When Ishaan saw Centium Prime's head pop off like a cork, he finally released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Cheers erupted around him. He met Sienna's eyes, then Caroline and her teammates'. Their smiles were contagious.
Well done, Ella, Marvin, whoever was piloting.
Ishaan had kept Centium out of Nagatown. With the Manhunters weakened as well, the Sawblades could finally thrive again.
Ella desynced and some scavengers hauled Marvin's damaged body out of the arena. They placed him in a cart which Renee and Ben rolled away, back to the mech storage where he could be repaired.
Ishaan went to Ella and shook her hand. "Thank you."
"Of course," Ella said. "Nice job against Ninth Gen."
Still didn't win. Ishaan nodded and let the younger pilot leave. Now that this was over, he could turn his attention to the other thing that had been occupying him.
He found Caroline, who was looking at a 3D blueprint of Marvin's injuries. She was the most relaxed he'd ever seen her.
"Caroline," Ishaan said, lowering his voice. "About Marvin's murder. Are we still infiltrating the stadium?"
Caroline widened her eyes. "Shit, I didn't tell you."
"Tell me what?"
"We're keeping the investigating to a minimum. Hosaka's trying to cover up Marvin's death—they don't want anyone else even looking into it."
Ishaan frowned and looked at the other side of the arena, where Lead Inspector Kobayashi was talking to Grayson Wright. You're so anti-corruption you'll silence people who speak about it. It was typical of the Hosaka Roundtable to have an ego like that.
"So we just let them solve the murder?" Ishaan said. Who knew how long that would take.
"We at least shouldn't infiltrate a stadium owned by them."
"Fine." And honestly, if Hosaka hadn't solved the case by now, the stadium's footage was most likely a dead end. The real files would either be destroyed or kept in some dense backlog.
"Don't worry about this stuff right now," Caroline said. "You should celebrate!"
Ishaan shook his head. "Still got work to do." Their newly acquired territory wouldn't govern itself, and they had to watch out for retaliation from Centium and the Manhunters. And most importantly, Mecha Realm was still a long way off.
"Are you serious?" Caroline said.
Ishaan nodded, and Caroline's eyebrows furrowed with concern.
"Well, if you change your mind and want to hang out with us, our door is open." She frowned at herself. "I mean, don't barge in—"
"Dinner again, for sure," Ishaan said. "Another time, though."
Caroline grinned, bid him farewell, and went to join the rest of her team.
I guess I've been invited to their friend group. He'd never gone to public school, but he suspected this was how they operated.
Before he could leave as well, he heard footsteps behind him. He braced to see Diana Kane and her ilk give their meaningless formalities, but instead, he found himself face-to-face with Grayson Wright. The greatest pilot of all time, no more than six feet away.
"Ishaan, yes?" he said.
Ishaan's mind went blank. He barely recognized the hand that he was meant to shake, until Grayson began pulling it away awkwardly. Ishaan clasped it hurriedly.
"It's an honor to meet you." Grayson Wright was slightly taller than him with silver hair and a sharp beard, though not a wrinkle on his face.
"Likewise," Grayson said. "It's been a while since I've been this pleasantly surprised."
Ishaan blinked. Did he mean…?
"Don't get me wrong, I love the sport," Grayson said, "but when you get my age, you usually get what you expect, or less."
"I don't understand how it happened," Ishaan admitted. "I couldn't even beat Saberstar a few months ago."
Grayson's eyes twinkled. "Who's your mentor?"
"I don't have one." He'd trained by himself since he'd seen his first mech fight.
"Figured." The older pilot smiled. "People like you are one in a million."
Ishaan tried not to pinch himself; he could relive this moment to confirm it wasn't a dream. For now, he tried to act cordial and bowed his head in thanks.
"Can I ask, how come you got recruited by Centium?"
"I owe Diana Kane," Grayson said. "She helped me when I was… unwell."
Ishaan raised an eyebrow. Grayson being sick was never heard of. How come the media had not burned this news into his brain?
"I don't support the gang, though," Grayson continued. "I'm honestly glad you won."
How come your debt to Diana runs deeper than your morals?
