Server 0.1

XXXII. EPILOGUE

2010-09-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

Four months have passed since the Reversal of the planet. While the period was marked by revolutions on Ascendus, everything on Biota was getting better and better. The citizens, humans and robots alike, were celebrating around campfires, with traditional music and great feasts. Juan was testing out his new motorcycle on the new roads built above the ocean, awing his fans. He became the most appreciated leader from the two nations that existed during that time.

On Ascendus, the fate of some humans and robots had taken a whole different turn.

Linda and Hakyn moved to Sea-Port City, along with their cat, which had gray fur and two wing-like appendages on its back, and their robot, Hummer. The Helkern car was modified by Hakyn to be capable of flight with the help of two propulsion jets on the retractable wing-like parts on its sides. The vehicle became the first flying slider in the world and many racers across Ascendus admired his invention.

Rakory and Quintus ended up selling jewelry at the store from Glass City, which they drove by in the very night that the car accident happened in the initial time. She had her original long dark brown hair and was wearing a black dress with diamond decorations on its chest, shaped like a necklace, while Quintus was dressed in a black tuxedo with a bowtie and his spiky hair was a bit shorter.

Cartridge got himself a new team of racers and began training them on the roads of Recycle City. His stuck up personality was restored by the Reverser as well, proven by the sticker that he had placed on his vehicle’s swallowtail, which displayed the text: “I’m the best!”

Ray Beyond swore that he would never use the Reverser to send anyone and anything back in time or into the future again. On the other hand he concentrated on using it to find out what negative events would happen and he would send the members of his organization to solve the problems. Despite the ‘Time Master’s’ good intentions, the consequences of the reversal, that were explained by Roamer 8 to all the people, made everyone outside Void consider Ray’s invention the most dangerous Server in the world. And it was indeed so, because of its rare and powerful Neonid.

The rebellious humans and robots started yet another riot on the streets of Glass City during the night. Two teenage boys carried a box with two wires on it and placed it near a building. One of them typed a code on it and a red light started blinking from the side of the object. Just as they were about to run, they saw a shadow on the ground and looked ahead of them. A voice shouted at them:

“Hey you kids, don’t you know you’re not allowed to play with explosives?”

The two looked at the one who spoke to them. It was a tall man dressed in a black leather jacket with the initials D.P.B. on the left side of the chest. He was holding a handheld which he closed like a book and placed it in his jacket’s right pocket. When he went into the light, it could be seen that it was Samsir. He had black hair, his ponytail was cut shorter and his moustache was grown more. His eyes were dark blue, a sign that his Neonid dropped to phase 2. He was also thinner than before, a sign that the desaturation affected his lifestyle.

He scared the kids away and used his Neonid wires to disable the bomb they planted. Left without energy, the device became harmless. After searching in his pocket, he took out the handheld, opened it like a book and watched the screen as the same system with arrows pointed towards the area where something bad was about to happen.

The device led him to an alley where a carrier robot with two giant arms was about to attack a man. Samsir quickly caught it by the left arm with the wires and dragged the machine on the road, telling it:

“I advise you to solve things more diplomatically next time. Seriously, this is NOT how civilized citizens should behave.”

He left the robot lying there, half drained. The human ran away scared.

Taking the handheld monitor out, Samsir saw a new warning. The arrows pointed towards a street nearby.

A man, dressed entirely in black with a spiky collar on his neck and a red mohawk, was torturing a tiny robot that looked like Hummer but with gray armor instead of black. He held it by the wings, which were supposed to beat or at least shake so that the robot would not overheat, and knocked on its head. The insect-like robot continued to hum sadly while trying to scratch the bully’s arms, to no avail.

Samsir grabbed the human by the mohawk and said:

“No wonder these machines are acting violently. The humans around here aren’t any better.”

“Get your hands off of my hair, dirt bag!” the guy with the fan-shaped hair shouted.

Once Samsir let him go, the guy turned around to strike him with a fist, only to get grabbed and tripped by him. When he got up, he noticed the one in front of him had glowing blue irises and shouted:

“You’re a contaminated!”

“Yeah, and?” asked Samsir.

The red haired guy ran away screaming and running into the poles on the street. Samsir sighed and continued to search for other events that required his immediate attention.

Once he reached the next road, he saw people trying to shoot at a building. They all had giant guns like the one Jim used in the army.

“Oh no, no, no! Don’t use those here!” he shouted at them.

His dark blue wires wrapped the guns and destroyed them while taking away the energy inside. The humans were angry and one of them shouted:

“Hey! What’s the deal, wiseguy?”

“Disarming and Peacekeeping Brigade officer Samsir Ivanov here. The use of weapons in this area is strictly prohibited.”

“Run! He’s contaminated!” another human shouted.

The humans all ran away from him, seeing him as a weirdo and a menace. While he pondered why so many people hated him, the engine of a car caught his attention. It was a Forkbomb which passed by, just a few steps away from him. More slider vehicles followed.

He shouted while running after the vehicles:

“Hey you guys! Stop this pandemonium right now!”

“Admire my car’s swallowtail, snail boy!!!” shouted Hilarion Medley from inside his Forkbomb car.

And somewhere, on the same continent, a vengeful robot made of crystal continued his search for his arch nemesis, Ray Beyond. Alive by day, and dead by night…

THE END

Helkern flight mode

XXXI. A NEW BOOK OF HISTORY

2010-09-18T03:51:00.000-07:00

The Void organization began researching what events had changed in the new time. They had rebuilt their underwater base, encased in a mountain and undetectable by A.R.P. The members of Void at that time were: Ray Beyond, Dew, Mylo and Jim Frodeler.

On the screen, Ray checked on everyone who he knew as important for the timeline. First he chose to check on the three robots that once were part of his organization. He saw Hector and Garfunk in their penguin-styled armors, playing a song on their violin. The other Gruziforian robots were dancing to their music.

“The only regret I have is that I cannot hear sound through the Reverser.” Said Ray smiling.

He then switched view to the racers that were Jim’s friends. Linda and Hakyn were a couple, driving in the Helkern through Sea-Port City. Linda took her gray fluffy blue eyed cat with her. Also, Hummer somehow joined them and was sitting next to the feline.

Rakory and Quintus also became a couple, although a rather strange one. She was dragging him in every fashion shop she could find in Glass City.

Smoke Barrel continued his life as a hunter in Gruzifor, catching crows for food. Top and his friends were lounging under a tree next to the Gruziforian temple. He had his normal colors restored as well. Everything on Ascendus seemed to be alright.

However, for the islanders, things didn’t seem too good. A.R.P. was planning on attacking them by surprise. Ray then remembered something.

“The islands! A person that we need to protect lives there!” he said.

“Who is that person?” asked Dew.

“I don’t know for sure… Ever since that surgery, I can barely remember. And it was something I shouldn’t have forgotten, darn it!” shouted Ray.

“Maybe if we go there you might recognize who it is.”

“Good idea. Let’s go!”

They reached the surface of the sea through the pillar that brought them there and then jumped on the triangular platform. They hoped that they would arrive on time to save the person.

The islands were crumbling under the force of the mechanical land which had blades that cut through everything they landed on. It looked like a giant starfish eating away at the home of the Gruziforians. The army was already defeated and nobody stood a chance against the destructive creation of A.R.P.

Out of all the people that lived there, only eleven were still floating above the water, still alive and screaming for help. Ray and Dew arrived and dragged everyone they could find onto the board. The person they were looking for wasn’t there.

“We’ve got to keep searching!” said Ray.

He pulled the handheld out of his left pocket and pointed its back at the water. On its screen, red arrows pointed towards a mass of wooden crates and planks that was floating on the ocean. It was apparently part of a ship.

“It’s coming from that way. We need to get a closer look.” He said before using his Neonid to move the platform with all the people on board.

The closer they got, the more red arrows appeared vertically on the screen, pointing toward the pile.

They finally saw someone sitting on one of the floating planks between the crates.

“That’s him! I remember now. He was the one that died at the South Pole!” said Ray.

The person was Samsir. He was soaked by the ocean and didn’t give any signs of life until Dew and Ray checked to see if he was alive.

“He’s still breathing, although too slow. Quick, help me get him on the platform, Dew.” Ordered Ray.

“Alright, I’ve got him.” Said Dew as he grabbed the unconscious man by the left hand.

Ray grabbed him by the other hand and they both dragged him on the platform. They headed towards their base with all the other people.

One day later, Void’s organization had fifteen members, because the people decided to live in the cave until Ray would find a better place for them to live in. Meanwhile, the core members were trying to help Samsir recover from the comatose state.

“It’s a good thing that Mylo studied medicine. Otherwise this guy would have died again.” Said Ray.

“I think he’s waking up.” Said Mylo while pointing at the human that was lying on the table.

Samsir was suddenly breathing normally, and moving his head and arms.

“Hey, are you alright?” asked Dew.

“What’s going on? Where am I?” asked Samsir confused, with his eyes still closed.

“You’re in Void’s underground base.”

“What? Where are you? All I see is… snow.”

“Snow? I think you’re dreaming or something. What else do you see?” asked Dew.

“I see myself in the snow, there are footprints around me. This can’t be a dream. I’ve never seen snow in my entire life…” said Samsir.

“Can you open your eyes?”

“I think so. Yeah. I can. But… who are you guys? What happened to me?”

“You almost drowned.” Explained Mylo.

“We saved you.” Said Ray.

“Thanks. But I don’t think you should have wasted your time with saving my life. I’m in a dead end anyway.”

“I think your patient requires anti-depressants and a hard hit to the head.” Said Jim while passing by.

Samsir got up from the table and barely managed to stand on his feet. He then said:

“Hey guys! My name is Samsir. Who are you?”

“My name’s Dew.”

“I’m Ray Beyond.”

“My name is Mylo.”

“And I’m Jim Frodeler.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Said the man with the ponytail.

“Samsir, would you join Void? Our organization needs more people.” Asked Ray.

“First, I need to know what it is about.”

“Well, we’re trying to stop these wars between A.R.P. and the Gruziforians. We also try to stop these street revolts.”

“Hmm. Sounds good. How can I join?”

“You just need to get a membership card with your digital signature. Jim will help you with that.”

“Ok.”

Jim went to a computer that was on a desk and began typing. The camera of the computer scanned Samsir and created his portrait, then placed it on the image of the card.

“Now I need your full name and age.” Said Jim.

“My name’s Samsir Ivanov. Age: 20.”

“Uh… Do you spell your name with a U or an A?” asked the guy with black glasses.

“A.”

“Strange name.”

“Yours sounds quite familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?” asked Samsir.

“It’s quite common. But I don’t remember seeing you before. So you probably knew someone else with that name.” explained Jim as he wrote the name and created the card.

After Jim gave him the card, Ray approached them and said:

“Actually, you guys did know each other before. Although I’m surprised Samsir still has fragments of memories about what happened before the reversal.”

The two guys stared at him confused. Ray continued:

“Follow me.”

He showed them how they traveled to the South Pole, how Jim and Mr. Locust struggled to keep Samsir alive and the war that destroyed the polar continent.

“Samsir, you’ve died before. The Reverser brought you back.”

“I died?”

On the screen, he saw his own death at the hands of Kloyd.

“Because of the reversal, it’s as if it never happened.”

“And the snow… that’s the place I saw.”

“Normally, everyone should forget everything that happened during those three months. But it seems that you and another person still have fragments of your memories from that time. I must research this phenomenon.”

“So I was this miserable guy’s friend?” asked Jim while pointing at Samsir.

“I was sure I knew you from somewhere.” Said Samsir, referring to Jim.

“Now that you’re part of Void, I’ll give you this assignment. You must patrol the streets of Glass City and Recycle City. If you see anyone resorting to violence, disarm them immediately. Do you accept this mission?” asked Ray.

“Yeah, I’m up for it.”

“Then you will be the officer of the Disarming and Peacekeeping Brigade. Dismantle all explosives, disarm all citizens and calm down rebellious robots and humans.”

“Got it. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do!” said Samsir with a smile.

As he was about to leave for the elevator pillar, Ray called back to him:

“Oh, and one more thing.”

He threw him a cylindrical container with a violet liquid substance inside.

“This will increase your lifespan by a few years. Your Neonid is critically low on energy. It’s the least I can do for you.” Explained Ray.

“Thank you.” Said Samsir gratefully before leaving, dressed in a black leather jacket.

At the South Pole, Juan was declared the Guide of the continent and he named his territory Biota, which became known as the Land of Life. He renovated his house and turned it into a giant palace with golden eagle statues placed on the roof and on the sides of the top of the entrance. He decided along with his people to keep the Gruziforian symbol of Terra, the green circle divided in four equal pieces. The symbol was now worn by Juan with pride on the left side of his chest and was also printed on all the yellow flags that people held above their beautiful but simple houses on the land.

The New History Video Book’s first chapter tells about the rise of Biota, the first member of Earth’s Triad. The symbol of the Triad had the three symbols of the biologic, energetic and technologic nations represented by the green circle sliced in four, the blue circle sliced in two by a slash and the red circle with two lightning symbols united in the center respectively. These three symbols were connected to a center by yellow straight lines which had curve lines near their base. Similar lines seemed to connect the three symbols of science. Earth’s Triad represented the way the three scientific branches worked together as a whole.

Biota Symbol

Earth's Triad Symbol

XXX. CONSEQUENCES

2010-09-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

Ray slowly walked towards a house that was near the park. He knew where he was, he knew who lived there, but most importantly, he knew what happened there. He was exhausted from the battle with Roamer 8, breathing heavily while holding his right arm over his chest. His heart began to ache again.

He entered through the door which recognized his presence immediately as he touched it. After walking through a maze of hallways with white tiled walls and black floors, he reached a room which seemed very familiar to him. There were two laptops placed on a black desk. As he stepped in, he heard a voice coming from the right side of the room.

“Ray? How did you get way over there?”

“Dew?” asked Ray.

It was indeed Dew. However he didn’t have the robotic snake on his right arm, he didn’t have a giant mechanical claw covering his entire left arm, no wings on his back and his left eye was normal. Ray shouted happily:

“It is you! You survived!”

“Survived? What just happened? You were in front of me, talking about the Reverser, you disappeared, and now you come in through this door and start talking nonsense.” Dew said, with a confused expression on his face while putting his left hand on the wall nearest to the door to lean on it.

“Oh. Yeah. I didn’t tell you what happened. The recording was successful. I returned from the future, where three months have passed. I reversed the world!”

“Congratulations Ray! So what did you see? What will happen?”

“A lot of bad stuff will happen! We need to get out of here right away! Few seconds too late and it will all start going downhill again!”

“Downhill? What did you see that was so terrifying, Ray?”

“No time for talking! We must get out of this place!” said Ray as he grabbed Dew’s hand and dragged him out of the room.

They ran through the maze, trying to reach the exit. Unexpectedly, an explosion from a room covered the hallway. They both screamed and stuck themselves up a wall to avoid the blast that went past them. Out of the room, a mysterious figure came out of the green flames that burned inside. The two teenagers were shocked to see who the person was.

“How can this be?” asked Ray scared.

“Who is this guy?!” asked Dew amazed.

In front of them, the Dew from the future was standing, with his four wings extended and his arms crossed. The snake and the mechanical claw were also attached to them.

Ray went near the cyborg and asked:

“Are you the real Dew? What’s going on here?”

“Hah. He’s just a clone. I’m a reincarnation.” Said the cyborg Dew, with an evil grin.

“Real Dew? I’m the real Dew! What’s up with this guy? How many clones of you did Caesar create?” asked the other Dew, while looking at Ray.

“What have I done?” asked Ray, confused but also saddened.

“You should have taken a look at the facts, Ray. Remember that before we ran away, we destroyed the other clones that weren’t yet ‘born’? Remember that there was another clone of you that was yet incomplete? It seems the Reverser found it as the only matching container for these memories from those three months, and for my remaining material that Dew’s past self couldn’t receive. Although I could call it a glitch, because my real body hasn’t been rebuilt and this clone seems to be hybridized with another DNA.” Explained the Dew replica.

“So you are… Gryphon!” said the ‘Time Master’.

“Not even I know who I really am. So many mixed memories. It’s hard to tell who controls who.”

“Ray, do you know him?” asked Dew.

“I thought I knew him. But now I know I never seen him in my entire life!” said Ray as he extended three violet wires from his right arm.

The one he called Gryphon lunged at Ray, trying to pierce him with the horn of the snake on his right arm. They fought on the hallway as Dew tried to calm them down. It was no use, as Gryphon hit him in the stomach using the snake’s head. Ray tried to grab the snake, but the cyborg used his claw to throw Ray into a wall. He then repeatedly hit his victim with the head of the snake each time he moved away from the wall.

“Don’t even think of attacking me!” said Gryphon while holding Ray with the snake’s fangs by the shirt’s neck.

Ray kicked the cyborg’s legs and escaped his grip. Instead of running away, he tried to attack him again, this time using his fists.

“Just make way. We only want to get out of here.” Stated the cyborg.

“We?” asked Ray.

More clones came out of the fire. The first three were one girl and two boys with aspect of fifteen year olds. The girl had silvery white long hair while the two boys had long black hair with white stripes. Then three more came out, all three being boys. They also had white stripes in their black hair. Two more finally appeared, one with a single white stripe along the middle of his hair while the other had white tips.

“Me and my brethren.” Said Gryphon.

“You’re not taking these clones out of here!” shouted the ‘Time Master’.

“Out of our way.”

“No!”

As Ray tried to attack Gryphon again, his heart began to beat irregularly. The pain made him faint just as the cyborg hit him in the chest with the snake’s head. Dew got up and saw how Gryphon continued to hit his friend’s chest.

“Stop it! Don’t kill him!” shouted Dew as he got up from the floor.

“If I wanted him dead, I would have left him alone. His heart would have stopped.” Said Gryphon as he placed Ray on the floor using the snake’s jaws again, to hold him by the shirt.

Dew looked at him confused and scared.

“Don’t just stand there! Take him to a hospital, you idiot!”

“Why? What’s going on?” asked Dew, looking at his exact replica.

“Get him out of here before this place blows up, you wimp!”

After all the clones left along with Gryphon, Dew dragged Ray out of the house and placed him near the Reverser. The house, with all the laboratories, exploded.

As the morning came, Caesar was found dead by the A.R.P. drones. His house was still burning when they arrived to put out the fire. As the drones were investigating the scene, a green lightning hit them all. Taken by surprise, they started shooting. Wires of Neonid absorbed their energy and disabled them.

“Good. Now all we have to do is move them off this island and cut off the bridge.” Said Ray.

Dew was also there with him. Ray was walking slowly, helped by Mylo. He had a bandage over his chest.

“Mylo, I want to ask you to join us. Your talents as a surgeon would be greatly appreciated once our organization grows.” Ray told the robot.

“Well, that could be a change. I’ve been getting bored of repairing machines.” Said Mylo.

“I will repay you for helping me with the surgery.”

“Hey, it was no big deal. I don’t need anything. I’m just a robot doing my job. Thank Dew for bringing you just in time.”

“Yeah, thanks Dew. You’re a true friend.”

“That’s what friends are for. And… Uh… I think you might have to thank that strange guy too.” Said Dew.

“Gryphon?!”

“Yeah. That guy. He tried to keep your heart beating by hitting your chest.”

“Maybe there is something left from his old self…”

“Old self?”

“I’ll explain once we finish redesigning our base.”

Just as Ray walked towards the Reverser, an explosion was heard from a city on the mechanical continent. The bridge that they wanted to disconnect from the island sank into the sea all by itself. He rushed to the computer and monitor inside his machine and watched as warnings began to pour on the screen.

Images of revolution taking place in Glass and Sea Port City made Ray wonder what other things went wrong. He saw everything turn into violent street wars, with the use of explosives, guns and tear gas. People ended up killing each other in the havoc.

Ray’s eyes had tears in them, as he felt guilt for what he had unwillingly caused.

“This isn’t what I wanted!” he shouted angrily as the war scenes happened on the monitor.

Some time later, after sinking their base and re-organizing Void, Ray and Dew went out to recruit more members. Ray invented a handheld device which had a screen on which he could see where certain events would take place and how important they are to the history. They arrived in Glass City and saw the four cars that once raced on the same streets and had an accident before the reversal. This time, things were a bit different.

He stopped the cars in their tracks and shouted:

“Turn around! An accident will take place on this road. The truck delivering Neonid to A.R.P. will collide with your cars. Take any other road!”

“Hey, what’s up with this?” asked Cartridge.

“Move!!!” shouted Ray once more.

The racers moved their cars to another road and once Ray moved away too, they saw a giant truck dashing through the same street they were on just seconds ago.

“It was a bad idea to race through these streets last time.” Said Ray.

“Well, we’re not racing now. We’re trying to get away from the riot.” Said Cartridge calmly.

“Wow. Things have changed a lot.”

“So… What do you want? An autograph?”

“No, I just want to make sure that you guys don’t have to contact that Neonid substance that they were transporting.”

“Oh. Ok.”

“I also wanted to ask you… Would you guys join Void? We want to solve the problems that this continent is facing.”

“No way man, I’m too cool to get killed trying to stop this riot.” Said Cartridge.

“Sorry, we’re not interested.” Said Quintus from inside his and Linda’s Rootkit vehicle.
"No." stated Rakory bluntly from inside her Saburex

“I don’t know… I’ll need some time to think about it.” Said Hakyn.

“I might join!” Jim shouted as he got out of Hakyn’s Helkern car.

“If you want to join, you must come with us. We’ll give you a membership card and a job.” Said Ray.

“Sure, why not?” said the young man with dark glasses and tuque.

With that single modification in the events, history took a different turn. It was the sole reason for the accident that never happened, the friendships that were never made, the lives that were never lost, the wars that were never started and the travels that never took place.

The Reverser

The Slider-Vans

XXIX. REVERT/RESTORE

2010-09-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

From the darkness in Hummer’s memory, pieces of information started to flow back in place. His virtual body started to recreate out of the particles. Once it was whole, his friends got recomposed out of the nothingness, right in front of him. Then the ground and the sky began to reassemble as well. Hummer started to walk backwards, away from his friends, on the same way he came to them when his dream began. This time, his dream ended, fading to black.

He woke up in the same shuttle that was collapsing in on him and Linda. For some reason, he could not record anything. It all seemed to slip right by him, the events going backwards, including seeing the giant rocket ship exploding, or rather imploding. Out of the orange cloud, the ship seemed to rebuild itself. Radatrax did the same. It was like a tape put on rewind. Some violet waves went back towards Earth, leaving events to happen in reverse behind it.

On Earth, the mechanical land that was covering the South Pole started to retreat into the sea, the trees rose up, the houses came out whole from beneath the metallic plates, the fires went back to the torches and the ocean waves began uncovering the beach. The scenes from the battle field began to rewind as well, faster and faster.

On Ascendus, the waves started to sweep the cities while the humans were all watching from inside the buildings. Some drones were also staring amazed as the strange energy passed them several times, heading towards the ocean. Roamer 8 was racing against one of the waves that began to affect what it left behind. He finally surpassed it and flew as fast as he could towards the platform over the ocean, splitting the waves as he traveled.

“That idiot!” he said, referring to Ray.

Inside the Reverser, Ray was having trouble figuring out why the machine was giving warnings. On the screen, the following text appeared:

“Error: Important material is missing. Not enough material to successfully complete the reverse.”

“Now what? It’s asking for us to give back material…” said Ray while looking at Dew.

“What material exactly?” his clone asked.

“I don’t know for sure… But I think it’s referring to everything we’ve got on us. Including… us.”

“So we have to take part in the reverse too?”

