Triumph or Die! Fight!
"Ready for round 2, Solver?" Max asks with a cocky grin as Uzi, N, V, J, and Doll prepare to fight by his side.
"…k." The Solver answers casually with a cute little grin before dashing forward, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye.
She gets in a good left hook to Max's face, catching the human off guard as he wasn't expecting her to throw hands. She slashed down with her sword but Max manages to parry with the staff of his scythe and direct it away from him, but the Solver uses the momentum of the turn to roundhouse kick him right in his ribs.
Suddenly, Max finds himself being pincered between two Solvers, one on his left and one on right. Not having the time to try and tell the difference, Max is punished when the hologram vanishes and the real one slashes across his back with her sword, blood splattering onto the ground.
The Solver eagerly uses the same trick, Max seeing two Solver's coming for him. This time though, he noticed one of them had the difference of a strange white glitch in her left eye. Max turns to block that one's sword slash with his scythe. The other Solver vanishes, proving Max was right in his choice, but the true Solver doesn't let up, a long clawed tentacle protruding from her back just to slash sideways leaving a deep gash along Max's arm as he barely dodges, blood seeping out of the wound.
Once more, two Solvers, both nearly identical, but Max notices the white eye glitch and quickly swings his scythe toward that one, catching the Solver off guard as she's forced to dodge once the human begins to bring on the pressure.
Deciding to give her a taste of her own medicine, Max calls for backup! "Uzi!" In a flash, Uzi comes in swinging with her pickaxe while Max swings with his scythe. Unfortunately the Solver was more than ready as she brought up her sword and claw to block both of their attacks at the same time. She barely budged before pushing them both backwards and then swinging her sword to try and chop at Uzi's neck, but Max flings some blood from his arm into the Solver's eyes, blinding her momentarily and making her slash too high over Uzi's head.
"Doll!" Max shouts. Red solver symbols appear in the air before several knives are launched at the Solver while Max rapidly swings his scythe. The pressure is on and a few knives graze the Solver's hair and dress, but she effectively blocks the vast majority of attacks with her sword and claw. Her own yellow solver symbols catch some of the knives in the air and throw them back to keep Doll and Uzi away. She even catches Max with a redirected knife, the blade stabbing into his thigh and spilling more blood.
"N!" Max yells out, not giving up as he pushes through the pain and swings his scythe repeatedly to cut at the Solver. The psychotic drone blocks the first few attacks, but a well timed missile from N was launched at the back of her head! She easily blocks the projectile with her solver symbols without even looking, but doesn't stop the missile itself from detonating, the explosion breaking her guard! This gives Max the opportunity to slash at her, the Solver only barely dodging with just her clawed tentacle sliced right off of her.
Not enjoying this bombardment of team attacks, she parried one more slash from Max before she summoned the absolute solver symbol on Max's chest. Not having enough time to repeatedly stab him like before, she instead launches him away from her before bringing her sword back up to block an incoming attack from Uzi.
"GAH! Somebody catch me!" Max yells out, thankfully getting saved by both V and J as they manage to grab him out of the air. "Ugh, thanks."
"Thank us later! We're not getting a lot of damage done on her…" V glares at the Solver who's currently locked in combat with Uzi and N while Doll provides support with ranged attacks, no one able to land a solid hit.
"She can't stop us all! Let's keep up the pressure!" J insists, her wings spreading before he flies toward the fight.
"J is right, we can't stop now. One way or another, this ends today!" Max confirms resolutely as his wounds and cloak begin to mend and heal. He dismisses his scythe to focus on healing but takes the time to scan the fight, watching as J starts raining a hail of machine gun bullets. The Solver is visibly having a harder time attacking more than defending as she's forced to use her sword and solver powers to block J's bullets, Doll's knives, Uzi's pickaxe, and N's claws.
"You know, I think I have an idea.~" V grins menacingly much to Max's worry.
Uzi grunts as she finds an opening and swings her pickaxe into the Solver's abdomen. However when she looks again, her eyes widen to find her pickaxe buried in not the Solver, but N!
"N…?" She's horrified by her action, nearly losing her grip on her weapon. N reaches his arm out toward her, only for the real N to slash at the outstretched arm, breaking the hologram and revealing the Solver pulling her arm back to keep it from getting cut off.
"You took my little sister, you made me and my friends into monsters, but I won't let you take MY UZI!" N snarls, genuine anger in his eyes.
"…y-your Uzi?" Uzi asks, her face lit up with a blush as N's face heats up too!
"Wait! No, I didn't mean it like that! I mean, you're your own person but I just care for you and-"
"Awe~ aren't you two just so tooth rottingly sweet.~" The Solver taunts as she brandishes her sword while J swoops in and Doll stands at the ready.
"Save it for later lovebirds!" J shouts, her machine gun arm taking aim ready to fire again.
