Seeing her lover explode in front of her was a horrifying experience. Despite knowing that, logically, the Thea who had burst into a spray of sizzling acid had to be one of the Playwright’s clones, Syd still reacted with a visceral jolt of shock as she stumbled backwards. However, even with that innate reaction, Jadis was able to keep her other two selves concentrated on the fight. Having a refracted mind meant that there was separation between the different parts of herself when she needed there to be.
Jay grappled with the abomination of a man, arms locked with his as they struggled for physical dominance in a rapid series of movements that sent both of them slamming into walls. Brick and stone cracked and crumbled around them as they vied for control, with occasional kicks and knee strikes hitting with the sound of boulders breaking.
Twisting at the hips, Amalga-man used some kind of throwing technique that sent Jay hurtling over his head and through another stone wall with a thunderous crash that caused parts of the abused building to slide down around her. Before the cultist could follow up his throw, Dys slashed her battle axe against the man’s neck with enough force to decapitate an iron statue.
While the edge of her weapon cut deep into the freakishly fused warrior’s neck, causing a spray of blood that coated his face and chest, the man was not beheaded. Once again, Jadis’ attack had failed to make its way through the cultist’s bone. Even more frustratingly, if the normally fatal flesh wound had caused the cultist any harm at all, he didn’t show it. Instead, a third of his face laughed in crazed delight while the other two parts gurgled incoherently. The gurgling probably had more to do with physical damage than purposeful intent on the mutant’s part, but the meaning was carried over regardless.
Knocking Dys’ weapon aside, the cultist kicked low and caught her ankle, forcing a retreat as she struggled to retain her footing. The space gave the deformed brute room to move as he struck twice more in rapid succession, this time aiming for Dys’ stomach and head. She was able to block the first blow, but the second came at a surprising angle and Dys caught a jab to the eye that sent her reeling. The jab was followed by a sharp elbow which rattled her teeth, and that attack would have transitioned into worse she was sure, if her other self hadn’t struck in the next instant with a piercing blow to Amalga-man’s torso.
Syd’s sword staff skewered the deranged cultist, destroying what anatomy class told her should be his liver. Whether that was still the case or not considering his, or their, ghastly transformation, Jadis wasn’t sure. She didn’t let the uncertainty stop her, though. Withdrawing before the man could try to take control of her weapon or counterattack, Syd let the assailant spin around to face her. The amalgamation monstrosity of a man was skilled, for certain, and he seemed to be somehow getting stronger and faster as the fight wore on, but he didn’t have the advantage of numbers that Jadis possessed.
As soon as the cultist showed his back to her, Dys struck. Changing her grip, she slammed the long metal spike on the back of her battleaxe’s head into the space between two of the man’s ribs. Twisting hard, she caught the spike against the front side of the man’s spine and used the long shaft of her weapon to leverage the flailing foe to the ground. In the same moment, Jay burst out of the rubble of the building she had been tossed into and got her arms around the cultist’s legs to help hold him in place.
While decapitation and other forms of limb severance were proving unviable against the abomination, that didn’t mean his organs were invulnerable. Using all the speed she had available to her, which was a frankly ludicrous amount, Syd reversed her grip on her sword staff and began slamming the tip down into the prone Amalga-man’s torso over and over and over again. In seconds, the flesh of his midsection was turned into a red and purple pulp that splattered across the broken cobblestones in a slick and disgusting mess.
A burbling roar was the only warning that proceeded a sudden explosion of blood that came from the abomination. All three of Jadis’ selves were knocked back by the wave of red that struck like a hammer blow against her bodies. Rolling to her feet, Jadis found that her Dys self had ended up near the hole in the back of the hotel that she and her enemy had crashed through moments earlier, while her Jay and Syd selves had tumbled closer to the opposite end of the alleyway. The blood from the explosion coated all three of her bodies, and she could feel some kind of damaging effect eating away at her thanks to the foul substance. It wasn’t like the acid of the exploding Playwright clones, but instead seemed to have some kind of malediction-type effect that was eating away at her health pool directly, albeit slowly. She still had well more than two thirds of her health intact, though, so she didn’t see the damaging effect as an immediate concern.
Despite the explosion, the cultist was far from being in pieces. In fact, he was looking better than he had a second before, after a fashion. His shredded torso was whole again, though the mottled color of his fused hide had been replaced by a meaty red that looked more like blood pudding than natural flesh.
