A/N: Thank you to all reviewers and my new follower for last chapter! This one's a little bit shorter than the last few, but I hope you all enjoy it just the same. ;)
"It's awake. Get ready, guys," Lance warned moving to stand in front of Anna, weaponry at the ready.
Matt stepped over to stand next to the gunner, eyes locked onto the activated Praetorian. He had swapped his Heaven's Gate out in favor of a weapon with added electricity damage: the Golden Dragon.
Another flicker swept the electronics in the room and two of the metallic panels making up the floor flipped over to reveal twin towers covered in radio dishes flanking the Praetorian. A high-pitched hum emitted from the new robots and the party had a sudden stifling sensation.
"What the heck was that?" Anna asked.
Natalie grimaced, "They've siphoned us. We'll need to kill those two Dish Turrets if we want to use any magic."
"On it," Matt said before leaping forward to unleash a Quick Slash on one of the Turrets. The turret loosed a stream of lightning at the charging swordsman, but Matt nimbly twisted sideways to dodge and brought his sword down on the robot. The initial slash sheared off a few of the radio dishes before his sword's enchantment released a ball of electricity that destroyed the robot completely. Matt landed lightly on the opposite side with a grin of satisfaction.
Lance dashed towards the second Turret and stabbed his gunblade into its base before letting loose with a point-blank Double Shot. The blade and bullets ripped through the inner circuitry and the robot fell silent. The party felt the oppressive waves suppressing their magic vanish and Natalie immediately cast a Thunderbolt on the Praetorian, but it seemed to do little damage. The robot lifted its crimson blade and lunged at the nearest person with alarming swiftness.
"Oh, shi-" Was all Lance managed to say as he barely brought his blade up to guard against the blindingly fast slash. He stopped the sword from cleaving him in half, but the force behind the blade swept the gunner off of his feet and he flew backwards through the air to slam into the ground where he rolled into the wall. Lance groaned as he rose once more, "Damn, that was fast."
Anna fired one of her Spark Arrows while the Praetorian's back was turned and was astonished to see the robot slip to the side to dodge it. The weapon then turned to face the archer and a panel on its chest opened. Anna's eyes widened in terror and she fully expected to be gunned down.
"Anna!" Natalie cried and cast a Barrier spell. The magic manifested itself in front of the archer as a near-impenetrable red crystalline wall. The hail of bullets pinged against the barrier, but the wall held.
While the Praetorian was firing at the barrier, Matt came up behind it in an attempted to slice of the thrusters. The robot spun around to face the stunned swordsman, still firing. Matt flung himself to the side and a bullet whizzed past his arm close enough to tear a swath of fur out of the armor. A rifle retort rang out as the volley finally ended. Lance fired a Sniper Shot into the still open compartment and a grinding sound leading to a loud crack was heard and unused bullets poured out of the Praetorian's body.
"Well, at least he won't be able to shoot at us with a machine gun anymore," Natalie commented as she unleased another Thunderbolt on the robot. She frowned in concern as the machine zipped to the side and dodged the lightning strike, "Is it just me, or is that thing even faster now?"
Anna pulled her next arrow back to full draw and when she released, the arrow seemed to just appear below the face plate on the Praetorian's head. "My Piercing Shot hit; maybe it was too fast for the robot to react?"
Lance frowned, "It must have activated some kind of booster field. Hitting it with single shot spells will be near impossible, now." He fired another Sniper Shot and smirked when it slammed into the Praetorian's chest armor. "You might be right about speed, Anna."
"What about area-attack spells? I think I can manage a Thunderstorm; there'll be a good chance that at least one of the bolts will hit," Natali suggested, watching as Matt charged in with another Quick Slash that was deflected off of the robot's black shield.
Lance shook his head, "It won't be worth the mana drain. Stick to healing and defense magics for now. If it slows down again, then you can go back to using black magic." He winced as Matt was flung across the room towards a stack of monitors. The swordsman crashed into the computers and yelped as the topmost one fell on his head. A few seconds later and Natalie's healing magic had Matt running back into the fray.
