Episode 13: A True Monster—or, An Impromptu Meeting with The Lady of the House!

At first, Carmen was unsure what had happened. She saw the boar-like agent charge in towards her, felt a yank on her arm strong enough she feared it would pop free from the socket. She was thrown forward, skidding along the stone as the dust scratched her skin. But when she looked up, there was only an expanse of wasteland as far as she could see. Wait—far, far in the distance, could that have been the same temple? She stared, dumbfounded.

Until she heard the shuffling behind her. She turned, getting up into a crouch. There was the boar agent, his massive bulk looming over her. He crossed his arms, the sharp tusks sticking out of his cheeks like giant thorns. "It's just you and me, girlie."

They turned their attention away from that place Carmen had disappeared. The fox girl bristled. "Damn it, Edacitas! That star soul was supposed to be mine!" Pause. "Ours!"

The fire balls were still flying. Narma knew the pithos had their weaknesses—she had to assume the agents were the same way. Her geysers had to have made a dent, right? Rory's gusts didn't seem ideal for either of these guys. Not to mention fox girl had been hit so many times, she had to be getting weak by now. Still, as Narma frantically weaved, trying not to get burned again, fox girl stayed right on her heels.

Wait. That gave her an idea.

"You're pretty fast," she called back, "but it looks like you're just not fast enough to catch me twice."

The dragon guy spoke, seething. "Yes, Avaritia, what are you doing? Hurry up and catch them!"

The girl whined, "Don't fuss at me, Ira! Help!"

Dragon guy stepped up his game, the spheres of dark fire coming faster and faster from his shadowy maw. He grit out, "Fine. I'll do it myself."

Narma caught Rory's eyes, who seemed to understand her play. "Missed me," Narma snarked as the girl screamed again, and she ducked under her sphere of influence. She took a sharp left towards Rory, who was at least battling the fire away admirably with her gusts, but who moved suddenly out of the way as the agent Avaritia reached her.

The wind dissipated. In his anger, the agent Ira had resorted to a roaring flame attack, more like he was actually breathing fire than before. With the wind shield vanished, the attack hit the other Agent dead on.

She screamed. For a second, Narma almost regretted doing it, before she remembered these guys were actively trying to steal their souls.

When Ira realized what had happened, she could see him try to halt the assault, but it was too late. In the afterimage of where Avaritia had been, her figure turned to dust.

He took a breath, and then also screamed, no damage in the yell but to let them know just how pissed he was. "You would turn our attacks against our own comrades?" He bared his inhuman teeth. "You are truly deplorable."

It was only a second before the onslaught continued, the flames cutting a line across Rory's chest.

"Rory!" Narma yelled, watching as her leader directed the lingering gust to bat the flames away. Still, she could see it had gotten her good—the arm which had been blocking the attack was pock-marked with ugly blisters.

"Aurora!" Celene cried from behind them.

Rory said, grimacing, "I'm okay," Before unleashing a forceful blast that knocked the agent back. "We have to finish this. You up for a combo?"

"Anytime," Narma shot back as the agent regained his bearings.

"Now!" She yelled.

They called out, "Extreme Slashing Vortex!"

The shrapnel-ridden whirlpool surrounded the agent, who roared against the assault.

"Close him in!" Narma said, and Rory nodded, shrinking the diameter of the vortex, giving the Agent nowhere to run. Even in the vacuum of noise it created, she could hear his furious yells, fire shooting desperately from the Cyclone's eye. Water filled in the gap, leaving the Agent to endure both a lack of air and the flurry of slices from all sides. Finally, there was the burst of light then disintegration as the Agent's form collapsed.

They backed off. The two of them panted, the energy needed to hold the cyclone's form when her usual attack was so simplistic making her weak in the knees. "I really hate these guys," Narma said, wiping sweat from her brow that had nothing to do with the enormous sun right in front of them.

Rory peered out the landscape, before her eyes came back to land on the temple in the distance.

The three of them—Rory, Celene, and herself—looked to each other, debating over the best course of action.

They had no idea where Carmen was.

They had no idea where Mallory was.

