Chapter 384: You Are Dead.
"Can’t believe you distracted that much. You know how much I’ve been looking forward to seeing your new implant!"
"Pipe down. You’re the one who pulled a whole ass robot out of nowhere."
After leaving Suzuka’s place, Dante and Finn took a train back to Nightsun, going straight to Blue Moon Street. Dante had contacted Megan beforehand, asking to borrow one of the Los Aros warehouses they had used before. Though he would have much preferred to go with Hollowstreet, at the moment, he still wasn’t ready to reveal his suits to the boy, and the same went for the pocket dimensions. He planned on doing so at some point, but not at the moment.
"Man, this is crazy..." Finn spoke with sparkling eyes. "I’ve never seen an SRE like this."
"Same," Dante said. "Always wanted one, but this looks nothing like what I had in mind."
He went and put his shirt back on, ignoring the boy’s protesting groans. Finn had his chance to look at the new implants, but that wasn’t the reason they came all the way here. That didn’t stop him from following Dante’s back with his eyes.
"Seriously, though, I still don’t get it." He said, his eyes fixed on the ports on the back of Dante’s. "You just got yourself an MLP, right? Then how did you do all that diving before?"
"I got my ways," Dante said. "Anyways, let’s get this started."
[Finally!] At the center of the room, a large yellow capsule jumped up. [Took you long enough!]
Jake’s pixelated face drew a devilish expression, showing excitement at what was to come. Dante walked over, rotating his arm, and stood a few feet away from the bot.
"Alright. Let’s see what you got."
[Ohohoho! You better be prepared!] The yellow bot said while hopping in his place like some cartoonish mascot. How he managed to do so with those stubby legs, Dante didn’t know. [I have been looking forward to kicking your ass.]
"You sure talk a lot," Dante said. "I already miss when you only-"
Not letting him finish, Jake lunged forward, rising up as he closed the distance between them. Dante had already enhanced his perception, slowing down the movements around him, but only a little bit.
The world seemed to move at x0.80 speed, allowing him to capture every detail. Because of that, he quickly caught on to the bot tilting its round body and raising its short right arm. Despite that, he was still taken aback by what happened next.
[Gggoooooottt yyyooouuuu!!!!]
A faint green flash erupted from the bot’s raised arm, morphing into a long triangular shape in an instant. The suddenness of what happened forced Dante to accelerate his thoughts to maximum speed, bringing the world to a halt.
Stepping aside, he studied the light streaming from the bot’s arm and quickly understood that it was the same energy blade the white clankers had used in the Pit. Jake was already swinging his arm with a terrifying grin on his pixelated face. Going by the trajectory, there was no doubt that he was aiming to cut him in half.
Dante was sure he could have evaded that swing even without the help of his new implants, but that didn’t change how dangerous it had been. Frowning, he clenched his fist and punched the bot in the flank. His perception returned to normal right after, and he watched as the yellow capsule suddenly spun in the air, twisted by the inertia of his swing and the punch he received.
Falling to the ground, the bot bounced once, then rolled before bouncing once more. This time, it landed on its feet and quickly spun around, facing Dante once more.
[Wha- What in the world...]
"That’s my line." Dante clicked his tongue. "You’re leading with the light saber? Really?"
[You said to show you what I got!]
The yellow bot pointed with his left arm as he spoke, and though nothing odd seemed about it, Dante still accelerated his perception, catching the faint red flash under the yellow panel. A red line pierced through the spot he was standing in an instant after he stepped away from it. He thought he was in the safe, but the bot’s pixelated eyes snapped in his direction and its body rotated, its arm swinging the red beam in his direction.
[Yyoouu aarreenn’’tt ggeettiinngg aawwaayy!!"
Not thinking about it, Dante jumped and tucked his legs close to his chest. The red beam passed right under him, but it changed directions almost immediately, moving diagonally as it aimed to slice through him. With a thought, Dante cranked up the performance of his SRE and enhanced his reflexes to the max, forcing his body to flip at an angle that wouldn’t normally be possible.
As his body fell to the ground, Dante equipped a pistol with a thought. His arm snapped forward, the gun barrel already aimed. Dante squeezed the trigger without hesitation, and sparks scattered an instant later as the laser shooting arm suddenly flung away.
’Volcan! Shut it down!’
[With pleasure.]
The yellow capsule was about to adjust its posture when it suddenly froze, the red beam vanishing from its still raised arm. Dante kept his perception accelerated for a few more seconds before slowing it down a bit at a time. When things finally returned to their normal speed, Dante’s gaze snapped in Finn’s direction.
"WHAT THE HELL!!?"
The boy flinched, his face going pale.
"I-it’s okay! I already lowered the output!" He quickly blurted. "They can’t deal damage! Neither the blade nor the beams can deal damage!"
The words struck Dante with confusion, and just as he was about to understand them, he felt a sharp prick in his left flank. Turning around, he was met with the devilish grin on the capsule’s surface. It swung its arm before he could accelerate his perception, and by the time everything began to slow down, the red beam traced a line over his face.
[Got you!] Jake exclaimed and hopped in place. [Booyah! You are dead!]