Ch 49: The Energist of Prisms

Thinking fast, Richter deduces a possible location for the bomb. With a bit of help from Mythra and Alexander, they escape Conwell's puppets and split up, Richter heading off to diffuse it.

            Rushing through the halls to where the Audentia sat docked upon a different landing spine, Catherine and Amy led the defense along with the remaining royal guard. Panting, Emperor Alcott wheezed, “D****t Walker… W-why… Why is your damn palace such a maze?!” Grinning, the King said, “Oh come now Alcott, who doesn’t like a good maze?” Looking irritated, Emperor Alcott replied, “Why do I bother? That aside, aren’t we almost there yet?” Pointing down the hall, Schmitt said, “My baby’s waitin for us right up there!” Looking at Schmitt eagerly, Admiral Reese said, “Arr, that’d be the Audentia right? The highly advanced prototype ya’ll lifted from Castrum? Bless me spyglass, I was hopin to get a look at her!” With his hearty laugh, Schmitt replied, “You’re my kinda guy Reese!” Approaching an intersection in the hall, they quickly came to a halt as from both the left and right armored manikins marched out to stand before them and the elevator. As they backed away, Emperor Alcott muttered, “D****t, now what?! I knew we should have waited for the Black Knight and those others to come with us!” Drawing her revolver, Queen Bianca said, “Will you ever stop whining Alcott?!” 

Hearing a clanking sound from behind, Rufus’ cat Ian, who was perched atop Rufus’ hat, perked up his ears and looked in the direction of the noise as he hissed. Hearing Ian hissing at something, Rufus looked up from the camera view and glanced back, and as he laid eyes upon more armored dolls approaching from behind, he said, “Uhh guys…” Turning as well, Felix muttered, “I hope you can handle this Energist of Thorns…” Reaching into a pocket, Catherine said, “Leave it to me!” She extracted a handful of seeds and tossed them at the armored suits in front of them. As they rolled along the floor beneath the advancing enemies, Catherine raised her hand and started summoning forth the life within the seeds, and they burst into thorny vines that wrapped around the manikins. Their movement completely restricted, Catherine said, “Guards, advance!” Charging forth with weapons in hand, the guards quickly dismantled the enemies before them, and the group rushed past as Queen Bianca lingered back to empty her rounds into the ones still coming from behind. Reaching the elevator, Schmitt grinned and said, “Great thinkin there Catherine!” Grinning back, Catherine said, “I’m nowhere near the level of Colonel Richter or Thunderfury, but I do what I can.” As everyone else hurried forward, Amy turned to look back down the hall. Then Rufus called out from ahead, “Hey, you coming?” As she turned around and started to catch up, Rufus noticed the worried look on her face as she approached and said, “Something wrong?” Faking a smile, Amy said, “No, I’m fine.” Not fooled, Rufus reached up and removed Ian from his hat. Offering the cat to her with a big grin, he said, “Here. They say pets are always good for helping you forget your worries, so I’ll let you look after him awhile.” Taking Ian in her arms, Amy said, “Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt. He is pretty cute.” Laughing, Rufus said, “Yep, take good care of him! He likes being scratched behind the ears too.” Holding Ian close to her, Amy thought, “Grey, everyone… be careful…”

 

            In search of the bomb, Richter led the way through the halls while Grey followed behind, still worried about leaving Alexander on his own. Racking his brain, Richter thought, “This is Conwell we’re dealing with, where would he put a bomb?! Hmm, judging by how little I know about him, trying to get inside his mind would be a bit difficult…” Coming to a sudden halt, Richter thought, “Wait a minute! If he was able to plant something like that in here without anyone knowing, wouldn’t it make sense to simply place it where it would do the most damage? Plus-” He stopped in mid thought as Grey ran into him, and quickly Grey said, “Ah, sorry…” With a sigh, Richter said, “Still worried are you? Though I have no idea what was going through his head, there was little we could have done. Just remember, this is Alexander we’re talking about. From what I’ve seen, that man can handle himself. Right now we have to stop that bomb.” Nodding, Grey said, “Yeah, but where do we start looking? This place is too big! We won’t make it in time if we just look randomly!” Continuing down the hall, Richter said, “I think I’ve got an idea about where to look! Follow me!” As they rushed down the hall, Richter said, “I didn’t really think about it until now you see, but while high powered EDE bombs can be effective, they have yet to see much military or non-military use because of several flaws that make them impractical to use. While they are small and easily carried, they require a long charge period where they gather EDE. Considering we just exposed Conwell, he’s likely only activated it recently.” Turning a corner and spying an elevator, Richter continued, “So if we take that into account, unless he’s willing to wait a great deal of time, it makes the most sense to set it for a short charge period and place it in the one place that will cause the most damage. If I recall correctly, the Great Spire Palace is built around a geothermal reactor that powers the building. If it goes, the whole palace could collapse! That’s where we’ll find our bomb!” As they reached the elevator though, Conwell’s voice called out, “You’ve outdone yourself Colonel!” The doors of the elevator opened and out stepped Conwell, a twisted grin on his face.

