24 Metal on Metal

The Protalife went above Wolf's mech and lowered itself into the middle of the platform. It hovered in place as still as an unmoving rock, waiting for Wolf to make the first move.

Wolf started walking slowly but quickly picked up speed. The big metal feet slammed into the metal platform faster and faster until he reached close proximity. The Protalife reached out and grabbed Wolf by the right arm, swinging him in a 180-degree circle before letting go. Wolf crashed hard into the ground and kept sliding, causing all manner of sparks to fly off in multiple directions before flickering out.

The head that Anna was standing on was so steady that it felt as if it weren't even moving. She watched Wolf get thrown and stand back up.

"Come on Wolf! He's smaller than you! You can do it!" She shouted.

As Wolf stood back up, he did something that Anna wasn't expecting. He took a familiar stance. One that she used back in military prep school for CQC. He slowly moved forward while maintaining his stance. When he got close again, the Protalife made the first move, attempting to grab him again. This time, he not only dodged, but he also countered and broke the Protalife's right elbow.

The Protalife reached forward with his left in an attempt to attack. Wolf dodged again. Before he could counter-attack, Anna leaped off of the Protalif'e head plate. The Protalife attempted to grab her, however, he attempted this with his broken arm and failed. Wolf, however, was there and caught her. He immediately backed away from the Protalife and held her up to the still open cockpit. She hopped in and it closed behind her.

"Activate Werewolf Protocol!" She shouted.

"Righ-ight!" Wolf responded.

Wolf's mech took one large step back and curled its arms. The transformation had begun. With only the tips of the mech's fingers in view, Anna watched as they grew in length while the howl of the wolf pack filled that area of the potentially infinite warehouse.

The Protalife lifted its broken arm. A repair drone appeared and quickly went to work on the broken joint. Once Wolf's height had hit its zenith from the transformation, the repairs on the Protalife were complete. Both combatants were now at the ready.

Anna charged at the Protalife. She swiped and it moved around behind them. Wolf used a quick reaction maneuver to reverse the arm joints and block a devastating blow from behind.

The giant metal werewolf was pushed halfway across the platform from the single blow. Anna made a few corrections on the controls and the mech spun on a heel, facing the enemy once more. Not only was the Protalife faster than before, but it also wasn't pulling punches either.

They charged again. Anna leaped up into the air and spun with her arms and claws outstretched. The Protalife moved out of the way. When they landed, a claw smashed into the surface of the platform. A deep gash was left behind as the claw was removed.

The Protalife closed the distance. Anna slightly dodged to the right and put up a block with her left arm. The Protalife's left arm slid against the werewolf's, causing all manner of sparks and leaving the Protalife open to attack. Anna put all of the mech's weight into the next right jab.

*BAM*

The opponent was stiff. It hadn't moved nor recoiled from the jab at all. Anna quickly dropped to the ground and attempted to sweep the lower portion of the hovering Protalife. In place of legs, it has a single elongated 5-sided pyramid-shaped appendage that points down. The hope is that its center of balance could be offset from below if not from above.

*TONG*

The sound echoed like a bell. The results were the same. There was no reaction from the Protalife. This time, however, it retaliated. Its pointed appendage jerked forward, pushing the mech's leg away with enough force to drag the rest of the body into the air along with it. Wolf and Anna landed the mech on all fours.

There was an unfamiliar feeling. Anna had a sudden desire to look behind. The camera on the screen rotated and looked down the back of the mech. There was a bladed tail that had emerged at the base of the mech's spine, waving about as if it belonged to a living animal. Most blades were small but some were wide, almost giving the image of a fluffy tail.

"When did…?" Anna asked Wolf.

"It is designed to come ou-out when on all fours. We are faster and can maneuver more easily on all f-f-fours, but our offense is diminished due to the-to the lack of ranged weapons. This tail is designed to help make up for the lack-ack of offense." Wolf informed Anna.

Anna pondered for a moment while the Protalife seemed to be waiting for the next move. Anna only just now thought of something. While she was aware of the thick wire connecting the Protalife to its base since the beginning, Anna hadn't thought of that connection as a possible target or weakness.

"Maybe we can sever that connection to its base? What do you think, Wolf?" Anna suggested.

"That may wor-ork. Though, if it detects our intention, it may go on the-go on the def-defensive and make that task much harder to complete-ete."

"So we gotta be sneaky about it." Anna smiled. "If you spot an opportunity, let me know. I'm gonna go to town on this thing."

"Understood," Wolf confirmed with Anna.

The mech began running on all fours with a vastly increased speed. Anna started circling and left a wide berth between herself and the Protalife until she was ready to charge at it. As if it knew that this newfound speed could be a problem, it backed up closer to its base, shortening the available wire between. When it got closer to the edge, she started running in half circles around the platform.

Anna saw a slight pause in the Protalife and took the initiative. Wolf sensed Anna's intention and activated a new decoy system that was installed. Two tiny drones were shot out. One revealed the image of the mech running the next half-circle while the other camouflaged the pair with a background image of what was behind them. Anna ran straight at the Protalife and pushed the full mass of the mech into the air with all four legs. If a full-power punch or kick can't do anything, how about the full weight of the mech, amplified by speed? All four claws were in the air and aimed at the back of the Protalife who was still following the image from the first drone. The image faded and the Protalife quickly turned and took the impact to the chest.

The full force of the mechs weight made impact on the Protalife and there was an obvious reaction this time. It was pushed back. But that wasn't the end of the interaction. When the claws of the mech came into contact, the tail, as if it had a mind of its own, had wrapped itself around the back of the Protalife and then over its left shoulder. The tail locked around the Protalife and was holding the two together. It tried to push Wolf and Anna away, but the tail was more robust than it looked. In fact, the head of the mech was getting closer. Wolf made the jaws of the mech open as it got closer. When it got even closer, the jaws snapped shut on the disc-like head of the Protalife.

The tail released and they both pushed away from each other. The only thing preventing that final release was the jaws on the Protalife's head. The pull was intense and it seemed as if some connections were mere moments from pulling loose from the sturdy body of the Protalife.

"NOW, MY MOON!" Wolf yelled out.

Anna's hands moved quickly along the controls. The tail launched up and wrapped around the large wire connected to the Protalife. It tried to respond but one arm went in the wrong direction due to a visual error caused by the bite, and the other was held down by one of the mech's claws.

Wolf released the jaws and the force of both pushing away launched the werewolf mech into the air, severing the connecting wire via the bladed tail.

The Protalife was left scarred and disconnected.

Anna landed the mech on the hind legs. It continued to slide back so she reached down with a left claw, dragging along the surface of the platform for more drag. All the while, she and Wolf watched the Protalife closely for any changes.

Did they do it? Had they defeated it?