PANDÆMONIUM (Part I)

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My body felt light, like a feather as I sidestepped a bolt of lightning. Blackheart started a barrage of attacks as if a starting pistol had fired off, giving us little time between strikes. A simple shot from my revolver felt like a concussive blast, reverberating through my forearm, but I now had the strength to adjust to it.

The boost we had received from the Songbird was no joke. The extra speed and dexterity alone made for quite an advantage. Though Blackheart tanked each hit with poise and responded quickly to our movements. I wasn’t the only one enjoying my newfound strength, however.

Thresh planted his hand in the ground, dodging a wave of energy thrust in his direction, and swirled into a tornado with his scythe that tossed Blackheart’s projectiles aside. The cyclone he created picked up rocks and debris that gave our foe a good pelting. For a guy who didn’t like field work, he sure seemed like he was having a grand time.

“Sit still! Why won’t you just…” Blackheart clenched her teeth in anger, jetting up into the sky and slamming down onto the arena. “…Die!”

A wave of cobblestone, sparkling with electricity, rolled at us and we timed the jump as best we could. I was slightly tripped up and nearly landed on my backside, but Archie caught me with his tractor beam in time. Embarrassing as it was in the midst of a battle, I was otherwise unharmed.

“I don’t get it.” Blackheart hissed, taking a moment to re-compose herself. “The difference in strength can’t be that great between Autumn and I, can it? We should be equally matched, and you two should be reduced to ash!”

She tried the gravity attack that nearly defeated me the last time we faced off, but I held steadfast in place, my boots not sliding so much as an inch. I steadily fired my revolver, clipping her ear which broke her concentration and she returned to the ground.

“Maybe you just underestimated the opponents in front of you, Blackheart,” Thresh said, holding out his scythe. “Why don’t you save us some time, and call it quits? We’ve got a bit of a schedule to keep.”

“To hell with your schedule!” Blackheart provided a quick retort instead of surrendering. “Why don’t you try this on for size instead.”

Blackheart clapped her hands together and squeezed her fists as if crushing something in her palms. When she pulled her hands apart, she was holding two lightning whips that sizzled with unstable energy. Like a ribbon dancer, she created wide loops in a sort of dance before cracking them down on us.

Her movements were elegant, and I would have found the violet lines captivating as they cut through the air… if I wasn’t also in danger of getting sliced up. And I certainly got nicked, but it wasn’t enough to lay me low. Lines of scorched earth were left in their wake as we continued to dodge her strikes. They grew in intensity and Blackheart’s frustration climbed to a boiling point.

Thresh, growing tired of playing defense, threw his scythe and it pinwheeled along the ground like a saw blade, hitting Blackheart hard with the flat side. She stumbled back, dazed, and I landed two follow-up shots in her abdomen. She collapsed onto her knees, holding her ribs. Her glowing purple eyes shot up at us in a glare, hatred filling them.

This is almost too easy. At this rate, we’ll be able to clean up before Kururu and Tǒng can sweat it out for too long.

“I’ll admit it… I took you far too lightly, but no longer.” Blackheart climbed to her feet, gliding over to the corrupted heart in the center of the arena. Placing her hand on its beating surface, she sneered back at us. “This might slow down the waves of my pets down below, but I no longer mind. This is the closest I’ve ever come to tasting joy, and I’ll repay you for the entertainment in kind…”

Her hand surged with a glowing purple aura and the heart of darkness reacted, sending out radio waves that were powerful enough to bring us to our knees. They slowly reduced in intensity, but there was another huge problem.

“Jiro, exercise caution, I a-p-p-pear to be shutting dowwwwwn……” Archie fell to the ground, unresponsive.

“Archie!” I exclaimed, picking up my companion and dusting him off. “What the hell did you do!?”

“Back in the mine, my pet, the Iron Colossus, had a small quirk that gave your raid team quite the headache. Do you remember what that was?” Blackheart flashed a cheeky smile. “I’ll give you a hint. Goggles, check your watch.”

“My watch? What are you going on—!” Thresh’s eyes widened in horror at the realization. “Nagai-san… Archie isn’t the only one. My Supporter is malfunctioning too, I can’t connect to the tower…”

I shot a look of contempt at Blackheart.

“You didn’t!”

“I did. It was a random mutation in the mine, a statistical anomaly, able to attack the Supporter system with a specific radio frequency. It wasn’t easy re-creating it, but I’ve been able to do so, temporarily.” The woman was giddy as she explained. “It’s funny… Ueda Aki designed Autumn and I, and our creations, to be particularly weak to sound frequencies. But now it will be your ultimate undoing.”

“I don’t find that particularly humorous, miss.”

