The explosion left behind a cloud of purple gas that seemed toxic. Blizzard and Camila pulled Xin back.
They retreated and stopped in front of a wall of violet fumes. They simply stared at it — if the gas was poisonous, walking through it would mean certain death.
In Blizzard's mind, there was nothing but hatred for the Earthlings. He remembered his wife. He was no longer acting out of reason, only emotion. In his thoughts, he ground his teeth with rage.
At headquarters, he appeared calm and focused. But in a real confrontation against Earthlings, he became like a wild animal.
"Calm down. You're going to hurt yourself, Dan."
Dan was Blizzard's real name. Only Captain Joline called him that — she didn't want to see him suffer. She hated those cold, emotionless code names.
Blizzard stood still for a moment, reflecting on everything that was happening. Thoughts flooded his mind. The gas slowly surrounded him, wrapping around his body. It took time to reach him, yet he couldn't move.
He remembered his girlfriend — her blue eyes, her soft, chubby body, her smooth skin. She loved walking hand in hand with him on the beach in the mornings. She used to say that one day they would get married, that one day all wars would end and the world would live in an era of peace. Blizzard hated wars too. They had killed his parents and brought nothing but death and despair.
"Hey, Dan… can you promise me something?"
"What kind of promise?"
"If another war breaks out, promise me you won't kill anyone. I don't want to see your hands covered in blood."
Dan held her hand, looked deep into her eyes, and said:
"I promise."
But he broke that promise. After her death, he killed several Earthlings while testing a new type of armor — much larger than the standard models. It was purple and couldn't fly, only glide for a short time. He killed two Earthlings in cold blood. It felt as if his body was moving on its own, driven only to kill.
His hands were stained with blood when he killed them — and now they were stained again. This time, it was his own.
He had pressed so hard against the armor's control panel that his hands were torn open and bleeding.
He stood there, waiting for the gas to kill him. He longed to see his wife again.
Suddenly, another armored unit — its breathing vents covered with cloth — kicked him out of the smoke.
It was Camila. Even though he was her enemy, her grandmother had taught her compassion.
Her grandmother, who had died years ago, used to tell her bedtime stories about knights.
"Years ago, there was a knight who wore silver armor. He fought against all evil. But one day, something worse than evil appeared — something neither he nor his enemies could control. He had to join forces with his greatest enemy, the dark mage, so that together they could defeat it."
"But Grandma, the dark mage is evil. He can't be the knight's friend."
"Listen, Camila. Evil is something natural in our world. There are reasons that lead people to become bad."
Even though he was her enemy, no matter how much she might have wanted him dead, she couldn't see him as just lifeless metal. Behind that armor was a person — just like her.
Blizzard lay on the ground, unable to touch the control panel again. If he did, unbearable pain shot through his body, like grabbing a thorn bush.
He ejected from the robot, launching himself upward. Camila left her own armor as well to check on him.
"HEY, THAT'S DANGEROUS, CAMILA!"
Xin shouted. They didn't know what this guy might do.
He had a first aid kit in his hands. She saw that his hands were bleeding badly. He could die from blood loss or pass out at any moment. She stitched his wounds with a needle and wrapped his hands in gauze.
He was sweating heavily, on the verge of fainting from overexertion. Camila couldn't leave him there — help from Base Zero would take too long to arrive. So she did something reckless.
She lifted him and carried him to her armor, placing him beside the control panel.
"What are you doing?"
"This is too risky. We could even be arrested for this."
"He's like you and me. Do you really want to leave someone to die on this cold floor?"
They left and returned to the base. Near the hangar stood a massive purple-and-black armor, much larger than Camila's and Xin's. It had a glowing core in its chest. It was Juna — the girl Tony had called to help them.
"You can go from here. I'll handle everything alone."
She didn't notice Blizzard's weakened body inside Camila's armor.
When Camila arrived at the Earth hangar with Blizzard, everyone saw them together. Once again, she was thrown into an interrogation — for the second time.