It didn’t make sense to me; in fact, it bothered me how little it made sense.

And yet it was exactly this lack of logic that allowed me to both get to Lia, and have Hanna warn me of the creature’s attack, despite the fact our communications were shot.

I wish I could say that after guarding against its attack I was somehow able to counter, to turn the tide, but I didn’t have the reflexes.

Even after having registered the attack, I still couldn't move.

“Hanna…”

It was almost unreal how agile she moved around the creature. While it was only a little bigger than she, it was much clumsier— erratic— moving to attack where she’d been seconds ago while leaving itself open to counters Hanna gladly took advantage of.

Gaping lines of open flesh covered the creature as she danced around it. For every twist of her leg, a horizontal wound opened in its chest— for every lunge it tried to strike her with, she’d spin, moving to tear into the flesh of its exposed shoulder.

Static rang in my ear the entire time, but I didn’t pay any attention to it— I was in awe of her style of combat…no. It would be more accurate to say I was in awe of her.

Metal grating against metal rang in my ears and throughout the desert as she unexpectedly jumped backwards, grinding the sword against the plating of her armor until a deep crimson glow began emanating from the blade itself; the headless monster rushed towards her, aiming for her head before she managed to duck—

*SKRIYEEHHEIEEIE!!*

—and her near-molten sword jutted out of the creature’s back, blade pointed towards the sky.

*KRrEIUsYIIEEeiUeiiii*

It had no mouth, yet was able to wail its last cries of life— maybe it was because of the tendrils that vibrated so fervently before Hanna yanked out the blade, cutting off its arm before lodging her sword into its body once more, shoving it into the dirt like it never rose in the first place.

“Zhzz-ia? —Lia, can you hear me?”

“I’m here,” she said, speaking quickly. “I thought it might’ve been the case when I couldn't contact you guys but now I’m convinced— this Rogue has some form of electromaster.”

“Jammed our comms, not to mention the damn thing isn’t staying dead. Cauterizing the wounds will only buy us so much time.”

“Lia shot it, I decapitated it, and cauterization aside, the injuries you made on it already healed,” I said, pointing to patches of skin having been repaired before the creature’s death. “Overwhelming it with force might work, but I think…”

“…yes, I noticed too.”

“Hmph, not bad for a green-light, you’re thinking the same thing.” she said, agreeing with Lia and confirming the only suspicion I had. “It’s the tendrils.”

“When I first shot it, blood definitely came out, but it hasn’t bled since then no matter how much it’s wounded.”

“That meahktzz-zzhk…!”

“HANNA!”

With the signal abruptly cutting off, aim was a luxury I didn’t have; it’s a miracle I didn’t hit Hanna with how I aimed at the small Outsider behind her. An Outsider that looked just like—

“—the head!?” I retched.

There was no mistaking it, my blade was caught between the jagged rows of teeth from the head I severed not four minutes ago. I tried throwing it backwards only to look down and realize the purple-red tendrils sprouting from its neck were wrapping themselves around the hilt of my blade and fingers.

“That’s DISGUSTING!”

Its tongue went lopsided, as I swung my sword into the dirt, slamming my foot into its eyes and head until it either lost consciousness, or simply didn’t have the strength to hold on anymore. Its unusually long tongue hung grotesquely limp outside its mouth.

“Kid, was that this thing’s head?”

“Yeah,” I responded, consciously taking a few steps back lest I stray too far from Lia. “This is a problem; this thing can act without a brain..?”

“No shit it’s a problem green-light! If isn’t keeping dead; even cutting through its tentacles is ouhzz-t—”

I looked behind me; already having heated her blade blood-red, Hanna wasted no time in cutting through the resurrected monstrosity’s tentacles, causing smoke to rise from the severed ends and vibrate in singed pain before she cut another giant hole in it, kicking it to the ground.

Even when our radios returned she didn’t stop stabbing it.

“It keeps jamming out comms dammit! Whatever, now that we know its limbs can act on their own, dismemberment is out of the question!”

“Each body part seems to share the ability of the whole, if it really does have the electromaster ability then it’s no wonder my lightning couldn't do anything after having shot through its brain.”

“Its brain…?”

“Give it some thought. It’s acting without its head, meaning its actions have to be dictated by something else,” Hanna explained, uncharacteristically calm. “On top of that, those tendrils don’t look unlike veins, yet after cutting through them there’s no blood.”

“Then, wherever it DID bleed from doesn't matter, what matters—”

“—is that this thing’s ‘brain’ or ‘nervous system’ is likely the tendrils; if we eliminate them, we eliminate the Outsider. Gahh, if only we had some sustained flames! Then we could scorch this thing a-a-aaahzzkt—”

In a panic I looked to my right but the lopsided head was still in place while behind me, the main body still had smoke rising from the giant holes in its chest and neck; naturally my eyes found their way to a giant arm missing from its side.

*BRRRBRRRRRRBRRRRRBRRRRBRRRRRR*

Gunfire erupted from Hanna’s Slayer, aimed for an enormous leather arm using sprouted purple-red tendrils to slither across the ground towards—

“—Lia!”

