"How the hell are we supposed to kill something that big?!" Ten exclaimed, looking over the edge at the carnage below.
"We strategise," Vivienne replied, her heart already pounding in her chest, chasing the leftover drowsiness away. The air smelled coppery, and her ears rang with screams and destruction. It all reminded her far too much of five years ago. But now wasn't the time to let some stupid PTSD get the better of her. She hadn't had a flareup in years, and she wasn't about to have another one now.
"It feels like the Godling dispersed Its energy within the monster, coalescing at multiple hot-spots, probably taking up the role of the monster's Hearts. We're not going to win in a battle of attrition here, so we need to be precise and targeted. I say we split into teams and spread out, getting as many civilians as we can to the rooftops and picking off those Hearts one by one. I can move between the groups and guide you guys to the right spots."
"How many Hearts are there?" Maggie asked, leaning on the massive greatsword she picked out of the armoury.
Vivienne closed her eye and focused for a moment, feeling for the ripples in space. Bingo.
"Three. All pretty far away and spread out from each other."
"I like that plan, Viv," Ashley said. "Though, I can't help but feel like Steve and I are a little out of our depth here."
She took a moment to factor in for them. It wasn't difficult to find a role. "We'll use this rooftop as our base. Just like the night of the explosion, I'll go between the different rooftops to transport people here. You guys should provide whatever medical aid you can, and defend them from the monster trying to counterattack."
Ashley nodded. "Sounds good. Everyone's radio working?" They all sounded off. "Alright. Viv, since you know the most about the situation, you're in charge. Remember, we're not cut off here like we were in Tombguard. The military is no doubt already on route to assist, so keep an eye out, and let me know. I'll try to establish a line of communication so we can work together more effectively. Look out for each other, and don't take unnecessary risks. I get the feeling we'll need most of our strength intact for what comes after we kill the monster."
He looked out over all of them. Vivienne met his gaze. A humid wind blew across the rooftop, carrying the scent of death.
"I'm so proud of each and every one of you," he said, looking at them one by one. "Whether I've known you since you were just a kid, or only met you recently, I am proud to have gotten the chance to be a part of your journeys. You've all been through so much, and in spite of it all you've all grown into such wonderful heroes. I know deep in my heart that we can win this fight. The Godling is nothing more than a scared, desperate animal, and I'm confident that if we can rip It out of Its hiding place, we can put It down for good. We can save the people of this city, and the world." His words picked up energy, hand movements punctuating every sentence. "We will not be discouraged. We will fight down to the very last person if need be, because we do not give up. We are the Tombguard Heroes' Union, the descendants — if not by blood, then by purpose — of Franziska de Vygon. This battle has burned cold for over 700 years, and today, it shall end by our hands!" He threw his fist up in the air. Vivienne couldn't help but be pulled along with his enthusiasm, and cheered along with everyone else.
"Now, let's get out there and kick some Godling ass!"
—
This was all too much for Ten. She was well aware of the fact that she was a hell of a lot younger than everyone else present — and thus much less informed — but an entire fucking city had turned into flesh, and no one seemed all that surprised by it. Was this a normal thing? Had the Tombguard Heroes dealt with this before?
Regardless, she definitely hadn't, and as much as she was doing her best to put up a brave front, Ten was fucking terrified.
She'd been grouped up with Maggie and Hex, heading roughly in the direction of one of the Hearts. Since Maggie couldn't carry both of them and the massive sword she had at the same time, they had to go on foot, so Ten was literally right there with the monster. Tentacles popped out of the ground left and right, taking swipes and stabs at them, and if they didn't watch their step, they'd fall into one of the many mouths this thing had. Spreading itself so thin apparently meant it couldn't be as reactive, but they still had to keep their guard up, lest they be skewered.
Essentially, it boiled down to a frantic mess of punching and ripping and swinging and dodging while trying to make their way through the chaos, and Ten was already panting hard. She was a strike unit; in and out, quick and efficient, sweat it off later, and otherwise not built for this sort of long-distance activity.
A scream caught their attention and they changed course, because apparently saving random people was more important than killing the Godling. Ten didn't really get it. If they died, they died. It wasn't like it would be her fault.
