Chapter 15: Armageddon Part II [Machines and Men]

Same afternoon

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Amaku cautiously eyed his ambushers, five victory bots and a single Imperial. He remained in his fighting stance, his red and black aura surrounding him. He keenly observed them as they had their weapons pointed at him, his eyes glowing the same shade of red as his opposition. Although he appeared ready to fight on the outside, he was still reeling from his previous encounter. 

 

“Five light weight units and a single heavy unit,” Amaku thought. “The heavy one will be easy enough to maneuver around, but the light ones will be more of an issue. Their ranged weaponry makes it even more difficult since my barrier’s been overused at this point, and the openness of this clearing isn’t helping.” 

Amaku looked around him at the woodsy area beyond the clearing, filled with heavy foliage and trees. 

“I could try leading them into the woods, try to utilize the trees as cover, but that would waste time and could draw some unwanted attention. I’d be dealing with both the robots and other cadets.”

 

Amaku’s gaze then shifted back to his mechanized opposition. 

“I have to end this fight here, and fast…but even so, with no way to defend against the Victory units’ non-lethal ammunition, that’s easier said than done…unless…” 

Amaku looked down at the ground, twisting his foot in the dirt. The ground itself was relatively soft and easy to dig his toes through. 

“…Soft ground…maybe,” 

Amaku then turned his gaze back to the robots. 

“Surrender now, initiate. You are trapped and outnumbered,” one of the robots said. 

“You may be right…well, half right,” said Amaku. “I may be outnumbered,” his aura’s intensity growing as he clenched his fists. “…But I’m not the one who’s trapped here.” 

 

Amaku then raised his arms high into the air and with a loud battle cry, he slammed them down on the ground. The impact resulted in a miniature earthquake that shook the surrounding area and encompassed the clearing and some space beyond it in a huge dust cloud. By the time the robots opened fire on Amaku, they were too late, their rubber bullets hitting nothing but air and the bark of trees on the borders of the clearing. 

“Target lost, fan out and reacquire,” the Imperial unit commanded. The other robots complied, circling up around the Imperial unit and moving forward through the dust cloud in search of Amaku. They scanned through the thick cloud, red lasers emanating from their gatling gun arms as they scanned the surrounding area. They could barely even see a meter in front of them due to the dust. Then, suddenly, something rushed past one of the Victory units, creating the briefest of sounds. The robot quickly turned to look behind it, aiming its weapon in the direction of the noise, only to find more dust. 

A brief moment later, the sound of metal being destroyed came from the opposite direction. The robots quickly turned in the direction of the noise and opened fire. Once again, their shots met no mark but air and bark. All they could see was dust and the cleaved-in-half remains of one of their own.

 

“T-t-t-tar-ta-tar-rg-g-ge-get…a-a-a-ac-c-cqui-i-i-red…” the robot glitched and sputtered, its single red eye jittering and flashing before finally slowly dying out. As this was happening, the sound of metal being destroyed once again sounded in the opposite direction which the robots were facing. Once again the others turned and fired in the direction of the sound while the Imperial unit thrusted its tail in the same direction. The tail and projectiles once again hit nothing as the robots were greeted with the sight of another one of their destroyed comrades. As they once again resumed their scan, one of the Victory units fired into the dust cloud.  

“Target acquired!” the robot said, letting loose a hail of bullets into the dust. The other robots turned in the same direction and fired, once again hitting nothing. 

“Target lost!” said the robot who initially opened fire. Once again, the sound of metal being torn rang out and another robot was destroyed. Not long after, the other three Victory units were swiftly dispatched in a similar manner. 

 

It was at this point that only the Imperial unit remained. 

“Clearing area!” the robot announced. It then fully extended its tail out behind it and performed a full circular swing with it. The attack hit Amaku as he was attempting to maneuver around it and smacked him into a tree on the border of the clearing. The attack also cleared away a great deal of the dust. Amaku groaned painfully as his back slammed into the trunk of the tree. The Imperial unit wasted no time and quickly charged straight at Amaku while he was still reeling from the impact. Once within range, the robot thrust its scorpion-like tail forward at Amaku, who quickly caught the tail before it found its mark. Amaku grimaced in great effort as he continued to resist against the robot’s strength, the bark of the tree he had his back against was splintering and cracking. Little by little, the tale drew closer and closer despite his efforts. 

