Sam

“That goddamn smoke,” Sam said, struggling to his boots.

Sam coughed and coughed, even though his attacker had been killed off.

Saif and Milo battled atop one of the platforms. Lightning bolt surged into the black cloud and the cloud retaliated by trying to reach into his mind. Every time Milo transformed back into his human, he looked more and more worn out. He was losing. But Saif was engaged completely in the battle. Someone could sneak up behind him.

Sam walked up to the platform’s base and bent his knees deep. He looked at his display for a split second. Yes, the void bomb still rested inside his sleeve, unharmed by all the violence. Fast and distinct about it, he would have to be.

He jumped.

Before he even landed on the platform, he reached for Saif. The gauntlets dug into Saif’s clothing and body as the man transformed back into his human shape. And pulled. With a push to the right trigger, a series of mechanisms clicked and slid the void bomb through the sleeve and gauntlet, to Sam’s palm. He shoved the bomb into and down Saif’s throat.

“This time, your goddamn asshole is finished,” Saif said.

Saif grabbed for his mouth and the object that had been forced down his throat, he literally scratched himself.

“Good work,” Milo said.

Sam held up a finger. “Wait, it is not over yet.”

The void bomb detonated. A wormhole was created inside Saif’s very body. Its swirling madness reached outside his mouth, it was loud and its gravity well started pulling at them.

“You did it. You just opened a wormhole inside his body,” Milo said.

Saif screamed and convulsed, but he stood firmly on the same spot and his body looked unharmed.

Sam planted his knee and locked his elbow against his body, his laser cannon started to spin up. “It is not working. Either he is healing through it or the diamond tissue is too tough. Step back, please.”

The swirling started to calm down.

“Hell, no,” Milo said.

Saif closed his mouth and a smile widened on his face. “I am God, remember?”

Sam squeezed the trigger. The laser cannon spewed superheated beams at his target, impacting at perfect angles, but not penetrating through the diamond tissue.

A tingling sensation grew in Sam’s head. “He’s inside my head!”

Milo transformed and thundered into Saif, they were launched off towards the ceiling again. Saif committed to a transformation too.

The tingling stopped.

Sam’s helmet crumpled together, warping his displays as he was grabbed. The outermost layer of his rig crumpled and started pushing against the layer underneath. He was thrown across and above the training field. He couldn’t see it, but the battle raged on. Screams of pain and roars of warcries.

Sam slammed into something and came to a halt. Moving with the outermost layer as warped as this was impossible. The very armor plates were not interlocking as they should and it instead hindered his joints. He activated the function. A series of clicks ran through the outermost layer of rig, disconnecting from his weapons and moved the anchors to the next layer, and the layer stumbled to the floor in tatters. It had been too damaged to do anything useful. Four layers left. At least he was able to move again and his displays were back. Tom must have caught him, crumpled him and pulled him across the field. But someone or something must have stopped him from finishing him off. He scanned his vicinity.

Beth. Of course it was her. She struggled against Tom’s telekinetic power. Tom looked tired.

This was outside the scope of his plan. He needed to separate Beth from Tom. Who was strong enough to keep her pinned down?

His rig’s sensors and his cybernetic senses warned him too late.

The gauntlets of a combat suit grabbed his helmet and head and lifted Sam off the ground. Sam struggled, trying to get a shot at his enemy, but was unable. Mist billowed out from the very seams of the combat suit.

“You piece of shit. Dirt, you are dirt,” the combat suit said. “Your days are numbered. You cyborg fuck! Remember my name: Sergeant Thompson, the one who slayed the cyborg!”

Not this guy again.

A lightning bolt from the storm thundered at the Sergeant, but the giant shrugged it off.

Sergeant Thompson raised his cannon, its muzzles reaching battle speeds. Sam’s rig wouldn’t be able to tank the hits from those ice beams.

Sam activated the function. A series of clicks ran through the outermost layer of rig, disconnecting from his weapons and moving the anchors to the next layer, and the layer was held in place by Sergeant Thompson, but he and the remaining layers of the rig slid down and landed on the floor. Sergeant Thompson discharged his ice cannon, but looked surprised by the lack of blood and gore as the rig layer shattered by supercooled ice beams.

Sam committed two rounds of acid against the back plate, to soften it up, and he ejected two spinning saw blades into the green mess. But the saw blades bounced off and landed on the floor.

Sergeant Thompson laughed. His combat suit had been upgraded. He swung around the ice cannon.

Sam weaved to the side as the barrage of ice beams came at him. He leaped forward and over the ice beams, landing on the cannon. The pipe on his gauntlet extended and the paste splashed at the cannon’s inner workings. The paste became adhesive before solidifying on its target and finally it detonated.

Thompson’s cannon and arm shattered, the giant fell to his knees with a hole to his side where the arm used to be attached.

Sam aligned his grenade launcher. “Fuck you.” The grenade flew into the new hole and sank inside.

Sergeant Thompson exploded and shattered into a million pieces, and was no more.

