Chapter Thirty: Rematch: Brothers’ Destiny

Neither brother waited to give the other the advantage. Both Alpha and Blue Dragon blew out from their position with their laser rifles firing rapidly. Alpha dashed to and fro avoiding the dual laser rifles that Blue Dragon was equipped with while Blue Dragon dashed to from side to side avoiding the high velocity rounds that were equipped in Alpha’s weapon. The crimson and azure blurs continued to speed around the shadowy canvas of space at speeds unbelievable by sight. Adam smiled as he pulled the throttles inwards, Blue Dragon sped towards Alpha and then docked the dual laser rifles on the side in order to grab hold of the energy sabers. Stephen smirked and grabbed onto one of the beam boomerangs. Just as Blue Dragon increased its speed Alpha flung the boomerang from the left arm heading towards the right side of Alpha’s core. Adam’s eyes widened as the beam boomerang quickly dashed towards him forcing him to avert from his path. Blue Dragon swayed to the left allowing the boomerang to pass.

“You’re still predictable. Always trying to come up from my right side!” Stephen yelled.

Adam cringed as Alpha dashed towards Blue Dragon now holding on the crimson dual energy saber. Just as the crimson MF neared Adam glanced to the side and jerked the controls forcing Blue Dragon’s torso to arch backwards. Just then the beam boomerang shot past Blue Dragon only to be caught firmly in Alpha’s metallic hands.

“You…that was close…” Adam sighed in temporary relief.

Alpha crept up onto Blue Dragon while swinging the dual energy saber violently. Adam quickly reacted by swinging his right energy saber. The cerulean beam of energy instantly collided with Alpha’s crimson beam of energy found on the upper half of the blade. Sparks ran rampant fluttering out from the two engaging streams of energy causing brightly colored hued lights to flicker reflecting off the armor of both MFs. Alpha’s left hand let go of the dual energy saber and dislodged the lower half of the saber leaving only the one saber engaged with Blue Dragon’s. Adam’s eyes widened once again as Alpha began to swing the left arm, as Adam cringed; the two thigh cannons on Blue Dragon rose and fired instantly. The two cerulean energy beams blew up on the crimson armor sending Alpha flipping backwards. Adam took a quick breath and sped back on the offensive hoping to not allow Stephen an opportunity to attack. While Blue Dragon boosted towards Alpha Stephen regained stability forcing his MF to quickly flip back into proper position. Just as Alpha began to recover Adam screamed as he lunged forward with the energy saber ignited in the right arm of Blue Dragon. Suddenly Alpha’s right leg swung colliding with the blue MF’s right arm causing the energy saber to erupt out of the metal hand. Blue Dragon countered by firing the laser rifle on the left arm. The cerulean beam headed towards Alpha’s head unit but at the exact last second Stephen forced the head unit to move slightly to the left narrowly avoiding the beam.

“The hell? That’s impossible!” Adam screamed.

“Nothing’s impossible. You’re just too impulsive to realize that.” Stephen screamed back. Alpha slashed at Blue Dragon’s core with both energy sabers only making contact with one. As the gash flickered with sporadic spheres of electricity Blue Dragon’s left leg swung towards Alpha but collided with Alpha’s right leg as Stephen moved to block the attack. Adam was furious but refused to let it get the best of him. Once again the thigh cannons lifted upwards and fired. Only this time both of Alpha’s energy sabers swung down to block the attack.

“No way!” Adam screamed as he watched his own blast be deflected back towards him. The thrusters rapidly fired as Blue Dragon flew upwards away from Alpha just in time to avoid the attack. Alpha then docked the energy sabers in order to take hold of the energy rifle. The right arm jerked back from the vicious recoil as three crimson beams launched towards Blue Dragon. Adam turned around and easily swatted the beams with his own energy saber that was now equipped on the left arm, it was his last one.

“This is pretty intense so far. Just as I expected it to be.” Adam humbly mentioned.

Alpha caught Blue Dragon off guard as it shot up besides the blue MF. The silver fingers grabbed onto the beam boomerangs, one in each hand. As both the left and right hand rapidly descended the beams ignited. Blue Dragon abruptly boosted forward with the head unit leaning at an angle. The blue MF collided with Alpha in turn blocking the oncoming attack. Just as Blue Dragon rushed in Stephen altered his attack and flung the boomerangs out into space. Adam’s eyes glanced to the side trying to follow the trajectory of the boomerangs. Blue Dragon’s left arm quickly swung inward with the energy saber ignited slashing through the upper layer of crimson armor that platted the torso. Following the attack Blue Dragon swayed to the right as the boomerangs sped past. Just before they could pierce through Alpha Stephen pulled the throttles downwards copying Adam’s maneuver a few moments ago. As Alpha arched its torso and the boomerangs flew by slowly losing their momentum Alpha threw one of its energy sabers towards Blue Dragon. As Blue Dragon moved to the side the saber pierced through the left arm joint, the speed at which it was thrown didn’t have enough momentum to cause the energy saber to fully slice through the arm.

