As much as Andreas was eager to get a move on, we weren't able to deploy for the police station for another two days, due to Vivienne's condition. The fever thankfully broke by midday, about twelve hours after the attack, but she was still out of it for a while thanks to both the pain and her painkillers. After that, she had to deal with the adjustment of losing her depth perception, which obviously wasn't something she'd be able to get over in just a few days. But, it was only a matter of time before Sebastian or the Godling got bored of waiting and came after us, so we couldn't afford to wait. I hated the thought of Viv being at risk while in such a vulnerable state, but there was nothing I could say that would convince her not to go out. I decided I would just have to go with her, instead.
"You don't have to come, Jordyn," Viv said, looking at herself in the bathroom mirror. She was almost ready to go; dressed in her costume, hair tied back. All that was left to do was to replace the bandages around her head with a protective eyepatch.
"Viv, it's fine," I replied, standing to her right, like I always tried to now. "I want to."
She sighed, reaching up to touch the gauze over her eye. "I guess I better get this off."
"Have you... seen it yet?" I asked.
Viv shook her head. "No. ...I'm a little scared."
I only saw it right after it happened, so I didn't have much to offer in the way of assurance. But that was no reason not to try.
"The doctors have been taking good care of it. I'm sure it'll heal up okay."
She turned slightly, smiling at me, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah. Hope so."
Viv sighed again, looking back at the mirror. "Okay. Let's do this."
With slightly shaking hands, she reached for the clasp holding the bandages together, and slowly begun to unwind them, until her face was bare and uncovered. She sucked in a breath.
"I... don't know what I was expecting."
Contrary to her, the damage to her eye was pretty much what I'd expected. Discoloured bruising, stitches down the split in her eyelid, and an empty red socket behind that. I stepped closer to her, wrapping my arms around her body from behind and resting my chin on her shoulder. At once, some of the tension seeped from her stance.
"It's ugly," she said quietly.
"It's different," I replied. "Not ugly. Besides, girls with eyepatches are cute."
Vivienne snorted. "How would you know that?"
"Asuka," I answered simply.
She smiled a little. "Oh yeah. I'll be able to do a killer cosplay once my hair grows out a bit, huh?"
"Also, you could get cool prosthetics and stuff. One with sparkles, or all black, or a red iris. You gotta think about the opportunities!"
She huffed, still smiling. "I suppose so. But we've gotta wait for it to heal first. Thanks, Jordie. You always know how to make me feel better."
I smiled back, leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek. "Any time, sugarpuff."
Vivienne fitted her medical patch into place, gave herself a resolute look in the mirror, and nodded.
"Okay. Let's do this shit."
—-
We all watched closely as Andreas checked his revolver, ensuring everything was in order before slipping it into his holster. Him being allowed a weapon at all had been a matter of some debate, but we decided that, with me on the team, he wouldn't be able to fire it without my permission anyways, and it would just give me more trouble trying to protect him if we left him defenceless.
Hell, even letting him come had been a big argument. But, ultimately, we wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible, and Andreas knew the police station the best out of anyone. It was either risk letting him come along, or risk taking too long and getting caught out by the Godling. An easy choice, when it was put like that.
"Remember, the shadows in the barrel are solid, so if you try firing that thing without my say-so, it's gonna blow up in your hand," I said.
Andreas rolled his eyes. "Yes, and as I said before, what could I possibly gain by shooting one of you now?"
"Knowing you, you'd probably do it just for the love of the game," Maddie said, leaning up against a wall. A crude ice prosthetic kept her supported, but it was a very temporary solution for multiple reasons. One; it melted pretty quick, and left water stains on the floor, and two; it was still very easy to slip over with it. But, for a quick trip, it got the job done, and Rosalyn could evaporate it back into the air once she didn't need it anymore. Those two really did compliment each other perfectly.
"Let's not waste any more time," Ashley said, cutting in before Andreas could reply to the jab. "Are you all ready?"
We all gave an affirmative. Ashley nodded, walking up and pulling Viv and I into a hug.
"You two be safe, alright? If you see even a hint of the Godling, get the hell out of there."
"We will," I replied, patting him on the back.
"Whatever you do, don't let It touch you," Rosalyn said. "When It grabbed me, I couldn't use my power anymore."
