Tag: brokenvariable

iiregularhunter:

brokenvariable:

Oh. 

Really.

Really?

Kai felt an actual sense of– disappointment when he saw how quickly the boy fell. Just one shot, one that he didn’t even try to deflect or dodge, one that he just took.

And he was supposed to be one of X and Zero’s children. How was it that Wily had made his decision to back Zero when this was where the blond decided to put his pride. 

PATHETIC!

A few steps were taken towards the fallen youth before Kai aimed a sharp kick at his side. No point doing anything else with him. He turned, red gaze falling for a brief moment on Zero’s form before locking gaze with Rebecca.

“… I told you…” He grinned before starting to stalk back towards her.

@iiregularhunter​

There was something wrong with his arm. Yes, the obvious explanation was that the heavy weight of the wolf monster resting on him while idly gnawing one his shoulder. Of course something would be wrong then. But it was– the bite felt like it was somehow seeping further into his coding to erase and dissolve.

Oh well. It wasn’t something he could really worry about right now. 

His working arm shifted into a buster as Zero ran through his internals. Something- electrified- Ah! It would draw a bit too much from him, especially in this situation, but it would (hopefully?) be more than enough to stun the reploid. (Hoping it would actually kill him felt like trying to cling to a fever dream.)

The energy for the electrified blast was pulled straight from his core. It left a gnawing ache behind as his power level dropped, warning lights flashing in his internal HUD to let him know that hey! guess what! you’re injured and you don’t even have the power left to kickstart self-repair!

The blast had, at the very least, nailed the other square in the back. Electricity arced out as his whole body seized, limbs and joints locking up and trapping him in place… for a moment.

“Rebecca!” He screamed out as her name as the wolf let out an angry howl before starting to drag his body back. “Get Aerin- RUN-!”

@deafenedchampion​

This was all her fault.

All her fault-

“Aah-”

Zero’s yell broke her out of her self-destructing thoughts, and she launched herself to her brother, getting him up on her back. She was significantly faster than she had been before and she wasn’t going to question why.

Her only thoughts were that she needed to listen to her Papa. She didn’t want him to die, but there was nothing she could do to help him. And that fact burned at her insides. Her core ached.

All she could do was run out the door, her brother’s limp body weighing her down but not by much. She had to get out of the dome of interference so she could activate her armor’s teleporter.

She couldn’t do anything else.

It hurt, but there was nothing else she could do.

Useless.

She had to be better.

@brokenvariable​

iiregularhunter:

twinnedfates:

brokenvariable:

And that was Cacophony’s cue…

A low rumble built in the chest of the wolf as he launched himself through the entrance, body slamming against the archway and causing it to crumble and begin to flake away from the force. Dark embers were visible inside his mouth as he launched himself towards Zero, paws slamming against red armor as the full force of his impressive body size and weight both crashed down on him.

Kai smiled grimly as his buster started to charge. The wolf was able to attack Zero, a feat that the reploid couldn’t copy. Instead his focus was forced onto the young male. A powered energy shot was aimed for Aerin’s chest as the purple-and-gold armored maverick dropped down from his perch, expression near maniacal. 

“I’ll fucking kill you-”

Not Aerin. At least, the sentiment wasn’t aimed at him, even if Kai could only talk to him.

@twinnedfates​

Everything was happening so fast.

His eyes widened as he watched the wolf tackled Zero. If he could call it that, anyway. He was so distracted by this, that the only thing to really bring him to his senses was-

A charged buster shot to the chest.

There was no time to react as the contact had been made. The sheer force of the shot sending the reploid flying backwards. A loud thud could be heard as his body hit the floor. 

There was a hole in his chest. And his body was put into immediate shutdown. 

He’s dead, Jim-

@iiregularhunter​

He should have been prepared-

It was the only real thought that crossed through Zero’s mind as the– Calling it a wolfbot felt like it was doing the thing a disservice. It was far too large, far too powerful, and its weight had Zero slamming back into the electrified cage that surrounded Rebecca.

A scream was ripped from the blond’s throat as his whole body seized, synthetic muscles locking up from the voltage racing through him. The pain was intense but Zero forced himself to reach up, hands twinning through the thick fur of the wolf as his back connected with the ground. It helped to support him, but he still felt like he could feel something snapping inside of himself as his vision flashed bright white and blinding. 

Breathe in. Breathe out.

His body felt half-paralyzed, but a sharp and forceful jerk had his knee snapping up to connect with the abdomen of the wolf. Zero’s reward was a set of hot teeth sinking down against his shoulder, melting through his armor to pierce his chest and shoulder. It was likely he would have screamed again- but all the air seemed to’ve been forced out of him with the last attack-

@deafenedchampion​

Everything happened incredibly fast, from Zero getting slammed into her cage and breaking it, to Aerin getting shot through the chest.

