Bruce stopped just short of the clearing.

There beyond the treeline was a tall man dressed in rags with a bald head. It didn’t look like Cedic exactly, but the tag above his head read Messiah. A quick glance around didn’t reveal anyone else. Thank the heavens he had reached him before Dennis had.

Bruce was just about to enter the clearing with arms raised when a bright light emitted from the cleaning.

Ozymandias uses Teleport!

Ozymandias has appeared!

A hulking figure with a body made of bronze and silver flashed into existence. It was at least ten feet tall and had the head of an Egyptian Pharaoh. There was no question as to who it was. This had to be Dennis.

Damn it, Bruce thought. I was too slow after all.

Cedric released at startled cry and raised a small crossbow, releasing a bolt that bounced ineffectively off the being’s metal skin.

“So, you are the meddler,” the thing called Ozymandias said, it’s voice deep and powerful. “I meet you at last.”

“W-who are you?” Cedirc said. “What are you… are you one of the divine?”

Dennis as Ozymandias backhanded Cedric, knocking his health to less than a third in a single hit. The man cried out as his back hit the ground and he began to writhe in pain.

“Idiot,” Dennis said. “You nearly ruined everything. Almost gave up our last bargaining chip for free. How did you even commune with them? Did you cut some kind of deal when you died on the surface?”

Died on surface? Bruce thought.

This was all making even less sense than before, but the thought of people dying on the surface caused another ripple of panic to run through him. He had to know what this deal was. If Gilly was safe or not.

“You can’t bargain with gods,” Cedric said. “Who are you to think you even can? Who even are you?”

“Someone who has been bargaining with the gods long before you were winked into existence.”

Bruce stifled his breath, wishing he could blurt out ‘bargaining what?’, but unfortunately Cedric was not as interested in answers. He rolled to the side and threw something at the giant Egyptian god. It sparked ineffectually of its body again, but hurting it wasn’t his purpose. He used it as a distraction to try and run instead. He needn’t have bothered. For all his efforts, Cedric got about three feet away before Ozymandias flashed across this distance to him and grabbed Cedric by the throat and lifted him off the ground.

“Killing me won’t matter,” Cedric rasped, clutching the giant bronze hand about his neck. “The feast will still occur. No one can stop it. No one.”

Dennis threw Cedric to the ground taking what health he had left to almost zero.

“I’ve already stopped it,” Dennis said. “For ages. And I’ll do it again. No matter the price.”

With another blinding flash, a pulse of blue energy emitted from his palm and with a sickening pop, left a bloody mess where Cedric’s head used to be.

Ozymandias uses Eradication!

Messiah is slain!

Bruce’s heart swapped places with his stomach. He nearly retched of the sight of it.

Even as he thought the message, the towering bronze figure suddenly turned in his direction. The last thing he remembered seeing was a bright flash of blue light as the being raised its palm towards him.

And then the world went black.

* * *

You cast Shadow Copy!

You cast Shadow Haste!

You cast Shadow Tendrils!

You cast Shadow Step!

The notifications continue to up scroll my HUD as I go through the motions of buffing but without any of the glittery fanfare. My friends are all going the same, the whisps of nano dust replacing what would have been the bright white explosion of a rejuvenation and protection spell.

“I have no idea how strong this thing is,” I say in the party chat. “But it’s fought us before. It knows our weaknesses.”

“And our strengths,” Aiko added as she draws her katanas. “No chance you can go super nova again, right?”

I check my timer.

“In five days maybe.”

We’re totally screwed, but there’s only one way home now.

And it’s through this thing.

“We need to defeat it, guys,” I say with a touch of my oratory skill, trying to bolster our teams resolve. “Everyone is counting on us. We can’t fail!”

“Damn straight!” Maxis says. “We got this!”

Val Helena releases a Battle cry, buffing her stats. “Let’s rock!”

With that I lead the charge, blinking briefly out of existence with a Charge Strike.

I sail across the gray dunes and peg it with my Zambato.

You hit ????????? for 15(476) damage!

???????? resists the Stun!

I stare up at the behemoth in disbelief. It’s even stronger than when it was inside the Golin Queen. The giant monster peels back its black lips even further behind its razor teeth in what I think is a grin.

The words form in my mind directly and I wonder if anyone else can hear.

Anger and determination build within my soul. We’re too close to home to fail now.

“The only one getting slain today is you!” I shout at it with a Warcry.

I back my words up with a flurry of attacks chipping away at its ethereal body with barely double-digit numbers. It’s limbs fly back at me, slow enough for me to dodge, by their so long that their arcs form AOE attacks.

