Desperate Measures

Mika dashes up the stairs, boots pounding against the wooden steps in a frantic speed as she ascends the main tower. As her head crests the top level, a sharp crack echoes as a projectile splinters the banister, just inches from her face.

Above her, Icarus, clad in the historic samurai armor, cocks his newest rifle prototype with a menacing grin. Unlike his mass-produced firearm, this one carries multiple cartridges at once in the secondary tube, with a white and gold paint job tying it all together. As he cocks the rifle, an empty cartridge ejects from the side.

BANG. Another shot. Mika barely ducks in time. Icarus retreats, armored boots clattering down the opposite stairwell.

Mika reverses her path and descends down the stairs, highly motivated to stop him. Her boots hit the tatami mats on the lower floor and slides open the shoji doors.

BANG. Icarus fires blindly through another set of doors ahead. Paper rips through the thin paper. Mika hits the floor just in time, her breath catching in her throat.

A brief silence. Mika can only hear her breathing. Her eyes dart around, looking for any movement.

A vague shadow flickers through the shoji screens.

Mika recoils onto her feet, and dives through the shoji doors, tearing the delicate paper barrier. She tackles Icarus, momentum tumbling them into the throne room. Mika is quick to her feet, and swings down on Icarus. He rolls to the side, but not before Mika manages to cut through his samurai armor chest plate. It splits in half, shattering it’s pieces on the floor.

Icarus rolls to his feet and hits the butt of the rifle on Mika’s gut, knocking the wind out of her. She stumbles back as she gasps for air. But as she recovers, she is met with the end of the rifle barrel.

This time, he won't miss.

BANG. The bullet slams into Mika, dead center.

She crumples to her knees, her hand flying to her stomach and a gagging sound escapes her throat.

Icarus stands, the rifle still smoking, with a triumphant grin on his face. He’s won.

…

Jade stumbles to her feet, her body aching with cuts and bruises all over her exposed skin. She can’t match Dreyse in a straight fight. She has to change tactics.

She retreats, her boots slipping on the chemical-slick floor, but he’s hot on her heels. She throws a desperate variety of obstacles, kicking over equipment, sending barrels tumbling into his path. He vaults over the debris with inhuman agility, dodging the haphazardly thrown objects. But he hops over and dodges the debris thrown at him.

He closes the distance with alarming speed, his leg snapping forward in a powerful kick. Jade manages to duck in time. The powerful kick lands a dent in the machine, sending sparks flying and glass shattering.

Jade retaliates, swinging her blade in another slash, but Dreyse is ready. His hand clamps down on her wrist and delivers a brutal punch to her gut. She doubles over, sending her careening backward into a crate and cracking it open. A stream of cotton balls tumble to the ground, fizzing as they eagerly soaking the spilled chemicals on the floor.

A stray spark lands onto a lone cotton ball, and it ignites into a violent flash. This gives Jade an idea.

Dreyse advances and arcs his dress shoe into a stomp attack. Jade rolls away, just avoiding it. She scrambles to her feet and starts swinging, not at him, but at exposed cables around the assembly line. Sparks shower at every cut.

She snatches a finished rifle from the assembly line. She aims and pulls the trigger. Click. Empty. She drops it and looks for another one.

She grabs another rifle off the floor, from one of the enemies she had slain. She grabs the rifle from his lifeless hand, the hammer already cocked back. She aims it at Dreyse, who dives behind a conveyor belt for cover.

BOOM. The shot misses Dreyse, but the projectile finds its target into a series of chemical barrels, contents gushing out at the puncture, spilling acid onto Dreyse’s suit.

He grows red with anger. “I just had this dry-cleaned.”

Jade has provoked the beast. He rushes forward, his suit sizzling from the acid. She ducks sliding across the floor, feigning an attack on his legs. Dreyse shoots his hand down and grabs her by the neck. Jade gasps as her airway is cut off. He launches a flurry of punches on her face, bruising her black and blue. For the finale, he uses both hands to wring her neck thoroughly. Jade’s eyes roll to the back of her head, face reddening as she feels the increasing pressure on her constricted windpipe.

“I love the expression you're making,” he whispers, his face twisting into sadistic amusement. “Sad that our date had to turn out this way.”

Jade summons the last of her strength, closing her fingers around a bundle of sparking cables, her real objective. Dreyse’s eyes widen as he notices what she did.

With a final heave, she shoves the sparking cables onto the wet section of his suit. The spark sets the acid-soaked fabric ablaze in an instant.

Dreyse becomes a human inferno, complete with a bloodcurdling scream ripping from his throat.

Jade takes a deep, ragged breath as the pressure around her neck finally released. She coughs, sputtering as she rolls over. She gets on her feet, watching Dreyse flail around wildly, his body engulfed in flames as he attempts to remove his burning suit jacket. As he stumbles, the flames spread, igniting more flammable material in the stone chamber. Soon the fire lights up the entire room, licks of flames engulfing everything.

“Time to go,” Jade mutters to herself, and bolts out back into the dungeon. She spots Dell in the cross corridor, holding back a line of more enemies.

“Dell! Move your ass or be burned to a crisp!” she shouts, sprinting toward the stairwell outside as the fire chases her, igniting the stored chemical materials in the cells, one by one.

Dell sees the carnage pursuing her, his eyes widening in alarm. He pushes back the horde with the flat of his broadsword and retreats up the stairs.

Dreyse flails around and rolls on the cold floor in attempt to get his flaming clothes off. He finally manages to rip off his suit jacket and pants. Now reduced to his underwear, he finally notices the dungeon is completely engulfed in flames.

The flames lick at a spilled barrel, creeping upwards.

“Oh bollocks—”

BOOM. An explosive fireball rips through the room.

Just as Jade dashes up the stairs and back out into the courtyard, the underground explosion bursts out of the corridor. The shockwave tosses her forward onto the grass. A plume of fire erupts from the stairwell.

Dell rushes to her side. “Jade!” He rolls her over, checking her for injuries. Jade is dazed, exhausted, the world spinning.

“That creepy man in a suit asked me out. I burned him alive,” she replies, her voice flat.

Dell shudders. “I see.”

She groans as the last of her energy leaves her. “I can’t move.”

Dell scoops her up and carries her in his arms. “Let's get you to a medic.”

“I guess it’s up to Mika now, huh?” she says, her eyes drifting to the castle tower, witnessing the entrance begin to burn.

Dell utters only one word in response: “Yeah.”