Duplicity 10.3
Lisa had been reasonably confident in her odds of survival right up until she crashed her motorcycle.
It was always surprising just how quickly everything could go to shit, but all they needed to do was stay ahead of Lung and Oni Lee until Hunter arrived to pull their asses out of the fire. Literally, in this case.
Then the irritatingly persistent teleporting psycho managed to shoot out her front tire, and it all went downhill from there.
Lisa was pretty sure her arm wasn't designed to bend that way, but she couldn't move it to check.
It should probably hurt more than it did.
Circulatory shock in combination with serious bodily injury-
Not the time, power.
The air stunk of burning asphalt and gunpowder.
Down the highway from where they came, she could just make out Grue's signature blackout clouds. Above them, the orange glow of Lung's flames raged over the sounds of automatic gunfire.
Pyrokinetic abilities and physical augmentations escalate in proportion to active threat.
Brian was doing his best, but he just couldn't spread his darkness far enough to shield them from Oni Lee while simultaneously keeping Lung and his unpowered minions from catching up. In the end, potential death by teleporter was preferable to certain death by fire.
The hastily thrown together escape plan had worked well right up until it didn't.
Using her one working arm, she dragged herself towards the nearby overpass as if that would help stave off the inevitable.
Coil had royally fucked them over. She still didn't know how he slipped that by her power, but maybe she just hadn't been expecting the sudden and inexplicable betrayal.
They were supposed to rob the casino while Coil's forces ran a distraction in the Docks. Easy money.
But no. Instead, two of the deadliest capes in the city were holding some kind of 'how to be a fucking asshole' seminar at the goddamn casino with a shit-ton of their gang members.
Fucking beautiful. And Brian would probably blame her for it. If they survived, of course, which was looking less likely by the second.
At least he couldn't bitch at her if she was dead.
Lisa heard the crunch of boots on asphalt and managed to refocus despite the pain.
Oni Lee, the psychotic suicide bomber himself, popped into being not three feet away. Or at least, a clone of him did. She doubted that the real villain ever stayed still for long.
Lisa shot him in the heart anyway. He exploded into a cloud of ash, and another version of him appeared out of the haze. Because of course he did.
Total of fifteen rounds discharged. Current magazine is empty.
Lisa pulled the trigger again just in case. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of the times her power conveniently failed her.
Fuck.
She probably couldn't reload with one working arm. Not fast enough, anyway.
His red and green demon mask leered down at her as he tugged a grenade off of the bandolier on his chest and pulled the pin.
Anytime now, Hunter…
Lisa wanted to cry. Or scream in frustration. She wasn't quite sure. All her tricks and plans and favors were all fucking useless when push came to shove. She'd lost track of Regent and Spitfire in the chaos, Brian was barely keeping Lung occupied, and Oni Lee wouldn't fucking die. Maybe Rachel was right. It was all just fucking words.
She was going to get blown to bits by a goddamn grenade, of all things, and there was nothing she could do. What a stupid fucking way to die.
Hunter stepped out of the side of the overpass behind Oni Lee, shoved her gloved hand straight through his spine, and crushed the live grenade in her fist like it was made of play-dough.
Even Lisa's power was speechless, for once.
Black eyes gleamed from underneath the brim of the Hunter's signature hat as the corpse turned to ash and drifted away on the breeze.
Fucking hell.
Lisa was suddenly very happy that Hunter was on her side.
Significant biological and interdimensional enhancements. Hunter is suicidal. Hunter is not suicidal.
The terrifying, over-dramatic, and annoyingly contradictory villain quickly surveyed the scene and then looked down at her.
"You look like shit," Hunter said.
Lisa coughed out a laugh and immediately regretted it.
"You cut that pretty fucking close," Lisa gasped. She was pretty sure at least one rib was out of its assigned seat. Probably more than one.
Hunter leaned down and injected her with something. For a moment, Lisa almost tried to fight against it, and then she couldn't do anything but groan in bliss as the pain faded and her bones put themselves back together.
She would have to have a chat with Hunter about asking for consent at some point, but for now she would take it.
"Well, you know what they say about horseshoes and hand-grenades…" Hunter chuckled darkly.
Lisa couldn't help but laugh too. At least it didn't hurt like hell this time.
Hunter stood tall and Lisa dragged herself to her feet beside her. She glanced over at her savior/reinforcements.
She had never actually seen Hunter geared up for a real fight. Even the brawl with Purity and Hookwolf didn't compare.
The Hunter who visited their loft had just been a skinny girl in a long coat and hat. Sure, she had a creepy lantern and a gun, but that was nothing compared to the walking armada that stood before her now.
Hunter carried an entire fucking arsenal like it was nothing.
Her left foot was, of course, replaced by the deadly prosthesis that had ruined Lisa's car.
On her belt under her long coat, Lisa saw the familiar double barreled pistol that she used to kill Purity, Stormtiger, and Rune. Next to it was a sheathed katana that Lisa hadn't seen her use before, radiating a strange kind of malice that itched at the back of her mind.
