Story Hub: [link]
\\~~~\\
I //~~~//
Princess Atlanta’s heart stopped as she saw that madman Jasper fall to the ground limp, the detonator still in his grasp with his finger on the button. Once he hit the ground and his finger slipped, the dead man’s switch would trigger and the whole power station would go sky high. The lilac-haired girl closed her eyes and prepared for whatever fate awaited her.
Caenia’s mind was filled with a string of expletives. She was seconds too late to take out Jasper safely. Which meant she was the one who jumped the gun, not Princess Atlanta. Alas, she just as quickly realized that she probably wouldn’t have a chance to dwell on this failure for long. She wanted to believe Jasper wouldn’t be foolish enough to lock himself in a room in danger of being blasted apart by his own explosives. However, she also knew this guy could be crazy and was willing to go down with the ship if his plan went awry. In fact, considering how quickly she was regaining control of the situation before this, she wondered if Jasper had relied too heavily on plan b, to the point he neglected everything else. Who could say? The maid cursed the heavens for her lousy luck one last time as she braced herself for destruction.
One second passed, then another, and another still. Half a minute passed before Caenia and Atlanta realized there had been no explosion, no fiery demise, just silence. Scratch that, there was a sound, heavy, panicked breathing from just below them. The two young women looked down to see Jasper’s finger was still firmly on the detonator’s button, held in place by a smaller hand jutting out from the grated floor.
“If you two are done gawking, mind helping me? I can feel his finger slipping,” Serena exclaimed.
“Serena? How did you-?” Caenia looked at the sight before her.
“Hello,” Princess Irene popped into the room in her usual inexplicable way. She wiggled her fingers, which caused Jasper’s other hand to be moved around by some unseen force.
“That figures,” Atlanta rolled her eyes.
“Normally, I’d give you hell for ignoring my orders,” Caenia stated, “but you did just avert major disaster, so you get a pass.”
“Lovely, now help me with this,” Serena snapped. ‘And you’re the one who nearly got us killed,’ she added mentally.
“Fine, I’ll hold it from this side while you get a better grip,” Caenia squatted down to help.
“I say we get her inside the room first,” Atlanta chimed in, “otherwise I don’t see how we’re keeping that button held down until help arrives.”
“Unless Princess Irene feels like helping me defy physics and solid objects like she can, I don’t see that happening,” Serena shot the suggestion down.
“I can think of a way,” Caenia drew a combat knife she had strapped to her leg and glanced at Jasper.
“Lord no!” Serena and Atlanta replied in unison. “Not in front of Princess Irene,” Serena added.
“Sounds brutal, do it!” Irene added, causing everyone to look at her. “What?”
‘I knew something was up with that kid,’ Caenia felt vindicated.
‘This is Aphros’s fault, I bet,’ Serena and Atlanta shared a thought.
“I meant sawing a hole in the grated floor,” Caenia corrected them.
“That works,” Serena accepted. ‘But I don’t believe for a second that was her original plan,’ the maid thought.
\\~~~\\
II //~~~//
“Boss, you there? Boss? They take you out too?” The Idiot’s yelled into the radio. “Am I all alone in here?”
“No,” a voice replied.
“Huh? Oh, it’s you, where have you been? We’re down to just me and maybe the Puppeteer,” the Idiot complained.
“Moving to intercept my target, 300 seconds to impact,” the voice answered.
“Impact?” The Idiot muttered in confusion. “Right, Caenia is your target. If anyone knocked the boss’s block off, it was probably her. Nice of you to rescue him.”
“Target’s location confirmed, 285 seconds to impact,” the voice stated. “All the others are irrelevant.”
“Whoa, you’re not even going to try and help the boss?” The Idiot was taken aback.
“Acceptable casualties, 270 seconds to impact,” was the voice’s answer.
“Right, you do that and I’ll get back to my own business,” the Idiot turned away from his radio and returned to what he was doing. “Now link this thingy with that one and…”
“255 seconds to impact,” the voice continued.
