The hole in space. That was burnt into the girl's vision. She didn’t know what it was, only that it caused everyone around her to run.

Someone hugged her. Who was it? When she was put down, the face was a blur. The doors came, then…. Darkness.

Only thing that came to her was a beep… a constant string of beeps. Then a light… a large crack on the left side of her vision. The beeps were louder… familiar…. Coming from a light just in front of her field of vision.

“….. B-Blinky?”

Slowly Flow regained her senses, seeing her little companion beep in joy as she slowly forced herself to sit up. Her entire body felt heavy, with a sharp pain in her left side. Her head was pounding, and her vision had a large crack that took her a while to notice it was her helmet.

Groaning, Flow sat up, feeling as though her body had several pounds of lead attached to it. She wrestled with her helmet, prying it off her head before collapsing back down, letting out several gasps of air.

“I’m… I’m alive…” The pain she was in was proof enough of that. She could feel something trickling down the left side of her head. Despite being groggy, she knew it was likely her own blood. The left side of her helmet had a large dent in it, likely from her fall which cracked her visor and broke the headlamp. The only source of light was coming from Blinky.

“H-How long was I out…?” She looked up to where she fell. Aided by Blinky’s own light, she made out the hole where she fell from, but couldn’t see the surface of where she jumped. Only that she had landed on a pile of rubble that likely fell from the hole. “How far did I fall?”

Blinky only gave out five solid whistles. Whatever the case, Flow could guess it was a long way due to the state of her helmet and armor. There was a good chance if she wasn’t wearing it, she’d be dead.

“And… where am I?”

From the light available, Flow could make out the solid concrete foundations around her. She was in some kind of tunnel, likely a service tunnel buried below ground.

“Do you… have a map of this place buddy?”

Blinky flashed red with a long whistle. Flow let out a loud sigh, grunting as her body flared up in pain.

“At least those… things didn’t follow me down,” She said as she began to unclip her right vambrace, pulling it off and throwing it away. Blinky whistled in confusion as Flow did the same to her left, grunting a little as she freed the piece of metal from her arm. “You saw what that thing did. And if even those smaller things can smash through my Ice, I don’t see how this stuff’s gonna make a difference other than slow me down,” She grunted as she saw to her shin guards. “May as well die comfortably, you know.”

Flow continued to strip out of her armor, throwing the pieces away until she wore only her underclothes; a long sleeve shirt and jeans. “Ahh, finally,” With her breastplate hitting the ground in a loud thud, Flow stretched her, revealing in her newfound freedom of the heavyweight of her armor before her injuries flailed up.

“I-I’m okay,” She said to her concerned partner. She then turned back to her equipment, checking to see what she had. Her utility belts still had all her fresh magazines and ammo for her weapons. Unfortunately, she had no weapon. Her shotgun, her assault rifle, her pistol, they were all up on the surface where she dropped them. “Oh great… Sarge is not gonna like this,”

She created an icicle in her palm, giving her comfort that she could still use her ice to defend herself with, for what good it could do against those creatures.

“Okay, these are tunnels so… there’s gotta be a way out further down.”

The passage behind her was clogged up by rubble, so the only way was forwards. Unlike the other sections of the space port, the tunnels were pitched black. Blinky was the only source of light.

“Alright, lead the way buddy.”

Blinky few ahead, keeping a slow speed to allow Flow to limber after him. She walked for what felt like hours, seeing nothing but the same concrete walls enclosing in on her. The pain didn’t go away, with every step causing her muscles to ache worse. Eventually, she had to stop, collapsing against a wall to catch her breath. Blinky stopped in response, floating back towards her.

“I-I’m okay…”

After a brief respite, Flow continued on with the tunnel looking to have no end in sight. The only sounds were her own breathing and footsteps and the whirling mechanisms that kept Blinky in the air. It was so quiet that Flow wished for the sounds of zombies or beasts to at least break up the silence.

Then suddenly, out of the blue, Blinky started to beep again.

“What…? D-Don’t tell me it's them?!”

