I Became A Mecha Knight With A System

Chapter 5: My best friend's a cheat

"I really don't want to go anywhere else, and I have questions," I confessed to Mister Wigglesworth.

He sighed. "My name is Zed Sharlowke, and I come from a planet named Morphius. It was peaceful, we were invincible, unbeatable, until we met our match, someone who could outmatch us. Sadly, an Overlord named Blaze Gondomier had other plans for us. He had his eyes on Zoldor, but we could not live as another Klozarian colony. So the Morphian sage, Teyen, the best among us, bargained for our most prized possession: Zoldor."

"Where's Zoldor?"

"Zol-DOR," he corrected and glared at a monitor that beeped.

"What the—!?" I frowned at the aerial view of my porch, everything highly defined. "You set up a camera on my porch?"

"It's for the neighborhood watch; it tracks any interesting movement," he explained, tapping a neon keyboard as it zoomed in on Kendra, who was wearing a purple dress and heels.

"Why is she here?" I wondered aloud.

"I'll call you right back," I said and went outside to meet her. She appeared devastated, her eyes slowly darkening.

"Hi Kendra, did you leave something behind?" I said drily.

"Is this your idea of a joke?" she snapped.

"What?"

"I asked you specifically to go to the dance with me. Why weren't you at school? I had to ghost Amir all night!"

Her eyes scanned mine, and frankly, I've never been more confused by the girl next door. I pushed her hand away.

"You left with Morty. Why am I getting yelled at?"

She shook her head, startled, and laughed bitterly. "Are you insane? Morty. I haven't laid eyes on him today. What exactly are you talking about?"

I suddenly noticed the red flash around her eyes. She wasn't wearing contacts, and she had a fresh change of clothes and makeup... I'm no expert on girls, but it does take time.

[You have a new quest.]

[Eliminate the Klozandroid.]

I started to run. "Oh, geez."

"Wait, Zack, come back here!"

"Mort!" I searched the hall, feeling like a drowning otter in a sea of heads. "Mort!" I dashed to the backdoors and circled the dark area with a single light source. Regardless of my jacket, I still felt very cold. I could hear Morty's voice.

I crouched beside the wall; she wasn't who I thought she was. I kind of felt bad for Kendra now. This one lacked imagination; her shoulder blades were open too, revealing her metallic endoskeleton. Her calves were extended, revealing her robotic parts.

Morty was on the ground, unconscious.

"Oh man."

I commandeered Mister Wigglesworth's revolver and loaded it. The Klozandroid probably didn't need to see me. I wore the ski mask Mort gave me. She staggered when I shot her in the shoulder. I moved backward, shooting more at her when she started to turn toward me. I stepped back when she approached. Her head tilted, the human side of her face distorted to make room for her metallic features. I was in for a tough battle. I ambled back to peer at Morty. He was still down. I shot again.

"What have you done to him?"

"I can show you," her hand morphed into a cannon.

I didn't plan for the revolver to be bigger and heavier. I fired at her, and she kept getting closer, like some terminator, despite the fire. She smacked my rifle away. I grabbed her face, and her other hand morphed into a spinning claw, ready to strike my chest. It wasn't a love tap. I rammed hard against a pole and fell back, gasping, clutching my chest in pain. The wound sizzled and then closed up.

The streetlight flickered, and she painted a very scary picture with her red eyes glowing in the dark and her cannon ready to power up again.

"You are incompetent, just like the rest of them," she hissed.