            Raising a hand, Conwell fired his dark strings at the two. Richter raised his pistol to fire, but slithering like snakes the strings wrapped around his arms. Grey sliced at the strings surrounding him, but finally they managed to grasp his arms as well. Then more strings wrapped themselves around Grey and Richter’s necks, and as they pulled them up into the air, strangling them, Conwell laughed and said, “All too easy!” Then from the hallway to their left, arcing blades of water sliced though the strings, and as Grey and Richter dropped to the ground, Conwell turned to see Mythra and Alexander rushing onto the scene. Another blue rune circle appeared before Mythra as she shouted, “No second rate piece of firewood is gonna hurt my friends!” Arcing blades of water shot out from the rune circle again, and raising a wall of strings shaped like a knight’s shield to block them, Conwell muttered, “You truly are a meddlesome one…” Rushing straight at the string barrier, Alexander chanted, “Septimo Spiritus Ventus!” A torrential wind surrounded his blade, and as Alexander stabbed his sword into the wall of strings, the wind ate through the wall like a drill. Staggering back as Alexander charged through his broken defenses, Conwell sputtered, “N-now now, can’t we talk this over?!” With a powerful slash, Alexander cut him in two at the waist, and Conwell fell to pieces on the floor. 

Still talking despite his condition, Conwell said, “My, so vicious! It seems quite apparent you wouldn’t have cared if this had truly been the real me! My opinion of you has risen somewhat!” Glaring down at him, Alexander said, “Where’s the bomb?!” With a laugh, Conwell said, “I congratulate you on learning about my little party favor, but do you really think I’ll tell you?” Rising to his feet, Richter said, “From your comment before, I’m almost certain it’s in the palace’s reactor room!” With a sigh, Conwell said, “When will you people learn to look at the big picture? Even if you disarm the bomb, I will continue to lay siege to the city with my precious puppets.” With a look of concern, Mythra said, “You’ve got those strings of yours all over the city?!” Donning a twisted grin, Conwell said, “Of course! After all, this marks a grand occasion! To be honest, in some ways I’m glad you’ve exposed me. I was so sick and tired of working from behind the scenes, but now I no longer have to play the part of a Council Rrepresentative, and how could I possibly leave the little people out of my celebration? I do so love to hear their screams of terror…” Grey stepped forward and reaching down he grabbed Conwell by the neck. Hoisting him into the air, Grey said, “You make me sick you twisted b*****d!” A smug look on his face, Conwell said, “Oh how you flatter me Grey! But I’m afraid you have no time to worry about the common folk right now! Your dear little friend Amy is my target after all!” Eyes wide, Grey clenched Conwell’s neck tightly and said, “If you’ve laid a finger on her…!” Smiling wickedly, Conwell said, “Let’s make this interesting, shall we? I’ve always wanted to indulge in the pleasant honor of being the one to kill you Grey, so why don’t we do this? I’ll give you ten minutes to find me. If you can accomplish that, you’ll have your chance to destroy me! If you can’t find me before then, I’ll forget Alastor’s orders and kill your precious girlfriend!”

