???: “Why, why, why!? All of you, all of you, all of you, getting in my way! I’m just so hungry..! All of you, I’ll kill all of you!”

A chorus of distorted voices wailed so in unison, each permeating out of the body of a child that hung limply in the air as it gestured furiously, held up by the eight skeletal arms that protruded from its back. Tears ran down its face—a human child was its facade, though its temperament was just as immature as the real thing.

The child—no, the Kumori—turned to Loid and Jacqueline as it screamed, its veins nearly popping in its rage. It began to creep toward them, carried by its skeletal arms like a great spider stalking its prey. Krimling from all around the complex gathered at the sound of the Kumori’s voice, but they kept their distance—whether out of fear or simply because they wanted to watch what came next, only they could know.

Kumori: “Running and running and running and running running running running running runningrunningrunningrunningrunningrunning RUNNING! Everyone always runs away! Why!? Why, why, why why why whywhywhywhywhywhywhy WHYYY!?”

With that final shout it leapt forward, several of its skeletal fists raised in the air above it. Loid and Jacqueline ran to the side and behind one of the many stone pillars littering the area, taking cover behind it as the Kumori crashed down. As its fists impacted the ground, it sent forth a wave of dust and mud that sent a few overly-opportunistic Krimling flying. The Kumori barely paused in its movements, its other arms carrying it sideways as it rotated its body, swinging one arm wildly to topple the stone pillar with a single blow.

Kumori: “Just come back! Just come to me! I’m hungry, so just let me..! Let me eat, let me eat, let me eat eat eat eat eateateateateat LET ME EAT!!!”

The Kumori lurched forward, crawling right over the toppled pillar. One of its skeletal hands reached forward, toward Loid and Jacqueline—but, at the last second, it suddenly whipped around instead, holding out one of its skeletal arms.

A chain swung down from the sky above, an anchor at its end. A metallic screech rang out as it crashed against the Kumori’s skeletal defense. Airborne at the other end of the chain, of course, was the Mimic, a scowl on her face.

Human and Krimling alike watched on in silent stillness as the two beasts clashed again. Immediately the chain began to retract, the anchor hooking the Kumori’s blocking arm to drag it away; the Kumori dug several hands into the mud, firmly rooting itself in place. With a click of her tongue, the falling Mimic shifted away the anchor and raised her leg instead, extending it into the form of a flagpole, just like the one she’d used before against the Humans.

The pole was swung down with a devastating axe kick; this time, the Kumori raised two arms in defense, and after the pole crashed against them, it threw them upward with a furious sob, throwing the pole off to the side. With a roar of its many discordant voices, the Kumori began a forward charge.

Her daggers at the ready, Jacqueline watched the clash of titans with bated breath. To a degree, she wasn’t even sure why she bothered readying her weapons; she could do nothing against either of those beasts, or against the horde of Krimling that had assembled.

Forming a wide ring of flesh around the area, hundreds of the despicable creatures were assembled in haphazard rows, some stacked atop each other, some standing atop buildings and pillars. The beasts were unusually still, simply watching the battle unfold.

Perhaps they were content to watch their meals kill each other?

Jacqueline gasped. The Kumori, having leapt into the air toward the Mimic, clapped two of its skeletal palms together, aiming to crush the Mimic; rather than get crushed, she condensed her body into her head and transformed into a bird, which shot up into the sky.

What caused Jacqueline to gasp was not the harsh, echoing sound of the Kumori’s clap, but a realization—she had given up. Even though she’d fought so hard, even though Loid had risked his life to come fight with her, even though Jackie was waiting for them to return, she’d given up any hope of making it out alive.

Was she content with that? After everything she’d lived through, could she really just admit that this was too much for her, that these monsters’ strengths were beyond her league, and proceed to lay down and die?

Could she really give up on ever seeing Jackie again? Could she really give up on her promise to Roche?

She grit her teeth, forcing a smile through the pain that reverberated throughout her entire body. After all,

Jacqueline: “I’m not the kinda girl that gives a damn what’s impossible.”

Loid gave her a curious glance as she voiced those words, but she didn’t notice; her sharply-narrowed eyes were focused on the monsters surrounding them.

In her apathy, she’d glossed over just how odd the Krimling’s behavior was. Rather than charging into the fight, they waited patiently for the combatants to kill each other. Did they fear the Mimic and Kumori? Did they take pleasure in watching the spectacle?

Whatever the reason, this behavior could be used to their advantage; so long as the Mimic and Kumori continued fighting, the Krimling wouldn’t close in. That said, the Krimling wouldn’t sit by idly if Jacqueline and Loid tried to break through their entrapment, and the two had no chance of overpowering their sheer numbers—or escaping without being followed.

With a few quick glances, she confirmed that the ring of Krimling had a consistent thickness—all except for one spot, that was. Several ruined buildings stood along one edge of the ring, right beside where the Mimic and Kumori were currently fighting. A number of Krimling stood atop the roofs of the closest buildings, but only a few stood guard in the alley between them. Rather, it was more accurate to say that most of the ones that had assembled there were fleeing to other parts of the ring, distancing themselves form the larger monsters.

Only the two dueling titans could break through the defenses of the Krimling. Once they escaped the entrapment, only the titans could hold the waves of Krimling back. And, once they finally escaped the complex, only the titans could hold the Krimling’s attention.

