Machine Story

Return

David continued to dodge left and right as Roop relentlessly swung his chains. Although David had avoided every attack, it was clear that he couldn’t keep dodging forever. He attempted to call out to Roop to knock him out of the mind control, but it was no use.

As David did his best to stay alive, Rice was sitting on the tree top watching his struggles. “Do you plan to beat him all by yourself?” David dodged another attack before replying. “Are you planning on helping me anytime soon?” Taking a bite out of an apple he said, “They say it's not good to eat and fight. Causes indigestion and other problems.”

David was growing frustrated speaking with Rice so he ignored to focus on the fight. He noticed that the area they were fighting around was filled with trees and that gave him an idea. Picking up a rock on the ground he threw it at Roop’s head to gain his attention.

After the rock bounced off, Roop went into a reckless rage and swung the chains at David. Again, David found a way to evade it all but more importantly, Roop’s attacks were slashing against the trees. Everytime David successfully maneuvered through an attack, he would provoke Roop and move around in a circle.

After repeating this pattern about fifteen times, David stopped taunting Roop and hid. Unable to find David, Roop was about to turn on his scanners. However, before he was able to, David flung a rock into the middle of the ground. Roop moved to where he heard the sound but he found no one there.

Now Roop was standing exactly where David wanted. He used his shoulder to bash down the trees surrounding the area. They were extremely easy to push down thanks to Roop from weakening the tree trunks from his reckless attacks earlier.

Once the trees were all about halfway from falling was when Roop caught wind of David’s plan but it was too late. One by one the trees piled on Roop, creating a loud rumbling throughout the forest. When the trees all fell, David was able to take a breather or so he thought. The instant he sat down, bursting out of the pile of trees was Roop who was angrier than ever.

David had a feeling his plan wouldn’t completely immobilize Roop but he was hoping to at least slow him down to give him some time to figure out a better plan. Instead, Roop threw the chain from his right hand at David who was too tired to dodge. The chain wrapped around his left leg and Roop began to toss him around.

He was flung left and right, hitting hard against the trees, rocks, or the ground. His Metadross plating was able to protect him from sustaining major injuries but he could still feel pain. After about the ninth toss, Roop stopped swinging.

David had a moment to reflect about all that happened as it seemed like this was the end for him. He began to have flashbacks of everyone he had encountered on his journey. He began to feel a rush of sadness as he reminisced.

“Mya, Samiya, and Anaya, sorry I couldn’t help save the city of Corrinth.”

“Priya, Addyson, and Sonia, sorry I couldn’t help restore peace and justice to the Amazons.”

“Roman, Ajay, Anusha, and Kaviya, sorry I couldn’t make it back to the colony to see you all one more time.”

“Niall, Roop and Shaan, sorry I couldn’t help you all rescue your siblings.”

“Atana, I hope you find all the candy you love in the world”

“Siri…” There was a pause, “Sorry, for not listening to you.”

“David?” He thought he heard a voice but perhaps it was just his imagination, “David! What are you doing lying around?! How did all your systems get so damaged?” He definitely wasn’t hallucinating, the voice he heard was undoubtedly Siri, she had returned.

“Excuse me? Earth to David, are you there?” David was still stunned. “Sorry, I’m battling with Roop right now and..” before he could continue, Siri barged in, “Well don’t just stand there! Let’s win this!”

His mind was re-engaged and he was focused on the fight. The chain was still tied around his left leg and Roop was ready to take him for another spin. With Siri back to help coordinate his systems, David’s strength slowly returned. As Roop tried to throw David into the air, David grabbed the chain with his right hand and forced Roop to him.

As Roop came towards him, David threw an uppercut with his left fist, sending Roop flying back the other way. Immediately after Roop landed back on the ground, David apologized but Siri assured him, “Stop worrying David, Roop is covered with Metadross, he can take it!” Still, David felt bad for hurting his friend but he knew Siri was right, it would take more than a punch like that to stop Roop and he wasn’t going to get another lucky shot like that.

Roop got back to his feet and shook off the attack. “What is the plan Siri? Conventional attacks aren't going to cut it.” Siri took some time to calculate a plan and within a few seconds, she came up with one. She relayed her idea to David, in between Roop’s chain attack, there was a split second where Roop couldn’t retaliate. That would be David’s one moment to strike.

David liked the idea but there were two problems: One, he wasn’t fast enough to punish his opponent in such a short interval of time. Two, even if he managed to get the right speed, none of his attacks could possibly take out Roop in one shot.