\\~~~\\
III //~~~//
Medy raced towards the first-floor women’s restroom, the puppets jumping out of every other shadow to halt her progress. While she didn’t have her staff to cast magic, Medy was far from defenseless and defeated most of the puppets with a few well-placed hits. Alas, either the puppets were getting hardier, or they were replacing themselves even faster than before because every time she looked back, the number of puppets did not decrease.
“Overkill much?” Medy exclaimed as she skipped fighting the next batch of creepy wooden foes and jumped over them.
“You’re wasting your time,” a creepy voice echoed nearby. Medy looked up to see a small spider-like puppet with a telescopic eye staring down at her. “Neither you nor your allies will make it in time.”
“You must be the weirdo commanding the puppets,” Medy replied. “Sorry, I have reason to believe your friendly advice has a sinister bias.”
“Make your jests while you can,” the Puppeteer hissed while the spider puppet’s eye zoomed in on Medy for emphasis. “We only have to defeat one of you.”
“Oh please, your puppets are so weak,” Medy countered as she elbowed one of the puppets into a wall, “You couldn’t beat any of us. Plus, I bet the palace is already sending a whole army here to crush you. Instead of slowing me down, you should be running with your tail between your legs.”
“So confident, the naïveté of a child never fails to be amusing,” the Puppeteer snickered. “You speak as though their arrival is certain as if you suddenly hold all the cards.”
“Are you contractually obligated to speak all fancy and cryptic like that?” Medy asked as she judo-threw one of the puppets through the door of the women’s restroom. “Or do you talk like that to feel smart?” She ran into the unlit room.
“Do you project that aura of confidence and speak in jest as part of your official duties?” Another of the Puppeteer’s spiders appeared before Medy in the restroom. Acting as a single spot of red light in the otherwise darkened room. “Or is it to mask your insecurities and your malicious intent?”
“Well, that got personal all of a sudden,” Medy’s tone went somber.
“You have little to no faith in your allies, yet you act with the assurance that everything will work out in your favor,” the Puppeteer continued. “Are you a fool or just in denial?”
“Shut up!” Medy smashed the spider. “You don’t know me or what I’ve been through! I’ll save the whole day myself if I have to!”
“That just proves you have faith in no one but yourself,” the Puppeteer’s voice continued to emanate from elsewhere. But the small, echoey room made it hard to pinpoint. “How could you hope to survive a life-or-death situation if you cannot rely on your allies?”
“That’s easy, I just-” Medy began.
“Knock them down to prop yourself up? Send two so there’s a better chance of at least one of them succeeding?” The Puppeteer interrupted. “Foolish child, such short-sighted actions will only serve to make you more enemies and throw your life into the fickle hands of fate.”
“Why don’t you stop gabbing and show yourself!” Medy snapped before noticing a pair of glowing red eyes appear in front of her. Except, she realized that wasn’t what she was seeing. What she saw was their reflection. “Shi-!” Medy flipped around in time to be tackled into the restroom’s sink. “Get off of me,” Medy flailed at her foe, but this puppet proved sturdier than its peers and far stronger.
“Did it not occur to you that I might take additional precautions? That perhaps I might have more than one type of puppet in my possession?” The Puppeteer questioned Medy. “Consider that as your world goes forever dark.” The puppet wrapped its wooden hands around Medy’s throat and began to choke her.
“You bi…” Medy croaked. ‘Not going to die here, not like this. I swore I would…’ Her train of thought derailed as the puppet clenched its grip tighter. Medy desperately looked for an out, but no sudden burst of strength was here to save her. ‘Think, think, think,’ her flailing hand grasped around until she remembered what she was being held up against.
“Accept this fate as the consequence for your foolish…Hm?” The Puppeteer paused her speech as she noticed Medy grasp the handles of the sink behind her and turn on the water. “You really have gone mad, haven’t yo-?” The voice was interrupted by a stream of water gushing over the puppet as Medy cupped her other hand over the faucet. “Water? You think my puppet will be stopped with tap water?”
