My head in total disarray seeing Terra on the monitor. There was no way that she would want to defect to any other side! Questions started to loom over but it wasn't the time for that! I needed to get moving to figure this out. I've overstayed our welcome on comfort. We got our clue on what to do for our prime directives, time to make our move. Nex removed his bandages from his body then concealed his kunai. He rested enough to finally start putting our foot through the door. As we were about to leave the hexagon office Eliza called out to us. Her face filled with worry reflected mine. But my worry couldn't outweigh my responsibilities as a soldier. I didn't have the luxury to show it to anyone, not even Nex. Maybe this was the difference in power between us humans. She walked up to us at a slow pace then placed her hand on my shoulder. Her soft arms only reminded me of the life that she lived. A world that the coarseness of mine will never know or come to be. A story told without words.
Eliza: Come back safe okay? I know we just met but I still can't help worrying. At least take Able with you. He'll be able to give you some kind of strength.
Arc: I'm sorry, Able is a high priority to keep. In any event, we might just send him to the Platform just to complete the mission. We'll be fine, Nex has teleportation magic if things go south.
Eliza: I'm still going to worry. Losing people isn't something that I take lightly. I don't think anyone does. I'll be watching from the cameras. I wish I could help out more but my thoughts are all I can give. Despite being a woman of science, there's nothing I could do right now.
Arc: What can you tell us about Talos? Anything important up there?
Eliza: Well mostly the factories. All the commands happen near the central hub. However, maybe if you cut off the production of the artificial Foxphite then maybe it'll stop things or at most likely slow things down enough to gain their attention. Though with how efficient golems are, I'm not sure how long it would take for them to fix the issues.
Arc: That's all I need to hear. I'm not after Talos.
Nex: You're going to try to flush her out aren't you?
Arc: I want my answers. Terra would never defect.
Eliza: I'll prepare everything by the time you return. Despite it being half, I think it's enough to give your scientists an idea on what to do. The rest of it is with Peter.
Arc: We're going to get both. I can't return without the whole thing.
Eliza: If you ever see the rest of the schematics. Upload it to any dock around the city. I'll be able to retrieve them from here.
Nex: Hey… Are we really doing this alone?
Arc: We don't have a choice.
Nex: I'm scared…
Arc: So am I.
Nex: What about Nitra?
Arc: I'm not entirely sure but we have to keep going.
A couple minutes of frantic scrambling, Eliza produced a small metallic insertion port. She continued to explain what it does but to be truthful my mind wasn't entirely there. So all I have to do is insert this thing on the command port? Their technology has come a long way without magic. Eliza rushed back to her computer port then gave us a thumbs up. Looks like we're finally ready to leave.
Nex added a seal on the ground of the hexagonal office then made our way out. I was determined to finally look for our teammates. Maybe we just took too long to try and find them. As we kept moving out the dark tunnel, I started creating an air seal on our clothes to filter out the incoming polluted air. This way we could prepare to have some proper air filtration. I've never noticed this before but the direction of the tunnel was going in an awkward fashion.
The tortoise plates must have started moving again. Our destination was the factories that were near the other side of Talos. If we could somehow disrupt the production then Terra might show up to stop us. Though the real problem was starting to cast its shadow on me. Was I really going to have to fight Terra? My feet started to feel cold from my anxiety. However, this was part of the job. I've never fought against another magic born in real combat before, this was going to be a tough challenge. As much as possible, I didn't want to.
Nex: I'm worried.
Arc: I know you are.
Nex: At least try, Arc!
Arc: Try what?
Nex: Try to get her to answer you properly. I… I don't know what else to say. Terra… She would never do something like this without a good reason! Right?
Arc: I'm not scared to go into a fight knowing full well that the opponent could possibly be more powerful, Nex. Even if it's Terra, I'm not going to hesitate if she prompts me to kill her. That's just part of our job. We're soldiers, Nex. We've always have been.
Nex: I know… But what's this feeling…
Arc: Uncertainty?
Nex: Maybe… I just wished I could do something more rather than being our getaway. I don't want to be useless…
Arc: That's enough of this nonsense, Nex!
