Perhaps the Disco Menace was not such a menace after all; she held a bundled up child close to her chest. Electricity swelled around them both as she emptied the last of her mana into a [Charged Dash] and blew past eX-0704.
Her voice trailed after her. "Consider yourselves lucky that I'm not killing you!"
That was the end of that, or so eX-0704 would have liked to believe.
Rather, eX-0281 jumped to action by leaping onto the side of the research and development tower. "Follow her, 704."
Why me? When he glanced up to the girl fifty feet overhead, about to get shot, he determined that he might just have the easier task to rein in the Disco Menace.
Earlier today in front of Reactor Central, she had used his horns like a springboard.
Missed me, missed me, now you have to kiss me! Her jeer echoed around in his mind for whatever reason.
Toodles! had been her parting words.
eX-0704 wondered what had taken the pep out of her voice. The Disco Menace seemed more hostile and serious for the second encounter. If she had killed twenty-seven soldiers when she was in a good mood, he did not want to face her in a bad one.
A shudder ran up his spine, but eX-0704 was inclined to stick to eX-0281's plan.
Turning heel, he launched himself into an explosive run with his wings. His visor drew a red box around the woman—[Lock On].
Target: "Disco Menace" [Human]
Vitality: 72%
Mana Reserves: 0 Mu
Without her having any mana left, he would overtake her easily. eX-0704 leaned further into his sprint, swinging himself around the corner.
Down the street, the Disco Menace struck open a door to a random building with her boot. Some shocked cries came from within, but that did not stop her from plowing through the people who were just trying to leave.
"Make way!" eX-0704 called ahead of his arrival. "GPC Security coming through!" His claws screeched against the pavement as he skidded in front of the building.
The elderly couple clung to each other, away from the doorway. All other customers of the restaurant had been disturbed, screaming as the terror from the evening news sprinted across the room.
The Disco Menace vaulted across tables and knocked over glasses and plates as she went. Two young women screeched, their hands in the air as she interrupted their pleasant dinner.
eX-0704 attempted to follow her same path but crashed through the first table with a crack of wood. The women had loss their food and drink, and now he had busted through their table.
Though it hardly hindered him, he wanted to cross the restaurant faster. At full speed, he attempted to leap over the next pieces of furniture.
At the same time, the Disco Menace threw a chair backwards with a sweep of her arm.
The airborne chair cracked into his face. eX-0704 slowed down substantially and stumbled as he tried to keep up his run when he landed.
Who the heck throws a chair into the air? That was what he wanted to know.
The Disco Menace headed for the stairs and took them three at a time with her long legs. Without even bothering with the corner in the stairs, she leaped onto the railing and bounded onto the next section of the stairwell.
Once more, he copied her except he performed the moves more efficiently. eX-0704 did a [Double Jump] and landed higher up the stairs. As he resumed his run, he would be right on the Disco Menace's tail—if she had one.
Her shoulder leveled into a metal door which flung open with a bang. Now on the second-story balcony, she had nowhere to go as she slowed near the ledge. A gentle breath puffed past her lips, hardly tired from the chase.
"Give up," eX-0704 said, stern per his usual tone on-duty. "You don't have any mana left." With a wince, he realized that he should portray himself in a more friendly light like eX-0281 had done. "I'm here to help."
"Oh, I'm sure you are… here to help GPC stick it to my ass!"
eX-0704 tapped some claws to his helmet, confused. Are there anal probes in the R&D tower?
"I don't need mana to turn you into salamander salami." She raised her rapier with one arm fully extended, her body turned away with the child in the other arm.
Regardless, he drew his gun from his back and leveled the muzzle at her dazzling mask. "I don't think so. You're not in a position to argue. Seriously, I'm here to help!"
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His words might sound more believable if he lowered his gun, so eX-0704 loosened his stance and tried to explain. "My friend is saving Lottie as we speak."
The Disco Menace disregarded him as if he never even said anything. "You have orders to get the kid back alive, so let me just put him down gently."
eX-0704 could not disagree with that; if the Disco Menace felt so compelled to grapple with him, then he would rather restrain her without risking injury to the already frail child.
Concerned for his well-being, he examined the latest [Scan] of the boy.
Target: ??? [Human]
Vitality: 17%
Mana Reserves: 10 Mu
Element: Thunder
During the course of their chase, the boy had regained 7 Mu. How…? eX-0704 did not understand how a child so young could have quick mana regeneration like that.
The Disco Menace set him down carefully, the blanket still wrapped around his shoulders.
The boy tottered on his sickly legs, sticking close to the Disco Menace's side. A few shaky steps brought him away from her and closer to him. "If you want to help…" the boy started to say.
Enthralled, eX-0704 leaned closer. Never, had his eyes felt so wide in his head. His heart nearly burst from wholesomeness right there.
