Chapter 9 - The ultimate showdown
The Human
Oh, damn. That did not look good at all. The Cyborg ship had just smacked down right in the middle of the school, earning a large fireball as compensation for its sacrifice. After it was finished spiralling down in a cool but threatening kind of way, that's what it did. It landed, at high speed, at right about the place where Matthew and the other Slugs were waiting to ambush them. The crash made a loud-but-not-very-loud 'Boom' and sent a brief fireball up into the air. I didn't know what those ships were made of, because I'm pretty sure a real spaceship wouldn't make a fireball like that. But, in any case, this didn't bode well for us at all. Or Matt.
This is what I thought as we trudged our way back towards the school, again. And judging by the looks on Pauline and Rosetta's faces, they were thinking something quite similar. The worst part was, it would have been an awesome spectacle if it hadn't potentially killed most of my best friends.
"Matthew probably saw it coming and escaped", Pauline said hopefully. She was fidgeting with her hands and fingers. I didn't know she'd taken such a liking to the Slugs as I had. Well, the Slugs here at least. I had a feeling we wouldn't enjoy being in the company of 'normal' Slugs.
"Perhaps", Rosetta conceded. "But perhaps not." She didn't need to state what that meant for the rest of us. The ship had hit right near where Matt lay in wait, too much of a coincidence for my liking. His ripped-apart body was probably being cooked right now.
"Don't Slugs have some super defence mechanism against these kinds of things?" I asked the Slug.
She looked at me before responding, "Nothing can survive such a blast at such a range. We're not invincible."
That dragged a long silence along after it. Suddenly, in some sick effort to lighten our moods, Rosetta said, "Pauline, you said you wanted to know where Slugs' brains are?"
"Yes", she answered wearily. I didn't voice my opinion that she would only tell us if she were certain Matthew would never be able to. So that's that then.
"Well, Matthew told me... tells me that life on Earth tends to locate the brain in the organism's head. As such, you probably imagine our brains in our heads." She took a breath. "However, Slug brains do not have a fixed location. Essentially, thanks to the movement capabilities of our slime, our brains go wherever we shift them to. I can put my brain in my head, or in my chest, my stomach or anywhere. Keep in mind, of course, that Slugs do not have heads, chests or stomachs, I merely referred to the human location of those parts."
"Well that's just weird", Pauline commented, quite rightly.
"Where is your brain now?" I asked, momentarily distracted from the unthinkable.
"Right now it's in my chest area, however when not travelling I like to keep it in one of my legs. It makes it unpredictable."
"Wait, your brain is small enough to fit in your leg?" I couldn't believe it. Weren't they supposed to be hyper-advanced, super-intelligent or something? I was imagining Deep Thought sized brains in those bodies of theirs.
"Not if you imagine our brains as the same as yours. Our minds are not a... ball shape as a human one is. They are more... flat and rounded."
"Like a pancake?" I asked, astounded.
"Exactly. However, by manipulating the slime around it, we are able to shape our brains as we see fit. For instance, I could roll my brain into a ball, like yours, or I could roll it into a cone to fit down my leg. It allows us to shift our bodies without worrying too much about where we'll put our brains."
"I repeat, that is just plain weird", Pauline repeated. "I mean, could you Slugs be any more alien?"
"Perhaps", Rosetta replied, but didn't elaborate. As for me, it appeared that an alien from a different planet was a bit more different from humans than just having the skin of their forehead pinched together.
Soon after, we arrived at the school. Or, what hadn't been either demolished by an explosion or burnt to a crisp. The students were going to get quite a surprise come tomorrow's breakfast. No one spoke as we moved through the grounds, coming towards the point of impact - 'ground zero', as I now depressingly called it. Stray fires continued to burn in seemingly random areas. I still hadn't wrapped my head around the fact that Matthew, my best friend, was probably dead. Like when I just couldn't quite believe that he wasn't actually born here.
Ground zero was appropriate; ground was all that remained, and zero else. Oh, there were a few hunks of metal lying around, including two major smouldering ship carcass's (or was it carcasses?), but that was it. No dead Slugs, no dead Cyborgs, no bodies period. That allowed for either hope that they still lived, or despair that they were so dead not even their bodies lived to tell the tale.
Pauline chose hope. "They're not here. They could still be alive!"
Rosetta chose despair. "Unlikely. They couldn't have known what the Cyborgs planned."
I chose neither. "Come on, let's keep looking."
We came to the building that Matt was supposed to be hiding in. Well, there sure was a lot more hiding places now, thanks to all the rubble. It looked like a no-go for any survivors there. The same was true for the spot where Frank and William should have been lying in wait, in a building opposite the courtyard. More-or-less nothing remained. This didn't look good for us. Or, more specifically, for them.
"It's still possible that they all escaped", Pauline insisted. "Perhaps everyone ran as soon as they evaded the LOC blast."
Rosetta sighed - that was quite strange - and began with, "It is extremely -" before I intervened.
"I think it is possible. Rosetta, where would they go if they'd lived?" I eyed her severely, willing my eyes to say 'just fly with it'.
They did their job, and did it well. "They would convene somewhere outside the school, and discuss what to do next." She looked at me thoughtfully. "They may meet at your house."
"Home", I corrected her, "not house. And OK then, let's go there and wait." I internally groaned at having to make the hike back once again.
"And hope", Pauline added.
"And hope", I amended reluctantly. Did we have any other choice?
So that was the plan. Quite a good plan considering our circumstances, or so I thought. We were about to execute our plan too, our quite good plan, when all our plans changed due to our changed circumstances, which themselves changed when we changed our viewpoint by turning towards ground zero and seeing some not-quite-human figures standing nearby.
The Slug
'Boy!' I shouted happily as we saw him. He caught sight of us and ran over, pulling back his sleeves as he did.
The three of us did likewise, preparing to get into a four-way conference with him. This was a bit more complicated than the three-way one, and involved interlacing hands and arms in a square pattern. We basically had a whole host of formations for the most efficient meetings for each number of people. The much larger ones involved Slugs passing on information to members that was not meant for them, but that the sender couldn't send directly. Interesting stuff.
We got into our four-way formation and Boy went first, telling us everything that he knew, which, quite frankly, wasn't much. The rest avoided... polluting the... information stream... with their own thoughts, to allow Boy to give his message effectively and without distractions. Interesting stuff indeed.
Boy had fired off the LOC, obviously, and watched the ship crash smack-bang right in the middle of our operations. That is, the school. He also lost contact with Carmen's communicator, since it had been destroyed by the blast, and naturally assumed the worst. Because assuming the worst is a very natural thing to do. Naturally.
He'd hurried over, not knowing what had happened, worrying about the fate of all of us. Also naturally. Concerned that the Cyborgs perhaps controlled the school grounds, he'd then headed over to Ethan's home to look for them. He found no one.
No one. No one at Ethan's home, the place where both he, Pauline and their supposed guardian, Rosetta, should have been. I didn't know for sure where they could have gon
e, but I still knew. It was obvious; they'd gone back to the school, to watch the "awesome" fight that Ethan so desperately wanted to see. The desperation that had led him to his death. There was no longer any point to any of this anymore, now that he was dead; it was all for nothing. For nothing. All of it. Nothing!
'You don't know that. He might've lived', Carmen said out loud. It surprised me that she knew what I was thinking, before I realised - by reading her - what I was leaking into our connection; massive amounts of despair and lost hope. Better stop that; there, stopped.
'Perhaps', I replied simply, pulling a severe rein on my disillusionment of purpose. I sent a signal to Boy to continue.
After finding no one at Ethan's home - I'd further dwell on the implications of that later - he'd taken a roundabout route to the school, on the off-chance that the Cyborgs knew the way. He tried to communicate his suspicions regarding Ethan gently, but I refused to show my feelings, keeping them locked inside me. No sense giving anyone else a reason to kill themselves, regardless of any stupid Honour.