Blinky beeped again. It wasn’t his proximity sensor. He was picking up a signal.

“Really? Down here?”

Blinky flew on, following the signal to what its source was. Flow followed after him, though anxious of the possibility of running into danger without a weapon to hand.

Crunch.

Flow jumped when she heard the sound. Just visible on the ground was the same black quartz that came off those monsters.

Blinky however flew up to something in the distance, casting his light on it. It was two bodies; the soldiers from before.

“They… came down here?” Flow approached. It was the handy work of the monsters, as one of the soldiers had large claw marks on his chest while his companion had a burnt hole that bore through his helmet and into his head.

“Looks like they had little luck too. Poor guys.” Flow sighed. After spending as long as she could remember with no (none infected) human contact, it truly pained her to see the first humans in her life dead. Her eyes were then drawn to one of the assault rifles that one of the soldiers was holding onto.

Seeing as she was unarmed- and the soldier clearly didn’t need it anymore- Flow took it. It was different from her own, lighter with a reflex sight in place of an iron sight she was used to. She also noticed a counter just below the reflex sight with the numbers 00.

“Is this…” Intrigued, Flow took out the magazine. The number changed to two double lines. She took out one of her own magazines for her assault rifle and to her good fortune, it fitted. The number then went to 35. It was an ammo counter. “Ohh, neat.” Flow smiled.

Slinging the rifle, she crouched down and drew out the man's sidearm. It was a hand cannon, not something she was used to. Blinky shined a light on the other soldier, showing he had a similar weapon.

“Not really my sorta thing,”

Flow found the switch to roll out the cylinder. There were eight bullets arranged in slots in the clip. Blinky scanned them and then her pistol magazines, and to her pistol magazines saw him flashed red. It meant the bullets for her pistol and those of the hand cannon was a different caliber.

“…. It’s better than nothing I guess.” She holstered it then searched the body, taking two ammo cylinders for her revolver and once extra magazine.

“Hey Blinky… is the signal coming from these two?”

Blinky beeped and shook before floating forwards. Flow followed, now more comfortable with weapons at hand. It wasn’t much further when Blinky moved away from the straight path and to a large hole in the left wall.

“Here?” When Flow got closer she noticed two broken lamps. Blinky had stopped at the entrance, waiting for Flow to reach him. Steeling herself, holding her new weapon at the ready, Flow squeezed into the cave.

It wasn’t a tight squeeze, but it was narrow enough to make Flow feel a little claustrophobic, ignoring the crunching sounds of the quartz beneath her feet that gave her a bit of unease. But when the exit came into view, Flow noticed light coming from the other side.

“A way out?” She thought out loud. However, getting closer it wasn’t light from the sun. And directly in front of her was a turret that had been smashed to pieces.

She emerged into the large limestone cavern, lit up by floodlights placed through the cave, showing off the bodies of twelve soldiers. However, nothing compared to what was at the far end of the cave where all the lights were focused on.

“What… in the world…?”

Slotted into the wall was a massive, diamond shape, black and silver door that had been opened wide, split into two symmetrical pieces. Flow followed Blinky towards the doors, carefully stepping over the bodies of the soldiers, her feet constantly crunching on the black quartz. It was clear a battle took place here, likely for whatever this door was. Getting closer, she saw the almost alien corridor stretch out to another, equally large, circular door.

“What is this?” Flow said with her jaw dropped. “Blinky, did you know about this?”

Blinky whistled a no. It seemed he didn’t know how to process it. However, he zoomed up to a soldier laying on the floor a few feet within the corridor.

“Is the signal coming from him?”

Blinky scanned the man before stopping at his outstretched right hand, beeping to say that the signal was coming from there. Upon reaching him, Flow examined his hand and saw him clutching onto something. She pried it from his grip. It was a strange black pen with a single beeping light.

“Is this a beacon?”

Blinky scanned it and flashed red three times.

“You… you can’t scan it?”

Blinky nodded. That was strange. While Blinky’s scan function had its limitations, certainly it should be sufficient for something of that size.