The screaming came from a car, wrapped in a tentacle, being swung around like a ball on a string. Hands pressed out against the inside of the windows, ineffectually trying to break free. Left to die, they would be battered about against the interior of the car and each other until the blunt force trauma killed them.
An image flashed in Ten's mind, of Ettie and Nina in that same position. Ettie might be able to prevent injury to herself, but Nina would be helpless. She would die, alone and afraid. Just like these people.
"Hex!" Maggie called, swooping low in the air towards the tentacle.
"Got it!" her sister responded, though what she 'got,' Ten didn't know.
Maggie swung that massive black blade of hers, severing the tentacle with a spurt of purple blood. Immediately, the car began to careen towards the ground, but Hex threw out her hand and stopped its descent, placing it down gently. The doors were crumpled; definitely jammed. Now it was Ten's turn. She understood her role here.
Sucking in as much air as she could under her helmet, she charged forward, skin tightening on her arms and hardening into stone. With the added reinforcement, she had no trouble smashing the windows and wrenching the doors open.
Maggie landed, hopping on her good leg. Dressed in only her chestplate and gauntlets thanks to her cast blocking access for her greaves and boots, she looked pretty dumb in Ten's opinion, but that was neither here nor there. The fact that she was wearing sweatpants didn't seem to bother the civilians, either.
"Come on! I've got you!" she yelled, holding her arms out, throwing her sword aside.
A couple of kids came first, bruised and bleeding, guided by their beat-up parents in the front seats. Maggie took one in each arm.
"You guys alright?" she asked softly, almost inaudible in the chaos. The kids nodded, and Maggie looked back up to the parents. "I'm gonna take them to safety, and then come back for you!"
"Just go!" the mother yelled, waving her off frantically. "Keep them safe!"
With a powerful flap of her wings, Maggie took to the sky, disappearing above them, leaving behind only the echoing shriek of fear from the kids.
Right as she left, the fleshy ground in front of the car burst open, revealing another tentacle tipped with a razor-sharp shard of bone. It reared back, aiming right at the windscreen of the car, where the two parents were still cowering. Ten moved without thinking.
The tentacle slammed into her chest right as her boots made contact with the hood of the car, and she wrapped her arms around it to hold it steady and keep it from getting past. Stone covered every inch of her skin underneath her armour, reinforcing her against its thrashing efforts to break free. The bone-tipped end slashed against her helmet, back and forth, leaving scratches across her visor. Any second now, Hex was gonna catch up and do something to help.
The tentacle twisted in Ten's grip, slashing upwards from underneath. Bone caught on the seam of her helmet, ripping it off of her head and bringing all of her surroundings into sharp detail. Its fleshy body slammed against her face, the barb chipping at her stone skin, but she held fast. Father didn't train her to give up so easily.
Finally, Ten heard a ripping noise, and the tentacle stopped moving. She let go, her arms dropping down to her sides like there were weights strapped around her wrists. In front of her, Maggie's sword hovered in the air, covered in a fresh coat of monster blood.
"Sorry that took so long!" Hex yelled from beside the car. "I couldn't find Maggie's sword."
Ten waved her off with a floppy hand, still trying to figure out how to get oxygen in her lungs. Her chest ached from a lack of air, and the world had begun to spin wildly. Before she knew it, her knees buckled and she collapsed in a heap on the hood of the car, blood dripping down her face from the chips in her skin.
Maggie landed back next to the car with a slam, her impact rippling the bruised flesh of the monster. Without even looking at Ten or her sister, she grabbed the parents out of the car and took off again. Ten let her head drop against the hood. Her ears had started to ring.
"Ten! Are you alright?!" Hex called, running up to her side.
"Can't... Breathe..." Ten managed to wheeze out between shallow pants.
"Did you swallow something?"
"Nn..." Ten shook her head, staring up at the sky and gasping. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. Why was this always so hard for her?
"Hey, hey, look at me," Hex said, gently holding Ten's cheek. "I'm gonna start counting down, okay? I want you to breathe in as I count, and then breathe out when I start again, got it?"
