A Hero's Song (Darkest Secrets Volume 1)

Chapter 20 - New Toys

In the training room, the friends sat in thought for a long while.

Alfred broke the silence. "I believe congratulations are in order. Neither of you was prepared for that fight, yet you prevailed."

Falco smiled a tired smile. "Thanks, Alfred. That... actually means a lot right now. Gabe, how do you feel?"

"I feel like that couldn't have gone much better. We were outnumbered and frankly, outgunned."

"Outgunned? You killed those things with one attack each. Sure, you got hit, but so did I! I got hit once, and out I went..."

Gabriel couldn't allow this simulation to block his friend's confidence. He removed his helmet and chose his words carefully.

"You are totally right." Falco looked up in surprise. "But you have to see that your weapons couldn't really do much to those things; it's not your fault at all.

If anything you, are the better Super, I had Alfred to adjust my movements, and you had nothing but knives. Well-made ones, but still! KNIVES! For god's sake, man, you're a badass!"

Falco brightened but became pensive. "How do I fix that problem? My ultimate goal has always been defeating the MechaBlitz. I need better weapons."

Gabriel nodded. "If only you knew a good Engineer..."

Falco laughed, "Come on, don't make me beg."

"I could probably modify your weapons themselves unless you'd like something else?" Gabriel said.

Falco shook his head. "I would prefer to keep my blades if you would indulge me."

"Of course! If you give them to me, I can have something ready by tomorrow morning. Say at breakfast?"

Falco's eyes grew like saucers. "T-tomorrow? Do you sleep at all?"

Gabriel's cheeks reddened. "Well, yes. But I can't relax until I get everything on my list done."

Falco frowned. "As long as you don't overwork yourself. I'd be grateful."

He blurred into movement before handing Gabriel his holsters. Forty-two long throwing knives and two machetes, all made of hardened titanium. Not bad, but there was a lot of room to work with. They parted ways shortly after. Gabriel went to his lab and go over the knives.

On the way there, he asked Alfred, "Hey Alfred, anything to say about training today? I thought it went pretty well, but I value your input."

The fight against Falco was a hectic affair. Your suit took too much damage. He pressed us to our limits, even without upgraded weapons.

"Our suit Alfred. Our brain, for that matter. We are in here together." Gabriel interrupted.

Thank you, but as I was saying, we had no answer to his speed, but your gravity well trick worked. That may be useful for future speedsters. However, the actual problem is not that. The real issue at hand is the damage we're coming up against. It is too great to defend against with your wings.

Your armaments are powerful enough to kill MechaBlitz, but not enough to protect yourself. We need a better defense system, and I think I have a solution.

"Oh really? And what is it?" Gabriel asked, extremely curious.

I think we could mimic the MechaBlitz shielding technology with antimatter.

Gabriel couldn't believe what Alfred suggested. "You mean you want to cover ourselves in AM energy!? That's ridiculously dangerous; that could vaporize us!"