Chapter seven. Plots and distractions.

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Adjustments to devices were being made, like ear slips for headphones. Places were being rebuilt, creating new facilities and homes. Mammals were being studied, trying to find the reason for their evolution. Leaders were being found, being guides and influencers to how to shape this new world. Then they showed up, or rather awakened. Animals with supernatural abilities.

They took this new world by surprise. There was an animal that could lift objects without touching them, one that could phase through objects, one that could turn their fur into stone, and a whole bunch of others. Some awakened to their powers by chance while others awakened to them by instinct, like the feeling of something they wanted to attempt, as if it was the power itself talking to them. Along with their awakening they found that they experienced other changes, like being able to process things faster, or being much stronger.

As this was an unexplained and uncalled for event, mammals grew somewhat fearful. Thankfully the study faction put them at ease by studying the mammals with powers. They found a new gene in these mammals, a new strand of DNA that seemed to change them drastically. They named the DNA the Meta gene and these new mammals were dubbed Meta-Mammals.

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"Artisakat, launching!" Bella announced.

Jackson fired up his jets and took flight. He maneuvered around the air to change directions, going to where the location the emergency call announced, lowering his altitude until he was just above the street lights. "Glad it's not five yet, or I'd have to deal with birds flying around," he told himself. He made sure his earpiece was in and it was already tuned in to Mitch's M-key whenever the dog was ready. He turned the corner where he saw Mammals fleeing and saw the Meta Cleansing Night backflipping and landing into the streets from the Wells robotics building. Beside the building's entrance were two red Dino-bots.

Cleansing Night was a four foot three inch black bat. He was somewhat lean and wore sharp tipped black high boots with one inch heels. His pants were light purple, formal, and smooth, he wore a red vest with a white trim, a white dress shirt with a bow tie, a light purple suit jacket with cuffs and blood red cufflinks. Over his shoulders was a mid length drape that was black on the outside and red on the inside. His eyes were crimson and his hair was a nightly purple. Around his eyes was an open eyed mask that had a bat winged pattern, they were nightshade color.

The Dino-bots came up to him and he threw his hands out. His shadow stretched out and came out as tendrils, hitting the bots in the face before wrapping around their heads. He pulled back, pulling them down.

Before they could fall, the bots brought their foot forward, stopping their descent and pulling back.

"Damn it!" Cleansing cursed, pulling harder.

Jackson rocketed to one of the bots, picking up speed, and spin slashed it in the back of the neck. He kept up the momentum, landed on the shoulder of the other bot and piston punched it in the face. The first one fell but the other wasn't down yet and reached up to grab him. "Shit!" He was about to fly away until its arm was grabbed from the back by three shadow tendrils.

"Finish it!" Cleansing yelled.

Jackson formed his sword and slammed the tip down into the opening he made from his punch. He shoved it in deep till it sparked and ceased functioning. He jumped down and Cleansing approached him. "I'm Artisakat. What's the situation?"

"Cleansing Night, pleasure," he bowed, "Dynafist and Jetroller came in with these bots. I was fighting Dyna till he launched me out here, he's still inside with other bots," Cleansing explained.

"Anyone else coming?"

"I believe Peacewolf is on her way."

"Alright," he went in along with Cleansing, "any idea what they want?"

"Not a clue." The two hopped into the lobby from the high window that Cleansing came out of, coming into contact with five more Bots.

The lobby of Wells Robotics was a mess. The couch chairs were broken and the booth-like front desk looked as though something rammed through. There was a gaping hole right in front of the broken area. The once neat white tiles had large cracks mostly due to the steps of the bots. The ceiling was about ten meters high, and the four support beams were thankfully undamaged.

Near the hole in the back was Dyna Fist, a seven foot eagle wearing a red plated vest with shoulder pads, and bright red shorts, was about to walk through the hole until he heard Cleansing and Jackson land. His feather pattern was brown and white with small spots of black. The brown was on his wings except for the edge which was white. His thighs were brown with some small black spots while his arms were completely brown with the black spots only being on his forearms. His tail feathers were a mix of all three colors and a half a foot longer than the average bird. His hair was black and spiky.

