Here's the last chapter of the Aurum arc!
Enjoy! ;)
Chapter 17: The Aurum Brain
Previously, the three major forces have managed to further cripple the Aurum by destroying its massive Hive, where battleships were being created nonstop. With the first and second waves out of the way, it was now time for them to wage an all-out assault on the third and final wave: the Aurum Brain Fortress, a structure that houses the central nerve of the entire Aurum fleet.
"Let's finish the Aurum once and for all!" Pit declared as he and his friends ran out the gates, diving straight into a passel of more Aurum vessels.
[BGM: Aurum Brain – Kid Icarus Uprising]
"Commencing Underworld assault on the Aurum central nervous system!" Hades proclaimed as a few Gyrazers, Miks and Monoeyes came into the scene to destroy some Tribytes that came their way.
"Children! Our final target is the brains behind this operation! The Aurum Brain!" Viridi commanded her forces as they came in next.
Then, as of cue, Pyrrhon flew onto the scene. "Sun god Pyrrhon on the scene! Now with added Pyro Cannon action!" he fired a massive beam of fire from his hands at one of the battleships, destroying it outright.
"With all us gods – er, and Pyrrhon – united, the Aurum Brain doesn't stand a chance." Palutena said.
"It's kind of crazy!" Pit exclaimed. "The biggest egos in the universe working together?"
"Drive the intruders back into space, minions!" Hades ordered.
"We cannot lose! Our planet's very existence is on the line!" Viridi added.
"Do your thing, Pyro Snake! Shazammitylam!" Pyrrhon shouted, unleashing a moving trail of flames on a nearby Aurum Island.
"Everyone seems to be in good spirits, though." Zelda noted.
"Or they've finally lost it." Palutena replied as the gang shot their way through several Aurum enemies, as they were starting to get closer to the giant Aurum Fortress up ahead. "Now that we've defeated the Aurum Hive, we need to take down that fortress."
"It's huge!" Pit exclaimed, stunned by the sheer size of it.
"It houses the Aurum Brain, which controls every single Aurum unit."
"How did you know that?" Shulk asked.
"Oh, Pyrrhon told me."
"…Man, is that guy obsessed with the Aurum or what?" Arusu wondered. "He sure knows a lot about them."
Pyrrhon flew by. "That's because I spend a lot of time on Divinipedia."
"Divinipedia? Send me the link." Pit requested.
"I guess that's their universe's version of Wikipedia…" Jewel thought with an amused smile as she opened fire at some Quoils.
"The time of learning has passed. Attack the Aurum Brain!" Pyrrhon demanded and flew off, leaving the gang to deal with more Aurum troops on the way as they flew around the Fortress, those consisting of Aurum Miks, Aurum Monoeyes, Rezdas, Jyoks, Blits, Plixos, and Nukleens.
Soon, they managed to find a pathway that led inside the Fortress. "We're heading in!" Pit said as they sped up into the pathway, which was pure black on the inside but they soon came upon a light at the end.
"This path will take us directly to the Aurum Brain." Pyrrhon said as they went into the light, finding themselves flying into a much more spacious pathway with a few Sios and Claxises inside. "Come on, pals! It's time for us to take this space junk to the space dump!"
The gang flew through the path, taking out the aforementioned Aurum enemies as they did, until they eventually reached a large room with a large, pale yellow core in the middle that was suspended in midair by an intricate network of circular-like metallic beams of varying sizes.
"So this is the Aurum Brain…" Pit mused.
"Do your thing, pals. You know, your… shooting thing." Pyrrhon requested, and so they proceeded to lay it on the Aurum Brain and dodging its attacks. It seemed pretty simple, but almost too easy… and just when they had it in the bag, Pyrrhon suddenly flew in and declared, "It's brain-frying time!"
"Wait, what are you doing?!" Trifle questioned, and in one slow-motion moment, Pyrrhon dived straight into the Aurum Brain… and all of a sudden, the whole room began to turn red as the Brain seemingly exploded with fire. "Ah, shit!" Trifle exclaimed.