An incoherent roar came from the three mouths of the abomination. Some words were mixed into the atrocious sound, yet Jadis couldn’t interpret their meaning considering the horror’s jumbled, multi-voiced mess. What she saw, however, was the man tear the remains of his shredded clothing away to reveal his naked form. Aside from the fact that Jadis was then able to see far more of the fused cultist than she ever wanted to, she saw that the deformed monster’s muscles enlarged even further as the rest of his flesh took on the same blood pudding look that his midsection had gained.
“Alright fucker,” Jadis said in unison. “You aren’t the only one who can hulk out.”
Casting Mirror Magnification on herself caused a moment of disorientation as all three of Jadis’ perspectives shifted. She was able to retain her balance well despite doubling her height in under a second, but that miniscule span of instability was a crucial instant. Amalga-man attacked with all the ferocity and speed he had shown earlier, apparently undaunted by Jadis’ increase in size. Going for the one of her bodies who was separated from the other two, the cultist struck Dys’ knee.
Jadis had removed her armor when she had returned from the excursion outside of Glanum. In fact, her Jay self had gone out without any at all, since that set was still under repair. A tactical error on her part, she admitted to herself, since it left her more vulnerable to attack than she would normally be in a battle. On the bright side, since she wasn’t wearing the dense, heavy armor, she was able to move with completely unrestricted speed. That speed was likely the only thing that saved Dys from having her kneecap turned into bone dust.
Raising her leg slightly, Dys avoided a direct blow from the fiendishly empowered monstrosity. The fist that glanced off of her shin still shredded her skin and left a rend in the side of her calf.
Reacting quickly, Dys slammed the pommel of her battle axe down on the back of the man’s head. It wasn’t a killing blow, but the force was enough to push the cultist back, which gave her the time she needed. Not to retreat as the Amalga-man may have expected, but to strike.
Jay and Syd struck from behind in a unified attack that hit two points on the man’s body simultaneously. The Mirror Strikes empowered blows sent the abomination hurtling past Dys, bouncing off of the ground and walls. Not assuming that the blows had been enough to kill considering the durability the man had shown thus far, all three of Jadis chased after the foe.
The trajectory of the man’s bounces put him back into an area that was at least partially affected by the toxic yellow cloud, but Jadis found that the fog was less effective on her than it had been before. Her heads cleared the upper reaches of the miasma, and thus the substance could not directly cloud her eyes or make her tear up. Thanks to Mirror Magnification, the fumes were no longer an obstacle to her. The people running around the street were.
Jay, Dys, and Syd attacked the abomination with precision, striking at him with a coordinated flurry that was hindered by the figures who stumbled around the open road. Some were therions, she could see that much by their horns, and others were soldiers. There were more that were redheaded Rufus clones, which told Jadis that the Playwright hadn’t been able to cast an illusion over everyone. Yet there was no quick way to tell at a glance that someone who looked like a bystander wasn’t actually a clone who was magically disguised, just like the Thea imposter had been. In fact, it was entirely possible that the leader of the cultists had cast a spell over everyone, and he just wasn’t using the same illusion for every person. Without knowing who was who, Jadis was forced to restrict her movements to avoid crushing the people who were slowly flailing around the open space.
Slowly was, of course, only a matter of perspective. Jadis could tell that these people were all moving as fast as they could, but her own sense of speed was so altered in the moment by her need to move as fast as she possibly could that everyone with more normal Agility looked like they were moving almost sluggishly.
All except for Amalga-man.
The mutated terror was moving faster than he had before, almost matching Jadis step for step and blow for blow. He was also unhindered by any worry for the safety of bystanders and freely shoved and struck any that got in his way. The others were not his focus, but he was certainly happy to crush any obstacle that got in his way.
“Fight me!” the abomination shouted over the mad cries of his own face. “Make this death a glorious one!”
When the cultist knocked a Rufus clone out of the way while charging Jay and a woman’s scream of pain echoed through the street, a chill ran through Jadis. She didn’t recognize the woman’s voice, but the idea that Thea or Bridget could be caught up in the fight without her even knowing it was nearly panic inducing.
In all the fighting, she had lost track of where her two lovers had gone. She couldn’t see either of them. Not even the blue flame of Bridget’s lantern. They could be anywhere. They could be injured. Or worse.