"Hah! Surprised you came back so quickly," Dynafist laughed, turning around to face the two, "and you brought a friend!" He waved his hands.

"RD-bots! Prepare to attack!" The robots responded by facing the Meta heroes, their eyes glowing red.

"I'll give you time to link coms."

"Link coms?" Jackson raised a brow.

Cleansing Night pulled out his M-key. "Artisakat." He reached the device out to him. "Tap your key against mine."

Jackson pulled out his M-key and tapped it against Cleansing's. It flashed blue. "Linked up." Came a female voice from the earpiece.

"Whoa!" Jackson gasped in surprise.

"I've linked my communications with yours, we can talk to each other via earpiece, we can even hear each other's Navis," The bat Meta explained, "my Navi's name is Ange."

"Pleasure to meet you, Artisakat," Ange greeted.

"Sweet! Pleased to meet you as well!" Jackson replied.

"Now that you're linked," Dynafist said, motioning his hand forward, "attack!"

The red Dino-bots charged at them. Jackson flared his jets and went after the three on the left.

Cleansing Night raised his arms, bringing his arms up, pulling out four slender shadow appendages. He squeezed his hands tightly, the tendrils tightening up and changing shape. "Artisakat, be careful, these machines are different."

Jackson rammed his foot into the face of the middle of the three bots. "I noticed," he materialized two energy hand cannons and shot at the ones beside him, the beam’s shots deflecting off their shells, "these mechs are modified compared to training bots."

The two that went for Cleansing were about to strike before his ends of his shadow tendrils turned into sharp blades. He jumped to avoid their punches, the black appendages staying connected to his feet. He launched the swords forward, mildly gashing the arms they used to block him. "Their armor is thicker, and they have higher AI."

"Do we have to worry about civilians?" Jackson asked as he avoided being grabbed.

"No. There's only a few workers, and there weren't many mammals in the lobby when they entered." Cleansing closed together two shadow blades on one of the bots. It responded by bringing its arms up to block. "Jet waited for the rest of the bots to come in before she rolled through so I believe the workers in the factory had time to escape."

"This is Ange," Ange called, "I've linked up with the security cameras and can confirm that most of the mammals have escaped!"

"See who's left and try to find Jet roller!"

"On it!"

"We need to deal with these Dino-bots so one of us can go after her when she's found!" A Dino-bot punched at Jackson and he reacted by flying between its legs and swooping up. "Good thing I found," he kicked the back of its head, exposing the back of its neck, "a weakness!" He formed his sword and slashed its opening.

Steam came out of its body while smoke erupted from its cut. It fell to its knees, disabled.

"Ah! The necks!" Cleansing turned two blades back into tendrils and wrapped them around the dinosaur heads, pulling them forward. They stopped their descent and he took the opening to send his blades of shadow to their napes. He was shocked when they brought their hands up to the back of their necks to bounce the blade away. "What!?"

"Hragh!" Jackson yelled, going under another bot's legs, trying to do the same maneuver again. He was stopped when it swung back to hit away an Artisakat that was blocked last minute. "What the- they learn!?"

"Ohoho," Dynafist chuckled, "you're quick on the uptake!"

Jackson glared at the eagle before turning it towards the two Dino-bots near him. "Then I'll just adapt!" He bent forward and flared his jets. He darted to its face and punched it in the forehead, tilting its head back. He was about to stab its neck from the front before it tried to clap its palms on him. Jackson jumped back to avoid it. Before it could bring its head back, Jackson flipped the sword around, brought his right arm back, and vaulted it to its throat, stabbing it in halfway. To finish it, he flew forward and kicked it in deeper, before grabbing it and slicing into the side.

With Cleansing, he took a deep breath and slipped into his shadow. He moved to one of the bots' sides and sent one of his blades to its neck. It deflected it but in that moment he moved to the back, jumped out of his shadow and stabbed it in its exposed nape. The other bot ran up to him and Cleansing held his breath again, going back into his shadow and stretching it out behind it to appear from there. It expected him and sent a backhand. Cleansing pulled back his hands, sending the blades that stayed where he was straight into its head through its nape.