Across Hunter's chest were two bandoliers of her own, laden with everything from bullets and blood vials to Tinkertech grenades and fucking cannon balls carved with eldritch runes. She was in the process of replacing her injector into a shoulder holster, and Lisa could see some other kind of Tinkertech medical device under the other arm.
She carried the five-foot long great sword that she used to slaughter the Empire on her back, the hilt just visible over one shoulder, and on her left arm…
Strapped tightly to Hunter's left forearm was an actual fucking cannon.
At over four feet long with a barrel easily eight inches in diameter, Lisa probably wouldn't be able to even lift the damn thing, let alone fire it.
Hunter was here to party, apparently.
"You look… prepared," Lisa said.
Hunter smiled behind her scarf.
Bestial howls echoed in the cool night air.
"I always keep my promises," Hunter replied. "You called for the cavalry…"
…
"...and the Hunt is happy to oblige," Taylor said.
Taylor spun on a dime and drew her repeating pistol, aiming at the subtle air disturbance to her right.
Oni Lee wasn't going to let her get away with any more dramatic pre-fight dialogue.
The quicksilver bullet blew his head off, but the clone just disintegrated and two more took his place in rapid succession.
Okay. Not worth wasting the quicksilver. Got it.
The clones raised their pistols and began firing. Taylor quickstepped sideways into the path of the bullets to keep them from tearing Lisa apart.
Between Amy's runes and the body enhancements, the nine millimeter rounds tickled a bit.
Taylor drew the Chikage and let her mind sink into the bloodlust and satisfaction it promised her.
She lunged and sliced clean through both of the current clones before they could fire again, but more would be coming.
"Find cover," Taylor snapped as she leapt, landing on the overpass and cutting through another clone.
Right before he turned to ash, he managed to drop a grenade.
Taylor snatched it out of the air and flung it towards the two new Oni Lee clones that appeared back down on the road, trying to get a shot on Lisa again. The explosion blew them to ash and Taylor caught sight of Lisa reloading her pistol behind one of the crashed cars dotting the ruined highway. Hopefully, she could pick off any that Taylor missed.
Luckily, it looked like any civilians had already made a run for it, although Taylor could still see a few idiots several hundred yards away stopping to watch or film on their cell phones.
Only time would tell if a few hundred yards was enough.
It would be ideal to just throw Lisa into the Labyrinth, but there just really wasn't enough time. Oni Lee was fast, and persistent.
Taylor didn't even consider telling Amy to come out and get Lisa. There was no way that wouldn't end badly for everyone involved. Plus, someone might see her.
She had to keep Oni Lee's focus fixed on her. If he had time to go after anyone else, things would go from bad to worse very quickly. None of the Undersiders were bulletproof.
The roar of a familiar motorcycle thundered over the howling, and Taylor smiled.
Hopefully, Rachel and Colin could keep Lung occupied until she was done with this teleporting pain in the ass. They might even manage to keep Grue from getting deep fried. Technically, she only owed Lisa a favor, but it would be nice to have a clean sweep.
Taylor leapt back down onto the highway and used the barrel of her cannon to smash the clone that appeared on the other side of Lisa's cover to dust.
At least ten more clones appeared in rapid succession fifty feet away and opened fire on her. Taylor stumbled as countless rounds tore away at her coat and vest.
Okay, a couple pistol rounds tickled, but hundreds might actually be inconvenient. Taylor injected a blood vial, just in case.
She called to the hurricane within her and swung her katana horizontally, slicing the small army of clones into ash once again.
It didn't knock the wind out of her quite the way it used to, but she couldn't keep up that pace forever. Not when the moon was waning.
For better or worse, Oni Lee seemed to decide that the pistol wasn't going to work and switched to spamming her with grenades.
That was… not ideal.
A clone appeared next to her and she stabbed him before he could drop his grenade, but she didn't get to the next one in time.
She kicked the falling grenade straight through the chest of yet another clone and quickstepped immediately after it, appearing in time to catch the live explosive and throw it towards the newly appeared clone twenty feet away.
This was already getting irritating.
Another clone appeared behind her and Taylor threw an elbow straight through his head.
Something about that motion was familiar.
Taylor wasted a bullet shooting a clone that appeared on the overpass.
She slashed through two more that appeared next to her and kicked away the grenades they dropped. Multiple explosions tore up the empty stretch of road.
This was way too similar to fighting Sophia, and Taylor didn't think that taking an arrow or two would solve her problem this time.
A roar shook the air.
Hopefully the dogs were okay. Rachel knew to pull back if Lung escalated too far for them to handle. She was just buying time, after all.
Taylor leapt and slashed through yet more clones as Oni Lee tried to put some distance between them.
After two more jumps, he seemed to give up on gaining distance and settled for generating clones as quickly as possible. A veritable tide of bodies appeared all around her, all of them dropping grenades like their lives depended on it.
