Chapter 12
Mechanized Warfare
The friends were swept up in the rush of Gersons and Relics as they flooded towards the large robot. They had managed to open up its face, exposing the cockpit. A few professors were fiddling around and frantically taking down notes. As the crowd approached, one Gerson used a Relic as a megaphone and called out to them.
"We figured it out! This machine can be powered with combination of three things: It must have first Lightners in the cockpit, and these Lightners must secondly pour Tension Points into the device, powering it. And finally, they must possess great Determination to make it move! With those last elements combined, Lightners could make this thing a nigh-unstoppable weapon!"
"Wow… That's, um… timely coincidence," Susie muttered.
Monster Kid grew excited. "That would be awesome! If we're going into battle, imagine if we had this bad boy! We could destroy The Dude no problem and whatever else the guy's got!"
"Reminds me a little too much of our battle against Queen," Susie said. "There was an odd catch to that fight."
"No there wasn't!" Ralsei retorted. "You guys just paid too much attention to Queen's endgame goals and completely misunderstood what you were doing! Remember, we cannot let the two worlds meet or the balance of all creation will go out of whack, and-!"
"Chill out, dude," Snowy said. "We've learned our lesson! We won't try to use this world's Dark Fountain. But Monster Kid's making a lot of good sense! Though it would be funny to watch him try to operate this robot."
"Why?" Monster Kid asked defensively.
Snow motion with his wings. Monster Kid kicked him in the shins.
The Gersons picked up on the conversation and they crowded the teens, explaining, "There's room for many pilots! The robot's different functions can be divvied up between multiple drivers, so long as they are Lightners. But what matters most is Determination. With that, you can power this device and move it with your sheer will. Fascinating!"
"But it also requires TP. With our curse, we wouldn't be very helpful," Ralsei pointed out. "But perhaps we can get this thing moving, what do you think, Kris?"
Kris thought it over. Having a large weapon would be very helpful. And it could make it easier to travel the Dark World. They could quickly pick up Jockington and then rally with everyone else to finish the fight against The Dude. They concluded with everyone that it would be for the best tog et this robot operating again, if the Gerson professors were willing to let them use it.
"Sure! Give it a try kid!"
"This will be a great experiment!"
"Just look at how excited the Relics! They're vibrating with anticipation!"
"Get in! Get in!"
"Well, if Kris says it's a good idea, then let's do it!" Susie grinned.
"I'm not a Lightner, but I'll be there for moral support!" Ralsei said.
Susie pointed at Monster Kid and Snowy. "Hey, I'm going to strike near you guys and generate some TP. Since we're cursed, all we can add is Determination."
Snowy was a bard and Monster Kid were a rogue in the Dark World roles. That made them both wonderful targets for a barbarian like Susie. However, she did her best to narrowly avoid them as she swung her axe.
"Gah! You're doing that on purpose!" Snowy accused.
"Of course I am! It would be bad if I hit you by accident!" Susie laughed.
Once Snowy and Monster Kid's TP was full, the friends clambered into the large mechsuit. Monster Kid took the helm and with his Determination flowing into the pad where the pilot was supposed to stand, the machine came to life. The large robot closed itself up, sealing the friends within the helm. Tons of controls materialized before them. There were all kinds of stations to access different weapons, to fly, to heal damaged components, and much more.
"Alright, where's the levers to let me crush things?" Susie asked excitedly.
Monster Kid made a peculiar, confused expression and suddenly a new station appeared. It came with lever for crushing. Crushing with the robot's hands, elbows, thighs, head, large claws that could pop out of the shoulders and arms. It had everything.
"Hell yeah!" Susie cheered. "This is what I'm talking about!"
"Woohoo! It works! Do you think they'll us take this and go help the others?" Ralsei asked.
Kris shrugged and said that it would be best to ask. At the suggestion a microphone appeared on the control dash. Susie flushed a little ands asked, "So, who's going to ask?"
"I'm not going to!" Snowy said.
"Why not? You've spent who knows how long here with these weirdos!" Susie snapped.
"We've been around long enough to know that these guys get really pushy and in your face if you interfere with their research," Monster Kid replied nervously.
"Ah hell, I'll ask them then," Susie grumbled. She leaned into the microphone and asked, "So, um, hey… Can we use this large robot to go and help our friends escape The Dude?"
No response.
She turned back and asked Kris, "How are we even supposed to hear their response?"
"THE DUDE?"
"Woah? What the-? What's going on?" Susie sputtered.
"Let's have a look," Monster Kid, operating the robot to look down and try to see who was talking.
All the Gersons were gazing up at them, their expressions absolutely blank. The Relics were pouring in from every direction, carrying more Gerson lookalikes with them. A blood red aura pulsed around the Relics.
"THE DUDE?"