????????? hits you!

You shadow absorbs the attack!

????????? hits you!

You shadow absorbs the attack!

Damn, it knows my defenses. It goes in for another double arm swing and I purposely take the hits in order to recast Shadow copy. I don’t know how long I can keep it up. I need Aiko’s help to dodge tank this.

As if reading my mind, the Elf appears out of nowhere with backstab to the back of one of the creature’s legs.

Aiko uses backstab!

???????? takes 72(1370) damage!

It’s enough to cause the creature to swipe behind it and take a couple of her shadows as it turns to face her. The rest of the crew reach us and join in. Maxus hoes into a combo while Val Helena opens up with a Power Attack, cleaving the monster with her massive axe.

Gilly and Becky perform a combo attack of their own, hitting the creature with a huge burst of holy damage.

Gilly casts Holy Fire!

Becky casts Magic Burst!

Combo attack!

Holy Burst!

???????? takes 154(1245) Holy damage!

“Geeze!” Gilly says. “It has just as much magic resistance as physical?”

“Reece! Take it from me!” Aiko cries.

I perform a backstab and a Warcry, pulling the Other’s attention away from Aiko, but Gilly’s words are not lost on me either. The creature doesn’t have the same weaknesses as the Goblin Queen, else that Holy damage should have been triple. But if it had none of the weaknesses that meant it also had none of her strengths.

No AOE death attack.

No Magic.

It was strong and it was tanky, but so far it wasn’t very skilled either.

“We can do this, guys,” I say through the party chat to inspire my team. “I don’t think this thing has many special attacks. It just a big powerful mob, but it’s no boss. Stick to the script and we can double dodge tank this thing to zero!”

“Val!” Maxis shouts. “Let’s combo out Power attacks for more damage!”

“You got it!” she says and after hesitating a second to wait for Maxis to power up, she unleashes a mighty cleave attack that combos with an uppercut from my brother.

Combo attack!

Pounding Cleave!

????????? takes 112(1042) damage!

I manage to actually dodge a few of its attacks when it tries for an overhead strike instead of a sweeping motion, sparking my shadows. The success gives me a quick boost of confidence as my timer for another Shadow Copy spell goes green.

A massive explosion impacts the creature’s torso, chipping off another sliver of health.

Rembrandt uses Penetrating Shot!

???????? takes 376(970)

“Nice one, Rem!” Becky cheers him on. “A few more like that and we’ll have him!”

Her words encourage all of us and we redouble our efforts.

We only have it down to 95% but we’re doing damage and Aiko and I are tanking it fine.

The battle goes on as the minutes pass and we fall into a rhythm.

We get him down to 90%...85%

We’re winning!

“Looks like you’re nothing without the power of the Goblin Queen,” I taunt it with another Warcry. “Keep underestimating us. It will be your end!”

The Other suddenly stood still, taking our hits obliviously.

The Other lifts its head and releases an ear-shattering howl.

???????? uses

The ground begins to tremble as several echoing howls screech across the desert. I stop mid-swing and look in horror at the half dozen or so giant monster sprinting towards us from about a mile away.

A vile sense of amusement fills my mind as the Other engages in what I can only interpret as laugher.

“No way!” Val Helena shouts, staring out at the horizon. “How did they catch up to us?”

I look back at the monster in time to see it grin again.

We’d fallen into a trap. He’d been biding time all along.

I lose a shadow as he re-engages and I Backflip to gain distance to recast my buffs.

“This is not good,” Rembrandt says as he unloads with his pistols. “The buggy is wrecked!”

The battle flips in my mind and I realize that we weren’t actually this tanking thing. iIt was tanking us. And now its true damage dealers were on their way. The behemoth continue to bear down on us, their huge strides eating up the distance quickly and even from a mile away I can tell they’ll reach us in less than a minute.

“What do we do?” Gilly cries.

“We have to run!” I shout. “Aiko and I will tank this thing for as long as we can while you all get a head start.”

“No, we’re not doing that again!” Val Helena shouts. “Plus, we’ll never outrun them on foot.”

“Damn it!” Maxis says and his voice cracks with emotion as his slams his fists vainly into the creature hide. “We came so close!”

I feel the noose of Other’s trap tightening around us as elation and hope give way to despair. If only I had saved my Kono Zemsu form. If only I had done a lot of things. I dig deep anyway, letting my frustrations loose on the monster.

“You haven’t won!” I shout at it with bitterness in my heart. “You may kill us, but humanity will still survive!”