"Hold on, everyone! I'm getting you out!" Palutena shouted, quickly speeding up their wings.
"Waaaaaaaah!" they screamed as they flew out of the room and back through the pathway, the explosive flames from behind licking at their heels.
"Just a little farther!" Palutena exclaimed as the gang neared the exit, and luckily, they managed to make it outside just as the flames caught up to them, incinerating a nearby battleship in the process.
Everyone gave out a big sigh of relief. "That was too close…!" Eleven remarked.
"I don't know what even happened in there!" Pit said. "Did Pyrrhon make it out?"
"Ha ha ha ha ha!" just then, Pyrrhon's signature laugh filled the air… except this one sounded far less heroic than it usually did and instead, sounded more…evil.
"What the…?" Eight breathed, looking around.
"Oh, no…" Solo whispered in horror.
"HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Pyrrhon laughed louder… and that's when a large astral projection of him appeared in front of the Fortress. "Nicely done!"
"Pyrrhon?" Pit asked.
"Thanks to you, Pyrrhon has leveled up! I am now a Level Infinity Epic Super God…Plus! Ultimate power is now Pyrrhon's!"
"I knew it!" Melia shouted. "I knew he was suspicious!"
"Okay, I get it…" Pit sweatdropped and then turned back to Pyrrhon, "But what are you talking about?"
"This is what I'm talking about!" Pyrrhon replied as his projection disappeared. At that moment, the Aurum troops around the gang began to change from green to red.
"The Aurum troops changed color!" Shulk exclaimed.
"That's not good!" Jewel said, avoiding an Aurum Mik's tongue before quickly firing back at it.
"HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Pyrrhon laughed. "I'm pulling the Aurum strings now! Not even the combined power of the gods can stop me!"
"Oh, snap! Poor Pitty and his goody-goody friends got duped!" Hades teased.
"Oh, will you be quiet?!" Arusu retorted as they were dealing with the now improved Aurum enemies.
"Yeah, this might not be the best time to rub salt in the wound." Viridi threw in.
"What kind of rat tricks an angel and some humans, Pyrrhon?!" Pit questioned, anger and betrayal clearly heard in his tone.
"What?! I can't hear you over all this AWESOME!" Pyrrhon mockingly replied.
The gang did their best to fight off the stronger Aurum enemies, but their numbers were too great and they could feel themselves being overwhelmed by them quickly. "Yow!" Pit yelled as he was hit by a Blit's projectile. "This is intense!"
"There's too many of them!" Eleven grimaced. "At this point, we'll tire out!"
"So, anyone have any bright ideas on how to take him out?" Hades casually asked.
"I suppose we have no choice." Viridi said. "This is it, my single remaining jewel." it was then that the gang noticed a very familiar meteor-like object falling towards the Fortress… in which they immediately recognized it and their eyes shot wide in shock.
"Wait a second… Is that a RESET BOMB?!" Trifle yelled.
"Well…I guess it's better than nothing at this moment…" Solo shrugged.
"Time to let nature take its course!" Viridi grinned as the Bomb exploded into a wave of brambles on impact, creating a shockwave that nearly blew the gang away.
"Gah!" Pit yelped, he and his friends shielding their faces from the explosion. "This is out of control!"
Viridi laughed in victory. "Who's awesome now, Pyrrhon?!" unfortunately… her victory would be short lived as the Reset Bomb Forest created began to burn up until it was completely gone. "WHAT?!" Viridi yelled in disbelief.
"HA HA HA HA HA HA! Is that really all you've got?" Pyrrhon taunted.
"How could this happen?!"
"That's a very good question!" Trifle retorted with obvious sarcasm. "How can a bomb that practically creates forests not work on fire? BECAUSE FIRE IS KNOWN TO BURN FORESTS!" he yelled in exasperation, getting sick of Viridi's stupidity.
