At that moment, the sun had already left its place in the sky and given way to the moon. The first stars appeared, but they were overshadowed by the flames burning on the hill. A round, silver object reflected the flames on its reverse side.

The silver coin fell clinking to the ground. Everyone was perplexed. No one knew where the shot had come from. Until they saw the man in the navy-blue suit and tie. He had a nickel-plated double-barreled vertical pistol pointed at the right flank of the bipedal tank.

Spin Bomb made his way through his allies. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Mr. Nobody⁈"

"Sorry I'm late for the party."

"I knew you weren't just a reporter…"

"Gonzo journalism demands a lot of me, Miss Spin Bomb, hohohoho."

The manned robot fell to the ground with one knee and seemed to deactivate its functions for an instant. Yasini had her javelin cut in half. He took advantage of Ata's moment of distraction and dodged. The metallic colossus was paralyzed. Inside, Ata felt so much pain that he was in a stupor.

The tank system, noticing that the pilot of the unit was unconscious, activated the resuscitation procedures. It injected a syringe into the militiaman's neck and shot him with adrenaline. The man woke up, his eyes bulging and his veins throbbing under his skin. A trickle of drool ran down the left corner of his mouth. His right eye began to flutter, the dilated pupil unable to focus on any particular object.

After the initial shock, Ata regained consciousness. He felt vigor returning to his body. He was boiling. A second syringe was injected into his shoulder. Painkillers and antibiotics began to work on coagulating the wound, reconnecting the blood vessels and reducing the synapses of physical pain. Now he was back in combat.

The biped tank reactivated its functions by emitting damage assessment and system restoration sounds. It emitted a few electrical squeaks. It stood up again as if it were a newborn baby learning to take its first steps. He pointed his flintlock bayonet in the direction of Mr. Nobody.

"Ata's in the game."

Akachi stepped forward and slammed the two sticks together. The sound echoed in the room. It attracted the militiaman's attention.

"Good, I've been playing alone until now."

Yasini put a hand on his pupil's shoulder and joined him.

"Don't go into this round alone, Akachi. You're still in training."

Spin Bomb walked over and joined the trio. He pointed a finger in Ata's direction and shouted:

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Let's smash that sardine can with you in it, you asshole!"

Mr. Nobody pulled a cigarette from his jacket pocket. He asked Spin Bomb to light it with his blowtorch. The scent of aromatic herbs filled the atmosphere. Akachi coughed and teared up. The fake journalist inhaled and exhaled the greenish smoke. His pupils dilated, as did his nostrils.

"I get it, you want like a King of Fighters 99? Okay, I'll be the striker of the group."

Yasini looked at Akachi, and then at Spin Bomb, describing to them that they should do:

"Spin Bomb, create smoke screens for us. Akachi, repel the attacks coming from the tank. I'll engage in hand-to-hand combat. I'll throw my blade towards the energy core of that machine. Mr. Nobody, can you do that trick again?"

"Sure, just give me the signal."

The sword maker activated her torch and pulled three swords from her bag. She flashed a smile that startled Adisa's son.

"Should we do the Fourth of July or fireworks show on Réveillon?"

"More action and less effect, Spin Bomb."

"Then it'll be the Fourth of July, Yasini. Go, Team Chrome!"

The girl ran off to the left. Akachi followed flanking Ata's right. Yasini rushed forward in a straight line. Mr. Nobody disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"You four can come, in fact, you and the Salvation Army can come. Fuck off! I'm going to kill everyone."

Ata thought it would be easier to hit Spin Bomb with the rocket launcher on his left arm. The laser cannon would be aimed at the medium in front of him. He would stop Akachi with the flamberge bayonet. The Spin Bomb smoke bombs exploded at his feet. A curtain of whitish smoke covered him.

It was a way of creating a distraction and blurring his vision so that Akachi could catch him off guard. However, the manned robot had thermographic vision. Ata used the flamberge bayonet to defend himself against the medium's sequences of blows. They exchanged attacks, but neither managed to injure his opponent.

The medium acted to divert his opponent's attention. When he realized this, the militiaman activated the overheated blade, Akachi dodged the blow. The blade sank into the ground.

The opponent's defense stopped working. Spin Bomb detonated explosives of concentrated gunpowder around him. The high sparks of flames distorted the images through the bipedal tank masters, who couldn't recognize their enemies. Thermographic vision was compromised.

Ata fired wildly. His enemies sought refuge away from him. He destroyed cars and buildings around him, but didn't hit Spin Bomb or Akachi. The tank emitted a failure signal from the laser cannon. There was an obstruction in the barrel. The militiaman looked up. The handle of the javelin had been jammed inside.

"Shit!"

There was an explosion that severed the biped tanker's left arm at shoulder height. The electrical wiring was exposed and sparked. Axé particles were emitted. The manned robot system fell off balance. It was difficult to maintain control without weight distribution.

Yasini hadn't finished off his enemy yet. He had slid under the tank's legs and launched the tip of the javelin into the back, under the tank-biped's shoulder, where his Axé-Core was.

"It's up to you now, Mr. Nobody."

Plinz, the javelin was hit by a projectile. The blade was projected faster. It hit Ata with the force of a missile. It stuck there. It damaged the power system. The manned robot was electrocuted throughout its metal armor. It was disabled a second time. It fell to its knees.

The quartet stood around the biped tank. They believed that with that attack, Ata had been shot down. A bluish smoke began to rise from his joints. It spiraled through the air and reached the sky. A restarting sound was emitted by the metallic colossus. An extra Axé-Core had been activated by the state of emergency.

"Hey, you guys from Chrome! I'm not going to die alone in this shithole you call a community. Initiate unit self-destruct protocol. Overheat Axé-Core and concentrate its energy in the battery compartment. Ignore pilot condition. Series: 9B8.3C7.1G8.7K8.6P7…"

Boom. The biped tanker was hit by a bazooka shot. Everyone was stunned by the attacker. Mr. Nobody smiled. Stepping out of the shadows with the bazooka on his shoulder was the most unlikely person of all.

"Bro, I'm going to get you away from that evil robot!"