Taylor screamed in defiance and let her bestial bloodlust flood into her voice, throwing the entire crowd of Oni Lees back along with their bombs.
Explosions rattled her bones as the countless replicated grenades went off, but she was reasonably sure they were far enough away from anyone for it to matter. This section of highway looked deserted.
Well, it wasn't really a highway, anymore. More like a gravel field.
Taylor reloaded her pistol.
They'd traveled farther than she realized over the course of their duel. The overpass with her Labyrinth exit was over a hundred yards away now.
Taylor cut through two more clones within a second of their appearance, but the original was already gone.
I can do this. It's just like Sophia, only a lot faster.
She was a lot faster now than she had been then, too.
Just then, Taylor caught the barest glimpse of a silhouette against the sky. Someone was flying towards them at high speeds. Two someones.
She heard the very edge of their conversation, even from this distance.
"-here, wait for backup!"
"She'll get away-"
"Vicky-"
You've got to be fucking kidding me.
What the fuck was New Wave doing here? Had they followed Colin or something?
That was… bad. For a whole lot of reasons.
Taylor slashed through a few more clones and looked back just in time to see Glory Girl descending towards the overpass.
God. Dammit.
Taylor gritted her teeth.
She could stay out in the open and fight Oni Lee, but she had no way of knowing if or when he would notice the new arrivals and return to the overpass. He could get there quicker than she could, unless she moved first.
Plus, she couldn't let Lisa get captured by New Wave. Again, for multiple reasons.
There was a cruel kind of cosmic irony at work here, and Taylor did not appreciate it.
Taylor cleared out three more clones for good measure, then sprinted for the overpass.
She wasn't sure what she expected to find, but she doubted it could be much worse.
Lisa stood on one side of the road, pistol aimed squarely at Victoria's chest. It didn't seem to faze Amy's sister as much as it should.
Amy stood in the Labyrinth doorway, still inside for now. Her eyes jumped from Taylor to Lisa to Victoria with a panicked expression.
"Keep your distance and everyone gets to go home, Princess. We both know that all I need to do is double-tap," Lisa sneered.
Taylor didn't know if that was true or not. Wasn't Victoria pretty close to invulnerable? How had she survived this long if she wasn't bulletproof?
Still, Lisa didn't seem like she was bluffing. Taylor would do her best to keep Victoria from getting shot, then.
Victoria rocketed forward.
Lisa fired twice.
Taylor quickstepped between them and let the bullets hit her in the back. She caught Victoria by the wrist and sharply redirected her momentum, planting her stake driver in the asphalt. Taylor was careful not to actually throw her into anything, just in case.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Lisa groaned. "Out of all the available heroes, you chose Glory Hole? I thought you had better taste than that, Hunter."
Taylor didn't have time to unpack all of that, so she elected to ignore it.
Especially because Victoria was now focused on her. Fantastic.
Taylor was about to interject when Oni Lee appeared just behind Victoria with his pistol raised.
Seriously. What the fuck.
Taylor leapt forward and dodged under Victoria's instinctive punch, once again throwing her body between the gun and Amy's favorite person. Two more bullets slammed into Taylor's spine as she rotated.
Obviously, the universe hates me.
Rolling backwards, Taylor pushed off the cracked asphalt with her hands and smashed her stake driver into the clone. As the ash fell around her, she locked the prosthesis and immediately triggered it when she hit the ground, launching herself back towards Victoria and Lisa.
Two more clones appeared just as Victoria spun midair and closed the distance between them again, and this time there wasn't enough room to simultaneously avoid the blow and stop the bullets.
With a frustrated internal sigh, Taylor angled her body just right and let Victoria's punch land on the side of her indestructible jaw.
It still hurt like a bitch. Vicky hit really hard.
But, the good news was that she had aimed correctly. The force of Glory Girl's punch threw her body directly into the path of the incoming bullets and then into the clones themselves at a high enough velocity to crush them into ash.
This definitely wasn't sustainable, though.
Taylor flipped through the swirling cloud of smoke and landed on her feet. She turned automatically to dodge the next incoming blow and locate the next round of endless clones.
Fortunately, the attack never came.
Unfortunately, that was because Victoria was frozen and staring at her with a dumbstruck expression.
Drat.
"Anne?" Victoria asked dazedly.
Well… shit.
"Hi, Victoria," Taylor sighed. "Not that this revelation isn't important, but- drop!"
Taylor raised and fired her pistol with inhuman speed. Luckily, Victoria was quick on the uptake and dropped to hover just over the broken pavement.
The bullet tore apart the clone behind Victoria just before he managed to release his grenades.
Vicky's eyes bounced between Taylor and the dead clones indecisively.
"Help me kill this asshole, then you can go back to trying to kill me," Taylor yelled over the roaring and rogue explosions.
Luckily, Glory Girl had a lot of practice repressing complicated emotions. Silver linings. Way to go, Brandish.