It took a second to register her words, but eventually, Ten nodded. Hex began counting down from seven, and Ten did her best to reset her breathing and inhale. It wasn't easy, with more than a few panicked hiccups and that usual ache in her ribs that came whenever she took a deep breath, but she got through it, and Hex started her count again. Ten exhaled along with her.
"There you go. Feel better?" Hex asked after they'd run through it a couple times. Maggie landed next to them a few cycles ago, but stayed back and watched from a distance, picking up her sword.
Ten nodded, her breathing now under control. "Y-yeah, thanks."
Maggie walked up, casually slicing a tentacle with her sword as it formed next to her. "You alright, Ten? What happened?"
"I don't know, I always get really winded with a lot of cardio and exercise like that. Used to happen in training, too. And on the night of the explosion. 's cuz of my bones, I think."
Maggie frowned, looking away as if in thought. "We can't have you passing out halfway through our attack..." She looked back at Ten. "I'll take you back to the base. You're more suited for defence, and we'll need all the help we can get there if the Godling decides to focus on the civilians we rescued."
Ten wanted to protest; her pride bruised by Maggie's comment. But, she knew it to be the truth. Despite being trained as the leader of her sisters, when it came to stuff like this, she was practically as useless as Nina. Father never forgot to remind her of that.
"Fine. Take me back and stop wasting time. You need to kill this thing."
Maggie huffed a laugh. "Don't worry. We'll get it done."
—
Vivienne flittered across the rooftops, following Rosie, Maddie, and Ettie's path through the city as she guided them towards their assigned Heart. Every subsequent teleport was like getting hit in the head with a bigger and bigger sledgehammer, ringing in her ears and sending a shockwave of nausea to her gut, but this wasn't about her. This was about all of those hurt, terrified civilians in the buildings and on the roads, trying to survive against all odds.
Having run out of things to kill on the ground, the monster had begun clawing at the buildings surrounding it. Windows and concrete were ripped from their foundations, and the people inside cowered away to the centre mass. Getting them all to safety would take too long, and they'd probably be okay there for a little while. The priority had to be killing the monster, because the sooner it was dead, the sooner this whole mess was finished with. Vivienne just had to hope they would be okay.
That didn't mean she wasn't going to step in where it mattered, though.
An errant tentacle whipping crazily about slashed across a skyscraper a few dozen floors up. Windows smashed along its path like glass dominoes, and Vivienne could just make out the shape of a person falling through the chaos. With a pop of pressure and a throb in her skull, she teleported to their position and snatched them out of the air. With a few more agonising jumps to equalise their speed, she deposited them, shaking and crying, back in the office they fell from.
"Tell everyone in this building to stay away from the windows!" she yelled to the bystanders, letting adrenaline harden her voice. "Keep to the centre mass of the building and stay low! We won't always be there to save you next time!"
Without any further explanation, she teleported away, back down to the street where the squad was.
"Viv!" Maddie called. "Where's the Heart?"
It only took a moment to locate. She pointed forward. "That intersection, right in the middle! It's pretty deep though, so it might take a bit of work to get to it!"
Rosie nodded. "Alright, we're on it."
Viv's work here was done. She jumped back to the rooftops, double-checking for any cowering civvies she might have missed on her transport jumps. Once she was sure she got everyone, She teleported to the path she sent Jordyn and Brianna down, trying to link back up with them. It wasn't difficult to find them. All she had to do was follow the path of carved up monster flesh and severed tentacles.
They'd made some good progress towards the Heart, but this one was still quite a fair distance away. They would get it done, though. Vivienne had faith.
She watched from a vantage point as Jordyn slashed and carved with precise strikes from her shadows, superficially damaging the flesh of the monster and cutting up any tendrils before they got close. Though her movements betrayed the pain she was no doubt feeling from her broken ribs, it didn't seem like she'd be slowing down any time soon. If there was one thing Viv knew Jordyn had in spades, it was stamina.
Brea, for her part, was armed with a shortsword, and was taking advantage of her power to dematerialise and avoid damage, allowing her to counterattack with impunity, using her smoke to detect her immediate surroundings. By the looks of things, they made a pretty solid little team.
