Neo Chronicles: Black Void
Episode 34: Brace Myself for the Worst
Table of Contents
Mera's fast when she runs. It's takin' everything I've got to keep up, an' I'm still trailin' behind her. I'm huffin' an' puffin', makin' sure to breath in through my nose an' out my mouth. The sword I'm holdin' is lightin' up. The blue aura comin' from it covers my whole bein'. It makes the trek easier.
All along the halls, we see the same thing. Bodies on top of bodies. Most of 'em are the crew. Littered every which way. They've been beaten, shot up, torn up, blistered, dismembered. Their blood, as varied in color as can be, stains the floors.
A short while ago, Kal-Artang tol' me this was the last of our ships left in the fleet. Said it was up t'us to fight an' take it back. When I told Mera, she seemed to take those words to heart. She's fightin' for a cause: her right to live.
We make our way to the upper deck of the ship. Definitely a lot more action goin' on in this part of the hall. Looks like this is where most of the fight's been centered in on. From the looks of it, the police force is tryna tear its way to the control room up ahead. There's a wall of plasma blockin' their way to the door, which is a good thing. For now.
At the rate things're goin', it'll be no time before they tear their way through. An' the ragtag group of misfits on guard ain't gonna do much to deter them, either.
Among the group, I see a few familiar faces. Kal-Artang's off in front. Perched down on one knee. He's got that Gatlin he picked up from before. It's drawn out. Aimed right at some soldier's head. Rutra's all incognito. Runnin' real low profile. If I didn't look up – He's sticking to the ceilin'. Shadows workin' as his cover. His rifle's drawn out. He peerin' through the scope, ready to snipe.
An' there're the people I don't know: some punpkin headed centaur with a pistol in both of his hands, a giraffe lookin' somethin' with a turtle shell for a torso holdin' a large cannon. There's that four armed, diamond plated dude that picked a fight with me that one time. Got a laser cannon in each arm.
The soldiers march in unison. Rifles outward, aimed at the makeshift blockade that the pirates have formed. Four, five, six mechs stand behind them. Their Gatlin's, missile launchers, an' laser cannons are charged at the ready.
I see the look in Mera's eyes. She's ready to fight. She's ready to kill. She's ready to die. We stand on the outskirts of the scuffle. Any second now, this hall's gonna be lit up. I ain't puttin' money on any of dem fools for survivin'.
I grab Mera by the hand to get her attention. She turns to me. “What?” she asks. She sounds annoyed. Is she annoyed? She might be scared. Anxious. That makes more sense.
“Uh,” don't stumble. Jus' spit it out. “Yo, look. This doesn't look like it's gonna go too good.”
“That's why we need to help.”
“Yeah, yeah. You right.” I say. Then looking away, I bring up an “Or.” How is she gonna react? Would it be best to leave her? “Or we could sit back an' wait it out.”
“What?”
“See, me an' Carlos—you know that dude that looks like me—got this plan. Soon as he ports back, we're gonna make a break for it. Leave this ship, leave these pirates, these cops, an' this whole life behind. I know I hate it here. I've hated it every single day since they took me. I can't imagine you like it all too much, neither. They did you like they did me, right? That whole 'join or die' thing? Yeah, I remember you tellin' me that.”
She looks like she doesn't quite get it. Tilts her head slightly, narrows her eyes. Did I sell it right? Should I go on? Explain myself better? Always had trouble puttin' my thoughts into words.
Before she answers, I begrudgingly moan. “Y'know what? Forget it. Forget I said anything. Or don't. Think it over. All I'm doin' is offerin' you a choice. I'll stay an' fight for as long I can, but I'm lettin' you know right now. As soon as Carlos come get me, I am out. You can stay if you want, but I'll be gone.”
And as if right on queue, Carlos pops into existence. Straight outta thin air. He's here. He's here an' he's bleedin'. Oh shoot, he's bleedin' all over. “There you are,” he says to me. He coughs violently, hackin' up blood as he does. In a stumble, he looses his footing after three steps.
