Unity/Chapter 2: For Me, It Was Thursday

==A Note For The Readers==
I, Time, will be writing the majority of this chapter, but Nitro will be helping me.
On the note of canon, this takes place an indeterminate amount of time after Secret Discord. I'll try to keep spoilers for it to a minimum, but some events within the RP will most likely be mentioned at some point, so be warned! There will also be potential spoilers to events after SD as well, so watch out.
==Chapter 2: For Me, It Was Thursday==
It was a rainy Thursday afternoon, like many others that had come and gone recently. Despite this, Station Square was bustling once more, as if the events prior hadn’t even happened at all. People had returned to their lives, most of the damages had been fixed, and it seemed like all was fine.
For Clock-Watch, resident attorney-slash-detective, it was just a Thursday. Another day of slogging through case files and reports in the office for him (though his ‘office’ was really just a room in his apartment). He sat at his desk, shuffling through various folders, looking for something.
“Hey, how goes the case?” A voice called out from the other room. It belonged to his sister of a sort, Ryoku. The two had met only about a year and a half ago, but already had formed a sibling-like bond, being involved in all sorts of cases and intrigue. Apparently, both were made by the same creator, so they stuck together.
“Eh, it’s going.” Clock replied. “I’m looking for the forensic report on this one, though; it might just have the info I need.”
“I doubt that there’s a forensic report for a common gas station robbery.” Ryoku said. “What would that even get you?”
“I’ve just got a feeling, that’s all.” Clock sighed, setting the folders back down. Standing up, he stretched briefly, before walking into the other room at sitting down at his reclining chair, looking over to Ryoku, who was sitting on the couch.
“Something got you down?” She asked, tilting her head to the side. “You’ve been a little more glum than usual recently.”
“It’s just stuff that’s been on my mind since the incident that happened recently, that’s all…” Clock muttered, looking to the side. It wouldn’t take a lie detector to tell that he was trying to hide something, judging from his face.
Ryoku sighed. “I’m sure that we won’t have to worry about those crooks causing any trouble for a while. Just take it easy, okay? I got a parfait for you while I was out; take a break and give yourself something to eat.”
“One of the kind I like from that little shop three blocks down?” He asked, his eyes slightly lighting up.
“You know it!” Ryoku responded, making a finger gun at him and grinning.
Clock gave a small smile. “Thanks. That means a lot.” Walking over to the fridge, he pulled out the treat and sat back down in the chair with his parfait and a spoon. “I gotta stop worrying about crazy super-organizations and imminent world domination. When it happens, it’ll happen. Until then, I’m going to eat.”
"You know, you're going to jinx yourself, saying stuff like that." Ryoku snarked.
With all of this going on, Ryoku couldn't help but turn around a see bluish glow in the rain. This particular was outside , but it seemed more rhythmic. The glow was fading in to look like a sphere, and then faded out under the rain as it continued outside. It then lit up again, only this time, a small electrical jolt of energy could be felt, only instead of pushing her away, it almost felt it was enticing her to get closer.
Standing up, she walked up to the window in an attempt to get a better look at whatever was out there.
"Something the matter?" Clock asked, tilting his head to the side in the same manner that she had only moments earlier. "Is there something weird going on out there? A crime? Or is it more of a thing thing?"
"Is both an acceptable answer?" Ryoku replied. She was squinting out the window at something. "Like, a glowy weird thing thing? I can't quite make out what it is, but it really feels like something weird."
Quickly swallowing a few more spoonfuls of the parfait, Clock hopped out of his chair and rushed over to look out the window with her. "I don't see anything. Where did it go?" He squinted around, trying to get a glimpse of what Ryoku saw.
"It looked like it landed outside?" Ryoku guessed. "Do you want to head out and get a closer look?"
"Do apples grow on trees?" Clock snarked back, grinning. "You know me; how can I not?" In a flash, he threw his coat on, a blue-white scarf around his neck, and a towel for his hair tucked into one of his pockets sloppily. "Let's go figure out what this thing is! It better be quick, though; I really want to finish that parfait."
The two walked out into the rain, looking around for a sign of what had caused the glowing from earlier. Clock had pulled out an umbrella, holding it up for Ryoku. Sure, it meant that he wasn't fully protected from the rain, but he didn't really mind. Walking across the street, both of them scanned the area, Ryoku looking to the left while Clock looked to the right.
"I wonder what it is." Ryoku pondered. "It got brighter and darker in a sort of rhythm... It was almost like a heartbeat."
The light increased as they got closer and the electric signatures became frequent, as did the rhythmic bright and dim rhythmic of the light.
"You're right." Clock-Watch said, walking towards the glow. "Just what the hell is this thing?"
They soon reached a blue rhombus-shaped gem on the ground. There were three rings that wrapped around the gem as part of its structure. It continued it's pulsing rhythm.
Clock knelt down to pick it up, holding it up to get a good look at it. "Not like anything I've seen before. It's no Symphony Crystal, that's for sure. Whatever it is, this is something else entirely."
