CHAPTER 42: I'M THE BAD GUY
As the Chariot descended into the Underworld's depths, Jill suddenly felt herself break into a sweat. While the rest of this realm was cold, this final place was simmering hot, as though everyone was embarking into Hell itself. Or perhaps this was the center of the earth—Jill didn't know which way was even up anymore. It felt like an eternity since she had last seen the sun.
"Sttt…." Grim choked, squirming in her arms.
"What?" Vil demanded. "Grim…?"
"S-Stone…" Grim grunted. He bunched up and hissed.
"No!" Jill hugged Grim tightly. "Grim, remember, you need to get a grip! Don't go crazy!"
"Keep him steady!" Epel urged. "I need to focus on driving this thing!"
"Look, it's our dear friends!" Rook said. He waved happily to the other two Chariots, which were on the other ends of the large circular tower.
"About time you showed up," Leona said from the second Chariot. Jamil simply nodded. Deuce, who was driving his team's Chariot, waved and gave a cocky grin.
"Well, forgive me if I'm not familiar with driving this thing," Azul said bitterly from his side.
"Relax, that's what I'm here for," Ace bragged. "You got the piece of the Spear, Riddle?"
"Right here… and I've already charged it with my magic," Riddle acknowledged. He lifted his third of the Thunder Spear. "Do you two also have your pieces charged?"
"Yep," Leona said, lifting his piece. "Vil?"
"Naturally," said the Pomefiore housewarden. "With any luck, we should—"
"AHAHAHAHA! Oh, you seriously made it all the way down here? Well, I hate to break up your hero banter, but… this is where your campaign ends!"
The air became hotter and more sulfurous, and Jill finally looked down to see the eerie green glow beneath her. This was the very end of the line—the pit of Tartarus. She hugged Grim even tighter, almost choking him, in fear that she would drop him.
And something was coming out of Tartarus. Something enormous.
If Jill had to measure it against something, she'd compare this Phantom to a small building. Maybe the size of Hallowgrim itself, though this titanic creature might have to squeeze itself to fit inside. It had a dark body made from a flood of blot, and it wore a black cloak such like Hades from legend. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that hundreds of smaller Phantoms were bunched up and tied together with ethereal string to form its massive arms. Its head was a gigantic vial with a flame-shaped golden cap on top, and it had a cape of blue flames around the neck.
"What the—?!" Azul cried first. "Is that a Titan?!"
"That's putting it mildly!" Vil shouted.
"…We're gonna need a bigger Spear," Deuce muttered fearfully.
The monstrous Titan reached out its hands, and then gently unfurled its fists. In one hand was the robotic Ortho, tied to the Titan with glowing blue strings like a marionette. Idia's magestone pen, blackened with blot, was attached to Ortho's chest piece. The humanoid stood there silently, his head and limbs bent slightly, further making him look like a puppet.
In the other hand was Idia, fully overblotted. Jill took in his horrible mechanical features, and knew that she was too late to stop Minuet-Hand from corrupting another classmate. Another bad guy to ruin the name of the Great Seven.
Well, call me Cassandra, because I told him the truth and he didn't believe me, she thought faintly.
"Idia… Roi du sa Chambre…" Rook said quietly. "You're…"
"I know, right? I've got the ultimate upgrade!" Idia boasted. His voice was much louder and more confident. More… James Woodsy. "For you suckers, blot is a debuff! But for us, it's a buff! Let's see how that old-tech of yours stacks up!"
"This is so exciting," Ortho said, but his voice was oddly hollow. Like someone was speaking through him. "I've always wanted to be a final boss."
"Stone… want…!" Grim growled. His fur bristled and darkened, and Jill quickly dropped her staff by Rook's lap. She now needed both arms to keep the direbeast restrained.
"Jill, keep Grim under control! We're ending this now!" Vil cried.
Rook leaned across the seat and helped Vil hold the Spear piece in place. There was another ear-splitting bang and flash of light—BOOOOOOOOOM!—and the gigantic Titan was struck near its chest. The monster stumbled and grunted, but was still raring to go.
"Ortho!" Idia cried. His blue hair flickered red, and his voice distorted further. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
"Epel, get us back!" Vil warned.
"On it! Watch out, guys!" Epel steered the Chariot away as Idia shot massive fireballs at all three Chariots. The three teams were having difficulty keeping up with the speed.
"Leona, it's now or never!" Jamil said.
"Alright. Spade, keep us away—Viper, help me hold this!" Leona barked. Jamil took the back end of the Spear piece, and the second team delivered another blow of lightning. BOOOOOOOOMMM!
This time, the attack went for one of the monster's massive arms. A couple of little Phantoms were knocked free and fell into Tartarus, but not much damage was done.
Again, Idia cried out in rage. He added various cosmic spells to his arsenal—shadowy ghosts that flung themselves like missiles at the groups.
"We're not doing enough!" Riddle cried. "We need to come in closer!"
"Uh, bad idea!" said Primus from the communicator. "Ortho comes from Tartarus—he's imbued with its energy! Get too close, and it'll sap your life energy!"
"Well, we can't do enough from a distance—we'll just get in a bit closer!" Riddle compromised.
"Riddle, I respect you and all, but we should listen to the Styx guys!" Ace warned.
"Look out, that Titan's on the attack!" Azul cried.
The enormous Titan was moving closer, swinging its arm towards Team 3. Ace tried to move away, and Azul and Riddle pointed their piece of the Thunder Spear. BOOOOOOOOMMM!
The lightning strike hit the Titan's arm, and it seemed to wince in pain. The mechanical Ortho in its left hand suddenly lunged forward, stretching his strings as long as possible, and reached out towards Ace—
"NO!" Riddle leapt out in front of his subordinate. The Ortho puppet grabbed Riddle, but Ace and Azul shot cosmic spells to make Ortho back off. As Riddle was about to fall, Ace drove the Chariot forward and Azul caught the Heartslabyul housewarden.
"Ow!" Azul buckled under Riddle's weight.
"G-Guys…?" Riddle tried to move away. "Thank you both for saving me. Sorry, Azul… I made you break your promise to not get hurt…"
"Forget about that, Riddle! Look at yourself!" Ace cried.
"Myself…?" Come to think of it, Riddle did feel drained. He caught his reflection in the glossy black surface of the Chariot… and his hair was as white as snow. "WHAT…?!"
"Ace, get us back! Riddle, sit down!" Azul commanded. "Everyone, we can't let this Titan get too close!"
"Eheehee! Ortho's quite the heavy hitter, isn't he?" Idia cackled.
"Guys, what do we do?!" Epel asked. "None of the Spear pieces made a dent!"
"We could combine the full Thunder Spear, and use its full power," Jamil noted in the communicator. "But that would take a lot of power to charge it up, and we need to watch our limits…"
Jill's heart pounded into overdrive as she carried the struggling Grim. They were all fighting the forces of death itself… wasn't there anything else the team could do?
…Wasn't there anything else Jill could do?