[center][h2][b]Final Flight[/b][/h2]
[sup]Occurs shortly after Tauga led Keriss into the tunnels[/sup][/center]

[right][i]Collaboratively written by Lauder, Antarctic Termite, Rtron and BBeast[/i][/right]

[color=green]"Hmm."[/color]

The tunnels seemed to agree with Keriss in some twisted manner, with demons growing from the walls and the bones of failed adventurers who attempted to do gods know what down in the dark. One such bone pile intrigued her, very clearly that of a grotling, but killed by something that had snapped it in half. Strange. The demi-goddess studied it momentarily before her gaze shift onto that of the demons in the walls. They seemed to be connected to her, the life of these forgotten beings completely unnoticed by all. 

[color=darkgray]"I would advise not to go further. I would prefer not to die again."[/color]

The strange voice startled Keriss from her gaze, looking around to find the voice where there was none. She was puzzled at this point.

[color=darkgray]"Much like your father, I am trapped within the inner recesses of your mind. I used to be dead, forgotten, but somehow, you brought my essence back. Perhaps my connection with you is stronger than I originally planned."[/color]

[color=green]"Who and what are you?"[/color] Keriss asked, her focus now turned completely to the voice of this man at the mention of her father. 

[color=darkgray]"I am Serandor, the one who made you who you are. In a sense, I am half of your father's essense that was used to create you."[/color]

[color=green]"And why should I believe you over all the other forgotten voices?"[/color]

[color=darkgray]"You do not have to believe me. However, I have no reason to lie to you, daughter. Regardless, I would not like to see the worm again, and having seen how you act, I do not believe either of us will come out of this."[/color]

Keriss sighed. Again with people claiming to be her father! The gag was getting old at this point. She remained silent and continued to wait for Tauga to arrive. She was late, and Keriss did not like that. There was nothing to do, nothing but to listen to voices in her mind attempt to converse with her, much like this "Serandor" kind. The Pained One looked around once more, before she closed her eyes and attempted to block out those forgotten voices, wanting to simply achieve some variant of silence as she could. 

After a while there was some faint flailing down the tunnel. A cold breeze, maybe, or something else that made the skin crawl. It tapped Keriss's shoulder and was quickly followed by a few others, and then a shout.

[colour=antiquewhite]"Ay!"[/colour]

The familiar light of Tauga's suit turned around the corner, cautious for odd twists in the road, and then hopped towards Keriss. The white bulb squinted on her shoulder. Her boots plopped as she stepped through a puddle of... Well, it was a puddle, whatever the hell it was. [colour=antiquewhite]"Sorry. I, uh, got lost,"[/colour] she said, quickly.

Keriss looked upon the hain, crossing her arms and letting out a light chuckle. [color=green]"It is no problem, simply a minor inconvenience,"[/color] she responded, not feeling the need to emphasize the importance of timing. Turning away after a moment, she looked back upon the upper half of the grotling skeleton that she was perplexed about when she was waiting. 

[color=green]"Any idea what could have done that?,"[/color] she motioned towards the bones.

Tauga looked. She pulled out her Teknarotu machete and measured it against the slashed ribs. [colour=antiquewhite]"Uh, that was me. Came down here with Sasha a while ago to bash a rogue tribe. I'm sure I cut at least one of them in half.[/colour] She shrugged. [colour=antiquewhite]"Whole thing was, kind of a blur."[/colour]

[color=green]"I keep forgetting you have a pet,"[/color] Keriss said, watching Tauga clarify what had happened once upon a time. 

[colour=antiquewhite]"Oi,"[/colour] she frowned with her hands, [colour=antiquewhite]"Sasha's a good girl. Anyway."[/colour] She put her sword away and gestured down the tunnel with its sheath. [colour=antiquewhite]"That means this is the last region I know, even slightly. Beyond here it's just us. Us and Heartworm's stupid compass."[/colour] She smacked her head with her wrist. [colour=antiquewhite]"It's so god damn fuzzy. I just have this... Vague idea of which one is the wrong turn."[/colour]

[color=darkgray]"I do not trust that, that does not sound trustworthy,"[/color] Serandor commented within the recesses of Keriss' mind. [color=darkgray]"I advise we simply stop here and not go after the one who killed me."[/color]

Keriss thought for a moment before responding to Tauga, and part way to Serandor, [color=green]"No matter what, we push on. We will find our way even if Sasha dies.“[/color]

[color=darkgray]”Fuck me, apparently.”[/color]

Tauga nodded. She pointed the way she'd come. [colour=antiquewhite]"Down here leads to where the cold starts. The air tastes like metal."[/colour] She pointed slightly off to one side. [colour=antiquewhite]"Sasha's down there. [i]Sasha![/i]"[/colour]

A faceless figure stood up from the dark. Sasha had a knife out, was scratching her clan name into the slick wall, perfectly at ease. The way she could blend in here was uncanny.

She said something in Grotto. By now Keriss had learned the word 'lizard'.

[colour=antiquewhite]"No, we're not ditching her,"[/colour] said Tauga for the twentieth time. It was unclear to who. [colour=antiquewhite]"No more shit between the two of you. Let's go."[/colour]

[color=green]”Then lead the way,”[/color] Keriss said to Tauga, casting a terrible glare to the grotling before following the hain. Thoughts filled her mind once more of why Heartworm would want to see her, but by now she had pieced it together. The worm planned to kill her. Finish off Vakarlon’s lineage once and for all.

[color=darkgray]”Again, I must protest this. The worm is more powerful than you think, Keriss.”[/color]

[color=green]”Don’t care. Once I find him, he is dead, there is no other ending to this,”[/color] she said, aloud out of annoyance, simply wishing to permanently silence the creature within her mind once more. Tauga looked back at her over her shoulder and said nothing.

[color=darkgray]”If a determined attitude was all one needed, then I would have beaten it with with eyes closed and my arms tied behind my feet. Keriss, you are not in the state of mind to deal with this. Any more stress up here then everything may collapse.”[/color]

[color=green]”I don’t care. Whatever it takes, I will succeed.”[/color]

[color=darkgray]”Don't say I didn’t warn you.”[/color] Silence.

They travelled on.

[center][h3]* * *[/h3][/center]

Pale light. Cold light. Unnatural. Scattered and reflected.

Water.

Tauga took off her glove and touched her finger to the pool. Its ripples moved unbroken, audible, across its surface. The water was clear. At its base, the sludge was almost solid. This water had never been disturbed. No one had ever been here.

Except maybe her.

Tauga reached down further and touched the undisturbed ooze. Five fronds rose from it, like ferns, without leaves. Her movement raised clouds of dust in the water. She raised her hand. The fronds turned to watch her.

[colour=antiquewhite]"This is where I died."[/colour]

She put her boot in the water. More fronds rose around her. They followed her on their necks. She waded effortlessly through the pool. Her boots clicked on the other side.

[colour=antiquewhite]"This is how far I got,"[/colour] she said. [colour=antiquewhite]"Then I sank back into the water."[/colour] She turned her head slightly, looking before her and behind. [colour=antiquewhite]"Maybe I'm alive again."[/colour] She looked at her palm. [colour=antiquewhite]"Guess not."[/colour] A single drop of water fell from above. It rolled down the eye of the Blowfly mask in her hand.

[color=darkgray]”Alive enough to be useful,”[/color] Serandor commented, listening to the hain more than Keriss was.

[colour=antiquewhite]"We're almost there."[/colour]

[color=green]”Good.”[/color] Keriss strolled forward, shaking water free from her tail as she stood next to Tauga. [color=green]”It is a shame that I will not have the element of surprise on the worm. It would be far easier to kill him then.”[/color] 

[colour=antiquewhite]"...Think it'd take a lot of work to get a jump on the worm."[/colour] She shrugged. [colour=antiquewhite]"At least we found it. Let's go."[/colour]

Loud fwushing sounds came from behind them as Sasha hacked down some suspicious-looking fronds in the pool. Water droplets bounced from her movement and fell quite slowly back in, weighing little. The going was much quicker when gravity was small. It helped compensate for the dwindling food in Sasha's pack. 

Tauga didn't feel hungry at all.

[colour=antiquewhite]"Keep your wits up,"[/colour] she commanded, as an oddly-patterned flatworm blinked lights at them from the wall. [colour=antiquewhite]"We're probably gonna be being expected one way or another. Worm wouldn't have shown us in here without a reason. We're not alone."[/colour]

Keriss was silent.

They moved on.

[center][h3]* * *[/h3][/center]

On the third hour, they found Help.

They were standing alone in a large tunnel, the floor level and matte and well cleaned. The valve-door opened on them, standing on the far exit of a store-room of levers and frames. A sweetheart whistled above Help's head, another carrying instruments. Tauga raised a finger to still Keriss, and stood still as Help strode over and hunkered down to grip her in an embrace of stone.

[b]"My child,"[/b] they said, lifting the mask and staring into Tauga's long dim eyes to see more than they could have ever known. [b]"What happened to you? What happened to you, Tauranga?"[/b]

Tauga shrugged.

Help sighed without sound, and lifted a small multi-headed instrument to face her eyes. It swivelled on its hinges, stretching necks and claws, scanning her head at three angles and pricking her just under the eye. The equipped sweetheart circled her. Tauga had an idea Help could see through flesh.

The thing clicked and Help did a final check of Tauga's outer shell. It didn't fit any normal hain phenotype, but it worked. Tauga was far from the emaciated spit of a girl she had been at her death. They stood. There were many things Help would have said, but it was decades too late for them. Now the chance was lost. What relationship the two had had had died in the cold.

Sasha looked up as the device was turned to her, but only briefly. [b]"Your Grotto companion is not so resilient as the two of you. I strongly advise she take the time to recover. She is exhausted."[/b] Sasha hissed deep in her throat, but Help wasn't fooled.

[colour=antiquewhite]"Okay."[/colour] Tauga gestured, and Sasha followed the sweetheart out, giving Help another hearty rasp. Help turned to the final and crucial member of the expedition.

[b]"Keriss."[/b] Help nodded, and turned her weirdling gaze to the demigod. [b]"I can examine you too, if you wish, to the best of my abilities. You are free to remain in the laboratory and rest for as long as you like, but I imagine you would rather go where you have been summoned."[/b]

[color=green]”I have no need to be examined by you nor do I need rest,”[/color] Keriss said simply, gazing upon Help, determining whether to simply kill it or not. She restrained herself.