Ryoku tilted her head to the side. "Hey, you can plug it into your cannon and see what kind of energy it is, right?"
"Yeah, that could work." Clock replied, still studying the gem. "Well, let's get back to the apartment. No point staying out in the rain any longer."
The two headed back, though for some reason, Clock-Watch felt uneasy about the gemstone he was holding. After all, magic stones don't come from nowhere. Where did this one come from?
The gemstone started glow a lighter brighter and the heartbeat rhythm got faster and faster to the point where Clock-Watch felt a massive dose of electric energy travel from his arm all through out his body, forcing him to drop it, and it hit the ground . Strangely, it didn't lose its glow or rhythmic pulsing, but it did however trigger a hidden sound wave that he couldn't hear, neither could Ryoku.
"What the...?" Clock muttered to himself. Looking at the stone, he realized one thing: Whatever energy it was exuding, it was dangerous. Quickly, he summoned his arm cannon, and used it to form a barrier of silvery energy around the stone. "I'm worried that this thing might be unstable. You go call Plat, she could probably make a more permanent barrier on this thing. I'll stay here, keep this thing from breaking anything, in case it unleashes any of the energy it's holding."
"You can tell it's that powerful, huh?" Ryoku asked. "Well, she's probably our best bet, then. I'll call her and we can try and figure out what to do from there, alright?" She walked over to a nearby pay phone, keeping a close eye on Clock, just in case something were to happen. She wasn't sure what exactly would happen, but her experience with the detective was that weird stuff tended to go on around him, and she was determined to be on the lookout.
The gem didn't make any noise upon being sealed by the barrier. It didn't lose its glow or rhythmic pulse. It did however stand itself straight up and start spinning. The way it moved was similar to a planet rotated on its axis. Strangely, it didn't speed up or slow down. It just sat there spinning in the barrier, not even trying to destroy it.
"Where did this thing even come from?" Clock wondered out loud. "Hey, got an answer yet?"
"Nope." Ryoku sighed. "Seems like the storm is messing with the signal. My guess is that it's another soulstorm, but not as bad as the one a few months back. We should get back inside, just in case that's what's going on. We should be fine, but after the incident with that insane lightning mech, I don't want to even think about being caught outside during one of these stupid things again."
"Just great. I guess it's on us to keep this thing locked up tight, then?" Clock asked, picking up the barrier holding the gem. "Let's head inside, then. I can try to run some tests on this thing, I guess. Hopefully nothing crazy happens before then."
"Your barrier should probably work, as long as you keep it up." Ryoku noted. "Unless there's someone hunting for it, we should be fine."
"Hunting for it? Don't even make me think about the Symphony Crystals case again." Clock groaned. "If I never see those stupid rocks again, it'll be too soon."
As they talked, the two returned back to their apartment, and Clock kept his eye on the gem the whole way there.
When they got back, they were startled to find there apartment completely ransacked. Filing cabinets had been left agape, tables were either broken or flipped over, some shards of glass from a desk lamp had been seen on the ground adjacent to mangled desk lamp. Several folders had been opened and lay strewn about the apartment, and massive holes in the wall around the apartment. Not to mention that all closets, cabinets and household paraphernalia were strewn about as well.
But among all the scraps and carnage. A small beeping sound could be heard. It also sounded like some sort of unfamiliar language was being spoken.
Ryoku opened her mouth to gasp, but Clock quickly covered it with his hand. After a moment, he moved it to his mouth and made a 'shhh' gesture. Silently, he drew his sword with his free hand and walked towards the source of the beeping. At this point, he had concealed the barrier-covered stone in one of his coat pockets, just to be safe.
Just what the hell is going on? Clock thought to himself. If these case files are ruined, I swear... The bill on fixing this is going to hurt my wallet. I won't have food for weeks... Though I don't really need to eat, so I guess it's not really that big of a deal. The important thing right now is figuring out who these people are. I'll keep this gem hidden for now, though; it seems like it could be a valuable bargaining chip later.
Ryoku followed behind, silent. The fusion reactor inside her began to produce more energy; she was ready for a fight, if it would come her way. Whatever had broken into their apartment, it was clearly a threat.
The two made their way to the source of the noise, ready for whoever- or, perhaps, whatever- they would find when they got there.
~
Meanwhile, about two blocks away, two agents of the Hyper Division were making their way towards the apartment. The two were none other than Hikari the Cat and Kiko the Fox. They were part of the Division's elite scouting team, known as the Sensors. Well, that's what they were told. Upon detecting the strange energy readings coming from Station Square, the two went to investigate immediately. Despite the rain, the two were perfectly dry; it looked like Kiko was using his powers to blow the rain away from the two.
"You think that Clock and Ryoku are involved in this somehow?" Kiko asked, turning to look at Hikari.
