Ch.39: True Wisdom Gleams in the Storm! Rise, Tony Sapienti!
The deafening ring in Tony's ears was the only thing keeping him from passing out. Well, that, and his aura that helped stave off the weight piling on top of him. His cage collapsed in on itself from the stone that fell down during the earthquake. Although, from what Tony could see through blurred vision, he had to second guess himself on an earthquake.
He pressed his hands and struggled to push himself up. The weight of the rock groaned against his back, but he persevered enough to wiggle his legs free. He rolled aside as rock crumbled off the pile and nearly fell on top of him. A cloud of dust kicked up and caused Tony to double over in coughs.
"That was…nuts," he groaned. He stood up and checked his surroundings. It definitely wasn't a normal earthquake. Whatever caused it, likely an enemy, created an entire mountain of earth from the ground beneath them. Jagged terrain that most would have trouble navigating through without losing their footing. If he had to guess, the outside of this impromptu mountain was equally unstable and jagged, making for a terrible place to fight.
Then again, for someone to create such unsuitable terrain, they obviously didn't care about the perceived disadvantage, even not recognizing it as a disadvantage for themselves.
Tony waded around through the rock, searching for any nearby auras. He sensed a latent layer of strong magic within the rock, familiar to the wave that kicked up the earthquake to begin with. He had sensed the battle outside, and he could tell whatever his thieves were fighting was something dangerous. A monster unlike any shadow beast he's confronted before. To cause this much trouble for Callista and Wolf, there was no doubt in his mind it was a killer.
His ears pricked up to a weak cough coming from nearby. His eye flickered through the dust and debris before spotting a tan ferret buried under the rock, feebly clawing at the ground to escape.
"Hendrix!" Tony raced over, sliding to the Linoone's side. "Hendrix, are you okay?!"
Hendrix wheezed dust from his lungs, then stared up at Tony. "B-Boss…is that you?" His eyes went out of focus. "Everything's…so blurry. Can barely…see straight."
Tony shoveled the rock off of Hendrix, then pulled him into his arms. "Easy, kid. I got you." He cradled him gently. He felt a trickle of blood running down Hendrix's head. He looked around for anything to use. He couldn't make a makeshift bandage from his clothes with all the dust gathered on it, and there was no way he was using the bandage that had been covering her eye for similar reasons. "Crap, what do I do?"
"B-Boss," Hendrix coughed, reaching up to him.
Tony grabbed his paw. "Hendrix, save your strength. I'll take care of you, I promise."
"Wolf…and that witch, Callista…they need your help."
Tony narrowed his eye and frowned. "After everything I wanted to put you brats through, just to satisfy my ego, I doubt I would be much help. I'm better off getting you and the others to safety from that monster outside."
Hendrix struggled, but slid his paw out of Tony's hand and reached out to touch his shoulder. "Boss, we didn't follow you…because we were scared of you. We followed…because we were scared for you."
"Wha…What?" Tony gasped. "Scared for me? What are you talking about?"
Hendrix frowned. "We all saw…the pain in your face. You've been hurting…for a long time, just like the rest of us. We didn't know what we were doing. All we could do was survive. But then you came and showed us we could be so much more. We only betrayed you because we wanted to see this other you that the witch kept talking about. We wanted to see the Lightning Thief take flight."
Tony gawked in disbelief. "That's…ridiculous." He bit his lip and turned away angrily. "How can you say that? I'm just some shithead who wanted to kill another shithead. You kids shouldn't be looking up to me."
"We're…hardly better." Tony spun his head around and saw the Inkay popped out from underground, covered in scratches.
A Pawniard pulled himself from the ground. "We've done terrible things to survive, too."
"But we still followed you," a Croconaw said as he pushed a rock off himself.
"Because we believed in your guidance," a Hoothoot cradling his wing chirped.
"You showed us a better path when neither Wolf nor we knew what to do," a Stunky whimpered, limping out from his hiding spot. "Even if you weren't yourself…"
Tony's eye widened as more and more of the thieves emerged from the ground, weakened and battered, barely able to stand on their own two/four feet. Covered in wounds, dripping with blood, some nursing serious injuries, yet all staring at him with compassion and pride.
"No matter what, we proudly call ourselves the Sapienti Maelstrom Thieves!" they cheered.
Tony blinked through tears he didn't know were forming. A throaty chuckle from Hendrix brought him out his mild trance. "If there's…one thing we wanted most from you, though…we wanted to get to know our boss. We wanted to see who our boss really was. The real Tony Sapienti."
"There's one other way to master the storms besides finding inner peace, and I know it'll be your first and only choice. I can guarantee you, though, that you'll come to regret it. After that, ask yourself this: who are you?"
"See yourself in the eye of the storm, and reach out to the light. Grasp the truth of your nature, then set a sight for the path you trust in most."
Tears freely fell from Tony's face. He covered his eye with one hand, snickering through his inner sobbing. "You stupid brats…when did you all get so mature when I wasn't looking?"
He looked at each and every one of them, swelling with pride as they all stood tall despite their injuries, beaming back at him with the confidence of true thieves. Is this what it felt like to watch those you raise excel into their own person? Or perhaps Tony was finally understanding the role of a teacher.
Perhaps his solo journey wasn't for the best in hindsight, but…
He wouldn't want a second chance, knowing he had so much to learn from his own mistakes.
A long forgotten spark of mischief shined in Tony's eye.
The storm in his heart cleared away.
Tony Sapienti…had returned.
Callista felt the world spinning as she regained consciousness. Everything was out of whack. Up was down, left was right, light was dark, and earth was pain. Words couldn't describe her disorientation, mostly because her head was so jumbled up that language had lost meaning and took form as incoherent blathering.
She gained enough clarity to slap her cheeks and roll onto her aching feet, only to collapse on her right side. The adrenaline wore off. Callista clamped her mandibles shut and seethed with pain as blood gushed from where her back leg used to be. Even if she still had shadow magic, the regeneration couldn't bring back whole limbs, and her leg was probably being used as a mangled toothpick right about now.
She tried to draw a circle to perform a fire spell and cauterize her wound, but her leg trembled in weakness. She collapsed onto her stomach and panted heavily. She hadn't felt this bad in centuries. Worst injury she felt in forever was…
Callista chose to forget and instead focus getting to safety. Though stubborn she was, she didn't like her chances of fleeing the scene in time. Even if Famine can conceal his presence, Callista was at a major disadvantage being unable to naturally sense magic at all. Summoning a demon sounded preferable, but only two would even survive a head-on encounter, and the one she just used was too sluggish to match Famine's speed.
