Mason watched in transfixed horror as the domed weapon parted instantly, the glass like structure completely running liquid as a muzzle of a gigantic weapon quickly ascended, before firing a gigantic burst of reddish purple energy.
The force of the beam shattered the ground around them as thick and quick quakes quickly tumbled from the machine. Mason was barely able to keep his footing, yet his eyes stayed glued to the burst of energy.
He understood what had just happened. Their entire purpose for the mission was gone. That beam had already been fired, and there was not a way in the universe that they could stop.
The Earth was being destroyed.
They spent too much time there as more rumbles exited from the machine, now powering completely down. They all stood there, horrified and in denial for so long, they forgot about the detonation.
Mason saw it before he felt it. An intense tsunami of light shattering through the soil, sound nulled to nothing, time slowed to a fault. The explosion shocked the ground and vaporized the few remaining souls unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast.
He then felt the heat: Intense radiation and entropy occurred just seconds after, rupturing his eardrums and causing his ears to bleed like wicked spouts of blood. Mason felt nothing, just seeing that the time slowed enough so that he could see the seams of the universe being undone.
He could see the thin lines of boson energy, in plasma-solid form, riding out like a wave. Right before the stream hit him though, he felt the tug, the pull, of some force greater than physical forces like gravity or knowledge.
White and Gold beams of Heartstrings scattered around Mason, Marissa, Axel and Catalyst, wrapping around them faster than the speed of sound. Mason felt the air compress and change, just a few inches before it reached his head.
And just as suddenly, the golden strings of the universe yanked him back from the blast, along with his friends. The tug was with such force that the air cut deep into the ground, and if sound could travel, the sonic boom would have shattered everything around him.
It all happened in a few seconds, the intense heat flared hotter than solar stars, completely and utterly destroying everything in its wake. Mason was pulled to the ground, slamming hard enough into it that he left an imprint.
And not a second later, the heat rose even hotter. The universe's lines, supposed to be resilient to all forms of attack, started to compress tighter and tighter as new levels of heart began to exist, exciting the atoms and particles so much that even things that were not supposed to be on fire, were on fire.
Mason felt the life squeeze out of him as the strings tightened even more, and his vision blurred to nothing but dark crimson light and bleak darkness. His eyes glazed over as he finally succumbed to the heat, as the only thing keeping him barely alive was the fresh boson energy blasting through his veins.
_-_-_-_-_
B-64 had failed.
His life flashed before his eyes as he saw B-01 press that button. He felt the intense heat rise in the very bowels of the machine, radiation and reality bending to the most extreme point. B-01 was far too fast for him.
B-01 managed a chuckle, light green energy rising around him before exploding violently outward from his body. The blast blew B-64 back, slamming him against the wall of the main control room.
B-64 git up wearily, finding the room's atmosphere coated in a thin, mucus like green substance. And that's when it happened.
Time froze to nothing as the bombs in the fuse rooms detonated, the violent tsunami of light corrupting his optic sensors and blasted his body with radiation so extreme, not even his own Boson generator could prevent it from messing his body up.
B-01 stood calmly, holding a thin ball of green-tinted fire in his palm, "Time. What a useful tool to have." B-64 didn't know how the protogen even knew how to do this, or even how he acted so calm, as they would both die in a matter of seconds.
"It's a shame that you won't have much left." B-01 laughed, his shield generator, the newest model in the series, activated, shielding his entire body in an nigh-impenetrable shield of raw energy.
B-64 closed his eyes, feeling pain in his heart. He had failed.
Right before he felt the ground underneath him rupture, he felt two objects hit his stomach. His eyes opened for the briefest of moments, his claw already pushed down on top of a button. A neo-hard light generator.
Sitting upon his lap sat a small, almost fried device. Burt to something resembling charred wood, yet somewhat usable, sat Ion's Consciousness backup. B-64 looked up quickly to see Ion sitting there, his hand outstretched in the toss.
Ion smiled, clenching his paralyzed body and his almost paralyzed hand, letting the fire and flames, the explosions and the light, overtake him.
The next few seconds were utter hell. The explosion sent B-64 flying through the wall at speeds reaching their limits. He couldn't hear anything as sound became nonexistent in that region, and reality distorted so much that he couldn't make sense.
