I gasped and coughed as I tried to get back up. I tried to use my right hand to support myself, but then suddenly bit my lip so as not to scream as a large amount suddenly hit me. Specifically on my right arm, I look at it and lo and behold, it's broken. My wrist was bent the wrong way, and there was a bone sticking out of my arm.
The most worrying fact is that it wasn't healing, which meant I was again at 0% CE. Which meant I was just a regular kid with no powers. I used my other hand to support myself in getting up, ignoring the constant pain in my body. What I saw was fire everywhere. On one hand, I finally managed to destroy the SV4, breaking it into smaller pieces, but now the parts have caught on fire.
I sighed in relief. Finally, after a hard, gruelling battle, I was the victor. I laughed softly to myself as my pride swelled. Can you blame me? I just beat a thing that could withstand every nuke in the world; a little pride in myself won't kill me.
But then I spot something jumping out of the flames and landing just a few feet away from me. My mouth gapes to see Arc standing over me, glaring at me with a complicated expression. Not only that, he was just as messed up as I, if not more. After all, at least I didn't lose an arm. His armour had a lot of scratches, and the metal had huge dents in it.
His right arm was missing and turned out to be purely mechanical, as there were wires coming out where his arm was supposed to be. And for the first time, I finally got to see his entire face as he either removed his helmet or was destroyed by my World Breaker attack. Regardless, I could now see his face underneath that terrifying helmet. He looked a little older than Gavin, maybe a couple of years more.
He was bald and had a white beard, which was a bit ruffer than Gavin's. He narrowed his hazel eyes, but he didn't speak, only looking at me with a complicated expression. I could feel my heart pounding from fear, and I was shaking. I was once again a powerless boy facing a Cyborg Super Soldier. I took a deep breath and summoned a good amount of my strength to get up, legs shaking, not because of fear, but because my body is so exhausted that even a breath would cause me to collapse.
I forced my body to remain still as I matched his glare with my own.
"What now, Arc? Your plan is in shambles, quite literally." I say, looking around the flames around us.
"Just give up, killing me isn't going to solve anything. The New World Order failed."
I should probably stop talking. I don't want to piss him off even further and make him actually kill me. But I couldn't help it. To my surprise, Arc's expression barely changed. Despite his plans being ruined, there is no anger in his eyes, and even his glare feels hollow.
"True, you definitely made a huge setback, but this isn't the end."
My brows furrowed, a setback? Is there something more dangerous than the machine that is referred to as Humanity's Ultimate Weapon? I very much doubt it, but then why is he so confident?
"Maybe I won't be able to see it, but the world that I envision will happen," Arc states.
"I will have someone carry on my dream, no doubt, those fools will continue to build SURVIVORS, as long as they do. There will be someone there to steal it; if not, maybe they'll go for a different route, who knows. But what I do know is that this isn't over."
He turned around and began to limp away. But just before he could move any further, I got in his way, glaring at him. I was breathing heavily just by moving a little bit.
"Do you really think that I'll let you just walk away?"
Arc stares at me and snorts. "Please, do you really think you can stop me in your sorry state?"
Now it's my turn to snort. "Look who's talking, butthole. I'm not the one with only a single arm."
He looked at his missing mechanical limb and nodded.
"True, I'm definitely more injured than you. But even then, we both know, you can't do anything. I don't need my scanners to know you're out of juice. Do you really think you can beat me without them?"
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist as I stared at the ground. Arc just lets out a deep sigh that almost sounds disappointed before moving past me, walking away. I can hear his footsteps getting fainter in fainter. But before he was out of my reach, I grabbed a handful of dirt and turned around to rush at him while his back was turned. Arc turns around, raising a brow before yelping as I throw the dirt at his eyes.
Before I jumped and performed a haymaker, which landed directly on his face, which made him take a few steps back. I panted as the arm that I punched him with quivered in pain. But I shook my body and readied my arm while my other dangled uselessly to the side.
Arc rubs his eyes before shooting me an annoyed look. My eyes hardened.
"Maybe I can't beat you, but I can't let you escape either. Even if my chance of winning is only about five percent, I'll knock you flat!"
He looks at me curiously. "You're willing to risk your life to keep me here? What kind of kid are you? You have a death wish or something?"
I shook my head. "No, but I can't let you interfere."
"What?"
I took a deep breath before responding. "Arc, you're right, so far, despite all the good things I've done, I was just playing around, enjoying that feeling of being a hero. But I never look at the actual problem and do anything about it."
"..."
"But now, I'm going to change the world not through violence or force, but through hope and compassion. And the first step is to stop you from achieving your way to world peace."
Arc narrowed his eyes even further.
"Is that so…" He said slowly.
