Madeline took point before I could make any redeeming acts of bravery. That being said, I didn’t like her chances. Her only offensive ability was on cooldown, and Accelerate had limited utility in such a cramped space as this one.

Not that any of that stopped her. I still couldn’t really keep track of her at top speed, so from my perspective it looked like she was in front of me one moment, and then a flight of stairs below me the next. I saw the huge bastard stagger too. It narrowly avoided falling over backwards, but it inevitably steadied itself.

Glancing down at Madeline, I saw that her sword had broken in the clash. The top two thirds of it were entirely missing. She looked at it, mildly befuddled.

She gazed up at the enemy for a second, and disappeared again the next. She was next to me now, and the remaining third of her sword was stabbed in the white flesh of its neck.

It didn’t seem to care. I watched the blade slowly sink into its white meat, tendrils grasping at the metal until it seemingly disappeared.

“Well shit.” She cursed mildly.

“Shit indeed.” I responded.

“Any bright Ideas?” She asked.

“Not really. Hoping we can give Tommy a chance to hit it with his knife.”

“That might work.” She nodded once, and turned her attention back to our one armed nemesis. It took a menacing step towards us. It seemed to be moving a bit slower than it had during its initial charge. Madeline's first blow had killed its earlier momentum.

“I’m gonna punch it.” Madeline declared.

“That seems like a terrible Idea, but go ahead I guess.” I said, not having any better plans. As long as she didn’t die instantly, she should be able to heal, too.

While she threw herself suicidally at it, I needed to find something I could use to help. The only thing I saw in my immediate vicinity was a fire extinguisher. It was in an emergency box, and I had to break the glass to get to it. I hit it with an elbow, and it shattered surprisingly easily. I guess if it was too hard to break, then it wouldn’t be much use in an actual emergency. And the scenario I found myself in certainly qualified.

I grabbed the fire extinguisher, and looked back over at Madeline. She hit Mr. tall, pale, and ugly with a vicious punch. Given the fact that her fist glowed, I guessed she used Strike for it. She actually managed to put a crack in its armor, but that didn’t prove to mean much in the grand scheme of things.

It was staggered though, and Tommy took the opportunity to slash at it. The wide slash of the plasma blade did some damage to the white tendrilly portions of its body, but it had little effect on the tan plating that made up the majority of its exterior.

The chitinous creature turned his attention from Madeline to Tommy then, apparently finding him more of a threat. It raised its remaining arm to strike, and the appendage came down faster than I could see.

It obliterated Tommy.

I saw pieces of nearly unrecognizable shrapnel scatter themselves down the stairs, all that served as evidence that a robot had been standing there a second ago.

This was not going well, to put it mildly.

The mycological menace turned and raised its arm once again, clearly aiming for Miss Madeline. I fumbled with the fire extinguisher, pulling the pin, grasping the hose, and squeezing the handle to spray powdered fire retardant at the creature.

This was laughably ineffective.

The bladed arm came down again. Madeline was flung bodily backwards, colliding with the wall behind me. Her right arm had been horribly mangled, and her chair had been upended. She was on her side, unmoving.

I can’t really describe how I felt, then.

It hurt.

Four-arms had been flung from Madeline’s chair when she got hit, but I saw him pull himself up and stagger towards our enemy. He limped at first, but he sped into a jog and then a sprint, launching himself from the landing and stabbing his sword into a white patch on its leg.

He climbed up from there, the monster not having the flexibility or the right number of appendages to be able to pull Four-arms from its body. He managed to climb up to its shoulder, stabbing his sword in the opposite side of its neck to where Madeline’s sword had been lodged.

He tried to wrench the blade through and cut deeper, but he wasn’t making much headway. He pulled his sword out, and the outer edge of the blade glowed blue as he brought it down again.

Thoroughly desperate, I opted to swing the fire extinguisher by the hose and whack it with the canister like a mace. Doing so certainly got its attention, but not much more.

I couldn’t even crack the plating like Madeline had. I saw a saw toothed forelimb raise in response to my harassment, and hurriedly brought the metal canister I’d been pathetically flailing with up to block.

My fungal-foe hit the canister dead on, and the remaining fire retardant exploded outwards in a thoroughly blinding cloud. I could feel the metal wreck that had been the fire extinguisher tear into my chest, and I’d ended up falling on my ass clutching the wound with my right hand.