Hikari turned around to give Kiko a look that simply said 'are you kidding me'. "Those two? Nah, I bet that they didn't even notice that energy signal right outside their apartment! Of course they're involved! It's in their nature to be drawn to this stuff. Which means that we'll have to deal with them. Again."
Kiko sighed. "Even so, I hope that they're all right. I wonder what's going on over there right now. Probably nothing exciting, but you never know."
~
Back with Ryoku and Clock, the beeping noise was coming from one of the desks. Upon finding it, it was a small communicator that could've been mistaken for a pager. But they also saw footprints and broken objects creating a trail to a broken window and a robot being temporarily deactivated.
"Huh!?" Clock gasped. "What the heck is this stuff?" He leaned out the window to look around while Ryoku picked up the communicator and examined it, attempting to figure out where it was from, or perhaps how to activate it.
"Whatever it is, it's fairly advanced technology." Ryoku noted, poking the robot. "I wonder where it came from? It's not Hyper Division tech, that's for sure."
"Not Hyper Division?" Clock groaned. "Just great. What I really needed in my life was yet another high-tech organization breaking my stuff. Yeah, totally."
"Hey, you got the mystery you were waiting for. That's something, right?" Ryoku chuckled.
Clock rolled his eyes. "Can I take that back? I want to get back to eating parfaits and paying my rent late again."
Soon after that, the communicator started beeping and revealed something else. A small, cylindrical tower rose out from the middle, and then a hologram of the gem they had found earlier formed. Some illegible text spawned underneath the gem too, presumably describing something related to the gem.
Ryoku's eyes widened in surprise. She squinted at the text, trying to figure out what it said, but couldn't figure it out. "Hey, Clock? I think I found something."
Around this time, the robot reactivated and looked up, only to see Clock-Watch looking out the window. The robot then started shouting at him, trying to get his attention.
The sudden noise startled Clock, and he stumbled back. "Augh! What the heck!?" Grumbling, he walked back towards the source of the noise, and glared at the robot. "You've got my attention, for better or for worse. Are you the scoundrel that busted up my apartment?"
The robot spoke total gibberish. Not a single world was English in the slightest, showing a obvious language barrier. Yet, it didn't take too long to see that robot didn't like the rain, going so far as to cover it's eye with its three fingered hands. It also generated some short noises in gibberish. It soon grabbed hold of the wall and tried to climb back in.
Clock stepped back, turning to Ryoku. "Hey, look out. We've got company, and I don't like the nonsense they're shouting at me."
With Ryoku, the device in her hand emitted a laser grid, scanning the entire room in a green color. The green turned to red when it detected something. That something was the blue gem they had acquired. The hologram faded in and out repeatedly, indicating a match.
Quickly realizing the implications, Ryoku shoved the device in her pocket, hoping to conceal the fact that it had detected whatever it was looking for. "I don't like the looks of this one bit." She whispered to Clock. "Whatever's going on, it's bad news for us."
Clock nodded his head silently in response, and the two stood back from the window, waiting for the robot to enter. Clock had his sword at the ready, realizing that a confrontation could very well be in his future.
The robot could be heard climbing its way up the wall, trying not to panic from the raindrops falling into it. It continued to grow closer and closer until it fumbled it's way inside the apartment. It continued to speak gibberish in an angry tone as it got on its feet. It then looked directly at Clock and Ryoku, and was scanning them for them for something. It soon detected the blue gem in Clocks coat. The robot pointed directly at Clock's pocket, and then opened its hand as if it was expecting payment. The robot motioned its eye at the pocket for a split second and directed focus at Clock. It also spoke the same gibberish it had earlier.
It's just as I figured. Clock thought. He's looking for this gem. But what for, is the question? I'm not handing it over until I know, that's for certain.
Ryoku took a step towards the robot with her hands on her hips. "Hey, if you're trying to ask us for something, try speaking a language that actually makes sense. I don't care what you want, you're going to apologise for trashing our apartment before anything else!"
Clock turned to look at Ryoku. "I'm pretty sure he can't understand us." He snarked.
"I don't care! That desk lamp was brand new, and he's going to apologise for breaking it!" Ryoku grumbled.
The robot scanned her body language and current mood. Acting on the possibility of her being a threat, the grabs her under her muzzle and raises her into the air. The robot then balled it's hand into a fist in preparation to attack. It then continued to say the same gibberish as before as it stared directly into Ryoku's eyes.
The sudden movement caught Ryoku off-guard, and all she could do was let out a surprised "What-" as the robot raised her into the air, continuing its nonsense.
Clock was also surprised at first, but quickly realized that the situation had become hostile. In a flash, he brought his sword down on the arm holding Ryoku in the air. Normally he wouldn't be so quick to attack, but he was annoyed, his sister was being attacked, and he wasn't fighting an organic creature, so he had no qualms about instantly moving to sever the machine's arm. "Instead of this idiotic solution, how about we talk this out?" He sighed.
The robot still couldn't understand them, and proceeded to charge at Clock with a fist at the ready.
