10 Chapter 10 – Battle over Rockville

Tamer Mash (POV)

Mash. "The people who designed your Transport Drone were fans of the Avengers Quinjet?"

He inspected the aircraft rising to the surface out of the underground hangar. It landed itself right in front of the Tamer council members. They all wear thermal coats that heat the wearer without adding bulk to their figure.

Soma. "Yes, this is the classic design created in the U.S. over seventy years ago, but the third reboot of the Avengers by the nation of Disney is going to have... sorry, I meant it was going to have something more futuristic than this one."

Soma explained as the group entered the aircraft from the rear cargo door.

Mash. "Strange... I don't remember seeing the craft in our aviation history clips. So do we keep calling it Transport Drone or Quinjet?"

Mash asked as he took a seat and buckled the safety harnesses.

Soma. "Don't plagiarize the Nation of Disney, Mash. Think of something original!"

Mash. "Hmm, how about the Tamer-air-mobile? or maybe the Tamerjet."

Soma. "You seriously suck at naming! Anyone else has something better to offer?"

Rebecca. "I don't care what you call this piece of junk. I am surprised it can still fly at all without falling apart."

Soma. "Ah! We shall call it the 'Junkjet! Never too old to fly? #Trademark#NotQuinjet'. Any opposition?"

No one responded as their facial expressions were stricken by disbelief.

Soma. "Great! When we get back to the bunker, I will get one of the Neo-Atlas drones to do a custom paint job on its side with the new name."

Mash. "You serious, Soma?"

Soma. "Yes, why?"

"I mean, it is something your country gave, right? So should you be vandalizing it?"

Soma. "If the name fits what it is, why should I care? For over a century, India has always bought out the old inventory from the other superpowers. We buy it cheap, upgrade it, increase its service life span, and use it until it crashes in a fiery explosion. Most of our state politicians and Generals went out that way. If the internet still worked, I would have asked you to google it. One of the reasons they gave me this thing is because they finally got something more reliable to replace it."

Soma said while typing the location of the Rockville Mall on an old keypad for the Drone Autopilot to fly to.

Rebecca."Are you trying to reassure us or scare the crap out of us?"

Soma. "Wait! Why are you shaking in your seat, Rebecca? Don't tell me... are you afraid of flying?"

Rebecca. "So what if I am?"

Soma. "Just curious because the Drone autopilot is programmed for speed and not passenger comfort."

Rebecca. "What do you mean by that?"

Soma. "In a few seconds, you will find out."

Rebecca's legs are shaking uncontrollably as the Junkjet hovered off the ground and then released a burst of flames that violently thrust the craft into the air at a forty-five-degree angle. The seats begin to vibrate so fast it hurts their back and bottom.

Zao. "Slow... it down!"

Soma. "I can't... it's designed... to fly like this... you will get... used it."

The Junkjet blasts into the air for several minutes before it reaches a high altitude and then tilts at a forty-five-degree angle toward the Earth's surface. It then turns off the thrusters and uses the momentum from freefall to take it to its final destination.

Several minutes later, on the RockvilleMall's rooftop stood the five Tamers who requested the evac leaned against the railings and looking for Bugs or the council signs.

They hear sonic booms in the sky above and spot the silhouette of the Junkjet heading straight for them.

Braian. "Why is that thing not slowing down?"

Carl Freeman. "I think we should run."

The five Tamers from New York start running in the opposite direction to avoid being caught in the impact zone. The Junkjet suddenly pulls back before it crashes into Rockville Mall. It uses the twin rotors and the reverse thrusters to slow down its steep descent. The sudden deacceleration caused a horrible sound as the aircraft's joints groaned under strain but somehow held together.

The force from the reverse thrust struck the mall's rooftop, which then caused the fleeing Tamers to be tossed into the air. Luckily they landed back on the roof and not over the sides or hit any walls. But they got injured nonetheless.

The Junkjet slowly rotated to allow its rear cargo door to face the Tamers before settling down. The figure of Rebecca rushes out and throws up waves of puke over the railings.

Soma. "Now you all know why the U.S never added this to their achievements in aviation history."

