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'Tsk, if only I had my equipment with me...so far the girl can hold herself.' Zone smirked at the thought.

--"How you holding up?"--

'I'm gonna sleep all day after this, the hell with jobs' "To hell with robots!"

A flying automated machine was swooping down for an attack to his front and Zone grabbed it and threw it at the other one aiming for Clowrey's. "Just don't get in my way kid." The machines crashed into each other and fell into the pit with the blue liquid. "What the hell is that?" He crouched down and took a little break. Zone felt a of couple darts still pierced at his back and pulled it out. "Heh, good thing my blood's even more potent! Haha--" then he noticed the awkward look from the girl. "What?! Ordinary tranqs don't work on me." the needles on the darts melted.

After a few moments another noise was heard. Zone stood up and looked around. "Hear that? It's coming closer, and won't you even fight? You're just jumping around and I'm doing all the work!"

Zone felt he just rubbed salt against an open wound. ‘…maybe I went too far, she’s just a kid’ He sighed at the thought ‘…and a girl at that.’ The child was agitated and sullen than before, they were both tired and this night was getting longer. “Hey kid, I’m--”

Clowrey moved beside a wall close to Zone. She placed her palm on the wall and black smoke came out of her finger, spreading out covering the entirety of the solid block, solidifying as Zone watches her concentrate. “Look I’m really--”

The solid incomplete wall of smoke exploded right at him. The place was completely engulfed with black smoke. Zone accidentally inhaled some of it and he ends up coughing hard. He cannot breathe and climbed the wall to get some air.

Sitting above the wall, he looked down below and shouted “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?”

At the distance Zone saw a number of fighting robots marching to their location. “s**t! You gave away our position!” he shouted at her again. “Stay here, you’re too much of a liability!” he jumped from one wall to another advancing towards the hall where the robots are.

"Augh! Why do I have to feel bad about that brat!" Zone punched a hole right through one of the robots attacking him.

"Kids! I hate kids!" He got hold of another one onto its arm, kicked its body to the ground trapping by the arm, twisting it and snapping it off the body then bashing the arm to the other one attacking at his back. Standing up, he noticed a lot more are coming down on his way. 'I hope she's alright. She's good with avoiding things, I suppose. That's a smoke's attribute, right?'

Zone leaned to the wall trying hard to hide himself. When one of the robots was near him, he quickly grabbed it's arm trying to replay his maneuvers like before. But instead he was surprised when the robot pulled him out, kicked him to his stomach trapping him to the floor twisting his arm. "GAAAAAArGH!" He kicked the robot's leg and trapped it with both his leg and when the robot fell, he quickly stood up, rubbing his right arm.

"Bastards, are those my sh*t?" the robot charges up front, Zone swiftly slides down and knocks his opponent's feet. Then crushing it's head with his left elbow. Zone got up but not as fast as before. All the robots stood before him in a fighting stance and some are equipped with artillery. "Are you really serious?" He posed in his fighting stance too, scowled and inhaled a deep breath...

...and exhaled "ooooooooh boy."

One closest to him charges first. Zone strikes with a back fist with his left hand to the side of his attackers head. As he brings back his left hand, he strikes again with a reverse twist punch to his attackers solar plexus.

In which a blow in this abdominal area will cause the diaphragm to spasm, resulting in a difficulty in breathing. But having a robot as an opponent means having these parts unneeded. Zone's right fist, made contact with the robot's body. He cringed in pain remembering that his arm was twisted by one of them from before. He crawled into a ball.

Some of them were moving to him closer, as they did Zone got hold of some sharp scrap metal laying around from the robots he broke earlier and he stabbed his left arm with it. "Now you have some use!" His left hand was now covered with his acidic blood, he grabbed the robot's leg didn't let it go as it bashes him off. After a second the leg melted off and Zone uses it as a baseball bat hitting the other robots that got near him.

Other robots prepares to shoot. Zone uses another robot as a shield using his acid covered hand to grab hold it's insides, and pulled out essential parts. "This may not be strong enough." he covered himself with the dead robot.