“I’ll try to bypass this.” Said the ‘Time Master’ as he took off his purple jacket.

He threw it outside of the Reverser’s platform. The jacket started to slowly drift away. On the screen, another text appeared:

“Material 034,899 restored. Warning! Foreign material has been introduced. Not enough material to successfully complete the reverse.”

Ray growled angrily. He took his black shoes off and threw them off board. The shoes started to slowly move away just like his jacket.

“Material 020,860 restored. Warning! Foreign material has been introduced. Not enough material to successfully complete the reverse.” Said the Reverser’s text on the screen.

“What are we going to do now, Dew?” asked Ray with a sad expression on his face.

Dew began pondering. He had a plan, but he didn’t know if he should tell his friend about it or not.

Roamer 8 managed to reach the platform and flew to the top of the Reverser, clinging to one of the three arches, in order to not be taken away by the powerful wind that was going around the strange machine.

“I guess the machine wants me to go out there.” Said the violet eyed boy.

“Ray, don’t.” said Dew as he grabbed his friend by the collar of his black shirt.

“It’s the only way to prevent errors from happening.”

“I’ll go. I have sufficient material to replace you in the time line. After all, we share the same DNA.” Said the clone while walking towards one of the arches.

“In that case… I’m coming with you.” Said Ray.

“No. You must keep your memories, for the sake of the world. I have too much guilt to continue living like this. I’d rather forget everything I’ve done. And besides… who would want to live looking like this?” asked Dew while showing all the mechanical attachments he had, including his four black wings that he expanded.

“Dew, don’t do this. I don’t know if the machine will work right. I don’t want you to die. I’d rather leave you the way you are instead of leaving you to die.”

“If it goes wrong, who will fix it if you would not be on board? It’s better this way. Farewell, my friend. If I can, I will never forget you.” Said Dew before jumping out of the Reverser’s energy shield.

The wind blew from his left side, making him slowly dissolve. His material was picked up by the violet waves and mixed in the vortex that formed around the Reverser. The entire world was now just a spiral of colors. Everything was happening just too fast for the human eye or even for Roamer 8’s robotic eyes to understand. Ray almost cried after seeing his friend’s sacrifice. The screen had the following text:

“Sufficient material has been restored. However, some material is missing. This could have consequences such as completely changing history.”

“Consequences?” asked Ray.

He looked at the spiral, hoping that everything will be alright when the reversing ends.

The crystal robot couldn’t do anything to stop it. Anger was building up inside him, just thinking of the catastrophes that would hit Earth once the process will be over. His eyes locked on Ray Beyond, watching his every move and calculating how to assault him.

Seen from the outside, the Earth began to spin backwards, surrounded by a violet aura. Because of this anomaly, it slowed down its travel around the sun by a month. Suddenly, it stopped rotating for a second, and then began rotating fast in its usual way. The speed decreased as things began to be restored on the planet.

The wind stopped, and everything began to solidify. The three islands were still where they were three months before the reversal. Ray’s platform was standing right on the island which had been sunken first. He looked around. There was the park where he arrived after the 100 year travel. To his amazement, it appeared that the reversal worked.

“Wow. I did it! I did it!” he shouted happy.

“You failed hard.” A voice came from the top of the Reverser.

“What? Who’s there? Huh? Roamer?!”

The glass robot jumped off the arch and landed perfectly on his two feet. He told Ray:

“Do you have any idea what you have done?”

“I brought the world back, I saved the lives of all the people who had died in the wars!” said the violet eyed teenager.

The glass robot crouched and jumped at his neck but Ray moved away, making the sharp cone on Roamer 8’s forehead hit into one of the arches of the Reverser.

“You ignorant joke of a human! For every life you have saved, at least three others have been taken away! Not to mention all those who should have been born that have been killed by your machine by being reduced to lifeless material! You saved a thousand creatures… at the cost of the lives of three thousand. You have committed genocide and I cannot allow you to continue your destruction on this planet.”

The robot tried again to pierce him through the chest, but Ray grabbed him by the horn and said:

“Wait! Maybe I can fix it! I still have the history recorded! I can make it send Earth back into the future!”

“It would only get worse! You have not learned anything from your mistakes. You don’t deserve to live.” Said the roamer.

They began fighting physically, as Ray avoided using his Neonid. He knew that it was all he needed to do to give the upper hand to the robot. Instead, he continued to dodge his attacks, grab him by the horn and throw him in random directions. Roamer 8 would continue to jump at his throat, trying to kill him. Each time, the teenager managed to escape, until the machine’s horn pierced his sleeve.

“My arm! You almost…” said Ray as he tried to move his right arm away.

The horn only caught his shirt’s sleeve and missed his arm. The roamer kept hitting him with the claws and feet, trying to force him to use the Neonid. Ray refused and continued to fight against him barehanded.

“Give up already. You’ll be tired soon, so stop delaying your execution.” Said the crystal robot.

“I still believe I can fix this! I’m not giving up!” said Ray as he threw Roamer 8 away once more.

The roamer landed on his feet, arranged his limbs underneath his body to be more aerodynamic and propelled himself towards Ray. Exhausted, the teenager couldn’t run away, knowing that the robot would easily catch up to him even if he did run. He grabbed one of the poles of the arches and stepped back, thinking that his death was inevitable.

Roamer 8 suddenly changed trajectory, spinning in the air until he touched the ground, landing upside down. He got up and saw the sun setting. His power was decreasing fast, so he had no choice but to flee. Ray couldn’t believe it. He was saved by the sunset.

XXVIII. THE COLLAPSE

2010-09-11T13:22:00.000-07:00

The mechanical land engulfed half of the South Pole, destroying entire landscapes and still extending. The trees were all fallen, their branches burning away in the night. The birds flew desperately over the area, finding no place to hide. Everything was covered in metal plates, rocks and sand. Some pieces of the mechanical land slipped away, making it pile up, forming mountains of debris over the former houses of the humans.

Near the beach, several people were looking at the ocean, hopeless. Beatrice had survived the disaster, but could only find four of her beloved pigeons. One of them was Dovie, her favorite bird. Where Juan’s house was, a mountain of metal plates towered over the land.

Some pieces fell off of it, rolling towards the base. The one that pushed them away was Jim, who appeared out of the scraps, full of bruises on his arms, and with broken glasses.

“Well, there goes our land.” He said while looking at the ruins below the mountain.

“It’s a huge pile of junk!” shouted Juan as he finally made it to the surface of the same mountain, next to Jim.

After seeing how the fire was burning everything and the metal covered the houses, forests and lakes, Juan put his hands on his head and sighed, saddened by the horrible scenery.

“Should we go look for survivors?” asked Jim.

“We’re doomed. No use doing that now…” said Juan.

“Come on, Juan, you used to be very optimistic. Can’t we at least give it a try to fix this? I mean, we could gather some people and…”

“No, Jim. It’s over. Look around. Everything is destroyed. No food, no water, no houses…”

“We could try to catch fish! And there’s an ocean out there!”

“Catch fish with what and find a desalinization machine where?” asked Juan while putting his right hand on the forehead.

“Eh… You’re right.” Said Jim while throwing away his broken glasses.

They sat on the pile of trash, falling into deep thought. No matter how hard they contemplated, they just couldn’t find a solution to such a big problem. The entire land was gone under the metal and flames, the water was salty and undrinkable, there were no tools to fish and no animals to hunt despite some items that could be used as weapons.

The smoke reached them, making them cough. They started walking down the pile in an attempt to get to a place with breathable air. The wind started blowing the smoke away while the fire continued to burn the plants that remained at the surface. The two teenagers realized that their death was inevitable and that they had no place to go, because their continent began to crumble and sink into the ocean, due to the heavy artificial land that went rampant.

A violet wave went over the continent, scanning everything and going onwards to cover the entire planet. The same wave also appeared and swept Ascendus. On that continent, it was already morning. Roamer 8 was awake and his attention was directed towards the ocean area, where the scanner’s wave came from.

“He already started the process. This madness must cease!” said the crystal robot as he prepared to take off the glass building.

He darted away, distorting the air behind him. Never had he felt such hatred for a human than now.

The rocket ship from outer space was nearing Earth. It seemed even more damaged than last time, as the bottom was missing more pieces than last time when Radatrax was in the basement, building his new body.

Inside the ship, Hakyn, Linda and Hummer found the escape shuttle inside a room where there were lots of strange machines on the floor.

“This ship is quite small. But it’s enough for one person.” Said Hakyn while looking at Linda.

“Then… we need to build another one after this one.” Said the girl.

“We don’t have time. And I’m not so good with building stuff. You’ll have to go.”

“I’m not going anywhere alone!”

“Hummer can come with you.” He said.

The ship suddenly started to shake. A roar came from below the floor.

“Radatrax…” said Hakyn.

“Now you’re going to get what’s coming for you!” shouted Radatrax as he hit the basement’s ceiling.

His head appeared from between the white metallic plates, showing his sharp teeth. He jumped out of the hole he made and landed in front of the others, roaring furiously. He had switched to Wyvern mode, having three knife-like feathers growing from his laser cannons which were placed on the sides of his chest. His build seemed perfect for speedy attacks. He prepared to charge at Hakyn.

Hummer jumped at Radatrax, trying to land on his eye again, but the fierce robot put his left wing in front of the head and hit the insect-like robot, almost slicing him. He was lucky to slip through the feathers and fly away on time before they snipped.

The wyvern shaped robot ran towards Hakyn, trying to shoot him with the lasers. The teenager ran out of the way, but Radatrax opened his mouth, showing his teeth as he rushed towards him. Hakyn jumped out of the way, leaving the beast to hit the wall. The impact was so heavy that the wall of the ship crumbled under Radatrax’s weight. The giant winged robot was thrown outside into space, where he flew away from the ship, breaking through its shield.

“I’ll destroy you!” shouted Radatrax as he flew next to the ship, racing with it.

He managed to get past it, his propulsion and smaller size allowing him to travel at a higher speed than the ship.

Hakyn saw this through the window of the command room and realized what Radatrax was about to do. He turned to Linda and said:

“He’s going to collide with the ship. There’s no way to turn it back, so I guess we must part ways.”

“I’m not going anywhere without you!” said Linda with tears in her eyes.

“You have no choice but to go. Hummer, make sure she gets on that shuttle.”

“Humm, zzzaaa!” the robot nodded before grabbing Linda by her hand and pulling her away from Hakyn.

“Hakyn! I don’t want to leave you alone on this ship! What will I do alone on Earth?” she asked, screaming.

“I don’t know. You’ll think of something.” He answered back.

“Hummer, let me go! Please! I don’t want to go!” she pleaded.

“Zee!!!” Hummer shouted, continuing to carry her towards the room where the shuttle was.

She couldn’t get away from the small robot’s grip no matter how hard she struggled. He was supposed to be twice as powerful as a human. Despite her protests, Hummer managed to throw her inside the shuttle and shut the door of it. Hakyn set the ship to move out of the room and take off through the destroyed door’s opening, sending them on their way towards Earth, far away from the trajectory of the ship.

Hakyn watched the shuttle becoming smaller in his sight and said:

“I hope you’ll be safe.”

His car saw him and realized that something was not right. It started to give out beeps, concerned about its master.

“Helkern… Get back to your room. I don’t need your help.” He said with a cold tone.

The car stood on the hallway, making no move.

“Go away!” shouted Hakyn.

The Helkern came closer to him, squeaking. The boy masked his sadness with anger and shouted at it:

“Go! Now! I don’t need you! Go inside the garage! You giant hunk of metal!”

His car gave out a long whistle, signifying that he hurt its feelings. Hakyn, seeing that the car still stood there without following his orders, brought out two Neonid wires from his right arm and connected them to the vehicle, forcing it to move wherever he wanted. Once he brought it to the garage, he made it rush inside and then connected another wire to the door, making it close and lock itself.

“I’m sorry, pal. I just can’t let you stop me.” Said the red haired kid as he went away from the door.

The alarm started to go off, signifying that the ship was running critically low on energy and that there was severe damage dealt to the ship. A red light blinked slowly each time the alarm made a sound.

Hakyn went outside the ship and jumped on the right wing. He saw Radatrax coming at him from afar.

The wyvern robot shouted:

“I’ll tear you apart, you weak human coward!”

Hakyn extended five wires from his left hand and touched the ship with it. The ship was completely under his control. He ordered it to accelerate and it started traveling twice as fast. Radatrax didn’t give up either, darting through space like a bird. Hakyn shouted at the evil robot:

“I’m not a coward! I’m a daredevil!”

The ship went towards the wyvern at an insane speed, colliding with it very near Earth. A huge explosion sent pieces of metal and parts of the evil robot flying through space, while a cloud of orange flaming dust spread across the area, giving it the aspect of a smaller-scale supernova.

Linda saw everything through the window of the shuttle and she had tears on her cheeks. Hummer also felt like crying, although he could not. He hummed sadly instead.

“I can’t believe he did that…” said Linda while wiping away her tears with her right sleeve.

Darienne saw the explosion and the shuttle through a telescope in a dark room. She ordered:

“You drones, bring the ray cannon in this room. It seems the colonists are returning to get their revenge on us.”

“Yes madam!” a sergeant drone said before going along with two other drones to bring the cannon.

Once they brought it to her, she prepared to attack the shuttle. The mortar had a telescope above it, which had crosshairs on its visor. The cyborg woman could see the shuttle perfectly. All she had to do was pull a lever and the cannon fired a red ray which went through the opening in the ceiling of the building. The ray traveled so fast that it reached the shuttle in a matter of minutes.

Inside the shuttle, Hummer and Linda felt like the walls began to collapse in on them. The girl fainted due to the heat reaching unbearable temperature. The robot slowly started to get deactivated as well, since most of his parts could not function in those conditions either. He didn’t manage to stay conscious enough to find out what happened to the shuttle, or to see what happened to their bodies.

Hummer’s memory acted like a dream, showing him what he wanted, for one last time. He was on Mars, but everything was displayed in grayscale. In front of him he saw his friends, also in grayscale, waving at him. Everyone he cared for was there. Linda, Hakyn, Quintus, Smoke Barrel, Mylo and Tygrill in his original form. He felt so happy to see them again that he forgot that it was just his imagination. His wings were no longer vibrating. He was walking towards them as they seemed to call him. He couldn’t hear anyone, but he knew they wanted to play with him.

As soon as he reached them, the surroundings started to pixelate and dissolve. Same thing happened with his friends. He was left in the dark, but he didn’t seem to care. His virtual body’s image also started to disintegrate and fade away into the darkness, as his existence ceased.

Radatrax in Wyvern Mode

XXVII. THE LAST PIECE OF THE PUZZLE

2010-09-07T16:54:00.000-07:00

The Cerberus scanned the area and noticed the human that sat in front of it. A human that barely reached the canine machinery’s shoulder height. The three headed robot was three meters tall, and in the light of the moon, only its red eyes shone bright while its black armor contrasted with the silvery sand and rocks of the beach.

Samsir stood his ground and waited for the Cerberus to strike first. The robot towered above him and opened all three of its mouths, then lunged forward, trying to grab the young man between its teeth. The human dodged its fangs and continued to lure it towards the magnetic field generators.

The dog robot tried to slice him with its claws, but the guy was too fast for the lumbering beast. It gave out a roar at him and attempted to bite him, only to take a mouth full of sand out of the beach. It started spitting sand everywhere and rubbing the mouth of the middle head with its right claw.

Kloyd watched the fight scene on a video device. A satellite was showing him what was going on ahead of his army. He shouted:

“Stop playing and cremate that pesky human already, Cerberus!”

Cerberus fixed its glare on Samsir and opened the mouth of its middle head while closing the mouths of its other two smaller heads. A red glow came out from between its jaws as it lowered the middle head so that it would fire the blast towards the human.

“Exactly what I was waiting for, stupid mutt.” Said Samsir as he extended three blue Neonid wires from his right hand.

The wires headed right into the giant robot’s mouth just as it was about to fire. Suddenly, the Cerberus got covered in a web made out of the blue substance which was absorbing its energy, making it unable to fight back. Samsir threw another set of wires from his left hand and connected them to the three headed robot. The giant collapsed, whistling like a wounded dog. The lights in its eyes went out as the mechanical beast died.

“What?!” asked Kloyd stupefied.

He ordered the mechanical land to lift him at a higher altitude to see the human that was mocking his creation.

“Just who do you think you are to stand in the way of my conquest?” asked the angry cyborg.

The young man that defeated the Cerberus walked towards the A.R.P. leader and said, without any sign of fear:

"I am the child that you've orphaned. I am the teenager whose friends you've taken away. I am the man whose fiancée you've murdered. I am your sworn enemy."

Kloyd made a gesture of scratching his head, as if he was trying to remember something, and then said:

“Which one of them?”

Samsir remained silent, but the anger inside him was screaming to get out. His irises started to show the light blue glow, meaning that he was preparing to attack.

The leader of A.R.P. ordered his drones:

“Attack him from close range.”

The robots turned their guns off and prepared to jump at Samsir to attack him with their claws. He didn’t move away this time either, waiting for them to get closer to him. The first two drones that got near him got tripped by the guy. The rest tried to take caution by keeping a distance from him, but they didn’t expect him to jump at them and punch them so hard that they went like domino pieces, falling on their backs in a straight line.

Kloyd watched in awe as Samsir was making his soldiers look like fools. A sergeant drone got fed up with getting punched in the visor and ordered the other drones to open fire. Samsir expected this wrong move and extracted almost all of their Neonid in a few seconds.

“Mindless drones. I should kill you all. But the one who bares the greater fault is the one who should perish.” He said as he released the unconscious drones.

The leader of A.R.P. ordered:

“All submarines, fire away!”

Missiles flew out of the ocean and headed towards the beach. Samsir tried to create a web of energy to absorb as much of the shock as he could. Once the rockets landed, they destroyed a huge portion of the magnetic fences, leaving the area open for the A.R.P. forces. The ground shook as if a major earthquake hit the area. Once the sand settled down, Juan lifted his head out of the pit to see what was going on. He, Jim and another soldier were sitting in the hole around a magnet.

“They’re trying to destroy the continent!” said Juan.

He looked at the sky and saw the net of blue energy fading away. The net went back inside Samsir’s body.

“This brat’s getting annoying. And we haven’t carried any magnet collars with us.” Said Kloyd while looking at the man with the ponytail sitting between the fainted drones.

Samsir looked behind him at the pits where the soldiers of the South Pole were hiding. He asked:

“Is everyone alright?”

“We’re fine, no casualties.” Answered Juan.

Kloyd lost his patience. He jumped off the elevated ground and landed on the beach. Walking towards Samsir, he shouted:

“All submarines still carrying missiles target the pits and shoot!”

Samsir looked at the pits concerned and prepared to stop the new attack with another net. Two missiles went out of the ocean, flew across the sky and headed towards the pit where Jim, Juan and the other soldier were hiding. One of them landed one meter away from the pit. Jim shouted:

“We’re going to get hit!”

“Stay down!” ordered Juan, dragging Jim back into the pit.

Another missile struck so near the pit that the sand fell in and covered all three men that were hiding inside. Jim ran out, screaming:

“I don’t want to die!”

“Jim! You idiot!” shouted Juan.

Kloyd saw this as an opportunity and extended his red Neonid wires, attacking Jim with them. Scared that the three wires almost sliced him, Jim started screaming as he collapsed on the sand, rolling as fast as he could to avoid getting killed. Just as the cyborg was about to pierce him, five blue wires grabbed the red ones, dragging them away from Jim. Kloyd knew who it was, and looked at Samsir.

“How stupid of you, falling right into my trap.” The cyborg mocked.

“I knew about it. But it was either this or losing a friend.” Said the young man, saddened that he knew what the cyborg would do.

“Well, you’re not getting a medal for it, loser.” Said Kloyd as his red eyes changed to dark blue.

The evil cyborg smirked as he switched to phase 2 Neonid, which was capable of absorbing Samsir’s phase 3 one. The young man sat in front of the pit, looking his executioner into the eyes. Kloyd pulled the wires towards him, extracting all the Neonid from Samsir’s body. The wires that disconnected from the man turned black and went into the cyborg’s body.

Jim and Juan couldn’t do anything. They saw their comrade get drained of his entire energy and falling into the pit where they were hiding with the other soldier. Samsir was pale and started to shiver when his friends caught him as he landed.

“I’m cold…” he said, barely moving his arms.

His eye irises were now hazel, like they were originally before he got contaminated with the Neonid. He started to gasp for air.

“Sam! Samsir!” shouted Juan, lifting his friend’s head up.

“Samsir! Samee!!!” shouted Jim, holding Samsir’s hand in his own.

Their friend stopped breathing.

“Jim! Check his pulse!” said Juan.

Jim put his index on Samsir’s wrist. He felt nothing. He put his ear on the chest of his friend and didn’t hear anything. Samsir’s heart was silent.

“He… He’s…” Jim tried to give the sad news, but he couldn’t hold back his tears.

“I’ve had it with these killers.” Said Juan as he lifted a large heavy gun that seemed like a cross between a flame thrower and a bazooka.

“I’m coming with you, Juan. Let’s give these scums what they deserve.” Said Jim as he lifted an Extensor gun.

Jim shot the black and blue drones, destroying them before they could react. Juan rushed towards Kloyd. He shouted:

“You didn’t stop until you took away everything he had! You sick mechanical beasts!”

Before Kloyd could think of a way to escape the shot, Juan launched a burning missile out of the strange gun. The shot pierced through the cyborg, leaving a large hole in his abdomen. The A.R.P. leader, barely able to move due to the pain, charged his Neonid and sent wires towards the mechanical land and said:

“I… had this… planned… all along! If I’ll… fall… I’ll take you all down with me!”

Kloyd died, but the plates kept building up a massive wave of metal land that threatened to cover and destroy the entire South Pole. Juan, panting, let his gun to drop on the sand and watched the disaster that was heading towards the beach.

“Well… I guess it ends here. Sam isn’t with us anymore, so no one can stop this now.” He said.

“I’m so sorry. It’s my fault. He wouldn’t have died if I didn’t run out of the pit.” Said Jim before he began crying.

Everyone gathered around the fallen hero and silence fell over the entire area. Nobody seemed to care about the cataclysm that was heading towards them. They held hands and formed a circle around the pit, to show their homage towards Samsir.

On the platform that was floating over the ocean, Ray was looking at the exact same event on the monitor.

“He’s the person we need to find. It appears the Reverser is pointing out that he is the second of the three people that are very important towards the fate of the planet. And the third one seems to be… him.” Said Ray as the view on the monitor switched from Samsir to Juan.

“Now that we know, are you going to start that damn thing already? I’m sick of having to watch how these cyborgs are devastating entire continents and murdering innocent people.” Said Dew furiously.

“I guess it’s the right time to do it. Get inside the Reverser. I’ll launch the scan. It will be ready within eight hours.”

Dew stepped on the floor of the Reverser and watched as Ray ordered the machine to begin the scan. The disc inside the chamber of the machine started to spin at a high speed, making a lot of noise. A violet light emitted from the three arches that were around the Reverser’s base and then some waves of the same color started to come out of the machine. They formed a tornado that kept getting larger and larger, spreading away from the platform.

“Once it extends to the maximum, the wave will retrieve all the events and the Reverser will begin to reverse the planet and what ever lies around it. I’m not sure how far the wave can go though.” Explained Ray.

The ship that was heading towards Earth was getting damaged worse and worse as Radatrax kept extracting pieces from it. The bottom side had missing pieces that seemed to be melted away. Hakyn, Mylo, Linda and Hummer stood on the hallway, expecting Radatrax to show up at any time.

