Ian stood in the dimly lit corridor, twin tonfas held ready in his hand. His sleek, metallic weapons gleamed in the faint light. Bishie let out a sigh of relief at the sight of him.
"Ian! How did you find me?" Bishie asked through his exhaustion.
"I'm a psychic, I told you that before," Ian said, stoically as ever.
Bishie ignored the quip, his mind racing. "It was the mechanoid... it told me no one knew about this area. I need to tell you what it did—"
"I don't like repeating myself," Ian said, cutting him off with a look that brokered no argument.
"Where are the others?" Bishie asked, his gaze darting down the long, empty hallway.
"Maram and Ruby are at the end of the corridor," Ian explained, never taking his eyes off the heavy iron door at the far end. "Will and Nova are making their way to the bot's little hideout."
A chill ran down Bishie's spine. "But the mechanoid said nobody knows about that area."
Ian finally broke his stare, meeting Bishie's eyes with a look of stern certainty. "Bishie, we have maps and documents. This place is around four centuries old. It was only a matter of time before we found you."
The relief that had warmed Bishie a moment ago turned to a cold dread. "So you're going to kill me now, aren't you?"
Ian let out a short, incredulous laugh. "No, of course not. I'm waiting for that bot to bust through the door."
As if on cue, the distant, rhythmic sound of metal bashing against metal grew closer. Clunk... clunk... clunk. The sound filled the corridor, reverberating through the floor and walls. Suddenly, a deafening crash and the screech of grinding metal erupted as the iron door burst inward. On the other side stood Will, his hulking stature shoving the mechanoid through the opening.
"Move it!" Ian shouted, pushing Bishie out of the way just as Will released the mechanoid. Bishie stumbled back, his eyes catching sight of Maram and Ruby running toward him from the far end of the hallway, grabbing him and pulling him behind them.
The mechanoid, having momentarily recuperated, shifted into a featureless human form and tried to slip past the group. Ian advanced, his twin tonfas held up to his face in a defensive stance. The mechanoid's hands elongated into newly formed talons, and it lunged for Ian's head.
The air filled with an ear-ringing shriek as the two metals met, the mechanoid's talons scraping uselessly against Ian's left tonfa. Ian didn't flinch. He counter-attacked with a cross, using his right tonfa against the mechanoid's sleek and smooth cranium to stagger it and send it stumbling back toward Will.
Will, ever emboldened, met the charge with a powerful shield bash, sending the mechanoid reeling once more. The tactic was designed to allow Ian to launch another counter-attack, but the mechanoid seemed to learn in real-time. It dodged Ian's follow-up and grabbed him, its grip like a steel vise.
Just as it caught him, it morphed its hand into a steel ball and was about to deliver a crushing blow to Ian's skull. Suddenly, a blur of white appeared. Sam jumped in front of Ian. The mechanoid's attack connected, and Sam's head twisted a full 180 degrees.
"Oh, shit," Bishie whispered, the words barely audible.
But Sam didn't die. He wasn't even injured. With an almost bored expression, he simply said, "That was pointless," as he straightened his head. He delivered a powerful kick that sent the mechanoid careening back toward Will.
This time, the mechanoid held its ground, stabilizing immediately and meeting Will's advance head-on. Not missing a beat, Will grabbed the machine by the head and began to crush it into a disc. The mechanoid went haywire, its arms spinning wildly as blades sprouted from the joints. Will managed to move out of the way, but not before a sharp edge sliced a huge gash across his forearm.
Will winced but didn't falter. He jumped back toward Nova, who had a shimmering portal prepped and ready. Nova pulled out a strange object—a piece of human skin, stretched and tanned. Will snatched it and pressed it against his bleeding wound. As the skin met his flesh, it began to bubble and hiss, melding with the strange skin as it healed completely, like nothing had ever cut him.
"Thank you, Nova," he smiled, already turning back toward the fight.
Nova looked onwards toward the fight. "I told you guys, you have permission to destroy it. So finish soon, I'm going to go explore this room!" He turned towards the broken door frame and faded into the dust and rubble.
