Heishi raised an eyebrow.
“I’m making K fly over to rescue us,” A-Ka explained.
“It won’t be able to make it here.”
“It definitely will!”
A-Ka prayed silently, but as time ticked on, second after second, there was no movement, and the two of them stared at each other.
In the darkness, Heishi suddenly spoke. “A-Ka.”
“What?” A-Ka asked, puzzled.
“Give me your hand.”
A-Ka reached his hand into the darkness, clasping Heishi’s warm one. Heishi’s hand was covered in sticky, drying blood, but they still held each other like there was nothing else. In that moment, A-Ka’s heart filled with warmth and strength.
That was when the sound of an engine approached. Soon, something struck outside.
“K!” Tears streaked down A-Ka’s face. Nothing could compare with the joy he felt seeing K tear some of the wall away. The robot’s rust-mottled body was the same as it had always been. Again, it slammed harshly into the wall with a crash.
“Make it use more force!” Heishi called.
A-Ka crawled onto K’s body and slid into the cabin. Taking a firm stance, the robot lifted its arms and pushed upward on the elevator. Heishi suddenly let out a shout as the gears in K’s arms began to torque, creating an ear-piercing screech. The elevator was pushed clear with a loud noise, and Heishi tugged his arm free.
There was another explosion above—the Revolution of the Clones had begun.
Ash floated down from overhead. As they looked up, Heishi said, “Leave now through the emergency escape passage! We’ll meet up on the surface!”
“What about you?!”
“I’ll draw our pursuers away. They’re going to arrive any minute now!” Heishi shouted before closing the door of the cabin and knocking on it once.
“Heishi, you have to—”
A-Ka was interrupted by the ceiling of the underground space once again caving in as the robots entered. This time, they didn’t sweep the area with bullets. Instead, they wielded countless magnetic nets to try to capture A-Ka and Heishi. Heishi jumped up, pulling out his black-gold blade, and sliced through one in midair. The damaged net immediately burst into flames.
There was no more time for A-Ka to speak; he rushed into the emergency exit. K’s propellers were turned to the maximum, and its rumbling was deafening as it rushed through the passage.
Meanwhile, Heishi escaped into the depths of another passageway with the guards chasing after him. Once he found an elevator shaft that led to the surface, he scrambled up to the fifth level.
He found himself in the complete darkness of the prison. The power source had been cut, but he heard A-Ka’s voice. Heishi startled at the sound, then he realized that the fifth level was the location of the cell that he and A-Ka had been imprisoned in!
The moment the last lasers disappeared, Heishi grabbed A-Ka’s past self as he sprinted out of the cell. Staggering, A-Ka slammed into his embrace and shouted in panic, “Let me go!”
Heishi didn’t dare to say more, afraid that A-Ka would recognize him. He only responded with a garbled noise and used his body to block A-Ka’s escape, forcing him to stand to one side.
“This way, Heishi! Come with me!” A-Ka cried.
They turned and ran toward the exit on the left, but beyond it they heard the sound of many robotic tracks turning, as if there were many patrolling guards heading their way.
“We’re free!”
“Get out quick!”
“Something’s gone wrong with the energy system!”
“Everyone be careful! Get down!”
Heishi slammed A-Ka to the ground, and they rolled. He was quick about it, as the laser bullets were bouncing in all directions. The robotic guards opened the main door to the hallway, and streaks of light flew by as pained cries filled the air and blood covered the floor.
“Heishi, is this your blood?” A-Ka asked.
“Here,” Heishi said coldly before he hugged A-Ka and sprang up, entering the passageway outside the prison complex.
In the dark, neither of them could see anything. A-Ka blindly groped around until he found a cover plate in the side of the passageway and smacked it a few times.
“Heishi, are you still there?”
Without hesitating, Heishi smashed the cover plate. A-Ka was alarmed by that, and he pulled out his blue-light lamp and flicked it on. When he looked at Heishi’s arm dangling to one side, he noticed that Heishi’s hand was covered in blood.
“You’re really strong.” In the shadowy tunnel, A-Ka drew closer and inspected Heishi’s hand. “Doesn’t it hurt?”
“I’m leaving. You should be careful.”
Heishi turned and left, running into the darkness.
At the other end of the passageway, the present A-Ka swept through it while piloting K. He only stopped when he came to the intersection of the sewers.
Climbing out of K’s cabin, A-Ka retrieved the mechanical arm that he’d been carrying on his back since he last needed it. He disconnected K’s left arm before outfitting the new arm, complete with a bazooka, onto the stump. Using his hat to wipe down the hatch cover, A-Ka patted it, hustled back into the pilot seat, and fastened the hatch behind him.
“K, I’m really sorry for leaving you at home for this long,” he said softly. “Now…” His voice raised in volume as his excitement grew. “It’s time to fight together!”
A-Ka’s whoops accompanied K’s charge through the ceiling of the passage. Glowing with the blue light of the nitrogen thrusters, K flew toward the surface. With a deafening bang, it destroyed panel after panel, and when the vast world glowing with sunlight appeared before him, A-Ka truly felt like the luckiest man in the world.
The clone battleships rocketed over from the north, their mother ship swarmed by millions of airships like they were fireflies colliding with each other or meteorites falling from the sky. As A-Ka gazed up at them, the fires of battle blazed over his head, beams of light crossing paths until they formed a huge net. Robotic life-forms absolutely filled the sky in a frenzied dance. At this point, Father had no more capacity to send troops after them.
The distant mother ship began to fly toward A-Ka, its bullets sweeping across the City of Steel. The entire city began to smoke as destruction and flames engulfed it.
A-Ka sucked in a deep breath. The last time he’d seen this scene came to mind: the mother ship, a huge whale floating in the sky, colliding with the symbol of the godly regime of the mechanicals. The scene was so stunning that it was hard for him to describe.
But there was no time to stare—Heishi was still escaping. A-Ka directed K through the air, searching for Heishi’s silhouette. Far off, there was another explosion, and black-gold feathers gathered in the air, forming a huge, sharp sword, which viciously slashed downward. Where the edge of the blade fell, robotic life-forms were cleaved into two. The pursuing guards gravitated toward him.
“Heishi!”
A-Ka maneuvered K’s joystick, prompting it to raise its mechanical limb and unleash a sweeping wave of cover fire as it charged into the chaos of battle. Amid the fray, A-Ka spotted Heishi standing at the top of a tall structure. Heishi spread his black-gold wings and bore down on his enemies while a hailstorm of bullets hurtled toward him from all directions. Just then, K whistled as it flew past, a mere blur as its hatch sprang open and swallowed Heishi. The robot then leaped into the sky, its energy core strained to its limits.
A-Ka and Heishi fell into each other, tumbling while K rolled. A-Ka’s back pressed against Heishi’s chest as they squeezed together in that narrow, cramped pilot’s cabin.
“Let me out. I need to get rid of them,” Heishi said.