Chapter 15

Darthra watched the two kaiju battle it out, staring intently.

He trembled.

Not because it was far away. Even for him, he could still see, being a giant moth and all.

It was because those two looked to be on their last.

'What should I do?' Darthra pondered, watching the scene unfold, 'I could let those two fight...'

However, he felt a bit...unsatisfied.

Despite that, it was better, in his eyes.

Yet...

'If I can activate the armour again,' He hovered in the air, 'I could take out both of them,'

That was a solid plan, but Darthra knew certainly that Minus One had good regeneration. Mecha-Mothra had a mean beam too.

Besides, could his weapons even have an effect?

'I can do this,' Without thinking, Darthra flew forward, 'I can-'

'Can I?'

At the last moment, he stopped.

'Damn it...STOP it, Darthra!' Darthra paused, 'Did I...really call myself Darthra instead of Dominic?'

He looked at the temple.

'Whatever,' Dartha thought, 'I'll let them fight it out,'

The sinister energy from the building gripped him once more. As he flapped closer, it intensified.

'What is in this place?' From the looks of it, the opening looked big enough for Dartha to fly in.

That was a possibility, so as he got in line to enter, a red beam of energy blasted past him, clipping his wing.

"ARGH!" He screeched, creating distance from the dark entrance.

Darthra checked his wing.

The slight sting of the heat was there, but it didn't interfere with his flight. The armour protected him.

'This means that I can-'

Something dark flew out of the space in the temple, letting out a cry.

He had chills.

'The red beam,'

As it flew around him, Darthra was surprised.

"Two?" he screeched, trying to keep his gaze on the Mecha, "Shit!"

Darthra flew into the sky, attempting to get better ground against his foe. Another red beam sliced his chest. Once again, the armour protected him, but not in the way he thought.

It scratched the surface, but that was enough to see blood.

As he fell, Darthra felt the excruciating pain of the wound, green blood falling with him like rain.

'I can beat it.'

This was the only thing he could think as he fell to the ground, the temple being the not-so-great cushion. Darthra grew limp, his wings covered the sides of the building.

A lump was caught in his throat. The outward appearance of the armour hid his true feelings within.

He heard a metallic screech.

Mecha-Mothra.

Darthra shook in terror as its antennae charged, red electricity cackling with menace. It made him realize something.

Instantly, his own antennae charged.

It was like a certain retaliation, a distant memory.

Two yellow beams bolted from Darthra, slamming into the metal body of his foe.

'...' His heart sank.

Where was the aid that this armour promised? Was it all a delusion to his failed self?

As he laid eyes on the imminent attack, it was as if he accepted defeat.

SCREECH!

What stopped Mecha-Mothra was another roar.

Darthra knew for sure that this was the other one, fighting Minus One.

As it flew away, he had a grim expression.

'Was all that talk for nothing?' Darthra griped, his feet sinking into the temple, 'Am I...letting my cracks be?'

'No.'

He shook his head.

'Stop with this bullshit,' Darthra straightened his wings, 'I can do this,'

Green blood dripped, staining the armour. He tensed from the pain.

'I will win,'

Fighting through it, Darthra took to the air, eyes set on his foe.

'One way or another,' the air seemed to intensify as the antennae atop his head glowed, 'I will kill-'

From his gaze, Darthra saw the crimson beam.

Minus One was in view.

Her head clean off.

Soon, his body grew heavy. A shockwave of some sort pounded him back onto the temple. Darthra's thorax squeezed as he hurled, more blood dripping from his wounds.

Above him, was the other Mothra, its wings thrusting through the air with ease.

He could feel a light yet constant force breezing against him.

'Oh my...' He groaned, his head sore, 'I won't lose,'

The two Mecha-Mothras floated in the air, the two indistinguishable from one another, eyeing Dartha's pain.

A conversation appeared to be happening between the two.

He didn't care to listen.

Only the armour spoke.

"Your blood and suffering have thoroughly quenched our thirst,"

Darthra stared down the steps of the temple.

At the very first, a crowd amassed there, watching in horror. They did nothing but stare. What could they do?

"Have your aid, for we are harsh, but never evil."

'Aid?'

Slowly, Darthra felt it again.

That knawing. It once struck when he left the cave. Like an anvil. An anvil of a million degrees.

His antennae flickered.

All saw what was once a yellow static, became a green hue, as Darthra curled his body, the heaviness in his thorax intensifying.

'Is this...'

A moment later, the armour shifted.

In a split second, the now once-silver Darthra became a bloodied monster. Like a needle, the armour injected itself into his skin, sinking into his abdomen, thorax, head, and even his feet and wings.

No more thoughts came out of him.

Only an agonising shriek.

The Mecha-Mothras flew back, trying to get a meaning of all this. Down below, people tensed from the screech. They stood.

All the pain in his body, including the blood splattered everywhere, forced his head down.

The static green of the antennae lit up his wings too, the colours wavering like a crowd in a stadium.

Darthra's mandibles were open.

Wide.

Like incoming vomit, the heavy feeling rolled up his thorax and brimmed at the mouth.

His eyes glowed green, and it all came out.

In a beam.

A horrendous, green beam. It tore through the steps below, heat bursting around it.

Darthra hurled.

He didn't know how the beam sprang from his mouth, but from the damage, his life came first.

In a movement of pain, Darthra pulled his head up, aiming for the Mecha-Mothras in his sight.

The beam traced a line, cutting through houses, leaving a small explosion behind. There were screams from the people.

When it took to the air, it made work of one of them, slicing the Mecha in half. It lit up in a bright explosion of circuits and fire.

Darthra wasn't quick enough to hit the other one, as it flew out of his reach.

As the green beam quelled, a fire began where he had blasted, scorching the wooden homes ruthlessly.

With the beam gone, Darthra took a sharp inhale, and his wings turned up a brightness, brimming with power.

He felt them ache immensely as a wave of green lighting bolted, setting areas around Darthra alight.

A few zapped the other Mecha-Mothra. That imploded, slamming into the ground.

Darthra looked ahead with shattered eyes.

Not only did the pains of the armour send him over the edge, but the heat that began to build around him pushed Darthra to his limits.

At the first step, the group of people stood, their homes set alight.

Nothing could compare to their faces of despair.

And hatred.

A moment later, Darthra's mandibles opened again. His body curled.

The green beam appeared a second later.

What was not in a crisp, Darthra made into one.

Mostly because he couldn't help it.

The beam fired forcefully, and he could only suffer.

Lines traced the defenseless buildings, each adding to the flow of flames. Blood stained the temple, rolling down the sides.

Darthra's beam ran out of fuel.

Like a sailor lost at sea, the temple as his boat, Darthra watched the river of flames around him, flickering and cackling loudly without a purpose.

For a moment in time, Darthra could breathe.

He could think.

The agony ceased.

'I did it,' He looked at the bolstering fire, 'I...beat them,'

However, for that split-second, Darthra's body gave way.

'Yet...' His conscience faded, 'I didn't,'

As Darthra slept, his blood-soaked armour shined.

Slowly retracting from his skin.

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A/N: Notify me of any errors.