“Grgh,” Medy coughed as she could feel herself going lightheaded and the world going dark, but she still found the strength to place her free hand on the puppet. “Freezing Spray!” A burst of blue light preceded the water flash freezing, damaging the puppet as all its internal workings shuddered in the cold. The grip on the maid’s throat slowly loosened, until she finally had enough room to take a breath. With renewed strength, Medy kneed the puppet in the chest, and shattered her wooden foe like a fragile ice sculpture.
“Gaah,” Medy took in several desperately needed gulps of air as she slid to the floor. “Screw that hag,” she forced herself back to her feet before stomping on the broken puppet a few more times for good measure. “Where is that stupid bomb?” She got back to work, trying to push the Puppeteer’s words out of her mind.
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
With a magically empowered fist, Orion shattered the puppet guarding the bomb in the second-floor security station. It was a tricky fight, but he managed to keep the Puppeteer’s vicious words out of mind. He wouldn’t let her play such mind games with him.
“I’m about to disarm my bomb right now,” Orion said into the radio. “What’s your status, everyone?”
“Mine’s on ice,” Medy replied with a cough. “I really hate the witch controlling these puppets. Something about her taunts is rubbing me the wrong way.”
“Well, yes, she’s quite personal in her barbs, but we mustn’t let her verbal assaults seed our minds with doubt,” Orion replied.
“No, not that!” Medy snapped, “She didn’t get to me at all...I mean, ahem, there’s clearly something she knows that we don’t. They must have a fallback plan, like another bomb or reserve member to their group.”
“That is worth considering,” Orion admitted as he got to work disarming his bomb. “Jace, how are you doing? Jace?”
“Fine, just fine!” Jace yelled in reply. The sound of pitched fighting leaked through the radio.
“Oh great,” Medy sighed. “You better not screw this up, Jace!”
“Thanks for the encouragement!” Jace snapped back.
‘I knew I couldn’t trust him to…darn it, I’m proving the witch right!’ Medy grumbled. “Whatever, if you’re still alive, I’ll be there to bail you out like always…once I get over this,” the maid let out another violent cough.
“If I’m still alive?” Jace exclaimed as the fighting on his end of the radio continued.
“Don’t worry, Jace, I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Orion finished disarming his bomb. “Wait, has anyone heard from Penelo?”
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
Penelo arrived at the main reactor, it wasn’t hard to find. The rest of the Multiversal Power Stationtm was fairly quiet (barring the puppets and the fighting and all that), but the main reactor was loud and booming in comparison. Finding the door was the tricky part, but Penelo wasn’t the most patient person in the first place, let alone in a crisis situation, so she did what she always did. Make her own.
The main reactor room was what one would expect, a vast circular room with a large cylindrical machine at the center. The center of the machine was a glass cylinder with seven colors of energy flowing through it: red, blue, yellow, black, green, pink, and white. Surrounding the reactor were various panels, consoles, and monitors for controlling the machine and observing its readings. At the base of the reactor was a big plastic package, which Penelo assumed to be the bomb because of the blinking light and all the wires. In front of the bomb was a tall and lanky cloaked figure and about a dozen puppets, including one much bigger than the rest with four arms and short blades in each hand.
“So, you’re the creepy lady with all the puppets!” Penelo pointed at her foe.
“Is this truly who they put all their faith into?” The Puppeteer shook her head as she shed her cloak. She revealed her lanky body in its fullest, including her sickly pale grey skin and long, frail green hair. She was garbed in what was once a white dress, although now it was worn and grey from age. The Puppeteer looked more at home as a ghost in an abandoned hospital than in this factory, but despite her appearance, she showed no sign of ailment.
“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m here to beat you up and break your stupid bomb!” Penelo announced.
“I will offer you a single chance to surrender in exchange for sparring your life,” the Puppeteer declared. “I’m sure you think of my puppets as weak. However, they are much stronger in my immediate presence. In addition, my main puppet, Karagiz, is far superior to the rest. Your chance of victory is not even dim. It is zero.”