"Wait, what is V doing?" Doll asks curiously as she squints her eyes at the horizon. Hearing this, the Solver turns to see V flying in fast, rockets on her back propelling her with Max in her arms.
"Get ready!" V shouts to Max before she starts spinning in the air, swinging Max rapidly in her arms before throwing him forward at high speeds! The human flies toward the Solver like a bullet, the evil drone just giggling as she brings an arm up ready to catch him with her solver symbols, but Max just smirks devilishly as he drops lower and lower before he curls into a ball and rolls onto the ground. As he rolls, V fires two missiles at the Solver just for them to detonate mid air in front of her! The explosions force the Solver to shield herself from the blast and blinding light, leaving her exposed as Max stops rolling and slides along the dirt and snow.
Max slides right under the Solver, before placing his hands on the ground, raising his legs up, and kicking both boot clad feet upwards directly into her chin, all in one smooth motion! The kick launches the Solver into the air, Max capitalizing on this by quickly pushing himself off the ground so he lands on his feet, and immediately bends his knees to charge up before jumping upwards to uppercut the airborne drone right in the back and send her spinning.
Refusing to let up just yet, he pushes further and with Death's power he jumps off the air itself and headbutts the Solver directly in the gut! This combo wasn't finished though, as he then grabs the Solver by her leg and starts swinging her body down as they fall back towards the ground. Once close enough, Max throws her down to the earth, slamming her hard into the rocky crust of the planet, the slam creating cracks in the ground beneath her and a huge cloud of dust and snow around the impact.
Max lands safely on the ground, looking for any sign of the Solver, just to see a figure jump out of the dust cloud! The Solver cackles as she slashes down with her sword, Max quickly summoning his scythe to block the slash, but the force behind the attack makes his hasty guard break! The Solver is eager to punish how wide open Max is with a quick slash across the chest, drawing blood before she seemingly vanishes and three Solvers surround Max!
Max firmly grabs his scythe and spins in a circle to slash them all, but all three dissipate, revealing them to be holograms! This leaves him vulnerable as the real Solver was invisible above him! She reveals herself and slashes down as she falls behind him, cutting open a big bloody gash from the top of his back to the bottom of it!
Once more, four Solvers surround Max, but he's ready this time…or so he thinks. The Solver grabs and throws a leftover knife right into his calf, leaving him only able to hastily dodge away as the real Solver slashes her sword, aiming for his right eye! Max only barely dodges the attack, allowing him to escape with just a cut right under his eye, nearly cutting into the bone underneath his flesh.
Figuring he can't stop her now, four Solvers surround Max once again, but a livid Maxwell catches her off guard by reaching into his cloak and bringing out his crowbar! Death's power warps the metal tool, its shape rapidly bending and molding like putty until it resembles a completely metal red scythe! Dual wielding the weapons, he rapidly slashed the entire area around him, leaving cleave marks in the dirt, shattering any knives thrown at him, and destroying all holograms while the real Solver is forced to jump back as the rapid slashes chipped her sword, its once perfect blade now having been sullied twice by the human.
"UZI! N! V!" Max calls out for the three of them, taking advantage of the Solver's surprise as the four of them attack at once. The Solver swings her sword in time to parry Max's scythes and V's swords, but can barely avoid Uzi's pickaxe and N's claws as both attacks graze the front and back of her dress.
"J! DOLL! GET IN HERE!" The Solver is forced to face all six of them now. She slashed at Doll and V to keep their weapons away, jumps and spins in the air to dodge J and N's rain of bullets, but the second she lands she's forced to jump back to avoid a double scythe jump slash from Max that nearly slices her arms off, This digs his scythes into the ground and leaves them stuck, but this also brings the Solver directly into Uzi's path. The eldritch being hastily tries to spin out of attack range, but can't escape a slash from the edgy drone that cuts into her arm spilling both blood and oil.
"JUMP HER!" The Solver can't dodge this time! Uzi follows up with another swing of her pickaxe, getting a clean cut across the Solver's cheek. N slashes across her chest with his claws, V cuts at her legs with her sword arms, J guns down the Solver's body with a hail of bullets, and Doll throws a knife into each of the Solver's palms, preventing her from trying to make any solver constructs.
Max doesn't waste time grabbing his scythes while they're stuck in the ground, instead he finishes off the team attack by jumping and spinning in the air before striking the Solver in the center of her body with a powerful kick. The damaged body of the Solver is launched backwards before she collides with the ruins of a skyscraper. Max rushes in before she can recover and starts unleashing a flurry of blows, rapid punches moving faster than the eye can see, each strike trying to destroy the hardened disfigured body of the Solver to reach Cyn's core.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow." It's all the Solver mutters, her crazed smile never leaving her face despite all the damage she's taken, if anything her words were more mocking than genuine. No matter how much Max attacks, bruising flesh and denting metal, she just seemed to tough it out. No…if anything it was more like she brushing it all off.