"We just have to hit the original," Vicky said as she zipped to the left and punched a clone to ashes just after he appeared.
"No shit," Taylor ground out between clenched teeth, slashing through three more in rapid succession and beating one to death with her cannon while he emptied a clip uselessly into her chest.
This wasn't working. They needed something that could hit a wide area, and Taylor hadn't brought her flamesprayer.
Although…
"I have an idea," Taylor slid low under Victoria's arm on her prosthesis in a shower of sparks and stabbed the clone aiming at her back just as Victoria's fist went straight through the clone that appeared behind her.
"Does Amy know?" Vicky demanded.
Taylor spun and brought her pistol up, firing over Victoria's shoulder and killing three clones who lined themselves up in a very convenient row for her. Victoria ducked low and grabbed one of the crashed cars, casually flipping it through two more clones on the other side of them.
"Seriously, Hunter?" Lisa screamed, firing her own pistol into any clones Taylor or Victoria missed. "How many heroes are you fucking?"
"Not the time!" Taylor yelled back. She wasn't even sure which of them she was talking to. Probably both.
She could do this. She just had to find the rhythm. Just like Sophia.
Taylor snagged a grenade out of the air and tossed it towards another group of clones trying to shoot them.
Swing, smoke, counter.
She ducked and stabbed a new clone right after it appeared, ash spiraling around them as Taylor and Victoria fought the replicating army faster than mortal eyes could follow.
Swing, smoke, counter.
Taylor blocked another bullet with her forearm and caught Victoria's hand, letting herself be thrown bodily through the air and into four more clones at terminal velocity. She righted herself after bouncing across the crumbled road and landed back on her feet amid the clouds of ash.
Swing, smoke, counter.
Taylor stabbed the new clone that popped up next to her and primed one of her miniature Tonitrus spheres. Victoria flew straight up and slammed immediately back down onto two more, shaking the broken pavement with the force of the impact as she crushed them like ants.
Swing, smoke, counter.
The Tonitrus sphere detonated in Taylor's hand and blue-white lightning crackled around her.
Oni-Lee appeared and immediately stiffened as the powerful electrical current flowed through his body.
His real body.
Since the Tonitrus field was already active before he teleported into it, it hit his actual body before he could teleport away.
And, thanks to Amy's runes, Taylor was all but immune to her own lightning.
It only interrupted the rhythm of their dance for a split second, but that was all Taylor needed to end it.
The Chikage sang a triumphant aria as Taylor stabbed the cursed blade through Oni Lee's heart.
The sweet blood… it sings to me.
She could feel the sword draining the lifeblood of her enemy to fuel its endless hunger.
Taylor roughly yanked the sword free and shook the excess blood from it before it could drive her any more mad. The suicide bomber's body collapsed, flesh and blood instead of ash, and she finally re-sheathed the cursed katana.
Taylor took a deep breath and tried to soothe the bloodlust singing in her veins.
She had to keep a level head, now more than ever.
What a mess.
Victoria landed next to her.
"What's your fucking deal, then? What game are you playing with Amy?" Victoria demanded angrily.
"No games," Taylor said calmly. "She's everything, to me."
"Bullshit. Amy wouldn't-" Victoria started.
"Yeah, I would, Vicky," Amy's voice interrupted from behind them.
Taylor repressed a groan and turned to face her girlfriend as she approached. She should have known that Amy wouldn't be willing to sit this conversation out, but her presence probably wouldn't help resolve this any quicker. Plus, there were still random civilians watching from down the road.
"Ames? I… you're… what? You knew?" Victoria exclaimed. "For how long?"
"The whole time," Amy said. She looked confident, but Taylor could see the cracks in her facade. The house of cards was collapsing before her eyes.
"Amy? What are you doing here?" Laserdream asked in confusion as she landed next to the group.
Brilliant. Just great. There's no way this can possibly end badly for everyone involved.
"She's-" Vicky started again, but Amy cut her off.
"I can speak for myself, Vicky," Amy glared at her sister before glancing at her cousin. "I hitched a ride with Hunter. It's a long story."
"With… Hunter?" Lazerdream looked between the three of them with a lost expression.
"Maybe we should talk about this later?" Taylor suggested helplessly. "I really need to go save Armsmaster before he gets himself killed."
Technically, he wasn't really getting himself killed, since she invited him, but it was still his own fault for accepting. He really should know better. He was supposed to be a responsible hero or whatever.
The roaring on the other side of the overpass was definitely getting louder, along with more gunfire.
"We're not done here! What the hell, Amy?" Victoria yelled.
"What do you want me to say?" Amy replied with equal intensity. "I'm with her. I've been with her the whole time. Deal with it."
"You can't just tell me to 'deal with it'! She's a fucking villain! A murderer! Is she fucking blackmailing you or Mastering you or something?" Victoria demanded.
