[hr][center][h3][u][b][Undercity - Forges Outskirts][/b][/u][/h3][/center] [center][A Fate001 / XianaEvermor Collaboration][/center][hr] Yue's feet found purchase, though at first they slid uncomfortably on the slick, glass-like surface of Aegis' barriers. It was enough to catch her breath. Thankfully "danger close, giant AOE" and "air mobility assistance required" sounded so similar... Yue punched a black disc in the palm of her gauntlet with three fingers, trailing her hand. The platform splintered as she pushed off and a hammer with a massive hexagonal head materialized in a flash of white as she streaked towards the next platform. The hammer's head opened up as Yue inhaled. Power coiled in her muscles and the hammer's soothing bass tone rose to a shriek as the [Crimson] thundered loudly around her, spiraling into the hammer's open panels. The head slammed shut as her feet planted on a barrier platform, her body coiled into a low crouch a few dozen meters above the creature. She launched, uncoiling as she fell like a meteor and brought the hammer down on the creature's exposed back. [i]Tail smashes the mountain.[/i] A shockwave ripped through the arena, the earth shattered beneath them. An explosion of coarse dust chased the thunder high into the air. Unable to hold his fields up from the strain, Alex's barriers began to stutter. Dropping to a knee, he pulled his helmet off to gasp at air that wasn't coming through electronic filters. his head was pounding as he gripped at his temples and hissed in pain. Through pain blurred vision, Alex looked towards the impact site. Yue with her hammer embedded in the hydra's back. An almost picturesque image of a triumphant hero slaying a foul beast. A small part of him that wasn't dealing with the skull splitting pain would have wanted to take a picture. He almost wanted to drop there and finally relax. Almost. The moment was soured however when even through his pain addled mind he could see that the Hydra's glow wasn't fading. [i]Shit! The bastard wasn't dead from that?![/i] He tried to stand, to warn Yue that it wasn't over. What he was met with however was staring down the gullet of one of the Hydra's reptilian heads as it's teeth closed around him. It happened in a blink of a second, so fast that he barely could process how the thing had even managed it. He could only let out a single word before the titanic jaws snapped shut on him. [color=deepskyblue]"Fuck!"[/color] As the hydra began to move, Yue leapt back. The hammer dissolved into white light as she witnessed the creature snap him up in its jaws. Time stopped, her heart was pounding. Throat raw. She was screaming something... maybe just screaming. [i][color=#CE2B95]It's happening again.[/color][/i] Yue's vision was tinted red. The [Crimson] stormed around her, lashing out at anything it could reach, splintering the ground at her feet, smashing at the rubble. She felt the tremors in the ground... maybe it was just her body shaking uncontrollably. [i][color=#CE2B95]It's happening again. The monster won't stop.[/color][/i] She stood next to where the Sword of Justice had landed, embedded half way into the rubble. It sang, even through the time dilation, battered by the [Crimson] escaping her. She hesitated to grasp it, hands shaking. [i][color=#CE2B95]It's happening again. I'm losing someone.[/color][/i] Get a grip. The barriers were still active, though they were dissolving. He would probably live... if she acted now. If she acted [i]right now... RIGHT NOW![/i] [i][color=#CE2B95]I can't fail again...[/color][/i] It was a flash of motion. All at once she and the sword were gone. With a thunderous [b]CRACK[/b] the head holding Alex was severed, and for a split second she was crouched on one of Alex's failing barriers. It shattered as she launched; lightning raked through its second neck, crawling down its spine as the head flipped away and she touched the second barrier for the barest moment. She launched diagonally, ripping the sword of Justice savagely through the skull of the feline head. Her momentum pushed her into a crouch against Alex's last barrier directly over the beast's exposed heart. She felt her body slam hard into the suit's limiters, and every indicator on her HUD flashed red as she broke through. [i]Dragon roars.[/i] Yue was carried by a bolt of lightning, plunging the sword to the hilt into the creature's heart. Her HUD lit up like a Christmas tree as the wind was knocked out of her. Time resumed, and for a second all she could see was lightning crashing all around her. And then as something hit her, she blacked out. The world had been plunged into darkness. Alex struggling against disgusting, undulating wet flesh and muscle. He had tried to grip, to claw and fight his way out of the hydras throat. Desperately trying to find purchase only to have his grip slip again and again as he slid towards the things stomach. Panic drowned his mind, the mental pain becoming nothing but numb white noise. Sparks of blue light flickered around him in disjointed geometric patterns. Alex didn't feel like he had control. His mind was burning And his bones felt like static. That's when the darkness was suddenly filled With noise. Without his helmet, Alex had no way to drown out the volume of the Apex's core detonating. His saving grace being still lodged in one of the hydra's necks. Which was currently flying through the air along with the hail of gore that was what remains of its once resilient body. Alex clawed his way out of the gaping neck hole gasping for breath. Everything felt wrong, his head was so overstimulated. His ears rang and everything looked blurry. He wasn't of much use, probably couldn't even stand up straight. despite everything his body was probably unscratched and he had the energy to Spare. Screw that though. He was just gonna lay down for a bit. And god help any other beast that tried chewing on him while he caught his breath and waited out the pain.