Chapter XV: Eroxs
Absolution Arc
1349 Hours, December 19, 2714
Gatehouse, Hellmouth, Moon
"Primus, hurry the hell up with the runes!"
One of the so-called 'Infested' was cleaved in half by Spectre's Duskdancer, the pus-like fluid exploding against the blade and the ground. The lower half disintegrated in crimson sparks, and the upper half survived and crawled towards him in a crazed frenzy, only for the same sword that dismembered it to be driven into its head. The three-man team stood their ground at the foot of the rune-locked door, Reaper picking off the distant Infested with the Lex Prime and the Pendragon twins hacking and slashing the ones that got too close. Lightning kept her guard up with her Aegis shield and shield bashed some of the Leapers and Runners headed at her.
"Hey! I'm working as fast as I can here, so you can at least be pati─"
"To hell with patience right now! We're about to be overrun if you don't kick it into overdrive, dammit!" Spectre snarled at his A.I, glancing back at the holographic cube for a second before he heard the scream of one of the Leapers ready to pounce on him. He snapped his head to the sound of the scream and slashed with both swords, the relentless speed of the strikes making quick work of the freak.
Reaper fired the last round in the Lex Prime and called out for a new magazine, to whom Spectre tossed one to her and she slammed it home. "They just keep coming!" She cried out, keeping her distance from the swarm per order from her lover. Starfall was out of the question to use against them, seeing that kinetic damage didn't hurt them in the slightest.
Like the Hive, the Infested emerged from the black pool in the far reaches of the room and the doors, the multitude rapidly rising the more they kill off. Ten fall, twenty new ones took their place. A shine began to emerge from the Infested, like a shield made out of transparent light. They all stopped their advance, twitching about at the ceiling.
Lightning panted, her sword arm getting sore faster than she could even land a headshot on them. "Oh hell."
"Dammit, here come the Ancients!"
A taller Infested emerged from the sea of Walkers, appearing fleshier than their weaker counterparts and a light blue for their flesh. They moved like a scarecrow with the scarcest of muscles and bones, arms hanging at their sides. A growth made of their flesh emerged from their backs, giving it a crown-like appearance. The moment it saw the trio, it hunched over and raised an arm.
"Move!"
Lightning raised Aegis to steel herself and Spectre dived towards the Bladedancer, shoving her out of the way. The Ancient's arm wrapped itself around the Excalibur-using Dark Knight, reeling him in like a high-powered grappling gun.
"Spectre!"
He struggled around the arm wrapping around his chest, realizing it was futile and stabbed Duskdancer into the ground. The arm tightened around him as the Ancient kept tugging with the strength it has hidden within, the armor underneath the fleshy makeup starting to depress onto his skin.
"Not this time!" The symbols along the blade of Duskdancer sparked to life, growing in shades of red until it reached a bloody crimson. A burst of crimson light erupted from the blade, enveloping the faces of the Infested in spheres of bright light and blinded them. Taking his chance, Spectre reached for his combat knife and sliced the wrapped arm in one fell swoop. He rushed towards the towering Infested and raised it above him, stabbing it in its chest. As swift as the stab was, Spectre pulled Duskdancer out a spray of Infested blood painting the floor and then slicing it into oblivion across.
"Spectre, get back here!" Lightning barked.
Not in the mood for listening, Spectre wallrided his way up and leapt off above the swarm of Infested. He whipped out the Angstrum handheld rocket launcher and started charging up the weapon again, ready to annihilate them in one fell go. As soon as he heard the nine shots indicator, he pulled the trigger back and let the micro-rockets loose, carpeting the floor with explosions. The blinded Infested exploded into chunks of flesh and bones, splattering the room with the color of Infested blood. Lightning conjured up a barrier from the antimatter she could control, shielding her and Reaper from the raining massacre Spectre caused. After the wet pelting had ceased, the antimatter barrier dissipated, and standing in the middle of the bloodied room was Lightning's twin brother.
"You just had to be a showoff, did you?" Lightning asked, her brother holstering the handheld launcher and readjusting his gauntlets.
"That was showing off? I'd call that 'showing just how irritated one can be if their buttons were pushed enough to do shit like that.'" Spectre retorts, throwing a thumb behind him to exemplify his point. "How many runes are done?"
"Two out of five, give or take." MI6 answers.
"You got to be kidding me..."
"And if that wasn't bad enough, we have bigger problems than that Ancient."
A blood-curdling roar rocked the chamber, dust and loose particles showering down. The trio felt the vibrations like an earthquake rocked the place. Lightning tightened the grip on Dusk Repulsor. Spectre leapt back to the foot of the door and braced himself for what's to come.