Got to…escape. A temporary retreat. Callista closed her eyes and cursed herself. It was so much easier when I didn't give a damn about the consequences of my actions. Now look at me. Barely surviving off one leg.
After dragging herself a few feet forward, a hand touched her shoulder. She gazed up to see an equally ragged Wolf, panting lightly. She noticed his left ear had single marks, a self-administered cauterization to stop his own bleeding. Wordlessly, he grabbed her bleeding leg, clutched his hand around the end, and applied his sun magic to it.
It stung like hell, but Callista bit back her agony for a few seconds until Wolf finished. She sighed a relieved breath. "Thanks…kid."
Wolf reached down and pulled Callista onto his back. "You…know we're standing on a mountain now, right?"
Callista looked up lazily. Indeed, Famine's little show of power had turned the landscape around them into a high, jagged mountain. Sharp rocks at every level, uneven slopes, unstable looking platforms, and much more. A hastily crafted terrain unsuitable for most fighters, save for their opponent and his bottomless appetite for destruction.
"Got a plan?" Callista asked.
"Got any more demons to spare?" Wolf grunted.
"Nothing that can't get their limbs ripped off." Callista tried to summon the black fog, but it petered out. "My head's ringing. I can't concentrate enough to make the link to the Underworld. What about you?"
"I'm burnt out," Wolf admitted. "Switching my Morning Lion on and off like that so many times burns through so much magic too quickly. I need a moment to rest."
"So, that means we're both out of commission."
Wolf glared. "I wouldn't say that, but…" He shifted his foot around. A few pebbles rumbled under him. "Soon, unfortunately. I can probably muster enough magic to use my Helios Booster. And we're going to need it…right now."
Callista felt the rumbles through Wolf's body. She cocked her head back and saw a surge of dirt shooting up through the surface as something came barreling towards them like a land shark. She heard the familiar sound of rotating armor smashing through rock. If they got hit, they would be a red smear across the mountain, or Famine's next meal. Neither were preferable.
"Then you better fly the hardest you ever had, kid. As in…right now!"
Wolf stomped his feet down and growled, pushing all his remaining magic through his legs. "Helios…BOOSTER!" Fire jettisoned from his soles and launched him into the air, narrowly avoiding the snapping jaws of Famine devouring their perch.
Wolf couldn't get them high in the air due to weight and lack of power, so he focused primarily on speed as Famine chased them around the mountain.
Famine sped up his rotation and fired pebbles at them like bullets. Wolf's good ear picked up the sound as he dodged. The pebbles exploded across the mountain surface, threatening to tear the two to shreds.
Callista flinched as one sliced across her cheek and sprayed blood out. "Kid!"
"I'm working on it!" Wolf yelled as he poured more power into the boosters.
Tony's ears pricked up to the explosions sounding outside. He quickly scanned over his present company and realized two heads were missing. "Wolf and Callista. Where are they?" Tony asked aloud.
Inkay rubbed her tentacles together worriedly. "They might be still outside fighting that monster."
"Wolf is super injured, too!" Pawniard exclaimed. "And I don't think that witch is fairing any better."
Tony glared. "Even then, they're still fighting?" He closed his eyes and sighed. "Good grief, do I have to clean up everyone's messes?" He nodded Inkay and Stunky over. "You two, find the first aid supplies and treat Hendrix's head injury. Get yourselves patched up, then help the others." He gently moved Hendrix into Inkay's tentacles.
"Wh-What about you, Boss?" Stunky asked nervously.
Tony stood up, then smirked proudly. "My job, obviously. You brats stay put. I'm going to turn that bastard into a fireworks display. Quick Step!" His body lit up with electricity, then he sped off.
He ran into the walls and used the protrusions to ascend up. His eye flickered through the wall until he spotted Wolf's very weak magic aura fleeing something Tony couldn't quite perceive, except that it may be the source of the cave's rumbling.
I was a fool to think I couldn't fly beyond the horizon, stuck in my own little cave with the shadows to keep me company.
He kicked off the wall and clapped his hands. "Dragon Thunderclap!" The thunderous sound slammed into the wall, shaking away loose rock. Tony smirked as a thin beam of light shined through one spot. "There you are! Nebula Rider!" He conjured his storm cloud and soared toward the spot, sporting his electrified water blades.
I should've been doing this from the start. This is who I am.
Tony sliced through the rock and soared out from the mountain, flying high into the sky.
I'll do it. I'll become better. For all of them.
Tony stopped and scanned the mountain again until he spotted Wolf and Callista fleeing a pursing eruption of rock.
Everything I've been through, I'll push ahead and free myself from the past. I'll save everyone, but I'll do it my way. Not just stronger, but smarter and sharper.
Tony kicked his thundercloud and sped after the party, lightning crackling off his body.
I am the tempest that doesn't command the storms, but works alongside it. Failure was never my enemy, but a friend I've been neglecting. We'll work together, and surpass the barriers that hold us back. Nothing will stand in my way ever again!
I will become what they need! My underlings! My friends!
The lightning shooting off Tony, for a brief moment, took shape behind him, casting a majestic glow flapping behind him.
The shape of a pair of owl wings.
I'll take every grievance that pushed me into the abyss…and destroy the darkness with my lightning!
Wolf's Helios Boosters sputtered and puffed, knocking the rabbit and spider briefly out of flight. He pushed ahead, straining to keep the spell going. Famine gained on them by the second. Wolf couldn't conjure the magic needed to out-speed Famine anymore. The devourer of all had them where he wanted.
Callista tried once more to summon a demon, but winced as the ringing in her head intensified. "I…I can't fight back," Callista growled. "Kid, you have to move faster!"
"What do you think I'm doing?!" Wolf snapped.
He kept them up for as long as he could, but the boosters sputtered the last of their juice. Wolf and Callista gradually lost altitude, slowing to a crawl in the air. The surging earth closed in on them. They couldn't fly, run, or fight back anymore. What other option remained?
Callista clicked her mandibles furiously. "Kid, I'll try webbing up that maw of his. Maybe that'll buy us some time."
"I don't think—"
The ground exploded from below and threw them up. Their eyes widened as a dripping, dark void layered with teeth rose up after them, inviting them to their demise in the deep, deep abyss. Rock and debris vanished below, never to be seen again. They sensed the dread of what awaited them. Nothing but agony awaited them.