It took Kris a moment to realize it was the Relics who had spoken in unison. They did so again, haunting voices rising up to greet them in the cockpit.
"THE DUDE? THE DUDE? THE DUDE!"
The Relics began flying and stacking, carrying and placing all the copies of Gerson Boom into whatever weird form they were assuming. The professors didn't resist or protest but allowed the lost toys and machines to go about their business, all while chanting out The Dude's name. It was only as a recognizable shape began forming that the Gerson clones added their voices to the unnerving chant.
Susie swallowed hard. "Uh, Kris, what are we supposed to do about that?"
Kris gave the order. Everyone needed to be at their battle stations. Monster Kid needed to take the lead though. So long as the original Fun Gang was cursed, they would only weaken the robot. And they'd probably still accumulate too little TP with them inside.
"Are you serious, Kris?" Snowy gasped. "Tell me you're joking! Even though it's not funny!"
"They're not laughing, are they?" Susie snapped.
"Prepping weapons systems," Ralsei called out, being a little more helpful.
"How am I supposed to use this thing when I don't have arms!?" Monster Kid asked.
"You're only bringing that up now?" Ralsei, Snowy, and Susie roared together.
Kris told them to back off. They watched as the Relics and Booms amalgamated further, becoming a monstrous, rippling version of Gerson, coated in a bloody, pulsing aura. A new boss battle was about to begin. They encouraged Monster Kid, telling him to go with the flow. The robot had already complied with his commands before; it would do so again!
"You're right, Kris. Thanks!" Monster Kid said, still sounding nervous.
Kris snapped their fingers and pointed at the boss. Monster Kid threw his hip into the movement and the robot responded by throwing a crushing punch right into the twisted conglomerate of bodies. The blow landed with enough force to send the large Gerson's arm flying, scattering into may pieces.
"Boo yay! I did it!" Monster Kid gushed.
The crimson aura lashed out, like millions of smaller tentacles, and snatched up all the lost Gersons and Relics. They quickly flew back into the designated positions. Thousands of pairs of red eyes turned towards the teens. The progressors were angry.
"WE WILL DEFEAT YOU AND THE DUDE WILL FINALLY RECOGNIZE US! HE WILL TAKE US BACK! WE HAVE BEEN LOST FOR SO LONG! BUT NO MORE!"
"That's not ominous," Snowy muttered.
The unholy amalgamation threw its own punch, decking the robot across the chin. It stumbled back, throwing everyone but Monster Kid away from their stations. Sparks were flying everywhere. Ralsei scrambled for his computer and hurriedly reported that they had taken some significant damage and had received almost no TP for their pains. The curse was very much going to hurt them in this battle.
"Alright, then we dish out even more punishment to… Whatever the hell it is!" Susie shouted.
"No! We need to avoid getting hit again!" Snowy said timidly.
Kris hurried over to Monster Kid and told him to follow their lead. They began dancing, reading how the large Gerson X Relic formation would try to deliver the next blow. Blushing, Monster Kid copied Kris. The robot easily avoided the next two punches.
Susie meanwhile was hitting all kinds of buttons, launching rockets and bombs right into the fused beast. The large boss loss much of its body, but each time the aura surged and recollected all the lost components. They were immediately set back into place, though a few of the Relics and professors started looking a little worse for the wear.
Kris ordered the others to aim for the knees. Snowy, Susie, and Ralsei all smashed their buttons and pulled the necessary levers to send a barrage of rockets right into the boss's legs. Monster Kid leapt and delivered a wonderful roundhouse kick to the amalgamation's head. The boss came toppling down. Bodies and parts went flying everywhere.
But just as the teens cheered in celebration, the red aura beamed even brighter and the boss reformed even quicker than before. Monster Kid barely managed to jump back and avoid letting the robot's feet get swept out from under it. The hulking boss threw itself forward, leaping onto its feet. The ground shuddered and a sandcastle collapsed. The conglomeration of professors and Relics drove the Fung Gang back, throwing vicious punches and jabs.
"I didn't know this guy was also a boxer!" Susie yelped. "What did Old Man Gerson all do in his life? And how did he find the time?"
"Those are great questions, Susie," Ralsei said with a wide smile. "But perhaps we can wait until after we've defeated the boss to figure that out. Unless Kris had figured out how we can ACT in this situation?"
"I was being rhetorical!" Susie shouted back.
"And I'm so glad that you've remembered a lot of your lessons with Noelle," the Dark Prince cheered. "Your study group has really done a lot to bring everyone together and help the whole class raise their grade point average!"
"Are you our dad or what?" Snowy scoffed.
Kris snapped and pointed forward again, reminding everyone of the real threat at hand.
"Oops!" Monster Kid wailed as the robot tripped over another sandcastle.
The boss dove for them.