"I believe that's Sebastian Beaumond's power," Andreas said. "Something similar happened when he attacked Jordyn at the facility."
"Yeah, I remember that," I said. "It was why he was able to beat me up so bad. I couldn't fight back."
"It shouldn't be a problem if we just avoid contact," Andreas replied. "Come on, we're burning daylight. Let's go."
A heavy cloud of tension hung in the air as everyone said their goodbyes. We all knew that there was a possibility we might not come back, but no one was going to mention that. Still, Brea and Maddie gave us extra long hugs before we left, to the point where Andreas started complaining again. We didn't let it stop us.
Finally, it was time to go. Andreas and I put our hands on Vivienne's shoulders, and we blinked away.
—-
The central Tombguard police station stood in front of us; a tall, menacing building, dating back to the earliest days of Tombguard's construction. I'd been inside a few times for my police work, but never enough to remember the layout of the place. Vivienne had never been inside at all, which was why she couldn't teleport us straight in. With no internet, she couldn't look up a picture of the place as a reference, either.
As expected, all of the outside windows had been smashed by the shockwave, and parts of the roof appeared to have collapsed. Andreas said the evidence rooms were on the ground floor, though, so hopefully they'd all still be intact.
Unfortunately, getting to them wasn't going to be easy. The area was completely overrun with zombies. I counted at least fifteen between us and the door alone, most of them wearing police uniforms. Vivienne couldn't just teleport us across, either. Ever since her injury, her teleportation had become quick to burn out, so we were saving her for emergencies and long-distance transport only. Just another of the many consequences of putting her back in the field so soon, but again, we had no other option.
"Shit," Vivienne whispered as we ducked behind some rubble, surveying the area. "That's a lot more than the other night."
"Beaumond has no doubt been doing nothing but creating them since your encounter," Andreas said.
"All those people we failed to save..." Viv muttered.
"Hey, you can't blame yourself for that. We did the best we could," I replied.
She took a deep breath. "...Yeah. So, how are we approaching this?"
Instinctively, I looked to Andreas for my orders. He frowned at me. "You wanted to think for yourself so bad, prove you can do it."
Anger bubbled up in my chest. "Go fuck yourself," I growled, wrapping a shadow around a large chunk of debris and flinging it down an alley. It landed with a loud, echoing crash, attracting all of the zombies' attention. They began shambling towards the noise, leaving a clear path to the front entrance.
Andreas smirked. "Well done."
"Shut up," I hissed, hating myself for the burst of giddiness that response summoned up in me.
"Andreas, stop taunting her or I'll drop you in the middle of the Sahara and leave you there," Vivienne said. "Now, come on."
She crept forward and I followed close behind, with Andreas covering our backs. Not an ideal setup for sure, but Vivienne would definitely follow through on her threat if he tried anything, and he knew that, so I wasn't worried.
We made it to the station without issue, pleased to find the front doors unlocked. The main lobby seemed mostly intact, save for a few crumbling bits of plaster on the walls and ceiling, and some scattered paperwork around the place. Hell, the power was even still on. Unfortunately, the illusion was shattered the moment we walked over to the front desk and found the body of some poor receptionist ripped apart behind it. His head was separated, lying a few metres away, mindlessly gnashing at the air.
"Shit," I muttered. "Did the zombies do this?"
"Most likely, considering the head's reanimated," Andreas replied. "Given that the building is intact, most of the people inside probably survived the initial explosion."
"Then, the zombies came," Vivienne finished.
Andreas nodded. "They would've sent people out to investigate the situation, leaving a smaller force behind to guard the place. And if a big enough horde came through, they would've been overwhelmed. I'd say we saw a lot of the original survivors in the crowd outside."
I gritedt my teeth. "There's got to still be some people who made it, right? This is a huge building, people could've hidden."
"It's a possibility, but if there are survivors, I doubt there are many. Too many people would've drawn in attention again."
"We'll keep an eye out- err... uh, we'll look for them, but we should try to avoid too many detours," Vivienne said, cringing at herself. "The Godling feels closer than I'm comfortable with right now."
A shiver ran down my spine. I did my best to not catastrophise.
