To 8Ball3- Thanks :D I enjoyed that bit XP
To An-Unnamed-Goose- I'm glad to hear! ^_^
Commodus howled and charged Apollo, his voice booming back at him from the depths of the tunnel.
Apollo had an awesome idea. He ran for the Caldecott, a trickle of hope warming his chest as his footsteps echoed. Echoes could confuse people who depended on their hearing. Inside the tunnel, Apollo might have more luck avoiding his old flame.
He turned before Commodus overtook him. He swung his ukulele, intending to imprint the soundboard on the emperor's face. Commodus anticipated the move, yanking the instrument away. Apollo back-pedalled, wobbling on his feet. With one huge hand, Commodus crumpled the ukulele like an aluminium can.
"Heresy!" Apollo cried. A reckless terrible anger possessed him and he lunged. His first punch left a fist-sized crater in the emperor's gold breastplate. "Oh, hello!" He marvelled.
Off-balance, Commodus slashed wildly at him. Apollo blocked his arm and punched him in the nose, causing a brittle squish he found delightfully disgusting.
Commodus yowled, blood streaming over his lower face.
"U duuhh strike bee!" He raged, blood bubbling over his lips. "I kilb u!"
"You won't kilb me!" Apollo taunted. "I have my strength back!"
"HA!" Commodus spat blood. "I nebbeh lost mine! An' I'm stih bigguh!" He barrelled towards him. Apollo ducked under his arm and kicked him in the back. Commodus fell forward, propelled into a guardrail on the side of the tunnel. His forehead hit the metal with a DING!
Apollo should have been happy with that result, but his ruined-ukulele-inspired rage was fading, his burst of divine strength going with it. He could feel the zombie poison creeping through his capillaries, burning its way into every part of his body. His gut wound seemed to be unravelling, as though his insides were trying to escape.
He took a breath, gaze travelling past a dazed Commodus to many large, unmarked crates stacked along the side of the tunnel. Along the other side of the tunnel, the shoulder of the road was torn up and lined with orange traffic barrels, about the right size to contain the urns Frank's workers had been carrying during their holo-scroll call.
He also saw grooves cut across the width of the tarmac, about five feet apart. Each groove glistened with… oil?
Apollo was beginning to put two and two together, deeply uncomfortable with the results. He looked for Frank, heart pounding as he saw the praetor still retreating further into the tunnel, luring Caligula to follow.
Commodus was still struggling to get up. Caligula stabbed at Frank's chest, missing a common swift instead. The bird shot towards the emperor's face. Swifts weren't large or impressive threats, like falcons or eagles, but they were incredibly fast and manoeuvrable. He drove his beak into Caligula's left eye and zoomed away, leaving the emperor shrieking and swatting at the air.
Frank materialised in human form right next to Apollo. His eyes looked sunken and glazed, bad arm hanging limply at his side.
"If you really want to help," he said in a low voice, "hobble Commodus. I don't think I can hold them both." Apollo didn't get to respond. Frank shrank back into a swift, darting at Caligula who cursed and slashed at the tiny bird.
Commodus charged Apollo once more. This time, he was smart enough not to announce himself by howling; by the time Apollo noticed him, it was too late. He slammed his fist into his gut, the exact spot Apollo didn't want to be hit. He collapsed in a moaning, boneless heap. Outside, the enemy troops erupted in a fresh round of cheering. Commodus turned to accept their adulation again.
Every cell in Apollo's miserable mortal body screamed, begging for an end. Getting killed could not hurt any worse than how he already felt. If he died, maybe he'd come back as a zombie and bite Commodus's nose off.
It was now certain Diana wasn't coming. Maybe he had messed up the ritual, like Ella had feared. Maybe his sister hadn't received the call. Or maybe Jupiter had forbidden her from helping on pain of sharing his mortal punishment.
Whatever the case, Frank also must have known their situation was hopeless. They were well past the 'buying time' phase, now into the 'dying as a futile gesture sure is painful' phase.
Apollo's line of vision had been reduced to a blurry red cone, but he focused on Commodus's calves as he paced in front of him, thanking his adorning fans. Strapped to the inside of his calf was a sheathed dagger. He had always carried one in the old days. When you're an emperor, the paranoia never stops- an assassin could lurk anywhere, be in wait as anyone.
Hobble Commodus, Frank had told him. Apollo had no energy left, but he owed Frank a last request. His body screeched in protest as he stretched out his hand and grabbed the dagger. It slipped easily from its sheath, kept well-oiled for a quick draw. Commodus didn't even notice, not until the knife sunk into the back of his left knee.
He screamed and toppled forward, spewing Latin obscenities. Hobbling accomplished, Apollo dropped the knife, all his willpower gone. He waited to see what would kill him first- the emperors? The zombie poison? The suspense?
He craned his neck to see how the common swift was doing.
Caligula scored a lucky hit with the flat of his blade, smacking Frank into the wall. The little bird tumbled limply and Frank shifted back into human form just in time for his face to hit the ground. Caligula turned to grin at Apollo, his wounded eye closed tight, his voice filled with hideous glee.
"Are you watching, Apollo? I won't miss this time!"
"NO!" Apollo screamed. He got to his feet, he could not be helpless again. But he was much too slow.
Caligula brought down his blade… which bent in half like a pipe cleaner against Frank's cloak. Thank the gods for military fashion statements! Frank's praetor cape could turn back weapons!
Caligula snarled in frustration, drawing his dagger. Frank was faster, recovering enough strength to stand. With his good hand, he caught the emperor by the throat and slammed him against the wall.
"TIME'S UP!" He roared.
That was Apollo's cue. He was supposed to run. But he couldn't. He stared in horror as Caligula buried his dagger in Frank's stomach.
"Yes it is," he croaked, "for you." Frank squeezed harder, crushing the emperor's throat, making Caligula's face turn a bloated purple. With excruciating effort, he moved his wounded arm to pull out his piece of firewood.
"Frank!" Apollo sobbed. The praetor glanced over, giving him a silent order: GO. Apollo could not bear it. Not again, not again. He was dimly aware of Commodus battling to crawl towards him, to grab his ankles, but Apollo was watching another friend die. He didn't care about the hobbled emperor.
Frank raised his piece of firewood to Caligula's face. The emperor fought and thrashed, but Frank was stronger- drawing, Apollo suspected, on everything that remained of his mortal life.
"If I'm going to burn," Frank growled, "I might as well burn bright." His fingers tightened once more. "This is for my legion." The firewood combusted, as if it had been waiting years for the chance. Caligula's good eye widened with panic, perhaps just now beginning to understand. Flames roared around Frank's body, sparking the oil in one of the grooves- a liquid fuse, racing in both directions to the crates and traffic barrels that packed the tunnel.
The emperors weren't the only ones who kept a supply of Greek fire.
Apollo was not and would never be proud of what happened next. As Frank became a column of flame and Caligula disintegrated into white-hot embers, Apollo followed Frank's last order. He leaped over Commodus and ran for open air. At his back, the Caldecott Tunnel erupted like a volcano.
I have a minor confession to make... in Lou's Past (like in future chapters, WAY WAY future chapters) there's going to be a more updated Jason/Louisa shenanigans (not a ship, ew, they're siblings). I'm only saying this 'cos I didn't put as much about it in the HoO rewrites (because I hadn't planned all of Lou's Past at that point) but I may one-shot stuff as edits rather than rewriting the rewrites as I can't be bothered. That OK? :D
