I lost complete contact with the section of me that went into the fucker. It did react as that section started doing its thing inside. Thrashing and fighting against that me. The bronco ride grew even worse, but I was more of a harness at this point than a rider.

  All the incoming fire, all the acid fog, and my ass doing my best to chew at it from inside and out. Nothing seemed to even be slowing it down beyond the fay fire still burning parts of it, and now me. That shit burns, but it’s not hot. It’s more of a marker than a damage method. So neither of us were very upset about it.

  As much as I hated to say it, we were at an impasse. Neither of us able to do damage to the other. Which is why it decided to shift focus to everybody else. Particularly the annoying one flashing bright hot lights into its eyes. Which had burned, popped and then regrown several times now.

  Gravitas saw it coming, but couldn't do much about it. I on the other hand had the means and foresight to try to, at least slow it down. All those webs I had put into position locked together, fusing their hulls to make long chains of carbon fiber.

  Fun note about carbon string, it’s got the same tensile strength as considerably more steel. A single thread can be stronger than a full cable. While a single cable wouldn’t be able to do much about a titanic multi ton spider made of ‘fuck you’ a bunch of them all tangled togther and wrapped around pillars can do a decent job of at least slowing it down and tripping it up.

  I gave Gravitas enough time to retreat fully into her bunker and allow the bunker windows to be covered by the version of Me that was there for that purpose. I may have over engineered the bunkers a bit as when it finally ripped free of all the hair fine cables and slammed into the concrete and steel structure nothing significant happened. The bunker held spectacularly.

  Seeing Gravitas come under attack and barely get chiped, Drag-On decided that discresson is the better part of valor and ducked back into their bunker as well. Allowing me to cover the holes for them as well, just in case the Thirty-Three could breathe something caustic at them.

  It could not, or at least it didn’t try. Instead violently stomping all over the roof of Gravitas Pill Box, slowly breaking the outer layers and exposing the metal framework under the concrete. It’s clawed limbs all began digging and scratching at the reinforcement frame, trying to peel the box open.

  That would not do.

  [Naylle! Now would be a good time for something!]

  [<>Wait for it. Attempt to restrain it again. Also fire at it from Drag-On’s position with your plasma weapons.]

  Instead of arguing I did as advised. The ghostly white flames had spread across the entirety of both it and I at this point, making us a spectacularly easy target to hit. Mark II plasma lashed out from every firing slit in Drag-On’s bunker facing in the right direction.

  It lunged that way once again, having already forgotten that I was effectively a harness, and that it had given me time to reconnect all my cables as well as reinforce them. Thankfully the fire hadn’t started spreading down the cables, yet.

  We managed to move about half a meter before it came up short. Stuck, high centered on the top of Gravitas Bunker, unable to even really face in the right direction to deal with the Plasma coming from Drag-On’s direction.

  Which is why it was probably as surprised as I was when a heckin big, classic, diving suit wearing mother fucker slammed into the Thirty-Three’s side like a cannon ball. One fist outstretched in a superman pose.

  There was a soft click noise that only the nearest parts of me could catch before the brightest hottest fucking ball of fire I have ever experienced lanced out of the strange shape of that fist.

  We were all promptly allowed to experience a different noise that I can only say made the pleasure centers in my brain light up like it was christmas. The damn Thirty-Three howled in pain.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  I had never been so happy to see such an archaic helmet in any of my lives. The guy looked like a Strong Man trying to be a diver in twenty thousand leagues under the sea. One Big Papa of a motherfucker. On his right arm was a sort of shell looking shape that if I were to hazard a guess was an imitation of a mantis shrimp’s gun arm. His left was normal, but he had a mechanical arm curled up behind his left shoulder with some sort of projector or gun on it. The diving suit that covered his body had attachment points with several boosters on them. Apparently how he managed to rocket himself up to point blank for that hit. The suit had to have power enhancements in it, either that or he was more than just jacked but mechanically enhanced. It looked like the metal bits alone weighed in the range of a couple tons. But his head and shoulders were well and truely defended in that old diving bucket, the reinforced windows were thick enough I could only wonder how he could see out of it.

  It took me all of a second to take the man I could only guess was “Depth Charge” in and absorb his gimmick. Which was about all we had.

  That shot to the side had punched riight through the damn things armor and done significant internal damage. But the fucker was already healing. Worse, the bellow had unleashed the horde that had been holding back up to this point.

  At least two hundred Models in the Twenty range started swarming in from the dark.

  [You’re Shoggoth right?] His voice was honey smooth and dark like the blackest night.