"Alright, let's move," Andreas said, starting off in a direction. Viv and I shared a look, and followed, heading down a dark corridor. The further in we went, the stronger the heavy scent of blood got, leading us to far too many ruined corpses. I did my best to ignore them, focusing mostly on keeping Vivienne on her feet. Without depth perception, she kept tripping over things, not realising how far away they were. I stayed by her side, ready to steady her whenever she needed.
"The evidence rooms should be down here, but..." Andreas trailed off.
"What is it?" I whispered, trying not to alert the zombies we could see milling outside the windows.
"The rooms are behind a massive, hermetically sealed vault door that automatically locks when it's without electricity. It was designed to stand up to extended power usage. I'm not sure even your shadows could get through it, and since Ms. Matthews hasn't seen inside, she can't teleport past it, either. If that door's closed and there's no power, we'll need to find another route."
"You decide to bring this up now?!" Viv hissed.
"The lights in the lobby were still on. I assumed that would be the case throughout the station, meaning the door would have power, but clearly-" He indicated at the darkness around us. "-I was wrong. Apologies for not being omniscient."
"Oh, fuck off!"
A window behind us smashed. We all whirled around in time to see a zombie flop through. Before it even had time to get up, I called out to the shadows and drove a spike of darkness through its skull.
"Let's go before the noise draws any more of them. We'll check the door to see if it's open, and figure things out from there," I said, taking control before their bickering threw us off-course. "Also, you two, please. Stop arguing. It's stressing me out."
Vivienne sighed, pressing a hand to her eyepatch. "Yes. Sorry. I'm just- My eye hurts and all this tripping over is irritating me."
"I promise I'm not trying to antagonise you, Ms. Matthews," Andreas said. "It was a genuine mistake on my part."
She waved him off. "Yeah, well... It's hard not to hate your guts after everything you've done, but I'll admit it may be clouding my judgement a little. I'll try to be less snappy. So long as you behave, anyway."
Andreas huffed, but didn't respond. We kept moving.
A few zombies milled around the abandoned halls, but it was nothing I couldn't handle, especially here in the dark. It was moments like these I was grateful for being born with such a strong power. I couldn't imagine having to creep through here with nothing but physical weaponry for protection, not knowing what lurked in the shadows. As it was, I could sense the layout of the entire environment through the interlocking web of darkness. Nothing could sneak up on us with me on the team.
With Andreas' guidance, we reached the huge vault door he'd described, and just like he worried, the power was off. Just in case, I tried turning the massive valve handle, but it wouldn't budge. I tried slipping my shadows through the gaps, but they were totally airtight. I tried slamming a hammer of darkness against the metal, but it barely dented. I tried reaching out to my fire powers to melt through the door, but my soul was cold and alone. They'd been inaccessible ever since Rosalyn came back. I doubted they would ever truly be mine again.
"It's no use. We need to find another way."
"There's a junction box in the basement, past the holding cells," Andreas said. "There's still power in other parts of the building, so it's possible the breaker just tripped and shut off power in this section. If so, we might be able to switch it back on and save ourselves the trouble. It's worth a look, regardless."
Vivienne waved a hand. "Lead the way."
We backtracked through to the lobby, thankfully not encountering any more obstacles on the return trip, before heading down a different off-shooting hallway. we smashed through a few locked doors, took out a few zombies, and looted a few vending machines on our way — food supplies were always a priority — but eventually we made it to the fire safety stairs leading down to the holding cells.
The situation down there was... unsettling, to say the least. The lights were still working, which was a small relief — at least for my companions — but that only allowed us to see the carnage better. The bodies of police officers and civilians laid strewn about the place, most with their heads smashed or shot. A little ways down the hall, I could hear the clamour of at least a dozen zombies, all trying to get at something in one of the cells, judging by the clanging sound. Strange, considering all of the cells I could see were open and empty.
We crept around the corner, coming into view of the small horde. One by one, they noticed us and turned their attention away from whatever was in that cell, slowly shambling in our direction.
"You got this, Jordyn?" Vivienne asked.
With the lights on, it wouldn't be quite so simple as before. That didn't mean it would be difficult, though.
I flexed my hands, willing the shadows inside my cloak to solidify, sharpening them into wicked points. With a wave of my arm, they shot out into the light, each one piercing the skull of a different zombie, cutting straight to the brain stem. In an instant, they all went limp, sliding off of the spikes and flopping onto the floor. Vivienne whistled.
