Aetheral Space

Atoy Muzazi avoided death by mere centimeters as he dropped to the ground, del Sed's newest greatsword passing right over his head.

That didn't mean he had time to relax, though. Before even another second could pass, Muzazi was forced to jump to the side to dodge a subsequent blow from del Sed's other sword, this one a smoking longsword created from the wreckage of one of the slot machines.

Muzazi fired the thrusters he'd placed along the front of his own body, propelling him a short distance away from del Sed. He needed time to think, time to formulate a strategy - but unfortunately del Sed didn't seem to be inclined to allow that. This was less a duel between equals and more him avoiding the rampage of a wild beast.

He'd assumed del Sed's Aether ability had only been the creation of those forcefields he'd been using, but clearly that wasn't the case. The creation of weapons was possible as well. Del Sed was swinging them like clubs, without any true swordsmanship to speak of, but with the speed and force with which they were moving that didn't matter much.

Del Sed's arms were like twin stars of violet Aether, almost hard to look at from the sheer brightness. Without a doubt, they were infused beyond even steel right now. Luminescence wouldn't be able to penetrate those limbs.

This strength was terrifying to behold - but Muzazi knew that it wouldn't last much longer. He knew where this wellspring was coming from, after all.

As far as Muzazi knew, there wasn't an agreed upon name for the technique. Some referred to it as overclocking, others preferred to call it an Aether burn, but the principle was clear. A human body could only tap into so much of their Aether at once, and that transfer rate grew larger the more the user trained their body. An Aether burn was when the user purposefully tapped into more Aether than they could physically handle.

They'd experience vastly increased strength for a short period, to be sure, but their body wouldn't be able to withstand it. Before long, their organs would turn to slurry and their skin would shrivel into sandpaper - and that would be that. It wasn't quite as bad as Aether awakening, but it was a suicidal technique all the same.

How long would del Sed last, then? A couple of minutes at the most. All he had to do was continue avoiding attacks until then.

However, circumstances were making that difficult…

Muzazi whirled around, spinning Luminescence to deflect a series of stun bolts that had been aimed at his back. He glared up at his secondary attacker - Dragan Hadrien, with that detestable stun pistol clutched in his hands.

This casino was separated into two levels - the ground floor, where Muzazi and del Sed were engaging in proper combat - and an upper deck, where Hadrien had cowardly positioned himself. Muzazi hadn't had the chance for a proper inspection, but he believed that the stairs up there had been destroyed at some point during del Sed's onslaught - ascending to Hadrien's position would mean jumping from here, then, which would make him an easy target for his sword-wielding adversary.

Muzazi bit his lip. This was an unfortunate situation.

"Atoy," said Marie over his earpiece. "I've lost sight of you. Talk to me."

"I'm engaging del Sed and Hadrien," he replied, leaping over a room-length swing from del Sed that destroyed the sword in the process. He landed on the chandelier, keeping hold of the golden chain that connected it to the ceiling with one hand. "Things aren't going as easily as I'd hoped. Where are you?"

"That bowman's a real pain in the ass," she sighed over the radio. "He was blocking every one of my shots, so I'm on my way to your location now. That fine with you?"

Muzazi dropped off the chandelier as Hadrien fired off another flurry of stunshots, readying Luminescence to block del Sed's next blow. "Two versus two - yes, that would be permissible. Please hurry."

"Roger dodger."

Del Sed lashed out with a massive flexile sword formed from the carpet they'd been standing on - and although Muzazi managed to block it, the strike sent him flying towards the broken window. A thruster on his back provided enough propulsion to stop him from completely falling out, but it was a close thing - his feet were right on the edge of the gap.

At least from this position he had a clear view of both del Sed and Hadrien. Turning his back on the Cogitant was the last thing he wanted to do, given prior experience, but defending himself from del Sed's attacks had made it increasingly necessary.

