The Great Belligerency [Round 4: Static]

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Cole stared at the rifle for a moment. He was not used to using weapons; he had various types of claws and acids at his disposal, after all, and he was used to traveling light. At the same time, there were situations where a more conventional weapon might prove useful. He decided to hold on to it for the moment. He slung the rifle over his shoulder to keep his hands free, then followed Phil down the stairwell.

"Cole, can you keep these guys out of trouble, just in case this is a trick?"
"Of course. I have several nonlethal toxins I can apply, not to mention spider webs. I can render them unconscious for several hours easily."
"Good. Do it, then let's get out of here."

A simple question could have avoided that needless bloodshed. And Phil hadn't even thought to ask it.

Are you any different from him?

"Hey! What's with you, Cole? You're real quiet all of a sudden."

Phil's voice snapped Cole back into the moment.

"I am considering our next course of action," he replied, somewhat annoyed. "Do you have a particular plan once we leave this building?"

Phil shrugged as he continued down the stairs.

"Not so much. I figure we'll just lie low for a few hours, I guess. That, or run like hell, and if anyone gets in our way--"

He was cut off by a loud, booming voice as he reached the bottom step. So loud, in fact, that it knocked him and Cole to the ground, and even shook the stairwell beneath them.

"DEFILERS! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THE TEMPLE OF MINOTAURUS?"

The voice was so loud that Cole could barely make out the words; it sounded more like a foghorn, except with a volume knob turned up all the way. Thinking quickly, he stopped mimicking all hearing systems; the voice was so loud that the vibrations could still be felt, but at least he might have a chance to concentrate this way. He glanced at Phil as he tried to pick himself up; the soldier simply pointed at his helmet and gave a thumbs-up. Presumably he had some sound-dampening equipment in there, for what little good it would do.

As Cole glanced around the entryway, he soon realized the source of the voice. It was coming from the enormous, three-legged statuesque guard he had noticed before. Now it was very clearly moving, and he could get a better look at it.

The voice seemed to be coming from a series of amplifiers in the creature's chest rather than its head, although it didn't appear to have much of a head to speak of. It still seemed to be speaking, judging by the way the armor around its chest was moving; Cole imagined it telling them of the hideous fates that awaited them in the afterlife for defying Minotaurus.

Its torso was gigantic, and boasted three arms, all covered in bright white armor. The one on the left was extremely large, with two joints, each surrounded by strange finger-like growths; the arm ended in a gigantic hand with three massive fingers.

The two right arms were significant smaller, but otherwise had the same structure as the larger arm, except each boasted six of the strange fingerylike appendages around each join. They appeared to be much more versatile and nimble than the left arm. Each of the arms held a katana in its hand and a small pistol in one of the joins; there also seemed to be a noticeable, well-protected compartment on the right side of the armor, in reach of the arms. Cole suspected that they contained spare weapons.

The creature moved towards them, still speaking in its booming voice and declaring them heretics. As it walked, Cole noticed that it seemed to be able to rotate from below the waist; its legs were moving in strange positions.

Drawing closer, its left arm bent backwards - apparently the creature was double-jointed as well - and vanished behind its back for a moment. It reappeared afterwards with a massive firearm, so large that even the creature's gargantuan hand needed the help of the joint-fingers to hold it up.

"AND NOW YOU WILL PERISH IN HOLY FIRE, HERETICS!"

Neither Phil nor Cole heard the words, but they could quickly guess the sentiment as it aimed the cannon towards them. The voice alone was a powerful weapon; just as Cole and Phil had scrambled to their feet, the hulking brute spoke again, knocking both back to the ground.

However, Cole noted that it had shifted its arm as it spoke, and had not yet fired the weapon. In fact, its movements in general seemed less directed when it spoke. The one line Cole had heard suggested that the sentinel viewed Minotaurus as some sort of holy figure; perhaps their foe was overcome by faith as it spoke, too caught up in the moment to actually attack.

With its voice alone serving as a weapon, this was not all that significant of a flaw in the creature's tactics. But it was a flaw nonetheless, and Cole was more than eager to exploit it.

Just as the sentinel stopped speaking and once more adjusted its aim, Cole spewed out a strand of webbing, striking its lower elbow in the finger. The creature's armor was very durable, but apparently it had not been designed to resist adhesives; Cole pulled on the string, and the finger was lifted from the weapon just after it pulled the trigger.

The sudden shift in weight caused the creature to nearly lose its grip, and it fired a stream of plasma directly at the floor, creating a sizable hole. Scrambling to their feet once more, Phil and Cole looked at the hole and then each other; clearly, taking a hit from the plasma cannon was not a viable option.

The sentinel had reacted relatively quickly, and moved its lower-right arm in position to support the cannon, shifting its katana to the elbow; the other katana sliced through the web, allowing the creature to regain its standard grip. At the same time, its pistol-wielding elbows fired on Cole and Phil as they tried to regroup; Phil narrowly dodged the thin beam, Cole was struck in the foot. The wound burned, but there was no time to focus on that; the creature had gotten its weapons straightened out, and was advancing on them again.

