A few minutes earlier, not too far away, Rosh took up his greatsword. Its damask blade caught the sunlight and glittered like gold, a sliver of the sun itself. His kevlar armor creaked under heavy metal plates. A bulletproof, flame retardant suit underneath moved only slightly. He donned a kabuto-style helmet, complete with a crest, visor and mask and still felt just a bit naked. He strapped the sword to his waist and a heavy, solid steel shield to his back. It felt weightless to him. His automatic rifle, black as midnight, fell around his waist at the mercy of a short strap. Seven hundred and twenty bullets rested in banana clips around his torso. A survival knife with a fearsome, jagged blade perched on his collarbone as if it belonged nowhere else. He studied his intimidating figure in the nearby mirror, only a little nervous. Electricity crackled as he gestured. For the volt gun, he had chosen the shocker, of course. The gesture changed to rock on and a tank of liquid nitrogen on his back emptied a baby's breath of its contents. He raised his fist and pulled it backward. A jet of aerosol flame licked upward for a fraction of a second. Two cans beneath each shoulder pad reassured him that his purifying fire would burn long enough to purge all the unholiness they could throw at him. To complete the ensemble, he donned a steel chain with a golden cross hanging from it, bearing a tiny Jesus, frozen in his merciful agony. Today would be the day of reckoning that he had been planning for months. His powers thanks to the exposure were limited, but they were enough, paired with the armor and weapons, to give him a fighting chance. He rose slowly, a translucent bubble of red energy engulfing him. Today, the world would be saved before it even knew it was in danger.
Lena followed the trail of the monster’s presence, pulling her raging energy in as close to her body as she could muster as she flew. She fought back tears, knowing they would do her no good. All she could think about was cold, bloody revenge. She was determined to kill all the freaks she could find until blood ran thick in the walkways and flew on the air in a fine mist. Her thoughts raced wildly, manifesting as razor sharp licks of energy flashing outward from her small bubble. She didn’t notice the purple tint coming over her vision as her bloodlust grew, her energies coating her eyes and blinding her to any notion of reason or sanity. Sweat trickled down her forehead from a tiny part of her that was nervous, but she fought it down viciously. She was going to avenge Elijah and kill every monster she could find or die trying. As she neared the MaximiLand theme park, the trail began to go downward. It occurred to her in that moment, following the trail into the theme park as terrified people saw her and scattered for the exits, that the man with the blue hair had been telling the truth. That made things easier for her. She would ensure all the normal humans and animals had left, then raze the entire place and kill everybody in it. She wasn’t entirely certain if she was capable of such a feat, or even powerful enough to take on the monsters in the park, but she no longer cared. Some small part of her, desperate to have Elijah back, clung to the notion that if she could just recover his body, maybe there was something she could do. She dismissed the thought as delusional, but some small part of her couldn’t help but cling to it. In her frenzy of thoughts, she didn’t feel the other power similar to hers creeping closer, headed to the same destination she was.
Rosh observed the woman in the purple bubble from a careful distance. He did his best to reach out to her mind, but all he could pick up was a frenzied rush of emotion. He couldn’t get a good feel for how strong she might be, but he knew that her power was from the same source as his and much greater. Likely, if provoked, she could kill him in seconds. This put the day’s operation in serious jeopardy. He debated flying away and waiting to launch his offensive another day, but something deep within him kept him flying toward the park - a force of inevitability, not unlike being on the highway, unsure of your destination, only knowing that you couldn’t stop. For all his weapons and strange new powers, he still felt overwhelmingly scared, like a small child facing down the boogeyman in his closet. Something in him told him this was the right thing to do, so he kept flying toward his destination. As a precaution, he tried to send a message to the woman in the bubble. “I am Rosh. Do not fear me. I am a friend, not a foe.” His message fell on a deafened and vicious mind. He figured if it came down to it, he could explain himself face to face or, if she was as crazy as her thoughts made her seem, book it out of there. He reached down to his hip and grasped the hilt of his sword tight, like a security blanket. He watched the woman in the purple bubble increase her speed as she banked downward. He did the same, aiming to land opposite from her on the other end of the park. With any luck, by the time they met, the place would be clear or she will have gotten herself killed.