"Of course you'd think that," Amy hissed. "Is it so unbelievable that someone else actually gives a fuck about me? Or do you like being the only person who doesn't treat me like shit?"
Victoria's expression crumpled.
Fuck.
Amy would probably regret that one in the morning.
Taylor chewed her lip. This wasn't getting them any closer to fixing the issue, and they were wasting time. She wasn't sure if she should interject or not. One wrong word and Victoria might start trying to kill her again, which would be… unproductive.
"Okay, I don't know what's going on, but this needs to stop," Laserdream interjected.
Maybe it was a good thing that Laserdream didn't know the details.
Amy was shaking, and Taylor couldn't tell if it was from anger or stress or something else entirely.
She reached out and took Amy's hand, letting the stars in her blood calm her.
"Don't fucking touch her-" Victoria growled.
"You don't get to decide that," Amy snapped.
Victoria screamed wordlessly and punched a wrecked car hard enough to rip apart the metal like paper.
"I need to go," Taylor said quietly. "Do you want to come with me?"
"She isn't going anywhere with you-" Victoria just couldn't help herself, apparently.
Luckily, Amy didn't react this time. She just turned and stared up into Taylor's eyes.
The conflict and old pain in the dark chocolate was back. Taylor could see the inevitable collapse tearing her apart from within.
"I'll stay with them, for now," Amy whispered. "They'll try to fight you if I don't. Just… come get me, please. Soon?"
"As soon as I can, I promise," Taylor said.
Amy pulled her down and kissed her hard, roughly smashing their lips together in the spiraling ash and noxious fumes. Amy still tasted like cigarettes.
Taylor liked to think she caught a hint of roses, even over the overwhelming smell of burning asphalt, but it was probably her imagination.
The very small part of her brain that wasn't otherwise occupied heard Laserdream say, "Uh… what?"
Amy pulled back and leaned close for a brief moment before she let go.
"Thank you," she breathed. "For keeping her safe."
"Always," Taylor said.
A sad, crooked smile formed on Amy's face as she stepped away. Taylor drank in the view of pale perfection and chocolate and freckles and…
"Kill them all," Amy grinned with morbid remembrance. "And come back for me."
Taylor couldn't help but smile in return, despite everything.
"I think I can manage that," she replied softly.
The expression on Victoria and Laserdream's faces was fantastic. Probably not worth the inevitable drama, but extremely enjoyable in a schadenfreude kind of way.
Taylor turned, grabbed Oni Lee's body, and ran. She approached the underpass with rapid efficiency.
"You have some explaining to do!" Lisa exclaimed as Taylor approached. "Since when is Pana-fucking-cea in love with-"
Taylor didn't give her time to finish. She was completely out of patience and very much out of time.
Lisa cut off with an indignant squawk as Taylor grabbed her and unceremoniously tossed both her and Oni Lee's corpse into the Labyrinth.
Taylor turned towards the ruined highway and refocused. The other Undersiders were still around here somewhere.
She inhaled deeply, letting the various scents and sounds of the ruined night wash over her enhanced senses.
There.
She could hear pained cursing that sounded like Regent, along with two weak heartbeats.
Taylor raced between the cars until she found the other crashed motorcycle with two broken bodies on the ground next to it.
Still alive, at least. If barely.
Nothing a blood vial or three wouldn't fix.
She quickly injected Regent and Spitfire and made sure their wounds closed adequately. Then, despite their confused and disgruntled squirming, she tossed them into the Labyrinth, too.
Taylor rolled her shoulders and looked back just in time to see Victoria take off into the sky with Amy in her arms.
I'll come back for you. I promise.
If she got out of this alive.
She was cautiously optimistic, though.
How hard could it be to kill a dragon?
…
The combination of Lung and Rachel's dogs really made a mess of things.
The highway was a pockmarked mess of smoking asphalt and melted cars. Clouds of impenetrable darkness set against the backdrop of the burning forests on either side of the road lent the whole scene a macabre air.
Taylor landed hard on the roof of what used to be a van, the metal crumpling slightly under the weight of her enhanced body and myriad of weapons.
The chaos lulled for a moment at her arrival.
Braced behind the cover of various destroyed vehicles, the unpowered members of the ABB either cowered or waited for their opportunity to fire on their enemies.
At the edge of the firelight, Rachel's hounds paced warily. Taylor could just make out the metallic form of their master on Brutus' back in the haze.
On one side of the broken road, Armsmaster readied himself before the dragon. His armor was scratched and burned, but still seemed mostly functional. He held his signature halberd tightly in both hands.
On the other, Lung stood tall and arrogant. Towering over them at ten feet of flaming steel, the dragon flexed his claws and smiled.
Taylor once again allowed the beast to leak into her voice as she spoke.
"Run, now, and you might live to see the morning," Taylor hissed into the night, aimed at the rank and file gangsters. Her primary target was Lung, and it would be easier to kill him without being constantly shot in the back.
One of the men tried to flee, and Lung casually burned him alive.
