Sigma/Star

Chapter 54: Chase vs. Gremlin

Chase struck with a left hook first, one that was easily blocked by the Gremlin's arm. It didn't realize though, that Chase's fist was going to sear into the metal, melting it as long as it stayed there. The scorch marks from the punch could hardly be made out on the black battlesuit but the hissing of the metal turning to slag was quite apparent. It was a shame the Gremlin couldn't feel the pain.

The combatants rolled away from each other as they both launched attacks once more, each dodging the other. Chase winced a little as he sprung up, his cracked ribs speaking out against such actions. But they were quickly silenced by adrenaline and Chase took up a fighting stance once more, his blazing fists ready to go.

In a blur, the Gremlin struck, bringing down its two fists in an overhead smash that Chase had to deflect aside with considerable strength and he thought he felt his wrists crack slightly at doing so. The attack collided harmlessly with the floor, cracking it in a spider web pattern and sending rumblings up and down the hall. With the battlesuit bent over a little, Chase took a shot at its face.

The attack was caught by the Gremlin, whose hand had flown up to block. Little trails of smoke started coming up between the fingers of the machine as Chase's burning fist sizzled against metal. But the warmachine could not feel the obvious pain and clamped down tightly on the youth's hand. It picked him up with ease and whipped the body into the into the lockers lining the walls of the corridor, rattling their doors. Chase continued to fly through the air as he was whipped down the hallway and bounced along the ground.

There was a momentary stillness in the air as Chase came to a stop and the Gremlin watched. Nami held her breath inside the supply closet, not wanting to remind the machine's driver where she was and wishing to hear the results of the war. The battlesuit did not wait any longer though, sprinting forward with a burst of speed then leaping forward through the air, bringing its foot down in a mighty stomp.

Chase barely had time to open his eyes before he saw the attack bearing down on him and he threw his hands up to block it. The Gremlin's dense weight on its miniature frame drove down on Chase, denting the ground and leaving a little crater as the young man dealt with the sensations sweeping through his body, the numerous points of pain in his ribs and his wrists and now travelling into his arms. The foot came off, leaving the student struggling for breath on the ground. He felt his fingers twitch a little, his arms still crossed in front of his face, but he could not move otherwise. The spiritual fires enveloping his hands flickered a bit, wavering with Chase's own life force.

Satisfied by its victory, the Gremlin turned away and began to walk back down the hallway, passing by the supply closet and ignoring the little girl inside of it. Obviously their mission was not to eliminate all life in the academy by individually killing them. The life support systems would be a much more valuable target.

"Where are you going rust bucket?" Chase teetered a bit, leaning against the lockers on the wall to keep himself upright, one of his arms wrapped around his side and clutching onto his bruised and battered ribs. There was a bit of blood dripping out of the corner of his mouth, getting absorbed into a red splotch on his shirt. He took another shaky step forward, slowly testing his balance and ability to keep himself from falling over.

The Gremlin stopped and turned, its red eye spinning and zooming in a little to observe its enemy a bit closer. It turned away again, satisfied that it was not going to be impeded by Chase any longer in his current state. It had no need to go back and finish him off.

The fiery pilot would have none of this though. It was somewhat annoying to be fighting a silent enemy he could not taunt or boast to, even though there was someone on Earth driving it, but Chase would have to make due. He fished into his pockets with his free hand and found a pen, pulling it out and whipping it. The writing utensil bounced harmlessly off the metal chassis of the battlesuit with a tiny "ping" sound and clattered to the ground, rolling around in circles.

Nami pressed her ear to the door of the closet and listened to the pen, wondering what was going on between the two fighters and what had happened to cause the Gremlin to start leaving. Her heart was pounding inside her chest in a combination of nervousness and anxiety for Chase as well as out of a fear of self-preservation. She was finding it harder and harder to listen to what was going on outside, left in a room with the increasingly louder echo of her own heartbeat. But she had to hear.

The Gremlin slowly turned again. Chase was a bit closer now, dragging his body along the wall in his limping gait. The machine gave in to temptation, its pilot figuring it would be easier to just completely silence the youth rather than putting up with being bugged as it travelled through the school. If he wanted to die so badly, let him die. It walked up to the struggling boy, not needing its robotic speed against its opponent any more. Its fingers curled together into a punch that flew towards Chase's face.

Chase blocked the blow with his open palm, stopping the attack cold. "Come and fight me rusty," Chase mumbled, still slugging forward slowly and looking down at his feet. The mini-Goliath shook its head a little as it scanned for an answer. Why was the boy still moving as though he were ignored? Was he even paying attention to what was happening? The Gremlin tried again with its fist, and was turned aside once more, Chase using just his one hand to deflect the attack. The punch landed in the floor behind Chase, forcing the battlesuit to stumble past the student and catch its balance. Its eye focused on the lockers behind Chase, the ones he had dragged his body along. They had been blackened, the metal seared by the heat coming off of the youth. Some even had little flames burning along them, winking out into red embers. It was a bit of a shock to the controller of the Gremlin, trying to comprehend what was going on in this young man.

However, the war machine had a purpose it had to fulfil and so it righted itself and brought its hands together above its head, swinging downwards to crush Chase. The student didn't flinch, his hand moving to intercept the attack, again completely negating it, seeming to ignore the force and momentum that shot through the rest of the arm. The Gremlin withdrew, puzzling over what to do next. It leaned down a little, the red lens whirling around in an effort to get a bead grasp on its opponent and his bizarre powers.

In a flash, Chase's fist had shot right through the Gremlin's eye and went into the head, his blazing fingers wrapping around the central processor in the head and lighting it on fire. The battlesuit shuddered a little before its entire body slumped a little and fell to its knees, held from falling forward by Chase. The metal of its sleek head had begun to melt from the intense heat emanating from inside of it.

The teen pulled his hand back out and fell back against the wall, sliding downwards and wrapping his arms around himself as the Gremlin fell forward to the ground. Chase coughed for a while, a long fit that rattled through every broken bone in his chest and shook blood up through his throat. He looked down at the red liquid that had stained his good shirt and shook his head a bit. His lips parted to speak but his energy ran short and a raspy breath came out instead.

Hearing nothing but silence for a long time, Nami took in a deep breath of confidence and decided to unlock the door, opening it to the damaged floor right in the hall outside. She gasped a little at the damage that had been done to the school, her watery eyes roaming over the lockers and walls and taking it all in until they settled on the battered Chase, whose eyelids had slowly closed. She flew to him, wrapping around him and sobbing next to the fallen Gremlin.

The alarm siren that had continued to go off during this period, becoming an ignored white noise in the background, finally fell silent. A group of teachers passed by with communicators, reporting the situation to some sort of head administrator and they immediately called for the nurse to come and extract Chase. The assault was over.

A/N: The last Gremlin beaten, at great expense to the students' bodies. What next for the CRU? And what of Earth during this time?

Hey check out the Sigma/Star Goliath Garage contest (it's a book on my profile), which is part of the Wattpad community contests series (you can find it by clicking contests under the community tab!). Hope to see some awesome entries from a lot of you, particularly the more rabid fans as you get a chance to design your own Goliath for use in the story. Help me make Sigma/Star that much better!