The kid needs help. And eX-0704 could help him!
Carefully, he reached the back of his clawed hand out to him. The small, weary fingers of the boy wrapped around his middle-most claw and slid upward. The skin of the human felt warm against his scales, so much life left in this young boy.
eX-0704 was positively enchanted by a child actually approaching him. Usually when he interacted with the public, children shied away or cried in the presence of sub-dragon soldiers. For the ones who thought their horns and wings looked cool, their parents would usher them away and whisper in disdain.
"If you want to h-help," the boy's weak voice began again, "leave us alone."
Electrical energy contorted around the boy, leaping in every direction in a [Discharge].
eX-0704's body jittered with the power coursing through him. The zap was too weak to hurt him physically—the 10 Mu dampened by his elemental resistance—but it wounded him psychologically.
The precious child had just attacked him, and that left him stunned more so than the electric shock.
In tandem with the kid, the Disco Menace bounded forth with a hand over his shoulder. She did not bother with her rapier—not enough force behind it to penetrate his armor without mana. Instead, she pushed him forward while her leg stuck out to trip him.
eX-0704 found himself stumbling closer to the ledge. Another hard shove from behind sent him careening into open air. "Ah!" he hollered from surprise.
As he tumbled around and plummeted, he tried to stay focused on the Disco Menace, but alas, there was no [Lock On] box in which to train his eyes.
The [Discharge] had overwhelmed the circuits of the helm. Thankfully, it was not on the same wavelength as an [EMP]. The power surge had only caused a shutdown of the device.
On
eX-0704 thought the command, and the welcome screen was forgoed since the system sensed the battle.
The red corners of the box closed in around the Disco Menace once more. She scooped the boy back into her arms, blanket and all. Like a gazelle, she bounded onto another rooftop and resumed her sprint.
eX-0704 flung open his wings. Like a parachute deployed too late, it did little to soften his fall. His claws cracked onto the concrete. On all fours, his tail swished around as he regained his balance.
A singular bound on his hands thereby pushed him into a two-legged sprint, wings beating. He moved faster than the cars around him. eX-0704 had the narrow sidewalk for himself as citizens jumped to the side.
Just now, eX-0704 realized that the communication channel with eX-0281 had been reconnected. His friend's voice sounded panic as he begged, "Do you copy? Please come in if you can hear me."
"Oh, 281, sorry! My helmet got shut off briefly."
The Disco Menace took a path away from the road in her attempt to shake him.
eX-0704 hauled himself up the side of the building. The climb had rendered him farther behind, much to his dismay. Between his gasping breaths, he said, "Still in pursuit of the Disco Menace!"
Embarrassment then washed over him at eX-0281's reactionary disbelief. "You haven't caught her yet?"
Lips drawn tight, he narrowed his eyes at the red box floating about his vision where the Disco Menace was shielded by another building. eX-0704 focused on running and got her back in unobstructed view.
"Can you memorize my coordinates? Lottie is safe, but we're trapped at the top of the air return vent."
eX-0704 chuffed in disbelief. How exactly did they end up at the top of an air return vent?
"Meet up with us on the outside and bust us out," eX-0281 commanded.
Save location for Member: eX-0281?
Yes / No
eX-0704 went through the motions and confirmed, "Coordinates saved—"
"No, I said memorize."
eX-0281 said that as if he expected eX-0704 to operate as his own system. Not only would he have to remember the latitude and longitude coordinates, but he would also have to navigate to the spot on his own.
"Lottie thinks the GPC will track our data output. They know you're following the Disco Menace. You need to shut off your helmet."
"Alright." It did not seem like they had any way around it, so he agreed. "I'll grab the Disco Menace, and we'll meet up with you on the outside!" With any luck, having the Disco Menace as an ally would start to pay off immediately because eX-0704 might need her help to find eX-0281.
Newly motivated to catch her, he pounded his wings harder.
Before powering down his helmet, eX-0704 had the bright idea to overwrite eX-0281's location with some bogus coordinates. He had seen the numbers for their region, the Central Sector, often enough to stick some into the system.
Though he doubted that would fool the company, he felt good trying to do his part to protect eX-0281.
From there, he said goodbye to the real-time battle assistant.
Are you sure you would like to shut down?
Yes / No
In return, eX-0704 did not get a goodbye message after confirmation due to the battle mode engaged.
He already missed the red box that had previously enwrapped his target. Instead, he needed to rely entirely on his own eyes, his own brain to catch the Disco Menace.
The chase went on until blue sparks started up around her. Without his visor, eX-0704 could not see the updated value for her mana reserves. Nor did he need a numerical value to see that his pursuit was about to get harder.
The Disco Menace was ready to employ her thunder magic again.