"Everyone, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the power of flight and the Magic Wings are running out." Palutena spoke up.
"What?!" the gang yelled.
"So now what?!" Pit questioned.
"I'm sorry, everyone. I have to get you all out of there." with that said, a column of light surrounded them… oooonly to abruptly disappear. "Oh no!"
"What's wrong?" Viridi asked.
"I can't extract them. I don't understand why."
"That's because you don't have an associate's degree in telepathic interference!" Pyrrhon said.
"Are you blocking me?"
"Yep, and with angel boy and his human friends gone, no one can stop me from taking over the Earth!"
Despite that, the gang kept on fighting off Aurum troops, but it was beginning to get progressively harder to do so, especially for Pit since he could feel his wings starting to catch on fire, and even his friends noticed.
"Pit, your wings!" Zelda cried.
"Nnngh… My wings are getting hot!" Pit winced.
"I'm sorry, Pit!" Palutena apologized. "I can only carry your friends farther at this point, but not you! I have to cut off the power of flight!" and with that… the glow on Pit's wings disappeared and he was immediately sent plummeting down.
[BGM End]
"Waaaaah!" Pit screamed.
"PIT!" the group and Palutena yelled.
"Mayday! Mayday! This looks like the end! I never learned how to REEEEEAD!"
"Ugh, pull yourself together! I've got you covered!" Viridi said.
"Viridi!" Pit exclaimed and looked down, seeing a large platform that was brought over by a group of six Nutskis.
"All you have to do is line yourself up with the platform below."
With that, Pit steadied himself and lined himself up with the platform, managing to land on it safely. Well, with the only exception of injuring his back in the process, due to landing on the platform on his back.
[BGM: Aurum Brain's Fortress (First Half) – Kid Icarus Uprising]
"Ouch…" Pit groaned as he slowly got back up.
"Pit!" Zelda's voice called, as Pit looked up to see his friends flying down to him and landing on the platform, thus allowing Palutena to disable their Magic Wings. "We're so glad you're all right!" Zelda beamed in relief.
"Same." Pit replied with a smile before looking up at the sky to address Viridi, "But why did you save me, Viridi? I don't get it."
"There's nothing to get. Just shut your yapper and get ready to fight!" Viridi ushered as some Tribytes came down to them, and so the gang initiated their shooting.
"By invading our land, the Aurum have declared war on all of us." Palutena said. "And with Pyrrhon on their side, they've become even more powerful! If we don't defeat them today, we may not have a tomorrow."
"Ugh, do you ever get tired of being such a nerd? All you need are twenty-sided dice and some thick glasses."
Then Palutena actually put on glasses. "My X-ray specs allow me to see your ignorance."
"Yeah yeah, enough with the lame comedy routine. It's time for us to strike!"
More Aurum enemies then showed up to attack the gang as they tried to dodge the shots… "AGH!" oooonly for them to bump into each other instead due to the platform being too small for them. It wasn't that bad for them in the beginning aside from little to no room to move around, but in this segment with more enemies showing up, this lack of room problem is now starting to become more prevalent for them.
"Ugh…" Pit groaned. "This isn't much space to fight on."
"Picky picky! Maybe this will suit His Majesty and his loyal human servants a little better." Viridi said as another group of Nutskis came in bringing a larger platform for the gang, in which they immediately hopped on it.
"Thanks! This is MUCH better!"
"It looks like Viridi has also donated some of her forces to carry the platform." Palutena said. "But this platform is bigger, so there's more room for enemies. Stay on your guard!"
And right on cue, an Aurum Skuttler and a Zaurum landed on said platform but got immediately destroyed by the gang, before they next opened fire at more Tribytes as they were slowly approaching the Fortress. Along the way, they flew past a massive Aurum battleship from below.
"That Aurum ship flying overhead is the size of a continent!" Palutena exclaimed.
