Island of the M.E.T.A

[Azuria]

@BloodyKharma


“What else would you consider? We need more manpower.” Argon toiled away, heaving heavy boxes filled with a clutter of metal parts against the walls of a storage building. He turned toward the shadow that seemed to hover by the door and grunted.


“Can’t someone else go there? I thought you needed me the guard the gates.” He spoke through his teeth, slow and carefully. The shadow by the door sighed.


“Argon I know you’re tired of it but as captain of the guard and the main division you need to be here. You know it’s the same for the elites and the eidolons.” Argon tossed another box onto a pile of metal stacked precariously. He turned to face the shadow.


“But—“ behind him, the box had rolled down, dumping its contents among the heap, the sound of metallic rings drowning out all other noise within the building. The pile collapsed upon itself—metal was strewn everywhere.


“Alright I’ll go. Have fun cleaning.” Argon walked out through the exit. Dusk stopped leaning against the wall, taking himself out of the shade. He scanned the room, taking in the mess that Argon left. He promptly walked out.


The encampment was rather quiet apart from the occasional bot entering through one of the three gates. Lumber, ore, gravel, random vegetation, trash, they carried just about everything that could be gathered nearby within the walls, navigating the camp to the storage building. The machines dumped the contents haphazardly into one of the outlets, leading down into the underground for processing and assortment. Although a set of conveyors and machines normally brought the collection of things to the other floors, the other members of the M.E.T.A were encouraged to help move inventory. The bots could gather tonnes of resources, faster than the assembly line could work. Argon had gathered a truck loaded with rare metals, an assortment of accessories, gadgets, and other junk ready to be shipped through the woods to the harbourfront town at the edge of the island. The gates had already been opened and the vehicle was ready to depart. He looked over at the storage building, his eyes following dusk as he hurried over to him. He couldn’t help but groan.


He handed Argon a sack of coins. “This should be more than enough to pay for whatever Viktor wants to charge this time.”


Argon grumbled and took the money. He climbed onto the back of the truck, too large to sit in the front, and too heavy. The back buckled for a moment as he climbed on. It wasn’t a problem, no driver was needed. As with many of the other machinery in the camp, the truck was slow but automated, requiring no manual input. It rolled out from the camp, no faster than 5km/h, through the division of trees, a stump or two sitting by next to the path, not yet removed by the bots during the clear cutting to construct the gravel path.

 

[BloodyKharma]

A small thud could be heard from the roof of the vehicle, and a moment later a small head peered out over the edge and into the back of the truck. The person appeared to be human, the only thing that might have set it apart appearance wise were its crimson eyes, which scanned the trucks interior with a look of mild curiosity. The strangers equally fiery red hair dangled from its head, swaying gently in the wind. Whether it was a girl or a boy, was rather hard to tell as well, especially since only its head had currently been revealed. It stared intently at Argon for a moment, the strangers pale face remained expressionless, even as his eyes rested on the behemoth creature. They narrowed slightly, as it looked back out at the road, wrinkling its nose a bit before looking back over at Argon.


"Sheesh, aren't you bored? This piece of crap is moving at a snails pace, at this rate it'll take you foreverrrrrr to reach town."

 

[Azuria]

@BloodyKharma


shipment report: 59 tons base metals


                           20 tons solvents


                           5 tons radioactives


                           35 tons rare metals


He sifted through the paperwork, meaningless as it was. These were the shipments just for this week, and it was mostly automated. Not much else to do besides hop on the truck every once in a while and keep watch. His mind returned back from the paperwork to his surroundings when he heard someone else's voice, as though he were pulled out of a daydream. He glanced over to the side. Was it a bandit? It's been some time since they've had bandits.


He tossed aside the clipboard. "You're new here aren't you? This is a vehicle run by the M.E.T.A, and unauthorised passengers are subject to physical harm, maiming, and death." Reciting the warning he was told to give, though he would have much preferred to immediately dig his claws into the sack of flesh. It had been some time since he was stationed in a position where he might battle as members of his species often do, if anything just for entertainment and he craved for some excitement. He rose to his feet, towering over the lad. The carriage of the truck buckled and sprung back into place as the suspension kicked in. Some of the scraps of metal slid around, settling towards to bottom of the carriage.

