Fix My Mechanical Heart

[IceQueen]

Kiora got up after a while, going to take a peaceful shower. After she got out, she was starting to wonder. She looked around the house for a while, and eventually went to the garage. "He didn't...." She hissed, cursing herself. She grabbed the finished headpiece and pushed it onto Hollow, hearing the sound of her booting up and she got inside, cursing him.

 

[grey987]

Mark grunted as a spinning roundhouse kick from his opponent landed beneath his jaw, making him spin sideways in the air before hitting the rooftop face-first. "Come on!" the defensive mech user chastised, landing a kick to his chest as Mark struggled to get up and making him roll onto his back. "Show me what you can do! Show me that you can defend the girl that you apparently love so much!" Mark weakly stood back up on his feet, boosting forward and throwing a punch only to have his enemy duck under the attack and land a side kick to his back, making him cry out as he was sent back down to the ground.

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora was already racing off, having Hollow track where Hunter was. "That bastard, going out to fight again." She hissed to herself as she dodged though the buildings. She found the building and shot up the side, taking out her sword as she landed on the roof in front of Hunter. "Step back." She hissed, holding out her sword.

 

[grey987]

The defensive mech stood there for a moment, examining Kiora as Mark slowly stood back up behind her. "How sad," the mech user muttered. "To think that the defender needs to be saved by the one he's meant to look after." The mech then quickly lifted its arm, opening up the compartment in its wrist and launching a smoke grenade into Hollow's headpiece. The defensive mech then took the opportunity to boost around the speed mech, launching a punch into Mark's stomach before slamming its knee into Hunter's headpiece, launching him off the roof and down to the street below.

 

[IceQueen]

Hollow moved around the smoke grenade and took the opportunity to take her knife and plunge it into the back of the mech, the blade sliding thought the metal like butter. "We are together. People who are together, stick out for each other. I am not going to sit here and watch while you beat up my boyfriend. So get off your ass and face me like a man." She said, pulling out her sword.

 

[grey987]

The mech user growled as the sword was pulled out of its back, turning swiftly back to Kiora and landing a punch to the side of her face, following up with another to her stomach and an elbow slam to her back. "Don't you dare..." the mech snarled, picking Kiora up by the shoulder and winding its fist back. "Compare me to a man!" It then launched its fist into Kiora's chest, but there was a noticeable lack of strength in the blow. It almost seemed as though it held back at the last minute.

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora was whinded after the attack, but was more focused on the words that she had said. "Hold up." She said softly, before she popped open the face mask. "Another girl? I didn't think it was possible." She said, alert and ready to fight if it decided to attack her.


(By the way, no automatic landing hits, people usually don't like that.)

 

[grey987]

(Gotcha.)


A growling noise could be heard from behind the mech's headpiece, making a slow approach to Kiora before suddenly being turned around by a very battered-looking Hunter, who landed a hit to the side of its headpiece as well as two more to its chest. Mark then boosted into the defensive mech, knocking it to the ground on its back as he landed blow after blow to its headpiece. "How could you know what it feels like...!?" he cried out, landing another punch. "To have no one left to fight for!?"


Another hit.


"To have no one left to save!?"


This was a side of Mark that was rarely seen by others. He was losing control, and fast.


"She's. All. I. Have. Left!"

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora could see that he was loosing it and she rushed forwards pushing him back a bit. "Mark! Mark, please, stop. Please." She begged him, trying her hardest to push back on him, to hold him back from obliterating possibly the only girl besides her left in the arena.

 

[grey987]

Mark could feel himself being pushed backwards by Kiora, moving away from the beaten defensive mech and breathing heavily while he tried to calm himself down. He could barely hear anything around him, now looking at the ground as he trapped himself in his mind. Meanwhile, the defense mech lay there weakly, propping itself on one side as it struggled to get up. Its filter was now damaged, and a quiet, feminine groan could be heard coming from the headpiece.

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora looked back at her and stood in front of the mech. "So you are a girl." She said, a bit more kindly than she had before. She crossed her arms and waited for her to answer.