"If it were me, I wouldn't sweat it." Hades said.
"Enemies incoming, everyone!" Palutena called out, as a swarm of Quoils, Rozes and Taklaxes came in to attack the gang next.
"Get your own platform, jerks!" Pit growled as they fought off these enemies with ease, and as they did, another Aurum ship appeared… only that this one was heading straight for them.
"That Aurum ship is going to engulf your entire platform!" Viridi warned. And indeed, it did engulf the platform, leaving the gang trapped between two walls along with more Rozes in front of them that were slowly moving towards them.
"No! We're trapped!" Trifle growled, quickly firing a sword beam at the Rozes to destroy them.
"Aurum vermin!" Viridi cursed.
"They're well coordinated, I'll give them that." Hades admitted.
"Be careful, everyone! Those walls are extremely hot!" Palutena warned.
"Children! Full speed ahead! Hyah!" Viridi commanded as the Nutskis carrying the platform picked up the pace, but their progress would soon be blocked by a Dohz.
"There's an Aurum Dohz ahead blocking your way! Get rid of it!" Palutena ordered. Pit, having found a Boom Spear during the voyage, decided to toss it at the Dohz, hitting it at point-blank range and instantly obliterating it.
"All right!" Viridi cheered.
"My thoughts exactly!" Pit chimed in, and right after that, the gang managed to make it out of the ship.
"We made it out of the ship!" Jewel exclaimed.
"Good job, but there are enemies closing in from all directions. Watch out!" Palutena warned.
"Our little sun buddy must have a thing for little Pitty and his human friends." Hades noted.
"Of course he does." Viridi replied. "Pit's the only one that loon considers an equal… while those humans possess abilities that normal humans wish to have!"
The gang continued battling several Aurum enemies, during which a Kolma suddenly landed on the platform with a loud 'thud' that surprised them, "Ugh!"
"Looks like you've got company." Palutena stated the obvious.
"That Kolma is trying to scam a free ride! What a deadbeat!" Viridi complained.
"Attention, passengers! Those who fail to pay their fare must exit the vehicle." Hades joked.
"That joke is not even funny!" Melia retorted as they proceeded to destroy the Kolma and resumed their voyage, only for their progress to be impeded when an Aurum destroyer slammed into the platform.
"Whoaa!" the gang cried as the platform tilted abruptly to the left by the slam.
"You've got a battleship on your tail!" Viridi exclaimed, and at that moment, another Aurum destroyer slammed into the platform from the opposite side.
"Hoo boy!" Eight cried as they struggled to keep their balance.
"And one on your front!" Palutena added.
"No good! We're being sandwiched!" Shulk exclaimed.
"Ah, yes, the old sandwich tactic. How delectable!" Hades spoke amusedly.
"SHUT UP, HADES!" Viridi, Pit and Arusu yelled at the same time.
"Forces of Nature! Push that platform up and out of here!" Viridi commanded, and so the Nutskis successfully pushed the platform out of the battleship sandwich and right in front of the Fortress. "Good! You broke free!"
[BGM End]
Unfortunately, the brief respite was soon interrupted when Pyrrhon's laugher came in, "HA HA HA HA HA! I see you're hard at work!"
"Pyrrhon!" Pit growled.
"Pyrrhon Creed Number 427: Hard work should always be rewarded! Which is why I got a present. For me. To destroy you. It's Pyroblaster time!" and just then, a stream of fire began to head towards them.
"Huh?! Uh-oh!" Pit's eyes widened as he and the others saw the flames coming to them at a very fast speed that would be impossible for them to dodge it in time.
"Hold on!" Viridi shouted, and suddenly, the platform tilted upwards to shield the gang from the flames in time.
"Augh!" they cried out in surprise as they lost their balance on the platform by the force, but they quickly held on to the ground for dear life to avoid slipping and falling off.
