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Chapter 25
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It seemed as though Ghidrius was the one who truly failed to grasp, as the moment he slung his quip Monopoly spun his body with all his might, wrenching the sword from his hand. Ghidrius stood surprised for just a moment too long, as Monopoly closed the gap with a crushing tackle, pinning him against the wall and coming very close to skewering him on his own sword. Jethryn had the better reflexes, jumping up and off the wall before Monopoly impacted his target, before landing on the ground next to Renner to inspect the damage.
I suddenly had a concerning thought, and as Ghidrius kicked Monopoly off of himself while Krelikan finally intervened with more pointless gunfire, I remembered something kind of important. The kind of thing that could drastically change the outcome of the fight, the kind of thing that could hurt everyone in the room if they weren’t careful. And if my timing was right…
“Everyone out!” I barked as best I could, somewhat taken aback at how weak my voice was. Monopoly took the opportunity to make a break for the door, but Ghidrius grabbed the handle of his blade with his free hand, halting his advance. Jethryn and Krelikan decided not to waste time finding out if I was misleading them or not, and both hurriedly retreated, Jethryn somewhat slower as he carried the unresponsive Renner.
Ghidrius gripped Monopoly’s shoulder as he pulled him further towards the guard of the blade. “You were the fiend we heard about.” His head sputtered out, staying on his neck purely by balancing on it. “The great evil we were called to defeat. That I am sure of.”
Monopoly replied to this monologue by slamming his elbow into the pit of Ghidrius’ stomach, toppling the head from off its stump. This prompted Ghidrius to drop the sword and begin trying to calculate its position on the ground, allowing Monopoly ample time to push the blade right out of his body. Seeing his target about to leave, however, Krelikan rushed forwards and grappled him, multiple blades springing out of his body and stabbing at his form. They did nothing at all, but it’s the thought that counts.
The response was very difficult to discern, as in a manner very contrary to his entire being, Monopoly began punching Krelikan’s body. I know, you probably didn’t see that one coming, did you? It was denting and deforming him, but not efficiently enough, and so Monopoly smashed his fists together with Krelikan’s neck in between, making it so there was no more Krelikan neck in between. And that’s when it hit.
The ceiling of the room, the other sewer passages above, and the street on the surface all exploded from the unbridled might of Gofers’ return. The force of the blast shot debris into the room, most of it positively ruining the furniture and the visible electronics, and a particularly large piece knocking Ghidrius flat. His head was knocked forwards, rolling to a stop in front of Diero’s gun, which began trying to suppress a scream.
Nothing had managed to do any real damage to Monopoly, but it battered him pretty bad, as he was left panting on one knee, trying to determine if anything else was happening. Gofers blatantly stood, brushing himself off, looking about to see what everyone was cowering in fear for.
“Is Winger here? I got the- ULP!!” He suddenly covered the front of his hips with his hands. “E-excuse m-me, everyo-one.” Sidling away, he ducked behind the ruined couch, peeking out through a large hole in the middle. “Where’s Wild at? Also who did this to the couch?”
“Good greepers!” Wild’s peppy, over-the-top voice suddenly sounded from above. “I leave here for five minutes to help people out, and suddenly a massive meteor crashes through the whole- WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME HE WAS HERE?!”
“Why were you helping if we were supposed to stay hidd- Don’t yell at me!” Gofers replied with an offended air. “Couldn’t you have left just one spark of yours behind so it could keep watch? Isn’t that what you told me you did with that cider trip? Huh??”
“…Oh right, duh. Whoopsie.”
“Dude.” Gofers crossed his arms and then ducked down again in fear that his bare ribs might be showing.
Monopoly had stopped moving, and I suspected it was because he had some prior experience fighting Wild if his story about the cider factory escapade was the truth. I also had no idea what exactly Wild was capable of, but I wouldn’t have to wait very long to find out, for as soon as Monopoly began to move Wild zipped down in front of his face and blasted the room with an utterly intolerable amount of heat.
The party around the doorway got even further from the fight as the air began to boil. It was clear from just this one attack that Wild was operating on a whole other level, one which maybe even Monopoly had not accounted for. But as the glowing speck drew closer to his glowing head, said glowing head snapped forward and engulfed the spark, in an instant cutting it off from existence.
“Bummer.” A voice spoke, this time from the top of the hole yet again. “I was kind of distracted with that, being in the moment and all. Well, what do you think?”
The black-armored elite officer and his orange-masked compatriot peered over the edge, framed by the ominous glow of a hundred sparks behind them. The former finally broke the silence, “Monopoly, you are under arrest for crimes innumerable. Come quietly or face immediate justice for your actions.”
Wordlessly Monopoly jumped up through the hole. Wordlessly Wild met him halfway, a dozen flaming lights carving tiny holes through his body. As he fell back towards the ground, Officer Bird lunged through the home, his massive fist greatly increasing the speed at which Monopoly’s limp body traveled. The brawler barely had time to recover before Bird decked him across the room again, Wild’s lights hovering in the air, waiting for another opportunity to lash out at him in brilliant fashion.
I craned my head around as best I could to see Diero slowly rise from the ground, uncreasing his hat with a scowl. He glanced at me before nodding towards someone else, which after I turned my head the other way I soon learned was Gofers, who reluctantly stood up from behind the couch and adjust a collar he didn’t have. The party had collected itself by the door again, Cordax in particular leaning forwards with eyes shining. A nod from me to Winger prompted him to snap his fingers, and Gofers tossed something silvery across the room, which Cordax caught with mouth agape and eyes seemingly growing with every breath.
“Gentlemen, let’s make this quick.” I wearily mumbled, although I hope the resolution in my voice carried through in spite of my weariness. It appeared to, as the trio began pounding on Monopoly relentlessly. Bird’s strikes did the majority of the damage, allowing Diero and Gofers to strike his sides while he was busy contending with Bird’s attacks.
Nevertheless, even being turned into swiss cheese was not enough to stop him. Gofers was not quite as experienced as the other two, and strayed too close to Monopoly, who quickly grabbed his skull and swung him about, decking Bird momentarily and allowing him to focus on Diero. The deadsperado swept Monopoly’s leg, but Monopoly followed up by landing on one knee and dragging Diero down with him. Gofers was slamming his hands against Monopoly’s wrist in an attempt to free himself, and Monopoly eventually grabbed Diero by the neck, rising painfully to his feet.
“I expected this to be over a little sooner than it was.” Monopoly spoke, sticking Gofers’ face inside his own head and dropping the waffle wimp to the ground. “I don’t think you’ll be doing much else, however. Now tell your little glowing friend that if he doesn’t want me tearing into everyone in the hall-”
Too late, as Wild took the opportunity to send his sparks towards Monopoly’s extended arm, slicing through the middle of his forearm and freeing Diero. The lights then swirled around him, punching hole after hole in his body, eventually drawing reactionary noises of pain from him, which slowly turned into gurgles and sputtering as passages in his body overflowed with black liquid. I felt my arm slowly free itself as the surrounding tissue slowly dissolved from the intense heat, and as I slipped out and hit the floor the sparks suddenly began gaining speed, carving through anything and everything until, in a blinding flash, there wasn’t so much as a scrap of fabric left of the brawler.
“Well, I was hoping to save this party trick for another day.” The glowing sphere said, the room slowly turning blue as he glowed bright. “But I think it’s high time I started using my head.”
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