"Did you guys hear that?" Kurai desperately hoped the others would say yes.
The laughter sounded from the bushes again. It shocked Chachamaru and the other troops to their core.
A floating blob emerged from the shade casted by the tree and stared at them with a wicked grin. "Hahaha!"
"What is that thing?"
"It looks like jelly."
Chachamaru hissed at everybody. "No time for questions. It looks dangerous." From those beading red eyes and the wide smile hiding the entity's sharp teeth, Chachamaru knew letting their guard down would be a terrible idea.
"Hahahahaha!" The blob hovered closer to the group. He clasped his hands together, rubbing his palms against each other; this creature was clearly planning something. It couldn't be good.
Despite being outnumbered, Beiu showed no fear to his opponents. Ryukushu would never back down. Likewise, this battle was child's play. None of them stood a chance against him. They dependent so much on those weapons that would only tickle him instead.
"That thing is insane. What does it want from us?" Kurai demanded an answer, particularly from the purple blob but it gave no response.
"No time for questions!" The blob repeated Chachamaru's words and stretched his hand. Purple palm facing Kurai who stared at it confused.
A bright light emerged from Beiu's palm. It sparked for a second blinding Kurai for a while before he vanished along with it.
"Kurai!" Chachamaru and the others shrieked. Their mouths agape at the empty spot in front of them.
"Hahahahahahahaha!" Beiu exploded into laughter. The purple entity flew around without bating an eye at his opponents who were dumbfounded by Kurai's sudden disappearance.
At the same time, Beiu could sense their fear. A slight wave of shame for they underestimated his potential. Or did they...? Chachamaru knew he was bad news from the start. That large feline was very attentive.
"Guys I'm over here help!"
That was Kurai's voice but it sounded distant. Why is he so far away?
Chachamaru turned around and saw a figure dangling from a large tree miles away from the clearing. Strangely enough, Kurai was caught in a trap tied to this tree he was stuck on. The feline had so many questions.
"That attack must've sent him there. But why he's trapped is the question. There are no traps in these areas." A somewhat robotic voice said. Mixed between that of a human's and an intellectual robot's.
A large badger mech stood beside Chachamaru. The feline didn't recognize this mech nor did he know who was in there. But it wasn't a concern since it appears to be that they were on the same team. The troops acknowledged the badger mech's presence.
"Badger-530 has been deployed." One of the troops informed Mr Oshiro and his colleagues in the department.
They were watching the battle unfold through Kenju's screen in the mech. Puzzled by this purple creature just as much as Chachamaru and the others were.
Beiu slowly turned around to face Chachamaru and the newly arrived mech. A wide grin stretched across his face as he rubbed his hands together and scoot closer to them like a predator gazing upon its prey.
"Hahaha!" The purple blob ambushed the group and lightly tapped one of Chachamaru's comrades.
In horror, the feline watched his comrade's limb turned jelly-like. The man floated in the air like a lost bubble while Beiu tapped another one of the team's comrades who didn't manage to shoot down the entity with his weapon. He too was met with the same fate and Beiu didn't just stop there.
The sound of gunfire aimed at Beiu dwindled when more comrades were turned into floating gummies that the purple entity found entertaining. At times he'd poke his victims when they got near him and watch them pop like a balloon.
"Have a load of this!" Chachamaru charged at Beiu when the purple blob hovered lower in the air. But when he tried to knock the entity down, he got squished by Beiu's expandable body and was instantly bounced back to where he came from.
A drop of sweat ran down the feline's forehead. "We can't even hit him..."
"That's why you mustn't let your guard down around here. Ryukushu's comrades never reveal their surprises until the battle commences." Badger-530 glanced at Kurai who watched the battle helplessly from the tree.
The mech leaped into the air preparing to land on Beiu. The purple entity teleported away and threw Badger-530 in the opposite with one hand. Chachamaru gasped when he saw how casually Beiu threw him off despite the heavy weight of the mech.
"Granite Crusher!"
"Armageddon Missiles!"
Both Chachamaru and Badger-530 fired their attacks at Beiu. However, despite the severity of their combined forces on a single opponent, the entity remained unscathed.
According to one of the remaining troops who happened to be close by, the attacks went right through the entity. Hearing that made Chachamaru weak to his knees. Nothing was working.
