> Hm. We suspect Eldest’s client will remain unfindable for two more of their planet’s rotations, as will Radial and Opacity’s clients. If these mutants are real, perhaps their appearance is linked to Challengers. It would be unusual, but not unheard of. If many mutants are attacking unwatchable contestants, it would explain why we’ve had such difficulty verifying their presence.

> --Radio transmission from Voices for Non-Citizens

The confidence in my Announcement was at least half bravado: I wasn’t that confident in my plan, but the alternative was no plan at all. We’d been trying to take down the monster without a plan for nearly a minute now, and the tyrannosauroid Titan seemed little worse for the wear. We had to try something, and we had to commit hard to whatever we tried.

“Fake it and hope to make it” was the best route.

We need to focus our damage, but the monster’s armor is too strong. I’m going to count down from 10 to give you time to prepare, and then I want everyone capable of restraining the monster to do all they can to lock it down. We don’t need it held for long! 10 seconds until we start, then 10 seconds of restraint. Gavin, Priya, Sharon! Get in and pump Touch of Decay onto its stomach or chest, then get out. 10… 9…

I ran to the side as I made the Announcement, all-too-aware of the Titan stalking toward me. I’d withdrawn most of my iron plates, picking up the spares I’d dropped in order to piss the monster off with my pouch of gunpowder. I kept the plates floating behind me, trying to block any shots the monster fired toward me.

That had gotten a little easier recently: a few seconds ago, someone had figured out how to tell which aperture would fire next before they even twitched, and was marking those openings with a small dancing flame. Analyze didn’t show anything different about those openings to me, but the little flames were clearly no accident. Whoever was casting them had been right eight times in a row.

They can probably detect something I can’t. Changes in temperature, maybe?

6… 5…

I kept up my mental count even as I continued to try to block and dodge. I gained a few feet when someone used Draw Attention to waylay it, but the ability didn’t last long at all on this mighty behemoth, and the stupid thing was fixated on me, turning back the second it could.

The arena was the problem. I couldn’t pass through the walls or even get too close to them, at least without triggering my Fire Resist. I’d hesitated to do that for a few reasons, not the least of which was the impact it would have on morale to see me vanish to “safety,” even if I came back. About half the people I was with weren’t followers of any ruler at all.

Not triggering my Fire Resist meant I couldn’t run directly away. Instead, I had to run in an arc along the wall, making it trivially easy for my long-legged opponent to keep up with me.

3… 2…

Come on! I prayed as I changed direction.

The mutant D-Rex lunged, teeth closing around the edge of the shield held in my upraised arm as it yanked me into the air.

1!

I hit it with Paralyze and wriggled my arm free of the shield’s grips, thanking God that the Shop-purchased buckler had bent under the monster’s bite but not fully broken. A massive tooth had punctured the underside of my left arm, but at least the limb was still attached to my shoulder. I dropped my sword and grabbed the monster's lip with my right hand, using the leverage to free my left arm and drop to the ground, landing heavily on my side.

It had only taken me a second to get clear, but everyone was fast these days. Micah’s Shockwall was sparking through the monster over and over, and more ranged abilities were slamming into the D-Rex's side, hitting it with everything from ice to some glue-like substance.

About a third of the group had converged at the Titan’s feet. Some - including Priya and my sweet Gavin - had their arms pressed to the stomach.

Others were working to help restrain the monster. One woman laid a hand on its thigh, and I saw the monster’s muscles convulse at her touch.

Electricity?! Gavin’s touching the dinosaur too!

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A simple glance showed my panic was unfounded: whatever the woman was doing, she had enough control to limit its effects to only her intended target.

She was hardly the only one helping from close range. Some of my discarded iron plates had been reshaped into a massive shackle, while one man bravely stuffed his hand into the D-Rex’s mouth, reshaping his gauntlet to let it flow around one upper tooth and one lower, locking the monster’s jaw in place. Two more people were running a rope around the monster’s legs. I had my doubts that a simple rope would do a damn thing, but I was glad to see everyone was doing whatever they could to help.

