Boom.
The shockwave alone tore at the construction site, sending beams scattering and piles of materials floating in all directions, a cloud of dust forming as the two titans struck one another. Pointed black grappled with furrowed, pitted ocher, as Ze'ev's sword danced towards its foe, hungry for blood.
The Reactor, he knew, was an amateur. His plan had worked out better than he'd even anticipated, and the
Dreaming Twin Fishes Reactor afforded himself a moment of rare self congratulation, as his flurry of strikes knocked the heavier machine off balance. Still, he thought, even so. These situations were always full of-
A hand suddenly lurched forward, seizing the Shurouga's own in mid swing. Ze'ev had a moment to feel his eyes widen in shock before the Gunleon violently jerked him aside, swinging the Dimensional Reaper like a rag doll into the floor. Reflexively, he slammed the controls, willing his steed to move - and not a moment too soon, as an enormous wrench came slamming down where his head had been only momentarily before, the impact alone sending neon-green cracks across the Lunar surface as the Shurouga scrambled back on a blast of fire from its newly extended wings.
-
surprises.
Undeterred, Ze'ev's machine ran a hand across its now mangled limb, the weapon and alloys already weaving themselves back into fighting form as he skidded to a halt. The power of the Sphere was flowing into the Gunleon now, a burning aura that surrounded it as it tore the wrench free from where it had been set as easily as if it were made of paper.
"Grows back, huh?" Said Adrian, eyeing his foe wearily.
"I can never die-" Began Ze'ev - but was interrupted as the Gunleon suddenly swung the wrench once more, shattering an incomplete building into a thousand pieces as Ze'ev rocketed overhead. Adrian watched him go, a curious calm starting to come over him. What was this feeling?
"We'll see about that. Never met a machine that couldn't break." - the sound of cracking knuckles accompanied his boast.
"Just means I gotta hit you harder."
The beginnings of a scowl snaked up the side of Ze'ev's features, but his rebuttal came in the form of a series of emerald green blasts fired from the Shurouga's head as it repositioned, forcing Adrian to pause in his pursuit, arms raised protectively about the Gunleon's face. When he lowered his hands - the dark machine was gone. No - still nearby, he could
sense it, somehow.
"What's your problem with James anyway?"
Adrian slowed his breathing... and focused. The silence was oppressive, the stillness of space, as he held the wrench, slowly scanning his surroundings. Hearing no response, he tried again - the sound of his own voice, perhaps, was more comforting than the crackling of the radio.
"What'd he ever do to you?"
Above!
The Gunleon's proximity alarm screeched - and Adrian whirled, just slightly too late. Like a dark bolt of lightning, the Shurouga descended, blade flashing, driving it down - into his neck, just barely short of skewering the cockpit itself. With a roar of its treads, the Gunleon careened forward - and slammed its foe into a building head-first, sending up a spray of dust.
"That man's future is to devour the sun. To end the world. To vanquish him... Is my
destiny. His demise will prove I
exist."
Once again, Adrian lunged for the Dimensional Reaper - but this time, his hands met only air, as the dust cleared, leaving only a gaping hole in Gunleon's shoulder. That, he thought, looked like a two-week job. Somehow, the arm could still move - but another hit like that-
He shook his head, and instead focused on Ze'ev's words. James Steelheart? The end of the world? He would have laughed - it sounded like the worst practical joke in the world, if only the man before him wasn't actively out for his blood.
"You...
sure you got the right guy? James is... kinda..."
Grrrrrghhr...
A low, guttural growl extended from the Gunleon. It was the same feeling he'd felt before - that awakening, that pain, as though his whole body was burning. His skin crawled, his breathing was hoarse, and the heat, the
heat... just kept
building. A glint of light in his peripheral - and the saws on Gunleon's arms roared to life, parrying a slice that had been aimed at the thin armor at his neck. More strikes rained down upon him, each tearing a gash upon the construction machine's heavy armor as he swung out blindly - and felt something connect, albeit haphazardly, causing the assault to pause, and his assailant to recede into the shadows once more.
Sweat poured down his features as Adrian gasped for breath.
"What about Merida?" He asked, suddenly.
The Shurouga alighted on a nearby frame, pausing momentarily like an enormous vampire bat. Eyes peered at him from beneath its metallic mask, and for the briefest of moments, he swore he felt the damn thing was
thinking.
"She's got nothing to do with you, right?
Leave her out of this!"
Ze'ev was silent for a moment, as the Reaper lifted its sword - and dragged it, slowly, and methodically, across its other, open palm. A foul, blood-like ooze began to drip from the wound, one that pulsated with its own leering energy.
"Two hearts are needed to bring out the power of the Quarreling Twins." Said Ze'ev, dryly.
"That woman's fate is tied to Steelheart's.
I will do what must be done."
"
LIKE HELL YOU WILL!"
A
roar. That was how Ze'ev would later recall it. A burst of unimaginable power. He'd never seen anything like it. The way the Gunleon suddenly
pounced towards him, features morphing, body
changing. Wings that were like ragged, skeletal frames of metal bursting forth, claws of steel that gleamed under the Earthrise sun, and the
speed, the terrible
swiftness with which it fell upon him.
He barely had time to react to the first impact. A flaming swipe across the Shurouga's face that swatted it into the stars, features melted and crumpled from the force of the blow.
"
How-?!"
"
ROAR, GUNLEEON!"
A dark shadow - it was here, too. Something about the Shurouga's ankle went
snap, a cord - two spanners, joined by wire, extending from the burning monster's grasp as it whipped the Reaper back towards it for a second howling, burning punch that sent it skidding across the Lunar surface. Ze'ev extended an arm, to slow himself, dragging into the rock - but suddenly found his progress arrested, all movement coming to an immediate stop with a horrendous
crunch.
Overhead, the Gunleon Magna's whirling features contorted into a triumphant snarl as it
finally closed the jaws of its titanic wrench about the waist of its foe... and began to
squeeze.
