A Different Place

Chapter 52 - Unexpected Ally

Glyde leaned to his right as another small fire spewed out of the flagging Enarban Fell's controls. "Get that, will you?" he said to a Birdbot. The Birdbot, toting a fire extinguisher, dashed over to Glyde's chair and blasted the blaze with the white foam. Glyde flapped his hand in front of his face to dissipate the smoke. Coughing, he ordered the Birdbots to continue the assault. "Hold together, honey," he told the massive combat robot.

The Feldynaught had leapt out of Glyde's vision for a moment, but it quickly landed back on the deck of the Bumblebee Stinger, firing a burst of bullets. There was no way Glyde could make the Enarban Fell dodge those---it was simply too large and lumbering to get out of the way in time---but it really wasn't something to worry about. The massive titanium plating would protect his vehicle from most of the damage, regardless.

The captain's chair was chafing his buttocks, so Glyde shifted around, changing position so that he was now sitting on his knees. "Isn't that chest cannon fixed, yet?"

"Er, no sir, keh-keh-keh-keh!" said the engineer Birdbot from his station. "We have to connect two more power relays before it's operational."

"Well, hurry it up!"

"Keh-keh, sir," the Birdbot replied affirmatively. "The problem is that whichever relay our engineers happen to be working on usually disconnects when we are hit, sir!"

"Let's try not to get hit, then," Glyde said, annoyed. "Do I have to think of everything myself around here?"

"Yes, sir...I mean, no, sir...erreerrrh!"

Glyde ignored the Birdbot's fragile, uncertain stammering and returned his attention to the fight. He thrust his right control stick forward, which caused the mighty Enarban Fell to throw a forceful punch with its right arm. The blow did not strike Tron Bonne's fleet vehicle, however; it merely danced out of range and threw another of those nasty Bonne Bombs at him. The Enarban Fell was knocked ever so slightly backward by the shock.

"I'll bet that jarred the relay loose again, didn't it?" Glyde asked absently, trying to knock the Feldynaught away with his front cannons.

"Er, yes, sir!" said the engineer Birdbot. "We did get one of the two fixed, however!"

Glyde shrugged. "Great." He wasn't even thinking about that anymore; he was too busy raining blows down on the other, smaller robot, a few of which were actually connecting. This seemed to be working better than his earlier defensive strategy had been. If he could keep Tron busy trying to avoid his attacks, she wouldn't have time to launch any of her own.

Still, he could see that little Tron was having no problem evading the majority of his punches. His current plan was going to be no more than a delaying tactic. Then again, time was all he and his team of Birdbots really needed at the moment.

Glyde kept up his punishing assault on the Feldynaught, hoping to give the repair crew enough time to finish up with the chest cannon. The Birdbots in front of him continued the small maintenance checks necessary to ensure the mech's continued operation. Finally, the call came.

"Sir!" said the engineer Birdbot. "The chest cannon is operational! Keh-keh!"

"Yeeee-haww!" Glyde whooped so uncharacteristically that all seven of the Birdbots in the Enarban Fell's cockpit stared at him. "What are you looking at!?! Fire the cannon!"

The Birdbots hastily and wordlessly got back to work. "Chest cannon is warming up, sir!" reported one of them.

"Excellent! Make sure you have a good shot before we fire."

Glyde and the Birdbots watched the smaller combat robot dance around the deck. Just as the Feldynaught brought itself in close, no doubt ready to fire another barrage of bombs at the larger, stronger, but still-accident-prone Enarban Fell, Glyde shouted, "Now! Fire now!"

It took three Birdbots wo push the huge button. The cannon glowed, then reported deafeningly as a blue beam shot out of the exact center of the Enarban Fell's chest. The wide, azure beam lanced through the Feldynaught's frame, ripping three of its legs off completely. The mech toppled over onto its side, popping out one last bomb at Glyde's own.

Glyde cackled with glee. "Victory is ours!"

A Birdbot spoke up. "Sir, the chest cannon is broken again!"

"This piece of junk!" Glyde wailed, slamming both fists down on his control panel. After the Enarban Fell made a threatening clunky noise, however, Glyde put his cheek close to the console, murmuring, "Just kidding baby, I love you, you know I do. Don't break anything else, okay?" He kissed the control panel gently.