I hear the first shot fired from behind. The battle to take the control room wages on in the background. I glance over to see the lights from the lasers an' explosions take place. Then I immediately look back at the small crisis in front of me.
Carlos falls into Mera's arms. There's a huge, burned up skid mark along the entirety of his back. The gash is deep. An' as if that wasn't enough, there're bullet holes all along his arms, legs, an' feet, too. Dude looks like he's been through a cheese grater.
Every time he takes a breath, a loud groan comes along with it. I don't know what to do with this.
“Was this – ” Mera asks.
“Yup,” I respond.
The noises from the battle are so loud, I can barely hear myself think. I pace back an' forth a few times. Then I grab hold of Carlos's hand an' try to get him to hold this sword's handle.
The sword's aura covers over him. That's good. He's still screaming. That's bad. Some of the lesser wounds start to close up. That's good. His screams seem to get louder as the larger wounds try to mend. Don't know if that's bad or good.
“Alto! Alto! Stop!” Carlos cries out as he jerks his hand away from the sword. “Pendejo! What are you doing?”
“Helpin' you out!” I shout back.
“No! Stop, he's coming!”
“Who?”
And then the space in front of us violently tears itself open. A screeching sound—like nails on chalk, like a cat bein' skinned—wildly combats the sounds of machine gun fire behind us. The space opens up, an' a purple, blue, an' black like light shines out. It's like fire. It's like a fog. It's a miniature warp gate. An' out of it steps a man.
Now I say man, but that's only cuz he's got two arms, two legs, a head, an' stands upright. That's the only thing that seems man-like—human like, that is—about him. The next thing that jumps out at me is his hugely deformed left arm. It's a bright red, dark orange, bulky, muscular, demonic lookin' thing. Can't tell if those protrusions are spikes or what.
Left arm aside, the dude's decked out in armor, but it's not like the white armor that the soldiers wear. Nah, it's darker. Like a deep navy blue. All over. An' the armor's a lot more pointy. Like it's got pointed edges in its design. The helmet, for instance, has got three prongs pointing upward from the top, an' a spike on each cheek.
Another difference between this navy blue knight an' the soldiers is that he don't got no gun. Instead, in his right hand is a sword. A big sword. Prolly as big as mine. It's a large, black blade with a blue streak goin' down the middle.
“Ese, don't play with this carbron!” Carlos hacks up.
The navy blue knight looks at me. The dark visor he has in his helmet isn't like the other soldiers. It's got two narrow, red lights in the place where his eyes should be. He looks at Carlos, bleedin' out on the ground. He looks at Mera. Then he looks at the soldiers and pirates behind us.
There's a loud explosion that goes off. The room shakes violently. I turn around an' see smoke comin' from the plasma shield. It's still standing. The pirates look rattled, doe. Like they felt the full brunt force of whatever was shot at 'em. Then I see somethin' disturbing.
The shield flickers.
Crud.
I hear a heavy metal clang along with the sound of somethin' sharp scrapin' up against somethin' hard. I look back at the knight an' see that, with one hand, he's drawin' back his giant sword. The sword looks like it's vibratin', an' vibratin' fast. It's leavin' after images of itself as it moves along.
The knight's covered in a black an' purple fog. The fog is highlighted by bright orange an' deep red lights like flames. His attention isn't on me, Carlos, or even the pirates behind us. He's lookin' directly at the flickerin' plasma shield.
I move before I think of movin'. In as fast a dash as I can muster. As soon as the knight slashes, he fires off a bright orange, red, an' purple colored energy wave. I make my way between it an' the shield, an' swing my blade. The wave is forceful, like wind, but also heavy, like there's somethin' solid drivin' it forward. It's that solid thing that my sword collides with.
