Fleur slithers forward. I gently grab the tip of her tail to stop her. She shoots me a look that shines with reluctance, but relents without a word to the contrary.
“Remember; we want them to run.” I whisper into the side of her head as I walk by. “If we can manage to get all of them out of the mech before that happens, then that’s the only other scenario we want. Can you help me with that?”
Orange light flares. “Of course I can. If I can sense where their life signs are, I could remove all of them from the mech. But that part of my abilities does not seem to have carried over.”
“How’d you do it last time?”
“Sweat. And the simple fact that I was in such a salt dense environment that it would be harder not to sense everything that was going on.” Fleur lowers her hand, and the two plucked petals return to the flower. “There is a sort of shield inside of the mech preventing me from sensing the occupants. Even if I could, the armored ones are all shielded as well.”
I nod and stride forward confidently, even though I definitely don’t think the mech they’re sending for reinforcements will be as useless as this one. Keeping an eye on the intrusion while I watch the first mech for any signs of magic isn’t overly difficult, but the fact that I can’t sense anything at all really bothers me. Did Ernest’s mech just… give up?
“Watch out for a sneak attack.” I warn as the sky shatters into sickly green pieces, leaving a seeping wound that gushes magic like an overflow pipe after a typhoon. “If things go horribly wrong, we go back for Noland. Oh, and before I forget–here.”
I reach for Fleur’s hand and place a relocation coin in it. She glances down at it, brightens visibly, and lets out a happy note. It accepts her as the target instantly, and when she hands it back, it feels… a little different. Like how my shields and projectiles feel now. Somehow, she’s changing how my spells work. But it only looks like it's for the better.
“To feel your magic so closely… it is like a warm, loving embrace.” Fleur sighs, trailing her fingers down my palm as she returns the coin. “Thank you once more, Shelby. I cannot wait to spend the rest of eternity at your side.”
A weird choice of words there. But there’s no time to process her strange, almost loving devotion; the mech inside of the crack is finally moving from its imposing perch. It crouches down and tucks its arms in close, like it’s trying to jump as high as it can, and turns its head to lock on to the other mech.
Pearl makes an annoyed noise. “You never move the head. It’s there to take people off guard, not signal where your attacks are going to go. That's... like… rule number one of mech combat. How can’t they know that?”
I shrug, but honestly, this time I agree with her. The other mech hasn’t moved its head once, like the extra piece of metal that it is, but this one’s overly telegraphing what it’s going to do. Almost like it wants us to see.
“Shit.” I hiss and toss down three shields. They smack to the wet ground and stick fast, brimming with potential ready to burst at a moment’s notice. “It’s gotta be a diversion, and the oldest one in the book; look one way and move another. Fleur, start running back to Noland. Depending on how far it can jump, you might have to cut it off before it can do whatever it’s going to do.”
She glows with understanding, and with terrifying speed, slithers in Noland’s direction. It barely takes ten heartbeats for her to get out of my awareness’ range, and that’s a heavily nerfed version of how fast she could move before. I wonder if she’ll ever get back to being that strong.
Roaring ignitions burst loud enough to wash over me in a wave of horrible sound as green flames ignite on the backs of the second mech’s legs. The entire thing seems to tremble and shake under its own power as the flames grow and panels suddenly open on the sides of the thing’s arms. Pulsing magic throbs deep inside the mech’s frame, but I can’t get an idea of what the hell it's supposed to be for from all the way down here.
I dig my heels in, roll my projectiles through my knuckles, and start counting contingency plans. The mech burns hotter and brighter, distorting the air around it in a haze of sickly heat, but it still doesn’t move. Sweat starts to trickle down my forehead from the anticipation. My chest burns with a breath I’ve been holding for nearly a minute now.
“C’mon, move, you useless hunk of junk.” Pearl mutters with annoyance. “You’re going to blow every circuit and overheat every single processor if you keep doing stupid crap like this. Shelby… I think they’re trying to intimidate you.”
“...No way.” I narrow my eyes at the mech and furrow my brow. “There’s absolutely no way. Why would they risk another mech just to try and intimidate me? That’s gotta be the stupidest shit I’ve ever–wait. What the hell are those things?”
Small figures along with some armored in the Preservation’s colours. Flying through the air on a simple metal platform that looks like a flying hot-tub with rocket boosters. Even if my eyesight wasn’t as good as it is, I know I’d be able to pinpoint the two figures that’re beyond obvious in the group.
Shout and Zeze. Standing on the edge of the platform, staring directly at me, but far enough that they wouldn’t be able to yell anything if they wanted to. I lower my guard and watch in disbelief as the rescue platform ascends to the hole in the sky, raises them up to the second mech’s chest, and connects with it. Then the hatch opens, and they all simply… walk inside.
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“There’s no goddamn way.” I whisper as the second mech raises both of its hands, aiming them directly at the now empty first mech. More panels burst open on its arms, and its palms open like camera shutters to reveal crackling green barrels. “They’re going to destroy it. Shit, they’re going to destroy it!”
I break into a sprint as a keening whine finally hits my ears. A sound I can only describe as the equivalent of an anime character powering up, but in real life, joins a moment later when the glowing barrels in the mech’s hands brighten enough to obscure the rest of the mech. The abandoned mech isn’t too far. But I don’t know how fast the attack moves. Hell, I don’t even know if it’s still aimed at the abandoned mech.
