"Are you sure about this?" Vizim asked uncertainly.
His face looked uncharacteristically pale in the light of the noon sky. Despite only standing a few dozen paces away, Red could make out the beads of sweat dripping down his friend's face. He frowned. This was not going to do. How could Vizim hit him in this state?
"Why are you more worried about this than me?" Red called, "I'm the one getting shot!"
Vizim's face paled even more, "This is a bad idea, Red. Why don't we just test this against one of the practice dummies? No one is using them right now anyway."
That was true. Nothing had been going on since the meeting between Zara and the pirate king. It was as if there was a lull in the action that had overtaken both sides of the conflict. But that was not of any concern at the moment.
After weeks of building, months of testing, and years of designing, his shielding design was finally complete.
Red hadn't felt this excited since he had created his first shockblaster. Granted, it did blow up immediately, but that was besides the point.
"Come on, Vizim! We need to get the best measurements that we can. The only way to properly test it is against a human target."
He responded by pacing uncertainly, "But what if I kill you!"
"Hurry up and shoot me already. The gun is on its lowest setting. All it would do is tickle if this doesn't work."
Vizim scowled, "That's assuming the thing doesn't blow up. Then it won't matter."
"Oh come on, my bubble blip would never do that."
"I thought you weren't calling it that anymore. I'll probably shoot you if you end up calling it that."
"Well, that will get me what I want, won't it?"
Vizim held himself for a moment before turning on him. The dark circles that had once permanently rested under his eyes had nearly faded.
It had taken Red a long time to get used to seeing him without the constant oil and grime. His hair, that had once been stiff and matted in grease, now hung in loose sandy strands.
The hesitation was still there, and the uncertainty as well. That wasn't surprising given the circumstances, but damn it, he needed Vizim to pull the trigger.
"Are you going to shoot me or not?"
"I'm not supposed to be shooting you, remember. That was the whole point of building this thing."
"Just pull the damn trigger!" Red shouted, "You're going to make me hesitate if this goes on any longer."
"That would be a good thing."
"Oh my…Just hold down with your finger. All it will take is a click. I've blown myself up before, even if the shield doesn't work, I'll still be fine."
"Alright. But don't blame me if this goes wrong."
Vizim slowly raised the shockblaster. It felt strange to be staring down the barrel of his own weapon.
After the damage, he had been forced to strip their frames down completely. He had replaced many of the damaged parts with fresh wires and refurbished others. In the end, the chaotic snarl of wiring that the gun had been was no more.
Instead, with his newfound experience, they created a controlled lattice of insulated lines and mist channels. All of it came together at the heart of the weapon, at the core. Even now, the low teal light reflected against Vizim's wrist.
"I don't know that I can do it," Vizim shook his head.
"Just pull the bloody damn trigger!"
Gritting his teeth, Vizim closed his eyes. His finger closed on the trigger, and energy glowed down the barrel. Red finally could watch it all happen on the receiving end of the blast.
He readied himself, waiting for the moment the energy hit him, or more accurately, his shield.
The blast went wild.
Vizim opened one eye and stared, "Did it work?"
Red slowly glanced at the smoking black spot on the side of a nearby building, "If by work, you mean…strike the absolutely wrong thing, then we're all set."
"Sorry, I was just…"
"Worried about hitting me? Can you actually hit me now?"
"Are you sure you're ready? You could actually get hit."
"Shoot me!"
Vizim fired again.
The shot hit the ground beside him.
Red ran a hand across his face. This was going absolutely splendidly. At this rate, he would have to just try his shield on a dummy.
"Do you want to trade spots?"
"Absolutely not!" Vizim yelled, "You volunteered for this, remember. I will not be getting shot."
"Well, I'm not getting shot either."
"I got it this time, I promise. Besides, if I miss, then at least I won't be killing you."
Red rolled his eyes again, "It'll be fine."
Vizim fired again.
He didn't know what to expect. They had tested the shield before to make sure it actually summoned a shield. In their brief tests, they had been able to put objects through the field, but not things filled with mist. Those items bounced off harmlessly. So in this case, the blast for his shockblaster should have bounced off as well.
That was all in theory, of course.
In hindsight, maybe it would have been better for them to test it on a dummy. Red considered all of this in the brief moment from the bolt of electricity leaving the chamber and colliding with his chest.
He quickly realized, as the energy passed through the location where the shield was supposed to be, that it was very important to make sure things were turned on.
Energy slammed into him, and he stumbled backward and fell. The electricity ripped through his body like it was hunting something. It rippled through every limb and every muscle.
Red felt himself spasm slightly as his own mist attempted to counter the powerful blast that he had taken. The two sources of mist collided within him in the short span of him getting hit and slamming into the sandy earth.
Red felt in fascination as his mist destroyed the incoming attack. It was quite a fascinating experience right up until he noticed that his mist reserves were depleting far faster than he had anticipated. He doubted he could have emptied it as fast if he tried. With his mist reserves vanishing, the electrical energy found itself no enemy.
It burned into him, attempting to overload his body. At the same moment, he connected with the hard-packed earth. He shook, feeling the energy searing inside him. It only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like he had been eaten alive, torn apart, and put through a shredder.
Eventually, his mist managed to destroy the remaining energy. But this experience left Red lying there, trying to catch his breath.