As he continued to question the idea, he had to dodge another swing from Roop’s attack. “David, just trust me on this. Get him to bite on the attack and I will do the rest.” Wanting to learn from his mistakes, he let go of his doubts. “Okay Siri, let’s do this!”

After shrugging off the ill effects from David’s previous attack, he was ready to battle again. David stood in the middle of an open field waiting for the first attack. Without wasting any more time, Roop winded up his chains and flung it full force at David.

David turned to his side and barely escaped being hit, one chain falling to his right and the other his left. Once the chains hit the ground, David knew this was his chance to counter. He put one hand on the ground and bent his knees as Siri had instructed him. Within a few seconds, his boost was fully charged and he rocketed towards Roop with great velocity.

Roop was expecting the attack and as David stuck his fist out ready to strike, Roop lowered his back to the ground and David flew right past him. Realizing David missed his mark, Siri recalibrated the thrusters on his boots to slow him down. As David came to a stop, Roop sensed his best opportunity to win the fight.

He gripped his chains tightly and swung them from the side hitting David’s left ribs. The chain then began to wrap around his body and now David was caught in a bind. Roop sensed his victory was near but little did he know, this was all part of Siri’s plan.

“We got him now! Reactivating thrusters on your boots!” Siri called out. David began to spin counter-clockwise and his thrusters propelled him to spin at an incredible rate. The chain was wrapping around him quickly and Roop’s hand was tightly gripped to it so he was pulled towards David.

David continued spinning until the chains had run out and Roop was in point-blank range. With all that power he gathered from spinning, he aimed his head right at Roop’s skull and struck it with a full force headbutt. Luckily both their heads were well protected but they still sustained damage.

There was a standoff between the two after the collision, both stared at each other panting waiting for one to fall. David fell to one knee and held his left rib but Roop fell to the ground on his belly as he was the one who sustained the majority of the damage.

“You were right, your plan worked.” David complimented. “Of course it worked! You never should have doubted it!” she began boasting but suddenly David felt dizzy and was about to fall to the ground. Siri tried yelling to wake him up but he continued to fall.

Thankfully, Rice caught him before he collapsed. With the support, he was able to regain his normal breathing and stabilize. “Seems like you got your A.I. back.” David nodded. Rice cracked a smile, hearing David reunited with his friend. However, the moment for celebration would not last. Roop began to move again and his eyes continued to glow red.

“No way, Siri and I gave it all we got. You are one tough customer Roop.” David attempted to stand on his own but he was exhausted. Rice realized and slowly let him down near a rock.

“You have done well, now rest.” he told David. “Wait, what are you going to do?” David asked. “I’m going to show you have to defeat the Metadross.” He stood in front of David with his battle stance ready.

“Please, don’t hurt Roop! There must be a way to save him!” he pleaded to Rice. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of hurting him. Just watch and learn.” He spoke with a calmness in his voice that allowed David to relax.

Roop got the first move, swinging both his chains at his new target but that would be his last move. David wasn’t sure how it happened but somehow Rice was suddenly standing behind Roop. His speed was too quick for either of them to keep up. He then held his hand and grabbed Roop’s head. There was an electrical discharge flowing towards Roop mind and once it was all over, Rice gently put Roop on the floor to lie down.

Confused, David asked him what he had done to Roop. Rice held out his hand and David could see wires coming out of it that were connected to Roop’s head. “You are like me. You are a cyborg!” Rice responses, “I managed to reprogram your friend’s mind. When he wakes up he should no longer be under the manipulation of Sibleon.”

As David was thanking Rice, a messenger hawk arrived with a note attached to it. David took the letter from the hawk and unrolled the paper. It was a letter from Niall written by Queen Samiya alerting David that the Metadross had invaded the city and were making their way to the slums.

David was ready to rush back to help everyone but Rice held him back. “Now is not the time.” Being impatient as always, David replied in frustration, “I got my A.I. back and my systems will be operational again soon. What more do I have to wait for?”

Rice didn’t argue or raise his voice, he just asked David to take a deep breath, think and read over the letter again. After David took some time, he re-read the letter and realized he missed some important information.

“It takes time to coordinate a large-scale attack. Sibleon’s army probably won’t enter into the slums until at least another two weeks.” Realizing Rice had a point, David took his time to carry out the instructions that were written in the letter. “Excellent, and after you are done with that, let’s get back to training. You will need every edge you can get against Sibleon.”