“You’re just saying big words to scare me,” Penelo huffed. “Well, I’m not afraid of you.”
“Then perish like the brave hero you are,” The Puppeteer narrowed her eyes before commanding the puppets to attack.
\\~~~\\
IV //~~~//
Through a series of deft maneuvers and the furious slicing of metal with a knife, Serena was able to enter the master control room through a brand new hole in the grated floor. Unfortunately, her hand was still stuck inside the now severed piece of grate, but she still had her fingers firmly atop Jasper’s limp hand, holding the dead man’s switch in place.
“I can’t believe how fast you sawed through the metal,” Serena told Caenia, “but couldn’t you have just cut my hand free?”
“Sure, but you might have lost a few fingers,” Caenia explained. “This thing is razor sharp, and much like bullets, it doesn’t discriminate.” The knife radiated with a visible aura of danger, Caenia had clearly been channeling a very potent magic through the blade.
“Right,” Serena tried not to let the color drain from her face. ‘You could have just said, I didn’t want to cut off your arm, but you had to be dramatic.’
“Just switch hands and pull it through the grate once it’s free,” Atlanta pointed out.
“I was going to say that,” Serena replied and began the careful process of switching hands. Which was a lot harder than it sounded with a loose grate in the way.
“You’re taking too long. I’ll just…” Caenia’s words trailed off as her attention was pulled away from Serena.
“You’ll just what?” Serena didn’t take her eyes off the detonator. Irene followed the line of Caenia’s gaze, and her eyes went wider and wider as her head turned up.
“What’s gotten into you two?” Atlanta looked at the maid and princess with frustration before spotting what had stolen their attention. “Oh, crapbaskets.”
‘Dare I look up?’ Serena silently wondered as she turned to see whatever had her allies so stunned. ‘I really wish I hadn’t looked.’ A final cloaked figure was approaching, one far larger than any of Jasper’s other goons or even any other human Serena had ever seen. The cloak was ill-fitting, only covering everything above the figure’s knees, and was fastened at their neck by a very stubborn thread.
The figure walked right through the door opposite the four girls, his cloaking being torn off by the broken glass, but his body otherwise unharmed. Beneath the cloak was a mountain of a man with brown hair in a flattop haircut, black sunglasses, dark green cargo pants, dark blue cargo vest, black boots, and more muscles than Serena thought was possible. He’d make even the brawniest career soldiers Serena had seen around the palace blush. And he was coming right in their direction.
“Well, well, I almost forgot I had sensed a real threat running around here,” Caenia stepped forward. “Looks like you finally decided to show yourself. Come to save your boss?”
“I’m only here to fight you, Caenia,” the man announced, “everything else is secondary.”
“Gladly,” Caenia took a fighting stance, which made Serena balk.
“You mind taking this outside before your fight blows us all to kingdom come,” Serena gestured to her finger still on the detonator.
“I am Adaman, and I only live for battle,” the man declared, ignoring the maid completely. Instead, he began to emanate a visible, ferocious energy as if he were a living engine of destruction.
“Good, now I know what to put on your tombstone,” Caenia boasted as she moved to engage.
“Leave nothing but ash!” Adaman charged forward to meet Caenia like a roaring tornado. Serena could feel the control room warping just from the stomping of his feet. She was terrified of what would happen when he threw a punch.
“Get behind us!” Atlanta declared as she and Irene moved in sync to project a magic barrier around themselves and Serena. Suddenly, the violent shaking was muted, and Serena felt a moment of security.
Caenia, meanwhile, was racing to meet Adaman with a clash of fists but diverted at the last second to slide around the large man’s blow and nail him in the chest with an elbow. The maid was shocked, not only did Adaman not even flinch from the blow, but he kept going on his initial crash course as if her blow was no more impactful than a spitball. While Caenia had avoided the brunt of Adaman’s punch, it still struck the ground behind her, causing the control room to wobble like a roller coaster car about to go off the rails.
