Orso Fiction 042

Orso Fiction Chapter 042-What It Means To Be Strong
Sonia cackled as Vincenzo pushed the blue Arcoferro onto her half of the table. Now, the orange and green metals sat in the table’s center, while the red and yellow pieces were on Taylor’s half of the table. Vincenzo still held the indigo and purple Arcoferro.

“That poor girl.”, Sonia said, with not a hint of compassion in her voice. “I wonder if she’ll live.”

“Paige!”, Taylor barked into her phone. “Get to Allison! Things just got really bad!”

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“Auntie, you shouldn’t be taking such delight in this…”, Vincenzo murmured. Sonia smiled evilly.

“Oh, you’re far too much like your father.”, she replied. “Can’t you just enjoy a little bit of sport?”

---

Bradley Ratliff scowled. His situation was only slightly better than Taylor’s. The opponents his squad of seven faced possessed a weapon just as powerful as the ones Taylor’s squad’s opponents had, but one that would kill the user once they had lost. Bradley’s scowl deepened. Zach would hate it if one of these boys ended up dead because of him. Hayley had breathlessly reported that a man with a name he didn’t recognize had healed her opponent, and Laura had reported that she was able to keep her opponent stable. Adrien hadn’t even reported back, despite his calls, though he could clearly feel her presence. That only left…Matt. Megan. Rachel.

“Hey! Commander!”, he heard Adrien shout. He looked up to see the Cloud Officer, walking with Alphonso, her previous opponent. “We’ve got news.”

Bradley groaned. This was going to be more work, he knew it.

---

Osvaldo scowled deeply, watching through his glass. Perhaps luckily, he had stopped watching Placido as soon as he had begun to die, so he never saw Berenger, his hated brother, arrive to save his life. He turned his attention to his work beside the glass. It was almost done, just a few touches to go. If his Darkness Drug didn’t keep the seven boys he had recruited brainwashed, there was a chance that they would reveal his location to them. He couldn’t have that. He would need protection. That was where this came in. As much as he liked the idea of turning men into loyal machines, they still had distinct disadvantages. Their skins were easily broken, and the human body was full of weak points.

Now, a REAL machine…that was a different story. He turned a wrench a final time, and then poured a vial of the Darkness Drug into a slot of the robot. Its eyes lit up, an angry shade of orange, with black flecks dancing across them.

“Mal Mosca…”, he murmured. “My greatest creation yet…”

He turned to the crystal ball once more, as Mal Mosca began to sit upright, and test its body control. He looked to the place the boy called Arduino had been positioned. Arduino had taken well to the Darkness Drug, reverting to a mindless servant as quickly as Placido had…but Placido had been beaten. He would need to keep an eye on this fight…

---

Megan Etheridge watched the well-dressed boy across from her, as he stood perfectly still.

“You don’t want to do this, think about what your parents would think of this, you have to understand what you’re doing is wrong. Okay, I think that covers it. The boss won’t bitch at me when I kick your ass, now that I’ve given you so much chance to repent.”, she said, bored. She ignited her ring with yellow flames and reached for the box she wore on her belt. Quickly, Arduino whipped his hand at his collar, ripping at it, snapping the buttons off his shirt, revealing the yellow box overtop his heart.

“You’re very confident.”, Arduino said, as Osvaldo had granted him the freedom to do so. His eyes, however, remained black, a testament to the man’s control over him. “Pride goeth before a fall.”

“Don’t…don’t quote at me.”, Megan groaned. “I thought you guys were being mimes, or whatever, now. I liked that. Usually, my opponents are all about talking. ‘My cause is just’, ‘My group is righteous’ ‘I have a family”. It gets really obnoxious. All I care about is a good fight, you know? If you can survive a few hits, I’ll let you talk a little bit, whatever. Don’t waste time at the beginning, is all I’m asking.”

Arduino scowled.

“You’re just like Baldovino.”, he said disdainfully. “Even Guerino can hold back if its smarter to withdraw…but Baldovino can only think about the adrenaline…”

“Okay, now, you’re just giving me names. I don’t KNOW these people. Nothing you say is relevant to my interests.”

“You really are some tactless little girl.”, Arduino said, annoyed.

“Whatever you say. Now, since you took your shirt off...were you going to do something with that box, or did you just feel like showing off? Because I’m a LITTLE bit impressed, but I’m not returning the favor.”