I scooted my way backwards and up a couple of steps, hoping to get away from it so I could recoup. I couldn’t see it in the powdery fog, but I assumed it was still just in front of me. I was operating my display blind once again, but my thumb moved with more assuredness than it did on the screen of my own smartphone. I found the icon for the potion and prayed that there was no shrapnel in me that would cause it to heal improperly as I hit the button.

Needless to say, it was incredibly painful. Like getting the wind knocked out of you but much worse. I felt something pushing its way out of the wound too, and heard a soft plinking noise shortly thereafter. Apparently there had been shrapnel in there, and the potion pushed it out.

I thanked my lucky stars for that, as well as the fact that I hadn’t been murdered in the time that healing had left me immobilized. The powdered smoke screen that I’d accidentally created cleared. I got to my feet again with haste, and noticed that I’d wound up right next to Madeline. She was still out for the count, but I heard her cough, so she was alive at least.

The sense of relief that brought me managed to cool my head a bit. She was alive, so all I needed to do was take care of this guy so that I could get Madeline somewhere safe.

I could also try running away, but I found the prospect that I’d manage to escape with Madeline in tow unlikely.

Killing this fucker didn’t seem like it would be a whole lot easier, though. As the fog cleared I saw that the only reason I had time to think at all was because Four-arms was still hacking away at its neck. White fibers were grasping at his legs but he ignored them in favor of attacking with everything he had.

Fry and his avian companion were clinging to different parts of its body as well. Fry was stabbing at it with his toothpick of a machete, and Mick-chicken was tearing at it with his claws. I saw several scorch marks next to him, so he’d probably used his pulse laser while I’d been preoccupied.

They were just too small, was the problem. The creature itself was massive, and too resilient to be threatened by their attacks. It did find them annoying though, and was currently trying to scrape at them with its single arm.

I took the opportunity to check my display, hoping to find anything I could use. I still had a health potion, but I flicked away from my inventory to look at my new abilities. In all the mayhem I’d gained one more point of ATP to use. Of my two new abilities, only one was really viable in the current scenario.

“Throw me your sword!” I shouted. Four-arms looked up from his relentless slashing, staring at me for just a moment. Given how attached he was to the thing I was worried he wouldn’t comply.

My fears were unfounded, thankfully. He wound up, and tossed the blade with all his might.

I caught it, slicing my palm slightly as it came into my grasp. I carefully pinched the small grip of the blade with the forefinger and thumb of my left hand before tapping on my display to activate my desired ability.

The miniature sword shone brightly as a dark vortex formed around it. It expanded in size then, and I had to adjust my grip as it did in order not to drop it. The growth stopped after just a couple seconds, leaving me with a Scaled up version of the original, the length and size of a large dagger.

The grip was just large enough for me to fit my grasp. In order for me to Scale the thing up larger, I’d have needed to use more ATP than the single point I’d had.

Hopefully this would do.

I looked up to see that Four-arms had basically shut down. The light had gone from his eyes, and He didn’t resist as fibers of fungal flesh roped around him and drew him into the monster.

Fry and Mick-chicken were meeting similar fates, unfortunately. Though they still struggled, they were bound tightly, sinking into the pale gaps between.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

This left the not so Fun-guy’s full attention on me. It stepped forward, and raised its brutal armature again. I’d seen him do it enough times at this point that I’d noticed he only slashed in two ways, either straight down, or diagonally down. In this case it looked like it would be diagonal.

I raised my electrically powered dagger to block. To my surprise, my dirk cut right through his arm, with seemingly little resistance.

Which one the one hand, meant he was now literally disarmed. On the other hand, so was I. There had been so little resistance when I’d cut through that the severed part of its limb continued at nearly full speed, removing my right arm bloodily.

Losing your arm hurts worse than being stabbed, apparently. I didn’t even have time to scream before I blacked out.

***

I awoke shortly there after, with a large taloned foot raised just above me. The animal part of my brain took over and got me out of the way before it came down.

In lieu of slashing at me, Sir Asshole Supreme had decided to try and flatten me. I still had Four-arms’s enlarged blade in my left hand, so I slashed at it in retaliatory fashion. The leg that had just come down in front of me was sliced clean off.

In terms of the number of attached limbs, I was now way in the lead.

Not that that was the truly important contest here.

I was now conscious of the pain I was in, and it was frankly hard to move or even think because of it. I was also bleeding badly. I was vaguely aware of my nemesis failing to balance and falling down the stairs.

I decided to count him as no longer being an immediate threat. I needed to heal before I passed out from blood loss and died.