I try my best to push back against the attack, both my hands gripped tightly at the hilt, but I'm bein' pushed against, hard. I'm slidin' backwards. My feet skid against the floor. I see my sword light up brighter than its every lit up before. Bright blue. Almost white. I'm covered in the light, an' the light's the only thing standin' in the way of the dark. It feels shocking. Like there's some mad electricity at work here. I hear the cacklin'. I feel the surge.
Then the dark fog starts to dim, like it's bein' sucked up. Now it's jus' the wave—jus' the orange energy blade—that's pushin' me. But it's shrinkin' too. Bit by bit. Droppin' a few inches by the second until there's nothin' left. My sword does its job, an' it absorbs the attack.
I feel more awake than I've ever felt before. More active. More energized. There's sparks of electricity juttin' off from my sword. There's sparks juttin' off from me. The whitish blue aura around me is lightin' up everything from here to the end of the hall an' beyond.
I pull my sword back an' swing like I'm swingin' a baseball bat. All dat energy, all dat power. Jus' as quick as I absorbed it, it's fired off. A wave of blue light, along with a high gust of wind bursts forward. Like lightning, it strikes the navy blue knight. Like thunder, it crashes on impact. An' the impact is huge. A shockwave is sent out. Knocks dang near everybody off they feet. All the soldiers in the background are hit by the sonic boom. All the pirates, too. With all the dust an' smoke kicked up around, I can hardly see.
I'm tired. Gotta take a knee. Lean forward. Plant the blade on the floor. Use it to prop me up. I'm pantin'. Crud. See, this is why I try not to do that energy blade thing. I still can't pace myself with it. It's all or nothin'.
When the smoke clears, I'm hopeful. I hope to see the knight KO'd. I hope to see everyone so baffled, so amazed, so whatever that they pack it up an' leave us be. The first thing I see are his eyes. Dang. Dude ain't e'en actin' like he got hit.
The navy blue knight stands there. His eyes piercin' red. His armor's glowin'. His sword's glowin'. The dark fog around him seems to be even bigger. The orange lightnin' bolts bouncin' off an' on all over his body are all over the place. An' t'make matters worse, more soldiers an' more mechs come marchin' in behind him.
His eyes narrow. “Kill them all.” An' at his command, the soldiers an' mechs fire their bazookas an' Gats, grenade an' missile launchers, pulse cannons an' lasers. Only thing goin' through my mind right now is t'stand my ground, pray, an' hope for the best.
I hold my sword out in front me. The initial impact it makes with the fireworks does me some good. I get a good charge offa it. The stuff that doesn't hit me hits everyone else, doe. I hear somethin' shatter like glass. I don't need t'know that it's the plasma shield. I know it is, but I don't need t'know.
I step forward, pull my sword back, an' get ready to charge into the madness, but before I make that first step, somethin'—like a bolt of lightnin'—rams itself right into my cheek. I'm so dumbfounded that it takes me at least half a minute to realize that it's that dang knight's messed up fist that did the deed.
What kinda malformed, deformed, jacked up lookin' somethin' –
The knight's demonic arm packs a heavy punch. His fist feels like bone backed up with steel backed up with muscle. Ain't never had somethin' hit me this hard before. My vision starts to fade. I'm seein' stars. My jaw feels like it's on fire.
I raise my sword an' try t'swing back. He quickly does the same. My steel clashes with his. Lightning juts out from both our swords as they make contact. I raise my sword an' swing at him again. Again, our blades clash.
I try to go for a third swing, but before I know it, I feel a sharp sting in the side of my gut. This dude done hit me with a steel toed roundhouse. I buckle under. That kick felt like a train. An' I didn't even see it happen! What kinda speed is that? On some Chris Walker madness.
The next thing I feel is a sharp hit comin' down hard on my shoulder. I look up an' see the knight's got his sword bearin' down on it. Dude jus' tried t'cut me in half! The sword doesn't pierce through. Skin's too tough. Bone's too dense. Thank you God for my ST, but all dat heat? All dat energy behind it? An' the fact that the blade's insanely sharp. I grit my teeth, tense up my muscles. Good God, it hurts!