Our actions weren’t without cost.

We’d been doing well dodging and blocking the barrage of incendiaries, but that was impossible from such close range, even if we knew where they were coming from. Multiple people were hit, including a spray of gel that skidded off the edge of the shield to hit Gavin in the back of the head. I screamed, but Priya had been beside him and was ten feet away with my son in her arms before I could even lever myself up from the pavement. George raced to meet her, clawing his arm to the side as he used Cleanse to toss the burning gel off my son’s scalp.

Gavin was still horribly burned, but his skin healed even as I watched.

He’s alive. I tore my gaze away and forced myself to refocus on the fight. Oh shit! I was supposed to be counting again. That’s probably been about ten seconds, right?

I staggered to my feet, losing my balance as I tried unsuccessfully to use my injured left arm for leverage. It wasn’t really hurting, but that was probably adrenaline.

Withdraw from the monster! Keep up restraints for three more seconds! Two! One!

I used Basic Hologram to throw a ring of arrows around the section of scales I’d seen Gavin and Priya touching.

Focus attacks on the highlighted area. Ranged, give it everything you have!

A hail of missiles targeted the monster’s underbelly, and this time we saw more effect, chips and chunks of flesh being blasted free.

The mutant D-Rex was furious. It continued to fire its hellish missiles, targeting some at its own jaw and legs.

Using the heat to weaken the metal? I wondered. That’s smarter than I expected it to be.

The damage to the monster continued to pile up as the shackles around its legs began to glow.

We’re not going to be fast enough, I realized. Shit. And Analyze is telling me that its anatomy is reinforced. Even if we take out one heart, it’s got two others. We can’t keep chipping away at it.

Even after the realization, I hesitated for a moment more. I’d come up with an idea to kill it more quickly, but I didn’t want to do it. It was terrifying, and I really wasn’t the person best-suited to execute it.

As I looked for someone else to take on my role, I saw the iron shackles start to stretch, metal glowing a dull cherry-red. Behind them, in the distance, I could see Pointy piloting Cassie’s cloudcar in evasive patterns.

No time. No choice.

Oh, fucking hell. Here we go!

I scooped up my sword from where I’d left it on the ground and snapped off a quick Announcement.

Force shields on Meghan! NOW!

I darted toward the monster, ducking under its jaw and slamming my sword in its belly. I’d been worried that I wouldn’t be able to penetrate deeply enough, but getting my Specialty hadn’t only given me a questionably-useful ability, it had also made me stronger and tougher than almost anyone else. I had to activate Assisted Strike and throw my whole body into the motion, but the sword sank in all the way up to its hilt.

Unlike with the previous D-Rex, I didn’t try to shake my sword or widen the injury I’d caused, but simply ripped the sword free, leaving a deep, narrow cavity in the monster’s torso. The Force Shields I’d requested had popped up around me, but the coverage was gap-ridden and incomplete. Rather than waste time worrying about the incomplete coverage, I activated my limited Ruler-granted Fire Resist. I had almost twenty seconds stockpiled, which should be more than enough.

In spite of the inherent risk of having gunpowder unprotected in a firefight, I’d made sure to unbutton a pocket on my pack and have the second pouch ready. Even as I was withdrawing the sword with my arms, I picked up the pouch with Telekinesis, grabbing it and stuffing it as deep inside the monster as it would go.

The D-Rex finally managed to snap its manacles just as I struck, lifting a terrifying taloned foot that had me dodging away even as I grimly maintained focus on my Telekinetic task.

I’d expected to need to get clear, make another Announcement and invite Micah or someone else in our group to detonate the pouch.

That wasn’t necessary.

The heat and pressure at the heart of the mutant were enough all by themselves, detonating the pouch in a deafening boom insufficiently muffled by the mass of the monster itself. A gout of flames spewed out the hole I’d made, washing me in fire and knocking my body askew before the monster teetered and fell atop me, Force Shields shattering like glass under its ponderous weight.