Cpl Torthson ran through the forest, long abandoning his weapon, orders, and even knowledge he was a soldier trained for the toughest of situations. His mind struggled to comprehend what had happened. He was with his squad, walking through the dark forest when all of a sudden, the radios began to festal out with a horrifying streak before going dead.

Alone in the dark, his squad ran into Gamma squad who were as much in the dark as they were. Then the blue lights shimmered through the trees, and in mere seconds Gamma was torn apart by red beam fire.

Cpl Torthson only saw a brief glimpse of what was firing at them when they turned their attention to Bravo squad; silver robots with singular red-eye and a hand cannon. He saw two getting gun down, their conventional weapons ripping the machine to shreds before his squad was wiped out. When they were down to only three men, the Cpl's morale broke and he ran away as his two comrades were mercilessly gunned down by the silver machines.

He had no idea where he was, or how far he had run, or who was even left of the search team. His mind had abandoned all notion of bravery, of duty, of his family waiting for him back in Oregon. Only two things going through his mind was the fact he was all alone, and a hostile force of machines was hunting them.

In his hasty retreat, Cpl Torthson tripped on a nearby root, falling down a slight gradient, tumbling until he came to a complete stop. Cursing, the man pushed himself to his feet.

Then he froze. His ears picked up something, movement. A twig snapped behind him, startling the Cpl to draw his sidearm with a tactical light. Yet there was nothing there.

More and more snapping sounds could be heard, movement along the soft grass. His breathing increasing, Cpl Torthson swerved, aiming his pistol at every sound he could hear.

Yet there was nothing there.

"Where are you...." Panic was getting the better of him. "WHERE ARE YOU!"

The next snap behind him, Cpl Torthson fired five shots, hitting the soft ground. His hand began to shake as the rustling was only growing. Growing more and more restless the man walked backward, snapping and firing at whatever made the most sound, hitting the ground, the tree, then when there was a clack behind him, he fired again and hit something different. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, yet when he fired he swore he saw something weave, as though the light were distorted, with a spark bursting on impact.

Eyes darting around, he walked slowly to where he saw the brief flash. Illuminated by his touch he saw something laying on the ground, a three-pronged footprint, his bullet fragments and a piece of silver metal.

Another sound occurred behind him, this one far louder than the others. The man turned, ready to raise his gun in time to see a long blue beam stretching out of thin air.

The last thing Cpl Torthson remembered was flying into the sky, turning to see his own body still standing.

****

"Meow! What was that?" Meracle jumped, bringing her hands close to her chest as her tail went as rigid as wood.

"Sounds like gunshots," Mirage said, ".... And close,"

"Unfortunately my audio sensors are still damaged so I am unable to gauge the distance of the shots," Markus said.

"Don't you have radar or something?" Dale asked.

"It's inoperable due to the excessive damage to my body."

"What isn't damaged?"

"My vocal systems seem to be operating at full operational standards."

"...... Great."

After the first engagement with the Enforcers, the party was more on edge than they had been before, walking in a hastily organized formation headed by Max, Meracle, and Cerberus due to their ability to detect the appearance of their enemy. So far they had not encountered any assault from the Enforcers. However, none could take that as a blessing. If anything, it only made the journey that much more tense with the fear of another assault hovering overhead. Then, gunshots could be heard, grinding their march to a halt just as silence fell back amongst them.

"Guess there's more of those black orc guys left," Rodger said, resting his silver hammer on his shoulders.

"Can we stop calling them 'black orcs'...?" Cliff moaned silently before turning to the front runners. "You guys picking up anything?"

"Na, nothing."

Woof.

"N-N-N-Nyew,"

All three of them responded shaking their heads (with Meracle's tail going limp and visibly shaking). This did not ease the tension the group felt, only adding to the oppressive silence.

"This seriously isn't good for my heart..." Dale said.

"Ok... what kind of attack could we expect?" Cliff asked Markus. "I take it they have more in their arsenal then those 'drones' they threw at us before."

"Indeed," Markus said, taking in a deep breath. "I have knowledge of a fair amount of known constructs. However, the Enforcer network is always evolving, which means there are new constructs created to match a certain environment or situation. Thus, predicting their movements outside of their supposed directive is nearly impossible."

"This keeps getting better and better..." Melvin said, shining his illuminated wand to fight back the darkness. Through the illumination, something caught his eye, a small shimmer in the distance, a small distortion in the distance.

"Hm?"

The boy blinked. He looked back to Cerberus. His familiar was standing on all fours, looking forwards with Max and Meracle with his flamed tail wagging, otherwise unaware of what his master had seen. Melvin looked back to where he had seen the distortion, only to be greeted with nothing.