From here, they could only see the temple.

"We have to keep going," Rory looked back to her with pursed lips. They were both aware of how grim their situation was. "This asteroid is huge. We could look for them for days and never find them." She pointed to the structure. "But we know that's something. We saw columns in the portal."

Narma didn't like it either, but at this point, it was their best option. "When you're right, girl, you're right." She just hoped the others could hold on until they found them again.

Carmen stood. She cursed to herself—she had to stop landing in these situations! It seemed like she was getting cornered alone more than anyone else, time after time.

"I'll get the weak one."

The weak one. This zealot had gotten one look at them, and had immediately pointed her out as the weak link. And he was right: compared to Rory and Narma, her powers were much less developed, and she was much less comfortable in battle than they were.

She couldn't deny it stung. Her brain said, Even a stranger knows you're not good enough.

No. She shook her head. She couldn't let herself fall back into that line of thinking, especially not when her friend's life was on the line. Focus on the fight. Drown it out.

Carmen narrowed her eyes, the Agent at the same moment lowering his jaw, ready to charge. She'd done gymnastics as a girl, but she'd stopped when her mother passed. She wondered if there was any muscle memory left from that time? Her heart clenched, the image of her mother greeting her at the sidelines as she finished her first junior competition.

She could only hope. Evasion seemed key here.

He charged, lumbering towards her, the spears of his tusks glinting in the light of Trappist-1. She let him come, holding her ground until at the last second. She leapt, pivoting to face him again as he missed her. As he turned, (an effort, it seemed, at his girth,) she shouted "Harmonious Bellicoso!" The attack swept around him, his solid body making him an easy target. The notes flashed against him, his figure momentarily tensing as he took the brunt of the attack head-on.

She noted the burn-like marks on his flesh. It had obviously done something, but not enough. This was usually the part where one of the others would make a move, but she had to fill in her own gaps here. That was bad. The more familiar the Agent became with her attacks, the more likely he was to be able to avoid them. She would just have to be strategic, catch him by surprise.

He turned. He wasn't even trying to run this time, but even just his footsteps pounding towards her were intimidating. "Now, that was just rude."

Reaching around to his side, she watched him reach for a bottle on his belt, which he opened up. The substance inside had the same consistency as the smoke. Holding it up to his mouth, he chugged.

She hadn't mean to say anything out loud, but the disgust that shuddered through her made her blurt out, "What is that?"

"Corruption, girlie." He swallowed. She gulped as the shadows coursed over his skin, making the muscles of his arms bulge. He wiped his mouth as she backed away. "The pithos have to leave something behind. You didn't think it just disappeared, did ya?"

He turned towards her, but she wasn't far away enough yet. In a burst of speed, he surged forward. She managed to avoid the tusks, but his fist connected firmly with her jaw. Pain erupted, and she knew she was going to fall, but she managed to flip back instead with the momentum.

He charged at her again, sweeping his tusks—she rolled behind him. "We wouldn't usually eat it; not good for the temple, you know." He patted his stomach. "I guess you could say it gives us a bit of a boost."

She glared. "Consuming corruption? If you're benefiting from it, doesn't that make you just as bad as them?"

"You watch your tone," he grumbled. He stumbled towards her, a moving wall of flesh. His fists struck out while his tusks thrust forward. One hit her in the side, and she winced, ducking quickly out of the way of more damage. At least it was her left side this time—her right was still burning from her hit with a fireball, not to mention that the snake Agent had struck her in the same spot several days before.

Still, the new wound seeped lazily into the fabric of her uniform. I can't keep taking hits like this. I've got to do something.

The Agent seemed to be getting more irritated. He growled. "This was supposed to be quick." Grumbling, he reached around for another bottle of that odd liquid.

Wait—it was a liquid. Didn't her Bellicoso spark?

As he opened the bottle and poured the fluid in, she fired the attack—directly towards his open mouth. "Harmonious Bellicoso!"

The music burst into being. As she had hoped, the notes sparked around him, then seemed to catch—his body convulsed with light as the attack hit him from the inside.

