12 The Strongest

Before the arm could land on them and crush them into a pulp, Pako lifted everyone and flew out of its range. Flying above the trees, with his heart still pumping in his chest, Akira breathed a sigh of relief and stared at the spot he had been a seconds ago. The attack had made a long, shallow trench. It almost looked like a drained river bed strewn with crushed trees.

"That thing has a lot of force behind its attacks," Akira said.

"That's why it's called an attack drone," Pako said and turned to Rin. "I thought they were sending backup-yo?"

Rin winced. "They are... uh. We need to hold on for--"

"Pako," Akira shouted as the attack drone threw his second arm at them.

Pako flew above it.

"Oh, you are good," the voice controlling the attack drone said. "But how about this?"

The robot raised its three arms, all at once, and was soon swinging them around it, leveling the forest, lifting a good deal of dirt and pieces of broken, crushed trees. Pako, carrying Akira and Rin with him, was zigzagging around, flying through the gaps between the moving arms. It seemed the person controlling the attack drone was now not aiming at them but was crazily swinging the arms around like enormous, metallic cables as if betting that one of the swings would end up hitting them.

The world was spinning around Akira. He couldn't tell what was going on. The arms were moving so fast that he could only see the afterimage of them. All he could see was the image of flashing webs of humongous metal cables and could feel the gust of powerful winds as the arms rushed past them. At first, Pako was dodging quite easily. But as seconds passed, Akira realized that they were barely avoiding the attacks.

A minute later, the robot stopped attacking. "You are good," the voice coming out of it said. "But unfortunately, we are ready to charge up."

Pako was gasping. His tails and ears had drooped. They were still hovering over the ruined forest, but instead of going up, they seemed to be drifting toward the ground. The poor cat was running out of its juice.

"Are you alright?" Akira asked Pako.

Pako said nothing. He just huffed.

"You have done enough," Rin said. "It's my turn now." Leaving the burn marks, she seemed a little better than she had looked before. She straightened herself up and brought her palms together close to her chest, touching the tips of her burned left thumb and fingers with her right thumb and fingers, making what appeared to be a big circle.

"What are you doing?" Akira asked.

"Just wait and watch," Rin said and closed her eyes. "Come forth, Poseidon." As soon as she had said those words, a pitch-black hole appeared in the middle of her chest. Still holding the circular shape made by her fingers, Rin moved her hands away, and a black blade covered in a blue aura began sliding out of the hole in her chest. She held the thing in her right arm, and Akira realized it was a sword, a kind of sword he had never seen in his life. It was black, covered in gleaming, blue aura, and it had no grip or handle. The black blade was floating over her balled fist.

"Is it just I, or the handle is invisible?" Akira said.

"Shut up, you low-level life form," Rin said. "This is Poseidon. My trusted blade."

"Forget I ever praised you internally," Akira said, frowning.

"I see," the loud voice boomed from the robot. "That weapon means you are a guardian of this planet."

"I'm," Rin shouted back with some effort. She turned to Pako. "Throw me at it."

"What?" Pako asked.

"Just do it." Rin buckled her legs.

"You are really like acting like a stupid," Akira said.

Rin ignored him and continued staring at the enormous robot.

"I hate guardians the most," the person controlling the attack drone said. "So showing me that blade was not the best choice. It's a choice that will lead to your death!" Two of its arms shot up in the air and then came flying towards them.

"Hurry," Rin shouted at Pako. "Throw me at it."

"Fine-yo," Pako said. "This last of my of strength." As soon as he said that, Rin shot up like a bullet.

The long arms came coiling towards Rin like snakes. She rolled above the first arm and began running over it as if it were a cylindrical bridge. The second arm came from her side and charged towards her. She jumped and did a forward flip, swinging her sword along with her, neatly cleaving the second arm from its body. Covered in blue electrical sparks, the separated section of the arm dropped to the ground, crushing more trees, and lifting more dirt and dust.

Rin continued her charge toward the main body of the attack drone. She must have been halfway up when the tentacle-like arm she was on lifted itself from the ground. She apparently used its momentum and threw herself at the main body, raising her blade above her head.

Akira stared in awe as she descended on the attack drone, bringing her sword down. She is going to cut that thing in half, he thought. Yet again, he was in complete awe.