Did I imagine it....?

"Damn... it's so quiet," Yuki commented, his drawn sword resting on his shoulders as he surveyed the area. "A little too quiet..."

A snap in the twigs and rustle in the leaves at various intervals broke the silence that surrounded them, adding to the already oppressive atmosphere. What was more, they seemed to be getting more and more frequent as the party stood in place.

".... Is it just me," Rodger spoke, "But do ya get the feeling we're being watched?"

"Definitely not just you," Nel spoke, her eyes turning a light shade of gold. The snapping and rustling only got louder and more frequent, putting everyone on edge.

"Pyro.... Kitty...."

".... Urg, Still nothing."

"M-M-Myew... Th-Th-There's none of those static feelings in my tail."

Nel's eyes darted around the area, paying attention to any sudden movement beyond the parameter of the party. "Say, Markus," She brought her daggers closer to her as she made her way to Meracle. "Of the machines you know," slowly drawing her blades. "Are there one's that can turn-" darting her eyes towards Meracle's left side. "-Invisible?"

Without waiting for an answer, Nel lowered herself to the ground and kicked Meracle's right leg. Meracle fell backward just as a translucent blade of energy formed and passed over her head, simmering off loss strands of her blue hair in the process. After Meracle hit the ground Nel continued her motion, spinning clockwise as she plunged her dagger into something in front of Meracle. Once her blade pierced the object, sparks emerged from the gap as the object began to distort, taking the shape of a humanoid before turning into one of the enforcers, one that looked far less armored than the previous drones with even a lack of plating around its single red eye. It's hands however were long triangle pieces of metal with the right hand emitting the blade of energy that almost decapitated Meracle.

As it spasmed, Meracle (Still on the ground) delivered a sharp kick upwards into its midsection. The blow was strong enough to shatter through the fragile frame that held its torso to its legs, cutting it in half.

"MAX! 12'OCLOCK!"

Nel delivered her warning in time for Max to turn to see two blue blades forming a mere foot away from him. Reaching his hands out, Max grabbed the blue blade's sources, his strength crushing the invisible machine causing the blue blades to warp.

"MELVIN! BARRIER!"

Nel gave out another warning as Max yelled, "Heads up!" throwing the invisible machine into the air towards Yuki who delivered a fast, upward strike. At the same time, Melvin raised his wand and created a bubble around him. Seconds later a blue stream struck his barrier, causing the light around the cloaked machine to wave and distort. The blade retracted as the machine leaped over Melvin's barrier, only to be interrupted by a lariat from Mirage, keeping it suspended above the air while she put her fists together, hammering into the machine, shattering it on the hard ground below.

"They're cloaked!" She pointed out as she stood with her fists clenched. "Everyone, watch your surroundings!"

Cerberus then began to bark and growl at the dark space in front of him shortly after Melvin dropped his barrier. Blue lights then emerged, completely surrounding the party.

"Here comes the next-"

"Hold on!" Max turned about, looking at the party with a startled expression. Before anyone could even pose a question, blue orbs of light began materializing right in the centre of the formation.

"ARE YOU FRICKEN KIDDING ME?!!" Dale (who was in the center of the formation) turned tail as the lights got more intense.

"In the center?!" Nel exclaimed, drawing her daggers as Meracle jumped back to her feet.

"In front too!!" Yuki pointed out as the lights before they faded as the drones from before materialized in formations of six around there formation.

"Shit, HIT THE DECK!" Cliff yelled, ironically signaling a hail of beam fire from the drones, already breaking up the formation as the ones in the center materialized, standing in a hunched formation, six a unit, as they picked out their targets.

"Pyro! Heads up!!"

"Huh-AH!" Max had just dodged a series of five beams when Yuki called him out. As he turned he was hit with a beam to the gut from one of the central formations as they began firing at him. "Wh-What the-?!" Max put his arms up two more beams struck him, one in the arms as well as burning a hole in his black shirt. Suddenly a volley from behind began in earnest where he resaved two shots in the back before he decided to run to the cover of a nearby tree as the machines continued their fire.

The six drones in the center perused Max, keeping their guns fixed on the Salamander before Yuki's boot collided with one of the drones' heads crushing it as it hit the floor, followed by a low arc that sliced through one another of the drones.

"You owe me one, Pyro." The swordsman muttered as he held his blade behind him, moving his right leg backward as the drones turned their attention towards him.

Reijingu Mizu: Stance 2: Supurasshu!

With a quick slash, an invisible wave cut through the last four drones, severing their upper torsos from their legs.

