After a few seconds, Utility started removing items from his belt. Among these was a screen on some sort of a pistol grip.  After a few more moments, he shook his head. “I don’t get these readings, but I think I have a direction for you to go.” He offered the device to Aurora.

 

“If you follow the arrow on the screen like GPS, it should take you to the source of this broadcasted energy.”

 

Aurora nodded, accepting the device strange as it was.  “Alright. Prove to me that I can rely on you. Come with.” She put a hand to his chest and asked ironically, “Do you trust me?”

 

He blinked but nodded. “Um… of course, Aurora. Should I hold the scanner and give you directions, in that case?  I can go instead and investigate if you’d prefer.  If I found something, I’d signal you with a flare gun.  That’s assuming you still think this is some sort of an elaborate trap.”

 

Aurora smiled, nodding. “Don’t worry about it.  I’ve got you covered.” She grinned and formed a straightjacket around him instantly. “So, trust me. I don’t know yet if I can trust you. Please understand and accept this for the moment.  I’ll free you when we get where we’re going.  Well, that or if circumstances made me let you go sooner.” She said with a wry twist of her mouth.

 

Utility gasped when she restrained him and he struggled proudly, but it was to no avail.  “I-I accept it,” he said, dejected.

 

Aurora took off while extending her aura to him and ran to the window to barrel in a spiral through it. When she was in open air, she twisted and spread her wings to catch the air.  She glanced at the device and plotted their route.  Swooping off, she spotted a building around where the device indicated.  It had a number of radar dishes on top like a cellphone tower was attached to the top.

 

She flitted there and to the top of the building where they spotted an array of machines connected to it that looked like they were recently installed.  She could almost feel the energy surging along the massive and large insulated wires.  There was a flowing sensation she could register.  It was like an odd pressure, like the current of water roaring along a riverbank.

 

“Aurora! Aren’t we here? Are you alright? We’ve been here for almost a minute!” Utility nudged the angelic superheroine.

Aurora frowned, bemu

sed.  “It’s nothing. I feel the energy flowing through those wires below. Usually I only.... Well… I can say that they’re conducting a lot of energy if I can perceive it at this range, and I didn’t know I could do this. What do you make of this? I suppose this building is a radio tower that’s being used by this puppeteer. Is he inside here instead of piloting that one still active robot?”

 

“If we demolished the tower, we might be able to stop him, but…”

 

Utility nodded and chimed in, “If my guess is right, knocking out this tower will keep the other robots from moving.  The leader might have a mini generator as a failsafe, but surely the energy required to power the robots is broadcasting from this tower.  This kind of technology is way ahead of what I’m familiar with. But if you destroy these large machines wired to it, that should do it, probably, too.  If this were a regular cell tower, those machines would be installed inside.” He mused, rubbing his chin.

 

Aurora blinked. “It’s not regular, how?”  She touched down on the rooftop and dissolved the halo Utility.

 

He straightened and spoke as though nothing happened, “I think this one is a regular cell tower, but if it’s broadcasting energy, then it’s these machines that are responsible.  The jamming signal might be originating from here, too. Fouling up the normal radio wavelengths might be a side-effect of this kind of broadcasting… If so, that helps him to keep the city from calling for help in time.” 

 

The green-zentai-suited guy kneeled beside one of the machines and produced another small multitool from one of his pouches. “Phillips head, never leave home without it,” he said jauntily and started unscrewing the front panel.

 

The angel’s head crooked over and she chuckled. “Ahem… do you think they’ll become hostile the moment we act? Would you be able to protect yourself if they turn on you?  I have to tell you something very plain.  The hero business is very physical.” She watched him, wondering if he’d need support. Her first fight as a crusader for justice had been far less complex than his.