Soma said as he walked out of the craft without feeling any discomfort.

Markus, Zao, Sergei, and Mash followed him out, disoriented and squeamish. They avoided looking at Rebecca, who seemed to have suffered trauma from experience and wanted to die from the embarrassment.

Mash. "No wonder you are cool with calling it the Junkjet, but why would any country buy it?"

Soma. "We took a look at the low price, high-end features, iconic design and accepted the offer from the U.S without question. Once we realized why they sold it to us, we just added some features to clean up any ejected bodily fluids and been using it as our workhorse for the next seventy years."

Zao. "For a minute, I thought we were going to crash."

Markus. "Soma, you could have warned us how it would fly. That was the scariest rollercoaster I ever experienced."

Soma. "What is more important right now? You tell me about reaching the Tamers quickly or taking the comfortable scenic route?"

Rebecca. "You ass-hole! No wonder you got divorced three times!"

Rebecca yelled as she slowly walked over to the group.

Soma. "Look on the bright side, you managed to keep it in and not spray it on the rest of us. Good on ya!"

Rebecca. "I... will have my vengeance!"

Rebecca rushes over to Soma and tries to slap him, but he dodges her strike without any effort. She tries several times again without success and stops to gasp for air.

Rebecca. "Hold still, you bastard!"

Rebecca pulls out her Tranquilizer dart gun and aims it at Soma.

Markus. "Rebecca, put that gun away... I just noticed there are people injured on the ground. Are they the Tamers we came for?"

The Tamers on the floor groaned as they slowly stood up. They had scraps on their joints and dust all over their faces. They looked bewildered by the words and behavior of the people who came out of the aircraft.

Viren. "Are you... the council?"

She asked as she pulled out her phone and recorded a video of their encounter.

Soma. "Yes, we are here to rescue you!"

Viren. "Rescue? You almost killed us with that thing!"

She pointed at the Junkjet, which coincidentally let out a loud backfire.

Markus. "Was it about to land on top of you or something?"

The five tamers slowly nodded with a tinge of disbelief and anger in their expressions.

The council members looked toward Soma, who sheepishly apologetically smiled and shrugged.

Soma. "The A.I. is a bit outdated. By about thirty years."

Sergei. "We will apologize to you all later. Now answer our questions first. Are you the only people in this place?"

Carl. "We found the town empty when we landed here over half an hour ago. Seems like the folks here went somewhere else."

Sergei. "So where are the bugs that were chasing you all? Are they still not here yet?"

Braian. "They followed the plane to where we set the autopilot to crash. We used the onboard parachutes to land near this town. I think the bugs are still swarming around the crash site in that direction."

He pointed towards the south and then froze.

Mash. "What is wrong?"

Braian. "We need to get out of here immediately. There is a swarm of flying Ice-Bugs on their way."

Everyone turned toward where Derek was pointing and saw sparkling Ice bugs, at least several dozen flying towards them. They have Dragonflies, Wasps, and Beetles among their number.

The five Tamers started moving towards the Junkjet when they noticed the council members weren't moving.

Braian. "What are you doing? I said we needed to leave. There are too many of them, and we don't have any weapons."

Mash. "Look, we can't risk the bugs following our jet back to our bunker. So we kill them all here, and then we will leave."

Braian. "What the fuck are you talking about? There is no way you can fight them. They fly, have insane reflexes, and shoot Ice shards from a distance."

Zao. "Comrades, do not panic! We are capable of fighting them now. Just stand back and watch... Barbatos!"

[Summoning Monster: Bee Knight (Barbatos)

Type: Body, Sun, Attack, Insect, Metal

Mastery: Melee Weapons

Skills: Cross-Slash (Beginner), Lance-Dance (Beginner), Drill Lance (Beginner), Metal Brazing (Beginner)

Skill Features:

Cross-Slash - Monster executes two consecutive slashes with dual weapons on one opponent.

Lance-Dance - Monster performs a complex series of movements with a lance to increase the penetration power.

Drill Lance - The Lance can rotate at high speed, which will turn it into a drill temporarily.