Confident that her help wouldn't be needed, Vivienne took a moment to catch her breath, watching her two favourite people fight on below.
A man ran towards them on the path ahead, calling for help, just barely avoiding the tentacles and mouth-pits trying to swing and bite at him. Unfortunately, his luck could only last so long.
A hole full of teeth formed right under his feet. He dropped, his momentum carrying him to hang right on the opposite edge. Jordyn darted forward, pulling her arms up to grip the shadow within the pit. It solidified and moved upwards, breaking the monster's teeth and pushing the man out of the hole with it. She reached his position, cradling and checking him for injuries. Once again, Jordyn saved the day. Vivienne felt a little burst of admiration in her chest. That was her girlfriend.
Unfortunately, she was so focused on watching Jordyn that she completely forgot to keep her eye on Brianna, only glancing back when a hint of movement caught her attention.
A bone-tipped tendril had formed behind her, reared and ready to pierce straight through her back.
It was like Vivienne's brain stopped working. Like the most basic of her instincts had shut down and she forgot how to do even the simplest thing. Her body refused to teleport. Her lips refused to scream a warning. All she could do was stand there like an idiot, just like five years ago, doomed to watch someone she loved die without doing a thing to stop it.
The tentacle stabbed forward.
Brianna disappeared in a puff of smoke.
It took a moment for Vivienne to process the sight, as Brea's now-empty costume flopped limply to the ground and the tentacle thrashed futilely at the air. But, of course. With a smoke cloud surrounding her, Brea was totally aware of anything that got close to her. She wasn't vulnerable like Rosie was back then. She'd be just fine.
Brianna's hands reappeared, picking up her sword and manoeuvring around in her smoke cloud before bringing it down at the base of the tentacle. It died with a spurt of purple blood, splattering Brea's discarded costume. Smoke flooded into it, filling it back out and reforming into her body. Vivienne let out a sigh of relief.
How could she just freeze up like that? She had more than enough time to teleport down there and get Brea out of harm's way. If it had been anyone else... The idea didn't even warrant thinking about.
Viv shook her head. Now wasn't the time to lose herself to self-doubt. She had to keep moving.
By now, Jordyn had transported the man up to the rooftops, and the two of them had continued on their path. Viv teleported over to him.
"Hey. Are you alright?"
He turned, blinking at her in surprise. It took him a second to catch up with what was going on. "Uh, y-yeah. I'm okay. Are you with them?" He indicated to the road below.
Viv nodded. "Yeah. We're the Tombguard Heroes' Union. We've got a safe zone set up for civilians, I can take you there."
"Tombguard? What are a bunch of Europeans doing here?"
"We were fighting the Godling, but It ran away and came here, trying to farm more souls to get Its energy back. We're just following along to try and finish It off."
"Shit." The man ran a hand through his hair, looking out over the devastation of the city. "Well, good luck. It looks like you've got your work cut out for you."
"We'll get it done. We always do."
—
"I already told you! We're from the Tombguard Heroes' Union! We came here to fight the Godling and save civilians, because we're the ones most qualified to do that! Now, we've got a group of civilians up on a rooftop in Times Square that need extraction to a safer place. Are you going to send anybody to do that, or are you just gonna keep wasting my time?!"
Ashley let go of the broadcast button on his radio and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Communication with the military had been established, but they were not making things easy. They were more concerned with who Ashley was than the fact that a major city was currently being eaten. But, eventually, Ashley made it through to someone who said they could send a transport helicopter in. And just in time, too, because the monster had started sweeping tentacles up at them, and what was once a safe zone had become a chaotic mess.
Vivienne kept popping in, dropping off civilians with decreasing frequency. It spelled bad news for the survivor count, but Ashley tried not to think too hard about it. Clearing his mind of everything else wasn't all that difficult, thankfully, when he was constantly on the lookout for another attack, clutching his hatchet with sweaty palms.
