"What is it?" I growled, rising to my feet in a rush. "Are you going to drag me to a date or something?"

  “I'm serious, come on!”

  “Alright.” I ran out the door.

  "The bill’s on ya, mate! " Saul (tried to) shout drunkenly as I was leaving.

  When I stepped onto the sidewalk, I was met with a cold that didn't belong on those streets, as if I had stepped onto a Siberian tundra.

  Something was tingling in my head and my spines turned from orange to an alarming red. It wasn't who I believe to be Hideaki, but something closer to some kind of premonition.

  That's when I heard a cold, familiar voice:

  "You," said Kassidy, "this time you won't escape, machine!"

  "Damn!" Exclaimed Leona. "He arrived earlier than I thought. Kenji, evacuate the bar!"

  "On it, Chief!" Kenji stood by the door, gesturing. "Everyone, go! go! I don't want anyone to get hurt!" A crowd then rushed out of the bar in a panic.

  "Leona, stop interfering in my work," Kassidy threatened, giving her that same icy look. "Recreating movies doesn't make you a good spy."

  "Hey," I turned around, "what's this story about espionage, Leona?"

  "I'll explain later." A nervous eyebrow escaped from behind her shades. "Kenji, have you evacuated everyone yet?”

  "Yes, ma'am!" He replied, saluting.

  "Okay then, see you later, Cacto," she said, jumping from building to building.

  "Lazy bum." I grumbled, turning my attention back to Kassidy, as pretty as ever; one might even mistake him for a woman at a glance.

  "Hey, rosy-cheeks!" I asked. "Could you at least tell me why you insist on putting me down so much?"

  "Cogs are nothing more than mere weapons, a disgrace to human nature!" Kassidy thundered, brandishing his blade. "They must be exterminated! And you know what the worst part is? You volunteered for it! You abandoned your humanity in pursuit of selfish power, just like that maniac. That's how this nightmare began!”

  "So be it! Power doesn't matter, what matters is what I do with it!" I yelled as I lunged at him, landing a punch right into his gut. He coughed, spitting out a little blood. It's obvious he wasn't ready for this, just look at his face.

  “Are you going to cry, Legolas?”

  Kassidy turned red with anger:

  “Just wait until I activate Absolute Zero—Only then will your circuits be fried!”

  "And what exactly is this nonsense?" I rolled my eyes in disinterest.

  “A mode where my Icicle Blade becomes capable of corroding each and every inch of your blasphemous body! One touch and your fingers will be paralyzed! You shall never see the light of day—”

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  "Shut up!!" I yelled, knocking him down with a punch to the face. "As far as I know, you want me dead, not to give me a robotics lesson or some shit. Come on, get up," I pointed to his body on the floor and furrowed my brows, "I'm getting bored."

  "That's enough!" Kassidy shouted, striking me with a cut to the abdomen in an attempt to create space between us as she stepped back. The cut, despite being made by a weapon similar to ice, burned as if a hot iron were being pressed against my skin.

  I quickly lunged forward to attack him again, but I might be becoming predictable, as he quickly dodged and struck the back of my neck with the pommel of his sword, stunning me. I turned to see his face, and Kassidy didn't say anything, just looked at me with those icy eyes, but his serious expression couldn't hide the visible wrath deep within them. I could hear a whole lecture coming from behind those curtains that I call eyelashes. Why did you have to be so pretty… if only you didn't want me dead.

  One way or another, I can't stop pressuring; if he stays away for too long, he'll have an opening to activate Absolute Zero, and that’ll be the end for me.

  Stubbornly, I tried to punch him again, but he parried the blow with his sword, then pushed me within striking range of his blade and slashed me right across the face. My cheek swelled with a sharp, sudden pain, like an erupting volcano. This makes no sense, this is ice, not red-hot silver!

  Kassidy then tries to take me down with a leg sweep, but enduring the pain, I jump and land a roundhouse kick right on his jaw. Although I missed the landing, Kassidy also fell.

  "Give up, you're not going to get me anytime soon," I tease him again, but my laughter was cut off as I realized something:

  I made a fatal mistake—I got carried away and kicked Kassidy too far. And now he has all the space in the world to activate his little toy.

  My concerns were confirmed when I heard a crackling sound and saw a faint blue glow as Kassidy stood up.

  "Very well, beast," he said condescendingly, "your uncontrolled violence has opened a breach in your guard."

  Kassidy then raised his sword, and upon activating Absolute Zero, he shouted:

  "Die, you heartless weapon!!" And with that, he immediately drew a circle on the ground with the Pendant-Blade. Not with his usual grace, but rather, scratching the ground with furious force, causing several ice spikes to surround me, making my escape impossible.

  I tried to break them with my punches, but something in that ice cut off any contact with my body, numbing my arm for a brief moment.

  Now what? Surrounded by glaciers while my systems are being fried, ice crystals begin to form on my fingers, and my spikes, which once glowed a dangerous red, have been reduced to a faint blue. Please don't tell me this is how it ends…

  One of the spikes is shattered by a sword, making way for Kassidy, who casts a shadow over me, gripping the hilt of his icy blade firmly, ready to strike.

  “For the sake of all humanity, to end all the violence caused by this scum of the Earth and for the order of the world, you will be reduced to nothing but rust!”

  That's when I felt something short-circuit in my forehead along with my stress.

  "K-Kassidy... brace yourself..." I tried to warn him with the last of my energy.

  Again, that sensation of vomiting with a metallic and rough taste, as he rose, the glow of my spikes became more intense, turning into a more saturated red than they were before…

  "Get your hands away from me!!" the thing yelled as it made me scratch Kassidy's face.

  "You…" Kassidy whispered, astonished, "I know that voice! Hide-"

  And before he could finish speaking, an electric shock came from beyond, stunning him at the last minute. And before I knew it, I was being carried away by Lotus.

  "Cacto, have you lost your mind?" she shouted, extremely worried.

  “I— cough, he was after me… I-I had no choice but to fight…” I tried to explain, but the ice was frying me.

  “You need to rest. Resisting will only worsen the frostbite.”

  "You worry too much... " I murmured as I fell asleep in my sister's arms.