Gizmo slid out of the way just in time as a glob of magma flew for his body. As much as he dreamed of the damage the overwhelming amount of heat could do to him, he knew it could have a devastating effect on his circuitry—something that could lead to his incapacitation.
He fought on the ground, having abandoned the area atop the wall as the flames from multiple fiery attacks consumed it. The wooden gate was mostly gone, weakened by flames, then knocked down by the attacking creatures.
There had been entirely too many creatures already through the breach in the gate when he arrived back on the ground, but thankfully, there were multiple parties of adventurers and townsfolk comprising the defense force sent to the west. Among them were multiple tanks that had been waiting for their chance to fight, unable to help with the long-range warfare that was waged atop of the wall. The ‘tanky boys,’ as Honeypot would have affectionately called them, contributed by gathering the monsters to themselves and blocking blows as the other defenders attacked.
Gizmo and Captain Blanc had been working toward the same goal, being human—and robot—shields against the mice that turned out to be walking fragment grenades. The first time Gizmo had hit one, he was pleasantly surprised when the small creature exploded, sending shards of the armor covering its back flying in every direction. The impromptu missiles bounced off of his hardened body and Captain Blanc’s great-shield without leaving even a scratch, but a small fragment from that first one had struck a healer in the leg, momentarily incapacitating the squishy-fleshed human.
It hadn’t taken long for Gizmo and Captain Blanc to realize the implications of having walking grenades running into the defending force, and they took it upon themselves to remove that threat.
The creature’s numbers overwhelmed the defenders after only a few minutes, and as Gizmo watched, another wave of the monsters pushed through the gate, enlarging the hole even further for more to pour through.
From the corner of his perception, Gizmo saw Dave, followed by Carl, scrambling back up a ladder to the top of the burning wall. It gave him a microsecond’s pause, but he dismissed it, knowing that the men were not suicidal, and therefore, must have a plan.
Captain Blanc had to block two of the exploding rodents at once, his great shield not able to block both directions of attack. The sharp shrapnel hit one side of his body, and he let out a pained scream as he hit the ground. Thankfully, there were no other creatures near him, and the previously damaged healer was at his side in a moment, tending to the captain.
Another group of hostile creatures pushed into the gate almost as one—this wave compromised of mainly water-based creatures. The two different elemental types gave each other a healthy distance, clearly happy to attack the town as one, but not intent on getting too close to one another.
An Aquanine got too close to a Flamadillo, the flames of the latter causing the wolf’s body to hiss. The wolf snarled and bit at the armadillo, drawing the ire of the other fire-based creatures in the immediate area.
Gizmo’s advanced processing abilities gave him an idea, which he immediately followed through with. Captain Blanc was down for the count, and the other defenders appeared to be inadequate for stopping the attacking monsters—therefore, it was up to Gizmo.
He launched himself into the middle of the creatures and used Taunt. Every creature within range attacked at once, scrambling and fighting to get to him while simultaneously ignoring their own bodies that hissed and sputtered as they met creatures of the opposite element. Gizmo was inundated with bites, scratches, and, most distressing of all, vapor from the bodies of the water creatures that were becoming overheated.
Gizmo, for the first time in his brief life, experienced pain that he did not enjoy.
It felt like the steam billowing off the surrounding creatures was attacking him from the inside, able to penetrate the microscopic gaps and holes in his otherwise-impenetrable armor. He felt searing pain on the inside, and he was filled with a sensation of impending doom.
He extended the buzz-saw arm from his head, intending to make the creatures retreat, but they either ignored the pain he inflicted, or weren’t able to remove themselves—his Taunt created a mass of creatures that no being caught in the middle of could escape.
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He’d already used both of his damage-reduction abilities the moment he first felt the agony of steam permeating his body, which had the effect of lessening the health he lost, but didn’t do a thing for the burning pain that surrounded his core. The feeling of dread grew, and Gizmo knew that if nothing was done, this would be the end of him.
