《The End of The World is Today, Yesterday and Tomorrow》 Cherry - 2025 - Third Wave - 5:00PM Margo it turns out had been a bit of a waste. She fit the profile perfectly. Smart, athletic, a natural born leader. Her genetics all checked out, as did the psych evaluations. Behind the engine of a strong all-rounder like Guardian 09 she should have been one of the best, but you never quite know. Do you? The problem with saving humanity, is the humanity of it all. Margo it turned out was very human, and though she''d saved the human race twice, three times was just asking too much. Cherry couldn''t have known any of that. All she knew is that he best friend had killed herself in the equipment shed behind the school. Margo tried very hard in her last moments to explain things to Cherry, about the war, her death, and the bracelet. Magro tried but Cherry just couldn''t understand. Over all the blood and gore she just couldn''t understand that for the past months Margo had been living such a different life from the rest of the human race, that she might as well have been an alien. "I''m sorry Cherry." She said at last, her face now very pale, and her body very weak. "I just couldn''t stand to hear the sirens again." As we have found out the universe is vastly indifferent, and often cruel, but at times it does show moments of mercy. The sirens only started going off, after Margo was dead. Cherry had heard those sirens all her life, but they''d never sounded as dreadful as they did that afternoon. It seemed they were carrying Margo''s departed soul with them as they droned. The Siren were nothing new. The first Wednesday of every month the county would test them out, like clockwork. It might have been clockwork, Cherry didn''t know. She did find she''d been pavlovian trained by the sirens, they always went off right before lunch. Imagine her surprise during last year''s tornado when her mouth started watering and the only thing she could think about in the storm cellar was food. A nice steak was the last thing on Cherry''s mind. Her friend, her best friend had done the most unthinkable thing, just to avoid that sound. Like Cherry was now, like Margo knew she soon would be. It was chilling, concerning, and more than anything it wasn''t Wednesday. Why were the risen blaring? It wasn''t tornado weather, though it was the season for such things. The time was right too, 5 O''clock, that''s usually when they started forming around here. But the sky was clear and perfect. Tragedies didn''t just drop out of the sky, unless they were planes or bombs. Cherry was suddenly overwhelmed with the need to be outside. There were a million reasons for it. To see what was wrong, to get some fresh air, and of course to get away from what was left of Margo. She burst out of the storage shed, and exhaled a breath she didn''t know she''d been holding. Cherry gasped and gulped for some of the cool winter-spring air. She hadn''t realized how deeply the smell of copper had permeated the equipment shed until she took in the grass of the fiend, and the smog of the city. The siren continued it''s low cowlike moan. It was like the city itself had been pierced by something, and was now letting out a weak cry for help. The ground shook and before Cherry could start her panic anew, helicopters flew over head. It was like the movies! Nothing good ever came to people in movies. She did what any highschooler in a panic would do. She went to grab her phone. She was ready to call her mom, her friends, the army, anyone who knew what was happening. Before she could she noticed a blue band around her wrist, or rather under her wrist. "Oh yeah." She said hoarsely. "I nearly forgot about you." The hole the little watch-like device had cut into her was all healed up, no scar or anything. It now glowed very brightly beneath her her skin, visible even from the surface. Whatever the blue light was had been the cause of her friend''s suicide, and now it had attached itself to her. She brushed her free hand over the left, and the light intensified. As if she was a puppet on a string her hand flew upwards, so high she was barley standing on her tiptoes to reach, if she picked up her feet she was sure she would have just dangled there. A beam of light shot out of the palm of her wrist, and into the sky. A moment later, as if in response a new beam of light descended from the sky, like one of apollo''s arrows. It landed somewhere on the football field, and where it hit, wonders appeared. "Oh wow..." Cherry gasped, and let her jaw hang open in wonder. Standing in the football field, proudly, majestically, hugely, was a robot. A machine in the shape of a man, orange in color it sat there idling like a car, or maybe breathing like a human. Cherry had a hard time comprehending it at first, she had to crane her neck upwards to take in it''s full height. It was tall, Cherry couldn''t say how tall, taller than the school, it was a building onto itself. It was like a god, and hanging there in front of it, she felt like some kind of sacrifice. ''Link Established'' She thought to herself. "Initiating Transfer'' She thought again, quite against her will. "Are you talking to me?" She asked, looking up at the orange monster, but it said nothing. Then everything went very bright, then very dark, and then very bright again. When her vision came back to her she was in a chair, surrounded my monitors. Despite everything that was going on, this chair was a big win. It was by far the most comfortable thing Cherry had ever placed her weight on, she was half reclined on the silver and orange seat. It looked like leather but felt like cotton candy, or a dream, or a well tenderized steak. Dang again the the steak, maybe she was hungry. ''Transfer Complete. Synching...'' She thought again, breaking the nice bout of dissociation Cherry had been enjoying. "No no no." Cherry, cried and pounded her hands against the chair, and the monitors. The space she was inhabiting was actually quite cramped, like some kind of pod, the roof ended just above the head of her chair, she couldn''t have stood up if she wanted to. She kicked and screamed, and tried to scrabble out of the world''s most perfect chair. Only as she fought she felt herself synching up with some great intelligence. Her thoughts got slower, and her muscles weaker with each passing second. ''75%...80%...90%...'' Her cool voice thought mercilessly. That voice, the one she was hearing in her head, it was her voice, but it was wrong. She knew it was wrong from the moment she heard it, it sounded monotone, drugged. ''95...'' Cherry realized with what little fear she could muster now, that if she spoke out loud her voice wouldn''t sound all that different. "100%." She said weakly, before falling limp in her chair. It was like a hypnotist commanding a volunteer to sleep, only she didn''t experience any kind of unconsciousness, only a shift. She was no longer in her body, and couldn''t feel her body. She was in the machine, the robot, The Guardian. She realized it had a name, and a number and that number was 9. "Oh no, there''s eight more of these things?" She realized too that all this fear, and trauma, and confusion were getting in the way of her mission. She was fleetingly aware that these emotions were nothing more than sliders on a screen that could be adjusted. Trauma: 70% Fear: 60% Confusion: 