[color=darkgray]”This is the last chance to escape,”[/color] the voice chimed [color=darkgray]”If you continue then I will have to exit your body. I guarantee it will be painful.”[/color] Silence followed by a sigh from the host as she took a step forward, a splitting pain being rewarded for disobedience. Her face contorted as a sign of the pain, but she would continue.

“[color=green]W[/color][color=darkgray]h[/color][color=green]e[/color][color=darkgray]r[/color][color=green]e[/color] [color=darkgray]i[/color][color=green]s[/color] [color=darkgray]t[/color][color=green]h[/color][color=darkgray]e[/color] [color=green]w[/color][color=darkgray]o[/color][color=green]r[/color][color=darkgray]m[/color][color=green]?[/color]” the two asked in unison.

[b]"It awaits,"[/b] said Help, and led. 

The equipped sweetheart followed Tauga, pumping fluid into her veins and putting things on her tongue. It didn't bother her. Just maintenance. Around them, the creepish bustle of the laboratory began to grow quicker. The sweethearts in their naivety continued their work in whistling glee, but the others, the others knew what was going on. Heartworm's technicians had come out to watch. 

Some had come to cheer, or salute, although perhaps they knew or cared not what. One nodded solemn commendation at the end of their journey. Another stood by and simply acknowledged the paradigm shift they knew was coming. An increasing crowd of strange legs, lost hands, and pieces of curvilinear tech grafted to it all, hanging from the roof, squatting on the floor. They were ragtag, and they were mismatched, and they were a crude rabble, but they stood united. A community bid them farewell, one way or another.

Help strode past them, and laid their hand on the door of a lonely vault. Metal slid open in a steamy hiss.

Serendor knew where they were, and knowing, was desperate to hasten himself out of Keriss. But there would be no time.

On every side, in tube and glass, the sprawling testament to an emaciating science. The figures and embryos looked through the duo with blind eyes, curled up in their liquid. They could say nothing. Their presence said everything.

There was another door at the far end of the vault. Help stood aside.

[b]"The Emaciator stands beyond this door. Once it opens, there is no going back."[/b] Tauga nodded, and gestured Keriss to the lock with her beak.

Keriss nodded, not wanting to speak in favor of concentrating on keeping her own pain down. The daughter of Vakarlon moved forward. It was time to meet the worm.

The valve opened.

[center][h3]* * *[/h3][/center][color=Peru][i]They've arrived. Let's see how good Heartworm is at following my directions.[/i][/color][center][h3]* * *[/h3][/center]

It lay aside a pit of knives, a small naked fluke whose back was studded with blood-eyes. Its vehicle lay perched nearby, visor flipped open to reveal the cockpit of the tiny demiurge now empty.

Tauga's hand snapped around Keriss's wrist. The worm didn't look up. Its spaded face looked down upon the child-sized pit. Everywhere beyond, toppled pipes lay in silver metal, some leaking, some empty, most still standing in a tilted echo of their original array: a mountainous pipe-organ of gleaming tubes. The grainy readouts on their sides shone solid red. The light was very, very dim.

[colour=f6989d]"When I found Vakarlon,"[/colour] said the Emaciator, [colour=f6989d]"he was dying. Serandor had weakened the bolts that held him back. All his plans had come to nothing. He was trapped."[/colour]

Keriss’ hand clenched at the mention of her father, how dare her have the right to even say a syllable referring to her father. A seething rage boiled up, but she would allow the worm to continue until he was done.

[colour=f6989d]"Heartworm offered Vakarlon a way out.  His flesh would be reconstituted into a new element. Vakarlon's essence would survive. Serandor would die with his psyche."[/colour]

She could hear his laugh. [color=darkgray][i]”I will not die.”[/i][/color]

[colour=f6989d]"Vakarlon accepted. It was done. Now mortals wield his power, and preserve his spirit."[/colour]

A damaged diode flickered, casting a glint on the blades of the pit, the old, solid pools of godlike flesh that had spilled from the leaning tubes. It hung in streams and rivulets from the tubes of the organ.

[colour=f6989d]"Before the end, Vakarlon left an instruction: Should Heartworm ever encounter Keriss, it would tell her this."[/colour] Heartworm looked up.

[colour=f6989d]"To learn always, as your mother did. To remember the right side of the fight. Your father will be forever with you, in any way he is able."[/colour]

The worm did not lower its stare. The smooth ziplock teeth on its belly did not open. [colour=f6989d]"He made Heartworm swear a binding oath,"[/colour] it said. [colour=f6989d]"And then he died."[/colour]

Tauga let go.

[color=green]”Is that it, then? Simply upholding your end of the bargain, eh? Well, I suppose now it is your turn to die, worm,”[/color] said the Demi-goddess. She took one step forward, then doubled over in pain. Her scales distorted. Tauga recognised instantly the shape of what was to come, though she knew not its cause.

Serandor was coming. Bones were being forced through as he attempted to make his escape. Keriss began laughing, an insane laugh that was only mustered to cope with the pain. Snapping sounds came from the pained one and soon a hand erupted from her back, black blood oozing out. Serandor forced himself out the rest of the way, covered head to toe in his dark armor, a face nothing but a black void. He was empty. A vein pulsed in Heartworm's blood eyes.

The old god stretched, his nonexistent muscles stretching and bones popping. He looked down at Keriss, whose wound was already healing. Then over to the hain, small and insignificant, much like… the worm, to whom he cast his final gaze.

[color=darkgray]”Good evening, worm.”[/color]

The worm's answer was to unzip its long line of teeth, and, levitating, blossom into a vast spiralling splay of threadlike limbs. For a split second, it covered everything.

Then the Emaciator contracted, and tore the room into chaos.

Pipes flew and clashed and sang and splattered in unholy cacophony as the grand organ was shattered, flashes of gleam dazzling under the blur of Heartworm's many-tailed whip of arms. The floor and walls of the grand chamber began to rumble. A four-tonne cylinder smashed at Serandor and grey fluid spilled everywhere, heaving into spikes. For a moment, Vakarlon's flesh covered the dark god, and the noise came to an end. 

The tongues retracted in an instant. Tauga tossed down the pipe she'd been using to parry those that had fallen towards Keriss, its spilled contents now hardened into a paddle-like structure. She put down her polehammer, leaning it on Keriss as if she was a weapon stand, and examined the three-barrelled weapon now locked into her suit via tubes at her back.

Serandor pulled his ancient greataxe from the heap of molten flesh and metal, flickering at the seams with a deep, dark crimson fire. He flicked his gauntlet clean of one last piece of Vakarlon and took a look around.

[colour=f6989d]"Heartworm intended to dispose of you. This has not changed."[/colour] said the Emaciator, facing him down across the rumbling mass of pipes and flesh-forms in visored armour of its own. [colour=f6989d]"The Serandor decommission project will now be resumed."[/colour]

Serandor laughed, swinging his greataxe in calm arcs. It struck sparks against the floor. Somewhere behind him, Tauga slammed one of Keriss's resetting ribs back into place with the heel of her palm. [colour=darkgray]"Well, look at you! So brave, for a worm. You don't seem to understand that you now face me in body, and not just in mind."[/colour] 

Tauga applied her thumb and tendrils to the chain-gun and shot a spatter of black adhesive over the lizard's knees, fixing her to the floor. "Just stay here a sec. Worm needs me."

Without turning his gaze, Serandor stamped his foot and the floor ignited in her direction, was swiftly doused by Vakarlon. He continued to address the Emaciator. [colour=darkgray]"But I always did enjoy a challenge. Still lying about 'I'll be gone in the blink of an eye', I see. Well-"[/colour]

Serandor realised something was wrong. He spun from the empty vehicle, his stance revealing his fear, just in time to see the tail of Heartworm disappear into Tauga's gun. There was a moment's pause. She shrugged. 

[colour=antiquewhite]"...False,"[/colour] she said, because no one else was going to. Using Keriss's shoulder as a vantage point, she slid the bolt of her new weapon and turned Serandor's side of the room into a cloud of smoke and shrapnel.

The snapping metal noise cleared, and black blood leaked from several different, newly formed holes in Serandor’s armor. Where the blood was coming from could not be specified. The old god let out a growl as the smoke dissipated, head turning towards the hain. [color=darkgray]”Insolent welp,”[/color] he said, raising his axe above him and slamming it into the ground. Dark fire erupted around him and expanded out, enveloping the lab. Pieces of Vakarlon leapt into barriers to contain the fire.

[color=darkgray]”...Even in death, Vakarlon is a nuisance.”[/color]

Keriss growled as her back began closing up. She ripped herself free, partially, from the glue and looked at Tauga. Then to Serandor. This was going to quickly turn into a three way fight, and unfortunately her friend was going to be caught in the middle no matter what. [color=green]”Give me the worm,”[/color] she demanded, going to grab Tauga by the throat.

The motion bucked Tauga off Keriss's shoulder and she rolled, briefly catching her polehammer by the haft as she leapt out of the way and Keriss tore free. "Can't. It has shit to do," she said, hurling the weapon javelin-form at a coming Serandor. He parried it effortlessly as she jumped away, rotating the barrels on her skeletal weapon.

A shell smacked the floor and exploded into a tower of fluid, hardened. Tauga fell onto her new perch of alchemist's cement and fired on Serandor for as long as she could, before a bolt of crimson flame shattered her perch and forced her to skid down to the floor.

A lion roar came from the general area from where Serandor had been, angry and frightened by all the holes that had now been put into him. He charged, axe falling with gruesome aim at the skidding Tauga. Keriss got in the way of his attack, catching the handle of the great axe. 

[color=green]"You shall not hurt Tauga, Serandor,"[/color] stated the demi-god, holding out her palm to the old god, energy crackling around it before a beam of destructive magic erupted in the face of the dark lord. She felt him release his grip upon the axe and ceased her attack to survey the damage she had done. While it did not disintegrate him or leave any more holes in him, Serandor's breath was heavier. It seemed he had avoided death for the time being.

He had no intention of doing that again.

Reclaiming his axe and swinging it in a neat circle, he set its head to the floor and rested his armoured hands upon it. The godflesh crept towards his feet like a sickly tide, and it steamed away into nothing before it could reach him, but he made no advance.