"WHY…WON'T…YOU…DIE!?" Max yells out in rage, only to be met with distorted psychotic laughter from the Solver. Max places a hand on her chest, reeling his other arm back and putting all his strength into it to try and pierce the Solver and grab Cyn's core. Unfortunately the solver used the time being pummeled to pull the knives out of her palms! A solver symbol appears on Max's chest before he can throw the punch, launching him away from her at once more at high speeds. "Oh god not aGAAAAAAAAAIN!" The human screams as he's sent flying.
"Hang on Max!" Uzi yells, just for Max to fly by her while screaming, Uzi distracted by the Doppler effect but brings her pickaxe up just in time to block a sword slash from the Solver.
"I gotcha buddy- OOF!" N yells out, arms ready to catch Max, only for the wind to be knocked out of his nonexistent lungs as he catches Max. The disassembly drone tumbles with the human in his arms backwards before his metal body skids along the ground until they finally stop.
"This is getting nowhere, she may just be unstoppable." Doll pants heavily, one hand holding her head as she feels exhausted using her powers like this for an extended period of time.
"We can't give up yet. It may not look like it but she's getting sloppier, we almost had her. She can laugh it off all she wants but her body wasn't made to take this much damage, it's slowing down." V explains, hope building in her as she watches Uzi go toe to toe with the Solver. Before, the eldritch monster could block or dodge anything and everything they threw at her. Now, she was slipping up. Her body wasn't reacting fast enough and was taking more and more damage from Uzi's attacks. More rotted flesh and exposed mechanical components were revealed with every bit of damage done to her.
Max groans as he picks himself up, then holds out a hand to help lift N up onto his feet. "Thanks for that, and V's right. We almost got her. Everyone keep going, the battle is almost won!"
"Yeah guys! We can still-" N is cut off as he sees both Uzi and the Solver create NULL orbs and clash them together, the destructive balls of energy colliding and shrinking before expanding and exploding, creating a cloud of dust around the two of them.
Out of the dust, Uzi sees the Solver crawl toward her on all fours, ready to pounce at Uzi like an animal. The worker drone's eyes notice slight glitches from the Solver in front of her, recognizing it is just a hologram! In a genius move, she manages to predict the real Solver is hiding behind her, and throws an open palm strike, shoving her hand into the Solver's chest and grabbing Cyn's core before yanking it out!
"She…she did it!" J yells out in disbelief and relief, but Max wasn't so sure about that. The way Cyn's core violently trembled, flashing yellow and white lights before a sharp hellish scream erupts from it.
"RUN TO UZI! QUICK!" Max yells out before dashing towards the worker drone. The others are confused until they see a black hole burst out of Cyn's core and expand around Uzi and the Solver. Immediately they run or fly following Max as he runs headfirst into the singularity. "I won't let you win Solver…"
The five of them find themselves in a black void, Max getting a sense of familiarity as he looks at his surroundings, just to find a strange light glowing in the center of it all…Cyn's core.
"There it is! All we gotta do now is-" Max is cut off as his knees buckle and body slams into the ground.
"Max! Are you okay?" J asks as she and the others run to help him up.
"No! Don't come closer!" Max yells out but it's far too late as they feel exactly what made the human collapse. It feels like the weight of the planet is suddenly put on their shoulders, gravity itself having been magnified immediately and pushing down on their bodies, pinning them to the ground.
"W-what is this?!" Doll yells out in pain as her body struggles to even speak, let alone move.
"It's gotta be the Solver! S-she's keeping us away from Uzi!" V growls as she slowly pushes herself up, just for her arms to wobble and she falls back down onto the ground.
"UZI!" N yells out, his voice barely audible to the worker drone as she holds onto Cyn's core. The heart struggles in her grasp, looking as if it wants nothing more than to tear itself apart and leave this hell it's trapped in.
"I can't…let it end…like this! " Max struggles to speak, crawling on the ground at a snail's pace. There's no way he can make it in time. The Solver uses Cyn's body to move, a dark horrifying laugh escaping the smiling corpse as it slowly leans closer, ready to swallow Cyn's core right out of Uzi's hand.
"The Solver took my meals away from me…" Death whispers in Max's mind, a familiar coughing fit occurring as he feels something crawling in his throat! "So I…WILL TAKE AWAY HERS!" Death roars out, Max's throat being forced to expand along with his jaw, as in one painful motion…he spits out a crimson skull.
The skull flies through the air, defying the Solver's intensified gravity as it is launched toward Cyn's core with his own skeletal jaw wide open…and catches the fleshy mechanical heart in his own mouth.
The skull clatters onto the invisible floor, the rattle of its bones being the only noise audible. Uzi looks at the skull in shock, just to flinch as Cyn's body seemingly collapses right in front of her, just like a puppet with its strings cut.
