“Oi! Dirtbag! Put her down or yer ass is gettin’ thrown into outer space! Ya got that?!”
Guided by bewilderment, the Mistral soldier holding Annabelle in his dastardly clutches spun around to face the hall behind him. The source of the voice was some teenager, which did little to dissuade him from his nabbing of the elven girl.
Annabelle’s ears twitched upon hearing the familiar, if unexpected, voice. “Tyger….?”
The Mistral soldier huffed as he adjusted his hold on Annabelle, throwing her over his shoulder while reaching for the pistol at his hip. All it would take was one simple bang, and the kid would be-
METAL!
The bullet ricocheted off of Tyger’s body as though it were a fly swatted by the hand of an angry god, a fact that caused the Mistral gunman to hesitate as shock swept over him.
Tyger closed the distance between the two, throwing a meaty haymaker to the soldier’s mask, shattering it into pieces.
With a yelp, Annabelle fell from her collapsing captor’s shoulder, but not for very long, as she was instead swept up into Tyger’s own arms.
“Oi. You alright?”
Annabelle’s bright pink eyes blinked up at him before becoming overwhelmed with tears. “Y-yes….Thank you so much, Tyger! I was so scared! I didn’t know what to do! I couldn’t-!”
When she threw her arms around him to cry off the fear, Tyger turned his head away, huffing through his nostrils. “Alright, alright, calm down. Just- wait here a sec.”
He set her down onto her feet, motioning for her to back away, then turned back to the Mistral soldier, who had managed to return to his feet.
Tyger slammed his right fist into the left palm to crack his knuckles. That was the intent, anyway, but he’d forgotten that he wasn’t actually able to do that while using the Metal Install, thus ruining his cool act of intimidation.
Shaking off the embarrassment, he took hold of the front of the Mistral soldier’s shirt, yanking him in closer. “Really thought you could get away with kidnappin’ her, huh? Scumbag!”
The soldier tried spitting the blood leaking from his mouth into Tyger’s face in an act of defiance, but the broken mess of his mask prevented the liquid from actually taking proper flight. It seemed neither man was finding much success in the intimidation department that day.
“I know ya heard me loud and clear, pal,” Tyger continued, spinning around in a wide circle. “I said I’d throw yer ass into outer space, and a hero doesn’t go back on his word!”
At the end of his spin, he released his grip on the Mistral soldier. It was like a cannon firing in the hallways as the criminal scum exploded through the ceiling and out into the night sky, far, far away until he became a comet blazing a trail through the cosmos.
Catching his breath, Tyger turned to face Annabelle. “You alright?”
“Y-yes….you already asked me that….”
His face reddened. “Wh-what, maybe I’m just makin’ sure?!”
Rescuing him from his own ineptitude, Kiria and Reina rounded the corner and joined the two, with Annabelle practically leaping into Kiria’s arms. “Are you alright, Annabelle?!”
“Yes, I’m fine,” the elven girl said. “Thanks to Tyger.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Reina stepped forward and slapped her hand across Tyger’s butt. “Attaboy, Tyger! Heroes always save the damsel in distress, right?”
He ruffled her hair. “Yeah, yeah, thanks.” After taking in who he was in the current company with, he asked. “Where’s Cain and Zeo?”
“We just met up with him a few minutes ago,” Kiria answered. “Apparently he met Mistral’s leader, and he went after him.”
“What?!” Annabelle gasped. “By himself?!”
“Yes. Don’t worry; Zeo’s a capable fighter, and I was going to go after him after I confirmed you were okay.”
Reina tugged on Tyger’s arm. “Cain’s fighting a big, huge mech! Like even bigger than the one we saw at the ultrapulse!”
“What?!” Tyger gasped. “By himself?!”
Yanking himself free, Tyger took off running, forgetting that Reina’s statement hadn’t actually told him where Cain was. Kiria let out a sigh, having recognized that fact. “Reina, can you go with him and point him in the right direction? I’ll join up with you after I get Annabelle to safety.”
“You got it!” The chameleon girl then sprinted away.
Kiria began to lead Annabelle away from the halls, although to where exactly, she wasn’t actually sure. Perhaps the security room, since Mistral didn’t appear to have been able to access it earlier, and she could use her cyber arm to re-lock it, and even install a stronger lock as well.
Ultimately, though, it didn’t matter, as the elven girl held steady, refusing to follow. “No!’
“Annabelle? What’s wrong?”
“I’m going with you!”
Kiria’s head tilted to the side. “Yes, I know. I’m taking you to safety.”
Annabelle pouted, shaking her head. “No, that’s not what I meant! I-I mean, I’m going with you to find Zeo!”
“That’s too dangerous, Annabelle. You know that.”
To Kiria’s complete surprise, Annabelle spun around and began to stomp her way through the hall in complete defiance.
With a worried smile, Kiria spoke under her breath, “Wrong way, sweetie….”
* * * *
ULTRA PULSE
* * * *
“What’s with the giant empty room?”