"Special delivery!" a voice called from above him. He looked up, and saw Maggie flying in, carrying Ten in her arms. Worry spiked in his stomach, but, other than Ten's bleeding face, he couldn't see anything immediately wrong, so he forced himself to stop and wait to see what the situation was.
"Everything okay?" he asked as they landed. Steve and Nina rushed over as well.
"Yeah, Ten's just gonna stay here from now on. She's built better for defence."
Ashley nodded. "Alright. Ten, if you wouldn't mind taking over the south side of the rooftop, that would be great. Steve needs a break."
"Don't say that! It makes me look old!" Steve protested.
Ten nodded, as stern and serious as ever. "Yes, sir."
Ashley was about to protest, but Ten jogged off to her new station before he got the chance. He sighed.
"Everything going okay here?" Maggie asked.
Ashley nodded. "No casualties, but the monster's been trying its hardest to remedy that. Steve and I have been smacked around a bit, but we're okay. Nina's handling first aid as best she can. Surprisingly well-versed in it for how long she's been alive."
"Yeah, Andreas made sure all of us clones had a pretty extensive first-aid education. Anything less serious than a nicked artery or a compound fracture, we had to deal with ourselves to the best of our ability during training. Only ever went to the medbay for them to check our work."
Ashley let out a mildly distressed breath at that news. It certainly explained a lot about Jordyn's behaviour prior to her unmasking.
Maggie opened her mouth, as if to say something, but she never got the chance. All Ashley saw was a flash of pink flesh before Maggie was ripped away from him, a tentacle around her leg pulling her off the roof into the depths below.
"Maggie!"
He rushed over to the edge, looking down and searching desperately for any hint of black wings among the chaos. A loud string of curses pulled his attention over to a mess of tendrils near the surface, writhing and wrapping themselves around Maggie's body. Her wings had been trapped against her back, and all of her limbs were tangled up. Every time she wrenched an arm free, another tentacle would take its place, dragging her ever-closer to one of the monster's mouths. But, she was Maggie, the strongest of all the heroes, fighting on even with a broken leg.She'd be able to get free, right?
A tentacle wrapped itself around her throat, tightening enough that Ashley could see the distress on Maggie's face from all the way up on the roof.
She needed help. He had to do something.
No more heroes were going to die under his watch.
The tentacles were all branching off of one apex, like a hydra's heads. All he had to do was aim there, and he should be able to disorient them enough for Maggie to get free. The only problem was, his rifle ran out of ammo a long while ago. He had to do this up-close and personal.
Ashley had a really stupid idea.
He grabbed his hatchet, clutching it tightly, and turned to Steve.
"If I die, you're in charge!"
Steve made a face. "What?!"
Without responding, Ashley turned back to the ledge, sucked in a breath, and took a running leap into the beyond.
His stomach dropped as he fell, wind whipping past his ears, stinging tears into his eyes. This was a really, really stupid idea.
But it just might work.
He got the angle just right; the apex rushing up below him. His hatchet was sharp, and he was moving fast. He just had to hope the force didn't rip his arms off at the moment of impact.
Right before he was about to make contact, Ashley brought his hatchet down, swinging it deep into the flesh of the monster. His body followed through with his momentum, dragging him down while the hatchet stayed in place. His arms jarred upwards, and both of his shoulders slipped out with an awful pop that seemed to reverberate through his body.
From there, it was pure instinct and adrenaline that kept him holding onto the hatchet handle for dear life as the monster thrashed in pain. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Maggie finally pull herself free of the monster's grip. That was nice. He was pretty sure he was about to die, though.
Ashley flew back and forth through the air, losing track of the ground. His shoulders burned, muscles ripping under weight they weren't built to handle without the support of his bones. Nausea flashed in his stomach. Finally, his hands slipped off of the handle, and he was thrown from the monster like a particularly unfortunate bug.
In the stretching moment of weightlessness as he tumbled through the air, Ashley wondered if he'd made a mistake. But, as his vision panned around and he caught a glimpse of Maggie ripping the tentacles to shreds with her bare hands, he knew he'd made the right choice.