Well, so much for that.
The dragon's voice came out garbled and metallic, but decipherable nonetheless.
"Don't pretend you aren't a monster, too," Lung coughed out through the smoke. "They are nothing, to those like us."
That hit disturbingly close to home. She felt nothing for the men she killed. They were irrelevant, to her. Just beasts whose blood served her goals.
Still, at least she had goals. She didn't burn the world for no reason other than her own petty boredom.
She may be a monster, but her slaughter wasn't pointless.
"I am nothing like you," her voice scraped over the air as her words shook the night. "My dream will not die with me."
Lung laughed; a violent, metallic cacophony that echoed throughout the cracked highway.
"So you say… but I can smell your fear," the dragon rasped.
He was wrong, though, and Taylor knew it, even if he didn't. She didn't fear this monster.
The worst thing he could do was kill her.
"You know nothing of what I fear," Taylor replied coldly. "And you are powerless to deliver it."
Taylor triggered her stake driver and leapt high overhead, drawing her holy blade as she fell towards her enemy.
He opened his maw wide and shot a great jet of fire towards her.
Hopefully, Amy's runes would hold up.
Taylor plowed straight through the incoming fire and brought her sword down in a brutal arc.
The flames were still unpleasantly hot, and she could smell her coat burning, but her body remained intact, for the most part.
Lung threw himself sideways at the last moment, but he wasn't fast enough to save his right arm from being shorn off at the shoulder by her great sword.
Taylor landed hard at the dragon's feet and spun, swinging her blade in a horizontal circle that would have taken Lung's legs off at the knees.
Unfortunately, he was already moving. Her enemy dove sideways and ignored the removal of his arm, jumping over her swing and clawing at her with burning talons of steel.
Blue and silver flashed in her peripheral vision and Lung suddenly lost another arm as Colin's halberd descended.
Competent help is always appreciated.
Lung roared and lashed out with a rough forward kick, but Colin was already dancing backwards with surprising grace.
Taylor took the opportunity to continue her deadly spin, rotating her sword up in a golf swing from below.
This time, her blade struck true and Lung lost his right leg below the knee.
Three bullets bounced off the back of Taylor's head in rapid succession and her skull briefly rang with the impacts before one of Rachel's dogs ate the overzealous gunman.
Hopefully they don't get indigestion.
Unfortunately, the distraction proved effective.
Lung's arms had already regenerated, and Taylor wasn't quite fast enough to avoid taking a flaming jab straight to the chest.
She bounced wildly across the broken pavement and smashed back-first into a half-melted car. It was strangely reminiscent of getting punched by Assault, although with less witty banter and significantly more fire.
Taylor wrenched herself free just in time to see Colin duck behind a nearby car to avoid a withering gout of flame.
They needed some kind of plan. This wasn't going to get any easier. Lung was already more than twelve feet tall and his claws were wickedly long. His proportions were starting to change, his torso growing thicker and heavier as he hunched in on himself.
"Got anything to slow him down?" Taylor called to Armsmaster.
Colin shook his head.
"Used up my sedatives before you got here."
Taylor tossed him one of her concoctions and they both coated their blades. In theory, the numbing sedative should slow or stop regeneration abilities, but she hadn't had a chance to test it.
The car that Colin was using as cover began to melt away around him.
Taylor braced herself, raised her cannon, and fired.
The heavy, consecrated sphere of blood-forged iron tore a massive hole in Lung's chest and threw him to the ground. Taylor wasn't naive enough to think it killed him, but at least it gave Colin a chance to break cover and charge forward.
Taylor took a moment to reload her cannon and lock her stake driver.
She sprinted in after Armsmaster, but she was just a bit too slow.
Lung was faster than he looked, especially for his size.
Their enemy ducked under Colin's overhead slash and let the follow up stab pierce his torso in a strange parallel to Taylor's own strategy that she used against Cricket. Reaching forward with both hands, Lung gripped the haft of the halberd and heaved.
Taylor heard Colin curse as he was thrown clear over several cars.
Lung pulled the Tinkertech weapon from his chest and unceremoniously broke it over his steel knee like a twig.
Taylor plowed into him a moment later, spinning as she leapt to cut clear through his arm again and halfway through his torso. He tried to grab at her with his remaining arm, but she braced her stake driver against his shoulder and triggered the release. The force of the blunt, spring loaded mechanism knocked Lung backwards and launched Taylor away from him, ripping her sword out of his chest in the process.
She landed fifty feet away in a spray of ruined asphalt, skidding to a stop and surveying her enemy.
Taylor had no idea how long it would take the sedative to work, if it worked at all.
"Any more brilliant ideas," Colin grumbled as he pulled himself out of the wreckage of the car that cushioned his fall.
"I guess we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way," Taylor said as she injected him with a blood vial. Her scarf had gotten lost somewhere along the way, but he already knew her face. Maybe that was how Victoria had recognized her so easily. Of course, it could also have been the missing foot.