Anna fired another Piercing Shot and cursed when it the Praetorian managed to dodge it, "The thing is too damn fast; we need to slow it down, somehow."
"It's too big for my weighted nets," Lance grunted as he deflected a sword swing. "We'll just have to wait out the booster, it can't last forever."
The next ten minutes were a blur of leaps, dodges, swears, and the clanging of metal. Finally the robot slowed back down to its normal speed. Natalie cast another Thunderbolt spell and cheered at the direct hit. "About time!" she grinned.
The Praetorian suddenly ceased any attempts of dodging or attacking and hovered motionlessly in the center if the room. Matt seized the opportunity and slammed his sword into the ground, channeling his mana into a Spark attack, grinning, as the robot took a direct hit.
"It's glowing. Why is it glowing?" Anna asked nervously.
Lance glanced up from loading his gunblade for an Unload attack. He scowled, "It must be charging power." Raising his voice, Lance called over to Matt, "Watch out, Matt: it's getting ready for something nasty."
Matt waved a hand to signal that he understood, and moved away from the Praetorian. A few seconds later and a red flash brightened the room as a massive laser cannon extended out, firing at Anna. Natalie threw up a hasty Barrier in front of the ranger. It held strong briefly, but then cracks began appearing in the red surface. Matt, Lance, and Natalie's eyes widened in horror, as they saw Anna close her eyes just as the barrier shattered. Mana swept over the party right as an explosion rocked the room and the three threw themselves to the floor as debris flew through the air from the blast. Smoke and dust obscured the impact site. The cloud swirled around the Praetorian as it hovered out, facing the remaining party. The screen cleared behind the robot to reveal that an entire section of wall had collapsed over where Anna had been standing. There was no sign of the green-haired archer anywhere.
Matt and Natalie stared in frozen disbelief at the pile of rubble. Lance's face was blank and his red eyes were hard as he pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Firing protocols all green. Orbital Lock established. Target acquired, commencing laser bombardment," The gunner said in a low chilling tone. There were five seconds of silence before the area surrounding their foe exploded.
Five beams of pure energy slammed into the Praetorian one after another. Explosions tore the robot to shreds before disintegrating the pieces. The very air pulsated with power and sound. Finally, the salvo ended, smoke filled the room, and silence fell. A wind from the hole in the ceiling slowly cleared the smoke to reveal the devastation. The damage caused by the Praetorian's laser was nothing compared to the complete destruction Lance's Ion Cannon wrought. Chunks of the ceiling lay in the craters covering the floor. In the deepest pit, the Praetorians blood-red sword was stuck blade first into the ground. Lance stood unmoving before the wreckage, dust swirling around his feet.
Natalie hesitantly stepped up next to the gunner and turned to look at his face. The mage shivered at the cold, dead look in his eyes as he stared impassively at what was left of the Factory's Secret Weapon. Natalie hadn't seen such an empty look on Lance's face since she and Matt had faced him down.
Matt came up on Lance's other side and placed a hand on his shoulder only to have it violently shrugged off. The swordsman glanced over at Natalie in despair before they both turned to watch the silent gunner slowly walk over to the rubble Anna had disappeared under. He stopped next to the pile of debris and simply stood there. There was complete silence for a few seconds as Lance stared at the crumble of wall before he violently threw his gunblade aside and let out a wordless howl of rage. He fell to his knees and punched the ground as his yell echoed around the room. Natalie came over and knelt beside him.
Matt made his way over to the pile and began shifting chunks of rock out of the way. A half hour passed that way, silent apart from the occasional grunt from Matt as he heaved slabs of steel and concrete aside. The swordsman was soon out of sight as he continued moving rocks. He had already uncovered Thor's Hammer, which he silently set aside, when he finally found Anna. Miraculously, her body had been sheltered from being crushed by a tent of steel. Matt swallowed heavily before grabbing Anna's arm to pull her out. An arm that was still warm. Matt's eyes widened in shocked disbelief, the importance still registering even as he scooped her up and scrambled back over the rocks.