Jackson flew up to the ceiling, replacing his gauntlets for piston, before launching himself downwards, slamming them into its face, caving it in thanks to momentum.

Dynafist clapped when the last one fell. "Well done! They can learn but what good is that if you can't react to what's new?"

"This is Ange, I've found Jetroller!" Ange radioed.

"Where is she!?" Cleansing asked.

"She's on the fourth floor!"

"What!? The elevator should be out due to the lockdown procedure so how'd she get up so quick!?"

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"The lockdown didn't activate till she got to the fourth floor!"

"How!?"

"Ange," Jackson butted in, "could someone have hacked the security system?"

"I can check, but she's already busted through two barricades!"

"It's fine, Cleansing will go after her!" Cleansing looked at him with curiosity. "Your powers are better suited to give chase especially with the lockdown."

"Ok, what makes you think he'll let me through?" Cleansing asked.

"Because we've been talking for almost five minutes and he hasn't even tried to attack."

It dawned on Cleansing that he was right and he looked to the eagle who just stood there.

"Bravo!" Dynafist commented.

"What's your endgame if it's not to hold us back? Or better yet, who are you working for?" Jackson asked, motioning for Cleansing to give pursuit.

"What makes you think I'm working with someone?" Dynafist answered with a question, letting Cleansing pass by.

"You two aren't hackers for one, two, I doubt you had time to enter a virus or anything like that in the timeframe you got here, especially not from the lobby."

"Hahahahaha! You're a sharp one, I like that!" He unfurled his wings. "Tell you what," sparks came from his hands, "if you beat me I'll tell you!" He flapped his wings and flew forward, sending a right hook to Jackson's face.

Jackson entered his Counterpoint stance and pushed his fist away before palm striking his chest. He stepped forward to do it again to his face. Dynafist flew up, avoiding the hit, a left kick going to Jackson's face. Jackson moved away and grabbed his ankle pulling him down. He was about to hit his gut but Dynafist clapped his hands in front of Jackson's, creating a mini explosion that pushed him back. Jackson was slightly blinded, giving the eagle a chance to fly up and dart down to the feline. His vision came back quick enough for a response. He flipped forward, vaulting off Dynafists outstretched claws and slamming his heel down on his back, crashing him into the ground. Where his heels connected, sparks flew before an explosion came out where contact was made. Jackson gritted his teeth and rolled forward from the impact. The back of his jets took a small amount of damage. Jackson stood up and as he did Dynafist flew forward, going for a straight punch. Jackson rolled back, aimed his feet up and double kicked him in the stomach.

Dynafist was pushed away and stabilized himself in the air, laughing. "You're a good fighter! What style is that?"

Jackson hoped back to his feet, replacing his damaged boot. "I'll tell ya if ya beat me."

"Hah! Smart ass." He floated back. "Fighting you is pretty fun," he ignited his left hand, "but let's see how you handle...pressure!" He swung his hand back against a nearby support beam.

Jackson went wide eyed and quickly jetted up to him and punched his hand away. Once he made contact, his palm blew up, hurting his hand. "Ach!" He cried in pain.

Dynafist chuckled and went for another pillar, kicking at it with sparking talons.

Jackson flew and met his foot with his talons, the explosion not hurting him due to it not being as concentrated as from his back. Jackson swung up and punched his beak.

He flew back but went in for the beam behind him and punched it with an impulsive blow, giving it some noticeable damage. He smirked tauntingly at Jackson.

Jackson glared at the eagle and went after him. Dynafist flew away, making the cat give chase, staying mostly around the support beams, staying close to them and spiraling around, going fast enough to keep some distance away from Jackson. Every time he made an explosive swipe at the pillars, Jackson would stop him, hitting his hand away, taking the brunt of the blast, his gauntlets and boots accumulating damage. Every time he attacked the pillar he only used his left hand while his right hand, along with his legs and the edge of his wings, sparked like crazy, the sparks growing in volume. He flew to the center and Jackson was about to make contact.

