[Player Log Start!]
[Log Holder: Benedict Carrey]
[Level: 1, Sub-Level: 7]
Ciera thought that by getting the jump on them, she might be able to win. Ben could commend her efforts, but unfortunately, they were too good for her to win just from that. The second she caught sight of Ciera, Ben was already prepping her Abilities for a fight. She’d put a lot of points into Melee recently, leveled it up twice, even, and was eager to try it out in a no-holds-barred setting.
But then the smoke arms came out, and she began doubting.
Still, she did not falter. Bat in hand, she rushed forward, taking point against the woman. An arm came up to block her, and she returned it with a solid thwack.
[-5 HP in Damage!]
Ben looked up in surprise, only to see that there were indeed Health Bars hovering over all three of them. Maybe it was only a feature for battles between Players? Ciera’s Health Bar displayed: 385/400.
So, she hadn’t started off at full power. Good for them. But that wouldn’t make up for the low amount of damage she was dealing. Not to mention that counter attacks-
The smoky, black arm she had hit wound back, and delivered a devastating hit just as she thought this, sending her crashing into the rock wall.
“Ben!” Lucky called out behind her, even as she groaned weakly.
[-30 HP in Damage!]
Her Health Bar now read 170/200, which was… very bad. No time to stop. No time to think. She lunged forward, grabbing onto another arm, this one smaller than the first. She reached into her sleeve, and brought out her knife, slashing across it in a long swipe. She knew that the arms were probably only gas, and it was a waste of her time, but…
[-10 HP in Damage!]
Ciera turned on her, the bulk of her arms shifting alongside her, even as she leered over Ben. Two of the arms came crashing down on her, ready to squash her under their mass. Like a lightning shot, she activated her Climbing and zipped up to the very wall that had been her attacker. Just narrowly escaping the arms below.
Gunshots echoed from below, and windows popped up telling Verity about more damage being dealt. Lucky had entered the scene, guns blazing. God, she was crazy.
Ben twisted herself around the best that she could, trying to get a better look at what was going on. Lucky was leading Ciera into a merry dance, hands flying over the controls as she fought to avoid these smoky, organic arms.
A cannon had been produced from over her shoulder, shooting with wild – but targeted – abandon.
They’d both taken heavy damage, all while physically not coming into contact with one another.
Ben was smaller, with a mild healing Class. She didn’t have guns or ostentatious chairs. By all rights and purposes, she was the smaller threat. But, once she got the time to put some distance in and regroup, she picked up on a very interesting detail.
Ciera’s Console could only be in her bag. There were no other pockets for her to keep it in.
Just as soon as she came to this conclusion, one of the arms tilted up to face her. She had been remembered again. Not one to prolong the inevitable, she threw herself forward, right above Ciera.
Her hand jumped up to grab the cord on the shoulder strap, pulling it as hard as she could. White canvas fabric went flying everywhere, blanketing Ciera and her smoke tentacles as she landed. And boxing herself in right along with it. A scream sounded muffled from somewhere in the depths of fabric. Her lungs burnt as she lay there, pressed down into the ground.
[Status Effect: Air Poisoning!]
Shit, she hadn’t thought that through.
Lost in the parachute, a presence lunged out towards her, expertly finding her neck and squeezing. Ben rolled wildly on her back, slamming her attacker’s head into the sharp, jagged floor. Ciera cried in pain, and loosened her grip just enough for Ben to whip her hands off, grab onto one of the fingers, and blindly bend it backwards.
Something cracked. Ciera howled. 30 health points were lost. Her health bar now stood at 175/400, thanks in no small part to Lucky’s contributions. There wasn’t any sound coming from her, anymore. That was strange.
Ben’s first plan was to break the Console, but with the way they had landed, so tangled in with the parachute, a dense hotbox of smoke, she couldn’t see that happening anytime soon.
Desperate for air, she scrambled for the edge of the parachute, and pulled herself into the considerably less polluted outside. It didn’t fix her Status Effect, but it was some reprieve.
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Once outside, she realized why she hadn’t heard anything from Lucky Paine. She was on her feet, or rather, lying down on the ground, welding torch in hand as she got the tube into position. Her cannon was now more solidly pointed forward, and was bigger too. Ben didn’t know that the barrel could expand like that.
When she took a shaky step forward, Lucky’s head whipped around in alarm.
“Duck.” She told her, and Ben pressed herself to the ground before she even registered what was said.
The boom of the cannon was loud enough to make her ears bleed, as was the sight of a red-hot metal ball whizzing directly above her, leaving steam in its wake. Behind Lucky, it turns out, was where Ciera was standing.
Or, had been standing, as the cannonball collided with her head-on, leaving her body charred and smoky and beaten to a pulp.
[Critical Hit!]
[-100 HP in Damage!]
There was shocked silence for a second. The bloody and broken form of Ciera lay still. Ben almost believed she was dead, even if she still had seventy-five health points.
And then Ciera’s chest forced itself to expand.
