Walter scrunched his eyes tight as he hurtled towards oblivion, trying hard not to think about the abrupt and painful end awaiting him. The wind howled in his ears as he tumbled through empty space, erasing all other sounds.
That’s how he didn’t notice the metal fist rocketing towards him.
Walter snapped to a stop, his head whipping forward painfully as he dangled half-way from nowhere, a painfully large distance from the ground yet. Unable to comprehend what had suddenly happened to him, he just hung in empty space, frozen with shock.
“Well come on then, reel him in!” a girl’s voice rang from far, far above.
“Can’t! He’s over the weight limit, stupid power-armour!”
“Like you’re one to talk, Nor. Hey Kage, can you do something?”
“Well… the cliffside’s one big shadow, so I guess so…”
Who…?
“Hey.”
Walter flinched, turning his head towards the cliff and coming face to face with a slender girl in black, a dour expression on her face. She was somehow emerging from the side of the cliff, her lower body sunk into the rippling shadows the night had cast across it, like she was waist deep in inky-black water.
“Oh, uh, hey?” He attempted a smile.
“A pleasure.” Kage seized him by his metal shoulder strap and heaved him into the cliff face. Only, instead of colliding with the sheer rock surface, he found himself slipping through the viscous, pooled shadows. After a split-second of horrible, airless, soundless nothingness, he was suddenly back on good, grassy earth again, emerging from Nor’s titanic shadow.
“Uh, thanks. Thanks a lot. You really saved me!” he stammered, looking to each of the members of Peppermint Eyeglass, trying desperately to remember if he knew them from somewhere.
“Hey, no biggie.” Nor chuckled, her mechanical hand reeling in on a length of steel cable and snapping back into place. “We were just following the cat.”
“The…cat?”
Walter looked down to see Tenshi’s black cat sitting regally on the grass next to the bridge, licking its paws and primping itself up.
“You’re lucky.” Nico⭐ laughed. “Your little kitty seemed really desperate for us to follow it, so we decided to take a peek. Good thing we did, I’d say.”
Did Riley have a cat…? Walter thought to himself, thoroughly confused.
“Hey… care to lend… a guy a hand?” Charles choked out from across the bridge, his own sword buried deep in his back as Rampardner pressed his whole weight upon it. With a loud *Ping!* it snapped in half, and Rampardner fell forward, jamming the broken half into Charles as well.
“Goddamn that hurts!” Charles groaned.
“Kage?” Nico⭐ gestured.
“On it.”
Kneeling down, Kage plunged her upper body into Nor’s shadow, popping out of Rampardner’s own shadow behind him. Grabbing his leg, she tugged sharply as it slipped down into the shadow with her, overbalancing him. With a grunt of surprise, he toppled over the edge of the bridge, falling down, down, down to the sharp rocks below.
“Sorry,” Kage muttered, as a loud crunch of armour against stone echoed back up.
“Hey Cataliszt, got another one for you!” Nor called out to the teen vigorously playing a jig on his violin and swordbow, over the prone figure of Jason.
“R-right, on it!” he called back, finishing his piece with a flourish, before dashing over to Charles.
“Bring me up to speed, who was that goon?” Nor questioned the knight, as Cataliszt gently edged the sword halves out of his back. “What are you guys doing here? Where’re Isaac and the rest?”
“Bandits,” Charles grunted. “We’re doing a quest. The rest are further inside. Gah, easy with my back there, I’ve only got one!”
“Sorry!” Cataliszt apologized, removing the last piece of his blade. “Here, I’ll fix you up. “REEL OF REJUVENATION!” He began sawing away at his fiddle, a dull, coppery glow sealing up Charles’ wounds.
“Wow, what service!” Charles grinned in spite of himself.
“Right? He’s a real keeper.” Nico⭐ clapped him on the back. “We’re even getting him to write us a theme song!”
“We should probably chat it up later,” Kage interjected in a low voice. “We still have to make sure the others are okay, right?”
“Yeah, good point.” Charles nodded, getting to his feet with a wince. “Thanks for the help, all. We’ll take it from here.”
“Not alone, you won’t.” Nico⭐ grinned. “In for a penny, in for a pound. We’ll watch your backs.”