Mayor Virilitas held his hands up, every inch of his body shaking. The squadron of Mistral soldiers who had barged their way inside held him and his female companions up against the wall via threat of gunfire. The mayor had initially tried to dissuade them with his silver tongue, but after taking a pistol butt to the jaw, it was as though his words had been knocked straight out of his mouth.
“Yeah, it’s a total waste of space,” another Mistral man said as he finished inspecting the room. It’d been an easy task, given that there were only two items of interest — the hot tub and the bar. “But hey; leaves more room for the explosion to fill up, yeah?”
“Sure, sure. Let’s get this place loaded up, then. We’ll be detonating once we’re approaching the Chateau.”
A loud blast emanated from the front of the room. In the same instant, the door soared across the wide empty space, flattening one of the Mistral goons against the wall like a pancake.
“Can’t say I ever expected to come into this room ever again,” Meifang said as she stepped inside, extending her leg and rolling her ankle to stretch her foot. “Especially not willingly.”
Rather than look on in confusion or try to hold a conversation, the one who appeared to be leading this squad took action, readying his rifle and firing with zero hesitation. Had he been facing off against anyone other than Meifang, he might have managed to actually gun them down.
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METAL!
When the bullets struck Meifang, they did not pierce through flesh and open up bursts of blood, nor did they bounce off of hardened skin created by the Metal Install. Instead, they phased into her body — as though they had been completely absorbed.
Seeing that is what incited confusion and hesitation in the squad captain, causing him to cease his gunfire. “What the….?!”
With a smirk, Meifang threw out a savage kick into the empty space before her. The absorbed bullets phased through her body once more, this time in reverse, before flying across the room and striking the remaining Mistral soldiers.
After all the Mistral bodies hit the floor, Meifang stepped up to the mayor and his companions. “Before you take off on your next trip,” she began, “take care to screen your passengers better, okay? There are an absurd amount of terrorists on board here, and many of them were disguised as staff and passengers.”
She began to turn away, although she did pause momentarily to point at one of the women hovering beside Virilitas. “I like your swimsuit. It’s cute.”
After departing from the room and rounding the corner, she released the breath she’d been holding, all while reaching down and patting the side of her leg. “Whew….Good thing those weren’t forcebullets, huh? Probably should’ve confirmed that before getting shot, but, hey, it worked out, didn’t it?”
* * * *
ULTRA PULSE
* * * *
The mech continued to chase Cain like a hunting dog, even as he wormed his way through the ship and out onto the deck. Night had fallen over the skies, enshrouding the outside of the ship in darkness, but after the mech crashed through the walls in pursuit, the bright yellow lights of the interior lit the deck like the stage of a play.
Cain kept on running, but it became very clear very quickly that there was ultimately nowhere else to go. Aside from overboard and down thousands of feet into the sea, of course.
He turned back to face the mech. He still hadn’t formulated a plan for taking the thing down, and it didn’t look as though it were going to stop itself any time soon.
The amalgam of metal parts let out a shrill creak as the machine extended its arm. Green streaks of wind reorganized the mishmash of metal and tools, until it was able to fashion them into a massive lance.
Crouching low and lowering the lance tip to chest-level, the machine kicked into a mechanical whirr, displaying its intent to lunge forward and skewer its prey.
Cain swiped his sleeve across his forehead, wiping away the accumulating sweat that had been building up. Moments like these, rare as they were, were the bane of Cain’s existence. When his mind couldn’t think its way through an opponent, when there were no tools at his disposal, when even his own trained body wasn’t enough, and when he had no idea what to actually do next.
The uncertainty gnawed at his Mind Slot. Finer details in the environment went blurry, his knees went weak, and paralysis locked his body into place. The howling winds streaming past the airship certainly didn’t help him regain his focus and make a decision.
I should….give up….
The mech charged in, its heavy metal feet carving a jagged line in the floor of the deck.
I’m tired of fighting this….I deserve to rest….
The tip of the lance came close. Close enough for him to see his own reflection.
As well as the reflection of a shadowy black figure looming over his shoulder.
Cain’s eyes shot wide open, and he instinctively spun around to throw a backhand at the mysterious figure. He hit nothing, of course, as there was nothing to strike but air.
His head turned back towards the mech as quickly as it could, although the giant makeshift robot wasn’t the first thing to enter his field of vision.
It was Tyger, sliding in from the side.
METAL!
Tyger caught the lance — or rather, the lance struck him dead-on in the stomach without piercing through it — before it could strike Cain. Though the weapon hadn’t pierced through its target, the mech continued to push forward with force; it could at least smash the ultranian against the edge of the ship or even shove it overboard.
Cain hadn’t been able to move out of the way in time, so he, too, was pushed backwards towards the edge of the deck. Both the mech and Tyger’s heavy metal body were too much to shake himself free, so all he could do was grit his teeth and brace for impact.
Both boys felt the air in their lungs blast out from their mouths as they were smushed up against the edge, though they’d both been relieved they hadn’t been turned to paste.
The mech held tight on its lance arm, however, keeping them locked in place.
“Tch….took you long enough,” Cain managed to cough out.
“Ah, piss off. Yer not the only damsel that needed savin’.”
I needed Tyger of all people to save me….I truly am worthless….
