I ducked down hard, just barely avoiding a roundhouse kick. I moved back but had to block several hooks and jabs. I tried to move back, but the Droid keeps throwing attacks at me. Ever since he recovered from my dropkick, he's been nothing but relentless! It's a good thing I ate something; otherwise, my previous state a couple of seconds ago could do nothing but just tank these attacks, too slow to dodge.
Still, despite not getting damaged, I can't be defensive for long. Arc is on the way, only held by Jason and his drones. I slapped his upcoming punch and tried to hit him with my own, but I think I telegraphed too much as Droid caught my hand. Then I use my other hand, only to be caught again. I tried to push my fist, only to find that we were stationary; we were in a deadlock.
Despite our efforts, we couldn't overpower one another. Drat, if I only had more CE!
"I don't get it. If you're really a hero like you believe yourself to be, then why fight us!?"
I grit my teeth. Did he really just say that!?
"Is your brain messed up from putting more metal inside it!?"
I pulled my head, and he did the same. Then, we pushed our heads, which collided, creating a shockwave. It hurt, and I bet that hurt for him, too. But nobody budged, not him or me. We just glared at each other.
"You're killing people. Soldiers who are just doing their jobs and you're slaughtering them, all because a madman thinks this is the path for peace!"
For a moment, I could have sworn his scarlet red eyes faltered, the malice seemed to vanish a bit before they came back full force.
"They made their choice to follow a corrupt system; they chose to stay and defend these evil scum. Therefore, they will suffer the same fate."
I was shocked and appalled by the fact that those words filled my ears. Red lightning filled his arms, shocking him. In response, he tried to use blue electricity to counter mine, but it was clear he was getting hurt more than I. He then lifted his foot, and the Spartan kicked me in the ribs. I yelped as I flew back from the force. I immediately recovered, clutching my rib.
I felt the multiple broken ribs move and heal. He points to me, blue lightning wrapped around his fingertip.
"And you, you got to be the worst one of them!"
He charged at me, throwing another wild hook, but I moved back, evading it. But pushed himself further, so I would be caught by a punch to the gut before he held my skull with both arms, unleashing blue wild lightning directly to my head.
"AHHH!" I screamed as my skull felt like it was on fire.
"bEn!" The distorted voice of Gavin came from my SEE Goggles.
I tried to pull away, but his grip on my head was too strong.
"You're just like them! You pretend you have everybody's self-interest when you just want to feel powerful and worshiped!!" Droid roars.
Pressuring my head more, it felt like two steel slabs crushing my brain slowly. I'm in so much pain, I could barely hear Gavin's shouts of concern as I felt every part of my body spasm. I grit my teeth as I grab his arms and squeeze. I hear metal squeaking and a grunt of pain. I pulled back my head and slammed it directly into Drone's face.
This made him back off, removing his hands from me. I wasn't done, it's time for payback. I punched him in the jaw and then with the other fist to the gut. I batted away his backfist and punished him by headbutting him in the face again. He staggers before running around him, delivering a series of strikes all over his body.
"Machine-Gun Breaker!"
He roars in pain, trying and failing to hit me, while also trying to protect his body from my attacks.
"I may not know why you hate the government!"
I stopped, my punches and appeared in front of him, frantic. He tried to land a hook to my jaw, but I quickly ducked, taking a deep breath before I launched a powerful straight punch to the abdomen. His torso armour had huge cracks on it. He moves back, nursing his stomach, which had taken a critical hit from that attack. I wasn't done yet, either; I brought both fists up, aiming at his head.
"But I won't let you hurt anyone innocent!"
His body went straight to the water, creating a large splash. I pant as I watch the waters weary. Was that enough to finally knock that scrap metal butt out? I can feel my injuries from our battle fade, but I was tired. Both physically and mentally.
Not just from this fight, but all the others. All of them are challenging, and I don't think I have set foot in this country for more than 24 hours! I can feel my vision start to go dark, but I shake my head. Come on, Red, you can still do this. Droid is probably not getting back up I just need to bring the core back to Canada, and then later on deal with Arc.
Just a bit more, and we could finally rest. I was so preoccupied that I finally noticed Droid's form slowly floating up, massively damaged, tired and hurt. Still conscious and ready to fight. I clicked my tongue. Of course, it isn't going to be easy. He floats up to meet eye level with me, and we both just glare at each other, panting.
"You said they were innocent?"
"Huh?"
I see him clench his metallic fist.
"You have no idea what you're talking about…they're scum! They took me from my home and forced me to fight for their cause. And once the war was over, they turned me into this!" Droid gestures to his metallic body.
There were large cracks all over the metal, not to mention what I could see; his muscles were organic, though there were bits and pieces of metal probably preventing them from being torn.
"Then they erased my memories. I don't even know who I was before the machine and killing! They are not innocent. Why are you protecting them!? WHY!?"
I was stunned, I didn't even realize it was that bad. Am I wrong for protecting these people? Am I really in the right here?
"Poor guy…" said Gavin.