Their only hope was to take advantage of the brute strength of their hunters. The moment one of them died, the Krimling would surge in and overwhelm the wounded survivor along with the two Humans. The condition for their survival was to keep the titans locked in a stalemate until they escaped.

Jacqueline took in a deep breath, realizing she’d forgotten to breathe. Her smile widened despite herself—not the forced smile from before, but one she could not contain as she faced the challenge ahead. She felt invigorated, and though she was surprised to find Loid staring at her when she turned, she wasted no time in whispering a ludicrous plan to him.

Across from them, the Kumori spat out insults and curses as it stared up at the sky, grinding its bony fingers together. “Stupid! Worthless! Shitty coward! I try to hunt and you stop me, I try to eat and you stop me, and you just run away, run away, run away, run run run run run! Come back down! Come back! Come back, come back, COME BA—“

Its voices rose in roar, but they cut off as the shadow above it darkened, expanding in size as it rocketed down towards the earth. The Kumori got its wish, but the Mimic returned in the form of a wrecking ball.

The Kumori’s limbs snapped into position instantaneously, four bracing against the ground around it while the other four rose to meet the falling object. The titanic impact split the earth beneath the Kumori, the roar of the shockwave deafening everything nearby. The mud eroded into a small crater with the Kumori at its center, the walls of the nearby ruins shattering. Krimling cried out as dozens of them tumbled into the battlefield.

Its lower arms were stretched out almost horizontally, its upper arms left shaking as they were practically folded in half. Even the hands and feet of the child at its core braced against the ground. With trickles of blood leaking from its forehead and ears, the Kumori began to slowly rise, lifting the metal ball over its head. Its many voices grew in a choir of bloodcurdling screams as it reared its arms back, then flung the metal sphere over its head.

The sphere let out a dull ring as it struck the ground, crushing the unfortunate fallen Krimling beneath it. It rolled straight into one of the ruined buildings, crashing against what remained of its front wall.

The many voices of the Kumori seemed to pant as it staggered out of the crater, skittering after the wrecking ball with a vicious glare. It rose several skeletal arms, preparing to pummel the defenseless orb—

The creature came to a stop, suddenly snapping one of its arms to the side. Its skeletal fingers closed around the metal haft of a javelin, stopping it a mere foot away from its core. Its voices growled, and it tossed the javelin into the ground in frustration, its body turning towards the source—to Loid, his arm outstretched.

A bony hand slammed into the mud, the Kumori lurching one step towards the Human. It was only as it heard the sound of shifting flesh beside it that it realized it had made a critical mistake.

The Mimic’s body emerged out from the metal sphere, connected to it by an arm. Just as her features took shape, the sphere melted away and rapidly condensed into a large, rectangular object at her side. She swung her arm with incredible intensity as the shape hardened, and what struck the Kumori was a stone column, or perhaps a chimney.

Two of the Kumori’s arms caught the blow, but the sheer force of the impact sent it skidding backwards. Its supporting arms caught on the remnants of the fallen wall behind it, sending the creature stumbling into the confines of the ruined building.

Bony fingers clattered against stone as the Kumori rushed to right itself. Above, several dozen Krimling peered down at the creature which had stumbled uncomfortably close to them. In a moment of decisive action, one of them leapt forward, claws outstretched as it took the plunge towards what it saw as a golden opportunity to catch its prey off-guard.

That single Krimling’s action served as the first link of a great chain, its weight dragging each of the following links down with it. Sparked by their comrade’s bravery, a dozen more Krimling leapt down from the rooftop, soaring toward the Kumori; they were swiftly followed by a dozen more.

The Kumori looked up at the rain of vermin with one teary eye dilated, three of its arms clamping down against the ground like a tripod. The remaining five arms stretched out around it, and in the next moment the air became a blur of white and red.

The brave Krimling that had jumped first surely felt emotions such as joy and pride in its final moments. The punch that reduced its fragile body into a shotgun spray of viscera killed it too quickly for it to realize its mistake; that honor fell to the many others that had jumped after it.

The Kumori unleashed a barrage of upward punches onto its attackers, each strike precisely snuffing out the life of a single Krimling. Blood, skin, and bone shot above it in a fountain of gore, painting the second wave of attackers red before its fists met them.

Back in the alley, the Mimic took a step towards the Kumori, her right arm melting back into shape. The left began to deform as well, preparing to strike her distracted opponent—

Jacqueline: “As if I’d let you!”

The Mimic turned, eyes widening as she realized Jacqueline had closed the distance between them, charging right into the alley. She swung a dagger downwards, managing to slice into the Mimic’s deformed right arm before she could jump back.

Hissing, the Mimic turned her full attention to Jacqueline. As her right arm reformed, a nasty gash in its forearm, her left hand became an axe. Jacqueline leapt back to escape a hasty lunge; the axe shifted to place its blade on the opposite side, and the Mimic pushed forward with a second swing.

Jacqueline leapt back again, but this time the attack clipped her arm. She grit her teeth as blood flew; the Mimic snarled, seemingly satisfied after delivering an equivalent blow to Jacqueline. The twisted grin quickly faded, however, as she saw that Jacqueline was still smiling as well.

And then, she ducked.