Hunters

Scares takes a few steps forward, with a truncated smile. «Surprised to see me?»

«No.»

«Oh, come on! Don't kill my highlight of the showdown. Be more involved! What's with the grim face? Until yesterday you were having fun mocking me. Where has your light gone?»

I take a couple of steps forward, putting myself on guard. I put on my helmet.

«Too bad. I would have liked to have had a more intense exchange of banter before the fight.» He pulls out the schiavona and puts on his helmet as well. «Evidently the sword of Damocles came down on your soul before I could separate it from your body.»

Running towards him, Scares comes towards me.

Our weapons clash with a deafening clangour, Scares advances with a lunge, his schiavona aims straight at my chest, I deflect the blow with a circular motion of the poleaxe, the metal screeches as the blade slides along the steel shaft, I counter-attack with a diagonal slash, aiming for Scares' shoulder, the enemy jerks back avoiding the blow.

«Too slow, boy!»I mock, spinning the poleaxe to deliver a sideways blow, I raise the club horizontally, block the attack, continue the movement by attempting to hit him in the head with the inastrated hammer, he rolls sideways and rises elegantly to his feet.

«Ah, almost! Try harder!»

I advance with heavy steps, Scares slides to the side trying to strike me in the side with a swift lunge. I take the blow, but the blade fails to penetrate the suit. I take advantage of the moment and respond with a side blow of the poleaxe, the blade of the axe strikes Scares causing him to stagger and leaving a clean cut in his armour from his left shoulder to the end of his chest, the general staggers, I take advantage, I load a slash, Scares prepares to parry, but mine was a feint, with a quick movement, I plunge the tip of the stocking into his right leg.

Scares screams, bending on one knee. «Cursed you, boy! You have no idea who you're fighting!» he groans, trying to get up, but the wound in his leg makes him slow.

I give him no respite. With the hammer I hit Scares in the helmet, destroying the part that suffered the impact. Scares collapses to the ground, his face exposed, scratched and bloodied from the debris.

«Wait! Wait, boy, please!» he stutters, crawling on the floor. «It need not come to that. We can talk about it!»

I observe Scares from above, towering over him with my figure. I approach with slow steps.

«The less talent they have, the more pride, vanity and arrogance they have. All these fools, however find other fools who applaud them.»

«What are you saying?!»

«I am not one of those fools.» I raise my mace, ready to deal the final blow. The neon purple of my suit is reflected in Scares' desperate eyes. Sweat drips from his forehead, he screams in terror.

«Dango.» A calm, familiar voice interrupts the moment.

The weapon locks in midair. I turn slowly towards her, my breathing still heavy. «Seneca.»

I do not lower my weapon. My mind is still in turmoil, anger gripping my chest like a claw.

«This is not the solution.» she says, advancing a step. Her tone is fearless, but I detect a note of sadness.

«Wasn't that what you wanted to push me to? To kill enemies. And now, why are you trying to stop me?» I growl, clutching my poleaxe until my knuckles tremble.

«I don't want you to kill.»

«Look what they have done to me! What they have done to all of us! People become enslaved monsters. Androids are forced into a life without free will. You and I have become cyborgs to oppress anyone who even thinks of opposing us!» I shout. She stands still, silent, watching me.

«Yeah, eventually, I understood what you meant. But I don't want to lend myself to being part of the perverse game of those in charge away from everything they create by posing as a fat god.»

Before I can give her time to say anything else, my mace swings with a slash, Seneca moving to the side with surprising agility, the blow shattering on the floor, splintering it.

«Dango, stop! I don't want to fight you!»

But I do not listen. My fury takes over, I charge again with a round roverso, she raises her arm, the plaser sword activating just in time to block the impact. Sparks fly, illuminating our helmets with red reflections.

«Don't let it consume you!» she replies, as she deflects another blow that could have broken her arm. «I know you are a good person! If you kill him, the burden will be on you for life!»