“Resistance is futile, initiate!” the robot said. “Surrender now! You have lost!” 

 

Amaku stared at the robot in its single eye, the red glow of his own eyes growing even brighter. 

“...No…” he growled, gritting his teeth as his rage began to fester and his muscle mass increased as he pushed back against the tail. The robot began to give up ground as Amaku slowly brought himself to his feet. 

“...NO…!” he viciously seethed in anger as he continued to push against the robot. 

“I’ve given everything to make it this far!!” he thought as he rose to his feet. “And I’ll be DAMNED if I let you worthless rust buckets take that away from me!!!” 

 

Amaku then gripped the robot’s tail tightly, crushing the metal in his hands like a pair of iron vices. With a mighty roar, he jumped into the air and carried the robot with him, then came back down to the ground and slammed the robot on its back. The loud destructive sound of metal being crushed echoed out upon impact. Amaku, with the robot’s tail still held tightly in his grip, Lifted the robot over his head and slammed it down to the ground once more. The sound of crushed metal once again rang out. The robot’s chassis was further destroyed upon impact. 

 

Amaku repeated this five more times until he finally left the robot on its back side. The robot was left in tatters; its main body was bent and torn, two of its legs had come off from the repeated slams, and the head which looked similar to its tail was holding on to the main body by just a few wires. 

“M-m-m-m-Mai-ai-ain sy-sy-y-y-yst-e-e-ems-s-s c-c-co-com-m-mp-pr-r-ro-om-m-mi-i-ised…'' the robot stuttered and squirmed in its malfunctioning, broken state. 

 

Despite the robot’s condition, Amaku’s rage was still boiling as he stared at his battered and beaten opponent with his crimson burning eyes. He pulled along the tail and dragged the main body closer to him. Once the main body was at his feet, placed a foot on the robot’s back side, grabbed hold of the base of the tail, and with a vicious battle cry, ripped the tail out of its socket. He then raised it over his head and with another vicious cry, savagely drove the tail through the chassis straight through to the other side. The tail went straight into the ground, spilling oil like a spear spilling the blood of a fresh kill. With this final attack, the robot ceased its glitching and fidgeting, its single glowing red eye slowly dying out. 

 

Amaku released the tail and left it in the chassis of his opponent. He slowly backed away from the robot’s remains, his breath heaving in a mix of rage and exhaustion as his aura radiated from him. He stared at what he’d done with eyes filled with burning hatred. After staring for a few seconds, the fog of his anger began to clear as he regained his awareness. He slowly realized what he’d done, looking down at his hands which were covered in oil. He quickly composed himself, closing his eyes and clenching his fists. He eventually brought his breathing under control, which caused his flame-like aura to die down and his muscle mass to revert to normal. 

 

As this was happening, he heard the sound of a sharp object tearing through metal come from directly behind him. His head suddenly shot up and his eyes opened upon hearing this sound. He quickly looked behind him to find that one of the victory units was laying on the floor heavily damaged, yet still semi-functional as it pointed its one working gatling gun at him. What truly surprised him was the shuriken that he found had been lodged into its head. With this final blow, the robot fully collapsed and shut down. Upon further inspection, the shuriken itself looked like some sort of…ethereal black light construct. 

 

As he looked to his right, he soon realized where it came from. At the edge of the clearing, he saw someone standing among the foliage. The individual’s face was being hidden by the shadow of the trees, hiding their identity. Amaku quickly got into a fighting stance once again, trying to hide his exhaustion. 

“Show yourself!” He demanded. 

“Whoa, whoa, take it easy, man!” the individual said, quickly putting his hands up. Amaku’s expression shifted from one of aggression to one of confusion, the voice sounded familiar to him. The figure then slowly emerged from the trees and it was revealed to be Aizo. 

“Hell of a way to say ‘thank you’,” he joked, putting his hands down. 

Amaku let his arms fall and let out a heavy sigh.  

“Sorry,” he said in a tone of relief. “And thank you, but I had this under control.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” Aizo continued as he made his way over to Amaku. “But I couldn’t let you have all the fun,” he playfully shrugged. 

