Ever wonder what the inside of a robotic, giant octopus looked like? Yup, same here.

The young girl simply scowled. It was not an expression of anger, or even strong distaste, yet one regarding a powerful formation of annoyance. But as quickly as the ill-tempered look engulfed her pale complexion, it was directly replaced by her usual cool and collected look of intelligent determination. With dark eyes narrowed fiercely, metal-covered arms crossed over in an impatience of sort, she had to withhold a humored smirk. Straightening her back, the girl adjusted the positions of her thick boots along the lining of the warehouse rooftop. Now this is just absurd. It’s been exactly 23 (make that 24, now) seconds since she broke through the roof. In fact, the gaping hole she had shot through still excreted dramatic smoke in a flare of splintered and broken metallic tiles. I certainly did NOT alter my schedule to be left waiting for this ridiculous over-grown piece of sushi. Well, Paradox knew quite accurately that the mechanical being indeed consisted of a miraculously tough mixture containing platinum, steel, organic tissue, and the usual titanium for one of its kind, and was NOT actual suitable sushi material for fairly normal humans, but she believed in the obviousness of her point suitably enough.

25 seconds.

26 seconds.

The girl glanced to her left appendage, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. A glimmer of moonlight had caught itself in a smooth reflection across a thin panel of armor clasped to her upper arm, momentarily catching the female’s attention in return. Yet clouds moved back over the glowing mass, covering the entire skies in a blanket of expected darkness. In reaction, her vision swiftly snapped back to the view of the other domes surmounts. There was nothing but stillness, silence, and the occasional interruption caused by tendrils of water whipping along the dock borders.

27 seconds.

28 seconds.

The time she had estimated for the situation to activate was drawing ever so closer. Better things to do, better places to be. But by whatever heavenly essence may be lingering in space, I want that damned sample before I convince myself to participate in more “daring” accounts. She was careful in the mental usage of the term “need”, opposed to “want”. This predicament (if you even have the desire to refer to it as that) was merely a sector between one of her few personal hobbies, nothing more and nothing less. Paradox had only allowed herself this accursed distraction in reward to her recent endeavors. Granted, she almost never did this, so considering the extensively mild excitement ahead it was a rare little……treat.

29 seconds.

30 seconds.

Her plans, of course, extended SIGNIFICANTLY beyond the somewhat INSIGNIFICANT rendezvous about to occur. Though naturally, all rendezvous held some small form of significance to say in the least. Every movement, every moment, counted towards the upcoming future, providing opportunities just awaiting her to completely and utterly control them. It was excellently brilliant, the delicate strands of time so cleverly weaving throughout each other as they prepared the circulating present for the upcoming future. Everything counted, even this small “exclusive animation” of events.

31 seconds.

32 seconds.

Paradox shook her head, her short hair giving an uplifting little wave due to the motion. She was allowing her mind to wander. Never, ever, should she allow her mind to wander. Concentration and focus at all times were of the utmost importance. Always to be exercised and controlled in every way, never to be relaxed and vulnerable. Because it was moments in which her mind drifted that the young girl believed herself to be transforming into a weak waste of space. Though lately, the constant throbbing in her brain caused points of convergence (though she would never admit it) strangely difficult to direct. It also didn’t help that her sub-conscious thoughts screamed the language of treachery and dark manipulation even louder than usual. Curses.

33 seconds.

34 seconds.

She had the powerful urge to shift her weight to the side in displeasure, but refused to allow her posture any alteration (the girl was subliminally aware that this was most likely because of her trained physical advent). Any moment now, and she would finally get this over with. Her patience was running low. Her temper was coming to a gradual rise in its controlled state. It was supposed to happen:

Right….

About……

Now!

Nothing. 35 seconds, and absolutely no change in the environment. Paradox furrowed her brows, turning to be sure of the lack of adjustment in her surroundings. Total squat. My calculations are almost never incorrect, with its body weight in addition to the mass of the tunnels, as well as the volume in the warehouses, there is absolutely no way I could possibly not-

Her train of thought was immediately interrupted by a sudden screeching sound. Paradox returned her sights to the warehouse, her body tensing beneath her battle suit. Hell yes, here we go. Then it finally came out. The hole where she had only recently protruded from exploded into a vast and wide circular arrangement. In fact, the entire roof of the warehouse suddenly lunged forward, bursting from the binding rafters that had held it in place. Her sharp hearing felt a responsive blazed feeling from the shrieking scream of tile scraping against blatant mechanics. And then just in that single juncture, the sounds were accompanied by a massive shadowy figure discharging from the source of noise. The creature provided the exhibition of appearing out of nowhere, as though it simply had spawned from thin air and ruptured a random zone of compaction. It’s large; cylindrical-dome shaped head was curved in a menacingly dark form of intimidation. Hulking whips of metal flung upwards around the head, curling and swirling in a lashing rod. Each panel of thick armor was accompanied by a raw, meaty tendon, just flexible enough to stretch around the neighboring warehouses. The creature’s body continued to emit the piercing scream as flashes of red light lingered along the tentacles. The young girl finally allowed a small, mischievous grin to submit on her expression. For a moment, it appeared as though her eyes flashed with something OTHER than determination. It was a hungry stare, starving for a fight. Paradox calmly observed the creature, watching with a vague interest as the enormous circle on the center of the head opened, revealing a vibrant scanner hurriedly searching for its next victim. The eye of the device found its crimson stare laying direction on the apparently tiny human female. The programmed instinct built into its censors wasted no time for assault, as that second it saw her it sent multiple tendrils of armor and muscle in that direction. With a blinding speed, the giant weaponry swung closer to Paradox's calamity.

