Such a battle couldn't be left without a formidable foe; after swatting aside the worthless she'll stride in through the smog of the horizon in her crimson black suit, angular hands like claws painted a violent red extending to her past her waist to sink to her knees. Her face will look just like my Nemesis; familiar, but twisted and dark with sick fangs which curve toward her chest. Through the flames her long legs will pass through the wreckage; through the battle like it's nothing, her knee high black heels crushing her 'allies' and anything else in her way. I can only picture the callous face as she sits in the cockpit of that mech, a long scar stretching down a pretty, delicate face to kiss edge of a grin so aggressive it's almost endearing.
Then the music will play another round, the bass heavy thump that cries for an encore of carnage. I'm arrogant; excited, I only want to indulge the story, sprinting forward recklessly to meet her with a swipe of my arm blade. But she dodges, back flipping into the air and dropping to the ground with a ground splitting thud. Such perfect balance for a machine; her piloting skills are perfect, and my smile fades to a subtle scowl as I jab at her... dodging my every attack with but a slight shift of her weight, I'm growing impatient with her games.
But she's only warming up isn't she? Not breaking a swea; hands on her controls, her lithe figure curving side to side under the skin tight grip of her nervesuit, tapping her throttle with her boot as she swings her body with the motion of her cockpit. My frustration gets to me and I overreach with my right jab, striking far over her shoulder. Suddenly she drops to her heels, her breasts bouncing down as she sinks with her cockpit, an evil smile whipping beneath her crimson eyes as she clenches her controls, tightening her right claw into a fist and punching me right in the stomach.
I'm sent flying; twisting, crashing into the ground, skipping like a stone across a lake before flipping onto my feet, my wing engines blazing blue fire as I regain my balance. I'm panting now as I wipe the blood which drips down my liip with the sleeve of my suit; is it fear that makes me so unsteady? That makes my hands shake at my controls as I stare at the dark and beautiful monster which walks toward me? No.... No this something different, something else all together; I grit my teeth and smile as my heart pounds in my chest, shifting my weight side to side as I clench Nemesis' fists.
This is excitement. This is indulgence in a passion that's been left unsatisfied for too long. Someone worth fighting. I can't help but curse, bitterly, angrily, but as my blue eyes fix on her mech I'm filled with joy. "Don't underestimate me!" I shout, swinging my arms far from my side, long blades extended from my wrists. "I'll wipe you out!"
I wonder if she could hear me; but she seemed to dip at my challenge, launching into the air with a plume of dust to kick me from on high with the blade of her heel. I duck back; jumping out of the way as her kick shatters the earth, pressing into a sprint as my Nemesis slams against the ground again and launching a ferocious counter-attack. Through a swirl of strikes we perform in tandem, exchanging near misses with one another, my long swords coming within a hair's width of striking her, and her claws just as close as they sweep to catch me in their grip.
But this is just foreplay and she's already had her fun, she wants the main event. She doesn't dodge my next attack; a downward slash dead ontop of her, instead ducking right in its path to grip my blade in her claw and shatter it. I spin back and cleave across with my other blade, but she parries it effortlessly with her wrist, countering with a blow from her right fist. I stumbled back, a concussion wringing in my head from the strike, I can scarcely collect my senses before she's already on me again.
What a monster! I think as she closes distance in a instance, her claws sharpening to pointed ends. She never misses a step, what sort of pilot is this?
If this were merely a martial battle I may have lost, but I had an ace up my sleeve. Nemesis' jaw unhinges again and her cannon is revealed, charging with blue energy as she's just about to strike. That pilot is just too smart to stay in its way, she jumps overhead as I fire and cut through the horizon, slicing through all the clouds of the sky as I follow her jump. But she's behind me already; cannon petering out, I charge my fist with power and spin on my boot heel to grapple with her. She spins with a wide kick, but I duck just beneath her leg, striking with an uppercut, knicking her jaw and staggering her.