[colour=darkgray]"...It hurts to be born, doesn't it?"[/colour] said the dark god. [colour=darkgray]"I recognise that magic. Its essence is devastation, as is mine. You've learned pretty well, Keriss."[/colour] Spurts of flame leaked from the holes in his armour, sealed over again slowly with shadow. [colour=darkgray]"You know, I ultimately have no quarrel with either of you. I understand you may want to kill me, Keriss. Fair enough. However-"[/colour]

With a smooth blow, Serandor swept his axe and struck Tauga's chain-gun from her hands, sent it skittering away not far from them. Swiftly he withdrew and settled again on the butt of his axe.

[colour=darkgray]"Do you honestly believe you will ever get the chance to fight the worm again? I am here to stay. You will always be welcome to fight me. But if you let the Emaciator escape here..."[/colour] He lowered his helmed head. [colour=darkgray]"No one invites a bad guest twice, you know."[/colour]

Keriss shook her head,commenting, [color=green]”I simply desire the worm’s demise, but I will not allow you to hurt someone I call a friend.”[/color]

Serandor chuckled. [color=darkgray]”And what has your ‘friend’ ever truly done for you, hmm? Sure, she guided you here, and maybe helped you once in the past when dealing with the child of my counterpart. But Tauga does not care for you. She is incapable of caring. While you see her as a friend, she does not nor will she ever. Even now she opposes you! Would a true ally get in your way like that?”[/color]

Keriss turned to Tauga, her mind once more being torn asunder. Tauga cocked her head. It was true that Tauga truly did not do anything with Keriss, other than spar, that would count as something friends did.

[color=darkgray]”If anything, I am on your side, Keriss. We both desire the death of the worm, we both want revenge for something it has caused. We want pure destruction.”[/color]

Keriss stood there, contemplating what to do. Rage boiled up, sparks grew around her hands and in a sudden motion pointed the hands in different directions and fired a beam at Tauga and one to Serandor. [color=green]”To hell with both of you!”[/color]

Her magic leapt at Tauga, connected with a stunning [i]clang,[/i] and shot her across the room. Serandor caught the beam on a destructive bolt on his own, the collision blasting him away over the metal floor. He stood rapidly.

Some dust settled. A small worm sitting on Tauga's shoulder tossed away the lead disc in its thread-thin hand. It disappeared into her suit and she picked up her gun. [colour=antiquewhite]"Fucking hell, Keriss,"[/colour] she said, opened her mouth again, gestured faintly, and rolled her eyes. [colour=antiquewhite]"Don't do that. Where's the dark?"[/colour]

Serandor was gone behind the shaking spills of arksynth. The deep quaking of the room suddenly felt much louder.

[color=green]”Then give me the worm! This doesn’t need to be harder than it needs to be Tauga! The result is the same. Heartworm dies. Do not join it in death,”[/color] Keriss hissed, fully turning to the hain. She took a few steps towards Tauga, not bothering to avoid bits of Vakarlon which so desperately, yet weakly attempted to hold onto Keriss. [color=green]”Take your shot, try to kill me if your precious worm beckons you to do so. However, if you don’t and continue to be an obstacle, I will not hold back in my attacks.”[/color]

[colour=antiquewhite]"Fine,"[/colour] said Tauga, rotated her gun and locked Keriss's chest with a burst of liquid cement. Her movements grew weighted as the fluid gripped harder, leaping down to catch onto the rubble-strewn floor. Another shot stopped her, a third sealed her to the floor. [colour=antiquewhite]"Wait here. I'm gonna go kill Serandor. We'll deal with it then."[/colour]

[color=green]”Tauga. You chose incorrectly, the worm dies now.”[/color]

And Tauga said, [colour=antiquewhite]"No."[/colour] And the moment changed.

No petty solution was ever going to be enough to stop Keriss. For while it did its job at immobilizing the demi-goddess, it was almost immediately destroyed as Keriss ripped the cement off her, a combination of strength and pure rage. She let out a screech in the direction of Tauga, the sound waves rippling through the air as nothing but pain was sent in the direction of the hain and the worm. No more holding back.

Tauga's teeth ground into splinters in her beak, her body locked into focus at remaining alive. She had weathered Keriss's power before, but never her rage. Blood flowed from the seams of her face as defiance rose to meet her fate. She stood her ground with a leaking mask.

Heartworm was not so strong. It cut away the plate at Tauga's neck, and curling around her dorsal nerves, it simply let go. Tauga felt the worm release its will, like pipeworks locking into a derelict mechanism, just as Jvan intended. She felt her own taking over, flowing through the tendrils inside her, down into the worm and out over its tangle-arms. They reached up into her brain, without asking yet at her will, to saw away the agony in her nerves.

In that moment, Tauga realised what the worm was missing, and she had always had. She had thought frustration was her only rigour, and she had been mistaken. That, and defiance along with it, was just an outcome. What Heartworm had was fear and curiosity. What Tauga gave- what she had been [i]made[/i] to give- was [i]drive.[/i]

Tauga's body opened its blood eyes, and the dark suit frayed into a million limbs. The Composite raised its weapon and fired at Keriss.

The holy mist halted her scream, clouded her body with corrosive pinkish fog. The Composite rotated its weapon back to the barrel reserved for Serandor, and pulled the trigger again. The chain-gun clicked, once, and then fell silent.

[color=Peru][i]I warned you about killing Keriss.[/i][/color]

Woman and worm turned their rifle just slightly off to the side of the mist, fired a shot. It exploded violently against the wall. They turned it back. It clicked. Tauga thought, [colour=antiquewhite][i]Shit.[/i][/colour]

[colour=F9DFCE][b]"Your rounds weren't enough,"[/b][/colour] said the Composite.

[color=Peru][i]I noticed. This confrontation is more complicated than I anticipated.[/i][/color]

There was a loud thundercrack of displaced air as Teknall appeared between the Composite and Keriss, cloaked by the reflective shields of the Mirror Armour. In his right hand was his adamantine maul. His left hand rested above his satchel. Floating above his shoulder was the star-shaped Shard Conduit, a mote of incandescence glowing at its core.

Teknall's voice was projected across the barrier of his Mirror Armour. [color=Peru][b]"I shall not allow you to kill Keriss,"[/b][/color] Teknall said to the Composite, but then he turned his head slightly toward Keriss, [color=Peru][b]"But I also won't allow you to kill Tauga. If you could stop trying to murder each other, that would make things easier."[/b][/color]

[color=green]”She protects the worm, she dies!”[/color]

A flash of multicolored light illuminated the room, and Vestec appeared in front of Teknall. Teknall cursed internally. Keriss let out a very audible groan. The Composite nodded.

"Tekky! I didn't know you were [i]so[/i] interested in Hearty and Kery. I was just watching out of curiosity myself. Normally I'd just let them duel it out and see who comes out on top, but alas, I made a deal with Hearty boy. I'll protect him against Divinity, specifically Logos but I'm willing to stretch since this has gotten unfair, and he would give me information. So," He gave an extravagant bow and gestured towards the door. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave and not interfere. Because then [i]I'll[/i] have to interfere and it'll just get messy from there on out."

Teknall looked side to side, visibly exasperated even through the Mirror Armour. [color=Peru][b]"Your deal is to protect Heartworm, isn't it? I'm here to stop them from killing each other. That aligns with your deal, doesn't it?"[/b][/color]

Vestec nodded, giggling. "This is true, and you are getting very good at this I'm impressed, but the deal was also to protect Hearty's lab and interests, you see. And if you try to stop them from killing each other, you'll have to damage the lab. Not to mention, trying to kill Keriss seems to be his interest as well. So I gotta protect that too" He shrugged. "Can't very well break my word, can I?"

Teknall glanced sideways to the Composite then Keriss.

[color=green]”Both of you, begone!”[/color] Keriss demanded, disliking the interference the two were gods were running. Though, this was her first meeting with Teknall, so she didn’t know enough about him, not enough to know how to act. Vestec, she didn’t care about. He was Vestec, after all. [color=green]”This is between me and the worm! Anyone who gets in my way will be sent to oblivion!”[/color]

She looked down to some see some fleshy bits of Vakarlon moving toward her, she crouched down and cupped some of it into her hands. [color=green]”Look what that thing did to my father! I cannot stand for this! I will not be denied my vengeance by anyone!”[/color] 

As she spoke, the fleshy substance crawled around her arms, covering them before hardening into armour. Lightning began to crackle around her hands once more.[color=green]”Now get out of my way.”[/color]

"Your step father." Vestec corrected. "I've already told you about Vakarion and Vulamera's plot with you. As for interfering, that's up to Tekky here. [i]I'm[/i] not going to bother you at all. [i]He[/i] seems very intent upon bothering you. Though, after he's all done here, I have a few curious questions for him."

Quietly, almost under his breath, Teknall muttered, [color=Peru]"Now I know how Brown felt."[/color] Teknall then continued to address Keriss, although his stance and arms shifted slightly. [color=Peru][b]"It was Serandor who made Vakarlon ill, corrupted his essence, brought him to the brink to death. Is not Serandor more deserving of your vengeance?"[/b][/color]

[colour=darkgray][i]You would do the same, had you been in my position,[/i][/colour] said a telepathic voice, punctuated by two long streams of gunfire from the Composite. Vakarlon's flesh embrittled the tubes and they blew into fine powder as it shot through them, but Serandor was not there.

[color=green]”Yet it was the worm who carried out the request and it seemed none of you wanted to help him! All of the gods are to blame! And for that I will see all of you in oblivion!”[/color] Keriss roared in anger, pointing her hands to Teknall even though she was aiming for the Composite. [color=green]”Star Killer!”[/color] A massive, black beam fired from her hands, a wave of destruction augmented by her own soul, her own divine essence. She would not be stopped until everything was between her and her quarry was dead.

Teknall had anticipated a response like this. As Keriss pointed out her hands, he threw up his own. And moving with his hands went the floor. With a metallic screech which rivalled Keriss' beam, the metre thick steel floor of the vault-like room tore on either side of Teknall and peeled upwards towards the ceiling, becoming a pair of walls dividing the room. The narrow strip of floor between those two walls and in front of Teknall also peeled backwards, carrying Vestec with it.

The beam began to effortlessly drill through the wall, the energy behind it was too powerful to be stopped by a simple metal wall. Anything in its path would be vaporized, and yet before it could fully drill through the wall the beam ended. Keriss was doubled over and breathing heavily, an attack like that was costly and the price was certainly being paid. She could not keep the attack up or else it would destroy her. With grit teeth she stood back up before everything went to shit.

Underneath the floor was no foundation, but instead a deep dark pit that was growing deeper; or, more accurately, the room was ascending. The walls of a lightless shaft flew by below as the vault rumbled and rose.

