A•N•D•R•O•P•H•O•B•I•A

Beauty's Beast • Part Three

"I think there's something wrong with the radar." I said dully, turning my bracelet, seeing if the radar would change. It didn't, which all in all made me look stupid. "How the hell can we find our way like this." I said to myself. After I managed to compose myself earlier, Pyxl and I had covered some considerable ground. About an hour and a half into the walk, the radar map began to suddenly flash with hexagonal pixels across the screen. Because of that, Pyxl and I have done nothing but walk aimlessly to God-knows-where. I sighed, leaning against Pyxl. I stared into space, thinking what to do next. I didn't managed much thinking, though, since Pyxl suddenly moved forward, nearly making me fall on my butt. Luckily I didn't, and now I turned to look at Pyxl.

His body was arched in a tighter position than it usually held, and his head was lowered dangerously to the ground, almost touching it by an inch or two. "Pyxl?" I said quietly, moving gently forward to get a better look on his face. He stopped me though, taking out one hand and blocking me. "What?" I asked. Knowing he won't answer me, I instead followed his line of sight. Out of instinct I backed away at what I saw. A robot, a full-metal robot, was staggering... no. More like limping horrifyingly, towards me and Pyxl. "Oh. That's what.." I said dumbly. I gently backed away, Pyxl slowly in tow. I eyed him from my peripheral vision, and he seemed to know what I was thinking. The bars behind his back were already opening up to make room. I held in my breath, as I positioned my footing. Suddenly the robot's mouth slowly began to open.... and... "Rraaaaaaaaghhh!!!"

As the robot let out a horrible shriek, I took that opportunity to jump inside Pyxl's cage. The moment it closed, Pyxl lunged forward and rammed the robot with his shoulder. It fell to the floor instantly, twitching and whirring. More robots, however, began to emerge from the other end of the corridor, and even more were crawling out from the holes in the walls. "Run, Pyxl! Run!" I urged. Obeying, Pyxl turned around and ran. He ran and ran, trying his best to outmaneuver the robots. But the robots seemed to come from everywhere, and now, not only were there robots tailing us from behind, but also robots suddenly popping up in front of us. Pyxl swerved perfectly in time, avoiding the robots' advances every last minute.

We turned a corner, and we stopped abruptly, nearly making my face collide with the metal bars. Pyxl and I both looked up, at the large metal wall before us. It just had to be a dead-end. Pyxl turned back, and now the robots, were drawing nearer and nearer. "What now?" I asked. As if in answer, Pyxl suddenly opened the bars and let me out. "Pyxl... What are you doing?" I asked anxiously. He moved me farther back in to the corner of the wall as he could. Just going by the look he had, it was obvious what he planned to do. "No. No.. Pyxl don't." I pleaded. He didn't listen, which wasn't really new to me. He bent down and held my wrist, where my bracelet was. He pressed the button that activated the field, and backed away as it surrounded me. Pyxl then hand-gestured. "Stay there. I will clean up this mess.." On cue, the robots were starting to come from behind him. Pyxl gave them a glance and looked back to me.

We stared at each other for about 5 seconds, and it was the longest 5 seconds I've ever had. The look Pyxl had, practically mirrored mine. At that moment, I knew. He was as scared as I was, because he knew, too. That he won't be able to stand a chance against, probably hundreds of robots. Sure, he was the strongest out of Clancy and the others, but it's no joke when it comes to number. If there were only 5 to 6 then maybe he can hold them off. But that's not how it is today. At that moment, a thought, not so normal, came into my mind. If Pyxl malfunctioned now, then maybe he has a chance.. I laughed at myself inwardly at that. There's no way that could happen, at least not now, when the situation was in dire need of it. Life had that oh-so-pestering gist to it, where when you need something the most, that's when it doesn't give it to you. And I know how much malfunctioning hurts Pyxl, and I don't want that for him.