"Well, it seems there's no reasoning with you. Seeya later, robot from who-knows-where." Clock said, bringing his sword down once more in an attempt to vertically bisect the droid. He wasn't taking any more chances with the robot, seeing as it couldn't understand them. Also, it was liable to cause more damage to the apartment, and Clock really didn't want that to happen.
The robot looks up at the blade and grabs the blade, struggling to hold on to it, but it manages to cut through the palm of its hand , the middle of its arm, and through the rest of it, thus exposing it's inner workings to Clock. Not to his surprise, it was definitely an advanced form of technology that this robot had yet, the design of the exterior and the components of its interior were definitely not something anyone nearby had made. Yet, the fact it was so easy to beat alone raised more questions than answers.
With the threat gone for the moment, Clock breathed a sigh of relief. "You all right, Ryoku?" He asked, leaning down to examine the strange machine.
"Yeah, just startled, that's all." Ryoku sighed. "Any idea where this thing's from?"
"It's not Hyper Division, that's for sure." Clock noted. "I'm sure they have robots of this sort in the Division, but this is clearly the work of someone else. The question now, of course, is the work of whom? It's safe to say we know what they're after, but beyond that I'm drawing a blank. Either way, go get some water bottles and your Control Rod; there's a good chance we might end up in another fight sometime soon."
Ryoku silently nodded, and went to gather her supplies. After a minute or so, she had returned, with a number of canteens at her waist. Her Control Rod was poking out of a bag on her back; it would be easy to put on in case a violent situation arose, and she wouldn't have to cover up her right hand until it was needed.
"All right, if you're all ready, we should head outside. We might be getting some more visitors, and I'd like to avoid wanton property damage." Clock said, standing up from examining the broken robot.
"I'm all set. Let's go." Ryoku replied, heading for the door.
"We're off, then. Time to get to the bottom of this mystery." Clock said. Before he left, he gathered up the parts of the robot and dumped them out the window, sending them back down to the pavement. "Stupid robots messing up my apartment... I hope he gets tossed in a scrap heap..." He grumbled, quickly catching up with Ryoku.
It only took them a few minutes to get back outside. It still was raining, and wasn't showing any signs of letting up, but they had decided to go without an umbrella, in case they needed to draw their weapons. Clock's sword was no longer out; his blade was stored in the compartment in his back once more.
"Well," Clock commented. "Now, we wait."
Several robots akin to the one they just destroyed started converging on their position. They all had an arm extended, ready to fire.
Seeing the robots approaching, Clock-Watch and Ryoku each got their weapons at the ready; Clock held his sword in his left hand and his arm cannon formed around his right, and Ryoku had her control rod around her right arm. The two stood back-to-back, prepared for whatever kind of attack the robots were going to let loose.
"You ready for this?" Ryoku asked.
"Yeah. Let's send these punks back to the scrap heap they belong in!" Clock replied. "Hey, trash cans! You guys gonna talk any more sense than your friend, or are you gonna just skip to the part where we turn you into scrap?"
They didn't respond, most likely because they couldn't understand Clock and Ryoku. The robots were firing their harpoons at the duo, but they spread in many directions, sometimes missing the apartment complex completely. Their silence and actions had given Clock and Ryoku the answers they had.
Clock used his sword to deflect and destroy the harpoons that flew towards the two, simultaneously firing energy blasts at the robots with his arm cannon. Ryoku couldn't deal with them as reliably, so she stood behind Clock, firing small yet powerful bolts of energy at their attackers from her Control Rod.
I wonder, how many of these will we have to go through before their presumed controller shows themselves? Clock thought. If we take out all of these, that should send a message that we're not going down so easily. Hm. I really need to try and get that gem hidden from their sensors if I want to keep it from them, though. I could try the trick I did with the Symphony Crystal way back when, I suppose. And if this really is the right kind of storm... For now, let's just focus on dealing with the immediate threat.
The harpoons that weren't destroyed were retracted back to the corresponding robots, only to be shot out multiple more times. These would get faster with each miss. Those with the destroyed harpoons started charging at the duo, hands turned into fists. Some of the vectors were full on charging at them. However, when some of them got close enough, some of the charging vectors had metallic spikes on their knuckles, while others had metallic claws. Those that weren't equipped with any of the above had metallic swords and arms turning into Neutronium rail blasters.
"Ready to fire?" Clock asked, turning his head back to look at Ryoku.
She responded with a nod, and Clock stepped aside. Ryoku's Control Rod had sufficiently heated up at this point, and she had locked onto as many targets as she could. The rod shone with the light of nuclear power, and a moment later it fired a barrage of energy balls, one aimed at each vector moving towards them.
The energy balls hit their target's spot on, creating mini explosions. But even though those shots hit their targets, more vectors emerged, some with their rail blasters firing. One if the shots just barely missed both of them and blew a massive hole in the wall of the apartment building. With the smoke, some of the sword wielders got close to them. One of them got close enough to emerge from the smoke and charging at Clock.