Grayson turned halfway and gave Ishaan a pat on the shoulder. "I look forward to seeing you again."
-----
After a series of initial repairs, Marvin found himself back in the mech storage. His arm was replaced, his sabers were reattached, and he could move his whole body. The wound in his torso would be fixed at the farm. Now, he had to wait for Caroline and the others to finish the three-round duel protocols with Hosaka.
They'd offered to shut him down till they got home. Let him rest. Marvin had refused. He didn't know if he could ever sleep again. One of these days, someone would shut him down and he would never wake back up.
He recalled the way Centium Prime's blade had dug into his head. Had Ella stayed there for one more millisecond, he would have died.
He was grateful for her. Of course he was—she'd won the whole thing. But he would never let anyone control his soul like that again.
The mech storage's door opened, allowing a sliver of light to splatter on the bench Marvin was sitting on. The overhead lights turned on.
It was Ella again.
"Hey," she said.
"You're not with them?" Marvin asked.
"I wanted to check in. For real."
"Oh." The others had already stopped by, so Marvin had assumed Ella wouldn't come. They had not talked since the duel. Some indescribable force had kept Marvin quiet.
"Your head," Ella said, walking closer. "Is it okay?"
"I think so."
Ella pursed her lips. "I'm sorry."
"You saved me," Marvin said, though the words felt hollow.
"I don't know," Ella said. "Maybe I was just keeping myself in the game."
"Still saved me."
"I guess."
Even if she's right, Marvin realized, the moment we got back up, she asked if I was okay.
Within the sea of cold fear in his Core, he found warmth in knowing that Ella cared.
At that moment, a curiosity slipped into his mind. He figured there would be no better time to ask it. He ran the question twice in his mind to make sure he would not mess up, then went for it.
"Ella. Why did you hate me?"
Ella looked at him in surprise, then lowered her gaze. She scoffed. "Who says I don't anymore?"
Marvin chuckled. "Seriously."
Ella looked up, her brown eyes meeting Marvin's cameras. Her expression softened, but she didn't say anything. It was a look Marvin had never seen from her. He hated to admit it, but she really was beautiful.
Wait, what?
He dragged his brain back to the present. Why hasn't she said something? You should say something.
"I hated you because it was easy," Ella said, right as Marvin was priming his voice box. "I was stressed. I mean, I knew I couldn't start as good as Varyn ended, but I wanted to make a mark. I had to prove that I was the right choice. And then you came along and surpassed everyone's expectations because they had none."
"It wasn't fair," Marvin said. He didn't mean to enable her. He just thought it was the truth.
"I didn't want to blame Luyan or Varyn or my parents for the stress. I owe them too much," Ella continued. "So I blamed you. You didn't deserve it."
Marvin nodded. That was how it usually was, he supposed. Maybe there were elements of his personality Ella didn't like, but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't his fault.
"It's alright. Just make your criticism more constructive," Marvin said.
Ella laughed. "Nah, I can't have you actually getting better."
Marvin crossed his arms. So this was still a thing, huh? "Why don't we have an official duel?" he suggested. Immortal Ignition had enough points to spare.
"You can't beat the melt-drills, Marvin."
"Give me a month."
They both found themselves smiling. Marvin had never thought he would like the company of another pilot, much less Eleanor Hall, but here they were.
Before they could say anything else, the door suddenly opened again. Ella spun around and Marvin's cameras sharpened on the newcomers. Ben and Renee had entered the room.
"Something's wrong," Ben said, hurrying towards them. "A group of scavengers just left the camp. They're going to the megacity."
"Okay?" Ella said. Marvin had to agree; he had no idea what was wrong about that.
"They're up to something," Ben said. "When Renee was sneaking around she heard something about the scavengers getting weapons ready in the megacity. They might be preparing to attack."
"Attack who?" Marvin asked incredulously.
"They mentioned Luyan."
For a split second, a pin drop could have been heard.
"Where's Sangeet?" Ella asked.
"At the tent," Ben said.
Ella made for the door. Marvin stood up to follow and despite his injuries, no one stopped him. They all knew the plan. It was time to demand one more explanation.