Flow stood up, looking down on the body. Whoever it was, he was shot in the back while running forwards. Flow followed what the man’s potential path was. To the right of the massive door was a console that blended into the walls. Flow approached it. Curiously there were no buttons, or even a monitor. Just a hole in the center dashboard.

“I wonder…” Flow placed the pen in the hole. There was a click as it slotted into place, with a red light flashing on the top.

“Override confirmed. Disengaging second lock.”

A voice spoke, surprising Flow and Blinky. There was another click from the machine. Cautiously, Flow took the cylinder back. A klackson then blared. The door in front of her began to move, the wheel door descending counterclockwise, performing a full circle before the center retracted upwards.

“A key then, I guess,” Putting the pen in her pouch, Flow moved slowly towards the giant opening, seeing the interior shrink in a cone towards a door just a few feet in that opened when she got close. She carried along a dark corridor that lit up section by section as she walked through it. A door then appeared before her. In the center was a curious symbol of a square symbol with four smaller squares inside, each one bearing a crest that she had never seen before.

When she approached it, the center symbol rotated 180 degrees before the door opened. It led into a massive room, the likes of which Flow had never seen before. It was lit up, nearly blinding her given the sudden flux of light, despite the black, silver and red interior design. Unlike everything else in the colony, the room was brand new. It consisted of two layers with a massive apparatus located at the rear. Flow guessed it was a generator of some kind given the large array of wires and cables. At the base of the first tear was two, fully upholstered sofas. More curiously in the center was a black sheathed katana sword laying on a pedestal between the two.

“Whoa, what is this?” Flow said as she approached the weapon. Slowly she reached for the weapon, hearing Blinky beep, telling her to be cautious. Flow placed her hand on the sheath, expecting some kind of alarm. Yet nothing. She picked it off from the pedestal, and still nothing.

“Wow, look at this buddy,” Flow showed off the weapon to Blinky who attempted to scan it. He beeped three times, meaning he couldn’t scan it either.

Curiously Flow tried to pull the sword out. “Wh-what?” Yet no matter how much she tugged the weapon did not budge an inch. “Is it stuck?”

Blinky whistled. Flow gave it another tug before giving up. “... Can’t hurt to take it with us,” Finding a buckle on the hilt, Flow attached the weapon to her sling on her back.

The two took the stairs to the right, moving up to the second level. There was one thing, a large black coffin that was connected to the large generator behind.

“Now I’ve seen everything…”

Blinky zoomed up to the coffin and tried to scan it. As with the cylinder and the sword, he couldn’t. Flow approached it to find a terminal but there was nothing. All that was written on the black surface in bright red was simply the number 9.

“What do you suppose this place is? Some kinda super villain secret lair?”

Blinky beeped and whistled in confusion.

“You know, Captain Galactic from my holovids. Dr. Molten had a secret lair built into right in the surface of-”

A loud klackson suddenly blurred, followed by a woman's voice. “Alert. Fiends detected within the perimeter. Initiating emergency lockdown.”

“Wh-What’s happening now?!” Flow stood at the ready. Loud bangs could be heard from beyond the room, the sound of churning metal from whatever was happening outside.

“It’s… it’s them isn’t it?” Blinky didn’t need to confirm anything, Flow could feel it. The monsters had found her, now stuck in a room with only one exit.

“Warning. Vault breach detected. Matriarch signature detected. Initiating defenses. Activating Fiend suppression field within the vault.”

Five turrets then rose from the ground, all pointing at the door. Two emerged from the walls flanking the coffin. The generator at the rear began to hum into life.

“Emergency protocols engaged. Awakening #9. All hands report to your designated areas.”

“Wh-what’s going on?! What designated areas?!” Flow yelled to the voice. There was another loud bang, sounding much closer.

“1%. 2%. Lockdown breached. Initiating checkpoint defenses. Priority 1. Warning; Matriarch energy signature 3. Effect on suppression field; bypass field in instance of breach certain. Defend #9 until awakening.”