Wolf and Callista, in a last ditch effort, clung to each other for safety and clenched their eyes shut, praying for a quick, painless death. They felt the monster's hot garbage breath blow into them as the maw widened around them. The jaw stretched to maximum width, ready to snap down on them like a bear trap.
Famine could taste the dread in their sweat and fear. They will make delectable morsels, the monster thought. Salivating with anticipation, he went for the kill and snapped his shredder-like teeth down on his prey.
The taste of blood and meat, however, never reached his tastebuds, instead substituted for plasma and pain. A horrible, electric surge danced through his system, knocking Famine out of the air and crashing back onto the mountain. Famine recovered immediately, shaking off the pain, and growled in protest regarding his missing meal.
He sensed the Storm magic whizzing around. With a flicker of his tongue, he pinpointed the source of his misfortune.
A bolt of lightning curved and bounced up the mountain, then crashed down on stable ground, burning away the jagged surface for something safer and usable. Wolf and Callista collapsed onto their hands and knees (or front legs, in Callista's case), gawking in confusion as they stared down at the creature that nearly made a meal of them.
"Geez, can't you people do anything right without me?" They looked up to their savior, the smug looking Dewott with his wide, toothy grin. "What would you do without me?"
"B-Boss?!"
"Sapienti?"
Tony turned and bowed to them. "Yes, yes, you may praise me for the timely rescue later. I see you're having trouble leashing the mutt." He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Someone needs to teach Fido discipline. I'll provide the shock collar."
Wolf blinked twice, bewilderment in his eyes. "B…Boss? Is that really you?"
Callista hissed in relief. "Have you finally come to your senses, Sapienti?"
Tony looked at them, then flashed a grateful smile. "Yeah. I'm feeling much better now. Thanks, both of you." He closed his eye and sighed. "Sorry for the way I was acting. Guess I still have a lot to learn about being a leader." He grinned. "But for now, I still need to let off some steam. And would you look at that? Someone ordered me an ugly punching bag."
Famine snarled and stomped his feet. He could taste the familiar electric aura around the Dewott. This was his true target.
"And it seems this one likes to fight back," Tony commented. He stepped over the ledge, but Wolf grabbed his ankle.
"Wait, Boss! This thing is super tough. That armor of his can take a beating, and he can instantly shred through anything he crashes into. We need to—" Tony pulled his leg free, then smiled casually.
"Thanks for the heads up, kid. Just sit back and rest. I can't lose my Number 1, after all." He turned away, gave the two-finger wave, and jumped down the mountain.
Wolf gawked in awe while Callista chuckled to herself. "Pay attention, kid. You're about to meet your boss all over again."
Tony landed on the same level as Famine, then faced him with his usual smugness. "So, you're Aeternus' lapdog? Well, not much of a lapdog, I guess. Way too big and ugly. You might want to lay off the carbs, too."
Famine dropped into an attack position, clawing at the ground and snarling.
Tony raised his hands. "Hey, I'm not judging you for your weight. No need to get feisty with me, Fido."
Famine barked and howled, sending globs of saliva flying.
Tony leaned back from one hurling toward him. "Well, this won't do. I'm used to my opponents getting pissed off at me and hurling insults. How can I appreciate the expletives and threats on my life when all I'm getting out of you is unintelligible trash compactor sounds?"
Famine stomped the ground harder, shaking up the mountain. Wolf and Callista clung to each other and stayed low.
Tony smirked. "Ooh, am I pissing you off? Well, I guess I'll have to settle for the toddler tantrums. Hopefully you fight better than you express yourself."
In response, Famine curled himself into a ball and started his wind up. A glyph appeared to keep him in pace while his rotational speed gradually picked up. Gravel below his spinning armored shell caught itself in the current of wind circulating through his rotation like a thin barrier of dirt. The orange runes on his armor lit up. The speed of his rotation created light trails that coated the armor in a shining veil. The winds whipped up from his spinning lashed through the surrounding area, blowing a nice breeze in Tony's direction.
Wolf bared his teeth and yelled, "Boss, don't let him build up speed like that! He has momentum magic! Once he starts moving, nothing can stop him!"
Tony threw his head back and laughed, shocking Wolf. "Someone's proclaiming to be faster than me? Oh, that's cute. Time for Fido to know his place."
He tucked his finger into the back of his bandage, feeling for the loose knot. He hooked his finger around the knock and gently pulled it apart.
"Is it wrong of me to teach you your place by enacting the timeless cliché of revealing the power of my hidden eye?" Tony mocked to his rotating opponent. "Perhaps, but who cares? I'm in a good mood, and I feel like celebrating!" A cunning grin stretched over his face. "So, I'll only say this once."
He swiped the knot apart and, in one swift motion, undid the entire bandage off with the skill of a ribbon dancer, twirling the bandage above his head in the most grandiose of fashions. He let it flutter away in the wind, then stuffed his hands back into his pockets.
Purposefully stretching out the grand reveal, Tony kept his right eye closed for a moment to bask in his own glory, perhaps to also spite Famine. He didn't linger on the reveal for too long as he let his eyelid part open. Contrasting to the organic black orb resting in his left eye socket, taking up residency in the right socket was a pale blue glass eye, shimmering with the same mischievous glee as its adoptive brother.
"If you don't kill me in one shot, we'll dance to the sound of your extinction."
That was the final straw. Famine formed a launch glyph behind himself, then fired.
The attack was instantaneous. The sound barrier broke several times over as Famine sailed toward Tony. His speed combined with the short distance between them made dodging nigh impossible to the average magician. Any other would be turned to paste before they had the chance to draw a breath, blink their eyes, or remotely think about the excruciating pain of having their entire body ripped to atoms. There was no armored cannonball to the average eye, only a smear of light that you'd miss even if you remained wide-eyed. Even Tony couldn't comprehend the beast's unfathomable speed.
And yet, he still dodged.
His right eye lit up with electricity. While Tony's senses lagged trying to keep up with Famine's speed, his eye did all the work. It saw everything down to the minute detail. What was incomprehensible turned clear as a sunny sky. Without even a thought, Tony's body flickered on its own and casually sidestepped the beast.
Famine bounced off another launch glyph and doubled back on Tony. Again, Tony dodged without sparing a thought, and without dropping his smug grin. Launch glyphs littered the air as Famine ricocheted off each of them and fired back on Tony. The Dewott zipped around the mountain with the most minute of steps, a flicker of lightning following behind him with each move.