He felt his back crack with the force of a nuclear bomb as he slammed into the ground, the hard light generator's thin yet immensely powerful shield cracking somewhat as the intense radiation and explosions weakened it substantially.
After a full five seconds, which felt like forever to B-64, he noticed the strain on the shield lighten. B-64 flexed his claws, the force of the bong having forced him against the side of the shield when he blasted off.
Another five seconds passed, and the load on the shield dropped instantly, That's all it took, as B-64 could deactivate the shield and stand up. He was hesitant, of course, but he couldn't stand with the shield on.
He waited another three seconds to be safe before deactivating. The shield generated a slight buzzing sound as it closed, and the rocks and debris from his fall fell onto him. B-64 claws his way out, standing on his paws as he surveyed his surroundings.
The town that once surrounded The Machine was completely flattened, not a single building stood, rocked to their foundations. B-64 stood in awe of the destruction, before he fully became aware of what this all meant.
"Mason!" B-64 yelled out through the entire town, his voice screeching and afraid and sorrowful. He looked around frantically, his heart beating at an almost dangerous degree.
That pained outcry burst from his mind, igniting a desire, igniting his reserve to survive. Red-Boson energy once again poured into his body, red lightning crackling all around his body as his desire to Mason again, to see that he was ago, fueled his body and mind.
The earth and soil cracked and crumbled as he set off, his visor's diagnostics going crazy from the radiation and from feeling the presence of B-01. He ignored all that. He wanted to make sure that Mason was okay.
His ears twitched as he heard Render and Hexel cough and sputter through the mind-link. It was low, and the sheer force of the explosion made sure that they would have a difficult time communicating, but it was still there.
This confirmation that some were alive ignited his heart, increasing his boson intake. He sustained his body by angling it, wrapping his body in a thick, cartilage like morph with the Red-Boson Energy.
Thousands of large rocks and broken apart earth stuck in his path towards the others, but once he saw Hexel carrying a barely awake, but alive Mason, his desire grew even stronger. He redirected his energy to his claws.
He stretched them out to their fullest length, dragging them on the ground as the boson energy produced more and more organic material. He needed as much surface and sharp areas as he could.
With an enormous and powerful upward slash, the obstructing rocks and soil that was in this way were blown away, the very air whipping around him. B-64 growled harshly, digging his paws into the ground with each and every step.
Right before he reached Mason, B-64's visor noticed a noticeable energy source expanding. One that wasn't catalogued. B-64 looked back just in time to see a wave and surge of green energy sweep through the destroyed town, B-01 rising from a deep ditch in the earth with crackling energy around him.
"What the hell is that?" B-64 wondered, but he couldn't stop running. With a calm and graceful slide, B-64 arrived right before Mason and the others. He quickly glanced down at Mason, and when seeing that he was just waking up, he enveloped him in a hug.
Mason groaned into it, his entire body in shambles and his mind in tatters, but he could at least feel B-64's presence there. Mason mumbled into his chest, reciprocating his hug.
"I'm sorry..." B-64 said through the mind-link, though he doubted that Mason could hear him, and if he could, he definitely wouldn't understand him. With another deep hug, Mason slowly opened his eyes to see B-64 there.
B-64's entire visor screen turned red as he turned to his left, another warning flashing in his face. He couldn't ignore it now that he knew Mason was safe, he needed to do something about him.
There was nothing he could do at this moment. B-01 was far to powerful for any one person to beat him. He glanced back at the others, all but Mason and the other two protogen were knocked out.
B-64 looked down at his hand, still clutching the shield generator and Ion's backup conscience. He turned his head to Hexel and tossed him the backup. B-64 popped a claw into his arm, placing the neon generator inside to better utilize his shield.
With a deep sigh and a determined expression, B-64 turned his back to the group and stared down the field. B-01 was still there, standing on thin air with a green aura around him.
"B..." Mason whispered, reaching out.
________________________________________________________________________________
Heya!
Not the best chapter I've ever made, and kind of disappointing after the near forty thousand words of last, but I'm currently sweating my butt of right now, and I can't muster anything else at the moment. Next chapter will most likely be the end, and maybe I'll do a prologue, then the credits.
Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed.
~ Candle