Sonya had no supuns.
She’d fotten, truth be told, about the ways of life she’d learned back during the war as the Apocalypse gripped the world. She’d let the softness and joy of being ba the past ease her mi. Well, sort of. She was izant of what was happening to her even if there wasn’t much she could do about it in the immediate. There were no therapists she could talk to, no treatments, no pathways to take that wouldn’t cause undue problems for her greater pns. She would just have to deal with it on her own, her and the fragmentary spark of id that was Ishtar.
She’d put too much stoto the identity, itted heinous crimes in that name and had begun to push the responsibility of her as on it. She wasn’t stupid, she wasn’t blind, she uood, better than anyone. If she was going to slow it down, the only thing she could do was take some of that viciousness bato her shoulders. I ’t let you shoulder it all, or you’ll bee worse than him, won’t you?
She didn’t expect a response, she didn’t want ohat would mean she was further gohan she’d estimated. Sonya pulled herself out of her thoughts and assessed the creature’s body, the heads up dispy of her cyberihanced by the helmet. There were various high stress points she could emphasize, the knees in particur. Large goblins teo have a det regeion, but their blood was thin and their hearts powerful. Attag a major artery was also a good strategy.
She pnned her route, pnting her feet and shoving her fingers deeper into the stoo maintain her grip. The beast below her belched and scratched its belly, unaware, oblivious.
Locate the problem aermi with extreme prejudice, stop holding back.
She grit her teeth, This is going to hurt.
Her inner energy bzed to life, her muscles shifted, her bones became dehe world seemed to slow down around her. Red light fshed in her vision and the glow of the eyes on her helmet intensified in the dark. She gripped her on. Maximum Uptime, she hissed internally and with a tremendous bang, kicked off the ceiling like a rocket. The great beast barely had an instant to shift its massive frame and look up when a knife dug into its throat. She pulled, her muscles bzing as she carved a path around its head and down, across shoulder muscles. She hopped down to the ground and with a grunt of effort drove herself forward, her kstretched. It impacted the bony knee of the creature’s emaciated legs and pierced through.
She barely registered the creature’s howls of pain. She whipped the bde out and threw herself forward in time for it to swing a club that had materialized in its hand. The force of the swing was solid, but half hearted with the wounds to its shoulder muscles. She kicked off the ground and threw herself to the side, sliding to a stop and disabling uptime. A brief wave of weakness washed over her and she let out a gasp, her knees bug. Fifteen seds, shit. She snarled, breathing hard as her body set to work catg up with the extreme effort. At least I’m not passing out.
Before her, the gargantuan gobli out a roar of fury, blood p from its ned shoulders like a waterfall, making a gory cloak around the enormous thing. It tried to stand and chase after her but its leg only buckled and snapped, colpsih its weight. It fell forward, smming its head against the floor beh it. It struggled for a moment, trying to get a grip on the ground with one of its hands. She walked over to it and looked down before croug and pressing the tip of the bde against its skull, right between the eyes. She started to wind up Uptime again to get the strength to puncture the creature’s toughened bone.
That was when its eyes fshed and it looked up at her, a burning glow fshing behind those bestial eyes. Her senses screamed at her as veins e light began to spread across its flesh. Her eyes widened, Suicide skill?! She gasped, she didn’t have enough time to pierce the damn thing’s head! In the heartbeat it took for her the danger and assess the risks, she finished her wind up and kicked off the ground again, activating hard light and throwing up a barrier between herself and the beast.
BOOM!
Despite her defehe explosio her hurtling across the room. She hit the wall and bcked out for a moment, sliding down to the ground. It only took a few seds for her vision to clear and for her brain tister the terrible shape her body was in now. She clicked her tongue, looking down at the burns across the gear that Amos had made for her, her broken arm and acc to her HUD, three broken ribs among some minor head trauma. The helmet saved her life. She groaned and forced herself up into a sitting position, holding her arm. She tried to pull Hands of the Healer out of her warehouse but felt resistance.
Too much uptime, she grumbled befring at the scorched crater that remained after the boss blew itself up. She clicked her too core.
She took a quick breather, going through the fight in her mind. I wasn’t ruthless enough. I should have been faster. She would have… She trailed off and scoffed, I ’t believe I’m paring myself to her when I’m chiing out from a goddamn press ference. Chiing out from fronting her. I handled gress, I handle my… She pursed her lips and shook her head. The pulsing in her skull making her head swim a little. She cursed and forced herself to her feet, staggering a little.
Time to go, dungeon will colpse soon, She thought and ambled her way towards the end of the room, past the scorched crater and into the final room. Uhe rest of the cave-like dungeon, this pce was the same as the ohat Firestorm’s team had seen, the same as any other dungeon. A wide casket-like chest sat in the ter of a room made entirely out of white marble. The sheer walls were adorned with inprehensible runes and mosaics depig goblins in various acts of barbarism. At the other end of the room ortal leading out of the dungeon.
She stopped in front of the chest and g her broken arm. Huffing, she used her foot to push it open, revealing the tents. She’d kept the reward for Firestorm’s team a secret, though Firestorm himself was getting a great deal of use out of it already. She pnned on announg it during the press ferehis reward, she’d keep for herself as a trophy if anything. She reached dolucked what looked like some kind of grizzly idol off the long pillow i looked like it was made of whittled bone, skins, ahose teeth? Gross. She tur over in her hand and tilted her head. No idea what this does, I’ll have Amos py with it.