Suddenly, they heard his hissing purr coming from beneath the floor.

“Stand back, I’ll fire at him!” said Mylo as he prepared his welders to shoot.

Sounds of heavy footsteps were coming from the basement. A strange roar scared everyone that stood on the hallway.

“What was that?” asked Mylo while looking at the floor.

“Die, you worthless creatures!” a voice shouted from under the floor.

“That’s Radatrax alright…” said Hakyn.

With another roar, Radatrax broke through the floor. He changed a lot since the last time they saw him. His body seemed saurian-shaped, with a giant snout with a mouth full of sharp teeth. His V-shaped eye remained the same but his ears were white and fan-shaped, having no more extra eyes. His neck seemed like a ringed hose while his back had thicker armor plates that ended where a thick tail began. His legs were larger and stronger. The cannon-arms were placed on his back, where the neck ended, pointing forward. It was his STAG mode.

“Looks like he put on some weight…” said Hakyn amazed.

“What in the world is that?!” asked Mylo scared.

“Run!” shouted Linda.

Radatrax started charging at them, trying to grab them between his teeth. Lucky for them that his new body made him slower.

“Mylo! Shoot!” ordered Hakyn.

“But last time I shot him, he reflected back my shot!”

“Just try it! We don’t have time!”

“Ok!”

The repair drone shot two blasts at the robot and made it fall on its left side. It swiftly got up and tried to bite Mylo. Hakyn threw his Neonid wires at Radatrax, distracting him. Before the beast could grab the boy, Mylo shot it in the back.

“Don’t even dare hurt Hakyn!”

Radatrax turned around, looked at the repair drone and laughed hysterically.

“What is so funny?” asked the repair drone.

“The fact that you will bring their doom. Stupid robot.” Hissed Radatrax.

“Me? What are you talking about?”

“You’re a walking time bomb. Idiot.”

“So that’s what you’ve done to me!”

Radatrax turned his tail at Mylo and scratched the ground with his left leg, implying that he considered the repair drone nothing more than trash.

Mylo was too shocked to do anything. The evil robot tried to shoot at Linda, but his accuracy had decreased due to his new body having only one eye and the lasers being positioned in a wrong place.

“This is one more reason to consider A.R.P. idiots. Poor design.” Said the Alpha robot furiously.

Hummer jumped on the eye of the giant and blocked his sight. The monster tried to ram its head into a wall but the small insect robot flew off before Radatrax collided with the wall.

“Hah!” purred the evil robot while backing away from the wall.

Hakyn pulled the plates from below Radatrax’s feet and the robot fell into the basement once again. The beast began to hiss as he tried to climb back up but the plates kept crashing down on him.

“I’ll destroy you all for what you did to Rakory!” he shouted.

Mylo was still frozen in shock after hearing what Radatrax told him. Hakyn came next to him and asked:

“You have a bomb inside you?!”

“I… I don’t even know what he did to me. He threw something inside my chest.”

“Well, we better get it out of you and throw it away before it explodes!”

Hakyn opened the repair drone’s chest but he couldn’t see anything inside.

“It’s not here. I don’t see it.”

“He lied? No… It has to be there. I’m sure I have something extra that consumes my energy.” Said Mylo.

“I don’t see anything. Wait…”

Hakyn took a closer look and noticed that the substance from one of the tubes connecting to Mylo’s biocard was somehow pouring into an invisible cavity. He told the robot:

“I think he placed it in the other dimension. Your Neonid leaks into thin air…”

“Get it out of there!”

“I can’t. There’s no way to reach it… There’s just one way to stop it.” Said the teenager with a serious expression on his face.

“What would that mean?”

“Mylo… I’m afraid I’ll have to shut you down.”

“Shut me down? I’ll die if you do that!”

Hakyn went to the rucksack that Mylo left somewhere on the floor and took out a scissor. He grabbed it by the handles with the fingers on his right hand and squatted near the robot, taking the wire which was alimenting the bomb with his left hand.

“Mylo, I’m so sorry…”

“Hakyn! Out of all the humans, why do you betray me? I thought you were my friend!” the repair drone whimpered.

The boy closed his eyes as he cut the wire. The light blue Neonid that circulated through the tubes of Mylo’s biocard turned into gas and evaporated.The robot died in a second.

“Why did you kill him?” asked Linda, almost crying.

“I merely gave him the blow of mercy. And we would all die if the bomb would have exploded.” Explained Hakyn.

Hummer buzzed sadly, holding his head with both his arms to mimic crying.

“There was nothing else I could do. And I don’t think I can do anything about this ship either.” Said Hakyn.

“I heard Rakory saying something about an escape shuttle. I think it may be around here somewhere. Let’s go find it.” Said Linda.

“Alright.”

The two teenagers and Hummer went to search all the rooms of the hallway for the shuttle, their last hope.

Radatrax in STAG Mode

XXVI. ONE WAY TICKET TO EARTH

2010-09-07T03:58:00.000-07:00

Hakyn, Mylo and Hummer were on the hallway. They were discussing about what they must do with the ship, since it didn’t turn back by normal means. The boy assigned each of the two robots a position.

“Mylo, you will help me with carrying the tools outside on the rocket’s wing. You’ll have to put a rucksack on the hangers on your back. Hummer, keep an eye on Rakory. I’ll ask Linda to help you guard her. If you see Radatrax, do not attempt to fight him. Come directly to me.” He said.

“Humz!” said Hummer while nodding.

“I’ll go get the rucksack and the tool box.” Said Mylo while running to the storage room.

Hakyn went outside, standing on the bottom wing on the right side of the space vehicle. He was lucky that the Neonid shield still protected the ship from the space’s vacuum.

Inside the ship’s half-dark storage room, Mylo found the backpack and the tool box. He put the backpack on the supports on his back by twisting his arms while extending his three fingers, and then he picked the toolbox in his right hand. He grabbed the door’s knob with his left hand as he almost went out of the room, but a weird sound caught his attention.

It sounded like a flame, and when he looked behind him, in the middle of the room, there was a blue smoke-like formation which made the sounds of a burning fire.

“Who… what are you?” he asked, shivering.

The strange smoke faded away. Scared, the repair drone ran to the exit of the ship and jumped on the wing. He saw Hakyn there and went to tell him what he saw.

“Hakyn! I saw something burning inside the storage room!” he shouted.

“Burning? And you left it there to burn? You idiot!” shouted the boy.

“No, it disappeared! It was not really fire…”

“Not really fire? What’s wrong with you? Are you having hallucinations?”

“Robots don’t have hallucinations!” shouted Mylo while shivering, making a rattling noise due to his armor plates.

“And robots definitely don’t tremble while they’re scared.” Said Hakyn sarcastically.

“Huh?” said Mylo with a confused expression on his face.

Hakyn took some of the tools and placed them inside the rucksack of the repair drone and then told him:

“Put the tool box back inside the ship, near the door, and follow me.”

Inside Rakory’s cell, Radatrax appeared out of a wall and landed next to her bed. She asked him:

“Is everything working well?”

“Affirmative. The escape shuttle is ready. I just need to get you out of here.” He answered.

“Well, how can you break through this glass?”

“I don’t need to. I’ll just take you through the walls. But I cannot take you far, because the other dimension isn’t quite suitable for life. Things that don’t exist on this side exist there. This includes substances and energies that are harmful to humans.”

“I don’t care, I just want to get out of here.” She said.

“Alright. Hold on to my back, I’ll carry you into through.”

She grabbed the robot by the back, below the neck and he dragged her into the other dimension after turning mirror-textured. When they entered the strange zone, Rakory saw the same room she was kept in, but everything seemed changed. Her bed’s spongy filling showed through the white sheets. The walls of the room had their insides revealed, displaying circuitry marks. Everything was darker than she knew it, since light barely entered that side of the world.

While Radatrax was scanning the area to find gaps in the wall that he could slip through, Rakory looked at her right hand while holding the robot with her left one. She saw the bones and blood vessels showing through it.

“What happened to my arm?!” she screamed.

She looked at the rest of her body, seeing through her black dress and even being able to see her own ribs as well.

“What is going on with me?!” she continued to scream in panic.

Rakory stopped holding on to the robot and fainted, unable to breathe in enough oxygen. Radatrax found a way out and lifted her on his back, throwing himself with her through the gap and appearing right in front of Linda and Hummer.

“They’re out! Let’s go find Hakyn!” shouted Linda to Hummer.

They both ran through the hallway, screaming. Radatrax jumped and landed right in front of them, pointing his lasers at the girl and the insect-like robot.

“You’re going nowhere.” Said the vicious Alpha robot while charging the red Neonid in his arms.

Hummer jumped in front of Linda and extended his arms, trying to protect her. He didn’t even notice he was only half as tall as her, and that she was still vulnerable to the shots if Radatrax would fire.

Before Radatrax could shoot, the entire hallway got filled by the blue flames. Suddenly, the evil robot was taken away by something huge and silvery. Once the light dimmed, everyone could see what attacked him.

It was a strange creature, with giant blue claws held by light gray arms which had two horn-line protrusions pointed upwards on each. On its back there were two sets of three spikes, the middle spike being bigger than the other two. It had a chest plate similar to Tygrill’s, and the arms didn’t connect to it, instead appearing as if they were floating in the air. It had no legs, but from its back there were four tail-like formations, two on the left and two on the right side. The tails seemed to be connected to nothing as well, and one could see through the beginning of the tails, as if they were transparent from the inside.

The head of the creature had four eye-like formations and seemed lizard-like. The mouth had no teeth, but it was almost like a beak. It had fan-shaped protrusions on the sides of the top of its head, while above the eyes it had two types of horns: one pair near the tip of its head was similar to the ears, while the other pair near the beak was similar to bull horns, but very flat and sharp. What was even scarier was that it had no neck to connect the head with the body either.

Radatrax gave out a hissing purr as he got up from the ground. Hakyn and Mylo rushed inside to see what all the commotion was about.

“What is that thing?!” asked the red haired boy while looking at the giant creature that was floating on the hallway, surrounded by blue sparks.

The creature made so much noise it was almost impossible to tell what it was saying. He could barely distinguish a few words and phrases that it said.

“You will pay! The pain! Get me out! I will destroy you! Run away! Stop this torment! What have you done? Let me go! Destroy! Kill!”

Everything came out echoing, and the words seemed to be spoken not from just the creature, but from the entire room. They were all screamed in the same strange and hoarse voice.

The red and white robot figured out who the creature was and said:

“Tygrill! Why won’t you die, you piece of junk!”

“You’re coming with me! Kill you! Give it up! Run away!” the one that was Tygrill screamed from all sides of the room.

Radatrax tried to back off, but before he knew it, the draconic robot grabbed him by the foot with its beak and pushed him against the wall. It then grabbed the hallway with its claws and tilted the entire room at a 45 degrees angle. The entire ship was sent to the alternate dimension.

The humans got shocked, noticing that everything changed aspect and the light was only half as bring as before. Hakyn took a look at his hands and shouted:

“What happened to us? We’re…”

Before he could finish speaking, he was sent into unconsciousness by the lack of oxygen and changes of the matter around him. All the other humans fainted as well. The only ones unaffected were the robots, who could almost see through their own armors. Mylo looked around and saw the creature holding Radatrax pinned to the wall and dragging him along the hallway, continuously shouting unintelligible words. It was much darker than before, and its eyes glowed even brighter. Where the body parts were disconnected, it now had a stream of blue energy flowing between the parts.

“Stop it you idiot!” shouted the evil robot, still struggling to get away.

He couldn’t get away since using the Neonid in this case meant he would be killed instantly by Tygrill’s own substance, and his physical powers were not enough to open the mouth of the deranged creature.

Mylo then saw the humans on the floor, struggling to breathe. He noticed he could see through their skin.

“What did he do to you guys?” he asked, as he tried to wake Hakyn up.

He then lifted Linda’s arm up. It didn’t seem like anything was damaged, yet he couldn’t understand if the humans were wounded or not. His arms were also different, his wires showing through the armor on them.

“What happened here? Everything’s messed up.” He said.

The humans kept struggling to breathe. He turned to the giant creature and shouted:

“Tygrill!”

The draconic robot turned around to see who shouted its name, while still holding Radatrax by the foot with its beak.

“If it is really you, or it isn’t… I can hardly tell. The Tygrill I knew wanted to protect humans. Look at them. In your rage, you have brought them here, where they cannot survive without air. Is revenge more important to you than their lives?” asked Mylo.

Tygrill looked at the humans and made a strange vulture-like echoing sound, without even moving his mouth.

“Please, Tygrill. If you care, please save them. Send them back.” Pleaded the repair drone.

Tygrill threw Radatrax towards the end of the hallway as he grabbed the walls again and tilted the entire ship back to its initial position, setting everything back to normal. His blue Neonid began to desaturate even faster, and he regretted setting Radatrax free, as he wanted to consume his energy. Losing control over his body, Tygrill rushed towards the exit, breaking the door as he got out and flew randomly through space.

“Make it stop! Make it end! Let me go! Help! I swear I’ll destroy you, Radatrax!” he shouted out, echoing through space.

Due to Tygrill piercing through the ship’s energy shield and leaving a hole temporarily in it, the vacuum of the space dragged Rakory through the destroyed door. She just woke up the second she reached the exit and couldn’t hold on to the pieces of the door. Radatrax tried to rush to her aid, but he couldn’t grab her before she flew into space.

“Rakory!” he shouted while looking at the starry void and holding his left arm extended. The energy shield regenerated itself and enclosed the ship again.

He turned back to the others that were on the ship and said furiously:

“You let her die! She’s dead because of you! If you hadn’t brought her here, she would still be alive!”

“We didn’t kill her, that thing did!” shouted Hakyn as he got up from the floor.

“Yeah, and besides, you’ve killed three of our members already! It’s about time that your side loses a member!” shouted Mylo.

“Mylo! Wishing death upon someone is a low thing to do.” Hakyn scolded him.

“Oh. Sorry.” The repair drone apologized.

Radatrax extended many branches of his Neonid and went through the floor, breaking it apart and melting it. Everyone gathered around the hole, looking for the mad robot that simply disappeared in the basement of the ship.

“Where did he go?” asked Hakyn.

“He might be in the basement. But knowing him, he’ll show up out of nowhere and attack us.” Said Mylo.

“Looks like we need a new plan.” The red haired boy said.

Back on Earth, at the South Pole, the preparations were almost over. Juan finished training the people that wanted to fight using guns. Jim chose to use the same gun he had while he was in the army. Samsir finished assembling the machine that he was working on and placed it outside. It was connected to more pieces with the same aspect, surrounding the base.

“Why did you have to place so many magnetic field generators around the base?” asked Jim.

“It will keep A.R.P. away for a while. They cannot pass magnets because they would get deactivated if they stay in the field.” Explained Samsir.

“Yeah, but then they will just sit there and wait for us to come out of the hideout when we will need more resources.”

“I know, it’s only to buy us time. And it isn’t as easy as it sounds either. Trust me. I know their way of thinking. This won’t stop them from incapacitating us.”

“Then what can we do?”

“I don’t know, Jim. The only way to stop them would be to use Neonid. But since I’m the only one who has it…”

“We can’t let you go out there alone! These guys will finish you off!” Jim shouted.

“Like your guns will do anything to them. They will have an army ahead of them, which will shoot you guys before you shoot all of them. The drones must be deactivated first, and there are loads of them!”

“Please understand, Samsir. You can’t go out there and fight in this condition.”

After saying this, Jim tried to drag him back to Juan’s house. Samsir took off his magnet gloves and his irises started glowing light blue. Then the Neonid aura surrounded him and he shocked his friend before grabbing him with the wires and lifting him towards the sky.

“Well, Jimmy, you can’t force me to abandon my friends. I’m not as weak as you think I am.” Said Samsir while looking at Jim, who was struggling to get away from the grip of the blue energy.

He threw his friend into a giant sand castle that was built on the beach. Jim stood there, covered by the sand and looking at his older friend, scared that he would try to attack him again. Samsir however just went near him and squatted next to the damaged sand castle.

“Are you alright, dude?” he asked.

Jim covered himself in sand, afraid that his friend would throw him again.

“Ah come on, Jimmy. I’m not going to attack you.” He said while pulling Jim out of the sand.

“You’re… uber weird, man!” said the guy with the black tuque and glasses.

“It’s not my fault that I’m like this!”

“Ok! Ok! Don’t get mad at me!”

“I’m not mad. I just wanted to prove that I still got some fight left in me.”

“Do what ever you want. If you’ll die, I won’t bring a single flower to your grave!” said Jim before running towards Juan’s house, leaving Samsir alone.

Inside the house, Juan was in the living room, speaking to Beatrice, the messenger pigeon agent.

“Now that everything is set, and that Catch-Fire reported spotting the A.R.P. forces to the east, we just need to send out a spy pigeon. Prepare Dovie for a spying mission, Miss Beatrice. ”

“Right away, Mister Juan. I’ll put the camera and microphone on Dovie right now.” She said before going into the pigeon coop.

Jim rushed into the living room, panting. Juan looked at him and asked:

“What happened to you? Why are you covered by sand?”

“I had a fight with Samsir. Well… not really a fight. He threw me into some huge pile of sand!” whined Jim.

“Oh, I see.”

“He doesn’t want to stand aside, Juan! He wants to fight A.R.P. on his own. He won’t let us use guns.”

“Well, in a way, he’s right about guns being ineffective. The drones would shield the leader, so we’ll just waste our ammo on them.” Explained Juan.

“But they’ll kill him!”

“I doubt Samsir’s that stupid. He knows what he’s doing.”

“Juan, you’ve got to stop him!”

Juan shook his head left to right, disapproving Jim’s request. Jim was nearly crying, knowing that no matter what he would say, it would not make any difference. Samsir would still be stubborn enough to take his plan out on the battlefield.

“I can’t do anything about it, Jimmy.” Said Juan.

“You’re his friend. Aren’t you worried? What if… if he dies… I just can’t bear to see another friend killed by A.R.P.” cried Jim.

“He’s going to die anyway. I think he doesn’t want to go through the horrible torment of the desaturation.”

Jim went to the room that he was given to stay in, trying to hide the fact that he was crying.

“Everybody’s being taken away by A.R.P., I can’t believe it! They’ll kill all my friends… Curse you, you filthy cyborgs!” he uttered in a shaky voice as he sobbed, sitting on the bed with his face into a pillow.

In the living room, Beatrice came back with Dovie, her spy pigeon. It was a Nicobar pigeon, but it had a bronze head with hackles instead of the usual gray. The wings were metallic green with few red feathers near the chest. Its tail was copper, despite the species having a white tail. Around its neck, there was a collar with a small camera in the center and a microphone on the right side of it.

“Dovie is ready to spy, although I doubt that he can see well during the night. Let’s hope he can maintain flight while he goes over the ocean.” Said Beatrice.

“I think the lights on the shore will offer enough light for at least 20 meters over the ocean.” Said Juan.

“Alright, I’ll send him to fly over the area.” She said as she took the pigeon with her outside.

She went near the shore and threw Dovie in the air. The pigeon flew over the sea, guiding itself with the help of the moon. Beatrice had a device that showed what the camera on the pigeon saw. When the pigeon reached the area where the A.R.P. forces were staying, she brought the device to Juan and said:

“Dovie spotted them. They’re so close!”

“It seems there will be no sleeping tonight. I need to gather everyone here, near the base. Keep an eye on the enemy, Miss Beatrice!” said Juan as he ran towards the houses of the other men.

“Guys! Wake up! The war will be starting soon!” he shouted as he ran with his mobile phone making an alarm sound so loud that nobody could sleep.

The men with ages between 16 and 40 went out of their house, ready to fight for their country. Some had snipers, others had shotguns and grenades. They all went in front of Juan’s house and awaited his orders. Commander Juan arrived last and spoke:

“Everyone’s here? Alright. This is what we must do. We split in groups of four and we each dig a pit in the sand on the beach for our group. We will put magnets in the pits, hide in them and wait. Nobody fires unless I say so.”

“Yes sir!” they all said.

“Samsir will get rid of the police drones, making way for us to attack the leader. If he gets hurt or killed, everyone must prepare to shoot in the direction of the leader of A.R.P. and avoid wasting bullets or energy on the pawns. Understood?”

“Yes sir!” everyone said.

“Sam, this is crazy, but I wish you luck.”

“Thanks, Juan. I’ll disable them and throw them to the sides. Once I’m done with them, the way will be cleared. Don’t give up, no matter what happens to me. Alright?”

“Alright, pal.” Said Juan.

Jim was still angry about what happened before. He wouldn’t even speak to Samsir, preferring to sit still, aligned with the rest of the crowd. Samsir scowled and looked away from him, understanding what was bothering his friend. He then told Juan:

“I think everyone should be prepared for what will happen. First… A.R.P. will use an EMP blast…”

Suddenly, there was a whistling noise coming from the ocean. A white flame was seen heading towards the sky above the area, and then heading towards the place where everyone was standing. The people scattered and ran away from the place where the rocket was dropping. It exploded once it touched the ground, and a circular wave of white light spread over one third of the continent. All the lights went out.

“…and then we’ll have no more electricity.” Continued Samsir.

“Oh God…” said Juan while trying to get used to the darkness.

They only had the moon as a source of light. Everything that relied on electricity had been shut down.

“Now they will approach the land and attempt to expand their own land over the place. Good thing we have the magnetic barriers.”

“Sam, you should’ve told us earlier.”

“Sorry, Juan.”

“Well… Now we’ve got to find an alternative source of light. We’ve got wood… Now all we need is fire.” Said Juan.

He looked around and then shouted:

“Catch-Fire! Here boy!”

His pet flew out of his house and landed at his feet, making a rattling sound by shaking its plates.

“Light this thing.” Said Juan while showing the Ignis Pangolin a thick tree branch.

Catch-Fire looked at the branch, opened its mouth and threw a jet of flaming substance at it while backing off.

“Thanks. Good, now we’ve got light. Everyone gather branches, take the fire from this branch and put them on the beach, one third into the ground, so that they will serve as light poles.”

“You’re a good strategist, Juan!” complimented Samsir.

“I’ve learned a lot from nature. Our country relies on biological resources, so you have to learn about all you can if you want to work with nature.” Explained Juan.

“Well, your side pays more attention to that. The others that have remained on Ascendus seem to be all techies now…”

“Yeah, but look at them… Living their lives inside those skyscrapers, rarely going out in the sun. They can travel in a chair through the building connectors or with elevators. And those cyborgs do what they want with them.”

“I think they should find a balance between nature and technology. But A.R.P. don’t even care, they expand their mechanical land everywhere. They’ve lost their intelligence too, since it took them over a hundred years to figure out a way to reach this place.”

“They’ve lost their survival instincts. We will outsmart them.” Said Juan with confidence.

Meanwhile, on the mechanized land, Kloyd was arranging his army.

“Cerberus, you must stand first in line. All drones stand after Cerberus. I will give you orders from behind. If needed, I will attack as well.”

The robots quickly arranged in the formation that their leader dictated to them.

The tentacle almost reached the shore. Juan and his improvised army were all watching from behind the magnetic field generators. He asked them:

“Have you placed the magnets inside the pits?”

“Yes we did, sir.” Confirmed one of the soldiers.

“Sir, I have a question.” Said another young man, who was also part of the Gruzifor football team.

“I’m listening.” Said Juan.

“Why does our goalie have to go on the field alone, unarmed, against those monsters?”

“He’s not really unarmed…”

Samsir overheard their talking and answered the question of the soldier.

“I’m a contaminated. I have this.” He said while he showed him the blue aura that outlined his body as his irises lit up.

