Dustin. I'll make the cuts quick and clean. Zoe approached, her paw raised with extended claws.
"No, no, no." I backed away from Zoe.
"Well, if you can't puke it up—" Julie started.
Mia moved to my front without saying a word. She reached into my mouth with her hand, trying to tickle the back of my throat. "Can you vomit?" she asked.
I coughed and gagged, pushing Mia away. My hands grabbed something soft and round by accident , but I was too busy trying to puke to care.
I doubled over, spitting stomach acid.
"It's going to have to be your cat, then," Julie said.
"Wait." I held up a hand. Mia had given me an idea. "Vikki?"
There was a loud groan of metal. The pounding stopped for a moment, then continued.
Vikki turned her head. "Hurry. He's almost through."
"How long is your tongue?" I asked.
Zoe made a coughing noise. You're not thinking…
They do surgery like this. Endo-something.
Vikki brightened. "Three point two feet."
"Remember?" I asked. "Open wide." I opened my mouth as wide as I could, approaching the broken remnants of the metal girl.
"Gross," Julie said. "You're not going to—"
Vikki and I kissed. Something slithered down my throat. I fought the urge to gag.
The kiss seemed to last forever, but Vikki's tongue eventually retracted. I set her back down.
I turned to find Mia and Julie staring with horrified expressions.
"What?"
Hurry, Dustin!
Right.
Vikki was holding the tracker-bomb in her lips. I plucked it out. "Thanks, Vikki."
She smiled, her cracked and scratched features shifting. "That was my first kiss. At least since my last reboot."
I held up the round metal object. "Now we need to blow up a wall."
I covered my ears at a loud, screeching sound followed by an ear-splitting crash. The ship rocked.
Someone outside roared.
"Father's here," Vikki whispered. "The big one, this time."
"Julie, Mia. You distract it." I took the phone from Mia. "How do I trigger the bomb?"
Mia tapped the phone, then handed it over. "It's ready. Hit the confirmation."
"Okay," I replied. "Our goal's to get through that wall. Go, go!"
We ran out of the flying saucer at the same time, splitting up into three directions. I carried Vikki over my shoulder, with Zoe tagging along with me.
I didn't look backwards but ran straight for the far wall, the phone and bomb clutched in my hands.
I don't believe this.
What?
Zoe sent a quick flash of a mental image. It was a sleek, metallic cat, except it had to be nearly a hundred feet long.
Garvek likes cats? Oh god, I really needed to get away from him. And I don't even want to know what Grade that is.
Something exploded behind me. Mia and Julie would be trying to distract it.
We'd bust a hole, then try our luck on the surface of the base, praying that someone had heard my earlier message. Or that there was another flying saucer Vikki could fly. Anything but letting Garvek have his way.
It was a weak plan, but we had to keep moving. To stay free. To stay alive.
I rolled the bomb on the ground like a bowling ball towards the wall, which was about twenty yards away.
I held the phone in my hand, ready to trigger the bomb like Mia had shown me.
Just a bit more—
Something brown blurred. A bladed insect arm met the rolling ball, flicking it high up into the air.
"Garvek!" Staccato screamed, pointing at the bomb with a blade before dashing away.
Garvek was faster than I expected with his enormous body. The floor shook as he bounded towards us. I scrambled away to avoid getting crushed, but Garvek leaped high at the last second.
He caught the bomb in his mouth.
No! The plan was falling apart already, but I could at least buy us more time. I detonated the bomb as Garvek closed his jaws.
Garvek's enormous metal mouth lit up with a purple glow. Then, Garvek spit out hunks of metal and raised his head, roaring like a lion.
Shit, did that even do anything?
Watch out! Staccato!
I raced towards the girls, but Staccato cut me off.
"Hunter, you fool." He swiped a bladed forearm at me, but Garvek shrieked. A giant metal paw knocked Staccato aside.
"Not him," Garvek growled. "Do what you want with the others." Garvek lowered his massive cat head toward me. "You and I will be one. It's destiny."
So Garvek didn't want me hurt. I had to use that, somehow. I raced toward Staccato, who was approaching Mia and Julie.
Julie shot her webbing at Staccato, but he cut them out of the air with glowing blue blades. Mia moved to the front to meet Staccato.
"Staccato! No, don't do this!" I screamed as I ran toward the fight. "It's Julie and Mia!"
Staccato laughed. "You think I care?" He slashed downward with both arms at once, his blades sinking deep into Mia's shell. Mia screamed.
Julie spat more webbing at Staccato's insect head while his arms were occupied, then leaped onto his back, stabbing him with her legs.
Staccato ignored Julie, as if confident that he could take out Mia before Julie did any real damage.
"Staccato!" I ran toward his Beastform, unsure what I could do without being able to meld.
I had briefly forgotten about Garvek. He lunged and picked Julie off Staccato's back as if she was an ordinary bug. Julie tried to scramble away, but Garvek bit down hard, catching two of Julie's legs in his jaws.
A second set of screams joined the first.
"No!" I rushed Staccato, kicking uselessly at one of his brown insect legs. He flicked the leg at me, knocking the air out of me as I slammed into the floor.
I had been holding Vikki, but I lost my grip on her. She skidded a few feet past me.
A shadow fell over us. An enormous metal paw descended. I scrambled towards Vikki, but I was still groggy and couldn't move fast enough.
Zoe sprinted past me, swiping at Vikki, then dancing out of the way as the metal paw slammed into the ground.
"Vikki!"
Zoe had only been able to knock her a short distance away. Garvek had crushed the rest of her body, leaving only Vikki's head intact.
Garvek lifted his paw. None of us would be able to stop his next attack.
We were outmatched. Drake had said it long ago. An unstoppable, overwhelming force, where our only goal was to survive. There was only one thing we could do.
Die.
No! I screamed. Drake was wrong. We didn't have to die. We had to change. Evolve. Adapt.
I looked at Zoe, who was crouched low, muscles tensed for action.
I looked at Vikki, wires dangling from her neck. She was facing me, and her lips were moving, but I couldn't make out what she was saying.
Evolve. Adapt. There was only one way to do that. There had only ever been one way, the same one that had been there the whole time.
I crawled over to Vikki, forcing my limbs to respond.
Zoe cocked her head. She knew what I was going to try.
Zoe, we have to give it a shot. I know how you feel about them—
A flood of emotions poured through our bond. Fear. Anger. Desperation. And last of all, hope. Do it, Dustin.
You know the risks. What happened to Staccato's Avatar.
Zoe grabbed the wires jutting out of Vikki's neck with his mouth and dragged her over to me. Do it!
"Vikki," I said. "Can we…can we bond?"
Vikki blinked at me. "Are you sure? What if…what if I'm not good enough?"
Christ, what had happened to the pushy psycho girl from before? "Vikki, we have to!" I glanced up at Garvek. We didn't have any time left. "Vikki! You asked me back at the Academy. Yes, yes, I trust you. To end the War. Vikki!"
Vikki closed her eyes. "Thank you, Dustin."