Story Hub: [link]
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I //~~~//
The Puppeteer was at wit’s end. Penelo had taken at least five stab wounds and was pumped up with enough poison to kill a water buffalo. The maid should have been dead thrice over, yet she hadn’t even slowed down. In fact, the silver-haired girl seemed stronger than ever, even though Karagiz had her completely bound.
‘Is she even human? Or is she some freakish experiment the palace has let loose on the world?’ The Puppeteer theorized. ‘Regardless, it is best I handled this my…self?’ The pale woman’s thought was interrupted by the sound of shattering wood. Penelo had given up on thrashing her way out of the puppet’s grasp and instead began biting at its many arms.
“Get! Off! Of! Me!” Penelo roared as she ate through Karagiz like it was made of crackers. She freed her left arm before grabbing the puppet’s head and crashing it to the ground with a body slam. Karagiz’s grip loosened even further from the blow, giving Penelo enough room to start beating on the wooden doll.
‘Absolute insanity,’ the Puppeteer gaped at Penelo’s rampage.
“Told you to get off me,” Penelo rose up and spat on the puppet. She was cut up and woozy but still stood strong. The fight wasn’t over yet.
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
Time in the master control room marched on in slow motion. Serena’s danger sense saw only oblivion before her, and the princesses knew their barrier wouldn’t withstand Adaman’s attack. The only person in a state of calm was Caenia, who was eerily focused on the enemy charging at her. Adaman’s fury emanated from his fist as his punch literally warped the room around them with its sheer force. What little remained of the glass in the windows turned to dust in the wind as the metal of the walls and floors recoiled in fear of his strength. Then, in a single, perfect, fluid motion, Caenia ducked down, grabbed Adaman’s arm, and turned his momentum into fuel for a shoulder throw. Adaman was sent flying over Caenia’s head through the ceiling and plummeted like a stone back to the power station’s floor. He impacted the ground with an echoing smash that seemed to shake the foundations of the entire building, and then there was only silence.
“Did you get him?” Irene asked, looking up through the hole in the ceiling.
“Well, if I didn’t, I pissed him off, at least,” Caenia replied.
“Please don’t joke about that. My heart can’t take anymore,” Serena requested. In a moment of clarity, she finally managed to switch which hand the detonator was in without letting go of the dead man’s switch and free her arm from the grate.
“Whatever,” Atlanta sighed, “I’m going to find the bag of cellphones and see if anything survived. Then, I’m calling Aphros for immediate pickup. I never want to see this place again, I feel like I’ve been here for half a year.”
“But we’ve only been here a couple of hours,” Irene commented.
“It’s called hyperbole, little sister,” Atlanta rolled her eyes.
“What do hyper-bowls have to do with this?” Irene asked with a quizzical look. Which earned her a glare from her elder sister.
‘I swear, she does this on purpose,’ Serena and Atlanta thought in unison. While the comedy routine went on beside her, Caenia stared off into the distance, where she threw Adaman. Deep in her gut, she knew the fight wasn’t over yet.
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II //~~~//
Giles dreamed of failure, of being yelled at and thrown out of every kind of building. He remembered being ejected from that fancy restaurant for trying to sneak pictures of their recipes. An image of the time he was arrested for trespassing at a high noble’s manor flashed across his mind. He thought the old man was engaged in an affair, but the truth was he was spending time with his much younger sister. Then, the reporter was beset by visions of being chased out of a grocery store while trying to prove rumors they had wild pigs running freely inside their deli.
Giles wondered if his life was flashing before his eyes. Maybe at the end of this little slideshow, he’d be hurtled into whatever afterlife awaited him. He hoped they could skip the part where he was thrown out of the house for exposing his father’s fraudulent activities. It had been so easy at the time, and it felt good to reveal the truth to the world at first. But it wasn’t long before Giles realized that his dad was just sloppy and never even entertained the idea of being caught. Yet, the intrepid reporter chased that feeling, hoping to expose some other great crime.
Alas, just when he finally had the story he’d been looking for his whole life right in the palm of his hand, he had to go and get himself killed by trusting the wrong guy. Giles hoped the next life would treat him better, or at least not beat him up every other week. However, before he could dwell on his eternal rest, the world came zooming back.
Giles awoke with a start and, surprisingly, no headache, but he did feel something soft touching his face. He looked up to see the Second Princess gently treating his injury. The reporter had heard rumors of the royal family’s healing powers, but he didn’t know what to make of them. Giles knew of magic and the broadest idea of its applications, but it wasn’t something he was versed in. Aside from the times the high nobles or workers used it to make him go away. Regardless, the magic worked wonders since he didn’t have a concussion anymore.