Dynafist chuckled and flapped his wings towards a stone column, the feathers from the tip shooting out. Jackson didn't have to guess what the sparking feathers would do and flew in their path. He materialized a triangle shield that was half his size and three inches thick. It had white rectangular plates on the corners and a blue hexagonal pattern on the inside. He used it to block the exploding feathers.

"Hmmm what's your power? Cause that's the second time you made something appear outta nowhere," Dynafist asked.

Jackson didn't answer and pointed the shield towards Dynafist and pressed a button on the middle handle. The back of each corner opened up and flames roared out, rocketing towards him.

Dynafist punched it with a booming left. It barely dented it and pushed against his fist. He grinned and sent a right punch to it. When his right knuckle made contact a massive explosion came out, rocketing the shield straight to Jackson.

Jackson created a new shield and used it to deflect the one coming at him. Jackson began to think. 'So that's what he was doing. Those raging sparks meant he was charging up...hm?'

Dynafist waved his hand limply. "Whoa, strong shield. If I didn't have a charge I'd get hurt….oh looks like you got another one."

'So there's recoil in doing so,' he tightened his grip, thinking quickly, 'he's got two more charges, one in both legs,' he looked to the shield he deflected, its corner was mashed, 'the claw shield can barely take one blow. More importantly I gotta be careful when using my power. I need to make it look like I'm getting a new one. The old one can't be disengaged or else he'll wonder where it went or how I replaced it so fast. I gotta protect these beams and he's got two methods of attack, feathers and his body. I can probably build the feathers at bay and take him with a shot from my gun...alright...let's do this, Artisakat!' He reached behind and materialized a hand cannon, shooting at the Meta villain.

The eagle flapped away, shooting more feathers at a pillar. Jackson managed to fly in their way, continuing his shots. Dynafist began to charge up his lift arm, keeping Jackson at bay with his feathers while managing to avoid the beams shot at him. He got nicked a few times but mostly when he's about to launch his plumes. Being shot at kept him being able to strike the pillars. He smirked, getting more excited. "Hah! This is fun! I've barely damaged these pillars and tried to change things up, but you've managed to quickly catch up! I like it!" He shot more feathers.

Jackson went and blocked the plumage, about to shoot until he saw Dynafist rushing towards him. He attacked with his charged up right. Jackson blocked, the blast knocking him back into the beam. The shield got busted, he tossed it away and got a new one. Dynafist spun and kicked downwards diagonally to which Jackson managed to defend against, falling to the ground, managing to land on his feet and slid on it. He managed to create another shield, throwing the old one away. 'That's three already! Gotta make this my last one!' He thought to himself. Dynafist swooped down and kicked upwards with his other foot. He aimed the shield downwards but right before the kick could connect, he moved back to make it miss, continuing his motion into a flip till the top of his back was angled toward him, slapping at him sparking wings to his face. Jackson panicked, his mind going a mile a minute due to adrenaline. 'Shit! A fake out! I should've thought about the wings!' The pinions came closer to his face. 'I gotta make another shield, quick!' Jackson's eyes lit up with a spinning ring, about to create.

"Artisakat! Don't block!" Mitch yelled in the earpiece.

"What!?" Jackson gasped.

"Calm!" A feminine voice yelled.

The wings hit the sides of Jackson's head, a slight pop emanating from them. It stung but not more than that.

"What!?" Dynafist exclaimed.

"Relax!" The feminine voice yelled again.

"Huh…" Dynafist landed on his feet. The sparks he had gathered on his foot, and the ones he started to gain on his hands, faded away. His body slumped, becoming loose, his wings became limp, and his gaze became spacious.

"Finish it!"

Jackson tensed his body, entering smash-point. He uppercutted Dynafist into his chin before the eagle could snap out of his trance, knocking him up. He pulled his fist back and rammed them into Dynafist's stomach, his right fist being above the other.

Dynafist rolled and tumbled back, hitting the wall, falling unconscious.