"Come on, you guys! No wimping out!" Viridi told them as the gang held on the best they could, praying that they wouldn't lose their grips on the platform. Thankfully, though, it wasn't for too long until the flames finally ceased. "See? You're fine." Viridi said as the platform returned back to its normal position, allowing the gang to stand back up again. "Though I can't say the same for my troops that were carrying your platform."
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I feel terrible about this." Solo regretfully replied.
"Our Forces of Nature allies made the ultimate sacrifice." Palutena said with remorse. "But there's no point dwelling. I called for backup." immediately after she said that, the platform finally gave in and crumbled apart.
"Whoa whoa!" Pit cried in surprise as they fell, and then he looked around to see the Centurion army flying about. "Centurions?!" he asked as they eventually landed on an equally-large platform, which was held by Centurion Strongarms.
[BGM: Aurum Brain's Fortress (Second Half) – Kid Icarus Uprising]
"Whew. That was close." Eleven sighed.
One of the Centurion Strongarms flew to meet them. "Glad to see you're safe, you all!"
Pit, however, wasn't that relieved to see the Centurions out here. "The centurions are in way over their heads!" he said.
"They mean well. They're just not very effective." Palutena replied.
"Pretty harsh words for your own troops." Viridi criticized.
"Pull them out! I don't want them to get hurt!" Pit begged.
"Then how do you plan to make it to Pyrrhon?" Palutena questioned.
"I-I'll think of something!"
"We live to serve, Captain!" the Centurion Strongarm said. "Your and your friends' mission is to defeat Pyrrhon and eliminate the Aurum forces! We dedicate our energy and resources to helping you reach that goal!"
"…OK, OK. Then charge, soldiers!" Pit ordered as the Centurion Strongarms immediately picked up the pace, pulling the platform towards the Fortress while Pit and his friends handled the Aurum enemies that threatened to attack the centurions.
"You know, I'm surprised by how much you care about your soldiers, Pit." Eight commented as he was opening fire at an Aurum Specknose.
"I do. Why do you ask?" Pit asked.
"Because I used to work as captain of Trodain's royal guard before marrying Princess Medea and becoming the prince of Trodain."
Pit's eyes perked up. "Oh, really? That's neat! How long you've been captain, though?"
"Not for too long, actually. I only got to be captain for just six months."
"Ah, I see. And how was the experience?"
"Honestly, I didn't really enjoy it as much as being just a regular castle guard. Besides, I prefer to treat everyone as equals regardless of what class they are." Eight replied with honesty. "And there's also the fact that I couldn't see Medea as often as I could…" he thought to himself.
Pit chuckled. "Sounds like you're a pretty humble person, Eight."
"Yeah, I guess so." Eight chuckled back. "Maybe that's why I have very good social skills with just about anybody I meet."
"I definitely see your point there. Well, that's perfectly fine if you didn't like being captain that much unlike me. I respect your opinion and choice."
Eight smiled. "Thanks, Pit."
With that friendly conversation out of the way, the two focused back on taking out enemies and assisting the others, but as the gang was approaching the Fortress, Palutena noticed that the pathway they took earlier before Pyrrhon's betrayal was now inaccessible since it was completely engulfed in flames:
"It seems as if our previous path into the Aurum Brain is, well, aflame."
"You can thank Pyrrhon for that." Hades pointed out.
"You'll have to go around." Palutena said as the Centurion Strongarms then changed their course by going around the Fortress, where they would later find another opening.
"Going in!" the Centurion Strongarm announced.
"You've got Aurum enemies on your tail!" Palutena warned as half of the gang quickly turned around to dispatch the Aurum enemies from behind, while they were all taken into the opening and the inside of the Fortress again.
"There's an obstacle ahead!" the Centurion Strongarm warned as the gang looked on ahead to see a wall moving down in front of them, impeding their progress.
"Keep moving forward! I and my friends will take care of it!" Pit hollered as he and the group proceeded to smash through the wall easily, but then they were next being attacked by lasers.