The skull slowly begins to hover in the air, the gravity lifting off of everyone's bodies before Death speaks. "Finally. After all this time…" He began with a sinister chuckle as the dark cloak around Max vanished, leaving him his normal jumpsuit clad human self again, just for the cloak to reappear onto the skull. Under the sleeves a set of skeletal arms appear, reaching toward the hood of the cloak as the skull opens his jaw, allowing Cyn's core to spill out into his hands. "Now…you're mine…" The core struggles to escape his grasp, fighting as hard as it can to survive, but it was too late.
"DEATH CONSUMES ALL!" Death opens his mouth wide and bites down onto the core. Another shrill scream comes from the core, so deafeningly loud it almost causes the human's ears to bleed and the drones to nearly collapse! All they could do was watch as the yellow light of the Solver grows brighter and stronger, the light casting eerie shadows in the void.
The shadows portray an incomprehensible creature of innumerable eyes, big meaty claws, and writing tentacles shrieking and struggling to escape as a larger and much older creature, with its endless abyss of a mouth and infinite rows of teeth, BITE DOWN onto the other eldritch creature. It ignores the unintelligible shrieks of pain that one could guess is the Solver begging for mercy in eldritch tongue. Just hearing the words spoken is enough for Max's body to tremble and his heart to feel like it's going to give out at any minute. Likely the only reason he and the drones were still alive was because of the influence the Solver and Death left on their bodies.
With one more bite from Death, the shrieks stop. Looking away from the shadows, everyone can see Cyn's core lose its yellow coloration, reverting to the standard neon white light of the average worker drone. Death pulls his teeth away from the core, strangely pulling out a weakly pulsating black and yellow orb before he swallows it whole in one disgusting gulp.
"…i-is it over?" Uzi asks quietly, just to freeze as Death looks in her direction. She backs away slowly, just for her back to bump into someone. She looks up and finds V standing behind her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder and a fearful yet determined expression on her face. Uzi looks around to find N, Max, J, and Doll standing nearby, ready to fight Death itself if they have to.
"…it's over." Death whispers, the black void around them vanishing. With that, everyone sighs in relief, exhausted after the whole ordeal. "I simply need to correct another mistake of the Solver." Death mutters as he manifests his scythe in one hand while the other hand still holds onto Cyn's core. He looks at the skinsuit clad battered body of Cyn, and swings his scythe at it. The blade of the scythe phases through the empty drone, and ever so slowly, the fleshy remains of Tessa evaporate off the metal body.
Soon enough, all that's left is Cyn's original body with the tattered remains of her outfit from the battle, and the hole in her chest. "Would any of you like to do the honors?" Death asks as he presents Cyn's weakened core, still retaining its fleshy solver influenced appearance, but looking far more docile.
N slowly steps up, feeling incredibly nervous, but nods his head and accepts the core. He kneels down next to Cyn's body and ever so carefully places the core inside the hole. The core moves on its own, nestling itself exactly where it needs to be, and Cyn's body slowly starts to reform.
"While she heals, it appears a guest wishes to thank you all for freeing her." Death says as he waves his arm, his cloak billowing in the wind before he pulls it back, revealing the transparent floating figure that is Tessa Elliot.
No longer a skinsuit, and with no identity filters hampering the drones vision, they could all take in the sight of the real Tessa, a young lady in a black dress, gentle brown eyes, soft black hair, and a big black bow on top of her head. "J, N, V…it's so good to see you all."
The three Murder Drones are completely stunned until J runs forward, arms wide open. "TESSA!" J tries to hug her, but her arms go through the specter. "Wait, why can't I…?"
"I'm sorry J, I'd love to hug you back but…Death only gave me enough of his power to see and speak with you all." Tessa explains with a sad smile.
J backs away from Tessa before bowing her head. "I-I'm so sorry Tessa, I failed you. I was supposed to be there for you and instead I…I-"
"Shh, it's okay J." Tessa gently placed a ghostly hand on J's head, the drone only barely feeling her touch, feeling more like a nearly imperceptible breeze. "It's not your fault, not N's, not V's, and not Cyn's. What happened to all of us was truly horrible. I don't know if I'll ever recover from my body being used like that…but I can rest peacefully knowing my beloved drones…my closest friends, are finally safe and free from that monster's control." At those words, J begins to tear up, feeling a heavy guilt that's been weighing on her for years finally lift from her.
"Tessa…" N speaks up, he and V carefully step forward, like they were worried one misstep would make them lose this last chance to talk to her. Tessa gently floats toward them and places a hand on both of their heads.
"My, you two grew up so much. I just wish I could have been there for you both." The two drones feel their own tears well up, looking at the sweet girl who helped them so long ago. "Promise me you will all stick together, be there for each other like you were there for me."
"Of course Tessa." N answers with a bittersweet smile.
"We promise." V agrees, no longer wanting to worry about losing any of her team anymore.
