Chapter 40: Race Against The Sun
The three gather themselves physically and mentally before making their final trek back to Above and furthermore, Titan. Within an hour, they make their way back to the ugliest part of an otherwise seemingly perfect city. When they enter through the front doors into Titan, they’re greeted by…no one. The lights are still on, but it’s almost as if everyone was told to evacuate. Mythril walks over to one of the guide kiosks and reads the map. After a while, he turns his head and looks back at the others.
Mythril: “Was there always a Server Room here?”
Jace: “Was there a what?!”
Jace sprints over and almost shoves Mythril away from the map. His eyes light up with hope as he whips his head back towards the two.
Jace: “Ren’s gotta be there!”
Henry: “What makes you so sure?”
Jace: “So, I actually did some digging around Morning Glory after vaporizing Kien. It turns out that not only were the devices on your necks built for mind-control, but also for monitoring and recording.”
Mythril: “Monitoring and recording what?”
Jace: “Your behaviors, movements, everything. It was created with the intention of being able to replace one’s brain if they were to die. It’s essentially cloning.”
Henry: “Freaky. You think Ren’s was recording at the time of his death?”
Jace: “Absolutely. If that Server Room is what I think it is, all of you should have a device stored there.”
Henry: “Well? What’re we waiting for?”
Jace: “Right. Pitied Party, let’s end this fucked-up adventure and save our friend!”
Mythril and Henry: “Right!”
The three make their way towards the elevator they used to reach Jack the first time. Funnily enough, they notice the button that reads “SR” this time. Jace presses the button and leans into one of the corners of the elevator. Henry does the same, followed by Mythril who feels out of place.
Henry: “Mythril, I got another question.”
Mythril: “Yes?”
Henry: “Did I hear you shout 'bullshit' back there while we were fighting Luke?”
Mythril: “Yes, I did.”
Henry: “You hear this, Jace? We may have a sailor within our crew.”
Jace and Henry laugh, but Mythril only chuckles because he doesn’t understand the figure of speech. After a moment, they realize that.
Jace: “Oh, that’s not an insult! We aren’t making fun of you! If anything, I thought Henry was gonna be the group sailor for the rest of his life.”
Henry: “Oh, fuck you!”
Jace: “See? He's still in the running.”
The three all start to laugh as they continue to ride up the elevator. Soon, it begins to slow down at their destination. Once stopped, the doors open to reveal a massive room with a set of doors in the very back. They step out and look around, noting the advanced technology hanging above them.
Mythril: “Is the Server Room past those doors?”
Jace: “I think so. I don’t see anything here that screams Server Room.”
???: “I see something that screams.”
The three jolt up in fear and go back-to-back, ready to face whatever’s lurking around.
???: “What? You didn’t think you’d be able to leave here without saying hi to your best buddies, did you?”
Henry: “It’s them. The Duo of Destruction.”
Sure enough, Dredd and Vayne step out from amongst the shadows and approach the trio. The three readjust themselves to face the androids.
Mythril: “Why are you doing this?”
Dredd: “Boss’s orders. We were told to protect the Server Room at all costs.”
Jace: “Ha! So Ren is in there!”
Vayne: “And what if he is? You three sure as hell ain’t gonna see him.”
Henry: “Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”
Vayne: “We’re here to fucking kill you, dumbass.”
Jace: “I have been stabbed and injected with toxins, had my skin almost burned off twice while suffering a broken back, got cut by rusty sharp objects, got knocked out cold by about 100 lightning-fast punches, and just got done recovering a hole in my chest from a chainsaw. You aren’t killing shit.”
Vayne: “Yawn. We know how Shiftium works, idiot. I plan on stabbing you in the head and drilling your brain around until I make a nice smoothie.”
Jace roars in anger and moves his left arm back while starting to run at Vayne. He switches to Burst and propels himself forwards at blazing speeds.
Vayne: “Another one of these stupid punches? Don’t you remember what happened last time?”
Jace: “I learned a new trick since the last time I’ve had to look at that ugly mug!”
Before impact, Jace switches to Bolt and lowers his arm for an uppercut. He punches Vayne in the jaw, sending them upwards towards the ceiling. Within a blink, Jace zips towards Vayne and raises both of his arms up for a double axe handle. With a quick swap to Burst, Jace makes the attack a rocket-powered double axe handle. His hands crash down on Vayne’s head, hurtling them back to the ground. Jace uses another burst punch to send himself closer to the ceiling. He twists and flips his body while swapping his arm to Freeze. When his feet touch the ceiling, he uses his arm to blast a sheet of ice at his feet, leaving him suspended in the air. He grabs his left arm with his right and aims down below. From the ground, Vayne struggles for a second to stand back up.
Vayne: “You’re not fucking around, are you?”
Jace: “Henry! Mythril! Get the big one! I want this asshole all to myself.”
Henry: “Got it!”
Mythril: “Leave it to us!”
The two dash forwards and split off to surround Dredd like they did while fighting Ana.
Henry: “C’mon, tough guy! Let’s see what you can do.”
Dredd: “Hmph. Your fancy tricks don’t work on someone as skilled as I.”