 

[grey987]

Mark looked up when he heard what Kiora had just said. This mech user... it was a girl? The defense mech itself remained the way it was, not saying anything in response and looking at the ground beside it. But when Mark made a slow approach over to it, the mech was responsive and slowly turned its head to look up at him. There was a moment of silence between the two, before it looked back down and murmured, "I'm so sorry."

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora sighed and reached out a hand. "It's alright. Just let's try to avoid fights in the future, unless we are in the ring." She said, offering a small smile to the user.

 

[grey987]

Mark lifted up a hand in front of Kiora, a signal for her to wait. Kneeling in front of the defensive mech, he stared into its headpiece for a long time. Then, finally, the user opened up the mech's helmet, revealing the person inside. Mark widened his eyes behind his headpiece and stood up slowly, backing away. "No..." he whispered. "You... you can't be." However, the girl looked up from a veil of ruffled hair and confirmed just who she was.


"I... I watched you die."

Spoiler

<p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2014_12/57a8c11c9245a_ShirleyRose.jpg.911a979d74a7eb4549806b8f9288ae2c.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="37514" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2014_12/57a8c11c9245a_ShirleyRose.jpg.911a979d74a7eb4549806b8f9288ae2c.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora raised an eyebrow, looking between the girl and Mark, then back to the girl, then to Mark. "Who is she?" she asked nicely, wondering who exactly she was.

 

[grey987]

Mark remained silent for a moment, swallowing hard before finding his voice again. "She's... Her name is Shirley Rose," he explained uneasily. "She was... my former partner."

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora went wide eyed, looking back and forth between the two of them. "So you used to be paired with her?" she asked, looking at the attractive young female.

 

[grey987]

Mark nodded slowly, while Shirley lifted her head to look at him not far away. "Why...?" he asked quietly after another silence between the two. "How could you... Why didn't you..."


"I didn't want to be a burden to you anymore," Shirley explained, her voice cracking and broken. "You were always the one protecting me... so for once... I protected you. I knew you wouldn't forgive me for it, so... I had the doctors tell you that I died." Mark stared at her with wide eyes behind his headpiece, unable to believe the story he'd just been told. Three years. After three years, he found out that his closest friend was still alive... and she left just because she didn't want to be a 'burden'?

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora felt awkward between the two, feeling like she was interrupting something. Without a word, she left, leaving the two of them behind. He was obviously wouldn't want to be partners with her anymore.

 

[grey987]

"And... I did this to you because..." Shirley continued, "after what I saw in the arena... I wanted to make sure that you'd be ready to protect your new partner if she was ever attacked again." Mark stared silently at her for a moment longer before speaking. "There was no need for any of this..." he told her. "You should have told those doctors to tell me the truth!"


"I know," Shirley whispered. "But I didn't want to." Mark let out a frustrated sigh, before looking around and noticing that Kiora was gone.


"Go," Shirley urged, making him look back at her. "You should go after her." Mark stared at her silently. "Promise me that I'll see you again after I leave." Shirley didn't do anything for a while, but then she nodded.


"I promise," she answered. Mark nodded once, before turning around and boosting across the rooftop.


He didn't want Kiora to be thinking rashly after what she had just witnessed between the two old friends.

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora went back home strait away and jumped out of her mech. She couldn't help but think she was loosing someone again, tears streaking across her cheeks as she ran up the stairs and into the apartment. She went into her room, which had a light layer of dust on it from lack of use, and flopped down on the bed, curling underneath the sheets.

 

[grey987]

Mark raced across the city rooftops, heading back to their apartment so that he could find Kiora. A few minutes later, he shot into the garage, stepping out of Hunter and heading upstairs to their apartment. He opened the door and looked around, but didn't spot her in the living room or the balcony outside. "Kiora?" he called out, closing the door behind him as he stepped inside.

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora was curled tightly inside her sheets and didn't respond when he called to her. She was pretty close to balling her eyes out, the tears staining her cheeks as she curled tighter around herself.

 

[grey987]

Mark eventually went in front of the door to her room, opening it slightly to see Kiora curled underneath the sheets of her bed. "Kiora...?" he asked quietly and cautiously. "Are you okay?"

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora groaned at the light and rolled over, tucking the covers over her head.