“If I can save this thing…” I trail off as the air fills with magic. “The mech’s putting literally everything into this attack.”
“Yes, it is. No matter how many parts it has to sacrifice to do it.” Pearl says grimly. “You don’t have to save it, Shelby. Even if you reverse engineer it, we’ll just find the blueprints for a real one eventually. One that’s a million times stronger, more efficient, and built with materials that can withstand its own darn magic. Plus…”
Pearl laughs sheepishly. “I kind of want to watch it get destroyed. Can we watch it blow up?”
I stop in my tracks and let my hands fall at my sides. “Yeah, let’s.”
Seconds tick by. The mech’s warmup dyes the world a shade of sickly green, but no matter how much magic it dumps into the world… it just doesn’t feel that threatening. Even though it’s the exact same thing as I saw the day I joined the resort. I guess seeing the krarig, Fleur at her pinnacle, Ursula nuking a storm, and Noland dismantling the krarig has raised my standards a little. Makes me wonder why Noland and Ursula were worried about the mech back then, though, if they’re all this… manageable.
The air goes dry. Every colour in existence fades away, leaving only shades of sickly green. I throw down three more shields just in case I judged things wrong, and cross my arms as the mech lets loose.
Beams of writhing magical energy thunder out of the second mech’s hands, tearing screaming ruts through the sky as they barrel towards the abandoned mech. They’re fast. Unbelievably so. But I can seamlessly follow the start of the beam all the way from the firing mech, through the air, and as they rip through the abandoned mech. It doesn’t stand a chance, and within a few heartbeats, the abandoned mech glows so brightly with sickly magic that it’s almost impossible to look at.
Then, as quickly as it came, the beams shut off. The abandoned mech melts into a slurry that once was a complex machine, and the mech in the portal lowers its scorched hands and overheating arms to its sides. Whether it’s because it's done or because they no longer have control over the arms… well, I’d give it fifty-fifty odds.
I sneer at the destroyed mech as the portal above starts to close. “Mission complete. Dumbasses probably think they pulled a one-over on us, too.”
“Yeah. By destroying their own valuable piece of technology.” Pearl giggles as the portal shuts closed, safely sealing the Preservation away. “Valuable to them, I mean. It wouldn’t even be passable as a hobbyist’s project among my people. Next time we come back from the other world, do you think we’ll be able to show them a real mech?”
“No idea. All depends on what leads Clutter and Nib were able to find for me.” I turn my back on the mech and start the short walk back. “Illumisia, too, I guess. Since she should know where all your cities and armories were.”
Pearl shakes her head. “There’s no way the system would leave them intact–or at least accessible. I bet we’ll need quests or some powerful magic to find any real traces of my people.”
“And how are we supposed to do that when the system controls everything?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we should look for old, ongoing quests? The kind of thing that the system started long before it thought I’d actually get free–those might have some hints.” Pearl suggests, but she doesn’t sound confident. “Honestly, I think we’re going to have to rely on magic that the system doesn’t think can be used to help us. Um, I’m not sure what kind of magic or relics that could be, though, sorry.”
Eh. I’ll think of something. For right now, though, we’ve got other problems. Especially if Shout’s hypnosis didn’t wear off when he left. That’s not time sensitive, though, so I walk at a leisurely stroll through the battered grounds as I make my way there, chatting with Pearl all the while.
When I finally catch a glimpse of Fleur standing at Noland’s side, the crowd’s vibe seems like it’s worsened considerably. Words and fists fly in equal amounts, and no matter how rich or powerful these people are, right now they’re just scared, panicky animals. Fleur waves to me with a detached arm without turning her head, and Noland nods at me as I step into his field of view.
“Things went to shit, huh?” I note as I put myself between the two. “Is it natural shit, or is Shout still controlling them?”
Noland shrugs. “Couldn’t tell you if I wanted to. All I can say is if I was Shout and or Gasp, I’d put a failsafe in place that incites feelings of panic and aggression if my magic died out before I cancelled it. I’m not sure if that’s what’s happening right now, but it’s as good an explanation as any for the moment.”
“They are sweating quite profusely, the lot of them.” Fleur motions at Gisela’s group of friends, who’re basically in a fist fight with some other random people. “In my opinion, that amount would not come from exertion alone. There must be a great amount of fear and adrenaline bolstering their actions.”
I sweep over the group with my eyes, and much to my surprise, find absolutely no stragglers. Or people hurt so badly that they can’t stand on their own two feet. In a brawl like this, I’d say that’s an impossibility. Then, just as I finish the scan, I catch a glimpse of a trio that could explain just a little too much.
Ava. Gasp. And, surprisingly, Gisela–all just on the outskirts, acting like they’re a part of the fight, but the stains on their clothes look superficial. Like someone rubbed blood into them and threw themselves onto the ground. The three of them seem like they’re whispering to one another, too, so it isn’t just coincidence. I glance just past them, to where Ava’s eyes dart every few seconds, and suddenly everything makes sense.
Including why Noland and Fleur are sitting by and watching, without anyone even trying to attack them. Because the group of three are quickly backing towards the concert venue. And the entire rest of the brawling party is, somehow, walking with them.