WARNING

POWER PRODUCTION EXCEEDING SAFE LEVELS

WARNING

FTL OVERRIDE HAS BEEN ACTIVATED

WARNING

VIOLENCE DETECTED ON BRIDGE

WARNING

IMMEDIATE RESPONSE REQUIRED

Automatic Security Notice, Deus Nobiscum Auto-Brain “Aquinas”

Serena del Sed landed on one knee, her body fizzling into existence around her. She blinked rapidly in confusion, looking around at her new surroundings.

This wasn't the place she'd been. The ant she'd grabbed by the throat was gone, and now she was surrounded by monolithic windowless buildings. Far above, lights flickered from a metal canopy. Some kind of residential quarter?

What the heck?

Bruno brought himself to the forefront, his more cautious gaze looking around in search of an attacker. When none came, he did not relax.

"It's the same as what happened in the chapel," he said gruffly, rising to his feet. "Well, not exactly the same. Last time, it teleported us to the user -- this time, it teleported us away."

It's a pain in the butt, Serena sighed inwardly. Where are we, then, Bruno?

"Residential zone, looks like," Bruno muttered, confirming her suspicions. He eyed the door to one nearby building, which was firmly sealed shut. "Looks like they're on lockdown."

With the rioting they'd seen on their way here, he doubted that was doing the Superbians much good. Most likely, separating these people from their homes like this would just fan the flames of their anger even more. If things were bad now, they'd be worse later.

There was no time for this.

"We need to get to a map or something," Bruno decided, marching down the street, pulling his hood over his head. "Figure out where we are in relation to Ruth, then get back to her. The ant-user was a tough opponent last time. I don't want to leave her alone against him."

But Miss Ruth's strong, Serena pointed out. Don't you think she can win?

"It's not about what I believe," Bruno answered, reaching a tunnel and continuing his trek. "Strong people lose against weak people all the time. All it takes is for the other person to be more of an asshole."

Their journey continued in silence -- but not for long. The quiet monotony of the dark tunnel was soon replaced by shouting, the dim light replaced by the waving beams of flashlights and script screens.

Bruno found that he could walk no further.

A crowd -- presumably made up of the people who lived in this district -- had gathered in the tunnel, clogging it like a pipe. Across from them, preventing them from getting any further, were a neat line of security personnel -- dressed in red armour, spherical helmets making them look just a little comical.

The Vox Dei -- and at their head, the man who was their leader, Jon Peak. His name and face were a matter of public record -- and according to the recording Isabelle Pi Testament had leaked, he was part of Giovanni's faction.

Bruno pulled his hood down even lower. Best if his face wasn't seen.

"Return to your homes!" Peak barked, his voice echoing down the tunnel. "There's a temporary situation that needs to be resolved. You'll be informed when the lockdown is lifted!"

Through the angry babble of the crowd, only stray words could be made out.

"Liar!"

"Let us out!"

"Where are the Cardinals?!"

The message was clear: the people of the Superbian sect were no longer happy with their benevolent overlords. Peak's face twisted in annoyance. He said something to the officer next to him, their words drowned out by the crowd --

-- and then someone threw a can at him.

It hit Peak in the forehead, soft drink frothing out and coating his face and uniform. His eyes wide, he turned to the crowd, hands clenched into fists.

"Who threw that?!" he demanded.

He was answered only by shouting and mocking laughter. His face began to turn red. Bruno tensed up: there was no good way this ended.

"I said -- who the hell threw that?!" Spittle flew from Peak's lips as he screamed at the mass of humanity. His eyes ran over the faces in front of him, searching for guilt but finding only contempt, that failure only making him angrier.

"Serena," Bruno whispered. "You ready?"

"Mm-hmm," Serena replied through the same mouth.

They needed to get through here anyway. This confrontation had been inevitable from the start.

For a brief moment, though, it still looked as if Peak might calm down, as if the situation might end peacefully. But then someone threw another can at Peak.

He snatched it out of the air, crushing it in an instant, but the damage to his ego was much the same. His body began to shake as fur sprouted from under his skin, like his form was turning inside out and revealing the beast within. His roar of fury transitioned into a feral howl -- and the shouting of the crowd became panicked screams, people pushing each other in an effort to escape.

The transformation took only a couple of seconds -- and when it was done, Peak was a growling titan of fur and claw, four hands grasping at the air as four eyes took in the collection of victims before them. His ribs, pressing against the skin of his chest, twitched at the air like the legs of an insect.

The other Vox Dei behind him exchanged glances, but all they ended up doing in response was stepping back a little. Whatever Peak did to the civilians here, they would only watch.

Well… they'd be the only ones.

Peak kicked off the ground in the direction of the crowd, like a massive animalistic bullet -- and Serena made her move as well.

Bruno made the shield, and Serena turned it into a sword. They'd learnt the movements well.

Serena slashed the invisible blade as they crossed paths with Peak -- and one of his thin arms went flying off, purple blood oozing from the wound. The lowest grunt of pain reverberated from Peak's swollen throat, and he ground his claws into the ground -- forcing himself to a halt.

His eyes held murder.

Serena landed just a few meters away, pulling strips of steel from the floor and forging them into new swords. They wouldn't cut as effectively as the invisible ones, but they'd be better for blocking attacks.

Peak narrowed all his eyes at her, then glanced at his stump. It only took a moment for a new arm to sprout there, the limb regenerating quickly. It seemed his ability allowed him to recover at horrifying speeds, too.