“Defend… 9?” Flow looked back to the coffin. “You mean this?” She noticed that the cables that connected it were now shimmering blue. It seemed whatever this place was built for, it was in this coffin.

Loud shrieks could be heard from beyond the sealed door. They were getting closer.

“Warning. Ghouls inbound. Damage to microwave defenses. Breach imminent.”

Flow gulped. She took another look at the coffin. Whatever was inside it, whatever was powering up, it maybe her only chance to survive.

“Blinky,” Steeling herself, Flow raised her new rifle, checking the ammo count before taking aim. “Find someplace to hide.”

Blinky beeped in protest.

“I’m not planning to die yet. Not until I see Dawn City with my own eyes.”

And not until I find out who I am.

“9%. 10%. Warning. Hallway defenses disabled.”

Something rammed into the door.

“11%. Breach imminent.”

The door buckled after another solid impact. Flow’s heart stopped for a moment. She hadn’t felt fear like this for years.

“12%. 13%”

The door buckled again after another solid hit. The symbol on it was now on the verge of being broken off completely. Slowly, Flow inched her finger close to the trigger.

“15%. 16%.”

The door then gave way completely. The large, lumbering form of the larger monsters squeezed through the now exposed doorway. Flow squeezed the trigger, firing in unison with all the sanctuary guns, peppering the husk of the monster which buckled under the heavy fire, disintegrating with a blast to it’s head. As Flow reloaded, the guns continued firing on the opening as the smaller creatures all funneled through the door. The sound of gunfire and the screeches of the creatures was defining, echoing in the small chamber drowning out the announcement voice.

Even so, the guns continued to fire continuously at the swarm, the black quartz pooling at the entrance as the monsters tried to spread out. It seemed as though the countdown would end before the monsters could get in. However, Flow’s hope was quickly dashed when green lights appeared to the sides of the door.

“Shit!” Flow fired on one of the groups that materialized within the room, destroying two before ducking as shots were fired at her from the gunner monsters that appeared, creating an ice wall to be used as cover.

The turrets responded in kind, firing on the newly materialized monsters destroying some as more materialized in the room and poured through the gap now freed of the hale of fire. Flow fired back from her cover but watched as the turrets below were destroyed one by one, leaving only the two beside the coffin.

“24%. 25%.”

Flow broke from cover and threw a ball of her power at the entrance, blocking it with ice. Quickly reloading, Flow began firing on the monsters that were already in the room, first dealing with the ones that could fire back while occasionally having to deal with the running monsters that leaped up to the second level. The two turrets covered the stairs that flanked her, which gave Flow some much-needed breathing room, if only temporary.

Unfortunately, there was still a sizable presence of monsters with small units of them materializing within the room. Flow fired at the shooters until she ran out of ammo, now assailed by the runners. Flow ducked under the swing of one before freezing its leg. Letting her empty rifle lose on her sling, she drew out her new pistol at a monster that had pounced over the railing.

She fired, shocked by the recoil of her new weapon, watching as the bullet blasted apart the monster. Recovering her footing, Flow fired two more shots to her left, first at the frozen monster and another running behind it. Like before, one shot was enough to destroy both.

“36%.”

Flow fired at the monsters below the railing. She missed two shots but scored three hits before her weapon went dry. With the monsters still coming closer, Flow holstered her pistol and quickly snapped in a fresh magazine into her rifle before resuming her desperate defense, utilizing her ice to block the stairwells to hinder the advance.

It was going well, until three large green lights appeared in front of the ice wall. To Flows horror, three of the larger monsters appeared, with the center sporting a large rectangular shield that it slammed on the ground. They advanced in unison, walking towards the railing rather than the stairs.

“Oh come on!”