My mind was already racing and I didn't want my only teammate to be uncertain! I must have scared him because he recoiled away from me. His emotions were written all over his face. I wiped my face from the sweat I've accumulated then took a breather. Nex needs to step up or he won't be able to be the soldier the Platform he needs to be. The rumbling in the background couldn't ease my thoughts but we need a breather here. Retake the situation we're in. I patted Nex on the shoulder just to feel his shaking. There it was, still a child.
Arc: You're not useless! Just focus on the task at hand. You don't seem to realize it but you're the most important member in the team. You're not useless, damn it!
Nex: I'm sorry… I didn't mean to sound so…
Arc: Nex, there's only going to be hardships going forward even if we have memetic or cognitive magic waiting for us at the end of the mission.
Nex: We're soldiers…
Arc: We're weapons for the Platform. Forge forward. Let Adam guide us even in the dark.
Nex: Adam be with us.
Shoving down our uncertainties, we made our way out of the dark tunnel into the dirty subway system. Nex looked shaken but I knew that he could handle it for now. We're not the yellow squad without a reason. Whatever doubts we have, they need to be sent down. I looked over my watch to see the patrols were finally looking around the area as we jumped over the barricades of the subway. It was only a matter of time that they were going to look for us near here. The patrols were even greater in numbers per party. This meant that going to fight one batch of security was going to be harder. Everything will attack us if we start a scene. The plan was to be covert till the last second.
Talos' warm and humid atmosphere touched my face. My sweat was already starting to drip down on my forehead but we needed to make our way into this thick metal jungle. I added an air mod to our boots again then used an air mine to boost us up to the building roofs. Upon reaching a high elevation, we scouted a clear view of the mechanical giant. Slowly but surely the guardians were constructing themselves around the brass beast. Next to the construction were the Foxphite factories. Their smoke spewed out more than usual. This was industrialization? I hope we never have to experience this kind of thing on the Platform. Living inhabitants were only going to perish from this mass pollution. Nex pointed towards the next building to leap on then made our way.
Building to building, cover to cover, avoiding detection, gliding through the air. This only reminded me that this was my purpose. I hope that Earth isn't anything like us or this place. Nex landed on a high rise building as I followed. This rooftop was a perfect blindside to surrounding patrols. Reaching a vantage point to look through the area, I could spot a good area to infiltrate the factories. My watch didn't seem to find any bogeys so this must be all work zones. The only real threat at the moment was the giant golem being constructed nearby. Its threatening aura was starting to affect me. That wasn't something that I wanted to deal with.
Nex: There it is.
Arc: Synchronize on five dials.
Nex: What's the plan?
Arc: Flush her out at all costs.
Nex: I know that but… What is the plan?
Arc: I'm not entirely sure. I just want answers.
Nex: There has to be a way to reach out to her without this.
Arc: I don't think you know Terra long enough to know.
Nex: Know what?
Arc: That she won't say no to a fight from me.
Our watches started to glow which signaled everything for the plan. Nex jumped out into a free fall as did I. We were going to land right through the factory's 2nd floor windows. I shot a bolt of energy to create a wind mine to stop our landing. Crashing through, there wasn't any noise or alarms raised. Another soft landing? Not as good as Nitra's but it'll do. Entering the area, it was hot and sticky. Though it wouldn't matter because the workers below were just golems.
What separated us from the area below was the metal railings. Walls thick with different metals, heat from the furnaces, and the undeniable stench of progress. All of this was all too familiar. I touched the walls only to stop because of the sheer heat it conducted from the processes down below. This wasn't the shiny kind of factories anyone would see in promotional advertisements on other planets. The factories in Talos were just metal and rust. Red dust and labour held Talos together. We walked around the vicinity to see if there was something that we could learn. Though the one thing that really stood out was the giant amount of metal tubs. It was filled with different materials and substances to create Eliza's artificial Foxphite. I wasn't sure what they were. High heated furnaces stationed across each other, strong odors, chains with hooks that needed golems to operate, and high metal platforms near the ceiling for workers to move in. The golems in the factory didn't seem to care if we were around. They were too busy producing artificial Foxphite to even look at us for a second.