"Yeah," I say.
Arc got into a fighting stance, a bit different than the one he used against Gavin. This time, it was more of a boxer's stance. I narrowed my eyes and silently readied myself.
"Come then, show me your resolve."
With that, I yell as I charge at him. Since I'm injured, not to mention my arm is out of commission, I was forced to just use my left arm. I kept swinging, but Arc parried, blocked or evaded my punch. Despite being injured, the skill and power gap is massive; I have to be smart about it! Instead of punching, I moved in for a kick, and Arc was about to block it, but I instead leaped forward, throwing another haymaker, this time aimed for his jaw.
Arc grunts. Before my feet could even land back on the floor, my neck was grabbed and my body was slammed to the floor, causing me to yell in pain. But I couldn't afford to just sit and do nothing, and while he was still grabbing me, I gathered my spit and spat right in his eye.
"Gah! Gross-" Before I let him finish, I punched him as hard as I could in the face several times before he finally let go of me.
His nose was bleeding a little. He got up, wiping his face before I got back and was about to hit him again, only to receive a sidekick to the chest, sending me to the ground, groaning while clutching where he hit me.
"You're not a bad fighter. Better than most kids." He said, wiping my spit before glaring at me.
"But you're still just a kid taking one of America's finest soldiers."
I didn't respond. I got back up, roaring as I charged at him. I don't know how much time has passed, nor do I know how many times I got knocked down only to stand right back up. Maybe it's been twenty minutes or maybe longer, and during that time, I only landed a few hits on him by playing dirty most of the time, I was getting butt handed.
I got back up, despite my body shaking and begging me to just lie down and rest. Not to mention I was seeing double and I felt lightheaded. I raised my single arm ready to fight, even when I was stumbling and in pain. Arc moves, and I prepare myself to block, only for him to just sit on the floor with crossed legs. I blinked. What the heck is he doing?
I slowly approached him wearily. Readying my arm to block an attack, but Arc made no move; in fact, it seemed he was distracted by something. I don't know why, like I actually don't know what possessed me to do this. For some reason, I dropped my guard and sat next to him. And we just sat there.
I was more wary, and I was ready to punch something, while Arc was relaxed.
"So, we're just going to sit here?"
"Pretty much, yeah, your punches aren't strong enough to knock me out dramatically. And you're too stubborn to stay down, so I give up."
I narrowed my eyes on him. "You held back, didn't you? You could have knocked me out or even killed me."
Arc didn't say anything, pretty much confirming my suspicions. Of course, he held back. I didn't have any powers; a ten-year-old kid lasting more than a few seconds against a veteran adult is not going to happen.
"Why?"
"...Like I said, I wanted to see your resolve. To see if you have the will and grit and not just yapping, saying heroic things because it's your brand or whatever."
So, that was his intention. "Did I pass?"
He chuckles. "Mediocre, but I guess it'll do."
We again became quiet, just waiting for something, I guess. A couple of minutes later, he starts coughing up blood. His hand clutched his chest. I look at him with concern.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm coughing up blood, and you're asking me that?"
I looked away. "Sorry."
"Yeah, I'm not going to last much longer. The damage is too much. The life support system in my body isn't working."
I again look at him, but this time with horror and guilt. Oh, crap, he's dying because of me. I wanted to say something, but I found myself paralyzed. I was at a loss for words. He briefly glanced at me before shaking his head with a smile.
"Don't sweat it, kid. This isn't your fault. This is just a result of a bad man facing the consequences."
How could he smile like that? Even though he said those words, I couldn't help but still feel guilty.
"Then, you lied about leaving this place to make someone carry your dream."
"Yes and no."
I raised a brow.
"I lied about leaving, my life support and body are damaged too much. But I didn't lie about passing my dream, and I'm passing it down to you."
"Me?"
He chuckles. "Yeah, I mean you're already declared to want to change the world, so I'm leaving my dream with…just do a future dead guy a favour, don't turn to me. Stay true to your ideals and who you are…please."
His eyes shifted to me; it was one of pleading.
"I won't let you down," I said, earning me a small smile from him.
It became quiet between us again; this time, both of us were staring at the sky. The fire surrounding us is slowly fading.
"Hey, is it all right that we chat a little bit, the casual kind. Not the high morale stuff."
"That's fine with me, what do you want to talk about, Arc-"
"Noah."
"Huh?"
"Call me Noah, please."
"Alright then, what do you want to talk about?"
We talk about dumb stuff, like which superhero we think is the strongest. How modern slang is kind of cringe. We even talk about our favourite novel. Once we realized we both shared similar tastes, we laughed as Noah Ashwin slowly got weaker, and after maybe half an hour, he lay on the ground grinning peacefully.