 

Utility looked over his shoulder at her and then returned his attention back to his work as he removed some screws. “I’ve taken some Jay-Kay-Dee classes, so I know my way around a fight. Don’t worry about me.” He moved on to the third screw. “Plus, my costume is padded so I can take a hit or two if necessary.” He slowed when he moved onto the fourth and last that Aurora saw. “Once I pull this plate here off, I’ll know how the power is being generated and routed and we’ll know if you can just blast these things or whatever else.”

 

Aurora nodded and smiled. “Alright.  Maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea to just sit here. I could go and attack the moving robot, but I don’t want to put you at unnecessary risk here.  Are you sure you can handle yourself if something comes your way?”

 

Utility nodded. “I’m sure whoever’s in charge is probably going to be alerted just as soon as I start with my tampering, but don’t worry.  I didn’t throw together a costume just to be looked after, you know.”  Utility flashed a grin over his shoulder and gave Aurora a thumbs-up.

 

 

The angel grinned and nodded. “Good. Take care of yourself, then.” She lifted off and made her way back to the prime robot and back downtown, going as fast as possible.  She considered the matter and smiled.  Having the feeling that the conclusion of this fight was nearing, she came to the conclusion that she could protect him the quicker she dealt with the main bot.  Considering his power-level, he shouldn’t be on a battlefield.

 

That power supply he mentioned could be a problem.  If she used her drill and it created a huge explosion, that would defeat the purpose of her trying to protect the city.  She could have cored it earlier, but if she’d proceeded, she wouldn’t have known the consequences of her actions.

 

Approaching the lead robot, she saw it was heading towards the mayor’s mansion at this point.  It had left its remotely controlled automatons behind.  They were all still and motionless. There was still time.  At that moment, it raised its gun and pointed it at the mansion while he unleashed another cocky monologue.

 

“Let’s see if this engenders a sense of urgency! Hahahahahahahaha!”

 

Aurora sped up as soon as he spoke to stop the shot from ever being fired.  She formed a drill with her halo power and started spinning it as fast as possible as she plowed into him, full blast.  

 

She knew what the price could potentially be, but she had to stop him now.  Her intention was to dissolve the halo as soon as it looked like something was going wrong.

 

Her attack connected and she slammed into its torso.  The drill screamed and sparks flew as the drill started tearing up the metal of its body.  

 

Just like the last robot, it flailed its arms, unable to reach its back.  She remembered that it had trouble dealing with that kind of an attack. If the turret on its shoulder were to activate, she wasn’t sure if he could knock her out again.  Knowing time was of the essence, she kept up the pressure.  As the robot spun, it churned up the grass and pavement.

 

It was working again, but it was going slower as though it had an energy shield.  She made the head of the drill more keen, keeping it sharp as she pushed harder.  Adding more circulation, she used her wings to spin herself with it to give it extra rotation.

 

In moments, she ruptured the robot’s armor, but something happened that terrified her.

 

A man’s voice screamed.  The person’s body was obliterated by her drill.  She went straight through, exploding through.  She spread her wings and stopped her rotation as she dizzily stared back through the hole.  There were only wires and mechanisms visible aside from the head of the horrified person she’d killed.  

 

Drooping, she stared at the head, but what caught her attention most was that there was no blood anywhere.  The head wasn’t bleeding.

 

She swallowed hard and sighed in relief. It was a robot to begin with.

 

Even so, Aurora swallowed again as her heart leapt into her throat and she choked, considering what could have happened if a normal human being had been piloting the thing.  She resolved to be more careful in the future.  Sheer luck wouldn’t protect her forever.

 

She only thought about dismantling the thing in the most effective way she could think of.  Her concussive blasts might not have done enough damage, and that method might have led to its own issues. She had been blind about how much power she truly had and took it for granted.

 

Aurora flitted into the hole she drilled through the robot and examined the inside, but what caught her eye most was the dismembered head of the robot.  

 

Was this some kind of a highly sophisticated robot? 

 

But why would a robot pilot another larger one?  It was the same earlier on Glass Bridge. Robots within robots.  It was the inception.  Aurora’s head hung over.

