Guest: Um…
To Lyger 0: Not too many creatures have demonstrated the ability to take a supercharged Cataclysm like that!
To yellow 14: Good question! It does actually get answered eventually – or at least what the Tarasque's ultimate goal is.
"Lupa!" Águila Altíssimo's eyes went wide with terror as the Tarasque reared back, its eyes glowing a sickly red. The Monster was about to unleash its fire vision on her – on the mother of his children. With a thought, Águila Altíssimo allowed his wings to disappear and dropped toward the ground under the control of gravity. He left his stomach far behind him, hurtling faster and faster toward the ground and bringing his arms close to reduce drag. His ears popped. His eyes watered. Rocketing downward, he pulled back with both hands over his head and hurled his mace at the top of the Tarasque's snout. The mace slammed into the Tarasque with a crack, but all its focus was on Lupa Gris, standing atop a police car directly in front of it. A dozen meters from the ground, just below the level of the Tarasque's head, he shouted, "Fly High!" and unfurled his wings as they appeared, throwing out his hand to recall his mace. A beam of fire shot out from the Tarasque's eyes just as he interposed himself between it and Lupa Gris, twirling his mace around by its handle strap in a shield. The force of the blast knocked him backward, but he flapped his wings as hard as he could, fighting against the force of the fire. He gritted his teeth, his eyes narrowed as he glared at the Tarasque through the swirling shield of his mace. The handle warmed uncomfortably in his grip.
"Get. Her. Away!" he grunted, straining against the Tarasque's fire vision.
Below him, Waktiman sprinted under the Tarasque toward Lupa Gris, twisting around as he reached her and calling, "Shellac!" His bracer expanded down his arm and lengthened, covering his entire body in a hardened outer shell just as the fire vision knocked Águila Altíssimo to the side out of its path. At the same moment, Waktiman jumped onto the police car in front of Lupa Gris and took the fire beam right in the chest. He howled at the impact as the fire beam drove him down into the car's roof with a crack. Bouncing on impact, Waktiman was thrown backward, off the police car, and the fire vision melted through the police car's roof, forming a pool of melted metal and plastic underneath it.
With a cry, Lupa Gris leaped off the police car just as Waktiman reached her, angling toward Águila Altíssimo. Dropping a little lower, he contorted in midair, holding out his mace to her and retracting the spikes. She grabbed onto the mace ball with both hands, and Águila Altíssimo plummeted two meters, nearly dragging her feet along the ground as he fought for altitude. He caught a quick glimpse of the Tarasque's tail out of the corner of his eye and dropped one wing, barely avoiding it, before hurtling down the street in front of the Tarasque.
Unrestrained, the Tarasque barreled forward, crushing the destroyed police car as the rest of the police line collapsed, racing to either side and back toward the city center in a complete rout. Alpac-Man sprinted in front of the Tarasque's legs and grabbed Waktiman, pulling him up off the ground and throwing his arm over his shoulder. The Tarasque spewed out a cloud of poison breath, catching both heroes in the face. Alpac-Man stumbled and pitched forward as the poison took effect, dropping Waktiman in the process. The Tarasque loomed large above them.
"We have to help them!" Lupa Gris pleaded, looking back behind them as Águila Altíssimo flew her down the street to safety.
"I have to keep you safe!" Águila Altíssimo insisted, sparing a glance over his shoulder. Iron Maiden shot her grappling hook at Alpac-Man, as Turing did the same at Waktiman. Turning their jets to maximum, they pulled the two heroes away in opposite directions just as the Tarasque reached them. It turned its fire vision on Turing, who shot higher into the air. The grappling wire, caught in the blast, melted and sent Waktiman hurtling into the side of the closest building. He seemed to revive just in time to cushion his blow, but stumbled on trying to regain his footing. Águila Altíssimo saw the second police line just in front of them and dropped Lupa Gris on the ground beside Prefect Raincomprix. "Make sure she stays here!" he ordered the prefect before taking off, back up into the sky. "Cuff her if you have to!"
"Goddamn it!" screamed Lupa Gris after him. "I'm not some helpless damsel!"