“You’re infuriating.”, Arduino sighed, plunging his lit ring into the box. He began to glow yellow, slowly sprouting feathers, as she had seen the last time they had met. His face stretched, forming a beak. His feet ripped from his expensive shoes, and formed talons. He shrieked at Megan, a startling sound coming from the usually stoic boy’s mouth.

“So now you’re a bird.”, Megan said, yawning. “Hooray.”

“A bird?”, Arduino laughed. “You say it as if it is so common…No…Osvaldo is a much greater scientist than to be limited to animals…that still live. No, no…This form is no modern bird. This form is that of a harpagornis. It was a giant eagle that existed millions of years ago. It drove itself into extinction because it devoured every living thing around, leaving nothing left. Do you understand? This animal form is TOO POWERFUL to exist on this earth. And I am now it. I exist in a body that should not be. DNA too vicious for the modern world was held in this box…and now, it serves me, making me invincible.”

Megan yawned.

“Invincible…That’s a word I’ve heard before. Mostly out of my brother…”, she said. She pushed her ring into her box, releasing a burst of Sun Flames. “Prehistoric DNA, huh? That’s better than I gave you credit for.”

The yellow flames now took shape, creating a large lizard-like creature, standing upright, its teeth razor sharp, and claws even more deadly.

“But it really only makes you average, when you’re fighting an Orso Officer. Meet Mercury, my Sun Velociraptor”

---

Osvaldo growled, watching the goings-on. How obnoxious. From a jellyfish to now, a dinosaur, whoever was designing these boxes was surprisingly intelligent. Perhaps worthy of looking out for. He looked to Mal Mosca, which was finished with its system check.

“Why don’t you go wait outside?”, Osvaldo suggested to the machine. It nodded once, and jumped through the ceiling. Osvaldo coughed as (probably) asbestos-filled rubble fell around him. He resumed watching the glass. This wasn’t going to end in his favor if he left Arduino to his own devices…

---

“Mercury, have fun.”, Megan said, patting the beast. It roared, and shot at Arduino, who took flight. Mercury wasn’t slowed in the slightest, and jumped into a tree branch, then jumped again at Arduino, who was almost unable to react in time, and was nearly bitten in half. Mercury landed gently, and roared again.

“Mercury is the fastest animal in the entire Orso Family.”, Megan boasted. “He’s ruthless. The boss even boosted his size, so he’s way bigger than a velociraptor would have been. His appetite…increased in proportion. I think he feels a connection to that ancient DNA inside you right now…and that’s just making him all the more excited. That’s right, buddy…no foreign food tonight. Real prehistoric cuisine.”

“You think you’re funny, don’t you?!”, Arduino called from the sky. “I’M the top prehistoric beast here! I’ve combined the intelligence of a human being, with the raw destructive force of an animal that RAN OUT OF THINGS TO KILL!”

“When you put it like that…”, Megan murmured. “Cambio Forma.”

Mercury shrieked, and began to glow yellow. He slowly changed form, splitting into two pieces. They fell into her hands. She held a short bar in each hand, that wrapped around, covering her knuckles. From here, a short piece of metal followed. On the right hand’s weapon, a yellow gem with a white Roman Numeral “I” was laid into the metal. From this metal, three flat, wide claws jutted out. She held a pair of katar, deadly as they were simple.

“This right here? It’s called Velocito Morsa.”, Megan said confidently. “Let me tell you something. I’m the twin sister of the right hand man of the one who’s going to be king of this world.”

“King?”, Arduino laughed. “King of the world?”

“Sounds crazy, right? But Zach has the skills to make it happen. And if he doesn’t have the balls to go for it, then he has my brother and me to push him into the throne.”

“So you’re saying you’re strong?”, Arduino asked hesitantly.

“I’m saying I’m really fucking strong.”, Megan laughed. “Like I said, my little brother is the right hand man, the second strongest in the family. My next door neighbor is the left hand woman. You could say I come from a tough part of town. If me and the Sun Guardian went head to head…I think I might win. I’m way stronger than an Officer needs to be.”

“I’m no pushover, myself!”, Arduino protested.

“All I’ve heard out of you is bragging on that box. What happens…when I rip out those wings?”, Megan grinned. Suddenly, she was gone, and Arduino felt himself falling. He looked back and saw that his wings had been disconnected. He fell to the ground, hard. Megan landed effortlessly behind him, her katar perfectly clean-they had cut too fast for any blood to attach to them.