  [Yes daddy. I mean. Yeah. That’s me.] If I could blush I would.

  [Would you be a peach and go deal with the pissants while I handle this bitch?]

  [Yes da… I mean, on it.] I promptly disengaged with the Thirty-Three, letting go and congealing back into a single mass. Going so far as to call back the rest of my mass from the two bunkers.

  I turned my full attention to the swarming creepers, the things that I could actually do something against. With an energy I could only call inspired I began to do bloody work.

  I couldn’t tell you why he affected me so. Something primal probably. In the end it didn’t really matter. Dealing with the horde was way more fun than dealing with the BBEG of the battle. At least I hoped that thing was the boss monster. If anything bigger came out we were esentially fucked.

  Lasers joined my plasma, the fog of green rolled out once more. Each of us having a niche that made us effective at the level we were specialized to fight at. Even if my chaotic ass was breathing two types of fire, spitting explosives and grabbing to crush everything in sight. I’m not elegant like Drag-On, or efficient like Suffient Graivitas. But I make up for the lack of accuracy with weight of fire.

  Even as we collestively stomped on these, at this point lesser, nusiances. Depth Charge was surprisingly nimble as he doggedly chased after the still flaming spider thing. Putting hole after hole into it. Beating it down inch by inch. I could almost see it’s healthbar, constantly regenerating but being cut down in large chunks too fast to properly heal.

  It almost seemed to be a race, who can win first. Us against the horde or Him against that big bastard of a plant. And as the numbers trailed down closer to zero, It wasn’t even a question. Experience and a chance to grow to rediculous levels of power showed their chops in the end as he beat us by a country mile.

  By the time we had finished destroying the last of the Twenties he had been standing watching the Thirty-Three burn from the inside out from a new blue fire. It was obvious that nothing of me that it had swallowed had survived, but I wasn’t bothered by it. Just motivated.

  Next time I would be The Cavelry. Not the saved. I had to figure out how to deal with higher tier plants if I wanted to make a real difference in combat. But until then, we had a hive to clear.

  [Good to see you Depth.] Drag-On sauntered up out of their Bunker, arms wide for a hug.

  [You too Dragon. Although it would have probably been a nicer reunion had you waited for me.] I was a little surprised when the huge man leaned over and gave Drag-On the demanded hug.

  [The newbies were doing fine against the little scouts they sent out, but the whole hive was teed up because of Oggy discovering it before coming to find me. That said,] Drag-On trailed off for a moment, looking back the direction of the lake. [Do you think that was the hive guardian or should we expect something bigger?]

  [If something bigger shows up I’ll handle it.] I couldn’t see it, but his voice carried a cocky grin. [That said, we shouldn’t keep it waiting any longer. It may try and grow more big ones. While you’re hell on wheels with the early models you still need something to deal with the more armored ones. You have a plan little miss?]

  [I do. I just need more points, or needed I should say. But you’re right. come on children, lets go deal with the hive.] Drag-On made a shooing motion at us to head back for the lake.

  [What about Bomberman?] Gravitas looked directly at me, who was cleaning up the bunkers as I listened to the conversation.

  [Dunno. They’re under concrete and more than a mile away at this point. He was stable and safe last I checked. He’ll be fine.] I goopliy shrugged before turning back to my work. [Almost done fixing the floor. Gimme a sec and I’ll catch up.]

  I got a bunch of positive replies before they started hoofing it in the direction of the lake. I took the time to clean up as well as eat. I needed all the mass I could get for dealing with the hive itself.

  When I finally did catch up with them they were already in the lake, searching for an entrance. I paused long enough to release another murder of crows to assist all the ravens around dealing with pissants trying to dig through into the city, or just escape the lake area. None of them were double digits so the suicide crows would be more than enough.

  Instead I turned the might of my attention down into the lake as I joined the others, linking back into the conversation mid sentence for Drag-On.

  [...find somwhere to get in. We should just wait for her to catch up.]

  [Speak of the devil.] Gravitas sounded ammused as she alerted the others to my presence sifting along the bottom of the lake in their general direction.

  [You can’t find an entrance?] I made sure to form a face that they could recognize, as well as expressions to go with the words. [There are a bunch all over the lakebed. But most of them are small. Let me enter through one and find the one where the bigger stuff came out of.]

  [I’d love to say take your time kid, but please hurry up.] Depth charge gave me a thumbs up with his free limb.

  Nodding my titanic head I formed more of an octopus shape and started probing the muck for one of the sphincter entrances I spotted earlier.