98% These could be adjusted, and were adjusted. By her, not someone else. It was like a reflex. Like taking a long breath to still your heartbeat. Trauma 0% Fear 20% Confusion 20% It was so easy, just like that. In her current situation she had no need to process Margo''s death or what that would mean for her. She had some use for fear, just enough for her to feel danger and to keep her sharp. Confusion too had it''s use, blind confidence could end her. "Guardian 9, logged in." She said aloud, not at all surprised to find her voice did indeed sound like the voice in her head. "Cherry?" A Male''s voice came to her, like over the radio. "What took you so long? Team A''s been trashed already, and we have kaiju streaming through the gap." The confusion slider could only do so much for Cherry. "What are you talking about?" Kaiju were the enemy, she knew that much. The Guardian, #09 hated them and she hated them too. Beyond that she''d need more data to proceed. There was a pause, and then an audible sigh. "Is this our first time meeting?" Cherry was surprised to find his voice chocked with emotion. "Uh yeah, I think so." Cherry said slowly, calmly. "Margo''s gone. She ripped this bracelet thing out of her arm, and it latched onto me. The sirens started going off, the bracelet began to glow, and now I''m in this robot." It was shocking to hear her calm, recitation of events. This was all life changing stuff and she was reading it off like a grocery list. She thought about Margo lying there, arm ripped open, bleeding out, and she felt nothing. It was like it had happened to another girl entirely. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "I see." There was another pause, before the guy on the other side seemed to be able to gather himself. "Sorry I wasn''t expecting this. My name''s Gale, I''m going to lead you through this mission." "Where are you?" Cherry made the very human gesture of looking around, the Guardian smoothly copied the motion she was trying to make with her body. It''s high seated vision swept the vast vistas of One Week City, over buildings, and past cars that looked like toys. She suffered through a moment of vertigo, but was able to adjust to the new field of view easily. "I''m about three hundred miles above you right now." Cherry couldn''t help herself, and looked straight up. Sure enough In the sky there was a little digital green box indicating that there was some unseen ally high above her in orbit. What he looked like, or wanted she could only imagine. She suspected glasses. "Yep, that''s me. Wave hi." Cherry followed through, the massive arm of her machine committed to a fluid but hesitant wave. "Woah." She said in surprise, then looked down at what felt like her own hand. She formed several signs with the Guardian''s hand and it followed each of them faithfully. It even flipped off Gale when she tried. "That''s good, get used to the heft and weight of your Guardian. Try turning a little more to the left. Try picking up your feet." Cherry and the Guardian nodded, and like a fawn she hesitantly shuffled to face the south end of the city. The groundskeeper was not going to be happy with the scuff marks she was leaving on the field, or the craters. Off in the distance she could see smoke, and a fire that looked like eaten up half the culture district on the other side of the river. There were other Guardians too. Two of them which were laid out on the ground like collapsed towers, burning with bright rainbow pyrotechnics. Her vision lit up with five red circles. They were off in the distance but she found squinting actually zoomed her vision deep into the city. There she saw that the five circles were to highlight the enemy. A hand full of the awful black furred animals were racing across Hook Bridge into the business district. They had long gangly limbs that moved like spiders with only four legs. Each was about the size of an eighteen wheeler, and heavy enough to crush a car underfoot whenever a Hyundai was unfortunate enough to land in it''s path. "Okay, let''s start with this. First thing you do when you contact an enemy. Always scan them. See if we can pick up anything useful." "Enemy?" Cherry squeaked. Fear:30% "Well they look like enemies don''t they?" They really did, long slobbering snouts filled with massive teeth, and drool. Three rows of red eyes. Then beyond the black fur they seemed to have some kind of bone like exoskeleton across their limbs. Not like a insect, but it looked like actual human bones were growing along the length of it''s body. Against the black fur it gave the look of some giant human skeleton scuttling along the road. "Scanning..." Cherry offered, and The Guardian agreed. She felt a pulse of energy release from the Guardian. It penetrated everything around her. Cherry''s perception was flooded with static. She was taking in everything fifty thousand heart beats, fascist radio stations, kids shows, radiation slowly decaying in the rocks, none of it made any sense to her, it was all just noise noise noise. But a moment later, like a bat deciphering a sound wave it was all condensed, and suddenly made sense. New Enemy Detected. A screen appeared to the side of her vision. Name: Crawler Level: 1 Health: 1 Evasion: 2 "Rex loss to these guys?" Gale half laughed. "Oh boy, it''s a shame he won''t remember this." "Are they easy?" Cherry Squeaked, she was already back tracking from the beasts, the feet of her Guardian crushed the stands of the football field, and would soon be making their way into the parking lot. "You''re in a 250 foot robot, everything should be easy for you. But yes, these guys have one point of health, if you sneeze on them they''ll die. The only thing you need to worry about is their evasion, see that there on their sheet? They''ve got a 2." "What does that mean?" There was a slight grunt of annoyance from the other side. "It''s crazy the more I fight with you the more basic things I have to explain." "I didn''t ask for this!" Cherry yelled and extended another rude finger to the little green dot in space. Gale laughed. "I''m sorry, we''ll figure it out though. You taught me everything I know." "I did?" Confusion: 30% "You will, This is your first fight, so your mech hasn''t been upgraded yet. That means you still have your basic shoulder cannon equipped. Wow this is actually kind of exciting to think about. Your first fight and I''m here to see it, I''m here to help!" "Focus please." Cherry whined. The little crawlers were steadily making their way through the city and it was undeniable they were coming for cherry. She squirmed and delicately tip toed her Guardian through the narrow streets and between tall buildings to put space between her and the creatures. "Sorry! Sorry!" She screamed as she inevitably rammed her elbow through the roof of a office building, or crushed a mail box. Trauma: 10% "No no, don''t get behind the buildings you want a nice open field of fire." "You need to start telling me things!" Cherry growled. She reluctantly started retracing her cavernous steps back into the field. "Okay I''m bring the stats on your main weapon up." New Weapon Added Name: Bronco Shoulder Canon Energy Cost: 1 Damage: 1 Accuracy: 5 Special: For each additional Energy Charge spent, fire an additional shot. "There, see that Accuracy stat? That means five out of ten times it''s going to hit your