Everything seemed to be going in slow motion now, her blue eyes wide as she tried to comprehend what had just happened.

“Pa- Ae-”

She seemed to choke on the words as she just stared. Her Papa’s blood on the floor, and the smoking hole that used to be Aerin’s chest armor.

Something seemed to snap in her head. It was all her fault. She was stupid enough to get caught and used as bait. This was her fault.

Aerin was going to die, and it was all her fault.

Zero could die, and it was all her fault.

@brokenvariable​

iiregularhunter:

twinnedfates:

brokenvariable:

Their entrance was… roughly as Kai expected. The addition of the other child was a bit unexpected, but it wasn’t like he lacked a plethora of knowledge on him (Tomoe had been most useful for that). Factoring him into his battle strategy was hardly going to change things. 

The child went barreling forward and Zero took his time. Seeing such patience in what was supposed to be a blood thirsty murder machine was odd almost to the point of hilarity, and Kai found himself grinning if only to offset the rage that was beginning to flood his system.

Zero. The… perfected warbot. The one that Kai himself would always be second best to.

He gave a slight nod of his head as they entered, and the slight sound of nails clacking around the floor would be the only hint to Cacophony’s movement as the wolf moved to block the entrance. His form was still shadowed, however, staying hidden until the perfect moment to reveal himself.

@twinnedfates​

It took a few minutes, but he finally got up. Looking around before attempting to fix the now frizzy mess that was his hair. Why did he feel the need to just run in like that when he knew very well that this was a dangerous mission again?

Right. Rebecca! He and Zero are here to save her! 

A look of concern was given as the boy rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah.. you look like you’re about to snap in there. Not very fun being held captive, is it?” That- that came out a lot meaner than intended. 

image

“I mean- God dammit you already know I’m concerned. Let’s just get to the point. How do we get her out?”

@iiregularhunter

He fell quiet as he examined the cell surrounding Rebecca. It was an energy generator that completely enclosed her. Zero had seen them before, used mostly outside of the lairs of mavericks to both keep things in and out, but never one designed to function like this. The two ends that formed the enclosure almost, but didn’t quite, touch. If they had it would have caused the entire thing to short circuit, but the hair width of space between them was enough to keep them working.

It was impressive, especially since it seemed like it had to’ve pulled off with the first try. There was no way Rebecca would have sat still to allow her captor to ry more than once.

“We need to break the circuit.” Zero stepped around it, scanning the ground to look down the source. The small little black box that the wires ran to and from to power it. It would be close by and- ah-ha!

Zero crouched down beside it before pausing, fingers almost but not quite touching it. “… You said you were put here as a trap Rebecca. What kind of trap?” His scanner wasn’t reading anything out of the ordinary, but it felt a bit off that it was simply sitting there. The whole thing felt off. There had been nothing stopping them from coming here, nothing stopping them from freeing her…

Turning his attention back towards the entrance way, Zero narrowed his eyes briefly before inhaling sharply. They might have been able to enter without an issue, but his scanner was already picking up something big waiting for them on the other side now.

@deafenedchampion​

“He wanted to lure you and X in to kill you two and cause me despair from bein’ the cause of it, or whatever the fuck. He’s got a gigantic… hell wolf thing, too. It’s fuckin’ huge. Be careful.”

image

She didn’t see a single reason to hide anything from her Papa. It would only help him in the end if she shared as much as she knew. This next bit would likely upset Aerin and anger Zero, but she had worked it out herself.

“He’s got Tomoe, too. Said she made the ‘right decision to be happy’. Pro’lly infected her to get her to tell him shit. She dumped everything she knew on that Maverick, going by what he tried selling to me. It’s probably why this mission went ass up too, fucking information leaks.”

It would look awful and Rebecca didn’t think the Hunters would be able to keep this quiet if it leaked to the humans. She looked really annoyed at the idea. This wouldn’t end well for Aerin or herself. It would make X and Zero look awful in the eyes of the public for covering it up as well.

“He got onto me and ripped into X for not somehow automatically knowing Tomoe had issues too. I’m not fuckin’ psychic. Can’t magically know somethin’ unless she says somethin’. And if Tomoe wants to fuckin’ say somethin’, she can say it to our faces, not through some Maverick middleman who’s pro’lly lying.”

She was still a bit angry about that, but it was quite clear that she was also a bit upset as well. She’d likely calm down and think rationally later, but right now she was angry, upset, and frustrated.

At this point, she just wanted to go home. She had faith in Zero to stay alive, but she was worried more about Aerin. And herself, but she didn’t think that Maverick bastard would leave any of them alive, despite what he said.