"Jump over the lasers to avoid getting hit!" Palutena told them.
"They're coming from the battleship outside." Viridi stated.
"Ahh, alien ingenuity at its best." Hades said as the gang jumped over the lasers with no problems, and soon they made it to a larger area of the pathway.
[BGM End]
"We're closing in on Pyrrhon!" Viridi let them know.
"I hope he's decent." Hades smirked… but then, the whole area turned red and a horde of Aurum troops surrounded them.
[BGM: Battle in the Skies Above – Xenoblade Chronicles 2]
"Oh, great…" Trifle muttered.
"Get it together, everyone! My poor centurions are struggling. Destroy those enemies NOW!" Palutena hollered.
"We're trying our best!" Pit shouted as he slashed through two Aurum Monoeyes.
"Some goddess needs to go to leadership training…" Viridi mocked.
Two more Aurum Monoeyes came in to attack the gang as Pit shot arrows at them, but his shots were reflected back at him by a Rezda as he quickly pulled out his Guardian Orbitars to reflect the shots back at the Rezda, hitting it square on its core and was defeated, then Melia aimed at the two Aurum Monoeyes and shot at them, and then she casted Reflection to block everyone from a Jyok's laser beams before it got pelted by arrows from Zelda. Next, an Aurum Fire Wyrm slowly drifted by, only to get sliced and diced by Trifle's sword after he shot it a few times, and then he rolled away from a Roz's charge as Eleven stepped in to whack it away, and next to him, Solo shot another Jyok before it got the chance to unleash its laser beams.
A Xoneme landed on the platform shortly after as Arusu and Jewel made quick work on it by attacking it with melee attacks until it was destroyed, and then Arusu got in front of Jewel with his shield up to block a shot from two Tribytes that just showed up, as she thanked him for that before they both opened fire at the Tribytes to defeat them. A Kolma was the next enemy to land on the platform uninvited and proceeded to roll over the gang, forcing them to dodge out of the way before Shulk landed a Back Slash to topple it down and kill it with a charged shot from his cannon. Two Claxises appeared next and shot at the gang, but Eight did dash charged shots to send the projectiles back at the Claxises before homing shooting them to death, and when he suddenly found himself surrounded by two Aurum Skuttlers and an Aurum Urgle, the Hero struck them all with a Kazap to blow them away from him, allowing his comrades to finish each of these enemies off by slashing through them.
The final wave came in, first starting with a Zaurum and two Blits. Pit quickly equipped his Upperdash Arm to uppercut the Zaurum before shooting it in midair, while Zelda used Nayru's Love to reflect the Blits' shots back at them and then she fired a Silver Arrow at each of them to finish them off. Then, two Biotas appeared, with Jewel and Trifle making quick work on them by hitting their orbs back at them until they were defeated, and then another Rezda that was protecting a Dohz and two Tribytes came in, and so the whole gang worked together to take out the Rezda first before going for the Dohz and the Tribytes.
[BGM End]
Finally, after these enemies were done for, this tiring wave of Aurum enemies stopped. The gang was just relieved that it was over as they all sighed, while the platform resumed its course of proceeding forward further into the pathway.
"Pyrrhon is right up ahead!" Palutena said.
"Halt. Halt. Stay. Away." came Pyrrhon's voice, only that it sounded more…robotic?
"What…?!" Melia's eyes widened.
"Does something seem a little off about Pyrrhon?" Pit asked.
"How can you even tell?" Palutena wondered.
"Hmm, good point." Pit replied as the platform soon reached the end of this foreboding red tunnel.
They were immediately taken back into the room where the Aurum Brain rested, but it has been changed considerably: it now had an overall red coloration, and the Aurum Brain was now surrounded by a barrier and suspended by four green pillars. And merged with the Brain itself in a crucifixion pose was Pyrrhon, whose eyes were now glowing blue and there were cybernetic markings on his chest.