target." "Who uses a gun that only hits half the time?" Fear: 40% "It''s not great." Gale admitted, half sheepishly. "And those two points of evasion make it even worse. Instead of hitting 5 our of 10 times, you''ll hit 3 out of 10 times. Again not great but it''s good enough for what you need. Plus it shoots very vast if you need." "I need to!" Cherry was watching the creatures smash through the roads towards her, very close now. "The guardian will aim for you, as long as you have the enemies highlighted, you''re free to fire. Let''s just start with a test shot to calibrate." This was actually happening! Cherry was about to fire a mecha''s weapon weapon at a kaiju. It''d be cool if she didn''t want to throw up so bad. Even with her consciousness in the robot, when her mind completely disassociated from her body she could feel her heart pounding, deep in the cocoon of the guardian. She thought to check how much energy her Guardian came with. Energy: 10 The answer came to her mind fast and easy. "Cherry, fire!" The image of her grabbing a lever and pushing it all the way to the floor came to her mind. "Rrrraaah!" She screamed, good and tired of feeling scared. She moved all the energy stored within her guardian''s reactor into to the main gun. Energy: 0 Roll: 6 - 3 -8 - 7 - 4 - 7 - 3 - 9 - 8 - 10 A satisfying, low ''gunk'' drummed thunderously over the city. Ten flashes of light burst forth from the cannon at incredible speed for a weapon so large. Large shells slammed into the ground below like smoldering metal barrels. The canon swept across the city, and made good on Gale''s word. With an accuracy and speed Cherry couldn''t quite follow it dispatched all five crawlers. It''s kinetic energy ripped holes, or rather craters through their bodies and into whatever was behind them. Cars, buildings, beasts all shredded in a single salvo. Though nearly every shot hit, a few didn''t. Where the shots missed there were now deep holes in the road, and chunks missing from the buildings. "Cherry, that was incredible!" Gale cheered from his cushy spot in outer space. "You really are the best." "The people in those cars, will they be alright?" Cherry felt on the verge of tears. "They''ll be fine. Everything goes back to normal if you clear an invasion point." "Invasion?" "That''s right." Gale said proudly. "And you stopped it." He paused, that raw emotion was coming back to him. "I can''t believe I''m never going to see you again." "What? No! you have to tell me what''s going on. How do I get out of this thing? What happened to Margo?" "I know this doesn''t mean anything to you yet, but you''re the most incredible person I''ve ever met. I owe everything I am to you, you''re my hero." What could that possibly mean? Cherry was a little young to be anybody''s hero. Let alone some kaiju fighting space man''s. "I don''t understand what''s going on." Confusion: 40% Before anything could be made more clear. There was a rumbling that took over the landscape. Out from the Hook River emerged a skeleton. An actual skeleton this time, not some kind of puppet. It was massive, monstrous, bigger even than the Guardian Cherry was sat in. Two impossibly long limbs pushed it''s skinny frame out from water, sheets of liquid sloughed off it like some discarded skin. A skull rose up from the depths gallons upon gallons of water drained from it''s eye sockets, it''s nose, it''s open mouth. It lumbered and reeled. With no muscles or mechanics in sight it straightened it''s back, and stood up. It could only manage a decrepit looking hunch, and even then this thing was twice as tall as The Guardian. "looks like I spoke too soon." Gale gulped. "You sure didn''t mention that thing last time." "What is it?" New Enemy Discovered! Name: Gashadokuro Level: 5 Health:10 "I''ll see if I can wrangle someone." Gale''s voice wasn''t exactly calm. Fear 60% "What do I do until someone shows up?" Cherry''s voice was shrill with panic. "Fight it!" Clay - 2024 - First Wave - 9:00PM What better place to start, then at the end of the world? Clay wasn''t the type of student to stay after school. It just wasn''t his thing. He wasn''t sporty, in fact this is the first time he''d ever touched the football field. He never stuck around for any of the academic clubs either. The school counselor had accused him of being lost, and that sounded about right. His parents were a million miles away, he was stuck in student housing, and didn''t he already spend all day at school? No home, no family, what was a boy to do but play video games? It would take something dramatic to break him out of his routine of microwaved hamburgers, and Dr. Thunder. The End of The World Party sounded like it was up for the task. Mr. Brenner one of the science teachers had promised free drinks, food, and a front row seat to the end of humanity. "It only comes every hundred years." Mr. Brenner explained to his small collection of students. It was the dead of night, nearly 9:00 clock, and it was a school night too. A few parents waited impatiently for the sky to change, as if the cosmos was rude for not considering their need for sleep. "It was seen as an omen of terrible things for the kings of the ancient world. Despite all of that Lunabee Major has been a reliable friend to Earth, it always comes right on time, swinging by just to say hey. You can see depictions of the comet on the pyramids of Egypt and Mexico. There''s even a story in King Arthur''s legend where the comet heralds the birth of Camelot''s greatest villain." Clay had always liked Mr. Brenner, which was part of his reason he was humoring this ''party'' at all. He was pretty much still a kid, fresh out of college. This was his first year teaching, and Clay was new in town too. It was dumb, but he felt a kind of kinship with the guy. He''d talk to him after school, and had done more for him than the counselor ever could. Although it was clear Mr. Brenner didn''t need Clay''s pity. His girlfriend had come to the star gazing event with him and she was upsettingly beautiful. It was all so wrong. Teachers shouldn''t have girlfriends, they need to be married, preferably to other teachers. They didn''t have any right to be dating wingless angels like her. "You''re drooling." Bailey elbowed Clay in the ribs. She''d dressed up for the comet, unlike Clay who''d stuck with jeans and a white t-shirt. Where he was going for a James Dean look Bailey was a little more Elvira. She was wearing a black velvet Maude dress, with starry accessories, she even had a cheap sparkly tiara for the moment. The queen of thrift had struck again, she was always finding great and outrageous clothing around town. "I''m not drooling." Clay said calmly. "I''m in love." Bailey had heard it all before, she''d been a natural ally for Clay since he enrolled. She was another one of the year-round tenants of One Week Academy. They were a rare breed and a no matter how much Bailey smelled like mothballs, the thought of sending summer vacation alone hadn''t been all that inviting. "Well she has a boyfriend, and is about five years older than you." She snickered. "Besides if you stole his girl, Mr. Brenner would fail you for sure." "That''s exactly it." Clay said. "I could never respect a girl who wanted to be with me." Bailey nodded. "It''s the ones you repulse that you know have good taste." "Bingo." He shot her a sly finger