He screamed, a horrible gurgle filling the air. She was struck with a sense of pity, but reminded herself of the stakes. This is life or death, Carmen.

He didn't fade. The energy reverberated around him. "You're going to regret that," he managed to spit out, looking ready to move towards her again.

Panic coursed through her. With finality, she prayed and called out, "Mesmeric Pacification!" The light descended over him.

He fell to one knee, his all-over-tremble letting her know how difficult it was for him to stay upright. "Okay," he huffed. "You got me." As she watched, dust began to leak out from his shoulder, steadily more and more at a time. "Looks like I made the wrong call here."

She balled her fist, feeling sick at the sight of his just slowly wasting away. "Where's my friend?"

"Couldn't tell ya," he smiled grimly. "But your friends won't find her heading that direction. If she just got brought here, it's impossible to transport directly into the temple."

Her eyes widened. Then that couldn't have been what Rory saw in the portal! She had to tell her!

Her eyes scanned the horizon, then stopped. In the distance, not too far away, she could see a much smaller structure with the same architecture, those pillars. She glanced back towards the temple. She could go and get the others first, but if she did, what assurance did she have that she would find it again?

Hesitating, she left the Agent behind, boots stomping through the layer of grit the stones had accumulated. She should at least check and see if there was anything there or not.

Beta and Epsilon reached the temple without further interference. After the three Agents had attacked them upon their arrival, Beta had expected more of a defense system than this, but they tromped up the temple steps in absolute silence.

"It's eerie here," Epsilon hopped off the last step rubbing her arms, though there was no way she was cold. Even with the protection provided to them via their uniforms, the sweltering dry heat hung over them from behind. On the upside, they were all going to get killer tans.

Celene padded up the steps behind them. "Just be careful, Soldiers! We don't know what may lie inside this fortress."

It was dead quiet. They needed to find Mallory, but unfortunately, the sun could have been seen from just about anywhere in the temple given its size. Beta—agh! She was doing it again! Rory wished she could have seen something more helpful in the portal. She should have been paying closer attention.

As they rounded the side of the temple walk, over the hill, where they could see over the crux. "Hey," Narma nudged her. "Look there."

But she was already looking. In the distance, farther away than it had been in her imagination, Rory could see a yellow and orange planet. Its red peaks rose from the atmosphere like meringue. As she looked on at the planet, she knew it had to be Trappist-1b. She did feel something, like a resonance. Inside, she could also hear something, like a word. It felt the same way she sometimes did when remembering attacks.

Bora-

Boea-?

She shook her head. It was right there, but just...not there. "Yeah," she said quietly. She glanced to Narma's face, which held an unreadable expression. She felt kind of bad, knowing that she was able to see her planet, and Trappist-1e was much further away. "We should keep going."

They moved further into the temple. As they moved past the windows, the stars reflected in from outside shown beautifully in the atmosphere. It was hard to believe this was the base of the group who wanted to steal souls and destroy the universe.

As they neared a particular doorway, Narma suddenly hushed her, crouching down to snatch up Celene as she crossed the doorway. The cat thrashed for a moment before Narma pointed for them to check the room. Rory held her breath, listening.

"—would have thought he would have checked back in by now, with how adamant he was about his success." It was a high-pitched voice, though something about it made Rory's skin crawl.

"Perhaps he was right about the other Sailor Soldiers coming after their comrade. If he's taking longer, perhaps we will gain more than expected."

She and Epsilon turned to look at one another with wide eyes. This had to be their leader. They'd just come here for Mallory, but if they had the chance to take out the leader, shouldn't they?

"Celene," Rory hissed. "You see anyone else in there?" She watched the cat's eyes survey the space.

"Just one man," she whispered, "and whoever's on the throne."

Rory bit her lip. The downside was that they didn't know how strong these guys were. If Mallory wasn't there, and they didn't know where Carmen was, they should at least look for them before they tried to engage. If there was a chance of getting a numbers advantage here, they needed to take it.

But then, the archway she braced against gave way beneath her palm. As she watched, stomach knotting with tension, the rubble splashed the floor, and there was a sharp silence as their impact echoed into the throne room.