“Thank you, um, Your Highness,” Giles sat up. What was the princess’s name again? He couldn’t recall. The eldest was Atlanta, and the youngest was Irie-something, but the second…Wait, forget about that. There’s a bomb. “Crap, the bomb,” Giles flipped around to see the device clearly active. Unfortunately, it didn’t have a timer or anything, so it could blow up in an hour or the next five seconds, for all he knew.
“How am I going to disarm this?” Giles wondered. “We should probably just run. There’s no way-” He turned to the princess, who held up her hand in a ‘stop’ gesture.
The Second Princess mimed out a sequence. Giles wasn’t sure exactly what she was saying at first until he noticed she was gesturing at the bomb. Then he watched her motions closely and realized they were in a pattern, a pattern that looked suspiciously like disarming a bomb.
“Wait, you’re going to talk me through disarming it?” Giles asked. The princess replied with a nod. “Okay, won’t I need like wire cutters or something?” The reporter pointed out, but then the princess handed him a pair of cutters and a screwdriver (that she pulled from nowhere like a magician). “That works,” the black-haired man nodded and decided it was worth a shot. Something about Princess Whatshername filled him with confidence that he could do this, and it wouldn’t be that hard.
“How much time do we even have? I heard something about it being on a timer,” Giles asked, but the princess just waved her hand and pointed back to the bomb. “Alright, I’ll focus,” he got back to the task at hand. Giles had never disarmed a bomb before or done much in the way of engineering, but with the princess talk…er, guiding him through it, the process was shockingly easy. His hands moved so fast, skillfully, and automatically; it was like he had done it a million times before. But it wasn’t like he couldn’t control himself. More like he had a guiding hand helping him every step of the way. After what felt like no time at all, Giles successfully disarmed the bomb.
“That was easy. Maybe I’ve got a talent for this,” Giles beamed, “now what do…we do?” He looked back to see the princess had vanished. “You know, maybe I didn’t get over that concussion.”
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III //~~~//
At this point, the Puppeteer was questioning reality. Penelo was barely standing, yet she was still fending off Karagiz. Nay, she was winning. This could not stand, the pale woman decided she’d have to slit Penelo’s throat herself just to be certain the girl was dead. The Puppeteer drew a dagger while commanding her puppet to grapple Penelo again. Which proved to be difficult as the maid ripped off another of its arms.
“I’m through with you. Let me get at the crazy lady,” Penelo exclaimed as she shoved the Karagiz’s head to the floor. Her gaze snapped towards the Puppeteer.
‘She can’t be human,’ the Puppeteer determined as she looked into Penelo’s eyes and saw only the frenzied rage of a wild animal or perhaps something far worse. ‘If she wishes to act like a beast, then I shall tame her like one.’ The Puppeteer generated magical strings from her left hand’s fingertips, which wrapped around Penelo’s limps and neck. She channeled her magic through the strings, attempting to paralyze the shorter girl. It wasn’t easy; living beings were not puppets, they don’t take well to being commanded in such a direct way. While the Puppeteer couldn’t control Penelo, she could significantly restrict her movements.
“What are you doing?” Penelo seemed more perplexed by the attack than anything. Still, that lapse in attention allowed the puppet to bind her again with its remaining two arms.
“Finish it,” the Puppeteer commanded. The Karagiz’s face plate opened to reveal a retractable spike, which it aimed right at Penelo’s throat. The wooden monstrosity snapped its head down with no intention of stopping until it pierced bone. “Finally,” the Puppeteer let out a sigh of relief. A feeling which was quickly lost when she realized Penelo hadn’t fallen limp. The Puppeteer’s eyes widened as she circled around to see that Penelo had caught the spike in her mouth.
“How?” The pale woman dropped her dagger in shock. However, just as before, a lapse in judgment allowed the tide of battle to swing.
“For the last time. Get! Off! Me!” Penelo snapped the spike with her teeth before kicking the puppet off her, right into the Puppeteer. The tall woman and her creation crumbled to the floor in a heap. She didn’t even have time to come to her senses before Penelo bodyslammed them both. Shattering the puppet and several of the Puppeteer’s ribs. The pale woman fainted from shock.
“Finally,” Penelo spat out a wad of blood before finally dragging herself over to the bomb she was really after. “No more dirty tricks,” she smashed the plastic explosives with her bare hands. “Now, what was I supposed to do next?” Penelo wondered before wandering off in a bloody daze.
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IV //~~~//
Serena’s group finally had a moment to catch their collective breath. Most of them assumed – or rather hoped – that Adaman was dead or at least disabled for the time being. Atlanta had found the bag with their cell phones and began rooting through it for anything useful. Usurpingly, most of the phones were cracked, but the wrist communicators proved far sturdier.
“Guess I’m getting a new phone…again,” Princess Atlanta rolled her eyes.
“Where’s the phone Jasper took from the administrator? It’s the only one that works in this dang place,” Serena looked to the side, noting the wall-mounted phone destroyed in Adaman’s rampage.