The mech applied more pressure, squishing the boys even more forcefully against the wall. “Agh, dude! What’s the plan?!” Tyger belted out.
“I don’t have one.”
“What?!”
Cain’s face tried to contort itself into his signature scowl, but it was finding the task difficult, as it also had to juggle showcasing the intense pain he was in. The end result was an expression that is hard to describe, and not aesthetically pleasing. “What was your plan charging in like this?”
“Savin’ yer ass! That was my plan! And I did it! Now it’s yer turn to be useful!”
Without being able to move from his current location, Tyger was actually able to get a good close-up look at the mech for the first time. When he realized the giant robot had actually been constructed by what appeared to be random parts and machinery, he said, “What the hell is this thing?! It looks like a piece of shit!”
The lance pressed forward just a bit more.
“It’s unnatural,” Cain explained as he attempted to move his head to the side to escape Tyger’s sweaty hair from entering his mouth. “There’s no pilot….It’s being controlled by some kind of wind.”
Tyger tried slamming his fist into the side of the lance, but it wouldn’t budge.
Tyger can’t even break free….And he’s much stronger than I am….
He tried again on the other side, but all that he got back was the hollow ringing of metal, and the tiniest dent.
I should just let go….it’s hurt….for so long….
“Hey, Cain?”
Cain shook himself free from his thoughts. “What?”
“We don’t got a lotta time, but….” Cain narrowed his eyes in anticipation of what he was going to say. If it was some cheesy friendship speech, he considered throwing himself off the side of the ship. Thankfully, that did not appear to be the case. “I can prolly shift the weight of the metal in my body around….What should I do with it?”
Cain’s brow furrowed. “What?” Was he being serious? What the hell was he even going on about?
“Gh! Yer the smart one! Just tell me what I should do with it to get us outta this!”
Something about Tyger’s words seemed to help Cain free himself from his mental funk. It was like a slap to the face — not all that helpful on paper, but it was a nice jolt of lightning that pierced through the dark clouds.
The smart one….That’s right….Tyger was physically strong, but he needed Cain to figure out a way for them to escape. He needed his mind.
“Of course….” Cain said, more to himself than to Tyger. “You, your enemy, the battle itself — the mind controls all.”
“Hurry up and answer the question, blockhead!”
“Shift it to your feet and break a hole in the floor, you imbecile!” Cain barked back. “We’ll drop down below and the mech will p-!”
Before he could even finish speaking, Tyger did as he’d been commanded. Just as Meifang had taught him, he focused on shifting the heavy metal weight within him towards his feet. Well, maybe not just as Meifang had taught him, as it took two tries to actually get it going, but in the end, he managed it.
The wooden floor beneath the two boys cracked open, and they dropped down into the hole. Fortunately, they did not drop very far down, as Tyger had the unusually quick sense to turn the Metal Install off once they’d fallen.
Overhead, the mech suddenly lurched forward. With no heavy weight blocking the path of its lance, it careened straight off the edge of the ship, and down into the sea below.
When the coast was cleared, Tyger climbed out of the hole, then pulled Cain free from it as well. “Good plan, man. Worked like a charm.”
“How could you not think of something so simple?”
Rather than yell back, Tyger let out a light chuckle. “I was actually thinkin’ of putin’ all the weight in my head and headbuttin’ it.”
“You’re an idiot.”
Soon, Kiria, Reina, and Annabelle arrived onto the deck, stepping through the massive hole the mech had created moments ago. Reina rushed over to the boys and greeted them with high-fives. “You guys took care of that mech by yourselves! Awesome!”
“Reina,” Kiria began. “Why weren’t you with Tyger? I thought you were going with him.”
“I was! But there were people in danger, and Tyger asked me to help them while he went after Cain!”
Raising a brow, Cain looked to Tyger. “Abandoning innocent people in need to help a single person? I thought you were supposed to be a hero.”
Tyger’s eyes angled towards the floor. “Piss off….” His voice came out weakly.
“Well, the ship’s mostly been cleared of Mistral,” Kiria stated. “Meifang’s been helping us clear them out.”
“Woohoo!” Reina exclaimed. “We did it! Good job, guys!”
Annabelle suddenly stepped forward. “Wait, where’s Zeo? Is he okay?”
A voice answered from above, with clarity that should not have been possible given the swirling winds rushing by. “He’ll be here. Director’s just waiting for the final battle scene before calling the hero in.”
The kids all turned their heads skyward. Floating dozens of feet above them was a man dressed in a specialized Mistral uniform, with spiked green hair, and a half mask shrouding the lower half of his face.
“Who the hell’s this clown?” Tyger asked.
“If I had to guess,” said Kiria. “He’s probably the leader of Mistral.”
“That’s right.” The five of them all jumped in place. The voice had appeared directly behind them, but when they turned to face the supposed source, Gael was not there, nor was he hovering in the sky where he had been before.
He was instead standing by the hole in the side railing that had been created when the mech’s lance pierced through it. There was no life in his eyes as he stared the kids of Class G down, nor was there any to be found in his voice. “Commander Gael. The guy in charge of the organization you kids just finished wiping out.”