…      “Alright. I bought these earlier, so I’d say it’s time we use them.”

Vanguard pulled the three rebel uniforms out from under his bed. Handing one to D and one to Paean, he told them to get dressed quickly. Paean left to change alone, leaving the two men in their room. In three minutes or so, they were already, completely armoured in the rebel uniform. It consisted of a blue long sleeved jacket pulled together by a zipper, shoulder pads, elbow pads, black fingerless gloves, and a Kevlar chest plate. She was also wearing a black leather belt which held up a blue dust cape and three pouches, combined with shin and knee armour, and skin tight blue leggings. Vanguard and D wore identical uniforms to her, except the leggings were replaced with a pair of baggy blue pants.

          “Are you two ready??” She asked sighing.

          “Just about.” Van said as D nodded, kneeling to the ground. “One last thing.”

He pulled out his pen, quickly drawing out a revolver, a shuriken, and a short sword.

          “What the heck are you gonna do with one shuriken?” D asked judgingly.

          “Watch this.” Vanguard said as he let his hand hover over the ninja star. Whispering something, an orange flash shone in his palm. Instantly, twenty shuriken copied them out from the original. “The pen has the ability to regulate how many of each weapon I can make.”

He stored the weapons in his armour and pouches, signaling for the team to prepare.

          “Let’s go.”

… Vanguard, Paean, D, and Roy waited patiently with the fake commander on top of Guillotine Hill. At five minutes to five o’clock, they finally saw the admiral make his way towards them, followed by a large historically inaccurate tank. Sweat gathered on Van’s brow as waiting in the heat of the summer evening while wearing a facemask became exhausting. The machine rolled to a stop, the side hatch to the tank opened up, allowing seventeen soldiers, Streicher, and Penguin to pile out. As he reached the top of the hill, he stopped ten feet from the ‘commander.’

          “This is your commander? Hmm…did you bring the deed to the town?” Streicher demanded, “Here is the girl.”

          “Here it is,” The commander handed over the document. “The town is now yours.”

Taking the papers, the admiral threw Penguin to the ground. 

          “And here is your pathetic girl!”

He turned away from the group with the deed, then, stopped halfway down.

          “So that any resistance is less likely, here’s a parting gift.”

Streicher spun back around, whipping out a concealed pistol. He fired it, sending a bullet straight through the ‘commander’s skull. He aimed his weapon downward at Penguin.

          “Now! The sole heir!”

BANG!

The gun went off. Blood splattered across the grassy hill. Penguin looked up to see Roy standing in between the gun and her, his arms stretched out in defense of the girl.

          “M-mr. Roy?”

          “I’m sorry Penguin,” He sniffled; tears and blood soaked his face.  “I’m sorry it has to be this way. My body moved faster than my brain. But, I don’t regret…” He coughed up blood. “I-I…I don’t regret my actions. Lead your people well, take care of them, do what you know your parents would want you to do. Don’t let their sacrifice be in vain, live on and show them what a strong woman you can be.”

He collapsed to the ground.

          “Roy!!” Penguin’s screamed echoed across the plains.

          “Be strong my girl. Make me and your parents proud.”

 He smiled at her one last time, then, drew his last breath. Penguin cradled his head in her arms, sobbing.

          “So…the fool sacrificed himself for you. What a waste. And now,” The admiral aimed at her again. “…you will die.”

A small object buzzed through the air, slicing through the pistol, causing it to erupt into a tiny ball of flames. Streicher turned his attention to the three soldiers on the hilltop. One, a male, had a large metal gauntlet on his right arm, the other, female, a scroll and paintbrush in hand. The middle warrior held a shuriken in his right hand.

          “Who are you?!” The admiral demanded fiercely.

The middle soldier ripped his mask off, revealing the face of the ‘mercenary.’

          “You…how dare you betray me!?”

          “Your pay sucks. And I believe in the Rebellion’s cause more than I do yours.”

          “Short and to the point as always boy, but, I’m about to obliterate this town and everyone in it. So kindly, move.”

Vanguard stood his ground.

          “I think not.”

          “I order you to move!!”