His head cracked against something, and broke through it. White-hot pain seared across his face as his body rolled to a painful stop on a horizontal surface. For a good few seconds, all Ashley could do was lie there, blinking, trying to figure out if he was still alive or not. Considering that the blood gushing down his face was warm, he deduced that he must've been.
Then the pain set in. A horrible, echoing ache across his entire system, centred at his ruined shoulders and the side of his head. He squeezed his eyes shut, groaning weakly, as nausea washed through his abdomen like a sickly flood. At least the floor was carpeted. Way more comfortable than concrete or linoleum, that was for sure. He had to look on the bright side.
"Ashley?! Ashley?!"
Maggie. She was okay. Thank god.
"Ashley! Oh fuck, please be alive."
He heard her wings flap, and all of a sudden she was in front of him, turning him onto his back.
"'M alive," he muttered. "Barely."
Maggie let out a laugh of relief, but her face quickly dropped back into concern. "Why the hell did you do that?! You could've died!"
"Had to help you. Didn't see any other way."
She shook her head. "Stupid. That was so stupid."
Ashley took a few breaths to sum up the strength to speak. "Are you just gonna insult me, or are you gonna return the favour and help me out?"
Maggie grinned weakly. "Oh, I can help you, but it's gonna suck. Your shoulders look super dislocated, and the cut on your face is filled with broken glass. We'll have to get it out before we can stitch you up."
Ashley sighed. "Guessed as much. Better get it over with."
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
—
Maggie set his shoulders back in before flying him up to the safe zone, so as to avoid distressing all the civilians with his screaming. But, the big boy toughed it out, and she was able to get him set up with Nina's medkit before giving a hasty goodbye and flying back to where Hex was waiting.
As mad as she was that he risked his life like that, Maggie wasn't sure she would've been able to escape that on her own. Her skin still stung from how tight the tentacles wrapped themselves around her, and her ribs ached like they'd just been re-broken. And yet, somehow, that powerless moron actually managed to save her. Regular old Ashley saw her in trouble, and jumped off of a fucking building for her.
Maggie couldn't help but be impressed. She'd always just assumed Ashley was a nepo baby, only earning his station through the accident of birth and the ability to make a good speech. But, when it came down to it, the man could walk the walk. He stepped in to help people when they needed it, no matter the risk to himself. And if that didn't make him a hero, then Maggie wasn't sure what would.
"Took you long enough," Hex said as Maggie landed, handing back her greatsword. She was right where Maggie left her; sitting on the hood of the car they rescued the civvies from.
"Yeah, things got a little messy. I'll tell you later. Come on, let's kill this thing."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Hex said, hopping off of the car.
Together, the two of them pressed on in the direction of the Heart. Around them, the city had quieted, despite the monster still raging on under their feet. It seemed like most of the surviving civilians in the area had either been picked off or had found safety. No more screams reached their ears for the remainder of their journey. Whether it was a good sign or a bad one remained to be seen.
After a while, Maggie grabbed her radio, calling for Vivienne.
"Hey Viv, could we get a little guidance?"
She appeared next to them, looking around. "What do you need?"
"Which way to the Heart?" Hex asked.
Vivienne closed her eye for a moment, before opening it again and grinning. "We're pretty much on top of it. Not too deep below the surface, either. Start cutting right... here," she said as she stepped over to a certain spot and jumped up and down, "and you'll get it in no time."
Relief flooded Maggie's chest. "Awesome."
"Good luck. I'll check back in a few minutes, alright?"
"Alright."
With that, Vivienne teleported away. Maggie looked at the point on the ground she'd indicated. Now to finish this.
Maggie didn't waste any time, flying up into the air and swooping around with her greatsword to carve a gash deep into the living ground. Hex put her hand out and focused, and a few seconds later, a great hunk of pulsing, beating flesh the size of a small truck slipped out of the wound, dripping with thick clots of purple blood as it floated into the air. With every heavy thu-thump of the Heart, a flash of white flickered along its veins, arteries, and capillaries. It was almost beautiful, in a disgusting, visceral sort of way.
Maggie took a deep breath, tightened her grip on her sword with both hands, flew high into the air, and dive-bombed downwards with a roar.