"Max!" Melvin called out being the closest to him. He then ducked as a beam passed him by as a few of the center group began firing towards them, specifically at his familiar that ran for the cover of a nearby tree as the six drones fired a volley at the dog.

"CERBERUS!" Melvin cried as he ran after his familiar, throwing out a fireball at one of the drones behind him. As he reached the tree another volley of beam fire began from the drones that surrounded them, focusing most of the powers on Cerberus who charged through the undergrowth as it dodged the assault against him.

"MYAAA!!" Meracle cried as she arched and ducked between the intense volley fire that was aimed at her. "WHY ARE THEY GOING FOR ME?!"

The six drones that were in front marched on her position, firing continuous volleys at the cait sith before a large rock struck one in the chest, causing it to fly back to crush another.

"We got ya covered, Mary!" Rodger called out as he slammed his hand to the ground. A large rock shot from the ground, hovering in front of the samiet who brought back his silver hammer, "FOUR!" and hit it like a baseball, where it crushed another of the incoming machines. The last attack had drawn the remaining three's attention, changing their target to the boy. With a hand on the ground, Rodger created a rock wall moments before the remaining three began. With ease in the suppressing fire, Meracle leaped to a nearby tree, using it to spring herself towards the distracted Drones, spinning her left leg like a blade which destroyed one of the machines in one hit, following with a swift forwards kick to the nearest one. She spun a kick to the last drone, "Nyew?" only for her leg to pass through as it evaporated into a stream of blue light, moving to Meracle's right to reappear at her three o'clock, bringing its arm cannon to bear on the cait sith.

"Haaaa!" Sasha however, leaped in behind the machine, punching it in the back, her little mana-enhanced fist cracking the fragile metal. The machine squirmed as it was forced forwards, before Meracle followed up with a sweeping high kick that took off the head of the machine as Sasha leaped back, putting her two fists together as Meracle performed a handstand, bending her legs together. The two delivered the final blow, Sasha's fists breaking the crotch while Meracle's feet pierced through the torso.

Both barely had time to recover as more blue lights began to shimmer around them as another group of drones approached before earth spikes emerged from their feet, shattering them to pieces.

"Head's up!" Rodger called out as he raised a rock wall to block an incoming volley of beam-Fire.

"Meow! More behind us!" Meracle called out as she turned about with two more blue lights beginning to materialize behind the three who ended up standing back to back (with Meracle towering over Sasha and Rodger), cut off from the main group.

****

Back in the center, the two remaining groups marched towards their respective targets, firing in unison as they marched. A dagger then flew, hitting one of the machine's heads, damaging the metal causing it to stature. As it flew in the air, Nel suddenly reappeared, grasping the flying weapon as she passed overhead, using her short blade to slice through the head of another drone before plunging her dagger just above the chest plate of machine, pushing it to the ground as she landed on it; followed by performing a handstand and launching backwards onto another as it was about to register her as a threat, forcing it to the ground before stomping on its fragile head.

Meanwhile, Mirage intercepted the second group, high kicking the nearest drone followed by a sharp kick to the second. Resting her feet on the ground as the remaining four took note of her, she slammed her fist into the closest, pivoting on her heel to backhand the next, crushing its head in one blow. As the two machines brought their weapons to bear, Mirage grabbed a hold of their arm cannons as they fired, spinning on her heels as she threw them towards the remaining two in Nel's group who were turning to deal with the red-haired assassin.

Nel leaped off the ground towards the descending two, forward flipping over them as they crashed into the two other drones, which shattered on impact. Nel landed back on the ground-facing Mirage.

"Don't I get a thanks?"

Throwing her dagger in the air, Nel threw it towards Mirage, passing by her head before embedding into a clocked machine which decloaked, dagger embedded in the central eye socket as it spasmed.

"After you," Nel said with a smirk as two of the machines began to push themselves from the ground. Turning on her heel, Nel raised her right leg and axe kicked one of the emerging machines as Mirage wrenched the assassin's dagger free of the machine before turning on her heels, ripping the machine in half. Mirage then threw the dagger towards Nel, who grasped it in her right hand as she turned on her heel, leaning backward as a blue blade passed overhead, cutting through the emerging drone.

Getting on her hands, Nel turned her body as she delivered a sharp kick to the invisible head of the machine. The cloak that surrounded it began to fade as it pulled back, sparks emitting from the fractured neck and broken red eye lenses. It raised its left arms and created a blue blade before Mirage grasped the outstretched arm with her left, reaching her right arm over the machine to grasp its body. Nel did the same with the machine's right arm, embedding her short blade into its torso, as Mirage tore off the left arm. The damage caused the machine to drop its cloak as both ladies released it, moving in front of it before delivering a joint kick to its midsection, launching it back.