gun. Mr. Brenner was wrapping up his history speech now. The light in the football stadium had been turned off. They were small oasis of battery powered light. Everything was off except the scoreboard which showed a countdown until Lunabee Major was supposed to appear in the sky. "Just a few minutes left." Mr. Brenner smiled, I recommend everyone grab a last snack and find somewhere comfortable to lay down, this is going to be a sight you''ll never forget." "He is cute." Bailey said at last. She took Clay''s arm and escorted him to the snack table. Mr. Brenner had gone all out, a vegetable tray, cans of soda, he''d even bought two dozen cupcakes from Target. The whole spread must of cost him, thirty, maybe forty bucks, the big spender! "I see why you like him." "Yeah." Clay grabbed a cupcake and looked around as people started to lay out blankets and point themselves towards the sky. "I can''t believe Destiny is going to miss this." "Still no word from her?" Bailey grabbed a treat for herself. "It''s been all day." Destiny was the third wheel to this particular tricycle. "All day, I know. No text, no call." A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "That''s weird." Bailey shook her. "I''ll swing by her room after this." She shivered. "That''s so spooky, you know with all those black cats that have gone missing?" "Black cats?" "Yeah you know, magi have been gathering them up to use in ceremonies during the comet." Clay didn''t like the horror movie implications of that. Dead pets always led to dead kids. "It''s October I thought shelters were supposed to lock their cats up during Halloween." Baily waved him off. "Oh a true witch always finds a way." "I can''t believe they didn''t invite you." Clay snarked. "Hey." Bailey looked offended, as she plopped down on the turf of the field. "I had offers. I chose to slum it with you non believers tonight." Clay laughed. "We''re all thankful for your protection, crystal mother." "You should be." She grumbled good naturedly, and settled into the grass. Clay joined her and the two laid in companiable silence, as the score board counted away their last moments on Earth. Clay''s mind was running now. What if some weirdo had snatched Destiny like they had the cats? Bailey was only a hobbyist weirdo, but there were some people who took it seriously. Whatever ''it'' was, magic or something equally delusional. You didn''t have to look far to see that weird could creep into all kinds of people. Hope McHail was circling around the group with a sign pointed to the sky that read "Welcome Home!" She''d read that the comet was actual a space ship that took enlightened souls to some far off planet every hundred years. Now that was weird. Clay was weirder still, because if Hope even looked in his direction he probably would have leapt to his feet with his own sign and joined her in welcoming their space brothers. Clay had a bad case of adolescent male which meant he had wedding plans with every girl who''d make eye contact with him, and most who didn''t. Even his worry for Destiny had taken a back seat to admiring Hope as she strutted around the field, she had a short brown pixie-cut and thick calves from years on the soccer team. When the scoreboard''s buzzer finally went off Clay jumped. It felt like he''d been called out by god for his impure thoughts. His pounding heart soon realized it was actually to announce the end of the countdown, and he settled back into the grass, blushing furiously. Dork or not, chick magnet or not Mr. Brenner knew his stuff. The buzzer was like a herald to this great celestial object. In the sky above them a thousand miles away a light flicked on like the flame from a Zippo. There it was in the sky, as if it''d only ever been hidden by an optical illusion. A green light with a long tail, just like in a story book. The effect on the small crowd was immediate. Awwed grumbles filled the field. Off in the distance you could hear cheering from other watch parties, and even a few fireworks. It was kind of cool, Clay allowed himself to think. Space was so big and incomprehensible, but for a few brief minutes, and completely on accident a bunch of apes got the chance to glimpse something beautiful through all the chaos. Hope squealed and jumped up and down with her sign. "Over here!" Clay couldn''t help finding her cute, but if he did get abducted by aliens because of her, he would never forgive her. Even if she did run across the filed like a cheetah. "I didn''t expect it to be green." He said aloud, noting the long curtain of color that followed the main body. "It''s that color because of the diatomic carbon that get released as it heats up in the sun." Mr. Brenner, the sage said. "I''m learning." Clay whispered to a snickering Bailey. "It''s beautiful." She replied, eyes transfixed by the celestial object. It seemed no matter where you fell on the scale of weird you couldn''t help but be awed by what was unfolding. Then Clay began to notice an orange light at the edges of the comet. It looked as if it were being backlit by something, and indeed it was. The longer everyone looked at Lunabee Major the clearer it became that it was... unzipping the sky. Where it passed, space seemed to slowly fold open, revealing a sort of space behind, a brown, and purple kind of something. It wasn''t stars or emptiness it was, something. Streams of light and energy seemed to come out of the edges of this pocket space, like the corona of the sun, a bright awful kind of light. No one knew to scream just yet. Everyone just looked on in horrified awe as this event took place. Was it a trick of the light? Was this supposed to happen? Mr. Brenner was silent on the topic, and just as terrified as the rest. They could only watch as the comet continued to streak across the sky. Then once enough of the sky had been unzipped, the thing from the space behind space, opened it''s eye. All who saw, had no choice but to scream. Clay rolled over almost immediately to throw up. The sight of sky just rolling open to reveal... He wretched, the cupcake was seeking to make a swift return, and Clay sensed the rest of hit guts were soon to follow. The sight of that yellow orb, like a sick sun looking at him, right at him. It was burning, and melting it''s way through is brain. His heart was pounding off beat, How far was it? How close? It was choking him, killing him, with just a look. one horrible look. "Clay, what''s that?" Bailey''s hand was on his shoulder. No he didn''t want to see any more. He wished he''d go blind, but he knew the last thing he''d see would be that thing! "Clay!" She said more sternly. He forced himself to pry his burning crying eyes open, and saw that there was a bright blue glow coming from his wrist. Like there was some kind of light beneath his skin. "What is that?" Clay gulped as he ran his hand along the light. "I don''t know..." Gale - 2025 - Wave 3 - 5:30PM If you want to watch Kaiju fights, Gale had the best seat in the house. His guardian could sit safely in orbit while capturing images so detailed you could see the bolts straining on the mechs. As ever it was a torturous experience. His comrades were fighting for the fate of the world, for all humanity and he was stuck on the sidelines. Sora didn''t say it would be like this. She promised it would be hard, and he was ready for that. He''d be at every wave from end