"What would we have done without you, babe?"
I grinned. "I'm sure you would've managed."
"Hello?!" a woman's voice called. "Is anyone there?!"
The three of us shared a look before rushing over. In the cell the zombies had been focusing on — the only closed cell in the entire hallway — was a woman, standing up against the bars. She looked unwell, with pale skin and heavy bags under her eyes. Her clothes were dishevelled as well; her no-doubt once-smart button-up soiled with blood and probably a few other things, judging by the smell.
"Oh thank god," she said as we came into view, already breaking down into sobs just at the sight of us. "Thank god. I thought I was gonna die in here."
"Hey, it's alright now," Vivienne said. "What's your name? Are you okay?"
"It's, um... It's Addison," the woman responded. "I'm not hurt. B-but I've been stuck here for three days. I haven't eaten. I've b-barely slept. You gotta get me outta here!"
I pulled a bag of chips we stole from a vending machine out of my cloak, handing it to her through the bars. "Here. Eat slowly, though. You'll make yourself sick if you go too fast."
"Thank you," she whispered, reaching out to take it with shaking hands.
"What are you doing in the cell?" Andreas asked as I got to work bending the bars apart with my shadows.
"I- I'm not a criminal, if that's what you're asking," Addison said, nibbling on a chip. "I'm a CSI. I was here to talk with a detective about a case, but then... the explosion happened. The officers took charge and we hunkered down, waiting for rescue. A few officers left to go check things out, but they never came back. A-and then..." she trailed off.
Viv kicked one of the bodies at our feet. "These guys happened."
Addison nodded. "Yeah. Th-there were so many of them. I didn't know what to do, so I just ran. I came down here, managed to shut the cell door behind me, but... I just trapped myself. The zombies kept piling up outside, trying to get in. I was so scared... I thought I'd either starve to death or they'd break in and rip me apart."
"Don't worry, you're safe now," Viv said. "We're with the Union. We've got a shelter set up, I can teleport you straight there."
Addison let out a relieved chuckle. "I figured, what with the get-ups." Her eyes strayed a little, landing on Andreas. Her face dropped. "Holy crap. Andreas de Vygon?!"
Andreas scowled. Vivienne patted his arm a lot harder than necessary. "Don't worry, we've got him on a tight leash. He's just helping us out to make up for all the crimes."
"He has a gun!"
"And he knows that if he tries to use it against us, I'll drop him at the bottom of the Mariana Trench."
With a grunt, I finally managed to pry the bars apart. Addison stepped through and I supported her with a hand on her elbow.
"Ready to go?" Vivienne asked.
"Please," Addison whimpered. "I never want to see another prison cell ever again."
Vivienne put a hand on her shoulder and looked at me. "I'll be right back."
The two of them disappeared with a pop.
Right at that moment, a loud crash thundered above us, shaking the very walls of the building.
"What the fuck was that?" I asked, looking up.
Andreas didn't get time to answer as the ceiling immediately caved in, dropping a huge mass of writhing flesh right on top of us. I dove on instinct, tackling Andreas out of the way as concrete showered the place we'd just been standing.
I didn't get a chance to turn around and see what it was either, as a massive hand curled around my chest, lifting me off of the ground and squeezing the oxygen from my lungs. I clenched my teeth, trying not to scream at the pain of my ribs being crushed, lest I release my last precious gulp of air.
From this position, all I could see was five big, pink fingers wrapped around my body, and Andreas climbing to his feet with wide eyes. My shadows traced the outline of a gargantuan humanoid figure behind me, like one of the Godling's monsters if it had been created using a living person instead. At this angle, with most of the lights in here still working and sunlight filtering in through the hole in the roof, all I could do was stab and slash blindly with my weakened darkness, trying anything to get it to loosen its hold. Nothing seemed to work. Blackness pooled at the edges of my vision. I tasted blood.
"Jordyn! Release your shadows and let me shoot!" Andreas yelled.
It wasn't hard to give him what he wanted, considering I could barely keep control of them anymore anyway. I risked an affirmative grunt and he immediately flew into action, drawing that horrible magnum of his and firing off three shots in quick succession.
