CRIMSON
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The world spun around Will as his feet left the windowsill, and he barely managed to trigger his field before hitting the ground.
"Watch out!"
He crashed into a group of tightly knit protesters who took the brunt of his fall. Loud screams came from the crowd, and he got pushed roughly aside as the panicked demonstrators scattered. They were already riled up, and his sudden entrance only seemed to exacerbate the situation.
Using the protesters as cover, he quickly took off his jacket and tied it around his waist. The cyborg team could still have watchers on the main street. Thankfully, he still had his mask on, and the crowd around him was thick.
Will allowed himself to be swept along with the current of pushing bodies, and a minute later, he was far enough away from the doctor's apartment that he felt safe enough to squeeze his way out of the rushing mob.
As soon as he was out, he darted into one of the side alleys. The narrow backstreet was blocked off with broken pieces of furniture and traffic cones, but there was a small opening in the barrier, and he managed to squeeze through the gap.
A wave of dizziness hit him as he stumbled into the alley, and he had to brace himself against the side wall to steady himself. Through blurry eyes, he scanned the abandoned alleyway and found more broken pieces of furniture littered about. There wasn't a soul in sight. Remembering the cyborg team that could still be shadowing him, he decided to move. He had to find Remy and Becca as soon as possible. There was no time to waste.
As soon as he took a step forward, a shudder ran through him, and Will doubled over. His channels burned. Among the myriad signatures coursing through his body, he could feel the yellow one stirring once again.
Will clamped down on the foreign signature, and it wriggled under his grasp as it sent a tendril of psions toward his right knee. It made contact with his shard, and the crystal charged up. Its skill was ready to activate.
"Shit!" Will desperately hunted through his pockets for the key fob. It was the only thing that could stop the attack now.
"Come on! Come on!" Hands shaking and barely keeping himself together, he brought out the key when another jolt ran through him. Will fumbled, and the key fob went flying out of his hands, landing on a nearby grimy plastic table in the middle of the alleyway.
Cursing, Will rushed after it, but he didn't get farther than two steps before the world around him went dark. Will fell like a puppet with its strings cut, and just as he was about to hit the floor, he felt it. The world vibrated like a taut string, and time froze.
Dazed, confused, and half-delirious, Will opened his eyes and realized that he was no longer in the alley. A long, dark tunnel stretched out in front of him, with a pair of rusted train tracks running along it.
Will staggered to his feet and looked around wildly. Visions of the subway had haunted him since the day he got embedded, but this time it was different. Strange glowing engravings adorned the tunnel walls. There were also giant metal stalactites and stalagmites that pierced the tunnels at odd angles. The tunnel walls groaned under the strain as the metallic formations grew in size, steadily increasing an inch at a time. Flecks of metal shards flaked off, falling to the tunnel floor with a clatter.
Will shuddered, seeing all these new additions to the subway. Something bizarre and alien had invaded his memories, and he had a feeling that he wasn't alone in here. Something wicked this way comes.
Will whirled around to find a fissure opening up in midair, the same fissure he had seen in the pod. The portal burst open, and a thick tar-like substance oozed out of it, pooling onto the tunnel floor. The sludge coagulated and started taking a humanoid form, beginning from the feet.
"Shit!" Will rushed forward and slammed his fist through the dark mass, scattering the built-up tar. He rained blow after blow into it, but the sludge kept pouring out of the portal in torrents, and he was swept aside by its sheer mass.
Smoke hissed from the few bits of tar that clung to him. The acidic ichor ate away at him, but Will ignored his stinging skin and watched the dark figure take shape in front of him.
It was an ungodly abomination of fused flesh and steel. Crimson plating covered every inch of the thing, and Will watched its chest spasm violently as its torso started forming. For half a second, he thought the creature was drowning in its own fluids when he heard a loud rasping sound coming from its half-formed throat.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Loud metallic chittering filled the tunnel, and Will watched in horror as a blood-red helmet took shape under the bubbling ooze. The creature's lower jaw unhinged to reveal rows and rows of serrated metal teeth.
Will cursed as he backed away. He was in no shape to fight this thing. His little stint in the tank had drained him, and a head-on battle was the last thing he wanted. Will scrambled behind one of the metal columns scattered around the tunnel and watched the crimson mech finish its transformation.
The leftover tar got absorbed into the creature while its helmet took shape, and a few seconds later, the spider mech stood fully formed in the middle of the tunnel.
