by Dante Doom
Satisfied with what she saw, Savannah motioned for the team to follow her. “This way.” Raising her armband high, she let the light from her armor’s panel illuminate the dark tunnel. They walked forward, following the voice that continued to bid them to follow with a giggly “this way.”
“Hold up!” Savannah shouted out as she stopped suddenly. The ground in front of her was gone and there was nothing but a steep drop leading down into darkness. Her light didn’t shine far enough out for her to see to the bottom. A recognizable voice came from the darkness, though.
“Down here is the only way to go!” Kireen giggled.
“Show yourself, Aspect!” Savannah shouted. Her voice echoed across the vast cavern in front of her, bouncing back and forth around them.
“Hmmm, well it would appear the only way is down,” Timon said.
“Yeah, I’m not leaping at the suggestion of a freaking Aspect,” Savannah replied. “She’s probably trying to trick us into killing ourselves.”
“Strange behavior,” Ten-Thirty commented. “What would its rationale be?”
“Who knows with those things?” Savannah replied. “We don’t have any rope to rappel down with, so it’s not an option.”
“You don’t need rope!” Kireen’s disembodied voice whispered. “You only need to take a leap of faith!”
“No thanks,” Savannah replied as she turned to leave.
“I have the answer to your deep, dark question!” Kireen said. “About what you need to do! I can hear your thoughts, you know, buzzing and wondering, asking and asking again. It would be a shame to walk away from the only person who has the answer to your question.”
This was enough to cause Savannah to pause. She slowly turned around and stared down into the darkness. “How do I know this isn’t some trick?”
“Cause if it were a trick, I would have shoved you!” Kireen replied with another giggle.
Savannah sighed. It was true that the Aspect could easily have appeared behind her and pushed her into the pit. “All right, guys. Stay up here. I’m gonna jump.”
“Are you crazy?” Timon asked, grabbing her arm. “I’m of the same opinion as you—we shouldn’t trust her.”
Savannah continued to stare down into the darkness, wondering what was below. She needed answers desperately, and if the Aspect could help… well, what was it she’d said about taking a leap of faith? Shaking Timon’s arm off, Savannah turned to look at him.
“Sometimes, Timon, we have to jump into something feet first and hope for the best, and that’s what I’m going to do,” Savannah said, and then before he could stop her, she leapt into the darkness. She fell 60 feet down before splashing down; her body had hit water. Breaking the surface, she sputtered upward, spitting water out. It was freezing cold and she felt herself shivering.
“You did it!” Kireen said from nearby, clapping her hands like a child. Savannah’s light worked in the water, so she could see the Aspect floating in the air above her. The creature giggled and flittered about.
“There’s water down here!” Savannah called up to the group. “I’m fine!”
“Let us know if you want us to come down,” Timon replied.
“Okay, I want answers,” Savannah said as she looked around for Kireen. She spotted the woman floated above the water, barely illuminating the area around her with an ethereal light that shone from her skin. “You said you had an answer to my question. What is it?”
“Maybe that was a teeny, tiny lie to get you down here,” Kireen said. “Goodbye!” With that, the Aspect simply vanished from before her.
“Crap!” Savannah yelled out as the waters grew choppier.
“What’s going on?” Timon shouted down from above.
“It was a trick! There’s something in the water! Oh man, it’s gonna attack!” Savannah called out as she felt something hit her foot, making her jerk away. She swam around until she spotted a surface that she could get onto.
“Hang on! I’m coming in!” Timon replied. She heard two splashes behind her, but didn’t bother to turn around. Grabbing onto the rocky surface, she pulled herself up onto an outcropping.
“Get over here!” Savannah said. Whatever was in the water was thrashing around now, and water was splashing all over the place. “You probably should have waited to know if there was a way out before jumping.”
“Sorry,” Timon gasped, “I just didn’t want to leave you in here alone.”
In the darkness, Savannah blushed a little.