Metal Brazing - Cracks on the metal body can be mended after one minute of rest]

A four-foot-tall Golden-Metal Bee emerges from the monster app on his phone.

Its body is covered in Black stripes, while its eyes are made of Cut Saphire. Two massive conical black metal Lance Swords are attached to two arms. It has no stinger at the body's base, but it doesn't seem necessary since it has two lances. The thrusters on its back are generating enough thrust to keep it hovering.

Braian. "Wow, that thing sorta looks like Mega Beedrill from Pokemon."

Zao. "Equipment Transformation, activate!"

The phone in Zao's right-hand flashes then creates an opaque sphere of light to surround his body.

The sphere shatters and reveals a Humanoid Bee Knight wielding two black metal conical Lance Swords. A Transformer style Bumble Bee Battle helmet covers its head. Most of the body is covered in Gold metal armor covered in black stripes. On his back is a pair of thrusters.

The Thrusters ignite, and that causes Zao to hover in the air.

Zao. "I will take first blood in this battle!"

Zao said, but his voice has been muffled by the Bumble Bee helmet.

The thrusters on his back boost their thrust, allowing Zao to fly like a missile straight into the oncoming swarm at high speed. His two weapons aim straight ahead like a mounted Knight during a joust. The Ice-bugs release projectile Ice attacks at the incoming Zao, but they either miss him or get deflected at the speed he is traveling.

Zao activates the Drill Lance that creates embers and borrows through several Ice-Bugs in one charge. The dead bodies fall to the Earth while the other bugs screech in anger and charge toward Zao.

The Drill Lance is deactivated, and Zao uses several X-Slash skills on the bugs who come too close. When he is about to be surrounded, his thrusters produce massive flames, which allow him to break through the encirclement.

Once out of danger, he performs a Lance Dance, which causes his two black lance swords to radiate energy. Zao then repeats the cycle of his attacks from Drill Lance and charges once again into the swarm.

All the Tamers, including the rest of the council, had their mouths hanging open in shock at what they witnessed.

Viren. "Can we do that too?"

Sergei. "Zao had been training in weapon martial arts from a young age and was taught to fight several opponents. I doubt the rest of us could fight all of them alone like him."

Mash. "Anyways. My combat style is not suitable for this fight. Is Zao the only one of us that can fly?"

Soma. "I can levitate off the ground, but I can't fly like Zao."

Markus. "Even though I know I can fire some long-range projectiles, I am not sure I can aim accurately yet."

Rebecca. "So the rest of us are useless here?"

Sergei. "Well, it's not a big deal. Since it looks like the last bug is about to be dealt the final blow."

Over the town of Rockville, a giant Rhino Stag Beetle with Ice armor so dense that it resembles diamonds charge towards Zao. But unfortunately, he is preoccupied with his Metal Braizing skill to mend all the cracks on his body.

Every time the Ice bugs swarmed him in a combined attack, he received those cracks. Luckily his metal armor could withstand their attacks even if they were not the Defense type.

Mash. "Shit, can he dodge that?"

Just before the monstrous beast impales Zao with its Icicle Horn, the thrusters on Zao's back release enough thrust to jump over the incoming attack, which leaves the Giant Ice Rhino Beetle stunned.

Zao stops his thrusters and reorients his body to face downward.

Zao's thrusters re-ignite a plasma thrust once again. Then, he activates the Drill lance skill once more. Its penetration power is now boosted by the Lance Dance.

Double Speed, Double Penetration, and Drill power all hit right above the Diamond-like shell. However, no matter how much the Ice Rhino Beetle shell looked like a diamond, it was still made of Ice and could not resist Zao's ultimate move for more than a few seconds.

Zao bore through its massive body and came out from its underside covered in Bug slime and guts.

The Giant Rhino Stag Beetle let out a horrific death cry as its massive body fell on Rockville's police station.

Zao hovered in the air above the town, his helmet slides back to reveal his sweat-drenched face as he raised one of his Black Metal Lance swords in the air in triumph.

Viren. "I can't believe I caught it all on video!"

She said in excitement as she stopped the recording and sent it out to every Monster App user.

This video would herald the rise of Tamers in the apocalypse.