 

[BloodyKharma]

"Whoa!' the stranger shouted, as the truck buckled under the giants weight. One of his hands shot upwards, latching onto the edge of the vehicles roof, narrowly escaping a fall that would probably have only given a few scrapes and bruises at most. "Dude, that's exactly why we're here!" the young red haired lad shouted excitedly, his smile revealing rows of needle like teeth. "Well, not the maiming part or whatever, we wanna join the M.E.A.T!" he said, excitedly swinging back and forth like a monkey, seemingly unperturbed by Argons threats.


Another head would suddenly appear over the edge of the roof, a boy with wispy blue hair and sapphire eyes glanced over at Argon. He met the creatures eyes for a moment, then leaned over to whisper something in the red haired lads ear before withdrawing his head and disappearing from sight. "OHI MEAN META! METAAAAA! M.E.T.A!! We're here to join your group!" a nervous expression crossed his face, before his wide smile hid it completely.

 

[Azuria]

"and you thought the best way to do that was to board a truck headed away from our encampment unauthorised--did you say meat?" He turned his head toward the new passenger and swerved his hulking body to face him.


"Why would kids want to join?" He rapped his claws against the tough metal hide of his neck, scratching away, the rough iron against iron making a terrible screech. "I can't take you in regardless, that's all up to Xeth, but if you two are mercenaries we can talk at the town."

 

[BloodyKharma]

The red haired 'kid' seemed to ponder what Argon had to say for a moment, before his thoughtful expression was replaced with a smile once more. "Yea, pretty much, it was my idea to just come and meet you here instead of waiting for you to reach town. That would have taken FOREVER! So here we are! Two able bodied YOUNG ADULTS..." he shouted, putting emphasis on the last two words, scowling at being called a kid. "...ready and willing to join a greater cause!" he swung into the moving truck, landing softly on his feet, looking up at Argon with that cheesy smile plastered across his face.

 

[Azuria]

"Well if you want to join the meat grinder go ahead. But we'll need you to verify yourself with Viktor at least since we have no idea who the hell you two are. So that you're a little less conspicuous around here."

 

[BloodyKharma]

"...the meat grinder?" the boy replied questioningly, studying Argons face before shrugging and taking a seat with his feet dangling over the lip of the truck, the tips of his shoe a mere inch or two above the ground. "Sheesh, you don't make joining sound very exciting at all.

 

[Azuria]

"your funeral. Just sit there quietly until we reach the town." The truck continued to slowly make its way out of the forest and across the plains towards the outskirts of the town.


...


Back at the M.E.T.A encampment, Master Rorke and Vivian were locked in a sparring match. He slammed an open palmed fist into her shoulder. She stumbled back and caught the second strike to her other shoulder, lifted her thigh up to her hip and swung against his body. His arm came down to push it harmlessly towards the ground and in one fluid motion, he threw himself into the air with a double kick. She caught the brunt of the attack against her forearms and hurried to strike her fist into his abdomen as he landed, but quicker than she, he struck his hand out towards her forearm, throwing off her balance, and landed a second fist into her stomach.


"Tuck your elbows and move back with the blows, maintain the pace of the fight."


She wrinkled her nose in response to the advice. The sparring continued this pace. She maintained her place but would get struck in different places gathering bruises which quickly covered themselves up by hardened skin.She had yet to land one punch but kept trying to strike back while taking hits.


"Keep pace and balance yourself. There's no need to force the initiative and take on an aggressive approach."


Her chest heaved with exhaustion. "Once more."


"I think we should break for now."


She let out a frustrated breath and walked off to the camp centre where she might get some water. She walked by the barracks for the Elites. 20-alpha, always outside idling. 


"Is Argon still out?"


"Yeah he shouldn't be back for a few more hours." She wasn't all that aware of the transport tasks despite having the knowledge at hand.


"Have you left the base at all the past week?" The one thing she wanted to do was prove herself, and was itching for it.


"No, but I hear Xeth is going to have a big task for us soon." Good news to her ear. She smiled for a moment before returning to her serious demenor.


"Thanks." She said. She trotted off to get some water.


...


Upon arrival at the town, Argon grabbed the two passengers by their clothes and dragged them off like luggage to the town hall. Viktor stood there waiting to meet with Argon, expecting his shipment.


"Oi Argon, brought the goods?" The rugged russian stared at him with a toothy grin, the gold chains around his neck glimmering in the strong industrial lighting.


"As always. Hey can you vouch for these kids here? They want to be mercenaries, and I'd rather they do it through the town." He said.


