He cannonballed at me, but I was ready and Phase Shifted through it easily. I knocked away the weaker rebound off the wall with my rear legs.
The low light of the tunnels glinted off metal on Cody's back. He had some kind of large vest or plate across his back. "I saw what they were doing to you," I said. "The torture. Is that from them?" I motioned to his back with my nose.
Cody growled. "Mind your own business, little-D!" He lunged at me with his powerful jaws once more, but this time something emerged from his open mouth. I wasn't ready for the new attack.
A metal disk, lined with sharp teeth, clamped onto my front leg, then folded in half. It was a trap of some kind.
I tried to Phase Shift, but I couldn't. I jumped away in alarm as Cody cannonballed at me.
I can't get rid of it! I can't Phase Shift!
ENERGY: 243/700
ENERGY: 241/700
My energy was dropping slowly, but steadily.
See if you can destroy it.
I couldn't Phase Shift through the wall to escape, so I had to dodge cannonball after cannonball from Cody while trying to rip the contraption off my arm. I tore at it with my teeth and claws, and the trap finally shattered into metal shards.
ENERGY: 118/700
I had lost half my energy to Cody's trap.
What was that? A new ability? Something from the Mekanics? Garvek had mentioned integrating Mekanic technology.
Possibly. The fight's not over, though. Look out!
I swiped at Cody's lunging jaws again, retracting my paw as quickly as I could to avoid any further traps. I couldn't do as much damage with my tentative strike, but it must have been enough.
The now familiar sensation of pleasure rippled through my body.
ENERGY: 800/800
I had evolved once more. Cody reared up to attack again, but Garvek appeared out of nowhere, stepping between us.
"Good work!" Garvek held out his blocky hand. Was I supposed to shake it?
I didn't move, keeping a wary eye on Cody, who growled at me from the other side of Garvek.
"Oh, don't mind him. Off you go, boy!" Garvek waved Cody away. To my amazement, Cody instantly stopped growling and trotted away like an obedient puppy.
The fuck? I had never seen Cody so well-behaved.
Garvek still held his other hand out. I rolled my eyes while jumping lightly to smack Garvek's hand with my front paw.
"Excellent!" Garvek boomed. "I simply can't wait to enter you."
Enter me? "Uh, what do you mean?"
"It'll be wonderful," Garvek said. "I'm going to bond with you."
"Hold on. Wasn't Vikki going to do that?" Not that I was interested in having either robot in my head, or whatever it involved.
"I changed my mind. I want you for myself." Garvek's voice had a dreamy tone. "It's been two years since my last taste."
Two years was when Staccato went crazy. I had a bad feeling about this.
Me too. We need to find out more.
"Did you…bond with Staccato?" I asked.
Garvek nodded his head eagerly like a little boy. Fuck, it was creepy. "Absolutely delicious!" He put a blocky finger on his chin. "It didn't take, though. I have my theories as to why, but that's irrelevant. I must try it again."
This was bad. Very bad. Uh, Zoe? What if Garvek's the reason he had a meltdown and lost his Avatar? What if he does the same to me?
If the bonding failed somehow, that could very well be why.
I took several steps away from Garvek. "Maybe we should talk this over more, before rushing into a decision…"
Garvek closed the distance between us. He looked me in the eyes, his ten-foot frame matching my Beastform's height.
"I can sense your reluctance, but you will do exactly as you are told."
I was tempted to give the crazy metal robot a piece of my mind. Slash him in half. I held myself in check.
"Garvek, aren't we in this together? I'm here to work with you, but you—"
"Silence!" Garvek shouted. "I know you're lying. Enough talk. Look!"
Gary's gigantic metal torso suddenly split open, revealing a human-sized cavity inside.
A naked girl was shackled inside with her arms and legs stretched wide like a starfish. I couldn't tell right away who it was, as long black hair hid her face. Then, I spotted something round and green at the bottom of the chamber in Garvek's torso.
A turtle.
"Mia!" I shouted.
Mia raised her head weakly. Her eyes widened when she saw me, and she opened her mouth, but Garvek's torso slammed shut with a metallic finality.
My body was tense, ready to strike. I bared my fangs at Garvek one last time, snarling. Then, I slowly retracted my claws.
Garvek patted my head. I forced myself to stay still.
"Good kitty. Now you understand."
Garvek kept talking, but all I could hear were the muffled screams inside his chest.
CHAPTER 19
I was huddled on the sofa, a cold pizza lying uneaten next to me. Zoe paced back and forth in front of me.
We have to save Mia. How did they even get her?
Zoe stopped pacing for a moment. They may have caught her after we left.
My plan had been to go deeper into the Mekanics in the hopes that I would find something, anything, that would help us in our War against them.
But the situation had changed. I had to free Mia. Garvek had gone full villain and was threatening to bond me against my will.
Why doesn't he just do it, then?
I don't know. He mentioned preparing you. Integrating Mekanic technology.
Cody had shot some kind of metal trap. He also had a metal casing across his back. It had to be Mekanic tech.
It didn't matter. I had to get out of here before I turned into anything resembling Cody. The question was, how?
The door to my chambers slid open. Vikki was standing there.
I waited for her to enter, but she didn't move.
"Can…can I come in?" Vikki asked.
"Fine," I said. "But don't do anything weird."
Vikki walked inside slowly, as if unsure of herself. As she came into the light, I saw that she wasn't naked this time. She was wearing a combat uniform.
There was only one place she could have gotten that. Mia.
I stood up in a rage and stomped over to her. "Take that off! Now!" I screamed.
Vikki looked at me for a second, then started crying. She turned to leave, but I caught her arm.
"Wait," I said, trying to calm myself down. "I'm sorry, but that doesn't belong to you."
"I…I thought you might like it if I wore it."
The confident tease from before was gone. Was she trying to manipulate me, like Zoe had warned? Or did she really understand so little about us? Vikki wasn't an obvious threat at this point, and I needed any help I could get.
I was still holding Vikki's arm. I let go, sighing. "No, it's okay.
Vikki swiftly removed the combat uniform, folded it neatly, and placed it in my hands. "I'll go now."
I tried not to stare at the smooth metal breasts so close to my face. "Hey, uh, can we talk a bit? About Mekanics?"
Vikki beamed at me. "Sure!"
We headed back over to the sofa, sitting on opposite ends. I avoided looking at her. Zoe continued pacing back and forth.
I'll make sure you don't do anything I wouldn't.
Oh right, like that leaves out a lot.
I took a deep breath. "I think Garvek's going to try to bond with me."
Vikki gasped. "No! He said…he said…it was supposed to be me."
I shook my head. "He wants me for himself."
"And you agreed?" Vikki sounded hurt. I glanced over at her pouting expression.
"Of course not! But I don't think he cares. He'll force himself."