“Thanks.” Adam replied as Blue Dragon’s right hand quickly grabbed hold of the energy saber ripping it out from the left arm. As the saber was released Adam quickly ignited it and then forced both his own energy saber and Alpha’s together forming a dual saber. Stephen sat amused arching his eyebrow. Wasting no time Alpha flew towards Blue Dragon firing the two cannons lodged between the head unit and the arm units. The lime green energy beams continued to fire at a rapid pace forcing Adam to sprint around the beams focusing on defensive maneuvers rather than offensive.

“I’ll admit you’ve gotten better. But you’re still predictable!” Stephen screamed out.

Adam’s pupils thinned as Alpha sped at a curved trajectory firing the laser rifle. Blue Dragon dashed to the right but Alpha cut in the same direction in order to counter his brother’s attempted escape route. Adam almost froze as he saw Alpha beat him out preparing to swing the energy saber. Relying on instincts alone Adam pushed the throttle forward, just then Blue Dragon’s right arm swung upwards with the dual energy saber and collided with Alpha’s beam. Once again the two MFs were struggling.

            “Oh my God! Look at those two go!” Mario screamed as he jumped ardently.

“I can barely keep up with them they’re moving so fast!” Michelle replied as she watched in complete awe over the intensity of the battle.       

“I just hope they don’t kill each other….” Sharon mumbled quietly while Ashley nodded her head in agreement.

Rebel stood in the darkened corner of the dome as his crimson pupils followed the agile movements of both Alpha and Blue Dragon. He shortly began to chuckle, just watching the match was causing his nerves to stand on end. He knew that either one of them would pose a much harder challenge than Zach did. Both Adam and Stephen were professionals when it came to piloting and MF, then again they also were very well in tune with each other’s abilities and fighting styles so it wasn’t much of a surprises that the match was full of blocking and countering maneuvers. Rebel smiled as he placed his worn down copy of Sun Tzu’s masterpiece snuggly folded into his side pocket. His back then leaned against the frigid pale wall behind him while his arms crossed across his chest.

“I am looking forward to either one of you…hehe…”

             Alpha’s boosters flared forcing the crimson MF to slowly advance forward pushing Blue Dragon backwards. The crimson energy saber teetered as it rubbed against Blue Dragon’s own cerulean beam. The beams were burning intensely as sparks of distilled energy spurt out randomly lighting up the darkness. Adam struggled to maintain stability as Alpha continued to advance forward.

Stephen began to smile as his right hand pressed a button on the side of the throttle. After his finger relieved the pressure the button began to blink. Suddenly on the other side of space the two beam boomerangs began to blink also, suddenly two thin miniscule boosters on the tips of the boomerangs began to ignite forcing them to move slowly through space until they began to pick up momentum.

Then Blue Dragon’s thigh cannons rose one more time facing Alpha who stood in front of the barrels like the MF was taunting the cannons. As the cannons began to gather energy Stephen smirked one more time and suddenly forced Alpha to boost to the left. The sudden release in pressure caused Blue Dragon to fly forward a few feet. Adam quickly jerked his head and turned around his MF with the cannons preparing to fire. Just as the MF’s torso turned the two beam boomerangs abruptly sliced through the thigh cannons causing them to explode furiously. Adam was shocked, he believed that the boomerangs were long gone and posed him no threat. He was obviously wrong as the two cannons were now slice in half, wires flung violently in space as they spewed rampant sparks of electricity. As the blue MF tried to recover Alpha zoomed through the caliginous clouds of smoke that now emanated around Blue Dragon. With a quick swing the crimson energy saber slashed across the core of Blue Dragon sending it in an uncontrollable spin. Inside the cockpit Adam held onto the throttles tightly while trying to remain still and calm. His hair flapped from side to side, his lungs working excessively as his heart rate jumped up. With every breath his visor fogged up distorting his view.

“Damn…there’s no need for this now.” Adam mumbled as he threw his azure helmet to the ground. “I think now would be a good a time as any….” Adam said under his breath as he engaged the Angel System.