Everyone, except for Jim and Juan, backed off a few steps.

“I guess you all see me as a freak now. Oh well… It doesn’t matter what people think of me now. I don’t have much time left anyway.” Said Samsir.

“Sorry. It’s just that we haven’t seen something like this before.” Said one of the soldiers.

“You may be strange… But you’re a human, just like us.” Said the same guy that asked the question previously.

They all came closer to him, showing no more fear. Samsir smiled at them and then said:

“Well, it’s time for me to do my job. I’m going out there.”

He jumped over the magnetic field generators and went towards the seashore. In front of him, the metallic plates expanded towards the end of the water. The first thing that jumped off the mechanized land was the Cerberus.

Tygrill

Tygrill in 4th dimension

XXV. NIGHTMARES AWOKEN

2010-08-30T03:06:00.000-07:00

The mechanical land was expanding over the sea, approaching the platform where Ray and his crew were still working on the Reverser. On the tentacle of plates, Bohr and the police drones were preparing their positions. He went behind the army, hoping that they will win the fight for him.

Ray moved the computer inside the Reverser and connected it to a smaller screen. After that, he grabbed a cable from the Reverser and connected it to the computer that he placed near the center. Warnings kept appearing. He ordered the history recording machine to show him what was going on. It showed Bohr and his army heading towards their platform.

“They’re coming for us.” He said while the others got agitated.

Garfunk started to wag his tail angrily, just like a cat. Hector expanded his gray wings and began to slowly flap them. Dew’s robotic snake began to hiss while his left eye, which he acquired from the Gryphon, began to glow.

The tentacle was moving across the water faster than the boat of the Green Flag Army. The plates kept expanding with the help of an unknown mechanism which took them from the main land and aligned them to form the long piece that was traveling over the ocean. On the sides, some thorn-like protrusions surrounded the continent’s branch just like a fence.

In the horizon, half of the sun could be seen shining. The sky turned from dark blue to cerulean, the ocean waves began to reflect the light of the morning. It was five o’ clock, the time during which Dew and Ray would still be sleeping if the hazards wouldn’t be piling up as warnings on the computer’s monitor.

The two Void robots went to the side of the platform that was facing the Ascendus continent, keeping their eyes on the expanding land that came closer and closer by the minute. Dew went near Ray and looked at the screen, where some green and red chained arrows appeared on a chart display. To the left of the axis, small red arrows reached level 1. Towards the middle, green arrows reached level 5 and then there were all red arrows, first being level 2, then a level 3 and the ones coming up from the right were fluctuating between level 5 and 7.

“Things are going down hill.” Stated Ray while putting his index finger on the screen and following the shape of the red arrows.

“Then why don’t you start the machine, Ray? Why must we wait until all these disasters come true?” asked Dew.

“I’d start it right now. But I need to find out who we need to protect once we reverse things.”

The two robots turned to them. Hector asked:

“You will reverse us as well, won’t you?”

“Yeah… But I feel a bit sorry because you will forget us. It will be as if we never met.” Explained Ray.

“Maybe we’ll remember.” Said Garfunk, attempting a smile with his oversized lower jaw.

“That’s a chance in one hundred.” The Void leader told him.

One kilometer away from the floating base, on the mechanical land extension, Bohr ordered the police drones:

“Switch invisibility on and prepare to shoot! As soon as we see them, we must attack them with all we’ve got.”

“Yes, sir!” the drones replied.

They all fixed their weapons’ targets on the X-shaped platform. Bohr smirked and said:

“Boss will be so happy after I’ll get rid of the Time Master. That traitor will get what he deserves now.”

At the South Pole, even though it was seven in the morning, the sun didn’t rise, due to the long night that the area experienced for six months.

In the darkness of this long night, Samsir woke up and screamed:

“Killers! Stop shooting them, you atrocious beasts! Juan! Jimmy!”

He fell off his bed, gasping for air as his heart started to beat so fast and so hard that it made him feel like it was going to break through his chest.

“Are you alright?” asked Juan as he opened the door to Samsir’s room.

“What happened to him?” asked Jim as he arrived as well.

They found their friend sitting next to the bed, with a horror-struck expression on his face, panting like he ran in a marathon.

“Sam, what happened to you?” Juan asked.

“I… I had a nightmare… It was… It was the worst so far…” Samsir tried to explain.

“The worst? You’ve been having nightmares almost every night for a year, and you’re scared of this one?” asked Jim while rolling his eyes.

“This was about… was about you. You two… A.R.P. came, we tried to make them retreat, but they kept advancing…” the guy with the curly ponytail continued explaining his nightmare.

Jim was listening, but he seemed bored. Juan sat next to Samsir and paid attention.

“The drones kept shooting at you and I was there but… I couldn’t do anything! I was there, but I couldn’t move. I was on the ground and couldn’t move! I was on sand… And then they shot you two. Then everything changed into a desolate land with metal plates and rusty junk everywhere… Everything was destroyed!”

“It’s just a dream, Samsir.” Stated Jim bluntly.

“Dreams might have significance, Jimmy.” Said Juan.

“Get real, Juan. Dreams are just the result of our daily life and our worst fears, in case of nightmares.”

“Some of my dreams had been warnings for me.”

“I hope it stays just a nightmare.” Said Samsir, shaking in fear.

“Not all dreams mean exactly what you saw, Sam.”

“I have no idea about dreams, Juan. But I don’t want this one to come true!”

“Forget about that stupid nightmare. Don’t even think of skipping breakfast because of it! Go eat!” ordered Jim.

“Alright, dude! I’m going! I’m going!” said Samsir as he ran out of the room.

Juan looked at Jim and made a remark:

“Wow, you’re harsh with him.”

“How do you expect me to treat him, when he almost died of starvation on our way here?” complained Jim.

The guy with the dreadlocks sighed and got up before saying:

“So his troubles got that bad…”

“He needs to snap out of it. And he should live what little life he’s got left.”

“But, Jim, A.R.P. will attack us in a few days. Everyone is worried.”

“Yeah, but no one is that down in the dumps. If we somehow win this war… Could you gather the team for one last match before he…” Jim tried to ask, but he couldn’t finish the question.

“I certainly would. He’s my best friend. I’m sure he would be happy that he could live to take part in it.” Answered Juan, giving a sad smile.

While the three friends were having breakfast at the South Pole, the two tentacles of artificial land kept expanding. The one nearest to the continent had stopped near the platform where the Reverser was kept and was only a few meters away from it.

Ray immediately shielded the machinery, Dew and himself with the Neonid. The two robots were waiting for the land to connect to the platform. Red dots started blinking on their chests, but they got out of the way and jumped over to the mechanized land, hitting everything they could find. Despite being invisible, the drones could hardly avoid Garfunk’s tail hits and Hector’s kicks and punches. They shot chaotically at the two Void robots but they kept missing, almost hitting Bohr in the process.

“Hey, you stupid drones! Shoot them, not me!” shouted the scientist.

Although the duo put up quite a fight, they ended up shot and thrown into the water before the A.R.P. forces could step foot on the platform. Dew immediately jumped out of the shield and threw five green Neonid wires at the drones. They were stupid enough to shoot at him and get drained of energy to the point of barely being able to stay alive.

“I should tear you guys apart for what you did to our members!” shouted Dew enraged.

“So, you’re that clone that escaped.” Said Bohr as he walked towards the clone.

“I’d rather live in the wilderness than serve you murderers.”

“You’d prefer to be alone, instead of working with your kin?”

“Actually, I’d prefer to have a normal life and have a family of my own. I’m a human being!”

Bohr laughed out loud and then said:

“A family of your own. Such a fool. Clones are sterile.”

“Well, in that case, I guess there’s only one reason I’d never join you. I want to revenge all those people you’ve killed!” shouted Dew before throwing the snake on his right arm towards the scientist cyborg.

Ray shouted:

“Dew! Don’t kill!”

“I don’t care if he dies, I don’t care if I die. I just want these creatures to disappear off the face of the planet. They’re an insult to the human race. They have forgotten where they came from, and now see themselves as the masters of Earth.” Said Dew while grabbing Bohr with his mechanical claw.

“Dew, stop!” Ray kept shouting.

The clone didn’t listen and used Serpentae’s viper fangs to pierce through the scientist cyborg’s armor. After absorbing all of the Neonid from Bohr, he let him go. Dew then prepared to fight him using only his right arm’s fist and his left arm’s claws. The A.R.P. member could barely make any move, having to use only his own poorly maintained muscles to control the heavy black armor.

“How did you…” before the evil cyborg could speak, Dew whipped the fiend’s mouth with the mechanical snake’s tail.

As the clone with black and white hair continued to attack Bohr relentlessly, Ray watched helplessly as he could hardly tell who the good guy and the bad guy was. He felt sorry for the A.R.P. member, who was going through so much torment.

“Have mercy!” Bohr shouted.

“You don’t deserve what you never had the compassion to give.” Said Dew before swinging his right fist with the snake’s jaws open.

Serpentae bit the cyborg’s neck and pierced through the armor. It was an instant death for the scientist whose body collapsed at the young clone’s feet. Ray couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. Dew ordered the metal plates to close in on the other drones and drag them underwater, destroying them as well.

The young cyborg walked back to the Reverser and sat next to Ray.

“I’m sorry. But they took too much away. I just couldn’t sit and watch as they were killing our members. I’m a murderer as well now…” he said as the remorse got to him.

“Dew… You could have handled it in a different way. I understand that you wanted to avenge Hector and Garfunk, but we aren’t supposed to be the bad guys.”

“What difference does it make? You’ll reverse the world anyway. He will be back, along with everyone else… But I think it’s best to kill these cyborgs even after the reversal.”

“You’ve got to understand… The cyborg, the sergeants from his army… They were humans!”

“How can you call such beasts humans?” he asked, without getting a response.

Somewhere between Mars and Earth, inside the ship with x-shaped wings, the members of Colony 63-I began searching for Radatrax, the robot that killed three of their members. Rakory was held captive in her room, being allowed outside only to go to the bathroom guarded by Mylo and Hummer.

Radatrax watched all activity on the ship while hiding in the 4th dimension. Everything seemed exactly the same as in the main dimension, except that he could see what was inside objects and people. He entered Rakory’s room and waited until Mylo and Hummer went away from the cell. Once the two were out of sight, he appeared inside the cell, next to the girl’s bed.

“I’ll set you free, but first I must keep them busy with searching for me, until I can make sure the escape shuttle is ready.” He told her.

“Alright, but please hurry up. I can’t stand wearing this stupid collar. I’m not a dog!” she complained.

“I might have to get rid of the rest of them as well, so that you won’t have any trouble with them once you’re out. I will be back in a few hours.”

“Ok. I’ll wait.” She said as she sat on the edge of the bed.

The robot then tilted itself to the left side, turned silvery and then faded away into the other dimension.

Hakyn was trying to order the ship to turn back to Mars, but it was all in vain. He tried to order it through the keyboard, it didn’t work. He tried to use the Neonid wires, but the ship rejected all orders related to changing trajectory. Radatrax knew exactly what to do after setting the ship on the trajectory towards Earth. He destroyed the devices that were supposed to turn the rocket around.

“Why won’t it stop? I have full access to the ship’s system.” The red haired kid asked as he disconnected the cables from the computer.

“We will crash if it cannot be stopped. The ship’s turners might be damaged or something.” Said Linda.

In the storage room, Radatrax found a box-shaped device with a screen on a side. It had two black cables on the back side. The robot took it and disappeared. He then went on the hallway, where Mylo and Hummer were guarding the door to Rakory’s cell. He sneaked behind Mylo and placed the device inside him. The white robot could not see him, as Radatrax was hiding in the other dimension while he connected the two wires to the repair drone’s biocard.

“Something odd is happening… I felt like I had a temporary energy cut.” Said Mylo while putting his right arm on his chest.

Radatrax then entered Rakory’s cell and revealed himself, telling her:

“I’ve placed a bomb inside the repair drone. It’s set to explode in 48 hours.”

He then disappeared again.

XXIV. SETTLING THE SCORE

2010-08-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

It was midday on the fourth planet from the sun. Due to the terraforming, the planted trees and other plants had formed a mini-jungle. Tiny bird robots with green bodies and red stripes on their wings flew around and picked bugs off the flowers, keeping the food chain in order. This half artificial, half natural ecosystem bloomed on the surface of Mars, a once barren planet.

Dashing through the trees, Hakyn and Linda, along with their robot allies, tried to sneak up on Rakory and Radatrax as they worked inside the ship. Once they reached the area where the trees ended, they hid themselves from the view of the two rebels and began discussing what they must do once they get inside the rocket.

“I’ll catch Rakory, while Mylo and Tygrill capture Radatrax. We need to confuse them, so I’ll make her follow me while you two try to dodge that creature’s lasers.” Explained Hakyn.

“Hummm!!!” buzzed Hummer angrily.

“No, Hummer! You can’t fight that thing! Did you see how easily he took out Smoke Barrel? And I thought that guy was an armored tank!” the red head shouted.

The insect-shaped robot protested furiously with low-pitched hums, but Hakyn ignored him and spoke to the other two robots.

“Do everything that you can to avoid getting killed. This murderer is unpredictable. We can’t afford to lose any more members.”

Tygrill exposed his dark blue claws and said:

“I’ve got a score to settle with him. Mylo should stay out of this if he doesn’t want to get hurt.”

“I said you two should cooperate!” shouted Hakyn.

The black and blue armored robot turned his back to the teenager and began walking towards the ship.

“Tygrill! No! You’re not listening! We’re dealing with a psychotic, vicious machine here!”

Tygrill kept going, forcing the others to come out of their hideout to try and stop him. The Minotaur robot got enraged and pushed Mylo aside, running faster than all the others, entering the ship all by himself.

“He’s crazy!” said Hakyn while watching the door disappointed.

“We can’t let him do this on his own! Radatrax will kill him!” Linda shouted as she ran after the robot.

Inside the ship, Radatrax and Rakory have been working on the escape shuttle. It was a mini-rocket that looked more like a silvery submarine.

“It’s almost ready. I just need to perform a few tests on it.” Said Radatrax as he connected his Neonid wires to the shuttle.

Suddenly, he jumped, looked to his left side and began to give out a hissing purr. His special eyes were moving, attempting to scan something that was behind the wall of that room. He saw a shadow moving on the hallway, one that he recognized immediately. It was Tygrill.

Rakory asked him:

“What did you see?”

“It’s that drill brain!”

“The mine dweller?”

“Yes! It’s Tygrill. He’s looking for me. I’m going to dispose of him!” said the killer machine before lifting off.

He tilted his body to the left as he got near the wall and changed his texture to a silvery one before disappearing. Rakory rushed to the door and went through the hallway. Her hair was crimson due to the Neonid completely binding to her. She could manipulate its powers much easier now so she surrounded herself with a red aura, expecting the others to attack her on sight.

Her black dress trembled as she ran through the long hallway.

Hakyn was prepared to face her as well, his body shielded by the same kind of aura as hers. Linda didn’t even try to use her Neonid, as she feared it. Mylo was walking cautiously beside the two humans, moving the welders on his shoulders along with his head towards the direction he was staring.

Hummer was hovering above them, scanning the whole room. Once they made sure there was no one there, they went to the hallway. Hakyn entered first and was welcomed by a red lightning bolt that hit his head.

“What just hit me?” he screamed as he saw the electric branch retreat towards a dark figure that walked on the hall.

Everyone stared in shock as they saw it was Rakory who attacked the boy.

“Stay out of this! We’re going to stop A.R.P. so don’t interfere with our plans if you want to live!” she shouted at them.

“I couldn’t imagine you getting any lower than this.” Hakyn said as he got up and dusted his black jacket.

“Back off!”

“Rakory, you were part of our team. We raced together, we shared the same hatred towards A.R.P. and we all went through the same problems once we got captured. Why are you turning against us?” he asked her.

“Racing… look where it got us! At least Radatrax’s plan will make sure that nobody will ever end up like us. If this is what it takes to solve Earth’s problem, then I’m willing to break up with your team and ally with Radatrax.” She answered.

Hakyn turned to his crew and said:

“Leave this to me. Mylo, you go look for Radatrax. Linda, get out of the ship.”

“I can’t leave you here!” Linda shouted.

“Go! I can’t let you get in trouble while…” he was hit by another lightning bolt, this time on the back.

“Hakyn!”

“Linda, just go! Hummer, protect her! Take her away!”

“Humz!” the tiny robot answered as he jumped in front of the girl and pushed her away with his claws.

Mylo went to find Tygrill.

Rakory extended another branch of Neonid and tried to hit Hakyn again, but the boy unexpectedly formed a branch as well and stopped hers. A small explosion went off above them. She tried again, but he shielded himself, causing the Neonid to explode a second time due to being the same type.

“Curse you, Hakyn! Get out of the ship!”

“I’m not going anywhere. Not without you. You’ll hurt yourself.”

“It’s my life!” she shouted as she threw more thunder over him.

He repelled it but caused pieces of the ceiling to fall. She was trying to get rid of him this time, running towards him and throwing as many Neonid wires as she could. As they got face to face, they started to fight with their firsts, but the substance kept exploding upon collision, sending them away from each other.

Seeing that the entire room was filling with smoke, Linda pushed Hummer aside and made a yellow aura surround her as she ran towards the two teenagers that were fighting near a wall. Rakory was preparing to punch Hakyn, but Linda threw five Neonid wires between them and the red auras of the two fighters got absorbed by her.

“Linda! Don’t!” shouted the red haired boy as he threw Rakory a few steps away from himself.

“You’re going to kill both of us!” Rakory screamed as she fell on her knees, struggling to disconnect herself from the wires.

Linda pulled her hand away from the two people that were kneeling on the floor and then stared at both of her hands.

“What was I about to do?” she asked as she panicked.

Hakyn felt exhausted and started panting as he sat down next to the wall. Rakory managed to gather her strength and attempted to beat him with her fists. Just before she could touch him, Hummer jumped in front and took the blow.

“You stupid moth!” she roared at the robot furiously.

Hummer would not budge. He stood in front of Hakyn, shielding him with his Neonid. Rakory took a few steps back and then lunged at the robot, only to be grabbed by the hands by Linda.

“Let me go, you idiot!” she shouted at Linda, trying to escape in vain.

“Hummer, help me!” the other girl said.

“Humz!”

They pushed Rakory inside her cell, placed a magnet collar on her neck and locked the door. Hakyn got up and said what he owed:

“Thank you, Linda.”

She smiled at him. He scowled and said:

“But you also put yourself in danger. I told you to get off this ship. Why didn’t you do so?”

“I…” before she could say anything, the ship began to shake.

Mylo rushed to them and shouted:

“Guys! I think Radatrax took control over the ship! We’re moving!”

“Moving? To where?” asked Hakyn shocked.

“Back to Earth.” Rakory answered from her cell.

In the command room, Radatrax was using his Neonid wires to manipulate the rocket. He was expecting Tygrill to enter his trap in a few minutes.

And as expected, the mine dweller entered the room with his claws out, ready to fight his nemesis.

“You’re right where I want you.” Radatrax purred.

“I’ve got some unfinished business with you. Namely to clear my name.” Tygrill said, calmly.

“You can’t be serious. You know that I can push you through this glass easily, don’t you? Only a few obstacles to filter your material through. And then you will be floating in space.”

“I won’t let that happen!” shouted the Minotaur robot as he held his claws menacingly.

“I could just end this fight right here and now. But I really want to test my strength before eliminating you. So, what do you say? One on one fight, just machinery only?”

“I’ll deal with you no matter what way!”

The two robots ran towards each other, colliding numerous times, using their feet to kick and their claws to scratch pieces of armor off.

Tygrill grabbed the evil robot by the right arm and threw him into the wall in the back. Radatrax got back up and dashed at him, destroying a chair as he pushed the mine dweller. He then stomped over Tygrill’s chest with his foot and said:

“I thought mine dwellers were built for dealing with tough situations. They compared you robots to the Alphas. Yet you are so weak. I’ll take you as a failed specimen, just to give other mine dwellers a chance.”

The Minotaur robot lifted his right claw and scratched Radatrax’s face with it, leaving scratch marks. As the red and white robot began to repair his armor using the Neonid, Tygrill hit him again, this time sending him off his body.

“Nice hit, I’ll remember this fight some day after I’ll destroy you.” Said the fiendish robot as he backed off and prepared to jump at his rival again.

Tygrill expected Radatrax to attack, so he lifted his right leg and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying across the room. Seeing his enemy on the floor and almost unconscious, the black and blue armored robot approached him with caution.

Once he got right next to him, he shouted:

“Turn the ship around!”

Radatrax moved a bit and left his right arm to drop limply on the floor.

“Send the ship back to Mars I said!” Tygrill ordered furiously again.

His enemy twitched again, seeming unable to comprehend his orders.

“Send the ship back, you filthy scoundrel!”

This time he kicked Radatrax so hard that a small piece of armor fell off his white body. The evil robot seemed dead, but his eyes were still red. Tygrill looked at the command panel, but it was that moment that his lack of attention got him into trouble. Radatrax had shot him in the left shoulder, causing blue sparks to fly out of the mine dweller’s armor.

“I’ll drill you to death!” Tygrill shouted as he retracted his claws and began to spin his drills.

“Game’s over.” Radatrax said as he whipped the other robot with his Neonid wires.

Tygrill surrounded himself with a blue aura, causing his enemy to become cautious. Despite this, Radatrax went for a direct attack on him. He hit him with his entire body’s weight, making him fall on the floor.

“And now, it ends here.” Said the evil robot as he turned himself silvery and began reflecting everything like a mirror.

He got his right hand through Tygrill’s chest, trying to reach for his biocard, but to his surprise, the phase 2 Neonid started leeching on his own. Trying to escape the danger, Radatrax dragged Tygrill halfway into the fourth dimension. On the ship, only half of the mine dweller’s body, which contained the feet, had remained. His upper half of the body had been thrown into the other side and almost got destroyed, but Radatrax could not finish the job, as he almost got entirely drained of energy during the fight. He left the pieces of his enemy to float in that zone and teleported himself back to the main dimension.

On Earth, above the ocean, Ray was trying his best to keep up with the warnings the Reverser was displaying. He could not begin the reversal process until he knew about all consequences.

“There seems to be a lot of trouble related to the South Pole. Someone there… is in danger.” Said the ‘Time Master’.

“Who?” asked Dew.

“I don’t know. The machine just shows the continent and says that the event has not yet happened. Then it keeps saying that destruction of a person living in that area will have dire consequences on the continent and the world itself.”

“Don’t tell me that A.R.P. is going to win the fight…” said the clone disappointed.

“It’s hard to tell… The events are still unwinding. The Reverser is calculating all possibilities, but so far it seems to show only one follow-up that will mean bad news.”

On the screen, the mechanical continent’s tentacle was halfway near the South Pole. The storms seemed to slow the flying drones, but they just descended and sat on the plates of the ground. Suddenly, the tentacle formed a shield from the plates on its sides and made itself look like a floating house. This protected the A.R.P. forces from the damage of nature’s fury.

“This is unexpected. A.R.P. thought this plan thoroughly!” said Ray in amazement.

He heard a noise and looked above him. Three satellites were floating in the sky, giving away their location to Bohr.

“We’re in trouble now.” He stated before extending his violet wires and grabbing all of the gliders.

He destroyed them, but it was too late and he knew that.

“We found the brat and his clone!” shouted Bohr after seeing the images from the satellites.

He turned to the army he was left with and ordered:

“You will come with me. We must capture, and destroy if needed, all of Void’s members.”