At some point I registered the gunfire ceased to hit the arm, but continued to ring out. I only had time to see Hanna’s bullets flying towards a thrice-resurrected body before I leapt out and grabbed the arm by the wrist— had I been any further from Lia the limb would’ve definitely reached her. But in my relief, I let my guard down.

*WH-RP* *WH-RP* *WR-RP*

Lengthy tentacles sprouted from the severed elbow, quickly wrapping themselves around my wrist. I quickly switched the sword to my left hand, only to have it yanked backwards before I could cut through biological rope.

“What—the—?!”

The head. And this time tentacles sprouted from both its neck— using them to support itself upright— and its mouth. Elongated purple-red lines grew from its tongue, wrapping around my left hand and pulling back with a surprising brutal amount of strength.

“Gch! Let-go—of-!”

The severed arm began burning into the armor of my Slayer; I couldn't move either of my arms— the pull was too much.

How bothersome.

And my eyes went wide at the realization. If it was too much of an inconvenience to fight against its pull, I wouldn’t fight back at all.

“FINE!”

With the wrist still firmly in my grip; I twisted my upper body, giving in to the force of the head pulling me back and running straight toward it. Or, more accurately, running straight for its gaping maw. Lodging the severed arm in its teeth, the now excess length of the tendrils let me to move without restraint.

I grabbed the top of its head with my free hand and shoved every metric ton of my newfound weight against the top of its skull, forcing it to bite clean through its own arm, and by extension, the purple tendrils wrapped around my own.

The nervous system vibrated in pain, but I had no time to listen as I quickly shifted my sword into my free hand, cutting through the remaining tendrils attached to my arm. I quickly backed up from the dismembered limbs and silently cursed; I might’ve gotten free, but the arm was cut in two now, creating another limb to deal with.

“But then…why……?”

I watched in revolted curiosity as the dismembered arm’s tendrils began wrapping around those spilling out of the neck. From the corner of my eye I noticed that Hanna, in between killing the monster that was rising again and again, was paying attention to the fact that the tendrils of the head and arm began wrapping around each other in a grotesque dance. I positioned myself in front of Lia more carefully, preparing for whatever it was doing.

More than once I thought about attacking, about slicing the flesh into ribbons again, but considering the result of last time I had no choice but to wait and witness its regeneration.

Witness as, partially, it became whole.

Flesh bubbled from the knots where the tendrils met— slowly growing, creating another neck, shoulder, and arm while it continued “standing” on its nervous system. Even as goosebumps covered every inch of my skin, I couldn’t help but be astounded by its sheer regenerative ability. How could I—we— kill something that couldn't be killed?

No.

We could absolutely kill it— the problem was that we had no way to do so.

Those tendrils were the issue; cauterization only delayed the healing and while Lia’s lightning might’ve helped, but she’d already tried it only to meet a dead end. Blades were of no use to us here aside from defense, but even then cutting it into pieces would only—

Pieces.

It was like the static ringing in my ear covered my brain in fuzz, making me light-headed, but I could tell what this was.

I looked behind me— she was staring. I don’t know how I was able to understand her, let alone how she was able to know exactly what I was thinking, but I could feel the gears in her mind turning. I turned to my left, where the main body had just fallen once more.

Hanna, too, was looking towards us.

“Even if it’s only a little, even if it’s abstract— can you hear it?”

No. That was the wrong word to use. I know for a fact she couldn't hear us, rather—

“—can you sense it?”

The path towards victory, the one Lia could see.

Pieces. Whole. Sear.

*IEERYYRRRYYYYYYYY*

My body snapped out of whatever daze came over me as I blocked the abomination that tried jumping onto Lia again. Hanna came running over, a mangled corpse of an Outsider following close behind. I could feel it in my blood, guidance for what to do, how she wanted to execute Lia’s plan.

I grabbed the flailing monster by its only arm, using my Aegis to pin it to the desert floor; I didn’t consciously think about my actions, it was more like Hanna was guiding me, using my own ability as a blueprint I could follow through with.

At that moment, Hanna stepped on the screeching horror, pressing down on it with the weight of her Slayer while I quickly ran behind her, raising my blade to stop a wild strike coming from the headless monster. Whether on instinct or desperation, it then threw its entire body at me, as if somehow throwing us off-balance would let it turn the tide. Fortunately, that was just the thing I needed.

Blocking the weight with my shield, strength surged through my flesh and mechanical legs as I carefully balanced the still flailing creature on top of my glowing shield.

“So…heAVY!”

My teeth felt like they were cracking, my eyes popping out of their sockets as the abomination was slowly lifted from the earth on top of my Aegis before—

“—aauaAAAGHHHHHH!!”

With a violent twist of my body I turned and slammed it into the ground, dust so thick scattering into the sky that for a few brief seconds I couldn't even see the creature beneath me. But I didn’t need to.

