Slugterra

Chpt 36: Ascension Second

"Dayum… It's been a looooong day."
The bed made a 'whoofing sound as Kaiya flopped down on the thick blankets, completely exhausted after her biggest and most action-packed day yet. Her shoulder stilled ached, but it had lessened to an easily forgettable pain.
In the safe confinement of her room she slipped of her jacket, chucking it down the washing chute to the guards laundries below, the eerie scratch of her metal shoulder plates against the chute walls echoing as the jacket fell down.
She frowned slightly and tapped the plate on her thighs and the bracelets around her boots.
Why did she even wear them? She liked the neon lights and they provided some protection...ugh, she was to tired to think about it.
Quickly slipping off the rest of her clothes and dressing up in her PJ singlet and shorts she flopped down on her bed again, her limbs numb and her mind fuzzy from exhaustion.

Just as she was drifting off, the doors slid open, the visitor silhouetted by the bright lights in the hallway.
Annoyed her nap was interrupted she lazily lifted her head and squinted her eyes against the light, "What?"
"Oh, uh..you're back already?" The voice was clearly from Nicole.
"Hmm? Yeah, Hi Nicole." She muttered before dropping her head onto the thick winter sheets.
"Yeah, Hi. Look you seem tired and I hate to bother you but can i borrow your..uh..blueprints?" She seemed nervous asking, which Kaiya was slightly glad of. It was good to have someone fear you, plus her blueprints were important pieces of design.

But she could trust Nicole.
"Yeah..sure…" She broke off with a yawn, "Ugh, what for?"
"Just..stuff."
"Oh-kay. Bring 'em back though."
"Sure…."
Kaiyas eyes were already slipping closed as Nicole grabbed a blue disk off her desk and slipped out through the door, the hiss from the door and Kaiyas fuzzy brain disguising Nicoles last sentence.
"I'm so sorry…"

Skies softly humming engine was the first thing Kaiya heard when she woke was curled up in her little bed and Skies was glowing in the dark garage, waiting patiently and red eyes watched her every move.

Slowly sitting up, she waved at Skies and dragged a blanket over her shoulders as the chilly room air met her skin.
"Brrrr…" She shivered, getting up and quickly hopping over the heater in her room, turning it on and sighing as warm air washed over her cold hands.
Standing up, she stood still as the hot air floated up her cold legs, warming her up before she finally decided to get dressed. Her jacket wasn't back yet so she slipped on a thick black thermal and her favourite jeans, once again contemplating the metal side-guards.
Walking over the mirror in the rapidly heating room, she flinched at the sight of her face.
A pale scar stretched across the left-hand corner of her lips, scratches crisscrossed her cheeks and there were thicker scars running along her cheek-bones and neck.
She looked terrible, even though she didn't really care about her physical appearance.
Quickly ignoring the scars she brushed her hair and made a normal ponytail, brushing her bangs behind her ears as she read the News on her lap-pad.
There was a small article about the mecha jam she and Harper ran over on their little chase but other than that only one headline caught her immediate attention.
Yearly AquaBeek Migration: Downpour expected for Months
Rain? Kaiya couldn't believe what she was seeing. Rain? In Slugterra?
"That's new. I thought I'd never hear the rain again." She closed her eyes and silently listened past Skies humming engine and the slight rattling from the heater.
Nothing.
After a few more minutes she opened her eyes and sighed," Maybe I need to go outside?"
Skies growled in agreement and she cast a suspicious glance his way.
Did he just agree with her?
Jet slowly stirred as Kaiya tucked her gloves in the side of her pants so they hung out over her side-guard and opened the door.
She braced for a blast of cold air but the corridor was surprisingly warm.
Poking her head she slowly walked down the hallways and into the cafeteria where an even warmer blast of air welcomed her, mixed with fried chicken wings and protein shakes.

Fist bumping a few of the friendly guards, she picked up a drumstick and some fries, tearing into them as she realized how hungry she was.
The taste was divine and she went back for seconds as Jet chewed on leftover chop bones from some of the guards.
As she leaned back on her table and sipped her coffee listening to the friendly hubbub of the canteen room, the cafeteria doors swung open and Twist strode through with a gang of four girls following behind him.
The sight brought a snicker out of Kaiya as she recognised Nicole and Vinyl but not the others.
There were two that looked like twins. One with brown hair tipped with blue and one with black hair tipped with red, with colour matching clothes.
They were talking enthusiastically with Twist and Vinyl, who was constantly butting in.