The mechanoid stood between all the mages, its circuits reeling.
"Yo, jump the damn golem!" Will commanded.
All five of the mages rushed the mechanoid instantaneously, devoid of any weapon safety protocols. Ian began the attack with the sharpened ends of his tonfas. Simultaneously, the mechanoid blocked with its forearm. When the alloys met, sparks flew and fizzled out onto the floor. Soon after, the mechanoid tried to attack Ian with a front kick, but Ian evaded, allowing Sam to take his place and forcing the mechanoid to kneel to its attackers, like a pawn in a game of kings.
Maram didn't let the opening slip. She closed the distance using her pike to vault over to Sam and the mechanoid. While in the air, she adjusted her hands to the end of the polearm, using her momentum to deliver a bludgeoning strike to the back of its head.
"Hey, look! I got the first dent!" Maram yelled as she backpedaled from the fall.
The mechanoid, knowing that it couldn't injure Sam, focused its attack on Maram with blades formed on its fingers. She blocked with her entire polearm just as Will made his way over to the mechanoid; every stomp was with the intention of pounding that damn golem into the ground. Once he reached the mechanoid, he shield-bashed with a tackle to no avail; it had already adapted by planting its feet into the floor.
Tired of the charades, Will threw the shield aside and threw his hands in the air. The flesh of his hands began to unfold, peeling away to reveal bone. Clasping his hands together, the bones condensed into a ball of pure calcium. Sam and Maram jumped away to avoid the collateral damage. Will heaved the bones down to the mechanoid.
Boom. The first strike left the mechanoid stunned. Boom. Two strikes, and the mechanoid tried to adapt, but it was pointless against Will's raw power. Boom. Three strikes in, it raised one of its arms and pleaded, "Wait," but Will didn't listen. Boom, boom, boom, boom. The mechanoid didn't speak, didn't run, didn't even twitch a robotic muscle. It was out of commission.
"I think you got it, Will," Sam yelled from a distance.
"Did I?" Will asked.
The mechanoid lay on the floor, unmoving, not reeling, not resisting.
"Damn, I guess I did," Will said as his hand returned back to normal.
The rest of the team closed in. Maram created a circle around the mechanoid, just as Nova did, allowing it to drop into her storage.
"I didn't even get to do anything," Ruby complained, dissatisfied with the fight.
"You didn't have to risk your life, that's something," Ian said with a shrug. "Besides, not everyone gets to see combat every mission."
"It's still boring," Ruby muttered.
Bishie, still trembling slightly, sank to the floor, leaning against the wall. Will walked over and offered a hand, which Bishie took gratefully. "The bot... it said 'wait.' Why didn't you listen?" Bishie asked, his voice strained.
"Did it? I didn't hear it," Will said, his eyes scanning the walls. "It probably just wanted to secure its life—if I can even call it a life."
Maram brushed a speck of dust from her pike. "We should search the rest of the corridor. There might be more than just these bots waiting for us."
"That's a sound plan," Sam agreed. "Will, can you handle point? And Bishie, you're with me."
Will gave a curt nod.
Sam directed, "Bishie, Ian, and I will regroup with Nova. The rest of you explore the corridor, then come back and give Nova your findings."
With the plan set, the group prepares for the excruciation. Sam puts a hand on Bishie's shoulder, guiding him toward the fractured doorway. "You have to stay close in case another robot is around." He looked back at Will and Maram. "You two good to go?"
Will gave another nod, already flexing his healed arm, "Just give us a heads-up if you find anything, we'll come rushing back." Sam then turned to Maram and Ruby. "Maram, keep that pike ready. You're they're best multi-ranged fighter and Ruby, you're on observation. If anything moves that doesn't belong, let them know."
Ruby sighed, kicking at a loose piece of debris. "Fine, no combat again."
"Just focus on your task," Will said. He grabbed a small, hardened piece of the mechanoid's casing and tossed it from hand to hand, "We're going in slow. There's no telling what's waiting for us."
Meanwhile, Sam and Ian led Bishie to the doorway where Nova had disappeared. "I'm over here," Nova's voice echoed from within the room.