"Even," Mirage said.

"Even." Nel agreed.

****

Cliff ducked under the beam fire, dodging to the right behind a tree, rounding it to come face to face with a drone, launching it away with a mighty left hook.

A drone suddenly appeared behind him, firing a beam at his back. However, the red beam struck a thin membrane layer that surrounded the hunter. Cliff turned sharply, raising his left arm, taking another shot as he charged forwards towards the machine. When at arm's length, he reached out a hand, grasped the drone's head, turned and threw it overhead like a base-ball at another drone that was trying to flank him. As the two crashed together, Cliff jumped towards a nearby tree as more beams fire-cracked around him. As he made a turn, a drone appeared just before him, firing a shot that hit him in his face, hitting the membrane in a burst of sparks. Cliff continued forwards, pulling back a fist before slamming it into the machine's chest, cracking the body as it was launched backward into another tree.

"That's for the shield!" Cliff called out as more beam fire erupted around. "I would have been done for ages ago!"

"Don't take too many hits!" Dale called out, standing on a rock Markus tucked under his right arm while he held his wand upwards like a torch, a blue light emitting from the tip. "I have to maintain this on-"

"Incoming at you're seven o'clock."

"Huh-WHAA!!" Dale leaped off as a beam shot past him. Behind him where two drones marching in mechanical unison, firing shot after shot at the fleeing wizard. "Why can't you bastards leave me alone?! I'm just the support guy!!" He cried as he rounded a tree.

"As you are maintaining that shield around you're companion it is only logical that the enforcers would-"

"I WASN'T ASKING!" Dale brought up the head of Markus to his eye line. "Can't you do something?! Like... Laser eyes or a drill in your forehead like a real robot?!"

"Both would prove impractical to implement," Markus said honestly. "Unfortunately, all my weapon and defense systems are installed on my main body."

A beam then hit Dale in the leg, impacting against his defense shell in a cascade of sparks. Panicked (almost losing his grip of Markus's head) Dale pushed away from the tree he was cowering behind as Cliff continued fighting off the drones in the background.

"Alright," Gritting his teeth as he ran circles around the trees to lose his pursuers, rounding the fourth right into the path of one of the drones. "HEADS UP!" He shouted as he skirted past the machines left holding out Markus's head, slamming it into the machine head, and knocking it to the ground.

"Please refrain from using my head like a club," Markus said.

"I MAY AS WELL USE YOU FOR SOMETHING!!"

Dale skidded to a halt, ducking behind a tree. Slowly, he stuck his head out, checking if the machines had lost track of him. On the path behind him, two drones were laying on the ground, inactive. All the others were no longer in sight.

"Whew..." Dale leaned his head back on the tree, "Time to catch my breath...."

"M-Mister Dale,"

"Huh?" As Dale opened his eyes he was greeted to a slim machine lurking just a few feet away, its elongated head and lense eye inches from the bispectral man.

"AHHHHHH!" Dale let out a high-pitched scream as he slammed Markus's head forwards, hitting the machine in the chest as he slumped down. The machine leaned over backward before hitting the ground inactive, its head now laying at the feet of a woman.

"Ah, Miss Nel. You have impeccable timing." Markus said.

"Eh.... Nel?" Dale opened his eyes again. Right in front of him, with an expressionless gaze was Nel, both blades drawn looking down on the wizard. ".........."

"So you were that little girl?" Nel asked.

".......... Maybe,"

Meanwhile, Cliff was ducking beneath the various beam fire as more and more drones began to converge, throwing punches to the nearest one in hit and run tactics, running up to one, delivering a quick blow which usually destroyed the fragile machine before retreating trying to avoid taking too many hits despite Dale's shell still holding.

The battle was proving a difficult one for him for the reason being his physic was more use to fighting slower, bulkier enemies as opposed to the slim machines, made even harder just a second ago when he turned a tree, leaping off the ground as he pulled back a punch at the nearest machine, only to have it emit a soft glow as it dematerialized before him, with his punch passing through the light-

"Wha-!?"

-which in turn passed through Cliff in a flurry of light, rematerializing directly behind him.

"Are you kidding me?" Cliff cried as he turned about with his left arm extended, the shell taking a direct hit before the hunter's backhand, breaking the drone's right arm before throwing it to the ground, spasming from the damage. Cliff loomed over it, holding his two fists together before hammering them down at the downed machine, cracking open its carapace, spilling the shimmering blue liquid that was contained within the machine's cores. "Dale heads up! These bastards can teleport!"