Teknall bounded backwards along his narrow jetty of floor, widened his stance and tightened his grip on his maul.

Vestec darted out next to Teknall as he made a barrier between the two fighting gods. "Disappointing Teknall. You should know better than this. Ah well. Time to fight I suppose." With that, a portal to the Realm of Madness appeared behind Teknall, and Vestec attempted to kick him into it.

Teknall swept Vestec's kicking leg aside with his maul, and held his maul poised to strike again. [color=Peru][b]"I ain't going in there."[/b][/color]

"Oh come on, you've seen it though! It's really ni-"

They were interrupted when the vault struck its final destination. The room halted with a deafening shock that threw both minor gods into the air as Vestec and Teknall floated. Explosive charges ripped through the seams of the vault and tore it apart, and everything scattered in the chaos- flesh and steel, Vakarlon and Serandor, Keriss and the Composite.

Heartworm had been timing it patiently, and backflipped effortlessly to land on a convenient pad of synth. Things clattered, falling around a chamber so vast that fog had formed near its ceiling. Shielded plating covered its walls, and a grand door covered one end. As Keriss fell, a Bludgeon caught her from the side, struck her hard and fast into the wall at the end of the hangar. The Composite found its foothold suddenly morphing into a den of spikes and was forced to leap away.

Keriss hit the wall. It hurt, but she could push through it for the time being. She came off the wall and her body hung in the air as she watched the Composite flip away from its perch. The pained one hovered there; she would allow it to hunt the dark god for a time, then she would descend upon the worm with a fury that not even the gods could match. It caught her eye, knowing.

[colour=F9DFCE][b]"Vestec,"[/b][/colour] said the Composite, its dark arms swishing slowly as they learned. [colour=F9DFCE][b]"Negotiate with your daughter. You may not get another chance."[/b][/colour] The unseen tendrils wound together into thick cords behind her. [colour=F9DFCE][b]"Teknall, locate Se-"[/b][/colour]

[colour=darkgray]"I suppose they told you I'm the villain,"[/colour] said a voice.

Tauga's back splattered open, arms blurring to enflesh the tendrils with wrought muscle. Four huge tails of skinless flesh trailed her, a line of blood marking the path she took to Serandor. Her chain-gun flared with casings and propellant.

The dark god stood before the hangar gate, inspecting it with the air of a lost tourist. Serandor blurred in the gunfire, but he had learned. A sleek black shotgun rose in one hand, the new greataxe reloading by recoil with every crimson flash from its muzzle. The first shot shredded Tauga's chest, the others clicking uselessly as the firearm was supernaturally jammed. Serandor spun the weapon as it returned into its old shape.

[colour=darkgray]"Not so pleased with that, are we?"[/colour] He levelled the weapon at the base of the door. [colour=darkgray]"I wonder what happens if I do this?"[/colour]

Tauga's polehammer flew into the Composite's outstretched hand, and the weapons rang against one another as it collided with Serandor. They spiralled around one another, Serandor countering as the Composite leapt, slamming tails into iron, flesh against fire.

Vestec looked over at the Composite, then shrugged. "Hey, it's your deal. If you want me to leave Tekky alone and free to interfere, by all means I'll do so." Waving cheerfully at Teknall, Vestec idly strolled over to where Keriss was, crouching in front of her. "I realize that you want to murder the worm- I mean, who doesn't, but brawling in here is about to get very nasty for everyone who isn't a full on god. If you help them kill Serandor, I'll force Hearty boy to face you in a fight by himself. No threat to Tauga, no devastation you can't control. Just you and him. That sounds much nicer than this mess, as entertaining as it is, doesn't it?"

[color=green]”Tauga is a traitor who deserves death. I thought she was someone I could trust, someone who would help me. I thought she was a friend! This only shows that no one is reliable, no one will ever be a friend to someone as wretched... to someone like me.”[/color] Keriss snarled, turning away from Vestec and glaring down at her gauntlets. With a huff, she shook her head as reality continued to jab her through her mind and heart. 

Then she finally turned to look at the masked one, [color=green]”No matter what, I will avenge Vakarlon. Neither you nor buildy-boy over there are going to stop me. After that I will have no purpose left in this reality. No stake to glory, no value in life. No, I will always be resented, I have no comfort, Serandor’s corruption taught me that.”[/color]

"You listen to that wannabe god of destruction who suffers from an ego complex? He's no better than Amartia the so called 'Lord of Sin'. Angsty and sad and wants to lie so he doesn't feel these emotions alone." Vestec waved a dismissive hand. "I don't resent you. I view you as a friend. And you [i]can[/i] avenge Vakarlon. Now is just an inopportune time. Wait a bit, and I promise, buildy boy won't ever even think about getting involved and stopping you. You have my word."

[color=green]”Unlike Amartía, Serandor has a reason for his ego. Like I said, he corrupted my very essence, he took away whatever it was I had before this,”[/color] she motioned to herself before continuing, [color=green]”If you encourage me to accept myself, be the one to balance Chaos, I cannot do it with this corruption. Remove it from me if you truly care!”[/color]

"Sure!" Vestec said, as Serandor and the Composite shot into the space between them in a bursting fireball.

The grappling combatants tumbled over end across the floor of the hangar, leaving a trail of fire that ate into the metal. They split apart, the Composite releasing its grip on black armour and launching Serandor away from its core. Its tentacles sizzled with the stench of sloughed flesh.

Serandor skidded on his sabatons, anchored himself with the head of his axe and then backflipped onto the raised wall of organic metal, standing lonely in the center of the hangar. A Bludgeon swung into him, scattering everyone, demolishing the perch he had taken. He landed elsewhere.

[colour=darkgray]"'Wannabe god of destruction'?"[/colour] A rumbling laugh. Another Bludgeon struck and Serandor reappeared on its surface, surrounded by plumes. [colour=darkgray]"We must talk sometime, Vestec, you and I."[/colour]

Vestec waved a dismissive hand towards him. "You'll be dead soon enough. Fate will repurpose your essence and we will all move on."

[colour=darkgray]"...Is he always like this?"[/colour] Serandor gestured to Teknall, who seemed reasonable, before the Composite lifted its chain-gun and spattered the hangar with shells. A lion's roar resounded through the structure.

[colour=darkgray][i]"Enough."[/i][/colour]

Serandor raised his firearm to the hangar door and pulled the trigger. A crimson flash ignited the world, and there was a single, fragile moment's halt before it all was drowned out in the sound.

The metal exploded, carrying the air of the hangar with it, launching Keriss and the Composite out into the tunnel with the blast of escaping gas enmeshed with threadlike Arksynth residue. Serandor rode the wave, flying-sprinting up the shielded metal walls to the surface far away.

The Composite locked its tongues onto the ophan cords and shot after him, dragging itself by orbs that clashed with low-pressure noise and showers of sparks from the sides of the tunnel as they bounced and flew after him. Serandor leapt from wall to wall, shredding their plumes with blasts from his shotgun as they bounced from one another and the Composite was forced to dodge her own ophanim.

Keriss hit a wall, her body leaving a massive dent. This was getting so very tiring, and she simply wanted all this to end. The demi-goddess pulled herself from the wall and gazed at the two combatants before generating a transparent orb in her hand, only noticeable by the compressed air around. She threw between the two and the orb erupted, the air around them began to feel as if it were dropping rapidly. Both Serandor and the Composite would feel the effects of their joints feeling as if they were becoming stiffer than steel and each movement would only increase the pain they felt more. 

[color=green]”The Time is now if you wish to remove Serandor’s corruption, Vestec!”[/color]

Vestec appeared in front of Serandor, a wall of chaos energy filling the tunnel behind him, blocking escape.. "Running so soon? Tsk tsk. You need to stay and finish this fight. Unless, of course, I'm right and you're nothing more than an empty ego."

Serandor could only react in order to skid, sliding over the alloy at immense velocity, leaving twin trails of fire in gashes torn through the surface, desperately braking his feet against the blackened metal.

The Composite had no intention to see him slow.

One after another eldritch orbs shot through the wall, wreathed in holy energy. One collided with Serandor's frame and smashed him deep into the floor, carrying him with it through the roiling, screaming wall of magic. There was a sound.

The Composite tried to avoid his fate, but the ophanim were too heavy to turn back on their path. It dodged its own weapons and dragged itself back on them as they passed one by one into the wall and still could not work enough momentum to prevent itself from tumbling, cracking, bleeding with each impact on the floor, through the wall.

There was quiet.

"Oh dear. They appear to have ignored my warning." Vestec shrugged, idly walking towards Keriss.  "Ah well. You can kill Serandor and Hearty at your leisure after we're done with the corruption removal process. They're both in a bit of a...time out. And in no position to run off anywhere."

He finally reached Keriss, a hand reached out. "Are you sure?" He asked softly, head tilted. "This might kill you."

A faint voice echoed from the other side of the wall. It wasn't Serandor's. Or the Composite's. 

[colour=antiquewhite]"...Keriss..."[/colour]

Keriss turned to the source of the sound, recognizing the voice in an instant and it brought only pain to her. [color=green]”Don’t say my name! You are a traitor!”[/color]

The pained took a step towards the voice. Part of her still wanted to check on the hain to make sure that she was okay, but the majority wanted to see her dead. Conflict arose. She could practically hear the voices arguing over what to do, and it only grew louder and louder. Eventually all she could hear was the unending screaming. She couldn’t handle it, the pain. Though movement came, a step towards the voice of her friend.

The screams were loud, so loud that it was almost quiet. But she knew they were still screaming, the pain was there. The corruption was there. Everything she hated about herself was still there. All her regrets. Yet, there was also a radiating warmth within her, she could feel it was trapped though. It yearned for freedom, but something was keeping there, trying to silence it.

The screaming came to a sudden stop, Keriss found herself at the wall from which her friend called. She peered in, perfect silence.

[colour=antiquewhite]"Keriss..."[/colour]

The tunnel was only dimly lit with sputtering plumes, ophanim lying strewn over the floor. A trail of splats made a very clear story leading right up to the Composite. Serandor's armour stood to one side, balancing on its greataxe. The condition of the god inside was unclear, for it was utterly motionless, hissing fire from its seams and perforations.