Tron tried her best not to cry out as her Feldynaught was cut down. As it tilted over, landing at an angle on the small skyship's deck, she pounded her fist down on the launch button, but only managed to get one more explosive fired before the circuits went dead. The entire control panel blanked as the mech's refractor stopped spinning.

Howling, Tron unbuckled herself from the pilot's seat and tried to unseal the cockpit door. The portal was stuck. Tron cast her eyes around the small enclosure, searching for something that would help her escape. As the wrecked machine was rocked by another blow from Glyde's robot, Tron ripped off one of the arms from her pilot's chair. Inserting it under the lip of the door, she levered all of her weight against it. The door creaked in protest, but finally opened.

She had escaped just in time. Glyde's assault vehicle brought a massive metal fist down onto the remains of her own, smashing the cockpit flat. "Hey!" she protested mildly as she looked back at the wreckage. What was she going to do now?

Tron hadn't even remembered to bring her Arm Cannon with her! Overconfident, as she'd always been, she had simply assumed she wouldn't need any other weapons with her, hadn't she? Backing off, she looked up at Glyde's immense Enarban Fell---and it was very immense---and tried to get out of its weapons range.

Tron had been in several situations as perilous as this one before. There was nothing to worry about, she realized as she tumbled sideways, just shy of getting squeezed into Tron-flavored jam by the Enarban Fell once again. Tron hopped onto the giant fist, hoping to avoid any further attacks.

Where was MegaMan, anyway? It was just like him to run off when Tron needed him the most. Here she was, fighting this enormous robot, and he was nowhere in sight! He was lucky she kept him around at all.

Tron's legs dangled in the open air as Glyde tried to throw her off the robot's wrist. "Whoa!" Her hands were clamped firmly onto the Enarban Fell's thumb, but Tron felt herself starting to get a bit dizzy as the hand flailed mercilessly. Finally, Tron could hold on no longer, and she prayed she would not go sailing over the deck railing as her hands slipped free.

Tron's vision flashed white as she collided hard with the deck floor. Oh, well, she thought dizzily, at least she hadn't kept on falling down into the ocean. Hm, the ocean? Hadn't the ship been over Kattleox City before her battle had started? Yet now they were over the sea. That was so interesting.

A black shadow cast itself over Tron, but she wasn't too worried about that right now, because her head REALLY hurt. Some other part of her brain was screaming at her to move, because Glyde was about to smash her, but she didn't seem to be able to do more than vaguely wave her hand at the approaching monstrosity. "Go 'way," she muttered.

A proud voice came from somewhere north of her head. "Don't worry, Tron! Have no fear! I'll save you!" Another shadow cast itself, overlapping the first, and Tron heard the loud screech of two pistons straining against each other. Lolling her head to the right, she saw a large arm holding another one back, each straining against the other.

Tron saw a pair of booted feet land next to her. Turning her head upwards, she saw an attractive tan face and ice-blue eyes looking down at her with concern. "Gary?" she said.

Prince Gary smiled down at her. He leaned down and, placing a supportive hand behind Tron's box, helped her back to her feet. "Are you all right, Tron?" he asked.

Tron shook off her disorientation. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

If Gary noticed the venom dripping from Tron's words, he did not show it. "I came searching for you, my love," he said passionately. "I knew I couldn't just leave you in the hands of that churlish MegaMan. He was certain to take advantage of you before long. And obviously your unpolished brothers cared little for your upbringing or manners---"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Tron said vehemently. "Who's fighting Glyde now, anyway?"

Gary's blue eyes brightened. "It's Auntie Alaine. She said she'd pilot Guelly for me while I made sure you were alright."

"That's great," Tron said absently, staring at the large Reaverbot from Garrdan Ruins that Gary had repaired. The Lady Alain was, indeed, atop the large mechanical behemoth, working the controls. She leaned forward, and Guelly's fist pounded into the Enarban Fell's side. Smoke began pouring out of the resulting dent.

"Yes, my beloved," said Gary. "I'll come back and greet you properly once the foe is vanquished." He blew a kiss to Tron and climbed up Guelly's side, relieving his aunt at the control panel.

Tron watched as the two large robots joined combat. She wasn't precisely sure which one she wanted to win. Maybe if a strong wind blew both of them over the side...