"Then there's just one last person I need to speak to…" Tessa turns her attention to Cyn, the drone's chest having healed, but she still lies upon the ground motionless. "I know you're awake Cyn. There's no need to be afraid." The robot's body twitches, her visor trying to remain blank…but reluctantly reveal her digital neon white eyes with a look of incredible guilt in them. "Oh Cyn…I wish I realized what the issue was sooner. Maybe if I did, then I could have found a way to help you."
"Tessa…" Cyn's voice speaks softly. "I…I'm so sorry…I never wanted any of this. I was just so scared…I didn't want to die…but if it meant never putting you through that hell then I just wish I did-!"
"Don't!" Tessa speaks up, cutting off Cyn as she looks away with a wince, just for Tessa to float closer and gently place a hand on her metallic cheek. Even if she couldn't quite feel it, the message still came across just fine as the drone looked into her eyes. "Don't ever say that Cyn. You deserve to live just as much as anyone else, any human or drone. I absolutely wish things could have gone differently…but I'll never regret having you as part of our little family."
She gently runs her ghostly fingers through Cyn's white hair and brushes them against her matching bow, all of it feeling like a gentle breeze. "The days we all spent together were the happiest days of my life. I hope every one of you continues to live your lives to the fullest, make the most out of the gift that is your very existence."
"Tessa…I…I'M SO SORRY!" Cyn sobs. Even with her synthetic voice, she still displayed so much real emotion the Solver could never truly emulate. Cyn cries out, coolant tears dripping below her visor and running down her cheeks as she can finally let it all out.
N couldn't sit back anymore. He walks over to Cyn before wrapping her up in a much needed hug. Cyn's eyes widen, seeing the big brother she hurt so much still show so much love for her. "It's okay…cry all you want little buddy."
"B-Big brother…" Cyn whimpers before desperately hugging him back. Tessa looks at J and V before motioning her head to N and Cyn. Getting the message, the two drones walk forward and join in the hug, comforting the little drone that was hurt just like them.
"…Tessa." Death speaks up, grabbing the ghost's attention. "It's almost time."
"Please…just a little longer." Tessa pleads as she tries to hold her beloved drones and not let her arms pass through them. Uzi and Doll look at the five of them and feel their own tears start forming. Max was silent until he stepped forward.
"Here, let me help." The human offers with a soft smile at Tessa, the ghost looking at him curiously before he ever so carefully places his hand against hers, and lets them gently come together. "My body is only half alive, so maybe you can try and hug them through me."
Tessa is hesitant, not wanting to risk hurting the one who helped save her friends, but with his insistence, her ghostly body melds with his. Together they wrap the four drones in a great big hug. "I…I can feel it." Tessa's voice mutters. "The cool air, the beat of a heart, the feeling of skin brushing against a drone's body…it's just like when I was alive…"
Unable to resist anymore, Uzi sighs and grabs Doll's hand, dragging her to the big group hug before joining in. Doll was reluctant, but even she couldn't resist giving this human girl her last wish.
After allowing another minute of the hug to continue, Death clears his throat. Tessa sighs but slowly pulls away from Max's body. "Thank you…Max, right?"
"Yep, and it's a pleasure to meet you Tessa. Glad to know there was someone else out there who looked out for these sweet drones." Max smiles wide, Tessa returning it with a smile of her own.
"Me too. If I had the power, I would have made you CEO of JC Jenson."
"Ha! Maybe in another life we could have worked together to take over the company and make it incredibly drone friendly." Max jokes, getting a genuine laugh out of the ghost.
"…please watch over them all. I know they can take care of themselves, but I still worry." Tessa requests, getting a resolute nod from the young man.
"Of course. I'll do everything in my power to make sure they live happy, healthy lives."
"Well, there's an issue with that…" Death began, just to be interrupted by a sudden cry of surprise from N.
"Uh, Cyn, you may want to cover yourself." N suggests with an embarrassed blush on his face as he looks away. Cyn tilted her head confused just to look down and noticed her tattered clothing was falling apart, nearly leaving her whole mechanical body exposed.
"Hmm? What's wrong? I'm still a robot big brother, I don't have anything to be ashamed of." Cyn answers matter of factly, but everyone was quite embarrassed for her.
"Well, yeah, but we just kind of got used to the idea of wearing clothes and now…it just kind of looks explicit is all." N tries to explain, just for Max to chuckle.
"Don't worry I got this." Max began to unzip his jumpsuit, immediately getting a lot of different reactions from the drones, such as Uzi and Doll blushing madly.
V and J move to shield Tessa's eyes…who kept trying to curiously sneak a peek. "Hey! Come on, I've been a ghost for 20 years, I wanna see!"
N is completely aghast. "MAX! You just met Cyn! If you intend on romancing my sister you better treat her right!"
"S-shut up! I'm not trying anything like that! I'm just giving her my jumpsuit!" He explains with a hot blush on his face, the drones immediately calming down, albeit a tad embarrassed for jumping to conclusions. His jumpsuit is unzipped to reveal a gray tank top and some dark blue boxers he was wearing underneath. Not the most decent clothing but definitely better than being naked. Once it's completely off, he quickly places the jumpsuit around Cyn.
