocker tries to attack her again, but she tosses the cloak in his face, dashing back as she helps me up. "Alicia! Change of plans. You two get back to the soldiers. Tell them to open fire if it looks like I'm in trouble."
"But the discs…" I say.
"Don't worry. I'd rather we lose a belt than another person get injured like Chase is, or worse." Sophie says.
Alicia and I fall back to the group of Soldiers. Sophie doesn't make a move, keeping her eye on Shocker until she knows he won't attack us.
"Not going to retrieve the discs? That's bold." He says.
"It doesn't matter. We'll win. You only delay the inevitable." Sophie says before putting the bike handle back into her belt and revving it up again.
Beat rush!
The dark orange circuitry lights up as smoke comes out of her suit. "Until I'm at my limit, I won't let you anyone else!" she shouts at Shocker before charging at him.
Sophie tears the sword from her belt. It now has a bright orange glow like parts of her suit. Shocker swings at her with his claws, but she's just fast enough to dodge, slashing at his chest. It's small, but the damage from it is noticeable. I was right. If we push Sophie's body and spirit to their limits, it gives us a fighting chance.
"This is unexpected. Since when were you this strong?" Shocker asks.
Sophie doesn't respond, continuing her onslaught before he finally gets a hit in. Even if she was getting some damage off, Shocker still hits back much harder.
Sophie puts the sword back in her belt, giving one more rev as more smoke leaves her suit. I motion to the group of soldiers. "Get ready!"
Another MDF vehicle drives in behind us. Chase and Agent Hammer get out. "Did we…" Chase trails off as she looks at the new suit. "Is that Sophie?"
"You can thank the Professor, he got the finishing touches done just in time." I say, before looking at her arm. "How long you think you'll be out of commission?"
"I'm not sure, sorry. I wish I didn't have to leave you guys on your own like this."
"Don't worry, you carried us in the past. Now it's our turn." I say before looking back at Sophie.
Smoke billows out of her suit, sparks fly off the circuitry as she runs forward, leaping into shooting down towards Shocker. As usual, he blocks with one of his claws, but as more smoke seeps out of the suit, the circuitry growing brighter; the claw gets pushed back.
"You're supposed to be defective, but somehow, you continue to impress me!" Shocker shouts as he tries to push back against the kick, but fails as his claw cracks.
"You wouldn't understand. The life you took from me, from Alicia, from everyone you've hurt. We may not be human, but our spirit will always live on!" Sophie says as she kicks off Shocker, letting off an explosion.
"Good, great even. But not enough." Shocker says from the smoke, his claw cracked but not broken.
"Open fire!" Before he can get another word off, Agent Hammer orders the soldiers to unload on Shocker, Hammer firing off his own gun using energy from the blue disc.
"I can take the hint." Shocker says before de-transforming and throwing out a clear disc. Monsters appear from the ground as it shatters. The soldiers make quick work of the group of monsters as they focus on finding the one with the disc. But by the time they finish, Shocker had vanished, along with my belt.
"And there goes my belt." I say to myself.
"Don't be so gloomy. Better it than any of us." Alicia says.
"Right." It still hurts knowing he got away with those discs, but Alicia's smile makes it bearable. "Thanks for sticking with me. I know I've been trouble for you guys."
"I thought we said not to worry about it?" Chase says. "You're the reason we even held him back today."
Sophie takes off her belt as she approaches. "My sister is correct. Without you, I would still be in a coma, and this belt would not exist. You'll find the Professor thinks the same."
"Sophie!" Chase says, pulling her in for a hug. "I can't believe this is real."
"Yes, it's hard to believe after so long. I guess I'll be staying in your room for the time being." She says.
"Oh, I can find somewhere else to stay if you need me to." I say.
They both glare at me. "You seriously think we're just going to toss you out like that?!" Chase says.
"Indeed. You can use my room for as long as you need. It hasn't been mine for a long time, and it's not like I kept much to begin with. Got it, Otto?" Sophie says.
"Okay, okay. Just tell me if I'm ever too loud, it's easy to get lost in my work." I say.
Alicia's face is beaming with happiness. "We're finally all together! How could this get any better?"
"Stopping Shocker for one. But it is pretty cool that the four of us are on the same side now. Things might really end soon. Just a couple more steps, and it'll all be over." Chase says.
"Don't get ahead of yourselves. We've still got a lot of work to do." Agent Hammer says.
"Come on, can't we have our fun? I think we deserve to celebrate a little." Alicia says.
"Work and fun can coexist. Let's get back to the base. Agent Braid wants to brainstorm on where Shocker's hiding." He says back.
We all get inside the MDF vehicles. I can't help but think about Chase saying that this all might end soon. What am I going to do after? Even if a relative takes me in, how do I fix what did? I know they were manipulating me, but I still made discs for them to experiment with. The others laugh away, having a casual conversation with each other. This is what I want to fight for, not science, not power. I want to protect the love of this world. Romantic, platonic, familial, whatever it is, this is what I fight to protect.