“42%”

Flow let out a burst at one of the unshelled enemies. Her new gun caused some damage to its armor compared to the weapons she had before, but not a lot. With the ammo count at 14 -and not wanting to waste any more ammo- Flow drew her hand cannon, quickly ejected the empty cylinder, and slotted in a new one. She only had two more that she grabbed from the soldier so she had to make each shot count. Quickly she took aim and fired on one of the larger ones. The bullet struck the head and did far more damage to the armor than her rifle. However, the monster she shot at broke formation with the other two to charge at Flow, leaping up onto the second level. Flow quickly rolled to avoid being sliced in half by the crusted blade. Skidding to the right, Flow threw out an ice knife that pierced through the armor, staggering the monster as the ice spread.

“47%.”

Flow noticed the effect once she got up and took immediate advantage, firing on the affected area. Her bullet blew out a large chunk of the monster’s left leg, causing it to collapse to one knee. Flow fired four more shots at the head, piercing the armor and destroying the head on the fifth. No sooner had the monster disintegrated than she jumped by one of the runners. Flow fell to her back and fired on the monster. She got back to her feet, only for the remaining two monsters to leap up to the next level. Flow tried to fire her weapon, only to realize there was no ammo left. Desperately she conjured an ice wall to block an incoming strike from one. Behind her, the shield monster was charging, shield first. Flow rolled out of the way as the shield smashed into the ice, dropping her hand cannon in the process.

“49%”

Flow brought out her rifle once more but was forced to fire on the runners and shooters that had made it up to the second level (with scores still being destroyed by the sentry guns.)

Her gun ran dry before long. Flow ejected the magazine and was about to load a fresh one but was interrupted when the runners pounced her. Flow threw out an ice knife to destroy one, leaping back as the large monster slammed its weapon into the ground. Flow tried to reload but was interrupted again, the sword monster swung at her again. Flows back eventually hit the wall, with no respite for her to allow her to reload.

“Not good…”

“51%. Fiends in unacceptable proximity to #9. Removing ID restriction on Vagabond.”

“What?” Flow looked frustrated at the ceiling. A click then came behind her. Flow looked back and saw it came from the sword she had strapped to her back. “This thing?” She grappled with it, grabbing the hilt as the large monster approached, raising its weapon. Desperately, Flow ducked and charged forwards while pulling the sword. The weapon flew free from its scabbard, a red arc was left behind as it sliced through the armor of the monster. Flow stumbled from her momentary burst in time to see the monster collapse to its knees as black smog poured from the large rent in its chest.

“Whoa…” Flow looked at her new weapon. It was heavy in her hands, yet only slightly compared to her usual array of weapons. Now that it was free, she could see it was a single-edged, black bade with the sharp part pulsing a glowing red; a small whirle could be heard from its surface. Truly, she had never seen anything like it before.

“56%.”

She barely had a chance to study her weapon when she was assailed by yet more runners with the shield monster coming towards her. Startled, Flow reacted to the monsters. Each clumsy swing she did destroy the monsters one by one, the red blade making short work of the green carapace. She gained momentum when the shield monster charged into her again. Flow created an ice wall as a barricade that broke the charge. Flow rushed right and stabbed the monster in the exposed left side. Unlike her previous weapons, the red and black blade easily pierced through the thick armor. Yet the monster was still alive, turning abruptly to throw Flow off, releasing her grip on her weapon.

“62%”

“Damn it…” Flow struggled to her feet when she was assailed by the previous monster, who still had the large cut on its chest. Flow rolled out of the way as the weapon smashed into the ground, throwing out an icicle at the monster, catching it in the throat. To her luck, she was right beside her hand cannon. Grabbing the weapon, Flow quickly reloaded the weapon with her final clip (realizing she had to use it sparingly) and fired on the monster in the head, watching it burst into orange vapor and black quartz. Flow scrambled to her feet while holstering her pistol, throwing out more ice at the incoming runners before slamming a fresh magazine into her rifle, firing on two shooters that had gotten past the before retreating back as the shield monster charged her again. Ducking to the left of the monster, Flow wrenched the sword free, turned and fired at full auto at the wound she had created. It proved to be more than the monster could handle as a large hole was blown into its left side. As it staggered, Flow released her rifle and brought her new sword overhead, slashing down and severing the shield arm before delivering the final strike to its chest.

“70%.”

