Content Warnings:

-Language

-Violence

-light gore

-suicidal ref.

[“Your failure will catch up to you, my child,”

Lyn glided over the sand effortlessly. It barely parted beneath her feet. Her face though, did not tell the same story.

Beneath the heat of Urbs Lucens,  sweat poured down her face. She wandered a desert that went on forever. 

She wore a desert cloak and a cracked skull mask. She held a revolver with green bullets in her left hand. In her right hand, she held a blood baked backwards broken blade. She was covered in dust and cuts, including one on her chin, her mask had been broken].

Lyn continued on her quest across the plains. Just like the desert, it was quite hot, albeit not nearly as so. She took out a bottle.

“[I know, get off my back],” Lyn complained, barely any came out.

[“Those Batlers have been trailing you since you left, my child,”

“I can handle them,”

“A real gambler wouldn’t put all their eggs in their luck, my child,”

“Bugger off! That's not even the saying!”

“Can you expect to walk the whole way, my child?”

“we're coming up on another station,  plus there should be some tracks nearby if we decide to ‘hop’ aboard,”

“Whose ‘we’?”]

Lyn fell to her knees, “[CRAP, I’M TURNING INTO INOLA!],”

[“That’s too high of praise for you,”]

“BUGGER OFF!” Lyn exclaimed, turning to nothing. “....I stand corrected….I'm losing my mind….now I'm talking to myself. Can this get any worse?”

---

The caravan from before prepared to leave a church hidden amongst trees. The church was falling apart at the seams, but its nature could still be seen. There were six statues of six cloaked figures holding up sceptres with stars at their ends, and there was a great stained glass window.

The window showed a night sky filled with lights, but the main focus was a great, yellow sphere with a woman in the centre. She lay in the fetal position, her long hair swirling around her body in a spiral. Her eyes were covered, wrapped shut with her great hair. Her ears, on the other hand, were pointed like an elf.

“We’re finally here,” Eze exclaimed, getting down from the Caravan.

There was a great gust of wind. His eyes widened.

“What is-!?” Faiza exclaimed anxiously.

“QUIET!” Eze ordered. “(One of them is coming by),”

Through the plains, a massive shard of black shot, faster than a sniper’s bullet and the size of a polar bear. It created a massive gust of wind that exploded across the entire plains. Trees shuddered, hair went wild, people had to hold onto any belongings to make sure they didn’t fly away.

Eventually the wind died down. Eze breathed a sigh of relief.

“That was AWESOME!” Fadi exclaimed, running over to Eze. 

“No it wasn’t,” Faiza corrected, grabbing her little brother’s shoulder.

“What was that?!” the both asked.

“A Corrupted Mech, they say the Mondgreif’s daughter, Violetti Drescher, sought new weapons of mass destruction. She and one, Dr. O, researched the studies of Faber Deorum to convert any destroyed Mechs into corrupted monsters of intense strength and power. Their usage was not meant for war though, their instincts were too close to that of a Corrupted Beast, and they could turn on their own at any time. Instead, they were to be dropped in enemy territory or made to hunt in the plains. Whomever their target was, it mattered not where they hid or how far they ran, the Mechs could track the remnants of their very colour. Pray to Occultus sonos for anyone in their sights, for they won’t stop until they’ve devoured their prey,”

Chapter XIX

Predator/Prey

“It'd be nice if there was at least a breeze,” Lyn groaned, lighting a cigarette that gave off purple smoke.

Her ears perked.

[“Have you ever heard of the Monkey's paw, my child?”

“Frick off,”].

---

Thorn Red observed from a distance. She turned on her communicator.

“This is Thorn Red to Orpheus XI, a predator has entered the area, repeat, a predator has entered the are,”

“This is Orphesu XI. Standback and observe,”

“Understood,”

The gust travelled past them, their hoods blowing in the wind.

---

[There was a movement in the sand in the distance.

She switched to the Colour Realm. She raised her revolver]. She raised her fingers. She could sense the powerful winds and she felt its movements once it too switched to the Colour Realm. The Mech was crashing through chunk after chunk.