-----
Ishaan's team tent was empty save for one man. The hologram on the table had gone dark, replaced by a flat screen glowing dimly with residual power. In the corner, Sangeet was putting the last of his mech parts in the cart. He looked up as Ella, Ben and Renee entered, trailed by the ten-foot-tall Marvin.
Ella stopped a few feet away from him, wary. He seemed too calm, like he'd been expecting them.
"What's going on with the scavengers?" Ella asked. "What do they want with Luyan?"
Sangeet smiled sadly and strolled to the front of the table. He leaned back against it and folded his hands across his stomach.
"I should come clean. It wouldn't be fair to you."
Ella narrowed her eyes. Just spill it. If Luyan was in danger, she needed to know.
"A few months ago, Luyan tried to buy a piece of our Hopper's armor," Sangeet explained. "It was so his mech could use that melt-tech without burning up from the inside. We wouldn't give it to him—without it, we can't traverse the badlands. We'd be grounded here forever. Our way of life would be gone."
"But you said the negotiation worked out in the end," Ben said.
Ella shook her head; she could already tell where this was going. Once Luyan had his sights set on something, it took a great deal for him to let go.
"He stole it," she said quietly. That was why Sangeet had tried to steal Immortal Ignition at the mecha pod, but it didn't explain why the scavs had left for the megacity. "I'm sorry. I didn't know." She gestured behind her. "But Immortal Ignition is right there."
She hesitated on saying "it's yours," but the scavengers were at least justified in taking it. Stolen. Jeez Luyan, you can't just—
"We know," Sangeet said. "We had to make sure Luyan didn't have it on hand."
Ella blinked. "Why?"
Sangeet swallowed. "Luyan stole one more thing: a handgun. My parents saw him escaping and tried to raise the alarm. I woke up after I heard the gunshots. My dad was still alive when we found him, and he told us…" Sangeet trailed off.
No. That can't be true. Luyan would never commit murder.
"They're going to kill him, Ella. They've tracked his location and made sure he doesn't have any way to defend himself."
"That's why you stole the guns from the Manhunters," Ben muttered. People couldn't bring weapons into the megacity, so the only way was to get them from inside.
Sangeet drew in a shaky breath and looked at Ella. "I know you two were close. I'm sorry."
Ella pressed her temples and squeezed her eyes shut. There was too much to process. Why would Luyan ever do such a thing? How could he be so obsessed with his mech?
But even if that was the truth, Ella couldn't bear the thought of returning to the megacity and finding the man dead.
"Don't do this," Ella whispered. "Can't you just report him to Hosaka?"
Let the justice system handle things. Let them tell her this was all a hoax, a false accusation, a bad dream.
"I'm usually not in support of killing—that's why I didn't go with them," Sangeet said. "But Ella. They were my parents."
Despite her urge to lash out, Ella forced herself to remain calm. If he's telling the truth, there's no way I can change his mind.
But she couldn't let Luyan die. He was her mentor throughout all her life, and was the reason she had risen so high.
"Can I talk to him at least?" Ella implored.
"You have to believe what I'm saying," Sangeet said. "Luyan is not a good man."
But he had been good to her.
"He raised me," Ella said. "I need to talk to him."
"We've put a Spider between here and the city to stop you from getting in," Sangeet said. "You won't get past it."
"And if I do?"
The scavenger stared long and hard at Ella, judging her every twitch. She didn't try to put on an act. If she was being amoral, so be it. She would stand her ground; she deserved to confront Luyan. She deserved to see him one more time.
The scavenger clenched and unclenched his fists, and at length sighed.
"If you get past it, it's fair game. You can hear the truth from him."
Ella nodded gratefully and turned around. She strode past Ben and Renee, and as she was about to pass Marvin, she suddenly found a metal arm in her way. She looked up at the towering mech.
I'm doing this whether you like it or not.
"I'll help you," Marvin said.
Ella widened her eyes. "You've got no chance against a Spider."
"I'll distract it till you get there. Then you finish it off."
Ella caught herself mid-protest. She would be a fool to deny him, and time was ticking fast.
"Okay. Don't die," she said.
And with that, the two of them left the tent.