No sooner had he said that two more drones had teleported a few feet away, bringing their arm cannons to bear on the hunter.

"HA!"

Before they could, a Mirage came into view, performing a high sweeping kick, hitting the drone in the left drone in the back nocking the machine to the ground, continuing with a backhand smash at the head of the drone, spinning it around with the momentum to face the blond woman as she pulled back her right fist.

"SHA!"

With one swift blow, the machine's blue core shattered along as it was launched backward under the force. As Mirage landed her blow, the downed drone reached out and grasped her leg with its three-pronged pincer, trying to lift its arm cannon to blast at the woman.

"Heads up!" Unfazed, Mirage leaped into the air, putting her wait on her upper body as she spun clockwise. The machine was heaved into the air with her, still grasping Mirage as she spun before losing its grip, flying through the air towards Cliff who delivered a swift uppercut, shattering the machine on impact.

"Thanks for the save!" Cliff said. Mirage gave him a small wave before pointing.

"Behind you!"

Cliff turned his head to see another drone approaching him. Then, just as suddenly, A blade suddenly burst from its chest, breaking its core. The blade retracted, the drone kneeled to the ground, revealing Nel with Dale (still carrying Markus's head).

"The numbers seem to be thinning," Nel said, keeping her wits about her. "Let's just hope there are no more surprises."

"That's a tall order," Cliff said, scanning the area.

"..... Where's Sasha?" Mirage suddenly asked urgently.

"Isn't she with you?"

There was then a crack, followed by a beam striking against a nearby tree. Six more machines were converging on the location of the four, firing there beams in a volley.

"Shit!" Dale yelped as he ducked from an incoming beam. The group took cover behind whatever they could. Mirage meanwhile was still scanning the woods, trying to find any sign of her missing ward.

In the distance, she could hear what sounded like a battle to their left, recalling it was the last location she had seen the young hunter. She looked back at Cliff, who could sense her concern and gave her a nod.

"Good luck."

"Same to you."

Mirage ran off into, leaving Cliff, Nel, Dale, and Markus alone to deal with the incoming wave.

"Alright," Cliff nodded to Nel. "Let's mop them up!"

"Right behind you!" Nel twirled her short blade as the two ran out of cover, charging at the incoming drones.

****

"F-Firebolt!" Melvin frantically fired off one spell after another at the incoming wave of drones, each spell capable of destroying one due to their fragile bodies.

However, no matter how many he destroyed with his magic, more seemed to appear out of nowhere, putting a strain on not only his spell casting but also his bubble barrier which was taking consecutive hits. More to the point was what they were focusing on.

Cerberus let out a small yelp as it darted through the forest as more and more concentrated beam fire burnt through the environment as he ran.

"Cerberus!" Melvin ran after him, casting the occasional spell at a nearby drone. "Leave him alone!" He cried as he ran after his partner. Behind him, the drones were converging, forming into a large group.

Eventually, Melvin caught up to his familiar who had stopped suddenly.

"Cerbe-AHH?!"

The boy skidded to a halt as the terrain suddenly broken up with a short drop from a small landslide that occurred, sinking a part of the small mound they were on, but high enough to make a person think twice about jumping.

Looking behind him, seeing the machines converging behind him, Melvin took a quick glance to Cerberus. Sensing the boys intent, Cerberus leaped off the edge.

"Here GOOOOEESS!" Melvin scratched as he leaped just as the beam fire erupted behind him. He landed back on the ground, hitting the ground with a thud, almost losing his footing. Cerberus let out a small whine, in response to his master's fall.

"I'm ok boy. Let's-"

There was a crack of energy as Melvin's barrier was hit by a beam, fracturing it. To the young boy's horror, there was a group of six machines approaching in front of him, firing their arm cannons at him.

Desperately, Melvin erected a barrier to protect him and Cerberus, feeling trapped by the two hoards approaching.

"HEADS UP!"

With a familiar cry, there was a loud explosion from behind, blowing two of the front drones to the ground while the others were blown apart. The two surviving machines were about to stand when a foot slammed onto one, breaking through the chest. Meanwhile, The second was picked up, held by his arm cannon and lower body before being ripped in two.

Cerberus let out a happy help bark while Melvin gave a sigh of relief.

Max stood amongst the downed drones, his fists still fuming with flames. All across his body, however, were several burn marks that had been scorched on his enhanced skin, with a large burn scar on his left cheek. While the salamander being a mess was not upcoming, in this instance it was unsettling, to say the least.