The Composite lay limply suspended beneath the tentacles protruding from its back, knees dragging on the floor, but it was Tauga that spoke. [colour=antiquewhite]"Keriss you big... scaly fuckwit..."[/colour] One of the Blowfly's goggles had been torn off in the tumble, and it was a naked eye that met her gaze. [colour=antiquewhite]"Help me."[/colour]

Once more was Keriss conflicted on what to do, but this time her body moved to the Composite and looked down upon it. She offered her hand to help Tauga up, the warmth controlled her in this moment of silence. [color=green]”Why do you help the worm?”[/color], she asked simply, not moving other than to help up the very thing she wanted to maim and kill. 

[colour=antiquewhite]"Because he needs help,"[/colour] said Tauga. [colour=antiquewhite]"Everyone does."[/colour] Their faces were echoed between the shining surfaces of the ophanim around. One of pain and one of anger.

[color=green]”You sound like some naive hero, saying that,”[/color] Keriss let out a soft chuckle as she watched Tauga.

Tauga clambered up, by force of habit, onto Keriss's shoulder. The heavy tendrils tensed behind her, then relaxed over the ground. She looked towards Serandor. [colour=antiquewhite]"One more time?"[/colour]

Keriss let out a sigh and turned towards Serandor. This fight would be over quickly. She needed a chance to destroy the worm. She nodded, speaking [color=green]"Very well. Let’s do this,”[/color] her eyes flicked towards Tauga, [color=green]“just as we practiced.”[/color]

The demi-goddess remembered their time sparring together, when Tauga had asked Keriss to train her in combat. Those were good memories in the sea of regret, and she was glad to have them. After a moment of remembrance, Keriss charged forward towards the dark god, no longer holding back.

It was not even a second and Keriss was on top of him. Her first uppercut on the dark god sending him reeling back.

Tauga leapt from her shoulder as Serandor dislodged Keriss with his greataxe, staggering to ground himself as she locked her polearm onto his. They spun, winding and unwinding to strike one another with head and cue. Her tendrils flailed to recurve, making up in strength and number what she lacked in size. There were no more words.

Serandor's greataxe severed a tendril, shot sparks off the iron floor. The remaining three followed through with a spin, colliding from behind to send him sliding into Keriss.

[colour=antiquewhite]"Keriss,"[/colour] came the shout again, [colour=antiquewhite]"do your thing."[/colour]

The demi-goddess wound up a strike as the dark god flew towards her, at the last possible moment she released her punch. It collided with the blackened armor of Serandor and was powerful enough to stop the old god dead in his tracks, blood spurt out from the darkness of his helm as he stayed there for a few moments. Then he collapsed to the ground, trying to get to his legs but only managing to have enough strength for his knees to raise him only slightly.

[color=green]”I believe the fight is over, Serandor,”[/color] Keriss commented, moving around him so that she stood in his view. She looked back at the Composite, [color=green]”Worm, finish him off and complete your promise to Vakarlon.”[/color]

[color=darkgray]”No… I can’t die. I must- I must,”[/color] the dark one gasped, Keriss turned and only chuckled at the dark god’s defeat. This, however, provoked him as the daughter of Vakarlon had claimed victory, it brought back memories of his first defeat. He would not allow Vakarlon’s lineage to live. He used what little strength he had left to punch the pained one who took the blow.

[color=green]”Is that all you have?”[/color]

Serandor let out a crazed laugh before shouting, [color=darkgray]”I will destroy everything that you are!”[/color] Destructive energy shot into Keriss, directly from Serandor’s soul to Keriss’ own, he planned to end her entirely. Leaving her a screaming mess, as he tried to work to destroy the fabric that made up the pained one’s soul.

The space behind Serandor wavered as the reflection-wreathed form of Teknall appeared. Teknall swung his maul, and it slammed into Serandor's side with a crunch, flinging the dark god across the tunnel. [color=Peru][b]"I'm not letting you kill Keriss."[/b][/color]

The Composite punctuated the strike with a single intercepting blow from the hammer, leaving his armour to crumple. A lensed wormhole remained where the air spat and its chain-gun appeared in its hands.

There was a long burst of fire.

The Composite kneeled on Serandor. The oxygen in its mask was getting small. It was hard to hear the words it spake on his chest.

Keriss dropped to the ground after Serandor had been sent sailing away, breathing heavily and clutching her chest where there was now a light shining from it. Serandor’s magic had punched through her physical form and damaged her soul. She got to her feet and managed to stay there for a few moments before she took a step and collapsed down onto her hands and knees, looking at Teknall. The demi-goddess couldn’t formulate words, she didn’t know what to do as she felt that she was struggling just to keep her physical form together.

Teknall's head turned to Keriss, and immediately he stepped up to the dying demigoddess. Teknall's armour vanished and he laid a hand on Keriss' forehead. His eyes flicked up and down Keriss' form. He removed the hand and found it coated in ash. [color=Peru]"Vestec, we might need your help here."[/color]

Teknall took a hypodermic syringe from his apron pocket and extracted a sample of Keriss' ichor. His hands blurred as he took out and operated various miniaturised devices to rapidly assay Keriss' essence for any clue as to how to save her, using spectroscopy, microdistillation, chromatography, and anything else he could think of.

Serandor's turned head lay where he'd fell, watching the scene. The Blowfly mask towered above him. His helmet rolled as he turned, and an adamant spike rammed through his wrist, twixt the mail between brace and gauntlet, forcing him to let go. The greataxe fell upon the ground.

[color=darkgray]"I did it,"[/color] he said. [color=darkgray]"I destroyed her."[/color]

The Composite contracted its hammer to a maul and smacked him with metal. His head lay twisted aside on the floor. There was a sputtering [i]'aaaaaah'[/i].

[color=darkgray]"So this is where it ends."[/color] The Composite nodded. Serandor didn't see it. He was talking to someone who was not there. [color=darkgray]"You win."[/color]

The arksynth dripped from tears in Tauga's suit, sizzling through him.

Serandor turned to them. [color=darkgray]"So is this your victory, Emaciator?"[/color] The words were spat with inhuman effort, malice to the last. [color=darkgray]"Now that you know that you will be this world's tormentor, and not I- are you satisfied?"[/color] One long sputtering gasp. [color=darkgray]"Is the world a better place now, [i]Emaciator?[/i] Has anything even [i]changed?[/i]"[/color]

The Composite looked. After a while, it said: [colour=F9DFCE][b]"I don't care."[/b][/colour] 

It lowered its polehammer and rammed the spike through his visor. Bubbling fluid leaked from the edges. When it was done, it stood, wrenched out the spike, took his greataxe from the floor, lowered it to his head and pulled the trigger.

Liquid black. It turned to Keriss and walked to her. An inhuman shade reached out behind her back, the hands of Heartworm draining Serandor's blood into an iron crucible, where it would stay forevermore.

Vestec waved a hand, a portal opening beneath Serandor's empty husk and swallowing it, walking over to Keriss. He looked down at his daughter's form, his colors flickering slowly, before laying a hand on Keriss' shoulder. She wasn't going to live. The damage was too great, and there wasn't enough time. "You're not going to survive. But you won't die with unfinished business. You'll get your duel, and your vengeance, Daughter." Divine energy flooded into her body, tying Keriss's form together and patching the damages done to her. "It's a stopgap. It'll give you the strength to do what you need to."

He turned to the Composite, pointing at them. "Split apart. This is Heartworm's fight now."

[colour=f9dfce][b]"You have my permission to leave, Vestec."[/b][/colour] The Composite passed him by and knelt at her side.

Keriss’ breathing stabilized as Vestec lended some of his divine energy to her. She looked up at the Composite before getting to her feet. It was slow, but she was able to at the very least, granted she did almost stumble over at one point. [color=green]”If I am to die, then I wish to speak to Tauga once more, Heartworm. Then this will all end,”[/color] the demigoddess sighed as she gazed down upon the fusion. To think she had allowed Serandor the opening he needed, the opening to destroy Keriss, someone he corrupted for his own gain. [color=green]”Please.”[/color]

[colour=antiquewhite]"I'm here,"[/colour] she said. Heartworm's eye scanned Teknall's readings from a hole in her chest. [colour=antiquewhite]"I was always here."[/colour]

[color=green]”I must say, you were a decent friend. For the most part, you tend to be there and simply let me vent, granted the venting was often…”[/color] Keriss paused to look around at the ruin the battle had caused, [color=green]”Destructive. Yet, you were there, and you did help me. So, when I die, whether it be to the worm or the decay of my soul, I want you to have something. It's a crown that my mother gave to me, that allows one to command simple mortals without much thought. I’m sure you remember the thorns I carried around.”[/color]

[colour=antiquewhite]"Keriss..."[/colour]

She took a step towards Tauga, [color=green]”I suppose what I’m trying to say is, thank you for being a friend.”[/color]

[colour=antiquewhite]"...Okay."[/colour] Tauga blinked, unable to figure out what she was meant to say. There was a grief-shaped hole left in her heart, and it showed. She pushed a hand into Keriss's chest. [colour=antiquewhite]"You're bleeding."[/colour]

Keriss winced slightly as Tauga did so, not speaking for a few moments. [color=green]”Perceptive as ever, Tauga,”[/color] she said, before pushing the hain’s hand away from her chest wound. [color=green]”I know you don’t necessarily feel much, but please refrain from touching an open wound.”[/color]

[colour=antiquewhite]"..."[/colour] Tauga's hand remained raised, fingers curled over slightly as if to hold themselves back. They retreated, but didn't lower. [colour=F9DFCE][b]"Stone Chipper, what can you see?"[/b][/colour]

Teknall looked across a chromatogram then held up a distillate vial containing a few golden droplets to his eyes. [color=Peru]"Most of Keriss' essence is terminally unstable, having suffered severe degradation; this we already know. However, I have found traces of some other essence, untainted and dormant."[/color] Teknall looked up at Keriss. [color=Peru]"If we can find a way to activate this dormant part of you, we could save you."[/color]

[color=green]”Unfortunately, I believe that would take time. That would allow the worm to escape,"[/color] said Keriss, [color=green]"and I doubt I’d be able to find him again.”[/color] She shifted her stance, becoming ready to attack at a moments notice. [color=green]”I am finishing what I came here to do.”[/color]

The Composite's shoulders levelled.

[color=Peru]"You would rather kill Heartworm than live?"[/color] Teknall said, standing up from his array of lab equipment. [color=Peru]"And not just live, but be free from Serandor's corruption. Even if you could finish this fight quickly and without dying, Heartworm's expertise might be essential for finding the cure. Are you absolutely sure?"[/color]

[color=green]”Yes, I am sure. I am willing to lay down my life if it means that I will have completed that task,”[/color] Keriss stated, her eyes locked onto the Composite.