"Of course! Now let's see, you kiddo's provide 70% of your cut to the town treasury as licensed mercenaries..." He went on, no benefits, no vacation days, must abide by every instruction made by Viktor himself. The russian was always happy to garner money by any means.

 

[BloodyKharma]

"Hey, hey, hey! First of all, we're not kids! You can't just judge someone by their height! It's their maturity that counts!" the red haired boy pouted, flailing his arms to get their attention. "And we're not here for the money anyway, so lets cut to the chase, when do we start?" the boys toothy grin returned, and his eyes darted between the two of them as he waited for a response. The blue haired male stood directly behind the other, only his head was visible as he tentatively peeked over the red heads shoulder. "What? I'm not gonna tell him that! Do you want to get us kicked out already? Yea, I know it was rude but your we're just gonna have to suck it up for now!" the red haired 'kid' replied as the blue hair whispered something into his ear, his conversation went on for a couple more seconds before he eyes widened, and he turned back to face the Argon and Viktor as if he had almost forgotten they were their. "Hehehe...don't mind him, he's just a sofite. So does this mean we're apart of the M.E.A.T. now?"

 

[Azuria]

@BloodyKharma


"M.E.T.A, and you are working FOR us, for now. Hey Viktor can you send inferno over as well?" He asked.


"Can do big man. Do you want him to go back with you or meet you there?" Viktor was already reaching for the wall phone, yet Argon waved him off, glancing at the other two.


"No more passengers, just send him over he knows where to go." He signalled for the two to follow him out. Viktor continued to smile, tapping away at the phone regardless. At the truck, Argon waited as it was unloaded by the town's labourers. The machines back at the camp were far more efficient and would have been done by now. He slumped against the truck, sitting on the ground with his back against the massive tire and closed his eyes.

 

[BloodyKharma]

Red hair leaned against the truck as well, casually watching everyone work, biting his lip and tapping his foot impatiently as the workers unloaded the truck. Blue hair shuffled over to where his partner stood, reaching him red hair just as he suddenly bounced off the truck and skidded in front of Argon. "Sooooo, what's all this stuff for?" he asked excitedly, waving his arms in every direction to indicate everything that was being moved. "And whose inferno? Does he live up to his name?" blue hair walked slowly made his way over, whispering in reds ear again. "Hey, shut up! No ones hotter then me! Why you little..." his arm locked around the blue haired boys neck, gripping it tightly as he balled his hand into a fist and ruffled the boys hair. "Take it back! Now!"

 

[Azuria]

@BloodyKharma


"This is a shipment of tonnes of ore what else does it look like?" His voice was low, an irritable mumble through his teeth brought on by the hunger in his belly. He wanted to eat and all this ore didn't help, and he couldn't touch any of it. Getting back to the camp would take another hour as well.


"Well since we're stuck here for now, I might as well answer your question as to who Inferno is, though I'm not sure how much you know about him if you're asking if he lives up to his name. To put it simply, he is the only active mercenary of the town at the moment. He uses a flaming sword as his main weapon, that's where the name comes from. His armour is certainly unique, you'll see when you meet him, it's covered in runic patterns. Quality stuff, dense, not unlike my own hide but lighter. The chestplate and shoulderpads are a light orange, but the rest is ruby red, apart from his elongated mask, black as obsidian. He stands 10 feet tall, big guy, you'll have to look up. He doesn't talk much either, mostly just practices with his sword during his off-time. Strolled into town one day, beaten and poor, but he wouldn't let anyone near him, gave a few people bruises despite all his broken bones. You have to understand this town doesn't employ much in the way of police or guards, but apparently Viktor took him in and that town took care of him. He's quite loyal to it you see. Now Viktor, being the businessman that he is, put him to work right away in 'return' for the hospitality the town provided him in his destitute state, and it sort of just continues from here. Easy to tell he new how to fight since he came with the sword and all, but he's quite determined, certainly outperforms everyone else here, though to be fair everyone in this town is a wimp. That I'm not kidding about. You should meet the doctor when you get a chance, he's....a character. Eventually when we came by we were in constant need of hired arms, and Viktor never misses an opportunity. This town is fairly docile so there isn't really a need for many guards, a child with a spear ought to keep the wildlife out since there's nothing dangerous that comes out of the forest. Inside is another story for another time. But we would never hire any of them, and Inferno was a wildcard, so Viktor let us borrow him, and he does well, he follows orders to the letter and he wouldn't be the first to go down in a fight, which is considerable since you seem to know about the M.E.T.A, and I'm sure we've developed a reputation for our own unbreakable mercs, you see Xeth desires strength in soul, not numbers, and even our little messenger should be able to take on at least 4 special ops humans---"


The last of the units had been unloaded from the truck and the labourers broke for lunch. Argon shook the dirt clinging to his metallic body and rose up.