"Yo!" Max casually waved at the two. "Are you guys oh-" moments before a beam struck him in the forehead. His head lurched backward, almost losing his footing before catching himself with his backfoot, raising his arms and hunching over as more beam's hit him.

Melvin looked overhead and saw the group of eight drones standing at the edge, firing a concentrated volley at Max.

"I'm getting...." Max gritted his teeth, flames leaking from the sides of his mouth. Sensing what was about to happen, Melvin dropped to the ground as Max parted his arms, "SO DAMN SICK OF YAAAAAA!!!!!" letting out a wide and powerful flame roar which completely obliterated the drones on the ledge while blasting through the undergrowth and trees before the flames subsided, leaving a burnt path of destruction in its wake.

"Overboard as usual," Melvin said as he got up from the ground, looking back at the destruction wrought by the salamander.

"Ahh... I was just.... Pissed..." Max then collapsed forward on the ground.

"Max!" Melvin and Cerberus rushed over to Max, fearing the worst. Max, however, turned to his back, letting out a deep sigh, a trail of blood leaking from the fresh mark on his forehead. "You really took a beating this time, huh?"

"Ahh... this is nothing," Max panted, rubbing his forehead.

"Hold on," Melvin crouched to him, holding out his hands over Max's chest. A green light began to glow from his hands as he begun healing Max's various burns. "With how much you've been hit with, I'm surprised you're not dead yet."

Max didn't respond back, instead of glancing blankly upwards as Cerberus rounded the downed Salamander. "They.... Just kept coming..." he said through bated breaths, "One after the other.... Like they had it out for me."

"......... Not just you," Melvin said with worry. "They were gunning for Cerberus too,"

Max turned to look at Cerberus. "You too, little buddy?"

Cerberus gave a yelp.

"Huh...? How come just us?"

"Cause you guys can sense where the machines are going to appear. That must be why they prioritized you two." Melvin said anxiously. "And I wouldn't be surprised if they went after Mary as well; the three people who can detect where they're gonna show up."

"..... Meaning, what?" Max said looking up at the boy, "You mean they knew and were targeting us."

"Remember what Markus said; they learn and adapt. The fact that they knew who to go after just one engagement means they're far more dangerous than we thought. Even if we change up our strategy, they'll just learn from it."

"Ah, so what," Max shrugged, "If they learn from us and change on the fly we just gotta do what we always do."

"Improvise?" Melvin let out a sigh. "Where you get that optimism, I'll never know."

"And besides," Max said sounding more serious, "we all agreed that we can't let them get to Allisa's hometown. So we gotta make sure we stop 'em here and now."

"I was wondering when you'd bring her up," Melvin said quietly with a sly grin as Cerberus let out a small yelp.

"Hmm?" Max looked between the two, looking lost. "Bring.... What?"

"Nothing," Melvin said, retracting his hands. "Ok. Luckily those beams didn't penetrate deep in your body so it's stuff I could handle."

Max sat back up, raising his arm and stretched. The burn marks on his skin had disappeared thanks to Melvin's healing magic, even though the marks remained.

"I'd say don't overdo it," Melvin got back to his feet again. "Buuuut.... This is you we're talking about."

"Thanks," Max said as he jumped to his feet. "By the way," looking at the surrounding area, "Where are we?"

"Uhhh....?" It was only when Max brought it up did Melvin realize that the three of them had been completely separated, and isolated from the group.

"AHH! WHY DIDN'T I THINK ABOUT IT BEFORE?!!" Melvin rattled his head. "Oh man, this is seriously bad!"

"What's up?" Max asked.

"They split us up! Those three in the center wasn't just to go for you, Cerberus and Mary, it was also to split us up so they can pick us off one by one!"

"What's the big deal? We just gotta go back to where the others are."

"Alright, where is that?"

"How should I know?"

"Then you see the problem! We have no idea where we are, and we have machines that can appear out of thin air! They split us up so they can pick us off one by one!"

"So what?" Max scoffed at Melvin's concern, slamming his fist into his hand, letting out a plume of flames. "They come after us, I'll just blast them back to where they came."

The young wizard was flabbergasted by his partner's enthusiasm. "... All right; let's say we fight back the next wave, what then? We still don't know where we are or where-"

Woof!

Cerberus barked, cutting Melvin off. The two looked towards the dog who was perched on a nearby tree root before jumping off, his flaming tail wagging as it walked two paces away before turning to the two boys barking again.

"..... I think he wants us to follow," Max pointed out.

"Do you know where the others are, boy?" Melvin asked.