@brokenvariable​

iiregularhunter:

twinnedfates:

brokenvariable:

Kai arched a brow as he smirked at her. “More important things?” Mockery was all-but dripping from his tone as he took a step away from her. One hand went up to press against the side of his helmet as his gaze shifted to the Wolf; the over-sized creature nodded as he slowly rose to his feet before beginning to turn, leaving his post. 

The discolored and miscoded version of X placed something on the ground several feet away from Rebecca. It was a small cube that slowly expanded, with wires that shot out from two sides to race in a straight line along the floor before turning at a sharp angle to connect with one another. A square was formed around her, one that she wasn’t about to just bolt from; Kai tested it by tapping at the ‘air’ to reveal the solid, translucent wall that had formed around her. “This will keep you here for now.” 

Kai turned to leave as well, leaving Rebecca trapped in the empty room until her ‘saviors’ came. After all, what good would the trap be if the attackers were out in the open?

@twinnedfates​

It wasn’t long until Aerin had run into the room. Spotting Rebecca instantly, and continuing to speed on in towards her. Leaving poor Zero behind in the process. Unfortunately, he was so focused on saving his sister, that he didn’t notice the trap she was placed in, face planting right into the ‘wall’. 

He was electrocuted as a result. 

“aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAA–!”

It wasn’t long after, that he fell to the floor in a daze. Mistakes were certainly made on this day.

@iiregularhunter

@deafenedchampion

Bringing Aerin along

was a mistake

had been a mixture of bad timing combined with Zero’s guilt for allowing Rebecca to go missing in the first place. Tomoe’s disappearance was a heavy and constant weight that sat in the back of everyone’s mind, and adding another child to that list had clearly had negative side effects for Aerin. It had just been a few days but it was clear he was suffering. 

And so, when he received the distress signal – and when Aerin had learned that they had picked up on one from her – Zero just hadn’t been able to say no.

Seeing him run face-first into the electrified field surrounding her really made him question that decision.

“Aerin-!” The word ended in a heavy sigh as Zero shook his head. Instead of barreling forward he simply dropped down into the room, scanner sliding down over his eyes as he immediately started to download all available information about the room. Schematics- traps-…

Walking slowly towards her- cage?- Zero shifted his scan towards Rebecca to ensure it really was her. “Hey babygirl,” he said slowly, hand reaching out to rest on Aerin’s shoulder as he helped him stand. “You doin’ alright in there?”

She had nearly screamed in frustration upon being put in the energy cage and had flopped down on the bottom of it, ignoring Kai mocking her even though she had been telling the truth.

It was a few minutes of staring up at the ceiling and making her tracking signal in her back flicker in the way she was taught to, that when she heard running and sat up to see what was going on. Aerin?

“Aeri-”

Oh. Oh she was doomed, wasn’t she? She put her face into her hands with a  loud groan that Zero probably could’ve heard a mile away.

Once Zero actually got there though, she lifted her head to look at him, and looked up at her Papa.

“Papa? Yeah, I’m okay. The Maverick didn’t hurt me at all. It’s a trap, by the way. Yes, I’m pissed about it before you ask.”

She looked very put out by the fact that she was being used as bait to lure in her Papa. He could’ve been doing other important things but nooo, she had to get her stupid ass captured by that jackass.

brokenvariable:

Kai stepped back as he laughed at her. She was trapped, literally, between two forces that weren’t about to let her go, and in a room that had only one exit.

“I’m going to make sure X and Zero know where you are. They’ll come to rescue you, because they’re idiots and feel some desire to protect a worthless creation like you. And when they do come, I’ll kill them.”

His tone was flat and matter-of-fact. 

“Enjoy your time knowing that you’re going to be the cause of their deaths.”

“They’ve got more important things to worry about!”

Besides, she had more faith in her dads than that. They wouldn’t die to some nutjob Maverick who looked like X. If her normal trackers weren’t functional right now, the one in her in her spinal area certainly was as she could detect.

Then she blinked at a faint noise that wasn’t the growling monster behind her, and she looked around. There it was again! And getting closer apparently.

“Huh?”

She really hoped that wasn’t one of her dads because she swore they genuinely had more important things to do right now.

brokenvariable:

She was close.

So close.

Rebecca’s escape through the open passage was blocked off by the appearance of an overly large wolf. The creature’s shoulder was taller than her head, and it had to duck its own head down to fit through the doorway, mouth open as a low growl rumbled free. A few licks of flames even curled around its teeth as it snapped at her.

“Oh, you were so close.” Kai let out a mocking pity laugh as he stepped up behind Rebecca, head shaking sadly as he did. “But I don’t think Caco here has any plans on letting you slip past him. You certainly can try, but… he has even less self control than I do.”