Kaiya simply watched them as they casually grabbed some food and ate it, settling down at a table further away.
She hadn't seen Twist for two or three weeks and wasn't sure if they were still...well, she didn't like to think about it. Found it awkward.
"Maybe I should call it off, huh Jet?" She murmured, spinning her chicken bone between her fingers before throwing it at the bin and scoring.
Jet simply whined and stuck her head under her arm wanting a stroke on the head.
Kaiya obliged before checking Jet's eye and leg.
They seemed smaller and the light had paled.
She frowned, worry starting to grow, "I think you need a new leg and eye, hmm? Too much ghoul energy here….
Jet simply licked her face and wagged her tail so she went back to stalking….watching the group of five.
They seemed to be casually chatting amongst themselves, nothing new. Part of Kaiya wanted to walk over and announce she was back but Nicole would've probably told them anyway.

Her stalking was interrupted by the cafeteria doors swinging open with a loud BANG.
Nearly everyone in the room turned to watch as two pale-skinned creatures crowned with gnarled, wicked horns strode into the room, sharp red eyes glaring out from behind a fence of protruding fangs.
"Dark Bain.." Kaiya muttered, slowly reaching for the knife behind her back.
The friendly air had disappeared along with many conversations as the two creatures walked towards the food table and grabbed something unidentifiable before settling in the furthest away table.
The noise gradually came back but it wasn't as friendly as before,many guards leaving the room.
"What are Dark Bain doing back here?" She quietly asked Jet who was once again chewing on a bone.
She glanced over at Twists table but the group barely noticed the Foreigners were there, happily chatting away in their own little group.
Kaiya glanced back at the Dark Bain, who were busy talking together in hushed voices.
She seemed to be way out of alignment with what was going on around here.
Maybe she needed to see Blakk and ask him what the Hell was going on.
Quickly getting up, she released her knife and slid it back in her sheath, grabbing the gloves from her waist and sliding them on, checking the control board to see if Skies was up to anything.
The scrape from her chair sliding out brought Twists head up and his eyes lit up as he recognised her.
He sat up straight from the table and the others all flinched at the sudden movement and turned around to see what he was looking at. The two girls she didn't know had small looks of adoration on their faces
Kaiya could also see she had the Dark Bains attention; they were scowling at her with annoyance. They probably didn't want her here.
"Well Screw you." She muttered before making eye contact with Twist one more time before she strode out the door with an air of superiority as two other new slingers opened them, a black and purpled haired lady in violet and a brown haired man in blue with Blakks' logo over his chest. They looked related to the two new girls with Twist but Kaiya didn't care, she wanted to talk to Blakk immediately.
They both stared as she swept past with Jet in tow and from inside the cafeteria she heard the frantic scraping of chairs as Twist tried to catch up with her.

She rolled her eyes and continued to walk at a leisurely pace towards the buildings centerpiece: Blakks office.
Jet slowly limped beside her, having outgrown the mechanical leg, but still wagged her tail and smiled at her mistress.
"Good girl." Kaiya cooed as her ears picked up a hurried apology from Twist, probably apologizing to the two slingers she passed earlier on, along with a few other voices.
"Ah well, not my concern." She smiled to herself and turned a corner, relishing in Twists heavy footsteps chasing after her.
She quickly considered hiding but there was nothing she could hide in nearby, so she simply continued to walk until Twist skidded the corner and yelled her name.
"Kaiya!"
She stopped and turned around, her hands hanging by her sides until she crossed them infront of her chest.
"Hey." she answered coolly.
"Man, I haven't seen you in ages!" He grabbed her in a big hug, a beaming smile stretching from cheek to cheek, "Where ya been?"
"Places" She grinned as Twist squeezed her round the middle, "Mind letting go?"
Twist promptly dropped her and she landed on her feet quickly, absently rubbing her shoulder.

"Me and the Neons were heading out for a Slug-Hunt soon? Wanna come?" Kaiya raised an eyebrow to the familiar pleading look in his eyes, covered up by a confident yet nonchalant smirk.
She flicked her eyes behind him and onto the trio of girls that were waiting patiently behind him.
Nicole and the 'Neon' Twins.
One of them, the one in red, caught her glance and shyly raised a hand in hello while the one in blue just leaned against the wall in an attempt to look cool.

Kaiya held back the urge to scoff.
Amateurs. They know nothing.