“We’re with you, sir!” the police drones said, saluting with their right hands at their head level.

“So, how will you fight over the sea?” asked Darienne.

“I’ll extend a tentacle from the continent, just like boss did. Once I will connect it to their platform, the infantry can attack.”

“Are you sure that boss would allow you to do that?” she asked.

“He left me this army. I think it’s up to me how I will use it.” The scientist cyborg said.

“Ok. If that’s what you think is best…” the cyborg woman said, unsure of what will follow once Kloyd finds out.

Somewhere in Glass City, above a building, the crystal armored robot named Roamer 8 seemed to be in a deep sleep. His eyes were black and his body was still contorted. He had landed there as soon as the sun had been completely gone from the sky. Through sheer luck, no police drone patrolled that area. It wasn’t his choice to spend the night there. His system would instantly shut down once the light was not bright enough to offer his Neonid the required energy.

Bohr’s army passed right by that building, all the drones marching in groups of four. The cyborg was the first to walk in front of them, on foot. This surprised the citizens that were looking from inside the buildings, through the glass windows. All of the drones in his army had red Neonid, due to Kloyd taking all the phase 2 user drones with him for the greater war at the South Pole. The sunrise could be seen ahead of them, as they got closer to the ocean.

XXIII. THE WAR CARNIVAL

2010-08-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

Two days have passed since the Glass City incident with the racers. The leader of A.R.P. had prepared the plans for a war that their army had never attempted before.

“We will kill three birds with one stone. The plan is finally complete and foolproof.” Kloyd bragged.

Darienne and Bohr both waited to hear more details about what their boss has wasted so much time to think up. The leader continued:

“This plan will quell the rebellion on Mars and Ascendus, while getting us the victory in conquering the South Pole. A single leader cannot handle all three of these tasks. This is why I now assign you, Bohr, as the commander of the Ascendus forces. And you, my dear Darienne, I assign as the commander of the space weaponry institute.”

“It’s an honor, boss!” said Bohr happily.

“Just tell me what I need to do and you won’t be disappointed, boss.” Darienne said.

“Here’s what each of you has to do. Bohr will have to lead the Ascendus army and stop anyone who opposes us and dares make noise on the streets. If, by chance, you discover where that punk Ray Beyond is, attack and destroy him and his clone! Darienne, your job is to guide the battle ship and attack those rebels that dwell on Mars. We don’t need them anymore. Launch it when Mars is in perfect sight of Earth and when the weather conditions are best.”

“Weather conditions will be perfect on the 15th of August, sir.” Stated Bohr like a nerd.

“Excellent. That’s two days from now. And the journey of the Battalion ship should take less than a day.” Kloyd smirked after saying those words, knowing that the colonists had no idea what they will be facing.

He then turned to the troops which stood behind him and said:

“I will go with you drones. We’ll take over the South Pole and crush those measly ants under our massive mechanical land’s blocks!”

The police drones all lifted their guns in the air as a salute and shouted in unison:

“Long live our leader!”

At the South Pole, the night had set. And it was going to be a long night, so the street lights that have been absorbing the sun’s energy for many months began to use what had been stored during the long daytime. The silvery round moon was up in the sky, along with many stars that the people of Ascendus would never be able to see from their home.

In Juan’s house, the members of his soccer team and a few other previously unseen men were preparing for an eventual counterattack in case A.R.P. would strike. And knowing their enemy, they were sure that a strike would come after the sight of a glider.

Jim was trying out a shotgun in the living room. It had a laser that indicated where the bullet would hit. He pointed it at a target that was placed on the wall and pulled the trigger. The bullet shot out of the gun and left a hole in the center of the target board.

“Nice shot.” Said Juan as he passed him by.

“Thanks. I think I should exercise more with snipers though. I’ve had it with close combat weapons.” Said Jim while putting the gun back into a holder that he had on his belt.

“Good luck with that, pal.” The captain said before leaving.

In another room, Samsir was working on a strange box-shaped device. It was one meter long and 50 centimeters wide, with an equal 50 centimeter height. On the surface it was gray with green circuit lines all over it and a few buttons to the side where he was looking at it. He used a screwdriver to check some spots on the lines and even open parts of it where he needed to work on the wiring.

He heard footsteps behind him and stopped his work to see who entered the room.

“Oh no…” he said after seeing Jim standing there and watching him like a hawk.

“I’m just checking if you’re alright. Don’t worry, I won’t interfere with your work.” Said Jim while keeping his arms crossed.

“Last time you checked on me, you shoved onion bhaji down my throat, something that I would otherwise never put my mouth on!” protested Samsir while throwing the screwdriver at the machine he was repairing.

“Someone had to do it. You can’t stay that long without food, no matter how depressed you are.”

Samsir just mumbled something that Jim couldn’t understand. He then took the screwdriver and continued to check the endings of the green lines. He hated onions, and eating them while having no will to eat made him bitter. He would never attempt to confront Jim about that though. It would only make the guy with the black tuque go berserk, which was the last thing he would need to see right now, when he had so many problems on his mind.

Juan went into a room where feathers rolled as he entered. Wing flapping noises were heard and he looked above to see birds fly to their roost.

The roost was a long bridge-like construction which was hanging three meters above the ground. There were more of those behind that one, all occupied by homing pigeons. Some of them had green feathered bodies with copper colored heads while others were entirely white, black or just copper. Aside from their beautiful plumage, those birds were very useful during periods of war. Unlike their ancestors, the carrier pigeons, these could be taught up to six migration tracks, which made them efficient in sending messages during energy crisis or in case of an EMP blast.

The one responsible for taking care of them was holding on to some ladder-like formations on the wall which led to a catwalk above the roosts. She was a girl in her early twenties, with long golden hair tied back by a floral hair clip. Her eyes were brown and her face was round. She had a black dress with red designs on the back and the front of her chest, which went perfect with her slim silhouette. Her black shoes were made for climbing the ladders and assuring her a safe landing, because she always jumped off when she was one meter above the ground and landed like a feline. As she got her feet on the ground, a tattoo of two pink butterflies on a plant could be noticed on her left leg.

“Miss Beatrice, please prepare the messenger pigeons for their mission. A war may be starting soon, and A.R.P. might launch an EMP blast upon us. We need at least 30 of them to know the track towards the ocean sentry posts of the east, west, north and south. The sentries there will send letters if they see anything coming our way.”

“It will be done. Some of them already know the way. I'll just have to train the new ones.” She said slowly, before she climbed back up like a mountain lioness and went on the cat walk.

She took a copper colored bird cage that was quite big and she fit twelve pigeons in it. She then tied a rope to the handle at the top of the cage and slowly sent it down. That way she didn’t have to carry it as she went down on the ladder.

“There. Now I’ll take them to each of their destinations and teach them to get back.” She said as she picked the cage and untied it.

“We need to hurry, there’s no telling when these guys are going to attack us.” Juan said before going out of the room followed by Beatrice.

She went inside her car, which had wheels, unlike the slider vehicles from Ascendus. It was a fancy black car with the cat-like front lights shining through the night. After she drove off, Juan went to his balcony and called for his pet Catch-Fire. The bird-like pangolin landed on his left arm.

“Scout the land. If you see anything suspicious, report back. Lift off!” he said as he shook the arm to make the creature fly off.

Catch-Fire flew low, in its scouting mode, trying to avoid being spotted. The Ignis were known to send scouts, members of their family which were slimmer and able to fly swiftly due to their long tails, to detect enemies and food. Juan’s pet was a scout as well, which is why he was sure that it will do a good job in warning them.

With the watchers being set, everyone prepared to rest that night, except Samsir, who went out of the house and went into the garden. Juan saw him but didn’t bother asking him what he was doing. He went to bed, because he was too tired.

The man in the garden sat down on a small hill which was covered in grass. He looked at the moon with eyes wide open. He seemed to be having deep thoughts. After taking off his right glove, he noticed that the Neonid wires started coming out of his hand. They were heading towards the moon. It looked as if he was pulling it with the blue strings as he retracted his hand.

What was actually going on was that the substance, dropping so fast to negative, was seeking energy. Even the pale light of the moon made it extend as far as possible in order to absorb as much positive energy as it could. Samsir sighed and put his glove back on, making the wires fade away as they turned into gas. He knew things were getting worse. It wasn’t long until the Neonid would consume his own life energy as well. The young man got up and went back inside the house, angered by the proof that he was getting weaker as the days passed.

On Ascendus, Kloyd went to the shore of Sea-Port City, along with an entire army of police drones. Above them, the Helitrine planes hovered and emitted triangular shadows on the gray plating of the continent. The submarines submerged, while cyborg killer whales surrounded them.

The land seemed to lift the cyborg leader and expand over the ocean in the way he pointed with his hand. It seemed like a tentacle extended from the continent and began the journey towards the South Pole, followed by the army of robots and cyborg creatures.

From behind them all, the same Cerberus that had been crushed by the elevator was coming in a hurry. It was fully functional since its central computing system had escaped unharmed and the cyborgs had fixed its armor.

Bohr assembled his army and set off to look for the rebellious racers. The police drones had filled the streets, marching through every city in order to find the teenagers that were bent on causing disaster.

Once they reached Rotor City, they saw the sliders dashing in front of them. Bohr shouted into a sort of walkie-talkie:

“Block all entrances to Rotor City. We’ve got them cornered!”

“We’re on it, sir!” a sergeant’s voice responded back.

They did as told. Once they’ve occupied positions, they made themselves invisible and waited there until the drivers passed by. The new leader of the racers ordered:

“Release the dust!”

And the others did as told. The robots could hardly see their targets and the sergeant called Bohr again:

“Sir, visibility is extremely low, but they are nearby!”

“Shoot them!”

“We might have human casualties if the lasers go through the buildings.”

“Shoot where the noise is coming from! Who cares if you hit other unfortunate fools? They won’t even know what happened because of the dust!” shouted Bohr furiously.

“Understood, sir.” The sergeant said.

All drones, hearing the orders, prepared to shoot as soon as they heard the noise of the engines. The leader rushed by and escaped as the lasers hit the glass and walls of a building. Another car approached and slipped by as the shots left holes into the road. A third car was not so lucky, as the driver got shot.

“We got one!”

The slider continued to dash until it hit a tree. The drones went near it and shot repeatedly until the vehicle exploded and the tree caught fire. The sergeant ordered the mechanical land to bring out an irrigator and put it out.

Other four vehicles were caught at the crossroads and shot by a rain of lasers until they blew up. A huge fiery cloud, similar to that which remains after a nuclear missile lands, had been covering the buildings in that area. The people were watching from inside their houses, offices or work places as the smoke obstructed view of what was outside. Some windows have cracked due to the power of the blast.

The drones rushed out of the smoke, just like soldiers, prepared to take a new position in order to capture what ever racers they could find.

At another end, one vehicle was approaching. In the middle of the road, the drones had placed a landmine, hoping that it will be set off by the air jets. To make sure the car went over it, they shot on the sides of it, forcing the racer to pull it towards the middle. Once he saw what he was about to run over, he attempted to pull the brakes, but it kept sliding towards the bomb.

“Oh no!!!” he shouted as the jets went right above the landmine.

The earth shook as it blasted the car away, making it land into a building, cracking its walls. The drones scanned to see if the human inside was dead and then decided that it was no longer needed to shoot.

At the entrance of Sea-Port City, more of the A.R.P. forces were prepared to catch the last two racers that remained. They turned invisible and pointed their lasers at the vehicles once they saw them enter their range. The leader avoided the shots with a great deal of effort, but the other racer wasn’t as lucky, getting shot and having their vehicle explode while crashing into a pole.

More landmines were placed through the city, but the leader went past them since the drones were not in the right place to stop him from going on the sides. The drones ceased fire and ran towards the periphery of the city.

As the last racer tried to escape the drones that were on his trail, he reached that side of the town where a trap was set for him. A drone that was sitting on a building fired a shot at his car’s swallow tail, damaging it so bad that its right side became unusable. The vehicle began sliding towards the right and started to go forward with its side. The guy with the red spiky hair looked at what was ahead of him: a landmine and the ending of the continent, followed by the ocean which turned black and yellow due to the sunset on the orange sky.

“Damn it!!!” he gave out his last shout before his slider went over the landmine and got thrown by the blast into the ocean while being shot at.

After sinking, the vehicle exploded and made the water rise just like the previous explosion’s cloud, but this time it was made of foamy water which made drops scatter and rain over that part of the city.

“Victory is ours!” shouted Bohr while holding his right fist up.

The robots also rejoiced and started a different type of march, this time with a triumphant attitude. The humans inside the buildings were watching scared, after noticing the way A.R.P. handled the city’s problems.

In their hideout, the members of Void were preparing for the final act. Ray connected all of the generators to the Reverser and said to the other members:

“Tomorrow, we will bring the machine to the surface of the water and begin the scanning wave. Once the information gathering is complete, the reversal of the world can begin. We must be prepared, as A.R.P. will attack us and try to stop us.”

“We’re ready.” Stated Dew calmly.

Hector and Garfunk nodded.

A beeping noise came from the computer that was placed below the desk at the giant screen. Ray went to check on what was displayed.

“Object with address 966,300 will interact with 151,274. Consequences…”

On the screen, the tentacle made out of mechanical land plates was shown, with the cyborg leader and his army riding it. The tentacle went past the Pharos of Guidance, hitting it and making it shatter into pieces until it all fell into the ocean.

“This looks bad! They’re on their way to annihilate the Gruziforians!” said Ray as he watched with wide eyes the events on the screen.

Things were changing from bad to worse, and he knew that any further delay could be fatal to the planet. He rushed to the Reverser and touched it as his eyes began to show their violet light on the irises.

“Ray, what are you doing?” asked Dew.

“Change of plans! I’m taking this place to the surface!” shouted the Void leader.

He used the Neonid wires and ordered the mechanical plates that were under the cave to lift the mountain and get it out of water. The entire room began to shake as the devices were pushing up the mass of land. When it reached the surface, under the blue evening sky, the mountain cracked in two pieces and revealed the room's floor, on which the Void members were sitting, with the Reverser at the center. The remaining plates formed an X-shaped platform underneath the lifted room floor.

“Time to start it!” announced Ray as he stared at the Reverser with a expression of determination on his face.

XXII. CONQUEST AND RESISTANCE

2010-08-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

The South Pole’s afternoon sun lit the promenade of the Shell Hut restaurant, a building with no walls, made mainly out of wood and some bamboo-like sticks which formed the roof. Both on the inside and on the outside of it, there were tables made of white marble. Some of them were small and round with a single leg to support their top, others were rectangular and as long as five meters with up to six legs. What better place to spend your time with your friends on this continent than here?

That was the same question Juan asked his teammates before inviting them all to dinner at that restaurant. He chose one of the longest tables so that his entire team would fit around it. His seat was at the head of the table, due to him being the captain. To his right stood Samsir and to his left, Jim. The rest of the team members took their seats as well and prepared to order something to eat. A robot that looked quite similar to Hummer, but colored in gray and white with yellow eyes and wings hovered above the table. It was awaiting orders from the clients.

When it reached the end of the table, Juan ordered:

“A Crab Louie salad and a Martini please!” he then pointed at the two guys to his sides. “Place your orders, it’s on me.”

Jim took the list that sat in a prism shape on the table and read it. He pondered a bit what to choose, as the list had multiple dishes that he might like and some that he had never heard of before. In the end he made up his mind and ordered:

“I would like the roast beef with peas and a glass of orange juice please!”

The robot recorded his order and moved on to Samsir, who didn’t even bother to read the list and said:

“Just a cup of linden tea, please.”

The insect-like robot recorded his order and flew away from the table. The rest of the people looked at Samsir, wondering why he didn’t ask for anything more than a mere cup of tea. Most of the team was staring in awe at him, but Jim and Juan had different thoughts about his act.

“Are you feeling alright buddy?” asked Juan concerned.

Samsir nodded but didn’t say a word. Jim gave him an angry stare, to which he responded with a shudder and a retreat to his seat.

When the food finally arrived, everyone began eating. The goalie took the brown cup of tea by the handle with his index and stared into the tea. Jim stopped eating and watched his friend, wondering what he was up to. Samsir was actually looking at the reflection of the sky, as a strange object moving above caught his attention. He looked up, only to see the azure light and nothing else. Though he was worried, he began to sip out of the cup, emptying it in less than thirty seconds. Jim arranged the black glasses on his nose and started eating again, but he still looked at his friend’s cup anxiously. He then whispered to Juan:

“He orders only tea instead of food and drinks it so fast… Something is wrong here.”

“Maybe he was just thirsty, Jimmy.” Said the captain.

“Thirsty? It’s quite cold outside. And when was the last time he ate?”

“I don’t know, I wasn’t at home this morning.”

Samsir cut their conversation short:

“Alright guys, stop the gossiping. I’ve seen ladies do it less than you two.”

“Oh, ok.” Juan replied calmly.

“Pathetic.” Retorted Jim.

Juan hit Jim with his left elbow, giving the message that he should back off. Their friend just chuckled at them and put his right hand on his forehead.

A kid with a red tuque on his head said:

“Hey, Samsir, after two weeks there will be a new match held at the Alpine Plateau. With you on our team, we will have high chances of wining the South Cup!”

“Two weeks?!” asked the goalie, feeling as if something cut him deep after hearing that.

“Yeah, that’s enough time for us to prepare for the next match. You’ll be there, won’t you?”

Samsir remembered what the doctor told him about having only a week and a half until the Neonid would reach Phase 1. With a sad expression he answered:

“I’d be happy if I could, but I must tell you guys to not count on me being there.”

“Why wouldn’t you?” asked the young man.

“Well, I might have some work to do. Or I might get sick…” He coughed after saying the last part. He knew it was close to what would happen.

Jim furiously interrupted him:

“Alright. That’s it. Samsir, I need to have a word with you. Right now!”

Samsir complied without a question. He got up and went with Jim to the shore of the rocky beach that was nearby.

“I want you to explain something.” Said the boy with the black glasses.

One of the repair drones was just passing by and recognized the two humans. It approached them and said:

“Hi, how are you doing? Nice climate here, huh? Not like the snowy areas back there.”

“We’re fine, thanks for asking. Uh… We were just discussing something.” Answered Jim.

The drone looked at Samsir, who remained quiet. It asked him:

“Have you been eating lately?”

The young man gave no reply, trying to avoid looking into the robot's eyes. The drone extended the three fingers on its right arm and grabbed Samsir by his left side, right under the ribs in order to examine the state of the human’s stomach.

“I didn’t eat right now…” Samsir tried to explain.

“And you didn’t eat 7 hours ago either. Or probably not even 24 hours ago. In fact, I think your last meal was that cheese we gave you.” The robot stated after letting him go.

“If you’re planning on starving yourself to death, you’re not too far from succeeding. Idiot.” Jim said angrily.

“Hey, calm down Jimmy… I just didn’t feel too well, that’s why I couldn’t eat.” He said while holding his hands extended, trying to keep Jim away from him.

The drone sighed and moved on, minding its own business while Jim grabbed Samsir by the light brown jacket he was wearing over a black shirt.

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do!” shouted Jim.

“Whoa!” his friend yelled as he tried to run away.

“First you refuse to tell the team about your health status, then you say that you might not come to the next match… And now you starve yourself and lie about it. Something is wrong with you. Start talking!”

Samsir stopped trying to run, sat down on the rocks of the beach and began explaining things to Jim.

“I suppose you will understand this, since you already saw the way I drained my phone back on the ship. It’s the Neonid that I’m having trouble with. The doctor said that it’s desaturating, it will need more and more energy to remain at phase 2, or else it will consume my own energy. I have just… very little time left.”

“Man, that sounds horrible, how much time do you have left? Is there any way to stop this?”

“A week and a half. There’s only one way to stop it, but no one to create a phase 9 Neonid to saturate it. I hate this substance. You and Juan are the only people that know about it. The people that were supposed to become my in-laws had no idea about this curse I bear. Ever since that robot named Top brought me to their family, I’ve been like their child. And my fiancée, Roxanne, was like a sister to me. I told them about the death of their daughter, but I couldn’t say a word about this.” He said before taking off his right glove to reveal five blue wires of light coming out of his palm, from under his fingers. The wires extended towards the sun, but he quickly put his glove back on and the lights vanished.

“Juan told me that you still can’t get over Roxanne’s death.”

“I tried, but it’s all in vain. Death did us part too early.”

“Well, it’s not like the world ended. You can start a new life, there’s got to be some girl out there that could be your new half.”

Samsir scowled at Jim and pushed him away, making his friend land into the shallow water.

“Ok, ok! I get it! I’ll close the subject!” shouted Jim as he got up soaked.

“Speaking of my in-laws, I’ve heard that they live on this continent now. They left Gruzifor last year. I might visit them today, if I can find out their address. Or I could just ask Juan.” Said the man with the ponytail.

Jim prepared to leave, but he noticed Samsir was looking at the water while searching for a rock the size of his palm. There was indeed something reflected on the water’s surface, the same thing that was seen while he drank the tea.

“You know, I think we should change the plans for today.” Said Samsir as he got up holding the rock.

He turned his face towards the sky, looking for something blue that didn’t quite match the sky’s appearance and threw the rock with as much force as he could. It hit the strange shape that was floating above the two guys and made it crash on the beach.

Upon impact, the object shattered and its blue color turned to black. Its wings were also torn apart and the three cameras had their lenses cracked. It was one of A.R.P.’s satellites.

“Looks like we’ve got company.” Said the one who struck down the machine.

Jim shouted:

“We have to tell Juan and the others!”

He ran back to the Shell Hut, without even noticing that a yellow sea slug remained on the back of his black jacket ever since he got out of the water. Samsir kept trying to pick up the slug, but Jim was so desperate that he ran faster than him.

When they got back to the table where Juan and the rest were sitting, Jim began to tell them:

“They’re back! Samsir hit it, it fell from the sky because of the rock! It’s right there on the beach! They’re spying on us, they’re coming!!!”

As he was saying this and gesticulating like a mad man, the yellow slug peeked with its long eyes from behind Jim’s shoulder and began to slide over it, revealing its head with all four tentacles. The other guys from the soccer team started to snicker after noticing it.

“Guys! Guys! They’re after us! We saw it! The satellite, it fell from the sky!!!” Jim tried to explain.

The slug kept sliding on his jacket’s right sleeve and sometimes turned its head towards the people that began laughing hysterically.

“What?!” asked Jim, totally confused.

Samsir picked the slug off his friend and threw it in a mini-fountain. He then explained to the rest of the people what Jim was trying to say:

“One of A.R.P.’s satellites was spying on us. There may be more of those just hovering above us right now. It seems they can camouflage themselves quite well. Juan, I hope you’re prepared for this.”

“Don’t worry; I’ve stored an entire arsenal in the underground chambers of the military zone. And the people here know just how to handle these muggers!” said Juan with a confidence that left Samsir in awe.

“I’m not using a gun, even if you threaten to shoot me.”

“Come on, Sam! There’s no other way to send these guys away.”

“Juan, at least let me be of use in these few days I’ve got left. I’ll keep them away and I’ll work on something to make sure they will never get past the borders of this continent.”

The other members of the team were confused about what the captain and the goalie were saying. Juan ordered them all to come to the weapon deposit chamber. There, he and Samsir continued their arguing.

“Give it a try.”

“Not as long as I’m still alive!”

“Just try to carry an Extensor, Sam.” Said the guy with the dreadlocks as he dropped a large gun with an extendable tip in his friend’s arms.

“I ca-aaan’t hold this thing!” shouted Samsir as he fell with the heavy gun over his chest.