Flow watched as the monster disintegrated. “I did it…” She felt exhilarated. “I did it!”

A blast at the main entrance put pay to the feeling of victory as a haunting melody filled the room. Flow turned and saw the woman from the rotunda emerge from the entrance, hovering in the air above.

“Warning. Matriarch detected within the perimeter.”

“Uh oh…”

The sanctuary guns then fell silent.

“Diverting power from non-critical functions.”

“Nonono! I need them!” Flow pleaded as the lights dimmed. She turned and saw the woman aiming her long fingers at her, channeling the sickly energy. Flow conjured an ice wall to defend herself, coming in time to shield herself as the blast knocked her back.

The woman screeched, raising its long hands into the air. Flow had just gotten back to her feet to witness the black quartz glow green. The monsters, including all four of the large ones, materialized from them.

“Oh you gotta be kidding?” Flow reloaded her rifle, only to find she had burnt through all of her ammunition. Frustrated, Flow unclipped her rifle from her sling and allowed it to drop to the floor before running, slicing through the various runners that charged at her.

Drawing her hand cannon she fired at the woman in the air, watching her bullets hit another invisible wall. The woman responded with another blast of energy. Flow raised an Ice wall, but the blast was so strong it destroyed the barrier, throwing her through the air with both weapons flying out of her hand. She tumbled on the ground until her back smashed against the wall behind her.

She tried to get back up, but her strength had finally given out. All she could do was stare at the hoard of monsters around her.

Flow gritted her teeth, feeling fear she never had since she was a little girl… something radiating deep within her core. She tried to crawl forwards and retrieve one of her weapons a few feet away but was blocked by one of the large monsters looming over her. She could just make out the vestige of the woman hovering in the air. It mouthed something, hissing in an alien tongue that she could not comprehend. The large monster growled as it loomed over the helpless girl, flanked by more runners.

Is this… is this it?

Flow then heard the loud whistles of Blinky. Her little robot companion had broken from his hiding places, flying in front of Flow before blaring its light at full power, trying to blind her enemy to give her a chance to escape. Not one budged. The large monster raised its large sword, ready to strike down. Blinky stopped his light when he realized it wasn’t working, shrinking to Flow’s side in a panic.

“Thanks, buddy…” Flow said as mist seeped from her fingers. The metal she touched underneath began to freeze by her touch. “I’m not going down without a fight…”

From what she had seen, her ice seemed to have an effect on the monsters. Even if it was only for a moment if she could stun at least the large one in front of her she could-

“99%. 100%. Awaken #9.”

A loud hiss echoed, then the sounds of a mechanism moving. Every monster, including Flow’s executioner, froze and turned to the coffin located in the back. In all the commotion, Flow completely forgot about it, monsters included.

There was a loud crack, the lid opening suddenly and abruptly. Steam erupted from the gaps created in the top and sides. The lid then opened into three separate pieces, two of the side panels moving down the sides while the center opened upwards. A large torrent of mist obscured the interior from view. However, in the dim light of the room, Flow made out something stirring from within.

First, a slender, human hand emerged from the gloom, grasping the side of the coffin. Then, a figure began to come into view as the mist dissipated. A long flow of purple hair came into view first covered partly by a visor connected to the coffin by wires, then the body of a woman, completely bare. She was human, at least from where Flow was looking. However, as more of her came into view, Flow noticed a few oddities; nippleless breasts, patches of skin divided by lines marketing the skin seem unnatural with a barcode tattooed on her left shoulder, and four cables that embedded into the nape to her lower back.

Slowly, the woman stood up. The wires in her visor hissed before bursting, then the wires on her back did the same as the woman stood to her full height. With nothing on, she looked variable to the monsters that surrounded her, yet for some reason, none dared to make a single move. The large ones, in particular, were on their guard, readying their weapons as they watched the woman slowly remove the visor from her head, fixing the monsters with her red, unblinking eyes.

