Project: IRREGULAR (Phase 1)

Chapter 7: Dungeon and... Mantis? (Part 1)

"A megalodon?! No wonder he bit them like a maniac!" Nyaia seemed surprised, as she didn't know The Mantis had a hostile Irregular for one of his trials, or so she thought.

But all of them have become even shocked when the megalodon, still under the sand, began speaking, taking Nyaia's words for his name.

"Megalo.... maniac.... Megalomaniac...."

"......did he just-"

After a brief, awkward silence, Megalomaniac jumped out of the sand entirely and chomped on Sabre again, before getting to the oasis and dived into the water.

But this time, Nyaia casted another spell just in time to give Sabre a suit of protective barrier.

"Can you hear me, Sabre?" As she communicated through the comm link. "This suit isn't perfect, but it can at least give you some protection from his jaws and the water as well."

"Thanks Nyaia! I was really worried about getting damaged through contact with water...." They replied, before turning to Megalomaniac and attaching the Miracle Gem of the Witness to turn his Katharos into a hammer....

But the water pressure was oddly strong, causing Sabre to get dragged downwards and hitting the shark's head hard.

"...not such a good weapon choice." Sabre sighed, before quickly removing the gem and used the sword's beams to propel him away.

Megalomaniac got dizzy for a short while before shaking his head and stared fiercely at Sabre.

"You.... good... but not... enough!"

Then, he roared at the hero, and a huge laser beam fired from the turbines on his thorax, hitting an underwater ruin.

Just as Sabre was relieved that he missed, a trio of fish Irregulars emerged from the hole, each firing beams at them.

"WOAH!!" They screamed as the narrowly avoided the beams. "I thought you said fishes were human memes?! There are fish bots attacking me! New designs??"

Nyaia instantly recognized what they were referring to and walked to the oasis, taking off her hat. "An old design! The Freeshes...! They may look silly and fragile, but they are the most dangerous grunt Irregulars and haven't been seen since the Great War! ....hang on Sabre!!"

She was about to jump into the water, but Cyclops quickly grabbed her hand, concerned about her.

"You were supposed to let the prophecy run in its own, right? Besides, it's too dangerous for you!"

Nyaia thought for a while before looking back at Cyclops, determined.

"I know I'm inexperienced... but Sabre saved me many times... it's my turn to return them the favor...!"

She loosened Cyclops' grip and dived into the water.

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Megalomaniac has eventually cornered Sabre to a nearby ruined wall, and had the Freeshes surround them.

"Ha!" He mocked, "green bot, not so fierce? Me no like this fight, took long to eat, so me now finish meal!"

At his command, the Freeshes charged at Sabre for one final bite but were struck by beams coming from above.

Nyaia was launching herself to the trio fish-bots, propelling with her tail like a torpedo!

"I'll hold off the Freeshes, you go defeat him! Aim at the core!" said Nyaia, diverting the Freeshes' attention away from Sabre.

"B- but I have no gun?!"

But in all confusion, the same voice that gave Sabre their name whispered to them.

"The red Gem, use it. Use it against the beast."

"What?!"

The red Miracle Gem that Snipe previously gave Sabre hovered on its own, attaching itself to the Katharos, and its glowing parts morphed into a pistol.

Having realized this new power, they quickly channeled their energy to their weapon, detaching their armor parts and they began charing their new weapon.

Megalomaniac appeared pleased by this turn of events, and he charged towards Sabre for one last attack.

"Eat this!!" As they pulled the trigger, they fired a powerful beam that broke the energy suit gave them. The beam managed to hit Megalomaniac, engulfing them in a green aura field as it roared, seemingly in pain. The Freesh's eyes also flashed from red to yellow.

Seeing how Sabre succeeded, Nyaia quickly grabbed Sabre back to the water surface.

But when they got out, the team were shocked to find out that Sabre had unfortunately malfunctioned. Their parts sparked, and their face flickered with noises.

"D- did I make it...?" Sabre looked at his teammates with a glitchy voice, before shutting themselves down, dropping the Katharos

"Sabre... are they...?" Snipe was oddly concerned about his well-being, asking Nyaia to give them a scan.

"Their consciousness is still functional... but the broken suit caused water to flow directly to their parts, paralyzing him... We have came this far, but we don't have anything to fix them..." She quietly wept, fearing she might lose them...

Until a white Irregular approached her, reaching out a hand with a piece of cloth hanging on her sleeve.

"...my sister."

To be continued....