His lightning-fast processing power could run through all manner of potential situations, all of which he knew had a zero-percent chance of successfully removing him from his moisture-related predicament.
Gizmo reflected on the choices he had made, and the pain he had sought in his short time in this world. Presented with the feeling of dread and the knowledge of his impending demise, everything seemed less important.
He had chased pain, a fleeting joy, but now he thought about his team. He thought about the adventures they had been through and the trials and tribulations they had been presented with—every single one of which they had overcome together.
He knew that he would not escape this situation; he’d made a fatal error, not accounting for such a simple thing. He had so much computation power, yet had overlooked something as simple as steam—the thing that was now cooking him from the inside out.
Something clicked in Gizmo’s mind, and he accepted his fate. For the first time, Gizmo felt what he believed was despair.
***
Orion followed the billowing smoke, no longer needing to rely on this map to reach their destination. The sun was well over the horizon now, casting long shadows in the early morning. Despite their hurried run, the morning air was frigid on his skin as they moved, the sun somehow making the air feel cooler than the night just gone.
They rounded a corner and Shadow, who was in front, skidded to a screeching halt as he came face-to-face with a large group of monsters. Orion paused for a moment, so taken aback by their sudden appearance.
“Run!” Orion yelled to Shadow, then teleported himself and Arika to safety. He turned to Swap Shadow, but his momentary disorientation was the only chance the creatures needed. Before Orion could swap him, two of the bounding mice hit Shadow.
The creatures detonated, riddling Shadow with the sharp shards of their obsidian plating the moment before Orion swapped him. Shadow appeared next to them, falling onto his back and crying in pain as the wounds registered.
Orion threw a Blood Mist Potion, blocking off the passage connecting the monsters and them.
Orion turned to Shadow, shock and guilt flooding him as he took in his friend’s body. There were countless chunks of obsidian protruding from his armor, having bitten deep through the thin metal and into his flesh.
He’d covered his face with his arms, which were now riddled with the obsidian projectiles. The healing from his hat had already kicked in, washing a sparkling green light over his body, but Orion knew it would do nothing for the knife-like objects that were still stuck in him.
A large body emerged from the poison cloud, and Orion’s attention was immediately drawn to the Flamadillo. Swearing, and left absent any other moves, Orion marked the creature with Time Bomb. He found the combination of experienced use over the last twelve hours, and the dire circumstance he was in, let him use it easier than ever before.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Arika begin making the motion for her Invoke ability. He hated that they’d been forced to use such a long cooldown ability, but knew that it was the right call. He felt a moment of relief that this ambush hadn’t been the end of them, but then the armadillo attacked.
The flaming creature flew at Arika, colliding with her bodily before she could even finish the motion necessary for Invoke. The hit sent her flying into the wall, hitting it with a sickening thud and falling bonelessly to the floor. Having landed around ten-meters past Arika’s now-sparkling body, the monster ran at her.
A noise of anger and despair left Orion’s throat, and he ran to intercept the creature. He had no more abilities, no physical prowess to speak of, and he once more couldn’t feel the magic as he had the single time he stretched and expanded his own capabilities—still, despite all of this, he ran to meet the creature.
Seeing Orion’s charge, the Flamadillo happily ran to intercept him instead. The body of the creature was shining with internal light, the damage from Orion’s executing ability ticking up as the poison from the toxic cloud it had run through ran its course.
They met a few quick seconds later, Orion, with his staff overhead in a two-handed swing, and the armadillo with its paw arched back, ready to smack him aside as it had done to Arika.
Orion knew he stood no chance to dodge, just as he knew his only hope of survival would be to damage the monster first and hope that his melee hit did enough to detonate the execute that was even now threatening to finish his adversary.
His staff flew down, morning sun catching the purple light emitting from the jewel atop it. It smacked into the shoulder of the armadillo, bouncing off its hard body with a harmless whack.
Orion saw the huge, burning paw come down, his natural instinct telling him to curl his arms in and guard himself—but his hands were outstretched due to the rebound of his staff, and he couldn't react in time.
He watched his death approach.