Thankfully, it had opted to remain silent. Cole suspected it didn't want to be distracted by its own preaching again. However, its voice was still a potent weapon, and it would be preferable to disable it.

Cole took to the air, and changed his hands to the scythes of a praying mantis. His plan was to fly behind it, and strike the speakers as it turned around; but much to his surprise, the arm firing lasers at him had no trouble tracking him even as he was behind it. Most of the shots missed, but the reason why soon became apparent as the left arm adjusted itself; it intended to blast Cole with the plasma cannon, and was merely using the other shots to herd him towards it.

Given the choice, Cole preferred to take his chances with the smaller blasts. He quickly changed direction, his wings taking most of the hits. He dropped to the ground, keeping a close eye on the plasma cannon.

Meanwhile, Phil was struggling to dodge the blasts from the sentinel's other arm. Several struck his armor, much to his annoyance; he fired back, but the giant's armor shrugged off his shots. At the least, however, he was keeping its attention somewhat divided; Cole needed to make use of that.

Carefully eyeing the plasma cannon, Cole noticed its barrel heating up. It was about to fire again, regardless of whether or not the aim was ideal.

It suddenly occurred to the scientist that the cannon's barrel was large enough to fit an entire rifle inside. And that there was quite a lot of space underneath the giant's left arm.

Mimicking the speed of a cockroach, Cole scurried towards the cannon. Phil shouted "What the hell are you thinking?", but as Cole had no hearing systems, it went unnoticed. Not that it would have mattered; Cole would not be dissuaded.

As he approached the cannon, Cole unslung the rifle from his shoulder and hurled it towards the barrel, then continued to run underneath the sentinel's arm, and stood still - the way it could bend its arms, standing underneath was safer than running in front.

Before the creature could adjust its aim, the plasma cannon had finished priming.

The heat it had gathered was enough to ignite the munitions loaded into the rifle.

Cole had regrown his hearing systems, so he could hear the noises made by the cannon before it fired. When the subtle hum of the cannon gathering heat suddenly stopped, he ran.

He grabbed Phil, and jumped down the hole the cannon had blasted early. Then he made himself deaf again, and clung to the side of the shaft.

Above ground, the sentinel had realized there was a problem with its plasma cannon, and that it was likely severe. It dropped the weapon and ran.

It didn't run quite far enough. The explosion flung it into the stairwell with great force.

When the smoke cleared, Cole emerged from the hole, and set Phil down. The creature slowly emerged from the now-ruined stairwell, and walked backwards towards them; its armor had taken severe damage from the explosion, but the wearer was still alive, even if its weapons were mostly ruined.

Its left arm - now on the right - reached to its back - now front? - and retreived an enormous axe, still intact. The right arms reached into the protected compartment, which had apparently been designed specifically to survive such an impact, and retrieved some small, round pods.

Phil recognized them as plasma grenades. He swore, and fired on the hands, hoping to force the grenades to detonate before it could throw them. It didn't work, however; the hands were too nimble, and kept their cargo out of the line of fire. The sentinel advanced, slowly turning around to the front.

Cole realized what had happened. It was going to speak again.

The front of its armor had almost entirely been torn off, having struck the stairs with that side. They could now see its body more clearly, and the numerous holes in its chest; Cole suspected they allowed it to speak, and perhaps breathe.

This suspicion was born out as they started to move.

"I GIVE MY LIFE TO MINOTAURUS!"

The voice wasn't nearly as powerful without the speakers, but it was still forceful. Cole suspected it would be deafening if he could hear.

And the creature was running towards them, still holding the plasma grenades, and waving the axe wildly in its left arm.

"If it doesn't get us with the axe, it'll blow itself up with us!" Phil shouted, not realizing Cole was deaf. "What do we do?"

Cole had already decided what to do.

"Cover me," he said.

He copied the horn stag beetle he had recently acquired, and charged forward. After all, it was unlikely this creature's skin was harder than diamond.

Phil blasted the thing's right arms, while Cole flew up towards its left. It tried to swing the axe, but Cole's wings gave him more maneuverability, and allowed him to fly towards its chest.

Cole stabbed it in the upper chest with his horn. It screamed, and dropped the grenades, then reached its right arms towards the attacker.

Phil ran. He wasn't going to be around when those grenades went off.

The sentinel pulled Cole out from its bleeding chest, and held him up to a black patch that seemed to go around its entire... neck? Head? Whatever it was, Cole realized that this must be its eye, or some equivalent. No wonder it had been able to keep track of him when he went behind it.

Quickly, he sprayed acid in the giant's eye, sliced the hands holding him off with his scythes, and retracted them, firing a web at the plasma grenades.

Then he ran after Phil.

The creature was too wounded to run this time.

It voice echoed through the floor, carrying its final words.

"WHY, MINOTAURUS?"