“Oh, boo. Then maybe you’ll find this much more interesting.”

The corrupted heart began to crack, like an egg hatching. It was grotesque to witness as a huge slimy limb ripped out of the canvas-like outer layer, shaking the ground as it stood to its feet. We backed away slowly as a gargantuan scorpion with black bird wings burst forth, and roared at us.

“Meet Scorpio Prime, the vehicle in which I will carry out your demise!” Blackheart cackled. “Come now, don't look so afraid. You didn’t really think it was fair that I was risking life and limb, and you weren’t, did you?”

“This is bad, what do we do? What do we…” Thresh was beside himself, lost entirely in his head with anxiety.

“We do what we came here to do,” I answered. “Keep your head in the game, partner, like you told me before.”

“I feel so very alive for the first time in my entire existence… The first moment of respite from a short lifetime of torture and broken memories. So don't let me down, Jiro.” Blackheart smiled. “You claimed your will to be greater than mine? Show me what foolishness the Songbird has been filling your head with, and prove me wrong by force!”

Scorpio Prime hovered just outside the arena, Blackheart taking her place atop its back. It was starting to seem like a boss fight that had endless phases. Circumstances had changed, certainly, but the mission hadn’t. I narrowed my gaze, shaking away any fear that had tried to claw its way in.

“Bring it on!”

. . .

Meanwhile, down in the city, the waves of monsters were endless in their approach. Those that didn’t pour through Memoria’s south exit flew clean over it in flocks by the dozens. All types of them had shown up for the feast, and Kururu and Tǒng did all they could just to keep them at bay.

“Take this!” Kururu shot a glowing star that landed amongst a cluster of polymorphic spiders, reducing them to mist like a small bomb had gone off in their wake. “Tǒng, look alive! 你的侧翼有敌人!”

The Paladin turned his head in time to see a group of flying scorpions, and he launched his shield like a glowing frisbee. The two watched as the shield played pinball, knocking each of the creatures out of the sky before returning to Tǒng’s expectant grasp. He hacked off one of the surviving scorpions' heads with his sword, exhaling in relief.

“Nice work, big guy. We can’t let those flying ones get behind us.”

Even one monster left unaccounted for could risk corrupting an Eternal, who could then become an abnormal. The cascading effect could devastate the city in no time at all, and Kururu knew this all too well after Placita. She was determined to succeed this time.

Kururu broke out her roller skates and hopped up on Tǒng’s shield as he launched her high into the air. Whilst suspended, Kururu twirled, letting off a series of projectile attacks focused on the city’s entrance. She finished the combo with a dive, piercing the nearest cricket right through the thorax with the end of her staff.

“We just need to hold out long enough for Cowboy and Thresh to—“

There was an intense radio wave that came from up above in the darkness. Kururu and Tǒng covered their ears. Even the polymorphic creatures fell down to the ground, writhing in agony at the pulsing sound.

“What… was that?” Kururu grimaced as the noise finally came to a halt.

Tǒng got her attention by waving and pointing to his watch.

“Eh? What’s up?” She decided to check her own, which alerted her to the fact that it was malfunctioning. The display bugged out before going dark, and she gasped lightly. Kururu was suddenly reminded of the ByteCoin mine, and she began thinking to herself.

It couldn’t be, could it…?

They heard a bloodcurdling scream from just outside the gate as dozens of people came running in, clearly Hunters by their unique outfits. Panic sent them into a frenzy as they rushed past Kururu and Tǒng.

“Our Supporters are down! Why is no one respawning?”

“What’s going on at control??”

“This doesn’t look too good,” Kururu said, clutching her staff. She spoke to her partner in Mandarin. “[Tǒng, stay here and catch any stragglers that try to get close, I’m going to go save whatever Hunters couldn’t make it out.]”

Kururu ran outside the gate, hacking and slashing whatever unfortunate creature decided to engage her while she searched for Hunters in distress. It was a small miracle many of them had already vacated the place, but an unlucky few found themselves in imminent danger.

Like an angel coming down from heaven to save them, Kururu threw herself into the fray repeatedly to give the others a window to escape. And though her stress meter climbed steadily, the Songbird’s power was enough to keep her whole and healthy for the duration of the rescue attempt.

By the time she returned, Tǒng had just finished off another batch of flying creatures, and he looked at Kururu to gauge whether her task was complete. When she nodded, the two of them finally exhaled in relief.

“We did it…” The wave had finally slowed, and they miraculously hadn’t let a single monster through to the Eternals taking shelter behind them.

But any inclination they had to celebrate was quickly squashed. There was a blinding purple light and a huge explosion in the sky. It came from the direction Jiro and Thresh were making their stand.