CH. 26 - Wolf's Resolve

On the observation deck where both the Representatives and the teachers are seemingly frozen, they watch as the chaos unfolds before them. As they watch, Teach’s eyes get more intense as he slowly turns his head and looks to the side. He looks frustrated as he looks back into the arena with a conflicted look. He slowly turns his body and begins adjusting Nobody’s arm to point up in a specific direction outside of the arena. As soon as he does and steps away, a little black ball of void like darkness forms on Nobody’s fingertip.

 Teach steps towards the railing with a resistant effect lingering behind him, pushing his body back as if walking against an intense force, before he leans on the railing. Teach lifts his hand to the side as his eyes stay focused in the arena, and he grips tightly. Down the deck, the sealed coreforged door of the control room begins to crunch before being completely ripped off and tossed to the side following Teach’s swipe. He then leans over the railing before bolting off with intense speed. As he rushes through the arena, his eyes are focused and narrow.

‘I let myself get too relaxed.. Never again. I said, never again!’ He thinks as he runs off.

Cole rushes up to the base of the observation deck and looks up. Seeing them frozen, he grits his teeth before shouting to them.

“Professors!” He shouts. In that instant, the black ball at the tip of Nobody’s finger fires off with no resistance or hesitation. Outside, on the same path as before, the same man stands with a smile on his face. He lifts his hand and makes the same gesture as before.

“Suppose we should-”

Suddenly, his eyes grow wide as the black ball blasts straight towards him with physics defying speed. It grows and grows, giving him no time to react as it tears through everything. In an instant, it disappears. The man simply smiles a wide smile as black blood begins to fall from the corners of his mouth.

“I think it’s time to leave.” He says as it reveals his entire left arm, along with most of his chest and body, to be gone as if a perfect circle was simply removed from existence, before he just disappears entirely with a whoosh of wind. Nobody simply clicks his tongue in frustration as Cole’s shouts continue.

“Professors! Someone is attacking the Academy! The androids are attacking to kill!” Cole shouts. Nazuna looks around for a moment, gaining her bearings before shouting to the others.

“Reps! Go make sure the students are safe! I’m going to check on Wither!” She shouts as the Reps and Nobody jump over the railing and Nazuna bolts towards the control room.

Cole watches as they all take action before he lets out a breath of relief, leaning against the wall behind him and catching his breath, revealing him to be more worn out than he originally let on.

In the arena, Moshiro lays on her back not moving as he breathes heavily. She stares at the sky as the sound of someone approaching quickly can be heard by her. She lets her head fall to the side as she sees Teach drop to her side and lift her gently in his arms.

“Moshi, are you alright?” He asks with worry in his voice. She looks up at him and smiles a tired, pained smile as Teach exhales in relief to find her okay before picking her up gently. “I got you. Let’s get you somewhere safe.” He says before rushing back.

Back with Cole under the observation deck, Teach suddenly appears with Moshiro in her arms before he gently sits her down against the wall next to Cole.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back, I promise.” Teach says gently as Moshiro nods understandingly. Teach then disappears once again. Cole stares at her as she closes her eyes and leans her head back, holding her side as she breathes out in obvious pain. Unsure what to say, Cole continues to stare.

“How do you think Anderson is doing?” He asks. Moshiro simply opens her eyes with a bothered look.

In the forest area, large booms are heard and even larger explosions burst out in quick succession from the woods. Wolf jumps back swiftly over and over as the RD-s7 attacks again and again, its six eyes red and body twitching with sparks bursting out. Wolf is bleeding from her head and has scratches and bruises all over.

Eventually, she slams her back foot down as the android slams upon her its large, extending arm. She blocks the attack as the ground beneath her crushes. She growls and grits her teeth as she struggles to hold back the android. It pushes harder before twisting and slamming one of its three fingered hands into Wolf’s face sending her flying back. She smashes into a large boulder behind her as she yelps in pain.

‘What the fuck happened?.. It just suddenly went ballistic!..’ She thinks as she catches herself, looking at the android sharply. ‘I don’t think this is intentional. It looks like the android can hardly handle what’s happening to it already.’ She thinks as the dark metal of the android creaks and bends with the amount of energy and force it is exerting. Wolf smirks and readies herself.