            The upper body of Conwell’s puppet clattered to the ground as Grey crushed its neck in anger. Discarding the head of the puppet, Grey muttered, “Now what?! Ten minutes… That’s just not enough time!” Confidently, Mythra said, “Don’t give up just yet! There’s a good chance if we follow the strings it’ll lead us straight to him!” Both Richter and Grey looked confused. Adjusting his shades, Alexander said, “We can explain later, right now we have to hurry. Richter, I’ll be counting on you to find that bomb. Grey and Mythra, I’ll leave Conwell to you. I’m going to find Scott and check the landing spine to see if Amy and everyone made it there safely.” With that, Alexander rushed off down the hall. Pushing the button to open the doors of the elevator, Richter turned to Grey and Mythra and said, “Good luck, both of you! I’ll come back to help as soon as I can.” With a grin and a thumbs up, Grey said, “Just worry about the bomb, we’ll handle the rest!” Concentrating on her senses now that she knew what to look for, Mythra said, “All right, the strings seem to be coming from that way!” As Grey and Mythra rushed off, Richter stepped inside the elevator and pushed the button for the reactor room. Rushing out as the elevator arrived at the reactor room at last, Richter walked down a short hallway that looked much different from the rest of the palace’s halls. Reaching the end of the hall, Richter stepped into the reactor room. It was a very large and tall place, and in the center of the room was the large cylindrical reactor with great amounts of superheated fluid being cycled through it, visible through the reinforced glass of the multiple conduits lining it vertically. Multiple cables ran from the top of the reactor to the ceiling, carrying the electrical energy that it generated. Surrounding the reactor was a great deal of machinery and controls, as well as a small catwalk surrounding the upper part of the reactor, but quickly Richter’s attention fell to the guards on duty, who were lying on the floor. Rushing over to them, it became all too apparent they were dead, lying there in a pool of their own blood. Looking around, Richter wondered, “Is this also the work of Conwell’s puppets?” He quickly formed his pistol as he heard a sound behind him, and ducking as the android swung her EDE blades at him, Richter turned and fired a crystal bullet at Sheryl. Sheryl quickly deflected the bullet with one EDE blade and brought the other blade down with a vertical strike, and leaping back just in time, Richter muttered, “I’m guessing it would be more accurate to assume this is your doing!”

            Sensing the EDE of the energy blade just in the nick of time, Richter ducked again to avoid as a second android, identical to the first Sheryl, slashed at him from behind. Richter counterattacked with a sweeping kick, but the android jumped back out of range. In a rapid ripple of moving steel, she reconfigured her right hand and lower right arm into an EDE chain cannon, and the four metal barrels began to spin and spew out bullets of concentrated energy as the android took aim and fired. Diving aside to avoid, Richter rolled to his feet and rushed behind a piece of machinery as the android fired after him relentlessly. With his back against the machine he hid behind, Richter listened to the EDE bullets bombarding the other side of the machine as he muttered, “Two of them, and with some of the most advanced high-tech weaponry I’ve ever seen!” Gathering EDE, Richter channeled it into his free hand and formed small prismatic spheres, quickly hurling them back over the top of the machine. Sailing over in the direction of the androids, the spheres exploded violently as they released the EDE within them upon striking the ground. Forming a second pistol made of prismatic crystal, Richter rushed from his hiding place and opened fire as he strafed the androids’ last known position, his crystal bullets raining through the smoke from the explosions. Then he stopped and stared into the clearing smoke, thinking, “Something’s not right…” As the smoke cleared to show neither android was present, Richter quickly looked around for his opponents, and then he heard a strange sound from above. Barely catching a glimpse of one of the androids up on the catwalk, without a second to spare Richter reformed his crystal pistol into a crystal shield and raised it in defense as an EDE shell that the android had fired from her arm, now reformed into an EDE mortar cannon, came down on him. Blown back into the side of the wall by the blast, the shield having protected him from a direct hit, as Richter staggered to his feet he had little time to recover as EDE shells rained down from the sky.

            Rushing through the room avoiding EDE shells, Richter struggled to return fire with crystal bullets. Several shots struck the steel surface of the reactor behind the android, but finally one hit the mark in her left shoulder. Relenting in her barrage, the android started blocking his fire with the barrel of the mortar cannon. Catching her out of the corner of his eye as she rushed to her partner’s aid, Richter formed his shield into a crystal pistol once more as the other android appeared from behind some machinery and came at him. As he took aim, the barrels of Richter’s pistols glowed with light and he opened fire with his Radiating Shot, causing every crystal bullet he fired to create an energy bullet of each color that makes up light itself. The android charged recklessly into his fire, holding her EDE blades before her defensively. While some of Richter’s bullets managed to deal minor damage to her, many were deflected by the steel of the android’s body or the concentrated energy of her EDE blades. Richter avoided as she lashed out with vicious strikes, and then reforming his crystal pistol into a spear of prismatic crystal, he parried another swing of android’s blade. With a diagonal slash, he powerfully carved into her chest, and having staggered back from his parry, the android miraculously avoided a fatal blow. However, Richter quickly saw that he as well had narrowly avoided death, the slash of his spear exposing the insides of the android and the secret within. Staring with eyes wide, Richter thought, “That’s…! Of course! This is why there are two of them now! The second one was what was placed here last night! They’re not just protecting the bomb, this android IS a bomb!”

