Shadows Unchained

Aru Village; a sleepy little town in Earth's eastern region. Vespa had come here on a personal mission. She had been following a squirrel all day, taking note of its movements and how it carried on with its daily life. She wasn't sure why. The best feeling she could compare it to would be curiosity. Something about watching this tiny woodland creature hunt for food and tend to its little home in the trees filled the android with a sense of satisfaction. However, her day would soon take a turn for the worst. As she began following the creature through the village, she was met with a horrible sight; a beast of black tendrils that was attacking the village!

Vespa's auto-scouter inundated her vision and hearing with warning signs and sirens. This creature was extremely dangerous. Leaping into the fray and scooping up her woodland friend in her arms before he could get hurt, Vespa would set him free in the opposite direction of the monster. The weapon looked to the side, noticing someone who tripped her facial recognition system; it was the rockstar she met at the boardwalk! Without so much as a "how have you been," Vespa crossed her arms in front of her chest, loading the guns in her fingers with fresh ammunition. 

"This enemy is beyond your abilities alone, Chord. Allow me to assist." She aimed all ten of her fingers at the beast, her targeting systems locking on to the monster as a large red popup asked for confirmation for some kind of ability.

"Olympia mode, activate." Her heads up display counted down the removal of each and every one of Vespa's power limiters as the thermostat that measured her internal temperature began to skyrocket. A red glow formed beneath the white gown that she wore, indicating an incredible amount of heat radiating off of the android. It wasn't long before the red glow became more intense, catching the fabric aflame and burning it to ash. At this point, no one could deny that Vespa was an android; her clearly mechanical features were on full display without the gown to hide them.

"Engaging target." Despite the large difference in power, Vespa leaped to the side, aiming a volley of automatic gunfire at the beast.

---

TWC: 379


Power Level: 120,000 (Olympia Mode)


Hit Points
▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ 250%

Ki Points
▰▰▰▰▰▰ 5 / 6 (-1)

Momentum Points
▰▰▰▰▰▰ 2 / 6 (+2)

Resources
Sparking (1 / 1)
Overdrive
Locked and Loaded (1/1)
Endless Energy Core (1/1)
Raw Talent (2/2)
Self-Sacrifice

Items
None


ACTIONS
Vespa uses her Artemis Barrage! (24,000 PL)

Chord was fully prepared to have to take whatever this thing was on their own. They'd sensed the energy readings from inside that house slowly fade away earlier, and by the time they had arrived on the scene, they had been completely snuffed away. If they didn't do anything, surely the rest of the village would've gone that way. Once Flax's attention had been caught by the rather insignificant bolt of lightning that had been hurled her way, they'd take their position, holding their guitar tightly as their energy soared.

It was an impressive display, if they weren't stlll like an ant underneath a tap dancing elephant. Still, to their relief, the sounds of the building's crumbling as well as their own loud guitar blaring had alerted enough people to the ruckus outside, and the ones with enough sense would begin to evacuate in a panic, bringing their families with them. Now, Chord just had to put up enough of a fight for them to put enough distance between themselves and this shadowy monster. Or, at least they assumed they would've had to fight this hopeless bout alone, until-




RATATATATA-

Chord hadn't thought they'd receive any help, much less from a familiar face! As the sounds of gunfire filled their ears, they'd realize they were dealing with Vespa, the Android they'd met on the beach! She made her entrance quite a dramatic one, wasting no time in attacking the obvious enemy, offering her assistance. Maybe thinking that they had any chance of winning now because there were two of them was a little silly, but it was definitely better odds than previously! "Vespa! Boy, am I glad to see you-- this thing just appeared outta thin air and started attackin'! If we don't put a stop to it here, it's gonna wreck this whole darn village!"

Probably a rather obvious debrief on Chord's part, but placing their partner on the same playing field as them didn't seem like a bad idea. Standing beside Vespa, they'd examine the damage she'd dealt to the monster, and seemed rather concerned as it mended just as quickly as it'd appeared on its form. In fact, it seemed like the most her efforts had done was angering the beast, as it'd charge through the air at blinding speeds- Chord's internal systems could barely keep up, clearly not made for an opponent this powerful, but they'd take off into the air nonetheless, dodging the violent whipping of one of its shadowy tendrils as the last second before impact, a rather large indent being left on the ground where they were just moments ago, but now that they were in the air, they peered over to Vespa... "Shoot- Vespa! Look out!"

It made sense to attack the biggest threat, of course, and Vespa was the one who actually managed to blow away bits of shadowy armor from Flax's form. It didn't take a supercomputer for a brain to understand what its vague intentions were for the blonde Android, but having one definitely helped Chord in formulating an idea to assist their partner in that moment. Guitar in both hands, a strong, forceful strum was all it took for the electric energy crackling around Chord to begin to coalesce, and with their hand placed on the frets applying a vibrato to the sound, it'd begin to lose cohesion, the energy forming into a large sphere that could barely be contained by the Android forming it!

Once the sound had begun to dissipate, the strained automaton would finally launch the large sphere of coalesced Ki in direction of the enemy with yet another powerful strum of their guitar, an unstable and sparking sphere of energy that launched out at alarming speeds and with strange imprecision, its takeoff marked by the decidedly shrieking noise that filled the surroundings, both from its sharp speeds and the electrical screaming of Chord's unique instrument. "Full... Power... Vibrato..!" They announced their attack. Because of course they did, what kind of self-respecting musician wouldn't?