Juan burst into laughter. The rest of the team seemed concerned for the young man that was struggling to take the gun off and pick it up properly.

“Now take the tip of the gun and drag it forward.” The captain ordered.

Samsir did so but he almost fell. Finally getting his balance back, he grabbed the handle below the gun’s tip using his left hand.

“Use the right hand to hold it, dummy!” shouted Juan.

The novice heard a noise and, completely ignoring the captain’s orders, used the back of the gun to hit what ever was passing him by. Behind him, a police drone that lost its camouflage upon impact with the gun had crouched and lifted its head up to see the attacker with its red horizontal eye.

Samsir lifted the gun, grabbing it by the wrong end and prepared to whack the drone with it once more.

“Hey! On whose side are you anyway, mister?” the robot asked as it also revealed its right arm’s extendable gun which had a rectangular tip, as opposed to the usual A.R.P. drones’ round one.

Juan grabbed the gun and took it away from his friend before he could harm the drone.

“Juan, what’s going on? Who is this drone?”

“It’s ok, Sam. He’s a deserter. It seems that this is the reason why A.R.P. uses only human-minded robots as sergeants now. To avoid betrayal.” Explained the captain.

The drone was indeed a sergeant model, with wings on its back and two red lightning symbols united at the center of a circle placed on its chest on the left side. It retracted the weapon on its right arm and backed off.

“And that is not the proper way of using a gun, Sam.”

“Just forget it. I’m not going to fire a single shot with that thing.”

“Ok, might as well train Jimmy. At least he’s been in the army.” Said Juan before passing the weapon to Jim, who caught it easily.

At A.R.P.’s headquarters, Kloyd was thinking up a plan to strike the South Pole as quickly and efficiently as he could.

“We must attack from the tropical side in order to assure survival of our troops. The continent must also be extended all the way to this spot.” He explained as he dragged his finger in a C-shaped trajectory from their continent to the South Pole on a holographic map.

His lackeys were watching and listening carefully, awaiting orders. The leader went to the giant monitor to see what his other satellites could reveal from their enemy’s field. He couldn’t spot Juan anywhere.

“Their leader’s not around! What could he be planning? After that idiot member of theirs destroyed our spy unit, it appears that the residents have become aware of our plans…” Kloyd uttered.

“They’re not the only ones who have become aware of our plans, boss. The residents of Glass City are becoming rebellious.” Said Bohr.

“What?”

“It seems that they are blaming it on us for causing an angry racers mob to destroy their city.”

“Angry racers mob?”

“Yes, sir. The word around here is that the racers are furious because we killed their leader.”

“Eh…” the leader said with an expression of astonishment.

Indeed, in Glass City, Hilarion Medley’s gang was preparing for another attack using vehicles. One guy with short red spiky hair shouted to the others:

“Let’s revenge Hil. Tonight’s the night!”

“Alright!” the others replied in chorus.

They all got into their sliders and started the engines. The rumble could be heard in the silence of the night, as the racers’ cars dashed away on the streets of Glass City. This time, they were bent on causing as much damage as possible. Some of them drove over the buildings, making the windows shake as the wind from the vehicles’ thrusters hit them. Others drove over the grass, flattening it and scattering the soil all the way onto the glass road. Two of the racers driving Landas shot dust onto a jewelry store, graying out the green “Jewelry” logo on its glass wall.

In the factories and other buildings, the people rushed to the windows to see the chaos going on through the city. All the sliders were heading swiftly towards A.R.P.’s headquarters.

Inside the building, Kloyd was watching his computer’s screen in his office, shocked that the racers had the power to rise against his organization. Suddenly, the windows on his building began to shake as if an earthquake was moving them. The cyborg got up from his table and stared at the glass, seeing his own reflection. The roar of an engine could be heard. After a few seconds, a vehicle dashed up the glass. Kloyd tried to approach the window, but he saw another car. Only that it was launched from another building and heading straight into his office. It made the glass to shatter as it landed next to the desk.

“Burn, you freaking monsters!” shouted the guy with spiky red hair from inside the Landa vehicle that drove out of the office through the same window.

Another car entered the office, destroying his desk and computer before launching away and crashing outside the building after the other racer.

The two cars drove away, despite suffering severe damage. The rest of the racers just bumped the front of their sliders into the glass at the bottom of the building and then left as swiftly as they came.

On Mars, Radatrax had been collecting materials from below the planet’s surface and brought them inside the ship, where nobody sat anymore. He knew that the others were planning against him and Rakory. But he was equally as determined to carry out his plan, no matter the cost. Human, robotic or any other lives were of little importance to him, knowing that it would mean he could get revenge on his creators.

His ability to pass through anything solid helped him gather metals and other minerals from beneath the iron colored sand. Once he had all the resources he could carry, he took them to the ship, where Rakory awaited at the door.

They were both unaware that Hummer saw them. He was hiding behind a pile of rocks and stared at the way Rakory and Radatrax worked together. The way the two were acting made him wonder: "Had they become friends?" In which case, the idea of Rakory trusting a vicious murderer robot disgusted him. But then he wondered if his owner actually turned Radatrax into her slave. This second idea had very little evidence to support it, as the two didn’t seem to argue. What ever was happening between them, Hummer felt enraged to know that she left him alone and took the side of a much stronger robot. It was then that he saw her true side: she was nothing more than an exploiter.

XXI. CHAIN REACTION

2010-07-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

The police drones brought their newly captured prisoner into one of the laboratory rooms of the A.R.P. headquarters.

As the robot squirmed to escape, while the magnet collar was confusing him and causing him something similar to pain, the red and black drones threw him inside a chamber surrounded by glass walls.

The top of the chamber was white and opaque, connected to the ceiling of the main room. The floor on the inside was made of amber colored plates. On each of the glass walls, that were forming a hexagonal enclosure, there was a dark gray device with small cannons. Inside them, dark blue Neonid could be seen shining through their tips.

A sergeant drone asked:

“What do we do now that we’ve caught this robot?”

Kloyd’s voice answered, echoing out of nowhere:

“Force him to reveal where the Void members are hiding. If he refuses, scan his memory. If he blocks the scanner, get rid of him.”

“Understood, sir!” the sergeant stated.

Top somehow managed to remove the collar from his neck and started to charge up his Neonid.

One of the drones warned him:

“Not so fast! See those cannons?”

“Where?” asked the captive robot while looking around blindly.

“THESE!” retorted the A.R.P. drone.

“No.”

“Stop mocking us! Anyway, if you dare use that phase 8 Neonid in here, these cannons will shoot at you with phase 2 Neonid. It will instantly deactivate you.”

“Just where are you talking from, drone?” asked Top while keeping his scrawny fists up.

All five police drones that were near the chamber looked at each other, perplexed.

The prisoner was walking clumsily, punching the air as if he would be fighting someone. When his left fist hit a glass wall, he immediately shouted:

“Aha! I’ve found you! Put ‘em up you freaking drone!”

He began boxing the wall frantically, without giving it the slightest scratch due to the resistance of the material it was made of.

The guards were all the more astounded, as there was nobody on the other side of the glass that Top was attacking.

“Do you think it’s worth asking him any details about Void?” asked one of the red and black robots.

“You won’t get any info out of me while I'm alive! Suckers!” shouted Top madly.

“Looks like we have no choice but to scan his memory.”

“Alright, bring me the amplifier and connect it to my antenna.” Ordered the sergeant.

One of the drones rushed out of the room to bring the requested object.

In the underwater cave, the two human members of Void were staring at the screen, which started to display warning signs. A text typed itself on it, saying:

“The foreign material with address 390-208 has caused an unexpected chain of events.”

“Blast it! No! This can’t be happening!” Ray shouted while hitting the keyboard with his fists.

Dew stared at him, concerned. The screen continued to display more text, which worried Ray even more.

“Consequence of introduction of foreign material 390-208 in the event chain: modification in events related to 114-299 material. Consequence of altering material 114-299: events related to 530-002 have been modified. Consequence of altering material 530-002: events related to 114-260 have been modified. Consequence…”

“Stop!!!” shouted the leader of Void while connecting a wire to the Reverser.

The machine did exactly as he ordered.

“I have to find out what these addresses connect to.”

The monitor started showing the number 390-208. The video that followed showed Ray as he was reassembled by the Reverser. The next address showed the numbers 114-299. On screen, the death of Caesar in the explosion and the sinking of the island caused A.R.P. to make even more experiments with the Neonid and expand their territory. The address 530-002 represented the war with the islands where the Gruziforians lived. 114-260 meant the events from the night when the five teenagers got captured after the accident in Glass City.

Ray remained astounded. He didn’t expect so many problems to arise just because he sent himself 100 years into the future. To his exasperation, more numbers appeared on screen.

Consequences continued to be displayed. He saw how the capture of the five teenagers led to the attack over Gruzifor’s robotic population and over the islands, how the islanders that survived the attack traveled to the South Pole and how an important human was killed. The Reverser pointed out that Hilarion Medley’s death would have devastating effects in the near future.

The ‘Time Master’ watched the scenes that flashed in front of his eyes, shocked at how much damage had been done. Even recruiting the three Gruziforian robots was a bad move on his side, as this caused A.R.P. to constantly hunt for every robot they could find that did not follow their rules. Suddenly, the screen’s image dissolved and left behind only black. The pixels quickly gathered back like a powder, displaying what was currently happening to Top.

“Top!!!” he shouted while holding his head with both hands.

“Where are the other two?” asked Dew anxiously.

“Since they’re not with him, I guess they’ve escaped. But we can’t leave Top there!”

”Now what will we do? Open a portal to A.R.P.’s headquarters?”

“No! The enemy would discover our hideout if we do that. And besides, the Reverser doesn’t have enough energy to do that right now. We’ll have to get there using some means of transport.”

“Ok, Ray. Let’s go!” said Dew before running out of the room.

Ray followed him as fast as he could. On the monitor, more warnings appeared. One of them was displaying the South Pole being watched by more spy satellites from A.R.P.

The underwater mountain’s cylindrical tower extended to the surface of the sea, where a floating triangular platform awaited the two members of Void who jumped on it as soon as the door of the pillar opened.

The 8th Roamer entered his house, preparing to rest for the night, as his energy was running low. He entered a room where there was old furniture. A white but dusty couch, a wooden wardrobe and a table with a white vase holding blue iris flowers were all present in the room. What was not present, the robot shouted with anger:

“The generators!!!”

He contorted himself and flew out of the room, searching the whole house. Confused, he tripped over a table and lost control of the flight, ending up hitting the wall of a hallway.

“How could this be? Someone… Someone’s been here.” He said as his eyes scanned the rooms for footprints on the floors.

The robot rushed to the place where he placed the generators before and scanned the floor. He immediately noticed the footprints of two robots. Judging by their size and shape, he immediately identified the owners.

“Those two Void members! They were here while I was gone! They have no idea what they’re helping this guy do to this world…”

Roamer 8 flew out of the house through a window, heading towards Glass City, where he thought he would find Hector and Garfunk.

Indeed, the two robots were on one of the city’s roads, each of them dragging a generator. They were trying to be as discreet as possible, walking slowly in order to avoid making noise. Of course, that didn’t work. As soon as they reached the center of the city, red dots started to blink around them.

“Now what?” asked Hector.

“I guess we have to run, or else…” before Garfunk could finish speaking, a magnet collar was thrown at his neck and it clamped onto him.

The yellow robot fell on the ground and started rolling desperately, thrashing his tail about. Hector tried to set his comrade free, but as soon as he touched the magnet with his fingers, he felt as if his entire body was getting numb. He kept trying to break it, but his wings started to beat uncontrollably and he felt his power being drained. Taking advantage of the situation, one of the police drones threw another collar which headed exactly towards Hector’s neck, catching him and making him roll on the floor just like Garfunk did.

The police drones took the generators and the two robots to the A.R.P. headquarters. When Roamer 8 arrived, he was too late to see what had happened. The tracks ended where the two Void members fell.

Dew and Ray were traveling through Glass City as well, trying to reach the building where the police drones went. Ray was breathing heavily, trying to hold on to the platform with his hands. Dew asked:

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Dew. Just… a bit shocked. I never expected things to go this bad.”

The cyborg kept gazing at him, frowning.

“Really, I’m fine.” Reassured the light brown haired teenager.

“Ray… I don’t believe you.” Said Dew bluntly.

Ray got angered by his friend’s words, but he decided not to continue the talking. The cyborg was sad to get no truthful reply. Knowing how Ray avoided talking about his weakness, he just gave up on asking a second time.

The platform stopped once they reached A.R.P.’s building, slowly descending until it touched the ground. Ray charged up the Neonid, surrounding himself in a violet glow. Dew opened his four black wings, causing green thunder to fork out of his back and take the shape of the wings at a larger scale.

The two Void members broke the door made of glass and entered the building. Ray took the headband with the violet rectangle and put it on his head. The rectangle started to glow on his forehead, opening communication with the Reverser.

“If we will have no choice, I’ll call on the Reverser to save us.” Said the ‘Time Master’.

“Alright. Now where are the drones?” asked Dew, expecting a welcome party.

The room seemed empty, but suddenly the drones made themselves present and aimed at the two humans. Ray hit all of them with whips of Neonid and ripped the guns off the drones’ arms.

“According to the signals the Reverser is sending me, the robots are in the laboratory, in this building. Come!” said Ray before going into another room, leaving the disabled drones behind.

Indeed, the two robots were in the laboratory, but somehow they managed to fight against the police, despite the magnet collars still being attached to them. Garfunk was using his tail to hit the enemy while Hector was fighting using all his limbs and his wings as weapons. Once they defeated all the guards, Garfunk removed Hector’s collar and said:

“Hurry, find the code before the cannons fire at Top!”

The winged robot sent out two Neonid wires and tried his best to find the cipher of the silver locker that held the chamber closed, but the cannons began zapping Top with the blue substance, draining his energy to the point where he couldn’t even get up from the floor.

“What’s going on? Why can’t I move my arms? Why am I paralyzed?” shouted the captive robot, unable to move most of his body.

“Hang in there, pal. I’ll break this thing.” Assured Hector while still trying to find the right code.

Top couldn’t even speak anymore, lying with his face on the ground. The negative Neonid was making indigo lightning bolts over his entire body, while the red glow in his eyes began to slowly fade away.

“Come on! Why isn’t it opening?” asked Hector, still struggling with the device with ten numbered buttons.

“Hector… You can stop trying now. It’s too late.” Garfunk uttered before pointing at the hexagonal glass chamber.

Hector looked at Top, noticing that the robot was already deactivated due to losing his energy.

“Damn it! I was too slow!” he shouted as he hit the glass walls, which didn’t even get a scratch on them.

More police drones entered the room and pointed their guns at the two robots. They caught them off guard. Some of the drones had the horizontal eye colored blue and their limbs had indigo joints.

“I think the boss warned us about what glows blue…” said Hector while shaking in fear.

“We’re doomed!” shouted Garfunk.

On each of the two robots’ chest appeared a blue dot that started to blink quickly. Before the police drones could shoot, Dew and Ray broke in through the door, leaving a purple dust to cover the room. The dust faded away, revealing the two human members of Void who were prepared to fight and get their robots back at any cost.

“Let them go, you pitiful ants.” Ordered Ray as his eyes started to glow violet, along with his headband’s front.

The police drones pointed the guns at him and shot without hesitation. They were expecting Ray’s Neonid to get consumed by the phase 2 one they’ve fired at him, but his phase 9 was too positive to be absorbed.

All the black and blue robots remained astounded as the teenager was still alive and the shots simply exploded on contact with the violet wires.

Ray looked to his left to see that Top was dead and the other two robots were symbolically mourning, keeping their heads lowered and not moving. He turned his attention back to the police drones and said:

“Is this all you’re good for? Killing the innocent? Preying on the weak?”

The rage inside him reached an uncontrollable level. The purple glow contoured his body, giving him the feeling that he was being burned alive. He didn’t care; he ran towards the enemies and took out his two swords, slashing through the crowd. He still managed to avoid killing any of the machines in his rampage, instead having all their weapons and some of their limbs destroyed.

What he didn’t expect was Bohr to enter the room and throw two magnet collars towards him and Dew. Unable to fight, the two were at the mercy of the other drones that the scientist cyborg brought with him.

“You dirty, cruel and despicable killers!” shouted Dew, trying to get out of the grip of the police drones which held him back by the arms.

“What are you going to do about it?” asked Bohr before giving an evil smirk.

“Right now, pretty much nothing.” Said the disappointed Void member cyborg.

“Magnets weaken Neonid so much that it can be absorbed easier. Any last words?” asked the A.R.P. cyborg.

Ray lifted his head up and looked at the two drones holding him by the arms. Then he remembered something and looked up at the headband that was on his own forehead. He told Dew:

“I still have control over the Reverser. I’m not sure I’ll make it through this, but anything’s better than a sure death.”

“Wait, what are you thinking?” asked Dew, shocked by what Ray said.

The rectangle on his forehead started glowing bright violet simultaneously with his eyes. Inside the underwater mountain’s cave, the Reverser displayed scenes from A.R.P.’s headquarters on the screen. Ray’s body was grayed out while everything else kept its colors. Many yellow sparks were moving from one part of the room to the place where the ‘Time Master’ was, showing some sort of path that the air would have to take to replace him as his body was moved in that place.

Exactly as the screen depicted, Ray got dissolved and moved exactly in place of the mass of air that had been used to replace him. The drones saw the magnet collar drop and their hands were holding nothing but air. The teenager fell from nearby the ceiling, holding his chest with his hands and crouching on the floor.

“What in the world was that?” asked Bohr astounded.

“I’ve asked it to move me to a different place.” Said Ray, struggling to breathe.

The process hurt him even more, giving him internal wounds after the reassembling. He still had enough strength to get back up and grab the two heavy swords he’d been carrying. He quickly united their handles, forming the weapon with two axe-like heads which glowed half violet and half blue.

Within a few seconds, he destroyed all of the drones’ bodies and set his members free from their grip. He still couldn’t kill any of the A.R.P. robots, despite the hatred he had for them. Bohr ran away scared, trying to warn Kloyd about the invasion of the headquarters.

A portal opened and Ray pointed towards it, shouting:

“Everyone, back to base! I’ll go get the generators!”

Dew dragged Hector and Garfunk through the portal, shielding them with his green Neonid as they were transported back to the cave. Ray broke into another sector of the laboratory and found the two generators that the police had confiscated from his members. He split the weapon back into the two swords and put them on his back before taking the generators in his arms. He got near the warp but he felt like the pain in his chest was getting worse. Knowing that he might not be able to make it through, he threw the two heavy objects into the warp hole and tried to shield himself before entering.

The violet glow was barely showing as it outlined his body. His feet started to get tired and his body was getting heavier as his heart started having irregular beats. He fainted before reaching the portal, holding his hands on his chest while his head was turned with the right side on the ground. The portal faded away.

An A.R.P. drone arrived and took aim at him. Seeing that the teenager wasn’t moving, it went near him and kicked the left side of his thorax. There was no reaction. The robot put the gun on his back, preparing to shoot.

Unexpectedly, Dew reopened the portal and charged at the police drone using the horn of the snake from his right arm. The horn pierced through the drone’s chest, narrowly missing its biocard. Serpentae disconnected the horn from his head, leaving it inside the robot. To the drone’s surprise, the horn exploded, destroying most of its body and killing it instantly. The snake hissed, revealing its viper fangs and retracting itself back to rest its head on Dew’s arm. On the center of Serpentae’s forehead, instead of the horn, a green gem remained.

Dew said to the dead drone:

“Picking on someone who’s unconscious on the ground. What a disgrace.”

The young cyborg lifted his friend off the floor using his oversized mechanical claw and dragged him through the portal, using a shield to protect the two of them as they traveled back to the cave.

The cyborg put his comrade on a bed with white sheets.

“Ray! Wake up! You can’t leave us now!” shouted Dew while he was shaking his unconscious friend, trying to wake him up.

“Check his pulse. Hold his hand’s wrist.” Suggested Hector.

Dew did as told. After a few seconds, he said:

“His heart’s barely beating.”

“Not good.” Said Garfunk.

Ray heard them and opened his eyes, revealing the dilated pupils of his purple irises. He saw everything through a dark fog, but his vision gradually improved as he gained consciousness. Still tired, he remained on the bed and asked:

“What happened?”

“You fainted. I thought your heart was going to stop.” Said Dew with tears in his eyes.

The brown haired teenager put his right hand on his own chest to check his heart’s beats. He then spoke:

“It’s still beating. But it can stop any time.”

He started panting while getting halfway up from the bed.

“I’m scared.” He whispered with a lost stare in his eyes.

“We’re here for you, boss. We’ll help you however we can.” Said Garfunk while putting his left hand on Ray’s back.

“Yeah, we’ll find someone that can help you fix that literally broken heart.” Hector added.

“Please, don’t ever ask the Reverser to do that again. You could have died!” Dew scolded him.

Ray took the headband off and put it in his pocket before saying:

“I won’t need to do that anymore. We’re so close to returning everything in this world back to normal…”

He looked at the two generators that were in the same room, lying on the floor.

“Help me connect them to the Reverser. Once we’re done, we’ll just have to wait a few days for the machine to recharge.” He explained before getting out of the bed.

Four planets away from the Sun, a revolution was taking place. Hakyn, Linda, Hummer, Tygrill and Mylo were talking about a plan to catch Rakory and Radatrax before they would strike them.

“I can’t believe this. They’ve turned against us for such stupid reasons…” said Hakyn, disappointed.

“I can’t believe you put me behind bars for such stupid reasons.” Stated Tygrill.

“Well, sorry. I was so mad that I thought I had found the culprit… only to be proven wrong by another one of my members that sacrificed his life.” Admitted the red haired teen.

“Maybe you should be more open minded.” Advised the Minotaur robot.

“Yeah… I feel sorry for Smoke Barrel. And for Mylo. He hasn’t said a word to me ever since Smoke died.”

“I think you are the last person he wants to speak to.” The black and blue robot told Hakyn.

Linda and Hummer were sitting on a round rock. She asked the tiny robot:

“Why did he have to kill my cousin?”

“Sha.” Replied the bug-like robot.

“I wish they never would have activated that machine. Quintus would still be alive if Radatrax stayed dead.” She said, as tears ran down her cheeks and dropped on the reddish soil.

“Humzzz…” hummed Hummer.

Mylo was sitting on the ground, stroking the iron sand with his right hand and drawing odd patterns that in the end formed the image of some kind of plant. His face, not having many features similar to a human’s, didn’t show the sorrow he kept inside his artificial mind. From time to time, he would turn his head to look at Hakyn and then express anger by changing the way the eyebrow at the top of his face looked.

The sky was full of stars, the night gave Mars a purple shade and the trees planted on the field were being moved by the wind. Hakyn, Linda, Tygrill and Hummer sat next to a fire they made by burning dried tree branches and leaves they found inside the ship.

“We need to find out more about this Neonid thing. It’s our only weapon against Radatrax.” Said Hakyn while looking at his hands, which were covered by the fingerless rubber gloves.

“I might be of assistance.” Offered Tygrill.

“Well, how much do you know about this thing?”

“Ever since I’ve been contaminated with this thing, I’ve been researching it. Mine is a phase 2 Neonid. It’s the fastest absorber that’s available in A.R.P.’s laboratories. The most negative is phase 1, a silvery white substance that exists in very limited amounts on Earth. So far, A.R.P. couldn’t create such a thing. It goes out before activation.”

“Then, what phase is mine?” asked Hakyn.

“Show me its glow.”