"About damn time. If you kids have any money better grab what you need now, I'm ready to take this thing back."

 

[BloodyKharma]

"He only uses a flaming sword?" red hair scoffed, sounding relieved. "How tough can someone like that be?" red hair shoved his brother to the side, hoisting himself into the back of the truck, blue hair dusting himself off before quickly following suit. "See, I told ya theirs no one in existence hotter then me!" he shouted gleefully, flicking the blue haired boys nose before looking over at Argon. "Is it usually this easy to join? Cuz I seriously thought we'd have to undergo some boring test or training or something like that at least."

 

[Azuria]

@BloodyKharma


"Yes. He only uses a flaming sword. And you forget you're just hired help. Don't get yourself killed and be somewhat useful."


The truck started up again and began it's long trek back towards the encampment. 


...


Back at the camp, Vivian was packing some equipment in the armoury. The news was that a derelict robot of Xeths', 13-beta, had suddenly become active again and the site that this was recorded was to be investigated, with an unknown threat but most likely the machine would be hostile. She stuffed one last specially made bomb into a small sack and slung it over her back.


"You know you're not part of the party that will be investigating this right?" Dusk had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, leaning back against the wall.


"Seriously? WHY!" She snapped at him. He shook his head. Tried to pat her on the back but she slapped his hand away.


"Mostly outside help with 20-alpha and argon leading the party. No reason to risk our own personnel. Sorry Viv." Her lips were tensed. She felt a heat against her chest and face, tossing the bag over to the corner without facing him. She hurried out of the building, her hands clenched tightly.


"poor thing, she'll get her chance eventually." Dusk kept his eye on her as she left and lingered for a while longer. He went to pick up the bag and empty it out, before disappearing off to continue his delegations.


...


The truck strolled out from the forest, towards the simple walls of the camp, and the watchful towers that bordered the middle gate. They had not parted yet but upon the trucks arrival, the sounds of heavy mechanisms filled the air, at work to begin opening for their entrance. Argon snoozed in the back, and awoke to the sound.


"Oh, were here. Go on get out." He scratched at the dark plating of his face, stepping off the carriage, nearly tripping when it bounced up, freed from the tension of his weight. Damn thing. He muttered under his breath.

 

[BloodyKharma]

"Those...douchebags." Osiris huffed, huffing as he bent down with his hands on his knees, taking as the time to catch his breath. "That...red haired guy saw me waving for them to stop! That idiot just smiled and waved back, and don't even get me started on that blue haired one! That blank stare of his, SO ANNOYING!" gritting his teeth in frustration, Osiris let out a sigh of relief as the walls of a settlement came into sight a couple of miles away. "I bet that's where the truck was headed, it has to be, the road doesn't veer off anywhere else.!" he grinned,  cracking his knocks in unison, a comforting thought putting all of his annoyance to rest. "Just till I get my hands on those assholes, they'd wish they were dead!" with newfound vigor, he sprinted towards the settlement with reckless abandon, slowing down as he noticed the two culprits standing by the truck that had passed him earlier. "I found you, you assholes!" he shouted, sauntering over to them, although the sight of Argon stopped him dead in his tracks. "Ohohohoho, these guys are with you? Are they your subordinates? Cuz their both about to get their asses handed to them!" he roared confidently, although he seemed to have no intention of taking another step forward. He just glared angrily at the two, his scowl deepening as red hair peeked around Argons massive ankles and stuck his tongue out. "You better teach these little shits some manners before I do!" he pointed at the red haired kid dramatically, waving his index finger up and down in his direction for as if Argon didn't know who he was talking about.

 

[Azuria]

"hm, these two?" he looked over at the red and blue haired rascals. They brought trouble? "You two go deal with your friend. I don't fight other people's battles."

 

[BloodyKharma]

With a rather surprised expression on his face, Osiris watched as the two looked up at Argon as if they were about to protest. Although upon looking at the behemoth they quickly decided against doing so, instead slowly making their over towards Osiris with their heads bowed. "Ahahahaha, now this is what happens to little shits like you!" he grinned triumphantly, balling both his hands into fists, and raising them above their heads. The two had planned to catch either of his arms as soon as he struck and then give him a good beating, but after a couple seconds of nothing happening they looked up to see him instead reach down into his pocket and pull out a pair of glasses. Puzzled, the boys looked at each other, then back over at Argon to see what his reaction to the whole situation might be.