For Ryoku, she had to keep some of the other vectors from actually landing hits with their harpoons.
"Damn!" Clock grumbled. "They don't even care about collateral damage! How are we supposed to defeat them without some way to attack without hitting anything!?" He glanced to the side, down the street. "Wait, the park's over there, right?"
"Yeah!" Ryoku exclaimed. "If we can get there, then we won't have to worry about anyone getting hurt! It's raining, so nobody's going to be out there right now. But how are we going to distract these guys long enough to get there?"
As the vectors closed in on Clock, he smirked. "Ryoku, step out of the rain."
It took her a moment, but she quickly realized what he was implying. "Ah! Just like last time!" Ryoku quickly backed into the apartment complex once more, out of the rain.
Clock quickly stuffed his arm cannon into his coat pocket, and when he pulled it out it had a purple ring of some sort attached to it. "If you're as durable as it seems, this won't destroy you, sadly. But it should be enough to stop you for a moment. Take this!" From his cannon, silver tendrils of electricity arced outwards. The water in the air and on the vectors made for a strong conduit, causing the energy to arc from robot to robot, hopefully spreading to all of them to temporarily disable them.
Taking the hits, the vectors started screaming in pain from the attack, obviously wired enough to replicate the feeling of pain. Not only that, the electricity actually overcharged them, amplifying the electronic current and causing a couple of vectors to be set ablaze and fall to the ground. A couple others exploded, releasing a surge of electricity. The rest temporarily deactivated. But among all of them, one of them did not do any of the above. It was a little taller compared to the rest, and seemed to be a little bulkier with its armor. It didn't say anything either, just started moving toward them.
"Still one left?" Clock gasped. "That's fine. C'mon, Ryoku, let's move!"
Ryoku nodded in response, and the two bolted down the street, running towards the park only a few blocks away.
As they ran off, Hikari and Kiko had rounded the corner at the other end of the block, and the two stopped to observe the situation before them.
"Now, what do we have here?" Hikari wondered, squinting to get a better look at the robots before them.
"It looks like we aren't the only ones looking for the source of that energy." Kiko replied. "Let's just watch for now. Considering the burnt robot parts on the ground, Clock-Watch and Ryoku have been able to handle to situation so far. If things look dicey, we'll intervene."
The one robot left fired a blaster shot from his hand, blowing a massive hole in a nearby building, and then one more blast at the group, attempting to destroy them. Not only that, a loud roar filled the air as massive ships were on the approach.
Hearing the noise from the first blast, Clock looked over his shoulder to see the robot prepare its next shot. "He's firing at us!" He exclaimed, quickly turning around with his arm cannon at the ready.
Ryoku heard him, and also turned around. The two fired blasts of energy from their respective weapons, and the two attacks collided, cancelling each other out in a powerful explosion, which would create a cloud of smoke between the robot and them.
"Perfect!" Ryoku cheered. "Let's get a move on before he gets through that!" The two made it to the park only moments later, and started to make their way to the middle of it, hoping to minimize collateral damage from any future encounters.
Meanwhile, Hikari and Kiko witnessed the robot's attack against the two, and looked up to notice the ships moving in.
"Well, this is a problem." Kiko noted. "If only we had more notice, we could've gotten all of our equipment together!"
"Yeah, well, we don't have more time." Hikari grumbled. "Let's go; we've gotta deal with this now."
The ships took at the group and opened fire. Large Neutronium pulses rapidly start descending on the group. The big robot from earlier didn't go down, instead it returned fire at Clock.
Clock and Ryoku were barely avoiding the various attacks, now running around the center of the park in a desperate attempt to avoid the attacks from the ships and the robot. Whenever he got the chance, Clock fired back at the ships with sprays of energy balls, but the pressure seemed to be getting to him; many of them missed their targets entirely, flying harmlessly into the sky.
Meanwhile, Hikari had made it behind the large robot that had remained intact, while Kiko was nowhere to be seen. "Let's see what it takes to make you things break." He grumbled, firing a beam of light point-blank at the machine's back.
The machine locks up from the initial blast, and pierces the center of the back, exposing the back of the robots frame and it's spherical chest core. The robot then immediately turns around and attacks him by slapping him in the side of the face with enough force that it bruised his jaw. It also fired a pressured blast of kinetic energy that pushed him back.
Instead of walking, it started charging at Hikari. It spoke in English. "All brawn, no brain. Typical native."
Using a communicator embedded in its forearm, it spoke something in its native language. "Send a group of scout ships over to my coordinates. I'm picking up energy signatures in this area. We may have something."
Hikari had braced himself for the kinetic blast, and remained standing upright. "Hmpf. Typical robot soldier. All brawn, no brain." Smirking, he charged towards the robot. However, as the two closed in on each other, Hikari vanished, reappearing to the side of the robot, his hands glowing with energy. Upon reappearing, he fired a beam of light energy at the side of the robot.