            As the android struggled to recover, Richter puzzled over what to do now, thinking, “I can’t risk detonating the bomb, but at the same time I certainly can’t afford to hold back…” Then he quickly leaped away as EDE bullets rained down at him from the catwalk, the other Sheryl android back in action with its EDE chain cannon at the ready. Aiming at her, Richter hurled his spear at the android on the catwalk, but the android quickly shot it out of the sky with a single shot. Firing crystal bullets up at the catwalk, Richter thought to himself, “I hope that one isn’t a bomb as well…” Leaping from the catwalk, the android formed its hands into EDE blades and came down on Richter with a downward slash. Sidestepping, Richter formed another crystal spear and blocked as the android turned and lashed out with a powerful strike, but the android’s mechanized strength knocked him sailing. Flipping in the air, Richter landed on his feet, though the sheer force he was knocked away with caused him to skid backwards for a second. Then Richter watched as the damaged android regained itself, the wound he’d carved through its artificial body beginning to reseal itself in a quiver of moving metal. With a grimace, Richter muttered to himself, “It seems if I want to get anywhere, I have to play for keeps.” Reforming his spear into a second crystal pistol, Richter took aim as he dropped into a battle stance and called out, “I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced! I am Jack Richter, the Energist of Prisms and a proud member of Angelorum Lux!”

            With the introductions over, Richter opened fire with his Radiating Shot. The androids quickly rushed at him through the hail of prismatic bullets, the second android leading the charge, serving as a shield for the android with the bomb in its chest. Seeing this, Richter thought, “As expected, they will do everything they can to prevent the bomb from going off before it’s supposed to. While this works in my favor, I cannot be reckless… No, it’s time to be reckless! My very choice to leave the Special Forces was reckless, but I did not choose it lightly! For ages I have regretted taking the safe route, becoming a soldier of the Special Forces to avoid breaking the law, instead of trying to suppress my power and become a scholar like I’d always dreamed! I never would have thought I’d owe them so much, but thanks to Matthews and the others, I’m at long last putting everything on the line for what I feel is the right choice! Sometimes in life… one must take that chance!” As the androids closed in, Richter extended his pinkies and formed at the fingertips two spheres of crystalline material. As they finished forming, they began to fall towards the ground and Richter leaped back just before they struck and exploded.

Screeching to a halt as the spheres exploded before them, the androids stared through the smoke a moment and then dove aside as Richter flew out of it riding a large rectangular sheet of crystalline material. Standing balanced upon the wall of crystal, Richter soared through the air, and swerving around he aimed down at the androids and unleashed a hail of prismatic bullets. They jumped and dodged away from his fire, and as he passed over them, each reformed one of their arms into an EDE chain gun and fired after him. Weaving in the air to avoid, Richter turned to come around again. Flying down close to the ground he charged back at them, and with bullets whizzing by him, grazing him one and another, Richter raised his pistols and took aim. Suddenly one bullet struck him in the shoulder, but Richter grit his teeth and took the pain as he opened fire and shouted, “Eat this! Crystallizing Shot!” The barrels of his pistols glowed and a shining crystal bullet shot from each one, sailing through the air and straight into the barrels of each android’s chain gun. Exploding into a mass of crystal material, the bullets plugged the barrels of the chain guns, and with nowhere to go the EDE bullets within exploded in a blast of energy. But Richter wasn’t done yet. As the androids stood there, disarmed of their guns, Richter bent down on his prism wall and grabbed hold of the front edge of it with his good arm. Pulling up on it as he soared at them, he preformed a maneuver like popping a wheelie and rammed the other side of the prism wall right into the android without a bomb in its chest. Richter willed his flying wall of crystal to continue onward, holding on tight to the edge of it as he carried the android across the room and slammed her into the wall of the room, crushing her against it with great force.