          “You murdered Penguin’s parents and her caretaker! For that, you will pay!”

          “You? And your measly friends? Against my platoon, my Alpha Tank, and me? That’s pure insanity!”

          “No, I’m not insane, much. But, I’ll beat you into the ground no matter what!” He turned to his team. “Paean, take care of Penguin, D, follow me!”

D leapt into the air, slamming his fist into the ground as he made contact with it not four feet from the platoon. The impact of the attack sent them all flying backwards, knocking every one of them off their feet. At this moment of weakness, Vanguard jumped in, slaying the soldiers with his revolver. Turning upon the boy, Streicher threw a punch at him, only to have it blocked by D, who counterattacked with a similar punch, which knocked the admiral backwards into a tree.

          “D! Switch out!”

Van leapt backwards towards Streicher while D made a move towards the soldiers. Pulling two shuriken out of his holster, Van slid them on to his middle fingers, clutching them as if they were brass knuckles. He lunged at the admiral, who brought his hands up into a block, catching the blades in his palms. Oddly enough, the blades glanced off his hands with a clang of metal. D continued to pound away at the troops, crushing them beneath the weight of his armoured fist. Smashing the last soldier down into hexagonal plates, he turned his attention to Vanguard and Streicher, who were staring each other down.

          “Gah…” The admiral swore as he removed his gloves, “I’ve never had to fall back on this before!!”

Rolling up his sleeves, the man revealed very unearthly arms. They were made of inorganic materials, consisting of metals and plastics of various sorts, forming bionic arms instead of biological ones. He pressed both palms into the dirt, soaking up an odd visible energy from the ground. As he did, his arms reshaped themselves, his fingers forming into five long barrels held together by a brace. In a matter of seconds, he was wielding two large miniguns in place of his hands. A large HP bar formed over his head.

          “Blast! Siege of the West Gate!”

          Here we go…Vanguard thought to himself; another boss fight to deal with…

He leapt at the foe, unsheathing and swinging his short sword as he did. Streicher blocked the attack with his ‘arm,’ knocking the sword away. With the other gun, he blasted Van in the stomach, the force of the attack throwing him through the air and knocking out a load of hit points.

          “Gotcha!” Paean yelled as she caught him midair. “D, take over for a sec!”

          “No problem!” He jumped back into the fray, striking Streicher in the face.

          “Dang…” Vanguard said. “He’s so strong. I can’t even do any damage to him.”

D dodged and weaved through the flurry of bullets and he attempt counterattack after counterattack. He landed a couple hits on Streicher’s chest, barely nicking the health bar.

          “How do we stop him??”

          “I can’t say I know. Gira and Frost programmed the bosses. They were very secretive about those characters.” She told Van as she healed his wounds. “They wouldn’t even let me in on them.”

They watched as the pair battled across the hill, using their less-than-human arms as clubs and hammers, blocking, attacking and evading with powerful fury.

          “Hm…” Paean said thoughtfully as she finished healing Vanguard, “It seems Streicher is equally good at close combat and ranged combat. I really can’t see a weakness.”

          “Frick! I’m over!!”

D crashed to the ground, his body slowly collapsing into hexagons.

          “D!!” Paean screamed.

She and Vanguard rushed over to their downed friend.

          “Sorry guys, I’m done for. Anything you want me to do while I’m back on earth?”

          “Move us.” Van said. “Move our bodies and the console back to our apartment. We can’t have us all sitting in that warehouse forever.”

          “Got it. I’ll see you guys soon…” His body fell apart. “Aim for…the…tubes…”

D whispered as he fell into a pile of plates.

          “Bwahahaha!! I’ve killed one of you! Your defeat is imminent!”

Vanguard drew his blade again.

          Tubes? What tubes?? He studied the boss, searching for ‘tubes.’ Then, it hit him, Tubes! I see it!!

Van threw himself at his foe, blade swinging as he did. He and the boss caught themselves in an exchange of fierce blows. In a quick second of weakness in the boss, Vanguard kicked his foot into Streicher’s stomach, sending him flying to the ground. A screen popped up in front of him.

ENTER CLIMAX?