 

She plucked the robot’s head out from inside and flinched as though he was alive, but then there was another reason to scream. Its eyes focused on hers and its mouth opened hugely to yell at her!

 

“Curse you, hero! Now watch as the city pays the price for your actions!” Its eyes flew back towards where she’d flown from and after a few seconds of nothing happening, his attention fixed back on Aurora. 

 

“So, you’ve disarmed my robots… how clever… but my revenge is not finished yet! This plot may have failed, but I will have my revenge! You haven’t yet disarmed this robot!” Yeah, she kind of disembodied him.  “BERSERKER MODE!”

 

The robot’s features twitched with impotent rage and then he started to laugh and the thing’s voice started degenerating quickly from a human’s to a tinny-sounding speaker.  Sparks flew around inside the robot and a mass of scrap fell from the hole.

 

Inside, a glowing mote around the size of a rugby ball was uncovered after the scrap fell away and started to spin and grow brighter, pulsing.  The robot sprang into action and started twirling like a ballet dancer, striking out at the nearby buildings. Her shock nearly paralyzed her, but she barely was able to avoid the first swinging of its limbs.

 

Aurora backpedaled, grasping the head’s ‘hair’.  She stared at the face of the biggest and most dire enemy she ever had. Her eyes narrowed and she created a mini halo construction attached to him so he’d hang from her waist like some kind of an oversized keychain.  

 

With her hands free, she extended her hands to open fire on the dancing rampaging robot.  She knew that hitting the cockpit like she did would cause issues, but the situation was even worse. She had a feeling things were bad. The glowing thing flashed at her through the brief windows that opened when it turned its back or front to her, but it’s motions were erratic.

 

Focusing on the glowing orb, she realized that it was the key.  The nuclear core Utility had suggested the robot might have.  Would it explode if it was attacked?

 

Aurora started blasting at the cockpit, launching one beam after another and continued, unable to land a hit on more than its armor, and it’s spinning deflected her blasts. This thing’s motions were impossible to predict.  There was no set pattern to how it moved.  Finally, after a time she fired off a lucky blast and it hit the glowing orb, causing a strange sound, a peal as though it was a crystal bell.

 

The robot staggered the moment she hit it and the lights under its domed head dimmed for a moment but it started moving again in the same annoying way.

 

“That’s right, hero, keep fighting! Detonate the static lattice and doom the city, YOURSELF! HAHAHAHAHA!”

 

Aurora paused, nodding.  “I see. Thanks for that… I’ll change my strategy.” She generated shields around herself and flew around the robot, waiting for an opportunity to dash into the cockpit.  

 

It was a race between her winged speed versus its mechanical frenzy.

 

Since destroying this glowing orb was a mistake, removing it might be the right move.  It clearly was very powerful, but she had a way with energy, particularly that of light. Perhaps she could withstand whatever energy it was emanating.

 

Her wings buzzed almost like a hummingbird’s as she flew around the robot, ignoring the constant stream of taunting from the head of her opponent which hung from her waist like a strange ornament.  It took time and concentration but finally the moment came. She quickly twisted her body and dove into the cockpit.  

 

Flying as fast as she could, she sped inside.  Worrying about something like stopping was second to the need of getting inside.  She knew that her momentum might carry her straight through again, so she had to make this count.

 

As she passed through, she formed a large baseball glove so she couldn’t possibly miss the orb.  She tore through and ripped the orb free from whatever force suspended it inside the robot.  

 

She pushed the glove out in front of her as she closed her field around it to bind the core.  The moment it was wrenched out, the robot’s motions slowed, robbed of the source of its power.  It stopped with one arm reached for the sky and its fingers clenched like it was going through rigamortis.  

 

Feeling the energy pulsing against and into her shields, the energy of the orb started to surge and amplify.  This kind of power was too much for her to deal with. It was clearly going out of control and it would go critical soon.