—
"Right here, she said?" Maddie asked, stomping on a bit of monster in the middle of the intersection.
"Yep. Sounded like we'll have to dig for it, though," Rosalyn replied. She looked over at Ettie. "Will you be able to cover us while we deal with it?"
Ettie shrugged. "Probably. I'll do my best. You guys just do your thing."
Given that she was pretty much immune to any of the monster's attacks, Rosalyn was fine leaving her to it. So long as she kept its attention away from them, that was all they needed. She turned back to Maddie.
"Any ideas on how to get to it?"
Maddie thought for a second, and Rosalyn caught the moment the idea flashed across her face. Maddie grinned.
"I'm gonna make a huge, hollow spike of ice, and plunge it deep into the ground. Then, you're gonna launch yourself up there, and use your explosions to fling yourself through it, and use the distance it already made to burst through and incinerate the Heart."
Rosalyn took a moment to consider the idea. It was perfect.
"I love you, you know that?"
"I think you've mentioned it once or twice," Maddie replied, her grin growing wider.
She lifted her good arm, splaying out her palm. Goosebumps rose on Rosalyn's skin as the temperature plummeted. High above them, air crystallised and solidified into a massive ice structure, just as Maddie had described.
"Get back!" she cried as the giant spike began to fall. Rosalyn dove away, pulling Maddie with her right before the spike landed and crushed them.
The spear of ice plunged deep into the monster's flesh, prompting an ear-splitting roar as dozens of tentacles formed around them. Rosalyn popped a few with her ROC explosions as Ettie kept the majority occupied. Purple blood seeped from the edges of the wound, bubbling like a geyser.
"Make some distance, you two," she said, waving an arm back. "This is gonna be hot and messy."
"Just how I like it," Maddie joked.
Rosalyn huffed a laugh. "Seriously though, get to safety. Don't want you guys getting caught in the explosion."
"You got it. Ettie?"
Ettie formed back into her human shape, turning around and nodding. "Got it."
Together, the two of them started running back down the road. Rosalyn turned to the ice spike once they were far enough, taking a deep breath. Time for some payback.
She jumped, igniting the oxygen below her feet to launch her high into the air. Her stomach dropped and her heart pounded as she sailed to the peak of her arc, adrenaline flooding her veins in preparation of what was to come. If the fetus in her belly was formed enough to know what was going on around it, it was probably having the ride of its life.
Once she was hovering over the opening of the spike, Rosalyn pulled in her legs, flipping in the air until she was upside down. With one final shout to exertion, the air around her cracked into flame, and Rosalyn herself became the projectile, launching through the ice funnel and deep into the monster's flesh. Right before the moment of impact with the crushed end of the spike — deep enough in that she could see the pulsating form of the Heart behind the ice — she threw her hands forward and summoned the biggest explosion she could muster.
—
Vivienne's throat tightened as she figured out the exact location of the last Heart. She opened her eye, looking at Jordyn and Brianna.
"Well?" Jordyn prompted. "Where is it?"
"It's... underneath that building," Vivienne replied, pointing. "I don't know how we're going to get to it."
Jordyn looked at the building; a tall, dense apartment block. "Can't we just... tunnel under it somehow?"
"The monster would crush us if we tried anything like that. If we were planning on going inside it in any way, we would need to strike so quickly that it wouldn't have any time to react. We just can't make that sort of distance that fast."
Jordyn took off her helmet, gazing intensely at Vivienne. "I think I have an idea, but you're gonna hate it."
Vivienne sighed, preparing herself. "At this point I'll take anything."
Jordyn nodded, and began undoing the clasps on her armour. "I know I haven't had this new power for long, but I'm pretty confident this'll work. I figured out in our room back at HQ, whenever my body is in darkness, I can dissipate into it and take control of all of it. So if I can just get inside the monster, where there's no light, I'll basically have free reign over the entirety of its insides. I'll be able to tear it apart from within!"
Vivienne's first instinct was to vehemently protest, but the more she considered it, the more sense it made. She and Brianna both felt Jordyn's body disappear when they were cuddled up together. They both heard her speak from the darkness, and then reform in a different position with ease. Yes, she was unexperienced with this particular facet of her power, but Jordyn had spent a large majority of her life training to use and control shadows with the utmost precision and efficiency. If anyone could pull something like this off, it would be her.