A slight cerulean glow began to circulate around the outer edges of the azure wings. The eight orbital wings sped out from the torso while Blue Dragon continued to fight to regain its stability. Alpha took notice of the oncoming orbital wings and began to fly. Within seconds the wings began to unleash torrents of energy all pounding down onto Alpha. Alpha was hit a few times causing the crimson MF to spiral out of control. As Stephen sighed he realized he couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Adam….it’s been a good match. I am impressed. However all things must come to an end at some point.” Stephen said calmly as he flipped a switch inside Alpha’s cockpit.

Angel System….engaged… The feminine voice alerted Stephen.

Adam shot up from his seat in shock.

“Did I just hear that right?....You have….you have an Angel system?” Adam mumbled still frozen from the shock. With out warning Alpha blared towards Blue Dragon. Its thrusters flickering powerfully as it caught up to Blue Dragon. As the crimson blur sped through space it continued to dodge the dozens of beams that were rapidly being fired at him from the orbital wings. Adam stared wide eyed at his brother’s advancement. Just before Alpha collided Blue Dragon shifted to the side while docking the energy sabers. In a split second Blue Dragon began to fire relentlessly with the dual energy rifles. And yet Alpha managed to fly around the beams, as Stephen nimbly avoided Adam’s attacks he once again grabbed onto the beam boomerangs and with a quick flick of the wrist threw them both towards Blue Dragon.

“I hope you honestly don’t expect me to fall for that again!” Adam screamed. Suddenly the eight orbital wings flew towards Blue Dragon while firing their cannons. The cerulean energy beams pierced through the thinly armored weapons causing them to explode in the middle of space. Suddenly four of the orbital wings fulminated leaving nothing more than singed pieces of floating metal. As the smoke began to clear Alpha’s ominous frame lingered with its single energy saber flowing vibrantly.

            “I can’t believe they’re still going at it!” Mario screamed.

Sharon sighed as she fell into a nearby chair. The battle was raging onward but she had her fill of it. The idea of the two brothers fighting so fiercely bothered her.

“They’ll be fine.” Heather said as she sat down next to Sharon.

“I hope so….but they’re going at it pretty rough out there.” Sharon replied.

“Yeah….well this is who they are. It’s nothing dangerous I swear. Once the battle is over things will be back to normal, I promise. They just have to get this out of their systems, that’s all.” Heather replied.

“Oh my God! Look at that! Damn, I can barely keep up with them!” Mario’s energetic voice boomed loudly.

              “*huff* Damn Stephen…*huff*….I wasn’t expecting this…” Adam struggled to say as the words loosely fell out from his lips.

“Yeah…*huff*….I honestly expected *huff* you to be done by now…*huff* guess I was wrong…”

Both of them were nearly drained completely from the battle. The rate at which they were fighting was amazing, there had yet to be a battle quite like this one in the tournament and every person that watch was enjoying it. Both Blue Dragon and Alpha hovered in mid space, their armor singed and cracked, no longer glistening from the suns’ reflection, but pale and lackluster. Sparks of electricity circulated their MFs due to the damage and gashes that out lined their armor. Blue Dragon slowly oscillated with only 4 orbital wings left while Alpha was missing the lower half of its right leg.

“It’s not over yet!” Adam screamed as he stomped onto the chrome accelerators. The cerulean flames ruptured out from the boosters. The sudden movement caused Stephen to fall back into his seat with his brown eyes widened. Just as Blue Dragon began to move slightly to its left and Alpha’s right Stephen began to chuckle. Adam had always attacked Stephen on his right side, and he refused to change his methods. Just as Alpha prepared to counter Blue Dragon jerked to its right and slashed through Alpha’s left arm unit. Stephen was thrown to the side only to be held in the chair due to the restraints. Adam changed his tactics at the last second, he knew that Stephen would predict his attack to come from the right and would move accordingly. Alpha flipped to the side but quickly regained stability and sped towards Blue Dragon quickly slashing through the 4 remaining orbital wings causing them to explode instantly. The explosion caused Blue Dragon’s wings to burst into pieces while the blue MF tumbled. Adam smiled, it was the second time he was forced to increase the strain on his own body.

Angel System EX Mode….engaged….

He hated to do it since he knew it was come close to crushing his body since it was already exhausted from the heat of the battle. Just as Blue Dragon turned around, Alpha zoomed by one final time slashing through the left leg and left arm, as the two limbs fumbled covered in electrical sparks Adam screamed as the energy saber in the right hand ignited. Blue Dragon sped past Alpha quickly slashing through the crimson MF’s right arm. The strike caused the right arm to fling violently outwards into space while Alpha hovered missing both its arms and part of its leg. Stephen sighed as he glanced out looking back at Blue Dragon which had just stopped moving.
Adam was panting excessively due to the strain of the system, his insides felt like they were engulfed in a sea of flames. His eye lids flickered while he began to smile.