"Natalie! Natalie, hurry she's still alive," Matt shouted as jumped down to land next to her and Lance. Lance's head snapped up and around to stare at Matt and the girl resting limp in his arms.
Natalie gasped and leapt up to join Matt where he was gently laying the ranger down. Anna's breath came in shallow rasps. The fur armor on her side, as well as the skin underneath, was badly burned. A large jagged cut ran down the girl's right arm while her left leg lay twisted at an unnatural angle. The mage swiftly straightened out Anna's broken limb before she held her staff over the badly injured girl and began casting her strongest healing spell.
Lance held his breath as he watched Natalie's magic wash over Anna. The still sluggishly leaking cut on her arm knit shut, leaving behind smooth skin. Next, the odd bump marking the broken bone in the ranger's leg vanished. Natalie's breathing was coming heavily by this point, but she persisted with her healing spell. Finally, the angry blistering of the burn faded until only a faint red mark remained. Anna's face twitched and the air Lance had forgotten he was withholding came out in one relieved rush as green eyes blinked open to stare blankly at the stars beyond the ruined ceiling. Slowly, Anna turned her head to stare dazedly at Natalie and Matt before twisting to the other side to see Lance. She gave a faint smile of relief at seeing them all okay before her eyes slipped shut and she passed out. Lance glanced over at Natalie worriedly.
"She's just sleeping; she'll be fine," Natalie assured Lance tiredly, smiling as Lance's face softened just slightly.
Matt stood up and climbed back over the rocks to grab Anna's bow. "Should we head back to Whitefall to rest, or keep going until we come across a safe area?" he asked when he rejoined them, bow in hand.
"I don't know about you, but I do not want to walk back though this damned factory," Natalie sighed.
Lance nodded and stood up, Anna resting in his arms, "Let's keep going. We're almost out anyway; might as well rest once we get outside."
Matt helped Natalie up and let her lean against him as they made their way around the craters in the center of the room to the door. The damage caused by their fight with the Praetorian had malfunctioned the door's locking system and it simply hissed open as they approached. Stepping though, they found themselves standing on snow-dusted ground with rocky hills and dead trees not too far in the distance. Matt and Natalie led the way as they hiked towards the hills. It wasn't long before they were no longer stepping on snow, but on dirt and loose bits of stone. Natalie lifted an arm to point out a cave in the side of a hill up ahead.
After letting go of Natalie, Matt went ahead to check the cave for any inhabitants, monster or otherwise. He soon popped his head back out with a grin and beckoned them over. Lance nodded for Natalie to go first, following closely behind her. Natalie slipped inside the cave; Lance ducked his head slightly to avoid the low ceiling and followed her. Matt waited until they were inside before announcing that he was going to grab some firewood and stepped out into the night. Lance set Anna down before digging through her pack to pull out her camping blanket. He spread it on the floor and moved Anna on top of it. Natalie watched his careful movements with a small smile before turning at the crunch of footsteps announcing Matt's return. The swordsman arranged the wood and Natalie set it ablaze with a small fireball spell. Soon, a crackling fire lit the cave with a cheery glow and warmed the chilly space.
Matt dug out the ration bar Lance had given him outside the Crystal Caverns several days ago and munched on it; Natalie and Lance followed suit. Finishing hers, Natalie leaned back and closed her eyes allowing the warmth of the fire to wash over her for a few moments before Lance quietly thanked her. Smiling a bright—albeit tired—smile at him, she waved off his thanks and pulled her own sleeping blanket out before curling up under it, falling asleep in seconds. Matt smiled fondly at her before eschewing pulling out a blanket and simply flopped back on the ground to begin quietly snoring. Lance smirked at his sleeping friend before resigning to take first watch. The gunner leaned back against the cave wall near the entrance of the cave and turned his crimson eyes upward to gaze at the full moon, listening to Matt's quiet snoring and the occasional snuffle from Natalie.
