“Okay I didn’t mean it like that,” Cal mumbled shaking his head back and forth. He was several stories up in the air, back embedded in the rubble of a concrete wall. He could barely hear echoes of the fighting below. Dragging himself upright he got to his feet and leaned on his sword. Stepping forward he got to the hole, took a deep breath, and then jumped forward.
From up here he could see the destruction. When this thing came down its goal seemed to be focused on destructively hunting for the knights. At Marco’s orders they made sure to lead the scorpion away from the rescue operation. Sarah and Gen led the fighting into a circular fountain in front of a parking garage when they were separated by the Taq-Law look a likes. That left Marco and Cal dealing with it on their own.
Cal came down sword first dug it into the shoulder of the scorpion. It jerked to the side and he leaped backwards avoiding the tail. Rolling as he hit the ground he stumbled back and dug his sword in the ground. Marco raced to his side and fired his gun, teleporting them behind the scorpion.
“Thanks.”
“No problem,” he spun the barrel locking in the pink slot. “Think we can do a trick like the old days?”
Raising his sword, he nodded quickly. “The old bait and switch.”
The scorpion whirled around to face them and shaking the ground with each step. They both looked and met its eye before darting forward. As they stepped forward they both split apart and suddenly instead of the two of them there were now eight of them.
The scorpion hesitated then swung one claw sweeping one of the Cal’s away. It leaned forward and one tail stung into a Marco clone that disappeared. At its back yellow bullets exploded and it stumbled sinking to the ground. It tried to move but it didn’t succeed. It crashed to the ground and Cal and his clones came forward.
They all rushed forward and jumped bringing their swords down. It jerked its head upward suddenly as if it was forced up. A beam of light shot out cutting through all of the Cal’s. “Cal!” Marco screamed watching them all sink to the ground.
Marco spun the barrel of his gun quickly, and froze. He looked at the pink knight and he wasn’t moving. His sword was broken against the ground and Marco stared at him. He shook, shaking his head quickly. He saw Jack first. Then Sarah flash in his head. “No. Come on Cal! Not again!”
The scorpion got to its feet and towered over him. It struck Marco and he slid across the ground. Grunting he felt the crack in his armor as he got back up. He stood up and looked at his friend’s body for some sign of life but he was still. It hissed and leaned forward raising its pincer ready to bring it down on them. But Marco held his gun steady the barrel set on the scorpion soldier. He felt his weapon vibrate in his hand, felt it shake with a new color.
Before he could fire it though he watched a shape climb up the Scorpions back. The tip of their sword flashed pink and they drove it straight down into the head of the scorpion. Cal leaned forward and shoved it even deeper. Shouting he felt it tremble under his feet and then collapse to the ground.
Cal fell with it and rolled forward stumbling back to his feet. Marco stared at him eyes wide. He turned around and looked at the Cal on the ground but it then faded away into pink energy. “Wow Marco. Didn’t think you liked me that much. Should I tell Ben to keep an eye on me?”
Marco rushed over and wrapped his arm around him tightly. Cal blinked surprised and hugged him back. “Dammit Cal. Thought you were fucking dead. You could have given me some sort of warning.”
“Sorry leader,” he frowned. “If you can’t fool your friends, you can’t fool your enemies.”
Marco took a step back and shook his head, “It’s fine. Just glad we’re not down a knight. And I’m not down a friend.”
Cal nodded and then looked back to the scorpion soldier. “Think I killed it?”
The foxes came forward sniffing at the soldier. They yipped and hissed at one another jumping atop it and then stopped. Gen and Sarah walked forward together, their armor chipped and cracked. “Looks pretty dead to me,” Sarah said. “What do you think?”
“I think it could use a hit from your axe. Keep it down for good.”
“Really? Don’t want to hit it with some fox fire?”
“Maybe a mix of both?” they said together.
Sarah laughed combining her axes into one long weapon. Spinning the weapon around she held it up and Gen blew covering the weapon in fire. Sarah ran forward and brought the weapon down into its side. Lightning struck on contact, rending metal hit her ear and then it exploded. She slid backwards and smirking.
“Now it’s definitely dead.” Gen said and Sarah nodded proud.
“You two are looking pretty friendly,” Cal said glancing at Marco.
“Fighting back to back has a way of bringing people together,” Sarah replied. “Legion thought it could take us down but knights aren’t anyone to fuck with.”
Marco started to say something but he heard the voice in his mind, “Good work defeating my soldier knights.” He looked at the others and they didn’t seem like they could hear it. It was in Marco’s mind and his alone.
“Bringing Cal and Genevieve into battle was beyond my own predictions. I won’t underestimate you again. Nor will I underestimate the Astro Knights. I found my way here from the future. I will make the best of this situation. I will make you all apart of my collective. Your friends miss you Marco.” It paused and Marco’s heart broke as he heard Jack’s voice. “We miss you, handsome.”
Marco was quiet, forcing himself to breathe. Shutting his eyes tightly he glared at the sky and said, “Hear me now Legion. I’m going to get them back. And I’m going to shoot you to pieces. I’ll tear you apart. Mark my fucking words. I’ll kill you myself before this is over.”
In response to his threat he could hear it laughing in his head. Laughing that turned from Jack’s familiar voice to the alien one of Legion. And then it faded entirely and he was left to his own thoughts as the others came toward him.
The Harlequin Library 