Hadrien couldn't attack continuously either, though. At some point, he'd have to recharge that stun pistol of his - that would be Muzazi's chance to deal with the secondary threat.

Muzazi held his sword ready, eyes squinting to see through the clouds of dust that now infested the casino, and leapt back into the fray.

-

Ruth poured all her remaining Aether into her legs - not to strengthen them, but just to keep them stable enough that she could keep running. Sweat poured down her forehead as she charged after Skipper down yet another alleyway, casting a glance behind her every few seconds to check for pursuers.

There weren't any. For the moment, at least, it seemed they'd escaped the Fifth Dead.

"You're running pretty hard, huh?" said a smug, high-pitched voice from up ahead.

Ruth whirled around, a growl already escaping her throat. Skipper, with Roz still tucked under his arm, was looking ahead at the short figure that had appeared at the other end of the alley. He narrowed his eyes, clearly exasperated.

"You don't give up easy," he half-said, half-sighed.

The girl called Noel stood there, grinning, fists at her hips as her personal drones bobbed and weaved around her.

"I like to consider myself a professional," she said, putting a hand to her chest. Even as short as she was, she blotted out the streetlights behind her, making her shadow stretch large and far. "People like me? We don't give up just because we're told to."

Skipper leaned against the wall, subtly catching his breath. "Professional?" he said, cocking his head. "I'm surprised you can spell the word."

Noel clicked her tongue. "You think I can't tell what you're doing? You're hardly being subtle."

"Maybe not," Skipper chuckled, shrugging. "Doesn't mean it's not working. You've clearly not got, uh, mega-thick skin. Ruth."

That last word was delivered in a hush, a quiet command for Ruth to get ready for whatever would happen next. She nodded, as subtly as he could, and took stock of the situation.

Noel didn't have the sheer number of drones she'd had before - there were around twenty, and only airborne ones. Still, that didn't make the plasma shotguns protruding from between their mandibles any less effective.

She licked her lips, trying to ignore just how tired her body was. To tell the truth, she wasn't exactly confident in her ability to take down one or two of these drones, let alone twenty.

"Having trouble thinking there, Miss Blaine?" said Noel, eyes flicking over to look at her. "It's not your strong suit, right? You're more suited to punching and making stupid mistakes."

Ruth growled again, rage leaking from between her teeth. Just like Skipper knew how to push Noel's buttons, Noel clearly knew how to push Ruth's. Why couldn't people like that just learn to throw punches instead?

"Ruth," said Skipper quietly, still staring at Noel. "Be honest with me right now, yeah? Are you in any state to fight?"

Yeah.

She wanted to say that, she honestly did - the last thing she wanted was to be a burden - but it just wasn't true. Her legs felt like jelly, and her arms weren't much better. It was taking active effort to hide just how ragged her breathing was.

Slowly, she shook her head.

Skipper's eyes flicked over to her for a second, and he grinned reassuringly. "Like I said, don't beat yourself up about it. Only so much one person can do by themselves. Take a breather, yeah?"

"Yeah, Ruth," said Noel, injecting the word with as much derisive venom as she could muster. "Take a breather. I'll get to you once I'm done with your boss here."

Skipper ignored her, and Ruth followed his lead. "Ruth," he said, casually stretching. "You might wanna take some cover for this one, yeah?"

Ruth caught the dangerous glint in his eye, paled slightly, and nodded. A second later, she was charging behind the nearest dumpster, dragging the unconscious Roz behind her by the arm.

Noel raised an unimpressed eyebrow as she regarded Skipper. "Are you trying to act cool or something? Run, I'll hold them off, that kind of thing? That's kinda weird, you know?"

Skipper just grinned, cracking his neck. "I'm a weird kind of guy, you know? I'm the kind of guy who cuts the crust off his pizza and eats it separate. A real freak."

With such form and technique that it could rival Dragan, Noel rolled her eyes. "I didn't ask."

"Too bad. So, are these drone things of yours gonna attack, or do you want to play some hopscotch first?"