When the knight sees that he's not cuttin' through, he takes that big, demonic arm of his an' uppercuts the mess outta me.
My jaw is sent up. I fall back on my tail. Then I quickly look up to see that he's comin' at me with a horizontal slash of his sword. I go flat, an' roll along the floor, feelin' the huge gust of wind brush over me. Then he comes down vertically. I roll the other way, payin' no attention to the fact that he jus' cut all the way through the ground.
After scramblin' to make heads an' tails, I make my way to my feet. Before I know it, the knight's up in my grill again! Not even a second passes before I see him towerin' ova me. His giant blade's held high above his head. I raise mine. Again, the clash is explosive. We exchange strikes a couple more times. He swings; I swing. Sparks shoot off from our blades meeting.
I'm doin' all I can t'keep up with his pace. My heart's poundin'. My eyes is gettin' irritated with all the salty sweat that's drippin' from my forehead. Only thing got me goin' is the knowledge that if I stop for a second—even though I really wanna take that second—I'll prolly end up gutted alive.
The next swing I make is stopped dead in its tracks. The knight reaches out and grabs my blade with his jacked up hand. The three claws are large enough to wrap all the way around it. He's got me stuck in his grip.
Next thing he does is step in an' ram his barbarian-tailed helmet dead center on my forehead. Feels like my brain jus' hit the inside of my skull. Vision starts t'go black. I'm reelin' backwards, 'bout t'lose my footin'. Then he headbutts me again!
Keep it together.
I feel myself losin' the grip on my sword. I quickly tighten it an' try t'pull back. No luck. It's still stuck in his death-like vise grip. I try to push my weight against his, but his feet are planted firm on the floor. I feel him tryin' t'push against me. I ain't budgin', either.
My head's still achin'. Vision's been goin' in an' out. Gotta find some way t'turn things around.
I feel a sharp pain in my side. Dude jus' swung his giant sword right under my arm. The sharp, death-threatenin' blade is up against the side of my torso. I feel somethin' like a tear well up in my eye. I wince, tryna make the tear go away. I ain't about t'cry over dis.
Dude pulls back an' swings again. An' again. An' again. Same spot. Same strike. Same result. Any one of these slashes feels like they could carve clean through this whole ship. Metal, steel, rock – Dude could prolly cut through a whole dang moon the way he's choppin'. Like a fiend. Like a madman.
I gotta stay strong. Ignore the pain. Use this t'buy some time, t'think of a way to – God, this junk hurts. My knees start to give out. I start to crouch down.
Jus' what he wanted.
Soon as I kneel over, he brings his heavy clad foot up in my head an' kicks out. His heel up against my face. An' there's some force behind the kick, too. Some energy. Like the kick had a rocket behind it. I see bright lights. Colors. I'm sent flyin' across the hall. End up landin' an' skid across the floor.
Lost my sword. Dang. Look up an' see he's got it. Dang. Feel a dull pain in my side. Dang. Get up. Get up now!
Can't move. Hurts too much. I'm lyin' here, watchin' the lasers fire over me. The soldiers have jus' about cleaned up shop. Most of the pirates is lookin' like I feel. Only ones that seem to still be lively are Kal-Artang, Rutra, an' Mera. How that is is beyond me.
I hear a familiar whirring sound. My eyes trail over to a familiar scene. This time it's four soldiers. Two of those major pulse guns I don't like. They charge up an'—well, you know the rest—two large, electrical pulse blasts are sent my way. Against everything that my body's tellin' me, my brain's tellin' me to move. So I jump to my feet. I hear an' feel every tingling sensation in my muscles shout against me. This isn't gonna work. Dang.
The pulse blasts come my way, an' I brace myself for the worst.