Timon and Ten-Thirty swam to the rocks and climbed up just in time. The rocks were numerous and there was plenty of room for them to stand on them. In the center of the lake, a single, bright yellow light rose up, illuminating the entire area. Savannah could see now that they were in an enclosed area like an overly large, black-bottom pool or a man-made lake. There were rocks everywhere, and nowhere for them to run to. They had essentially dived straight into a boss fight with no hope of escape.
“I’m going to kill that Aspect the next time I see it,” Savannah growled as she pulled out her shotgun.
The light continued to rise up. The water shifted as a gigantic fish head emerged next. It had a round mouth with razor sharp teeth much like those of a shark. The light bobbed above its head and the words Angler Viral hovered above the monster in purple.
“Ah, great, a purple boss with only the three of us to fight it,” Savannah said. The health bar of the creature was at 5,000, which was no small task for them to cut through.
“Well, I guess we’re going to have to fight it,” Timon said as he opened fire on the huge monster with his Sniper Rifle. The blue streaks bounced off the angler’s body. The light hanging above its head began to pulsate then, and a surge of yellow energy fired back at Timon.
“Whoa!” Timon yelled out as he dodged out of the way. The announcement Your Dodge Rank has Increased hovered above him as he leapt onto the next rock over.
“Firing Rail Gun,” Ten-Thirty said as it raised its gun arm and began firing. 100 damage hovered above the angler’s head, dropping it down to 4,900 hit points.
The angler let out a deep roar that was so overwhelming Savannah found herself dropping to her knees, holding her ears. “Ahhhhh!” she screamed instinctively. The words You are Disoriented hovered above her, and the entire world began to shift up and down.
“Oh, man, I’m gonna be sick,” Timon wheezed as he staggered sideways and fell into the water. The angler immediately dove under the surface, and all that remained was the light, which had dropped a few feet lower and was moving towards Timon rapidly.
“Look out!” Savannah yelled as she tried to regain her bearings. She hopped across two rocks and scrambled to reach Timon before the angler could get to him. “Take my hand!”
Timon grabbed her outstretched hand and Savannah pulled him up just as the angler surged forward from the water, snapping its jaws together.
“Nice save,” Timon wheezed.
“Incoming,” Ten-Thirty warned them as the angler moved back to the center of the water. Its light had charged up again and was firing another beam. Savannah pulled out her shield and held it up, blocking the attack as it struck. Absorption 25%: Blocked 50 damage hovered above her. Her health dropped down to 600 points.
“Oh, right, the shield only blocks half the damage unless it can fully absorb the attack,” Savannah mumbled.
“Requesting assistance with damaging it,” Ten-Thirty reported as it continued to shoot rail after rail at the Viral.
“I’m on it!” Savannah said as she looked at her shotgun. She had instinctively equipped herself with her favorite weapon, but now she had a better gun. She quickly equipped the Arc Rifle and raised it high. The ornate weapon felt good in her hands, and she took in a deep breath.
This was going to be fun.
The Arc Rifle made a schwoom noise as it powered up. Yellow energy gathered around the barrel of the gun. It didn’t fire as quickly as Savannah had hoped for, but the speed at which the energy bolt trave
lled more than made up for that. The bolt crashed through the air as if it were lightning, slamming against the angler. 300 damage, Damage Reduction Ignored hovered above the creature’s head.
“Oh, man! This thing is crazy!” Savannah cheered as she watched the angler’s health drop down to 4,200 points.
The angler didn’t like being hit like that, though, and it turned all of its attention to Savannah. The light moved forward and began to power up again. Charging hovered above its head.
“Oh, that’s not good,” Timon muttered. “Man, my weapon sucks here.” Another shot from his Sniper Rifle bounced off the dark flesh of the creature.
“My surmisement would be that aiming for the eyes would be the best idea,” Ten-Thirty informed them. “That would be its weakest area.”