 

Confirming her thoughts, the villain laughed his derision again.  “Ha ha ha! Now you know that the unstable core’s energy was being drawn by my robot! This kept it stable even though it was destroying everything in range! Now, without an outlet, it will amplify and its energy will grow so great that not even you can suppress it! Hahahahahahaha!”

 

“You say that, but you don’t really know me.” Aurora grinned and pulled the orb towards her chest.  It might hurt to do this, but since she was sensitive to its energy, maybe she could siphon some of the energy like the robot hand and buy the city some time.  Was this power anything like solar energy?  Was it fusion or fission?  

 

Would her ploy work out?  It may not outright resolve her immediate problem, but she could get it away from the city in time, hopefully. Maybe even into orbit.  She’d never tried going into space yet.  Now was a good time to try.

 

Aurora focused and pushed her field as close to the core as possible. The power surged against her, but determinedly she created tiny wedges with her halo power and synthesized a connection of sorts with it.  The wedges jammed into its lattice as he called it.  

 

When the connection was made, there was a powerful pulsing that erupted into her. It immediately tainted her aura, changing it from the lovely aurora effect it had to a sick greenish mixed with blue.  Her energy mixed with its.  

 

Aurora sprang into action and angled towards the ocean, gaining altitude as she rocketed upwards and outwards. The energy burned slightly in her wings causing motes to fly and fall as though her body was trying to expel some of the harsh energy.  The motes rained down on the city and bay as she flew.  It became more and more uncomfortable as though her skin was being scraped by a hard-bristled brush.

 

It was fine at first, but very soon she felt rubbed raw.  It was painful to do… but not impossible… not yet.

 

She worked to overcome these overwhelming sensations of pain. She’d never felt so bad in her whole life, but she felt she deserved it for handling the situation better. 

 

Pushing onwards and ever upwards, higher and higher, she could only wonder if this was going to be the end of her?

 

She formed a field around herself, so she’d be able to breathe if she reached space and pushed further and harder, using some of this uncontainable energy that was filling her to the brim and was torturing her.

 

It was exciting to rocket into space and yet she couldn’t be giddy when she hurt so much.  She cried as she reached air that tasted like ozone.  The air in her capsule was already becoming stale due to the heat of her field acting as both a conductor and resistor.  She turned upwards, knowing that she couldn’t make it all the way to space as dizzy as she was getting.  

 

She hurled the core higher ahead of her and got some hasty bearings and fired, her hands pressed together as she thrusted and expelled all the excess energy that was torturing her body. 

 

The energy was a massive shaft of light that was a sparking electric blue and green light with energy crackling through and around it as it shot into space. Her blast hit the core and pushed it onwards into space. 

 

It pulsed strongly as her beam carried it off.  The incandescence of it grew so much it resembled a star which outshone her beam.  The brilliance of her beam which was amplified by it was overshadowed by the luminescence of the core. She watched it bemusedly as she fell, but she hadn’t expelled all the energy that had invaded her body.

 

She blasted after it repeatedly, forcing every bit of the disgusting energy which had mixed with her own sun-sourced power.  The moment she was rid of the energy, she was nearly out of her own energy.  It would have taken her apart from the inside if she hadn’t expelled it. She knew it, but then...

 

And then …

             Then …

                       There was an explosion of blue-white that flashed across the sky, searing her vision.  

 

Aurora was momentarily blinded. The explosion of light was followed with a massive backlash that rippled into and through Earth’s atmosphere. The force threw down towards Earth and she tumbled and spun out of control.  She struggled to tell which was up and down but it was impossible.  Tears fell from her eyes and she screamed, her heart hammering fit to match a jackhammer’s force.

 

She was going to die.

 

“Shhh… be calm.” Dark Angel’s voice echoed in her head. “I won't let you die, after all.” she said, her voice soft and breathy, almost seductive.

 

“Feel me. I’m not befuddled by your physical state…” she whispered and something like physical hands gripped her body, pulling her slightly, positioning her.  

 

“... trust me in this, and I shall let you alone for a time again.”