Still, Jadis kept her cool. As furious and worried as she was, battle was the place where she was at her best. Barring one exception. She could think clearly. Assess and act with deliberate intent. Control the flow. She didn’t need to be pulled into the chaos that the Playwright was so obviously trying to create. She could remove herself from the situation. She could remove her enemy from that same situation, too. She was in control. Not him.
As Amalga-man lunged at Jay, she threw herself backwards so that her huge frame struck the ground. Clearly the man hadn’t been expecting the maneuver as his grasping attack missed the mark entirely. Instead of grabbing hold of her, he found Jay’s boot in his lower stomach. With a mighty kick, she sent the man flying back the way he had come at rocket speeds directly towards her Syd self, who naturally stood ready for the moment.
Swinging her sword staff like a baseball bat, Syd hit the monstrous cultist with the flat of the blade. Her attack sent the mutated man tumbling through the air for a much greater distance than even she expected. Doubling her height really did add some extra oomph to her attacks, since Amalga-man was put through the third story window of a distant building well over a hundred yards away.
Not wasting a second of time, Jay and Dys immediately began grabbing every single non-Rufus they could see and ran them out of the fumes and into the waiting arms of the elite soldiers surrounding the perimeter. At the same time, Syd leapt up onto the roof of the hotel to keep an eye on where the abomination had crashed so she could attack the moment he got back on his feet and charged for her. Or, if he tried to flee, she would chase him down. Though considering his behavior thus far, she doubted she was going to have to worry about running after the man.
As Jay and Dys carried armfuls of bystanders into the unclouded streets, one of the women who Jay was carrying abruptly burst into blue flames. The flames didn’t hurt Jay, but a second later, the woman let out an angry snarl before exploding in a familiar shower of burning acid. While Jay quickly separated the rest of the bystanders from the caustic liquid, Jadis realized what had happened. While Jadis couldn’t see where Bridget had gone, her lover was still in the fight. The Playwright’s illusions could cover her and others up, but they couldn’t hide the effect of the orc warrior’s Light the Target Up spell. Every one of the Playwright’s clones were wreathed in blue flame, signaling not only vulnerability to attack, but clearly showing their exact positions.
Syd whirled in place, spotting dozens of flame-marked clones in the street. Some were Rufus imposters, a few were other individuals who looked like regular bystanders, and there were even a few flames where nothing stood at all. True invisibility broken by Bridget’s spell fire. As Jay and Dys turned on her heels to rush back into the fray and chase down the targets while they were still lit up, Syd zeroed in on a single spot of blue flame that burned on the roof of the bar across from the hotel. It was the only target who was standing at an elevated position, which drew both her eye and her suspicion. There was no visible figure to go with the azure fire, so she couldn’t see details, yet Syd could tell from the burning outline that the man standing there was holding something large in one hand. She could also see that the figure was already starting to flee.
Leaping across the gap, Syd landed on the rooftop next to the invisible figure. Her sword staff was already extended before her, so she felt the light resistance of a vulnerable, fleshy body as the tip of her weapon pierced flesh. Putting her full force behind the attack, Syd skewered the figure all the way through, so that her titanic blade stuck into the flat surface of the roof by at least a foot.
As the blue flames flickered out of existence, the face of a surprised Fabio faded back into view. In his right hand he held some kind of horrifying flesh staff that looked like it had been crafted out of human spines and at least one Demon, going by the completely black eyeball the size of a melon that sat on the top of the staff. Tentacles wrapped around the spinal column, going more than halfway down the length of the hideous staff, with some of them entangled with the Playwrights fingers.
Fabio’s left hand rested on top of Syd’s blade. Sliding down the length of the black steel, he came to his own chest, which was soaked in a growing blotch of red. Turning his head to look behind him, like he was checking to see if he had forgotten something, he tapped his finger against the other side of the blade sticking out of his back. Looking back up at Syd, his face turning pallid from blood loss, the Playwright shook his head in confusion.
“This is not… the end I wrote.”
Syd put her gigantic boot against the man’s chest next to her blade.
“I don’t give a fuck.”
With a stomp that sounded of finality, Syd crushed the Playwright under her foot. As soon as she had done so, all of the illusions that had been running around the area instantly disappeared. Some figures who had looked like Rufus were revealed to be actual bystanders, while others melted into puddles as the original who had created them ceased to be.