“These babies give me a huge boost to my speed…the longer I stand still, the bigger that boost is…Us Officers...we have a running agreement. The one who does the worst on their mission…buys dinner for the others.” Megan said. Then, she turned, and spat at the boy.

“I’ve never paid once.”

“I hope you enjoyed that.”, an odd voice came from her ear. “It will not happen again.”

---

Rosangela pressed on, through the snow.

“Adel…”, she whispered to the wind. “Don’t…you mustn’t…you can’t become…the Scary One…”

---

Megan leapt away from the figure behind her, quickly turning to see Arduino, his wings already regrown.

“Instant regeneration?”, she asked.

“Not really. While you were gloating, I released this form, and reentered it. It took…less energy than I thought it would…”, Arduino said, smiling. There was a rumbling inside his body, and two more sets of giant wings burst out. ‘”I can’t explain it…but all of a sudden, I’m feeling a rush of power like never before…Perhaps…my ancient DNA is as excited to battle as your Mercury is.”

A quiet growling from Megan’s katar confirmed her suspicions.

“No. That’s not what’s going on here…”, Megan said, almost sadly.

---

Osvaldo smiled slightly. Now that he only had three servants, he was able to focus on directing them more finely.

“Believe what you like, about where this power comes from…”, he sneered. “You’ll fall to hell never knowing the truth. With me turning your lifeforce into power like this…you’ll be strong enough to get rid of this girl...”

---

Faustino wheeled his way to the window, looking outside, seeing the giant android. His mouth opened in shock.

“What…what is going on, here?”, he whispered to the air.

---

Megan prepared her katar, watching Arduino’s movements closely. The boy leaned down, picking up a large rock with one hand. He smiled, squeezing it. It almost instantly shattered.

“Beautiful…”, he murmured. “The power of this ancient DNA is more than I could have ever hoped for…”

“Idiot.”, Megan interrupted. “I’m going to do you a favor, and tear that box out of your chest.”

Arduino hissed, reaching into his pocket, pulling out a black baton. Yellow flames ran over it, and it changed shape, becoming a long, thick, black whip.

“I’m going to smash those blades under my feet.”, Arduino countered. Megan scoffed.

“Like you would have the balls.”

---

“Didn’t you two JUST ask me about someone else’s weapon?”, Zach asked, looking at Trevor and Amy.

“Aww….Just tell us!”, Amy demanded.

“C’mon, what did you give Megan? Nothing as good as Pluto, right?”, Trevor followed.

“Gah…She got…a velociraptor-“

“She got a DINOSAUR!?”, Trevor shouted.

“Hey, so did Amy!”, Zach protested. “You SAID you wanted an otter!”

After thinking for a moment, Trevor conceded this point.

“But what’s the weapon form?”, Amy asked.

“A set of ka-Basically a set of spiky brass knuckles.”, Zach explained. He turned to Trevor, winking. “Voldo’s weapons.”

“Okay, spill. What’s the hidden meaning?”, Trevor asked.

“Well…you know how Megan…um…She’s not…how would you say…shyyy-“

“She’s rude.”, Trevor agreed.

“Um…yeah…Well, her weapon kind of represents how she gets right to the point, not worrying about what’s in her way.”, Zach said. “You could say that she’s…the teeth of the family.”

---

Megan watched as Arduino’s talons grew even larger and sharper, and scowled.

“Idiot…”, she thought. “It’s a pain…but if it’ll keep Zach from bitching at me, I GUESS I’ll keep this dumbass from killing himself.”

Suddenly, she vanished, moving too fast for the eye to follow-

-only to be caught by Arduino’s talons.

“Surprised?”, he squawked. “The harpagornis is getting anxious to fight that velociraptor. I guess it was willing to give me a little more speed, for the sake of this fight.”

“You IDIOT!”, Megan shouted, bringing the other katar down on Arduino. However, the boy jumped into the air, catching it with his other talon. Sparks flew where the metal clashed. Arduino shot straight into the air, then turned, thrashing his whip around. Megan, with her speed, dodged each strike, but not by much. Arduino brought the whip into the air, waving it in a circle over his head, gathering Sun Flames over it, until it resembled a giant solar disc over his head.

“I’m considering calling this…The Grand Corona.”, Arduino said, smiling horribly with his beak. Megan scowled as Arduino brought his whip down, taking the entire solar disc with it. There was a massive explosion of yellow flames as it collided with Megan.