Elijah felt an intense pain in his head and not much else. Horrified, he realized he had no limbs or torso. “How am I alive right now?!”, he screamed to nobody. His cries echoed down a long hallway, devoid of anybody to respond. He tried to move his neck muscles, only to find he was strapped down to a small table. All around him, there were mysterious instruments of science and jars containing what he could only surmise were human and monster body parts. He felt something. Many somethings. Powerful and furious, ambling around in his general vicinity. He felt an ethereal knot in his nonexistent gut. The feeling told him he was likely in more trouble than he thought, which was saying something, considering his current status as a disembodied head. Monstrous shrieks in the distance confirmed his fears and all he could do was pray.
On ground level, lesser employees and park patrons fled for dear life, scattering this way and that as monsters took flight in all directions around them to meet the two flying energy bubbles above and clash. Blood of various colors flew on the air and spattered the terrified populace as they collectively lost their minds and bolted for wherever looked safe. Some revealed that they were armed and took stands against the monsters, some successful and some not. Bullets flew, blades danced and gore was scattered to the four winds. This kind of chaos was going to take a lot of money to keep quiet.
About a half-mile in the sky, Lena’s eyes burned brighter than lighthouses as swaths of purple energy burned paths to the ground. Monsters caught in the searing blasts could only scream as they faded to dust, then to nothing. As she drew nearer to the ground and saw that the evacuation of the park was nearing completion, her blasts grew larger and stronger. A laugh escaped her lips. Through the bottom of her bubble, her bathrobe hit the ground. Strange lines danced over her naked body, acting as a sort of armor. Monsters rushed toward her and met their doom. Monsters ran for dear life, some regressing to their human forms, and met their doom. Lena was determined to spare no soul until she found Elijah, or whatever was left of him.
Rosh descended from the heavens as a whirling dervish, bullets flying this way and that as his golden blade left monsters close to him bisected cleanly. He let go of his gun and gave a fist pump. White-hot flames erupted from his wrist, powered by the rather large pack he carried. He directed the flames, letting them purify the evil approaching him and burn its house to the ground until no more monsters approached. They had all gone into hiding, run away or gone to guard important secrets. With his fledgling power, Rosh sensed another vaguely human mind, in horrible pain and undergoing horrible changes from it. He couldn’t pinpoint a location, only knowing that the mind was trapped somewhere underground. Knowing the park’s exterior like the back of his hand from studying maps, he began making his way to the nearest employees-only door, at the center of the park.
Lena’s purple flames devoured everything around her. In a subtle way, she could feel her humanity slipping away and, though concerned on some level, she couldn’t bring herself to care enough to stop her rampage. Powerful monsters, probably sensing her immense power, came to face her. They shrugged off her hellish flames, coming at her like packs of wild dogs, and were cut down in short order by slashes of energy coming and going on the air like will o’ wisps. A minotaur’s brains painted a roller coaster. A man-serpent’s head became a hood ornament for a pirate ship. A monstrous mouse covered in thorns exploded, its sharp protrusions embedding themselves in everything around except Lena. Seeing the monster waves were slowing down, she devoted a bit less energy to her assault and began mentally groping about for any remaining signs of life. If she found none, she would put all of her energy into an attack that would raze the place as effectively as any bulldozer. After a few seconds of scanning, however, she was shocked to find two life energies. One was like her own life force, but weaker. It gave off a feeling of unease, like a scared kitten fighting for its life in the mean streets, along with a sort of divine light. If there was a God, Lena concluded that said God was clearly helping the scared kitten. The other human life energy she found, she couldn’t quite believe. It was like Elijah, but distinctly different somehow. She thought that perhaps they had removed his brain and were doing something with it. If that was the case, she would either find a way to save him or end his suffering, but she was determined to punish them in any case. A single thought put a crater into the ground, revealing a maintenance tunnel packed with monsters. They surged this way and that like cockroaches in the light as they ran for their lives. Lena’s flames spared none of them, only stopping short at the entrance to a larger chamber.
Rosh walked into the underground room as quietly and cautiously as he could, having his gun at point. Screams and terrible, inhuman cries died away in the distance, replaced by a set of light, quiet feet slapping softly against the dusty metal walkway. The woman was likely down here with Rosh. Until he knew what she wanted, it seemed safer to avoid her, if possible. He walked on through the chamber, looking for a way out to deeper parts of the park. He found a ventilation shaft that seemed to point downward and squeezed himself into it. The crawl down was a moment of tame reprieve. He knew he would be greeted at the other end of the shaft and kept his body tense and ready. When his journey downward came to a close, looking down upon a room with a few people in it who gave no signs of human life, he looked around the room below him. He saw what he had sensed earlier on a table. Strapped down by its neck and forehead, a severed head with sharp features and short-cropped blond hair was barely moving its facial muscles, deep in thought and likely dealing with incredible pain. It was kept alive by magic, to be sure; why they were pumping life into this random tortured soul, Rosh couldn’t fathom, but he decided that this man had to be saved. He didn’t know how to do that. He didn’t want to kill the monsters below for fear that one of them was providing the man on the table with his life force. He concentrated hard on the woman, searching her out and sending an image of what he was seeing. Elsewhere in the facility, he felt her power flare up. She sent him a message to wait for her and that he was owed her eternal gratitude.