Serena’s moment of security was shattered. While the two princesses’ barrier held strong, the ground beneath them did not. The maid thanked her lucky stars they were inside the shield as every window had exploded with the impact and would have showered them in a hail of glass shards. Caenia was mostly shielded by Adaman’s bulk in front of her and the barrier behind her, allowing her reinforced maid uniform to deflect the rest of the glass. But it didn’t do much to protect her from the wave of pressure caused by the blow, which nearly flattened her up against her foe.
“Sorry bud, I’m not much of a hugger,” Caenia quipped as she grappled Adaman and used the momentum to suplex him. She sent him right through the floor and down into the metal beam Serena had been standing on before, which bent from the weight of his crash. However, Adaman immediately shrugged off what should have been a concussion, if not a broken neck. Then, the giant man moved from being lodged in the beam to a handstand and sprang back to his feet in seconds. “Well, shi-!” Caenia began to swear as Adaman leaped right at her.
\\~~~\\
V //~~~//
Giles and Carus arrived at their destination deep within the Mulitversal Power Stationtm. The area was dark and desolate, far away from the hum of the main reactor or the glow of the overhead lights. Carus was right, this support column was tucked away in this section, separated from the main floor of the station by a locked door and thick walls. It was like a thin layer between the main floor and the exterior, basically a maintenance area, which explained why it was so dark and had limited lighting.
The column they were looking for was easy to spot. It certainly looked larger and more load-bearing, that and the extra-large bomb strapped to its base. Giles gave the explosive wide berth while he let Carus get to work disarming the thing. Instead, the reporter turned on the radio to check everyone else’s status.
“How’s it looking, guys?” Giles inquired, “The egghead is disarming our bomb right now.”
“Area…S-secured,” Jace wheezed through the radio, “I’ll disarm the bomb shortly.”
“Well, it’s about time,” Medy huffed. “If that’s the case, let’s meet below the master control room. With the bombs gone, we can save the princess right from under Caenia’s nose.”
“Medy, this isn’t a contest,” Orion came onto the radio, “besides, Penelo hasn’t reported in yet.”
“She’s fine, her radio probably broke,” Medy brushed him off, “I’m ready to call this a success.”
“Please don’t celebrate prematurely,” Orion said, “Serena has frequently warned me about tempting fate.”
“Puh-lease, just because the world is out to get her doesn’t mean it’s out to get us,” Medy refuted.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m with Orion on this,” Jace muttered.
“Whose side are you on!” Medy snapped.
“The side that doesn’t get me killed!” Jace yelled back.
‘So, are they like siblings or…?’ Gilles wondered. ‘Well, I guess they might be. A lot of workers are from the same family, right?’
“Almost done over here,” Carus announced.
“Sweet, hurry up then. They’re all meeting back at that master control place or whatever it’s called,” Gilles nodded before turning to face the way they came. Which made him realize something odd. “Hey, if we needed your code and fingerprint to get back here, how did they set up the bomb in the first place?”
“Who knows? They probably found an old maintenance hatch from when the facility was constructed,” Carus theorized.
“Oh,” Giles accepted the explanation. “I guess we’re lucky we didn’t run into any of the puppets back here. This was almost too easy.”
“You’re right,” Carus was right behind Giles.
“What’s the-?” Giles was cracked in the back of the head with a wrench and fell to the floor with a thud. The radio clattered onto the ground, letting out a burst of static.
“What was that?” Orion exclaimed.
“Sorry, the reporter dropped the radio,” Carus picked up the device. “We’re done here, meet you soon.”
“Alright,” Orion hesitantly agreed, uncertain why he felt this tinge of concern. Carus shut off the radio and slipped it on his belt before retrieving another one from his person and setting it to a different frequency.
“The final package has been armed, I’m heading out,” Carus declared.
“Oh, hey, Moleman,” the Idiot replied. “Good to hear from you so soon.”
