Read Simulacrum :: Kriegspiel - 3

Friday, August 27, Late Evening

Leo Maxia

“Don’t move! You’re all under arrest!” Someone yelled. You might expect to hear that from a hardboiled detective, à la L.A. Noire, but whoever yelled it was a young guy. I took my eyes off the staggering Commwarrior to look.

I noticed that he wasn’t wearing a face mask, the way the rest of us were. He looked like a freshman, even younger than Olivia. He stared at us through spectacles, pointing a spear at Erin. Thankfully, I’d dismissed my Holy Sword moments earlier.

He reached up and touched an earpiece. “Captain, this is Zack! Engaging rogue Espers!”

We did not have time to deal with this guy! I shot another glance at the boss Commwarrior. It had fully recovered, and was lumbering towards us. I gritted my teeth. What should we do?

“Hey, Caladbolg Montoya! Let’s run.”

“But--”

“Both the kid and the Virus are going to chase us. That’ll give us time to talk down that kid without worrying about the Commwarrior,” Xavier said.

He was right. And it was better than being surrounded. “Everyone, follow me! Let’s move!”

“Four of Wands!” Erin drew her staff from her Inventory and fired two fireballs at Zack. He flinched, and whipped a hand. A gust of wind blew them aside, but it was the opening we needed.

I yelled, “Go!”

They didn’t need to be told twice. Erin grabbed Xavier’s hand, sprinted past Zack, and disappeared around the corner. I casted the Holy Sword Galatine, but didn’t summon it physically; I scooped up Olivia and followed.

Like Xavier had predicted, Zack gave chase. “Stop! In the name of the law!”

Xavier shook himself loose from Erin’s grasp and pointed to the stairs. “Up there!”

“Got it!” I yelled. I cast a look back at our pursuer. We were losing him. We had a higher speed stat than him. I waited for the rest of them to start first, then followed, Olivia still in my arms.

It wasn’t hard to outrun him. Xavier motioned us to go up another flight of stairs, then another, until we had reached the rooftop. The door was locked, but Xavier insisted on going through.

I set Olivia down on her feet and readied a tarot card.

“Stand back, everyone,” I said. Xavier did. Erin stood guard behind me, with a fireball in front of her and trained down the stairwell. Olivia just clung to my sleeve. “Ten of Cups!” I merged the bytes into two massive spears of ice; the door was blasted off in two clean hits. A gust of cold air surged through the door frame. We stepped onto the roof. A flat arena, surrounded by fences.

Dead end.

I have at least a few minutes between when Zack gets here and when the Commwarrior does.

Now, I need to talk him down! And then… figure out how to take out the Commwarrior, and go help Yuna.

I shot a glance at the others, but Erin in particular. The ability to read emotions was very handy in negotiations. “Got my back?”

“Yes.” She stepped up beside me, “He is approaching.”

Finally, he appeared. Haggard, out of breath, but still pointing that spear at us. Yuna had called the enemy Espers extremely dangerous… but if worst came to worst, it was three against one.

But, that wasn’t an option. We’re going to talk him down.

“You… You all… are under arrest…” His spearhead lowered onto the ground. The boy took a couple deep breaths before raising it again. “Rogue use... of Esper powers… I’m taking you in for… questioning for… controlling Viruses… On the warrant issued… by the Officers of Privid… City.”

Behind me, Xavier said, “Aren’t you a little young to be a cop?”

I was thinking the same thing, but at least I had the good sense not to say it. Leeroy Jenkins, negotiations ver. Erin shot him a glance. I’m guessing that Xavier’s comments did not help Zack’s emotions.

“In this line of work, age matters… less than skill! Open… Inventory!” He rasped. With a wave of his hand, he drew a badge out of thin air. “Zack Keadline, Privid City Officers. You’re… all under arrest for unauthorized use of Arcana powers, and under suspicion of being connected to controlling Viruses!”

I raised a hand. The gesture had a secondary effect of showing off my fingerless gloves. Fingerless Gloves of Power, +10 to Charisma! Go get’m! “We’re not involved with controlling Viruses. In fact, before today, we didn’t know that was possible.”

He narrowed his eyes and raised his spear again.

“We’ve got no stake in the brawl that’s happening right now,” I said. Aside from getting Yuna out of it, but that was kind of beside the point. “Our goal is just to protect the people here from the Viruses. Is that an unauthorized use of powers?”

Zack straightened and gave us a pointer finger. “It’s an unauthorized use if you’re using them without authorization!”

And people die when they are killed. Gee, thanks. “Er… okay. The point is, we’re not your enemies.”

“Still, the law is the law.” He took a step closer to us. “As an Officer, and as a Justice Arcana, I can’t let this slide!”