Even he pities him. I get it, and honestly, if I were in his situation, I would have been angry too. But even if I'm protecting evil people, I can't let Arc's plan come to fruition. If I do, true innocent people will get hurt or die in their war against the Government.
"I'm sorry, what happened to you, really. But even so, I won't stand down."
I raised my fist and glared at him. He twitched, not from shock but from sheer rage. His crimson eyes glow even more from my words.
"Red, you have to beat him soon; Jason's drones aren't going to last much longer!"
Yeah, I'm working on it. Besides, this will be our final clash. We're both exhausted, pushing our bodies to the limit. He doesn't have much left in the tank; I could beat him. The droid glares at me hard.
"I'll put your head in those Monarch's throats."
A smile crept up my face. "In your dreams."
With that, we charged at each other. I took a swing, but he shifted to the side and delivered an elbow to my jaw. This stunned me enough for him to deliver multiple jabs and roundhouse kicks. I blocked his last punch, and Spartan kicked him to the torso, pushing him in the back
"You're too evenly matched, keep hitting him in a place where you are damaged the most!"
My SEE Goggles fired, showing the most damage is in his abdominal area. I saw him grunt as he clutched his stomach before roaring with full of bloodlust. He shot his blue laser at me, which I blocked with my hand. I yelled as I felt my bones and muscles being burned from blocking the beam, but I pushed on and eventually got close enough to kick his arms high in the air. I then delivered a hard strike to the gut, fueled with lightning.
Before I did it again and again. Not long after, I was spamming it like mashing a button in a video game. He screamed and delivered a punch to my face, which cracked my visor even further. But I held on and continued the assault. He hit me again, this time, half of my visor that covered my right eye broke, showing my determined eye, glowing red. He hit me again and again, and I hit him again and again.
But each hit he dealt me healed, even a large cut made by his metallic nails on my forehead, which healed two seconds later. But after a minute, his punches became slower and weaker. I punched him in the gut one more time and then shifted to hit his chin. Then I pulled my hands back, filling them with Cosmic energy lightning, the last pieces of my SEE Goggles broke away, revealing my other eye full of crimson, as the other one.
"SHOTGUN BREAKER!!" I slammed both fists and laser beams at his abdomen, which launched his metallic body far away.
Before his body crashed to the floor, I grabbed him and gently laid his cracked body to the ground.
"I…Will…Destroy…you…" Droid says weakly, but then his crimson eyes faded in colour.
I was worried that he was dead at first, but his chest was rising. He was certainly hurt, but alive. That made me sigh in relief. I floated up feeling heavy. Not a surprise there, before my SEE Goggles broke, it said I was about 10% of my CE. It would no doubt be lower now, too, from unleashing that Shotgun Breaker.
I don't think I have enough CE to grab the core and go back to Canada. I would have eaten a candy bar if it weren't for the fact that my utility belt is lost at sea. During our endurance battle, he managed to swipe and cut away with his claws, and I was too focused to get it back. If I had my SEE Goggles or my full-powered Mind's Eye, I would have spotted it.
But my Goggles are beyond repair, and I can't even communicate with Gavin about what to do next. As for Mind's Eye, the problem with it is that low CE makes its range become lower; in fact, I could only sense about ten meters or less. Well, this is just great. I wanted to punch something due to how frustrated I am. The problem is that anything I do would just waste energy. I got to save whatever I have left. With Arc coming this way, I have retrieved the core and hidden it.
I'll probably put it at the base; at least there would be food to energize me. I just pray I have enough to make it there. I carefully floated up and slowly moved my way to the core. I took a deep breath and was about to touch it, but something wrapped around my leg, halting me from moving forward. Before I could respond, lightning wrapped around my body. The problem is that it isn't mine.
"AHHH!!"
Whatever thing wrapped around my leg pulled around before I was sent crashing to the sand. I coughed hard as I struggled to get up. My body was heavy and ready to collapse at any moment, but I managed to stand on my two feet, though my legs were shaking like a leaf. I looked at the core and the figure standing near it. The metallic whip slipped back inside his gauntlet, and he walked forward as my heart dropped.
"Arc."
His armour and helmet had scratches and ash. Though he didn't seem hurt. I looked at him, my heart beating fast as I stared at his hulking form. He saw me, he saw me without my goggles. In desperation, I glared at him, about to shoot my optic blast, only to find nothing. I blinked, looking at my hands in a panic.
I tried to summon my cosmic lightning, but there was nothing. Not even spark. I look back at Arc, who continues to approach me menacingly. I jumped back to fly some distance, only for gravity to pull me back to the sand. This confirmed it: my CE amount was zero. I was as powerful as before the portal incident.
My breathing became erratic, and my beating heart feels like it could explode at any second. Arc stops looking at me. It was silent between us; I didn't dare say anything. In fact, even if I were, I felt like I wouldn't be able to. My mind tells me to run, and yet my body remains stationary as if it were caked in ice. His helmet's red eyes glowed briefly before returning to normal.
He looked me up and down, and for some odd reason, despite not being able to see past his thick helmet, I could feel him smile at me.
"Long way from home, are you, Benson Armstrong?"