Then they fired. Some ammo ricochets and passes through the side. 'What the, tranquilizers! But even for me, if I'm hit with these too many tranqs, then...wait the turrets were bullets but these guys have sedatives?' They stopped firing, it will take some time when they reload. 'Time to move'

He saw only one equipped robot left, 'Only him? Hmm I thought there were a couple more' he rushed off to the armed robot.

Then he was hit by a robot at his back with a rifle. Another one jumped over him holding him off.

"AAaaauuUUGGH!" -cough- -cough-

Both the robots got both his arms and was dragging him.
"You guys--"
"Learn fast--"
"When did you start to improvise?" then they threw Zone in front of the armed robot that finished reloading sedatives.

"You fight like street gangs" being a former street gang member, he smirked and looked up and the gun was pointing at his face.

'Aw what now, who's making a ruckus, did they finally came?' and his eyes cleared on the girl shielding him from the third robot at front. "Oh, it's her..." the robot pulled up Zone by his right hand...

"AAAAaaaRRRRGGHHHhaaa"

...and shot him several times at his chest with the tranq gun. <********, robot."

The second robot holding his left arm lets go and aims to shoot at Clowrey. Zone kicks off the robot holding him and jumps off to the second robot. Not pulling out the tranqs means melting in him and the sedatives mixing in.

As he jumped he placed his bloodied left hand to the robot's face as it randomly fires. The head melted off and Zone's body get's heavier by the second and his vision begins to blur.

Zone can feel the gravity shifting over. Not even realizing he was falling over. He didn't even felt anything when he finally slammed on the floor.

'The kid did...alright...' he tried to open his eyes and focus as hard as he can. He saw how bravely the girl fought. And he felt bad at his foolish methods.

"...hey kid, you're brill--" after that it was just the cold floor and darkness.



'ugh, wha--'
'...what did he said...'
"I said wake up there's a message for you! Dumbass" was that an angry faculty just now? After what came of out that place, he must be one of the teams to fix it up. The man practically smacked the note on the bedside table. It almost tumbled down the glass of water and a bottle of medicine on that same table. Zone was startled and jumped out of bed because of the man. That immediately darted pain towards his body and he supported himself by clinging to the bed, again. The man briskly walked out of the room.

"What the-- why is he so upset about!" he slowly moved towards the table and read the note.

It says, "Congratulations! You manage to find and destroy the suppose to be the secret bypass route facility. It was proven by you and that new student that it wasn't capable enough to do what it was supposed to do. You have given us valuable data to improve further the said vicinity."

"Heh- he's not mad?" he continued to read.

"And by that, being the only staff and adult around the incident, I think you'll be able to shoulder this little responsibility I'm giving you. Please pay this amount in accord--" "Aww hell no!" Zone slumped back on the infirmary bed. "...what I've got now is only a quarter of the whole amount. That silver headed freak. There's only two tournaments this year, and the first one just ended." He buried his head in his pillow and wished he had died instead.

"Oh wait--where's that girl..." he wore his jacket on, drank the medicine, mostly iron supplements. If his blood is good, it's only a matter of hours until he fully recovers.

Only a few steps away he saw the girl he was with before. No one was around but them. He moved closer to her bed. "Clowrey, was it..." She was sound asleep. At least her wounds was tended and was already out of danger. Zone got rest assured. 'at least she didn't die...it's enough.' He patted Clowrey's head. "Sorry kid, I'm incapable. You've got hurt...just like everyone else who've gotten this close to me. I'm--" he let out a sigh "--sorry, really" Zone turned around and walked limply. "You did great," he glance one last time "be strong kid. Heh--she still doesn't who I am huh, hehe." and he walked out of the infirmary and Clowrey still sleeping peacefully on her bed.

Zone stormed back inside the infirmary after he finds out that he left his bag of prized money. As soon as he opened the door, slammed it open actually, he noticed that the kid was already awake.

"Oh ah..." he scratches the side of his nose and limping closer slowly to Clowrey.

"So you're awake, I'm glad." he didn't move any closer, but he was close enough to the edge of her bed. "You see I'm-" and he murmured his next words and glanced to his side. "...sorry."

"But you're not bad yourself, you did great." he offered his hand for a formal hand-shake greeting. "I'm Black Blood by the way, and welcome to the academy."