[In the distance, the cloud of sand grew larger and larger, kicking up a storm]. The chunks were becoming disconnected or just being ground into dust. Black sand filled the air, dissipating into grey, silver, and nothing.

Lyn spotted the shadow approaching her in the distance. She closed one eye and steadied her hand. [She fired].

A purple shot went out. The mech was so fast the shot was dispersed by yellow winds covering it.

[She fired again].

The shot dispersed again. [She fired again].

Not quite. It was getting closer and closer. [Two more times].

Last shot. Her eyes went sharp.

[She fired].

It was so close the shot went through. It went off course, spiraling out of control and crashing through many a chunk of black.

Lyn sighed, “Well, it's probably fine,”

………

Lyn dropped down. She read the colour flow to see that the Corrupted Mech was back in the Reflect Realm, encased in the ground.

[“It's black. You’ve got maybe a few seconds, a minute at most, my child,”].

The Corrupted Mech was around 3 metres tall, maybe just under one might say. It looked like a Disaster Mech of course, but it was covered in thick shards of black that bulked up its size and shape significantly. Definitely an older model given the amount.

Its face looked like the face of a skeleton, with soulless eyes. It had a massive jaw, ready to open at any time. It had massive claws, with six fingers a piece. In its palms, were holes, like suction cups, ready to strike and devour.

Lyn quickly analyzed the weak spots in it and got ready to cut. She froze.

[“Monsters…,” a Minotaur-like creature accused.

It was bleeding out in the sand. There was a hole where one of its eyes used to be. It was lit aflame.

“All of you…monsters,” it called out].

She snapped her fingers.

The Corrupted Mech awoke. 

It CLAWED down on Lyn, but she was already gone. It quickly grabbed her colour scent, leading it straight to the inside of one of the nearby corrupted chunks.

It SMASHED its way inside. Lyn was just to the side of it.

She shot it in the head with purple. It fell unconscious.

Lyn took deep breaths. The entire chunk shook. Her eyes widened.

She rushed out of the chunk and leapt onto another as the previous crashed down into the abyss. Lyn could feel the flow of colour around the area.

She used that extra push to leap from chunk to chunk. Her ears perked up.

She spun around and fired at the Corrupted Mech. It was crashing from chunk to chunk, rushing to keep up with her.

It knowingly covered its forehead with its massive claws, sucking in the purple. Lyn smirked.

“Now your playing,”

It landed on the same chunk as her. She fired a black at its leg, “Black Jack,”.

It moved to protect its leg, leaving its head open. Lyn quick shot at its head. It rolled, spinning around the entire structure.

Lyn dodged to the side, anticipating the force around it and its trajectory. She took an orange pill and fell flat on the ground. It clawed at her, missing by metres.

Lyn felt the impact of its claws still. She spit out blood, the bones in her chest shattering. Yet unfazed, she fired another shot from the ground.

It hit and the Mech fell unconscious. That was five shots, one left. Lyn snapped her fingers and leapt to her feet.

[“kill it before it kills you, my child,” Taipan ordered.

“Maybe latte,” Lyn responded].

She took out multiple cigarettes. She lit them all and scattered them about. She darted away herself, consistently jumping around and spreading more cigarettes.

As she went on, she heard the Mech. It awoke and caught the multiple scents. It leapt around, crashing into chunk after chunk, searching for her.

Lyn smirked, [“my bet was on the money,”].

It wouldn’t be long before it caught up, however, as Lyn was incredibly slow by comparison. Her decoys only slowed it down a tad.

She found herself on a plain of green, yellow, and blue, separate from the chunks. There was thin, red thread passing through it. 

The Corrupted Mech crashed nearby, “Enough,” it called out, its voice sounding like it was deeply in pain.

“Enough is right, old man, you’ve got a train to catch,”

It cracked its neck, tilting its head, “Train?”

A great tornado of yellow with a train inside sped at them. It sent the Mech flying, while Lyn was already prepared. Lyn leapt back into the chunks, traversing around rapidly.