Somehow, it worked. The hand around my chest loosened and I collapsed to the ground, listening to the pounding footsteps of whatever this thing was as it stumbled from the shock. I turned, gasping and catching my breath.
Its appearance was pretty much what I'd been expecting; the wild, pink, ever-mutating flesh of a monster, pulsating and writing in the shape of a human. A mobile menace. On the bright side, its head had been blown to pieces from the force of Andreas' gun, and that seemed to slow it down quite a bit. It must've still been relying on brainpower somewhat.
"Finish it off!" Andreas called. I didn't need his permission to do it, but I let the order fuel me anyway; my programming sending the signal to my muscles before I could even fully process it.
Every shadow in the vicinity came at my call, forming together into one massive spear. With a wave of my arms, I sent it forward into the rearing monster, piercing it straight through the middle. That wasn't enough, though. I clenched my fists, sending a knot through the darkness that ripped the thing apart.
Gore splattered the walls, thankfully falling short of hitting me for the most part. I dropped my hands, releasing the shadows, panting heavily. My ribs throbbed with every breath, stinging in that oh-so-familiar way. Definitely broken. Fuck.
"Are you injured?" Andreas asked, reloading and holstering his revolver.
I sucked in a painful breath, crawling over to the wall to lean against it. "N-not in any way you can help with."
"Your ribs?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
He sighed. "At least you've got a lot of practise with that."
The barb felt more like a tease than anything with actual malice behind it. Still, I didn't appreciate him making light of the abuse he put me through.
"Yeah, and thanks for that, you ass."
"I-" Andreas cut himself off. He rubbed his face, sighing. "I'm not trying to... I'm... not very good at this."
"Not good at what?" I questioned.
He sat down across from me, looking me in the eye. After a long moment, he spoke.
"I had a lot of time to think while locked in that dorm. I thought about where I was. How I'd gotten there. What I'd... ultimately achieved through my actions. I think I've told you this, but... I've never enjoyed hurting people. It was always just a means to an end."
"That doesn't make it right," I glared.
"I never said that it did. But, in my mind, the goal I was working towards would make it all worth it. I thought I was going to save the world. Every indignity and humiliation I inflicted upon you and your sisters was all in service of that greater goal. The end justified the means."
Was this supposed to be an apology? It wasn't a very good one. "You didn't save the world, though. You doomed it."
"I know," he replied, speaking lowly. "Everything I did to you and your friends was all for nought. All the pain I caused. Would it be hypocritical of me to say... that, in hindsight, I regret it?"
Something uncomfortable churned in my gut. "A bit."
"Well, I don't regret everything. I don't regret creating you and your sisters. Your births were a biological marvel; a huge milestone in the advancement of science. I told you you were my daughters, and at first, that was a lie, but... It would also be a lie to say I didn't start seeing you that way eventually, too."
"Didn't stop you from drilling a fucking muzzle onto my head," I snapped. "That was barely a week ago, by the way. Just in case you forgot."
Andreas scowled. "I know. I'm not- Just... let me finish, please. My... My failure to secure my wish made me realise. I'd spent my entire life working towards that goal. Every decision I made was all building towards it. It was the sum total of my whole existence. And it's... nothing. In the end, the only thing I will leave behind is a legacy as the man who doomed the world and betrayed his ancestors. I have no true friends, I own nothing. I saw it all as just... a distraction on my path. The closest thing I have to a family is you."
I stared at him, ignoring the pang that sent through me. "...Do you want me to feel sorry for you?"
He shook his head, looking at the ground. "What I'm trying to say is, no matter how much we might wish to, we can't change the past. You are all I have. I can't go back and rectify my mistakes. All I can do is try to move forward and be better. I want to be better. To you. I want to try to be the father I should've been for you, at least in some small part. If you would let me. I'm just... not very good at it yet. And I apologise.
"And, I know, I know," he quickly added, before I could respond, "nothing I can say will make up for what I've done to you, and I'm not stupid enough to believe that it will. Maybe this is all just for my sake. But... I'm trying. That's all I can say."
I looked at him, studying his expression closely. He seemed genuine.
It was hard not to be somewhat swayed by his words, though I didn't know whether that was real or just my stupid programming again. I supposed only time would tell if he really meant it. It had only been a week since we took him down, after all. He hadn't had much time to prove himself, and clearly, he was still prone to his outbursts of anger.