*SHGGHHRRRYEEEEEIIIIYYYYYYYYY*

I could see Hanna’s pink mechanical legs kneeled next to the empty neck of the monster, holding a strange combination of a creature’s neck and arm before violently ripping off the tendrils wrapped around her armor and ramming it into the giant socket where its head had been at the beginning of our encounter. All of it was over in less than thirty seconds, and as we backed away, the dust began to settle. I almost wish it hadn’t so I wouldn’t need to see the familiar sight of flesh bubbling where the tendrils connected.

The creature’s neck twisted violently every which way, like it was having a seizure the rest of its body didn’t seem to know about.

*EEIIEEERRHRHYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!*

Glass-shattering screams filled the air; I cringed as the volume rang and bounced around in my skull, Hanna never did tell me how to lower the volume of what I could hear.

Or if it could even be lowered in the first place.

With another deafening howl the creature finally stood back up, not a hole, scar, or injury to be seen anywhere on its body. That was fine though, it didn’t need to be hurt in order for us to kill it.

I looked to my right, to Hanna. Maybe it was for confirmation, maybe for comfort— either way the nod she gave me did both, and an unwilling smile grew on my face at the recklessness of our unspoken plan. The creature stomped its legs and charged straight for us— an act I reciprocated with my shield held up before me.

“FUAAAAGH!” I let out an unintentional wail as our bodies slammed against each other; maybe Hanna and the other Resonators were used to this, but I was far, far from used to any fight.

“Why…are you so……HEAVY?!”

My limbs screamed as its newly regenerated muscles bore down against my fatigued body, I wouldn't be able to do anything to it in this state. But that’s okay— I wasn’t aiming to kill it.

“Get…off!”

Activating the flight rockets attached to my back, for an entire second I used every ounce of force they could offer to knock the creature off balance. But instead of letting it fall— I grabbed it by its disgusting, wrinkle filled skin. Swinging behind it, I held the atrocity up by both its arms, exposing its chest and body to the girl grinding her metal sword against her badly worn forearm.

*EEIIEGGHSCCIIIRRYRYYYYY!!*

Tentacles erupted from its mouth trying to grab hold of my arms, but no sooner did that come out than they got cut down by an iridescent crimson blade. Wails pierced the air as Hanna quickly stabbed the molten metal into the chest of the creature once more, but this time began moving downward— smoke emanated from the burning flesh as she finished driving the sword through vertically only to quickly switch stances and slice horizontally, deep across its chest.

*IIIEIEEEEEEEGGGHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY*

My muscles burned from the strain of keeping the monster in place, but Hanna worked just as quickly. Stabbing her sword into the ground, she plunged her enormous metallic hands into the cross-shaped injury, forcing the flesh open and creating a giant cavity in its body. And the second its innards were exposed to the open air, hundreds upon hundreds of purple-red tendrils spilled forth, flailing in every direction like sentient plant roots. They would’ve all undoubtedly hit her, had she not told me to expect it.

Activating my Aegis around her arm, the majority of tendrils hit the pale blue surface, mostly ignoring the arm pushing further inside its body until she reached what felt like a spine made entirely of its tendrils.

“I have it.” I could feel her say.

If she does, then what was she waiting for?! Even from behind the monster, I could see the tendrils starting to wrap around her arm, dissolving the armor already worn from grinding against the metal of her blade. At this rate—

Reckless.

I couldn't help but smile in this situation; so that’s what it was. I took a deep breathe—

“—DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Our communications were down, there was no way she’d be able to hear me. Every second this thing was alive was a second we were cut off from the Redoubt. And from each other.

Even so, even against the odds of that logic, her face shifted upwards, from staring at the spine in her grip, to me.

“Don’t worry about me.” I repeated out loud, inside my Slayer. “You’re right; I might be retarded, but I’m not suicidal. I’m not going to die from something like this, I’m not going to let you have my blood on your hands.”

Deep, sunlight yellow eyes stared back at me. Sounds of the creature’s wound closing began to reach my ears.

“Look, I know we’ve known each other for all but a few hours, but I need you to trust me. I need you to believe me when I tell you I’m going to be okay.”

Maybe deep down, I felt I was lying; after all, how would I know whether or not I’d survive? I’d never done anything even remotely like this.

But in my heart of hearts I felt it wasn’t a lie. I would make the situation the truth if I had to, but I refused to lie to this bad-mouthed, kind-hearted, caring girl.

With that conviction—

“—I’M NOT GOING TO DIE HERE, HANNA, DO IT NOW!”

Tearing her eyes away from mine, I forced the Aegis to spread into a circle, diminishing its strength but making sure to cover the area around the monster and myself. Clouds covered the sky above us as a brilliant, golden-red light began to glow from deep within the monster— from the palm of Hanna’s hand. Fire spread throughout the nervous system as the radio in my ear turned from static into the clear, delicate voice of a girl.

“CONCUSSIVE FLAMES—MAXIMUM OUTPUT!”

Bright crimson light flared into my eyes before the only thing I recognized became the white of a sky and the deafening roar of a thousand tons of TNT incinerating everything inside the Aegis.