[“You only delay the inevitable, my child. If these mechs weren’t so vulgar, I’d have something just like them,”

“Assuming you don’t already,”].

A beam of yellow SHOT within the array of chunks. It didn’t break the black of course, but it signaled annoyance and anger.

There was a loud SCREEEEACCCH!

The Corrupted Mech was draining yellow from the land, albeit with one cup out of commission. Charged with energy, it sped through the array like a bolt of lightning, darting back and forth. It couldn’t see properly.

Its leg became dislodged. It tripped, crashing into multiple parts of the array in a fiery explosion!

The array had fallen apart for metres upon metres. Lyn approached the black fragments. The entire array had pushed out and pulled back in, like dropping a rock in water. The unbroken black had collided together, becoming flatland.

Lyn’s arm had been completely charred, her burnt flesh letting off smoke. Thankfully it was slowly healing with orange. Lyn tossed her melted Butterfly knife aside, and pulled out a new one.

The Corrupted Mech sat at the centre, its leg missing, and much of its bulk burnt away, “You…stupid,”

“Most gamblers usually are. I mean…the best way to beat the game is to just not play, right?” Lyn shrugged.

“Do…not…let…live,” it ordered.

“Hm?”

“I fight long time. Death be freedom for monster,”

“There’s gotta be another way,”

“This body…prison…remember….Jadeite. Daughter…had…us…attack…none touch…too strong…no escape,”

“But she’s not here, is she, moron?” Lyn asked, raising an eyebrow, her voice slightly irritated.

It placed its claw on its chest, “Always…,”

“Play your cards then,”

The Mech charged. Its speed and movements were significantly staggered.

Lyn dodged to the side, the ground beneath the Mech’s hand shattering. It turned to her.

As it reached out, its left arm fell apart. Lyn had used sleight of hand to cut the joints.

The two jumped away from each other. It needed some distance, while she wished to avoid the impact of its jump.

It FIRED a beam from its mouth. She slid under it, before jumping over it to double dodge as she charged it.

As she got close, it quick twisted around, SWINGING at her as she tried to go for its weak side. She naturally dodged the other way, cutting at its remaining leg.

It fell to the ground and SCOOPED up massive fragments to fling at her. She darted through the attack and FLIPPED OVER its body.

The last arm fell, as well as many parts of its body.

Lyn dusted herself off and spun her knife around cockily, “I wish they paid me for this crap,”

“Finish…me,” it called out.

Lyn pointed her fingers at it, “Blackjack,”

………

Lyn snuck out of a store at a train station. She put her look back together. She could see the edge of the mountains between Zvezdy and Adlernest from where she was.

She took out a backpack and smirked, “come on dusty,”

“That’s not my name,” the mech groaned from around the corner.

It had been converted into a very small, slightly corrupted torso and head. It also had a muzzle. Lyn put it in her backpack.

“And your name is?” Lyn remarked.

“Fuck…you,”

“Language,” she criticised, raising a finger.

“Said ‘crap’ earlier,”

“That’s not a swear word,” she waved away.

“In….dictionary,”

“The dictionary is wrong,” she argued, waving her finger.

“KILL SELF!” It exclaimed.

“Maybe latte,”

“Why didn’t…put me out…misery?”

“I only have one black shot,” Lyn shrugged.

“FOUR DAYS!”

“I don’t wanna waste it,”

“Will drain you…all colour…feed-!” it exclaimed.

Lyn zipped the backpack, “Whatever ya say mate,”

Lyn got on the train like before. And like before, Thorn Red sat across from her. Lyn sighed.

“Let’s play nice this time ‘kay?”

“Most certainly,” she responded with a condescending smile. “Might I ask, why not take one of the other trains closer to the Rem instead of the corner of Stena Mountain?”

“Remember, if you pull something again, security is gonna be an even bigger twit, and you’ll never find my mission out,” Lyn groaned, pointing at her, her eyes flat. “Now let me pretend to sleep,”

The train got moving. Lyn’s journey was almost over…the journey to Adlernest anyways. We’re not even at the halfway point.

“Frick me!” Lyn exclaimed.

To Be Continued………