Shards of glass litter the white floor, with the absence of the window allowing the sound of the heavy winds to enter the lobby room. The black void is visible beyond the open hole, with the tall stone blade of the monument in the center of the hole. Beyond the stone blade is the distant city highrise, with silver towers lit with colorful vertical light strips.
The glowing turquoise diamonds making up Argus's helmet stares ahead, the dark pupils all focused down on the single target. All of the eyes stare as the man grips both of the launchers, with each of them having a diamond-shaped plate on it as ammunition.
In his line of sight, both of the glowing blue parallelograms making up Meditat's helmet stares ahead, focused at his first target, waiting to decide for the right time to move. His white and blue hands are in closed fists, steady as he mentally readies himself, focused on the fight.
Behind Argus stands Indra, who looks down on his old best friend, seeing that he had recovered and followed them all the way to the scene of the heist, as it seemed he'd chase them to the end of the Earth if it was to find them again.
He lowers his head, knowing that his strike was clearly not adequate, as he aimed to knock him out for at least the whole night, and yet he might've only bought a single hour.
Still, in that time between the two fights, they did manage to get all the way to the Octagon, breach the facility, and fight their way to the top. Now, they were well deep into the heist, which was still impressive after all they had to do, but it still wasn't enough.
Indra raises his head back up, and he takes another two steps back. He then speaks, "Well, I guess you just won't give up, won't you? I should've probably let Cratus take a few hits to finish the job, that's on me. Tonight isn't about you Meditat, or whatever you call yourself, go home and forget about all of this."
He turns his body around, and lowers his head again, staring at the white floor. He then adds, "You don't know what you're doing, you don't understand this life. You're making a costly mistake, so turn back now and maybe we'll forgive you."
Meditat glares at the back of Indra's head after hearing his offer. However, he had already tightened his resolve, and such a weak attempt would have no effect.
He argues back in his digitally altered voice, "It's not me who should be seeking forgiveness. Maybe I haven't been flying around as much as you, but you don't understand life to begin with. If you did, you'd value it more."
Indra lets out a soft sigh, and he admits, "It's weird hearing that voice again knowing it's yours. Very well, in that case I don't think I can offer much more for now. You guys can have him, I'm going to check on the progress."
With that, he walks down the room, and towards the far wall where there appears to be a closed door. On the closed door is a rectangular shaped device, about the size of a calculator, which seems to hover against the door. It even appears similar to a calculator with different buttons, however it's from a holographic red screen. The device is likely the 'Red Virus' as Indra dubbed it, such a small device with such powerful capabilities.
Meditat turns back to Argus, who was the first threat, especially since his launchers are still aimed at him. He stares at Argus's hands, seeing how steadily he's able to hold them without shaking. He looks back up at Argus, and mentions, "You seem to be aiming that well, I guess you don't have too much of a problem with who your target is."
Argus speaks in a heavily distorted voice that constantly changes pitches, as though his module was glitching badly, however at the same time it's clearly purposeful.
He responds, "This isn't my first time being in this type of situation, and I doubt it'll be my last."
Meditat takes a deep breath, and slowly lets it out. He tightens his grip, staring down at the tips of the plates on the launcher.
He states, "Then maybe it's best that you're all put down, for your own good."
Immediately after, both of his gauntlets begin transforming, with the white plates at the back of his right forearm creating the cone to shape the arm cannon, and the black carbon fiber plates sliding down the left arm to form the armored fists. Even before the transformation can complete, the right side of his body begins glowing blue, as he boosts himself to the left.
As Meditat strafes, Argus pulls both triggers, and he fires both plates out of his launcher. However, the plates don't fire straight forward like normal launchers, rather it shoots at a curve, which is aimed straight for where Meditat is heading.
Meditat's eyes widen as in the split moment, he notices both of the plates moving towards where he's going to be based off his path rather than where he started out.
His gauntlets become complete, and the back of his carbon fiber fists light up blue. Faint blue energy diamonds project out of his hand, being placed beside each other to create the larger shield, just in time before the two plates both strike the surface of the shield, right at the height that'd be necessary to shoot him in the head.
Meditat opens his mouth to let out a relieved sigh, but he leaves his jaw open when he notices both of the dark turquoise plates begin to light up.
Both plates suddenly explode on the shield, blasting Meditat backwards, as it seems the plates aren't just ammunition but they're explosive as well.