Cerberus returned another two barks before running in the same direction, turning back before barking again.

"Cool! Looks like that's one problem solved." Max said as he walked towards the fiery dog.

"Well.... Better than walking around cluelessly," Melvin ran to catch up. "Good boy! Lead on!"

****

Yuki ducked beneath a beam before cutting in an upper arc, slicing through the nearby drone, keeping his posture as the destroyed machine fell to the ground. Slowly, Yuki lowered his blade, holding it low as he tightened his stance. Taking in a shallow breath, Yuki turned quickly, ducking under the beam of another drone, sharply turning counter-clockwise while raising his blade upwards, pointing out the tip before thrusting, piercing the chest.

Withdrawing, Yuki pivoted clockwise, slashing through a drone that had just teleported, cutting it in half from the waist, continuing his turn as he held his blade overhead, sending it down on the first drone he pierced, slicing it in two even half's.

As Yuki recovered his posture, his ears picked up the snapping of twigs coming from behind him. Closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, the swordsman sheathed his blade, lowering his sense of gravity, left hand grasping his scabbard with his thumb resting on the cross-guard, right hand gently hovering over the hilt.

He honed his senses, listening to the sound of the undergrowth, the rustling of leaves and snapping of twigs.

Reijingu Mizu:

Ever so slowly, he applied pressure to the crossguard until there was a click, the metal blade freeing itself from the white scabbard.

Stance 4.

His eyes snapped open, hand grasping the hilt as he lowered his body, kicking off with his right foot, spinning clockwise on his left as his blade shot free of the scabbard.

Rasshu!

Yuki held his stance, his blade Sakura held out horizontally. He then finally relaxed his stance, raising his blade before swinging it to the side.

As though signaled, a slim machine decloaked behind him with its back turned. All of a sudden, the light blue fluid burst from its core as rent from its right shoulder to below its left arm tore through the construct, freeing itself from the main body as it fell, laying in two halves.

Letting out a sigh, Yuki rested his blade on his shoulder. "Looks like that's the last of them,"

All around him were eleven destroyed drones, scattered all across the immediate area.

"Persistent bastards, I'll give them that,"

Fighting the machines was very much outside of Yuki's comfort zone. Not only were they almost entirely ranged combatants, but cutting through the frames proved different from living creatures, given the resistance he felt as his blade carved through the metal, and even cutting off a limb or slicing them in half would not completely dispatch them. Then there was the unpredictability of the machines. Living creatures would always act on some form of instinct such as survival, determination, bloodlust, or fear, something Yuki would always look for and try to exploit, watching for any opening to deliver a decisive blow. The machines had no such signs, attacking with not even a glimmer of life.

"Now then...." Despite being outside his comfort zone, Yuki had a much bigger, more immediate problem. "Where the heck am I?"

So caught up in fighting back the machines, Yuki failed to notice that his battle was taking him further and further away from the party. Now he was stranded in the middle of nowhere, on his own with the machines still lurking.

"Oh well. Best to head back." Yukl shrugged as he looked around, "I think.... This way." before walking in a westerly direction, "..... Or this way," changing north, "No, definitely this way," then west, "This way for sure," and finally east before stopping to look over his shoulder, "...... Or was it that way?"

****

"Nyeow!" Meracle cried as she axe kicked a nearby drone, her heel cracking its head before slamming it to the ground. "NYA!"

A beam suddenly passed overhead, nearly catching her right cat ear if she hadn't folded her ears down in time as she ducked. Behind her, seven machines where converging, firing their beams in unison at her.

"WHY ARE THEY ONLY GOING FOR ME?!" Meracle screamed as she ducked under the incoming volley.

All of a sudden, a wall rose from the earth between Meracle and the machines, each stot hitting against the earth wall before they gave up, turning to see Rodger standing behind them, hammer resting on his shoulder's looking smug.

"That all ya got?"

As the machines turned their attention to the samiet, Rodger tapped his hammer to the ground. Three large Stakes emerged from the ground, shattering three of the fragile machines into pieces while the others saw their formation disturbed, being pushed aside by the force. As they tried to regain their formation to contend to the new threat, Rodger slammed his hand to the ground, a rock shot out.

"Cause I haven't broken a sweat!"

Pulling back his hammer, Rodger sent the rock flying towards the two machines to his left, hitting one and sending it flying into the second, crushing both as they impacted against his barrier.

With a satisfied smirk, Rodger began to run to the left as the remaining machines opened fire at him.

"All yours Sasha!"

As the machines maneuverer around the new obstacles in the path in pursuit of the small boy, they became unaware of the small-statured figure making its way through the shadow of the undergrowth.