The Vox Dei gathered behind Peak pointed their rifles at Serena, but Peak held up a hand to stop them.

"This one's mine," he growled. "I haven't eaten all day."

Slice and dice.

Slice and dice.

Slice and dice!

Ruth Blaine carved her way through the legions of ants, limbs and heads flying every which way as her claws slashed through the air. The floor beneath her had been made slick by blood and mucus, and so she moves quickly -- like a figure skater, exploding through bodies as she met them with her full strength. Her blood was pumping, her heart was beating -- she was alive.

Unfortunately, though, there was no telling how long that'd be the case for.

The more enemies she killed, the more enemies appeared -- and the stronger they were. Pablo's exact words were difficult to remember through the haze of blood and combat, but she was sure he'd used cards that had a great deal of synergy together. Eventually, no matter how hard she fought, she'd be overwhelmed -- and that led her to one truth.

This game was fucking broken.

One ant -- distended, distorted, with a circular eel-like mouth -- lunged forward, trying to swallow her whole. She allowed it briefly, before spinning like a tornado and slicing it to pieces from the inside. Wet flesh, roughly carved, fell to the floor around her before dissipating into Aether.

She flipped backwards, landing on the armoured head of another ant -- and kicked off of it into the air, giving herself just a second to think out of the reach of her enemies.

This situation wasn't going to get any better. She couldn't see Pablo anymore -- neither his corpse, which had been torn apart by the ants, or the monster that his Aether had created. Had he already left, or was he hiding somewhere among this horde?

No. He'd definitely left. He'd said so himself -- for whatever reason, he was following the drive to find Giovanni. She got the feeling that the product of an Aether Awakening wouldn't be able to lie about its intentions like that. He'd just thrown these ants after her and fucked off.

She had to go after him. If she killed him, then these ants would disappear too. That was the victory condition.

Ruth landed again, and three ants immediately leapt at her, their bodies warped into balls of barbed claws.

Noblesse Set.

Two shoulder pads and a helmet -- but they were all that were needed, reflecting her enemies' attacks and sending them flying across the room. Two of them splattered upon impact with the wall, while the third was damaged to such a degree that it wouldn't be moving anymore.

She hadn't seen which way Pablo had left this room, but he'd have left more ants guarding that direction -- to stop her from following. Ruth's eyes darted to where the crowd of ants was thickest, and without hesitation…

…she charged in.

Slice and dice.

She cut off a head with a swipe of her claws, kicking it at another enemy and blasting through its abdomen.

Slice and dice.

She threw herself beneath another ant's body, stabbing her claws up into it as she slid across the floor. Vague intestines came out of the hole, and Ruth used them as a handhold to swing the insect into its fellows.

Slice and dice.

She threw her claws, piercing through three ants in a line -- then recorded and manifested them again, throwing them again and again and again like a human gatling gun.

Blood rained down.

Her enemies died.

But still there were more.

Each blow that hit her grew subtly stronger, until just being brushed by one was enough to send her flying across the room. She felt like a pinball -- and even as she killed, she could feel the time approaching where this would be all too much for her. The crowd was too thick for her to escape. Their blows were too ferocious for her to avoid.

There was a moment's mistake -- a dodge misjudged, mistimed, and the sharp leg of an insect lunged right for Ruth's jugular. She knew her red blood would soon join the black on the floor. In her own way, she accepted that.

But…

Bang.

The wall above the amphitheater exploded inwards, rubble raining down on the gathered insects. The one going for Ruth's throat hesitated for just the slightest second -- and that was all she needed to slice it into ribbons. She landed on one knee amidst it's viscera, glancing up at the cloud of dust spreading through the room, and the silhouette emerging from it.

Skipper grinned to himself as he strode into the chamber, his invisible blades eviscerating any ant foolish enough to approach him. He was flanked on either side by an unfamiliar-looking automatic, perfectly humanoid but featureless, like someone had painted over them with chrome.

Without even realizing it, Ruth let out a sigh of relief.

His eyes flicked down to her.

"Got somewhere to be?" he called out, voice amplified.

That was right. The situation hadn't changed. She still had to go after Pablo. There was no time to talk right now -- but when this was all done, that man was going to tell her just where the hell he'd been all this time.

She swung around on her heel and launched herself at the gap in the crowd Skipper had created.

Giovanni walked onto the bridge of the Deus Nobiscum -- and immediately, he let out a weary sigh.

The room was a mess. Dead bodies lay slumped over consoles, collapsed beneath walls, one even lodged halfway through the reinforced glass of a window. Blood dripped from the ceiling, matching the red tears winding their way down Giovanni's cheeks.

In the middle of the bridge, amidst the carnage, stood an exact copy of Giovanni -- save for the fact that it was missing a mouth. It's bloody fists hung at its sides, and it stared straight ahead, paying the original no mind as he entered. This was Giovanni's Replica, the product of his Ninth Verse. It could not use other Verses, or think for itself, but it was very adept at following simple orders.

It seemed the personnel here had worked out his intentions and tried to interfere. The Replica had followed it's instructions and terminated them. Giovanni threw the Captain of the Deus Nobiscum, Lucius Turnbolt, off of the console -- his corpse clattering to the floor. His chest had been caved in with a single punch.

Grimacing, he wiped the blood from the monitor, getting a better look at the readout there. Preparations for the FTL jump were already underway -- the power plants aboard were working at full-tilt to accelerate the process. Barely half an hour left until all of this was over.

Barely half an hour left until the bloody tears ran dry.