While Timon focused on improving his aim, Savannah leapt from rock to rock, trying to lose the creature’s attention. The light had no problem rotating to focus on her, though, no matter where she landed. She squeezed off another shot with the Arc Rifle, but the blast went wide, hitting the cavern wall. Her exotic weapon skills weren’t very high, which meant that her accuracy would be low when she was moving around.
The word Charged hovered above the bright light in another moment and the color changed from yellow to violet. With the change in the light, the cavern grew darker, but Savannah could still see the rocks in front of her. The light fired out three bursts of violet energy at her. She dodged them successfully, but realized too late that the energy bursts weren’t being aimed at her, but behind her. The energy balls hovered in the air and began to link to one another with a thin beam of violet energy, forming a triangle.
“Ah, this isn’t good,” Savannah groaned as the triangle hovered above her and then began to fire blasts of bright purple energy down at her. She wasn’t fast enough to dodge the attack, and felt a searing pain surge through her body, dealing 200 damage.
“Arrrrgh,” Savannah cried out as she lost her footing from the shockwave. She fell to the side and splashed into the water. The angler immediately submerged again and Savannah knew it was coming for her.
Energy weapons didn’t work in the water, so Savannah frantically swam back to the rocks. “A little help!” she cried out.
“Sorry!” Timon yelled as he leapt away from her. The purple triangle was still in the air, blasting beams of energy down on anyone that it could target.
Savannah grabbed onto the rock, but it was so slippery that she had difficulty scrambling atop of it. The water beneath her was rapidly bubbling, though, and she knew the angler was almost on top of her. A metallic hand grabbed her by the arm and wrenched her out of the water just in time for her to avoid the monster.
“Nice work,” Savanna said to Ten-Thirty as she pulled her rifle out again and fired a shot at the emerging face of the monstrous being. 300 damage hovered above the angler in response, dropping its health down to 3,600 points.
The triangle fired one last blast at Timon before fading away in mid-air.
“Oh, man, I took a beating from that thing,” Timon grunted. Savannah noticed that his health was only at 400.
“Man, did it hit you every single time?”
“The area of attack was too wide,” Timon said. “I couldn’t dodge it fast enough.”
“Focus on the target is requested,” Ten-Thirty chided as it pointed to the angler. The Viral had retreated to the center of the lake and its light had changed back to a normal yellow hue.
“Right, aim for the eyes this time,” Savannah said as she lined up the Arc Rifle’s sight against the Viral. Hearing the weapon power up, she squeezed down the trigger and another blast of lightning shot from the barrel. The recoil was fierce, and her second shot went wide. But the first bolt hit the angler at the same time Timon’s sniper bolt crashed into its eyes. The words Critical Damage 250 hovered above the angler then, dropping its health down to an even 3,000 once Savannah’s shot connected.
“We’re doing well; just stay focused,” Savannah encouraged her team as she took another shot, making sure to steady her weapon first. The Overdrive+ was going to be insane once she activated it, but the creature’s health needed to drop down a little more before she could employ the attack and get the result she needed from it.
The angler raised its fins and slapped at the water hard, raising up a large wall of water. Savannah’s shot slammed into the wall of water and the word Absorbed hovered above it.
“Ah crap,” Timon said once he realized that none of his attacks were able to get through the wall. The word Charging hovered above the angler again now, too, although it was hard to see behind the wall of water.
“Oh, man, I don’t think I can survive another round of that triangle thingie,” Timon said. “What do we do?”
“I’ve got an idea, but it’s moronic,” Savannah said. She took a breath, then ordered, “Timon, jump in the water.”
“What? That’s insane!”
“Yes, but any time someone falls in the water, the angler immediately attacks them, right? It’ll have to go under the wall of water. Fall in, it attacks you, and I’ll finish it off with my Overdrive.”
“You can do 3,000 points of damage in a single shot?” Timon asked hurriedly, looking between Savannah and the water.
“Sorta,” Savannah said as she shoved Timon off the rocks. He stumbled, trying to grab onto someone, but failed. He splashed into the water and, true to Savannah’s prediction, the angler immediately cancelled its triangle attack and submerged.
