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Grandpa Arlet rode with clenched teeth against the pain of his broken leg jostling with every stride of the horse. Behind him, Eren clung to his waist, the boy's small arms wrapped tight while his face buried against the old man's back. He was human again; the Omnitrix having timed out minutes after they'd fled the ravine.
Ember ran alongside them, the Vulpimancer's powerful strides eating up the ground despite the limp in his hind leg. His orange fur was matted with dirt and exposed skin from the hot laser burns. Every few strides, he would stumble but he caught himself and kept surging forward.
Behind them, the ground was echoing another set of neighing.
Eren looked back. Despite the fading light, he could make out the shapes. Horses galloping at full speed. On their backs was a knight in dark armor, while the other is an all too familiar figure in golden mask.
How the heck is he not dead?!
"They're gaining on us." Eren whispered, his voice barely audible over the pounding of hooves and the rush of wind.
Grandpa Arlet didn't answer. He just urged the horse faster, kicking against its flanks with his good leg. A laser blast screamed past them, close enough that Eren felt the heat of it passing by. The horse screamed and veered, nearly throwing them both. Arlet's arms tightened around the horse heading it back on track while Eren instinctively held on tighter.
"Steady! Steady, girl!" The old man's voice was sharp with command, cutting through the horse's panic. "We can't outrun them at this pace."
As if proving the veteran's point, another blast struck the ground just behind them, sending chucks of dirt and stone into the air.
Ember must have sensed it too. His head had been turning constantly to track the pursuit behind. He might not understand too much of this strange language. But he knows one thing for sure. The two leggeds want to take away tiny two legged.
On purpose, the vulpimancer's stride shortened to a halt. He looked at Eren with his eyeless face.
"Ember?" Eren asked confused as his new friend stopped running. "Ember, what are you doing? We have to keep going!"
The Vulpimancer didn't move. He stood there, before turning his head turned toward the two horses thundering toward them.
Eren stared at the Vulpimancer then back at what he was looking at. His heart hammered against his ribs already realizing what Ember had in mind.
"No," Eren whispered, "No, Ember, don't you dare—"
Ember looked back at Eren one last time. Making a low grumbling sound as his tail gave a single, slow wag.
It felt like a goodbye.
Before the vulpimancer turned away, running toward the enemies pursuing them.
"WAIT!" Eren started to scramble off the horse, but Grandpa Arlet's arm was a steel bar across his chest, holding the boy's arm in place from leaving. Not wasting any second, the veteran wrecker kicked the horse hard, making the animal respond by accelerating faster.
"What are you doing?! He's going to—Mr. Arlet, turn around! We have to help him!"
"No," the old man said, his voice thick. "We can't go back. Don't you see? He's... he's giving us a chance."
Ember ran with everything he had left. Even with the wounds on his limbs he pushed through the pain. The two knights realizing they were about to hit a collision course with the incoming Vulpimancer tried to veer their horses, but it was too late.
Ember leaped.
He didn't aim for the closest rider. He aimed for the horse. His massive body slammed into the animal's side with the force of a cannonball, sending it crashing to the ground. Enoch was hurled from the saddle, his body spinning through the air before hitting the dirt with a grunt of pain and surprise.
The horse screamed, thrashing on the ground, and Ember landed on his feet, his jaws already snapping toward the fallen alchemist who barely had time to defend himself, risking his hands by desperately pushing against Ember's opened jaws.
In his struggle, Enoch's eyes scanned the landscape ahead of him. A hundred yards ahead, the old man's horse was still running, carrying both his blasted former partner and the boy farther away.
"Get the boy!" Enoch commanded. "Go after them! They can't be allowed to escape!"
His subordinate hesitated, looking at his fallen commander, then at the fleeing figures. Heavily concerned of the danger his superior is in.
"But sir-"
"NOW!" Enoch screamed. "That's an order!"
The knight didn't need to be told a third time. He snapped the reins, spurring his horse forward on pursuit. Enoch on the other hand tried desperately to push off the beast face, only for Ember to grab hold of the alchemist's armor; piercing through it; and vigorously shake him like a ragdoll then throwing him away. Sending Enoch tumbling in the ground.
Enoch staggered back to his feet, looking at his punctured armor at his shoulder now weighing him down. "Damn thing," Enoch snarled, tossing the shredded part aside. "Do you know what you've cost me?"
Ember responded with low growling, circling the alchemist to find another point where to strike. Enoch cautiously drew a knife from his belt, having lost most of his weapons in the previous fight. It was almost pathetic compared to the arsenal the knights normally carried.
"I was going to leave this place." Enoch's voice was shaking with rage. "I was going to escape this primitive, backward, godforsaken world. And you—you and that boy and that geezer—you've ruined everything. Everything!"
Ember huffed at that; a sound that was almost dismissive. Like he found the two legged anger funny.
"But I will give credit where it is due. You took down my horse so I can't pursue the boy. No matter…I'll settle for your head instead."
______________________
Eren heard the hoofbeats behind them.
Turning his head, he saw a knight was gaining on them. He could see that he was reaching for his advanced gun again.
"Mr Arlet-!"
Just at the nick of time, Arlet was able to veer his horse before a laser flew past them.
The knight's horse closed the remaining distance with that distraction. Within seconds, it was alongside them, rider and mount matching their pace.
"Oi! Where do you think you're going?" the knight snarled, reaching for the reins of Arlet's horse. His fingers closed around the leather straps, and he yanked hard, trying to pull them off course. "You've caused enough trouble for the Order! It ends here!"
Grandpa Arlet didn't hesitate.
His elbow shot out, catching the knight square in the face. The impact was brutal; Eren could have sworn he heard teeth crack. The knight's head snapped back, blood spraying from his shattered nose, but he didn't let go. His fingers clung to the reins with a desperate strength, even as tears of pain streamed down his face.