What I did know was that, despite it all, I could never truly hate him. He was the only father I'd ever known. Programming or not, those feelings were real. He may have created me to be a weapon, to be broken and bent into shape, used, and discarded, but I knew that wasn't all I was to him. Those little moments of kindness still stood out to me. Him teaching me how to walk and talk. His care and protectiveness whenever Beaumond was around. It may have been the absolute bare-minimum, but it was enough to show that what he said earlier was true. Whatever he considered our relationship to be, he really did see me as a daughter, somewhere in that fucked-up mind of his.
I gritted my teeth, climbing to my feet and battling against the pain. "Stand up."
He frowned, but did as I asked. Good.
I walked over and hugged him.
Andreas stiffened in my arms, but didn't try to hug me back. That was fine. I didn't need him to. All I needed was this. This one moment of connection between us. A tiny hint of what might've been had he been a better man. My body tingled with that familiar giddiness that always came from his touch, and this time I let it flow. Tears prickled in my eyes, and I resisted the urge to sob.
After a long moment, I forced myself to step back. Andreas' eyes were wide, and a little wet if I wasn't mistaken.
"Jordyn..."
"Don't get it twisted. I did it for me, not for you," I said. "And don't expect it to happen again."
He sucked in a breath, and nodded. "Right."
Then I punched him in the gut. My programming made me feel like dirt for it, but it was worth it.
"That was for shooting Vivienne."
"Right," he wheezed.
And speak of the devil, finally, Vivienne reappeared, running a hand through her hair.
"Hey, sorry that took so long. Addison threw up and I couldn't find Ashley..." Her eyes widened as she took in the carnage on the floor. "What the hell happened here?"
"A monster thing showed up," I replied. "We took care of it, but it did manage to knock me around a bit first."
Vivienne's eye widened in concern. "Are you alright?"
"Just a couple broken ribs," I hissed. "Nothing I can't handle."
Viv made a face at that. "Well, take it easy, alright? We need to get moving, and the Godling is way too close for comfort right now."
"The junction box should be down this way," Andreas said, jumping to action. Vivienne and I followed.
We made it without any further issue, aside from Viv stumbling over the bodies on the floor and spitting out a curse every time. Andreas smashed the lock on the junction box with the butt of his revolver and pulled it open.
"Yep, just like I thought. The breaker tripped. This should fix things."
He flipped the few switches that were off back on again, and closed the box. "Let's get going. Matthews, do you feel up to teleporting?"
Vivienne seemed to catch on to his implication. "Yeah, I'm good for now. Grab on."
Andreas and I place a hand on each of her shoulders, and with a pop, we arrived outside the evidence room door, now illuminated by flickering ceiling lights. The little indicator light on the door itself shone green. That had to be a good sign.
I wasted no more time, using my shadows to hoist the valve handle around its circuit and open the door.
"Finally," Viv grunted.
"You alright?" I asked as we stepped into the jarringly un-bloodied corridor. Andreas began opening the doors one by one and glancing inside before moving on.
"More of the same," she replied. "The longer we spend out here, the more I realise I really should still be on bed rest. My head's fucking killing me."
I rubbed her back. "Well, once we get back you can go right to sleep. The rest of us will handle things."
It was clear just how truly exhausted Vivienne must've been, because instead of insisting that she help out, she just nodded, leaning against me. "Will you stay with me? At least until I'm asleep again?"
I smiled. "Of course."
She smiled back, planting a soft kiss on my lips. I sighed into it, tiny sparks flickering to life in my belly. This would never get old.
"Here it is," Andreas called from the end of the corridor.
"Alright," I replied. "Ready for one last big job, Viv?"
She sucked in a breath. "As ready as I can be."
We walked over to where Andreas was standing and took a peek into the room.
"Woah," Viv muttered.
"There's probably tens of millions of dollars worth of equipment just in this room alone," Andreas said. I believed it.
Armour suits were lined up against one wall, most of them seemingly ready to go. On the shelves in the middle were dozens of weapons, all made of that same black metal. Swords, knives, maces, axes, spears. Boxes of custom ammunition lined a shelf underneath, and up against a rack on the far wall were several guns, all with calibres matching the ammo. Everything someone would need to launch an assault on the Godling was right here in this room. Perfect.