And so there he was, debating with himself whether or not to enter the school and conduct a search, when we found him. He'd seen no one, nothing, neither Slug nor Cyborg nor Human. Before we came into contact, he wasn't sure if even we were alive.
Jason recounted our version of the same story; our near escape from the Cyborg ship, our searching everywhere for survivors, our eventual finding of Boy. Carmen, not intentionally of course, and in a form only I could read, expressed surprise that I wasn't telling the story. Little did she know I wasn't in the mood for storytelling, or for anything, really.
And that left us all standing there, debating with ourselves what to do next. Boy still wanted to investigate the school; Carmen wanted to check the Slug ships to ensure that they hadn't been compromised, as we'd need them to leave; and Jason wanted to tend to Carmen's wounds. I wanted to sprint to Ethan's home and tear the entire tip apart looking for him, for anything, but this wasn't a viable alternative. Eventually, I sighed, 'Let's just head to Frank and William's hiding places. We need all the Slugs we can get. And Carmen, you be careful with that wound.'
I was glad everyone just conceded to my will and followed my plans. Plans were vital. I mean, are vital. And I often survived.
So yet another journey begun, one that led us towards the school once again. We would check the actual hiding place of the other Slugs first, as it would allow us to both scout out any enemies and ascertain if they'd survived or not. If we found no one, we'd check the most likely place that they would've hid.
It seemed like a good plan, but then again, so did the other one, the one that had ended with Ethan's death. The one that had ended with nothing.
The Human
So there they stood.
The not-quite-human figures, which looked just basically humanoid in shape, stood there watching us. Or, at least, pointing those ball things in their eye sockets at us. Who knew what they really were. Most of them were bald (which was weird in its own right), but a few of them had some kind of dark hair substance that didn't quite look like hair.
What I did notice, however, apart from a bunch of aliens staring at me of course, was that Phill was standing in the group. Phill? What on earth was he doing there? I sighed, and knew that I just had to wait and find out. He was staring at me severely, but if it was for a reason, I had no idea.
Pauline had stepped back reflexively - she really didn't like Cyborgs - while Rosetta had stepped forward. Lot of good that would do; there was like eight of them.
Then, the leader of the Cyborgs spoke up, one of the haired ones. I knew he was the leader for a really obvious reason; he was absolutely massive. He had huge bulk all over his body, and it looked like he could grind cheese between his muscles. If those even were muscles; they looked much too hard to be organic.
So anyway, he spoke up, in a flat, monotone voice. "Hello." That was it. I waited for him to continue, to smugly inform us that we were about to be vaporised, but he didn't go on.
Pauline was still flabbergasted and Rosetta still appeared to be struggling to find some diplomatic yet proud way to respond, so I spoke back. "Sup." See how they like short sentences.
The leader looked at me as if I'd just spoken a different language, which I kinda had. Then he got to business. "We are looking for one that you call 'Matthew'. Inform us of its whereabouts."
"Umm, I'm not too sure I want to do that", I answered, before remembering who I was talking to. "Besides, I don't know where he is. And what is Phill doing with you anyway?"
All of them just stared at me for a while, but Phill's stare had desperation in it. He must be trying to warn me of something... not to give Matthew's location away! That meant that he was still alive then, and that Phill was trying to lead them away from him! This was turning out better than I originally thought, but then Rosetta had to go and ruin it.
"The one called Matthew is dead, from the impact of your ship", she told them gravely.
None of them showed any reaction except the leader. Perhaps it was Rabadootime? "They cannot be counted dead until their body has been torn apart and their brain impaled." Grisly way to kill someone, I supposed, although it sounded pretty damned effective.
"Well, we can confirm that he is definitely dead", Pauline tried to confirm. Her voice was shaky, and I surmised that she was drop-dead terrified.
Rabadootime (the Cyborg leader, who I'd now assumed was Rabadootime) slowly turned his head to look at her, and I could almost hear her heart beat faster. "Where is the body", he said, although it should have been phrased as a question.
"It's been destroyed", I jumped in, before the poor woman had a heart attack. "Completely. No evidence left at all."
The Cyborg said to no one in particular, "Confirm."
Suddenly, Phill answered, "Yes. I saw the ship crash where he hid." So it wasn't said to no one in particular, and it was meant to be a question. Phill continued to stare at me intensely, trying to communicate the vital message. I willed my eyes to tell him that I knew Matt was alive, and that I wouldn't tell them that, but my eyes weren't good at long-distance messaging.
There was another long silence. I didn't know what on earth they were doing just looking at us, but I was getting very impatient. "So, can you like, go away now? Back to your home planet or something?"
Pauline interjected, "That would be a wise course, seeing as how Matthew is dead and all. You really have no reason for being here."
Rabadootime continued to continue doing nothing. It wouldn't be long before I just yelled at them to do something, anything, just get it over with. So it was slightly disappointing when four of them, not including Phill but including Rabadootime, turned simultaneously and began to walk away.
"Wait", Phill said to them. They stopped, but didn't turn to look at him. Phill pointed at us. "What is to become of them?"
Once again, the leader answered. "If the body is not found at the site, we will draw it out." He didn't need to elaborate on his plans with us. Suddenly, them walking away didn't seem like such a bad idea.
This brought about quite a varied group of reactions; Pauline remained frozen, Rosetta slightly shifted her stance, I had no idea what involuntary motions my body made, and Phill continued to stare holes into me.
The Cyborg
They were still alive! Ethan, Rosetta and Pauline all yet lived! Therefore, Matthew's death wasn't for nothing, it wasn't in vain! That was good.
The group of Cyborgs and myself - I was not counted a Cyborg - stood watching them. Some part of me wanted to go and greet them, to tell them everything I knew, but I had to continue with my disguise. I couldn't let the others know what I was now; it was a good thing I was no longer connected to the network.
Ethan caught sight of me and near goggled that I was with the enemy. I couldn't let the Cyborgs know I'd affiliated with the Slugs, or my plan would never work! I had to warn Ethan not to reveal my past actions, so I stared at him, trying to communicate my intentions, ho
ping it would be enough.
Pauline took a step back, and Rosetta one forward; this was not wise. They were in no position to try to confront us now; they simply had to accept that they were at the Cyborgs' mercy.
Then, Rabadootime broke the silence. As I was not connected to the network, I had no idea what they were privately conferring; I did know that Rabadootime was simply a front for the group consensus, but wondered what my friends would think of it.
"Hello", he began. That single word spoke much of the strategy he opted to perform. Cyborgs never wasted time on greetings; he did so only for the benefit of the Humans. To show them that he, and the other Cyborgs, weren't so alien after all. That cooperation would result in mutual benefit. That wasn't good; I had to warn Ethan. Unfortunately, he was looking at Rabadootime, and appeared about to respond.
"Sup", he answered easily. He sounded too much like Matthew; they would know he was close to them, much closer than I had hinted at! ... However, they didn't know of Matthew's speech pattern. It should be safe.
Rabadootime seemed to take the strange word as a greeting also. He continued, speaking only for the Human's benefit, "We are looking for the one that you call 'Matthew'. Inform us of its whereabouts." So they hadn't believed my lack of evidence when I told them that Matthew was dead. Well, they would soon find out.
Ethan answered quickly, "Umm, I'm not too sure I want to do that." No, don't imply that you do know but won't tell them! Luckily, he initially redeemed himself with, "Besides, I don't know where he is. And what is Phil doing with you anyway?"
This situation was getting extremely tense, where one wrong word could tip the balance, destroy everything. That last sentence was 8 such words. I had to try harder with my staring. He had to know that I was undercover! So I tried to stiffen the area around my viewing impleme... my eyes, and desperately tried to warn him to stop speaking of me.