But her sword didn't slice the alien craft in half. Instead, Rin stopped in mid-air. Red sparks appeared before her sword.

"Crap," Pako, who was now sitting on Akira's shoulder, said. "It's a force field."

"A force field?" Akira glanced at Pako and quickly turned his attention back to Rin. She was struggling against the powerful barrier. Apparently, it was too much for her. Akira stared in horror as the force field shot her away. He saw her body rolling past the branches of several trees and then finally plowing into the ground a few yards away from him.

"RIN." Akira ran toward her and found her lying in a small crater filled with water. She was moaning in pain. Akira was surprised that she was conscious after taking a hit like that. No, he was more shocked by the fact that she was alive after falling from that height. This was too much. This bad day seemed to be having no end.

"We need to run away, Pako," Akira said, lifting Rin who was now wincing in pain.

"I know," Pako said. "But I've used up all my energy. I can't help you anymore."

"Then what should--"

The whole ground began to shake. The giant robot was stomping its way towards them. "How do you like that? You stupid guardian!"

"If I only knew where that stone was," Akira muttered, gritting his teeth. "We could have returned it, and this wouldn't have happened."

"No," Pako said, lowering his head. "All this wouldn't have happened if my past self hadn't stolen their stuff. I'm sorry I dragged you in this. I hope you forgive me-yo?"

Akira couldn't help but smile, though it was not the right time to smile. The robot continued lumbering closer, shaking the ground below their feet.

Rin said something inaudible.

"Huh?" Akira looked at her.

"N-not done," Rin whispered and opened one of her eyes. "I--"

"Stop acting like a tough bitch!" Akira said. "We are done here. It's time to run for our life. I'm done listening--"

"Oh, my god, she looks in bad shape," a new voice said.

Akira's hackles stood up as he realized that someone was standing right behind him. A second later, a hand fell on his shoulder, making him flinch. "What the... Huh?"

Like Rin, the guy who had been standing behind Akira wore pajamas. But unlike her, he also had his whole face covered with what looked like a metallic, dark-red mask. The mask didn't have much detailing to it, and the most eyecatching thing about the mask was its eye sockets. They looked like camera lenses. "I'm sorry. I'm late," the new guy said, looking down at Rin and Akira.

"Late?" Akira muttered, staring up at the taller guy. "Are you our backup?"

"That's right! I'm Maxim Sharp." The man dramatically pointed his finger at Akira. "Thanks for taking care of her. Now, let the adults handle this situation."

"Wait. Are you alone?" Akira looked around. Pako was sitting next to Akira's legs. He looked calmer for some reason.

"Yes," Maxim, the new masked guy, said. "I'm alone. Anyway, is that the thing that's bothering you?" He pointed at the approaching attack drone. "I'll go and take care of it. Excuse me, please." He began walking in the direction of the oncoming robot.

"Is he crazy or something?" Akira asked Pako. "Also, why are you so calm? Shouldn't we run away? This is our chance."

"There is no need to run now," Pako said. "We are safe."

Akira just stared at the black cat, scrunching his face in confusion.

The robot stopped moving. "Oh, we have a newcomer. Are you a guardian too?"

Maxim didn't stop walking. "That's right. I don't think you'll tell me who you really are and from where you are controlling this thing, will you?"

"Of course not." The attack drone raised its long arms. "I won't say anything. These arms will do the talking."

"Then you have you no business staying on this planet," Maxim said. "Goodbye." He disappeared from the ground, reappeared right in front of the robot's main body, and slowly put his hand on the surface of the alien machine. It happened real fast. There was a loud bang. Akira blinked, and he was no longer looking at the robot but was now looking at the black sky through a gaping hole in the robot's body. Then, with a loud sonic boom, the hollow machine shot off. Akira stared, jaws hanging, as the thing flew into the sky, getting smaller and smaller. And before he knew it, he was gazing at a tiny speck of light.

"W-what did he do?" Akira said to no one in particular.

"He pushed the thing out of your planet," Pako said. "You probably couldn't tell or feel his power, and it's true that I have forgotten about all the strong people I've met in my past lives. But I'm sure I've never met anyone this strong. This guy... He is the strongest."