It Began With A Kiss

Chapter 6

"It has 3 heads! Why does it have 3 heads?!" Five shrieked as he dodged a flying tire that the glitch threw at him. He and Haneesh were at the junkyard, fighting a freakishly huge, 3-headed dog. Okay, maybe not Haneesh but Five was. The 3-headed dog was getting hit by his emitter blasts but the glitch seemed to take little to no damage from them.

"Found anything yet?" He yelled over his shoulder to his partner, who was crouched behind their Hinobi van with his eyes glued to his gauntlet. His fingers danced over the controls, searching for something while Five did all the fighting and dodging.

"Finally, some intel on our pup. Apparently he's a nameless puppy from a simulator game called Puppy Love which was made for children. But, something's wrong," Haneesh frowned as he scrutinized the information he had before him. "This isn't part of his code. Looks like his code got-"

"Haneesh! Look out!"

Five reached out for his partner as the 3-headed dog took a humongous bite out of a tilting pile of flattened and crushed cars, sending metal scraps flying in all directions. It allowed it to grow in size as it let out a proud roar. The hood of a car made a beeline for the Hinobi van, and the unsuspecting Haneesh. Not allowing himself to stand by in horror, Five made a mad dash to his friend with a shield in hand.

The moment the car piece collided with the van, glass windows shattered into tiny shards as the vehicle sharply tilted to the side and fell onto Haneesh.

"Haneesh!" Five cried, skidding to a stop in front of their fallen van. His friend's body was completely hidden under the vehicle which made it worse. Adrenaline rushed in his blood as Five felt light-headed the more he thought focused on the bleak situation.

"Alpha! I need your help buddy!" Five swiped on his gauntlet to summon his companion pet; Alpha the Mech. He grunted in response to the boy's panicked tone of voice and understood the situation almost instantly. Grabbing onto the side of the van, Alpha lifted.

The 3-headed dog was occupying itself by eating junk for it to level up. When Alpha came out, the oversized dog turned and a couple of inflated tires tumbled from a nearby pile of junk, raining onto Five. He shot 2 out of 3, however one still came at him.

I can't make the shot in time! The Glitch Tech desperately thought.

Sweat dripped off of his neck and brow as his underlying work clothes stuck to his body under his slightly saturated armour. The horrid smell of the burning rubber, fumes, trash and sweat combined with his irregular and rapid heartbeat made him want to throw up his lunch an hour ago. Crossing his arms in front of his upper body, Five squeezed his eyes shut and braced for impact that was about to arrive at any second.

Boom.

Five slowly opened his eyes and realised that he was still standing, unscathed.

"I'm... alive?" He patted his body, mostly his face. A shadow flew past him from above, redirecting the Latino's attention to the sky. A cloud of red, orange and yellow feathers soared in and out of the clouds, steadily landing onto the ground beside Five and stirring the dust around it. Five coughed as it watered his eyes, however, that didn't stop him from recognising a very familiar face. She flipped off of Alley and tossed her beautiful, purple gradient hair.

"Quit standing around and blast it already!" Miko flexed her knuckles, eyeing the enemy that was occupied with consuming more junk. Five had noticed how tight she was clenching her fists as the colour of her knuckles turned quite pale. Besides her hands, her fighting stance seemed to be stiffer than usual; Five would note how Miko would be slightly shifting her weight from foot to foot, but she was standing completely still. Something was not right.

"Miko..." Five began, catching her attention. The usual spark in her eyes had met excitement and a thrill for adventure; a passionate fire burned within her. Somehow, the spark that he saw wasn't there anymore, and that passionate fire had changed into an icy glare. She had donned an expression that was piercing, cold and full of hatred. This wasn't the Miko that he knew.

Alpha grunted, and Five tore his gaze away from Miko. Haneesh was leaning onto Alpha and used one of his giant robotic hands as support to stand. His clothes had multiple cuts and bruises, none of which seemed to hit any of his vital organs from the outside. A particularly large wound had cut the skin on his left shoulder and arm, creating a slash mark that bled and had stopped above his lower arm.

"Haneesh!" Five gasped and cupped his mouth.

Miko widened her eyes in shock. "Haneesh..."

Regardless, the injured tech gave a reassuring smile to his teammates. The sound of a quick bass boost rang out as a Hinobi van drove out of a portal outside of the junkyard. A Glitch Tech hopped out of the van.

"Took ya long enough," Miko muttered at the newcomer. Five glanced back at his ex-partner.

"Miko, t-that's not like you! And you didn't bother to wait for your partner?!" He said, meeting her icy glare once more. Her facial expression didn't change.

"Guys! Haneesh... What happened?!" Zahra ran up to meet the trio before immediately concerning herself over Haneesh.

"Zahra, take Haneesh to your van. Alpha will help. Miko and I-"

"HIYAA!" Miko had mounted Alley and yelled, charging at the 3-headed dog wielding blazing swords in both hands. Five stood irritated because he was interrupted by her tactless attack.

"Just go! I'll cover for her!" Five produced a whip from her gauntlet and rushed at the glitch, bigger than ever. Zahra and Alpha worked together to get Haneesh to the undestroyed Hinobi van before Alpha stomped into the battle.

Meanwhile, Miko was hacking at one of the snapping heads of the oversized dog while Five targeted its feet. Alley flew overhead as aerial support, distracting the other 2 heads.

"Stupid dog, disappear already!" The spunky purple-haired girl screamed, channeling her anger into attacking the glitch.

"Where's this thing's weak spot?!" Five grunted with frustration. His muscles began to grow sore as each lash of his whip became weaker than the last.

"Well, I'm glad you asked," a voice came through to both of their communicators.

"Haneesh, you're okay!" Five happily exclaimed. At least there was one piece of good news.

"I should be insulted that you would doubt my abilities," Haneesh chuckled. "I'll recite the info for Miko's sake. Our nameless glitch puppy is from a simulator game made for children. However, his code seemed to be modified, which allows him to gain destructive powers depending on what it absorbs. It's weak spot is it's collar. Miko, you're the closest."

"Roger," she replied monotonously.

Dragging her swords into the skin of the glitch, blue electric charges sparked like a glowing trail after it before Miko brought them up and slashed simultaneously at the collar. A loud ripping sound echoed in the area as everything came to a standstill, like time itself had slowed down and things were in slow motion. For a few seconds, no one moved. Then, from bottom up, it disappeared in a flurry of blue sparks. Five, who was near the feet of the glitch, stumbled backwards with his eyes glued to the sparks.

As for Miko, who was standing on the shoulder of the disappearing glitch dog, let go of her swords and watched as it too disappeared in the air. Exhaling tiredly, she did a few small hops before running off of the shoulder and flipping in the air. The breeze caressed her face and combed through her hair as she remained suspended above the ground far below her. Up here, it just felt so calming. Like a safe haven just for her. She could kiss the sky with her head in the clouds, but she was a Glitch Tech. Miko began to freefall from the sky, feeling a sudden rush of wind through her body.

As expected, Alley swooped in and caught the falling girl on its back. Yes, she was a Glitch Tech, and they always land on their feet. This mission was completed albeit not flawlessly, but at least it was taken care of.

So why can't she do the same for her feelings for Five?

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Written by: Musique_Me
Word count: 1428 words