I had no idea what the Cyborgs were conferring about. Were they considering how to kill Ethan? How to use him to get Matthew out of hiding? Matthew was dead however; would they use Ethan in the false belief that he still lived? Or perhaps, they deliberated what to do with me. Ethan had hinted that I had a connection to him and the Slugs. Did they right now decide whether or not to believe him? There were too many variables; but my options were varied also.
I might be able to swiftly kill Rabadootime now, if I was lucky and he didn't currently suspect me of treachery. However, only Rosetta and 2 Humans were here. In addition, the other Cyborgs might end up killing all of them. That way, the other Slugs would never know of my sacrifice, and I would get the others killed in the process. I had to do it in a way that ensured everyone would find out yet still survive. Not including the Cyborgs.
Breaking my reverie, Rosetta spoke: "The one called Matthew is dead, from the impact of your ship." I doubted that would convince them; Cyborgs were careful, especially when it came to older Slugs such as Matthew.
"They cannot be counted dead until their body has been torn apart and their brain impaled", Rabadootime answered quickly. Such was the standard for one hundred percent certainty of a Slug's death.
Pauline tried to side with Rosetta. "Well, we can confirm that he is definitely dead", she said, shakily. Perhaps she had recovered from her fear of me over the last few weeks, but these were dangerous, enemy Cyborgs; I didn't fault her for it.
Rabadootime asked her, "Where is the body."
"It's been destroyed", Ethan quickly interjected. They were trying to assist each other's stories; perhaps it helped build credibility in the Human world, but for Cyborgs, 3 liars are no more legitimate than one liar. Ethan continued, "Completely. No evidence left at all." He seemed to be too eager to push the idea that they couldn't confirm Matthew's death. Wouldn't it be better if they could, so that they'd leave?
Rabadootime said, "Confirm."
I knew this was a question towards me, so I answered, "Yes. I saw the ship crash where he hid." Hopefully, a Cyborg's story holds enough weight to authenticate 2 Humans' and a Slug's story.
I took the silence - the Cyborgs' conferring - to attempt to inform Ethan of what was happening again. I wasn't sure whether or not he could comprehend, but I had to try. So much hinged on the Cyborgs not finding out that I secretly conspired against them.
Then, Ethan opted to say, "So, can you like, go away now? Back to your home planet or something?"
Pauline agreed. "That would be a wise course, seeing as how Matthew is dead and all. You really have no reason for being here."
I didn't think it would do anything, and my suspicions were confirmed when the Cyborgs came to an agreement when Rabadootime and 3 others turned away and began to walk. That wasn't good enough; I had to know of their plans.
"Wait", I called out. They stopped, still facing towards their destination, waiting for me to speak. I pointed at my friends, regardless of the fact that the Cyborgs weren't looking. The other 4 were, and therefore the departing 4 would know through the network connection. "What is to become of them?"
Rabadootime answered quickly, a sign that they had agreed upon this before. "If the body is not found at the site, we will draw it out." Everyone knew what he meant by that. Pauline, Rosetta and Ethan would be used to try to lure out a dead Slug. Were he still alive, he would be enraged.
He wasn’t alive though. Matthew was dead; he was dead, and nothing they did to his former friends could bring him back. The onus therefore fell upon me.
Just like that, my mission changed again. 1st, I had wanted to kill the enemy Slug in the enemy ship. Then I merely wanted to survive my imprisonment long enough to take revenge upon my captor. Once I was freed, I wished to join the attacking Cyborgs and return home. The Slugs and Humans changed all that however, culminating in me wanting to stay and assist them. When Matthew died, I wanted to join him. I would've let the remaining Slugs decide what to do with me. When I met his killer, my purpose in life was to destroy the Cyborg leader.
Now, however, my reason for existence changed yet again. I had to protect Matthew's legacy in his stead. I had to ensure the survival of his best friend, the person who kept him from complete descent into madness after 20 years of solitude. I wouldn't, I couldn't, let any harm come to Ethan, and this included Pauline and Rosetta. Once Rabadootime was too far away to make a difference, I would strike. I had to; it was the only way for me now.
I stared at Ethan one last time, trying to tell him that he'd be safe with me, no matter what the cost to myself. I would not fail Matthew again.
The Slug
'Wait', Phill spoke up finally. Took him long enough to make a proper contribution, and not just stand there in treacherous silence. Stand there with the enemy.
Well, I suppose I couldn't blame him; he is a machine. He could never understand what it is like to be truly alive. I put lots of trust in him, trust that it appears he was not capable of returning. This, this right here was the reason why the Slugs hated the Cyborgs.
Onto more important matters though; Ethan was alive! There he stood, intact and as-yet unharmed, with Rosetta and Pauline. The Slug had done her job; he'd survived. Never mind that he'd left his home against the plan; what difference did it make when he's still alive! All of a sudden, my purpose had resolved itself. The symbol of Humanity yet lived, the anchor of my sanity still held ground, everything I had ever done regained its former meaning. At least, until I continued listening.
The Cyborgs stopped walking away, and waited for Phill to continue. For some reason, this annoyed me. They didn't even have the decency to face him, regardless of his situation. "Wait", I had to remind myself, "he's not on our side anymore." He - it - deserved harsh treatment.
Meanwhile, Phill pointed at Pauline, Ethan and Rosetta. 'What is to become of them?' it asked. I didn't know why it would ask such a question, as if it actually cared about the most important Humans on the planet, as if they served it some purpose other than to gain their misguided trust.
The huge Cyborg that had to be Rabadootime - of course it w
as the huge one - answered, 'If the body is not found at the site, we will draw it out.'
My brain operated a bit too fast for me at this point. First I thought, "good luck searching that wreckage for me. Haha, you'll never find me". Then I interpreted the full sentence that that infernal thing had just uttered.
They will "draw me out" - that answer in relation to their plans with Rosetta, Pauline... Ethan. Ethan. Like a classic mental illness, my morale plummeted low once again. They actually planned to use Ethan to get to me. That any living thing could go so low... This firmed my resolve more than ever that all Cyborgs needed to die, needed to absolutely be destroyed. They could not be allowed to continue to live. I mean, to exist.
Privately, I swore an oath to tie Rabadootime up for twenty thousand years.
But now was no time for such dramatic exclamations. Quietly, I signalled Jason to circle around, also quietly. I cautioned Carmen to be careful this time not to get injured again.
She replied with her assent, but it was wrong, it felt weird. It wasn't until she'd gone around the other direction that I figured it out. She had answered with sarcasm. Sarcasm in a Slug communication; I'd never felt such a thing before. I suppose that even if all else is lost, I've determined something in all this time; Humans truly are the superior species.
As four of the Cyborgs, including Rabadootime, walked off to the site of the crash, I evaluated my options. Obviously, I had to protect my friends. Rosetta should be able to take care of Pauline and Ethan; the Cyborgs won't worry about them while under attack.
I touched my oldest friend, crouching beside me, and asked him to assist Jason and Carmen. Boy agreed.
That left three Cyborgs for Jason, Boy and Carmen, who was quite nicely healed now. It seemed fair, but wasn't good odds; Carmen and Jason were ordinary fighting Slugs, just over a cycle old. Not in the same calibre as Boy or myself. It wasn't my being arrogant, it was just a fact; Boy and I were much older, and therefore much better in combat. Their abilities would've been fine for those scout Cyborgs we killed, but these were the Cyborgs that had not been sent in with the first wave; the assassins, as I fondly called them. Well, not exactly fondly, but still. Still nothing.
Boy anxiously communicated the question of what I would do. It warmed me that he was concerned; at least some of my friends had remained loyal.