Rory's body locked in place, trying to pretend that didn't happen. She and Narma stared at one another, frozen. Celene's fur puffed up into a huge orange ball.

"Come out," a deep voice barked from inside, "We know you're there."

Rory and Narma silently debated what to do. Slowly, they stood up, before proceeding into the throne room. They were busted—might as well see what they were dealing with.

In a burst of speed, they rushed into the room. Beta didn't want to give them a chance to spring any traps. The more even the playing field, the better. There was the sharp shing of a blade being pulled from a scabbard. She wasn't sure where she recognized the noise from; a show on television, or some far-off memory?

She turned, getting her bearings on their enemies before them. There was a man—his uniform was more colorful than any of the agents white clothing, though his burgundy uniform shirt and emerald green pants bore the same symbols as the agents had. He had a coif of teal hair and tan skin. His sword splayed out in a defensive position, blocking their access to the person on the throne, who was…

Rory's eyes widened.

It's a kid.

Carmen forced her boots through the dust, which only seemed to get deeper, almost sand-like, the further she went out. Internally, something said you're wasting time, but she ignored it. She hadn't even been able to see the second structure from where they had first landed. It was smart to check this place first. What if you can't find your way back? What if you choke on the dust? Keep going.

She crested an outcropping of stone, not having realized there was a gap in the terrain before. This kind of wasteland really plays tricks on your eyes. As she lowered herself into the valley, boots wanting to slip on the smooth stone, she noticed a shape against the gray expanse. She recognized the teal boots and navy hair as she touched down in the basin. She ran over. "Mallory!"

"Hey." The girl shot her a salute. She looked lost and uncomfortable, dust in the creases of her uniform and sweat sitting on her temple. Weird, it actually didn't seem that bad to her, but it must be, right? The sun's right there. Maybe it was something about the uniform? Mallory wouldn't have been wearing it when she first got there. "Got to admit, I'm happy to see a familiar face."

Carmen leaned on her knees, slightly out of breath and needing a stretch after all the walking. "It's not all good news, I'm afraid. This place is swarming with the agents. We already ran into three on the way in." She straightened—that's right, though. Mallory hadn't been in ideal circumstances either. "But you were here with that Lupido guy, weren't you? Are you alright?" He made her shudder just thinking about him.

Mallory brushed her hair behind her ear. "Eh, I was mostly still drunk, so it wasn't that bad. But I think he got what he wanted, though. He was trying to draw you guys here. Sorry."

The girl seemed nonchalant, but Carmen got the feeling she really did blame herself by the way she averted her eyes. She's probably embarrassed. She does consider herself somewhat of an expert, after all.

She waved a hand, surveying the land around them. It was going to be a trial getting back up that hill; she could hardly see over it anymore. "Don't blame yourself. That guy's a major creep. He seems to come out of nowhere sometimes…" She trailed off. She didn't like how quiet it was here.

"Or perhaps my arrival was so anticipated, you were merely inviting the surprise?"

Carmen's heart jolted as she whipped around to see Lupido standing at the opposite crest. His hands were folded as he stepped into visibility, and she swallowed. This is not the time to panic.

"Why can't you just leave us alone?" She stepped back, Mallory stepping back too.

He stared down at them out of the corner of his eye. "That's a little unfair, isn't it? After you've been such a tease."

Her skin was trying to escape her body. How had she ever thought anything was charming about this man? She moved to brush down the goose bumps on her arm. She hated the way he leered down on them, the way he spoke to her. It was repulsive.

She knew what kind of man this was—slimy, like the ones who attended her father's parties, and said disgusting things to her when her father was turned away. She brought her hands up as a warning as he slid down the hill. "Get back," she shouted.

He kept smiling—he was always smiling. "Just admit it. You were going to give it up because you know you're not worth their time." He shook his head. "The last time we parted? That was a fluke. Even your most powerful attack couldn't kill me. What could you possibly think could do any better?"