"L-look at me w-when I'm t-talking to you." Osiris stammered, his entire demeanor seeming to have changed the moment he placed the bifocals on the bridge of his nose. "N-next time y-you see someone str-stranded on the s-side of the road, you stop and h=help them! Your hear me!" he sputtered, flinching as the two made eye contact  him. "I-I'm n-not trying to be mean or anything, but its j-just basic social e-etiquette." he mumbled, using his thumb to prop the glasses back on his nose as they begun to slide off. He seemed to be at least a foot shorter then before, most likely do to the way his back was now slightly hunched over, and his eyes never seemed to stop blinking. "R-run along now."


The boys shrugged, both giving him a decisive blow to the gut before walking away, not even bothering to watch the boy fall to his knees. A moment later he was suddenly upon them, shouting profanities as the trio rolled around in a dust cloud of flying legs and clashing fists. "YOU LITTLE BITCHES! WHAT A LOW BLOW! HOW DARE YOU LAY A FINGER ON SOMEONE OLDER THEN YOU! NOW TAKE THIS ASS WHOOPING!"

 

[Azuria]

"Is this going to take a while? We're busy." He said. He was tired of waiting around. The truck ride had already lasted a few hours and he was itching to get back into the camp and get something to eat. He watched one of the small mining drones speed out of the compound into the forest, and for once, it seemed like it would have been better if he was stuck hauling rocks around all day. Inferno also seemed to have arrived. He could see him off in the distance, walking towards the gates with his flaming sword in hand. Argon pointed his stubby arm towards him, gesturing to continue on through the gate while he dealt with this...stupidity.

 

[BloodyKharma]

The three stopped mid punches as Infernos bulky frame came into sight, his foot steps alone drowned out their petty squabbling. Red hair immediately shot to his feet, circling the big man, then running between his legs and then closely inspecting the flaming sword. Poking it a few times, the flames seeming to have no effect on him whatsoever. Blue hair remained on the ground, even as Osiris rose to his feet, dusting himself off and sizing up the newcomer. "Inferno the mercenary, if he's here then..." he picked up his glasses from off the ground, placing them back on his face. "...I-I can only assume th-that this is the m-meta encampment? I-If that's the c-case then..." he would suddenly whip the glasses off once more, a sly smile spreading across his face. "Then this is exactly where I want to be!"

 

[Azuria]

Argon couldn't help but mutter under his breath. Whatever Xeth was planning, these two were going to die for sure. They seem pathetic. He looked up at Inferno who had not said anything as he arrived, and ordinary response for the man. All he did was look around and stare down at the two newcomers, casting a quick glance towards Argon every so often as if to question who they were though he still refused to speak up. 


"New Mercs." Argon pointed a thumb at them. He bothered to mention that the third, non-paid party was to leave or be killed if he had no business here, then trotted off into the camp. Inferno trailed after, maintaining the same space and a respectable distance from him as a trained soldier might.

 

[BloodyKharma]

"The two of you are mercs?" Osiris raised an eyebrow, looking over at the two skeptically.


"Yea, what of it?" red hair replied defiantly, stepping up to the much taller man, standing on his tippy toes and looking him dead in the eye.


"Nothing twerp." Osiris chuckled, shoving him to the ground without warning and then trotting off in the direction Argon had gone. He moved past Inferno, giving him another quick look up and down before matching Argons pace. "Okay, so I'm here to join up as a mercenary as well." he said, fishing the glasses out of his pocket and putting them on. "Although I-I m-must say, I thought that your r-recruitment methods would more...thorough." he said that last part softly, tentatively cocking his head back in the boys direction.

 

[Azuria]

Argon never bothered to look in his direction. "Why would we be selective of cannon fodder? Same deal as the two chumps, go talk to Viktor back at the town south of the island, that way he can vouch for you and should you fail your duties, that is run away like a screaming child, then it will be a criminal offence to both the M.E.T.A and the town. You may not return to either place and trust me, on a small island like this, that is a death sentence in itself. That town is the only community here, and unless you've got survival skills, good luck living off the land. Heck you got glasses kid, those don't just grow on trees." He said all this as much for his knowledge as for the knowledge of the two earlier recruits who had yet to really be told the point of it all.