"01101011011010010110110001101100…" was what came out of Pyrrhon's mouth, speaking in that same robotic voice from earlier.
Everyone but Jewel was left confused. "Uuuuh, what is he saying…?" Eight asked.
"He's speaking in binary, which is a computer language." Jewel replied. "And according to my real-life persona who just sent me the translation… that message translates to 'Kill'…" she said with an uneasy look, as the others immediately mirrored her expression.
"Well, that makes perfect sense…" Shulk trailed off.
"Pyrrhon! What are you doing?!" Pit questioned and they all proceeded to battle.
[BGM: Boss Fight 1 – Kid Icarus Uprising]
"Are you really controlling the Aurum, Pyrrhon? Or are they controlling you?!" Pit interrogated.
"I… I… I will not be controlled…" Pyrrhon struggled to say. "WE WILL NOT BE CONTROLLED" …but then the Aurum Brain completely took over him, and spoke through his mouth.
Everyone gasped. "What the heck?!" Arusu exclaimed.
"Oh, boy. What's he gotten himself into?" Eleven asked.
"It's just as Pit expected. The Aurum Brain has overtaken Pyrrhon." Palutena replied.
"INTRUDERS MUST BE PURGED" Aurum Pyrrhon said. "WE MUST CONSUME ALL" he then proceeded to toss several explosive fireballs at the gang, but they avoided them. Looking around, the gang noticed the pillars that were powering up the shield protecting Aurum Pyrrhon, and so they proceeded to destroy them once they got into range.
"Just like bugs, the Aurum are powerful as a swarm, but not very bright." Hades observed.
"They're like moths drawn to the flame of battle." Palutena said. "They live only to consume and destroy, like…hungry moths."
"WE WILL MULTIPLY" Aurum Pyrrhon proclaimed. "WE MUST BE ALL" he next sends out a crescent wave of flames that homed in on the gang, forcing them to jump over them while at the same time focusing on shooting the pillars.
"In that sense, they're pretty much like any other living creature." Viridi stated. "They're concerned with their own survival and propagation. Each species influences the other, and THAT is the cycle of life! But this… This is just too much. It's too destructive and too unnatural!"
"Says the goddess of nature who previously accused HUMANS of being destructive…" Trifle thought while rolling his eyes with a sour look, as the gang was now going for the last pillar while dodging Aurum Pyrrhon's Pyro Snakes.
"Well, they are an alien species. Of course they're not natural." Palutena pointed out.
"So they're just going to eat everything?!" Pit asked.
"Not if you all stop them!" at this exact moment after Palutena said that, the gang managed to destroy the last pillar, thus disabling the shield.
"FEELING ANGER" Aurum Pyrrhon said as he began charging up an attack. "YOU CANNOT STOP US" he released it as it made a ring of fire appear and close in on the gang, but they luckily jumped over it and immediately fired away at the controlled sun god. Basically, at this point they just had to keep shooting at Aurum Pyrrhon while avoiding his attacks, until Pit dealt the final blow of the battle.
[BGM End]
"Go back to space!" Pit shouted.
"RAAAAAAAAAAWR" Aurum Pyrrhon screamed. Unfortunately, the gang wouldn't have time to celebrate due to a wall of flame suddenly rushing towards them.
"Wah!" they yelped as the platform immediately began to move backwards through the pathway.
"I need to extract you all!" Palutena exclaimed.
"This seems familiar!" Pit yelled.
"We've been doing this a lot."
Eventually, the gang made it out of the Fortress safely just as the flames escaped the exhaust port. And thanks to the flames serving as a jet propulsion, the Aurum Fortress began to fly away from Earth.
"With any luck, Pyrrhon will push the Aurum to the other end of the galaxy." Palutena said.
"He finally does something useful." Viridi sassed.
"Now we can get back to eliminating the real enemy. The Underworld Army."
"So long, space scum!" Pit shouted as he and the others watched the Aurum Fortress fly off into space before they were whisked away by Palutena.
