Petty Squabble [ROUND 3] [Goldhenge]

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

---

Ashley had fled the RV on pure impulse. Parsley had nearly killed her, and he'd been knocked down as the vehicle suddenly swerved. It was a chance to get out of there, and she had taken it.

She was upset with herself for leaving the Broderburgs alone with the crazed demon hunter. And Ashley's thoughts on the matter didn't help.

This is the most sensible decision I've seen you make all day. I'm actually surprised you got out of there without losing anything more than a knife. Congratulations. So, now how are you going to mess everything up?

I'm not in the mood for an argument, darll. That family needs my help.

And do you have any idea how you're going to help them?

You worry too much, darll.

Ashley chased after the RV, despite Ashley's reminders that it could move quite a bit faster than her. If it were possible, she would have stuck her tongue out at her counterpart when they came to the stopped RV only ten minutes later.

See? Caught up just fine... what's that?

Ashley turned her attention to the mech some distance ahead. More specifically, the two figures climbing it, and the small drones assaulting one of them.

Better help out, she thought, ignoring Ashley's rebuttal. She grabbed a pistol from a nearby fallen soldier, and started firing at the drones.

It seemed to work reasonably well, knocking several of the drones to the ground, but then they suddenly started flying towards the higher climber. She tried to adjust her aim, but they soon turned out to be out of range.

Then she heard a noise nearby. She turned, and saw a soldier wearing a strange visor running towards her.

***

Tom's climb had been uneventful until it suddenly wasn't.

As he approached the spot he'd indicated before, the drones stopped ignoring him. They flew up to Tom's position, leaving Parsley to his own devices.

At least there seemed to be less of them. Although Tom wondered why they had only taken an interest now. Before, his best guess had been that they hadn't seen him as a threat. But if that was it, why had they suddenly decided he was a bigger problem than Parsley?

The first answer to come to mind was so stupid that he couldn't help but believe it. Through nothing more than dumb luck, he was heading for the robot's actual weak spot, and the drones had to stop him from harming it. A quick glance upward revealed a small vent; he guessed that was it.

It was an epiphany that might have been more useful if he had anything he could actually hit the weak point with.

***

Several imps had fallen. The rest had fled upwards, no doubt to stop Stein from disabling the robot.

But that simply meant Parsley was free to attempt his own sabotage. He fired a few bread bolts up at the imps, hoping that would distract them long enough for Stein to finish, then put his crossbow away and held on with both hands.

In less than a minute, a critical section of wiring and the sturdy armor protecting it had both been changed into bread.

***

Tom was desperate, surrounded by drones he had no hope of fighting off, and pumped with adrenaline.

When they were suddenly distracted by the bolts of bread flying up, he found his body acting before his mind could tell him that what he was about to do was incredibly stupid.

He scrambled up towards the vent, and punched it.

It hurt like heck. The vent was made of hard metal and he hadn't even put a dent in it.

It only about ten seconds before the drones caught up to him.

About two seconds after that, the robot fell over.