Lena burst the magically held metal doors with ease, sending them off their hinges. “You slimy bastards have something that belongs to me.”, she muttered, then spat. Her bubble had turned to deep purple armor upon her body, close-fitting and bearing a fair resemblance to the black leather armor worn by assassins in days gone by. Upon her head was an understated helm, bearing two spikes from each ear and a large opening for her face, but otherwise unremarkable. She didn’t want to be flashy, she just wanted these monsters to see her eyes before they died at her hands. Elijah saw her, but didn’t call to her. He knew in his heart that something was horribly wrong and wanted her to be able to concentrate on the upcoming battle.
“You’ve come at last, girl. We were starting to wonder if we’d have to actually snuff the boy out to get you here.” A woman in an open Chinese dress stepped forward, her bobbed hair and heaving bosoms bouncing lightly as she did so. A small, effeminate man with long black hair, dressed in a white button-down shirt and jeans, followed her. Third and last to step forward was a tank of a woman with stern features, wearing glasses and with her hair pulled back in an intense bun. A very large and nondescript sundress hung off of her hulking frame. All three bore beady, black eyes with hellfire behind them. Before anybody else could speak, Lena was among them, throwing vicious punches and kicks as her body and her mental energy synced up perfectly. Her blows met flesh and seemed to do little damage. Swipes of energy buzzed on the air like falling cherry blossoms, only shredding their victims’ clothing. The four moved almost as one in battle, moving toward and away from each other quickly for glancing blows that met one another and exploded with power that shook the air. “I fucked up.”, Lena muttered as she flew backward and called down a pillar of purple flame. It enveloped the three figures and burned their clothing away, revealing obsidian bodies laced with glowing red energies. “Yes, honey,” the large woman spoke up in a deep voice, “You did fuck up.” In a flash, the three of them were upon Lena. It took every ounce of energy she had to soak up the blows and throw barely-telling counters when she could.
Rosh watched the fight from above, conflicted. He knew he could at least distract one of them and make things easier for the woman, but his fear was getting the best of him. He also knew that if he didn’t, she would die or end up like the man strapped to the table. Shaking his head lightly at his own insanity, he punched the vent cover he was crouching on and it clattered to the ground. Caught by surprise, since Rosh had hidden his energy, two of the three monsters turned to Rosh. Before anybody could process what was going on, he was among them. His damask sword caught the sickly light from the lamps above and gave a green glow, appearing as a sword of light striking through the people in front of him. Left to assault Lena on her own, the large woman was quickly overwhelmed. Her body exploded, becoming a fine bloody mist on the air and walls. The slender man assumed the empty stance of a practiced Tai Chi Chuan student as he circled Rosh. The woman in the Chinese dress faced Lena, standing at ease.
Faster than any eye could follow, the battles began. The effeminate man parried Rosh’s lightning-fast swipes with his bare hands. The woman in the dress traded blows with Lena, each lashing out quickly to look for holes in the other’s defenses. The two pairs circled and intermingled, with the two antagonists occasionally trading enemies. Rosh and Lena began concocting a plan telepathically as the battle went on.
Lena allowed the woman in the dress to sideswipe her with a glancing hip kick, steeling her defenses. The kick bounced harmlessly off of her mental armor and the woman in the dress bounced back with it. In that second, a flash of golden green took her head clean off and a swipe of purple energy bisected the effeminate man, who had just misstepped due to a missed punch. The corpses lay on the ground, smoking as Lena and Rosh caught their breath. Before either party could say a word, the two monsters were back together and on their feet again, but giving off significantly less energy and carrying themselves limply. “This isn’t over, bastards.”, the woman said as the pair was enveloped in red light and vanished just in time to be missed by a swipe of Rosh’s sword. “Damn…”, he spat. Blood flew on the air with his word, spewing from a few missing teeth and a cut lip. The effeminate man had clearly been a match for him.