to beginning, until he could finally shut off the source of the kaiju. He thought that meant he''d be fighting, like Clay, like Sora. No instead he was stuck out here in space, as some ridiculous kind of support. Little more than an admin for humanity''s real heroes. One of which he was going to lose before she was born if he didn''t do something. It didn''t matter all the heroics and feats he''d already seen her pull off. If she was lost now, none of it would matter. The whole war he''d been fighting would collapse into impossibility. It''d already happened. Him even existing was proof that they could fail. They could, but it wasn''t going to be while he watched. "Cherry, you just spent all your energy on that attack. That basically means, you''re done. You''ve got nothing but hand to hand combat left." "With that thing?" Cherry cried. She had reason to worry. The monstrosity before her was 600 feet tall, easily, even hunched over. Twice the Size of Cherry''s Guardian, and as tall as any sky scraper in the city. It was easy to describe it as a skeleton, but it was also wrong. It''s limbs were too long to be human, and the skull on the right side had a weird swirling pattern like excess plaster on some kind of model. There was just too much of it, too many teeth, too many ribs, too long limbs. All of it moved, without a hint of skin, muscles, or organs clinging to it''s form. It was awful, but Gale had seen worse. He couldn''t help but smile. The Cherry he knew was a mean thirty-something veteran, a hero. It was cute to see her like this as a child, then sad. Look what the war had made of her. Thirty minutes ago this girl was probably going to go on to have a family, a life. "That''s why I''m going to transfer you power. My Guardian can borrow energy from somewhere else in your timeline and move it to you." "Timeline?" What were Sora and the bots doing down there? None of these pilots had any idea what they were getting into. "I''m sorry but there''s no more time to explain." That thing''s reach could cover half the city. "Activating Energy Transfer." New Skill Added Name: Generative Pull Rank: 3 Effect: Guardians are connected to themselves throughout all points in time. Borrow energy from a future point to refill a Guardian''s power. It worked like a charm. Metatron made a link from 09 across two points in time. Cherry''s empty cells gratefully drank up the available energy. The screen of Gale''s Guardian showed that Cherry now had 7/10 energy cells back up and running. "Don''t use it all now, I''m still trying to get someone else out here for you." That thing was way out of Cherry''s league. She could probably score seven critical hits on the monster and not do a thing. He suspected it''s what trashed Rex and Princess, it didn''t make sense that they''d go down to those crawlers, not with their experience. Cherry had been back tracking this whole time, smashing through buildings and cars to get away from the skeletal monstrosity looming over the city. She''d taken what he''d said about the restart to heart. It was a good thing too. As she waited the beast decided to take a swipe at Cherry. It''s long arm stretched out to the horizon and swung. It blasted through the buildings as if they were blades of grass, a wave of wind debris and terror swept the city aside. Buildings crumbled, cars were blasted into the sky, and people died. Gale could only gawk at the destruction from his vantage point, it was like a forest had been cleared away. He often wondered how the Kaiju could have destroyed the world. There was his answer, with a brush of their hands. Thankfully whatever malevolent intelligence was in that skull had misjudged Cherry''s will to live, and her self respect. She''d thrown herself bodily out of the way of the attack, and into the Hook river. Normally Gale wouldn''t recommend that kind of acrobatics in a Guardian, but he recommended getting hit even less. She was alive and that''s all he needed. "The school!" Cherry cried, and she drugged her Guardian out of the river. It groaned in protest, as water was ejected from sensitive mechanisms. "It got the school." "It got everything Cherry." Gale whispered, there had to be more than a few pilots in that blast. If anyone was capable of coming to her defense they''d just missed their shot. He looked to the mechanisms in how own Guardian, somehow he was going to have to figure out a way to beat this thing with just Cherry. Then from amidst the great dust cloud that was One Week City a blue beam of light shot out, and engaged with Metatron. Gale looked at the signal and smiled. "Clay you''re approved, get in there." With a wave of his hand Gale sent Lancelot''s transmittal beam back down to Earth. In a moment the leveled city had a new feature in it''s skyline, Lancelot, Guardian 06. Opposed to 09''s bold orange color scheme, Lancelot was the white knight of group. White paint, trimmed with silver it gleamed in the cool light of the spring. It looked like victory itself, with a massive sword and shield held in both hand. They would endure, Humanity would survive one more day. There were Stronger Guardians on the roster, but Lancelot had the most levels on him. Cherry''s 09 had been reset when ownership had been transferred, but Clay was under no such restrictions. Lancelot had been his from the start. That meant he was the only pilot who could go blow for blow with this thing. "I guess it''s no use running from a thing like that." Clay winced. A warning appeared on Gale''s display. "Clay you''re bleeding." "No duh." The pilot grunted. "Something flew through me down there. I need a reset and fast." Gale clocked the annoyance in his voice, and chocked it up the hole the size of a quarter running through''s Gale''s rib. They were lucky Sora''s people had sprung for the sitting models. He couldn''t imagine Clay doing must standing in his condition. Regardless Gale activated life support on Clay''s Guardian. Soon his cockpit would be swarmed by small mechanical spiders who''d do their best to patch him up, and keep him breathing for the fight. Gale couldn''t figure why Sora had left so many important features to him. Why wouldn''t the pilots have control over their own first aid? He always supposed if they were knocked out during a fight they wouldn''t be able to activate it, but shouldn''t something like that be automatic? "Alright, what am I dealing with here Margo?" Clay asked as his guardian made a few stretching movements. Cherry stayed silent. "Margo?" "Margo''s gone." Gale said finally. "I guess she really was the smart one." Clay sighed. "That''s good, after this I want out too. You''re lucky I''m even here after you fucked up the last wave." Clay''s last wave was Gale''s next. What could have happened to make them lose two pilots? "I don''t know anything about that, but we need to focus on the monster in front of us. I''m sharing the specs." He should have let Clay know that Margo hadn''t quit, she''d died. There was no backing out of this war, for Gale for all of them the only options were to fail, or win. Of course it seemed this Margo person had found a third option. No. Abandoning her Guardian to Cherry was no different than failing the human race. Let Clay think what he wanted for now, they needed him into this fight too bad. Name: Gashadokuro Level: 5 Health: 10 "You didn''t run a full scan?" Clay voice was shredded with annoyance. "It costs energy for me to do it." Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. "Typical." Clay barked. "Fine, newbie stay behind me and wait for an opening. Then let it rip with that cannon, that''s how Margo and me did it." "My name is Cherry!" That caught Clay''s attention. "From One Week Academy?" Before an answer could come the skeleton made it''s next attack. It raised it''s arm and brought it''s boney hand down on top of Lancelot like it was squashing a bug. Faster than you''d think a mech that size could move, Clay brought his shield above his head. New Skill Added! Name: Bulwark Rank: 2 Cost: 1 Effect: Subtract 2 damage from any targeted attack against the Guardian. Lancelot''s Energy: 18/20 Lancelot''s Health: 17/20 Clay Grunted over the comm as his mech absorbed the impact and the damage. The pilots received feedback whenever their mechs took damage. It wasn''t pain per say, but their brains did interrupt the sensation as ''bad'' which was functionally the same thing. It was a big blow. but with it Gale already had this fight mathed out, and Clay was coming out on top. "Let him have it." Clay roared and swung his sword at the boney hand still trying to crush him. It was a direct hit, but no damage was done. Lancelot''s sword bounced right off the monster''s bone. Gashadokuro''s Profile Updated: Armor: 2 "It''s armored." Clay grunted. That data from the attack had already been collated by Metatron and dispersed to the other guardians. If they ever faced this thing again they would know, of course if they did face it again it would be in the past. Time travel really sucked sometimes. This is why Gale using his Scan ability could have been useful they''d find hidden abilities traits from these creatures, but it wasn''t that simple. The reset, closing the rift, leveling up, all of it flowed from Metatron. Every bit of energy he spent on a scan translated into lives lost, forever. Clay reeled back from the reflected force of his attack, as he did the skeleton lifted his hand just enough to bring it back down on Lancelot. Lancelot''s Energy: 16/20 This time Clay was able to absorb the whole hit. But there was something wrong, Clay''s vitals were not looking good. The spiders should have patched him up by now. "Gale you''re in the red, what''s happening." Gale groaned in pain. "It''s attacks are doing something to me." He growled through his teeth, the pain must of been immense. He shouldn''t have been able to feel pain that intensely in The Guardian. "I feel like I''m dying." "You are." Gale kicked himself as he red Clay''s vitals. Heart rate, brain activity, blood sugar, it was all dropping. Somehow Clay weighed fifty pounds less than he had two hits ago. It was like he was starving to death before their eyes. Their Guardian''s should have been able to pick up on any tag along effects the skeleton''s attack might have carried, poison, or radiation, but not this. These things, The New Gods sometimes they had abilities that defied science, at least the science Sora knew. The only word for whatever this thing was doing to Clay was Magic. "Clay, it''s attacking you directly." "No shit, what do I do?" "Don''t get hit and kill it faster." Gale worked a few sliders on his monitor. "You''re not brain dead yet, I''m completely disassociating you from your body. You gotta push through." Clay grunted. "That''s better, ugh but I can still feel it." "That''s impossible." Gale assured him. "Then you get down here and fight this thing. Whatever, I''m pushing through." "Cherry hold off." Gale said, as she saw the blonde aiming at the beast''s skull. "We need Clay to deshell this thing before you attack, or it''s all going to bounce off." "How do we do that?" New Skill Unlocked Name: Armor Piercer Rank 1: Effect: For each point of energy spent, ignore one point of armor. The edge of Lancelot''s sword now glowed with the blue and deadly light of a laser, thin and deadly. New Skill Unlocked Name: Armor Shredder Rank: 3 Cost: 2 Effect: If the Guardian inflicts damage with this attack, permanently remove 1 point of armor from the target. Lancelot''s Energy: 12/20 Even a simple sword and board mech like Lancelot was hungry for power. There wasn''t a guardian in the fleet that didn''t feel the oppressive restraints of their power plant. Even so every bit of it was put to good use. Now the laser that lined the sword seemed to change shape. It appeared as spikes all along the edge of the sword, which soon began to rotate like the teeth of a chainsaw. It was a ridiculous sight, and so satisfying to watch. Clay swung the shining and roaring sword once more, this time he chewed through the monstrous enamel protecting the bones, and broke through to the black marrow writhing within. It spewed and landed on the Guardian like thick slime, but could find no purchase. It simply ran off like foul water. The great monster roared, and reared back in shock and pain. "Ya didn''t like that did ya?" Clay cackled. Gashadokuro Health 8/10. It did not. The stupid thing sucked on it''s finger like it''d never experienced pain before. Still roaring the thing gripped it''s ribcage and began to yank on it. The bones cracked and hinged open. It brought itself back as if taking in a deep breath. "What''s it doing?" Cherry asked, subtly positioning Clay between her and the monster. From all around the city, in the rubble, and in the safe places too, streams of red light flowed into the air, and into the beast like ribbons. It was like a cartoon character inhaling the scent of a freshly cooked pie. As grotesque as the skeleton was, the streams of light were almost beautiful. Only Gale could see the true horror of what was happening. Each of those ribbons was a soul, or at least a life. He could see it on his radar, in the same dethatched way all his data presented itself. Little red dots on a screen, just blinked out of existence. The entire city, all life for miles, just shriveled, and died, and for what? Gashadokuro Health: 10/10 So this thing could fix it''s broken finger. Clay had no taste for the creature''s dramatics, or it''s wounded ego. He charged in before it was even done devouring souls. This time he struck at the thing''s thigh, hopping to chop through it''s leg, but the whirring of his incredible laser chainsaw could only cut so deep. Lancelot''s Energy: 9/20 Gashadokuro Health 8/10 "Now Cherry!" Gale yelled, and to his delight the girl had been waiting for it. She roared again and mentally slammed back down on the lever. Seven more shots echoed from her cannon one after another. unlike the small and fast crawlers, the skeleton was an easy target. Cherry didn''t have to lean on her luck as six shots thundered into the skull of her foe. One managed to punch through the skull entirely, and leave out the back, creating a satisfying third eye in the thing''s hideous visage. Gashadokuro Health 2/10 "Yeah!" Gale screamed, "that''s what I''m talking about!" To his shame Gale''s thoughts returned to Cherry, and the normal life that was promised to her just an hour before. He couldn''t help but think what a waste that would have been. "Clay finish it off." He was already on the move. The Gashadokuro squirmed about on the field, in dire pain, and no doubt humiliation. He was backing away from Clay now like Cherry had before. It''s long legs covered so much