Episode 34: Brace Myself for the Worst
Table of Contents
Mera's fast when she runs. It's takin' everything I've got to keep up, an' I'm still trailin' behind her. I'm huffin' an' puffin', makin' sure to breath in through my nose an' out my mouth. The sword I'm holdin' is lightin' up. The blue aura comin' from it covers my whole bein'. It makes the trek easier.
All along the halls, we see the same thing. Bodies on top of bodies. Most of 'em are the crew. Littered every which way. They've been beaten, shot up, torn up, blistered, dismembered. Their blood, as varied in color as can be, stains the floors.
A short while ago, Kal-Artang tol' me this was the last of our ships left in the fleet. Said it was up t'us to fight an' take it back. When I told Mera, she seemed to take those words to heart. She's fightin' for a cause: her right to live.
We make our way to the upper deck of the ship. Definitely a lot more action goin' on in this part of the hall. Looks like this is where most of the fight's been centered in on. From the looks of it, the police force is tryna tear its way to the control room up ahead. There's a wall of plasma blockin' their way to the door, which is a good thing. For now.
At the rate things're goin', it'll be no time before they tear their way through. An' the ragtag group of misfits on guard ain't gonna do much to deter them, either.
Among the group, I see a few familiar faces. Kal-Artang's off in front. Perched down on one knee. He's got that Gatlin he picked up from before. It's drawn out. Aimed right at some soldier's head. Rutra's all incognito. Runnin' real low profile. If I didn't look up – He's sticking to the ceilin'. Shadows workin' as his cover. His rifle's drawn out. He peerin' through the scope, ready to snipe.
An' there're the people I don't know: some punpkin headed centaur with a pistol in both of his hands, a giraffe lookin' somethin' with a turtle shell for a torso holdin' a large cannon. There's that four armed, diamond plated dude that picked a fight with me that one time. Got a laser cannon in each arm.
The soldiers march in unison. Rifles outward, aimed at the makeshift blockade that the pirates have formed. Four, five, six mechs stand behind them. Their Gatlin's, missile launchers, an' laser cannons are charged at the ready.
I see the look in Mera's eyes. She's ready to fight. She's ready to kill. She's ready to die. We stand on the outskirts of the scuffle. Any second now, this hall's gonna be lit up. I ain't puttin' money on any of dem fools for survivin'.
I grab Mera by the hand to get her attention. She turns to me. “What?” she asks. She sounds annoyed. Is she annoyed? She might be scared. Anxious. That makes more sense.
“Uh,” don't stumble. Jus' spit it out. “Yo, look. This doesn't look like it's gonna go too good.”
“That's why we need to help.”
“Yeah, yeah. You right.” I say. Then looking away, I bring up an “Or.” How is she gonna react? Would it be best to leave her? “Or we could sit back an' wait it out.”
“What?”
“See, me an' Carlos—you know that dude that looks like me—got this plan. Soon as he ports back, we're gonna make a break for it. Leave this ship, leave these pirates, these cops, an' this whole life behind. I know I hate it here. I've hated it every single day since they took me. I can't imagine you like it all too much, neither. They did you like they did me, right? That whole 'join or die' thing? Yeah, I remember you tellin' me that.”
She looks like she doesn't quite get it. Tilts her head slightly, narrows her eyes. Did I sell it right? Should I go on? Explain myself better? Always had trouble puttin' my thoughts into words.
Before she answers, I begrudgingly moan. “Y'know what? Forget it. Forget I said anything. Or don't. Think it over. All I'm doin' is offerin' you a choice. I'll stay an' fight for as long I can, but I'm lettin' you know right now. As soon as Carlos come get me, I am out. You can stay if you want, but I'll be gone.”
And as if right on queue, Carlos pops into existence. Straight outta thin air. He's here. He's here an' he's bleedin'. Oh shoot, he's bleedin' all over. “There you are,” he says to me. He coughs violently, hackin' up blood as he does. In a stumble, he looses his footing after three steps.
