The Paradox Corridor

Chapter 5: Darkness Eternal

The futuristic robot looked out of place in the otherwise normal mall, it's black metal coating glinting eerily off of the flashes of lightning overhead. It's hulking body gave the idea that it was incredibly strong, and it's black armor seemed to suck in all of the light around it. It was clearly designed for battle, as it had a huge cannon on its left hand. Its artificial red eyes set deep into it's head rested their gaze on James, Amber, and finally, Andrew. Everyone else had already fled. No one moved, not even the robot. Then, Andrew broke the silence.

"This. Is. So. Cool! Thetechnologyissoadvancedandhadthecoolestentranceeveranditssobigandsocool!", he cried, flapping his arms around in the air like he was attempting to achieve liftoff.

"Not now, Andrew, not now! You can freak out about it later." hissed James through the corner of his mouth, trying not to freak out himself. But his efforts were in vain. The robot focused on Andrew, and without giving any warning, shifted its weight, quickly raised its left arm, and fired. The explosion was huge. The shockwave helped push James as dove to the left and ducked under some wreckage (those 'Parkour Lessons' he had received from Andrew were finally paying off). The dust cleared, and the robot lowered its arm. James looked at where he and his friends had just been standing. What he saw made his blood grow cold. He saw the bracelet that Amber always wore lying, half burned, on the floor. A sob welled up in his throat, but he pushed it down. Suddenly, his grief grew into anger, and he stood. The robot turned toward him, but did nothing. James could not understand. His friends had just been there at his side...and now, they weren't. Confusion quickly changed to anger, and he became so angry so quickly that he almost fainted. He shook his hands, quivering with rage as he righted himself. He tried to say something, he tried to do something, but he was so angry that his vision became clouded. Left with no other obvious option, he built up all of his rage, and SCREAMED at the loudest possible volume he could. His hollow, pain-filled screech echoed across the room, seemingly enveloping the room with it's lonely noise. He screamed until he could do so no longer, and even then he screamed some more. Finally, he fell forward, only barely stopping himself from falling flat on his face. The robot gazed at him somberly, then, surprisingly, closed it's eyes as if it were just as upset as James was, and lowered its weapon. James, although he was furious, was at the same time absolutely astounded. This...thing, which had just robbed him of his two best friends, was all of a sudden...sorry? Why? His fury dwindled and his confusion increased slightly as the robot then turned around and slowly marched toward the wreckage from which it had come. James half-noticed, that, on the the robot's hip, there was a huge sword-like object, more like a halberd (a spear with a sword edge on the top) than a sword really. It  seemed to be a completely random thing to notice, but he was willing to do anything to forget what had just happened, and was more than willing to notice things like that. The robot stepped down into the wreckage, and turned back around. It's body began to glow, and its arms began to turn red. Then, the robot's entire body began to change color, and then turned back into sparks. James watched in disbelief as the robot continued its transformation. But then, without warning, the room grew cold, and the lights went out. The shadows the clouds cast seemed to become alive as what little light that came from outside was snuffed out, leaving only the cold, horrifying, unforgiving darkness. James felt fear that seemed inescapable, as well as grief that felt like it would never go away, a hundredfold of what he had felt before. James' breath slowed down.  His body grew very cold, and his heart slowed down to almost nothing. He was dying. He knew it. And there was nothing he could do. He was frozen solid, or, at least, it felt like he was. Suddenly a voice, cold, dark, and patient, floated out of the darkness.

"Finish your duty..." Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the darkness lifted, and James' heart began to beat normally again, his body now at its normal temperature. He was definitely scared, because that feeling was far more powerful than anything he had ever felt. He didn't have time to think about it though. What was left of the robot stiffened, like it was being beaten. That in of itself scared James the most: this seemingly invincible terror machine not only took orders, but was beaten for not following through with them. Anything strong enough to hurt something like that with seemingly minimal effort was something to be feared. It shook its head a few times, then abruptly reversed its transformation. The sparks quickly came back to their usual location, and the now complete robot raised its left hand, about to fire once again. This time, James knew, uncontrolled rage wouldn't stop it. Nothing would. The puppet master was now in control of the puppet (albeit a large, metal, angry puppet). The robot's' arm began to glow as it prepared to fire. The robot gave him a strange look, if that were even possible, but its posture, at least, indicated that it didn't really want to kill him. Even so, it seemed determined to carry through with its mission. James saw his entire life flash before his eyes, and he squeezed them shut. Then, he heard a voice from behind, a voice that, sadly, he knew very well.

"Now, if I were you, I would think of your next move very, very carefully" warned Andrew, cocking the gun in his hands.