Sasha suddenly sprung like a viper, sweep kicking one of the machines off its feet, allowing the automaton to collapse to the ground. Leaping onto the downed machines back, Sasha pulled back a fist as the final machine turned around to register her as a threat. Before it could fire, Sasha sprung from the ground, undercutting the machine in its chest, hitting it hard enough to crack its metal shell.

Landing back on the ground, Sasha pivoted on her axis as the drone she punched passed from the damage while the first machine was trying to get back to its feet. Pulling back her fist, the young hunter punched the machine in its single eye socket while it was on its fours, hitting hard enough that it broke the head spun 180 degrees before flopping down loosely attached to two cables.

The final drone was readying its arm cannon preparing to fire at the registered threat. Rodger, however, came charging towards it with his hammer overhead, which had grown from rocks that had joined to the head and staff, increasing its size exponentially, looking like a cartoon mallet.

"10 tone-hammer!"

The hammer slammed the machine to the ground which finally fragmented and shattered under the weight. The weapon broke apart upon impact. Shrinking back to its original size, Rodger pulled the hammer over his shoulder, grinning at Sasha as he raised his hand for a high-five.

"We did it!"

"Yeah!" Sasha returned the gesture.

Their celebration was interrupted by the arrival of two more drones that were making their way towards them. Narrowing their eyes, both Rodger and Sasha were prepared to fight back.

However, before they could do anything, a third drone, flying in the are from the left of the drones formation, suddenly collided into the rear drone, launching it, both slamming against a tree.

The final machine-turned to its left to the right.

"YA!"

Just as a fist slammed into its fragile body, burrowing into the mid-section below the glowing blue core which lost its light. The machine fell backward as the attacker stood over its body while holding back her fist, stretching and clicking her fingers.

"Mirage!" Sasha ran over to Mirage, who looked as though a huge weight had been lifted.

"Sorry, I tried to get here as fast as I could," she said to the two children.

"Ah, no worries," Rodger boasted rubbing under his nose, "Those enforcer-thingies were no match for us."

"We're all ok," Sasha added, putting her hands to her hips. "It was scary when they suddenly appeared, but we managed to fight them off," Sasha said triumphantly.

"I see," Mirage nodded, still relieved to see her charges unharmed. "So is it just the two of you?"

"Hm?"

"...... Huh,"

Rodger and Sasha looked amongst themselves with a look as though they had forgotten something or someone.

"MIRAAAGGGEEE!!"

As though answering their question, Meracle leaped out of the darkness onto Mirage's back.

"THEY WERE GOING FOR ME! THEY WERE DEFINITELY GOING FOR ME!!" She wailed as she rocked the startled Mirage back and forth. "MYAWHAAA! I HAD ENOUGH OF THIS WOOD THINGY! THIS IS WAY WORSE THEN WHAT MILADY DID TO ME! I WANNA GO BACK!"

"Oh yeah, Mary's with us," Rodger pointed out to the flabbergasted Mirage.

"Are you ok Mary?" Sasha asked the frightened Cait Sith as she stopped rocking Mirage, wrapping her arms and legs around her like a monkey.

"Nyeww...." Meracle looked far from ok, her tail standing on edge as she scanned the dark woods.

"Well... I can take that to mean she's still with us," Mirage said, patting Meracle's hands.

"Yeah... but..." Rodger looked around the area, still littered with the destroyed drones. "Is it only us here? Where's the others?"

"Well..... looks like it's just us for now," Mirage sighed, realizing how much of a disadvantage they were now that the party had been divided. "Was with Cliff, Dale, and Nel before. With a bit of luck, they shouldn't be too far. Come on,"

She then walked back, trying to retrace her steps with Meracle still clinging to her. "Can't we go home already... Let the others take care of these things."

"No way!" Rodger protested setting off behind Mirage with Sasha alongside him. "A Real man never walks away from a challenge!"

"WELL I'M NOT A MAN!"

Sasha walked with them, but then stopped suddenly, turning around, responding to a rustling somewhere behind them.

"Sasha, come on!" Mirage called out.

"Ok." Sasha nodded, taking one last look behind her, squinting and keeping her ears tuned. She was greeted by the dead silence of the woods, and nothing else. "Just my imagination."

As she walked away, a dark figure watched them walk away, hidden in the high branches, watching as they left, a black, metallic hand resting on the thick wood.

"You don't see that every day," A muted, synthetic voice emitted from the figure, quite enough as to not be heard by those the figure was stalking. "I should probably put this in my report. Not just anyone walks out of an enforcer ambush unscathed."