Dredd transforms their left arm into a small ball before extending it with a chain made from Shiftium. They reel their arm back before sending out the ball behind Henry. Suddenly, the ball triples in size. They were hiding a wrecking ball this entire time. It makes contact with Henry before speeding up and catching Mythril as well. Dredd sends them both flying towards one of the walls. They both make impact and bounce off of the walls due to the immense force used. They both drop to the ground and struggle to get back up.
Dredd: “Don’t fight back. It’s useless.”
Meanwhile, Jace continues to shoot icicles down at Vayne. They are able to dodge each one with ease.
Vayne: “Get down here! Ranged combat is lame!”
Jace: “You shot me!”
Vayne: “Once! It’s called sending a message, dumbass!”
Jace: “Here's a message you won't forget.”
Jace swaps to Burst and aims at his feet. The blast immediately melts the ice as Jace fires himself off towards the ground. Before touching the ground, he reaches his left arm out to take the brunt of the impact. Once his arm crashes and crushes the floor underneath it, Jace uses the remaining momentum to perform a handstand into a front flip, landing right in front of Vayne.
He extends his left arm out in front of him with his index, middle fingers and thumb facing the ceiling. With a blinding rage boiled inside for days, Jace uses all of his power at once to shoot a blast of energy straight through Vayne’s chest. The blast continues towards the wall and perfectly carves a hole in it before exiting the building. Vayne steps back and grabs their chest as it begins to heal.
Vayne: “What the fuck was that?!"
They look at his left arm and notice all of the previous colors swirling around with each other. Jace notices their look of intrigue and looks down at their arm too. He’s just as confused, but before he can think about it anymore, the colors shift back to the normal green.
Jace: “I’m…not sure.”
Vayne: “Don’t you ever do that again!”
Jace: “What? Am I scaring you?”
Vayne: “N-No! I just didn’t expect that to…hurt as badly as it did!”
Jace: “If I had used just a bit more power, I could’ve likely blasted off your entire chest, including your heart.”
Vayne: “Yeah, don’t fucking do that again!”
Jace: “I didn’t know androids could feel fear, let alone feel at all.”
Jace takes another step towards Vayne. In response, Vayne shuffles backwards before tripping over some of the debris left behind from their battle. They land on their back and continue to scoot away from Jace. They even grab one of the pieces and throw it at Jace, but he doesn’t flinch. He continues to walk forwards, trying to charge up whatever he just used to blast Vayne a new chest. Vayne leans over and notices both Henry and Mythril on their floor due to their brief encounter with Dredd.
Vayne: “Jace! Look behind you! Your buddies aren’t doing too hot over there!”
Jace: “I don’t believe you.”
Vayne: “Fine, I can feel fear, whatever! I’m saying this as this may be your only chance to help them before Dredd really gets going!”
Jace clenches his fists and raises his head up. He inhales through nose and turns his head around. He does in fact see the two laying on the floor in pain.
Jace: “Shit! Guys!”
Jace turns the rest of his body and begins to dash towards them. While his back is facing Vayne, they smile and take the opportunity to raise one of their legs and transform it into a blade. They shoot it out towards Jace as it slices through his stomach. He reacts, grits his teeth and continues forward out of the blade.
Vayne: “Not so fast, pretty boy!”
Vayne laughs as they make the blade longer and longer, almost connecting with the other wall where the two lay. Jace continues to walk through the blade despite the agonizing pain he feels. Before he can reach them, the part of the wall he blasted a hole through bursts open. The suddenness makes Vayne retract their blade.
Vayne: “Oh, what is it now?!”
As the dust settles, a figure can be seen within it. They brush off some of the dust and rubble they caused and walk towards Jace and the others. Once they finally step out from the impact point, Jace’s demeanor goes from absolutely pissed off to relieved, but still a little pissed off.
They crouch down towards Mythril and lightly tap him on the shoulder.
Ana: “Time to get up. We have some asses to kick.”
The voice immediately brings Mythril to his senses as he plants his hands on the ground before pushing the rest of his body up. The figure walks over to Henry and kicks them in the arm.
Ana: “Get up!”
Henry grovels and slowly picks himself up and looks up at the figure.
Henry: “Alright! Looks like we’re going 4-for-5 from here on!”
Mythril: “Ana! Our savior!”
Jace: “You recovered faster than we expected.”
Ana: “I’m stronger than you all.”
Henry: “True.”
Mythril: “How did you get up here anyways?”
Ana: “I jumped.”
Henry: “You jumped?!”
Ana: “Pulse jump.”
Jace: “That sounds like a Burst punch. Smart thinking.”
Mythril: “How did you know which floor to go to?”
Ana: “There was a hole. Buildings don’t normally have holes like that.”
Jace: “Well, it’s good to have you here. We’ll catch you up when we win this.”
Vayne: “If you win this.”
During the group’s chat, Dredd and Vayne have repositioned themselves to be in front of them again. The group turns around to face them.
Jace: “Henry, Ana, and Mythril. You 3 on Dredd. I’m not done with Vayne.”
Ana: “Thanks. I’ve always wanted to take down that behemoth.”
Dredd: “You won’t get the chance.”
Vayne: “It’s time for the run-back, fuckers!”