Águila Altíssimo couldn't respond. He scanned the city all around him. The group of heroes had been scattered, stretched out from Saint-Denis where the fight had started all the way to this police line, just inside the Paris city limits. Anansi raced down the street parallel to the Tarasque on her Spider-Bike, peppering its side with pulses from her Spi-Drone. Multiplice, Ayilon, and Rena Rouge sprinted along the tops of the buildings a block west of the Tarasque, trying to keep abreast of it. Ladybug and Cat Noir had gathered a group just in front of the Tarasque, with Ryoku, Bengalia, Tyran-X, Miss Pinky, and Bandruí. At a glance, Águila Altíssimo could see what they were trying to do, even before Miss Pinky planted another line of vines – these thicker than the last – across the street in front of the Tarasque. Cat Noir drove his staff into the ground at an angle and hit the button to extend it, launching himself straight up at the Tarasque's head. The Tarasque turned its gaze on him, only for Ryoku to shoot upward, propelled by her Wind Dragon, and send a burst of lightning straight into the Tarasque's mouth and down its throat. The Tarasque glared at her, fire building in its eyes, as she shot above it. The staff struck it in the throat, and Cat Noir leapt onto the Tarasque's shell, clawing his way up onto its back. Ladybug and Tyran-X looped their yo-yo and lasso around the Tarasque's legs as Bandruí coaxed the vines into doing the same.
It was a noble effort, but Águila Altíssimo could already see that it wouldn't hold the Tarasque for long.
"To me!" Águila Altíssimo bellowed, waving a hand in the air. Further to the north, Hato Gozen looked up at him and lifted off the ground, followed by Olivet. Estrella, Majestia, Uncanny Valley, Turing, and all the flying heroes wheeled about in the air and joined him, along with Mecha-Man and Albailier. Águila Altíssimo took them in with a glance and held his mace high. "We need to hit it with everything we've got! Cat Noir needs a distraction!" With that, he gripped his mace tightly in both hands and threw himself toward the Tarasque. With a shout, over a dozen other heroes turned to follow, with Águila Altíssimo at the point of a tight wedge. Hearing the roar from above, the Tarasque turned to face them, reared back its head, and unleashed the full fury of its fire vision on them. The air ahead filled with fire, mingled with green poison.
"Wehren!" The Knight burst past Águila Altíssimo from behind and held out his sword, pointing it straight at the fire vision. A shimmering white shield in the shape of a snowplow formed where he pointed, deflecting the fire off to the side and away from the flying heroes, tracing a line of fire through the buildings to either side. Águila Altíssimo pushed himself faster, even as it became harder and harder to breathe. Behind him, the Lancer fell behind, coughing. Valkyrie and Albailier peeled away next, circling above them. The Tarasque shrieked and, with a splintering sound like shattering glass, the Knight's shield disintegrated. Águila Altíssimo wound up and threw his mace past the Knight's shoulder, just as the Knight brought his sword forward and send a tidal wave of fire at the Tarasque. Coyotemarialada drew an enormous laser cannon from her pouch and fired a steady beam which merged with those from a dozen other heroes – in the air and on the ground. The Tarasque's fire vision broke past and into the cloud of flying heroes, who scattered in all directions. Águila Altíssimo dove below the fire, which still singed his wings. Turing spun around in midair to avoid it, clipped Uncanny Valley, and careened into the side of a building. Estrella took the full force of the fire to her face, absorbed most of it, but was thrown backward into Sabianjeira. The two tumbled together to the ground, slamming into the pavement and sending a shockwave in both directions down the street. Estrella landed prone on top of Sabianjeira, who gasped sickeningly. Estrella's face smoldered and flickered as energy discharged in all directions and melted the ground beneath her, searing Sabianjeira with each discharge.
Green poison covered the ground beneath them as the Tarasque lumbered forward. Ladybug and Bandruí both started to cough, doubling over wheezing, and Bengalia grabbed both of them, threw them over her shoulders, and sprinted away from the Tarasque. Without Bandruí's influence, the vines holding the Tarasque in place slipped off, and it trotted forward, brushing Cat Noir's staff aside. On its back, Cat Noir stumbled before swinging his arms around to catch his balance. He steadied himself and called on his Cataclysm.
Águila Altíssimo scanned the Tarasque quickly. The nick in its back from the first time Cat Noir had stabbed it was still there, though barely visible. Cat Noir stood on its shell directly behind that spot, but the folds of its skin almost entirely covered it as the Beast stared up into the sky. Águila Altíssimo was the only one left flying above it, as the other heroes had scattered. Eyes narrowed in concentration, he dove, calling back his mace and catching himself a few meters from the ground. The Tarasque lowered its head, and its eyes glowed red.