Unintentionally, she brought her hand to her chest, where the star soul lay beneath. She could feel its subtle pulse beneath her fingers as the dust wisped around them.

He was right—she had been willing to put herself at risk before. And yes, there were still those moments when the internal voices wanted to pull her back into that old spiral, the mantra of ways she didn't deserve to be there, with them, or anywhere.

Mallory peered over to her, puzzled. "Carmen? What's he talking about?"

"It doesn't matter," she snapped, eyes narrowing at the agent at the opposite end of the gully. Inside, something surged up in her, whether out of bravery or pure exasperation. "Whatever happened before, we're going to defeat you just the way I was able to before. It doesn't matter if it takes longer or what different combination of attacks it's going to take." She thrust a finger in his direction. "This is the last time I'm going to see your face!"

"Holy shit, Carmen," Mallory's eyebrows lifted to her hairline.

He whistled. "Whoo. Where'd that come from? I was definitely right about this being the best way to go." He shook his head. Then one eye focused in on her. "But."

Something about the look put her all the way on guard, "Be careful, Mallory. This is the guy we were fighting up on Mt. Rainer."

"Oh, shit," Mallory's report of the dead hiker was becoming more and more suspect by the second.

"What you don't know," he said, "is that I've had a bit of an upgrade since the last time we fought." Black poured over his limbs, more than he had had before for sure. Something about the way it pulsed though looked familiar.

She thought about the boar Agent. "You've eaten corruption," she realized. She ground her feet into the dust. "I just beat another guy who'd done the same thing."

He laughed. "You must mean Edacitas. He always was a glutton for the stuff. But I'm afraid you're mistaken. Yes, this is corruption—" Black leaked over his face, his canine maw coming into form leaving his words with an inhuman slur, "—but not the watered down gunk left behind by the pithos. No, this is corruption harvested right from the source."

The people? It struck her—they always transformed the pithos from people. "You killed them," she said. "You ate the sin inside them."

"Okay, I am not following this," Mallory interjected from behind her.

He chuckled. His legs were disfiguring into that backwards hook the way they had before. The claws on both his arms were massive. The jaw had become larger than anything he could have actually supported on his body, almost cartoonish. It infected his muscles like a steroid, and they bulged in bizarre patterns all over his body. "Sin, corruption—same thing. I'm getting rid of it one way or another. And once I've gotten rid of you, I can follow up with the entire rest of this universe. Ha! I might as well be the next Great Beast!"

She swallowed at the unnatural anatomy of the creature he'd become. "Be careful," she told Mallory. "I don't think he'll stop at just taking the star souls anymore."

The misshapen figure lurched towards them, gaining sudden speed as its enormous jaw came snapping at them. They scrambled out of the way in opposite directions. The creature—was he even a person anymore? Had he ever been?—Left a trail of shadows behind him that cut through the dust. The edge of the wisps brushed Carmen's calf, burning her through her tights.

"You can run as much as you like," Lupido said, though his voice had distorted to a growl. "It just makes it more fun for me."

Carmen raised her fingers, heart pounding as he turned back towards her. "Harmonious Bellicoso!" She screamed. The music flowed away from her, wrapping around the agent like a rope or a ribbon. The melody rung out loud in the shear isolation, the shadowy black abomination undulating wildly as the notes blasted against his flesh. Carmen stumbled out of the way as the agent broke free, the oversized head snapping its jaws together, swinging them side-to-side.

Mallory had fallen to the ground at some point. Across the basin, she made a short circular motion with her hand, calling out, "Destiny Chain!" before aiming for the beast.

Before her, Carmen watched the chain's spear-end burst through the creature's chest, the end marked with a glowing δ. The agent stared down at the skewering for a moment before raising his head, turning towards Mallory. "Barely a tickle," he rumbled, and Mallory's eyes gained a distinct spark of 'oh, shit,' before she booked it out of the way.

Carmen eyed the two, trying to decide where to go from here. She cursed silently to herself—Mallory didn't have any other attacks. She acknowledged the irony; she'd been in his exact same position not too long ago. She darted for Lupido—she had to distract him.