"Bahahaha!" Beiu floated in between the prickles of bullet and raised his hand at the three troops clustered together in front of him. He summoned the flash of light that appeared in front of his palm and smirked.
Chachamaru and Badger-530 watched in absolute horror as the three troops were sent floating in the air, slowly merging together to form one huge lump that morphed into a giant translucent bear that fell to the ground.
Backing away, Chachamaru squinted his eyes at the limp gummy bear that got up and turned around to face its target. The bear snarled at the feline and walked towards him like a mindless zombie.
"Did he just..." Gulping, Chachamaru raised his claws to defend himself. His comrades were gone and as cruel as it may seem to those who'd find a way to save them, the feline had to defend himself and put a stop to this.
Once the bear got close, Chachamaru swiped his claws at the gooey animal.
At first it seemed he managed to stall the bear for a bit, but when the torn skin regenerated, the bear's mouth opened wider and it charged at Chachamaru in an attempt to engulf him in its gooey skin.
The bear's warm saliva sprinkled down on Chachamaru as the feline held its wrists and tried to push it away. This animal was heavy and its sticky skin was unbearably making it difficult for Chachamaru to stand his ground.
Suddenly, a ball of flame came flying in his direction and struck the bear from the back. Chachamaru moved away from the scrambling bear and looked up to see a teenager with bushy brown hair and a spear casted in flames.
"Wait... who-"
"The name's Atashi. Mr Oshiro sent me here. We're on the same mission." Atashi said, hopping down from the boulder he was standing on.
"Sorry I'm late. I was evacuating the civilians. They saw and heard everything here."
Chachamaru gave the boy a weak smile. "It's alright I've been taking care of things." The feline's eyes glanced to the bear that was rubbing its scorched back.
"Well we can't let them see how much of a disaster this particular spot has become. Atlas has instructed the others to get everyone to safety. It's only a matter of time until Ryukushu finds the three weapons but let's hope that doesn't happen." Atashi glared at the bear that began charging at both he and the feline.
"Man he's grumpy." Chachamaru rasped.
"I'll take care of this creature. Badger-530 is gonna need your help." The teen got his spear ready.
Chachamaru nodded and ran over to Badger-530 who soared in the sky and fired two lasers at Beiu who was laughing immensely when the beams went through him.
"This thing sure is a pain in the neck." Kenju pressed a few buttons on the control panel. When he did, Badger-530 landed on the ground and stared at Beiu who waited for his next attack.
The mech opened its mouth and galloped towards Beiu. It tried biting the purple entity, snapping its jaws over and over again in a desperate attempt to trap Beiu within its razor-sharp teeth and shred him to pieces.
"Blazing Wheel of Morality!" Atashi unleashed a wheel of flame that he rolled within towards the incoming bear. It struck the animal and sent it flying off the ground.
The gooey animal's body began dissolving from the flames eating away at its flesh. Roaring ferociously, the bear once again tried pouncing Atashi who was fast enough to dodge its paws and fire specks of bursting flames at the monster.
In desperation, the bear tried grabbing onto Atashi while his body was set on fire. The teen steadily backed away from the animal that wanted to take him down with it but failed. The flames slowed the bear down, winning the fight against the monster's endurance.
Swinging its paws at Atashi, the bear erupted into splotches of goo on the grass. Pungent smoke rose from the remains of the gummy bear and dispersed in the sky.
"Hahaha!" The purple entity stepped away from Chachamaru's punches and flicked the feline's forehead with his finger.
Blood pounded in Chachamaru's ears. He never felt so uncomfortable being this close to his opponent before. Let alone one that could turn him into a nightmarish abomination.
"Greeee!" The purple entity hovered towards Badger-530 who stopped snapping at him momentarily. Atashi caught up with the two and watched as Beiu descended on the mech's back.
Realizing what Beiu was trying to do, Chachamaru and Atashi yelled at Kenju but it was too late. The entity had taken control of Badger-530 as it jumped around with static surrounding its body and bared its fangs at its comrades.
Kenju struggled to walk over to the set of joysticks and buttons presumably able to counter Beiu's control. Although he somewhat managed to balance himself on the shaking floor, the slight budge of Badger-530's movements caused him to slip and knock his head on his desk. Kenju collapsed to the ground and passed out.
"We have to find a way to stop him fast." Chachamaru said clenching his fists while Atashi looked up at the mech and held his spear tightly.