I hear the first shot fired from behind. The battle to take the control room wages on in the background. I glance over to see the lights from the lasers an' explosions take place. Then I immediately look back at the small crisis in front of me.
Carlos falls into Mera's arms. There's a huge, burned up skid mark along the entirety of his back. The gash is deep. An' as if that wasn't enough, there're bullet holes all along his arms, legs, an' feet, too. Dude looks like he's been through a cheese grater.
Every time he takes a breath, a loud groan comes along with it. I don't know what to do with this.
“Was this – ” Mera asks.
“Yup,” I respond.
The noises from the battle are so loud, I can barely hear myself think. I pace back an' forth a few times. Then I grab hold of Carlos's hand an' try to get him to hold this sword's handle.
The sword's aura covers over him. That's good. He's still screaming. That's bad. Some of the lesser wounds start to close up. That's good. His screams seem to get louder as the larger wounds try to mend. Don't know if that's bad or good.
“Alto! Alto! Stop!” Carlos cries out as he jerks his hand away from the sword. “Pendejo! What are you doing?”
“Helpin' you out!” I shout back.
“No! Stop, he's coming!”
“Who?”
And then the space in front of us violently tears itself open. A screeching sound—like nails on chalk, like a cat bein' skinned—wildly combats the sounds of machine gun fire behind us. The space opens up, an' a purple, blue, an' black like light shines out. It's like fire. It's like a fog. It's a miniature warp gate. An' out of it steps a man.
Now I say man, but that's only cuz he's got two arms, two legs, a head, an' stands upright. That's the only thing that seems man-like—human like, that is—about him. The next thing that jumps out at me is his hugely deformed left arm. It's a bright red, dark orange, bulky, muscular, demonic lookin' thing. Can't tell if those protrusions are spikes or what.
Left arm aside, the dude's decked out in armor, but it's not like the white armor that the soldiers wear. Nah, it's darker. Like a deep navy blue. All over. An' the armor's a lot more pointy. Like it's got pointed edges in its design. The helmet, for instance, has got three prongs pointing upward from the top, an' a spike on each cheek.
Another difference between this navy blue knight an' the soldiers is that he don't got no gun. Instead, in his right hand is a sword. A big sword. Prolly as big as mine. It's a large, black blade with a blue streak goin' down the middle.
“Ese, don't play with this carbron!” Carlos hacks up.
The navy blue knight looks at me. The dark visor he has in his helmet isn't like the other soldiers. It's got two narrow, red lights in the place where his eyes should be. He looks at Carlos, bleedin' out on the ground. He looks at Mera. Then he looks at the soldiers and pirates behind us.
There's a loud explosion that goes off. The room shakes violently. I turn around an' see smoke comin' from the plasma shield. It's still standing. The pirates look rattled, doe. Like they felt the full brunt force of whatever was shot at 'em. Then I see somethin' disturbing.
The shield flickers.
Crud.
I hear a heavy metal clang along with the sound of somethin' sharp scrapin' up against somethin' hard. I look back at the knight an' see that, with one hand, he's drawin' back his giant sword. The sword looks like it's vibratin', an' vibratin' fast. It's leavin' after images of itself as it moves along.
The knight's covered in a black an' purple fog. The fog is highlighted by bright orange an' deep red lights like flames. His attention isn't on me, Carlos, or even the pirates behind us. He's lookin' directly at the flickerin' plasma shield.
I move before I think of movin'. In as fast a dash as I can muster. As soon as the knight slashes, he fires off a bright orange, red, an' purple colored energy wave. I make my way between it an' the shield, an' swing my blade. The wave is forceful, like wind, but also heavy, like there's somethin' solid drivin' it forward. It's that solid thing that my sword collides with.
