Chapter 20: Second Phase (Not the Guts)
The battle with the Star-vaders had for the most part been finished. Now all that was left was dealing with the stragglers. Gravity Ball was tearing through some of the cyberoid bodies while muttering to himself, as if digging through their remains wasn't terribly ghoulish enough.
Looking over at him, I remarked, "Ya having fun there? Enjoying re-enacting the butcher scenes from a horror movie?"
"Frankenstein might be more appropriate," he grunted, "especially given… Oi Egoling, Code 0517. Dumbass tried to overpower a Lock." Then he smirked as he pulled out something covered in fake blood and some other tool from its pockets.
I blinked, realized that he was talking about me, and then promptly ignored it as I pointed out, "At most, Frankenstein was more of a grave digger than a butcher. More of a stitcher, you know?" It was then that I had to think deeply. How'd the munchkin know about Frankenstein?
"As fun as it might be to debate literary references and diagnose the specific ways in which a fictional character acquired his body parts… I think we'll be a bit too busy for that right now," he said as Colony Maker laid a hand on my shoulder.
Turning my gaze to her, I gave her a pat on the shoulder in return, "Good hustle out there, really knocked it out of the park. So proud of you."
She put pressure on my shoulder and as I leaned back, I ended up stumbling over something and falling down. Looking up at her, I murmured, "What fresh betrayal is this?" and then she dropped so that she was keeping me from getting up.
"I'm told this will be quite painful," the gremlin added with an insincere smile as he walked over to the two of us. "But then again… Pavlovian conditioning. Dumbass equals pain."
Bucking against the Colony Maker's grip, I growled, "I will have vengeance! You can't do this to me! This is against the rules!"
"The fact I can should tell you something," Gravity Ball murmured. "Now, try to not bite out your own tongue while I try and save your stupid life." With that he started to pull open my chest.
"I will take your tongue and use it to choke you, you fiend! I protest, I protest!" I tried to shake the pair of them off, flailing beneath them wildly. "Colony Maker, honey, I'll buy you all the tie-dye shirts you want if you help me out!"
When afraid and in pain, even bargaining is allowed. "This actually really hurts trash-dragon!"
"Good! Okay, that's the false skin and nerve endings…" Gravity Ball said with his hands about two inches deep into my chest. "Main Void conduit overloaded, expected and life-threatening; Secondary leaking… Well… We've got enough parts. Mostly." There was a flick and something black, sticky, and runny began to slide down my chest.
Grimacing down at it, I griped, "Listen, I get that I might have overdone it, but I doubt it was actually that bad…" Okay, the black gunk is kind of worrying.
"We're hyper-specialized, scrap-for-brains," Gravity Ball said as he continued to work. "Every vessel and mana node is constructed to channel Void Magic in exactly one way. One way which none of us have been doing. If you were a pure organic you'd have probably burned out either your armour or the mana nodes in your skin by now. Especially by trying to overpower the Lock. So, yes, it's that bad."
Nodding at the explanation, I considered it for a moment before declaring, "Well, clearly, we need to make it so we can all do as I did, and have it actually work." Jokes help, right? God, I'm actually feeling kinda sick.
There was a particular lance of pain that managed to combine a throb and a pinpoint accurate point at once. "You don't overpower Locks. You outwit, you unravel them," the Cyber Dragon sneered. "Now shut up and let me finish before anyone can see your insides."
Glaring at the dragon, I grit my teeth and prepared for more pain. But, before falling silent, I muttered, "Witness me." I also took a moment to send a betrayed look at the Colony Maker, how cruel of her to do this to me.
The Cyber Dragon continued to work, though with more and more advice from the Colony Maker, seemed she knew more about Cyberiod bodies than he did. With a tork that looked anything but delicate, and a bang that sounded more like sheet metal than anything organic, the pair let out a sigh of relief.
"Immediate danger has passed," the Colony Maker stated from where she was looking over the patch job. "Recommendation is to avoid using Void Magic until more complete repairs can be done."
I let out a grunt and wheeze, "Well, I can probably manage that if I'm not forcibly sent out to the frontlines again." That last part was aimed at the Shadow Paladins, but as I could see none of them, I settled for glaring at the trash-goblin. "When are you kids going to let me up?"
"You want to walk around without skin on your chest?"
Having not considered that, I grumbled a little bit. "Do you have anything to replace it with, or is this going to be an ongoing issue?"
I really didn't want that to be the case. Jesus Christ, I'd look like something out of a horror film if I did that.
"Fortunately for you, the Clan is adept enough at Infiltration Models that their fake skin can be reattached if taken off properly, like we were able to." The Gravity Ball snarked back at me, clearly having fun with this small bit of power he'd gained.
My gaze rolled back to him and I growled, "Then staple me up! It'd be terrible to have all my guts hanging out! Imagine the mess!"
"It's more the secrets that concern me," he said as Colony Maker helped him pull it into place. "Though on that subject… In this continued lunacy you seem determined to drag around as "the future" ...Let's say Cray wins, best case scenario… Where does that leave Link Joker? What happens to us if the Star-vaders lose?"
"I dunno if I'm allowed to disclose that…" I murmured, thinking over the implications. "Seriously dude, especially out here on the battlefield."