"We need to fly!" Monster Kid shouted. Answering his crazy command, the robot grew rocket boosters and took off, plowing through more of the dig site. With a little fenagling, the large war machine redirected its trajectory and shot straight up into the air. The boss' back rippled open, Gerson and Relics stretching to become blossoming wings.
With a mighty flap, it came streaking for the Fun Gang.
"Gah! It's like all the worst movies of the recent era fusing into one, just like this boss," Snowy complained. "It has the same weird, creepy body from Rough-up Robert Cuts the Internet!"
"Oh, I hated that sequel, so damn unnecessary!" Susie groaned. "Thanks for reminding me! Wait, but we have a fight to finish, get your head back in the game!"
"And they fly now, just like that stupid line out of Downfall of Groundrunner…"
"Not if I can help it!" Susie muttered, launching more rockets at the boss. "We're not living in some corporate-led, crappy, rage-inducing movie!" Luckily, it didn't look as if they were going to run out any time soon.
The monstrous boss raised its hands and the red aura flashed dangerously once more. It coalesced and became so dark that the light shifted towards black. Kris' red eyes widened as they realized what had just happened. The boss had formed Gerson's fictional, legendary hammer. The Lord's Hammer.
The amalgamation swung the mythical hammer. It smashed into the robot and did crazy amounts of damage. Even as they soared through the sky and crashed into a sandcastle, Kris watched their armor take permanent damage. Their defenses lowered incredibly, and their HP took a proportional hit.
Yeah, this was a bad idea fighting a boss without first removing their curse.
"What, no TP after a hit like that!?" Snowy gasped.
"Remember, they're cursed," Monster Kid cried out, caught in a beam of energy, struggling in the air. As the robot's pilot, he was locked firmly into the pad to keep controlling it. That was lucky, but that hit had been anything but!
"Come on Monster Kid, get up!" Ralsei implored.
Groaning, Monster Kid struggled back to his feet. The gigantic Professor Gerson raced forward. The land shook with each step, causing more sandcastles to start crumbling. All this history vanishing in moments. Ralsei was sad at the loss. Kris wondered what they were burying. Susie didn't care; this was kill or be killed. Unless Kris discovered a way for them to ACT out of this.
"Kris!" she screamed. "Is there anything we can do?"
Kris checked. All they could do was fight.
The boss boomed, "The sins will be repaid! Past catches up to the present and quenches all futures!"
Relic speak. Confirmation that there was no way out.
Kris shook their head and pointed. It was time to end this battle. At their direction, Monster Kid piloted the robot close to Gerson. Eliminating the distance between them, the boss could not use the full of force of his hammer to deliver such crushing blows. Monster Kid latched the metal hands onto the hammer's haft, trying to hold Gerson in place.
The others frantically fired everything in their arsenal, scoring direct hits. Just as before, the Relics began healing their creation. The professors all chanted in another language. A dark spell was being formed. If they didn't act quick enough, they were all toast.
It was then that an idea came to Kris. They hurried to an escape hatch, ignoring Susie and Ralsei's protests. They went outside and had to climb carefully as the robot and boss struggled with the hammer. Kris climbed onto the robot's shoulder and began waving, calling out to the Relics.
Burning eyes turned towards them as a chorus of demonic voices washed over the ruins. "Humans have returned! Humans have returned! Humans have returned! Repay their sins! Repay their sins!"
The boss let go of the hammer with one hand and reached out for him.
Kris braced themselves.
Susie' frustrated roar echoed from inside the mech suit. The robot quickly shifted grips on the hammer and wrenched it away. It began crumbling into dust. Versions of Gerson and the Relics falling apart once they were no longer attached to the whole. But before the hammer vanished entirely, it swung into the boss' head, scattering the bodies that made it up.
The robot then yanked the headless boss forward and down. Once again, barrage of guns and rockets fired into the amalgamation, this time pouring into the exposed wound. Pure destruction resonated and rippled within the beast, breaking apart the links between the many bodies. They all turned black and began crumbling into dust.
In a short instant, the battle was over.
Kris clung for dear life onto the robot's armor and watched with horrified fascination as death spread to thousands of Darkners. Never before had they done so much damage to so many lives. Back in the day, when their SOUL had been affected by outside Players, the temptation to dole out this kind of punishment had always been there. This was the first time they were acting like it.
It was like a punch to the gut. So much senseless slaughter.
The dust spoke as it drifted away.
"So many years lost… Lost to a passion that itself is gone… The Master has returned to find it… But the humans must pay… You can't do this without… Consequences…"
The mech suit sank to its knees, causing the land to shake one last time. The boss fell apart and drifted away. Every life attached to it snuffed out. The battle had ended about as quickly as it had begun. Black dust swirled around them in a slow tornado. Sandness permeated the very air.
Kris also sank to their knees and barely registered when Susie and Ralsei pulled them into a hug.
"That… That was awful."