Sigma/Star

Chapter 128: In Pieces

There was a counter though, even if it was not something Raul usually preferred: overwhelming force. Breaking through the dance by overpowering it was the fastest route out of this fight before it became too late. Another lunge forward from the enemy forced Raul to step back in order to dodge, the blade sliding by his shoulder before quickly withdrawing. The young man didn't wait, using his back heel to push into the ground and spring forwards, both hidden blades shooting out from the wrist-mounts on his Goliath. One of them immediately smashed aside the woman's arm as it came up to defend, his other sword slicing downwards from above in an effort to slice the Twin Fang's cerebral unit in half.

The assault worked, as the Goliath began to split into two equal parts, straight through the middle from the top. But it rapidly became apparent to Raul that it was not his weapon doing the damage; the Goliath was dividing all on its own, breaking into two halves. Each leg began to bend before extending outwards, splitting the battlesuit even faster as the new halves jumped to the sides.

"So it's like that, is it?" Raul smirked, watching the two semi-Goliaths each turn to retaliate with their own weapons. He knew he was caught, that he had fallen victim to the true trap lying beneath the web of dance.

"We never enjoy those who rush through the dance," the first voice said.

"They always ruin the mood," came the second voice, as the Twin Fang plunged its knife into the Blue Blur, releasing its oils into the warmachine's systems.

Raul saw the responses across his viewscreens, multiple warnings going off simultaneously before they all shut down, the device's mobility crippled instantly, followed by its communication systems, and lastly its internal computers. His Goliath fell to its knees before toppling forwards, smashing into the ground, sending vibrations through its interior that rattled the youth's skull. "So the Twin Fang has a deeper meaning," Raul mumbled to himself, slowly unstrapping his body from his chair. "One that isn't registered in any database on the general. I would assume that anyone who meets them and sees that trick doesn't survive to report back about it. We'll see if I can change that."

There was a rumbling as the Twin Fang shifted outside the fallen Goliath, reassembling into its original form. The sisters in operation of the device stared down at their slain enemy before speaking to each other, letting their voices boom out into the air around them so that they could taunt Raul. "Your time was fun, but it comes to an end."

"As our first partner for the day, we give our respects to you."

"In that respect, shall we not let you be the last to die?"

"Quite! The first to dance, the last to fall."

"What is it like to dance around one who is disabled? Will their despair, their fear, spurn us on?"

"Let it be the great inspiration for our next masterpiece!" And with that, the pair were gone, dashing off towards the main conflict, no longer satisfied with tormenting someone they had already defeated.

* * * * *

Rex's sword cleaved straight through another Goliath, dividing the body in half from shoulder to hip. He had passed straight through the cockpit, but there had not been a single second where the death of the pilot within the machine had crossed his mind. There was only survival now, only fighting. These were the ranged battlesuits, the ones that had tried to shoot from down from afar. It was their fault they were falling, their fault they were losing. Whatever happened to them was their own responsibility, for it was they who had fought dirty at first.

A bullet passed by the boy's shoulder, blasting a hole through the head of an approaching Artisan machine. The Goliath stumbled forwards and toppled to the ground, its gun bouncing off the earth and spinning up into the air, before crashing back down. Slightly confused, Rex paused to glance back over his shoulder, the cameras across his battlesuit adjusting and zooming in to identify Nami with her smoking gun. It hadn't been a missed shot from a new enemy; just a helpful shot from an ally.