Lawful-aligned, huh?

“So, you’re going to fight us?” Xavier asked. He stepped forward and glared. “It’s four against one, and that Commwarrior is coming up behind you, fast.”

“I’m a trained Officer. I can handle--”

“You’re nervous,” Erin said.

He gritted his teeth. “I…”

It was at this moment my phone began ringing.

Everyone’s eyes trailed down to my jacket pocket. Hold on… you’re not supposed to be able to get cell reception here.

“I’m gonna… answer that,” I said. Slowly, I pulled out my phone.

My phone went dead.

“Behind you!” Someone tackled me from the side; the two of us slammed into the ground. No, it was more accurate to say that we slammed into the ground, and the ground hit back. I opened my eyes. The place where I’d been standing had been cleaved by a massive executioner’s blade.

The Commwarrior. It pulled its blade from out of the ground and held it above its head.

Magician Arcana! I casted the Galatine’s blessing, grabbed the person who’d tackled me and vectored off the ground, out of its range. Still, the Commwarrior slammed its blade into the ground with a screeching swing. The shockwaves rippled through the roof.

I took a moment to regain my balance and looked down. The one who had saved me… it was Olivia.

“A-are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “You?”

She nodded. “W-what are we g-gonna do?”

That’s what I wanted to know.

Across the roof, Erin and Xavier had backed up to the fence. That Officer kid, Zack, was a good distance away. The Commwarrior’s blade was still stuck in the ground. This is my chance--

I can’t openly use the Holy Sword when that Officer is around. That’s fine: I’ll cast the sword’s individual blessing buffs without summoning the sword. Though it’ll be weaker if I do it like that, and they’ll change my eye color. And, the Galatine’s power might not be visible, but it’ll be super obvious that I’m using a Major Arcana power if I use the Clarent and the Arondight’s powers carelessly--

I set Olivia down.

This isn’t the time. Heroes don’t hesitate!

The Galatine’s speed boost was still active. I sped towards the enemy. The Commwarrior’s attention was focused on Zack, and the head of its blade was still embedded in the ground.

I jumped. Clarent! At the last moment, a burst of energy concentrated around my fist; I slammed it into the Virus.

“Already Active!” It staggered back and stopped, a short distance from the fence. There was a fracture in its armor, but within the second, it had sealed itself up. “Already Active!”

I retreated a couple steps and assumed an upright stance. Feet shoulder width apart. Back foot half a step behind my right hand. Only then, did I realize that my left hand was throbbing.

I’m not going to be able to keep up. And I still can’t deal lasting damage…

“Hey!” I called back at Zack. “Can you damage that thing?”

“H-Huh?”

“I can get it out of its Host,” I said, “but that armor’s in the way. It’s regenerating too fast. Can you do something about that?”

The Officer kid froze up. “I… I have this spear.”

He probably doesn’t want to use his Major Arcana. What did the Justice do again? I didn’t remember. And his Minor Arcana won’t work, either. “Create an opening for me,” I yelled, “and I’ll take care of the rest! Then, we’ll be able to fight it normally! Got it?”

He gritted his teeth, then nodded. “Got it!”

“On my count,” I said. “Three…”

My left hand felt a little cold. I glanced over to see Erin, casting a heal with a Cups card from a distance. I flashed a thumbs-up. Beside her, Xavier seemed to be glaring at us. Maybe that was an undiscovered special move.

“Two…” I checked on Olivia. She was standing on her feet, with her arms out. Translucent hexagons flickered around her. There wasn’t a lot she could do right now… but if worse came to worst, she could project barriers and protect us. I flashed a grin in her direction.

I looked at Zack and yelled, “One!”

The two of us charged at the Commwarrior. I reached it first, just a couple steps in front of Zack.

The enemy raised its blade.

Arondight! It brought the blade down and projected a small barrier, just in front of my hand, and parried. I could feel the force of the attack vibrate my bones.

This was Zack’s opening. The wind around him flared to life, and formed a drill around his spear. Just five feet from the Commwarrior, he flung it.

The wind dissipated on contact, but the spear itself pierced through the Commwarrior’s armor, and poked through the other side.

“OTMOP03KAM HET!”

Zack reached out to retrieve his spear. Again, their attention was on each other. I switched blessings, to the Clarent. My jab combo, a one-two into a kick! That was not a great idea. Now three of my limbs felt on the verge of growing numb. But this, again, was what he needed. As Zack pulled out his spear and struck again, I could hear the girls run up behind me. Erin was healing me.

Zack struck it again. The Commwarrior slammed against the fence. It seemed to stretch the metal wires behind it, and bounced, directly into Zack.

