I stepped forward slowly, effortlessly, like its heavy fist was not even on my forehead at all. The metal in its joints creaked as I stepped down, using the pressure on my head solely to push the mech back, making its stance crumble before me.
Back on the bleachers, Ryo, out of thin air, summoned flames in front of himself and pulled a large blade out of it. The blade was of medieval make, and the hilt was red with carved flames made of tough metal, tungsten. It was so huge that he had to drop it down to his side because it was bigger than him. And when it did, the ground shook, making some wince from the impact.
A claymore forged by the fires as passionate as he was, pulled out from the same small magic pouch item on his waist, and then infused with his magic upon revealing.
He bolted to us. His dash so fast he left red lightning streaks in the air, burning some of the fakes in his way and carving a path for himself. His sword drawn to meet the mech's head like a powerful magnet.
It looked up, only to witness Ryo's silhouette and blazing glare. And his large blade burned electrically as he swung it down between the mech's eyes.
CRASH!
The impact seemed to appear in slow motion to us. Shattered into pieces, the mech blew up in all directions, unable to withstand the plunge. Some of its metal pieces melted as it decorated sections of the ground—raining itself all over the arena.
The audience remained in shock as we made our entrance there. The DJ and announcer, along with others hovering above us watched us in utter shock. The music even scratched to a halt at the sight of us there.
"Uh… Awooo? Looks like we have some unexpected party crashers, yo… What the hell was that, chat?!" the announcer addressed, his slang and mannerisms were the cherry on top to the mountain of reasons I was so damn pissed off.
At this time, a volley of garbage had begun flying toward us. Ryo and I stood there without reacting and took it, shadows over our eyes all the while. They booed and scoffed, letting us get the blunt of all their rage at what we had just done. That was fine.
If you enjoyed the massacre of the weak, we were not the same.
As Ryo and I remained, a careless fake tossed a piece of trash toward the young girl. I saw it and reacted instantly, swatting it away from her and protecting her from more of the shame.
She looked up, and her eyes flashed as she found me. Through the shadows over my eyes, a glimmer of calm radiated to her, "Ignore them. They will get what is coming, I promise you."
Her eyes shook as the disbelief of my presence overwhelmed her.
"Are... Are you real?" She hesitated out as only my serene smile was left as a reply.
"EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP!" a male voice from up top said. His voice sounded like stacks of paper ripping.
It was the figure on the throne and floating pedestal earlier.
When the pedestal drew nearer to the arena, he was finally revealed in the light. Sat slack on a throne-like chair as half-naked fake Black Wolves girls coddled all over him.
When the pedestal arrived, it pushed the dirt beneath it with a gentle breeze. It situated there as it remained hovering.
The male stood up, finally leaving the throne, letting the girls drag at his feet as he walked away from them.
When I saw his mug, I was almost happy. Happy that I saw at least one Blue Phoenix Knight here. Guessed we were right after all.
"Well, how honored are we…" he said as he dragged his tone. Each word was dipped in condescension. He stood just at the ledge looking down on us with a tilted head and hideous smile, "to have our very own 'captain' join his crew tonight!"
"I'm not your fucking captain, and this," I looked around, and everywhere I looked was one hideous face after another amidst the crowd, "is not my crew."
He chuckled and said, "Oh, but it is!"
Pulling out a scroll from his inner jacket pocket, he opened it and the digital contents flickered out from it. "You see..." he said, as he scrolled through it with a finger. Each one of these disappointments were documented under the Valley. All under the same Guild... The Black Wolves...
I became enraged. Enraged that they would go so far to sully our name and everything Asura worked so hard to build.
"You have to admit, Captain, your current reputation wasn't all too good in the first place... now, you're just proving Tubolt right with all these newly filed members... let's see... Multiple convictions, arson, drug distribution, trafficking of young, innocent girls... making them fight to the death..."
I shuddered and clenched my fist. If the sound of his shredding voice wasn't enough, the words that were coming out of his mouth were worse, "You are the ones who did all of this."—my head raised—"and I will burn it all to the ground."
He cackled at my words; his voice squealing even. Man... What I would do for my fist to kiss his lips at sonic speed... One punch. That's all it would take.
"Vice Captain Terek," Ryo's strong voice shot in, stern, authoritative. Interjecting like the light he was, "I demand an explanation. What are you doing here with these fake Black Wolves, and why are you facilitating all these criminal acts? Are you not of the Blue Phoenix Knights?"
"Ah! Ryoku of the Crimson Dragons! It is such an honor to have you here with us too! I see our influence has reached you as well! That Black Wolves uniform looks so great on you..."
I clicked my tongue and Ryo held a hand out to me. "Answer my questions, Terek!" he commanded.
"By the fucking Keeper... You're so annoyingly posh! Questions, questions, questions! I fucking hate questions!" he threw his arms out and looked upward to the ceiling of the place. I barely noticed, but there were, what seemed like, bodies... hanging there... "I know... how about you fight me for it instead? Surely that's better than talking, right?" he was unhinged.
When the lights finally roamed upward, the 'bodies' were actually mechs of all kinds. Some I had never seen before, except the one in the middle. And I knew from the moment I saw its six arms...
I stayed silent a bit before talking back, my eyes like shadows. "So, it was you. Everything. The hourglass. All of it."
Terek was silent. Then, in a low tone, he began laughing dramatically slow… then hysterically without restraint. He put a hand over his face, trying to stop himself. Then, he looked at us with vicious eyes through the windows of his fingers. His eyes were like endless yellow spirals as they locked on us. "Got me," he said with a wry, wicked smile he no longer held back.
He hopped off the pedestal and down onto the dirt with us, crouching slightly from his landing. He got up incredibly slow as he said, "I'm feeling generous... seeing, there's no way you're making it out of this, I'll let you in on the plan."
"What plan?" I demanded.
He made a hand sign and the mechs from above all activated, glowing multicolored eyes from above. He then reached out his hands and mana strings connected the tips of his fingers with each one that hung there. One by one they fell, joining him onto the dirt arena.
The announcer and the fake Black Wolves girls scattered as the pedestal behind them glowed as well.
"Ah, shit! They're cooked! Let's get the fuck out of here girlies!" he said as they disbanded to the bleachers.
Right then, the pedestal began to transform, becoming a floating mech with a humanoid head, a monster chest, and six arms.
On both his sides now, there were two of those six armed mechs and all around us were gnarly mechs off all kinds, ready with weapons as they sawed the air and groaned mechanically.
"The plan to Hunt the Wolves."