The unstable sphere of energy seemed like it could almost miss the target completely if only it weren't so large, and Chord didn't have to worry much about collateral damage now that all that the destructive energy could incinerate besides the shadowy fiend was a bunch of emptied-out village homes... and Vespa, perhaps, but they were confident she wouldn't be in its blast range, or path of flight. Fingers crossed! "Get away from her, freak!"


Chord's entire body shook with electrifying energy, and not because of their Ki. It was things they weren't even sure were programmed into their circuitry. Fear, anxiety, determination. If they hadn't just seen their body act, they wouldn't think they had such a protective instinct within them!

---

Vespa landed on the ground after her rocket barrage landed a direct hit on her target. Her scanners were locked on to its energy even if Vespa couldn't actually see the creature in the rubble. She knew one thing, however; it was still alive. Their attack had made a dent, but it didn't appear to slow the monster down at all. It burst from where it had lain moments ago, lashing out at Chord and grabbing them around the neck. The monster hoisted the other android in the air, but Vespa had a problem of her own that she had to handle first. A tentacle lashed out at her, forming into the shape of a wicked blade. Based on its power and trajectory, it was aiming to bisect her at the waist. While Chord made a play in an attempt to divert the blade's angle.

It was no use, however. Even if Vespa managed to create a barrier to block it, she would still not be able to fight after such an attack. Vespa looked over to Chord with concern. Vespa's rocket boosters engaged, trying to fly her away safely from the attack. However, it was no use. For a moment, Vespa thought that she had made it. One she looked back, though, she noticed that her legs were now flying in the opposite direction of her. Vespa seemed to have no reaction to this other than confusion as the upper half of her body crashed into the ground.

"Oh... oh. Damage... critical." Her visual display was quickly being overtaken by sirens and warnings regarding her now-missing lower body. In seconds, it she would be forced into a special mode that would conserve her remaining energy reserves by shutting down all non-critical functions. She could feel herself slipping, wondering if this was how humans felt when they died. She looked to Chord, her face seemingly shifting to show a slight tinge of fear before she was forced to engage her power saving mode, the blue light that her eyes once shined with now fading into darkness. She wasn't dead, although she most certainly looked like it. However, she was in desperate need of repairs before she would function again.

---

TWC: 1014


Power Level: 120,000 (Olympia Mode)


Hit Points
▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ 0 (CRITICAL HIT!!!)

Ki Points
▰▰▰▰▰▰ 1 / 6

Momentum Points
▰▰▰▰▰▰ 0 / 6

Resources
Sparking (0/1)
Overdrive
Locked and Loaded (1/1)
Endless Energy Core (0/1)
Raw Talent (2/2)
Self-Sacrifice

Items
None


ACTIONS
Vespa takes the full damage of Flax's attack! (CRITICAL HIT)
Vespa is down, entering power saving mode to conserve energy. She's going to need repairs after this!

Chord's entire body was straining to pull Flax away, to divert the attack she was aiming at Vespa with, to make it so it missed the Android's internals by just an inch by some miraculous twist of fate. For something to happen that would make this situation less of a disaster than it already was. They closed their eyes, eyebrows furrowing as they strained with all of their might to make their strength amount of anything. It was what they were built for, even though they were ashamed of that fact. Fighting was all they were made for! But-

The Android would glance back. It was like reality was happening in slow motion as they'd watch Vespa's body separate from itself. Bottom and upper halves flew in an arc, and Chord's eyes just widened. They knew this fight was likely going to go this way the moment they flew in to 'save the day', but having it actually happen- that was another story. The Android hadn't ever been this much on the back foot, and it was like their circuitry wasn't programmed to understand what loss even was. Chord remained suspended in the air as Vespa's body crashed down, and their eyes met with hers. They saw her fear, and the sparks within their artificial bodies connected in that moment. They couldn't take their eyes off her, even as she'd power down. Even as Flax would let those shadowy tendrils feed upon her energy.

No, it was too much.

Finally snapping out of it, Chord diverted the direction they pushed towards, instead charging towards Flax with their full might! Chord was about to let their fist meet with the creature's shadowy form, before her tendril around their neck would tighten and constrict even further... Chord's eyes widened, sensors flooding their neural circuitry with warnings and damage readings, telling them to get ready for the incoming impact-- though the Android could do very little about it. The sheer force of Flax slamming them into the ground kicked up a massive cloud of dust, the impact being heard probably for miles around the three of them... though, once the dust settled, Flax could see a shimmering, teal barrier had formed around the Android.


They coughed and hacked, having suffered damage from the slam even if they'd formed a shield of energy around them. The crackling electric barrier would soon dissipate, seeming like an emergency defense rather than something that took conscious effort on Chord's part to activate. Still, it had kept them relatively functional despite its limited use... not that it seemed like that was for much. What could they do now? They were stuck in a hole on the ground, helpless against the tendril that wrapped itself around their body, and...

Images of Vespa's lifeless, sparking husk of a body came to them. They had so much to ask her- so much to do, still, but what could they do now? They couldn't save her, or themself... but maybe, just maybe, they'd managed to save a few innocent people from Flax's hunger. Maybe they just had to make their peace with that small good deed before they became the shadowy fiend's next meal.

Chord gritted their teeth, and closed their eyes.

---