Everyone has made their way to the outside of the wall. Zed, Psy, Trace and Zach stand together; surrounded by the hired mercenaries who are clenching their weaponry. There’s a tension in the air as the mercenaries bite their lips, awaiting the next wave of Cyber Tech’s forces. Zed stands tall, arms crossed as he stares the oncoming army down. “So this general class really got you guys nervous, huh?” Zed questioned.

“Boy you don’t know exactly what we’re dealing with here”, responded Zach. “General class is supposed to be the toughest of the tough. That’s why they stay guarding Cyber Tech’s base of operations. Rumors of what they look like are usually just rumors because anybody that gets close enough to the base doesn’t live to tell the tale. But that distinct appearance from all the usual soldiers and from what I’ve heard of… that’s gotta be it. Unlike the soldier and the heavy class, no general looks exactly alike and differ in attack patterns. A piercing body like that… I’d say it’s the one known as Striker.”

Zed looks into the enclosing army and can make out a robot clearly different from the others. In the midst of the crowd this robot rose above all others, towering over its peers at least nine feet tall. Its cobalt blue body and limbs were extremely slender. Its head was long and pointed. A pointed upward chest partially covered the robot’s face yet angry, red eyes glowed from the blackness. Its long legs were partnered by long arms with two pointed fingers per hand that hung past its knee caps.

“You know I built this arm of mine figuring I might need to defend myself from whatever exists in this world”, Zed said. “I mean our entire town was burned down by something, and we had no idea why. So Psy and I prepared ourselves for the day we left. Good thing I built it, because now I know I got some big bad I gotta beat up!” Zach looks toward Zed with concern.

“Kid you’re not about to-” but before Zach could finish his sentence, Zed and Psy take off running toward the oncoming army of robots. “Damn kids! You can’t take on that thing by yourselves! Everyone open fire! Cover them as best you can!” At his command the mercenaries begin opening fire. The robot soldiers respond in kind by firing their laser rifles back at the defending force. Bullets and lasers whiz by Zed and Psy. The two undaunted, run into the robotic army and straight toward Striker.

“What the hek do those two think they’re doing?!” yelled Trace.

“They’re idiots!” yelled Zach. Zach’s concern turns to a nervous smile. “Well you better show ‘em Shima boys! Bwa! Ha! Ha!”

“Ugh! Men!” yelled Trace as she takes the sniper from her back and begins firing. Her bullets reach the heads of the Cyber soldiers’ closest to Zed and Psy, causing them to explode. Zed turns his head back to face Trace and gives her a robotic thumbs up. “Just don’t get yourselves killed! I just bought you those clothes!”

With the aid of Trace’s spectacular sniping ability, the boys quickly find themselves in front of the intimidating Striker. Psy unzips and removes his sleeves. His arms glow and bubble his purple aura once more. This time the aura flows downward into his hands and condenses there into the shape of a ball. Psy throws this energy at Striker, hitting and enveloping its left arm. Psy awaits for the destruction of Strikers arm just like the fate of the robot soldiers he had fought earlier, but nothing happens. Zed runs past Psy with an inflated forearm and punches Striker’s torso. The air is forcibly released from Zed’s arm which pushes Striker back. Striker’s feet however never even leave the ground and only skid backwards about three feet. Striker’s piercing gaze focuses on Zed. Striker counter attacks by reeling back its right arm and thrusting it at Zed, trying to pierce his body. Zed jumps to his right to dodge, and Striker’s arm only grazes his jacket as it continues to move forward, lancing the ground behind Zed. Striker reacts quickly and thrusts its left arm at Zed. Zed is unable to dodge in time, but is able to block Striker’s attack with his robotic right arm. Sparks fly as the two pieces of metal collide. Striker’s piercing fingers slip past Zed and pierce the ground once more. Zed is able to take the opportunity to jump backwards to his brother.

“So this guy’s living up to his name”, Zed said to Psy. He brings up his arm to look at the two freshly made scratches. “General class must be made of some stronger stuff! Our attacks ain’t even fazing him compared to the other bots. Gunna have to try some of the other stuff.” Psy turns his head at his brother, eye brow raised. Before the boys are able to continue their conversation Striker slides its fingers out of the ground, and pushes both of its arms backwards. With long, fast strides Striker quickly gains ground on the boys and puts itself right in front of them before they can hardly react. Striker thrusts both his arms into the direction of Zed. Zed is just barely able to react in time by blocking the piercing attack with his mechanical arm. The momentum of the attack however sends Zed flying past everyone and over the wall, back into Big Shot City.

