Sigma/Star

Chapter 52: Fire Inside

Emera and Raul crept forward down the suddenly ominous corridors of their school. They had been roaming around every inch of the gym in search of the lost pilots to no avail but had just heard the metallic squealing of a hinge. If the guesses were correct that the school was under attack from Gremlins that would be roughly the same sound one of them would make.

The couple had turned down a new hall, trying to spread out their search for Chase and Nami. That was when they had heard the noise the first time. Now they were slinking against the lockers, with Raul's weapons in hand. Whether or not they could actually do anything against a miniature Goliath was yet to be seen but it wasn't going to stop them from trying. Then the foot came down on the floor.

The robot moved into view, standing near eight feet tall, its head lowered a little to avoid scraping the ceiling. In the centre of the head was a single, ocular eye with a lens that whirled as it spun into focus and scanned the area. The red glass reflected Raul's face as it stopped on the youths. There was a flexing of mechanical fingers, the only sound that bounced around the empty space during the standoff.

"Emera," Raul whispered through the side of his mouth. "Are you able to run in your dress?"

"You know I have a hobby of reading tarot cards Raul?" Emera withdrew the large rectangular pieces of laminated paper she spoke of and fanned them out in her hand.

"Uh ok?"

"Well a popular model has to be able to protect herself right?" Emera gave the ninja a wink before whipping three of the cards through the air towards the miniature battlesuit. Two of them embedded into the chest armour of the robot, as though they were blades and not flimsy paper. The third one glanced off the machine's arm, leaving a small gash in the armour. The Gremlin looked down at itself in shock and Raul's jaw dropped. "Shall we kill it then dear?"

* * * * *

Chase and Nami stood still, statues in the school. The Gremlin continued its walk at the other end of the school, its sleek body gracefully drifting along. Being of Artisan construction it had a smoothness to its design that tried to emulate artistry. It had been painted an ominous black though, with a singular ruby eye that bathed over each locker and metal tile it observed. But it did not stop along its path. The mini-Goliath kept moving, never turning to look at the two students.

The pair gave out a little sigh of relief at the temporary danger passing them by. Chase tugged at Nami to get them moving towards the potential safety of the storage closet. "Don't tell me you're really going to try and fight that thing Chase. All on your own?"

"Nami I don't have a choice, I have to protect everyone. It's why I trained; it's why I'm here. If I don't do it, who will?" He turned to look into her eyes as he said it and the little girl's heart fluttered for a moment upon seeing his romantic determination. Then her entire chest shook. Down at the other end of the corridor, the Gremlin had returned, its sinister eye peering around the corner and focused in on them.

"Chase we...what do we...?"

"Run!" The fiery youth grabbed Nami by the hand and took off again down the hall as the Gremlin began to move, taking off with a mechanically-boosted speed. Even with their head start, that supply door was just too far away for them to reach it in time. The Gremlin was an exact miniature of a Goliath and Goliath's were fast.

As each side began to close in on the doorway in the middle, Chase began to see that there was no hope of them making it on time, certainly not with him being weighed down dragging Nami behind. There weren't really any options to avoid it. Except maybe one...

Chase reached back and grasped Nami's arms and smiled at her. "Get inside as fast as you can." And with that he threw the tiny girl with all his might. She floated through the air before her bum bounced off the ground and she skidded to a stop in front of the storage closet. The door hissed open for her as she sat there for a moment, dumbfounded.