“Speaking of, there’s a guy behind you.” Nor pointed to Ifrit, who was trying to sneak behind the corner of the barracks.
“Dibs.” Nico⭐ pushed past Charles, charging the old man and drawing her odd, stubby, square-shaped sword as she went.
“Here to finish me off, hmm?” Ifrit dropped into a defensive stance. “I think you’ll find I’m no defenseless young…”
“ORYAAAAH!” Nico⭐ swung her sword.
*CLANKACLANKACLANKACLANKACLANKATHUNK*
Ifrit blinked in surprise, as his back hit the floor. What? What just happened? He tried to lift himself up but couldn’t feel anything below the gut. Raising his head, he saw his lower torso fall to its knees a couple feet from him, blood spurting from it as it painted the stones of the courtyard red. Across from him, Nico⭐ stood holding a massive, eight-foot broadsword, the momentum of her swing having caused the telescopic blade to extend to its full length.
“Well now, that’s just cheating,” he muttered, as he lay still.
“Wow, you just one-hit the dude!” Jason whistled, walking up from behind them, still limping a little from his tumble. “Jeez, you really saved our bacon. We were in a tight…Ow!” He flinched as Charles slapped him across the back of his head with a mailed hand. “What was that for, man?”
“You know full well.”
“Oh, come on. I’m an assassin, I…” He wilted under Charles’ gaze. “Damnit, I’m sorry I stabbed the girl, okay? It really seemed like a good idea at the time. I’ve learned my lesson.”
“Good, that’s what I wanted to hear.” Charles nodded grimly. “Alright, let’s go find the rest. I’ve got a bad feeling about this whole mission.”
“Oh, you’re only now just figuring that out?” Jason muttered.
“Here, I’ll speed you along,” Cataliszt offered, putting bow to violin again. “HOEDOWN OF HASTE!”
Their steps magically sped by the bard’s spell, the three ventured down into the castle’s subterranean chambers, following Cat as it sought out its owner. After they vanished from sight, Nico⭐ turned to Nor.
“Hey, wanna give this place the ol’ thermal scan? I don’t want any baddies ganging on our six as soon as we head down there.”
“On it!” Nor pumped a giant fist, her helmet’s eyes glowing red. “Hey, I’ve got two readings behind the barracks!”
“The hell?” Nico⭐ turned to look, noticing for the first time that Ifrit’s cloven body was nowhere to be seen.
*******
“You hear that, Ifrit?” Sandman whispered in a low growl. “They’re onto us!”
“Just hold your horses, I’m still healing you.” Ifrit whispered back, pressing his glowing hands onto the man’s chest.
“I’ve got a plan,” Sandman hissed. “I’ll call in artillery fire directly between them and us. I guarantee the first thing they’ll do is retreat and reassess the situation. While they’re doing that, you and I can escape. I’ll throw my digital camo over both of us, and we’ll crawl right out that gate without them giving us so much as a glance.”
“We can’t just leave them here, they killed (M)Alice!”
“Hey now, I’m not risking my 401(k) over some dumb college kid. But if you want to stay here and let them kill you, be my guest.”
“You’re right, I can’t ask you to do that.” Ifrit clapped him on the shoulder, locking eyes with him. “But I can command you. DEATH OR GLORY.”
“Huh? I…” Sandman’s vision started to lose focus.
“DEATH OR GLORY.”
“Hey, I found them!” Nico⭐ called out, rounding the corner.
Without warning, Sandman bounded over Ifrit’s head, tackling the girl to the ground and latching onto her.
“Oy man, what the hell?” she complained, struggling to escape from his grip. “Get your paws off me, you creep!”
“Death or glory!” Sandman grinned vapidly, a signal beacon falling out of his jacket.
*Boom* *Boom* The artillery sounded off in the background.
“C'mon, are you kidding me?!” Nico⭐’s eyes widened in recognition. “Nor! Incoming!”
Shutting off her thermal vision, Nor’s eyes went to the sky, her radar picking up the incoming shots. Without hesitation, she intoned a skill, her shoulders popping open to reveal twin missile pods. “ROCKETSTORM!” she commanded, as a dozen tiny missiles took to the sky, intercepting the incoming shells.