“In all the excitement, I nearly forgot,” Atlanta realized, “Jasper should still have it. I think he pocketed it.” She ran over to the unconscious extremist. “Backup, at last,” she snatched the phone out of his pocket and checked the screen, “ugh, ten minutes to the hour. Have we really been stuck in this mess for that long?”
“Don’t get too excited,” Caenia hadn’t moved her gaze once since she threw Adaman. “He’s coming back around right now!”
“What is this guy’s problem?” Serena exclaimed as she grabbed Irene and pulled the child behind her. “Your Highness, get behind me,” she turned to Atlanta.
“I’m not running from this freak,” Atlanta scoffed as she dropped the phone into the bag.
‘Is this what Orion deals with?’ Serena lamented as a low stomping noise echoed from below.
“Incoming!” Caenia drew her knife as Adaman leaped at them from below, tearing a new hole in the master control room’s floor. The force of the impact threw Jasper’s limp body into the air, landing behind Serena and Irene. “You’re mincemeat, musclehead!” Caenia channeled magic through her knife, turning the short blade into a much longer weapon of pure blue magic. She attacked Adaman with a fury of slashes, each of which drew deep cuts and lots of blood. Yet, Adaman did not slow down; he didn’t even flinch.
“Your efforts are worthless, I expected better!” Adaman shouted as he slugged Caenia in the stomach. The maid was blown off her feet, ricochetted off the ceiling, and crashed into the remains of a desk.
“Back off!” Atlanta threatened as she put up a thicker barrier than before. Instead of staying stationary, the wall of magic began to slide forward, pushing the man backward.
“I will not be stopped!” Adaman screamed as he slammed his fist into the barrier, cracking it.
“Caenia, get up!” Serena exclaimed as she drew her crossbow. Although, she doubted she’d do any real damage to the apparently invincible man.
“Trying,” Caenia forced herself to her feet, clutching at her stomach, a little bit of blood dripping from her mouth. “A broken rib is a little distracting.”
“Tell me you have something up your sleeve that can stop this guy,” Serena asked.
“I got one thing, but I need all of you to clear out for me to use it,” Caenia declared. “That means you, Princess.”
“Fine,” Atlanta snapped back, “I’ll reinforce the barrier, but then it’s all on you. Serena, grab Jasper, we’re leaving!” The eldest princess channeled more magic into her barrier before retreating faster than Serena expected.
“Grab Jasper? Fine,” Serena decided not to question the order as she snatched up the extremist in one arm and Irene in another as she fled.
“Alright, smart guy, just you and me,” Caenia declared as she stood before the monster of a man, separated only by the crumbling barrier. The maid braced herself as she drew her compact again, but this time, she held it out between both hands, which were joined at the base of her palms. A vast amount of magical energy began pouring out of Caenia into the mirror. At the same time, Adaman started forcing his way through the barrier.
“I will demolish you down to the-!” Adaman began one of his usual threats.
“Oh, shut up,” Caenia spat. “Deep Crash!” She named her spell as a titanic torrent of focused water magic was unleashed from her hands and hit Adaman like a round from an RPG. And much like a rocket-propelled explosive, the impact made a very big boom. Adaman was sent hurtling back down to the ground floor in two pieces as the master control room was obliterated.
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V //~~~//
As the sound of Caenia’s struggle against Adaman echoed in the distance, Orion, Jace, and Medy reunited in an area between the catwalks where they were initially captured and the master control room. Jace was a little beat up, while Orion had come out of his fight mostly unscathed. Medy was putting on a strong front, but Orion and Jace could both tell that she was agitated and not in her usual way.
“Alright, let’s finish this day by saving a princess,” Medy declared. “Huh, I thought the engineer said there wasn’t any direct route to the master control room from there, but that looks pretty direct to me.” She looked at the catwalks above them.
“Never mind that. Where are Penelo, Carus, and the reporter?” Orion pointed out. “We should wait for them.”
“Forget about them, I can hear some nasty things coming from the direction of the control room,” Jace spoke up. “Going there is going to get us run over by some freak of nature, I bet.”
“Don’t be such a baby,” Medy huffed, “and don’t worry about the others. They’re probably fine, just taking a long route. All those puppets shut down, so I’m guessing Penelo took out that witch.” Unknown to them, Carus was much closer than they thought.
‘Just my luck, their definition of ‘near the master control room’ was stupidly flexible,’ Carus cursed his fortunes while hiding behind a metal structure. ‘Looks like taking the long way around was a mistake after all,’ the engineer grit his teeth. ‘That brunette is too observant. She won’t buy just any lie I feed them about that idiot with the camera. Maybe if I-?’ An explosion rocked the entire power station, nearly knocking all four of them off their feet.