“Wh-who’s that….?” Flow struggled back to her feet, her body still heavy from the recent blow. Yet like the monsters, she was transfixed by the woman’s appearance. The mood was shattered by the shriek of the ghastly woman floating in the air, as it charged its energy in its palms.

“Hey! Look out!” Flow called out, just as the woman released the energy. The coffin exploded as the energy smashed into it. Flow gasped, seeing the woman she had been inadvertently defending blown up.

Or so she thought.

Red sparks of energy could be seen through the smog before the woman burst from the smoke, black armor materializing on her legs, the high heels smashing into the face of one of the large monsters' heads. The green carapace shattered as the monster was pushed to the ground. The woman somersaulted off the monster as red sparks engulfed her body. By the time she had landed- her heels skidding across the ground as she landed creating sparks- the woman was now in a full, black bodysuit with several dozen loose plates and loose components covering her body; from her chest, her arms, her legs, and back.

Slowly she rose up. Sparks appeared in both hands, and in a second, two black and silver swords materialized. With the right sword, the woman pointed it directly at the woman, fixing her eyeless stare with her own, devoid of any semblance of emotions.

“Initiating combat,”

The runners charged towards the woman, attacking in all directions. When the first one pounced, the woman moved, slashing at the monster, then another, and another, taking apart over ten before leaping over the hoard as the shooters began to fire at her. She decided on one, blocking one shot with her weapon before deflecting the second back at it. As she landed, she dashed left, moving at speeds that seemed impossible for an average human to make. When the ghastly woman fired her energy at the woman, she dodged by somersaulting back, red sparks emitting from her body as she moved. Inverting the grip of her left blade, the woman plunged it through the chest of a runner before leaping over another, kicking it to one side as she landed.

The shield monster charged her in, shield first. The woman held her ground, using her swords to block the charge. Her feet dragged across the ground by the impact. The woman remained in place as the monster tried to press her back further, raising its sword.

“Hey! Look out!” Flow rushed to her hand cannon and fired, scoring a headshot on the shield monster, staggering it only slightly. Yet it was enough for the woman to dash right, slashing at the monster’s right side. As it fell, another of the monsters rushed in with its blade, swinging at the woman but was parried. With the opening, the woman stabbed both blades into its chest before ripping both free, letting a rain of quartz shower from its open wound. While both were wounded, they were far from the beginning. Both took swings at the woman who dodged, leaving behind after images with each near miss before finishing off the shield monster by leaping up and stabbing a blade into its head before decapitating it.

“Whoa… she’s good.” Flow said to herself before Blinky beeped into her ear. While most of the monsters were engaged with the woman, her executioner still had its attention fixed on her, especially after the recent shot.

Realizing the danger, Flow quickly conjured an ice wall to block a swing of its sword. Collapsing to the ground, Flow fired at the monster’s head, pulling the trigger before she ran out of ammo. Despite the cracks in the armor from the headshots, the monster was still alive. It freed its blade, shattering the ice that encased it. Flow rolled out of the way as the blade slammed into the ground, throwing an icicle at the monster, stabbing it in its chest. The monster staggered slightly, yet ignored the ice, it took another swing at Flow who scrambled out of the way, making a dash to her sword. She grabbed it and turned in time to see the monster swing its sword at her. With little time to think, Flow used the sword to block the strike. The strength of the blow almost broke her guard and would have if not for her blade digging into the green-crusted blade.

“D-Damn you!!” Flow conjured another icicle in her free hand and stabbed it into the monster’s chest. As the monster staggered again, Flow freed her blade and slashed at the monster. This proved to be the final blow as the monster collapsed to the ground before disintegrating.

“A-And stay down!”

With the momentary respite, Flow looked back at the battle on the first tear, watching the woman fend off another horde of runners as the shield monster took a swing at her. The woman blocked the strike without looking behind her, the blade shattering against her own black and silver sword. With it disarmed, the woman skidded underneath the shield, swiping and slicing off its legs, allowing it to fall forwards onto its front. The woman ran up its back and stabbed both weapons into its body. The ghastly woman descended closer, spawning in more runners and shooters before letting loose another torrent of energy at the woman, the subsequent blast destroying the shield monster as the woman leaped into the air, and towards the final large monster.