The boy let the Neonid surround his body. Tygrill immediately identified the substance and answered:

“Phase 8. It’s the most common Neonid that they use for attacking, due to its power over other non-mechanical materials. It is hotter than fire, although it is not the most positive substance out of the nine.”

“Then what phase is mine?” asked Linda while showing her hand, which had a yellow contour.

“Phase 6. It can absorb Hakyn’s Neonid, although it would take a while. My phase 2 can beat both yours and his, in less than three minutes.” Explained Tygrill.

“I think Radatrax uses the same kind of Neonid as mine.” Said Hakyn.

“True. And this means it’s payback time when I’ll meet him again.” The Minotaur robot shouted.

“What about Mylo? What kind of Neonid does he have?”

“Judging by that glow in his eyes, I think he has a third phase. Not as negative as mine, but it still poses a threat to Radatrax.”

“What about… this little guy?” asked Hakyn as he pointed at Hummer.

“Humzz!” buzzed the robot while beating his wings faster.

“Same phase as yours.” Answered Tygrill.

The fire went out, leaving very little light to come from the lamps that were placed on the mechanical land pieces. The two humans went to sleep while Tygrill and Mylo remained to guard. Hummer went near Linda and dug a hole in the red sand, making himself a ‘bed’ where he would enter a state similar to sleep. His wings still vibrated in order to expel some of his extra energy.

Rakory and Radatrax were staring at the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. Phobos was thrice as small as the Earth’s moon while Deimos seemed a mere star which accompanied the other moon. The robot said to the teenage girl:

“We will make this place our base. We must build a smaller rocket to get us near Earth. Then I can use this power that the fools from A.R.P. equipped me with.”

“What power?” asked Rakory.

“When I have enough material around me, I can use it to build myself a new body based on these blueprints that they gave me.” Answered the robot.

“Could you show me the blueprints?” she asked while taking out her phone.

Radatrax connected a red glowing wire to the phone and uploaded the schematics for two other modes that he could change into.

One of them was a wire frame render of a strange bipedal robotic monster. It had a big mouth full of sharp teeth and a giant single eye shaped like the letter U on its head, just above the snout. From its back, a broad and long tail extended. Its feet were very similar to those Radatrax currently had, but adapted for faster running and better weight support. Just behind the head of the displayed model, the two cannons that Radatrax had were placed similar to the antlers of a reindeer, but were rooted on its back instead of its head. It had protective armor on the back. The mode was called S.T.A.G.

Below the S.T.A.G. model, another very similar but much larger mode, called Wyvern, was displayed in wire frame. The cannons, that were moved towards the middle of its back, had strange knife-shaped feathers connected to them and formed wings that were larger than the body of the machine. The head, tail and legs remained almost the same as the S.T.A.G. mode, only with smaller feet.

“The ship has enough material that I could build myself a new body from, we just need to launch it and get it near Earth. Then I will consume the ship’s material and you can escape from the ship using an escape shuttle. I will attack their planet and destroy their tainted civilization, leaving place for better development.” Explained the robot.

“You mean… you want to destroy Earth?” asked Rakory shocked.

“I want to destroy Ascendus only. There are other places where humans live. But that continent is where the damage to our world is coming from.” Hissed Radatrax as his V-shaped eye turned bright red because of his anger.

“But there will be thousands of lives lost.” She said.

“A mere price for decontaminating the world.” The robot purred.

Rakory began thinking it over, staring at the two small moons that lit the sky.

Radatrax STAG Mode

Radatrax Wyvern Mode

XX. THE WORD OF A MACHINE

2010-07-16T04:45:00.000-07:00

Inside the ship that was stationed on Mars, all humans and robots gathered on the hallway, where some metallic bars connected the ceiling with the floor. Hakyn was angry, Linda was sad, Rakory was holding her arms crossed at her chest, Smoke and Mylo were looking at each other, with a scowled expression, while Radatrax was jumping up and down, laughing maniacally.

Behind the bars, Tygrill was clawing the air, while shouting:

“This is preposterous! I had no means of reaching the ceiling! Just look at me, I weigh 150Kg!”

“Then who else could break through all that metal?” asked Hakyn.

“Technically, any of them could make the ceiling collapse. Smoke with his heavy artillery, Mylo with his welders or even Radatrax with those cannons and his ability to pass through walls. I can’t find a plausible reason to accuse Hummer however. He’s too small.”

“Humz!” said Hummer while flying nearby the improvised jail.

Radatrax began hissing at Tygrill after hearing his name mentioned. Smoke Barrel stared at the angry robot, unable to say anything, despite knowing who the actual culprit was. Mylo was also furious, but he didn’t dare speak either.

Hakyn shouted:

“Do you expect me to believe that? You were the only one not present here when the ceiling collapsed. You are the one blaming the others right now. You have the drills necessary to create such a hole through the plates of this ship. You will remain considered guilty until proven otherwise.”

“I thought the law says that everyone is innocent until proven guilty!” stated the black and blue armored robot.

Hakyn ran his right hand through his red hair, scratching while thinking about that statement. Everyone else looked at him, expecting his verdict. He was speechless.

“I think you should do some more research, Hakyn. Don’t stop at me. I’ll stand behind bars, just don’t stop here. Ok?” requested the Minotaur robot.

“Sure... I’ve got nothing to lose.” Said the teenager, a bit calmer than before.

“I think you should do some more research too.” Said Smoke.

Radatrax started purring at the gray robot for the attempt to give a hint about the murder. Hakyn went into the command room, to gaze at the stars, trying to think which of the robots might have been the killer. He never thought he would be so sad about the death of the member he couldn’t stand. Quintus’ death made him realize that, with all bad things aside, they were friends.

“What am I going to do?” he asked whispering.

Back in the hallway, Smoke and Mylo were talking, hoping that Radatrax would not hear them.

“Why didn’t you tell him? Look at what happened to Tygrill!” said Mylo.

“Look, I have a plan. Don’t ruin it for me. Wait here. Make sure Radatrax doesn’t go anywhere. If he does, come and tell me.”

“Alright… but… what’s the plan?”

“Do as I told you, and you’ll see. I’m going after Hakyn.” Said Smoke before leaving.

He dragged his feet over the metallic floor, making the red haired kid snap out of his deep thinking state. The robot called to him:

“Hey, Hakyn, could you come on the hallway for a moment? And, once you get there, order all robots to stay aligned.”

“Sure, but why?”

“Just do it!”

After entering the corridor, Hakyn ordered:

“All robots align in front of me!”

They aligned in the following order, from left to right: Mylo, Radatrax and Hummer. Smoke went near the line and pushed Mylo away from Radatrax, saying:

“This is my spot. Stay on my right.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with you? Why are you bossing me around lately?” complained the blue eyed robot.

“Shut up, you idiot!” whispered Smoke towards him.

“So, what did you want to say, Smoke?” asked Hakyn.

Linda and Rakory were also there, watching the lined up robots. Once Smoke made sure that everyone was listening, he spoke:

“Tygrill is not the murderer. The real one is right here. It’s…” he stopped suddenly as a blot of red light covered his chest.

Everyone froze for a moment, witnessing Radatrax impale Smoke Barrel’s chest from the back, using his right cannon. It went through his armor as if it were made of water.

“I told you to keep silent.” Said Radatrax while grabbing his victim’s biocard.

The card stood out of Smoke’s chest, connected to his body through six wires on the top and bottom side of it. In its middle, there was a hemisphere that was glowing yellow. Around it, six connectors were going into the six wires. The evil robot left it hanging out, as he retracted his cannon-hand out of the victim’s chest.

“Murderer!” shouted Hakyn as he got surrounded by a red aura.

Radatrax hissed and prepared to shoot him, but Mylo punched the fiend so hard that he rolled on the floor. Hakyn got five Neonid wires out of each of his hands and threw them at the vicious robot, trying to disable and destroy it. Radatrax created a shield out of the same kind of Neonid and caused an explosion as the two same type substances collided.

“He was an A.R.P. follower. A traitor! And you are defending him, therefore you are traitors as well!” purred the red and white robot.

“I told you, we had to collaborate with A.R.P. only to reach our goal, and then we would just cut any connection to them!” the red haired kid tried to explain.

“Hakyn, you know they would never just leave us alone if we would let them know what we did so far.” Said Rakory.

“Hold on a minute. You know the plan; we’ve talked about this before! You know we always wanted to be against A.R.P., why would we want to help them?”

“Why didn’t you guys revolt from the first minute we arrived here?” asked the long haired girl.

“Rakory! We needed guiding!” shouted Hakyn angrily.

“Guiding? From those cyborgs? Not in this life!” shouted Rakory before going next to Radatrax.

“What are you doing?”

“Radatrax and I will be the ones to start a revolt against all of A.R.P.’s members. This includes you.”

“No freaking way!” said Hakyn while extending five Neonid wires from his right hand.

Rakory and Radatrax shielded themselves, causing another brutal explosion as the Neonid collided. This time, they both disappeared without a trace.

Hakyn kneeled, being disappointed that he couldn’t catch them while he had the chance. He looked behind him, seeing that Mylo was trying to fix Smoke’s damage to no avail. The gray robot was unable to move his limbs. He could only move his head to look around at everyone. Trying to speak, he realized that he could make no sounds, even though his yellow eyes went bright yellow like they usually did when he would use his voice.

“Smoke! Why did you do that? Why did you push me away? You idiot!” sniveled Mylo.

Smoke Barrel grimaced at him and then slowly laid his head on the right side, as his yellow eyes lost their light and became dark and glassy, just like the hemisphere on his biocard.

“Hey! Get back here! You can’t just shut down like that!” shouted the white armored robot.

“Mylo, he’s dead.” Said Hakyn after putting his left hand on Mylo’s right shoulder.

“He can’t be dead! He’s not a living thing like you humans. That’s impossible.”

“His biocard is inactive. The Neonid turned into gas…” explained Hakyn sadly.

“He can’t be dead! He’s a machine!”

“I’m sorry Mylo. Machines are not immortal.”

Mylo began to wail, trying to find a way to open Smoke’s chest plate to put the biocard back. It was all in vain, as Radatrax distorted the material in order to reach the other side of the victim’s thorax, leaving the biocard and the six wires to stick out of the armor without any incision being visible. The repair drone declared himself defeated, unable to fix his friend on time to save his memory.

On Earth, through the streets of Rotor City, the three robots working for Void were trying to pass unobserved. A difficult task, considering that they had to let Top walk on his own. The blind robot kept launching Neonid connectors with his right hand, making them cover the ground in front of him so that he would get a virtual image of the surroundings.

“If you keep doing this, you’ll catch the attention of the police drones!” whispered Hector.

“They won’t be able to do anything if I shield you with this substance.” Said Top.

“What if they throw a magnet at you?” asked Garfunk.

“They’re too stupid to do that.” The blind robot responded.

“Speaking of which…” said Hector while pointing at a red blinking dot that appeared on the road in front of them.

Top kept walking away, while the two robots remained still. Two more red dots appeared.

“Uh oh…” said Garfunk anxiously.

Six more red dots appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the three robots. Some of them went on the targets while others were just to limit their movement. Once they made sure that they’ve targeted correctly, the police drones made themselves visible. Some appeared on the buildings, others behind poles and some were on the road.

“What’s going on?” asked Top.

“It’s A.R.P.’s forces. They’re here!” shouted Garfunk.

From above the tallest building’s sharp tip, Roamer 8 was watching them curiously.

Top created an energy barrier that looked as if fire came out of the ground. The tips of the flames were moving around so fast that the police robots couldn’t even target any of the Void members.

“You guys run to Gruzifor! I’ll keep these guys busy!” shouted Top while making way through the drones using extensions of the shield.

The whole street on his right side got covered in red flames, making a tunnel for the other two robots to pass through. Once he made sure that his comrades were out of sight, he stopped using the shield and lost contact with the surroundings. The map of the street faded away from his memory. Darkness was all he could see.

“Surrender, Void associate!” shouted a sergeant drone that was standing near a pole.

Top looked towards the place where the drone was, even if he didn’t see it, and shouted back:

“I can’t see you. Let’s make it even.”

He suddenly faded out of sight. The sergeant drone was astounded to see that their own technology got turned against them. The Void robot shouted again:

“Now you can’t see me either.”

Red dots were blinking all around, as the police robots were trying to spot differences in the air. Metallic noises could be heard from Top’s footsteps, as he ran towards a building, concealed.

“You’ve got such advanced vision, but your auditory skills fail!” he said as he jumped at the sergeant drone and landed on its back.

The police robot opened the wings on its back and propelled itself off the ground, trying to target Top, but he was nowhere to be seen. More of the drones which were on the street got kicked by the invisible robot. They were all confused, as the Void robot kept hitting them out of nowhere and not leaving any traces at all, not even shadows.

The Roamer said to himself:

“This robot’s going to get killed…”

Top kept jumping over the backs of the police drones, singing:

“Look at me! No, can’t see!”

The sergeant drone took out a magnet collar and prepared for the moment when Top would attack. As soon as the hand of the invisible robot hit it, the A.R.P. drone threw the device at him. The collar got caught on his right arm and stopped him in his tracks. After making sure he was disabled, the drones moved the collar to his neck. The robot started to struggle on the ground, unable to speak.

The glass armored Roamer just watched as the red and black drones carried Top away.

“I would have helped you, if only you hadn’t joined Void.” He said before flying off the building.

At the South Pole, the Gruzifor team’s members were gathered in front of the hospital, waiting to hear news about their goalkeeper’s health. It was morning for them, but it seemed like a permanent twilight, due to the movement of the continent during the Great Flood.

They were all anxious, some of them wondering if they would ever see their teammate again. Juan kept assuring them that everything will be alright.

The sound of the automatic doors made everyone lift their heads up. The one who came out of the hospital building was Samsir, now apparently perfectly healthy. They gathered around him, asking:

“Are you ok?”

“What did the doctor say?”

“How did the surgery go?”

Samsir answered:

“Yeah, I’m fine. Please excuse me, I need to have a word with the captain.”

He made a sign to Juan, asking him to come along on the pathway paved with orange bricks in front of the hospital.

While walking next to him, the kid with the dreadlocks asked:

“How did it go? Are you feeling better?”

“Juan, I think I’m in big trouble now. They found out about the Neonid.” Said Samsir, worried about what happened while he was in the hospital.

“Trouble? Don’t worry, bro. I’m the guider around here. Well… not officially yet, they still have to get my documents ready, but since I’m the only one who manages this continent…” said Juan.

“So they won’t rat on me?”

“I’ll tell them to keep quiet. Hang on a second.”

Juan took his phone out of his blue jacket’s pocket and wrote a text message, sending it to the hospital’s manager.

“There, I told them to keep it confidential. But what happened? What did they say?”

“Well, after the surgery ended, this surgeon guy looked at me and said that the substance that I carry is very toxic, and that it poses a hazard to people and machines alike. Not only that, but he said that it’s starting to desaturate. Currently it’s at phase 3. They estimate that it will drop to phase 2 in about a week, and to phase 1 in about… one week and a half from now.” Explained Samsir.

“And what does that mean?” asked Juan confused.

“Phase 1 Neonid is so negative that it would consume any energy available. This includes… my energy.”

“Oh man, that’s messed up!”

“But there’s got to be a way to avoid that. I’m pretty sure this substance can be maintained above phase 1, with the help of a higher phase.”

“Sam… Last time I’ve heard about those substances, I found out that there are nine types of Neonid. The closer two types are to each other, the faster the higher phase one gets consumed. This means that, to stop a phase 2 from desaturation, you will need a phase 9 substance.”

“Where will I get that? There hasn’t been any phase 9 Neonid around the islands for ages! I’m a dead man!” whined Samsir while putting his hands on the sides of his head.

“Samsir! Get a hold of yourself!” Juan snapped at him.

The 20 year old man seemed so childish to his friend who was only 18, with a much more optimistic view of life than him. Juan couldn’t stand people that whine out of anything, even something as serious as this. Nevertheless he always helped people get over their problems, and he wasn’t going to make an exception now.

“Look, Sam. Sometimes, life is like this. It grabs you and throws you to the ground. But there’s always the option to get back up. It’s not impossible to create another phase 9, we just need to do some research and I’m sure that your problem will be solved once we obtain it.”

Samsir wiped his tears away using his right hand’s sleeve. Then he said:

“You’re right. While I was on the field, I could get back up and strike Fibs’ team back. Maybe I should pay to life what I owe it.”

“Uh… What?” asked Juan puzzled.

“I mean, I should do something about this.”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, I’ll help.”

As they walked, they saw the spiky haired kid that kicked Samsir during the match. Juan whispered to Samsir:

“Isn’t that the guy that fouled you?”

“Alexander? Yeah, that’s him. Wait here.”

After saying that, Samsir went straight to the kid that was a bit shorter than him and looked him in the eyes. Alexander said with fear:

“I’m sorry for that hit, Fibs made me do it… I’m sorry.”

The guy with the curly ponytail patted the younger one on the head and said, without any signs of anger at all:

“It’s alright, you little rascal. Try to play fair next time, ok?”

“I will. You must be pretty mad at me, huh?” asked Alexander.

“I’ve had worse times in my life. Why should I be mad just because of that?”

Alexander was wondering how the man that he attacked could forgive him, just like that. He then said:

“You could have died because of that kick… and you’re not mad?”

“So what if I would die? My fiancée died too, and it’s not the end of the world. But I’m still alive, so you can stop worrying.”

“I have to go home now. And again, my apologies for that hit.” Said Alexander before going away.

“Take care, kid.” Samsir said, as he waved.

He smiled and went back to where Juan was staying on the pathway.

“I thought you were going to beat that guy up.” Said Juan.

“Nah, not my style.” Replied Samsir.

As they walked further into a park of fir trees, they’ve started to talk about the islands. The two friends stopped in front of a lake and sat down on the grass, watching the waves distort the mirrored image of the sky.

“So, why didn’t you join the army?” asked Juan.

“After what I’ve been through, I don’t even want to hear about it. And I would never carry a gun. I hate guns!”

“But, without a gun, you can’t defend yourself. I became a weaponry expert to defend the people here. And guns are not that bad. Take a look at this.”

Juan pulled a double barrel handgun out of the pocket of his jacket. He continued to explain:

“In the right hands, guns can help. In the wrong hands, guns can cause havoc.”

Samsir hit the gun with the back of his hand and said:

“Put that thing away. It reminds me of the day A.R.P. took away the first people that I held dear: my parents.”

As he stared at the lake’s wavy surface, memories of the turmoil from his childhood started coming back.

In his flashback, he saw his house’s living room. The lights went out. From outside the house, sounds of shots and explosions could be heard, accompanied by the sound of a siren. The windows have been pierced by red blasts which scattered sparks everywhere once they collided with the walls, where they left burned marks.

He could barely see his parents’ faces, but he could remember his mother with long black hair and his father with short, but curly dark brown hair just like his own. He also remembered himself as the two year old child with curly brighter brown hair that was just below ear level, dressed in a blue shortall with a bird design on the center of his chest.

His parents ran in front of him as soon as the door to the exit of the house started shaking. Someone was trying to break in by kicking it violently. The parents were worried. His mother started to cry, shouting something that he could not even remember.

The door got knocked down and two cyborgs with black armor and red glowing eyes entered, carrying with them some strange, robust shotguns with scarlet light coming from their tips. The parents were shouting desperately, while the cyborgs pointed the weapons at them.

As a kid, Samsir saw his parents get shot in front of him by the cold hearted A.R.P. members. One of the two murderers took a closer look at him, laughed and then hit him with the back of his gun. The two cyborgs left him in the house to cry alone, considering that he was no threat. That’s when he, the orphaned toddler, learned the meaning of death, and the danger of guns.

“From then, to the present day, a hatred for guns still burns inside me. I will do my best to put a stop to their wars, without the use of guns. I’ve got something better than a gun, something that I always thought of as a curse.” Said Samsir, before looking at the blue sky with white clouds.

Juan put the gun back in his pocket and said:

“It would be great if you could do that. It would mean a whole lot of lives would be spared.”

They continued to daydream about a better world, not noticing that above the park, an A.R.P. spying unit was recording images through its three lenses.

Kloyd was watching the screen from his headquarters, grinning.

“So this is Juan, the guy who’s responsible for the South Pole security. He didn’t expect us to get past the storms, just like I didn’t expect Bohr to invent a sub-zero resistant glider.” He said.

“I’m a genius, sir.” Bohr praised himself.

Darienne rolled her artificial eyes after hearing that.

“If we attack them from the other end of the continent, they won’t stand a chance. There’s only a sandy beach in that area, no forests, no nothing. They can’t hide, so it will go perfectly. And then we can take over their land by expanding the artificial ground from the sea. They’ll never know what hit them! Heheh.” The cyborg leader explained his plans of conquest.

Their satellite started flying over the entire continent, scanning everything and creating a geographical map. Because the machine was blue, it blended so well with the sky that nobody observed it. A surprise attack was inevitable...

XIX. COMPETITION

2010-07-09T17:25:00.000-07:00

The Alpine Plateau was the highest formation from the urban area of South Pole. It looked like a mountain, but its top was crushed in, giving it the look of a volcano with an extended circular opening. It was covered with snow on the outside, but on the inside, it contained a whole different sight…

A football stadium was built inside the strange mountain, with everything, from a real grass field with goalposts, to the tribunes where all the Gruziforians and a few Zinkaazans gathered to watch that night’s match. The atmosphere was heating up, as the two teams expected to play that night were long time rivals. The players were making final plans before meeting the opposing team on the field.

The Zinkaaza team’s captain, nicknamed Fibs, was preparing his players with as little effort as possible. The reason behind his lack of care was stated, probably before every match they had with the Gruzifor team. Fibs was a tall 18 year old man with a white tuque which had a blue stripe circulating around it on his head. He had short blond hair coming from under the tuque and his eyes were hazel. His team’s uniform was a dark blue color and he had a yellow number 9 on his back. He began his speech:

“Since we’re up against the Gruziforians, we don’t need to worry much about them. Those losers always get their asses kicked. In fact, if it weren’t for Juan, they wouldn’t even score that 1-2 last time we beat them. Their best was a mere 1-1 tie, and the match that amused me the most was when we beat them with a 2-0 due to their goalkeeper being a total wimp, getting hit by the ball in the head or crashing into the goalpost and ending up hospitalized for a week. Ha, ha, ha, ha!”

The entire Zinkaaza team was laughing with him. Fibs barely managed to stop laughing before speaking again.

“The plan is like this: we play the game, and they fail as usual. I’ll stand as near as possible to their gate so I can kick the ball and humiliate their goalie; you guys just pass the ball to me. Got that?”

“Got it, captain!” they all shouted in unison.

In the Gruzifor team, changes were being made. Juan was wearing a yellow uniform with the number 9 painted red. He was the captain. Next to him, Jim had the same uniform, but with an 8 on the back, while Samsir had a dark brown uniform with a yellow number 1 on his chest.

“Ok, guys. So, Jimmy here will be our new inside forward, and Samsir will be our new goalkeeper. Jim, your job is to make space in the opposition’s defense. You may help with passes too. I will be the centre forward, this means I’ll be delivering the main attacks. And Sam, you will have to guard the goalpost. Let no ball pass you, jump after the ball, kick it away, catch it with your hands, you can do anything, as long as you stay in your penalty area. If you plan on taking the ball away on your own, you’ll have to use your feet once you get out of your zone. You may pass the ball or score a goal on your own as well, but that’s not recommended, as we’ll need you to defend our side most of the time.” Explained Juan.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. As soon as I see the ball, it’s mine.” Said Samsir, very confident.

“Uhh… How do I do that, man?” asked Jim confused.