I try my best to push back against the attack, both my hands gripped tightly at the hilt, but I'm bein' pushed against, hard. I'm slidin' backwards. My feet skid against the floor. I see my sword light up brighter than its every lit up before. Bright blue. Almost white. I'm covered in the light, an' the light's the only thing standin' in the way of the dark. It feels shocking. Like there's some mad electricity at work here. I hear the cacklin'. I feel the surge.
Then the dark fog starts to dim, like it's bein' sucked up. Now it's jus' the wave—jus' the orange energy blade—that's pushin' me. But it's shrinkin' too. Bit by bit. Droppin' a few inches by the second until there's nothin' left. My sword does its job, an' it absorbs the attack.
I feel more awake than I've ever felt before. More active. More energized. There's sparks of electricity juttin' off from my sword. There's sparks juttin' off from me. The whitish blue aura around me is lightin' up everything from here to the end of the hall an' beyond.
I pull my sword back an' swing like I'm swingin' a baseball bat. All dat energy, all dat power. Jus' as quick as I absorbed it, it's fired off. A wave of blue light, along with a high gust of wind bursts forward. Like lightning, it strikes the navy blue knight. Like thunder, it crashes on impact. An' the impact is huge. A shockwave is sent out. Knocks dang near everybody off they feet. All the soldiers in the background are hit by the sonic boom. All the pirates, too. With all the dust an' smoke kicked up around, I can hardly see.
I'm tired. Gotta take a knee. Lean forward. Plant the blade on the floor. Use it to prop me up. I'm pantin'. Crud. See, this is why I try not to do that energy blade thing. I still can't pace myself with it. It's all or nothin'.
When the smoke clears, I'm hopeful. I hope to see the knight KO'd. I hope to see everyone so baffled, so amazed, so whatever that they pack it up an' leave us be. The first thing I see are his eyes. Dang. Dude ain't e'en actin' like he got hit.
The navy blue knight stands there. His eyes piercin' red. His armor's glowin'. His sword's glowin'. The dark fog around him seems to be even bigger. The orange lightnin' bolts bouncin' off an' on all over his body are all over the place. An' t'make matters worse, more soldiers an' more mechs come marchin' in behind him.
His eyes narrow. “Kill them all.” An' at his command, the soldiers an' mechs fire their bazookas an' Gats, grenade an' missile launchers, pulse cannons an' lasers. Only thing goin' through my mind right now is t'stand my ground, pray, an' hope for the best.
I hold my sword out in front me. The initial impact it makes with the fireworks does me some good. I get a good charge offa it. The stuff that doesn't hit me hits everyone else, doe. I hear somethin' shatter like glass. I don't need t'know that it's the plasma shield. I know it is, but I don't need t'know.
I step forward, pull my sword back, an' get ready to charge into the madness, but before I make that first step, somethin'—like a bolt of lightnin'—rams itself right into my cheek. I'm so dumbfounded that it takes me at least half a minute to realize that it's that dang knight's messed up fist that did the deed.
What kinda malformed, deformed, jacked up lookin' somethin' –
The knight's demonic arm packs a heavy punch. His fist feels like bone backed up with steel backed up with muscle. Ain't never had somethin' hit me this hard before. My vision starts to fade. I'm seein' stars. My jaw feels like it's on fire.
I raise my sword an' try t'swing back. He quickly does the same. My steel clashes with his. Lightning juts out from both our swords as they make contact. I raise my sword an' swing at him again. Again, our blades clash.
I try to go for a third swing, but before I know it, I feel a sharp sting in the side of my gut. This dude done hit me with a steel toed roundhouse. I buckle under. That kick felt like a train. An' I didn't even see it happen! What kinda speed is that? On some Chris Walker madness.
The next thing I feel is a sharp hit comin' down hard on my shoulder. I look up an' see the knight's got his sword bearin' down on it. Dude jus' tried t'cut me in half! The sword doesn't pierce through. Skin's too tough. Bone's too dense. Thank you God for my ST, but all dat heat? All dat energy behind it? An' the fact that the blade's insanely sharp. I grit my teeth, tense up my muscles. Good God, it hurts!
