Gray-black raindrops fell slowly from the sky. The nuclear blast at the Triskelion had vaporized massive amounts of water from the Potomac River tributary, sending it into the atmosphere.
As a result, the radioactive rain covered a significant area. Within minutes, it spread from ground zero, turning into a downpour.
However, this downpour brought no life. It only made the empty Washington D.C. feel more oppressive and twisted.
When the rain finally reached the edge of D.C., a sticky drop flowed down the crack of a snapped sycamore tree and onto the pale blue energy cube embedded in the bark.
The moment the first drop touched the cube...
A blue light flashed.
BOOM~
The entire tree exploded.
Bark fragments shot out like bullets. The snapped sycamore was blasted onto the roof of a nearby convenience store.
Amidst the exploding wood chips and rain, a massive, twisted metal silhouette expanded and reassembled frantically under the blue light.
The violent spatial distortion pushed away the rain and debris, creating a momentary vacuum.
The ten-plus-meter-tall [Boxer Mech], in the last moment before its disappearance, had maintained its posture of facing the nuclear shockwave head-on.
Hunched forward, arms protecting its head, like a scarred steel beast frozen in time.
However, as the spatial distortion faded, its own blue glow extinguished suddenly like a power cut.
Lacking power, the heavy mech obeyed the laws of physics. Maintaining its braced posture, it toppled backward uncontrollably.
BOOM———
A massive crash shook the ruined ground, kicking up waves of muddy sludge.
The mech's enormous, heavy body sank into the mud and rubble, causing the precarious ruins around it to collapse further.
The thick gray-black rain curtain instantly swallowed the rising dust. Only the hissing sound of rain persisted, occupying everything.
The dead silence seemed to return.
If someone looked down from the sky, they would see the front of the massive mech lying on its back was charred, twisted, and deformed.
Many areas with thinner armor were completely torn or caved in. It barely maintained its overall shape.
Inside the cockpit.
For Luca, only an instant had passed from facing the nuke to re-emergence.
One second, blinding red light filled the cockpit. The next, a blue flash, and everything was calm. The cockpit lights went out, leaving only the sound of rain outside.
It wasn't until the mech toppled over that the massive vibration snapped Luca back to reality.
"Uh... cough cough~"
Sensation returned, bringing intense pain from his chest.
With a weak, pained gasp, Luca coughed up a mouthful of blood.
But Luca ignored his injuries. Instead, he was filled with the relief of survival.
Did I dodge it? Damn those Hydra bastards!
Although Luca never overestimated Hydra's morals, he didn't expect them to detonate a nuke right at the Triskelion while their own people were still fighting inside!
Luckily, he had the [Dehydration Gun]. Just before being torn apart, he compressed the mech and himself into a cube, tanking the nuclear impact.
Being an energy cube formed by spatial dimensional power, ordinary physical impacts couldn't easily destroy it.
"Nuclear explosion! Hahaha~~~"
Thinking that he was now a man who had tanked a nuke, Luca laughed uncontrollably in the dark cockpit as the fear receded.
However.
"Hiss~~ cough cough cough~~"
His laughter triggered a tearing pain in his chest.
Luca, having regained some vision in the dark, looked down at his chest, enduring the pain.
Only then did he realize that a twisted piece of metal shrapnel was stuck in his chest.
#%! No wonder it hurts so much!
Maybe it was adrenaline, but despite the grievous injury, Luca's mind had been exceptionally clear. Before the mech fell, he hadn't even felt the pain.
Now that the adrenaline was fading, Luca found it difficult even to move his arm.
He could only rely on [Sweet Capture]'s healing ability to barely maintain his life.
But [Sweet Capture] only healed "minor injuries." No matter how much the green light flashed, blood kept flowing from his chest wound and mouth.
Not to mention the metal shard stuck in his chest. Unless he pulled it out, even exploding the arm for "Greater Healing" would only delay his death slightly.
...Don't tell me I survived a nuke only to die here?!
Tony that bastard only had some shrapnel near his heart. I have a huge piece of iron stuck in my chest. Can I brag to him about this?
Okay, even at this moment, Luca's mind was wandering.
Just then, two red lights began to flash in the dark cockpit.
Followed by a flat electronic voice.
"Warning, warning!"
"Life critical, life critical!"
It was the orange Haro beside the pilot seat, perfectly intact.
With the mech dead and no onboard voice system, the little guy reverted to its two-word speech pattern. But its intelligence was unaffected.
Lying on his back, Luca looked weakly at the orange Haro and struggled to speak.
"I know... cough, shut up. Pull the metal out for me!"
"Removal not recommended. Not..."
"PULL!" Luca gathered his strength and ordered again.
The little guy stopped nagging, flapped its ear flaps, jumped down from its seat, and landed next to Luca with a thud.
Good... didn't land on my chest...
Luca's consciousness was fading, his thoughts chaotic.
Next moment, Aurantius Haro extended its short mechanical arms, grabbed the metal shard taller than itself, and leaned back hard.
SPLAT~~
"HOLY SHIT!!"
The renewed intense pain snapped Luca's brain awake instantly.
Using the stimulation from the pain, Luca clenched his right fist recklessly.
Next moment, the [Sweet Capture] mechanical arm that had been with him for so long exploded. Countless green specks of light filled with life energy enveloped Luca instantly.
The wound on his chest healed visibly.
Survived...