Undecided

Prologue

It was a rainy night. The flames of the house still clear on his mind. The man walked amongst the shadowy roofs, searching for something that might have been lost, his dark medium sized hair hidden under a black hood, and a scar in his beardless chin hidden under a mask.

The man had just lost one his greatest friends, a man that had once given him purpose and dared grant a loser the chance to rise. He slightly chuckled under his mask, remembering some of the arguments they'd had. The feeling of disgrace when he was expelled from the place they worked, the relief of knowing they'd still be friends to the end, all the advice he had given and all the magnificent inventions that genius could come up with. The gloves he'd made still fit perfectly, even after years of nearly unstopped usage.

At the distance, a strange sound could be heard. It was quite common for the monsters to attack this area of the city, being outside the walls that marked its territory, however that was not the sound of that. It sounded more like metal slamming against rock. Quite far, but still echoing through the lonely streets. That must be where "it" went. The man followed the sound to an empty square. Well, it would be empty, if not for the enormous machine standing at the middle.

Nearly 6 meters tall, the robot looked vaguely humanoid, however sporting wheels instead of feet and with arms long enough to reach the floor. Its headless body crouched at the center of the square while its arms wailed at a point in the ground. Perhaps it was some kind of monster, as that is what these machines were made to do, however it was too small for a normal monster and the neighborhood would be in siege mode had it been a Pack Monster. No. The thing in the ground was much more precious and much more threatening. And that was what the man in the rooftops was after.

Jumping into action, the man ran toward the automaton, leaping from the nearest roof. It may be big, but he had fought countless creatures much worse. That one barely had ranged capabilities, and was much more suited to quick charges and fast maneuvering. Once he could reach it, touch it, it was over. He did, however, underestimate the movement detection capabilities of this robot, perhaps meant to catch runaway creatures that others may overlook. It moved at a speed unbecoming of its size, reaching the other side of the square in less than a second.

"More than 10 meters" Thought the challenger. "I might actually have to be careful here."

Sensing threat from the new arrival the robot began circling the square, gaining speed and momentum for a strike. It was a dizzying movement, meant to be unpredictable and exploit a breach in the opponent's defense, however, when the time came to strike, the human had yet to move from the spot he had landed. With and extraordinarily high jump and partially propelled by the robot's own momentum, the man dodged a strike from the machine's left appendage, landing a gloved punch against its chest. That, however, was not a normal punch, as his fist sank into the being's bullet resisting plate as easily as a flaming knife cutting through butter. He knew where to strike to deal damage, and in that quick move had cut out connection from the cameras sensors, completely blinding his opponent. Unsure of how to proceed, the machine continued moving forward. Perhaps it could ram itself against one of the nearby houses while the man's arm was still stuck. Yes, it could not see, had lost sensation of its body and the world around itself and was barely fit to move at this point, but it had a purpose to accomplish, and nothing would be stopping it.

Unfortunately, although not yet aware, the machine had already been severed from its limbs in the few seconds it took for its battery to finally expire. The man had kept most of its circuitry intact, perhaps as a way to thank the small community of this place for housing his friend for some many years, or perhaps as an apology for the loud disturbance. In any way, its pieces could fetch for quite a bit of money if sold to the right people.

"Guess I overestimated it" He said, chuckling to himself as he approached his prize. On the floor, battered and unconscious, was a young man, somehow still alive after the beatings of the metallic giant. "Don't worry, big brother has come to get you." He said to the sleeping youth, putting him onto his back. "It's time to meet new friends."