The words bite into my soul.

It’s right.

My death will mean more than just failure. It will give these things even more power.

“No!” I cry out. “Damn you all!!”

A massive grey shadow appears over us and I brace myself for being crushed underfoot by one of the giant monsters. Something huge suddenly crashes into the side of Other, slamming it to the ground with the force of a falling building.

Guadian hits ???????? 203(1447) damage!

I blink in shock at the massive suit of armor that has appeared from nowhere, its rusted metal plate mail concealing red muscle like fibers within. As I continue to look at information pops onto my HUD.

Guardian Type C

Level: 130

No data available

Affinity: N/A

It’s as large as the Other itself and brandishes two hammers on the ends of its wrists instead of hands. It winds up and slams the monster while it’s down with one of them, eliciting a satisfying screech of pain as black smoke and fire erupt from its chest like blood.

“Holy crap!” Maxis says. “Is this you, Rem?”

“Nothing to do with me, mate. But I ain’t complaining neither.”

Relief fills me as well as confusion. Did this thing come and find us somehow? Or was it the scream from the Other that had attracted it. It’s giving us a chance to disengage, but the giant Thralls are still inbound.

But a chance is a chance.

Just as I’m about to sounds the retreat a sharp whistle pierces the air and I look towards where the sound came from to see the impossible. There at the crest of a dunes is a human figure, clad in leather gear and sat atop one of the Lupine Sentries. All around it are several more wolves, each of them staring at us, but not attacking.

The person performs a punch in mid-air and the giant android mimics the motion, landing another punch to the Other’s head.

More fire and black, smokey blood billows from it at it wails again.

Guardian hits ???????? for 105(1045) damage!

???????? is Stunned!

I’m mesmerized along with everyone else.

“How the heck did they do that?” Maxis says, verbalizing our collective thoughts.

“The Guardian won’t hold that kaiju back for long!” the person shouts to us. “We can outrun them on the Sentries, but we must ride now!”

From the voice I can tell it’s a female now. Young, perhaps no older than Gilly or I.

“Let’s go, guys!” I say, darting towards the pack of wolves.

My friends follow behind me and we let go of our fears and clamber atop the feral mounts, all of us pairing up, save for Val Helena who takes one all on her own. With a shout, the girl causes the pack of wolves to tear across the dunes and I’m thankful for my quick reflexes to grab hold of the thing’s thick neck while Gilly clutches onto me from behind. It’s a wild ride and for a few minutes all I can do is hold on tight.

I glance behind me, just in time to see the Guardian land another hit on the Other, taking its health down to 80%. The monster finally fights back and sends tendrils of black smoke and fire underneath it’s armor. There’s an explosion and a massive cloud of smoke and nanodust obscures my view as the two giants fall out of sight behind the dunes. Further behind them the towering figures of the Thralls still bob up and down as then bear down on our position, but both they and the sounds of the battle grow smaller and dimmer as we gain distance.

We ride hard, no one speaking. After what must be close to half an hour, the wolves finally slow their pace, perhaps able to sense or detect that we’d gotten far away enough now. Elation and relief fills me as I no longer see the Thralls or the Other on my HUD.

“Man, that was close,” I say in the party chat. “But we made it, guys.”

“No kidding,” Val Helena says. “That girl saved our lives. Whoever she is.”

“Yeah, who is she?” Maxis asks. “And how’s she controlling these wolves and that Guardian too?”

“No idea,” Rembrandt says. “Never seen anything like it before. Not even in New London.”

“Is someone going to go talk to her?” Becky says.

“Sounds like a job for you, leader boy,” Aiko says with a cackle laugh.

I wonder for a moment how exactly I’m supposed to do that while still clinging to the back of a cybernetic wolf, but I find I’m able to control the beast somewhat by using my motorcycle skill, nudging it with my knees. I then nudge the creature forward, closer to our mysterious savior who is still leading the charge.

I pull up alongside her and lower my ninja mask so she can see my face. “Hey! Thanks for saving us! I’m Reece! Who are you?”

The girl looks towards me and does the same with her own mask, and when I finally see her face, I realize she’s actually a few years younger than us, perhaps only 14.

“I’m Kalli!” she shouts. “Who are you people? And how are you even alive out here without suits? Are you the ones with eight eyes?”

“What?” Gilly shouts from behind me.

I can’t make sense of what she’s saying either, except for the ‘not wearing a suit’ part.

After getting a closer look at the outfit she’s wearing it starts to look somewhat familiar to me. And then it clicks. It’s the same as the one we found on that body out in the wild. A scout. She’s a scout!