Cat Noir leapt off the Tarasque's shell, Dark Sword clutched in both hands, and drove the tip of the Sword into the Tarasque's neck, hitting it in the exact same spot. Another black pulse of energy erupted from the Tarasque, but when it had dissipated, the Tarasque still stood, green smog wreathing its head. Águila Altíssimo looked past the Tarasque's head to see worry on Cat Noir's face. The Tarasque snorted out twin plumes of poisoned air and charged, swinging its tail in all directions. Águila Altíssimo dodged to one side as the tail darted over the Tarasque's head and through the space he had just occupied. Cat Noir jumped away from it, swallowing a flight power-up as he went and summoning his staff back to himself, which deployed a para-glider wing. He flew back south, away from the Tarasque, following Bengalia, Ladybug, and Bandruí.
More and more of the heroes were beginning to give in to the effects of the poison gas as it permeated through the city. Behind him, Águila Altíssimo could see the police line beginning to falter as the Tarasque neared. Several officers were already down, choking on the poison. Lupa Gris was holding herself up, leaning against a van, as the Tarasque barreled down the street toward her. Águila Altíssimo's stomach clenched, seeing the danger. He had to do something, but what could he do? Anansi shot the grappling hook from her Spider-Bike at Sombra, who had stumbled and fallen, coughing, in front of the Tarasque. The Tarasque's fire vision severed the cable, nearly hitting Sombra, who fell to the ground and barely rolled out of the way of its paw as it came down.
So many of the heroes were feeling the effects of the Taraque's poison, but what could he do? Then, a distant memory came back to him. Atsaa had once described the way that Fly High works by saying that it would "free" him from the effects of gravity, but that it could work to "free" from other effects as well. Could it work on the poison breath – even temporarily? A look at Lupa Gris showed that he was out of options. His own limbs were starting to feel sluggish from the effects of the poison, even flying high above it. On the ground, Onça Feroz had run over to Lupa Gris, but she was in no better state than Lupa Gris. Onça Feroz could barely keep her legs under her, stumbling as she grabbed Lupa Gris' arm and pulled her out of the street.
But they would never make it away in time.
He had to do something.
"Take care of my family," Águila Altíssimo ordered, switching his communicator to a limited band.
"What–what are you thinking?" Dan demanded.
"Promise!"
"Of course! But–"
"There's no time! Get her out of here!" Águila Altíssimo scanned the road between the Tarasque and Lupa Gris, searching for the right spot.
"Wait – Pablo!" The panic in Lupa Gris' voice came through clearly.
But Águila Altíssimo had already turned over into a steep dive. "I love you!" The Tarasque's eyes glowed red. Lupa Gris and Onça Feroz stood right in front of it, hardly halfway to the side of the street and safety. Onça Feroz had planted herself right in front of Lupa Gris, spinning her tematlatl in a tight loop in one hand to form a shield, with Lupa Gris' war club clutched in the other. The Tarasque's eyes lit up with fire. Águila Altíssimo concentrated with every fiber of his being on what he wanted and shouted, "Fly High!" A golden pulse emanated from his mace in all directions, working its way through the green smoke and shifting its coloration the slightest bit. The green haze around Águila Altíssimo began to dissipate, just as the Tarasque shot out its fire. He spun his mace, blocking most of the fire, though some slipped around the edges, singeing his wings.
"It–it did something!" Onça Feroz shouted, breathing deeply and half-dragging Lupa Gris to the side. "Now get out of there!"
Águila Altíssimo spared a quick glance. They were still within a single pace of the Tarasque. Setting his mouth in a thin line, he turned back to the Beast. "No! Get her out of here! Now!"
"Pablo!"
"NOW!"
Pushing his wings to the limit, Águila Altíssimo charged straight into the Tarasque's face, pumping until he thought his wings would give out and then pushing past all limits. He spun his mace as rapidly as he could, but it only took one shift of the Tarasque's gaze for more of the fire to slip past his guard and catch his shoulder. He stumbled, his mace dropped the slightest bit, and the Tarasque's fire caught him full in the face. He could feel his hair starting to catch fire from the heat surrounding his helmet. The force of the fire drove him straight into the ground on his back, and he heard as much as felt his back pop. His wings were on fire, but he didn't need them anymore – he dismissed them. With the last of his strength he hurled his mace into the Tarasque's eye socket, and the fire's intensity dropped the tiniest bit. Lupa Gris' screams rang out in his ears, but they meant she was alive. She and Marco and the little one… they would all survive. His family would live.
He allowed that thought to buoy him as the Tarasque's paw crashed down on top of him.