Meditat flies backwards, however he lands on the ground, his feet digging into the floor to halt himself. He grits his teeth, surprised from the unexpected explosion. While he's safe from the shield, he couldn't help but notice how perfect that shot was, and how well it was guided to be a perfect headshot.
Whatever weapons were being stashed in his holsters, they aren't just classic launchers that feed off the plates on his body, they seem capable of omnidirectional firing, hence the low profile. Coupled with Argus's enhanced senses, it seemed that he had perfect aim, for Meditat didn't expect that strike to hit especially while boosting so suddenly. It was both impressive and concerning, but what was even more arguably concerning were the explosive capabilities of the plates.
Meditat's eyes dart to his left arm, staring at the blue diamond shield, which is up. However, the explosive power of the tiles were stronger than anticipated, so much so that it took a great deal of power for the shield to absorb them.
Even if he could absorb the first two strikes, it's unclear how many shots Meditat could take before his shield would need to go down, however for now there's no way he could release it knowing that every shot would be perfectly aimed.
Meditat plants his feet in the ground, and he brings his right arm forward, sticking it through the shield. He wouldn't be able to last very long in this fight, and so he has to end it as quickly as possible before it can be lengthened.
Meditat opens fire, rapidly shooting blue bolts at Argus.
However, to his surprise, Argus rolls to the side before the shots are made, and he continues dodging all the attacks as Meditat tries to aim his cannon at Argus. Yet none of them hit, not because Argus is able to move faster than the cannon's shots, but because he's able to detect where the shots wound land and move away before they could strike him.
Even when Meditat takes his arm out of the shield to fire more freely, Argus continues dodging all the shots perfectly, all of the pupils on his helmet staring at Meditat's cannon.
While Argus runs, he swipes both of his launchers on his forearms, resupplying each of them with more plates. Without even turning to shoot, Argus holds his launchers out ahead of him, and he fires both of them, with both plates flying straight for Meditat once again.
Meditat's eyes widen, and he lifts his shield up, blocking both of the tiles before it could hit him. Both tiles light up again, and they once more explode, blasting Meditat off his feet.
Meditat hovers in the air, and he turns to his shield, seeing the projection flicker as the shield is already struggling to keep up. Now more than ever he's unsure if he could even take two more shots, yet as he turns to Argus, he watches him begin reloading his launchers, as he has far more than two plates left on his arm, with many more on his knees.
He couldn't keep the distance forever, eventually he'd lose his only defense and it'd be the end, as it seemed that Argus excelled at distance more than he could. He had to close him, and so his eyes target him, knowing he'd have to make a risky play.
Meditat bends his knees, and he voluntarily stops the projection, relinquishing the shield. He keeps his fist closed however, and the whole forearm begins to glow blue.
He then boosts forward and straight at Argus, and throws his fist forward, trying to throw one boosted punch to knock him out. He aims for the cheek, knowing that with so much skin, it'd be the best place to strike a nonlethal yet still defeating blow.
However, to Meditat's surprise, Argus runs straight at him. Before the two can make contact, Argus slides on the floor, moving straight under Meditat and past him. He gets back on his feet as Meditat misses his punch, and he turns around to aim at him, both launchers loaded. He waits for a moment however, realizing that he's facing Meditat's back, but also judging Meditat's instincts to face him.
He is right, as Meditat does indeed turn towards him, a horrible reaction that instantly loses his perfect cover. Upon turning, Meditat immediately realizes his faults, as he stares down at both of the plates, which aim right for him. However, he couldn't resummon his shield, especially since it'd take a second to recharge after putting it away.
However, before Meditat could get shot, he suddenly hears the sound of a large object flying straight from him at high speeds, as if something else was attacking him from behind. He immediately strafes to the right, judging that from the sound of the flight, it wouldn't be something he'd want to stand in front of.
At the same time, even Argus seems to roll to the side, also alarmed by the sudden additional projectile that he himself didn't plan on intervening until he sensed it being shot towards them.
Meditat's body strafes as it leaves a wide trail of blue energy, and he watches in surprise to see the massive metal receptionist desk fly right past him, as though it was launched out of a large cannon. His eyes widen in shock as he watches it fly straight out of the window and outside.
As he watches Argus get back up to his feet, he recognizes that he has enough time to summon his diamond shield. He begins doing so to protect himself from the coming fire, but as he does, he contemplates what just happened.