Taking the hit, the robot flinches, stumbling away from Hikari. The bot grabs its damaged side saying, "A clever hit. But it will not be enough," said the robot as it turned to watch a scout ship open up a vacuum hatch, sucking the robot up into the ship.
With Ryoku, the communicator she had hidden had translated what the big robot had said. But it also started to make a whirring noise.
"Hm..? What's this?" Ryoku pondered, looking at the device. Before she could speculate further, Clock grabbed her by the arm, moving to the center of the park.
"Alright, we're in place." Clock said, looking up at the stormy sky. "I think I can stop these ships and whatnot... At least, long enough for you to get out of here."
"You want me to leave you here alone!?" Ryoku exclaimed. "No way! You'd get destroyed if you stayed here alone!"
"Listen, Ryoku. This is the only chance you'll get to get out of here. You can get Platinum, Terra, maybe some others too. Maybe even some of the guys we met back in the Symphony incident, whatever. But there's no way that you'll be able to get out with all these ships watching you." Clock said. He looked up to the sky, seemingly counting down to something mentally. "I'll be fine; these guys might mistake me for dead before I actually die. You're synthetic, you can't handle injuries like I can. When I give you the word, you have to run."
"Fine." Ryoku sighed. "But you better not get yourself killed doing something stupid."
"You can trust me. Doing stupid things is my special talent." Clock chuckled, forming his arm cannon over his right hand, sword in his left. "Now, get ready. Any moment now, and it'll be ready."
Seeing the attempted hits, the warships raised and focused their Neutronium Blast Cannons, Pulse guns, and Gamma Cannons, and rapid fire laser turrets toward the fighters on the ground and proceeded to fire the laser turrets first, with some of the laser travelling quickly toward Clock.
"Look out!" Ryoku cried, seeing the lasers coming before Clock did. Almost reflexively, Clock stabbed his sword into the ground and formed a defensive barrier of silvery energy. It would hold for a while, but it wouldn't be long until the barrier broke.
"Thanks for the warning." Clock sighed, giving Ryoku a pained smile. He held his cannon arm up to the sky, energy gathering within it; the gears began to turn, and Ryoku could hear the hum of the energy within strengthening, feel the static in the air around her. "Run on three." Clock sternly said, his face now focused. "One... Two... THREE!"
At that moment, Ryoku bolted away from Clock as fast as she could. Glancing over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of the havoc Clock was letting lose.
From his arm cannon, a massive beam of silvery energy was shooting up towards the cloudy, stormy sky, past the robots and the ships entirely.
"Ever since the start, I've been exciting the electricity in the clouds." Clock muttered to himself, smirking. He did love a good monologue, even if nobody could hear it. "Every missed attack was simply building up to this. It was too risky to let loose all at once against something, so all those haphazard energy balls were sent up into the clouds, charging them with my own energy, preparing them for when the time was right to strike. It was already stormy, so it was easy; nobody would notice the lightning and thunder in the sky, it's just what happens in a storm. And now, we're in the park. No tall objects to redirect the energy close by; the only targets are these ships. The storm's ready to be unleashed, all I need to do is give it a little push!"
As if to punctuate the end of his little speech, the beam detonated upon reaching the clouds with a mighty bang. The force of the explosion shook the area, and with it, the clouds crackled with silver electricity. Just as he planned, bolt after bolt rained down from the heavens on the only close targets in the area: the ships overhead. Although he couldn't do much to aim them, the power of the storm merged with Clock's own energy allowed him to let loose a powerful assault upon the fleet. It was clear that he couldn't keep up the barrage of bolts forever, though; the force of the initial blast had already been enough to put a small crack in his arm cannon.
Dammit. Clock thought. Already cracked? I need to be careful, but I have to keep it up until Ryoku can escape! Hopefully this leaves them too preoccupied to catch her! After a moment, a second thought occurred to him. Agh, dammit again! I forgot to give her the gem! At the very least, this might mean that these guys will be more focused on me...
Some of the scout ships that were shot were shorting and starting to drop like flies, sometimes raining down as fire engulfed the outer shell and exploded upon contact with the ground. Some of them actually stalled out, only to explode in the air a few minutes later. Yet not all the ships were destroyed. The warships took some damage such as some small fires on the landing strip, some destroyed laser cannons, and some electrical burns on the outside.
The warships then opened up a port on the bottom as more robots on to the ground. Some of the bots were flying, carrying large explosives with their own two hands. In the midst of this, Clock hears a voice come from the gem. "Hello? This is Savannah Alexis Myers. Is anyone there? I'm heading to your location to assist if I'm not too late."