Kaiya also caught Nicole as she flicked her eyes upwards from her workpad nervously before glancing back down, seemingly worried.
"I dunno, Twist," She twirled a piece of her hair around her finger, thinking, "I have a lot to catch up on here like news and business information, finding out about all the new employees and why the hell there are Dark Bain strolling round the place. And a few other personal things."
"I'll happily answer your questions when we are outside."
"Isn't it raining?"
"Not in this Cavern and we're going to a small cavern on the outskirts. The Aquabeek showers haven't hit there yet so we should be lucky."

Kaiya was about to reply when Nicole stepped in, swiping on her handy dandy workpad, "Look, I know you two haven't seen each other in awhile because Kaiyas been off doing...stuff for the past three weeks but if you want to make it to the cavern on time I suggest you go now or you will be utterly soaked by the time you're done." She directed most of the conversation to Twist, almost as if she didn't want to face Kaiya front on.
Twist nodded in agreement and motioned towards the Mecha bay, after the Neons, "You coming?"
Kaiya cocked her head and sighed, "I was hoping for a bit more of a rest but I guess I can come… But I'll need to adjust Jets leg quickly. it's too small and she'd be better off if she had four legs the same length"
Twist gave her a light punch on the shoulder, "That's my girl." before he jogged off after the Twins.

Kaiya simply stood in the hallway watching him leave. A shiver of uncertainty ran up her spine and she wrapped her arms around her, turning and walking to her room under Nicoles questioning eye.
Something just didn't sit well with her and Twist. It was nice to have him around but still….
She shook her head to clear her thoughts and continued to her room, where her clean jacket was waiting patiently for her along with a blowtorch and other tools.

"So, that is the 'Kaiya Skye" you were always talking about?" Aqua asked as she conducted a quick maintenance check over her mecha beast, her blue-tipped hair adding a azure shine to the polished metal. She appeared to be the humanized version of Slug Energy , and if she was Slug Energy, than her twin sister embodied Dark Water.
"Yeah," Twist laughed, loading up his blaster, "A strange one don't ya think? Rough on the outside and chewy on the inside"
"Chewy?" Came a laugh from behind him as Ruby, the other twin loaded her belt with her ghouls, "Why'd you call her 'Chewy'?"
"Because she is. She's not soft or smooth on the inside, she's needs some..work before she loosens up. Like cold toffee. So 'Chewy' fitted."
Ruby had an astonished look on her face as she flicked black and glowing red strands of hair out of her face, "Toffee isn't like that, it's-"
Aqua stood up straight and growled, "Are you two done? We need to go if we want to stay dry," She whistled and her normal slugs hopped over happily, settling themselves inside the blue and silver tubes, "And Twist, brother, where is your 'girlfriend'? Doesn't she have the fastest mecha beast? She should be here by now!"
"I am here." Came the cool reply as Kaiya lounged back on her majestic robot.
Aqua whirled around, a mix of a scowl and a surprise on her face as she took in the sight, "How'd you get here? I didn't even hear you!"
Kaiya silently relished the opportunity to answer a question about Skies but remained collected on the outside, "I designed Skies to be stealthy. Silent footfalls are obviously ethical."
Aqua simply raised an eyebrow but mounted her mecha and slowly headed out, Twist in tow.
Ruby, however, silently admired Kaiyas veteran status, easily gleaned from the conversations between guards. And the media, but they often softened the details, not to happy to give credit ,that most serial killers would earn, to a teenager.
Kaiya turned away, Jet skillfully balancing on the back of Skies with a lengthened bionic leg as the group of four headed outside, towards the many caverns of Slugterra.

The roar from the mechas, as the raced up the steep rocky slope, wasn't loud enough to hide the increasing volume of fat water droplets hitting many cavern rocks.
Twist stopped at the Devils Gate edge, the outcrop at the end of Blakks cavern, the two Twins braking behind him.
Kaiya slowly eased Skies to a stop, to preoccupied by a flashing light on his map to notice the spectacular view infront of her.
"Ugh, now what?" She moaned quietly as a red triangle flashed on the screen. It was nearby too, like, really close. Red Triangles meant a body of importance, nothing dangerous. That was Red Circles. the more rings, the higher the danger. Although hardly any showed up as more than three; they were rated by Skies on the how much of a problem they would be,which normally meant if they could beat him, they were a major threat but that didn't happen at all.
"Kaiya."
Swiping the screen she dismissed it and looked up at Twist, who had called her name.
About to ask what she finally caught the view that had been in front of her the whole time.
"My god…" She breathed.