And, frankly, Vivienne couldn't see any other way of getting to the Heart. Either Jordyn literally jumped into the belly of the beast, or the Godling won.
Vivienne nodded. "Alright. I trust you."
Jordyn smiled, the last of her armour now stripped off and laid on the ground, leaving her just in a t-shirt and trunks. "Thanks, Viv." She walked up, and planted a long kiss on Vivienne's lips. "Wait for me."
"Always," Vivienne whispered, still subconsciously chasing those last few embers of physical connection.
Jordyn ran over to Brea, and wrapped her in a tight hug.
"You'd better not get yourself killed, Jean Shorts," Brea said.
"Don't bet on it."
Jordyn broke off the hug and backed off, taking a few steps away so that both of them were within her line of sight.
"Wish me luck."
She gave them a two-finger salute, stepped back, and dropped into one of the many ravenous mouths of the monster.
Despite her faith in Jordyn's abilities, Vivienne's heart immediately leapt up into her throat. However, her concern was quickly proven wrong, as the monster's flesh began to rip and tear from the inside; spears and blades of shadow poking out as Jordyn's essence tunnelled through it. The mouth that she jumped into coughed, regurgitating purple blood and chunks of torn muscle. It couldn't do a single thing to stop her as she powered across the road and underneath the building, heading straight for the Heart.
—
In three separate places throughout the city, three identical women reached their goals at the same instant. A blade sliced. An explosion incinerated. A wave of shadows crushed. Three Hearts were destroyed, and their amassed energy dispersed into the closest living being available. Three pillars of light, crackling with power, shot up into the sky, as the matter comprising the monster disintegrated.
Seeing Its power once again being usurped by the humans, the Godling summoned every particle of matter It still had command over back to a central point, reforming Its vessel; renewed and empowered by the souls of all who died in the monster's clutches. The matter formed into a humanoid shape, glowing and sparking pure white, like living energy in the mold of a man. The Vessel Sebastian Beaumond was no more, but with all the souls the Godling had retrieved, this false shell would suffice in keeping It from unravelling.
A new, more permanent vessel could be found once the Usurpers were dealt with. And then, Its revenge could finally be completed.
—
Vivienne gasped and wheezed, struggling to suck in oxygen after being slammed against the hard concrete sidewalk like that. The moment Jordyn destroyed the monster's Heart, a bright flash went off and the entire thing vaporised into smoke, leaving Vivienne and Brianna standing a good five metres off the ground, doomed to fall.
"What the hell happened?!" Brea yelled, a hand pressed against her chest.
Vivienne forced herself to sit up and get a look at what was going on. The building that the Heart had formed under was completely gone, consumed by that blinding explosion. In its place, getting up off of the ground, stood a person, glowing white like some sort of angel.
Vivienne sucked in a breath. Jordyn. She leapt to her feet.
Jordyn turned, and Vivienne barely recognised her. Her hair and eyes had both turned pure white, letting off an ethereal light. White lines traced under her tan skin, following the paths of her veins. The air tingled with electricity, smelling heavily of ozone.
"J-Jordyn?" she managed. "Are you alright?"
Jordyn looked down at her hands. "Yeah. I think so. I feel... weird."
Her voice came out layered, like dozens of people speaking together with her.
All of a sudden, she looked up, those blank, white eyes widening.
"I have to go. Maggie and Rosalyn need me."
Vivienne watched on in amazement as a pair of wings sprouted from Jordyn's back, the same glowing shade as her hair. She bent her knees, flexed her wings, and took off with an ear-splitting crack, disappearing from view before Vivienne even had a chance to blink. In the place where she stood, the concrete was broken and dented.
"The fight's not over yet, is it?" Brea asked, walking up behind Vivienne.
Vivienne stared at the broken ground, smashed apart purely by the force with which Jordyn flew away. She grinned, a strange confidence filling her heart.
"No. But, something tells me it won't be long now."