"Huh!?" Clock exclaimed through gritted teeth. The cannon on his arm began to crack further, but he didn't give up on his assault just yet. As long as he was the biggest threat in the area, Ryoku would have a better chance of getting away. "Whoever you are, don't worry about me!" He called to the voice. "If you want to help someone, please, help my sister! It's too late for anyone to come and rescue me, but she's running away from this fleet. It's hard to miss her; she's a greenish hedgehog with a black cape. The rod on her left arm is hard to miss; look for that. If you find her... Tell her that her brother's going to be all right."
Meanwhile, Ryoku continued to run, too afraid of seeing something terrible happen to look back. "You better hang in there, little bro..." She muttered.
As she ran, a familiar yellow cat in a suit had somehow appeared out of nowhere, running along besides her. Indeed, it was Hikari. "So, as suspected. You're caught up in this mess, too. You two just can't keep yourself out of trouble, can you?"
"Other little bro!?" Ryoku gasped. Although his appearance surprised her, she continued to run away from the park at the same pace. "This really is that bad, isn't it? Heh, you were worried about the two of us, weren't you?"
"Tch!" Hikari grumbled, his cool demeanor quickly shattering. "We're out here only because investigating this nonsense is our job, nothing more. Don't get the wrong idea!" Despite his best efforts, Ryoku didn't even need a Magatama to tell he was lying through his teeth.
The scanner then went off again, only this time it was a female voice. "To anyone listening, this is Savannah Alexis Myers calling from Safehouse Orion. If you are hearing me, I will be joining you shortly with an acquaintance of mine. We should be there soon. This message will repeat until a response has been given." The female voice said.
"Huh? What's that you've got there?" Hikari asked, looking over at the scanner in Ryoku's hands.
"I got it earlier; I think it's a device for finding that weird gemstone." Ryoku paused for a moment. "Agh! Clock still has it! Damn, if only I remembered to take it from him before I ran!"
"You mean he's still back there!?" Hikari exclaimed.
"Who do you think is shooting that pillar of light!?" Ryoku shot back.
The Communicator goes off again, only to detect the blue gem from earlier having somehow plabted itself at Ryoku's feet.
"Eeeh!?" Ryoku cried, almost stumbling over the gem on the ground.
"Hm? Is that the source of the energy you guys were talking about?" Hikari asked, kneeling down to look at it. "How amazing is it; such a potent energy contained in such a small stone-"
His monologue was interrupted by Ryoku snatching the gem and pulling Hikari to his feet, practically dragging him behind her as she continued to run.
"Make poetry later!" She snapped. "Right now we need to get moving!"
"Hello? If anyone is there, I've sent a detachment to your location to escort you to the nearest retrieval point. They will arrive shortly." Savannah said.
"It sounds like answers are on our way." Hikari said. "I think we've run far enough; let's wait for these people to arrive, and hope that we can start to piece together what's going on right now."
The sound of metallic clanking could be heard. the sound of crunched debris rang out in their immediate area. Several juggernauts and gunners have made there way to there location . The Gunners raised their weapons, intending to fire, but were cut off when the blue gem slipped out Ryoku's hand and spun as if on an axis. It fired a blue beam in front of both groups, creating a wormhole between them. Then, the sight of what came out was discerning: a group of robots similar to the ones they fought before emerged, except they didn't fire on Ryoku and the others, but instead attacked the Juggernauts and Gunners in front of them. Another figured stepped out as well, a red hedgehog came out, weapon in hand. The wormhole shuts behind him and the blue gem drops to the ground. The red hedgehog picks it up. "You alright?" the hedgehog asks.
"...Relatively speaking." Ryoku sighed. She was still suspicious of the people before her, but it seemed this was her best chance, for the time being.
"Would someone mind enlightening us as to the current situation?" Hikari asked. "...And preferably, take us somewhere out of the rain, too?"
"Yes. The bots will handle this from here, my goal is to see to your retrieval. Vultra's forces are invading your dimension, searching for the artifacts. Take these." The hedgehog said, handing them these ring-shaped objects with a blue circle on the top. "Put those trackers on your wrists and follow me, I'll explain when we find shelter."
"You better give some answers..." Ryoku grumbled, putting on the tracker.
"Now, now, Ryoku." Hikari sighed. "I'm sure these people are at least somewhat agreeable."
"Affirmative. But we can't do it here. Follow me to the retrieval zone." Raven said.
"Let's be off, then." Ryoku sighed. "This wasn't how I was planning on spending my Thursday."
"Feelings Mutual." Raven said. The group was moving to the outskirts of the city toward a ruined radio tower
Meanwhile, Clock was still putting it all into his assault. Cracks were going all the way down his cannon at this point, and in a flash, it exploded. The beam faded away, the lightning ceased, and Clock lied upon the ground, doing his best to cling to conciousness.
"Now, now, PA-2." A voice said. Clock looked up, and only managed to get a glimpse of Kiko's face before passing out. Kiko looked up to the sky. "All right, then! He's down, no need to worry! I'd like to talk to your leader; I think we might be able to strike a wonderful partnership."
The remaining robots looked at him, with some of them looking at one another. One of them motioned the figure to follow them. The other robots ran up to him and kept their weapons on him, inteding to keep tabs on him.