"Juggernaut?"
"Juggernaut. That you attracted by killing those Infested." Said Lightning dryly.
"So bite me. Both of us know we haven't fought Infested for a while."
"I thought the Infested were just a kid's tale to get them to behave!" Silver exclaims.
"Sore ga mottomoii to omoi masu. Shikashi Infested juubun na mi ari taiyoukei zentai ga kansen shi te iru made, karera ha teishi shi mase n. That's what most would say. But the Infested are real enough, and they won't stop until the entire Solar System is infected."
"So they're a hive mind, so to speak." Rez asked, and Cloud gave an affirmative glance from under his helmet.
"Why hasn't the Vanguard done anything about the Infested?"
"Infested Ankoku Kishi, hogo sha de ha nai no mondai de ha. Kuwae te, warewareha senku shaga sorera no nini no jouhou wo shutokusuru maeni mondai no torinozoki masu. The Infested is the problem of the Dark Knights, not the Guardians. Besides, we get rid of the problem before the Vanguard gets any information on them."
"Until now." Alpha blatantly states.
"But, where did they come from?"
"Watashiha shira nai gao, wareware Ankoku Kishi ha watashitachi ha sore ga toshizenkonzetsu to omotta. Ikutsu ka wo chiisana zangai ga nokotta shi, ikinokotta ne. I don't know, but we Dark Knights thought we eradicated it years ago. Guess some tiny remnant remained and survived."
"And I assume the source of the Infested is a plague."
"Saisho no Ankoku Kishi ha Yamini Void no tappu ni de te i ta toki hakken sa re ta pesuto. Ananta ga iki te iru ka shin de, sugu ni kansenshi te iru tame ni itte iru yoi sore ha ki ni shi mase n. Dareka, mata ha nai koto ha anzen desu. Sore ha nomi shiyou shit e kansensuru sun do i masu. A plague that we found when the First Dark Knights were out in the Void tapping into the Darkness. It doesn't care if you're alive or dead, as soon as you're infected you're gone for good. No one or no thing is safe. It only lives to consume and infect."
"Not even Exos and Vex?" Rez questioned carelessly.
"Nai mashin desu. Not even machines."
Rez sat on the railing above the Dark Knight and Warlock, relaxing. "So how do we stop it? Our weapons don't work on those guys."
Cloud looked up at the Nightstalker and folded his arms, visor facing the ground. "Dochira ka sorera wo moyasu, sakuhinni sorera wo katto mataha kasukeedo bakudanwo nyuushushi masu. Yuiitsi no houhoude ari masu. Either burn them, cut them to pieces, or get a cascade bomb. That's the only way."
"Silver, which do you think is worse: Taken or the Infested?"
"They're just as bad as each other. One is a plague, another just a lump of goo that just grabs whatever's near to it."
"Here's to praying to the Traveler that Oryx doesn't start Taking the Infested…"
"Iku ze. Let's go."
Spectre felt the weight of a Fallen Skiff crashing against his back as he was thrown back into the sealed door, his cape scattered about him like it was wings. Collapsing to the floor on a knee, he clutched his still-healing collarbone protectively and looked up.
In the middle of the chamber was a deformed quadruped of an Infested, the flesh far more exposed and deformed its weaker counterparts. Growing on its back were more appendages, appearing like tendrils and its spine exposed. From what Spectre could tell, the Juggernaut was created from a deceased Fallen. He was sure it had to once been a Captain, as it was too short to be a Kell yet taller than a Vandal. The infestating disease corrupted its face, twisting it into a mess.
Another roar erupted from the behemoth, rocking the very foundations of the chamber. Lightning had deflected the sonic roar with her shield, but eventually slid next to her brother when another roar took her off guard. Reaper kept firing at the Juggernaut with the heavy caliber sidearm until it ran out, rolling away in Void mist when it lashed out at her. She nocked in a Shadowshot arrow and pulled it back, only for the Juggernaut's sonic-esque roar knocking her against the wall, pinned by pieces of its spine and dropping Night Predator. He reached for his dropped sword, but the pain coming from his shoulder forbade him.
Damn, I should've known better! Spectre picked up Duskdancer and gripped the hilt with both hands. Darkness seethed from his hands, consuming the blade whole in a mist and then turning red. "C'mon!" He started swinging the sword, waves of ethereal energy racing towards the Infested much like Cloud's Blade Beams. They struck the monstrosity in an overwhelming swarm. But the beast barely bled from the barrage.