I sprint forward, attempting to strike her with the inastate hammer, but she ducks, rolling away, I find myself off balance, and she takes the opportunity to sprint towards me, trying to grab my arm, I hit her with a shoulder strike, sending her crashing into the wall.

«Stop! I don't want to hurt you!»

«Then stop getting in my way!»

Our weapons clash again, ax to blade places. Our weapons collide again, the poleaxe against the plaser blade. For a moment we are even. My blows are brutal, but she parries them masterfully. Then, her defence begins to soften, almost hesitant. Her words, however, never cease.

«Dango… you’re not a monster!»

«Shut up!» I yell, loading another blow.

I raise my weapon, about to hit her in the head, stay still. Please parry it, avoid it. She takes off her helmet, I freeze in time…

I remain motionless. My breath catches in my chest. Her face is in front of me, calm, vulnerable, devoid of fear. Her eyes dig into my soul.

«Dango… I'm sorry. I, at that time, did not want you to die. That's why I took you into my ranks. There was something about you that immediately made me feel agitated. Only when we had dinner together did I realise I had fallen in love at first sight.»

My arms tremble. The poleaxe falls from my hands, dropping heavily to the ground. The anger that had consumed me up to that moment is extinguished.

I collapse to my knees. «I… I can't take it anymore…»

Seneca looks at me, then kneels in front of me, hugging me and caressing me with one hand. «I know, Dango. I know.»

My body begins to shake. I scream, letting out all the pain and anger built up inside me. She squeezes me tighter. Tears gush out. In this moment, there are no enemies, no battles. Only her gentle presence, lifting me from the weight of reality.

After a while, I recover and look Seneca in the eyes. «You know…» I murmur, trying to shape what I feel, «I felt something too when I got to know you the other night.»

She barely smiles, her cheeks tinged with a slight blush. Her gaze softens, and without thinking, I approach. Our faces are only a few centimetres apart. My breath mingles with his, and then, without hesitation, our lips touch in a kiss that seems to stop time. My hands move slowly, squeezing her gently, as if afraid that this moment might fade away.

When we part, her eyes shine a different light than before. Seneca looks at me with a mischievous smile and whispers «If you want, you can call me mommy.»

«Pffffffff AHAHAHAHAHAH!» This is so out of character that I couldn't help myself. Even she can't help but join in my laughter.

Our laughter is interrupted by an intermittent sound. Seneca drags a finger across the arm guard.

«Commander Seneca, we have detected an intrusion in the executive hall. The intruders have broken through the first defences. We request your immediate presence.»

The smile fades from her face. We quickly rise to our feet.

«Intruders?» I ask, as she adjusts her sword to her side.

She nods, pressing more commands on the arm guard. A holographic image is projected in front of us. My stomach tightens. «Bea… Pierrot.»

Even though I'm still angry with him, I can't let anything happen to him. After all, we are friends… Yeah, friends… How stupid. Fortunately, Seneca stopped me…

She notices my change of expression. «Do you know them?»

«Just the little one with the blue hair and the white android… They're my friends.»

«It doesn't matter who they are. They chose to attack the leaders, and I must stop them.»

«And I must protect them.»

A tense silence descends between us. We both know what it means. Our hands tighten on our weapons.

«Let's go.»he says with a sad smile.

We walk past Scares, who is still lying on the ground. We both give him a mocking look. «And so, the curtain fell for the great general Scares.» I tell him bowing, as Seneca sneers.

Then, without another word, we put our helmets back on and run towards the executive hall. I know it won't be long before our paths part again. We are joined by two amber support suits.

When we reach the front of the hall, Seneca stops me with a hand on my chest. She looks at me calmly, but doesn't seem to be sure. «Dango… I know what you will do when we enter there.»

I can't answer, can't even look at her.

«You have to know that no matter what happens, I like you.»

The weight of her words crushes me. «I don't want to fight you. But I won't leave my friends alone again.»

«I know…»

Seneca takes a step forward, but I grab her arm. «Stop. If we're going in, let's do it properly.»