Once the seismic sensors were in place, it became easy to deal with the oversized isopods. Skyler and I took turns positioning ourselves in their path and dealing with the burrowing behemoths before they could release their living payloads. As long as they died before they fully emerged, their passengers just couldn’t escape; they were trapped in the shell until we collapsed the tunnel or flooded the area with enzymes.

  It took what felt like hours, but the antithesis assault slowly began to falter. We started to see the occasional gap in their lines. They didn’t completely coat the wall with their bodies, and those gaps widened as we cleared. But, of course, the antithesis wouldn’t go down without a fight.

  When the wall was just about clear, something loomed out of the darkness. At first I thought it was another of those armored eels, but when it struck the wall I realized it was just one part of something much larger. A single tentacle nearly six feet wide struck the wall with such force that I felt the impact.

  The massive limb didn’t penetrate the wall, not immediately, but what it did was provide the titanic antithesis something to hold onto as it dragged itself forward.

  {Sky: Did you see that?}

  {Rei: It was kind of hard to miss! Arty, please tell me that the Starchaser is in position to deal with whatever that is!}

  {Arty: They’re already firing but there’s a good chance, due to the creature’s incredible mass, that it’ll penetrate the wall before they can kill it.}

  {Sky: I doubt we could help deal with it directly, but we should probably reposition so we can help deal with any other antithesis that try and squeeze through the breach.}

  {Athy: It would be extremely dangerous to get anywhere near the creature. Each tentacle is capable of ripping a naval ship in two.}

  {Rei: Then we better do our best to avoid them.} I replied before activating my aquapack and shooting towards the beast.

  I saw the lances flashing through the darkness long before I saw the antithesis’ true body. It looked sort of like a squid, but unfathomably large. It was using its massive beak to methodically cut through the massive chain links. As soon as it had cut a decent-sized hole, it’s tentacles reached through, grabbed the sides of the breach, and in a feat of terrifying strength ripped the wall wide open.

  As it began to squeeze through the gap, I backed away. It didn’t seem like the Starchaser was going to be able to bring it down in time, and I didn’t want to risk getting grabbed. Even with Rending Wave fully extended, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to sever even the smallest of its tendrils.

  While I retreated, signaling Skyler to do the same, I caught sight of a tiny form diving fearlessly at the leviathan from the other side. Ghost-Light shot out of the darkness, avoided the thrashing tentacles, and swam within a dozen feet of the behemoth before rearing back and throwing her harpoon at one of the beast’s eyes.

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  The suicidal charge made more sense when the harpoon exploded a few seconds after embedding itself in the soft flesh. In one instant half the antithesis’ body vaporized, sending chunks of its flesh hurtling outwards. Despite being a very focused explosive, the resulting pressure wave pushed me several feet further away from site, while simultaneously shaking me to my very core.

  “Fuck me,” I whispered.

  “This is no time to sit around, Ghost-Light was right on top of that thing when it exploded! We need to check if she’s okay,” Skyler shouted. Her panicked tone shook me from my stupor, and I nodded quickly before diving back towards the massive corpse.

  Even though more than half of the goliath antithesis’ body had been destroyed, I still approached with caution. More often than not these monsters managed to survive mortal wounds, fighting until all the strength had left their bodies. Thankfully, this one appeared to be completely dead. Its tentacles didn’t even twitch as I slipped through the debris and headed to the last place we’d seen Ghost-Light.

  The murky, churning water made the already low visibility even worse, and I had to swim into the creature’s wound to spot Ghost-Light. A flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye resolved into a smaller antithesis sneaking through the massive hole in the chain wall. Ghost-Light shot out of the darkness. She fell upon the Model Three-O like some marine predator before I could react to her presence. Her hands, now clawed, sunk deep into the creatures’ flesh, tearing out huge chunks. It turned, attempting to bite her, but she just grabbed the thing’s jaw and ripped it apart like it was nothing.

  I stared at her for a few moments, in shock. “Are you okay?” I managed to get out. “Skyler and I were worried you might have been injured after being so close to that explosion.”

  Ghost-Light shot away from the Model Three-O at unbelievable speed, disappearing back into the gloom. I considered following her, but before I could, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye again. I just barely managed to dodge out of the way as Ghost-Light’s clawed hand passed within an inch of my face. That attack probably would have killed me if it weren’t for my enhanced reflexes.

  “What the fuck are you doing?!?!” I shouted as she disappeared back into the murky water.

  “What’s going on over there? Did you find her?” Skyler called as she approached.

  “Skyler? Get back! Ghost-Light just attacked me! I don’t know if she’s woozy from the explosion or what, but she meant to kill me with that first attack. Call the Starchaser, see if they can call her and calm her down or something.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’m going to try and retreat, but she’s fast. I’m not sure she’ll let me.”

  Another flash, this one from above me. I twisted again, barely avoiding the clawed hand descending, but this time she didn’t just continue past me. Instead she twisted around, bleeding off nearly all her speed, and launched a quick strike at my side.

  Despite the frenzy, she fought smart the attacks quick and precise. Too bad for her, this was exactly the sort of combat I excelled at. Twirling in place, I swept her hand away with one arm while bringing my other elbow directly into Ghost-Light’s face.

  It felt like I’d just hit a concrete wall, and the girl didn’t show any signs that she’d even felt the blow.

  She looked a lot different than I remembered. The scales from her tail now appeared all over her body, like armor, and her hands now ended in long razor-sharp talons. She scowled in frustration before smashing me in the chest with her tail and shooting off again.

  My ribs creaked at the blow, and I was sent cartwheeling away. I couldn’t take many more of those, but I couldn’t risk fighting her with Rending Wave or taking the time to order something else. With her lightning-fast hit and run attacks, if I stopped concentrating for more than a second, she would get me.

  Not seeing another choice, I detached Rending Wave from my side, and prepared to defend myself with the sheathed weapon. I didn’t have to wait long before Ghost-Light came shooting out of the darkness again, claws aimed at my throat. This time I parried her hand and brought my blade down, sheath and all, on her shoulder. he sheath cracked and splintered, but for the first time Ghost-Light flinched, reacting to a blow. The scales on her shoulder flaked off, cracked at the base where I’d hit her, then in seconds they regrew

  The girl prepared to lunge again, when a sing-song voice echoed out from above. ”Sorry about this, you two. She did warn you, though.”

  The two of us turned just to find Limelight shooting towards us, swimming as if her life depended on it.She whipped out a giant hammer from behind her back and, before I could react brought it down on Ghost-Light’s head.

  I flinched away, staring in horror at the unexpected violent act. “There, all fixed,” Limelight declared lightly as she pulled her hammer away, revealing a conked-out Ghost-light. “Violence solves everything!”

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