Teknall shook his head and muttered, [color=Peru]"Why do I even bother?"[/color]

Keriss moved forward quickly, conjuring a ball of destructive energy and hurling it at the Composite’s feet. Three surviving tentacles lashed out and slammed into the spell as it flew, and a staggering explosion ricocheted across the tunnel.

The Composite skidded back over the floor, gripping the polehammer with its elbow, and braced its torn muscles upon it. It cast Serandor's weapon into the dark and raised its own. The feet of Tauga would not be thrown aside so easily.

From the explosion, Keriss was upon the Composite, moving in close so that the polehammer’s reach would serve as a disadvantage. A wall of ash erupted behind the fusion, no longer holding back, Keriss began an endless onslaught of punches. The attacks were not random- they were going for the Composite’s non-vital areas. It seemed she was simply going to be trying to get the being worn down. A mistake.

The Composite's recurved machete leapt into its off-hand and hacked across Keriss's belly as it stumbled, tumbling, then shuddering to rise against the gale with both hands thrusting the floor as its last tentacle flung back the massive lizard. It took the chance to give a few feinting jabs with the spike of Tauga's weapon, and a few real ones, drawing blood.

The polearm swiftly retracted into a maul. The Composite was worn out, yes. But still it would not die.

[colour=F9DFCE][b]"Help me or leave, Teknall,"[/b][/colour] it said through the ash. [colour=F9DFCE][b]"Your plans are dust."[/b][/colour]

Teknall looked between the two combatants and Vestec. He seemed to quickly weigh his options and their outcomes, then he said, [color=Peru]"I'll try and build a cure. Tauga, Keriss, don't die."[/color] He disappeared with a faint pop.

Keriss growled in pain as she willed her wounds to heal, not allowing the Composite to recollect itself. She continued to attempt to get close, but now where her previous strikes were reacting, a pain of intense heat. The lizard continued to strike the Composite, adding more intensity to the false heat. With a final blow from her tail whipping the Composite to the side, Keriss halted her assault. 

[color=green]"Tauga may know how to fight, but you do not, worm. Neither do you know true pain. I will show you once I rip you from Tauga,"[/color] Keriss hissed, holding another ball of destructive energy in her hand, [color=green]"Perhaps I will show you a painless death if you surrender now."[/color]

But neither Tauga nor the Heartworm was there. Shivering false limbs emerged from the Composite's cracks and splinters, holding itself together against the pain and the wreckage.

[colour=f9dfce][b]"...I will survive."[/b][/colour]

Tauga's hand shattered into the Composite's, taking her arm with it, a storm of flesh wrought by black limbs puppeted by ghostly threads in turn. The mess of meat and power seized up Keriss's palm, disintegrating as her orb exploded but casting her just far enough back.

Keriss growled as she was pushed back, her eyes focusing on the being she needed to kill. She took a step forward, before raising her hands and summoning a spear and shield from the ash. Simple weapons, but weapons in a capable killer's hands. 

The Composite stitched together replacements for its missing arm and most of its right side. The hand fit loosely around her maul, full of gaps. The unseen tendrils swept through the ash, and at their gesture the regenerating plumes began to flock around a single Bludgeon, empowering it to roll slowly and heavily between the creature and the demigod.

"That is quite enough." A portal darted between the two combatants, swallowing the bludgeon and all the plumes with it. The rest of the colony sputtered to a slow ignition, tugging slowly, so slowly back, in order to save the cord from being severed should the portal close. 

Vestec idly strolled forward, holding a hand out to Keriss to stop her from leaping forward, and stopped between the two. "You made a deal with her through me, Hearty boy. You told me to talk some sense into her, giving me free reign to do it in any way I desire. The only way that worked is I promised her that you would fight her, one on one, after Serandor was killed. Serandor is dead, and now you're fighting her two on one? Poor form." The Composite used this opportunity to mend some of the crushing damage on its upper neck.

"My oath to you is complete. Your oath to Keriss is being broken, and I won't allow that. Split from your little ally, Tog I think her name was, and fight Keriss like you had me promise for you, or I'll [i]rip[/i] you apart and you'll still have to fight Keriss. Albeit with missing limbs, probably."  Vestec's colors flashed with intermittent bursts of red as he waited. He was annoyed, but not violent. Yet.

There was a faint [i]crack[/i] as the Composite cemented together a plate on its chest. Its suit was beginning to reform.

"Teknall," Vestec called, sending a mental message to the builder while speaking aloud, "If you don't want Tog, Keriss and Hearty to be dropped into the Realm of Madness to fight in the Arena so Hearty will finally do what he had me promise for him, after I rip this composite apart, obviously, I suggest you help me get Hearty to do what he had me promise for him."

Teknall reappeared and groaned. [color=Peru]"You have such a way with twisting deals against people. But fine; it gives the best chances of Tauga and Keriss surviving."[/color]

With that, the Composite was stuck.

Vestec held a hand to his chest, pretending to swoon. "I'm wounded Teky! I would never [i]twist[/i] deals! I only do what those I made deals with ask of me. Hearty asked me to get Keriss to stop, I did so. It's not [i]my[/i] fault the only way to do it was by organizing a duel."

A gauntleted hand raised to Teknall. [colour=f9dfce][b][i]"Leave."[/i][/b][/colour] A machete to Vestec. [colour=f9dfce][b]"If you have no intention to honour our agreement, get out. I [i]will[/i] do this myself."[/b][/colour]

"Oh nononono Hearty boy. I honored our agreement. I kept Teknall out of the fight, until it suited you that is, just like I said I'd protect you from other fully divine intruders. Then [i]you[/i] had me speak in your name to get Keriss to stop. Well, to get her to stop I had to promise that you'd fight her without Tog. And since you had me speaking for you, [i]you[/i] promised you'd fight her without Tog. You're right on one account though. You [i]will[/i] do this by yourself. After you separate."

The Composite struck him across the tunnel with its hammer and ran.

The hammer struck Vestec directly in the face, and he hit the wall with a thump, and started giggling. "Oh, I was hoping you'd do that." What remained of his mask turned red, and he was gone. He appeared in front of the Composite in the next instant, floating just slightly faster than the running monster. Boots skidded, and weapons were bared. 

"You can't run, hearty boy. You have two gods going after you." A wall of chaos energy appeared behind Vestec, roughly twenty feet back. "And you don't have the power to stop us." Chaotic energy pooled in his hands, and he launched a blast at the Composite.

Its body tore apart, plates of Tauga shearing off to open a crude void in its torso. As the magic collided, an exit portal opened in its unhinged beak and launched Vestec's blast back towards his own body.

The blast hit Vestec in his artificial arm, popping it off, and he stumbled backwards, hand clenching his stump and dramatically sinking to the ground. "Oh no! What irony is this? A mighty God, brought low by a mortal and an avatar! Oh if I had not given myself to hubris, and listened to Teknall! I might yet live! Death, Death comes for me!" He slumped backwards, arm over his mask.

There wasn't much of Tauga's body to repair this time, but that didn't seem to stop it. The Composite's suit stitched together faster than its flesh, holding in a mess of broken shell and false blood and the upper half of a beak. Before it even resembled a hain again, it was running, back from the wall, leaking oxygen and fluids and tearing its way down the tunnel as its tendrils hauled it across the web of ophan cords and unflinchingly back towards Keriss.

Vestec giggled from where he was slumped. "That was very clever of you Hearty boy. But I'm afraid that your aim is a bit off." He walked over to his arm and popped it back into place. "Good try though."

[color=Peru]"Vestec, you're meant to separate those two, not blow them up!"[/color] Teknall exclaimed, [color=Peru]"Although there might not be much Tauga left to separate out if this keeps up."[/color]

"Well then Teknall, I did call you to help with that. You're the craft god. If you don't split them apart, I'm going to rip them apart."

Keriss let out a snarl, moving into an ashen form to speed after the Composite. Her form looked like nothing more than a black cloud as she sped after her prey, distance closing quickly. [color=green]"You cannot escape me worm. I will hunt you down and pry you from that wretched body you call the Composite!,"[/color] her voice echoed, soon passing the being and reforming. She simply stood in the Composite's way before raising her arm, a pillar of ash erupting below the Composite, trapping it, lifting it up.

The myriad tendrils heaved at the unseen wires overhead, forcing the Composite against its prison. Cracks appeared as more ophanim began to roll. Slowly. So, so slowly.

[color=green]"This is the end, worm. No more running, no more denying your fate. Death comes to you, just as it does to me,"[/color] Keriss stated, walking towards the Composite.

[colour=f9dfce][b]"We could save you, Keriss,"[/b][/colour] said the Composite. Its voice no longer emanated from its beak. [colour=f9dfce][b]"There is no need for anyone to die here."[/b][/colour]

"Just like how you saved Vakarlon? How sweet. Eternity as a sludge to be used at the whims of any mortal or god to come around!" Vestec called with sugary sweetness, walking towards the trapped Composite, utterly ignored.

[color=green]"I don't want to be saved by my enemy. Death is preferable,"[/color] Keriss commanded before grabbing the Composite's throat and pulling it forward. She reached around the Composite's head to grab at the worm within its neck. [color=green]"Detach yourself or else I will rip you out,"[/color] she ordered, glaring into the eyes of her opponent.

A long spike jutted from the back of the creature, piercing her hand. Another leapt on a limb to bury a cruel barb under Keriss's jaw. It was joined by several more. The venom throbbed from limp tubes. To death, the poison said. To death I will fight.

Suddenly there was a [i]bang[/i] at their feet and a thick cloud of pink mist engulfed them. A swift scalpel slashed at the barbs and deft fingers plucked them from Keriss's flesh, followed by a shot of antitoxin; simultaneously an electrified needle prodded a nerve in Keriss's hand and her grip on the Composite's throat was released. The armoured form of Teknall then yanked the Composite out of Keriss' reach, and into his own adamantine grip.

The mist would only subdue Keriss for so long, so Teknall had no time for spoken words. His mind directly probed at the mind of the Composite, looking for the people within. [color=Peru][i]Tauga, your body is dying. You are losing this battle. I will not permit you to continue.[/i][/color] Syringes injected oxygen and synthetic blood plasma into Tauga's veins, replacing lost blood. [color=Peru][i]Heartworm, both Keriss and Vestec are seeking to tear you from this body, and neither of them care about whether they kill Tauga in the process.[/i][/color] Kaolin was flash-fired into porcelain plates and glued into place to repair Tauga's shell and provide mountings to support her internal organs. [color=Peru][i]Continuing to fight like this will result in all of you dying, which is wasteful and unnecessary.[/i][/color]

[colour=F9DFCE][b][i]You could save all of us,[/i][/b][/colour] the hidden voice whispered back. [colour=F9DFCE][b][i]Evict Keriss. Rescue the Composite. We will survive, or we will die together.[/i][/b][/colour] Heartworm's coils tightened their grip on the blazing neural stem of Tauga's furious will. 