*KABOOOM!*
The resulting shockwave knocked even Nor to the ground, as the sky lit up like the 4th of July. Nico⭐ took this as her queue, flipping Sandman off her and smashing his head into the side of the barracks until he lay still.
“Did… did that just happen?” Catalist looked around dazedly, still kneeling on the ground, his body wrapped protectively around his violin.
“I think the worst’s passed,” Kage muttered, slowly re-emerging from a puddle of shadows.
“Phew, nice assist, Nor!” Nico⭐ gave her a thumbs up. “I… wait a sec, where’s that old dude?”
*******
“Oh come on, no!” Ifrit gnawed a thumbnail as he watched the scene unfold from across the courtyard. Opening his menu, he checked the time. 11:57.
“Just three minutes to midnight,” he muttered, looking around. “Then, my lives recharge. After that, I’ll finally show those damned, murdering…”
“You called?”
Ifrit nearly jumped out of his skin, as Kage materialized from his shadow.
“What… how did you…” Ifrit immediately dropped into a defensive stance.
“That’s the thing about the Shadowkin class,” Kage smirked. “At night, there are a whoooole lot more shadows to work with.”
“Well, then how about this?!” Ifrit swiped his menu, equipped a lighted torch and tossing it at Kage’s feet. “A little light barrier to keep you at bay, eh? Plenty more where that came from too, shrimp!” he equipped another into his off hand.
“Ooh, bad idea.” Kage smirked. “Don’t you know what happens to something’s shadow when you cast light right in front of it?
Ifrit blinked as Kage’s shadow billowed out from behind her, spreading across the walls, its massive arms encircling the fort.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…!” Ifrit started, as Kage’s shadowy hand wrapped around him, hurtling him over the wall and into the abyss below.
“Menu!” Ifrit shrieked as he hurtled through the air. “Time!”
*Whump!*
Ifrit collided with the ground, impaled on the sharp rocks surrounding the keep. Bathing his body in blue light, his menu flashed the time, unconcerned.
11:59 PM.
*******
“Alright, I think that wraps things up!” Nor did a final thermal scan of the courtyard. “Kage, place a teleportation rune out here just in case we need to bail in a hurry, then we’ll catch up with the rest.”
“On it.” Kage nodded.
“Don’t worry, that won’t be necessary. None of you are going anywhere.”
Nor spun around to face the speaker. A tall, shabbily dressed man was lounging against the side of the barracks, a wide-brimmed capotain perched on his head, all manner of curios tucked into the belt and hanging from the brim. A sigil-covered capelet was draped around his shoulders, and various unsettling odds and ends hung from its linings. With a dry sigh, he cracked his neck and faced the party.
“Let’s not waste each other’s time, okay? Yes, I am going to kill every one of you, and no, we can’t talk this over. All settled? Good, let’s start.”
With a snap of his fingers, over a dozen ghostly arms suddenly emerged from the ground, two of which pinioned Nor in place, while a third tightened over her helmet.
“SHADOWPLAY!” Kage muttered, as silhouettes of blades and axes emerged from Nor’s shadow, slicing away at the arms until she was released.
However, no sooner had she activated the ability than the hands were targeting her instead, lunging towards her with superhuman speed. Driven back, she sunk into her own shadow, emerging behind Nico⭐, who was doing her level best to keep the ghostly appendages at bay with her broadsword.
“Tchk, did you really have to mess these guys up so much?” The man prodded the body of Sandman with his foot. “God, I hate my job.” Drawing a pair of wooden needles from his capelet, he drove them into the deceased player’s chest and mouth, before quickly redrawing his hands, which he daintily sanitized and wiped off.
Looking up from his violin, Cataliszt was the first to notice Sandman’s corpse was now making its way towards them.
Or at least, what was left of it.
A clatter from above drew his attention, and his eyes met the empty gaze of Ifrit’s reanimated corpse as it clambered over the battlements, horribly disfigured and augmented by the man’s voodoo.
“Uh, guys? I think we’re in a tight spot.” Cataliszt gulped, as he sped up his tempo.
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