From behind Jackson came a five foot three inch tall female wolf. Her fur was white as snow. Her ears and c-cup chest were fluffy along with the back of her cheeks. Her waist was slender and her tail was curly. She wore a tank top and mini jacket that cut off above the stomach. On the jackets sleeves were the words "Serenity" and the word "Peace" was on the back, a peace symbol being on the front of the tank top. She wore jean's with green trialings, white blue trimmed shoes, and had a green visor that wrapped around her head, with two black nodes on the side of them, keeping them secure. Strapped behind her waist was a compacted device with a handle. She had sky blue eyes and gave Jackson a warm smile. "Are you ok?" She asked.

"I'm fine," Jackson answered, panting, dropping his shield.

"I came by just in time." She extended her hand. "I'm Peacewolf, from the Nix agency."

Jackson took her hand and shook it. "Artisakat, Sky Limits agency. You came at the best time."

"Hey, save the chit chat later," Mitch commed.

"Mitch?"

"Sorry for the wait, dude."

"It's fine, Navi-boy. Any updates?"

"Cleansing’s fighting Jetroller but I can't see anything, he blacked out the room," Ange explained.

"Can you contact him?" Jackson motioned Peacewolf to follow him, going through the hole in the wall that led to the factory of the building.

"I can't, communications with him got cut off."

"Artsisakat," Mitch started, "when I got here, Ange told me she found that someone was hacking into the facility."

"Already know that." Jackson went to the stairs, going through the door.

"Do you know said animal is watching right now?"

"What!?" He ushered Peacewolf to get in front of him. She did so and he grabbed her around the waist, flying up while holding her, going up the stairs.

"Yeah, Ange found a string of code when looking into the hacking of the security. I'm trying to track them while Ange keeps up with the video feed."

"Speaking of," Ange butted in, "when you get to the floor they're on, there's gonna be a horde of black modified Fang-bots in the main hallway. Cleansing got to Jet while she was in the middle of breaking the fourth barricade, he was able to knock her into a nearby office."

"Fang-bots? Sounds like something Mitch would call them," Jackson commented.

"Screw ya!" Mitch yelled. "Anyways, there are no mammals on this floor, they managed to get out through the fire escape."

"Um, I don't want to butt in," said Peacwolf, "but what's the situation?"

"Oh right, do you have your M-key?" They stopped near the door of the fourth floor.

"Mhm." She brought it out.

Jackson tapped it against his and linked up their comms. "Brief her Navi-boy."

"Ima kick you for that," Mitch promised.

They entered the floor and made their way to the main hall, passing by office doors and meeting rooms. They turned the corner and came across the Fang-bots Ange mentioned. There were fifteen of them and each one was black and had some attachment on their arms and a type lens on their foreheads.

Jackson entered his Breakpoint stance while Peacewolf reached back and pulled out the gear strapped behind her waist. She pressed a switch on the handle and it extended out to a baton.

'I gotta cool it with creation. I'm winded a bit from Dynafist and I might have to fight Jetroller, so I'll just go with what I got on now. May got some damage but I can still use it,' Jackson mentally sighed, 'shouldn't have dropped that shield.'

Two black bots leapt up to Jackson, swinging at him. He blocked with his gauntlets before pushing away, striking them in their furthest elbow, turning them before slamming their heads together. He did some damage but not enough to destroy them. They kicked at him, he bent back to avoid their kicks, hitting them in their knees to cause them to fall back, before rising up, attacking their necks from the side, then swiping the opposite way with enough force to snap their necks.

Peacewolf jumped to the side, avoiding the punch by one of the Fang-bots before wacking it in the stomach with her baton. She pressed the grip and electricity surged on the pole, shocking its body. It tried to backhand her but she hopped back to avoid it. Another bot jumped at her from her side. She held her baton in her pit to bring her hands together. "Calm!" A white flash came on her hands before the machine stopped its approach for a brief moment before quickly going back on the offense. That moment was all she needed to set up her next attack which was shoving her baton into its throat and electrocuting it, the bolts frying its system. The one she attacked earlier was about to swipe at her until Jackson slammed his foot down on its head, having his jets increase the impact, destroying it.

Four more ran up to them. Jackson flew and rammed his foot in one's face, shooting a wire to the one on the right, pulling it to him and slamming his fist into its back, nearly smashing through. He finished by crashing both fist down on its head. He hooked a wire into the third one that was going for Peacewolf, pulling it back to him while spin kicking the one behind him.

