Shooting Star

Upon hearing a voice on her headset, Ariana muttered, “Who the—” Her eyes widened as she saw him, then a smirk spread across her face. “You want me to let you take my light to shine?”

“This will perhaps be my last battle. I’m going to draw them out. Before a star flickers out, across the sky, it burns for the world to see…” He quoted the famous K.G. Jr., the scientist who discovered Acrylium science in 1980 at just eleven years old.

Ariana blushed, her awe evident in her eyes. Shaking her head, she beamed and said, “You got it, star… burn on.”

Moments later, a screen popped up, violation warnings flickering like pop-up ads before filtering out. “Really, what is this, early ’90s porn sites?” Cody muttered, clicking the button. Suddenly, all other chatter went silent. He wasn’t sure if it was working or if Ariana had played one last joke on him for daring to ask such a request.

“Soldiers of the 2nd Legion…” His voice cut through the quiet as he activated his shield for its primary purpose. Bright lights beamed from the front as boosters shot out from the sides of the shield, propelling him forward faster than any could hope to match. He curled into a ball, riding the momentum through the night.

“I’m Cody Ello Fin. I come from Warshington-Vancouver, a small fishing village you’ve probably never heard of—smaller even than Sea-Atell. Heather… I once read in a manga about three angels descending to pluck a warrior with horns on his helmet from among the dead and take him to the land of milk and honey. Ariana, Tiffany… I hope I see your three faces in those final moments. After this, can you take my body home? And pour mead and milk into my casket, just as they did for him.”

Suddenly, several lights flickered on. Beacon lights from the ground illuminated Cody from every angle. A mob of shields formed before him—white shields with red crosses at their centers. The phalanx formation mirrored the walls of shields used in Roman times.

“God promised Noah He’d never bring another deluge to end the world, giving us a rainbow as His vow. Let us be what He meant as a contingency plan, when the world needs another cleansing.”

As dozens of M.U.s closed ranks and attempted to block him with their shield wall, Cody felt his thrusters ease up. His shield boosters died out, but he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Cry havoc! And let slip the dogs of war!” He activated the final function on his shield.

Grinders hidden on the shield’s underside swiveled around the boosters and began spinning menacingly. A loud whir echoed as the blades tore through the wall of Vatican warriors, sparks flying in all directions. Cody clicked the disable button on his group chat, and cries in Latin filled his ears. The translations on his screen struggled to keep up, erasing and replacing themselves faster than he could read.

Lasers fired from long-range units, piercing through the wreckage he’d left behind, but Cody wasn’t concerned. He turned his shield to face his allies, aiming to block the enemy’s fire. His body was riddled with single-shot barrels, their lenses burning out almost immediately. Normally, replacing them would cost a fortune, but Cody had sunk all his earnings from the last battle into this effort.

If it were daylight, the Vatican forces might have noticed that Cody’s shield was actually backward—the reflective coating faced him. He fired lasers from every part of his M.U., creating the illusion of a disco ball. The beams collided with the shield, rebounding back in weaker forms that destroyed his front-facing blasters.

The lenses fell to the forest below, now ablaze. The shattered glass scattered, riddled with holes from the lasers. Cody thought of optical lens crafting, a trade he’d never return to. He dropped his shield and used the momentum to his advantage. Curling into a ball, he deployed the semi-finale up his sleeve.

His back was covered with batons that extended outward, each powering dozens of small knife-like laser swords. Using his foot boosters, he curled tighter and spun faster, resembling a childhood cartoon character—a small porcupine with “porcupine velocity.”

Cody hated his childhood. He hated his adulthood. He hated his life. Every memory corroded with hatred burned in his heart at that moment. The only woman he’d ever loved had died before he could save her—his mother, Guppy.

The speech he’d given moments before blocked out her memory, letting him feel nothing. As his spinning blades sliced through enemies and ricocheted off shields, he traveled further into enemy lines. He no longer cared if he reunited with his allies.

Enemy fire glanced off him, disabling several of the batons on his back. They fell to the forest below, adding to the growing smoke screen shielding his allies. Distantly, he heard the cries of battle—the clash of metal as his allies finally reached the front lines.

Cody pulled out two long-range rifles, firing wildly in every direction. His adrenaline drove him into overdrive, narrowing his vision like the blurred sides of a racing tunnel. His instincts honed in on split-second opportunities.

“Never forget who you are, son. You’re a fisherman. It takes strong forearms to reel in the big catches. Use those to strike down what you need to—and come back home to Mother in one piece.”

Cody wondered if his father was still alive in that moment.