"Red!" Vizim was looking down at him with terror across his face, "Are you alright! I…I…I…"
Red coughed and managed to croak, "I'm fine. I think it would be a good idea to test this on a dummy."
Vizim scowled, "If only we had thought of that sooner."
After plenty of timing laying in the dirt, Vizim helped Red stand up. The two of them located a practice dummy in the middle of the yard.
The device, when all was said and done, was roughly the size of his chest. It could be wrapped around and tied together to give the wearer easy access to all the controls.
"Well, what do you think?" Vizim asked as the two of them walked a dozen paces away.
"I think that this thing better work, otherwise I would have been shot for nothing."
"You were still shot for nothing. We could have just used the dummies in the first place," Vizim scowled.
"It's fine," Red waved his hand and drew out one of his shockblasters, "I was going to get shot at some point in my life. Better to be done in a place like this than out on the battlefield. It does make me wonder, though, could it be possible to train your heart to resist shockblasts?"
"That's a terrible idea!"
"I'm not going to try it, I'm just saying that someone should just see if it is possible," He steadied his aim on the distant target.
This time, he had actually remembered to turn on the device. Even as they stood there, he could make out the barely distinct shimmer of teal. It was almost unnoticeable, and an enemy would likely think it was some trick of the air. That was until they shot the shimmer, and their blasts bounced off.
"Here goes nothing," Red said and took a deep breath.
Weeks of work had led to this, as he pulled the trigger on his gun. The blast of energy ripped through the air. He had been on the receiving end of that beam before, and could see the destructive power behind it. It felt far different seeing the bolt coming towards him than it did firing the bolt. At least, now he didn't have to worry about dying.
His aim struck true. The bolt roared straight for the dummy's chest. It seemed to vibrate as it drew closer to the shield. All of it played out in mere moments, but to Red it felt like a lifetime. If it failed, years of his life would be down the drain, and he'd have to go back to the drawing board.
The shot exploded against the barrier.
Energy careened outward as it rippled around the shield before dissipating against the ground. There was a quick flash of light, and when they could see again, the dummy was wholly unharmed. Neither of them spoke; instead, they simply stared.
It had worked!
Red through a fist into the air, "Yes!"
"It worked," Vizim said in a low whisper.
"I can't believe it…Maybe I should shoot it again just to be sure?"
"No!" Vizim grabbed his arm to stop him from raising it again, "Do you want to destroy the thing?"
"Of course not. But it needs to be tested to make sure that it is sustainable."
"We can just check the remaining power in the core," He rebutted, "There is no need for you to test its strength so soon. Besides, there are more important things to deal with at the moment."
"More important…oh! A name!"
"Exactly. Now that we know it's functional, you should give it a name."
"Red's Bubble Blip."
"No!"
"Then maybe just, Bubble Blip."
"That's almost worse."
"Surely it's not."
"It is."
"Fine. I guess you might be right. Then how about…" Red paused for a moment.
He had never really thought about what to name the shielding device before. Simply calling it a miniature shielding device was out of the question. It needed something with a ring to it. Like Red's Bubble Blip…only that was just too long. The name needed to roll off the tongue, so whenever it was said, everyone would know what was being talked about.
"Surely, I could just call it the Blip."
Vizim ran his hand across his face, "Why is it so hard for you to think outside the box of Bubble Blip for one moment?"
"Because it is a good name!" Red insisted, "It's catchy, and I like it. That is the most important thing, I reckon."
"You're not going to be the one using it, that's the problem. If you were using it, fine, everyone knows Red is activating his play toy. But if everyone else is using it and they shout out: activate your bubble blips! The enemy is not going to be the least bit afraid."
"Actually, they would."
Vizim raised an eyebrow.
"It's simple. If someone yelled to activate a bubble blip, you might laugh or not think anything of it…but what happens when you try to shoot that someone and it doesn't work?"
"I still think that it ruins the whole essence behind the thing in the first place. Why don't you call it something like Aegis?"
"I am not naming a kid. I'm naming a weapon. It needs to feel powerful…"
"Like Red's Bubble Blip?" Vizim scowled.
"Exactly!"
Vizim cursed, "You're being so unhelpful…I don't even know what to say anymore."
Before either of them could continue, a figure came rushing around the corner. Red recognized her at once from the nights he had spent with the sailors. Sonja panted slightly as she spotted them and waved frantically.
"They… they spotted… something out in… out in the sea."
"What are you talking about?" Red asked.
"A ship. There is a ship on its way here."
"What kind of ship?" Vizim took the question right out of his mouth.
Sonja shook herself, "We aren't sure yet. It's hopefully a rescue, but we wanted to come get you two just in case."
"I see." Red felt a cold chill ripple through him.
The rest didn't know what he knew. They didn't know who was coming. Red doubted it was aid. He hadn't even seen the ship and he had an ominous feeling that it was going to be the exact thing they didn't need.
More enemies.
"We'll be there in one minute. Vizim, can you help grab this?"
If it was the gearborn as he thought, then he wanted Aegis with him. It would be the perfect distraction in any fight, and it would be able to catch anyone off guard. Plus, the added benefits of protecting him from getting shot. But if the gearborn had come… it all might not matter.