The great Golem climbed from the waist deep pit just as Ignasius engaged. He barreled into the creature with his shoulder and knocked it backwards, collapsing on top of it into the pit. All Gondo could see over the edge was the rise and fall of the plasma sword and the reflection of hundreds of laser shots. He took to the air and rushed over the crater.

  Ignasius was hacking viciously at one of the Golem’s arms with his sword, but finding no purchase. Its body was covered in burns from laser fire, but since it was an inanimate object operating on pure psionic force it felt no pain. It reached behind the giant robot and began ripping at its power cord.

  It took vast amounts of power to run a robot like the one Ignasius had built. It was part of the reason they had never turned into a viable asset for the Endless City’s many wars. If the creature was able to unhook him, Ignasius's frame would turn into a pile of scrap metal.

  Sensing this Ignasius disengaged from the Golem, and doing so allowed the huge talons to shred back the top layers of his frame. Once righted he launched himself into the air, an impressive feat for such a heavy object, grabbed his sword with two mechanical hands raising it high, then fell in a violet blur upon the creature. Instead of aiming for the toughened arm joint he brought all his force down onto the fingers of its right hand, slicing them off at the knuckle.

  The Golem roared in anger, grabbed onto Ignasius frame with its remaining talon, and using its feet, launched him upwards to collapse in a heap outside of the pit. It then righted itself and leaped out, landing with a colossal boom that shook the entire dome.

  “How many Casters does he have powering that thing?” Gondo wondered. Just thinking about those drugged out ghouls hooked into Krueger’s focus made his skin crawl.

  The Golem advanced on Ignasius fallen robotic body. The shock of the impact seemed to have stunned his systems, and sparks shot from the huge rents in his chassis as he tried to stand.

  Suddenly, Gondo plummeted to the ground between the two, leaving a small crater himself. As the dust cleared the figure of the Caster emerged, squaring up with the gargantuan orange nightmare in front of it.

  This close Gondo was able to finally get a decent look at the creature.

  To build a Golem, you first needed a great deal of inanimate material. Simpler versions would be slightly taller than a man, made of clay or wood. Krueger had gone big on his creation. Suddenly the proximity to the train station made much more sense. He could see the creature’s line of destruction radiating out from a dislodged cargo train. They must have loaded up the individual pieces, dumped them outside the station, then animated them.

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  It’s roughly fifty feet was mostly taken up by its massive arms and legs. Much like Ignasius’s makeshift Gundam this creature must have been constructed elsewhere and then put together in the field. He could now see the protruding shoulders were linked via psychic energy to the upper arm, each moving chunk connected the same way. Instead of trying to chop through the unbreakable Plastic 3, Ignasius had cleverly switched tactics and focused on breaking the psychic bond between the finger digits and the hand. Brilliant.

  The body itself was small. A squat head with a hinged spikey toothed jaw extended from it. Its eyes crackled with energy as it began to speak in a deep baritone. Gondo would recognize that voice anywhere.

  “Finally. The mighty Gondo Macready graces us with his presence,” Krueger’s grizzly voice echoed from the monstrosity, amplified by the tremendous psionic force he was wielding. Its jaw moved up and down as if it was actually talking. “I’ve been waiting for this day a long time.”

  Gondo stared defiantly up at the creature. “Not surprised you’re too scared to face me man to man, Krueger. And not even using your own power! Where are you hiding?” he said, mockingly moving his head as if to look behind the creature.

  “Hiding! You’re one to talk Gondo. Slinking around in the shadows. Then I find you colluding with that traitorous bird Cafferty.” Krueger chuckled gruffly. “You two have no idea what’s truly happening here.”

  “And what's that Krueger?” Gondo asked. “You and your fake politicians are running the world into the ground from your ivory towers. Disease, death, famine... these are the products of your rule. At least Ourobouros wants to help people.”

  The hulking orange monstrosity laughed. “People? The world? You should know better than that. These people are animals. This world is doomed.”

  “You see our domains as the astral and corporeal planes. I say it’s Heaven & Hell. I’ve already conquered Hell, and now I’m coming for the pearly gates.” Krueger said.

  The creature then moved with unnatural speed. Even inside his focus Gondo was unable to dart out of the way of the massive talon as it snatched him up and held him before its great maw. The immense power store Krueger was drawing from had given the creature lightning quick reflexes. He was pinned inside the claw, unable to move, even when pushing with all his psychic force. Its hinged jaw opened as it drew his head into its spikey mouth.

  Gondo reached his hand down to the concealed holster on his leg and removed a glowing blue syringe. He plunged it into his leg and screamed.

  His eyes turned entirely blue as his power surged. He ripped himself from its grasp, a spectral cerulean haze surrounding him. The creature reared back startled, and amazed.

  “There it is...” Krueger drawled, Gondo’s blue light reflecting off the monster’s shiny body.

  Power undreamed of coursed through Gondo. The emergency dose of Moonshield that Lowell had slipped him before the battle, under the explicit condition he only use it should his life be in danger, had taken control of his system. There was no rush of color, no neon door. Just an enormous spike in psychic power.

  Gondo raised his hands in front of him. They were steaming trails of blue smoke. “You shouldn’t have fucked with my bar.” he said as he drew them into fists, let back his head, and unleashed a torrent of force like no human being had ever seen.