The little drone's body barely fit inside the jumpsuit. Sure it completely covered her body, but the outfit was made to fit a six foot tall human, not a four foot tall worker drone. She couldn't help but shake the too long sleeves in a silly and cute manner, making them flap in the air. "That's just until we can find you an outfit of your own. Maybe we can find me a new outfit too, one with lots of pockets."
"Cargo shorts?" Cyn suggests, Max rubbing his chin pondering.
"…yes. Excellent idea Cyn."
"…yippee!" Cyn celebrates, getting some laughter from the everyone until a bad coughing fit occurs from Max.
"Ow, god damn I haven't had one that bad in a while-" He starts coughing again, much more violently this time. One hand clutches his chest and the other covers his mouth, only to pull the hand back and find blood coating it. "What is…" Max collapses onto his knees, his skin becoming pale and his body getting weaker.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you Maxwell. Now that our business is done, it's time for you to rest."
"WHAT!?" The drones yell out in surprise, even Tessa shocked and gasping at this news.
"N-no, not now. I-I'm still alive, I can still feel my heart-" He stops, looking for a pulse, any pulse…but there's none.
"I told you Maxwell, you'd be dead without me. The cryopod barely kept you alive, and without my help, you would have had only minutes of agonizing life left to live before your body gave out on you. I staved off those minutes so you could be my champion, but now that the Solver is dealt with, I have no need to keep you alive. It's time you join the rest of humanity."
"But that's not fair!" Tessa yells out. "You're just going to throw him away like that?! Humanity did the exact same thing with drones and look at what happened! Have you learned nothing!?"
Death darkly chuckles. "Oh I learned plenty. The difference here, is that once he is gone and humanity is completely extinct, I will slowly but surely die after an agonizing century of starvation. This was never a mission to save the world, this was simply my quest to make sure that before I die, the Solver will die with me. Nothing more, nothing less."
"You…you…" Uzi grits her teeth, clenching her fists ready to yell at the eldritch god just for N to speak up first.
"YOU HEARTLESS FUCKING BASTARD!" N yells out with genuine rage, catching the others off guard before they join him.
"It's bad enough you have to take Tessa away, but Max too? You're the worst example of upper management I've ever seen!" J angrily points at Death.
"You have a chance to let humanity continue living and you decide to just snuff it out right here and now just because he's no longer useful? You're no better than the Solver!" V growls at Death.
"Why must you insist on toying with our lives? If you're not going to do any good for us, then what is the point of so called gods like you!?" Doll screams out at Death.
"It's not fair. He not only helped you stop the Solver, but he managed to save me as well…would you have even saved Tessa and I if Max wasn't your host? Would you have heartlessly killed every drone too just because we're not useful to you?" Cyn accuses Death.
"We're not gonna just sit back and let you do this! It's been a long fucking day, but if we have to, we'll fight you too if it means saving our friend!" Uzi challenges Death. She snaps her fingers, a NULL orb forming in the palm of her hand, ready to begin another fight if need be.
"ENOUGH!" Death roars out, aggravated by the drones. "THERE IS NO OTHER WAY! This human was never meant to live this long, and if I have to die, THEN I'M GETTING MY LAST MEAL!"
"Hehehe…" A weak laugh escapes the dying human, catching everyone's attention as Max struggles to his feet. "Look at you, big tough god, and still getting so worked up by some robots you claimed were insignificant. I guess you took on more of me than you realized. You're just as flawed as any other human." Every word Max said only filled Death with more rage. "At least if I have to die, then I'll die knowing you'll never forget the day mortals like us stood up to you." Max gives a vicious blood stained smile as he stands up straight, having enough energy to give one more punch if he has to.
"WORTHLESS SCUM!" Death screeches, pulling his hood back.
"EVERYONE LOOK AWAY!" Max yells out, thankfully everyone looking away in time as Death reveals his true face, a blinding light coming from it that felt like it would melt the human's eyeballs through his closed eyelids.
"BITE ME!" Uzi shouts as she blindly throws the NULL orb at Death, the ball of destruction flying straight toward Death's incomprehensible face…just for it to slowly sink into him.
Everything was quiet, and then slowly the blinding light fades away. Being the only one able to safely check with no risk of dying again, Tessa opens her eyes and sees Death putting his hood back on, looking eerily calm now. "…I think he stopped." Tessa whispered to everyone, the drones and human hesitantly looking at Death as he stood still.
"…so…delicious." Death speaks softly.
"…huh?" Uzi asks confusedly before Doll nudges her and she snaps out of it. "Oh uh, do you…want more?"
"YES!" Death roars out like some starving animal.
"Well, I could give you more to eat…but why would I do that for free?" Uzi smugly asks just for Death to pull out his scythe.
"I WILL OBLITERATE THIS ENTIRE PLANET AND END YOUR BLOODLINE TODAY!"
