The Frieden Chronicles: Reckoning

Mock battle

Mason Lopez

"You know, it's nice to get my hands dirty with you guys again..." I said to the pair or little devils that I call brothers.

 "And here I thought that Hideyoshi would run away at the sight of me. Since you know... that whole shit storm that happened last time." Finian said before Hideyoshi turned to him looking at him sharply.

  "Do not start rampaging with explosives again or I will..." Hideyoshi said, adjusting his mechanical arm. His English has improved a lot since I last saw him, but you could clearly tell that he was not a native to the language.

 "Might as well start running narrow eyes." Finian said with a devious smug.

  "Your behavior is a cause for concern Bodi-san..." Hideyoshi said in Japanese after a rather frustrated sigh. It was hard to understand it but I was able to pick up a thing or two from this glorified edgelord.

 "Speak English dammit!" Finian said, annoyed letting out an exasperated sigh of his own.

"Alright you two listen up! I know this is just a demonstration, but don't go showing off alright? We got to show them how we work as a team."

 "Like that time on in Toledo where Hidei got turned into ground beef?" Finian asked mocking our far eastern friend.

  "... If I recall well, I saved you from being eaten while you quite literally... relieved yourself." Hideyoshi said with his usual near monotonous tone.

"Besides the point guys, just make it look like we are watching each other's asses for once okay?" I said before they started bickering again.

These two since day one have fought over every little thing under the sun, at first it was heated and it often came to blows. But now they seem to have a mutual respect towards each other although that hasn't taken away their uncanny ability to find something to argue over.

 "Hey you're the boss here Husky, just point me to the right direction to lob a grenade or two before I end up blowing us up!" Finian said humorously.

  "Please Captain, do not let him do such a thing. I may have robotic limbs but I do not intend to lose them this soon..." Hideyoshi said with a nervous tone, I could not help but notice that he has seemed to have changed quite a bit. He was never the type that would speak to anyone so often, it was even hard to strike a conversation with him at times due to how reserved he was.

"Hey don't worry, worse case scenario you don't have to worry about getting another girl pregnant." I said jokingly causing Finian to laugh.

 "On top of that it's a free castration! And who doesn't like free shit?" Finian asked with his usual smile, I sometimes wondered how many more screws he lost ever since our time in Iberia. His jokes; exaggerated as they may be, were things he genuinely considered.

   "Alright boys, you will face a pair of robotic imitations of Minotaurs and eight husks. I will give you two minutes to forge a plan." the colonel said over an intercom.

"You've got to be kidding me... we are in the open with no cover whatsoever and he wants us to fight that many?" I asked slightly agitated from the announcement. Minotaurs are a pain in the ass to kill, but they don't depend on the leader unlike the husk. Fortunately, all we had to do is to take out the little helpers and let Hideyoshi handle the minotaurs.

 "Seems like it... what's the plan?" Finian asked reading his rifle.

"Let's just give them the usual treatment. Poet, you go and keep the minotaurs at bay while Kodiak and I take on the husk from a distance. Once we deal with them we will distract them long enough for Kodiak to shoot his grenade launcher at the minotaurs." I explained.