The land of Slugterra swept out from under the outcrop as a vibrant multitude of greens and blues, like an emerald quilt patched with yellow, red and ochre clay, rich, dark brown and chocolate soil, rivers, lakes and ponds of blue and aquamarine all stitched together with meticulously placed beads of milky white houses.
Turquoise underground lakes glittered like liquid crystal and rainbow mecha beasts were tiny dots slowly dashing across landscapes, under glowing button-like mushroom trees to over ribbons of blue rivers or violet and indigo canyons. Kaiya had learnt that most Slugterra canyons weren't black, they were dark purple or blue.
The colour black had only appeared when the first of the Blakk family had arrived and made their unwelcome presence known.
A warm glow emanated from the home of LavaLynxs and Forgesmelters: Scorched Sparks Cavern, warming the west, the roiling lava faintly visible through the small cavern entrance, laced with black stalagmites and stalactites; the orange and soot grey contrasted by the glistening ice spikes protruding from the huge mouth of the frozen Caverns to the East, the colour palette a mix of ash grey and lightened aquamarine and turquoise with flares and streaks of deep navy; the frozen wastelands home to FrostCrawlers, Slyrens and Ice Ogres.
Directly infront of the group, to the North of Slugterra was what was known as 'The Ant Burrow'.
Five smaller Cavern entrances all with vibrant green foliage spilling out, leading off towards multiple other Caverns. To the untrained eye, all entrances appeared the same but if you looked closely enough, you would see the tiny mushrooms and slight glow the first left-hand tunnel gives off; the way to the nocturnal and fungi caves, for Enigmo slugs, Phosophoros, Jellyish, FrightGeists, Flatolurhinkus andNegashades.
The next entrance had thick vines drooping down, a clear indicator of the heavy bush and forest caves, perfect for finding tropical slugs such as Flaringos, Boon Docs, Hoverbugs, Bubbleoanes, Tazerlings, Arachnets, Vinedrills and Threshers. Deeper into the cavern though, you can find a small hidden entrance leading to the Alpino Cavern, famous for its dizzying mountaintops. A Thugglets and Slicksilvers favourite place.
The middle entrance is the entrance to the centre of Slugterra, Bulls Eye Cavern. Red and Blue flowers adorned the entrance on a cushion of soft green moss. This was the best cavern for Fandangos,Laraits but you could find X-Mitters in the cities that dotted the expanse.
The tunnel to the right was the entrance to the Swamplands and Aquatic Caverns where Aquabeeks, Hexlets, Makobreakers, Neotox, Poleros and HypnoGriffs chill. This entrance has a bizarre range of swamp plants ranging from reeds, slug-eating plants and mosses that ooze slime in an array of colours.

And the last tunnel ringed with straggly plains and desert plants, leads to the Canyons and DryLands, with a healthy assortment of sulphur and other raw mineral pits, vertigo inducing canyons and unstable land formations, not to forget the soaring heat night and day thanks to its next door neighbour, Scorched Sparks. Loads of Earth slugs too such as Armashelts, Geoshards, Grenukes, Rammstones, Hop Rocks, Speedstingers, Dirt Urchins, Diggrix, Tormatoes, Sand Angler, Blastipede, Gazzers and Slicksilvers. Also the best places for mining out ores and practicing out Skies full-throttle sprint.
And behind the group, was the home of Ghouls, Dark Bain and Dark Water. Blakk Cavern.
From the Ants Burrow any living creature could navigate towards any cavern of their choosing.

But that was what the normal view from Devils Gate. The rain shower had changed it completely.
Mist and sleet shrouded the five centre entrances, steam billowed from the forges of Scorched Sparks and there was a merciless blizzard raging outside of the Frozen East.
Kaiya glanced down infront of Skies. There was a thin, uneven line of damp grey rock, like a five year old had drawn a boundary line with water.
It may have been uneven but it had great significance.
Glancing back, Kaiya realized that Blakks Cavern had never had rain. The rocks were dry and dusty, edges sharp and jagged from breaking, not smooth or rounded from water. The ground was always dusty and no plant life existed. Green smog and smoke hung low over the bleak buildings, obscuring the red glowing lights of the Citadel.
And it'll stay that way without any rain….Hell, it'll probably get thicker.
"Come On!" Twist yelled, swinging an arm towards the Ants Burrow as he streaked off into the rain.
The Twins followed behind, whooping in exhilaration but Kaiya paused, an ache in ehr heart blocking the outside world.
Skies purred comfortingly, the sounds seeping into her ears and her brain.
She shook head and wiped back tears from an unknown pain before revving Skies forward and easily overtaking the other three.
"Race Ya!" She yelled as excitement filled her heart and mind, the slashing sleet and rain, the soft damp mist wetting her jacket and cheeks.
Oh she had missed the rain so MUCH!