The creature's arched its back, snarling and its corrupted face splitting open like an axe chopping wood. Rows of countless jagged teeth revealed themselves, tongue drooling nastily and the saliva melting the Hive flooring beneath it. On command, his Exalted Blade Super ceased to continue as soon as he realized what was going to happen next. Oh, shit…! His HUD showed him his energy meter that gauged whether or not he could use his auxiliary powers as an Excalibur subclass. It was almost depleted, undoubtedly from using his Radial Blind. Spectre couldn't use his Slash Dash or Radial Javelin.
The giant Infested pounced towards him, teeth starting to grind against one another and saliva just barely melting off a piece of his armor. Spectre tried to move out of the way, but his legs weren't responding. Like his legs were frozen. He drew out Black King and blocked with both swords and braced for the attack.
But he only heard the sound of something fast flying past him. Peeking an eye open, he saw a blur run past him and the Juggernaut flying towards the wall. It was pinned against the pillar, and the dim shine of a curved blade was at its throat. The Juggernaut snarled and squirmed to break free from the blade. Instead, the blur kept it pinned and flew in all directions, the sound of a blade cutting through Infested flesh clear as daylight. Scatters of ash-like particles flew about with the blur, settling to the ground and turning red. A pained roar left its face before it was stopped abruptly, a gurgling coming from its throat. The next thing Spectre knew, the Juggernaut's head had slid off cleanly, followed by the torso of the quadruped as the limbs remained on the pillar.
Soon enough, a figured backflipped on the floor in front of the pinned Juggernaut, graceful in their maneuver and the Bladedancer standing next to them. She must've been freed by the figure, Spectre figured. They balanced a weapon with one of their hands, the curved blade's tip just barely piercing through the floor. From what he could see, the weapon was a scythe. Custom-built too, as it appeared to have been crafted skillfully and beautifully by a master weaponsmith. Spectre hasn't seen that level of smiting before!
"Quite an entrance," Spectre called out towards the figure, setting his swords on his back as Reaper ran up to him. The figure turned their heads towards Pendragon and twirled the scythe around in their one hand. As it spun flawlessly in their hands, the weapon transformed into a scout rifle and it was placed in a holster pouch behind the lower of their backs.
"Had I not been here in time, you would've been Juggernaut food." The figure responded, voice altered by a voice alternator. At this point, the two Dark Knights and Guardian saw their last minute savior. They were clad in the Titan's Winged Sun armor set and Golden Bull Mask, but the rubber suit was replaced with the Neuroghast's fieldweave and cytogel wires. Spectre saw the traces of red, black, and white being the shader, undoubtedly Feud Unfading and a Cloak of the Exile to finish it off.
"Where'd you come from?" Reaper asked.
"Have you been following us?" Lightning added.
"To be fair, I think the door will give you an answer," They pointed towards the rune sealed door which had a huge chunk of the curving door either melted or blown to smithereens. "And I was running from the same thing you were facing. So no, I didn't follow you."
Spectre walked up towards them, holding out a hand in peace. He saw the hesitation in their body language, like they had worked alone and barely got to socialize or trying to hold something back. He couldn't tell between the two. "I haven't seen you around before. I'm Spec─"
"I know who you are. And my name is not important right now," despite the comment, the hooded Titan shook his hand. They had a firm grip. Firm, but anxious. "But I can help you find the source of this Infestation. I ran into it when I was doing my sweep of the Hellmouth."
"Deformed quadruped?" Lightning inquires, arms folded and already feeling suspicious about this one. They nodded.
"So what do we call you?"
"Eroxs, for now." With that said, Eroxs nodded after taking on that identity for themselves. Yes…for now. Eroxs looked at the palm of their hand and stared at it intensely. Like something they cherished was in their hand, they closed it slowly and put their empty fist close to their heart. Their heart started to relax, not in the context of meeting an idol in person, but rather like meeting an old friend or family member after not seeing them for so long. Under their helmet, they cracked a wide smile and they opened their hand. Inside was a mere petal, followed by it transforming into a flower without its stem. It bloomed just as fast, revealing itself to be a rose swirling in black and red.
The team of three looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Spectre rolled his shoulder as the melted portion of his armor started undoing the damage from the acid saliva. With their new ally, they descended further down the Hellmouth ready to contain this Infestation.
-Destiny: Skyfall-
Aqua was tapping her foot in semi-impatience, arms folded and back against the wall. A breeze ran through her and she shivered, running her hands up and down her arms to get warmer. She stared out into the setting sun in the Cosmodrome, sounds of metal clattering and being tossed around filling her ears. To her, it was getting irritating. Slowly. Like death taking its sweet time killing her. The Fallen that the pair fought on the way up here was minimal, seeing as they were focusing on surviving any Taken invasions than looting.