I answered his query with a verbal, spoken command; 'You take the other three. Phill's mine.'
The Cyborg
The time was now. Rabadootime and the others had left to search for Matthew's body. I had to strike now; with any luck, Rosetta would help me before I was killed. Or, better still, she'd take Ethan and Pauline and run.
The other 3 Cyborgs hadn't moved since we'd first encountered the Humans and Slug. They hadn't needed to. Well, I'd soon change that.
I began to walk backwards, behind the others. If they expressed any suspicion, they didn't show it. Or, they conversed right now, discussing what to do if I attacked. I decided to bide my time, pretending to look around for something. "Perhaps some evidence is right here", I offered, suggesting the place where the deceased William and Frank were meant to be hiding. No, not right here, I should've just said here. If they acknowledged my excuse, or my mistake, they showed no sign.
A surprise attack was key. I had to begin, and have one damaged, before they knew. It offered me my best chances of success.
So I circled round behind them, close enough to strike. I sent Ethan one last desperate glance, asking for forgiveness and understanding. I should've been there with Matthew, should have perished along with him. Well, I was about to correct that.
Ethan actually nodded to me, expressing his agreement. That was good; I now had no qualms about what had to be done.
I got close enough to the nearest Cyborg, and before any of them could deduce what I was about to do, I lunged, sealing the fate of my destiny, my reputation and my life.
The Human
Like so many events where a billion and one actions take place near simultaneously, and out of nowhere, the next few minutes played themselves in my brain slowly. Because I saw everything in apparent slow motion, I was able to comprehend every action on the fly, which made me look really smart - at least, to myself.
It all started with Phill. He stood behind the three Cyborgs, looking around for evidence or something, when he looked up and stared at me more intensely than he'd ever done before. I was pretty sure that he tried to tell me that Matthew was still alive. Why else would he be so desperate if not to warn me not to mention it? So I nodded at him, to tell him that I understood, hoping that the other Cyborgs wouldn't make anything of it.
Something told me that he meant something else, however, when he kind of smiled at me, and abruptly charged the nearest Cyborg from behind. Just before he rammed into him, he called out to someone, "Run!" No one moved though; we were all frozen, due to the understandable condition of having no idea what was going on.
This is where things started to get hectic. Phill had surged at the first Cyborg so fast that his momentum sent both of them flying to the ground. The other two Cyborgs turned to attack him, their classic robot faces showing no expression. For some reason, I involuntarily took a step forward, even though I had no hope of helping anyone. Phill and his first victim were about to crash into the ground, but our Cyborg stepped forward and pushed off the victim Cyborg's body, sending him back up onto his feet. He looked straight at me desperately and yelled again. "RUN!"
No one seemed to listen, however. "Wait here!", Rosetta managed to command Pauline and myself before she sprinted into the battle to help Phill. It didn't look good for him though; the other two Cyborgs were now in battle stance facing him, about to demolish the poor guy. A surprise attack maybe, but I doubted that he could take on two in a fair fight, especially after not having moved for twenty years. Gotta be some rust inside him or something.
So his odds were dramatically increased when a form decided to materialise from nowhere and smash into one Cyborg from behind. Another form rammed the other, leaving them both too busy to care about Phill.
By now, Rosetta was at the scene; that meant her, Phill, and now three others who I presumed to be Slugs against two damaged Cyborgs and one pretty beat up one. This wasn't looking too bad after all.
One of them managed to land a great blow against one of our invisible saviours. That poor Slug went flying backwards, before charging back into the fray, and I saw it was Boy. Yes, so he was alive as well!
I was thinking that no allies were going to die here - there was just too much of them - when the other Cyborgs returned. They must've known what was happening from the network connection of the ones being attacked, and come rushing back. And now the fight upgraded into an all-out war.
There were fights left, right and centre - and perhaps even up and down too. It was: Phill, Rosetta, Boy and two as-yet-unknown Slugs versus Rabadootime (towering over everyone) and six other Cyborgs, one of them mightily damaged from Phill's initial strike. Five versus seven; now, our odds weren't good. It changed to seven versus seven, however, when another two shadows - Slugs, it seems - entered the battle. Even again. Pauline and I just stared.
And, in another attempt to destroy everything I thought I knew about wars and battles, there were no sounds being made, at least on purpose. No battle-cries, no shrieks of pain, nothing. All you could hear was the scuffle of rapidly shifting feet and the frequent sounds of metal hitting metal, the clashing of Metal Slug and Cyborg.
Now that the fighting had been going on for a bit - it couldn't have been more than twenty or thirty seconds - it stopped being a drunken brawl and turned into more strategic attacks. Slugs targeted Cyborgs and Cyborgs targeted Slugs. Lots of blows and hits were swung, missed and connected, but my brain wasn't so advanced that I could follow everything. So I subconsciously decided to follow Rabadootime around; he seemed to be an important character.
Phill had managed to single out Rabadootime. They were locked in an epic struggle of epic
proportions; well, not really, but if it weren't for all my friends' lives on the line, it would be pretty awesome. Unfortunately for Phill, however, Rabadootime was massive and looked pretty tough. He appeared to have the upper hand the entire fight, and the fight was separated from the rest of the combatants. I supposed that Rabadootime could've easily called for help, but perhaps he thought he could take Phill on. He probably could, from the looks of things.
Yet, it still kind of hurt when I saw Phill getting the crap kicked out of him. Despite Pauline's cries, I ran towards them. Briefly, I considered stabbing myself with a rock, but I didn't think my blood would distract a machine.
Phill was on the ground on his back, getting his poor face and chest kicked in by Rabadootime's massive foot. His limbs seemed too damaged to defend himself. Following on with the rock idea, I planned to launch one into the enemy's face. It didn't have to hurt him, just distract him. I wasn't about to let Phill die after he'd sacrificed everything to save us. He could've easily joined up with them there.
Luckily, however, my lacklustre plan wasn't necessary by the time I got there. Something had jumped into the fray, so fast no one could see it enter, and had made its way straight to Phill's struggle. Rabadootime had lifted his foot for another fatal blow - he appeared to be deriving some kind of sick joy from it; why else would he continuously stamp him? - but this shape zipped up in front of him, facing the other way and crouched over, and planted its back against the underside of the Cyborg's foot. Because the foot was already drawn up, and the form's back was braced against it, the Cyborg couldn't stomp down with it.
Of course, the form was Matthew; there he stood, his back to his mortal enemy preventing his blow, looking down at Phill. "Hello, old friend", he told him and smiled. Amazingly, Phill gave a huge smile in response.
But now was no time for teary reunions; there was a battle to win here. Matt, not even seeming to exert any effort, reached his foot around behind him to lock around Rabadootime's foot, which was still planted on the ground. The Cyborg tried to use his arms to attack, and to move his foot, but it was too late. Matthew shoved backwards, and his back pushed Rabadootime's foot and body backwards also. His locked foot didn't move. All of this culminated in the Cyborg falling backwards to the ground, trying to twist before he fell but not quite making it.
Matt gave a highly exaggerated wink at me before turning around and pouncing on the beleaguered Cyborg. "WOOOOHOOOOO!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, while pummelling the enemy's head in and simultaneously fending off his counter-attacks. It was the first purposeful noise I'd heard since the fight began. Phill was struggling to stand up at this point. I leaned down to help him, despite the battle going on about one metre away.
After the Cyborg was standing, supporting himself haphazardly, Rabadootime managed to throw Matt off him. He got up and stretched out his arms. The Slug stood there, watching him, and then the Cyborg gave him a sickly emotionless stare as a line of flesh - well, not really flesh - on both of his arms began to open. From the thin, long gap, two large, dangerous looking blades emerged. They were basically two long strips of metal, poking out from his forearms, with the sharp edge all the way along one side. It was like a super-Wolverine. I mean, these edges even looked really sharp; I was scared to touch it, let alone have it thrust at me.