A few hours passed with no sign of any monsters, Lance stood up and stoked the fire before he made his way out the entrance of the cave for a quick walk around to stay alert. Leaning against a large boulder just outside, Lance sighed as the stress of the fight against the Praetorian finally caught up with him. "I was so certain she had been killed," Lance thought with a shiver. A shuffle from the cave broke him from his thoughts. Turning to see who was up, the gunner was surprised to see Anna stepping out into the moonlight. "I'm surprised you're already up," Lance greeted her as she came to stand next to him.
Anna snorted, "Honestly I'm surprised I'm alive at all." She closed her eyes, missing the wince Lance gave. "I thought for sure I was a goner there. I cast Reflex as soon as I saw Natalie's Barrier crack, but I couldn't do any more than twist out of the direct path of the laser." She turned to Lance, "So who took the menace down?"
"I called down an Ion Laser," Lance said.
"Aww, I missed the giant space laser? Phooey," Anna pouted in disappointment causing Lance to let out a short, genuine laugh. She blinked at the sound. "Figures that during what will probably be the only time you use it, I'm busy bleeding out," Anna grumbled glancing at Lance. Any signs of previous amusement were gone from his face. "What's wrong?"
Lance's face darkened and he swallowed heavily, "I was so certain you had died. I hardly remember what happened right after you got hit. I know I called in for an Ion Blast, but everything else is a huge blur of rage." Anna's wide green eyes were fixed on the haunted look on Lance's face as he bowed his head, eyes clenched shut. "The next thing I know, Matt's yelling for Natalie, saying you're still alive." He swallowed again before murmuring, "You were so hurt…"
Anna stared at Lance as his hands balled into fists in an attempt to stop them from trembling. The archer was surprised that her brush with death had shaken him so badly before she remembered what Natalie had told her after she, Matt, and Lance had caught up to the archer at the start of the factory and her surprised gaze softened. Stepping closer, she hesitated before wrapping her arms around the distraught gunner's waist causing him to stiffen. Leaning against his shoulder, Anna quietly assured him, "I'm okay. I'm alive."
Lance wrapped one arm around her and mutely nodded. A minute or so passed before he stepped away to break the embrace. Clearing his throat with a blush, he motioned back to the cave, "You should get some more sleep; we need to keep moving tomorrow." His breath caught as Anna smiled up at him. Her green eyes caught the light of the moon and were sparkling while her bright green hair was highlighted with silver light.
Turning to head back inside the crevice, Anna called back over her shoulder, "You come and sleep too. I can set some wards before I conk out." She chuckled suddenly, "Whoops, I forgot I was supposed to teach Natalie how to do them. Next time, eh?"
Lance huffed an amused breath from behind her and watched as she set the wards at the entrance before curling under her blanket with a mumbled, ''Night, Lance'. Pulling his own blanket around his shoulders, Lance laid back on the stone floor and murmured, "Good night, Anna."
A/N: This was originally just going to be the Praetorian Fight + exiting the factory, but the idea for the fluffy LancexAnna scene at the end came to mind and I rolled with it. :3 Let me know what you all thought of this chapter!
P.S. I'm sorry to everyone who wanted the Glitch fight, but it just did not seem to fit well, no matter how I typed it; which leads to the next bit of info. I am planning, after I finish An Epic Retelling, to write a short-story compilation fic for any and all moments that came/come to mind while I've been writing this story. Extra boss fights (i.e. the Glitch, the Beholder, the Undead Hydra, etc.) will be in that one as soon as I write them, as well as little story ideas that have been suggested by you guys. *hint hint* ;) This story, as a a retelling of the game, will only really include storyline plot plus little tidbits I add to flesh it out.
See you all next chapter!