As an afterthought, Syd crushed the demented-looking staff under foot as well, just in case it had any kind of lingering effect. She wasn’t sure what it had been used for, but she had no doubt that no good could come from its continued existence. As the shaft of the flesh and bone magical implement was shattered beneath her boot, Syd heard the sound of thunderous footsteps charging at her from behind.
Using the viewpoints that her Jay and Dys selves provided her, Syd timed her dodge to the side just well enough to avoid Amalga-man’s attempt at a surprise attack. Lashing out with her left hand, Syd struck the man and sent him tumbling across the rooftop. When he righted himself and came at her again, Jadis found that the fused cultist’s attacks weren’t quite as fast or as strong as they had been before. He was still incredibly powerful, and his secondary blood pudding transformation was still in effect, he just was not as powerful as before. Jadis quickly guessed that destroying the staff had been the right call. Or at least, killing the Playwright had removed some kind of boosting effect from the amalgamation of other cultists.
Quickly leaping onto the roof with her other self, Jay and Dys struck the monstrosity with a flurry of ruthless attacks that cut, crushed, and tore the man’s body. And yet, despite the insane amount of damage that she was doing to the demented brute, he still would not die. His bones held together, his flesh regenerated almost as fast as it was damaged, and the more he bled the more he seemed to be energized. Whatever mix of skills and spells kept the crazed cultist creature alive were truly impressive.
Unfortunately for him, he could no longer do any damage to her. He wasn’t fast enough, or strong enough, to land the blows he had before. And worse for him, Jadis’ increased size drastically reduced the effectiveness of his combat style.
“You really are a fucking monster,” Jay snarled as she punched the man in his trifecta face.
“Bones!” one face said, though another was more eloquent.
“This has been a more challenging match than I hoped for,” he happily admitted while ignoring the manic screams coming out of the side of his mishappen head. “This will be a good death.”
“If you know you’re beat, just spare us all the trouble and give up,” Dys told the man as she circled him with axe in hand. “I’ve got better things to do with my time.”
“And die to an executioner? I think not. A glorious death in battle is the only one I will accept, and I will make you work for every last drop of blood you wring out of us.”
“Blood! More blood!” the other side of the fused man’s face screeched.
“It’s the only way,” the man said as he raised his lumpy fists before him.
“Fine then,” Jay said while her Syd self quietly motioned signals to the sky above from behind the cultist. “Have it your way.”
Lunging forward, Jay and Dys caught hold of Amalga-man’s arms and lifted him high over the damaged and bloody rooftop. When he tried to kick his way out of the double-grip, Syd grabbed his legs from behind and held him in place. It was a real struggle to hold onto him, though she didn’t have to do so for long. Just long enough for a flying ally to arrive.
Aelius swooped down to the rooftop like a true herald of deific glory. With his flaming sword in one hand and his bright wings spread wide, he cut a truly awe-inspiring figure. He wasn’t there for his aura, though.
Lunging forward with his burning blade, Aelius pierced the cultist’s chest right where his heart should have been. Of course, the Amalga-man kept struggling and screeching despite what should have been a mortal wound, but that wasn’t the end of the Seraphim’s attack. Jadis watched as the older man’s blade burned even brighter, the heat of holy fire searing the cultist’s flesh from the inside out. With a chorus of horrific screams, the abomination was burned alive from the inside out.
As awful as the death was, Jadis didn’t let go of the cultist’s arms and legs until all signs of life had ceased. Dropping the hunk of charred meat to the ground, Jadis took a few steps away with all of her bodies just so she could take a few breaths that didn’t stink of cooked human.
Landing on the rooftop, Aelius stuck the tip of his flaming sword into the head of the burnt corpse and flared holy fire for another couple of seconds. When he was done, he turned to Jay and gave her a nod.
“Now he is dead.”
“Fucking D’s balls, what a monster,” Jay scowled at the burnt body.
“Indeed,” Aelius agreed solemnly. Turning to look at the other pile of remains on the rooftop, he motioned with his sword. “Is that…?”
“Yeah,” Jay confirmed as she wiped some blood from her face. “What’s left of him.”
“We will have quite the report to write for the emperor,” Aelius shook his head.
“Maybe later,” Jay said as she turned to look away from the mess. “First, I need to find my lovers.”
227