"We're Clan, imbecile! If there's anyone who's allowed to know, it should be us! I know that the Clan survives should Cray win, but where and how?"
I looked at the growling visage above me, allowing my eyes to flicker over to the ever-cool tempered Colony Maker before sighing. Me, the Colony Maker, and the Gravity Ball, I honestly didn't know what might become of us, given the timing of our split from the Star-vaders.
With a frog in my throat, I replied, "Honestly? No fucking clue after the immediate invasion. We'd be the first then, rather then the case being the Link Joker being accepted into Cray and being reborn through Harmonics Messiah. We'd have to carve our own place… but by fighting beside them, we can at least ensure goodwill from the people of Cray."
Gravity Ball looked at me like he was convinced that I had lost even more sanity during the last ten seconds than I had in all the time he'd known me previously. Then he shook his head, "Craian clan… Already guessed… Ignore the stupid… Okay… Where? What Nation?"
"I'd really just be happy with an island somewhere, because that'd be fine with me. You got any preferences? Because we have the aesthetics for Star Gate, though we're already endearing ourselves to the United Sanctuary," I offered, feeling more than a little like I was at the end of my rope.
"Void eat my frustration," he spat to the air, now completely talking to himself. "Okay, don't bet on any given Nation." Then his eyes snapped back to me for a bit, "We're going to need to overhaul these bodies or build new ones. I'll walk you over the designs, but don't share them with anyone outside the Clan. Since you don't know what Nation we belong to, just don't."
"Alright, but shouldn't we let the United Sanctuary stuff know that we're doing some big overhauling? Because seriously, we agreed to transparency, and I don't want to get ganked for lying to them," I grumbled, trying to at least explain that much.
"I'll send them the list of bodies we'd need and diagrams of the parts we'd be using. They consider us foreign nationals right now. From what the Clan learned, it's a big deal to hand over the secrets of a Clan to members of a different Nation. Stealing them is grounds to start a war, especially if used against the Clan. They won't be asking that much, at least not if you make it clear that you don't know what Nation we're a part of." Then he took the tool he'd been using and cleaned it of as much fluid as he could before handing it to the Colony Maker. "Give this to our newest. The Shadow Paladins will probably need it modify his armor. And if we're a different nation after fighting off the Star-vaders… We can work out Geasa or something."
Colony Maker nodded and headed off to the Cosmo Dragon, tool in hand.
"Sounds good to me." Honestly, I was soaring by the seat of my jeans. After a few moments of thought, I piped up, "Honestly, the only Nation I'd be against joining would be Zoo. Can you imagine how hard it'd be for us to fit in there?"
"I could build you to be a Cyber Beast, if you need it," he said motioning to the dead Orthros and Hydra. "We have the parts."
I didn't even need to think as I deadpanned, "Thanks for the offer, but like hell you're turning me into a fucking furry."
The Gravity Ball Dragon actually had the gall to blink in actual confusion. "What fur?"
"Eh, it still stands. Furries are weird like that. Fuckin furries…" I trailed off, wondering if Cray even had a Furry subculture. Maybe they were Trans-beast? Oh god, what sort of hole have I fallen into mentally?
Before I could torture myself further with more mentally deprived images, there was a screeching voice digging its nails into the chalkboard of reality as it screamed, "Darling!"
My eyes widened as my head turned in the direction where the Shadow Paladins had been fighting the Pale Moon, terrified and curious as to what the hell was happening over there. Seriously, that's a goddamn terrifying cry.
'What the hell was happening' appeared to be Mordred Phantom catching Luquier as she went unconscious, hopefully from the battle that they had been waging. The 'two' elves (and black pegasus) being about the only beings near each other in a circle of fallen Craians.
Despite the great distance between them and my group, the two leaders had managed to tear though just about any resistance either side had tried to put up. Though I did notice Junos close enough to the carnage as he dropped another Pale Moon, that he might have been involved. I couldn't help but sigh at the sight, this shit is getting too wild.
Who let things get this far off the rails?
"Well," Charon said coming over to us, a slight smile gracing his features. "I'd be most appreciative if you could sort this latest issue out before we meet with Amon. You've done so well so far. If we manage those two, our expedition here will have met all its goals."
I turned my gaze back up to the sky, not bothering to try and parse what the small giant would get out of this as I replied, "Well, so long as I'm given some time to recover. Holy shit, I'd rather not have to fight Amon if I'm in danger of falling to bits."
Rolling my gaze over to the giant, I continued, "Well, at least it'll be good if we actually achieve our goals."
"That is the main measure of Success."
"I'm not used to things going according to plan here on Cray, if my unplanned arrest didn't make that clear enough," I grumbled, entirely too tempted to try stretching, but who knew how that might end?
"We knew you were no tactician long before we asked you to come," he said calmly. 'Asked.' "If you were, the probability of sabotage would have been too high. But instead you have a knowledge that can allow you to alter Яeversed, and it seems know more than a few dirty secrets. That, I can plan for. That the dragon you mind can plan for. We just need you to do what it seems only you can," he said before motioning again to Luquier.
Eyeing the elf, I declared, "She's red hot, but I ain't touching that hot mess with a ten foot pole till she's pacified."
The Giant's smile turned a bit vicious. "But… That is your job."
"…Can we at least knock her out and tie her up first?"
