City of the Falling Sky (23 page)

As soon as things went quiet, Loca shouted,
“Let’s go, let’s mov–”

But Loca’s words died in mid sentence as a
deep, sub atomic rumble made the metal beneath their feet
vibrate.

“
What in Gedin’s name was
that?” said Tenk.

But there was no need for anyone to answer.
The wall opposite them started buckling, and there was a deafening
screech of breaking metal. Then the entire wall collapsed as a
giant mechanical suit of some sort stomped over the rubble and
began to head towards them.

“
It’s that Benjabob
Truskin!” Loca said. “That’s the beast the commentators were on
about.”

“
Well I’m not gonna stand
here and be trampled on,” said Lessana angrily, and she stepped out
of their cover, straight into the giant’s path.

“
Lessana! No!” Loca yelled,
and Tenk tried to grab her.

But Lessana had no intention of listening to
any of them. Her avatar, Ogg, stood defiantly and began unloading
bullets into the chest of the huge thing. There was a panging of
metal and some discharged electricity as cables within its body
were pierced and frayed, but it continued to move forward with
monolithic steps.

“
Take that, you Northern
Nightmare noob!” Lessana bellowed, but the mecha leant forward its
unforgiving face and sent a beam of razor sharp light right through
Lessana’s body, slicing her in half and sending her out of the
game.

Loca slammed her fist onto the grating.

“
Aaargh! That girl is
unbelievable! She won’t listen to a word anyone says.”

“
We’re better off without
her!” shouted Tippian. “I’ve got a much better way of bringing him
down.”

Tippian had opened a pack of gadgets and
circuitry on the floor and was quickly stuffing a few different
components together with his big metal hands.

“
What are you doing?” Loca
yelled. “We haven’t got time for this!”

“
Loca, just trust me,
alright! Just keep him away from me for two more
minutes.”

“
Tipps, we ain’t got two
more minutes!” said Tenk, cowering behind some rubble.

“
You better have something
going in less than ten seconds Tippian, or we’re all
gonners!”

“
I’m trying!” Tippian
screamed.

The Northern Nightmare controlled mecha bore
down upon Loca, raised one of its enormous fists and four holes
appeared, one on each of its knuckles.

“
Run!” screamed Tenk, but
Tippian shouted, “Wait!” and thrust Apocalyptia’s mechanical arm
out in front of him, holding a plastic box that had a lever on it,
and was hanging with wires and a couple of batteries.

The giant mecha’s arm began shaking, as if an
invisible force was trying to wrench it away.

Tippian pressed a few buttons and tilted the
lever.

The mecha’s arm swung away from them, out to
one side. The rest of its body was now trembling, unstable and
ready to collapse.

“
You’re controlling that
thing?” Loca said in disbelief.

Tippian shrugged Apocalyptia’s shoulders.
“I’m a genius,” he said simply.

Benjabob Truskin’s avatar, that had been
controlling the mecha from the seat inside its head, was now trying
to scramble out. Tippian pressed a couple more buttons and the ear
slammed shut on it, locking the player in.

Seckry and Loca watched as the mecha’s arm
curled back in and pointed its fist at its own head.

“
Who’s smiling now?” Tippian
said, and pressed a button.

Flames burst out of the machine’s knuckles,
engulfing its own head and the player inside with furious, red hot
fire. They all felt the heat as the room flashed with orange light.
As the screams of the player echoed around them, Seckry had a
horrible feeling that the heat inside the player’s pod had been
just as well programmed as the oxygen. A
bing
signalled the
defeat of another combatant, and the empty avatar hung limp inside
the scorched cockpit.

“
Well done,
Tipp–”

Crack!

Apocalyptia fell face first onto the floor,
green liquid oozing out of his broken body, and Loca screamed.

Seckry spun around and saw a humanoid,
standing with a pistol, shaking like a leaf and frozen to the
spot.

Seckry was about to ready his weapon when he
spotted Tippian’s remote control at his feet and realised that
nobody was controlling the giant robot any more.