“Get ready to shoot it,” Savannah said to Ten-Thirty as they both aimed their weapons at the water.
“Oh, man, I do not want to get eaten by that thing!” Timon complained as he struggled to get back up on the rocks. The water was choppier due to the wall of water, though, and he was tossed about by the waves as he tried to climb upward.
“Hold on, Timon!” Savannah said. “I’ve got this.” She activated her Overdrive+ power-up and took a deep breath. All she had to do was hit it in the eye and that would nearly kill it.
Timon reached the rocks again as the waters began to bubble beneath him. “Whhhoooaaa!” he shouted as the water bucked forward, throwing him up against the stones. He scrambled out of the way even as the angler came crashing upward behind him. Savannah could see the creature’s wide eyes, and she took a shot. Lightning crashed into the eye socket of the Viral and the words Critical Hit 1,200 damage hovered above its head, dropping the Angler’s health down to 1,500 hit points. A few of Ten-Thirty’s shots had struck the creature in the eye, as well.
“Nice shooting,” Ten-Thirty complimented her.
“It wasn’t enough!” Savannah groaned as she watched the fish swim back to the center, moving back through the wall of water. The word Charged hovered above its head and, as she’d anticipated, three violet beams came crashing up behind them, forming another deadly triangle.
“Into the water, now!” Timon yelled as he leapt off the rocks to avoid the wide berth of violet energy crashing down from the sky.
“Complying,” Ten-Thirty agreed, diving into the water.
Savannah could see that the angler had submerged again and was no doubt hurtling towards her allies. And the triangle was floating towards her now. Could she tank that much damage? She pulled her shield out and held it up as the triangle floated right over her. She could hear the kuhwarrr sound of the energy beams crashing down on her. She huddled beneath the shield and the words 80% Absorption, 200 Damage Absorbed appeared above her. The remaining damage was another whopping 200 points, though, dropping her total health down to 300 points.
The triangle didn’t fade away, and it began to fire another round at her. Fortunately, the words 100% Absorption hovered above her now as the shield soaked up all of the damage without any of it spilling over onto her. The two gems glowed brightly now, indicating that they were ready for discharge. She hopped onto another rock, narrowly avoiding the triangle’s third and final attack.
Savannah looked over to see Ten-Thirty and Timo
n swimming away from each other. She could see the yellow light sliding towards Ten-Thirty. She grimaced, as the Machina was too far out to get to the rocks. The waters had gotten even choppier, and the android didn’t seem very versed in swimming.
“Timon, we gotta help!” she cried in vain. The waves had taken Timon out of sight, though—she didn’t know where he was. She turned her attention back to Ten-Thirty, aiming her rifle at the water and waiting for the angler to emerge. The waters began to bubble as the beast surged upwards, opening its jaws wide. Savannah took the shot and struck the side of the creature, dealing 600 damage, but it wasn’t enough to kill the thing.
Ten-Thirty was swallowed whole by the angler.
“Damn it!” Savannah shouted as she fired another round at the beast, missing. The recoil of the gun was too strong for her to adjust to, and she kept missing because of the kickback.
“I’m here,” Timon gasped as he pulled himself up onto the rocks. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but we lost Ten-Thirty. It was eaten.”
“Well, maybe the android can survive being digested,” Timon said hopefully. He aimed his Sniper Rifle then and squeezed another shot off, hitting the monster square in the eye. Its health bar dropped down to 500.
Savannah lined up her shot and fired at the creature, missing the eye but still hitting its body. The words 600 damage hovered above it. Killing Blow showed up alongside the damage report then, and the creature’s body began to fade away.
“Come on—where are you, Ten-Thirty?” Savannah said helplessly as she squinted into the fading light. As the angler’s body broke up into thousands of golden orbs, a silhouette fell from the sky and into the water. “Hello? Ten-Thirty? I can’t believe you’re alive!” Savannah shouted at it.