My main problem was that I couldn’t access my display. It was attached to my right hand after all, and that along with my entire right arm was some distance away. At least my brain had shut down so much I couldn’t even process the horror of the situation. That would be a problem for future me to deal with, assuming I didn’t croak.

I crawled down the steps of stairs to get to my arm. I grabbed it, but lost my balance as I did so because I’d tried to brace myself against the wall with my right arm, which, may I reiterate, wasn’t attached.

I tumbled down the stairs, landing next to the jerkwad who was responsible for this mess. It struggled, unable to right itself with the single limb it had left. I could tell that it still wanted to kill me though. There was now a giant gash in its torso, and given the way that it was moving, it appeared to be its mouth. It seemed to be trying to bite me with it.

Whatever. I didn’t have time for it. I scootched back from it slightly, and with my back to the wall, I tried to reattach my arm. The display was open in my right palm, and I could still manipulate it with my left hand. The hitch was that I couldn’t do so while holding my right arm to the shoulder it had once been a part of.

I tried just using a potion without attaching my arm but the option was grayed out. So was all of my inventory. So were basically all functions of the display, including the shop.

I then tried bracing myself against the wall so that my dismembered arm was held in place, thinking that maybe It would work if my stumps were in contact, but I slipped.

I was starting to feel cold. I was losing sensation in my extremities. I didn’t have the energy to attempt that again. I tried to get up, but had trouble mustering the energy. My mind was beyond fogged, I was barely even there.

It didn’t even hurt anymore.

This would be a lot easier if I had someone to help. Right, Madeline. . .

I looked up the stairs. She was still down. I saw blood drip from the landing onto the step below it. I couldn’t tell if it was hers, mine, or both.

Maybe I could at least do something for Miss Madeline. That thought proved to be a more effective motivator than my self preservation had. I struggled upright, not remembering to grab my severed limb. The trip up the stairs seemed to last forever, but also not much time at all. I found myself next to Madeline, staring down at her.

Her display was open on her mangled palm. Her arm was still technically attached. I attempted to kneel, but just fell over instead. I fell close enough that I could reach her, and that was all that mattered. Her display responded to my touch. I took that as a good sign. I swiped my fingers clumsily across it. I’d lost the fine motor control required to curl them. The display switched from the stat screen, to the inventory. I shoved my hand at it vaguely. I couldn’t even keep my wrist straight. Miraculously, I managed to select the healing item.

Madeline opened her eyes and seemed to scream, but I couldn’t really hear her. I could only really hear my heart beating irregularly. I saw her body tense and spasm, and her arm righted and reassembled itself torturously.

My vision had tunneled at some point. I kept the center of it on Madeline, even as the dark borders encroached. I saw her come to, gasping. I tried to ask her to reattach my arm, but I’m not sure I got the words out. My vision dimmed, and then I lost it as well as my consciousness.

***

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Madeline was about halfway across the river before Leonardo managed to heal her.

The first thing she saw upon arriving back on the brighter side of the shore was that very Leonardo, missing an arm and a substantial amount of blood. His pallor was sickly, and his eyes half shut.

He muttered “Miss Madeline, could you grab my arm. . .” Before he went quiet, wheezed a small breath, and all signs of life left him entirely. His eyes were still half open, but there was nobody behind them.

Madeline didn’t quite take to the Idea that he was dead, per say. Accepting that on top of everything else that had occurred over the past day and a half wasn’t happening.

So she looked for his arm. It wasn’t difficult, she just had to track the trail of blood with her eyes to see the appendage resting on the next landing down right beside the absolutely horrid creation that had wounded her and presumably Leo as well.

She could see that it was missing a couple more limbs than it had been when she last laid eyes upon it. It was struggling to inch its way towards her, but had gotten stuck on the first step. A giant mouth had opened on its midsection, and it gnashed at the air.

Madeline looked down at the straps that were keeping her fastened to her chair. She undid the ones on her waist and feet, dragging herself out of the angled seat. Given her sport of choice, she was pretty used to finding herself toppled over. Usually she got help righting herself before continuing on, but she also knew she could do it herself with a bit of effort.

She pushed herself up with an elbow, and then dragged her legs off to one side, bracing her back against the wall. She lifted her chair off its side by the arm rest, and tipped it back onto the wheels. From there, she crawled around to the front of it.