“You just need to take the ball away and pass it to me, ok? You may pass it to the other inside forward if I won’t be around, but I will almost always be there.”

“Got it, Juan.” Said Jim.

Juan seemed worried though. He told his two friends about the former matches:

“The Zinkaaza team started to beat us at almost every match ever since our best defenders retired. They have been treating us like trash ever since their chain of victories started. I did my best, but at most I could just tie a 1-1. Do your best as well guys. Here we go!”

After entering the field, they tossed the coin to see who gets what side. The coin fell on heads, leaving the Zinkaazans with the right side and allowing the Gruziforians the kick-off start. Juan couldn’t be happier. They all took their places. The captain of Gruzifor team went to the center of the circle while Jim and another player were sitting on the line of the circle, waiting for the whistle.

Once the start was given, Juan kicked the ball to the other player. Jim started running towards the opponents’ goalpost while the player with the ball passed it to him. He tried to kick the ball towards the goal, but he was cut off by Fibs, who stole the ball.

“Again, Gruziforians got some fragile dork on their side. I feel sorry for Juan, having to put up with these guys, but I also find it amusing, because it is he who chooses these wimps.” Shouted Fibs while running away with the ball.

“Zip it, Fibonacci!” said Juan as he easily swept the ball away from the Zinkaazan captain.

Just as the yellow side’s captain was about to score a goal, one of the enemy team’s members jumped in and kicked the ball away before falling on the grass.

“Oh shoot.” Said the Gruziforian captain as he turned back to get the ball again.

Fibs was trying to get the ball from his team member, but Jim and another player from team Gruzifor were trying their best to stop the passing from taking place. As the ball was getting closer to the left side’s goalpost, Samsir was holding his arms extended to the sides, waiting for the right moment. Jim finally managed to kick the ball away and pass it towards Juan, but the ball went out of the field.

“I think it’s all down hill from here.” Said the captain with the dreadlocks.

One of the Zinkaazans went to get the ball, gaining the advantage of putting the ball exactly where they wanted it. He threw the ball with his hands and it reached Fibs, who immediately took it and rushed towards the left goalpost. Nobody could stop the agile captain from reaching his target. Or so he thought…

He saw in front of him the goalkeeper, the man with barely noticeable moustache, short beard on his chin, and dark brown curly hair, tied in a ponytail. Fibs laughed and asked as he was nearing the goal:

“So this is the new goalie? A guy with hair so long that he has to tie it up, making him look like a girl, what a joke! Hey Juan, where did you find this guy? The sewer? Ha, ha, ha!”

Samsir didn’t seem too enthusiastic about that remark, judging by the serious expression on his face, but he just took it in and held his position. Fibonacci tried to confuse the keeper by heading with the ball in one direction and then quickly changing to another. By doing this, he missed the chance to kick it right into the net, so he just went towards the goalpost’s left side, where it was not guarded.

The Zinkaazans were about to score a goal, until…

“What?!” shouted Fibs as he saw a foot kick the ball away from him.

It was because Samsir anticipated the trick that the other guy was trying to pull. He got the ball a few steps away from Fibonacci and picked it up with his hands. Smiling, he said:

“You’re on my turf now.”

The goalkeeper put the ball on the grass, took a few steps back and then ran forward, kicking it away from the goalpost. Fibs and his team were all fuming mad.

To the Zinkaazans’ disappointment, the ball bounced until it reached Jim, giving him the chance to pass it to Juan again. The Gruziforian captain hurried to reach the goal, but the defenders of Fibs’ team were playing pretty serious as well. Two of them tried to take the football away, but Jim managed to take it back, until Juan reached the goalpost and made a sign with his right hand.

“Pass it, Jimmy!” he shouted.

“Alright, do it!” Jim said, as he kicked the ball.

The kid with the dreadlocks saw exactly how Fibs tried to trick Samsir into leaving a side of the goalpost unprotected, so he decided to try it on the Zinkaaza goalkeeper, a guy wearing a black cap and a light blue uniform with the yellow number 1 on his front. Unlike the Gruzifor one, this guy didn’t move from his position. Juan smirked, as he calculated every possible event, and this was not at all unexpected. He kept going to the left side, until the keeper jumped to get the ball. Just before his hands could touch the football, Juan kicked it into the right side of the goalpost, scoring a 1-0 for Gruzifor team.

At that moment, Fibonacci got so mad that he shouted:

“How dare you copy my skills and use them against me?”

The Gruzifor team’s captain replied:

“I didn’t completely copy it. I saw your flaws and corrected them, thus avoiding your fail.”

“Damn you! It aint over yet! You always do your best to get the goals for your team, but your team is a huge fail! They will pull you back again, as usual. So I’m not worried.”

“You’re not worried. Sure you’re not… I guess your team isn’t worried either, huh?” asked Juan while pointing at the Zinkaazans, who were kicking the grass or trampling it in anger.

Fibonacci gave a piercing stare at the Gruziforian captain. He then turned to his team and shouted:

“Everyone get ready, we still have enough time to mop the floor with these guys. And it WILL happen, as always.”

The Gruziforians are given the kick-off right once more. This time Jim kicked the ball to another teammate. After a few passes, the ball reached Juan once again. The Zinkaazans tried to take the ball away from him, but they all missed. The captain was so close to another goal, but the goalkeeper of the opposing team jumped and caught the ball in time. After he threw the ball back on the field, Fibs was quick enough to kick it away from the rest of the Gruziforians and head towards the left side. One of the defenders managed to take away the ball and pass it to an inside forward of Juan’s team. A Zinkaazan took the ball away from him, passing it to Fibonacci again. Before he could reach the middle of the field, Fibs was cut off by Jim, who took the ball away and avoided the defensive by passing it between Juan and himself. Once in front of the right side goalpost, Jim saw a vulnerable spot and kicked the football when the goalkeeper least expected it.

Another goal was scored for the Gruzifor team, now leading with a 2-0. The Zinkaazans started to complain, one of them even shouting:

“Hey! What’s up with these guys? What are they taking?”

Juan laughed and said to his teammates:

“I think they’re suspecting us of doping. What idiots.”

“What does doping mean?” asked Jim confused.

“Well… taking some junk that enhances performance of players. But it’s impossible, the materials for making any kind of such substances are long gone ever since the great flood.” Explained the captain of the Gruziforians.

The whistle was blown, announcing the half-time. The teams took a 15 minute break. They drank some water and then consulted each other about a new game plan.

In the room where the Zinkaazans were staying, everyone was agitated and furious. Fibs was the grumpiest of them all. He shouted at them:

“You guys call that a game? What the hell is wrong with you? They’ve added two newbies to their team and suddenly they get two goals, one after the other!”

“Captain, you got owned by a goalie…” said one of the team members that had a blond pompadour haircut.

“I was tricked, now shut up, you fuzz brain!”

“Yeah, like… whatever.” Murmured the same player.

“We need to play more serious. More attack, we’ve been too much on defensive!” shouted the captain.

“Fibs, we’ve actually been on attack all this time.” Remarked another Zinkaazan.

“You guys call that an offensive?”

“Uhh… yeah, and so do other football players.”

“Just shut up. I know what I’m doing.” Said the overconfident Fibonacci.

In the Gruziforians’ room, things were going quite calmly. A total opposite of the Zinkaaza team’s state. Juan was talking to his mates:

“Congratulations guys! We’re in the lead! Sam, you were great with guarding the goal. And Jimmy, I never thought you could see so well through those dark glasses. That was an amazing goal you delivered.”

“So… do we keep it up like this?” asked Jim.

“Yeah, you’re doing great. We have the perfect balance between offensive and defensive. They’re just going into an all-out attack, which leaves them vulnerable.”

“I think we just have to watch out for that Fibs guy. The rest of his team members don’t seem to be taking this game seriously.” Remarked Samsir.

“That guy’s their best player. But his skills seem to have atrophied. Maybe it’s because we didn’t play so well lately, making him take it easy on us.” Explained Juan.

“Personally, I think some duct tape is all he needs.” Said Samsir calmly while keeping his hands crossed at his chest.

“Yeah, he trash-talks a lot. It’s his way of intimidating the opposition.” The captain stated.

“The break is almost over, Juan. We have to get ready for the next round.” One of his teammates announced.

“Ok. We’re ready for them!” said Juan.

The two teams went out on the field again, this time changing their places. The Gruziforians took the right side and the Zinkaazans took the left one. It was Fibonacci’s turn to start the game with a kick-off. He passed the ball to one of his members and then started to advance towards the gate. They began kicking it from one to the other, until Juan tried to catch the football. Fibs quickly kicked the ball to his inside forward, who bounced it back to him as soon as Jim got near it.

The Zinkaazan captain was nearing the gate. Keeping in mind his last mistake, he decided to dash from left to right instead of up and down, making all the defenders scatter from their places and the goalkeeper to get confused. When he was sure that there was an unguarded spot in the goalpost, Fibonacci rushed with the ball in that direction. As he was getting closer, he shouted:

“Go back into the hole you crawled out of, you stinking rat!”

Samsir was morally hurt by those words, but he decided not to let his frustration show more than it already did in the serious expression on his face. He saw Fibs kick the ball towards the right side of the post and prepared for anything. The enemy sent the ball towards the center, despite the previous position. It wasn’t enough to trick Samsir though. He quickly jumped over the ball, stopping it from reaching the goal.

The young man got up from the ground, holding the ball in his hands and looking sharply at Fibonacci. He said as calmly as before:

“I think you can receive a red card for that kind of language. But it seems like the referee didn’t hear you.”

Fibs retreated to the left side, mumbling curses as he walked.

Before Samsir could throw the ball back, Fibonacci and two members of his team were talking about changing their strategy.

“As soon as the ball is in play, anyone who gets the ball passes it to me. Then I will bring the ball near the goalpost, but I won’t score. I will pass it to Alex and he will pretend to go for the goal. Now, the following trick is going to require some sacrifice…”

Just as the Zinkaazans were listening to the plan, Samsir threw the ball using his hands, trying his best to pass it to Juan. The pass was successful, as Juan finally caught it and hit it with his chest, bouncing it to Jim.

“Nice! Now help me bounce it all the way to the goal, Jim!”

Fibs was rushing to get it, but it seemed too hard to even touch the ball.

“Every time they get it to our goalpost, we get the ball. And when we get the ball… you know what follows.” Said Juan.

Jim did his best to take the ball each time a defender tried to steal it, always kicking towards the captain after they have passed each of the opposing players. The Zinkaazan goalkeeper prepared to jump at the ball, but he miscalculated the jump, because Juan kicked it a bit higher, scoring another goal.

The panel displayed the score 3-0 for Gruzifor team.

“Damn these guys! That’s it! We’re taking this game to a whole new level! Direct offensive!” shouted Fibs angrily.

“I’m ready, captain!” said Alexander, a kid with black, short and spiky hair.

Juan performed the kick-off, sending the ball to Jim, who sent it to another attacker of their team. The Zinkaazans started to gather around the ball, each of them trying their best to take it away. It finally reached Juan again, who tried to get another goal. Once he kicked it, the goalkeeper of Zinkaaza caught it and got up, showing the ball to his teammates. Fibs made a sign that he’s expecting the ball to be thrown at him. The keeper calculated the trajectory well enough, sending the football right at the captain’s feet.

“Now, Alex!” shouted Fibs.

Alexander rushed next to him, receiving the pass. They tried Jim and Juan’s ball passing tricks, avoiding most of the Gruziforians’ defensive and reaching the goalpost in no time. The Zinkaazan captain kicked the ball towards his teammate, who was about to complete the plan.

Samsir prepared to defend his goal, keeping his eyes on Alexander, who was coming towards his left. The attacker pretended to go for the goal, but it all seemed too easy to fend off. The goalkeeper jumped and successfully caught the ball, but Alexander didn’t stop running. Samsir held on to the ball, but before he could try to get up, the enemy player kicked him on the right side, just under the ribs.

The young man collapsed on the grass field, letting the ball slip away and roll back on the playfield. A whistle echoed through the stadium.

“Foul!” shouted the referee while holding a red card.

Alexander went near the referee shouting:

“I didn’t intend to do it! I was trying to kick the ball!”

“I saw everything. You kept going, even after the ball was caught. Red card.” Stated the referee.

“Honestly, I didn’t mean to…”

“You’re out!”

With number 8 being sent out, the Zinkaazans had just ten players on the field. In the right side of the field, the whole Gruzifor team gathered around their goal keeper, all concerned about his condition. Samsir was lying on the grass, curled in a c-shape while holding his right side with his left arm. The way he kept his eyes tightly closed and his teeth gritted showed that he was experiencing a lot of pain.

Juan came near, to talk to him.

“Sam! Are you still conscious? What did that hooligan do to you?”

“Alexander kicked our goalie!” shouted one of the guys from the team.

“Oh, man… He can’t even talk. Quick, call the doctor!” shouted Juan.

As he was looking towards his other team mates, an arm grabbed him by his left sleeve. He turned his head to see whose it was. Samsir was trying to say something, barely catching his breath:

“Let… let me… continue.”

“You can’t buddy. You’re probably injured.” Said Juan saddened.

“I’m fine! I just… got hit. It’s nothing serious.” Samsir barely spoke.

“Lie down, Sam. The doctors will be here soon enough.”

“N-no! I can… I can get… I can stand up on my own.” Said the goal keeper, trying to get back on his feet.

He barely succeeded, still holding his right side of the chest with his left hand. Then he said to Juan:

“See? I’m still able to stand up.”

“Are you sure about this? Do you really want to continue?” asked the captain.

“Well, yeah. Let’s just say that I have some unfinished business to take care of.” Answered Samsir.

The audience was in awe, as the goalkeeper started to walk back to his post, after such a hard hit. He placed the ball in front of the goalpost and then looked ahead of him. Everyone was standing back, waiting for him to throw the ball back into play. The game was almost over, as there were only two minutes left.

“Trying to get rid of the goalie, huh?” he asked, without anyone hearing his words.

He took a few steps towards the ball and kicked it on the play field. Once Jim got the ball, Samsir asked him to pass it back. His friend did as requested, allowing the goal keeper to play normally on the field and go for the enemy’s goal. Fibs remained astounded, with his jaw dropped.

“This guy was supposed to be knocked out and hospitalized after that hit! How come he’s playing the ball, just like nothing happened?” asked the captain of Zinkaaza.

Samsir dashed through the opponents, getting away with the ball still in front of his feet. Jim and Juan went alongside him in order to provide support in case he needed it. Fibs tried to kick the ball away, but the goalkeeper simply changed trajectory, letting the opponent to slide away on the grass. The Zinkaazans could not stop him from passing through and reaching the 18-yard box. Once in front of the other goalkeeper, Samsir changed course, heading to the right side of the goalpost. Once the keeper moved to the same side, the Gruziforian goalkeeper kicked the football into the left side of the net, scoring one of the most difficult goals, just before the time was over.

This ended the game with a 4-0 for the Gruzifor team, leaving the Zinkaazans humiliated by their archenemy.

“I can’t believe we got owned by a goalie…” whined Fibonacci.

“Well, looks like their goalie’s going down.” Said one of the Zinkaaza members while pointing at the middle of the field.

Samsir was slowly losing his strength, kneeling in an attempt to make his fall lighter. He curled up again, holding his right ribs with his left hand. His team rushed to his aid. Jim put his right hand behind Samsir’s back, trying to lift him off the ground. Juan asked:

“Sam, can you hear me? I thought you said you were going to be fine!”

“I… I… can’t… t… t…”

The goal keeper couldn’t even speak, the pain being too strong to allow him to do anything but curl even more.

“Medics! Medics! We need a doctor!” shouted Juan desperately.

Jim shouted at Samsir:

“Stay with us, pal! We’re here for you!”

All the other players were watching, some of them crying, some cheering in hopes that their goalkeeper would hold on until the medics arrived.

Fibs, finally swallowing his pride, told his teammates:

“I haven’t seen such a tough match ever since the old players left Gruzifor team. And I have never seen such a determined person, to guard his side by all means, to continue playing, even after sustaining such an injury… I’d better tell them now what I have to say, while they still have a goalie.”

He went near the guys that gathered around Samsir and said:

“You know, I hate to admit it… but I was wrong about you. Not only that you saved every single goal we tried to pull off, but you also took the responsibility of delivering a goal. You’re a great goalie. I’m sorry for everything I’ve said before about you.”

Samsir heard his words and managed to lift his right hand and give a thumb up, while barely keeping his grayish-blue eyes opened.

“Take care.” Said Fibonacci before taking his leave.

The goalkeeper was still struggling to keep his consciousness, in spite of the pain. The medics arrived and ordered everyone to stand back as they began scanning the patient with a portable CT scanner. In a few seconds, the images of Samsir’s entire body appeared on the screen. They had some trouble with identifying the internal organs due to the Neonid inside the patient’s body interfering with the x-rays. In the end they finally found the problem and announced the captain:

“He has suffered a hit that could have caused instant death. Fortunately, his liver wasn’t damaged too much. It can be fixed in a few hours; we’ll just have to use energy surgery on him. He will be taken to the emergency room.”

There was not a dry eye in the team. They were all afraid of losing the best goalkeeper they ever had.

“Let’s go to the waiting room, guys. All we can do is hope that he makes it.” Said Juan as he wiped away his tears.

As the Gruziforians left the field, the spectators gave one last round of applause in honor of the team and their goalkeeper.

The night had covered the entire Ascendus continent. Things in Sea-Port City were starting to heat up once more, as a group of slider-vans stormed through the half-lighted streets. A slightly different vehicle came out of the shadows, displaying three neon arrows on the sides. The one nearest to the front was colored red, the second was colored white and the third one was colored blue. It was entirely black and glossy, with the front lights bluish white. Besides these differences, it was the same as any other slider.

Inside it, the driver was the former protest racer, known as Cartridge. He wasn’t wearing his favorite black glasses anymore, and he seemed way more serious than before. His hair started to gain a violet tint, signifying that the Neonid was spreading further into his cells. He grasped the steering wheel in his hands, looking left and right, waiting for a sign.

Driving further, he could hear sounds made by sliders, coming from all sides. He stopped the car at a crossroads, looking behind his left shoulder to see who was approaching. Two pairs of headlights shone in the dark, getting more and more powerful, the closer they got to Cartridge’s car. From the left road, two more vehicles appeared, while from the right, only one rushed in. Ahead of the teenager’s car, the Forkbomb that A.R.P. targeted had pulled the brakes.

A voice shouted at him:

“Who did you come for?”

Cartridge stated bluntly:

“I’m looking for Hilarion Medley, a rebellious racer driving a Forkbomb through the city, disturbing the public peace.”

Through the glass of the car’s top, Hilarion could be seen laughing aloud at those words. Cartridge easily recognized him, due to the two feathery crests on the sides of the top of the racer’s head.

“I’m not kidding. I’m here to arrest you.” Said the A.R.P. recruited teenager.

“Oh, is that so? Guys…” said Hilarion before pointing at Cartridge’s car.

The other five cars slid towards the ‘hunter’, encircling his vehicle by running around it, like a hungry pack of wolves.

“I could order them to smash your car right now. But since you were once a racer, I’ll give you a little more time to think it over. Either you leave now, or that hunk of metal will be blown to smithereens and you’ll be going with it.” Threatened the leading racer.

Cartridge was still there, making it clear that he was not going anywhere. The guy in the Forkbomb seemed to get a bit angry about it. The other racers kept driving in circles around the former racer.

“You’re all going down.” Said Cartridge as red dots of light started to blink on the ground.

“You brought some cops with you, eh? Well, you’re not going to catch us alive! And if you follow us, we’re going to compete against you. Do you know what that means?”

“I don’t care.”

“Well, you should. Because it means we’re going to follow the rules of the street. If you follow us, you can kiss goodbye to that car of yours. We’re going to scrap it!” Shouted Hilarion before starting the engine and turning around to run away.

The street racers dashed away, with the Landa drivers leaving dust behind, trying to make their trails harder to find. Cartridge, knowing all the streets and knowing most racing skills, kept following the group of rebels, firing EMPs at their cars, hoping to disable them. Unfortunately for him, Hilarion kept donating energy to his team, using Neonid wires.

“That orange substance… It’s phase seven Neonid!” uttered Cartridge amazed.

“Are you admiring my car’s swallow tail?” asked the rebel driver as he took a right turn.

“I’ll get ya…”

“Not a chance. Rammers, do your stuff, guys!”

On Hilarion’s order, two Rootkit vehicles started to hit Cartridge’s slider. He could barely keep it straight, as the hits kept damaging his car. One of the Rootkits kept going for the swallow tail, almost damaging it. After the dust cleared away, he could see the Forkbomb in front of the formation, leading the way. After shifting his focus, he realized that the boss of the racers wasn’t slowing down at the sight of a building. It seemed like an imminent accident was going to happen, but Hilarion easily made his vehicle go right up the building. The others followed him, while Cartridge remained astounded. He thought he should try it as well, but then he remembered he was on duty and that he would be killed if he didn’t do his job.

Taking a shortcut, the teenager finally managed to spot the hooligans and get on their trail once more. They went out of Sea-Port City and entered Glass City, going on the route which led to the park. Suddenly, all the racers went off-road, with the jets of their vehicles kicking up the dirt as they dashed away. Cartridge followed them all the way to Gruzifor, where some eroded mountains with a system of underground caves lied. They entered a cave and rushed through the darkness, their only lights coming from the headlamps and the neon bars on the sides of the vehicles. There were chambers with pools of water gathered under the ground, through which the sliders went, making splashes that made it difficult to navigate.

Once they got out of the caves, the moonlight lit the way for them. They drove through the plains of Gruzifor, until Cartridge forced them to make a turn towards Glass City once more, despite being rammed by the Rootkits from both sides. They passed over the fences next to the statue of an atom with the plate reading “KNOWLEDGE IS POWER”. Cartridge finally got rid of the Rootkits, at the cost of half of the swallow tail, which in turn meant loss of balance. He reached Hilarion’s Forkbomb vehicle and rammed it until it hit a building. Both cars ended up damaged, smoke coming out of their front side.

Hilarion got out of his car and said:

“Wow, both of our cars got totaled. Nobody managed this performance while racing against me. You’re lucky.”

“You’re under arrest.” Stated Cartridge while getting out of his car, holding a magnet collar.

“Do you think that collar will be enough? I don’t rely on this substance. If I want to, I can beat you myself.” Said the rebel while showing his knuckles, decorated with metallic spikes at the base of the fingers.

“What about my reinforcements?” asked the former racer.

Police drones revealed themselves out of nowhere. They all targeted him with their lasers, but he just laughed and said:

“Phase seven Neonid, you can’t hurt me with your phase eight one. Negative always renders positive useless.”

“You’re right. That’s why we were sent here as well.” Said a sergeant police drone which had a blue eye and blue joints.

Hilarion looked at the building in front of him. Three drones with blue Neonid took aim at him. His teammates were watching nearby, unable to do anything for their boss.

“Phase two Neonid…” he whispered in shock.

The blinking red dots disappeared, only to be replaced by three blue ones. All three gathered on his pitch black jacket and blinked in unison.

The teen realized how bad the situation was, took a few steps back, put his hands in the pockets of his pants and sighed, saying:

“Well… It seems that here we draw the finish line.”

As Cartridge watched in disappointment, the three drones took their shooting position. Hilarion bravely looked up at them, a burning hatred being noticeable in his orange eyes. In a few seconds, three clicks echoed on the street, followed by three beams of blue light reflecting off the buildings made of glass. In front of Cartridge, there was now the body of a young man, who was too brave for his own good.