“Where’s Jasper?” Carus asked.
“The boss is down and out, I think. Adaman is avenging him, though,” the Idiot explained. “I’d get clear if I were you. If that detonator is still live, I’m sure Adaman won’t care about setting it off.”
“No need to concern yourself. My package is on a timed delay,” Carus explained. “The rest are too small to cause any serious damage, except the one on the reactor. But by the time that becomes a problem, I’ll be long gone.”
“Oh, well, I better get going then, too,” the Idiot commented.
“You better before I get my hands on you,” Carus growled. “What made you think it was okay to blab out all the package locations?”
“That was part of the plan, right? It was a diversion, right?” The Idiot asked.
“You really are an idiot,” Carus’s face twisted into disgust before he shut off the radio and fled, leaving Giles on the floor bleeding. The reporter was barely conscious and didn’t catch half of what was said, but he just knew he’d curse Carus’s name for the rest of his life.
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
Penelo and the Puppeteer’s battle was seemingly going poorly for the former. While the basic puppets were still no match for the short girl, the Puppeteer’s main puppet, Karagiz, and its multiple arms proved a much better foe. It already had Penelo’s left arm in a vice grip and was moving to restrain her legs. The silver-haired girl was flailing wildly, trying and failing to free herself, while the Puppeteer watched the display in amusement.
‘That girl is such a fool. She’s so caught up in freeing her arm she has paid no attention to my beauty’s blades,’ the pale woman thought. ‘I’ve seen their poison fell much larger foes in such little time. Her tiny body will be paralyzed in moments. At least, if she’s not stabbed to death first.’ The Puppeteer watched as Penelo was cut up by Karagiz’s blade, including a violent stab to the waist. Yet, Penelo did not slow down one bit.
“Is that all you got? I don’t feel a thing!” Penelo roared as she headbutted the puppet, which reeled back.
“Stubborn little shrew,” the Puppeteer sneered.
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
Caenia’s fight with Adaman continued to be a stalemate. While Adaman couldn’t land a decisive blow on Caenia’s, none of the maid’s strikes did any noticeable damage to the giant man. Caenia grew increasingly frustrated by the second, while Serena grew more panicked by the second. The master control room was being torn apart from the aftershocks of this duel. It was only a matter of time before the ground collapsed beneath their feet, and she lost grip on the detonator. This would be so much easier if she could just slip Jasper’s finger off and take control of the device, but that would take a precise motion, which she didn’t have time to perform.
“If you insist on dodging, I will force you to take this next hit!” Adaman threatened.
“What are you babbling about now?” Caenia snarked.
“Now you will know total annihilation!” Adaman shouted as he wound up another punch. But this one was different, like he was putting in far more force than necessary. As if his intention was not just to hit Caenia but to destroy everything in front of him and then keep going.
‘What in the Lord’s name is he? Where’s he getting this strength from?’ Serena wondered as her danger sense went into complete meltdown. She could see the future clearly. Not only would this blow warp the room, if not destroy it, but it would also send Caenia flying, and Adaman wouldn’t stop until he cleared through the princesses and Serena. After that, the explosives going off will be the least of Serena’s concerns as she’ll already be in a million pieces. As a similar realization swept the room, Serena, Atlanta, and Irene felt their collective hearts stop as Adaman threw his devastating strike.
To be Continued…
>>>~~~~<<<
The job isn't over until it's over. You should never assume there will be no more obstacles until you have hard confirmation that you've finished. Even then, something unexpected or forgotten might surprise you out of nowhere.
Author's Note: Another month another chapter. I've got to say, I'm having the most fun plotting these fight scenes. Also, the twist, which I've been sitting on for what feels like a year (oh wait it has been almost a year since I started writing this volume). I hope it was foreshadowed appropriately. On another note, we're nearing the end. I want to say there's but one or two chapters between now and the end of this volume, but I know better then to say that now. At the very least, I see the next chapter being split into halves, but maybe not.
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy (and happy belated Easter).
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