"Looks like the East is out of bounds!" Twist yelled out over the pounding rain as his hyena loped forward.
"Let's head to Bulls Eye! We can get some Fandangoes!" Ruby yelled back, her hands gripping her mecha beast tightly.
"Sure!"
The squad slowly angled their mechas towards the middle entrance, mindful of the slippery ground.
The rain streaked off Kaiyas leather jacket as she pulled into the lead and dashed through the tunnel entrance, the speed of the wind that trailed behind her ripping the blue and red flowers from their stems and leaving them trampled underfoot like discarded tissues.

Jet snapped a couple of plants in her mouth as they sped underneath the hanging moss, whooping aloud as the entered into the bright cavern; one of the last caverns to be hit with the rain showers.
"Let's cause a bit of trouble." Kaiya grinned as she spotted townspeople busy preparing: patching up roofs, waterproofing sheds, checking their mechas and garden and stocking up.
The others all nodded before slinging their slugs into the air and racing down the slope.
The slugs exploded with huge booms and instantly gained the inhabitants attention, their faces becoming masks of horror.
A few of the slingers that did live in the cavern, quickly snarled and drew out blasters, loading and firing instantaneously.
Twist and the Neons retaliated with huge Grimmstones and Hop Jacks and Aquas Rammstone.

Kaiya watched everything from the tunnel entrance with gleeful eyes and grin, the chaos delightfully amusing her.
"Ooh, I have missed this! the feeling of utter POWER! No-one can stop me!"
Skies growled in agreement as he changed his power input to slug energy red lights slowly fading to blue.
Jet just gave her an unimpressed look that clearly said, "You know you aren't doing anything."
Kaiya just laughed and shrugged and went back to watching Twist and the Neons slowly annihilate the protecting slingers with a barrage of accelerated ghouls and slugs.
Any slug that came too close to the slinging trio was instantly collected into the slug containers Twist had brought with him.
"Doesn't look like I'll have to do anything." Kaiya said as she leaned over on Skies and rested her cheek on her palm.

And like all cliches, she spoke too soon. Out of nowhere a blinding yellow slug flew towards the trio pulling a huge wall of water behind it.

Twist yelled out in alarm as the water crashed down on the three, sweeping their mecha beasts out from under them.
Kaiya watched in alarm, a tiny bit happy that she now had something to do.
With her glasses, she zoomed in on the slug circling overhead. It resembled a bird, a golden phoneix with a green tipped headdress. Purple eyes scoured the roiling mass of water as three different gems on it's forehead glowed, matching the colours of its tail; green, red and blue.
A purple gem dangled down from its chest and with a massive sweep of its wings, the water disappeared, revealing three saturated teens, gasping for air.
Ruby was trying to push her sisters mecha off her leg and Aqua was holding her shoulder, her face scrunched up in pain.
Twist managed to push himself up onto his elbows only to have a blaster stuck into his face as the slug returned to protoform and landed easily on a girls shoulder.
Once again, Kaiya zoomed in for details. Brown hair, turquoise top and ripped red scarf and a confident grin.
But it wasn't the girl that drew Kaiyas attention. It was her mecha.
Grotesque and twisted it closely resembled a wolf that had been run over multiple times.
She narrowed her eyes as she recognised the red ghoul energy powering the thing.
Spikes protruded from where ever possible and its teeth jutted out.
"Oh no you don't." She hissed. This was competition. Mecha beast competition.
Slowly easing Skies back into the shadows she continued to watch, using Black Skies mouth to amplify the radiowaves for her microphone.