As she ran towards him, the wind was knocked from her body as his paw came swinging back. She crashed back into the stone, stars dancing in her vision as she struggled to regain her footing. Even with her vision blurred, she could see the black mass of shadows moving towards her. Come on. Just like last time, you have to strategize. She threw herself in the dirt, still trying to recover as he raked his claws shrilly down the stone. Concentrate.

"Hey!"

She could see Lupido's attention turn as Mallory's voice echoed from down across the field.

"How 'bout you tango with me, fuck-o?"

Her vision clearing, she could see Mallory holding a firm stance before the creature. Even after his transformation, Carmen could still make out the slimy grin as it stretched across his too-long face. "I appreciate this one's fire."

As he turned to her, she heard Mallory fire off her attack several times, but she knew it had a turn time like Narma's. Another chain weakly shot out to stab Lupido through the chest, but it didn't seem to make a difference. He snatched up the other soldier like some sort of pest, burying his massive claws into her chest without hesitation.

Mallory choked, and Carmen forced herself up, staggering into a run as the monster brought her up to his face, where its wicked jaw was dripping ichor.

"Let her go!" Carmen yelled before firing a Bellicoso up at his jaw. Mercifully doing what she wanted, the ribbons surrounded the monster's maw, stopping him at least from opening. Struggling, he relinquished his grip on Mallory.

Her heart stopped as she saw a familiar bright light in his grip. Her eyes flew to Mallory, who was still on the ground, turned away—she couldn't see the state of her chest after the claws had been ripped away.

She looked back to the light.

There it was. It looked like a mass of crystal, like some kind of quartz deposit in a cave, clutched in between his claws. It glowed incessantly, the central crystal a deep blue-green color, a fact she could barely see through the brightness. It was shaped almost like a flower.

He shook his head, grinding his teeth together. After a moment, as if they were something more physical, the ribbons snapped away from him, dissipating into light as they fell towards the ground.

Then, before she had a chance to intervene, the claws came up to the mouth. They passed between the teeth—

—and he swallowed.

The light abruptly vanished. In a moment of numbness, she heard Lupido victoriously cry, "I am the beast!"

She was horrified, the whole scene playing out like a train wreck though it only lasted a few seconds. Mallory—was Mallory dead? That was her soul. Could a person even survive if their soul was outside their body? He'd eaten it!

Her distraction cost her. She shrieked as he snatched her up instead. "You're cute," he grumbled, "but I'm starting to think you're more trouble than you're worth."

Her heart thudded as she neared the massive teeth—she'd been worried about her soul being ripped out, but being chewed to pieces hadn't even been on her radar. She stretched down, jammed her boot into the hinge of his jaw. There had to be some way to stop. She grit her teeth. "No-!" And he grunted as the shadow jaw was wrenched to the side with her struggle.

"Hold, agh, still!" He seemed done with games, trying to force her into the proximity of his jaw by shear will alone.

Wriggling enough to bring her arms together before herself, she managed to bring her two pointer fingers up, which she jammed unapologetically down the beast's throat. "Harmonious Bellicoso!"

He thrashed and choked as the attack flowed down his throat, and despite himself, he dropped her. She writhed away, crawling on her elbows through the sand until she could bring herself back up to stand.

Shadowy gunk fell to the ground on all sides, as if the beast were melting. He was falling to pieces, but only slowly. There, though—in the mass of shadowy flesh, she caught sight of a familiar light.

The star soul!

She crawled towards it, reaching into the muck even as it burned through her gloves. There, the crystal looked almost untouched, an aura of light surrounding it that gave the artifact an untouchable quality. She dislodged it. It was like holding magnets of the same poles. She had to lock her hands around it to make it stay still.

She ran to Mallory. While there was no physical wound, shadowy black marks like tattoos covered her torso. The star soul, as if she had finally found the right magnetic field, locked into a certain spot on Mallory's chest—she pressed inward.

It sunk.