Were she using her type 4 or type 3, she’d engage the brakes so as not to accidentally roll her ass down the stairs. But unfortunately, she was using her quad rugby chair, so no brakes. She faced her body away from her chair, and angled her legs just so. She pulled her legs inwards with her hands, tucking them under her chin to hold them in place.

Madeline placed her left hand on her chair’s armrest, and her right fist on the ground. She then propped herself up into a half crouch, and pushed herself up in one go from there and into her chair. A couple adjustments from there, and she was good to go. She hooked her feet into place, and fastened her waist.

Leo still wasn’t moving. The cold, empty part of her took over as she checked her display. She had a couple charges of Accelerate off of cooldown. She dashed down the stairs, running straight over the monster waiting there, and leaned over to grab the arm. She noticed a knife of some sort next to it, but didn’t really pay it any mind. She had other priorities.

She ran the mushroom menace over a second time on her way back up, not quite managing her momentum enough to avoid slamming into the wall. She didn’t break anything, but had probably managed to secure a nasty case of whiplash.

She rotated her chair in place, the all important grisly piece of flesh resting in her lap. Facing Leonardo, she picked up the arm and examined it. The stump was about halfway up past the elbow, and loose skin and meat hung off of it. Madeline gagged despite herself, reflexively swallowing her vomit back down.

She saw the display, still stuck to the palm of its hand, and poked at it experimentally. It responded to her touch. She swiped over to the inventory, and saw that there was a potion still available. She tried tapping on it, but it was unresponsive. She noticed that the potion and all the other Items in Leo’s inventory were grayed out.

Fuck.

Normally when things went wrong, she’d just sort of empty out inside and get to fixing it, but despair was hitting her full force. For the first time in a long time, she felt completely helpless.

She started to cry.

She wiped at her tears.

She ended up getting blood in her eyes, and had to use the back of her wrists to dab it away.

Belatedly she saw that she was absolutely covered in blood. Her own, for the most part.

Though Leo’s arm did ooze a bit, too.

It hit her then that Leo was probably dead. He wasn’t breathing. He wasn’t moving. His eyes were still open, absolutely refusing to close.

He just wasn’t there.

She cried some more.

She just didn’t want to leave the body. She wondered if maybe she could take it with her somehow. She didn’t want to leave him alone, to be picked at and eaten by god knows what.

She put down the arm momentarily, thinking that maybe she could use her inventory to store the corpse. Opening her display, she found herself staring at the help button. She remembered that Leo had said something about getting a hint from the display about necromancers.

Raising the dead was a pretty appealing prospect, but she doubted she could get a necromancer on her side. Even if she could, if Leonardo ended up anything like the other zombies she’d met, then that wouldn’t be much of an improvement.

She tapped on the help button almost subconsciously.

Hint: Healing items can be used on others,

so long as you are in contact with their stigmata.

That didn’t seem very helpful. She didn’t have any healing Items to speak of. And what was a stigmata? She tried her best to recall.

Biblical lore stated that the word stigmata referred to the wounds on the hands of Christ. The web fic that Madeline spent so much time reading tended to use the word a bit more liberally.

Her closest guess then was that it referred to the tattoo on the back of her hand and Leo’s. That was one mystery solved then. So if she used a healing Item and touched Leo’s tattoo, she could theoretically heal him.

Though it seemed pointless, Madeline flicked over to her inventory. Sure enough, she was out of first aid. Though in its place she did once again see the mystery Item that had appeared just earlier.

The Icon looked kind of like a ticket. Tapping on it didn’t do anything. Following a vague hunch, she navigated over to the shop. Ordinarily that wouldn’t do her any good, with her having no ATP to spend.

But her hunch proved correct. The ticket she had could be used in place of ATP to purchase a single Item. She immediately bought herself a first aid kit.

She wasn’t sure it would do Leo any good at this point, but she had to try. She placed his arm next to the shoulder it had once belonged to. There was a substantial amount of flesh missing, so it didn’t really look right, but she wasn’t going to waste time hunting for scraps of muscle and bone in order to put together some sort of cadaverous jigsaw puzzle.

She laid her left hand across the back of Leonardo’s right, and tapped on her display. She found an option that hadn’t been there before, and she selected it without hesitation.

Immediately, carbon colored spots started to manifest and swarm around Leo’s torn shoulder and arm. They gradually tightened and took on the shape of what had been missing. There was a single flash of light, as well. The familiar motes dissipated after that, revealing a now whole Leonardo. He stirred slightly, and then rolled onto his back. His eyes had life in them once more.