Lung roared and two great metal wings exploded from his back. The fire all around the broken battlefield flared dramatically.
"Are all of your walks this… enthusiastic?" Colin said wearily.
Taylor just grinned and tossed her holy blade to him. He caught it easily and she got the feeling he was raising his eyebrows behind the helmet.
"That's a loan, not a gift. I want it back when we're done," she said.
He swung it experimentally and smiled back for the first time.
"I'll do my best not to get too attached," Colin replied. "No promises, though."
Taylor drew her Chikage and they leapt back into the fray together.
Fire poured from Lung's bestial jaws. Colin triggered some kind of fire suppressant mist and Taylor just slammed a blood vial into her leg and charged straight through it.
Armsmaster jumped high, so she went low.
Lung tried to stomp on her as she slid under him, but he wasn't quick enough to catch her. Sparks flew as her stake driver skidded across the asphalt and the Chikage hissed with glee as she slashed the bloodthirsty sword deep into her enemy's Achilles tendons from behind.
Lung stumbled, and Colin drove the holy blade straight down into his spine from above.
The damage to the dragon's legs repaired itself and the great beast whipped around wildly.
Taylor leapt free just in time to avoid being crushed by his tail.
When the hell did he grow a tail?
Colin ripped the great sword out of the monster's back and slashed again, bracing himself on Lung's shoulder in an attempt to take his head clean off.
Unfortunately, Lung was deceptively agile, and his spine was already healed.
A massive clawed hand closed around Armsmaster's torso and squeezed.
Taylor leapt and brought the Chikage down in a brutal overhand strike. The arm holding her ally came free at the shoulder.
Lung spun, and his heavy wings smashed into Taylor, Colin, and Lung's own severed arm, sending them flying through the night. They both landed hard at the burning treeline in an explosion of dry dirt and ash.
Colin didn't look good. The claws had done their cruel work before she managed to cut him free, and his ribcage was a mess of crushed bones and metal.
Taylor injected him with a blood vial, but his armor was still a lost cause.
The sound of heavy paws drew her attention, and she looked up to see Rachel and Grue astride the enormous beast she assumed was Brutus.
They had agreed not to use the dogs against Lung directly if possible, aside from stalling him. It wasn't worth letting them die needlessly to his fire. They were more important than she was.
Innocent, and never disposable.
"Go," Taylor called to her. "I'll find my way back. I promise."
Rachel met her dark eyes with a strange expression.
"Don't need to fight," Rachel reminded her. "You could leave, too."
She couldn't, though. Not while the blood hung heavy in the air and sang to her so sweetly.
"No, I can't," Taylor answered. She didn't explain.
Rachel nodded, and the hounds retreated into the trees.
Taylor stood tall and walked slowly back towards her enemy.
Lung was a sight to behold, now. Crouched on all fours, wings flared high above him. His entire body was coated in metal scales that shone with raging fire within.
"You are weak," the dragon rasped. His voice tore at her enhanced senses like sandpaper.
Maybe she was, in a way.
A stronger person would have walked away. She should resist the siren song of blood and pain.
A better person wouldn't have committed the atrocities she had in the first place. It was her weakness that allowed the streets to run crimson with the lives of her enemies.
Mercy was a luxury of the strong, and Taylor had none to give.
Only a weak person would slaughter their enemies as she did.
A better person would have gone home to comfort her everything, instead of returning to the needless dance of death.
So maybe Lung was right. She was weak. She wasn't a hero.
From the very beginning, she had given in to the impulse to do what was easy, rather than what was right.
Over, and over, and over again.
Take what you want, and make no apologies.
That was just an easy way to justify her violence for the sake of convenience.
Who was she, to play at judge, jury, and executioner for so many souls?
She wasn't going to stop, though.
She was a hunter, and she would kill him, regardless.
What Lung didn't understand was that her weakness was what condemned him.
The sword in her hand whispered broken promises in the back of her mind, and she was weak.
She let the savage lullaby drown her, and fell willingly into its bloodthirsty madness.
Taylor's smile was wide and unhinged. Her black eyes bore into the burning stare of the dragon.
She held his bestial gaze as she raised the Chikage high.
With an inhuman scream, Taylor stabbed the cursed blade through the cage of iron Amy had built to protect her, straight into her own heart.
The ruined battlefield hung still, and she felt the sanguine fire alight within her body and soul.
Who was she, to deal so much death without a shred of remorse?
Her words resonated unnaturally in the surrounding flame as she spoke.
"I am the First Hunter."
Taylor began to draw the blood-quenched blade from its new sheath, her life clinging to it as it slid free.
"Founder of the Workshop, and Master of the Dream."
Her blood and her Self became a weapon, wrapping her sword in a bloody edge that sang with unholy purpose.
"I am the heartbeat that echoes in the deep."
She pulled the katana free of her body, and it was changed. Enhanced. Her blood and murderous will formed a new blade over the old, an extra foot of bloody crystal, eldritch runes alight with voracious fire.