Wolf and Callista watched in disbelief as a blur of colors danced around the base of the mountain. Rock basically deleted wherever Famine flew by, yet Tony would still be there hopping around and no doubt frustrating the beast with just his sly charm.
"I…I didn't think the boss could react to speeds this fast!" Wolf gasped.
Callista narrowed her eyes. "His Light Speed slows his perception and speeds his body up, but he should only be able to do that with sustained uses. I didn't know he could use Light Speed in multiple bursts like that. How is he keeping up with this speed? Unless…that eye of his…"
Tony kicked off the mountain, dodging another of Famine's attacks, and sailed up to the sky on his newly formed Nebula Rider. His right eye flickered and tracked Famine's movements seamlessly. No matter where the beast flew off to, Tony kept track of him a hundred percent of the time.
I had to barter to hell and back with that crazy prosthetics doctor, but it was all worth for this baby. Tony grinned to himself. The Eye of Odin. A special artificial eye that amplifies the user's perception in the presence of Electric or Storm Magic. And, when combined with my Light Speed—
Famine slingshot after the fleeing Dewott. Tony's body lit up and made minor aerial adjustments, letting Famine sail by a hair's width off.
I essentially have auto-dodge!
Famine stopped himself on a glyph and uncurled. He snarled down at Tony, then inflated his chin and cheeks. With a guttural belch, Famine exhaled black flames that expanded in width, coming down like a tidal wave of darkness.
Tony pulled his hand back. "A wall of flames? How pedestrian!" Air channeled in the center of his palm. "Ventusphere!" He threw the wind orb into the center of the flames, bursting a hole straight through. Tony kicked off his Nebula Rider and sped forward.
Famine hollered a raspy cry, taking a lightning-speed kick to the stomach. The wounds sustained from Wolf's last attack lingered despite his healing factor, festering and amplifying the pain tenfold. Famine swiped his claws at Tony, but he vanished out of range.
"Come on, slowpoke, keep up!" Tony blindsided him with a kick across the face, then rammed his knee into the chin. "I thought you were supposed to be tough!"
Famine started spinning, blowing Tony back with pressure waves. A launch glyph appeared and fired him down on the falling Dewott. Tony just grinned and lit up his body. He aimed his feet at the armored monster. Though Wolf's warning of Famine's instant destruction style posed certain doom to such a response, Tony wasn't concerned.
Direct contact would shave my leg to dust. But that only happens when you're spinning like that. The intense friction is what causes that destruction, isn't it? Meaning, if I connect with you and outpace your rotations…
Famine came in at a hair's width. Tony's body lit up, activating Light Speed, and he kicked Famine. The brief instant of contact lasted hundredths upon thousands, maybe even millionths, of a second. His foot touched solid metal, the same kind that sanded down everything else into oblivion, and kicked off without a drop of blood shed.
Tony rocketed down like a bolt of lightning and conjured his Nebula Rider. Using his downward speed and momentum, he arced back up in a flash and appeared instantly above the careening monster.
"Lightning Shot: Lotus Bullet!" Tony flicked his finger and bombarded the monster with a rain of Lightning Shots, pelting down on the rotating armor. As Wolf stated, his shots either bounced off or dispersed against Famine. However…
One shot connected, throwing Famine out of his curled state. His belly smoked and spark, spewing black blood through the air. Famine hollered in furious pain.
Tony smirked. "You can't cover everything like that. There's a small gap while you're curled up that exposes your belly. Hard shot to pull normally, but this eye makes those shots a mundane reality. Your move, Fido."
Famine crashed down on the mountain, sponging the fall with his feet. With a roar, he conjured slithering rock spires from the ground, infused with momentum magic. Their speed was incredible, matching that of a typical lightning bolt.
Tony just grinned in the face of danger and dove for the spires. One struck, but he tumbled with the attack and raced down the side with Quick Step. More spires tried to overwhelm and destroy his ground, but the spry Dewott zipped and spun through everything angle and attack, a show of acrobatics one might see in the circus. It was nothing but a fireworks display of rocks and lightning.
"Hey Fido!" Tony yelled.
Famine sensed magic appear in front of him, and a buildup of Storm Magic. Tony, floating before him, charged a Lightning Shot.
"Keep your mouth closed."
He fired and detonated the inside of Famine's mouth. Famine roared and stomped in pain. His stomps shook the mountain, throwing down boulders atop of Wolf and Callista.
Callista finally carved a rune into the ground and projected a barrier over their heads. "We're good, Sapienti! Keep going!"
Tony flashed the thumbs-up, then backstepped from Famine's claws. "You're pretty boring, Fido! Do you know any other tricks besides Chase and Fetch?"
Famine slammed his face into the ground, using his underbite to shovel up a pile of rock and dirt. He closed his mouth, grounded up the earth, then inhaled. Tony braced himself as Famine exhaled a thick, copper gas through the air, surrounding them both.
Tony looked around suspiciously. "Okay, you know how to vomit. Lovely." He raised his brow and watched Famine curl himself up. "Now what are you up to?"
Something of an amused growl answered back, then Famine spun.
It took Tony less than a second to realize what was going on. Sparks formed between the armor and earth, then they expanded through the gas.
Explosive gas.
A massive explosion went off, taking out nearly a house's worth of mountain with it. Tony sped out of the explosion's range in time, though his sleeves were scorched from the blast. Famine soon followed, wrapped in the same copper gas.
Tony scoffed. "Oh, Krystal would get a kick out of this."
A trail of lightning and explosions colored the sky, interlacing and crossing through collisions. Tony maintained his distance while Famine, ever the persistent hunter, tracked Tony's speed while steadily increasing his own. Though Famine's efforts to decapitate the Dewott were in vain, the brief interaction of volatile gas to lightning scorched the sky in a fiery inferno that made evasion a tricky practice.
Tony climbed the sky and fired down his Lightning Shot: Lotus Bullet. Famine faced his side towards the attacks, covering his one minute weak spot while simultaneously setting off the explosive gas. Even if Tony had heightened perception, it meant nothing if he couldn't see where he was aiming.
"Guess Fido's not as dumb as I thought," Tony grumbled. Regardless of my taunting, one slipup will be the end of me. I've got to find a permanent way to capitalize on his weak points. His mouth and his underside. To do that, I need to take away his most valued ally: his movement.