When the knight sees that he's not cuttin' through, he takes that big, demonic arm of his an' uppercuts the mess outta me.
My jaw is sent up. I fall back on my tail. Then I quickly look up to see that he's comin' at me with a horizontal slash of his sword. I go flat, an' roll along the floor, feelin' the huge gust of wind brush over me. Then he comes down vertically. I roll the other way, payin' no attention to the fact that he jus' cut all the way through the ground.
After scramblin' to make heads an' tails, I make my way to my feet. Before I know it, the knight's up in my grill again! Not even a second passes before I see him towerin' ova me. His giant blade's held high above his head. I raise mine. Again, the clash is explosive. We exchange strikes a couple more times. He swings; I swing. Sparks shoot off from our blades meeting.
I'm doin' all I can t'keep up with his pace. My heart's poundin'. My eyes is gettin' irritated with all the salty sweat that's drippin' from my forehead. Only thing got me goin' is the knowledge that if I stop for a second—even though I really wanna take that second—I'll prolly end up gutted alive.
The next swing I make is stopped dead in its tracks. The knight reaches out and grabs my blade with his jacked up hand. The three claws are large enough to wrap all the way around it. He's got me stuck in his grip.
Next thing he does is step in an' ram his barbarian-tailed helmet dead center on my forehead. Feels like my brain jus' hit the inside of my skull. Vision starts t'go black. I'm reelin' backwards, 'bout t'lose my footin'. Then he headbutts me again!
Keep it together.
I feel myself losin' the grip on my sword. I quickly tighten it an' try t'pull back. No luck. It's still stuck in his death-like vise grip. I try to push my weight against his, but his feet are planted firm on the floor. I feel him tryin' t'push against me. I ain't budgin', either.
My head's still achin'. Vision's been goin' in an' out. Gotta find some way t'turn things around.
I feel a sharp pain in my side. Dude jus' swung his giant sword right under my arm. The sharp, death-threatenin' blade is up against the side of my torso. I feel somethin' like a tear well up in my eye. I wince, tryna make the tear go away. I ain't about t'cry over dis.
Dude pulls back an' swings again. An' again. An' again. Same spot. Same strike. Same result. Any one of these slashes feels like they could carve clean through this whole ship. Metal, steel, rock – Dude could prolly cut through a whole dang moon the way he's choppin'. Like a fiend. Like a madman.
I gotta stay strong. Ignore the pain. Use this t'buy some time, t'think of a way to – God, this junk hurts. My knees start to give out. I start to crouch down.
Jus' what he wanted.
Soon as I kneel over, he brings his heavy clad foot up in my head an' kicks out. His heel up against my face. An' there's some force behind the kick, too. Some energy. Like the kick had a rocket behind it. I see bright lights. Colors. I'm sent flyin' across the hall. End up landin' an' skid across the floor.
Lost my sword. Dang. Look up an' see he's got it. Dang. Feel a dull pain in my side. Dang. Get up. Get up now!
Can't move. Hurts too much. I'm lyin' here, watchin' the lasers fire over me. The soldiers have jus' about cleaned up shop. Most of the pirates is lookin' like I feel. Only ones that seem to still be lively are Kal-Artang, Rutra, an' Mera. How that is is beyond me.
I hear a familiar whirring sound. My eyes trail over to a familiar scene. This time it's four soldiers. Two of those major pulse guns I don't like. They charge up an'—well, you know the rest—two large, electrical pulse blasts are sent my way. Against everything that my body's tellin' me, my brain's tellin' me to move. So I jump to my feet. I hear an' feel every tingling sensation in my muscles shout against me. This isn't gonna work. Dang.
The pulse blasts come my way, an' I brace myself for the worst.