Lena had already taken over life support duties for Elijah’s head, though she didn’t know quite how she was doing it. She strode over to the table, picked Elijah’s head up and kissed him. “Let’s get you out of here and… somehow back to being able to move.” Elijah tried to nod, then remembered he had no body and simply grunted his exhausted agreement. Lena turned toward Rosh. “You… Thank you.” Rosh tipped his helm. “All in a day’s work, right?” A cough that spattered blood from the mouthpiece of his helmet betrayed his suave words. ‘He’ll probably be fine…’, Lena thought to herself. The two flew up through the roof of the chamber, leaving broken stone in their wake. As they flew away in different directions, smoke curled up from the ruins of the world’s largest theme park.
Elijah couldn’t do much but watch as Lena worked furiously, long into the night. “Babe, you don’t have to rush…”, he said gingerly. She stopped working for the first time since arriving home and turned toward him. “I don’t think you understand, babe. We’re both in a hell of a lot of danger. The sooner you’re autonomous again, the better.” She walked over, smiled into his eyes and gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll be fine, loverboy. You can stand guard over my sleeping form once your body’s complete, just like in the fairytale, kay?” Elijah couldn’t help but chuckle. “I don’t recall the handsome prince being a cyborg, but whatever you say. I’ll be here.” “Good boy.”, Lena barked as she turned to go back to her work, diving into a mess of metal parts flung about by a whirlwind of purple energy. Elijah could already see an arm starting to form. “I didn’t know you were into robotics, to be honest.”, Elijah called to her. “I’m not,” Lena said without looking up, “but thankfully people on the internet are, and they’re very good at making tutorials. Elijah suddenly thought it may be a good idea to test his new body thoroughly and slowly upon receiving it.
Bolts, wires and fasteners flew this way and that. Hulking batteries and networks of smaller ones went wherever space could be found for them. Elijah had long since begun snoring loudly from the shelf he was perched upon, but Lena kept working tirelessly. She had never made such extensive use of her powers before and it made her a bit nervous, but she felt alive - more alive than ever before, save for when she and Elijah made love. Thinking about that moment, she paid special attention to the various servos and sensors below the waist of the robot before her. She remembered each and every detail of Elijah’s body from head to toe and knew every sensation he had ever felt from scanning his memories. With that knowledge in hand and a speedy laptop at her side, she took to her pile of metal parts with renewed vigor. A pressure sensor here. A gyrometer there. Touchpads in layers over everything for sensation With her powers, what would take an ordinary person months would take her days, a week at most. A roll of synthetic flesh that she had prepared, packed with electrodes and sensors, stood by. Whenever a section was completed, she would cut a strip of the artificial skin and wrap the metal skeleton. The completed parts felt human enough, but laying hands over them to test the sensors felt eerie, like what Lena imagined touching a dead body would be like. She wondered if touching the synthetic body standing before her would still feel that way once Elijah’s will made it move, the friction from his movements making it hot, the pumping and heating of a blood substitute via an artificial heart controlled by Elijah’s back brain.
When Elijah awoke, what looked to be his own body stood before him, fully formed. Lena stood next to it, hugging it for support and looking barely awake. He wasn’t sure how long he had slept, but he knew it must have been a while, if she had managed to complete the construct during that period. He smiled at her, then looked over the body from head to toe. He was shocked at how accurate it was. The musculature, body hair, wrinkles and bone structure were all perfect.
All that remained was to attach the real thing. Elijah considered asking Lena how she planned to do this, but thought better of it. “All right, love.” He gulped nervously, empty air whooshing from his severed throat as a result, “Whenever you’re ready.” With a silent nod, Lena waved her hand at Elijah and he found himself encased in a purple bubble, feeling somewhat numb. A slight burning in his neck was all that he felt as the lines were hooked up and his various systems began to jump to life. The numb sensation and the burning pain both faded. He could feel the cool air in the room on his bare skin, the thumping of a heartlike apparatus in his chest, the soft carpet beneath what looked like his perfectly normal bare feet. Impressed and grateful beyond words, Elijah picked Lena up and cradled her. A single finger, the nail worn down, pointed to a doorway at the back of the house. Elijah carried her through the threshold like a bride, kissed her, then set her upon a cluttered bed and pulled the covers around her. He turned around and began scanning the room around him. Before he could even begin to walk out of the room to inspect his new surrounding, he heard Lena’s gentle, rhythmic breaths telling him that his lover was out cold. The all-too-realistic stomach that she had made for him growled. Relieved that she had put in the extra work to allow him to be fueled by food instead of electricity, Elijah made his way to the kitchen, an understated island off one side of the living room, and began foraging for food.
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