Matthew, however, just laughed. "That is pretty cool", he commented. "I'm impressed."
Rabadootime actually answered. "You, your allies, your human" - oh, so I'm his human am I? - "and your Cyborg will all die."
It didn't seem to faze Matt, but then it hit me. Well, nothing physical hit me, but a revelation did. This was too unlike a Cyborg; from everything Phill had told me, Cyborgs don't waste time on anything, much less gloating. Rabadootime would just attack him, not waste time with inefficient speaking. Something had to be wrong. Matt didn't get it however, or at least until it was too late. From behind him, two Cyborgs who'd managed to get out of the worst of the battle grabbed him and dragged him down, keeping him occupied. I was scared Rabadootime was going to pounce on him and kill him, but instead he turned towards me.
He regarded me gravely, and although it was only for a split-second, I got the sense it was some kind of apology. As if this wasn't my fault, but he was going to have to kill me (I didn't forgive him). To destroy Matthew's morale, I supposed. And really, having a morale that can be destroyed by the death of a single person is a pretty big weakness, especially for a race 'geared for war'.
So there I was, awaiting my fate, when Phill managed to strike my killer first. "This time, run!" he yelled at me desperately, and this time I did. I ran like the wind, albeit not as fast, not caring that Pauline was nowhere in sight and that it was only a matter of time before he caught up to me. As long as it was quick, death shouldn't be too bad, I supposed. But if I was far away, I can buy the others more time without the Cyborg leader in their midst.
At least, that was the plan.
The Slug
Right there. He was right there! I had him right in my sights, then before I knew it, my sights were full of hulking machines hell-bent on killing me. Oh, the things that life throws at you sometimes.
Well, no time for regrets now. I had two Cyborgs to take care of. Despite sustaining some blows, I managed to get them off me and stand up. They tried to move to surround me, but I couldn't let that happen. Odd, how we three could be locked in such a private battle in the midst of a larger one. I wondered if everyone else felt this way.
Anyway, I lunged to the left one to stop him from getting behind me. Feigning a frontal attack, I smashed his leg with my foot, turning it into a slab of Metal Slug just before contact. Did some nice damage there, but ruined my shoe in the process.
Meanwhile, the other grabbed me from behind and begun to squeeze. If I was Human, it probably would have hurt a lot, but Slugs don't feel pain the same way that Humans do. I just ignored the sensation, while thinning out the slime there, sending it to the lower part of my body. Slowly, I began to... drip out from under his arms, all the while kicking the other one of course. Something was wrong, however; it was too easy. These didn't seem like the tough Cyborg warriors that I'd fought in my previous life.
Before I could finish him off, the Cyborg behind me lurched and crumpled. A touch from behind told me Boy was right there, ready to help as always.
'How's it going?' he asked nonchalantly.
'I'm a bit disappointed', I confided whilst simultaneously smashing the Cyborg below, internally laughing at its feeble attempts to escape, and reforming my body back to its normal shape. 'I was hoping to finish this encounter without showing off my new abilities, but it appears now that I'm going to have to.'
'Such a shame', he sympathised sarcastically. Such a shame indeed.
Of course, I wanted to keep my secrets, well, secret, but it wasn't to be. That is, it was to be until I turned around, and saw something which made it cease to be.
What I saw made me not care about secrets or intrigue or even awesomeness, which was pretty important most of the time. But not this time.
I saw a horribly beaten yet somehow still alive Phill on the ground. I saw Rabadootime sprinting away from the battle, rapidly catching up to a fleeing Ethan. I saw them headed towards a building. And I saw two Cyborgs in my way.
The Cyborg
I had failed, once again.
It seemed I had failed at all the goals I had set for myself, starting with the time I tried to kill Matthew all those years ago. I had subsequently failed to ensure my survival with the Slugs, miserably failed to kill Rabadootime, and then failed to protect Ethan from him. Perhaps if I didn't plan for anything, didn't set any goals, I would never fail again? Assuming of course that I survived this.
I lay in the dirt, near totally crippled, and watched the Cyborg leader bound after Ethan. The mere Human would never get away in time; his pursuer was much too strong and fast.
I internally sighed and tried to roll over; hopefully one of my enemies would kill me and get
it over with. Additionally, I didn't want to witness what was about to happen to Ethan and have to look at Matt in the eyes again, although I was immensely glad that he was still alive, for now.
It was by mere chance that my CPU hadn't been severely damaged yet; only my crippled and distorted body parts prevented my movement. That mattered little anymore.
To me, it was over; it was finally over. All this time of wishing to be free, and look what happened as soon as I acquired my freedom. I was a dead life form, too Cyborg to be a Slug, too Slug to be a Cyborg, too much of both to be a Human. Once again, the only thing left to me was death.
It astonished my dying self then, to hear an immortal cry of... something. I managed to complete my turn and saw Matthew staring after who I assumed to be Rabadootime and Ethan; I lacked the energy and the will to see where they were now. The look on the Slug's face was beyond comprehension; I never understood his attachment to the Human, but his expression now demonstrated the savageness of it.
2 Cyborgs blocked his path to his best friend. Or, at least, his best Human friend. Based on what I'd seen of his combat abilities, I didn't need to calculate the probability of that blockade lasting long.
I was right.
Although I had acknowledged it to myself a while ago, there was now no doubt in my mind that there was no one, from any race, that Matt couldn't defeat. What he proceeded to do to those enemies of his; it went well beyond his sparring match with Boy. The latter didn't move from where he stood, staring after his leader, absorbing his greatness.
With an absolute ferocious intensity, Matthew launched himself at the nearest Cyborg. These were not incompetent soldiers; that one readied itself for an assault while the other moved in to flank.
Nothing could stop the infernal rage that flew at them though; Matt jumped in the air just before contact, and kicked off the one he'd originally gone for. This sent the Slug flying into the flanking Cyborg, hand first. Except it was no longer a hand; it was a thin, long, sharp point of Metal Slug, a feat of the fastest Slug shifting I'd ever seen.
The sword tip speared right through the machine, squeezing exactly into the flexible space between its chest and stomach areas, and emerging out the other side. Far from finished, the frenzied Slug lashed out violently with his foot at the other Cyborg who tried to advance on him to assist his comrade.
It didn't work. The Cyborg caught his leg, and pulled it out from under him, suspending both of his feet into the air. He was now suspended horizontally, his arm held in place by the spear in the other Cyborg, who now reached down to grab that arm.
Actually, it did work. With a force that seemed to defy physics, he tugged the Cyborg who reached for his arm towards him, only to meet his body with another thin Metal Slug-spiked arm, just below the first one. This had the same effect as the last; he now had 2 arms inside and through this Cyborg. His foot that wasn't being held by the other sprang up, much longer than its normal length, to connect to the machine's head. It made a loud sound on impact, temporarily stunning it, although it didn't relinquish its grip on Matt's foot. His CPU was in his head, then; the impact would have damaged the complex circuitry around the CPU, causing a temporary short-circuit that would incapacitate the Cyborg until it either fixed it or the problem subsided. This was another reason I was so disabled.
From their own separate battle, another Slug, whom from what I saw I postulated was Jason, slammed this incapacitated Cyborg from behind, further disabling it. This brief assistance of Matthew's plight caused Jason's adversary to land a great blow on Jason's head, absorbing him back into his own problems.
Meanwhile, Matt was doing something I'd never seen before, and likely would never see again. He'd fed more slime through to his arms, thinning his body but also forcing the gap in the Cyborg's midsection open wider. That Cyborg had hold of his upper arms, just before they entered his body, and was trying to rip them out. However, the Slug didn't have hands; he had shafts of metal jutting out at right angles. He had positioned these right angles symmetrically; one shaft pointing up, one pointing down, to prevent them from being pulled out, like a large side-ways letter 'T'. It was at this point that he began to tug.