Tony smirked to himself. The oldest paradoxical debate revolves around the unmovable object versus the irresistible force. However, there's another legend I'm more interested in. One of an immortal fox that could evade every predator, and a canine of the cosmos who could capture any prey. So mutt, let's see if you can catch this fox.
Tony clapped his hands, summoning a sparking ball of lightning between his palms. "Let's see how you handle this! Fulmen Scattershot!" The orb split apart into his palms, fired down into a bombardment of lightning with swift arm thrusts.
Famine maneuvered through Tony's attack with frustrating ease, yet it felt oddly nostalgic for Tony. Only Wes with his Warp Pads could make those kinds of quick-thinking turns to avoid a downpour of this scale. He missed those training sessions with the equally-obnoxious Umbreon. Still, it was annoying trying to tag such a large target moving at Tony's own speed.
Wolf and Callista had to cover themselves between the witch's barrier as the scattershot spell, now without a target to hit, blasted into the side of the mountain. Tony and Famine surged around the entirety of the mountain, weaving through each other's attacks. Just about every single one of Tony's shots missed, too, and bombarded the mountain.
Wolf uncovered his head and glared. "Dammit, Boss! Watch where you're aiming!"
Callista glared. "What is that boy up to?"
Famine got off few of his own attacks, spitting explosive rock at the zippy Dewott. Tony dexterously dodged Famine's attack without slowing his rapid-fire attack. They both stuck themselves into a stalemate, matching one another's speed while covering for supposed weaknesses. Tony could've easily hit Famine if it weren't for that thick cloud of explosive gas getting in the way. Any of his lightning spells that so much as grazed the gas would trigger another dizzying explosion to further throw off his bad aim.
And yet, Tony remained undeterred.
"You're fast, Fido, I'll grant you that much." Tony's grin stretched wide. "Second place is an admirable accomplishment, anyway."
Famine responded with more exploding rock bullets, aiming for Tony's probable pathways. A prediction by the beast to shoot Tony out of the air and stun him long enough for a single, killing blow. Famine's efforts proved effective when a stray bullet landed a clean, critical shot into Tony's leg.
Famine uncurled himself and prepared to unload the last of the debris in his stomach. He couldn't afford to get in close, not without triggering some sort of trick from Tony, so a single exploding attack should finish him off. There was, however, one problem he didn't account for.
Famine couldn't see, but taste the magic in the air. And what he tasted was the fading remnants of Tony's last position. Despite being able to keep pace with Tony's Light Speed, he completely vanished as if Famine was fighting a lightning clone this whole time. But that didn't make any sense. When did Tony perform a clone spell?
"Oh Fido~!"
He tasted the familiar aura. Facing down, Famine came face-to-face with Tony, who wielded a sparking orb of electricity in his hand, wildly crackling the air. Famine made the mistake of turning around, for now his weak spot was wide and center for Tony's retaliation.
"Fetch!" Tony yelled, throwing the orb at the beast.
Famine acted fast, summoning a launch glyph at his hindlegs and kicking off, narrowly dodging the rocketing electric orb as it curved up into the sky, vanishing into the clouds. Famine inflated his mouth and spat a blank point, exploding ball of molten rock into Tony.
Tony kicked off the exploding rock, coating his feet in his Nebula Rider, and flew along the blast radius, taking minimal damage sponged up by his aura. "Good on you, Fido! Some folks never learn the sacred art of dodging!" he taunted.
Tony's eyes widened as Famine cannonballed through the explosive cloud. He kicked the Nebula Rider and sped back toward the jagged mountain, zipping around as Famine followed closely on his tail. The beastly devourer dove in and out of the ground, chewing up any matter it could shovel down. So effortlessly, too, as if matter itself really did delete in his presence.
Famine's speed continued to increase of time, forcing Tony to boost his own speed. Though he could survive off auto-dodging, he decided not to take chances relying solely on it. They weave through the mountain, parrying and firing on each other with arsenals of spells, all while the mountain gained new grooves from Famine's passing buffet spree. No doubt Wolf, Callista, and the thieves hanging out inside the mountain were cowering from the repeated collisions.
Tony sped up to the peak and pulled his hands back. "Lightning Shot: Double Barrel Shockwave!" He fired two twisting electrical beams into Famine, who powered through and nearly scraped Tony to ribbons.
The beast climbed higher up into the sky, wrapped in an intense orange glow and expelling the foul copper gas through air. The beast let out his garbled roar and rained down the debris he ate up. A brief flash lit the dark clouds ablaze in the fiery orange glow resembling the inferno of a dry forest, before turning into a sea of meteors arcing down as if Arceus himself called upon judgment for mortal sins.
Tony crouched down. His right eye rapidly flickered and took note of each meteor's position. Tony's fur bristled with lightning, then he kicked off into the sky. "Nebula Rider!" Powered by his Light Speed, the dark cloud increased his speed and sent him weaving through the downpour of fire.
The heat was intense. Nothing compared to his scraps against Wolf, but certainly worth noting. Only now, though, did Tony take note of the sheer quantity of meteors Famine expelled. Nothing like a harmless meteor shower, but as if the mother of all meteors shattered into millions of pieces. Tony stared down a cataclysmic event that could rend whole cities to ash.
He remained undeterred, however, and flew through them unimpeded. Any that came in close would alert his right eye to activate Light Speed. Tony looked as if he was teleporting through the cluster, sometimes even jumping off the surfaces of the meteors unharmed by their exploding flames.
Any that felt the tiniest spark of electricity, of course, triggered a premature explosion that created a domino effect of explosions going off. Tony braced himself against the blasts, empowering his defensive aura to tank the brunt of the flames at the cost of his sleeves.
Those that remained untouched exploded against the mountain, further rattling Wolf and Callista. The witch's barrier flickered as more and more flame spread across the surface. She felt the land's life force aching from the repeated explosions. Nothing but a sea of fire coating the mountain and the land facing them. Nothing but destruction in the purest sense.
Famine pulled himself from the flames, uncurled, and exhaled a scattered shot of exploding rock coated in black flames. Tony could sense the potential explosions that would come from such a combination, the kind that could very likely rip his defensive aura to shreds.
As he grabbed his scalchops, he shrunk down his Nebula Rider under they covered his feet like shoes. "Nebula Rider: Thousand Sickle Dance!"
In a flash of light, Tony vanished. From his perspective, he sped through a still field of flying rock and hacked each individual one to pieces without even setting off the explosive gas.
To Famine and all else, first came the lightning, then the thunder.
