Unit 5a23 seemed wholly unencumbered by the stinging pain of the green cloud that surrounded and poisoned both Kahli and Omar with what seemed to be impossibly heavy gravity and weak limbs. Indeed, it was all Kahli could do at this moment to keep herself suspended in the air with her rock and her big left foor, and even that was slipping, and much the same could be said for Omar and his puttering flame blowing out of his posterior. And yet, Unit 5a23 looked like he was finally ready to do something other than hovering and meditating.
"You have endangered not only countless innocent lives, but, worst of all-"
Kahli rolled her eyes. Unit 5a23 was a bit of a blowhard of a robot, she was noticing.
"Worst of all, you have threatened my life. And, because of that, I am going to, as they say here in Nomachiato, kick your shit in and fuck that shit up!"
"Wow, how eloquent and refined," giggled a booming, deep voice from within a nearly opaque cloud of green malaise. "I'd like to see you try!"
"Very well, then I will. I will try, and try again, and I will succeed!" proclaimed Unit 5a23.
"Oh, will you now?" the voice boomed with another giggle. This time, the laughter almost slid into a cackle. Almost, but not quite. And then emerged the figure.
It was what Lloyd had become. He was five times his normal size, and a sickly greenish purple. His eyes had grown and elongated to the point where they looked like enormous, sinister caterpillars that were as wide as the height of three story buildings. Both his hands were of the huge, purple, and claw-like variety. His mouth was one enormous row of thin, needly teeth that grinned in a zig-zagging pattern that was lit by his mouth and tongue, both of which were a shade of yellow that could best be described as mold-adjacent, it was truly disgusting to behold.
"Oh, EW." Kahli gagged.
Froufrou squelched in agreeance, with absolutely no sense of irony about the whole situation.
"Once again," said the massive, gross alien, "I'd like to see you try, you spindly little robot."
Unit 5a23 shot up towards the beast and raised his arm cannon up high. "I've been charging this up the entire time I've been meditating."
Kahli suddenly gasped. Had she been misjudging the robot this whole time? She'd been so certain that he was a bit of a self-centered cad, but if he'd been using the time to charge up what she knew by looking at his system was a massively powerful blasting attack, it wasn't really that much of a selfish choice, after all. In fact, this might just save all of them!
Lloyd just sat there, hovering in the air, with his awful grin. Unit 5a23 wasn't intimidated, and let loose a furious blast of blue energy that grew bigger and stronger with each passing moment. And indeed, the torrent of power became louder and wider and bigger, and it seemed almost to become for a second more like a powerful wave on top of an endless sea of power, and it battered and lit up Lloyd's dreadful form as it engulfed him.
And then, slowly at first, and then all at once, that terrible green cloud that enveloped everyone retreated, and faded, and soon enough it had dissipated completely.
Unit 5a23 sighed with relief and lowered his smoking canon.
"Nice going, Unit 5a23!" said Kahli.
"Yea, no kidding, Mister Robot," said Omar as his butt-flame reignited with all the power of someone who'd just downed five bean burritos and a bottle of tequila. "Now, let's not celebrate too fucking hard yet, though. I don't think this shitheaded alien is through with us just yet."
"My thoughts exactly," replied Unit 5a23.
And indeed, Kahli watched as the smoke cleared fully and Lloyd stood there. He was back to his normal shape, but he looked absolutely pleased as punch, and was glowing a strange, powerful-looking aqua.
"Well done, well done," said Lloyd with a cackle. He clapped slowly a few times. "Goes to show you that a pacifistic robot can sometimes be better than two fight hungry taumans! And yet, I'm still going to destroy you all! Bwa HAH HAH HAAAAAHH hah hah!"
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Kahli rolled her eyes. She hated how this alien's voice sounded when he cackled like that. It was like a chicken was being strangled and crying out all the while. Did she really just have to stay here, hovering in the air, and take it?
Well, no. She didn't necessarily. AFter all, Kahli knew she could land some killer groin punches on Lloyd that would lock in into a bit of a recovery phase where she could just keep spamming him with the attack, if she timed it just right. Then again, that had only worked so well when he hadn't known she could do that - would such a maneuver work as well the second time around?
"Look, you all look pretty tired and haggard, so I'm going to level with you. Or, well, no I'm not. I'm nowhere near leveling up, mind you. That being said, what I will do is level another building." He looked over and found an unmistakably governmental building in the distance bearing Gifflenberg flags and, indeed, the seal of Gifflenberg. Then, he giggle and pointed a finger a the building. A small green point of light tapped it, and then it exploded brilliantly in one big bang. "Oh, gods, I love doing that. Now that that's sorted, well, I think I'll leave you lot alone for a bit."