---

Paige Lewis scowled, looking at her patients. Her opponent Orabella was almost in perfect condition, albeit exhausted. Nicole and Raimonda were just as healthy. Ernesta, the Storm girl, was almost fine, too. Allison Boyd, however…

“Don’t worry, Al…”, Paige whispered, hoping the girl could hear her. “It’ll be okay…”

She looked around. Something didn’t add up here…Mike didn’t know how to operate his phone, so the fact that he didn’t call her was unsurprising. The fact that he had left the girl unconscious, however, was. And with Allison’s opponent having fled the battlefield as well…something seemed strange.

“Mike…”, she whispered. “I hope you know what you’re doing…”

---

“I have no idea what I’m doing.”, Mike said aloud, running at top speed toward the track. That was where Jess had gone off with that Adelina girl. Something about the way Ernesta warned him, before she passed out, freaked him out. But he had to make sure. Make sure that Jess was alright.

---

Arduino laughed, in that high-pitched way that makes people want to strangle the one laughing.

“So much for your prehistoric DNA!”, he called down. “I hope hell is nice!”

He watched as the smoke cleared, only to nearly fall out of the air in surprise when he saw Megan still standing, holding just one hand up to the sky.

“Did you…just BLOCK The Grand Corona!?”, he screeched. Megan yawned.

“I could tell…right from the start, you know? You’re weak. Really weak.”, Megan said slowly. “You were obsessed with that prehistoric DNA, but you didn’t say anything about yourself. And now that I’ve felt your flames, I know for sure. You’re a lover, not a fighter. Your flames are absolutely meant as support. I would bet my left arm your friends count on you for healing. Because you’re good at it. I’d bet my RIGHT arm that you don’t fight half as much as your friends do. Now that I think about it…you were the backup to that Thunder guy at Home Depot. He takes the hits, does the damage, then counts on you to keep him on his feet, am I right?”

Arduino, a little shocked at how spot-on she was, nodded slowly.

“Trust me. I know what a strong person’s energy feels like. I shared a womb with one.”, Megan smiled.

---

“You know what, Zach?”, Megan asked. “You need to get laid.”

After he was finished cleaning up the drink he had spat out, Zach looked up at her, grinning alongside Amy.

“I need a what now?”, he asked, trying to find a way out of this conversation.

“You’re…really a stick in the mud.”, Megan explained. “So…we’re going to find you a girl.”

“This…is a terrible idea. Stop now. Stop. Stop. I mean it. No. You’re already thinking about it. You’re picking people out already. In like, two seconds, you’re going to start throwing out names.”

“Why not Rachel?”, Megan suggested.

“How about Brittney!?”, Amy chimed in.

“There’s always Beth Anne!”, Megan remembered.

“There’s like, a dozen track girls that you’d like.”, Amy added. “We’ll take you to a practice sometime soon.”

“Stacie could introduce you to drama girls! I hear they’re all freaks.”, Megan exclaimed, already texting her. “Worst case scenario, we’re buying you a hooker. That’s your birthday present.”

Zach slowly moved his head into a position where he would better be able to hit it on the table. As he did, he hid a smile. Maybe the methods were a little…crude...but she was looking out for him…in her own way.

---

“That one’s a slut.”, Megan stated, as the girl Zach had been talking to walked away.

“Don’t-don’t say that! She’s a nice girl.”, he protested.

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure. Doesn’t change how she likes dick.”, Megan replied, yawning.

“Megan! She’s not really completely out of earshot, you know…”, Zach whispered.

“So? SHE knows she likes dick. I know she likes dick. Now YOU know she likes dick. No secrets!”

“Please…stop…saying that…”, Zach groaned.

“Yep. Sheee was not worth your time. Now, you just trust Amy and I. We’ll find you a nice girl.”, Megan said, beginning to walk off.

“But…but, no! That’s not…”, Zach mumbled as she walked away. Once she was out of sight, he grinned. The girl might be the death of him…but she would do her best to make it fun along the way.

---

There were too many memories for Megan to flash through them all, as she pulled her arm back behind her. Her katar began to radiate yellow light.

“I’m thinking of calling this one…”, Megan began. “Solar Flare.”