Three layers remained. It would have to be enough.

Beth and Tom were still locked in their struggle.

Who was strong enough to pin her down?

Rahgon, for sure. But the red scaled dragon was occupied on the other side of the field. She would not be able to help him in time.

Yuri roared and swung his mace, which was leveraged by a layer of stones, at his target. A powered man with a barrier ice. The ice shattered on impact, but the man countered with speed and agility, slicing harmlessly against the marble skin with ice shards. Yuri shoved his lightning rod forward, but the bolt missed its target.

Sam had been wrong. Yuri was of consequence, without his help, the plan cannot be executed.

Sam leaped into action. Feinted a punch aimed for the ice man’s face and then quickly fell to his knee as the ice man ducked, and he grabbed the man’s ankle and pulled. The ice man landed on his back on the floor and Yuri slammed down the mace on his unprotected chest. The chest caved in.

“You are starting to get a hang on killing. Maybe even gotten the taste of it?” Sam said.

“Never,” Yuri mumbled. But Sam recognised that cold stare and stark voice. Something in Yuri had changed. His definition of honor had been altered and so had his perception of what was worth doing.

“If you say so,” Sam said. “I need your help. You are the only one strong enough to pin Beth down, and that lightning, it works well on her. I need to keep her away from me and Tom. For a moment.”

“Why?” Yuri said.

“The kid. To leverage against Saif, it will provide Milo with that moment he needs to finish Saif off. We will have won. You just need to help me,” Sam said.

Yuri nodded. “Alright, let’s do this. I am tired of all this and of Saif.”

“We will move into position and rush at them at the same time, separate them, you take Beth and pin her to the floor, and I will take Tom to Milo and Saif,” Sam said.

Yuri had bought it.

There was no need for weaving or dodging through the battlefield, their destination was close enough.

Three layers left. He needed to make them count.

They moved up from opposite sides of the struggling Beth and Tom. The two of them paid little attention to Sam and Yuri. It was almost too easy. Sam grabbed Beth and pushed her off, while Yuri pulled her away. Yuri threw her away, she slammed into a wall a distance away. Two lightning bolts thundered into her.

The moment all of mankind hinged upon.

Tom stood up and extended his palms forward. Sam leaped forward towards Tom, but the outermost layer of his rig crumpled and halted as Tom started applying pressure. He activated the disconnected sequence and as the anchors all came loose he turned away from his standing layer and leaped again. Two layers left. Tom’s invisible force grabbed him again. He was a bit closer, but not enough. He activated the sequence again, turning and leaping quicker this time around. One layer left. Tom grabbed onto him again and halted him. He could almost reach out and grab the kid. Tom was worn out, the battle had drained him, it was apparent when being this close to his face, and also his posture told the same story. His timing was perfect.

Sam activated the disconnect sequence a final time, a series of distinct clicks went around the final layer of his rig. The only weapon that remained connected to his cybernetic body was the acid shotgun. The clicks finished. He turned away from the standing layer and reached for Tom, his fingers closed around the kid’s throat. He shoved and slammed the boy down on the floor. Tom was too tired, too drained to do anything.

There was yelling in the background, but it was a battle, so no surprise.

Sam aligned the acid shotgun against Tom’s neck. “I am sorry, kid. It has to be done.”

“Please, please,” Tom pleaded. Tears ran down his face and his voice cracked. “I am not ready to die. I am too young.”

“I am sorry.” Sam grabbed Tom by his hair and stared into his eyes.

Milo struggled in the background, yelling something, but he was locked in combat against Saif to stop Sam.

A lightning bolt fell from the storm and impacted Sam. But he shrugged it off, his rig was insulated towards it. Milo looked confused.

Sam met Milo’s eyes a final time. “I am sorry.”

Sam pulled the trigger.

The two rounds of acid splashed the base of Tom’s neck and throat. Tom screamed. A brief moment was all that was needed before the thick, green liquid had eaten through the human flesh, tissue and bone. Tom’s screams faded as his head came off.

Tom’s life vanished from his very eyes. Sam was there, in the moment of death. It had been done. He stood up, keeping his posture straight and true. Now, onto the final step. He turned and held Tom’s dead head by its hair, blood and acid dripping from it.

“Elizabeth, look over here,” Sam said. “Look at what I have done.” He pushed himself to smile wide and creepily. And laugh.

Beth was on her knees, screaming and fighting Yuri at the same time. “No! What have you done?”

“Get off me, Yuri! Wild, wild west style, stone face.” Beth pulled the twig from its holster, a chunk from Yuri’s left side was eaten away by its displacement beam. But Yuri still kept her down, grinning in pain and grabbing for the twig. He snapped it in two.

“I murdered your boy,” Sam said. “Goddamnit, come on.”

“No. NO! NOOOOOOO!” Beth screamed, her whole body started convulsing.

“Come on. Come on,” Sam muttered. “Come on! Come on, you metal monster. Berserk!”