“What was that?” Orion jumped into a fighting stance.
“I think that was the master control room exploding,” Medy felt the release of magical energy. “Why do I smell seawater?” She looked down to see a small wave of water lightly flooding the area.
“Oh great, is somebody dead?” Jace wondered. Concerned about how poorly their fortunes might be turning.
‘We didn’t set up any explosives at the control room,’ Carus realized, ‘so then what-?’ He was crushed under a giant pair of legs.
“The heck is-? Gah!” Jace jumped as Adaman’s torso slammed into the ground in front of the group. “Somebody really is dead!”
“Oh, neat, a robot,” Medy noticed the sparks and wires coming out of the bottom of the torso, which had been severed at the waistline. As if a grenade went off inside its stomach.
“Ah, I guess nobody died then,” Jace breathed a sigh of relief. Then the torso’s head snapped upward, revealing a pair of soul-piercing red LED eyes. “Aaaaaahhh!” The blonde squealed.
“Behind us,” Orion announced as Adaman’s legs sprang from the shadows, moving as if they were still attached to their upper half. Meanwhile, Adaman’s torso began crawling towards them, trapping them in a pincer attack.
“Kill, Destroy, Annihilate! Exterminate! Exterminate!” Adaman’s voice had become high-pitched, metallic, and scratchy.
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
Serena stared blankly at the empty space where the master control room had once been. The scent of seawater hung in the air as the maid’s eyes glanced down at the now jagged end of the catwalk she ran across moments before. It was a stark demonstration of what Caenia was capable of. Although, the real question in Serena’s mind was, what happened to Caenia?
“You going to keep gawking, or are you going to get up?” Caenia said from behind Serena, causing the raven-haired girl to jump.
“How did you get behind me?” Serena exclaimed.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” The silver-haired girl laughed before turning to Atlanta. “I suppose that wraps things up?”
“Hopefully,” Atlanta replied as she dug into the bag of cell phones. “Where is that stupid thing?”
“Good,” Caenia leaned against the railing and let out a deep sigh. Serena finally noticed how ‘drained,’ for lack of a better term, her senior appeared to be. It seems that her last spell took a lot out of her.
‘Her eyes have lost focus, I think her head must be spinning,’ Serena noted. ‘Should she even be standing right now?’
“Alright, I’m going below to make sure that Adaman guy is down for the count. I’m sure they’ll want to question him back at the palace,” Serena declared. “I’m also curious how he knew you were here.”
“No need. The princesses are safe. Our job is done,” Caenia shook her head.
“Well, first off, we don’t know where the second princess is right now,” Serena countered.
“Yes, we do, she’s right behind you,” Caenia smirked.
“What are you-? Gah,” Serena jumped as, indeed, the second princess was now magically behind her, smiling away with her eyes closed as usual. ‘I really need to learn that ‘appear out of nowhere’ trick,’ Serena resolved.
“Where did you come from?” Atlanta asked her sister. “Shouldn’t Orion be with you?” The second princess just held up her hand in an ‘okay’ sign. “Oh, you went off to do your own thing? And the bombs are disarmed? That’s good.”
‘How did you get all that from a single gesture?’ Serena wondered and subsequently dropped the now useless detonator.
“Hey, Serena,” Irene piped up while standing on Jasper’s unconscious body. “I hear fighting and screaming downstairs.” Sure enough, it seemed the battle was not over yet. Something thunderous was stomping around and yelling at the top of its lungs. And it sounded an awful lot like Adaman.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, I blew that guy into pieces, and he’s still moving?” Caenia grumbled.
“It sounds like Orion and the others down there,” Serena noted. “There’s no way they can take Adaman by themselves, I’m going to help them.”
“No way, I’m not babysitting Irene by myself,” Caenia refused.
“Don’t worry about that,” Atlanta pointed down. Irene had already begun descending down the catwalks (ignoring such frivolous luxuries like stairs) to see what was going on down below.
“Princess Irene, for the love of the Lord, stop running towards danger,” Serena dived after her charge.
To be Continued…
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It is always great to finally see the end of a long and arduous day, but remember it ain't over till it's over.
Author's Note: Even with two extra weeks I cut this really close, but that little to do with the difficulty of the chapter itself and more to do with hectic real life stuff. Nothing bad, just a lot of extra responsibilities being piled on all at once. The long and short of it is, this (very long) chapter is being broken into three parts. On the bright side, they should all come out in a row.
As for the chapter itself, we're right in the middle of the climax and there's more to come. I've been staring at this section of my outline for over a year now, waiting for it to come to life and I'm excited to finally be here. It's probably the part I've rewritten and reorganized the most out of any chapter. I was considering changes until literally a week or so ago. I'm still happy with what came out in the end, and I'm even more excited to progress to the end of this chapter because I'd say the best has yet to come.
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
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