“Again, I strongly insist you speak with a psychiatric professional about your definition of fun,” said Amaku with an eyebrow raised. Aizo’s expression shifted to one of boredom as he dropped his arms to his sides. 

“Life of the party, aren’t you?” he said sarcastically. 

“I don’t party,” Amaku replied dryly. Aizo rolled his eyes and sighed in response. 

“How’d you find me?” Asked Amaku. 

“How couldn’t I? After I landed, I ended up watching that massive light-show you and Astrid made from your fight,” said Aizo, pointing up at the sky. “After you two clashed and made that huge explosion, I followed the trail of red light l that fell and I found you here. Took down one or two robots on the way.” 

“I see,” Amaku acknowledged. “Did you see where she landed?”

“Yep, saw a blue trail fly out towards the shoreline,” Aizo pointed past Amaku. “She probably landed somewhere along the beach.” 

Amaku looked in the direction Aizo was pointing. 

“Got it. She’ll probably be out of commission for a while.”

“How do you figure?” aske Aizo. 

“When we were fighting, she may have been able to dish out significant damage, but she wasn’t nearly as proficient on the defensive. So logically, however much damage I may have taken on landing, she probably had it worse. So we should-…wait.”

 

Amaku perked his ears up as he heard something come from within the forest beyond the clearing. He heard the sound of twigs being crushed underfoot and the rustle of leaves. 

“What?” said Aizo, “What is-”

“SSHH!” said Amaku, putting up a hand to silence him. He turned his head to the left and continued to listen as he heard more movement beyond the clearing. 

“You hear that?” asked Amaku. 

“...Hear what?” Aizo shrugged. Not a moment later, the snapping of twigs was mixed with the faint sound of voices. The noise was drawing closer. 

“Dude, what’re you-”

“Move! Move!” Amaku whispered aggressively, shoving Aizo to the edge of the clearing. 

 

The two of them each hid behind a separate tree. Aizo gave Amaku a look of confused shock and was about to say something, but Amaku put a finger to his lips and pointed back out towards the clearing. Not a moment later, some sort of blade came cutting through the bushes, followed by two other initiates. Both were around similar heights, though one was more muscular than the other and had blonde styled like a flat-top. The other cadet had a slightly less bulky build and his hair was also blonde, but styled as a short mohawk. His right arm had taken the form of a metal blade which returned to normal form as they emerged from the bushes. 

 

The two cadets looked around the area, observing the wreckage left behind by Amaku. 

“<Damn…tin cans didn’t stand a chance,>” the cadet with the blade arm nervously chuckled, staring in awe at the imperial robot impaled with its own tail. “<Well, at least we’re on the right track. The big guy’s gotta be close.>” 

Based on both appearance and the fact that Amaku felt the odd sensation when they spoke, he confirmed them to be Americans. The other cadet flinched slightly and slapped the back of his neck. 

“<Damn mosquitoes!>” he grunted in annoyance. “<Fucking hate the woods. How do we know he’s even here!?>”

“<Judging by the crater by that tree over there, this is where the red light fell after that explosion in the sky. And if what we saw during his initiation is anything to go by, this is definitely his handy work. After going through Astrid and these rust buckets, he’s bound to be running on empty.>”

“<Christ, this is a waste o’ time,>” the Flat-top cadet argued. “<We shoulda just gone straight for the temple after we landed! We’d have passed the trial by now if we weren’t dickin’ around tryin’ ta’ find one guy!>”

“<Are you forgetting that light show he and Astrid put on?>” the blade arm cadet said, turning to his partner. “<That ‘one guy’ was matching Astrid for strength even though she beat almost everyone else on that plane like it was nothing! So unless we want to be on the receiving end of that, we need to find him and take him out before he recovers! Now will you stop talking and help me out here?>”

 

The two of them continued bickering and as they were, Aizo gently waved to Amaku to get his attention. He pointed to himself and then to the cadet with the blade arm, he then pointed at Amaku and then to the Flat-top cadet. Amaku understood the implication and nodded to Aizo. Aizo then picked up a decent sized rock from the ground and signaled for Amaku to hold his position for the moment. After waiting for the two cadets to look the other way, Aizo then chucked the rock across the clearing towards some bushes on the other side. The two turned in the direction of the noise as the rock rustled amongst the trees. The two briefly looked at each other cautiously then back in the direction of the noise. They slowly approached the noise, the cadet with the mohawk once again forming a blade from his right arm while the flat-top cadet’s hands started emitting flames. 