It smacked down into the exact space where the girl had been positioned, sending bits and pieces of the roof all over the place. The creature once again emitted the harsh sound as it slowly raised the tentacles. Scanning the newly-smashed crater, it found itself not picking up a single trace of the female’s heat signature. Slinging its body around, it only was just able to catch a glimpse of the missing girl from the corner of its censor, as her body arched with the intense blow building up in her fists…..aiming right for the center.

The power excreted by her hands was only intensified by the collision. Both of her arms swung forward, their strength smashing into the THING’s optical region with a force which by an outside perspective may be considered fueled by rage. Yet her face remained a cool wall of certitude despite the excessive dynamism so obviously engaged. She was not at all angry, no, her dark eyes flashed with a light of even darker amusement and intelligent energy. Paradox found this little “get together” to be nothing more than a simple game. A hobby. So as the game goes, the creature’s scream magnified, accentually striking at her ears. It joined in a synced formation with her own mental screams which taunted her mind as it fought for control and concentration. Again, no, she must stay totally intact as she sent these severe blows in a cycle of repetition towards her current opponent. Focus. The sparks and flares of scarlet energy retracting from the zone curled around her and the creature with a deadly brightness, then for a moment, illuminated her terrifyingly fierce grin. It flickered and faded, and the thing sent a barrage of several thick tentacles towards her. But the girl was fast enough to release her position and fall backwards to a centralized decent within the air. One particular tendril streamed past her head, and with natural instinct her gloved hand shot out and grabbed it with a grip to match that of an iron clamp. The rest of the tentacles that had been aimed towards her re-adjusted their alignment, setting course for these new set of coordinates upon her whereabouts. As they now fired to the girl, while she tightly hung on the violently swinging perch, Paradox smirked confidently. Then just in the very fraction of a second before the tentacles struck her with a deadly hit, the girl threw herself forward once more. The blast from the gun she had been clinging to missed and hit a different weapon, which recoiled as it fell with a drastic thud. In her jump she grabbed two other tendrils, one in each hand. They threatened to pull her apart, to tear her in half with a separate and powerful force. Though without even wincing, without even breaking a sweat, Paradox pulled them BOTH to each other, and then brought her legs and knees up to her chest before cannon-balling backwards. The two mechanical limbs gave a dramatic smash within a lovely shower of even more sparks and loose wires. The creature’s roars grew more technological and strained. The programming must be short-circuiting. Excellent.

Paradox found herself literally swinging from tentacle to tentacle, finding a new grip on a new metal appendage each time her presence was known on the last, so basically every two or three seconds. She smashed a couple more, silently observing as the meaty strands throbbed and pulsed in vain attempt at renovation. She moved with such speed and precision that her body was almost a blur as it punched, kicked, smashed, and twisted every single part of the creature that came her way. The girl felt another rush of that mentioned adrenaline at her boots contact with her enemy’s armor, which sent a cold metal shiver of pleasure along her hidden skin. Paradox bolted around, and revolved her slim frame mid-air to crack that very same section of armor. The thing was pushed back as she insistedly shoved it in that direction, watching while it scrapes the remaining ware-house wall as though she found this to be her daily dose of entertainment (which it in fact was, at that). It fired, it shot, it sent dozens upon dozens of miniature explosions around itself and the female who was so evidently teasing it. But the only effect was her determination growing ever so fiercer and ever so passionately contained and collected. The vibrant lights danced in her reflective armor, causing the pale coloration on her exposed face to also glow with a seemingly white light. The fires twirled and spun in her deeply brown eyes, radiantly highlighting her equivalently aphotic hair and eyelashes. Her boots tapped and skimmed the ground with perfect agility as the girl dodged each blow and strike with ease, her expression never wavering, never faltering. Alright, time to really get down to business. No more playing. Paradox straightened her back, abruptly ceasing her movements. She stood perfectly still, calmly observing a crimson parade of energy bolts sent in her direction. Her body clearly exhibited a formal military stance and strategy, but her extensive knowledge and usage of various other fighting techniques were just as (if not even more) obvious. She knew very well that had she wanted to, she could have destroyed this monstrosity in a minute at most. Yet she found this continually amusing, and a little game of cat and mouse was just the thing she had needed to brighten her dreary mood of late. Paradox whirled around with an astonishing speed, already in battle stance, and ducked. Her pupils hungrily followed the bolts as they flew past her, just barely missing the very tip of her nose. Everything seemed to slow down as she bent, even the beast she toyed with. But this stand-still did not last very long, and an instant later she was jumping in the air, her leg already twirling as it built up momentum for a fearsome kick. Now let’s REALLY start!



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