[color=Peru][i]I could fend off Keriss, or I could fend off Vestec. I cannot do both, which makes doing either pointless.[/i][/color] Teknall opened up the plates on the side of Tauga's neck and parted aside muscles and arteries. [color=Peru][i]And I have no intention of letting both of you to die together.[/i][/color] Heartworm was now visible, as was the brain stem of its host, whose machete burst from the ash and made a diligent attempt to shank him. It clattered harmlessly off Teknall's armour.

[color=Peru][i]Tauga, I know you don't want to die.[/i][/color] A gauntlet-clad hand reached towards Heartworm. [color=Peru][i]Heartworm, don't make this harder than it has to be.[/i][/color]

[colour=antiquewhite][i]The worm-[/i][/colour] Unseen by any but Teknall, Tauga's own neurons were growing, unaided, circling their delicate patterns around the worm's glittering eyes. One clutched the other clutched the other. [colour=antiquewhite][i]-doesn't want to die either, you bastard.[/i][/colour]

[color=Peru][i]Keriss and Vestec would happily destroy you to get at the worm. Consider my efforts merciful.[/i][/color]

[colour=antiquewhite][i]Fuck off.[/i][/colour]

Beside Teknall's arm came a robotic arm ending in myriad fractal fingers, of a similar design to those of the Promethean Manipulators. This tool reached around and gripped at the worm coiled around Tauga's brain stem, trying to unravel it from all points at once. A needle injected muscle relaxants into Heartworm, and a scalpel gingerly prised the newly grown grey matter off the worm. Then, using his hand and the robotic hand in tandem to minimise the pressure on Tauga's brain stem during the operation, Teknall began to untie the two.

The alloyed digits made contact with the stray neurons enwrapping Heartworm, and a jolt of death travelled through Tauga's body. For a moment, her muscles went limp.

Then they hurricaned to life again- [i]all[/i] of them.

The unseen threads of Tauga's aura slipped between the gaps between Teknall's gripping fingers and seized his gauntlet, encircling his hand and then him. Hundreds of metres of tentacle bundled against the Mirror Armour and thrust against it in a gale just strong enough for Heartworm to pry away his thumb.

Tauga shot across the tunnel, bursting through the ash and landing on her feet.

[colour=antiquewhite]You [i]said I don't want to die,[/i][/colour] whispered Tauga as she reformed the Composite. [colour=antiquewhite][i]I don't think that's true any more.[/i][/colour] Her polearm unfolded. [colour=F9DFCE][b][i]I just don't want to lose.[/i][/b][/colour] Heartworm pulled her skullplate closed at the base, and the Composite sheltered both of them.

Teknall rubbed a hand against the forehead of his helmet. [color=Peru]"Both the people I want to save have a death wish,"[/color] he muttered.

Vestec settled next to him. "It makes things interesting!"

The mist's work was done, and Keriss was back with a look of unparalleled anger as she could feel that her time was closing quickly. The Composite despite having just reformed, Keriss was quickly behind the being, not to rip Heartworm out, but to strike it directly. A punch was driven into the back of the Composite, hard enough to send it flying. As it flew through the air Keriss appeared in front of it to smack it with the back of her hand. Again and again and again, the demi-goddess struck the Composite. Keriss was using all the divine strength she had at her disposal as she did so, each hit releasing a thunderous crack into the thin atmosphere- whether of air or shell, none could say.

The torment ended when Keriss caught the Composite with her tail and slammed it into the ground, pinning it underfoot. While she would have loved to do the same to Teknall for interrupting her again, she could not take on a god in her state. [color=green]"I tire of this. While you may wish to save me Teknall, I do not. My existence only brings destruction and carnage, I shall pry Heartworm from this thing's neck-"[/color] The two locked eyes. [color=green][i]"-or I will stab it while it is still in there."[/i][/color]

A rasp from the Composite's throat. Its enfleshed tentacles buckled against the floor, forcing its way against Keriss's claw as its lungs began to collapse. [colour=F9DFCE][b]"Fuck-"[/b][/colour]

[colour=f6989d][i]Tauga.[/i][/colour]

A voice long since silent stepped effortlessly to the fore.

[colour=f6989d][i]Tauga,[/i][/colour] said Heartworm, [colour=f6989d][i]Go.[/i][/colour]

The Composite's will was of adamant, yet all its power had one source. Tauga struggled, but the decision was not hers to make. Heartworm unwound her neurons with a single motion, and, enlacing the three of them in its grip, threw them all apart.

Tauga's body hit Teknall and dropped still as a doll. Teknall scooped up Tauga's body, injected her with something from his satchel, then teleported away. And Heartworm- 

Heartworm lay exposed before Keriss, as small as a footprint.

[colour=f6989d]"My name is Heartworm the Emaciator, Avatar of Jvan,"[/colour] it said, rising up on a swell of its needle-thin tongues. [colour=f6989d]"You will fight me,"[/colour] it said, forming its spidery arms into the warrior's stance. [colour=f6989d]"And I will die."[/colour]

[color=green]”Finally, I can ki-“[/color]

"It took you long enough! I was beginning to become bored." Vestec called, standing next to empty air.

Keriss sighed, giving a look to Vestec before returning her gaze down to Heartworm. [color=green]”Let us end this,”[/color] she stated before summoning a great axe in her hand, [color=green]”It shall be swift.”[/color] She raised the axe above her before swinging down.

The creature reared, and its slender tongues caught her weapon on blade and haft. For a moment, they held it back. Heartworm met her eyes. 

Then there was the cracking of broken teeth, one by one, before the Emaciator's arms collapsed and Keriss's axe slammed into the floor with a shock that quaked the world. 

It was done.

Two halves lay on the floor, convulsing spider-legs spilling from their wounds. The carmine blood soon leaked from its eyes and evaporated into thin air.

Keriss waited for a moment. seeing if the worm would reform or not. It didn't and Keriss let out a mad laugh now that it was all over, the battle ended anticlimactically. The demi-goddess stood there for a few moments before she fell to her knees, keeping herself supported with her hands. Her time was up. Vestec's magic that had kept her soul from falling apart was being undone. 

[color=green]"So I guess this is where I die too, worm. All of this and no survivors except for Tauga. Funny,"[/color] she said before her arms gave out. Keriss was still conscious but simply focusing on breathing while she awaited death. 

Teknall appeared beside Keriss, armour gone. He laid a hand on her shoulder. [color=Peru]"You're not dead yet. Remember how I mentioned that there was a small part of your essence which was dormant and untainted? I've found something which might help remove the corrupted bits and awaken the uncorrupted bit."[/color]

[color=green]"Is that so?,"[/color] Keriss said lightly, turning her head to look at Teknall. It was hard to move now, finding that lying there was the easiest thing to do rather than talk. After a moment her head returned to its original spot, [color=green]"Even if you save that bit, it won't be me."[/color]

[color=Peru]"It's better than nothing,"[/color] Teknall replied. Keriss felt a slight lurch as the scenery suddenly changed around her. They were back in the Bludgeon hangar. Broken bits of machinery and puddles of Arksynth lay scattered on the ground, although the main door had been repaired. In front of Teknall and Keriss stood a forebodingly familiar machine.

Like an organ it stood above them, with myriad pipes and valves rising directly upwards towards the ceiling. Front and centre was a pit containing blades and needles and tubes, large enough to hold four people, or one god. Cables extended from numerous points on the machine and were spliced into the data ports of a bulky computer monitor and a bank of switches and dials bolted onto the machine beside the pit. Several large buckets of Arksynth sat nearby.

Keriss looked around, her eyes darting between all the objects that were there. [color=green]"I don't know how much I like the look of this."[/color]

[color=Peru]"I reassembled it myself, so the machine is in excellent shape. In there the device will couple to your divine essence. It will drain out the bits of you which are dying, filter it, then resonate with the dormant part of your soul to awaken it. The Arksynth is to provide matter to reconstitute your body if necessary,"[/color] Teknall explained.

Keriss continued to gaze upon the machine, not in wonder or awe, but more in confusion as she didn’t understand it. However, she was in no position to reject Teknall’s wishes. [color=green]”If we are going to do this, then let us get it over with,”[/color] she grumbled, not able to do much other than speak and look around.

[color=Peru]"Right."[/color] Teknall stooped down and lifted Keriss onto his shoulders, before lowering her into the pit in the machine. Then he began the delicate process of attaching Keriss to the machine. [color=Peru]"This may hurt a little."[/color] The blades sliced out thin strips of Keriss' skin on her back and attached them to hooks. Needles were slotted into Keriss' veins and started to draw on her ichor. Electrodes were attached to her chest and head and delivered data to the digital display.

"Well. This is certainly better than me just ripping it out of you. Do try not to die, dear. You're still one of my children afterall." Vestec leaned against the wall next to Teknall, watching as Teknall readied the device.

Teknall made some final adjustments to the dials, then he flicked one switch and the machine came to life. Red LEDs lit up along the standing pipes, climbing higher as the machines' humming grew louder. Electricity crackled deep in the bowels of the device. Pistons started to move, and Keriss' ichor was slowly sucked out of her.

[color=Peru]"Vestec, since it's your field of expertise, could you go over and check whether the filters are working properly?"[/color] Teknall asked, indicating a particular stack of pipes.

[b]"They are,"[/b] said a voice. Child-like, but with none of the innocence. [b]"Vakarlon would want them to be, so they are."[/b]

Help had arrived. They weren't yet in view of the machine, but they had heard Teknall's voice. With them came a shoal of hovering sweethearts, ignorant of what they were looking at yet eager to patch up its gaps. Having grown used to taking responsibility for fleshsmiths with far messier work protocols, they began an inspection without waiting for permission. [b]"I'm sorry if I presume, but these might help."[/b]

Teknall nodded towards the approaching Sculptor. [color=Peru]"The assistance is appreciated."[/color] Teknall scrutinised the digital display for a few moments, then twisted a few dials and whistled a few directions to the sweethearts. He monitored the readouts and watched Keriss for a little longer as the sweethearts tinkered, until he uttered another whistle to stop the sweethearts. [color=Peru]"Operation is nominal so far. Increasing power."[/color]

Teknall slowly turned a larger dial. More lights lit up, the machine's humming intensified, and pistons pumped harder. The feedback of divine energy into Keriss' faltering form strengthened.