ground as Clay barreled forward. Gale didn''t know if it was ancient, but it was terrible and if it was looking for sympathy from it''s foes it would find none in these three teenagers. In fact Gale felt nothing but satisfaction knowing that these things could feel fear. It lashed out one last time to strike Lancelot down. Despite Gale''s warning, there was really no dodging an attack on the scale this thing could manage. Lancelot''s Energy: 7/20 Lancelot''s Health 16/20 The Machine blocked it easily again and suffered only minor damages for it''s trouble, but again whatever dark and unseen magic it was working on Clay had finally taken effect. Gale could see it clear as day on his screen. The little mechanical spiders scrambled around him trying to heal his body, but the vitality was just getting drained right out of him. All his readings just sort of crawled to a stop. Clay could only off a week croaking breath as he crumbled in his seat. "Dammit!" Gale punched his counsel. Where was the justice in that? Clay could stomp this thing, even without Cherry it was as good as dead if they''d kept going. All Cherry saw was the Guardian collapse like a puppet with it''s strings cut. "Clay?" She called, voice rising with panic. "He''s gone!" Gale barked. "Cherry you need to get in there and finish the thing it''s almost done!" It was asking too much, and Gale knew it. She was too shocked by seeing her first comrade fall in battle. You never forget your first. "That''s not fair, he was about to win!" She couldn''t think of attacking, she just screamed for Clay, for Lancelot, for the brave knight who''d almost made everything possible. Then the hand came down again, this time on her. 09''s Health 7/10 "Aaah!" Cherry cried, for the first time tasting what damage felt like. Not only that, she could feel the life leaving her and escaping into the vents as well. "Fight cherry!" Gale screamed, they were really about to lose this. The city, the pilots, something was about to be lost so he could make sure this thing never saw the next town. He''d promised Sora, he''d promised Cherry! "You have to fight!" "Aaaah!" She screamed again and swung the fist of her mech through the brittle bones of the monster''s hand. It shattered on impact, white shards exploding under the force of her machine Gashadokuro Health 1/10 With it''s last good, hand the Gashadokuro once again tried to crush Cherry, but she was in a blind rage now. She was not going to let this thing touch her again. She threw her fist forward to meet it''s, the two blows clashing against one another, but ultimately Cherry''s will carried the day. Like a shockwave cracks appeared up and down the skeleton''s arm, It stood there still and in shock and piece by piece it''s arm fell away. It''s mouth hung agape, the look of surprise was apparently universal. Then it''s jaw fell from it''s skull, and the skull rolled back off the neck, and the whole thing came tumbling down until it sat as a profane pile of wreckage in the middle of what had been the county campus. 09''s Health 4/10 Gashadokuro''s Health 0/10 Wave Cleared! Cherry Level up: 1 >>> 2 (Voting is Open) Cherry was still huffing when the message came up. Wave Cleared! Like it was some game. That thing had just killed Clay. She didn''t even know the guy, only for a few moments. Still seeing Lancelot, his Guardian just collapse like that... She wanted to stomp on that thing''s bones, grind them to powder. It thought she was weak, well it was dead now. It was weak. Trauma: 40% She gulped, and mentally slid the bar back to zero. A comfortable numbness came over her. The painful firing of her synapses, the hateful ape chemicals flowing through the guardian crawled to a halt. The wretchedness of what she''d just encountered was reduced to simple uncaring facts. She fought with a boy. That boy died. And if Gale was to be believed he would be alive to fight once more. "Don''t lean on those sliders too much, they''re just there to help you focus in battle. They don''t cure you of what you''re feeling. As soon as you exit the Guardian all that shits going to come flooding back to you." "I''m not feeling anything." Cherry said calmly, and truthfully. Even her fear and confusion were at manageable levels. Fear: 40% Confusion: 40% "What else needs to get done? My guardian told me the wave was cleared, does that mean we''re done, or is there another wave coming." "There''s two more waves coming, but they won''t be here for a while, we don''t know how long exactly, but when they do come you''ll get called up again. That''s just for this timeline though, there''s two more. One in 1925, and one in 2125, it''s possible you could get called to one of those as well." "You sound like I''m going to go along with this, I''m not. This is all insane. Margo died, Clay just died, and you expect me to keep going." "I do." Gale didn''t even hesitate. "I refuse to believe that there''s any version of you, that wouldn''t join this fight." It really unnerved her the way he talked like he knew her. It was like someone at the mall calling your name, and not being able to recognize them. "Besides, for you it''s just two more fight. Both of which I''ve already been to by the way, and have seen you win." As if the damage done to her was all physical. "I''m not doing it." "Someone''s got to." Gale said a little less gently this time. "But it''s not my job to convince you the human race is worth saving." Another blue beam of light came down from the sky. Then the world started to get weird. The world rolled from where the beam hit, like it was made of water. Then blocks of solid matter began to lift up out of the ground and float into the sky before disintegrating. Cherry looked up and saw that the sky was gone, there was just a computerized grid above them now. "You''ll have a few weeks to walk through the healed city, and see all the souls that weren''t absorbed by that monster. Ask them if it was worth it." Cherry felt sick, the world was vanishing before her eyes. Whatever Gale was doing was just as bad as that skeleton. "What are you doing?" "This is my job." Gale said. "If you win the day, I get to reset the world. It''ll be just like it was before the invasion point appeared." "Wait..." Cherry felt her heart skip. "That means Margo''s alive." There was a moment of silence. "That''s interesting... Did she die right before you summoned the Guardian?" The Guardian wasn''t doing anything to dull the giddiness riding up on her. "Yes! Just a few minutes before, like right when the sirens started going off." "Then I don''t see why not!" Cherry was surprised to hear the genuine joy in Gale''s voice. He actually cared. She found herself actually charmed by that. "Your Sync Band might cause trouble though. That little Blue light that summoned the Guardian? You have it now, but if we reset and Margo also had it, that might be weird. I don''t know what would happen." "Would they explode?" Gale laughed. "Probably not. The timeline can take a lot more abuse than you''d think. I''m just wondering which one of you it would Synch up if you summoned it." "So not my priority right now. Can you send me back to check?" "The reset takes a few minutes, be patient." "Hard to be patient when you''re brining my friend back to life. Oh! Clay will be okay too, right?" "He will, but just so you know he won''t remember any of this." "Cause he died?" "Right. The Third Wave of 2025 is just between you and me now." "Are they all like this? Like... with a sole survivor?" She was starting to get good and recognizing what questions were sensitive by how long Gale paused to answer them. "They''re each a challenge." He quickly followed that up with, "Listen we don''t have much time left, and I still have you walk you through leveling up your Guardian." "Like a video game?" "Exactly like a video game yes! You level up two different ways. Your Guardian Levels up each time you successfully complete a wave. That''s the first kind. The Second kind is that your gear levels up when you use it enough." Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Cherry shook her head. "I feel like I''m going crazy. Are you actually talking about me leveling up? How? Why?" "Well the guardians were designed to grow and develop over a conflict. They observe the type of fighting they''re in and develop methods for adapting to it. That''s why. The how is some future tech nonsense I don''t even understand. These creatures we''re fighting The New Gods they like, come from a different dimension or something. When they die and we reset there''s basically a whole bunch of extra matter and energy in the area that shouldn''t exist or be there. Metatron, that''s the name of my Guardian. Meatatron absorbs that strangeness then transmits it to your mech for the micromachines in it to... work. I don''t know I don''t have all the answers." "This is so confusing." Confusion: 50% "Oh look at that, your explanation is as confusing as me being teleported into this thing to begin with." She could hear him smile through the comms. "Now there''s the Cherry I know. It''s actually very simple, you''ve played video games more complex than this. Let''s bring up your Guardian''s Stat''s I''ll run you through it." Guardian: 09 Level 2 Hull: 10 (Hull determines the Guardian''s Health, and when leveled up increases by 10 points) Power Plant: 10 (Power Plant determines how much energy a Guardian is able to produce, and increases by 10 when leveled up) Systems: 5 (Systems are how many additional pieces of equipment the Guardian can operate at once. It increases by 5 on level ups.) Actuators: 1 (Actuators determines the raw strength of The Guardian, and increases by 1 on level ups.) Engines:0 (Engines determine the speed and maneuverability of The Guardian and increase by 1 on level ups.) Those are your Guardian''s main components, you''re going to pick one to level up." "Which one?" "You''re going to choose." "Well you already know what I choose, dude just tell me. I don''t know which." "We have free will Cherry, we can''t fall into the trap of thinking everything is predetermined for us." "I pick something stupid don''t I?" "There''s no bad options." Gale said. "actuators seems pretty bad, I have a gun." "You ended up fist fighting that thing didn''t you? If you had an upgraded actuator, you could have laid it out on your first punch." "So I should pick actuators?" "Just think about it Cherry, Damn." Gale sighed. "So that''s one half half of leveling up. You get to upgrade one of your parts, and you also get to select a new bonus for your Guardian. It looks like it''s come up with a few options, so I''m going to show them to you." "Great." What a perfect way to unwind after a grizzly battle to the death. "You get an Offensive, Defensive, and Support option." Option 1 Fist Catapult System Requirement: 3 Range: Melee Energy: NA Effect: When engaging in melee combat the fists of the Guardian and rapidly retracted into the arm, and then hydraulically propelled forward at the moment of impact, massively increasing the damage the Guardian does in melee. "Okay, see that first option on your screen. That''s your offensive action, it''s giving you a melee weapon. If you''re fighting in melee it''s always better to have a weapon than not. A weapon grantees that your Actuator rating will be converted into damage." The confused Cherry. "Wasn''t I doing damage when I was punching the thing?" "You were but, you were also getting lucky. The damage from an unarmed attack isn''t guaranteed. Now see that it doesn''t cost an energy to use this. We love that. Also notice the System Requirements. The Fist Catapult takes up three system points, and so does your shoulder cannon. You''d have to pick one or the other before deploying, or use your level up to increase your capacity." "Okay, I think I get it. What''s my next option?" Option 2 Ablative Armor System Requirements: 0 Energy: 0 Effect: Extra armor is added to the Hull of The Guardian. This armor is light weight and designed to easily fall off under stress, taking the brunt of damage instead of the main chassis. The Guardian gains 5 points of Health to their Hull. "Okay, there''s option number two. This option is a passive benefit to the mech. Meaning it doesn''t take any slots or energy to use. It''s not as powerful as other options, but you don''t have to juggle all those numbers. Plus extra health never hurt anyone." Option 3 Range Finder System Requirements: 2 Energy: 1 Effect: The targeting system of this Guardian are enhanced, and able to link with other Guardians. When aiming The Guardian can choose to provide the aiming bonus to all other Guardians rather than their own attack. "That''s Option 3. It''s a support skill so it''s about helping the team. Aiming is basically just spending a few moments to focus on your target before firing. Anyone can do it and it raises the accuracy of your gun by two points. So your cannon would be hitting seven out of ten times. This makes it so instead of you getting that bonus, it''s all your allies." "My only other ally had a sword." "Fair." Wasn''t she in a giant mech? Where were the missiles? These options were kind of lame. "Okay so I just pick a system to upgrade, and one of those options right?" "Right... plus..." "Oh no." "You also managed to upgrade your cannon during that fight. Each of your systems has a goal that you need to meet to upgrade them. The cannon''s challenge was to kill five enemies with it, and you took care of that pretty easily. These challenges carry over even if you die. So Clay won''t level up from this fight, but his gear will still gain experience from him using it." "I guess that''s good. But i can barely afford the upgrades you just showed me without increasing my systems, is that going to make my cannon harder to use?" "Sometimes, but you get to choose. Here I''ll show you, these are the last options and then you''re done I swear. Gear Upgrade! Bronco Shoulder Cannon V.2 Option 1 Double Tap Effect: The Guardian''s Shoulder Cannon now fires two shots for every point of energy spent. Option 2 Armor Piercing Rounds Effect: The Guardian''s Shoulder Cannon now ignores one point of armor from it''s enemies Option 3 Smart Rounds Effect: The Accuracy of The Guardian''s Shoulder Cannon is now increased by 2 points. "Yeah see, 09 isn''t out to do anything crazy. That''s a workhorse of a mech, it keeps things simple. The Options you have right now are just going to effect how your cannon shoots. There''s no additional energy or system requirements." "So what you''re saying is that if I increase my power plant, that''ll take me to twenty energy. Then if I get double tap I''ll be shooting forty rounds a fight." "Now you''re thinking like a pilot."