Later, that evening…
Palutena hummed happily to herself as she was walking around the halls of her temple. What happened before was that she decided to throw a celebration party to commemorate their victory against the Aurum, and while some Centurions found a bit odd that a party was being held while the Underworld Army was still on the loose, they just decided to roll with it. After all, Palutena was not like most gods and she thought that Pit, his friends, and the Centurion Army deserved a break every now and then. As of now, the entire Temple was asleep, and so Palutena was making her way to her room to get a good night's sleep.
[BGM: A Portent Crawling Over – Xenoblade Chronicles 2]
However, as she was walking along the halls, she was completely oblivious of a certain something that was following her. This something was a certain familiar insect-like creature as it was silently approaching Palutena from behind, but then it accidentally bumped into a stand as that made a vase that was on top of it fall down and shatter onto the floor.
*CRASH!*
"Huh?" that obviously caught Palutena's attention as she stopped walking and turned around… only to find nothing. "Hmph, I really hope no one's stupid enough to break into the home of a goddess…" she muttered and walked back to investigate, unaware of the creature that just hid behind the stand and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. "Unless it's Pit trying to once again pull out a prank on me…" Palutena said as she looked around the hall. "Okay, Pit, if it's really you attempting to prank me, then it's not a very good start for a prank. Believe me, I know."
The creature then moved away from the spot, only that it forgot to do it silently, thus causing Palutena to hear its walking noises as she gasped and turned around abruptly.
"What was that?" she wondered, now starting to lose her patience and summoned her staff. "Whoever made that noise come on out right now, or I'll have to force you out myself!" she demanded while bracing herself… oooonly to be met with a looming shadow coming from behind her, making her eyes widen as she turned around… and was met face-to-face with the creature.
The Chaos Kin.
"Hello there, precious goddess…" it spoke. "Mmm, I can smell a very delectable soul within you…" it walked closer to Palutena.
"No… No! Stay away from me!" Palutena begged, backing away from the grotesque creature in horror, only for it to extend its legs and grab her. "Aaah!"
"There's no escape now… Come, let us become one in body and mind, while I devour your soul…"
The Chaos Kin then began to loom in closer to the now helpless and restrained Palutena, as her heartbeats could be heard getting louder and faster as it approached.
"What are you doing?! No, STOP! No, NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" everything went black for Palutena once the Chaos Kin engulfed her.
At the sound of Palutena's scream, Pit sprung up from his bed while letting out a shocked cry. "Lady Palutena?!" he exclaimed as his eyes darted over to the door of his room. "Oh no…!" he whispered in horror, quickly getting off the bed and leaving his room, and then he dashed over to the guests' room where his friends were sleeping in. "GUYS! WAKE UP!" he yelled as he threw open the door.
His friends lazily opened their eyes while groaning tiredly. "What is it, Pit…?" Trifle groggily asked.
"Ugh, please don't tell me the Aurum is attacking again…" Arusu groaned.
"No, it's something even worse! I just heard Lady Palutena screaming! She must be in trouble!" Pit panicked.
Immediately after hearing that, the group let out a gasp as their eyes shot wide and sat up from their beds. "Palutena is in trouble?!" Zelda questioned in horror.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry!" Jewel ushered as they all got out of their beds and rushed along with Pit to the hall that led to Palutena's room… but then they all suddenly got smacked on the back of their necks by someone, and they fell to the floor.
"N-nnngh…" Pit groaned, and as his and his friends' vision started to blurry, the angel looked up to see a silhouette of someone that was looming over them, and that someone was…Palutena? "L-Lady… P-Palutena…" he weakly spoke before everything went black for them.
To be continued…
Now you all who are familiar with Smash Bros Ultimate know where Pit's new Star KO scream comes from! That part sure gets me every time! :)))
Hoo boy, ending off with a cliffhanger... And I can assure you that things are going to get even more intense and interesting next time! ;D