A single streak of lightning wrapped through the shower of black flame, then came a booming explosion as every single one prematurely detonated. The explosion threw Famine backwards, stunned by the rippling power of his own attack. The flames blasted into him, shielded only by the back of his armor. The flame, even against one boosted by the darkness, ate into his armor a little bit, leaving unwanted imperfections.
"Nebula Rider: Dance of Hermes!"
However, by using the back of his armor to shield the flames, Famine left his weak spot open for a bombardment of kicks flying from every conceivable direction. A grating roar of agony boomed from Famine, unable to keep up with the sheer quantity of Tony's speed. Though able to detect each individual movement from taste alone, the actual speed Tony moved at close range made the Dewott appear like he was in hundreds of different angles at once. The stampeding kick of a hundred otters pummeling down on the devourer.
Tony let up and pulled his hands back. "And one more for the road!" He rubbed his hands together and instantly created a solid blue orb of Storm magic. "Tempest Impes Fulgo!"
He slammed the spell into Famine and blasted him straight back to the ground, engulfed in a solid beacon of light that pierced through the copper-orange fiery right blotting out the sky. Not even Famine's roars could pierce through the overwhelming thunderous sound of Tony's spell. A deafening echo that demanded silence through force.
The ground split open, likened to the sea parting for the arrival of the sea prince Manaphy, only with Famine to be buried once the curtains dropped. Geysers of magic from Tony's own spell shot beams of light that further wrecked the land, parting the sea of flames with a tremendous clap of thunder and instantly filling the atmosphere in a thick cloud of smoke and mist. The union of fire and lightning, a dance that created storms through synergy.
Tony let gravity carry him back down to earth in a freefall as he surveyed the damage ground. Everything was scorched in a blue tinge of his spell, sparking with remnants of an intense lightning. And yet, the earth continued to tremble, as Tony could see the shifting in land with something rumbling deep beneath the surface.
Tony smirked. "What will it take to put you down, Fido?"
He landed safely and scanned the scorched earth. Famine was likely tunneling underground in preparation for a counterattack, but to say for what was reaching for answers. Tony could easily outmaneuver most of Famine's other tricks, so whatever the devourer had planned was perhaps something unforeseen, a trick card hidden up the sleeve for one final gambit.
His eyes twinkled with caution. He felt the subtle shifts in the ground rumbling against his soles. Could Famine be hollowing out the earth below for a giant pitfall? Ineffective since they can both fly. Storing up ammo for another shower of exploding attacks? Too pedestrian to repeat a failing tactic, though Tony wouldn't hold it against the dumb mutt. Simply try to catch Tony off guard with a surprise ambush? Also ineffective and an insult to Tony's mastery of observation.
No, Famine knew Tony's greatest strengths were spacing and movement. Cutting both of those off would put the Dewott at a disadvantage. But how does one pull that off?
If Tony knew his strengths and weaknesses well, then Famine may try to—
The tremors increased. Tony braced himself as Famine emerged from the ground, spinning in a wide, but tight circle around him. With the ticking of seconds, Famine's speed gradually built up until a steady breeze took shape, soon increasing into a harsh, hurricane like wind. Tony dug his scalchop into the ground and covered his mouth as ash and gravel mixed with the air. From all sides, Tony found himself trapped inside an inferno of flame and rock, almost lava-like.
Rock slingshot from the hurricane winds, rocketing down like bullets and exploding like missiles. Tony bared his teeth as a few shots exploded near him, throwing molten hot slag onto his fur. The heat turned unbearable, mixing with the wet air to create a thick, impenetrable mist the eyes couldn't pierce through. His Eye of Odin, as complementary to his fighting style as it was, couldn't gaze beyond the wall of mist any better than his normal eye. The hurricane winds blowing ash into his face didn't make it any better.
Tony wiped the slag off himself and forced himself to his feet. I've braved the ash storms of Fuego Village. This is nothing, monster.
Of course, Tony was smart enough to know this wasn't Famine's full plan. Indeed, the winds and unpredictability of debris firing out would make traversing and escaping tricky. However, his true concern lied with Famine's advantages. Someone who possessed momentum magic could brave this storm without any trouble, completely unimpeded by the forces acting around them.
Famine had the advantage now.
Quick and to the point, the beast rocketed out of the storm, coated in blackened flame. Tony kicked off the ground, narrowly avoiding the speedy beast's instant killing tackle. Tony huffed through clenched teeth and hopped around the closed off space with a jolt of Quick Step.
Exploding rock fired on his heels, throwing him off balance. Famine sped out right as Tony staggered forward, but he used Ventusphere to push himself up right and sidestep Famine's roll by a hair. A part of his whisker shaved off from contact.
Tony's eyes widened, catching sight of the trail left by Famine. Glowing hot rock that cracked and hissed with pressure. He covered himself as the ground exploded and threw him toward the flaming wall of wind. He dug his fingers down and caught himself, hissing as his heel touched the hot winds.
"Shit!" He pulled himself away and scanned the area again.
Famine rolled by yet again, but Tony backflipped away and dashed off before the ground could explode. Famine made a quick return and shot after Tony while he was in the air. He formed Nebula Rider, a small cloud of it, and kicked off back toward the ground. More rock fired from the tornado and exploded where Tony intended to land. He braced himself as explosions rattled him from everything direction.
"Boss!" Wolf shouted, pounding on the energy barrier protecting him and Callista.
Callista glared at the raging inferno. "This is madness. How's Sapienti going to get out of that?"
"He won't!" Shadows hands suddenly pounded down on their barrier, squeezing into the surface. Wolf and Callista huddled together as a familiar face pulled himself out of the ground, grinning madly. "General Famine is unstoppable!" cried the corrupted Greedent.
"You?! What the hell! I thought you were dead!" Callista yelled.
"I survived purely to serve the needs of General Famine and for the destruction of Tony Sapienti!" Greedent slammed his hands and numerous shadow claws into their barrier. The magic dome made a low groan as more weight pressed into it. "He won't be able to last against the general when he's this fired up. Nothing can stop Famine! He's a weapon of mass destruction, and he won't rest until all opposition has been crushed and terminated in the name of Count Aeternus!"
Callista hissed. "Don't count Sapienti out yet, rodent."
"How do you expect him to survive in the center of that inferno? He can't!" Greedent threw his head back and laughed.
Wolf punched the barrier and growled. "Don't you dare mock the boss! He's more powerful than any one of you, especially that stupid mutt!"
