Carnage folded like a house of cards, and the crowd went beserk as he collapsed. Medics rushed to the fallen mecha, and I felt ever so slightly guilty as I disengaged. "That was going a bit too far," I warned Sonic Sentinel.
'He had me in a choke hold,' Sonic Sentinel shot back. 'What else was I supposed to do? Let him disable me to the point we both passed out from lack of air?'163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHOXheDyNHI
I had to concede the point, but I didn't like it, and I was grim when I emerged on the ground. The medics were still working over Cilan, who hadn't yet opened his eyes after being cut loose from Carnage's cabin, and I shook my head in disgust. Sonic Sentinel and Carnage had been teammates in the Last Great War, and had fought back to back more than once. To be fair, Carnage had had us on the ropes - hence his name - but the gutting was a bit too much, and I resolved to talk to Sonic Sentinel once his blood had cooled.
"You're a rank jerk."
I sighed and turned. Anita was the head of Carnage's fan club, and she was also Cilan's girlfriend. That made her twice as dangerous as any fan club leader I'd ever met. "Carnage had us in a chokehold," I reminded her. "I'll ask Sonic Sentinel to rein it in the next time the two of us go head to head."
Anita spat on the ground, just missing my feet. "Cilan didn't deserve that," she said angrily.
"No," I agreed. "He didn't. And I deeply regret the pain he suffered when Sonic Sentinel ripped Carnage open from head to tail."
"Bullshit," Crystal said, shoving Anita aside to glare at me. She was Cilan's sister, and just as protective over Cilan as Anita was, which often led to some serious catfights between the two. I pitied Cilan for having two such jealous women in his life, and hoped he'd find the means to get away from both of them before they ripped him to shreds. "You were probably gloating when your oversized walking tin can ripped Carnage to pieces."
"No, I was not," I said, getting angry myself. If there was anything I hated, it was being called a liar. "Now kindly excuse me; I'm going to check on Cilan." I turned my back on the angry females, thankful for the electric fence that prevented them from climbing so they could take a potshot at me, but more thankful to see Cilan on his feet. He still looked ill, and I grimaced as I approached. "I'm so sorry," I called. "I don't know what got into Sonic Sentinel, but I'm going to give him a good talking to once he's calmed down."
Cilan just glared and spat, and Dominic, his team leader, barred my way. "Walk," he told me, cracking his knuckles. I wisely took the path of least resistence and did as I was told, seething as I made my way back to my team. David was engaged in a fierce argument with Anna, and they both cut off when I arrived.
"Cilan's pissed," Anna said tightly. "We're going to get to the bottom of Sonic Sentinel's little escapade, but I suggest you keep out of the ring for a while until tempers have cooled. We're going to need to do some serious PR footwork to prevent Sonic Sentinel from being cut up for scrap."
I winced. I didn't blame them for being mad at me, and truth be told, I was a little mad at myself for not stopping Sonic Sentinel from gutting Carnage. But we'd been in desperate straits, and I wasn't sure what else we could have done to get out of the headlock he'd had us in. But even as I vowed to have a talk with Sonic Sentinel, that vow was cut off before it could even take its first breath when George, the head of the cage-fighting ring currently housing us, came up, his face grim as he pointed a finger at me. "We're cutting you off," he said, and I winced again.
Cutting a pilot from his mecha was not the same as willingly disengaging the neural link which helped them operate as one being. It meant being completely severed, unable to talk privately with one's mecha away from the cage. It wasn't a move employed often, unless the circumstances warranted it, and though I grew angry again, I understood, in a way. Until the investigation was concluded, the authorities didn't want to run the risk I might change Sonic Sentinel's memory of the incident. I had no intention of doing so, of course, but due process was, sadly, due process, and I unhooked the small plug that connected me to Sonic Sentinel's core, grimacing as our connection was shut off. It felt like a piece of me had been torn out, and from the way Sonic Sentinel looked stunned, he too felt the pain of our abruptly severed connection. "I'm sorry," I said. "Rules are rules, buddy."
Sonic Sentinel looked miffed, but since he was currently being held by electromagnetic rings that could shut his entire system down if he put one metal toe out of line, he had no choice but to accept the verdict. That didn't stop us from wincing as George then placed an inhibitor around the plug, before handing it back to me, and I sighed as I tucked it in my pocket. It was now only so much useless aluminium until such time as the inhibitor was removed, and I damned the genius of the mechas' creators for inventing a way by which a severed connection between mecha and pilot would stay severed for as long as was deemed necessary. The rest of my team looked a bit poleaxed, and David opened his mouth to protest.
George cut him off. "We're not having this mecha's memory banks altered," he said coldly. "Be thankful I don't bar your pilot from spending his off period with you; I could very well have him detained to ensure the proceedings are unimpeded by clouded judgement. Now go, all of you. You're all barred from the arena until further notice, and the mecha is hereby confiscated until the investigation is concluded."163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHNzHD5MDKs
We were very silent as we left the arena, and as we stepped out into the windy June afternoon, Anna sighed. "That's a bad mess," she said crossly. At least she no longer looked like it was my fault, but I still felt that I should apologise. "No," she added, raising a hand to cut me off as I opened my mouth. "It wasn't your fault, Rick. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I guess seeing Sonic Sentinel go all barbaric on Carnage rattled me a bit."
"It rattled me too," I admitted. "Tight spot and all."
Anna gave me a wan smile. "Let's go get pizza," she suggested. "I know a place where we won't be spat on for being aggressors."
I had to smile at her apt description of what was likely to come following today's match, but it was tinged with sadness as we piled into our car. I had no idea how long the investigation would take, having never been on the receiving end of one before, but I knew better than to plead my case before I was called to account. And though I hated the circumstances, I was, in a way, glad to take a break. I had some personal projects at home which had been sidelined of late, and the down time would be a good time to get to work on them before they rusted away altogether.
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