Nex walked slowly over the area until he saw something below. It seemed to be the main funnel that was needed to mix the elements together. We'd have to go down there to actually do some damage. His eyes were determined but he still looked timid to me.
Arc: I think you should stay here. Just in case.
Nex: But! I trained for this. You trained me for this!
Arc: I trained you so that you could survive, Nex!
Nex: Wait, no! I can help!
Arc: I know! I know!
Nex: Then why won't you let me help. Don't you believe in me?
Arc: One training session doesn't make you some kind of super soldier Nex. Please.
Nex: But!
Arc: I need you alive! Nex…
Nex: Arc… I just want to help.
Arc: I know. I can tell but you're the only person in my life that I can't afford to lose.
Nex: You're not going to lose me.
Arc: We don't know that… I feel like, if I lose you… I might lose everything. Please, survive.
Nex: You're getting soft, Arc. I'm not going anywhere. I won't die. You're not going to lose me.
Nex held out his hand to touch my arm. Feeling the coarseness of his hand only told me his story. Everything from the Platform and missions we did. It was rough almost like mine. Nex was my kin and treating him like anything less would be an insult to everything I stood for. All I could do was let out a big sigh.
Nex: Arc?
Arc: Shut it. You coming or what?
Nex: There you are.
I jumped ahead and with a smile Nex followed with a smile. The drop was smooth but the smell got worse. This wasn't the usual smell of Foxphite. In fact, the more I look at what's being generated by these large metal tubs the more they look different. Foxphite would usually be colored red or bright scarlet. I guess this is what they get when it was made from artificial means. It was dark gray and looked like complete mush. There were several containers nearby so I gave some air seals to Nex to place on some. The rest I would shoot on seals myself. These things were going to blow up so we made our way out right after. This should attract them!
I planted an air spike on the ground then boosted both of us back onto the original vantage point. My hands were starting to feel a bit nervous. There is only one thing that can come from this. Nex caught my attention with his worried face. Standing on the railings with Nex, we knew what came next.
Nex: Y'know what's going to happen when you do that right? Are you really going to take this one right on the horns?
Arc: Do I have a choice in this?
Nex: We can still find them and maybe talk to them.
Arc: Negative.
Nex: Then I hope this goes exactly how you see it in your head.
Arc: Wish we had a better relationship to talk but we don't.
Nex: It's going to be quite a rematch.
Arc: This one is going to be different from those times though.
My eyes started to glow a bright blue. Energy surging through my body, I activated my air mines. Without a single second wasted, a giant explosion was casted right in front of us. It sounded a bit too destructive for my taste. Hot air was pushed to us as the dust started to settle. The factory's walls started to crumble, windows completely shattered, and Foxphite started to ooze through the rubble. It wasn't enough to crumble the entire structure but it was enough to send the workers coming. Mindless golems are already starting to weld some parts of the factory.
Nex: Here comes the worker golems. How long do you think?
Arc: A couple of days.
Nex: You saw these things fix a skyscraper in three hours though.
Arc: I know but what comes next is what makes it two days.
Another burst of energy flowed through me as I activated the second set of seals on the explosion site! Another giant airburst had erupted on the factory, this time critically injuring the building. Metal pieces of mechanical parts were now starting to fly through the air. Those construction golems were now on the ground spasming tryin to complete their directives. Hot winds pushed my hair back while Nex tried to hold on the edge of the roof we were on.
Nex: Smart.
Arc: I do it to impress afterall.
Nex: Well you're going to have to impress them even harder.
Right as he said that another batch of golems came to rescue the construction golems. Seemed like they wanted to make sure all those parts were recyclable. Though it didn't matter to me! My power surged once more! A third and even more destructive explosion echoed! Completely destroying the factory. All that was left were some foundation structures and a fire. Even Nex wasn't safe from the impending scrap metals being hurled everywhere. Now even the golems collecting the pieces would be needed to remade. This should dent production for a bit.
Nex: A bit too much on that last one.