Vivienne got to work immediately, running up to a power suit and teleporting away. She came back a few seconds later, moving to the next one. Andreas and I let her work, sorting through the weapons to find things that we knew people could use so Viv wouldn't have to go looking. I had training for pretty much every melee weapon one could get their hands on, but my education on firearms was a bit lacking. Maggie, however, apparently knew everything there was to know about how to use them. We had to compensate for our strengths and weaknesses, and for everyone with every skill-set in between.
Vivienne started to slow down as she started transporting the weapons; sweat dripping down her face as she scooped them up by the armful, trying to maximise efficiency. Worry churned in my gut, but I held my tongue. We needed to do this.
Most of the melee weapons were taken, though we left behind the more complex ones. If it required more thought than simply "swing at your target," we didn't want it. Otherwise, someone was going to give themself a concussion with the nunchaku. She'd gotten through about half of the guns and ammunition when she finally reached her limit, her legs buckling out from under her as she arrived back from her latest delivery.
I swooped in, ignoring the sharp stab from my ribs and catching her before she could hit the ground.
"C-can't..." she muttered. "Can't... Hurts..." Her voice was so weak it made my heart ache.
I clenched my teeth, looking up at Andreas. "She's done. She can't teleport anymore."
He looked around the room. We'd mostly cleared it out. "I suppose we're walking back, then. Grab whatever you can carry." He walked over to the gun rack and picked up a sniper rifle, pocketing a box of the ammunition for it as he went.
No reason not to. With Vivienne safely set down against a wall to catch her breath, I tucked a pistol into my belt and shoved a couple boxes of ammo into the shadows of my cloak, confident they'd be held there by the solid darkness.
Vivienne suddenly stiffened , her eyes going wide.
"The Godling."
My stomach dropped to the floor.
"Well, well. If it isn't Our two favourite people. Did you enjoy the gift We dropped earlier?"
Andreas and I spun around, coming face-to-face with the combined consciousnesses of Sebastian Beaumond and the Godling, standing casually in the doorway. How had It arrived so fast? Was Vivienne so out of sorts that she hadn't felt Its approach, or could It really just move that quickly?
The Godling threw Its arms out jovially. "Andy! Jordie! It's been too long. We missed you. We never got the chance to thank you for freeing Us."
I didn't hesitate, throwing a spear of darkness from my cloak right at Its head. A direct confrontation would no-doubt be deadly, but It was currently blocking our only exit, so I had no choice.
The Godling cocked Its head to the side, just enough to avoid my jab, and moved faster than I could process, appearing in front of me in an instant. Shadows crept over my skin milliseconds before the Godling's hand wrapped around my throat, leaving a microscopic barrier between Its touch and my body. I wouldn't let Beaumond steal my powers again.
Its hold cut off my oxygen in spite of the barrier, lifting me up off the ground. Spikes of dark flashed out of my cloak in a desperate defence, only to be effortlessly batted away by Its free hand. I could stop It from directly controlling my body or taking my shadows, but I couldn't do anything to contest Its raw strength, especially in this light. All I could do was choke and struggle for the second time in half an hour. Just my fucking luck.
"Well, this is familiar, isn't it?," It said, leering at me. "Perhaps We should break your jaw again, just like old times. Or even rip it off, like we did to your friend Madeline. That could be fun. How about it, Jordie?"
I ignored Its taunts, watching Andreas creep around the room behind It. He was up to something, but whether it would be good or bad for me, I couldn't yet tell. Vivienne was still trying and failing to get to her feet next to us. Andreas and I made eye contact. He aimed his gun up at the light. I understood.
A gunshot cracked in my ears, and the room was consumed by inky darkness. Control flooded my body like a drug, fuelled by my adrenaline, and I performed several actions all at once. I rippled the darkness around me, forcing the Godling away and making some distance. I turned that ripple into a compression, wrapping it around the Godling and trying to crush it. I picked up Vivienne, moving her to the other side of the room where Andreas was. She'd be safer there. Less likely to be caught in the crossfire, at least.
"Tricky little shadow, aren't you?" the Godling asked, uncurling from the ball I'd crushed It into as It pushed back on the space around It. Its body began to glow, just like it had in the darkness of Its prison, chasing away the darkness, and with it, my control over the battlefield.