“
Look out!” he shouted, and
he, Loca, and Tenk dived in opposite directions as the gigantic
beast fell forwards like a monstrous, metal ragdoll, obliterating
their hiding place and crushing Tippian’s assassin into
oblivion.

“
Both alright?” Loca called,
as the echoes died and the room filled with thick dust and
ash.

“
I’m fine!” Seckry called
back, his leg trapped underneath the elbow of the limp
robot.

“
Tenk?” Loca called, but
there was no answer.

Seckry craned his neck to see if he could
spot Tenk but there was no need.

“
And that’s Tenk Binko out
of the competition!” shouted Mick Mannerim. “Could this be the
beginning of the end for the Eastern Eidolons?”

“
Not yet!” Loca called out
viciously. “Come on, Seck, it’s just us two left, we have to get to
the trophy, it must be in that direction.”

“
Wait, I’m trapped!” Seckry
said, trying to heave himself out.

“
Okay, I’m coming to help,”
said Loca, and Seckry heard her scrambling over the
robot.

“
Here, take my hand,” she
said, appearing above him.

Seckry grabbed the anima’s wrist and she
hauled him halfway out before darting her head to one side and
nearly dropping him.

“
What is it?” Seckry said,
scrambling and just catching a hold on one of the giant
fingers.

“
Seckry!” Loca said quickly
and furiously. “Get to the trophy! It’s just you!”

Before Seckry could say, “What?” Loca was hit
by a huge, invisible force wave that flung her into the wall and
smashed her avatar to pieces.

Bing.

“
Loca!” Seckry
shouted.

Seckry wrenched himself up onto the machine,
whipped out his bow, and with rage, fired an arrow straight into
the chest of Loca’s attacker, a big anima with reptile-like
features, holding some kind of force canon.

Bing.

Was it really just Seckry left? Was he the
Eastern Eidolon’s last chance at winning the game?

How many other players were still alive? He
ducked behind the robot for a moment, trying to listen to the
commentators. He couldn’t just run across the arena, it was a sure
death wish.

“
Loca Thumbsuckle, Jowe,”
said Mick Mannerim. “Always a great player, one of the best
Skyfall’s had in a long time, some may say.”

“
Yeah, Mick, a fantastic
team player and a great leader.”

“
With just Seckraman and
Mobbins left, will it be the east or the north that win the
Friction tournament this year?”

“
It’s a close one, that’s
for sure, Mick.”

Just him and Mobbins left?

Seckry took a deep breath. Mobbins might be
physically stronger, but Seckry wanted it more. He wanted to do it
for his teammates.

Seckry darted from his hiding place, weaving
in and out of view, and sped into the next room.

It was empty except for a few lifeless
avatars who had been killed earlier in the game. The only problem
was, this room led to two other rooms, and it seemed like those led
to even more. Which way should he go?

There was only one thing Seckry could do, and
that was make a blind choice. He picked left first and began
exploring, but after ten minutes of mindless wandering, he reached
a dead end and had to turn back. When he followed the rooms to the
right he sensed he was getting somewhere, and crawled through
pipes, tunnels and walked across narrow indoor bridges until he
reached a gigantic open chamber with something glowing brightly in
the centre.

As he neared he could see it clearly now.
There was no doubt about it, it was the Meltdown trophy, floating
and spinning just above its pedestal. Seckry couldn’t waste any
more time. He took one last look around him and made a run for
it.

And he hit the floor with a
bang
, his
face pressed to the metal grating.

“
I don’t think so, little
boy,” said a deep voice above him.
Mobbins.

Where had he come from?

“
You think you can beat me?”
Mobbins said. “At your very first time in a Meltdown?” he let out a
bellowing laugh and pressed harder on Seckry’s head. Seckry could
feel the grating almost cutting into Anikam’s skin. He tried to
wriggle free but it was no use.

“
Game over,” Mobbins said,
and raised his foot into the air, ready to stamp on Seckry’s skull
with his humanoid boot.

Seckry could hear the crowd roaring, and the
commentators were going wild with the tension of these last
moments.