Arc: You did say that I needed to impress them. Now look.
I pointed towards the loud noise approaching us. Security golems were now hot on our tails. Nex eyes widened, he must be panicking on the inside. Nex grabbed my sleeve getting ready to teleport us but I signaled him not yet. There was a weird silence between those moments that can be felt. A couple of seconds later, the security golems stopped on their tracks confusing Nex. These golems were the fully modified ones that clearly had obvious intentions to capture or kill us. Their movements to make sure that we had no physical means of escape. Lights of red and white now motioned on us to highlight. Though I found it a bit redundant or needless because they're all golems anyway, they have optical lenses.
However, moments later someone landed right in front of them with a large thud. A muscular woman with a face that looked ready to kill stood in the distance. She was already cracking her knuckles readying herself to fight. I let go of Nex's hand from my sleeve then hopped over the roofs, making my way towards her. My instinct told me that if I ran forward then I was just going to die. Somehow it felt nostalgic looking at Terra. Her pony tail flowing from the wind right behind her. Her whole aura had changed from the last time I've seen her. She looked exactly the same as when we split up. The last time we also bickered a bit but why did it feel like a long time ago. I simply cracked my knuckles too and moved up.
Arc: Why don't you tell me first before we start this?
Terra: I don't have to answer anything from you.
Arc: I could say the same thing! What would you think the platform would say if they saw this? You're a disgrace, a traitor, and an antagonist!
Terra: Then they would say that I learned the truth.
Arc: The truth?
Terra: The doctor showed me the truth.
Arc: You're not just brainwashed are you? You must be under something to betray the platform like that.
Terra: No, I'm furious I changed. That's why I want to offer you something. Only you.
Arc: What are you talking about!?
Terra: Join us Arc. Be a part of us. Together we'll change this creator forsaken universe.
Arc: I don't know what you're talking about! Tell me what's happening with you Terra!
Terra: There's much more to this than we know. So this is my test to you Arc. A test of faith! Join us and you'll learn the truth with us.
Nex: You can't be serious Terra!
Terra: I'm sorry but I cannot listen to the false children of Adam.
False children?! What the hell is she talking about? She's completely changed! I dropped down to the lower building roofs mentally preparing myself. She walked over slowly like I was the enemy. As quickly as it did, her eyes started to glow and jumped to do a giant haymaker punch! As she threw it in my direction, a strong force push shot my way! I managed to dodge it right at the last minute but the destruction it left on its path was deadly. That was meant to kill!
My eyes started to sharpen on my target that was now running towards me at extreme speeds. I surged in my power then generated some heat with my hands. I went into the full offensive because Terra's power is meant to break defenses. If I stay defensive then I'll surely die from the pressure. Blue hot flames spurred out of my hand then spread to my entire arms. We both jumped off the gapped roofs to clash, getting ready to deliver another power haymaker. Our fists clashed creating a giant explosion tossing debri everywhere! I could see the change in Terra's eyes. She switched over to deliver a roundhouse kick but I managed to block it in time. However, blocking was still not the right choice! The vibrations added to the power of the kick tossed me to the wall of a building slamming me hard against it. The moment I recovered myself, she was right in front of me about to deliver another haymaker. Her eyes glowed blue for the kill. Just as if my instincts finally kicked in, I shot an enormous flame cannon right on the center of her stomach. The force from a direct hit pushed her off me and landed her onto the ground below.
Terra just got up and dusted off then jumped back onto the roofs. Not wasting any time again, her eyes glowed again. This time using the vibrations to pull me in towards her. The strength of the pull wasn't something I could fight. My body was flung towards her! She was naive if she thought I hadn't seen her use that on her enemies. Terra reeled in for a strong right hook. As she threw it, I grabbed before the magic could activate it then used it to swing around her back evading the push for a microsecond. I jumped out of her distance, touching the roofs again. This time I turned off my flames and thought of a different strategy.
Arc: This isn't going to get us anywhere Terra!
Terra: I think you're the one misunderstanding who's actually winning the fight.
Arc: I'm still standing aren't I?