“Fuck it. Let’s go.” She says before the android suddenly opens its mouth and fires a blast at her. She dashes straight at it, narrowly avoiding the blast as it explodes the boulder behind her. It pulls back its large arm and strikes forward, colliding with Wolf’s own fist. Her arm cracks a bit as the metal groans from the impact. Wolf grits her teeth in pain but holds strong as they push against each other for a moment before shoving each other back.

The android then swings at her twice as she dodges swiftly and sharply only to need to block the heavy left hook it throws, slamming against her arms. She gasps from the impact but holds as it slams its arm against her a couple times before uppercutting her with its other arm.

Blood flies through the air from her nose but with only a moment of hesitation, she swings her head back down with harsh force, slamming into its face, denting it. It stumbles back as the ballistic glass on a couple eyes crumble away. Its eyes flicker as it looks at her before swinging at her even faster this time.

Again, Wolf keeps up with the dodges until it lifts both its arms up and slams them into the ground with shocking force. Wolf jumps back up into the air to avoid the shattered ground and large cloud of smoke. Her eyes widen as a large drill hand comes shooting towards her attached the extending arm. Wolf barely avoids it as the android then swings its arm down using the enlarged fist to smash her into the ground.

The android’s fist lets out a hiss as it deflates and retracts. Wolf gets to one knee while coughing a bit as she looks up. The android then inflates its three fingers a bit as they spiral into a spike and jet at her. She growls as she lunges forward and swiftly avoids the drill, dashing up to it and slamming her fist into the chest of the android. She then quickly follows up with a combo of punches to its chest as the android slides back from the attacks. Wolf almost looks in pain while striking it but her eyes stay determined.

‘Damn. The thing’s so hard it’s like I’m smashing my fists against solid lead..’ She growls then shouts as she drives a heavy uppercut to the android, sending it flying into the air. “I’m not getting through..!” She says with a strained look. 

Over by the control room, Nazuna approaches the destroyed door only to see the staff and Wither inside working hard to regain control.

“Wither!” She shouts. Wither looks over surprised.

“Nazuna! The android’s are being corrupted and attacking the students!”

“I know! Have you made any progress on getting them back under control??”

“We’re trying but the system’s fried. I don’t think there’s even a way back into them from here, they’re just full gunning on autopilot!” Wither says with a worried look. Nazuna’s anxiety only increases.

“So there’s nothing we can do from here?” She asks clear but concerned.

“Most of them have gone completely off line meaning they’ve either been destroyed or simply shut down. Only a few remain, one of them being The RDs.” Wither says, running diagnostics on his system.

“Can’t we just surge the entire floor?” Nazuna asks. Wither quickly evaluates the option before responding.

“That might destroy most components in the Reigndome and the remaining androids but the RDs is coreforged. And running at this capacity, it’ll probably just tank the damage.” He says, frustrated, trying to keep damage to a minimum while being concerned for the students. Nazuna looks even more worried as she turns to the arena. 

“We can rebuild the Reigndome later! We’ve got to protect the students!” She shouts, looking at Wither. His eyes sharpen as he nods.

“Let’s get that floor surged, now!” He shouts as the staff get to work overriding the system.

Back in the fight, Wolf is beaten back and forth across the face before she blocks one of the large hooks from the machine and punches it hard enough to send it sliding back. She then jumps into the air and flips fast until she slams her leg against the android’s head.

“If I were Tadashi…” She then jumps back avoiding an attack before dashing off a tree and punching it across the face. “I’d just make a sword and cut the damn thing.” She says with a smile before kicking in its leg causing it to fall to one knee before she front kicks it again in the side of the head causing it to stumble over. It quickly turns to face her but she’s already flying through the air and lands on the android’s back.

“Woah, this looks important!” She shouts before shoving her fist into the neck area behind the android’s head and grabbing ahold of some components. She struggles to tear anything out as the android’s shoulders readjust and let the android strike her heavily across the face a couple times but she holds strong and succeeds in tearing out some parts in the android’s neck.

