Defeating A Monarch

Arcturus berated himself for not being able to do anything but watch as M541-WLF bit off Nova's head; the way it hung limp as lavender blood poured out from his mouth and neck horrified him. It was a grotesque sight.

Nova is immortal. He's not truly dead. But what happens to an immortal if their head gets removed? He's not dead, but will he remain in that state?

He then felt his head hit the floor as he quickly came to his senses; the wolf was mauling him. He reacted by shielding himself with his arms. He needed to find a way to remove her earring. He tried kicking her off of him, but she was heavier and stronger than he was. Her sharp teeth were sinking into his body; they hurt more than any weapon.

Is this how I am going to die? Getting mauled by a robotic wolf? I feel so powerless…

The weight of M541-WLF's body on his own lessened. He saw that Nova's tail had pulled the beast back, but she was stubborn to leave. Her jaw latched onto Arcturus's arm; her fangs bit into the bangle, electrocuting him before breaking completely.

"Fuck!" Arcturus did his best to remove the bangle off of his wrist.

Because there was no arm for her to latch onto, M541-WLF got pulled back and thrown to a wall. Nova stood up, grabbed the back of his head and then readjusted it back to normal. It was as if his cervical spine hadn't snapped in half and that everything was just an illusion; the lavender blood that he wiped off from his mouth prevented Arcturus from believing it was a dream.

"Damn, that hurt…" Nova muttered before he reverted back to his weakened state, worrying Arcturus again. He had never seen Nova as a sweaty mess; in fact, he wasn't even aware that this immortal friend of his had motion sickness until now.

Despite his motion sickness, he still came to protect me from the mauling… His own powerlessness frustrated him.

He helped Nova up. Nova uttered, "Leave me be. Go destroy the earring quickly before she attacks."

It was too late as she got back up. They both cursed as they separated themselves to evade her attack. Arcturus hated the fact that she was after him. His arm felt numb from the electrocution, so he wasn't even sure he could land a hard punch on her. He wasn't too confident if his own kicks could make a dent.

What can I even do in this situation?

Before the wolf could attack, Nova grabbed her by using her tail again. He wrapped his tail around her tightly, so that she wouldn't escape.

Nova started taunting her. "For a superior being, you sure love picking on those weaker than you. I thought you were the dominant? Are you that afraid of me? I guess that doesn't mean you're superior; it just means you're afraid of the strongest of them all: me."

M541-WLF stopped struggling. She let out a howl as she transformed back into her human form, slipping out of his tail due to the difference in size. She looked at Nova menacingly.

"I am the superior," She remarked. "No one else."

"You can't even kill an immortal like me."

"My orders are to take you back alive."

"I can't even die, so a bit of torture can't hurt me. I'll still be alive."

Her hand changed into a gun and she shot Nova without hesitation. The bullet that landed on his forehead and spurted out lavender blood had no effect on him. He was still alive. He just smiled as he stood up while staggered, "Aren't you curious about an immortal like me? How many times will it take for someone like me to truly die? I'm sure you're curious." He took out the bullet, threw it aside, and then spread his arms out wide. "Have your fun with me."

His eyes made contact with Arcturus's. Arcturus instantly knew what it was that Nova wanted him to do: find an opening to take and destroy her earring; he was using himself as bait. M541-WLF took the chance to kick him. The force of her kick was so powerful that it left a huge dent on the wall. The gun changed into a sword as she slowly approached him.

Arcturus took a step forward, but hesitated. Doubt came to him. Would he be able to take her earring out? What if she had expected his movement and attacked him as well? Unlike Nova, he wasn't an immortal. Any fatal injury would instantly kill him.

What can I do in this situation? Think, think!

That was when it came to him: he needed to think. He may be strong, but he wasn't as strong as his adversary and Nova. His dominant arm was numb. Despite being able to defeat regular Combat Shifties and soldiers, this female Shiftie was on a whole other level. However, there was something he possessed that his opponents did not: intelligence.

It was because he was intelligent that he had managed to survive these past four months. Accepting knowledge to help him grow was what made humans superior to Shifties. What he needed to focus on was not a way to defeat, but a way to outsmart; he knew what to do.

He turned around and rushed towards the control panels. He gripped his knife tight and mustered up all of his strength to jab it onto the keyboard, electrocuting it; his weapon broke in the process. He tossed it aside and used whatever amount of strength he had left to kick and punch the control panel. He didn't care if the device would electrocute the rest of his body. He didn't want to be powerless; he didn't want to sit there and do nothing while Nova did all the painful work.

"WE ENCOURAGE ALL PASSENGERS TO EVACUATE. THIS AIRSHIP WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN TEN MINUTES." An automated voice stated.

"Why do these airships have self-destruction programming?" Arcturus pondered.

"What did you do?" M541-WLF inquired; she was furious.

Since her back was turned against Nova, he used that opportunity to yank out her earring with his tail, causing her to deactivate. Arcturus took a good look at her lifeless form. She was a strong opponent; she caused him to have a lot of injuries. She was haughty and arrogant, unable to truly grasp what it meant to value life. All she did was follow orders and knowledge that was implemented into her. Was she truly alive? Has she ever developed a sense of will? If she did, was she behaving like this out of her own free will?

"Stop zoning out! We gotta get out of here!" Nova quipped as he used his tail to jab a hole through the dented wall. He peered out the hole to see their current location, but he quickly pulled his head back and covered his mouth in an attempt to prevent himself from vomiting.

"What's going on?" Arcturus carefully headed towards Nova's direction and peered out the window. He gasped at their current situation; not only was the airship going to explode, but it was also falling.