"Leave us alone?" Omar spat with disgust. "But I'm going to fucking destroy you."
"I'm sure you will. Only, sorry about this, but maybe you... won't?"
"What?"
Lloyd shot a beam of ice from his open palm that wrapped around and enclosed Omar's right arm. His flaming blade became but steam and air.
"AAAGH! The cold! It burns!" cried Omar, shaking his arm. "This feels like I'm getting dunked in a boiling pot of acid!"
"Oh, don't cry too hard," said Lloyd with a sigh. "That ice will melt in its own time. That being said, it should serve as enough to keep you from attacking me and prolonging my stay here. As for you, Kahli, I'll trust you to leave me be as I can see that, while you are powerful, your inexperience with systems makes you extremely vulnerable. Plus, you wouldn't want me to miss my aim and accidentally hit your little pet, now would you? You know, that awful little thing you're [paired] to that you keep saying is the Harbinger of Doom?"
Kahli felt a bitter anger. Lloyd was just treating her like a joke! And yet, she did not attack. If Lloyd was going to leave, maybe it was for the best, and not having Omar to help fight was a serious blow. Just because Kahli had been able to subdue the vile extraterrestrial man once, did not mean she was certain to be able to again.
"And of course, the robot over here won't even do anything if I don't attack him, will he?"
"Of course not," replied Unit 5a23. He crossed his arms and held his robo-nose, which was more just a small nub that, on closer inspection, looked also like an actual button. "I made a vow of peace."
"A vow of peace?" Kahli sighed and shook her head. "Great Theseosus! To who?"
Unit 5a23 shrugged, indicating he did not have the memory of who or what it was that he'd made a vow of peace to. Of course that was the case.
"Look," Lloyd sighed, "I know you're all tired, and honestly, you're boring me a little bit. I just crashed into this planet after riding on a meteor for a while, and this has just been a fiasco - I've transformed, I've self destructed, every one of us has fought - It just seems like a rough welcome to Nomachiato. And yes, of course it was always going to be a rough first day, what with me deciding to come here with the express purpose of destroying your home planet, but-"
Kahli wasn't going to listen to another word of this alien's bullshit. She kicked her big rock up in the air, and watched it zoom towards her as she tumbled through the sky. Then, she balled her hand into a fist with determination. Finally, the rock zoomed up to her and slammed into her big left foot, sending Kahli up into the air at a breakneck speed that zoomed her closer and closer to Lloyd. Her fist, predictably, was set ablaze.
"Oh my gods, this again!" Lloyd laughed.
But Kahli wasn't giving up! She was going to zoom right on up there and kick his ass, and punch him right in the-
"Nuts, looks like you can't do anything, can you?" Lloyd asked as a purple force field suddenly surrounded him.
As Kahli's fist slammed into the field, a searing pain shot up through her arm and locked her in place. She was suddenly stuck, caught in the field as if it were a net!
"It was a nice try, Kahli, but a waste of your energy," said Lloyd with a laugh. "I'm prepared, now. Remember, I've leveled up. And see, when I level up, I make sure I account for a lot of things. So I'm well prepared to fight you at your best, which is, from what I can tell, honestly not a lot. You've got an awful long way to go before you can take someone on with my [skills] and powers. But, I must admit, I admire your gumption. So, if you will, I'd like to extend to you an invitation."
Kahli was confused. She scrunched up some of the plaster on her face. Invitation?
"I'd like you to, once again, consider joining me," Lloyd said with a smile. "Whether or not the beast you're paired with is a harbinger of anything at all, isn't really my concern. I see potential in you, potential I'd like to tap into. But we'd have to do it as a team."
Kahli felt sick to her stomach.
"So, I'm offering you a chance, and a choice. Join me now, and we can destroy this world together. It will be, I cannot deny, absolutely glorious."
Kahli swallowed air, unsure of what to say.
"Or, conversely, you can wait. I'll give you five days to think everything over." Lloyd cackled wickedly. He had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down before continuing. "And when those five days are up, I'll destroy this world whether you're with me or not, whether you're here on this planet or not. So, if you're not sure, just think about it. Just know that your time to decide is limited, as is the lifespan of this world, to a maximum of five days."
Kahli felt very uncomfortable. What in the name of Theseosus was she to do?
"Well?" Lloyd smiled. "What's your decision? How would you like to proceed, Kahli?"