Violently and recklessly, and despite no ground purchase, the Slug ripped and shoved his arms up and down, slowly tearing the hole larger and larger. The Cyborg had changed tactics to savagely kicking Matthew's body, which was still suspended in the air, from underneath. Matt, for the most part, ignored this, and continued to rip and tear.
The other Cyborg regained... consciousness. He began to join in the kicking of Matthew's underside, while trying to pull him out of his friend. A dreadful ripping sound was heard; Matthew was himself being ripped in half from the continuous Cyborg kicks! I had to do something.
With a groan, and an effort demanding all of my remaining processing power, I started to roll and crawl towards the Cyborg that wasn't getting torn in two; getting up and supporting myself was no longer an option. It was totally engrossed in brutally pounding the underside of Matthew with its foot; this was good for me. As I squirmed along the ground, it didn't see me coming. Or perhaps it saw me, but didn't register that I was the traitor Cyborg. Or perhaps it was so bewildered at Matt's strange tactics that it didn't register me at all.
I clutched at its leg and yanked, sending it stumbling towards me. A kick from Matthew made it topple to the ground on top of me. It lost its grip of Matt's foot, which fell to the ground; the Slug had more ground purchase now, and began to, impossibly, yank yet more violently on his victim.
Meanwhile, the Cyborg which had landed on me tried to get up. I was in no position to stop it. It was assisted, however, when Boy heaved it to its feet, pounded it in the head once more, and then launched it away from us, absorbing it in the surrounding battle. "You're alright, Phil", he told me. Nothing further needed to be said; I'd won the Slug's trust. It shouldn't matter much in my present condition and circumstances, but it still did.
I broke from my musings when one last loud tearing sound was heard. Both Boy and I looked over to the source; Matthew stood, back towards us, huffing over a 2-piece Cyborg. He'd actually torn the machine in half, with his bare hands - which were now normal Human hands again. As to the enormous injuries a normal Slug would have sustained from the kicking he received, the only sign was his torn and ripped clothing.
"How did you - ", Boy began incredulously, but he couldn't finish. Matthew had sprinted off without a backwards glance, headed over to where Rabadootime had been chasing Ethan. Although it wouldn't be by my hands, perhaps my plans would be fulfilled after all.
The Human
Stairs, stairs, endless stairs. Well, not really, there wasn't that much. But when you're climbing as fast as you can, knowing that there's death coming up behind you, and knowing that death waits at the dead-end at the top, your brain tends to slow things down. Perhaps it was to prolong my perception of my life. All I noticed was that I felt like I was climbing those blasted things for ages.
I knew that Rabadootime was right behind me, and that Matthew and Boy were caught up in the battle. I also knew that Phill was more-or-less an invalid on the ground, and that Pauline had disappeared somewhere. Perhaps she'd return with an army or something. That would be a nice fiction ending. Too bad this wasn't fiction; or was it? Maybe...
But now was not the time. I was, after all, about to die. And not even for any reason of my own; I would be killed to enrage Matt and make him do something stupid. Not because I was of such strategic value that the Cyborgs couldn't allow me to live. Such was the life of being a vulnerable species. I firmed a resolve that, should I ever become a superhero, I wouldn't have any close attachments that could be used against me in such a way. Or, at least, I wouldn't make it so obvious.
Onto more important matters, however, such as imminent death, I heard footsteps running up the stairs. Now I definitely knew this wasn't fiction because my soon-to-be killer was running; anyone else would be walking smugly.
I was in one of the two
-storey buildings, and I was on the second floor. It was pretty much an empty room, used for small assemblies and such, and had only white walls around for projectors. At least, that was the original plan; the school never did get any projectors like it was meant to. The walls had all been outfitted with whiteboards.
With the limited time I had left, I went over to one of the full-length windows, and observed the battle outside. It was a huge conflict, with Slugs and Cyborgs locked in battle. I saw bodies, but due to the distance I could only tell their race; two of them that I could see were Slugs. Was that Phill crawling away into the shade?
Rabadootime entered.
He looked every bit as menacing as my memory of him a few minutes ago (although his face was dented). That was surprising, I kind of expected him to have grown or something. Like all Cyborgs except Phill, his face held an infuriatingly passive expression, the kind you get when staring at complete darkness while in bed at night. Remorse was a bit much to ask for, but maybe a tinge of guilt? But no, nothing.
Despite everything, I still didn't honestly believe that I would die. Adolescent invincibility syndrome? Perhaps. All I knew was that, although I'd actually admitted that I would probably die in a few seconds' time, I never felt that this was it. Rabadootime wouldn't kill me now, I would go on living as I always had. I briefly wondered how many people had died thinking that.
The Cyborg strode towards me with no regard for my trembling body and obviously terrified face. No need to fear, I counselled myself, he'd have no reason to not kill me quickly. Unless he wanted to incite a greater rage in Matthew, then he could do it slowly... great.
Perhaps he'd be open to negotiation? I certainly had nothing to lose. "Hey, wassup Raba?" I began as he continued to advance on me. "I kind of noticed that, umm, your Cyborgs are losing the battle outside. So, no matter what you do to me, you're going to lose here." I noiselessly gulped as I realised I'd turned a planned negotiation into a threat. Time to correct that. "So, my proposition is this; leave me here, and we'll let you go alive. It's a sweet deal I think; I'd sure take it."
If the Cyborg had any plans of taking it, he sure showed no sign of it. He approached me and reached to grab something, probably my neck, when we heard someone run into the building and start ascending the stairs at top speed. I took advantage of his slight hesitation to duck under his grasp. What kind of crappy brain... er, processor... did he have, where he couldn't throttle me and listen to footsteps at the same time?
I ran towards the staired entrance into the room, hoping that it wasn't a Cyborg coming up. So I was surprised and relieved when Matthew bounded the last step and rammed into me, sending me flying to the ground. He caught me before I landed and hauled me back up. "You're still alive!" he breathed in relief. Now my invincibility syndrome kicked it up a notch; Matthew was here, there's no way I'd die now.
"Not for long", I pointed out, referring to Rabadootime's advancing on us. Time to witness another battle, I suppose. And all over me too; I became quite popular when Earth was invaded.
Without hesitation, Matthew charged the Cyborg, his body low and his arms stretched to either side. I wondered why he didn't begin with his super tactics, like his sparring with Boy, but surmised he must be testing his opponent.
Quick as the memory of a flash, Rabadootime extended his arm blade thingies. I'd forgotten he'd had those. He swung one arm straight down at Matt's position, but the Slug ghosted to the side to avoid it. Which was lucky; it'd be a lame fight if Matt got killed from the first blow. This was supposed to be the greatest Slug versus the greatest Cyborg. Was Rabadootime the greatest?
They backed off from each other, each determining the next plan of attack. Amazingly, after a few seconds Matthew started singing softly, "This is the ultimate showdown..."
It seemed that neither Rabadootime nor myself had any idea what he was doing. Although I doubted that if he did, the Cyborg would join in with him.
Matt half turned to me. "Come on", he insisted. "You know this. Of ultimate destiny!" He wasn't pleased when he saw my blank expression. "Come on!"
Rabadootime took this time to charge. Matthew seemed to have been waiting for it, however; either that song of his was a fit of delusional singing, or he guessed that it would drive the machine mad with misunderstanding.