“I’m not done yet.” She whispered, staring sightlessly at the sky. Blood pooled from her mouth, yet she paid it no mind, “I’m not done… I’M NOT GOING TO END UP LIKE BURKS, YOU HEAR ME?” The plaintive screech was thrown to the heavens, despite the fact that she clearly couldn’t get up.
To prove their point, a panel appeared, giving them that same answer.
[Health Bar has gone below 20%!]
[Ciera the Harbinger is ‘Incapacitated’]
[Harbinger Retrieval Imminent…]
“No!” Ciera attempted to kick out at the air, but only succeeded in a light twitch, “I refuse to go out like this! I refuse!”
Ben got her bat ready, trying to get a good swing in before this ‘retrieval’ could happen. At least that way the woman would be dead and won’t continue to pester them. Ciera had the nerve to crack a smile when she saw Ben hovering over her like an angel of death.
“Good. Put me out of my misery. At least I won’t have to live with this, then.”
Ben brought the bat down, waiting to hear the sickening crunch of aluminum meeting skull and brain. She had gotten a good feeling of what that felt like with the rotters, but maybe it would be different with a human?
She didn’t get the chance to find out. The bat met solid rock. Ciera had vanished.
“Shit…” Ben let the bat clatter to the ground, reaching her hands up to massage her scalp. This was all such a mess. She felt wrung out like a towel, and just wanted to go back home.
“Let us hope that that keeps her down for some time, at least.” Lucky sighed, taking the loss in stride, “But, consider the brighter side. We have installed the final carbon isolator. Our main objective here.”
Yeah, Ben tried to console herself. They weren’t even here to kill Ciera. That would have just been a fun perk. They were here to activate the carbon isolator tube. The one that would turn everything back to how it was supposed to be.
She turned to Lucky, watching her as the mechanic folded the cannon back into its little compartment, and situated herself firmly into the seat once more. She didn’t seem to have taken much damage compared to Ben, and Ciera, if she could be counted still. Just bits of soot stuck to her face, and her hair having come undone, sending dark maroon hair tumbling down.
Still, the second she was back in her chair, she was reaching for her oxygen tank, taking desperate gulps from the life-giving air. They didn’t talk much for the next few minutes, each of them intent on catching their breath after that harrowing encounter. Speaking of breath…
[Status Effect: Air Poisoning!]
[30 hrs before Death]
She gave another blistering cough at the reminder. Lucky didn’t say anything in response, simply reaching into a side-pocket to throw a tiny bottle of pills to her.
‘Cure’, it read, and Ben didn’t hesitate to knock it back in a quick gulp. It left an odd fizzing in its wake, along with a strawberry aftertaste.
[Status Effect: Air Poisoning Cured!]
She took a deep breath, letting the full effects of the pill flow through her lungs. Ben wasn’t sure if it was helping, but she liked to imagine that it was.
“Do you think the machine will work?” She asked, looking it over from where it was sitting on the ground, welded with iron fixings by Lucky. There was a slight spell of silence as Lucky pulled the mask off her face.
“To remove all the smoke, yes.” She agreed, “We will have to keep maintaining them all to make sure they keep running, but I am certain that it will help break down most of the smoke.”
“And what of the sky?” Ben asked, turning towards the black sky, devoid of color. Not even pinpricks of stars shone out from it. It was terrifying to see it all spread out in front of her. She couldn’t imagine it ever being blue, not in the way Verity had described it, acting as if she had seen magic itself.
“I do not understand…?” Lucky tilted her head, “You’re asking if the sky will be fixed?”
“Yeah.” She agreed, “That means- that means it’s finally over, right?” She asked, feeling her eyes well up with tears, “We’re going to be done?”
They both dwelled on this idea. Lucky leaned back to look at the sky, following the rays of light that were coming off from the sun.
“I want to believe that it is possible.” She explained, her voice choked up slightly, “Otherwise, what am I supposed to hold on to? The world has not ended now. None of the signs are there. We are just hanging in a limbo, waiting for the next shoe to drop. And if it is not going to drop, then we need to take control of our life. Get our world back.”
“Right.” Ben nodded along, “Of course. You’re driven.”
“And what of you? Your main goal?”
“I want to get my brother back.” Ben whispered, feeling guilty at the simple goal she had set for herself after Lucky had admitted to wanting to save her entire world.
“That’s a good one.” Lucky agreed, not mentioning the elephant in the room, “I suppose if I had a brother, I would do the same. What happened to him?”
“He got bitten. Isn’t human anymore.” Ben explained, unsure of how else to articulate it. How much had the others told her about the zombie situation? She wasn’t sure how Lucky would react to all of this if it was only revealed to her now.
“Werewolves?” Lucky guessed.
“You have werewolves?” Ben blinked.
“No, only in folklore.” The mechanic told her, “But… your world makes it seems like it is possible.”
“No werewolves.” Ben disproved, “Something… worse.”
“Well then, let us get you back to it, then.” Lucky smiled, shifting her chair to crawl over to the switch. The effort put into that simple motion was obvious, and Ben watched nervously as her shaking fingers soldered the connection shut.
The fan whirred to life. The smoke began to flow inside.
And their eyes drifted to the sky, waiting for a change.
[Player Log End!]