Wo0t! Time for the big fight scene! My first OC appears, but it's not so friendly!
CHAPTER 6: WE ARE NOT ALONE
9 knew what was coming. He ran to the twins, telling them to hide. Without question, 3 took his younger brother and pulled them behind some toppled books. 9 turned to 7, but she was already in action. Her skullmet was down, hiding her facial expression, and her spear was raised in position. 9 couldn't see her face, but he knew it was one of complete concentration. There was another screech, much closer this time, and 9 could hear the beast climbing the stairs. He debated hiding with the twins, but something inside him told him he'd have to fight.
He looked for something that he could use as a weapon. When he didn't find anything, it was already too late. He took a couple steps behind 7 as the creature entered. From head to the tip of its tail-correction: its razor tipped tail- the beast seemed to be two and-a-half feet long. It stood a few inches off the ground, balencing on several needle sharp legs. Its body seemed to be armored with some type of steel shell. The twins had shown him one of these creatures in one of their books. It had been called a scorpion, but the pictures in the book had shown that it had been much smaller in the past.
As the beast's multiple red eyes fixed themselves on the two stiches it let out a third evil screech. The ceiling seemed to shake at the very sound of its "voice" and 9 had to place his hands on both sides of his head in a futile attempt to drown out the sound. 7 didn't wait for another reason to strike.
7 was never really the "patient" type.
She charged at the beast, expecting its attack. The scorpion's tail lashed out at her, but 7 easily evaded it. She ran at the creature at full speed, ducking into a slide at the last moment. She had planned to thrust her spear into the underbelly of the beast, slicing it cleanly in half.
The result was far from her expectations.
Her spear seemed to shatter as it hit the scorpions protective shell, sending 7 sprawling across the floor. Before she could get up the beast's tail lashed out again, but 7 didn't dodge it this time. 9 watched in horror as the dagger-like tail pierced 7's chest, her body hung on the tail for a few seconds before the monster hurled her into a nearby wall. She hit the floor, motionless.
9 attempted to run to her side but the beast easily swatted him away. During the brief second where 9's hand connected with the beast, images flashed through his mind at lightspeed. Blueprints, sketches, notes, thousands of pictures seemed to go through 9's mind in an instant. In what seemed like seconds 9 had learned everything about this creature, but one thing stood out from all the information that had flooded his brain.
He knew how to stop it.
The scorpions shell was completely impervious to any of the weapons that the stitches possesed, but there was still something that could pierce this beast's skin...itself. 9 charged again, not at 7 this time, but at the creature. It tried to swat him away like last time but with no success. 9 jumped left, then right, and rolled back to the left, untill he was right in front of the monster. 9 knew that he only had one chance to get rid of this thing, and he took it. He saw the creature raise its tail in one final attack, and just before it struck 9, he rather clumsily, vaulted on to the beast. As the tail came down, 9 inhaled, and swiftly rolled to the side.
The beast had realized its mistake too late, and stabbed itself through the head with its own tail. It let out one final death cry, then slowly slumped to the floor. Once 9 was sure that the beast was dead he ran over to where 7 lay. He feared the worst, but was uplifted when he saw the faint movement of a stitchpunk still breathing. Her skullmet had fallen off and rolled several feet away, so 9 could clearly see the pain on her face. She would live, but only if he closed the wound in time. 9 ran back to where the group had left their things and grabbed a needle and some thread. So many thoughts were rushing through his head as he returned to 7's side.
I don't know how to do this! He thought, 2 had always been good at this...
Images rushed through 9's head again, images from one time or another when 2 had helped treat the stiches' injuries. 9 knew that when this occured he had obviously not have even woken up yet, so he must have been seeing the memories that 2 possesed. Memories of pain, and suffering, and care. When the images stopped and his vision returned he realized his brain seemed to be pounding against his head. 9 pushed the pain away and got to work with sealing 7's wound, and in minutes the deed was done. At some point during the "operation" the twins had returned to 9's side, but he didn't notice them at the time. When 7 finaly convinced 9 that she would be alright she simply stared at him and said,
" 9, that was amazing! How'd you do it?"
How had 9 done it? He didn't know, so that was what he told her.
" Well anyway, good work...and...thanks."
9 smiled. He was glad that he was able to help for once, but he knew that she should have been thanking 2 instead. 7 walked over to the lifeless body of the monster and gave it a firm kick. She asked 9 how there could possibly be more machines this advanced out there, but 9 didn't know the answer to that either. Next, 7 walked up to the still open box, it's contents spilled out in front of it. She looked up at the map that was carved in the old wood and sighed.
" It's gonna take at least a week to get there..." 7 said.
9 walked beside her and picked up the scap of paper.
" Well what about this?" he said, " 'In life there is purpose, what's that supposed to mean?"
7 smiled at that question, and 9 knew she must know something. Without him asking 7 returned to where she had been searching up on the desk- although slower this time, due to her injury- and kicked a small journal to the floor. 9 opened it and was shocked. It was a drawing of 1, or a blueprint of some kind. 7 pointed to the top right corner of the page, where the still obvious handwritting of 6 read To protect us. 9 flipped over each page, every one containing a picture of a stitchpunk along with a coresponding note from 6:
To inspire us
To define us
To teach us
To guide us
To lead us
To defend us
To gaurd us
To save us.
" In life...there is purpose!" Now 9 knew what it meant. So these had been their puposes. 9 then remembered the rest of what had been written on the paper scrap:
In death, there is sacrifice
Indeed his friends had sacrificed themselves, and in doing so returned life to the world. 9 recalled the last part of the paper:
In spirit, there is hope
He still didn't know what that meant, but it may mean that they could bring them back. 9 looked at 7, filled with so many things to say. In the end, all he said was,
"Okay, lets go. We got a kid to find."
7 nodded and gathered the twins. The rest of the day was spent gathering supplies for the long journey. 3 and 4 were able to convert the box into a storage wagon using some wheels they found on a toy car out in the rubble. In the box they placed thier supplies along with the piece of paper, the journal, and the photo. When the group was ready to set out the twins offered to pull the wagon first. 9 looked out to the sunset, only one thought in his mind:
How would he possibly be able to fufill his purpose?
He looked over at 7 and smiled, at least he wasn't alone.