D-Buggs
It took a while to get into the middle of the city. It could have been half an hour. Two hours. Or even half a day. Though, it didn't really matter since time wasn't working properly anyway.
They traveled past frozen bodies, both dead and alive, and searching for the City Command Center.
Owen said we'd know we found it when we see a skyscraper with a ball floating above it. But everything looks so dystopian and futuristic that each building looks like it could be the Command Center for all I know. ...How long was I out?
"Owen?"
"Yes, Miss RL?" Owen twists his eye around to face her.
Why add the miss?
"What city are we in? It looks so… new."
His eye goes yellow, "I believe the people of your language call it Paris."
"Paris, huh." RL looks up in thought, "I… may have heard that name before."
"It did not always look like this. War and change in governance caused skyscrapers to be built here. Even one of the city's most esteemed monuments in their history was refurbished into something completely unrecognizable.
RL smirks, "Hmm? Was it one of your 'creators' that committed such an act?"
Owen doesn't reply. He remained almost still in the air.
RL tilted her head, "Owen, you o-"
"Shhh!" he interrupted her with a whisper, his eye turned red, "Something is ahead of us."
Slowly, minimizing the amount of sound he produced, Owen hedged to the edge of the current building next to them. RL did the same, hugging the wall until she met the corner. Hesitantly, she peered around it.
A small city plaza. Many people were frozen in place. Kids chasing birds. Elderly sitting on benches, enjoying the fountain. And people going to and from their jobs.
There was something else there. Something that made noise.
The only thing other than me that made a peep was Owen. Could it be another Doomsday Unit? Or something else entirely that can Time-tread?
RL scanned the corner. Sure enough, behind the fountain, there was something moving around freely.
It was mechanical, coated in a matte-black shell akin to the darkness in the sky. It was tall, approximately ten meters in height. Reinforced armor plates were fastened to the chest and shoulder area. The head was a single protrusion with a thin vertical slit at the end of it. Protected behind the thin hole was a bleeding red light serving as its eyes. On the back, the intimidating machine wore a large rifle no doubt capable of firing rounds that can pierce through metal like bread.
Its right arm was a large claw. It clenched and unclenched and each time it closed it, sparks of light would erupt. Its left arm was raised up in the air. Like a trophy it watched emotionless at what was at the end of it. As her eyes went up the length of the arm, it morphed into a long spear-like item. At its tip was a person still frozen, only with a sharp metal spike through their abdomen. It dispassionately dropped the corpse back onto the ground.
"BUG. ERADICATED."
RL put her hands up to her mouth stifling the gasp she wanted to make. She quickly regained her composure and grabbed Owen.
"What the hell is that?" She whispered.
"It is a D-Bugg." His eyes shot red.
"A what?"
"A D-Bugg! They come from The Falling Sky."
"And when were you going to tell me that giant mechs called D-Buggs freely roam around harvesting human bodies, you bot!"
She let go of Owen, who quickly regained his capacity to levitate. Peering around once more, she noticed the D-Bugg had found its next victim, one of the children, holding him tightly in his massive claw. She watched as the child helplessly succumbed to the machine's spike.
"BUG. ERADICATED."
She stands up, her face frowning deeply.
"What are you doing? Owen asked.
"I've got to help them."
"Lady, are you insane! That monstrosity will hunt you down in a heartbeat. Let us just hide and wait for it to leave."
"Those people," She watched as the machine pick up the other child, "They can't defend themselves. The damn well already be dead. But I can help them, If I drag this... thing away from them."
She left the corner and into the space in front of them.
"Miss RL!"
She ignored him, walking out into the plaza and toward the D-Bugg. Immediately, the D-Bugg's scanners picked up her movement/ Disregarding the child in his hand it dropped her back onto the pavement. Its eye turned in observation.
"BUG. LOCATED."
RL intended to make a run for it the moment the D-Bugg made a move toward her, but it initiated the thrusters on the back of its heels and in seconds caught up to her.
Damn it!
The D-Buggs leg dug in RL's waist, sending her flying into the building next to her.
"Miss RL!" Owen screamed.
The dust started to clear until it ceased moving again in the air. RL coughed, sending spit and blood out of her mouth. Her hand clutched her right side. Shots of pain kept ricocheting around that area. There was enough force in that to have caused internal bleeding. Another hit and she could be killed.
She had little time to think as the D-Bugg's claw came zooming towards her. She barely rolled out of the way of the claw, gritting her teeth from the pain it caused her waist. The claw dug into the wall of the building, taking away pieces of it as the machine pulled away. Repositioning, the D-Bugg's eye refocused on RL's thermals and tossed the rubble at her.
RL rolled again, avoiding much of the dangerous debris. Still, she was hit with some of it, impacting her back. She was back where she started, next to Owen. Her plan worked, the D-Bugg was solely on her now. But... that was the extent of her plan.
The issue now is... How do I get away from this bastard?