She swung her arm, and the yellow light shot at Arduino, piercing his chest, straight through the box. Quickly, he lost his harpagornis form, and began to fall to earth. The yellow box fell out harmlessly. The black box hidden behind it, the cause of all the problems, dissolved into a fine, black sand, blowing in the wind, until it evaporated. As Arduino fell, he began to remember…

---

“Whew…those guys were crazy!”, Baldovino shouted, rotating his arms quickly. “But we were just a LITTLE crazier!”

“Shut up and let Arduino patch you up.”, Placido said, holding his arm still for Arduino to heal.

“It’s very fortunate that B. Ferraro’s charity included Dying Will trainers.”, Arduino said softly.

“Still weird, that these thugs keep jumping at us out of nowhere.”, Guerino remarked.

“You guys don’t think…”, Severo began. “That Mr. B. Ferraro, whoever he is…is sending these thugs?”

“What makes you say that?”, Baldovino asked, oblivious.

“Well…now that you mention it…”, Placido began. “We’ve gotten a lot stronger since the training started. And so have these thugs. Almost…parallel…to us.”

“T-that’s…oh, wow.”, Edmondo murmured.

“It’s like this is the test, to the rest of the training…”, Faustino murmured, wheeling around them. “Still…I want to meet him, and thank him…I had no idea…with the shape I’m in, that I’d ever be able to fight anyone…It’s…so nice to see…”

As everyone else began to clear out, Arduino turned to Faustino.

“Fausty, you have a scratch, come here and let me get it.”, Arduino asked.

“Are you sure? I kind of like it. It shows I’m tough.”, Faustino said, laughing. Arduino rolled his eyes.

“Yeah. When that thing gets infected, it’ll be CRAZY-tough. Get over here, and let me disinfect that thing.”

Faustino conceded to this, and as Arduino rubbed the stinging liquid into the scratch on his forehead, the boy looked up at his old friend.

“And…thanks a lot for today.”, Faustino said. “You were protecting me, so all I ended up with was this scratch.”

“The trainers said that should be Guerino, doing that.”, Arduino said, smiling. “But we can’t go expecting HIM to do his job, can we?”

“And…I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but if you hadn’t been there, we would have been ambushed really easily. That woman, wearing, like, nothing, that distracted all of us, that was working for them…you didn’t give her more than a second’s thought.”

“It seemed suspicious.”, Arduino said, blushing. “And…um…”

“Yes?”

“I…I guess I can tell you…as long as it’s just you.”

“Tell me what?”

“I’ve never…really…been distracted by…girls, the way you guys have.”

“You mean-“

“Yeah. That’s what I mean. I realized it just this week, myself…I always wondered why I never cared about girls like you guys did, back in school…”

“Wow…I never would have guessed…”

“Well…I don’t know how I’ll tell the others, so, please, don’t say anything.”

“Of course, Ardy. But…I don’t think they’ll care.”, Faustino said with a smile. “You’re our friend. Always have been, always will be. That’s not going to change anything.”

“I…you might be right…Still, I just want to…Baldovino!?”

Faustino turned to see the Storm Skull rummaging through his bag. How he had gotten in without being incredibly loud was a mystery to them both. Baldovino looked up.

“What?”, he asked.

“How…much of that did you hear?”, Arduino asked, color draining from his face.

“Was there anything that came before you telling him you like dick?”, Baldovino asked, innocently, but crudely. “’Cause I missed that, then.”

Arduino’s jaw slowly dropped.

“Oh…oh no.”

Baldovino opened the door, inhaled deeply, and shouted.

“Yo, Ardy’s gay! Shout back if you give a shit!”

There was silence. Baldovino turned back and grinned.

“Just like Fausty said. We’re your bros, man. We’ve all got your back. See ya, dudes!”, he said as he walked out.

Arduino looked as though he might faint. Faustino, however, had to smile. Maybe he had done it completely wrong…but Baldovino had tried.

---

As Arduino landed, Megan returned her katar to their box.

“You’re the kind of guy that idolizes strength, because he doesn’t have it.”, Megan said to the fallen Skull. “But…I’ll admit that you’ve got some balls, to fight me. This was fun. See you around.”

“Stop!”, Arduino wheezed. “I…I will live, but you need to know this…my brother…is being held captive in the Eldersburg movie theater…Please…save him.”

Megan rolled her eyes.

“Asking favors out of the one who beat you?”, Megan asked. “Christ…Fine. Points for style. I’ll give my commander a ring.”

---

Outside the theater, Mal Mosca watched, waiting, for an intruder.

“KILL.”, it thought.

Because that was all it knew.