"Y355s! t@#t5 6r3sh!" An earth-shattering screech escaped its maw, and Will hid behind the stalagmite, covering his ears. Breathing heavily, he waited for the tinnitus to pass.
Will blinked his watery eyes, and as the ringing subsided, he was greeted with dead silence. He listened intently and only heard his heart beating wildly. The tunnel was as dead as a graveyard. Will strained his ears, and through the deafening silence, he heard a soft clink of metallic feet.
"YoU H@ve gIven me quite the run around, little mouse..." The creature chittered in a thousand different tongues. It was an overlapping chorus of men, women, and children, old and young, all speaking in unison.
The yellow signature stirred within Will with every word the creature uttered. The metallic clinking continued, and he held his breath as its footsteps drew closer. Crossing his fingers, Will hoped the spider mech would walk past him, but there was no such luck. It kept circling the area, trying to hone in on his location.
"I'm surprised it hasn't taken over your body," the creature hissed. "You should have been devoured by now."
The yellow signature flared within Will, and an incomprehensible set of images and impressions assaulted his mind. He saw people with melted faces and twisting flows of water, along with stars twinkling in a non-Euclidean space that seemed to fold in on itself while expanding. The images were gone as fast as they came, and Will staggered as the sudden visions left him.
"You were foolish to absorb it into yourself, but there is still time.... You can still give it up."
More visions sprang forth, and Will braced himself as he was bombarded with impressions. The yellow signature in his channels churned under the assault. Will let the visions flow right past him and tried to center himself. While the impressions were a garbled mess, he could sense their hidden message. Somehow, he was able to read them. The creature's bloodthirst was imprinted in every single impression.
"Return it, and you have my word that you will come to no harm."
Another set of images poured forth, reeking of deception. The doctor never explicitly stated it, but Will had a vague idea that his energy channels and the shard were now inextricably linked. Removal of the shard meant death.
"I can make the exchange worth your while. We can make a deal."
More deception. The thing in front of him had no intention of letting him go. He could sense the falsehood pouring out of its every word. Will was getting a far more intimate peek into the creature's mind than he thought possible.
The fact that he could sense the spider's intentions hit him like a ton of bricks. His eyes went wide as a terrible idea struck him. If he could read the Bishop, then that could mean...
Will's breathing quickened when he considered the implications, and a spike of fear shot through him. The metallic rhythmic footsteps of the mech abruptly halted the moment his pulse spiked, almost as though in response to his sudden dread.
"Shock, disbelief, and dread all mixed up with a spike of adrenaline," the Bishop whispered. "That is an interesting set of emotions."
Will was stunned. Ice filled his veins. The terrible possibility had transformed into a certain reality. The spider could read him. He was certain of it. Each of them held half of the titan shard, and now there was a bridge, a connection between the two of them, which formed the base of this mental world.
Will glanced at the tunnel and the alien metallic pillars that had invaded his memories. The interaction went both ways, he concluded. This was a two-way street. Information was passing between both of them, and if this connection continued, soon none of his thoughts would escape the Bishop, not even his memories. The leader of the deadliest terror organization in the civilized world would have open access to his mind. He could figure out his identity and know the names of his friends and family.
Will's mind, which had been frantically racing to find ways to break out of the dreamscape, came to a crashing halt. Fear turned into cold determination.
There was no time for calculating the odds or further deliberation. The longer he stayed here, the worse it would get. He had to put a stop to this right now.
Will silently grabbed one of the pointed pieces of metal from the floor and blended into the shadows. He crept up behind the spider mech, which was now standing in the middle of the tunnel with its four arms spread wide.
"It is rare for me to offer second chances," the Crimson Bishop addressed aloud, his voice echoing throughout the tunnel. "So what do you say, little mouse? Are you ready to make a deal?"
Will brushed off another set of impressions that poured off the spider and focused on the creature's neck. The gap in the armor plating was his aim.
Moving like a ghost, Will burst forward, dagger at the ready. Just as he raised his makeshift metal shiv, he felt an ethereal connection snap taut between him and the spider. His very intention to stab the creature was a point of contact that alerted it.
"Found you!" The creature screeched as its head snapped towards him. Talons flashing, it advanced. Will didn't break his stride and flashed forward, his field focused on his dagger.
The Crimson Bishop and the last son of Belgrave charged. Both shard holders rushed each other, blades drawn, determined that only one of them would leave here alive.