Cross Conviction

The sun crested the dark treetops, rousing the birds from their light sleep. Golden rays were cast downward from the canopy through the building fog, illuminating patches of masonry around the towering Grizzler's feet.

"What is the meaning of this, Sergeant?" Gustavo inquired forcefully.

Grizzler, face stoic and half-eyed, seemed to gaze through the boy. He had nothing to say.

A fleeting thought pierced Gustavo's mind. Magnolia had mentioned that Scharf was some sort of convict. It was clear enough that the captain and Grizzler were allied in some way. Was this a coup organized by criminal elements embedded in the armed forces?

"Magnolia..." started Gustavo, "You said that Captain Scharf was a criminal. What did you mean?"

The girl took a deep breath and balled her fists, careful not to take her eyes off the sergeant. "I... overheard a conversation between him and the major. It would appear that the captain's service to the academy is part of a bargain that keeps him out of prison."

Gustavo's brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed. While the thought of having put trust in a traitor stirred complex emotions in his heart, the boy knew that there was little time to grapple with such a proposition. Slowly and carefully, he reached into his pocket and retrieved one of his bright orange frogs before glancing in Magnolia's direction.

Tensely, he inquired, "Was that all there was to the conversation?"

Pausing briefly, Magnolia weighed the potential ramifications of revealing that she had merely eavesdropped on the tail end of the captain's closed-door conversation. If she were straightforward regarding the circumstances under which she obtained the information, Gustavo might doubt its validity. Ultimately, the girl decided that, for simplicity's sake, it was best to affirm her position. After all, she was certain of what she heard.

"Yes," she spoke with a nod, "That was all."

Pulling the visor of his cap downward to better shield his eyes from an encroaching beam of light from above, Gustavo resigned himself to the evident reality of their situation. "I see..." he replied solemnly, "If that's the case, then we have no other choice."

Gustavo stepped leaned down and quickly muttered something into his free palm. Afterward, he stepped forward and held his frog out in front of him.

"Are you ready, Naranja?" he asked.

A shrill squawk back provided confirmation and, with that, Gustavo burst into action. Grizzler, once again opting for a defensive strategy, waited for the boy to come within striking distance. This time, however, the young candidate was well aware of his opponent's effective range. Stopping just short of Grizzler's arm's reach, Gustavo dug his heels into the path below and tossed his tiny amphibian ally through the air. The titanic sergeant's eyes widened as they followed the trajectory of the toxic creature directly toward his face. With but a fraction of a second to spare, Grizzler exhaled violently, unleashing a torrent of wind that blasted the minute from back through the air. With a thunderous clap, he promptly crushed the animal between his massive hands.

Magnolia cringed at the sight. Though it was a small creature- and one she didn't particularly care for at that- she didn't find joy in the death of any creature. Gnashing his teeth, Gustavo desperately struggled to suppress his anger. He leaped back beside Magnolia, safely out of Grizzler's reach before gripping the loose flaps of his ski cap.

"God damn it all..." he growled, looking down at his feet, "I'm sorry Naranja..."

After taking one earth-shaking step forward, Grizzler glared down over his nose at the two teens. "You're kidding, right?" he scoffed, "You threw a frog at me, I squished it, and now you're going to cry? What the hell was that even supposed to be?"

Gustavo said nothing. Instead, he took a deep breath, trying to keep his emotions under control. Magnolia immediately took note of her usually calm and collected companion's sudden change in demeanor. The sudden death of his animal had a deep effect on him.

"I'm sorry," said Magnolia, "But it's a reptile. You mustn't break down over such a thing, right now..."

An abrupt outburst of mocking laughter from Grizzler captured the girl's attention.

"You're one to speak, princess," he chided, "You were about to cry over a pointless argument not ten minutes ago. You're a joke."

Magnolia crossed her arms and, despite the feeling that her heart was about to jump from her chest, managed a show of false confidence. 

Leaning forward slightly, she pretended to examine the sergeant more closely before letting out a piercing, exaggerated laugh. "No wonder you keep that helmet on all the time..." she quipped, "You're ugly as a dog. Please, put it back on. I won't try anything, just spare me having to gaze upon your blight any longer."

The titan clenched his jaw as his face glowed red. Even Magnolia herself was somewhat surprised that such an insult had a visible effect on the battle-hardened Iron Knight. Pushing her luck, the girl decided to persist in the harassment.

"I'd truly be shocked to learn that any woman had given you a second glance. Famous knight or not, having to look at that face every day would be enough to make a woman flee to Paris."

"You bitch..." Grizzler mumbled under his breath before exploding in anger. "My wife was murdered by Bolsheviks while I fought for your freedom, you ungrateful little sow! I'm going to use your ribs as toothpicks!"

The girl's mouth fell slightly ajar at the volatile outburst. She quickly unfolded her arms and prepared for the worst. However, to her surprise, the sergeant did not charge. Instead, he vaulted backward several meters, shaking the ground violently as he landed. Grizzler then clutched the handle of a ripcord previously obscured in his stiff, reinforced collar, and swiftly yanked it. The mechanism attached to it rattled to life, causing four model 34 machine guns to spring forward from his back and become mounted atop his pauldrons- two on each side. Magnolia's heart sank as she realized what was about to happen.

"I don't know about Paris..." chuckled Grizzler in sick satisfaction, "But you'll be a perfect fit for Switzerland after this!"