            Pulling away from the wall, Richter leveled out his crystal wall and watched the android fall onto the floor, now nothing more than a mashed up piece of machinery. Quickly converting his crystal pistol into a crystalline coating that he pressed against the bullet wound in his shoulder, Richter rubbed it against his injury as he muttered to himself, “Now I just stop the bleeding and deal with the other one…” Richter’s eyes suddenly went wide as he sensed the EDE weapon coming, and he ducked as a spinning disk of energy attached to a cable zoomed over his head. Turning his prism wall around, he watched as the remaining android retracted the cable back into its arm. Both her hands now converted into buzz saws of energy, the android crossed its arms before itself and charged at Richter. Rising into the air on his crystal wall, Richter formed another crystal pistol and took aim, struggling to land a disabling shot that would not detonate the bomb. Leaping after him, the android sailed through the air and swung its EDE weapons, but swerving aside on his ride, Richter dodged and then raised his pistols to fire at close range. Suddenly halting in the air, the android turned and kicked Richter’s crystalline pistol from his hand, and as Richter stared in disbelief, she quickly followed with another kick that knocked him from his crystal wall. Falling through the air, Richter thought, “A self contained repulsion engine?! Who on earth designed these machines?!”

            Grabbing hold of the railing of the catwalk around the reactor, Richter threw his pistol onto the catwalk and used both arms to pull himself over the railing and onto the catwalk. He made it just as one of the android’s EDE weapons shot out and cut its way across the railing, slicing through the metal and sending sparks flying. Grabbing his pistol again, Richter glanced at the reactor for a moment as he thought, “This was not quite as I’d planned, but I can still pull it off I think. It’s risky, but seeing as I have neither the skill nor the time to disarm the bomb, my best bet is to expose the android and the bomb to the electrical energy generated by the reactor!” Retracting the cable attached to her EDE weapon once more, the Sheryl android dove at Richter on the catwalk, and leaping away as her buzzing EDE blade cut into the grated metal floor of the catwalk, Richter thought, “If I’m lucky, both the android and the bomb will get their circuits fried!” The android quickly bolted at him with a final strike to finish it, but forming a shield of prismatic crystal in his free hand, Richter blocked the strike with all his might. Pushing her buzzing energy blade away, Richter spun with a powerful roundhouse kick, catching the android hard in the face and knocking her into the side of the reactor. Reforming the shield into a crystal spear, as the android struggled to regain herself, he plunged the spear through her gut, impaling her on the side of the reactor. Stepping back as she swung at him with a buzzing EDE blade, Richter aimed up at one of the cables connected to the top of the reactor that carried the electrical energy that it produced. With a few precise shots he severed it and very carefully caught hold of it as it fell towards him, electricity sparking from the open end where it had been severed. Just then the android reformed one of her weapons back into a normal hand and managed to pull the crystal spear from her stomach, and quickly she moved to strike Richter down with her remaining EDE saw. 

Barely ducking out of the way of her saw blade, Richter thrust the sparking end of the wire against the android’s body. The android writhed violently as electricity crackled around her, and then fell backwards, motionless. Quickly rushing over to her, Richter checked the bomb in her chest. He heaved a sigh of relief as he saw that the bomb had indeed stopped, its circuits fried by the surge of electricity. Just as he was about to relax however, the android gave a jerk and he leaped back just as she swung at him again. Backing away, Richter thought, “What will it take to stop this thing?!” Then getting an idea, Richter glanced at one of the conduits of superheated fluid behind the android. As the android rose, Richter jumped onto the railing of the catwalk and leaped off, turning in the air and taking aim as he shouted, “Justice is served! Resonating Shot!” The barrel of his pistol glowed as a vibrating crystal bullet shot out and sailed towards the reinforced glass of the conduit behind to the android, and striking the glass the bullet’s vibrations all transferred into it and shattered it, unleashing the superheated fluid within upon the android. The searing liquid burned through the android’s artificial skin and into every gap in her metallic body, melting her inner components. As the warning sirens and emergency lights of the reactor room came on, Richter landed on the ground below and looked up to where the android’s metal skeleton stood frozen in place. The reactor quickly initiated an emergency shutdown, and the superheated fluid stopped pouring out. Exhausted, Richter looked up as though he was looking through the walls to where his friends might be battling even now and said, “It’s all up to you now.”

Reviews

[Ryan Henderson]

Great chapter! I liked the part where Rufus gave Ian to Amy to calm her down a bit. It was cute. The battle scenes are extremely well written and I got a very vivid image while reading. Once again I love the anime style scenery and battles and everything that you have. I also love the anime/steampunk theme of the book.

How Ritcher 'defused' the bomb was very interesting and didn't happen the way I expected it to. It was still pretty awesome seeing as you were able to combine the battle scene as well as the bomb defusal scene into one. Very clever!

I also liked the little scene with Mythra in it. Gotta love the Spellweaver! The characters in this book are awesome. (Especially Mythra.) Loved the chapter and keep writing!