"You fucking bastard!" the knight gargled through the blood, "That hu—"
Arlet's elbow shot out again, putting his full weight behind it. The heavy jab snapped the knight's head back, his eyes rolling up in his head. This time, the knight's grip faltered. His hand opened slipping the reigns free and he tumbled from his horse with a strangled cry. He hit the ground hard, rolling, and didn't get up.
The horse he'd been riding, freed of its rider had now veered away into the darkness.
Arlet didn't look back. He just urged his horse faster, away from the fallen knight. But Eren couldn't stop looking back. He could still make out two shapes locked in combat; one massive and orange, the other smaller but deadly.
"Mr. Arlet, we can still turn back!" Eren's voice was desperate. "It will be one against 3. We can't just—he's fighting Enoch! He's going to die!"
Grandpa Arlet's jaw tightened, while his grip on the leather rein tightened. He didn't answer. He really didn't have an answer to begin with.
Meanwhile, Enoch lunged at Ember who dodged another lethal blow. The knife sliced across his flank, making a small wound appear. Exhaustion was becoming prominent on Enoch's movements, but he refused to show it.
"I wonder what you taste like. I've heard Vulpimancer meat is a delicacy on some worlds. Never had the chance to try it." Enoch repositioned his knife to hold it firmly. "Guess I shall find out after a cut you to bits."
He lunged. The blade swept toward Ember's neck; meant to end the fight in a killing strike. But Ember moved faster than anything with a limp should be able to, dodging under the swing leaving Enoch overarching his attack.
In the blink of an eye, Enoch saw as his extended forearm got enclosed around the Vulpimancer's massive jaws.
The alchemist shrieked; a high, inhuman sound that was a mix of human pain and alien screech. The blade fell from nerveless fingers, clattering against the stones. Ember bit down harder, his teeth grinding against armor and flesh, and then against something harder; the complex machinery that made up Enoch's true body, and then he twisted.
Enoch's hand came away in a spray of silver fluid and sparks. The alchemist fell back with a scream, clutching the stump where his hand had been, his body glitching as the ID mask flickered violently; revealing more and more of his true form.
Ember spat the severed hand onto the ground. It twitched for a moment, then went still, the circuits inside dimming.
"You—" Enoch was on his knees, his voice cracking. "You miserable, pathetic—AAAAHHHH!"
Ember's head turned, paying no mind to Enoch's agony. The scent of small cub and the old two-legged being were growing smaller and smaller. It can only mean one thing.
They had made it. They were safe.
Ember looked back at Enoch one last time.
Then he ran. Even with his wounded leg, the vulpimancer ran deeper into the scrubland, a creature like him could run and disappear to.
Enoch watched him go, still clutching the stump of his wrist. The ID mask failing completely now; revealing the silver, circuit-lined form beneath. For a long moment, he simply knelt there, his breath coming in ragged gasps, his mind refusing to process what had just happened.
He'd lost. Again. The boy had escaped. The creature had escaped. His hand was gone. His men were dead. Not only was his mission was a failure, but his one chance at escape; at freedom; had slipped through his fingers like goddamn sand. He had been so close, and the Omnitrix was within reach. A few more seconds, a little more time, and he could have maybe had it.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Enoch's scream tore through the evening air, raw and filled with a lifetime of rage and frustration. He threw his head back, making the damaged ID mask finally fell away entirely, landing on the ground at his knees.
"Damn it all!" His remaining fist pounded against the dirt. "DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT!"
He had nothing. Nothing but pain and failure and the long, cold walk back to Wall Rose.
"I was so close" he whispered, his voice no longer filtered, no longer human. It was a mechanical rasp, layered with static. "SO CLOSE!"
For a long moment after exerting his energy, he simply knelt there, staring at the ground. It had already reached nighttime.
Then, slowly, painfully, he picked himself up.
The stump of his wrist was still leaking that mysterious silver fluid. He needs to do something about that; but first; he needs to get back…to the order.
And he needed to get back to Wall Rose.
The alchemist bent down, picking up his ID mask with his remaining hand. It was cracked, badly damaged, barely even functional if he tried. He could hide his true form, blend in among the humans long enough to get back to base.
Enoch looked at the mask, before placing the damaged equipment over his face.
The journey back to Wall Rose would take days at this rate. Arlet had made sure to collapse one of the only exit and entrance into the walls, the horses were gone; if he was lucky, he might find one of the strays. He needed to damn rest before he thinks of going anywhere, it was already nighttime.
Dragging his body weight, Enoch sort himself to find some shade. Passing by titans that were already begin to succumb to slumber with the lack of sunlight. He even passed by one of his men that was on the floor, giving a contemptuous glare at the unconscious body that was literally snoring.
'Sleeping in the open titan territory? You are begging to be eaten by the morning.'
The stupid subordinate couldn't even do the job he gave him right. Well, not like he was any better himself. Finally finding a shade, Enoch leaned against a massive tree before sliding against. As his body sat down, it felt like lead. Was he this tired?
Enoch glanced down at his remaining hand, twitching instinctively. He could still feel the tingling sensation when he had made contact with the omnitrix. He almost succeeded in bypassing the systems before the failsafes could take full hold…then there was that titan.
What in the stars was a titan of this planet doing within the core of an extraterrestrial device?
Whatever the case may be. He has bigger issues. Aldric will most certainly demand result, and he had none. He himself was the one that suggested this operation in the first place.
However…he could bargain his failure with something else to avoid punishment.
"I may not have the boy nor the beast…but it seems my failed interaction with the core wasn't all for nothing."
Clenching and opening his palms, it glowed from silvery circuits to green momentarily. A faint flash showing an hourglass symbol before fading.
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