Kai grinned as he stood behind her, arms crossed over his chest. He had no doubt that she would try to lash out, but he was prepared to step back to dodge it. Attacking her right now wouldn’t serve any purpose; keeping her in one piece, or in mostly one piece, would make her serve as better bait.

There would be more for him to tear apart if X and Zero didn’t listen to him.

Rebecca skidded to a halt before she smacked into the robotic wolf, her core thudding in her chest. Shit, she really shouldn’t have tempted fate, even in her own head.

Her armored boots scraped on the floor and she winced a bit at the noise. Blue eyes flicked back and forth between the wolf and the hallway behind it, taking a step back to avoid losing a limb or part of her armor to those teeth.

She let out swears under her breath before stiffening, Her instincts kicked in and she swung an arm out behind her. She didn’t expect to actually hit him, but the instincts she developed while working with X and Zero were screaming at her.

And this was probably the best way of getting him away from her.

brokenvariable:

“Excuses, excuses… Blame the child for the error of the parent. There was a reason she never felt comfortable enough to try to voice her thoughts to any of you…”

Kai’s head canted slightly to the side at the sound of soft – in a relative sense – thuds impacting the ground. They were rhythmic in sets of threes, thu-thu-thump before a slight sense of silence. Ah.

“You probably should have tried to make your escape.”

The room was barren, nothing more than an empty chamber used for… well. Executions; trying to claim it was for training implied he was given more of a challenge than anyone had offered him. The parts of several dead reploids laid scattered about, as well as dark oil stains from where they had bled out as he had torn them apart; perhaps if she had enough uninterrupted time she could have done something with them?

The only exist was through the doorway behind him, one that Kai mockingly gestured towards while grinning manically at her. “Go ahead. Try. We’ll see how far you get.”

It wasn’t even just that he was blocking her way now; it was what she would find on the other side of the door.

“And how were we supposed to know said reason? We’re not psychic, we can’t just assume. And the hell makes you think I have any reason to believe you anyway? Mavericks tend to lie more than they actually tell the truth. They have no reason to.”

Rebecca hadn’t taken what Kai said to heart, Tomoe could say it herself if she truly felt this way.

She wondered if she could activate her boots in the time it took her to run, but threw away the idea until she was far enough away from Kai. Ceiling crawling could wait until she could get away a bit.

Sapphire eyes flickered to the door he gestured at before making her decision.

She bolted for it as fast as her dash jets would take her. Her Dads would be very unhappy if she died here, and she didn’t want to leave her siblings.

She didn’t know what she was going to find on the other side of the door, but anything was better than this.

Rebecca probably should know better by now than to think something like that and tempt fate but…

brokenvariable:

“No, of course you aren’t. You’re too idiotic to make the smart decision.”

Attacking first was… a poor move. Making the first move revealed your intentions, your strengths, and just how far you were willing to go– even if you didn’t intend on broadcasting any of that. It was what kept him standing to casually, fingers still drumming a beat against the arm of his buster.

“Your sister made the right decision. Or, no…” A curious look seemed to seep into his red eyes, softening his gaze as his brow furrowed. “… I didn’t ask her. I– I didn’t make her. She just… asked to be happy.

“Did you know that she wasn’t happy? Not before. But she’s so happy now.”

“I’d never go Maverick just to be happy. I got better shit to do with my time than random mass murder, like punching Sigma in the crotch armor to see if he goes down like a human would.”

Rebecca didn’t know why she admitted that one, but the longer they kept talking, hopefully it would give him the idea to not dismember her.

“It’s not our fault that she never said anything. Dad can’t do anything if she doesn’t say something about it. He wanted to give her a chance to tell him of her own volition, just like he gave me the chance.”

She was still tense, wondering if the other would make the first move or not, because she certainly didn’t want to. She was impulsive, not completely stupid.

She did know she wouldn’t be able to survive a one-on-one fight though, but she wasn’t going to glance at anything around the room to make her plan to escape as soon as she had an opening obvious. 

That would also be stupid and Zero would probably whack her upside the head for it with a datapad. She’d keep eyes on the enemy, have internal scans look for an escape instead.

If she survived this, she was going to beg for an emergency teleporter.

brokenvariable:

@deafenedchampion

“You’re one of the brats that X enjoys calling his family, aren’t you?” A question, though there was nothing for her to really answer.

Kai just stared, curiosity masked with indifference as his fingers tapped against the surface of his buster.

“What piece of you should I send back to him to hurt him the most?”

“I’m sure you’re already picked out a piece. I’m not going down without a fight.”

Which was probably obvious by the fact that she already had her armor on, her personal shields maxed out. She didn’t bring out her saber, she definitely wasn’t confident enough with it to hope to survive this encounter. Her buster would have to do.