There wasn’t anythi in the chest, more than one reward was sidered areme rarity. Most guilds in the past got more value out of the crystals in the walls of the duhan the single reward that-
You’ve chosen your path?
Sonya froze. That voice, and then the st! She whipped her head around. Plum blossoms. Her lips pressed into a thin line.
You walk a tightrope, dear, you could-
Sonya scowled beh her helmet, “Don’t you dare use her voice!” She snarled, “Who are you? Where are you?”
There ause, then the voice ged. It wasn’t the heart agly resolute voice of hua anymore. Instead, the woman sounded a bit more childish, a faint amount of amusement in her voice. My, what a reay little gift has given you a spine.
Sonya looked up and around again, still no source, “Pandora?” She called.
Was it that obvious? The voice ughed.
Sonya’s lip twitched, “A bit. So what do you want?”
Nothing at all, I am enjoying the show. Was my gift a good one?
“I’m not pining, though it could expin itself a bit more,” Sonya said with a huff, “I crippled myself, though I’ll admit I got a bit greedy. So yeah, thanks for that.”
You seem to already have an idea of what to do. Patience.
Sonya frowned, “So you’re real, not a halluation, and you know?”
Quite astute, the being teased her.
“What did you mean by enjoying the show?” Sonya asked, but as she did the grouh her began to shake. She felt the air shift and she looked back to see rocks falling from the ceiling of the boss room.
A shame, we’re out of time. Perhaps ime.
Sonya whipped around, “What? No! Yoing to tell me art you py in all this! Why is all of this happening? Who is-”
The ground shook again and Sonya nearly fell over herself. She snarled and staggered to get her bance back, marg herself towards the portal.
ime, love.
“Don’t call me that!” Sonya shrieked as the ground shook again, “Fine! ime! I’ll get some fug answers out of you!” She barked as she forced herself through the portal, her head st. “I swear it!”
With that, Sonya left the dungeon. The structure tinuing to destabilize behihe form and shape of the magical pce colpsing in on itself. A faint mote of light floated in the air he portal and bloomed into shape. A sad smile lingered on the face of a woman made nearly entirely out of light, a pair of golden eyes burning with inner fire. I’m looking forward to it, and to seeing how your tale pys out, little vilin. Be well.
–
Sonya stumbled forward onto the ground a out anroan. She heard the sounds of night-time New York around her and khat she’d made it ba one piece. She rolled onto her back, her HUD still warnihat she had several rather serious injuries. “Bitch…” She growled and coughed, feeling a bit of copper oongue. She took a breath, it hurt like hell. She tried again to pull Hands of the Healer out and she mao draw it out enough to partially mend her ribs before it returo ste again. Cursing, she got back to her feet and gnced around.
“Oh yeah,” She muttered, looking around the abandoned subway tunnel. She trated to send Amos a message but felt her head buzz in response.
Meaning she couldn’t use some of her Cyber-punk powers until her body was ba top shape. She sighed, snatched up her duffle bag that she’d left o the portal, and started walking, marg step after step towards the stairs leading up into the hidden access point to this part of the subway. A few minutes of grumbling and pained marg ter and she got to the top, pushing through the door and stepping out onto one of the less poputed streets iy. She stopped to catch her breath. Fuck I’m tired. She leaned against the doorframe and looked out over the desote street.
At least I cleared the dungeon, I feel better, She sighed, I hat, I think. I feel more stable.
She tried not to think too hard about her enter with Pandora at the end, she’d gotteo nothing out of the voice besides a bit of teasing that she really didn’t appreciate. What’s her goal in all this? Enjoying the show my ass.
That was when something caught her eye. A bck car rouhe er and began driving by. She bli it in fusion, eyeing the red light that was set on top of it. A… taxi? Why is the light red? She thought, taking a step forward and squinting at it as it tinued on its path. It looked like it atrolling for passengers. She couldn’t make out the driver’s face from where she was and with how dark it was. It didn’t help that the street lights around here were all but useless. The car tinued moving, passing her and proceeding dowreet.
“Shit, wait!” She called out. She reached int and scrambled for a fshlight. She hadn’t thought she’d but she’d brought it just in case. She held it up and fshed it a few times. The car kept moving for a moment and she’d thought it ignored her before, abruptly, it stopped and began driving in reverse. She stood there, awkwardly, in her full Ishtar regalia as the car came to a stht in front of her. She gnced again at the driver but couldn’t make out a damn thing. This is suspicious as hell, but there aren’t a lot of people who hurt me and my gear is still mostly in one piece. She reached for the doorknob only for the driver door to open.
She stepped back, That’s… not normal.
The driver stepped out and turo face her, his hat pulled so low she couldn’t make out his face beyond his deathly pale skin. The driver silently tipped his hat and walked around the car. She took aep bad reached for her knife only for him to pletely ignore her, reag for the handle of the door and opening it for her. He stepped away and offered her a polite bow.
“Uh… thank you?” She murmured, uled. Maybe I shouldn’t-
“You are a vilin?” The man said, his voice sounding like a croak of pain. It also sounded oddly distae ing frht in front of her.
She frowned and tilted her head, “Who’s asking?”