Noel sighed, rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Kill him," she said almost casually, waving a hand vaguely in Skipper's direction. A second later, each and every drone sparked with cyan Aether - the command being transmitted, Ruth realized - and they surged forward as one.

As they approached with a series of screeches, the drones' shotguns began to glow an incandescent orange - the plasma preparing to fire from deep within. It was like a cloud of angry wasps had just designated Skipper as their target - and, as Ruth watched, that cloud converged around him from all angles.

Just before his face left her view, Ruth caught a glance of Skipper's grin. She ducked further under cover.

"Heartbeat Landmine," he said, and then the world exploded around him.

-

Muzazi deflected two more of Hadrien's stunshots, and the third sailed over his shoulder to zoom out into the night. While Hadrien was a better shot than Muzazi had expected, he clearly didn't have much experience with firearms.

Del Sed wasn't much better, but the difference in ammunition made that a much more dangerous opponent.

The dust was billowing around del Sed like a cloak - and every time they thrust their hands out, that dust would collect into a perfectly shaped longsword in that hand. With a roar of anger, they hurled their latest acquisition at Muzazi like a giant throwing knife.

Dodging to the side, Muzazi narrowly avoided that sword and another shot from Hadrien, taking cover behind one of the still-standing slot machines. This wasn't going as he'd hoped - del Sed was more resilient than he'd given him credit for, and Hadrien's interference made it difficult to launch an attack.

Muzazi placed his palm flat against the slot machine and primed hidden thrusters on its surface. The angle wasn't perfect, but it would suffice for a distraction.

Leaping out of cover, Muzazi sent the slot machine flying towards del Sed, the gambling apparatus looking for all the world like some kind of rocket ship. Then, while del Sed was occupied, Muzazi charged up the rubble that now littered the lower section of the casino and leapt towards the upper deck, Luminescence held overhead.

If he took out Hadrien now, he could concentrate on del Sed - that was his path to victory. His Aether was running low after all this dodging and flying on Luminescence, but he still had enough for this.

Standing as he was on the upper deck, Hadrien's eyes widened as he saw Muzazi approach. And then - they flicked to the side.

Danger.

Without missing a beat, Muzazi swung sideways in midair and made to block the attack he knew was coming. Doubtless del Sed had managed to create yet another weapon from the slot machine, or had simply renewed his creation of dust swords. No matter - he'd deflect the attack and continue on his present course.

But his blade met empty air. No attack came.

For a moment, Muzazi's brow furrowed in confusion. Then, his heart dropped. Del Sed was still on the lower section, collapsed on one knee, blood dribbling from their mouth. They were in absolutely no state to attack.

Hadrien, on the other hand…

A choking noise escaped Muzazi's throat as the first stun-bolt struck him in the side, slowing his momentum and causing him to fall short of his intended destination. Rather than landing right in front of Hadrien, he rolled to a stop right at the edge of the upper deck, around a meter away - and as he went to get up, two more stun-bolts struck him in the right arm and leg respectively.

This wasn't happening. Surely, this wasn't happening. He couldn't have made such an idiotic mistake.

Yet he had. The thump of another stun-bolt into his back confirmed that - Hadrien wasn't even aiming at him that much, he was just pointing the stun-pistol in Muzazi's direction and pulling the trigger as many times as he could.

Even as his limbs stiffened and grew numb, Muzazi's resolve remained firm. He would not allow this to happen again. Even if his body wouldn't do as he demanded of it, his Aether would not betray him.

He created a thruster on the back of his slow leg to speed it up, propelling it into a vicious kick that sent the stun-pistol flying into the air, out of Hadrien's hands. The coward staggered backwards, watching his weapon as it sailed away, eyes full of fear.

Muzazi knew he'd collapse fully before long, but so long as he could finish Hadrien before then, it would be worth it. He'd make it through this situation and become stronger for it.