Yet, Keriss form continued to deteriorate, perhaps faster now that her godly energy was being purified and separated from the corruption that had grown strong. Her body began falling into ash, the binds of her body falling apart as the corruption was seperated. She was silent as this happened, merely accepting that this was her end. However, it was also a beginning, not a new redemption for the dying lizard but for the true being that had been hidden away for so long. 

She opened her eyes one last time and she saw her parents, they seemed happy to see their daughter again. And she smiled.

As the ash fell away, another being was uncovered. Long strands of brown hair and pale skin was revealed as inevitably Keriss' form faded away. The being was not Keriss, it was the true essence of the soul that had been tainted, smaller and perhaps more frail than how Keriss was, but it was what the soul simply was. 

Everything was going well so far, the new divine being seemingly asleep through the process. However, as more of the godly essence was filtered, more strength was given to the being, and with that strength came a risk. For her, the dreams did not seem to be pleasant dreams, her face contorting to something that displayed a fierce pain and the monitors began to read the rise in her heart rate. Worsening the situation, she began to struggle, at first it was weak but this being was of strength and quickly she had ripped herself free. A line that drew her ichor snapped and she began to try and unconsciously free herself.

Teknall's hand darted across the dials and reduced the power of the machine. Another hand brushed along the side of the machine. Metal curled down from the sides of the pit and wrapped around the new being's limbs, trying to restrain her. Teknall reached across to repair the broken line. [color=Peru]"Hold on a little longer. The transfer isn't complete yet."[/color]

Vestec, watching quietly for most of the process, walked forward and put his hand against the new being's chest, pushing her into the device. "Not yet daughter. Not yet. Teknall, I'd recommend hurrying up. She doesn't appear to like this."

[color=Peru]"It's a delicate balance. Too fast and it might damage her."[/color] Teknall slowly turned up the power anyway, carefully watching the new being's reaction.

The being continued to thrash about, the new restraints doing nothing to stop her from ripping through the metal. Suddenly it stopped, not out of death or shock, but by the fact that the pain went away as more of her soul was filtered into her. Vestec's hand seemed to prove to be somewhat calming, her breathing becoming normal once more. Once the transfer was complete she opened her eyes and gazed upon Vestec, her eyes staring at him with curiosity.

"Hello there daughter." Vestec said softly, looking at her. Keriss had changed completely, bo "You've had a trying time. You're better now, though. All that agony is gone. How are you feeling? And what's your name? I don't think you're Keriss anymore."

She continued to gaze upon Vestec, silence overwhelmed her before she simply pushed her way past the chaotic god. Her eyes moved to the destruction that had been done throughout the station, a battle between gods and monsters. [color=gold]”I did this. Pointless destruction, death of I don’t even know how many, and I’m pretty sure I lost the only ‘friend’ I had, all because of my selfish desire for vengeance,”[/color] the newly born one said, her voice cracking before turning back to the two gods.

She remembered.

[color=Peru]”Tauga’s not dead,”[/color] Teknall offered, [color=Peru]”Although I’m not sure how she feels about today’s events.”[/color]

[color=gold]”My point exactly,”[/color] she sighed before turning away once more. [color=gold]”Thank you for saving what was left of me. Maybe now I can try to undo the pain that Keriss caused through the years,”[/color] she continued, not looking back as she addressed them.

“Well, in the death department, you killed a monster that forcibly mutated an entire race and turned a god seeking help into a sentient goop, in what I can only assume was a horrifically painful process, and a fallen god of destruction who wanted to wreak havoc upon the world and cause untold suffering. So, good start there!” Vestec interjected cheerfully. “As for the suffering Keriss caused, that was mostly against demons and undead. As far as I know, at least. And Tauga is a bright enough girl to know that you’re not Keriss anymore. In fact, we still don’t know who you are. What’s your name, dear?”

The woman thought to herself for a few moments before looking down at the gauntlets that the ooze had formed her. She turned to the two gods and proudly announced, [color=gold]”I am Avulus, the true Hero!”[/color] A radiant aura seemed to encompass her as she told them her new identity, standing there proudly for a few moments before looking down and realizing that she had no clothing other than gauntlets.

Letting out a startled sound, Avulus immediately covered herself the best she could. [color=gold]”Ah, I forgot that Keriss never wore clothing. Do you think one of you could help?”[/color] she asked, a tone of embarrassment about her.

Teknall pulled a roll of plain white cloth out of his apron pocket, and in a flurry of cutting and stitching he turned it into a simple white dress and handed it to the naked demigoddess. [color=Peru]”This should do for the moment, until you decide on a more personalised clothing design,”[/color] Teknall said.

Vestec giggled, floating upside down. “Well, Avulus the True Hero, who are you being a hero of? Everyone has a different definition, after all, and if you’re being someone’s hero, you’re someone else’s villain.”

The newborn graciously accepted the white cloth from Teknall and draped it onto her form, before announcing [color=gold]“I am the Hero of that which does not know evil, innocence,”[/color]

[hider=Summary]
[hider=Super-Quick Summary]
Keriss, Tauga, Heartworm, Serandor, Teknall and Vestec all get in a big fight in Heartworm’s lab.

Serandor dies. Heartworm dies. Keriss kind-of dies, but is reincarnated as Avalus, the True Hero.
[/hider]
Keriss and Tauga are navigating the Well Labyrinth, heading for Heartworm’s Laboratory. Sasha the grotling is with them.

Serandor is in Keriss’ head, claiming to be one of her parents and asking her to not go to Heartworm. Keriss ignores him.

As they get close, they find Help. Help gives Tauga a medical check-up. Keriss refuses aid. They progress to Heartworm, who is in the vault where Vakarlon was turned into arksynth.

Heartworm delivers Vakarlon’s final words to Keriss.

When Keriss attempts to advance, Serandor bursts out of her violently.

Heartworm throws the entire room around for a distraction, and the vault starts ascending. Tauga receives a gun with the alchemical rounds Teknall had given Heartworm (plus normal exploding bullets). Tauga protects Keriss briefly as she regenerates, then momentarily glues her in place to join the fray.

Tauga, Heartworm, Serandor and Keriss fight for a bit. Keriss is mad at everyone else. Serandor tries to slink away. Eventually we are left with a stand-off between Tauga/Heartworm and Keriss.

When Keriss cripples Tauga and Heartworm with a blast of pain, Tauga and Heartworm fuse to become the Composite.

The Composite shoots Keriss with holy mist to stop her, then gives up on Teknall’s non-lethal rounds and tries shooting Keriss with actual bullets. The gun miraculously jams, and Teknall appears between them, intent on preventing both Keriss and Tauga from dying. This annoys Keriss greatly.

Vestec appears, needing to fulfil his oath to Heartworm and intent on preventing Teknall from interfering. This annoys Teknall and Keriss greatly.

Negotiations break down. Keriss tries to blast people with destruction magic, but Teknall rips up the floor to stop her.

Then the vault reaches the Bludgeon Hangar and things explode.

The Composite and Serandor fight.

At Heartworm’s behest, Vestec negotiates with Keriss, and promises her a 1-v-1 against Heartworm.

Serandor blows up the door without draining the hangar of air like any reasonable polite person would have done, shooting any non-god item out here into a long vacuum tunnel leading to the surface.

Serandor sprints the hell out of there, chased by the Composite and several Bludgeons. They are both stopped when Vestec magicks a chaos wall in front of them. Serandor and the Composite both tumble through and are harmed.

Keriss checks on Tauga, pity for her friend winning out over her rage. They band together to beat up Serandor. Before a final blow is landed, Serandor inflicts destruction upon Keriss' soul. Teknall whacks Serandor with a hammer, and the Composite executes Serandor and steals his greataxe/shotgun, but the damage to Keriss is already done.

As Keriss' soul slowly disintegrates, Teknall grabs a sample of her essence and runs tests; Vestec patches up Keriss so she can live long enough to fight her final duel; Keriss says some last words to Tauga.

Teknall remarks that there are elements of a different divine essence in Keriss, that may be used to keep her alive. Keriss would rather fight Heartworm than take a shot at recovery.

Having made this very clear, she proceeds to beat the living shit out of the Composite.

Vestec interrupts the fight, and demands that the Composite split apart so Heartworm can fight Keriss alone, in accordance with the deal Vestec made with Keriss on Heartworm's behalf. The Composite tries to run but is caught by Keriss.

Teknall intervenes, separating Keriss and telepathically communicating with both halves of the Composite himself as he too attempts to excise them. They're not keen on compromise. They break free just before Teknall can surgically remove Heartworm.

Keriss beats up the Composite again. Before she kills them, Heartworm ejects Tauga from the Composite. Teknall takes Tauga's body to the ER. Heartworm rises up to face Keriss alone, and is finally killed.

Teknall takes the dying Keriss to the machine which had originally turned Vakarlon into Arksynth. He had rebuilt and repurposed it. He hooks Keriss up and switches on the machine. Help the Sculptor shows up to assist.

The transmutation is successful. Keriss' soul is cleansed and a new being is born: Avulus, the True Hero.

[i]No Might Spent[/i]
[i]Keriss is deceased[/i]
[i]Avalus the True Hero is born[/i]
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[hider=Bonus content]
[quote=Behind-the-scenes discussion]Vestec has never been a particularly wise person.[/quote]
Vestec's stats: str 14 / dex 18 / con 16 / int 14 / wis 10 / cha 20
this makes him an adequate warlock and an excellent bard

while I'm at it
Jvan: str 20 / dex 8 / con 20 / int 16 / wis 10 / cha 10
perfect mage-slayer

Teknall: str 14 / dex 18 / con 14 / int 20 / wis 12 / cha 12
Perfectly reasonable wizard or artificer

Vowzra: str 12 / dex 14 / con 16 / int 18 / wis 20 / cha 8
a good druid or acceptable ranger

Toun: str 14 / dex 16 / con 16 / int 18 / wis 18 / cha 10
this is guesswork but he'd make a good ranger or mage-slayer and an even better monk

Astarte: str 10 / dex 18 / con 14 / int 12 / wis 10 / cha 20
bard or sorceress
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