“Zed!” yelled Psy as he watches his brother fly away. Taking no notice to Psy, Striker shoots away with its long legged strides toward the direction of where Zed was going. The mercenaries take notice of the general class Striker running straight toward them, and respond by concentrating their gunfire on Striker. The bullets ricochet off of Striker’s tough metal body without causing a bit of damage.

“Get out of the way!” Zach yelled as he pushes through the crowd of mercenaries. Holding a machine gun in each arm, and covered in even more ammo than before; Zach points his heavy artillery at the fast approaching Striker and lets it rip! An onslaught of bullets pummel Striker’s body. Striker continues to be unfazed by the torrent of bullets as it quickly gains ground on Zach until its right in front of him and kneels down. “Oh cra-” Striker jumps skyward past Zach with a swoosh, landing in front of the wall guarding the city. A stunned faced Zach watches as Striker runs up the wall and jumps over it. “Really thought I was a goner there for a sec…”

“Zach!” a yell from the crowded battle field is heard. Zach turns to find Psy running at him. Understanding, Zach puts the barrels of his machine gun toward the ground. Psy runs up to him, jumps on to the machine gun and kneels. Zach picks up his gun with Psy on top of it and swings it toward the wall. Using the momentum, Psy jumps off the machine gun and over the wall. Zach smiles and turns back to the Cyber army.

“Come on men!” yelled Zach. “Not one of these things has ever gotten past us before! We need to take these hunks of junk out and get into the city and take care of that scary one! Hang on you damn kids! We’ll be there soon to save your asses! Ain’t that right Trace! Bwa! Ha! Ha! ... Trace?” Zach’s eyes shift to see that Trace was no longer at his side.

Meanwhile Zed is flying past buildings and crash lands through the store window of a high brand clothing outlet. He finds himself on top of some mannequins and extravagant looking clothing. A crowd gathers to see what had caused the damage to their perfect city. Zed takes his hat off and rubs the top of his head. “General class really packs a wallop!” Zed said to himself. Zed’s thoughts are disrupted by the sound of nearby screaming. Zed lifts his head up from the wreckage to see Striker quickly approaching him. “Oh crap!” Zed tries to get up but Striker is too fast. The crowd of fancy people disperse as Striker forces its way through the store window and hovers over Zed. Striker thrusts its left hand at Zed’s right wrist, impaling the ground around it and immobilizing him. Striker’s brings its face closer to Zed’s mechanical arm. Its red eyes glow more intensely as it looks Zed’s arm up and down.

“Pretty nice, right?” Zed said. “Well check this out!” Zed uses his free hand to touch the second stripe on his forearm. The second stripe glows in response. His mechanical arm’s wrist, still pinned, extends out ward and opens up to reveal a hidden compartment. Zed then uses his free hand to reach into his hat to reveal a large pill like item. He places it into the compartment which closes and reels back into Zed’s arm. Zed’s robotic hand starts to glow a faint orange. It continues to glow brighter and brighter and he grabs on to Striker’s finger as the glow intensifies and the metal of his hand begins to smoke. Zed’s hand begins to glow even brighter and smoke even more! “Get a taste of my fiery fist!”

The extreme heat of Zed’s hand begins to transfer to Striker’s finger causing it to glow. Striker removes his clutch from Zed and jumps backwards into the city streets. Zed uses the store’s wall to help himself get up, leaving behind a smoking, black handprint. “Don’t like that very much do you?” asked a cocky Zed. Zed runs toward Striker with his glowing hot fist raised in the air and tries to land a heated punch. Striker proofs its agility and speed by effortlessly dodging the attack. Disgruntled but not disheartened, Zed continues to attempt to connect punch after simmering punch on his mechanical opponent. Striker continued to dodge blow after blow, causing Zed’s fist to land and burn the surrounding city landscape.

The combatants pause for a moment as Zed tries to catch his breath. His robotic hand continues to sizzle and smoke even more intensely as the heated glow begins to continue up his forearm. He turns his attention to the encroaching heat. “Looks like time’s about up”, he said. “As cool as fiery fist is, I can only use it for about five minutes before my whole arm begins to malfunction. The metal of my arm can only take the heat for so long.” Zed lifts his arm up, pointing it at Striker and opens his sparking palm. Zed smirks. “Now you’ve already seen my pressure punch, so what do you think would happen if I were to use that now?” Zed presses the first stripe of his forearm and it begins to suck in air. Striker reels its arms backward and runs at Zed. “Too late!” The air suction stops and suddenly in flash of burning light, a dense ball of fire is shot from Zed’s palm right into the attacking Striker! The ball connects to Striker’s body, which is enveloped in a large explosion and mass of fire. Nearby windows are shattered and Zed covers his face with his left arm to shield himself from the heat and debris.