"Miss RL, grab a weapon!"
She frowned, "What weapon? And what the hell do you expect me to do to that thing even if I did? Hit it in the head?"
Owen's eye went red, "You're a Doomsday Unit!"
"I don't know how that helps in this situation!"
The D-Bugg slowly approached the two of them. It wasn't using the thrusters.
There might be a charge that needs to be completed before the thrusters can be used again.
Despite the lack of thrusters, due to the damage the D-Bugg had already done to RL, it easily caught up.
Owen stepped in front of the two, his corners twisting at blinding speeds.
"Being a Doomsday Unit means, your physical attributes are at the peak of human ability. Now close your eyes and jump as high as you can!"
She quickly complied and pushed her legs out as strong as she possibly could. She didn't see what Owen did, but the noise was more than enough.
"Flash activated."
She opened her eyes and noticed that Owen's makeshift flashbang had affected the D-Buggs visual inputs, stunning it for a brief moment.
What was even more surprising was that she was in their air right up next to the D-Bugg's head. She had jumped ten meters from the floor.
"What the hell?"
She didn't take the time to remain surprised at how high she jumped, instead she took advantage of the opportunity that Owen had given her. With as much force as she could muster, she twisted her body to swing her right foot out toward the D-Bugg. Her waist stung but she toughed it out. Her foot connected and the impact made the D-Bugg tumble of balance. The foot stung a little from the metal plating.
She landed back onto the pavement on two feet.
"W-what? That was insane!"
"See what I mean?" Owen's eye transformed into green.
Their celebration was short-lived as the D-Bugg regained its footing.
"Of course, one kick is surely not enough to take a D-Bugg down." Owen said.
RL prepared herself. However, a sudden barrage of pain flared up in her waist, back, and now her foot, bringing her down to one knee.
"Miss RL?"
She tried to get up, but the pain in her waist was too much and she had to clutch onto it.
Despite her vulnerable position, the D-Bugg did not move. It's eye twisted and turned. Calculating something.
"AI. FLASH. THREAT. CLOSE. QUARTERS. NOT. VIABLE. ACTIVATE. BALLISTIC. LASER. RIFLE."
The D-Bugg retracts the spike from its left hand and sprouts another claw. It falls onto all fours, pointing the lengthy barrel of the rifle at RL. A laser also points towards her abdomen. The machine was ensuring its next attack won't miss.
The buzz of the rifle started soft and rose in intensity.
Rising.
Rising.
Rising until RL had to cover her ears.
"Miss RL, move out of the way."
As much as she would like too, her pain in her waist stopped her from doing so. She could see the bleeding dampening the lower hem of her shirt.
Owen's eye went red, "Move out of the way, now!"
One leg to the side of my gut and I'm already screwed.
RL closed her eyes, ready to accept whatever was about to hit her. Perhaps she was the wrong person chosen to try and save the world. Hopefully the other Doomsday Units were better suited and more useful than her.
At least I protected those people for a little while. Though they'll probably die after me."
Before the laser rifle could fire, a silhouetted figure fell from the sky. It cut though the entirety of the rifle's barrel, making the rifle stop working and fall onto the pavement.
RL looked up and noticed it was a young man holding a machete in his left hand. His hair was yellow and long, tied up into a ponytail.
The D-Bugg moved a claw up over its back to try to grab the mysterious man, but he gracefully flipped over it and landed in front of its face. In an instant, he drove his blade into the narrow slit and dug into the machine's eye.
The D-Bugg stood up, trying to wean the man off of it. But he persisted holding onto his wedged blade. With no more visual inputs, the D-Bugg lost its footing and fell backward, unable to get up.
The man took the opportunity to pull out his machete and drive it into the chest of the machine through the small openings under the reinforced plating. He pierced the D-Bugg multiple times until the blade caught onto something inside. With precision he pulled the sword out with a mechanical orb, spewing oil and sparking electricity, rested meekly at its tip.
"Found the core." His voice boomed, "Orbital Warden, what type is this?"
"Its outer shell says CRSX7, sir."
He scoffed, resting the machete over his shoulder, "Still only a C-tier."
Finally, the man took notice of RL and Owen. He was quite muscular and carried a wide frame in his chest area. He had a handsome face with sideburns that ran down to the back of his chin. His clothing was militaristic, pads and plated armor protected his joints and ligaments and the main. His clothing looked thin and easy to move in as well.
It was the fourth thing she had seen that could Time-tread, and each time before she was somewhat cautious around all of them. But for him, he felt faintly familiar to her. A familiarity that made her think he was trustworthy.
Still, best not to be ignorant.
"Bot– Owen, who is that."
Owen's eye glowed yellow, "It's a Doomsday Unit. Doomsday Unit AJ-001."
RL met his gaze, somewhat nervous to break away from it.
Atop the corpse of the D-Bugg, AJ-001 looked down on the woman he saved, RL, with a pensive expression worn on his face.