Levy's eyes went wide. "Wha, Braxill?! Wait, where are you going?"
Braxill glanced back with that half-grin. "I gotta go find some action."
Levy stammered. "Find some action? What does that even mean?!"
But Braxill was already gone, swallowed by the portal.
Royal District.
Braxill emerged casually on cobbled streets lined with polished towers, his hands stuffed into his pockets, pants slightly sagging low. His eyes roamed the deserted dystopain middle ground between the royal district and the zoners. He whistled. "Fancy, huh..."
He kept walking. Where was he going? Even he didn't know. Something in his spirit tugged him forward. His pace matched the rhythm in his head. A sound. A beat.
Hip-hop.
It pulsed in his chest. It wasn't music anyone else could hear, just the ancestral drum of the oppressed, the rhythm of rebellion. His steps hit the ground in tempo.
On the battlefield nearby, Levin and Pita stood shaken, still staring at the storm of Abi that had once been Jett Achilles. His energy scattered into the wind like broken stars.
Then came the sound. Steel.
BOOM.
The mech warrior, Frodeon, loomed. Its chest hatch opened, and Venku stepped forward in his sleek pilot armor. He smirked, hand extended.
"It appears Sephiss was right. You Artimancers weren't equipped for the job."
Levin's lips curled. He refused the handshake. But Pita tugged at his arm, urging humility. With a sigh, Levin's pride cracked, he accepted.
Venku's grin widened. "That wound on your comrade is bad. We'll need to get you to a medic immediately."
Behind him, a dozen Delta Robots marched forward in unison, rifles raised. Venku gestured at the bodies of the fallen Knights and Artimancers.
"Burn them."
Levin stiffened. "Master Venku, please, allow me to take Asteroy's body. So he can have a proper burial."
Venku tilted his head, pretending to consider. Then his smile sharpened. "No."
"But sir—"
"There is nothing sacred about Zoner flesh. To allow such a thing would be to admit their lives mattered. They don't. That's hierarchy."
Pita bit his lip, tears welling. Levin lowered his head, fury burning behind his eyes.
Venku returned to his Mech.
Then Venku's comms chimed.
"Message from Miley."
Her sweet voice filled his cockpit: "Hey baby, just wanted to say I'm proud of you. You finally got the dream you always wanted. Hope we can have dinner later. Love you."
Venku actually smiled. "Love you too, Miley."
But his expression snapped cold when his monitors lit up.
A small figure approached through the smoke.
The Delta Robots turned their rifles in unison.
Venku's voice boomed from Frodeon. "You, stop there and announce yourself."
The figure tilted his head up, face dead serious. It was Braxill.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Venku repeated, "Announce yourself." He raised Frodeon's massive cannon arm.
Braxill "I ain't about to give you my government, you sound like an op, my rap name is YN Brax cause im a young ninja"
Frodeon's cannon begins to generate it's next blast.
Braxill's lip curled. His voice spat like fire.
"On my mama, you buggin', pointin' that blicky at me. You fa sho want some smoke."
Venku blinked, baffled. "What... did he just say, frodeon translate?"
Frodeon "Master Venku, this child is speaking English, yet in an ancient dialect of the old world, known as Ebonics, or more precisely, a form of Afro American slang."
Levin and Pita exchanged confused stares.
Venku shouted, "I don't know what that means" He grits his teeth. "Speak English! Who are you? Why are you here?"
Braxill stepped closer, hands still in his pockets. "I am speakin' English. You too stupid to understand fool. I'm out here 'cause I'm lookin' for some action. That gunplay. The ninja in me is ready to light a bitch up. You feel me?"
Venku snarled, "Deltas, arrest him."
Braxill laughed. "Police always tryna bring a ninja down. Fine then. Let's crash out."
Abi burst across his body, wind exploding outward. The shockwave sent Delta robots skidding, even Frodeon sliding back a step.
"YEEEEAAAH!" Braxill's voice cracked like thunder. "On Jay-Z, baby, all that good boy shit is OVER."
In his hands appeared a massive laser gun, sculpted from pure imagination. His grin was manic, eyes wild.
"After I'm done, me, Gravixor, and the whole Bear Squad gonna roll you up like a Black & Mild, lame-ass ninja!"
FWOOOSH!
The laser gun fired. Frodeon punched it mid-air, triggering a blazing explosion. The mech's right arm was blown clean off. Sparks showered.
"WHAT?!" Venku snarled.
But Braxill was already moving. A Glock-9 materialized in his hand, Abi bullets spraying.
"GANG! GANG! GANG!"
The Deltas fell in heaps, their metal bodies riddled with holes, sparks bursting with every impact.
Frodeon launched twin spears, cables screaming through the air, but Braxill danced between them, speed unreal.
"Frodeon, machine gun mode!" Venku roared.
Panels opened across the mech's chest. A rain of bullets unleashed, tearing through ground, rubble, even slicing through Delta robots caught in the crossfire.
Levin threw up a shield, crouching over Pita. "Stay behind me!"
Pita trembled. "What the hell is going on?"
Levin's eyes narrowed. "Who is this child and how the hell is he this strong?"
Smoke swallowed the field. The roar of gunfire silenced.
Then a laugh. Hysterical. Maniacal.
From the haze, Braxill emerged, his figure now cloaked in a ninja's outline. His braids swayed, eyes glowing.
"You dumped a thousand bullets... and not a single one touched me., what goofy told you, you was fit to operate that machine?" His grin widened.
Venku's throat tightened. "What the hell is he...?"
Braxill pointed at Frodeon, his tone dropping cold.
"You think you safe 'cause you sittin' in that piece of trash? Nah. my imagination ain't nothing to play with. Let me introduce you to my big homie, he gonna slide for me on gang. Imagine this"
He spread his arms.
"Skin Daddy."
The air behind him tore open. A towering figure emerged, slender, unfinished, skin damp and veiny, stretched tight over a crooked body. Its head was lopsided, no eyes, no ears, only a gaping grin of jagged teeth, drool dripping onto its chest. Long arms dangled, claws twitching, its whole body swaying like it barely belonged to this world.
Even the Deltas froze, scanners stuttering.
Braxill's eyes burned with madness.
"Yeahhh... I like this new me. I ain't afraid of nothin'. Not Mr. Roach, not my mama, nobody. Word to Eminem, Tupac, and Big, it's thug life 'til I die."