The Dark Ages [Dark Data]

[Hiro Protagonist]

The samurai was hunkered behind the massive bulk of Okor's armor, steadying his breathing as his goggles traced out the defense grid overlay on his HUD. Centaur Man laughed as he sent a wave of floating orbs right at all of them, Hiro trying to analyze the Darkling Machine's composition. Why did it seem so familiar? There was something about his attacks, his body, his energy...he dodged out behind Okor and sliced one of the bullets in half with his tanto, the katana undergoing a repair cycle on his hip. The energy discharge burned his forearms, the tanto not having enough range to disable the plasmic projectiles at a safe range. Well...if that was the only weapon he had at his disposal...then he'd just have to get closer.

He sheathed one of the omnilium treated blade, pulling out his pistol and advancing as he answered Centaur Man's barrage with some shots of his own, his metal frame thunking and creaking as the monomolecular shuriken carved dints into his armor. As fast and powerful as the Darkling Commander was, he couldn't focus on all of them at once, and with Okor firing a steady stream of bubonic bolts at him, Samus blasting him with bolts of energy, and Madotsuki sending waves of dream energy in the form of giant fists, the speedy hacker went unnoticed for the few precious seconds he needed to dash into range of the robotic centaur.

"Get the hell back, loser! I'll stomp you flat! Gyahahaha!" The half machine half manhorse reared up once more, those metal hooves flailing through the air and coming down where Hiro had been a second ago. Just before the impact, he'd shrugged off his coat and dug both tanto into Centaur Man's wide and armored underbelly, using his enhanced flexibility and acrobatic skills to cling underneath their enemy. Hiro blinked and rolled upwards, kicking his boots up in the air and stabbing new handholds into Centaur Man as he tried to buck the hacker off, going full on crazed equine. "Ah! What the...get off!" The commander howled, kicking his back legs and firing indiscriminately all around, unable to focus on the hacker climbing up his body and the other four attackers.

"Yeah...give me about a minute, and I will." Hiro spat, landing on the mechanical myth's back, stabbing his tanto deep into the machine's armor plating and peeling off a sizable plate of armor. Upon seeing the exposed wires, tubes, and what looked like biomechanical plasma, the digital daimyo realized why Centaur Man had seemed so familiar. He was a living program. Just like Colonel, the bot he'd met in Dante's Abyss. Same internals, same operating system, probably. But he didn't have thirty minutes to mess around in the Commander's root menu, he had less than thirty seconds. And with the gaping "wound" he'd just caused...maybe.

He clicked something on his wristcomp, and reached forward, fastening his arms around the hulking half horse's neck, squeezing tightly and attempting to choke him out. "Are....are you serious, buddy?" The Darkling asked incredulously. Hiro just kept squeezing and grunting. "Worst mistake of your life, moron! Catch!" The Darkling twisted his head...his severely pointy head.

Hiro's eyes went dead as one of the side horns stabbed straight through his skull and withdrew, leaving a gaping bloody hole. Centaur Man guffawed, and paused a second to stare with glee at the rest of the Liberators. "One down, four to go! Haw haw haw!" Hiro's limp corpse lolled on his back, limbs flailing as it began to slide off.

"Actually, you missed."

KSSHBOOOOOM

Centaur Man was enveloped in a crackling haze of dark purple energy, Hiro's finger outstretched towards him as he perched on a tree branch above the fight, his frame pulsing with the same purple energy. "Woah there, Hoss! Looks like we got a wild filly to break!" He quipped, grinning boastfully and tapping his wristcomp at his compatriots. "What did I tell you? These chips are coming in handy!"

696 Words
Used Body Double Dark Chip