In mid-air, the woman parried the monster, using the momentum to collide into the monster’s head, cracking the armor with her high heels before stabbing it with her left blade before leaping off the monster, descending towards the ghastly woman. There was an explosion of sparks and green mist as both blades collided with the woman’s barrier. A pulse from the ghastly woman threw the attacker off, yet the barrier was left visible, a sickly green mist consoling the entire figure. This was what was protecting her.

As she landed across the ground, swiping at the two runners that pounced at her as the woman charged more energy. As it let the shot lose, an ice wall formed in front of the woman, blocking the shot. The ghastly woman’s gaze moved to its left, seeing Flow standing at the balcony.

“Opps…”

Flow scrambled away as the ghastly woman fired upon her, knocking her on the ground by the backblast of the shot. However, that momentary distraction allowed the woman to burst out from behind the broken ice wall, smashing once more into the barrier. The invisible force dissipated, both blades plunging into the woman’s chest. It shrieked, grabbing a hold of the woman’s neck and releasing another pulse of energy, covering the woman in sparks as she was blown off, sending her slamming into the wall.

“NO!”

The two swords embedded into the woman vanished, leaving behind two large wounds that sparked with red energy. The ghastly woman was wounded, but not down. It charged energy into its left hand, intending to finish its attacker off.

“Oh no you don’t!” Without thinking, Flow threw out an ice knife at the woman, catching it in the left elbow. The ice flash froze the shriveled limb before it snapped off.

With sword in hand, leaving no time for her to regret her rash attack, Flow charged forwards as the ghastly woman turned to her, charging energy in her only remaining hand. It was low enough for her to reach it, and it seemed to be the source of all the monsters that continually spawned into the room.

To give her the momentum, Flow created an Ice ramp that shot up vertically, lifting her off from the platform until she reached the edge. Then she leaped towards the woman, inverting the sword, yelling at the top of her lungs as she plunged the weapon into the woman’s chest, right through the orange core. The woman shrieked and howled as it fell to the ground along with Flow, letting out one last choke before going limp. Flow watched as its body began to change to a pale gray, cracking and falling apart into shimmering quartz.

The monsters around her began to let out muffled moans as green energy engulfed them like fire burning to cinders. Their bodies’ color began to change one by one into the same gray before falling apart. Then the pieces started to vanish, piece by piece breaking before evaporating until there was no evidence remaining.

“It’s… Is it over?” Flow let out a deep sigh of relief, resting her head against the sword's hilt as Blinky floated up beside her. “Are you alright buddy?” Her companion responded by gently nudging her cheek. Flow chuckled, slowly getting back to her feet.

She saw the woman slumped against the wall, smoke seeping from her body.

“No no no, please don’t be dead!” Flow rushed to the woman’s side and gently lifted her against the wall. Her eyes were closed, and there was some damage done to the body suite. She was warm, but Flow didn’t know if she was alive or not. Pressing her ear to her chest, she couldn’t hear a heartbeat. However, there was a strange humming, like an engine coming from her chest.

“Blinky!”

Blinky scans her but then blinks red three times.

“Her too?”

She looked back at the woman, with yet more questions that had no answers. Blinky beeped, inquiring as to what Flow wanted to do.

“…. Well, for starters we’re not leaving her here.”

Flow stood back up, retrieving the sword embedded in the ground and sheathed it back into the scabbard still strapped to her back. She wasn’t about to leave that weapon behind. She then grabbed both her new hand cannon and rifle along with the magazines she dropped.

Then she walked back to the woman and lifted her up.

“Whoa she’s heavy!” She complained as she failed to heave the woman up to her shoulder. She tried something else, draping the woman over her shoulders before hoisting her up. It was good that she had dumped her armor because the woman easily weighed more than her.

“Please… let the exit be close…”

Blinky took point again as Flow lumbered behind with the woman. For her sake, she prayed she would encounter no more enemies.