A cloud of dirt and smoke blankets the area. Zed’s arm’s glow fades away. His wrist extends, compartment opens up, and ejects the pill like capsule which lands with an empty sounding ‘tink’! As his wrist retracts he hears a familiar voice approaching.

“Zed!” said Psy as he runs up to his brother.

“Hey bro! How’d you find me?” asked Zed. Psy closes his eyes half way and points to the smoke rising into the atmosphere. “Oh… Well you’re just in time to witness my victory over a Cyber Tech general! You like the taste of my hot shot you clunk of junk!?” Zed crosses his arms and puts on a triumphant grin. Psy sighs and smiles at his brother’s over confidence. As the smoke begins to clear, Psy’s gaze catches something standing in the midst of it.

“Uh, Zed”, Psy said pointing at the figure. Zed looks at the figure.

“… Oh you’ve got to be kidding me”, said Zed. The smoke blows away to reveal a still standing Striker, its arms crossed to shield it’s body. “I literally blew it up! What more do I have to do this thing for it to go down!?” Psy tsks and stares angrily at the intact Striker. His attention is grabbed by Striker’s left arm, the same arm that was once enveloped by Psy’s aura attack. The top of the arm was now scratched and cut, revealing the circuitry underneath.

“Zed”, said Psy.

“What? You got an idea?” responded Zed. Psy points to the part of Striker that is damaged. Zed squints his eyes and sees the damage that Psy is pointing to. “That’s the part you threw your purple stuff at right? So, it did end up doing something to it…” Psy shakes his head no.

“Not just me. Both of us”, said Psy. Zed smiles.

“Alright”, said Zed. “I think I get it now.” As Zed and Psy finish their conversation, Striker unfolds its arms and pulls them back as it prepares to counter attack. Zed and Psy follow suit and run at Striker, who runs at them. Striker attacks first, thrusting its right arm at Zed. Zed drops to his knees and pulls his head back, barely dodging Striker’s lance like fingers. Now focused on Psy, Striker thrusts its left arm at him. Psy tries to dodge but his right arm is badly cut by Striker’s sharp fingers. Psy winces at the pain, but doesn’t let it stop him. Psy takes advantage of the closeness and with his left aura filled hand, he slaps the damaged area of Striker’s arm, enveloping it in the purple aura once more.

Seeing his brother’s brave act, Zed reacts instantly and thrusts his robotic arm upward delivering a pressurized uppercut to the area of Striker’s arm enveloped in the purple aura! Striker’s upper arm shatters into pieces. Amidst a seemingly stunned Striker, Psy once again takes advantage of the situation and places his left hand on Striker’s torso, enveloping it in his purple aura. Striker sees this and reacts quickly by jumping backward, far away from the attacking boys. The boys stand tall next to each other, facing their injured foe. Psy grabs on to his cut and bleeding left arm.

“You ok bro?” asked Zed.

“I’ll be fine”, answered Psy.

“You sit back now Psy”, said a caring Zed. “I saw you touch him that last time. Let me finish this up.” Zed touches the second stripe of his fore arm, revealing the compartment which is fed another pill once again from Zed’s hat. Zed’s hand begins to glow and smoke once more as he begins to walk toward Striker. “You hurt my brother.” Zed walks closer to Striker and his hand begins burning brighter. “Let me show you what happens when you hurt a fellow Shima in front of another Shima!” Zed yelled as he runs toward Striker. Striker reacts, jumps and tries to impale a nearby building to gain leverage to get away from Zed’s fiery fist. The part of the building however is struck by purple aura, thrown by the always observant Psy. The part of the building is impaled by Striker’s fingers, only to crumble away, causing Striker to fall back down right toward an oncoming Zed. Zed pulls his fiery fist back and launches it right into Striker’s torso, shattering the metal, his fist plunges straight into Striker’s chest cavity. Circuits and wires burn and are set ablaze inside Striker as they make contact with Zed’s burning hand. Striker with some function still left is able to point its two remaining fingers at Zed’s back. “You’re finished!” Zed slams his hand on the first stripe of his forearm. “Hot Shot!” A brilliant light shines from within Striker’s body before being blown completely apart! The force of the explosion throws Zed backward. Psy catches him with his one good arm and smoke blows over the two.