"And hurry up we don't tend to have much downtime when we have things to do. We'll most likely be heading out soon." And too much downtime when there's nothing to do, Argon had wanted to say, though he stopped there, rather than complain to some random kid. Wouldn't seem very commanding of someone like him to complain all the time. It really did seem ridiculous though that when things come up they get intensely busy as if to finish it quickly so they could get back to doing absolutely nothing worthwhile. All he wanted to do was eat, and hopefully have enough time to eat peacefully, which with all these distractions, still not knowing what the heck they were supposed to do, and having to babysit the two young mercs, it didn't appear like that would happen. He waved the kid off to go back to the town, and sent inferno off to the main building to find dusk. He knew where to go and what to do. Hopefully he could also keep the kids off his hands for 10 minutes while he went to eat some granite.

 

[BloodyKharma]

"I-I spoke w-with him before h-heading here, I was given the n-necessary information and sent here." he stammered, his eyes flicking to Argons face every now and then, before glancing back down at his feet. "I-I can't s-say I'm not relieved that its so easy to j-join, but this certainly n-not what I expected. I suppose w-we're nothing but grunts toy-you, sent to and fro t-to do m-menial tasks around the compound?" he carefully took the glasses off his face, folding them carefully and placing them in his pocket. "If that's the case, then fuck this place. I'm more  then 'cannon fodder' as you put it." Osiris looked moved ahead, standing a couple of feet in front of Argon, 'blocking' his way which caught the sight of several people around them. "Is it even possible for us to work our way up, to even be respected in this place? Or is a show of power required to even be noticed in this place, because if that's the case, I'm all for it." he grinned, cracking his knuckles and watching Argon carefully, waiting for any sort of response.

 

[Azuria]

"why does everyone keep referring to this as joining? You are mercenaries, cannon fodder. Nothing more. But there isn't anything menial to do around here, it's all automated, plus we would just hire labourers to do that. Besides what is with the need with you kids wanting respect everywhere you go? I swear just like Elli, Viv and her sis. Just do your job and shut up." Argon was getting irritable, and his stomach kept gnawing at him. He saw dusk walking between the armoury and the main building, signalling him to come, and inquired about the task at hand.


"Well as you know, Xeth has built a few robots of this caliber in the past, and one of them, 13-beta, we lost him near the eastern mountains during one of the frequent boulder avalanches that occur there over a decade ago. The consensus was that he would have been too damaged to remain functional and that there was no reason to salvage for resources considering the abundance on this island. A few days ago we received a signal of his, and one of the scouts could confirm that 13-beta was in an open field there, though in a derelict state. I need you to take 20-alpha with you and the mercenaries to investigate this. I'm not sure how or why he's up and about, but the scout didn't go for a closer look so I don't know his state. I assume he will be derelict." Argon paused for a moment to consider the information handed to him.


"why did I have to gather a bunch of chumps then?" He said, without regard for the mercenaries around him. Inferno as always, said nothing, and made no response, though curiously, his head perked up a bit at the mention of 20-alpha. 


"well," Dusk replied, "Xeth isn't wrong about the logistics. His designs would have rendered him inoperable after that event. So he might have been tampered with, though unlikely considering the sophistication of the wiring, or at the very least, possibly malfunctioning, which his code seems to be more prone to, although he will never admit it himself. If so, he will be hostile, and trust me, the ones he bothers to name and label should not be taken lightly." Argon nodded, accepting what he said. He thought about how Beryl, now 20-alpha, quickly became an elite. He looked over at Inferno and knew he wanted to see his rival in his new state, especially after hearing what he had done. Most likely he would want to see if he could still compete with him. Argon grinned wider. 20-alpha was definitely tougher than the chump he used to be, and although they have only tussled, that machine outmatched him. It would be interesting to see what Inferno might do to try to catch up in strength to match him. 


"Alright, just let me eat first. Can you um..." he leaned down to whisper in his ear, placing an arm on his shoulder. Dusk's knees buckled for a second, and his jaw dropped as if to gasp before he composed himself once more, though his legs still shaking. 


"could you show these chumps around for 10 minutes, or just keep 'em busy? Seriously I'm starving and I swear I will murder them all if I don't get something to eat right now." Dusk agreed and rubbed his shoulder after Argon left to the main building. Felt like a truck was just placed on his body.