05-19-2018, 07:58 AM
The Metal Shark Player was gone. Formerly a fearsome darkloid commander, the monstrosity had been humbled by the combined might of the four surviving Liberators. With the machine’s death, however, the entire verse had started to destabilize. In the aftermath of that first explosion, Blink and Proto Cloud found themselves quickly separated as what remained of the factory started to erupt—pieces of machinery and stockpiles of fuel and sundries exploding as they were torn apart and engulfed into the twisting nothing of the Void.
“Which direction is out?” Cloud spoke a loud as he rolled once before popping back up to a vertical position. He glanced back to where Blink should be but found no traces of her, even with his cybernetically augmented senses and scanners.
“Straight ahead,” Proto Man shouted from a few yards behind Cloud. The soldier furrowed his brow and glanced over his shoulder to see the preteen machine jogged to meet him. “What are you waiting for? Run!”
“What are you waiting for?”
“Cole. The gunslinger.”
“What about him?”
Proto Man craned his neck. With the pocket verse destabilized, his scanners had borderline rudimentary functionality. Even if they didn’t, he was certain he could somehow use the little piece of Liberator tech on his wrist to track down the gunslinger. Hacking wasn’t needed, because he had already managed to triangulate the whereabouts of their four ally, and something was off with it. “I think he’s hurt. He’s not moving fast enough. He needs help.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Not a chance,” Proto Man barked as he lifted his arm cannon and leveled it with the man’s chest. “Try and I will send you rocketing out of this verse without a second thought about it.”
Cloud, even though he couldn’t see through the android’s visor, knew well enough to just nod his head and resume his retreat back into the Omniverse proper. With the blonde soldier safe for the moment, Proto Man started running to the location of the fourth Liberator. As he had feared, he found Cole limping feverishly away from the ruins of the factory. The man’s left arm was extended behind his back, squeezing the trigger of his handgun in little more than a desperation attempt to stave off the surviving darklings.
Proto Man had two seconds to wonder where his friend’s other gun had gone, and then the preteen machine saw the bloody stump where Cole’s right arm had been. “Fiddlesticks,” the robot rasped as he sprinted forward. With a few bounding steps, he got next to the wounded Liberator, planted his feet, and released a spray of machine gun-style energy bursts from the Proto Buster. A few howls rose from the darkening wreckage behind them, but that couldn’t be the focus right now.
“Can you run?” The machine asked Cole, whose skin was nearly devoid of any color. Sweat and blood and grim covered most of the young man’s face, and his clothes had been reduced to tattered shreds that loosely clung to his form.
“I… I think I’m going to die here,” Cole whispered as he blinked to clear out the momentary haze. Behind them, he saw for the first time the revenant of the shark creature at the center of the verse. For the first time, Cole saw that the pocket verse was steadily collapsing into nothingness. “It’s getting faster… the collapse.”
“Oh, for the love of criminy, shut your mouth,” Proto Man groaned as he eyed the man’s stump. It was still bleeding, and in his initial stupor, Cole had been unable to treat it. “Hold still,” the machine whispered as he summoned an energy sword.
Had he been a little clearer of mind, there was a chance the gunslinger may have been able to react quicker. Instead, he barely managed a yelp as the preteen machine gently grazed his stump with the energy blade, cauterizing the exposed tissues and bone in a matter of moments. “Oh fu—”
“Language!” Proto Man barked as he deactivated the sword and stepped up into Cole. The man’s final syllable was lost to him as he was scooped off his feet and dumped over the shoulders of the child-sized robot. “I apologize if this wasn’t your image of a victorious withdrawal,” the robot added as he set his sights on the edge of the pocket verse and started to run. Unlike the battered Cole, Proto Man hadn’t lost many steps.
He only had to hope that he hadn’t lost too much time in going back to retrieve the young man.
“Which direction is out?” Cloud spoke a loud as he rolled once before popping back up to a vertical position. He glanced back to where Blink should be but found no traces of her, even with his cybernetically augmented senses and scanners.
“Straight ahead,” Proto Man shouted from a few yards behind Cloud. The soldier furrowed his brow and glanced over his shoulder to see the preteen machine jogged to meet him. “What are you waiting for? Run!”
“What are you waiting for?”
“Cole. The gunslinger.”
“What about him?”
Proto Man craned his neck. With the pocket verse destabilized, his scanners had borderline rudimentary functionality. Even if they didn’t, he was certain he could somehow use the little piece of Liberator tech on his wrist to track down the gunslinger. Hacking wasn’t needed, because he had already managed to triangulate the whereabouts of their four ally, and something was off with it. “I think he’s hurt. He’s not moving fast enough. He needs help.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Not a chance,” Proto Man barked as he lifted his arm cannon and leveled it with the man’s chest. “Try and I will send you rocketing out of this verse without a second thought about it.”
Cloud, even though he couldn’t see through the android’s visor, knew well enough to just nod his head and resume his retreat back into the Omniverse proper. With the blonde soldier safe for the moment, Proto Man started running to the location of the fourth Liberator. As he had feared, he found Cole limping feverishly away from the ruins of the factory. The man’s left arm was extended behind his back, squeezing the trigger of his handgun in little more than a desperation attempt to stave off the surviving darklings.
Proto Man had two seconds to wonder where his friend’s other gun had gone, and then the preteen machine saw the bloody stump where Cole’s right arm had been. “Fiddlesticks,” the robot rasped as he sprinted forward. With a few bounding steps, he got next to the wounded Liberator, planted his feet, and released a spray of machine gun-style energy bursts from the Proto Buster. A few howls rose from the darkening wreckage behind them, but that couldn’t be the focus right now.
“Can you run?” The machine asked Cole, whose skin was nearly devoid of any color. Sweat and blood and grim covered most of the young man’s face, and his clothes had been reduced to tattered shreds that loosely clung to his form.
“I… I think I’m going to die here,” Cole whispered as he blinked to clear out the momentary haze. Behind them, he saw for the first time the revenant of the shark creature at the center of the verse. For the first time, Cole saw that the pocket verse was steadily collapsing into nothingness. “It’s getting faster… the collapse.”
“Oh, for the love of criminy, shut your mouth,” Proto Man groaned as he eyed the man’s stump. It was still bleeding, and in his initial stupor, Cole had been unable to treat it. “Hold still,” the machine whispered as he summoned an energy sword.
Had he been a little clearer of mind, there was a chance the gunslinger may have been able to react quicker. Instead, he barely managed a yelp as the preteen machine gently grazed his stump with the energy blade, cauterizing the exposed tissues and bone in a matter of moments. “Oh fu—”
“Language!” Proto Man barked as he deactivated the sword and stepped up into Cole. The man’s final syllable was lost to him as he was scooped off his feet and dumped over the shoulders of the child-sized robot. “I apologize if this wasn’t your image of a victorious withdrawal,” the robot added as he set his sights on the edge of the pocket verse and started to run. Unlike the battered Cole, Proto Man hadn’t lost many steps.
He only had to hope that he hadn’t lost too much time in going back to retrieve the young man.
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