"Thought you'd barge in here and mess the place up huh?" The newcomer was talking to Twist, "Screw up all these good people that are minding their own business? I should slug you right here and now."
Twist simply glared at her, wiping mud off his cheek as a small crowd gathered.
"You're lucky I'm not a murderer. " The girls hissed before smashing the blaster across twists temple.
He slumped down in the mud, not moving.
Ruby and Aqua gasped before Aqua broke out into a cursing fit and struggled to her feet, drawing her blaster and loading a slug into it.
The girl simply replied by mounting her mecha, which sprang to life infront of Aqua with a thunderous roar.
"Cur! Get down here and face me like a real slinger!" Aqua shouted through her rage.
The girl just laughed as her red scarf trailed behind her, "Why should I? I just happen to have the best mecha beast here so why not use it?"
That last comment was to Kaiya the same as poking a stick at a rattlesnake. It pissed her off and was a perfect reason to retaliate.
Aqua held her ground, Kaiya admired her for that, but her face quickly turned to horror as she raised her blaster towards the beast.
The girl simply charged her mecha beast straight forward, spikes and teeth bared for maximum injury.
Kaiya instantly sprang into action: Ghoul Energy Switch, Teeth sharpened, claws extended, armour fully shielded.
She grabbed a lever, pulling with all her strength to power up Skies; the screeching whine reaching earpiercing heights as Skies became wilder and completely full of energy.

GRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRR!

The deafening roar that tore out of the dragons throat drowned out all noise from the thunder of distant rain to the roar from the wolf mecha. Time stopped as the roar slammed into peoples ears and all heads turned towards the outcrop and the raging demons that were sprinting towards them.
Kaiya laughed maniacally as the crowd scattered in fear, screams reaching her ears as they took one sight of the huge, fully armoured, black and red, enraged dragon that struck fear into hearts far and wide and ran for their lives.
The rider of the wolf mecha applied a small amount of brakes as her brain registered the behemoth speeding towards her, allowing Aqua a few seconds to scramble backwards just as the wolfs muzzle snapped at the empty space her head had been a breath ago.
It would've kept going had Kaiya not slammed the spiked tusks of her dragon into the mechas side, lifting it clear of any ground like a doll.
Time slowed down as Aquas wide eyes caught the glint of light from the metal jaws snapping millimetres from her face, the shockwave that travelled through the steel body of the wolf, the spray of metal cut loose by giant tusks and the crazy grin on Kaiyas face as she watched in delight as her mecha tore two gaping holes through the mainframe of her opponents mecha.
Her ears caught the tiny whirrs as Skies neck stabilized the change in weight as he lifted the metal dog up, the crunch from the punctures and the scream that came from the wolfs rider.

With a tug on a lever, Kaiya sent the beast sky high. Bits of split metal trailed after the mecha as it arced in the sky before slamming down in a cloud of dust.
The rider had already fallen off and was scrambling to her feet, eyes wide with fear and blaster held in shaky hands.
An expert tug on the handles and Skies buried his teeth into the wolfs neck as it struggled to gain its feet. While the girl was busy reloading her blaster with trembling hands, Skies swept the mecha beast towards her, causing her to jump up and over the skidding lump of metal.
She dived to the side in a tuck and roll manouvour.
Kaiya glanced down on the screen of Skies; the rear camera showing Twist was up and helping Ruby wiggle out from under the mecha while Aqua tried to calm herself.
Knowing that her comrades were safe let Kaiya focus on the task at hand, ducking in time to avoid a Rammstone.
Her opponent had managed to gain her courage again and was firing slugs at her.
Kaiya quickly set Skies to deflect all slugs aimed for her before charging him forward again and sweeping her opponent off her feet with a heavy thwack from Skies whip-like tail.
"Ah!" Her opponent cried as she got knocked off her feet again.
Kaiya instantly vaulted down and strode over to her downed enemy before slamming her heel into the girls wrist as she tried to pick up her blaster.
The girls bit her lip in an effort to not show pain and grabbed her wrist in her other hand.
"You're new." Kaiya asked, "What's your name?"
The girl simply glared up at Kaiya as she leaned over and moved her heel onto the girls chest..
Kaiya straightened up stretching her arms, "Thought you might stay silent. They all do. But, hey, if you want me to remember you as a little girl struggling in the mud as I slice your throat, well, I'm fine with that."
Kaiya slowly slipped out her knife, the electric glow illuminating her captives face.
"Last chance." She grinned, testing the knife point with her finger, sucking it after a drop of blood appeared.
The girl glanced both ways before answering, "Elyssa. Elyssa Attack"
Kaiya smiled, "Nice first name. Stupid last name though, who calls themsel-"
A hug metal body slammed her aside and out into the dirt, her knife flying from her grasp to a resting place stuck deep in a tree trunk.
Rolling onto her back, Kaiya regained her breath for a moment before a metal paw slammed down on her chest, sending all the breath pouring out.
Looking up she recognized the wolf mechas head, steam issuing from its nostrils and the red eyes illuminating the faint mist around it's head.
She tried to wriggle out from under but a paw with sharp claws dug into her calf, trapping her.