It was the opening I needed! With a determined, battle-charged roar I sink into my final attack, thrusting with my remaining blade to catch her while she's off balance! At the shriek of metal I impale her through stomach. But I only thought I had her. Grabbing my sword arm with both claws her head arches to unhinge its jaw and matching my cannon with one of it's own.
"It's a trap!" I exclaim, desperately disengaging my left arm and leaving it behind as I take to the sky, avoiding her crimson beam as it rips through the ground. "This is one... crazy b***h...." I mutter, circling her from the sky.
I can only imagine what she's thinking as she chuckles in her cockpit, sliding my sword from her belly and crushing my arm as she wrings it in her claws. That may have bought me a few seconds, but in that time I had no better an idea of how to defeat her and I was short an arm. Things were getting bad, but at least I had an edge, I can fly and she....
Vents open up along the slender; smooth back of her mech, her arms and legs opening engine ports which burst with red light. She can fly too!? My eyes widden as she hovers and turns her head toward me, her faceplate dropping and locking into place to reveal her mech's bright red eyes. Now I wonder if she really hadn't been serious all this time, if it was only now where she brought herself to full power and unlocked all of her abilities.
Such thoughts were childish; distracting, but they gnaw at me as I duck and weave through her attacks, evading everything I can as we twist through the clouds. "Damn you!" I snap as she comes within range of my face cannon, hers combusting with power just as mine does, our beams swiping parallel to one another.
"I need to end this... I need to end this right now!" I shutter as I twist my joysticks, pressing my pedals down full throttle as I lean into my swooping assault. Her face cannon ignites again, "but that won't work!" I add, thrusting my right arm forward with an open palm, its surface crackling with blue energy. She fires, but her beam spreads on contact, splitting into a hundred directions in a prism of color, shining harmlessly into space and sweeping through the earth with collateral damage.
My eyes spark with excitement, with the intensity of my fighting spirit as we collide with a metallic clatter, my fist ripping straight through her stomach and out her back. "I got you!..." My victory is cut short as she wraps her arms around me, locking me in a death embrace as her head turns down to charge its cannon yet again.
"Yet still, you... wait...." Out the bottom of my screen I see the cockpit open in the center of its chest and a slender woman linger towards its edge. Her cannon is still charging and beneath its sanguine light she looks up towards Nemesis, looking with a sadistic grin as she brushes her short black hair out of her face. Then her grin turns to a gentle frown and she steps off her cockpit, plummeting to the ground.
I'm not sure what to think, but there's no time for that. I press Nemesis' head forward and headbutt her mech from below the chin, sending her beam arcing wildly into the sky as I pull back my arm and break free of her embrace, leaving the empty shell to pursue its pilot.
I put everything into it now, she's falling fast and I have to catch her! I have to... I have to.... I shove everything forward, igniting my afterburners and soaring toward her as she drops in freefall. Nearing her fragile body I cut back, trying to match her speed as much as possible, opening my cockpit to the roar of the wind as it blasts against my pale face. I guide Nemesis with a single hand, delicately adjusting her position to line the cockpit up with the pilot, warnings blare as we're only 500 feet above the ground and Nemesis has gone as far as she can, I no choice but to reach as far as I can to grab her hand.
She looks toward me with an empty smile, watching my hand with her eyes briefly before grasping it with her own, gripping me tightly as I pull her in. As the cockpit closes behind her she strikes me in the face with a bitter punch, bouncing me against my chair as I yank Nemesis back from the ground, narrowly avoiding collision as she sinks into my chest exhausted.
Nemesis collapses to her knees in the battlefield and the war that wages around us seems so insignificant for a time as I slink into the back of my chair, the weight of her body anchoring me to the world even as I wanted to drift away right there. I'd slide my hand through her hair, rubbing her head as she nuzzled thoughtlessly into my chest, it was hard for me to believe that a girl like this could pilot a monster like that. But as one of her weary eyes opened it snapped sharply to my face, her black pupil quickening into a sickle shape amidst the crimson of her iris. As her empty smile turned to a devious sneer I realized I was wrong, the machine was nothing more than metal, she was the monster that gave it life.
Who did I save?
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By Lord Adarte