I didn't let that discourage me, grabbing the last of the shadows and shaping them into my very own armour suit under my cloak, just as I'd learned to while fighting monsters with the Union. Staying on the defensive would never work against such a strong opponent, so I pushed the attack, grabbing the nunchaku off the shelf and swinging for Its head.
It wasn't expecting such a brazen offensive, and the metal stick cracked against Its skull, sending It reeling with a splash of golden blood. Andreas wasn't kidding; these weapons really were effective. I didn't slow down, swinging the nunchaku around for a flurry of blows that knocked out teeth. It wasn't going to kill the Godling, but it would keep It busy while the other two figured out how the fuck to get out of this situation.
I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Vivienne had gotten to her feet. Good, she'd be ready to run soon. Andreas was back by the gun rack, fiddling with the rifle he'd grabbed earlier. Whatever he was doing, I didn't have the focus to figure out. I'd just have to trust him.
But of course, my luck couldn't last forever, no matter how unpredictable the nunchaku allowed my attack patterns to be. The Godling's hand shot out, grabbing me by the wrist and twisting. I cried out in alarm, dropping the weapon and preparing myself for the pain of my shoulder popping out. Only, it never came.
Another loud crack echoed through the small space, and the Godling's hold went limp. It actually screamed, backing away from me with a large hole in Its upper arm, oozing gold ichor.
I looked over to Andreas. He had his magnum out, pointed at us, muzzle still smoking. He grinned.
"Anti-Godling hollow-point rounds. What do you think, Beaumond?"
The Godling glared at him, baring Its teeth. "Charming."
It flexed, pushing the fragmented bullet out of the wound and healing it over, leaving only a faintly golden scar. The bruises I'd left on Its face faded away as well.
"You will die slowly."
It tried to charge at him, but I didn't let It, wrapping tendrils of shadow around Its limbs and stopping It in Its tracks, however momentarily.
In truth, I really wasn't thinking very far ahead.
"Piss off, you little rat!"
The Godling spun. I instinctively curled up to protect my side as Its foot collided with the shadows of my armour. It didn't do much good. Something cracked against my skull and the world turned white.
Spinning. Falling. Impact after impact. Hot blood and cold, sour wind. My sight cleared and I found myself looking up at an orange and pink sky, body aching, ribs screaming. My head throbbed with every rapid heartbeat, each pulse like another brick to the temple.
But, I was alive. That had to count for something.
"Jordyn!"
Vivienne's voice. I forced myself into a seated position with support from the shadows in my cloak, looking around.
Somehow, I was outside the police station. A hole gaped wide in one of the walls, leading into the evidence room I was just in. Ah. I understood now. Vivienne ran towards me, using the hole my body had made as a convenient exit. Inside the room, lights flashed and gunshots cracked.
She reached my location, carefully lifting me to my feet and throwing my arm around her shoulders. My body still refused to do more than hurt, so I was helpless to protest. All I could do was whimper as my poor abused ribs whined at the movement. Blood dripped down my face, splattering onto the shattered stone beneath our feet.
"We need to go," she hissed, half walking, half pulling me along. I tried my best to get my shadows to help, but their support was middling at best. "Andreas is staying behind to keep It occupied. Come on, baby. Work with me here."
I tried. I tried so hard. I wanted to be good for her. But it hurt. Everything hurt. My entire being screamed at me to curl up into a ball and stop. Every movement was like knives under my skin. The world spun. My ears rang. I tried to speak, to tell Vivienne what was wrong, but the only words that came to my lips were meaningless babble.
She looked at me with that beautiful brown eye of hers. Seemed to realise that there was a problem. Her face dropped.
"Oh fuck. Shit. Shit. You need the hospital. Okay. Okay, I... I think I can teleport again. Are you ready?"
Darkness swarmed the corners of my vision, but for once, it seemed unrelated to a lack of oxygen. I nodded.
"Okay. I love you, Jordyn. Just try to stay awake."
Vivienne squeezed her eye shut, scrunching her face up.
The world around us changed. Vivienne's face went slack and she dropped. I dropped along with her. Voices surrounded us. Rushing footsteps. I couldn't focus on them. On anything. Just Vivienne. Only Vivienne.
Only Vivienne.