Rabadootime slashed both horizontally and vertically with his blades, but Matthew somehow managed to sidestep-crouch to avoid it. In retaliation, he lunged behind his adversary, and clutched onto his back. He let out a hysterical laugh, and started to pound the back of his neck. Unfortunately, the Cyborg wasn't going to let that fly. He reached one arm behind his head, and one behind his back to grab the Slug, increasing his chances of a successful grab. The lower arm grabbed Matt's leg and tried to pull him out from underneath, but Matt grabbed onto his head and began to twist in a very familiar way.
But before he could finish, the Cyborg did something that made both Matthew and I gulp. In some kind of robotic fury, he half stumbled, half ran over to the full-length window, and turned to face his back to it. At the same time, his arm was wasn't clutching Matthew's leg launched itself down, backwards, and then up all the way around, twisting around the joint at an impossible angle, to do the unthinkable.
The arm-blade flew with unimaginable force - well, it was imaginable, because I was watching it, but it was pretty fast - all the way into and through the back of Matthew's neck. Rabadootime's arm actually went all the way around, in a motion that would dislocate any human arm, and severed my best friend's head off! With a sputtering of purple blood Matt's head fell off his shoulders. It was actually sliced off.
And just to make sure, the Cyborg kicked off backwards, and went through the window (accompanied by a shattering of glass), flying off the building. Matthew's body was on his back; he'd land on my decapitated friend.
I stood there, not knowing what just happened. Somewhere, it occurred to me that I must be in a state of shock again. There was purple blood - slime - all over the area they'd just been standing; a head remained on the ground. Gingerly, I approached it. Its eyes were still open, the mouth hanging lax.
So that was it? Just one little swish of an arm, and he was dead? I should've been thinking of the repercussions for me, for my remaining friends and even for Earth, but all I could think of was what I could see; the dead, lifeless head that stared up at me. I had a little internal battle of whether or not to close the eyes, but decided that Matt would want them to freak out anyone who looked at it.
Carefully sidestepping it and the blood, I peered out the window, being careful not to cut myself, as if that would be a grave injury. Amongst a spattering of glass, Rabadootime's body lay on the ground. His bulk prevented my view of the remainder of Matt's body. Or was that Matt's body, and the head the remainder? I decided, correctly, that it didn't really matter. Matthew was dead. I mean, come on, his head had just been sliced off!
It was hard to imagine. I'd thought he might be dead before, and although I didn't really doubt it or hope that he lived, hope was still possible. I was only ninety-nine percent sure of his demise; I'd had no proof. But this head, just lying there, staring into oblivion... into nothing. It was over. I'd have to go down now and let them get me, try to save the others. What was the point of any of this anymore?
The Slugs couldn't take me back to Slugenis; I'd be known as the human that led to Matthew's insanity and eventual death. I'd never be welcome there. The only reason I wanted to go was to follow Matthew. But he was dead now. I didn't want to stay here; Matt was the only person that made my life worth it. What would I do without him?
I still didn't really get it as I trudged down the stairs. I resolved to go outside and see what's what. If I was lucky, Rabadootime had died from the fall. If I was slightly less lucky, he was alive, and would kill me. If I was unlucky, he was alive and would let me live.
The Slug
Hmm... Ethan probably thinks I'm dead right now. I mean, come on, my head had just been sliced off! However, the Human
was still stuck in his Human ways; I doubted he yet grasped that I didn't technically have a head, and that therefore, such a thing wouldn't kill me. Rabadootime merely cut off that great protrusion of slime that was closest to him; the fall was meant to kill me.
And probably would have, had I not acted really fast. Super-reflexes for the win. After the Cyborg had thrusted us at the window, but before we actually hit it, I knew what was happening. It was too late to stop it, but not too late to survive. If my time on Earth had taught me anything, it was that it was never too late to survive.
Before we hit the window, I protected my back with Metal Slug, to protect it from the shards of broken glass. Once through that, and as we fell, I moved my brain - which was in my chest area; sometimes, the most obvious place is the least obvious - as close to my front as possible. That is, I moved it, within my body, as far away from my back - where the ground would impact - as I could.
In addition, I put a sheet of Metal Slug just around my brain for protection. A few millimetres closer to the inside of my back - and to the ground - I put another sheet. Another few millimetres; another sheet. And so on. This created a fluctuating defence of hard Metal Slug, softer slime, hard Metal Slug, softer slime, all the way to my back. In theory, I hoped it would absorb the impact of the landing much more effectively than any one medium alone.
Of course, I wasn't that good. My mind only moved part way up forwards towards my front, and hence I was only able to get a couple of sheets between it and my back. Obviously, of course, it worked; I survived. Although I could feel that my brain had sustained some damage; it had slammed into the inside of the Metal Slug after I hit the ground. I had actually just gotten a concussion, despite not having a skull. Hah.
Also of course, I now had no eyes. A careful - OK, a rudimentary - dissection of my head would reveal that my "eyes" were in fact not really real; initially I'd grave-robbed a recent grave and stolen some new eyes from them. But that plan was doomed to fail; eyes needed a blood supply to survive, and I, unfortunately, had no blood.
I'd ended up resorting to fake eyes, which I'd managed to acquire from one of those fake eye places. I cut off the front of the eye - that was what everyone could see when they looked at me - and coated it with a very thin transparent layer of slime for realism and movement. So, essentially, I had nothing behind my fake human eyes. Slugs don't have eyes; the other Slugs' eyes are purely cosmetic, to appear Human.
So, now, instead of using eyes to bring light - and thus, sight - into my body, I would do it the old-fashioned Slug way. I would open two holes in my exterior slime, and send the light directly to my brain. Slug brains could interpret this and turn it into sight themselves. We didn't need eyes for the conversion process. Of course, I wouldn't do this until I was ready to fight again; I wasn't even going to bother hoping that Rabadootime had died from the fall. Things like this just don't work that way.
So there we were, a Cyborg with a pounded head lying on top of a decapitated Slug surrounded by broken glass. Rabadootime rolled over and got up, eyeing me the whole time. Well, I didn't really know that, but I could just feel it. Perhaps utilising my "playing dead" tactic would serve me well. I quietly opened some ear-holes on the side opposite my would-be killer.
Nothing really happened until I heard footsteps coming out of the building. Ethan just had to come and investigate, of course. Hopefully he brought my head. Man, that sounded weird.
Rabadootime turned to him. I waited; Ethan didn't. 'So, uh, looks like you got him. Now what?' I could sense the tremor and disbelief in his voice, but hopefully Rabadootime couldn't.
For some reason, the Cyborg answered after a moment. 'Once we kill the rest of them, we are done here.'
'What about me?'
'You are not one of them.'
'What about Phill? The Cyborg that helped us?'
'It will also die.'
'So you're just going to leave me here, all by myself?'
'The same as you were before they arrived.'
'But I don't want to be the same as before I met him. And he arrived before I was born!'
Rabadootime didn't respond. I wanted to ask him if they were still going to attack or mine Earth, but that obviously wasn't an option.
It sounded like the poor Human was going to start a tantrum. I could his voice trembling and could just imagine his knees shaking. But he was going to live! There was surely nothing more important than that!
I decided to end his uneasiness by striking. Rabadootime now fully believed me dead; that belief would work to his detriment. I had to strike hard and fast, to give myself an instant advantage. So, now I had to figure out where his damned CPU was. As I contemplated, I made some... slight changes to my body.
I'd already given his head quite a beating, so it wasn't there. It could be in his neck, or in his chest, or in his stomach, or anywhere, really. So many variables, as Phill would say. Well, I knew its eyes were where it saw from... obviously. Even though Phill was most likely the only Cyborg with two cameras where his eyes are, I would go for those ones first. He had his back to me. Not a problem.
After opening some eye-holes, I sprung up, and either Ethan was smart enough not to gasp, or was shocked into silence. Either one worked for me.
