Chapter 40

The mech was a few feet away from Shinobu's hiding spot. It was able to sense her fears and detect her shaky movements. That robot is getting closer why can't I just keep my mouth shut? The violette closed her eyes ready to accept her fate, this was it.

Familiar ice shards appeared from the side and slammed the mech towards the wall on its back.

Shinobu's eyes lit up knowing that her savior Douma, had once again saved her life. Roaring in anger from the impact, the mech emitted two lasers from each compartment that appeared under its shoulder blades. One of it carved a line on the wall and sliced the crate Shinobu hid against causing her to scream in fear.

With much force, Douma kicked the mech's chin sending it flying in the air limp. The blonde closed in on the mech ready to slice it up. Time to finish this scrap. I'll allow it to hold onto my arm so I can have a better grip on its shoulder in case it retaliates. Narrowing his eyes, Douma got his fans ready.

As he was about to land his fan on the mech, the familiar black and white figure of Shinobu appeared at the corner of his eye, running in the opposite direction which he wasn't expecting her to do. Shinobu was right below them if she's not careful the fallen limbs could land on her. This was going to be a problem.

The mech then pushed Douma out of the way and rolled in the air to get into a diving position towards its target. Opening its jaws wide like before, the mech dived towards Shinobu, its large shadow towering over her as she stopped in her tracks and glanced back to see the beast right behind her.

Shinobu couldn't move her feet were glued to the ground. The mech raised one of its claws that let out a mechanical sound and turned into something like a chainsaw with spikes on each side of its wrist. Its gaze met Shinobu's like it knew how helpless she was now, there was a dead end in front of her she had nowhere to run.

Loud shrilling sounds of the drill filled the room as the mech stabbed the side of its neck with its claw. Widening her eyes in shock, Shinobu stepped away and watched parts and scraps of metal fall to the ground. The badger mech struggled to get its claw off its worn-out neck the spikes continued to dig deeper into its joints.

Douma landed beside her and watched the mech desperately trying to remove its claw. Shinobu turned around with a, "Did you do this?" look to which he nodded and covered his face with his fan. Now I have to summon the shield around Shinobu while the mech's distracted. 

A translucent blue barrier emerged from where Shinobu stood enclosing her within it. The purple-haired girl looked at it nervously she couldn't tell if this was Douma's doing or that mech's she had seen enough for today. "What is going on..." She moved away from the walls of the shield worried that it might be a detonator or an electric barrier.

"Don't worry Shinobu the shield won't bite!" Douma said cheerfully. "It's human-friendly."

"Yeah right don't scare me like that!" Shinobu crossed her arms and sighed.

"Shinobu's scared?"

"Of course I am! That crazy robot is trying to kill me!"

Douma gave Shinobu a sly grin. This made her even more confused. "What's so funny we have bigger problems to deal with." Ugh he's so annoying I can't stand that smile of his just go and finish off that walking pile of junk already!

"You were as timid as a mouse back there. Now you're full of energy Shinobu! If you keep this up you won't need that shield anymore!"

Hearing that made Shinobu sick. Without the shield she'd be fried to crisp. "Uh the shield's fine I love it so I'm keeping it with me."

Douma laughed at Shinobu's sudden change of opinion. "I'm glad you like it Shinobu I'm always happy to help." Man I hope she's not mad at me I was just trying to make things easier for her. Now she can just sit back and relax without having to worry about the badger mech. Its attacks won't go through I just need her to stay still. If she runs away the mech will follow after her too. I can't let that happen she will only put herself in danger. An all-out attack from me isn't going to look pretty for that shield if it deflects back.

The mech removed its claw from its neck and fired the same missiles from earlier. Both Douma and Shinobu watched the missiles collide with the wall, a few passed by them crashing into the corners of the area. This showed how much the mech's accuracy had dwindled throughout the battle. Perfect for Douma to unleash his next attack on the unsuspecting robot.

Raising his fans that began glowing a bright light that matched their golden colors, Douma dashed towards the mech and sliced it several times. Shinobu observed hoping this was the last straw she didn't want to continue witnessing the giant mech constantly ambushing her from all corners. It was horrifying knowing how inferior she was to it in terms of size. She didn't even have a weapon to defend herself let alone distract it.

Green shards of holographic glass fell to the floor, the mech appearing unscathed. Shinobu watched in horror as the mech twitched from the aftermath of its claw that damaged its neck and turned around facing them. It blocked his attacks with its shield... This surprise was demoralizing Shinobu wasn't sure if they could move on from here this mech was still standing. Whoever built this thing must be very experienced with robots, to have an invisible shield that enemies couldn't keep track of. Talk about impressive this was advanced technology right here in this secluded area.

Suddenly the mech's left foot fell to the floor followed by its right arm.

"The slashes went through!" Shinobu watched the badger mech collapse to the ground unable to balance itself anymore since its limbs were falling apart like blocks.

Loud engine noises came from its direction a green light started forming in its mouth and the rest of its body. The badger mech was about to fire another green blast despite breaking down, it was desperate to unleash its last move.

There we go. I've been waiting for this. Douma stepped back and watch as the mech pushed itself up and aimed at where they stood. Shinobu quickly hid behind him just in case.