Ray of hope || by Elin Moon

Chapter 4: To battle or to flee

The next second, something shoots out of the tube, and I'm not sure what it is. But, either way, the Guardian jumps out of its shooting range at the very last second, releasing a small shriek from his throat. The area where the Guardian was before was now scorched and smoking, black and burned up. I can see the Guardian's eyes widen at this scene, and for a second I almost think he might've changed his mind. However, he instead turns back to the machine and starts running towards it, raising up his chainsaw. The next second, the screech of metal filled up my ears, leaving an awful ringing behind, as the chainsaw made contact with the Announcer's leg. I squinted at the damage to see that the most it did was leave behind deep gashes in the metal, not even affecting the strength of the machine. The thing then turns his aim back on the Guardian and starts shooting continuously, burning hot something coming out of it. It's too fast for the Guardian to dodge, so he instead uses his chainsaw as a shield. It proves effective.

Immediately after, the machine jumps back, almost as if retreating. But, no, I see it lift its shooting arm again, aiming at the Guardian. It's trying to get a bigger range on him. The Guardian continues to run and dodge about, leaving behind black scorch marks wherever he stood. I watch hidden away as the Guardian continues to fight, my own breath caught in my throat. I tightly clutch on to Ron next to me, who is barely holding on to any string of consciousness. There is a knot in a stomach, a reasonably large one, which would never be undone even by the most skilled fingers. I can't help but continue to watch the Guardian, no matter how much my mind tries to convince me to stop.

Suddenly, the Announcer stops shooting, and the Guardian uses this as a chance to approach it and try to injure it further. However, the machine suddenly raises up into the air, and I realize with a small gasp that it's jumping. It's going to crush the Guardian. Luckily, before I can even yell out a warning, the Guardian must've noticed and started to back away before the thing had a chance to squish him into a red mess. However, it's landing does shake the ground and cause the earth right underneath it to rumble and crack, causing the Guardian to stumble to the floor. His weapon almost tumbles out of his hand, but I can see he's clutching on to it so tightly I can see the outline of his veins slightly pop out. The thing prepares to shoot again, and the Guardian quickly jumps to his feet and moves away. The burning thing, unfortunately, grazes his ankle, causing the white fur to slightly blacken at the tips and start to smoke a little. I hear the Guardian hiss between his teeth, glancing down at his ankle before looking at the thing.

Suddenly, I connected a dot. A let Ron lean against the wall as I slightly raise up to catch the Guardian's attention. I look towards the Announcer and look towards its shooting arm. If the Guardian could use the chainsaw to remove it, then its main weapon would be gone, and the Announcer would be easier to defeat. It would have no way to protect itself.

"The arm! The shooting arm! GET RID OF IT!" I screech to the top of my lungs, catching both the Guardian and the machine's attention. A flicker of realization passes on the Guardian's face in a second. The thing is now looking at me. Oh no.

The thing aims to shoot at me, and I quickly sit back down, letting the thing hit my cover instead, leaving it smoking and letting out an intoxicating smell that makes me cover my nose and mouth from the nausea.

"Laa Laa! Stay put!" I hear the Guardian yell, his breathing too quick. After that, I hear the sound of feet against metal and the thump, as if the Guardian had just jumped on another object. I dare to peek over to see that the Guardian is now placed on the top of the thing, as the machine tries to shake him off desperately. Fortunately, he continues to hold on to the thing, as he reaches his chainsaw to give a removing blow. The next second, sparks fly and smoke starts to rise as the chainsaw makes contact with the shooting arm. A horrible noise fills the air, almost sounding like a mini explosion, as the shooting arm falls to the ground, still continuing to sparkle and smoke, rendered useless. Suddenly, the Announcer grabs the Guardian with his other arm and throws him against the opposite wall. I hear the thump from the collision and I hear the Guardian's grunt of pain. I look over at him as he falls to the ground. Thankfully, he's still conscious and gets up to his feet quickly, even if he seems a bit wobbly on them. However, there is also a horrible gash on his left cheek that is weeping blood, reaching from the beginning of the cheek to the end of it, where the fur starts to grow. I look over at the wall and see a bit of metal sticking out, dripping blood, and I see that must be what created the gash. Looking at the gash, I'm thankful it wasn't worse.