Greedent tilted his head and stretched his grin. "You can't hear the general's cries, but he chants tales of Sapienti's blood being spilt across this weathered ground before yours comes next. Everything has led up to this moment. Sapienti's greatest asset, his precious speed, stripped away with no manner of escape to rely on. He's trapped and doomed to perish like the rest of you!"
Callista narrowed her eyes, looking past the deranged rodent and toward the inferno. "Don't count your tails until they've been snipped, mongrel. Down there is the making of one of Mysto's greatest warriors."
Round and round, Famine went, setting everything ablaze in exploding cinders and molten ground, while Tony tried his best to keep his distance. Ground became less and less accessible, unable to stand anywhere without burning the skin off his feet. Flight wasn't an option, either. The high winds and unpredictable nature of the debris coupled with the dense mist made his newly acquired auto-dodge useless. Trapped in the center with a beast that could end him before he could think, Tony should've been on the edge of panic like most others.
And yet, his heart raced with excitement. The most fun he had in months, even!
How could I possibly forget about all this mayhem? This…This is the excitement I missed all those years ago, back when I was taking care of Mom and Cheri. I almost lost it again. The joy of living in the moment!
So, Tony continued to dodge and weave through Famine's attacks, laughing and taunting the beast to pick up the speed. Close shaves, nicks, and scrapes; all of it rendered irrelevant in favor of Tony's amusement. No matter which direction Famine appeared from, Tony remained one step ahead.
"Is this really the best Aeternus had to offer? No wonder he sent you to hunt me down!" Tony taunted. "He must've pitied you too much! Dare not my dumbass creation to be torn asunder by a demigod or beaten into helplessness by an Espeon with a stick! Send him to his funeral at the hands of that charming and handsome thief who can kindly reflect the mistakes I made into this abomination of a mistake!"
The unholy roared of Famine carried and distorted through the winds. A bombardment of exploding rock came down on Tony, intended to turn him into smoldering swiss. He continued his casual stride around the battlefield, laughing at the monster's wails.
"I'm sorry, does me talking annoy you?! Well, I would shut up, but someone has to carry the burden of conversation when your companion is an illiterate slob!" Tony smirked. "How's about a snack, Fido? You've about eaten up everything in sight! How's about something balance for that tank of stomach you have—"
It was bound to happen, but through Tony's incessant taunting, he made a misstep in his dodging. A pebble that flew through his blind spot exploded at the little piece of land he briefly connected with. The explosion loosened the tiny platform, causing all of Tony's weight to shift off it and sending him falling backwards.
Though a brief correction could be made, a single slipup was all Famine needed.
An orange flash burst from the tornado and shaved past Tony in an instant. Tony tried to dodge, but couldn't with his lack of footing. Famine barreled right through Tony, instantly tearing his entire right half to shreds. Nothing but patches of fur scattering through the air as the dazed Dewott, the remaining left side, stared vacantly into the open.
Famine uncurled himself and spun around, snarling proudly at his kill as the fire tornado let up, giving everyone a grand view of the bisected Dewott.
"BOSS!" Wolf screamed, slamming his fists into the barrier.
Greedent's grin stretched wide. "Was there any doubt?"
Callista narrowed her eyes. "Sapienti?"
All that torment Famine put up with was worth the satisfaction of shut the otter up forever. As Tony himself said before, all it would take was a single kill to end the fight for good. Of course, the goal was to bring Tony in alive, but Famine didn't care for that anymore. The sheer pleasure of silencing the blabbermouth for good was worth whatever punishment awaited him once he reported back to Aeternus—
Famine flicked his tongue at the air out of habit, then froze. If he had eyes, they were certainly have widened to the surprise that faded before him. In retrospect, from the high of his kill, he only realized there was a stunning lack of blood in the Dewott. In fact, his tongue tingled from the taste.
What looked like a suspended halved corpse, which only now did anyone realize wasn't falling at all, faded in particles of light.
"Godspeed."
Famine's whole being shook, sensing the Dewott sitting atop his armor, a hand lazily holding up his head as he smirked down at the stunned monster. Aside from the marks from earlier, he was clearly still alive and whole.
"My shitty old man put me through hell in the last half of the year, but he did at least pass on some tips regarding a few spells. Godspeed, the power to transcend light itself. Difficult to use since most don't have the reaction speed to properly use it, so it's all about mental calculations. Fortunately for me, this eye compensates for most of that. It's just a matter of knowing where I want to move, and I can briefly skip past the speed of light. What you hit was essentially a static copy of me frozen in time."
Famine spun himself around and tried to snap his jaws down on Tony, but bit into another static copy. He couldn't even sense the direction Tony disappeared off to until he reappeared atop the mountain, right next to the corrupted Greedent.
Greedent gasped. "W-When did you—" With a flick of his wrist, Tony struck the squirrel in the neck. The force and precision instantly knocked him out cold, ceasing his assault on Wolf and Callista.
"B-Boss," Wolf whimpered. "I-I thought you were—"
"Save the waterworks for later, kid." Tony cracked his knuckles. "Callista, get yourselves inside the mountain, and bring this doofus with you," he emphasized with a kick to the squirrel's stomach. "It'll be the safest place for you."
Callista glared as she dropped the barrier. "Safest place for what?"
Tony smirked. "The grand finale, of course." He kicked off the edge and hopped gracefully to the top of the mountain.
Callista and Wolf shared a nod and dragged the Greedent back. Callista used a rune to mold a path open into the mountain and pulled themselves inside.
Famine paid them no mind, fixated on destroying Tony. He curled into a ball, building up as much rotation in a short time possible, and fired himself at the ascending otter.
Tony hopped all the way to the very tip of the mountain and grinned at the incoming ball of fury. "Fact is, I could've ended this fight any time I wanted, but I was having so much fun playing with you, Fido! I hope you at least had as much fun as I did!"
Faster and faster, Famine pushed himself, breaking the barriers of air slamming into him. Wrapped in flames, he'll end Tony in one shot, Godspeed or not. He won't fall for another of Tony's trick.
They were almost a yardstick's worth of distance apart. Tony could feel the wind whipping around Famine's fast rotating form. Pure shredding power set to destroy him in an instant.
With a cunning grin, Tony empowered his legs and jumped right as Famine came in range. For them, time was but a slow crawl disguised as casual exchange of movement. Both weren't slow to one another, but moving at comfortable speeds each could recognize. Tony waited on for Famine to be parallel with the mountaintop.
And…checkmate.