Terra: You piss me off, you know that. I've always wondered that. But now I remembered why.
She started charging again at me with extreme force. This time she was going in for a tackle. My eyes glowed with another surge to mod my boots. As she came closing in, I instantly changed directions forcing her to stop her charge and change directions. Her body was now like a train that destroyed anything in its path. Though she might be a power house of strength, I still had something up. With each charge, I've only just been evading and touching the metal roof floorings to get better footing. Terra just didn't stop her relentless destruction of the rooftops. This seemed to anger her even more. I know the one thing that Terra disliked the most was when enemies were evasive.
She stopped in her tracks, her eyes started to surge with energy again. She let out a strong battle cry then punched the roof below her! All of a sudden a dome of vibration shot out knocking me off another roof! The dome hit me like an Artuskan's headbutt! My body isn't going to last if it means that I took hits like those. As I looked above, Terra was ready to slam her fists on me as she was landing. Quickly as I could, I used an air tunnel to push me out of the way. However, that didn't stop the force of the punch from knocking me into the side of a building. My body was already pushing its limits with how many times I could take her vibration pushes slamming me to walls. More close calls and I was going to have to give in. I looked to see that Terra's punch had already leveled a building. She jumped back on to the roofs with full strength again. It didn't seem like she wanted me to catch my breath. Another punch directly at me, again the residual force pushing me hard into another rooftop. So this was her way of adapting to the fight. She was just going to keep blasting the surrounding area to make sure I got hit at least.
Just a little bit more. My breathing started to become more and more coarse. These hits aren't getting easier to evade. If only there were some rocks or terrain. I would've had a better offensive. Fire wasn't not the type of magic to fight other magicians with. The only thing I could rely on now was my air modifications. I jumped up back to the center of the fight. Terra this time slowed her approach. She was probably getting drained from using too much surge magic. Normally the fight would end before that would happen but I knew that. Her face building up frustration. I kept my feet firm on the roofs despite them in pain from the constant mini tremors of the metal around. This environment was not in my favor.
I prepped my arms up like a fist fight. This seemed to please Terra because she started to make another mad dash to me. Her body was now getting closer and closer but I wasn't planning to move off this roof. My eyes surged once more now modifying my arms to create air cannons. Terra giving it her all, she delivered another nasty jab punch that I narrowly dodged by just moving my body slightly. A big burst of vibrations were casted right next to my face and body. It was like the world looked fuzzier looking through it. The destruction destroyed some of the buildings behind me and the security golems watching. Right after it was happening, I quickly retaliated at the same time with a strong straight punch that she too dodged narrowly. With a loud bang, a hurricane tunnel came out of my hand. The power of the hurricane I had unleashed was strong enough to destroy some metal structures behind her too. Her face and body just inches away from being torn apart too. Terra let out a sick grin.
Terra: FINALLY!
I gave a displeased look because she knew that I didn't want to fight to kill. This was the fight that she wanted me to take seriously. She rapidly raised her fists for another punch but I dropped down and punched her gut again. The hurricane blow managed to get some distance off of me. It was a clean hit making her clench her stomach as she was blown away. But that grin still didn't drop. That push didn't knock her far either. She rushed back to me with an array of combination strikes. With each punch I would narrowly dodge, her punches kept ringing in my ears because of the vibrations. It slowly started to make me deaf! After her retaliation was over, she swung with a hard punch to my center! I was waiting for this one! I turned my body away from the blow to throw a hurricane reverse hook kick! It landed perfectly on Terra's chin then moments later a hurricane explosion tossed her out into the sky.
Terra's body was flying but she still managed to recover mid air. Her face grinning from pleasure. She shot out a force out of her boots towards me. Exhaustion was starting to hit us hard but we didn't want to back down. As she landed close, I pushed my body towards her again. This time she was ready to block and counter attack. I grabbed some sharp debri from the ground, sealed them as I rushed to her then chucked it her way. Her face said it all when she saw them coming. She jumped out of the way but I had activated them already causing an explosion. I was sure she didn't have a clear visual of me anymore.