"Are you done yet, Leon?" Aqua asked, dodging a thrown piece of metal effortlessly and without moving from her standpoint.
"Does it look like we got what we came for yet?"
"You know, I don't think Cayde will appreciate you taking one of his stashes behind his back." Argues the healer-sorceress, using her connections to the Void and telekinetically launching the piece of junk from the dome as her fingers started conducting an invisible orchestra.
Leon peeks his head out of a pile of junk and looks towards his girlfriend, still leading the invisible orchestra. He took a deep breath and stopped what he was doing. "Look, whose side are you on anyway? Mine or Spectre's?" Aqua stopped her conducting, turning towards him.
"Leon, you have to put this hatred towards Spectre in the dirt. It's not healthy for you. You know what happened to your last partner when he was consumed by anger and rage. Do you want to end up like him too?"
"He killed Vesper, dammit! How can I not put it to rest when he's a reminder of my dead sister?!" Leon yelled, punching the steel beneath his feet and standing up. "And my last partner was weak! I'm not going to end up like him!"
Aqua didn't take it lightly and pushed herself off the wall, glaring at him with all the anger she could muster.
"Leon, listen to yourself! I told you that it wasn't worth bottling up your anger at him! Whose fault do you think it is anyway?!"
"Spectre's, obv─"
"Wrong!" Aqua screamed, tears starting to run down her cheeks. Sobs began to show themselves in her speech. Leon's fist started quivering, the tension he built up lessening. "It wasn't his fault, nor was it Vesper's! It was the Cyphers! Why would Spectre change his name into what it is now?! Ask yourself, Leon! He never wanted this to happen, and you know as well as I do that they've been trying endlessly to tear us apart! They don't care if we're blood siblings or not; they don't want us Red Veil Dark Knights to form relationships with one another!"
Leon's anger was being quelled again, slowly but surely. Ever since his sister's death at the hands of her fiancé, he wanted to make Spectre suffer. Make him feel the pain he felt. But he knew he couldn't touch Lightning, since she was protective of her brother and pissing her off meant the end of his life. He became more aggressive as time passed, to the point that his kills were gruesome and brutal compared to his swift ones. Even his greatest strength started deteriorating from master assassin to average. And to add more to his list, he even tried to kill Spectre during his hospitalization by cutting off the necessary machines that kept him alive. All in his quest to make him suffer. The old him─the one built from reasoning and understanding─began to surface again, fighting with his current self in a battle of morals. Of the right thing.
He looked up to see Aqua taking his fist in both of her gentle hands. Her thumbs started undoing his enclosed hand and she looked at him with hopeful aquamarine eyes as her body trembled from her sobbing. Leon gently put a hand on her cheek, thumb wiping away the tears that fell from that eye and brushing some of the stands of her short blue hair behind her ear.
"Leon, I know I'm going to say this for the millionth time but…just let it go. I don't want to lose you, both to the Darkness and at the hands of another Dark Knight that could kill you. Deep down, we both know he didn't want to do it. Spectre's the one that's holding us together after Vesper died, so please. Please understand the burden he has on his shoulders just to hold the kazoku together and trying to reunite the Dark Knights and Guardians. Spectre defied the Cyphers for a reason all his life, and he used the Absolution Directive as his final act of betrayal. All of us should be there to support him, not hurt him further. He needs all of us."
"Even now that Reaper's a part of this?"
"Even Reaper."
Aqua was right. He didn't want to admit that she was right, damn it. Now that he had his mind cleared from the shroud of hatred, something he never wanted to do, he saw that he wasn't the same anymore. As such, he pulled her into his embrace and held her tightly as though it would be their last.
The lion will stand proud and roar once again, thanks to a wise raven helping him up after he fell.
A/N: Phew, got this one done in time before a storm starts coming. A storm known as…winter break. Yeah, yeah, I tend to be slightly lazy around this point in time but I have a couple of specials planned and hopefully churn out another chapter before 2016 ends…yeah.
THEPHANTOM50 (II-XIV): Glad to see you're still enjoying it! And good luck on that reread: hopefully by then you'll be up to speed on the story!
Before I go guys, enjoy the Dawning while it lasts and maybe I'll see you in the SRL! (I'm a PS4 user, sorry for Xbox users reading this story. For PS4 users, you'll find me dressed as Spectre's Titan appearance ─Spektar Pandion Helmet, Pandion Type 0 Gauntlets, Duskrender Type 0 Chest, Dunemarchers, and Honor of Cormorant w/Old Guard Shader─) Until next time, Guardians!