"Fulmen Scattershot: Paralyzing Minefield!"
The entire mountain lit up and erupted upwards with lightning. It struck into Famine instantly and caught him in suspension, paralyzing every nerve and muscle and containing his continuous spinning. A firm electrical grip wrapped around Famine and prevented him from flying off.
Famine uncurled and roared in protest, the only action he could reasonably accomplish with his body unresponsive. Tony levitated above the scowling monster with his trademark grin.
"Remember that Fulmen Scattershot you effortlessly evaded earlier? The ones you thought you dodged? Sorry, but you can't dodge something effortlessly if you weren't the target. It's a little trick I created. A trap set to go off on my command at a later point, turning the battlefield into a paralysis field that locks everyone but me or a powerful Storm Mage up. It won't hold you forever, obviously. You're too stubborn for that." Tony's grin grew. "But I didn't intend to hold you forever, either."
Tony rose higher up into the sky and pointed his hands, one aimed at the clouds and the other pointed down at Famine. Famine only then sensed the immense pressure surrounding him, not just from the paralysis trap. There was something stirring in the air, something he had not noticed throughout the length of the fight. A power mixed with the usual pressure of the Storm Zone.
"And that other attack you dodged? That wasn't for you, either." Tony snickered boastfully. "I told you, I could've ended this fight any time I wanted, and I'm getting bored."
Tony's expression drooped into a harsh glare. "You put my underlings in danger. You tried to kill my protégé and my former prisoner. You stand before me with hubris, and I'll call down the forces of nature to smite that arrogance from existence. If you somehow contact Aeternus from the afterlife, send him this message."
Thunder God's Wrath.
Lightning struck down on Tony, absorbing into his extended fingertips.
Fulgur Channeling.
Lightning coursed through Tony's body and traveled up his other arm, sparking at the tip of his fingertips. The electric aura reached his necklace and tapped into the stored power of the storm cloud, contaminating his aura into the harsh, vibrant purple forming into a tight sphere in front of his fingertips.
"Tony Sapienti is back, and Team Ravenfield is coming to free the light! Tempest Saevio Wrest!"
A massive bolt of purple lightning shot from Tony's fingertips, cracking down on the paralyzed beast and lighting him up like the world's brightest holiday decoration.
The paralysis field vanished, its service no longer required, as a demonic howl of agony permeated through the vastness of the Storm Zone. Famine felt a pain unlike any other, his very body being torn to shreds in ways never thought possible. Every regenerative cell in his body imploded on itself, as if everything was being ripped to pieces, but continued retaining its shape. Every fiber of his being, right down to his tainted soul, screamed out to the harsh power of the magical storms above.
This wasn't torture. It was a prolonged, continuous execution.
Tony spat a bit of blood as pain started coursing up his own arm. Never had he unleashed so much power from this spell, sending lightning-shape burn marks up his arm. He preserved through the pain, drawing out more of his Thunder God's Wrath's power and pouring it through his killing blow.
Tony's loyal thieves, Wolf, and Callista, pulled themselves out from the mountain and looked up in awe. It was a sight to behold. A dark cloud they've all felt looming above them forebodingly had now receded for the promise of a bright future. This lightning, a sign of despair to all who was struck down by it, wasn't one of such misfortune to them.
No, this lightning was a sign of hope and freedom under the tutelage of their leader.
Famine's body was barely a comprehensible shape, like everything was vibrating at a frequency turning him into a blur. Somewhere down the line, his screams vanished, fading into the aether. Drowned out by the power or perhaps he drew his final breath?
Black wisps smoked off the suspended beast, slowly thinning into a thinner shape and peeling back the layers of darkness coating its exterior. A sign that the beast had lost the battle of wills.
Tony cut off his spell and dropped onto a Nebula Rider waiting below him, panting heavily. He gripped his shaking arm, flinching from the burns covering it, but with a wide grin on his face. He watched the burnt corpse and armor of the fallen beast careen down onto the mountain, echoing out a hollow crash across the horizon.
He drew a breath, then laughed. "Play dead, Fido."
He flew down on his cloud, hanging his legs over the edge, and smiled as his thieves came out of hiding and threw their limbs in the air, screaming their praise and cheers. He sighed in relief when he saw Hendrix, arms around the Pawniard with a big grin of his own.
"So, is your boss cool or what?" Tony asked once he flew down to their level.
"So COOL!" they cheered. "Boss! Boss! Boss! Boss!"
Tony laughed. "Please, please, continue to praise me! Hahahahaha!"
"You're certainly in better spirits." He turned to Callista and Wolf, the latter dragging a webbed-up, corrupted Greedent behind him. Callista hissed in amusement. "You actually look like a true leader. Well, once you shave off all that extra fur."
Tony patted his face. "Yeah, it is a bit much." He exhaled through his nose, then glared at everyone. "Listen up, all of you."
Concerned looks appeared on their faces for a second, but they lightened up at the kind smile Tony offered them.
"There's going to be some changes around here. I didn't treat you brats like my students. I treated you like pawns just to make myself feel better. That was wrong of me." He glared. "I'm not going to let that blowhard, Aeternus, get away with attacking us, nor will we allow him to continue operating the Tribe of Shadows for the Shadow King. No matter what, we'll push back, stronger and sharper than before. But we'll do it without a single life lost on our side.
"Each one of you survived this long on your own wits. Now, let me teach you what I know so you can carry out your journeys and live fulfilling lives. I promise you, we'll end this war, and I'll give you all the happy ending you deserve." He smirked proudly. "So, let's hit that bastard where it hurts, and show him that a group of nobodies like us can fell a god!"
"YEAH!" they cheered, throwing their fists up in the air. "Boss! Boss! Boss!"
Callista and Wolf smiled to themselves as Tony arrogantly soaked up the praise. "You were right, witch," Wolf mumbled. "The boss certainly is something."
Callista closed her eyes and chuckled. "Trust me. Once you meet his friends, you'll see exactly how Tony became the person he is today. He's a boy who cares too much about the lives of others, and he won't stop fighting until everyone is saved."
She huffed a sigh and looked up at the mountain, glaring at the black wisps smoking off Famine's corpse. Though faint, she sensed something with those wisps. A part of them that was still partially sentient. A dying persistence. No doubt a shred of Famine's will had survived. It was too stubborn a creature to die in vain.
A dying message, just as Tony demanded.
She heaved a sigh, then glared out into the horizon. "No turning back for any of us. So, where to next, Sapienti?"