The Virus’s chest slammed into Zack’s face. He clutched his head, reeling back. Erin stopped healing me, but before she could do anything for Zack, the Commwarrior slammed its blade into his side.

“Zack!”

He was sent flying.

All the way back to the entrance of the rooftop, and struck the door with a sickening crash.

I turned to look. He wasn’t moving. A pool of ichor was gathering around him. At least it wasn’t blood.

“O-oh my g-” Olivia’s knees crumpled. She covered her mouth with her hands; she was on the verge of tears.

I grabbed her, cast the Galatine and vectored away. Erin retreated as well.

“Erin,” I said, “Please, heal him.”

She nodded, and ran back. Behind us, Xavier had his back against another fence. He was trembling. Thank goodness he still hadn’t been hurt by anything.

Damn it… What do I do now?

The Commwarrior had fully recovered. It was approaching, now. Slowly, but not slower than before.

Olivia was clinging to my jacket. She felt a lot heavier than before. She was crying. I couldn’t blame her.

She’s afraid.

I’m… I’m pretty afraid, too. Damn it… what am I supposed to do?

I helped Olivia to her feet and backed away. The monster attacked; Olivia projected a barrier and blocked. Is this all we can do?

Damn it!

I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Xavier. He was still trembling, but his eyes were alive.

“I have an idea,” he said.

Friday, August 27, Late Evening

Xavier Uzual

Up until this point, I had assumed that Leo and the others would take care of it. As long as I stayed out of their way, and stayed far enough to run when necessary…

I didn’t want to do this. But there wasn’t a way around it. Let’s get this over with.

“Your ice powers,” I said, “can’t hurt that thing, right?”

He nodded.

“But they can affect the environment. Blast a hole in that fence, then push it through. Then, follow it down with that floating ice-sheet. When it hits the ground…”

“Its armor will take heavy damage. That’ll give me the opening to stab it with the Carnwennan.”

“Right,” I said. He’s smarter than he looks.

This plan was based on a couple premises I’d noticed. First: those things are vulnerable to the environment. I recalled the one I’d killed with a trap. If the Minor Arcana can’t hurt them directly, we’ll do it indirectly.

Second: Leo needed to purify the Host before he could really damage the Virus, but the Virus needed to be damaged before he could reach the Host. Obviously, he can’t do both, and there’s no one else here that can do either. So we’ll have gravity handle half.

Third: Leo can’t use the Holy Sword in front of that kid. I wasn’t sure if he was conscious, or even alive, but Leo’ll end up four stories down and out of sight, so Leo should be able to use it freely and win the fight.

That was the intent, anyways. But it didn’t seem like that’d be a problem now. I looked back. Erin had taken off the bandana covering the lower half of her face and fashioned it into a blindfold over the kid.

“You’ll only get one shot,” I said.

He cracked a grin. “Tis nothing for I, Caladbolg Montoya, the Magus of Blue!” He extended a hand. “Sir Gawain, Knight of the Sun, lend me your power! I summon thou, The Shadow of Excalibur, The Blade of Light, Galatine!”

In a flash of light, the Holy Sword appeared once more. His eyes glowed a fierce electric blue.

“Take care of him, Olive.”

“I-I w-will!”

I blinked. He was gone.

I couldn’t see Leo. I could only see a blue blur. Leo slammed into the Virus like a pinball, vectoring off the fence and the ground after each attack.

Slowly, it was forced back.

Leo jumped, kicked off the Virus’s helmet, and vectored into the air. With a wave of his arm, four spears of ice appeared all around him. The Commwarrior lifted its blade to block it, but they flew behind it, boring holes in the metal fence.

“Arondight!” As Leo fell, his sword changed, from the longsword to a massive broadsword. His eyes burned green.

He brought the sword down. Steel against steel, there was a deafening crash. I flinched. My eyes opened to see a massive gash down the center of the Commwarrior’s armor, one that was slowly closing up.

The Commwarrior staggered back to the hole in the fence.

Leo struck again. Winding up like a baseball swing, he slammed the Arondight into the Commwarrior’s side. It backed away. One step… two steps…

The Commwarrior slipped a little, but grabbed onto the sides of the fence.

“Leo! The hand!”

Leaning into swing, he slashed at the Commwarrior’s hand, but he was slow. The Virus parried with its free arm, batting him and his sword away.

He made a three point landing. His eyes burned blue. He was a blur once more. Leo vectored under the Virus’s blade, and, at the last moment, switched back to the Arondight for a tackle.

The Commwarrior lost balance.

It reached desperately for something, anything, to grab hold of. A fence, a roof tile… or Leo. His eyes widened as the Commwarrior took hold of him.

The two of them disappeared over the edge.