"And you hold no power that can end me."
Taylor laughed, and the nightmare cackled with her. She saw Lung truly hesitate for the first time.
"Lie to yourself all you want, monster," Taylor hissed into the dark. "But I can smell your fear."
Lung was frozen, and Taylor knew he was debating whether or not to run.
She wouldn't give him that choice.
Taylor leapt, and the blade that was also her cried out for glorious death.
Lung roared his defiance and tried to meet her charge head on.
But, for all his power, he was just a man.
And, in this moment, she was something more.
Or less, depending on the perspective. She could feel the beast within running free through her blood-drunk mind.
Taylor twisted around the burning claws and hacked with reckless abandon. The metal limb came free in a shower of crimson rain while her bestial strength flowed.
Her blade bit deeply into his flank as she carved her way upwards, a great waterfall of beautiful boiling gore washing over her as she cut her enemy from shoulder to hip and then out through the back of his spine.
More.
Taylor used the drag of her bloody sword against metal to swing herself around and over the dragon's back as she wrenched the blade free. She flipped over to the other side of her enemy and sliced downwards with her cursed creation, taking off both his right leg and right arm with a single brutal swing.
The beast toppled, although he was still regenerating quickly.
Give me more.
Through the dull red haze, Taylor could feel the sword sapping away her life. It eagerly drank in what was left of her even as it allowed her to bring righteous violence unto the monster beneath her.
In a brief moment of clarity, she realized what she had to do.
Just as the blade drank from her, it could also drain the dragon. Maybe enough to stall his regeneration. She only needed a moment to end him.
Taylor pushed off with her good leg and leapt high, arcing over her enemy until she hung suspended between his great wings.
The waning moonlight brushed lightly against her upturned face.
With a scream that didn't sound entirely human, she called to the storm and plunged downwards on hurricane winds, driving the cursed blade to the hilt in Lung's heart.
Taylor knew that she had to let go, but the blade's hunger clung to her mind like a poison and she found herself hesitating.
I will never be chained again.
Even to myself.
It was monstrously difficult on a spiritual level, but she forced the beast back into the shadows and severed her connection to the bloodthirsty katana.
The blade trembled and began to drink from the only available source: the new heart that it now pierced.
Her enemy wrenched himself upright, and Taylor sprang for his head.
She might not get another shot at this.
Taylor flipped over the monster's skull and swung around under him just as his maw opened wide to roar in fury.
With all the strength left in her indestructible bones, Taylor jammed her cannon down his fucking throat and pulled the trigger.
The back of Lung's head exploded in a shower of boiling ichor and Taylor was thrown backwards across the pavement like a rag doll.
She barely heard the crash of her enemy's enormous bulk hitting the pavement.
It was strangely quiet.
No whispers.
No roaring.
Just the dull crackling of the fire.
Taylor took a long moment and allowed her mind to slow. Now that the cursed blade no longer tugged at her consciousness, she worked to put herself back together into some semblance of sanity.
Finally, when she felt like herself again, Taylor pulled herself to her feet.
She had lost her hat somewhere in the madness. Hopefully it wasn't burned to a crisp.
The massive beast was already shrinking.
After several long seconds, there was nothing but a broken, naked man on the ash-covered highway.
Death makes fools of us all.
Even her.
Especially her.
Her previous bloodlust felt so… pointless, in the aftermath of the slaughter.
What was the fucking point?
Amy's sad and broken smile swam in front of her eyes.
"Kill them all, and come back for me."
Step one, complete. Time for step two.
Taylor slowly walked over to her latest victim and pulled the Chikage free from his heart.
She watched for a moment to see if he would miraculously regrow his head.
He didn't.
Taylor took a deep breath.
She needed to take Lung's body to the Labyrinth, and track down the Undersiders.
Then she needed to find Amy.
And maybe change clothes somewhere along the way.
She glanced over at Colin to make sure he wasn't dead.
He wasn't.
He eyed her warily from the side of the road, but he nodded eventually.
Good.
Now, where had her hat run off to?
Taylor spotted it amongst the crumbled pieces of road, a bit scorched but generally salvageable.
Her phone rang and she paused.
Taylor pulled the device out of her pocket with numb fingers. She was a bit surprised it actually survived.
One of her thralls was calling?
"Hunter," she answered tiredly.
It wasn't the dead tone of the Mastered mercenary that greeted her.
Instead, a child's voice chimed in her ears, high and clear despite the serious tone.
"Put on the hat."
Ice flowed through her veins as Taylor looked down at the half-burned hat lying on the ruined asphalt in front of her.
For a long moment, she was back in front of her own grave while the snow fell in its delicate dance.
Is this…
"Yes. And we still have work to do," the voice continued.
Well, then.
Taylor reached down, dusted off the still-warm ash, and put on the hat.
Apparently, her night wasn't over just yet.
…