"Ugh." Even such a simple exhalation carried when the voice delivering it had become so distorted. Carmen staggered up. Turning to the beast, her stomach turned. Lupido had become like a creature made of tar, dripping shadows over the landscape, where they sizzled. "Can't say I appreciate your acting out," he gurgled. Under the immense pile of shadowy remains, she could see his human face beneath, eyes disguised by drippage and perpetual smile slipping into something bone-chilling. "It's a turn-off."

She gritted her teeth. Not over yet.

"Down here!"

Carmen's eyes darted over to see the place where Mallory was gesturing from the ground. She'd managed to pull herself up to one knee, the soul no longer visible. Reaching an arm down, she hauled the girl up, where her stance still seemed unsteady. Still, their proximity, or maybe it was the exertion, seemed to call up something in her mind. She knew this feeling—could she call upon it again? Maybe just this once. She felt the presence of her scepter in her skirt's sash. I need some help here.

With a surge of confidence, Carmen straightened, arms still supporting Mallory at her side. "Toying with the hearts of young girls for your own sick gratification? How dare you accuse others of corruption!"

Mallory snorted. "Not to mention you're a murderer."

Carmen thrust her finger out, stomach churning as the mass of shadows continued to advance on them. "For your crimes, you can't be allowed to take one more step. Delta, can you hear it?"

She wasn't sure where the urge to refer to her that way had come from, but the girl seemed to understand that she was talking to her. "I'm picking up what you're putting down, Sarge."

As the shadow of the beast loomed over them, Mallory got her hands together into a V formation as Carmen did the same.

They shouted the phrase that was ringing through Carmen's mind, had to be ringing in Mallory's too: "Piercing Rectification!"

The chain, larger than normal and singing a tone like a tuning fork, shone bright as it shot through the air towards the agent. It ricocheted off the ground and above the beast until the links had almost formed a cage around it, before abruptly sinking.

The creature roared, dust bursting in the air as they shielded themselves away from it. Eventually, the tone faded, and the air slowed back to its dry waves of heat. Carmen lowered her arms, brushing black dust like soot off where it had gathered in the creases of her gloves.

Out in the ditch before them, there were scorch-like marks in the stone where the chain had finally broken through to the ground. "We did it," Mallory said, tone flat.

It was as if a physical weight had been lifted, knowing he was gone. But there was, in truth, a part of her that felt dirty, being grateful over someone else's death. Even so, this wasn't her personal vendetta on the table here—it was a matter of preserving this universe. Now, at least, the universe was closer to re-achieving the balance of power.

Still. Her eyes turned to the looming, red sun, the star whose body writhed with an awful parasite. There was still one thing.

She turned, looking over to Mallory. The girl looked exhausted, bangs sticking to her forehead. "Are you alright? We've never had a star soul that far separated before."

"Not great," said Mallory. "Not great. But I'll live."

Carmen took a breath. I'm a little surprised she's handling it so well. Carmen brushed down the hairs on the nape of her neck, disturbed by the wind. "You missed kind of a lot, honestly. I can tell you on the way."

Mallory kicked a stray stone. "I'm a teenage girl with super powers from another galaxy, fighting to stop a monster that's going to eat the sun. How much more complicated could it get?"

"You'd be surprised." She peered back to the crest of the basin. "If you're okay to move, we need to get going. Rory and Narma were heading towards this huge temple when an agent zapped me out here, and I'm betting it's the agent's main base. They're going to need our help."

They began climbing their way out of the dip, back in the direction of their friends.

"Also, if the sun could not be eaten, that would be great."

Rory's heartbeat pounded, unsure what to do with this information.

It's just a little kid.

She was a little girl, tan skin and wavy brown hair. She had a lilac gown that could have been styled after the lead in a Disney princess movie—actually, it was pretty spot-on for the one that girl from Hercules wore? She sat up in the throne, and her legs hanging down didn't even touch the floor. She couldn't have been more than seven or eight. "It's really nice of you," she said, "to bring the star souls to us instead of making us look for them anymore. My pet was getting really hungry." She gestured behind them.

Rory glanced behind—from the throne room's foremost plateau, the sun was in full view. Inside, through the brightness, Rory could just catch glimpses of a shadow moving within. The Great Beast! It's in the sun?