Then –

There was a deep, deafening wave of sound and
Mobbins was lifted into the air.

“
I don’t believe it!” Jowe
Kingsfoller was screaming. “Kimmy Kod has returned from
nowhere!”

Kimmy?

Seckry wrenched himself from the floor to see
Kimmy standing at the opposite end of the room, holding some kind
of huge canon.

“
All this time we thought he
was out cold,” yelled Jowe Kingsfoller. “And he was actually
battling for the infamous gravity gun! Can you believe
it?”

Mobbins was floating in mid air, flailing
about and roaring in outrage. He tried to fire his weapon at Kimmy
but the shot hit the roof of the building.

“
No you don’t,” Kimmy said
determinedly, and cranked back a lever on the gun.

Mobbins suddenly started spinning rapidly and
screaming, his gun flying out of his hands and hitting the floor
with a clang.

“
If you had a bit more
respect for your opponents, you might get a little bit back,” Kimmy
said, and then swung the gun to the left, dragging Mobbins’ avatar
through the air and pummelling him into the wall. Kimmy turned the
power off and ran over to Seckry whilst Mobbins fell to a crumpled
heap on the floor.

“
You okay,
Seckry?”

“
Thanks Kimmy! We thought
you’d been killed!” Seckry said, shocked.

“
I almost was,” Kimmy said,
helping him up. “Look at me!”

Now that Kimmy was close Seckry could see how
battered and bruised his humanoid avatar, Slider, was.

“
Mobbins is just stunned,”
Kimmy said. “You’d better finish him off with your bow.”

“
My pleasure,” said
Seckry.

Mobbins was growling and trying to get to his
feet, but Kimmy pointed the gravity gun in his direction and poised
his hand on the lever, ready to zap him back against the wall if he
tried to reach for his gun.

“
The Northern Nightmare
never loses,” Mobbins choked.

“
Looks like that’s about to
change,” said Seckry, and fired an arrow straight into the avatar’s
skull.

“
Kim, do you realise we’ve
just won?” he said.

A grin of pure glee emerged on Kimmy’s
face.

“
Touch the trophy, Kimmy,”
Seckry said. “You deserve it.”

“
I wouldn’t have got this
far if you guys hadn’t have fought the rest of them. We won this as
a team. Let’s grab it together.”

They both counted down from three before each
gripping a handle.

There was a blinding light and the roar of
the crowd became deafening as their pods clicked open and revealed
every player with a synchronised pneumatic hiss.

“
The winners of the twenty
seventh annual Friction Mega Meltdown, the Eastern Eidolons!”
shouted Mick Mannerim.

Seckry stumbled out feeling exhausted but
ecstatic.

As his eyes adjusted to the light of the
stadium he saw Loca run past him like an unleashed animal and fling
her arms around Kimmy, almost toppling him to the ground.

“
Seckry!” came a soft voice,
and he felt a cool hand take hold of his own.

“
Eiya!” Seckry said, turning
around and smiling.

“
You were great!” She hugged
him and Seckry felt her cheek briefly brush against his.

Once everyone had hugged him and
congratulated him, Seckry joined everyone else in sitting down
while the Friction pods were whisked away and the commentators got
up onto a stage that had been put in their place.

After getting everyone to cheer again and
talking a bit about the game, Mick Mannerim said, “And now, a word
from the legend that is . . . Kolda Kod, ladies and gentlemen!”

The crowd erupted, and Kolda wheeled himself
across the stage.

“
Thank you,
Mick.”

Kolda cleared his throat and there was a
moment of sharp sounding feedback from the microphone as he lowered
it to himself.

“
I remember the very first
time that I entered a Friction pod,” he began. “It was a grotty old
thing that had a hole in one side and a cracked screen. There was
none of this ‘atmospheric simulation’ stuff back then . . . but
maybe that was a good thing, eh?” He clutched his throat and the
crowd, along with lots of the Friction players, gave a knowing
laugh. “That was a shock tonight, wasn’t it?” he added as an aside,
raising his eyebrows.