The one going after Peacewolf tried to close in on her so she swayed to the side to avoid it. From its arm attachment came a thick curved blade that would've cut her if she hadn't ducked last second. She stabbed its spine, shocking it. It swiped its arm sword back at her, attempting to cut her neck. She managed to jump back to dodge and jumped forward to hit its jaw, unhunging it, giving her the opening she needed to shove her baton in its maw, frying its main circuits.

While Jackson fought two more machines, using his gauntlets to block their blades, something was nagging him in the back of his mind. "Mitch, what’s down this corridor?"

"It's where they keep their experimental chips, the prototypes so to speak," Mitch answered.

'What would Jetroller want with chips?' He thought. "Any luck on finding who else is watching?"

"I'm having some trouble with that. Whoever this is, they know how to fight back. They're throwing me off by hacking into the facilitie's other features, ones that can cause some issues for you, making me have to counter hack."

Jackson looked down the hallway at the barricades Jetroller had broken and were trying to break. "How many more barricades did she have left to get through?"

"About three."

'If Dynafist had attacked Cleansing and me along with the Dino-bots, he could've kept us back for at least another barrier. Yet he let Cleansing pass with no trouble since I decided I was gonna fight him. Jetroller could be going to get that chip for whoever's working for them but that just furthers the question of why Dynafist wasn't trying to hold us back. Something's up…' Jackson got worried. "Is any other Meta close by?"

"You and Peace were the only ones to answer so they stopped the emergency call. There weren't many Metas close by to respond and the ones that were, were busy. If you need more Metas a fox named Kanishi is available...wait why would you need more Metas?"

"Oh!" Peacwolf seemed to understand, "for a proximity check. A mammal may be close by for a pick up!"

"It's possible. Jetrollers not good at slipping away, more of a make a problem to get their attention and roll off, so whoever she's taking this to has gotta be someone close by. I can have Kanishi get over there."

'Wait…' Something clicked in Jacksons mind. "Hold off on that!"

"Huh?"

'Whoever hired them is also a skilled hacker so they're not dumb. They'd know Jet and Dyna wouldn't be a good pick for a drop off. Their not dumb, just destructive, too destructive for a pick up mission with something as delicate as computer chips...why would they… unless!' Jackson began to understand. "Mitch, this whole things a-"

Before he could say anything more, the wall near them shattered and out came Cleansing, falling and sliding on his back, his suit scuffled. He groaned and raised up.

"Cleansing!" Jackson shouted. He ran up to him but was stopped by two black fang-bots jumping out in front of him.

"Arti….ound tw...that fl…" Mitch broke up.

"Mitch?" He heard nothing but static. "Mitch!" He was punched at by one of the bots. He pushed its fist away and went for a body blow but was taken back when the machine not only blocked it but went for a kick to the face. He stepped back and saw it kneel down so the other could jump at him and go for a high kick. He blocked it and moved his chin back before the first one could uppercut him. 'These bots are different!'

"I'm coming!" Peacewolf approached.

"Dont worry about me, help Cleansing!"

"Huh!?" She looked at Cleansing Night, the bat looking hurt after taking a big blow, and saw Jetroller step out the hole, smiling crazily. She understood why Artisakat told her to go with Cleansing. She rushed to his side. "I got you!"

Cleansing grunted, slowly rising. "Thanks. Those Fang bots flashed me with solar lights, weakening my powers for her to get me."

"Heh," Jetroller laughed, "and I'm gonna get you again! Friend or no friend!"

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"Artisakat!...Artsisakat!" Mitch cried out.

"I've lost video feed!" Ange told him.

"Try and get it back, I'll focus on communications!"

"What about tracking the-"

"That can wait!" Mitch furiously typed at his computer. 'What was he gonna say? It sounded important...think! What did he find out to not send out someone to stop a pick up from those two...wait...those two...deliverers for something like this….Dynafist letting Cleansing pass….the hacking and someone watching….this whole thing is...it's a distraction!'

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To be continued…

Next chapter: Plots and Distractions part 2