The young blonde tried to move her feet, but they were cemented to the ground in terror. Even if she did manage to move, there would be no outrunning a hail of lead. Her chest quaked as she awaited the inevitable. 

"Ha ha!" the giant bellowed, "Where'd all that bravado go?! I wanted to watch it drain from a thousand bullet holes!"

Grizzler flipped a small metal bar up from in front of his throat and gripped it firmly in his thick jaw. Looking on, Gustavo immediately recognized this as the weapon system's fire control apparatus. 

"Magnolia, get down!" he cried aloud, immediately rushing toward her.

Just as Gustavo reached his petrified teammate, the enemy opened fire. The boy threw himself at Magnolia, spinning her around so that his body was between her and the sergeant, and closed his eyes tightly. Shielded by the darkness of his eyelids, Gustavo heard the gunfire erupt as quickly as he was able to protect his fellow knight candidate. The sound of four machine guns, each with an incredible rate of fire, blended into each other to create one steady, ear-splitting roar. This rapid gunfire persisted for several long seconds before Gustavo realized that he had felt no impact. Had he been killed immediately?

The young knight candidate opened his eyes to a squint and peered past Magnolia's shoulder. Though the hellish barrage continued, the ground beneath them was utterly devoid of blood. As Gustavo looked down at the bricks, he realized that a wide shadow had been cast over Magnolia and himself. The rain of machine gun fire soon subsided and, fearfully, Gustavo turned his head back toward the sergeant to make sense of the situation. It was not Grizzler that his shaken gaze caught, however.

"Heya, buddy," said Max as he shot his teammates a cocky grin over his shoulder, "That was pretty badass of you if I do say so myself."

Gustavo's jaw quivered as he looked upon his friend. Never had he been so overjoyed to see the habitual nuisance. It was then that Gustavo realized why he had been spared. There, attached to Max's left arm, was a colossal, ossified bulwark. It stretched from the ground to nearly two meters in the air, providing the group with total coverage. Though the thinner edges had been chipped and cracked by the barrage, the main superstructure of the shield had held strong.

"T-that's incredible..." Gustavo stuttered in awe.

Suddenly, Emmy burst out the main entrance doors and onto the scene. "Gustavo, Magnolia?" she inquired, "Where are Eduard and Dominic?"

With a shaking hand, Gustavo pointed toward the nearby bush garden. "Eduard is in there... Dominic ran..."

"He what?!" Emmy exclaimed in horror before turning her attention to the cratered garden. "Eduard! Are you alright?!"

As the girl rushed to her ally's aid, Max glanced back at Magnolia. "Is she alright?" he inquired.

Though her eyes were open, she was completely unresponsive. Startled by this, Gustavo gripped Magnolia's wrist to check her pulse. 

"Yeah..." said Gustavo, sighing with relief as he felt the lively thrum of active blood circulation, "She just passed out."

Beyond the bulwark, Grizzler cried out in frustration. "Come out you damned cowards! Four against one and you have the nerve to hide?!"

Max tilted his head, his expression one of concern and disappointment. "Aw, man... So ya mean she's not gonna see this?"

"See... what?" asked Gustavo as he carefully closed the girl's bright green eyes.

Without another word, Max snapped his arm free of the giant tower shield and leaped into the air, landing atop its edge. "Alright, meathead. How's about we-"

Max abruptly stopped mid-sentence as he stared at his gigantic opponent with a blank expression. 

"Hey..." the boy spoke up once more, "Aren't you the Grizzler? The guy who stopped the train?"

The sergeant's teeth ground against each other. "I'm not the anything. It's Grizzler, just Grizzler."

Max's face lit up with excitement. "No fuckin way..."

"Take this seriously!" Gustavo shouted up at his teammate, "He has almost killed us a dozen times already!"

With his smirk only growing, Max was far from dissuaded. The young knight candidate's calcified claws tore forth from his disheveled cuffs as they had countless times before, and he steeled himself for combat.

Further angered by Max's overconfidence, Grizzler challenged the boy. "Come on, you little cockroach. Let's crack your shell and find out how soft your insides are."

"Took the words right outta my mouth!" Max retorted with a grin before quickly vaulting from atop to shield toward the sergeant.

Diving, Max narrowly avoided a swipe by Grizzler as he somersaulted across the brick path and under the giant's arm before lashing out with his claws, dragging them across the man's calf. Wincing in pain, the sergeant turned to strike but was unable to keep up with his much more agile opponent. By the time Grizzler's massive fist shattered the bricks, Max was already on his opposite side. As the boy spun around his target, he gouged the man's shin up to his hip.

"Little bastard..." Grizzler grunted, once again turning in an attempt to catch his assailant.

In an unexpected turn, the sergeant jumped toward Max's teammates and quickly snatched the gargantuan shield from the ground, effortlessly lifting it with one hand. Now with some distance between himself and Max, the giant snapped his wrist and propelled the hundred-and-fifty kilogram object at the boy as if it were a discus.

"Oh shit!" Max cried as he ducked down, narrowly avoiding certain decapitation. The shield continued for some distance before crashing into a distant field in a plume of dust and dirt.

Max exhaled sharply, his face growing more serious. "Alright, you're the real deal, that's for sure..."

"You had doubts?" Grizzler inquired, annoyed. "Once I catch you, the only doubt will be what your parents feel when the coroner informs them that the stain on the ground used to be their son."

Chuckling, Max detached his now-chipped wrist blades and hastily replaced them with a fresh pair. 

"Whatever you say, boss."