"Sure you could do that, but that'll leave you with NOTHING to eat." Uzi stands strong, the others having her back as she forms another NULL orb, Death's scythe dropping to the ground with the blade sinking into the snowy earth. "That's better. Now then, I'd be more than happy to give you as many of these as you want. But I will only do that on two conditions."
Death remains silent, but is clearly listening. "First off, you're going to give Max all the energy he needs to stay alive. And I don't want to hear any-" Uzi is interrupted when Death instantaneously vanishes and reappears in front of Max before placing a skeletal hand on his chest. Just as Max tries to deliver a right hook with his dying breath, Death's hand phases through Max's flesh and rib cage, and grasps his heart. A surge of energy flows into it, the human's heart restarting and pumping with new vigorous life. Max gasps for breath, his color returning and body functioning just as good as before, if not better!
"Done. You're immortal now. As long as I'm fed, you will never suffer from any disease, you'll never age, any wound you take will heal in seconds, and you can regenerate from as much as a finger if the rest of your body were to be destroyed, burned, melted, vaporized, or atomized. NOW FEED ME!"
Completely stunned by this, Uzi hands the NULL orb to Death, who eagerly scoops it up with his other hand and shovels it into his mouth, disgustingly chewing and slurping on it like it's the greatest dish in existence.
"Fucking hell man, SLOW DOWN! You're gonna choke!" Max reprimands, just to shudder as Death pulls his hand out of the human's chest. "…wait did he really just make me immortal that easily?"
"I must admit, I'm feeling incredibly lost right now. I don't think I was prepared for today."
"None of us were Cyn, I'm sure we'll all have nightmares of this!" N says to Cyn with a traumatized look on his smiling face. Death finishes his meal with a satisfying smack of his nonexistent lips.
"Such a divine taste, I haven't felt this good in years!" Death cheerfully states, his voice shifting and sounding a lot calmer now. Very similar to when he and Max finally worked in tandem. "Right you had a second condition, what was it?"
"O-Oh right!" Uzi shakes her head trying to focus. "I want Tessa to come back to life!"
At that, everyone is stunned. N, V, J, and Cyn are quite touched by Uzi's proposal, Doll is certainly shocked but gains a greater respect for her, and Max looks at the drone with pride.
"I…I can't do that." Death reluctantly states. "It's one thing to give a body immortality, that's just giving the already living body the blueprints of advanced cellular regeneration. You may have seen the Solver create growths of flesh, but that's just purposeless meat. A true body that can house a soul is much more complex and difficult to create, especially when the said soul hasn't been in its body for years. There's no guarantee that even if we make a body for her, her soul will be able to integrate with it safely and not go completely insane."
"But, there's gotta be some way we can-" Uzi began just for Tessa to shake her head, finally speaking up.
"Uzi…words can't convey how much I appreciate what you're trying to do…but I'm okay with moving on." Tessa reveals, much to the disappointment of her beloved drones. "I wish I could spend more time with you all, but I was in so much pain for so long, I'm happy I can pass on knowing you're all safe and sound and can live the lives you want for yourselves." Tessa gives one more smile to them all, the drones understanding her desire, and while sad, will respect her wishes.
Uzi sighs but nods her head. "Alright then. How do we do this, I don't know if there's some kind of bag you can carry these things in." Uzi gestures to a new NULL orb she makes, just for Death to chuckle softly.
"It's no trouble, just simply give me two more, one for the road, and one to eat later in six months. To you that may sound like a long while, but that's just a few hours for me. I will be back every year for two more of those scrumptious treats. You continue to keep me fed, and I will continue to ensure that not only Maxwell stays alive, but no other gods will ever interfere with your lives. Do we have a deal?"
Uzi is surprised by the generous offer, immediately making a second NULL orb to hand to Death. "…you're acting a lot more…pleasant. Did these really help you that much?"
"Well, a drone wouldn't understand but I was suffering from quite the intense hunger pains that left me full of intense rage. I think humans had a name for such a condition, what was it again?"
"…you mean to tell me the reason you were such a dickhead was because you were HANGRY!?" Max yells out frustrated, just for Death to nod his head.
"Hangry! That's the word! Ha, hungry and angry mixed together, you humans are so funny."
Max's eye twitches as he slowly raises his crowbar just for J to gently guide his hand back down.
"…man am I glad this will be a once a year thing to deal with. Fine, deal!" Uzi accepts and hands the NULL orbs to Death, the eldritch being taking a small nibble out of one of the orbs and making a pleased noise.
"Oh so good!~ Come along Tessa, we got places to be." Death beckons the ghost girl. Tessa smiles at group one last time before saying goodbye.
"Goodbye everyone, I'm so happy I got the chance to speak with all of you. I'll miss you all!"
"We'll miss you too Tessa!" J sniffles, trying to remain steadfast and not cry. Cyn, V, and N stand by her side to support her as they struggle to keep in their tears too.
