Broken

“R-Rocco?!” Serah cried, watching the confused boy get out from under the wolf.

“What… the hell…?”

“Dammit! What’s going on?! She’s not supposed to move that fast!” Percival backed off, sweaty hand nearly slipping off his blade’s hilt.

“Wait!” Gregory quickly pointed his staff towards the defeated party member. “I’ve got him! Downfeather!”

Preparing the blast Rocco with the “revival spell” (one that simply allowed a second life for each party member without being kicked out) Greg found that his staff did not light up. It was a perfectly good model and had never malfunctioned before, but now, in the chaos of the hardest encounter they’d ever entered, it was failing him.

“What- no! Why won’t it work…?!”

“It’s okay, Gregory.”

Tagged out, as Rocco was forced to walk back from whence they came, one hand raised, he turned back to his group one more time before they went back up, too-

“I don’t know what’s going on… but get to the bottom this time, okay?! I don’t wanna see you ‘till you do.”

The stoic disappeared into the darkness.

“Just our luck…” Gregory was already cooking up another spell, but watching the wolf it was clear to anyone something was very, very wrong. The programmed “animations” of the machine were so sped up that it just jittered and shook idly in between attacks, which it made constantly. Everyone had to run around it at all times, seldom able to strike it even once.

“Stay calm!” Serah ranted. “Katie, keep it busy!”

“Yes ma’am!” Without a second thought the young duelist started acting ridiculously dangerously. Running up to the wolf, hitting its nose, backing off- if anyone was going to be tagged out next, it would be her- but she wasn’t afraid.

Serah took the opportunity to run outside the room.

“W-what are you doing?!” Percy caught her, but it was far too late. Their honorary leader was nowhere to be seen. “Ugh… that pain in the arse…” he assisted Katie, braving a game over yo keep the beat at bay.

“I don’t know why it’s moving like that, but I’ll slow it down!” Gregory finally directed his great wand towards the lupine foe, spell prepared. “Binding Bolt!”

Struck by the yellow laser, the creature slowed. Not like it was swimming in molasses, like the useful spell normally did, however- just reset back to her normal speed.

“So the values were increased…” The mage analyzed. “But why?”

Just then, as the sword fighters slowly cut away at it, Serah ran back in with armfuls of stolen traps from across the floor.

“Serah?!” Percy shouted across the arena. “I thought you left us!”

“Oh, please. How could I leave a guy like you?” She cornily replied, beginning to lay out the low-pressure bear traps and auto-activating nets.

“We’ve hit it plenty, but it’s not stopping! It’s like the health is doubled- maybe tripled?”

“That’s it!” Gregory backed up. “This isn’t normal, someone has to be tampering with it!”

“Then I guess we just gotta break it!” Serah ran out, goading the monster into trap after trap until the legs began to malfunction, slowing it even more. Soon Frankie and the others were slashing at it, trying to legitimately break the expensive piece of park equipment. Even Greg was bashing his expensive staff against it.

“You ready to beat this floor?!” Percival rallied. Ganging up on the boss, soon the fur was torn and the mechanisms were failing. If this was cheating, they wondered what the staff called whatever they did to make this stupid boss so unfair in the first place.

Soon, the creature was nothing but a pile of wolf-shaped scrap. The door to the third floor was open- something never-before-seen awaiting them.

“I’m feeling good after all that…” Serah grinned. “If not a little tired.”

“I won't let Rocco down…” Percival was already stepping down to the unknown awaiting them. “Or you, Katie. Thanks again… for waking me up.”

“I’m just happy to play with you guys. This is a nice break from the stuff they normally throw at me and my little sis!”

“Phew, damn right.” Tired as Frankie was, a little burn was no big deal. Nobody turned back- soon enough they were all headed down to that mysterious third level, not knowing what waited for them there, but ready to take it on.

Not a single one spotted the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth suited watchers stalking them that whole time.