“Hey, where are you from?”

She points ahead of her. “An underground city. A place called Citadel. We’re headed there now.”

My heart nearly stops as she says it and my mind comes slightly undone. She’s confirmed our destination, right down to the coordinate, but nothing about who she is makes any sense to me. Are there other scouts we don’t know about? People left outside on the surface perhaps?

“That’s where we’re from,” Gilly shouts. “We’re trying to get back there! To get home!”

The look of shock on the young girl’s face must mirror my own. She stares at us blankly as the wolf bobs her up and down.

“You’re lying!” she finally says with a scowl. “You aren’t from Citadel! Who are you?”

I almost want to say the same thing, but my diplomacy thankfully saves me. “Please we’re not lying. We are from Citadel!”

“You can’t be,” she says. “That’s impossible!”

“We are!” Gilly says emphatically. “Why would you think we’re lying?”

“Because I know everyone in Citadel,” the girl says. “And I’ve never seen any of you before.”

* * *

Bruce came to with a gasp.

The word spun as the HUD and the sensation of the virtual reality disappeared and was replaced with the familiar surrounds of Carl’s VR rig. Nausea swelled in his stomach and he nearly wretched.

“Bruce! Are you okay?”

Bruce managed to focus on Carl as he hovered over him.

“What happened?” Bruce asked.

“Your head got blown off in there. Thankfully I yanked you out just in time.”

Slowly his memories reformed and focused on that last conversation between Cedric and Dennis. “I was too late. He did it, Carl. Dennis killed him.”

Carl grimaced. “I saw.”

“I think time is running out. I didn’t get a chance to get the information I wanted, but I…”

His words trailed off as what Dennis had said plagued his mind again.

He was going to stop the feast at all cost?

What did that even mean?

“What Bruce?” Carl asked.

“I don’t think we can wait anymore. Doing things by the book, gathering hard evidence to convince the board… We can’t wait for that. I might turn the whole of Citadel against me in the end, but I think it’s time to pull the plug on Dennis.”

“What exactly do you mean by that Bruce? And how are we going to do it even?”

“I don’t know yet. But one thing’s for sure...” Bruce paused as he recalled the massive avatar Dennis had transformed into. “It isn’t going to be easy.”

* * *

I stand before the massive twin doors of the semi-circular shaped bunker and can barely believe my eyes. It’s at last two stories tall and while I admittedly have never seen Citadel from the outside before, there is now no denying that that is exactly where we are.

In bold letters, etched into the rusted gray surface of the heavy steel doors is the word that means everything to us now: CITADEL.

“We’re here,” Gilly says as she stands next to me. “I can’t believe it.”

I can’t either really, but for more reasons than one now.

I had expected to feel elation, relief…but now…all I feel is apprehension.

My friends stare in silence at the name splayed across the doors the same as me. Only the girl Kalli moves about with a restless impatience as she watches us all gawk.

“Well,” she says eventually. “Is this it? Is this your home?”

Her words drip with sarcasm and I find I can’t really answer her.

No one can.

Not honestly anyway. None of us have seen Citadel from this vantage.

“I guess there’s only one way to find out,” Rembrandt says as he steps forward to stand next to me, his mirror shades reflecting the name across the door. “We need to see what’s inside there.”

I look back at my friends. “Are you all ready?”

Gilly takes my hand into her as she gives me a nod.

Maxis gives a nod as well. “I have faith. Those seven letters say it all. Citadel. We made it. Let’s get this nano home.”

Aiko, Becky and Val Helena however don’t look as sure. And being they’ve been on the surface far longer than any of us, maybe they have a better inkling of what we should have expected to find when we got here.

But none of us expected to find Kalli.

Or for her to find us to be more exact.

“Fine,” Kalli says. “We’ll see if you’re lying or not. The elders will be able to tell.”

“Elders?” I say.

But Kalli doesn’t answer me. Instead, her eyes roll into the back of her head, lids fluttering for a second and then with a massive creak and groan the huge steel doors begin to slide open. They stop after moving only three feet, revealing nothing but darkness within.

“Come on,” Kalli says, her eyes returning to normal and with a few steps she disappeared through the gap in the doors.

My heart rises in my throat with uncertainty, but I push it back down.

We’ve come too far to turn back now.

“Well, this is it, guys,” I say. “Let’s go.”

With a deep breath I follow after the girl, realizing that what should have been our last step towards home has instead now become a further step into the unknown. I just pray that somehow, we haven’t made another huge mistake.