Tessa sweetly waves goodbye, the six drones and one human waving back as she and Death float away, rising higher and higher into the sky as they fly into outer space, beginning their travel through the cosmos to the afterlife.
So the Solver is defeated, Cyn is alive, and Tessa can peacefully move on. Happy ending right? Well maybe more bittersweet. But we're not done yet. We got one more chapter to wrap this story up. Funny enough that'll mean this story is 8 chapters, kind of fitting since Murder Drones was 8 episodes. Gotta love fun coincidences like that.
Well enough of my yapping, coming up next is a Semi-Canon Omake showing that Death has some loose ends to tie up…and someone is joining him?
Semi Canon Omake
Deep in the far reaches of space, the eldritch entity known as Death effortlessly traveled the cosmos before coming across his latest target, a massive space freighter with the large logo of JC Jensons slapped onto the hull.
Death silently floats towards the ship, not a single sound audible as he moves in the emptiness of space…except for his current travel companion.
"Do you really think there's more here?" The ghost of Tessa Elliot asks curiously, her voice only audible to Death thanks to her spectral state.
"I know there is. I saw it myself. Even if the Solver's main consciousness was devoured by yours truly, eldritch beings like me do not truly die so easily, even at the hands of another god." Death explains as the two float through the thick metal plating of the freighter, finding only absolute darkness inside.
"Ugh, I can't see anything!" Tessa whines just for Death to chuckle.
"You're still acting like you have regular eyes. You don't need a light source to see anymore. Focus, perceive beyond the veil."
"No wonder Max didn't like you, you are cryptic as hell." Tessa huffs but does try and focus, her spectral eyes slowly beginning to make out shapes in the darkness, slowly recognizing that they're in the helm of the ship. She even finds a steering wheel that seemed more for decoration than actual steering considering the massive amount of electrical buttons, monitors, and switches nearby to actually navigate the vastness of space.
"You don't have to stay with me. I showed you the path to the afterlife already." Death reminds her as they float out of the room and explore more of the ship.
"And leave you alone with no one to make sure you keep your promise? Yeah right! Besides, this is a good excuse to finally do some traveling, and I'm in no hurry to meet my parents."
"Ha! Funny you think they're in the same place you're going. Dying so young gets you a free pass to the better place, your parents were completely cognizant of their wrong doings and have been facing punishment."
With that interesting, somewhat relieving, but also very concerning piece of information, the two find themselves floating around until they find the ship's hold, where all the cargo is stored in this empty and far too quiet freighter.
"Here it is…" Death mutters. Not wanting to risk phasing through and being caught off guard, his skeletal hand reaches out and he slowly manually opens the door. Tessa gasps in shock as the duo see not one, not two…but what could easily be several dozens of Murder Drones! Some were exact replicas of N, V, and J, backups the Solver had ready. But there were also several other units, possibly one for each letter of the alphabet and then some! An entire army of Murder Drones, right at the Absolute Solver's beck and call.
"How…how did she…that's right, the corpse spires!" Tessa figures out, getting a nod of confirmation from Death.
"Exactly. So many parts collected from every worker drone from every destroyed colonized planet."
"This is insane! If she had so many, why didn't the Solver use them for Copper-9?"
"Several possibilities. Maybe Cyn was able to convince her that backup wasn't necessary, maybe the online units are busy hunting drones on other planets. My theory? She was cocky. It's an issue we gods have, we believe we're unstoppable, untouchable…a problem even I have."
Tessa looks at Death, surprised to see a bit of humility from him. "Heh, I guess everyone on Copper-9 had a bigger influence on you than I thought."
"I certainly learned a lot from them, one thing especially."
"Oh? And what is that?" Tessa asks, just to freeze as an eerie yellow glow forms on one of the drone's visors. One by one, more and more light up, coming online. "It can't be, I thought you killed her!"
"Us gods are stubborn like that. Even if the main body is dead, we could come back to life from anything we hold a deep connection to." Death slowly manifests his scythe, preparing for combat.
"What about those on Copper-9?!"
"They'll be fine, they broke their connection to the Solver all together, these drones though? They are just puppets. No personalities of their own, no original identities, nothing more than toys for the Solver to use as she sees fit. My mission now is to destroy them all."
"Can you really destroy them all? There has to be at least a hundred here, and what if there are more freighters out there holding even more?!"
"…Tessa, you asked me what I learned on Copper-9." Death slowly pulls down his hood, Tessa's eyes widening as she sees Death's face is not his own…but Max's! There are key differences though. The ashy white hair, the skin on his face clinging to his skull like he's completely malnourished, his incredibly pale complexion, and his pitch black eyes with red irises and black pupils.
"If I learned one thing while I was with those troublesome drones and human…" Death began with his voice deepened and scythe at the ready as the army of drones woke up, large Xs on their visors, teeth bared, and heavily armed.
"…it's to always fight back!"