She falls to the ground on her back before being kicked and sent flying face first into another boulder. She yelps in pain before the android grabs her by the head and smashes her face into the boulder, crushing it. Its head then spins entirely around over and over in a moment as it stumbles back. Wolf smirks a bit.

“Guess that’ll work.” She says as she leaps off the rock and slams her entire body into the android, sending it flying back, smashing into a couple trees. She pants as she takes a moment to catch her breath. 

“Okay… This thing is too hard for me to just punch out… So what do I do?..” She thinks for a moment before fluffing up her hair in frustration. “Ah! I don’t know!” She sighs and looks forward as the android gets up and stomps towards her, twitching and sparking. “Whatever. I’ll just use it. I’ll stay in control this time. I’ll pour all my power into it but I will stay in control.”

She thinks about her blast mist attack from when she fought the boar-man, the moment she almost lost control. She focuses for a moment as she pulls her arm back.

“Come on…” The android then charges at her at full speed and just a moment before it strikes her, her eyes sharpen as the black mist comes pouring out of her fist and she blasts her arm at the android’s chest. 

“Shot!” She shouts as the android’s body cracks from the impact force. Her eyes widen. “That wasn’t enough.!?” She says as the android is sent hurtling through the woods, smashing through everything. It lays on the ground for a moment as its cracked chassis sparks then its entire body convulses. Wolf stares at her fist with shock.

“What? That wasn’t-” She looks up with an intense gaze as her thought is interrupted. The android blasts at her, smashing its fist into her face. She falls back but before she can react, it drives another punch into her face sending her flying into the air.

It then grabs her leg and slams her back into the ground before stomping over her and slamming its piston metal fists into her over and over again. Wolf lays on the ground with her arms up trying to defend from the barrage of heavy punches. 

‘At first it wasn’t enough control… Now it’s too much?.. Why can’t I just get it right?!.’

As she takes the beating, she growls before shouting loudly and blasting off another black mist punch to its face, sending it flying back. She gets up, beaten and panting but her eyes stay focused, filled with frustration and disappointment. The android twists and lands and immediately charges Wolf with a huge punch that she catches with an open palm, black mist bursting out. 

“This time!” She shouts as she drives in a heavy black mist punch to the android’s body but just like before, it lacks power. Wolf’s eyes widen with anger and frustration as the android slams down upon her head. She growls and maintains her footing despite the heavy blow. 

“What’s wrong with me..?” She grumbles. The android hisses and pulls back then tries to strike her but she falls backwards out of the way, anger all over her face.

“I had no problem then…” She thinks about the time she exploded, hurting Alston. “But when my friends need me…” She thinks about the boar-man attack and how she couldn’t protect her friends. “I just can’t do it… I’m so pathetic…”

She clenches her fist as the android tries to stomp on her face. She suddenly disappears with a burst of black mist, standing behind the android at a distance with an upset look.

“I came here to get stronger… Not to keep failing… And there’s only one way to do it…” She says softly, taking a breath. The android gives her no time and bolts for her again as Wolf lifts her head with determined eyes. “I have to give it my all!” She shouts, turning around and charging the android as well. ‘I will protect my friends! I will gain control!’

She pulls her arm back, preparing to deliver another huge black mist punch but instead, something else happens. As she clenches her fist, purple sparks start to burst from it over and over, black mist nowhere to be seen.

“I am Wolf Anderson!” She shouts as she drives her fist into the android’s chest once again, this time with lightning bursting out on impact before blasting into a huge purple bolt, taking the android with it. It hurdles through the air and slams into the large reinforced walls of the Reigndome, completely obliterated into many pieces.

Wolf’s eyes widen when she realizes what just happened. She pants as she looks at her open, shaking hand, little sparks of purple electricity fizzling out. Just then, Nobody comes running out of the tree line with a concerned look on his face.

“Anderson, you alright?” He asks. Wolf pays him no attention at first and doesn’t answer. Instead, she says something else.

“I just… shot lightning from my hand.” Wolf says, slowly looking at him with an intense look on her face. One filled with confusion and bright excitement in her eyes, yet a hint of fear lingers. Nobody calms a bit as his eyes sharpen ever so slightly.