More thrusters - on his arms, his legs, his back, enough for him to roughly manipulate his own body like a puppet. He forced his arm into an outstretched position, fingers curled to seize Hadrien's throat the moment they made contact, and propelled himself forward like a bat out of hell.

Hadrien's face, dismayed and defeated, grew larger in Muzazi's vision in a second, close enough to be touched, close enough to be executed. The Cogitant's eyes flicked to look behind Muzazi.

If Muzazi's throat had been working properly, he would have screamed with anger.

That won't work twice!

His hand curled around Hadrien's throat - and, with the help of tiny thrusters along his knuckles, he began to squeeze.

But.

Something struck Muzazi in the back, and the intensity of his thrusters began to die, like the engine of a car slowly winding down. Before long, he was still standing only through his own willpower, and his fingers were limp against Hadrien's throat. They could barely twitch, let alone crush.

It was happening again.

A feeling of distinct despair setting in, Muzazi turned his head as quickly as his body would allow - which wasn't very fast at all. Two more of the projectiles struck him in the time it took to see what was happening.

Three long strings of Neverwire - their red glow standing out in the dim of the ruined casino - had latched onto Muzazi, fixed tight onto his back like harpoons into a whale. His eyes, already growing blurry, followed them to the source.

The broken window. Two cars were parked just outside the smashed window, their doors were open, and the Neverwire binding him had been fired by the armoured security officers who had jumped out. Petrio had been right, then - Hadrien was working with the city's government this time. The bald officer who seemed to be in charge glared at him from down below, a truly substantial stun cannon held in his hands.

There was a click from just out of his vision. The sound of a stun pistol being readied.

Muzazi's eyes, wide with impotent fury, flicked back to Hadrien - just in time for the Cogitant to press the barrel of his stun pistol against his cheek. A strangled gasp escaped his throat; no, no, this wasn't possible, he'd kicked the pistol out of Hadrien's hand.

But the answer was simple, almost idiotically so. Hadrien had a second gun, one he hadn't used yet so as to lure Muzazi into a false sense of security once he disarmed him. It barely even qualified as a strategy, yet he'd fallen for it all the same. His rage had led him to walk into that pit.

Hadrien smirked. "Gotcha," he breathed out, and pulled the trigger.

In the moment before the final shock ran through his body and plunged him into unconsciousness, Muzazi shut his eyes, teeth gritted in utmost frustration.

He'd let it happen again.

-

Noel stood there, mouth gaping open and eyes nearly as wide, as the scrap that had seconds ago been her drones rained down.

Skipper had done something, Ruth knew that, but it wasn't something she'd seen before. It had been like a Heartbeat Shotgun, but from his entire body - taking out the drones that had converged on him like some kind of shockwave.

"Whu…?" said Noel, mouth seemingly unable to form the word. Her eyes were unfocused, not even really looking at her broken drones or her enemies. It was as if this turn of events was something completely incomprehensible for her.

For a moment, Skipper seemed intensely fatigued, but in the next second his posture had returned to its usual relaxed slouch. He shrugged, smiling a lopsided smile.

"Well, that's that," he said, as if nothing had happened. "Come along, Ruth."

And with that, he strolled past Noel, passing the paralyzed girl by without a second look. A second later, Ruth - working up the nerve - followed after him, Roz slung over her back. She gave Noel a cautious glance as she walked past, but the girl didn't even look her way.

To tell the truth, without those drones of hers, Noel wasn't that intimidating. While there were stray sparks of cyan Aether zipping around her, the strength of them wasn't anything especially impressive. It was around the same level as Dragan's, or maybe even lower.

Or … the same level as Dragan's had been. Again, Ruth's heart dropped at the sudden remembrance.

She strode past, head angled down so that nobody could see the tears. From behind her, she heard Noel's bloodcurdling scream of frustration, but she didn't turn to look. She just had to keep moving forward.

Still … it made her feel awful, but as she and Skipper left the alley, there was an undeniable sense of relief that the night had come to an end.