It seemed that the whole desk was just picked up and used as a giant bolt meant to strike Meditat where he wasn't looking, and with such a heavy desk being thrown, Meditat's first assumption would be that Cratus had thrown it with his sheer unnatural strength.
However, he then realizes that while Cratus is strong enough to lift and throw the table, it didn't seem to have been thrown, as the path was far too straight. Regardless of how strong he is, due to his own size relative to the long desk and wide desk, it would've been far too awkward for him to throw straight, and it would've been more likely to have been thrown in an arch, and likely not have been as fast as the desk was.
No, it didn't feel as though the desk was thrown, it felt like it was shot out, or at least like it was repelled by a concentrated force from the back, being projected at a straight target. Yet he was unsure who in the group could do that, since unless he did underestimate Cratus, nobody else had the ability to lift heavy objects like he did.
His contemplation stops after he remembers that he's still fighting Argus, and he has to focus on the fight or he'd be shot down and his body would be the one blown up rather than his shield. Whoever had shot the desk at him, he'll focus on them later, for now he's in another fight.
Meditat lifts his shield up as Argus fires the two plates back at him. He blocks both of the plates, and watches as they light up and then explode, blasting him backwards. He shakes his head tiredly, seeming to be stuck in this endless loop of sustaining explosion after explosion.
He looks down to see Argus rolling to the side to avoid him, and in the one, he swipes his launchers above his ankles to resupply himself. He stands back up with both reloaded launchers, aiming for him again, and then firing before Meditat could even get a chance to think.
Meditat flies backwards and blocks both of the plates, which then once more explode, catching him by surprise again. He groans through gritted teeth, finding himself unable to find an opening.
He drops down a few feet before hovering again, needing to stay above ground to move faster but also needing to stay closer to Argus to find an opening. He stares at the corner of the peripherals of his eye, seeing that once again his shield is flickering, only maybe being able to take another two shots before going down again, throwing Meditat back into the same problem as before.
As he watches Argus run around him, finishing to reload his launchers with another swipe at his forearms, he finds himself readying to take another hit, unsure if he exactly could.
It seems that every time he gets shot, he gets hit twice, with the initial shot and then the following explosion. In that time, Argus has ample time to reload for another shot, making him able to seem to reload indefinitely, and it would take far too long for Meditat to sit there eating plates until they'd eventually run out.
Argus himself wasn't particularly strong, he didn't have enhanced strength or any natural fighting capabilities, but with his launchers he was deadly due to his perfect aim. If Meditat could strike Argus while he was reloading his launchers, that would be the perfect window, as he'd be busy in an act and even if he were to fight back, a boosted armored punch would be more than he could handle. The issue is that during the window, Meditat is busy getting blown up, so he has to find a way to cut down on the time he wastes in order to strike back.
Meditat's eyes tail Argus as he turns around, waiting for the next shot. An idea comes to mind, and he turns back to his shield, seeing it hardly staying up. He'd need to execute this strike perfectly, or it could seriously damage him, but if he got any hit it could guarantee Argus's defeat.
Meditat bends his knees, and he boosts straight at Argus, holding his shield up to take the next shots. He keeps his right down, as though he isn't planning to use it.
Argus stops in place, and he aims his launchers at Meditat, seeing him fly right at him. He fires both launchers at once, observing Meditat's damaged shield, and calculating that these last plates should do the job.
Both of the plates get blocked by Meditat's shield, but they stick on just like before. They begin to light up again, the explosion emininate, which would be more than Meditat could theoretically handle.
However, before they can explode, Meditat's left fist stops glowing, and he cuts off the shield's projection. The blue diamond plates vanish, and the turquoise plates begin falling, having been let go by Meditat and leaving him free.
Meditat throws a left hook with his armored fist, to which Argus hastily moves, having sensed the strike before it happened. Meditat watches as Argus strafes to the side away from his fist, lowering down to avoid the swing.
Right as he does that however, Meditat swings his right arm out, and begins rapidly firing blue bolts, lowering his arm down towards Argus's body. His arms cross over, and even with Argus's senses, he isn't able to change his movement before three of the shots fired manage to land on his body.
Argus's helmet and chest stops glowing, and he collapses to the ground, having been knocked unconscious from the unexpected, unblockable strike. The launchers fall out of his hand, and drop on the floor, the first Babylonian defeated.
He fought long and hard, but with quick thinking and outmaneuvering, Meditat eventually found the opening he needed to beat him, and now he was left with the rest of the team to face against.
The first down, with four more to go, as the long night was far from over.