She turned back. The girl's wide-eyed smile was laser-focused, dissecting them from across the room. It didn't change as she said, "Unless that's not why you're here."

"Lady Pandorana." The Guard-looking guy didn't take his eyes off of them, moving cautiously towards them with his sword extended. "I believe these intruders mean to do you harm. Permission to engage."

Rory closed her hand around the scepter, narrowing her eyes. Lady Pandorana—some of the agents referred to a 'Lady.' So she is the one in charge.

Celene hissed.

Narma, ever a woman to get to the point, had apparently gotten sick of them just staring at each other. "Hey Shakespeare." She jabbed a gloved hand in the guard's direction. "You and Polly Pocket need to call off the Beast. We kind of need this universe."

Well, that was one way to say that, Rory sighed. That was a way. "Yeah," she backed her up regardless. "You and those Agents might think you're spreading purity or something, but everywhere those guys show up, things only get ugly."

The girl didn't bat an eye. She giggled, expression unchanging. "Oh, those agents. They might think they're pure, but they don't realize they're just larger vessels for the corruption. They're no different than the pithos. But we needed some method for filtering out the corruption—something to seal it away. Do excuse them."

Narma thrust an arm out. "They're not excused!"

Rory sighed. Oh, boy.

The guard guy lowered his stance, gripping his blade tighter.

"Now, now, Elpis," the little girl tutted. "Don't be rude to our guests. I want to hear them try to defend themselves before we call judgement." She kicked her legs. "We are a fair and just people."

"My Lady…" The guard, (Elpis, she guessed,) held the position in reluctance, before bringing the blade back down to his side. "Of course." His eye passed over them, scrunched in distrust.

Rory grit her teeth. What did they expect them to say? "Look," she said, "I don't know why you want to rebuild the universe, but your ideas about eliminating the corruption in this world are never going to work! Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone has made bad decisions. There's a little bit of darkness in everyone—that's just a part of being alive!" They couldn't expect everyone to be perfect and, ugh, 'pure' all the time, it just wasn't realistic! "It's in choosing to overcome those dark parts of yourself that goodness is able to exist!"

"You're wrong."

Beta stopped talking. In Pandorana's face, the smile had grown tense, as if she were struggling to keep it up.

She said, "Corruption is the force that destroys worlds. You have not seen the extent of its influence, but I have. The corruption would become more than your world could handle, until the only option becomes for that world to be swallowed whole." Her eyes were cold, looking on Rory and Narma as if she were staring through, not at them.

Narma took a step forward. "You mean the same way you've been destroying worlds?"

The girl looked stricken. Her small hands tensed on the throne. "No, no, no! What we do is a mercy—salvaging those worlds so that they may be reborn. If you'd rather be eaten, so be it. Elpis. Get her."

The knight surged forward. Narma was fast, though—she booked it out of the room. "I got this guy," she yelled back.

Rory's eyes flew between them, unsure which way to go.

The guy stalled too, saying, "My lady—"

"Get her. I'll be fine." Raising her hand, a dozen shadows appeared around Rory.

They looked like—she couldn't even describe it. They weren't like any creatures she had seen before, just writhing masses with mouths. Like something between a lion and a squid. She raised the scepter, ready to fight back. She fired off a Dire Gust, dusting several of them instantly. They must not be as strong without a person to hold on to.

As the next round moved forward, she made another plea to the girl on the throne. "Your Agents are hurting and killing people. That's not fixing any corruption. You're only making it worse!"

There was a shift—the girl's face twisted. "Liar! You just want our pure universe for yourself!" In an instant, it was as if the edges of her features were melting, leaking black ichor. She rose up from the throne, lifted by a myriad of shadowy black arms like an octopus protruding from her back. It was like when the Agent's had gained their own shadowy enhancements, but somehow, these look more solid.

She looked like a nightmare. When she spoke, her distorted voice sent a chill up Rory's spine:

"YOU CAN'T HAVE IT. I'LL TAKE THE STAR SOUL MYSELF YOU'LL REGRET BEING A LIAR."