A scraping next to her and she watched as Elyssa stood up and shook herself off, "Not so tough now? I'm lucky my mecha is voice activated, yours is too busy standing wherever."
Kaiya glanced over at Skies; or where he had been.
As fat rain droplets began to fall, she managed to look Elyssa in the eye, "I'd really hate to be you right now."
Confusion was the last emotion Kaiya saw register on Elyssas face as she slowly turned around only to be swept aside by a lighting-quick huge clawed paw. What happened next was immediate.
One second the wolf mecha was standing above Kaiya, glowering down at her: the next second it had disappeared completely. In its place; two smouldering red eyes and a black head half obscured by the heavy downfall that had just started.
'I. Am. King'

The three words echoed throughout the Cavern, only decipherable by those closest to the King of Mecha Beasts.
Elyssa and Kaiya would be the only two to remember those words and only Kaiya could believe that they were spoken for real.
Pushing herself up into a sitting position, she allowed the rain to plaster her hair to her forehead and cool down the hot pain in her calf.
Skies leaned over and nudged her in the stomach as the wolf mecha crashed down on a pile of nearby rocks, the crash echoing around the cavern like thunder.
Wrapping her arms around Skies muzzle she laughed out loud.
Helping her stand, Skies carefully guided her towards the main centerpiece of Bulls Eye Cavern.
The metal BullsEye.
Kaiya was curious why Skies had led her here and she glanced back to see if the others had followed. But the heavy rain was like a curtain, obscuring everything into vertical static.
"Skies? What's up?" Kaiya asked her fellow robot.
Skies simply glanced at her and Kaiya flinched.
His eye had a target-shaped pupil that had moved on its own accord.
"Skies?" Uncertainty threaded through her voice as the rain continued falling, soaking her to the skin and leaving Skies armour glistening. At least it washed the mud off.
Kaiya trusted Skies with her life, trusted him more than anyone she had ever known except Jet.
So when he lifted his claws and slashed diagonally through the Bulls Eye; she didn't stop him.
She didn't stop him as he yanked the centre disk out with his teeth.
She didn't stop him when he placed it on the ground and carefully manouvered his claws to slice it in half.
And she didn't stop him when he gingerly picked up the glowing blue disk in his teeth and offered it to her. The moment he touched the disk his lights flashed brilliant cerulean, a beacon in the rain.
"An Energy Disk." She breathed, carefully turning it over in her hands, admiring the smoothness.
It was the same shape as a river pebble or discus and fitted into her hand perfectly.
And just like the other one, when she touched it she felt like her insides had been cleaned: she could breathe clearly, her vision and hearing sharpened, her leg didn't ache anymore and all the dull pain over her body had stopped.
"Kaiya?" A voice called out from close behind her. She jumped and stuffed the disk in her pocket, whirling around to face a soaked blonde.
Twist was standing in the rain, completely soaked with dried blood on the side of his head and a sorry grin on his face.
"You kicked total ass."
That one statement along with the image infront of her caused her to burst out in laughter, doubling over in a fit.
Twist chuckled along as the Neon Twins arrived on their mechas. Both were dirty and soaked, hair glowing faintly.
Mounting Skies, she wiped the water out of her face, "Come on. Let's go home."
Twist nodded and followed the trio as they walked towards his mecha. They had gathered enough slugs to make a decent appearance and the earlier tsunami hadn't let them escape.
Jet had also helped, returning every now and then with a slug in her mouth ready to be put into the container.

Kaiya smiled at the sight of Jet pouncing after scurrying Fandangoes and looking up triumphantly when she had caught one before depositing her prize in a slug tube.

Twist got off and lifted the slug containers up onto the back of his mecha that Skies had righted while Kaiya scanned the area for the girl who called herself Elyssa.
After finding nothing, except the scattered pieces of metal lying around the place and the scratches on the rocks from the mecha beast, she simply stroked the disk in her pocket and let her mind wander as the group started off, Skies automatically following after them in the rain without any control.

'Change.'