Blood Obsidian

Issue 49

Hope falls silently in the dark ... - Part 7

Caitlyn didn't care anymore. Didn't care why Fiend had decided to devastate her life. Didn't care whether the villain killed her or not. The two most important people in her life were gone. Killed for the pathetic reason that Caitlyn loved them. Nothing mattered. Not life, not death. Not anything. She didn't even move as she heard crunching noises from below, or when an enormous, metal hand rose from below, gripping the remains of the parapet and a robotic head followed it, eyes glowing.

"When ... will you ..." Servos whined as the robot pulled itself up, the grating, industrial voice emerging from speakers in the still features. "... ever learn, Blood Obsidian?"

"Machina?" The combat suit of the villain looked different, but Caitlyn really didn't care. Now she had two enemies that wanted to kill her. "Do your worst, both of you. I won't resist. I've learned alright. I've learned that nothing matters."

"What are you talking about?" Metal legs stomped onto the balcony, looming over Caitlyn. "I'm talking about your cell. Don't switch it off."

Something was off with the brilliant master of the Machina combat suit. He didn't talk like that before and, somehow, the voice, though changed by the metal monstrosity, sounded kind of familiar. Turning, the robot body faced, not Caitlyn, but Fiend, gears whining, weapons cycling to readiness.

Caitlyn turned herself over, with great effort. If she wasn't hallucinating, her former enemy now protected her. She could feel the suit struggling to repair itself and she prayed it would last, now. If she wasn't seeing things in her pain-addled mind, she may just stand a chance. Then, she slumped back against the wall of the broken parapet. What did it matter. Fiend hovered, some distance away, head cocked to the side as they watched the new arrival.

"Well, this is interesting." Even while assessing the new situation, Fiend still cackled under their breath, fingers drumming against the hand grip of the flying platform. "You are not Machina. Never mind. One dead, two dead, three, four, five, today is a great day to stop people being alive."

"Worst rhyme ever, Fright-mask. Besides, no-one's died yet." The robot head looked down toward Caitlyn. "They're safe. NHPD's finest are taking care of them. Now, get up and fight."

"Fiend still has Rayna, though." She pushed herself to her feet. She couldn't say why she trusted this new Machina, but she did. Instinct told her to. "You find her and I'll ..."

"That's just it ..." The head of Machina revolved back toward the villain on the flying platform. "Fiend is Rayna. She's been playing you all along."

Fiend began to laugh, head tilting back, mouth opening wide, fangs glinting in the barest light of the night. Caitlyn scowled. That couldn't be right. Rayna loved her father. Framing Raymond Alden as Fiend made no sense. Then, as Fiend's laughter began to fade to an eerie cackling, they turned back to glare at the new Machina.

"Spoilsport. I had a whole thing prepared. Poor, pitiful love interest, Rayna Alden, caught in a death trap beneath Ald-Tech." The fangs in Fiend's mouth clacked as she tutted at the combat suit. "Go away, fake Machina, this is a girls-only party. Toodles."

Without warning, a rocket fired from the frame of the flying platform, rushing toward the new Machina's feet, destroying the balcony floor and sending cracks spidering outward, covering the entirety of the balcony. The floor began to crumble, pieces of tiles and concrete breaking away and tumbling down the face of the skyscraper, the weight of the combat suit speeding up the break-up of the building, and the new Machina began to tilt, topple and then fall.

"Shit." The electronic voice didn't sound afraid. Only a little surprised as, with the sound of groaning metal, the combat suit tumbled from the rapidly disappearing balcony. "I'll be right ba ..."