“I…*cough*…..I won….*cough*…..” His voice began to fade into the dismal silence that was now occupying space.

“Indeed you *huff* *huff* did…you *huff* won…” Stephen mumbled under his breath as he reclined into his seat. The match was over and Adam had managed to take a victory over his brother.

            “Hehehe….” Rebel’s voice echoed softly inside the dome as the crowd burst out in applause. He too joined in with a slight flick of his wrists, his palms slowly pounded against together as he clapped in amusement.

“Well done Adam….although it looks like our final match is going to have to wait since your MF has taken quite the amount of damage…Oh well, I want you in top form when we face off. Hehe…amusing indeed.” Rebel smiled, his trench coat fluttered in the air as his torso abruptly turned. He slowly walked out of the dome leaving the crowd shouting like a pack of animals.

            A maintenance team was required to head out into space to retrieve both Alpha and Blue Dragon. Both machines were in shamble, unable to move on their own. Alpha’s cockpit slowly opened as Stephen floated out in the gravitation-less environment. Sharon jumped up from her chair the minute she saw Blue Dragon being hauled into the hanger. Her mahogany hair slowly floating waving in the air as her body headed towards Blue Dragon. The MF was motionless, the cockpit had yet to open and that caused her concern. She felt it in the pit of her stomach, that pain, she knew he over did it again pushed himself to the breaking point. Just as she reached his frigid damaged core Stephen’s hand held her back as he began to open Blue Dragon’s cockpit. Sharon clutched onto Stephen shoulders as she nervously waited for the cockpit to be revealed.                     As the cockpit doors slid opened Adam’s eyes began to slowly blink. He was awake and once he saw his brother he simply smiled. Stephen extended his left hand towards his barely conscious brother. Adam chuckled and slightly tapped Stephen’s hand with the palm of his right hand. It was his way of showing his gratitude for the match.

“ADAM! YOU IDIOT!”

Adam cringed and smiled as Sharon moved past Stephen entering the damp cockpit. Adam didn’t move, he couldn’t even if he wanted too. Sharon just smiled innocently as she wrapped her arms tightly around Adam’s weakened body. Adam’s eyes thinned and cringed from the slight amount of pain that he felt, but he chose to ignore it as best he could. Tears began to pour out from Sharon’s eyes. The drops slid down her cheeks pouring onto Adam’s azure jumpsuit.

“You had me so worried!” Sharon blared.

“I…*cough*…know…I’m sorry….” Adam mumbled.

Stephen smiled and then began to float away from Blue Dragon’s cockpit. He glanced above to see Ashley, Mario, Michelle and Heather smiling towards him. His body eloquently rose towards the chrome guardrail where Mario extended his arm to help lift his friend.

“Bro that was one of the best matches I have ever had the privilege of watching….good job.” Mario said as he shook Stephen’s hand.

“It was fun…” Stephen humbly said. His eyes glanced over to Ashley who was standing next to Heather being quiet which was a first for her. “Sorry I didn’t win.” Stephen said speaking to Ashley.

“Eh, it happens. I thought you did a great job regardless…”

“Thanks…listen…” Before Stephen could finish his sentence Ashley’s arms began to wrap around his neck pulling him closer. Her green eyes began to look away from Stephen’s face while her cheeks began to blush.

“I know…” Stephen modestly replied as the two remained embraced. Their heads tilting towards each other until their lips connected.

“Bout time…” Heather mumbled under her breath.

            “So….” Sharon muttered.

“So…” Adam replied.

“You got your wish it looks like.”

“What do you mean I got my wish?”

“I mean you’re going to get your shot at Rebel.”

“Oh….yeah, that.”

“What’s wrong? I thought that’s what you wanted.”

“*sigh* It is….but I’m not sure what’s going to happen.....” Sharon cut him off. Her fingers softly taking hold of his chin while turning it to face her.

“We’ve talked about this. It doesn’t matter; I’ll always be here by your side to protect you….”

“Sharon…” The two became silent as their lips interlocked. They continued to kiss and remain embraced in the safety of Blue Dragon’s cockpit.

            Back on Earth the crimson MF, Chimera continued to fly through the ivory clouds. The cloned pilot stared at the display screen that was playing video footage of the final Pre-finals match. The pilot smirked as he stopped the video at a close up of Adam Novus.

            So brother….you’re in space…
“So brother…you’re in space…