With a force I'm quite proud of, I thrust my arm straight through his back, making it emerge the other side. Similar to what I did to that other Cyborg, but I was confident this one would be much cooler. To get through, I once again made a sharp tip coated with Metal Slug. Once on the other side, however, that tip de-Metal-Slug-ised, split into two tips, curved upwards and got recoated with Metal Slug. With another thrust, they went straight up into his eyes, or whatever those things were. At least, that was the plan. They had to go quite high to reach his eyes, as I was now considerably shorter than usual, and so didn't quite make it. Instead, they struck somewhere around his chest area; the punctured metal noise was still very satisfactory.
Like most Slug-Cyborg encounters, however, one thing rarely happens in solitude. As my first assault was in progress, my other arm grabbed one of his, restraining it. The fingers stretched and met each other on the other side, fusing together. My arm now ended in a ring of slime, now Metal Slug, holding his arm in place. As this happened, my third arm grabbed his other, and did the same. Whilst lying down, I'd sprouted myself another arm out of my chest; that had been the one to pierce the Cyborg. If only everyone could do that...
As my legs locked his into place, I stretched both arms further still, causing them to meet each other in front of the Cyborg, just above his waist. This also forced his arms to meet each other in front of him. Mine were very thin tendrils of slime now, and it wouldn't take much to break them. Which is why I'd restrained his arms. As the rings of my hands met, I deactivated the Metal Slug, fused them together, and re-coated them.
All of this happened extremely fast, of course. Quick as machines were, their reflexes were still somewhat limited by how fast they could move. Plus, Rabadootime had no idea what I was actually doing. I'd never tried such a tactic before; in fact, no Slug ever had. It would probably be in those stupid Cyborg Archives soon though; yes, we'd have to destroy that somehow.
Anyway, this was when Rabadootime realised he'd better do something. As he could move neither his arms nor his legs, he started to struggle and squirm. Which suited my needs perfectly. Although it would have been much cooler if I was tall enough to whisper into his ear, I couldn't resist saying in a creepy voice, 'I want to play a game...'
The Human
So, Matthew was alive again? His dead body had just sprung up and attacked Rabadootime, despite the fact that it had no head. And it had a shaft of slime sprouting out of its chest!
I managed to not collapse when the hulk of slime jumped up and lunged at the Cyborg. I didn't blame him for not reacting at first; I still hadn't even blinked. Some corner of my brain now decided that Matt was completely indestructible, and as for me, I couldn't find any evidence to contradict it. He didn't even lo
ok in pain from being brutally decapitated and thrown out of a building just minutes before.
But back to the action; it wasn't over yet. Matthew had Rabadootime completely entangled, with thin lines of slime all over him. His arms and legs were bound, and he'd been speared through the chest with a barb of slime which was now arched back and, split into two points, was continuously striking the Cyborg's lower chest. Somehow, Matthew had the nerve to whisper creepily, "I want to play a game..."
But Rabadootime was in no mood for games. He was frantically squirming to escape his Metal Slug prison, trying every trick in the book. His limbs constantly stretched, but every time they made any leeway against Matthew's arms, the arms seemed to get thicker and stronger. With his head the only thing unrestrained, Rabadootime was tossing it back, trying to smash Matt, but the Slug was about half his normal height, plus he had no head. Rabadootime was stuck, and the only thing his attempts did was make him look like a head-banging rock fan. I almost laughed until I realised that this was an important and serious fight, so I retained my posture of frozen, stunned and staring.
Meanwhile, Matthew's barb thingie, the one split into two, was ranging all over the front of his enemy's body, stabbing everywhere. Looking for his CPU, I surmised. When nothing seemed to happen, except giving Rabadootime's front an awesome perforated look, the barbs stopped stabbing and considered their next move.
By this time, poor Rabadootime was absolutely battered; his head had been pounded in from before, his back was somewhat dented from his fall, despite falling on a supposedly dead Slug, he had a deadly-looking pole of slime shoved through his midsection, and his front was now cratered with small holes. I may have been imagining it, but his movements appeared kind of slower and more sluggish - not Sluggish - to me. I took it as a good sign.
By the time I'd taken that as a good sign, the barbs had formulated their plan of attack. They withdrew almost all the way from the Cyborg's front, but split out and, covered in Metal Slug of course, anchored themselves to the front of his body. So, the main shaft of the barb entered the robotic body from behind and split into two just as it emerged out the front. These two points then split off in opposite directions, and at right angles to the main shaft, creating a sideways T-shape that ensured they wouldn't be pulled out from Rabadootime anytime soon.
This was when Matthew drew his body back, and rammed his front with full force into Rabadootime's back. I managed to glimpse several small Metal Slug-ified spikes poking out of his chest, through his tattered clothes. Matt pulled back and rammed again. It seemed pretty obvious to me that he now punctured the Cyborg's back using those spikes on the Slug's front, continuing the search for his CPU. That thing was pretty well hidden.
Deciding to make myself useful, and taking full advantage of the fact that I was now in control of my faculties, I called out, "Try his head!" As Rabadootime was still facing me, the same way he'd been just before he was attacked, he looked at me in a way that said, 'If I was a human, I'd be glaring at you right now.' Matt didn't seem to hear me however; he had probably already considered and discredited that theory, then. Actually, come of think of it, could he even hear me? I mean, he had no head... But then, how did he talk before?
I sighed, and resolved to ask later, if he survived of course.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to us three, the other large Slug-Cyborg combat seemed to have come to an end. And the result? It appeared us Slugs had won! Well, not us, really, since I'm not a Slug, but I'm with them, so it is kinda us... Anyway, a bunch of Cyborgs, all rather battered, were in a line, backing towards us. There were four of them, and a line of Slugs, also numbering four, advanced on them.
At some unknown machine signal, all they turned and broke into a run straight towards us. The Slugs quickly pursued.
Would they try to instantly kill Matt before they lost? I wasn't about to do nothing about that. So I quickly ran up and stepped behind Matthew, trying to give a menacing pose to the coming attackers. I heard a groan behind me, and that greatly confused me. Rabadootime was facing the wrong way, and why would he even groan at such a thing, and Matthew had no eyes, nor a mouth. So many questions.
So, the four Cyborgs advanced on me, looking at me blankly, as machines do. The Slugs were hot on their heels, but wouldn't make it in time; it appeared they were a little worse for wear also.
Perhaps I would die then, but I found it more likely that I'd get violently shoved aside. However, it would give the Slugs a chance to catch up before Matthew could be killed, so I also supposed it was worth it. Lord knows, he'd died enough times already.
My deep philosophical musings were cut short when I was, quite rudely and quite violently, shoved out of the way by someone. As I fell, I caught a great view of the clouds before landing heavily on my back. When I looked where I was just standing, Pauline was in my place. Before I could contemplate that, I saw that Matt had turned Rabadootime around, and shoved him towards the other Cyborgs; Pauline had moved out of his way. The rabbit-kangaroo-bad-timing thingie rejoined his former comrades, and together they bounded off. Some of the Slugs gave them chase, but one remained behind.
Matthew turned to look at me, which was insanely weird since he had no head, so I had no idea what to look at. The rest of his body had reverted to normal shape, however; it was just his neck that ended in a stump. "What on Earth were you thinking?" he demanded, somehow.
I had no answer and just shrugged. Then he turned to Pauline. "Thanks for knocking that fool out of the way."
"Anytime", she replied, smiling at me.
I grunted in annoyance, and got up. "Ethan", Matt returned his non-eyed gaze to me. "I will forgive you if you do me a favour." If he had another mouth somewhere, his tone made it sound like he was smiling.
"What's that?" I asked suspiciously. No telling what a no-headed, talking alien might want of me.
"I need you to run an errand for me. Go fetch my head."
Of course.
The Slug Rebellion Page 10