To my surprise, she came out of the smoke ready to throw a haymaker right at me. I didn't have time to dodge anymore! I felt her fists land hard on my arms. The pressure was unlike I've ever felt before! Just mere seconds and I could already feel my bones starting to crack! My arms feel more numb by the second. The punch pushed me hard to the edge of the roofs. Terra's punch ended but she was ready to throw another! This fight was going nowhere! Her tenacity to fight was far greater than mine. The only thing that I was doing was feeding her sick pleasure of wanting to battle with! She threw a high punch so I dipped under her to escape the radius. Once again, a giant crashing sound happened behind me. Though my ears were pretty messed up to notice how loud it was. I made it back to the middle of the arena where the fight started. Terra was already running to me like a mad dog.
This was going to be one of my last resorts because I didn't have a lot of surge magic left. Quickly as I could, I produced a single blue flame to appear in front of me. She must've noticed this because she prepared something of her own too. Her hands ready to throw her vibration cannon! She knew me too well. Energy surging in my veins again, this was my last one! I jumped backwards then shot out another strong hurricane out of my arms into the fire. There so little ideas that I could do with what magic I had remaining. Even holding this tiny flame without a construct on it was extremely difficult for a person of my level to do. But I had to do it or I might lose! I felt my magic through my veins again then shot out as much hurricane magic through my cannons towards the small flame. My body could barely hold the immense force I was generating. The noise of the storm was far too loud for me to process as well. A giant blue flame shot out devouring everything only for it to slam into something. On the opposite side, a force pushes to stop the enormous flames. She knew that this was going to kill her if she didn't defend. We held out our power despite running out of surge! If any of us stopped now then the other was certainly going to die. This was our last surge. The blue flames fighting the pushing force was like some kind display. A display of the power of Adam. The power to even level a damn city! I was desperately trying to hold on with my feet slowly slipping. My legs were starting to slowly be pushed backwards to the edge too. My hands were holding onto dear life trying to shoot a blue flame hurricane. Nex jumped right behind me, I could barely see anymore but I didn't want to let go.
Nex: Stop! Let's just leave! Don't kill yourselves!
Arc: I'm sorry Nex… I'm not going to!
Our power output was getting stronger and stronger as each passing second. There wasn't going to be a good end to this. But before my body was about to give in I felt a touch on my shoulder, we were back to the hexagonal office. The sudden change of environment made my body recoil. The sight of the bright lights of the library started to burn me. My body was also severely beaten so it fell the moment it sensed everything was safe. My body hit the ground of the office with a hard thud.
Nex! He teleported us back! Able went over to me to prop me up. The only thing I could see now was the monitor screen filled with mass destruction. Part of the Talos district had fallen into scrap and flames. Flames and debri were shown on the large monitor. Eliza was on her chair sweating bullets. Her face filled with a terrified expression from what she watched. My body was completely limp to move a single muscle. Our eyes were attached to the screen. Terra was just standing above the mess. Her face of pure will and strength on display. She was in a state of complete rage without even showing it. Well too bad for her, I had a final gift for her. With all my might, I raised my hand. Another surge went through my body. Just like a hand detonator, I pressed my thumb down.
Arc: Bang…
The monitors are cut off. That must've been a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Though I'm quite positive that was nowhere near enough to kill Terra. She is definitely a tough person to take down. Nex looked away, his expression filled with disbelief. Eliza just fell back into her seat. She wasn't close to realizing how dangerous magic can be. All she could do was place her hands on her chest.
Eliza: Is that normal? Is this usually how a fight goes? I… I… I… I can't understand it. I just can't!
Nex: Magic borns fighting isn't normal. It's bad enough that we're close to extinction.
Eliza: Extinction!?
Nex: Battles usually go much differently. With one dying…
Arc: That wasn't enough to kill her... I know her well enough that it was probably just like a punch to her...
Eliza: You blew up an entire factory segment four times!
Arc: And I'd do it again if the Platform ordered me to! Argh… Everything hurts right now… I need some rest… Argh…
I slipped off Able's hold and thud straight back onto the floor. I had no more strength, my vision darkening...
Eliza: What is this platform?