Kiko chuckled. "Oh, no worries. I'll comply, I'll comply!" He reached down to pick up the unconcious Clock, and slung him over his shoulder. A few stray silver sparks came from the end of his cannon arm. "All right, let's be off."
The robots then lowered their armaments. Acknowledging that he wasn't a threat, that walked beside him, with one of them eyeing Clock in the event of him becoming animate again. The robot closest to the ship sent a transmission to the bridge of the ship, signaling that a return "plus two" was underway. The large circular opening then surrounds them with cyan pixels, an indication they were being sent up. They soon get teleported on board the bridge.
Psuedo walks up to them. "Greetings, native. We have heard that you have an interest in a partnership?"
Kiko gave a quick bow. "Yes, you have heard correctly. I believe that we can assist you in your goals. You are attempting to locate gemstones like the one that appeared in our world, correct?"
"Indeed. We need it if you have it on you. Speaking of which, I assume you know where it is if you don't?"
"Oh, of course! It should be right in this pocket..." Kiko said, rummaging through to pockets of the unconscious Clock. However, he seemed to come up empty-handed. "What!? I could've sworn he had it, and he's not one to give up things like that... If you have enemies also searching for these stones, I believe they might be close."
Psuedo pondered this. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, it turned around and spoke through a communicator to the other robots in an alien tongue. Some of the others responded. "If anything, a few alien cyborgs are here. I have sent a notice to the others to expand their viewing range. They confirmed that the detachment will be a heavy one. I'm going to send you to this detachment. I myself will be joining, but not before I "look the part".
Psuedo looked at the unconcious Clock, and was developing a interest in him. "Set him down. He picked his battles, however misguided."
Kiko complied, setting him down. "I must apologise for any trouble he caused. He's programmed to automatically attack foreign objects in the city's airspace, and I wasn't able to alert him earlier. He can get a little overzealous at times, I'm afraid."
"It is alright." Psuedo said. Psuedo fired a harmless orange beam at the knocked out Clock. The beam spread out from the pupil of the bot's eye and scanned up and down for a few seconds, "After All, a wise mobian said a stopped clock is right twice a day. Or that is at least I've heard." Psuedo said.
A transmission is received. The message confirmed that the detachment is ready, and is awaiting commands.
"Come. We mustn't keep them waiting. The others will put him in the laboratory for further study. " Psuedo said.
"I'd like to keep an eye on him, if I could." Kiko said. "He's a somewhat delicate piece of work, and I'd like to inform him of the current situation so he doesn't react negatively upon awakening on foreign grounds. Just to minimize the potential for him to cause any damage to his surroundings." This was, of course, not technically a lie. Kiko did wish to inform him of the current situation. It's just that the current situation wasn't exactly a team-up, but an incredibly dangerous stealth mission. Not only did Kiko need to explain this, but he didn't trust himself to keep his mind shielded long enough to prevent the possibility of some psychic reading his mind. If he wanted to pull this off, he needed Clock's assistance. And he needed it as soon as possible.
"Suit yourself. Take him down to storage deck 2a. It is closer to the center of the ship." Psuedo said, taking off.
"Many thanks. I'll be on my way there, in that case." Kiko noted, walking off.
Focusing back on Ryoku, Raven and the others, the rain only seems to have picked up and becone a downpour. So much so, that Raven activates a shield to protect everyone from the rain. They do come across the ruined tower. The building was a lot worse for wear, with the second floor of the brick and mortar building having collapsed, and the walls were a pile of bricks and dried cement. The smell of old bricks and road dust is increased as the rain continued to pour. "Damn. " Raven said aloud.
"This is your base of operations?" Ryoku groaned. "If this is what you have, while those other people have a sky armada, I'm really not too optimistic about our odds here."
"Yes, it does appear that we're outmatched in the technological department, but that isn't everything. We've already got an advantage on them, even as we speak." Hikari chuckled. "Besides, you aren't implying that you and your brother are technology inferior to these otherworldy foes, are you?"
"Not even mine." Raven said. "But it will serve as a beacon." Raven interacts with something on his wrist, which is picked up by the device and the blue gem.
"Raven to Savannah. You there?"
"Affirmative. Do you have the targets?"
"Yes, and at the retrieval point."
"Excellent. Stay close to it. I will see to your retrieval. "
"Well," Hikari said, his posture relaxing. "Is there anything you might be able to tell us while we wait?"
"I'll answer that with a question: Do you believe in aliens?" The hedgehog inquired. "Likewise, I'm escorting you to Orion station."
"'Believe' implies the possibility of doubt." Hikari replied. "We are already aware of the existence of life on worlds other than Mobius, so do not worry about surprising us. We've lived through quite a lot; there aren't too many things left to doubt."
"I'll take it as a yes." Raven said. "We're prepping you for evac to Orion Station , we will need all the help and survivors we can manage."
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