 

Once they were next to the impaled Imperial unit, Amaku and Aizo made their move and quietly approached them from behind. Aizo was ahead of Amaku, quickly approaching the blade arm cadet, doing his best to match the cadet’s walking pattern. Meanwhile, Amaku followed in behind him and approached the flat-top cadet as quietly and quickly as possible for one of his stature. Aizo was about to perform a silent take down on him, but before he could, he accidentally stepped on a twig which resulted in a loud snap. The cadet quickly turned around to see Aizo sneaking up on him and swung his blade at him. Aizo quickly constructed an old Greek-style-gladius made of solid black light and blocked the attack. The Cadet with the Flat-top turned to see his comrade locked in a clash with Aizo. 

“<I got him!>” he said, winding his arm back as if to send a flaming projectile at Aizo. Before he could do anything, Amaku came up from behind him, kicked him in the back of the leg to force him down to his knees, then tightly wrapped one arm around his throat and the other around his mouth. The flat-top cadet struggled as he was robbed of air, trying to break free of Amaku’s hold. In a move of desperation, the Cadet lit his hands on fire and grabbed the arm around his throat in an attempt to burn Amaku and make him release him. However, Amaku, taking notice of this, quickly activated his personal barrier and enveloped his arms with it, shielding himself from his victim’s burning touch. The cadet’s struggle eventually ceased and his flames died out as he fell unconscious. 

 

Meanwhile, the blade arm cadet and Aizo were still locked in a duel with one another. During this, Aizo and the cadet were once again locked in a clash and to break it, he forced the cadet’s blade towards the ground and then kneed him in the face. The cadet staggered back a few steps from this counter, holding his bleeding nose while looking at Aizo with anger and frustration. Aizo remained focused and collected, taking a defensive stance with his black blade. The cadet then cried out in anger and charged back at Aizo. Once within range, he thrusted his blade forward at Aizo, who performed a spinning deflect to get behind him. Aizo then struck the back of his opponent's head with the hilt of his sword, knocking him out. 

 

Amaku walked over to Aizo, looking at his handy work. Meanwhile, Aizo looked over towards the impaled robot to see the unconscious flat-top cadet. 

“Huh…neat little trick here,” said Aizo, gesturing to the unconscious cadet. 

“Same for you,” said Amaku, gesturing at Aizo’s blade.  Aizo looked to his hand with what appeared to be a look of disgust and forced the blade to rapidly dematerialize. Amaku took notice of this haste after recalling the slower rate at which the shuriken Aizo had thrown disappeared.

“Thanks,” Azio replied, returning his attention to Amaku. “Might not be all that impressive compared to yours, but it comes in handy in a pinch.” 

“I argue it’s more than just handy,” Amaku humbly retorted. “You may not match my strength, but you clearly out class me in sheer variety of attack options.”

“...Has anyone ever told you you make it frustratingly hard to be humble?” said Aizo, looking up at Amaku and sarcastically shaking his head.

“That one I humbly admit to…we should get moving, no doubt more will be converging here in search of me.”

“Alright, follow me. We should try and meet back up with Kira and Trinity. Superiority in numbers and all.”

“Wait… why weren’t Kira and Trinity with you when you landed?” asked Amaku.

“Well, after Astrid separated you from the group, I told Trinity to send me in your general direction to back you up,” Aizo replied. “The plan was to back you up and finish the fight once you landed and then you and I would regroup with the girls, but Astrid wasn’t letting you touch the ground. So I improvised from there.” 

“Why not have them come with you?” asked Amaku. “You did literally just suggest ‘superiority in numbers’ after all, so why come after me alone?”

“Well…it was a split second decision, and I didn’t want to drag them into the fight if I didn’t have to.”

“I see,” said Amaku, taking a moment to process this. “Well then, lead the way.”

With that, Amaku and Aizo made their way through the woods.